: , , , , - 28 . Hot felon Jeremy Meeks is seen here for the first time in the magazine shoot he was due to launch in London before being kicked out of the UK. American fashion model Mr Meeks, 32, was deported back to the US by border officials at Heathrow airport. He had flown into London ahead of the supermodel-studded launch of his first ever fashion shoot in luxury mens fashion magazine Man About Town. The stunning series of photographs were set to be kept under wraps until the launch party later this week, but after the models shock deportation the images can now be published exclusively by the Standard. Images courtesy of Man About Town. / Man About Town The pictures show the blue-eyed star posing topless and also in the traditional American orange prison overalls. Father-of-two Mr Meeks, 32, shot to fame and was nicknamed the hottest convict ever after his mugshot was posted online by police in 2014 and went viral. Man About Town cover shoot. / Man About Town On his release from jail two years later, after being convicted on gun charges, the 6ft 1in star won his first modelling contract and worked the catwalk runways of fashion capital New York. The cover star who was nicknamed Jail Bae and The Blue Eyed Bandit by fans around the world - gave an interview to the magazine through his agent Charlie Clark who started the global men's agency SUPA Model Management. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images In the photo shoot and interview, Mr Meeks says: I heard all my life, youre so handsome, you have the most beautiful eyes, and I heard it a hundred times a day. To where I would not even pay no mind to it. It didnt fix it then. I still had a father in prison doing life. Images courtesy of Man About Town. / Man About Town I still had a heroin-addict mother and me and my brother and sisters struggling through lifes tribulations. Describing himself and how he turned his life around following his release from prison, the model also told the magazine: Im a family man, Im a father, Im a husband, Im an uncle, Im a best friend, Im a God-fearing man, a Christian. Meeks manager Jim Jordan told the MailOnline he was detained by UK border officials on arrival to the airport. Mr Jordan insisted the model was carrying the correct paperwork and a letter signed by his parole officer. A n American man who became famous as the hottest convict ever has reportedly been deported from the UK hours after arriving in to Heathrow. Jeremy Meeks, 32, of Stockton, California, shot to fame in 2014 when police - who arrested him for gun charges - posted his mug shot online. The post went viral as hundreds of thousands of people swooned over him, nicknaming him the hottest convict ever blue eyed bandit and jail bae. The 32-year-old father-of-two, who signed a modelling contract with White Cross Management on his release in 2016, was set to spend this week in London where he had been due to shoot a series of magazine covers. According to Meeks manager Jim Jordan, he was detained by UK border officials on arrival to Heathrow this morning. He was, it is claimed, then banned from entering the country. His manager insists he was carrying the correct paperwork and a letter signed by his parole officer. Meeks' manager insisted he had the correct paperwork / Instagram Jordan told the Mail Online: We went into the UK and we went through immigration and they detained Jeremy. "He wasnt arrested but they deported him out of the country. Mug shot: Jeremy Meeks, 30 (Picture: Stockton Police Department) "They wouldnt let him come into the country. He is really upset. He was police-escorted onto the plane. The Home Office has been contacted for comment. S adiq Khan was today urged to lead a new campaign against female genital mutilation as a report called for London to be turned into a zero cutting city to protect girls from barbaric violence. The London Assembly said that positive progress was being made in the battle to eliminate FGM, with police, health staff and teachers all working to tackle the problem. But it warned that new cases of FGM in London are still being discovered and called for the Mayor to begin a publicity drive to spell out the dangers of mutilation. In its report, the Assembly also urged Mr Khan to ensure better training for those likely to encounter girls and women with FGM, and to ensure that police have enough funding to pursue perpetrators. Unveiling the findings today, Jennette Arnold, the assemblys deputy chairwoman, said FGM was an unacceptable violent crime that inflicted very serious, immediate and long-term consequences on girls and women. She added: More needs to be done. It remains a hidden crime still taking place behind closed doors, with many girls still at risk. New cases of FGM in London are still being discovered and London has the highest prevalence of FGM in the country. I am more determined than ever that London becomes a zero cutting city. We want the Mayor to champion the fight against FGM and translate his promises into action. Todays report says the capital accounts for half of FGM cases recorded in England. Brent, Southwark, Enfield, Ealing, Lambeth, Camden and Greenwich were all among the 12 local authorities with the highest number of new cases found between April 2015 and March last year. Eight recommendations are made to address the problem, each involving the Mayor. They include a call for Mr Khan to make clear what resources he will give to tackle FGM, and a demand that he engage with communities affected by FGM to raise awareness and improve preventative work. Hibo Wardere, an FGM survivor and campaigner who helped the Assembly with its investigation into the problem, said the report was exactly whats needed to go from talking about FGM, to doing something about it. Sophie Linden, deputy mayor for policing and crime, said many girls in the capital were at risk of FGM and that City Hall was working with police, health workers and others to tackle the problem. She added: FGM is an appalling practice, and the Mayor and I are committed to tackling it as part of our work to drive down violence against women and girls. It is crucial to raise awareness amongst parents about the dangers to their daughters. Weve invested 250,000 in a pilot scheme across five boroughs providing specialist training to frontline workers who encounter FGM. We need to tackle the lack of understanding about FGM and ensure that people who carry out such barbaric practices are brought to justice." T wo women were cut free from the mangled wrecks of their cars after a seven vehicle pile-up on a busy A-road in east London. Emergency services descended on the scene of the accident which happened shortly after 1pm today on the A13 Newham Way travelling out of London. Dramatic pictures show crumpled cars as well as one van and a lorry which were also badly damaged. Firefighters used heavy cutting gear to rescue the occupants of the vehicles. Seven vehicles were involved in the pile-up in east London / London Fire Brigade Two women who were cut out of their cars by the London Fire Brigade were injured. They were taken to hospital as a priority, one with pelvic and one with neck injuries, the London Ambulance Service said. Asia Begum, 32, who witnessed the aftermath of the crash, told the Standard: "The vehicles were all lined up, one after the other. "There was bits of car everywhere. The roofs of the cars had been cut off and firefighters were rescuing the people inside. "There were a lot of ambulances and fire engines, it was really scary, really, really shocking." Two women are believed to have been injured in the crash, police say / Asia Begum Fahima Mia, who was travelling in the same car as Ms Begum, added: "I was in shock, it looked really, really bad. "I felt terrified looking at that huge accident, it was scary." Two cars were involved in an initial crash which caused the pile-up, while two vans, a removal lorry and a skip also crashed, the London Fire Brigade said. Four other people were taken to hospital. An update on their condition was not immediately available. Road closures are in place on the A13 eastbound / London Fire Brigade Road closures were put in place as police, paramedics and firefighters remained at the scene. A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said: "The A13 Newham Way eastbound between Prince Regent Lane and Beckton Flyover is closed. Please avoid the area if possible. "The Brigade was called at 1.16pm. Fire crews Shadwell, Poplar, East Ham and Bethnal Green fire stations are at the scene." The road reopened shortly after 7pm. A mal Clooney: human rights lawyer, wife of Hollywood star George, mother-to-be and... member of the dating elite? The Doughty Street Chambers barristers achievements seem endless but she may be surprised at her new role as poster girl for the unlucky in love. Indeed, she might be considering her legal rights over it. Yesterday a new double-decker bus ad was spied on the streets of London, from new dating app The League, with a 10ft-high picture of Clooney and one of The Only Way is Essexs Amy Childs, the beautician who brought the vajazzle to the masses. The slogan reads For those seeking drive, not just double Ds, with arrows pointing to Clooney and Childs. The League, which requires a vetting process, says it is a smarter version of Tinder. Are you told your standards are too high? the website reads. Keep them that way. Were not saying Tinder doesnt have its uses but why not spend your time a little more intelligently? But using someones image usually requires permission. Has Clooney granted it? The Londoner was awaiting a response from her people this morning and Childss team have also yet to respond. The League said it was unable to comment on the issue of permissions but that the intent was to be a lighthearted jab at societys obsession with dating based on looks and fame as opposed to ambition and intelligence. The incident calls to mind a problem with a campaign from Ryanair back in 2009, which royally peeved Queen Sofia of Spain by using her photo in an advert. Either way, the campaign from The League already has critics. Amal Clooney fights for the rights of women, Twitter user Sophie Marissa wrote online yesterday. Irony lost on your marketing dept? What would George say? ----- Ukip party leader Paul Nuttall / Bloomberg via Getty Images Writer Will Black started the hashtag #SuggestAPolicyforUkip yesterday, sparking a landslide response from Twitter users, dripping with the best of British sarcasm. Ban all foreign food and encourage children to eat only traditional British food such as kebabs, curry and pizza, proffered Desktop Gamer. Other proposals included no hijabs for jam jars and German shepherds to start paying tax. Ukip leader Paul Nuttall promptly blocked Black to stem the flow but the offerings keep coming. Why Vogue is really just a Wintours tale Getty Images Alexandra Shulman has been editor of British Vogue for 25 years but says she never felt as much the part as her US counterpart. What people think the editor of Vogue looks like is Anna Wintour, Shulman told a 5 x 15 event at Notting Hills Tabernacle last night. But actually, Anna inherited this idea of what an editor of Vogue should look like ... these fashion-mad, cold, impersonal, ruthless characters which ones seen in novels and films forever. Ouch. Shulman revealed plans for a book about leaving the job new boss Edward Enninful takes over in August and hopes people will read it. Ive got no idea whether Ill have anything interesting to say when Im Alexandra Shulman and Im not editor of Vogue, she said. ----- Getty Images Quote of the day: Search me Peter Mandelsons response when asked by Kirsty Wark on Newsnight last night what Labours position is on Brexit ----- Sam Cam gives the nod to The Ned Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Debut designer Sam Cameron was out with her new fashion pals at the Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter pre-opening dinner at The Saloon in The Ned, City sister to Soho House, last night. The fashion dinner was the first of a series running up to the hotly anticipated opening of the grand new hotel & members' club on Wednesday. Among the faces glittering alongside the 18th-century chandeliers was Soho House founder Nick Jones, as well as Graham Norton and Radio 1s Grimmy. Our eyes are peeled for more A-listers in the listed building as the week goes on. ----- Getty Images Ivanka Trump is meeting Angela Merkel at the W20 conference in Berlin today, and writes a dry piece in the Financial Times to celebrate. Ivanka complains that women dont have the capital to grow their businesses not a problem for her, with a handy billionaire father. We need to develop new legal and regulatory frameworks to boost womens growth and productivity, she goes on. If only The Donald had let Hillary have a go. A tale of two Graylings Getty Images Two Graylings, quite unalike... The Londoner was at the Wellcome Collection in Euston last night for its trusts annual prize. Guests included A C Grayling, pictured, who toasted the nominees but also told us that he was contemplating a political career in Epsom. I considered standing in Chris Graylings constituency, the philosopher said. Hes no relation of mine hes a very ardent Brexiter but just having another Grayling on the ballot paper might reduce his votes its not too late. So whats stopping him? I would be so appalled to win, he said. There are 650 MPs and most of them are just lobby fodder. To be an MP must be the most ghastly occupation ever: the only way you can get ahead in politics is to have your nose firmly clasped on the buttocks of the person on the greasy pole above you. The prize, rewarding books about health and medicine, was won by French author Maylis de Kerangal, for her novel Mend the Living. With Gauls on the brain, what would Grayling suggest if Le Pen wins? Id bring back the Maquis, he said. ----- Tweet of the day: Why are media obsessed by Macrons wife being 24 years his senior? Trump is 24 years older than Melania, I dont remember that getting coverage DJ Edith Bowman calls sexism on the reporting of Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte ----- Skys the limit now for Leomie Grey has never looked so good. Model Leomie Anderson took to the rooftops of New York City yesterday, posing perilously close to the edge before posting the result on Instagram. A candid shot from a fashion shoot, or is the Victorias Secret Angel starting a new career in superheroism? ----- Secret of the day: Catherine Zeta-Jones has posted a photo of her bathroom cabinet on Instagram. The total cost of the items including kelp and cucumber spritz is 2,141. The price of beauty... Follow The Londoner on Twitter and Facebook here. A string of London MPs have been included in a hit list of Brexit-backers who pro-EU activists are plotting to oust in the general election. Former Tory cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith and Labours Kate Hoey are among those being targeted by a trio of pro-Europe groups. Open Britain, European Movement and Britain for Europe have published an attack list of 20 seats in order to reduce the number of MPs supporting a hard Brexit during the two years of negotiations. Mr Duncan Smith, MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, said the groups were welcome to attack his majority of more than 8,000 over Labour, but claimed there was no point fighting the referendum again. London MPs on pro-EU hit list Kate Hoey, Vauxhall Lady Victoria Borwick, Kensington David Burrowes, Enfield Southgate Theresa Villiers, Chipping Barnet James Berry, Kingston and Surbiton Matthew Offord, Hendon Iain Duncan Smith, Chingford and Woodford Green Paul Scully, Sutton and Cheam Tory MP Theresa Villiers will be targeted in Chipping Barnet, where there was an estimated 59 per cent remain vote. David Burrowes, Lady Victoria Borwick, Matthew Offord, James Berry and Paul Scully make up the full list of eight London MPs being attacked. Labour former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson, an Open Britain board member, said: "As a former European trade commissioner, I have seen such negotiations from the inside. "For Britain to get the best possible trade deal, it is totally counter-productive for Theresa May to go into them with a rigid set of red lines." The Lib Dem poster attacking Labour's Kate Hoey Vauxhall MP Kate Hoey, the only Labour MP on the list, has also been the subject of a campaign by the Lib Dems, who produced a campaign leaflet merging her face with that of Nigel Farage. The groups campaign will also draw on its database of 600,000 supporters to support Labour's Mary Creagh, Conservative Neil Carmichael and Green MP Caroline Lucas. It comes as Labour sets out its Brexit strategy and the Tories continue to warn that Jeremy Corbyn's party is seeking to "disrupt" the negotiations. Labour former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson, an Open Britain board member, said: "As a former European trade commissioner, I have seen such negotiations from the inside. "For Britain to get the best possible trade deal, it is totally counter-productive for Theresa May to go into them with a rigid set of red lines." Labour will say retaining the benefits of the single market and customs union will become top priority in Brexit talks if it wins on June 8. Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, is being attacked by campaigners / PA Archive/PA Images It would guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK on day one of taking power without protections in place for Britons in Europe. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer will say Labour would ditch the Government's negotiating plans for quitting the bloc. A Bill to transfer relevant EU laws to Britain would also be replaced with legislation that would protect employment and consumer rights as well as environmental protections when powers are repatriated. The party will insist that failing to reach a deal with Brussels is not an option and will promise to give Parliament a meaningful vote on the final agreement. Sir Keir will say: "EU nationals do not just contribute to our society: they are our society. And they should not be used as bargaining chips. "So on day one of a Labour government we will immediately guarantee that all EU nationals currently living in the UK will see no change in their legal status as a result of Brexit, and we will seek reciprocal rights for UK citizens in the EU. "There could be no clearer signal that Britain is taking a new approach to Brexit than a Labour government immediately rectifying this injustice. And there could no clearer signal that Labour want a close and collaborative future relationship with our EU partners." UKIP announce its programme for the general elections Prime Minister Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain part of the single market as it would mean "not leaving the EU at all", while leaders across the bloc have warned that Britain cannot enjoy the benefits without agreeing to the rules, such as freedom of movement. Sir Keir will say: "The white paper will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the single market and the customs union as Labour know that is vital to protecting jobs and the economy. "And we will approach negotiations in a completely different way to a Tory Brexit: negotiating for the many, not the few. "Where Theresa May wants to shut down scrutiny and challenge, Labour will welcome it. May dismisses claims Tories planning post-election tax hike "We will work with Parliament, not against it. Because on an issue of this importance, the Government can't hide from the public or Parliament. A Labour approach to Brexit means legislating to guarantee that Parliament has a truly meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal." Under Labour's Brexit strategy, the Great Repeal Bill would be replaced by an EU Rights and Protections Bill. "This will make sure that all EU-derived laws - including workplace laws, consumer rights and environmental protections - are fully protected without qualifications, limitations or sunset clauses. We will work with trade unions, businesses and stakeholders to ensure there is a consensus on this vital issue. "A Labour approach to Brexit will ensure there can be no rolling back of key rights and protections." T hree top Liberal Democrat knights were accused of being disrespectful to the Queen today after dropping their titles to fight the general election. Sir Simon Hughes, Sir Vince Cable and Sir Edward Davey were all honoured by Her Majesty after they lost their seats in the 2015 election. But despite enjoying being Sirs outside the House of Commons, the trio have reverted to humbler styles now they are standing for election again. There is no sign of his knighthood on Sir Simons first election leaflet, distributed to voters in Bermondsey & Old Southwark where he was MP for 32 years. He is referred to as plain Simon Hughes throughout. A beaming Sir Simon was pictured in top hat and morning dress for his investiture at Buckingham Palace in November 2015, on the same day as Benedict Cumberbatch was made a CBE. Sir Edward Davey were also honoured by Her Majesty / Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Labour MP Neil Coyle, who is defending a majority of 4,489 in Sir Simons former seat, said it was an insult to the Queen. Knights of the realm should be proud of their awards, he said. It is disrespectful not to use the title. Sir Edward, who was knighted in the 2016 New Year Honours, is just Ed Davey on his latest leaflet to residents in former seat Kingston & Surbiton. Meanwhile, Sir Vinces supporters have been wearing badges emblazoned with plain Vince Cable. Sir Simon dismissed the criticism as ridiculous and said: I cant imagine that Her Majesty, whom I respect greatly, will be troubled by this issue. Ive had the same name for every election Ive stood in people know me here as Simon or Simon Hughes. Sir Edward said he was proud of his title, saying: Its a huge honour. T he Liberal Democrats have printed a leaflet merging the faces of ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage and pro-Brexit Labour MP Kate Hoey, as they target her seat in Vauxhall. Ms Hoey, who was the chair of Labour Leave, was left at odds with her local Labour party after she campaigned alongside Mr Farage on his Thames flotilla during the referendum and aligned herself with his Grassroots Out campaign. The Vauxhall Labour Party publicly disassociated themselves from her over Brexit but despite rumours she would be deselected, other members have rallied around her so she can fight her eighth election. She won the south London seat, which she has held since 1989, with a 12,708 majority in 2015. Hoey and Farage on board the floatilla / Jeff Spicer/Getty Image Over the weekend the Liberal Democrats distributed 20,000 leaflets with the Hoey-Farage graphic in Vauxhall, where 77 per cent of residents voted Remain. They have previously stated their intention to make the constituency one of their key battlegrounds. A senior Lib Dem campaign source told the Standard: We just cant believe Labour has been dumb enough to re-select someone who makes Nigel Farage look like a cuddly pro-European. "Its game on in Vauxhall. Campaigners have said they intend to wallpaper the area with another image of the pair celebrating on board the flotilla during the EU referendum campaign. Vauxhall selection: Kate Hoey / Getty Images Meanwhile Ukip leader Paul Nuttall has suggested his party could stand aside for Ms Hoey so she has clear run at attracting the pro-Brexit vote. And there has also been talk of an anti-Brexit alliance against Hoey, but The Lib Dem candidate, 34-year-old British-Croatian national George Turner, is not believed to have had contact with the Greens so far. The Lib Dems claim their membership in local branch Wandsworth and Vauxhall has doubled since the EU referendum and more than 2,000 people have joined the party since last Tuesday. Membership is said to be up 12 percent in Kingston & Surbiton, 15 percent in Twickenham and up 17 percent in Bermondsey & Old Southwark, which will form the centre of the partys plans for a revival. L ondon mayor Sadiq Khan has declared the General Election is the last chance for Londoners to stop the Tories' "extreme version of Hard Brexit". The mayor said while the Labour party accept the result of the EU referendum, they would protect the jobs and prosperity of people living in the capital by prioritising access to the single market. He added, should Labour win the election on June 8, they would give a cast iron guarantee to all EU citizens already living in the UK that they could stay in the country after Brexit. It comes a day after Mr Khan voiced his support for Jeremy Corbyn as he endorsed the Labour leader for Prime Minister. In a statement, Mr Khan said: The general election is Londoners' last chance to stop the extreme version of Hard Brexit that the Tories have chosen at every turn. Labour accept the referendum result and the democratic will of the people - but oppose the Tories' extreme version of Hard Brexit - which is damaging our economy and our society and putting our future prosperity at risk. A Labour government would prioritise securing the fullest possible access to the single market - protecting Londoners' jobs and prosperity. We would give a cast iron guarantee on day one to all EU citizens already living in the UK that they will be able to stay here after Brexit. They have their families and lives here and deserve certainty about their future. And we would devolve control of powers and responsibilities returning from Brussels to nations, cities and regions - including to London. Mr Khan has previously emphasised that Londons links with the rest of the EU will be more important than ever before after the UK finally leaves the bloc. He has made it clear that he intends for London to remain "open" despite Brexit, and continue to welcome people from all over the world to work, study or visit. L abour today threatened to send Theresa May back to the Brussels negotiating table if MPs judge that she has failed to strike a good Brexit deal for Britain. Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer sought to lay out his partys policy on quitting the European Union amid claims of confusion and a lack of clarity. He stressed Labours demand for a binding vote for Parliament on Brexit to ensure we get the best deal we can. Quizzed on whether this could mean Britain not departing the EU if the Prime Ministers deal was seen as inadequate, he told BBC radio: We are talking about the tail end of 2018, we would have a vote, we would go back to the negotiating table. Pressed further, he refused to say whether this could mean that Brexit is blocked. The Conservatives immediately seized on his stance to claim that Labour was prepared to renege on the historic Brexit vote last summer. While Ukip deputy leader Peter Whittle said: If there is a bad deal, we simply walk away. Labour, the Liberal Democrats and other parties could currently defeat the Government over a final Brexit deal if they could persuade a small number of Tory rebels to join them. However, if Theresa May increases her majority to 50, 60 or even more she will gain far more freedom on negotiating Britains EU departure. Sir Keir was under pressure to deliver a clear message to voters on Labours EU policy after former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson attacked his own party for not differentiating their position and their policy sufficiently from the Government and of an equivocal and fence-sitting approach. The Labour frontbencher stressed that under his partys vision: Britain could retain reformed membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union, or a bespoke trading deal. Would seek continued tariff-free trade between the UK and the EU. No new non-tariff burdens for business and regulatory alignment. An EU Rights and Protections Bill - rather than a Great Repeal Bill. Maintaining membership or equivalent relations with European organisations such as Europol, Eurojust, the European Medicines Agency and Euratom. Signalled that London, Scotland and Wales could gain major new powers which are repatriated from Brussels. Speaking in Westminster, Sir Keir said: Jobs, the economy and retaining the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union are our priority. Accusing Theresa May of an out, out, out approach, he added: She may be clear but she is rigid and she is reckless. However, he failed to give firm proposals from Labour on freedom of movement, despite accepting that immigration rules would have to change, and on the European Court of Justice. He denied that his blueprint amounted to a wish list which could not be delivered without concessions on immigration and border control. Sir Keir Starmer accused Theresa May of an "out, out, out" approach / Reuters He was also forced to defend Labours pledge to unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU citizens in Britain against accusations that it could leave Britons in other European countries at risk of getting a worse deal. As Sir Keir sought to end confusion among some voters over Labours Brexit policy, the Conservatives sought to capitalise on Jeremy Corbyns equivocating over Britains EU membership . Brexit Secretary David Davis added: Jeremy Corbyn is too weak and floundering to get a good deal in the Brexit negotiations. However, at a political Cabinet this morning, Theresa May warned her colleagues against being complacent despite the Tory double-digit lead in many polls and Mr Corbyns dismal personal poll ratings. She stressed that polls had recently proved wrong in the EU referendum campaign, the US presidential battle, and at the last General Election in the UK. She also reminded Cabinet that when Islington North MP Mr Corbyn first announced his intention to run for Labour leader his odds were put at 200/1. She sent her ministers away to try to drum home the message that the election is a choice between strong and stable leadership under the Conservatives or Labour under a floundering, weak and nonsensical leader. Meanwhile, Labour MP Barry Gardiner was left red-faced during an interview on Brexit - after TV presenter Susanna Reid highlighted a Remain campaign sticker on his iPad case. U kips foreign affairs spokesman has resigned over the partys vile burka ban and has predicted many more may withdraw support for its leader Paul Nuttall. James Carver said he strongly disagreed with the partys misguided policy and that he could not support it - along with other plans made by Mr Nuttall. And more than six MEPs could reportedly follow suit in protest at the policies, according to PoliticsHome. The West Midlands MEPs dramatic exit is the latest blow to Mr Nuttalls leadership. Mr Carver quit at midday on Tuesday, telling the politics website: "No-one has the right to dictate what people should wear." He added: "This policy undermines my desire to represent all communities within the West Midlands, including the many British Muslims, who I know from first-hand experience, voted to leave the EU in last years referendum." The MEP said he strongly disagreed with the partys 'misguided' policy and that he could not plans made by Mr Nuttall, pictured. / PA A raft of Ukips integration policies were announced by Mr Nuttall on Monday. The burka-ban policy marks a change of direction for Ukip, which was planning a rebrand ahead of Junes general election. Speaking on BBC's Andrew Marr show, Mr Nuttall said: "For CCTV to be effective you need to see peoples faces. He went on: Secondly there is the issue of integration. I dont believe that you can integrate fully and enjoy the fruits of British society if you cant see peoples faces. "What we need to do is we need to insure that these people a fully integrated into British society and you cant do that if you are hidden behind a veil. We can either be on the curve with this or behind the curve. Id rather be on. In 2010, the partys former leader Nigel Farage proposed banning the burka but later dropped the policy. The burka, traditional Muslim attire that covers the entire body, is outlawed in France, Belgium and Bulgaria. P assengers flying to the US from British airports face a ban on carrying laptops in their hand luggage. Donald Trump is considering extending the countrys ban on large electronic devices being carried in aircraft cabins from Europe, The Times reports. Both UK and US governments last month stopped passengers from bringing such items on board flights incoming from some Middle Eastern countries. Under the restrictions, devices bigger than a mobile phone including laptops and iPads must be checked in and cannot be carried on board in hand. The ban has left passengers worried that the gadgets may get damaged in the hold. UK to follow US with ban on laptops and electronic devices on flights British security chiefs have reportedly been alerted that the US is planning to impose the ban on incoming flights from some parts of Europe. No final decision had yet been taken as to whether Britain would be included in the ban, but the move could reportedly be implemented within weeks. "As with everything from Trump's America, there are conflicting reports about where, when and what," one Whitehall source told the newspaper. A US official is said to have suggested no announcement was imminent but signalled that a move by the US Department for Homeland Security was not far off. The current UK ban affects inbound flights from six Middle Eastern countries. It covers devices which are larger than a typical smartphone measuring 16cm by 9.3cm by 1.5cm, which will now have to go in the plane's hold. M adeleine McCanns mother has spoken of her heartache ahead of the 10 year anniversary of her daughters disappearance as she vowed there will always be hope. Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007. Kate McCann said the anniversary was a "horrible marker of time, stolen time" and vowed to never give up the search for her daughter. In a heartfelt message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, she said that she and her husband Gerry "couldn't even begin to consider anything in terms of years" when their daughter first disappeared. She wrote: "Ten years - there's no easy way to say it, describe it, accept it. And now here we are... Madeleine, our Madeleine - ten years. Madeleine McCann - In pictures 1 /33 Madeleine McCann - In pictures Madeleine McCann Maddie disappeared in 2007 PA Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared from a holiday flat in Portugal ten years ago, during an interview with the BBC's Fiona Bruce at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough PA Screen grabbed image taken from the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page of a message from Madeleine McCann's parents, Gerry and Kate, who has described the tenth anniversary of her daughter's disappearance as a "horrible marker of time, stolen time" PA Ocean Club in Praia Da Luz The Ocean Club in Praia Da Luz where Madeleine McCann disappeared Kate and Gerry McCann Kate and Gerry McCann with a computer image of how their missing daughter Madeleine might look Reuters Maddie disappeared in 2007 Madeleine McCann: Disappeared in 2007 aged three PA Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, who has revealed that British detectives working on the Madeleine McCann case are still pursuing "critical" leads as the 10th anniversary of her disappearance approaches PA Kate and Gerry McCann Kate and Gerry McCann before a charity run in London AFP/Getty Images The Ocean Club which is next to Apartment 5A in Praia Da Luz in Portugal, where Madeline McCann went missing PA Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared from a holiday flat in Portugal ten years ago, during an interview with the BBC's Fiona Bruce at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough PA Kate McCann Kate McCann speaks to press at a Lisbon court last year AFP/Getty Images Kate and Gerry McCann with their children Kate and Gerry return home from Portugal in 2007 AFP/Getty Images A general view of the coastline in Praia Da Luz in Portugal, where Madeline McCann went missing PA Portugal police Police in Portugal comb the Algarve resort after Madeleine disappeared in 2007 AFP/Getty Images Kate and Gerry McCann Kate and Gerry McCann pictured shortly after Maddie went missing AFP/Getty Images Kate McCann Kate McCann cries during a 2008 TV appearance Madeleine McCann Maddie in an Everton shirt Everton FC/PA A general view of Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, close to where Madeline McCann went missing PA Members of Scotland Yard dig at an area during the search for missing British girl Madeleine McCann in Praia da Luz, near Lagos on 07 June 2014 Reuters Kate and Gerry McCann Kate McCann and Gerry McCann speak to press after being cleared of being formal suspects Getty Images A poster is shown whilst Kate and Gerry McCann give a press conference in 2012 about their missing daughter Madeline McCann Daily Mail Kate and Gerry pictured five years after Maddie went missing Getty Images The Ocean Club which is next to Apartment 5A in Praia Da Luz in Portugal, where Madeline McCann went missing PA Maddie's parents in an interview with Crimewatch A scene from a Crimewatch reconstruction BBC "Most days are similar to the rest - another day. May 3rd 2017 - another day. But ten years - a horrible marker of time, stolen time." Mrs McCann, 49, said the two themes that seem most appropriate as they reach the 10-year mark are "perseverance" and "gratitude". Madeleine McCann Explainer She said: "We will go on, try our hardest, never give up and make the best of the life we have. "We consider ourselves immensely fortunate to have received the love, solidarity and support from so many kind and decent people over the last decade. "There have been many challenges and low points along the way but the warmth, encouragement and positivity we have experienced from the 'quiet majority' has undoubtedly sustained us and maintained our faith in human goodness. "And while that is there, there will always be hope." Vanished: Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007 The message, signed by both Mrs McCann and her 48-year-old husband, concluded: "Thank you so much from all of our family." Mrs McCann criticised the press for printing misinformation and described media appearances as "draining and on occasion, unhelpful to the only thing we want, finding Madeleine". She continued: "They need to have a purpose. We could spend all our time and energy trying to defend ourselves by correcting inaccuracies and lies, but then we would have no strength left to look for Madeleine, look after our other children and to live our life." There is an "active" police investigation to try to find Madeleine and bring her abductor to justice, her mother said. She added: "There are no new appeals that the police wish to make at this moment in time and so we are keeping any media involvement marking this unwanted milestone to a minimum." Madeleine's disappearance sparked one of the most high-profile police investigations of recent times. Scotland Yard has been assisting with the inquiry since 2011. Last month the Home Office confirmed it has granted officers 85,000 to carry on with the case for a further six months. More than 11 million has been spent on the UK probe. A "hero" husband has been praised after he fought off a shark almost three metres in length to stop it attacking his wife in the South Atlantic. Frankie Gonsalves, originally believed to be from London, was set upon while swimming off the west coast of Africa. The mother-of-two was snorkelling with her husband Dean when the shark clamped onto her leg before he reportedly punched it to scare it away. A man who described himself as Mrs Gonsalves brother praised him for heroically confronting the eight foot creature near English Bay on Ascension Island on Saturday. Matthew Benjamin wrote on social media: God bless my little sister Frankie Gonsalves - now famous in every major newspaper - who was attacked by a shark almost 3 metres in length while swimming in Ascension Island with her husband Dean Gonsalves. The woman was savaged by a shark while swimming with her husband / Shutterstock Dean heroically managed to save her life, and she is awaiting air evacuation home from the RAF for more surgery. She is going to be ok, miraculously. Words cant describe how grateful I am that my little blister is still here to tell the tale. Utterly terrifying! Mrs Gonslaves, a member of the St Helena government, was taken to Georgetown Hospital on Ascension Island, before being airlifted for treatment in the UK. St Helena is a British Overseas Territory, 1,150 miles off the west coast of Africa. The extent of her injuries is unclear. A witness said the shark also attacked her husband, though it is not known if he was also injured. The St Helena government has warned swimmers they take to the water at their own risk. In a statement they said: The person concerned was swimming near the shore and her injuries were attended to at the Georgetown Hospital. An emergency aero-medical flight is being arranged to transport the patient from Ascension Island to receive medical treatment in the UK. Ascension Island Government has released a warning notice advising people that swimming in the area is to be undertaken at their own risk. N ew Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith says women chefs will continue to struggle to make it at the very top of their profession until men change their attitudes about who looks after the children. The restaurateur and cook suggested there are so few Michelin-starred women chefs because often their partners are not prepared to stay at home at night to look after their children while they work long hours in professional kitchens. Leith said: If you have a lawyer a male lawyer married to a female chef and she wants to work at night, the chances of that are going to be nil. Whereas if it was the reverse a male chef and a female lawyer she just expects it, to look after the children at night while he is off earning a living. The new line-up, featuring Paul Hollywood, Sandi Toksvig, Noel Fielding, and Prue Leith / Channel 4 But as both sides are earning nowadays, there has to be more equality. Im sorry, but there does. We need to change mens attitudes ... about who looks after the children. In an ideal world, we should have more classes at school about equality. Not just in a boring gender studies way there should be workshops for young people that make them understand. Leith, 77, opened her Michelin-starred eponymous restaurant in Notting Hill in 1969 and founded Leiths School of Food and Wine in 1975. She has two children with her late first husband, writer Rayne Kruger. Leith said Jamie Oliver and other TV chefs were responsible for inspiring a generation of men to embark on a career in food. That is all down to Jamie. Not just Jamie, celebrity chefs. They have made it cool to cook for boys. When I opened Leiths, first year it was all girls, second year one boy. We now have more boys than girls, she said. Candice Brown: BBC'S Final Great British Bake Off Winner 1 /16 Candice Brown: BBC'S Final Great British Bake Off Winner Jane Beedle (right), Andrew Smyth and Candice Brown, who has been crowned champion of this year's Great British Bake Off Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/BBC Mary Berry with Candice Brown, who was crowned champion of this year's Great British Bake Off Love Productions/BBC Paul Hollywood hugging Candice Brown, who has been crowned champion of this year's Great British Bake Off Love Productions/BBC Candice Brown won the Great British Bake Off Love Productions/BBC Mary Berry shaking hands with Candice Brown, who has been crowned champion of this year's Great British Bake Off. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Wednesday October 26, 2016. The PE teacher, 31, took the title ahead of rivals Jane Beedle and Andrew Smyth and said it was the biggest moment of her life so far Love Productions/BBC Mary Berry with Candice Brown, who was crowned champion of this year's Great British Bake Off Love Productions/BBC Candice Brown, who has been crowned champion of this year's Great British Bake Off Love Productions/BBC Candice is embraced by her proud boyfriend Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/BBC Candice in action during her Showstopper Tom Graham/Love Productions/BBC Candice decorating and piping Love Productions/BBC Candice in action during her Showstopper Joseph Cavaciuti/Love Productions/BBC Candice in action during her technical challenge Tom Graham/Love Productions/BBC The image of being a chef had also changed for many parents, she added: In my day, my parents didnt want me to become a chef. My father ... never saw any of my success. To this day, I quite often think, See dad, I wasnt entirely flaky. Leith takes over from Mary Berry in The Great British Bake Off, which was bought by Channel 4 last year. She joins judge Paul Hollywood and presenters Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding, who replace Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins. She said: I didnt think Id ever be nervous as I am so old. But as it gets nearer I think, My god I hope the bloody thing works. Great British Bake Off line-up stirs up fans She said filming is due to start in the next couple of weeks and hit out at unfair criticism of Fielding as a presenter, adding: Sandi and Noel are absolutely perfect. It had to be a little bit different from before. Leith spoke to the Standard as she visited London South East Colleges in Orpington to meet staff at the new BR6 Bakehouse. Serving cakes, fresh bread, afternoon teas and light meals, the space is run by catering students. After touring the facility, Leith said: I am obsessed with proper training for the next generation of chefs and hospitality experts. In the past there has not always been enough emphasis on providing young people with the practical skills they need to prepare them for a career in the hospitality industry. C olin Firths return has been teased in the first full length trailer for Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Firths character Harry Hart was apparently killed by Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) in 2015's Kingsman: The Secret Service, but he can be seen shaving his beard and coming face-to-face with his mentee Gary Eggsy Unwin (Taron Egerton) who is now a fully-fledged Kingsman, in the sequel. The trailer kicks off with Firth explaining what it takes to become a member of the intelligence agency: Eggsy, I saw in you something that someone once saw in me, something that cant be taught the makings of a Kingsman. Being a Kingsman is more than the clothing we wear or the weapons we bare. Its about being willing to sacrifice for the greater good. I hope youre ready for what comes next. Back in action: Colin Firth as Harry Hart The sequel will see the agents from the first film teaming up with their US equivalent, the Statesmen, after criminal mastermind Poppy (Julianne Moore) wipes out their HQ with a missile and poses a new threat. The trailer promises plenty of action with Egerton escaping from an exploding black cab, taking on a man with a bionic arm and challenging a shotgun wielding Channing Tatum, who plays Agent Tequila. Egerton recently opened up about filming across the pond and reassured fans that the sequel is still 'quintessentially British'. I think it's still got that quintessential Britishness and its still about what being a gentlemen is, and were still in those beautifully tailored suits, he told the Independent. As much as a large portion of the film is spent exploring what the Statesmen are the American version by the end, it's very much the Kingsmen who are saving the day again. Jeff Bridges, Pedro Pascal, Julianne Moore and Halle Berry round off the star-studded cast. Kingsman New York Premiere 1 /16 Kingsman New York Premiere Big hugs Samuel L Jackson embraces Sofia Boutell (Picture: Startraks Photo/REX) Suitably dapper Colin Firth cut a dashing figure in a black suit and tie (Picture: Gregory Pace/BEI/REX) Wild side All eyes were on Claudia Schiffer in a leopard print mini dress (Picture: Startraks Photo/REX) Buddies Samuel L Jackson and Taron Egerton joke around on the red carpet (Picture: Gregory Pace/BEI/REX) Elegant Sofia Boutell looked stunning in a white flared two piece (Picture: Gregory Pace/BEI/REX) Role reversal Anna Wintour is all smiles as Colin Firth fails to raise a grin (Picture: Startraks Photo/REX) Take That Gary Barlow made an appearance on the red carpet (Picture: Gregory Pace/BEI/REX) Super stylish couple Olivia Palermo and her husband Johannes Huebl add a touch of glamour to the red carpet (Picture: Gregory Pace/BEI/REX) Model looks Helena Christensen dazzled on the red carpet (Picture: Startraks Photo/REX) Lacy look Trudie Styler graced the red carpet without husband Sting (Picture: Gregory Pace/BEI/REX) Family affair Jonathan Ross, wife Jane Goldman and daughter Honey Kinney (Picture: Gregory Pace/BEI/REX) Wrapping up Kevin Bacon in attendance (Picture: AR Photo/Splash News) Kingsman: The Golden Circle is set for UK cinema release on September 29. P amela Anderson has written a poem about her rumoured romance with Julian Assange, describing it as a special relationship. The US actress offered advice to Donald Trump and Theresa May in a new post on her blog, suggesting that they take inspiration from her. I may have some advice for Trump and May on special relationships based on my own special relationship with Julian Assange regarding free speech and democracy, she wrote. France can join in as a threesome. A fast approaching UK election, heated up by US threats, and the French makes this the opportune time to discuss politics romantically. New romance: Julian Assange in rumoured to be dating Pamela Anderson / AP The former Baywatch star, who has been linked to the Wikileaks founder for the last couple of months, went on to describe the current political situation as a romantic struggle. Things that the USA and UK bring to the relationship are bad secrecy laws, she continued. Keeping Julian illegally detained. Hating transparency and bombing countries. It is dysfunctional and unequal, this relationship to date. Julian Assange lawyers to appeal to Donald Trump to end US probe Anderson gushed about Assange in a blog post last month, saying that she was concerned about him. Famous for being persecuted is not a position of power but a position of vulnerability. I am concerned, she said. Anderson went on to describe Assange as an extremely empathetic human being, who cares deeply about the world. Assange has been living in the embassy in Knightsbridge since 2012, over fears that he will be extradited to the US as part of an investigation into Wikileaks. He is also wanted for questioning in Sweden over sexual assault allegations, which he denies. A schoolboy made the most of being picked to introduce Tom Cruise at a Buckingham Palace gala dinner by asking the star for a movie role. Ryan Hicks, 14, who attends Rokeby School in Newham, was due to invite the Hollywood actor to speak at the Outward Bound Trust event. Ryan was introduced to Cruise beforehand by the trusts patron, Joanna Lumley. He said: I had been rehearsing what I was going to say and one of the first people I saw was Tom Cruise and I just froze. If it wasnt for Joanna Lumley I would never have spoken to him. "He was taller than I expected. He said I was very brave to introduce him and wished me good luck. He told me he was coming up with a brilliant new stunt for the new Mission: Impossible film. He said it was a big secret and that I would have to see it when the film comes out. I asked him if I could be in one of his films and he said yes. He said if he was filming in London he might get me a part. I really hope he does come back. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Tom Cruise meet during a dinner to mark the 75th anniversary of the Outward Bound Trust at Buckingham Palace / Getty Images Ryan introduced Cruise after talking about his first Outward Bound trip in December at the Aberdovey Outdoor Education Centre in Snowdonia, where he stayed in a log cabin and went rock climbing and canoeing. Cruise told the audience that other young people should be more like Ryan. The teenager said: I cant believe he said my name. It was out of this world. Ryan, who lives in Plaistow and is the eldest of six children, urged more young people to get involved with the Outward Bound Trust. He said: People in London are stuck on their phones all the time and stay indoors. Its good to get some fresh air and find out what your limits are. Now I know what Im capable of. The trust works with 62 London schools to run trips to the countryside. In the past decade more than 10,000 teenagers have gone on one of its trips. Charlotte Robinson, headteacher at Rokeby, said: Ryans achievement is testament to his exceptional work ethic We are very proud of him. G irl crush This week I was beyond excited to go to Diors event hosted by Bella Hadid. She is a total girl crush of mine and of course I couldnt resist getting a photo with her. My dress is from Sister Jane. Star struck: Rosie Fortescue with Bella Hadid / Rosie Fortescue/ Instagram Lunch date I also went to a super cute Maids to Measure lunch at Ivy Chelsea. I wore this dress from Nobodys Child and boots by Russell and Bromley. I recently had these boots cleaned after a bad stain on the front. Handbag Clinic on Kings Road have totally restored them and they are back to new which is a total dream! Summer vibes: Nobody's Child dress Rosie modelling a / Rosie Fortescue/ Instagram Fan girl One of my new favourite artists Bradley Theodore has been in London this week for his launch event at Maddox Gallery. He also painted this incredible mural at the gym I regularly go to Core Collective. Also beyond excited that he even painted my leather jacket for me! I am obsessed with it!! Arty streak: Rosie hangs out with Bradley Theodore / Rosie Fortescue/ Instagram Panellist This weekend I had the pleasure of being on the panel at Cosmopolitans Self Made Summit. It was unbelievable to be able to meet so many guests and to talk about how I have taken my blog further to my jewellery brand. My suit and jumper are from French Connection and bag from Charlotte Simone. Suited up: Rosie joined the Cosmopolitan team / Rosie Fortescue/ Instagram Baby shower I also went to Binkys Baby Shower this weekend, which was incredibly beautiful and so much fun celebrating for one of my best friends. I am so excited for what this year brings for her! She is going to be the BEST mother! My dress is from Millie Mackintoshs collection and heels from Ashley Roberts shoe brand Allyn, which is a new obsession of mine. Baby on board: Rosie with Binky at her baby shower / Rosie Fortescue/ Instagram Mud masks My beauty products of the week are Glam Glows face masks. Their Supermud Clearing Treatment is my current favourite and has left my skin clear and glowing, ready for another busy week ahead! V iewers struggled to watch heart breaking ITV drama Little Boy Blue, which told the tragic real-life story of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, who was shot dead in Liverpool. The harrowing first episode recreated the moment Jones was killed in a pub car park in Croxteth by 16-year-old Sean Mercer when he opened fire on a rival gang 10 years ago. Viewers watched as Sinead Keenan, who plays Jones mother Melanie, raced to the scene before she and Jones father Steve, played by Brian F. OByrne, were dealt the devastating news that their son had died, despite attempts to resuscitate him. The series starter left some fighting back tears, while others found it too hard to watch. 'Heart breaking': Sinead Keenan and Sonny Beyga as Melanie and Rhys / ITV One viewer tweeted: Im really struggling to watch this. I've been crying since it started #littleboyblue. Just awful. Another posted: Really struggled watching that. Heartbreaking story. Couldn't hold back the tears. This will be an extremely emotional series. A third wrote: One of the hardest things I've ever watched, cried throughout. Can't even imagine what that poor family is going through #LittleBoyBlue. Jones' parents gave their full support to the series, which was penned by BAFTA-winning screenwriter and producer, Jeff Pope. Liverpool born actor Stephen Graham, who plays Detective Supt. Dave Kelly, the senior investigating officer on the case from Merseyside Police, said he was reduced to tears on reading the script. My agent sent it to me, Graham told the Liverpool Echo. She said, I think you would like this project. I read it and I literally couldnt stop crying. I thought it was amazing and felt Jeff Pope had handled the sensitivity of the story incredibly well. He continued: This story is not just specific to Liverpool . Its universal. The incident happened in Liverpool so its about that togetherness and coming together as a community and as people. But these kind of things were happening in London, in Birmingham, Manchester. Little Boy Blue is on ITV on May 1 at 9pm. Officials with the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State have said that the association has received a great deal of support since it was recently announced that it is concerned with changes that are in the works for the handling of the New York Sire Stakes. It was announced this past weekend that the HHBNYS, which has administered the New York Sire Stakes program for the last five decades, will be replaced by Capitol Hill Management Services Inc. a move that prompted the HHBNYS to call on all horsepeople to encourage them to let their voice be heard in the matter. In stating that the HHBNYS has received a good deal of support, the organization has sent out the following release. The support from the Standardbred industry members has been truly amazing and much appreciated by the Harness Horse Breeders of New York. It seems with bad news also comes the realization of how we are all connected and how much we all love this sport. The contract issues do not look good for us, but the Harness Horse Breeders will continue to support the New York program and devote all of our efforts and time representing our membership. As breeders we are proud to have been the driving force in creating the NYSS program and will continue to watch over it. Our office received many calls and emails of support over the last few days and we would like to share one letter (with firsthand knowledge of what can happen in a state) and thank the following people for their support and a special thank you to all those who contacted the Trustees directly. Tom Grossman, Blue Chip Farm David Hanson Leatherstocking Equine Edward Mower All Leavitt, President Walnut Hall Limited Keith Hamilton, past Agriculture and NYS Horse Breeding Development Fund Trustee and USTA representative Carol Cramer USTA Stakes Director Nicola Adams, Perretti Farm Seth Rosenfeld, Birnam Wood Farms Letter of support shared by Perretti Farm Dear Ronald; I read with dismay that you are considering replacing the Harness Horse Breeders of New York with an outside firm. At Perretti Farms we have found the Harness Horse Breeders of New York are exemplary in the services that they offer the harness racing community. There is nothing else in the industry that compares to the wealth of information, always updated accurately and timely on their website. Also their printed publications, the stallion guide and periodic magazine provide very useful information in a very polished and professional manner. Here at Perretti Farms, a 700-acre equine facility in Cream Ridge, NJ, just this past weekend we advertised one of our stallions standing in NY. Our ad included the statement that NY was the best sires stakes program in the nation. This is something that NY should be trying to protect. We have seen all too clearly in NJ what can happen when administrators and politicians turn their backs on their programs. NJs once thriving Standardbred industry has all but left the state. In NY you have fostered and encouraged your harness industry and have achieved great results. Our advice is where you see excellence and leadership, dont be tempted to replace it with a budget service. Sincerely Nicola Abrams Manager Perretti Farms Republican leadership and the governor are going back to the drawing board on finding a compromise to pass a bill that would use bonding to pay for some infrastructure projects. A group of about a dozen lawmakers, mostly Republicans, met with Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock early Tuesday morning to discuss what it would take to pass an infrastructure package, though they came to no deal. The governor had previously picked several Republican-favored bills from a list presented by that party's leadership as part of a negotiation to get an infrastructure bonding bill passed this session. The Legislature has not passed an infrastructure bonding bill for several sessions. In 2015, a package failed by one vote and the session before Bullock vetoed the infrastructure bill, saying it was necessary to balance the state budget. Some Republicans in the House and Senate are opposed to the idea of bonding to pay for statewide infrastructure projects, though among others there is a gradient of comfort depending on the amount of money being bonded. There are two bills in play, one that calls for $78 million carried by Rep. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, and another carried by Sen. Eric Moore, R-Miles City, that has $98 million. Cuffes bill had less bonding at first, but was amended to add in projects that have caused friction, including upgrades to Romney Hall on the Montana State University campus and a veterans home in Butte. Moores bill includes those projects, plus additional money for school projects. Cuffe late Tuesday said he hasn't been involved in negotiations on his bill, but remains optimistic. "I'm hoping something good will happen," he said. "I'm hoping some dealing continues and we can come to a good solution. Time is short." On Monday the House voted on a motion to sine die, which means to end the Legislative session. The vote only got 20 votes, but a similar motion got 35 votes Tuesday. A majority of the House, or 51 votes, is needed. But if that happens before Day 87 of the Legislature, which is Thursday, permission is needed from the Senate. Its estimated about 10-15 Republicans in the House and another 10 in the Senate wont support any sort of bonding. Democrats have tried to sell bonding as a good deal in a year when the state budget is tight, with House Minority Leader Jenny Eck repeatedly pointing out several school districts are asking voters this spring to bond more for school projects Bozeman at $125 million for a new high school and $63 million in Helena for three new elementary schools. Knudsen said Republicans understand that, but its not a point that gains any traction. I dont think we have a Republican caucus full of morons. Bullock also said Montana has a low debt level compared to other states. But many Republicans, who hold a majority in the Legislature, argue the state should not enter into any debt to pay for projects, while others have concerns about the state transferring cash that was set aside for these types of projects into the states general fund to help balance the budget and replacing that money with bonding. The package of bills Bullock agreed to let become law in exchange for an infrastructure package included two bills to change workers compensation rules, another to allow for 10-year license plates, a land access bill, a non-genetically modified seed bill and a bill to pay for regional water projects. But Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, said in the occasionally tense meeting Tuesday morning those bills werent enough. He asked for the governor to sign one of the two bills that would either outright ban or severely limit access to abortion, as well as allow a charter school bill that, though its carried by a Democrat, is unpopular within the party. A third bill Knudsen floated was one exempting wells on family-transferred land from regulation. Those bills were on the original list provided to Bullock to pick from. Sen. Jon Sesso criticized the bills Knudsen selected. I dont understand what the linkage is between social policy and job creation and economic development. To interject that division into the infrastructure debate is misplaced. Through the meeting, Knudsen repeatedly said hes not the dictator of his caucus and that he asks members to vote their conscience. Bullock and Knudsen at times clashed during the meeting, and it was clear there also wasnt complete consensus among Republicans at the table about which bills should be prioritized. Moore said he didnt care which infrastructure bill passed or if it had his name on it, while some in attendance said that Cuffe had pride in authorship and wanted the final package. More also suggested a global haircut on the amount of bonding in either of the bills, saying that reducing the total amount bonded by cutting the budgets for each project by something like 10 percent might make the bill more appealing. Sen Llew Jones, R-Conrad, said some have said removing more controversial projects like Romney Hall might gain some Republican votes, but lose other Republicans, including possibly his in the Senate, and many Democrats. The meeting was between Republican Reps. Jeff Essmann, Rob Cook, Frank Garner, Mike Hopkins, Speaker Pro Tem Greg Hertz and Knudsen. Democratic Representatives included Casey Schreiner and Minority Leader Eck. On the Senate side, Republicans Moore and Jones were there. Sesso was the lone Senate Democrat. Also there was Dan Villa, the governors budget director, and his Deputy Chief of Staff Ali Bovingdon, plus two members of the communications staff. A mid-morning fire alarm that cleared the building caused more flurry in an already busy morning. After people were let back into the Capitol, Republicans wouldnt say when they planned to meet again to develop a new list to present to Bullock, though some said they expected it to happen between House floor sessions in the early afternoon. It was also unclear if or when legislators would meet with the governor again. Before a 2 p.m. House floor session, Knudsen said he didn't think things progressed any farther than where negotiations were left in the morning meeting. Some lawmakers said that it would be easier to hash out a deal without media present. The morning meeting was not announced publicly, and reporters found out about it by sitting outside the governors office. It also wasnt clear if the Speaker of the House was initially invited, saying when he entered, I must have missed the memo about the 8 oclock meeting in the governors office. Another attendee said he found out about the meeting after getting a text message from a phone number he didnt know. People from around the Minatare community will soon have a place to stop for breakfast, lunch or dinner as the Broken Spoke Bar and Grill prepares to open in early May. Dennis Wecker said hes about finished with remodeling the old Remington Club, and has made the proper applications with the states restaurant inspectors, fire marshal and liquor commission. Now, its crunch time. Wecker said this is his first venture into the restaurant business. I worked for Kurt Manufacturing for 17 years and for sugar factories around the area. Now that I took early retirement, I decided to give this a try. Wecker has lived in Minatare since 1995 and support for his new venture has been strong. People from around the area have been behind me all the way, he said. Theyre anxious for me to get it up and running. People sometimes come in while Im working and ask when well be open. The former Remington Club in downtown Minatare has been closed for about a year. After the towns supermarket closed, people lost their only local option for a place to stop for coffee. The people need a place to congregate and visit, Wecker said. Thats the kind of place I want to provide. The Broken Spoke Bar and Grill will be open seven days a week and will feature a small breakfast in the mornings, and also lunch and dinner. Wecker said he plans on adding some specials to the menu on weekend evenings. Ive already put together a lineup for both lunch and dinner specials that will change every week, he said. In addition to the bar and grill, the Broken Spoke has a large back room that can serve for larger gatherings. Wecker said hes already booked a graduation party, a wedding reception and an upcoming Dutch Hop. The people and the support Ive received for this new business is what really excites me, he said. This is a new venture for me but Ive always liked trying something different. This town used to support quite a few businesses, so Im looking forward to bringing some of it back. I see a lot of opportunity and potential here, otherwise, I probably never would have gone into it. Minatare Mayor Bob Baldwin is also a big supporter of the new bar and grill. This will be a popular place for people to go, he said. I think it will do quite well for the city and Im excited to see a new business come in. Perhaps its success will induce other people to take a look at Minatare as a place to do business. For several years, the building on the east side of downtown Minatare had served as the towns American Legion. Interestingly, part of the building was originally located at the Camp Scottsbluff POW camp at the airport during World War II. SCOTTSBLUFF Scottsbluff High School musical students had the opportunity Monday, April 24 to learn about the acting business as part of the Omaha Performing Arts Tour. Bill Grennan, education coordinator with Omaha Performing Arts, said the workshop tour is part of one of the groups education programs called the Nebraska High School Theater Awards. Hes also a working actor throughout the Midwest. The program is designed to celebrate musical theater across the entire state, Grennan said. It started about five years ago in Omaha and each year, weve expanded the program across the state. The tour will make stops at high schools in McCook, Arapahoe, Kearney, Humboldt, Wilcox, Lincoln and Omaha throughout the week. Omaha Performing Arts wants our education program to be reflected across the state, Grennan said. Arts education is in full abundance here in Scottsbluff. The masterclass in Scottsbluff covered auditioning techniques. Several of the students had the opportunity to perform songs from popular musicals and then discuss how they would audition for a real show. The kids will sing like they were auditioning for a musical, Grennan said. We give them feedback and tricks and tips on how they can improve their skills. Joining Grennan for the morning was Dan Tracy, a college friend. Both of them attended Creighton University. Tracy is a professional actor based in New York and just wrapped up a 16-month national tour run of Once: The Musical. Hes also played a variety of characters in the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festivals Fairy Tale productions. I was more than happy to come along for this, Tracy said. I love outreach and its a privilege to give back to other parts of the state. Theres a lot more talent in the state than just in Omaha. He said one of the challenges of being a professional actor is that its an itinerant lifestyle. You just dont know where youre going to be living, how long the show will run and how long it will be before the next show. But the positives far outweigh the negatives. Grennan agreed, saying, Its great to be able to use your career to tell stories and help other people tell their stories. Thats what theater is all about communicating great stories. Tracy told students the lyrics are especially important in any song because they tell a story. When an actor taps into the character and his or her life story, the music comes naturally. Brad Ronne, vocal music teacher at Scottsbluff High School, said the masterclass didnt fully come together until late last week. Wed exchanged emails about them coming out, but it was kind of last minute as far as timing. Ronne said auditioning is a good skill to have, whether someone is auditioning for a show or applying for a job. Some of his students have expressed a desire to act professionally. Its exciting to work with people who do this day in and day out, he said. Its good for the kids to get some pointers and techniques that give them confidence. Warm and windy weather fueled a large fire in cornstalk bales Monday at a feedlot north of Doniphan, Nebraska. About 2,500 bales of cornstalks were on fire at Robb Feedyard. Firefighters from five departments responded and by early afternoon had kept the fire from spreading to other structures. No cattle were lost in the blaze. Doniphan Fire Chief Mike Meyer said the department received a call about the fire at 10255 S. Nine Bridges Road around 8:15 a.m. By the time firefighters arrived, the fire had quickly engulfed rows of large round bales of hay and cornstalks on the south end of the property. He said firefighters continued to monitor the site while the bales smoldered throughout the day. Along with Doniphan firefighters, firefighting crews from Alda, Grand Island Rural, Trumbull and Giltner were on scene to help quell the blaze. Meyer said the source of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshals office. Greg Robb, who owns the feed yard, said the source of the fire may have been burning debris at the towns landfill, which borders the feed yard at the south end of the property, where the hay and cornstalk bales were stored. We suspect that the ashes or embers from the landfill came up and ignited hay piles, Robb said. The corn stalks are used for cattle feed. Robb said there were numerous spot fires throughout the yard from the burning embers. Because of the intensity of the fire in the hay piles, firefighters let the piles burn while working to keep the fire from spreading further on the property. We have enough feed on hand, Robb said. Extremely dry weather had primed the bales for fire. On Sunday, strong, unseasonably warm winds blew all day, worsening the dryness already in place due to a lack of measurable rain for about 10 days, said Cindy Fay, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hastings. Winds had dropped to about 10 mph Monday afternoon, but were expected to kick up again Tuesday, Fay said. However, on Tuesday winds will be ushering in cooler air from the north and, eventually, chances of rain. World-Herald staff writer Nancy Gaarder contributed to this report. 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. 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 Curtea Europeana a Drepturilor Omului (CEDO) s-a pronuntat, marti, in legatura cu decizia pilot referitoare la situatia din penitenciarele din Romania. Conditiile de detentie din penitenciarele din Romania contravin Conventiei Europene pentru Drepturile Omului si arata o disfunctionalitate structurala care necesita adoptarea de masuri generale de catre stat, a decis marti Curtea Europeana pentru Drepturile Omului. Astfel, Romania are la dispozitie sase luni pentru schimbari in legile penale. VEZI AICI DECIZIA (engleza) In decizia publicata astazi pe site-ul CEDO se arata ca hotararea Curtii ramane definitiva in trei luni de aici inainte, daca Romania nu cere retrimiterea la Marea Camera, dupa care curg cele sase luni pe care Romania le are la dispozitie sa prezinte planul de masuri. Asadar, Romania are la dispozitie noua luni in total pentru a prezenta planul cerut de CEDO. Sorin Grindeanu, reactie VIRULENTA: 'Am cerut ministrului MAI sa sanctioneze vinovatii' Pana atunci toate cauzele pe aceasta tema vor fi suspendate. Prin aceasta decizie-pilot, CEDO a stabilit ca a fost incalcat Articolul 3 al Conventiei, care interzice tratamentele inumane sau degradante, in acest caz care vizeaza conditiile de detentie din inchisorile romanesti, precum si din arestul politiei. In decizie, CEDO nu impune Romaniei nicio masura anume si nu spune nimic despre gratiere sau relaxarea politicii penale. De asemenea, CEDO a decis ca Romania trebuie sa plateasca, in total, 16.000 de euro despagubiri morale si 1.850 de euro cheltuieli de judecata, dupa ce instanta europeana a fost sesizata de Daniel Arpad Rezmives, Laviniu Mosmonea, Marius Mavroian si Iosif Gazsi in legatura cu conditiile din inchisorile din Romania. Un nou protest in fata Guvernului: Trafic dat peste cap doua zile Decizia Pilot a CEDO Detention conditions in Romanian prisons are in breach of the Convention and point to a structural deficiency requiring the adoption of general measures by the State In todays Chamber judgment1 in the case of Rezmives and Others v. Romania (applications nos. 61467/12, 39516/13, 48213/13 and 68191/13) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been: a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned the conditions of detention in Romanian prisons and in detention facilities attached to police stations. The applicants complained, among other things, of overcrowding in their cells, inadequate sanitary facilities, lack of hygiene, poor-quality food, dilapidated equipment and the presence of rats and insects in the cells. Under Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), the Court held in particular that the conditions of the applicants detention, also taking into account the length of their incarceration, had subjected them to hardship going beyond the unavoidable level of suffering inherent in detention. Under Article 46 (binding force and execution of judgments), the Court decided to apply the pilotjudgment procedure, finding that the applicants situation was part of a general problem originating in a structural dysfunction specific to the Romanian prison system. The Court held that the State should introduce: (1) measures to reduce overcrowding and improve the material conditions of detention; and (2) remedies (a preventive remedy and a specific compensatory remedy). The Court decided to adjourn the examination of similar applications that had not yet been communicated to the Romanian Government and to continue its examination of applications that had already been communicated. Within six months from the date on which the judgment became final, the Romanian Government had to provide, in cooperation with the Committee of Ministers, a precise timetable for the implementation of the general measures. Principal facts The applicants, Daniel Arpad Rezmives, Marius Mavroian, Laviniu Mosmonea and Iosif Gazsi, are Romanian nationals who were born in 1970, 1966, 1976 and 1972 respectively. Mr Rezmives, Mr Mosmonea and Mr Gazsi, who are currently detained in Timisoara, Pelendava and Baia Mare Prisons, and Mr Mavroian, who was detained in Focsani Prison and was released on 13 January 2015, complained in particular of overcrowding, lack of space and poor hygiene 1. Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, this Chamber judgment is not final. During the three-month period following its delivery, any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a panel of five judges considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day. Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for supervision of its execution. Further information about the execution process can be found here: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution. 2.conditions in their cells (presence of rats, mould on the walls, and so on), inadequate access to showers and toilets, a lack of natural light, poor ventilation, and the unsatisfactory quality of the equipment and food provided in the prisons in which they had been or were still detained. Complaints, procedure and composition of the Court Relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), the applicants complained of the conditions of their detention in Gherla, Aiud, Oradea, Craiova, Targu-Jiu, Pelendava, Rahova, Tulcea, Iasi and Vaslui Prisons, and in the Baia Mare police detention facilities. The applications were lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 14 September 2012, 6 June 2013, 24 July 2013 and 15 October 2013 respectively. Judgment was given by a Chamber of seven judges, composed as follows: Ganna Yudkivska (Ukraine), President, Vincent A. De Gaetano (Malta), Nona Tsotsoria (Georgia), Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque (Portugal), Krzysztof Wojtyczek (Poland), Iulia Motoc (Romania), Marko Bosnjak (Slovenia), and also Marialena Tsirli, Section Registrar. Decision of the Court Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) The Court noted that the personal space allocated to each of the applicants during most of their detention had been less than 3 sq. m. This severe lack of living space over the course of several months appeared to have been exacerbated by other factors, such as: the lack of natural light, the very short duration of daily walks, the unhygienic toilets which were not always partitioned off and the lack of sociocultural activities (in the case of Mr Rezmives); inadequate sanitary facilities and insufficient access to hot water (in the case of Mr Mavroian); poor ventilation in the cells, the presence of mould in some of the cells, the presence of insects and rats, dilapidated mattresses, poor-quality food and bedbugs (in the case of Mr Mosmonea); and poor-quality food, inadequate sanitary facilities and lack of hygiene (in the case of Mr Gazsi). The Court thus considered that although these various conditions had not in themselves amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment, they had inevitably caused the applicants additional suffering. Furthermore, the applicants detailed description of the material conditions in the prisons concerned was similar to the situation which the Court had found in a number of cases of this kind. The material conditions in Romanian police detention facilities had also been examined by the Court in several cases in which it had noted problems of overcrowding, substandard hygiene conditions, inadequate sanitary facilities and very limited opportunities for out-of-cell time. In addition, having regard to the findings of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) following its visits in 2010 and 2014 to certain prisons and police detention facilities, to the Committee of Ministers assessment of the general measures adopted with a view to executing the Bragadireanu group of judgments,2 to the recommendations issued by the Romanian Ombudsman following investigations into complaints by prisoners, and to 2 Bragadireanu v. Romania, no. 22088/04, 6 December 2007. 3 the official statistical data concerning the Romanian prison population, the Court found that the applicants allegations about the material conditions of their detention were credible. Accordingly, the Court considered that the conditions of the applicants detention, also taking into account the duration of their incarceration, had subjected them to hardship going beyond the unavoidable level of suffering inherent in detention. It therefore held that there had been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention. Article 46 (binding force and execution of judgments) The Court decided to apply the pilot-judgment procedure, finding that the applicants situation was part of a general problem originating in a structural dysfunction specific to the Romanian prison system; this state of affairs had persisted despite having been identified by the Court in 2012 (in its judgment in Iacov Stanciu v. Romania, no. 35972/05, 24 July 2012). To remedy the situation, the State had to implement two types of general measures. Firstly, the State had to introduce measures to reduce overcrowding and improve the material conditions of detention. The Court left it to the respondent State, subject to supervision by the Committee of Ministers, to take the practical steps it deemed necessary for this purpose, specifying that where the State was unable to guarantee that each prisoner was detained in conditions compatible with Article 3 of the Convention, it was encouraged to take action to reduce the prison population. Secondly, the State had to introduce remedies (a preventive remedy and a specific compensatory remedy). The preventive remedy had to ensure that post-sentencing judges and the courts could put an end to situations breaching Article 3 of the Convention and award compensation. The specific compensatory remedy had to ensure that appropriate compensation could be awarded for any violation of the Convention concerning inadequate living space and/or precarious material conditions. In view of the important and urgent nature of the problem identified and the fundamental nature of the rights in question, the Court considered that a reasonable deadline for implementing the general measures was necessary, and that the Committee of Ministers was in the best position to set such a deadline. Accordingly, within six months from the date on which the judgment became final the Romanian Government had to provide, in cooperation with the Committee of Ministers, a precise timetable for the implementation of the appropriate general measures. Lastly, the Court decided to adjourn the examination of any applications not yet communicated to the Romanian Government in which the sole or main complaint concerned overcrowding and poor detention conditions in prisons and detention facilities attached to police stations in Romania, and to continue its examination of such applications that had already been communicated. Article 41 (just satisfaction) The Court held that Romania was to pay the applicants Mr Rezmives and Mr Gazsi 3,000 euros (EUR) each and Mr Mavroian and Mr Mosmonea EUR 5,000 each in respect of non-pecuniary damage. Romania was also required to pay Mr Mosmonea EUR 1,850 in respect of costs and expenses. Separate opinion Judge K. Wojtyczek expressed a concurring opinion, which is annexed to the judgment. Negotiations on an infrastructure bill are stalling a Montana House vote on a measure that would raise state employee pay by 1 percent in each of the next two years. Final revisions were made to Senate Bill 294 on April 18 and approved by the Senate on April 20. The House needs to take a final vote before the bill can go to the governors desk. If passed, SB294 appropriates approximately $22 million from a combination of general fund, state special revenue and federal special revenue accounts to give state employees a 1 percent raise in February 2018 and a second one a year later. Rep. Kelly McCarthy, D-Billings, said Democrats were promised a vote on SB294, but he hasnt heard when that will happen. Weve all got hostages right now, he said. Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, said the House plans to schedule a vote for the last day or two of the session. When asked whats preventing a vote, he said it was part of discussions about including bonding in an infrastructure bill. On March 31, Gov. Steve Bullock told members of the MEA-MFT union that represents state employees and educators that the first bill passed by the Legislature increased its own budget by 14 percent, but legislators have taken all session to finalize the state pay plan bill. To date at least we dont have a pay plan, Bullock said at the conference. You can bet that I wont stop. I count on you to also not stop to make sure when we walk out of this legislative session our public servants get the modest request we made. On Tuesday, Ronja Abel, a spokesperson for the governor, said there have been no further negotiations related to the state play plan, but that Bullock is committed to making sure it passes. Eric Feaver, president of MEA-MFT, said the pay plan is difficult to pass each session. The pay plan is always in danger, he said. If its not on the board tomorrow, were in trouble. Feaver said he doesnt expect the governors office to sell out, even if SB294 is held up in negotiations. The only thing that gives me pause here in thinking well get it is weve always ended up with a pay plan, although nothing like what we thought we would get," he said. The bill also transfers $2 million from a 911 fund to the Montana University System to offer voluntary retirement to address budget shortfalls, specifically at the University of Montana. The Missoulian reported the university was considering buying out 80 to 100 employees. That money, which would be used to pay out termination costs such as sick leave, comes from a $1 fee paid by anyone with a cellphone each month. As many as 52 persons, of whom 13 children in an overcrowded inflatable boat risking to sink in the Aegean Sea were rescued by the Romanian border police patrolling on the Internal Affairs Ministry boat MAI 1102 of the Coast Guard, while on a FRONTEX mission within the "EPN POSEIDON SEA" Joint Maritime Operation, on Tuesday informs the Border Police General Inspectorate (IGPF) in a release sent to agerpres. The 52 rescued people - 17 men, 22 women and 13 children - who said they were from Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Palestine, were transported safely to the port of the Chios Island, being handed over to the Greek authorities for the specific procedures. Ever since the beginning of their mission in Greece (January 2017), alongside the crews of the other boats belonging to the European Union's Member States deployed by the FRONTEX Agency to Greece within the "EPN POSEIDON SEA" Joint Operation, the Romanian border police navigating on the Coast Guard boat have rescued as many as 676 persons who were in danger of drowning, aboard some small, overcrowded boats in the Greek territorial waters, the source adds. The decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) does not require the government to pay out large amounts in penalties, Premier Sorin Grindeanu said on Tuesday in connection to an ECHR ruling in a case concerning the conditions of detention in Romanian prisons and other detention facilities; the PM explained that the government will come up with a plan of measures to improve detention conditions. "I welcome this decision, which does not compel us at this moment (...) to pay high amounts, but gives us a 6-month deadline to come up with a concrete plan of measures agreed upon by both the Committee of Ministers and the Government of Romania, so that the issues raised by the ECHR be progressively settled, because this decision is the result of the problems in Romanian penitentiaries. Therefore, following these issues, we have this ruling that gives us a term of six months to come up with remedial measures," Grindeanu said. The detention conditions in the Romanian penitentiary system are in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights and point to a structural deficiency requiring the adoption of general measures by the authorities, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday in the case 'Rezmives and Others v. Romania'. Agerpres One of two bills designed to ban the governor from transferring Medicaid funding for the elderly and disabled out of those programs for other uses has returned to Steve Bullocks desk after the House and Senate rejected a proposed amendment on Monday. The original form of House Bill 334 is one sentence: Appropriations in a general appropriations act for Medicaid may be used only to pay for or administer Medicaid services. Last week, the governor added a second sentence that both chambers rejected today: In the event an appropriation for Medicaid services is not fully expended, it may be used to fund non-Medicaid services as necessary. Why do we continuously balance the (Department of Health and Human Services) budget on the backs of the elderly and disabled? said Rep. Jon Knokey, the Bozeman Republican and sponsor of HB 334. He noted that instead of using unspent Medicaid dollars to plug holes in other programs such as foster care or addiction treatment, as was done in recent years the governor could use money from other places in the general fund. The legislature is giving Governor Bullock one more opportunity to do the right thing and put an end to budget games being played with Medicaid funds. The proposed amendment went directly against the intent of the bill and Im glad it will go back to his desk in the original form, Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, said in a written statement. Bullock has previously contended that it makes sense that if a program will not be able to use all of its funding that those dollars be put to good use elsewhere. After both chambers killed his amendments Monday, the governor must now decide whether to kill HB 334 outright or let it become law as originally written. A similar proposal, Senate Bill 208, likewise would require funding for Medicaid waiver programs that provide home-based services to the elderly and people with disabilities be spent on those programs only. The bill by Sen. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, also clarified that the funding might be spent by the department to help employers pay direct care workers more in hopes of ending a shortage that has left people on waitlists even as the state had the money to pay for care. Both measures originally passed their chambers with bipartisan support, although some Democrats had taken up the governors argument that the bills unnecessarily tied the hands of the executive. Rep. Kathy Kelker, a Billings Democrat who serves on the board of a nonprofit nursing home, said Knokeys bill was making a false argument. How we move the money around has to be decided on what we can actually do in the real world, she said. Rep. Marilyn Ryan, D-Missoula, said she had initially supported HB 334 before learning more about the complicated issues at the heart of why the department has been unable to spend all the money it has received. The governor has to have the flexibility to move finances where needed, she said. Bullock Spokeswoman Ronja Abel said the governor was unavailable for comment on Monday, but emailed a statement that provided little clue as to what he might do next. "Governor Bullock is disappointed the Legislature did not accept his amendments to make the bill more fiscally responsible. He will now take a final look at the bill on its original merits before he takes action," she wrote. Luxury senior living community The Gatesworth is close to completing a $32 million expansion of the assisted living operations on its University City campus. A new 90-unit apartment building, part of McKnight Place Assisted Living on the Gatesworth campus, is scheduled to open this fall. Following that building's completion, plans call for renovating the existing McKnight Place Assisted Living building. University City-based GateCo Development is serving as the general contractor for the project. The Lawrence Group, of St. Louis, is the architect. The Gatesworth is an independent, locally operated senior living community that offers independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing care. After 17 years of reporting and anchoring in STL, Melanie Moon will be stepping down at KTVI (Channel 2) and KPLR (Channel 11) and stepping off to Kuwait. Moon is ankling the stations to join her fiance, Alain Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot who has been assigned to Kuwait City for the Boeing Co. Moon's last day on the air will be May 12. She told station officials she plans to do freelance television work in the Middle East. A Florida native who plays the piano and the harp, Moon worked in Tampa and Washington before settling in St. Louis. In 2013, Moon was central to a social-media flap when she hugged Ryan Ferguson, upon his release from prison. Ferguson had served 10 years for the murder of a Columbia newspaper editor. Moon had covered the story for both KPLR and KTVI. Some media observers said her actions brought her objectivity into question. Moon defended herself, claiming that media bias "can serve the public good." Montana residents may not need to use passports to board domestic flights next year, after all. The state House and Senate on Tuesday passed a measure to give residents the option to buy a driver's license or identification card that complies with the federal Real ID Act. Federal officials notified the state it would not be granted any more delays to comply with the 2005 anti-terrorism law. That means state-issued driver's licenses would not be accepted at federal facilities and, starting in 2018, as identification to board flights. The legislation authorizes the state Department of Justice to borrow up to $4.6 million to issue Real ID-compliant cards to those who want them. Residents could choose to keep their regular licenses and use passports to board flights. The bill now goes to Gov. Steve Bullock. ST. CLAIR COUNTY A Belleville man was charged Monday in an attack on a MetroLink train that was halted with the help of a bystander, police said. Craig Vasser, 55, is facing a charge of aggravated battery for allegedly hitting another train passenger on the side of the head with a pair of pliers, the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office said. The attack happened about 9:30 p.m. April 4 while Vasser and the victim were on an eastbound train that had left the Swansea station, police said. The victim, 36, told police that he had been talking on a cellphone when a stranger began shouting at him and told him to shut up. The stranger then struck the man on the right side of his head with the pliers. The victim said that as he struggled with the man, another man stepped in to help end the attack. The second man called police. He told them that he had blocked the attacker's arm and dislodged the pliers. The attacker fled when the train reached the Belleville station. The victim was treated at a hospital for cuts to his head. Police said video of the incident led them to Vasser. He lives in the 600 block of Clay Street in Belleville. He was arrested Saturday and remained jailed Monday with bail set at $40,000. Three teens fled a traffic stop in a stolen SUV Tuesday morning and crashed into another car near St. Louis Lambert International Airport, critically injuring two boys and a woman in the second car. A 9-year-old boy was in critical and unstable condition, according to police. A 5-year-old boy was critical but stable. The 30-year-old driver of that car was in critical but stable condition with broken bones. Another woman in the car, 28, had cuts and scrapes. Three teens in the SUV that fled police were taken into custody following the crash, just before 10 a.m. on Lambert International Boulevard in front of Terminal 2. They were also taken to a hospital with scrapes and cuts. Police found a replica of a gun in the SUV. Authorities blocked off the scene, which included a crumpled silver Toyota RAV4 and a red Toyota Corolla. A child safety seat was on the ground next to the red car. The shutdown disrupted traffic trying to get to Terminal 2 for about four hours. Travelers were seen walking on roadways, pulling their luggage on rollers, to try to find a detour. Full access to the airport was restored by 4:15 p.m. The crash was triggered after the SUV fled a Normandy police officer who tried to stop the vehicle on westbound Interstate 70 near Interstate 170 about 9:46 a.m., according to St. Louis County police Sgt. Shawn McGuire. The driver didnt pull over and instead sped off westbound. Meanwhile, police discovered the car had been taken in an armed carjacking in the Central West End early Tuesday. In that crime, two males took a silver 2010 Toyota RAV4 with California plates about 12:15 a.m. The carjackers had approached two St. Louis University students in the 4000 block of West Pine Boulevard and asked for a ride to a MetroLink station, according to a campus alert sent out early Tuesday. After the victims agreed and the males got in the car, one of them pulled a gun and demanded the victims money, phones and the SUV, police said. The victims were allowed to get out near Sarah Street and McPherson Avenue. The carjackers drove off in the SUV. The students, a man and woman, both 21, were not injured. The carjackers were described as between 20 and 25 years old, and it was unclear if they were the same people as the teens arrested after the crash. The SUV didnt flee Normandy police for long. The driver exited Interstate 70 onto Lambert International Boulevard and struck the other car near an intersection at the west end of Terminal 2 at 9:47 a.m., McGuire said. Thats just a minute or two after the Normandy officer tried to stop the SUV. How long and how far the chase proceeded and whether it met the departments policies is under investigation. The airport said on Twitter that the crash involved a fatality, and the Missouri Highway Patrols dispatchers initially had been told by a rescuer at the scene that a child had died. However, when a trooper arrived at the scene, the trooper was told that the child had been resuscitated and taken to a hospital. Normandy police could not be reached for comment; McGuire said county police will handle the investigation. A 16-year-old boy was driving the fleeing vehicle, McGuire said. Another boy, 15, was in the front passenger seat, and a 15-year-old girl was in the back. They were all taken for treatment and will be held in custody. For much of the day, Terminal 2 could still only be accessed from the east by James S. McDonnell Boulevard or Exit 238A off Interstate 70. Access from the west was blocked as investigators worked at the scene of the crash. Later in the day, the airport said a lane had opened in each direction on Lambert International Boulevard. ST. LOUIS A man shot Monday night in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood has died at a hospital, police say. Delvin Smith, 23, was brought to a hospital by a man after he was found on the front steps of a vacant residence in the 3600 block of Cote Brilliante Avenue late Monday. Police later determined he had been shot shortly after 11 p.m. He had been shot in the abdomen, back and leg. Police had no information on suspects. The area where he was found shot isjust west of Grand Boulevard and north of Grand Center. ST. LOUIS St. Louis University leaders and members of the Service Employees International Union have tentatively agreed on the first contract for adjunct faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Education. The contract is still pending approval from union members within the next week. The five-year contract comes more than a year after the SLU adjunct professors voted to unionize. Out of 156 eligible voters, 89 voted in favor back in March of 2016, and 28 voted against it. "We believe that the tentative agreement is a fair outcome as we work to proactively address our budgetary challenges and to create a more efficient and effective organization through the ongoing operational excellence program," SLU provost Nancy Brickhouse said in an email to the campus Tuesday. The "operational excellence program" is the ongoing effort to rightsize the university's spending, revenue and programs. The program led to 120 layoffs of staff members in March. A review of all academic programs is still in progress. A spokeswoman from SEIU said the union doesn't comment on contracts until they're ratified by members. JEFFERSON CITY An attempt to shed more light on legal settlements that have cost the state millions in recent years easily won initial approval in the Missouri House Tuesday. Potosi Republican Paul Fitzwater's proposal would require the attorney general to provide monthly updates on lawsuits against the Department of Corrections and payouts from the state legal expense fund. The fund came under fire late last month after The Pitch, a Kansas City weekly alternative newspaper, reported it expended more than $7.5 million in the past five years to settle cases or pay judgments against the department. The Pitch story and further reporting by the Post-Dispatch revealed a culture of harassment and discrimination in the department and prompted an investigation by a House committee and the state auditor. Lawmakers also found that the fund had paid more than $52 million to settle lawsuits against various state agencies in the same time period. Attorney General Josh Hawley has already agreed to post reports online starting this month as the legislature continues its investigation of widespread sexual harassment and legal trouble in Missouri's prison system. But lawmakers wanted to ensure Hawley's successors do the same. House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City, also tacked on an amendment requiring public colleges and the state's transportation and conservation departments to make provide similar reports. Auditor Nicole Galloway opened an investigation into all department settlements following a Post-Dispatch report that a former Department of Conservation director was still being paid after leaving his post in June. A settlement agreement allows Robert Ziehmer, who now works at the Johnny Morris Foundation in Springfield, to be paid more than $100,000 in accrued leave and receive insurance for nearly a year after his departure. A new study says saturated fats don't clog arteries. So go ahead and fry up that bacon guilt-free while you catch up on the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) 1. Sanctuary cities A federal judge blocked President Trump's attempt to withhold federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities. The ruling -- a preliminary injunction against Trump's executive order signed in January -- is just the latest bad news for the administration on the immigration front. The judge said the cities and other jurisdictions, which don't cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts, would be harmed if the President's order goes into effect and that their constitutional challenge of the order would probably succeed. The White House called the ruling an "egregious overreach by a single, unelected district judge." 2. Russia investigation The Russia probe is heating back up. The House Oversight Committee looking into meddling in the US election says retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's ex-national security adviser, probably broke the law when he failed to disclose more than $45,000 in payments from Russia for a speech he gave on Russian state TV. Meantime, ex-acting Attorney General Sally Yates will testify next month before a Senate committee that's looking into Russian interference in last year's election. Yates is expected to talk about phone calls between Flynn and a Russian ambassador. Need a refresher on all the players? Here you go. 3. Obamacare 4. Trade disputes While the US faces off against Canada over timber tariffs, it lost a battle with Mexico over tuna. The World Trade Organization ruled that Mexico could hit the US with $163 million a year in sanctions. Mexico says that's how much it has lost because the US penalizes Mexican tuna, which America says is fished using a method that kills dolphins. Mexico says it plays by the rules. The timing is sensitive, as President Trump says he wants to renegotiate NAFTA. 5. Fitbit murder We've entered a brave new world. Police arrested a man in his wife's killing -- based on evidence found in her Fitbit. He had told police that intruders attacked him and killed his wife, but the Fitbit showed she was moving around when, based on his story, she would have been dead. Technology is turning up more and more in criminal cases, like Amazon Echo recordings used in an Arkansas murder case and a pacemaker used in an Ohio arson case. BREAKFAST BROWSE People are talking about these. Read up. Join in. Buckle up Uber has unveiled plans to develop flying car prototypes by 2020. Science fiction said we'd have them by now, but we can wait a few years. Run the world Beyonce's latest project isn't a new album or a sizzling music video. It's four college scholarships for young women. Mural madness There's a new mural of Michelle Obama in Chicago, and some folks are PO'd about it, but not for the reasons you'd think. Last in line Congrats, United. Despite that whole dragging-a-passenger-off-the-plane thing, you're still not America's least-liked airline. A good deed She lost a $676 money order. He found it and gave it back. She gave him $40 as a reward, then listened to his story and realized she needed to do more. AND FINALLY ... Pok-e-what? This dad knows nothing about Pokemon, so of course he's the perfect person to explain the phenomenon to you. (Click to view) CNN's Jim Acosta, Elizabeth Landers and Laura Jarrett contributed to this report. The Montana Legislature endorsed a proposal Tuesday to spend $6 million to test ways to expand preschool access in the state, which opponents objected was a backdoor attempt to pass Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock's preschool grant proposal that failed earlier this session. The measure would be paid for with what legislators are calling a "temporary hospital community benefit assessment" that would be charged to the state's 14 largest hospitals. Those hospitals would pay the state a combined $4.3 million a year until 2019 under that fee, or about $13 million. What doesn't go to the preschool program would go to the state's general fund. Hospital officials "stepped up" to back the fee after state officials helped secure an increased federal Medicaid reimbursement rate that could yield state hospitals up to $212 million in that time, said Sen. Llew Jones, R-Conrad. Jones and other Republican supporters of the measure acknowledged the measure's insertion into a budget companion bill was the result of negotiations with the Democratic governor's office, but said it was completely different from the governor's $12 million proposal that was previously rejected by lawmakers. The proposal that passed initial votes in the House and Senate is an expansion of an existing program that deals with private preschools, not the public preschool programs envisioned by the governor's proposal, they said. "Part of the negotiation package that occurred actually with a number of members here was that this was going to be acceptable," Jones said. Bullock spokeswoman Ronja Abel confirmed that the preschool funding was part of a larger negotiation over tax policy bills that Republican lawmakers were seeking to become law. "It's not as much funding as the governor would have hoped, but he's pleased there will be something allocated to early childhood education this session," she said. The $6 million over two years would go to fund a pilot program meant to expand the state's Stars to Quality Program, which is a voluntary improvement system where participating private early childhood programs are given ratings and incentives to improve their performance. The measure says the money is meant to increase 4- and 5-year-old children's access to preschool. Conservative legislators pointed to a provision in the bill that says the state Department of Public Health and Human Services will "test multiple delivery models, including public programs, private programs and mixed delivery programs through public-private partnerships." That's evidence, they said, that the department will do more than expand the existing Stars to Quality program. "What's been slipped into this bill is the governor's plans to fund preschools," said Rep. Derek Skees, R-Kalispell. Despite the objections, the measure passed an initial vote in the House 72-28 and 32-15 in the Senate. They must pass a final vote in each chamber before the measure goes to Bullock. Republican majority legislative leaders and Bullock's office have been negotiating passage of several pieces of legislation in the session's final days, though they are stuck on reaching a deal on a $78 million bill to fund infrastructure projects by issuing bonds. For all the talk of deep partisan divides on the Supreme Court, justices found ground for unity last week on the controversial topic of asset forfeiture. Seven of the eight participating justices rejected a Colorado requirement that people must prove their innocence before they can recover assets seized in criminal cases where the defendants were found not guilty. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter. Newly sworn Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate. Otherwise, conservatives and liberals agreed that Colorados asset-forfeiture law went way too far in granting government the authority to retain seized assets without due process. Asset forfeiture is a tricky issue. No one likes the idea of, say, a major drug trafficker getting to keep a mansion, yacht or millions of dollars in probably ill-gotten gains simply because the government couldnt prove that these were the direct proceeds of a criminal enterprise. But our court system requires a presumption of innocence. The prosecution has the burden of proof, not the defense. In the Colorado case, two former criminal defendants whose convictions were overturned had to sue the state to recover fees and assets taken during their prosecution. Colorado law required them to prove their innocence in court before assets could be released. Colorado may not presume a person, adjudged guilty of no crime, nonetheless guilty enough for monetary exactions, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the majority. To get their money back, defendants should not be saddled with any proof burden. Numerous states have laws that impose enormous costs and hassles on former defendants seeking to recover seized assets. Police departments and prosecutors offices often rely on those assets to fund their operations. Nationally, asset forfeitures in 2014 exceeded $5 billion. Officers in one notorious East Texas case for years used their states asset-forfeiture laws to systematically shake down mainly black and Latino motorists on local highways for innocuous offenses like driving 37 mph in a 35 mph zone. In Missouri, seized assets must be used to fund schools, which helps remove the incentive for police to use asset forfeiture to boost local coffers. Still, abuses abound. President Donald Trump stepped into the middle of this debate during a February meeting with law enforcers when a Texas sheriff complained about a Republican state senator who had proposed a bill requiring conviction before authorities could seize a defendants money. Trump offered to destroy the senators career. Trump failed to recognize that this is a sore point among many of his partys conservative hardliners who see asset forfeiture laws as an example of government run amok. The Conservative Review said Trumps threat should scare all of us. Jacob Sullum, of the libertarian magazine Reason, labeled asset forfeiture legalized theft. Its a rare day, indeed, when Justice Ginsburg stands with them at the Supreme Court. MISSOULA A Missoula County District Court jury has convicted a 47-year-old Missoula man of drugging and sexually assaulting girls as young as 12. Finding Erik Nugent guilty, Deputy County Attorney Ryan Mickelson said in his closing statement, would allow the girls to be given back in just a small way what has been taken from them. Jurors convicted Nugent guilty of six counts of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and four of sexual abuse of children. He has been in the Missoula County jail since he was arrested in September. Nine girls some of whom testified at trial told a detective that Nugent gave them drugs, including methamphetamine, LSD, marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms, according to court documents. One girl said she saw nude photos of one of the other teens on Nugents computer, and another said Nugent showed her a topless photo of another underage girl and video of him molesting her. In his closing statement, Mickelson said a therapist contacted police after Nugent spoke of his interest in one girl and told the therapist he'd molested some of the others. Coworkers also reported Nugent to the police after he made repeated sexual comments about children, according to court documents. Nugent didn't react as the verdict was read after just over two hours of deliberation, although he and his attorney asked that jurors be polled individually, with each having to verbally agree they had decided on guilty on each of the charges. He will be sentenced by District Court Judge Karen Townsend on July 11. Mickelson told jurors that the nine girls involved in the case ranged from 12 to 17 years old during their interactions with Nugent, who was 46 at the time. Some did not testify at trial, with Mickelson adding that those who did had to publicly relive and relay their tragic experiences. Included in the charges is that Nugent raped two of the girls, then 14, while they were drunk or high on drugs he'd given them. There has been absolutely nothing to refute the charges against the defendant, he said. Chris Daly, Nugents public defense attorney, had reminded the jury that the prosecution had the obligation to prove his clients guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. He said some of the girls didnt testify at trial, and that the information about what happened to them was anecdotal. Furthermore, he said the testimony from the girls who did take the stand stemmed from memories of times when they were admittedly under the influence of drugs. They might have hallucinated the occurrences, he said. Mickelson responded by saying there was no way several girls would have been able to hallucinate the same version of events. Daly said one of the girls stopped seeing Nugent because her boyfriend was upset about the relationship. Daly told jurors they should take that into account when determining if the girl gave honest answers about what happened to her. He also said there was no evidence that Nugent sold the girls the drugs, required sexual acts in exchange for them, or even handed them the drugs. The evidence showed only that the girls attended gatherings hosted by Nugent where there were drugs. But Mickelson said that even if Nugent gave away the drugs, that was still illegal. Jon and Nick Francis, the two brothers who own Paddock Farm, pictured with their Tamworth pigs. CELEBRITY chef Jamie Oliver will be serving his clientele top quality lamb and pork from the Paddock Farm Butchery in Brailes which is run by brothers Jon and Nick Francis. The news further strengthens Jon and Nicks ties to top chefs in London; they already supply meat to Raymond Blanc, Mark Hicks and Fergus Henderson and its all down to word of mouth. We had previously worked with Simon Henbury at Ace Hotel London. Hes now moved to Jamie Olivers new high-end barbeque restaurant Barbecoa and recommended us as a supplier. Weve been fortunate to work with Jamie Olivers restaurants in St Pauls and Piccadilly, said Nick. The Barbecoa sources the best British meats which is then cooked over an Argentinian open fire grill. Paddock Farm Butchery is supplying local lamb and rare-breed pork from its own herd of Tamworth pigs. Were extremely proud to be supplying such a high profile chef, said Nick. I was massively inspired by Jamie Oliver when I was learning to cook so hes been a big influence on me. Its a great honour to be picked out to supply his new flagship restaurant. Our ethos is all about working with the best possible animals, whether theyve come off our farm or our trusted neighbours, and its great that they share our approach at Barbecoa. I cant wait to go and have dinner there myself. The brothers had to undergo a stringent auditing process before they were chosen by Jamie Oliver to supply him with meat reared in south Warwickshire. Weve worked hard to get where we are and much of our success is based on recommendations by word of mouth, said Nick. H&M have confirmed that their store in Stratford will close this spring following widespread speculation on social media.The company has yet to confirm its reason for leaving the premises, but a spokesperson for UK and European, the company behind the 30million project to develop Bell Court, said the decision to leave was taken by H&M. The spokesperson confirmed that the company was not asked to vacate the unit by the developer. H&M have yet to confirm the exact date its store will close, though it has been reported that staff have been told it will shut at the end of May. A spokesperson for H&M said: H&Ms Stratford-Upon-Avon store will permanently close for trade in Spring 2017. All customers can shop online at www.hm.com or visit their nearest stores which are located at the Kingfisher Shopping Centre, Redditch and 60-62 Parade, Leamington Spa. The company has not said whether it would be seeking alternative premises in Stratford, though speculation is mounting over whether the chain may have an eye on one of the towns vacant units such as the BHS building. A spokesperson for UK and European said: With H&M closing, we now have the opportunity to bring new and exciting names to Stratford-upon-Avon. This will help complement and diversify the offering at Bell Court, ensuring it becomes a high quality leisure and shopping destination within the heart of the town centre. Joe Baconnet, director of Stratforward BID, said: I am trying to find out more at the moment, but I am surprised by this announcement. Its a real shame for the shoppers and visitors to Stratford-upon-Avon and I think H&M will ultimately regret their decision. To have continued trading while the remodelling of Bell Court went on all around them and then to leave as the scheme is finally completed and about to deliver on its considerable promise is a strange decision. However, it does give UK and European another unit to attract other retailers to Stratford. We have committed to work with the developer to continue to attract occupiers to Stratford. Bell Court is set to open for business in June when the Everyman Cinema, designed to attract people to the development, opens its doors. The redevelopment of the former Town Square has been widely welcomed across Stratford, following years of poor footfall and empty units at the site. UK and European are planning to fill the units at Bell Court with high quality restaurants and retailers. Chains such as Nandos and Miller and Carter Steakhouse have already confirmed their tenancy in the new development along with bar operator All Bar One. News of H&Ms closure has not been welcomed on social media, with many Facebook users lamenting the loss of the store. Abby Smith commented: One of the more decent shops in town! I buy most of my sons clothes there. Such a shame. Gavin Lambert added: Wonder if H&M will move to one of the empty stores elsewhere in town? I love H&M hope it stays. Earlier this month fashion retailer Jaeger, which has a shop on Bridge Street, entered administration. Last week AlixPartners, who have been appointed as administrators, confirmed that the Stratford shop is one of 20 Jaeger stores that will close. Six people are currently employed at the shop, though the exact closure date has yet to be announced. What do you think about H&Ms decision to move out? What would you like to see in its place? Let us know at news@stratford-herald.com. NAB 17: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Delivers Anti-Regulation Keynote Anyone looking for direction from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai on the contentious issue of net neutrality was disappointed. Pai delivered an NAB Show keynote address this morning that was long on pop culture references and folksy values, rich with anti-regulation vows, and almost devoid of any mention of the internet. Speaking to an audience of broadcast owners, politicians, and present and former FCC staffers, Pai promised to lead a comprehensive review of the FCC's media regulations, an initiative he said he had launched this morning. Rules that get on the books stay on the books, he said, blaming Washington D.C. inertia. There are currently 1,000 pages of media regulations on the books, he noted, adding, "I'm trying to change that." On May 18, the commission will vote on a comprehensive review of the FCC's media regulations, Pai said, including rules governing cable and satellite. His goal is to match the rules with the reality broadcasters face in 2017. A call to eliminate the main studio rule, which dictates that radio and TV stations keep their main studio in or near the city where they have a license, drew applause. Eliminating the rule will allow companies to save money by collocating office space, he said. Pai praised the work of traditional broadcasters, noting that people still depend on local sources for news and emergency information, the majority of viewers still watch shows on broadcast TV, and 93 percent regularly listen to the radio. "I remain fundamentally optimistic about the future of broadcasting," Pai said. "I don't see the free market as the enemy of localism." Pai spoke of the move to ATSC 3.0a collection of standards that will bring 4K and high dynamic range video to broadcast televisioncalling it a priority and saying the FCC should promote broadcasting innovation, not stand in its way. While Pai found time in his brief address to talk about AM radio revitalization, he didn't refer to any internet-centric policies. He's expected to unveil net neutrality plans tomorrow, but made no mention of the subject today. Pai's FCC has been especially friendly to big business so far, at the expense of user privacy. His only mention of the internet was saying current media ownership rules ignore it. "This is an exciting time for the broadcast industry," Pai said, one with fast changes and new opportunities, where standing still is falling behind. "I'll do my best to get unnecessary rules out of the way so that broadcasters can rev that engine." Pai's address lasted 20 minutes. He took no questions. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Related Articles Verizon Digital Media Services and Levels Beyond partner to provide content intelligence for broadcasters and OTT providers LOS ANGELES( ) Verizon Digital Media Services and Levels Beyond announced today a strategic partnership to go to market with a combined solution that consolidates and streamlines the workflows of broadcasters and OTT providers. The Reach Engine from Levels Beyond will power the MX: Orchestration feature within the Verizon Media Xperience Studio from Verizon Digital Media Services. The content intelligence that comes from managing assets within Reach Engine is the perfect complement to the Verizon Media Xperience Studio. "Our combined solution allows customers to manage the complete video lifecycle from a single web-based platform," said Ralf Jacob, president, Verizon Digital Media Services. "Our digital media platform already provides single-format media processing for the highest quality playback across devices and industry-leading content delivery. Now by incorporating Levels Beyond's Reach Engine into the Verizon Media Xperience Studio, broadcasters can streamline asset management and metadata collection, and can easily orchestrate the creation of multiscreen applications, analytic aggregation, and ad and subscription models." Content owners will be able to manage content workflows, from production to multiscreen video delivery, receiving detailed information across a piece of content's entire lifecycle. They will also have access to in-depth insights, from content costs to revenue generation, throughout playout on OTT and syndicated platforms. Art Raymond, CEO, Levels Beyond, said, "Early reviews with customers have been phenomenal; the ability to plan a content cycle and measurably automate it all the way to the consumer is an industry first. Together with Verizon Digital Media Services, we are driving the industry into the future by offering intelligence at every step from content automation to delivery to each individual end user." About Levels Beyond Levels Beyond is the Denver-based company behind the software platform Reach Engine that allows companies to create and curate video content on new era tools and enable smart, secure and elastic cloud services in sync with media workflow. With Reach Engine, Levels Beyond has created an evolvable and customizable system serving more than 70 Tier One clients internationally. Levels Beyond partners with companies of all sizes to create innovative solutions that advance media businesses. Learn more at www.reachengine.com About Verizon Digital Media Services Verizon Digital Media Services offers an industry-leading, end-to-end digital media platform to prepare, deliver, display and monetize online content. The platform is built on the world's largest, most connected network, and has over 100 points of presence on five continents, ensuring high-quality viewing of digital content on any device, anytime, anywhere. The company provides the foundational components in websites, apps and OTT video services for many of the world's largest publishers, media companies and enterprises. Learn more about how Verizon Digital Media Services continues to change the way the world watches at www.verizondigitalmedia.com. Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar held a meeting with acting US Deputy Secretary of State, Tom Shannon, in Washington on Monday. The meeting between Ishaq Dar and Tom Shannon was held at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington during which key issues came under discussion. Speaking on the occasion, Tom Shannon said that close and good relations between Pakistan and the United States are beneficial for both the countries. Mr. Tom Shannon,Acting Deputy Secretary of State called on Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar at Embassy of Pakistan Washington DC today pic.twitter.com/P4NHdCakYf Pakistan Embassy, DC (@PakEmbassyDC) April 24, 2017 Ishaq Dar who is currently visiting the United States has held positive meetings with officials of Trump administration, representatives of IMF and the World Bank. Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique says Prime Minster Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has presented himself before the Supreme Court despite his name was not mentioned in the Panama Papers. Addressing a news conference in Lahore on Monday evening, he said PTI Chief Imran Khan is fighting the Panama battle to hide his failures. He said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has defeated Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for several times in the previous elections and will win the upcoming general elections 2018 with two-thirds majority. The Minister said it is a wrong practice to targeting the Supreme Court and national security institutions in the country. He made it clear that those who are involved in the contempt of court will be dealt with legally. He urged the political workers to uphold the moral values. Saad Rafique said JIT is being constituted on the verdict of Supreme Court and those who are raising objections on it have no legal standing. Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday has strictly ordered information ministry to remove blasphemous content from social media within four months. Justice Athar Mahmood heard the case during which the petitioner told the court that profane material has not been deleted from the social media despite courts directives. He said that it comes under contempt of court to not follow its orders and requested to remove such sacrilegious content immediately. The court has directed the concerned authorities including home and information ministries to submit report and erase the stuff in four months. On the other hand, LHC has reserved decision on the case pertaining to blackmailing citizens through fake accounts on Facebook and Twitter filed by law expert Ishtiaq Chaudhry. The claimant said that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has failed to launch any action against fake account users. Earlier, Interior Secretary Arif Khan had informed Islamabad High Court (IHC) that Facebook management has removed 85 percent blasphemous content on the request of Pakistan. He told the court that at least three suspects were arrested in connection with the case whereas blasphemous content from their laptops and mobile devices was also recovered. Director Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Dr. Mazhar Kakakhel had also submitted progress report in the court and informed that those bloggers who have escaped from the country would be brought back through red warrant. Blasphemy is a highly sensitive and capital crime in Pakistan for which dozens are sitting on death row. There have been at least 67 murders over unproven allegations since 1990. Skies of the port city of Mukalla in Yemen lit up with fireworks on Monday as locals celebrated the one-year anniversary of liberation from al-Qaeda. Hundreds of residents took to the streets of the capital of the southeastern governorate of Hadramout to mark the April 24 anniversary after al-Qaeda retreated from the region. Exploiting the chaos engulfing Yemen, in mid-April 2015 al-Qaeda established itself as a major power in the desert region of Hadramout, as the war-torn countrys exiled government was occupied in a conflict with the Houthi militias. A year later, Yemeni government troops backed by the Arab coalition entered Mukalla, taking control of its port and airport and setting up checkpoints throughout the southern city. The move appeared to be part of a wider offensive aimed at taking back parts of the country from al-Qaeda. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. DECATUR A German-based healthcare company has agreed to buy Akorn Pharmaceuticals, with the deal expected to close by early 2018. Fresenius Kabi will acquire Akorn for $4.3 billion, plus the assumption of about $450 million of debt, the two companies said in a news release Monday. Boards for both companies have approved the agreement and transaction, which will be recommended by Akorns board to its shareholders. It was unclear what the move might mean for the two Akorn facilities in Decatur, which employ more than 200 people. Matt Kuhn, a spokesman for Fresenius Kabi, said the two companies would operate separately until the transaction closes. "Following the close, we will work together to integrate the businesses in a way that minimizes disruption for customers and employees, he said. Also, after close, we will go through a thorough integration process to determine the optimal organization to support the combined business. This being said, our commitment clearly is to further grow the combined business. A representative for Akorn could not be reached for comment Monday evening, but CEO Raj Rai praised the move in the joint news release. Fresenius Kabi is an excellent fit for Akorn, strategically and culturally, he said. In the U.S., Fresenius Kabi sells sterile injectable drugs that are used in hospitals and clinics, Kuhn said, as well as blood transfusion equipment, infusion pumps and clinical nutrition products. Its products are sold to group purchasing organizations that represent hospitals. Akorn is a generic drug maker with products that include topical creams, ointments and gels, oral liquids, ear and eye solutions, nasal sprays and respiratory drugs in addition to sterile injectables. Kuhn described the businesses as complementary and said Akorn represents an opportunity for Fresenius Kabi to diversify its product offerings and delivery methods. We dont have many products that are prescribed directly for patients that end up in the retail pharmacy, he said. This agreement would allow us to access products that go through that channel, so to speak. Akorn recently celebrated a 30,000-square-foot expansion to its existing packaging facility on Wyckles Road. The $5.6 million project had helped retain 200 jobs and created 25 additional positions. Akorn had also broken ground on a $25 million expansion of its Grand Avenue facility in October, the expansion to include a new lab among other additions. News of the Akorn acquisition comes hard on the heels of the March 23 closure announcement of Meda Pharmaceuticals manufacturing facility in Decatur. Meda had been taken over by Pennsylvania-based Mylan in a $7 billion deal in 2016. The shutdown of the Decatur production plant and offices, with the loss of 90 jobs, was described by Mylan as the result of our integration process and being consistent with our ongoing efforts to operate our businesses as efficiently as possible. Such job losses are not unusual when one company is taken over by another, and Mylan had talked of wanting to reduce redundancy by eliminating unnecessary positions. It predicted cuts would hit less than 10 percent of its global workforce which, standing at 35,000 people, added up to the loss of some 3,500 jobs. Hearing of the Meda job losses in Decatur, Akorn had said at the time that it could have jobs for some of them and had already reached out to Meda's human resource department. We hope we can keep these workers in Decatur, said Amy Spry, a talent acquisition partner for Akorn, in comments at the time. PEORIA Caterpillar's first-quarter adjusted profit handily topped expectations on Wall Street, and revenue climbed thanks to improved sales across its business segments. The construction equipment company also boosted its full-year outlook thanks to a stronger-than-expected start to the year. Shares jumped 6 percent in Tuesday premarket trading. For the three months ended March 31, the Peoria, Illinois, company earned $192 million, or 32 cents per share. That compares with $271 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier. Stripping out restructuring costs, earnings were $1.28 per share. That easily beat the 62 cents per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research called for. Revenue rose to $9.82 billion from $9.46 billion. That topped the $9.36 billion in revenue that analysts expected. For the year, Caterpillar Inc. now predicts adjusted earnings of $3.75 per share, with revenue in a range of $38 billion to $41 billion. Its prior guidance was for adjusted earnings of about $2.90 per share, with revenue between $36 billion and $39 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet are looking for earnings of $3.25 per share on revenue of $37.9 billion. Caterpillar, with operations in Decatur, is having a tumultuous year, announcing that it would move its headquarters to the Chicago area. Last month it denied it had broken any federal tax laws after its headquarters and other facilities were raided by a number of federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service. Caterpillar has been challenged for some time by federal agencies in regard to its accounting practices and said that the raids may have been related to a Swiss business, called CSARL. DECATUR Jury selection was completed late Monday in the trial of Elliott T. Murphy, 23, who is facing four counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted first-degree murder. He allegedly punched and stomped two men in a mob attack by teens that took the life of 61-year-old Jerry Newingham and left 46-year-old Kevin S. Wilson disabled. Associate Macon County Judge Jeffrey Geisler and attorneys questioned 40 prospective jurors before deciding on the eight men and six women who will serve at the trial, expected to last through Friday or possibly into next week. Twelve of the jurors will serve as regulars, with two alternates. The trial began seven years and eight months after the incident occurred on Aug. 24, 2009, which resulted in lengthy sentences for Murphy and his half-brother, Deonta Johnson. Four other teens were also sent to prison for terms ranging from three to 20 years after pleading guilty to charges including first-degree murder in connection with the incident. One of the questions the prospective jurors were asked by First Assistant State's Attorney Nichole Kroncke was whether the fact that the crimes were committed when Murphy was 16 years old would affect their verdict. In one panel of 14 prospective jurors, all of them said that would not influence them. This will be the second trial for Murphy, who was convicted of the same charges in October 2011 and sentenced to 80 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Murphy's conviction was overturned by a panel of the 4th District Illinois Apellate Court in October 2013 on the grounds that Murphy's attorney, an assistant public defender, had a conflict of interest. The court ruling pointed out that a witness who testified against Murphy had previously been represented by the same attorney in an unrelated case. Johnson, 21, was also convicted on both charges during the original trial, in which they were tried together. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison. His conviction was also overturned on the grounds that the judge who transferred his case to adult court did not consider alternative services and programs within the juvenile justice system. He will be tried separately. His new trial date has not been determined. Murphy's trial will resume at 9 a.m. today in Macon County Circuit Court. The author of a book that will capture the battle experience of the 28th Maori Battalions B-Company is calling for family descendants and relatives to help locate up to 400 photos of the 900 men who made up the company. The author, Sir Wira Gardiner a military historian and retired Lieutenant-Colonel says the book will capture the virtues and bravery of the men, with a particular emphasis on telling the story from soldiers perspectives. Those returning spoke very little of their experiences. This book captures what we have and makes it accessible, he says. The men came mainly from the eastern and central Bay of Plenty, and also from the Coromandel and the Waikato. They were predominantly from tribes with connections to the Mataatua people including the Tauranga Moana tribes; the Te Arawa people including the Tuwharetoa tribe; the Hauraki tribes and the Tainui tribes. The book will therefore be a locally-focused history of the people of one company, B-Company. Sir Wira has completed the first draft of the book. He has a complete list of all the names of the Company but access to photos of only 500 of the 900 men. He would like to publish a full list of names and photos at the end of the book. Sir Wira has been engaged by Ministry for Culture and Heritage in partnership with a trust, B Company History Trust, chaired by Graeme Vercoe, a District Manager and Registrar of the Maori Land Court and retired Lieutenant-Colonel. Graeme says Sir Wira has done an amazing job with the writing and shaping of the mens stories. Their stories are told from a Maori perspective and will help inform the education curriculum in the years ahead. The book is unique and relatives will have the benefit of this book for years to come. There is now only one surviving member of the B-Company of the 28th Maor) Battalion, Robert (Bom) Gillies who is 93. Graeme says Robert has been a guide for the book. All of his comrades have packed their tents. Hes the one left standing hes their voice. The book should have been written 30 years ago while he still had his mates to share their stories. Theres been other efforts to pull a book together but this time with the help of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Ministry of Education, Rotorua Museum and Ngarimu Scholarship Board, were going to get there. The book is the first of three planned fellowships managed by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ngarimu VC and 28th Maori Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board. The projects will focus on the Battalions regional A, B and D Companies. They will complement the history of C Company Monty Soutars Nga Tama Toa which was published with Ministry for Culture and Heritage support in 2008. The 28th Maori Battalion was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Army that served during the Second World War in the Greek, North African and Italian campaigns. It earned a formidable reputation as a fighting force and was the most-decorated New Zealand battalion during the war. Photos can be emailed to: info@28maoribattalion.org.nz They should be a minimum of 300dpi, preferably a tif file and a scan of a photo. An Israeli-American teenager has been indicted in Israel on allegations he made thousands of hoax bomb calls, including to a Jewish centre in New Zealand, and earned thousands by offering to phone in threats against schools, hospitals and planes. A number of New Zealand schools, including Brookfield School, Mount Maunganuis St Thomas More Catholic School, and Papamoas Tahatai Coast School were the targets of telephoned bomb threats in 2016. An indictment filed in the Tel Aviv District Court on Monday pointed to a threat-for-profit motive by the 18-year-old, who prosecutors said used electronic voice-altering equipment and a long-range WiFi antenna to cover his online tracks. US federal court documents identified him as Michael Ron Kadar. The suspect, the Tel Aviv charge sheet alleged, had the equivalent of about $240,000 ($NZ342,000) in his Bitcoin account earned via make-a-threat services he offered on the "Darknet". No plea has been entered. The teens US-born mother and Israeli father say their son, who moved to Israel aged five and lives with them in Ashkelon, is autistic and suffers from a brain tumour that affects his behaviour. "I appeal to the world on his behalf for forgiveness for he does not know what he has done," his mother told reporters. Israeli prosecutors say the suspect made bomb and shooting threats against some 2000 schools, shopping malls, police stations, airlines and airports in North America, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Denmark. According to a price list posted by the suspect, customers could order a threat of a "massacre at a private home" for $US40, a call threatening a "school massacre" for $US80 and a bomb threat against an airliner for $US500, the indictment said. According to the Haaretz website last month, one of the first incidents was a threat made to a Jewish institution in New Zealand last year, but local police were able to track the IP address back to Israel. If convicted in Israel, the teen faces up to 10 years in jail, prosecutor Jonathan Hadad told Reuters. -Additional reporting newsie.co.nz From quarry site to wildlife sanctuary, its a huge leap in status for 400 hectares of land at the top of Te Pukes No. 3 Road and certainly a cause for celebration. The Te Whakakaha Conservation Trust is inviting the community to come down and celebrate the official designation of the Otawa Sanctuary Area as a wildlife haven with a free barbeque at the site this Saturday. The land, formerly the Pakis Quarry, is administered by the Department of Conservation and was officially designated a sanctuary area on December 29, 2016. A spokesperson for the trust says gates, which are normally locked, will be open between 10am-2pm to access the old quarry site at the end of the gravel road. There will be a short formal ceremony at 11am followed by a barbeque and a chance to meet DOC, council and members of the newly formed Te Whakakaha Conservation Trust to find out about the challenging work that lies ahead. The spokesperson says the trust has big plans for the sanctuary and will be aiming to bring the land back to an area of ecological integrity, fit for habitat for New Zealands native wildlife. Pest control is a priority and also replanting of native trees in the bare spaces where buildings have been removed. Kiwi were present many years ago and local branches of Forest & Bird have lobbied hard for two decades to have the area protected because of the presence of a small population of rare native frogs. They are present in a remote area of the sanctuary and extremely vulnerable to disturbance. DOC staff have already done an impressive amount of work on removal of buildings and restoring natural flows to the waterways by removing large culverts put in for quarry access. Support for the work has come from the BOP Regional Council, Western Bay District Council, local iwi Waitaha and Tapuika, Forest and Bird, and local volunteers through the community Trust, adds the spokesperson. For more information about the Otawa Sanctuary Area celebration which takes place on Saturday, April 29, email tewhakatrust@gmail.com DECATUR Warrensburg-Latham High School senior Megan Olinger has already made plans for after graduation. But I just want to see more options, said Olinger, who wants to transfer to Southern Illinois University after completing an associate degree at Richland Community College. Olinger and about 50 other area high school students attended College Signing Day on Monday afternoon at Richland Community College to learn about those other choices and celebrate the decisions they have already made. The event is part of the nationwide Better Make Room campaign introduced in 2015 by former First Lady Michelle Obama to encourage students to continue their education after high school. Event organizer Taylor Vidmar, a freshman at Richland, is among 17 students chosen in January to be part of the campaign's student advisory board. The main goal is to celebrate local seniors who've committed to higher education, Vidmar said. Representatives from various colleges were available to answer all students' questions, including the University of Illinois at Springfield, Eastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. High schools with students attending the event included Warrensburg-Latham, Central A&M, Cerro Gordo and Eisenhower, each with about seven students. It's not a huge number, but I still think it is a good amount, Vidmar said of the initial local effort. College Signing Days are scheduled for other dates throughout the country. Vidmar said the goal of the Better Make Room is to help the United States become one of the leaders in higher education, which includes community colleges, military or technical training and four-year colleges. We have college signing days for athletes, and it is a big deal, but they wanted to do something like that for all students, so all students get that celebration, Vidmar said. It is a big decision. Warrensburg-Latham High School guidance counselor Shelli Billingsley brought eight students on Monday. Although her students have already made plans, she felt the event would help answer any questions they might have. I tell them they are not going to make a mistake as long as they are moving forward, she said. You don't have to go to a four-year college, but you have to have a plan. It is still scary, but you have a direction. As the end of the school year approaches, Billingsley has begun to see the excitement in her students about going to college. I can see the relief in the faces. Now they have a direction, she said. Billingsley encouraged Cheyenne Wendell to attend the event with her classmates. Although she has registered for Southern Illinois University classes in the fall, the high school senior was ready to listen to other educators. I'd kind of like to learn from people who already have their life figured out and see the steps they took, she said. I want some good advice. The Better Make Room campaign is part of Michelle Obama's Reach Higher initiative, which aims to inspire every student in America to take charge of their future by continuing their education, according to the organization's website. State Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, was one of three presenters speaking to the students, along with WAND-TV reporter Megan O'Dell and Richland Community College professor Dr. Jarmese Sherrod. Vidmar chose the speakers, she said, because of their understanding of the value of higher education. Manar, who has been among the leaders in the General Assembly working on education funding reform, recounted his plans before graduating high school. He enrolled in a community college to get college credit but had no goal to get involved in politics. I didn't know at the time how many doors would open with just one course, he said. It was hard to believe how many opportunities presented themselves to me because I enrolled in a class. He encouraged the students to strive for their aspirations, never give up. That is how you are going to be successful, he said. Royal Huisman is one of the finest Dutch sailing yacht experts to contribute to the global fleet, and Lethantia is a one of their best examples of sophisticated lifestyle with picturesque profile. With all sails filled, Lethantia is a genuine compliment to any backdrop in which she cruises and provides another world of luxury on board. Listed at an asking price of 7,500,000, Lethantia is a remarkable achievement of on board luxury thanks to a John Munford style which echoes the sophisticated navigation cabins of pioneering sailors while providing all the home comforts for travelling the world. One of the biggest announcements of the year for the Monaco-based broker and a standing testament to the timeless style of the yacht itself, the sale of Lethantia will no doubt bring her back to the fore as she prepares to take on the worlds waters once more. Four women who have been seriously affected by endometriosis, where at least one of their vital organs has been affected by it, tell their stories to raise awareness of the need to consult a doctor when suffering from intense period pains, and to call for greater specialisation and faster and more effective diagnosis. Some decided to become mothers before they discovered that the condition had made them infertile, and they have all lost jobs and partners because of a lack of understanding. People think we just have simple period pain and are exaggerating, when in reality we can bearly move, they say. Izarbe Bernues, who is 27, lives in Benalmadena. She has become addicted to morphine as the result of treatment for her pain. The first symptoms began in her teens. Once a week, I would be in the Emergency Department, she recalls. Her temperature went up to 42.1, but her analyses showed no infection. After being diagnosed, she was treated with Danatrol, a hormonal medication to induce the menopause. It made her body hair grow, gave her insomnia and hot flushes. She has also taken Lyrica, Dolantina and Tramadol, as well as morphine hydrochloride: Im a complete junkie, she says. She has had about a dozen operations, including one to reconstruct her uterus, because of the nodules throughout her body. Elisabeth Santaolalla is 30 and suffered an ovarian complication as a newborn baby. Most of the doctors she consulted attributed her pains to those problems. My first period was terrible, really painful, and that is how my life has been since, she says. Izarbe Bernues 27 years old Ana Ferrer 41 years old Elisabeth Santaolalla 30 years old Julia Mendez 30 years old Im addicted to morphine because of the pain treatment. Ive had several operations because I have nodules all over my body They sent me to a psychiatrist. They thought I was exaggerating. The doctor who finally diagnosed me saved my life What hurts most of all is knowing that many of these illnesses couldve been prevented if Id been diagnosed in time There were days when I couldnt even take my son to school because I was in so much pain I couldnt get out of bed She has had several operations, including the removal of her ovaries. Before being definitively diagnosed with endometriosis after a laparoscopy, a doctor told her the problems were caused by internal hemorrhoids. He had to close down his clinic when she was later found to have 11 tumors in the colon, rectum, kidney and bladder, among other organs. Her fallopian tubes had to be removed and she suffers from joint and muscle pain, in addition to fibromyalgia, menopause, early osteoporosis and hypertension. What hurts most is knowing that many of those conditions could have been prevented if I was diagnosed earlier, she says. Julia Mendez is also 30 years old. She was born in Argentina and has been living in Spain for over a decade. She is an exception. She was diagnosed during her teens, although at that time treatment was limited to analgesics. The pain decreased when she was pregnant, but returned years later, accompanied by heavy menstrual bleeding and anaemia. Even though she had been diagnosed with endometriosis in Argentina at a young age, in Spain she was told her pain was due to gastroenteritis and wind. Shortly afterwards, two cysts measuring six and five centimetres were discovered in her ovaries. The treatment resulted in a chemical menopause and depression. I wanted to go out, to spend a day with no pain, to have sex, live a normal life, but it was impossible, she says. The cysts had grown larger, injuring her intestine. Julia, who becomes tearful when she recalls the days when she couldnt take her son to school because the pain was so bad I couldnt get out of bed, has been on the waiting list for surgery for more than three months, despite being classified as a priority. Fainting Ana Ferrer was sent to see a psychiatrist. The doctors believed she was exaggerating her pains, which began when she started menstruating. I kept fainting at school, and I only weighed 42 kilos. They took me to several health service and private doctors, but nobody realised what was wrong with me, she says. When she became pregnant at the age of 20, the pains diminished in intensity but soon afterwards they came back and were five times worse. A gynaecologist at the Materno hospital, who has now retired, finally diagnosed endometriosis. He saved my life, she says. Two cysts measuring 11 and 17 centimetres were found in her ovaries. She had appendicitis and acute peritonitis and she was prescribed Decapeptyl, a medication used for prostate cancer and in assisted reproduction treatments to control ovarian function. Now she has relapsed again, after several months without serious complications. It is an illness that destroys relationships, because the treatments and drugs cause mood changes and there are times when it is impossible to have sex. People around you cant understand. They think youre being feeble because you cant put up with period pains, say these survivors, who are keen to raise awareness of this condition. Endo what? The diagnosis of endometriosis, which is nearly always late, comes as a blow to thousands of women like 41-year-old Ana Ferrer from Malaga, who spent a very long time consulting different doctors before finally discovering what was wrong with her. For years, they made me think I was mad. They even sent me to a psychiatrist, she says. This condition, which consists of a growth of the endometrial tissue which covers the internal layer of the uterus, affects more than ten per cent of women of fertile age, according to the most cautious estimates. There is no cure for it, and the symptoms vary. Some women have none at all, while others suffer pain similar to nephritic colic or even a heart attack. The general lack of knowledge about the problem and its association with menstruation means that sufferers are often ignored and diagnosis can be delayed by an average of eight to ten years. Fed up with being dismissed by part of society and the medical community, some of the women affected by endometriosis have set up a group in Andalucia and are ask ing the regional government to draw up a plan for this illness. Associations criticise the lack of research into this illness and blame scientific androcentrism Sufferers can either have no symptoms at all or suffer organ damage and infertility They want units manned by specialists to be opened in each province and a multidisciplinary team to be set up to treat the most serious cases. Several sufferers from Malaga are due to meet the general director of the Sanitary Assistance department of the Andalusian Health Service, Juan Tomas Garcia, in Seville, and they will propose that this multidisciplinary team should be based in Malaga due to its strategic location. Until now, the provincial unit has consisted only of one consulting room and a specialist at the Materno hospital. The endometrial tissue depends on the hormones of the menstrual cycle, which is why the discharge and bleeding coincides with periods. Most women have grown up being told that they are exaggerating and that their symptoms are nothing more than normal period pain. It was insinuated to Ana that her attacks of pain, which were sometimes so bad that she fainted, could be due to a sexual injury. A doctor told Julia she had gastroenteritis. Izarbe, whose uterus has had to be reconstructed, was told that her test results were perfect. Endometriosis is benign initially, but the growth of the tissue can reach different organs and cause slight, serious or even fatal injury to the ovaries, intestines, bladder, stomach or lungs. A guide published by the Andalusian Health Service confirms that it is a chronic illness with no known cause, and recommends that treatment should depend on individual cases. The different symptoms makes diagnosis difficult, and the condition is often only discovered when a woman is unable to become pregnant. The health service admits that it has sometimes taken 12 years from the first symptoms to a definitive diagnosis. Women who come from families where others have also suffered from the problem have six times as much chance of developing it than others. Risk of heart attack Women with endometriosis are at greater risk of myocardial infarction, cancer, fibromyalgia and angina, according to a recent study carried out by the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. Although this is one of the most common gynaecological conditions and one which some specialists believe could be the cause of half of all infertility cases, research into endometriosis is still in the embryo stage, a situation which many womens associations attribute to the machismo which has existed in medicine for decades. Because of the lack of research, society in general has accepted that menstruation is painful, a belief which is deep-rooted in our culture and means that many women do not consult a doctor about problems related with their periods even though experts insist that intense menstrual pain is not normal. The principal problem with endometriosis is the formation of cysts which can cause pain, vomiting, cramps, constipation, depression, tiredness, discomfort when urinating and during sexual intercourse, excessive bleeding during menstruation and diarrhea, among other symptoms. When the illness is badly diagnosed, the treatment often involves anxiolytics and sedatives. The Association of Endometriosis Sufferers says that scientific androcentrism has perpetuated the discrimination and invisibility of women in medicine, and it urges doctors to take a more gender-conscious perspective to achieve equality in health and overcome the idea that the pain is related to menstruation. The lack of attention given to endometriosis reached the Spanish parliament last week, with a proposal by the Unidos Podemos political party which was approved unanimously. The proposal, which described the condition as a great silent epidemic, called for a national strategy, with the agreement of the regional communities, to improve the way the illness is dealt with and increase the funding for research. In 2008 the Observatory of Womens Health had already produced a guide to treating women with endometriosis, but the associations of those affected say that most doctors are still unaware of its recommendations. 10% of the female population of fertile age suffers from endometriosis, an illness which may have no symptoms at all or cause severe pain, similar to that of nephritic colic. Endometriosis is classified into four levels of severity, a system developed by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. These range from small lesions to serious health problems which can result in organs having to be removed, temporary or permanent disability or even death. Although there is no cure yet, early diagnosis is key to preventing complications and minimising symptoms. Among the illnesses and consequences associated with endometriosis are infertility, chronic fatigue, continual pelvic pain, arthritis, cardiovascular accidents and hypothyroidism, a collection of risks which women who are affected consider more than enough for the administrations to put measures into immediate effect. Almunecar police force have recently recruited a new member to their unit. Otto is a Belgian Shepherd, or Malinois, who will work with agents in the fight against crime in the Almunecar area. Otto made his debut at the beginning of April and was formally introduced to the towns residents by the councillor for citizen safety, Juan Jose Ruiz Joya, and Almunecars police chief, Manuel Ledesma, along with coordinator of the dog unit, Jesus Garrido. Otto joins Negro, a black Labrador, in the fight against drug trafficking and consumption in and around Almunecar. This new dog has just increased the dog unit in Almunecar. Its a further service that we will offer to our citizens, whose main objective is fight against any type of drugs in areas near to schools, bus stations and promenades and police controls in this fight, said councillor Juan Jose Ruiz Joya. According to Ruiz Joya, Otto has been trained to identify substances including hashish, cannabis, cocaine and heroin. MACON More than 360 superintendents statewide have signed a letter calling for legislators to immediately pass a state budget, improve the state's education funding formula and pay school districts millions of dollars in unpaid bills. Meridian Superintendent Dan Brue said the state owes Meridian more than $412,000 and has been operating without a full budget for 22 months. I support the Pass Illinois Budget movement because our legislators and our governor have not done their jobs, Brue said. The budget impasse needs to end immediately and move forward with a budget that will serve the students in Illinois public K-12 schools fairly and equitably. The 360 superintendents represent more than a million students and many are using their school marquees and social media accounts to share their frustration. The state has not paid mandated categoricals, which include special education, bilingual education, transportation and other required services. The General Assembly returned from spring recess on Monday. Before the break, the House approved a stopgap spending bill that would provide about $800 million to higher education and social service programs. The state hasn't had a budget in about two years. Near constant rain the past week and especially over the weekend led to major flooding in parts of Smyth County. Especially hard hit were Chilhowie and Marion. John Clark, town manager in Chilhowie, said flood waters in Seven Mile Ford damaged a 14-inch sewer line serving Smyth Career & Technical Center, the assisted living center, campground, apartments and surrounding neighborhood. Were working to fix it, and weve contacted DEQ [Virginia Department of Environmental Quality], said Clark. Weve also got some debris on lines that cross streams that were working to clean up. Springs serving the town are out of commission for probably the rest of the week due to the flooding, Clark said, so the town is having to buy water from Washington County, a community with which they share a joint water treatment facility. The towns recreation park is also out of commission for several weeks as the town waits for the ground to dry before assessing damage to the trail and structures. Chilhowie suffered severe flooding in the town park with the Holston River Middle Fork rising all the way across the park to Railroad Avenue. The water also gushed across Highway 107 between Berry Metals and McDonalds leading to a closure of that section of roadway on Monday. Old vehicles were under water at Berrys and the water covered part of McDonalds parking lot in the front and the back. Water came up to First Baptist Church next to the town park and the field next to the Smyth County Tourism Center in the historic Bonham House flooded. Flood waters damaged houses on both ends of town and several businesses on Main Street. Clark said he believed the river crested in Chilhowie around noon or a little before on Monday. Meanwhile in Marion, residents and businesses were experiencing flooding from the Holston River South Fork. Holston Hills is the worst Ive ever seen, said Charles Harrington, director of emergency management for the county. (Please see the related story.) Flooding was also especially bad in the Walkers Creek area, Harrington said. It was the worst hes seen in that area, he said, and occupants of one house were asked to evacuate for fear of rising water. When asked about hazardous materials or toxins getting into the Holston River from the flooding, Harrington said there was some oily residue on the west end of Chilhowie but no toxins. Harrington said there were numerous flooded basements in the county and early damage estimates from the flood waters range from $65,000 to $75,000. Houses in the Saltville area, especially in the McCready and North Holston communities, also suffered flooding as the Holston River North Fork rose above its banks and in places was just on the edge of Highway 91. Saltville Town Manager Mike Taylor said there were trees in the road and rock slides in some areas that were quickly cleared by town crews. We had no major blockages, Taylor said. The fire department, rescue squad, police department and town crew worked real well and the sheriffs office helped us. We were lucky. It could have been a lot worse. Taylor said he and R.B. Henderson, public works director, were out on Sunday night looking for trouble spots. The river had jumped the road on Highway 91 in Washington County near an industry, he said. Harrington said on Tuesday afternoon that the county was in pretty good shape. There were no emergency situations during the flooding. We were extremely fortunate, he said. While we had some damage we didnt have some of the extensive damage they had in other places. Funding may come later this year for Smyth Countys long-awaited drug court. If all the plans fall into place, the countys allocation of a settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Abbott Labs in a pharmaceutical fraud case will pay for it. Smyth County Commonwealths Attorney Roy Evans announced this week that his office has made available another round of the settlement payout to benefit the Chilhowie, Marion and Saltville police departments and the sheriffs office. The $348,075 will be used to buy equipment for the agencies that isnt covered by their normal operating budgets. In that announcement, Evans noted that while the Smyth County Drug Court was approved last year, no funding was available. However, if a grant comes through that could change. While applying for grants, Evans said, the Drug Court Team proposed a barebones one-year budget of $41,900. The pending grant would fund the drug court for three years. The grant awards will be announced at the end of September. If the grant is received, Evans said, it will require a cash match of $75,608 for the three-year term. That expense can be covered with settlement funds. The commonwealths attorney said the U.S. Treasury Department approved his request to use Abbott funds to cover the one-year barebones budget pending a grant and will fund the entire cash match if the grant application is approved for a total of $117,508. Drug courts strive to find alternatives to jail for drug addicts and users and monitor them weekly, often for several years. Evans has previously said the drug court is not used for dealers or drug distributors. In March 2016, Evans told the Smyth County Board of Supervisors that a drug courts main expenses are the wages of a surveillance officer and regular urinalysis tests. The program is designed to save money ultimately by keeping people out of jail. Drug courts are at work in Bristol and Washington County. In addition to the potential drug court funding, Evans said his office has made available $348,075 to assist local law enforcement with equipment purchases. The Marion Police Department has been designated $132,830 to purchase three fully equipped Ford Police Interceptor vehicles with car cages, two patrol-car computers and 20 active-shooter vests. The Chilhowie Police Department will receive $84,680 to purchase two fully equipped Ford Police Interceptor vehicles. The Saltville Police Department was awarded $72,425 to purchase a Ford F150, a John Deere Gator, two radar signs, a Stinger spike system, boots and rain gear. The Smyth County Sheriffs Office will receive $58,140 to purchase 15 Tasers with cartridges, a Susteen cell phone data retrieval kit, 11 tactical headsets, a police dog vehicle box and 30 Safariland holsters with Streamlights. When the federal settlement was reached with the DOJ and Abbott labs in 2013, the Smyth County Commonwealths Attorneys Office received $1.3 million from the settlement because of Evans work as an uncompensated Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Virginia. He was appointed to the position in 2004 to prosecute Smyth County drug and gun offenses in federal court. Evans said that he had tried to be frugal with the funds to make them last, but was recently informed by the Department of Treasury, which administered the funds, that a final proposal for expenditure of the remaining money had to be submitted by March 31. Evans allocated the funds based on requests from local law enforcement agencies. Previously, Evans noted, settlement funds were used to buy the Chilhowie Police Department: three police cruisers, firearms, tasers, a crime scene camera and a speed trailer. In the past, the Marion Police Department has received two Dodge Charger police cruisers, 11 computer workstations, seven vehicle laptops, three Nikon camera systems, a server, network storage and VPN software. For the Saltville Police Department, settlement funds have been used for a Zero (emissions) patrol motorcycle, rifles, tasers, computers, cameras, a Breathalyzer, force science training and department chaplain training. Previously, the Smyth County Sheriffs Office has received a thermal imaging unit, equipment for two school resource officers, two patrol cars, uniforms, handguns, body armor, firearms and communications systems, evidence cameras, a livescan fingerprinting device, 35 sets of body armor, and cell-phone forensic software. Abbott funds were also used to purchase an audio-visual recording system for interviewing child victims by child advocates and investigators in a child advocacy facility now in Smyth County. Abbott funds were also used to refurnish the commonwealths attorneys office in its new location in the courthouse and to sponsor various trainings for state and local law enforcement. In May 2012, global health-care company Abbott Laboratories Inc. pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Abingdon to the unlawful promotion of the prescription drug Depakote for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration. As part of its plea agreement with the Department of Justice, the company agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the companys conduct. The settlement agreement between the DOJ and Abbott Laboratories required the company to pay $200 million in forfeiture funds, which was subsequently divided among the federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that contributed to the investigation. The U.S. Department of the Treasury supervised the distribution of the forfeiture funds, which have provided direct benefits to the multiple agencies that worked collaboratively on the Abbott investigation, including the Smyth County Commonwealths Attorneys office. Two weeks ago, I shared the story of the humble beginnings of the first library in Smyth County. From the cramped space of a Ladies Room at the courthouse, the library grew. There have been numerous advocates for the library throughout the years. They have volunteered countless hours, donated desperately needed funds and petitioned local government officials for monetary support of our library system. These advocates have sometimes quietly worked in the background and, at other crucial times, have stepped forward to insure that our local libraries have received the attention they deserved. In 1972, these advocates formally organized under the name Friends of the Library. The birth of this organization coincides with the birth of the Smyth-Bland Regional Library. Ten years had passed since Leonard Mauck asked the Marion Public Library to move its books to the Smyth County School Library. Not a finger had been raised in those ten years, in this direction. So, a Friends of the Library group was formed. Mrs. Wythe M. Hull, Jr., was the mover behind the formation of the Friends of the Library. It was she who called several interested people to meet with Mrs. Betty Garber, temporary Public Library Consultant of the Virginia State Library, in her office in the School Board Building, in February 1972. The Smyth County News reported, on February 8, 1972, that the purpose of this organization is to maintain an association of persons interested in the library, to help develop the library services and stimulate use of its resources. The first officers of this newly created organization were Mrs. Charles Holmes, president; Mrs. K.B. Snider, vice-president; Mrs. Duncan McGregor, secretary; and Mr. Penn Rutherfoord, treasurer. Mrs. Wythe M. Hull, Jr., consented to be membership chairman. A deep pink membership card was printed with the slogan, To Promote Interest in Our Library. Sixty members were acquired within a week. By April, the membership exceeded 200 and reached 361, by the end of the first year. Often, when the Friends met, Mr. Mauck would bring a letter from the State Board in Richmond, saying there were no State funds for a library in Smyth County. The Friends kept going. Through the efforts of the Friends, volunteers were able to keep the library open from 10-1:30, each Wednesday and Thursday. Volunteers helped in the Library. They read to the children, checked books in and out, returned books to the stacks and even drove or rode in the Bookmobile. Mack Sturgill notes that in October of 1972, the name of the library was changed to the Smyth-Bland Regional Library, after the Supervisors of Bland and Smyth voted to join in a cooperative library service. The Smyth County Bookmobile would provide service to patrons in Bland County, which was without its own public library. Miss Katrina Umberger, the secular patron saint of the Smyth County Library and Bookmobile, retired in 1972. Ms. Richardia S. Johnson, her replacement, initiated a vigorous campaign, struggle, and battle for a new library building. During this time, Mr. Penn Rutherfoord, spoke for the Friends of the Library and explained to the Board of Supervisors the great needs of the library. He stated that Miss Johnson was in the library only one day a week because she had to drive the Bookmobile the other four. In an interview with Mr. Marvin Perry, County Administrator, on May 2, 1990, he was asked why the supervisors felt that nothing could be done by them to help with the building of a library. He explained that 50% of the citizens of Smyth County were illiterate, or had absolutely no interest in a library. They wanted roads, bridges, etc. In his presentation before the Board of Supervisors, Mr. Rutherfoord compared Smyth County to China at a time when the ruler decided the people were learning too much and, therefore, burned all the books. If we dont get this money, he said, we may as well burn the books, because we will be stepping backward rather than forward. Ms. Johnsons campaign and the action of the Friends of the Library resulted in a movement to select a site for the proposed library building. A site for the new building had to be secured before application for state and federal funds could be made. County officials, naturally enough, preferred to locate the library on land already owned by the county. A site on Stage Road, near the schools, and one near the Trade School at Seven Mile Ford, were proposed. There was another proposal for a site on the old Hull property west of Marion. The Ryder property on the corner of Cherry and Sheffey Streets, available for $50,000, was, however, the preferred site chosen by the staff of the library and members of the Friends of the Library. All the other sites were rejected by the State Library Board. The selection of the site for the future library aroused much interest and debate. The present location was finally chosen because the Friends of the Library helped the county finance the purchase price of the lot by dropping, as it was dubbed, a $30,000 bombshell, at the September 1976 Board of Supervisors meeting. The Board was deadlocked over the question until Isaac Freeman, president of the Friends, presented the Board with a $30,000 promissory note, for the purchase of the Ryder lot. After that master stroke, the Board voted 5-2 to release $20,000, which had been earmarked for the new library in a previous budget. This promissory note was signed by Isaac Freeman, Barbara Mowbray, Tom Copenhaver, Dr. P.D. Mowbray Jr., K.B. Snider, Theresa Johnson, John Lindsay, C. Gwyn, James Moraitis, Dr. Henderson Graham and Richardia Johnson. Members of the Friends, encouraged by Ann Snider, sent representatives to every meeting of the Board of Supervisors. One supervisor stated that he had never seen such dedication. According to Dorothy Holmes account, the Friends threatened to tear up the promissory note at one of the meetings. This is what prompted the Board to vote to release the $20,000. A vigorous drive, spearheaded by the Friends of the Library, got underway on October 14, 1976, to help raise funds for the new library, which would cost approximately $988,000. There is a record showing the amount of money donated by individuals and organizations, ranging from $5.00 to nearly $80,000, given by a member of the Friends. Over $403,000 was pledged. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on December 28, 1977, and construction of the long-desired and long-awaited library was underway. By November 1978, the steel girders were rising from the foundation. As a result of the grant for funding two county projects at the same time, only half of the original structure could be built during the first phase of construction. The library building completed by the end of July 1979 had cost $515,000. The interior was finished by the end of November of that year, when civic organizations and volunteers assisted the library staff to move into the new facility on November 30 and December 1. In less than a week, the furniture, equipment and over 38,000 volumes were transported from Church Street to Sheffey Street. During the move, Jouette Graham organized meals for the workers and many women of the community contributed sandwiches and cakes for them. Preston Copenhaver, of Marion Bottling Company, donated Pepsi Colas and other drinks for several days, during the week of the big move. A formal open-house at the new Smyth-Bland Regional Library, which was only half as big as originally planned, was held in April 1980. From that time, it was assumed that the other half of the building would be completed. Once again, the Friends of the Library began a drive to raise money to complete the library building. The ground-breaking ceremony for the Phase II library building project was held May 2, 1988. The dedication ceremony was held on Sunday, July 23, 1989. One speaker at this event said that the dedication of this new library told a tremendous story of cooperation. It shows us that, as long as good people, desiring good things, work together, Marion and Smyth County will continue to accomplish anything to which they set their minds and which will make life better for us and for future generations. Mack Sturgill closed his remarks at that dedication with these words: I should like to pay tribute to all the women and men, from 1922 to 1989, who have contributed talent, time, and money, to make our library and our community a better place to live. I should like to thank the Board of Supervisors, the Town Council, the Library Board, the Friends of the Library, the Library Staff, past and present, who have helped us to have a library which will be the envy of more prosperous counties for decades to come. I salute everyone, those present and those not present, those seen and those unseen, those mentioned and those not mentioned, who have helped to make a dream a reality. Long live the Library! Ukrainian authorities detained an ex-MP and a state energy firm deputy chief for the embezzlement of US$ 17.3 million from selling uranium concentrate at inflated prices, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said Friday. Mykola Martynenko, the former head of the Ukrainian parliaments energy committee, is suspected of personally benefiting from the scheme through an Austria-registered company he allegedly controlled, Reuters reported. According to the bureau, the Steuermann Investitions und Handelsgesellschaft sold Kazakh uranium ore at hiked prices to Ukraines Eastern Ore Dressing Plant for three years. The state-owned enrichment plant then sold uranium to the state nuclear power giant Energoatom. The first deputy chairman of state energy firm Naftogaz, Sergiy Pereloma, is suspected of having been an intermediary in those dealings before he joined Naftogaz. Martynenko allegedly spent US$ 50,000 of the stolen money on his wifes medical bills and over 64,000 (US$ 70,900) on renting property in the EU for family members, including a London apartment for his daughter. Ukrainian, Swiss and Czech authorities have also been investigating Martynenko for accepting 30 million Swiss francs from Skoda and money laundering the bribes, in return for Skoda winning a contract to supply Energoatom with equipment. He is also believed to have spent some of the stolen Uranium money on defense advocates in the Swiss criminal investigation. On Saturday, however, Kyivs Solomyansky Court decided to release Martynenko without bail although prosecutors had requested he should be jailed on a Hr 300 million (US$ 11.2 million) bail, according to the Kyiv Post. 21 people had offered to vouch for Martynenko, including 17 members of his political party, Peoples Front. Before the decision, NABU accused the the partys lawmakers of verbally threatening the judge during the hearing. The party in turn accused the bureau of exerting pressure on judges. The same day, prosecutors said that two other key suspects in the investigation, directors of the enrichment plant, had fled Ukraine and their whereabouts remain unknown, the Kyiv Post reported. "They were about to be charged with the offenses," said prosecutor Roman Symkiv in an interview, "I assume that they knew about it." occrp.org This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? Welcome, DISH customer! Please note that we cannot save your viewing history due to an arrangement with DISH. Watchlist and resume progress features have been disabled. ACCEPT Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Google on Tuesday unveiled a developer preview of the latest version of its mobile operating system, code named Android O. The new OS is designed to improve on battery life and interactive performance of devices, according to Dave Burke, vice president of engineering (Android) at Google. The new release puts automatic limits on what applications do in the background in three areas: implicit broadcasts, background services and location updates. Updated developer previews will become available in the coming months, and devs will get a more detailed look at the OS at Google I/O, to be held this May at the companys Mountain View, Calfornia, headquarters. Background limits represent a significant change in how Android operates, so its important to give developers time to get used to the new features, Burke said. The release is still in its early stages, he cautioned, noting that there are additional features in the works, and plenty of stabilization and performance work to be completed. Background limits illustrates how Google is moving ahead to improve battery life on Android devices, and support for new/emerging WiFi functions and specs highlight the companys efforts to stay on the leading edge of device connectivity, observed Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. Another major new feature is picture-in-picture display for phones and tablets, which allows users to watch a video while they are separately engaged in a chat session or hailing a car ride, for example. Sound Quality The new OS includes major improvement in connectivity, with support for LDAC, which is Sonys new high-quality wireless audio via Bluetooth. Additional WiFi features include WiFi Aware, which allows WiFi access without an Internet access point, a service previously known as Neighborhood Awareness Networking. The new release gives developers fine grained control over various types of notifications, and let users individually block or change behaviors such as sound, vibration or level of importance. Notification channels let users control an apps notification categories. Google has seen a resurgence in keyboard navigation with the advent of Google Play apps on Chrome OS, Burke noted. The new OS therefore includes a feature that stabilizes arrow and tab navigation, both for developers and end users. The O Developer Preview has an updated SDK with system images available so it can be previewed on the official Android Emulator and on Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel, Pixel XL and Pixel C. An emulator is also available for wearables, including Android Wear 2.0 and Android O. Adaptive icons display in a variety of shapes across different device models. The initial release is not available for consumer use, and is available only via manual download and flash, Google said. As the final release date draws closer, Google will open up consumer enrollments through Android Beta. While most of the features are designed to ease developer processes, features like support for picture-in-picture are aimed at improving the user experience, Pund-ITs King told LinuxInsider. Googles objective, in part, is to boost the level of consumer acceptance of the new OS, King said, noting that the latest Android version, Nougat, is installed only on a small fraction of Android devices. Two-thirds of Android devices are running Android 6.0 or earlier versions, by some estimates. App Innovations Ahead? Google is pushing hard to gain consumer acceptance, as only 3 percent of Android devices are running Nougat and only 31 percent are running Marshmallow, said Karol Severin, an analyst at Midia Research. Older operating systems account for the remaining share of the market. The early announcement will give the developers some time to make sure they can build apps with additional functionality and make sure older apps are running smoothly on the new OS, Severin said. Google will be making sure that its own devices get the updates fast, he told LinuxInsider. If the OS is received well within the Google device community, it can either differentiate its user experience from lagging Android handset manufacturers and win some smartphone marketshare in the process, or it will act as a nudge to other handset manufacturers to speed up their OS update processes. Qualcomm on Monday fired back with a response and counterclaim to Apples US$1 billion federal patent suit filed earlier this year. Apple breached agreements and encouraged regulatory attacks in a scheme to coerce unfair licensing terms, Qualcomm claimed. Apples suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Southern California, argues that Qualcomm used its dominant position in semiconductors to force it to pay billions in additional royalty payments for technologies like Touch ID or Apple Pay, or even added memory, all of which have nothing to do with the Qualcomm baseband processor chipsets used in mobile phones. The value of Qualcomms technology has been proven over almost 30 years through hundreds of licensing deals negotiated with virtually every major handset maker in the history of the industry, including Asian firms that make iPhones and iPads, argued Don Rosenberg, general counsel at Qualcomm. Apple Balked Over the past 10 years, Apple has played a significant role in bringing the benefits of mobile technology to its customers with its popular products and services, Rosenberg acknowledged, but Apple could not have built the incredible iPhone franchise that has made it the most profitable company in the world, capturing over 90 percent of smartphone profits, without relying upon Qualcomms fundamental cellular technologies. Qualcomm has spent more than $40 billion in research and development over 30 years, according to its court filings. Apple has launched legal cases against Qualcomm in multiple jurisdictions in the UK, China and Japan, Qualcomm noted. Apple previously filed monopoly claims against other suppliers, including Nokia and Samsung. The financial details in support of the companies claims have not been made public. Both Apples original suit and Qualcomms answer and counterclaims were heavily redacted prior to release. My understanding is that Qualcomms fees were passed along to Apple through a third-party company that Apple does business with, said telecom analyst Jeff Kagan. Then, I hear, Apple refused to pay those fees, he told the E-Commerce Times, and that started the whole ball of yarn unraveling. Regulatory Review Days before Apple filed its suit, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission brought a lawsuit against Qualcomm, alleging that it used its dominant position in baseband processors, a form of semiconductor used in mobile phones, to enforce anticompetitive supply and licensing terms onto phone manufacturers. The terms, according to the suit, involved a no license, no chips policy that forced mobile phone companies to agree to Qualcomms preferred license terms or the company would not ship the processors. Apple was banned from receiving competitive processors from 2011 to 2016 in exchange for reduced royalty payments, the FTC alleged. An FTC spokesperson declined to comment on the case. The Korea Fair Trade Commission late last year imposed a record $865 million fine against Qualcomm for abusing its dominant position to impose unfair licensing terms on handset makers. Qualcomm limited the ability of competing chip makers to work with phone manufacturers, the commission ruled. Raising the Stakes There is no question that Qualcomm technology is central to the evolution of the iPhone, and that Qualcomm has done more than any other company to bring mobile phone technology to the market, said Les Santiago, research director for wireless and IoT semiconductors at IDC. However, Apples claim is based on the argument that it added features to the iPhone that had nothing to do with Qualcomms technology, and it therefore should not have to pay Qualcomm additional royalties, even though the payments were linked to the cost of the iPhone, he told the E-Commerce Times. From that point of view, there is merit to Apples claims, Santiago said. Qualcomms counterclaim raises the stakes in the case to an entirely new level, he added. I had previously thought that Qualcomm would settle its case with Apple, its largest customer, at the earliest possible [date], Santiago said. Now it looks like the battle may drag on for a while. Apple and Qualcomm officials did not respond to our requests to comment for this story. Tesla has built more than 5,400 Superchargers since 2012. It's an impressive feat until you consider that the company plans to double that number to total more than 10,000 globally by the end of 2017. The electric automaker noted that it has also built more than 9,000 Destination Charging connectors in the same amount of time. Unlike traditional Superchargers, Destination Chargers use Tesla Wall Connectors, are a bit slower and are largely meant for overnight stays at hotels or resorts. Come the end of 2017, Tesla aims to have roughly 15,000 Destination Chargers up and running around the world. Tesla said it'll be increasing the number of Superchargers in North America by 150 percent and will be adding more than 1,000 in California alone. Furthermore, charging stations along busier travel routes will be expanded to accommodate several dozen Superchargers. Some will even be built further off the highway to allow local users to charge quickly without having to deal with as many out-of-towners. The expansion is more or less a requirement if Tesla hopes to push forward its electric initiative. Congestion at Supercharging stations is already a problem in some areas and things are only going to get worse when the mainstream Model 3 arrives. By expanding the charging infrastructure now, Tesla is making room for the huge influx of cars that'll be hitting the roads in the near future. Waymo, Google's self-driving vehicle spinoff company, has announced that as of today, members of the public will be able to use its services for the first time. The bad news is that it's only open to residents of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area; the good news is that successful applicants can take as many rides as they like - for free. Those who are eligible, which includes residents of Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, and Gilbert, can sign up to the Early Rider Program on the company's website. Successful applicants will receive full-time access to Waymo's fleet of autonomous vehicles, which includes models such as the Lexus RX450h and Chrysler's Pacifica Hybrid Minivan, 500 of which are being ordered from partner Fiat Chrysler and fitted with Waymo's self-driving tech. Once someone is accepted, that person and all eligible immediate members of their household can take free rides. Waymo says it will "encourage you to take rides as frequently as possible," as it wants to understand how people will use such a service. "Over the course of this trial, we'll be accepting hundreds of people with diverse backgrounds and transportation needs who want to ride in and give feedback about Waymo's self-driving cars," wrote Waymo CEO John Krafcik in a Medium post. As is the case with Uber's autonmous vehicle program, a driver will be behind the wheel monitoring the ride at all times. Waymo will no doubt be hoping its experiment runs smoother than the ride-hailing company's program, which has run into a number of issues recently, including being sued by Alphabet for alleged theft of self-driving tech. Since Google's driverless car initiative began in 2009, it has self-driven almost 300 million miles. Waymo adds that it has been testing 100 autonomous minivans on public roads since earlier this year with contacts of Waymo employees, who have reportedly been happy with the experience. Word slipped out in February that Uber had hired 30-year NASA veteran Mark Moore to lead its "Elevate" flying car initiative. On Tuesday, the embattled transportation shared plenty more about the project during the keynote of the three-day "Elevate" Summit. As Engadget recounts, the biggest revelation from the keynote is Uber's goal to demonstrate its flying taxi service - dubbed the Elevate Network - in 2020. A quick check of the ole calendar reveals that's just three years away - not exactly much time to get things off the ground, so to speak. Uber spent much of the keynote detailing the various partnerships it has established to bring the project to life. The company, for example, is working with local officials in Dubai and Dallas-Fort Worth on pilot programs. Speaking of, Dubai also happens to be where Uber plans to host its first public demonstration (during the 2020 World Expo in October of that year). The transportation company is also working with real estate companies to find places to build vehicle ports and has joined forces with ChargePoint to charge its vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft. This, of course, is in addition to the several aircraft manufacturers - Aurora Flight Sciences, Pipistrel Aircraft, Embraer, Mooney and Bell Helicopter - that Uber is working with on the actual flying vehicles. The Uber Elevate Summit runs through April 27 in Dallas. Yesterday an artificial intelligence firm in Canada called Lyrebird announced that it had developed algorithms that can mimic anyone's voice using only 60 seconds of audio. They are not the only company that is working on human-like voice synthesis. The Verge points out that both Adobe and Google have voice synthesis divisions working on developing realistic computer generated speech. Using machine learning AI, Google has developed life-like voice synthesis that even incorporates the breath sounds that are heard in human speech. Adobe has been working on Project VoCo, a tool similar to Photoshop, except for audio editing. Its software can make just about any voice say anything, but it needs a 20-minute speech sample to accomplish this. The fact that Lyrebird only needs 60 seconds of audio is a significant factor, but the resulting voice still sounds robotic. However, the software does get the pitch, accent, and some of the speaking mannerisms though, as this sample of a conversion between Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton shows. It will be some time before it is of a quality that would fool someone, but that raises the question: What happens when it or any other software can fool someone? A successful Turing test for voice synthesis is not that far away judging from some of the samples already out there. So what happens when a computer can fool a human into thinking that they are hearing another human? The potential for abuse is obvious. According to the Verge, "We already know that synthetic voice generators can trick biometric software used to verify identity." Additionally, a combined effort between the University of Erlangen in Nuremberg, the Max-Planck-Institute of Informatics, and Stanford University has resulted in a system that is capable of taking video of anyone and transforming it into a controllable puppet, complete with realistic facial gestures and mouth movement. The team demonstrated the technology they call Face2Face, editing YouTube videos of Donald Trump, George W. Bush, Barrack Obama, and Vladimir Putin in real time. Combining something like Face2Face with Lyrebird's, Google's, or Adobe's algorithms, or a combination of them could render realities that are completely false. In the wrong hands, use of technologies like these could cause much damage. Regardless of the potential for misuse, Lyrebird believes that the technology's development is inevitable. "This technology is going to happen. If it's not us, it's going to be someone else," Alexandre de Brebisson of Lyrebird stated. The company has indicated that knowledge is power when it comes to technology such as this. It plans to release its software "publicly" with the intent being that if everyone knows this technology exists, the dangers of its misuse are lessened. "The situation is comparable to Photoshop. People are now aware that photos can be faked. I think in the future, audio recordings are going to become less and less reliable [as evidence]," said Brebisson. There is no word yet when the software will be ready for commercial consumption nor how much it will cost. However, Brebisson told the Verge that over 6,000 people had expressed interest in having early access to the APIs, which the company's website says "are still in beta." He also revealed that the company plans on providing versions for other languages as well. We have all joked about how our politicians are just puppets. In the near future, that may be the case in a very literal sense. However, it is not all bad. For example, you may be able to program Siri to sound like whomever you wish, so long as you have 60 seconds of their voice to feed the algorithms. And what about those terrible automated telephone systems? Realistic voice synthesis and further advances in voice recognition are going to make talking to customer service robots much more tolerable, and who is not for that? Billionaire Michael Bloomberg advised world leaders not to follow President Trump's lead on climate change. He also expressed his willingness to help save an international agreement to reduce carbon emissions. Bloomberg, who served as New York City's mayor for three years, and even considered a presidential bid, addressed his focus on climate change. Bloomberg On Climate Change Policies Bloomberg has recently published a new book, called "Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet". The book is co-authored by Carl Pope, former executive director of Sierra Club. Bloomberg noted that there is no political motive behind his new book and that he has no intentions to run for office. Moreover, the billionaire added that the book follows a policy objective, which is to help save an international agreement, that's negotiated in Paris, regarding carbon emissions and the plan to reduce them. A number of 194 countries are signatories to the pact, and 143 have ratified the agreement. While President Trump promised during his campaign that he would abandon the Paris agreement, his key advisers remain divided on the issue of climate change. Due to this situation, there is still a debate going on whether the pact shall remain in force or not. "Senior officials will meet this week to discuss the options, with the goal of providing a recommendation to the President about the path forward," noted a senior White House official, April 17. Among the voices that support the agreement, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson argued that climate change needs a global response, during his confirmation hearing. "I think it's important that the US maintain a seat at that table so that we can also judge the level of commitment of the other 189 or so countries that are around that table, and again, adjust our own course, accordingly," declared Tillerson. Should the agreement remain in force, the United States should reduce the annual greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below the 2005 levels until 2025. In absolute numbers, this would mean a reduction of approximately 1.6 billion tons of emissions. According to Bloomberg, the country's goal could be met regardless of the president's decision on this pact, mainly because of the involvement of the private sector and the state-level leadership. "Washington won't determine the fate of our ability to meet our Paris commitment. And what a tragedy it would be if the failure to understand that led to an unraveling of the agreement. We hope this book will help to correct that wrong impression - and help save the Paris deal," noted Bloomberg. Exiting The Paris Agreement It isn't complicated for the president to exit the Paris agreement, as it is a non-binding accord that was never ratified by the Senate. In its attempt to exit, the United States would evoke the Paris' formal withdrawal mechanism. Technically, this would take four years. The U.S. officials, however, could stop taking part in any future negotiations immediately after the withdrawal. Another, more radical way for the country to exit the agreement would be for the president to pull out of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This option would only take one year instead of four, but it would mean that the country abandons all international efforts and actions on the matter of climate change. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Escalation of alcoholic cirrhosis is more pronounced in regions where peak cold climate prevails accompanied by less sunshine, according to a study. The study was led by Neil Shah, MD, of the University of North Carolina. To some extent, the findings implicitly endorse the popular perception that an alcoholic drink is the best means to stay warm. However, it invariably exposes people to many consequences, noted Shah at the International Liver Congress. "Our research reveals that a country's climate and geographical location have a startling influence on the burden of liver cirrhosis," said Shah, and senior author Ramon Bataller of the University of North Carolina. Key Findings Of Cirrhosis Research The study also observed that for every one-degree rise in temperature at the locations studied there has been a 0.3 percent decrease in alcohol-attributable fraction (AAF) of cirrhosis. During the research, the multinational team analyzed data from 193 countries and collated information on alcohol consumption, climate, and the sunshine to assess the influence on alcohol-attributable liver cirrhosis. Reflecting on the utility of the study, Prof Francesco Negro, from the Gastroenterology divisions of University Hospital of Geneva in Switzerland, the study will be valuable to the debate on public policy measures required in addressing the problem of climate-induced alcohol-related cirrhosis. It is estimated that worldwide 493,000 people die from liver cirrhosis each year. Cirrhosis Symptoms And Cure Cirrhosis develops as an abnormal liver condition marked by an irreversible scarring of the liver caused by long-term alcohol addiction, viral hepatitis B and C, and fatty liver. Some of the prominent symptoms include Pain and swelling in the abdomen Decreased appetite Weight loss Nausea and vomiting Fatigue Dry Mouth and High Thirst The condition also affects the skin with problems such as Skin turning yellowish with eyes showing a yellow tint Skin scattered with red spider-like veins Feet and hands becoming red Itching Cirrhosis inflicts long-term damage to the liver as the healthy liver tissue is replaced by scar tissue and it blocks the flow of blood through the liver. Over a period of time, the disease engulfs the liver and leads to complete liver failure. The liver performs detoxification of impure substances in the body, blood purification, and also produces vital nutrients. Alcohol consumption is deemed excessive when a man crosses more than 21 units of the drink and a woman takes more than 14 units a week. Quitting Alcohol Is Best Treatment The important part of cirrhosis treatment is quitting alcohol completely for the self-healing process. To some extent, vitamins such as B-complex and folic acid also help in reversing malnutrition. However, extreme cases will require a liver transplant. There are some skeptics who are not convinced about such a connection. Helena Cortez-Pinto of the University of Lisbon said the analysis despite on a very original idea has "many factors of confusion." Pinto sees a challenge in the statistics drawn from different countries as death certificates carry skewed reliability and affects the accuracy of the findings. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Hot on the heels of the Samsung Galaxy S8 release, rumors about the next-generation Galaxy S9 are already hitting the surface. The Galaxy S8 is currently considered among the hottest Android smartphones on the market, packing a slew of top-notch specs, advanced features, and a sleek design to complete the package. Samsung is reportedly working on the Galaxy S9 already however, and the first details are now surfacing online. It's still in the early days for now as the Galaxy S9 launch is at least a year away and Samsung will release a high-end Galaxy Note 8 in the meantime, but here's what the rumor mill is churning about. Samsung Galaxy S9 Early Rumors: Qualcomm Horsepower Korean outlet The Investor released a new report citing sources speaking to the Aju Business Daily. According to the report, Samsung is teaming up with Qualcomm again for a new top-of-the-line processor to power the Galaxy S9. The current Galaxy S8 flagship comes with either the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 or the Exynos 8895 processor, depending on region. Qualcomm and Samsung worked together on the Snapdragon 835, making the processor at Samsung's manufacturing facilities. The Snapdragon 835 boasts Samsung's 10-nanometer technology, which makes it 27 percent faster and 30 percent more energy-efficient compared to a 14-nm chip. Galaxy S9 Specs: Snapdragon 845 In The Cards? The new report now speculates that Samsung and Qualcomm are already working on the next-generation Snapdragon 845 processor. Either Samsung or Taiwanese company TMSC will manufacture the chip. As Samsung worked closely with Qualcomm for the Snapdragon 835, the Galaxy S8 has a limited-time exclusivity on the chip. Sony and Xiaomi will release their own smartphones soon with the Snapdragon 835 under the hood, but the Galaxy S8 is the first one to pack the new chip and the only one to boast it for a while. It remains to be seen whether things will be the same next year and the Galaxy S9 will have a limited-time exclusivity on the Snapdragon 845. Another period of exclusivity to a single device maker might not sit so well with Qualcomm's other partners, but the companies might find some common ground to appease everyone. Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Processor The Snapdragon 845 is still shrouded in mystery at this point, as details are extremely scarce. Earlier this year a rumor did indicate that a future Qualcomm chip dubbed 84x would make its debut during the last quarter of this year, but it remains unclear whether this chip will launch as the Snapdragon 840 or the Snapdragon 845. The chip will reportedly have eight cores. It's still very early to anticipate anything about the next-generation Galaxy S9 or Snapdragon chip, so take this rumor with an even heftier grain of salt than usual. For now, Samsung fans looking for a powerful flagship can either grab the new Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+, or wait for the upcoming Galaxy Note 8 that should hit the scene later this year. The Galaxy S9 launch is still a year away and a lot could change in the meantime. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Serious, even fatal cases of malaria may be striking the United States more often than previously reported, a new study has warned. Sickening thousands and leading to millions of dollars in costs, most of these malaria bouts appeared in immigrants making holiday visits to their home countries without taking the necessary precautions, the report added. Back With A Vengeance Malaria transmission in the country was eliminated in the early 1950s, mainly through techniques such as insecticide use, drainage ditches, as well as window screens. But the mosquito-borne disease continues to affect Americans traveling to places where it continues to be prevalent, including Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They then bring it home when they fly back to the United States. They just think theyre going home, so they dont have to prepare for anything, said lead author and UCLA epidemiologist Diana Khuu in a New York Times report. From 2000 to 2014, around 22,000 individuals were admitted to U.S. hospitals with their malaria complications, according to the review of federal government records. These malaria patients are typically men from ages 20 to 50 and came from Africa or the Caribbean, Khuu shared. Among the hospitalized females, however, 14 percent or an unusually high number were pregnant. This poses deadly risks to both mother and fetus since pregnancy reduces ones immune defenses. The team suspected that many of these patients were raised in malaria-infested areas, became immune in childhood, and hardly realized that their immunity from that phase had already disappeared after their years of U.S. stay. Malaria Numbers In The US And Worldwide Around the world, malaria fatalities already dropped around 60 percent since 2000. The condition, however, still kills around 429,000 a year, mostly children under the age of 5 living in Africa. Estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that there are up to 2,000 malaria cases every year in the United States, while the study pegged it at 2,100 at the minimum. Cities in the East Coast have the highest number of cases, mostly from people immigrating from Africa and the Caribbean. While nations of origin were not logged, data from the CDC reflected that many traveling to India contract malaria while visiting their home country. Of the hospitalized, more than 50 percent were black, followed by whites and Asians as the largest ethnic groups. Malaria cases also peaked every August and January, linking the incidents to summer as well as Christmas season visits. Epidemiology professor and pediatrician Dr. William Moss believed that malaria remains a health issue locally, given the diseases status as a major global concern and peoples constant movement from the United States to endemic areas, and vice versa. And as long as hundreds of millions of malaria cases worldwide remain, the infectious disease will keep bringing Americans to emergency rooms. The problem, Moss warned, is that many hospitals, especially in rural locations, may not be properly equipped to diagnose the condition and may not readily suspect malaria. The findings were discussed in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Carmen and Lupita Andrade, just like other girls their age, go to school and bond with friends. The only difference is that they are among the very few sets of conjoined twins in the country. The teens are attached along their chest walls down to the pelvis, where their spines meet. While they have two arms each, they have only a single leg: Carmen controlling the right, Lupita the left. Shared Body The girls mother, Norma Solis, told Hartford Courant that she gave birth to Carmen and Lupita in June 2000 in Mexico, where she was told by doctors that her children would only live for three days. She and her husband, Victor, explored any opportunity of separating the girls, but it was not nearly possible given their shared organs. While the girls have separate hearts, sets of arms, sets of lungs, and stomachs, they share some ribs as well as their liver, circulatory system, digestive system, and reproductive system. When it was medically concluded that it wasnt safe to conduct surgery, they learned to coordinate and balance every single movement. Practically living in tandem now, they would almost always reach for the same school cafeteria lunch and seldom differ on clothing choice. We kind of, like, have to agree. Its obvious, said Carmen, who wanted to get a drivers license to not depend on her parents to get to places. Both Clear And Not-So-Visible Challenges The threat of serious medical issues could mean delicate surgery or an oxygen tank for Lupita, who has a curved spine cramping her lungs. She can only use around 40 percent of her lung capacity. The surgery to address Lupitas scoliosis and straighten her spine, according to Dr. Mark Lee at Connecticut Childrens Medical Center, could come with great risks. Leaving the scoliosis untreated, though, will be just as dangerous. "The worst-case scenario is that you die from the surgery and that's a possibility," he said, adding that one can also lose neurologic function. Blame it on the relative uniqueness of the twins case: many doctors do not operate on a lot of conjoined twins with scoliosis, and there are plenty of considerations in this case. The incidence of conjoined twins is so rare, with only about one in 200,000 live births. Most of them are stillborn or die shortly after birth. Conjoined twins occur when a female produces a single egg and it starts to split into identical twins yet stops before completing. The partially separated egg develops into a conjoined fetus, explained the University of Maryland Medical Center. Hopes And Worries The girls have non-medical worries as well, including the possibility of the parents work permit program being revoked by the Trump administration. The family came to the United States to seek medical attention for the girls when they were still babies. But life goes on, and in the meantime they discuss their schoolwork, SATs, and the list of colleges they are looking into including the State University of New York. Carmen would one day like to own a big Chevy Silverado or Ford F-150 to drive around. Will they pursue the surgery that could allow Lupita to breathe better? Hardly, when they have mutually decided to live out life and thats it, according to Lupita. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google's Waymo is now offering free self-driving car rides to the public in Phoenix, Arizona, marking the next step in the ambitious program. People from the greater Phoenix metropolitan area who would like to get a ride (or more) in Waymo's autonomous driving minivans can now apply and ride for free as often as they want. This marks the first time that Waymo, the self-driving car division that spun off from Google in 2016, is opening its services to the public. Waymo says this new step is an "early rider program" aiming to determine how self-driving cars on demand will fit into people's daily lives. Free Waymo Self-Driving Car Rides: How It Works Phoenix residents who want to take a ride in a Waymo self-driving minivan can now apply on the company's website. Waymo will choose riders based on the kind of commute they need and how willing they are to use the autonomous driving service as their main means of transportation. Although the vehicle will drive by itself as much as possible, a human Waymo test driver will still be behind the wheel at all times, ready to take over should the situation require it. Free self-driving car rides will be available only to Phoenix residents or people in surrounding towns such as Tempe, Gilbert, and Chandler. According to Waymo, the service areas are twice the size of San Francisco. Waymo hopes to attract hundreds of riders with this program and to accommodate demand, it's ordering 500 more Chrysler Pacifica minivans from Fiat, the carmaker it teamed up with for the program. Once it gets the minivans from Fiat Chrysler, Waymo will equip them with in-house laser sensors. "We want as many people as possible to experience our technology, and we want to bring self-driving cars to more communities sooner," says Waymo CEO John Krafcik. Big Win For Alphabet This new "early rider program" is a significant milestone for Alphabet, Google's parent company, as it's had autonomous vehicles on public roads for years without picking up any passengers. Uber, for instance, already started taking riders in Pittsburg back in September 2014, and it also launched a limited project in Tempe, Arizona in the meantime. However, there's been some bad blood between Uber and Waymo, as the latter is suing the former for allegedly stealing some of its autonomous driving secrets. Why Arizona? Unlike other states such as California, Arizona doesn't have such strict regulations for self-driving vehicles. Consequently, Waymo can conduct its testing without having to obtain a license or offer any data to regulators regarding its move to start taking regular people for a ride in self-driving cars. Waymo's self-driving service in Phoenix, Arizona will be on a limited basis at first. Selected applicants will be able to hail a self-driving minivan via the Waymo app and rides will be free, but Waymo will ask riders to share details about how and when they use the service. Would you take a ride in one of Waymo's self-driving minivans? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. What happened Shares of large gold-mining company Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) hit the smelter this afternoon and lost as much as 11% after the company reported its fiscal first-quarter earnings results after the closing bell on Monday. As you can probably surmise by the move, Barrick widely missed the mark and disappointed Wall Street with its guidance. So what For the quarter, Barrick Gold reported 1.31 million ounces of gold production, which, with other byproducts included, yielded $1.99 billion in revenue and $495 million in operating cash flow. On a bottom-line basis, Barrick Gold generated $162 million in adjusted income, or $0.14 per share. By comparison, Wall Street had been looking for Barrick Gold to generate $230 million more in revenue and EPS of $0.21 per share. Why the wide miss? Barrick Gold attributed higher direct mining costs, higher exploration and development expenses, and higher depreciation for its subpar adjusted earnings per share in Q1. Its production was also affected by adverse weather conditions at its Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic. Looking ahead, Barrick disappointed with its forecast. The company updated its full-year guidance to 5.3 million to 5.6 million gold ounces of production, which is down from its previous guidance of 5.6 million to 5.9 million ounces of gold. It should be noted that 200,000 ounces of this 300,000-ounce dip at the midpoint is from the sale of 50% of Veladero to Shandong Gold for $960 million. Still, this suggests that around 100,000 ounces of production is being slashed from Barrick's existing mines. The good news, though, is that the company stood pat on its all-in sustaining cost (AISC) guidance of $720 to $770 per gold ounce, and it reduced its total debt by another $178 million. Now what Barrick Gold's quarterly results clearly weren't what Wall Street was looking for, but I'd also opine that the 11% move lower in the company's share price could be a major overreaction. Let's consider a couple of important facts about Barrick. Among the largest gold miners, Barrick has the lowest AISC of them all. It's managed this by focusing on its highest ore grade mines and reducing its capital expenditures. This suggests it also has the biggest buffer between the current spot price of gold, making it one of the most attractive gold-mining stocks. Barrick Gold has done an excellent job of reducing its debt levels. At the end of fiscal 2014, Barrick had roughly $13.1 billion in debt, which constrained its financial flexibility and caused it to spend quite a bit on servicing its debt. After today's quarterly report, the company is now down to a little more than $7.7 billion in debt. It remains on track to end 2018 with around $5 billion in debt. Barrick has a handful of organic expansion opportunities that could fuel production growth for years to come. Expansion at Turquoise Ridge and the potential development of Goldrush in Nevada are two of many ways Barrick can boost gold production in the years to come. Long story short, Barrick faced some weather-related challenges and sold off half of a key mine this quarter, but overall, this wasn't a bad quarter. It continues to pay down debt, maintained its leading AISC, and remains healthfully profitable with a prudent budget. Gold investors would be wise to get Barrick Gold on their radars after today's drop. 10 stocks we like better than Barrick Gold 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 Barrick Gold 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. Sean Williams 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. The Republican Party snatched three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives this Tuesday in Florida, so far in the hands of the Democratic Party, becoming the first to change political... | Read More What happened Shares of Great Panther Silver (NYSEMKT: GPL), a mid-tier silver and gold mining company, dipped as much as 11% during Tuesday's trading session. The reason for the drop can be attributed to weakness in the underlying precious metals perpetrated by an ongoing French election fallout. So what According to spot gold and silver prices found on Kitco as of 4:40 p.m. EDT, gold fell by $13 an ounce, or 1%, to $1,263.10, and silver was off by $0.36, or 2% per ounce, to $17.57. Silver has lost $1 per ounce over the past week and a half, while gold has shed $20 an ounce in the past two sessions. The culprit for weaker metal prices are the French election runoff results on April 23. Heading into the French election, there was a concern that the two candidates that would head to the general election on May 7 would be extremists rather than centrists. The results showed that Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, and Marine Le Pen, one of the aforementioned political extremists, are moving to the May 7 general election. Even though Le Pen represents a potential worry for the markets given her protectionist immigration stance and her belief that France should be removed from the European Union, most pundits suggest that Macron has a very good chance to win the election. What's more, Francois Fillon, one of the candidates who failed to make it to the general election, has suggested his supporters vote for Macron to ensure that Le Pen doesn't become president. Long story short, the markets see considerably more certainty following the election results and expect the more centrist Macron to win. Macron has a pro-EU stance, and his economic views should align with that of the EU, which has calmed markets. With miners like Great Panther Silver relying on higher precious-metal prices for their margins, this recent dip hasn't made its shareholders very happy. Now what In addition to the French elections weighing down gold and silver mining companies, Great Panther Silver has more specifically been held down by a bought deal completed back in July. Though the company sold an aggregate of 18.68 million shares of common stock for $29.9 million in gross proceeds, it also included one-half of one common share purchase warrant, executable at $2.25 per share. In other words, on top of the share dilution from July, the warrants offered an even greater chance for dilution should Great Panther shares rally. It just so happens that Great Panther shares neared $2.25 in February, potentially precipitating the execution of these warrants and diluting investors. We should know a lot more when Great Panther announces its quarterly results. On the bright side, Great Panther Silver is well-capitalized (it has no debt), it has a history of growing its silver equivalent production over time, and it's managed to lower its costs to sustainably profitable levels. The company's forecast for 2017 calls for $14 to $16 in all-in sustaining costs per silver equivalent ounce. There's enough of a current buffer between the midpoint of this estimate and the current spot price of silver for Great Panther to be profitable. Plus, assuming a positive preliminary economic assessment, the newly acquired Coricancha mine in Peru could commence commercial operations in early to mid 2018. If Great Panther Silver shares keep falling, this small miner could certainly be worth a closer look. 10 stocks we like better than Great Panther Silver 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 Great Panther Silver 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. Sean Williams 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. Copper and gold miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) made a bold and ill-timed move into the oil industry. That's been a heavy weight on the stock for several years that's just starting to lighten up. And just as the forecast began to brighten, Freeport is dealing with troubles at one of its largest mines. Assuming things get worked out with that copper and gold mine, however, the outlook can only get better. Fixing the balance sheet In 2013 Freeport-McMoRan bought McMoRan Exploration Co. and Plains Exploration. That deal had a huge impact on the company's balance sheet, increased long-term debt from $3.5 billion to $20 billion in just one year. At the time oil prices were high and it seemed like a decent diversification move. But when oil prices fell in mid-2014 the company's materially increased debt load suddenly became a big issue. A lot has changed over the last year or so. The big number is a roughly 40% reduction in debt in 2016, which was accomplished via non-core asset sales and equity issuances. However, hidden under this news is the fact that Freeport has been able to offload some of its oil assets. So not only is the company reducing debt, but it's also been able to fine tune the oil business that's been weighing on the shares. So, on this side of things, Freeport has been making great progress. And the future would, indeed, look relatively bright if it weren't for Indonesia. Dealing with a rule change In early 2017 Indonesia announced that it was changing some rules around mining, something that essentially resulted in Freeport's Grasberg mine having to start the process of shutting down. It's a complex political and social issue that has dragged on for months. And it helps explain why Freeport's shares are down over 27% from their early year peak while Southern Copper, another major copper miner, is down just 11%. In fact, Freeport is down even more than Vale, which is dealing with the costly fallout from a mine disaster. The decline that Freeport has experienced makes sense, though, because Grasberg is an important asset for the company. This one mine represents nearly a third of its copper reserves and virtually all of its gold reserves. But if you step back from the brink for just a moment you'll quickly see that a worst case scenario is unlikely. Why? Because if Grasberg isn't operating both Freeport and Indonesia lose out. Simply put, this standoff is bad for everyone and the optimist in me says it's likely that they'll come to some agreement. My guess is that neither side will be fully happy, but that the mine keeps running. And that will remove a major headwind for Freeport's business and shares. Upside versus downside Freeport-McMoRan is in significantly better financial shape today than it was just one year ago. That positions the miner well for stronger results in the future... if only it wasn't dealing with the Grasberg issue in Indonesia. Problems at that mine have helped push the stock down nearly 30% from its early year highs, easily making it one of the worst-performing miners. In other words, it looks like a lot of bad news has already been priced in. However, since it makes financial sense for both Freeport and Indonesia to work "something" out, it's likely that Grasberg will, eventually, blow over. And when it does, Freeport will be able to take advantage of its hard-won financial overhaul and start putting up better results. It takes a leap of faith right now to see that bright outlook, but if you are an aggressive investor with a glass half full outlook on life, it looks like the best is ahead because, well, it couldn't get too much worse. 10 stocks we like better than Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold 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 Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold 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 Reuben Brewer has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and Vale S.A. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement 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. With less than four months until it reopens, Istrouma High School in Baton Rouge finally has a principal. Reginald Douglas, principal of St. Helena College and Career Academy, a 7-12 school in Greensburg, was selected for the high-profile job. It's a homecoming of sorts for Douglas, who spent several years as a teacher at Istrouma before heading to St. Helena Parish. Douglas said hes excited by the opportunity to come back to where he got his start in education in 1999 as a social studies teacher. Its a big deal for me, Douglas said. Almost like coming back home. East Baton Rouge schools Superintendent Warren Drake announced Douglas hiring at Thursdays School Board meeting. Douglas underwent three rounds of interviews that started with six candidates and ended with two candidates interviewed personally by Drake. Douglass first day was Monday, though hes working only on a part-time basis until May 30, so he can finish up the school year in St. Helena. Douglas said he's sorting through job applications. Besides hiring faculty, Douglas said, hes planning to hold a series of events to orient new students to the school, which opens Aug. 10. The first day of school we want to be awesome day, and thats going to take a lot of work over the summer to make that happen, Douglas said. Istrouma will start with ninth and 10th grades. Those students will be joined by middle school students who are currently part of the magnet program at Brookstown Middle School. Istrouma High was shuttered in May 2014, sparking protests. Its undergoing a $24.1 million renovation, though supporters are still trying to raise millions more to refurbish the school auditorium and an annex building. St. Helena Central High coping with faculty turnovers GREENSBURGSt. Helena Central High School has undergone significant changes due to the repla In February 2013, Douglas was promoted to become principal of St. Helena Parish's high school. His previous job was as principal of the parishs elementary school. In 2014, the high school, now called the St. Helena College and Career Academy, added seventh grade. The St. Helena academy has 250 more students than when Douglas started. The schools letter grade has improved as well, from an F to a D and the school performance score has grown almost 14 points. Douglas was one of six candidates who sat down for public interviews on March 15 with a 12-member Istrouma High Advisory Council. I know that the community of Istrouma has a lot of pride and thats why we are here today, Douglas told the council. Something was taken from the community of Istrouma and they fought and got it back. Douglas is a 1997 graduate of Southern University, where he earned a bachelors degree in psychology. He later earned a masters degree in administration and supervision from the University of Phoenix. Natural gas pipeline giant Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) recently reported pretty decent first-quarter results. In fact, one could argue that the quarter was a yawner since the company's financial results were just slightly ahead of expectations, leading the infrastructure behemoth to reaffirm its full-year guidance. That said, the quarter was still important for the company, which was something founder Richard Kinder wanted to make sure investors didn't miss. That's why he took a moment during the introduction on the company's quarterly conference call to quickly run through two important takeaways from the quarter -- and what they meant for the company's future. Steady as she goes Kinder led off the quarterly call by saying that: I want to quickly make two points. First of all, this quarter's good results in terms of EBITDA and DCF ... demonstrate once more the strength of the asset portfolio at KMI. We're able to generate substantial amounts of cash flow even in a challenging environment in our business. Sometimes, good, solid financial and operational success, which is made possible only by a lot of hard work by the whole team, gets overlooked by some investors. But I would argue that it's one of the critical elements to the long-term economic health of any entity, and that includes Kinder Morgan. As Kinder pointed out, the company delivered remarkably stable financial results. Distributable cash flow (DCF) was $1.2 billion and only down $18 million, or less than 1% from the year-ago quarter. Furthermore, that decline was primarily due to the impact of the sale of a 50% interest in its Southern Natural Gas system last year, which the company nearly entirely offset by contributions from recently completed growth projects. It's that stability in the midst of the storm that some in the market overlook. However, Kinder sees his company's ability to generate consistent cash flow in any market condition as a pillar of strength. Progress where it matters most Next, Kinder said, "The second point I want to make is that Steve will update you in detail on this quarter's developments on our Elba and Trans Mountain projects, but let me say we continue to make good progress on them and on our goal of strengthening our balance sheet." Kinder also wanted to make sure investors realized that the company made tangible strides on its strategic initiatives during the quarter, including on the largest two projects in the backlog. On Elba, CEO Steve Kean would go on to note that the company was able to secure a joint venture partner to finance 49% of the project's construction costs, as well as pay a $170 million premium to that price tag in consideration of the value Kinder Morgan created on the project thus far. That incremental capital puts the company one step closer to its leverage target, which would then give it the flexibility to return more value to investors. Meanwhile, the other significant development this quarter was the completion of a final cost estimate for the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion. The price tag of the project increased from $5.4 billion to $5.7 billion, which caused the company to lose some volume after it raised shipping rates to cover the higher costs. However, it quickly replaced those volume commitments, which kept the project's economic returns intact. As such, the company's next step is to secure a financing alternative for the project, and it's currently exploring both a joint venture arrangement similar to Elba, as well as an IPO of Trans Mountain and its Canadian assets. According to Kean, the company expects to provide an update on the outcome of those alternatives next quarter. The countdown continues Once Kinder Morgan decides on a financing alternative for Trans Mountain, it will provide clarity for future capital budgeting. As a result, the company should be in the position to start reallocating cash flow from capital expenditures to other options, which Kinder suggested could be "some combination of dividend increases, share repurchases, additional attractive growth projects, or further debt reduction." However, he concluded his remarks by noting, "We currently believe the best avenue for returning value is by an increased and well-covered dividend, and we expect to announce our revised dividend guidance for 2018 later this year." The current expectation among analysts is that the company could double its dividend to $1.00 per share annually, which would represent about 50% of distributable cash flow. That said, the company could take a more conservative approach and slowly boost the dividend, while allocating some excess cash toward other options, including new growth projects. For example, the company is currently working with DCP Midstream (NYSE: DCP) on the development of a natural gas pipeline project in the Permian Basin. That project could cost DCP Midstream and Kinder Morgan more than $1 billion to complete through its anticipated in-service date of the second half of 2019. If the company does decide to move forward with this or other projects, it could grow cash flow at a higher rate in future years at the expense of lower dividends in the near term. Investor takeaway Kinder Morgan's founder wanted to make sure that investors didn't lose sight of the fact that the company's underlying business continues to deliver very consistent results during the currently challenging market environment. Because of that, the company can focus most of its attention on shoring up the balance sheet, so it not only has the capital to finance future growth but also to send more cash to investors when the time is right. After its progress in the first quarter, the company just has one more mission to accomplish before it hits the target, which would likely unleash a much higher dividend in 2018. 10 stocks we like better than Kinder Morgan 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 Kinder Morgan 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 Matt DiLallo owns shares of Kinder Morgan and has the following options: short January 2018 $30 puts on Kinder Morgan and long January 2018 $30 calls on Kinder Morgan. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Kinder Morgan. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Correction: The Advocate on April 22 quoted Neftalie Danier, assistant director of alumni relations for Bernard M. Baruch College, as saying Troy Bell at the time the newly named chief administrative officer for East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome did not have a master of public administration degree from that school. Danier said Bell owed money and hadn't completed the necessary coursework. Asked for comment at the time, Bell said that while he had not requested the diploma, he had completed the coursework required for the degree. Bell recently provided The Advocate with a diploma dated 2012 showing he was granted the degree by Baruch. When asked Nov. 29 about the issue, Suzanne Bronski, director of public relations of Baruch College, said Bell did receive the degree, but refused to answer more questions. Bronski said that under federal law, "we are only permitted to release the degree held and the date of the degree awarded." East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said shes disappointed by the man she picked as her top lieutenant, who resigned Friday after just a week on the job amid revelations that his resume was a sham. Broome should also be disappointed in herself for taking months to fill the job of chief administrative officer, then hiring a con artist and apparently failing to give him a decent background check. "I made a mistake with this important hire and I accept full responsibility," she said this week. In the wake of the scandal, Broome promised that her office will continue to serve our fellow residents in an efficient manner as we have since the beginning of my tenure. If this is Broomes idea of efficiency, were in trouble. Broome, who assumed office in January, took longer to pick her top aide than any Baton Rouge mayor in historical memory, and the result was the worst in memory, too. Bell, fired last year as deputy city manager of Walla Walla, Washington, had been fired from at least a couple of other jobs before that, and he lied on his resume about holding a masters degree in public administration. His role as a continuing guest lecturer at Purdue University seems to be a fib, too. The Advocate uncovered Bells phony credentials within days of his hiring inconsistencies the mayor and her staff could have caught with a few clicks of the mouse and a couple of phone calls. Even if Bells inflated resume were true, it still seemed pretty thin to support his hiring as the person to run the day-to-day operations of city-parish government. His biggest previous job in Walla Walla, which he hadnt kept, involved a much smaller government than the one Broome tapped him to oversee. Its curious that Broome, who spent months running for an office she had a very good chance at winning, was so unprepared to fill the CAO position that she needed an exhaustively prolonged search to pick someone. But then again, her leadership or lack of it has produced other head-scratchers. In the wake of serious allegations of wrongdoing at the Council on Aging, the mayor essentially shrugged, suggesting that the current governance structure for the agency seems fine. And Broome sat on the sidelines as a heated Metro Council argument about the agency led to a walkout by Democratic council members. Although Broome doesnt control the council, she can be an important voice in bringing members together and holding Council on Aging leaders accountable for their missteps. With flood recovery and the aftermath of last summer's violence posing continuing challenges, the need for competent leadership in Baton Rouge is more urgent than ever. Given her performance so far, Broome has much work to do. Ten Aboriginal families in Canberra will be the focus of a trial the ACT government hopes will cut the number of Indigenous people in courts and jail. The 12-month trial will let families join social workers to design plans addressing their health, housing, education and employment needs to reduce the territory's offending rates. Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service chief executive officer Julie Tongs believes a new approach is needed to reduce incarceration of Aboriginal people. Credit:Rohan Thomson After a program to curb recidivism among former inmates was found failing to stop Indigenous men returning to Canberra's jail, the government hopes its trial will prevent offending, ensure stable accommodation, improve school learning, and identify employment opportunities. Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury will announce the program with Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service chief executive officer Julie Tongs on Wednesday. At the end of the dawn service, a small crowd left the Australian War Memorial and trooped through the rain to a clearing at the base of Canberra's Mount Ainslie. They were gathered to acknowledge the sacrifices made by Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander soldiers while serving their country. Crowds gather at the Anzac ceremony for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander soldiers. Credit:karleen minney Ngunnawal elder Michael Bell welcomed the crowd as they filtered into the clearing, the site of a small memorial plaque to Indigenous and Torres Strait military service. "It's good to see so many of you here today," he told the crowd of about 300. Aldi Home Deliveries is here. But not as you might expect. A Sydney mushroom supplier has registered the name "Aldi Home Deliveries" with the corporate regulator, ASIC. Aldi Home Deliveries has been registered to the corporate regulator - but not by Aldi. David Collins admits it was cheeky to register the name without the German discount supermarket's permission. But the CEO and owner of Country Fresh Mushrooms, and self-described "master of exotic mushrooms", said he wanted to strike a deal with Aldi to do its home deliveries. I find myself agreeing with the North Korean spokesperson that Australia blindly follows the US in significant areas of foreign policy. Whether it's following the US into Vietnam and Iraq on deceitful and/or trumped-up grounds; going "all the way with LBJ"; George Bush anointing John Howard as "the man of steel"; or Malcolm Turnbull gushing over US Vice-President Mike Pence, we instinctively support America rather than having a considered, independent approach. It's time for Australia to develop a mature, balanced foreign policy that allows for a healthy distance between our national interests and those of the US. The two don't always coincide. The alliance doesn't oblige either country to join in the other's wars. With increasing tension between America and China, we're still trying to have a bet each way. China is acutely aware of where our heart lies. Kevin Burke, Eltham Beneficiaries of US withdrawal We will have plenty of time to prepare if the US decides to drop a small thermonuclear device into one of North Korea's weapons bunkers. The US will have to withdraw its civilians and their business assets from South Korea and Japan, and that will take weeks if not months. Regardless, China and Russia will be the beneficiaries of a greatly reduced US footprint in North Asia. Looked at through that lens the number of options the US has is reduced. The chief of those tactics seems to be "talk loudly and carry a small stick". Trevor Kerr, Blackburn THE FORUM Anzac spirit all around While this week we remember the events on the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915, let us also contemplate the myriad events that are equally part of Australia's history. The great art, architecture, scientific advancements and human endeavour. And let us make time to remember the history and loss of Australia's first people, as uncomfortable as that may be. Let us also remember that what is promoted as the "Anzac spirit" are the qualities the soldiers took with them to Anzac cove. Loyalty to mates, courage, resilience, ingenuity; let's reclaim these qualities as the "Australian spirit", because they were evident before Anzac, and are still evident, where ever there are Australians. Angela Wallis, Whiteheads Creek Define our terms I've been amused by the discussion about migrants adhering to "Australian values". Why just migrants? Why not all of us? However, values tend to be subjective and one size does not fit all. We should define our terms so we all know what we are talking about. Perhaps we could start by regarding our elected representatives as good role models after all, they have to be Australians to be elected and they are elected by Australians! What better way for newcomers to gain an understanding of Australian values than to hear and see them in action on such programs as Q&A and during Question Time. Their command of English is remarkable, as is their ability to avoid answering questions. We pride ourselves on being a democracy and adherents to freedom of speech. Why, then, do MPs need parliamentary privilege? Let them be subjected to the same rules of slander as we are and they will become better examples of model citizens. Terry Cerini, Creek Junction Benefits to life here Has Carolyn Berger (Letters, 25/4) offered up her soul in exchange for some favours in true Faustian tradition? Given her visceral rejection of Australian citizenship on the basis that she dislikes Australian "values", she has nonetheless traded in her own values to enjoy other benefits of living in Australia. Joanna Wriedt, Eaglemont Not a selection process Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is trying to stop changes to 457 visas designed to stamp out blatant rorting. Citing the "need to attract and retain the best and brightest" she calls any attempt to control immigration "jingoistic hyperbole". The 457 visas were never about attracting the best and brightest, but rather bringing in skills that did not exist in Australia. The visas are not, and were never meant to be, part of a selection process. Kev Kelly, Morwell Kelly an easy target Reports about pressure to remove Minister for Revenue and Financial Services Kelly O'Dwyer because of proposed changes to superannuation disgust me, but don't surprise me. O'Dwyer is the "media face of the changes". Three males are ahead of her on the financial decision-making ladder Mathias Cormman, Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull. Why are the apparently wealthy men not calling for the removal of any of these three male Coalition politicians? They are more responsible for the superannuation decision than O'Dwyer. Taking this move while O'Dwyer is on maternity leave is an added insult and leaves her in a difficult position to defend herself. To those who claim discrimination and bullying directed at women in the workforce is reducing, I hold this up an an example that nothing seems to change. Jenny Callaghan, Hawthorn Put away ego, Tony It is time Tony Abbott accepted that the electorate did not vote him into government; it voted out Kevin Rudd. Voters generally want moderate, stable government. They don't care too much if it is Liberal or Labor, as long as it is well run. There is no taste for divisive, right-wing agendas. Pauline Hanson does not, and never will, represent a significant portion of the electorate, provided the incumbent government has a united team, clear air for communicating policies and the capacity to focus on governing for the nation. So, Tony, put your divisive and ego-driven agenda away and get some career advice. Your behaviour reinforces that you are not a statesman. Allow the Coalition to govern without having to fight for every policy on two fronts. If we can learn anything from trends overseas, it is that politicians who act as if only their survival matters allow crack pot alternatives to thrive. Jennifer Piazza, Riddells Creek All take, no give Amanda Vanstone lives in the delusional world of the right wing where they believe the rich are hated (Comment, 24/4). No, they are not. Most Australians worked very hard to become rich and most are admired for their efforts. What gets up people's noses, rich and poor, is that tax legislation is so poorly constructed that allowable deductions enable some people with huge salaries to contribute nothing to tax revenue. Nothing to social welfare, to health or education, to roads or the police, fire services, defence and so on. Services they use. That is not fair. Mike Reece, Balwyn North Poor have no voice Yes, Amanda Vanstone, the politics of hate and division are easy to stir up, especially when the discussion is around those who are receiving welfare. I therefore find it hard to sympathise with those wealthy individuals fortunate enough to have their voices heard who can lobby for their rights, while those on the lowest economic rung are often left without a voice. Furthermore, when these people are heard, they are often shut down by the government and media as "leaners". If they're really lucky they will have their personal details revealed by a government agency, as happened to Andie Fox, or suffer a relentless smear campaign by the media, a la Duncan Storrar. Romy Woodford, Ormond MPs not up to job Surely if MPs are incapable of drafting unambiguous rules regarding entitlements then they are not capable of carrying out the job of legislators for which they are paid ("Crackdown on rorts", 25/4). And if an MP is "caught out doing the wrong thing" then surely that is fraud and should be dealt with accordingly. Judy Kevill, Ringwood When agents fall short Discussions of the rights (or otherwise) of renters often become a "blame game" between tenants and landlords. But what is the role of the estate agents who "manage" many rental properties? In my most recent experience as a tenant, the agent lost my initial application, which included personal documents such as payslips. They included false information on the condition report and were unable to provide basic information such as whether the property was separately metered for gas and water. Too often, estate agents fail both tenants and landlords. Caitlin Stone, Brunswick East Too-hard basket is full It seems any genuine attempts to tackle housing affordability for young Australians has been thrown into the too-hard basket in the lead-up to the budget. That basket must be pretty full by now. Luke Frazzetto, Glen Iris Competing eyesores It is a pity Year 11/12 reading lists have forgotten that classic and still contemporary text The Australian Ugliness by Robin Boyd. In the last century this book gave me permission to speak out in class about the concept of visual amenity. It allowed me to describe cities where power transmission lines and telephone infrastructure are underground. Where controls are placed on advertising signage and shopkeepers understand that less is more; where one sign that can be seen is worth more than a riot of competitive eyesores. Places where a thousand no standing signs on poles are replaced by a few kerb-side red or yellow lines. Images of densely populated European cities that still convey a sense of spaciousness, preserve their architectural heritage and treasure their urban woodlands. We are desperate for texts that expand our children's consciousness to consider their built environment and the natural world. Ronald Elliott, Sandringham Generic language Attempts to censor particular phrases from literature and film without reference to context are concerning (Letters, 22/4). The phrase "mother of all bombs" is only representative of female power, if anything, since "mother of all" is a pretty generic idiom to suggest the biggest and best of something. And "son of a bitch" has a male and female degradation, so the offence-taking comes across as a bit silly. Thomas Baker, Camberwell Such an awesome city I'm not sure if you Melbourne types fully realise what an awesome place you live in but as a visitor last weekend from the Police State (formerly known as Sydney), I was almost in shock at the sight of all the people on the streets and the general friendly vibe. I didn't hear one angry car horn. I am so jealous. If anyone wants to swap houses I have a six-bedroom, three-bathroom, two-storey house with a pool 28kilometres from the CBD. Will trade for less. Grant Taylor, Greystanes, NSW AND ANOTHER THING... Foreign affairs In just 100 days, Donald Trump has advanced the Doomsday Clock 30 seconds from three minutes to 2 minutes before midnight. David Seal, Balwyn North Donald, Vlad and Kimmie. A great prescription for creating existential angst. Paul Murchison, Kingsbury World leaders play with our lives. Rod Matthews, Fairfield South Korea, Japan, Australia and other countries should tell the US to get its troops out for safety sake. Jane Spier, Seaford In the good old days, the CIA would have squashed North Korea's president like a beetle no questions asked. Bob Worcester, Doncaster As a Glasgow-born left-wing unrepentant Fenian I hope June really is the end of May in Scotland. Simon Clegg, Donvale Politics Methinks the honourable Peter Dutton is taking "free speech" a tad too far. Tony Andreatta, Kew Abbott was unpopular after he became PM. Dutton is unpopular before he becomes PM. Changing times? Alex Njoo, St Kilda I bet economists opposed to reserving some of our own gas for us believe in "trickle down" ... and the Easter Bunny. John Patrick, Wangaratta Amanda Vanstone (Comment, 24/4), it takes particular chutzpah to assert "the politics of hate are easy to stir up" in the middle of an article doing precisely that. David Perry, Eltham Elsewhere And Danni Roche is going for gold. Go, go, go. Keri Chater, Williamstown This year's Walkley Awards will need to include one for best fake news. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will hold his first meeting with President Donald Trump, when the two leaders visit New York City next week, the White House has revealed. Press secretary Sean Spicer said President Trump will return to his hometown on Thursday, May 4, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of World War II's Battle of the Coral Sea, in which both Australian and US forces fought the Japanese army. Mr Spicer said the president would speak on board the USS Intrepid - a decommissioned World War II aircraft carrier that survived torpedo and kamikaze attacks, which is now permanently berthed in New York as part of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Mr Trump will then hold talks with the Australian prime minister. Dear Topshop, We were browsing the internet on this public holiday in Australia, when we learnt you have released a pair of totally see-through plastic jeans. It's hard to know what's more shocking the fact you call these plastic leg coverings shaped like pants "jeans", or that they cost nearly $100. After all, no one would call a poncho a piece of clothing and get away with it. They sell them at 7-Eleven for heaven's sake. The aged-care watchdog has called for greater transparency from nursing-home providers about complaints and disputes. Rae Lamb, the aged care complaints commissioner, said privacy and legislative restrictions limited her ability to reveal how specific service providers handled complaints. Ms Lamb said a consumer "revolution" was sweeping the multi-billion sector, but providers were yet to act. "I can't say too much about that because it involves protected information; I can't identify providers," she said. A man has been airlifted to hospital with suspected spinal injuries after a fishing charter boat with 11 people on board capsized in Moreton Bay. Senior police praised the "brave" actions of a water police officer who dived into the water to help save those on board, who could not reach the life jackets, saying it was lucky everyone was accounted for. Water police were called to the south passage bar between North Stradbroke and Moreton islands just after 6am Wednesday. Dalby State School will remain closed on Wednesday following a major fire that tore through the school overnight. School staff would be on site on Wednesday morning to make sure any students who arrived at school could go home safely as emergency services teams continued their assessment of the fire, which police believe was deliberately lit. Police believe the fire was deliberately lit. Credit:The Today Show/Twitter Principal Mona Anau said the fire had destroyed the school's administration facilities, music, staffroom and two classrooms as well as a specialist music room. "We are a tight-knit community that supports each other and we will get through this. Buildings can always be rebuilt," she said in a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon. Rug up Melburnians: a powerful cold snap is sweeping across the state, bringing with it the city's first taste of winter. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for most of Victoria, as a strong cold front moves in from the west, causing temperatures to plummet. The bureau is warning of wild and damaging winds of more than 100km/h, hail and possible thunderstorms as the icy front moves in. If you're brave enough to face the chill, be sure to pack an umbrella. Former Arkansas death row inmate Damien Echols, centre, back to camera, speaks at rally opposing the state's executions. Credit:Stephen B. Thornton Jones was pronounced dead at 7.20pm, 14 minutes after his lethal injection got underway, according to the Associated Press, which had a reporter serve as a media witness. He delivered a last statement expressing remorse. Williams' appeal was still pending when Jones' execution ended, but not long after, the justices denied the stay request. Again, no explanation was given and Sotomayor was the only justice to note a dissent. Protesters gather outside the state Capitol building in Arkansas on Friday. Credit:AP The Supreme Court's decision to reject Williams' requests meant that the second execution could seemingly proceed as planned, but that was quickly cast into doubt after a federal judge issued a temporary stay later Monday night. US District Judge Kristine Baker issued the order- staying the execution until 8.30pm local time or further court order, "whichever is later"- after attorneys for Williams filed a motion seeking a stay, arguing that Jones' "execution appeared to be torturous and inhumane." One of the three drugs that the Arkansas Department of Correction purchased to perform several executions. The top photo shows a bottle of Midazolam. The bottom photo shows the label for Midazolam. Credit:AP Baker issued another order at 9.22pm local time saying that "for the reasons stated" in a court hearing, she denied the motion from Williams' attorneys and lifted the stay. Attorneys for Williams had noted that he shared medical issues with Jones and said corrections staff struggled to insert a central line into Jones' neck. The attorneys said that corrections officials did not wait five minutes, as required by the execution policy, after the injection began to check and make sure Jones was unconscious after the sedative was administered. They also alleged that Jones was still "moving his lips and gulping for air" after five minutes had elapsed. One media witness says Jones' "lips did move, but only very briefly at the very start of the process." According to the Associated Press, its reporter who witnessed Jones' execution said that the inmate moved his lips briefly after the sedative was first administered and noted that officials put a tongue depressor in his mouth intermittently during the first few minutes. The AP reporter also said Jones' chest stopped moving two minutes after they checked his consciousness. Under the Arkansas lethal-injection protocol, state officials must check to make sure inmates are unconscious at least five minutes after the sedative is injected. If they remain conscious, officials are then directed to inject a second dose of the sedative. Williams' attorneys say in their filing that he did not agree to have a central line inserted, and warned that their client's execution could be "even more torturous" than Jones'. State officials quickly filed a short response pushing back on these assertions about the IV and the execution, calling them "inaccurate" and "utterly baseless." "The claim that Jones was moving his lips and gulping for air is unsupported by press accounts or the accounts of other witnesses," the Arkansas response stated. "The drugs were administered to Jones at 7.06pm and he was pronounced dead at 7.20pm. There was no constitutional violation in Jones' execution." The judge's order left the status of the execution in doubt, pushing it further into the night and closer to midnight, when Williams' execution warrant expires. After Jones was executed, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, R - who scheduled the lethal injections and did not issue a statement following the execution last week - said "the rule of law was upheld" Monday night. He noted that Jones' death sentence was carried out two decades after it was handed down. "The victim's family has waited patiently for justice during that time," he said in a statement. "The jury sentenced Jack Jones to death, and his sentence was upheld by judges and reviewed thoroughly in courts of appeal at each level." The lethal injections in Arkansas were planned as part of a schedule that would have been without parallel in modern capital punishment. Hutchinson set eight executions to occur in pairs- back-to-back on four nights spread out over last week and this week- and while most executions occur with little public notice, the timetable in Arkansas drew unusual attention and some criticism. Attorneys for the inmates filed a volley of appeals seeking to delay the executions, while two dozen former corrections officials wrote a letter to Hutchinson asking him to reconsider the schedule. They warned that the schedule was "needlessly exacerbating the strain and stress placed on" the people carrying it out and saying the timetable could "increase the chance of an error occurring." Arkansas officials have defended this schedule as necessary because their stock of midazolam, a common sedative that has provoked controversy after some executions and is one of three products used in the state's executions, expires at the end of April. Due to an ongoing shortage of lethal injection drugs, Arkansas authorities say they are not sure if more can be obtained. Leslie Rutledge, R, the state's attorney general, pledged to fight attempts to delay the remaining executions, saying that "families have waited far too long to see justice." As the execution dates approached, both sides engaged in a multifaceted legal battle, with death-row inmates and Arkansas officials appealing to state and federal courts. Drug companies also weighed in, unsuccessfully asking judges to prevent the state from using their products, which at least one company suggested was obtained through dishonest means. Death-row inmates in Arkansas also appealed to the US Supreme Court as a group, but those requests have been rebuffed, most recently Monday, when the high court denied a request to rehear a case from Arkansas inmates that the justices had already denied. No explanations were given, though Justice Sotomayor said she would have granted the petitions in that case. The lethal injections planned Monday come just four days after Arkansas resumed executions, carrying out the death sentence for Ledell Lee after the Supreme Court declined stay requests. Last week, the Arkansas Supreme Court blocked the first two executions on the schedule, and another execution planned for the same night as Lee's was stayed. Another execution is planned for Thursday night, while a second originally set that night was stayed this month by a federal judge. While two executions per night had been the original plan in Arkansas, if Jones and Williams are executed as scheduled, Monday would be the only day this month with a back-to-back execution in the state. Jones, 52, was sentenced to death in 1996 for raping and killing Mary Phillips. According to court records, Jones stalked and killed Phillips, a bookkeeper, and before killing her, he beat her 11-year-old daughter so severely that police thought she was dead when they got to the scene. Jones' attorneys have argued in court that he has medical conditions that could result in the Arkansas execution method causing him severe pain, according to court records. In a filing, his attorneys said Jones has diabetes, hypertension and several other conditions that cause him to be on medication that could bring intense or painful suffering because of a possible tolerance to the sedative used in the lethal injection. State officials argue that Jones' challenge involves "guesswork" about the sedative and "is no different than the many lethal-injection challenges" he has filed before. Baker, the federal judge, denied that motion Friday, saying Jones' case did not show "a significant possibility" that the lethal injection process could cause that pain and suffering. After Jones was executed, Rutledge, the attorney general, released a statement saying she hoped this helped Phillips' family. "This evening, Lacey Phillips Manor and Darla Phillips Jones have seen justice for the brutal rape and murder of their mother, Mary Phillips," Rutledge said in a statement. After detailing the case, Rutledge added: "The Phillips family has waited far too long to see justice carried out, and I pray they find peace tonight." Williams, 46, was sentenced to death in 1997 for abducting, robbing, raping and killing Stacy Errickson, who was 22 and was living at the Little Rock Air Force Base while her husband was serving overseas. Arkansas officials, in court filings opposing a stay in his case, said he forced her at gunpoint to take cash from ATMs before raping, beating and strangling her. Attorneys for Williams have argued in court filings that he had poor counsel during his trial in both his guilt and penalty phases, which they said meant he was sentenced to death despite the jury not hearing any mitigating evidence arguing against the death penalty. In another filing, they pointed to health issues, saying he weighs 181 kilograms and suffers from several medical maladies that meant the planned lethal injection "was more likely to maim than kill him." His attorneys argued for stays on both counts, but the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit rejected both requests on Friday. The Arkansas Supreme Court also rejected stay requests from both men. The 8th Circuit, which had denied an appeal filed by the eight inmates facing execution that challenged the Arkansas method of execution, also denied another challenge Friday that was filed by some of the inmates - including Williams, but not Jones - and focused on the state's clemency procedures. The planned double execution would be the country's first since August 2000. Texas was in the midst of carrying out 40 death sentences that year, the most for any state in a single year since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Centre. (Executions nationwide have fallen since that time, and last year, 20 death sentences were carried out nationwide.) Before the double execution in 2000, the first inmate's last words were an admonition against racism targeting black people, according to records kept by Texas corrections officials. He then said, "Let's do it." The second inmate apologised to his victim and his family before saying, "I am ready. I love you all." Arkansas is not the first state to plan a double execution since then. Perhaps the most highly publicised botched lethal injection in recent memory occurred the last time a state tried carrying out two executions in one night. In 2014, Oklahoma authorities attempted to execute Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer, in the first of two lethal injections planned that night. They bungled the process: Lockett writhed and grimaced on the gurney, prompting the execution to be called off, and he died 43 minutes after it began. (The second execution scheduled for that night was delayed; when it was carried out months later, Oklahoma officials used the wrong lethal injection drug. The state has yet to resume executions.) Loading One-Millionth Mazda MX-5 Miata Comes Home +VIDEO HIROSHIMA - April 24, 2017: Mazda Motor Corporation announced today that the One-Millionth Mazda MX-5 Miata, a commemorative model celebrating the production of 1 million units of Mazdas iconic two-seater convertible sports car, has returned home after a year-long tour that saw the model exhibited at fan-facing events around the globe. The car arrived back at the companys Hiroshima headquarters on April 7. Mazda organized the One-Millionth MX-5 tour to celebrate with fans the achievement of 1 million units and to say thank you to everyone who has supported the model over the years. Over the course of the tour the car was exhibited at 35 events in Japan, the U.K., Spain, Germany, Belgium, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and thousands of MX-5 fans signed their names on the bodywork. In the U.S., the Millionth Miata Celebration Tour visited 18 stops across the country from August to November 2016, starting at Mazda Raceway Laguna Secas annual Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and finishing at the Los Angeles Auto Show during public days. Seeing so many signatures from all over the world really brought home the fact that people from different countries, cultures and generations have supported the MX-5 for more than a quarter of a century, said Masashi Nakayama, Program Manager and Chief Designer of the fourth-generation MX-5. We are forever grateful to these fans, and we will continue working to elevate this car, a symbol of Mazdas dedication to driving pleasure, to the realm of high culture as we set our sights on the next milestone 2 million units. The One-Millionth MX-5 will take part in the parade at the Hiroshima Flower Festival on May 3 and will be on display in the lobby of Mazdas Hiroshima headquarters from May 8-12. Mazda will continue promoting initiatives that value car culture and the history the brand has built together with its customers. It aims to enrich peoples lives through a variety of touchpoints and become a brand with which customers feel a strong emotional connection. Mitsubishi To Launch New Special Vehicle Projects Program at 2017 Commercial Vehicle Show CIRENCESTER, England April 25, 2017: Mitsubishi Motors in the UK will launch its new SVP (Special Vehicle Projects) programme with the debut of the Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian SVP at the 2017 Commercial Vehicle Show, held at the NEC, Birmingham April 25 - 27. Designed to provide Mitsubishi customers with exclusive, highly distinctive vehicles, Mitsubishi SVP models will be produced in small volumes with significant appearance changes and specific colour options. Inspired by the one-off Mitsubishi L200 Desert Warrior ?Pre-runner, that also features on the Mitsubishi Motors UK stand (Hall 4, stand 4G90), the Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian SVP will be limited to a production run of 250 with half available in Electric Blue metallic and the other half in Cosmos Black. Building on the generous specification of the highly-successful Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian Double Cab, the SVP version features a more aggressive and eye-catching look via revisions to the exterior and interior. Most noticeable are the additions of 17-inch bespoke black alloy wheels with BF Goodrich all-terrain tyres, shrouded by exclusive new wheel arch extensions, while the purposeful look is reinforced by an all-new grille and an exclusive black finish on the headlamp and tail lamp bezels, fog lamp surrounds, roof rails and rear bumper. Completing the Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian SVPs unique exterior features are shark fin-inspired side steps, load bed illumination, puddle lamps, soft-opening tailgate damper and an SVP emblem on the tailgate. Inside, the limited-edition model has Barbarian-inspired ?six-pack leather seats with suede-like ?Alston inserts. Each vehicles individual limited edition number and the SVP logo are also stitched into the headrests. Front and rear foot-well mood lighting together with illuminated Barbarian door entry guards add to the special feel of the interior. Standard features of the Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian SVP also include rain and dusk sensors, keyless entry, satellite navigation, Bluetooth, Bi-Xenon headlights with integrated LED daytime running lights, cruise control and reversing camera. Power is provided by the proven and efficient 2.4-litre turbodiesel engine, which produces 180hp and 430Nm of torque, while the rotary-dial controlled Super Select 4WD system can be combined with a six-speed manual or a five-speed automatic transmission with steering-wheel paddle shifters. The Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian SVP is available to order now and is priced from 28,479 (excluding VAT) for both blue and black versions. if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi... Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 25/04/2017 (2023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Stony Brook will be lined with cooks as the City of Steinbach has announced plans for a food truck fair at the new community plaza at the T.G. Smith Centre. Every Thursday, during the month of July, food truck will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the outdoor gathering place. This is a great summer event that encourages people to have lunch, connect with others and enjoy our beautiful new community plaza, said Steinbach mayor Chris Goertzen in a release. Food truck operators interested in participating are asked to visit the citys website, www.steinbach.ca, for more information. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/04/2017 (2024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A 58-year-old man is dead and a 19-year-old man is in police custody facing charges of criminal negligence causing death, after a fatal collision at the intersection of Highway 52 and Road 40E on Monday. Emergency crews responded to a report of the crash, about five kilometres east of Steinbach in the RM of La Broquerie, shortly before noon. Investigators believe the 19-year-old was driving southbound on Road 40E when he failed to stop at the intersection and struck a westbound vehicle driven by the 58-year-old, pushing it into oncoming traffic where the vehicle was struck again by an eastbound pickup truck, driven by a 49-year-old man. GRANT BURR | THE CARILLON Emergency crews responded to a fatal collision in the RM of La Broquerie shortly before noon on Monday at the intersection of Highway 52 and Road 40E. A 58-year-old man died after his westbound vehicle was struck by a southbound vehicle which investigators believe did not stop at the intersection. A 19-year-old man faces a charge of criminal negligence causing death. Police said the 58-year-old driver died at the scene. The 19-year-old was transported to hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the eastbound pickup truck was not injured. All three drivers, police said, are from the La Broquerie area. An investigation continues into the crash. Police said alcohol is not a factor and confirmed that the deceased was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. As Greek yogurt giant Chobani filed a lawsuit Monday against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the Infowars founder entered Day 6 of the custody trial that threatens to expose his on-air persona as a sham. The lawsuit filed in Idaho District Court in Twin Falls on Monday accuses Jones and Infowars of fabricating stories about company CEO Hamdi Ulukuya. In a video earlier this month titled MSM Covers For Globalists Refugee Import Program After Child Rape Case, Infowars attempted to link Chobani to the alleged rape of a young child by two refugee teenagers. The Associated Press stated that Chobani is seeking $10,000 in damages, alleging that Jones prompted a boycott of the companys profits. Founded by Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant of Kurdish descent, Chobani has hired more than 300 refugees for its factories, drawing the ire of outlets like Infowars and Breitbart news. Its this kind of inflammatory, often evidence-free content that was at the center of a discussion between Joness lawyers and his own father, who testified on his behalf on day 6 of his custody case in Austin on Monday. The InfoWars hosts father, Austin dentist David Jones, was the first witness called to the stand on Monday by Alex Joness legal team. A flinty-eyed Texan, David gave little if any hint of being the inspiration for Jones volcanic on-air persona, though at times he bristled under cross-examination by ex-wife Kelly Jones attorney. Asked if he thinks its appropriate for his three grandchildren to be exposed to his sons broadcasting, Jones said 99 percent of the material on Infowars I would like the kids to be exposed to. He also estimated that he and his wife have made millions of dollars in recent years through his role in helping manage his sons business endeavors. Cross-examining a psychologist in court on Monday, Alexs ex-wife Kelly Joness attorney Robert Hoffman asked if its relevant if a man spews hatred and vile racist statements, if that poses a danger to his children? Alex Joness attorney objected and no answer was given. Judge Naranjo has repeatedly stated in court that the case is not about politics, its about children and the family dynamic of the Jones, and not whats in the InfoWars commercials, as she said Monday. But before the legal teams entered the Travis County courthouse on Monday, Alex Jones released another video, apparently filmed at his attorneys office across the street in downtown Austin. In the video, titled unprecedented attacks on Alex Jones in the presstitute media, Jones rails against press coverage of his trial, and his legal teams contention that his on-air persona is an act, a contention that could perhaps help him retain custody of his children, while also dealing a devastating blow to his credibility with his followers. Before they kill me, they will really try to assassinate my character and make stuff up and put five or six investigative journalists on me following me wherever I go, thats an attempt to assassinate my image, he said. First they kill who you are in the media, and your image, then they kill you personally. In an additional video, also released on Monday, he said that his trial is part of an attempt to destroy the leaders of the resistance: Donald Trump, Nigel Farrage, Marie Le Pen, myself and many others. Addressing questions about his persona, he said because I am flamboyant and I do engage in satire they have taken me out of context to demonize and destroy the entire movement. Neither video makes any mention of the Greek yogurt lawsuit. Kelly Jones legal team is expected to begin their case on Tuesday, and Kelly herself is expected to take the stand to testify. A video of Alexs current wife Erika Wulffs deposition is also set to be aired, perhaps giving one Texas courtroom a glimpse into the married life of Americas foremost, and loudest, conspiracy theorist. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. In his first direct public statement since he was fired from Fox News last Wednesday amid multiple sexual harassment allegations and the snowballing exodus of advertisers, Bill OReilly said hes shaken by his career implosion and plans to tell the world exactly what happened with events that led up to his abrupt dismissal. But not just yet. I am sad that Im not on television anymore, OReilly, who reigned for more than a decade as cable televisions top-rated personality, told listeners to his nightly audio podcast on BillOReilly.com. I was very surprised how it all turned out. I cant say a lot, because theres much stuff going on right now. Without specifying what he meant by stuffwhich might have referred to the terms of his $25 million golden parachute or whether he will be prohibited by a contractual non-compete clause from doing a show in the near future on a Fox News rivalthe 67-year-old OReilly continued: But I can tell you that Im very confident the truth will come out, and when it does, I dont know if youre going to be surprisedbut I think youre going to be shaken, as I am. Theres a lot of stuff involved here. OReilly, who just returned from an Italian vacation during which he visited the Vatican and shook hands with Pope Francis, added: Now, I cant say anymore because I just dont want to influence the flow of the information. I dont want the media to take what I say and misconstrue it. However, you, as a loyal OReilly listener, have a right to know, I think, down the lane what exactly happened. And we are working in that direction, okay? That is all OReilly had to say about his personal predicament in a 19-minute podcast that also included his repeated attacks on the mainstream media that precipitated his downfall (although he neglected to mention The New York Times blockbuster that accelerated his professional demise); the latest poll numbers of his apparently unfairly besieged friend, President Trump; conservative bomb-thrower Ann Coulters controversial speech plans at the University of California at Berkeley; and the public reemergence of Barack Obama in an appearance Monday at the University of Chicago. I think someday Barack Obama is going to be President of the United Nations, OReilly predicted. I think hes going to run that place. Because thats what they do. They discuss. In his defense of Donald Trumpperhaps returning the favor because Trump went out of his way during an interview with the Times to praise OReilly as a good person who did nothing wrong and should have stood his ground instead of paying, along with Fox News, $13 million to half a dozen women he allegedly harassedOReilly asserted that Trumps historically low 40 percent approval rating is largely due to attacks by the media. All of the polls say the same thing: well, this is unprecedented, no president in his first hundred days polled this low. But then they deceive, as the mainstream media does, on a daily basis. No president has ever entered office with as much negative publicity and hatred directed toward him as Donald Trump. In the history of our republic, no president has come under that kind of withering criticism, particularly by the press that wanted Hillary Clinton to win. So, we expect it from the Democratic Party, and if the roles were reversed, the Republican Party would be slaughtering Hillary Clinton. Thats what parties do. But the press is supposed to be objective and certainly, certainly, they are not. They want to destroy Trumps presidency. So, for him to poll in the low 40s favorable isnt that bad! OReillywho sounded weirdly chipper, considering the mortifying humiliation he had just sustained at the hands of multiple accusers as well as Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, his bosses at 21st Century Fox, Fox Newss parent companyalso responded to various letters and comments he received from fans, although not about his public ordeal. OReilly said hell be doing regular nightly 7 p.m. podcasts Monday through Thursdaywhich will be free until Sunday to curiosity seekers who arent interested in paying his sites monthly subscription fees. Former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros filed a lawsuit Monday alleging the network illegally spied on her and used the information to intimidate and emotionally torture her. Shortly after ex-CEO Roger Ailes was given the boot last summer over multiple sexual-harassment allegations against him, Tantaros filed her own lawsuit (currently in private arbitration) claiming Ailes (and Bill OReilly) had acted inappropriately towards her, and that four top executives retaliated against her when she complained. In this latest suit, filed Monday in New York federal court, Tantaros names Ailes, Fox News co-president Bill Shine, the networks top flack Irena Briganti, and Fox-aligned social-media operative Peter A. Snyder as having surveilled her phone and email communications. The result, she says, was using information obtained from her private conversations to intimidate, terrorize, and crush her through an endless stream of lewd, offensive, and career-damaging social media posts, blog entries and commentary. The activity began, she alleges, before she ever came forward to accuse Ailes, and continued up until nowmonths after both she and Ailes departed Fox News. On information and belief, the suit claims, a Fox News operative hacked Tantaross personal computer and planted keylogging and surveillance software on it. A forensic examination purportedly demonstrates that her laptop contained malware that could only have been transmitted through third-party, illegal access. The lawsuit centers largely around social-media guru Snyder, the former CEO of New Media Strategies and now chief of angel-investment firm Disruptor Capital, who Tantaros claims created for Fox News a series of Twitter sockpuppet accounts and fake websites to cyberstalk her. Tantaros claims that in 2013, while staying at Snyders home in Nantucket (she is friends with his wife), he revealed to her that Ailes will give him specific instructions on whom he should target using various internet trolling methods. Tantaros includes in the lawsuit a series of emails forward to her from Snyder showing his direct communications with Fox exec Bill Shine on matters related to the networks public perception. Based upon that, Tantaros believes that an alleged sockpuppet Twitter account, @DanielWayneBlo1, was created by Snyder for express purpose of harassing her and signaled to her that she was under their surveillance. The account allegedly tweeted at Tantaros asking her to sign a copy of her 2016 book Tied Up in Knots, and when the book arrived to her home address several days later, she became concerned about how such an accountsupposedly run by a transportation manager from Gainesville, Floridacould have known where she lived. Thereafter, Tantaros she began noticing tweets that subtly coincided with private conversations shed had on email or phone. In one June 2016 phone conversation, Tantaros discussed visiting Charleston, South Carolina, with a friend. The next day, the suit notes, the account tweeted an image of a tree with the caption: Angel Oak Charleston, S.C. That same month she talked to a friend on the phone about arranging for her brother to ride in the back seat of a Blue Angel fighter jet, Tantaros claims. The next day, the Twitter account posted a picture of the Blue Angels squadron. Also in June 2016, the day after she discussed with her mother plans for the August anniversary of her other brothers death, the Twitter account posted an image with the caption Purple Memorial for Daniel Tantaros, R.I.P. Daniel One day after she spoke with her brothers children about their visit to Disneyland, Block tweeted an image of two children posing with Mickey Mouse, captioned: Mickey Mouse and new friends... In another instance, the Twitter account posted artwork with the phrase Be strong and courageous, which Tantaros claims she and her mother almost always say to each other at the conclusion of a phone conversation. Tantaros and her lawyers note that just last week, within one day after news leaked that she intended to sue Snyder, the above tweets disappeared entirely from the Twitter account. They believe that only through the discovery process will a money trail between Fox News and Snyder emerge, proving a coordinated surveillance and harassment campaign. The networks outside counsel, Dechert LLP, denied the allegations in a statement to the Huffington Post: Fox News and its executives flatly deny that they conducted any electronic surveillance of Ms. Tantaros. They have no knowledge of the anonymous or pseudonymous tweets described in her complaint. This lawsuit is a flimsy pretext to keep Ms. Tantaros and her sexual harassment claims in the public eye after the State Supreme Court directed her to bring them in arbitration. Additionally, in a statement to The Daily Beast, Snyders counsel characterized Tantaross suit as a sham and a shakedown. The lawyer added: As Ms. Tantaros and her lawyer are well aware, Pete Snyder and his company ceased doing any social media-related work for Fox News in 2012; Snyder sold his social media company long ago, and has had nothing whatsoever to do with what she is now alleging supposedly occurred to her over the past year. Pete and his wife have been nothing but friends to Ms. Tantaros over the years. In fact, the emails that Ms. Tantaros includes as exhibits in her claim are exchanges in which Mr. Snyder, upon Ms. Tantaros request, was promoting her with Fox News executives to expand her role. That she would stoop to dragging him into her fight with Fox News is therefore both shocking and disappointing. At her request, he helped her secure her position at Fox News and provided her professional advice throughout her career. Yet, now, Ms. Tantaros seems intent on using Mr. Snyder as a foil to try to make public allegations against Fox News in court, when a New York judge already ruled she is contractually barred from doing so and has to arbitrate her claims under strict confidentiality by contract. So whatever Ms. Tantaros claims against Fox News, she should leave Pete Snyder out of it. A North Carolina man is accused of enlisting his wife and his mother to help run a sex-trafficking operation so he could raise money for bail. Zerrell Ross Fuentes, of Charlotte, allegedly used the jail telephone to recruit three underage girls into prostitution. The 22-year-old also arranged the victims transportation to Myrtle Beach through his family, prosecutors say. Fuentes wife, Brianna Leshay Wright, and his mother, Tanya Marie Fuentes, are also facing federal charges for allegedly driving the girls across state lines for commercial sex, then collecting the proceeds for Fuentes. Two alleged victims were 16 and 17 years old when they were forced into prostitution, a police report obtained by The Daily Beast shows. The callousness of this family is demonstrated by the act of pimping three young women to raise bond to enable Zerrell Fuentes to be released from jail, said Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. To place importance on Zerrell Fuentes release from jail ahead of the well-being of three young women is indicative of the value placed on life by pimps like Zerrell Fuentes, Rose added. Fortunately the defendant is now held without bond in federal custody while federal charges against him are pursued. Last week, a grand jury returned an indictment against the Fuentes family, charging each of them with one count of sex trafficking conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking of a minor and three counts of transportation of a minor to engage in prostitution. Wright, 24, and Tanya Fuentes, 53, each face another count of sex trafficking of a minor over the conspiracy, which allegedly occurred in April and May of 2016. The trio faces a minimum of 10 years behind bars for each charge, as well as a $250,000 fine. Zerrell Fuentes could also land 10 years for an unrelated firearms offense for which he is currently incarcerated, the U.S. attorneys office said. Prosecutors say Fuentess mother paid for hotel rooms for the minor victims, while Wright placed online prostitution ads using her own phone number. Wright allegedly arranged and transported the victims to and from the dates. According to the indictment, the proceeds from the conspiracy would be used to pay Zerrell Ross Fuentes bond so that he could get out of jail. Fuentes was booked on April 28, 2016, on hit-and-run, gun and drug charges, WSOC-TV reported. Over the next few days, the inmate allegedly used a phone at the jail to recruit the girls into prostitution, according to the TV station. Meanwhile, Wright, who online goes by the last name Fuentes, discussed her impending arrest in a series of Facebook posts. Woke up to find out the Feds just really picked up my case, she wrote on April 21. She added, Really dont know how to tell my nephews im finna go to jail. Ive been avoiding this talk all year. I dont care what happens to me just dont blame my husband or hate him, shit happens, Wright said in another April 21 post. On April 20, she posted a Flipagram video collage with photos and videos of herself and a man who appears to be Fuentes. One part of the videowhich uses Part II by Jay Z and Beyonce as a backdropshows a man who looks like Fuentes riding a dirt bike and later waving a handgun from the back of a car. For days, Wright appeared to know an indictment was coming. On April 19, she wrote, In my eyes any new friend request is the Feds or an unknown pussy popper. The same day, she wrote, I was pose to be bonding my n*gga out next week but the Feds was quicker than his release date now I got a helluva grudge. Days earlier, Wright wrote, 2016 taught me not to be friends with prostitutes. The Trump administration launched its week with tough talk aimed at North Koreabarbs all the more remarkable because they caught some senior officials at the Pentagon off guard. The salvos started with U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announcing what sounded like a red line that would lead to a preemptive U.S. strike on the regime of Kim Jong Un. If you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, obviously, were going to do that, Haley told NBC News. Those remarks caught senior U.S. defense officials unawares. The Trump administration had previously kept details deliberately vague, saying only that all options are on the table if Pyongyang steps out of line. President Donald Trump followed Haleys salvo by telling visiting U.N. ambassadors that the status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable, calling on them to step up sanctions aimed at North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programsa mild statement compared to that of his U.N. ambassador. At the Pentagon, there was another ominous sign when officials announced an extraordinary classified briefing for all U.S. senators on Wednesday, to be held at the White House, with the secretaries of defense and state, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the director of national intelligence briefing the lawmakers. The minute North Korea gets a missile that could reach the United States, and put a weapon on that missile, a nuclear weapon this country is at grave risk, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told CNN on Sunday, adding that he thought Trump would have to deal with this before he starts his second term. Longtime Asia watchers worry the secretive North Korean regime will give all the statements the same weighta challenge issued by a Trump administration that must be answered. Pyongyang has already detained a third American, Professor Kim Sang-duk, at the countrys airport, and threatened to sink the U.S. naval battle group thats now steaming in its general direction. All of this activity comes in advance of another possible nuclear weapons test this week. Tuesday is the anniversary of the founding of North Koreas armed forceswhich would have provided a reason anyway for some sort of demonstration of military might. The watchdog site 38 North reported increased activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, pointing to a likely underground nuclear test in the works. In the midst of this, Chinas President Xi Jinping spoke to Trump by phone Sunday, perhaps worried that the strategic game pieces are aligning at odds with each other in ways that might take a life of their own. From Capitol Hill to the Pentagon, lawmakers and other officials expressed frustration that theyre not sure what the White Houses North Korea strategy is. Multiple defense officials told The Daily Beast that they werent expecting Haley to signal to the world what might trigger an armed American response. Theres a daily phone call between the different U.S. agencies to align or share messages, but this never came up, one of them said. All of the officials spoke anonymously to discuss the confusing cacophony of administration comments. The lack of coordination is similar to the comedy of messaging errors over the location of the U.S. Navys Carl Vinson battle group, which is now on its way to the Sea of Japan, and the lack of coordinated information response to the use of the largest bomb ever dropped by the U.S. in Afghanistan. The president and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis had described the battle group as headed to the north Pacific to bolster any needed response to North Korea, not aware that the ships were making a side stop for an exercise with the Australian navy. And the use of the Mother of all Bombs against an ISIS cave hideout in Afghanistan caught many in the U.S. administration off guard, two of the defense officials said. A senior administration official pushed back against the idea that Haley issued a red line by articulating that attacking a military base or launching an intercontinental ballistic missile would draw fire. She did soften that under further questioning, saying that if North Korea did something like launch an ICBM, the president would decide what to do next. The senior official said that means no red line. The senior defense officials saw it differentlyas a major strategic message to Pyongyang about how far they might be able to go before triggering retaliation. As a general rule, you should not just throw out hypotheticals, said former Obama National Security Council spokesman Ned Price in an interview Monday. It sends a signal to our adversaries that this is a red line, but they can do everything up to that. Price said he could not recall the Obama administration ever defining what might trigger a response. I think what we are seeing here is a lack of a coherent policy so that leads to lack of coherent messaging, he said. (Price demurred when asked if his President Obama decided not to set a red line for Pyongyang after getting so much grief about not bombing when Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad crossed a red line in Syria. But Price did point out that Obama used the threat of such force to get Assad to give up what was thought to be most of his chemical weapons.) North Korea has conducted several missile tests that have threatened its immediate neighbors. The latest such test, of a midrange missile, failed last Sunday. But Pyongyang has shown recently that the accuracy and capacity of its arsenal is fast improving. On March 6, it launched four ballistic missiles that traveled 620 miles and landed on or near the Japanese maritime economic zone in the Sea of Japan, apparently hitting their exact intended point. Various Tokyo officials expressed more concern that they have in the past about the Kim regimes missile capabilities. Those missile tests are provocative, a U.S. official told The Daily Beast. But ICBMs, which can hit the U.S., are in a totally different category. Specifically, if the North tests a ballistic missile that can reach Americas mainland, the world could see a revival of the Cold War doctrine known as MAD, or Mutual Assured Destruction: a situation in which both sides threaten each other with enough ruin to prevent themas long as both are sanefrom attacking each other. Its not exactly that, said Anthony Ruggiero of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The former U.S. official, who worked on sanctions, including against North Korea, said the danger is less MAD than North Korea gets to dictate the military action. Nuclear brinkmanship changes the dynamic. Ruggiero, like Trump, called for more sanctions on North Korea, pushing back against the notion that it is the most sanctioned in the world. He suggested naming and shaming Chinese companies and banks that do business with North Korea to add pressure on the Pyongyang regime. While he said this may limit Americas option to impose international sanctions through the U.N. Security Council, where China has a veto power, it may well be more effective. Unilateral U.S. sanctions, by limiting access to international banking, have in the past proved to be as effective if not more so than international ones, he said. If countries have a choice between doing business with us or with NK, I think choose us. How far is Pyongyang from developing the kind of missiles that can hit the U.S. mainland? On April 16, during an annual military parade, two types of ICBMs were on display, raising fears that it is getting closer to completing the process of obtaining the long-range missiles. While some observers dismissed the display as possible cardboard models, Tal Inbar of the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, a think tank founded by the Israeli Air Force, noticed some design details that made him believe the models were genuine. Every nut and bolt in the missiles we saw on that parade looked like the real deal, he said, adding, I dont believe in mock-ups in the DPRK, short for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Inbar, a leading missile expert, said that while we only saw the missile casings in the parade displays, and therefore we cant be sure how advanced the program is, the more worrisome sign was that they showed that North Korea has two separate ICBMs designs. What we saw was a representation of two completely different types of missiles, and both can reach New York, he added. Asked by The Daily Beast last week about threats made by Pyongyang officials, Haley said her message was simple: The United States is not looking for a fight, so dont try and give us one. Haley has used a similar formulation several times since, indicating that additional provocations from the Kim regime would force the U.S. to act. If you are particular about Russian political and cultural history, you might want to be gripping a stress ball before taking your seat at the musical Anastasia on Broadway. If you want to watch a proudly old-school Broadway musical with the best snow effects ever (thank you, projection designer Aaron Rhyne), however, then no stress balls needed. Despite a closing curtain of narrative ambiguity, this lushly orchestrated, gently delightful musical, directed by Darko Tresnjak, takes the view that the famous daughter of the Romanovs did survive the massacre of the Russian imperial family at the hands of the Bolsheviks in 1918, andhaving fallen in with a loveable conman and louche aristocratsets off for Paris to prove her identity to her surviving grandmother. The musical is based on the 1997 animated film, which starred Meg Ryan as Anastasia and which also featured Rasputin as the baddie. He is absent here. Its also based on the 1956 movie, which saw Ingrid Bergmans Anastasia fall in love with Yul Brynner as a general who grooms Anastasia to behave as the real Anastasia would have, not realizingyes!she is, or believes herself to be, anyway, the real Anastasia. History records none of this as actually happening, although the story of Anna Andersonthe most famous of Anastasia imposterslong intrigued many, and continues to do so even after DNA tests conducted on bone fragments in 2009 proved the while Romanov clan was killed in 1918. Anastasia the musical, as Kellyanne Conway might say, chooses its own alternative facts, and does so with gorgeously sweeping music by Stephen Flaherty, courtly, crisp choreography by Peggy Hickey, grand designs by Alexander Dodge, including imposing windows, pink blossom, and a very simple open train carriage that kicks the mode-of-transport ass of Miss Saigons helicopter, and quite simply the best period costumes on Broadway by Linda Cho, which glimmer, slink, and stun. The very un-magical Charlie and The Chocolate Factory could learn a few lessons from Anastasia. When the musical opens, Terrence McNallys book cleverly has the past already feel otherworldly. As the young Anastasia bids farewell to her grandmother, the Dowager Empress (Mary Beth Peil) gives her a music box to remember her by. Her grandmother is leaving for Paris, but young Anastasia is notnot yet, anyway. The most explicit the musical gets about the Romanov massacre and their fate is a flash of red outside the windows of what appears to be this last ball the Romanovs waltzed inred for the Bolsheviks, red for blood, red for gunfire. Its the classiest way a Royal Family could be dispatched on stageby implication rather than rifle. Everyone just looks towards the windows a little alarmed, and thats that. The Romanovs occasionally appear as ghosts throughout the show. The next thing we know, were in St. Petersburg in 1927, now known as Leningrad, and the people are starving and nervousbut singing about it, of courseand there are spies and shifty soldiers and generals on every corner, including Ramin Karimloos Gleb, who apart from being drop-dead gorgeous is also keen to find whoevers pretending to be the surviving Anastasia (the memory-loss addled Anya who may just be her is played by the tomboyish, beady-eyed, and strong-voiced Christy Altomare). And here come theatre buddies Dmitry (Derek Klena), just as hot as Gleb but dressed in bohemian tweeds, and Vlad (John Bolton), whos an aristo manque. Both of them want the reward the Dowager Empress is offering for Anastasias return, and so undertake a Henry Higgins-style behavioral makeover of Altomares Anastasia. But of course, they dont need to, because she is, or believes herself to be, the real Anastasia! Their best song as a trio comes on a nerve-wracking train journey to Paris, as Gleb and the authorities try to catch them. Anastasia is both a chase and a quest, andin its own very light wayan examination of grief and loss; and no-one embodies that better than Peil, who embodies all the strength and fragility of a Dowager Empress who has lost all she loves, and who dreams of finding Anastasia. Although they do not know it, Gleb and Anya are both linked by ghosts, pushing them to do what they do: Glebs father was supposedly one of the firing squad that killed Anastasias royal brethren. Finding her is personaleven though his anti-monarchist sentiment isnt as strong as his fellow Bolsheviks. Gleb carries a gun with him, ready to kill herbut can he use it? With that plaintive inner conflict expressed with such a rich baritone, and those cheekbones? Countess Lily (Caroline OConnor), an old flame of Vlads and the Dowager Empresss lady-in-waiting, provides a loopy and camp slice of comic relief to all the cat-and-mouse, swooning and fluttering her way through song and dance numbers, just as the attraction between her and Vlad takes on an absurd heat for them both. The story, non-fatally, doesnt have much story: theres just a lot of dashing about, and singing about finding something, ghosts of the past, and identity and so forth. Difficult questions about Russia and its past and future are raised and soon forgotten, with shrugs of shoulders and sighs. The performances are shining: the love story between Dmitry and Anya is particularly sweetly downplayed. The ending is both happy and sad, and keeps the mystery of Anastasia tantalizingly lost to the daintily falling snows of timewhich is just as it should be, whatever the DNA evidence says. Anastasia is at the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street, NYC. Book tickets here. Spurred by a Daily Beast report pointing out the deficiencies of the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trumps campaign, Democratic members of the committee began openly criticizing the pace of the probe Monday evening. Ive made clear to the bipartisan leadership of the committee that I have serious concerns about this investigation, said Sen. Ron Wyden. For weeks Ive called for the committee to move more quickly and more transparently, particularly on the key issue of following the money in this investigation. For this investigation to be successful, the committee must recognize the enormity of the job and provide the resources to tackle it. The Senate Intelligence Committee has not conducted any interviews with figures in the Trump orbit, or begun looking into possible Trump-Russia ties. I think we need to move faster. I think we need to have more people, and more investigators, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. I have some concerns. But I want to talk to the committee itself first before I say anything. The Daily Beast reported that, of the seven individuals assigned to the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation, none of them have a background in complex investigations and prosecutions. "I'd always like to be going faster I do feel like it would be helpful to have someone with prosecutorial experience," said Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Lawmakers were still willing to give the committees investigation their cautious support, however. Ive got confidence in the Senate team, on the Democratic side, said Sen. Tim Kaine. Im a little bit nervous sometimes about what I see on the Republican side. But compared to the House, its still going strong. Stephen Bannon, President Donald Trump s recently embattled White House chief strategist, has advised the president and senior staff to take a hard stand on border-wall funding this weeka game of chicken with lawmakers on Capitol Hill that threatens an imminent government shutdown. This is a stand worth taking, Bannon told allies last week, according to two White House sources with direct knowledge who talked to The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity to speak freely. Were drawing a line in the sand. [ Bannon ] was pushing for this standoff, very hard, another Trump administration official said. He is 100-percent committed to this [specific] fight to show that [the White House is] tough on immigration [enforcement], tough on the bordershow theyre serious about the wall. Last week, Mick Mulvaney, Trumps director of the Office of Management and Budget and co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus , signaled that the president was prepared to use the threat of a government shutdown at the end of this week as leverage to force Democrats into supporting some funding for building Trumps desired wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The proposed trade, and set-up for a spending showdown , was clear: If Trump gets money for his wall, Democrats get money for Obamacare subsidies. ObamaCare is in serious trouble. The Dems need big money to keep it going - otherwise it dies far sooner than anyone would have thought, the president tweeted on Sunday morning. The Democrats dont want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS 13 gang members. While Mulvaney accused Democrats on the Hill of holding hostage national security by opposing $1.5 billion to help construct the wall (one of Trumps longest-running campaign promises), top congressional Republicans remainat bestuneasy about the Trump administration making the border wall the deal-breaker. Senate and House Democrats, for their part, do not appear to be budging in the presidents direction, and instead spent the past few days bashing Trump for throwing a wrench into funding negotiations meant to forestall another government shutdown. Wed ask [Trump] to let us do our work, not throw in some last-minute poison pills that could undo it, and we could get this done, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. Its a game of chicken that, if the White House doesnt blink, sets up Republicans in Congress for a no-win situation, and the White House for more signs of dysfunction in Trumps first 100 days in office. That Bannon and his West Wing and Trump-administration allieswho make up the so-called nationalist , anti-globalist faction of Trumps inner political circlewould wholeheartedly support this kind of spending fight isnt a surprise. The nationalist true-believers on Trumps team view a hard-line on immigration as a core tenet, and as another way for them to assert influence during a time when a more centrist-leaning faction, spearheaded by such officials as Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and Gary Cohn, appeared ascendent in the West Wing. In recent weeksas various news outlets were busy prematurely writing Bannons political obituaryBannon and his associates have reasserted their relevance by also backing and cheering on President Trump on draconian immigration policies, Buy American, Hire American rhetoric, and new executive orders that reflect a nationalist worldview on issue such as trade and imports. Some of these measures, however, are watered down from what many of the Trumpian nationalists wanted, and some have been indefinitely blocked, including Trumps travel restrictions and Muslim bans that were swiftly tied up in court . These hardliners had wanted a memocalling for the Commerce Department to investigate whether steel imports threaten U.S. national securityto include immediate additional 25-percent tariffs imposed on certain product categories that are allegedly being unfairly dumped into the U.S. The proposed tariffs were ultimately left off the memo, according to an Axios report last week. Two White House sources told The Daily Beast that the nixed tariffs were in part a throwback to when Trump, in 2011 during his birther-fueled political rise, told a crowd that as president he would drop a 25-percent tax on China. Listen, you motherfuckers, were gonna tax you 25 percent, he said on stage in Las Vegas to hoots and rowdy applause nearly six years before he became president. The week ahead is set to be a particularly tense one for the Trump White House, as the presidents 100-day mark looms, the government-shutdown standoff builds to a head, and a potential tax-reform blueprint gets floated. Much of this drama will be exacerbated by the simple fact that Trump staffers are acting scared for their jobs and standing in the presidents eyes. Two conservative student groups at the University of California-Berkeley have sued the school for stifling conservative speech on campus, after University officials cancelled conservative pundit Ann Coulters speech last week, citing safety concerns. Filed in federal court Monday on behalf of the UC Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation, the lawsuitwhich names UC Berkeley President Janet Napolitano, the head of campus police, and other University officials as defendantsalleges that the schools recent adoption of an unwritten and unpublished policy permits University officials to unreasonably restrict the time, place, and manner of any campus event involving high-profile speakers in a way that has been discriminatory against conservative speakers. At a press conference held Thursday afternoon, San Francisco attorney Harmeet Dhillon said the University admits that this policy exists, and it admits that the application of a policy is largely driven by the anticipated reaction of a hostile crowd to conservative speakers at Berkeley. Dhillon also insisted the policy violates the First Amendment. The suit comes after Dhillon, a Republican National Committee member representing the student groups, threatened to take legal action against the University if they did not secure a venue for Coulter to speak this coming Thursday, May 4. The school responded with a letter stating that it could offer Coulter a speaking venue on May 2a time that the University has referred to as a dead week, in which no classes are held, according to the lawsuit. Coulter has since stated that she isnt available on May 2. In a statement responding to the lawsuit, UC Berkeley said the plaintiffs' claims of discrimination were unfounded. The allegation contained in the complaint filed by Young Americas Foundation that Ms. Coulter is being prohibited from speaking because of her conservative views is untrue, the statement reads. As the complaint itself notes, Young Americas Foundation has sponsored many other speaking events at UC Berkeley in past years, including that of conservative political commentator and author Ben Shapiro, and the organizations efforts have led many notable conservatives to share their viewpoints with students and the public on campus. The University also said it was working to accommodate a mutually agreeable time for Ms. Coulters visitwhich has not yet been scheduled and remains committed to doing so. The campus seeks to ensure that all members of the Berkeley and larger communityincluding Ms. Coulter herselfremain safe during such an event. Speaking to The Daily Beast, Robert Shibley, Executive Director of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), said the new complaint makes a strong case that the University is indeed not clearly administrating its policy involving high-profile speakers, given that the school hosted prominent speakers like Vincente Fox Quesada, former President of Mexico, and a former presidential advisor to President Bill Clinton the same month that Coulter was scheduled to speak on campus. If high-profile is a synonym for people who are controversial, then thats a viewpoint-based burden on speech, said Shibley. Schools need to provide a way for speakers to communicate and if they want to restrict speech, those restrictions have to be narrowly tailored and in the service of a significant governmental interest, he added, citing the 1989 Ward v. Rock Against Racism Supreme Court case which set the standard that content-neutral speech regulations in a public forum be narrowly tailored to serve governmental interests. According to Shibley, most speech zone policieseven if they are content-neutraldo not meet this standard, but we cannot assess Berkeleys high-profile speaker regulation until we know how the policy is enforced. Pranav Jandhyala, one of the organizers of the original event with Coulter, told The Daily Beast that he doesnt support the lawsuit. We understand the administrations concerns about security and think we need to work with them rather than against them, said Jandhyala, a freshman at UC Berkeley and president of Bridge USA, a nonpartisan campus political organization which was founded in response to the violent protests of Milo Yiannopouloss scheduled speech at the Univeristy in March. We recognized a need for space on campus where all political beliefs would be welcome but subject to rigorous debate and discourse, said Jandhyala, who identifies as politically moderate and said the purpose of Bridge USA is to encourage students who are still figuring out their political views to be exposed to a diverse range of opinions. Jandhyala added that the group is waiting to see whether or not the lawsuit will force the administration to secure a venue on Thursday. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities a centerpiece of his first few months at the Justice Departmentbut some cities that have heeded his warning are seeing their murder rates spike anyway. In a speech last week, Sessions said sanctuary citiesa term with no clear legal definitionare safe harbors for violent international cartels, putting innocent life, including the lives of countless law-abiding immigrants, in danger. And he singled out New York City in a later statement, saying it faces gang murder after gang murder, the predictable consequence of the citys soft on crime stance. But a new analysis of preliminary data shows that in 2016, murder rates went up dramatically in many cities that cooperate with the feds on immigration. Immigration advocates say this means the attorney general is overstating the impact of ending sanctuary city policies as a way to fight violent crime. Sanctuary cities are not connected to the 2016 increase in crime in some cities despite Attorney General Sessionss ill-informed comments to the contrary, said Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration expert at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. Many of the cities with the biggest increase in crime are not sanctuary cities. There is no evidence that increased immigration enforcement reduces crime on the local level, thus there should be no increase in crime rates when cities reduce cooperation with the feds. The Justice Department says thats completely incorrect. There are many drivers of crime in America and sanctuary cities are a part of that, said DOJ spokesman Ian Prior. Policies that shelter criminal aliens create a safe space for dangerous transnational criminal organizations to expand their network of drug trafficking, gun trafficking, and human trafficking. That puts residents of those communities in danger and makes it harder for the men and women in law enforcement to safely do their job. Data on murder rate hikes comes from FiveThirtyEight, which compiles and releases numbers on murders in major cities months before the FBI releases its Uniform Crime Report data. According to numbers the site published on Jan. 9, 2017, at least six cities had record-high murder rates in 2016, going back to 1960: Anchorage, Alaska; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Durham, North Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; and Memphis, Tennessee. None are so-called sanctuary cities. Additionally, six cities in particular had murder rate jumps that FiveThirtyEight called alarming: Chicago, Memphis, San Antonio, Louisville, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. Taken together, those six cities accounted for 76 percent of the overall big city murder rise in 2016, FiveThirtyEight analyst Jeff Asher wrote. Two of those citiesChicago and Las Vegascould be characterized as sanctuary cities (though Vegas officials dispute that characterization). Sessions has indicated that Chicago and Las Vegas may lose grant money from the Justice Department if they dont cooperate with it more closely on immigration enforcement. The other four cities, however, are very cooperative with the feds. Memphis is in Shelby County, and the public information officer for the county sheriff, Earle Farrell, told The Daily Beast that they work closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If they arrest someone ICE is looking to deport, they will hold that person until an ICE officer can take him or her into federal custody, Farrell said. He added that they let the agency know when they arrest someone ICE is looking to deport. Despite that, the AP found earlier this year that Memphiss murder rate is the highest its been in 20 years. And FiveThirtyEight calculated that the citys murder rate jumped by 56 percent from 2015 to 2016. San Antonio, Texas, is another big city grappling with an increase in homicides. Murders there went up 61 percent in 2016, according to FiveThirtyEight. And the San Antonio Current reported that local law enforcement were perplexed by the numbers. But poor cooperation with feds on immigration enforcement doesnt explain why; San Antonios police chief, William McManus, told Texas Public Radio in January that an ICE officer visits their detention center frequently looking for people who may be deported. Theyre bumping their list up against what we have on our books, he said at the time. Theyre not looking for someone who was arrested on a traffic ticket who may happen to be illegal, they wouldnt know anyway. Theyre looking for people who have committed serious crimes and may be in our detention center. Louisville, like San Antonio, has also seen eye-popping murder numbers. 2015 was the citys deadliest year in 36 years, according to the Courier-Journal, and the paper found 2016 was even more lethal, with a 44-percent increase capped off by a double homicide on Thanksgiving. Local Fox affiliate WDRB reported last year that two Mexican cartels are active in Louisville: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Knights Templar. Like Memphis, local law enforcement officers in Louisville let ICE know when they arrest someone the agency is looking to deport, according to the Courier-Journal. Corrections official Mark Bolton told the paper that they dont hold undocumented immigrants for longer than usual if ICE is looking for them, but that thats generally a non-issue since ICE takes custody of people theyre looking for within a few hours of hearing about their arrests. The Phoenix city council, meanwhile, voted in February against becoming a sanctuary city out of concerns about violating a state law that requires local cooperation with the feds on immigration enforcement. Phoenixs murder rate reached a 27-year low in 2015, according to AZCentral, but jumped by 36 percent from 2015 to 2016. Last month, the DEA announced it had indicted 20 people on charges related to drug trafficking for Mexican cartels that occurred in the Phoenix suburbs. Two other cities FiveThirtyEight noted for their dramatic murder spikes have both drawn ire from federal law enforcement over immigration. Chicago has long been a favorite punching bag of the Trump administration, and it stands to lose millions in Justice Department grants if it doesnt become cooperative. The citys skyrocketing murder rate was one of the biggest crime stories in 2016; it went up by 59 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight. In total, 762 people were murdered in the city last year, while 496 were killed in 2015, as CNN reported. Las Vegas is another city that has drawn scrutiny from federal immigration authorities. Last week, the DOJ asked the Clark County managerthe county Vegas is into show that officials there have the freedom to share information with the feds about the immigration status of people they arrest. Clark County officials say they do this already, and adamantly deny it is a so-called sanctuary city. FiveThirtyEight found Vegass murder rate spiked 31 percent from 2015 to 2016. Activists who support cities that dont cooperate with the federal government on immigration enforcementincluding Frank Sharry, who heads the pro-immigrants rights group Americas Voiceargue those policies can help curb crime. Its just common sense among most law enforcement professionals that when cities encourage all of its residents to work with policeto reach out, report crimes, and serve as witnessesthey are safer, Sharry said. But some cities with sanctuary policies also saw murder spikes. More than twice as many people in New Orleans were shot in January of 2017 as in January of 2016, according to the Times-Picayune. And a Wall Street Journal analysis found that four major cities in particular are currently experiencing surging murder rates: Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee, as well as Memphis. The restrictionist Center for Immigration Studies lists Baltimore as a sanctuary city. And the DOJ recently sent a letter to Milwaukee asking it to prove it complies with federal information-sharing requirements about immigration. Domenic Powell, an immigration policy analyst at the ACLU, said its important not to oversimplify the connections between immigration, so-called sanctuary city policies, and violent crime. The administration wants to construct this simplistic narrative about immigrants and crime that supports their political agenda, he said. But it isnt backed by any facts, research, or consensus among law enforcement about what makes sense as a public safety strategy. When an Australian pharmaceutical company sought to raise money with the goal of entering the U.S. drug market, Rep. Chris Collins pitched in. The Republican congressman purchased $2.2 million worth of stock in Innate Immunotherapeutics as part of its initial public offering in late 2013, according to a previously unreported document Collins filed with Australias securities authority. The IPO prospectus said Innate would seek FDA approval of its drug to treat multiple sclerosis. More than a year later, Collins wrote into a bill language to expedite the FDAs approval process for such drugs. Four months before the bill was signed into law, Collins again purchased stock in Innate, this time as much as $1 million, according to congressional financial disclosure records. Ethics experts say all of this amounts to a conflict of interest that warrants investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics and the House Ethics Committee. Collins said he did not participate in any IPO on a financial disclosure form filed in 2014 (PDF), but thats not a crime, thanks to a gaping loophole in the STOCK Act discovered by The Daily Beast. The law, passed to stop insider trading among members of Congress, only requires them to disclose involvement in U.S. IPOs, but not foreign ones, a House Ethics Committee official told The Daily Beast. This is simply outrageous, Larry Noble, a former Federal Elections Commission lawyer, told The Daily Beast of the loophole. One could argue that not only should foreign IPOs not be exempt, but that they present an even greater possibility of a conflict of interest because theyre involved with foreign persons. Collins owns approximately $22 million worth of Innate stock, or 16.5 percent of the company, and sits on its board of directors, according to the company. Since the IPO, Collinss children, his chief of staff, and a score of campaign donors have bought into Innate, whose stock price has tripled since its initial offering in 2013. Do you know how many millionaires Ive made in Buffalo the past few months? Collins was overheard on Capitol Hill telling someone on the phone in January, though it is not known what exactly he was talking about. Five other Republican congressman have also invested in Innate, including the new secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price. All told, Collins and people with close personal and political ties to him own approximately 30 percent of Innate. Collinss office did not answer detailed questions about his relationship with Innate, but it did provide a statement. Despite the continued partisan attacks insinuating otherwise, Congressman Collins has followed all ethical guidelines related to his personal finances during his time in the House and will continue to do so, Collinss communications director, Michael McAdams, wrote in an email to The Daily Beast. Congressman Collinss relationship with Innate Immunotherapeutics dates back more than 15 years, the statement continued. Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis is one of the most debilitating diseases in the world and Congressman Collins saw its deadly impact first hand as it affected a close family member. As of now, it has no cure and no relief of symptoms. He is very proud of the progress the company has made over the years and hopeful it will develop a potentially life-saving treatment for the millions of individuals suffering from Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Collinss relationship with Innate began in 2005 when CEO Simon Wilkinson was the CEO of another Australian pharmaceutical company that was struggling financially: Virionyx. On a trip to the United States to look for new investors, Wilkinson reportedly met Collins. Collins, who was then an entrepreneur mostly in the manufacturing industry in Buffalo, invested $5 million in Virionyx, which became Innate Immunotherapeutics in 2009. Innate has just one product, MIS416, a drug to treat secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, a worsening of the disease that affects 30 percent of MS patients. If approved by the FDA, MIS416 would be the only drug to treat this form of the disease, according to Innate. In its 2013 prospectus, Innate estimated that MIS416 could generate as much as $3 billion in profits in the U.S.. Innates prospectus also shows why Collinss work on the 21st Century Cures Act presents such a potentially serious conflict of interest, ethics experts said. Collinss provision in the bill makes it easier for companies to be granted investigative drug approval, something Innates prospectus repeatedly defines as its main strategy for reaching the U.S. market. Money raised by the initial public offering that exceeded the amount needed for the second phase of clinical trials for MIS416 would go toward initiating the Investigational New Drug process with the FDA, according to Innates prospectus. In a statement touting the Cures Act provision, Collins said that the methods used to evaluate investigational drugs have remained the same for decades, and called for the approval process for those drugs to be streamlined. That is now law, thanks to the passage of the Cures Act. Noble, the former government lawyer and an ethics expert, said that because Collinss provision will have a broad impact on companies across the pharmaceutical industry, it might not be seen as a direct conflict of interest. But it is the provisions specific effect on Innateand Collinss lead role in pushing the provisionthat should prompt an investigation, Noble said. Its one thing for a member of Congress to simply vote on something like this, and its entirely another for that person to have been the one leading the charge on it, Noble said. This is a very serious conflict of interest matter. Theres a lot financially at stake for him, and theres a serious question of whether or not he put a provision in a statute that will benefit that financial upside. Noble added that, at the very least, Collins should have informed ethics officials of his relationship with Innate before crafting legislation that would help the company. It is not known whether Collins consulted the House Ethics Committee, or disclosed the extent of his involvement with Innate prior to pushing for the provision included in the Cures Act. Collinss spokesperson did not say whether Collins has consulted with ethics officials regarding his relationship with Innate. Consultations between the committee and members of Congress are private, a committee spokesperson said. Collinss potential conflict of interest got deeper last year. In August 2016, he bought as much as $1 million in company stock, according to financial disclosure records (PDF). Two months later, Collinss language was present in the Cures Act. Two weeks later, President Obama signed the bill into law. Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, said Collins was being highly reckless in buying Innate stock while the Cures Act was working its way through Congress. Youre asking for an investigation and maybe criminal prosecution if you know your legislation will help the company, and you trade on the stock before the bill is passed, Painter told The Daily Beast. Not only is it in Collinss interest to see Innate succeed, but getting MIS416 to the lucrative U.S. market would enrich a sprawling network of family, friends, and political donors of Collins. Collinss circle began investing heavily in 2013, when Innate offered its IPO. That year, Collinss two children, then a senior and freshman in college, purchased nearly $1 million in Innate stock combined, according to the company. Today Caitlin Collins is Innates fifth largest shareholder and Cameron Collins its sixth. By the end of 2013, the companys list of top 20 shareholders included Collins, his two children, and four people who have donated a combined total of $16,000 to Collinss campaigns: Glenn Arthurs, a Buffalo financial adviser; Paul Harder, a friend of Collins who held a Trump fundraiser with the congressmen during the presidential campaign; Thomas Massung, a former vice president of Buffalos M&T Bank; and Tom McMahon, a Buffalo research-firm owner. Joining them last year was Collinss chief of staff, Michael Hook, who purchased Innate stock last summer and today owns nearly $800,000 worth of shares, according to the companys shareholder list. Hook cracked the top 20 of Innate shareholders this year, according to the company. James Wheeldon, an Innate shareholder and former attorney with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, claims Collins has violated securities law with what is practically a by-proxy takeover of Innate. In a letter to ASIC about Collins, Wheeldon pointed to a requirement that investors notify Australian securities officials if they exceed 20 percent ownership of a company (PDF). If Mr. Collins does in fact have any control over the voting or disposal of the shares held by his children, then he has prima facie contravened the 20 percent rule, Wheeldon wrote in a February letter to ASICs Takeovers Panel, which hears complaints about shareholder takeovers of companies. While Collins owns 16.8 percent of Innate, 4.6 percent of the company is owned by his children, or 21.4 percent between the three of them. Wheeldon argues the percentage of the company owned by Collinss children puts the congressman over the 20 percent threshold that requires disclosure to shareholders. These investorswho were supporters and financial backers of Mr Collins before he introduced them to (Innate)would be expected to continue to support Mr. Collins in his capacity as a director and major shareholder, Wheeldon claimed. It strains credulity to suggest that they would not accede to Mr. Collinss wishes and instructions should a matter be put to a vote of the shareholders of this company located on the other side of the world. The Takeovers Panel determined that Wheeldons argument was flawed and lacked evidence that Collins controlled the shareholder voting practices of his children and his associates. The panel declined to recommend an ASIC investigation, it announced in February. Wheeldon, a Harvard educated lawyer and dual citizen who is also licensed to practice law in New York, remains adamant that Collins had violated Australian securities law. There are many things that I dont agree with when it comes to the Trump administration, Wheeldon told The Daily Beast from Sydney, noting that Collins was the first congressman to endorse Trump for president and served on his transition team. But one thing I do agree with is that foreigners should not be able to come into your country and break your laws. Last year, Innate needed money for a second round of clinical trials so it offered deep discounts on stock purchases to sophisticated investors. Called private placements, the company offered individual shares at less than half of their then-going rate on the Australian Stock Exchange. With a capital raising goal $10 million, according to Innates prospectus (PDF), the company looked to people Collins knew. Sixteen people with close ties to Collins bought Innate shares at discounted prices of $0.18 or $0.26 cents per share. Those investors have given nearly $42,000 to Collinss political campaigns over the years, a review of campaign finance records found. They include former congressman Price; Collinss chief of staff, Hook; and Bill Paxon, a former congressman who Collins has credited with getting him into politics. Paxon and Hook started a lobbying firm together in the late 1990s. Four other Republican congressmen also bought into Innate last year, though not with the discount: Mike Conaway of Texas, Doug Lamborn of Colorado, Billy Long of Missouri, and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma purchased as much as $356,000 in Innate shares combined, according to financial disclosure records. Long and Mullin sit with Collins on a subcommittee that has oversight over the FDA approval process. They purchased their Innate shares on the same day, Jan. 12. Collins, Long, and Mullin sit on the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The subcommittee is extremely influential over matters related to the FDA approval process, said Susan Wood, a former FDA official who now teaches at George Washington University. This subcommittee has a great deal of influence by setting into law the standards and process of approval, Wood told The Daily Beast. The subcommittee sets fees paid by medical companies that help fund the FDA, Wood said. In the best world, the politics do not influence the FDAs decision-making, and I am a believer in that, but it raises concerns when a member has a conflict of interest. When asked how Long learned of Innate, his office denied it was from Collins. Congressman Long did not learn of Innate Immunotherapeutics through a colleague, but rather through the news in January when the company became a daily topic in the news, a spokesperson said in a statement. He then researched what they do and eventually decided they would be a good addition to his portfolio. Innates stock price has risen from about $0.30when the private placements were announced on July 29, 2016to about $0.58 today, reaching a high of $1.21 on Jan. 20. When Price divested from his stock in Innate in March, he cashed out with a profit of between $154,983 to $489,981, ProPublica reported. The 11 other people linked to Collins who received discounted shares in Innate bought in at 26 cents per share. Those shares are now worth twice that. This story has been updated with a response from Rep. Long's office. UPDATE 4/28/17: Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat from New York, on Friday announced legislation that would close a loophole in the STOCK Act that allows members of Congress to participate in foreign IPOs. The loophole was utilized by Rep. Chris Collins in his 2013 purchase of stock in Innate Immunotherapeutics and was first reported by The Daily Beast in this story. It is difficult to convey the breadth of influence that Boris Akunin has on Russian society. Vladimir Putin likely fears him. In most countries, the bookish and prolific best-selling author, most known for his Erast Fandorin mystery thrillers, would not be seen as a threat to the establishment. But Russia is not most countries. Russias national identity has been shaped by a history of great literary masters. Stalin, who was among many things a poet, understood this better than anyone. He ruthlessly employed a strategy of literary censorship and control over Russian literature just as he did over his people. Vladimir Putin is catching on. The Kremlin has set in motion a tempest of reality. Putin is trying to play Prospero, transforming news into fiction, fiction into history. Akunin is getting in his way. In scope, think of Akunin as the J.K. Rowling of Russiain style, perhaps somewhere between Dorothy Dunnett and Robert Ludlum. His 19th-century mysteries, set in an imperial Russia, have been published in some 50 different languages with a modest 30 million copies sold. Akunin has published work under at least four different noms de plume, including his own. He is a translator, an essayist, a professor, a playwright, and a historian. He was born Grigol Chkhartishvili in the Georgian town of Zestaponi in 1956 to a Jewish mother and a Georgian father. In 1958 they moved to Moscow. And there he remained, continuing to prove himself a versatile literary giant. Akunins criticism of the Kremlin first became public during the 2011 Russian protests. It was bolstered by the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Putin, apparently a fan of Akunins work, got upset and tried to use Akunins Georgian birth against him. The irony is that Putin was following the script of the most famous Georgian of all: Stalin. Thus Boris Akunin became an unlikely intellectual shepherd of the Russian opposition. Latelyand perhaps most alarmingly for the KremlinAkunin has begun a massive eight-volume history of the Russian state. Last year, he released part three. As Akunins criticism of the Russian leader grows, and as Russian opposition figures continue to drop like flies, there is genuine concern that he may not make it to volume four. If he werent busy enough countering, among other things, the Kremlins historical revisionism, Akunin is also the author of Hamlet. A Version, an adaptation of Shakespeares play, premiering off-Broadway this week. Directed by Irina Gachechiladze, it is Akunins first project in the United States. According to its producers, Hamlet. A Version illustrates the intrigue, opportunism, and political scheming of a burgeoning police state. Akunins play provides a radically prescient perspective on a contemporary political issue: how to eradicate the old to make way for the new. Its author remains vague and elusive these days about specifics, such as his location for obvious reasons. It is under these conditionsintriguing enough for an Akunin novel: life imitating art and so forththat The Daily Beast recently was able to interview the author-turned-historian-turned-playwright. When asked about writing for the stage, Akunin told us that he writes theater to relax. He likens the process to going on vacation. Writing plays is something wonderfully irresponsible, he says. Dialogues are the easiest part of literary text. Any author of fiction would tell you that. And if something is not quite up to the markwell, a lot of other people would straighten it out somehow: the director, the actors. Another good thing is that a theater audience is your prisoner, he says. Perhaps here it should be noted that Akunin, his name of choice, loosely translates to villain in Japanesea language and literature he studied for years. The playwright continues, They bought the tickets. They took the trouble to come to the theater, so the show has to be really, really awful to make the audience bolt. With a book they just shut it closed, ungrateful bastards. And then, In one word, I love writing for the stage. To the obvious questionif Putin were a Shakespeare character, who would he be and why?Akunins reply is thoughtless and brisk: Iago. There can be no two opinions about it. The man is very good at short-term planning, but has problems with calculating further complications. When approaching his work, what does Akunin want American audiences to understand about Russia and its people? Only that Russia is an interesting country, quite different from the stereotypical cliches. Asked if the portrayal of Akunin as a dissident a fair one, the author replies, Probably. But I am much less ardent than a real political dissident. I am not a heroic fighter of the regime. All I do is just say what I think. According to Hamlet. A Versions executive producer, Mark Mullen, Akunin has never been more relevant precisely because the Kremlin is using not only history but also culture as a tool of political manipulation. We as a society, whether in the United States or Russia, need to look to history and art to frame what is happening, Mullen says. Information is coming at us so quickly, and in many ways that information has been weaponized, as they say. So, if insightful, educated people dont frame and narrate these events, then somebody else will. And that somebody may not have our best interests at heart. Now is a time when we most need historians and artists who will take a stand and give context to the events occurring around us. If the Kremlin does stop Akunin from getting to volume eight of his history, what they do not realize is that by opposing himby playing Iagothey are writing volume nine for him. Hamlet. A Version is at the Theater at St. Clements. 423 W. 46 St., New York City. Book tickets here. The latest in the endless rounds of accounting scandals, this one involving KPMG, should revive the pressure to break up the Big Four accounting firms and fundamentally reform public company auditing. Investors need a robust competitive market for auditing, not an oligopoly. America and the world can easily sustain a dozen large accounting firms operating under strict rules requiring accuracy, integrity and individual responsibility. In addition to more competition, public company accounting also needs two other reforms: an end to the pernicious Limited Liability Partnership or LLP structure, which replaced the virtuous self-regulatory incentives of the traditional partnerships with vicious incentives to look the other way, and a ban on auditing firms doing any consulting work. For more than two decades Ive warned how LLPs undermine financial integrity and encourage good people to do bad things because the incentives are wrong. Subsequent work by accounting, criminology and legal scholars has shown that behind most accounting scandals is not so much criminal intent as good people who get lured into wrongdoing by moral laxity and errors in judgment influenced by financial incentives. A Scandal at the Top The latest scandal involves a tip KPMG got about which of its audits the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was going to review. The KMPG partners who got the tip should have acted instantly to notify the board, cleansing the firm. Instead they kept quiet. The firm fired five partners for violating its ethical code of conduct. They were not small fry, but the people charged with making sure KPMG audits were fit and proper. Scott Marcello was in overall charge of KPMGs audit practice. David Middendorf was KPMGs national managing partner for audit quality and professional practice. A sixth employee was also fired. But while the financial pages of newspapers treat this as a tale of individual perfidy, this is a story about institutionalized corrupting forces policies that can be corrected. Again and again over the past quarter century the Big Four firms have demonstrated their inability to police themselves and provide the markets with what they need reasonable and reliable measurements of corporate finances. The latest scandal shows a systematic problem with a breakdown in moral values at the top of the accounting profession. This breakdown has broad consequences damaging individual investors, slowing economic growth and rewarding misconduct by executives as stock prices fail to reflect actual economic performance. Structured for Corruption Driving that breakdown is a major change in how accounting firms are organized, a change that grew out of the savings-and-loan scandals more than a quarter century ago. At the time accounting firms were organized as traditional partnerships. That meant each partner was liable for misdeeds by any other partner. As a result if partner Joan thought partner Jack was cooking the books for a clientor just looking the other wayJoan had an incentive to poke her nose in and ask tough questions. Thats because Joans personal net worth was at risk under the ancient legal theory that partners are all individually liable for the acts of each partner. The S&L scandals could have prompted higher standards within the big accounting firms, standards that required more virtuous self-regulation to avoid losing one personal fortune because of another partners misdeeds. Instead the accounting firms sought a new kind of legal structure, the Limited Liability Partnership, or LLP, with Texas lawmakers starting the trend. Under the LLP structure Joans liability is limited to her stake in the partnership. Worse, the LLP structure discourages Joan from asking what Jack is up to since knowledge of misconduct could expose her to added liability depending on what she does next. This major change in accountability created by the LLP structure took place without debate on the problems this would create. LLPs and their structural cousinsLLCs (for Limited Liability Companies)are significant factors in the rise of executives who run their companies as frauds to enrich themselves, contrary to the textbook economic theory that managers try to do whats best for the enterprises they run, even if they feather their own nests a bit or evaluate risks more in terms of their personal compensation than the welfare of the enterprise or its owners. LLPs, by reducing individual responsibility in corporate finance and especially audits, play a key role in control fraud, the criminology theory developed by Professor William Black, distinguished scholar in residence and University of Minnesota Law School. As a federal banking regulator, Black was the driving force in nearly 900 high level savings-and-loan executives going to prison for fraud. He then went back to school to develop his theory of what prompts some managers to become get-rich-quick criminals knowing they face a reduced risk of prosecution thanks to these new legal structures, the LLP and LLC. Ever since he laid out his theory Black has been persona non grata in Washington. That fits perfectly with the vicious incentives of the LLP structureif you dont ask questions and learn unpleasant facts you dont have to worry about political liability. Had the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations listened to Black they would not have to defend their failure to prosecute corrupt bankers and other corporate executives who ran control frauds. Obama blamed weak rules rather than fraud for the 2008 economic collapse. Obama did so with a straight face he could not have maintained had he or his attorney general, Eric Holder, listened to Black. Thats how the vicious incentives of LLPs workdont ask and you evade personal (or political) liability. Two Possible Solutions The criticism I get from the accountingand legalprofessions for my decades of challenges to LLPs has been that there is no way that Joan, a partner in Tampa, can know that Jack, a partner in Spokane or SIngapore, is up to no good. Its not fair, these critics say, to punish Joan for conduct she never know about. The solution to this legitimate quandary is not to maintain the current LLP rules. One solution would be to much more rigorously define which accounting employees are entitled to have limited liability and how and when those protections can be stripped away, meaning that they stand to lose not just their stake in the LLP, but their personal net worth. Under that approach the standard for losing liability limits should be set low, not high, so the rules encourage the best behavior rather than simply trying to avoid the most egregious. Another solution would be to have accounting firms operate through networks with separate partnerships so Joan is liable only for acts in Tampa or perhaps, better, all of Florida. Critics say that would be inefficient. Maybe so, but then offer an alternative solution. For white-collar crimes like accounting fraud a high likelihood of detection and prosecution, conviction, long prison sentences, and being stripped of all wealth can be powerful deterrents. These are not crimes of passion, but calculated and long-running crimes where economic incentives need to apply to the crooks and to their enablers, especially public company auditors. The Consulting Connection The Big Four derive much of their revenue from consulting work. The now-retired head of one of these firms once tried to persuade journalists at an off-the-record lunch that without consulting work the Big Four could not be successful enterprises. There just was not enough money in auditing, he said. Not true, I said. Since auditing is required for companies with stock or publicly traded bonds, the fees companies pay would have to rise to the level needed to attract the talent to do the work. The Big Four chief agreed, then added, but we wouldnt be able to make nearly as much. That is the very definition of how institutional corruption works. The prospect of big fees for advising firms corrupts the crucial audit function. The answer is to ban auditing firms from doing anything but audits. Some partners of the existing Big Four (and second-tier firms) might leave over that, but so be it. They would then be free to seek work as consultants in a market unpolluted by mixing auditing and consulting. The consulting fees, I suspect, will shrink once these two lines of professional services are separated. The issue here is that public company audits need to be reliable. We need competition. Having just four big firms is already anti-competitive. Most importantly, we need to get the incentives right. That means revising liability limits for accounting-firm partners in ways that create incentives for asking hard questions when even a hint of auditor misconduct arises and banning consulting so the work of auditors is not polluted by a desire to sell business advice. In short we need focus on the three things that matter in corporate audits: accuracy, integrity and responsibility. You may not be preparedas I certainly was notto be introduced to Albert Einstein in the new National Geographic series Genius with the trailblazing professor mid-coitus: pants around his ankles, dress shirt barely disguising his arsch, if you will, and his bushy mustache barely muffling his grunts. I dont think I was either, Ron Howard laughs, talking about the series the morning of its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. (The first episode airs Tuesday night on NatGeo.) Initially when I read the script I wondered if it was taking a little license and reaching into some extreme direction, he continues. But when I followed up and read Walter Isaacsons book and did further research, lo and behold he was quite the lothario, along with everything else.As Howard says, Genius is loosely based on Walter Isaacson's 2007 biography Einstein: His Life and Universe. By jumping back and forth between Einstein as a renegade schoolboy (Johnny Flynn) to his time as a celebrity scientist (Geoffrey Rush), it searches to provide a warts and all look at the man that proves, as co-executive producer Gigi Pritzker says, he is so much more than that famous image of the crazy professor with his tongue sticking out. Not only does Howardwho has an Oscar for his previous work exploring the life of a genius with A Beautiful Mindexecutive produce the series, but he directed the first episode as well. How the series introduces Einstein made for one of the more interesting experiences of his career: directing someone dressed as Albert Einstein in a sex scene. I thought it was hilarious, Howard says, letting out that familiar cackle laugh. He found a friendly ally in Geoffrey Rush, too, who performed the scene. I mean we knew it was a little bit controversial, Howard says. We talked about it internally. When Geoffrey signed on he said he thought its a great script and that its brilliant to introduce this character that way. It tells everyone that were going to have a warts and all look at this guy. That the series toggles back and forth between young and old Albert means that, with dashing South African-born English actor Johnny Flynn in the role in Einsteins schoolboy years, you might also have to brace yourself for an unexpected crush on sexy Einstein. You said it! Not me, Flynn laughs. Its all in the greater good of the series, he claims, which doesnt just reveal the scientists robust libido but also the ways he used his fame and status as one of the worlds most well-known Jews to take a stand against Nazism, as he finds himself on the organizations hit list. Its one of the tasks of the first episode to break down our two-dimensional view of this absent-minded professor as quickly as possible, to smash down those preconceived notions we have of the emoji version of Einstein, Flynn says. So in the first two pages you have the political assassination of one of Einsteins closest friends, and then hes shagging his secretary. The team behind Genius is not only armed with talking points about this warts and alla recurring phraseapproach to depicting Einstein, but also with an awareness of how the current political climate in the U.S. suddenly makes the series that they had scripted and filmed long before Donald Trump became president suddenly more relevant. Its nearly impossible to watch scenes from Tuesday nights first episode, for examplein which Einstein and his second wife Elsa (played by Emily Watson) are trying to flee Nazi Germany, where their lives are in danger, but face a roadblock in the U.S.s tough immigration policiesand not marvel at its vital resonance today. Watching the first episode, I got chills, Flynn says. Those pressures and threats on people and narrow-minded thinking and greed and careerism around science and politicizing science and discoverytheyve never faded entirely, Howard says. But it certainly has not been lost on us that these issues are more up front and center, and reemerging with a level of intensity that we havent seen in a long time. Its the U.S. but its also around the world. So those scenes in episode one and in the series definitely carry with them more impact than I think we expected when we began. Pritzker had actually optioned Isaacsons book years ago with the idea of turning it into a feature film, a project that had several stalled starts. In hindsight, there are any number of reasons to be grateful the adaptation turned out the way it has with Genius, but among them is its political relevance today. The fact that its coming out now and the fact it is so deeply resonant, A) that was not lost on any of us on set and B) it makes me realize that having not appeared as a feature film five years ago is a terrific thing, she says. The series sheds light on young Einsteins steadfast commitment to his own passion and curiosity, even as his work was dismissed as Jewish physics. (When Howard and actor Michael McElhatton talked about how he would play German physicist Philipp Lenard, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who was also a Hitler-supporting anti-Semite, they decided that he should, think Trump.) It also depicts what it was like for Einstein to travel to America as a refugee. To align their performances, Flynn and Rush were given the same dialect coach. As soon as they were cast, they began Skype sessions together to talk about the character and share their research with each other. For Flynn, who is also a musician, getting cast as Einstein is particularly wild. Not only does he share a birthday with the icon, but he wrote a song in 2011 titled Einstein's Idea. When my son was born in 2011, that year when he was a baby I wrote this song that was meant to be a lullaby that was going to explain the cosmos and the theory of relativity to this infant, almost like a kind of joke, he says. But to do it I researched some of the theories of relativity and principles of relativity and created Einstein in the song as this benevolent character watching over my son. Howard found it hilarious when Flynn finally told him about the song. He actually attended one of Flynns concerts in London last month when they were doing press there for Genius. When we spoke, Flynn says that Howard was planning to attend his concert over the weekend in New York as well. Im going to play the song and dedicate it to him, he says. Already there are plans for a second season of Genius, though season one has yet to air. For Howard, he thinks the serieswhich will chronicle a different thinker in season twooffers the opportunity to refocus what it means to be a genius. I think it gets overused and tossed around in ways that arent true, he says. Every impressive achievement is not genius. A person must challenge norms, and have a certain amount of courage to qualify for the title, he says. Its not enough to simply be smart or intrepid. Einstein? Unsurprisingly, he fits the bill. If he had been on one of those hit lists and just decided to go to his country and dial back, his life would have been a lot safer, Howard says. But he had the courage to carry on, to be high profile, come what may. And his life also would have been a lot easier on a personal side had he simply said, Im going to yield to convention. Im not going to dedicate myself to my work as much. Im going to follow the rules and the definition of a great family man. Well, he made a trade-off there. The power of the show, he hopes, will be to humanize what it means to actually be on the vanguard of discovery and to dedicated your life to that discovery. Scott Baio, Erin Morans former co-star on Happy Days, has refused to apologize after appearing to speculate on-air that Moran died due to drug and alcohol abuse, just hours before officials in Indiana announced she had in fact likely died from complications of stage 4 cancer. My thing is, I feel bad because her whole life, she was troubled, could never find what made her happy and content. For me, you do drugs or drink, youre gonna die, he said during an interview with The Bernie & Sid Show on Monday morning. Baio took to Facebook to defend his comments early Tuesday morning, saying he was very heartbroken over her passing, especially since it was cancer. Baio had said during the interview that he was not completely shocked by his co-stars passing. He said, I knew Erin well. Over the last many years, I have not spoken with her. She was just an insecure human being and fell into this world of drugs and alcohol. Again, I dont know if thats what killed her, Im sure it was a culmination of years and years of doing it that might have had something to do with it. She just never found her way. Baio swiftly became the target of social-media vitriol after the actual likely cause of death was released by officials, who also said they had found no drugs at the scene. While a fulsome public apology would clearly have been in order, Baio instead took to Facebook to defend himself this morning, where he attempted to wriggle out of the controversy and alleged that he had been misinterpreted. He said that he had not suggested Moran had died of a drug overdose, but only said that if she had it would have been a terrible thing. Baio also claimed on Twitter that he was being attacked only because of his support for Donald Trump. On his Facebook post, Baio wrote that after his wife received a text message saying Erin Moran had died on Saturday afternoon, he was sad, in disbelief, sick to my stomach, and in complete shock. On Sunday evening, he wrote, the Internet and television stations were blasting headlines Erin Moran died due to a heroin overdose. This made me very upset and angry. This is one of my worse fears for her, or anyone else. Especially in this business. I was on an emotional rollercoaster. I hadnt slept well since the news of her passing. Monday, April 24th at 6AM Pacific time I did a live radio interview. I was asked ONLY about Erins troubled past due to drug and alcohol abuse. I was still upset and said I felt that living that kind of a lifestyle will catch up with you and nothing good would come of it. Baio stressed this interview took place before the likely cause of death as cancer was announced. Now it seems every news outlet and tabloid wants to paint a different picture of me and of what really happened. Theyre stating that Im saying drugs caused her to die after it was reported stage 4 cancer. This is so wrong! Now I truly understand the meaning of Fake News. This is crazy. Im also trying to process this loss. Erin was my very first real girlfriend. My wife and Erin contacted each other and spoke often for over a decade. I even had her on my reality show years ago. I DID reach out to her over a span of 30 years. Please stop assuming the worse in me. Im a compassionate person. Im very heartbroken over her passing, especially since it was cancer. The Harrison County Sheriff's Office said Monday a joint investigation into Mrs. Morans death was conducted and a subsequent autopsy revealed that Mrs. Moran likely succumbed to complications of stage 4 cancer. The sheriff also said standard toxicology tests were performed and the results are pending, however no illegal narcotics were found at the residence. President Trump will reach his first 100 days in office on Saturday, April 29, but the ratings are already inand they aint pretty. This week, NBC and The Wall Street Journal released a poll showing that 64 percent of Americans felt President Trump has gotten off to a poor or middling start in his first 100 days, while just 35 percent think the presidents start has been good or great. So, after two weeks off, Seth Meyers returned to his Late Night perch to assess the Presidents job performance at the 100-day marksomething that Trump himself referred to as a ridiculous standard on Twitter: That seemed, well, a bit hypocritical given that Trump also released a Contract with the American Voter (here) during his presidential campaign that detailed a 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again. It included a number of promises, including: repealing and replacing Obamacare, a tax reform bill, border wall funding, new infrastructure funding, imposing new trade tariffs, labeling China a currency manipulator, and ending Common Core. None of those things has happened. If this were a movie, it would be called: 100 Dayz and Confused, joked Meyers, adding, As the 100-day milestone nears, Trump has failed to deliver on almost every one of his legislative promises. Now, there are many reasons for thisincluding Trumps ignorance about the basic political realities of governing. For example, in an interview with the Associated Press, Trump seemed surprised to learn that there are factions of moderates and conservatives within the Republican Party. He even repeatedly referred to House Speaker Paul Ryan as Ron during an April 18 rally in Ryans home state of Wisconsin. But President Trumps most pressing matter is the looming government shutdown. Yes, if Congress doesnt send President Trump a government funding bill by midnight on Friday, the government will run out of money and shutdown. The big sticking point, it seems, is Trumps insistence that the government funding bill include allocating funds for his proposed wall on the border with Mexico. Are we sure the government wasnt shut down already? asked Meyers. Because it was reported recently that President Trump has appointed fewer than three-dozen of the top 1,000 officials he needs to run the federal government. Under Trump, our federal government is staffed as well as a Duane Reade on a Sunday morning. In an AP interview on his first 100 days in office, when asked about whether hed veto any bill that doesnt include funding the border wall, Trump said I dont know yet before rambling incoherently about the impressiveness of his Electoral College win and the dedication of his base. Trump, of course, repeatedly promised on the campaign trailand after his election winthat Mexico would be paying for the border wall. It now appears hes changed his tune: Trumps tweets are starting to sound like the fine print on a contest to win a free cruise, quipped Meyers. As for the cost of the wall, Trump told the AP: I think $10 billion or less. And if I do a super-duper, higher, better, better security, everything else, maybe it goes a little bit more. Cue Meyers: Man, even the biggest sucker at the used car lot knows to walk away when the salesman says super-duper. On April 21, Trump was confronted by a gaggle of reporters while exiting the Treasury Department and asked how he was going to accomplish his recent flurry of legislative promises. Its going to be great. Itll happen. Itll happen Well see what happens. No particular rush, but well see what happens. But healthcare is coming along well, government is coming along really well, he replied. Meyers was not impressed: Thats the President of the United States saying government is coming along really well. Thats like going home to your wife and saying, Hello, wife. Our marriage is coming along really well. An undergraduate student is suing the University of Notre Dame in federal court, alleging the Indiana school launched a discriminatory investigation that found him guilty of stalking, dating violence, and harassment of an ex-girlfriend, then expelled him just three weeks before he was set to graduate. Filing his suit under the pseudonym John Doe, the former student is asking for undisclosed damages, but first his lawyers say he just wants to be let back in. Johns case joins dozens of other pending lawsuits nationwide alleging colleges and universities have over-corrected in recent years when it comes to the investigation of sexual assault and harassment on campus. Parroting several other suits currently making their way through the courts, the complaint alleges that in recent years Notre Dame has created an atmosphere of institutional hostility toward accused male students. The investigation against John began in 2016, according to the complaint. During a year-long intimate but tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend, named under the alias Jane Roe, John says he developed depression and started having suicidal thoughts after the suicide of a colleague during a summer internship. When the couple broke up in November 2016, the suit says, Jane filed a complaint with the University, alleging John was harassing her and inundating her with texts threatening suicide. Rather than recognize the needs of a suicidally depressed student, the University placed her complaint in the category of its Sexual Assault, Sexual Misconduct, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Stalking, and/or Hostile Environment Policies, Johns complaint alleges. From here, Johns complaint describes a supposedly flawed, discriminatory investigation process that was motivated on the basis of sex. In the filing, John alleges the university ignored video evidence of the vindictive motives of his ex-girlfriend. (Johns complaint alleges an acquaintance filmed Jane saying, I want to fuck up [Johns] reputation; I want to make sure he never has a girlfriend here or anywhereand I want him never to be able to have a social life.) Further, John says the university allowed Jane to cherry pick text messages used as evidence, failed to contact witnesses supplied by John, and refused to consider the expert opinion of his therapist who, he claims, would have reported progress in Johns mental health and a complete severing of ties between him and his ex-girlfriend. The Universitys conduct was so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denied John equal access to education that Title IX is designed to protect, the complaint states. At an emergency hearing on Tuesday, a judge will rule on a temporary restraining order that would allow John to be readmitted in order to take his final exams and graduate. Johns attorney Peter Agostoni and university spokesman Dennis Brown both declined to comment on the lawsuit. Jane is not a plaintiff in the suit. Johns expulsion and lawsuit is only the most recent in a growing body of complaints from students alleging their schools investigations have been actively anti-male and have violated Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. In 2016, at least 47 students or their representatives sued schools alleging such violations, according to a database maintained by the mens rights advocacy group Title IX For All (previously known as Boys & Men in Education and before that, A Voice for Male Students). In 2017, the University of Miami, Cornell, the University of Texas, Clemson, and Purdue University have all faced similar lawsuits. The cases are all pending. In fact most of the reverse discrimination cases filed in recent years are still pending or have settled quietly, Kimberly Lau, an attorney who has has represented over 100 students in college disciplinary proceedings, told The Daily Beast. Maybe a few actually get decided by the court on the merits but theyre mostly settled. And when its a private institution, those settlements are confidential. Youre not going to hear about it because schools dont want it to be public. Despite the secretive nature of university tribunals, court filings offer a glimpse into the rise of claims of injustice for men accused of assault or harassment on college campuses. The number of filed reverse discrimination cases has grown every year since 2011, according to Title IX For Alls data. It all ties back to the Dear Colleague letter from the last administration, Lau said. The Dear Colleague Letter was issued in 2011 by the Department of Educations Office of Civil Rights to colleges, universities, and schools that receive federal funding to offer guidance on how schools could improve investigations of sexual assault and harassment. Critics of the 19-page message (PDF) argue that the wording is vague and doesnt carry the power of actual law. And although it explicitly states the victim and the accused should be treated equally during an investigation, the recent flood of plaintiffs in reverse discrimination cases argue the letter has only incentivized anti-male witch hunts. Indeed, the most recent John Doe claims just that, alleging in his complaint against Notre Dame that the Dear Colleague Letter exerted significant pressure on colleges and universities to revamp their procedures to be more responsive to alleged victims of sexual assault, who are women in the overwhelming majority of cases. According to his complaint, that federal guidance, coupled with increased media scrutiny following anti-rape films like The Hunting Ground, have minimiz[ed] the rights of male students and ensur[ed] that a female accusers complaints would be acted upon and found credible, even in dubious cases such as the allegations leveled at John. Michael Flynn likely broke the law when he accepted payments from foreign governments and failed to disclose them on his application for a government security clearance, the bipartisan leaders of the House Oversight Committee said Tuesday. Flynn was fired as White House national security adviser in February after he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russias U.S. ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. Since he left the White House, it has been revealed that he accepted payments from foreign governments, including from the Kremlin-funded TV network Russia Today, and registered as a foreign agent because his firm lobbied on behalf of Turkeys government. As a retired general, Flynn is required by the Constitution to seek permission from the government before accepting foreign payments. As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia , Turkey , or anybody else, and it appears as if he did take that money. It was inappropriate. And there are repercussions for the violation of law, said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the committees Republican chairman. Chaffetz said the committee has no information or no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the committees top Democrat, called on Flynn to appear before the committee because he concealed the foreign payments. There is no evidence anywhere in these documents that [Flynn] reported the funds he received for his trip, Cummings said after reviewing Flynns security clearance application, a form known as SF-86. There is also no evidence that he sought permission to obtain these funds from a foreign source. Cummings then quoted the U.S. criminal code, which states that applicants must answer all questions on the SF-86 form completely and truthfully, or be imprisoned for up to five years. Flynn responded to the revelation in a statement Tuesday through his lawyer, Robert Kelner. As has previously been reported, General Flynn briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of [the Department of Defense], extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip, and he answered any questions that were posted by DIA concerning the trip during those briefings, Kelner said. In a letter to the committee on Tuesday, the White House denied the panels request for documents relating to Flynn and his position as national security adviser. Flynn has reportedly sought immunity in exchange for testifying on Capitol Hill. The committee has been probing for some time whether Flynn disclosed his foreign payments when he applied for a government security clearance. In March, Chaffetz and Cummings sent four separate letters to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, FBI Director James Comey, Defense Secretary James Mattis, and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats requesting the pertinent documents on foreign payments to and contacts with Michael Flynn, by April 3. Chaffetz and Cummings requested that each agency produce documents relating to Flynns foreign contacts and payments, security clearance applications, and other related documents between the time of his retirement in 2014 to present day, a committee press release stated. Marc Short, the director of legislative affairs at the White House, wrote in the letter to Chaffetz on Tuesday that they are unable to accommodate many of these requests, adding that some of the documents are not in their possession. Short referred other requests to the Pentagon. So, we have received no internal documents relating to what General Flynn reported to the White House when they vetted him to become National Security Advisor, Cummings said. And we have received no documents relating to his termination as National Security Advisor for concealing his discussions with the Russian Ambassador. Gideon Resnick contributed reporting. Dane County Veterans Service Officer Dan Connery and Anthony Anderson answer questions from the audience following a screening the film "Almost Sunrise" in the Capitol Monday. The documentary features two Wisconsin veterans who walked from Wisconsin to California after serving in the wars in Iraq to reconcile and bring attention to PTSD and moral injury. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Standing before a projected photo of her grandfather, President George H.W. Bush, Lauren Bush Lauren told an audience Monday that she didn't have to look far growing up to see inspiring examples of public service. Her own path to giving back was less clear, but she has now helped provide more than 95 million meals to hungry children in the poorest countries. Lauren shared her philosophy on philanthropy and the story behind FEED, her socially-minded business, at the Bank of America Program on Volunteerism, an annual program put on by the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy at Texas A&M University's Bush School of Government and Public Service. At FEED, Lauren said, a philanthropic mindset is at the heart of the business model. The company, which started in 2007, sells mainly handbags and accessories, and a portion of sales are donated to groups such as the United Nations World Food Programme and United Nations Children's Fund. Lauren said she was motivated in college to address the hunger she had seen firsthand on volunteer trips as a student spokeswoman for the U.N. World Food Programme. She recounted a time when she met with children in a therapeutic feeding center in Guatemala, joking that "we all have the crying genes" when her voice choked on tears. She said she saw starving, lethargic children, some of whom didn't even have the strength to feed themselves. "As we were leaving, I'll never forget, a mother came up and put her son in my arms and I would have thought [he] would have been 4 years old, or 3. He was actually 7 years old -- the effects of chronic hunger and malnutrition that this boy had suffered just because of where he was born," she said to a nearly full audience in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center. Among the crowd was Lauren's father, Neil Bush, and U.S. Rep. Bill Flores. She said she returned from the trips with a "sense of extreme inspiration but also extreme frustration" about just how to make an impact. "So many people I went to for advice at the time said, 'Go make money and give back,' and I felt, 'No, I want to start giving back now. ... I want to create a way for people to be inspired and be activated around the issue of hunger," she said. The food that is provided by United Nations organizations, Lauren said, is in many cases about more than staving off the mental and physical side effects that are caused by starvation. In many cases it's used as a bargaining chip to get families to send their children, especially girls, to school. "Truly, school meals are a really -- so simple -- but so powerful tool that can really break a cultural norm where sending girls to school really wasn't the priority," she said. "Introduce a school meal and introduce extra rations for the family, and it becomes a priority." She said she was taking trips to Africa to volunteer and taking fashion design classes in New York when she had the "ah-ha" moment to combine the two passions. That moment, she said, came at an ideal time. "The fact that consumers and this wave of conscious consumerism has come about really in the last five years -- where consumers, especially young people, are really wanting to support companies with a mission and are really giving back -- is just so heartwarming to see," she said. Her advice to students in the crowd was to spend time grappling with how to make an impact while following their passion. She said she initially felt the only way to the improve the world was to join a nonprofit, work for the United Nations or go into politics, but that's not the case. "The rules don't exist in the same way, and it's really encouraging to go forth and create your own path for giving back," she said. "So for all the students out there who are sitting where I was sitting 15 years ago, I really encourage you to do that." A new study of Pennsylvania counties published today in the Journal of Environmental Protection shows for the first time that contamination from fracking kills babies. The Marcellus shale area of Pennsylvania was one of the first regions where novel gas drilling involving hydraulic fracturing of sub-surface rock, now termed 'fracking', was carried out. The epidemiological study by Christopher Busby and Joseph Mangano examines early infant deaths 0-28 days before and after the drilling of fracking wells, using official data from the US Centre for Disease Control to compare the immediate post-fracking four year period 2007-2010 with the pre-fracking four-year period 2003-2006. Results showed a statistically significant 29% excess risk of dying age 0-28 days in the ten heavily fracked counties of Pennsylvania during the four-year period following the development of fracking gas wells. Over the same period, the State rate declined by 2%. They conclude: "There were about 50 more babies died in these 10 counties than would have been predicted if the rate had been the same over the period as all of Pennsylvania, where the incidence rate fell over the same period." Radioactive water pollution to blame? The Marcellus shale beneath Pennsylvania was one of the first areas where fracking began. Only 44 fracking wells were drilled before 2007, while 2,864 were drilled in 2007-2010. The cause of the excess mortality is not proven in the study, however the authors point out that the fracking production process releases naturally occurring radioactive materials from shale strata which then contaminate groundwater. These include radium, uranium, thorium and radon, an intensely radioactive gas which decays into radioactive 'daughters' with a half life of under four days. And as the authors write, fracking "involves the explosive destruction of large volumes of underground gas and oil retaining rocks and the pumping down of large amounts of what is termed 'produced water' which initially contains various chemical and sand additives. "This produced water and backflow returns to the surface with a high load of dissolved and suspended solids including naturally occurring radioactive elements ... The contaminated water has to be safely disposed of but this is often associated with violations of legal disposal constraints." Baby mortality related to exposure through water wells In the five heavily-fracked counties in the northeast part of the state (Susquehanna, Bradford, Wyoming, Lycoming and Tioga), the number of deaths from 2003-2006 vs. 2007-2010 climbed from 36 to 60, a statistically significant rate increase of 66%. The rate in the five counties in southwest Pennsylvania (Washington, Westmoreland, Greene, Butler and Fayette) rose 18%, from 157 to 178 deaths, though this increase was not statistically significant. 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 ... A La Crosse womans play focusing on sexual abuse of military service men and women by their superiors and peers not only has earned a life-changing label but also will be featured on a national stage. Rachel Carters play, Speaking Out: Why I Stand, will be featured July 21-23 at the Womens Museum of California in San Diego. The sponsoring organization is the American History Theater in San Diego, which also has contracted her to lead workshops for survivors of military sexual trauma that weekend. Carter, who was raped in 2004 by a fellow soldier who was never punished, pulled the play together in 2013 from stories of assaults she and others endured to give voice to MST survivors. I spent over six years drowning in silence because I thought I was the only one, Carter said in an interview last week. 'Invisible War' awareness Carter said she realized that there are legions of MST survivors when she saw The Invisible War, a highly acclaimed documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and piled up awards. The Invisible War unveiled the depth of a sexual assault scandal in the military that had been cloaked in secrecy in a system that was more prone to punish and banish victims than seek justice for them. Meanwhile, it left predators free to continue their abusive behavior in the military, as well as in civilian life, Carter said. I realized that I wasnt alone and that I needed to stand up and speak out, Carter said. This theater project was a way for survivors and loved ones to share their stories and poems anonymously or with their first names. It gave them an outlet and helped them feel a part of this movement toward awareness and justice even if they are not in a place to put their face in front of it, she said. MST victims stories and poems about their experiences are the bones of the play, while actors read each entry to provide the flesh. In her own case, after she filed a charge, she was interrogated for several days and, ultimately, her commander forced her to drop the charge, she said. Carter was written up for fraternization, which was banned, but her assailant was not written up. Seeing him repeatedly in a subsequent assignment exacerbated her post-traumatic stress. The Army ultimately gave her an honorable discharge, based on its allegation that she had a personality disorder. She said she considers herself fortunate in receiving an honorable discharge, which is uncommon for MST victims. Thousands of cases reported, unreported The American History Theaters decision to stage Speaking Out is gratifying to Carter because it will help raise awareness of the extent of MST, she said. Although Congress and the military have promoted efforts to end the problem, it persists, with thousands of cases reported every year and even more unreported ones, according to U.S. Defense Department statistics. Many victims dont report assaults because they are afraid nobody will believe them or they will face retaliation instead of receiving help. The other important part of getting the play out there and into a theater like the American History Theater is that not only are these stories being heard across the country but also, hopefully, more survivors will hear them and realize they are not alone, she said. Ive had a lot of positive feedback from the survivors because it has helped them feel like their story what happened to them matters and that people are finally listening to what they have to say. This project is about helping victims become survivors just as much as it is about helping raise public awareness to the epidemic of military sexual trauma, Carter said. Its not just a military issue. Its a public issue, she said, adding that the play includes stories of survivors who were assaulted as far back as the 1960s and 70s. This has been going on for generations. Speaking Out: Why I Stand, which lasts 45 minutes to an hour and has its own Facebook page, premiered with a cast of 15 area actors in April 2014 at The Muse Theater in La Crosse. Among the actors was Dawn Noling of La Crosse, whose role was reading Rachels story and who describes the play as emotional and timely. Noling found one of the stories, written by Marine Corps veteran named Gary, particularly moving. He told of the return home of his daughter, Carri, after her military discharge in 2009. Gary didnt know the details of why his 20-year-old daughter received a bad conduct discharge until five days after she came home and drank herself to death, Noling said. Her father then discovered, after finding and reading her diaries, that she had been raped and was suffering from MST and PTS. These stories need to be heard, Noling said. So many young people have had to carry this burden of being sexually assaulted, but nobody believed them. They think their life is over. Thats what happened to Carri. After the play, Noling and Gary, who lived in Ohio, became Facebook friends, communicating increasingly through May and June 2014. They became engaged on July 12, 2014, and were married on Aug. 8, 2015, when she took his surname: Noling. That tragedy became something beautiful for us, she said. The play is very personal for me. These days, Gary has his times. Its hard to lose a child, especially in such a tragic, tragic way, Dawn said. He had no idea she had been raped, until he found her diaries. Survivor to advocate to lawyer Another Why I Stand story is that of Brian Lewis, who was in the Navy when a higher-ranking shipmate raped him in 2000. He also is in The Invisible War. Told by a senior officer not to cooperate with the Navy, Lewis said during an interview that he grappled with the trauma for a year before evolving into a survivor. He then became an advocate, including becoming the first male survivor of military sexual trauma to testify before Congress. The Twin Cities resident is within days of becoming a lawyer in Minnesota, where he can ramp up his advocacy. Rachels work is very valuable it is life-changing because it shows an actual persons face you might see on the street, he said. His rationale for submitting his story for the play: I hoped that it would put more light and more awareness to a topic that has fallen by the wayside and needs to be brought back. The American History Theater opted to showcase Carters play because it meshes with the theaters two missions, said co-founder and President Hal Berry, a 74-year-old retired history and theater professor. The first is to re-create national history on stage, warts and all, and the second, to help men and women in the military, as well as those no longer active, said Berry, who taught at a community college near St. Louis before retiring and moving to San Diego. Berry chose San Diego because of fond memories from his days in the Navy there right out of high school in 1960. Resistance to retirement prompted him to get a part-time gig teaching at Palomar College in San Diego. There, he met Amber Robinson, a student who would become the theaters co-founder in 2014 after she graduated. Amber is an incredible human being who served in the Army for 10 years, including three tours in Afghanistan and received the Bronze Star for Valor, Berry said. She is so talented, and her heart is so (attuned to) helping veterans who have had sexual trauma, he said. A keynoter at one of the theaters workshops told Berry and Robinson about Carters play, said Berry, who handles the theatrical side of the history organization, while Robinson coordinates events and workshops. You need to connect with her, Berry recalled the woman saying. This lady has a play, and we decided it would be a great thing. There is a lot of interest because San Diego is such a military town, and military people like history, Berry said. We have a huge VA here, and with the issues veterans face, its a ready topic. Females in Army see MST all the time Robinson, who is vice president and communications director for the nonprofit organization, said, As a female in the Army for 10 years, you see MST all the time. After their referral to Carter, the cards fell together, and we partner with the womens museum for the venue, she said. As for Carter herself, she seems different today from she was during an interview four years ago, when her demeanor was subdued, cautious and somewhat closed in even as she continued her struggle to overcome the trauma. Now, her voice is animated, more buoyant and hopeful. Carter attributed that change to the confidence she has gained from the therapeutic value of creating the play, her involvement with contributors and hearing from people who have found the play valuable to their recoveries. Noling echoed those impressions, saying, While reading for the play, I got to know Rachel and where she is coming from and her emotional connection. She is in a happy relationship (being remarried last fall) and has a lot of support from her family, Noling said. She is more secure because she has so much to look forward to. Pieper Lewis, teen sex trafficking victim, jailed after escape from probation Pieper Lewis, now 18, who killed her rapist in June 2020 was in custody Tuesday afternoon at the Polk County Jail after her escape from custody Friday. Police say a Wisconsin Dells man suffered serious injuries, including brain bleeding, when another man backed into him with a car after an argument. Prosecutors have charged 25-year-old Corbin Charles Davis with felony first-degree recklessly endangering safety for an incident that allegedly took place Thursday. Witnesses told a Wisconsin Dells police officer they saw Davis arguing with a man in the parking lot of his apartment complex. He was in a black car and the other person was outside the vehicle, according to a criminal complaint. Davis allegedly pulled about 15 feet away from the man, then put the car in reverse and floored it toward the man as he was walking away. The victim was able to keep himself on the rear of the vehicle, police say, as it drove for about 40 feet. The man who was struck then allegedly fell off the trunk and was dragged for about 10 feet. The complaint says the girlfriend of the man who was injured said she saw Davis in the parking lot looking into cars and acting suspicious prior to the incident. She said her boyfriend confronted Davis, which is when the verbal argument began. After backing over the man, Davis allegedly pulled into a stall in the other side of the parking lot and fled. When the officer arrived on scene, he reportedly found the 32-year-old victim lying on the ground in the rear of the apartment complexs parking lot. He was conscious, but was complaining about head pain. The mans hands were cut up, and he had large, bleeding bumps on each side of his forehead, according to the complaint. A doctor at St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo later told the officer that the victim had brain bleeding, and would have to be transported to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. The reckless endangerment charge against Davis carries a maximum possible penalty of 18 months in prison. He has been jailed on a $2,500 cash bond and is due to appear in court May 3. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Five-year-old Jameson DePalma of Norwalk lost her hearing after her first birthday due to a genetic mutation of the cochlea called Mondini dysplasia, and underwent bilateral cochlear surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center at just 2-years-old. Jameson now travels 600 miles every week to attend the CREC Soundbridge program in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Soundbridge provides specialized expertise and technology to promote listening and speaking in children with hearing loss. With support of the nonprofit over the past several years, Jameson has learned to hear and speak, and is closing the gap on catching up to her hearing peers. Michael and Erica DePalma, Jamesons parents, decided to launch an event last year to raise funds for the organization that has helped their daughter in so many ways. They have taught her how to harness the power of a cochlear implant, said Erica DePalma. There is full expectation that she will be able to speak just like any other kid. On Friday, May 12, the second annual Jamesons Comedy Jam will be held at The St. Ann's Club of Norwalk. It will feature local comedians, dinner, a coffee hour sponsored by Starbucks, and a DJ hour. Thirty local businesses have also donated items for a raffle. All of the fundraisers proceeds will benefit CREC Soundbridge. The event last year had a sold out crowd and raised more than $5,000. More Information For more information on Jameson's Comedy Jam, visit the show's EventBright page. Tickets are on sale for $75. See More Collapse Each implant runs about $10,000 and if a single piece breaks on an implant, it renders it defective, said DePalma. CREC uses fundraising support to buy things like back up devices for students in their programs to make sure they always have access to sound. DePalma said even after her daughter can be reintroduced back into the Norwalk school system, she plans to do her part to raise awareness and money for Soundbridge. It has had such a profound impact on Jameson, she said. Its really important to me that the school system continues to get the funding they need to support these kids because they really are changing the course of their fate. Ivanka Trump defended her father at a women's panel in Berlin Tuesday after attendees hissed and booed when she attempted to champion her father's commitment to women's issues. The event opened with the first daughter explaining her role in the White House. "You are first daughter -- German audience not familiar -- what is your role -- to whom are you represented? Your father, the American people, or your business," asked Miriam Meckel, editor of German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. "Well, certainly not the latter, and I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, as it is quite new to me," replied Trump, a top adviser to her father. "It has been a little under 100 days, but it is just been a remarkable, an incredible journey." "So it's very early for me. I'm listening, I'm learning, I'm defining the ways in which I think I'll be able to have impact," she added. The audience interrupted Trump with hissing and boos during a discussion on paid leave when she began describing her father as an advocate for women. "That is something I'm very proud of my father's advocacy, long before he came into the presidency, he championed this in the primaries. He's been a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive," Trump said before the crowd began reacting negatively. Meckel asked Trump to respond to those who question if the President is an "empowerer of women" given his past controversial statements. "I've certainly heard the criticism from the media and that's been perpetuated, but I know from personal experience, and I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades when he was in the private sector are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man," she said. "So I think in my personal experience -- and you were asking me about my role as daughter -- and as adviser, as a daughter, I can speak on a very personal level knowing that he encouraged me and enabled me to thrive," Trump added. Trump also embraced the title of feminist while criticizing the movement for not being inclusive enough. "I do label myself a feminist and I think about that in very broad terms," she said. "I think of that as believing in the social, political and economic equality for all genders." "But I do think that there is a feeling of exclusion for a lot of women, if they deviate in one small way and one small area, and I think one of the things that we have to do is we have to come together, we have to have discussions such as this one where we can respectfully disagree with one another," she added. Trump encouraged spending time embracing dissenting opinions and seeking to understand why so many people feel uncomfortable with the feminist label. "I think even this discussion on feminism and why it's become so loaded is that I think there can be a negativity attached to labeling because it does feel exclusionary of others," she said. "And so it's very interesting to hear the Chancellor's perspective on that and I do think there's obligation upon us and upon all women to support and to hold each other up and to be inclusive." Trump was participating in a panel discussion on women's empowerment and entrepreneurship at the W-20, a summit of G-20 countries aimed at promoting women's workforce participation and equality. She was one of eight participants, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, and International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde. Asked later about the booing, Trump told reporters "politics is politics" and emphasized her comments about the need to engage in dialog. "I'm used to it, it's fine," she said. "I think, you know, for me and I sort of said it at the end, I think what's so important is we have to be able to engage in dialog with one another and we have to be able to have different viewpoints and feel comfortable candidly expressing ourselves without fear of being labeled and ostracized. And I think that's how progress is made." Invited by Merkel Merkel personally invited Trump on her first international trip since her father assumed office to discuss business, foreign policy and other issues of importance between the US and Germany. Trump's trip is one of the top news stories in Berlin, her face splashed across multiple front pages. "First Flusterin" was daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung's Monday headline. Translation: "First Whisperer." "Ivanka Trump is the most favored child of the US President. She is his most important whisperer. Will she put her father on a moderate course, as many hope? Or will she be a loyal accomplice?" a translation of the article said. Her appearance in Berlin has drawn substantial interest from the media. The W-20 organizers approved more than 400 press credentials for the event -- most will be seated in a separate room during the panel itself. The President spoke with Merkel by phone on the eve of his daughter's visit, his fourth call since their March meeting and their fifth call together since he took office in January, further cementing her status as one of his most important allies and perhaps signaling that they are working on their relationship. Ivanka Trump first became close with Merkel during that initial March White House visit. They were seated together at a vocational education and workforce development panel. German officials soon asked Ivanka Trump to help organize a meeting between American and German business leaders on vocational training. Speaking at an April panel, Trump praised German apprenticeship programs, saying, "The Germans have really led the way." CNN's Elissa Nunez contributed to this report. More News Norwalk man charged in multiple thefts of power tools NORWALKA Mexican man sentenced to 15 months in prison and deportation Tuesday following a string of thefts in the city he made his home, according to the office of state U.S. District Attorney Deirdre Daly. Alverto Silva-Garcia, 46 of Norwalk, was deported at least twice, according to the DOJ. In 1999, he was deported from California a domestic violence conviction. In 2010 he was deported to Mexico after an arrest in Norwalk for motor vehicle violations, and a conviction for illegal reentry. Since I started my business nearly 20 years ago, I have visited many exciting places including Zurich, Sydney, Manila, Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai, just to name a few. However, when traveling overseas, the planning process can be frustrating and time consuming. Thats why it is important to do your homework well before you leave for the airport. Here are some important tips to prepare for your journey and help prevent unexpected delays and disappointments when traveling abroad. 1. Apply early for a passport and visa. It can take up to eight weeks to apply for a passport, so dont wait until the last minute unless you want to pay higher fees to expedite the process. If you already have a passport, check the expiration date. Many countries require passports to have at least six months of validity and some require two blank pages for entry. Review the entry and exit requirements for your destination to find out if you need to get a visa before you travel. For quick and professional service, CIBTvisas can assist you in obtaining a travel visa, passport and other documents for travel anywhere in the world. Related: 7 Tips for International Business Travel From a Multi-Million Miler 2. Notify your bank and credit card company. When your bank or credit card company sees sudden purchases in a foreign country, they could interpret the activity as fraudulent and block your account. During my first visit to Zurich, I made a credit card purchase and shortly thereafter, was unable to use that card for the remainder of my trip. To avoid a similar problem, notify your bank and credit card companies of your travel plans, and ask them for the contact number you can call in case your credit card is lost or stolen. Always carry a little bit of cash to cover any unexpected snafus. Most airports have foreign currency exchange kiosks, but I find you can get better rates at your hotel or a nearby bank. 3. Record important information. No one plans a trip thinking that something terrible might happen, but it might. If it does, it is important to know who to contact. Download the app Evernote and create a file containing the address and contact information for your countrys embassies, as well as the contact numbers for emergency services where you will be traveling. Keep important documents (including a copy of your drivers license and passport) in a separate place from your purse, wallet or mobile device. Also, download the app Tripit so you can keep your itinerary, flight, hotel information and all other travel plans in one place. Related: One Frequent Flyer's Minimalist Travel Secrets 4. Do pre-travel research. Traveling abroad can be exciting, but it can also be challenging, so it pays to learn a little about the country before you arrive. Online and print guidebooks are useful for researching a destination before traveling, but the information can be out of date. Check out websites like Lonely Planet for up-to-date information and reviews about your selected destination. Next, set up a Google Alert for the country you will be visiting. These alerts came in handy a few days before I went to the Philippines as I learned there were protests in front of the US Embassy in Manila. Register with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive important information from your Embassy about safety conditions in your destination country. STEP also helps family and friends get in touch with you in an emergency. 5. Learn a few words in the local language. Before you visit any country, make it a point to learn a few expressions in the local language. Learn the basics including hello, please, thank you, and can you help me. Google Translate will help you navigate better and will also help create goodwill along the way. Related: A Quick Explainer of the Laptop Ban for Some International Travelers 6. Purchase travel insurance and stock up on medications. Dont rely solely on your health insurance to cover you while traveling abroad. Consider purchasing travel insurance to safeguard you from inconveniences to calamities. Aside from medical care, travel insurance can protect you in the case of lost or stolen luggage, trip cancellation, funeral expenses, emergency dental treatment and evacuation back to your country of residence. If you regularly take medications, pack enough to last the duration of your trip. Make sure that all medications are labeled properly. The safest way to carry your medications is in the original bottles, which will also speed the process if your carry-on bags are inspected. Also pack medications for common conditions such as colds, allergies, headaches, food poisoning and diarrhea. Related: 6 Travel Hacks From Experienced Business Travelers 7. Pack wisely. Pack a change of clothes in your carry-on bag, especially if your destination has a different climate or your luggage is lost or stolen. Always pack warm clothing or layers for unexpected rain and cold weather. Dress conservatively if you are traveling for business. Leave your expensive jewelry and watch at home, and use a neck wallet or money belt to thwart petty thieves or bag snatchers. Avoid giving money to strangers as tempting as it may be. If you carry a backpack, hold it in front of your body whenever you are walking or standing in congested areas. Related: How I Built a Startup While Traveling to 20 Countries 8. Eat and drink cautiously. Ill never forget the time I was in Beijing and I got food poisoning after eating chicken korma at a hotel restaurant. I was in bed for three days and it nearly ruined the remainder of my vacation. Always drink bottled water and carry a stash of nuts and protein bars to stave off hunger when you are sightseeing. Finally, learn to listen. This may very well be the heart of any travel experience. You will learn more by listening with respect to all points of view. Regardless of your chosen location, use these tips can make your international trip easier. The more you plan before you leave, the better prepared you will be once you arrive. And that is the key to a successful journey abroad. Related: 8 Precautions Savvy Travelers Take to Avoid an International Incident Explore the World With Google Earth's New 'Voyager' Feature Take a Break: How Vacations Can Save Your Business Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Alex von Kleydorff / Hearst Connecticut Media file NORWALK More than 600 Norwalk Community College students will walk across the stage May 18 for the institutions 54th annual commencement ceremony. The event will begin at 4:30 p.m. beneath a tent on the West Campus behind the Center for Science, Health and Wellness. Graduates are expected to gather on the first floor classrooms of West Campus at 3:45 p.m. Is earning an MBA worth it? Each year, thousands of students ask this very question, yet find conflicting advice. Related: Mark Cuban: What Entrepreneurs Need to Know Before Starting a Business Certainly, on paper, MBA graduates earn more. A recent study from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) showed that median starting salaries for MBA graduates are almost twice those of people with only bachelors degrees (though you have to figure in that the GMAC advocates for leading graduate business schools). You also have to figure in the fact that graduate school can cost six figures or more before you get that degree. And that doesnt even count the time youll spend out of the workforce pursuing it. And, really, the counterpoint here is that you can pretty much create your own MBA program by taking an entirely different path -- one that will cost as little as $100 per year. What path, you ask? Lets talk about blogging. Starting a blog vs. earning an MBA First, I have to start with a disclaimer. I didnt earn my MBA. In fact, I actually dropped out of an MBA program. Instead, I earned a regular ol college degree, became a financial advisor and eventually acquired the certified financial planner designation. Then, instead of pursuing more college after starting my career, I jumped directly into entrepreneurship by starting my own blog, GoodFinancialCents.com. While I never again sat in a classroom, I learned all about business the hard way -- through trial and error. For example, blogging taught me how to: Network, not in person, but online. Since networking in an online space is totally different from traditional networking, this one was hard. Eventually though, I learned how to reach out to other bloggers through cold emails to get guest posts and backlinks to my website. Get my business (my website) where people could see it. Through trial and error, I learned to use social media to connect with journalists who would interview me and link back to my site. Because of these connections, Ive been quoted in major media such as Fox Business, USA Today and CNBC. Educate myself. Since I knew nothing at first about blogging, I had to figure out which resources could help me learn about search engine optimization (SEO), HTML, Wordpress and other intricacies of blogging for profit. Related: A Quick Guide to Starting a Money-Generating Blog Learn to monetize. While I started my blog to serve as a resource for my customers, I wanted to earn money, too. Over time, I learned tons of ways to earn money and how to implement them myself. Grow my reach. Financial websites are a dime a dozen, and you have to find a way to make yours stand out. I learned to expand my reach by creating movements people could get excited about, then getting other bloggers on board. With my Roth IRA movement, for example, I was able to get 140 bloggers to write about the value of the Roth IRA as a retirement vehicle, then link back to me. Make my website presentable, and thus more profitable. Not only did I learn which type of headlines did and didnt bring eyeballs, but I learned about testing colors, types of affiliate links, ad placements, and the various ad networks. In a lot of ways, blogging is like an art form; it takes the right combination of ingredients to make everything work well together. Could I have earned all of this in a classroom? Of course. But, by not getting an MBA and building a business instead, I learned nearly everything I needed to know about business by doing. And now I have a blog that earns hundreds of thousands of dollars each year instead of hundreds of thousands of dollars of MBA debt. Should you earn an MBA or start a blog? While its true my situation isnt exactly typical (not everyone makes a million dollars blogging), lots of bloggers earn a full-time income. Take Jill Stanton from Screw the 9 to 5, for example. She and her husband Josh started a niche website in 2011, then turned blogging into their full-time careers. Now, the couple teaches others to do the same. But Stanton claims they learned the bulk of their skills through trial and error, not homework. No amount of traditional education can ever prepare you for what it is truly like to run your own business online, Stanton said. Thats because an MBA is not designed to teach you; you have to be a great businessperson, Omar Zenhom, the host of the $100 MBA podcast said. Instead, MBAs are designed to prepare you for entry-level management. While MBA programs can teach you plenty, they cannot possibly teach you how to be an effective leader, innovator or entrepreneur, Zenhom said. On the flip side, starting a blog forces you to cultivate an opinion on your subject matter and back it up with research and experience. We learn by doing, said Zenhom. A blog forces you to do, with a publishing schedule. Another key point from Zenhom was this: Dont forget your blog is public. Running your business idea through some pretend scenarios in your MBA program is one thing, but your blog is much more than an experiment. What you create on your blog is real and in the real world. he said. Blog or MBA? How to decide. Of course, bloggers think blogging is amazing, and you already know I do. But to get to the core of this issue, I decided to talk to people who blog for a living but also have an MBA. Michelle Schroeder-Gardner is one blogger who fits the bill; she earned an MBA in finance before finding work as a financial analyst. Along the way, she started Making Sense of Cents, a millennial-focused blog that brings in more than $100,000 per month. With those profits, she no longer works as a financial analyst, and just blogs instead. Is this a feasible path for everyone? Schroeder-Gardner said no: Some people think that starting a successful blog is easier than it really is, she said. There is a lot that goes into running a website, most of which you cant really see unless you are behind the scenes. Schroeder-Gardner listed research, quality content, advertising and marketing as some of the tasks would-be bloggers need to master on their own. If youre someone who needs a lot of hand-holding, blogging may not work for you. Also important to note is that most MBA programs teach the background of business, along with business theory. These lessons played a huge role in Schroeder-Gardners business success, she told me. Robert Farrington is another MBA graduate; he started a blog called The College Investor. He said he learned a lot from both his MBA program and blogging, but the reality of doing with blogging was much more profound. I dont want to dismiss my MBA experience, he said, but learning something in a classroom or group versus going out and trying it is very different. My MBA program really tried to emphasize experiences, but the classroom just doesnt compare to the real world. Farrington suggested figuring out your ROI before pursuing an MBA. The program he was in rang in at $80,000 by the time he graduated; it costs more than six figures now. You need to know the cost of your MBA, he said. Can you get a scholarship? Do you get tuition reimbursement from your employer? Are you going to have to take out student loans? All of this is important if you want your MBA to be profitable, or at least justifiable. Different lessons H. Luke Landes, one of the bloggers behind Adulting.tv, has his MBA but has also started several successful and profitable blogs. Landes said he looks back on both his blogging beginnings and his MBA experience as positive, with different lessons learned from each. But in his MBA program, he said, he gained a better understanding of financial management and risk management -- both lessons that arent necessarily easy to learn as a hands-on business owner. Blogging, on the other hand, has been a real-world application of organizational management theories and techniques which he said he learned during his MBA studies. Is an MBA worth pursuing? Landes said it depends on who is paying. Find someone else to pay for it, he advised or just dont do it. He added that if youre so concerned about the cost of your MBA, you might not be a good candidate anyway. Final thoughts Final pro tip, and this is a good one: Dont start a blog with the idea youre going to get rich overnight. As Landes and others noted, the idea that blogging is some huge money-maker is popular these days. But it's not realistic. Unfortunately, there are a lot of scams out there promising suckers theyll get rich quick by starting a blog, Landes said. The painful truth, he said, is that there are thousands of abandoned blogs whose owners gave up after their financial expectations werent met. Related: 6 Strategies for Launching a Successful Blog And where do those expectations come from? Landes said, answering his own question: Seeing other people succeed without knowing the kind of work that goes into it -- whether theyre selling people on the idea of making money blogging or not. Certainly, blogging can be rewarding, but its not the get-rich-quick scheme people make it out to be. MBAs pose a similar challenge; you can learn a lot for sure, but the investment might not pay off. Whichever path you choose, place a bet on yourself . . . then go for it. Related: Why a Blog Gets You Further than an MBA Rise of the Content Machines: How Blogs Became a Secret Weapon The Best Advices and Tools to Start Blogging Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Police/Sheriff Anyone with information about any crime in the state may call the Grand Island-Hall County Crime Stoppers, (308) 381-8822. Callers will remain anonymous. A reward of up to $1,000 will be paid after law enforcement agencies have determined the seriousness of the crime and the usefulness of the information. Inmate custody status can be obtained by calling the VINE hotline at (877) NE 4 VINE or by visiting www.vinelink.com. Information is available 24 hours a day. If you see a crime happening, call the Grand Island-Hall County Emergency Center 911. Grand Island Police The following felonies were reported: Gordon Bigger reported that a motor vehicle was stolen Sunday from 4210 Norseman Ave. Pump and Pantry, 704 W. Second St., reported counterfeit currency Sunday evening. Rhonda Sandersfield reported a burglary to a storage unit Sunday at 2926 Old Fair Road. Walmart South, 3501 S. Locust, reported counterfeit currency Sunday morning. Janell Perez was arrested Friday night at West Third and North Broadwell for possession of stolen property worth more than $1,500 and possession of a controlled substance. A 12-year-old male was referred for assault Friday. The assault was reported by a 14-year-old male. A 32-year-old female reported a sexual assault Sunday morning. Caseys General Store, 4150 W. Highway 30, reported counterfeit currency Saturday. Hall County Sheriff Law enforcement arrested eight people on warrants in 11 cases. There were 82 calls for service. For more information visit www.hallcountyne.gov and click on the sheriff link. A male was arrested for child abuse and domestic assault. The incident happened in northern Hall County Saturday evening. The complaint was made by an adult female. Courtney Sullivan reported criminal mischief Saturday morning at 3811 E. Seedling Mile Road. Charles Asche reported the theft of copper wire Friday night at One R and St. Paul roads. Court report Hall County Court Janell R. Perez, 26, 1141 Ave. A, Wood River, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and driving under suspension before being reinstated by the state, both on Friday. Preliminary hearing set for 1:30 p.m. June 13. Joshua W. Knuth, 27, 5450 N. Webb Road, was charged with committing child abuse intentionally with no injury and domestic assault-third degree/pregnant woman, both on Saturday. Preliminary hearing set for 11 a.m. June 13. Driving Under the Influence: Liliana Dominguez-Bocanegra, 33, 309 W. Hedde St., Apt. 12, $500 fine, nine months probation, drivers license revoked 60 days. Also guilty of transporting child while intoxicated, nine months probation; Christopher Xuncax, 19, 215 N. Cherokee Ave., $500 fine, seven days in jail, drivers license revoked six months. Also guilty of driving under suspension before being reinstated by the state, seven days in jail, drivers license revoked one year; leaving accident, failure to furnish info, first offense, seven days in jail, drivers license revoked one year; refusal to submit to pretest, $100 fine, and attempt of a Class 4 felony, seven days in jail. Hall County is a productive agricultural area. It is one of the top corn-producing counties in Nebraska. There also are thousands of head of cattle raised in Hall County. In addition, some of the top employers in the county are involved in agriculture, such as the JBS meatpacking plant and CNH, which manufactures combines and other farm equipment. Agriculture is vital to the economic health of the county and employs thousands of people locally. Grand Island also is home to the Nebraska State Fair and hosts several national and regional livestock shows every year. So, does anyone actually believe that Hall County isnt friendly to agriculture? Or for that matter, livestock friendly? Thats why the state of Nebraska designating some counties as livestock friendly has always been puzzling. Is there really any county in Nebraska thats not livestock friendly? In actuality, the livestock friendly designation is an economic development tool. If a county receives the designation, it can market that fact in bids to attract other livestock producers. Theres nothing wrong with that, but no one should ever conclude that just because a county doesnt have the designation, it is unfriendly to livestock producers. That just isnt the case. Some counties just havent chosen to go through the designation process. Others probably dont care about it. Part of the process involves zoning regulations in a county, which the state Department of Agriculture will review before granting the designation. All of this is being brought up because Hall County officials are debating whether to seek the livestock friendly designation. Theres certainly nothing wrong with seeking the designation or with being livestock friendly. One also could argue, though, that there isnt a problem with not seeking it. What is important is that Hall County be fair in its zoning regulations, whether it involves livestock operations or residential subdivisions. Regulations shouldnt be drafted just to be named livestock friendly, but they also shouldnt discourage livestock producers. There is a balance needed in zoning regulations, and reaching the right balance is more difficult when a county has a large population. Often, city growth out into what was an agricultural area becomes an issue. Hall County has always sought to be fair in zoning and that should continue to be the priority. Livestock operations are an important part of the economy in Nebraska. Environmental conditions and quality of life also are important. Certainly, Hall County wants to be friendly to livestock producers because they add to the economy. Its fine if county officials want to seek the designation, but dont let it consume too much of the county boards time. Live election coverage: Josh Shapiro wins race for PA governor The nation is closely watching PA as it could decide the balance of power in Washington. Check back regularly for statewide coverage updates. A group of seven Edwardsville High School students and two EHS teachers spent their spring break visiting China. The trip was a part of a unique exchange program where students from China visited EHS in late January and stayed in EHS host family homes. Then over spring break the EHS students traveled to China and stayed in the homes of the Chinese students who had visited EHS earlier in the year. This was the second year that EHS Teacher Kevin Paur coordinated the China exchange trip through Alpha Partners Education. The exchange began back in late January when 20 Chinese students and three Chinese adults spent about two weeks at EHS students' and host families' homes. They attended school here and went and saw some local sites, Paur said. EHS Teacher Jane Hicks, who was a part of this year's exchange program and also went to China, explained that the last weekend the Chinese students were here, Paur arranged for a small going away party at the Shangri-La Chinese restaurant in Edwardsville. But this exchange program has been so successful that even the students who went on the trip last year wanted to attend. We had 90 people. They closed the restaurant for us, Hicks said. It was just a huge party. It was really fun. It was fun in January when everyone was saying goodbye. It wasn't like saying goodbye forever it was like, see you in April. On April 5, the group of EHS students along with Paur and Hicks set out for their reciprocal exchange in Beijing, but first the group spent a couple of days in Shanghai. We went on a food tour in Shanghai. It was just awesome, Paur noted. It was at eight or nine at night and they took us into these small mom and pop places. It was like street food. They said we're going to eat fried snake. Well the guy grabs two snakes, takes the scissors, cuts off the heads, peels it off and they fried them up. We were eating them like five minutes later. The kids were all really, really good. They got great with chopsticks, Hicks added, And they were speaking the language as much as they could and tried lots of different, strange foods. The group then traveled to Beijing where they split up to spend the evenings and nights with their host families. The EHS students awoke in the mornings and traveled, typically by foot or bike, with their host student to their host student's school, The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University (ESBNU). They spent their days attending Chinese classes, learning about Chinese culture at workshops and seeing the sights of Beijing. Being able to speak Chinese was not a requirement of going on the trip which made the time the EHS students spent in the Chinese classrooms an experience itself. I thought it was kind of interesting because for the classes that we went to with just our group, the teachers didn't speak English so we had to have our coordinator Tracy (the team leader with Alpha Partners Education) translate for us, Amber Pocuca, an EHS junior who went on the trip said. I just thought it was interesting to listen to them. Sometimes I could figure out what they were saying, but then sometimes I was really confused. During their days at ESBNU the students did Chinese painting, built a rocket and launched it, learned about the Peking Opera and made Chinese charms. I really liked when we did some seal carvings, Pocuca said about one of her favorite experiences at the school. It was really difficult to do, but it was a lot of fun. The seal, a traditional form of signature on official forms in China, that Pocuca made said language in Chinese. It says language because that's what I'm interested in, Pocuca stressed. I'm in my third year of German right now. Next year I'll be going into Spanish two, but I'm skipping over Spanish one because I'm just going to learn that at home. Then I'm learning Korean on my own. I'm hoping to pick up Chinese at some time, but I don't know when that will be because I have a lot to handle right now. Paur pointed out that they also toured all the traditional tourist sites like the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven. I felt some of the best experiences are not the ones that you would really expect. For example a lot of the students were not as excited for the Temple of Heaven as some of the other things, but we went in the morning and the Temple of Heaven includes this big park, Paur recalled. There was all these older people out there - retired people who go there in the morning to exercise. There were all these older people doing tai chi and they are dancing it's a big social thing. And all of our kids were out there exercising with them. It was just awesome on a beautiful morning to be sitting out there watching these old people exercising and socializing. Hicks noted how surprised she was with how great of shape this older Chinese population was and the types of exercising they were doing at this park. There was gymnastics equipment and there were people doing gymnastics that looked like they were 70 or 80 years old. I was inspired by them, she said. While visiting the tourist sites of Beijing was memorable, all three agreed that the best part of the experience was staying in the host families' homes. If we had just stayed at a hotel, gone to tour sites and returned back to a hotel, it wouldn't have been the same thing, Paur stressed. Absolutely not, Pocuca said emphatically. The whole experience of just being with a family. . . That's the biggest part of it, Paur added. The icing on the cake is getting to see the Great Wall or whatever else but the real essential part of it is the connections, the host families, the friends and all of that. And getting to see the local things that they like as opposed to just touristy things, Pocuca said. That's what I liked. The reciprocal part, Hicks noted. When Tracy came here, I spent a lot of time with her. I took her to Shop n Save. . . it was fun explaining stuff to her here, and then when we went over there I was like 'What is this? What is that and what is he doing?' She would turn around and explain everything. So it was like a nice reciprocal trip and made it a lot more rewarding. I felt like I learned a lot more than I would have if I had stayed in a hotel and read about it. Paur also pointed out that the students became extremely close to their host families. Both on the day that the Chinese left here in February and then Sunday when we left Beijing, it was like Niagara Falls, Paur said. It gets so emotional. The kids get so attached and the families get so attached. It's really, really emotional. They form a bond that may last a lifetime. I think a lot of these kids will stay friends for a really long time. Even the students who went last year on the trip are still talking and texting each other, Paur added. So will Pocuca return to China someday? Definitely. For sure. My heart is there, and I have to see my family. They really are like my family now. I call them mom and dad, and my parents get really confused, she said with a chuckle. I didn't think we were going to get her out of Beijing, Paur said. Her host family would say, you're my daughter now. You could just tell how close you were to your family. It's really, really cool. I just couldn't let go of them, Pocuca added. I'm pretty sure we're going to keep doing this every year, Paur said in summary. It's really worked out well. It's so immersive of an experience. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 Unlike in over 600 cities around the world, where scientists, doctors, engineers and science lovers alike took to the streets on Saturday to celebrate Earth Day, people throughout most parts of Indonesia gave the international event a miss. Perhaps this was because the commemoration took place on a long weekend, which, for many in country, is traditionally a time for family outings. However, amid the generally quiet observance of Earth Day, hundreds of people from Kalilunjar village in the Central Java regency of Banjarnegara, plunged themselves into a muddy pond to express their love for the Earth. Led by village head Slamet Rahardjo, the residents then walked to Asmara Situk hill, 1,500 meter away, to plant trees. Elsewhere in the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) capital of Kupang, the Indonesia Forum for the Environment (Walhi) organized a fishing boat festival to raise public awareness of the environmental degradation facing coastal areas and small islands, while Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil ordered the local housing, land and park agency to do more to protect trees across the city. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Eddy Leks (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 Promulgations on various regulations to help foreigners own property in Indonesia are not making life easier for either developers or foreigners. Instead, new confusion emerges. Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data show that 1.11 million foreign tourists came to Indonesia last December, 1.03 million in January 2017 and 957,580 in February 2017. On average, 1.03 million foreign tourists come here monthly. If only 10 percent of them were interested in purchasing condominiums units in Indonesia and 10 percent of the interested tourists followed through on the idea, foreigners would buy 10,320 condominium units every month. Not a bad number. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fini Rubianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 Implementing religion in our daily lives is challenging because different people have different values. Many religious authorities in Indonesia promote peace. However, some religious groups have used religion as justification for violence. The same can be seen with regard to womens rights. On the one hand, religion is used to protect womens rights in many Muslim countries, while in countries like Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia, womens rights are restricted using religious justifications. Do these religious policies for women reflect womens voices? To find out it is necessary for women to raise their voices and weigh in on issues of womens rights and religious jurisprudence. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jusuf Wanandi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 Last month, Dato Sri Prof. Dr. Tahir, owner and chief executive of the Mayapada Group and chair of the Tahir Foundation, went to Jordan for the second time to visit Syrian refugee camps in his capacity as an eminent advocate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A few friends, like Radius Wibowo, Mediarto Prawiro and myself, were invited to join him on the trip. He told us about his first visit, about how much he was moved, in particular, to see the children, who looked so sad. He has adopted a family and made its children his grandchildren. He granted funding for their university education, putting it into a trust managed by the UNHCR. (Disclosure: Tahir is the majority owner of the license to publish Forbes Indonesia.) to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. A dozen states and the Republican National Committee are among those urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a federal court ruling that said Wisconsins legislative district boundaries were unconstitutional. The states, the RNC and others all filed briefs Monday with the Supreme Court urging it to overturn the ruling tossing out the Republican-drawn maps in Wisconsin. The states argue the ruling invites openly partisan policy battles in the courtroom and gives any political party not in control a fighting chance of overturning maps drawn by the majority party. Wisconsin Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel and the Republican-controlled Legislature are among those defending the maps. The states that filed a supportive legal brief were Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah. Attorneys for the Republican-controlled Legislature argue in their new legal filing that the court ruling striking down GOP-drawn legislative boundaries in the state is dangerously wrong. Monday was the deadline for groups with an interest in the case to present their legal arguments. Schimel is appealing the ruling by a three-judge panel last year that the current maps are unconstitutional. The judges ordered new maps to be drawn by November, but Schimel and the Legislature are asking the Supreme Court to overturn that decision. The Legislature argues in its brief that if the ruling is allowed to stand, it will be all but impossible to draw maps without running afoul of one prohibition or another. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nenette Motus (The Jakarta Post) Bangkok Tue, April 25, 2017 The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has joined the World Health Organization (WHO), The Global Fund (for AIDS, TB and Malaria), the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and other partners on World Malaria Day of April 25 to urge renewed efforts to prevent and eliminate the disease, which still kills over 400,000 people annually. In 2015, almost 70 percent of all malaria deaths were children under five. This years theme of World Malaria Day is End malaria for good. New methods of testing, the widespread distribution of insecticide-treated nets and the introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapies have contributed significantly to major reductions in malaria cases and deaths in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Chinas Yunnan province. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. General Electric (GE) Indonesia recently hosted the GE Digital Industrial Forum 2017: Transforming Indonesias Industry Through Digital Industrial to mark its 125th anniversary while exploring the vast possibilities and opportunities offered by digital industrial technology. The forum was held on April 13 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Fairmont Jakarta. In line with a white paper called The Future of Work in Indonesia released by GE Indonesia in conjunction with the forum, the symposium was part of the companys digital industrial transformation, merging its expertise in heavy machinery with its big data analytics capabilities. The big data capabilities will enable GE and its customers to connect with and get real-time insights into their assets, as well as optimizing their asset performance and efficiency. GE called the technology the industrial internet. The industrial internet merges big data and cloud-based analytics with industrial machinery, resulting in greater efficiency and increased operating performance. The principle is simple: industrial assets like power generation turbines, jet engines and medical devices are equipped with electronic sensors, which collect enormous amounts of data on the functioning of the machines as well as on the external environment. The technology, involving sophisticated physics and analytics, can transform the manufacturing process, resulting in fewer productivity slumps and real-time problem solving. Increasingly, industrial companies will be driven by digital platforms to make them safer and more productive. The forum was attended by more than 600 people consisting of GE Indonesia employees, government officials, delegates from the business world and academia. Among the prominent people who attended the event were former Indonesian president B.J. Habibie, who is also an engineer, and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. According to GE's chief executive officer (CEO), Jeff Immelt, the disruption brought by the industrial internet should not be feared; instead, businesspeople should capitalize on it to improve the productivity and efficiency of their industrial operations. To illustrate how the industrial internet could boost industrial efficiency and productivity, GE Global Research Physical-Digital Analytics Technology Leader Vinay Jammu mentioned the Digital Twin Technology by GE, which allows machine-to-machine and machine-to-human interaction. < Previously, you might think that a world where machines could talk to one another and actually interact with humans existed only in films like Star Trek. In fact, there is no need to wait any more, it already exists right in front of us. The technology involves the rapid processing of information through big data, particularly for detecting a problem, identifying its root cause and making real-time decisions to overcome it. For instance, the technology is capable of sending early warnings of the failure of a hospital machine a minimum of two weeks in advance. If not detected early, hospital machine failures could disrupt operations, leading to the inconvenience of patients being transferred from one hospital to another. The technology could also help avoid outages among wind turbines by predicting the fluctuation of wind flow velocity a few hours ahead, Jammu explained, saying that although the technology was produced by GE, it could also be applied to non-GE engines. The technology is also applicable for at least five different sectors: power, healthcare, transportation, oil and gas as well as aviation. Representatives from each industry were present during the forum to view presentations on how the technology could contribute to their respective fields. During his speech at the closing of the event, former president Habibie said that proper information processing was very important for precise decision making. Furthermore, brainware [artificial intelligence] developers have to be aware that system security is very important to prevent information manipulation, he added. During his speech at the closing of the event, former president Habibie said that proper information processing was very important for precise decision making. HUMAN RESOURCES MATTER In order to make the industrial internet work, tech companies definitely need to create an ecosystem where the technology can operate. In such an ecosystem, artificial intelligence technology alone does not suffice; strong talent who can operate the technology is also in high demand, according to Immelt. GE Oil and Gas regional IT leader for Asia Pacific David Parkinson said that currently the company focused on training its human resources. We have a problem with an aging workforce, so now the question for us is how to avoid knowledge from leaving the business, he said. To support gender equality, GE is specifically focusing on female engineers. In fact, according to Immelt, the company aims at employing 20,000 female engineers from computer science as well as other study fields by 2020. In order to discuss this issue, the forum also featured a Womens Network Luncheon, a gathering of female engineers across Indonesia. We hope that these female engineers can continue to grow, helping us to get the best talent, Immelt said during the luncheon. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani was also invited to speak during the luncheon to shed light on the glass ceiling that still prevented Indonesian women pursuing a satisfying career, including in the engineering field. According to the minister, the male-female gender composition in Indonesia is evenly distributed, with women constituting 50.6 percent of the population and men 49.4 percent. In terms of academic achievements, they are also both relatively equal. Once women enter the workforce, however, soon they find their careers being curtailed by the gender-biased society, which still prioritizes men entering the workforce. Womens participation in the formal workforce has dropped; their salaries are 19 percent lower than mens. In the engineering field their participation is even lower, Sri Mulyani said during the luncheon. She attributed this low female participation in the engineering field to societys perception that women were not fit to study and work in engineering, which is widely considered a tough subject. Furthermore, society generally treats women differently as they are expected to take care of the family, a burden that does not affect men in general. In order to overcome this [gender inequality], its not enough for us to talk at the [government] policy level, but we also have to look at how organizations also have to support women who are climbing their careers in the workforce, she said. To produce more female leaders, companies have to build pipelines where CEOs are grooming outstanding female workers to be future leaders right from the start of their careers, she added. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani was also invited to speak during the luncheon to shed light on the glass ceiling that still prevented Indonesian women pursuing a satisfying career, including in the engineering field. NEW BUSINESS LINE As part of its effort to support the digital transformation of Indonesias industrial scene, GE Indonesia CEO Handry Satriago said that in 2015, the company introduced a new business called GE Digital. Immelt added that the industrial internet field offered vast business cooperation opportunities for many different parties, revealing that last year the company invested US$6 billion to develop the technology. Speaking about cooperation with relevant stakeholders, the company has just marked the first step of its attempt to bring the industrial internet to Indonesia by signing a number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with several institutions, including the Communications and Information Ministry, local startup Dattabot and energy company PT Medco Power Indonesia. In our company, people often say Why not us? as a motto. Right now, we need partners, people who are eager to experiment with us. So now the question instead becomes: Why not you? Immelt said. This article brought to you by: Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Juliana Harsianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 14:07 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab82cf 4 Food Tegal,Indonesian-cuisine,food,culinary Free Most people generally associate Tegal with warteg or warung Tegal (Tegal food stalls) and sate kambing (grilled skewered lamb). However, spend a day or two to try some other popular local dishes and soon you will find yourselves trying to extend the vacation. Realizing the citys culinary potential, Tegal Mayor KMT Siti Masitha Soeparno has made a move to popularize the signature food of the city. She officially declared Tegal to be a Culinary City by launching a culinary program on March 18, coinciding with the 180th anniversary of the oldest Chinese temple in Tegal, Tek Hay Kiong, which is now under the auspices of the Tri Dharma Foundation. Siti Masitha is also aware that the opening of a new toll road makes Tegal more easily accessible, thus attracting a lot more visitors to the city. I want to show everybody that Tegal has various typical culinary specialties that are not yet exposed by food enthusiasts, Siti said, adding that the city has so much to offer beyond warteg. Read also: Backstory behind favorite dining spot of locals: 'warteg' Rich with flavor: Participants from a hotel pose during the cooking competition.(JP/Juliana Harsianti) The city administration and Tri Dharma Foundation cooperated with Aku Cinta Makanan Indonesia (ACMI), an Indonesian food lovers community initiated by Santi Serad, to kick off this program. They held a cooking competition that proudly introduced local cuisine, bringing together participants from 27 subdistricts, seven organizations, hotels, vocational schools and also the Tri Dharma Foundation. The contest highlighted traditional foods and varieties of seafoods, which was reasonable remembering the proximity of Tegal to the shore. Theyre very enthusiastic because its the first cooking contest for them, Santi said. Participants from Tegals Vocational High School 1 could not agree more, saying that the event was a great opportunity to develop their cooking capabilities. The culinary event was held on Jl. Veteran on purpose. It was close to the Tek Hay Kiong Temple, which was still in its anniversary mood, and the location would showcase Tegals well-known Chinatown, which was known for its diverse dishes and snacks. Visitors who wished to bring home local snacks could just drop by the nearby shops on both Jl. Veteran and Jl. Gurame. These shops offer a great variety of Tegals signature snacks, such as pia (round cakes), sopia (oval cakes), salted eggs and tauco (fermented soybeans). Sauto (soup) from Soto Madi.(JP/Juliana Harsianti) One of the famous culinary spots on Jl. Gurame is the Soto Madi restaurant, which lures hungry visitors with Tegal sauto (soup). Sauto is soup mixed with tauco containing either shredded chicken, beef, tripe, or the three combined. The crushed tauco as its additional condiment gives sauto a distinctive flavor. While at other stalls this soup comes with a separate serving of fried intestines, at Soto Madi the soup is garnished with the intestines, thus creating a crispy sensation when eaten. Read also: Warteg survive competition with delivery services Pia and sopia as typical snacks differ in shape and fillings. The former is round with cheese, green beans, durian, or garlic and the latter is oval with palm sugar. A factory that makes Tegals favorite pia can be found on Jl. Pawedan near to Jl. Veteran. It is owned by Mrs. Liao. The cakes are produced with the original ingredients and are bigger than usual. Must-try snacks: Ny Liao's homemade pia cakes have gained popularity among locals in Tegal.(JP/Juliana Harsianti) Chef Muto, as the pride of Tegal, also demonstrated his skill. Popularly known as the Kung Fu Chef, he showed how to prepare Tegals special food, Kupat Blengong, which was rice cakes served in peanut sauce, coupled with blengong or grilled skewered mussels. Seafood like fish, shrimps, crabs and mussels are indeed part of Tegals culinary creations. Santi, ACMI chef Astrid Enricka and chef Muto as jury members of the contest named a group of women from Mintaragen subdistrict the champions. These women presented a dish called jantung rumput lulur bumbu kelapa pedas (Seaweed spiced with hot coconut), which used ingredients not yet explored by Tegal residents. The Mintaragen contestants also avoided using MSG, making their food more authentic in taste and wholesome, Santi added. With this newly declared identity as a culinary city, Tegal residents invite culinary buffs from across the country to enjoy breakfast with nasi bakmoy (rice and chopped chicken soup served with soybean sauce) at Sinar Pagi restaurant or kupat blengong around the Tegal town square and buy various mouthwatering cakes at Pasar Kuliner on Jl. Teri. Only then will the visitors realize that Tegals culinary features are not just warteg. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 16:45 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeac0229 1 Science & Tech Star-Wars,Disney,Nokia,virtual-reality,#virtualreality,movies,#movies,star-wars-the-last-jedi Free As the market for virtual reality (VR) grows bigger, Disney and Nokia have announced their partnership to bring Star Wars: The Last Jedi to VR. Announced on Monday, the multi-year deal has Nokia filming Star Wars VR content for Disney and Lucasfilm with their new OZO VR camera. Nokia, a Finnish communications and information technology company, will provide OZO cameras -- up to US$45,000 a piece -- in addition to software support. "Utilizing the Nokia OZO to capture our behind-the-scenes material allows viewers to be transported to fantastical locations and virtually visit the incredible sets where their favorite Star Wars scenes were captured," said Lucasfilm head of franchise creative and asset management, Brian Miller, in a statement. Read also: JJ Abrams predicts Oscar nod for Star Wars' Mark Hamill Disney has utilized OZO for VR before, for tie-ins for films The Jungle Book, Pete's Dragon, and Alice Through the Looking Glass. The VR version of Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be Nokia and Disneys first collaboration. It does not have a release date yet. Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters this December. (sul/kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tarko Sudiarno (The Jakarta Post) Situbondo, East Java Tue, April 25, 2017 10:08 2024 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeaab8d9 4 Environment Baluran-National-Park,endangered-species,bird-conservation Free After a year of special care at the Wildlife Rescue Center in Yogyakarta, nine green peafowl were in February released to their habitat in Baluran National Park, Situbondo, East Java. Known as green peafowl of Java (Pavo muticus), these beauties have regained their freedom at the eastern tip of Java. Finally, were relieved to see the peafowl back home and were happy to have raised them for a year in Yogyakarta. We were anxious on our way to Baluran, controlling their condition every two hours, but now we can dine comfortably, said veterinary surgeon Randy Kusuma from the rescue center after releasing the peafowl. The rescue center originally tended to 10 Java peafowl, but one died from a respiratory disorder during its habituation process in a temporary cage. Were still pleased to be able to return the rest to their habitat. These birds were like domestic chickens when we raised them and theyve now grown larger, ready to live in the wild. This is really a delight for our team, Randy said. Overjoyed by the addition of nine young peafowl, Baluran National Park chief Bambang Sukendro expressed his hope that these birds could further support Balurans status as a national park. This park will continue to conserve Indonesias natural riches so that our future generations can observe the diverse wildlife species here. It would be [a shame] for them to only see these animals in the form of stuffed dolls or in photos, he said. Read also: Masigit Kareumbi Hunting Park calls for Conservation The park, with its mountain, savanna and beach zones constitutes the last bastion of fauna endemic to Java Island, such as peafowl, jalak putih (Sturnus melanopterus), deer, buffalos and banteng (Bos javanicus), according to Bambang. Cooperation between the government and private institutions is therefore necessary to safeguard the wildlife sanctuary. The recent release was also arranged through a cooperation between the Yogyakarta Nature Conservation Foundation (YKAY), the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP), and the Yogyakarta Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA Yogyakarta). Besides peafowl, three sanca bodo (Python molurus) snakes were also released into the national park. The 12 animals were confiscated from illegal animal traders and given up by residents before arriving at the rescue center, which is owned by the YKAY in Sendangsari, Pengasih, Kulonprogo regency, Yogyakarta. The birds were seized in an operation conducted by the National Police, the COP and the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) in 2016. They were still chicks at the time and kept by traders in poor condition, which adversely affected their health. Read also: Sumbas MaTaLaWa National Park lures visitors with ecological attractions The choice of Baluran was based on the original habitat of the peafowl and pythons. Each animal was subjected to final examinations before being set free, followed by individual markings with microchip implants and with tagging and coloring for the birds, to facilitate observations by a monitoring team. YKAY chief patron, Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Mangkubumi considered the release a concrete step of her foundation to help conserve the wildlife of Indonesia. This is our program and social responsibility as a conservation agency. We indeed needed large funds for this purpose, which we raised ourselves. So, were hoping for government and private participation in this wildlife rescue effort, added Gusti Mangkubumi. She also appealed for increased public awareness against buying and breeding wildlife species. The public should realize that wild animals are not domestic pets. If people keep breeding such species, the illegal trade will persist [and lead to] long-term impact in the loss of our wildlife, she pointed out. The COP action coordinator, Daniek Hendarto, said his center supported the return of the animals, which had served as evidence of last years aborted illegal wildlife deals. Read also: RI leadership seen as crucial to protecting Coral Triangle This was all a collaborative effort: the centers legal action, the [animals] rescue and their subsequent release, Daniek said. Untung Suripto, head of the BKSDA Yogyakarta, said the threat of extinction is a direct result of illegal wildlife hunting and trading. Law enforcement therefore plays a large role in acting as a deterrent to these crimes. Peafowl and pythons are protected animals under Law No. 5/1990 on biological resources conservation and the Government Regulation of 1999, said Untung. The Bantul District Court, Yogyakarta, last year found a man named Muhammad Sulvan guilty for illegal wildlife trading and sentenced him to 10 months in prison, Untung pointed out. The confiscated animals were turned over to the rescue center for further care, then released in Baluran National Park. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jessicha Valentina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 17:29 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeac6444 1 Science & Tech LinkedIn,#LinkedIn,social-network,social-networking-app,professional,business,business-relations Free Business and employment-oriented social networking platform LinkedIn announced on Tuesday that it had 500 million users worldwide. Among the 500 million users, LinkedIn Asia Pacific managing director Olivier Legrand told The Jakarta Post via telephone that there were more than 8 million LinkedIn users in Indonesia. Furthermore, according to LinkedIn's data, Greater Jakarta is ranked the fourth most-connected city across the globe, competing with London in the United Kingdom, San Francisco in the United States and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Legrand mentioned that local users use the platform to learn, share and contribute to their community. Read also: LinkedIn reveals buzzwords most overused by Indonesian professionals [The members] use [LinkedIn] to get access and share professional content as well as to engage in professional conversations with their networks or peers, said Legrand. In regards to the development of LinkedIn in Indonesia, Legrand revealed that the company had created LinkedIn Lite in India, which was designed for countries with low bandwidth and for countries that were price sensitive to internet data, allowing users to do almost everything on their mobile phones. We are thinking that it makes sense to bring this technology to Indonesia, said Legrand. (asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 16:47 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeac0e5d 1 Art & Culture good-pitch,good-pitch-squared,jakarta,#documentary,documentary,movies,#movies Free Good Pitch2 (Good Pitch Squared) Southeast Asia, the first installment of a regional program that draws together curated documentary filmmakers and change-makers, is slated to take place at GoetheHaus in Central Jakarta on May 4. The one-day event will feature four social justice documentary films, namely Song for My Children by Shalahuddin Siregar from Indonesia, Intuition by Yong Shu Ling from Singapore, Sunday Beauty Queen by Baby Ruth Villarama from the Philippines, and Audio Perpetua by Universe Baldoza from the Philippines. All the films tell stories about people from Southeast Asia. Sunday Beauty Queen, for instance, tells of the hidden lives and struggles of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong. In the film, five of the workers give themselves a makeover for a day and gleefully reclaim their dignity. Meanwhile, Intuition follows a young woman on a mission to transform learning in classrooms in Singapore. Read also: Two Indonesian documentaries to join Good Pitch regional program A still from 'Song For My Children' by Shalahuddin Siregar.(in-docs.org/File) The selected filmmakers received training in storytelling and how to create an impact strategy for their films in December last year. During the May event, they will collaborate with selected change-makers from different fields for their projects, such as Amnesty International, the ASEAN Foundation, the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) and the British Council Indonesia. Organized by the non-profit organization In-Docs and Singapore-based youth projects organization Jia Foundation, Good Pitch was initiated by the non-profit film foundation BRITDOC and the Sundance Film Institute in 2009. Prior to Jakarta, the event was previously hosted in the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa, Taiwan, Argentina, Kenya and Australia. (kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Syafrizaldi (The Jakarta Post) Bandung Tue, April 25, 2017 13:43 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab7f3a 4 Environment environment,biodiversity,endangered-species,Masigit-Kareumbi-Hunting-Park Free The park was originally meant for the hunting of wild boars that disrupted farmlands belonging to residents around the park. Deer were later brought into the zone as part of the parks conservation efforts for biodiversity. Were now conducting a deer breeding program in an area of 8 hectares, said Prasidi Widya Sarjana, a senior member of Wanadri, an association for forest trekkers and mountaineers The 63-year-old had just finished inspecting the breeding areas fences for damages. We have to repair damaged fences immediately, otherwise the deer could be preyed upon by leopards, he explained. As a hunting park, the 12,500-hectare conservation area should be home to various game species, but their numbers have been declining, thus disturbing the local food chain. Leopards are known to be on top of the food chain here, although theyre rarely found. Local residents have confirmed their presence and weve also ascertained this through trap cameras, Prasidi said. Read also: Rare Javan leopard spotted in West Java While the presence of leopards indicates a healthy ecosystem, the species is being threatened by the shrinking of its habitat. According to Prasidi, this should be promptly addressed and the government as the highest regulatory institution should be able to mediate the conflict, which is a tough job but must be executed if ecological harmony is to be maintained. The hunting park, maintained Prasidi, should continue to be a forest zone. However, farm expansion has remained a threat, which will overwhelm the need to conserve leopards as the habit for this key species is further reduced. The shortage of natural prey forces leopards to aim at easier targets, including those in the ranch, he added. Protection: Workers fix a portion of the fence that protect the park's deer population.(JP/Syafrizaldi) Were even more concerned by possible attacks on men. Although there have been no such reports yet, encounters with locals frequently occur. In a village not far from here, a leopard was said to have devoured a goat, he noted. As West Javas fauna mascot, leopards have been categorized as a critical species by of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2007, which may need an evaluation with intense forest degradation happening in recent years. To anticipate increasing forest damage, the parks management offers tree adoption facilities to individuals wishing to become tree guardians as a program to restore nature. Visitors can adopt trees by paying Rp 50,000 (US$3.80) and the trees under their guardianship will be taken care of by park management for at least three years, or until they can grow naturally. Masigit Kareumbi park is situated in the upper stretch of the Cimanuk watershed, with many tributaries flowing into Citarum River, the pride of West Java. As one of the upstream zones of Citarum, Masigit Kareumbi deserves restructuring by a humane conservation approach with due regard to the interests of surrounding communities. It is a task to be executed by all relevant parties. Read also: Govt fighting losing battle against Citarum polluters The sound of luntur gunung, or blue-tailed trogons (Apalharpactes reinwardtii), surprised Nurul Huda, a bird researcher from Bandung who was exploring the park. As he searched for the endangered birds, which were endemic to Java, he couldnt trace the source of the sound. They might be luntur harimau, orange-breasted trogons [Harpactes oreskios], he said, stressing the role of birds in distributing seeds in the forest ecosystem. A green tree frog (Rhacophorus reinwardtii) jumped out of its hiding place at sundown as a trapcamera team was working. The bright blue lines on its toe webs was a striking feature among its bodys green and yellow shades, with dots adorning its skin surface and a yellow stripe running from under its front legs. Herpetologist Ady Kristanto described frogs as one of the indicators of a sound forest ecosystem that was frequently overlooked. Lone fighter: One of the many frog species living in Masgit Kareumbi Hunting Park, West Java.(JP/Syafrizaldi) Ive only stayed at this park for one night and have found almost over a dozen frog species, Ady said. He regretted not having a complete set of data on reptiles and amphibians in the zone needed to gauge the parks capacity to support wildlife. Various kinds of vegetation are thriving here. Lots of pasang trees [Quercus Sp] grow here, Prasidi said. One such tree can be found near a brook behind the parks camping ground, standing at a height of 30 meters. Western nations know them as oak trees, with wood suitable for furniture and construction. The park is also peppered with saninten (Castanea argentea), rasamala (Altingia excelsea) and puspa (Schima walachii), with a large number of pine trees spread around the area. Prasidi said these trees were introduced when the park was under the management of state forestry company Perhutani. Now its jointly managed by the provincial Natural Resources and Conservation Center and Wanadri. The park also serves as a place for students to study biology and ecology. Youths are expected to be concerned over environmental conditions in the future, Prasidi said. Without such awareness, well be facing devastation. We have only one Earth, no other places in the universe have yet been discovered for human habitation, he remarked. The revitalization of this hunting park cant just be handled by Wanadris forum alone. It requires the contribution of various parties to maintain the park as the fountain of West Javas fresh air and clean water. Were just a small part of a larger effort. So, lets all work together, appealed Prasidi. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ananda Sukarlan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 09:48 2024 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeaaa33a 4 People piano,pianist,Paolo-Fazioli Free In 1980, pianist and engineer Paolo Fazioli (born 1944) completely changed the paradigm of piano making by establishing his own piano factory. Using his engineering skills, Fazioli revolutionized the grand pianos construction and design, allowing the instrument to produce a sound superior to that of other pianos. Obviously, he needed more than just carpenters and workers; he needed craftsmen with great artistic vision and sharp ears. To build his factory, Fazioli moved from Rome to the small town of Sacile, near Venice, and more importantly, near the Val di Fiemme, which is known as the musical forest for spruce trees yielding especially resonant wood. Antonio Stradivari made his violins from spruce trees three centuries ago. Not only that, Fazioli also improved the mechanisms of the piano, going as far as to coat the hinges with 24-carat gold to avoid oxidation and adding a fourth pedal. To build a piano with our philosophy, [you must have] a roof [a limit], because if you want better quality, you must change your mentality, said Fazioli, who visited Indonesia for the first time on April 10 to 12 and appeared on the Grand Show, the countrys first talk show on classical music held at the Harco Buildings Grand Piano Atelier in Mangga Dua, North Jakarta. Read also: Hospital boat charity raises funds through art auction and concert We want to have a limited quantity [of pianos] with controlled quality and give the best product possible. This will be our future. Today, Faziolis factory produces only 140 grand pianos a year, all supervised by him, unlike other brands that mass produce them at over 10,000 units a year. However, since they are made to order, customers have to wait between four and eight months for their instruments, for which they are prepared to pay as much as Rp 6 billion (US$300,300). One example of this is the Fazioli M. Liminal model an exclusive grand piano and only 10 of which exist in the world, including one in Jakarta. His other invention is the biggest piano ever made, with a length reaching 3.08 meters. A length like this may produce an improved sound, but it also adds problems, such as a heavy piano lid. However, Fazioli provided a solution for this problem, too. And thanks to him, the piano as an instrument has evolved once again. The piano man: Pianist and engineer Paolo Fazioli (center) appears on a talk show on classical music alongside Helen Gumanti (right) of the Grand Piano Atelier and pianist-composer Ananda Sukarlan in Jakarta.(The Grand Piano Atelier/File) In the 17th century, the piano was called a harpsichord and player plucked the strings with a plectrum. However, when you hit the keys, volume would always remain the same relatively soft. It was then changed into a pianoforte (literally translated as soft and loud from Italian), whose strings are struck with a hammer. Its construction changed during Beethovens lifetime. For 150 years, the piano did not develop or change significantly. Only after a visionary like Fazioli arrived onto the scene did it change to become a better, more sophisticated instrument made from different types of wood, with better mechanisms and an additional pedal. Read also: Ananda Sukarlan's musical celebration of human emotions But Helen Gumanti had an equally revolutionary idea: to introduce this kind of piano to Indonesia, where classical music is booming. Helen has a broader vision in mind. She aspires to build the countrys classical music scene through this instrument by supporting the youngest, brightest and smartest musical talents, and guide them to achieve the career they deserve to become a national artistic asset and represent the country on the world forum. In todays increasingly high-demanding society, a good instrument has become the minimum requirement for our musicians to boost our nations musical prestige and international image. For this purpose, Helen created the Grand Pianos Atelier as a cultural center, with a concert hall and recording studio, sponsoring the best young pianists to perform and record. Access to good instruments cannot remain a privilege afforded to a few when it has become a prerequisite to achieve greater success by the many. Helen Gumanti(The Grand Piano Atelier/File) Music to me is like a breath to life, and a good piano is the key to a transcendental experience to enjoy music, Helen said, adding that when she tried a Fazioli piano for the first time, she was completely blown away by its three dimensional sound and the pianos fast action. It facilitates my playing like no other pianos. Fazioli is the Rolls Royce [of pianos] when it comes to perfection in every detail of its craftsmanship, and like a Ferrari when it comes to performance. Its a dream piano of every modern pianist, she said. Helens dream is not far-fetched as it initially seems. Right now, there is much to celebrate in our country when it comes to pianistic achievements. In the week of Faziolis visit, two Indonesian pianists made history. Edith Widayani, 27, along with her Taiwanese cellist partner Henry Chen, won first prize at the International Chamber Music Competition of Ecoparque de Trasmiera in Arnuero, Spain. It is one of Europes most prestigious chamber music competitions, in which Edith also nabbed the award for Best Instrumentalist. Meanwhile, Janice Wijaya, 24, a top student at the Manhattan School of Music, was selected for the annual International Students Concert, a platform created by the school to show their best students to the world via internet streaming. As John F. Kennedy once said: A rising tide lifts all boats. We need to rethink what we should do with our musical treasures, and take a serious look at our societys artistic education and how to use the nations artistic talents as a showcase to the world forum. It is not the work of one person; it must be a collaboration between the instrument, the producer, the composer and the musician all performing at the highest quality. When the piano improved during the life of Beethoven, the German master started to write music that would have been impossible to play on the instrument that came before. This also happened with French composer Claude Debussy, when the piano of his era became capable of producing unimaginable colors. It is the task of the 21st century composers to open the door to a new world of sounds, made possible by the new instrument created by Fazioli. *** The writer is a pianist and composer. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 14:17 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab9100 1 Science & Tech Google,#Google,smartphone,#smartphone,Pixel,Android,#Android Free Google could possibly be changing up its phone release patterns in the coming year. While the tech giant has been known for releasing two Android phones each fall, three of Googles own Pixel phones may be hitting the shelves in 2017. While Googles most recent report has asserted that they will only be releasing their usual duo, The Android Open Source Project has found that Google is working on three different phones, code-named Muskie, Walleye and Taimen. Read also: Google's Pixel phone shines despite misgauging demand Muskie and Walleye are likely follow-ups to the standard Pixel phone and the Pixel XL, respectively, but there is still no word on what Taimen may be. Some believe that it might be a tablet, or possibly an even bigger phone with a display larger than that of the Pixel XL. As for the release date? There is no exact word yet, but Google's head of hardware Rick Osterloh did drop some hints in an interview with AndroidPit, as reported by Phone Arena: There is an annual rhythm in the industry. So, you can count on us to follow it. You can count on a successor this year, even if you don't hear a date from me now. (sul/kes) Starbucks, Colectivo and Barriques have all expanded their coffee footprints in recent years, but another coffee company with a long history is also planning to grow in Wisconsin. Gloria Jean's has nearly 900 locations worldwide but remarkably, only 55 of those are in the U.S. That's why Brian Balconi, president of Retail Food Group USA, parent company of Gloria Jeans Coffees in Santa Fe Springs, California, wants to expand the coffee company's reach through aggressive franchising opportunities, particularly in the Midwest. Demand for coffee is predicted to grow by 16 percent by 2020, Balconi said. Wisconsin is home to six Gloria Jean's locations, including West Towne Mall and the Outlet at The Dells near Wisconsin Dells, but Balconi said while malls have been a staple for the company -- nearly 90 percent of its cafes are in malls -- he wants to see more street-front locations. "Its a two-tiered approach because shopping malls have been our bread and butter for a long time. We know the business and our customers love to see us in the shopping mall so that will continue," Balconi told the State Journal. "But there are coffee drinkers outside of shopping malls so we want to be there as well." Balconi won't specify how many locations could be added to Wisconsin but said the state is a prime coffee market and poised for growth. Besides Madison and Wisconsin Dells, Gloria Jean's has stores at Southridge Mall in Greendale, Valley View Mall in La Crosse, Fox River Mall in Appleton and Bay Park Square in Ashwaubenon. The company also has a distribution center in Milwaukee. The company was founded in 1979 just north of Chicago by Gloria Jean and Ed Kvetko, who began franchising stores in 1986. By 1993, when they had more than 200 locations, they sold the company. In recent years the number of U.S. stores has dwindled. Balconi, who has spent time with Dunkin Donuts and Little Caesar's, started with Gloria Jean's in fall 2015 and in 2016 hired Laina Sullivan as the company's director of franchise development. "She was brought on board to take Gloria Jean's to the next level and to add many additional franchise locations," Balconi said. "We think we have a good niche in the coffee business by coming out with new flavors and varieties." No specific locations have been identified in Wisconsin, but natural areas would include Madison, Milwaukee and the Fox Valley. "The Midwest is a very important area for us," Balconi said. The company is also targeting expansion in the Northeast, California, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. metro areas. Franchisees require $100,000 in liquid capital, a net worth of at least $300,000 and the ability to make an investment of $185,000 to $485,000 for a single location. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 08:08 2024 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeaa11bc 2 National #2017JakartaElection,ahok,Cabinet-reshuffle Free The Jakarta gubernatorial election may have demonstrated how frail the governments coalition can become when its rivals play the sectarianism card hard. Backed by all seven government coalition parties except the National Mandate Party (PAN), the incumbent Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat ticket lost to the rival Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno ticket, only securing 42 percent of about 7 million votes, according to quick count results. On Saturday, three days after the heated Jakarta runoff, President Joko Jokowi Widodo signaled that he might be mulling another Cabinet reshuffle. He complained about the inability of several ministries to achieve targets, especially in regard to economic policies. I always set targets for my ministers, Jokowi said in a speech at the Economic Congregation Congress organized by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Jakarta. I am ready to dismiss or replace aides and ministers if any targets are missed, the President went on. As an example he cited his flagship land reform program, in which his government aims to issue 5 million land certificates this year, and gradually increase the target by 2 million every year until the end of his first term. The Presidents remarks have raised speculation over a possible third cabinet reshuffle. Since taking office in 2014, Jokowi has made two Cabinet reshuffles: once in August 2015, in which six Cabinet members were reshuffled, and another in July 2016, which saw changes in 12 Cabinet positions. Jokowi also made remarks about poor performances from some Cabinet members days before the previous reshuffles. Before the Jakarta runoff election, elites from the National Awakening Party (PKB) and United Development Party (PPP) expressed concern that they could lose their Cabinet positions. Speaking on condition of anonymity, executive members from both parties told The Jakarta Post that high-ranking aides from Jokowis inner circle had threatened that PKBs three ministerial posts and PPPs one post could be in jeopardy if they refused to support Ahok and Djarot. Analysts suggested that a reshuffle could be needed to consolidate electoral power ahead of the 2018 simultaneous regional elections and 2019 legislative and presidential elections. The 2018 elections will be held in 171 provinces, regencies and cities, including the countrys three mostpopulous provinces: West Java, East Java and Central Java. The combined population of the three provinces accounts for almost half of the national population. However, political analyst Marcus Mietzner from the Australian National University said a cabinet reshuffle might have little impact on the presence of Islamic parties in Jokowis Cabinet. According to him, Jokowi will need at least one influential Islamic party in his nominating coalition for 2019 to counter possible smear campaigns using religious and ethnic sentiments. He has no reason to remove either the PKB or PPP from the cabinet. That would drive them into the arms of Prabowo, Mietzner told the Post, referring to Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, Jokowis presidential contender in 2014 who has indicated that he may challenge Jokowi again in the 2019 race. (Read also: Jokowi may reshuffle Cabinet: Researcher) The PPPs secretary-general, Arsul Sani, responded to the issue diplomatically. To reshuffle the cabinet is the Presidents prerogative, he said. Eddy Suparno, PANs secretary general, said the partys stance in the Jakarta election should not be linked to speculation about a Cabinet reshuffle. What happened in Jakarta does not reflect the nature of our relationship with other members of the [government] coalition, Eddy said. There are still other regional elections before the 2019 elections that provide good opportunities for Islamic parties like us to collaborate with nationalist parties. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Associated Press) Beijing Tue, April 25, 2017 20:30 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdead21e4 2 World Israel,#Israel Free China is not allowing Chinese construction crews to work in the West Bank because it opposes Israeli settlements in what it considers occupied Palestinian territory. Israel officials said Sunday they had signed a deal with China to bring Chinese construction crews to Israel. They would not address reports that the work would be restricted to only some areas. A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman confirmed the West Bank restrictions Monday. Spokesman Geng Shuang says China values its relationship with Israel but "opposes the construction of Jewish settlements on Palestine's occupied territory." Geng cited a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in December declaring the settlements illegal. The West Bank was captured by Israel in 1967. Palestinians claim it as part of a future state a position with wide international backing. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 13:44 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab8093 1 City ahok,#Jakartaelection Free Dozens of wreaths from Jakarta residents enlivened City Hall on Tuesday in an expression of gratitude for the service of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat. Last Wednesday, a message went viral on social media, calling on those wanting to thank Ahok and Djarot to help send wreaths to City Hall. By Tuesday, dozens of wreaths arrived at City Hall, occupying numerous spots at the entrance and near the building's main pond. "Pak Basuki and Pak Djarot, there seems to be no sadness [in your face] but [you] have continued to smile and give thanks. Thank you," read a note on a wreath sent from Elisabeth, Endah, Entin and Erlina. (Read also: Ahok offered to assist in transition process: Anies) "Thank you for everything. You are the best governor we have ever had," a note on another wreath read. Ahok and Djarot conceded defeat in the gubernatorial election last Wednesday to their competitors Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno. Since then, many of their supporters have expressed disappointment in addition to gratitude for the work their administration carried out. (dan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 18:36 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeacd7a1 4 Business imports,China,Sharp,increase,march Free Executive director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) Enny Sri Hartati, has warned the government over the sharp increase in non-oil and gas imports from China, which increased 24.94 percent to US$11.1 billion in March, compared to February. She said it was an indication of the waning competitiveness of Indonesian consumption products in the domestic market compared to those from China. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that total imports from China reached $13.36 billion, an increase of 17.65 percent from February. It is the highest figure since January 2015. The import value from China amounted to a quarter of Indonesias total imports. Enny criticized the government for considering the sharp increase to be a positive sign, and argued it actually indicated the declining performance of Indonesian industry, or at least that Indonesian industry had not experienced significant recovery. Enny also disagreed with the governments argument that the sharp increase in imports was only a seasonal occurrence, prior to the fasting month of Ramadhan and Idul Fitri celebrations. If it is related to stabilizing food prices, the increase should not have come from China. It should have come from Thailand and Vietnam, she said as reported by tribunnews.com on Tuesday. Enny said the government should pay serious attention to the fact that 25 percent of Indonesias imports come from China. She considered this fact to be extraordinary considering total exports from ASEAN countries only reached 20 percent. (bbn) Topics : imports China Sharp increase march Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Cirebon Tue, April 25, 2017 09:45 2024 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeaa99e9 1 National congress,Islam,clerics,Women Free Indonesias first female clerics congress kicked off on Tuesday with around 700 participants which included academics from across the nation and several Muslim-majority countries. The congress aims to boost the role of female clerics in disseminating Islamic teachings in line with social values and nationalism. Organizers said they had to turn down 500 applicants due to capacity restrictions, but many still turned up to the venue at Pondok Pesantren Kebon Jambu Al Islamy, an Islamic boarding school in Cirebon, West Java. Many residents and other nearby pesantren [Islamic boarding schools] have prepared to accommodate visitors, said organizer Ninik Rahayu, formerly of the National Commission for Women against Violence (Komnas Perempuan). The congress, which ends Thursday, is held by three Islamic civil organization, comprising Fahmina Foundation, an affiliation of Wahid Institute, Islamic study center Rahima and family rights group Alimat. The events theme can "be narrowed down to three major issues: child marriage, sexual violence against women as well as environmental damage contributing to social inequality, said Ninik, a commissioner of the Indonesian Ombudsman. These are issues that participating clerics believe are most relevant in their respective communities, she added. (ary) Topics : congress Islam clerics Women Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 18:27 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeacbbd4 1 Business OJK,pension,Regulations,amendment Free The Financial Service Authority (OJK) has demanded the government and the House of Representatives revise Law No. 11/1992 on pension funds to accommodate more non-bank financial institutions in the program, said OJKs deputy commissioner for non-bank financial institutions, Dumoly F. Pardede, in Jakarta on Tuesday. Currently, only the Financial Institution Pension Fund (DPLK) and the Employer-Sponsored Pension Fund (DPPK) are allowed to organize pension programs, said Dumoly. We want other non-bank financial institutions, such as investment management firms and cooperatives, to also be able to organize the programs, he told reporters at the Indonesian Pension Conference in Jakarta on Tuesday. Involvement of more institutions to manage pension funds will help the authority campaign concerning the importance of pension funds for informal workers, including those in rural areas. As of 2016, Indonesia's financial literacy on the pension fund index reached 10.91 percent, according to the national survey by the OJK. The law revision will also give alternatives for the already widely-known monthly-paid pension fund schemes, like retirement income cash. The law revision is expected to cover pension funds for Indonesians who work overseas. The law is outdated because we have many citizens who work in other countries, and they are not covered by pension funds once they get back to Indonesia, Dumoly said. Dumoly said the OJK was preparing the law revision draft for the government. It is expected to be approved by the House of Representatives next year. (ecn/bbn) Topics : OJK pension Regulations amendment Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 12:45 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab3697 1 City sex,scandal,FPI,#FPI Free Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab and his reported girlfriend Firza Husein failed to show up at Jakarta Police headquarters on Tuesday for questioning in an alleged sexting scandal. Rizieq and Firza, who is also coordinator of the former president Suharto affiliated Solidaritas Sahabat Cendana Foundation, were summoned by police to answer questions regarding an allegedly steamy WhatsApp conversation between the two. They have been charged with the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions Law for allegedly exchanging information containing pornographic material. An intimate WhatsApp exchange containing nude photos between a man and a woman believed to be Rizieq and Firza was uploaded earlier this year to the website baladacintarizieq.com by unknown persons. The site has since been blocked. (Read also: Woman in alleged steamy Whatsapp conversation with Rizieq arrested) Habib [Rizieq] is unable to attend questioning because he has another important occasion planned, said Sugito Atmo Pawiro from FPIs legal team on Monday. If God allows, [hell come] next week. Meanwhile, Firzas lawyer Azis Yanuar claimed his client was feeling unwell and could, therefore, not fulfil the summons. Firza is currently undergoing a medical check-up, so she cannot come. I have notified the police investigators by phone and sent them a letter requesting to reschedule, said Azis on Tuesday. Firza was arrested at her residence in East Jakarta on Feb. 1 for failing to cooperate with the police in their investigation into her role in a suspected treason plot. (dea/dan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 15:06 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeabb5ef 1 National imports,buffalo-meat,India,ramadhan,Idul-Fitri-2017 Free The government is considering to import buffalo meat from India to meet the rising demand for meat during Ramadhan and Idul Fitri. Maybe, we need to import between 10,000 to 20,000 tons [of more buffalo meat], said National Logistics Agency (Bulog) president director Djarot Kusumayakti after a coordination meeting on food issues at the Economic Coordinating Ministry in Jakarta on Tuesday as reported by kompas.com. The countrys supply of buffalo meat currently stands at 39,000 tons. (Read also: Indonesia will still import buffalo meat from India) Meanwhile, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said the government would allow the import of up to 100,000 tons of buffalo meat from India this year. Buffalo imports give Indonesian a cheaper alternative for meat. The ceiling price for frozen buffalo meat is Rp 60,000 (US$ 4.52) per kilogram, while fresh buffalo meat is priced at Rp 100,000 per kg. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang Tue, April 25 2017 A Norwegian national has been caught stealing the mobile phone of a Saudi Arabian national at national flag carrier Garuda Indonesias Business Lounge in Terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. The thief is Erik Berger, a Norwegian. The incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. [on Sunday], said Soekarno-Hatta Police spokesperson Second Insp. Prayogo as quoted by tempo.co. He added that Erik stole the mobile phone, an iPhone 6 Plus, after it was left on a business lounge sofa by Al Sehari Sultan Wazi. Sultan, who had gotten up to get some food while waiting for his flight to Jeddah. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 14:14 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab8ade 1 City ahok,blasphemy,ahok-blasphemy-trial,ahok-apology Free Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama referred to himself as a defamation victim as he tried to convince a panel of five judges he was innocent of committing blasphemy against Islam during his defense plea on Tuesday. During the hearing, the governor said he had become the victim after Buni Yani, now a hate-speech suspect, uploaded a video of him mentioning the Quranic verse Surah Al Maidah 51 in a speech made during a working visit to the Thousand Islands in September 2016. It was not until Buni uploaded the video that the backlash against him started, Ahok said, pointing out that prosecutors had already admitted Bunis role in the case. To back his argument, he cited senior poet and journalist Goenawan Mohammads writing, which called Ahok a victim of defamation. He then told judges that as a governor, he only worked to improve peoples welfare. (Read also: Orchestrated blasphemy case costing nation: Ahok) Ahok spoke about his experience while watching the animated childrens movie Finding Nemo with kindergarten students at the City Hall. During the event, he recalled telling the children that he often stood up against other to defend the truth and do good for Jakarta residents. Im just a little Nemo in Jakarta who will keep helping the poor and needy, although Im defamed and raged due to my faith and belief. I will keep serving [the residents] with love, Ahok said. State officials are offering financial help to Wisconsin dairy farms in desperate need of customers and for processors already oversaturated with milk to absorb more. Gov. Scott Walker, who on Tuesday also weighed in on the international trade tension at the root of the crisis, announced that the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority will temporarily loosen the rules on a revolving capital loan program for dairy farmers and milk processors. Its not a long-term solution, state officials say, but it provides another resource for Wisconsins dairy farms affected by Grassland Dairy Products Inc., of Greenwood, which informed 67 dairy farms earlier this month, most from Wisconsin and some from Minnesota, it no longer would accept their milk after May 1. Its a way of enhancing their working capital and its a better way to get (dairy farmers) through a cash-flow situation when theyre running short on working capital, said Dan Smith, administrator for agricultural development at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The move also gives the states dairy processors a low-cost financial resource to help them invest in additional storage, which would allow them to process more milk, Smith said. (Processors) have a need for working capital to help them manage costs for storage, distribution and inventory control, he said. What weve noticed as weve been working through this problem is that (milk) inventory is full and we need a way to encourage processors to take on more milk. Boost processing capacity The state has been assisted by dairy farmers unaffected by the Grassland decision and industry groups, including the Dairy Girls Network, around the state to find processors to take more milk. At least 39 dairy farmers who sold to Grassland still were in search of buyers on Tuesday, Smith said. A total of 19 of the affected dairy farms have found new buyers, including eight whose milk will be taken on by Mullins Cheese. Smith said processors are reluctant to take on more milk but a WHEDA loan can mediate the risk to processors of adding inventory space to increase production. This would allow us to go back to those farms and take that milk, he said. The changes to the WHEDA program boost loan guarantees to 80 percent up to $200,000 for eligible dairy farmers, while qualified processors can access an 80 percent loan guarantee up to $750,000. This change is effective through Aug. 1. Grasslands decision earlier this month was driven by recent Canadian action that created a new set or class of dairy products and new prices for ultra-filtered milk, a processed, high-protein ingredient typically used in cheese production. The new pricing structure made the cost of U.S. ultra-filtered milk higher for Canadian processors, encouraging Canadian processors to buy it domestically. Ultra-filtered milk exports to Canada represented about $150 million in annual business to American dairy processors, with Grassland commanding about two thirds, or $100 million, of that business. Farms in New York and Minnesota also were affected by the change. Margaret Hart, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that Grassland has since agreed to continue buying milk from all the Minnesota farms affected. The affected farms in Wisconsin ranged in size from 12 cows to 3,200 cows. Tim Prosser, a Columbus dairy farmer who was dropped by Grassland, said Tuesday that he and his father might have to shut down their business and sell their 100 cows if they cant find a new customer by May 1. Even if we keep feeding the cows and milking them, it still costs us money, Prosser said. If we have to turn around and dump the milk, wed be looking at a $35,000 loss every month. Trump: We will not stand for this Before announcing the loan program changes, Walker praised President Donald Trump for hitting back at Canada by imposing steep import duties on Canadian lumber. Walker said he spoke with Trump Monday and Tuesday about the dairy crisis. It was great to talk to you this morning, Walker told Trump on Twitter after the conversation. Thanks for supporting WI dairy farmers!!! Trump referenced the crisis on Twitter hours after his administration announced the tariffs: Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch! State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, also a Republican, said he hopes the changes will encourage processors to make investments to accommodate more milk but noted they wont immediately help farmers wholl have nowhere to send their milk starting Monday. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arif Gunawan Sulistiyono (The Jakarta Post) Washington Tue, April 25 2017 Concerns over trade protectionism brought up in the International Monetary Funds (IMF) Spring Meetings have reached an anticlimactic ending, as the Fund declined to even mention the phrase in its joint statement on Saturday. The IMF Committee (IMFC), the steering body of the Fund, vowed to join efforts to reduce global imbalances, but revoked their past pledge to resist all forms of protectionism, which has been growing especially among developed nations such as the United States with its America First slogan. The 1,886-word communique, which concluded the IMFs 35th Spring Meetings, preferred to repeat its past commitment on currency exchange rates. It is a direct blow to China, who has been repeatedly accused especially by the US of devaluing its yuan to jack up export competitiveness. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 19:44 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdead2114 1 City President-Jokowi,state-visit Free Indonesia will send a high-ranking delegation, led by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, to a series of important meetings around the world this week, beginning with a state visit to the Philippines on April 28. Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi will accompany the President to Manila in a reciprocal state visit to meet Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said on Tuesday. Jokowi will then take part in the 30th ASEAN Summit the following day in Manila, before traveling to Davao City with President Duterte on April 30 to witness the launch of the Davao-General Santos-Bitung sea linkage route. Afterwards, Jokowi will embark to Hong Kong to meet with incumbent HK chief executive Leung Chun-ying and his future successor Carrie Lam, to talk about increasing the connectivity and protection of Indonesian migrant workers in autonomous territory of China. On May 1, Jokowi is expected to meet with local business players. "The foreign minister will then continue her trip to Geneva [in Switzerland] for the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations," Arrmanatha said. There, Indonesia will defend its human rights record in front of the UN Human Rights Council, the first international mechanism to address human rights concerns by periodically examining the performance of all 193 UN member states. Retno, alongside Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly, will lead the defense. From Geneva Retno will continue to Washington DC, where she will convene with other ASEAN foreign ministers for a United States-ASEAN meeting hosted by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 12:19 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab3123 1 National congress,clerics,Islam,Cirebon,seminar Free Speakers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and Nigeria will on Tuesday speak at an international seminar held on the sideline of Indonesias first national congress of female clerics in Cirebon, West Java. Afghan Ambassador to Indonesia Roya Rahmani will share her experience on engaging female ulema [Muslim scholar] in promoting womens rights and peace, while Kenyan speaker Ulfat H. Masibo of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims will speak on strengthening community resilience and engaging women ulema in responding to ISIS [the Islamic State]. Pakistani Bushra Qadeem will share his experience on challenging religious extremism at the community level. Nigerian Rafatu Abdul Hamid will talk about the fate of hundreds of girls abducted by extremist group Boko Haram in his presentation on Islamism, politics and womens security in Nigeria. During the three-day congress, Indonesian female clerics will discuss and issue fatwas (an Islamic ruling) regarding crucial issues directly affecting millions of Indonesian women, such as child marriage, sexual violence and environmental damage. In addition to clerics, academics will also address the congress, held at the Kebon Jambu Al Islamy Islamic boarding school led by noted female cleric Masriyah Anva. (ary) Topics : congress clerics Islam Cirebon seminar Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Timika Tue, April 25 2017 Andi Gani Nena Wea, president of the Indonesian Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI), has lamented the actions of police officers who allegedly fired shots at PT Freeport Indonesia workers during a rally in Timika, Papua, last Thursday. At least six workers were reportedly injured from rubber bullets during a protest in front of the Timika District Court on Thursday. The protesters were demanding the release of Sudiro, a colleague who is standing trial in an embezzlement case. The judges decision to return Sudiro to his cell angered protesters and led to a clash with police personnel, said Peter Selestinus, one of Sudiros lawyers. Someone threw rocks at the feet of the Timika Police chief and officers responded by firing shots. They were aimed at protestors, not the air, Peter said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 11:10 2024 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeaae688 1 Business LRT,Greater-Jakarta,fares Free The fare for the Greater Jakartas light rail transit (LRT Jabodetabek) has been set at Rp 12,000 (90 US cents), a transportation official has said, with the assumption that the government is ready to heavily subsidize the service. The LRT project is expected to be completed in 2019. Head of Transportation Ministrys railway worthiness department Jumardi said the fare had been discussed between representatives of the ministry and Maritime Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. (Read also: State-owned banks in quandary over LRT) There were three choices: Rp 10,000, Rp 12,000 and Rp 15,000. During the discussion, we agreed to decide on Rp 12,000 for the LRT fare, said Jumardi as reported by kompas.com on Tuesday. He added that the government would still wait for documents from state-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) as an investor of the project. The state will have to prepare a large subsidy for the project as the Cibubur-Cawang-Dukuh Atas railway, for example, would cost about Rp 40,000 per passenger. The government is still revising the legal basis for the change in the projects financing scheme. Presidential Regulation No 65/2016 ruled that funds for the LRT project would come from the state budget. However, because of limited funds in the state budget, the financing scheme had to be altered. The state can only contribute 30 percent of the original budget, while another 70 percent would come from bank loans. The project is estimated to cost some Rp 27 trillion. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 16:32 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeabf845 1 National media,#SocialMedia Free Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo continues to use social media to communicate with the public in the digital era, inviting younger generations to participate in the countrys development. Social media is an effective tool to communicate with the people. Now I am using video blogs [vlog] to talk with young Indonesians in a question and answer format, Jokowi said at the sideline of a working visit to Purwakarta, West Java, on Tuesday. Jokowi said that for democracy, which requires giving people room to participate in the countrys development, communication is key, adding that he made the vlog spontaneously after meeting people in the field. (Read also: Jokowi turns to social media to maintain popularity) In addition to vlogging, Jokowi is also active on Facebook and YouTube. As president, Jokowi has also used Twitter for over a year and now has around 5.57 million followers. @jokowi. (dan) (Read also: Vlogging ministers struggle to win fans on social media) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 18:50 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeaceda6 1 National labor-union,participants Free Membership of labor unions has decreased significantly to 2.7 million, as the image of unions is now synonymous with troublemakers, Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri has said. During the reform era of the late 1990s, when workers joined students to topple authoritarian president Soeharto, worker participation in labor unions amounted to some 8 to 9 million, Hanif said on Tuesday. "This low participation might be caused by the image of labor unions, which is [now] synonymous with 'troublemakers'. This can make workers feel reluctant to join unions," he said, adding that labor unions had positioned themselves as being in opposition to the government. Many unions had emerged recently without building up strong consolidation, Hanif added, this situation could trigger discord among unions. "The paradigm of the labor union movement has to be directed into partnership with the government. The unions do not have to be afraid in applying the partnership paradigm because there is equality in it," he said during the launch of a book titled "Quo Vadis: Sejarah Perjalanan Serikat Pekerja/ Serikat Buruh Indonesia" (Quo vadis: The history of Indonesian labor unions) in Jakarta. To change the bad image of unions, Hanif suggested that they could adopt a cultural strategy to strengthen the union movement. "For example, in the celebration of Mayday, workers could create activities that have tourism potential. We can coordinate with the Tourism Ministry to realize this plan," he added. (rdi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 13:55 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab8224 4 Business Rini-Soemarno,Basuki-Hadimuljono,high-speed-railway,Jakarta-Bandung Free State-owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno and Public Work and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono have become involved in an open debate about the development of a high-speed railway project connecting Jakarta and the West Java provincial capital of Bandung. During the recent meeting with President Joko Jokowi Widodo, Basuki warned ministers involved in the project to pay attention to the railway routes geological conditions, particularly along the projects long bridges and tunnels, the designs of which have not been certified by the Bridge and Tunnel Safety Commission. But Rini played down Basukis warning. (Read also: High-speed railway to finish in 2020: Bandung mayor) It has surely been checked technically. They [project developers from China] are experienced in developing high-speed railway. We do not need to doubt [their capability], Rini said in response to Basukis warning as reported by kontan.co.id on Tuesday. Basuki pointed to the fragile soil conditions in the area, particularly at kilometer 92 and 97 of the Cipularang toll road, where landslides have occurred, and Cisomang Bridge, which recently experienced a slight shift. He stressed the importance of studying the land for safety reasons. I have asked the Transportation Minister whether the designs have been checked. They told me, not yet, he added. Meanwhile, Arie S Moerwanto, chairman of the Bridge and Tunnel Safety Commission, agreed with Basuki, conceding that his agency has yet to see the designs for the project. The project should be certified first, he added. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin R. Andi Kartiko Utomo (Indonesian FinTech Association member and executive vice president and head of e-banking and financial inclusion at Bank QNB Indonesia) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 15:20 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeabd6c4 2 Business fintech-banks,digital-economy,digital-finance,payment-system,P2P Free The 2015 World Economic Forum Report predicts that by 2020 Indonesia will become one of the biggest digital markets in Southeast Asia. This highlights wider opportunities for digital finance. The fact that only 36 percent of adults in Indonesia have bank accounts, while the remaining 120 million adults are still unbanked, also further underlines enormous room for it to grow. In contrast to the vast number of the unbanked population, 132.7 million people are now already connected to the internet as a result of infrastructure development and easy access to smartphones or mobile devices, according to data from the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII). This figure has rapidly surged from only 88 million active internet users in 2014. The banking industry sees the gap and is moving forward by collaborating to improve the system, strategies and functions in order to convince the public that carrying out technology-based transactions is easy. Each business players play their own role based on their capacity to share knowledge and expertise to provide the latest services that can strengthen customer transaction behavior. (Read also: Fintech Talk: Leveraging capital market through fintech collaboration) Acknowledging such a huge gap between existing services and potential allowed by technology utilization ahead, the banking industry is developing mobile and internet banking services that so far have succeeded in expanding reachability of services and overcoming geographic challenges. Such innovation has also managed to enhance efficiency as well as offering more varied options of banking products and services in line with the rising preference for online marketing strategies. By optimizing handheld devices, customers can conduct payments, fund transfers, or even cash withdrawals at the tip of their fingers. The Financial Services Authority (OJK) reports that the number of e-banking customers skyrocketed by 270 percent from 13.6 million in 2012 to 50.4 million in 2016. In addition, the figure for transactions also climbed strongly by 169 percent from 150.8 million to 405.4 million during the period. Riding on the wave of technological development, fintech services have seen very positive growth in Indonesia in the past few years. Data from Statista (2017) reveal that the value of fintech transactions in the country has reached US$ 15 billion. The widespread use of digital technology in the country has prompted the government to make the digital economy one of its most important priorities. Indonesia is expected to arise as the biggest digital economic giant in the region with potential transactions hitting Rp 1.69 quadrillion ($128.7 billion) by 2020. Through its service innovations and products, fintech is believed to be able to push the digital economy by opening access for people from all social classes to financial services. Due to its mobile and efficient nature, it is expected to overcome some challenges that cannot be addressed by traditional financial services. The emergence of fintech is inevitable and its expansion is unstoppable. Both banks and fintech try to offer best experiences for customers and therefore are complementary to each other. The bank-fintech synergy will ensure fewer blind spots in both services as a result of combining their strengths. To advance bank-fintech collaboration, it is necessary to assess the business model to be adopted. An agile, flexible and customizable business model is an ideal prerequisite. At the same time, the banking industrys Secure, Swift and Simple (3S) business principles must be maintained. In terms of human resources, fintech is powered by young talent, which is innovative, creative, dynamic and responsive in catering to customers needs. In contrast, the banking industry with its more mature business model, is largely driven by professionals with deep knowledge of the financial industry and a wide customer database. Currently, there are a number of banking products and services supported by fintech, such as virtual accounts that allow payments or financial transactions without a bank account. Accessing a virtual account is as easy as using a smartphone. Customers can receive or expend funds through a mobile application. Fund disbursement can also run more efficiently with the aid of fintech. Furthermore, the banking industry can enjoy larger benefits of fintech, especially in the areas of payment and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. At the end, the alignment between the mission and commitment of banks and fintech providers, will bring access to quality financial services for Indonesians at large, including those who are still unbanked, and will contribute to the establishment of the digital economy as aspired to. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Winny Tang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 08:34 2024 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeaa8311 2 National Papua,#Papua Free The government is set to start its air bridge program this year to improve the flow of goods and reduce price disparities in Papua, the countrys easternmost province. Under the program, the government will operate 11 air routes, so that it can better distribute staple goods to the provinces remote and mountainous areas. It will operate as soon as President Joko Jokowi Widodo revises Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 106/2015 on goods and sea transportation for the public, expected this month. The air bridge program can be implemented as soon as the legal umbrella exists, Ubaedillah, head of the sub-directorate of non-scheduled commercial air transportation at the Transportation Ministry, said on Thursday. (Read also: Papuas economy slowing down due to Freeport saga: Bank Indonesia) The decree will regulate whether the operations of the routes will be managed by state-owned enterprises or private companies. At present, there is no state air transportation company that is focused on logistics distribution. The Transportation Ministry has allocated Rp 22 billion (US$1.65 million) as a subsidy to wholly cover the cost of flying the 11 routes. The routes will have three airport hubs, namely in Timika, Wamena and Dekai. The 11 routes comprise Timika-Beoga, Timika-Sinak, Timika-Ilaga, Timika-Kenyam, Wamena-Mugi, Wamena-Mamit, Wamena-Mapenduma, DekaiSilimo, Dekai-Ubahak, DekaiAnggruk and Dekai-Korupun. Each route will be served by one flight per week. Ubaedillah said the types of aircraft needed were small, such as the CessnaGrand Caravan 208B, Twin Otter or Pilatus Porter. The government is also planning to set up a direct flight from Timika to Wamena using a Boeing 737-freighter with a maximum capacity of 14 tons per flight. It will provide subsidies for the route as well, but only to cover half the costs. The current price of cement in Timika is Rp 90,000 per sack, while in Wamena, it can cost Rp 600,000 to Rp 700,000 per sack. In 2017, we are trying to optimize the state budget to subsidize air cargo from Timika to Wamena, he said. As the government needs morefundstosubsidizetheTimikaWamena route, it is looking to increase the overall subsidy amount for the air bridge program to Rp 60 billion. The government plans to implement the program in remote areas in Sulawesi and Kalimantan in 2018, so that cargo aircraft can transport goods from Masamba to Seko and Rampi in South Sulawesi, and from Tarakan to Long Bawan and Long Apung in North Kalimantan. The Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) has welcomed the plan to establish the 11 routes, but the decision to participate in the program will be up to each members own assessment. INACA secretary-general Tengku Burhanuddin said the subsidy provision would be a key factor in the program as route profitability was paramount among airlines. The private sector is commercially oriented. We will fly if [the business is] profitable and wont fly if its not profitable, he said. Meanwhile, safety remains a challenge for the program due to Papuas difficult terrain. State-run air navigation company AirNav has said it plans to install seven automatic dependent surveillance broadcasts (ADS-B), a more modern navigation system, in Papua. The tool will be purchased by AirNav from PT Industri Telekomunikasi Indonesia (INTI), which had its ADS-B equipment certified by the government this year. Chris Rickert | Wisconsin State Journal Urban affairs, investigations, consumer help ("SOS") Follow Chris Rickert | Wisconsin State Journal Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today The Madison School District touted its pick for West High School principal by suggesting she had something to do with improved student achievement at the selective enrollment high school in Chicago where shes worked for the past seven years. If you think that means the Madison district might be softening its opposition to nontraditional public school models, or to paying and protecting teachers based on student outcomes, think again. The district pointed to increases in graduation rates, the number of freshmen on track to graduate, attendance and attendance in college during Karen Borans time at John Hancock College Preparatory High School, where shes been principal since 2012 and served as assistant principal for two years before that. I thought the increases might be related to Hancock beginning to move toward selective enrollment in 2015 basically meaning it began transitioning from a traditional neighborhood high school like West that takes everyone in the local attendance area, to one where students compete for admission. But Madison superintendent Jennifer Cheatham, herself a veteran of the Chicago Public Schools, said Boran played an integral role in improving Hancocks district rating from a Level 3 in 2010 to a Level 1 in 2015. The school was removed from district probation in 2013. Moreover, Cheatham said Boran opposed the conversion to selective enrollment and she deeply believes in neighborhood schools, and she discussed this with the screening and selection team at length during her reflection session. Boran did not respond to requests for comment. Borans alleged faith in neighborhood schools might be justified given that selective enrollment doesnt yet seem to have changed much at Hancock, based on measures of the schools performance over time. Attendance, graduation rates and college enrollment were generally on the upswing beginning five to seven years before Hancock started moving toward selective enrollment. More to the point for Madison and West High is that improvements began happening at Hancock before Boran took over or even worked there. Regardless of who or what is responsible for Hancocks performance, though, that performance is not universally good. Test scores and the growth in test scores at Hancock, for example, are below national averages. The average ACT score last year was 16.9, or below the Chicago district average of 18.4. West High already had the best attendance rate, fewest dropouts and highest average ACT score (24.7) of Madisons four main high schools. Perhaps not surprisingly, the students there are also richer than district students as a whole. Boran alone isnt likely to move the needle one way or another on any of those measures. But I wondered if the districts belief in Borans transformative powers in Chicago meant that the district was open to tying teacher pay and other employment preferences to student performance, rather than mostly to seniority and teachers academic credentials. Cheatham declined to address that question, but my guess is the answer is something along the lines of not anytime soon. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 08:13 2024 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeaa45f9 2 Business PLN,Nuclear,power-plant,energy Free State electricity company PT PLN has revived Indonesias long held ambition to operate nuclear power plants after it officially floated the idea for the first time in its new business plan, which will guide the companys operation until 2026. PLNs so-called business electricity procurement plan (RUPTL), officially endorsed by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry last month, also opened up the possibility of installing nuclear plants in remote regions, as an alternative to highcost renewable energy sources. While the RUPTL maintains that nuclear energy remains a last resort for electricity procurement, it notes that the energy source must be considered if renewable sources from water, wind, geothermal, solar and biomass fail to meet the desired target. In its plan, PLN conveyed a firm commitment to ensuring at least 23 percent of the countrys power plants are fueled by renewable energy by 2025, up from the current figure of 13 percent. Nuclear energy, as a low-carbon energy source, can be used as an alternative to meet the clean energy target, the plan states. A source at PLN said recently that the plan to go nuclear is in progress, as indicated by the allocation of state budget funds to conduct a comprehensive study on the matter this year. Government officials have previously stated that nuclear power was not on the table for the current administration, as long as the supply of coal and gas remained abundant. However, the inclusion of nuclear in PLNs business plan indicates a reversal of this policy. As Indonesia is an archipelagic country, PLN also makes specific note of the possible use of small modular reactors, which can produce up to 300 megawatts of electricity (MWe), for certain islands, but also notes further studies are needed as small modular reactors are not yet commercially available. PLN also shared its concerns that the capital, radioactive waste management and nuclear liability costs of nuclear power plants remain unclear as they differ from study to study. Although a 2006 joint study showed that investment in nuclear power plants would only cost US$1,700 to $2,300 per kilowatt (kW), a later study showed costs could run as high as $6,000 per kW. In comparison, a recent 1,000 MW coal-fired power plant, constructed by a Chinese consortium in Indonesia, only costs $1,000 per kW. Safety concerns have dominated the majority of discussions on nuclear power development as Indonesia lies within the volatile Pacific Ring of Fire. The country has delayed nuclear development for years, citing it as a last resort, with the government shelving its plan to build its first nuclear power plant following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. But despite its controversial nature, nuclear power is categorized as a source of clean energy. Although Indonesia has ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change, which aims to formalize the countrys commitment to reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, more than half the countrys electricity is still procured from coal. The House of Representatives seems to be on board in support of PLN plans to go nuclear. Satya W. Yudha, deputy chairman of Commission VII overseeing energy, said the government should make nuclear energy a viable option, instead of a last resort. We can no longer turn a blind eye toward our neighboring countries, such as Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand, who have jumped on the nuclear bandwagon in their energy plans, he said. In the future we need to conduct more studies on nuclear waste management in the region, the Golkar Party legislator told recently. Fellow Commission VII legislator The Jakarta Post Kurtubi, a long proponent of nuclear energy, said the energy source could kill several birds with one stone, including the assurance of a large scale power supply and providing energy without carbon emissions. He noted that there were several locations in Java and Kalimantan that could potentially be suitable locations for nuclear power development. Experts, on the other hand, were divided on whether developing nuclear energy in Indonesia was a good idea. Wood Mackenzie senior research analyst Edi Saputra said Indonesias geographic conditions, which are prone to earthquakes and other seismic activities, made it unsuitable for nuclear development. From a cost perspective, electricity from gas and liquefied natural gas is more economical than nuclear, he said. Iwa Garniwa from the University of Indonesia (UI) said that if PLN was serious about building nuclear power plants, it needed to state a clear timeline for conducting feasibility studies and beginning construction. If the language was more assertive, then stakeholders could take concrete steps, such as developing studies at higher education institutions and preparing the necessary infrastructure, he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 17:23 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeac6054 1 National shooting,police,Papua,FreeportIndonesia,rally Free The National Police have said they are investigating an incident where police officers fired rubber bullets at PT Freeport Indonesia workers during a rally in Timika, Papua, last week. We have sent a team to look into whether the officers followed the proper procedures, particularly regarding the use of firearms, National Police spokesperson Boy Rafli Amar told reporters on Tuesday. Six Freeport workers -- Andri Santoso, Sakarias, Puguh Prihandono, Wibowo, Faisal and Zainal Abidin reportedly suffered injuries from the shots. They claim that they were shot by the police while staging a rally in front of the Timika District Court. The protesters were demanding the release of a fellow worker, Sudira, who is currently standing trial for embezzlement. Mimika Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Victor Dean Mackbon was also injured by a rubber bullet during the incident and is currently receiving treatment at the Mimika Hospital. The internal affairs division (Propam) is currently looking into the incident, Boy said. If the officers neglected or deliberately tried [to harm the protesters], they will be criminally charged, Boy said. (dis) Topics : shooting police Papua FreeportIndonesia rally Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nenette Motus (The Jakarta Post) Bangkok Tue, April 25 2017 The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has joined the World Health Organization (WHO), The Global Fund (for AIDS, TB and Malaria), the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and other partners on World Malaria Day of April 25 to urge renewed efforts to prevent and eliminate the disease, which still kills over 400,000 people annually. In 2015, almost 70 percent of all malaria deaths were children under five. This years theme of World Malaria Day is End malaria for good. New methods of testing, the widespread distribution of insecticide-treated nets and the introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapies have contributed significantly to major reductions in malaria cases and deaths in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Chinas Yunnan province. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 16:47 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeac0d46 1 City fallen-tree,compensation,loss Free Jakarta residents who suffer material losses from trees that fall on and damage their houses, vehicles and other valuables can now claim compensation from the city administration. "Should any resident suffer from material losses caused by falling trees, they are welcome to file for compensation from the agency," said the Jakarta Forestry Agency head Romi Sidharta. Romi said that in order to file claims, residents must provide several items, such as pictures to prove the damage, a statement letter from a police office and copies of citizen identity cards and vehicle registration letters. All of the requirements, along with a letter to request compensation, are to be addressed to the agency's office on Jl. KS Tubun in Petamburan, Central Jakarta. Reimbursement for each resident will vary. A special team with the agency will assess the damage to determine how much money should be paid, Romi said as quoted by beritajakarta.com on Monday. (dea) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 18:25 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeacad7c 1 Business Indonesia,Singapore,cooperation,Minister-S-Iswaran-visit Free Singaporean Trade and Industry Minister S. Iswaran is on a three-day visit to Indonesia until Wednesday to talk with Indonesian officials about investment in various sectors, including manufacturing, energy and tourism. The minister met Indonesian Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto on Tuesday to discuss vocational training cooperation between the two countries to address a manpower shortage at Kendal Industrial Park in Central Java. The estate is jointly managed by local and Singaporean firms. He also met with Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan to further discuss opportunities for Singaporean firms to tap into liquefied natural gas (LNG) distribution and renewable energy power plant projects. (Read also: Indonesia, Singapore partner to develop startups) Some of [the potential cooperation] could be in small LNG [distribution] and renewable energy projects for certain areas that are perhaps not fully connected to the grid, he said after a press conference on startup assistance collaboration held by Singapore-government-backed development body SG Innovate and Singapore-based venture capital firm East Ventures. Indonesia aims to develop new power plant projects that will generate an additional 35,000 gigawatts of energy within the 2015-2019 period. Besides those above mentioned sectors, the minister is scheduled to discuss potential investment made by Singaporean firms to develop tourism, including cruise businesses in Medan, North Sumatra, on Wednesday. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25 2017 The construction of the airport train connecting Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, to the center of Jakarta is on track to meet its deadline of July 2017 as state railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) has completed the land-procurement process in Tangerang. The land procurement in Tangerang will ensure the railway-construction process is completed on schedule, especially the segment that leads directly into the airport station. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 17:15 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeac505e 1 City ramadhan,bazaar,food-security,food-prices Free The Jakarta administration will set up staple food bazaars in 70 locations throughout the city in a bid to control food prices during the fasting month of Ramadhan and ensure the availability of food stocks. Ramadhan is scheduled to begin on May 26 this year. The bazaars will provide rice, beef and chicken, cooking oil, chili, onion and other strategic foodstuffs, said Jakarta Economic Affairs Bureau head Sri Haryati on Monday as quoted by beritajakarta.com. She added that the bazaars would be held in the citys subdistricts. The stocks will be supplied by city-owned slaughterhouse company PD Dharma Jaya, market operator PD Pasar Jaya and food security company Tjipinang Jaya Food Station. The city administration has prepared up to 25,000 tons of rice, 1,000 tons of sugar and 1 million liters of cooking oil. For meat, PD Dharma Jaya has prepared 500 tons of beefs. The administration will also monitor traditional and modern markets to prevent the sale of food containing hazardous chemicals. (wnd) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 18:32 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeacca37 1 Business Terminal-3,international-flights,Garuda-Indonesia Free Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten will be open for Garuda Indonesia international flights from May 1. Six gates are prepared for the national flag carriers planes. The very first international flight is scheduled to fly at 6:10 a.m. to Singapore, marking the shift of all Garudas flights to Terminal 3 from Terminal 2, said state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura IIs (AP II) operation and technical director Djoko Murjatmodjo on Tuesday. (Read also: Airport operator officiates apron command center for Terminal 3) "We will only open the main building of the terminal for the international flights. That's why it will be only for Garuda Indonesia aircraft," Djoko said. The shift of all international flights to Terminal 3 is still awaiting the construction of Pier 1 and Pier 2, expected to be completed in July or August, he said. Terminal 3 is equipped with 65 immigration counters and 30 auto-gates in both the departure and arrival areas. The terminal also has 17 parking stands for planes, including room to accommodate three large planes like the Airbus A380. Meanwhile, flight navigation Airnav Indonesias operation director Wisnu Darjono said his institution would fully support the operation of international fights at Terminal 3. He said the terminal had been equipped with an advanced service movement guidance and control system (A-SMGCS) since April 10, which gives precise guidance and control information, such as the distance between the planes and vehicles on land. Wisnu said with the operation of Terminal 3, he expects airport traffic to increase to 80 movements per hour, up from the current 76 movements. (yon/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 14:33 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab9638 1 Business Freeport-Indonesia,concentrate,exports,permit Free The Trade Ministry has issued a permit allowing PT Freeport Indonesia to export its supply of copper concentrate, as the mining giant continues to settle its differences with the government on matters relating to the conversion of a Contract of Work (CoW) signed in 1991 into a special mining license (IUPK). The export permit will be effective up to Feb. 16, 2018. The letter [permit] for export has been issued. The company can now collect its license, said Trade Ministrys oversea trade directorate general Oke Nurwan as reported by tempo.co on Tuesday. (Read also: Freeport submits proposal to obtain export permit) Oke said Freeport proposed the export extension on April 21. The ministry is allowing the company to export 1.13 million tons of concentrate for a year. The permit was issued after the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry issued an IUPK on Feb. 10. Representatives of both Freeport and the government are currently in the process of negotiating certain aspects of the IUPK, including the development of a smelter and the sustainability of the companys business in the country. Last year, the company reportedly exported `1.17 million tons of copper concentrate to several countries, including Japan, South Korea, China, India and the Philippines. Meanwhile, Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama said the miner will gradually increase its output, after production ceased due to the governments ban on its exports when Freeport rejected the conversion of its CoW into an IUPK. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefani Ribka and Linda Yulisman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 26 2017 United States commodities giant Cargill Inc. plans to invest more than US$500 million until 2020 to expand its business in Indonesia as it gears to tap into enormous opportunities presented by its huge market. The investment, which is part of $1 billion investment for five years disbursed since 2015, will be funneled into enlarging production capacities of its facilities as well as carrying out mergers and acquisitions of local firms, according to Cargill chairman and chief executive officer David W. MacLennan. MacLennan expressed his positive feelings about Cargills business run by its local unit, PT Cargill Indonesia, but highlighted the great unexplored potential available in the worlds fourth-most populous nation. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login A Fort Atkinson man faces federal charges in Michigan for allegedly enticing a 14-year-old girl from Saginaw to run away from home and then driving her back to his apartment, where he sexually assaulted her. James Werner, 43, was charged with coercion and/or enticement of a minor and transportation of a minor for sexual purposes. A criminal complaint filed Sunday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan said Fort Atkinson police found the girl in Werners apartment Friday after she had used a nationwide crisis texting hotline earlier that day. Werner, who is in Jefferson County Jail, also has been tentatively charged by Jefferson police with sexual assault of a child under 16, false imprisonment, child enticement and interference with child custody, the criminal complaint said. According to the criminal complaint: After a crisis texting hotline employee called Fort Atkinson police Friday, an online search found information and a photo of the girl, who had been reported missing on April 16. Also Friday, the mother of a friend of the missing girl called Saginaw police to report her child had received screenshots of a Kik chat that contained messages from the missing girl claiming she was taken and was in Wisconsin. The screenshots showed that the missing girl said she was taken by somebody named Jim and then listed his Kik username. The missing girls friend also informed authorities at her school and officials there contacted the FBI. The FBI then received subscriber information for the usernames of the missing girl and the person she said took her to Wisconsin and came up with an IP address that led them to Werner. When Fort Atkinson contacted Werner outside his apartment, he admitted the girl was in his apartment and gave them consent to enter. The girl was taken into protective custody and taken to a Fort Atkinson hospital. The girl told Fort Atkinson police that she met Werner on the online instant messaging service called Kik. She told police she gave Werner her address after he asked where she lived. She told police Werner showed up at her address and told her multiple times to come outside. When she came up to his car, she told police that Werner exited the car, grabbed her by the wrist and moved her into his car. The girl said she had been kept in a bedroom in his apartment since she arrived there. Werner told Fort Atkinson police and an FBI special agent that he drove to Saginaw on April 15 to pick up the girl and, after waking up at his apartment on April 16, went into a panic attack and said to himself, What the hell have I done? He said he knew the girls age and the girl knew his age. He also bought her a tablet so she could communicate with him when he wasnt in the apartment. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Veeramalla Anjaiah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 26 2017 After a five decade long journey, unity and solidarity remain a challenge for the dynamic 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). A key reason for this is the South China Sea (SCS) conundrum, which has become the single biggest threat to ASEAN unity, peace and stability. ASEAN formed a community under three pillars: ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). But a community without unity and little solidarity among its members is useless. Outside powers can easily exploit any holes in ASEAN to divide its members on key issues such as the SCS, maritime security and freedom of navigation. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 26 2017 The West Jakarta Transportation Agency cracked down on illegal parking on Jl. Krendang Utara and Jl. KH Moh Mansyur in Krendang, Tambora, West Jakarta, on Tuesday. There were 29 vehicles. We deflated the tires of 21 vehicles, towed two cars and ticketed the other six cars, the agencys group commander for Tambora district, Sigit Edi Cahyono, said as quoted by beritajakarta.com on Tuesday. The towed vehicles were immediately transported to the agencys office in Rawa Buaya, Cengkareng, he said. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 26 2017 President Joko Jokowi Widodo is expected to try and fortify maritime security cooperation with the Philippines during bilateral talks this week, ahead of the launch of a lucrative trade route that aims to boost connectivity along the borders of the neighboring countries. Jokowi will embark on a state visit to the Philippines on April 28 and will meet with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila for bilateral talks on subjects ranging from connectivity and border delineation issues to maritime security. The main focus [of the visit] is to increase connectivity between the two nations in order to spur economic growth and prosperity, whether bilaterally or regionally, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said during a weekly press briefing on Tuesday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 12:46 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeab3e50 1 News bali,scouts,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia Free Some 150 participants from 30 delegations have arrived in Bali for the 9th Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Leaders Summit. Elena Cabezas Alcala, a delegate from Spain, was excited to see Balis iconic destinations, such as Jatiluwih and Tanah Lot. This is a very rare opportunity for me, she said. Jatiluwih rice terrace is a tourism village known for its stunning views of rice terraces spreading out from the foot of the mountain to the coast. Located only 54 kilometers from Denpasar, the site has been listed as one of UNESCOs World Heritag Sites. Read also: Chinese citizens are Bali's biggest fans: TripAdvisor Tanah Lot, on the other hand, is one of Balis most iconic landmark famous for its Hindu temple, which stands on a large rock just off the shore. In addition to visiting tourist attractions, participants also went to Bumi Perkemahan Margarana in Tabanan where they met with Balinese scouts and had an opportunity to plant trees as a way to help revive the environment. (asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Aya Batrawy (Associated Press) Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tue, April 25, 2017 17:01 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeac2808 2 News Qatar-Airways,Airlines,#airlines,travel-ban Free The CEO of one of the Middle East's largest carriers said Monday passenger numbers to the United States have dipped slightly over fears by some Muslim passengers that their visas may be rejected upon arrival, but expressed confidence in President Donald Trump as a "very good businessman." Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker said uncertainty about travel to the United States is "affecting the business, but to a very small extent." "We didn't have massive decline like other carriers so we still have robust loads to the United States and we will continue our commitment to our passengers in the United States," al-Baker said. Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline, slashed its flights to the United States by 20 percent last week. Dubai, where Emirates is based, and Doha, Qatar Airways' main hub, were among the 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. Read also: Qatar Airways to loan laptops to passengers "Qatar Airways does not plan and will not reduce frequencies to the United States," he said. "I am sure that these uncertainties that passengers have soon could be resolved by statements from the United States' government." Speaking to reporters at the Arabian Travel Market convention in Dubai, al-Baker said Qatar Airways is planning to launch a new route to San Francisco and will fly to Las Vegas next year. The airline currently flies to more than a dozen U.S. cities. A pressure group called The Partnership for Open and Fair Skies which includes American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines said the planned San Francisco expansion represents "another subsidized route into the United States." "Qatar Airways receives billions of dollars in illegal subsidies from its government in order to fly to our country and trash American jobs," said the group's spokesperson Jill Zuckman in a statement. Read also: Qatar Air debuts double-bed seats that morph into meeting room Al-Baker, however, expressed hope that Trump would resist pressure from the three American carriers to block aggressive expansion into the U.S. market by Gulf-based carriers. "I have repeatedly mentioned that President Trump is a very wise individual and a very good businessman, and I don't think that he will buy into bullying by the three American carriers," he said. The blunt and plain-spoken CEO described the U.S. competition as "wicked" for the way their passengers are treated and said they operate in cities where they "can swindle their customers." In a further dig, al-Baker quipped that if a flight was full, he would travel on a jump seat where cabin crew often sit because the airline's policy is not to remove passengers. He was referring to an incident in which a United Airlines passenger was filmed being dragged off an airplane by airport security officers on an overbooked flight. "We would never offload a passenger in Qatar Airways even if it is the CEO of the airline that wants to travel," he said. "We would not drag out people out of an airplane." He said Qatar Airways has plans to expand to 26 new global destinations, adding: "The United States is not the entire world." The airline, he said, also has plans to apply with Qatar's sovereign wealth fund for a license to operate a new domestic Indian carrier. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 25, 2017 17:32 2023 a291276806121264c0bd211cdeac69cb 1 News solo,surakarta,Javanese-culture,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,tourism,#tourism,ceremony,tinggalan-jumenengan Free Surakarta, or Solo, in Central Java has held strong to its Javanese roots, preserving heritage buildings such as the Keraton (palace) Surakarta. A city known for its culture, Solo is home to numerous traditional rituals that have been passed down from generation to generation, including a ceremony called Tinggalan Dalem Jumenengan, which commemorates the sultans coronation. Read also: Hangabehi takes control of Surakarta palace The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. on a Saturday with the marching of royal guards accompanied by traditional gamelan music. A traditional sacred dance, Bedoyo, is then performed by nine female dancers to gamelan music. Around 4,000 guests attended this year's ceremony, including Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, Solo Regent FX Hadi Rudyatmo and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodos mother, Sujiatmi Notomihardjo. The city itself is the birthplace of Jokowi. Read also: Former archer seeks to save ancient archery art form jemparingan According to Tourism Ministry marketing development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti, the ceremony is not merely a tourist attraction -- it is also a way to bring together the royal family of Keraton Solo, who have long faced internal conflicts. I hope the Tinggal Dalem Jumenengan ceremony can unite the Keraton Solo royal family and that they work hand in hand to preserve traditional Javanese culture, said Esthy. (kes) Three large-scale development projects in the Two Bridges area are expected to add more than 2,000 luxury apartments in a traditionally low-income community. So in an upcoming environmental study, local activists consider it critically important to analyze the impact of the new buildings on rent regulated apartments. The problem, however is this: there are no plans to evaluate in a comprehensive way how the Lower East Sides affordable housing stock will be affected by the luxury towers. At a meeting of Community Board 3 last week, land use committee members discussed how to deal with this issue, as well as other perceived shortcomings in a Draft Scoping Document (a plan detailing what specifically will be studied). The board will submit comments regarding the document at a public hearing May 25. A joint environmental review will be conducted for the projects, which include a 79-story tower at 247 Cherry St. from JDS Development Group; 62 ad 69 story towers from L+M Development Partners and the CIM Group at 260 South St.; and a 62-story building by the Starrett Group at 259 Clinton St. The developers have filed requests with the Department of City Planning for a minor modification of the Two Bridges Large-Scale Residential Development Plan (first approved in 1970). While all of their buildings are allowed under current zoning, they require the city to lift limits on floor area permitted under the plan. An organization called the Collective for Community, Culture and Environment has been working to fight the towers with the leaders of local tenant organizations and GOLES, the neighborhood preservation, group. The planners are suggesting that the proposals may go well beyond minor modifications and could actually qualify as a neighborhood rezoning. They also plan to challenge city rules which prevent a detailed study of rent stabilized housing. As it stands, the environmental review will only look comprehensively at market rate housing. While the tenant groups were engaging an urban planning collective, the community board also hired a planning consultant to offer expert advice. George Janes previously worked with CB6 and CB11, and has now been asked to help the Lower East Side board shape its response to the draft scope. In brief remarks at least weeks meeting, Janes noted that the new plans total more than 2.2 million square feet. It is very significant in terms of scale, said Janes, adding that he believes the community has some leverage. Since any increase in floor area must be approved by the City Planning Commission and since the large-scale residential development plan has been in place for 45 years, Janes argued, there is a good argument to have a lower scale alternative to be studied. At the moment, the environmental review will look at only two options: the developers plan and a no action scenario. Some committee members cautioned against giving residents false hope about upending the developers plans. Damaris Reyes, executive director of GOLES, said, Im not one to downplay a fight and leverage, because I believe power concedes nothing without demand, but I just want folks to be clear. These types of proposals, she added, are almost always approved by the city. Where we will find our leverage, argued Reyes, will be in what we get studied and what those mitigations (remedies to the developments adverse impacts) are. Tim Laughlin, president of the LES Partnership agreed, saying, I dont think theres a silver bullet to stop the minor modification. Committee member Lisa Kaplan said one of her biggest concerns is that the study area is too small (its only a quarter-mile around the development sites). The projects, she said, are going to have an impact on the affordability of this neighborhood (well beyond the Two Bridges area). In the environmental review, there are 18 different categories that will be evaluated. At the meeting, committee members went around the table, highlighting their top issues. These included: the condition and accessibility of the F Train station on East Broadway/Madison Street, the lack of MTA bus service, pedestrian and cyclist safety on surrounding streets, school overcrowding, flood protection measures along the East River, availability of food stores, the lack of a full-service hospital and other medical facilities, the potential displacement of small businesses and the diminishment of light and air due to the new towers. Another concern: the potential for harassment of longtime residents due to increased police protection in the area. During a public speaking session, several residents and housing activists were given an opportunity to talk about their own concerns. Daisy Echevarria, a tenant leader at 275 South St., said, these monstrous-sized buildings should never have been allowed, pointing out that the city rejected a request for a sweeping rezoning of Chinatown and the Lower East Side in 2015 (a smaller scale rezoning is still potentially on the table). The Department of City Planning, she asserted, only seems concerned with making zoning changes to benefit developers, not communities. Mayor de Blasio keeps allowing developers to build luxury high rises for a paltry number of affordable apartments, said Echevarria. Another tenant leader, Marc Richardson, said his biggest worry about the projects is that they will more than double the number of apartments in a two block stretch of the East River. Since these apartments will be 75% market rate, the Two Bridges area will be transformed, and not necessarily to the liking of the existing the community. Im most concerned about changing the character and demographics of the neighborhood, said Richardson. Melanie Wong, who works for the advocacy group CAAAV, argued that the environmental study should include an evaluation of lost rent stabilized housing in the neighborhood during the past 5-10 years. Trever Holland, tenant president at Two Bridges Tower, called for a detailed plan to accommodate several senior residents who will be displaced from 80 Rutgers Slip. Another local tenant leader, Aaron Gonzalez, said hes convinced landlords will raise rents on area businesses serving low- and middle-income residents. He concluded, these monstrous behemoths rising with their shiny exteriors are nothing but a facade. What lurks under the skin is the beginning of the erosion of our neighborhood character. The development teams have pledged to work with community leaders to soften the impact of their projects. One-quarter of the apartments in each tower will be set aside for affordable housing. This past winter, they conducted a series of public forums ahead of the environmental review. On a website set up by the developers, they have provided answers to many of the questions raised at these events. In one of the meetings, they were asked whether the environmental review would, study the potential for displacement of tenants in rent-protected units due to harassment and whether landlords will be incentivized to harass tenants due to rising rents in the neighborhood. They responded that both city and state agencies, administer measures against tenant harassment and, in severe cases, provide strong penalties for tenant harassment and illegal eviction. As for concerns that the impact on rent stabilized housing wont be thoroughly evaluated, they said the environmental review will, identify the populations that are most at risk of displacement The community board will resume discussions about the Two Bridges scoping document next month. In the meantime, tenant leaders and the offices of elected officials are conducting a survey to reach community members who might not have attended previous public meetings. Residents were sleeping inside two apartment buildings in the 2900 block of Turbot Drive shortly before midnight Monday when gun shots rang out, Madison police said. Four bullets hit one building, and one bullet hit the other, near Post Road on Madison's South Side, police said. No injuries were reported. Callers to 911 said they heard eight to ten gun shots fired. One woman, who lives nearby, saw a man run out from between two buildings after shots were fired. He got into a dark colored SUV and sped off before police arrived. Technology and broadcasting have always been important bed-fellows with each driving innovation and development in the other. John Maxwell Hobbs knows this better than most as a internet pioneer, media consultant and the former Head of Technology at BBC Scotland he has worked at the intersection of art and technology for over 20 years. At the BBC Scotland he helped launch their 21st Century broadcasting facility, Pacific Quay and developed their first fully tapeless, HD workflow among other innovations. His media consultancy work has provided digital creative services like Ericsson and IKEA and his work as a musician, producer and sound engineer has seen him work with artists as diverse as DJ Spooky, Phillip Glass, They Might Be Giants and Bo Diddley. He is also the Course Leader of the new Production Technology course at the National Film and Television School. Needless to say he has some serious credentials in the field. We asked John a few questions about how to get into, and succeed, in production technology and broadcast engineering. What job roles do you teach/train people for? There are a wide range of jobs available in production technology: bench engineers who repair kit, camera technicians, systems integrators, media managers, outside broadcast support engineers - and more roles are being created as production is becoming IT-based. It this new world of production, there are roles for software and hardware engineers, network technicians, and more. We will be training students in all aspects of these technologies and how they function in the context of film and television production. What kind of person is suited to these courses? Anyone who has an interest in working in film and television and who has an affinity for technology. They dont need to have a background in engineering or computer science, just an interest and a willingness to learn. Where do these roles fit into the landscape of film and television? They are the backbone of the industry - they are the people who ensure productions can get made and can get seen. Why is this industry exciting? We are seeing an explosion in media creation - the film business is in rude health, everyone is referring to the golden age of television right now, and with online services like YouTube, Netflix and Amazon, there are many new ways to access films and programmes. There is so much production going on right now, and so much available, that the CEO of Netflix has said that their biggest competitor isnt the other platforms, its the audiences need to sleep. Why is there a skills shortage in broadcast engineering? There are two main reasons. First, historically in the UK, the BBC identified and trained most of the broadcast engineers for the industry. With the significant budget cuts it has faced, it can no longer afford to do that. Second, the type of technology used in production has undergone a sea change, moving from electro-mechanical systems that have been largely unchanged for decades to computer-based systems. Existing engineers dont have experience with these new technologies, so the industry needs new blood. Because of this is this an area with a lot of opportunities? Yes there are a great number opportunities in this area, as a matter of fact, many broadcasters are finding it difficult to fill some senior roles in this area. What skills do I need? Students on this course will need a basic understanding of computers and networking, digital media formats, and basic production workflows. We are looking for two types of students - people with a background in computer science who are interested in applying that to film and television production, and people with a background in production who are interested in getting involved with the technological underpinnings of the process. What is the most exciting thing you have worked on? Its difficult to come up a single answer to this question. I can think of several over the years - the opportunity to launch the first 21st century broadcast facility in Europe - Pacific Quay in Scotland; covering the 2014 Commonwealth Games, covering the Scottish Independence Referendum. Production is a bit like they way flying is described, long stretches of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror. Theres a new, interesting challenge every single day. What type of person will succeed in this career? Someone who is flexible and focussed and above all, can deal with pressure and deadlines. There is no late delivery in broadcasting - 9pm on Saturday night is 9pm on Saturday night - not 9.05pm, not Sunday afternoon. Theres an expression in the business, it will be alright on the night. To be successful in this business, those are the words to live by. What advice can you give to people looking to start this kind of job? What can they do to make themselves stand out? The best advice I can offer is to make sure you have a passion for what you do, and be prepared to keep learning throughout your entire career. Every season Zara seems to nail the 'must-have' item, and this Spring/Summer is no different. The Spanish brand has hopped straight on to the gingham bandwagon, and has currently got 50 pieces in the covetable print on their website. One item in particular has been a hit with the fashion crowd, and this midi-length ruffle red and white skirt looks set to sell out. Stylist and fashion blogger Emili Sindlev posted a picture of the skirt on her Instagram, choosing to style it with a pair of white ankle boots and a cornflower blue jumper. A post shared by Emili Sindlev (@emilisindlev) on Mar 25, 2017 at 3:07am PDT A post shared by Marina Lyritzi (@marinalyritzi) on Apr 19, 2017 at 8:08am PDT Parisian Instagram queen, Marina Lyritzi, showed a more simple styling of the skirt. She chose to team it with a plain white t-shirt, proving it's wearability and showing it can be dressed down as well as up. In his first official public event since leaving the White House, Barack Obama donned a suit to sit down with a student panel at the University of Chicago, where his presidential library is planned. Heres everything you missed from the talk. On the current state of politics in America (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP) With a signature wisecrack, Obama sat down with the words: So, whats been going on while Ive been gone? However, he didnt mention his successor or detail his thoughts on current events as his successor Donald Trump approaches his 100-day mark in office. On young people President Obama is at the University of Chicago right now talking about civic engagement and education and it so refreshing. Brooke Siegler (@BrookeSiegler) April 24, 2017 Obama was in conversation with six young civic leaders from the local area, and throughout the event he emphasised that young people are the future. He said he hopes that the presidential library (planned near the edge of the Chicago campus) will serve as a place for young people to become more civically engaged. Obama said that young people are critical to resolving the nations most daunting problems, which include economic inequality, climate change and a skewed criminal justice system. On the internet (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP) He advised young people to be careful with what they post online he joked that he might not have become president if everything he did in high school was easily searchable online. He added: I think the best thing you can do is to own your life, and your mistakes, and the changes you go through. On what hes doing next (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP) Obama said: The most important thing I can do is help prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton, and to take their own crack at changing the world. Obama also mentioned that he was currently writing a book. Amid concerns from parents over missing money, the Madison School District has hired an outside party to examine financial practices at Black Hawk Middle School, even as district officials try to determine when the school principal will return from a leave she requested. Kenya Walker, 45, who is paid $106,466 annually, was granted a medical leave in late January, the same month the district hired external reviewer Shana Lewis to begin reviewing Black Hawks finances. The district has not connected Walkers leave with the financial review, saying the review was prompted by questions district officials had over how some financial vehicles were being used at the school, according to Alex Fralin, the districts chief of secondary schools. One consequence of Walker being on leave, however, is that it could delay completion of the financial review. Under district rules, staff on medical leave cant be asked work-related questions because its viewed as work, adding some urgency to determining Walkers plans. We are working to get an update from her, district spokeswoman Rachel Strauch-Nelson said. As principal, Walker supervises all staff at the school and is responsible for ensuring correct procedures are followed, including financial protocols, district staff said. The district has been conducting a thorough review of the schools financial protocols and procedures, Fralin said. We want to make sure they are adequately following all the procedures and protocols weve put in place. Fralin stressed the financial review was broad and did not stem directly from the parents concerns about money reportedly missing from funds donated by parents to buy T-shirts for students. Rather, Fralin said, the probe was broadened to include that issue after parents raised it. Staff members at the school also shared concerns about that and other matters. After the review began, we heard from a couple of parents and a couple of staff members about new concerns, so we included those in the review, he said. Black Hawk parent Jenny Quinn, who has a daughter at the school, said district officials have attended two meetings with parents to talk about Walkers leave, on Feb. 23 and March 30, but she didnt believe enough information was provided. She also said district officials characterized the financial review of the school as routine, when the hiring of an outside third party suggests it isnt. Its like weve had to peel the layers back on this one by one, without them being forthcoming with the information, Quinn said. Fralin acknowledged the financial problems and Walkers leave were spurring worry in the school community. We know that parents and staff are anxious to move forward and continue with the progress the school has made, Fralin said. We know some of these things are serving as a distraction and were looking forward to getting to a place to move this school forward and finish the school year strong. Walker initially was to return in March, Fralin said, then requested and received an extension into April. The districts human resources department now is trying to reach her for an update on her plans, Fralin said. District officials would not confirm whether Walkers leave has expired, maintaining they could not share details of employee leaves. If a district employee doesnt return to work after a leave has ended, the district would be able to make a decision about their employment, Strauch-Nelson said. The districts personnel handbook, under a provision titled Failure to Return after Expiration of Leave says: In the event the employee does not return to work following the expiration of the leave, and subject to applicable legal restrictions, he/she will be deemed to have resigned his/her position with the District and waived any and all rights to further employment by the District. Fralin said the financial review stemmed from a district initiative in November or December that started as a general attempt to get better clarity on our financial protocols at the school level but was soon narrowed to just Black Hawk and the districts central office because officials wanted to go deeper at Black Hawk. Fralin declined to identify specific red flags at Black Hawk that prompted the deeper review, only noting, We had some questions about how some of the financial vehicles were being used. Fralin said the review should be finished very shortly and promised to report the results to Black Hawk parents and staff soon after. The Wisconsin State Journal has also requested the results of the review under the states open records law. Fralin also confirmed that after hearing the parents concerns about money missing from the T-shirt fund, he authorized sending Black Hawk $1,000 from the district since (the T-shirt fund) is still part of the review and we dont want students to go without in the meantime. Walker has been principal of the school at 1402 Wyoming Way on Madisons North Side since July 2015. Prior to that she worked there as an assistant principal. Opened in 1990, Black Hawk is in the East High attendance area. Jamie Sims, dean of students, is serving as acting principal in Walkers absence. A 17-year-old student from London has launched a petition calling on the government to tackle period poverty in schools. Amika George, the student behind the petition, was shocked when charity Freedom4girls revealed students in Leeds are missing school because they cant afford basic sanitary products. Her petition calls on the prime minister to address this serious issue, and take action to eradicate period poverty in schools for good. Writing on the petition, Amika says: "We can, and must, change this. Period Poverty must go. "Mrs May, we are going to lobby your Government so that free sanitary products are provided to all girls on free school meals. This situation simply cannot persist." By setting up this petition, Amika says she hopes to build enough momentum to convince the government to take action. She has enlisted the support of London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore, who was chair of the House of Commons Select Committee on Human Rights when he was MP for Hendon. Mr Dismore says: "I strongly support Ms Georges campaign, and have written to Sarah Champion MP to seek that this becomes official Labour Party Policy. It is important that the Government take this seriously and pledge new money, rather than cut other existing education and local government budgets." In addition to Andrew Dismore, the petition has received support from other high profile people and groups, including Channel 4 news presenter Cathy Newman and the charity Women's Aid. Since it launched three weeks ago, the petition has gained over 5,300 signatures. One woman who signed it explained her reason for supporting Amika's campaign, writing: "It's deplorable young women are missing out on education over a very basic necessity of sanitary protection." Amika believes part of the reason that period poverty is not a widely known, or discussed, issue is because of the shame that surrounds it. Put simply, young girls fear speaking out about something they find embarassing. Amika says: "We need to escort period shame out of the door and mobilise the government to stop marginalising girls from the lowest income backgrounds." You can pledge your support by signing the petition here Hollywood star Will Smith is to make his rapping return alongside longtime collaborator Jazzy Jeff. Will launched his career with the DJ, real name Jeff Townes, as DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, before he moved into acting with hit TV series The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. The Summertime hit-makers never officially split up and last performed together on The Graham Norton Show in 2013. They teased a reunion tour last year and have now been confirmed for a rare UK appearance as Sunday night headliners at the Livewire Festival in Blackpool in August. Jeff confirmed the news on Twitter, posting an old video of the pair performing together and writing: And THIS IS HAPPENING!!! #JJFPReturn. Will hinted more shows could be on their way, writing on his official Facebook page: First two shows are locked! Yall ready?! Also performing at Livewire are The Jacksons, who will headline on Friday night, Jason Donovan, Pepsi & Shirlie and Pete Watermans Hit Factory. The Livewire Festival takes place from August 25 to August 27, while the duo will also play MTV Summerblast in Croatia on August 26. On the 5th of May Dundee University Students Association are to welcome alpacas onto their campus in order to promote welfare amongst students throughout the exam period. The event is so far proving to be massively popular with 743 people saying theyre going to attend and a further 1.4k having clicked interested on Facebook so far. The alpacas are set to stay on campus from 10:00am until 3:00pm and as well as visiting the animals students can expect to receive free fruit, water and colouring books. The alpacas will arrive from The Bowbridge Alpaca Farm, a family run alpaca farm that has been based in Fife from November 2015. In a press release for the University of Dundee Tharani Packiahrajah, Vice President of Student Welfare, said: Exams are looming and this can be a stressful time for students. Weve invited a flock of fluffy alpacas to help them unwind. It is important for students to take regular study breaks during the exam season, so alongside the alpacas we will also be giving out free fruit, water and colouring books so our students can study healthily. This visit isnt the only event organised by Dundee University Students Association. At 10:00pm on the 5th of May they have planned another stress relief event that sounds almost as fun as the first, involving both a bouncy castle and a free pick and mix stand. Its fair to say that now is certainly a good time to be a student at the University of Dundee. Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. 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The bill also would eliminate the current legal requirements that businesses notify the DNR at least 30 days before beginning a compliance audit, and that the public be notified and be allowed to comment on timetables for bringing a business into compliance. Jacque said the bill brings the state self-compliance program in line with a similar U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program with the goal of encouraging more companies to participate. The EPA program has a 180-day correction time period and no requirement to notify the agency before an audit begins. Currently the state program is, as I understand it, woefully underutilized compared with the federal process, Jacque said. This is going to make the state program more usable. Jacque noted the DNRs Small Business Environmental Council, composed of both Republican and Democratic appointees, unanimously supported the bill draft. However, no Democrats were listed as co-sponsors of the bill. Jacque said lifting the public reporting and comment period requirement would encourage more participation. This is something that is voluntarily being disclosed to the department, Jacque said. A Democratic appointee to the committee said if we kept that provision that we would be publicly shaming the people that are proactively seeking to correct problems. Under existing state law, a business can reduce its liability for violations of environmental standards by enrolling in the environmental compliance audit program, voluntarily auditing its own performances, reporting results and correcting violations. The law contains provisions that prevent use of the program to deflect penalties for known or serious violations. The program was created in 2004. The DNR received two compliance reports identifying five potential violations in the past two years and three reports identifying 37 potential violations in the prior two years. Since voters gave Republicans control of state government in 2011, the DNR and the Justice Department have sought penalties from polluters less frequently and the fine amounts have gotten smaller. Fines paid by Wisconsin polluters fell to a 30-year low in 2015. Last year, the DNR sent 25 violations to state attorneys for court action. Thats one more than in 2011, when a large number of retirements and job vacancies contributed to deficiencies in water pollution enforcement. More positions were filled for several years, but vacancies began to climb again in 2015. Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, said hes skeptical of the intent of the bill given the Walker administrations record on pollution enforcement. Madison and Middleton have launched the MadiSUN Solar Group Buy program to help residents invest in solar electric systems in their homes. Through the program, a team of community members requests offers from solar companies across the region. The program pre-qualifies a price and a service provider. Households can receive a federal tax credit for 30 percent of the system cost, and Wisconsins Focus on Energy program offers up to $2,000 in additional rebates. The program, through its contractor RENEW Wisconsin, is recruiting households to participate. Six educational events will help people learn more about solar energy. For more information, go to madisunsolar.com. Madison is partnering with Summit Credit Union to offer a Solar Energy Loan Program, which allows residents to finance a solar electric system with no fees or collateral. For more information, go to summitcreditunion.com or call 800-236-0985. On Demand We have a new story every day on the front page of thephuketnews.com. Also like us on our Facebook page (facebook.com/thephuketnews) and be the first to watch all the new stories. Finally you can watch any segment, any time by going to thephuketnews.com/tv where all the stories are listed for you to enjoy. All our programs can be enjoyed in High Definition when watching on the internet. In-Room VDO Tegra to stay on as ice arena consultant, no change to project cost local A new book brings alive the life and poetry of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as author Aslam Parvez weaves together the strands of the political, the personal, the cultural and the literary aspects of a bygone era. Publisher Hay House describes "The Life and Poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar" as an absorbing, authentic and exemplary chronicle studded with rare nuggets of information and enthralling anecdotes of one of the most tragic figures of history who was witness to the end of a glorious dynasty. First published in Urdu in 1986, this book brings alive the life and poetry of Zafar (1775 to 1862), who presided over a crucial period in Indian history when the country was subjugated and became a colony of the fast-expanding British Empire. This work is as much about the 1857 Rebellion as it is about Zafar, the reluctant leader of the rebels. The pages also evoke the captivating ambience of a period when formidable poets such as Mirza Ghalib, Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq and Momin Khan Momin, apart from Zafar himself, came up with one creative gem after another. The author also provides a vivid picture of Delhi during the last days of its cultural and literary splendour as the Mughal capital and as a custodian of Urdu literature and poetry. Finally, he recounts, in a touching manner, how Zafar spent his last days in Rangoon (where he had been exiled by the British) a lonely and forgotten individual far away from his beloved Delhi and from the trappings of empire. Due to the vast customer base, businesses across the globe are eying the Indian markets to start their operations. Also, a large number of initiatives have been launched by the government recently in its endeavour to not only make the country a manufacturing hub but also to make economic growth more inclusive. These forces have increased the demand for professional managers many folds, making management education more important than ever. In India, such education is imparted by varied players like universities, autonomous, affiliated and unaffiliated institutes besides open universities providing distance learning mode. The Indian Institutes of Managements are considered institutes of national importance. The human resource development ministry has put up a Draft Bill seeking to form a coordination forum for the 20 IIMs across the country sparking a debate over the contents. It proposes to allow the IIMs to grant degrees instead of diplomas. As a result, programmes offered by the IIMs would be known as MBA (instead of PGDM) and PhD (instead of Fellowship). This proposal is being appreciated by the new IIMs as they feel that granting of degree would help in building their brand in the market and would make their courses more attractive to students. On the other hand, the reputed IIMs were opposing the Bill earlier because of some autonomy issues like freedom regarding appointment of chairpersons, directors and faculty members, fixing of fees and remuneration, changes in curriculum and decisions on the institutes infrastructure, which now seems to have been resolved by the government. However, the private institutes are still strongly opposing as they are the worst hit. The Bill if passed would have an adverse effect on their demand due to inability to grant degrees and may even put their existence in jeopardy. Private institutes like FORE, IMI, MDI, SPJIMR, NMIMS, SIBM and BIMTECH that rank above the new IIMs, have quality infrastructure, admirable course curriculum and faculty, affordable fee structure and location, along and outstanding track record, and above all remarkable placements. Such institutes comprise many of the IIMs in terms of knowledge, skills, training and employability of their PGDM graduates. In view of the globalised markets, these private players have acquired additional significance. With the IIMs being able to grant MBA degrees instead of diplomas, it is probable that students will make their preferences based on the nature of certification rather than institute rankings. The courses run by private institutes will lose their sheen once the IIMs begin to award degrees. Recently, directors of around 50 PGDM private institutes under the aegis of the Education Promotion Society for India, an umbrella body of over 500 private institutions, debated on the proposed IIM Bill and tried to come out with possible ways to save the future of the private institutes. It was felt by all that awarding of degrees by the IIMs would result in creating serious doubts about the legal status of a diploma. In the entire debate regarding the proposed Bill no one seems to be concerned enough as to ask why such a move is required. Is the rationale for regulation of the IIMs justified? As far as the IIMs, especially the older and the renowned ones are concerned, they are characterised by innovative faculty that is self-motivated, have super state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities, extremely strong alumna, abundant funds and are accepted centers of knowledge. No one would doubt that autonomy has played a pivotal role in taking to such commanding heights. One fails to understand whether the proposed move is guided by social motive or economic motive, not ignoring the expected political inefficiency. It is strongly felt that there must be a level-playing field for everyone. In fact, the government should draft a Management Education Bill rather than an IIM Bill to approve all management institutes, be it government, autonomous or private purely on their merit. The writer is Professor, Fore School of Management, New Delhi The National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) 2017 is scheduled on 7 May. In view of it and in an effort to curb malpractices during the exam, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued guidelines for exam candidates. Among them is the list of items that students are not allowed to carry to the exam. Following incidences of malpractices in 2015, the CBSE imposed strict guidelines restricting students from wearing dark coloured clothes and accessories. Here is the list of items candidates are not allowed to carry to NEET exam centre and the dress code they have to follow: Accessories: Ornaments of all kinds are banned at the NEET 2017 exam centre. Bracelets, brooches, badge, pendants, rings, earrings and even nose-pins are not allowed at the NEET exam centre. Stationary items: Stationary items like pen, scale, writing pad, pen drives, eraser, calculators and pencil boxes among others are not allowed inside the exam centre. Communication devices: Communication devices like mobile phones, earphones, health bands and microphone cannot be taken inside the exam centre. Hair accessories: CBSEs strict guidelines do not even allow students to wear hair accessories inside the exam centre. Among them are hair pins, hair bands and hair beads. Other items: Other items like goggles, amulets, belts, wrist watches, scarfs cannot be taken inside the exam centre. Dress code: Candidates should wear only light coloured outfits with half sleeves, though CBSE has not specified any colour they should be wearing. Besides, big buttons are also not allowed on the candidates outfits. What more? It is imperative for students to wear open slippers as shoes are not allowed. NEET 2017 candidates are, however, required to take a passport size photograph along with their admit cards. NEET is the single entrance test conducted for admission to MBBS and BDS seats or for MD and MS course in both private as well as public medical colleges in India. Following a Supreme Courts directive in 2016, NEET replaced the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) as well as all state-level medical entrance tests across the country. US oil giant Chevron Corporation on Monday announced that its subsidiary, Chevron Global Ventures Ltd, entered into an agreement to sell the shares of its wholly-owned indirect subsidiaries operating in Bangladesh to Chinese consortium Himalaya Energy Co Ltd. Himalaya Energy is owned by China ZhenHua Oil Co and CNIC Corporation Ltd. The financial deal has not been disclosed. Chevron Bangladesh operates Block 12 (Bibiyana Field) and blocks 13 and 14 (Jalalabad and Moulvibazar fields). Closing of the transaction is subject to satisfaction of certain closing conditions. Chevron is currently responsible for more than half of the country's daily gas production. The company provides more than 1,400 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas from these three fields against the country's daily production of around 2,600 mmcfd. Of the three fields, the Bibiyana alone provides more than 1,100 mmcfd of gas. Besides, Chevron daily produces around 9000 tonnes of condensate a liquid fuel by-product found in some gas fields. The country's other gas fields produce around 1,500 tonnes of condensate. Chevron's earlier operations including discovery of the massive Bibiyana field in the late nineties were spearheaded by Unocal which was globally acquired by Chevron in 2005. The company invested around $3 billion. It currently has 538 employees. The US firm operates under two production sharing contracts (PSC) under which it gets maximum $3 dollars for per 1000 cubic feet of gas. Under the PSCs, Bangladesh gets proportionally a bigger chunk of gas as free share, making the deals very profitable for the country. Chevron announced selling out of its assets in different countries, including in Bangladesh, last year due to oil price slump that led to losses. As the company decided to sell its Bangladesh assets, the government made an offer. However, Chevron didn't accept it and started negotiations with Chinese company ZhenHua Oil. Chevron Corporation is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies. Through its subsidiaries across the world, the company is involved virtually in every facet of the energy industry. While surveying the Bibiyana field area, Chevron (previously Unocal) introduced three-dimensional seismic survey in Bangladesh for the first time in the late nineties. (The Daily Star) Infosys Ltd has opened a delivery centre in Croatia to offer research and development (R&D) and engineering services to its global clients in Eastern Europe, said the software major on Tuesday. "The delivery centre marks our expansion into Eastern Europe's heavy engineering sector, meet near-shoring requirements, support engineering clients worldwide and offer R&D services," said the IT major in a statement here. The new facility at Karlovac is a part of the company's strategy to set up global competency centres, offer best talent in the market and make it available to customers worldwide. "As part of our strategy to increase geo-capabilities, the new centre will deliver value to global clients, specifically in the Nordics," said Infosys Deputy Chief Operating Officer S Ravi Kumar on the occasion. The centre will focus on consolidating consulting, IT and engineering skills in power generation, design and development of gas and steam turbines and digital solutions for service, maintenance and development of advanced engineering software tools. "We will also look for partnering with local academic institutions, co-innovate with clients and nurture a partner ecosystem to help develop skilled workforce to deliver next-generation services," added Kumar. Terming the outsourcing firm's expanding presence in the region as a testimony to local expertise, Croatia's Secretary of State Mario Antonic said the delivery centre would contribute to the growth of R&D in the Nordic country. The Karlovac facility is the company's 16th location in Europe for client servicing and local job creation BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday lunched at a tribal's house, and knocked on the doors of the locals here as part of an intensive booth-level mass contact programme in Naxalabari block the cradle of the 50-year-old Maoist movement in India in northern West Bengal's Darjeeling district. Shah held a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in booth number 93 of the Naxalbari assembly constituency at the house of the party's only panchayat member in the area Sadhana Mandal, to mark the start of his 15-day 'Vistar Yatra' to expand the party's base. The BJP president, who arrived here at 11 a.m., had lunch at the house of party activist Raju Mahali a tribal daily wager, who makes a living by painting apartments and buildings. Shah sat on the floor at Mahali's spartan house in Dakkhin Katiajote village, and was served vegetarian fare on a banana leaf. The menu was rice, moong dal, 'potol' (a small gourd) fry, squash curry, papad and salad. At the workers' meeting, Shah accused the Mamata Banerjee-led state government of not letting the central government's developmental schemes percolate down to the grassroots. "The Bengal government is not letting Modiji's schemes to percolate down to the grassroots. A (Pradhan Mantri) Ujjawala Yojana is working well in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana. But we are facing difficulties in Bengal in delivering the benefits of Modiji's scheme to the poor and the under-privileged people," Shah said. "The Bengal government thinks they will be able to stop Modiji's chariot. I want to tell the leaders of Trinamool Congress that the more you try to dominate, the more you carry out injustice, the lotus will bloom," he said. Shah said Bengal is becoming poorer by the day and the state, which once led the nation, has now plunged into "chaos due to the prevailing unemployment, violence and appeasement politics" pursued by the Banerjee regime. "After observing the public enthusiasm,, I am confident that the lotus will bloom. The progress of BJP in Bengal is a certainty. No one can block its way forward," he said. Alluding to the recent Kanthi Dakhsin assembly by-poll, where the BJP finished second by pushing the Left Front to the third spot, Shah said the huge support for the BJP is an indication of "Bengal's yearning for change from TMC's misrule and politics of appeasement". Describing Naxalbari as one of the last frontier villages in the country, sharing borders with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Shah asserted that the central government led by Narendra Modi has been working to reach out to all such villages in the country through its developmental programme. "I Will spread the message of PM Modi's pro-poor governance and Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas (development for all with all) from Naxalbari, once known for violent Red Revolution," he said, referring to the area which was the stage for an armed peasant uprising in 1967 led by the local tribals that inspired the Maoist movement which over time spread to various other states. The BJP chief also praised the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes by the Modi government, arguing that the policy has benefitted the country and played a "big part" in the recently-held assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, which the party swept. Shah is scheduled to visit Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's constituency Bhowanipore in south Kolkata on Wednesday. The eastern state forms the first leg of Shah's 'Vistar Yatra', during which he would spend three days each in four states and a Union Territory, in an effort to strengthen the party organisation at the grassroots. After West Bengal, Shah would move to Odisha, Telangana, poll-bound Gujarat and the Union Territory of Lakshwadeep. Shah is scheduled to visit select booths in each port of his call, holding workers' meetings, going to some houses as part of an intensive mass contact programme, and addressing intellectuals, besides interacting with senior party leaders. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday directed the department of industries to provide for the same concessions to the existing industries as are being proposed to be given to new industries in the state under the new industrial policy. The directive came during a meeting with a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) delegation led by Sumant Sinha, chairman Northern Region, which called on the CM to discuss ways and means of promoting ease of doing business in the northern states, particularly Punjab, which currently ranks number 12 on this count. Amarinder accepted the CII delegations suggestion to ensure a level playing field for industrial groups that had chosen not to flee the state due to the adverse policies of the previous government. He issued immediate instructions to the concerned officials to incorporate this in the new industrial policy, which the department of industries is working on. The CII suggested to the CM steps to promote agro-based food processing industry and small-scale industry in the state. The delegation also suggested improving the power supply, as well as infrastructure development and air connectivity to boost industry in Punjab. The delegation underlined the need for air connectivity with Ludhiana, the industrial hub of the state. While expressing concern over frequent load shedding due to poor distribution of electricity, the CII delegation appreciated the state governments move to provide power to the industry at a lower tariff of Rs 5 per unit. Captain Amarinder told the delegation that the Prime Minister had responded positively to his proposal to sell power to neighbouring Pakistan. In fact, CM revealed that the Prime Minister had indicated that Punjab should look for other trade options also with Pakistan. Haryana is poised to become the first state to invite social media users to interact with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for faster and real-time redressal of grievances, officials said on Tuesday. The Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Rakesh Gupta, who chaired a meeting on "Social Media Grievance Redressal Mechanism" at Panchkula on Tuesday, said Haryana would launch an integrated Social Media Grievances Tracker Twitter and Facebook on May 15. "The online grievance redressal mechanism is being set up to identify, process and resolve all relevant short-term complaints sent by citizens to the Chief Minister Office (CMO) or the government through social media," Gupta said. This, he said, would contribute towards improving various services being provided by different departments. Suggestions received by CMO through e-mails could also be processed through the system to ensure proper follow-up by the departments concerned. The tracker would provide a platform to the citizens to easily interact with the government, he added. "Several state governments were using social media, but Haryana is the first one to use a technical platform to monitor all grievances received by the Chief Minister on his Twitter handle, Facebook and e-mail. This would help monitor and ensure quick redressal of grievances," he said. With the sex ratio in Punjab in dismal figures, the state's Health Department announced on Monday that all ultrasound centres across the state would be put under surveillence. "891 girls per 1,000 boys as per civil registration system in January 2017 is matter of serious concern," Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra said here in a statement. "The Punjab government has framed a comprehensive policy to check the lower count of girl child born per 1,000 boys' births by ensuring the proper implementation of total ban on the pre-diagnostic tests. "The Health Department has issued set of strict instructions by which all the ultra-sound centres would put under 247 online surveillance while the police verification of doctors and other staff posted at such centres has been made mandatory," he said, regretting that the sex ratio of the state could not improved as per the set targets. "The Punjab government has considered the ever decreasing sex ratio a serious blot on the face of the state," said Mohindra. "Instructions down the line to the all and sundry in health paraphernalia of the state have been issued by which it has been made categorically clear that, henceforth, any iota of laxity in any reported case of female foeticide and in pre diagnostic tests would now be considered as criminal conspiracy on the part of the erring," the minister said, adding that the officials found indulging in such inhuman crimes against humanity would be severely dealt with. He said that despite announced rewards in the past, health officials were hardly getting information about illegal sex determination tests by ultrasound centres. "Such a sordid state of affairs in the Health Department is clear indication that the previous government has done nothing but lip service," he pointed out. He said that the police department has also been asked to fully cooperate with the Department to ensure the compliance of the law. Preparations are in full swing in Shimla for the 27 April rally of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on the historic Ridge. While the state capital has turned into a Police camp with men in khaki converging in and around the Mall road from the entire state to ensure security for the PMs show, the Special Protection Group (SPG) arrived here a day ago to oversee flawless security in the city and around the venue. Union minister for Health and Family Welfare, JP Nadda personally supervised the arrangements around the venue along with other BJP leaders. The Prime Minister is coming to launch Udan, a regional air connectivity scheme, from Jubbarhatti airport in Shimla, following which he would address a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally from the Ridge. This is Modis first rally in Shimla after becoming the Prime Minister and second in Himachal Pradesh. He had earlier addressed a rally in Mandi in October last year. The BJP has mobilised the people to accord warm welcome to the Prime Minister right from the AG office to The Mall as he comes to address the rally. The city is being spruced up, the roads being done up and electricity poles on way to the Ridge, which otherwise are in bad shape with wires loosening all around, being repaired and painted to good them good look at the eleventh hour. More than the state government and the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC), the BJP leaders, including Union minister JP Nadda, former BJP chief minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal and state BJP chief, Satpal Singh Satti were seen in action with broom as they led the Swacchta Abhiyaan in different areas of Shimla. A large number of BJP workers, who already geared up for the Shimla Municipal Corporation polls slated in May month, were seen accompanying the leaders as per their individual loyalties in the special Swacchta Abhiyaan, which started two days ago. The cleanliness campaign is a must in every city wherever Prime Minister goes. The BJP has decided it nationally. In Shimla, we have taken it up on a larger scale for the workers are already charged for forthcoming civic body polls ahead, Satti told The Statesman. He said the Prime Ministers official programme was sudden but the BJP wanted to take advantage of his presence in the city fully, so a rally was planned. In the rally, he said, the BJP men different parts of Shimla Parliamentary constituency comprising Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts would come. Baba Ramdev has cried foul at the move by Canteen Stores Department (CSD), the retailing platform for India's defence forces, to suspend the sale of Patanjali Ayurved's Amla juice. CSD decided to put a ban on this product after receiving a negative report from state-laboratory test. Ramdev termed the test wrong by claiming that CSD conducted food test of an Ayurvedic medicine which was wrong. Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev claimed, Amla Juice is Ayurvedic prop medicine under license from Ayush Department of the Uttarakhand government. It's wrong to lab test it as food. According to reports CSD conducted the test at Central Food Laboratory in Kolkata and the reports found the product unsuitable for consumption. Patanjali Yogpeeth issued a clarification on the controversy. Terming it an Ayurvedic medicine preparation, to be taken under medical advice or recommendation given by doctor, Patanjali asserted that the Amla Swaras should not be considered a food product. The Patanjali Amla Swaras is considered beneficial in digestive disorder, diabetics and skin problems. Baba Ramdev claimed that the Amla Swaras is prepared following guidelines of Indian Materia Medica, knowledge about plant and process of making juice and dried powder from herbs, etc. The CSD decision took Baba Ramdev by surprise. After remaining silent for one day, the Patanjali Yogpeeth issued a press release terming the controversy misleading. Baba Ramdev said, The Patanjali Amla Swaras should be tested under the guidelines issued by the Ayush Department, not as a food product. We conduct test of Patanjali Amla Swaras in our laboratory and dispatch the product in the market only after it passes all the tests for Ayurvedic products prescribed by government and private labs. The Canteen Store Department in its letter dated 3 April, 2017, asked all depots to prepare stock detail of Amla Swaras, so that the product can be returned. Deploring the killing by Maoists of a large number of CRPF jawans who were clearing roads for development work in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday accused human rights activists of tacitly supporting the Maoists. He said he was constrained to infer that such motivated acts of violence are being resorted to with tacit support from the so called human rights advocates in desperation to derail the positive narrative emerging from the ongoing efforts by the Central and State Governments to ensure that fruits of development reach the last of the poor thereby enabling rapid economic development". In a statement, Naidu said such cowardly acts of violence by the underground extremist elements are highly deplorable. He said CRPF jawans were serving the cause of the people of the country and they paid with their lives while doing so ~ the highest sacrifice for the country. The families of dedicated jawans who were killed and injured while in uniform would get the highest consideration from the Central and State Governments, he added. Both the Governments would work with renewed commitment to bring such mindless acts of violence to an end, he said. While the nation was shocked by this killing and violence, the so called sympathisers and proponents of human rights have maintained baffling silence since yesterday. These activists raise voice and react violently if an extremist or a terrorist is killed by the police but take shelter in silence when large number of jawans and innocent people get killed by those who operate underground, kill and run, Naidu said. He asked Are human rights only meant for those who chose violence in furtherance of their outdated ideologies and not for security personnel and common people? Why are the Human Right activists silent when such inhuman acts are mindlessly committed by outlawed elements?" Naidu said there was an urgent need to build strong public opinion against such violent acts by outlawed elements and the so called rights activists who he accused of having double standards and not upholding similar rights of security personnel, their families and the innocent people who fall "victim to such anti-national activities". A day after 25 CRPF troopers were massacred by Maoists in Chhattisgarh, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the strategy to root out left-wing extremism will be reviewed and a meeting of affected states has been convened on May 8 for the purpose. The Home Minister, who visited the state to pay tributes to the 25 Central Reserve Police Force troopers killed at their camp, termed the massacre as a "cold blooded murder" and said that their sacrifice won't go in vain. "The attack in Sukma is a cold blooded murder It is an act of cowardice. The attack was out of desperation," he told reporters after paying homage to those killed. "We are working to root out the problem of LWE (left-wing extremism). The LWE groups are anti-development. They do not want development in the area. The Centre and state governments will work together," he added. Rajnath Singh said he had convened a meeting of states affected by Maoism on May 8. "We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it." He also accused the Maoists of using tribals as cannon fodder. On Monday, around 300 Maoists, including women, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch in Chhattisgarh, killing the troopers and escaping with their AK-47 assault rifles. Rajnath Singh, who reached Raipur with Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir and CRPF's Additional Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia, said the government would not let the sacrifices of the troopers go in vain. "We have accepted it as a challenge. It will be answered appropriately." "We have lost precious lives of our soldiers Left-wing extremists are trying to impede the progress (of the region) They are the biggest enemy of the poor," he added. Responding to a query over alleged intelligence failure in the incident, Rajnath Singh said, "This is not the time for a blame game." Rajnath Singh also visited a hospital and enquired about the health of the CRPF personnel injured in the Maoist ambush. He said that all the injured soldiers are now out of danger. Later, attending a function in Bihar, Rajnath Singh again accused the Maoists of using tribals as a shield and dared them to face the security forces from the front. He also threatened tough action against the rebels of they continue to attack security forces. In Raipur, Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who also addressed the media with Rajnath Singh, said that fight against Maoists would continue with "more vigour". "The fight against Maoists in Sukma is the biggest operation against LWE in the country. We have decided to enhance our activities and construction work in the region," he said. But, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh stirred a controversy by reiterating that Raman Singh and the BJP had a "deal and understanding" with the Maoists in the state. He called for talks with all stakeholders to bring Maoist violence under control. "Chief Minister Raman Singh ji and the Bharatiya Janata Party win elections from there because they had a deal and understanding with the Maoists. I have said this before, and I am stating it again," he told reporters. Digvijaya Singh said unless the state's tribal villagers are taken into confidence, Maoist violence cannot be brought under control. "The government should talk to all the stakeholders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government only believe in 'jumlas' and have been indulging in it since May 2014," he said. Condemning the attack, the Communist Party of India (CPI) objected to the term "red terror" for Maoist violence. "The CPI strongly condemns the killings in Sukma Paying its respect to the jawans, the party conveys its deep condolences to their families," it said in a statement. But it objected to the "attempt to term it as red terror". "There are several Left parties in Chhattisgarh, including the CPI, which are working in defence of tribal people. They do not agree with Maoists politically and ideologically and also with their form of struggle." The CPI said that both central and state governments "need to do serious introspection in the larger context and perspective" to find out why it has been "failing to handle the situation in the region". Women's empowerment through education will have a positive impact on our future generations, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday. He also called for a greater collaboration between universities and industries in order to make the education system more effective. "It is important that young women particularly those belonging to marginal sections gain increased access to the portals of colleges and universities. "Women's empowerment through education will have a positive impact on our future generation. It is rightly said that if we educate a man, we educate an individual but if we educate a women, we educate an entire family," Mukherjee said in his address at the Goa University's 29th annual convocation ceremony. "As concepts and understanding evolve, our faculty has to be better prepared with up-dated knowledge. A strong research eco-system has to be built on the plank of institutional collaborations, research parks, and talented researchers. There also have to be close link between Indian universities and industries," he added. Calling for value-oriented learning, Mukherjee also said that a strong connection with society would provide the edifice for value-oriented learning in them. "This will instill in the students a sensitivity that will inspire them to search for solutions to vexed socio-economic problems in the environment in which they are living. The onus is on our institutions to produce men and women of substance and character, not merely competent professionals," he said. Bangladesh watchers were euphoric after the much hyped and publicised India visit (April 7-10) of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina raising perhaps misplaced hopes that she would strengthen her secular credentials upon return. Intriguingly, however, the secular forces in Bangladesh have been deeply disappointed by Hasinas recent statements which could be seen as warming up to the Islamic hardliners, clearly departing from her secular stance. The issue emanated from the statue of a Greek goddess, Themis (Greek goddess of justice) installed inside the Supreme Court at Dhaka becoming an eyesore to Islamic hardliners who went on a campaign demanding removal of the idol as it wore a saree which was considered opposed to the tenets of Islam. The vitriolic campaign was spearheaded by none other than Hefazat-eIslam, an extreme Islamic hardline outfit which has registered a robust growth contributing to reinforcement of fundamentalism in Bangladesh. Reverting to Hasinas body language, it is more than an extraordinary coincidence that these gestures became apparent within only 48 hours of her return from India, especially when progressives in Bangladesh had earlier felt that apart from inking numerous bilateral treaties, the Indian polity must have subtly put across to her to be more firm in dealing with Islamic extremists constantly perpetrating excesses on minorities, foreigners and liberals . On April 11, while addressing Supreme Court judges in Dhaka, Hasina said, I dont like it myself it being called a Greek statue and how did a Greek statue reach here? This statement has shocked many. Secular and forward thinking lobbies in Bangladesh are crestfallen by Hasinas tenor. They apprehend that emboldened by her pro-Islamic rhetoric, anti liberation forces may start demanding removal of statues and memorials erected in memory of the 1971 liberation war. Prominent crusader of secularism in Bangladesh, Shahriar Kabir has already criticised Hasina for what he described as her U-turn. Elaborating on the development, litterateur Taslima Nasreen has questioned the hardliners saying that its Greece and only Greece which has given civilisation and the statue is a symbol of Greek culture. She has said that any move to remove the statue would be a clearly regressive step. Hasina did not stop here. On a different occasion but in the same vein, she stated that her government would soon start recognising degrees obtained from hardline madrasas thus paving the way for millions of religious scholars to qualify for jobs in public and private sectors. If implemented (and it looks very likely) in the not so distant future, Bangladesh may have theocratic elements embedded in all walks of life. And precisely because of this, seculars appear alarmed and apprehend that Hasina is trying to reach out to hardliners to befriend them to be on her right side as the dates of the next general elections draw close. Even if we assume such gestures are for electoral reasons, Hasina should keep an exit route open. The radicals wouldnt let her escape without fulfilling her promises. The Jamat-e-Islami is banned but its cadres are around following the party ideology in letter and spirit. Jamat and Hefazat-eIslam may have different names but they remain steadfastly united in pursuit of their goal to make Bangladesh an Islamic state. Politically and diplomatically therefore, Hasina should be astute enough to wean one away from the other lest her own political existence is imperilled. Hasina will play with fire if she continues to come closer to Hefazat-e-Islam. The group has shown a tremendous rise within only seven years. Its cadres have increased manifold. Its agenda is loud and clear. It wants enactment of blasphemy laws including banning of Ahmediyas as an Islamic sect. Its 13-point charter still holds good and it had already demonstrated its scheme of things in 2013 through a long march exposing its strength and drawing more popular support. One should not forget that such outfits are linked to terror. Bangladesh is already under the ISIS scanner and witnessed a series of terror attacks full of fury and devastation. Many youth stand radicalised and we dont know how many are fighting with the ISIS rank and file. After the collapse of ISIS, the cadres will be back in Bangladesh adding muscle to the ultras. The most dreaded home grown terror outfit, JMB took off with cadres who had participated in the Taliban-led war in Afghanistan. Thats a lesson to be borne in mind . Those at the helm in Dhaka must exercise extreme discretion and keep bodies like Hefazat-e-Islam at a distance so that her party does not collaborate with it. This is vital in the interest of peace and stability in the region . The writer is a retired IPS officer and a security analyst. He is also a senior fellow of the India Police Foundation. The views expressed are personal. Actor Prabhas, who gained popularity because of his role in Baahubali, was injured twice while shooting for the film and the injury has left two injury marks on his body. The actor, who dedicated five years of his life to the film, underwent rigorous training to pep up for his double role in the film. Director SS Rajamouli wanted Prabhas to act as a ferocious warrior, the grueling war scenes resulted in the actor suffering injury marks on his body. Both the parts of Baahubali series have extensive war sequences, which resulted in the actor getting battle marks on his body. Prabhas had spent nearly 600 days filming for the Baahubali franchise, with the actor refraining from signing any other film over the tenure of five years while shooting for the magnum opus project. Helmed by Rajamouli, Prabhas plays titular role in addition to Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah Bhatia, Anushka Shetty and Satyaraj in pivotal roles. The film is slated to release on 28 April. Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, who has done two of his best films Swathi Muthayam and Sagar Sangamam with K. Vishwanath, says that the film industry won't produce another talent like the Dada Saheb Phalke award winner. "In the future people might think that I am exaggerating out of nostalgia. So I put it on record .It is going to be very difficult for the film industry to produce another talent like Mr. K. Vishwanath. "But try, we must. As it is the burden of that duty endowed upon us by masters like K. Viswanath. Bravo sir. The film Industry not only applauds but owns your laurels and you as theirs," he said. Kamal was on the committee to select the filmmaker for the honour and he says he was delighted to be part of the honour. "It is only when one becomes a part of a committee selecting the recipient of such an honour like Dada Saheb award that you realise how abundantly rich in talent our Indian film industry is. "We had many deserving names but four out of the five members in the committee unanimously came up with theirA number one choice as K. Vishwanath. The fourth also had Mr K. Vishwanath in her list but not as first choice," he said. Kamal also feels that Viswanath was a natural choice for the honour. "In my view the choice was unanimous. The committee felt humbled. The proof of Mr. K.V's achievement was overwhelming. I am proud to be part of that committee which selected K.V. and also very proud to be part of the fraternity that has given us such a brilliant filmmaker. There isn't enough governmental or private honours in the country to honour the deserving of the Industry," he said. A powerful earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale jolted Chile causing material damage, although there were no reports of any injuries or casualties, officials said. According to the University of Chile's National Seismological Centre, the quake struck on Monday evening at 6.38 p.m., and its epicentre was located 72 km west of Valparaiso, an area in which there have been more than 100 minor temblors since Sunday evening, Efe news reported. The quake prompted authorities to order an evacuation of the coastal zones of Valparaiso and O'Higgins provinces. Sixteen minutes after that evacuation order was issued, authorities cancelled it and allowed the people who had begun moving to higher ground to return to their homes. The quake was felt from the Coquimbo region, in the north, to Biobio, in the south. Some 34 cities in the country's central region were affected by the quake. The Carabineros, Chile's militarized police, reported that mudslides and landslides had occurred along the international highway leading to the Argentine city of Mendoza, where the quake was also strongly felt, and similar incidents occurred along the Las Palmas roadway near Valparaiso. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull travelled to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit his troops in the region and to asses his country's military contribution, an official release on Tuesday said. "The Prime Minister has marked Anzac (the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day with a visit to the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq," the Prime Minister's office wrote on its Twitter account along with photographs of this trip, Efe news reported. During his two-day visit, Turnbull met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad as well as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and US Secretary of Defence James Mattis in Kabul. Turnbull told Mattis that Australia will continue to work alongside the US, NATO and Afghanistan in encouraging security institutions in that country, said The Australian newspaper. Turnbull's visit comes shortly after the death of 138 soldiers as a result of a Taliban attack on April 21 at a military base in northern Afghanistan, one of the worst terrorism strikes on the country's army. Australia has deployed 270 members of its armed forces in Afghanistan for assistance and training tasks, and some 780 in Iraq and Syria to help collaborate in airstrikes. Since 2002, 42 Australian soldiers have died in Afghanistan and two in Iraq. "This trip was not just an occasion to celebrate Anzac Day with Australians (and New Zealanders) who are serving on the front lines, it was an invaluable opportunity to assess the progress of the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan," Turnbull said in a statement. Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday commemorate Anzac Day in remembrance of when the Allied troops landed in Gallipoli, Turkey, on April 25, 1915 during the First World War, where over 26,000 of their soldiers died in combat and many more were wounded. Although the Gallipoli campaign was a failure, Australia and New Zealand consider it as an important moment in which both countries forged their true national spirit, uniting the entire population in the war effort. Bangladesh is hopeful of quick implementation of the India-assisted developmental projects in the country after New Delhi announced a fresh USD 4.5 billion aid package, Finance Minister Abul Maal A Muhith has said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a line of concessional credit of USD 4.5 billion for implementation of projects in Bangladesh during premier Sheikh Hasina's visit to India this month. "This in addition to the previously announced assistance of USD 1.5 billion takes to total of USD 6 billion," said Muhith. The implementation of projects under the previous assistance package, he said took a longer time. "This time it may be less because we provided the list of projects before Sheikh Hasina went there (to India). I am hoping that there should be quick implementation of these projects," Muhith told PTI last week on the sidelines of the annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank here. Muhith also led a bilateral meeting with visiting Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during which they discussed bilateral aid package and projects associated with it. Bangladesh, he said, now has USD 6 billion line of credit from India. "It is quite something," he said, but quickly noted that this is far less than that of India. "It is (Indian aid) not anything like China. (When) the (Chinese) President came (to Bangladesh), we had great difficulty in calculating in monetary terms how much it can be. Then it has turned out to be USD 22 billion," the Bangladeshi Finance Minister said. However, unlike the time-oriented Indian projects, which is being implemented at a fast pace, there is no such timeline for financial aid from China, he said. "Some of them could not be there for two, three years, because they are not even in the egg laying stage. Not to speak of hatching the and getting the chick, you see," he said. Noting that Indian private sector investment is now flowing into Bangladesh, Muhith said his government has been asking for foreign investment. "The country's growth rate is very comfortable for if you take almost 20 years, it has been more than 6 per cent. Now it has crossed 7 per cent. There is a great demand for investment," he said. Bangladesh, he asserted, is now a fertile ground for investment. "Our assessment of our economy is that it is very, very fertile ground for investment because the domestic demand is continuously growing. That is growing mainly because we are successful in reduction of poverty. I expect that domestic demand, which is roughly it covers at the moment almost 60 per cent of the population, this will go up. Very soon, we shall have a much larger market in Bangladesh," he said. Admitting that domestic investment has been "shy", he said foreign investment has grown in the last two-three years. "It is still small. It is USD 2 billion now," he said. Muhith said the many foreign investors have been shy in investing in Bangladesh because of the riots or internal problems and divisive politics. "That is now not a problem because parties may have remained divisive, but to upset the economic life, the opposition has no capacity to do it. No opposition in Bangladesh can upset internal situation in the future," he asserted. "That is because of growth of employment and large number of people have moved into the territory of having effective demand. No more. There is not going to be anymore disturbance. That is very ripe for foreign investment," Muhith said. French President Francois Hollande urged voters to back his former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, who is running for President as an independent centrist. "Faced with the risks that a Le Pen victory could bring about, hiding or taking refuge in indifference will not work. We have to mobilize. For my part, I will vote for Emmanual Macron," Hollande said on Monday. The Socialist President described the FN as a danger to France, due to its history, its methodology and its links to similar far-right groups across Europe, Efe news reported. Her policies of protectionism, her anti-EU and anti-euro stance coupled with her desire to up import taxes would not only hit the most fragile of the country's citizens, but would also isolate the nation and rupture the bloc, Hollande said. He said that in moments like now, when France was on terror alert, the nation must embrace solidarity and encourage citizens to come together. "The far-right would divide France and stigmatize a section of the population based on their origins or religion," Hollande said. Macron is the "person who defends the values that allow the French to unite faced with such a grave set of circumstances in France, Europe and the world," he said. Hollande's Socialist Party (PS) came fifth in Sunday's first round of voting for the 2017 presidential elections, while Emmanuel Macron came first and is due to face far-right National Front (FN) candidate Marine Le Pen in the second vote. Macron began his political career serving, from 2014, as the Finance Minister in the PS cabinet under Hollande until he left in 2016 to found En Marche!. A top body of Indian-American doctors has expressed shock and disappointment over the Trump administration's dismissal of physician Vivek Murthy as the US Surgeon General. Murthy, 39, the first Indian-American appointed by the Obama regime as the Surgeon General, was dismissed last week to bring new leadership to the vital public health sector. The American Association of Physicians of Indian-origin (AAPI) in a statement yesterday said it is "shocked and saddened" by the departure of Murthy as the US Surgeon General, to which he was nominated by the previous Obama Administration and confirmed by the US Senate. "On behalf of the AAPI, I want to applaud the many contributions and initiatives of Dr Vivek Murthy, our AAPI member, in the healthcare sector in very short span of about two years since he became US Surgeon General in 2014," said AAPI president Ajay Lodha. Murthy played a key role in bringing to the forefront many crucial health issues confronting the nation. Murthy's report on addiction released in November, had said that dependency on opioids and other substances must not be looked on as a "character flaw", and was the first publication from a surgeon general that addressed drug and alcohol addiction, the statement by AAPI said. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley in a statement said Murthy has been a dynamic and outstanding surgeon general and is an inspiration, not only to the Indian American community, but to the entire medical and healthcare community. He said that from speaking out about the need for funding for public health crises to promoting physical fitness and walkable communities, Murthy worked tirelessly to improve the health of the American people. "I've had the great pleasure of working closely with Murthy, including welcoming him to my district where we met with New York health leaders to discuss Zika, the opioid epidemic, and other key health priorities affecting my constituents," Crowley said. Murthy is the second Indian-American to be fired by the Trump administration from a senior position. The first one was the US Attorney from New York Preet Bharara who was sacked after he refused to resign. Iran and major powers were set to review adherence to their 2015 nuclear agreement on Tuesday, as uncertainty grows about the landmark accord's future under US President Donald Trump. The regular quarterly meeting was expected to hear, as Washington confirmed last week, that Iran is sticking to its deal with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. The accord saw Tehran drastically curb its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of Western and UN sanctions. However, Trump has ordered a 90-day review, saying last Thursday that Iran was "not living up to the spirit" of the "terrible" deal because of its actions in other areas. This refers to Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rebels in Yemen and militias in Iraq and in Lebanon as well as Tehran's ballistic missile programme. US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday the review would examine the nuclear accord "in the larger context of Iran's role in the region and in the world, and then adjust accordingly." Trump's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last Wednesday expressed misgivings about the nuclear deal itself, in particular time limits in key areas. Iran cut the number of centrifuges that "enrich" uranium making it suitable for power generation and at high purities for a bomb from about 19,000 to 5,000. Together with other restrictions and ultra-tight UN inspections, Iran pledged to stay at this level for 10 years and not to enrich uranium above low purities for 15 years. Its uranium stockpile will also stay below 300 kilograms well short of what would be needed for an atomic bomb for 15 years. Tillerson said that the accord "fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran" and had been a way of "buying off" Tehran "for a short period of time". Iran is not happy either, with critics of President Hassan Rouhani facing a tough battle for re-election next month charging that the nuclear deal has failed to provide all the promised economic benefits. While nuclear-related sanctions were lifted, those related to human rights or missiles remained or have been expanded, frustrating Iran's efforts to boost trade. Last week Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to Trump's comments by saying that Washington was failing to live up not just to the spirit of the nuclear deal, but its wording too. "So far, it has defied both," Zarif said on Twitter. Today's "Joint Commission" meeting from 0930 GMT among senior diplomats was to be held behind closed doors in the same plush Vienna hotel where the deal was hammered out with no press events planned. Click here to Reply or Forward It would be hard for visitors to miss the affluence that is revealing itself in Phnom Penh now. There are numerous shopping malls, large and small, massive government buildings and a host of international banks. Despite all that, the plan for huge investment in building Southeast Asias tallest office building there cannot but raise enormous curiosity. The Phnom Penh one knew of after the Vietnam War was a dusty, boisterous city filled with traditional markets and sizzling roadside barbecues. But there was an air of ambition in the new generation as well as in expat residents. The Khmer capital city has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Viewed from Psar Thmey (central market), two high-rises Canadia Tower and Vattanac Capital Tower stand out as the new landmarks. Shaped like the back of a dragon, the Vattanac Capital Tower is now the tallest building in Cambodia. The 188-metre, 39-storey tower has dominated Phnom Penhs skyline since it was completed in 2014. Khmer tycoon Chhun Leang of the Vattanac Group invested US$170 million (Bt5.8 billion) to build the countrys first skyscraper bringing luxury lifestyle to Cambodia. Its official website advertises the building as consisting of two impressive towers and a glass and steel podium: Vattanac Capital Tower 1 is a 38-floor skyscraper with grade A offices, luxury retail and a world-class five-star hotel; Vattanac Capital Tower 2 is a lifestyle cube which has a cinema, fitness, forecourt and medical floors among a host of other attractions. Many international brands such as Hugo Boss, Brioni, LOccitane and Longchamp opened their outlets in the tower to serve ultra-rich Cambodian elite and foreigners. While analysts and observers said Vattanac Capital Towers business was not so successful due to low occupancy and limited shopping activities there, the Vattanac management team said the business was doing well. With the opening of our hotel, Rosewood Phnom Penh, later this year, we expect our business will continue to prosper. We believe that there are still plenty of investment opportunities in Cambodia and we invite all prospective investors to join us on this exciting and rewarding journey in Cambodia, said a senior official of the group who declined to be named. Construction of high-rise buildings 10 to 40 storeys high is booming these days. There would be more tall buildings in future. Sino Great Wall Inter-national and Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co Ltd have signed a joint-venture with Cambodian-owned Thai Boon Roong Group, investing more than $2 billion to build another twin-tower building that would rise 560 metres above the ground, 108 metres taller than Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. To have the highest building in Southeast Asia is a dream of the people of the country, rather than a viable business proposition, said president of Cambodian Values and Estate Agents Association Kim Keang. No tall building in this region can make profit; it would be only a symbol of the country, not something investors would be interested in. If you have $10 billion and are going to die very soon and have nothing else to do, you can build it and put your name there, he said. But for business people it doesnt make sense. Taipei 101 does not make profit, Petronas Twin tower cannot make profit, so why would they build in Cambodia? Who will invest $2 billion for such dream? Nevertheless it remains a dream for many Cambodians though it may be inaccessible to them. Cheng Sotha a 37-year-old housewife, said: It is good for the image of Cambodia if we can see more and more high buildings in our city. There are some, but too few if we compare with Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur where my family and I go on tours. We feel happy and proud to see these high buildings in our city just like those we see abroad. Indeed, it was a dream for Phnom Penh residents to see a beautiful and modern city since the Khmer capital city was damaged and dilapidated by the Khmer Rouge during 1975-1979. Born a year after Khmer Rouge was ousted, Cheng Sotha said she was not aware of what the Maoist regime did with the city. Older generations have bitter memories of a ghost town. During the years when she was growing up, the economy was still bad and living standards quite poor. But it is different now. We have peace, we can travel wherever we want, so why cant we have high buildings in the city. It is a symbol of modernisation of our country, she said. Cambodia languished in conflict and civil war for a long time. The country has just started to enjoy the benefits of peace, restoration and development after the 1990s when it opened itself to foreign investments. Rebuilding the city began 27 years ago when Taiwanese investors paraded to purchase land and property for real estate development. Phnom Penh city development has seen ups and downs over the past decade. Land and property speculation inflated prices between 2005 and 2008 when investors from South Korea entered the sector. Real estate in Cambodia, however, was hit by the global financial crisis in 2008. The price of land went down from millions to only thousands of US dollars. It was not a good time for city building, many people lost their jobs, many lost their businesses and many went bankrupt, said a land developer who has been in the business for 10 years. There were a few constructions in Phnom Penh during 2008-2011. That was a very quiet time. There were not many projects in Phnom Penh then. You did not see luxury cars like Land Rover, Rolls-Royce or BMW here during that time, said Kim Keang. Construction in Phnom Penh sprung back to life again in 2012 when the government talked about economic integration into the Asean community since 10 countries opened to liberalisation, with less restriction and no business boundaries. Investors from Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and even overseas Cambodians flocked to the country. The difference this time is that they have come with big projects. Between 2012-2014 most real estate transactions involved land. Investors from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau came to buy land and they began construction in 2015, said Kim Keang. By law, foreigners cannot buy land but there are many ways to buy land in Cambodia. Most foreigners set up a joint-venture company with a 49:51 partnership. Some people buy citizenship; Thais for instance can seek citizenship easily for $50,000-$60,000. But that is not the single factor luring investors to build in Phnom Penh. Cambodia is no longer a war zone. The kingdom borders Thailand, Vietnam and Laos as well as the Gulf of Thailand, and has enjoyed a high growth rate over the past decade with GDP rising on average by 7-8 per cent annually. Cambodia has a demography very supportive of new development. The numbers of the middle class are increasing from very poor, poor to lower middle class and middle class. While neighbouring Thailand is entering ageing society rapidly, Cambodia is relatively young. Of the 16 million population, 70 per cent are under 38, numbering more than 10 million. Politics is perhaps more stable than in many other countries in the region. Political fighting is still going on like in many other countries but the atmosphere is relatively calm, according to a diplomat. Fighting was reported only by the media but behind the scenes, strongman Hun Sen can now can make a deal with many factions and rivals. Cambodian politics is very stable because only one guy has power, while the rest do not, a diplomat said, and noted political stability is a desirable environment for investment. Living in Phnom Penh is wonderful, said one expat. As it is a multi-currency city. visitors dont need to change money on arrival. It is more open than others in Asean, more than Thailand, Singapore or Malaysia in term of currency. Some people say Cambodia is the second Las Vegas as they can pay for everything taxi, meal and even company salary in US dollars. Cambodian lifestyles have changed a lot to keep pace with the new developments in the city. Ten years ago, there were only about a dozen high-rise buildings in Phnom Penh. As of the end of last year, there were 901 new projects including a number of high-rise buildings requesting permission for construction, with investment of $3.1 billion. A report filed by Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction showed that the number of high-rise buildings 10- to 40-storeys high numbered 313, together with 134 residential areas. However high-rise buildings might fit only some parts of the city lifestyle. Housewife Cheng Sotha said she lives with her family in a house and Cambodian people mostly prefer houses to city high-rises. She visits high-rise buildings occasionally for dining or parties but her husband, a financial auditor, works in a Phnom Penh tower. I understand that only some people can afford the price to live there, but in the future five to 10 years from now there will be more people who can afford it, she said. Kim Kaeng agreed that having space in a high-rise building is a kind of status symbol of the rich. In Cambodia, it is normal for the rich to have three to five houses, plots of land, many cars, but if you have three condo units, people will regard you as really rich, he said, noting that developers raised the price for that reason. Condominiums are expensive, perhaps even more so than in some parts of Bangkok. The number of rich Cambodians is increasing. In Phnom Penh, 5-10 per cent of the 3-million population are rich, 10-20 per cent are middle class and more than 70 per cent are low-income groups, he said, adding the lower-income groups are slowly upgrading to lower middle-class. In Cambodia, lower income means people who earn $200-$300 per month; the average salary is $250 while the lower middle class earn about $500-$700 a month. Though construction cost is only $700, they sell at $2,500-$3,000 per square metre, making two to three times profit, he said. Its too expensive for local people to afford, so more than 80 per cent of condo buyers are foreigners. Many condo projects are now under construction and there is likely to be oversupply when they finish by the end of this year, he said. What we have now might be enough for local demand and for foreigners who live and work in Cambodia, but the current supply is more than adequate. If Cambodia can bring more foreign investors, that would be good for that sector, he said. Since 2015, land developers have invested in high-rise condos and shopping malls, focusing on middle- to high-end customers but now the market is changing because the rich have enough properties, houses, condos and lands, and they dont need to buy more. Investors looking for opportunities should focus on residences and shopping malls, Kim Kaeng said, adding the Japanese brand Aeon Mall is quite successful, boasting a Japanese name and Bangkok quality. But the time has not arrived yet for high-end and luxury outfits as the rich would not buy at home. (The Daily Star) The Japanese Defence Ministry on Tuesday started construction of seawalls for a new US base in Okinawa amid local uproar, a media report said. The Okinawan chapter of Japan's Defence Ministry began the construction to surround an area in a coastal region on the island for the controversial relocation of a US military base, Xinhua news agency reported. The Okinawa Defence Bureau launched the full-scale operations around a site to be filled with sand and earth that would prevent sediment spreading. The construction work has drawn staunch criticism from local residents as well as officials in Okinawa, and protests to the reclamation work have been frequent. Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga is a staunch opponent to the base's relocation and has been fighting doggedly to see the plan scrapped. He has sued and been counter-sued by the Japanese government. In February, Onaga visited the US in person to convey his message of resistance to US President Donald Trump. Onaga may now look to block Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government's reclamation work by refusing to issue a permit necessary for coral reefs to be moved in the area in which land is being reclaimed from, sources have said. The land reclamation work and future construction was to facilitate the relocation of the US Marine Corps' Air Station Futenma. The Futenma base is currently located in a densely populated area of Ginowan in Okinawa and will be relocated to the coastal area of Henoko as per the Japanese government's plans despite resolute local opposition. The Defence Bureau's new phase of construction on Tuesday follows maritime reclamation work in February involving dropping concrete blocks into the sea off the coast of Henoko from vessels equipped with large cranes. The vessels dropped 220 blocks, each weighing 14 tons to form barriers in four areas in the sea where the seawalls would be built. The islanders feel they have been till date "used" by the government before, during and after WWII, with protests at hosting 74 per cent of all US bases in Japan further intensifying following the the crash-landing of an MV-22 Osprey in Nago in Okinawa in December 2016. Last Fridays terror attack at an Army base at Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan in which nearly 140 people were killed has triggered a fresh debate in Indian circles on whether New Delhi should assist Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in boosting their capabilities to defend the war-ravaged nation. Source here confirmed that Afghanistan has been nudging India to play a role in strengthening the hands of Afghan security forces as they struggle to fight Taliban insurgents who have launched a series of audacious attacks in recent months, bringing to naught all efforts by the international community to stabilise the security situation in the country. "The fast deteriorating situation in Afghanistan is a threat to the whole regionit has accentuated the need for strengthening the hands of security agencies in Afghanistan, he added. As the first step, Kabul is learnt to have suggested to India to repair the grounded Afghan Air Force planes. At the insistence of Kabul, India had sent to Afghanistan last year a technical team to review the needs of the Afghan forces. The team had inspected the grounded planes, including 11 Mi-35 gunships and seven transport planes. It was of the view that the repair would cost around 50 million dollars. The source said "the well-wishers of Afghanistan" had been assessing the scale of the challenge to the ANSF, particularly in the segment of close air support. Afghanistan has a large number of attack helicopters and transport aircraft grounded for want of spares. The United States also, meanwhile, is said to be working on plans to replace the transport helicopters being used by the Afghan Air Force with the modern UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. India has been one of the largest contributors to Afghanistan since 2001. It has provided two billion dollars in economic aid and pledged another 1 billion dollars over the next few years. Unfazed by terror attacks orchestrated by Pakistan against Indian nationals working there, India has also undertaken major reconstruction projects, like the Parliament building and the Salma Dam, in the war-torn country, earning the love and respect of the Afghan citizens. In 2011, India signed a historic Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) with the then Hamid Karzai Government in Afghanistan, making New Delhi the first strategic partner of Kabul in the post-Taliban era. Although under the terms of the agreement, India had agreed to assist ANSF in training and capacity building, it has been reluctant to do so practically for fear of backlash from Pakistan. at an event here on Tuesday, Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali indirectly blamed Pakistan for using terrorism as a tool against India and Afghanistan. State sponsorship of terrorism has become an old fact. We are hoping for this ground reality to change, he added. He also stressed that the time had come to revive the India-Afghanistan-US trilateral to address pressing issues facing the region. US President Donald Trump said that the border wall with Mexico is a "very important tool" for preventing the entry of illegal drugs into this country. "The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)!" Trump tweeted on Monday, adding that "if the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be". Trump is insisting that the budget agreement being negotiated by lawmakers to avoid a partial shutdown of the US government include funding for the wall, but that demand is complicating the negotiations, Efe news reported. The White House has asked Congress to approve $1.4 billion for building the wall, the financing of which is an obstacle blocking a budget agreement to avoid a partial shutdown of the US government, in the budget agreement to fund government operations. But Democratic congressional leaders oppose including funds for the wall in the budget and have warned that if Trump does not withdraw his demand, they will allow the government to be shut down. The estimated cost of building the wall, one of Trump's key campaign promises, has risen from the $8 billion initially calculated by the mogul to $21.6 billion, according to the latest figures from the Department of Homeland Security. French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's political campaign was targeted by a group of Russian hackers last month, according to a report by a cybersecurity research group on Tuesday. The Pawn Storm group, which has been linked to several high-profile attacks in the West, used phishing techniques to try to steal personal data from Macron and members of his En Marche! campaign, Japan-based Trend Micro said. Pawn Storm, also known as APT28, is also believed to be behind the attacks last summer on the US Democratic National Committee, thought to be aimed at undermining Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. It is widely suspected of having links to Russia's security services, and Moscow has been seen as a keen backer of Macron's rival in the presidential race Marine Le Pen, who met President Vladimir Putin in a surprise visit to Moscow ahead of the vote. But yesterday, Russia denied any involvement in the French election. Which groups? Where do they come from? Why Russia? Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. It resembles the accusations made by Washington which to this day remain hollow, and they do no honour to the people making them. Israel's Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon on Tuesday called the coming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel as enormously significant. "Its timing is so right. The fact that this visit happens after so many years, after being so hesitant, after not talking about it things have evolved. It took an effort," Carmon said after delivering a special address on 'India-Israel: Enduring Partnership' at an event organised by Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library here. "The (bilateral) relation is very deep," he said. On the importance of the bilateral defence relationship, the envoy said, "The defence relationship is there. It is not the only facet of our relation. In order to reflect the depth of our relation, we should be doing more in other areas." Although the dates have not been finalised, Modi is expected to visit Israel in July while returning from G-20 Summit in Hamburg (Germany) from July 7-8. This will be the first prime ministerial visit from India to Israel. On a query on terrorism, Carmon said: "Terrorism is one of the challenges that we face and India and Israel have suffered a lot due to terrorism." "The challenge is how to unite the forces either bilaterally or through an international mechanism. The world lacks the mechanism; the world even lacks the definition of what terrorism is." "This is a new battlefield and it is not between the armies anymore," he added. Carmon also talked of the challenge of safeguarding human rights while fighting terrorism. During his address, Carmon said his country's focus now is on cooperation in the field of water resources management, dairy farming and agricultural cooperation at the next level. He also talked about promotion of better understanding between the people of the two countries about each other's culture and history. Offering his condolences on the death of CRPF jawans in the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, Carmon said: "Very sad news from Chhattisgarh. We have sent out our condolences to the victims' families." India and Israel are celebrating 25th year of their diplomatic relationship. India established diplomatic relations with Israel on January 29, 1992. Since then, two Israeli Presidents Ezer Weizmann and Reuven Rivlin have visited India, in 1996 and 2016 respectively. President Pranab Mukherjee visited Israel in October 2015. Israel Aerospace Industries on April 6 announced the signing of contracts worth almost $2 billion for the supply of medium-range surface-to-air missiles and the missile defence systems to the Indian Army. Israel is one of the largest and most reliable suppliers of military hardware to India. An American guided-missile submarine, the USS Michigan, arrived in South Korea on Tuesday, the same day Pyongyang is celebrating the 85th anniversary of the founding of its Korean People's Army, the media reported. The US Navy submarine arrived in the port city of Busan, reports CNN. A statement from US Naval Forces Korea called the submarine's visit "routine" and said it was a chance to highlight the alliance between American and South Korean navies. While the USS Michigan is not expected to take part in the ongoing joint exercises, its presence in the region is meant to send a strong message to Pyongyang, the statement added. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump had said that the US was sending an "armada" with submarines to the region. "We are sending an armada. Very powerful," Trump said in a Fox News interview. "We have submarines. Very powerful. Far more powerful than the aircraft carrier." Armed with tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, the 560-foot-long, 18,000-tonne Michigan is one of four converted Ohio-class subs, joining the USS Ohio, USS Florida and USS Georgia, reports CNN. Each of the four submarines can carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. They are also outfitted to stealthily deploy up to 66 Navy servicemen or other special operations troops and their equipment. The Michigan's visit to Busan comes after North Korea on Sunday threatened to sink the American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which is beginning joint drills with two Japanese destroyers in the western Pacific Ocean. The White House has announced that it would host an unusual private briefing on North Korea for the entire Senate amid escalating tensions, a media report said. Press secretary Sean Spicer told the media on Monday that the lawmakers would be briefed on Wednesday by several senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, The Washington Post reported. He emphasised that the meeting plan had been convened by Senate leadership and that the White House was serving "as the location". A senior administration official said the meeting with senators will take place in the auditorium at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the building next to the White House that houses most of the National Security Council. The auditorium will be temporarily turned into a "sensitive compartmented information facility", which is the term for a room where sensitive national security information can be shared, the official said. Such facilities are configured to withstand eavesdropping or other technical snooping. David Popp, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said: "The President (Donald Trump) offered to host the meeting and the Majority Leader agreed." Other Senate leadership staffers signalled that most, if not all, senators in both parties are expected to attend the White House briefing, The Washington Post reported. However, the unusual location left many staffers confused. During debates surrounding Syria's civil war, terrorist attacks in Europe and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's into Russian interference in US elections, Cabinet secretaries and senior law enforcement officials have travelled to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers. A senior aide, said it was President Trump's idea to hold the meeting at the White House. "I heard this came from Trump himself, that in a nutshell he said, Why don't we have them up here instead?'" he added. UN chief Antonio Guterres urged countries on Tuesday to pitch in to help prevent a looming famine in war-torn Yemen, warning that children especially were already dying at an alarming rate. "Yemen today is experiencing a tragedy of immense proportions," the UN Secretary General told country representatives gathered in Geneva for an aid pledging conference. "We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation," he said, adding that Yemen is gripped by "the world's largest hunger crisis". Appealing to donors, he stressed that "a famine can be prevented if we act quickly and commit to funding crucial life-saving assistance". The conference, co-hosted by the Swiss and Swedish foreign ministers, comes after the UN in February said Yemen needed USD 2.1 billion (1.9 billion euros) of aid this year alone. The UN had warned that unless international donors stepped up their response the war-torn country faced a "serious risk of famine". By today, only 15 per cent of that appeal had been funded, Guterres said. UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien told the conference that Yemen was "the world's largest humanitarian crisis today." A total of 17 million people, or around 60 percent of its population, are going hungry, while seven million of them do not know where their next meal is coming from and need immediate food aid, the UN said. Children especially are bearing the brunt of the crisis. "On average, a child under the age of five dies of preventable causes in Yemen every 10 minutes," Guterres said. "This means 50 children in Yemen will die during today's conference, and all those deaths could have been prevented." Many of the children who survive "will be affected by stunting and poor health for their entire lives," he added. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom noted that with two million children out of school, there is a growing risk of recruitment by armed groups, while two-thirds of girls are married off before the age of 18. "We must act now", she said. Yemen's war has pitted pro-government forces against Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies, renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to help the government retake the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country's north and west. Fighting in Yemen has killed more than 7,700 people over the past two years and forced 3.3 million people to flee their homes, according to UN numbers. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. A U.S. Army helicopter crewman mans a gun on the rear gate as it departs Resolute Support headquarters with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis aboard in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday. Hyderabad: The two Telugu states are leading the country in e-transactions post demonetisation. According to a report released by the Centre, both Telangana and AP have clocked 39 crore e-transactions till date since November 9, 2016, when demonetisation was announced. TS recorded Rs 20crore in e-transactions during the period. The report says that the initiatives being taken up by governments in TS and AP to encourage cashless transactions post demonetisation have paid off. Even in e-transactions per 1,000 population, TS and AP stood at the top in the country. The e-transactions are being tracked by the Union ministry of electronics and information technology to assess the extent of cashless transactions after demonetisation. While Telanganas total population is 3,51,93,978, the total e-transactions recorded since November 9 were 20,04,11,513. The e-transactions per 1,000 population was highest in the country at 5,694. In AP, the total population is 4,94,71,55. The total e-transactions recorded were 19,16,17,298. The e-transactions per 1,000 population was the second highest in the country at 3,873. Though Gujarat recorded the highest e-transactions in the country at 20,13,09,614, it was put in the third place, since its population is more than that of the Telugu states. Gujarats population is 6,03,83,628 and the e-transactions per 1,000 population was 3,333, the third highest in the country. The other states which recorded higher e-transactions include Uttar Pradesh (14,78,64,658) and Tamil Nadu (13,53,98,453). However, their e-transactions per 1,000 population was 740 and 1,876. IT minister K.T. Rama Rao expressed his happiness over Telangana topping thecountry in terms of e-transactions per 1,000 population. We have conducted programmes in all districts to create awareness among the people on adopting e-transactions following demonetisation. All payments to beneficiaries of welfare schemes have been made online. The public distribution system is also being made cashless with the introduction of swiping machines. All major government services are being offered in online mode. All these measures paid off, encouraging cashless transactions, Mr Rao said. 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 ... For years, Nicaragua was considered pretty much off the beaten path with holiday makers choosing to venture to the Caribbean or to Costa Rica next door. But these days tales of contra rebels from Bianca Jaggers homeland are being replaced by tales of undeniable natural beauty of its lakes, volcanoes (out of the 26, six are still active), jungle terrain, beaches and, they say, the best seafood in the world. You can still see black and red murals from time to time whose role was to eke out support for the left wing Sandinistas (a Nicaraguan group that overthrew President Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979), ox carts that sometimes slow down the traffic, cycle taxis, and creaky but colourful chicken busses transporting school children, farmers or chicken-carrying locals around the cities and towns, often at breakneck speed. Here the water is drinkable, people are very friendly, and your credit card is welcome. Managua a stepping stone The capital, Managua, home to the international airport, acts as the gateway to the gems that Nicaragua offers. The city looks a little wayward, but anyone who has seen it from the air cant help but be awed by the vision of the electronic trees that light up the city at night. The city has a colourful market selling all manner of trinkets. Que estan buscando? they shout, offering up purses and jewellery to passing women. Its the best place to buy a hammock, so leave some space in your suitcase. Night life is not exactly lively, but meat eaters should seek out Don Candido restaurant a gourmet highlight. The meat they buy in is produced locally, totally organic and without a hormone in sight. There are 42 cuts but the best steak on the menu is the tenderloin which literally melts in the mouth. Selva Negra Its a two-hour drive north east from Managua to the 1,400-acre Selva Negra coffee plantation in the highlands. It is pretty high up around 4,000 feet above sea level, and has been owned by Eddy Kuhl and his family since the 1880s. The name means Black Forest which harks back to the familys German origins. They offer an interesting tour from bean to coffee and you can stay a few nights in a cabin by the lake where geese gather to meet you. Or stay cheaply in their youth hostel at the base of a forested mountain. There are walking trails around lagoons and plenty of wildlife such as Howler monkeys and birds lurking in the trees. Farm animals such as pigs and chickens are kept and they even have a worm sanctuary where worms are bred to nourish the land. Leon the intellectual capital Leon is a lively, pretty, colonial city whose population comprises a large number of students, poets and artists. Theres plenty of colonial-era monasteries and churches, a massive Cathedral resplendent in baroque and neoclassical architecture, several art galleries and even a bar or two. A busy market adds local colour to the appealing city streetscape. This is in fact the second version of the city. The ruins of the first, known as Leon Viejo can still be seen near the base of Momotombo Volcano and is one of the oldest Spanish colonial settlements in the Americas. Its downfall was due to eruptions and earthquakes and so the city was moved in the 17th century to a safer place. Nicaraguas most famous and loved poet Ruben Dario, lived in Leon for some 14 years. His house is now a museum and some of his belongings are scattered around the house including a hand-written copy of his first ever poem which was written here. You can still see the bed in which he died an agonising death, his personal bible and the clothes he wore as Ambassador to Spain. Dario is revered around the country, but this museum has his echoes in its walls. His final resting place is in the towns Cathedral. Another interesting museum is the Mi Museo which has a fascinating collection of pre-Columbian ceramics. A nice excursion for rum lovers is around a 40-minute drive away in Chichigalpa an area with sugar cane fields. Flor De Cana is recognised as produced some pretty good rum and they offer tours that end with a tasting. Parts of it are Hollywood shmooz but nevertheless a fun couple of hours. Granada The Paris (sort of) of Central America This colourful city is a joy to explore and photograph. Founded in 16th century by the conquistador Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, the city has low rise colonial architecture in sunny colours, red domed yellow churches that seem to have emerged from a bygone age. It also has the brooding Volcan Mombacho as its backdrop and no matter where you are in town, you will spot her in the distance. There are two interesting experiences to be had in Granada. Chocoholics should check out the chocolate museum. You will find it in the Mansion de Chocolate hotel. You can buy bars or join the beans to bar chocolate workshop, where you learn to roast, grind and mold your own Nicaraguan chocolate bar. Kids will love it. If you decide to stay there, they have a chocolate-oriented spa plus a great swimming pool and a cafe that wraps around a mini-forest where beans are growing. Cigar aficionados or those just interested, can visit Dona Elba Cigars. Pop into their delightful boutique cigar factory and see how cigars are rolled and perhaps pick up a couple for your own pleasure. This is how to roll a cigar in less than a minute #Granada #visitnicaragua @BrandingLatAm pic.twitter.com/EmH7mtnMoa The Travel Magazine (@TravelMagazine) March 17, 2017 Hiking Mombacho Volcano Just 10 km away, from Granada is this moody volcanic mountain, whose peak is shrouded in cloud forest. Though Mombacho hasnt erupted in decades (the last time was in 1570) there are still puffs of fumes that escape, a reminder that she is just dozing. She reaches 1,344 metres into the clouds and its a bumpy five-minute ride in a truck to the top. Once there you can get close up to the steamy fumaroles (an opening in or near a volcano, through which hot sulphurous gases emerge) and see, and smell, first hand the bubbling thermal activity hiding beneath the vines and orchids. The views over Granada from the top are pretty good too. Keep an eye out for the wildlife. If you are lucky you may spot a sloth hanging lazily from a tree. San Juan del Sur This lovely fishing village, close to the border with Costa Rica is defined by two things: appealing sandy beach and a towering figure of Christ. Known as Mirador del Cristo de la Misericordia, he lords it over the sea and the far reaches of the region. Climb up to share the views with him. This is the second largest statue of Christ, after the one in Rio. Chilling with a cocktail at one of the seafront restaurants is a lovely way to spend an afternoon especially as the sun begins to set. Keep your camera handy to catch those celestial hues that are thrown out at sundown. Whats the food like? Food styles are distinctly Latin American. Refried beans and various concoctions of rice and beans are served routinely in restaurants. But theres also vaho slow-cooked meat, plaintain and yucca Vigoron (port, cabbage and yucca) and quesillos a tortillo served with a lovely soft cheese and cream. Keep it local by downing it all with a tiste a soft drink made with cocao, beans and corn. Another tasty snack is a quesillo corn tortilla filled with soft cheese, pickled onions, and sour cream. Most cafes will have it on the menu or buy it freshly made in the market. Beer is a popular tipple and the two favourites are Tona and Victoria Clasica. The latter is slightly stronger and a little bit cheaper. When to go Late November to May is the dry season. Nicaragua is not in the hurricane zone but does get tropical storms from June to November. Fact File PACKAGE: Select Latin America who offer a 9 day package tour including all the highlights above. FLY: Currently there are no direct routes but you can travel with British Airways and change at New York or Miami. Booking.com If you have an eligible passport you will need to apply for an ESTA so that you can pick up the connecting flight in the US. Organisation: Lutheran World Relief (LWR) Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda About US: Lutheran World Relief is a US non-profit organization that works with local partners to provide lasting solutions to poverty, injustice and human suffering. LWF Uganda works to reduce peoples vulnerability, supporting them to realize their potential, to build on their assets, and to respond to their own problems and needs. LWF Uganda currently has five areas of operation in Pader, Kitgum, Adjumani, Katakwi, Sembabule, Kampala and Kamwenge Districts. Job Summary: The Executive Assistant will provide high-level Executive support to the Country Director and the Country Management Team (CMT). The incumbent will undertake specific projects, manage and develop administrative functions in order to ensure the effective operations of the country representatives office. Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience: The ideal candidate for the Lutheran World Relief (LWR) Executive Assistant to the Country Representative job opportunity should hold a Bachelors Degree in relevant field or equivalent qualification; A minimum of three to five years experience providing an Executive Assistant support in a similar role; High level of tact and diplomacy and the ability to use appropriate styles and methods of communication to ensure a professional yet personal customer service; Judgment and initiative to anticipate the CDs standard response and preferred courses of action. Ability to identify when the CD or an associate should deal with an issue direct or guide the response; Good organizational and administrative skills and the ability to prioritize competing tasks and meet deadlines.; Willing, speedy and accurate. Can pay good attention to detail and finish tasks; Good communication, negotiation, influencing and interpersonal skills. An ability to work Vith others both independently and as part of a team. With excellent written and spoken English; Numerate and able to work with budgets; Ability to build working relations with others at all levels of the organisation; Ability to organize multiple tasks, prioritizing and delegating appropriately and saying no or finding alternative solutions where appropriate; Proven ability to remain calm, focused and organized to deliver results on time when under pressure and with rapidly changing circumstances; High degree of tenacity and initiative combined with high levels of discretion and diplomacy ability to observe strict confidentiality, and to be tactful and diplomatic; Ability to use Lotus Notes and Microsoft Office. Sound working knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint; Flexibility to travel if need be; Show commitment and understanding of the principles relating to LWFs values and aims; Awareness of gender issues. How to Apply: All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send their applications (One-page motivation letter, explaining the candidates suitability for the position and an updated Curriculum vitae, CV), with the names and e-mail addresses of three professional referees and send via Email to: recruitment@lwf.or.ug. NB: Please do not include certificates for education, trainings, etc. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted Deadline: 28th April 2017 Organisation: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Position No.: TMP030 Vacancy Notice: 16/2017 Reports to: Head of Office Duty Station: Adjumani, Uganda Post Grade: NOB About UNHCR: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. UNHCRs mandate under the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is to lead and co-ordinate action for international protection to refugees; seek permanent solutions for the problems of refugees and safeguard refugee rights and well-being. UNHCR has an additional mandate concerning issues of statelessness, as it is given a designated role under Article 11 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Job Summary: The Associate Solutions & Development Officer will play a pivotal role in guiding and supporting the development and implementation of a comprehensive response on the regional level in West Nile. The incumbent will have extensive contacts with both internal and external counterparts and partners in Uganda. Within UNHCR, the incumbent will establish close working relations with the relevant staff working in the community services, program and field sectors. Key external partners will include District authorities, Office of the Prime Minister, Private and Official organisation, UNHCR implementing and operational partners, International and Local NGOs, development agencies and other actors engaged in humanitarian and development initiatives in the relevant districts. The incumbent will be the key interlocutor with the District Local Governments and will have to identify and actively partner with other actors and structures potentially able to contribute to the strategies and solutions for refugees. The Assistant Solutions and Development Officer will provide support on the application of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) in Uganda, including contributing to the overall implementation of Refugee and Host Population Empowerment (ReHoPE) as follows Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities: Tasked with developing and implementing ReHoPE: Institutionalizing solutions-oriented approaches within UNHCR and partners through training sessions and participation in all planning processes In charge of reporting on implementation of ReHoPE projects Take lead in regular mapping exercises of the relevant districts, liaising with sector specialists, to determine gaps, capacity and comparative advantage of different actors Engaging local government: Serve as the key liaison with the District Local Governments as part of developing these relationships and effectively engage on district level development. Key Activities: Being part of district planning processes, developing gap and needs assessments, advocacy for inclusion of refugee areas in DLG planning documents and budgets Develop key partnerships with development actors and private sector: Develop and manage partnerships with development actors and private sector Develop linkages with existing programmes/projects in the districts to bring them closer to/within the settlements Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience: The ideal candidate for the United Nations UNHCR Associate Solutions & Development Officer job opportunity should hold a University degree in social sciences, socio-economic development, development planning, rural development, or other related fields At least four years experience relevant to the function, both in humanitarian and development contexts. Previous experience in similar settings is essential. Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain partnerships with a variety of actors including government and private sector Prior exposure and experience in planning, implementing, and monitoring programmes and managing multiple projects Excellent computer skills including excel, word and power point Fluency in English, drafting and reporting Personal Competencies: Functional Competencies : Empowering refugees, Monitoring and evaluating programmes/projects, Strong advocacy and negotiation skills Managerial Competencies: Managing performance, Excellent oral and written communication, including listening, facilitating and influencing skills How to Apply: All interested Ugandan nationals who wish to join the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the aforementioned capacity are encouraged to click on the link below and follow the application instructions after reviewing the job details. th May 2017 Deadline: 4May 2017 About US Embassy: Welcome to the United States Embassy in Kampala, Uganda. The United States has enjoyed diplomatic relations with Uganda for over 30 years. Ambassador Deborah R. Malac currently heads the U.S Mission to Uganda. The Mission is composed of several offices and organizations all working under the auspices of the Embassy and at the direction of the Ambassador. Among the offices operating under the U.S Mission to Uganda are: But the tribe has a long way to go India is increasingly becoming dependent on internet bans to curb impacts of rumour-mongering and rising communal tensions. According to data from Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), a rights-based agency, incidents of shutting down the internet is growing, even as the government pushes for a digital India. "What we have seen is that there is a rise in the number of internet shutdowns in a fairly liberal and democratic place like India. What earlier used to be two or three in a year have grown ten folds," said Mishi Choudhary, president and legal director of Delhi-based SFLC. "In last five years, India exercised internet shutdowns some 73 times. Of this, 31 internet shutdowns were implemented last year alone, and within four months there were 14 incidents of shutdowns this year." The SFLC data is based on an online platform, where users could report real-time incidents of internet shutdowns in their states. As per the data, the maximum number of internet shutdowns happened in Jammu and Kashmir (31 times in five years), followed by Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat (nine times in each of these states). "Often, preventing rumours is the reason for clamping down the internet. However, in Gaurav Sureshbhai Byas versus State of Gujarat and a subsequent Special Leave petitions, these arguments against internet bans were dismissed by the Gujarat High Court," said Choudhary. Incidents of internet shutdowns from Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar are also on the rise, the data showed. None of the four southern states, however, seemed to have ever resorted to internet shutdowns in last five years. Speaking on the current practice, BJD MP Baijayant Jay Panda said the police in most states are extending provisions of the CrPC section 144, used to clamp curfew, for exercising these internet shutdowns. "In principle, I am against any blatant internet shutdowns. But in practice, I see that in the real world these measures need to be measured out and such standards or checks and balances simply do not exist now," he said, indicating that the power to shutdown internet in the country should not be left just with the police. "When the government is talking of digital India, a rise in internet shutdowns goes against the idea promoted by the prime minister," said Panda. "A rational regime is required for imposing objective interventions for any internet shutdowns anywhere in the country," he added, saying such shutdowns impact local economy and personal freedom. The legislator from Kendrapara in Odisha had spoken on the issue of internet shutdowns in his own constituency recently when the Parliament was in session. "Should the laws of the real world be extended to the digital one?" asked Abhinandan Sekhri, CEO of internet startup Newslaundry. Speaking for rural women entrepreneurs, Sairee Chahal, CEO of SHEROES, a career destination startup for women, said, "In the northeast, where the internet shutdowns could be prolonged, it disrupts the idea that we want to give these womenabout coming on the same platform with everyone. Maybe, when such shutdowns are done, there is a need for proper information dissemination and transparency," she said. Many women from rural India are now eyeing a pie of the online boom and have started relying on the power of the internet for reaching out to the world, including selling various products. According to estimates by US-based think tank Brookings India, the impact of the internet shutdowns have led to a loss of about $968-million for India in the previous fiscal. Any "serious actions" taken by the Trump administration on the H-1B visa programme would be a cause of "worry" as a majority of Indian exports in the services sector go to the US, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said. "If there are serious actions taken it's something that's going to kind of worry us a lot because, remember that our exports of services are about 40 to 45 per cent of the total exports, Subramanian told an audience here last week. "Something like 50 to 60 per cent of all our exports of services goes to the United States. So it would worry us quite a bit," he said while responding to a question on the H1-B visa during his visit at the Peterson Institute, a top American economic think-tank. Subramanian said India would be "okay" as long as the visa reforms are manageable and it is keeping a close watch on it. "Anything that is going to interfere with export growth creates anxiety (in India). In the context of the United States, we're all watching very carefully the H1-B visa situation," the Chief Economic Advisor said. "On the visa side, I don't know, but as long as you know, we can keep this thing manageable. You know it should be okay," he said. During his US visit, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also taken up the the H-1B issue with the American side and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy. President Donald Trump had earlier this month 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, a decision that would impact India's $150-billion IT industry. The Indian IT industry expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic professionals for short-term work in America. The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations. The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry. Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals. India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive. Madhya Pradesh has become the first state to grant river Narmada the status of a living entity after the Uttarakhand High Court, last month, recognised river Ganga as a living entity. Declaring any object as living entity grants it the same legal rights as a human being. (File) CM Shivraj Singh with Dalai Lama at Narmada Yatra | Deepak Tiwari On Tuesday, on the suggestion of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, during his Narmada Sewa Yatra (Save Narmada), Chief Minister Shviraj Singh declared river Narmada as a living entity. Rajnath had arrived to participate in the yatra on the banks of Narmada in tribal district of Mandla. With the river declared as a living entity, anyone damaging it will be liable to punishment just like they would harm a human being. The chief minister said that a bill in this regard would be soon passed in the state assembly. Finer details will soon be worked out. Madhya Pradesh is the first state to declare the river a living entity. Earlier in March this year, Whanganui River in New Zealand became the first river in the world to be recognized as a living entity. The local Maori people were fighting for the conservation of the river for last 170 years. The government of New Zealand passed a bill in this regard. Speaking on the occasion, Rajnath Singh said that the Union government has made arrangements of Rs 20,000 crores in the budget to clean the rivers of the country by 2019-20. He said, "If needed, this amount will be hiked to Rs 1 lakh crore." Praising chief minister's Narmada Yatra, he said this was a milestone among the various campaigns in the world for river conservation. The 'Narmada yatra began on November 11, 2016, from Amarkantak, the origin of Narmada. It will come to an end on May 11 at the same location, covering both banks of the river. A core group of fifty people will lead the yatra. The core group will comprise of experts in various fields such as river conservation, sanitation, agriculture, organic farming and forest and environment. The yatra is mainly by foot. The Narmada river flows through the state of Madhya Pradesh for a distance of approximately 1,077 km, covering 16 districts and 51 blocks from Amarkantak in Anuppur district to Sondawa in Alirajpur district. During the 118 days of yatra, about 600 villages and 16 districts on the banks of the river Narmada will be covered. During the declaration of Narmada as a living entity, Union Minister of State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste and Minister of State (Independent Charge Sanjay Pathak, Hindu seer Swami Akhileshwaranand Giri, Atul Krishna Bharadwaj, Sadhvi Pragya Bharti and Sadhvi Yogmaya were present. Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Tuesday stirred a controversy by reiterating that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and the BJP had a "deal and understanding" with the Maoists in the state. He called for talks with all stakeholders to bring Maoist violence under control. "Chief Minister Raman Singh ji and the Bharatiya Janata Party win elections from there because they had a deal and understanding with the Maoists. I have said this before, and I am stating it again," Singh told reporters here. His statement came after Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday dubbed Monday's massacre of 25 CRPF personnel by Maoists in an ambush in Chhattisgarh as "cold-blooded murder" and said the Centre will review its anti-Maoist strategy. The Congress leader also paid homage to the Central Reserve Police Force men killed in the ambush. Digvijay Singh said unless the state's tribal villagers are taken into confidence, Maoist violence cannot be brought under control. "The government should talk to all the stakeholders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government only believe in 'jumlas' and have been indulging in it since May 2014," he said. Fomer SP minister and gang rape accused Gayatri Prajapati, on Tuesday, was granted bail by a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court. He got bail along with two other accused Pintu Singh and Vikas Verma. The police had arrested Gayatri Prajapati, a high profile minister in Akhilesh government, on March 15. He is said to be very close to SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and sent him to judicial custory for 14 days. During his arrest, Gayatri wanted a narco test so that truth could come to light. After a Supreme Court directive on February 2017, a case of rape was registered at Gautam Palli police station in Lucknow. The case was registered against him under POCSO Act. He contested assembly polls (2017) from Amethi assembly constituency, but lost. Gayatri had been embroiled in controversy when a woman accused him of gang raping her at his residence. She had alleged that when she went to Gayatris residence, he laced her tea with some intoxicant. After consuming the tea, she fell unconscious. When she came to senses, she found that the minister and his men had raped her and made a video of the incident. The victim also accused him of sexually exploiting her minor daughter. This high profile case made news during UP assembly polls. DMK leader Stalin was detained in Thiruvarur for leading the state-wide bandh in Tamil Nadu in support of farmer crisis. The opposition parties, led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK), on Tuesday is observing a state-wide shutdown in support of drought-hit farmers. The DMK, the Congress, a multitude of trade unions, farmer bodies and even the film fraternity have pledged support to the shutdown. However, the E. Palaniswamy-led state government asserted that normalcy will not be affected. The police said it has taken all adequate steps, including proper deployment of personnel in order to maintain law and order in the state. Association of grocery shops, trade unions of auto drivers and local vegetable markets have also extended their support towards the bandh. DMK has called for shutdown in order to urge the central and state government to fulfill the farmers demands, including adequate relief and setting up of a Cauvery management board. However, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have termed the bandh call as being politically motivated. Earlier yesterday, the Tamil Nadu farmers suspended their protest till May 25 after chief minister's assurance. "If our demands are not fulfilled we will start our protest again after May 25. If we get train tickets, we will leave today," said Ayyakanu, an agitating farmer. Yesterday, Palaniswamy said he discussed the farmers' issue in the NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting and forwarded their demands to the prime minister. The farmers have been grabbing headlines for their unique and sometimes bizarre methods of protest since they arrived in Delhi over 38 days ago. Adorned with human skulls around their necks, the farmers attempted to grab the attention of authorities towards their condition and demands for drought relief package. The farmers have so far performed 'Angapradakshinam'rolling prostrate on the street at Jantar Mantarstaged suicides, conducted mock funerals, shaved off half their moustaches and beards, stripped in front of the prime minister's office, eaten dal and rice off the road, stood with mice in their mouths and have hung skulls around their necks, which they claim belong to farmers in their state who committed suicide because of mounting debt. The farmers have been demanding Centre's intervention to write off their loans from nationalised banks, a revised drought relief package and resolve the alleged drying up of the Tamil Nadu leg of the Kaveri river. The state government and the Madras High Court have already waived their loans from co-operative banks. The controversy over the price cap of coronary stents took a fresh turn, with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) tweeting a link to an order issued by the pricing regulator in February. Invoking the emergency clause of the Drug Price Control Order, 2013, the order, issued by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, instructs companies manufacturing stentsin particular, Abbott Healthcareto maintain production/import/supply of the coronary stents, and to submit weekly reports on stents produced and distributed. The reminder by the NPPA came in the wake of Abbott Healthcare announcing that it would be pulling out two of its latest generation stents from the market, including the bio-absorbable stent. Another multinational Medtronic too announced its decision to withdraw its latest stents from the market, citing the price control issue. The NPPA's reminder notwithstanding, the Medical Technology Association of India (MTAI) insists that while they are not against price control on stents, differential pricing for various categories of stents ensures that "quality and innovation are rewarded to keep that segment attractive and viable". Members of MTAI, an association of medical technology companies, said in a press statement that the National List of Essential Medicines concluded that the later generations of stents are not superior to earlier generations, and based on this, the NPPA has decided on one price for all Drug Eluting Stents (DES). According to the price cap on stents, the ceiling price of bare metal stents had been fixed at Rs 7,260, and that of drug eluting stents and biodegradable stents at Rs 29,600. "If all DES are the same, the industry should have some freedom in deciding which stents to market, as long as a broad range is still available. If in hindsight, the authorities feel that some DES are better than others, then there is a case for categorization of stents which is the main point which we have made to the NLEM, and continue to do so," the statement said. Ever since prices of coronary stents were capped in February, the NPPA has been taking several measures to ensure that the order is followed. At least 40 hospitals are under the regulator's scanner for overcharging patients for coronary stents. Renaming of six places by China in Arunachal Pradesh was not in retaliation for the Dalai Lama's visit to the state, but a way to convey Beijing's resoluteness in not making any concessions to New Delhi in border talks, a Chinese expert has said. Long Xingchun, Director at the Centre for Indian Studies at China West Normal University, said Beijing was magnanimous in not retaliating against New Delhi's provocations by arranging the Tibetan spiritual leader's repeated visits to Arunachal Pradesh. He also said some "radical" Indians were naive in thinking that New Delhi could out-do Beijing in armed clashes. In fact, Long said, India, which had more advantages in the 1962 war with China, should learn from its "erroneous strategic judgements". "Indian media outlets believe the move (renaming of six towns in Arunachal Pradesh) is China's revenge against the 14th Dalai Lama's visit to the disputed region on the China-India border. The standardisation of names demonstrates China is less likely to make concessions in border negotiations with India." Long wrote in the state-run Global Times daily. "New Delhi has arranged the Dalai Lama to visit the disputed area several times, attempting to strengthen control over South Tibet. Beijing, for the sake of friendly ties with New Delhi, only lodged diplomatic representations rather than taking retaliatory measures against India's provocations." Beijing calls the spiritual leader as a secessionist and claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet. China and India fought a brief war in 1962 over the region in which the latter was defeated. "Border disputes are core conflicts between Beijing and New Delhi. The 1962 Sino-Indian border clashes turned the friendly bilateral relationship into a confrontation." "Since the mechanism of the special representatives' meeting for the China-India Boundary Question was established in 2003, China and India have held 19 rounds of border talks. Both sides have kept border disputes under control and prevented them from impacting their diplomatic bilateral ties. "The two countries should exercise restraint on border disputes so as to maintain peace and tranquility, and in the meantime, create favourable conditions for negotiations." "Some radical Indians believe India's military strength has seen rapid growth and are eager to triumph over China in potential armed clashes. In fact, India had more advantages in 1962, and it should learn from its erroneous strategic judgments and carefully evaluate the current international situation." Long added. Long admitted the issues of India's clamouring for a berth in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and branding Pakistani militant Masood Azhar as an international terrorist were two "friction points" between New Delhi and Beijing. Last year, China rejected New Delhi's application to enter the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group and put a technical hold on its resolution against Azhar, who India calls a chief plotter of attack on its army base. "The two events have triggered anti-China protests in India. The Indian government allowed and even encouraged its public to boycott Chinese goods, and has arranged the Dalai Lama's visit to South Tibet as a reprisal against Beijing." "In fact, the Chinese government attaches great importance to its relationship with India. Beijing wants to work together with New Delhi to keep the conflicts under control, stabilise the bilateral relations, enhance economic cooperation and encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in India." "These are beneficial to Modi's 'Make in India' ambition and the country's economic development," Long added. Shivraj Singh Chouhan is an exceptional swimmerhe learned swimming in the turbulent Narmada, which flows behind his ancestral house in Jait village in Sehore. He has been equally dextrous in the stormy politics in Madhya Pradesh since he became chief minister in 2005. He survived many allegations of corruption to lead the BJP to victory in two assembly polls and has retained the Midas touch. The BJP won nine of ten assembly by-polls in the state in the past three years. That, however, might not be good enough to make him lead the party in the assembly elections late next year. At least the urgency in Chouhans acts says as much. A week ago, he hurriedly banned the use of polythene bags, saying that they killed cows who ate them. The same day, he shouted at a senior police officer for not giving a licence to a Maharashtra-based company. It was quite unlike Chouhan. It is said that the RSS nudged him to act fast on both occasions. And, he knows he needs to keep the Sangh in good humour to keep his chair, especially after the BJPs impressive victory in Uttar Pradesh. After three successive terms, anti-incumbency is going to play a part against the BJP in the assembly elections. Some leaders say that this factor will be stronger if Chouhan leads the party in the election. The party does not want to lose a big state, which has 29 Lok Sabha seats, especially a few months before the Lok Sabha elections due in May 2019. The rumours of Chouhan being removed became loud when Manohar Parrikar quit as defence minister to go back to Goa as chief minister. In fact, a spokesperson for the Madhya Pradesh government had to clarify that Chouhan was not going anywhere. It is no secret that BJP president Amit Shah is already looking past Chouhan. Shah had cornered Chouhan when the Vyapam scam rocked the state, but the RSS saved his skin. Being an Advani loyalist, Chouhan is not in Prime Minister Modis good books, either. Chouhan knows all these too well. He knows he no longer has the excuse of a Congress-led government at the Centre trying to undermine his work. He knows he does not fit well into Shahs grand scheme of things for the BJP. He knows the RSS will not watch his back for ever. So he embarked on the Narmada conservation yatra. Started in December, the yatra is a mix of environmental concerns and hindutva politics. It will cover 70 assembly constituencies in 16 districts through which the Narmada flows. Chouhan, however, denied any political motive behind the yatra. I love meeting people and try to shake hands with every person whom I come across. Sometimes in a day I shake hands with two to three thousand people. I love being with them, this is my way of getting feedback on government schemes, he said. The opposition Congress, however, has no doubts about his intentions. The chief minister is doing poll preparations at the cost of public exchequer, said Congress state president Arun Yadav. The yatra has been attended by the likes of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, the Dalai Lama and Baba Ramdev. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was present on December 11 at Amarkantak, where it began. Modi is expected to attend its conclusion on May 11. Is it doing Chouhan any good? Definitely it is making him more visible. Chouhan is essentially a 24-hour politician who has immense capacity to take political advantage from hardcore administrative and government initiatives. The way he has converted a forest conservation drive and an environment issue into a mass movement addressing hindutva and tribal population is a good example of this, said Sanjeev Shrivastava, a political commentator. On more occasions than one, Chouhan has escaped unscathed from allegations of corruption. But many BJP leaders say such allegations have damaged the party. Also, Chouhan thoroughly failed in fulfilling his promise of good governance. The state has reported the highest number of malnutrition deaths in India. Infant and maternal mortality rates are among the highest. Without teachers and funds, the education sector is a mess. Even some ministers have complained that bureaucrats had a free run in the state and Chouhan depended too much on them. Chouhan, however, is no pushover. He knows the pulse of the people and is still close to the RSS. And he keeps winning elections. What else does the party need? asked a Union minister who did not wish to be named. It is said that a section of the BJP leadership wants Chouhan in Delhi as Union agriculture minister. He could be a crucial link in the partys succession line of mass leaders after Modi. Chouhan, however, dismissed such rumours. I am an honest worker of the BJP doing the job entrusted to me by the party. I am happy where I am, he told the media in Bhopal. It seems Chouhan does not want to leave Madhya Pradesh. And he is working overtime to show that he is indispensable to the party in the state. He has launched pro-poor schemes to fill the gaps in his governance, such as one kilo of wheat for a rupee and one kilo of rice for two rupees. The Deendayal Rasoi Yojana offers lunch for Rs 5 in all district headquarters. The Mukhyamantri Ashray Yojana offers free land to build house in rural areas. Farmers are given 020,000 a hectare for planting trees in their fields on the banks of the Narmada. And, he is making sure that these are getting noticedhe spends 25 days in a month addressing rallies and functions. His capacity to work for more than 16 hours a day without any ego hassles makes him a formidable politician. Working in campaign mode is his style, said BJP leader Rajneesh Agarwal. Chouhan is at his best when he is among people. Arguably, none of the BJPs other 12 chief ministers enjoys the connect he has with the masses. And, he has a knack for converting a crisis into an opportunity. Shah must be aware of it. Jatayu, a mythical demigod in the Ramayan, was a valorous vulture which went down fighting Ravan, who was carrying away Sita. Looking for her, Ram comes across the dying bird, with its wings chopped off, and urges it to rise. But it cannot, and he gives the bird moksha or liberation. Today, conservationists are hoping that their efforts to raise the number of vultures in India do not meet with Jatayus fate. A birds eye view of the habitat Indias only sanctuary for vultures in Ramanagara in Karnatakaknown for a Ram templeis one of the centres trying to revive the critically endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), commonly known as the Indian vulture, survives mainly on bovine carcasses. This carrion bird plays a major role in the food chain by feeding on carcasses, thus preventing water and soil contamination and epidemics. Currently, there are seven long-billed vultures in the rocky hillocks of Ramanagara, which appeared as Ramgad in the Bollywood blockbuster Sholay. The Karnataka government declared the area a vulture sanctuary in 2012. Long Billed Vulture Since the 1990s, the population of the Indian vulture has fallen by almost 98 per centthe fastest rate of population decline among birds in history. Environmentalists say the Ravan in this tragedy is the anti-inflammatory veterinary drug diclofenac. The drug, which remains in the carcasses of cattle, enters the vultures systems, and causes renal failure within 48 hours. India banned the drug in 2006, but it is easily available in the black market. Activists are trying to promote alternatives such as meloxicam, which is relatively less harmful to vultures but more expensive. More awareness about the threat to vultures has to be spread among local vets and cattle-rearers, says Chris Bowden, a globally threatened species officer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, a UK-based NGO. Human disturbance near the vultures habitat is also a reason for the dwindling population, says Bowden, who is currently working at Ramanagara. Though Nimesulide is now used as an alternative for diclofenac, there are attempts to find safer options. The long-billed vulture, along with white-rumped (Gyps bengalensis) and slender-billed (Gyps tenuirostris) species, comes under Schedule One of the Wildlife Actthe same classification that guarantees maximum legal protection to tigers. The vultures, which are mostly monogamous, lay only one egg a year, making the regeneration process slow. And the chicks take five years to become breeding adults. The situation is so grave that Parsisa dwindling community that believes in sky burialhave been forced to look at alternative funeral methods such as cremation. Usually, the Zoroastrian community leaves dead bodies in its Towers of Silence for vultures to feed on, and liberate the soul. The Ramadevarabetta Vulture Sanctuary, however, provides hope. Local activists and the forest department have come up with revival plans and restricted human activity in the 346.14-hectare sanctuary. A conservationist demonstrates the importance of vultures to kids. One such keen activist is self-styled naturalist Shashi Kumar of Ramanagara. Every morning he visits the sanctuary, and focuses his binoculars on the rocky cliffs. As I click his pics, his expression turns from curious to anxious. The vultures are not there at their usual nesting place, a naturally formed ledge, where they sit like meditating monksa sight that made me fall in love with them. It has been two days since they were last seen, he says, poignantly. Shashi Kumar surveys the skies for returning vultures. Every time I see the nest empty, my heart skips a beat, says Shashi, as he settles down under a tree, where he would camp the whole day, waiting for the vultures that would have flown hundreds of kilometres foraging to return. Will they? As the world braces for a possible North Korean nuclear test, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged restraint in a call to President Donald Trump. Americas U.N. envoy warned of a strike if Pyongyang attacks a U.S. military base or tests an intercontinental ballistic missile. Xis phone call with Trump came amid signs Pyongyang could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test explosion since 2006, or the latest in a rapid series of missile tests, further advancing its ambitions of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland. In Washington, the Trump administration invited the entire 100-member Senate for a briefing Wednesday on the escalating crisis. Adding to the atmosphere of animosity, officials said North Korea has detained a third U.S. citizen. Trump told ambassadors from U.N. Security Council members that the status quo in North Korea is unacceptable and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions. This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem, and its a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now its time to solve the problem, he said at the White House. North Korea poses one the sternest national security challenges facing the 3-month-old Trump administration. The administration has settled on a strategy emphasizing increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, rather than trying to overthrow Kim Jong Uns isolated government or use military force. But senior officials have repeatedly said that all options remain on the table. China is a traditional ally of North Korea and fought on its side in the 1950-53 Korean War. Those ties have frayed, but Beijing remains the Norths economic lifeline. The Xi-Trump call on Monday morning Beijing time was the second time the two leaders have spoken by telephone since meeting in Florida earlier this month. Xi told Trump that China strongly opposes North Koreas nuclear weapons program, which violates U.N. Security Council resolutions, and hopes all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Chinas official broadcaster CCTV said. A White House readout of the call said Trump criticized North Koreas continued belligerence and the leaders reaffirmed the urgency of the threat. They committed to strengthening coordination to denuclearize North Korea, a statement said. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and ships in the strike group accompanying it are continuing to move toward the South Korea region, after completing a short naval exercise with Japanese ships in the Philippine Sea. But the ships are probably several days from arriving in the region. In addition to the Carl Vinson, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered, guided-missile submarine, is due to arrive Tuesday on a routine port visit at Busan, South Korea, a U.S. defense official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the ship movement publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity. Tuesday marks the founding anniversary of North Koreas armed forces. It has marked such dates in the past with displays of its military capabilities. Commercial satellite imagery suggests the North has been readying for weeks for an underground atomic explosion, and could conduct one at any time. Alternatively, a long-range missile test could show North Korean progress toward being able to fire a weapon at America. But any decision by Trump to resort to military action would be highly risky, principally because the capital of close ally South Korea lies within range of North Korea artillery and rockets. Nikki Haley, Trumps U.N. ambassador, said Monday the U.S. wasnt looking for a fight with Kim and wouldnt attack North Korea unless he gives us reason to do something. She praised Chinas increased pressure on North Korea. Asked about the threshold for U.S. action, Haley told NBCs Today that if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously were going to do that. But asked what would happen if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, Haley said, I think then the president steps in and decides whats going to happen. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the briefing to senators will be delivered by four top administration officials: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford. The latest American held in North Korea is Tony Kim, who also goes by his Korean name Kim Sang-duk. The 58-year old taught accounting for a month at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. He was detained on Saturday, according to Park Chan-mo, the university chancellor. No details on why Kim was detained have been released. (AP) [PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE] Russias President Mr. Putin sends his Pesach greetings to Russian Jewry/ Maos Chitin has expanded this year to hundreds of frum families. Spanning the vast country, from Moscow, Siberia, and to the Far East over 500 Pubic Seders were attended by thousands upon thousands of Russian Jews. In Moscow alone, there were over 150 Public Seders. The largest of them was led by Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, in the central Marina Roscha Shul. Before beginning the seder, special greetings from Russias president Mr. Vladimir Putin were read aloud to the guests. The president addressed the Jewish Holiday of Freedom in his letter which was sent to Rabbi Lazars offices on Erev Pesach. Dozens of additional Pesach Seders were held in the capital city: In the Jewish Community Center of Marina Roscha, in the Shaarey Tzedek Chesed Center, in the Beit Shvidler Educational Campus, and in many other institutions near the Central Shul. The Seders were organized by language, age groups, and levels of yiddishkeit, so that every single Jew can find the Seder that is most suitable for them. Additionally, close to 30 Seders were held in various Chabad Houses throughout Moscow; in all Shuls, Jewish Community Centers, and even in the Butirsky Prison. This is the worlds oldest jail which has been continuously working for more than two hundred and forty years, where many Jews have been imprisoned for the crime of observing Torah and Mitzvot. In preparation for the Seders, dozens of bochrim; children of Moscows Shluchim, young men from the capitals Kolel, and about 150 students of the Yeshiva Gedola and Mesivta in Moscow, were sent out to cities all over Russia. Many of these cities do not have shluchim present all year and wait for the bochrim to come and help them make the Pesach Seders for the thousands of local Jews. Photography: Levi Nazarov President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday morning 27 Nissan held a working meeting at his residence in Jerusalem with Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern who was making his first visit to Israel. Later the Chancellor was due to visit Yad Vashem, and then participate in the Yom HaShoah commemorations. President Rivlin thanked the Chancellor for his visit, and for his longstanding support for Israel. The President spoke of the importance of cooperation between Israel and Austria in many fields, especially in the field of sustainable energy in which he noted Austria was a world leader. He stated, Cooperation between our two countries is growing stronger, and we know that under your leadership, Austria will continue to play a positive role in promoting cooperation; cooperation between Israel and the European Union, and also between Israel and its neighbors. Mr. Rivlin spoke of the Chancellors visit on the occasion of Yom HaShoah and said, Mr. Chancellor, we are connected not only by the present and future, but also by the past: and of course the painful past of the Holocaust. This painful past, and especially the issue of Austrias responsibility for its part in this past, have influenced our diplomatic relationship. Tonight, Israel is marking its national Holocaust Memorial Day in which we appreciate that you will take part. Israel appreciates your leadership in promoting awareness of this collective responsibility in Austria. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism and fascism have not disappeared not in Austria, and not in Europe. He added, I would like to also express my appreciation for your strong and clear voice against such intolerance and hatred. We face challenges and we face opportunities: but we can face them together. Chancellor Kern thanked the President for his warm welcome, and spoke of the importance of the economic bilateral relations between the two countries. He said, Last year we celebrated the 60th anniversary of our full diplomatic relations, and today the bilateral relations have reached unprecedented levels. Our trade relations, investments, and tourism have reached all-time high levels. He noted that, Israel has gained a reputation as one of the most important Start-Up Nations, and this concept has reached and inspired so many Austrians, and added Israel was a vibrant place, it is an incredible economic dynamic that you have realized here, and Israel has become a model for many other countries. He went on to say that Visiting Israel is not always about the future, it is also very much about our history and our legacy. He noted, We have come a long way from the official denial, to the acknowledgement of our responsibility for the darkest chapters of our history. It really took decades, but tonight we will honor the martyrs and the heroes of the Holocaust, hand in hand, and shoulder to shoulder. The Chancellor went on to recount that his grandmother had worked in the home of a Jewish couple in Vienna who were forced into hiding when the Nazis arrived in Austria. He told how his mother as a child, would take food to the couple each day until one day she arrived to find the Gestapo there who chased her away. He explained the Jewish couple were never seen again. He noted his mother would often tell him about this and stressed, These days, we have to be aware the direct line of remembrance is breaking, the witnesses of that dark period are passing away. He went on to explain he had also served as the CEO of the Austrian Railways, during which time he had worked to promote an understanding of the history of the railways during the Second World War, which had provided a logistical backbone for the Nazis. The Chancellor concluded, We have to increase our efforts to keep the memory alive, and we dont just do this to honor the memory of the victims, but I am convinced we must do this for ourselves and for the next generation. It shows and defines in which society and in which future we want to live. He stressed, Wherever anti-Semitism raises its ugly head we will stand together with our Jewish friends and fight against it. We will never rest to guarantee the integrity, dignity, and the safety of our fellow Jewish citizens. I stand here as a true friend of Israel, committed to continuously growing the relationship between Austria and Israel, and I am looking forward to doing that over the coming days. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Mark Neiman, PO) Esther Hotzlman is an 84-year-old widow who lives with one of her children in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem. She immigrated to Israel at the age of 13 after surviving the Holocaust. Esther originally hails from Greece and has had a momentous life in Israel. She served in the IDF shortly after the state was established, raised three children and numerous grandchildren, and served her country honorably and well as she said in her own words. While in second grade and living in Greece, Esther suffered under the German occupation and watched as the Nazis rounded up all of the Jews in Salonika and the surrounding area and sent them off to the concentration and death camps of Germany. Esthers family traveled between villages and stayed ahead of the Nazis. Whenever they heard that the Germans were coming to the town they were living in they picked up and moved before the Germans were able to arrive. Eventually, the family got hold of false papers stating that they were Christians. Thus they were able to leave Greece and eventually head to Israel after the war ended. Today, Esther is dealing with numerous medical issues due to her age. One of the bright spots in her life are the weekly visits that she receives from Yehuda Amitai, a volunteer EMT with United Hatzalah who also volunteers as part of the Ten Kavod project. As part of the project, Amitai pays weekly house calls to Esther in order to check up on her medical status, check her vitals, and offer her some companionship. Amitai is one of more than 200 volunteers countrywide who is part of the project that helps elderly and often isolated people, many of whom are holocaust survivors, monitor their health. Volunteers monitor pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, sugar levels and other vital signs, and if there is a drastic change the volunteers are instructed to relay that information to the patients family physician. For Amitai, like many of the Ten Kavod volunteers, the visits have created bonds of friendship with the patients. In many cases, the volunteer and the patient treat each other as family. The volunteers worry about the patients and help them in ways that go beyond the requirements of their volunteering. For me, it is a huge honor to be able to meet with Esther each week, Amitai said. Hearing her story, learning from her and helping her, lead me to believe that I get more from the visits than she does. Esther is a terrific person who is full of life. I learn so much from her and from the experiences that she shares with me. I am overjoyed each time I go to her home and help her with whatever I can. Helping people like Esther, who underwent the worst tragedy that humanity has ever known and who were responsible for founding and building this country, is the least I can do. We all need to support and assist these heroes, in whatever way we can. By doing so, we not only help them, we help ourselves far more. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) At Limmud FSU Moscow, the largest-ever festival for Russian-speaking Jews, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked told the Moscow Jewish community that Israel would be happy if Russia moved its embassy to Jerusalem. The fact that Russia talks about Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel is significant progress for us, said Shaked, who is also the only secular woman in the Jewish Home party. We would be happy if Russia would follow the United States lead and consider moving the Russian embassy to Jerusalem. Elaborating on Israeli-Russian relations, Shaked added: This is a period of prosperity between Israel and Russia. Israeli-Russian relations have never been so positive, and neither has the attitude of the Russian government toward Jews and Judaism. On Russias involvement in Syria, Shaked said, Russia must prevent Iran from taking over Syria, and not allow the transfer of arms to Hezbollah or other terrorist organizations. The Russian government has told me that its important for them to respect international law, but protecting their own interests is of the utmost importance. In my opinion, this is the correct approach for a state to take and Israel should also define for itself what its interests are, and act accordingly. Also, speaking at the conference this weekend was Russias chief rabbi, Berel Lazar, among others. The event included more than 250 workshops, roundtables and activities for children, and 12 lectures each hour on topics ranging from Jewish history, to politics, to cooking, and more. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) A new study held at the University of Haifa among Holocaust survivors has revealed a specific population group with a high suicide rate. The study found that people who immigrated to Israel from countries where most of the Jewish population was murdered in the Holocaust, such as Germany, Austria, Poland, and Greece, show the highest suicide rates. People who immigrated to Israel during the Holocaust may have expected a safe refuge, but found themselves facing persecution once again during the period before independence. This situation may have contributed to the higher risk of suicide among this group, commented Dr. Cendrine Bursztein Lipsicas, one of the authors of the study. An academic debate continues regarding the psychological effects of the Holocaust, and whether the Holocaust is responsible for a higher risk of suicide among survivors. In the past, some studies found that Holocaust survivors are actually stronger in physical and mental terms, while others found that survivors face more negative psychological effects. In a series of studies, Prof. Stephen Levine and Prof. Itzhak Levav of the Department of Community Mental Health at the University of Haifa, together with other researchers, attempted to examine the impact of exposure to the Holocaust in various areas, such as suicide and schizophrenia. The unique aspect of these studies is that they focused on two sub-groups liable to be at particularly high risk: people who experienced the entire Holocaust (as distinct from those who immigrated to Israel during the Holocaust); and people exposed to the Holocaust at different ages, including those exposed in the womb, among others. The present study, in which Dr. Bursztein Lipsicas was a partner, divided the research population into subjects who lived in countries where over 70 percent of the Jews were murdered (such as Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Poland) and those from countries such as Denmark, France, and Romania, where less than 50 percent of the Jews were murdered. These two groups were then divided again into those who experienced the entire Holocaust before reaching Israel and those who immigrated during the Holocaust. The control group in the study were individuals who immigrated to Israel from Europe before anti-Semitic activities began in their country of origin, but who had social or family connections with others who were exposed to the Holocaust. Thanks to the cooperation of the Ministry of the Interior, the study included a total of 209,249 people who immigrated to Israel through 1965. The findings found only one group that shows a higher risk of suicide: those who immigrated to Israel during the Holocaust from countries where over 70 percent of the Jews were annihilated. The suicide risk among this group was almost twice that in the control group. In all the other groups, no differences were found by comparison to those who immigrated to Israel before the beginning of the Second World War. This is the first time that researchers have identified at higher suicide risk among individuals who immigrated to Israel during the Holocaust. Last year, the researchers published a study that found that the suicide risk among women who immigrated to Israel during the Holocaust was 4.6 times higher than among women in the control group. The researchers suggest that the gulf between these womens success in fleeing the Holocaust and their clear awareness of the cruel fate that awaited those who did not manage to escape may activate psychological mechanisms that increase the risk of suicide. It is possible that the trauma that resulted from the terrible violence they had witnessed, together with their escape, led to serious feelings of guilt and helplessness. This may raise the risk of suicide even decades after the exposure to the terrible events. Our studies show that Holocaust survivors cannot be treated as a homogenous population when it comes to psychological contexts such as the risk of suicide or mental illness, the researchers concluded. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The terrorist who perpetrated the attack at the Kalandia Checkpoint on Monday morning has been identified as Asya Kabaneh, 41, from Duma in the Shechem area. She is married and the mother of nine. She told her investigators that she has been engaged in a lengthy conflict with her husband who has threatened to divorce her. It was also learned that she quarreled with her husband last night over the education of their children. As a result, she decided to commit a terrorist attack so that the security forces would shoot her because in her words she was fed up with her life. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) No modern airport terminal is complete without an ATM, and Pyongyangs now has two. But they dont work because of new Chinese sanctions, according to bank employees and its not clear when they will. ATMs are an alien enough concept in North Korea that those in the capitals shiny new Sunan International Airport have a video screen near the top showing how they work and how to set up an account to use them. The explanatory video is in Korean, but the machines, which are meant primarily for Chinese businesspeople and tourists, dont give out cash in the North Korean currency. ATMs are not entirely new to the North. Years ago, the Ryugyong Commercial Bank installed one in a midrange tourist hotel in central Pyongyang frequented by Chinese. Another ATM was spotted at the airport last year, but it never appeared to be turned on. Additionally, customers who flash the banks gold or silver ATM cards at two upscale stores that sell a wide array of imported foods and luxury items qualify for discounts. How much North Koreas ATMs have actually been used is a matter of debate. Booking office employees said the ATMs at the airports international terminal were installed a few months ago but are still in a test phase. According to tellers at the banks small office in the hotel where it has its other ATM, none of the machines are working because of Chinese sanctions that they said kicked in last month. The Ryugyong Commercial Bank isnt a very well-known entity outside of North Korea. According to Curtis Melvin, a senior fellow at the U.S.-Korea Institute at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and a frequent contributor to the North Korea-watching 38 North website, it is part of a larger conglomerate of entities that includes the Ryugyong Kimchi Factory, the Ryugyong Household Goods Factory and the Ryugyong Electric Appliances Factory, along with a popular fitness center and spa in Pyongyang. Chinas banking regulator did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on whether China has imposed restrictions on Chinese bank users ability to make transactions at the ATMs in Pyongyang. If sanctions are in fact why the ATMs arent working, that could be a sign that Beijing is squeezing Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons and long-range missile programs. China is isolated North Koreas main economic lifeline and has been under increasing pressure from President Donald Trump to do more to rein in its neighbor. The Norths finance and banking sectors are major targets. But how much Chinese policy toward North Korea has changed is hard to gauge. Though China banned coal imports from the North in February, overall trade between the two countries has grown in recent months. Trade in the first quarter was actually up 37 percent from the same period in 2016, reaching $1.2 billion. About $720 million of that were exports from China to North Korea. In any case, there will likely soon be fewer Chinese tourists for the ATMs to serve. Several Chinese tourism companies are eliminating or offering fewer North Korea tours because of increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and sagging demand amid safety fears. Air China also announced this month that it has discontinued its underperforming Beijing-Pyongyang route. That leaves North Koreas Air Koryo as the only airline regularly flying into and out of Pyongyangs international airport. Most foreigners arriving at the airport are whisked out of the terminal lobby before they have time to notice the ATMs anyway. But now, at least, theyre plugged in. (AP) Police announced that Har Habayis was closed to Jewish visitors on Monday, 28 Nissan, Holocaust Memorial Day. Two youths who came to the gate to hang a sign protesting the closure were detained by a guard and then arrested for their actions. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) expressed outrage that radical Sharia advocate Linda Sarsour has been invited to give a CUNY commencement speech. Sarsour, a self-proclaimed activist who glorified and encouraged terrorist stone throwers as courageous, was invited by the City University of New Yorks Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy to address this years graduating class. Having already called on Chancellor James Milliken to step in and rescind this invitation, Hikind is now calling upon Governor Andrew Cuomo to prevent this outrage from occurring. Governor Cuomo has been a great supporter of Israel and the Israeli people, said Hikind. Our Governor has stood firm against the racist BDS movement. He recently visited Israel stating, If you really care, you show up. Now I ask the Governor to intervene in this outrageous choice. Linda Sarsours record of advocating for terrorists speaks for itself. If she had only called Arabs who hurl rocks at moving cars the definition of courage, that would have been enough. Stones killed Adva Bittons three-year-old daughter Adele and badly injured her other two small children in 2013 in Israel. But theres so much more! Sarsour publicly called for violence against Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a feminist Muslim author who opposes violence She recently shared a stage with and praised Rasmea Yousef Odeh, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine convicted by an Israeli court for her role in the murder of two students, Leon Kanner and Eddie Joffe, in a Jerusalem supermarket bombing. The United States and the rest of the free world are locked in conflict with terrorists and rogue nations that employ the cruelest tactics against innocent victims. Those who applaud terrorists must be exposed for what they are. It would be bad enough if a private university were to offer Sarsour a platform, but a City university funded by our tax dollars? Sarsour is not the benevolent voice of peaceful Islam. She does not seek to build bridges. She is a propagandist and an apologist for terrorists. She is not someone CUNY should be inviting to speak to its graduates. (YWN Headquarters NYC) [By: Charles E. Schumer] Each year on Yom Hashoah, we are called on to do something that sounds very simpleremember. But in fact, it is much more than just a simple task of recollection; it is a moral imperative, as sacred and as holy as a commandment. We must remember the innocent victims of the Holocaust who cannot speak for themselves, whose memory calls down to us through the decades for justice. We must teach our children and the children of the world what happened to the Jews of the Holocaust, so that such evil is never revisited on our people or on any other people. Ever since I was a young boy, I heard stories about my great-grandmother, who lived in the Ukrainethen part of Galiciawhen the Nazis invaded in 1941. Shortly after the occupation began, SS stormtroopers ordered my great-grandmother to gather all her children and grandchildren on her porch. The troopers came to the porch and instructed the family to go with them. My great-grandmother refused, saying, I will not leave. The troopers proceeded to gun down the 17 souls who stood on that porch, killing them all. Many Jews have stories like this. And though it is painful to remember and talk about, we must continue to do so, because over time the world forgets. In 2013, a survey of more than 53,000 respondents in 101 countries found that only 54 percent of the worlds adults had heard of the Holocaustand of those, one-third believed it was either a myth or had been greatly exaggerated. Those are dispiriting numbers and they remind us of the job we have to do. So when my wife and children and I travel to Europe, we make a point of visiting the ghettos. Whether its in Venice or Prague, the vast majority of the visitors are Jewish, which gives me great pride that we are still teaching our children the tragic lessons of the Holocaust. And when I visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington and see schoolchildren from across the country and around the worldmany of whom are not Jewishit keeps me hopeful that we are still teaching the children of the world. They are all confronted with that pile of the shoes collected from the camps; that singular image of the inhumanity of the crimes committed against the Jewish people In recent years, the importance of Holocaust remembrance has been amplified by the fact that we continue to lose so many members of that first generation of survivors. Last July, we lost the incomparable Elie Wiesel, who dedicated his life to giving voice to those whounlike himwere not lucky enough to escape the horrors of the Holocaust. He believed that describing the ghastly details of a single night at Treblinka could shake humanity from its indifferenceto make sure the torturer never tortures again. Today there are fewer than 100,000 Holocaust survivors left in the world, according to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. So the burden is even greater on my generation and my childrens generation to commemorate Yom Hashoah, because one day soon we will not have Holocaust survivors to help keep the memory alive. We will have to speak out even louder and be even more vigilant against any effort to minimize or erase the Holocaust in our history books and our memory. We will have to work even harder to shake the conscience of the world. It is fitting that Yom Hashoah falls so soon after Passover, a holiday whose purpose is to remember and instruct future generations of Jews about the pain of slavery. Like the Jews who first entered the Holy Land after escaping from Egypt and wandering 40 years to forget the pain of slavery, we are now called on to keep the same of memory alive, though we are not witnesses. We are now called on to teach the world the meaning of the Shoah [Holocaust], this year and every year henceforward, so that we are never witnesses to such darkness in the world again. (YWN Headquarters NYC) The United States could strike North Korea if it attacks a U.S. military base or tests an intercontinental ballistic missile, President Donald Trumps U.N. ambassador said Monday. In several television interviews, Nikki Haley praised Chinas involvement in trying to pressure North Korea to cease missile testing and criticized Pyongyangs leader, Kim Jong Un, as unstable and paranoid. Asked about the threshold for U.S. action, Haley told NBCs Today Show that if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously were going to do that. Haley said the U.S. wasnt looking for a fight and wouldnt attack North Korea unless he gives us reason to do something. The Trump administration has been working to rally support behind its efforts to pressure Pyongyang into abandoning its nuclear program and ending missile tests. Trump spoke again to the leaders of China and Japan late Sunday to discuss the matter. The White House said in a brief statement Monday that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed the urgency of the threat posed by North Korea. Trump has repeatedly promised that China will earn a better trade deal with the U.S. if it helps to exert pressure on its allied neighboring nation. When asked what would happen if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, Haley told NBC: I think then the president steps in and decides whats going to happen. North Korea has been aggressively pursuing a decades-long goal of putting a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. North Korea conducted two nuclear tests last year alone, which would have improved its knowledge on making nuclear weapons small enough to fit on long-range missiles. South Korean officials say theres a chance the country will conduct its sixth nuclear test or its maiden test launch of an ICBM around the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday. Haley said the U.S. is working with China to pressure North Korea on the missile and nuclear testing and other issues, including the detention over the weekend of a U.S. citizen, bringing to three the number of Americans now being held there. Haley said the detentions are North Koreas effort to have a bargaining chip for talks with the U.S. What were dealing with is a leader who is flailing right now and hes trying to show his citizens he has muscle, Haley told CBS This Morning. (AP) President Donald Trump could avert the risk of a government shutdown next weekend by stepping back from his demand that lawmakers fund his promised border wall with Mexico in a must-pass spending bill, Congress two top Democrats said Monday. If the president stepped out of it, we could get a budget done by Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday in a conference call with reporters, referring to Democratic and Republican budget negotiators. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed. She said that while Trump had promised during his campaign to build the barrier, He did not promise that he would take food out of the mouths of babies and cut programs for seniors, education and the environment to pay for it. She called the wall an immoral, ineffective, unwise proposal. Democrats timed their call to mark the 100th day of Trumps presidency, which falls next Saturday. They said that Trump has repeatedly broken his campaign promises to help working-class Americans, and cited a GOP health care bill that Pelosi called a moral monstrosity, proposed cuts in domestic programs and a failure to advance tougher trade policies. Saturday is the same day the government will run out of money unless lawmakers pass legislation financing federal agencies. White House officials and leaders of both parties have said they dont want a government shutdown. But administration officials have continued to demand that lawmakers include money for the wall in the spending bill, and the proposal has emerged as the biggest stumbling block to a budget agreement. Instead of risking a government shutdown by shoving this wall down Congress and the American peoples throats, the president ought to just let us come to an agreement, said Schumer. Trump said during his campaign that Mexico would pay for the structure, estimated to cost perhaps tens of billions of dollars. Mexican officials have refused, so the White House is seeking taxpayer money for the downpayment to begin construction. In a tweet Monday, Trump said his proposed border wall would be a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! Over the weekend, he tweeted, Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall. To mark his 100th day in the White House, Trump has announced a rally in Pennsylvania that day. Despite Trumps dismissal that the 100-day marker is artificial, the White House has packed his schedule for Monday. Trump will sign executive orders on energy and rural policies, meet with the president of Argentina and travel to Atlanta for a National Rifle Association event. Top aides will also fan out around the country to promote the administration. Trump also plans to outline an ambitious tax cut plan on Wednesday, telling The Associated Press last week that it would include a massive tax break for both individuals and corporations. Trump would like to revive a failed effort by House Republicans to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. He also hopes to use the $1 trillion catchall spending bill to salvage victories on his promised border wall, a multibillion-dollar down payment on a Pentagon buildup, and perhaps a crackdown on cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement by federal authorities. So far, negotiations have proven difficult, with disputes over the wall and health law subsidies to help low-income people afford health insurance. House members received little information from leaders on a conference call this past Saturday. White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said on NBCs Meet the Press that hes confident the spending bill will include something satisfactory to reflect Trumps desire to build a wall. The legislation would keep the government running through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal 2017 budget year. We expect the priorities of the president to be reflected, Priebus said, citing ongoing talks with the House and the Senate. It will be enough in the negotiation for us to move forward with either the construction or the planning, or enough for us to move forward through the end of September to get going on the border wall and border security. Trump has repeatedly asserted that Mexico would pay for the wall, which he says is necessary to stop the flow of immigrants crossing the border illegally, as well as drug smugglers. On Obamas health law, Priebus said hed like to have a vote on the GOP repeal-and-replace bill in the House this week. But he insisted it didnt make too much difference to the White House whether the vote came Friday or Saturday or Monday. (AP) Mayor Bill de Blasio is proposing free, full-day early childhood education for all of New York Citys 3-year-olds by the fall of 2021. De Blasio said Monday that the city hopes to launch a pilot of the 3-K program next fall year at a cost of $36 million. But the state and federal governments would have to pitch in. The cost would rise to $177 million when the program is fully in place. The pilot program would focus on low-income districts in the South Bronx and Brownville, Brooklyn. De Blasio has promoted universal pre-K as his administrations signature achievement. The administration says the city has more than tripled the number of 4-year-olds enrolled in free, full-day pre-K. (AP) South Koreas military said Tuesday that North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military. The exercise took place as a U.S. guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea and envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo to discuss the growing threat posed by North Koreas nuclear weapons and missiles program. Experts thought North Korea might conduct a nuclear test or a ballistic missile launch to mark the anniversary, but as of Tuesday evening neither had occurred. Crowds in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, laid flowers and paid respects at giant statues of the countrys former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, one day after the minister of defense reiterated that the North was ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any measures it deems necessary to defend itself against U.S. imperialists. The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression, Gen. Pak Yong Sik told a meeting of thousands of senior military and civilian officials. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where it said the drills were being held. South Koreas Yonhap news agency said the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seouls Defense Ministry couldnt confirm such details. The streets of Pyongyang were quiet. Flower-laying and bowing at statues and portraits of the leaders is a regular routine on major anniversaries. People also gathered in open spaces to take part in organized dancing, another common way to mark holidays. Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day, said Choe Un Byol, who came with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders. North Korea often also marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15. Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Koreas nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the countrys preparation for an ICBM launch is in its final stage. The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Cmdr. Jang Wook from South Korean navy public affairs said there was no plan for a drill. The submarines arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier headed toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea. The U.S. 7th Fleet said two American destroyers were conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan. Despite the buildup, U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the Norths only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Koreas government. Trump told ambassadors from U.N. Security Council member countries that they must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea. This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not, Trump said at a White House meeting Monday. North Korea is a big world problem, and its a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now its time to solve the problem. Nikki Haley, Trumps U.N. ambassador, said the United States is not looking for a fight with Kim and would not attack North Korea unless he gives us reason to do something. She praised Chinas increased pressure on North Korea. Asked about the threshold for U.S. action, Haley told American broadcaster NBC that if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously were going to do that. But asked what if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, she said, I think then the president steps in and decides whats going to happen. The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed Tuesday to put maximum pressure on North Korea, the Souths envoy for North Korea said after meeting his American and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo. We agreed to warn North Korea to stop any additional strategic provocation and take intolerably strong punitive measures against Pyongyang if it goes ahead with such provocations, Kim Hong-kyun told reporters following his meeting with Joseph Yun of the U.S. and Japans Kenji Kanasugi. Kim said they discussed ways to get more cooperation from China and Russia, which they agreed is crucial to applying effective pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. He said they also recognized Chinas recent steps toward that goal. Japans Foreign Ministry announced that Chinas envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, was arriving in Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi that may take place later this week. (AP) Its a whole new world out there, and J-Biz Expo and Business Conference is the place to be. It is the place where you will get to personally meet the movers and shakers of the business world under the same roof as grassroots business owners and entrepreneurs, and hundreds of dynamic, innovative exhibitors you would love to consider doing business with. This year, this event the worlds largest Jewish community B2B event is a just a few weeks away, on Wednesday, June 15 th , at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, New Jersey. If you have business or professional service that can benefit other businesses in any industry, of any size J-Biz offers you opportunity like no other. Reserve prime exhibition space on the floor and build relationships with attendees face to face. Within a span of just a few hours, you can expand your client list a lot more effectively than cold calls and advertising will do for you. With every day that passes, the reach of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce, which hosts J-Biz, is broader and more prestigious. Within the past year alone, the Chamber was honored in the U.S. Senate; hosted a major symposium at the Israeli Knesset; and opened its New York office in the heart of Wall Street. Various high level corporations and individuals have already confirmed their participation at this years event which will be broadcast live on Breitbart News and other major media outlets. Business, communal, and even diplomatic, leaders in the U.S., Israel and beyond are actively involved in the planning and outreach for this years expo, ensuring broader and more promising participation than ever before. Talks are underway with some of the most successful and captivating personalities in the world to present at the J-Biz Business Conference, which takes place in the morning, before the main B2B floor opens. Additional details about presenters, schedule and more will be released in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned! Reserving floor space is easier than ever before. The J-Biz website gives you all the tools to do it online, down to selecting your preferred location. Of course, the J-Biz team would be glad to personally guide you through the reservations process as well. Another special service, new for this year, empowers businesses who desire to exhibit at the Expo but whose staff cannot personally be at the booth. J-Biz has contracted with a highly regarded company that can prepare and staff your booth with the professionalism and dedication you would expect from your own team. The windows of opportunity are open for you. Go ahead; participate; think big; and, with Hashems help, you will emerge the winner. For more information about J-Biz, booth reservations and sponsorship opportunities, please visit https://www.jbizexpo.com/. Dont wait until its too late! Protesting is nothing new. I grew up in the 1960's watching anti-war demonstrations on TV. If you ever go downtown, you are likely the find a march, demonstration or protest every day of the week. Last Friday, the Northwest Side GOP held a fundraiser called the "WE-BELLION BASH" which featured former congressman and current talk radio host Joe Walsh. He appears in Chicago on WIND 560-AM 5pm-7pm daily along with being syndicated in some national markets. Walsh gave an ambitious keynote address about conservatives back taking back Illinois which was extreme well received. Attendees feasted on pork sliders, tomato kabobs, and deep fried crab balls. The Walsh Freedom group marched in Northwest Side Saint Patrick's Day Parade earlier this year with about 150 people. The theme was "Thank You Blue" honoring and supporting police officers. Friday night as guests were arriving about 50 protests stood outside the Reoublican headquarters with a general theme of "resist." I asked as I mingled with the group , "resist what?" I did not really get an answer. They left after about 90 minutes without much fanfare. A couple hundred NW side Republicans attended the event held a block away from the headquarters at "The Garage" a local tavern. Local Republican committeeman Matt Podgorski is heading up the group that now has almost 600 members on their Facebook page. Their next event is June 14, 2017 at the Revel Bar(6::00pm) at 6169 North Northwest Highway in Chicago. It's titled: Making America Great Again, Flag Day and Trump's Birthday. This group is new with a large presence developing in Chicago. more information at www.NWSGOP.com. The scandal-hit former boss of BP has quit his oil venture in Kurdistan following years of spiralling losses. Tony Hayward is retiring as chairman of Genel Energy in June, just six years after taking over the firm. The 59-year old will be replaced by Stephen Whyte, an industry veteran who has worked for Shell and BG Group. Genel was formed in 2011 after Hayward teamed up with financier Nat Rothschild to acquire Turkish company Genel Energy International. It had been hoped that the firm, Hayward's first oil venture after leaving BP, would salvage his reputation following his disastrous handling of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Tony Hayward is retiring as chairman of Genel Energy in June, just six years after taking over the Kurdistan oil company Hayward, who served as chief executive of Genel before becoming chairman in 2015, said at the time that Kurdistan was 'undoubtedly one of the last great oil and gas frontiers'. But the company has been hampered by the downturn in oil prices and last month wrote down the value of its assets by nearly 608million. It also announced an operating loss of 961million for 2016, after 880million the year before, while sales slipped to 152million - missing a target of up to 184million that it had already downgraded. Its shares have slumped more than 92 per cent since it floated on the London Stock Exchange in June 2011, leaving it worth just over 200million from its previous value of 3.1billion. It marks another fall from grace for Hayward, who famously came under fire in 2010 when he decided to take a day off from dealing with the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, in which 11 people died, to attend a yacht race with his son in the Isle of Wight. Hayward had initially downplayed the spill in which more than 200m gallons of crude oil was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days saying that the environmental impact would likely be 'very very modest' and calling the spill 'relatively tiny' in comparison with the size of the ocean, before later changing his assessment. Hayward has also been chairman of troubled mining giant Glencore since 2013, which only restored its dividend this year after nearly being destroyed by debt in 2015. Genel said that Mr Hayward would step down as chairman and director at the conclusion of its annual general meeting on June 6. Stephen Whyte, chairman designate, said: 'Genel has operated in a very tough environment in recent years but I believe it has renewed momentum and significant opportunities in the portfolio. 'The fall in oil price impacted the entire industry, and that, coupled with the impact of the war against Islamic State, put pressure on the finances of the already squeezed Kurdistan Regional Government. 'As the environment now improves, I look forward to working with the board to ensure that Genel has the best possible strategy for the future.' Banking scion Rothschild, a Genel non-executive director, is believed to have had shares in 2012 worth around 190million. Yesterday, his 7.95pc stake was worth about 18million. Hayward, who sold 150,000 shares in 2015, now has a stake of roughly 0.5 per cent, worth 1.1million. Genel has been battered by a combination of the oil price crash, repeated downgrades to its Taq Taq oil field and violence in Iraq and Syria that stretched the resources of the Kurdistan government and delayed payments for oil production. Mr Ethical: Bearded HSBC whistle-blower Nicholas Wilson Whistleblower Nicholas Wilson, whose 13-year campaign against HSBC resulted in a multi-million-pound compensation payout to thousands of customers in January, is standing in the General Election. The former solicitor will contest Home Secretary Amber Rudd's seat, Hastings and Rye as an independent candidate. Any skeletons he needs exorcising? Says Wilson: 'I got a drink driving conviction in 2001 and had an affair when I was married.' Par for the course round Westminster way, surely. Italian businessman and serial supermodel romancer Flavio Briatore yesterday released About Wealth, a book reflecting on his career as well as his frustrations with bureaucracy. He complains that Italy's tourist industry fails to cater to his mega-rich friends who he says spend '10, 20 or 30 thousand euros a day on a holiday.' There's speculation the lecherous old goat is preparing a Donald Trump-style bid for political office. Mio dio! The dull dog New York Times says News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch is on the phone to Donald Trump every week 'encouraging the President when he's low'. Meanwhile, it claims Murdoch's son James, chairman of Sky, is building a 'survivalist compound' in rural Canada, that has its own water and energy supply. Does James, 44, know something we don't? Reporting from the IMF meeting in Washington, BBC economics editor, Kamal Ahmed, says Philip Hammond 'told' him he may drop the Tories' commitment not to raise taxes. As though they'd shared an intimate chat. In fact, the Chancellor 'told' this to a group of journalists, of which Ahmed was one, gathered around a table in the British Embassy. Snazzy boulevardier Kamal, 49, likes to make out he's hugger mugger with the big hitters. Quizzed by a newspaper on his finances, US rap mogul Coolio, 53, reveals he eschews the stock market, preferring investments such as diamonds and gold. A former drug dealer, he estimates his enterprises net him about 800,000 a year. He once published a cookery book called Cookin' With Coolio. Sample instruction: '2 eggs beaten like a red-headed step child.' Family man: M&S boss Steve Rowe, 49, started out at M&S as a Saturday boy We've dumped the frump!' Steve Rowe declares gleefully. 'But I'll get in trouble for saying that.' The Marks & Spencer boss is showing me the latest Classics range of fashions, which used to be aimed at older customers. Rowe is understandably a little wary of what he says he was in hot water soon after he took the top job for talking about female customers as 'Mrs M&S', which some found patronising. But he's too brimful of enthusiasm to let that stop him talking. 'I've stopped designing for age. These are clothes anyone would wear, only some have a slightly more relaxed fit.' He now says there is no such person as Mrs M&S. 'People think our customers are mainly women, and that they are ageing. But 48 per cent are male and more than a fifth are under 25.' If there is no such thing as an archetypal M&S customer, then Rowe is certainly not a stereotypical FTSE 100 chief executive. Most of them like to lord it in their plush headquarters, a safe distance from the shop floor. That's not Rowe's style. When the 49-year-old took over a year ago, he declined to move into his predecessor Marc Bolland's grand office in Paddington, and got rid of an express lift to the executive floor. His Dad Joe was a senior M&S manager and Rowe Jnr has been at Marks for virtually all his career, starting out as a Saturday boy. He spends a lot of time in his local Bromley store, where I meet him. We perch for a while in the bustling cafe, against a backdrop of mums and babies, hissing coffee machines and clattering crockery to discuss his strategy for the much-loved retailer. This month he celebrates his first anniversary in the job one of the toughest on the High Street. Like a string of bosses before him, Bolland, a dapper Dutchman, had failed to stem the relentless decline in women's fashion. Rowe made his name running the food business, but how does he plan to face the even tougher challenge of getting womenswear back on track? And wouldn't a female CEO be better placed to know what female customers want? 'I don't think it matters whether the CEO is a man or a woman as long as they do the right things,' he says. 'I have a wife, I have two daughters, and I have plenty of advice from my mother. My mum thinks the ranges have improved. I have feedback from female shareholders as well.' Holly Willoughby's skirt sells out When Holly Willoughby wore an M&S skirt on ITVs This Morning (pictured right), sales soared. The 36-year-old TV presenter posted a photograph of herself wearing the 45 skirt on her Instagram, which was then liked by more than 22,000 people. On M&Ss website, it sold out in three sizes. The Jacquard Print A-line midi skirt is part of M&Ss Per Una range, which the mother of three wore with a pair of black court shoes and a black top. Midi skirts which fall just below the knee have been a key fashion trend over the past couple of years. Per Unas version uses a type of fabric known as jacquard, which creates a textured pattern. Willoughby is a fan of M&S. Earlier this year she wore a striking yellow outfit which also sparked a social media storm. Jo, his wife, he says, has bought one of the new elegant black crepe jumpsuits with ivory piping. He admits she has given him a hard time over some of the styles, but won't say which ones. 'What I will say is we had gone a bit too fashionable. In summer 2015, I found a pair of gold hot pants in the range. I'm not sure anyone should sell gold hot pants, but certainly M&S shouldn't.' Traumatised by the hot pants they were in the Norwich branch he set about a root-and-branch fashion overhaul. 'Customers said they couldn't find anything, they were not clear what we stood for, our prices were too expensive, our availability was poor and they were not enjoying the shopping experience. Other than that, it was quite good,' he says with a wry smile. He and Jo Jenkins, one of the most senior female executives in the business, have gone to obsessive lengths to improve the garments on the rails. Trousers have been tested on more than 180 'fit models' who try on different styles and sizes to make sure they are as flattering as possible to the nation's posteriors. Countless 'blocks' the templates for how a garment is cut have been redone. 'We've gone into forensic detail on the blocks,' says Jenkins, who oversees womenswear, lingerie and beauty products. 'We overhauled and upgraded 60pc of the blocks to make the fit better.' It's an enormous challenge as M&S caters to the full gamut of British womanhood, from the waifish to the Rubenesque. 'Women are taller, shapes are changing, waist sizes are bigger,' Rowe says. He's also cut the number of sales each year from nine meaning there was an almost permanent state of discounting to just four. 'Our business is now about selling great products at great prices. I don't want to discount all the time because it devalues fashion. 'Customers didn't trust the prices. There is nothing more annoying than buying an item and seeing it reduced a week later.' He is pulling out of ten countries where M&S owns stores, but will continue to operate in more than 55 through franchises. Although fashion gets a lot of the attention, 55 per cent of the business is food. The Bromley food hall is lively, with a lady at the front offering tastes of savoury cheese hot cross buns, which are delicious, if unconventional. Rowe urges me to try culatello ham. 'It is air dried. The mists from the River Po give it the flavour.' All quite exotic for the south London suburbs, but the ham is superb. It is early days, but Rowe's revamp might be paying off. In the third quarter of last year, M&S had a 3 per cent increase in clothing sales the first time the figure had gone in the right direction for six years. Even more heartening, full price sales as opposed to discounts were up 13 per cent on the year. For all the troubles it has gone through, British women want M&S to succeed, hoping this isn't another false dawn. Misconduct: Grant Thornton has been handed a 3.5m fine Grant Thornton has been handed a 2.3million fine for misconduct relating to an AIM-listed fire engine firm. The Financial Reporting Council issued a severe reprimand to the accountancy giant and excluded a retired partner Robert Napper from the industry body. The fine would have been 3.5million had the firm not settled early. It relates to the 2009 and 2010 audit of AssetCo's results, which the FRC said had been treated with a 'significant and widespread lack of professional competence'. AssetCo used to supply fire engines in London and Lincolnshire but nearly collapse after it revealed its results in those years had included 'significant overstatement of profits and assets'. It had to be bailed out in 2011, before selling its UK business to focus on the Middle East. Napper is excluded from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for three years, and was fined 200,000 reduced to 130,000 after a settlement discount. London shares made minor gains this session after yesterday's euphoria surrounding Emmanuel Macron's victory in the first round of the French Presidential elections. Macron, won 23.8 per cent of the votes and will face Le Pen next month on 7 May. Le Pen won 21.5 per cent votes in the first round of voting. The results sent markets across Europe into a spin, with the Paris Cac hitting its highest levels since 2008 and the Dax also touching a record high. However this session the FTSE 100 pushed just 10.9 points higher at 7,275.6, while the Dax and the Cac gained 0.1 per cent. London shares made minor gains this session after the euphoria yesterday of Macron's win in France Michael Hewson, at CMC Markets, said: 'While the DAX also made another record peak the CAC 40 appears to be struggling to push conclusively through the barrier that is the 5,300 level, as investors weigh up whether the potential prospect of an Emmanuel Macron win in the French elections is enough of a reason to push French markets, as well as wider European markets, up to new record and or multi-year highs.' He added: 'With attention now turning to the effectiveness of the potential new French President, markets are now turning their attention to how effective he is likely to be. Given the political difficulties any new French President is likely to face, there is the prospect that for all the euphoria in the past 48 hours any positive effect could be more micron than Macron.' NUCLEAR STRIKE More than 700 workers at the Atomic Weapons Establishment will go on strike for 24 hours on May 10 and May 18 adding to two strikes already announced. The May 10 strike will coincide with a planned disaster training day when workers run through what they would do in case of a nuclear incident. Unions say the closure of the defined benefits pension scheme earlier this year will cost workers thousands of pounds. IRAQ CONTRACTS Oil and gas firm Petrofac has secured contracts worth 55million for engineering, operations and maintenance in Iraq. Its Engineering and Production Services East business secured the awards with two multinational oil companies and the state-owned South Oil Company. Shares rose 2.2 per cent, or 18p, to 846p. ENGINE DEAL Engineer Rolls-Royce has sold three more Trent 700 engines to Indonesia's Lion Group for 234million. The engines will power three Airbus A330 planes and will also be serviced by Rolls. Shares rose 0.3 per cent, or 2.5p, to 812.5p. DIAMOND DAYS Six prospecting licences have been awarded to AIM-listed Botswana Diamonds' joint venture in Botswana. The licences awarded to Sunland Minerals, the company's joint venture with Alrosa, cover more than 1,350 square miles and last until March 2020. Shares rose 11.7 per cent, or 0.18p, to 1.68p. BETTING FINE Troubled spread-betting firm Plus500 has reached a 467,000 settlement with the Belgian financial regulator. Last August, the watchdog banned firms like Plus500 from allowing non-professional customers to bet on financial markets without owning stocks. It said spread-betting products were 'marketed aggressively and are extremely risky'. Plus500 said the settlement 'does not amount to an admission of guilt of non-compliance'. BREAKFAST BOOST Fast food giant McDonald's beat expectations with its latest results. Sales at US restaurants open for more than a year rose 1.7 per cent in the three months ending March 31. Steve Easterbrook, chief executive, has cut overheads and introduced all day breakfasts. Shares reached an all-time high yesterday, ending at $141.70. FRUITFUL FIBRE Revenues at broadband firm CityFibre soared by 140 per cent as it rolled out fibre optic cables across UK towns and cities. It installed 2,102 miles of fibre infrastructure, up from 461 miles in 2015. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry The Port Authority Police Department will not help airlines remove paying passengers from overbooked flights, nor if they need to make room for crew members. The commander of the PAPD has warned his officers not to make the same mistake that occurred last week in Chicago when Dr. David Dao was forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight in Chicago. After refusing to give up his seat for a United Airlines crew member who needed to catch a connecting flight, the 69-year-old doctor was physically dragged from the plane by airport police and suffered a broken nose, a concussion and the loss of his two front teeth. Video of the incident went viral on social media, sparking international outrage and leading PAPD Superintendent Michael Fedorko to draft a policy statement which was read to all officers. In the event an airline overbooks a flight and the airline determines that it is necessary to remove a passenger/s from the overbooked flight, PAPD will not assists in the physical removal of the passenger from the flight to accommodate the airlines request, Fedorko wrote. If/when an airline representative calls your respective command for such assistance, the tour commander or commanding officer will inform the airline this is an internal, non-law enforcement related matter and the PAPD will not respond to this type of request. This action will be documented in CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) and timely notification will be made to your respective Line Chief. As with all operational response matters, however, please examine each instance on a case-by-case basis to determine the totality of the incident before reacting or responding. The order was read during roll call and a briefing session last week. The PAPD patrols LaGuardia and JFK International airports. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By The Greater Astoria Historical Society In conjunction with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, the TimesLedger newspaper presents noteworthy events in the boroughs history. Born on April 14, 1866, in Feeding Hills, Mass., Anne Sullivan is best known as the teacher and lifelong companion of Helen Keller. Stricken with an eye disease that left her nearly blind, Sullivan began teaching Keller at age 20 following her graduation from the renowned Perkins School for the Blind in her home state. By signing words into her hand for various objects such as water and a drinking mug, Sullivan taught Keller braille and entered the world of her strong-willed charge to free her soul from darkness. Sullivan was with Helen Keller until 1936, when Sullivan died in Forest Hills, Queens. The oldest child of impoverished Irish immigrants, Sullivan contracted the highly contagious eye disease trachoma at age 5. The condition left her with severely limited vision and without basic literacy skills. Before age 10, her mother passed away. Her father, fearing he could not provide for his three children, abandoned the family. Young Anne was sent to a dirty, overcrowded almshouse where her younger brother soon died. Another blind resident at the almshouse told her about special schools for the blind. At 14, the determined Anne convinced an administrator to let her enroll at the Perkins School for the Blind, then located in Boston. Although her rough manners made life at the school difficult at first, the ambitious student learned the braille alphabet and underwent a series of operations to improve her eyesight. Anne Sullivan graduated as class valedictorian at age 20. The following year, the Keller family in Alabama was in a desperate search for a teacher for their seven-year-old blind and deaf daughter, Helen. They contacted the Perkins School, who dispatched Anne. The strong-willed Yankee girl argued with her hosts about the Civil War and the fact that the family owned slaves, but, after trial and error, quickly bonded with young Helen. Through the 49-year relationship, Anne Sullivan was Helen Kellers teacher, governess, companion and lifelong friend. Eventually, Sullivan took her bright student to Boston to study at the Perkins School. With her instructors guidance and determination, Helen Keller became the first deaf-blind person to graduate college, earning a degree from Radcliffe College in 1904. Sullivan married Harvard University instructor John Albert Macy, who helped Keller publish her autobiography, in 1905. Although Macy moved in with the inseparable pair, their marriage soon fell apart. They soon separated, but never officially divorced. Sullivan and her student and companion moved to Queens in 1917, living together on 112th Street where the Reform Temple of Forest Hills now stands. In her later years, Sullivans vision failed and she became completely blind in 1935. She passed away in Forest Hills on October 20, 1936, with Helen Keller holding her hand. Sullivans story of perseverance, love and triumph over darkness is immortalized in the 1962 film The Miracle Worker, starring Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan. At her funeral, Sullivan was eulogized as Among the great teachers of all time, (occupying) a commanding and conspicuous place. The touch of her hand did more than illuminate the pathway of a clouded mind; it literally emancipated a soul. Anne Sullivans ashes were interred in a memorial at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. She was the first woman to be recognized for her achievements in this way. Notable Quote: Every renaissance comes to the world with a cry, the cry of the human spirit to be free. Nuclear-armed North Korea on Tuesday marked a military anniversary with a massive conventional firing drill, Seoul said, as a US guided-missile submarine docked in South Korea amid tensions over Pyongyang\s weapons ambitions. Speculation had mounted that the North could carry out a sixth nuclear test or another missile launch to mark 85 years since the founding of its army. But no such event which usually happens in the morning had taken place by the evening, and instead Seoul\s defence ministry said Pyongyang was conducting a "massive fire drill" in the eastern port city of Wonsan. The South\s Yonhap news agency cited a government source as saying the exercise was the North\s "largest ever" and was presumed to have been overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un. Washington has sent the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula, where it is expected to arrive after a derision-provoking delay later this week. Confusion had clouded the carrier\s whereabouts earlier this month after US officials indicated it was sailing towards North Korea when in fact it was heading south. The vessel will take part in joint naval drills with the South\s forces to "demonstrate Seoul and Washington\s strong determination to punish North Korean provocations", the South Korean Navy said in a statement. They will take place in the East Sea, the South\s name for the Sea of Japan, it said, and the two allies will also begin joint naval exercises in the West Sea what it calls the Yellow Sea on Tuesday "in relation to the current security situation". The nuclear-powered US submarine USS Michigan also made a port call at Busan in the South on Tuesday in another show of force, while US navy destroyers carried out separate joint exercises with Japanese and South Korean vessels. President Donald Trump has said the US was sending an "armada" to the Korean peninsula, including submarines. According to the US Navy\s Submarine Force Pacific website, the USS Michigan carries more than 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles. They are capable of precision strikes against the North\s nuclear facilities, but the South Korean Navy called the visit "routine" and said the submarine would not take part in any joint exercises. North Korea has ambitions to build a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the US mainland. Tensions have soared in recent months as it carried out a string of missile tests that sparked tit-for-tat sabre-rattling between it and Washington. Pyongyang\s rhetoric always intensifies in the spring, when Seoul and Washington hold joint military drills which it sees as rehearsals for an invasion. The North\s Rodong Sinmun the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers\ Party of Korea warned Tuesday of dire consequences in the event of a US-led pre-emptive strike. It promised "the most brutal punishment in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice". North Korea launched two missile tests this month while Trump and his senior aides have warned that "all options are on the table" against Pyongyang, including military action. Trump on Monday urged UN Security Council ambassadors to consider stronger sanctions against Pyongyang, and US senators will be briefed on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is to chair a ministerial-level Security Council meeting on the North on Friday. The North says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against invasion. A spokesman for its foreign ministry on Tuesday claimed the meetings coupled with Trump\s fresh policy of "maximum pressure and engagement" on Pyongyang showed the threat it faced from the US. "They are explicitly advocating pressure on us, which is as dangerous as lighting the fuse on an all-out war," he said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency. Top nuclear envoys from Japan, South Korea and the United States met Tuesday in Tokyo and vowed "stern action" against any fresh North Korean provocations. US special representative Joseph Yun said he discussed American policy to "enhance pressure" on Pyongyang "because we really do not believe that North Korea is ready to engage us towards denuclearisation". The trio also agreed that China and Russia should play a bigger role in reining in the North, said Kim Hong-Kyun, South Korea\s chief envoy on the issue. "Cooperation with China and Russia is the most important for effective pressure on North Korea," he said. SOURCE: AFP It might take a few days to see unofficial results in Pa. Here's why politics This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Washington The Trump administration issued sanctions Monday on 271 people linked to the Syrian agency responsible for producing non-conventional weapons, part of an ongoing U.S. crackdown on Syrian President Bashar Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons. The sanctions target employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center, which the U.S. says partly enables the use of chemical weapons. The U.S. has blamed Assad for an attack earlier this month that killed more than 80 civilians in rebel-held northern Idlib. "The United States is sending a strong message with this action: That we will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons by any actor," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters at the White House Monday. He said it was one of the largest such sanctions actions in U.S. history. President Donald Trump has called Assad "evil" and said his use of chemical weapons "crossed a lot of lines." Assad has strongly denied he was behind the attack, in which sarin gas was allegedly used. As a result of Monday's action, any property or interest in property of the individuals' sanctioned must be blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them. As Trump dined this month with China's President Xi Jinping during their highly anticipated summit at Trump's Florida resort, word emerged that Trump took action against Assad by launching missiles against a Syrian airfield. The retaliation was seen as somewhat unexpected for a president who vowed to stay out of lingering wars and conflicts overseas. This month, Russia vetoed a Western-backed U.N. resolution that would have condemned the reported use of chemical weapons in Syria and demanded a speedy investigation into the attack. China abstained for the first time, a move the White House billed a win for their efforts to isolate Russia. "On Syria, the Council failed again this month to respond to Syria's use of chemical weapons," Trump said Monday at a White House meeting of U.N. ambassadors from countries on the Security Council. "A great disappointment. I was very disappointed by that." Schenectady General Electric Co.'s Schenectady-based GE Power subsidiary on Monday announced what it described as one of its largest deals in history with the government of Algeria. The deal includes long-term operations and maintenance agreements for 10 Sonelgaz plants in Algeria that generate 11 gigawatts of electricity. While GE didn't place a dollar value on the deal, Reuters reported it was worth about $3 billion to the company. "The Algerian government and Sonelgaz have a clear vision for the future of the country's power sector," Steve Bolze, CEO of GE Power said in a statement. "The emphasis on building industrial capacity and the focus on the digital transformation of power plant assets are long-term investments in the future of the country. GE is honored to strengthen our collaboration with Sonelgaz and help create a vibrant local ecosystem for the power sector that will help meet the needs of people and various industries across Algeria." GE's chief financial officer said last Friday that a major deal would be announced soon by GE Power's services division, although no specifics were given at the time except that it would be in the Middle East. "A really phenomenal transaction," GE's chief financial officer Jeffrey Bornstein said Friday. "It's going to close next week, we believe. So we feel good about that." The Reuters story says that the deal is with Sonelgaz SPE, and that "GE would provide long-term maintenance services for 10 Sonelgaz power plants in Algeria, install 68 gas technology upgrades and deploy industrial internet software applications using GE's Predix operating system." GE Power employs 4,000 people in Schenectady, and so such deals have a huge impact on the business locally. A local GE Power spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment. lrulison@timesunion.com 518-454-5504 @larryrulison Colonie You may have never heard of MM Hayes Co., a Menands-based software company. But if you are an IT executive at Boeing or another Fortune 500 company, you'll likely be familiar with this producer of popular business software used for cashless payments and security access points at workplaces across the country. That's why Michael Hayes, the CEO and founder of MM Hayes and a 1967 Siena College graduate, was named Monday as Siena Entrepreneur of the Year. "The entire Siena College community congratulates Michael Hayes on this achievement," Siena President Brother Edward Coughlin said. "His business achievements are impressive, as is his devotion to his family and community." Brother Coughlin, along with Matthew Cusack, executive director of the Stack Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, presented the award to Hayes. "Michael Hayes is an excellent role model both personally and professionally for Siena's current students and alumni," Cusack said. "The company he has built impacts the employees, human resources and operations of Fortune 500 companies across the country." Located at the Sage Mansion in Menands, MM Hayes has more than 50 employees and a satellite office in Bellevue, Wash. Hayes, who works with his three sons, said Monday that the hardest things to do in the industry are to hire and retain good software engineers and to keep up with the competition. "The industry is moving so fast that if you don't take the opportunity when it exists, you've missed it," Hayes told the Times Union. lrulison@timesunion.com 518-454-5504 @larryrulison Northway Church is on the move again. Pastor Buddy Cremeans' parish has moved into Gowana Middle School, sharing its Sunday services with long-time school auditorium renters Northstar Church. But it was done so, apparently, without the consent of the school district. On Sunday morning, a Northway Church placard announced it has moved into Gowana. But when Shenendehowa Superintendent of Schools Dr. Oliver Robinson was asked about renting to the church, he said the district never has. He could only say that Northstar has been there for over a decade. But a visit to both church websites shows that both congregations have services at 9:30 and 11 a.m. Sundays in the auditorium at Gowana. "We are looking into the matter," Robinson said. "I don't know what churches do." He said he had no further comment. All this occurred before Saratoga County Judge Thomas Nolan ruled on Northway Fellowship vs. Whitney Lane Holdings and the Howard Group. The church is suing the owners of a plaza on Route 146 and its management, the Howard Group. The church contends that they were being discriminated against because Howard management said the church could not sublet from its neighbor Upstate Concert Hall because it was a breach of the concert hall's lease. The owners and management of the building said that Northway Church's claim was baseless because it rented directly to the church for years. Upstate Concert Hall also was facing eviction. Attorneys on both sides Northway Church's attorney Will Nolan of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna and Whitney and Howard's Murray Carr said the case, heard on April 11, has yet to be settled. But Pastor Chad Clem said the church started to look elsewhere anyway. "When the owners of North Country Commons notified Upstate Concert Hall that they did not want to allow us to use the space, we started to look for alternative locations that would be welcoming and allow us to continue bringing the life saving message of Jesus to our community," Clem said. "For the past 10 years, another great Capital Region Church (Northstar Church) utilized the auditorium before moving into new space. Northway Church has an agreement with the school district to utilize their facilities and we are paying the community rate." Rental problems are nothing new to Northway Church. Last May, Cremeans and his followers were booted out of the Post Road Elementary School, home to its White Plains congregation. The Westchester Guardian reported that the Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Fried said that the church did not indicate its intent to conduct religious services at the school in its application. The church's rental woes may be over by the fall when it moves into its new 40,000-square-foot sanctuary at the corner of Ushers and Pierce roads off of Exit 10 on the Northway. "We look forward to continue being a great neighbor and great community participant for years to come," Clem said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Troy Three years ago Elizabeth Kennedy traded in her law books at the Rensselaer County district attorney's office for a Seattle police officer's badge, Thursday, the 42-year-old Kennedy's bullet-proof vest saved her life when a bullet slammed into her chest during a shootout with a convenience store suspect in downtown Seattle. "She wanted to fight bad guys," state Supreme Court Justice Richard J. McNally said Monday about his former assistant district attorney. McNally hired Kennedy when he was district attorney in December 2010. She worked as an assistant district attorney out of the third-floor office in the county courthouse until Feb. 2014. "Liz wanted to be a police officer for many years. She had an opportunity and moved to Seattle," said Shane Hug, a friend of Kennedy's who worked with her as an assistant district attorney. "It was a big shock," Hug said about learning his friend had been shot. Kennedy was taken to the hospital and was released after being treated. The description of how her Kevlar vest stopped the bullet has made its way through Rensselaer County law enforcement ranks. McNally and Hug communicated with Kennedy since she was shot and were relieved to learn she's recovering. PRESS RELEASE FROM THE SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT WEBSITE A Seattle police dash-cam video shows Kennedy and another officer chasing a suspect. Gunshots can be heard after they run out of the picture. "The male suspect ran to the entryway of an office building in the 900 block of 1st Avenue, where he exchanged gunfire with police. Three officers were struck by gunfire during the incident," Seattle police said. The 19-year-old suspect was being chased for robbery. He was killed and the officers wounded, police said. The suspect and a 17-year-old woman were chased after robbing a 7-Eleven convenience store. The entire incident is under investigation, police said Monday. The officers have not been officially identified by the department. Media outlets in Seattle have identified the officers. In Troy, Kennedy was known as a dedicated, personable prosecutor. "Liz is a great person. She has a great sense of humor," Hug said. Kennedy prosecuted the seven teenagers who pleaded guilty to killing and robbing Takim Smith in 2013 in the Corliss Park Apartments in Troy. She also was involved in other high-profile cases in county court. McNally recalled Kennedy was an experience prosecutor who came highly recommended from Massachusetts. "She's a dedicated law enforcement professional," McNally said. kcrowe@timesunion.com 518-454-5084 @KennethCrowe This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Guilderland Kristi Koppenhafer made no mention of a Thruway tollbooth in her birth plans. But when you're expecting, you have to accept the unexpected. Around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, the 25-year-old woke in her Gloversville home to discover she was experiencing three-minute contractions. One day past her due date, she immediately jumped into the car with her husband, Adrian, and their 5-year-old daughter Hailey. Hailey and Adrian were "super-calm," Koppenhafer said Monday. "But I was freaking out a little bit." As the family cruised down Interstate 90 en route to their planned birthing destination at Troy's Capital Region Midwifery, it became clear that they were short on time. By then, the baby was crowning. With Exit 24 in their sights, Koppenhafer relented. "I told (Adrian) we weren't going to make it. ... We thought we had more time, but things just amped up." The couple, who moved to New York last year for Adrian's job on a Ballston Spa Navy facility, pulled over just near the tollbooth, called State Police for help and then spread blankets on the shoulder of the road. Police arrived within minutes, and an ambulance was on scene just as Adrian caught his newborn daughter, Skylar Anne. They wrapped the girl in blankets, then headed to Good Samaritan Hospital in Troy. The family left Sunday, all in good health but not before Hailey got some games of peek-a-boo with her new little sister. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The town of Bethlehem is planning to build a new roundabout in Glenmont at the intersection of Route 9W and Feura Bush and Glenmont roads thanks to $3.9 million in state funding. The project is expected to significantly ease traffic congestion in the area. Bethlehem town supervisor John Clarkson said the funding, which comes from the Federal Highway Administration, will cover 80 percent of the cost, but the town will be holding public hearings to come up with a final design. "Concern about that intersection goes back a long way," Clarkson said. "We did a 'linkage study'of 9W in 2010 which highlighted the problem and recommended a roundabout, and ever since that time we have been looking for a solution... This intersection has been the No. 1 traffic problem in Bethlehem for a number of years. We also have been building sidewalks in the area and planning for more, and this grant will fund some of those." State funding for the project was announced April 17 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and includes $2.9 million for the roundabout and sidewalk connections as well as another $1 million for new sidewalks in the area that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. One new sidewalk will connect Glenmont Elementary to the Town Squire Plaza where Price Chopper is located. "This funding is critical to enhancing our infrastructure and paving the way for both pedestrian and bicycle travel," Cuomo said in a statement. "By improving roadway safety and increasing access to healthy transportation alternatives, we are providing both residents and visitors a chance to experience the state's natural beauty like never before, while supporting a cleaner, greener New York for generations to come. One rendering of the new roundabout shows a lot of new vegetation and medians leading into the roundabout, which will also have bike lanes. The current intersection is typically backed up and difficult for pedestrians to navigate. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Seoul, South Korea North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It so far has carried out five nuclear tests. Such a move could test the developing North Korea policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Korea's government. Trump spoke by phone with both the Japanese and Chinese leaders Monday. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted President Xi Jinping as telling Trump that China strongly opposes North Korea's nuclear weapons program and hopes "all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump agreed to urge North Korea to refrain from what Abe called provocative actions. "The North Korean nuclear and missile problem is an extremely serious security threat to not only the international community but also our country," the Japanese leader told reporters in Tokyo afterward. Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea's nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the country's preparation for an ICBM launch is in its "final stage." South Korea's Defense Ministry has said North Korea appears ready to conduct such "strategic provocations" at any time. South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country's acting leader in place of ousted President Park Geun-hye, who has been arrested over corruption allegations, has instructed his military to strengthen its "immediate response posture" in case North Korea does something significant on Tuesday's anniversary. There is also a possibility that North Korea, facing potential changes in regional dynamics as Washington presses Beijing to pressure North Korea more aggressively, opts to mark the anniversary with a missile launch of lesser magnitude. North Korea separately fired what U.S. officials said were a Scud-type missile and a midrange missile earlier this month, but the launches were analyzed as failures. While the U.S. has dispatched what Trump called an "armada" of ships to the region, including an aircraft carrier, U.S. officials have told The Associated Press that the administration doesn't intend to militarily respond to a North Korean nuclear or missile test. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday that South Korean naval ships will conduct a training exercise with the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson. What you need to know about Powerball's $1.6 billion lottery jackpot For most people, switching phone carriers carries all the emotion of changing a light bulb or bolting on a different toilet seat. However, after using Verizon as my carrier for 16 years and half a dozen different phones, leaving Big Red feels like a breakup. And if the company asks why I'm canceling and moving my family's phone numbers to T-Mobile this week, I'll have to say, "It's not me, it's you." I'm dumping Verizon, first and foremost, because the company's vaunted network let me down when my family and I needed it most. In the past year, my wife and I have had a lot of weak signals, both near our home on Long Island, in the house, and on my commute into Manhattan. Unfortunately for Verizon, I'm not alone. Better speeds from T-Mobile At the same time, friends and family who had T-Mobile phones at the same locations always got a strong signal and, when I borrowed T-Mobile-powered handsets from work, they also got a lot more bars and much faster transfer rates. One time in October, I brought a T-Mobile phone and a Verizon phone with me on my Long Island Rail Road commute and ran the Speedtest app at every stop; at most but not all stops, the T-Mobile phone won. In my house, I usually get two or three bars of 4G, but sometimes I'm at 3G or worse. Once or twice, the signal in my home was so poor that my phone, a Galaxy Note 3, couldn't make calls for an hour or two. In my living room, I usually get download speeds of less than 5 Mbps on Verizon, while T-Mobile phones I borrowed got as much as 40 Mbps. Even worse, for a year, my wife has been randomly not receiving SMS messages on her Galaxy S5; she's had to log into the Verizon website several times each day to see which ones didn't come through to her phone. Result of recent speedtest in my livingroom (used Galaxy Note 3) Unfortunately for Verizon, I'm not alone in dumping the costly carrier. Last week, Verizon announced that it lost 307,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2017, and, like me, many of those customers migrated to T-Mobile, which added 1.1 million customers over the same three months. Most of those people probably switched because of T-Mobile's extremely affordable T-Mobile One plan, which currently gives you unlimited data for $100 for two lines or $160 for four (Verizon charges $140 / $180 plus taxes and fees). My wife and I had been talking about the problems in our Verizon relationship since last spring, but we stayed with Big Red, because we remembered all the times the company was there for us with a good signal and hoped it would be again. The final straw came when my wife became ill and couldn't get a reliable Verizon signal in two different hospitals. A long history with Verizon I signed up with Verizon and got my first cellphone, a Motorola Startac, in 2001. The service gave me a reliable signal when I was in New York on Sept. 11 of that year, and friends and family called to ask if I was OK. When my wife and I got engaged a few years later, one of the first things we did as a couple was to sign up for a Verizon family plan. Through the years, we got reliable service during key family events like our wedding and the birth of our son, and during disasters like the great blackout of 2003 and the aftermath of s Hurricane Sandy in 2012. We even got a small signal when we'd visit Sterling Forest, a park in upstate New York, where our friends on other carriers got no connection at all. Even though we knew Verizon has more expensive plans than competitors such as T-Mobile and Sprint, we stayed on board for the better connectivity. We even hung around when Verizon began phasing out its original unlimited-data plan, and we had to hold on to outdated phones, because we'd lose the plan if we upgraded. Eventually, after the company imposed a further charge on unlimited-data plans, we switched to a limited bucket of data, but we stuck it out for what we thought was a better network. Failing at the worst possible times The final straw came in December when my wife became ill and had to spend several days at the hospital, where her Verizon connection was so spotty that she could not reliably make or receive calls from her room. She got no connection at all for the 12 hours she was in the emergency room. However, every time my mother-in-law or my wife's friend visited her with their T-Mobile phones, they had strong signals. A month later, my wife had to go into a completely different hospital for a procedure and we had the same connectivity problems. I had to call my mother-in-law, who was there with her T-Mobile phone, to be able to talk with my wife. In a recent series of tests, Tom's Guide found that Verizon had the best speeds nationally and in New York City (Long Island wasn't tested), with T-Mobile placing second. However, connectivity can be way different depending on where you go. In the places that matter most to me and when it really counted, Verizon came up short. Verizon says "better matters," in its advertising campaigns. I agree, and that's why I had to switch to T-Mobile. For the moment the answer is no . . .Conservative Jack Cashill offers a thoughtful explanation that might include a few broad generalizations . . . Admittedly, TKC has a great many of my own generalizations about broads . . . But I digress. Check his excellent post on the topic:Fact is . . . The answer here iscould help this town avoid similar misunderstandings but big biz conglomerates have crushed those kind of markets throughout the nation . . .And so . . . The lack of "chains" isn't so much of a detriment but an opportunity for both small biz people and neighborhoods to support merchants that don't target customers with firearms over a few crumbs.You decide . . . KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The two young people found dead in a Wal-Mart parking lot in KCK on Sunday died from carbon monoxide morning, police said. KCK Police Chief Terry Zeigler tweeted out the cause of the deaths Tuesday afternoon. Patrick McCallop, Kansas City, Kan., police spokesperson, said Sunday the victims are a white male and a white female. KCMO Council Dude Reed Argues Against EPIC EPA Water Bill And More ... KC councilman to testify before Congress on unfunded mandates KANSAS CITY, Mo. - On Wednesday, Councilman Jermaine Reed will head to Washington, D.C. to testify before Congress on unfunded mandates. Unfunded mandates are regulations or requirements set by the federal government without any funding and limited to no enforcement. Reed says the mandates often take money away from locally passed programs and initiatives. Kansas City Crook, Interrupted KC police officer interrupts robbery at gas station A Kansas City police officer interrupted a robbery early Tuesday at a gas station. Police said the officer walked in on the holdup at the Shell gas station at Truman Road and Brooklyn Avenue. The man took off and jumped into a waiting car, but fell out when the vehicle sped off, authorities said. Local Runaround Report Man in custody after police chase in KCMO KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A man is in custody after a police chase in Kansas City, Missouri. Officers said a man stole a black F-250 near 31st Street and Brooklyn in east KC. Police said the man got onto 71 Highway and sped off. Police pursued and the suspect was arrested near 59th and Olive. Show-Me Jackson County Legal Win Greitens Names Jackson County Judge To Fill Missouri Supreme Court Vacancy Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has appointed Jackson County Circuit Judge W. Brent Powell to the state Supreme Court. Powell, a Springfield native and Mizzou law grad, will fill a seat on the seven-member court that has been vacant since Judge Richard Teitelman died in November. More Online Drama Two Fort Osage students at center of investigation after social media threat Two Fort Osage High School students are the center of an investigation after a threat was made on social media. The students, who have not been identified because they are minors, posted the threat on Snapchat Monday night. A majority of the threat was profane and it was directed at African American students in the high school. The Next Local Transit Scheme KCATA's Uber-like app breaks down barriers Kirby Hough demonstrates RideKC Freedom, a new on-demand ride sharing app being rolled out by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, which is led by President and CEO Robbie Makinen. For riders with disabilities, such as Hough and Makinen, the fare will be subsidized. Tough Times For Home Team Continue The Kansas City Royals can't score, and an MLB record might be theirs soon Eric Hosmer is hitting .192. Alcides Escobar is at .182. Alex Gordon? Scuffling along at .178, and so are the Kansas City Royals. In a historic fashion. With Monday's 12-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox, the Royals haven't scored more than two runs in a game in eight consecutive games. Kansas City Weather Fear Tonight First Alert: Severe storms with damaging wind, hail possible this evening Damaging winds and large hail are the biggest threats with any storms that develop later this evening. Hottierecently retired from the modeling game but this afternoon we celebrate the legacy of her moody lingerie work and all of these Kansas City local links . . .And this is thefor right now . . . Kansas City police are asking for the public's help in a peeping case at a Northland Target store. Investigators released a picture of a man considered a person of interest in the case. Police said a man took photos of a woman in a changing room at the Target store on North Skyview Avenue on April 6. KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Every time Bill Johnson leaves his Northland home he passes acres of farmland. Now, he's concerned the land could be turned into a big-box store. Kansas City's City Plan Commission is considering a proposal to re-zone the area, which if recommended and passed by city council, would allow for a big retail store. "Our Airport work has led to conversations with a group of individuals who are involved in trying to preserve the graveyards on our KCI Airport property. These graveyards house the final resting place for African American slaves and some Native Americans who contributed to the history and building of our community . . ." "Under federal law, KCI is required to assess the possibility that its development projects will destroy important historical properties, including graves. There is clear evidence that the airport has a record of violating federal law for decades. There airport has gotten away with it because few had any idea what the airport was doing. We now know what KCI is doing as the result of a 2008 court case that effectively exposed airport records to public view for the first time. Native Americans have recently contacted the airport to demand inclusion in airport planning, as required by federal law. Critically, and unlike other airports, KCI has no cultural resources management plan which calls for protecting unmarked graves and other important cultural remnants. Our main objective is to compel the airport to adopt such a plan. If it did, KCI could become an enormous educational and educational asset to the community, region and country, since nationally important historic events are linked to lands currently owned by the airport. We plan to talk about some of these events in our presentation." For the very late night, here's a scary story about plans for the future and coming to terms with Kansas City's past . . . Worst of all, theprice tag.The message:Read more . . .Credit to any late night TKC readers who recognize that all of this sounds like the plot from themovies and another reason to be VERY SCARED of new airport plans.Developing . . . CHECK THE KANSAS CITY FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE CONTINUED!!! Before we really get started today . . . Here's a peek at two top issues for Kansas City on the radar and amid severe weather reporting in the forecast . . .First up . . .This upcoming protest, march gathering is garnering big numbers and will be the next big protest against Prez Trump. Take a look:We are a coalition of partners in Kansas and Missouri KS (Kanza) and MO (Thomas Hart Benton) groups of the Sierra Club, 350KC, womens groups, faith groups - who advocate for Climate, Jobs, and Justice. We are holding a rally on 4/29 in Washington Square Park to demonstrate solidarity with the People's Climate Movement March in Washington, DC that same day.Our rally is your chance to show our community that people in the Heartland are committed to actions that promote a vision of a clean, safe world where the rights of all people are protected and expanded. We rally for our families, our communities, and our climate.Given the increasing assault on research and regulations that protect climate, the air, and water, we must fight to protect the gains made over the last 30+ years, while we articulate and demand initiatives to move our nation to a new, clean energy economy.Its critical for us to bring together a broad base of concerned citizens, scientists, environmental advocates, social justice groups and labor to achieve our vision here, in our community. Time is of the essence. Join us to create a Movement, not a Moment!##########And then . . .While we want all denizens of our Kansas City blog community to question the official story . . . These locals are breaking new ground, possibly putting themselves on a watch list for their chattering and offering some interesting alternative takes on the mystery behind the weather that most local forecasters struggle to predict.Developing . . . Vampires have long been seen as a threat to society. For hundreds, if not thousands of years, theyve had us humans transfixed. As for how they came about, theories range from the anthropological to the otherworldly, but one things for sure: theyre here to stay. And for better or worseas these 10 ghastly tales go to showour means of slaying them havent changed much either. 10. Bulgaria, 1200s Some of the earliest evidence of vampire slaying comes from the Rhodope mountains of Bulgaria, close to the border with Greece. Excavating the ancient city of Peperikonthought to have been inhabited from as early as 5000 BCarchaeologists uncovered a 13th-century skeleton with an iron rod hammered through its chest. The left leg had also been hacked off below the knee and buried next to the corpse. Such measures are believed to have been taken to prevent the dead from wandering out of their graves, the stakes serving to pin the bodies to the ground. Other skeletons found at the nearby Voden Fortress site had their legs bound or feet cut off for presumably the same reason. Vampire slayings were common in medieval Bulgaria, especially in cases of suicide or where the deceased had been wicked in life. Another skeleton found staked with iron in the coastal town of Sozopol, for instance, is thought to have belonged to the notorious Black Sea pirate and evil mayor Krivich. According to archaeologists, iron stakes were reserved for the wealthier vampires, while wood was used for the poor. 9. Bohemia, 1336 Myslata of Blau is a entertainingly far-fetchedand allegedly truevampire story from what is now the Czech Republic. In it, the young shepherd boy Myslata returns from the grave to call out the names of his neighbors, each of whom later dies. The villagers are said to have exhumed the boy, driving a long wooden stake through his body and into the earth. But Myslata just laughed, sarcastically thanking them for a stick to fend off the dogs. When the apparitions became more violent, suffocating and frightening people to death, an executioner was called in to help. He spiked the corpse with whitethorn and carted it off for cremation. Myslata cried out like a madman during transit, lashing out with his hands and feet until somebody staked him again. As the boys screaming, swollen body was burned, blood spewed from its numerous stab wounds. The vampire was slain and the villagers returned to normal. 8. Venice, 1576 By the time the Black Death hit Venice in 1576, vampires were already being held to blame. Throughout Europe, they were thought to spread the plague as a means of amassing corpses, draining them of residual life energy in the hope of leaving the grave. Its an understandable superstition. Bodies tossed into open plague pits exposed all the strange and frightening processes of human decompositionfrom plumping up and groaning with gas to leaking blood from the nose and mouth. Most shocking of all were the corpses that appeared to have chewed through their burial shrouds, revealing bared teeth and bloody gums. Historians ascribe the bizarre phenomenon of shroud-eaters to the acidic quality of purge fluid. As the moistening cloth sagged into the mouth of a corpse, it would gradually dissolve in secretions from the decaying stomach. In the middle ages, it was simply assumed that the shroud must be some kind of basic food source for transitioning vampiressimilar to breast milk for a baby. As a precaution, what was left of it between the teeth was torn away and replaced with something less edible. The skeleton of one such shroud-eater was unearthed in a mass grave on the Venetian island of Lazzaretto Nuovo. Belonging to an older woman in her sixties or early seventies, the skulls jaw was savagely fractured where someone had jammed a brick down her throat. Given the womans advanced age, she was likely the subject of distrust in life too. Old widows were generally suspected of making pacts with the devil, as well as eating children, because everyone assumed they were unhappy. 7. Mykonos, 1700-1702 Theres a long tradition of vampires in Greece. Known as vrykolakas, theyre said to inhabit the rotting bodies of murder victims, improper burials, and anyone either cursed or excommunicated by priests. The corpses clamber out of the grave to visit former friends and family, pounding on doors and looking for blood. Traditionally, the most effective way to deal with a vrykolaka is to stake, decapitate, or burn the body that hosts it. On an otherwise tranquil botanical expedition around the Greek islands in the early 1700s, Joseph Pitton de Tournefort recorded such a slaying in detail. Staying on the island of Mykonos, he observed a growing tension among the locals and learned that a man whod been murdered two days before was seen hurriedly walking around town. According to frightened witnesses, hed also been into their houses, throwing things and putting out lamps. At first, the better sort of peoplethe priests or Papaswere just as skeptical as de Tournefort, laughing it off as mere superstition. But when they saw the dead mans monky Tricks [sic] for themselves, they decided it was time to act. On the tenth day, they gathered for mass at the chapel that held the dead body. There, the town butcher set to work on the corpse. An old clumsy Fellow, he groped around in the entrails looking for the heart, wincing at the near-unbearable stink of putrid flesh and frankincense. He remarked on the warmth of the body and vibrancy of its blood, confirming everyones suspicions of vampirism. When he finally located the heart, it was taken to the seashore and burned. Things only took a turn for the worse. Among the new complaints were vicious beatings in the night, doors being kicked in, clothes getting torn, and windows being rattled. In desperation, the town held meetings and debates, religious processions, and even periods of fasting. Some turned to holy water, splashing it over their doors and pouring it into the corpse. Others left Mykonos for good, upping sticks to escape the demon. In the end, the town had no choice but to defy Orthodox tradition and dispose of the body with fire. Their troubles ceased immediately and the vrykolaka was ridiculed with ballads. 6. Serbia, 1725 Vampires reached epidemic levels in 18th-century Europe, propagating westward from tales in the east. One early account from Kisiljevo, Serbia concerns a man named Petar Blagojevich. Following his early death in 1725, he reportedly spent just ten weeks in the ground before rising to ask his widow for shoes. It was after she fled town in terror that people started dying. Over a period of eight days, nine of their neighbors were mysteriously killed and in each case Blagojevich was blamed. By the victims own accounts, he appeared at night and throttled them with his hands. Panicking villagers appealed to the Imperial Provisor of Gradisk District. They demanded permission to open the grave, threatening to leave Kisiljevo if he refused. Upon reluctantly exhuming Blagojevichs body, the Provisor was astonished to find it seemingly undecomposed. According to his official report, the hair and nails had continued to grow, the skin looked fresh and new, and the weeks-old cadaver didnt even smell. Aside from the decaying tip of its nose, the corpse looked no different from a sleeping man. For the villagers, the presence of blood in Blagojevichs mouth was proof enough of vampirism. They hauled the corpse out of the grave and pinned it with a wooden stake, causing fresh blood to erupt from the chest, ears, mouth, and nose. Finally, they heaped Blagojevich onto a bonfire and burned his body to ashes. In southern Slavic folklore, vampires (usually male) start out as a kind of shadow being, sucking blood from the living to become a gelatinous, boneless mass. Eventually, they come to resemble a human being and can wander around unnoticed. At this point they can even impregnate women, their children becoming vampires themselves or using their skills to hunt them. 5. Serbia, 1727 While stationed in Kosovo as a hajduk, Arnold Paole claimed to have been attacked by a vampire. Following the local custom, he dug up and set fire to the creature, smearing himself with its blood for good measure. He then resigned from the military and returned home to Medvedja, hoping to settle down as a farmer. But fate had other ideas. Shortly after marrying his wife, Paole fell from a haywagon and died of a broken neck. One month later, he was back in town, walking the streets and feeding on cows. The mere sight of him was apparently fatal, as each of the witnesses died within weeks of their encounter. By now people knew what to do. They disinterred Paoles body and found all the usual signs of vampirism: lips coated in blood, nails growing on the hands and feet, an appearance of vitality in the skin, and so on. Even his shirt was covered in blooda sign that hed gorged on the living. The villagers staked and burned the corpse, threw the ashes into the grave, and filled the hole back in. But people kept on dying. Gradually it dawned on the villagers that Paole must have spread the contagion to othersnot only through direct transmission, but also by way of the cattle that hed fed on and people later ate. The Holy Roman Emperor sent Regimental Field Surgeon Johannes Fluckinger to investigate. Guided by the suspicions of the locals, Fluckinger and his team opened a total of 13 recent graves to examine the dead. Some were in a state of obvious decaybarely recognizable as human, let alone vampirewhile others, including earlier burials, were practically alive. One of the bodiesa 20-year-old woman named Stanahad been carelessly buried and half eaten by dogs, yet two months later was entirely undecayed. Upon dissection, Fluckinger found fresh, not coagulated, blood in her arteries and veins. Furthermore, her intestines, lungs, liver, and spleen were as healthy as any living persons. The corpse of another young womanwho complained of nightly throttlings from her dead neighbor Milloewas found with a strangled face and a bloodshot, finger-length bruise on her neck. As they lifted her body from the grave, fresh blood flowed from her nose. Just like Stanas, her internal organs were healthy. Other vampires unearthed by Fluckinger were a ten-year-old girl, two teenage boys, an eight-day-old baby, a mother and child, and two 60-year-old women. The corpses were beheaded and burned by local gypsies, and their ashes thrown into the Morava. 4. New England, 1800s Mercy Browns mother and sister had already succumbed to consumption by the time she died in 1892. Her brother Edwin had also fallen ill, but managed to resist death by leaving town. When he returned home ready to die, neighbors suspected vampirism and persuaded his father to exhume the three Brown women. The mother and eldest daughter were both fully decomposed, but Mercyhaving been in the ground for just a few wintry monthslooked vibrant and well preserved. Declaring her a vampire, the town set fire to her heart and fed the ashes to Edwin. Although he died horribly, nobody else followed and the intervention was deemed a success. Consumptionor tuberculosiswas commonly blamed on vampires. Evidence from all over New England shows how widespread the superstition was. By the 19th century, vampires had replaced witches as Public Enemy No. 1 and heart burnings were often public, even festive, affairs. In Griswold, Connecticut, a smashed open, red-painted coffin was found to contain the decapitated corpse of a man called J.B. Its skull and thigh bones had been arranged on the ribcage in the form of a Jolly Roger, while fractures to the chest area indicated that his heart had been removed. Journalists of the 1800s blamed inbreeding and ignorance for the practice, but it wasnt limited to the poor. Frederick Ransom, for instance, a respected Dartmouth student, was also suspected of vampirism. When he died, his father tore out his heart and burned it in an unsuccessful attempt to save the rest of the family. 3. London, 1969-1974 When David Farrant visited Highgate Cemetery in 1969, he came across several broken coffins with exposed skeletons and a mysteriously dead fox. The paranormal investigator was intrigued by reports of a tall, dark specter haunting the Victorian graveyard, apparently able to transfix people to the spot. Returning at night, he saw the being for himself: a black shadow with red eyes, glaring at him through the rusty bars of the top entrance. Highgate has long been associated with vampires. In 1862, Elizabeth Siddal was exhumed by a relative wishing to retrieve some poems from her corpse. Although buried in 1855, she was in a resplendent conditionher luxuriant red-gold hair filling the coffin she lay in. In 1970, Farrant began to suspect that cultists may have awoken a dormant vampire in the cemetery. Not only were there occult symbols on the walls of a tomb-turned-temple, but several more dead foxes were discoveredeach with bloody wounds to the throat. As public interest grew, the findings made front page news, with headlines asking Why do the foxes die? and Does a wampyr walk in Highgate? Farrant received a number of letters from other witnesses, along with warnings written in blood from disgruntled wizards. Most startlingly, during a filmed interview at the cemetery, he saw a cameraman being strangled by invisible hands. While Farrant was attempting to make psychic contact with the entityculminating in a white magic ritual in 1971another man was getting more drastic. Live on television, Bishop Sean Manchester declared war on the King Vampire of Highgate, scheduling a vampire hunt that very nightFriday 13th March. People converged from all over Britain, descending on the cemetery with stakes, crosses, and garlands of garlic. While no vampires were found, at least one corpse was staked. It wasnt until 1974 that Manchester slew the real King Vampireat least according to his book. Stowed in the basement of a nearby mansion, its eyes were red and yellow and its lips contorted into a cruel expression. The bishop impaled its heart with a wooden stake, causing the shell of the body to cave in and quickly turn brown, reduced to human slime and viscera in the bottom of the casket. After burning the remains, the leftover bones were ground up and scattered to the four winds of the Earth. Bishop Manchester continues to see himself as a kind of spiritual warrior for the British Isles, citing Ephesians 6:12 in his efforts: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against [] the darkness of this world. 2. Malawi, 2002 Not all vampires live in coffins. In fact, some may not even be dead. In 2002, villagers living near Blantyre, Malawi became extremely suspicious of strangers. Barricading their roads and refusing to work, they claimed vampires were stealing their blood. These strange entities, they explained, were preying on women and children at night before vanishing into thin air. They wore dark clothing and walked quickly, carrying flashlights, syringes, and sleeping gas. Police refused to investigate and the government denied the claims. They even arrested a journalist for covering the story. But none of this surprised the villagers. The government, they said, was colluding with the vampires as part of a global conspiracy; in return for charitable aid, they allowed Western agencies like Oxfam to steal blood and sell it to Saudi Arabia. Needless to say, the villagers had to fend for themselves. Forming vigilante groups with makeshift weapons, the men patrolled for suspicious activity. During the panic, they killed at least two people, attacked three Catholic priests, and hospitalized the regional governor with a brutal stoning. They also destroyed a foreign aid camp, believing it to be the vampire HQ. Police intervened and events drew international attention. Journalists offered several explanations for the superstition, including hunger, folklore, thieves, or, as then-president Bakili Muluzi believed, politically motivated fear-mongering. But the villagers were having none of it. After all, just thirty years earlier a man had actually been caught with syringes of blood in his refrigerator. 1. Romania, 2004 Romania is the beating heart of vampire tourismthe birthplace of Vlad Dracula and the land of Transylvanian castles. But for rural communities up and down the country, vampires are more than just a tacky attraction. These country folk know the importance of second burials; they know to wash corpses in wine seven years after the death. They also know how critical the first 40 days are, that if a strigoi, or night vampire, isnt dealt with in this time, itll transform into a moroi and attack during the day. So when a young woman in the village of Marotinu de Sus accused her uncle of vampirism, she was taken very seriously indeed. Visibly weak and increasingly delirious, she claimed the corpse of Petre Toma was drinking from her heart at night. Her brother was also suffering with a crippling headache and stomach pains, so their father Gheorghe Marinescu went to examine the body. Without a doubt, his brother-in-law had become a strigoi, the stomach swollen and its mouth stained with blood. At midnight, a little drunk on liquor, Marinescu cut into the old mans chest with a scythe and lanced out his heart with a pitchfork. He carried it to a crossroads and burned it over smouldering coals, catching the ashes in a tea towel and then stirring them into water. In the morning he fed the potion to his family and, before long, their symptoms had improved. His daughter was healed and his son could stand up. But for some people, the ritual was just a little too medieval for 2004. Tomas city-dwelling daughter reported it to the police and Marinescu narrowly avoided jail. The villagers were bemused; they failed to see any victims. Either the corpse was just a corpse, they reasoned, or they had slain an actual vampire. Despite the legal iffiness of the practice, vampire slaying continues in Romania to this day. The ancient ritual is passed from generation to generation and some even learn it as children. Vampires, they say, are everywhereeven now. In cities, theyre just harder to notice. Other Articles you Might Like The delays in reaching an agreement on Greece's programme are due entirely to disagreements between the lenders, government Vice-President Yiannis Dragasakis said on Monday, at a meeting with representatives of Greece's banks. "The tug-of-war cannot continue indefinitely. All sides must assume their responsibility," he said. The government remains steadfastly committed to reaching an overall agreement with the institutions, while its recent contacts in Washington during the IMF Spring Meeting confirmed a shared will for a successful conclusion to the negotiations, he added. Dragasakis noted that banks have to become part of the solution to the country's problem and a support for efforts to reconfigure the economy and achieve equitable and sustainable growth. In order to achieve this, they must regain their ability to finance the economy as quickly as possible, in a way that takes into account the lessons of the past, he added. Factors that will facilitate the flow of liquidity include the completion of the second review, the European Central Bank's quantitative easing programme, the ability to tap international financial markets, NSRF-funded projects and activation of other special financing instruments in collaboration with the European Investment Bank, Dragasakis said. He also pointed to encouraging signs from the real economy, such as in tourism and other industrial sectors, which indicated that important investments currently on hold could be encouraged by a corresponding policy by banks. Second chance to over-indebted businesses and households Dragasakis reaffirmed the government's support for reducing the mountain of non-performing loans and giving a second chance to over-indebted businesses and households, while noting that this must avoid rewarding those that had allowed their businesses to founder while becoming personally rich. He also stressed the need to increase the use of electronic financial transactions in order to improve tax collection, urging banks to consider ways of lowering the cost of using POS terminals and electronic transactions for the businesses that still found them prohibitive. Dragasakis additionally asked banks to assist in efforts to attract foreign direct investment, noting that this must start by restoring the country's image abroad. This, he added, required opening a 'front' at home against the "deliberate distortion of the facts, a selfish misrepresentation of reality, irresponsible danger-mongering and deliberate speculative talk." Exiting the crisis would require close cooperation between the government, banks and economic players, he noted, pointing out that bank bailouts in Greece were supported by massive contributions from society and state borrowing. To this end he proposed the creation of a permanent forum for dialogue and cooperation between financial institutions, businesses in the real economy and the government and also a permanent channel for dialogue and communication between banks and the government to ensure there is ample warning and effective handling of the social repercussions of measures of settling overdue debt, especially for large businesses. The meeting was held with the head and board members of the Hellenic Bank Association, as well as the heads of the country's six biggest banks (Piraeus Bank, National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, Eurobank, Attica Bank and HSBC). Attending on the government side, in addition to Dragasakis, were Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, Justice, Transparency and Human Rights Minister Stavros Kontonis, Alternate Economy and Development Minister Alexis Charitsis, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Dimitris Liakos and senior ministry officials. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report The purpose of the conference is to strengthen relations between public service broadcasters from all over the world From May 7-11, the City of Thessaloniki, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, TV 100, the Goethe-Institut of Thessaloniki and the Thessaloniki Film Festival host the International Public Television (INPUT) Conference. The purpose of the conference is to strengthen relations between public service broadcasters from all over the world. At these meetings, public service broadcasters, their employees, and their program developers share ideas, know-how and their belief in the mission of public broadcasting. The people of INPUT are themselves public service broadcast executives, and each year they organize the conference on a voluntary basis. Following Tokyo in 2015 and Calgary in 2016, and before heading to New York in 2018, Thessaloniki was chosen to welcome the television executives from all five continents. This, the 41st INPUT organization, is the first to be held in Southeastern Europe, specifically in the Thessaloniki port, the grounds of the Thessaloniki Film Festival. INPUT addresses media professionals who are interested in following the goings-on in international public service broadcasting, and in participating in debates on new, innovative, groundbreaking TV and online programs from all over the world. The conferences defining feature is the professional level discussions following each screening. With more than 70 TV programs from all five continents, and covering all genres; and featuring numerous parallel events of special Greek interest, INPUT represents a unique opportunity for Greek public service broadcasters to showcase their role and dynamic, to get in touch with their international network of colleagues, and to share their love for public broadcasting. 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 Tour operators assure that German tourists are regaining their trust and plan ahead for their holidays with Greece being a top destination choice this season. The situation is very different from last year when tourists had been scared by the terrorist attacks in Paris, Istanbul and Brussels and were hesitant to book holiday packages. "The willingness of citizens to travel abroad this year is great in all our markets despite the political and economic uncertainty that exists," says Peter Fankhauser, head of the Thomas Cook group and adds that reservations have increased by 10% compared to last year. The same sentiment prevails in the announcements from Tui and DER Touristik while,baccording to the GfK Consumers' Institute, by the end of March bookings had increased by 5% having reached 64% of last year's total already. However, last minute bookings are still open, mainly in July and it remains unclear whether reservations will reach or exceed 2015, a record year for tourism. Greece at the top Greece is the country that attracts many holidaymakers, continuing thus the tradition of recent years. The popular destination benefits from the unstable political situation in Turkey. "At present, tourists are very skeptical about Turkey, and reservations are lower in 2017 than last year," said DER Touristik. In particular TS, Jahn Reisen, Dertour, Meier's Weltreisen and ADAC are satisfied with the bookings. "Reservations for all destinations are up by single digits," says Rene Hertz, head of DER Touristik for Central Europe. Having said all this, Spain remains the top preference of Germans. At the same time, tourism destinations in Germany are also greatly expanding, while Egypt is starting to experience a new period of rebirth, as 2016 was a very difficult year for the country and only 654,000 Germans visited it. The consequences of the recent terrorist attack on the Coptic Christian minority with 40 dead and 110 injured remain unknown. "Terrorism has an impact on tourist destinations and on travelers' behavior, but it does not affect travel," the FUR Institute reports. 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 Bahrains Tasheelat Real Estate Services Company is showcasing its Grand Venice Luxury Apartments at the Gulf Property Show, which opened in Bahrain today. Grand Venice Luxury Apartments are located on the main road at Amwaj Islands very close to the main entrance to the kingdoms most luxurious island project, says Mohammed Al-Awami, projects officer, Tasheelat Real Estate Services Company. The project has nine residential floors and two levels of carparks, besides a floor for recreation, he says adding that the apartments are available in one- and two-bedroom units with multiple options in terms of sizes, layouts and view. They offer an amazing view to a wide waterfront, he says. For the first time in Bahrain, the client will enjoy a secured and 100 per cent guaranteed net yield as soon as he buys his apartment in Grand Venice, adds Al-Awami. Tasheelat Real Estate, in addition to the management of the entire building and the client property, will pay the client income on a monthly basis for 24 months from the date of purchase. During the first two years the client will not pay any expenses including management fees, leasing fee, maintenance fee, electricity bills, water bills, municipality tax, internet bills, housekeeping charges and paid TV bills, he says. Grand Venice is already complete and ready for sale, while the companys Lands project at Muharraq has been 50 per cent sold, he says. Encouraged by the market response, Tasheelat is starting construction on its latest project, The Lake, next month in the Alawadhi area and the project is expected to be completed in 24 months, he adds. Tasheelat was established in 2002 and ever since its inception it has been able to gain a wide reach in the real estate market, offering services such as property management, brokerage and valuation services to customers. The company is well known in the market for providing affordable land for individuals, developers and investors in different areas in the kingdom, thereby contributing to the housing needs of the locals. The Gulf Property Show is open till April 27 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre. TradeArabia News Service Eskan Properties Company, which is 100 per cent owned by Bahrains Eskan Bank, is showcasing Danaat Al Lawzi, a major affordable housing project, at the Gulf Property Show, which opened in Bahrain today. Located west of Hamad Town in the Northern Governorate with a total land area of 106,713 sq m, the development will consist of 303 villas, says Eyad D Obaid, general manager, Eskan Properties. Danaat Al Lawzi residential project is likely to be completed in the second quarter of 2019. The project is part of 2,500 social units committed by the Ministry of Housing under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The project is being built for beneficiaries of Mazaya, the social housing finance scheme between the Ministry of Housing and Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain, whereby beneficiaries have the opportunity to own their dream home through a real estate finance facility subsidised by the Government of Bahrain, explains Obaid. While the current market conditions are tough, there certainly is pent-up demand for affordable/social housing and accordingly these conditions present an opportunity to excel and play a role in the overall revival of the economy, he says. The real estate sector is stable and good, which will have a positive effect on the economy and other sectors, he says. Established in March 2007, Eskan Properties Company assists the Eskan Banks business divisions, subsidiaries and associates in developing social and affordable housing, community and commercial and touristic developments. Its multidisciplinary expertise embraces the entire real estate value chain, with a range of services including project assessment, design management and planning, project development management, quantity surveying, sales and marketing, and property and facilities management. The company's vision is to be recognised as a premier real estate development company, through innovation, financial discipline and above all, exceptionally talented people. Working closely in partnership with the private sector, it has developed a wide-ranging consultant network, which provides additional expertise such as feasibility studies, urban development, land assessment, architecture, design and construction. Underlined by a proven track record of integrity and financial strength, Eskan provides a value-added advantage for today's demanding corporate and individual clients. The company consistently identifies and aggressively pursues development opportunities in key geographic markets and areas, by which to build and strengthen its reputation as a respected real estate developer in Bahrain. To date, it has completed projects across Bahrain covering residential, commercial, retail, community projects and tourism developments. TradeArabia News Service The 10th edition of the prestigious MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) for the Pan Arab Region kicked off in Bahrain today, with 74 semi-finalists from 11 Arab countries competing for cash prizes exceeding $160,000. The semi-finalists include three teams representing Bahrain in each of the competitions three tracks: Startups, Social Entrepreneurship, and Ideas. A press conference was held at Tamkeen headquarters at the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, attended by senior officials from MITEF, Tamkeen, Zain, and Community Jameel, who are strategic partners of the event. Speaking at the event, Tamkeen acting director marketing communications Dr Abdullah Alsada commented: As a constant enabler of the private sector, helping it to become the kingdoms key engine for economic growth, Tamkeen is proud to take this significant role in this years MIT competition, which is being hosted in the Kingdom of Bahrain and coincides with its 10th anniversary in the Arab region. Tamkeens support for the competition stems from its belief in its ability to inspire entrepreneurs to challenge themselves and develop and present their ideas in a competitive environment, leading them to further ambitions and expansion. It is also worth mentioning how proud Tamkeen is of the 3 Bahraini teams that made it to the finals." Zain Bahrain general manager Mohammed Zainalabedin added: Zain is proud to support the Arab Startup Competition which fosters the spirit of entrepreneurship across the Arab region, and we are particularly proud to be hosting such a prestigious event in Bahrain for the first time ever. Zain is a firm believer in the power of innovation to drive economic and social progress, solve problems, and create exciting new possibilities, which is why we have nurtured the local entrepreneurial ecosystem for the past ten years, encouraging this countrys future thought leaders and ideas which hold the potential to potentially transform our region, and even the world. The semi-finalists will undergo another round of training in Bahrain and present their work over the next three days to a jury that brings together some of the Arab worlds key investors and business people. In addition to the cash prizes, the winners will also benefit from advanced training sessions, personal mentorship and guidance and excellent networking opportunities. - TradeArabia News Service New and innovative products and services for the building and construction sector and a number of interesting real estate projects are drawing crowds to the 3G exhibitions which opened in Bahrain today. Collectively known as the 3Gs, the exhibitions comprise the Gulf Construction Expo, the Gulf Interiors exhibition and the record-breaking Gulf Property Show. The 3Gs are being held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and will run concurrently at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre until Thursday (April 27). Shaikh Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, inaugurated the region's high-profile event in the presence of senior government officials and other big players of the construction, real estate and interiors industry, taking part in the three-day event. After the inauguration, Shaikh Khalid toured the exhibition stands and appreciated the innovative products on display this year. The northern Gulf's biggest exhibitions showcasing the very best in construction, interiors and real estate has now expanded to include an evening festival, said the event organisers Hilal Conferences & Exhibitions (HCE) of Bahrain. As many as 140 local, regional and international exhibitors are taking part at the events, with the Gulf Property Show this year crossing a record 2,000 sq m for the very first time since its launch in 2013. This year, the trade shows will also feature an outdoor music and food festival in the evening as an added attraction for visitors and families, according to HCE. The three exhibitions are considered a valuable springboard into the multi-billion-dollar construction, interiors and real estate markets of the Northern Gulf, where the emphasis is on showcasing the latest products, services, technologies and projects available in the region. "We have already witnessed a 10 per cent increase in the number of visitors on the first day of the show, compared to last years figures, remarked Jubran Abdulrahman, managing director of Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE), the shows organiser. The Gulf Property Show, where property worth billions of dollars are being showcased, has seen a 20 per cent growth and we anticipate several deals to be signed by the close of the show, he added. Abdulrahman said this year's edition successfully continues the one-stop-shop concept. "Our aim is to promote the GCCs capacity across the construction, interiors and real estate sectors and support the economic vision of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of Bahrain, who continues to extend his patronage to our events," he stated. According to him, this year's edition of the shows has seen a real growth of participants from Bahrain and across the GCC looking to offer individuals and companies with a Made in the GCC option. The 3Gs will also feature a raft of special offers and deals from exhibitors, he added. HCE exhibitions director Ahmed Suleiman said: "Our exhibitors are aware that the shows represent a very good opportunity to sell their products and are looking to entice deal making at the shows with attractive offers." Gulf Construction Expo, Gulf Interiors and Gulf Property Show are open between 10 am and 9 pm till April 27 at the BIECC. Entrance is free.-TradeArabia News Service 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. The tension between the North Korea and the United States just rose even further when the elusive state detained their third American prisoner. Tony Kim, who also go by Kim Sang-Duk, was arrested as he was about to leave Pyongyang, reports say. Currently, since the diplomatic relationship between the two countries is in hot waters and as there's no US Embassy in the North, the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang currently handles all consular matters involving American nationals there, according to NBC News. Kim, a 58-year-old academic, came to the North to teach accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology for about a month. As he was about to board the plane back to the US at the Pyongyang International Airport, authorities immediately made his arrest, and he hasn't been seen since. Official reasons for Kim's arrest haven't been announced yet, Chicago Tribune reports. But according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, "Kim is a former professor at the Yanbian University of Science and Technology, a research university in China's Jilin province, which borders North Korea." The US State Department is already aware of Kim's arrest and has already made a statement last Sunday. They have also been working closely with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang. Due to the sensitivity of the issue, they declined more information about the incident. North Korea currently holds two other American citizens in prison. It was only last year when Otto Warmbier, a then 21-year-old student from the University of Virginia, made headlines when the North sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor in prison after it was discovered that he tried to steal a propaganda banner from a hotel during his five-day visit to the country. The next month after Warmbier's arrest, Kim Dong Chul, a 62-year-old South Korean with a U.S. citizenship, got arrested as well and was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for espionage. A pastor from Canada is currently being detained in the country as well since early 2015. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 A labradoodle named Cooper went missing for almost two days. The dog was found in Ontario racking up some miles after WestJet placed it on a wrong flight that was going to Canada. Owner Terri Pittman placed Cooper, a golden labradoodle, on a flight coming from Halifax to Deer Lake, Newfoundland on April 19, 2017. The owner wanted her dog to stay with her family for a moment while she goes to Jamaica with a friend to attend a wedding. However, WestJet made a mistake and sent the dog to Hamilton, Ontario, which is 1,200 miles away from Deer Lake. According to the National Post, the situation got even worse when the plane arrived in Hamilton. When the airline staff took Cooper for a potty break, the dog broke free from his leash and ran away. The dog went missing for more than 24 hours until he has found on Friday morning. Travel & Leisure reported that Hamilton citizens played a big role in helping Pittman find Cooper. She said, "Thousands of people helped me. With all the [social media] shares, and people searching and calling. Random people messaged me asking how they can help, and they're out around at three, four in the morning, looking around." One of the dog's owners Chelsea Simon also said, "It's the most overwhelming feeling of happiness," after the dog was spotted around 9 a.m. on Friday morning. Although the dog was found healthy, she added that Copper was wet, starving and dirty. Now, WestJet is trying to trace back how the incident happened and will offer compensation for Cooper and his owners. The airline company stated that it will pay for the dog's vet bills and will send them back home once they recuperate. The company took note of the incident and said that it will make sure that no pet will experience the same thing ever again. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Even with the mounting restrictions on airline travel between Middle Eastern countries and the United States, Qatar Airways has announced Monday that they would be expanding new routes in the U.S. A new San Francisco route is in the works and next year they would also be adding a new Las Vegas route. The announcement came from Qatar Airways' CEO itself Akbar al-Baker, in front of the reporters at the Arabian Travel Market convention in Dubai. According to New York Daily News, aside from expanding to new U.S. routes, Al-Baker also mentioned the "bullying" they, along with other Gulf Airlines, Emirates, and Etihad, are currently receiving from US carriers Delta, United, and other members of The Partnership for Open and Fair Skies. These Gulf airlines are being accused by the three main US carriers that they are constantly profiting from government subsidies to operate and expand their transcontinental networks. An open letter to US president Donald Trump has been sent and published last March for this very reason, according to Travel and Leisure. But according to Al-Baker, all these allegations were nonsense and they have never received any form of government subsidies. He is also confident that Trump wouldn't buy into these false accusations. "President Trump is a wise individual and a very good businessman, and I don't think he will buy into bullying by the three American carriers," he said. The recent ban on electronics during flights have impacted Qatar, Etihad, and Emirates with significant losses. Emirates have slashed 20 percent of their United States flights last week due to "weakened travel demand", but Qatar answered with pushing through new routes to the U.S, and the rest of the world as well. Al-Baker also added that Qatar Airways would never offload a passenger if a flight was full, as their policy dictates to never remove passengers off flights even if it is the CEO who wants to travel. He was referring to the viral incident involving United Airlines and the violently-dragged off passenger, Mr. Dao. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 TravePR.com - fast news distribution for the global travel trade immediate visibility for travel businesses. Copyright TravPR.com 2009 - 2022. All Rights Reserved. Croatia's Small Ship Cruise Company Drive to Help Improve Quality of Life (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - April 24th, 2017 - Katarina Line, voted Best Croatian DMC by leading industry professions, has launched a funding drive to help the Down Syndrome Associations of Dubrovnik and Rijeka in Croatia, donating one Euro approximately one U.S. dollar for every guest who books a cruise with them in 2017. With the company serving more than 26,000 cruise customers a year, Katarina Lines contribution will play an important role in helping to improve the quality of life for people with Down syndrome, providing them with superior medical care, education and employment. The announcement came as part of the companys observation of World Down Syndrome Day, which took place on March 21. Among other participants in the event was Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who expressed his support and hope for full equality in societys treatment of persons with Down syndrome. Down syndrome affects people of all races and nationality, with approximately one in 700 births displaying some degree of the genetic condition, meaning we all probably know a family thats affected, noted Daniel Hauptfeld, marketing director for Katarina Line. For us, its a very personal issue because two of our staff members have children with the condition, and its our way of showing them that they have the full support of our organization. ### Ascott grows footprint in Indonesia with the opening of its first property in Makassar. (TRAVPR.COM) Singapore, 25 April 2017 CapitaLands wholly owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) has opened its first property in Makassar, the 186-unit Citadines Royal Bay Makassar, which is also Ascotts eighth operational property in Indonesia. The largest international serviced residence operator in Indonesia has plans to open five more serviced residences from this year to 2019 in Jakarta and new cities such as Bandung and Yogyakarta as well as Karawang regency. Mr Kenneth Rogers, Ascotts Regional General Manager for Indonesia and Australia, said: Ascott has been managing international-class serviced residences in Indonesia for more than 20 years. Opening our first property in Makassar, Citadines Royal Bay Makassar, will enable us to extend Ascotts reach to more customers as we provide another quality accommodation option for leisure and business travellers. A popular tourist destination and business hub for meetings and conferences, Makassar is one of the top 10 provinces in Indonesia with the highest economic growth. Corporate travellers will appreciate the prime location of Citadines Royal Bay Makassar in the city centre as well as the business-friendly amenities such as meeting rooms and a business centre. Tourists visiting Makassar will also be spoilt for choice with the famous Losari Beach just a few minutes walk away and various shopping centres close to the serviced residence. Our Citadines serviced residences in Jakarta and Bali have been well received, with occupancy rates above 80%. With a third Citadines in Makassar, we will be able to cater to the growing demand from savvy independent travellers who want the flexibility to customise their stay experience by choosing the services they desire. Mr Rogers added: Southeast Asias third largest economy, Indonesia, continues to offer tremendous opportunities for serviced residences. Ascott currently has a portfolio of 13 serviced residences with over 2,300 units across Indonesia. Soon after Citadines Royal Bay Makassar, we are slated to open Somerset Kencana Jakarta in June 2017, and four more properties will open across Indonesia in the next two years. Citadines Royal Bay Makassar is a 30-minute drive from the Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport. Residents can choose from studio apartments to studio executive suites and studio premier suites, each unit designed with stylish interiors. Guests can also unwind at the swimming pool, residents lounge or all-day dining restaurant. For those who love the tranquility of nature, they may also take a day trip out to explore the pristine Bira Beach or Malino Highlands. To celebrate the opening of Citadines Royal Bay Makassar, guests can enjoy special promotional rates from IDR 500,000++ per night from now to 30 September 2017. Attractive rates are also available for a week- and month-long stays. In Indonesia, Ascott currently manages Ascott Jakarta, Somerset Berlian, Somerset Grand Citra, Ascott Kuningan and Citadines Rasuna in Jakarta, Ascott Waterplace Surabaya as well as Citadines Kuta Beach Bali. About The Ascott Limited The Ascott Limited is a Singapore company that has grown to be one of the leading international serviced residence owner-operators. It has over 30,000 operating serviced residence units in key cities of the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, as well as over 22,000 units which are under development, making a total of more than 52,000 units in over 300 properties. The company operates three award-winning brands Ascott, Citadines and Somerset, along with The Crest Collection and lyf. Ascotts portfolio spans more than 100 cities across 29 countries. Ascott, a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited, pioneered Asia Pacific's first international-class serviced residence with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984. Today, the company boasts over 30 years of industry track record and award-winning serviced residence brands that enjoy recognition worldwide. Ascotts achievements have been recognised internationally. Recent awards include DestinAsian Readers Choice Awards 2017 for Best Serviced Residence Brand; TTG China Travel Awards 2017 for Best Serviced Residence Operator in China; World Travel Awards 2016 for Leading Serviced Apartment Brand in Asia, Europe and the Middle East; Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards 2016 for Best Serviced Residence Brand; Business Traveller Middle East Awards 2016 for Best Serviced Apartment Company; Business Traveller UK Awards 2016 for Best Serviced Apartment Company and Business Traveller China Awards 2016 for Best Serviced Residence Brand. For a full list of awards, please visit www.the-ascott.com/ascottlimited/awards.html. About CapitaLand Limited Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : SWISS-BELHOTEL INTERNATIONAL CONTINUES EXPANSION IN EGYPT WITH SIGNING OF SWISS-BELRESORT MARSEILIA BEACH 4 Industry: Resorts Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 is the second property owned by Marseilia Egyptian Gulf Real Estate Investment S.A.E. that will be managed by Swiss-Belhotel International. Mr. Yasser Ragab, Chairman of Marseilia Group (TRAVPR.COM) UAE - April 25th, 2017 - Global hotel management company, Swiss-Belhotel International (SBI), has announced its further expansion in Egypt with the signing of Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 on the countrys stunning north coast. The agreement was formalised today at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai in the presence H.E. Mohamed Yehia Rashed, Minister of Tourism for Egypt. Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 is the second property owned by Marseilia Egyptian Gulf Real Estate Investment S.A.E. that will be managed by Swiss-Belhotel International. Mr. Yasser Ragab, Chairman of Marseilia Group, said, Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 is a very significant project for us and we are pleased to partner once again with Swiss-Belhotel International to operate this fantastic property that is scheduled to open in 2020. We are confident their extensive global expertise and network will prove invaluable in establishing the resort as a popular holiday destination for visitors from around the world. Mr. Yasser Ragab added Marseilia Group is one of that largest real estate and tourism developer where we developed over 2 million square meter during the last 15 years in Egypt and it has a long history full of achievements and we always seek to add a new distinctive touristic interface in our projects, today we are about to add new ones to our projects portfolio in collaboration with Swiss-Belhotel International. Mr. Gavin M. Faull, Chairman and President of Swiss-Belhotel International, said, We are very excited to extend our relationship with Marseilia Group., especially as we already work closely with them on Swiss-Belhotel Marseilia Alexandria Beach, which is part of a massive 1200-key mixed use property. Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 is a superb addition to our expanding portfolio of hotels worldwide. Egypt is a remarkable destination and these new projects are not only driven by a solid increase in demand for high-quality hotels in the country, but also reaffirm the owners confidence in our strong and distinctive brands. With a robust pipeline of more than 2296 rooms in development across four hotels, Egypt has emerged as a key growth market for Swiss-Belhotel International. Commenting on the groups aggressive expansion in the country, Mr Laurent A. Voivenel, Swiss-Belhotel Internationals Senior Vice President, Operations and Development for the Middle East, Africa and India, said, We are thrilled to welcome yet another world-class property to our portfolio of hotels in Egypt. Combining the highest quality standards with local hospitality and excellent value, we are well-equipped to meet the needs of discerning international and domestic travellers. Boasting 150 well-appointed rooms, Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 enjoys an idyllic location in Sidi Abd El Rahman Bay which is considered to be one of the most beautiful areas in Egypt. The hotel is being developed as an upscale 4-star resort to offer guests exceptional recreational facilities and varied dining options. Visit Swiss-Belhotel International Stand HC0300 in Sheikh Saeed Hall, Dubai World Trade Centre At Arabian Travel Market from 24 27 April, 2017 For further information visit http://www.swiss-belhotel.com For media contact: Hina Bakht Vice President MPJ (Marketing Pro-Junction) Mob: +971 50 697 5146 Email: h.bakht@mpj-pr.com http://www.mpj-pr.com Notes to Editors: About Swiss-Belhotel International Swiss-Belhotel International currently manages a portfolio of more than *145 hotels, resorts and projects located in China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Georgia, Turkey and Tanzania. 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. swiss-behotel.com ### 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: Hina Bakht Company: Marketing Pro-Junction Phone: +971506975146 Email: pressrelease@mpj-pr.com Web: PRESS RELEASE TAGS Mumbai, Apr 25 (IBNS):Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and strategic partner Jet Airways, Indiaas full-service, premium international carrier, on Tuesday announced they signed a groundbreaking agreement with the Government of Maharashtra to promote tourism to the western Indian state. The partnership will enable both airlines to capitalise on their strong links with Maharashtra and further propel domestic and international arrivals into the state capital Mumbai and beyond. It is the first time an Indian state has signed a tourism collaboration agreement with airlines. Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis presided over the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in Mumbai The agreement was signed by Valsa Nair Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Government of Maharashtra; Neerja Bhatia, Vice President, Etihad Airways Indian Subcontinent; and Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways. It followed months of discussions between the leadership of both airlines and the state government on exploring ways to collaborate in promoting tourism. Under the agreement, the three entities will pool marketing resources to participate in travel-trade events in key international markets such as the UK and the UAE, jointly promote Destination Maharashtra through advertising campaigns, and organise inbound familiarisation trips for media and travel agents. Etihad Airways and Jet Airways are key contributors to Indias thriving travel and tourism sector carrying the biggest combined share of international traffic to and from India with one in five travellers choosing either carrier. Collectively, they operate five flights a day between Abu Dhabi, the UAE carriers operational hub, and Maharashtras main international gateway of Mumbai with domestic connections across the country. In addition, Jet Airways flies daily between Maharashtras second largest city of Pune and Abu Dhabi. Maharashtra, the third largest state in India, is one of Indias most popular tourist destinations. Mumbai ranks second after the Indian capital Delhi in terms of first port of entry for foreign tourist arrivals into India, and fifth in domestic tourist visits. Commenting on the association, Jaykumar Rawal, Honble Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra stated, We are honoured to welcome this opportunity to strengthen our cooperation with Etihad Airways and Jet Airways. This MoU is the beginning of a strategic partnership with two leading and most important international airlines to attract as many international tourists as possible. Together, we can create benefits for travellers and shareholders. Our aim is to jointly put in place the best strategies and practices to increase Maharashtras marketing footprint and position it as the most preferred destination. Valsa Nair Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Government of Maharashtra added, Were delighted to further strengthen our relationship with Etihad Airways and Jet Airways. This is a landmark agreement that will provide valuable support for Maharashtra Tourisms global campaigns and marketing activities, as well as some of the industrys most important trade and business events. This unique and important partnership between Maharashtra Tourism, Etihad Airways and Jet Airways will boost the states image exponentially. James Hogan, Etihad Aviation Group President and Chief Executive Officer, said: Being part of one of the worlds largest economies, Maharashtra has plenty to offer to business and leisure travellers. We are therefore delighted to expand our links to promote tourism to this vibrant state, which we have been serving with dedicated flights for 13 years. This agreement represents the first time a state government has ventured into such a tourism partnership with the airline industry, hence we appreciate the opportunity to work with our strategic Indian partner Jet Airways on this breakthrough agreement. Our combined operation with Jet Airways between Abu Dhabi and Mumbai, complemented by Jets widespread domestic services, is further testament to the importance of Maharashtra on our route map. Naresh Goyal, Chairman, Jet Airways, said: It is a moment of both pride and honour that the Government of Maharashtra has chosen to join hands with Jet Airways and our strategic partner Etihad Airways in this unique initiative of leveraging our collective resources and impact for strengthening travel and tourism to the state. Mumbai is Jet Airways home hub and the airline shares a warm and emotional bond with Mumbai and the state of Maharashtra. We operate our highest number of flights from the city and have always positioned and promoted Mumbai as the gateway to the state and the country. Our mutual network represents a huge market that can be potentially accessed in support of this initiative. Maharashtra is home to a diverse range of tourist attractions, from beaches, caves, forts, wildlife, tiger reserves, national parks and hill stations, to monuments, palaces, festivals, places of worship, and adventure sports. Mumbai, the international gateway to Maharashtra, is the countrys financial hub and home to numerous museums, architectural heritage and Bollywood, the worlds largest film industry in terms of movie production. Since Jet Airways began operations from Mumbai in 1993, the airline has flown millions of guests to and from its main hub over the past 24 years. Mumbai was also the first Indian city to be served by Etihad Airways with the launch of daily flights in September 2004. A second daily service was introduced in November 2013, followed two years later by a third daily frequency. Etihad Airways has carried more than two million guests on the route over the past 13 years with key inbound markets including Abu Dhabi, London, New York, San Francisco and Chicago. Etihad Airways Indian network to and from Abu Dhabi covers 11 cities that also includes Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. Jet Airways offers the additional Indian cities of Pune, Lucknow, Mangalore and Goa to Abu Dhabi, as well as numerous domestic connections. During 2017, Jet Airways is scheduled to launch flights from Kannur and Chandigarh to Abu Dhabi, subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and completion of operational readiness at these airports. Combined, both carriers operate over 250 flights each week between Abu Dhabi and 15 Indian cities. Mumbai, Apr 25 (IBNS): Yes Bank has won the Golden Peacock Innovative Product / Service Award 2017' for its mobile technology product, SIMsePAY at the Dubai Global Convention 2017 for the 27th World Congress on Leadership for Business Excellence & Innovation and Presentation of Golden Peacock Awards. The award was presented by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture & Knowledge Development, and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, CEO and Chairman, Emirates Group. Each application was assessed by an Assessment Group comprising of Quality, Business Excellence and Training experts. Applications were reviewed by assessors independently, and later discussed by the committee for normalization of reviews. Commenting on this achievement, Ritesh Pai, Chief Digital Officer, Digital Banking at Yes Bank, said: We are honored to receive this prestigious recognition. At YES BANK, it has been our constant endeavor to bring the unbanked and under-banked populace into the formal banking sector. This award is a significant affirmation of our uncompromising commitment towards the same. Through SIMsePAY, the aim is to effectively aid our countrys ongoing transition to a less-cash society, and eventually a cashless India. The Golden Peacock Awards, instituted by the Institute of Directors, India in 1991, are regarded as a benchmark of Corporate Excellence worldwide. The Golden Peacock Awards Secretariat receives over 1,000 entries per year for various National and Global awards, from India and over 25 countries worldwide. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 25 Private carrier Vistara airlines is looking to introduce more flights and work in collaboration with Taj Hotels to promote tourism in Punjab. With five more planes in its fleet, the airline sees a huge potential to connect Punjab with many more cities and countries. At present, it connects Delhi with Amritsar. Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh today met Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. The Vistara team proposed working with the state government to project Punjab as a key tourist destination and suggested the signing of an MoU in this regard, a Punjab Government spokesperson said. Vistara could work with Taj Hotels, also owned by the Tata Group, to push tourism in the state in a big way, the CEO said, suggesting that the MoU could help target other foreign airlines to promote Punjab in select foreign countries. The CM responded positively to the suggestion by welcoming Vistaras interest in promoting the state as a tourist destination. He suggested introduction of direct flights from Chandigarh to Singapore. The Vistara team also stressed the importance of working in coordination with roadways and railways to promote religious tourism in Punjab. M. G. Devasahayam Laffaire Human Shield of the Indian Army tying a stone-thrower on their jeep in Kashmir has evoked mixed reactions. Many, including Army veterans, are defending it as a tactical means to avoid stone-throwing and thus permit operations with minimal bloodshed of protestors and Army personnel alike. Many others condemn it vehemently. Among the latter are those who call it part of "D doctrine" that draws its inspiration and ideology from the state of Israel. While this can be the Standard Operating Procedure for the Israeli Occupation Force in illegal occupation of Palestine, it cannot be an SOP in the Indian Army or any other self-respecting military. For the moderate objectors, the Army personnel who used the tactic are clearly at the end of their tether in being deployed in internal security operations with no end in sight. They feel soldiers on-the-ground would not have used the tactic had they not been frustrated with having to take the blame for failures and the bullets and grenades from militants over the decades, for pulling politicians' chestnuts out of the fire, a job that the police are not quite up to. Those who defend the "human shield" quote paragraph 305 of the "Regulations for the Army" for deployment of troops on duties in aid of civil authorities: "The strength and composition of the force, the amount of ammunition to be taken and the manner of carrying out the task are matters for the decision of the military authorities alone." Paragraph 306 (d) provides immunity to officers if they act in good faith which is held to mean "with due care and attention". For them, the young commander in Budgam faced with a hostile crowd of over 900 and the option of opening fire undoubtedly acted in good faith, exercising due care and attention, thereby averting a potential catastrophe. Both sides have merits in their argument. But the problem is with the common denominator-the prolonged and endless deployment of the Army in internal security duty which is the job of the police and at best of the para-military forces for a short period. As per the Army Doctrine-2004, the Indian Army's primary role is to preserve national interests and safeguard the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of India against any external threats by deterrence or by waging war. To perform this role, the Army keeps aloof from the civilian crowd, concentrating on their training and battle readiness. Relegating the Army to its secondary/tertiary role by prolonged troop deployment on internal security duties, dilutes the Army's authority, corrupts ranks and compromises efficiency through lack of training. Besides, over time the Army is looked upon merely as another state force with its soldiers losing the respect and mystique they traditionally enjoyed. Familiarity breeds contempt and military men find themselves at the receiving end. This is precisely what is happening in Kashmir. Since the civilian population is directly involved, politics and politicians come in. Power games begin and wittingly or unwittingly the Army becomes a pawn. In the case of Kashmir, the endeavour of power-mongers has been to create a situation of intense hostility, inextricably miring the military into it forcing it to resort to excessive force. To perform this "task," the Army is vested with draconian powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). In a July 2016 verdict, the Supreme Court ripped open the cloak of immunity and secrecy provided by AFSPA to security forces for deaths caused during encounters in disturbed areas. Earlier, Commissions headed by former apex court judges have found serious human rights violations by the security forces and have recommended the scrapping of AFSPA or making drastic changes in it. Successive governments and the Army top brass have been defending AFPSA with all their might. Over the years, the effort of ruling politicians has been to make the Army an instrument of an increasingly autocratic state. The question arises: What is the mandate of the Indian Army to defend democracy or oppress the people at the whim of an autocratic state? This poser came up when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency in June, 1975 turning a vibrant democracy into enslaved autocracy. Putting the entire blame on Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) and the movement led by him she made specific reference to JP calling upon the Army not to obey any order, which they considered wrong: "You have not sold your conscience and honour for the sake of your bread", JP had said and challenged the Home Minister to try him for treason. Response to the poser came from the international media in a lengthy article titled Ruler of 600 million arid alone-Indira Gandhi is unmaking a democracy to save it," in the New York Times of August 10, 1975 written by Claire Sterling, a columnist for Atlantic Monthly, Washington Post and International Herald Tribune after extensively visiting India. After analysing the situation on the ground and presenting the alternatives before Mrs Gandhi becoming a real dictator or sending the country into the Soviet orbit Claire opines that neither development is likely to leave the Indian Army unmoved: India's standing Army of nearly a million men has been resolutely non-political since Independence. But it is also sensitive to the smallest slight to its honour, dignity and military independence, not to mention the nation's sovereignty; and it is steeped in loyalty to constitutional principles. It was altogether her Army when she enjoyed unquestioned legitimacy of constitutional rule. It may not be should its ranking officers conclude that she has become something else. More than ever now her fate hangs on the Army's loyalty. Claire concludes the article with touching poignancy: "One thing worse than governing India by democratic persuasion would be trying to govern it by force. Yet that is how Indira is trying to do it now. Depending on how fast and how far she goes in changing from a traditional Prime Minister to the one-woman ruler of a police state, the Indian Army, the one group with the power to stop the process, could intervene. If it were to do so, it would almost certainly be not to replace her with a military dictator, but to restore the institutions of democracy it has been drilled into defending since birth." The Army lived up to this faith and Emergency ended with Indira Gandhi's defeat in the 1977 elections. The Army did not intervene but remained a bulwark of India's democracy and its institutions. I was a witness. Should our Army be any different now? The writer is a former IAS officer To Ms Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Jaipur. Dear Ms Vasundhara Raje, We are very disturbed by the lynching and murder of Pehlu Khan in Alwar. He was attacked on April 1 at Behror in Alwar District and died of the injuries a few days later. We are also dismayed by the acts of omission and commission of the government following the incident, including the delay and marked reluctance in arresting all those guilty of the act. You are aware of the fact that Pehlu Khan and four others were returning to Haryana from Rajasthan with the cows they had bought, and the necessary documents corroborating the fact that the purchase had no relationship with cow slaughter. Cows of a well-known breed of milch cattle were being transported from a cattle fair in Rajasthan to their village in Haryana. While one may have strongly differing sentiments on the importance of cows, and their slaughter or consumption, the killing of Pehlu Khan by an arbitrary self-appointed group of vigilantes shows us how much we have succeeded in undermining the most basic principles and values on which we have based our nation. This kind of vigilantism, if not checked, will lead to large-scale violence, brazen disregard for the rule of law, and the complete disregard of constitutional provisions, the preservation of which is a fundamental responsibility of any democratic government. The act of lynching is in itself a mindless and horrifying act, and yet the perpetrators have not been promptly and legally dealt with. The post facto delays and inefficiencies reflect on the inefficacy of government. Vigilantism must be seen as a serious threat to law and order and peoples' lives and the government must act strongly and immediately. There has been a reprehensible attempt on the part of certain people in authority in Rajasthan as well as in the Union government to deny this horrific incident, or to minimise its gravity. Other authority figures, whose duty it was to make on example of the perpetrators of this crime, have made themselves complicit by their inaction and silence. In this context, we would urge that the FIRs registered in regard to this incident and the dying statement of Pehlu Khan be acted on decisively. The culprits must be arrested to restore the faith of the victims' families and their communities in the system of justice in the country. The failure to take immediate action at this juncture will amount to a mockery of good governance and the rule of law, and will inevitably lead to anarchy. We are sure you will appreciate the urgency and importance of your public statement and action in this matter, and restore the confidence in the government of Rajasthan by: Arresting all those who attacked Pehlu Khan. Ending all vigilantism in the name of cow protection. Punishment of police/administrative personnel for dereliction of duty. Yours sincerely, Arun Kumar Aruna Roy Bhupindar Singh Lamba Brij Kishore Brijesh Kumar D. T. Joseph Gopalkrishna Gandhi J. Vasudevan Kamal Kant Jaswal Komal Anand Lalit Mathur M. G. Devasahayam Mihir Kumar Moitra Mohan Kanda Narendra Singh Sisodia Ravi Sawhney S. S. Meenakshisundaram Shanti N. Kakar Surendra Kumar Pachauri Sushil Chandra Tripathi Uma Pillai Vivek Kumar Agnihotri Wajahat Habibullah. All the signatories to the letter are of the 1968 batch of the Indian Administrative Service Yogendra Yadav I HAD my Ola wisdom on the eve of the Delhi MC elections. We had taken a taxi on our way back from the last informal meeting on the day before polling. As he dropped us, the driver asked us if I was from a political party, as he vaguely recalled my face. It didnt matter, I said, and asked him what he thought of the election the next day. It turned out that he was a traditional Congress voter who had for the first time shifted to the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. But he switched to Kejriwal in February 2015. And this time? He did not recall the names of local candidates in his ward but he was sure he was voting for Modi. I asked him what he thought of the way the MCD had functioned. Kuchh kaam nahin kiya (They didnt do a thing). I reminded him that the BJP had been running the MCD for the last 10 years. He feigned ignorance, but this information did not seem to make a difference to him. Why not stay with jhadu, I persisted. Kejriwal ne to dhokha diya (Kejriwal betrayed us), he dismissed. Now his hopes rest with Modiji. He has given a good Chief Minister like Yogiji in Uttar Pradesh, he will ensure a good government in Delhi as well. I was speechless and horrified. Yet the Ola driver had taught me something about politics. The counting of votes for the MC elections is due today. So, as of now we do not know the outcome. Yet I have little doubt that the voting pattern followed by the driver is about to be replicated all over Delhi. A massive, yet silent, shift of votes in favour of the BJP was quite evident towards the end of the campaign. I was involved in the campaign for my party, Swaraj India, and missed no opportunity to draw attention to BJPs misdeeds in Delhis three municipalities. Yet, it was clear that the voters were not focusing on the performance of the MC. They were more attentive to my criticism of the AAP government in Delhi. Exit polls have merely confirmed the subjective impression of many observers that the BJP had established a huge lead on the polling day. Exit polls estimate that the BJPs lead over its nearest rival to be a staggering 20 per cent plus. Such a lead would naturally translate into a clean sweep in terms of seats. Even if the polls have overestimated the BJPs lead (and, I hope underestimated smaller parties like ours), we are still looking at something of an electoral wave in favour of the BJP. Such an outcome would be intriguing as well as tragic. Delhis three municipal corporations must be among the worst-run municipalities in the country. A visit to the outer and eastern peripheries of Delhi, which now house nearly half of Delhi, reveal an urban infrastructure no better than towns of UP and Bihar. Even a casual visitor to the city cannot but notice the garbage dumps, dirty water and stench all over the city. In the last one year, Delhi has been through chikungunya and dengue epidemic, air pollution that crossed all danger marks and strikes leading to garbage strewn across the streets. There cannot be two arguments about who is the culprit: the municipal corporations of Delhi run by the BJP for the last 10 years. In popular lexicon, these are known as the Most Corrupt Departments. The only time you notice the MCD is when its inspector arrives to demand bribe to turn a blind eye to any building activity. These municipalities are a textbook example of how urban governments ought not to be. True, they have been starved of resources by the Delhi Government, but they have done little to generate massive revenues that they could through parking, advertisements and toll tax. If the BJP looks set to come back to power in the MCD, it is nothing short of a democratic scandal. Why are the people of Delhi voting for a non-performing ruling party? Clearly, the answer does not lie in EVM tampering. Instead of making such rash and irresponsible allegations that the BJPs political opponents, like myself, acknowledge the fact that the BJP is winning because the people are voting for it. Those who are voting for the BJP do not think they are rewarding the non-performing MCD. The BJP managed to detach this election from the difficult municipal issues. Instead, it distracted the voters and the media into discussing nationalism, Kashmir, cow slaughter and national security issues that have no bearing on the MCD. It also managed to deflect popular anger against its sitting councillors by deciding not to re-nominate any of them. The AAP also contributed to this de-coupling of the elections from the real municipal issues by making it a personality contest. The AAP campaign was all about turning this election into a personal referendum for Kejriwal. Some hoardings did not carry the name of his own party. Smaller players like Swaraj India, constrained by lack of resources and media attention, tried to bring the debate to municipal issues, but with very limited success. In the end, it became a simple popularity contest between the CM and the PM. The people of Delhi appeared to have chosen the PM over the CM. This cannot be explained by the magical Modi wave sweeping across the country. We just need to remember that Modi wave was no less strong in 2015 when the BJP bit dust in the Delhi Assembly elections. If anything, the PMs popularity was a shade higher at that mode, having scored an unprecedented victory in Maharashtra and Haryana, following his Lok Sabha success. Unlike now, his party did not face any local anti-incumbency either. The Congress and the AAP were the prior incumbents then. We cannot escape the difficult question: Why did the Modi wave fail to work in 2015 and appears to be working in 2017? The difference lies in Delhis experience with the AAP government since February 2015. Within a few months of coming to power, the AAP lost its moral sheen. Its promise of good governance also turned hollow as the government had little to show for its track record except partial deduction in electricity bills and additional funds for school education. Instead, the government has been busy with blame games against the Central government and its representative, the LG. No doubt, some of these complaints are valid. But over-reliance on this blame game has left the people of Delhi, like my Ola driver, sick and tired. The personality cult of Kejriwal is beginning to boomerang as he loses this personal referendum. The AAPs meteoric rise now threatens to turn into meteoric fall. One can only hope that the party has the capacity to learn some lessons. The MCD election has completed one phase of the BJPs rise as the hegemon in Indian politics. If the oppositional politics does not come to terms with reality even now, it might be too late. yogendra.yadav@gmail.com SO the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, has had her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The hope and the expectation that she would be able to extract a substantial Central initiative melted when she deployed the Vajpayee cliches. Instead of any promise of reconciliation, she was apparently served an ultimatum that peace be restored in the Valley within the next three months. That is a rather tall order, now that the schoolgirls have jumped into the stone-throwing activity, and militants are going in for politicians assassination. The PDPs district president, Abdul Gani Dar, was the third politician to have been killed in a weeks time in Pulwama, one of the four districts of the poll-bound South Kashmirs Anantnag parliamentary constituency. A hot summer seems in the offing. The year 2017 presents a new challenge. Security forces can no longer go in for anti-militancy operations uninterrupted; they have to contend with violent stone-throwing crowds. Any retaliation is fraught with wider and deadlier ramifications. A much bigger challenge is that the stone-throwers guided by sentiment, conviction, camaraderie, religious and ethnic identity reasons and anger against the security forces are in each and every neighbourhood. On top of this, the human shield episode has bought an immitigable opprobrium at the international level. Mehbooba Muftis claim that Modi has assured her that like Vajpayee he will look for a Kashmir solution within the parameters of humanity is nothing new, nor is it exciting. The Vajpayee era is over, and so it seems is Kashmirs appetite for talks, notwithstanding the clamour of the PDP, the National Conference and the Congress. A mutually agreed ground needs to be discovered first. An order can emerge if chaos is dealt with dexterity. Now when even taking the first step has been made conditional to an improvement in the situation, then peace in Kashmir looks like a chimera. Some risks need to be taken in Srinagar and in Delhi. Tribune News Service Karnal, April 25 Ten ministers presented the progress reports of 22 departments under their jurisdiction in the state executive meeting. Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar said the government had for the first time allocated a separate budget for panchayati raj institutions to empower them. More than 29 services were being made available to people through panches and sarpanches. Health Minister Anil Vij claimed the government had initiated steps to curb corruption and bring about transparency. He said the gender ratio in the state had reached 950 for the first time due to sincere efforts put in by his department. Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu claimed that the highest number of liquor shops in 150 villages had been closed on the requests of panchayats. Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain said a target had been fixed to make all urban areas open defecation free by September 25. Other ministers Manish Grover, Rao Narbir Singh and Karan Dev Kamboj also detailed the achievements of their departments. Vishal Joshi Tribune News Service Kaithal, April 25 Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC ad hoc) leader Jagdish Singh Jhinda will float a political wing of the gurdwara panel. After a meeting of HSGMC district leaders and chairpersons of dharam prachar committees of 11 districts, Jhinda today said a five-member committee would suggest the name of the party. The name of the party would be announced at Akal Takht by August 15, he said. He said a political wing was needed to contest gurdwara elections in Haryana. He said it was being deliberated if the HSGMCs political wing would contest Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee elections in Punjab and Delhi. The new political wing will ensure participation of Sikh population in eight countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia and Germany, he said. The outfit will have its presence in 10 states with considerable Sikh population, including Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The prime focus of the political front will be Haryana, he said. Asked HSGMC leader Didar Singh Nalvi has called a meeting at Gurdwara Neem Sahib, Kaithal, on May 7 to elect a new executive body, Jhinda denied any parallel faction governing the panel. Only the president or general secretary of the HSGMC could call a metting and he continues to be the HSGMC head, he said. There is no final decision on convening a meeting on May 7. Some members may have been misguided by politicians, but all matters will be sorted out amicably, he said. We are fighting together for the formation of an independent gurdwara panel for Haryana. The Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the HSGMC on July 14 and we expect a favourable decision, he said. Ravi S. Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 25 Former Haryana Chief Minister BS Hooda today asked incumbent Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to make public Prime Minister Narendra Modis response on the SYL canal when he raised the issue during a one-on-one meeting with him last Saturday. He asked Khattar to specify the next step he would take to ensure the construction of the canal and bring Ravi and Beas waters to the parched land of Haryana. The states farming community is reeling under water shortage, he added. The SYL canal is Haryanas life line and it also relates to the states rights, integrity and dignity. People have a right to know what was the response of the Prime Minister when the Chief Minister met with him, Hooda said. The state government, following the Modi-Khattar meeting, quoted the Chief Minister that he had urged the Prime Minister to ensure early construction of the canal. Hooda wondered why Khattar did not abide by his commitment to take an all-party delegation to Modi. The SYL canal is not a personal issue of the BJP, but a sensitive matter affecting the collective psyche of the state, he added. The Chief Minister has betrayed the trust of the Opposition by meeting the Prime Minister alone. Now that he has met the Prime Minister, he must disclose the latters response on the issue. It was decided at all-party meeting that the Chief Minister would take an all-party delegation to President Pranab Mukherjee (the meeting already materialised) and the Prime Minister to ensure speedy implementation of the 0Supreme Courts order to the Union government to get the SYL canal constructed. The Opposition had assured him of all cooperation to the Haryana government in all steps it would take on the issue in the interest of the people of the state. Hooda condemned the reported Khattars statement in which he suggested approaching Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to solve the SYL imbroglio, as attempt to introduce a red-herring to confuse the public. Dipender Manta Tribune news service Mandi, April 25 Surender Thakur (33), head constable, CRPF, native of Nerchowk, was among those who were killed in the Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh yesterday. His body was brought to his native place near Nerchowk and his last rites were performed with state honours. CRPF personnel and the Himachal Police gave salute to the martyr. The family of the martyr was inconsolable. He is survived by his wife, three year-old daughter, elder brother and mother. Pall of gloom descended on the district after the news reached his native place last evening. According to the family, after the news broken out yesterday, they tried to contact him on the phone which was picked by someone who told them that he was killed in the ambush. Surender joined the CRPF in 2003 and had served Jammu and Srinagar for six years. He had been posted in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh for the past three years. It was only nine days back when Surender was at home on leave and had taken his wife and daughter on a trip to Golden Temple in Amritsar and the Wagah border. He studied at Nerchowk and get higher education from Maharaja Lakshman Sen Memorial (MLSM) College, Nerchowk, in Mandi. Mandi MP Ramswaroop Sharma, Excise and Taxation Minister Prakash Chaudhari, Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam and Superintendent of Police Prem Kumar Thakur were present at the funeral ceremony of the martyr. His daughter performed the last rites. New Delhi, Apr 25 (IBNS): On the occasion of World Malaria Day, Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda urged the people to get involved in government reforms in order to eradicate the disease. Nadda took to Twitter to deliver his message. "#Worldmalariaday is to highlight the global efforts to control malaria. Your involvement & our commitment are essential to end malaria," his tweet read. Following Nadda's cue, the Health Ministry shared a picture and tweeted, "Here are easy-to-follow methods to #DefeatMalaria infection. #WorldMalariaDay #SwasthaBharat." Over 400-1000 people die annually in India due to Malaria. Image: twitter.com/MoHFW_INDIA Ravinder Sood Palampur, April 25 A pall of gloom descended on Nagri village, 10 kilometres from here, when the mortal remains of 46-year-old CRPF Assistant Sub-Inspector Sanjay Kumar was brought to his native village this afternoon. Sanjay was killed in a Maoist attack in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday. Earlier, his body was airlifted to Pathankot and later was brought by helicopter to the Gaggal airport. Later, in the evening, the mortal remains of Sanjay were consigned to flames with full state honours at Nagri in the presence of a large number of people who had come to pay their tributes to the officer. His two daughters lit the pyre. His body was received by local residents, family members, relatives and officials of the district and police administration and the CRPF at Nagri village. Sanjay has left behind his aged parents, two daughters Kasish and Amisha, studying in 8th and 12th standards. Sanjay had joined the CRPF in 1990. He, along with a team of CRPF jawans, had gone to the Naxal-infested Kalapathar of the south Bastar region of Sukma district, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism. CRPF officials, accompanying the body, told mediapersons that the jawans had gone to the remote tribal village for the construction of a road when the rebels attacked the team from all sides. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Dr Richa Verma, SSP Sanjiv Gandhi, SDM, Palampur, Ajit Bhardwaj, DSP Vikas Dhiman placed wreaths on behalf of the state government. The guard of honour was given by a contingent of the state police and CRPF jawans, who fired bullets in the air. Senior CRPF officers accompanied the martyrs body from Chhattisgarh. Strong resentment was seen in the public as out of 15 MLAs including ministers, none was present in the cremation or visited the residence of the martyr. However, BBL Butail, local MLA and Speaker of the state Assembly, expressed shock over the incident. He conveyed his sympathies to the family member of the martyr. He assured full support of the family members on behalf of state government. He said being out of Palampur, he was unable to attend the cremation. He would soon visit the family of the martyr. Daughters lit pyre Sanajy Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector, CRPF, was killed in a Maoist attack in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday. Earlier, his body was airlifted to Pathankot and later was brought by a helicopter to the Gaggal airport. In the evening, the mortal remains of Sanjay were consigned to flames with full state honours at Nagri in the presence of a large number of people who had come to pay their tributes to the officer. His two daughters lit the pyre. Had gone for road construction Sanjay along with a team of CRPF jawans, had gone to the Naxal-infested Kalapathar of the south Bastar region of Sukma district, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism. CRPF officials, accompanying the body, told mediapersons that the jawans had gone to the remote tribal village for the construction of a road when the rebels attacked the team from all sides. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, April 24 The Spinal Cord Injury Association (SCIA) organised the third Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Conference Vistaar at Shanti Devi Mittal Auditorium in Lovely Professional University. Different sessions of the conference sensitised the society and different agencies to adopt stringent measures to prevent such injuries. Nearly 200 persons with spine injuries from various cities, including Hyderabad and Mumbai assembled on the campus. All of them had one-to-one interaction with experts from related fields for befitting solutions and suggestions to their problems. On the occasion, 15 wheelchairs were given to affected people to make them live a life of mobility and self-dependence. Illustrious personalities who came forward to help in the event include Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu; MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla; Jalandhar MLAs Pargat Singh, Rajinder Beri, Sushil Rinku, Bawa Henry; IG Zonal Arpit Shukla; Police Commissioner Parveen Sinha; Deputy Commissioner Varinder Sharma and Deputy Director, SCERT, Shruti Shukla. Many other civil officers, doctors and NGOs also participated actively along with 200 NSS volunteers of LPU to make the event a success. During the doctors session, specialists in neurology, urology, nephrology, spine injuries, embryology and infertility inspired and counselled affected persons to go for rehabilitation for independent and respectable social life. Miss India (wheel chair) 2015 Priya shared, I think, everybody is disabled in this world in one or the other form. I feel government agencies should come up with computer-based allied jobs which persons like me can do while sitting at home. Anand Arnold, who has won the title of Mr India (Wheel Chair) four times and has been Mr Punjab (Wheel Chair) 12 times, exhibited his robust physique and said, Disability is only in our mind. LPU Chancellor Ashok Mittal said, In consideration to our corporate social responsibility, we have been associated with this great humane endeavour. The Spinal Cord Injury Association team is really doing a commendable job by inspiring such sufferers to live an active social life.SCIA president Parvinder Singh Sonu said, The main motive of SCIA is to serve as a comprehensive resource centre for individuals who have been personally affected by spinal cord injury and those working in related fields. Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, April 25 The prolonged unrest in Kashmir has deepened the regional divide in the relatively peaceful Jammu and Ladakh regions as the demand for separating the two regions from the Kashmir valley has gained momentum. The Jammu region has been pushing for statehood while Ladakh has been demanding UT status. People and representatives of Jammu and Ladakh contend that they have been suffering immensely due to the recurrent violence, uncertainty and growing radicalism in Kashmir. We have been suffering due to the Kashmir situation, which adversely affected our tourism as well as the supply of essential goods to the Ladakh region last year. On the behalf of Ladakhi people, I want to make it clear that the government will have to think seriously about granting UT status to Ladakh, Sonam Dawa Lonpo, Chief Executive Councillor (CEC) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, told The Tribune over phone. The LAHDC governs the Leh district politically while the CEC holds the rank of a Cabinet minister. We want to tell the Centre that it should not link us with Kashmir. We are not opposing what will be given to Kashmir but our demand is clear: we want separation from Kashmir and UT status for Ladakh. Our struggle will continue till we accomplish our mission, the CEC said. On April 9, Leh district had observed a complete shutdown on a call given by the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), a powerful religious body, in support of the demand for UT status to Ladakh. Tsewang Thinles, LBA chief, said: We dont want to live with Kashmir. Ladakh has suffered because of Kashmir. The Kashmiri leadership cannot impose their decision on us. We had also submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this context. The Central government should also keep in mind that no decision on the Kashmir issue would be possible without consulting the people of Ladakh. It must honour the aspirations of Ladakhi people by granting them UT status. Nawang Rigzin Jora, Congress legislature party leader and MLA from Leh, maintained there was no commonality between people of the three regions Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. We have to have a binding force which is not there. Generations of Kashmir have been brought up on the rhetoric of separatism since the 1950s. Ladakhs demand for UT status is legitimate and genuine. In Jammu too, voices for a separate statehood have gone shriller. Zorawar Singh Jamwal, chairman of Team Jammu, said Jammu had suffered due to the Kashmir-centric policies of the Centre. The people in Jammu, particularly those in Poonch and Rajouri, have always stood with nationalist forces while tackling terrorism. The Centre, however, hasnt announced any Jammu-specific policy, reflecting discrimination and bias against people of the region, he added. Hari Om, a political analyst, asserted that the reorganisation of J&K is a national requirement and a constitutional demand. Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, April 25 After a spree of civilian killings in the past three weeks, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today asked the top security forces officers to prevent collateral damage and strictly follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) while dealing with any situation. If there are apprehensions of collateral damage during an anti-militancy operation then it should not be carried out, she said. Mehbooba issued the directions while chairing a crucial Unified Headquarters (UHQ) meeting to discuss the security situation in the region. The UHQ is the topmost security grid of the Army, Central Armed Police Forces, J&K Police and the Central and state intelligence agencies to synergise the anti-militancy operations in the state. The top security officers, during the meeting, were of the view that stone-throwing was a greater challenge in the present situation, sources said. The CM asked the security agencies to behave more humanely with the locals and work in coordination with the J&K Police, the sources said. The collateral damage should be prevented at any cost during encounters or law and order situations. The SOP should be followed strictly while handling with situations, Mehbooba told the officers, according to sources. At least 13 youths have been killed in security forces action since March 28, triggering a series of protests in the Valley. Schools and colleges across Kashmir were shut by the government last week after recurring student protests against police action on students of Government Degree College, Pulwama, on April 15. About 50 students of Pulwama college were injured on that day. Mehbooba also asked the top security officers that efforts should be made to bring the local militants back into the mainstream. She asked the officers to ensure a cordial atmosphere so that development projects takes place. Last year, we suffered a lot on the development front. This year, we should ensure a cordial atmosphere, she said. Referring to the recent attack on Gujjars in Reasi district, the Chief Minister said they should not be harassed. The law should strictly be enforced there, she said, while referring to an attack on a nomad family by cow vigilantes in Reasi. An official spokesman later said that the CM directed the security agencies to ensure that the inter-community harmony and amity among various sections of society was maintained at all costs. The culprits must be brought to justice if found spreading hatred against a section of society or in the name of a social cause. And, if need be, strict provisions of law be slapped on such hate-mongers who are found taking law into their own hands, the spokesman said. Geelani condemns PDP leaders killing Srinagar: Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani on Tuesday condemned the killing of ruling PDP's district president Abdul Gani Dar. Geelani in a statement said he had deep concern over the killing of political worker. "There is no justification for these killings. It is unfair and against humanity to kill a person for his specific ideology or affiliations," Geelani added. Denouncing the incident, Geelani said "secret killings would lead us to chaos". "Killing merely on political affiliations or for one's political ideology is against the teachings of Islam," he added. Dar, Pulwama district president of the PDP, was shot dead by suspected militants in Pulwama district on Monday. tns Tribune News Service Jammu/Reasi, April 25 A shutdown was observed on Tuesday in Reasi and its adjoining villages against the biased approach of the police against the 11 accused, allegedly involved in thrashing of a Gujjar family. Though all the accused were given bail yesterday, but people are up in arms against the police. The call was given by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Vishva Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, transporters and trading organisations. Demanding a fair probe and revocation of FIR against the 11 accused, protesters, led by Vikrant Mengi, burnt tyres across the town and shouted slogans against the police and the civil administration. Meanwhile, extending support to the nomadic family, former minister and senior National Conference (NC) leader Mian Altaf today alleged that the Gujjar community was living under fear and face harassment since the formation of the BJP-PDP coalition government in J&K. Altaf, himself a prominent Gujjar leader and represents Kangan constituency in Kashmir, condemned the recent incident at Reasi, wherein a nomadic family was thrashed by locals over allegation of bovine smuggling. Addressing a press conference, Altaf claimed that the ruling government had communalised the situation in the state, especially in the Jammu region. The tribal community, especially the Gujjars and Bakerwals, have been doing seasonal migration for centuries and they take their cattle along with them. Till now, there have been no attacks but the recent incident at Reasi has created fear among the community, Altaf added. He said: The Muslim community is being harassed whenever there was any militancy incident in Jammu. This should stop. For the last two years since the BJP came to power, the minority community living in Jammu, especially in Kathua and Samba district, is being harassed on a routine basis by the police and the right wing groups, the NC leader alleged. He asked CM Mehbooba Mufti to take action against those trying to create communal tension. Nobody should be allowed to take law in their hands. It is very unfortunate that attempts are being made vitiate the peaceful environment of Jammu. Gujjars should not be taken for granted and their rights should be protected. The NC has also demanded that the FIR lodged against the nomadic family should be revoked and the incident should be properly investigated. QUOTES For the last two years since the BJP came to power, the minority community living in Jammu, especially in Kathua and Samba district, is being harassed regularly by the police and the right wing groups. Nobody should be allowed to take law in their hands. It is very unfortunate that attempts are being made to vitiate the peaceful environment of Jammu. Gujjars should not be taken for granted and their rights should be protected. Mian Altaf, National Conference Leader We demand a neutral investigation. It will be possible only after the suspension of Reasi SSP Tahir Bhat and Deputy DSP Mujeeb-ur-Rehman. The police have implicated innocent persons in the FIR. Raghav Kesar, ABVP State General Secretary Santosh Kudtarkar The democratisation of education coupled with the exigencies of economic survival has necessitated training in specific practical skills to secure ones future. But the price one pays for this uni-disciplinary approach is a total absence of understanding of the multiple perspectives that inform a subject. Non practical skill-based courses, too, suffer from the same malaise. This leads to ill-equipped students who are unable to deal with the pace of obsolescence and update their repository of skills to meet the demands of the new. Liberal education seeks to address these inadequacies and more. Like Platos idea of tiered education, it goes beyond the current and seeks to develop habits of life-long learning that enables students to pick up skills that address the demands of the future. Liberal education hones the ability to think critically and effectively. It enables intellectual growth by application of these skills to examine, analyse and synthesise information obtained from multiple sources and demands that every issue or problem be informed by inter-disciplinary perspectives. It provides exposure to all aspects of human knowledge and affords an opportunity to make an in-depth study of a subject. Students opting for liberal arts course have the opportunity to engage in academic programmes across cognate areas, which is not always possible in the traditional higher education system. A liberal arts course Liberal arts is a term used for an interdisciplinary approach to education. It provides students the choices to take courses which are varied. Students can experience a broad spectrum of courses and they have the freedom of meandering into many streams of knowledge to discover where their calling is and which stream they respond to. Their curriculum is not open ended. There is a structure and the student experiences some courses across the streams of existing knowledge to be able to make well informed choices in their specialisations. Students opting for these courses can chose from over 250 major-minor combinations across business, communication management, social sciences, humanities, mathematics and natural sciences and the fine and performing arts. Some interesting combinations include a major in finance and a minor in theatre, or a major in applied mathematics with a minor in advertising and branding or vice-versa. A major in psychology and a minor in music, or a major in environmental studies and a minor in public policy. Students can choose to pursue public policy with economics as well. Students can also choose to complete an independent research project which presents them with an opportunity to either focus on that specific discipline or to identify areas of intersection between their major and minor and raise related questions, or a course in economics may look at the impact of profit motives on the environment and the ethical questions that such a pursuit raises. The structure of the liberal education programme involves breadth and depth of study. Breadth of study allows students to explore different disciplines before making a decision about their specialisation. The breadth of study that students are exposed to encompasses the essentials of liberal education. It includes foundation courses whose aim is to equip students with the basic tools of logical and critical reasoning, strengthen their written and oral communication skills, expose the students to develop an understanding of human society and culture and the forces that influence their evolution and development, provide an overview of the theories, principles and facts of our understanding of the material world around us, teach the students to speak in multiple tongues for effective communication in an increasingly globalized world and develop their aesthetic sensibilities in the fine and performing arts. This is achieved by placing it in a multi-disciplinary framework. To sum up, with its focus on the cultivation of habits of learning, critical thinking, communication and good citizenship, liberal education seeks to hedge the danger of the irrelevancy of conventional education to address the problems of the future and provides a framework for success in career and happiness in life. Where to study The philosophy of liberal education is at the core of higher education in the United States. In a recent Forbes guest column, Steve Sadove, former Chairman and CEO of Saks Incorporated, writes, "A 2014 study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems found that liberal arts majors earn more than most professional majors at their peak earnings ages. It also has been reported that a third of Fortune 500 CEOs have liberal arts degrees." In India, there are very few liberal education universities. The truly liberal education focused universities concentrate on developing abilities to communicate clearly and effectively through writing and speaking which is essential for success. Their programmes go beyond intellectual achievement and seek to inculcate the values of good citizenship and to realise the potential of the individual. They aim to nurture sensitive, informed, ethical, and responsible global citizens whose knowledge to bring about positive change in society. Some of the states where liberal arts education is present in India are Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Universities like FLAME University, Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Ashoka University, Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts and Shiv Nadar University offer liberal arts courses in India. Options after a degree As liberal arts education allows students to gather and learn diverse skills through various major and minor combinations, the career prospects are also varied. Some of the careers students can think of after graduating are: International Relations Official Public Policy Economist Sociologist/Psychologist Human Resource Specialist Law Financial and Risk Analysts Entrepreneurship Media Professional Research Writer/Journalism Social Worker The writer is Associate Dean, Faculty of Liberal Education, FLAME University Raipur, April 24 At least 25 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed and six wounded today in a Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district. A paramilitary patrol, 99-personnel strong, sanitising the area for a road to be laid, was attacked at 12:25 pm in Kala Pathar area of south Bastar, close to the Chintagufa-Burkapal-Bheji axis, the hotbed of Naxal violence that has seen a series of such attacks in the past. All troops belonged to the 74th Battalion, sources said. Reinforcements, including CoBRA commandos, have been rushed to the site. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) We have lost 25 men. We are still to account for all personnel. A search is on, said a senior CRPF officer. While 11 bodies were recovered first, 12 more were found during combing operations, he said. A jawan died on way to hospital. The company commander, Raghubir Singh, an Inspector-rank officer, was among those killed. An injured jawan, brought to a hospital here, said they were attacked by 300 Maoists. The Naxals first sent villagers to check our position. I also saw some women Naxals. They were all in black uniform and carried sophisticated weapons, such as AK assault rifles. A considerable number of Naxals are believed to have been killed in retaliatory action, according to the CRPF. Officials said the ambush set up by the Naxals was as deadly as the one on March 11 in Bheji area of Sukma district in which 12 personnel had died. Another survivor said the Naxals, who were in hiding, opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed hand grenades, taking the patrol by surprise. The wounded troopers, who were airlifted and hospitalised, were identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector RP Hembram and constables Swaroop Kumar, Mohinder Singh, Jitendra Kumar, Sher Mohammed and Latoo Oraon. The incident comes at a time when the countrys largest paramilitary force is without a full-time chief. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi reviewed the situation in the aftermath of the attack at North Block. A distressed Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, cut short his Delhi visit and rushed to Raipur. Strongly condemn attack on CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh; condolences to families of deceased and prayers for injured, President Pranab Mukherjee tweeted. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh sent Minister of State Hansraj Ahir to Chhattisgarh to take stock of the situation. Extremely pained to know about the killing. My tributes to the martyrs and condolences to their families, he tweeted. PTI New Delhi, April 25 The 25 CRPF jawans who were killed in a deadly Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarhs Sukma, were having lunch when a hail of bullets and grenades hit them fatally. A party of about 36 troops, out of the total 99, came under the first assault after they had ventured out from Burkapal yesterday to sanitise and provide protection to a 5.5-km long road construction work connecting Chitagufa in the said district, officials said. The Maoists squad very discreetly with the aid of locals kept tracking the movement of the troops when one party of 36, out of the total three, sat down for lunch, the strong squad of Naxals, possessing sophisticated weapons, took them by surprise and rained heavy gunfire, they said. A huge assortment of 22 smart arms, including 13 AK series assault rifles and 5 INSAS rifles, 3,420 live rounds of various rifles, 75 magazines of AK rifles, 31 of INSAS, 67 live UBGL rounds, 22 bulletproof jackets, two binoculars, five wireless sets and a deep search metal detector were also looted by Naxals, they said. While a top CRPF officer said the killed troops had finished their lunch and may be were not in an absolute alert mode for the next few minutes, other officials said some of them were having their lunch when the attack was launched around 12:30 pm. While the slain 25 men and about six others who were injured tried to gather their weapons or take aim at the marauding Naxals, the others on the guard duty mounted an effective retaliation and saved about 40 civilians and construction workers who were present in the vicinity of the area during the deadly assault that lasted over an hour. What has surprised multiple security officials is the fact that the Maoists are understood to have used few under-barrel grenade launchers, a smart and sophisticated weapon used by security forces, to inflict fatal casualties on the troops by lobbing grenades in quick succession. PTI Odisha sounds alert, seals border with Cgarh Bhubaneswar: Apprehending influx of Maoists from Chhattisgarh, the Odisha Police on Tuesday sealed the border with the neighbouring state and sounded a high alert in Malkangiri district. Though the ambush took place about 45 km from Malkangiri and close to Maharashtra border, the Odisha Police deployed its elite anti-Maoist Special Operation Group, District Voluntary Force and jawans of the CRPF and the BSF to ensure there was no influx of ultras in Odisha, state DGP KB Singh said, adding there was every possibility of Maoist ultras preferring to take shelter in Odisha as Maharashtra has already sealed its border with Chhattisgarh. PTI Dont politicise attack, says govt Jammu: Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office Jitendra Singh on Tuesday urged the Opposition not to politicise the Sukma Naxal attack. Assuring of strict action by the government, he said, It is not right to comment on this issue now, especially without knowing any facts. It is not right to comment on judiciary and its decision, they know best and some action will be taken. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has taken suo moto cognizance on this issue. I request the opposition not to add politics in this serious and grave matter. ANI Mamata announces Rs 5-lakh relief Cooch Behar (West Bengal): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday visited the houses of two CRPF troopers killed by Maoists in Chhattisgarh and announced Rs 5 lakh and government jobs to their next of kin. Three jawans from Bengal were martyred in Sukma. Bengals jawans have always worked for the service of the nation, Banerjee tweeted. The CM visited the houses of two troopersKrishna Kumar Das and Binay Chandra Barmanwho hailed from Cooch Behar. IANS Grieved families demand justice Patna/Amritsar/Sikar/Jashpur: Death of my husband should be avenged, said a teary-eyed wife of CRPF jawan Banmali who lost his life in Mondays attack in Sukma. With a year and half daughter in her lap, Banmalis widow Jiteshwari has nothing to say, but all she wants is revenge. Death of my husband should be avenged. Who will do it I dont know, but justice should be done, she said. A similar gloomy scene was witnessed in Sikar village of Rajasthan after the killing of local hero and CRPF jawan Banna Ram. Slain Raghbir Singhs aggravated family and friends question the intelligence failure and government inaction. ANI Why are rights activists silent? "While the nation is shocked, why human rights activists have maintained baffling silence? They react strongly if an extremist or a terrorist is killed by the police but take shelter in silence when jawans and innocent people are killed by those who operate underground. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister Act of cowardice "Since their strength is getting reduced, they are doing such things. This is a strategy of cowards. This is a cowardly attack...as PM said, this sacrifice will not go waste. Prakash Javadekar, HRD Minister BJP leaders hand in glove "I have said this before and am repeating, that Raman Singh and all those BJP leaders who have won from Naxalism-hit areas have struck a deal with Naxals and there is some exchange between them. Digvijaya Singh, Cong Dont call it red terror "Attempts should not be made to term Sukma killings as red terror There are several Left parties in Chhattisgarh, including the CPI, that are working in defence of tribal people. They do not agree with Maoistspolitically and ideologicallyand also with their form of struggle. Communist Party of India Proper investigation a must "I feel that there should be a standard operating procedure under which investigations are done on such issues. Proper investigation should be made whether we had the intelligence inputs or not and whether he had a proper back-up. Yashwant Sinha, BJP veteran New Delhi, April 24 Stressing that dialogue was the only option to prevent the situation in the Kashmir valley from worsening further, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today hinted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared amenable to the suggestion. She, however, cautioned, that an atmosphere needs to be created before any meaningful talks could be held. Talking to mediapersons after having met the PM, she said, I told him about the loss to the state to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore on account of the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan and sought compensation for the same. She said the PM had assured her that he would look into the matter. Mehboobas meeting with the PM lasted about 30 minutes. Invoking former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayees policy on Kashmir, she said the thread should be picked up from where he had left off, suggesting talks with separatists. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Talks with the Hurriyat had taken place when Vajpayeeji was PM and Advaniji was Deputy PM. We need to start from where Vajpayeeji had left, otherwise there is no scope of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir improving. Modiji said he is following in the footsteps of Vajpayeeji. His policy was that of reconciliation, not confrontation. Expressing concern over the dismal voter turnout in the April 9 byelection, she said: We need to work to improve the situation as governance and development are pre-requisite for any dialogue. Talks cannot happen amid stone-pelting and firing of bullets. Even Modiji stressed the need for improving the situation before initiating talks. On protesting youth throwing stones at security personnel, Mehbooba said while there were a few who were genuinely unhappy, a large number were being instigated to do so. We are going to have a meeting of the Unified Command tomorrow where all such issues will be taken up. TNS Image: Global Eradication of Malaria program: Wikipedia Geneva, Apr 25 (IBNS): World Malaria Day is being observed on Tuesday in conjunction with World Immunization Week 24-30 April, media reports said. The World Health Organization (WHO) news release said technological advances in innovative new tools and vaccines would go a long way in the prevent of malaria in the future. "WHO-recommended tools have made a measurable difference in the global malaria fight," said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO. "But we need a much bigger push for prevention especially in Africa, which bears the greatest burden of malaria." In addition to diagnosis and treatment, WHO recommends preventive measures such as insecticide treated nets, spraying insecticides on indoor walls and preventive medicines for the most vulnerable groups: pregnant women, under-fives and infants. World Malaria Report 2016 said between 2010 and 2015 the rate of new malaria cases fell by 21percent globally but the disease still remains a major public health threat. In 2015, 429 000 malaria deaths and 212 million new cases were reported, with death of one child from malaria every 2 minutes. "Any death from malaria a preventable and treatable disease is simply unacceptable. Today we are urging countries and partners to accelerate the pace of action, especially in low-income countries with a high malaria burden," said Dr Pedro Alonso, Director of WHOs Global Malaria Programme. WHO reports said reductions in malaria case incidence and deaths respectively between 2010-2015 are: 100 percent and 100 percent for Europe; 54 percent and 46 percent for South East Asia; 31 percent and 37 percent for Americas; 30 percent and 58 percent for Western Pacific; 21 percent and 31 percent for Africa; 11 percent and 6 percent for Eastern Mediterranean and 21 percent and 29 percent globally. (Reporting by Asha Bajaj) Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 24 India is now the world's fifth largest spender on defence for 2016 after having moved up from the 7th place following its largest annual military spending increase since 2009. While India spent $55.9 billion in 2016, its northern neighbor China the second largest spender did four times more at $215 billion. Pakistan does not figure in the top 15 spenders. The rankings were released today morning by Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Titled 'Trends in world Military expenditure, 2016', the report said India spent $ 55.9 billion on defence in 2016 which was 2.5 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) India also spent 3.3 per cent of global spending which stood at $1,686 billion in 2016 or is estimated at $227 per person globally. China had by far the highest military spending in the region (Asia-Oceania): an estimated $215 billion, or 48 per cent of the regional spending. This amount is almost four times that of India's total, which is the second largest in the region at $55.9 billion, the report said. Rather China's spend is much greater than the collective spend of $138.8 billion of India, Japan ($46.1 billion) and South Korea ($36.8 billion). Between 2007 and 2016, China has seen the biggest growth in military spending, with an increase of 118 per cent, followed by Russia (87 per cent) and India (54 per cent), the report said. The US is the top spender at $611 billion. Russia is third at $69.2 billion and Saudi Arabia fourth at $ 63.7 billion. Halwara gets second Sukhoi squadron The Indian Air Force frontline base at Halwara, near Ludhiana, will now host two squadrons of the Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets, India's leading airborne war fighting machine. The induction of the second squadron at the base commenced on Monday and the 221 squadron, 'The Valiants', will be flying these Russian-origin planes. A squadron has some 18-20 planes and the induction will be done in phases Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 24 Launching a major move to liberalise agricultural markets in the country, the Centre today circulated among the states a draft model law seeking to break the monopoly of traditional APMC mandis and allowing states to set up a unified platform and also private players to set up individual market yards. The new draft law the State/UT Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2017 aims at providing alternative and wider options for farmers to sell produce and get better prices, said Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh after a day-long meeting with state agri-ministers. It aimed at fulfilling PM Narendra Modis dream of doubling farmers income by 2022, he added. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) According to the minister, all states, including Congress-ruled Punjab, agreed to implement the new model Act. No one, including Punjab, raised any objection. Non-BJP ruled Bihar and Kerala gave the meeting a miss. If adopted by states, the Act would open doors for multiple markets, including those run by the government and private agencies. For a state like Punjab, which has so far resisted market reforms and also remained off Centres ambitious e-NAM initiative, it provides an opportunity to set up its own unified trading platform and scope for private players to set up market yards in the state, opening better options for farmers, they said. While states are free to tweak the law, officials say if it is implemented in totality, charges levied by commission agents could be capped like 2 per cent for non-perishable and 4 per cent for perishable items. At present, arhtiyas or commission agents charge arbitrarily. Punjab agrees to implement it Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said all states, including Congress-ruled Punjab, agreed to implement the new model Act. It provides an opportunity to every state to set up its own unified trading platforms, besides allowing scope for private players to set up market yards. Display subsidy %age at PDS shops: Centre New Delhi: State governments should display at PDS shops the foodgrain subsidy borne by both Centre and states that will prevent the latter from hijacking the credit for selling highly subsidised grains to the poor, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Monday. Wheat and rice are being sold through PDS shops at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kg, respectively, under the Food Security Law. Connecticut, April 25 Amid already strained ties between the two neighbours, Pakistans former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf (retd) further added fuel to the fire by stating that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not interested in making peace with Pakistan, while adding that New Delhi is now run by a hardcore religious party. Indian Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) doesnt want peace with Pakistan. In Pakistan people are religious but never elected a religious party; on the contrary, India has elected a hardcore religious party, Musharraf said at an interaction with journalist Bob Woodward at Yale University. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Commenting on concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the former President said if Islamabad is not worried about the US-India relations, then Washington should not be worried about the growing Pakistan-China relations. If economic value is coming to Pakistan why should we be concerned? As far as Pakistan is concerned we need to look at the CPEC as per our point of view, he added. He also claimed that his regime was serious about fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda militants groups as it was in the interest of the country. He noted that it was due to the actions of US-Pakistan that religious militancy was born. In 1979 the US wanted to stop the expansion of the Soviet Union and Jihad was initiated unitedly by the US and Pakistan, he said. ANI New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Personnel has decided to study the functioning of EVMs and invited suggestions from experts and people. The panel is headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma. PTI Film tribunal nod to film Lipstick... New Delhi: The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal has directed the Censor Board to grant an A certificate to the film Lipstick Under My Burkha, which was refused certification. It has directed that the film be given certification with voluntary and additional cuts and deletions, while observing that the cuss words and intimate scenes were integral to storyline. PTI 5 killed over land dispute in Rsthan Jaipur: Five persons were killed and 35 others were injured on Tuesday in a clash between two groups over a land dispute in Doroli village of Alwar district. Alwar SP Rahul Prakash said two groups of the Mali community clashed at Doroli village in the district over a piece of land in Nadbai tehsil of Bharatpur. PTI Sasis nephew TTV Dhinakaran arrested New Delhi: AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dhinakaran, a nephew of jailed party chief VK Sasikala, was arrested here Tuesday night after four days of questioning by the Delhi Police. He is accused of attempting to bribe an Election Commission official for retaining the partys poll symbol of two leaves for his faction. His longtime friend Mallikarjuna has also been arrested. PTI Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service Mumbai, April 25 The Shiv Sena has again expressed their support for RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to become the next President of India when the term of Pranab Mukherjee ends in July. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray said in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna that Bhagwat was best placed to implement the concept of Hindu Rashtra. When RSS candidates are appointed to high posts why cannot Bhagwat be the President of India, Thackeray said. Thackeray had earlier also suggested Bhagwats name for the post. However the RSS chief firmly rejected any such move. The Shiv Sena chiefs endorsement of Bhagwat comes just a day after the partys Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut suggested that Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar be appointed for the top job. Today, Thackeray didnt dismiss Pawars candidature entirely. We are yet to discuss Pawar but then he is Modis guru... We cannot say what is in his (Modis) heart, Thackeray said. Several regional parties and the Left are talking to the Congress party to field a consensus candidate to take on the BJP in the presidential elections. The Shiv Sena voted for the Congress candidates, Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukerjee, in the last two presidential polls. The party could still vote for Pawar should he emerge as a consensus candidate, say observers. The Shiv Sena also hit out at senior leaders of the BJP who may have been angling for the post. Some attempts are being made to find out if Advani and Joshi have any importance left in the BJP under the new dispensation, Saamna said. GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 24 Amid hostilities between India and Pakistan, the Border Security Force (BSF) has made a goodwill gesture towards farmers of the neighbouring country. Strong winds swept several bales of wheat harvested by these farmers towards the Indian side. The BSF squad at the Daoke Border Outpost in Attari returned the bales yesterday. JK Singh, BSF Commandant, said the crop was given back after a flag meeting with Pakistani Rangers last evening. BSF officials stated that since the area was notorious for cross-border drug trade, the bales were thoroughly checked. Since January, the BSF has seized 65-kg heroin. Meanwhile, the Indian farmers are being given more time to harvest the crop on their land located beyond the border fencing. The border gates are normally opened between 9 am and 4.30 pm. For the past week, the timings have been extended (8 am to 6.30 pm). We wont spare cross-border smugglers, but the farmers from either side deserve to be helped out, an official said. The BSF has sent back at least five Pakistani nationals back to their country since January after they inadvertently crossed over to the Indian territory. They were identified as Nemshah (35), Mohammad Ali (65), Mureed Faqir (60) and Sabir Hussain (50), besides a 50-year-old man. Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 24 Resentment is brewing among Congress legislators over the non-redressal of their grievances, even as a section of the MLAs is upset that their recommendations on the transfers of officials are not being implemented. Troubled over not getting the due respect, the disenchantment with the district administrations and the state administrative machinery which was talked about in hushed tones earlier has come out in the open at public platforms, including the Civil Secretariat and the PPCC office. I think we were better off during the previous SAD-BJP regime as officers would at least listen to us with respect, a three-time MLA said, adding that instead of listening to them, the officers had started taking orders from their seniors. The worst-affected are first-time legislators. Even the recommendations of the MLAs taken on names of SDMs and DSPs, taken by the PPCC office a few days ago, are yet to be fully implemented. After all, we are public representatives and are supposed to serve the public, he said, adding Congress workers need to feel the difference in the regime. Unwilling to come on record, some senior Congress leaders from Majha and Malwa were upset over a recent statement of the Chief Minister about no tolerance for political interference in police functioning. The statement rendered them ineffective and inconsequential, they said. A senior functionary close to the dispensation said, It is wrong to say that genuine works are not being done. The CMs missive to the civil and police administration is to ensure transparent and fair functioning, as promised by the Congress in its election manifesto. The leadership does not want Congress MLAs to behave as Akali halqa incharges. Trying to play down the statement of the CM, a senior Congress leader said, What the Chief Minister actually meant was that nothing illegal or unauthorised would be allowed. Otherwise, the police or the civil servants are answerable to public representatives and they cannot escape their accountability, he clarified. Meanwhile, a group of MLAs from Ludhiana district and an MP met Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh this evening to air their grievances. Three senior Congress leaders, including an MP, today told senior officials in the CMO that police officials treat them as non-entities. They met the CM late this evening. AT a sitting of the Legislative Council His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor in closing the budget discussion gave a comprehensive review of the financial, agricultural, economic and political conditions in the province. His Honour shared the satisfaction expressed by several Honble members over the financial results and said it was wise to have a big balance. The chief gainers in the financial improvement were the Public Works Department, Roads and Buildings branch and the Agricultural Department. His Honour referred to His Excellency the Viceroys opinion that the Punjab was primus in Indes and explained the several stages of action in connection with agriculture and the measures being adopted to improve the existing methods of agriculture. Peshawar: Six children were among 14 persons killed on Tuesday when a passenger van was targeted with a remote- controlled bomb by Taliban militants in Pakistans restive northwest tribal region. The improvised explosive device blast targeted the van in Kontara village in central Kurram Agency. Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehrik- e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. Thirteen people were injured in the explosion. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital.Security personnel rushed to the blast site and cordoned off the entire area. A search operation was also conducted. PTI Peshawar, April 25 Taliban militants on Tuesday targeted a mini bus with a remote-controlled bomb in Pakistans restive northwest tribal region, killing at least 14 people including four women and two children. The improvised explosive device (IED) blast targeted the van in Kontara village in central Kurram Agency. Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehrik- e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. Fourteen people, including four women and two children, were killed in the blast, officials said. Thirteen people were injured in the explosion. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital. The militarys media wing, Inter Services Public Relations, said a special Mi-17 helicopter has been sent to Kurram Agency headquarters Parachinar to bring the injured to Peshawar for treatment. Security personnel rushed to the blast site and cordoned off the entire area. A search operation was also conducted. Last month, at least 28 people were killed and 100 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car rigged with explosives outside a Shiite imambargah in a busy market in Parachinar, the main town of the Kurram tribal region. The grisly violence had sparked angry protests by residents in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency, which is prone to sectarian violence. PTI New Delhi, Apr 25 (IBNS): The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) has announced it is offering the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program India, in cooperation with the IIHMR University, Jaipur. The Master of Public Health is a two-year full-time program with a total number of 30 seats. Applications are invited for its 5th batch starting from October 2017. For the past four batches, all of whom have been placed very well, the MPH Program has been receiving admission interests from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Myanmar. According to SD, Gupta, Chairman, IIHMR University, Public Health has changed dramatically in the last century. The John-Hopkins University-IIHMR University Master of Public Health (MPH) depicts the core strengths of both the institutions. Poised to meet the needs of students confronting public health challenges in South Asia, this program also blends the JHSPHs excellence with IIHMR Universitys expertise in Health Management Research. There is a dire necessity to build public health capacities in developing countries, especially in the low and middle income ones in the South. We need to focus on generating unlimited capacities and professional skills in public health education. Hence, it is time to re-examine our curriculums to ensure we are delivering education, research exposure, and learning experiences that are vibrant, viable, relevant and realistic. This is primarily the reason and what we aim to provide with the Johns Hopkins-IIHMR program of Master of Public Health. With regard to the heavily subsidized nature of the MPH, Gupta added, What is even more striking is that, the programs fee is one third of what a student would be shelling from his pocket when he opts for any other MPH program in the USA. The course fee for JHSPH/IIHMR MPH program is USD 22000. Students admitted to this program will be provided a travel and stay international scholarship to attend two-week course on Problem Solving in Public Health at an Intensive Institute at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA. The MPH degree program is designed to focus on public health capacity building in developing countries, cultivate students health management skills so that they will be prepared to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of public health programs and services. The program will be able to prepare professionals for challenging careers in public health domain in the public as well as the private sector, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), national and multinational organizations. Image: Wikimedia Commons Sydney, April 25 Thousands of Australians and New Zealanders, many braving heavy rain, turned out today to mark the Gallipoli landing and to pay tribute to soldiers in current conflict zones in moving ceremonies. Ceremonies are held annually on the April 25 anniversary of the ill-fated 1915 landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps in modern-day Turkey during World War I, known as Anzac Day. More than 10,000 New Zealand and Australian servicemen died in the failed eight-month campaign, and Gallipoli became a defining symbol of courage and comradeship for the two countries. Dawn services also acknowledged the contributions of troops currently serving in the Middle East, as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited camps in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are some 270 Australian Defence Force personnel deployed in Afghanistan and another 780 in the Middle East, including Iraq. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson paid tribute to the war dead in an Anzac Day message. We will not forget that by the time the American Expeditionary Forces were organised in 1917, the Anzac had already been fighting for over two years, he said. AFP London, April 24 Oxford University students who avoid making eye contact with their peers could be guilty of racism. The universitys Equality and Diversity Unit has advised undergraduate students that not speaking directly to people could be deemed a racial micro-aggression which could lead to mental ill-health, The Telegraph reported. Issued at the start of the Trinity term, the third term at the university, the newsletter claims that asking someone where they are originally from implies they are foreigners. It also claims that jokes drawing attention to someones differences and not speaking directly to people are potential forms of everyday racism. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The newsletter says some people who do these things may be entirely well-meaning, and would be mortified to realise that they had caused offence. But this is of little consequence if a possible effect of their words or actions is to suggest to people that they may fulfil a negative stereotype. However, critics argue this will make the students over-sensitive. Dr Joanna Williams, a lecturer in higher education at the University of Kent, said the guidance was completely ridiculous and would make students hyper-sensitive about how they interact with one another. Essentially people are being accused of a thought crime. They are being accused of incorrect thoughts based on an assumption of where they may or may not be looking. Williams, the author of Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity, said the guidance was overstepping the mark by telling students how they should feel and think. Tom Slater, co-coordinator of The Free Speech University Ranking project, that highlights censorship on university campuses, claimed it was all part of a chilling desire on the part of university authorities to police not just opinions, but everyday conversations between students, he told The Times. PTI Islamabad, April 25 Pakistan on Tuesday hanged four hardcore Taliban militants convicted of terrorism-related offences by the controversial military courts. Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said they were hanged in a jail of northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Four hardcore terrorists tried by military courts were hanged today, he said. Ghafoor said they were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including killing of innocent civilians, attacking armed forces of Pakistan and law enforcement agencies. The four prisoners have been identified by the army as Rehman ud Din, Mushtaq Khan, Ubaid ur Rehman and Zafar Iqbal. They were members of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. The timing and place of trial were not known as military courts operate in secrecy due to fear of rebel backlash. Military courts were restored last month for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January. The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment after a terror attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 killed more than 150 people, most of them students. While Pakistani authorities maintain the military courts are an effective deterrent against terrorism, rights groups question transparency of the trials because of the secrecy surrounding the special tribunals. The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 160 militants. PTI Image: twitter.com/crpfindia Raipur, Apr 25 (IBNS): The death toll in the Maoist ambush on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans has risen to 25, reports said. The attack took place on Monday afternoon in south Bastar region of Sukma, Chhattisgarh. In a well coordinated attack, at least 300 insurgents attacked a battalion of 99 soldiers carrying out an exercise for an under-construction road. "We were set upon by 300 of them... villagers, women and the militia-types in black uniforms. They carried automatic weapons, AK 47, INSAS rifles," Sher Mohammad, a CRFP jawan and a survivor was quoted as saying by NDTV. The ambush also left six jawans injured, who were flown to the state capital Raipur for treatment. Meanwhile, the incident has drawn widespread criticism from all corners. President Pranab Mukherjee condoled the loss and tweeted, "Strongly condemn attack on CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh; condolences to families of deceased & prayers for injured." Expressing his grief, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the sacrifices of the jawans 'will not go in vain'. "We are proud of the valour of our @crpfindia personnel. The sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain. Condolences to their families." Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to visit Raipur on Tuesday to take stock of the situation. The Director General of the CRPF visited the hospital on Tuesday morning and spoke to survivors. "We pay rich tributes to our heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of the Nation on this day. #BharatKeVeer," a CRPF tweet read. "DG CRPF visited Ramakrishna Hospital Raipur & met the 03 injured admitted there. He also discussed their condition with the team of Doctors," an ensuing tweet added. Wagoner County Election Board Secretary Larry Wilkinson is retiring. The eight-year veteran of the appointed position will say goodbye April 30. Before doing so, he spoke with the American-Tribune about his retirement at a reception held for him on Friday. Its been a really good experience, Wilkinson said of his time at the election board. You know, obviously, youre only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and Linda (Dyer) and Anastasia (Fletcher) are absolutely the best. Dyer is Wilkinsons assistant secretary. Fletcher is the boards administrative associate. The position of election board secretary, which is the supervisor of election operations, is appointed every two years by the State Senator representing the county. Wilkson received his appointment to the position in 2009 from Sen. Bill Brown. Since then, he has subsequently been appointed each time by Sen. Kim David. The term runs from May 1 to April 30 every two years. A new or interim secretary will take over May 1, though nothing has been released from Sen. Davids office pertaining to the appointment. Wilkinson said when he was first appointed to the position, he accepted, and only planned to stay one term before retiring with his wife. That may have been the original plan, but, as the world turns, plans change. You know that old expression, If you want to make God smile, tell him what your plans are, he said with a serious tone through a grin. I took the position eight years ago in May, and a few months later, my wife was very ill she ended up passing away not long after Id taken the job. This shook Wilkinsons world, and the election board became more than just a job for him it became his haven. After I lost her, I needed a place to come to work every day, he explained with eyes of emotion. I needed a reason to get out of bed each day, and this job gave me that during that tough time. It all worked out well. Wilkinson has overseen the public elections of 29 entities in the county for the last eight consecutive years from school districts and municipalities to townships, fire districts and tech schools. There are times when were slow, like right now, but then there are other times when we are just super busy, he said. Even at times when its slow, when there isnt an election going on, we do several hundred voter registrations every month. Wilkinson said with the way many different elections are staggered, the board averages around five elections a year, about one every other month. He recalled the time leading up to the November presidential election. The board filed over 2,500 voter registration applications just in October alone. During presidential election years, there is a time that the county election board is the largest employer in Wagoner County, he said. During that time, well have pretty close to 150 people working for us, either as precinct workers or technicians or office staff. Wilkinson made special mention of his relationship with the Wagoner County Sheriffs Office and current Sheriff Chris Elliott. This year, during the Trump and Clinton election, I called Chris (Elliott) to run traffic control at the different precincts, he said. He called for extra deputies and made sure traffic was maintained and the voters were safe. At one of the precincts, Major (Dustin) Dorr almost got hit three different times by vehicles, he added. Despite stuff like that, though, theyve never failed to help me every time I needed them throughout the time Ive been here. Asked why he made the decision to hang up his hat and say goodbye to the election board, he said, Its just time to retire. When I took this job, I was already retired from working out at the airport. It brought me out of that retirement, and its really been a lot of fun. Ive enjoyed my time here, he said. The election board staff hosted an open-house style reception for Wilkinson on Friday, April 21 where friends and colleagues stopped in to wish him well. Prosecutors charged a Tulsa man with seven felony counts Monday in a shooting at a north Tulsa apartment complex last week. Terric Jefferson, 21, faces a charge of shooting with intent to kill or, as an alternative, assault and battery with a deadly weapon related to claims that he shot Anthony McCray in the head at the Edenwood Apartments, 2171 N. Hartford Ave., on April 17. Jefferson had been arrested as of Monday evening, records indicate. He also is charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon against a police officer and endangering others while eluding police based on allegations that he attempted to run over three officers with his vehicle during an arrest attempt on Saturday. Jefferson is additionally charged with two counts of possession of a firearm, which prosecutors said occurred April 17 and on Saturday, after having juvenile adjudications in 2011 and 2013. McCray reportedly was found next to a crashed pickup after he was shot. Witnesses said shots were fired by "several unknown individuals" running inside the complex. Chennai, Apr 25 (IBNS): The Madras High Court, on Tuesday, asked the Tamil Nadu government to not open liquor shops for three months, according to media reports. On Monday, the DMK and others had approached the Madras High Court to stall any attempt by the state government to get around the Supreme Court's order regarding the ban on sale of alcohol within 500 meters of the highway. The DMK's appeal was based on a circular issued on Apr 21 by the state government asking officers concerned to pass resolutions to hand over roads belonging to various departments including the State Highways to the respective Corporations/Municipalities, reported The Hindu. Lacey Scroggins and Talia her German shepherd mix are nearly always together on the Oral Roberts University campus. Talia is one of a half dozen emotional support animals living on campus. She accompanies Scroggins to classes and chapel services, sleeps in her dorm room every night, and helps her cope with the emotional trauma of a horrific campus massacre 18 months ago. Scroggins was a freshman in her second day of classes at Umpqua Community College near her home in Roseburg, Oregon, on the morning of Oct. 1. 2015. One of her classmates came into the small writing class and started shooting people, singling out Christians. He killed nine people and wounded nine others before fatally shooting himself. Scroggins was among the survivors, lying on the floor covered with the blood of a slain classmate on top of her. According to news reports at that time, she got up and began helping her injured classmates. Classes were canceled for a week, and when they resumed she was there. I was very determined not to quit, Scroggins said in a Friday interview at ORU. But she was traumatized by the experience. During those six weeks, I wasnt sleeping. I couldnt go through my day without having an emotional breakdown. Unknown to her, on the very day of the shootings, Talia was born. Six weeks later they met, and the two have been together ever since. It was perfect, Scroggins said. She helped me with so much stuff. Scroggins transferred to ORU for her sophomore year last fall. While apart from Talia, she struggled with sleep and had real trust issues. Then she heard about the schools emotional support animal program and applied. On Christmas break she flew home to Oregon and brought Talia to Tulsa. With Talia at her side, she said, I feel like stress has gone down and anxiety has gone down. Talia does well on campus, she said, and is popular with the other students. Shes totally fine with the geese on campus, but the squirrels she likes the squirrels, Scroggins said with a laugh. Tom Bellatti handles applications for emotional support animals as director of student resources at ORU. He said his office sees students with a wide variety of needs and works with them to be compliant with federal housing law. The Fair Housing Act protects people with disabilities from discrimination. A federal judge has ruled that the acts reasonable accommodations provision covers animals that provide emotional support for residents with psychological disabilities. ORU now has two cats, a pair of sugar gliders and several dogs registered as emotional support animals, as well as one service animal, Bellatti said. Service animals are trained to do a certain task, and emotional support animals are there for the emotional support of the student, he said. Weve done this for a number of years, but were seeing a trend: a large increase in the number of students not only here but across the country who are seeking emotional support animals on campus, he said. Bellatti said he has read that the number of animals certified on campuses is going up 18 percent a year, in public and private schools. He said the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University have numerous students with emotional support animals, a higher percentage than ORU. The application process includes a documentation of diagnosis from a qualified health professional. Liam Parker, a senior at ORU, said a family crisis when he was a high school senior at Rejoice Christian School in Owasso put him into not a good mental state. He started looking for help. He didnt want to take medication because he had seen others get into trouble with drug use. Parker started taking his cat Cleo, a Maine coon, everywhere he went. Maine coons are large cats often described as having dog-like characteristics. We created a bond; shes like a child to me now, he said. He had heard about the animal emotional support opportunity about a year after he came to ORU, and decided to apply. I got approved, and its been amazing ever since. Its almost like she can tell when youre sad, Parker said. And shes so loving. She comes and shell lay in my lap and purr and rub up against me. Its a comfort thing. And also, to take care of her is like a big thing. In so many different ways its therapeutic to take care of her. By agreement, Cleo never leaves the dorm room, to avoid making contact with students who may have cat allergies. Shes the floor mascot. Everybody loves Cleo, Parker said. When my doors open, people come in and ask, Can I play with Cleo? Studies are beginning to verify the emotional benefits of pets. Frontiers in Psychology magazine looked at 10 studies on the effect of what is called animal assisted intervention and concluded: Results have been predominantly positive, showing short-term improvements in depression, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) symptoms, and anxiety. OKLAHOMA CITY A bipartisan private commission recommended on Tuesday that a court-ordered stay on executions in Oklahoma remain in effect until significant reforms are accomplished, citing concerns about resources available to those facing death sentences and the faulty application of execution procedures. The Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission released its findings and nearly four dozen recommendations in a nearly 300-page report on a study of capital cases from initial contact with police to the day defendants are put to death. Former Gov. Brad Henry, who helped lead the effort, announced that the commission unanimously recommended that the moratorium be extended due to what he said were serious flaws in the way Oklahoma handles death-penalty cases. He said the number of death-row exonerees from Oklahoma 10, according to the Death Penalty Information Center was among his biggest worries, along with the discovery of the limitations capital defendants have when presenting legal defenses. If you look at the various defense counsel organizations, whether its (the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System) or Oklahoma County or Tulsa County public defenders, they are just overwhelmed with felony cases, Henry said. They dont have enough attorneys. They dont have the funding that they need, especially in death-penalty cases, to hire investigators (or) to hire experts. You have to decide whether you want to pay to do it right, and either you do or you dont. Oklahoma has put more than 100 people to death in the modern era of capital punishment, and according to commission member and trial lawyer Robert Alexander, its almost certain that at least one of them was innocent and couldnt prove it because of financial reasons. Our report has found, 41 years (after the death penalty resumed), systemic flaws in our death-penalty system, Alexander said. Whenever theres a systemic flaw in the system, any injustices that system could cause fall on the people with the fewest resources to navigate that system. The commission also noted that two forms of evidence forensics and witness identification were determined to be among the most unreliable. Henry said he came to the conclusion that the process as it stands needs to be overhauled by policymakers, and he said there are good reasons for conservatives to be concerned about the practice despite voters November decision to protect the death penalty in the state constitution with State Question 776. What we all agreed on was that if youre going to have the death penalty, it ought to be done right, Henry said of the commission. It ought to be done in a way that, as best we can, ensures no innocent person is ever put to death by the state of Oklahoma. Co-Chairman Andy Lester, a former federal magistrate, said the fact that an execution is permanent makes it paramount that everyone involved be certain that those on death row are in fact guilty and that theyve received the best possible legal aid. Nobody wants to execute an innocent person, he said. If one of (the 10 exonerees) slipped through, just think how horrible that would be. Its bad enough that somebody gets wrongfully convicted. Its possible to recreate a life after a wrongful conviction, but it is not possible after a wrongful execution. Gov. Mary Fallin released a brief statement Tuesday evening after the report was made public indicating that shes not yet well-versed on its contents. My office has not received a copy of the report, but my staff will obtain a copy and review it, she said. Issues with drugs highlighted The Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office requested a moratorium in October 2015 once it learned about issues with a lethal-injection drug used in the January execution of Charles Warner and the scheduled execution of Richard Glossip. Those mistakes occurred after Oklahoma received international attention for the 43-minute execution of Clayton Lockett in April 2014. A multicounty grand jury issued a highly critical report in May 2016 about the handling of Glossips and Warners cases by multiple state agencies. The grand jury recommended that the Department of Corrections overhaul its protocol yet again but did not recommend any indictments. An Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman told the Tulsa World on Friday that it is still working on revising its protocol but declined to say whats been done so far. When asked about the drugs used by Oklahoma in the past, Henry said it appears that the best practice is to use a one-drug protocol with a barbiturate rather than the three-drug protocol featuring midazolam. The latter drug was the basis of a federal lawsuit filed by death-row inmates over constitutionality concerns, which resulted in a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the inmates. Nitrogen hypoxia, although approved as an alternate execution method last year, wasnt detailed in the report because of the limited scientific literature on its effectiveness. Henry acknowledged the difficulty states have had finding a consistent supply of lethal-injection drugs in recent years but said, When you start compounding drugs, theres just much more opportunity for serious issues to arise. When you start mixing multiple drugs in a so-called cocktail, if you have a three-drug protocol, thats three times the opportunity for something to go wrong, he said. Of a one-drug protocol, he said, its easier to acquire one controversial drug than it is three. He added that authorities should stay informed about scientific advances in this area. The report noted that Oklahoma has one of the most broad confidentiality statutes, which keeps the supplier of its execution drugs a secret. Although the commission said there are legitimate privacy concerns, it advocated for improved transparency in the form of better documentation and reviews by DOC staff. The commission did not recommend (naming the drug supplier) for fairly obvious and straightforward reasons, Lester said. We dont want to create a problem for anyone legitimately operating a business and making that business have to shut down, and thats whats happened in a number of situations. Gov. Mary Fallin has done the right thing in commuting the prison terms of 21 nonviolent drug offenders serving life-without-parole sentences under a superseded and needlessly punitive state law. Since June, Fallin has changed the inmates sentences to life with the potential for parole, as was recommended by the state parole board, The Oklahoman reported recently. Her actions have addressed about a third of the prisoners sentenced under a legal provision that was revoked legislatively in 2015. These points are critical on this issue: The prisoners were guilty, were sentenced legally and must remain in prison for a very long time before they have the chance of being released. But Fallins action is in the interest of justice and fiscal wisdom. Inmates who have at least the hope of eventual parole are more likely to behave appropriately in prison. A recent Tulsa World analysis showed that the state is spending at least $17 million a year on its 885 life-without-parole prisoners. The vast majority of those people are murderers and are lucky they didnt get death sentences instead; but life-without-parole sentences for nonviolent convictions are extreme and unwise. The Legislature obviously thought better of that sentencing option for drug convicts, because it voted to eliminate it two years ago. Fallins actions distribute that wisdom retroactively without endangering the public. Every step the state takes to be smart on crime is a step to ensure our ability to hold onto the most dangerous criminals longer and more securely. We hope Fallins actions are part of a general tide in the states executive and legislative branches to reconsider retributive justice in favor of affordable, smart justice. New Delhi, Apr 25 (IBNS): Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal aPrachandaa made a telephone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. The two Prime Ministers discussed recent developments in India-Nepal relations, including the recently concluded highly successful State visit of President of Nepal Rt. Honble Bidya Devi Bhandari to India, the Indian Prime Minister' Office said in a statement. Prime Minister Prachanda spoke about the ongoing efforts of his government to take all stakeholders on board in the constitution implementation process. PM Prachanda also spoke about Nepal holding the first local elections in nearly twenty years and requested for Indias assistance in this connection. PM Modi conveyed the good wishes of the people and government of India to the friendly people of Nepal in their national efforts to achieve peace, stability and socio-economic transformation, and assured PM Prachanda that India would extend all possible assistance for local elections. The two Prime Ministers reiterated their commitment to advance multi-faceted India-Nepal cooperative ties for the benefit of the two peoples. Australia Wide presenter Yassmin Abdel-Magied has apologised for a social media comment posted on ANZAC Day which has landed her in hot water. The ABC News presenter wrote LEST. WE. FORGET. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine ) on Facebook before amending it to Lest we forget. It was brought to my attention that my last post was disrespectful, and for that, I apologise unreservedly, she explained. But it drew further criticism on social media and from politicians Eric Abetz & Peter Dutton. It is a disgrace that on our most significant national day to mark the passing of people who have defended this country, this advocate seeks to make political mileage, Dutton said. 2 years ago SBS sacked Scott McIntyre for disrespectful tweets made on ANZAC Day, but for which he did not apologise. A settlement was reached a year later after McIntyre instigated legal action. Earlier this year Yassmin Abdel-Magied was the subject of a petition calling for ABC to sack her after her defence of Sharia Law on Q&A. Australia Wide airs on weekends on ABC News. Updated ABC statement: Yassmin Abdel-Magied published on ANZAC Day a post on her Facebook page that she subsequently retracted, apologised for and deleted. Ms Abdel-Magied acknowledged that the timing and nature of the post was disrespectful. Her decision to delete it and apologise was appropriate. Ms Abdel-Magied is a part-time presenter on the ABC program Australia Wide, introducing stories done by ABC reporters from around the country. When presenting for the ABC she works in accordance with ABC editorial and other policies. Ms Abdel-Magied is also engaged in a range of other activities and work that is not related to the ABC. Her views and opinions in that capacity are her own and do not represent those of the ABC. The family of Alan Bond have objected again to Nines two-part miniseries. The writers and producers made no attempt to contact the Bond family to ensure the portrayal of Alan Bond was accurate and appropriate, the family said in a statement. Despite his shortcomings, the late Alan Bond was a significant contributor to the industry of Australia the Bond family disassociates themselves entirely from the content of the House of Bond and express their profound disappointment and distress at its inaccurate and sensationalised demonising of Alan Bond. Part 1 drew 613,000 viewers for Nine, which was lower than Sevens Hoges miniseries at 837,000, but still enough to win the timeslot. House of Bond was produced by CJZ which, along with Nine, was forced to apologise for the creative license taken in 2015s House of Hancock. House of Bonds disclaimer declared What follows is based on real events, although some scenes have been fictionalised for dramatic purposes. A spokesperson for the network told Fairfax Media the show about its own former proprietor portrayed him as the quintessential Aussie larrikin we all knew for his passion, courage to take on the establishment as well as his flaws. Source: The Age Islamabad, Apr 25 (IBNS): A passenger van hit a landmine in Godar area of Pakistan's tribal Kurram Agency, killing at least 14 people on Tuesday, media reports said. The incident left several others injured. "Ten people were killed, including a woman and one child," Shahid Ali Khan, assistant political agent for Kurram Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), was quoted as saying by Geo News. The injured people were rushed to hospital for treatment. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has condemned the incident. Displaced Yemeni grandmother Hadiya pictured in Aden, Yemen. UNHCR/Shabia Mantoo ADEN, Yemen - Since bombs and shelling drove her from her home last year, Yemeni grandmother Hadiya has camped out in an unfinished building in this port city, with her family of 15 children and grandchildren. Our life is broken, she said, of their desperate existence since fleeing the Red Sea governorate of Taizz. We just want to live in safety and with dignity. We dont want anything else. That hope seems remote. As the conflict intensifies on Yemens western coast, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is preparing for up to half a million more people like Hadiya and her family to be displaced. Since the beginning of the year, hostilities inTaizz have displaced almost 50,000 people. This is in addition to the three million who have been uprooted since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen in 2015, of which two million remain displaced and one million have provisionally returned home to precarious conditions. We just want to live in safety and with dignity. We dont want anything else. UNHCR and humanitarian agencies are concerned, however, that recent military escalations in Taizz and Al Hudaydah governorates, could potentially displace up to half a million people, further exacerbating Yemens deep humanitarian crisis. Yemen has spiraled into chaos and misery, said Ayman Gharaibeh, UNHCRs representative in Yemen. With less than a quarter of funding received for the humanitarian response, we are facing dire choices, having to prioritize assistance and programmes. The warning comes as the United Nations prepares to hold a High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen. The conference takes place April 25 in Geneva and is co-hosted by the governments of Switzerland and Sweden. UNHCR is warning that an intensification of conflict in Al Hudaydah will lead to large-scale displacement, further increasing needs and vulnerabilities in an area already host to a sizeable displaced population and suffering from critical levels of food insecurity. Five things you need to know about Yemen If hostilities intensify in Hudaydah, UNHCR is bracing for displacement of anywhere between 100,000 to half a million people. The estimates were made by a technical working group, the Task Force on Population Movement, which UNHCR co-leads with the International Organization for Migration in Yemen. In anticipation of the new displacement, UNHCR is pre-positioning supplies to respond to affected people. In the event of the anticipated displacement, UNHCR will help establish, with partners, multi-sector service hubs along major displacement routes. The centres will offer respite for people fleeing the violence. UNHCR will provide mobile core relief kits and essential protection services. UNHCR will also provide emergency shelter and household assistance at the final destinations of the displaced in the form of shelter materials, vouchers, financial assistance or cash subsidies for rent, depending on needs. All such aid is vital to displaced families like that of Hadiya, who were not able to flee with any belongings, and see no prospect of returning home while fighting rages. I cannot go back to Taizz now after this, she says. New Delhi, Apr 25 (IBNS): The Centre on Tuesday clarified that it is not trying to impose the Hindi language on anyone but attempting to promote the language. "There is a report in a section of media that the Central Government is trying to impose Hindi language. In this regard reference was given to the Resolution issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Official Language and it was alleged that it has been made mandatory for Members of Parliament and Ministers knowing Hindi to deliver their speeches/statements in Hindi," the Centre said in a statement. The Committee of Parliament on Official Language was constituted in 1976 and is working since then. This Committee has submitted 9 parts of its report. The 9th part of the Committees report was submitted to the President of India on 2nd June, 2011. The then Chairman of the Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Committee had given 117 recommendations. As views of all state governments and Ministries/Departments of the Central Government were to be invited on the Committees recommendations, it took time before the recommendations were considered and accepted by the President, the statement further said. "The Central Government while accepting the above mentioned recommendation has issued a Resolution dated 31st March 2017. The Recommendation by the Committee is amply clear as it is in the form of a request and does not entail any form of Order/Instruction. The aforementioned recommendation is in pursuance with Constitutional and Statutory provisions regarding the progressive use of Official Language Hindi. Also, the recommendation is based on the policy of propagation; promotion of Official language through motivation & inspiration which is in line with the Governments Policy," the Centre issued statement said. After the protest over the writing of Hindi letters in the milestones of the national highway in Tamil Nadu, DMK leader M K Stalin recently lashed out at the centre amid reports of imposing Hindi in every aspects of the country. Stalin recently unsparingly attacked Modi for the imposition of Hindi language through different ways in the country, ever since he has ascended to the post of the Prime Minster. Making the PM responsible for such an imposition, the DMK leader said that such attempts would "decimate" the unity of the nation. He even said that the delivery of speeches by all union minsters in Hindi as well as the decision to make the study of this language compulsory in all the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools are reflections of such an attempt by the centre. Money and finances have been considered as one of the top stressors over the past many years. And now, a recent study just found that there is even an increased level of stress for those who think about time as money. A new research by Thomas D. Dee II Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer Ph.D. '72 at the Graduate School of Business from Stanford suggests that people who actually think about time as money experience higher levels of stress, compared to those who have a more fluid vision of time, Stanford Daily reported. He started to give this a thought when he himself was beginning to have an awareness about the amount of money he loses or gains for every hour of his work. Pfeffer and his co-author Dana Carney of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley conducted a study among 104 subjects who work for two hours for a made-up company. Hwat they have found out was that the participants who computed and were aware about how much they were paid for every minute had higher stress levels. In fact, their stress was 25 percent higher than those who did not think about the equivalent of time to money. They also found that these subjects are less likely to enjoy the breaks they were given in the duration of the study. Pfeffer said that a 25 percent rise in stress levels can be detrimental to health. And stressing about money also have many negative effects, according to CNBC. In fact, whether a person is rich or not, they really do stress about money. What Pfeffer would advise is that people should not think about the value of time as money, because it is not very healthy considering the over-scheduled world people live in. A study by a Virginia Tech College economics researcher found that social media giant Facebook has played an important role against government corruption. The platform's open sharing of information has helped countries where press freedom is banned. The research has been published in the journal "Information Economics and Policy." Sudipta Sarangi, from the Virginia Tech Department of Economics, used cross-country analysis on data from over 150 countries. The results demonstrated that the more people use Facebook, the more likely it is for government corruption to meet protest. Sarangi described the social media site as "peer of the press." In a press release via Science Daily, he said that the study highlights the importance of freedom on the Internet that is being threatened in several countries globally. Social media was found to be negatively correlated with corruption regardless of the freedom of the press in a country. The study examined a number of control variables such as other economic, democratic and cultural factors. Interestingly, this comes after the American election where Facebook and other social media sites were accused of playing a major role in the spread of "fake news" especially in terms of politics. Sarangi started the study in 2012 while he was still at Louisiana State University with co-author Chandan Kumar Jha, who is now an assistant professor at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York. When they began the project, social media was still being used as a tool to organize anti-corruption protests in their home back in India. Their study, which features a falsification test to check if the results would be true for a pre-Facebook era in the same nations, is the first to find evidence of a link between social media and corruption in over 150 countries. This demonstrates the role that social media plays along with the press in open countries as well as its greater impact in oppressive countries. Several American students have received their college acceptance or rejection letters. This will determine where they will be spending the next four years as they achieve their academic goals. There is a lot of pressure that entails college applications. Many documents need to be prepared and sent, making the whole process stressful for both students and parents. In a commentary on CNBC, senior columnist Jake Novak shared the questions that he asked colleges to show what they can contribute to his daughter's higher education. The questions leaned toward the campus environment and how it can help with the students' growth. How does the college admissions process improve the nation's intellectual pursuits? School rankings have soared to popularity as being the standard for a school's quality. While it may seem unfair, especially since prestigious schools definitely have an unfair advantage, it is still important since it can indicate the quality of education at a particular school. But, more important is the fact that these higher education institutions should continue to focus on the quality of learning that they can provide their students. How important is intellectual diversity in the campus? Diversity plays a vital role in creating a holistic learning environment. Universities and colleges are on the right track as they cultivate a diverse collegial atmosphere. These institutions must continue bringing education for all. How fair is the tuition price? The reason why college graduates have been burdened with heavy student loan debt is because schools know that federally-backed student loans have no caps. This should not mean, though, that these institutions should increase prices because they can. Parents and students need to know that these schools are being responsible about its costs. Will students who were unable to meet the course requirements fail? Novak noted that letting students fail if they are unable to pass a course should be something that occurs in universities and colleges - instead of just letting them slide easy. Safe spaces are also another issue that has caused debate since it provides a way for students to back away from ideas opposite to theirs. Many people were awed when they hear stories of students get accepted to every Ivy League school they applied to. What makes these students exceptional since everybody knows for a fact how difficult it is to enter into just one of these elite universities? Some of the students who got accepted into all Ivy League universities are Augusta Umawanzu-Nna, Kelly Hyles, Ifeoma White-Thorpe, and Harold Ekeh. Each of these students shares some of their 'secrets' how they were able to do what they did. Kelly Hyles Kelly Hyles did not just get accepted to all Ivy League schools. In fact, she received 21 acceptance letters from around the country. When asked what her secret was, one of the things she said was that grades are not everything. She said how she heard stories of people who got amazing grades yet got rejected from their dream schools. Instead, students need to be well-rounded and get involved in other activities that would develop them as a whole person. Augusta Umawanzu-Nna Augusta Umawanzu-Nna got accepted to all 12 schools she applied to and chose Harvard. For her, success was a product of teamwork effort that involves not only her hard work but also the support of her school and family. She said without the help of her parents and her school, she wouldn't have reached her full potential. Harold Ekeh Harold Ekeh got accepted to all eight schools in 2015 and chose Yale to become a neurosurgeon. Ekeh, who was born in Nigeria, moved to the United States with his family when he was eight. When he came to school for the first time in America, he struggled with his accent but he persevered and used his parents as an inspiration who taught him not to let any obstacles get in his way. Ifeomia White-Thorpe Ifeoma White-Thorpe got accepted this year to all Ivy League schools. Although she hasn't chosen which school to go to, she hopes to become a cardiologist someday. Thorpe's high school principal, Todd Toriello, describes her as someone who constantly challenges herself to the rigorous coursework. Also, he described her as someone who understands the importance of giving back. Ray Kurzweil, Google's Director of Engineering, is known for his accurate predictions about the future. Recently, he made another prediction saying that humans will be powered by machines by 2045. During the SXSW conference, Kurzweil predicted that singularity will happen and that humans should not fear it. Singularity is what scientists refer to as the time when machines, especially artificial intelligence, will have reached a human-level kind of intelligence. With that level of intelligence, Kurzweil said that this singularity is not what most people think about as the end of the human race. Instead, this singularity will make humans more intelligent and superior than they are today. That's because, at that time, nanobots will be injected into human brains and arteries which are connected to cloud. He also added that it is, in fact, happening now and very fast. In an interview during the conference, Kurzweil said that he is looking forward to that age of singularity because it will be a way for humans to improve - as artificial intelligence improve so will human intelligence. He added that by 2030, these machines will be connected to the neocortex of the human brain. His idea of nanobots connected to the neocortex and into the cloud is not unique. In fact, it is similar to Elon Musk's vision of the neural lace networks where humans will interact with machines using only their thoughts. Kurzweil said that the world becoming a cybernetic society is not a far-fetched idea. He cited examples that people with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's already have computers in their brains today. This is just the beginning and since technology, by nature, strives to develop and grow, humans being powered by machine will eventually happen. With this human-machine synthesis, humans will be able to expand their minds and the artistic qualities they value. Image: wallpapercave.com New Delhi, Apr 25 (IBNS): In order to stop cow smuggling in India, the central government has decided to tag Adhaar like identity number on all cows, their calves, oxen and bulls, according to media reports. Reports suggest that the centre has informed the apex court about its latest decision to tackle cow smuggling. Solicitor general Ranjit Kumar told a bench of the Supreme Court that each animal would get an Unique Identification Number (UIN) along with the their details like age, sex, breed, height and others. "The ministry of agriculture has devised a method of tamper-proof identification of cattle using polyurethane tags with a UIN sequence. It may be made mandatory for cows and their progeny throughout India" Kumar was quoted as saying by The Times of India. Third ICAO/UNOOSA Symposium 29 August 2017 - 31 August 2017 This Symposium concludes the series of three ICAO and UNOOSA Aerospace Symposiums. The first Symposium was held in Montreal, Canada in 2015, and the second in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in 2016. This third Symposium will provide participants with perspectives on latest trends in aviation, space activities, commercial space transportation and suborbital operations and also sustainability of aerospace activities. It will study regulatory and practical perspectives of aerospace operations and cooperation with aerospace stakeholders, and it will look into air traffic managements and future space traffic managements. It will also provide a means for observations, conclusions and recommendations of this joint undertaking by ICAO and UNOOSA. Read More Location The new 53m new build college campus for Ayrshire college provides a state of the art teaching and learning facility for 21st Century FE facilities. Its 350 rooms range from standard teaching environments (split between formal and informal teaching spaces) together with highly specialist mix of technical workshops and high end commercial type shop environments. The core spaces are based around a central hub of informal social spaces forming the heart of the building. From the outset, the project brief called for a new functional, flexible and efficient learning environment which was focused on securing the coherent provision of education in Ayrshire. Additionally, the clients vision anticipated an inclusive, welcoming building that promoted a range of collaborative and interactive learning experiences. As part of our role in the project, Keppie worked with the client to promote INTERACTION; an interactive learning opportunity for local schools to propose design ideas for a curriculum resource area in the building. Cumnock Academy the winning school assisted in the development of their idea which became part of the finished building. Image: Googl Maps Hyderabad, Apr 25 (IBNS): A Hyderabad-based Radio Jockey, married to an army officer, has committed suicide over alleged harassment of dowry, media reports said. Sandhya Singh was found dead last week. Her body was recovered from the accommodation provided by the army to her husband, Major Vaibhav Vishal. A suicide case was initially lodged after which the victim's family alleged that she was harassed by her husband for dowry. Major Vishal, who reportedly discovered his wife hanging from a ceiling fan, got admitted to hospital complaining of being unwell. MONMOUTH, Ill. -- An anonymous couple has pledged $20 million to a small liberal arts college in western Illinois. A Monday statement from Monmouth College says it's the largest such gift in the school's 164-year-old history. It'll boost an endowment now at $100 million and will be used, among other things, to increase scholarships. Monmouth President Clarence R. Wyatt said the donors are longtime supporters of the college "because they know the difference it makes in young people's lives." He said they also understood that a bigger endowment "helps the college to chart its own path with greater confidence and ambition." About 1,200 students are enrolled at Monmouth College in town of Monmouth. It's located about 60 miles northwest of Peoria. Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers. UW at Casper Students Build Solar/Lunar Eclipse Model for Science Zone Melissa Heck, left, displays her teams model with Leah Ritz, director of education at The Science Zone in Casper. Heck and her UW at Casper Technology Education Engineering Collegiate Association team created a solar/lunar eclipse-themed exhibition currently displayed at The Science Zone. (UW at Casper Photo) By Mykel Owens, UW Institutional Communications intern Students in the University of Wyoming at Casper Technology Education Engineering Collegiate Association (UWC TEECA) created a solar/lunar eclipse-themed exhibition currently displayed at The Science Zone in Casper. The exhibition reflects the total solar eclipse that will occur Monday, August 21. The solar/lunar exhibition displays the lunar motion and the process of the eclipse. Wyoming is one of the few places in the U.S. that will experience the total solar eclipse. In order to create this display, we had to learn a lot about solar eclipses, says Melissa Heck, from Casper, project leader of UWC TEECA. We learned about the motion and path that the moon will take when it crosses the sun, and then we created that in our own display. The exhibition began with Andrew Young, a Casper College physics and astronomy instructor. He received grants for the development of astronomy-themed exhibits to celebrate the upcoming eclipse. Young then contacted Heck. Melissa served as the liaison and scientific interpreter to ensure that my ideas and concepts were translated correctly, Young says. I met her when she was a student in my physics class, so I was already aware of her high skills and abilities. Though Heck was the lead on the project, she was assisted by Jeremiah Benardis, Casper; Jacob Daniels, Casper; Ian Feather, Worland; and Michael Northrop, Powell. The students are all part of UWC TEECA and plan to graduate in May 2018 with bachelors degrees in technical education. As a group, we became involved in this project because of the challenge it presented and for the opportunity to learn more about the eclipse, Heck says. The members of the student cohort are versed in robotics, welding, electronics, automotive, drafting and woodworking, she adds. Young and Leah Ritz, director of education at The Science Zone, guided the layout for this project, but the measurements and artistic flare came from the group, Heck says. UWC TEECA spent more than 50 hours on the project, and received help from Natrona County High School and the Casper College departments of welding, machining, engineering and technology. This wasnt a project our group would have normally done had we not been asked to help from the science department, Heck says. We also received money from the NASA Space Grant of Wyoming that allowed us to take a trip to Dallas, Texas, for the International Technical and Engineering Educators Association Conference. The solar/lunar eclipse project is among a series of exhibitions that are meant to help visitors at The Science Zone understand the motion of the moon and to prepare for the total eclipse occurring this summer. Other exhibitions discuss lunar orbit, phases of the moon, moon rise and set times, and the rotation and revolution of the moon as it orbits, Ritz says. The solar/lunar eclipse exhibition is part of a larger project in collaboration with Young and a grant from the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium. Young is creating science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) kits to distribute throughout the state to help teachers teach a variety of STEM concepts, Ritz says. Heck says that the project was extremely beneficial, and she hopes that it will help others the way it helped the student team. This experience was phenomenal, Heck says. It allowed us to speak with people from around the world in the field that we all are studying. We hope that it is beneficial for all who are able to interact with our display, and we are proud that The Science Zone came to us to build this project. To learn more about The Science Zone, visit www.thesciencezone.org/. For information about the project, call Tammi Hanshaw, UWC area public relations coordinator, at (307) 268-3756 or email tammi@uwyo.edu. UW College of Arts and Sciences to Honor Outstanding Former Faculty Member and Alumni A former University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) faculty member and two outstanding alumni will be honored Saturday, May 6. Honored will be Professor Emeritus Klaus Hanson, of Laramie; and A&S graduates Matthew Greenhouse, of Annapolis, Md., and Bruce Smith, of Bozeman, Mont., and Jackson. They will be recognized at the UW Conference Center, located at 2229 Grand Ave., at 11 a.m. A luncheon will follow the reception. The awards luncheon is open to the public at a cost of $35 per person. For more information, or to RSVP and pay online, visit www.uwyo.edu/as/alumni%20and%20friends/luncheon.html. Hanson is the 2017 Outstanding Former Faculty award recipient. Born in Berlin, Germany, Hanson came to the U.S. on a Fulbright scholarship to learn English. After receiving a bachelors degree from Muskingum University, he went on to earn both a masters degree and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1973, Hanson joined the UW Department of Modern and Classical Languages, where he taught German language, literature, culture and translation until his retirement in 2005. Concurrent with his excellent teaching, Hanson is a well-respected scholar. His research interests include older German literature, modern German drama, and history and phonetics of the German language. He published the biography and works of the early Baroque poet Theobald Hoeck and various articles covering German language, drama and theater. Hanson also was actively involved with international exchange programs with the University of Erlangen, Germany, and the University of Osaka, Japan. In addition to teaching and research, he served as head of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages from 1986-89, and again from 2000-03. A renaissance man, Hanson maintained an interest in theater and performed in UW productions of A Midsummer Nights Dream, Death of a Salesman, Anne of the Thousand Days and Becket. While a professor, Hanson served the Laramie community on the city council and still holds a seat today. As the UW College of Arts and Sciences 2017 Outstanding Alumnus, Greenhouse earned a Ph.D. in physics from UW in 1989. He specializes in infrared imaging spectroscopy, development of related instrumentation and technologies, flight project science and technical management. Inspired by the concept of serving the nation, Greenhouse became a federal civil service astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., after completing his doctoral degree. He continued his civil service at NASA, beginning in 1996, where he could fulfill his wish of enabling more science for the global astronomical community. Greenhouse works on the Webb Telescope, the largest science project currently worked on by the U.S. and one of NASAs three top priorities. A partnership among NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb Telescope will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana in October 2018. Greenhouse is responsible for all of the science instrumentation on the Webb Telescope, which will have the capability to open the complete fossil record of the universe for study by the worldwide science community. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the International Astronomical Union. Greenhouse also serves as chair of the NASA Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy program users group to provide input on matters that concern the scientific effectiveness of this airborne observatory. An avid sailor, Greenhouse has a 30-foot sailboat named Friendship, which he takes out almost every weekend. He and his wife of more than 35 years live in Annapolis, Md., with their two children. A wildlife biologist and science writer, Smith is the recipient of the 2017 UW College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Alumnus award. He earned both his bachelors and masters degrees at the University of Montana. Midway through his career as a federal wildlife manager, Smith entered the doctoral program in the UW Department of Zoology and Physiology. With Professor Stan Anderson as his adviser, Smiths dissertation investigated population regulation of the Jackson elk herd. Smith spent most of his 30 years as a federal civil servant on the Wind River Indian Reservation and the National Elk Refuge in Jackson. Smiths dedication and enthusiasm for his vocation as a wildlife biologist is further exhibited by his production of more than 40 technical and popular papers and book chapters, primarily on large mammal population ecology, diseases, migratory behavior and predator-prey relationships. Widely respected by contributors and editors of peer-reviewed science journals, Smith has been a reviewer for Journal of Mammalogy, Journal of Wildlife Management, the Wildlife Society Bulletin, Wildlife Monographs, Canadian Journal of Zoology, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, Journal of Rangeland and Forest Ecology, and Global Change Biology. A natural outgrowth of Smiths experiences are several books, including Imperfect Pasture, Wildlife on the Wind, Where Elk Roam, Life on the Rocks and Stories from Afield, in which he shares the products of his work and love of nature. Smith is recognized for his dedication as a wildlife biologist; an advocate for wildlife and wildland conservation during changing climatic conditions; and a science writer who informs policy change. Awards he has received include: Friends of the Wapiti Award from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; Wildlife Conservationist of the Year from the Wyoming Wildlife Federation for reducing elk dependency on artificial feed; Jackson Hole Conservation Alliances Hats Off Award; the Certificate of Merit from the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation; Grand Teton National Parks Outstanding Resource Manager Award; Craighead Wildlife Conservation Award; and a Montana Book Award. He retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2004. Smith and his wife, Diana, live in Montana, where he continues his conservation work and writing. Siliguri/Kolkata, Apr 25 (IBNS): Before addressing the people of Bengal and introducing Mission Bengal for 2019, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah had Bengali food which was served on banana leaf, in Naxalbari, on Tuesday, media reports. Shah received a warm welcome at the house of Geeta Mahali who works as a farm labour and had an afternoon meal in her house. Shah is on a three-day Bengal visit. Apart from Shah, BJP state President Dilip Ghosh was also served lunch at Mahali's house. Regarding the visit of BJP's national President in her house, Mahali said: "Such a big man has come to my house." Shah was offered fully vegetarian meal in contradictory to the fish and rice which is common among Bengali dishes. Commencing his West Bengal visit, BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday reached Naxalbari village and said his party will 'bring back the glory of Bengal' if it voted to power. The senior BJP leader said: "BJP is committed to bring back the glory of Bengal, the land of Tagore, Swami Vivekanand, Subhash babu, S P Mookerjee and other stalwarts." "Reached Naxalbari in West Bengal and launched Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Vistarak Yojana,a grassroots movement to strengthen party at booth," Shah tweeted. He said he will visit several booths for the next few days and interact with party workers in the state. "Over the next three days, as a vistarak, I would be visiting several booths, interacting with our karyakartas and strengthening our party," the BJP president said. "Will spread the message of PM Modi's pro-poor governance and Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas from Naxalbadi, once known for violent Red Revolution," he tweeted. Shah said: "Huge support for BJP in recent by polls is an indication that Bengal is yearning for change from TMC's misrule and politics of appeasement." In the recent by-poll in Contai South, the BJP pushed the CPI to the third position and went up to the second spot with more than 50000 votes, though TMC managed to win by a big margin and also improved its vote share from the 2016 assembly election. The BJP national President even said that the saffron party will get maximum number of seats in 2019 Lok Sabha election. Currently, BJP has two Lok Sabha seats while 34 out of 42 seats are under the belt of TMC. UW President to Visit Kemmerer May 16 UW President Laurie Nichols University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols will meet with local residents Tuesday, May 16, from 7:15-9 a.m. at the Best Western Plus Fossil Country Inn and Suites, located at 760 Highway 189/30 in Kemmerer. The reception takes place in the conference room. Complimentary coffee, juice and pastries will be available. The UW Alumni Association invites all UW alumni and friends to the reception. No RSVPs are needed to attend the free public event. During her first year in office, Nichols has traveled around the state to meet with citizens, community college and public school leaders, legislators, alumni, media and others. I am enjoying getting around the state to meet with people and hear their thoughts and expectations for Wyomings university, says Nichols, who began her duties as UWs 26th president last May. This is a crucial time for the state and UW, and input from the public is important to make sure the university fulfills its land-grant mission of education, research and service to the entire state. Nichols came to UW from South Dakota State University, where she served as provost and executive vice president from 2009 to 2016. Before that, she was dean of the SDSU College of Education and Human Sciences from 1994 to 2008. She began her career in higher education as a member of the faculty of the University of Idaho from 1988 to 1994. Nichols was born and raised in South Dakota. A first-generation college graduate, she received a bachelors degree in education from South Dakota State in 1978. She then earned a masters degree in vocational and adult education from Colorado State University in 1984 and a Ph.D. in family and consumer sciences education from Ohio State University in 1988. For more information about the Kemmerer event, call the UW Alumni Association at (307) 766-4166. UW SBDC Webinar to Help Small Businesses with Proprietary Data When applying for federal SBIR/STTR funds to develop new, high-value ideas, applicants often struggle with how much information to include in their applications. An SBIR/STTR webinar is scheduled to assist small-business owners with their proprietary data. The webinar, titled Proprietary Data Do I Have to Disclose It and How Do I Protect It, is scheduled Tuesday, May 9, 2-3 p.m., so businesses can receive a professional perspective on this Catch-22 situation. The SBDC is a partnership among the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Business Council and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBDC focuses on educating small-business owners and potential owners on how to successfully start and operate small businesses. The SBDCs main office is located at UW. Because intellectual property adds financial value and provides a competitive advantage, small business needs to take measures to protect this asset. Protecting company secrets leads to difficulties discussing new ideas with potential investors or funding agencies. Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) applicants need to explain their research projects in enough detail that reviewers understand the technology and will recommend funding, while still ensuring that their proprietary data remains confidential. This webinar will cover what information is considered proprietary data; who has access to the data in funded and unfunded SBIR/STTR proposals; what are governments inherent data rights when it funds a project; what type of information and levels of detail to include in SBIR/STTR proposals; and how to protect the data you disclose to each agency. Mark Henry, of Grow Emerging Companies LLC, will present the webinar. He has 37 years of SBIR/STTR experience, having worked on more than 3,000 proposals. Known as the Vince Lombardi of the SBIR program, he has worked with Wyoming companies for nearly two decades. This should be a really good one, as understanding the line between what to disclose to whom and what not to disclose is always an issue, says Cindy Beth Unger, business adviser for the Wyoming SBDC. Mark Henry is the presenter, and he knows as much about these federal programs as anyone. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested at least two weeks in advance. For more information, call Kelly Haigler Cornish at (307) 766-2904. The Wyoming SBDC Network is a business advising group of the Wyoming SBDC, Procurement Technical Assistance Center, Market Research Center and SBIR/STTR Initiative. The networks mission is to help Wyoming entrepreneurs succeed. Advising and most market research activities are free of charge to Wyoming residents. The SBDC is funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. SBA. Additional support is provided by the Wyoming Business Council and UW. For more information, go to www.wyomingsbdc.org or call 1-800-348-5194. Lucknow, Apr 25 (IBNS): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday cancelled 15 public holidays in the state which mark anniversaries of eminent personalities. On Tuesday, the Chief Minister - the minister in-charge of general administration and human resource - moved a formal proposal before his Cabinet. Most of these holidays were introduced by the Akhilesh Yadav government. UP is the first state to slash holidays. New Delhi, Apr 25 (NITN) The Cotentin Peninsula a also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula - in the Normandy region of France, will soon see its many tourism boards undergo a major restructuring in the next few months. By June this year, 11 local tourism boards will have merged into one big entity and renamed Cotentin Tourist office making it, arguably, one of the most powerful tourism board in the country with an annual budget of EUR4 million. Out of this budget, up to EUR1 million will be kept aside to promote Cotentin worldwide; of which India, Middle East and China will be important focus markets. Speaking to Guillaume Hamel, the current director of Cherbourg Tourisme and top man in the running to head up the new entity, one gets the feeling that this change will breathe some new life into the French tourism industry. Currently, France does not have a Ministry of Tourism despite it being the biggest tourist destination in the world. It is how it is and were still the top tourist destination in the world, says Hamel. But, having said that, there is a lot more we can do and once the new structure is in place, we hope to bring in more tourists to the Cotentin Peninsula and showcase the wild and untouched landscapes and beaches we have here. So far Normandy has mainly been promoted as a historical war destination focusing on the D-Day Landing beaches, war-cemeteries and World-War Museums. But Hamel wants to widen his pool of tourist attractions and include the preserved natural beauty of the peninsula with its protected heritage sites, middle-aged castles and unique food culture. Cherbourg Tourisme Director Guillaume Hamel stands beside the massive Ventura Cruise Ship at the Cherbourg Cruise Terminal Yes, Cotentin is undeniably steeped in amazing war history; theres no doubt about that and were fiercely proud of it , explains Hamel. But it is just one aspect of what we have to offer. For example, we would like tourists to experience Cotentins famous Blue Lobster or oysters among other fresh seafood thanks to one of the longest coastlines in France or Calvados an apple brandy with apple sorbet that is to be had in the middle of ones dinner. These are all experiences that you wont get anywhere else in the world except here in Cotentin. Apart from being a gastronomical treat, tourists can also look forward to getting the chance to step inside an actual nuclear submarine at the Cite De La Mer a maritime museum built to showcase Cherbourgs nautical prowess. Hamel says he wants to put Cotentin back on the cruise map and promote the region as a hiking destination too. The cruise industry is getting bigger and bigger in Europe, says Hamel. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin has a long history since the 1900s when we were a transatlantic port. The port of Cherbourg used to receive almost 1000 calls a year, which works out to almost three ships a day going to various places in the world New York, Buenos Aires, you name it. Currently, we have 65,000 passengers a year and 40 cruise calls. This is one of the main aspects we are going to work on. We also have a fantastic range of premium shore excursions available from Cherbourg on a cruise ship for the day, he concludes. Source:http://notintown.net/ Vietnams electronics industry (EI) is one of the fastest-growing and most crucial industries in Vietnam. Dominated by multinational businesses, EI has significantly boosted Vietnams trade volume and contributed to its GDP in the past decade. With emerging opportunities due to trade liberalization, corporate tax reduction, labor quality improvement, and government reforms, Vietnam has become a favorable option for foreign investors looking to relocate their EI investment in Asia. Vietnams electronics industry (EI) plays a crucial role in Vietnams fast-growing economy contributing to Vietnams successes in its manufacturing industry. In addition, Vietnams implementation of key trade agreements, strong demographic tailwinds, and supportive government policies are likely to continue this trend and present a variety of opportunities for investors. To tap these trends effectively, it will be critical to understand recent events in electronics production, the structure of Vietnams electronics sector, and prepare to meet opportunities as they arise. The state of Vietnamese electronics production Amid the ongoing US-China trade war and rising manufacturing costs in China, Vietnam has reaped the benefits to further participate in regional and global value chains. Vietnam has climbed the ranks as a key electronics exporter, from a modest 47th place in 2001 to 12th place in 2019. Especially, mobile phone exports were ranked second worldwide, with a value of over US$50 billion in 2019. Vietnams EI imports have nearly doubled from 2015 to 2019, while exports have constantly increased by an average of US$12 billion per year rising from US$47.3 billion to US$96.9 billion in 2019. In 2019, EI exports amounted to 36 percent of total exports from Vietnam, increasing by 1.15 percent compared to 2018. Imports accounted for 30 percent of total import flow, increasing by 2.01 percent from 2018. Of this, sales of electronics from Vietnam also went up by 12.1 percent, compared to 2018. Electronics Industry Import and Export Structures Export In 2019, top EI export destinations were to China (19.3 percent), the US (18.2 percent), South Korea (9.1 percent), Hong Kong (4.9 percent), and Japan (4.89 percent). Main export commodities include transmission apparatus, mobile phones, TVs, cameras (41 percent), electrical apparatus (18.2 percent), and electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies (11.9 percent). Import For the same year, Vietnam mainly imported its electrical machinery and components from China (33 percent), South Korea (31 percent), Japan (7.99 percent), and the US (6.52 percent). Among imported products, 40 percent were electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies, 17 percent were electrical apparatus, and 6 percent were semiconductors devices. Foreign investment in Vietnamese electronics production EI in Vietnam is mainly dominated by foreign companies, particularly multinational companies. Although the number of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) is only one-third of the total EI enterprises, from 2016 to 2019, their export share accounted for over 90 percent of total exports and covered 80 percent of the domestic market demand. As of June 2020, some large FIEs have completed their production plant relocation to Vietnam. Notably, LGs smartphone production has moved entirely from South Korea to Hai Phong. Apple has moved part of the production of its AirPods, while Nintendo has also transferred a part of its Switch Lite game console to Vietnam. Emerging electronics investment opportunities Trade liberalization Companies looking to invest in Vietnam can take advantage of several Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), with many agreements signed through its membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In 2018, the average import tariff for consumer goods in the EU was 8.9 percent for non-EU countries without any trade agreements. Under the recently ratified EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the vast majority of these tariffs will be eliminated. While these lower tariffs offer a tempting way to reduce export costs, it is crucial to be aware of the rules of origin guidelines in each FTA. Due to the underdevelopment of supporting industries in Vietnam, EI production is very import-dependent with domestic firms struggling to assimilate into global value chains. Tax incentives Not only can investors take advantage of reduced tariffs, but the Vietnamese government also provides corporate income tax (CIT) breaks for companies working in the high-tech sector as well as in high-tech zones, specific industrial zones, and underdeveloped socio-economic regions. The preferential incentive rate can be extended for up to 15 years if the projects manufactured goods have international competitiveness. From January 2016 onwards, the two preferential rates of 10 percent and 17 percent for 15 years and 10 years, respectively, are available starting from the commencement of generating revenue from the incentivized activities. Investors may also be eligible for additional tax holidays when they first invest: a 4-year tax exemption and a 9-year 50 percent reduction for those qualifying for the 10 percent CIT rate; a 4-year tax exemption and 5-year 50 percent reduction for those operating in certain areas; a 2-year tax exemption and 4-year 50 percent reduction for operating in certain areas or in some industrial zones. For R&D projects, 10 percent of annual profits can be placed into a tax-deductible fund before tax is levied. Government reforms Electronics, information, and telecommunication technologies are among the top 10 priority sectors approved by the Vietnamese government for the industrial development strategy period 2025-2035. Investors are also encouraged to operate in designated EI clusters and industrial zones, where they are already equipped with the necessary infrastructure and facilities. As a bonus, the operation may qualify for CIT breaks, as mentioned above. Favorable demographic structure According to a study by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), Vietnam is in the period of its golden population, from 2010 to 2040. Additionally, the minimum wage in 2019 in Vietnam was between US$132 and US$190 depending on the region, but much lower than Thailand (US316), Indonesia (US$260), Malaysia (US$247), China (US$365), Singapore (US$1,300) and South Korea (US$1,667). In terms of labor quality, Vietnamese engineers working in EI have fairly high qualifications compared to their colleagues in the region. According to Samsung Vietnam, 10 percent of Samsungs software globally is developed by Vietnamese IT engineers. Samsung has thus developed two of its largest R&D Centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. However, there are shortcomings in junior staff training and the quality of graduates of educational organizations. The World Banks STEP Skills Measurement Program survey reported that two-thirds of all international firms in Vietnam complained that both the general and vocational education systems did not meet the skill needs of their workplace. To deal with this issue, the government has launched supportive programs to train workers and domestic firms in supporting industries and facilitate the intra-ASEAN movement of labor. Planning effective market entry Given the rapid growth of electronics production, trade, and investment seen in recent years, the time has never been better to make use of Vietnam as a cost center for larger Asian operations or as a full-fledged production hub. For those keen to explore Vietnams emerging investment landscape, a clear idea of where to invest and sell goods, and an understanding of how to structure operations to take advantage of trade agreements and tax incentives will provide a significant boost to any future projects. Note: This article was first published in August 2016 and has been updated to include the latest developments. In early 2014, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), a leading state-owned bank, offloaded its shares onto the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE). Since then, both the northern and southern bourses were yet to see a new bank listing until the end of 2016, though in the last two months of the year many banks were racing to complete listing procedures in conjunction with requirements set by the Ministry of Finances Circular 180/2015. Under the circular, public companies are required to fulfil listing procedures either on the official markets (HoSE and HNX) or on UPCoM, the unlisted public company market. As banks are a sort of public companies, they must also adhere to the regulation, said senior financial expert Nguyen Tri Hieu. Privately-owned Kien Long Bank, based in the southern Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, was reported to have received the stock registration certificate as well as its share code in December 2016. Similarly, Ho Chi Minh City-based Orient Commercial Bank (OCB) and Hanoi-based Maritime Bank have closed the shareholder lists to become ready for stock registration. Most recently, on January 9, privately-owned Vietnam International Bank (VIB) listed its more than 564 million shares on the UPCoM platform under the VIB ticker. The remaining banks all have their own reasons why they still cannot go on the bourse or register for transactions on the UPCoM. At the recent 2017 general shareholders meeting of Techcombank, chairman Ho Hung Anh told shareholders that they have submitted the listing dossiers to authorised management agencies and are currently waiting for approval to be able to list on the southern bourse. Similarly, at their 2017 general shareholders meeting early last week, VPBank chairman Ngo Chi Dung said they had secured the shareholders approval to go on bourse in late 2016, but have encountered several problems in stock registration with Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD). They have hired a securities company for listing consultation. VPBank committed to going on bourse, but progress depends heavily on management agencies. We will try our best to debut on the HoSE right in this second quarter, Dung said. According to economic expert Le Xuan Nghia, some banks face difficulties related to their capital size or bad debts, triggering the urgent need to raise chartered capital. In the current context, they could hardly enrich their capital sources through support from local investors, as firms are also facing a multitude of difficulties. Going on bourse is a viable option for them to raise capital. Banks have missed their listing promises several times. Therefore, a deadline must be considered to force banks to press on with listing, and this must be done immediately, Nghia said. Local lenders are in the midst of a delicate juggling act Last week, the State Bank said the government insisted on 25 per cent credit growth this year, indicating that more cash will be injected into the recovering economy in the coming months. The governments target is to lower interest rates to support economic growth. The State Bank expects local lenders to cut deposit rates from 11 to 10 per cent per year and lending rates from 13 to 12 per cent per year within the next one or two months, said Nguyen Van Binh, deputy governor of the State Bank. Local banks total outstanding credits by the end of June expanded by 11.36 per cent from the end of 2009, while total deposits grew by 14.64 per cent, according to the latest State Bank data. Credit growth is on track to reach a full-year target of 25 per cent fuelling the countrys efforts to secure an economic growth of 6.5 per cent in 2010. In the first half of 2009, credit and deposit growth hit 17.01 and 16.2 per cent respectively. At the moment, local lenders are still cutting deposit rates step-by-step closer to 11 per cent per year. VietBank offers the highest interest rate at most terms at 11.2 per cent per year applied from July 13. Meanwhile, from July 9, Military Bank also set maximum deposit rates at 11.2 per cent per year. Previously, larger banks such as Vietcombank, ACB or Maritime Bank have lowered deposit rates to 11.1-11.2 per cent per year. A Vietcombank official said that deposit rate cutting was a sensitive move and normally banks must do it in many small steps. If the depositors do not find lower interest rates attractive enough, they shift to other investment channels, then sometimes we have to raise deposit rates right back, said the Vietcombank official. Stock market brokerage firm VinaSecurities said that the process of lowering interest rates was time-consuming with at least three interest groups involved in each purpose. The first phase of agreeing to a deposit rate level at 11.2 per cent, per year was apparently achieved. Then the next phase will be arriving at a lending rate. We remain hopeful that this can be entirely resolved in a month or so. Then credit could begin flowing more freely into the economy and the stock market as well, it said. By Thai Thao A mock-up of the Hoi An Royal Residences project. - VNS Photo Thach Thao The province said the project is funded by the Hoang Gia Hoi An company, and covers 70ha near Cua Dai beach and the Co Co River. The project will be built in two phases with 44 villas, 87 shop villas, condotels and resorts. Its one of the biggest tourism property projects to be built in Hoi An city this year. Last year, the province began construction of the Nam Hoi An Integrated Resort Project, invested by VinaCapital and Gold Yield Enterprises Corporations in coastal Thang Binh and Duy Xuyen districts with total investment of $4 billion between 2016 and 2035. Food services at the Noi Bai International Airport. Shareholders of the Noi Bai Airport Services Co have only approved the trading of the companys shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM).-VNS Photo Thai Ha He issued the order in a meeting on Friday. According to the Ministry of Finance, based on reports sent to it by 14 ministries, 41 local authorities and 29 State-owned enterprises, there are 578 SOEs that have been equitised but not listed. The list of these companies has been submitted to the Government. The Deputy PM said that all ministries, localities and State-owned corporations should ask representatives of the concerned SOEs to list their shares on the market as soon as they meet all the requirements to do so. He noted that said that in accordance with Directive 04/CT-TTg issued by the Prime Minister on the restructuring and renovation of SOEs in the period 2016-2020, the SOEs have to list their shares on the stock exchanges within a year after their IPOs. The Deputy PM also asked the Government Office and the Ministry of Finance to publish the list of 578 equitised SOEs on the websites of the Government and the Finance Ministry. The Finance Ministry must make a separate list of the SOEs that have not listed despite meeting all the requirements to do so, and submit the same to the PM. According to the Finance Ministry, of the 578 equitised SOEs, 301 have not registered to list on the stock exchange, 205 have not met the listing requirements; and 72 have not registered to list even after meeting the requirements. Among the companies that have not registered for listing, subsidiaries of the Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) and the coal and mining group Vinacomin (TKV) are not qualified for the number of shareholders. For companies that have not met listing requirements, the largest aviation company, Vietnam Airlines, had a return-on-equity (ROE) ratio before 2015 of below 5 per cent. Meanwhile, shareholders of the Noi Bai Airport Services Co (Nasco) have only approved the trading of the companys shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM). Analysts say that the delay in listing equitised SOEs will have negative impacts within the companies and also make further equitisation less attractive to investors, especially foreign investors, resulting in a loss of income to the State. Delayed listing of SOEs will also reduce the chance of holding successful IPOs, because the number of investors participating in the auctions will be low, leading to low bidding prices. The delayed listing will also result in SOEs being unable to transparently show their financial status, and investors will not be keen on investing in firms that whose operations they cannot monitor. Decreasing dependence on PVN Previously, PVI was a 100 per cent state-owned enterprise with PetroVietnam (PVN) as the representative of the state stake. After implementing the equitisation in 2006 and selling stakes to some foreign investors, PVNs ownership in PVI has declined to 35 per cent. At present, PVI has two foreign strategic shareholders: HDI Global (belongs to Talanx Group from Germany) holding 35.74 per cent and Oman Investment Fund with 11.58 per cent. Talanx Group is one of the biggest financial groups in Europe, managing over 100 billion ($108.6 billion) of assets. However, in Vietnam, HDI Global invests in PVI only. A representative of HDI Global said that they pay attention to PVNs divestment and plan to increase ownership in PVI, but they have to wait for PVNs final decision. VIR asked HDI Global, As a member of PVN, PVI has a lot of advantages arising from an almost monopoly position in the oil and gas insurance field. If PVN divests from PVI, and assuming that HDI Global will purchase these shares and become the biggest shareholder of the company, will HDI Global be concerned over the loss of advantages from PVN? U.H. Wollschlager, financial director of HDI Global, answered that previously, when PVN was the controlling shareholder of PVI, PVI benefited a lot from PVNs network. However, in recent years, PVIs dependence on PVN has significantly decreased. Five years ago, since HDI Global became a strategic shareholder of PVI, its retail business has gradually prospered. In fact, in a developing market like Vietnam, the potential in retail is huge, because many organisations and individuals need insurance for their own assets, like cars, houses, etc. PVIs business model is similar to that of HDI Global, as in the past, HDI Global focused on business insurance, but now they also have retail insurance products, Wollschlager said. Agreeing with Wollschlager, Nguyen Anh Tuan, chairman of PVI, said that currently, revenue from insurance businesses related to PVN accounted for 25 per cent of PVIs total revenue, while this proportion used to be as much as 85 per cent. The development of PVI over the last few years has showed that it is not heavily dependent on PVN. PVI has submitted the divestment plan for PVN, and if PVN sells 35 per cent of the stakes successfully, PVN will earn a huge amount of money, Tuan said. No uneven playing field PVN has recently divested from a range of businesses. At the beginning of 2017, PVNs stake in PetroVietnam Phuoc An Port Investment & Operation Joint Stock Company (PAP) was reduced from 79.58 to 38.89 per cent. In June 2016, 52 per cent of state-owned capital in PVcomBank, which was held by PVN, was transferred to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). Also, PVN planned to divest from the banking industry and a number of other oil and gas enterprises. PVNs divestment from PVI has attracted widespread attention from other insurers, especially those interested in wholesale insurance, which is insurance for oil and gas industry in case of PVI. Some insurance companies think that as PVN is a big shareholder of PVI, PVI seems to have the advantage of monopoly on oil and gas insurance. It seems that contractors wishing to join this field are appointed, a position is not up for public tender. However, PVIs chairman denied this and said that the oil and gas industry applies public tender fairly. A regulation on bidding to provide insurance was issued in 2014 and PVN encourages all foreign and domestic insurers to provide services for the projects or assets managed by PVN. The biggest advantage of PVI is that as a member of PVN, we understand more than anyone all of PVNs risks, so we have designed the most appropriate insurance programme and ensured risk management at a reasonable cost for PVN. PVI has developed through its own competitive ability, thus, even after PVNs divestment and the growth of foreign ownership in PVI, we will flourish, Tuan said. Baton master: Conductor Kim Xuan Hieu will lead the Viet Nam National Symphony Orchestra in two concerts in Ha Noi this Wednesday and Thursday.- Photo soi.today Baton master: Conductor Kim Xuan Hieu will lead the Viet Nam National Symphony Orchestra in two concerts in Ha Noi this Wednesday and Thursday.- Photo soi.today The concert will feature baroque, classical, romantic and 20th century classcial music by four composers - French Gabriel Faure; Italian Benedetto Giacomo Marcello; Danish Launy Grondahl and Austrian Franz Schubert. Schuberts Symphony No1 will be premiered in Viet Nam whilst trompette soloist Hieu will also perform Marcellos Concerto for Trumpette for the first time. "Schubert is considered the last of the classical composers and one of the first romantic ones. His Symphony No1 is more classical than romantic," said conductor Hieu. "Marcellos Concerto for Trumpette is a original for oboe. The piece is also played by small trumpette in the world because the two brass instruments have similar timbre". "Hieu and Hien are soloists in the orchestra. But it is a rare chance for them to play solo at a concert," the conductor said. Trombone soloist Hien will play Grondahls Concerto for Trombone. Faures La Pavane will open the concert. The piece was composed in 1887 and inspired by the pavane dance. It is one of Faures most popular performance due to its deliberate but delicate tempo. Conductor Hieu graduated from the Viet Nam Accademy of Music (VNAM) and was sent to study performing art teaching methods at the Frederic Chopin Conservatory in Paris. He also studied conducting in Viet Nam and joined master classes in Oslo, Norway with Professor Thomas Rimul. He has conducted Vietnamese and Norwegian orchestras. As a VNAM student, Hieu founded and has been a leader of the Hanoi Brass Band in 1998 with six musicians, including Hieu and Hien. He is currently master of horn and assistant conductor at the VNSO. Trombonist Hien has worked at the VNSO since 1991. He has attended master classes with American Professor Henry Novac and Norwegian musician Terje Alexander Grondhahl. He is currently master of trombone at the VNSO. He has performed in many countries, such as the US, Italy, Russia, Japan, Thailand and China. He received a Meritorious Artist title in 2012. Trumpeter Hieu became an official VNSO member in 2007. He studied with Norwegian Professor Arnulf Naur Nilsen in Norway in 2008 and performed with the Norwegian Military Band. He also studied and performed with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in 2012 under Japanese tutors Professor Yukihiro Sekiyama and Professor Sachio Hotokezaka. The two concerts will begin at 8pm at Lespace, 24 Trang Tien Street. New York, Apr 25(Just Earth News): The United Nations on Monday called for an investigation into a possible landmine explosion in eastern Ukraine after a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission was killed and two others were injured. We extend our condolences to the family of the [OSCE] member, said the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, and wishes for a full recovery of those injured. The casualties are believed to have taken place during a patrol in Luhansk, the easternmost city in Ukraine. The OSCE is an impartial civilian mission tasked with observing and reporting on the situation in Ukraine. Speaking on behalf of the UN, the Spokesperson on Monday also called for holding those responsible for the explosion to account. Reiterating the statement by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on 31 March, the Spokesperson urged the parties to the conflict to do their utmost to ensure the safety and security of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. The UN fully supports the efforts of the OSCE, the Trilateral Contact Group and the Normandy Four in their efforts to facilitate a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine in accordance with the Minsk Package of Measures, he added. Photo/ UNHCR Source: www.justearthnews.com As other airlines cut Cuba service, JetBlue applies for more flights to the island New York, Apr 25(Just Earth News): The United Nations educational and cultural agency has launched a first-ever policy guide for education on the Holocaust and, more broadly, genocide and mass atrocities. We place the fight against xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism at the heart of our action for peace, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova told the 15th plenary assembly of the World Jewish Congress in New York yesterday as she launched the new guide. Education about the Holocaust and preventing genocide is designed to be a resource for policy-makers, curriculum developers and textbook writers to engage in or reinforce education about the Holocaust and the prevention of genocide. It also provides effective responses and recommendations to facilitate debate on these issues in classrooms, and is the first step in a series of projects conducted in partnership with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and with the support of the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I am convinced education, culture and knowledge have become core security issues in the world on Monday to combat violent extremism built on distortions of faith or history, said Bokova. Also in attendance was UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who had said he would be on the frontlines in the fight against anti-Semitism to make sure it is condemned and eradicated. According to his spokesman, Guterres said that while there is hope that the horrors and the shock of the Holocaust would put an end to antisemitism, unfortunately, it is not the case, and antisemitism is alive and well. In a world with a multiplication of forms of populism, xenophobia and hatred, he said antisemitism has gained an intensity that is unacceptable and that we need to fight with strong determination. Guterres added that a modern form of antisemitism is the denial of the right of the State of Israel to exist, noting that Israel has an undeniable right to exist and to live in peace and security with its neighbours. And he reiterated his support for the two-state solution. The World Jewish Congress is an international organization representing Jewish communities and associations in 100 countries around the world. It has been UNESCO's official partner since 1962. Photo: UNESCO Source: www.justearthnews.com Tens of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders paid tribute Tuesday at memorials and graves for war veterans and in remembrance to the price paid in conflict in more than a century of wars. The services, known as ANZAC Day, began following Australias and New Zealands role in fighting alongside former colonial power, Britain, in the trenches of Gallipoli against the Ottoman Turkish Empire during World War I (1914-18). Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop led tributes to the 11,400 Australians and New Zealanders who perished during the campaign. World War I left an indelible mark in the Australian consciousness. More than 60,000 Australians died and 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner during the conflict, with the fighting forces coming from a national population of fewer than five million. Australian Ambassador to Thailand Paul Robillard, in an address at the dawn service memorial in western Kanchanaburi province, spoke of the symbolism that accompanies the memorials. On this the 102 anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli, let us all reflect on what the ANZAC spirit means, the spirit of service and mateship, the firm belief in democratic freedom and being prepared to make even the ultimate sacrifice to protect the rights weve all enjoyed, Robilliard said. Called again During the World War II almost one million Australians served in the armed forces from Africa, the Middle East and Europe, and in Asia as Japans Imperial Forces threatened the Australian continent. In 1942 Japans troops swept down the Malaysian Peninsular taking Singapore. Thousands of people were detained as prisoners of war. Many of the troops were sent to Thailand as forced labor on the infamous Death Railway from Thailand to Burma. The brutal conditions in monsoon heat and rain claimed the lives of 12,600 POWs, including 2,800 Australians and more than 90,000 civilian laborers, mostly Asian, drafted into the work. Robilliard, addressing up to 1,000 at the service in a jungle shrouded gully cut by allied POWs over 70 years ago, known as Hell Fire Pass, said the quiet atmosphere now gave pause to understand the horror endured by the POWs. As we stand here we can have some sense of that [horrific] experience, we can have some sense of their courage of their determination and their pain. And that sense is only heightened by the calmness, the stillness of this place now, he said. In Singapore, services were held at Kranji War Memorial lawn cemetery, where thousands of Australians suffered in the notorious Changi POW camp. In Malaysia, Sabah States Sandakan war memorial was built on the site of the POW camp during World War II. The ceremonies mark the remembrance of the more than 2,430 Australian and British POWs and local people who died under Japans Imperial rule. Sandakan was also the site of the notorious death march at wars end in 1945 when 1,005 POWs perished from malnutrition or were murdered. Other ANZAC Day services are to take place in the Philippines, in Myanmar, Laos and Kuala Lumpur. More sacrifice In Vietnam, where 60,000 Australian troops served alongside United States and allies during the Indochina conflict from 1954 to 1975, memorials were held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Bob Hall, a Vietnam veteran and history lecturer at the University of New South Wales, said ANZAC Day is a reminder of those lost to conflict. For me its a reminder of mates that I have lost in Vietnam. Its not much more than that. It doesnt tell me much historically, it tells me about the personal side of loss in war. But thats just me, Hall told VOA. Martin Stuart-Fox, emeritus professor of history from Queensland University, said conflicts often called by politicians, leave the suffering to be borne by ordinary people. We sent people out there to fight wars wherever it is and they fought them to the best of their ability, and they were our representatives in doing so and we should honor that, Stuart-Fox said. The Indochina War from 1954 to 1975 claimed more than 1.45 million lives from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The Korean War of 1950 to 1953 left 36,574 U.S. troops dead, with South Korea suffering 217,000 military and one million civilian deaths, while more than 400,000 North Korean soldiers and 600,000 civilians died in the conflict. The Australian and New Zealand memorials come against a backdrop of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula and fears of potential conflict over North Koreas nuclear weapons program. On Tuesday, the U.N. investigator on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Tomas Ojea Quintana, made an urgent appeal for the lowering of political and military tensions. Ojea Quintana called for restoring dialogue with North Korea and other governments involved in the current hostilities, saying they have to realize the great responsibility on their shoulders to preserve peace and stability. More than 3,500 children living in so-called orphanages in Cambodia will be returned to their families following a government report into conditions at the facilities. The Ministry of Social Affairs Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation last week completed a study of residential care facilities in the country and found that almost a third of children in care should be returned to their families by 2018. Of the 406 registered orphanages included in the study, 38 percent had never been inspected, more than one in ten were unregistered, and a fifth had no agreement with the government - a prerequisite for operating. Vong Sauth, social affairs minister, said: There is a large number of children living in residential care institutions for children, also called orphanages, and the number of institutions is rapidly increasing. Not all of the children living in the orphanages are orphans, he added. Their parents just lack money. If a child lives in a poor situation with their parents, we will give support with the assistance to numerous organizations. We will divert our support to the community. We will calculate the expense and subsidize the family. Being nurtured by the family members, the child will grow well. According to a 2015 report by the ministry, one in every 350 children lives in an orphanage, while 80 percent of these children are not orphans. Deborah Comini, a UNICEF representative, said that placing the children back with their families was a path to reform, to a broader and more sustainable childcare system. Social workers and observers will be sent to monitor the families, and if the children are abused, in any form, they will be sent to a safe place. A prominent Radio Free Asia journalist has been called to court after allegedly sneaking into a prison to interview an activist whos seen as a political prisoner. Chun Chanboth, the pen name of RFA Khmer deputy director Huot Vuthy, received a court summon on Friday for allegedly falsely describing himself as a lawmakers assistant when he registered to enter Prey Sar prison; along with him came a delegation of opposition Members of Parliament. As a result of Chanboths visit to the prison, the authorities have banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party officials from visiting some 20 party members, senators, and lawmakers in the jail. The Department of Prisons claimed Chanboth, a US-based journalist, visited the prisoners under false pretenses last Wednesday. However, he has denied these allegations. Chanboth, earlier that day, had reported already being denied entry to visit jailed political analyst Kim Sok, who is facing defamation charges lodged by Prime Minister Hun Sen. A justice spokesman said on Monday that Chanboth would be arrested at the May hearing if he was found guilty. Journalists have a right to gather information, but the methods should be legal. If the action is against the law, he or she has to face the law, the spokesman said. Chanboth said he was prepared to answer to the charges in court. As a journalist, I just want to know the truth about whether they are political prisoners or criminals, he said, referring to the jailed opposition members and analyst. Are they okay? He questioned. Two CNRP officials who allegedly accompanied Chanboth to the prison, Mu Sochua and Long Ry, have also been called to hearings on Thursday and Friday, respectively. They could not be reached for comment. Moeun Chhean Nariddh, head of the Department of Journalism at the Institute of Cambodia, claimed Chanboths actions could negatively affect the profession, but that his intentions were ethical. His sole intention was to obtain information. He was trying to protect the prison officials, interior ministry and government from rumors that the prison staff were torturing human rights activists, he said. Chak Sopheap, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, wrote on Facebook that the case against Chanboth was a cause for concern: We urge the authorities to treat this investigation impartially, without discrimination on the basis of Mr. Chuns affiliation with RFA, which has been the subject of sustained criticism by senior government officials in recent months, she wrote. Afghanistans largest television station has reported last Fridays deadliest-ever assault by the Taliban on a major military base in northern Balkh province left more than 250 soldiers dead and accused authorities of hiding the truth. The government has been under fire for refusing to reveal the number of casualties several days after the attack targeting the Afghan National Armys 209th Shaheen Corps in the provincial capital of Mazar-i-Sharif. The deputy chairman of the Afghan Senate, the upper house of the parliament, informed lawmakers on Sunday that security officials told him the death toll stood at around 131, while provincial politicians had put it at more than 150 from the outset. Based on information gathered from different sources, so far, the identity of 256 soldiers from 10 provinces have been confirmed, TOLOnews reported Tuesday, quoting credible sources. The TV station also named the provinces to which the bodies of the victims have been dispatched for burials. Possible impact on morale cited Government officials privately have insisted that releasing the death toll could undermine the morale of the Afghan army battling a resurgent Taliban. But critics assert the government was disrespecting the slain soldiers by withholding the number of casualties. Officials and insurgents say a group of 10 heavily-armed Taliban fighters wearing army uniforms, and accompanying an allegedly wounded soldier, stormed the base and carried out the massacre. The attack mainly targeted a dining hall and mosque deep inside the facility where hundreds of Afghan soldiers were offering special Friday prayers. Witnesses and security sources said that Taliban assailants drove up to the base in two army vehicles mounted with machine guns, waving fake identification cards and claiming they were bringing back a seriously injured soldier from the frontline. Some of the attackers detonated explosives strapped to their bodies while others were gunned down by Afghan commandos before the hours-long siege ended. Raid renews criticism The brazen raid has renewed criticism of Afghan security institutions ability to stabilize the country. The carnage prompted the defense minister and the army chief to step down on Monday. President Ashraf Ghani has also removed several corps commanders, including that of the Shaheen Corps, following the attack. A high-level investigation is underway to determine how the attackers managed to enter the highly-fortified military facility in Mazar-i-Sharif and whether they had received inside help. At least four Afghan soldiers are suspected of having helped the attackers but they remain at large, according to officials. American military advisors and trainers were also present at a different location inside the regional military headquarters. The Taliban, while claiming responsibility for Fridays attack, said more than 500 soldiers were killed or wounded. It went on to say the assault on the army base was a prelude to its coming spring offensive in Afghanistan. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, during his day-long visit to Kabul on Monday, also warned 2017's going to be another tough year for the valiant Afghan security forces and the international troops. The release of the now three Americans being detained in North Korea seems unlikely in the near future as Washington and Pyongyang move closer to the brink of conflict over the growing nuclear threat on the Korean Peninsula. Korean-American Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, became the third American to be held in North Korea, when he was arrested Saturday at the Pyongyang International Airport as he was trying to leave the country. The 58-year-old Kim was teaching accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST,) a private university funded mostly by Western-based Evangelical Christians groups that educates the children of the country's elite. Bargaining chips Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Monday said Kims arrest is an attempt by the flailing Kim Jong Un government to gain some leverage to deal with the Untied States over its nuclear and missile programs. The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang confirmed Kims arrest but North Korea has not yet publicly charged him. A PUST official told the Reuters News Agency that Kims arrest was not related to his work at the university but suggested it might be connected to his outside volunteer activity at a local orphanage. In the past North Korea has arrested a number of missionaries for violating a ban on proselytizing that is considered a crime against the state. Nicholas Burns, a former U.S. undersecretary of state said, The North Koreans have a history of taking American citizens hostage, detaining them illegally and without any rationale. They obviously do this in order to up the ante on the United States and perhaps have something to negotiate with the United States. Last year, North Korea arrested Otto Warmbier just days before conducting its fourth nuclear test in January 2016. The U.S. college student was later sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for trying to steal a political banner from his hotel in Pyongyang. It later sentenced American missionary Kim Dong-chul to 10 years hard labor on charges of spying and other offenses. Back channel dialogue Haley said the U.S. will work on securing the release of the Americans being held in North Korea, but was vague as to what course of action Washington might pursue. Previous American detainees have been released after a few months, following visits from high-profile Americans, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. But since North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January 2016, neither Washington nor Pyongyang seem willing to make any conciliatory gestures. Under former President Barack Obama the U.S. rallied international support for increased sanctions against the Kim government. Pyongyang responded by accelerating nuclear and ballistic missile tests. President Donald Trump has further increased pressure by emphasizing possible military strikes to prevent North Korea from developing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland. Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said Washington needs to find some back channel way to establish a working dialogue with Pyongyang to negotiate the release of these individuals who have become pawns in this international nuclear standoff. Clearly weve got to do more. The United States has got to find a way to get these people out as a matter of priority, said Robertson. Refugees Trump has emphasized that China needs to play a stronger role in restraining North Korea. Robertson said Beijing could send a strong message to Kim Jong Un by allowing more North Korean refugees to escape through China to a third country like South Korea. If China really wants to put a lot of pressure on North Korea, one of the easiest ways to do so would be to stop trying to arrest North Koreans that go into China, he said. The humanitarian gesture, he said, would coincide with what seems to be Chinas increased enforcement of sanctions against its economically dependent ally, in the wake of the increased U.S. military pressure. China has reportedly sent back cargo ships of North Korean coal, cut Chinese airline flights to Pyongyang and warned in the editorial in the Communist Party-run Global Times that another nuclear test would lead to a total oil ban. The price of gasoline in Pyongyang almost doubled after the editorial appeared. Human Rights Watch this week called upon China to release eight North Korean refugees who were reported to be arrested in March. Beijing does not recognize North Koreans crossing into China as refugees but considers them economic migrants, and repatriates them to North Korea. Robertson said illegal refugees forced to return to North Korea are incarcerated and often subjected to torture, sexual violence, forced labor, and even worse. Tens of thousands of Armenians rallied Monday for the annual remembrance of the massacre of more than 1 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Marchers gathered at a memorial in Yerevan to lay flowers. Some burned a Turkish flag with torches. April 24 is the day most Armenians regard as the start of the massacre in 1915, with the first arrests of Armenians by Turkish authorities in what was then Constantinople. Between then and 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were killed through forced deportation, torture, starvation and outright murder. Armenian culture restored The Armenians' physical, cultural and political losses are immeasurable, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said Monday. The biggest loss is the people who were members of an ancient, rich and authentic civilization. Sargsyan said those who survived the killings and their descendents successfully restored Armenian culture and science. Within this period of time, we gave the world a whole constellation of creative geniuses and the world learned what happened to us through the great Armenians. In Washington, President Donald Trump put out a statement calling the Armenian massacre one of the 20th century's worst mass atrocities. We must remember atrocities to prevent them from occurring again. We welcome the efforts of Turks and Armenians to acknowledge and reckon with painful history, which is a critical step toward building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future. Turkey denies organized campaign Armenians call the killings a genocide and urge everyone who talks about the massacre to use that word, including the United States which has yet to officially recognize the deaths as genocide. But Turkey denies there was any organized campaign to obliterate the Armenian people. It says the number of Armenians killed during and after World War I was far fewer than 1.5 million and said the victims died in the fighting between the Ottoman military and Russia. Britain has recorded its first full day without using coal power since the Industrial Revolution began more than 200 years ago. The remarkable milestone was achieved Friday, following years of investment in renewable energy and the perfect combination of another famous British characteristic: its unpredictable weather. So thats both solar and wind. And when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing together, the capacity of renewables now generates of lot of electricity. And it was that fortuitous circumstance that brought us to a day without coal, Professor Paul Ekins of University College London told VOA. Coal powered Britains Industrial Revolution, which transformed the global economy. But the cost was extremely high levels of pollution. In the 1950s blankets of smoke from burning coal combined with low-lying fog to form deadly smogs that killed thousands of Londoners. Britains last deep coal mine closed in 2015, and its nine remaining coal-fired power stations will be closed by 2025. Professor Ekins welcomes its demise. Coal has been a fantastic energy source and no one would want to decry its historical role. But it is the dirtiest energy source. Its dirty both locally and its dirty globally. Watershed' in energy transition Hannah Martin of environmental group Greenpeace urged the government to press ahead with further investment in clean power. The first day without coal in Britain since the Industrial Revolution marks a watershed in the energy transition. A decade ago, a day without coal would have been unimaginable, and in 10 years' time our energy system will have radically transformed again. Nuclear and gas still form a big part of Britains energy mix. But the coal-free milestone was reached through rapid progress in renewable technology. The cost of wind and solar energy has plummeted in recent years. Britain has invested huge amounts in offshore wind farms, which now surround much of the coastline. But Britain is lagging behind others in Europe. Portugal went more than four straight days on renewable energy in 2016. Absolute no-brainer Ekins says the rapid progress offers an opportunity for developing economies to bypass the type of polluting industrialization that once characterized Britain. Its much cheaper to build decentralized solar than it is to put in a grid with a standard fossil fuel infrastructure. With the costs of solar of tomorrow, its going to be an absolute no-brainer. In the United States, President Donald Trump has enacted legislation to roll back environmental regulations, pledging to put coal miners back to work and invest in so-called carbon-capture technology. The United States only offshore wind farm at Block Island came online in December. Many analysts say the plunging cost of renewables compared to coal means it will likely make little economic sense to re-open the mines. A Cameroonian military tribunal on Monday sentenced a journalist to 10 years in prison on terrorism charges, including for failing to report acts of terrorism to authorities, in a trial that has drawn sharp criticism from rights groups. The court had been told that evidence was found in Ahmed Abba's computer showing he had been in contact with Boko Haram Islamist militants and that they had communicated information to him about future attacks. Abba, a Cameroonian journalist for Radio France International, could have faced the death penalty on the charges. Since his arrest in July 2015 Abba has denied the charges, brought against him under an anti-terrorism law passed the year before. Judge Edou Mewoutou also ordered him to pay a fine of 55 million CFA Francs ($90,000) and barred him from speaking to the media about the trial. "Ahmed Abba's conviction, after torture and an unfair trial, is clear evidence that Cameroon's military courts are not competent to try civilians and should not have jurisdiction in these cases," said Amnesty International's Ilaria Allegrozzi. A lawyer for Abba said he would appeal the sentence. The central African country's veteran ruler Paul Biya has faced international censure for alleged human rights violations in recent months, including during the suppression of protests in Cameroon's two western English-speaking regions. Organizers of those protests are currently on trial charged under the same anti-terrorism law used against Abba. Moscow, Apr 25 (IBNS): At least one student was killed in a grenade blast in south Russia's Dagestan, media reports said Tuesday. The incident left 11 others injured A spokesman for the Dagestani Interior Ministry told TASS: "According to verified information, a hand grenade went off in an IT room of a secondary school. It was brought by a schoolboy." The grenade was reportedly brought in the institution by a schoolboy. The injured people were taken to hospital for treatment. In Cameroon, lawyers for the Radio France International reporter sentenced to a decade behind bars late Monday already have filed an appeal to overturn his conviction on terrorism-related charges. Ahmed Abba's defense lawyer Clement Nakong was at the military appeals court in Yaounde early this Tuesday morning to deposit the appeal. Nakong says Ahmed Abba is innocent. He says they will continue to press for his freedom at the appeal court level. He says in addition to the 10-year jail sentence, Ahmed Abba was ordered to pay nearly $100,000 in court costs. The defense lawyer says they expect the appeals court to overturn Abbas conviction and cancel the fine. Abba was arrested in northern Cameroon in July 2015 where he was reporting for the RFI Hausa service on the Boko Haram conflict. The journalist was charged with complicity in terrorism and failing to denounce acts of terror. He also was accused of acting as an accomplice with two members of Boko Haram. Testifying during the trial, Abba said he obtained the Boko Haram videos, photos and information found on his phone from YouTube, Facebook and other social media as part of his reporting. After nearly two years in detention, Abba was found guilty by a military tribunal of two of the three charges. The military prosecutor initially had requested the death penalty, but last week he asked for life imprisonment. On Monday, Judge Edou Mewoutou arrived at the sentencing hearing nine hours late. He did not give a reason for the delay. Disappointment In the courtroom was defense witness and head of the Africa news section of RFI, Yves Rocle. He says they are totally disappointed with the ruling. He says they will appeal because no proof of guilt was presented. Rocle says they remain very optimistic Abba will be freed. He says an innocent man already has spent more than 21 months in prison. Rocle said he believes there was external pressure on the judges in this case. The prosecutor and the government commissioner present in court Monday declined VOAs requests for interviews. Amnesty International says Abba was held incommunicado for three months in 2015 and tortured in a state facility. The international human rights group says his case points to a larger trend more than 1,000 people have been detained and held in inhumane conditions over alleged support for Boko Haram since the passage of Cameroon's 2014 anti-terror law. Responding to those accusations in July of last year, the government questioned Amnesty Internationals research methodology and accused the group of bias. The financial industry is closely watching Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial's attempt to acquire Dallas-based MoneyGram International, the world's second biggest money transfer company after Western Union. Ant is offering $1.2 billion, more than U.S.-based competitor Euronet Worldwide. If successful, the deal would turn Ant Financial into a financial behemoth with access to MoneyGram's vast network of 350,000 outlets of retail shops, post offices and banks across 200 countries. At present, Ant's business is largely based on the Chinese yuan. The acquisition would also give it access to U.S. dollar funds and escrow accounts for managing the funds. If you look at MoneyGram, what they might be doing here (to Ant Financial) is bringing a unique extra key that has much to do with that escrow account surplus and be able to hold a lot of dollars, Jacob Cooke, chief executive officer of Web Presence in China, told VOA. That, of course, will give them access to a whole bunch more opportunities to Ant's financial services. Bidding war As Euronet entered the race, Ant Financial hiked its bid by 36 percent, leaving no one in doubt about its determination to acquire MoneyGram and take on Western Union, the worlds biggest money transfer company, on its own terms. But Euronet has so far refused to give up, saying it is reviewing the new situation. Euronet is also battling the Ant's bid at another level. It has gone public in saying the Chinese acquisition bid poses serious security risks as payment companies hold vast amounts of financial data of their customers. Protectionist moves For Ant Financial, the biggest challenge would be obtaining approval of the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Some analysts see it as the first major test for Chinese investments in the face of protectionist moves by the Trump administration. Getting approval from CFIUS might be more difficult this year. Plus, Chinese acquisitions are more on the media radar than before, Jeffrey Towson, professor of Investments at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, said. And finally, there is also a competing bidder, Euronet, and they will probably push for a regulatory denial based on security concerns. Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin Yoder and Eddie Bernice Johnson, have written to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin questioning the deal. The proposal merits careful evaluation as it would provide Chinese access to the U.S. financial infrastructure, a move that would pose significant national security risks if completed, they said. Allaying concerns Ant Financial has tried to allay security concerns, saying that MoneyGram's data will be stored in iron-clad U.S.-based servers. In an open letter to MoneyGram's shareholders, Douglas Feagin said MoneyGram will continue to be headquartered in Dallas and run by its current U.S.-based management team after the deal closes. He also promised Ant will continue to invest in MoneyGram's systems and compliance programs. Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma was among the first to visit Trump Towers after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency. Trump recently met Chinese president Xi Jinping, and later said he does not regard China as a currency manipulator anymore. Some analysts see these developments as positives for Ant Financial. Though CFIUS has given thumbs down to quite a few recent attempted Chinese takeovers, there isn't an obvious national security case here as to why they should stop the transaction, said Peter Fuhrman, chairman of consultancy firm, China First Capital. Alibaba magic again? An important question is whether it will also enhance the capabilities of the online shopping giant, Alibaba, and in turn pose a new challenge to similar players like Ebay. Ant Financial has served as a platform for carrying out Alibaba's financial transactions in the past, analysts said. Ant Financial was born out of the fact that Alibabas e-commerce platforms were holding huge sums of money in escrow while transactions were completed between buyers and sellers, Cooke of Web Presence in China, said. So the natural assumption is that Alibaba can utilize MoneyGram's escrow accounts and add to its own strengths. Jacob Kirkegaard, a fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute of International Economics, said, Alibaba is arguably the worlds most sophisticated internet finance company. If they see a potential for MoneyGram in their product portfolio, I have no doubt that they can execute the deal and ensure integration. When contacted, Ant Financial did not reply to VOA's questions and referred VOA to past statements by the company. A public relations firm representing Ant said the company has no relationship with Alibaba and refused further comment. But several analysts, and most recent media reports, describe Ant Financial as a financial affiliate of Alibaba. The U.S. Coast Guard says far fewer Cubans are trying to get to Florida using makeshift rafts since former President Barack Obama ended a policy granting residency to Cubans landing on American soil. Coast Guard spokeswoman Kate Webb said overall interdictions have dropped from as many as 25 a day to about 20 per month since Obama ended the wet foot, dry foot policy. The policy allowed Cubans who reached U.S. territorial waters to remain in the country but those intercepted in the waters between the two nations were returned home. Webb said Tuesday that up to 70 percent of interdictions now involve go-fast boats, not the rustic vessels called chugs. The speedboats are towed to shore for law enforcement investigations. Captain Jeffrey Janszen told The Citizen newspaper that migrants pay up to $10,000 each to cross aboard go-fast boats, compared with several hundred dollars in a chug. The Coast Guard has expressed concern that President Donald Trump's vow to build a wall along the southern border will likely increase sea traffic of migrants trying to enter the United States. President Donald Trump called Wednesday for a dramatic cut in U.S. corporate taxes to boost job growth in the world's largest economy and massive reforms in the country's complex tax code that could affect millions of American taxpayers. Trump proposed cutting the U.S. corporate tax rate, the highest among the world's industrialized nations, from 35 to 15 percent. He also called for the one-time repatriation of profits earned by American companies from their overseas operations, a measure Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said would bring back trillions of dollars to the U.S. that could be invested in business expansion at home. Job creation and economic growth is the top priority, said chief White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, a one-time Wall Street financier. Our basic premise here is to simplify the tax system, lower rates and make it easy. We don't want to penalize people. We want to make the system very fair. We are trying to stimulate business investment. Mnuchin called the proposal the biggest tax cut in U.S. history. Plan could add to long-term debt Trump, however, offered no immediate plan to pay for the tax cuts, which some independent economic analysts say that over next decade could add $2 trillion to the nearly $20 trillion in long-term debt the U.S. has already amassed. Mnuchin said the expectation is that the corporate and individual tax cuts will boost U.S. economic growth to 3 percent annually, up from last year's tepid 1.6 percent advance. The U.S. economy, however, has not grown by 3 percent since 2005. This will pay for itself with growth and with reduction of different deductions and closing loopholes, Mnuchin said, brushing aside assessments that the tax cuts would add to the cumulative U.S. debt, not reduce it. Trump's proposal is likely to set off months of debate in Congress over the labyrinth U.S. tax code, where some of Trump's Republican colleagues already have voiced concerns about the cost of the plan. This isnt going to be easy Cohn said he expects a long fight over the measure. This isn't going to be easy, Cohn said. Doing big things never is. We'll be attacked from the left and we'll attacked from the right. But one thing is certain. I would never, ever bet against this president. He will get this done for the American people. Mnuchin added, We are determined to move this as fast as possible, to get this done this year. But Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst for Bankrate.com, voiced skepticism about the plan's eventual fate in Congress. I hesitate to call it a plan, Hamrick told VOA. It's really more of a wish list. It's very much focused on the traditional notion that if the wealthy and business do well, that will help everyone else in society and I think that's a suspect notion. Only three tax rate levels Mnuchin said no tax rate has been set yet on the repatriated money earned by U.S. companies overseas, but that he is working with lawmakers to determine what it should be. It will be a very competitive rate that would bring back trillions of dollars, Mnuchin said. The two Trump advisers said that the top individual tax rate for U.S. taxpayers would be cut from 39.6 percent to 35 percent, with only two other tax rates, 10 percent and 25 percent, down from the current seven rate levels. They said Trump wants to have a zero tax rate on the first $24,000 that workers earn each year, eliminate an alternative minimum tax rate that sometimes has added hefty sums to tax bills and abolish the country's inheritance tax on wealthy taxpayers. Many tax deductions that some individuals use to cut their tax bills would be eliminated, leaving only those for charitable giving, retirement savings plans and interest on home purchase loans. Trump still wont release tax returns Opposition Democratic lawmakers in Congress have called on Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul turned Republican politician, to release his federal tax returns so they can determine how much he might benefit from his own tax proposals. But Mnuchin said Trump has no intention of disclosing the information, a stance the president has taken for months while campaigning for the White House. Trump often attacked his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, for massive annual deficit spending that added to the national debt, something his tax plan might do as well. Cohn said Trump is still concerned about the debt but the adviser reiterated his view that the tax cuts would advance the economy. Ryan offers support Trump gained one quick ally for the coming legislative fight over U.S. tax policy. The leader of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Speaker Paul Ryan, voiced support for much of the president's proposal. We like it a lot, it puts us on the same page, we're in agreement on 80 percent, and on the 20 percent we're in the same ballpark, said Ryan. Tax experts say the 35 percent U.S. corporate tax rate is the highest among the world's 35 industrialized nations, although U.S. corporations rarely pay that much because they are permitted to deduct their business expenses from their revenues before. A number of profitable companies pay no U.S. income taxes. An experimental blood test can quickly and accurately diagnose malaria from other infections, so treatment of the mosquito-borne illness can be started promptly. The symptoms of malaria, which strikes an estimated 200 million people around the globe every year, are non-specific. That means the fever, aches, pains and chills in the early stages could be mistaken for any number of infections. Identifying and treating malaria promptly not only increases a patient's chances of survival, but also helps prevent the disease from spreading to more people. The blood test, developed by researchers at Stanford University in California, looks for patterns of immune system activation to determine whether a person is infected with the malaria parasite, and not a bacterium or virus. It is reportedly 96 percent accurate. Purvesh Khatri, a professor of medicine at Stanford, helped develop the biomarker test, which looks at which genes are switched on or off, depending on the infection. A simple blood test measuring these immune markers could be helpful in resource-poor settings, according to Khatri. So a test like ours is useful," he said, "You could take a blood test that would not require an expert technician, and they are more sensitive than the rapid diagnostic test than we have now." Khatri notes the current test is not very accurate because it looks for a molecule, called an antigen, that activates an immune response in a malaria infection. And the problem with those are there are not enough antigen," said Khatri. "So treatment then [could] be inappropriate and then it could awhile before malaria is diagnosed. Khatri and his team drew upon data from 40 studies involving more than 3,000 blood samples from patients with various infections. Some were known to have malaria. But there were also other tropical illnesses observed in the studies, including dengue, typhoid and leishmaniasis. From those blood studies, investigators analyzed the activation of 2,100 different genes, looking at which genes switched on and off with parasitic, viral and bacterial infections. They found a group of seven genes that were expressed in malaria compared to healthy people and those with other infectious illnesses. To confirm their discovery, the researchers whittled the samples down to 900, in which they were able to discern the pattern of gene activation unique to malaria with near 100 percent accuracy. While the experimental blood test is accurate in diagnosing malaria, Khatri says it might also detect other parasitic diseases that researchers have not yet studied. But he said the blood test could be reliably used in cases where malaria is strongly suspected and confirmation of the disease is needed. Khatri presented his findings at a meeting of the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases before World Malaria Day this week. Britains Brexit referendum last year was meant to have ended debate about the perennial big question of the countrys relationship with Europe. But as British politicians started this week to campaign in earnest for next months parliamentary elections, EU membership remains a dominating issue and is adding to a shake-up of the countrys traditional party politics. In dramatic fashion, the pro-EU former Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair has re-entered the political arena, saying it would be understandable for the party faithful to consider tactical voting in the June general election in a bid to block hard-right Conservatives who want a sharp break from Europe from being elected. While Blair, the longest-serving Labor Prime Minister in British history, avoided endorsing tactical voting openly, he argued Monday it is not the time to fight a conventional partisan election. Blair hinted he was considering making a parliamentary comeback and standing himself. Voters, he says, should consider candidates' positions on Brexit, and cast their votes accordingly, backing any candidate regardless of party affiliation on that basis alone. He wants to tie Conservative Prime Minister Theresa Mays hands when she comes to negotiate an exit deal with the European bloc. May announced last week a snap poll, flying in the face of previous promises not to call an early election. Conservatives June 8 favorites With Labor ranks in disarray over the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, a hard-left figure who has seen several rebellions against him by moderate Labor lawmakers, the Conservatives are odds-on favorites to win the June 8 election and to increase substantially their 17-seat majority in the House of Commons. Some pollsters predict Labor could see their lowest tally since 1935 when the party secured just 154 seats in a 600-plus seat legislature, after an internecine war broke out in the party during the Great Depression. May's strategy Meanwhile, with an eye to the success on Sunday in the first round of the French presidential elections of non-traditional contenders centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, the Conservative May appears to be trying to shape a manifesto that will appeal to nationalists on the right of the political spectrum while not neglecting the middle ground of British politics. Her policy chief, George Freeman, has spoken of an insurgency against unaccountable elites, sweeping across Western democracies. He has argued disdain for the establishment was behind last years Brexit vote and the election in the U.S. of Donald Trump. The partys manifesto is likely to see the Conservatives, traditionally pro-business, re-define what they think the relationship should be between big business and the state, and to present May as an anti-establishment candidate. According to Rachel Sylvester, a columnist in The Times, the re-definition will build on Mays past calls for companies to show a greater sense of social duty and to act in the national interest. Blair vs. Tories Blairs call Monday in Britains Guardian newspaper, and Mays moves to redefine how Conservatives view business, are reflections of the breakdown in traditional party politics sweeping Britain and the country's European neighbors. Blair argues the Conservatives are presenting the upcoming election as about strengthening the prime ministers hand in the Brexit negotiation with the Europeans. He says they are trying to suggest a vote for the Conservatives is the same thing as a vote in the national interest. We have to expose the fact that the mandate the Tories are asking for is not for an open negotiation in the interests of the country but for a Brexit at any cost driven by the ideology of the right of the Tory party, he argued. Blairs intervention has outraged hard-left Labor lawmakers, who compared it to the break with Labor by Ramsay MacDonald, a founding member of the party who formed a national government with the Conservatives in the 1930s. Mark Seddon, a Labor stalwart labeled it one of the biggest acts of political treachery in recent memory, arguing, the former Labor prime minister was potentially condemning members of his own party to defeat at the General Election. Pro-Brexit politicians targeted Blair is not alone in arguing Brexit should be the defining issue for voters in June. The pressure group Open Britain, whose half-million members cross party lines, has drawn up a hit-list of 20 prominent Brexit-supporting lawmakers who represent constituencies that voted to remain in the European Union in last Junes referendum. Most of the lawmakers are Conservatives, but the list includes some Labor MPs. With the ultimate aim of limiting the number of proponents of a so-called hard Brexit in parliament, the group, along with two other pro-EU grassroots organizations, has also drawn up a list of 20 Labor, Liberal Democrat and Conservative lawmakers who have been strong advocates of a close relationship with the European economic bloc and says it will do its best to get them re-elected. For the first 20 years of Markus Rindt's life, he knew just how far he could travel no further west than the wall that split Germany in two. I grew up with walls around me it was a weird situation, to see that the world seems to end at this wall, remembers Rindt. You feel that it cannot be that the world ends here. He's spent the nearly 30 years since then-President Ronald Reagan called on then-Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to Tear down this wall between West and East Germany making music, traveling and making the occasional political statement the best way he knows: in concert. Now Rindt wants to take that movement to a new frontier the barriers between the United States and Mexico where he hopes to pull off an ambitious, border-long project in early June with the Dresden-based contemporary orchestra he leads the Dresdner Sinfoniker just days before the June 12 anniversary of Reagan's speech. Our plan, he says, is a very big plan. Rhetoric prompts series of concerts Rindt added the open-air border show to a schedule of two planned concerts June 3 by the group in Mexico City and Puebla, inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric in favor of building more walls along the border. This project is the most ambitious project so far. I have no idea if it [will work] in the end, Rindt told VOA in a phone interview from Dresden, where he returned six years after fleeing to West Germany via Prague in 1989. I feel the project is necessary in our time. It is not only against this planned Trump wall, but against isolation[ist] tendencies around the world as well, says Rindt. That includes Europe, where last year, Britain voted to withdraw from the European Union, and France, where a nationalist candidate is in the running for president. #teardownthiswall There are, of course, logistics to a cross-border concert; Rindt feels confident in Mexico's approval for the group to perform with 15-20 musicians and a children's choir from Tijuana on a stage along the southern side of the wall/fence. He is less sure that U.S. officials will approve of a few musicians and a children's choir joining them through the fence in San Diego's Friendship Park where relatives on both sides of the border are allowed to meet. WATCH: Report from Friendship Park in San Diego Rindt has never been to the U.S.-Mexico border. He's invited U.S. and Mexican musicians to join the Dresdner Sinfoniker in June, and has raised more than half the funds to get his musicians there. It's not the first cross-border concert; those have been happening for years; Rindt knows that. There is even an artist who used the wall itself to make music. But Rindt hopes the event will take on a life of its own; he wants musicians and artists to perform along the border, from Texas to California, and use a hashtag inspired by Reagan's speech to link all of their performances: #teardownthiswall. 'There must be other ways' He's not ignorant or ignoring transnational issues, he says. Trump has said the wall is necessary for national security. Im aware of some problems drugs of course some people will answer me what about drugs and criminals. There must be other ways to solve such problem. Data shows that smugglers do indeed work around border barriers. Trump recently told the Associated Press that: People want the border, but an April survey from Quinnipiac University shows increasing opposition to building more of a border wall among Americans, up from 55 percent against its construction just after President Donald Trump's election in November, to 64 percent now. To Trump: I would say there is no best country in the world, no best religion, no best skin color I don't like this America-first thought, says Rindt. Europe is unified It is so great this feeling now, to be so so free, the world is much bigger than before for us. We are so far away from conflicts with each other. If you compare this with 60 years ago we have to keep this freedom and peace. A Haitian politician and former coup leader has pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to conspiring to launder drug money. Guy Philippe took a plea deal Monday, admitting to a Miami court that he accepted more than $1.5 million from drug smugglers while he was a high ranking police official in Haiti. The deal will likely allow Philippe to avoid a potential sentence of life in prison for cocaine smuggling. Prosecutors are recommending that Philippe receive a nine-year prison term at his sentencing in July. Philippe, 49, is accused of using his position in the Haitian National Police from 1999 to 2003 to accept bribes from drug traffickers in exchange for protecting their narcotics shipments headed to the United States. The U.S. Justice Department said Philippe gave some of the bribe money to other Haitian police and security personnel to ensure their cooperation. Philippe used his cut of the money, in part, to buy a house in Florida. Philippe also faces a $1.5 million fine at his July sentencing. The defendant led a 2004 Haitian uprising that ousted then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was forced to flee the country. Philippe was elected to the Haitian parliament in November, but before he could be sworn into office he was arrested in early January in Haiti and quickly extradited to the United States. U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga rejected Philippe's claim that he is immune from prosecution because he is an elected Haitian official. The judge noted that Philippe had not yet been officially sworn in to office. Philippe was indicted in the United States in 2005 and had avoided capture for more than a decade, including at least 10 escapes from Haitian police. The defendant has been held at a federal detention center in Miami since he was extradited to the United States. Nine former U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations have signed a letter to members of Congress urging them not to slash U.S. contributions to the U.N. budget. The U.N. remains an indispensable instrument for advancing the global stability and prosperity on which U.S. interests and priorities depend, the ambassadors wrote. We therefore urge you to support U.S. leadership at the U.N., including through continued payment of our assessed and voluntary financial contributions to the organization. The ambassadors are from both Republican and Democratic administrations, spanning five presidents. U.S. is U.N.'s largest donor The United States is the U.N.'s largest donor, contributing about $611 million this year to the regular budget of more than $2.5 billion. Washington also contributes more than $2 billion annually to support U.N. peacekeeping missions and hundreds of millions more to vital programs including the U.N. Children's Fund and the World Food Program. The Trump administration announced earlier this month that it would no longer fund the U.N. Population Fund, which provides lifesaving care to millions of women and girls around the world. None of us believe the U.N. is perfect, but we all believe it remains an essential tool in America's foreign policy and national security tool box, said Madeleine Albright, who served as President Bill Clinton's U.N. ambassador and later as the first female secretary of state. Whether we are dealing with North Korea, Iran, Iraq or Mali, the U.N. plays a vital and unique role in galvanizing the global community and increasing pressure on rogue actors and meeting humanitarian needs on the ground, she told reporters during a conference call about the letter. Leadership role at risk She warned that if the U.S. retreats on its financial contributions, other powers such as Russia and China will move to fill the gap, potentially taking the U.S. leadership role with them. It is important strategically for us to know that the U.N. plays a huge role in dealing with problems in a way that keeps us from having to deal with them, former U.N. Ambassador Thomas Pickering told reporters. Pickering served as U.N. envoy under Republican President George H.W. Bush. He pointed to peacekeeping operations, saying that while the U.S. shoulders more than a quarter of the annual budget, the country is in return spared putting its own troops on the ground in places where it is in the U.S. interest to see stability. Trump seeks 28 percent cut in funding Last month, President Donald Trump announced he is seeking a 28 percent budget cut for diplomacy and foreign aid, which includes an unspecified reduction in U.N. funding. Trump had lunch at the White House on Monday with U.N. Security Council ambassadors. He said big reforms are needed at the world body, complaining that costs have absolutely gone out of control. But he hinted that if the U.N. performs better, he would not be as tough on the U.S. contribution. One day after French voters put her in a presidential runoff with centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron, nationalist, anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen has announced that she is temporarily stepping down as the leader of her party so she can run as a candidate for "all the French." In a move aimed at broadening her appeal, Le Pen said on French public television, "Tonight, I am no longer the president of the National Front. I am the presidential candidate,'' adding that she wants to be "above partisan considerations.'' Disrupting establishment In what analysts describe as a political earthquake in France, Le Pen received 21.5% of the French presidential vote, while Macron garnered 23.8% of the vote. A winner needs an absolute majority, so a second round will be held on May 7. It is the first time in the history of the modern French Republic that the presidency will be held by a member of a non-traditional party, highlighting a deep anti-establishment sentiment that ultimately could determine whether France remains a part of the EU or follows an independent path like that of post-Brexit Britain and the United States under Donald Trump. "In one year, we have entirely changed French politics," Macron said at a victory rally Sunday night. Macron, a 39-year-old center-left former economy minister who is pro-EU and pro-business, led pre-election polls despite his previous association with unpopular Socialist President Francois Hollande. The appeal of his year-old En Marche! movement lies mainly in Frances prosperous urban areas, where globalism has benefited many. His challenge is to galvanize support of centrists and the left, including members of Frances fractured Socialist party, and convince voters he does not represent a continuation of Hollandes policies.He received congratulations from EU officials. Le Pen, who wants France out of the European Union, has succeeded in winning over large numbers of former leftists and centrists. News that Le Pen advanced to the second round sent left-wing protesters into Paris streets, where they clashed with police. Eventful campaign Among the top contenders in the 11 candidate field was former Prime Minister Francois Fillon, a center-right social conservative whose bid was damaged by allegations of creating fake jobs for close relatives.Conceding defeat on Sunday, he endorsed Macron. Some 50,000 police officers backed by 7,000 soldiers, including special forces, were deployed to the streets following a terrorist attack days earlier that was claimed by the Islamic State terrorist group. The shooting along the iconic Champs-Elysees in the heart of Paris left one police officer dead and several other people injured. Observers thought the attack would benefit Le Pen. In a tweet one day after the Champs Elysees shooting, U.S. President Trump said, The people of France will not take much more of this.Will have a big effect on presidential election! Analysts and voters interviewed saw this as the most unpredictable election since World War II.One third of voters were undecided just days before the balloting. In the last few weeks before the vote, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon surged in the polls and so did discussion of the previously obscure candidate in social media. Among the ways his campaign lured young voters was through the release of a video game in which a player pretending to be Melenchon is shown in a battle against the rich and powerful. Anger at the establishment is the sentiment driving voters in an election in which security, Frances lagging economy, its 10 percent unemployment rate, and Islamist extremism are issues on the minds of those on the left and on the right. That, say analysts, is what influenced large numbers of people, including some of the middle and upper class residents of Paris, to vote for candidates of the extreme. Some of them for the thrill of it.Its the principle, you know.Like playing Russian roulette, but politically.Some others it would be because they despise the elite of this country, said Thomas Guenole, a political analyst in Paris, told VOA. WATCH: Macron, Le Pen Head to Final Round of French Presidential Race Socialist President Francois Hollande announced he would not to run for reelection after his approval ratings sank to 4%, something analysts widely attribute to a string of terrorist attacks in France and a stagnation of economic growth during his tenure.Hollande is the first incumbent president not to seek reelection in the history of the modern French republic. Hollande on Monday urged people to back Macron and reject Le Pen, whose place in the run-off he said represents a "risk" for France. Google has sprinkled some new ingredients into its search engine in an effort to prevent bogus information and offensive suggestions from souring its results. The changes have been in the works for four months, but Google hadn't publicly discussed most of them until now. The announcement in a blog post Tuesday reflects Google's confidence in a new screening system designed to reduce the chances that its influential search engine will highlight untrue stories about people and events, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "fake news." "It's not a problem that is going to go all the way to zero, but we now think we can stay a step ahead of things," said Ben Gomes, Google's vice president of engineering for search. Correcting autocomplete Besides taking steps to block fake news from appearing in its search results, Google also has reprogrammed a popular feature that automatically tries to predict what a person is looking for as a search request as being typed. The tool, called "autocomplete," has been overhauled to omit derogatory suggestions, such as "are women evil," or recommendations that promote violence. Google also adding a feedback option that will enable users to complain about objectionable autocomplete suggestions so a human can review the wording. Facebook, where fake news stories and other hoaxes have widely circulated on its social network, also has been trying to stem the tide of misleading information by working with The Associated Press and other news organizations to review suspect stories and set the record straight when warranted. Facebook also has provided its nearly 2 billion users ways to identify posts believed to contain false information, something that Google is now allowing users of its search engine to do for some of the news snippets featured in its results. Why Google cares Google began attacking fake news in late December after several embarrassing examples of misleading information appeared near the top of its search engine. Among other things, Google's search engine pointed to a website that incorrectly reported then President-elect Donald Trump had won the popular vote in the U.S. election , that President Barack Obama was planning a coup and that the Holocaust never occurred during World War II. Only about 0.25 percent of Google's search results were being polluted with falsehoods, Gomes said. But that was still enough to threaten the integrity of a search engine that processes billions of search requests per day largely because it is widely regarded as the internet's most authoritative source of information. "They have a lot riding on this, reputation wise," said Lucy Dalglish, who has been tracking the flow of false information as dean of the University of Maryland's journalism department. "If your whole business model is based turning up the best search results, but those results turn up stuff that is total crap, where does that get you?" To address the problem, Google began revising the closely guarded algorithms that generate its search with the help of 10,000 people who rate the quality and reliability of the recommendations during tests. Google also rewrote its 140-page book of rating guidelines that help the quality-control evaluators make their assessments. Google as referee Fighting fake news can be tricky because in some cases what is viewed as being blatantly misleading by one person might be interpreted as being mostly true by another. If Google, Facebook or other companies trying to block false information err in their judgment calls, they risk being accused of censorship or playing favorites. But doing nothing to combat fake news would probably have caused even bigger headaches. If too much misleading information appears in Google's search results, the damage could go beyond harm to its reputation for reliability. It could also spook risk-averse advertisers, who don't want their brands tied to content that can't be trusted, said Larry Chiagouris, a marketing professor at Pace University in New York. "Fake news is careening out of control in some people's eyes, so advertisers are getting very skittish about it," Chiagouris said. "Anything Google can do to show it is trying to put a lid on it and prevent it from getting out of hand, it will be seen as a good thing." Although it also sells ads on its other services and independently owned websites, Google still makes most of its money from the marketing links posted alongside its search results. Google says its new approach isn't meant to placate advertisers. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley has admonished the warring parties in South Sudan, saying they have done nothing to end the suffering of their people and are only exacerbating it. Haley spoke of the on-going violence, worsening food insecurity, massive displacements, and the dangers to humanitarian workers in the young but failing country. It is clear that the warring parties do not have the political will to end this conflict on their own, and so it falls on us to consider our next steps carefully and without any illusions, she told fellow Security Council members. U.S. urges council to act In March, the council issued a strong statement calling on the government of President Salva Kiir and the opposition of Riek Machar to immediately adhere to a permanent cease-fire; provide safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers across the country; and to stop obstructing the U.N. peacekeeping mission. As we meet here today, none of these steps have been taken, Haley said. Not one. I call on this council to move forward with the tools available to it, such as with further sanctions, an arms embargo, or the violence and the atrocities will continue, the American envoy said. We must not wait for more deaths, more displacement and more destruction before we have the courage to act. But it was not clear that the council would move ahead on a long-threatened arms embargo or further sanctions. A vote for both failed in December, with only seven votes in support of the measure and eight council members abstaining. Russia opposes action On Tuesday, veto-wielding council member Russia reiterated it remains opposed to such action. Our position regarding a ramping up of Security Council sanctions against South Sudan has not changed, acting U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev told the council. Sound peace in South Sudan will not be brought about by a Security Council arms embargo, but by targeted measures to disarm civilians and demobilize and reintegrate combatants, he said. The Chinese envoy also sounded a reticent tone, saying any council action must be cautious and conducive to promoting the political process and mediation efforts. Worsening situation But as the council ponders what to do to force the warring parties to lay down their weapons, the situation continues to grow more dire by the day. Violence has intensified in the past month, adding to the nearly two million people already displaced inside the country, while tens of thousands more flee South Sudan for its neighbors. More than 5.8 million people require humanitarian assistance and famine has been declared in two counties affecting 100,000 people, while a million more remain on the brink of it. Aid workers try to reach them despite obstacles and great danger. In the past month, there have been three attacks on aid workers, killing 10 people. Nine years after his death at age 28, audiences are seeing a different side of Australian actor Heath Ledger through the lens of his own camera. Documentary "I Am Heath Ledger" uses thousands of hours of self video shot by Ledger, as well as his art work and music videos, to paint a portrait of the young actor who took Hollywood by storm in roles like "Brokeback Mountain" and "The Dark Knight." The film also seeks to counteract the lingering perception that Ledger was severely depressed when he accidentally overdosed on painkillers, anxiety and insomnia medication. "He was super happy and he was loving life. He struggled with some demons, but he wasn't one to go anywhere but forward," Ledger's Hollywood agent Steve Alexander says in the film, which was launched at the Tribeca Film Festival this week. Rather than dwell on his January 2008 death in New York, the film uses Ledger's video archives and interviews with his family and closest friends to "celebrate Heath's life and to tell the story of this multi-faceted artist," director and producer Derik Murray told Reuters Television. It portrays Ledger as a force of nature who longed for adventure, was generous with his friends, and whose passions ranged from chess to making music videos. His non-stop energy also meant he rarely slept a full night. While Ledger's friends including Naomi Watts and director Ang Lee were interviewed for the film, Michelle Williams' - Ledger's former fiance and mother of his daughter Matilda - chose not to take part, said her spokeswoman. Murray said Williams' support was integral to the film "but she really didn't feel she wanted to be in front of the camera." Ledger was found dead a few months after the couple split up and shortly after filming his role as the manic Joker in "The Dark Knight," for which he won a posthumous Oscar. "There was a lot of conversation and chatter around the fact that his passing was a byproduct of his role as the Joker and that he spiraled down this path and couldn't pull himself out of it," said Murray. But Murray said everyone the filmmakers spoke to said this was untrue. "He had the best time making it... The Joker was a role. He was enthralled by it. He was proud of it." "I Am Heath Ledger" will get a one-night showing in 300 U.S. movie theaters on May 3 and premiere on Spike TV on May 17. The International Criminal Court on Monday unsealed an arrest warrant for Libya's former security chief, accusing him of carrying out war crimes and crimes against humanity in an effort to quash opposition to the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The warrant, first issued in 2013, charges Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled with three charges of war crimes and four crimes against humanity. The warrant against Al-Tuhamy says that between February and August 2011, the military, intelligence and security agencies carried out attacks on the civilian population in furtherance of a policy designed by the Libyan state to quash the political opposition to the Gadhafi regime by any means. That included lethal force and by arresting, detaining, torturing and abusing perceived political opponents. Prisoners across Libya were subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including severe beatings, electrocution, acts of sexual violence and rape, solitary confinement as well as mock executions. As head of the security agency, Al-Tuhamy had the authority to implement Gadhafi's orders, the warrant said. Remarks by President Donald Trump's daughter drew groans and hisses as she defended her father's position toward women Tuesday in Berlin, saying the media's criticism of the president's past attitudes toward women has "been perpetuated." Trump said her experiences and those of other long-time women employees of Trump's business empire "are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man." WATCH: Ivanka defends her father's stance on women Scattered groans and hisses could be heard as Trump described her father as "a tremendous champion of supporting families." Trump's remarks were made during a panel discussion at the G-20 women's summit on how to support women entrepreneurs. Participants included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde. Trump, on her first international trip as a member of her father's U.S. presidential team, acknowledged that she is still learning how to positively affect the lives of women worldwide. "I am really striving to think about how best to ... empower women in the economy both domestically and across the globe." WATCH: Ivanka on empowering women Citing the United States as an example, Trump said the business climate for women entrepreneurs is "incredibly exciting," given that only 30 percent of private businesses are owned by women, despite representing half of the population. "There's a lot of wood to chop and we're not right there; we're not there yet," she said. She has been a vocal supporter of policies benefiting working women. But she has been criticized, particularly by liberals who think she has done little to moderate the president's conservative agenda and who question the impact of his policies on families. Other attendees at the two-day summit of the world's leading economic powers include Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and the Netherlands' Queen Maxima. Trump was invited to the summit by Merkel. The invitation prompted speculation among some commentators that it was a way to open a channel to President Trump after an awkward White House meeting last month. Trump also visited Berlin's memorial to the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis. She converted to Judaism before marrying Jared Kusher in 2009. Trump is an informal White House advisor to her father, a highly unusual role for the daughter of a U.S. president. She is an increasingly influential player in the West Wing of the White House, where her husband, a top presidential advisor, also has an office. In an attempt to allay ethics concerns about her position, Trump said in late March she would serve in an unpaid informal advisory role. Kenya is in the midst of a 90-day independent audit of the countrys voter list ahead of August elections. Experts say the review could see tens of thousands of names removed. Mohammed Yusuf has the story from Nairobi. Earlier this year during a mass voter registration exercise, the electoral body expected to register six million Kenyans in one month. Political parties set a target of 10 million. They all missed the mark. The drive saw 3.7 million people registered. Samwel Ogola says people routinely overestimate the population in a given area. He should know. He is in charge of population statistics with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Its human if your expectation is not met, if you are feeling you are ten but you are told you are only eight, you may feel thats not it, and thats human nature," said Ogola. "But again we must learn to rely on facts, and figures dont lie. Between March 2013 and March 2017, Kenyas voter list grew by 5.3 million people. The list now stands at 19.6 million. Thats just under half of the total population of around 45 million. Opposition groups and some political observers have raised doubts, given the large proportion of Kenyas population that is under the age of 18. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission assigned international auditing firm KPMG to the job of checking the list. With allegations of fraud already circulating since last year, a voter register, accepted as correct by all political parties, is seen as key to ensuring peaceful nationwide elections in August. KPMG says it is using data from multiple sources, including recently issued identification cards and passports. In a recent press conference, Gerald Kasimu of KPMG said they would leave nothing to chance during the process. We will verify every single name in the register against third-party data and it's important to emphasize the need for comparison against the register of national births and deaths for the purposes of ensuring any perceptions or misconceptions around the potential for underage voters being in the register or the potential of deceased voters being in the register is addressed," said Kasimu. But some government records may be incomplete or out of date, says Peter Nyakwara of the National Council for Population and Development. The last census was done in 2009. The problem we are having in Africa and Kenya included, we have not invested in vital statistics, registration of deaths and births which should be continuous on a daily basis, so that we can have, at any minute you are able to know how many people have died today, how many have survived so that every month, every year we are able to know this is where the population is moving to," said Nyakwara. KPMG is expected to hand over the updated voter register, as well as its findings and recommendations, to the electoral commission and the National Assembly next month. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser appears to have violated federal law by not properly disclosing payments he received from foreign governments for public engagements, the heads of the House Oversight Committee told reporters Tuesday. The rare show of bipartisan consensus on Capitol Hill came after the White House denied the committee's request for documents relating to retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn's contact with foreign nationals. "As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey or anybody else and it appears as if he did take that money," said House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican. The White House responded Tuesday by saying it didn't know whether Flynn had broken the law in the course of making contact with and receiving payments from foreign governments. Press secretary Sean Spicer downplayed claims that the White House had denied the request, saying the committee had received all the documents it needed from other agencies. "Right now, to ask the White House to produce documents that were not in the possession of the White House is ridiculous," Spicer told reporters. After an hourlong classified briefing, Chaffetz said he had seen no evidence Flynn complied with the law. Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the committee's ranking Democrat, said Flynn's contacts were "a major problem." He added that the matter would now most likely fall under the purview of the House Intelligence Committee. "Somebody else will determine whether or not he's guilty," he told reporters after the news conference. The lawmakers said Flynn would have needed permission to deliver a paid speech at a gala sponsored by the Russian-funded television station RT in 2015, where he sat at the same table with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Flynn received $45,000 for that appearance and more than $500,000 for lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government. Cummings and Chaffetz said it appeared Flynn did not seek or receive the required permission and could be prosecuted for failing to do so. "The statute's real clear. You have to seek and get permission," Chaffetz told reporters after the briefing. "It's a pretty high bar. But it appears as if he didn't even try to do that and jump over that bar." Cummings told reporters, "I do believe we are in a struggle for the soul of our democracy, and that concerns me." Information request rejected According to the lawmakers, the committee asked the White House for information about any efforts Flynn made to obtain permission for those payments, the former adviser's applications for security clearances and documentation of funds he may have received from foreign sources. The White House referred the committee to the Department of Defense for information about Flynn's security clearances. Marc Short, Trump's director of legislative affairs, said the White House did not hold material predating Flynn's service as national security adviser. Asked whether Flynn had violated federal law, Spicer told reporters Tuesday, "That would be a question for him. I don't know what he filled out," referring to Flynn's responses to questions on federal security documents. Flynn was forced to leave the White House after lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russian Ambassador to U.S. Sergey Kislyak during the period before Trump officially took office. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the newest Flynn allegations were "extremely troubling" and called for an investigation into the matter. Yates, Clapper to testify at hearing Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper would testify at a May 8 hearing on Russia's meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election. Yates and Clapper are also expected to testify at a public House intelligence panel hearing sometime after May 2, the date FBI Director James Comey is scheduled to appear before the committee in a closed session. Last month, Comey acknowledged that his agency was investigating whether members of Trump's campaign had colluded with Russia to try to influence the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Moscow intervened to try to influence the election in Trump's favor. Yates, who was dismissed by President Donald Trump in January after refusing to defend his travel ban, was scheduled to testify before the House panel weeks ago about phone calls between Flynn and Kislyak. That hearing, however, was postponed by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, a California Republican. Nunes recused himself from the investigation two weeks after telling reporters that classified reports showed Trump associates had been caught up in U.S. government surveillance of foreign officials during the presidential transition. Nunes then hurried to the White House to brief Trump on the findings, prompting Democratic criticism that Nunes had become too close to the president to oversee an independent investigation. Malawi President Peter Mutharika has signed a constitutional amendment raising the legal marriage age to 18. The amendment marks the final step in a years-long process in Malawi to outlaw child marriage. But rights campaigners say it is just a start, and the country must now enforce the ban. Parliament approved the change to the constitution in February. Prior to the amendment, the constitution allowed minors aged 15 and older to marry with parental consent. The amendment comes into effect two years after parliament passed a revised family code that raised the marriage age to 18. "That amendment is showing exactly the aspiration of Malawians that we are saying 'No' in totality to child marriage and the loopholes that were remaining of giving consents to parents are no longer there," said Jessie Kabwila, chairperson of women's caucus in parliament. Malawi has one of the world's highest rates of child marriage. According to the government survey released last year, 47 percent of women and girls are married before age 18. The survey said the child marriages have contributed to an increase in deaths of mothers and babies at birth. Hilda Banda was married at the age of 15. "When I was about to deliver my first baby," she said, "I faced unbearable pains which I believe was because I was too young to give birth. The doctors had no option but to take me for a cesarean operation." Now a mother of five, Banda says the new law gives her hope for her three daughters. "I will only allow them to marry after 20 years of age," she said, "because this is time they will be mature enough to face the challenges of married life." But child rights advocates say enforcing the law will be difficult unless the government also addresses the poverty that drives families to marry off their young daughters. Some families cannot afford school fees for girls, or simply have too many mouths to feed. Dowries can also be a factor. In northern Malawi, prospective husbands can pay a cow or more to a bride's family. But rights advocates say it is important that Malawians' acceptance of the practice changes, according to Malick Mnela, the president of Media Advocacy for the Advancement of Child Rights. "We expect to highlight those who are in conflict with the new law," Mnela said, "to ensure that there is some sense of fear instilled in those that will continue to maintain the bad practice in terms of child marriages and getting involved sexually with children under the age of 18." The amended law states any person who enters into a marriage ceremony knowing the marriage is invalid or illegal commits an offense punishable by a fine of $143 and five years' imprisonment. Maoist rebels killed at least 25 Indian paramilitary soldiers and injured six others in their stronghold in central India on Monday in one of the worst attacks on the country's security forces in recent years, police said. The rebels fired from hilltops at a group of paramilitary soldiers who were guarding workers building roads in a forested area of Sukma district of Chhattisgarh state, police officer Jitendra Shukla said. The government has been trying to improve roads in the dense jungles of Chhattisgarh to make it easier for security forces to pursue the rebels. The injured were taken by helicopter to a hospital. Other details were not immediately available. CNNNews18 television quoted a paramilitary soldier as saying that hundreds of rebels attacked members of the Central Reserve Police Force and there was an exchange of gunfire between the two sides. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that the attack was "cowardly & deplorable. We are monitoring the situation closely.'' The insurgents, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting for more than three decades in central and eastern India, staging hit-and-run attacks to press their demand for a greater share of wealth and more jobs for the poor. Last month, the rebels killed 11 paramilitary soldiers in an ambush in the region. In 2010, 76 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers were killed in the Dantewada region in the state in a similar attack by the rebels. The government says the rebels are India's biggest internal security threat. According to the Home Ministry, they operate in 20 of India's 29 states and have thousands of fighters. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in a recent statement in Parliament that the Maoists are frustrated because of the success of recent security operations against them. He said that in 2016, 135 rebels were killed, 700 were arrested and another 1,198 surrendered to government forces, according to the New Delhi Television news channel. Dating app Tinder is hit or miss for humans, but wildlife conservationists hope it might lead to love for the worlds last male northern white rhino. The move is seen as a last-ditch effort to keep the species alive. "I don't mean to be too forward, but the fate of the species literally depends on me," the rhino's profile says. "I perform well under pressure." Sudan is 43 years old, weighs nearly 2,270 kilograms and lives in Kenya. And while he has two female companions, they are unable to mate due to age and other limitations. The campaign to find love for Sudan, called Most Eligible Bachelor by the Kenyan Ol Pejeta Conservancy, which came up with the idea. While its unclear if any potential mates can swipe right on Sudans profile, the group hopes the move will raise $9 million for research into breeding methods such as in vitro fertilization. "We partnered with Ol Pejeta conservancy to give the most eligible bachelor in the world a chance to meet his match," said Matt David, the head of communications and marketing at Tinder in an interview with the Associated Press. "We are optimistic given Sudan's profile (it) will be seen on Tinder in 190 countries and over 40 languages." Sudan and his two female friends -- 17-year-old Najin and 27-year-old Fatu -- live at the conservancy protected by 24-hour security. "The plight that currently faces the northern white rhinos is a signal to the impact that humankind is having on many thousands of other species across the planet," Richard Vigne, the conservancy's chief executive officer, told AP. "Ultimately, the aim will be to reintroduce a viable population of northern white rhino back into the wild, which is where their true value will be realized." The United States and Britain banned passengers last month on several Middle Eastern airlines from carrying laptop and tablet computers onto the plane. Officials cited airline safety concerns as the reason, and pointed specifically to a February 2016 attack on a flight of the Somali airline Daallo, in which a passenger set off a bomb concealed in a laptop, killing himself. Now, the Somali government said it has taken specific steps to address security at Mogadishu's international airport and has no plans to follow the U.S. and British example and ban electronics from outgoing flights. Brigadier General Abdi Ashkir Jama, the general manager of Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport, tells VOA Somali that his staff has developed a rigorous security system. "Whoever is traveling or entering the airport goes through searches, three scans, sniffer dogs; laptops must be turned on," he said. "For international flights like Turkish Airlines, it has its own security gate where further security checks are made after going through all the above procedures." Jama and his staff also oversaw changes to the procedures of airport security staff and scanners, and they took steps to improve their skills, according to Jama. He expressed confidence that outgoing flights will be safe. "Unless they come with up with new technical advances about explosives that we don't know of, they cannot smuggle explosives into the planes," he said. "They" in this case refers to members of the militant group al-Shabab, which claimed responsibility for the attack on Daallo flight 159. The explosion occurred shortly after takeoff from the Mogadishu airport, punching a hole in the plane's fuselage next to the fuel tank. Eighty of the 81 people on board the flight survived. Officials immediately identified the only missing person from the plane, Abdullahi Abdisalam Borleh, as the person carrying the laptop that contained the bomb. Borleh was sucked through the hole created by the blast. An investigation into the bombing found that the plotters, led by suspected mastermind Abdullahi Arays Hashi, smuggled the laptop into the airport twice before the explosion. Officials say that on Feb. 1, 2016, airport security official Abdiweli Maow sneaked it through a gate reserved for employees. He then handed it over to the would-be bomber, Borleh, but Borleh's flight that day was canceled. Maow and Borleh made a second attempt on the following day. This time, the laptop went through security scans, but nothing was detected. Colonel Hassan Ali Nur Shute is chief prosecutor of the military court that prosecuted the suspects. He blames lack of skills by airport security staffers and the fact that the technique used by al-Shabab was new to them. "They fitted the explosives in the laptop with sophistication," he said. "It was difficult for the staff to detect; they have not seen that kind of technique used before." Shute says he knows that travelers often need in-flight access to their electronics, and passengers now can have confidence in security procedures. "If you are a businessman, you need to work during the flight," he said. "I travel and I need to have my laptop to work, it will be uncomfortable if it's taken away from me." Online passport suspension Another measure taken by the Somali government after the attack was to shut down online passport services. The flight 159 bomber, Borleh, applied for his passport online. A staffer at the Immigration and National Directorate helped process the passport on his behalf. "At this moment under my supervision, that service is shut down," said Directorate official Colonel Mohamed Aden Kofi. "We have also stopped issuing passports to anyone who does not appear in person." Kofi says applicants deemed suspicious are sent to the security agencies for investigation and are required to bring a letter from their traditional clan elder or chief of their neighborhood stating that they have no links with al-Shabab. He said authorities also have new document-scanning equipment to protect against forgery. Somalia introduced a new passport with a computer chip more than 10 years ago. So far, about 2.7 million passports have been issued, equal to a quarter of Somalia's population. Business factor Somali security officials say business interests were likely a factor in the Daallo Airlines attack. Two top security officials who investigated the incident told VOA Somali that individuals in the airline industry "probably pitched the idea to al-Shabab to target Turkish Airlines." The laptop bomb exploded on a Daallo Airlines flight, but the original target was Turkish Airlines, officials confirmed. The bomber was supposed to connect to Turkish Airlines after flying to Djibouti, but the second flight was canceled. His ticket was bought by a travel office based in Luanda, Angola, where Hashi had business connections. Al-Shabab has its own reasons for attacking Turkish interests. The group's emir, Abu Ubaydah, has said the airline is being used to expand Western influence in the Muslim world. Turkey also gives the Somali government financial and diplomatic support. One of the lingering concerns for the Somali government is that the chief planner, Hashi, remains at large. He was sentenced to life in prison in absentia for the bombing. His conspirator, Abdiweli Maow, received the same sentence and was jailed after waiving a chance to appeal his conviction. Somali officials say Hashi, who has run a clothing business and travel agency in Mogadishu, has helped to finance al-Shabab's operations for a long time. Officials believe Hashi was al-Shabab's main facilitator in Mogadishu, though not the one who made the bomb. "We believe the bomb was made by al-Shabab's explosives wing led by a senior level individual," a security official with the National Intelligence and Security Agency said. "They are highly sophisticated." The paved alleys are still lined by the skeletons of homes once filled with families. Shop shelves are empty, and the water well in the center of town remains clogged by fallen debris. Children carefully side-step piles of broken brick on their way to school. This is life today in the tiny Nepalese farming town of Sankhu, once famed for its lively Hindu temple festivals and rich produce markets just outside the capital of Kathmandu. Nearly everything was lost on April 25, 2015, when a terrifying earthquake shook the Himalayan nation, killing more than 9,000 people and toppling nearly a million homes nationwide. Little progress has been made in the two years since, raising questions about the government's commitment to the recovery effort as well as the fate of billions of dollars in foreign aid. In Sankhu, where the quake claimed 98 lives and toppled 800 homes, most of the remaining residents have struggled to restore what they once had. Many say they have yet to receive any help from the government despite pledges of aid money and help with bank loans. Ruins and no hope Our town was once one of the best known towns in the country, said 70-year-old Komal Nath Shrestha. Now all we have is ruins and no hope. Shrestha spent four hours after the quake buried in the rubble of his ruined four-story home before family members pulled him out. Now, he is among hundreds in Sankhu living in tin sheds and tarpaulin tents that have popped up in fields and along roadsides as meager protection from winter cold and summer rains. The violence and devastation wrought by the earthquake dominated newspaper headlines worldwide and triggered an outpouring of foreign concern. Aid pledges totaling $4.2 billion poured in - about half what the government estimates it will cost to rebuild homes and infrastructure. The government is still collecting that foreign aid, with agreements signed already for $3.1 billion. But to date, it has spent only $330,000. That's allowed Nepal to rebuild just 3.5 percent of 626,694 homes so far counted as having been destroyed in the quake. And even that count is incomplete, including only homes in the 14 worst-hit districts. There are still another 17 districts to survey. Refugees in our home town Meanwhile, the vast majority of Nepalese left homeless by the quake are preparing to spend a third rainy season hunkered down in temporary shelters, often flooded and exposed to the elements, relying on handouts of one-time sales for cash to get by. We are refugees in our home town, said Ram Shahi, who was Sankhu's butcher until the quake put him out of business. We have bugs and even snakes crawling inside the tin sheds when it rains. We cannot cook because the floor is flooded and clothes get all soaked. The government has been criticized for moving slowly in dispersing funds that would allow people to rebuild on their own. It has said those who need to rebuild would be offered a first aid installment of 50,000 rupees, or $485, followed by second $1,455 payment and a third worth $970. If families needed more, it said they would be offered low-interest loans for up to $24,270. But only first installments have been given so far to 87 percent of families that have qualified for aid. That money was peanuts For the rice farming families of Shree Krishna Singh and his brother, that $485 payment falls far short of the $72,800 it's cost them to rebuild their shattered home. That money was peanuts, not even enough to dig and lay the foundation, Singh said. Still, they consider themselves among the lucky in that they could sell their rice field to build a new, white concrete home. Now, though, they're out of work. Others have been far less fortunate. The tin roofs are leaking, retired teacher Satya Narayan said of the makeshift shelter he's occupied since the quake. We get water all over the ground. It gets cold at night, and like an oven in the day. But Narayan hasn't even qualified for earthquake assistance, because like many in Nepal, where records are haphazard, he doesn't have the documents to prove he owns his land. A report by the rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Nepal of failing to help some of the most marginalized among its quake victims, with tens of thousands locked out of the reconstruction program because they can't prove land ownership. Grant is not enough Officials with the National Reconstruction Authority acknowledge their efforts are falling short. The grant is not enough, but it is meant to help people get started rebuilding their homes, said Govind Raj Pokharel, who heads the National Reconstruction Authority. He said the government hopes people will follow earthquake safety standards in their construction, but admits the aid won't cover most of the costs. He said the government was trying to persuade the central bank to work on the loans, but so far terms have yet to be finalized. A bigger challenge, Pokharel said, is that the agency does not have control over the aid money, but has to rely on government ministries to send out needed funds. The result is bureaucratic delay. Bank orders from the National Reconstruction Authority often go ignored, according to Mona Sherpa of the Swiss nonprofit agency Helvetas. Their work helping victims with reconstruction has been frustrating, she admitted. We wanted to start work, but then as we got into this process we realized that the process itself is really lengthy, she said, blaming bureaucracy and a lack of coordination between construction agencies and authorities for chronic delays. North Korea marked the 85th anniversary of the founding of its military Tuesday with a massive fire drill in the eastern port city of Wonsan, according to South Koreas defense ministry. Some observers expected the nuclear-armed country to honor the anniversary with a sixth nuclear test or missile launch, though neither of those had occurred by evening. The celebration came on the same day as a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Michigan, arrived in South Korea, and the navies of those two countries joined Japan in in conducting military exercises in the waters west of the Korean peninsula. The naval exercises are scheduled to last through Wednesday, the same day President Donald Trump has invited all 100 U.S. Senators to the White House for a classified briefing that will primarily concern North Korea. The briefing will be conducted by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Dunford. While lawmakers often receive classified briefings on Capitol Hill, it is rare for them to take place at the White House and for the entire Senate to be involved in one event. Status quo During a White House lunch with ambassadors of United Nations Security Council member states on Monday, the U.S. president called unacceptable the status quo in North Korea. Trump said the Security Council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programs. North Korea is a big world problem, and its a problem we have to finally solve, the president added. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now its time to solve the problem. The comments came after Trump made his latest round of separate telephone calls to the leaders of Japan, China and Germany to discuss concerns about North Korea. A 30-minute call between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meant to increase pressure on Pyongyang not to engage in further provocative actions, but was not prompted by any significant change in the situation, according to officials in Tokyo. "We agreed to strongly demand North Korea, which is repeating its provocation, show restraint," Abe told reporters Monday in Tokyo. "We will maintain close contact with the United States, maintain a high level of vigilance and firmly respond." Abe also said he and Trump agreed that a larger role in dealing with Pyongyang should be played by China. Trump subsequently spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about North Korea. The Chinese president said he hopes all sides avoid doing anything to worsen the tense situation on the Korean peninsula, according to the Xinhua news agency. More nuclear tests North Koreas continued development of ballistic missiles and its underground nuclear tests [there have been five, so far] are to put it mildly, a game changer, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday. And its one of the reasons why youve seen administration officials talking so candidly about our concerns and about the fact that the time for strategic patience and that policy is over. Trump and U.S. officials have repeatedly said all options remain on the table to deal with further North Korean provocations. Anti-government activists in Venezuela blocked thoroughfares in the capital and several other cities Monday, continuing a fourth week of street demonstrations to press leftist President Nicolas Maduro for new national elections. We reiterate again: Only through the vote will we get all Venezuelans to decide what future they want for the country, Julio Borges, president of the opposition-led National Assembly, told demonstrators gathered at Plaza Brion de Chacaito in eastern Caracas. A toppled street light stretched across several lanes of a highway in Caracas' Santa Fe district, with scores of demonstrators sitting or standing nearby. At other intersections, activists some dressed in the yellow, red and blue of Venezuela's flag piled garbage to obstruct traffic. 'This government has fallen!' According to Reuters news service, some passed time by playing cards, occasionally chanting, This government has fallen! Hundreds of police and National Guard troops took up positions at several points in the city, riot gear at the ready. Security forces have used tear gas, and sometimes rubber bullets, in previous skirmishes with protesters. At least two people were killed at protests in other parts of the country Monday, bringing the nationwide death toll to at least 23 since early April, with hundreds more injured. Maria Corina Machado, an opposition leader and former National Assembly lawmaker, implored demonstrators to keep up the pressure. All over the democratic world today, their eyes must be on the jails of our country. Human rights groups have said more than 1,000 people were detained during recent disturbances and over 700 are still in detention. Maduro backs some elections Maduro, in his weekly television address Sunday, endorsed voting later in the year for mayoral and gubernatorial posts. He said nothing about moving up elections for the presidency. His term expires in late 2018. While the president urged his political opponents to join in a political dialogue for peace, he also called upon his followers to support the Bolivarian revolution and the security forces and public order. They are responsible for all the violence, all the dead, all the damage, Maduro said of activists demonstrating against him. In contrast, opposition MP Jose Guerra urged the national armed forces to control groups known as armed groups because they are creating a state of ungovernability in Venezuela. They are going to hold us all responsible for what happened the dead, looting which they themselves promoted, Guerra warned. The opposition blames the government for the unraveling of Venezuela's once-booming economy which has left the country with shortages of food, medicine and other basic goods. More bad economic news On Monday, a United Nations commission forecast the country's economy would contract by another 7.2 percent this year, Agence France-Presse reported. Venezuela's near-daily protests were sparked by the Supreme Court's attempt in late March to wrest legislative powers from the opposition-dominated Congress. The court reversed that decision following domestic and international outcries demanding separation of powers and a return to democracy. But tensions ratcheted up when Venezuela's government then barred opposition leader Henrique Capriles twice a major presidential candidate from running for office for 15 years. The 44-year-old Capriles, currently governor of Miranda state, which surrounds Caracas, is one of the most recognizable leaders behind the protest movement that has been roiling the country for weeks. One of the nation's largest school districts has launched a campaign against Islamophobia, drawing praise and criticism. The San Diego Unified School District's multiyear plan includes a letter addressing Islamophobia to staff and parents of its 132,000 students. It's expected to be drafted and sent before Ramadan begins in late May. The district is also reviewing internal staff calendars to make sure Muslim holidays are recognized. Next school year, it will review materials on Muslim culture for libraries, provide resources to teachers and engage in partnerships with the Council on American Islamic Relations. Over several years, it plans to consider high school clubs that promote American Muslim culture, create "safe spaces" for students and train staff about Muslim culture. The plan drew little attention when the board approved it 4-0 on April 4, with one member absent. Public comments from staff and community members were uniformly positive. "We believe this is a great first step in the direction of protecting Muslim students from the bullying that is a direct result of the growing Islamophobia in our state and nation," Hanif Mohebi, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' San Diego chapter, said after the vote. "Other school districts should follow this lead, and we will be happy to work with them to provide resources and trainings." Pushback gradually spread on the internet and social media, with written attacks on Islam and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. A Sunday article on the far-right website Breitbart News drew hundreds of reader comments. The headline of a story on the Angry Patriot website that had 35,000 Facebook `likes' read, "Islamic Takeover CONFIRMED American School Surrenders to SHARIA LAW." The school district said on its website that the plan addresses "some of the specific challenges faced by the Muslim student community" after the Muslim community expressed concern about student safety last summer. "We strongly believe students cannot learn if they are afraid, and so this initiative to combat Islamophobia is focused on eliminating the fear faced by children," it says. The district said it is not endorsing Islam, favoring a religion or imposing Sharia law. As for `safe spaces,' the district says, "Schools with large Muslim communities may choose to make areas available for prayer, if that is requested by their parents and students. However, this is no more or less than we would do to accommodate Christians who want to pray at school, or members of other faiths. It is not uncommon, for example, for our schools to have a prayer club that meets before the start of school." San Diego is the latest school district to express solidarity with Muslim students. In September, Kansas City Public Schools passed a resolution condemning violence and hate speech and expressing support for students who worship Islam. The Oakland Unified School District in California said in a board resolution in November, "The 2016 presidential election has created an atmosphere of fear among immigrants, Muslims and other vulnerable groups in Oakland." A man filmed himself killing his 11-month-old daughter on Facebook live before committing suicide, Thai police said Tuesday. The social media giant called the incident "appalling." Authorities said the slaying occurred in the seaside town of Phuket, where the father, 21, hung his daughter. People could access the videos of the child's death for roughly 24 hours, until they were taken down about 5 p.m. in Bangkok (1000 GMT) on Tuesday, or about a day after they had been uploaded. This is an appalling incident and our hearts go out to the family of the victim," a Facebook spokesperson said in an email to VOA. "There is absolutely no place for acts of this kind on Facebook and the footage has now been removed. Murders, suicides and sexual assault have plagued Facebook, though they make up only a small percentage of videos. On Tuesday, a Swedish court jailed three men for the rape of a woman that was broadcast live on Facebook. And earlier this month, a man in the U.S. posted video on Facebook of himself killing a 74-year-old man in Cleveland, Ohio. The man accused of posting the video, Steve Stephens, shot himself after a police chase in Pennsylvania. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said afterward that the company would do all it could to "prevent tragedies like this from happening again." Shocking footage The harrowing footage from Thailand showed Wuttisan Wongtalay tying a rope to his daughter Natalie's neck before dropping the child, dressed in a bright pink dress, from the rooftop of a deserted building in Phuket. Wuttisan's suicide was not broadcast, but his lifeless body was found beside his that of his daughter, said Jullaus Suvannin, the police officer in charge of the case. "He was having paranoia about his wife leaving him and not loving him," Jullaus said. Wuttisan's wife, Jiranuch Triratana, said she had lived with him for over a year. At first the relationship had gone well, she said, but then he grew violent and sometimes hit her 5-year-old son from a previous husband. She feared that something was wrong on Tuesday when she found he had left home with Natalie. Somsak Khaosuwan, a spokesman for Thailand's Ministry of Digital Economy, said it contacted Facebook on Tuesday afternoon about removing the videos, after receiving a police request. Khaosuwan said the government would take no action against the company: "We will not be able to press charges against Facebook, because Facebook is the service provider and they acted according to their protocol when we sent our request. They cooperated very well." Some information for this report came from Reuters. One by one, the Mexican men stood in the jury box, shackles rattling as they fidgeted slightly and pleaded guilty to crossing the U.S. border illegally. They had come for better jobs, many to earn more money to help raise their children, their defense lawyer told a federal magistrate in a quiet west Texas courtroom about 3 miles (5 kilometers) north of the Mexican border. The magistrate, Collis White, warned that a guilty plea would mean jail time and they couldn't return to the United States legally for years. Speaking in Spanish, each of the 15 men said they understood. They faced up to six months in jail, but most were sentenced to just a few days. They had the misfortune of landing in America's toughest courthouse for people who cross the border illegally. In other jurisdictions, authorities routinely skip the criminal charges and order quick deportations. But for the last decade, just about everyone arrested near Del Rio gets prosecuted. That tough approach is a model President Donald Trump hopes to replicate as part of his sweeping plans to stop illegal immigration, a cornerstone of his campaign. He wants to prosecute many more people caught crossing the border illegally as a warning to others that such action has serious consequences. Supporters of aggressive prosecutions point to a drop in arrests for illegal border crossings in the Del Rio area as evidence that the tough approach works. Fewer arrests are seen as an indication that fewer people are trying to cross illegally. Cost of cracking down Stepping up prosecutions wouldn't be cheap. Immigration cases already account for more than half of federal prosecutions. Trump is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars more for additional jail cells, prosecutors and marshals to transport prisoners. It's unclear if Congress will give him the money. Civil libertarians object to the prosecutions, saying those arrested are rushed through the legal system without having a chance to exercise their rights. And a previous attempt to expand the Del Rio approach had mixed results. Prosecutions spiked at the end of the Bush administration and during the first years of the Obama administration, but later declined. Limited resources, including jail space and not enough prosecutors, contributed to that drop. Still, Trump administration officials plan to press ahead. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly made the point as they've toured the border in recent weeks, saying that those who enter the U.S. illegally will be prosecuted and deported. The Justice Department this month called on prosecutors to appoint border security coordinators in every judicial district. "This is a new era. This is the Trump era," Sessions said while visiting the border in Nogales, Arizona. In White's Del Rio courtroom, cases of illegal border crossings were handled in under a minute. Only one man was sentenced to more than a few days. "If you can find a legal way to come back, you're more than welcome," White told the men, his words translated by an interpreter. "But it has to be just that." Drop in border crossings The new push for prosecutions comes as the number of people crossing the border illegally has plummeted. Under President Barack Obama, there was a steady decline in arrests. And in March, the second full month of the Trump administration, border agents reported the fewest border crossers in a single month in at least 17 years. Illegal immigration straddles a line in federal courthouses. Being in the United States illegally whether after crossing a border or overstaying a visa is a civil offense. But those caught crossing the border illegally can face criminal charges, though that generally doesn't happen. Those who return illegally after being convicted can face years in prison. The Del Rio prosecution strategy was the result of an earlier push to secure the border. Before it started, agents in the Border Patrol's Del Rio Sector arrested more than 68,000 people in a 12-month period. Now arrests in the area have dropped to an average of about 20,000 a year. The acting chief patrol agent in Del Rio, Matthew Hudak, said the effort has succeeded for several reasons. "Policy matters, enforcement matters, the work of agents matters," Hudak said. It helps that the Border Patrol's sector there only covers one judicial district. In other areas, agents often work across state and judicial district lines, making it more difficult to coordinate prosecution, jail space and transportation. The often-brief court proceedings alarm civil libertarians. Celia Wang, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said border crossers facing prosecution are urged to plead guilty and don't fully know the implications of that. Immigrants convicted of a crime often lose their chance to make claims to stay in the United States, including asylum. "People have no idea what is happening," Wang said. "It's completely lost on [them]," President Donald Trump will mark the end of his first 100 days in office with a flurry of executive orders, a tool he once derided. Trump's frequent use of executive orders points to his struggles getting legislation through a Congress controlled by his own party, and few of the orders themselves appear to deliver the sweeping changes the president promised. White House aides said Trump will have signed 32 executive orders by Friday, the most of any president in his first 100 days since World War II. That's a far cry from Trump's heated campaign rhetoric, in which he railed against his predecessor's use of executive action late in his tenure as President Barack Obama sought to maneuver around a Republican Congress. Trump argued that he, the consummate deal maker, wouldn't need to rely on the tool. "The country wasn't based on executive orders," Trump said at a town hall in South Carolina in February 2016. "Right now, Obama goes around signing executive orders. He can't even get along with the Democrats, and he goes around signing all these executive orders. It's a basic disaster. You can't do it." But after taking office, Trump has learned to love the executive order. Need for speed In an email blast to reporters Tuesday, the White House touted the sheer volume of orders as evidence for the suspect claim that "Trump has accomplished more in his 100 days than any other President since Franklin Roosevelt." The White House has defended the use of executive orders as necessary to accomplish the speedy solutions it says the American people elected Trump to produce. At first, the president's West Wing advisers fashioned an onslaught of executive action to set the tone for this term, with the centerpiece of that first-week blitz being Trump's travel ban. But courts rejected the hastily drawn ban. A second replacement order also remains in judicial limbo. Presidents frequently turn to executive orders when they struggle to advance their agendas through Congresses controlled by the opposition party. In Trump's case, he's struggled even though both houses of Congress are in the hands of Republicans; his health care bill never even came up for a vote in the House of Representatives after it drew sharp criticism from moderate and conservative Republicans alike. And in the Senate, Republicans need to win over some Democratic lawmakers to get the 60 votes needed for passage of a contested bill. But the Senate is generally more inclined to cut bipartisan deals than the House because senators have statewide constituencies. Easiest path "This president has found that legislating is hard work," said Mark Rozell, dean of George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government. "Executive orders are the easiest, simplest way to showcase action by the president to begin to fulfill some of the pledges made in the campaign." A review of Trump's executive orders reveals that a number of them represent necessary first steps at unraveling Obama-era environmental safeguards and financial service regulations. In some cases, there is no other way around those administrative hoops, and some of the orders have brought about major changes. Among them: his late March order that directed federal agencies to rescind any existing regulations that "unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources," a move that rolls back environmental protections. Democrats and environmentalists denounced the move, while Republicans who advocate energy independence cheered it. But many of Trump's executive orders signed with great fanfare have had little immediate impact. For instance, during his campaign, Trump talked tough on trade, vowing to slap punitive tariffs on companies that move production offshore and on countries that undercut U.S. goods. Aides hailed one of the executive orders he signed on the topic as "historic." Yet the order called only for the completion within 90 days of a large-scale report to identify trade abuse and nonreciprocal practices. And while Trump has pledged to overhaul the nation's tax code, the order he signed Friday simply commissions a review of the nation's tax regulations. Orders to come On Tuesday, Trump was expected to sign an order creating an interagency task force that will be charged with identifying measures to spur American agricultural growth. On Thursday, he's expected to sign an order to create whistle-blower protections in the Department of Veterans Affairs while making it easier to discipline or terminate employees who fail to carry out their duties to help veterans. He's also poised to sign an order that directs a review of the locations available for offshore oil and gas exploration. Another will instruct the Interior Department to review national monument designations made over the past two decades. "Unlike his predecessor who abused executive authority to expand the size and scope of the federal government in an end run around Congress, President Trump is using his legal authority to restrain Washington bureaucrats," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Trump is far from the first president to turn to governing by executive orders rather than by legislation. Obama had frequently criticized his predecessor, George W. Bush, for governing unilaterally, but he, too, turned to executive action, particularly after the Republicans seized control of Capitol Hill. Obama signed 276 orders during his eight years in office, fewer than Bush (291) and Bill Clinton (364) did in their two terms, according to data from the University of California-Santa Barbara. Executive orders were used relatively infrequently until Theodore Roosevelt ushered in a new era of executive action at the beginning of the 19th century, signing more than 1,000 while in office and establishing a template for his successors. U.S. President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday to confront anti-Semitism and hatred as he commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. We will stamp out prejudice, we will condemn hatred, we will bear witness and we will act, Trump said. As president of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people and I will always stand with our great friend and partner, the state of Israel. He said, Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil and we'll never be silent. We just won't. We will never, ever, ever be silent in the face of evil again. He called Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler's annihilation of 6 million Jews in World War II history's darkest hour, and condemned those who deny the Holocaust. WATCH: Trump on confronting anti-semitism Denying the Holocaust is only one of many forms of dangerous anti-Semitism that continues all around the world, he said. We've seen anti-Semitism on university campuses, in the public square and in threats against Jewish citizens. Even worse, it's been on display in the most sinister manner when terrorists attack Jewish communities or when aggressors threaten Israel with total and complete destruction. This is my pledge to you we will confront anti-Semitism. That is why we are here today, Trump told the audience, to remember and to bear witness. To make sure that humanity never ever forgets. In his speech, Trump did not identify the aggressors threatening to destroy Israel or the Holocaust deniers whom he called an accomplice to the genocide. But that did not bother David Menashri, an Israeli professor of Middle Eastern history at Tel Aviv University. Im glad that the president did not mention any specific 'address' (in terms of who is being an aggressor toward Israel or accomplice to the Holocaust) and that he left it to people to think about what he had in mind and to whom he was referring, Menashri told VOA's Persian Service in an interview. Menashri said there are many sources of Holocaust denial in the international arena. Holocaust denial is a European phenomenon that also infiltrated the Middle East, with Holocaust denial conferences having been held in Iran and in other places, he said. But if you are looking for a connection to the Middle East (in Trump's speech), one remark that may relate only to Iran is his reference to those who call for total and complete destruction of Israel, there is only one state (that does so), and this is Iran. Trump's pledge to confront anti-Semitism also could take several forms, according to Menashri. There are many ways to confront people without starting a war over these issues, he said. You can sit and speak with people in different places and have them listen to and look at the material and evidence (of the Holocaust), because denying the Holocaust is basically like paving the way for another Holocaust, and this is something that the free world would not be able to tolerate. WATCH: Trump vows to stand behind Jewish people, Israel Trump's speech commemorating the carnage of seven decades ago comes after some American Jewish groups and other critics of the president denounced two White House comments related to the Holocaust in the first three months of his White House tenure. In January, shortly after taking office, he issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day honoring the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust without mentioning the Jews who accounted for the majority of those victims. Earlier this month, White House spokesman Sean Spicer issued an apology after using a press briefing to say someone who was as despicable as Hitler didn't even sink to using chemical weapons. Spicer made the remark as he compared the Nazi leader with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom the Trump administration accused of carrying out a sarin gas attack on Syrian civilians on April 4. Hitler did not use chemical weapons on the battlefield, but he did use gas chambers to exterminate Jews, disabled people and others. Michael Lipin of VOA's Persian Service contributed to this report. President Donald Trump vowed again Tuesday to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico to block illegal immigration, even as he is signaling he is willing to postpone a fight over funding it until later in the year to avert a possible government shutdown this week. "Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking," Trump said in a tweet. On Monday, Trump told a group of conservative journalists at the White House that he can wait till September for a showdown over funding for the wall, which by some estimates could cost more than $20 billion. The dispute over paying for the wall, which Democratic lawmakers oppose, threatened to derail efforts to reach accord with lawmakers on a funding measure to pay for government operations over the next five-plus months. The current spending plan expires at midnight Friday, which, if no new agreement is reached, could shut down the government on Saturday, Trump's symbolically important 100th day in office. Democrats welcomed Trump's shift in backing off a demand to fund the wall in the current budget talks. "It's good for the country that President Trump is taking the wall off the table in these negotiations," said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer. "Now the bipartisan negotiators can continue working on the outstanding issues." Schumer had earlier criticized Trump, saying the president was risking a federal shutdown "by shoving this wall down Congress' and the American people's throats." White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Trump's two priorities in the budget talks are increasing spending on defense as well as border security and the wall in order to thwart illegal immigration. He said the administration is "very confident" a deal will be reached without a government shutdown. Trump vowed during his run for the White House to build a 3,100-kilometer barrier along the U.S. southern border and make Mexico pay for it, which Mexican leaders say will not happen. Since Trump took office three months ago, border crossings have diminished, but Spicer said that the wall still "absolutely" needs to be built. "Just because you have a couple good months, a year, you want to take prudent long-term steps.... It's a promise he made to the American people," the spokesman said. "This is a permanent step that will extend beyond his presidency. Eight years from now (assuming Trump is re-elected in 2020), the next president will have that wall in place to make sure that [illegal immigration] doesn't continue." Trump, in tweet Monday, said the "the Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! If the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be!" President Donald Trump complained on Monday that the United States is shouldering an unfair burden of the cost of the United Nations, but said if the world body reforms how it operates, the investment would be worth it. Trump, who has frequently criticized the cost to the United States of supporting the NATO alliance, took his concerns directly to the ambassadors of the U.N. Security Council, who joined him at the White House for a lunch. "If we do a great job, I care much less about the budget because you're talking about peanuts compared to the important work you're doing," Trump told the 15 council envoys. The United States is the biggest U.N. contributor, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core budget and 28.5 percent of the $7.9 billion peacekeeping budget. These assessed contributions are agreed by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly. Trump said the U.S. share of those budgets was "unfair." He has proposed a 28 percent budget cut for diplomacy and foreign aid, which includes an unspecified reduction in funding for the United Nations and its agencies, as well as enforcement of a 25 percent cap on U.S. funding for peacekeeping operations. "We need the member states to come together to eliminate inefficiency and bloat and make sure that no one nation shoulders a disproportionate share of the burden," he said. Trump's remarks came as the General Assembly prepares to negotiate in the coming months the U.N. regular budget for both 2018 and 2019 and the peacekeeping budget from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met briefly with Trump at the White House on Friday for the first time since both took office earlier this year. The United States currently owes the United Nations $896 million for its core budget, U.N. officials said. The United States is also reviewing 16 U.N. peacekeeping missions as the annual mandates come up for renewal by the Security Council in a bid to cut costs. U.N. agencies such as the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), the children's agency UNICEF, and the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), are funded by governments voluntarily. The State Department said this month it was ending funding for UNFPA, the international body's agency focused on family planning, as well as maternal and child health in more than 150 countries. Guterres warned that the cut could have "devastating effects" on vulnerable women and girls. In 2016, the United States was the top contributor to the UNDP's core budget, with an $83 million donation; the leading donor to UNICEF's core budget in 2015 with $132 million; and the fourth-largest donor to the UNFPA, giving $75 million. The United Nations has raised more than half of the $2.1 billion it needs to provide life-saving assistance for millions of people on the brink of famine in war-torn Yemen at a high-level pledging conference for the Yemen crisis Tuesday. International donors pledged $1.1 billion, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it a remarkable success. We are only in April, Guterres said. This represents a very encouraging signal that, indeed, we will be able to achieve our target by the end of the year. That was only possible thanks to the very clear generosity and solidarity of many member states and also different organizations of civil society that have pledged today," he added. The foreign ministers of Switzerland and Sweden, who co-hosted the daylong event with the U.N., said they also were encouraged by the response. Several humanitarian organizations, however, expressed disappointment at the outcome. In a statement, Oxfam, the British charity said the international community has fallen short in its support for the Yemeni people. 'Life and death' Mutasim Hamdan, Yemen country director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said that the pledges mean the difference between life and death for millions of people. I fail to grasp how the international community can see this crisis unfold without doing its outmost to limit the suffering that Yemenis are facing," Hamdan said. The United Nations calls Yemen the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, noting that this war-torn, impoverished country also is one of the worlds most forgotten crises. Since the U.N. lodged its multibillion-dollar humanitarian appeal in early February, only 15 percent of the money has been received, which Guterres said was far from enough to tackle the immense tragedy that was unfolding in Yemen. He said about 17 million people in Yemen are food insecure and 7 million are facing starvation, making this the worlds largest hunger crisis. Guterres said nearly two-thirds of the population, or almost 19 million people, needed emergency support and that the U.N. was aiming to provide vital aid to 12 million people facing the threat of famine and death. As always, children are at highest risk of death," he said. "On average, a child under the age of 5 dies of preventable causes in Yemen every 10 minutes. And this means 50 children in Yemen will die during todays conference -- and all those deaths could have been prevented, Guterres added. Humanitarian access Besides money, Guterres said it was important to make sure that there is unhindered access for all humanitarian actors to reach all the people in need. Robert Mardini, International Committee of the Red Cross director for the Middle East, agreed that severe restrictions placed on the import of food, fuel and medicine and the movement of such goods and medicines within the country had to be lifted. People are suffering and dying not just from the fighting, but from chronic illnesses and disease. He said if this stranglehold were relaxed it will help greatly in the relief of the peoples suffering. The United Nations estimates that at least 10,000 people have been killed, countless thousands injured, and more than 3 million forced from their homes. It reports more than two years of civil war has devastated Yemens economy, and damaged or destroyed nearly 300 health facilities. Basic services have collapsed, putting millions at risk of disease and other threats. Before the war, Yemen was one of the poorest countries in the world. The U.N. reports conditions have further deteriorated and Yemen now has the highest maternal mortality rates in the region. The U.N. childrens fund reports nearly 2.2 million children are malnourished, including a half-million who are severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death if they do not get specialized treatment. Stephen OBrien, under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, said agencies have reached 5.8 million people across the country this year. O'Brien said the U.N. and its partners could scale-up humanitarian operations and help many more people if donors provide the money needed. We can avert famine and the worst catastrophe, if we have access, he said. At the pledging conference, Yemen Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid Mubarek Bin-Dagher provided a glimpse of the tensions reigning in his country. He accused the Houthi rebels of destroying infrastructure and houses by invading cities such as Sana'a, Taiz and Aden. He thanked the U.N. for holding the pledging event and thanked Saudi Arabia for assistance that has reached various cities. What the prime minister left unsaid was that the war in Yemen escalated significantly after the Saudi-led coalition began bombing the Houthi rebels at the end of March 2013 in support of his government. Significant pledges Saudi Arabia has pledged to give $150 million, which Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, adviser to the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia, said was in addition to $100 million provided since the beginning of 2017. Other significant contributions were made by the European Union, which pledged $110 million and the United States, which announced an additional contribution of $94 million. Thomas Staal, counselor for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the contribution brought the total U.S. humanitarian aid to Yemen to nearly $526 million. While recognizing the importance of responding to this urgent crisis with humanitarian aid, Staal said this was not enough. A political solution must be found to establish the peace that the people of Yemen so richly deserve, he said. U.N. Chief Guterres agreed there was no military solution, only a political one. It is important that the parties to the conflict understand this is a war in which everyone is losing, he said. Accessed from a dusty, unpaved path, a shanty type settlement housing about 70 Rohingya families on the outskirts of New Delhi presents a squalid but quiet picture as children play, women fill water from a tanker and an elderly man patiently sifts through piles of waste material to pick out strips of wood for the household stove. But underneath the calm, tension runs high among the refugees following reports that authorities plan to identify and deport the mostly Muslim minority that fled Myanmar due to alleged persecution. Nurfatimah, now 30, who crossed over into India a decade ago, fears the life she slowly pieced together here might again be about to fall apart. WATCH: Future is unsure Cramped but safe Despite living in a cramped, dirty room with her three children who were born in India, she has no complaints because she feels safe. The fear of venturing out of her home in Myanmar, where Rohingya Muslims have been the victim of sectarian violence, has become a distant memory. India is better for us, she said. In the New Delhi settlement, she and the other refugees live on a small patch of land given by a charity, the Zakat Foundation, and eke out a living working mostly as daily wage laborers. Rohingyas fear deportation But amid growing calls from Hindu groups for their deportation, uncertainty hangs over her and the estimated 40,000 Rohingya Muslims scattered through several Indian cities. Everyone is thinking what to do. I keep thinking why did this happen to me? Why is this in our destiny? she asked in despair. Less security further north Apprehension is even higher among the approximately 6,000 Rohingya refugees who have settled in the northern city of Jammu, where calls to oust them have been the loudest. After several shacks of Rohingya Muslims in Jammu were burned in recent days, a deep sense of insecurity has gripped the refugees. Random acts of violence In a separate incident, a community leader, Karimullah, alleges his little shop where he had kept scrap to sell was set on fire, some of his family members were beaten by unidentified men and his landlord is pressuring them to vacate their small rooms. The incidents have shaken the Rohingya refugees. Wondering why they suddenly became unwanted, Karimullah said, It is the first time in 10 years that I have faced this. After this I am really scared, Police say they are investigating the incidents. Chamber of Commerce Among those calling for their eviction is the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which fears the presence of the Muslim minority poses a security threat in a region that has long grappled with Islamic militancy. The head of the industry body, Rakesh Gupta, said they are pushing for their deportation because of worries that they can be used by militants or anti-national forces to create communal atmosphere The chamber wants peace because the economy depends on peace. Gupta was quoted earlier as warning they will launch an identify and kill movement if the refugees are not deported, but later retracted, saying his remarks were taken out of context. Security analyst Ajay Sahni at the Institute of Conflict Management in New Delhi said there are fears that the Muslim minority may be radicalized by Pakistan-based terror groups. This is our concern, this is our problem. However he added, We have not seen as yet any major or significant attempt by Rohingya Muslims to engage in any kind of terrorist activities in India. Sahni said the refugees are being identified as part of a broad movement against all illegal migrants in the country, but added the move so far has been hugely unsuccessful. A struggle for Rohingyas in India The United Nations Refugee Agency in New Delhi has given identity cards to about 14,000 Rohingya refugees, making it possible for them to send their children to school. But Elsa Sherin Mathews at UNHCR points out that being poor and unskilled, the refugees only find low-skilled jobs and sometimes face exploitation. She also said they often live in poor and unsanitary conditions with limited access to water, toilets and electricity. However, at the camp in New Delhi, the refugees are prepared to cope with squalor and poverty because they enjoy a sense of freedom. But India is better than Bangladesh For some of them, their first stop was Bangladesh, where tens of thousands of Rohingyas have fled. But tough conditions in that country prompted them to cross over into India. I could not roam around outside the camp, they would put us in jail, the camp was overcrowded, so we came here, said 27-year-old Jafar Alam. I want to live in India, he said. People (in Myanmar) are still being persecuted, they are in trouble. Rather than leave us there, it is better to put us in jail, punish us here. The eldest resident of the camp, 60-year-old Amanullah, also questioned where they will go if the government presses ahead with plans to deport them. Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingyas as its citizens, calling them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. However, it has long denied allegations of widespread abuse and mistreatment of the Muslim minority. He said although 70 families are now cramped in a plot that would have accommodated only two families back in his village, they have been content so far because they feel secure. Amanullah, who often spends time ensuring that the refugees live in harmony, said, We can only go back if there is peace. About 5,000 American and Philippine troops will hold humanitarian exercises next month instead of annual war games, scaling back military drills in response to President Rodrigo Duterte's disdain for their longstanding defense alliance. Troops taking part in Balikatan will simulate a response to a devastating super typhoon in the central Philippines, modeled on typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which killed at least 6,300 people and left more than 200,000 families homeless. Balikatan is designed to meet current challenges facing the Philippines, U.S. embassy press officer Molly Koscina said in a statement on Monday. Duterte has made no secret of his grudge against the United States and believes a U.S. military presence of any kind in the Philippines puts his country at risk of being dragged into conflict. He has threatened to abrogate treaties with Washington, but has yet to follow up. Duterte contacts Russia, China The volatile leader has reached out to Russia and China and invited their warships to come to the Philippines for exercises too. He has taken issue with the United States on its approach to the South China Sea and said Manila will never take part in joint patrols, to avoid provoking China. Balikatan, which means shoulder-to-shoulder, has taken place on 32 occasions and every year since 2000, involving conventional warfare activities, as part of a mutual defense treaty between the two countries under a 1951 security pact. Amphibious landing part of last's years drills Nearly 9,000 troops participated in a simulation of retaking an oil-and-gas platform last year, seized by an imaginary enemy, and practiced an amphibious landing on a Philippine beach near an area of the disputed South China Sea. U.S. Marines also used for the first time in the Philippines a long-range truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher. A Philippine army spokesman said the downsizing of the exercises was in response to Duterte's dislike of war games with Washington. We made some adjustments, based on the pronouncements of the president that such exercises should be focused on humanitarian operations, Major Frank Sayson told reporters. Just to make it clear, this is not a war game. Two major military drills called off Sayson said the two sides agreed to scrap two major military drills Amphibious Landing Exercise or Phiblex and Cooperation Afloat and Readiness Training (CARAT) geared toward external and maritime defense. He said the two armies would work on marksmanship and defusing of homemade bombs, as part of counter-terrorism exercises. When it comes to music and visual arts, American teenagers could use some help. The National Center for Education Statistics reported Tuesday that in 2016, American eighth graders scored an average 147 in music and 149 in visual arts on a scale of 300. Some 8,800 eighth graders from public and private schools across the country took part in the test, which was part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation's Report Card. Acting Commissioner Peggy Carr said the test shows students have a lot to learn in art and music and that no progress has been made since the same test was administered in 2008. "When I saw the results, clearly there is room for improvement, because clearly there is a lot of content that students weren't able to interact with correctly," Carr told The Associated Press. When asked to listen to George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," only about half of the students were able to identify that the opening solo is played on a clarinet. Students who scored 182 were able to label all the eight notes in C major, students who got 150 were able to label one note. While most students could point to one or two structural differences between two mother-and-child portraits, they usually struggled to explain the technical approach and meaning in an artist's self-portrait. "The average student does not know a lot of the content that was asked of them on this assessment," said Carr. "It was a difficult assessment, a challenging assessment." On the bright side, the achievement gap has narrowed between white and Hispanic students from a difference of 32 to 23 points in an average score in music and from 26 to 19 points in arts since the previous test. Girls continued to outperform boys. The black-white achievement gap, however, remained unchanged. While white students scored an average of 158, black students got 129 on the music test and the margin of difference was similar on the arts portion of the exam 158 for white students and 128 for black students, "Every student should have access to arts education to develop the creativity and problem-solving skills that lead to higher success both in and out of school," said Ayanna Hudson, director of arts education at the National Endowment for the Arts. "Arts education can be especially valuable for our nations' underserved students, leading to better grades, higher graduation rates and increased college enrollment." U.S. nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Michigan, arrived Tuesday for a port call in South Korea, and the navies of those two countries joined Japan in exercises in the waters west of the Korean peninsula amid heightened tensions with North Korea. The naval exercises are scheduled to last through Wednesday, the same day President Donald Trump has invited all 100 U.S. Senators to the White House for a classified briefing that will primarily concern North Korea. The briefing will be conducted by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Dunford. While lawmakers often receive classified briefings on Capitol Hill, it is rare for them to take place at the White House and for the entire Senate to be involved in one event. During a White House lunch with ambassadors of United Nations Security Council member states on Monday, the U.S. president called unacceptable the status quo in North Korea. Trump said the Security Council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programs. North Korea is a big world problem, and its a problem we have to finally solve, the president added. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now its time to solve the problem. The comments came after Trump made his latest round of separate telephone calls to the leaders of Japan, China and Germany to discuss concerns about North Korea. His most recent call was made just before meeting the ambassadors on Monday morning to German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the urgent security challenge posed by North Korea, according to the White House. A 30-minute call (Sunday evening U.S. time/Monday morning in Asia) between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meant to increase pressure on Pyongyang not to engage in further provocative actions, but was not prompted by any significant change in the situation, according to officials in Tokyo. "We agreed to strongly demand North Korea, which is repeating its provocation, show restraint," Abe told reporters in Tokyo. "We will maintain close contact with the United States, maintain a high level of vigilance and firmly respond." China's role Abe also said he and Trump agreed that a larger role in dealing with Pyongyang should be played by China. Trump subsequently spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about North Korea. The Chinese president said he hopes all sides avoid doing anything to worsen the tense situation on the Korean peninsula, according to the Xinhua news agency. Trump, in the phone call with Xi, criticized North Koreas continued belligerence and emphasized Pyongyangs actions are destabilizing the Korean Peninsula, according to a White House readout issued Monday. The two leaders reaffirmed the urgency of the threat posed by North Koreas missile and nuclear programs, and committed to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. North Koreas continued development of ballistic missiles and its underground nuclear tests [there have been five, so far] are to put it mildly, a game changer, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Monday. And its one of the reasons why youve seen administration officials talking so candidly about our concerns and about the fact that the time for strategic patience and that policy is over. Trump and U.S. officials have repeatedly said all options remain on the table to deal with further North Korean provocations. US Navy strike force On Tuesday, the nuclear powered USS Michigan arrived in South Korea as a U.S. Navy strike force, led by the USS Carl Vinson, heads to the region. The strike force on Monday was wrapping up a routine joint drill to provide combined maritime response with components of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force in the Philippines Sea as it continued its northern transit, U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters at the Pentagon. Officials in Seoul announced earlier Monday the Vinson is also scheduled to hold a joint training exercise with South Korean naval ships. The approach of the American naval carrier strike group has not gone unnoticed in Pyongyang. Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike, read a Sunday commentary in the Rodong Sinmun, the Workers Party newspaper. Such threats are common from the reclusive state. North Korea on Tuesday celebrates the anniversary of the founding of its military, a key holiday in the country. There are concerns Pyongyang, in conjunction with the anniversary, will demonstrate a show of force by possibly firing more ballistic missiles or conducting its sixth nuclear test. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser appears to have violated federal law by not properly disclosing payments he received from foreign governments for public engagements, the heads of the House Oversight Committee told reporters Tuesday. The rare show of bipartisan consensus on Capitol Hill came after the White House denied the committee's request for documents relating to retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn's contact with foreign nationals. "As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey or anybody else and it appears as if he did take that money," said House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican. After an hourlong classified briefing, Chaffetz said he had seen no evidence Flynn complied with the law. Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the committee's ranking Democrat, said Flynn's contacts were "a major problem." He added that the matter would now most likely fall under the purview of the House Intelligence Committee. "Somebody else will determine whether or not he's guilty," he told reporters after the news conference. The lawmakers said Flynn would have needed permission to deliver a paid speech at a gala sponsored by the Russian-funded television station RT in 2015, where he sat at the same table with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Flynn received $45,000 for that appearance and more than $500,000 for lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government. Cummings and Chaffetz said it appeared Flynn did not seek or receive the required permission and could be prosecuted for failing to do so. "The statute's real clear. You have to seek and get permission," Chaffetz told reporters after the briefing. "It's a pretty high bar. But it appears as if he didn't even try to do that and jump over that bar." Cummings told reporters, "I do believe we are in a struggle for the soul of our democracy, and that concerns me." Information request rejected According to the lawmakers, the committee asked the White House for information about any efforts Flynn made to obtain permission for those payments, the former adviser's applications for security clearances and documentation of funds he may have received from foreign sources. The White House referred the committee to the Department of Defense for information about Flynn's security clearances. Marc Short, Trump's director of legislative affairs, said the White House did not hold material predating Flynn's service as national security adviser. Asked whether Flynn had violated federal law, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday, "That would be a question for him. I don't know what he filled out," referring to Flynn's responses to questions on federal security documents. Flynn was forced to leave the White House after lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russian Ambassador to U.S. Sergey Kislyak during the period before Trump officially took office. Yates, Clapper to testify at hearing Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper would testify at a May 8 hearing on Russia's meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election. Yates and Clapper are also expected to testify at a public House intelligence panel hearing sometime after May 2, the date FBI Director James Comey is scheduled to appear before the committee in a closed session. Last month, Comey acknowledged that his agency was investigating whether members of Trump's campaign had colluded with Russia to try to influence the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Moscow intervened to try to influence the election in Trump's favor. Yates, who was dismissed by President Donald Trump in January after refusing to defend his travel ban, was scheduled to testify before the House panel weeks ago about phone calls between Flynn and Kislyak. That hearing, however, was postponed by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, a California Republican. Nunes recused himself from the investigation two weeks after telling reporters that classified reports showed Trump associates had been caught up in U.S. government surveillance of foreign officials during the presidential transition. Nunes then hurried to the White House to brief Trump on the findings, prompting Democratic criticism that Nunes had become too close to the president to oversee an independent investigation. Human rights activist, Jestina Mukoko, says she decided to write a book about her harrowing experience in the hands of Zimbabwean state security agents in order to expose the traumatic encounter. Mukoko, who was abducted and tortured by members of the countrys feared spy network, the Central Intelligence Organization, for exposing human rights violations in the 2008 general elections, feels relieved after writing the book. The human rights activist says at times she was emotional when she wrote the book, The Abduction and Trial of Jestina Mukoko: The Fight for Human Rights in Zimbabwe. I needed to do that because that was a traumatic experience and I just needed to offload all that bad vibe that went with that experience and I thought by putting all that in a book it would actually leave my story for the future. No one will tell my story on my behalf. I have told my own story. Mukoko, who was expected to leave the USA after visiting various universities, held several public meetings with college students. I had come to speak to students in four colleges. I went to Beloit and University of Wisconsin in the Mid-West. That was my first time to be in the Mid-West. I also went to Colby in Maine. I stayed at Colby as an Oak fellow in 2010. Thats where I got an opportunity for respite after my ordeal in 2008. I was back at Colby because the seed to write the book was actually sworn at Colby and I had gone back to say that seed had germinated and I wanted to share that joy with them. Mukoko was abducted in December 2008, and incarcerated until March 2009 when she was finally released on bail. In 2010, she received the U.S. Secretary of State Woman of Courage Award. After a very agitated electoral campaign, the French chose Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen for the second round of the Presidential election. Already, almost all the losing candidates, with the exception of Jean-Luc Melenchon and thats no accident have appealed to their followers to support Macron, who should then be easily elected. The two major historical parties which have governed France since the beginning of the Fifth Republique - Les Republicains (ex-Gaullists) and the Parti Socialist (ex-Jauresians) - have been beaten. A newcomer, En Marche !, has made it to first place on the podium, facing the Front National. Is there fascist candidate? This is not the first time that this sort of cleavage has occurred in the history of France on one hand, a partisan of an alliance with what seems for the moment to be the worlds greatest power (the United States), and on the other, a movement seeking national independence on one hand, the totality of the ruling class, without notable exceptions, and on the other, a party cobbled together of various bits and pieces, composed mostly of proletarians, two thirds of whom come from the right wing and one third from the left. Evidently, the next French President will be Mr. Macron a man from the Banque Rothschild & Cie, now supported by the totality of the business leaders of the CAC40. However, whether our prejudices like it or not, the unanimity of the power of money is the fundamental characteristic of fascist parties. This unanimity of Grand Capital is always accompanied by a National unity which erases the differences. In order to become equal, we must become identical. This is what President Hollande began with the law Marriage for all , in 2012-13. Presented as establishing equality between citizens, whatever their sexual orientation, it posited de facto that the needs of couples with children are the same as those of gay couples. And yet there were several other more intelligent solutions. The opposition to this law led to a number of very important demonstrations, but they unfortunately failed to provide any other proposition, and were sometimes mixed with homophobic slogans. Identically, the attack against Charlie-Hebdo was celebrated to the chant of I am Charlie ! , and those citizens who declared that they were not Charlie were prosecuted. It is a shame that the French people do not react either against the unanimity of Grand Capital, nor against the injunctions to use the same judicial techniques and to favour the same slogans. On the contrary, they insist on considering the current Front National as fascist , with no other argument than its ancient past. Can a fascist candidate be resisted? In the majority, the French think that Emmanuel Macron will be a President a la Sarkozy and a la Hollande, men who will pursue their political beliefs. They therefore expect to see their country increasingly decline. They accept this curse, thinking that in this way, they will evacuate the menace of the extreme right. Many of them remember that at its creation, the Front National gathered together the losers of the Second World War and the losers of the social politics of the colonisation of Algeria. They focused on the figures of a few men who had collaborated with the Nazi occupier, without seeing that the Front National of today has absolutely nothing in common with those people. They persist in holding Second-Lieutenant Jean-Marie Le Pen (Marines father) responsible for the Algerian tragedy, and exonerating from their responsibilities the Socialist leaders of the time, particularly their dreadful Minister of the Interior, Francois Mitterrand. No-one remembers that in 1940, it was a Fascist minister, General Charles De Gaulle, who refused the shameful armistice with Nazi Germany. This man, the official heir apparent of Marechal Philippe Petain (who was his daughters godfather), charged into the Resistance alone. Struggling against his education and his prejudices, he slowly gathered around himself, against the wishes of his ex-mentor, French people from all horizons to defend the Republic. He linked up with a left-wing personality, Jean Moulin, who, a few years earlier, had secretly embezzled money from the Minister of the Marine, and trafficked weapons with which to support the Spanish Republicans against the fascists. No-one remembers that a colleague of De Gaulle, Robert Schuman, wrote his signature on the armisitice of shame, then, a few years later, founded the European Economic Community (currently the European Union) a supra-national organisation based on the Nazi model of the New European Order , against the Soviet Union and today against Russia. The Obama-Clinton model Emmanuel Macron has recieved the strong support of ex-US President Barack Obama, and has gathered a team for foreign policy composed of the main neo-conservative diplomats. He makes no secret of supporting the external politics of the US Democratic Party. Barack Obama, although he presented his foreign policy with a rhetoric which was diametrically opposed to that of his predecessor, the Republican George W. Bush, in practice followed his lead in all points. The two men successively continued the same plan for the destruction of the societies of the Greater Middle East a plan which has already caused more than 3 million deaths. Emmanuel Macron supports this policy, although we do not yet know whether he intends to justify it by speaking of democratisation or spontaneous revolution . If Hillary Clinton was beaten during the US election, Emmanuel Macron had to be elected in France. Nothing proves that Marine Le Pen will be capable of playing the role of Charles De Gaulle, but three things are certain : Just as in 1940, the British, choking back their disgust, welcomed De Gaulle to London, today Russia could support Le Pen. Just as in 1939, only a few Communists braved the orders of their party and joined the Resistance, there will only be a few of Jean-Luc Melenchons partisans who will take that step. But as from the Nazi attack on the URSS, it was the whole Communist party who supported De Gaulle and formed the majority of the Resistance. There is no doubt that in the years to come, Melenchon will fight side by side with Le Pen. Emmanuel Macron will never understand people who resist the domination of their homeland. So he will not understand any better the people of the Greater Middle East who struggle for real independence alonside Hezbollah, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the newspapers and on the TV news, there is barely any coverage on the meeting between Trump and Gentiloni. Yet this was an event that was anything but formal. For Gentiloni, the challenge was to dispel the doubts on the attitude of his government to the new US President. Such doubts were the legacy of the Renzi government (in which Gentiloni was the Minister of Foreign Affairs). For the Renzi government had not sought to disguise that it was supporting Obama and Clinton against Trump in the [US] presidential elections. Gentiloni had done a fantastic job, confirming the historic anchorage of Italy to the United States, the cornerstone of our foreign policy, regardless of who is in office at the White House. President Trump gives credit to Italy, recalling that more than 30,000 American soldiers and their families are based across your country and that after the United States, Italy is the second largest contributor of troops in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Italian contribution is actually far greater than what Trump acknowledges. This is evidenced by the increasing number of arms sent from U.S.A/Nato bases in Italy, to the Middle East, officially for the war against terrorism. Such consignments can be traced if you follow the journey of specific ships: for example, the cargo vessel Excellent (flying the Maltese flag, but manned by an Italian crew), hired from the Ministry of Defense, left on 19 April from Piombino having uploaded an enormous quantity of armoured Lynx and weapons. It then made a stopover two days later at Augusta. This is a strategic point for resupplying fuel and provisions. It then made its way across the Suez Canal to the port of Gedda in Saudi Arabia. Here on 9 April, the US ship Liberty Passion had already docked. This ship was coming from Livorno, launching a regular monthly service for the transport of weapons from the US base of Camp Darby to the Middle East for the wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. During the press conference with Trump, Gentiloni said that Italy is no longer involved in military operations in Syria except with regard to peripheral matters. That Italys role is anything but marginal is demonstrated by the missile attack ordered by President Trump against the Syrian base of Shayrat: the military operation was carried out by two ships of the Sixth Fleet based at Gaeta, under the Command of the US Naval Forces, headquartered at Naples, Capodichino. It has been supported by the US bases at Sigonella and Niscemi in Sicily, flanked by the one in Augusta. Furthermore, Trump thanked Gentiloni for Italian leadership in stabilizing Libya where, he specified, the US has no intention of intervening given that it has its fingers in too many pies. In other words, Trump confirmed that it is for Italy, in the US-led Alliance, to put boots on Libyan sands, shifting on account of the 2011 Nato War. Gentiloni is said to be proud of the contribution that we Italians are making to the security of the Alliance, in so many areas of the world. This includes the Baltic region where, in an anti-Russian stratagem, Italy is sending military troops. Yet at the same time, he considers dialogue even with Russia useful, without renouncing our strength and our values. Gentiloni is said to be also proud of Italys financial contribution to the Alliances security, guaranteeing that despite certain budgetary constraints, Italy will respect the commitment that it has assumed. This commitment Trump insisted of bringing to his attention: to lift military expenditure to 2% of the GDP. This amounts to raising military expenditure from 63 million euro per day, the figure given by Pinotti (plus additional military expenditure that is not included in the Defence budget) to 100 million Euro per day. We Italians always honour the commitments we have undertaken. So Gentiloni proclaimed, with a hint of national pride, to Trump. Young Shakespeare Company Gibraltar Cultural Services, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, has once again come together with the Parasol Foundation and the John Mackintosh Hall Educational Trust to bring a leading UK organisation, the Young Shakespeare Company, to Gibraltar, as part of its cultural development and educational programme. The Company will be in Gibraltar from Monday 22nd to Friday 26th May 2017. They will provide a platform for young people in our community to become better acquainted with William Shakespeares masterpieces. The Young Shakespeare Company will be providing throughout the week, a programme of workshops and performances of Hamlet to over two thousand five hundred middle and secondary school students. In addition, there will be workshops on Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th May 2017 for students who are particularly interested in Shakespeare. Students, in school Years 4 to 10, can register to take part by contacting GCS Events Department via email on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Furthermore, GCS is delighted to announce that on his occasion they have also managed to secure a public performance on Thursday 25th May at 6pm at the John Mackintosh Hall Theatre. Entrance will be free of charge. However, members of the public will require a ticket that must be pre-collected from John Mackintosh Hall reception from Monday 8th to Wednesday 24th May 2017, between 9am and 4.30pm. GCS would like to thank the Parasol Foundation and the John Mackintosh Trust for the partnership in this project as well as the Department of Education and schools head teachers, for their support and collaboration. GCS hopes that by providing these opportunities it will enrich young people and bring about a better understanding of drama. GCS also seeks to support their objective to get more people in our community involved in the dramatic arts. Further information can be obtained from Gibraltar Cultural Services on telephone 20067236 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Kelly Osbourne, badass bitch. Photo: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for The Trevor Project In her new memoir, There Is No F*cking Secret, Letters From a Badass Bitch, Kelly Osbourne addresses a series of issues ranging from her drug addiction to women who leave pee on the toilet seat (a chapter aptly titled Dear Seat Sprinklers). Though much of her life has been documented on The Osbournes and Fashion Police, the memoir is filled with plenty of anecdotes, confessions, and bits of advice that have never made it into the public eye. Here are a few of our favorites. Joan Rivers used to set toilet seats on fire. Osbourne devotes an entire letter to the late, great Joan Rivers, who passed away in 2014 during a routine medical procedure. She describes all of the hijinks of a 25-year friendship that, Osbourne says, began during a satellite interview featuring a 6-year-old Kelly who proceeded to stick [her] tongue out, yawn, and scratch [her] vagina. But its her description of Rivers germaphobic habits thatll crack you up. Apparently, Rivers would pour bottles of vodka over airplane toilet seats before she sat on them. Or, when on the ground, shed place a paper cover on the seat before setting it on fire to burn off all the germs. How you werent setting off fire alarms all over Hollywood, who knew, Osbourne writes. But one time, on the Fashion Police set, a plastic toilet did go up in flames and shriveled up into a misshapen plastic mass. But did E! throw away the ruined seat? Nope they just moved it to the mens room. Amy Winehouse was a great friend. Kelly mentions Winehouse often throughout her memoir, recalling how she was the leader of their friend group (which also included the likes of Kate Moss, Nick Grimshaw, and Alexa Chung). If Amy said to do something, people would do it, Osbourne writes. And shed easily convince someone to let us have a lock in after closing hours, or step behind the bar to start serving drinks herself. Winehouse was also a guru of sorts when it came to matters of the heart. Once, when they were roommates, she helped Osbourne get over a Mickey Mouseunderwear-wearing, married (and, unfortunately, unnamed) asshole of a star who shed seen on and off for years. Robin Williams helped save Sharon Osbournes life. When things were looking dark and she was refusing a second round of chemotherapy for her cancer, Robin Williams paid Sharon a visit, laid with her in bed, and made her laugh. I tear up when I think about this, Kelly writes. Because Robin Williams helped save Mums life and I dont think there are words in the world to describe how much what he did meant to my family. He was a beautiful, generous man. Ozzy Osbourne once cut a thong off of his daughter. The first time she wore a thong, Kelly shares, was by accident. Her mother bought her cute day-of-the-week underwear, but apparently didnt realize they werent regular panties. One day, her whale-tail showed above her jeans, causing a thong-phobia inducing scene as her dad freaked out. No daughter of mine is going to wear a throng! he screamed. Yes, he called it a throng, Osbourne writes. And then he proceeded to cut said throng off me with a pair of scissors. It took years for her to wear a thong again, conceding only after she saw photos of bad panty lines on the red carpet. At age 19, she saw her father flatline. Osbourne was on live television in 2003 when she was called offstage and told that her father had been in a ATV accident. The two were alone on a trip to England, leaving her as the only one who could authorize his treatment. While she watched blood fill his lungs and saw him flatline in front of her, she recalls that Ozzy didnt stop being, well, Ozzy. They had resuscitated him, and he was yelling, Dont fuck up my tattoos! Ill fucking kill you if you fuck up my tattoos! she writes. That gave me a little bit of hope. Weeks later, she says, she knew hed be all right when she saw a bedpan fly out of his room and heard him yell, I can wipe my own fucking ass, thank you very much! Fuck off! Chris Soules following his arrest. The Bachelors Chris Soules has been arrested following a fatal car crash in his home state of Iowa, TMZ reports. According to the online gossip outlet, the incident happened Monday night, and Soules is currently in custody. Here is what we know so far, per TMZ: Bachelor Chris Soules is in custody after allegedly slamming into a tractor trailer, killing the driver and then fleeing the scene TMZ has learned. The incident happened in Iowa Monday at 8:20 PM. According to docs, Chris was driving a Chevy pickup and rear ended a John Deere tractor trailer, sending it into a ditch. The driver was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died. Soules has reportedly been booked on the charge of leaving the scene with a death. The Iowa farmer appeared on The Bachelor in 2015, and he later competed on Dancing With the Stars. We have reached out to Soules for comment and will update if we hear back. Update, 12:20 p.m.: TMZ now has a photo of Soules sitting in court for his arraignment. The outlet also reports some new information about the incident: Police say Soules had alcoholic beverage containers at the time of the crash, and that he was arrested after witnesses near the scene found him and called the cops. Update, 12:50 p.m.: Soules has a history of alcohol-related driving convictions, KWWL reports. In 2006, he was convicted of operating a vehicle under the influence, resulting in a $500 fine and one year of probation. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to driving with an open container. Update, 3:10 p.m.: A representative for Soules released the following statement about the incident and the victim to several outlets: Chris Soules was involved in an accident Monday evening (April 24) in a rural part of Iowa near his home. He was devastated to learn that Kenneth Mosher, the other person in the accident, passed away. His thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Moshers family. CBS2 reports that Mosher was a 66-year-old farmer from Aurora, Iowa. According to TMZ, Soules has been released from jail on a $10,000 bond and is due back in court May 2. Bates Motel The Cord Season 5 Episode 10 Editors Rating 5 stars * * * * * Previous Next Previous Episode Next Episode Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates. Photo: Cate Cameron/A&E Networks LLC Series finales often feel desperate to please, rushing to a finish line in a way that leaves audiences dissatisfied. As they have so many times in the last two seasons of Bates Motel, which were easily the series best, the writers of this underrated program took their time in their final episode. They produced an hour that was more melancholy than action-packed, reminding us that this is a tragedy more than anything else. We saw how much Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) has changed over the course of the show, and were reminded just how much has been lost. Think of the carnage left behind: Caleb, Chick, Romero, and both Norman and Norma Bates are dead. Ultimately, it is Dylan and Emma who escape, free to start their own family away from the nightmare of White Pine Bay. It starts with a reminder of collateral damage. The office manager that Alex (Nestor Carbonell) kidnapped along with Norman Bates is crying. Shes understandably worried that an obviously unstable Alex is going to kill her, but he has enough remaining humanity to let her go before his final showdown with the stepson who killed the only woman he ever loved. As Greene (Brooke Smith) gets every cop in the county after Alex and Norman, the pair get closer to their inevitable end game, set in the woods with the body of Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga). After battering Norman around a bit and pointing a gun at his head, they reach the spot in the woods where Norman left his mother. Alex is crushed to see his wifes mummified body in the snow. Norman tries to apologize, and Alex just starts pummeling him. He lets up long enough to let Norman get the jump on him, smashing his stepfather with a rock. And then Norman grabs Alexs gun and shoots him twice. Alexs last words are crucial: You killed your own mother. You cant hide from it. In many ways, thats what this season has been about: a young man unable to hide from his horrible crime. Before the scene ends, Norman sees a vision of Norma, and shes saying good-bye. Perhaps with Alex dead, she knows theres no more need to protect him. Or she knows that her son is now too far gone to save. What happens to a Norman Bates who no longer has Alex Romero coming after him and no longer has his mother speaking to him in his subconscious? He totally breaks from reality. He is still lying in the snow, having a mix of dreams and flashbacks to happier times when he first moved to White Pine Bay with Norma Bates. We see visions of the day that Norma said they were moving to Oregon, but hes really bloody and battered in the snow. As he takes his mothers body home, he remembers the days when they first got to the motel, when a safe and happy future seemed possible for them. Its remarkably tragic, reminding us that Norman and Norma were fleeing a violent home and hoping to start a new life. The only person left who can save or stop Norman Bates is his brother, Dylan (Max Thieriot), whom we see getting a gun from an old buddy. Their thematically relevant conversation reveals just how much times have changed. What was once a criminal enterprise is now a business specializing in artisanal weed. Bates Motel has had an undercurrent for five seasons about how Norman and Norma werent really of the present day. They listened to old music and dressed more in the style of the era of the Hitchcock film. The world is passing them by and they can no longer survive in it. One small question: Wouldnt Greene have staked out the Bates home, presuming Alex and/or Norman would come there eventually? Probably, but lets allow the creative license that essentially allows Norman to go back to work. He checks in a mother with her sons, including a boy named Dylan. Its a melancholy reminder of what once was for the Bates family, as well as a tension builder because there are innocent people back in the sphere of a very dangerous man. Its both a bit scary and darkly humorous when the mother says, I mean, its safe here, right? After checking in his only clients, Norman calls his brother. He wants to get the family back together over dinner. The series has to end with the two brothers. Norman denies even knowing Alex Romero, and we see him set the table to Que Sera Sera, a wonderful choice not just for the oddly upbeat tone of the song but because its a Hitchcock reference, as it premiered in The Man Who Knew Too Much. Perhaps knowing his life could be in danger, Dylan calls Emma (Olivia Cooke) when he gets to the house. His wife encourages him to call Greene, but Dylan knows that would likely mean the death of his brother. Its an emotional scene, in which Emma reminds Dylan to think of his new family as much as his old one. Dylan clears out the family who had just checked in, warning them about Normans mental issues, and he takes the stairs for a final time. Norman hugs Dylan as You Belong to Me plays in the background another perfect choice in terms of era and lyrical relevance about the connection between Norman and Norma. (They must have been planning the song choices in this episode for years.) Dylan comes around the corner to see Normas body at the table. He pukes. Norman is trying to pretend like nothing is unusual. Dylan is heartbreaking. What I really want is something that can never happen, he says. I want you to be happy. I want you to be well. And then we get the key line for the entire series as Norman says, If you believe hard enough, you can make it that way. Of course, thats not true, but its the blind hope that has driven Norman and Norma since episode one. And then Norman and his brother reach the end of their road. Norman pauses and seems to realize the truth of his situation. He grabs a big knife and sees Dylans gun. Theres a silent exchange between them in which it feels like Normans intent is clear. He wants Dylan to kill him. He cant kill himself and Dylan is the only one who can really reunite Norman with their mother. Norman charges, and Dylan shoots, his brother collapsing in his arms. We see Norman running through the woods, finding Norma in a clearing. He runs to her like a little boy, safe in his mothers arms again. It is the only place he ever really felt safe and sane. Were pulled back to reality again a man holding his brothers dead body, while the corpse of their mother sits at the dinner table. In the epilogue of Bates Motel, Dream a Little Dream of Me plays over visions of Normans body being taken away, Alexs being found, and Dylan waiting for his family. Emma and their daughter arrive. Theyre happy. Normans name is now on the headstone, next to his mother. He has his version of sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you. Good-bye, Norman. Final Thoughts Bates Motel ended with the most important element of its entire run: family. Im happy they didnt let Greene factor into the climax and even left Romero in the woods this was about Norman, Norma, and Dylan, the centerpieces of the show from the very beginning. Few shows are better in their second half than their first, but theres no question that seasons four and five of Bates Motel were superior to two and three. Everyones work, including the writers, directors, and actors, felt elevated as the show confidently moved through its closing chapters. On that note, Ill miss this show way more than I would have thought a few years ago. One hopes all the major players, especially Highmore and Thieriot (who had their best seasons to date), and the always-great Farmiga, find new work as soon as possible. The TV landscape wont be the same without them. Thanks for joining me on this journey. Its been a surprisingly rewarding and fun program to watch, and I hope it has been the same for you. For an on-again-off-again couple struggling with their professional partnership, operating under the fallacy of sunk costs is an awfully capricious gamble. But Kim believes in Jimmy. His face literally comes out of the shadows and into light when we see him through her eyes, though theyre both objectively obscured in silhouette. Tonights closing scene in which Kim encourages Jimmy to battle back against Chucks Machiavellian conspiracy to revoke his law license evokes their secreted smoke breaks at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill, effectively reinforcing their bond. Jimmy wants to take that PPD and shove it right up Chucks ass. Problem is, Chuck desires no less than to turn out Jimmys light like it were one of his desktop lanterns. Farther out on Albuquerques fringes, Mike meets Gus face-to-face under the unambiguous desert sun, fresh off his overnight stakeout. Having been burned one too many times, Mike gets right to the point, uncrumpling Guss cryptic windshield note and deadpanning, You care to elaborate? As is Guss way with a worthy adversary, he obliges directly and respectfully. Their impasse is no impasse at all. Gus needs Hector alive but compromised, while Mike wants to smite the son of a bitch on principle. Naturally, they resolve to send Mike south of the border, where he scores cocaine off a crooked clinician (a bizarro Caldera, if you will), stuffs it in a pair of sneakers that he slings over a wire along Hectors exportation route, and strategically snipes the right shoe from a distance so the powder sifts from above, descending onto the rear grill of a passing Regalo Helado truck. Having already stowed their weapons beneath a tire in the brush miles back, Hectors henchman are promptly busted by U.S. border patrol with no choice but to hoist hands overhead and hope their boss doesnt have them executed in jail. Easy-peasy. As Jimmy readies for his night in county jail on various felony and misdemeanor charges related to the dustup at Chucks house, surviving among the fittest boils down to his old counterpart DDA Oakleys (welcome back, Albuquerques own Peter Diseth!) terse advice, which differs only slightly in spirit from Gus and Mikes M.O.: Pick the biggest guy, punch him as hard as you can. The fortunes of those more ambitious may rise and fall, but in that courthouse, Oakley is a constant. Hes like the desert insects invariably buzzing in Mikes ear as he measures his next move. Those gnats will outlast him, Gus, Victor, and Tyrus (man, Tyrus really did wait a while for that promotion), and Oakley will still be double-fisting vending snacks and bingeing case files long after Jimmy jettisons his ethos for Saul and Saul starts over as Gene and Gene does or doesnt wake up after hitting the floor at Cinnabon. Equal parts of Jimmy admire how Oakleys conformed and resent what his role in the grand scheme suggests about all our insignificance. Hes rather Walter Whiteian in that way, an insight we can glean from Better Call Saul that Breaking Bad had neither room nor need to elucidate. Being gifted an untouched cafeteria burger makes Oakleys week, but Jimmy wont rest until hes redeemed, even if the scales of justice themselves collect his ashes. That same restlessness is at the root of potentially irreconcilable differences between him and Kim. In a nearly wordless rush, director John Shiban and writer Gennifer Hutchison fast-forward us through Kims dedicated morning ritual of rising at 5:30 a.m., putting on a pot of coffee, heading to the North Valley Fit franchise across from her office, then promptly to work, ponytail bobbing and expression pursed. Shes oblivious to the fact that, simultaneously, Jimmy is being booked and broken down. Chuck is a convenient, common foil (no Mylar pun intended) for them, but his meddling is divisive, and at some point Jimmy will slip and do something defenseless, then Kim will move on, investing only in herself. Sunk Costs foreshadows several betrayals familiar to any Breaking Bad fan, and continues to explore the collateral damage borne of grudges, brotherly or otherwise. But it is mostly about alliances. Mike understands the implications of carrying out this job for Gus, and its not as if he has much at stake in his part-time gig manning a parking-garage booth. (When has a show ever centered so much drama in and around parking garages?) Meanwhile, the lines are absolutely drawn between Kim and Jimmy (and one supposes Francesca, who may be spooked out of the job, but at least symbolically aligned their initialed wallpaper first) and their shared nemesis Chuck. Big brothers got the goodwill of an entire legal community, plus the help of tough but fair Belen prosecutor Kyra Hay (Vice Principals Kimberly Hebert Gregory). If only the episodes fateful stop sign was on the other side of the border. Apart From All That LBI Bail Bonds might just become one of Sauls allies. Oh, if only Chuck knew how Jimmy comes out on the other side. Accounting for hair, Jimmys a solid six feet. Hello to Hermans Heads Molly Hagan as Judge Asch. Maybe that will teach Hector to be more open to meth. Nice but bittersweet callback to Viktor and Giselle. Hopefully, unlike Jimmy, Ernesto gets to keep his sweet ride. Amazing. Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images On Sunday, Beyonces visual masterpiece Lemonade turned one year old. And while its already been celebrated a million times over, even most recently receiving a Peabody award, the partys just getting started. To mark the albums first anniversary, Beyonce has founded the Formation Scholars, a scholarship that will send four select women to college for the upcoming 20172018 academic year. So if youre a female incoming, current, or graduate student whos unafraid to think outside of the box and [is] bold, creative, conscious, and confident, and youve been putting off higher education out of fear of Sallie Mae, Beyonces got you covered. All four of you. Theres just one small catch: Youll have to enroll in a program for the creative arts, music, literature, or African-American studies. But for Beyonce, wed get a degree in tying our shoelaces. Participating schools include the HBCUs Spelman College and Howard University, as well as Berklee College of Music and Parsons School of Design. Okay, ladies, now lets get those SATs and GREs in formation! Its a party! Photo: amie McCarthy/Getty Images for IWC/Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images Over the course of his storied career, Elvis Costello appeared on David Lettermans Late Show an astounding 27 times he was the kind of regular who even once filled in for Letterman while he was out of commission. Search the back halls of the Ed Sullivan Theater right now, and we can only imagine theres a dressing room with Costellos name still engraved on it. Even with Letterman deep into retirement, Costello stops by every now and then to pay Stephen Colbert a visit. But hes now got a new friend on late-night TV to support: On April 29, Elvis Costello & the Imposters will play the official after-party for Samantha Bees inaugural Not the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C. Its the alternative to the, uh, other White House Correspondents Dinner, happening the same night, where Sam Bee will salute the media and all proceeds for the event will go to the Committee to Protect Journalists. New York and Vulture are co-hosting the shindig, which will give a crowd of hardworking journalists honored at the dinner a well-earned night off from corresponding with the president. Itll air on April 29 on TBS at 10 p.m. ET. Cheers! Its been fascinating to watch how Jane the Virgin has developed since Michaels death. In a number of beneficial ways, it almost feels like the series has returned to its early roots. Chapter Sixty, in particular, has a lot of familiar rhythms and stories. Jane is single again, so the show has returned to questions about her sex life, who shes going to end up with, and how much influence her grandmothers edict against extramarital sex impacts her life. Were back in a place where the show tells stories about Rogelios career, including issues of fame and tensions on his telenovela. Were back to stories about Sin Rostro and Luisa the nutty step-sister. Chapter Sixty is also much more focused on Janes career and is the rare episode in the past few seasons with almost no presence from Mateo. Jane the Virgin seems to have come back around to where it began. The structure of a Jane the Virgin has always been about cramming lots of different threads into a single episode, so this weeks installment doesnt have quite the same structural deja vu as its stories do its not like the series ever really left this model. Even still, theres something about how those stories are being told, and how theyre divided among the main cast of characters, that feels distinctly classic for the series. We follow Jane through stories about her career and what she wants. The high-melodrama stuff is linked exclusively to the Marbella, where Luisa has finally returned from wherever shes been hiding out. Petras tied up in a mess, as is Rafael. All the while, Rogelios on set doing the stuff he does best: being a telenovela star and worrying about his image. See what I mean? Were back where we started. Except for the places where its very, very clear that were not: Chapter Sixty has some of the strongest material about coping with Michaels death to date. Its a significant part of Janes book plot, where the marketing department for her publishing house wants to use Janes story to help sell the book, although Jane is reluctant to make the novel more about her than it already is. As she explains to Alba, she doesnt want Michael to become just some anecdote. The scene between Jane and Alba is beautiful, a mix of Alba encouraging Jane to continue trying to move past the freshness of Michaels death, and demonstrating how well she understands that process. It gets easier, Alba knows, but thats difficult in its own way. It feels like losing him even more. Youre in a long-term relationship with grief, Alba tells Jane, and the experience shes talking about grief as part of the mundane, as a part of the everyday is not just a wise insight. Its also a description of how the series works now. The other Michael-related scene of note is one Ive been waiting for since the moment Jane the Virgin leapt forward in time, and Im still a bit frustrated that its taken this long. But at last, we have a conversation where Rogelio sits down and talks about how much he misses Michael, and how worried he is that his friendship with Fabian will feel like replacing Michaels role in his life. Theres even some explanation for why such a scene might have been so delayed: Rogelio doesnt want to burden Jane with his own grief. Its incredibly empathetic of him, and an absolutely correct reading of the way the circle of grief should work: comfort in, dump out. Jane shouldnt have to bear the brunt of Rogelios loss, and it makes sense that given his strained relationship with Xiomara in the intervening period, hes had few outlets for his feelings. This scene he finally has with Xo has felt like a long time coming, though, and Im so glad to have seen it. Janes scene with Alba is emotional, but Rogelio pouring his feelings out to Xo Michael was my best friend! I really loved him! I still think about him every day! well, yeah. I got pretty misty there. Again, its not just these scenes that make Chapter Sixty work so well. Theyre great on their own, but its the way theyve been woven into an episode that otherwise feels like such classic Jane that makes them so special. They are exactly what Alba describes grief as a long-term relationship, shaped by the characters ongoing, evolving experience of that loss. So lets take a look at the episodes other dominating theme: Jane and Alba are really horny! (What a great show this is.) Jane has the hots for Fabian and is trying to figure out how to get in his pants without hurting Rogelio, whos worried that Fabian is trying to All About Eve him. Fabian, bless his heart, seems about as intellectual as a bag of his beloved goji berries, but there is no question about exactly why Jane wants him so badly. Its his abs. Its all of him, really, but mostly its his abs underneath the waterfall Jane keeps envisioning, thanks to an early influential telenovela scene the Villanueva women awkwardly watched together. They dance around the question for a while. Its long enough for Fabian to pull a paparazzi stunt to help Jane get more Twitter followers, and for Jane to realize that Fabians really there to get in with Rogelio, his idol. Its also long enough for Fabian to be smitten by Jane at the Miami Book Fair. (Speaking of which, nice wingwoman work, Maria Semple!) Theres no question about whether Fabian will be Janes one true love at the end his glorious book of stills from his snap selfies ensures that. I certainly do hope that Jane succeeds in hitting that, though. Things are looking equally steamy for Alba, who envisions Jorge in an identical telenovela waterfall of lust. She has to shut him down in order to remain true to her feelings about premarital sex, but happily Jorge seems to know a good thing when he sees it. Like Jane, I hope Alba is able to hit this, or rather, to find happiness and satisfaction in her relationship in whatever form brings her the most joy. While all this is happening, Luisa and RosedressedasLaw & OrderADASerena Southerlyn have come to stay at the Marbella, and Rafael and his private detective Elvis are on their trail. (Yes, I know itd be more efficient to call her Eileen, but the heart wants what the heart wants.) They manage to dodge detection in spite of several close calls and an overly hot room. It feels like standard Luisa fare, but where it ends up with Luisa questioning whether she really values Rose more highly than her relationship with her family could be an interesting turn for the series. I was happy to have to get to that tense place at the end, but this was also one of the rare occasions where some telenovela shenanigans felt noticeably implausible. Surely theres some way to bug their room when theyre still in it? Drop a mic through the ceiling? In a vent? Was this just me? Regardless, the episodes classic feel follows through until the very end, when we finally return to the issue of Petra trying to cope with the ongoing police investigation around Scotts death and Anezkas disappearance. Whoops Anezka comes back to the country and gets arrested and threatens to spill all of Petras secrets! Eep! To be continued! From Our Narrator, With Love Sometimes our Narrator gets a little saucy, and there are a few moments like that in this episode. One is his note that Janes book is really quite racy, but the other is much more explicit: In the intro, Rafael carries Petra into the bedroom for their one-off sexual reunion, and our Narrator explains that Rafael was downright into her lately. Narrator! Dont make me blush! The back-and-forth between Rogelio, Fabian, and our Narrator is one of my favorite Jane-as-feminist-text exchanges in a while. I have to get back to my beloved, the lady scientist! Rogelio and Fabian keep saying. ALSO KNOWN AS A SCIENTIST, our Narrator corrects. #Rogelio Poor Rogelio, worried about Fabian trying to All About Eve him out of a job. He didnt even use a filter! Rogelio exclaims, aghast about the selfie Fabian posted of the two of them. In an episode where Rogelio finally gets a chance to express some emotions about Michael, Fabian takes over much of Rogelios typical silliness. His chia seeds! His book! His Ro-obsession! But it is very sweet when Rogelio gets a chance to hand over the baton, his prized Sharpie, for Janes first autograph. Patricia Lockwood. Photo: Grep Hoax Patricia Lockwoods new memoir Priestdaddy is part origin story, part narrative of her time in the wilderness. Except here the wilderness is actually a homecoming, a regression from low-rent provincial American hipster paradise back to the crucifix-appointed parental home in fact a rectory, because through a loophole in Catholic doctrine Lockwoods father Greg is that rare animal, a priest with a wife and five children in the un-bohemian heartland. This isnt the story of entitled millennials moving back to mommy and daddy because the big bad world was too hard. Lockwood and her husband Jason Kendell, neither of them college graduates, had spent an itinerant decade as committed bohemians. She was the house genius and he was her Leonard Woolf figure, the breadwinner who allowed her the freedom to write poetry full time. They were living in gorgeous and gothic Savannah, Georgia, where he had a job at a local newspaper. They were skating by with a joint bank account hovering in the three figures. He liked his job, and shed broken into the pages of The New Yorker. But then his eyes started to go. He needed immediate surgery to remove cataracts if he was going to keep his vision. Their insurance covered only a fraction of the cost, but they were able to raise the funds around $10,000 by seeking donations online from their community of internet addicts, as Lockwoods mother Karen called them, actually a mix of Weird Twitter and Poetry Twitter, zones in which Lockwood was amassing cult-like celebrity for her pithy, profane, absurd, obscene, hilarious sayings. As she writes, connections forged in filth and nonsense are strong. They were lucky but not too lucky after two surgeries Kendalls condition was like waking up in the morning to find that English had rearranged itself, or that all pretty women had been scrambled into Picassos. He quit his job because he could no longer read headlines, and they moved in with her parents in Kansas City. Lockwood is the author of two poetry collections, Balloon Pop Outlaw Black (2012) and Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals (2014), and she is famous for her poem Rape Joke, originally published on the Awl in 2013 and generally considered the most viral poem of all time. In the Guardian Viv Groskop wrote that it casually reawakened a generations interest in poetry. The one wrong word there might be casually: The poem relies on the venerable formal device of anaphora most lines begin, The rape joke is to animate and render unstable Lockwoods survivor testimony. Rape Joke also demonstrated her singular talent for transforming trauma into art as beautiful as it is painful, and doing so without compromising her incandescent wit. That talent is on display throughout Priestdaddy, though the book is hardly all about pain. Its mostly the story of a very loving and eccentric family, full of American contradictions and dense with brilliant sentences that Lockwood seems to toss off as if she were brushing lint from her sweater. One of the lines in Rape Joke goes: The rape joke is if you write a poem called Rape Joke, youre asking for it to become the only thing people remember about you. (Note the subtle deployment of asking for it.) Priestdaddy ensures it wont be the only thing. Most American discussions of religion begin with the word faith, but its not a word that comes up much in Lockwoods book, and as a fellow lapsed Catholic I can relate. The word I think of is church, not the institution looking over the mountains to the Vatican but the place I went every week to recite the creed whose every line began We believe (more anaphora). What followed those words was for a child more real than your own life. Does God exist, was never a question for me then, Lockwood writes. Do I exist took up the whole of my mind. Church stopped when you stopped going to the building and stopped repeating We believe. For me, a longtime altar boy, it happened after I was confirmed (confirmation name: Job). For Lockwood, it happened around the same time, age 12 or 13, when she told her father she wasnt going anymore, he asked her, Well, if it isnt true, why would so many people have died for it? She replied, Dad, people have died for every religion. The checkmate look on his face vanished and he was quiet. She calls Catholicism a language she spoke a long time and then repurposed in her poetry, in lines like, God has so many abs that he look like a corncob. The departure doesnt prevent a form of permanence: The word God does not fall out of the vocabulary, as the sun does not fall out of the sky. The shapes of the stories remain as do their revelations. Moving back in with her parents is an initially infantilizing experience for Lockwood and Kendall. I shrink inch by inch, she writes, until I am no longer an adult but a baby toddling along in a comically oversized business suit. At night she pats her husband on the back, he belches and says, You burped me! But for all its awkwardness, the homecoming is a soft landing. Lockwoods teenage years hadnt been without strife, suffering, and sadness, and she and her parents are surprised how pleasant it is to live together again. I never thought it would be so much fun to have you home, Greg says. Its so nice when your kids grow up and you dont have to kill them anymore. Mother and father are wacky right-wing baby-boomers bedeviled by internet memes that tell them China has unleashed secretly satanic rosaries on the world and a new form of diarrhea is killing the elderly. For her father, the world has been going to hell since the advent of communism and modern art eroded gender roles and ruined architecture, especially church architecture. Architecture requires an equal balance of the male and female in order to be beautiful, he says. According to those standards, his daughter writes, the perfect cathedral would be a gigantic Prince symbol people could pray inside. Though parents and child occupy opposite ends of the political and cultural spectrums, the trait unifying boomer and millennial Lockwoods is a gently perverse imagination. The family dog is named Whimsy. Greg married Karen, an Irish Catholic, in high school, joined the Navy an atheist, and flipped to Christianity after repeated viewings of The Exorcist while serving on a submarine called The Flying Fish. Back on shore he became a Lutheran minister, then converted to Catholicism, remaining both clergyman and family man through an obscure Vatican-endorsed exception for ministers converting from other denominations. At home he wears a cassock when hes not simply sitting around in his boxers cleaning his handgun or shredding his guitar atonally with Rush Limbaugh and Bill OReilly providing backing vocals. Lockwood expresses some anxiety about her ability to capture her father on the page: I can only write down what you say, I tell my father silently, tired of editing him with such childlike vigilance, of choosing only the quotes that show his brightest side. Please give me something. Be a human being. But he emerges with a vividity that will be familiar to the lapsed children of religious men given to reactionary grunting and voting for Donald Trump. (Lockwoods campaign dispatch for the New Republic from Trumps victory night in New Hampshire was a model of cutting observation and oppositional sympathy.) Its useful to keep in mind that the man watching Schwarzenegger movies in his underwear at home spends many of his days baptizing babies, conducting marriages, delivering sermons, and administering last rites to the dying. Lockwoods chronicle of her homecoming at times lacks dramatic tension, but its consistently charming, particularly her interactions with an Italian seminarian staying with the family until his ordination will make it all but impossible for him to have the sort of chummy friendship with a woman he enjoys with her. More than the return, the retrospective chapters of Priestdaddy lodge themselves in your mind, especially the stories with redemptive Catholic shapes. Some of these are lightly comic her online courtship with Kendell while living alone in a nun-less convent after her resigned acceptance that her parents cant afford to send her to college at St. Johns in Annapolis, or a family hunting trip involving blessings of doe urine to conceal the hunters human presence. Others creep into painful territory in a manner similar to Rape Joke and address her ambient awareness of criminal sex abuse by priests in her fathers diocese; the familys participation in anti-abortion-rights actions, including her fathers arrest; and illnesses among children in her St. Louis suburb that probably resulted from toxic residue from uranium secretly refined there in the 1940s for the Manhattan Project. In a chapter called Voice, Lockwood writes of having to get over her love of music in order to become a writer. She begins in praise of her sisters singing: She was born with a musical instrument lodged halfway down her throat; when she opened her mouth the forward curves of doves came out. Patricia wasnt so fortunate: Let me be honest: my voice sounded like the final cry of someone killed by a falling piano. From here she narrates her love of singing, her failure to do it well, and the predicament of an unhappy teenage misfit in a house full of other misfits (parents included), a house that seemed made of screaming. She attempts suicide with a hundred Tylenol but is saved with a trip to the hospital. After much barfing, I was astonished to still find myself in possession of a sense of humor. Her father appears the next day at her bedside: My father came too, and sat in an unyielding metal chair against the wall and talked, his voice quieter and more targeted at me than I had ever heard it. He said, The last time I tried to do it and the rest floated away. The gentleness of the words was so lovely, the tone, the undulations, the caress. He sounded like a wave in a woodcut. Moving from a place of light into darkness and then returning to light is something very rare indeed. It has the shape of salvation. Scott Baio. Photo: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Changemaker Group LLC After the death of his Happy Days co-star Erin Moran this Saturday, Scott Baio went on The Bernie & Sid Show where he discussed how her history with drugs and alcohol might have contributed to her death. In the interview, which took place before an autopsy revealed that Moran likely died from complications due to cancer, Baio said he was a little shocked but not completely shocked that this happened, adding, I feel bad because her whole life, she was troubled, could never find what made her happy and content. For me, you do drugs or drink, youre gonna die. Im sorry if thats cold, but God gave you a brain, gave you the will to live and thrive and you gotta take care of yourself. Baios comments, which seem to place the blame on Moran herself, provoked backlash, especially once Morans autopsy results came out and revealed that she likely died from complications due to stage 4 cancer. In response to a critical tweet from Tonight Show writer Chase Mitchell, Baio said he was being attacked for political reasons, claiming You bash me ONLY because I supposed Pres @realDonaldTrump. In a Facebook post last night, he claimed to be the victim of fake news, writing that he had read headlines that said Moran had died of a heroin overdose and was reacting to those when he did his radio interview. Please stop assuming the worse in me, he wrote. Im a compassionate person. Im very heartbroken over her passing, especially since it was cancer. Update 2:30 p.m.: Baio followed up his statement with another Facebook post he says is a statement from Morans husband Steve, which details Morans recent diagnosis with squamous cell carcinoma in late 2016 and her rapid decline in health. By the middle of February, Erin could no longer speak or eat or drink, Steve wrote, going on to explain how he cared for her. Read the full statement here. This week will no doubt elicit many a look back at President Donald Trumps first 100 days, but lets be honest, do you really need one? You remember the year so far, right? It literally just happened. In fact, its still happening. As Seth Meyers explains on Late Night, money for the Mexican border wall is only one issue back in the news now that Congress and the Trump administration must work together to pass government funding for the year or risk a shutdown. The deals Friday deadline is, you guessed it, Trumps 100th day in office. That still gives the Trump White House plenty of time to have a First 100 Days that will go down in history books, specifically listed under Government Shutdowns in the index. Elisabeth Moss in The Handmaids Tale. Photo: George Kraychyk/Hulu As it grows ever harder to distinguish between dystopian fiction and reality, an adaptation of Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale one of the great works of unsettling near-future fiction heads to Hulu as a television series. Originally published in 1985, Atwoods novel imagined a United States where democracy has been overthrown by a totalitarian military theocracy. Now called the Republic of Gilead, this new fundamentalist Christian government imposes an extreme interpretation of the Bible on society, one that violently curtails human rights in general and womens rights in particular. Theres a lot of biblical reference and world-specific jargon Handmaids! Angels! Eyes! so if you want to hit the ground running when the series premieres, heres a quick primer on the the world and vocabulary of The Handmaids Tale. The story is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, though it isnt called that anymore, and our protagonist is Offred, who has been assigned as Handmaid to a high-ranking official known as the Commander. Per the new laws of Gilead, women are considered the property of men and are not permitted to vote, possess money of their own, or read. As the coup was fairly recent, all the women we encounter in The Handmaids Tale including Offred grew up in an America like our own, and thus have to be brutally indoctrinated into their new status as possessions, servants, and walking baby incubators. One of the major factors behind the societal shift is a dramatic decline in the birth rate, said to be caused by pollution and radiation. Pregnancies are rare, and even when they do occur, theres always a significant risk that it might be what they call an Unbaby a child badly or fatally afflicted with birth defects. That makes women who have had healthy babies incredibly valuable commodities, and indeed that is how they are treated. Although all women are considered subordinate to men, they are afforded different levels of privilege or hardship depending on their social status, marital status, age, skills, and fertility. Every woman is assigned a function because what are women in this world except what they can do for men and must dress in the assigned colors of their station. Wives are the highest category a woman can hope to achieve, a role that permits them a level of social standing and humanity. Wives of the ruling class dress in blue, a color associated with the Virgin Mary, while working-class wives sometimes called Econowives wear both blue and green to signify their lower status. Green is also the color worn by Marthas, women who work as domestic servants. (Their name is taken from a New Testament story about a woman named Martha who ran around doing all the work while her sister Mary got to sit and chill with Jesus.) Aunts are older, unmarried women who have fully drunk the Kool-Aid about Gilead and the joys of female subordination, and arent opposed to a little sadism in the name of Gods glory. Theyre the female enforcers tasked with the reeducating and controlling the Handmaids, sometimes with the use of cattle prods and mutilation. They also assist with births, so their responsibilities really run the gamut. Their special color is brown. Then there are the Handmaids, who are neither prostitutes nor wives, but in some ways experience the worst of both worlds. Typically, they are women who have violated a social law or committed a gender crime but are saved from their supposed sins by their fertility. They are given an opportunity to redeem themselves by becoming breeders for ruling-class men whose wives cannot bear children. While this might seem odd in the context of Gileads excruciating piety about sexuality and marriage, its leaders claim this role is scripturally inspired by the biblical story of Jacob and his wife Rachel. Even their names are signifiers of ownership: Offred is currently a possession of Fred, a sobriquet that changes at each assignment. The Handmaids wear red the color of blood and shame and being real sexy along with white blinders that restrict their peripheral vision and shield their faces. They are impregnated in a ritual known as the Ceremony, where a Handmaid sits in the wifes lap while the husband has sex with her. Its as creepy and upsetting as it sounds. Handmaids who have healthy children are assigned to new men, but they are also saved from the fate of being labeled as an Unwoman, something you very much want to avoid in a society where gender roles are policed with lethal force. Indeed, this is the very worst thing you can be, as it means that you have failed at your only purpose making babies and being submissive and thus you are shipped off the labor camps in an ominously-named region called the Colonies, where you clean up toxic waste until you die. (Unwomen are not to be confused with gender traitors, a.k.a. queer people, whose lives are also forfeited.) So whos behind this brave new world of ritualized rape and color-coded outfits? Were told the Republic of Gilead began as a far-right fundamentalist movement called Sons of Jacob a reference, again, to Jacob and Rachel who staged an attack that killed the president and much of Congress. They blamed the massacre on terrorists, then used the resulting panic to consolidate their power with minimal resistance by suspending the Constitution and providing safety and security against an invented threat. The frontline soldiers of Gilead are referred to as Angels or Guardians of the Faith, but most terrifying of all are the Eyes, who are essentially the KGB of Gilead. Theyre known for appearing in black vans and snatching people off the street for interrogation, arrest, and execution. The Eyes also work as spies who insert themselves into everyday positions to surveil the populace. In theory, anyone you meet could be an Eye, which means you cant trust anyone. Although Atwoods novel was first adapted into a film in 1990, Hulus new series offers a chance to delve deeper into the life of Offred, both before and after the horrors of Gilead started to descend. The first three episodes of The Handmaids Tale premiere on Wednesday, April 26. A sign from the 2007-2008 strike. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images Another writers strike might be on the way. After a week of casting ballots, the Writers Guild of America voted in favor of strike authorization today. In an email to members, the Guild announced that 96.3 percent of voters had voted yes. The results of the vote dont necessarily guarantee that there will be a writers strike, but it does give the guild the power to call one if necessary, a key bargaining chip in writers discussions with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers. The WGA and AMPTP are scheduled to resume negotiations tomorrow over the writers master contract with producers, which expires on May 1. While the infamous 20072008 writers strike focused primarily on pay for online content, these negotiations have covered several key issues, including preserving health-care and pension coverage and adjusting pay to fit a market where networks order significantly fewer episodes per season of TV. Negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP began on March 13. Weve been tracking updates on them here. A Dallas lawyer representing two bikers arrested after the 2015 Twin Peaks shootout said his clients are innocent and he doesnt need to wait until McLennan County prosecutors receive additional evidence from federal authorities before taking his clients to trial. Clint Broden, who represents Matthew Clendennen and George Bergman, filed motions Monday renewing his demands for speedy trials for his clients. Brodens motions come on the heels of a statement from 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother, who told the Tribune-Herald on Friday that he doesnt think the Twin Peaks cases can move forward until some kind of resolution or understanding is reached regarding the situation with the federal indictment in San Antonio. It has effectively put a barrier between our ability to proceed with our cases. I dont think the presence of a pending motion (for continuance) is what is causing the problem. It is the presence of the federal indictment out of San Antonio. U.S. Attorney Richard Durbin has told McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna that federal officials obtained information concerning the Twin Peaks cases during an investigation that led to the indictment of national Bandidos leaders in San Antonio. Durbin told Reyna he would not release the information until after the San Antonio cases are resolved. Broden said Monday he has received three terabytes of information from prosecutors in the Twin Peaks cases and he doesnt need to wait for the federal evidence. Both men are innocent and need to get on with their lives, he said. We dont need the stuff from the federal case, Broden said. We have the evidence we need, and the most important thing is the video which shows Matthew Clendennen is innocent. As for Mr. Bergman, he just got to the place. Actually, he was on his way to the bathroom at Don Carlos when it all started. In the Clendennen case, with the video, we could have tried this case May 18 (2015). Clendennen was a member of the Scimitars motorcycle group, a Cossacks support group. Bergman was a member of the Desgraciados group, a Bandidos support club. Judge Matt Johnson postponed the June 5 trial of Kyle Smith, a Cossack from Kilgore, last week based on a motion from Smiths attorney, who asked for a postponement based on the unavailability of the federal evidence. No other motions have been filed to delay trials in Johnsons or Strothers courts, and officials say motions will be considered as they are filed, either to delay or for speedy trials. Waiving rights Broden acknowledged that he likely will be asked by judges if he and his clients are waiving their rights to full discovery and are aware that by taking that step, they could be missing some evidence from federal authorities that could prove beneficial to their cases. Judges dont want the cases overturned on appeal by other lawyers later alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for not waiting for all the evidence. Matthew Clendennen is an innocent person, falsely accused of a criminal offense, Brodens motion states. What is more, the state is in possession of a video which proves Mr. Clendennens innocence. It is time for him to be exonerated so that he can move on with his life. In Bergmans case, Broden writes that it is time to remove the sword of Damocles hanging over his case. There is conclusive evidence in the possession of the state that Mr. Bergman had just arrived at Twin Peaks on May 17, 2015, when the violence began and that he did not participate in the violence in any way. It is time for him to be exonerated so that he and his wife can move on with their lives, Brodens motion states. Broden also charges in his motions that Reyna is delaying Clendennens and Bergmans cases because both men are suing him for alleged civil rights violations in an Austin federal court and that those civil cases have been stayed until after the Twin Peaks criminal cases are resolved. Therefore, Mr. Reyna has a perverse incentive to delay this criminal case as long as possible, and waiting until the completion of the federal trial . . . could take Mr. Clendennens criminal case into the next decade, the motion claims. Reyna did not return a phone call Monday seeking comment. The motions also claim that Reyna is not prepared to try the cases because he rushed them to a grand jury and bamboozled grand jurors into indicting them in the death of a 10th biker, when that person was not killed at Twin Peaks. Nine bikers were killed and dozens were injured in the shootout. Prosecutors have since acknowledged their error and said it would be corrected. Clendennens trial is set for Oct. 9 in 54th State District Court, while Bergmans is set for Nov. 7 in 19th State District Court. Testimony was delayed Tuesday in the sexual abuse trial of a former construction worker so the defendant could recuperate from a dialysis treatment. Judge Matt Johnson of Wacos 54th State District Court agreed to delay the start of testimony in Juan Rodriguez Guajardos trial until 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. A jury was selected Monday and told to return at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Guajardos attorney, Phil Martinez, asked the judge for the postponement because the 62-year-old former construction worker had a dialysis treatment Tuesday morning and was not feeling up to starting his trial. Martinez said that not only is dialysis physically grueling, it renders his client mentally incapable of assisting in his own defense. The judge allowed the parties to leave the courtroom before calling the jury in to tell them of the trial delay. The jury has been told nothing of Guajardos condition, and Martinez feared it would prejudice the defense if the jury noticed he was not present Tuesday afternoon. The judge admonished the jury to stay away from media reports about the trial. Guajardo, charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child and indecency with a child by contact, is accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl from January 2013 to June 2013. The girl is a family member of a woman Guajardo was dating. Guajardo, a diabetic who has lost sight in his right eye, has been on dialysis for the past eight years, Martinez said. Guajardo takes dialysis treatments four hours a day, three times a week, he said. If convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child, Guajardo faces a minimum of 25 years in prison and a maximum of life. He faces from two to 20 years in prison if convicted on the indecency count. Few McLennan County residents took advantage Monday of the first day of early voting for an election that features a countywide referendum and multiple city and school district races. There were 283 people in the county who voted early, out of the countys 131,119 registered voters, as part of the countys joint election. Early voting for the May 6 joint general election continues Tuesday through Saturday, and May 1 and May 2 . The majority of residents who voted Monday, 133, cast their votes at First Assembly of God Church off Bosque Boulevard . We have a whole lot more voters that need to show up, County Elections Administrator Kathy Van Wolfe said. We still have a little bit of time for them to rush in and few more days, too. In the May 2015 election, which included races for three cities and two school districts, 1,215 people voted early. The countywide referendum aims to raise more than $34.4 million for an overhaul of the 60-acre Extraco Events Center by creating a 2 percent hotel occupancy tax and a 5 percent tax on short-term car rentals. County leaders project funding from the tax could build a new 800-square-foot multipurpose center connected to the existing coliseum, add 300 new livestock stalls and rebuild Waco ISDs Paul Tyson Field and the Lake Air Little League facilities. The fairgrounds provides a $47 million economic impact to the area that could jump to $60 million under the proposed changes allotted by the referendum, according to a Baylor University study. The city of Waco has one contested race on the ballot for those in the West Waco and China Spring area. District 5 Councilman Jim Holmes faces Deanna Leach for the two-year term seat. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, as well as May 1 and May 2, registered voters can cast their ballot at any of the five early-voting locations: McLennan County elections administration office in the Records Building, 214 N. Fourth St., Suite 300 Robinson Community Center, 106 W. Lyndale Drive Waco Multi-Purpose Community Center, 1020 Elm Ave. First Assembly of God Church, 6701 Bosque Blvd. Hewitt Public Safety Facility, 100 Patriot Court Races for the Bellmead City Council, Lacy Lakeview City Council, Lorena ISD Board of Trustees and Midway ISD Board of Trustees are also included in the countys joint general election. Bellmead: Incumbent Travis Gibson faces newcomers Linda Ione Robinson and George Melvin Cleveland. Lacy Lakeview: Incumbents Barbara Seitz and Bruce Bundrant face David C. Finch III, Sharon Clark, and David A. Garcia with three at-large seats on the ballot. Lorena ISD: Incumbents David Busch and Mary Timmons face Kristi Rowan Humphreys with two at-large seats on the ballot. Midway ISD: Incumbent Susan Vick faces Eloisa Ella Esparza. Four city councils and two school districts are holding elections independent of McLennan Countys joint general election and have their own early voting times and locations. Beverly Hills: Incumbents Kurt Vance and Lance Leuschner face LucyAnn Sanchez with two council seats on the ballot. McGregor: Tony Ocampo faces A. Roderick Cammon for the Ward 5 at-large seat. Frank Leos did not re-file after serving for 27 years. Valley Mills: Incumbent Ray Bickerstaff faces Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Wittmer for the seat as mayor. Marlin: Two council seats and the mayoral seat are on the ballot. Shirley F. King, Demetrius Beachum and John Keefer look to replace Mayor Elizabeth Nelson, who is stepping down. Susan R. Byrd, Cara Kasner and Nancy J. Duggins look to replace Precinct 1 Councilman Norman D. Erskine. Terence W. McDavid and Michael Magouirk look to replace Precinct 3 Councilwoman Billie Jean Scaggs. Connally Independent School District: Incumbent Kathy Coker faces Trey Copeland for Place 4 on the board. Valley Mills Independent School District: Incumbents Alice West and Jim Blackford face Steven Owens, Ted Jones and Josh Thayer with two at-large seats on the ballot. Voters in the school district will also decide on an $8.4 million bond. The proposed bond is expected to increase the tax rate by 18 cents per $100 of value, according to the district, and constituents at least 65 years old with a homestead exemption will not be impacted unless significant improvements or additions are made to the home. He proposed a religious test on immigration, promised to open up U.S. libel laws and revoked press credentials of critical reporters. He called for killing family members of terrorists, said he would do a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding terrorism suspects and suggested that a U.S.-born federal judge of Mexican heritage couldnt be neutral because of his ethnicity. He whipped up animosity against Muslims and immigrants from Mexico, branding some of the latter as rapists. When protesters interrupted his rallies, he cheered violence against them. He told a political opponent that if he won, he would get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, adding youd be in jail. He threatened not to respect election results if he didnt win and, in Idi Amin fashion, made the claims of a strongman: I alone can fix it. He publicly expressed admiration for authoritarian Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cherished notions of religious freedom, a free press, an independent judiciary and the rights of minorities took a beating from him. The prospect of mob violence in his defense and imprisoning of political opponents found favor. With all that, Donald Trump became the nations 45th president in an election marred by stealth interference from a foreign adversary, Russia, and with the support of millions of voters who survey data show were influenced by the toxicity of racism. How did a pluralistic nation that propounds democratic values and practices come to this? That haunting question has occupied the minds of Richard Kahlenberg and Clifford Janey, two education scholars who began to take a hard look at this fundamental domestic challenge long before Novembers results came in. Janey, former superintendent of schools in our nations capital and now senior research scholar at the Boston University School of Education, traces the problem close to home: public schooling. So, too, does Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation. Kahlenberg observes that public education that ought to help prepare students for citizenship in a vibrant democracy is coming up short. He cited a recent survey in which two-thirds of Americans could not name all three branches of the federal government; only a third could identify Joe Biden, who at the time was the vice president or name a single Supreme Court justice. And Janey observed that U.S. school children educated in what are essentially apartheid schools divided by class and race get a mixed message about equal political rights and American values. Together, they spelled out the scope of the challenge in their joint Century Foundation report released in November, Putting Democracy Back into Public Education. The report was boiled down in an article in the Atlantic, Is Trumps Victory the Jump-Start Civics Education Needed? published at the same time. Simply put, Janey and Kahlenberg argue that our schools are failing at what the nations Founders saw as educations most basic purpose: preparing young people to be reflective citizens who would value liberty and democracy and resist the appeals of demagogues. They said todays schools turn themselves inside out trying to prepare college-and-career ready students who can contend with economic globalization and economic competition and find a niche with private skills in the marketplace. As for preparing them for American democracy? Raising civics literacy levels? Cultivating knowledge of democratic practices and beliefs with rigorous courses in history, literature and how democratic means have been used to improve the country? Not so much or maybe not at all, they suggest. Watch as jaws drop at these findings from a 2011 World Values Survey: When asked whether democracy is a good or bad way to run a country, 17 percent said bad or very bad, up from 9 percent in the mid-1990s. Among those ages 16 to 24, about a quarter said democracy was bad or very bad, an increase of one-third from a decade and a half earlier. The declining civic portion of public education, maintain Kahlenberg and Janey, is a threat to our democratic values. It must be addressed and now. Only a demagogue would argue with that. Litter and illegal dumping across Texas might seem minor alongside mounting transgressions against the environment highlighted during this past weekends Earth Day rallies. Then again, the indifference about litter by everyday citizens today can easily grow into the cavalier attitudes toward ecology we see from corporate offenders such as Dow Chemical. Certainly, this indifference is growing. In touting his bill to bolster penalties for littering and dumping, Republican state Rep. Charles Doc Anderson, whose district includes Waco, told fellow lawmakers that a Texas Department of Transportation survey found litter had increased 81 percent on farm-to-market roads over the past few years. So much for the old slogan, Dont mess with Texas. And if Andersons statistical rationale for legislation allowing judges the option of putting litterbugs and illegal dumpers to work picking up area litter for 60 hours as part of their punishment wasnt compelling enough, surely constituent Bruce Huff must have driven home the point with some state lawmakers. In his 60s and suffering from multiple sclerosis, this veteran nonetheless leads a litter-pickup group in Waco the wonderfully named Group W Bench Litter Patrol. And, yes, theyd appreciate a little help from the state for all their backbreaking volunteer work. Were on a roll, Huff told the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, noting how his band had collected some 25,000 pounds of litter since its formation this past Thanksgiving. Were gaining members. But we should not be dependent on people like me, citizens concerned about our litter problem as it affects our environment. The people who do this deed should be held accountable. Huff wasnt the only citizen voice expressing concern. Brian Mast of the San Antonio River Authority, which serves Bexar, Wilson, Karnes and Goliad counties, told lawmakers Andersons bill might help address the scourge of litter along much of that river: Over the past few years, weve restored eight miles of the river south of town in a historically underserved area of the San Antonio River. That eight miles we now operate and maintain. In 2015 we removed 203,000 pounds of trash alone, also 364 tires nearly a tire a day. Most of this litter is common, everyday litter water bottles, Styrofoam, to-go containers from fast-food joints. The authority removed 201,000 pounds of trash along this same stretch of river in 2016 and is on pace to do the same this year, he said. Yes, Emily Gerrick of the Texas Fair Defense Project is right that 60 hours of community service picking up trash could in certain circumstances represent a real hardship on some Texas litterbugs and dumpers, particularly single moms with tight work schedules and families to raise. But Andersons idea rates serious consideration if made more optional and employed shrewdly by judges trying to send a stern message. As Anderson noted during this months hearing on his bill, it is apropos that part of the punishment [for littering] should be cleaning up litter in their county. WESTON This years Weston Memorial Day celebration may have a new sight. With the help of various donors and the Sons of the American Legion Post 308, installation of a flag pole at the Weston City Park is underway. The concrete base was installed on April 11. Our goal is to have it done by Memorial Day, said Kurt Maly, commander of the Sons of American Legion in Weston. The flag will not only fly during the annual tribute to the fallen, but is a way to honor longtime Weston American Legion member Raynold Woita, who passed away last June. Woitas son, Jim Woita, said after his father passed away the family began considering a good project to donate his memorials to in his honor. My dad was a longtime member (of the Weston American Legion). This is a good way to remember him by, said Jim Woita, who serves as the Sons of the American Legion sergeant of arms. Raynold Woita served as the groups commander and sergeant of arms. He had to round up all the guys and get them set up to go to the funeral and pay tribute to the fallen, Jim Woita said. The S.A.L. group also received support from Eugene Kremlacek, who donated the flag pole. Maly said the Sons of the American Legion in Weston is a fast-growing group. Since organizing four years ago, the organization has about 60 members. Jim Woita said the majority of its members has a grandfather or father that is a veteran. The main reason we started is for support, he said. Were just trying to keep that tradition going. WAVERLY Waverly High Schools FCCLA and SADD Chapters are hosting a school-wide assembly on driving safe on Monday, May 8. Later that afternoon and evening, the community is invited to the school to learn more about arriving alive. The afternoon assembly will show students what a car accident looks like, and what takes place after it happens. We think having a mock crash is very important, said FCCLA member Trent Brown. The crash, he said, would include victims. The drama club will be helping us there. The crash will follow speaker Lloyd Roberts who will speak to students. He is real involved in MADD, Brown said. And he plans to return that evening to speak. The mock crash will take place around 2:30 in the parking lot at the high school. The rescue and fire departments will be there and will be actually using equipment to get someone out of the cars, he said. From 5 to 7 p.m., the public is invited to walk through the commons area to view displays from the Nebraska State Patrol, car seat safety check, fatal vision goggles, an impaired driving simulator, and a car roll over simulator. Mr. Roberts will speak again that evening, he said. His message will be on the effects driving under the influence can have on individuals and their families. Brown feels that the assembly is important to both students and parents. Drinking and driving is a huge problem, but seeing people texting while driving is getting just as bad. And that will be brought out. Brown said that the event was open to the public and that he hoped parents would especially attend. I think driving and what we do while driving hits everyone in the community and not just students, Brown said. People will think this is a small focus on the problem, but we hope it makes people think about what they are doing while driving. We are trying to educate and end distracted driving. If greatness in a combat airplane equates with outstanding service longevity and extreme operational flexibility the Hawker Hunter is indeed truly great and one of the classic fighter designs of all time. It is aesthetically beautiful and a thoroughbred aircraft in every sense. This was almost to be expected, given that its design was penned by Sir Sydney Camm whos other major masterpieces included the Hurricane and the Harrier. Originally designed as an air superiority fighter in the 1950s, the Hunter went on to become the most successful post-war British military aircraft with almost 2,000 being produced, of which one third were later rebuilt by the manufacturer to zero time standard, the last leaving the Dunsfold factory in 1976. Aided by its high power to weight ratio, inherent strength and adaptability, the design evolved from the pure fighter in to a superlative ground attack aircraft, the pinnacle of the design being the Swiss MK58 Hunters. This version was continuously updated to accommodate the latest weapons systems prior to being prematurely retired in the mid 1990s as a direct result of the end of the Cold War. Today, a number of Hunters solider on with contractor adversary companies. Because of its superb design and unique place in aviation history, our sponsors at AVI-8 have decided to commemorate the Hawker Hunter with one of their own, inimitable watch designs. We at WarbirdsNews hope our readers will enjoy this exotic timepiece. The AV-4052 seemingly brings the instrument panel and cockpit of the Hawker Hunter to the wrist of the wearer with a homage and representation that is still utterly practical and balanced as a timepiece. With the angled off squared shape that echoes the key pieces of the Hunters own instrumentation, the reference to the famed military jet that first flew in service for the RAF in the early 1950s, is obvious. A sturdy yet precisely finished marine grade stainless steel case houses a Japanese retrograde split time chronograph that sits under the dial. The dial itself is a perfectly designed assembly of indentations, tension rings and carefully positioned subdial frames that continue the look and feel of this watch as a piece of military instrumentation. Outlined hands are bold yet skeletonized to offer clarity and visibility of all subdials on the multi-layered dial that offers depth and detail for the wearer. With piston like pushers and level upon level of Hunter inspired aesthetic touches, the AV 4052 pays suitable tribute to the famed jetwithout being cluttered and fussy in its carefully considered design. Snugly strapped to the wrist with a hand stitched vintage genuine leather strap the AV 4052 is an impressive, functional and unique aviation inspired timepiece like no other. By Peter Mecca She was not appealing and handled like a long-haul tractor/trailer with 18 flat tires. Historically treated as the red-headed stepchild of heavy bombers in World War II, especially when compared to the sleek and popular B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator was still a rugged aircraft and destined to become the most produced American bomber in history. More than 18,000 were built during the war, approximately 70 percent by the Ford Motor Company. She had her faults: a tendency to catch fire; if required to ditch or belly land, the high fuselage-mounted Davis wing habitually broke apart the fuselage; poor formation-flying characteristics; and Liberator pilots had a reputation for having big biceps from wrestling non-stop with clumsy control capabilities. But the ugly lady had good attributes too: a higher top speed than B-17s, greater combat range, a heavier bomb load, and a higher service ceiling of 28,000 feet. Even damaged, she brought home many an airman. Brigadier General and award-winning actor Jimmy Stewart often piloted a B-24, once over Berlin. Former Speaker of the House Jim Wright served as a bombardier on a B-24 in the Pacific. Senator and 1972 presidential hopeful George McGovern piloted Liberators over Italy. Congressman, Secretary of the Interior, author, and conservationist Stewart Udall flew on Liberators as a waist gunner, plus famous Olympic runner Louis Zamperini served as a bombardier on B-24s. In the digital era, the video game Call of Duty: Big Red One mimics gun turrets and the bomb-sight of B-24s to engage armchair warriors. This is the story of only one of those 18,000-plus Liberators, a brand new B-24 recently arrived at Soluch Field near Benghazi, Libya. Her crew was also new, and like the B-24, would be flying their first, and last, combat mission. The Liberator and her nine-man crew were assigned to the 376th Bombardment Group, 514th Bomb Squadron, the date April 4, 1943, the B-24s given name Lady Be Good. Probably coping with an emotional mixture of excitement and anxiety, the pilot of Lady Be Good, 1st Lt. William Hatton, and his copilot, 2nd Lt. Robert Toner, pushed the four Pratt & Whitney engines to full throttle for takeoff. The B-24 Liberator lumbered down the Soluch airstrip and was soon airborne over the Mediterranean. One of the last to take off, Lady Be Good almost immediately experienced poor visibility and sandy winds, which kept her from joining the formation of 12 other Liberators en route to bomb Naples, Italy. Lady Be Good and her crew were on their own. Nine of the B-24s aborted the mission after developing engine trouble caused by the swirling sands of the Libyan Desert during takeoff. Four continued. Lady Be Good arrived over Naples at 7:50 p.m. at an altitude of 24,900 feet, found the target socked-in by bad weather, then turned for home. The crew either dumped their bombs in the Mediterranean or hit a secondary target en route back to Libya. At 12:12 a.m., the pilot, Lt. Hatton, radioed Soluch airfield for directional assistance, stating the aircrafts automatic direction finder was no longer working. That was the last contact with Lady Be Good. A search and rescue mission was eventually launched from Soluch, but no trace of the crew or aircraft could be found so the rescue mission was called off there was still a war to be fought and won. Lady Be Good became a war statistic as did her crew, and the statistics are staggering. The U.S. lost 43,583 aircraft overseas, of which 22,918 were lost in combat. Another 13,872 planes were destroyed inside the continental U.S. while on training missions and almost 1,000 airplanes disappeared while en route to overseas destinations. During the height of the war, an average of 200 flyboys died per day. Almost 12,000 were and still are missing and presumed dead. Its easy to understand why Lady Be Good and her nine-man crew became a mere footnote of the air war. More than 15 years later, in November 1958, a British oil exploration team from the DArcy Oil Company (later to become BP) spotted aircraft wreckage while conducting an aerial survey over the Libyan Desert near the edge of the Sand Sea of Calanscio. The exploration teams position was roughly 440 miles from Soluch, Libya. The sighting was reported to American authorities at Wheelus Airbase on the coast of Tripoli, but no attempt was made to inspect the wreckage since there were no records of any American aircraft lost in that area. The position of the wreckage was marked on the maps of the oil exploration team since another oil assessment mission was scheduled the following year in the Calanshio Sand Sea. There was another sighting in June of that year. A British oil surveyor along with two geologists spotted the wreckage on Feb. 27, 1959, and plotted the coordinates. Wheelus Airbase finally dispatched a recovery team to the site on May 26, 1959. On-site, the recovery team confirmed the hand-painted words on the starboard front side of the forward fuselage: Lady Be Good. The Liberator had skidded almost 700 yards; the fuselage broke in half behind the wings, and a technical inspection discovered she had landed on the power of one engine. Due to the deserts excellent preservation capabilities, Lady Be Good was in an amazing state of preservation. The coffee in a Thermos bottle was still drinkable and many of the aircrafts .50 caliber machine guns were in working condition and actually fired by team members. The radio worked, some food and supplies were intact, and the log of navigator Lt. D.P. Hayes was found with his final entry posted over Naples. No human remains inside or outside of the aircraft, plus an absence of parachutes indicated the crew had bailed out. In other words, Lady Be Good had landed herself. Additional searches in 1960 discovered the remains of eight of the nine-man crew. Evidence revealed they had bailed out about 16 miles north of the landing site of Lady Be Good. Eight survived the bailout. Unknown to the eight, the ninth crewmember, Bombardier Lt. John Woravka, had died when his parachute failed to open. The eight survivors decided to walk north, towards Libya; had they journeyed south the Lady Be Good awaited them with provisions and supplies and a working radio to call for help. Still further south, within walking distance, the Oasis of Wadi Zighen awaited their life-saving visit. A personal diary discovered in the pocket of the co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Toner, revealed details of their desert trek and suffering. They shared one canteen of water for eight days, left behind clothing articles, Mae West life vests, footwear, parachute material, and other items to mark their path, and came to a pause about 81 miles north of Lady Be Good. Five remained while three others continued north in search of help. Staff Sgt. and gunner Guy Shelleys remains were discovered 24 miles north of the recovered five bodies; flight engineer Harold Ripslingers remains were found 27 miles north of Shelleys remains. Ripslinger had walked 200 miles from the crash site before the desert took his life. The body and remains of Staff Sgt. Vernon Moore, the gunner, has never been found. Official report of Graves Registration: The aircraft flew on a 150-degree course toward Soluch Airfield. The craft radioed for a directional reading from the HF/DF station at Benina and received a reading of 330 degrees from Benina. The actions of the pilot in flying 440 miles into the desert are indications that the navigator probably took a reciprocal reading off the back of the radio directional loop antenna from a position beyond and south of Soluch but on course. The pilot flew into the desert, thinking he was still over the Mediterranean and on the way home. In simpler terms, the pilot and crew believed they were still over water when in fact they had overflown their home base of Soluch and into the unforgiving desert. To a novice pilot, the desert can spookily resemble a body of water. Lady Be Good landed herself on one engine and awaited her crew with life-saving provisions. She had done her job. Fate, however, turned on the Lady Liberator and denied her the opportunity to save her men. In a strange quirk of fate, perhaps Lady Be Good desired to remain in the Libyan Desert with her crew instead of being salvaged and chopped up for spare parts. A few parts are on display at a variety of museums, but in the air, Lady Be Goods carved-up body parts were not happy. A C-54 cargo plane had several auto syn transmitters installed from Lady Be Good crew members had to throw their cargo overboard to land safely after the propellers developed serious difficulties. A C-47 with a Lady Be Good radio receiver crashed into the Mediterranean. An Army de Havilland Otter received an armrest from Lady Be Good, the aircraft crashed into the Gulf of Sidra. Very few traces of the de Havilland washed ashore, one being the armrest of Lady Be Good. An Army issue Elgin A-11 wristwatch found near the remains of a Lady Be Good crewmember is on display at the Army Quartermaster Museum at Fort Lee, Va. Its still ticking, and accurate to within 10 seconds each and every day. The Ghost Liberator Lady Be Good can still be counted on. As a young boy, I read a brief article on the back pages of a local paper on the discovery of Lady Be Good in 1959. Details were sorely lacking. Like so many of our missing planes and flyboys and Marines and ships and sailors, Lady Be Good only registered back page news. I had always wanted to know the real scoop. Curiosity got the best of me. After extensive research, her story unfolded. Now you and I both know. Article by Peter Mecca Pete Mecca is a Vietnam veteran. To read Petes stories visit www.aveteransstory.us All the argy bargy over the $1.2 billion Spotless bid a sum way below its 2014 valuation when it floated on the ASX led CBD to wonder whatever happened to the man who made it all happen: Bruce Dixon. He was the guy who called in private equity backers, Pacific Equity Partners, to take Spotless private back in 2012 for $720 million. And returned it to the market less than two years later valued at $1.93 billion. Dixon Hospitality, led by former Spotless Group chief executive Bruce Dixon, has been fattening its pub portfolio as he plotted a listing this year. Credit:Josh Robenstone "What people don't realise is that as a former Spotless executive I could see clearly how costs had blown out way too much at the company and took the opportunity to PEP," he said post float in 2014. This was during that sunny period when the share price was above what investors paid in the float. He departed in November 2015, having sold $12.2 million worth of stock, and promised his retirement wouldn't involve anything more strenuous than a drink in one of the hotels in his son's growing pub empire. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made an unannounced Anzac Day-eve visit to Iraq and Afghanistan to meet serving Australian troops, and leaders of both countries. In a strictly controlled visit - the details of which were kept secret to protect the safety of Mr Turnbull and his travelling party - the Prime Minister visited Iraq on Sunday, and Afghanistan on Monday. His office announced the visit on social media early on Tuesday, posting a photo on Twitter of Mr Turnbull surrounded by Australian forces in Afghanistan. Yikang Feng was raised in Shanghai. His grandmother was on Mao Zedong's Long March, the famous military retreat by the communists that saved them from the ruling nationalists' army. He's now Captain Feng, on his second rotation with the Australian Defence Force to Iraq, training local forces in the fight against the so-called Islamic State. On the 101st Anzac Day, the capability of a modern army like Australia's that battles shadowy insurgencies among civilian populations, or trains local forces who have their own intricate cultures, rests as much on understanding the world's array of peoples as it does on traditional war fighting skills. Captain Feng is a case in point. He didn't know what Anzac Day was until he joined the Australian Army. He came to Australia at 18 to study, then became a Sydney finance trader with Macquarie Group and CommSec. He paints and plays cello. "Why don't you wipe your bum and eat it?" a boy yells at my nine-year-old daughter on our first afternoon in Vanuatu. She's taken aback. It's a difficult insult to answer. What should one reply? "Thank you! I will!" The boy is shouting in Bislama, the national language, but his insults are being helpfully translated by another excited child. It's all gone a bit West Side Story in our huge, overgrown backyard, teeming with local kids, and home for the next five weeks. We have moved here because our family is portable enough for these small adventures. The three kids are young enough to miss a bit of school, and my husband Keith has a small tech company which, instead of our backyard, he's running from our Port Vila back bedroom. I'm writing and taking care of family life on our usual small budget. Cabbage and cartooning with friends on the home-school porch. It's a privilege to be here, in this little house on the edge of a ramshackle village on the outskirts Port Vila, Vanuatu's capital city, but life is not all coconut cocktails and napkins folded in the shape of flamingos. So far, it's cats fighting and dogs howling all night long and exuberant yelling from the kava bar next door. Many young Australians living overseas will soon find themselves in the sights of their home country's tax authorities. Australian tax officials have been told to prepare for a campaign to recover student and trades training loans from graduates and trainees living and working all over the world. Damage control: Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan. Credit:Wayne Taylor But ex-pats need not fear a call from debt collectors, the ATO says, with an approach of encouraging "voluntary compliance" preferred, at least in the early days of the new rules. Graduates and other workers who have covered their uni fees with HELP loans, previously known as HECS, or Trade Support payments are currently not required to make repayments if they are not living in Australia. Three people have been charged over a "wild night in Coogee" during which police were pelted with bottles and surrounded by a crowd of up to 50 young people brawling on the eve of Anzac Day. The three males - aged 14, 16 and 21 - will face court over the violent disturbance in Goldstein Reserve on Arden Street, in front of Coogee Beach, on Monday night. Police said they were initially called to the park about 11pm to reports that two girls were fighting. A NSW Police spokeswoman said when the officers from the Eastern Beaches Local Area Command arrived at the park, they found the girls involved in a scuffle. Advertised a job in your small business and had applications from candidates who have qualifications on paper but lack basic knowledge and skills for the role they're going for? It's become an issue in the painting and decorating industry, following the rise of vocational training courses that purport to teach students vital trade skills, such as safe handling of toxic materials such as asbestos and lead paint. The Master Painters Association of NSW and the National Institute of Painting and Decorating raised the alarm in February about registered training organisations issuing qualifications to students after "tick and flick" training that failed to impart basic knowledge. Childcare problems TPG Telecom Ltd has announced it intends to become Australia's fourth mobile network operator, along with Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. TPG Telecom Ltd has purchased spectrum licenses for $1.26 billion and will spend another $600 million building the network infrastructure. However, it has emphasised it will not be competing across the whole Australian market, just 80 per cent of the population. So what will the mobile network environment look like in a few years time? It is reasonable to make some informed forecasts. If the market can indeed support a fourth network, the network scene is likely to be dominated by four carriers whose main offering is 4G mobile communications standard. However, significant inroads by Wi-Fi based services can be expected. Also, "Internet of Things" devices may constitute a revenue stream to the four main operators, but that may well be undermined by emerging linked technologies. Andrew Tebby was filled with an incredible sense of pride as he marched down St Kilda Road in the rain. "It was beautiful to march along with serving members," he said. "Everyone was clapping us for what we were doing." Mr Tebby, 52, served in the Australian navy for eight years during peacetime, retiring in 1998. Earlier today he attended the dawn service and huddled into his jacket as the rain pelted down. "It is not to celebrate, it is to cherish what they gave us, they fought for what we have today," he said. His jacket was decorated with 16 badges from his relatives, including those given to his British great great grandparents who served alongside the ANZACS in France and Germany. He said there were no winners in war. "It is a sad state of affairs." The countryside where millions died is farming land where green swells of grass paddocks divided by copses of trees and ancient stone walls roll to the hazy horizon. Then you see them. No straight lines in nature. The trenches. Still visible scars in the landscape even after 100 years. In his definitive book on World War One 'The Great War' the Australian writer Les Carlyon said you cannot just read or watch films about the conflict and what happened to its participants - you have to see the ground to understand. Taking his advice, I took a trip to France with a good mate back in 2012 to follow the campaigns of our respective grandfathers - his an English Tommy who stormed the Normandy beaches on D-Day in the Second World War, and my Great Grandfather who campaigned with the 11th Battalion (WA) from 1917 to the Armistice. Jharkhand rejected girls again. Police found 14 foetuses in the state out of which 12 were of females. By India Today Web Desk: At least 14 human foetuses were found in Jharkhand's Deoghar district on Tuesday. On Monday, 12 foetuses were recovered in a sack near roadside bushes in Dumarthar village. Two foetuses were found on Sunday at the same spot. Majority of the foetuses were of females, 12 out of 14. The bodies are now kept in sealed jars. The police suspect the role of nursing homes. advertisement "There could be two reasons. One, a case of female foeticide as majority of foetuses are of girls or illegal abortion of babies as two of the foetuses were male. The role of private hospitals cannot be ruled out," a police officer told IANS. FEMALE FOETICIDE IN JHARKHAND In the state of Jharkhand alone, the number of female foeticide in 2011 was close to 12,000. The child sex-ratio was dropped by 22 points in Jharkhand. "The drop in the child sex-ratio is higher in Jharkhand in comparison to the national figure. In Jharkhand, the child sex-ratio dropped from 965 to 943 between 2001 and 2011, which is 22 points, while the drop at the national level was 13 points, from 927 to 914," Times of India quoted Job Zachariah, the head of UNICEF in Jharkhand. --- ENDS --- The source of dangerous lead in drinking water at the new Perth children's hospital was likely a government-owned "ring main", according to WA's Building Commissioner, contradicting state government claims that contractor John Holland is to blame. Both the previous Liberal National government and new Labor government have been highly critical of John Holland for a litany of problems at the still-unopened $1.2 billion hospital, including the unsolved issue of elevated lead levels in drinking water. However, commissioner Peter Gow said in his independent audit report that there were no grounds for immediate disciplinary action against John Holland based on what he had investigated. "The audit found the most likely causes of the lead contamination were disturbed residues in the QEII medical centre ring main and lead leaching from the brass fittings and fixtures in the PCH plumbing network," he told reporters on Monday. Dan Tehan plants a tree at Polygon Peace Wood. Credit:Nick Miller That night they slept in groups of twos and threes, huddled in the "least repellant of the shell holes". The land has long healed, but the stories are raw. At Villers-Bretonneux, on Anzac Day, at the dawn service at the heart of the Anzac legacy in France, they remembered. They remembered Private Bishop, and the thousands who fell and sank nameless into the ground, now honoured by white headstones in cemeteries along the old front line, and in ranks of names on the walls of the Villers-Bretonneux memorial and the Menin Gate in Ypres. Around 2000 members of the public attended the service at Villers-Bretonneux this year. It was 1000 fewer than last year, and a third the figure of 2015 the smallest crowd in about a decade, organisers said. France's continuing terror attacks and state of emergency are thought to have deterred some visitors, others are likely waiting until 2018, the centenary of the Anzacs' great battle at Villers-Bretonneux. In 1917, victory was still a distant mirage. Following 1916's Somme offensive by the Allies, the Germans were hunkered down the brutally effective Hindenburg Line: belts of barbed wire and corridors of raking machinegun fire that decimated any assault: such as Australia's ill-fated attack at Bullecourt in April 1917. There has never been a year when Australia lost more to war than 1917, said Dan Tehan, Veterans Affairs minister in his commemorative address. He said he was struck by a son's letter home to his parents, on the eve of a big assault. The letter read: "I am sure I will be either killed or wounded. I will do my duty as a soldier and fight to the bitter end. I am your loving son, Denver." Mr Tehan wondered what would bring a man to carry on past the hope of survival. "He fought for a world where the war would end, not for him, but for others. He fought believing if he did his duty that (the world) would change and for the better. "This was the life of the Australian soldier on the Western Front in this darkest year, they did their duty and fought to the bitter end." Australian ambassador to France Stephen Brady said the ceremony at Villers-Bretonneux this year was an enduring "emblem of comradeship" between Australia and France. "At these treasured sites and ceremonies, we want to reassure those who lost their lives and reassure ourselves that we will keep talking about what they did and to remember them as they would have hoped to be remembered." Corporal Dan Keighran, 33, took part in the dawn service at Polygon Wood, just over the border in Belgium. Corporal Keighran was awarded a Victoria Cross for the highest military decoration for valour, for his bravery in drawing enemy fire in a 2010 battle in Afghanistan to save an injured comrade. "When you're standing here it's always hard to believe so much life was lost where we're standing," he said. "I always look at the terrain and it's pretty flat around here. There's nowhere to hide. When you've got two opposing forces coming together, something bad's going to happen. "It would have been bloody terrible." Cpl Keighran said it was "really disappointing" that numbers of Australians on the Western Front were down this year though he did understand people's concerns about their safety in the wake of France's terror attacks, he said. "I'm still here and I'd go to all the services if I could. It's not going to stop me, but I do understand why it does play on the mind of some people." He said he would like to think that, in a way, he was here on their behalf this year, to maintain the connection. On Monday, Corporal Keighran visited a new "Peace Wood", close to the site of battle, a project of the Flemish government. More than 500 trees have been planted in a field, each dedicated to a fallen soldier: Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, German and British. Washington: The US State Department is tasked with promoting American interests abroad, but marketing a private club owned by the US President has not generally been part of its official duties - until now. An article posted on many US Embassy websites around the world gives a visitors' guide to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's club in Palm Beach, Florida, that has become something of a "winter White House" because of his frequent visits there. It is a straightforward description of the resort: "When socialite and cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post built Mar-a-Lago - Spanish for Sea to Lake - in 1927, she spared no expense," the article notes. "The 114-room mansion sits on eight hectares of land, with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and an inland waterway on the other." The article goes on to say that Post willed the estate to the federal government, hoping it would become a vacation home for presidents. But when no president used it that way, the government gave it back. It notes that Trump bought the estate in 1985; he opened it to dues-paying members in 1995. His visits there have "finally" fulfilled Post's dream, the article states. The judge has reserved the date of May 29 for sentencing the seven accused in the case. By Divyesh Singh: The special designated TADA court in Mumbai will begin sentencing the seven accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case on May 29. The accused include Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Abdul Qayyum, Shaikh Firoz Khan, Tahir Merchant, Riyaz Siddiqui and Karimullah Sheikh. In the courtroom one of the accused Abdul Qayyum Sheikh requested the court to be granted permission to meet his brother and nephews while Karimullah Sheikh requested the court that he be allowed to get treatment for his ailment at hospital. The judge has reserved the date of May 29 for sentencing the seven accused in the case. advertisement The seven accused were arrested when trial for the case had already begun which involved 123 accused. That is the reason why it presently called as Case B of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. Salem was deported from Portugal while Dossa was deported from UAE. Dossa claims he wasn't deported but he had surrendered himself to the investigating team. One of prime accused in the case, Yakub Menon was hanged in July 2015 in Mumbai after being convicted and awarded capital punishment in the case. Some other prime accused who still remain at large in the case are Dawood Ibrahim, Mohammad Dossa and Tiger Memon. TADA court Judge GA Sanap had set a deadline in 2016 to expedite the case and end the trial. Salem is accused of transporting arms and ammunition and supplying weapons to actor Sanjay Dutt, who is serving a five-year-term. Mustafa Dossa is facing charges of conspiracy and landing the ammunition. Qayoom is charged with delivering the weapons to Dutt. Tahir is accused of arranging for the other convicts to travel to Pakistan. The second trial has lasted more than six years in which the prosecution relied heavily on confessions of the 129 suspects tried earlier. It also relied on evidence from 686 witnesses examined during the trial of the 129 - of which 100 were convicted - and 50 new witnesses. Dossa's is the most crucial case, as he faces the most serious charges -- landing the explosives in Mumbai and sending the other convicts to Pakistan for training. This is the only case pending against Dossa who has claimed that he surrendered to CBI and was not arrested. 257 people were killed in 12 blasts on March 12, 1993. Over 3,000 kg of RDX was brought into the country for the blasts, of which a mere 10 per cent were used. Also read: 1993 Mumbai blasts: CBI names Chhota Rajan in accused's murder case --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) In an oblique reference to Pakistan backing terror groups, Afghanistan today pitched for concerted efforts to dismantle terror infrastructure in the region, days after over 140 people were killed in a Taliban attack in an army base in Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif. "State sponsorship of terrorism has become an old fact. We are hoping and waiting for this ground reality to change," Afghan envoy Shaida Abdali said at an event here. advertisement He said that the states sponsoring terrorism must be delivered a strong message not to indulge in such acts. Abdali said that terrorism has badly affected the progress of the entire region and "major players" must come forward to effectively combat the challenge. "If we continue to use one terrorist group against another, the future is very dark," he said, adding, "Terrorism is the biggest challenge which is hampering our vision and progress." The Afghan envoy said that time has come to revive the India-Afghanistan-US trilateral to address pressing issues facing the region. He also complimented India for its contribution in reconstruction of Afghanistan. PTI MPB IKA --- ENDS --- Panneerselvam has given feelers saying all is good on the merger front. OPS might be general secretary of the party and EPS is likely to continue as the chief minister. By India Today Web Desk: After being hit by a number of roadblocks, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) merger seems to be happening finally. Party sources say AIADMK merger of two factions led by leaders O Panneerselvam (OPS) and Edapadi Palaniswami (EPS) is likely to happen soon. Both the sides wanted to buy time till TTV Dinakaran is arrested. advertisement Today again Panneerselvam gave feelers saying all is good on the merger front. OPS might be general secretary of the party and EPS is likely to continue as the chief minister. Sources claim suspended talks may begin after Dinakaran's arrest. While merger talks began a week ago, it had hit a roadblock ever since Dinakaran's name surfaced in the Election Commission bribe case. Team OPS has stated their two 'non-negotiable' demands - CBI probe into the death of Jayalalithaa and the removal of Sasikala and her Mannargudi clan from the AIADMK. Different sources from the party has been passing contradictory statements, with some saying there was no division to some rooting for EPS and OPS factions. After OPS presser on Monday, team EPS said that they were not in a position to fulfil promises but were open for a discussion. Finance Minister D Jayakumar has offered to step down so that his portfolio could be given to the Panneerselvam camp. Dinakaran, who is currently in Delhi for interrogation for his links in the Election Commission bribery case, has maintained that he had already announced he would stay away from party affairs. Dinakaran maintained that he could be removed only by Sasikala, who is lodged in Bengaluru jail. Also read: AIADMK merger talks hit more roadblocks: Team OPS wants 2 key Cabinet posts, probe into Jaya's death AIADMK crisis: No merger talks till clarity on EPS' game plan, says camp OPS Also watch: Sasikala's posters removed from AIADMK headquarters --- ENDS --- The proposal apparently aims to accommodate MPs who are entitled to travel business class but fly on routes where the airline operates only all-economy flights. By Press Trust of India: Air India plans to introduce premium economy class seats on some of its flights in the aftermath of Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad assaulting its staffer because he had to travel economy despite being entitled to a business class seat. Gaikwad had insisted on travelling business class on an all-economy flight, and later hit an airline staffer "25 times" with his slipper, triggering a row between him and Air India. advertisement The MP was upset as he had to travel economy from Pune to Delhi to attend the Budget session of Parliament last month even though he had a business class ticket. The proposal apparently aims to accommodate MPs who are entitled to travel business class but fly on routes where the airline operates only all-economy flights. The national carrier is mulling reconfiguring as many as eight of its aircraft operating on various domestic routes in order to introduce "very limited" number of premium economy seats, an Air India official said. Generally, premium economy seats are positioned between economy and business class seats, with a different fare and services structure. About two years ago, Air India -- which is working on ways to increase its market share -- had mooted the idea of premium economy class but it was shelved due to commercial reasons. The idea is now being revived, especially in the wake of the Gaikwad episode, according to the official. While the final contours are still being worked out, the idea is to redesign the front row seats - three on each side of the aisle - and convert them into two seats on either side. "The front row seats will be set aside for the proposed reconfiguration. This will ensure better leg room as well as more elbow room for the passenger," the official said. In efforts to provide more privacy for the traveller, the premium economy seats could be separated from the rest with curtains and the individual could also be served a different menu compared to economy class passengers, he added. Before putting in place the premium economy category, the official said the airline would amend its fare rules to allow business class passengers to travel on premium economy seats in case of non-availability of seats in higher class. "The rules will also specify that a passenger who opts for this exchange of seats cannot claim the difference between premium and business class fare," the official noted. Parliamentarians are entitled to one business class return air ticket on an Air India flight from the airport closest to their constituency to the capital for each of the four Parliament sessions per year. advertisement In addition to this, they are also eligible for another 16 business class return tickets on Air India for travel as part of carrying out their duties. At present, Vistara is the only domestic carrier which offers a three-class cabin - business, premium economy, and economy - across its 13-aircraft fleet. Also Read: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad boards first Air India flight after ban Ravindra Gaikwad has given undertaking, will not misbehave again, tweets MoS Jayant Sinha 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 --- ENDS --- By Adam Morton Apr. 24, 2017 | 08:40 PM | PADUCAH, KY On Monday, Paducah Mayor Brandi Harless held a meeting with residents to listen to concerns about rezoning the property located at 4231 Pecan Drive to make way for a new nursing facility.The proposed rezoning would change the property from an R1 (low density residential), to an R4 (high density residential), which would allow a new 100-bed, 77,300 square foot nursing facility to be built there. The zone change request is coming from CDB Service Finance, LLC.Earlier in April, The Paducah Planning commission held a public hearing with residents and the developer, where it was recommended that the zoning change pass. It then went before the Paducah City Commission for a first reading. Some residents voiced concerns about flooding at that meeting. The final vote was to take place the following week, but the Mayor and Commissioners decided to delay it to allow more time to consider the issue and listen to concerns from the public.Sean Ditterline is a resident in the area. Ditterline said he is not against developing the area, but he said there are other priorities. "I was concerned mostly about the flooding issues that it would produce. You know a large building plus parking takes away from a lot of grass and dirt to absorb the rain." Ditterline said.Peter Havel has lived in the neighborhood for decades, and said he has seen the flooding first hand. "I have lived there 23 years, and my property has been under water 36 times so far." Havel said.Lucinda Mills is also a resident in the neighborhood. Mills said she sees problems getting worse. "As this community has built up with new construction, the problems that we were already experiencing with the run off water have gotten more significant," Mills said. "Our concern with a 77,000 square foot building is that those same problems are going to be exacerbated."Commissioner Sarah Holland said she was pleased so many came to voice their concerns. " We have residents that have lived here 30, 40 years and have seen the flooding problems increase, and I think that is an incredibly important issue to bring to the table as we consider this decision." Holland said.Harless thanked the crowd for coming and being honest and open with her. She gave some suggestions to help with issues, but was clear that the problem would not be solved immediately."I would encourage all of you to get together and talk about forming a neighborhood association." Harless said. She explained that it might make residents' voices easier to be heard.The final vote for the rezoning will take place at Tuesday's City Commission meeting. On the Net: Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 24, 2017 | WEBSTER COUNTY, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 24, 2017 | 01:58 PM | WEBSTER COUNTY, KY The Kentucky State Police Post 2 is requesting the help of the public in finding an inmate that escaped custody in Webster County and is now on the run. Around 11:45 am Monday, Jack Wayne Phillips walked away from a work release detail at the Webster County Animal Shelter. He was last seen wearing a long sleeve orange shirt and khaki pants. Phillips is 61 years old, white, 6 feet tall and weighs 140 pounds. He has gray hair, fair skin and blue eyes. Phillips is a felon inmate who was serving time in the Webster County Detention Facility for 1st degree trafficking in a controlled substance (heroin), tampering with physical evidence, drug paraphernalia and traffic offenses out of Grant County. He also has several other drug related convictions and traffic offenses out of Mason County. If anyone has information on the whereabouts of this escaped inmate, please contact Kentucky State Police Post 2 at 270-676-3313 or call 911. Callers can remain anonymous. By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 25, 2017 | 01:14 PM | HICKMAN, KY A man arrested last week on rape and sodomy charges was arraigned Tuesday in Fulton County.According to the Court Clerk, 47-year-old David Garrett of Hickman was arraigned in Fulton County District Court, where he entered a plea of not guilty to three counts of 1st degree rape and sodomy.Warrants for Garrett's arrest last week indicated he committed the acts against a minor in 2015 and 2016.Garrett requested to be awarded a public defender, and remains in jail on a $50,000.00 cash bond. His next scheduled court date is May 2.According to records, Garrett is a lifetime registered sexual offender who transferred from Illinois. His original conviction was for sexual battery in the state of Indiana.Fulton County Sheriff's Deputies say Garrett was arrested April 5 on a warrant for being a sex offender who used messenger, chatting, or social media. Deputies had previously asked anyone who thinks Garrett may have contacted their child to call them at 270-236-2545. On the Net: Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 25, 2017 | FRANKFORT, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 25, 2017 | 11:43 AM | FRANKFORT, KY The Allstate Foundation has awarded the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence $115,000 in grants for its nationally recognized Economic Empowerment Project. The Allstate Foundation and the KCADV have partnered for 12 years to break the cycle of domestic violence through economic empowerment--to the tune of $1,140,000 in grants for member programs since 2005, including Merryman House in Paducah. The funding will support individual case management, financial education classes, Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), and micro loans throughout Kentuckys 15 domestic violence programs. Funding will also support KCADVs innovative partnership with the Kentucky Community and Technical College Systems (KCTCS) 16 community colleges whose transitional students (welfare recipients) are now eligible for financial empowerment services since 2014. Last year, 1,895 individuals were served with financial empowerment services, using The Allstate Foundation's Moving Ahead Through Financial Management curriculum. Of these, 844 people created a financial plan or budget, 69 opened bank accounts, 342 are working to improve credit scores, and 540 met financial goals. Between KCADVs reach to domestic violence programs and community colleges, more than 2,300 survivors of domestic violence in Kentucky will receive economic empowerment services this year. Most survivors are single mothers earning less than $15,000 per year. Seventy-two percent of KCTCS transitional students report being survivors of domestic violence. Participants benefit from financial education classes and counseling and can open IDAs (special matched savings accounts). Participants who maximize one program finish with $5000 to spend--$1000 of their own savings and $4000 in matching funds--on an asset of their choosing: higher education expenses, a home purchase, or funds to start or expand a small business. The savings of participants who save for a car are matched one-to-one for a total of up to $4,000. KCADVs economic empowerment program has helped participants purchase assets that will help them become self-sufficient: 186 have purchased homes; 56 have started small businesses; 322 have pursued a post-secondary degree; and 145 have purchased their own cars. The Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence is a coalition of the Commonwealths 15 publicly funded domestic violence programs. Traders are refusing to buy the crop, there is no market intervention mechanism to rescue farmers and chilli prices are in free fall. "For the first time in a decade, I will lose money despite a good harvest," rues K. Uppalaiah who grows red chillies with pretty names like Meenakshi and Vaishnavi on his 2.5 acre farm in Telangana's Warangal district. Current prices at the Enumamula market are Rs 3,000 a quintal. It was Rs 12,000 last year, Rs 15,000 in 2015. Cultivating chilli is expensive. It takes Rs 1.5 lakh an acre including the Rs 50,000 to pick the chillies. For him, and many others like him in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, it just isn't adding up despite a bumper harvest. Traders are refusing to buy the crop, there is no market intervention mechanism to rescue farmers and chilli prices are in free fall. There have been angry farmer protests, including instances where market yards have been torched. advertisement Ironically, it was the state that had encouraged farmers to switch from cotton to chillies. In Andhra alone, the acreage under chilli went up from 350,000 to 470,000, raising production to 14 million bags (40 kg each). Notably, India accounts for 38 per cent of the world's chilli production, and Telangana and AP grow half of that. The Chandrababu Naidu government has now set aside Rs 200 crore to offer farmers as compensation-Rs 1,500 per quintal for a maximum of 20 quintals per farmer. The incentive, however, is only if a farmer was forced to sell his crop for less than Rs 6,500 a quintal. Telangana is meanwhile looking towards Delhi for a bailout. It may be too late by then for farmers like Uppalaiah. --- ENDS --- Defence ministry sources said a show cause notice has been served to the company after the juice failed the test. By Press Trust of India: The Canteen Stores Department (CSD), the retailing entity selling consumer goods to armed forces, has suspended sale of a batch of Patanjali Ayurveda's amla juice after it "failed" to clear a laboratory test. When contacted, the FMCG company, promoted by yoga guru Ramdev, said the amla juice is a medicinal product unlike other juices sold in the market and that it is absolutely safe for human consumption. advertisement Defence ministry sources said a show cause notice has been served on the company after the juice "failed" the test. The test was carried out at West Bengal Public Health Laboratory, Kolkata. The sources said as per procedure, CSD has immediately suspended the sale of the particular batch of the item and sent a show cause notice to the company to examine the deviations and explain about them. They said "further action" will be taken on receipt of reply from the firm. The CSD had sent samples of Amla Juice having index number 85417 and batch number GH1502 to the laboratory in Kolkata, they said. The Patanjali Ayurveda said its amla juice is an ayurvedic medicine and test on it should be conducted as per the norms of the AYUSH ministry. The firm said norms prescribed by the country's food regulator-Food Safety and Standards Authority of India- were not applicable to the juice. The CSD regularly sends items from its inventory for testing at various government-run laboratories across the country. ALSO READ: Patanjali opens its first vegetarian restaurant Postik in Chandigarh --- ENDS --- The deceased, Sandhya Singh, who was a radio jockey, was found hanging on Thursday, police said. By Press Trust of India: An army Majors wife was found hanging at their official quarters located under Bolarum police station limits here, police said today. The deceased, Sandhya Singh, who was a radio jockey, was found hanging on Thursday, police said. "Her husband Major Vaibhav Vishal is currently working in 54th Infantry Division here. The deceased was working as a radio jockey," Deputy Commissioner of Police B Sumathi said. advertisement According to the police official, it was a love marriage and the deceased belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC) community from Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, based on the information provided by her husband, a case of suicide had been registered. However, the family members of the deceased alleged that her husband had been harassing her for dowry. Following this, the army Major was booked under section 304 (b) (dowry death), and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act at Bolarum police station, police said. "We wrote a letter to the Army officials seeking his custody. As per the communication, we received from them that he (Major Vishal) is in ICU of an army hospital due to health problems. The army assured us that he will be handed over to us as soon as he will be fine medically," Sumathi said. Also read: Woman commits suicide at Delhi Metro station Odisha Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy mocks farmer suicides, says they die only when Assembly is in session --- ENDS --- In his first major post-presidential appearance, Barack Obama moderated an event at the University of Chicago, where he once taught constitutional law. He didn't mention his successor - Donald Trump - at all. By Reuters: Barack Obama, making his first major appearance since leaving the White House, made no mention on Monday of his successor, Donald Trump, but urged young people to get more involved in their communities at a time of stark political divides. "What's been going on since I've been gone?" joked the former Democratic president as he moderated an event at the University of Chicago in the city where he began his political career and which will be the site of his presidential library. advertisement Obama, who once taught constitutional law at the school, recalled starting out as a young community organizer in the city and told a panel of six current and former students that he decided to focus his post-presidency on encouraging young people to engage with their communities. "The single most important thing I can do is to help in any way prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world," he told an audience of several hundred people. Obama has largely stayed out of the public eye since leaving office in January despite efforts by Trump and the Republican-led Congress to undo much of his legacy, including on healthcare and the environment. TRUMP ACCUSED OBAMA OF WIRETAPPING HIS CAMPAIGN Trump, a Republican, has said he "inherited a mess" and accused Obama in March, without providing evidence, of wiretapping his 2016 presidential campaign. Obama has denied the charge and FBI Director James Comey told a congressional hearing he had seen no evidence to support the allegation. Obama was not asked about Trump by the students and he took no questions from reporters. Saying it had long been his goal to bridge the country's deep political divide, Obama said: "It's harder and harder to find common ground because of the money in politics." "Special interests dominate the debates in Washington in ways that don't match up with what the broad majority of Americans feel," he said. Obama added that changes in the way people use media allow them to converse just with those who agree with their own points of view. On Sunday, as part of a program to help at-risk young people, Obama met privately with men from Chicago's troubled South Side to discuss solutions for the violence and joblessness that have marked that neighborhood. The former president, who together with his wife, Michelle, recently struck a two-book, $65 million memoir deal, is expected to travel to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel next month. ALSO READ | Barack Obama posts farewell letter on Facebook ALSO WATCH | An emotional Barack Obama delivers his last speech as the US President --- ENDS --- Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/04/2017 (2024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. As a blanket of fresh snow fell over the city Monday, the notorious Yuletide Bandit was enjoying his first taste of freedom in 15 years. Michael Syrnyk, one of the most sophisticated criminals Winnipeg has ever seen, was granted statutory release on the weekend after serving two-thirds of his lengthy sentence. He will live under supervision at a halfway house while remaining on parole until his full sentence expires in 2024. There are several conditions attached to his release, including a curfew. Mr. Syrnyk is an extremely intelligent and hard-working man. I expect he will become a successful and contributing member of our society, his lawyer, Mike Cook, told the Free Press Monday. He well-understood the life problems he was experiencing at the time of his offending behaviour and was committed to rectify those issues and rehabilitate himself. MIKE APORIUS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS May 02, 2002 Police escort Michael Syrnyk out of 205 Alexander Ave. after a 12 hour standoff. Syrnyk, 46, left dozens of terrified victims in his wake during a seven-year spree that was mostly focused around the holiday season. He was given a 21 1/2-year sentence in December 2002 after pleading guilty to 35 charges. They included 21 armed robberies of mostly banks and armoured-car guards many of which involved the exchange of gunfire. He made off with more than $300,000. Syrnyk was described in court as a complex, obsessive-compulsive perfectionist who modelled his mayhem after some of the most successful capers in history. The Free Press got an exclusive glimpse into his past, present and future during a hearing last spring in which he applied for day parole. I terrorized so many people. I put so many innocent peoples lives at risk, over and over again. I terrorized the city, Syrnyk told parole officials. He described being haunted by the images of some of his frightened victims and vowed he was a changed man. He had the full support of his prison treatment team and was described as a model inmate with no incidents or behavioural issues during his incarceration. Syrnyk spent the first decade at Stony Mountain Institution before he was moved to the adjacent minimum-security Rockwood facility about six years ago. Hes able to articulate the depth of harm hes caused to his victims. Hes mindful of how the community as a whole has been impacted by his offending, his parole officer, Valdine Lewis, told the hearing. She added Syrnyk had been receiving escorted temporary absences since 2015, where he does volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and Siloam Mission. The work has allowed him to be a part of the society he felt so disconnected from, the board was told. Habitat for Humanity has promised to hire him if they have a future job opening. Frank Klassen, project supervisor of Siloam Mission, also submitted a letter of support. Syrnyks history is well-documented. He had no prior criminal involvement; he claims deeply rooted psychological issues drove him to a life of crime. Unlike most offenders, this wasnt about trying to feed an addiction, or trying to become rich. Syrnyk spent weeks researching famous crime groups, such as the Stopwatch Gang, and decided to carve out his own niche. He would meticulously plan his crimes, often rehearsing them for days. He would wear numerous layers of clothing to change his appearance, would position stolen cars across Winnipeg for his getaways and always wore an earpiece connected to a police scanner. He stockpiled weapons and grew increasingly brazen. Syrnyks most notorious robbery was a daytime shootout at the Polo Park mall that sent Christmas shoppers diving for cover. His last hurrah came when he took a woman hostage inside a downtown massage parlour, shot a Winnipeg police officer in the shoulder and then confessed to all of his unsolved crimes during a lengthy standoff. Winnipeg police sent a letter to the parole board last spring, asking officials to keep the man who waged war against them locked up. They were entitled to give their opinion through the victim-impact portion of the hearing. The parole board expressed concerns about whether Syrnyk was trying to take on too much, too soon. Syrnyk admitted the biggest risk factor for him would be, If I was released and started becoming dissatisfied with my life and felt like it wasnt going anywhere. I wouldnt want Mike Syrnyk circa 2001 walking around, he said. But Im not the same person. I could never function at that level again. I feel a connection to people now. Day parole was denied at the time, although it was noted he would only have to wait one more year until he received his statutory release. That time has now arrived. mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 25/04/2017 (2023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Toronto-based company has reached a tentative agreement to purchase the downtown Medical Arts building with the intention of converting it into an apartment complex, local real estate industry sources say. The three sources said the purchase of the building by Timbercreek Asset Management Inc. is contingent upon a number of conditions. One of them is likely that a more detailed examination of the 15-storey office tower must show it would be economically feasible to convert it into a multi-family residential complex. Typically in situations like this, that is what you would do, one source said. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries purchased the Medical Arts building in September 2015 for $7.9 million with the intention of spending about $74 million to renovate and expand it. Another noted such a conversion would be costly because the interior would basically have to be gutted and rebuilt. Thats kind of the exercise (determine) how much rent could you get and how much is it going to cost (to redevelop the building), he said. So I guess well have to see how their prices come in He said if the due diligence process determines it wouldnt be economically feasible to convert the building to multi-residential, then Timbercreek can walk away and the building would go back onto the market. Maybe theyll spend $100,000 on due diligence and if it works out, great. If it doesnt, thats just a bit of an investment, he said. Officials with Timbercreek and Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, which listed the building for sale in early January, could not be reached Monday for comment. The deadline for offers to be submitted was Feb. 3, and officials with MLL and the brokerage firm that marketed the building on its behalf the Winnipeg office of Colliers International have refused since then to comment until if and when a deal with a prospective buyer is finalized. MLL purchased the building in September 2015 for $7.9 million with the intention of spending about $74 million on renovating and expanding it. The plan was to use some of the space for its new downtown headquarters, and rent out the rest of the building to other tenants. But the new Progressive Conservative government and a new MLL board of directors shelved those plans last January, saying they were too costly. The boards chair also said the Crown corporations mandate doesnt include being a property developer and landlord. The MLLs asking price was $16 million, which was nearly twice what it paid. One of the industry sources said he was told the corporation got its asking price, or close to it. The sources said converting the building to another use makes sense because, with a vacancy rate of about 50 per cent, it no was no longer working as an office tower. As an office building it was always a challenge to lease out. There are too many other office buildings that are way better and new inventory is coming online thats going to be very attractive, one of them said. Its also such a small floor plate, he said. If you got a major tenant in there, theyd have to take three or four floors which is not efficient. And then you would have to try and fill a whole bunch of smaller units. Timbercreek has acquired at least six other multi-family residential buildings since it entered the Winnipeg market in 2010 with the purchase of three highrise apartment towers 160 Smith St., 33 Hargrave St. and 15 Arden Ave. from Winnipegs B & M Lands Co. In May of last year it also acquired the three-tower Colony Square apartment/office/retail complex on St. Mary Avenue for $70.25 million and said it would be spending millions of dollars on renovations and upgrades over the next 10 years. Company co-founder Ugo Bizzarri said at the time that Timbercreek was very pleased with the Winnipeg market, and that it was looking to acquire more properties here. We like the downtown and we like the multi-family sector, obviously, he said. (But) were looking all across the city. murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 25/04/2017 (2023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Manitoba grain producer with support from the group known as Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board has filed a statement of claim in a Manitoba court seeking more than $160 million in damages in a class action on behalf of all Prairie grain producers who delivered wheat and barley to the Canadian Wheat Board during the 2010/2011 and 2011/12 crop years. The action is the latest effort by farmers to claim $145 million that was held in a contingency fund when the wheat boards monopoly was wound down by the former Harper government in 2012. They are also seeking $10 million in punitive damages and $5.9 million of improperly charged transition costs. A class action had previously been launched in Federal Court, but when the CWB was transferred to the entity now called G3 Canada Ltd. in 2015, the class-action lawyers determined it needed to be pursued in another jurisdiction Filed with the Court of Queens Bench for Manitoba in Winnipeg, the statement of claim names the Government of Canada, G3 Global Grain Group and G3 Limited as defendants. staff The encroachment came to light after the National Green Tribunal ordered the state government to free the Bellandur lake of all pollutants within a month's time. By Nolan Pinto: Citizens of Bengaluru can finally be at ease since various civic bodies have decided to get their act together and save the Bellandur lake from pollutants. After sustained efforts by India Today, officials from the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), revenue department and the local Tehsildar visited the spot and took action. They have utilised a backhoe loader to dig trenches so as to avoid any trucks from entering the lake land and buffer zone to dump construction and demolition waste. This can be viewed as a novel step taken by the concerned officials to at least temporarily stop the dumping of waste and also save the wetlands from further encroachments. advertisement Local residents who have been constantly fighting to stop this alleged encroachment are thrilled with the latest development but want the authorities to complete the survey work quickly and start fencing the periphery of the lake. In spite of threats to their lives, the residents are unwilling to back out from their endeavour to save the lake. The alleged encroachment came to light especially after the National Green Tribunal ordered the state government to free the Bellandur lake of all pollutants within a month's time. Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO of Namma Bengaluru Foundation, had said that the need of the hour is for the government to take physical possession of the lakes and begin fencing work. This according to him will help solve most of the problems of rampant encroachment and illegalities taking place with the knowledge of the civic authorities. DE-WEEDING BEGINS Today BDA officials along with contractors were busy on one side of the mammoth Bellandur lake working from quite early in the morning to begin de-weeding. The tender work order for de-weeding of macrophytes (hyacinth) or water plants in the lake has been awarded to an agency from Hyderabad who will complete the entire job within 3 months. BDA's executive engineer Veersingh Nayak supervised the beginning of the operation and was confident that this work can be completed within the stipulated timeframe. "We have just started the initial works for the floating dredging machines to enter the lake. Before that we have to remove the weeds on the banks of the lake and mostly by Thursday or Friday, we will begin the lake de-weeding," he told India Today. The agency responsible for de-weeding of the lake said they are confident of completing a majority of the work before the onset of the monsoon rains. However they still have no clue where they will dump the weeds once it is removed from the lake waters. Raghav Reddy who represents the agency involved in the de-weeding work says that they are using backhoe loaders to clear the weeds near the edges of the lake before they get their floating dredger in a day or two. advertisement FENCING OF LAKE Apart from this, BDA officials have also begun the work of fencing the peripheries of the lake and claim to have completed surveying the entire 914 acre area. India Today also witnessed the work to fix meshes on the bridge so as to avoid foam from flying into the faces of motorists. Along with all this work, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) fixed surveillance cameras near the same spot to keep a watch on miscreants who dump garbage into the lake. The NGT had on April 19 ordered all industries around the Bellandur Lake to be shut and also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on anyone found dumping waste in and around the lake. The green panel has given the authorities a month's time to free the lake of all pollutants. It further added that no waste of any kind, either municipal solid waste or domestic waste, is to be dumped in the buffer zone of the lake. The state government along with the Pollution Control Board, Lake Development Authority and the Bengaluru Development Authority have been instructed to begin clearing the lake immediately and report in a month. advertisement (Inputs from Anna Thomas) Also read: Bengaluru's Bellandur lake catches fire again, toxic smoke over IT city's suburb Bengaluru: NGT shuts down industries near Bellandur lake Also watch: Bengaluru: NGT slaps notice on municipal officials over frothing Bellandur Lake --- ENDS --- Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 25/04/2017 (2023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Great-West Life is a poster-child for stodgy, profitable, boring Canadian financial institutions, so you know something must be happening in the market when the Winnipeg-based insurance giant announces a major technology-focused transformation. Company officials heralded a new era for the insurance giant as it invests more heavily in digital technologies, but the cost will be a 13 per cent reduction in its Canadian workforce. That means cutting 1,500 positions out of 12,000 over the course of the next two years. That could mean a loss of as many as 450 jobs in Winnipeg, where its head office operation currently employs 3,500 people. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The job losses at Great-West Life are in step with its plans to transition to a digitally enabled organization that incorporates fintech. The move is being made to allow growth by addressing changing technology, demographics and regulations, said Paul Mahon, CEO of the Winnipeg-based company that has $1.3 trillion in assets under administration, including substantial operations in the U.S, the U.K., Ireland and Germany. We needed to invest more heavily in digital capabilities, which included hiring lots of people to build out our capabilities, Mahon said, referring to 200 technology hires last year. At the same time, we have concluded that as we got better and stronger in terms of our new capabilities, customers were not going to expect to pay more for a digitally enabled Great-West Life. They were going to actually be looking for us to be at the same pricing levels or lower, so we really need to focus on getting at our cost structure. Mahon said the 13 per cent job reduction does not account for attrition and growth in the next two years. We do have natural attrition and we will also have growth as we win new clients that will offset the job reduction (by needing to hire people to deal with new business), Mahon said in an interview with the Free Press. We believe the net number in Winnipeg will be something less than 450. New financial technology (fintech) applications are disrupting all financial services industries including the insurance business. A recent report from PwC called Blurred lines: How FinTech is shaping Financial Services said, for instance, Self-directed solutions emerging among competitors will make differentiation a challenge, but an important one to overcome to be successful in the future. An EY survey showed fintech adoption rates could triple in a year and the risk of disruption to the traditional financial institutions is very real. Mahon said his company acknowledges that and it is evolving from a more manually intensive to a more digitally enabled organization. We are being impacted (by new technology). As either direct competitors or new competitors automate their processes they will provide more competitive pricing. We need to be able to do that as well, Mahon said. At the same time, we need to hire and attract talent who are going to help us build out our financial technology capabilities. Sylvie Albert, the dean of the faculty of business and economics at the University of Winnipeg, said it is sad to see the job losses, but its important that companies plan for the future. Great-West Life will always be an important company in Winnipeg and when you look at the overall employment levels in Winnipeg we are not screaming major downsizing, she said. It is too bad, but, at the same time, if companies do not gather the new technology resources that are available, they do not survive. The job cuts are the latest in a series of restructuring moves by Great-West Lifeco that company officials say address the increasing competitive environment and the changing demands of both the group and individual insurance sectors. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES These are difficult but necessary decisions that we are not taking lightly, Mahon said. We are committed to treating all those affected fairly and respectfully, consistent with our values. In a conference call with analysts Tuesday, Mahon made it clear that digital engagement is growing on the group side and the company has enhanced its GroupNet web portal and made a strategic investment in Portag3 Ventures, a fintech investment fund. But in the individual life and health business there is still a high value placed on personal advisers. The reality is that the majority of our Canadian consumers that acquire our products and services on the individual side are still seeking the highly valued support of an adviser, Mahon said. On the group side now, there are 1.3 million plan members transacting directly with the company through its web portal or mobile apps. This is really a tale of two different strategies around the Canadian customer, Mahon said. The reorganization will mean a $127-million after-tax charge on the companys second-quarter results, or $0.13 per common share. About two-thirds of those costs will come from employee severance payments and the other one-third split between real estate consolidation costs and information-technology exit costs. The company expects to realize $117 million in after-tax savings by early 2019. Great-West Lifeco shares were up 17 cents on Tuesday, closing at $36.82. Paul Holden, an analyst with CIBC World Markets, said the announced business transformation is likely a good thing due to expected cost savings and higher expected growth. CIBC raised its 12-month target price to $39 from $37. Premier Brian Pallister weighed in on the news that the largest public company in the city was reducing its workforce, saying there is nothing his government can do to prevent the job losses, though the province will continue to create an environment in which business can succeed. We want them to stay here, we want them to grow here, Pallister said. (Great-West) is making decisions it feels are necessary to compete. It has a record for treating its employees well. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 25/04/2017 (2023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Richardson Pioneer is introducing a new software to work one-on-one with crop growers. CropMatrix is a software program to work with farmers to collect, analyze and store their data. The database will record everything from soil fertility to crop rotation and crop performance. Historical data can show what works and what hasnt, with Richardson staff providing information on what has worked elsewhere. MIKE APORIUS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Richardson Building at Portage and Main in Winnipeg. By gathering, sharing and evaluating historical field data and product performance, Richardson Pioneer staff can help farmers maximize farm profitability, the company said in a news release. Richardson Pioneer is part of Winnipeg-based James Richardson & Sons, a worldwide merchandiser of Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 25/04/2017 (2023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Winnipeg lead-generating company that primarily uses contracted callers who work from home is volunteering its expertise for a novel enterprise setting up a call centre in a prison. Carrie Simpson, whose Managed Sales Pros business has become one of the fastest-growing startups in Canada 600 per cent growth over the past three years is volunteering with a prison ministry group to set up the small call centre at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility in Iowa. Simpson built her successful lead-generating business over time, eventually developing after trial and error into a niche service working exclusively with information technology companies. Her clients are software or hardware vendors who want to find managed service providers that will agree to become re-sellers. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Carrie Simpson is volunteering her time to help a ministry establish a call centre at an Iowa prison. Simpson got all sorts of advice and guidance in Winnipeg at The Eureka Project, now North Forge Technology Partners. A couple of years ago she participated in a program that allowed her to pilot an on-premise call centre in Las Vegas and since then set up an American company there with 15 full-time employees. In total, her company now has about 35 people on the phones every day. Last fall, she was approached by a Christian ministry called WTL Industries that has been working with prisoners at the Fort Dodge prison to help them set up a call centre. At this point Im volunteering my time and my teams time to help them, Simpson said. Then I will support them with training and mentoring. Setting up a call centre is not easy. We have made all the mistakes already. Larry Lubinus is a volunteer with WTL Industries both inside and outside the prison. Hes a retired process engineer with Dupont and also works as a facilitator for a company called HTG Peer Groups. One of the companies he encountered with HTG suggested he call Simpson to help. Prisons in Iowa are supportive of having private-sector businesses work in the prisons, Lubinus said. The prisoners can make more money, get training and obviously its a better activity for the men, Lubinus said. But its hard for a manufacturing company, for instance, to try to set up in a prison. But a call centre is different. All they need is a computer and a headset. But its still not so simple. The inmates cannot access the Internet and there are all sorts of restrictions about calling out. For instance, they will not be able to set up appointments for the call centre clients, something that Simpsons business would typically do. Managed Sales Pros mines data in a specialized way to find the most appropriate leads to pass on to her clients. But at Fort Dodge they will have to find very specialized clients with what she referred to as one and done kind of calls. Simpson said she is happy to have the chance to help out. Im 13 years sober. This means my life now looks a lot different than it did 14 years ago. Ive never been incarcerated, but that doesnt mean I couldnt have been. I believe in second chances, she said. Lubinus said there was great demand among the inmate population for the chance to get trained and work at the call centre. Simpson interviewed the applicants on the phone and selected four for the project. Shell continue to train them. One of the participants is a convicted drug dealer. He obviously has had some success as a salesperson, Lubinus said. A key part of the Fort Dodge project is that when the call centre workers prison terms are up, they would be trained and experienced and be able to find call centre work. Simpson said the number one barrier to further growth for Managed Sales Pros is identifying the right people for her to train and work for her. The ideal scenario, she said, Is that we would be able to give them a job when they are released. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 25/04/2017 (2023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Kathy Urban, whose kidneys had failed three weeks earlier, was preparing to go on dialysis when her phone rang. Urban said it was the transplant team calling to say they had found a kidney. She wouldnt need to go on dialysis for even a day. I was in total shock, she said on Monday about the call she received in 2001, more than 24 years after she was first diagnosed with kidney disease. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kidney recipient Kathy Urban (left) and MLA Reg Helwer whose daughter has received two kidney transplants in the past six years spoke at an event at The Forks on Monday. I was told it could be three years and the call came three weeks later. People I worked with were surprised when I went for a kidney transplant because I rarely missed a day of work. Your life changes in a minute. I got the call and I left my desk. Coming up on the 16th anniversary of getting a new kidney, the 64-year-old Urban said she always remembers that her new life came because another persons life ended. I do not know who the donor of my very precious gift of life is, but I do know that they and their family were very caring, giving, unselfish and courageous and that their decision to say yes to organ donation improved and saved my life and the lives of many others, she said. I thank them every day for my kidney and every year, on the anniversary of my kidney transplant, I write my donor family a letter to let them know I am remembering their loved one and them. I havent forgotten what they lost in order for me to receive. Urban was speaking as part of the 20th National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week. The week was created to encourage Canadians to sign up to donate and to begin a conversation with their loved ones about their intentions. Currently, 19,181 Manitobans have declared their intention to donate organ and tissue through signupforlife.ca. To mark the occasion, this week the canopy at The Forks will be lit green, the designated colour for organ and tissue donation. Dr. Faisal Siddiqui, a Transplant Manitoba Gift of Life physician, said when a tragedy happens and his team meets with families to talk about donation it is an incredibly difficult time in their lives. Despite dealing with loss and grief, many families tell us the opportunity to consider organ and tissue donation offers a small window of hope and every time we talk about it like this, more people sign up. Urban said when she received the kidney she was celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary, had just turned 50, and was facing dialysis. Now she has celebrated her 40th anniversary, experienced many things in life that would have been difficult if shed had to do dialysis and will soon turn 65. Urban said she doesnt know who her kidney donor was, but she knows that persons family is grateful for her letters of thanks. About halfway through I hadnt heard from them and I was wondering should I keep doing it and then I got a letter back, she said. They said they appreciate it. They said Im keeping part of their loved one alive for them. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) State-run BHEL today said its largest power project order in the international market, valued at Rs 10,000 crore, in Bangladesh has taken off. "Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL)s largest ever export order, valued at Rs 10,000 crore, for setting up 1,320 MW (2x660 MW) Maitree Super Thermal Power Project in Bangladesh has taken off, following the issuance of the Notice To Proceed by the developer," the company said in a BSE filing. advertisement The order has been secured from Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Pvt Ltd (BIFPCL), a 50:50 JV company of NTPC and Bangladeshs BPDB. "BHEL has arranged debt financing for the project from the EXIM Bank of India for which the loan agreement between EXIM Bank of India and BIFPCL has been signed in March, 2017," the power equipment maker said. Shares of BHEL were trading 2.33 per cent higher at Rs 180.30 apiece on BSE. PTI SVK ABI --- ENDS --- Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/04/2017 (2024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Their victims and settings may have been worlds apart, but the deadly attacks on a gay nightclub in Florida and a Quebec mosque have much in common, says an Orlando police investigator whos coming to Winnipeg to share what hes learned with those trying to keep Manitobans safe. In my opinion, both shooters motives were just violent, deranged and selfish methods of drawing attention to their misguided ideologies, said Lt. Richard Ruth with the Orlando Police Department. The officer who investigated the Pulse nightclub massacre joins hate crime experts speaking at a one-day seminar dubbed the Orlando Pulse nightclub Shooting When Hate and Radicalization Leads to Violence. Organizer David Douglas is expecting 120 representatives from local law enforcement, military, Public Safety Canada and the private sector including the insurance industry to attend. Every few days the news is reporting some sort of terrorist event or hate crime throughout the world, said Douglas, whose private security company DHD International organized the event. Its purpose is to improve awareness and understanding of the issues to help Manitoba be better prepared, he said. Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel Files Kyndall Whitley, 7, with her mother, Krisinda, signs a poster at the roadside memorial at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in June 2016. The Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016 was the deadliest terror attack in the U.S. since 9/11, leaving 49 dead, 53 injured and a country in shock. It was the most violent episode in the history of the LGBTQ community in the U.S. The shooter, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, was shot and killed after a three-hour standoff with police. Seven months later, a gunman opened fire inside the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre just after evening prayers on Jan. 29, killing six men and injuring 19 others. Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, has been charged with first-degree murder. Experts such as Orlandos Ruth who has 20 years of experience in drug enforcement, intelligence and the terrorist unit see parallels between Mateen and the Quebec mosque shooter. They clearly both possessed a commitment to violence as a method of serving their ideologies, he said. Their ideologies may have been opposing, but both were lone gunmen who targeted victims in locations in which the victims felt safe and at ease. The victims in both shootings shared nothing other than innocence. Both of the targeted groups LGBTQ in Florida and Muslims in Quebec have been stigmatized and denigrated in popular culture, said Canadian hate crime expert Prof. Barbara Perry at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ont. In short, both shooters were given licence to kill by the culture of hate that surrounds them, Perry said. They both may have taken the message to the extreme because of their own anxiety and instability, she said, and both massacres reflect an increasing trend toward lone actor extremism. Lone actors are frightening because theyre generally unpredictable and often under the radar, said Perry, who chairs the International Network on Hate Studies. Bissonnette apparently showed no signs of his potential for violence. Most people who rant and rave about those people online will not act on their biases. How do we identify those who will? The greatest threat right now is those inspired by right-wing extremism, she said. Our recent research has revealed that the right has been responsible for far more violence and property damage in the past decade or so than any other extremist movement perhaps more than these others combined. Before U.S. President Donald Trump, the rhetoric of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Quebec Premier Pauline Marois inspired anti-Muslim sentiment, she said. Its no accident that the most violent attack against Muslims in Canada occurred in Quebec, given its history and culture of Islamophobia, said Perry. That province also has a very active right-wing movement. That is not to say that other regions of the country should be complacent folks (such as) Sons of Odin, Hammerskins and Blood and Honour are active across the country. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/04/2017 (2024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Winnipeg man who shot a pen gun at police officers as he led them on a high-speed chase awaits his sentence as the police service urges the court to send a strong message to those who assault police. Anthony Joseph Raposo, 53, was found guilty of 17 offences, including three counts of attempted murder for shooting at a gas station clerk and two police officers during an armed robbery on Jan. 16, 2016. At his sentencing hearing Monday, Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft called for a 20-year sentence, while defence lawyer Mike Cook asked for half of that. Both agreed Raposo was lucky to be alive after he aimed .22-calibre bullets at officers who pursued him and returned fire. The officers werent hurt and Raposo avoided being shot. He was eventually taken down by a police dog after he tried to run from his crashed car at the end of the chase. Man, if I had one of your guns, I could have killed you all, Raposo said after his arrest. Salvatore Laporta / The Associated Press Files Anthony Joseph Raposo was found guilty three counts of attempted murder for shooting a pen gun at a gas station clerk and two police officers in January, 2016. Vanderhooft said Raposo shouldnt benefit from leniency on attempted murder charges just because of his bad aim. The fact that they all survived and nobody was injured is simply happenstance, he said. Cook had argued during a one-week trial earlier this year that Raposo did not have the intent necessary to be convicted of attempted murder, but the judge disagreed. Mr. Raposo came close to being killed and the officers were no doubt terrified, Cook said Monday. I think Mr. Raposo was shocked at his behaviour, once he had time to reflect. Court of Queens Bench Justice Joan McKelvey has reserved her decision in the case until next month, which prompted the police union and the police service to present a show of support for the two officers shot at that night. In a community impact statement filed in court, John Burchill, the Winnipeg Police Services manager of strategic issues, wrote that the number of reported assaults against police officers has increased 61 per cent over the past 10 years, from 240 to 409 annually. Assaults against Winnipeg police officers rose 16 per cent from 2015 to 2016. It is important that a strong message is sent that assaulting or attempting to assault or kill a police officer by any means is not acceptable if we are to reverse the continued upward trend in assaults against officers, Burchill wrote. Winnipeg Police Association President Maurice Sabourin, who was present in court along with the two affected officers and other members of the police service Monday, wrote in his statement that firearm-related assaults on police are still rare. When this incident occurred, it shook our membership to its core, he wrote. This incident has seriously impacted the morale of our members and has served to reinforce the extreme danger each call may pose to them. Raposo, who suffers from bipolar disorder, said he was having a manic episode when he went to a Petro-Canada gas bar in the 1700 block of Kenaston Boulevard around 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2016 and committed armed robbery to pay back a debt. He fired a small, single-shot pen gun something his defence lawyer referred to as a primitive weapon. He fired the gun in the air to frighten the clerk and get her to hand over the money in the till about $74. Then, he went outside and tried to pump gas, only to discover the clerk hadnt turned the pump on for him. Angrily, he fired the gun at the glass window toward the clerk on the other side, then sped off. Raposo then led police on a high-speed chase through Transcona, along Regent Avenue, then west of Lagimodiere Boulevard as officers tried to arrest him. He fired his gun at them at least twice, reloading each time, prompting them to return fire. He was arrested after he hit police spikes on Springfield Road and crashed his Honda Civic into a snowbank. Raposo told the judge hed like to apologize to the gas-station clerk and the officers involved. I just wish I can change everything, but I cant. I was in a bad state and I had bad decisions, he said. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/04/2017 (2024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Sagkeeng First Nation residents are in shock after the body of a 19-year-old woman was discovered Saturday night. RCMP officers and the forces forensic team are still at the reserve, Sagkeeng Chief Derrick Henderson said. We just know they are investigating and it is suspicious, Henderson said Monday. The body of a 19-year-old woman was discovered Saturday night on Sagkeeng First Nation. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press files) The community is in shock right now. It is pretty sad. Missing and murdered women is bad, and when it is happening in your own community it is bad too. Henderson would not say who the woman is, but said she is 19. She is not originally from Sagkeeng, but was staying with a local family and going to high school in the community. RCMP were releasing very little about the investigation. The Powerview RCMP along with assistance from the RCMP Major Crime Services are in the Sagkeeng First Nation investigating a suspicious death, a statement said. No other details are available at this time. An update will be provided when possible. Sagkeeng resident Brenda Everett said police have been keeping the scene, located on the south shore of the Winnipeg River, under guard since Sunday at about 1:30 a.m. Officers dressed in white coveralls arrived Monday, Everett said. All I know is that shed been to a party out here, she said. On social media, several people sent condolence messages about a woman who was the subject of earlier Facebook posts from people worried she was missing. The Free Press has not been able to confirm if the two women are the same. Another resident said they had heard the missing womans mother had gone to Sagkeeng to look for her daughter before the body of a woman was found. News of the death has shaken both Sagkeeng and the adjacent town of Powerview, communities still recovering from reports of the double homicide of Jody Brown, 43, and Steven Chevrefils, 35. The two were found Feb. 28 in the nearby Metis community of St.-Georges and their deaths have been widely reputed to have been related to the illegal drug trade. Now this, said Everett. It makes you kind of worried about whats going on. They tell you its of no concern to the community, but it doesnt feel like that, she said. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 25/04/2017 (2023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. CALGARY Start talking about parliamentary reform at a cocktail party and watch everyone melt away. But despite being an eye-glazing topic, there are good reasons why Canadians should take interest. The Liberal government proposes changes to House of Commons procedures to create greater accountability and to empower members to more fully participate in the legislative process. Proposals include setting aside one day a week for questions directed at the prime minister and streamlining procedures. If greater accountability and empowerment of MPs is the goal, the government is going about it in the wrong way. SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS Canadas winner-takes-all electoral system can create majority governments with a minority of the votes. Our systems Westminster-style protocol is woefully misunderstood. Its subtle, clever and flexible, but its intricacies are not well known to many Canadians. The system is adversarial: its the duty of opposition parties to scrutinize bills and point out flaws. In a majority situation, there are few devices to trip up the government. One is question period, which, unfortunately, is regarded by most Canadians as an unseemly display of childish behaviour. If by childish one means attention-seeking, this is true because its a clarion call to Canadians to take notice. Question period is the most powerful instrument of accountability in our system. The prime minister and cabinet must justify their actions on a daily basis. Unlike other jurisdictions, such as Britain, they get no advance warning about what might be lobbed at them. And to garner attention, opposition parties often have to resort to behaviour they find distasteful. Another major part of an opposition MPs job is to examine legislation closely in committees. This is where the government wants to streamline proceedings by limiting intervention by members to 10 minutes. Dictatorships run like well-oiled machines, but democracy is messy and inefficient. Nevertheless, time is of the utmost importance for the government as it strives to get bills through Parliament expeditiously. The opposition, on the other hand, tries to slow the process when they believe legislation is flawed. Theyre buying time to ensure their amendments and objections are fully considered. Often those tactics seem automatic. But if a majority government is ramming bills through, it can be necessary for the opposition to slow it down. The procedural reform proposals being made by the Liberals would hamper efforts to buy time. As well, discussion about party discipline, which is extremely rigid in Canada, is conspicuously absent from the governments proposals. Yet in their election platform two short years ago, the Liberals promised free votes for their MPs with generous exemptions. It would be a huge step forward to loosen party discipline short of free votes except on serious matters such as the budget and confidence votes. In the United Kingdom, a three-line whip specifies how MPs are expected to vote. During a hunt, an individual whips the hounds back into the pack, as the political whip does with MPs. They know how the party wants them to vote based on the number of lines underlining the name of the bill. Three lines signals they must attend and vote along party lines; two lines provide MPs with flexibility and one line frees them to vote as they choose. And even when a three-line whip is in effect, British MPs sometimes defy their party leadership. In 2011, 81 Conservatives voted for a motion calling for the Brexit referendum despite instructions to the contrary. MPs are sometimes compared to performing seals, banging their flippers on their desks to express approval and voting as theyre told. Given the wealth of expertise and experience among MPs, its tragic that theyre unable to put their skills to use. And voters are frustrated their MPs are so craven. Party discipline allows governments to maintain majority support in the House and remain in office. However, it wouldnt be disastrous if some MPs were able to break ranks, on either side of the House. Our winner-takes-all electoral system can create majority governments with a minority of the votes. These governments then purport to speak for everyone, ignoring opposition voices and refusing to co-operate and collaborate across the aisle. If party discipline were relaxed, it would dent the iron control of a majority government, forcing it to make compromises and behave in a less autocratic manner. What better way to empower members to more fully participate in the legislative process? Parliamentary reform may not be sexy, but its the next best thing to electoral reform. Perhaps groups such as Fair Vote Canada should hitch their wagon to this issue and bring about welcome changes through the back door. Doreen Barrie is an adjunct assistant professor in the political science department at the University of Calgary. Troy Media Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 24/04/2017 (2024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Aiyesha Robinson and George William Milner will never meet in person, but the Grade 9 student at Vincent Massey Collegiate considers the man her good friend. Milner was a Canadian soldier who fought and died 100 years ago at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917. Robinson researched private Milner, his life, and his death before departing to France to visit his grave at the Lapugnoy Military Cemetery. Supplied photo Students from Vincent Massey Collegiate, Fort Richmond Collegiate, Shaftesbury High School, and Oak Park High School traveled to Europe and visited monuments to Canadas contribution to the war effort, such as the St. Julien Memorial. The 14-year-old was one of 50 students from the Pembina Trails School Division to head overseas and participate in the 100th anniversary ceremonies of the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 9. Milner, Robinson said, was forced to sell his farm land and enlist in the military. While serving, he lost contact with his family and friends but maintained relationships with the others in his battalion and bought a goat as a mascot. At his grave, Robinson left a box containing wheat and a sewn plush goat. He went when he was 28 and died at 28, Robinson said. He was there for only a short time but he had no other choice. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together as one formation, according to Veterans Affairs Canada, and the battle captured more ground, prisoners and artillery pieces than any previous British offensive of the war. Approximately 100,000 Canadians served there and more than 10,600 suffered casualties. About 3,600 died. Megan Poulter left a glowing light on the grave of William John Carruthers to symbolize his hometown, the Electric City of Peterborough. However, Poulter said despite Carruthers contributions to the war effort, she was disappointed to find scarce insight into the young mans life. Apart from his military file, you could hardly find anything and it seemed sad that this guy goes to war at 19, dies at 20, and all thats left is this very basic military file, she said. The 17-year-old said the trip to Vimy Ridge reinforced her aversion to armed conflict and the seemingly senseless death that comes with war. I was a puddle of tears to say the least, she said about being at the cemetery. It doesnt hit you until youre standing there in front of the grave that these were real people. It makes me so mad sometimes the things that happened in war. Zanifa Rasool, a Grade 12 student at Vincent Massey, commemorated private Robert Grenville Brooks with a hollowed out book containing drawings representing the family and future that was cut short in the conflict. He went to war at the age of 18 and died at 19, Rasool said. So, that was a little shocking because I just turned 18. Being at his grave, the reality that this person died in the war and all the things he missed out on in his life hits you in that moment, she added. Rasool said visiting the memorial, cemeteries, and talking to locals in the area illustrated the impact Canadians had during the war and continue to have on the area surrounding Vimy Ridge. The Canadians didnt fight for nothing. There was a purpose to it, she said. Facebook.com/TheSouwesterWPG Twitter: @SouwesterWPG Winonas zoning code update will be entering the last stage of development at long last and heading to the city council for final approval. The Planning Commission approved the final draft of the ordinance Monday, after tabling the discussion two weeks ago after concerns from several citizens. The commission clarified a number of items prior to approving the plan, including downtown parking requirements, the configuration of downtown districts and their recommendation for public hearing requirements. The commission voted to only apply the requirement of one parking spot per housing unit for buildings with more than four units in cases where it is new construction or where an addition increases a buildings size by more than 50 percent. Commission member Craig Porter, the lone dissenting voice, said the parking requirements were contrary to goals of bringing new people and business downtown. The group also voted to move the border of mixed-use downtown fringe on the west of downtown to include the former Severson Sinclair location. At a previous meeting the Seversons said it was unfair to restrict the use of the site, considering they had been forced to move and would have the option to buy the site back when bridge construction work is done. The vote was unanimous and would allow for a convenience store and gas station under the fringe designation. Commission member Ed Hahn said it was one of the most promising ideas for redevelopment since the Seversons were actively pursuing the option. Its not in stone yet, Hahn said. But its certainly by far the best lead we have. They also voted to allow several blocks of residential houses, many of them rentals, to be zoned residential rather than mixed-use downtown core. This was in response to neighbors concerns for the neighborhood, especially for those living in the blocks near the courthouse and YMCA. The commission decided in their last decision to stay firm on recommendations to reduce the number of public hearings. The recommendation, based on Minnesota State requirements and common practice in other Minnesota municipalities, to not require a public hearing at the city council level, and only at the recommending body. The council would still have the option of having a public hearing if they choose. The revised code could go to the City Council as soon as May 1. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy In a country that doesn't believe in donating blood, Indian blood banks are wasting a tremendous amount of blood every single day. By India Today Web Desk: There is no substitute to human blood, and we all know it. Every two seconds somebody needs blood. In many cases, people lose their lives because of lack of donor blood. Every day. While one pint (375 ml) of blood can save three lives, about 6 lakh litres of blood is wasted as per last year. advertisement Blood cannot be manfactured, it can be donated by a donor but only 8 out of 1,000 voluntarily donate blood. But what is the real problem here, donors or blood banks? Why are Indian blood banks not able to provide blood to the needy? There are many facts and myths related to blood donations and blood banks that are still unknown to many, let's take a look at it: Graphics by: Newsflicks/Priya Kapoor Graphics by: Newsflicks/Priya Kapoor Graphics by: Newsflicks/Priya Kapoor Graphics by: Newsflicks/Priya Kapoor Graphics by: Newsflicks/Priya Kapoor Graphics by: Newsflicks/Priya Kapoor Graphics by: Newsflicks/Priya Kapoor Graphics by: Newsflicks/Priya Kapoor --- ENDS --- Police say a Wisconsin Dells man suffered serious injuries, including brain bleeding, when another man backed into him with a car after an argument. Prosecutors have charges 25-year-old Corbin Charles Davis with felony first-degree recklessly endangering safety for an incident that allegedly took place Thursday. Witnesses told a Wisconsin Dells police officer they saw Davis arguing with a man in the parking lot of his apartment complex. He was in a black car and the other person was outside the vehicle, according to a criminal complaint. Davis allegedly pulled about 15 feet away from the man, then put the car in reverse and floored it toward the man as he was walking away. The victim was able to keep himself on the rear of the vehicle, police say, as it drove for about 40 feet. The man who was struck then allegedly fell of the trunk and was dragged for about 10 feet. The complaint says the girlfriend of the man who was injured said she saw Davis in the parking lot looking into cars and acting suspicious prior to the incident. She said her boyfriend confronted Davis, which is when the verbal argument began. After backing over the man, Davis allegedly pulled into a stall in the other side of the parking lot and fled. When the officer arrived on scene, he reportedly found the 32-year-old victim lying on the ground in the rear of the apartment complexs parking lot. He was conscious, but was complaining about head pain. The mans hands were cut up, and he had large, bleeding bumps on each side of his forehead, according to the complaint. A doctor at St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo later told the officer that the victim had brain bleeding, and would have to be transported to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. The reckless endangerment charge against Davis carries a maximum possible penalty of 18 months in prison. He has been jailed on a $2,500 cash bond and is due to appear in court May 3. A West Baraboo hotels restaurant will be closed for at least two weeks after a fire broke out there early Sunday morning. Best Western front desk employee Stephanie Wills said officials still were assessing the damage Monday afternoon at Bonzos Bar & Grill Restaurant, and a cause had not yet been determined. First responders learned of the fire just before 3 a.m. The first firefighters on the scene reported that smoke was showing from the rooftop vents, according to a news release from Baraboo Fire Chief Kevin Stieve. Occupants were evacuated from the hotel as firefighters entered the restaurant through the hotel, and Stieve said in the release that the blaze was quickly extinguished. There was extensive damage to a storage room in the kitchen area of the restaurant and heat and smoke damage to the rest of the kitchen, he said. Stieve said firefighters swept the building for guests and staff and determined that everyone had been evacuated. He said there were no known injuries to hotel occupants or firefighters. The Baraboo District Ambulance Service, Sauk County Sheriffs Department, Baraboo Police Department, and Wisconsin State Patrol provided assistance to firefighters. Wills said the restaurant likely will be closed for at least 14 days, although it may be possible to open up portions, such as the bar, at an earlier date. She provided a written statement that said the health, welfare and safety of guests and employees are the hotels number one priority. MADISON A federal jury awarded a Baraboo artist $4 million Thursday after concluding that an international herbal health products producer repeatedly used her artwork without permission. Amy Sullivan said Monday she was completely shocked by the outcome. The award has not been finalized, and her lawyer, Harry Van Camp said the defendant, Flora Inc., is likely to appeal. I assume that they will challenge it, he said. Generally defendants do when they lose like that. Sullivan sued Lynden, Washington-based Flora in May 2015, a year after she first asked the company to stop using her artwork without her permission. According to the complaint filed in Wisconsins Western District Court, her work originally was contracted by the New York-based commercial design firm Designomotion, which hired her to develop artwork for two advertising projects for Flora. But according to the complaint, Flora went on to reuse Sullivans art online for advertising purposes. Contacted by Sullivan, a Flora employee attempting to deflect responsibility for Floras infringement, told her to contact Designomotion. Instead, in December 2013 Sullivan registered for the materials copyright and sent a notice to Flora about the infringement issue, along with a proposed licensing agreement for the company to continue using her work. Flora rejected the agreement proposal and offered Sullivan $2,000, which she declined. Six months later Flora and its distributor, MedMelon, published illustrations based on Sullivans work in Greek and Spanish versions of its advertising efforts, and later a Norwegian version. According to Van Camp, the company used Sullivans artwork as recently as January of this year, two years after she sued them, and more than three years after she notified the company of the copyright infringement. Sullivan said she has seen other artists face similar situations in which their materials are improperly taken by companies, which she said have the resources to defend their actions. Lots of artists have the exact same experience, she said. Theres really nothing they can do when faced with a corporation stealing their artwork. It usually doesnt end well for the artist. Sullivan credited Van Camp for taking a chance on her case. Hopefully this will help pave the way for other artists facing similar problems when going up against huge corporations, she said. On Wednesday, a jury found that Flora violated Sullivans copyright and further found the company liable for unjust enrichment. And on Thursday, the jury awarded Sullivan $3.6 million in damages, $350,000 in compensatory damages and $14,500 in actual damages, for a total of $4,093,500. And according to Van Camp, the company may be on the hook for jury fees, which hell petition the court for after the case if finalized. Its an awful lot of money because the defendant fought this tooth and nail from the very beginning, he said. So there was an awful lot of work to bring it this far. Sullivan said the lawsuit, which has been in the works for the past two years, has consumed her time and prevented her from working as an artist. With the case resolved, she hopes to return to working as an artist, at least for smaller firms. As for her plans related to the potential $4 million windfall, Im still trying to figure that out. Its a big number. Sullivan originally had listed Designomotion and graphic artist Eva Kao as defendants, but Van Camp said the were dropped from the case because of jurisdictional issues. According to the original complaint, Kao, a Designomotion employee, had claimed that some of Sullivans artwork was hers, using them to market her designing services. We may go after them because they infringed as well, he said. And an operator at Floras Lynden headquarters referred questions to a number that was no longer in service. I think shes very happy, Van Camp said. It will be quite a while before she sees any money from it, but at least shes won a major battle. A Wisconsin author will visit the University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County this week to talk about the role of fiction in addressing social issues, and how it may be a catalyst for change. Poet, author and performance artist Jennifer Morales will speak with several classes on Wednesday and read from her award-winning collection of short stories, Meet Me Halfway, during a Thursday lecture on campus that is open to the public. The talk will come several weeks before Morales returns to campus, as she also has been selected to keynote the universitys commencement ceremony next month. After reading a few excerpts from the book Thursday, Morales will talk about her writing process, the inspiration for her stories and how Milwaukee came to be one of the nations most segregated cities. Set in Milwaukee, her book includes nine interconnected stories that explore race relations from multiple perspectives in a community with a divided past. Morales said living in Milwaukee for almost 25 years provided inspiration for her stories. After growing up in a diverse suburb of Chicago, Morales said she was shocked to see Milwaukees racial divide when she moved there in the early 1990s. She said she was particularly taken aback watching school buses take all the black students west and all the white students north after schools let out for the day. After a while I realized that if I knew what your address was in Milwaukee, I knew what color you were with a frightening accuracy, she said. The issues prompted Morales to serve on the citys public school board from 2001 to 2009. During her time on the board, Morales was a part of several anti-segregation initiatives, including the citys voluntary integration program, which allows inner city youth to attend schools in the suburbs. Many of the concerns about segregation surround questions of funding and resource, she said. So there was a lot of conversation about how to make sure all students diverse needs are being met regardless of which neighborhood theyre in. Morales said the job gave her a first-hand look at the effects of Milwaukees divisive history and provided more insight for Meet Me Halfway. In addition to her visit this week, Morales is slated to give UW-Baraboos commencement speech next month. Morales said her appearance this week will be an opportunity to take the pulse of the campus and compose a more personal message for students. UW-Baraboo English professor Marc Seals recommended Morales keynote the commencement ceremony. Given the current divisive political climate of the country, Seals said he believed it was a good opportunity to bring to campus an individual who looks at social issues from many different perspectives. A novel that helps us to empathize with people who are different I think is a useful one for building bridges, he said. I felt that bringing Jennifer Morales to campus might be healing. Morales said she hopes her visit and commencement will encourage students, faculty and the community to reach out and connect with people who are different. We all have a role to play in dismantling systems that arent serving us, she said. We make decisions every day about whether were going to cross boundaries between groups, and that is within our power. The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands approved a State Trust Fund Loan totaling $1 million to Beaver Dam to finance tax incremental district development incentives. Beaver Dam City Administrator John Somers said over the phone the loan will go toward the Beaver Dam Cold Storage project in the 151 Business Park. Beaver Dam 151 Business Park is on the north side of the city off Kellom Road. The boundaries for Tax Incremental Distict 7 would include all of 151 Business Park and a portion of the Beaver Dam Business Park. Once Beaver Dam Cold Storage fulfilled its occupancy permit, it was due the funds, Somers said. Beaver Dam will borrow for projects in July however, these funds are needed now rather than in the summer, according to Somers. He added that this is a bridge loan for when capital improvement funds are available later. Trent Campbell, executive vice president of the Beaver Dam Area Development Corporation said over the phone that he is pleased with the three 151 Business Park projects. He said the three projects are approaching completion and they should give the business park a jumpstart. The three business the occupy the business park are Beaver Dam Cold Storage North, Vintage Parts and WDS Construction. In addition to Beaver Dam, the board approved loans totaling nearly $27.7 million which include, Village of Bloomfield, Walworth County for refinance BCPL loan worth $68,493 Village of Bloomfield, Walworth County for refinance BCPL loan worth 38,769 Village of Bloomfield, Walworth County for refinance BCPL loan worth $540,000 Village of Bloomfield, Walworth County for refinance BCPL loan worth $200,000 Village of Bloomfield, Walworth County for finance 2017 budget shortfall worth $635,000 Village of Bloomfield, Walworth County for finance 2017 capital budget worth $260,000 Town of Dunkirk, Dane County for purchase patrol truck, road equipment and finance road repairs worth $200,000 Kenosha Unified School District, Kenosha County for finance energy efficiency projects worth $16,355,000 Town of Longwood, Clark County for purchase road grader worth $152,000 Town of Martell, Pierce County for construct municipal shop building worth $450,000 Town of Onalaska, La Crosse County for purchase refuse and recycle carts worth $220,000 City of Owen, Clark County for finance TID projects worth $680,000 Town of Plum Lake, Vilas County for purchase ambulance worth $150,000 Racine School District, Racine County for purchase and remodel building worth $6,750,000 The BCPL operates entirely on program revenue, without taxpayer money and distributes more than 96 cents of every dollar of interest earned on BCPL State Trust Fund investments to Wisconsins public schools. The 2017 earnings of $32.1 million are the sole source of state funding for K-12 public school library materials. United Cooperative held its annual meeting April 10 at The Watermark in Beaver Dam with 200 members and guests attending. David Cramer, United Cooperative president and chief executive officer, reported revenue for 2016 of $633 million. United Cooperatives core cooperative businesses of feed, grain, agronomy and energy generated $25 million in profits, down $2 million from 2015. The investment United Cooperative made in ethanol contributed $14 million to its net income in 2016, up from the $11 million the year before. Patronage from regional cooperatives was down $1 million from 2016, at $6 million dollars. United Cooperative had a total net income before taxes of $45.5 million dollars, virtually unchanged from 2015. United Cooperative is returning $28.7 million in total patronage to members. Forty percent of this patronage, or $11.5 million, will be distributed in cash to United Cooperatives patron member owners in April, while 60 percent or $17.2 million, will be retained in equity credits. In addition, the cooperative plans to continue to revolve stock in October, retire stock at age 77 and pay all estates as requested. United Cooperative invested millions in cooperative building projects in 2016 to benefit member access and profitability, Cramer said. Construction was completed on two feed manufacturing facilities at Wilton and Shawano; on a complete grain receiving and drying system at Westfield; a 1.2-million-bushel storage bin at Rock Springs; a 4,650-ton dry fertilizer plant and a new liquid facility at Auroraville; a 24-hour fuel pumping station at Hillsboro; and a maintenance shop at Hillsboro. Nominating Committee Chair Jonathan Wyttenbach, Sauk City, reviewed election results. United Cooperative had three incumbent directors seeking re-election from each of the three district areas (northern, central and southern). Rod Leiterman, Denmark, Northern District, Peter Mlsna, Hillsboro, Central District, and Gary Nolden, Prairie du Sac, Southern District, were elected to three-year terms. Board Secretary Robin Craker reported to membership that the board passed a resolution to increase board representation from nine to 10 members as a result of the approved merger with Greenville Cooperative, effective April 1. Larry Plamann, Greenville, has been appointed by the former Greenville Cooperative board of directors to fill the seat for a three-year term on the United Cooperative board. Representation on the United Cooperative board of directors will return to nine members in 2020. Twenty-six employees were recognized by Cramer for their years of outstanding service with United Cooperative. They represented 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 years of service. In addition, three retirees were honored for their dedication to United Cooperative. Formed in 1936, United Cooperative is a full-service cooperative offering feed, grain, agronomy, and energy products and services to Wisconsin farmers and consumers. United Cooperative has locations in Auroraville, Baraboo, Beaver Dam, Deerfield, Denmark, Greenville, Gresham, Hartford, Hillsboro, Horicon, Hustisford, Johnson Creek, Mayville, Ontario, Pickett, Poynette, Prairie du Sac, Pulaski, Reedsburg, Ripon, Rock Springs, Sauk City, Shawano, South Beaver Dam, Wilton, Wonewoc and Wyocena. For more information, visit unitedcooperative.com. Artistic talent was on full display in New Lisbon on April 24. The New Lisbon School District held its annual Fine Arts Night, featuring students work in band and choir, family and consumer education, forensics, visual art and technology and engineering. An art show for elementary school students kicked off the evening, followed by displays from middle and high school students. The high school band and choir performed a show later in the evening, along with the high school forensics department. New Lisbons culinary arts students also had a chance to present their talents, competing in a who is the next great baker? contest in the high school commons. Also in the commons were several of the best woodworking and metal projects from the schools technology and engineering students. New Lisbon art department teachers Cindy Costello and Teresa Fish hosted the presentation, along with fellow teachers Rachel Morey (family and consumer education), Jim Giebel (forensics), Martin Spicer (instrumental music), and Ben Morey (technology and engineering). The teachers said fine arts is valuable because it teaches kids skills like problem solving, prepares them for the future, generates a love of learning and openness to new ideas, helps create large business opportunities, develops essential brain functions, such as hand-eye coordination, improves student performances, facilitates emotional intelligence, builds community, awakens the senses, and creates lifelong learning opportunities. Fish said each student could submit at least one work of art to the show. Costello said New Lisbon has held the fine arts night for more than two decades. The April 24 show featured work in drawing, painting, ceramics, 3D, independent study and photography. Work was also submitted from students who participated in the Visual Arts Classic competition. The middle/high school showcase featured about 50 pieces from New Lisbon students. A lot of them are hard workers and Im pretty proud of the pieces they have on display, Costello said. The teachers said the performances and displays are the result of a desire within the high school staff to integrate fine arts classes into everyday learning. The show also honored 19 seniors from the class of 2017 that are involved in at least one fine arts course. Teachers praised parents and family for supporting their students throughout the year. The New Lisbon fine arts department has several upcoming events before the end of the school year, including the spring band concert for grades 5-12 on May 4 a 7 p.m. and the state solo and ensemble at Viterbo University in La Crosse on May 6. A high school variety show will be held May 18 at 7 p.m., followed by the junior high finale concert May 25 at 7 p.m. The band will be featured in the citys Memorial Day parade May 29 and at graduation on June 3. For more than three decades, the Mauston Area Community Sharing Pantry has helped countless families in Juneau County. On April 24, the organization honored those who help the pantry support the community at the annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon, held this year at St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Mauston. Pantry board member and vice president Ellen Heitman and fellow board member Gene Roach presented plaques and certificates to 37 grand sponsors that are businesses, organizations or individuals who have donated at least a $1,000, 1,000 pounds of food, or supplied $1,000 in services or any combination to the pantry in 2016. Director Kathy Green, who has been instrumental to the pantrys success, was not present for the luncheon due to a death in her family. The Mauston food pantry started in 1983 after members of seven area churches came together to provide food for their neighbors. In the past 34 years, the pantry has grown exponentially and an expansion and renovation project was completed last year. We had funds of $49,790 to do our roof, soffit and fascia and all interior remodeling, Heitman said. Pantry board members said the renovation project could not have been done with help from volunteers. Heitman thanked Jerry Schroeder for leading the project. Members of Mauston High Schools Key Club, along with students at the i-Lead Charter School, were also honored for chipping in with last years renovation. In 2016, the pantry served 2,051 different people, including 50 single-parent families and 21 homeless families. For the year, the pantry served 10,393 individuals, more than double the amount served in 2000. Also in 2016, the pantry served 167 new families. The pantry also reached a milestone last year, distributing more than 300,000 pounds of food. We were able to provide more food due to the additional storage space, Heitman said. In memorial donations were presented by Lyle Wernimont, Leo Steiner, Ron Pearson and Wayne Eugene Gene Delmore, and in honor donations came from Dr. Christine Weymouth and Julie Lankey-Smallwood from the Mauston School District. Many supporting businesses and organizations were honored at the April 24 luncheon for years of providing donations. 17-year contributors included: Bank of Mauston, Bethany Lutheran Church, Mauston Festival Foods, Mauston Post Office, St. Patricks Church, Second Harvest Food Bank; 16 years: Mauston High School Key Club Food Drive, United Methodist Church; 15 years: St. Pauls Lutheran Church, USDA Wildlife Services; 14 years: Michel Sullivan; 12 years: Canadian Pacific Railway; nine years: Stepping for Hunger; eight years: Volk Field; six years Bobs Produce Box; in memory of Lyle Wernimont, Wisconsin River Meats; 4 years: Allied Co-op & Land O Lakes Foundation; First Weber Group Foundation, Inc., Gray Electric, Juneau County Tavern League, both Mauston Kwik Trips; three years: Bible Baptist Church, Grayside and Westside Elementary Schools, Green Bay Packer Foundation, Walleye North America; two years: D&J Thrifty Mart; one year: Big Dig/Gasser Construction, Bremer Sales, LLC, Community Hunger Solutions, Greater Sauk County Community Foundation, Kraft Heinz Foods, Kwik Trip Corporation, Mauston Clergy Association, Mauston Wrestling Club, and People Helping People with Cell Plus/U.S. Cellular. The Mauston food pantry is located at 1 Kennedy Street near the Kwik Trip off Gateway Avenue. For more information, call 608-847-5454. Participants in the states voluntary environmental compliance audit program would have more time to correct violations under a new Republican-backed bill. Assembly Bill 264 also instructs the state Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Justice to consider whether a violator is a small business that has committed a minor violation before pursuing enforcement in court. The bill, introduced Monday by Rep. Andre Jacque, of DePere, would extend the current 90-day deadline for correcting violations found through the DNR environmental compliance audit program. Violators would be allowed 180 days for most violations, and would be allowed 360 days if modification of pollution prevention equipment is required. The bill also would eliminate the current legal requirements that businesses notify the DNR at least 30 days before beginning a compliance audit, and that the public be notified and be allowed to comment on timetables for bringing a business into compliance. Jacque said the bill brings the state self-compliance program in line with a similar U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program with the goal of encouraging more companies to participate. The EPA program has a 180-day correction time period and no requirement to notify the agency before an audit begins. Currently the state program is, as I understand it, woefully underutilized compared with the federal process, Jacque said. This is going to make the state program more usable. Jacque noted the DNRs Small Business Environmental Council, composed of both Republican and Democratic appointees, unanimously supported the bill draft. However, no Democrats were listed as co-sponsors of the bill. Jacque said lifting the public reporting and comment period requirement would encourage more participation. This is something that is voluntarily being disclosed to the department, Jacque said. A Democratic appointee to the committee said if we kept that provision that we would be publicly shaming the people that are proactively seeking to correct problems. Under existing state law, a business can reduce its liability for violations of environmental standards by enrolling in the environmental compliance audit program, voluntarily auditing its own performances, reporting results and correcting violations. The law contains provisions that prevent use of the program to deflect penalties for known or serious violations. The program was created in 2004. The DNR received two compliance reports identifying five potential violations in the past two years and three reports identifying 37 potential violations in the prior two years. Since voters gave Republicans control of state government in 2011, the DNR and the Justice Department have sought penalties from polluters less frequently and the fine amounts have gotten smaller. Fines paid by Wisconsin polluters fell to a 30-year low in 2015. Last year, the DNR sent 25 violations to state attorneys for court action. Thats one more than in 2011, when a large number of retirements and job vacancies contributed to deficiencies in water pollution enforcement. More positions were filled for several years, but vacancies began to climb again in 2015. Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, said hes skeptical of the intent of the bill given the Walker administrations record on pollution enforcement. I thought it was pretty flexible when it was implemented, Miller said. This is a pretty unnecessary extension of that flexibility. By India Today Web Desk: According to a report, housekeeping service providers in Mumbai have become reluctant to deliver housekeeping staff to houses of Bollywood celebrities because the employers reportedly treat their help in the most inhuman manner. The complaints received by housekeeping service providers include instances of deducting or withholding salaries, kicking the cook to wake her up in the middle of the night, etc. advertisement A report in Hindustan Times collates experiences of several heads of domestic help providers and the final picture looks pretty grim. "I have stopped taking contracts from Bollywood," Abhishek Sable, the director of Happy Maids Service was quoted as saying, "In my experience, only a few celebs are good. The others never gave (the maids) decent food. And if they didn't like the food that the cook had made, they would throw the plate at their face. Gaali toh unke mooh pe rehti thi." He recalled instances of a celeb waking the cook up with a kick and demanding her to work in the middle of the night. "One actor falsely accused a maid of theft. When I took her to the police, she contacted some minister and the case was dismissed. One Marathi (female) actor also had problems with the caste of the staff. She said she didn't want people from the Ambedkar caste as, in her opinion, they are dirty. She threatened me with murder and also called a minister," said Sable. An anonymous service provider added that often the celebs don't pay the right salary and that the act of paying or not paying depends on their mood. "When we say we'll approach the police, they retaliate by saying they're not scared. The police are of no help. These instances are not just restricted to big stars; even struggling actors, models and television actors do it," the service provider was quoted as saying. Recently BookMyBai put a blanket ban on catering to Bollywood celebrities. The reason the company decided to not deliver housekeeping help to celebs was explained in a scathing blog post by the company's co-founder Anupam Sinhal. A screenshot of Anupam Singhal's blog post on BookMyBai.com Speaking to HT, Anupam Sinhal said, "It's inhuman to have physical abuse, verbal abuse, economic abuse. Maids are not paid salaries for months together. That's the reason I came out and wrote the blog, because many of them are role models, some even National Award winners." "If I take a name, the celebrity slaps a defamation case against (our) company. The maid should stand next to me and say that she'll go to the police and file a case. Otherwise, I would have nothing to prove. Most of these maids refrain from going to the police because they say they've come here to earn money and not get into legal hassles. There's a social stigma about what their families will think," Anupam added. advertisement ALSO READ: BookMyBai alleges torture of maids by Bollywood celebs WATCH: FIR registered against Vinod Kambli and wife for abusing domestic help --- ENDS --- Items are listed under the day of the event only, running as space permits prior to the event. To submit items, call 745-3511, email jcutsforth@wiscnews.com or visit www.portagedailyregister.com. Include name and phone number. TODAY Block Party: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to children ages 4 to 12 (children ages 4 to 6 must have an adult present in the room during the program). This weeks challenge will ask builders to create a city. Registration is recommended but not required. For more information call 742-4959 ext. 211. Genealogy Researchers: 1 to 3 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Speaker Kathleen McGwin will share the interesting history of Bonnie Oaks, a farm/estate outside of Briggsville that drew writers and other artists in the 1920s through the 1940s. The fascinating story tells how this location played a part in so many artists lives. Zona Gale was one of them. Knitting and crocheting group: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgwater St., Portage. Bring your projects and share your progress with friends. We will also be doing knit-alongs where we work on a project together. The first project we will be working on is a leftovers sweater, using leftover yarn from other projects. A free pattern will be provided. Feel free to bring your lunch along with your knitting. Preschool Story Time: 10 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to children ages 3 to 5. This week its Over the Rainbow as preschoolers have fun with colors in books, songs, a craft and more. Only new families need to register by calling 742-4959 ext. 211 or online at www.portagelibrary.us. Portage Chamber of Commerce presents Blitz at the VFW: 6 p.m. Portage VFW Hall, 215 W. Collins St., Portage. Sample beer from Wisconsin Dells Brewing Company from 6 to 7 p.m. and meet Brewmaster Jamie Baertsch, first female brewmaster in Wisconsin, who is from Portage. Cost of $15 per person includes beer samples, food and live music. Must be 21 to participate. Purchase tickets at the door or at the Chamber Office. Teen Tuesdays: 4 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Teen Tuesdays will be held every Tuesday through May 9. The program is for students in 6th through 12th grades. Programs vary by week but crafts, movies and games are regular components, and snacks are provided. Writing group: 9:30 a.m. Pauquette Wordcrafters, Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. All writers welcome. Zumba Toning and Pound: 4:30 p.m. Woodridge Primary School, Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26 Bingo: 5:30 p.m. Old Chicago, 147 N. Main St., Pardeeville. Bingo will be played every Wednesday, except the first one of the month. Clinic: 8 a.m. to noon, Columbia County Public Health Walk-In Clinic, Columbia County Division of Health, 2652 Murphy Road, Portage. Use door No. 4. Bring childs immunization record. Visit www.co.columbia.wi.us for more information. Current Drug Trends A Community Conversation: 6 p.m. Portage High School, 301 E. Collins St., Portage. Parents and adults can learn about drug paraphernalia, signs of drug or alcohol experimentation and current drug trends in the area. Come early or stay after to view the Hidden in Plain Sight locker displays. Sponsored by Prevention and Response Columbia County and Portage High School. Endeavor Sharing Supper: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Endeavor Elementary School, 414 Church St., Endeavor. All are welcome and there is no cost. Meals are served from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Activities provided for the children in Kids Corner. Informational booths including the Aging and Disability Resource Center and UW-Extension. This months supper is sponsored by Royal Bank and the meal is being prepared by The Broken Egg, Endeavor. Free blood pressure screenings: 1 to 5 p.m. Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. No appointment necessary. Call 745-6405 for more information. Do not eat, smoke, drink caffeine or exercise for 30 minutes prior. Portage Womens Civic League Board Meeting: 9 a.m. Civic League Clubhouse, West Edgewater Street, Portage. Preschool Story Time: 10 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to children ages 3 to 5. This week its Over the Rainbow as preschoolers have fun with colors in books, songs, a craft and more. Only new families need to register by calling 742-4959 ext. 211 or online at www.portagelibrary.us. St. Vincent de Paul free medical clinic: 9 a.m. to noon. Wilz Drugs lower level, 140 E. Cook St., Portage. No appointments needed. Information needed is name, date of birth and a contact number. A foot clinic is available every week. The clinic can do exams and prescribe medications. Physical therapist available. Discounted medications are available at Wilz and Walmart. Call Bonny Oestreich, RN, at 608-234-0159 for information. Sunset Park and Boat Launch Clean Up: 5 p.m. Sunset Park, Portage. Bring family, friends and neighbors to help. Assist WI be onsite and demonstrate how their adaptive kayak launches are used and accessible chairs for outdoor trails. Food and drinks will be provided after the clean-up for those who help. Zumba/Zumba Toning: 5 p.m. Montello. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. Zumba: 5:30 p.m. 1208 Northport Road (the former Freedom Carpeting building). This is a $5 drop-in class. For more information, contact Deb at DJMACK00001@yahoo.com or Rena at 697-6713. THURSDAY, APRIL 27 AARP Smart Driver classroom course: 8 a.m. to noon, Pioneer Place, Building Four, 298 Meadow Lane, Poynette. Refresh your driving skills and knowledge of the rules of the road, and learn techniques for handling left turns, right-of-way, roundabouts and more. Cost is $15 for AARP members, and $20 for non-members. Space is limited. Register by calling 742-9213. Bingo: 6:30 p.m. Endeavor Lions Club Bingo, Endeavor-Moundville Fire Department, Endeavor. Brown Bag Lunch Series: noon, Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Join Hope and Bob Fenske as they share memories from New Zealand in There and Back Again A Hobbits Tale. Cost is $5 at the door. Bring a lunch if you desire. Student groups welcome; please call for group pricing. Sponsored by Ellen Schieber. Annual community cleanup event: 9 a.m. to noon, Sunrise Park (The Gully), 513 Hamilton St., Portage. Help clean up the park and bordering trails. Hot dogs served at noon for volunteers. For information, call Dan Kremer at 742-2178. Making A Difference Study Group: 9 to 10 am. Portage Public Library, Bidwell Room, 253 W. Edgewater St. Portage. Making a Difference is a group that is meeting to turn concerns into action. Open to the public. What are your concerns? Museum: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Portage World War II Museum, 119 E. Cook St., Portage. Free tours for veterans every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The tours take 2 1/2 hours. For information, call 608-697-3690. FRIDAY, APRIL 28 Early Release School Day drop-in Game Day: 12:30 to 2 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to students in first through fifth grades. Well be pulling out old favorites like Twister, card games such as UNO, and lots of new board games. Bring a friend, learn a new game (or enjoy an old favorite) and enjoy some snacks. Registration is not required. For more information call 742-4959 ext. 211. Pardeeville High School Theatrical Society presents Robin Hood and His Merry Men...?: 7 p.m. Pardeeville Elementary School stage, 503 E. Chestnut St., Pardeeville. Adults are $8, and students and seniors are $6. PreK-Klub: 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to children ages 4 to 6 who are not currently attending weekly preschool story time. For this final program, pre-kindergarteners will hear the story, A Box Story, and be inspired to use all their STEM skills to make a creation from recycled items. All materials will be supplied. Please verify your childs registration by calling 742-4959 ext. 211. Seniors Bowling Social: 1 p.m. Fireball Lanes, 817 E. Wisconsin St., Portage. Cost is $6 and includes three games of bowling and shoe rental. Unique Singles: 5 p.m. Northshore Restaurant at Portage Country Club, Highway 33 East, Portage. All single men and women older than age 50 welcome. The group is strictly social with no dues or officers. Wayne Bartels Memorial Senior Citizen Euchre Party: 2 p.m. Bartels Middle School, East Slifer Street, Portage. Prizes, food and fun. All area senior citizens welcome. SATURDAY, APRIL 29 Briggsville American Legion Mens Early Bird Slow Pitch Softball Tournament: American Legion ball park, Briggsville. Games begin at 9 a.m. and run until dusk. Raffles, food, beer and soda available on the grounds. Runs through Sunday. Craft supply reduction sale: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Knights of Columbus Hall, 918 Silver Lake Drive, Portage. Featuring various craft supplies, fabric, yarns, beads, patterns, notions and more. A bake sale will be held by a local 4-H club. Drug Take Back Day: 8 a.m. to noon, Walgreens, New Pinery Road, Portage. Drop off expired or unused medications. Museum at the Portage: 804 MacFarlane Road, Portage. Open from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday in April and May; and 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday in June, July and August. Admission is free. Pardeeville High School Theatrical Society presents Robin Hood and His Merry Men...?: 7 p.m. Pardeeville Elementary School stage, 503 E. Chestnut St., Pardeeville. Adults are $8, and students and seniors are $6. St. Mary School annual Trivia Night: 7 p.m. St. Mary School, West Conant Street entrance, Portage. Doors open at 6 p.m. Teams of up to 8 people work together to answer 100 trivia questions across topics and genres. Attendees must be 21 or older to attend this event. Pizza, beer, & soda available. No carry-ins allowed. Pre-order Family Size Papa Murphys pizza(s) when you register. Well bake them on site, and deliver to your table. Each pizza is estimated to serve three to four people. Only paying table participants are allowed at the event; no spectators. Cash prizes for top teams. Online reservations received will secure your seat/table until payment to be made the night of the event. Payment must be made by 6:45 p.m. or your seat/table may be given to walk-in registrants. Visit www.stmarytrivia-spring17.eventbrite.com to register. Snowball Shoot: 10 a.m. Merrimac Conservation Rod and Gun Club, Merrimac. SUNDAY, APRIL 30 Briggsville American Legion Mens Early Bird Slow Pitch Softball Tournament: American Legion ball park, Briggsville. Games begin at 9 a.m. and run until dusk. Raffles, food, beer and soda available on the grounds. Pardeeville High School Theatrical Society presents Robin Hood and His Merry Men...?: 2 p.m. Pardeeville Elementary School stage, 503 E. Chestnut St., Pardeeville. Adults are $8, and students and seniors are $6. Student Recital Series: 1 p.m. Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Featuring performances from students of independent music teachers located throughout the surrounding region. Open to the public. Cost is $5 at the door. Sponsored by Portage Soundworks. Zumba: 5:30 p.m. Rusch Elementary School, Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com. Many people appreciate Wisconsins natural spaces and many work to preserve and improve them, but it also doesnt hurt to appeal to economic interests. Although the trend toward urbanization has continued over decades, with urban population increasing by 12.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to U.S. Census data, agriculture continues to define much of the nations natural environment. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as of 2012 just over 40 percent of U.S. land was farmland, making the margins of that land exceptionally valuable as potential wildlife habitat, the land being neither urbanized, nor industrialized and relatively unproductive for farmers. Those margins can provide an oasis for wild plant life and the animals that depend on them. Susan Hunter, executive director of the Columbia County Farm Service Agency, wants to offer farmers money to do just that. Were looking to take marginal cropland or hard-to-farm land out of production and put it into these wildlife practices, said Hunter. The main thing that were pushing now is the pollinator habitat. We have a shortage of bees and a lot of other pollinators are dying out. And two-thirds of Wisconsin has been approved for this pollinator habitat establishment. Depending upon the proposed habitat, the FSAs Conservation Reserve Program offers landowners contract incentives such as 10 years of annual rental payments, a certain percent of rental rate incentive if in a certain location, payments covering up to 90 percent of costs of establishing the new plant life, and others that go on. The factors that go into a specific offer involve the specific program, the location of the property, and even the kind of soil. The Conservation Reserve Program was created through the Food Security Act of 1985, part of a legislative response to the 1980s farm crisis. The main thing is that it has to be land that has been cropped, said Hunter. Not just anyone can come in and say, I have this grassy area and I want to put in pollinators. People can do that on their own, but in order to get any cost share from our agency, it would have to be cropland. This has been a big year in money for these programs and were getting a lot of interest just by word-of-mouth and were going to start publicizing more, said Hunter. Between 2014 and 2016, the Conservation Reserve Program received a funding boost from $1.73 billion to $1.84 billion. What we want the farmers to do and for the landowners to do is to just come in and talk to us and see what is available. Whether prairie, pollinator-friendly or other programs, Hunter said it is not just a matter of signing a contract to get paid for taking land out of production. Part of the program is to establish native plant species. Native species typically take about three years to get established, said Natural Resources Conservation Service District Conservationist Twyla Kite. The first year, they say they sleep, the second year they creep, and then the third year they leap. The NRCS dates back to the Roosevelt Administration, organized in response to the Dust Bowl, in which unsustainable farming practices decimated the landscape of the Western prairie. To get started, a lot of landowners in this part of Wisconsin are referred to Neil Diboll of Prairie Nursery in Westfield. The original CRP program was pretty bare bones with mainly grasses and a few kinds of flowers, said Diboll. But now, some of the mixes that they have included have 15 to 20 species in them, depending on the mix, and they are focusing on making sure they have flowers for pollinators. Diboll says federal authorities deserve credit for funding the programs. Now theyre looking at really creating some really darn good quality habitat for a wide variety of creatures, starting at the bottom of the food chain, with invertebrates and pollinators, which supports all the way up the food chain. As a seed seller of scale, dealing more by weight than by individual plants, and with his location in southern Marquette County, Diboll is often the go-to referral for those managing land restoration programs in Marquette, Columbia and Adams counties. Management varies from county to county and while those three counties are not laid back, they have offered some flexibility to landowners as they develop and eventually manage restored land over the 10 to 15 years of an agreement. In 2016 we had about 3,500 acres just in CRP, said Hunter, explaining that many of those acres expired on Oct. 1, scheduled according to the fiscal year. Now we have about 2,800. We have offers that are in place, so were hoping to see it closer to 4,000 this year. Another kind of restoration throughout Columbia County, often recognizable from the highway, is wetland restoration. They just re-did it in the last Farm Bill, the Agriculture and Conservation Easement Program and under that is the Wetlands Reserve Easements, Kite said of the program, formerly the Wetlands Reserve Program. We have probably 70, 70-plus perpetual easements (in the county) where we basically bought the rights to the land on land that was drained or altered for agriculture, and weve bought those and returned those to wetlands so those are basically protected forever. One of those easements has been made open to the public after being acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and can be seen marked along Interstate 39 between Cascade Mountain Road and I-39. Since the beginning of this wetland protection program in the late 1980s, roughly 11,000 acres of wetlands have been given protection in the Glacial Habitat Restoration Area, including land in Columbia, Fond du Lac, Dodge and Winnebago counties. Although there has been a near 30-year effort to preserve and restore wetlands in the region, little data is available to account for the health of those ecosystems once they are established. Jacob Straub, a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point professor, is leading a team of researchers in a two-year study of these wetlands that began about two months ago. Straub and his team, in partnership with the Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NRCS, are surveying wetlands established between 1986 and 2014 to get a sense of the functionality of these restored wild areas. This includes counting waterfowl, but also getting an estimate of more secretive marsh birds that are hidden in the reeds, but will make themselves heard. The (Glacial Habitat Restoration) in general is a glacially influenced landscape, so it is the perfect topography for wetland preservation and not only that, but it is in a landscape that is heavily dominated by agriculture, said Straub. So it is a region of the state in particular that is historically dense with naturally occurring wetlands, highly modified with agriculture, and these wetlands I hate to say it this way they need our help. Horicon Marsh in northern Dodge County and southern Fond du Lac County is home to a massive world-renowned wetland, according to Straub, but the states wildlife and overall ecological balance depends on the many smaller wetlands throughout the region. The value of a wetland is difficult to fit into convenient figures for a straight numerical cost and benefit analysis. Being one of the hot spots in the state, Kite explained that area wetlands act as a natural sponge, absorbing floodwater and filtering runoff otherwise rolling from fields downhill and eventually into the water table. In 2008 when we had all that flooding, we got some emergency funds too. We got five or so more easements from that in the areas that got flooded from the Baraboo River, said Kite. When you have a lot of wet years in a row, you see a lot more interest in those programs. There wasnt a lot of good news for the Portage Canal restoration effort this week. Funding to restore and enhance portions of the historic man-made waterway are out of sight, and progress on adjacent pedestrian enhancements are caught up in bureaucratic wrangling. The city does have more than $1 million in earmarks for the project, but millions more to dredge contaminated sediments at the bottom of the Canal and install a canoe-friendly underpass crossing Wisconsin Street are lacking. Funding was a topic of conversation at Mondays meeting of the citys Ad Hoc Canal Committee a panel made up of city officials and interested citizens. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the owner of the Canal, is responsible for the dredging. Although the DNR completed significant dredging on the first segment of the Canal closest to the Wisconsin River last year, funding for cleaning the three additional segments stretching to the Fox River is not available. At this time, DNR has not secured the funding to implement a remedial action in the downstream segments. As I have mentioned before, the issue is the magnitude of the cost, Scott Inman, a DNR contaminated sediment engineer, wrote in an email to city staff last week. The email was read at Mondays meeting because Inman could not attend. It appears likely that the only way that the DNR will find funding to clean up the rest of the Canal will be if state legislators appropriate funding something that seems unlikely to most city officials. We should probably assume we are not getting anything, said Chris Arnold, a member of the Canal Committee. As for the underpass, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Aaron Jahncke told the Committee that funding for a wider Wisconsin Street underpass meant for small watercraft would not likely be funded by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation as part of a plan to improve Highway 51 in a project slated for 2022. The DOT probably wont fund anything more than a culvert similar to what exist there now, Jahncke said. Thats a disappointment to those seeking to use the Canal for recreational and tourism purposes. While the current culvert is navigable, it isnt very pleasant, said Committee Chairman Fred Galley. Going through the culvert now involves encountering things such as spiders. I think this is a showstopper (not in a good way), if you have to go through something that ugly, he said. Meanwhile on Monday, the Committee spent significant time discussing the nuances of working with a number of state and federal agencies in order to go forward with pedestrian trails adjacent to the Canal and pedestrian bridges over it. Mondays conversation revolved largely around appeasing the Federal Highway Administration surrounding the citys plans. A public hearing could take place in the next few months to discuss those enhancements. Veterans took to the air, and on to D.C. as an act of appreciation for their service. Veterans from the Sauk Prairie area took a flight to Washington, D.C. as part of the second group to go on a Badger Honor flight April 22. A sendoff ceremony was held at 5:30 a.m. at the Dane County Regional Airport; where the vets began their long day visiting war and other memorials in the nations capital. The men and women comprised of veterans from World War II, the Korean War and Viet Nam first stopped at Arlington National Cemetery, and witnessed the Changing of the Guard. They visited the Marine Corps memorial, Korean War and Lincoln memorials, World War II and Air Force memorials, before boarding a plane and heading home, where they received much pomp and circumstance when arriving back in Madison. Roy Gag of Prairie du Sac said he wanted to be part of the honor flight to see the memorials. One of the guys in our post convinced me I should go; they made sure I signed up to get there, Gag said. Gag served in the Korean War from 1954-56; was out for nine months, then volunteered again and went in another two years from 1957-1959, then spent 26 years in Seabee Reserves in Madison. He said it was a wonderful experience; not even the fact it rained all day could put a damper on the event. The Korean War memorial was the most outstanding, Gag said. The World War II Museum was really big and had a column for every state in the U.S. It was an informative and wonderful experience. Roger Howard, who served in the U.S. Army in Viet Nam from 1967-1968 said he wanted to go because vets werent looked upon highly when they came back from the war. His favorite part of the experience was seeing the Korean War Memorial. All of it was good but that was unbelievable, Howard said. Being with the other veterans was also special, Gag said. I knew a lot of the people being from the Sauk Prairie area; there were 33 of us, Gag said. It was just the comradery of being with fellow vets. Everyone was in high spirits. The mens homecoming was also a highlight, if a bit overwhelming. I couldnt believe when we came into the Madison airport; all the people who were there, Gag said. I never imagined how many people would be there. I must have shook 7,000 hands. I dont know how some politicians do it. It was quite a remarkable homecoming, Howard said. After only nine hours, the 6th Annual Wisconsin Dells Wine Walk April 26 sold out. This year marks a geographical expansion with new businesses taking part in the event; Kickers on Stand Rock Road and two businesses, Dez Tactical Arms and Always Sunny Tanning on Plum Street will be among the 18 businesses participating for the April 28th Wine Walk. The Original Wisconsin Dells Ducks and the Wisconsin Dells Trolley will drive people safely throughout the course of the evening. Each of the eighteen stops will offer walkers one red wine and one white wine, representing both domestic and international wineries. We have a good formula that people like, said Chairman of the Downtown Dells Events Mark Sweet. They have a great time. It has been very popular. We are really looking forward to people coming out and enjoying themselves. The business participating in the 2017 Wine Walk are: Kickers Eat and Drink, Showboat Saloon, Just a Game Field House, Swiss Maid Fudge, Five Sisters Resale Store, Steffes True Value, Mauers Market, Dells Distillery, Winnebago Gift Shop, The Keg, Great Harvest Bread, The Frozen Bear, Chalet Lanes, Myrt and Lucys, A Homespun Heart, Affordable Leather and more, Dez Tactical Arms and Always Sunny Tanning. The Kalahari Resorts will be preparing hors douerves for four of the stops and the Downtown Dells Committee will be making a contribution to the Wisconsin Dells Education Foundation in appreciation of their efforts this year. The downtown Dells Wine Walk is a very successful event for our community. It not only has local appeal but it draws visitors all over to reintroduce them to what our downtown has to offer. Said Jenifer Dobbs, Dells festival manager. The results of the April by-elections to 11 state assembly and two Lok Sabha seats have been a mixed bag for the two national parties. The results of the April by-elections to 11 state assembly and two Lok Sabha seats have been a mixed bag for the two national parties - the BJP and the Congress. The saffron party won five assembly seats, retaining three and wresting two. The victory in Delhi may be sweeter for the BJP after its complete rout in the 2015 assembly polls. In the two LS seats, Congress ally IUML retained Malappuram in Kerala (the BJP candidate's "good beef" promise didn't help him) and the National Conference snatched Srinagar from the PDP, though voter turnout was an abysmal 7.13 per cent. advertisement --- ENDS --- Ranjit Sinha is the second director of CBI against whom an FIR has been filed. By Shivendra Srivastava: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an FIR against its former director Ranjit Sinha who is accused of influencing the probe in coal block allocation during his tenure as director of the probe agency. Earlier in January the Supreme Court had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to be headed by the CBI director, to look into the prima facie allegations against Sinha of trying to influence the probe in the coal scam cases. advertisement Sinha is the second director against whom an FIR has been filed. Earlier AP Singh was booked for having close links with businessman Moin Qureshi on a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate. Ranjit Sinha (PTI) The coal allocation scam, or 'Coalgate' had engulfed the UPA government in 2012 after the CAG accused the government of allocating 194 coal blocks to in a flawed manner between 2004 and 2009. Sinha, an 1974-batch IPS officer, was the CBI director between 2012 and 2014. Also read: Coal scam case: No fault with allocation of coal block to JSPL, Supreme Court told Probe ex-CBI chief Ranjit Sinha's role in coal scam: Supreme Court --- ENDS --- Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies. The company operates through two segments, Sally Beauty Supply and Beauty Systems Group. The Sally Beauty Supply segment offers beauty products, including hair color and care products, skin and nail care products, styling tools, and other beauty products for retail customers, salons, and salon professionals. This segment also provides products under third-party brands, such as Wella, Clairol, OPI, Conair, and L'Oreal, as well as exclusive-label brand merchandise. The Beauty Systems Group segment offers professional beauty products, such as hair color and care products, skin and nail care products, styling tools, and other beauty items directly to salons and salon professionals through its professional-only stores, e-commerce platforms, and sales force, as well as through franchised stores under the Armstrong McCall store name. This segment also sells products under third-party brands, such as Paul Mitchell, Wella, Matrix, Schwarzkopf, Kenra, Goldwell, Joico, and Olaplex. As of September 30, 2021, the company operated 4,777 stores, including 134 franchised units in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany. It also distributes its products through full-service/exclusive distributors, open-line distributors, direct sales, and mega-salon stores. Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Denton, Texas. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. The Sherwin-Williams Company develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells paints, coatings, and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. It operates through three segments: The Americas Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group. The Americas Group segment offers architectural paints and coatings, and protective and marine products, as well as OEM product finishes and related products for architectural and industrial paint contractors, and do-it-yourself homeowners. The Consumer Brands Group segment supplies a portfolio of branded and private-label architectural paints, stains, varnishes, industrial products, wood finishes products, wood preservatives, applicators, corrosion inhibitors, aerosols, caulks, and adhesives to retailers and distributors. The Performance Coatings Group segment develops and sells industrial coatings for wood finishing and general industrial applications, automotive refinish products, protective and marine coatings, coil coatings, packaging coatings, and performance-based resins and colorants. It serves retailers, dealers, jobbers, licensees, and other third-party distributors through its branches and direct sales staff, as well as through outside sales representatives. The company has operations primarily in the North and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As of February 17, 2022, it operated approximately 5,000 company-operated stores and facilities. The Sherwin-Williams Company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. was founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman as an investment bank catering to institutions and businesses. Among the firm's first products are the revolutionary use of commercial paper for entrepreneurs which opened a new method of finance for business and industry. The original firm expanded to Goldman Sachs in 1882 with the inclusion of son-in-law Samuel Sachs and again in 1885 with a son and another son-in-law. The firm joined the New York Stock Exchange in 1896 expanding into trading of its own and in 1898 it was worth $1.6 million. The company began its work in the IPO market in 1906 with the initial public offering of Sears, Roebuck & Co., and then moved on to Ford and other prominent names of the time. The 1930s brings a change of leadership and a new direction for the firm. The company shifted toward a purer play on investment banking and embarks on a campaign of acquisition that lasted until the present day. The company doesnt go public itself until 1999 and from that point on it will change into a bank holding company that not only offers investment banking services but takes deposits too, and in 2016 the company added consumer banking to its list of services. Today, Goldman Sachs is a financial institution that provides a range of financial services for corporations, institutions, governments, and individuals globally. The company operates through four segments that include Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management, and Consumer & Wealth Management. According to US banking regulations, it is systemically important to the financial health of America. The company is headquartered in New York, New York, and operates 6 regional headquarters as well. Regional headquarters are located in financial hotspots such as London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bangalore, and Warsaw. Among its many prominent CEOs are John Corzine and Hank Paulson who both went on to successful work in government. The company's Investment Banking segment provides a full range of financial advisory services as well as underwriting for the public markets. The financial advisory services include but are not limited to strategic advisory for mergers and acquisitions, divestiture, restructuring, and spin-offs. This segment is also engaged in middle-market lending and transaction banking. Underwriting services include IPOs, preferred stock, debt instruments, and bridge loans. Goldman Sachs Global Markets segment facilitates market transactions for institutions, banks, brokerages, corporations, and governments. Services include execution, derivatives, financing, clearing, settlement, and custody. The Asset Management segment manages client portfolios across the investment spectrum while the Consumer & Wealth Management segment provides advisory and banking services to consumers. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates through two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Fluid Power & Flow Control. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment. It also operates fabricated rubber shops and service field crews that install, modify, and repair conveyor belts and rubber linings, as well as offer hose assemblies. In addition, the company provides equipment repair and technical support services. It distributes industrial products through a network of service centers. The company serves various industries, including agriculture and food processing, cement, chemicals and petrochemicals, fabricated metals, forest products, industrial machinery and equipment, life sciences, mining, oil and gas, primary metals, technology, transportation, and utilities, as well as government entities. The company was formerly known as Bearings, Inc. and changed its to name to Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. in 1997. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The 80-km stretch from Dornapal to Jagargunda is a death trap for the CRPF. The latest casualties were 25 jawans who were martyred in an ambush by Maoists on Monday. IEDs and other Maoist tactics delay road construction in this stretch, where contractors seek police protection to work. By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The 80-km stretch from Dornapal to Jagargunda is a death trap for CRPF - the latest casualties being 25 jawans of the 74 Battalion. Men deployed for road opening patrol (ROP) for construction of a portion of the road were killed by at least 300 Maoists, who had laid an ambush. Sources said the cost of this road has been very high - one soldier per month. But this year, it has already cost more. Only a few days ago, 12 soldiers were killed in Bheji, 20 km away from the site of Monday's massacre. advertisement As per CRPF sources, Jagargunda was expanded into a major government-backed settlement during the Salwa Judum movement, a controversial programme in which state authorities tried to shift villagers from the forests into fortified camps. HISTORY OF BLOODSHED The area was also a hotbed for cattle smuggling, but remained more infamous as a Maoist bed. The area has seen a history of bloodshed perpetrated by Maoists and has been the focal point of some of the fiercest encounters between security forces and Naxals since 2006. The Maoists cut off all three access roads (via Vijaypur, Aranpur via Dornapal, and Chintagufa) leading to Jagargunda, virtually converting it into a landlocked and inaccessible island. All roads, bridges and culverts were either destroyed or blown up by IEDs. On being cut off, Jagargunda could be accessed via a 100-km detour running southeast from Kuakonda to Dornapal via Sukma along NH-221. From Dornapal, the travel required another 70 km past the CRPF camps at Polampalli, Kankerlanka, Chintagufa and Chintalnar. While no intelligence of the impending attack was available, CRPF sources say movement of soldiers was known to all, including Maoists and villagers, as they were assisting in road construction - a painfully slow process as contractors fear for their lives due to threat from the Reds. Former CRPF DG Durga Prasad told MAIL TODAY, "The road construction is costing us many soldiers. The Naxals are aware that soldiers would assist in ROP duty." However, many blame the government for not paying attention to recommendations. Such mishaps also drive more fear in the minds of contractors, thus delaying projects further. A senior officer, who returned after serving in Dantewada, said that a 20-km road from Palnar to Aranpur took four years to complete. Suspecting IEDs and other tactics, construction of a cemented road began in January 2012, and could be completed only in January 2016. Sources say the area is a stronghold of South Bastar divisional committee headed by one Raghu, and is under the Jagargunda area committee led by Papa Rao. They are considered among the most formidable leaders that Maoists have been able to create in the region. Moreover, the area has a People's Liberation Guerrilla Army platoon, three local operating squads and one local guerrilla squad. Sources also say an IAS officer named Alex Paul Menon, who was posted as collector of Sukma, was abducted for a fortnight in 2012 for overseeing road construction here. advertisement ALSO READ | Naxal attack on CRPF jawans in Sukma: All you need to know ALSO READ | PM Modi on Sukma attack: Sacrifice of CRPF jawans will not go in vain ALSO WATCH | Sukma attack: Naxals came in hundreds, attacked in different groups, says injured jawan --- ENDS --- This is a current list of the top 250 companies by market capitalization on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Learn more . Many investors understand the reasons for having a diversified portfolio. One way to accomplish this is to diversify within an asset class. For equity investors in the United States this can mean investing in both growth and value stocks. It can also mean investing in international stocks. And when investors want to do this, they need look no further than our neighbor to the north. Canada has a range of stocks for investors to consider. This article will focus on strategies that investors can use when looking to invest in Canadian stocks. Why Buy Canadian Stocks? There are a few reasons for investors to consider Canadian stocks as part of their diversification strategy: A Large Natural Resources Sector The sheer size of the country and its location lets investors know that it is an area rich in natural resources. This also means that the country has a source of current and future wealth. An Advanced Skills-Based Economy In this regard, Canada is similar to other western nations. The difference is that it is not as common to find these skill-based professions in a country with so many natural resources. Stability Canada is not exempt from any problems that impact the global economy. However, the country is known for stable financial and business policies that have kept the economy relatively stable. This Goldilocks economy has meant that many Canadian stocks havent enjoyed the outsized growth of some U.S. equities. However, it also comes with a bit of protection against downside risk. How Have Canadian Stocks Performed? According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, there was a time when U.S. stocks and Canadian stocks performed nearly identically. Heres a graph that shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index vs. the TSX Index Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence You can see that with a couple of exceptions, the two indexes performed remarkably similar. That all changed around 2012 and Canadian stocks became less attractive. Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence This disparity is widely due to one sector, technology. However, Canadian technology stocks have been on the rise. And in 2022, the country is benefiting from renewed interest in materials stocks as well as a spike in commodity prices. What Are the Best Sectors of Canadian Stocks? For different reasons finance, materials, and energy stocks are among the best performing stocks as of September 2022. Heres a brief overview of each sector and some of the top names for investors to consider. Financial Similar to the United States, Canada has a strong banking industry. Many Canadian banks have a track record of solid performance that can provide long-term value to a portfolio. And several of these stocks pay dividends with attractive yields for investors. This sector makes up the largest percentage of the TSX at roughly 30%. And the Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)is the top-weighted constituent in the TSX. Beyond the Royal Bank of Canada some of the other top-performing Canadian financial stocks include: Materials and Mining Canadian stocks can be an ideal choice for investors looking to diversify into gold and precious metals without owning the physical metal. Canada has a large natural resources sector. So, its not surprising that there are a number of gold mining companies with Canadian origins. This sector also gives investors exposure to other components in the mining and agriculture sectors. This sector makes up approximately 11.5% of the TSX. Some of the top Canadian materials and mining stocks include: Energy Canadian stocks offer both traditional fossil fuel-based energy stocks as well as some renewable energy stocks. This sector makes up approximately 18.5% of the TSX. Some of the top Canadian energy stocks include: Technology As mentioned earlier, technology stocks have largely been the domain of the United States. As evidence of this, information technology stocks make up only about 5.5% of the TSX. However, there are a few Canadian companies that have become stars in the new economy being created. Some of the more popular names include: What Are the Risks of Investing in Canadian Stocks? One concern about investing in Canadian stocks is that they can be heavily weighted towards cyclical industries. For example, as of February 2022 financials (33.5%), energy (14.8%) and industrials (11.7%) made up nearly 60% of the index. That may be too much for some investors particularly because those sectors all tend to correlate roughly the same way as the economic cycle. But as a long-term play, Canadian stocks are worth considering with a small part of your portfolio. How to Buy Canadian Stocks Buy Individual Stocks on a Stock Exchange Hundreds of Canadian stocks have dual listings on either the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the NASDAQ. This is the most convenient way to get exposure to Canadian stocks because there are no barriers to stock ownership. These shares can be purchased in U.S. dollars directly from the exchange just like purchasing a U.S. stock. However, for a full list of the best Canadian stocks, investors should look at the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The TSX is one of the oldest stock exchanges having been founded in 1852. Its also the third largest stock exchange in North America in terms of market capitalization. The Toronto Stock Exchange includes approximately 1,500 companies. It allows investors to trade stocks, investment trusts, exchange-traded products, bonds, commodities, futures, options, and other derivative products. All transactions on the TSX are executed in Canadian dollars. Invest in a Mutual Fund or ETF There are many mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that supply exposure to Canadian stocks. Some funds supply exposure to both U.S. and Canadian stocks. Other funds hold just Canadian stocks. Some examples of those include: BMO S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF Horizons S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap ETF As with investing in any asset class, investors need to consider their investment objective, time horizon and risk tolerance before choosing a fund that fits their needs. Investors will also want to pay attention to the funds fee structure to ensure youre making the most efficient use of your capital. The Final Word on Investing in Canadian Stocks Investing in Canadian stocks is one way for investors to add diversification to their portfolio. MarketBeat provides a list of the top Canadian stocks that trade on the TSX. This is Canadas version of the NYSE or NASDAQ in the United States and includes many of the same stocks. Thats one advantage of investing in Canadian stocks is that many have a dual listing which removes many of the obstacles that can come with investing in international stocks. However, investors should be aware that many of the best Canadian stocks are in highly cyclical industries which can lead to underperformance when those sectors are out of favor. Still, due to their relative stability and in some cases an impressive dividend, Canadian stocks may have a place in an investors portfolio. VMware, Inc. provides software solutions in the areas of modern applications, cloud management and infrastructure, networking, security, and digital workspaces in the United States and internationally. It offers VMware multi-cloud solutions, including VMware vSphere, a data center infrastructure that provides the fundamental compute layer; vSAN and VxRail, which offers holistic data storage and protection options to applications running on vSphere; and vRealize Cloud Management solutions that manages hybrid and multi-cloud environments running in virtual machines and containers, as well as VMware Cloud Foundation, a cloud platform that combines its vSphere, vSAN, and NSX with vRealize Cloud Management into an integrated stack and delivers enterprise-ready cloud infrastructure for private and public clouds. The company also provides networking solutions, such as VMware NSX, NSX Distributed and Gateway Firewalls, NSX Network Detection and Response Engine, NSX Advanced Load Balancer, Tanzu Service Mesh, and VMware SASE; security solutions consisting of VMware Carbon Black Endpoint, Workload, and Container; and digital workspace solutions comprising Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management, Access, Intelligent Hub, and Horizon. In addition, it offers application modernization solutions, such as Tanzu Application and Operations Platform, Tanzu Application Service Platform, Tanzu Observability, Tanzu Community Edition, and Tanzu Labs; and cloud management solutions, including vRealize Cloud Management, vCloud Suite, and CloudHealth by VMware Suite. The company sells its products through distributors, resellers, system vendors, and systems integrators. VMware, Inc. has a strategic alliance with Amazon Web Services to build and deliver an integrated hybrid solution. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. 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". By India Today Web Desk: In China's restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, parents now cannot keep common Muslim names like Saddam, Jihad and Imam for their babies as the government has banned dozens of Islamic names. Xinjiang authorities have recently banned dozens of names with religious connotations common to Muslims around the world on the basis that they could "exaggerate religious fervour," the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW: 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 was quoted as saying by Radio Free Asia. Children with banned names will not be able to obtain a "hukou," or household registration, essential for accessing public school and other social services, it said. The new measures are part of China's fight against terrorism in this troubled region, home to 10 million Muslim Uyghur ethnic minorities. This is the latest in a slew of new regulations restricting religious freedom in the name of countering "religious extremism," the HRW said. Conflicts between the Uyghur and the Han, the majority ethnic group in China who also control the government, are common in Xinjiang. A full list of names has not yet been published and it is unclear exactly what qualifies as a religious name, it said. On April 1, Xinjiang authorities imposed new rules prohibiting the wearing of "abnormal" beards or veils in public places, and imposing punishments for refusing to watch state TV or radio programmes. These policies are blatant violations of domestic and international protections on the rights to freedom of belief and expression, the HRW said. Punishments also appear to be increasing for officials in Xinjiang who are deemed to be too lenient. In January, the authorities imposed a "serious warning" on an official for complaining to his wife through a messaging app about government policies. advertisement Also read: India becomes world's 5th largest military spender, Pakistan not in the top 15 list China slams 'obstinate' India, says Dalai Lama's Arunachal visit will 'escalate' border tensions --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 25 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today rejected the demand for the resignation of M M Mani and said the power ministers alleged remarks against women had been "distorted and magnified" by the media. The opposition Congress-led UDF disrupted proceedings on the first day of the state Assembly itself, demanding Manis resignation, leading to early adjournment of the House for the day. advertisement They said Manis alleged offensive language was a "disgrace" to the state and was an offence under Section 294 of the IPC which attracts a sentence of 3 months imprisonment. Vijayan said Mani, who hails from Idukki district, had used colloquial language while addressing a function which was "distorted and magnified" by the media. Significantly, the chief minister had earlier denounced Manis remarks. Protests had erupted in various parts of Kerala, demanding the ministers resignation over his alleged remarks against Pembila Orumai activists and IAS officers involved in the eviction drive from encroached lands in Munnar in Idukki. "Mani himself had offered an explanation and expressed regret and so there is no need for a debate," the chief minister said, replying to a notice seeking adjournment motion by the United Democratic Front (UDF) on the controversy connected with the eviction drive in Munnar and Manis remarks. Mani in his reply maintained that he had not used any offencive language against women. "I have not used the word woman even once in my 17 minute speech," which he claimed had been edited by the media, a section of which was against him. When asked by the Opposition leader in the state Assembly Ramesh Chennithala why he had expressed regret, Mani, however, remained silent. Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan took up other business scheduled for the day and adjourned the House as opposition MLAs protested, holding a black banner, demanding that Mani be ousted. The Opposition also protested during the Question Hour on the same issue. PTI LGK JRK UD APR AAR --- ENDS --- A leading security expert will discuss why terrorists give up at a University of Wolverhampton lecture. George Kassimeris, Professor of Security at the University, will present his inaugural lecture on Tuesday, 2 May 2017. Professor Kassimeris has been researching and writing on terrorism and political violence for more than 20 years and has successfully built a reputation as the leading expert on Greek terrorism and one of the best recognised European scholars working in the field. The free lecture will take place in the Mary Seacole Building (MH002) in Nursery Street, Wolverhampton from 5.30-6.30pm. There will be a drinks reception afterwards in the Lord Swraj Building. Professor Kassimeris, from the Universitys Faculty of Social Sciences, said: Despite the adage once a terrorist always a terrorist, terrorists can and frequently do give up committing acts of violence. This is a crucially important observation that offers much potential insight to policymakers and counterterrorism officers battling with the current generation of terrorists, who should consider what lessons we can learn from terrorists who desist. Addressing the question of why individual members of a terrorist organisation give up their violence has become increasingly important as the jihadist threat evolves into a less hierarchical and more diffuse cellular system. In the lecture, Professor Kassimeris will argue: Given the potential value of such analysis for counterterrorism efforts, understanding individual exit from a terrorist organisation should be viewed as having the same urgency as understanding the reasons why people join such organisations in the first place and why they choose to remain in them. Kassimeriss research on terrorism has received funding from the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, the Nuffield Foundation, the European Union and the Smith Richardson Foundation. He has lectured widely on terrorism and political violence, including invited lectures and keynote speeches in Britain, the United States, Canada, France, Serbia, Spain, Turkey and Greece. A political journalist before joining the academia, Kassimeris comments regularly for current security affairs for the BBC and other international media. His journalism has appeared in a wide range of publications including the Wall Street Journal Europe, The Financial Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Independent, The Economist Intelligence Unit, The World Today, The South China Morning Post, and The Times Literary Supplement. All are welcome to attend. To book a place, email: FOSSresearch@wlv.ac.uk Professor George Kassimeris profile. ENDS Picture: Professor George Kassimeris For more information please contact the Media Relations Office on 01902 32 2736 or 01902 518647. Date Issued: Tuesday, 25 April 2017 W&M community offers input on search for next president The search begins: Members of the presidential search committee met with faculty, staff and students last week in order to inform their work. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Staff forum: Staff members attended a forum held in Commonwealth Auditorium. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Student forum: Students attended a forum held in the Integrated Science Center. Photo by Marisa Spyker Photo - of - Hide Caption William & Marys next president must understand and promote the value of diversity across all levels of the community, appreciate and enhance the schools unprecedented rise as a research university and acknowledge and advance W&Ms unique tradition of student-faculty relationships outside of the classroom. Those were just a few of the recurring suggestions coming from three forums for staff, faculty and students, respectively held on campus April 19. In attendance were members of the W&M Board of Visitors and the recently appointed presidential search committee, chaired by Vice Rector H. Thomas Watkins III 74. The committee held its first meeting Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, the Board of Visitors unanimously approved the charge to the search committee, which includes recommending not more than three finalists to the Board no later than Feb. 15, 2018. The charge also states the Board desires a diverse candidate pool that reflects a full array of backgrounds and perspectives from which to select the next president. William & Mary is starting a national search for the universitys 28th president after President Taylor Reveley announced earlier this month he will retire effective June 30, 2018, after 10 years in the job. Diversity was among the chief topics that arose at Wednesdays forums. We are at a little less than 50 percent of the level of faculty diversity compared to all other universities of this type, said one faculty member. If the College is going to move in the direction of opening our students up so they can understand themselves in the world that should include its growth, its increased sophistication. That will require minority faculty, programs that are diverse, international, graduate programs. They all go together. Added a student: Diversity is important now more than ever. Students of color need to feel like the culture and diversity they bring to their university is valued, because its only through diversity that you have different thoughts and opinions at a university. Numerous staff members at the morning forum also talked about the importance of diversity. I believe that its very important that the search committee establish criteria in ways that we can really measure the progress and what a potential president has done in their tenure elsewhere or in their other positions that theyve had to see concrete evidence of what they have done to push diversity and inclusion forward, said one staff member. Another theme mentioned by staffers several times was the importance of the new presidents fundraising skills, as well as his or her ability to prudently manage the limited resources that the university already has. A student cited the cost to attend William & Mary as an obstacle to a more socioeconomically diverse community. That should be a top priority for the future president, the student said. William & Mary is a public university, which means we should be committed to remaining affordable and accessible to not just people with very deep pockets but all people who are able to demonstrate the ability to excel at a college like this, said the student. One faculty member pointed to William & Marys rise in ranking as a public research university and implored the search committee to find someone with the type of vision to continue that ascendance. What was it that made it possible for us to move ahead? That was the importance of graduate work, the faculty member said. The ideal president will be one who has the vision to see what the future [will bring], who will protect and nurture all of our graduate programs, and also has the vision to look ahead to see what are the opportunities as knowledge changes, as universities change and be able to position William & Mary as a first-class research university. Another faculty member said he hoped the new president would be mindful of what separates William & Mary from schools throughout the nation. What makes William & Mary different is what goes on between faculty and students outside the classroom, he said. That is a very unique recipe we have managed to concoct. I want this new president to understand that its really the engine that makes William & Mary run. ... That interaction comes in many forms; we call some of it undergraduate research. At Fridays first official meeting, the committee agreed to hire a national search firm. The committee also received an overview of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act from Ron Forehand, senior assistant attorney general, and a presentation from Chon Glover, William & Marys chief diversity officer, on Equal Employment Opportunity. The search committee will gather additional feedback from campus and from alumni and volunteer leadership groups throughout the early summer. After obtaining preliminary input, the committee will draft a position description and leadership profile that will guide the process for the search firm that will be selected this summer. The universitys goal is to conduct interviews with candidates in the fall and recommend finalists to the Board by early 2018 so that the 28th president can be selected by early spring. During the campus forums, Watkins and Rector Todd Stottlemyer said they anticipate the committee will gather a lot of feedback and information from the campus community in the coming months. But the final stages of the search will remain confidential. Watkins explained, according to research on current presidential search best practices, keeping candidate identities confidential helps attract the highest quality and most diverse pool of candidates. In an effort to get the best possible candidates, we envision a process that is highly open in the early phase when were listening, when were understanding what you believe we need to have, Watkins said. But as we move to talk with specific candidates, we envision a more confidential process. With the objective not of closing anything, but with the objective of seeking to attract candidates that are of the of the absolute highest quality, many of whom might well be in positions now, possibly at other higher education institutions, that theyre not interested in having the information that they may be interviewing here known. A website for the search has been launched. Feedback can be submitted using the online form there or by emailing presidentialsearch@wm.edu. Purohit's wife Aparna, who has been running from pillar to post to get her husband out of the jail on bail, expressed shock on the Bombay HC order. By Divyesh Singh: Lt Col NN Purohit, who has been accused in the Malegaon 2008 blast case, has expressed disappointment over the Bombay High Court order which rejected his bail plea while giving an affirmative order to another accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. Speaking to India Today, Purohit's wife Aparna said, "The order has disappointed us. This wasn't what we had been expecting. There is no other way but to approach the Supreme Court at the earliest, so that bail is granted like it has been granted to the other accused in the case." advertisement Aparna, who has been running from pillar to post to get her husband out of the jail on bail, expressed shock and said that the order rejecting the bail plea was never thought of. She added, "The court did not consider the report submitted by Army, which ruled out the charges against my husband involved in pilferage of RDX from the Army ammunition stock. The report clears him of the most serious charge that he has been accused of but the court didn't take it into consideration and rejected the bail plea." "We will approach the apex court and seek bail for him, as he has been languishing in prison since past eight years while the trial is yet to start. So many other accused in the case are out on bail but the court rejected his bail plea. Other charges like his meeting with the right-wing organisation was known to his superiors and for that he is facing departmental inquiry. We are now left with no other option but to approach the Supreme Court and seek a bail," she added. 2008 Malegaon blast: Sadhvi Pragya Thakur gets bail, Lt Col Purohit stays in jail --- ENDS --- China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Many leaders from BJP during demonetisation roll out had claimed that the move will also a financial impact on terrorists in Kashmir and Maoists in Chattisgarh. By Supriya Bhardwaj: Condemning the attack on CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, the Congress said it is a clear case of intelligence failure and called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to act decisively against anti-national forces. Comparing the entire episode with burning of Rome, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said, "What we see is a classical case that when Rome is burning Nero is fiddling. Nero is this government, Nero are those people who are handling security matter in this government." advertisement While talking to India Today, former Union Minister Tewari said, "Internal security situation in this country is extremely grave. We have Kashmir up in flames and you have Maoists on rampage in Chhattisgarh. The nation is facing an extremely grim situation. We would like to tell the PM that you need to get your house in order. It is an intelligence failure also." Mainitaining their tough stance on demonetisation Tewari said, "The principal opposition party also maintained that the government should revisit the entire demonetisation debate. Whosoever in the government had actually made the link between demonetisation and economic crackdown on Naxals, the Prime Minister should throw them out immediately from the government." Many leaders from BJP during demonetisation roll out had claimed that the move will also a financial impact on terrorists in Kashmir and Maoists in Chhattisgarh. "It was absolutely ill-conceived, ill-thought theory and the PM must hold whosoever made that statement should now be held to accountable," former Union Minister added. "There needs to be accountability. The strategic challenge that left wing extremists have now thrown to the govt needs to be combated. Whole issue of intelligence failure needs to be looked into," he said. ALSO READ Sukma cold-blooded murder, valour of CRPF jawans will not go in vain: Rajnath Singh on Naxal attack After Sukma Naxal attack, Jharkhand on alert; MHA seeks report from CRPF, feels leadership failure to blame CRPF jawan injured in Sukma attack recalls ambush: Shot Naxals in chest, they used villagers as human shield Chhattisgarh: 80-km stretch from Dornapal to Jagargunda a death trap for CRPF Naxal attack on CRPF jawans in Sukma: All you need to know WATCH | Sukma attack cold-blooded murder, won't let jawans' sacrifice go in vain: Rajnath Singh --- ENDS --- Russia to use Baltic NPP reactor vessel for Ostrovets 2 25 April 2017 Share Belarus and Russia have agreed to the delivery of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) originally built for the Baltic NPP - under construction in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad - to unit 2 of the nuclear power plant under construction in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region of Belarus, Rosatom has confirmed to World Nuclear News. The schedule for commissioning the Ostrovets 2 is uaffected and remains 2020. Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of the Russian state nuclear corporation, on 1 April installed the RPV of Ostrovets 1, which is scheduled to start up in late 2018-early 2019. The RPV built for unit 1 was shipped to the construction site in October 2015, but workers dropped it during installation work in August last year. Although the RPV was found to be "absolutely functional", Rosatom's then director-general Sergey Kirienko agreed to a replacement and at no additional cost to the customer, other than for its transport to the site. The RPV originally built for Ostrovets 2 - AEM-Technology, another Rosatom subsidiary, completed its assembly in May last year - has therefore been used for unit 1 instead. According to BelTA news agency, Mikhail Mikhadyuk, deputy energy minister of Belarus, said last week: "We have already signed an amendment to the contract, which obliges the general contractor to install the the reactor pressure vessel made for the Baltic nuclear power plant into the second power generating unit. It is an identical product because the Baltic NPP was designed in the same way as the Belarusian plant." Rosatom is supplying the RPV built for the Baltic NPP at no extra cost to Belarus, he added. The Ostrovets plant - the first nuclear power plant to be built in Belarus - consists of two VVER-1200 type reactors to give 2340 MWe net capacity on line. Each RPV weighs more than 330 tonnes, is 11 meters long and 4.5m in diameter. Belarus agreed last September to the return of the RPV for unit 1 to Russia. A Rosatom spokeswoman said yesterday the corporation had "undertaken all the required inspections on site" and that these had "proved the RPV had not experienced any damage and is ready for further operation". She added: "There were no technical barriers to the use of the RPV [but] Rosatom intended to protect its Belarusian counterparts against any groundless claims by third parties and consequently agreed to change the RPV in order to dispel any the public concerns regarding the Belarusian NPP." An intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Belarus specifically on cooperation in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus was signed in March 2011. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics IAEA highlights nuclear technology in daily life 25 April 2017 Share Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), spoke yesterday about the "remarkable contribution" nuclear applications make to "so many areas of our lives" at the opening of the agency's first International Conference on Radiation Science and Technology (ICARST 2017). The event is being held this week at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna. Amano said nuclear applications range from the disinfection of cultural heritage artefacts, to developing new food packaging materials, treating sewage, inspecting oil and gas pipelines and sterilising human tissue grafts used in surgery. A key role of the agency is to make nuclear science and technology available to developing countries as they pursue their development goals in human health, agriculture, industry, energy, natural resource management and many other areas, he said. Developing countries however are not, he added, "simply passive recipients of technologies created and shared by their developed partners". Many developing countries have acquired high levels of expertise in nuclear science and technology and they use this expertise "to innovate for their own benefit, but also share it with other developing countries", he said. The IAEA has a special focus on capacity-building and "we help countries to build up a solid body of well-trained specialists in radiation technology who can pass on their expertise to future generations," he said. It is also the forum for international cooperation in ensuring that nuclear and other radioactive materials are "used safely and that people and the environment are protected from harm". He added: "Just as importantly, we help countries to put in place effective security procedures so that nuclear and other radioactive materials do not fall into the hands of terrorists." ICARST 2017 is expected to bring together around 600 international experts and participants from both the private and public sectors to discuss the latest developments in a wide range of applications of radiation science and technology. In addition, around 50 exhibitors are showcasing the latest equipment and services related to radiation science and technology. "It is high time that such an event took place to highlight the remarkable contribution which nuclear applications make in so many areas of our lives," Amano said. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Russia aims to align CIS nuclear laws 25 April 2017 Share Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree on aligning nuclear power legislation in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In a statement on Medvedev's official website on 22 April, the government said national laws in some countries of the CIS vary in relation to the civilian nuclear energy industry and the construction of nuclear power facilities. The decree enables the Russian government to ratify a draft agreement on harmonisation of nuclear industry standards that was approved by the CIS Economy Committee in December. Dated 20 April, the document acknowledges that "certain differences have emerged in the technical regulation of the peaceful use of atomic energy", the government said. It therefore "establishes the principles" according to which the various approaches may be aligned in terms of regulation, standardisation, accreditation and metrological support, it added. It was drafted by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom in accordance with the Framework Program of Cooperation of the CIS Countries in the Field of the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy for the period up to 2020, which was signed in Minsk in May last year. The government said "mutual understanding" of the need to establish and implement mandatory requirements for products and processes related to ensuring the security of nuclear power facilities at all stages of their life cycle, and a "common ability to assess technical solutions" are "of paramount importance". Addressing the differences in atomic energy laws that affect implementation of joint projects "requires a systematic approach", it said. Also known as the Russian Commonwealth, the CIS is a regional organisation formed during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Nine out of the 15 former Soviet Republics are member states, and two are associate members. The nine are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The associate members are Turkmenistan and Ukraine. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Nearly 75% of countries in the world require drivers to drive on the right side of traffic. Although the majority drive on the right, there is no global standard driving system which causes some countries to require driving on the left. Left side drivers include the majority of former British colonies and the right drivers include US, Latin America and most European nations. The following is a summary of countries who drive on the left. List of Countries Who Drive on the Left Asia 15 Asian nations drive on the left. These countries include Hong Kong, India, Brunei, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. The history of driving on the left in Japan began during the Edo Period (1603-1867). In 1872, the British laid out the first railway line in the country. It was left-sided and laid the foundation for left-sided driving in Japan. East Timor started driving on the left in 1976 under Indonesian rule and continues to do so today.Macau and Hong Kong, unlike Mainland China, drive on the left. Thailand was never colonized but also drives on the left. Africa African countries have left-sided traffic including the former British colonies of Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Swaziland, Uganda, and Tanzania. Other former British colonies including Sierra Leone and Nigeria changed to right-sided driving because they border former French colonies. Mozambique, having been colonized by the Portuguese, drives on the left even though its former European power switched to right-sided traffic in the 1920s. Mozambique borders nations which drive on the left as well. Mauritius also adheres to left-handed traffic. Australia and Oceania Australia and its territories (including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island) all drive on the left. New Zealand and its territories (The Cook Islands and Tokelau) are also included in the list of left-handed drivers. Other territories that drive on the left include the former British colonies of Fiji, Pitcairn Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, and Niue. Nauru, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Solomon Islands also have left-sided traffic. Europe The first legislation to make traffic left-sided in the UK was made in 18th century in London. This law required that traffic on the London Bridge keep left. The Highway Act of 1835 made this law applicable in the British Empire. Although most European countries switched to right-sided traffic in the 20th century, the UK still continues to drive on the left. Guernsey, the Isle of Man in addition to Jersey, being Crown Dependencies of the UK, also keep left. Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus have left-sided traffic as well. West Indies The UK Overseas Territories in the West Indies keep left which are Anguilla, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands. Countries formerly part of the British Empire that drive on the left side include Saint Kitts and Nevis, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Grenada. The U.S. Virgin Islands also have left-sided traffic. History of Left-Sided Traffic Historically, the majority of the human population has always been right-handed. It is theorized that left-handed traffic began in the days of horse travel. The left-sided position but them at the advantage of having easy access to their sword with their right-handed in case of an enemy encounter. In the modern United Arab Emirates, there are seven Emirates, or regions, all with differing rulers and royal families. The seven Emirates within this fascinating country are: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah, Ras-al-Khaimah, and Umm Al Quwain. From these different regions, an existing ruler, or Emir, is elected to act as the President/Head of State of the United Arab Emirates. At this point in time, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, of Abu Dhabi, is the President/Head of State of the United Arab Emirates. All rulers of the UAE also make up the Federal Supreme Council, which creates legislation and law within the country. The first leader of the United Arab Emirates, considered the "Father" of the nation, was His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (also the father of the current leader), who passed away in 2004. This article will explore each Emirates' current rulers, who are also known as Emirs. Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan has ruled the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the entire United Arab Emirates since 2004, succeeding his father. Sheikh Khalifa has presided over great improvements in Abu Dhabi especially creating efficient government services, as well as creating legislation in order to open up the region for foreign investments. Abu Dhabi is actually the richest emirate in the UAE, and has helped Dubai financially in the past. Dubai re-named the highest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, after Sheikh Khalifa himself, due to the generosity shown during tough financial times. Ajman Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi became the Emir of Ajman when his father died on September 6, 1981. He had been the deputy ruler since 1960. At the age of 86, Sheikh Humaid has overseen, and been a part of an amazing transformation in Ajman within his lifetime. Ajamn is the smallest Emirate in the UAE at only 100 square miles. It has evolved from a small fishing village into a modern township with a population of 240,000. Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the most well-known of the UAE Royals. This is due the Sheikh's ambassadorship - he is always promoting the city when overseas. When he takes part in his various high profile interests, such as international horse racing and breeding, he is seen as the epitome of Dubai and what the city encompasses: a rich, well presented, high-class individual. He is also the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates. During his education in the United Kingdom, Sheikh Mohammed started to formulate his ideas about the ideal society within Dubai and the UAE. This ideology included political discourse, sport, the military, as well as the arts. These areas have developed rapidly in Dubai since his inception as leader in 2006. Due to the foresight of the Sheikh, the tourism sector has been developed heavily in the past decade, although this is partly due to the realization that oil is a finite commodity. Fujairah Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, before becoming the Emir of Fujairah, was a Miniter of Agriculture and Fisheries, until he took over the leadership of the Emirate in 1974. Sheikh Hamad, following UAE Royal family tradition, was educated in the United Kingdom and attended the Eastbourne School of English, and the Mons Military Academy. Due his his stellar grasp of both English and Arabic, Sheikh Hamad has represented the President of the UAE on many occasions upon the world stage. Fujairah is known as a get-away spot for residents of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, due to the cooler climate and mountainous terrain, perfect for off road driving. Sharjah & Ras-al-Khaimah These 2 Emirates are ruled by one family, the Al Qasimis. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi is the Emir of Sharjah (since 1972), and Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi is the Emir of Ras-al-Khaimah (since 2010) respectively. Sharjah is the third largest Emirate in the UAE and has a population of 1.4 million people. Ras-al-Khaimah has a significantly smaller population at 265,000. Sheikh Sultan (Sharjah) holds a Bachelors Degree in Agricultural Engineering, a Doctorate in Philosophy and second Doctorate in Philosophy of Political Geography. This education has allowed him to develop Sharjah`s universities and economy, as well as preserving important Islamic sites and history in the Emirate. Sheikh Saud (Ras-al-Khaimah), since 2010, has run a stable government, also focusing on the development of education and healthcare in Ral-al-Khaimah. He has also overseen a huge economic expansion of the small Emirate, establishing a free-trade zone within the city. Umm Al Quwain Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla has ruled this Emirate since 2009 (after the death of his Father). Umm Al Quwain is of significant interest archaeologically, as humans have lived in this area for thousands of years. It is also home to the largest undisturbed coastal area in United Arab Emirates. A lot of tourists from the bigger Emirates will visit Umm Al Quwain to get away from city life and experience untouched nature. This has lead to a conscious effort by the government of Umm Al Quwain to preserve certain areas as well as important cultural sites. Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla has always held the preservation of history in the highest regard. The tourism industry in South Africa accounts for a significant portion of the country's national income and 10.3% of the nations workforce. In 2012, the industry directly contributed approximately 102 billion South African Rands to the country's GDP according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. South Africa has a lot to offer in regards to tourism with a wide array of attractions for both international and domestic tourists. Such attractions include game reserves, highly valued wineries, picturesque nature reserves, a diverse cultural heritage, and other natural landscapes. Popular destinations for tourists include the beaches and coastlines found in Western Cape provinces and KwaZulu-Natal, major cities such as Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and several national parks including the extensive Kruger National Park located in the northern region of the country. Attractions In South Africa Natural South Africa has been listed as one of the 17 megadiverse countries of the world. Lions, blue wildebeests, hippopotamuses, leopards, hyenas, white rhinoceroses, kudus, giraffes, cheetahs, and impalas are among the large mammals found in the northern ecoregion of the bushveld. A large extent of the bushveld is still in existence in the northeastern part of the country extending to the Sabi Sand Game Reserve and Kruger National Park. Founded in 1926, Kruger National Park is one of the most visited places in the country. It attracted approximately 1,659,793 visitors between 2014 and 2015. South Africa is also rich in flora diversity, offering a broad range of ecosystems throughout the country. The endemic fynbos biome, the succulent Karoo found in the central region of South Africa and grasslands in the Highveld make up the majority of the plant life and area in the Cape floral region of Western Cape. The unique vegetation is protected as a portion of the Table Mountain National Park, the country's most visited national park with approximately 2,677,767 visitors in the period between 2014 and 2015. Cultural South Africa also boasts attractions that are of cultural significance. Such cultural attractions include several historical sites in the cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Soweto Township, the Castle of Good Hope, and Robben Island. Others include the Kingdom of Mapungubwe ruins found in the northern region of Limpopo, the wine routes of the Western Cape and the fossil-bearing caves in Gauteng that form a part of the Cradle of Humankind. The Top Three Source Countries For Tourists To South Africa Approximately 9,549,236 overnight visitors entered the country in 2014, resulting in a 0.1% increase from the 9,536,568 tourists who visited South Africa in the previous year. Most of the tourists entering South Africa were residents of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) accounting for 76.2% of arrivals in 2014. Besides, 23.6% of tourists came from overseas while 1.9% came from other countries in Africa. The UK was the leading source of tourists visiting South Africa in the year 2015 with approximately 407,846 visitors. The US was the second leading source of tourists to the country with 297,226 while Germany was the third leading source of tourists visiting South Africa with 256,646 tourists. Other top leading source countries for tourists to South Africa included France, Netherlands, Australia, China, India, Canada, and Italy. The government of Cambodia is considered a constitutional monarchy, which means that the monarch rules according to a written constitution. This document sets forth the legal limits of power held by the monarch. In Cambodia, the Prime Minister acts as head of government while the Monarch acts as head of state, a symbol of national unity. The government is carried out by a Parliamentary system and three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. This article takes a closer look at each branch. Executive Branch Of The Government Of Cambodia The executive branch of government is headed by the Prime Minister. The President and Vice President of the National Assembly, one of the houses of Parliament, recommend a candidate for Prime Minister based on the political party in power. The members of the National Assembly vote on the candidate and the Monarch conducts the official appointment. Once in office, the Prime Minister selects a Council of Ministers, who are the heads of the various ministries and must answer to the Prime Minister. Some of the Ministries that make up the executive branch of Cambodia include: Commerce, Culture and Fine Arts, Health, Information, Mines and Energy, Planning, Tourism, Water Resources and Meteorology, Womens Affairs, Rural Development, and Environment. The Prime Minister calls to order and leads the meetings of the Council of Ministers to ensure each ministry is conducting its responsibilities correctly. The executive branch carries out the laws and regulations as decided by the legislative branch. Legislative Branch Of The Government Of Cambodia The legislative branch of government of Cambodia consists of a bicameral parliament: the National Assembly and the Senate. The National Assembly is made up of 123 members, who are elected by the general population on the basis of proportional representation. Each member serves a 5-year term. The Senate is made up of 61 members. Of these individuals, 2 are appointed by the Monarch and 2 are elected by the National Assembly. The remaining members are elected by special electors from lower levels of government. Senate members serve 6-year terms. The Cambodian Peoples Party holds the majority of seats in both the National Assembly (68 seats) and the Senate (43 seats). The second largest party represented in the National Assembly is the Cambodia National Rescue Party (55 seats). In the Senate, it is the Sam Rainsy Party (11 seats). In order to serve in the legislative branch, candidates must be at least 25 years old. The role of the legislative branch is to pass laws. These laws are then sent to the Monarch for final approval. The Monarch does not have the power to veto new laws. Judicial Branch Of The Government Of Cambodia The judicial branch is made up of various courts of laws, which act independently of the rest of the government. This branch of government was mandated by the Constitution of 1993, however, it was not established until 1997. The highest court in Cambodia is the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, which is headed by 17 judges. The primary responsibility of this branch is to ensure the law is enforced by punishing criminals, negotiating disputes and lawsuits, and upholding the rights of the citizens of Cambodia. By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Apr 25 (PTI) President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades arrived here today on a four-day India visit. Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao received Anastasiades at Raj Bhavan this evening, an official spokesperson said. This is the first visit to India of President Anastasiades, who had substantive meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2015, he said. advertisement India can help Cyprus in its quest for reunification as it has close ties with Turkey, Anastasiades had said ahead of his maiden India visit. The Cyprus president is being accompanied by the ministers of finance, energy, transport and agriculture on his visit. President Anastasiades will address a business forum in Mumbai tomorrow. He will then travel to Delhi, address a business forum and deliver a talk at Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in the national capital. On Friday morning, he will be given a ceremonial guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan followed by wreath laying by him at Mahatma Gandhis Samadhi, Raj Ghat. His other engagements on that day include a meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee, who will host a banquet in his honour, and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Modi. PTI VT RMT GVS --- ENDS --- Where Is Transnistria? Transnistria is a partially-recognized state located on the border of Ukraine and the river of Dniester. It is not recognized by then United Nations, who considers it to be a part of the country of Moldova. Transnistria, which is also known as the Prednestrovian Moldavian Republic, is under the leadership of President Vadim Krasnoselsky. Its capital city is Tiraspol. It proclaimed its independence on September 2, 1990. In 1992, Transnistria experienced a war that prevailed from March to July. The war was due to USSR dissolution between the Transnistrian territory and Moldova. The dissolution resulted in tension which led to a military conflict. The war ended after an agreement between Transnistria, Russia, and Moldova. Governance Of Transnistria The Prednestrovian Moldavian Republic is under the Legislature of the Supreme council, which has 43 members.The presidency runs on popular voting and goes for a five-year term. Renewal movement has the majority of people in parliament. Transnistria's military has over 7, 500 soldiers that are divided into Bender, Ribnita, Dubasari and Tiraspol. Russian Military In Transnistria Russian military began their stay in Transnistria after the agreement of the cease-fire with Moldova, 1200 members of the Russian military began the peace-keeping mission. They later withdrew their operations in 2015 after the parliament of Ukraine passed the law that agreed to the termination of the five agreements that involved Russia. Religion Of Transnistria Transnistria's preferred religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity. There also exists a small Roman Catholic minority, particularly in the northern region of the country. The government of Transnistria believes in freedom of religion. It has given a go-ahead to the building of new churches and has officially registered almost 114 different beliefs. Transnistrias Economy This country operates on a mixed economy that is as a result of large-scale process privatization that began in the 1990s. Transnistrias economy works on the lines of textile production, steel production and the production of electricity that results to 80% output of the industry. Most companies in the country are privately owned. It has a bank of its own known as the Central Bank that deals in Transnistrian currencies. Ruble is the name of currency found in Transnistria. The Transnistrian economy can be described as a dependent one. Media Production In Transnistria Just as other forms of media from many other countries, Transnistria has radio stations, television and newspaper corporations. The media platforms are controlled by the Transnistria authorities. Subdivisions Of Transnistria Transnistria has one municipality and five other districts that are equally subdivided. The divisions are Slobozia district, Dubasari district, Grigoriopol district, Camenca District, and Ribnita district. It also has two cities; the City of Tiraspol and the City of Bender. Transnistria is under the control of Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic authorities and the Moldovian authorities. Education System Education in Transnistria is done in the Moldovan language, which is often considered a dialect of Romanian. The Moldovan Cyrillic Alphabet is the system used to teach in schools. Why is it Called the Middle East? The term "Middle East" originated from the same European perspective that described Eastern Asia as "the Far East." The Middle East denotes the transcontinental area between Western Asia and Egypt. It is comprised of 17 nations and an estimated population of 371 million. Some of the area's largest cities include Riyadh, Cairo, and Istanbul. Background The origin of the term "Middle East" is considered to be in the British India Office during the 1850s. It was popularized by Alfred Thayer Mahan, an American naval strategist who was referring to the region between Arabia and India in 1902. Mahans definition of the Middle East was the area around the Persian Gulf. Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol further enlarged this definition to cater for the Asian regions whose territories extended to India. Prior to the Second World War, another term, the "Near East", denoted the eastern shores of the Mediterranean in addition to regions centered around Turkey. Middle East was used by the British while naming its command in Egypt in the late 1930s. It was after this usage that the term became widely used in the West. In 1946, the Middle East Institute began operating in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. History of the Region The area now designated as the Middle East was known as the Near East in medieval times. It is reputed as the cradle of civilization as it was home to some of the most ancient human developments. Such civilizations include those of Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, Hittite, Greek, the Levant, Persia, and the Arabian Peninsula. Ancient Near East was governed by multiple empires starting with the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Achaemenid, Macedonian, Iranian, Roman, and Byzantine Empires. The Islamic Caliphate began their Arab conquest of the area in the 7th century. The Ottoman Empire, which had established control in the region, was defeated by the British after First World War. The French and the British divided power in the Middle East after carrying out their partition and thus defining some of the geographic boundaries still used today. By the late 1960s, nations of the Middle East had attained independence and were seeking an identity in the global landscape. The region has achieved economic significance due to the presence of oil reserves. Countries of the Middle East Countries classified as being part of this region are Iraq, Iran, Cyprus, Oman, Egypt, Bahrain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Palestine, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Kuwait, and Jordan. Some countries are occasionally added in the definition such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Other nations are quoted in the affairs of the Middle East such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. Ethnicity, Language, and Religion The majority of the regions population identify as Arabian, while the rest include Turkic, Arameans, Persians, Kurds, Berbers, Shabaks, Zazas, Assyrians, and Samaritans. Numerous dialects of the Arabic Language are widely spoken in the Middle East. Literary Arabic serves as the official language in most states in the area. Other languages also spoken are Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, Kurdish, Armenian, Greek, and English. Some of the worlds major religions including Islam, Christianity, and Judaism have their roots in the Middle East. These religions have many adherents in the Middle East even in modern day. Other religions practiced in the area are Yazidism, Baha'I Faith, Shabakism, and Mandaeism. Scene of the fire By: William Martin WorldWideWeirdNews.com A man was put behind bars for entering a burning house to save his cans of beer, according to police in South Dakota. Sioux Falls police said that they have arrested 56-year-old Michael Casteel, after being accused of obstructing the work of firefighters. Casteel has been charged with one count of obstructing a firefighter or law enforcement official. He was booked into the Minnehaha County jail, and his bail has been set at $300. According to the police investigation, on Sunday afternoon, a fire broke out at a building. As firefighters and police were evacuating and treating the wounded, Casteel insisted on going back into his apartment to get some beer. Firefighters told him that he cannot enter the building as it was too dangerous. Casteel pushed police officers aside and entered the building. A few minutes later, he emerged from the building with two cans of Bud Ice Premium. Casteel did not get a chance to drink his beer as he was arrested by police. The Sioux Falls Police Department wrote on Twitter: aThis incredibly poor judgement could have put many responders at risk. One in custody after obstructing fire and police. It is not advisable to push past police and firefighters in an attempt to save your beer.a William Chase Hargrove By: Alexis Bell WorldWideWeirdNews.com A woman of Russia, who was looking forward to coming to the United States, was killed less than seven weeks after arriving in the country. 27-year-old Anna Repkina of Moscow, was found dead in a wooded area in Benton County, Oregon. Police learned that Repkina, who recently arrived to the United States, had been in a relationship with 27-year-old William Chase Hargrove, before she was killed. Hargrove was arrested after he shot Repkina in the head aexecution stylea after he was forced to choose between her and his longtime girlfriend. Prosecutors said that Repkina was in an ainteresting love-trianglea relationship with Hargrove and another woman. Both women lived at different locations and Hargrove spent time with both of them. However, at some point, his longtime girlfriend no longer wanted to be in the situation and gave Hargrove an ultimatum to choose between the two. Instead of ending his relationship with Repkina, police believe Hargrove drove her to a secluded area and shot her at close range. Hargrove was arrested and is being held without bail. Julian Loisa Salinas (left) and Francisco Carreon By: William Martin WorldWideWeirdNews.com (Scroll down for video) People were stuck in their homes from many hours as public transportation came to a standstill after violence broke out in the streets of Mexico. Two men were killed in two separate shootouts with Marines in Tamaulipas. The men were wanted as they were said to be the leaders of drug gangs. Mexican police said that Julian Loisa Salinas, better known as aComandante Toro,a was killed in Reynosa, a city across the border from McAllen, Texas. When Marines arrived to arrest Salinas, his supporters set fires to buses, trucks and cars in an attempt to block roads so their leader can escape, officials said. However, things did not go as they planned, and Salinas was shot and killed by authorities. Authorities had unsuccessfully tried to capture Salinas a few times. Their efforts angered the gang, who retaliated with violence and gun battles. A few days ago, two U.S. citizens were reportedly wounded in one such gunfight. A rival gang leader, Francisco Carreon, also known as aEl Pancho Carreon,a was killed in a nearby town of Ciudad Victoria by Marines. Cameron is coming to Dhaka on a private visit. He will join a roundtable discussion of the International Growth Centre (IGC), which is funded by Department for International Development (DFID). By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron is scheduled to reach Dhaka on a two-day visit starting April 26. He is expected to meet Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina after arriving here on Wednesday evening. According to the ministry of foreign affairs, Cameron is coming to Dhaka on a private visit. During his visit, Cameron will join a roundtable discussion of the International Growth Centre (IGC), which is funded by Department for International Development (DFID), a UK government department responsible for administering overseas aid. advertisement WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL GROWTH CENTRE The International Growth Centre is based at the London School of Economics and, in partnership with the University of Oxford, works to promote sustainable growth in developing countries, based on high-quality research. Cameron resigned as the prime minister of Britain after the Brexit voting. Cameron is the chairman of the commission that was launched in March under this Growth Centre. It established an office in Dhaka. Also read | Bangladesh needs to strengthen ties with both China and India, says Awami League's Syed Ashraf Also read | Former British PM David Cameron resigns from Parliament --- ENDS --- Welsh Ambulance Service App For Patients With Additional Communication Needs Nominated For Two Awards This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Apr 25th, 2017 A Welsh Ambulance Service app which helps frontline staff to interact with patients who have additional communication needs has been nominated for two different awards. The Pre Hospital Communication Guide was launched in December 2016 to assist people who are deaf, hard of hearing, dont speak English as their first language, have learning difficulties, or whose illness or injury affects their communication. Since then it has been downloaded almost 2,000 times and uses images and supporting text to find out important information about patients, such as their symptoms. It can also identify if they use a specific communication method or which language they speak. The bilingual app has now been shortlisted for the finals of both the Patient Safety Awards and the Excellence Wales Awards. The Patient Safety Awards recognise UK organisations striving to improve patient safety in healthcare, while the Action on Hearing Loss Excellence Wales Awards celebrate those going above and beyond to be accessible to people in Wales who are deaf or have hearing loss. Claire Bevan, the Welsh Ambulance Services Director of Quality, Safety and Patient Experience, said: We are delighted that this positive step forward in communicating with our patients has been recognised with nominations at two prestigious awards events. Its really encouraging to see that the app is being so well used by our staff, volunteers and patients, and we are now starting to see the benefits. As a Trust its important that we recognise the communication needs of each individual and are able to find out those crucial details about them, such as what symptoms theyre experiencing and their medical history. This app provides a simple and timely way to discover that information and were looking forward to the awards ceremonies. Pioneered by the Trusts Patient Experience and Community Involvement Team, the app is based on a small booklet which was originally developed by The Clear Communication People Ltd and The London Ambulance Service in 2011. It is available for staff and members of the public to download on devices using the iOS, Android and Blackberry systems. For iOS search your app store for PreHospApp, for Android search pre hospital app and on Blackberry search for Pre-Hospital Communication App. The Trust will find out if it has won in the Information Technology to Improve Patient Safety category at the Patient Safety Awards ceremony in Manchester on July 4th 2017 Meanwhile, the Excellence Wales Awards 2017 take place in Cardiff on May 5th, where the app has been nominated for the Excellence in Health award. You can also vote for the app to win the overall Peoples Choice award at the ceremony, here. Delhi University has extended the deadline for admission seekers residing outside India. University officials have received over 3,300 applications this year from DU aspirants abroad. By Arpan Rai: Delhi University (DU) has extended the deadline for admission seekers residing outside India in order to provide more time to students who wish to pursue courses in country's most sought-after varsity. The admission committee has decided to extend the deadline for students eyeing undergraduate programmes to May 4 from April 15 for the submission of documents for the purpose of verification, confirmed Ashutosh Bhardwaj, a senior official from DU admission committee. advertisement The deadline for applying online for the upcoming academic session was April 20 after which the students proceed to submit their documents. "The deadline for application in Ph.D courses has been extended from April 15 to May 31," Bhardwaj told MAIL TODAY. As opposed to the mark of 2,400 applications last year, the university officials have received over 3,300 applications this year by DU aspirants abroad. The varsity in the past got application from several students from countries like Mauritius, Sri lanka, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran. Interest in students has escalated due to several courses the varsity offers. "The most sought-after courses by foreign nationals include UG programmes like B.Com (Hons.), Economic (Hons.), among others," said Rudrashish Chakraborty, assistant professor at Kirori Mal College. ALSO READ | MCD election 2017: After exit polls, Delhi University now predicts a BJP landslide ALSO READ | Search for DU on Twitter shows porn handles ALSO WATCH | DU on the boil: Who decides what is anti-national? ABVP says, youth does --- ENDS --- AIADMK Amma leader TTV Dinakaran, who is accused of bribing an Election Commission official to get the AIADMK's frozen ' two leaves' symbol for his faction of the party, was arrested by Delhi Police's Crime Branch last night. He will be produced in court today. By Ilma Hasan: AIADMK Amma leader TTV Dinakaran, who is accused of bribing an Election Commission official to get the AIADMK's frozen ' two leaves' symbol for his faction of the party, has been arrested by Delhi Police's Crime Branch. His longtime friend Mallikarjuna has also been taken into custody. On Tuesday, Dinakaran was questioned for a fourth consecutive day by Delhi Police. He reached the Crime Branch Inter State Cell office in Chanakyapuri at 5 PM. advertisement He was arrested after being questioned for close to six hours, Praveer Ranjan, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), said. Dinakaran has been interrogated for a total of 37 hours, and will be produced at Tiz Hazari Court this afternoon after a medical test at Safdarjung Hospital. DINAKARAN ADMITS HE MET SUKESH Dinakaran has admitted to meeting Sukesh Chandrasekhar, under the impression that he was a high court judge, police said on Monday. At the same time, he denied having paid any money to Sukesh in an attempt to obtain the AIADMK's symbol for his camp, police said. Until Monday, Dinakaran had maintained that he didn't know Sukesh, and that he hadn't met him. Police have also questioned Dinakaran's personal assistant Janardhana in connection with the case. Sources said he has agreed to be a witness. WHY WAS MALLIKARJUNA ARRESTED? Mallikarjuna was arrested for allegedly facilitating the deal between Dinakaran and Sukesh Chandrasekar, Praveer Ranjan said. Mallikarjuna had been accompanying Dinakaran everywhere ever since Sukesh was arrested on April 16 for allegedly striking a deal of Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK (Amma) faction keep the poll symbol. Dinakaran, Mallikarjuna and Chandrasekar will be questioned together to establish the money trail, details of the deal and whether more people were involved in it. CHANDRASEKAR'S CUSTODY EXTENDED On Tuesday, the police produced Chandrasekar before a special court, which extended his custody till April 28. The court was told that Chandrasekar had been paid through hawala channels. "A person named Shah Faisal told that he had collected a parcel from Chennai and gave it to Chandrasekar, who had posed as a member of Parliament," the police said. It is suspected that the parcel contained Rs 10 crore. The police said three Chandni Chowk-based hawala operators will also be questioned in connection with the case. AIADMK REVOLT Dinakaran's arrest comes at a time when there are moves to merge the two factions of the AIADMK - the AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma led by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, and the AIADMK Amma, led by incumbent CM Edappadi Palaniswami (and to which Dinakaran, too, belongs). advertisement Dinakaran was in February appointed the AIADMK's deputy general secretary by jailed party chief V S Sasikala - who happens to be his aunt. However, a powerful section of the AIADMK Amma recently revolted against the Sasikala-Dinakaran leadership. That happened after Panneerselvam demanded the ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran as a condition for the merger. Dinakaran later announced he would stay away from party affairs, and that he could be removed only by Sasikala. Sasikala is currently serving a four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a disproportionate assets case. (Inputs from PTI) ALSO READ | TTV Dinakaran confesses to meeting middleman in EC bribery case, assumed he was high court judge ALSO READ | AIADMK symbol row: Delhi Police grills TTV Dinakaran over bribery allegations ALSO WATCH | Day after 7-hour grilling, TTV Dinakaran to face Delhi Police again --- ENDS --- US Defense Secretary James Mad Dog Mattis arrived in Kabul Monday in what amounted to a crisis intervention under conditions of mounting disintegration within Afghanistans puppet government and military. Mattiss arrival came just two days after an attack by the Taliban on one of the Afghan National Armys largest bases, in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, that inflicted what Afghan officials are admitting is a death toll that could climb to 200 soldiers. Even as the US defense secretary was arriving, his Afghan counterpart, Abdullah Habibi, as well as Army Chief of Staff Qadam Sha Shahim, were resigning their posts over the disastrous attack, which was carried out by gunmen wearing Afghan army uniforms, some of them apparently Taliban supporters who had joined the military. Habibi was trained in the Soviet Union and fought on behalf of the Moscow-backed government against the CIA-funded mujahideen Islamist forces, while Shahims background was as a commander in Jamiat-e-Islami, one of the more powerful mujahideen groups. Three other top commanders along with at least a dozen other officers were also reportedly sacked by the government of President Ashaf Ghani over what was the most punishing attack suffered by the US puppet forces since the US invasion of October 2001 and the toppling of the Taliban government. At a press conference in Kabul, Mattis denounced the attack and described the Taliban as a barbaric enemy that had to be defeated. This, from the head of a military that has carried out countless massacres in Afghanistan, its occupation having left hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded, while turning millions into refugees. The barbaric character of the US military operation was spelled out barely a week and a half before Mattiss arrival in Kabul with the dropping on Afghanistans eastern Nangarhar Province of the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), the most destructive weapon used anywhere since the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Mattiss unannounced trip to Afghanistan comes less than a week and a half after President Donald Trumps national security adviser, Gen. H.R. McMaster, made his own visit to Kabul. The stepped-up attention to Washingtons longest-ever war appears to be bound up with plans for another escalation of the US troop deployment there. Currently close to 9,000 US soldiers are deployed in Afghanistan, including both those described as trainers and advisers of the Afghan National Army and Special Operations units that are involved in search and destroy missions both unilaterally and alongside Afghan puppet forces. US commanders have reportedly asked for an additional 3,000 to 5,000 US troops to be sent into the fighting to reverse what they have described as a stalematein reality a steady loss of territory by the US-backed regime to insurgent forces. Last Fridays attack came amid a deepening crisis of the Afghan security forces, which are reportedly suffering a 33 percent annual attrition rate due to casualties, desertions and declining re-enlistments. A report released at the beginning of this year by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction made clear that, despite the Pentagon pouring some $70 billion into arming and training the Afghan National Army, the force is steadily losing ground to insurgent groups, while suffering record casualties. The report found that casualty rates soared by 35 percent last year, with the Afghan army suffering 6,700 deaths, three times the number inflicted on US forces during nearly 16 years of the American occupation. The numbers of the Afghan security forces are decreasing, while both casualties and the number of districts under insurgent control or influence are increasing, the report stated. It also pointed to wholesale corruption in which ghost soldiers are kept on the rosters so that senior officers can pocket their pay, leaving many units grossly undermanned. It added that soldiers at outposts dont always get ammunition, food, and water they need because higher-ups divert and sell supplies. Among the most significant elements in Mattiss press conference in Kabul Monday was the intervention by the top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, who was asked about allegations made by US military officials, speaking not for attribution, that Russia was supplying the Taliban with support, including arms. Nicholson responded that he was not refuting such reports, an oblique statement that was headlined by the US corporate media as a direct charge of Russian intervention. Mattis sounded a similar note, declaring: Were going to have to confront Russia where what theyre doing is contrary to international law or denying the sovereignty of other countries. For example, any weapons being funneled here from a foreign country would be a violation of international law unless theyre coming through the government of Afghanistan for the Afghan forces, and so that would have to be dealt with as a violation of international law. Again, for the Pentagon chief to indict Russia for denying the sovereignty of other countries or having funneled weapons to non-government forces is indeed rich, given the US history in Afghanistan itself during the CIA-orchestrated war of the 1980s, as well as the subsequent invasion of Iraq and the US regime change operations in Libya and Syria. Russia has denied providing any military aid to the Taliban, and the real source of Washingtons ire appears to be Moscows attempt to mediate a peace settlement between the insurgent forces and the Kabul government. On April 14, the day after the US military dropped the massive bomb on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Russia hosted a conference to that end in Moscow that was attended by all the countries of the region, including Pakistan, India and China, but boycotted by the US. There is every reason to believe that the use of the MOAB was directed at Russia as much as it was at ISIS. Launched nearly 16 years ago in the name of fighting terrorism and avenging the attacks of September 11, 2001, the war in Afghanistan had as its strategic aim to further US hegemony over the region of Central Asia, which boasts the second largest proven reserves of oil and gas in the world, in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Just as the war, waged at an estimated cost of $800 billion, has failed to secure the US-backed puppet regime in Kabul, it has also done nothing to further US imperialisms broader aims. Russia continues to dominate energy exploitation in the region, while China is steadily increasing its own role, with the building of pipelines directing these vital resources to the east, rather than the west. Under these conditions, an escalation of the US intervention in Afghanistan will be carried out as part of a broader buildup toward military confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia and China, from eastern Europe, to Syria, the South China Sea, the Korean peninsula and beyond. Massive numbers of British workers who provide care to adults in nursing homes, or in their own homes, are quitting their jobs in the face of shortages and high workloads that make it increasingly impossible to work. The impact is being felt by the most frail and vulnerable in society. According to data gathered by the charity Skills for Care, in 2015-16, an estimated 338,520 care workers left their jobs, equivalent to 928 people a day, and of those 60 percent stopped working in social care altogether. A total of over 1.3 million were employed in the adult care sector in England. The average front line, full-time care worker earns just 7.69p an hour, or 14,800 a year. Last year the average median salary was around 27, 600 for a full-time worker in the UK. One in four social care workers was employed on a zero hours contract, and last year it is estimated that one in 20 job vacancies remained empty, a shortage of 84,320 care workers. These figures point to the fact that social care providers are struggling to retain staff, with the industrys staff turnover reaching 27 percent, twice the average for other professions in the UK. The data was released at the same time as a letter written to Prime Minister Theresa May, from the chairman of the UK Homecare Association, which warned that the adult social care system has begun to collapse. The fact that workers in the sector are often low paid, in what is a very demanding and difficult job, leads to difficulties retaining staff. The number of people aged 85 and above in England has increased by almost a third in the last decade, and will more than double over the next two decades. This substantial section of the population will require increased health services and care support as they get older. Disability Free Life Expectancy (DFLE) at age 65 has been falling from its peak in 2010-12. This is a measurement of the number of people who have reached the age of 65 without having already started to suffer from a condition that leaves them in poor health beyond the age of 65. DFLE had increased from 2005-07 to 2009-11, with men gaining 0.4 years and women 0.5 years of good health. However, since that time women have lost 60 percent, and men a staggering 75 percent, of the gains made in an earlier part of the decade. This is leading to more people in later life living with multiple long-term health conditions, with resultant social care needs. Class background plays an enormous role in DFLE. A woman aged 65 has an expected 3.3 years of healthy living in the poorest areas, compared to 16.7 in the most affluent areas, representing a near fivefold difference. In the five years preceding 2015-16, there were spending cuts of 160 million in older peoples social care. It is estimated that by 2020-21, total spending would need to increase by a minimum of 1.65 billion (to 9 billion) to be able to meet demographic and unit cost pressures alone. Analysis by the Age UK charity shows that there are 1,183,900 older people over 65 who do not receive the help they need to carry out essential daily living activities, an increase of 17.9 percent over last year, and a 48 percent increase since 2010. The charity estimates that an additional 4.8 billion a year would be required to ensure that every older person, who currently has one or more unmet needs, has access to social care--rising to 5.75 billion by 2020-21. Local government spending on social care, meanwhile, will fall by 8.3 percent in real terms between 2015-16 and 2019-20. Spending remained relatively constant at around 8 billion a year, but has now rapidly declined, falling to just 6.3 billion in real terms in 2015-16. Huge cuts have been made to public spending over the last decade to pay for the 1 trillion bailout of the banks that followed the 2008 global financial crash. Total local authority spending on social care for older people has dropped by 1.57 billion in just six years. This is coupled with wider cuts to local authority budgets, with the National Audit Office estimating that local authority funding was reduced in real terms between 2010-11 and 2015-16. The Care Quality Commission, which oversees standards of care, reports that 81 percent of councils have reduced spending on adult social care in the same period. This has led to local authorities trying to acquire the cheapest contracts from care providers. This is part of the so called competitive tendering process, and has been a major contributory factor to the social care debacle. An investigation by the BBCs Panorama found that 95 private care firms have cancelled contracts with UK councils, as they are unable to provide even the most basic social care service at the price demanded by the councils. A devastating knock on effect of this is the closure of many home care companies and attendant job losses, with 69 closing just in the three months to January. The immense pressures that care workers face in their day-to-day work, in a demanding and vastly under resourced profession, is a major factor in the increase in the rate of suicide among care workers in the last three years. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that the suicide rate for care workers is now twice the national average. More women care workers are taking their lives than in any other UK profession. The government claims it will invest 2 billion over the next three years in adult social care and take on more apprentices in the sector. This in no way addresses any of the causes of the crisis. The exodus of workers from the profession comes as the Centre for Workforce Intelligence estimates that at least 2 million more carers will be required by 2025 for home care and care homes, just in England alone. Nothing is being done to increase low rates of pay and ease demanding workloads. There is no remedy for the fact that many employed in adult social care are on exploitative zero hours contractsleaving them in a constant state of insecurity, not knowing if they will have work from one day to the next. For the capitalist class the care of the elderly and disabled has become an unaffordable burden as the economic crisis deepens. In a society marked by increasing inequality, the priority is not to look after those who have reached the end of their working lives, the disabled in need of care or the working conditions and pay of those who do their best, with few resources, to try and hold together a collapsing system of adult care. A spirited rally was held Monday in front of Detroits Department of Homeland Security headquarters to show support for an Ann Arbor, Michigan father of two who faces deportation to Mexico. Jose Luis Sanchez-Ronquillo, an undocumented worker who has lived in Ann Arbor for nearly 20 years, faces deportation for the second time in three years as a result of the Trump administrations aggressive anti-immigrant crackdown. He was considered a model citizen and had no criminal record. On April 19 Sanchez-Ronquillo went to the US Immigration Court to file paperwork requesting a stay on his deportation, so that he could begin application for a green card allowing him to work in the US. Accompanying Sanchez-Ronquillo was his son and Leticia Valdez, a friend. Not long after Sanchez-Ronquillo entered the ICE offices, an officer came out to announce he had been detained. When his son asked to see his father, the agent told him, Not never, but it will be years, according to MLive. It was just heartbreaking to have to watch him have to digest that information, Valdez said. Both of Sanchez-Ronquillos children are American citizens and attend Ann Arbor public schools, Bach Elementary School and Pioneer High School. Sanchez-Ronquillo is being held in a prison in Port Huron, Michigan and faces possible deportation as early as April 25, said family members. Monica Smith, Sanchez-Ronquillos attorney, told the rally that she had filed an emergency stay on Sanchez-Ronquillos deportation that was accepted by ICE. She said they planned to work through the night on a resolution and that a decision was expected on the day the deportation is scheduled. Smith said she had only received the case the night before, but understood that Sanchez-Ronquillo had been applying to have his removal status canceled. According to Smith, certain undocumented immigrants can apply for adjustment of their status if they have lived in the US for several years, have not committed any crimes and meet other legal criteria. Family and friends report that Sanchez-Ronquillo had been a long-time employee at an Ann Arbor restaurant, working his way up from being the dishwasher to the head chef. He is also the breadwinner in the family, meaning that his deportation would throw the family into devastating poverty. Sanchez-Ronquillo was also threatened with deportation in 2014, under the Obama administration. At that time a letter-writing campaign and calls by community leaders resulted in a one-year stay from removal with many people testifying to his good character. The latest deportation threat comes amid a widening crackdown by the Trump administration. Just last week, on April 14, another longstanding immigrant resident of the Detroit area, Mario Hernandez-Delacruz, was deported to Mexico, leaving his wife Estrella and three young daughters, Lucero, Matilde and Diana behind. Born in Chiapas, a southern state in Mexico, Hernandez-Delacruz immigrated with his wife and four-year-old daughter to Texas in 1998, later settling in Detroit. After moving to Detroit, He started a carpeting business and established himself in the southwest Detroit community. Leticia Valdez, whose husband was with Sanchez-Ronquillo when he was detained, told the crowd that Sanchez-Ronquillos youngest son goes to school with her fifth-grade son. I have known this family for six years, since we moved here from California. Im so distraught that they would take someone away from our community for no reason. I keep getting asked, What did he do? But he didnt do anything. Nothing. He doesnt have a criminal record. They only thing he did is that he is from another country. She noted that Sanchez-Ronquillo works hard, takes care of his family and plays with the children. The kids need him. We need him. The school needs him. The family financially will be destroyed. His kids will have a very difficult time going to school. Why is this man being deported? This is destroying the fiber of our community. It is instilling fear. This is making people very vulnerable. Afraid. This is not who we are. Amory Xhou, a Pioneer High School student, also addressed the rally. He later spoke to the World Socialist Web Site. Its totally unfair. Hes just a hard-working member who is contributing to the community. His kids go to our schools. He doesnt cause trouble. His family doesnt cause trouble. Even if he did, he doesnt deserve to be just whisked away, never to see his family again. Amory added the there was widespread opposition in Ann Arbor to the threatened deportations. These are our classmates. In many ways I feel privileged that we have such diversity of families in Ann Arbor. Its a privilege to be able to surround oneself with such diversity of culture, background and socio-economic status. These deportations affect the families of our classmates, our friends. These are people whose birthday parties we go to and those we do homework with, people we sit next to in class. They are not some scary strangers or foreigners. These are just our friends. Deportations in general are an inhuman practice. My understanding now is that people are being picked up for parking tickets. Thats not even a misdemeanor. Eleanor Davis, a fellow classmate of Amory at Pioneer, added that it was especially unfair to the children: They are just trying to live their lives and get through school. She explained that another one of her friends father had been threatened with deportation. That was the case of Yousef Ajin, a Jordanian immigrant who had been threatened with deportation at the beginning of March, but whose case was waived by the judge due to extreme hardship in a very unusual ruling. Having their father just taken away from them is wrong, stated Eleanor. Pointing to Amory she continued, You know what it is like not living with a dad. Its terrible. It leaves a big impact and these kids that have done nothing wrong to deserve this. Its outrageous, stated David Epstein, a friend of Sanchez-Ronquillo who also spoke at the rally. Would someone who poses a danger go to the immigration office and file paperwork? ICE has no idea who will take care of his children, said Epstein, stating that he himself had been an orphan. I dont think it is legal to take all of the money he paid into the government. Or that it is legal to make his children orphans. If they deport him you have two kids to deal with. That costs a lot of money to society. They are full American citizens, those kids. They have every right to be here. Who is Jose [Sanchez-Ronquillo]? He is a man who cooks in a restaurant. Hes the head chef. You take him off the street and what happens? The restaurant doesnt have a head chef. Take away the head chef and the waitress has no food to serve the table. The guy who owns the restaurant then cant pay the rent. This is a father who is trying to do the right thing. He goes to an organization, not to turn himself in, but to say, Hey, Im here, what can I do? This is not a criminal that you are supposed to get rid of. These are hard working, industrious people. After living in Detroit, Michigan for over 19 years Mario Hernandez-Delacruz, an undocumented immigrant, was deported to Mexico on April 14. Forced to leave his wife Estrella and three young daughters, Lucero, Matilde and Diana behind, Mario faces possible barring from the United States for anywhere from five to 20 years, with the average barring for deported immigrants being 10 years. He is currently attempting to get a visa so he can return to his family. Born in Chiapas, a southern state in Mexico, Hernandez-Delacruz immigrated with his wife and four-year-old daughter to Texas in 1998, later settling in Detroit. After moving to Detroit, Hernandez-Delacruz started a carpeting business and established himself as a respectable member of the southwest Detroit community, helping to rehab a church which his family attends. The small business run by Hernandez-Delacruz is his family's main source of income and without it his wife and daughters will be left in the lurch. Due to the lack of decent paying jobs in Detroit, their situation is bleak. Often used as an excuse for anti-immigrant policies and support, without the financial aid of their father the Hernandez-Delacruz family may very well have to support themselves by getting government assistance. Under supervision of government agents, Hernandez-Delacruz was dropped off at Detroit Metro Airport on April 14 by his daughter, not knowing if or when he would be able to see his family again. "It really hasn't hit me yet," his oldest daughter Estrella said to the Detroit Free Press. "I feel like he's going to walk through the door again, like he's just away for work and will be back home tonight. He will be staying with his sister. "My plan is to stay in Cancun," he told the Free Press. "I don't know for how long I'm staying here. This is my family now." "I'm feeling bad right now," he said. "I feel bad... to leave my family and children. It's not easy." There are currently 97,000 to 126,000 undocumented immigrants in Michigan with over 11 million nationwide. Poverty rates are around 20 percent for the immigrant community as a whole meaning that families of four subsist on less than $24,000 a year. The recent rise in deportations is not simply the outcome of the xenophobic and fascistic policies being pursued by the Trump administration but is an escalation of the harsh immigration policies implemented by the Obama administration. More immigrants than all other presidents in American history combined were deported under Barack Obamas watch. Dubbed the Deporter in Chief by immigration advocate groups, Obama is responsible for the deportation of over 2.5 million undocumented immigrants between 2009 and 2015. This means that his administration was responsible for the deportation of almost 7,000 people per week. The numbers for 2016, Obamas final year in office, have yet to be released. Obama, who has spent most of his time since leaving office vacationing with celebrity millionaires and billionaires, has said nothing of the disastrous effect of the Trump administration's policies on families all over the country, because it is he and his administration that laid the groundwork for the current crackdown. Trump deported 680 undocumented immigrants in his first week in office and the Washington Post reported that between January and February after Trump took office there were 21,362 arrests and 54,741 deportations. Immigration arrests made by ICE under Trump are up by over 33 percent from the same period last year. The Democratic Party and the media would have the general population believe that these deportations have been exclusive to the Republicans and Trump administration. This is a callous and hypocritical lie that shines light on the strategic differences between sections of the ruling class. Little has been said in support of immigrants from the Democrats including from their supposed progressive wings. Self-proclaimed democratic socialist Bernie Sanders voted against an immigration measure in 2007 that would have given temporary visas to 200,000 foreign workers to stay in the US for two years. The bill, opposed by the AFL-CIO and a large majority of Congress, failed, and rather than allowing the workers to work and live where they choose, many were deported. Sanders said in a 2007 interview, If poverty is increasing and if wages are going down, I dont know why we need millions of people to be coming into this country as guest workers who will work for lower wages than American workers and drive wages down even lower than they are now. It is more than a month since a judge in the northern Indian state of Haryana condemned 13 workers at Maruti Suzukis Manesar car assembly plant to life imprisonment on trumped up murder charges. This cruel punishment was the result of a years-long conspiracy by the Japanese-owned corporation and the Indian political establishment aimed at imposing exemplary punishments on workers at the Manesar plant, which had emerged as a center of opposition to the brutal sweatshop conditions that prevail throughout Indias factories and Special Economic Zones. The legal vendetta has been backed by both the Congress Party, the traditional party of the Indian ruling elite, and the current national government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-chauvinist Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP). The workers at Maruti Suzukis Maneasr plant conducted militant strikes in 2011-12 to demand an end to speed-up, poverty wages and the hated contract labour system, cutting across the drive of both the Congress and BJP to attract foreign investment through the promise of a cheap, docile workforce. Twelve of the 13 workers serving life sentences were leaders of the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU), which was established in 2012 through a rebellion against a company-controlled and government-sanctioned puppet union. The resistance of the Maruti Suzuki workers spread like wildfire throughout the massive Manesar-Gurgaon industrial belt, just outside of Delhi, where 80 percent of the workforce are young contract labourers, largely drawn from impoverished rural areas, who earn just 25-50 percent of the standard wage. After a July 18, 2012 company-provoked altercation and fire at the Manesar plant, which claimed the life of a manager known for his sympathies for the workers, the Haryana authorities framed up the MSWU leaders and almost 150 other innocent workers on charges ranging from murder and attempted murder to rioting. In rejecting the workers bail requests in 2014, the Haryana High Court said their struggle and the 2012 altercation had lowered the reputation of India in the world. In explaining why it was determined to keep the workers behind bars, the court added, Foreign investment is likely not to happen due to growing labor unrest. Similarly, in arguing at the conclusion of the frame-up trial for the 13 workers to be put to death by hanging, prosecutors said an example had to be made of them to reassure investors. For his part, Maruti Suzuki attorney Vikas Pahwa in his submission to the court on March 9, 2017 declared, The Government of India is promoting Make in India. With this kind of volatile environment and industrial unrest no country would come forward and invest in India. Modis Make in India campaign is a continuation and acceleration of the Indian ruling class drive to make the country a cheap-labour hub for global capital. This process began in 1991 with the economic liberalization program initiated by the Congress Party government of Narasimha Rao. It sought to attract private and foreign capital to India by slashing import tariffs, corporate taxes and social spending, reducing or eliminating government regulations and foreign investment limits, and privatizing state-owned enterprises. Every government sinceincluding those in the Center supported by the Stalinist parties and those in states, such as West Bengal and Kerala, directly led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of Indiahas pursued this pro-investor reform agenda. The CPM and CPI-affiliated unionsrespectively the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)have isolated workers, including those at Maruti Suzuki, who have challenged the drive to make India a cheap-labour haven for global capital, while urging them to pressure the Congress Party and various regional and caste-based bourgeois parties to pursue pro-people policies. Rattled by the post-2008 world economic crisis, particularly the fall in Indias growth rate after 2010, the Indian bourgeoisie turned to Modi, an arch-Hindu supremacist, who had made a name for himself as chief minister in Gujarat by his readiness to act as a hand-maiden and enforcer for investors, to ramp up the exploitation of the working class and more forcefully assert the Indian bourgeoisies great power ambitions on the world stage. Surrounded by 500 CEOs of major international and domestic companies, Modi launched his Make in India initiative in September 2014, just three months after coming to power. He vowed to make India an easy place to do business, boasted that labour costs in India were lower than China, and set a goal of doubling the manufacturing sectors share of Indias Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 12.5 to 25 percent. Modi announced, and this has since been expanded, 25 focus sectors in which 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) would be allowed. In aerospace, defense and media companies, Modis government has raised the foreign investment caps to74, 49 and 26 percent respectively. In the name of its Make in India drive, the BJP government is pursuing a socially incendiary agenda that includes: the gutting of labour laws, especially restrictions on layoffs and plant closures; an accelerated privatization drive; employer self-regulation of labour standards; measures to make it easier to expropriate land from small peasant producers for big business projects; and the rolling back of Indians flimsy environmental regulations. Among the CEOs who attended Modis MII launch was Kenichi Ayukawa, Maruti Suzukis CEO and managing director since 2013. Speaking at the event, Ayukawa enthusiastically supported the MII initiative, while urging Modi to quickly implement the demands of global capital. We are fully confident that, under the Make in India program of the prime minister, factors that adversely affect the competitiveness of manufacturing will now be quickly removed, said Ayukawa. After the witch-hunt against the Maruti Suzuki workers in 2012which included the purging of 2,300 full-time and contract labourersmanagement claimed that it was phasing out contract workers. However, last August Livemint reported that the largest car producer in India in fact increased the size of its contract-labour workforce by 61.5 percent between 2013-2014 and 2015-2016. In March 2016, the company had 10,626 contract workers and 13,259 permanent workers. Last month the Indian magazine Businessworld published a long list of international companies that have recently invested in Indians manufacturing sector, a development it attributed to Modis MII initiative. In 2015, noted Businessworld, India overtook China and the United States to become the top destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by generating US $63 billion and India has emerged to be the fastest growing economy with 7.6 percent growth rate in 2015-16. The Modi governments slavish support for big business, above all its commitment to assist it in exploiting Indias vast pool of impoverished labourers, is proving to be a magnet for transnational corporations. On March 9, Toyota and Suzuki chiefs, Akio Toyoda and O. Suzuki, met Modi to discuss their plans to collaborate in making small cars in India. After the meeting, the web site of the Indian Prime Ministers Office touted the deal between the two automakers, saying it will encourage other companies to seize the profit-making opportunities provided by Make in India. Another major goal of MII is to transform India into a major arms manufacturer and exporter. The official Make in India web site states, [T]he opening of the defense sector for private sector participation will help foreign original equipment manufacturers to enter into strategic partnerships with Indian companies and leverage the domestic markets as well as aim at global markets. This is bound up with the countrys transformation into a frontline state in the US military-strategic offensive against China, a policy Modi is pursuing as a means of pursuing the Indian bourgeoisies great power ambitions. Since the beginning of this century, India has rapidly expanded its military, including through the development of a land, air and underwater nuclear arsenal and a blue water navy. The Pentagon, the Modi government and General Dynamics are currently in negotiations about a plan to shift all production of F-16 fighter jets to India. The struggle of the Maruti Suzuki workers is a challenge both to the Indian ruling elite and transnational corporations like Suzuki, which scour the planet for the cheapest labour costs so as to maximize profits and shareholder returns. By ruthlessly suppressing these workers they are setting a new precedent to attack workers not only in India but around the world. That is why workers in every country must come to the defense of these heroic workers. If this monstrous frame-up is defeated through the international action of workers, young people and all those who defend democratic rights, it will immeasurably strengthen the unity and fighting capacity of the international working class. By Mustafa Shaikh: In an unexpected turn of events Shaimaa Selim, sister of Eman Ahmed, world's heaviest woman, weighing around 500 kg, has shot a video saying that her sister is very sick and she is not getting good treatment in Saifee Hospital in Mumbai where she was admitted to undergo bariatric surgery. In the video, which was shot on April 14 inside Mumbai's Saifee Hospital, Shaimaa has labelled Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, who brought Eman to Mumbai, a liar. advertisement In the video, Shaimaa has accused Dr Muffazal Lakdawala of 'telling lies' about her sister's weight loss surgery. "She does not talk at all. She is not able to move and she looks bluish. No improvement," Shaimaa says in the video. She then shows the facility where Eman has been kept. Shaimaa says that the hospital doesn't have a CAT scan machine. Eman's thrombosis has been treated till now. She says that the hospital promised to escort Eman to the toilet but no such help is being given. When contacted, Dr Lakdawala in a statement said that Eman will be discharged in a couple of days and described allegations made by Shaimaa as disappointing. "It's disappointing to say the least if after all that we have done for Eman this is what we have to deal with all we can say is may god bless Eman. Eman is fit and shall be discharged in the next couple of days. Her obesity related risks have nose dived. Her neurological rehabilitation shall be best managed with intensive physiotherapy that does not need further hospitalisation." "Only Shaimaa Selim can best explain her reasons of such a dramatic turnaround and views contrary to all the best medical opinions available," the doctor added. Eman had undergone genetic testing reports of which showed that she has a rare gene defect that was behind her obesity. In fact, Eman is the only person in the world with the defect, report suggested. ALSO READ| Weighing 500 kg: World's heaviest woman from Egypt lands in Mumbai for treatment World's heaviest woman is a Salman fan, bhai to meet her soon WATCH | Eman Ahmed's weight loss: Not getting right treatment in India, claims her sister --- ENDS --- With tensions on the Korean Peninsula already on a knife-edge, the US has dispatched the nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Michigan to the region. The submarine, which is capable of launching up to 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles from more than 1,500 kilometres, is due in the South Korean port of Busan today. The arrival of the USS Michigan coincides with intense media speculation that North Korea will conduct a nuclear or ballistic missile test to mark its Military Foundation Day. The Trump administration has repeatedly declared that the US will use all options to prevent Pyongyang developing a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the American mainland. At the same time, the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, complete with its strike group of guided missile destroyers and cruiser, is headed toward waters off the Korean Peninsula. The Carl Vinson was last reported in the Philippine Sea where it rendezvoused with two Japanese destroyers and will meet up with South Korean warships as it heads north. The US and South Korean air forces are also currently involved in joint war games. The USS Ronald Reagan and its carrier strike group are based at the Japanese port of Yokosuka. Earlier this month, President Trump warned North Korea that the US was sending an armada to North East Asia. We have submarines. Very powerful. Far more powerful than the aircraft carrier. That I can tell you, he told Fox Business Network. Trump reinforced the threat yesterday when he met with the ambassadors of members of the UN Security Council, declaring that the status quo in North Korea was unacceptable. In calling on the UN to impose additional and stronger sanctions, he branded Pyongyangs rudimentary nuclear arsenal as a real threat to the world, a big world problem that we have to finally solve. US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, warned that Washington would not ignore North Koreas weapons testing saying: The United States is not looking for a fight so dont give us a reason to have one. She again called on China to put pressure on its ally North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In a tweet last weekend, Trump again insisted that Beijing take action against Pyongyang. China is very much the economic lifeline to North Korea. So while nothing is easy, if they want to solve the North Korean problem, they will. In a phone call with Trump on Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged caution. While adamantly opposing any contravention of UN resolutions by North Korea, Xi, according to Chinese reports, hoped that all sides exercise restraint and avoid doing things that exacerbate tensions on the peninsula. The Chinese government is deeply concerned that the US could trigger a war on its doorstep and has been pushing for the resumption of negotiations with concessions both by the US and North Korea. Only if all sides live up to their responsibilities and come together from different directions can the nuclear issue on the peninsula be resolved as quickly as possible, Xi reportedly said. Trump also spoke by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who told reporters yesterday: Well maintain close contact with the US and high level of monitoring and surveillance as we respond firmly on North Korea. He said that his government agreed with Trump to strongly demand that North Korea show restraint and denounced Pyongyang for being repeatedly dangerous and provocative. The Abe government has ramped up anxieties in Japan by issuing civil defence advice on how to respond in the event of a ballistic missile attack: to take shelter underground or in the nearest strong building. It previously suggested that plans were being drawn up for the evacuation of thousands of Japanese citizens from South Korea in the event of a conflict. Backed by a compliant media, the US along with its allies continue to demonise the Pyongyang regime, branding it as a threat to the region and the world. While pressuring China, the Trump administration has also repeatedly declared that it is prepared to solve North Korea by itself. The incessant drum beat was continued last week with statements from the US defence and state departments. Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross condemned Pyongyang for provocative, destabilizing actions and rhetoric, saying: North Koreas unlawful weapons programs represent a clear, grave threat to US national security. The State Department denounced North Korea in similar terms before issuing a thinly veiled warning. We do not seek military conflict, nor do we seek to threaten North Korea. However, we will respond to threats to us or our allies accordingly, a spokesperson declared. The North Korean regime has responded in kind with bloodcurdling threats to the US, which hand Washington a pretext for its military build-up. It branded the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson as an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade the North and declared that it was ready to turn the aircraft carrier into a great heap of scrap metal and to bury it in the sea. The Trump administration has deliberately ratcheted up tensions on the Korean Peninsula, threatening pre-emptive military strikes if Pyongyang proceeds to conduct a sixth nuclear test or further ballistic missile launches. In such conditions, a miscalculation or mistake could trigger a conflict that would rapidly spiral out of control and draw in nuclear-armed powers such as China and Russia. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who won 13 million votes for his self-styled democratic socialist campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, visited Omaha, Nebraska April 20 to appear with a right-wing Democratic candidate for mayor who opposes abortion rights. While the mayoral election is nominally nonpartisan, the incumbent Jean Stothert is a Republican and her main challenger Heath Mello is a Democratic state senator. The two were the leading vote-getters in a primary held April 4, in which Stothert won 43.7 percent and Mello 41.4 percent. The runoff between them will be held May 9. The 37-year-old Mello was formerly a senior aide to US Senator Ben Nelson, before being elected to the state senate in 2008, and reelected in 2012. He works as a professional fundraiser at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha. While in the state senate, Mello supported legislation requiring clinics to inform women seeking abortions that they have the right to a fetal ultrasound. He also backed a bill to ban abortion after the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, a measure that would likely violate the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade decision. The Nebraska Democratic Party is led by Sanders supporters who took control during the presidential campaign, when Sanders won the Democratic caucus in the state, defeating Hillary Clinton. The head of Sanderss statewide campaign, Jane Kleeb, became chairman of the state party. At a rally in Omaha last Thursday, Sanders, Kleeb, Democratic National Committee vice-chair Keith Ellison and Mello appeared side-by-side before a crowd of 6,000 people, with Sanders hailing the mayoral candidate, saying his election would represent a shot across the board, that in a state like Nebraska a progressive Democrat can win. Abortion rights and womens groups immediately denounced Sanders and Ellison for their appearance, claiming that he was relegating cultural issues like abortion and gay rights to the back seat, in favor of populist rhetoric on economic issues, where Mello adheres to standard Democratic Party demagogy about supporting working people against big business. Both Sanders and DNC Chair Thomas Perez initially dismissed the criticism, saying it was unrealistic to demand support for abortion rights by every Democratic candidate. Perez said, If you demand fealty on every single issue, then its a challenge. The Democratic Party platform acknowledges that were pro-choice, but there are communities, like some in Kansas, where people have a different position. Sanders echoed this thought. If you are running in rural Mississippi, do you hold the same criteria as if youre running in San Francisco? he asked. I think youd be a fool to think thats all the same. As the criticism mounted, however, Perez pulled back, reiterating his support for abortion rights. He declared, I fundamentally disagree with Heath Mellos personal beliefs about womens reproductive health, while pointing out that Mello had agreed to abide by the Democratic Party platform if elected mayor (a meaningless promise, since a city mayor has no power over such matters as access to abortion). Sanders continued to defend his support to Mello in an appearance on the CBS Sunday interview program Face the Nation. Asked about the Omaha appearance, he said, If were going to become a 50-state party, if youre going to go to Omaha, Nebraska, which has a Republican governor, two Republican senators, all Republican congresspeople, Republican legislature, you know what? And if in Omaha, 5,000 or 6,000 people come out to a rally led by Jane Kleeb, their new Democratic chairperson, who is doing a great job, and if you have a rally in which you have the labor movement and the environmentalists and Native Americans and the African-American community and the Latino community coming together, saying, we want this guy to become our next mayor, should I reject going there to Omaha? I dont think so. It was a great rally, and I hope very much he wins. His alignment with an anti-abortion Democratic candidate for mayor is only the most grotesque of many acts of accommodation by Sanders with this right-wing capitalist party. Since Clintons defeat in the presidential election and the inauguration of Donald Trump, Sanders, despite his nominal status as an independent in the US Senate, has become one of the most prominent national spokesmen for the Democratic Party. The Omaha campaign stop was part of a week-long Unity campaign swing in which Perez and Sanders made a series of joint appearances in states carried by Trump in the presidential election. In the same Face the Nation interview where he reiterated his support for Heath Mello, Sanders spelled out his role as a last-ditch defender of the Democratic Party, as a politician who regards saving and rebuilding the Democratic Party as his principal mission. Pointing to the wreckage of the Democratic Party, which has lost the presidency, control of Congress, and two-thirds of state governments, Sanders declared, The Democratic Party has got to take the lead, rally people, young people, working people, stand up to the billionaire class. And when we do that, youre going to see voter turnout swell. Youre going to see people coming in and running for office. Youre going to see Democrats regain control of the United States Congress. Face the Nation host John Dickerson was not so impolite as to ask Sanders to square his rhetoric about fighting the billionaire class with the reality that many billionaires support the Democratic Partyand most backed the Democrats against Trump in the presidential election. Instead, he invited Sanders to explain what he was doing to revive the Democrats, and the senator declared, referring to himself, theres very few people who have been running around the country quite as much as I have been trying to bring people into the party. Sanders continued, warning that low voter turnout in the next congressional elections, in 2018, would mean there is no future forward for the Democratic Party. He claimed that if the Democratic Party focused on issues like health care, raising the minimum wage and opposing climate change, voter turnout goes up, Democrats win. As the saying goes, Sanders has become more Catholic than the Pope. The erstwhile independentwhose independence was never more than an electoral device in his home state, since he consistently caucused with the Democrats on Capitol Hillhas set himself up as the main opponent of any break by working people, youth and students from this reactionary party of Wall Street and American imperialism. Since the beginning of 2017, the two companies Bombardier and Siemens have been engaged in secret merger negotiations behind the backs of their employees. According to reports by the financial news agency Bloomberg, the two firms want to merge their train-building and signal technology operations into a joint venture to compete with Asia, above all China, in the important export markets. The consolidated corporation could achieve estimated annual revenues of 13 billion. Thousands of jobs would hang in the balance if there were a merger, since the range of products manufactured by the two corporations overlap in many areas. Bombardier produces various regional and high speed train models in its plants in Gorlitz, Bautzen and Henningsdorf, and Siemens Mobility produces similar models in the plants in Krefeld and Munich. Bombardier is already engaged in negotiations with IG Metal and the works councils to cut 2,500 jobs at its German plants. The largest layoffs would take place at the Gorlitz and Henningsdorf locations. In Austria as well, where Bombardier employs 550 workers in Vienna in competence centres for trams, many jobs are in danger. Siemens also runs a plant in the same city, which produces trams and subway cars with a workforce of 1,200. If the Vienna plants were merged, an unknown number of the jobs at Bombardier and Siemens would be endangered. While thousands of jobs at both corporations as well as supply industries are in danger, shareholders of both companies are rejoicing over the prospects if the merger succeeds. The Wirtschaftswoche quoted analysts of the French financial service provider Kepler Cheuvreux, according to which Siemens shareholders alone could profit from the merger in five years by 1.5 to 2 billion. The merger plans are a reaction to the growing competitive struggle worldwide, and are part of preparations for global trade war. Siemens and Bombardier have asked the German government to support them against European Union cartel laws that currently stand in the way of the merger. The unions are integrated into the merger talks at the highest level, but are maintaining a policy of absolute silence with their own members. The works councils and IG Metall union representatives have already been in talks with the management of Bombardier for weeks over the so-called necessary restructuring, and increase in the efficiency and profitability of the corporation. Henningsdorf works council head, Michael Wobst, openly admitted that the works council has no objection to cuts even if it is painful here and there. Behind the scenes, a tooth and nail struggle over advantages for individual locations is taking place. A Bombardier works council in Gorlitz confirmed this to the WSWS: There is already a small internal competition taking place. Likewise, the IG Metall head in Krefeld at Siemens, Ralf Claessen told the Westdeutsche Zeitung: I say this quite openly: the Krefeld location is so well equipped with regard to technique, organization and manpower that it could even be strengthened by such a fusion. This local patriotism of the unions is totally reactionary and only serves to play the workers against one another at a time when the growing cooperation and the merger of the corporation urgently requires an international collaboration of employees in all locations. Bombardier and Siemens are preparing themselves for an increasingly competitive struggle and trade war. For decades, the leading producers of rail cars have been engaged in outsourcing production to countries where railway traffic is sharply on the rise, above all in India and China. In these countries, they can profit from the prevailing low wages. The statements made by Peter Spuhler, the CEO of the family-owned small Swiss producer Stadler Rail AG (with a 2014 revenue of 1.87 billion Swiss francs), provide an indication of the situation on the world market. In March, he spoke with the Swiss Business Club Mittelland about the demand for the localization of the production of trains in the country of each purchaser. That always has to be weighed. If we dont want it, someone else wins, and if we do it, we cannibalize our existing plants in Europe. He said that Chinese producers have already won contracts in Asia with price differences of 30 percent. Margins were too small for developing new products and technologies, Spuhler complained. In January 2016, Stadler Rail ordered an increase in weekly working time for Swiss employees from 39.5 to 42.5 hours without overtime pay. In order to secure contracts abroad, Stadler had already bought up production and service locations in Berlin, Budapest, Siedlce (in Poland), Prague, Kouba (in Algeria) and Minsk. Bloomberg reported several days ago that PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that investments in subway projects in Asia will reach a volume of $230 billion in the next 15 years. Bombardier and the French corporation Alstom already opened plants in 2008, which are supposed to serve the Asian markets from now on. They want to exploit Indias large pool of engineers and cheap skilled labour, according to one report. India has already become an important country for export to Africa, South America and Europe for auto producers such as Hyundai, Ford Renault SA and Suzuki Motor Corp. In the past year, 3.5 million automobiles were exported from India. The case of the Maruti Suzuki workers, sentenced to life in prison because they fought for their rights, demonstrates the conditions under which workers are exploited there. On the Chinese market as well, the leading European corporations, Siemens and Alstrom, are vying with Bombardier, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Hyundai Retem for contracts with the Chinese state railway. When the Chinese market opened in the mid-1980s, joint venture corporations began collaborating with Chinese producers: * Alstom is engaged in production in single and joint venture operations in the states of Shanghai, Qingdao and Xi'an. * Siemens collaborates with partners in Tianjin and Beijing. * Bombardier runs its own plants in Shanghai, Beijing, Qingdau and Suzhou as well as carrying out joint ventures in Qingdao, Changchung, Changzhou, Shanghai and Nanjing. It signed a cooperation agreement in September 2016 with the Chinese producer CRRC. * Kawasaki cooperates with CSR Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co., Ltd. in Qingdao. If the trains manufactured in China were then used in Chinese railways, the obligatory technology transfer of common operations with the Chinese producers would lead to a rapid technological development of their own products. The China Railway Rolling Stock Group (CRRC), which is the product of a mid-2015 merger of northern and southern Chinese producers, has emerged as a serious competitor on the world market. In 2014, the CRRC, which has 180,000 individual workforces, branches or production facilities in over a hundred countries, had a revenue of $34.5 billion, more than double the revenue of Bombardier and Siemens put together in this branch. Thousands of workers are closely bound up together in the daily worldwide process of production of the joint venture corporations, or in projects that require the cooperation of competing corporations. For example, the new intercity bus ICE 4 for the Deutsche Bahn involves collaboration in development and production between Siemens (two thirds of the order volume) and Bombardier (a third of the volume). The Bombardier plant in Gorlitz produces bodies for the ICE 4 and delivers them to the Siemens plant in Krefeld, where each train is manufactured by a workforce of 2,500 workers. Last Thursday, Nick Xenophon, a prominent third party senator in the Australian parliament, warned of the catastrophic consequences of a US war with China in an address before the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a think-tank with close ties to Washington. Speaking to a rarefied audience of diplomats, foreign policy analysts and intelligence personnel, Xenophon dwelt on the reality that has been systematically concealed from the population since the Gillard Labor government gave full backing to the US pivot to Asia in 2011Australia is on the frontlines of advanced preparations for conflict with Beijing. The right-wing populist senator, however, who leads the Nick Xenophon Team, was not seeking to warn working people of the dangers they confront. Rather, his remarks, published in an abridged form the next day by Fairfax Media, were part of an increasingly concerned debate within the political establishment over the dilemma facing Australian capitalism due to its strategic alliance with the US, and its growing economic relations with China, its largest trading partner. Xenophons speech was published by Fairfax under the headline, Are we truly ready for the consequences of a war with China? It was given on the eve of an Australian visit by US Vice President Mike Pence, which was part of a broader campaign throughout the region to drum up support for the Trump administrations reckless confrontation with North Korea. Senior figures within the US government have warned that all options are on the table in their moves against Pyongyang, including preemptive strikes. The latest US offensive has underscored the imminent danger of a military clash in Asia, whether in the form of a US-provoked conflict on the Korean peninsula, that could kill millions and draw-in other nuclear-armed powers, or in other flashpoints that have been stoked by Washingtons confrontation with China. Both the Liberal-National government and the Labor Party opposition have backed the Trump administrations bellicose stance, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and opposition leader Bill Shorten defining the US-Australia alliance in explicitly militarist terms during Pences visit. Xenophon pointed to the ratcheting-up of tensions under the Trump administration, flowing on from the Obama administrations massive military build-up in the region directed against China. He implicitly criticised recent remarks by Australias foreign minister, Julie Bishop, who called for the US to continue aggressively calling the shots in Asia. The senator cited last years report by the RAND Corporation, a think-tank in the US, entitled War with China: Thinking Through the Unthinkable. He quoted a section of the document which stated that war between the two countries [the US and China] could be intense, last a year or more, have no winner, and inflict huge losses and costs on both sides. In the version published by Fairfax, Xenophon warned: As both sides technologies and doctrine create a preference for striking first, the potential for miscalculation is high. He said that there was a danger that the US or Chinese military commands would seek to gain the initiative by launching a first strike. Invoking the tensions that preceded World War One, Xenophon said, this kind of thinking has uncomfortable parallels with Europe of a century ago, when the belligerents initiated their own military plans to attack before being attacked. The senator pointedly noted that many pundits at that time had also declared that a war would be impossible because of the extensive trade links between the rival powers. Xenophon warned of the consequences that could flow from any Australian freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea. The US has repeatedly carried out such provocations, in which warships or aircraft are dispatched near or within the 12-nautical-mile limit around Chinese-controlled islets in the South China Sea, where the US has inflamed longstanding territorial disputes. Under the Obama administration, the US placed intense pressure on the Liberal-National government to carry out a freedom of navigation operation, a move that could be considered an act of war by China. Xenophon raised the specter of China responding to an Australian action by sinking an Australian vessel to warn off the United States Navy. The senator stated that a US-China war would result in a massive contraction of the Australian economy. He raised the prospect of calls for the internment of the countrys substantial Chinese population. Xenophon declared that war would rip Australias social fabric apart, a reference to the prospect of mass social upheavals. His heavy focus on trade, however, underscored that he is above all concerned with the implications of a bellicose posture for the financial interests and corporate profits of the business elite. As with similar statements by other figures of the Australian political establishment, Xenophons speech was most striking for the contradiction between the extent of the dangers it outlined and the bankrupt perspective that it advanced as a response. The senator called only for a parliamentary vote on action in the South China Sea, or any other military moves against China. He quickly made clear that this would be little more than a rubber-stamp. He stated: I believe that parliamentary authorisation is workable and can be formulated in a suitably flexible way that takes a variety of contingencies into account, protects the security of classified information, and copes with the time-sensitive nature of emergency military deployments. Xenophon proceeded to contrast wars of choice with wars of necessity, stating that in the latter instance, where Australian aggression was justified by invocations of self-defence, the government should not require any parliamentary go-ahead. In other words, Xenophons proposal is not aimed at preventing military action, but at providing it with a democratic veneer amid mass anti-war sentiment among workers and young people. As Xenophon and his audience knew, Australia would be automatically involved in any US-led conflict in Asia due to the extensive basing arrangements and military integration with American forces. The US-operated base at Pine Gap, in central Australia, is only one of the starkest examples. It plays a central role in military spying operations throughout the Middle East, Eurasia and the Western Pacific. Over recent weeks, the base has reportedly focused its attention on North Korea, and would inevitably be involved in the coordination of US strikes against Pyongyang. (See: Australias role in US plans for war on North Korea) All the parliamentary parties are implicated in these moves, which take place every day entirely behind the backs of the population. Xenophon and his right-wing formation are no exception. He has repeatedly joined in campaigns against Chinese investment in Australian infrastructure projects, which have been used to promote anti-Chinese paranoia and xenophobia. Xenophon has been a vociferous proponent of the spending up to $50 billion on a new fleet of 12 conventional attack submarines in his home state of South Australia. He has explicitly linked the project to preparations for Australian involvement in a war in Asia. In an October 2015 column, he referenced the tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea, the Korean peninsula and throughout Asia and wrote: In wartime, simply sending subs to sea causes chaos for our enemies. Not knowing where our subs are means our enemies have to assume theyre everywhere, stretching and weakening the enemys forces. Soon after the video surfaced online, doctors of Saifee Hospital said that Eman is fine, weighs 204 kilogram now and will be discharged this week. By Mustafa Shaikh: Shaimma Salem, world's heaviest woman Eman Ahmed's sister, complained in a video that her sister is very sick and she is not getting good treatment art Saifee Hospital in Mumbai, where she was admitted to undergo bariatric surgery. However, soon after the video surfaced online, doctors of Saifee Hospital said that Eman is fine and will be discharged this week. advertisement Shaimaa said in the video that the hospital doesn't have a CAT scan machine. "Eman's CAT scan was done in the morning. She now weighs less than 204 kgs. The machine at the hospital can only take weight up to 204 kgs," said Dr Huzefa Shehabi, COO, Saifee Hospital. Dr Aparna Bhaskar, who was in the core team which treated Eman has said that she will no longer be involved in the case as she is hurt by the video and "it's equivalent to assault on doctors". "I was involved in her treatment since the beginning. I had gone to Alexandria to get Eman to Mumbai. I am hurt by the allegations made by her sister. As a doctor I can say that she is 75 per cent better from what she was when we began treating her. She will not be able to walk because of disability in her legs but other factors are normal now. This video is equivalent to assault on doctors which have happened in the past," she said. Currently, diagnosis for her neurology is underway and doctors have conducted CT scan of her head. In the video, Shaimma said that Saifee Hospital lied to her that they have a CT machine. Reports of Eman's CT scan will be out by evening after which a neurologist will be consulted. DID NOT PROMISE COMPLETE TREATMENT Dr Shehabi said that Saifee Hospital didn't promise to treat all her diseases. "Our excellency is at bariatric and obesity. We have treated her for that and her recovery has been miraculous. That is why she is being sent home early. We are not specialists in treating other diseases," the hospital COO said. Doctors claim that Eman's family was upset since the time they were informed about the discharge hence, the video was made. "I don't think Eman's family wants to take responsibility for her further treatment. They want to keep her here. We could have helped her, but this is not the way to go about it," said Dr Bhaskar. In the video shot on April 14, Eman's sister said that they have been cheated by Dr Muffazal Lakdwala and that Eman is not being treated well. ALSO READ | 'Eman Ahmed's weight loss was a lie,' says world's heaviest woman's sister advertisement WATCH | Eman Ahmed's weight loss: Not getting right treatment in India, claims her sister --- ENDS --- TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Local officials who support so-called sanctuary cities could be ousted from office if a person living in the country illegally injures or kills someone in their jurisdiction. That penalty is under a bill (HB 697) that passed its last committee stop on Monday. It would require local officials to fully comply with federal immigration laws, including holding detainees past their sentences. The measure passed over the objections of Democrats and members of the public who deem such legislation unconstitutional because it would violate a person's right to due process. Under the measure, officials supporting local ordinances protecting undocumented immigrants would be punished, from hefty fines to being removed from office. Local governments would also absorb detention costs when holding detainees for immigration authorities. The Senate version didn't pass a single committee stop. SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Police say a shooting involving gang members left three people dead inside a home in Savannah. Savannah-Chatham County police said officers responded to a home about 1:15 a.m. Monday. Inside they found three bodies. Police identified the victims as 31-year-old Courtney German, 24-year-old William Mullins and 18-year-old Shayla Curtis. Savannah-Chatham County police Lt. Racine Chaney said at a news conference that "the homicide involved gang members." But he declined to go into further details, saying that could jeopardize a "very fluid investigation." Chaney said a person of interest had been arrested on unrelated charges in nearby Jasper County, South Carolina, but had not been charged with the Savannah slayings. ___ This story corrects the time bodies found to 1:15 a.m. Monday, not 2 p.m. ___ Information from: WTOC-TV, http://www.wtoctv.com/ (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) -- The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is investigating a shooting that happened on Saturday, April 21 around 10:44 p.m. at Greenwood Mobile Home Park in Jackson County, Fla. The victim of the shooting is a 34 year old male, who was shot in the chest. The Jackson County Fire Rescue arrived on the scene and began treating the victim for his injuries. He was then transported to a hospital. There are no suspects at this time. The victim of the shooting is in stable, but serious condition. If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact the Jackson County Sheriff's Office at 850-482-9624 or Crimestoppers at 850-526-5000. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available. JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) -- On Wednesday, March 8, The Sex Offender Compliance Division of Jackson County Sheriff's Office launched an investigation on registered sex offender, Mitchel Ray Norman, after failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. During the investigation, law enforcement discovered that Norman had moved to Lake City, Fla. without notifying the county within 48 hours of vacating a residence, which is required by Florida law. Norman also failed to registered the his phone number, which is required by law. On Monday, April 3, a warrant was obtained for Failure to Report Vacating a Residence and Failure to Report Change in Telephone Information. U.S. Marshal Service accepted the case on Wednesday, April 5 and tracked Norman to a motel in Lake City, where he was taken into custody. He will be extradited back to Jackson County to face charges. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - New Orleans is set to begin taking down confederate statutes, becoming the latest Southern body to separate itself from what some say are symbols of racism and intolerance. Mayor Mitch Landrieu says the first memorial will come down Monday night. The process is reigniting the debate about Civil War memorials here in Florida, too. On the lawn of the Old Capitol are two marble obelisks, one dedicated to the civil war. It lists Florida's Civil War battles and includes an inscription meant to remember the men of Leon County who died from 1861-1865. This memorial is just one way the Tallahassee area remembers the Civil War. In March, local history buffs gathered in Woodville for a reenactment, remembering the Battle of Natural Bridge. "The battle of Natural Bridge is a significant event," said Ginger Rudiger, president of the Florida United Daughters of Confederacy. "It's a part of our Florida state history. It's a time of history that's misconstrued and not understood by a lot of folks. They think it's about certain issues, it may or may not be." Those who want the Confederate memorials to stay say it's part of history that shouldn't be ignored. removed say they are Others call the monuments offensive, saying they honor the country's slave-owning past. "For my culture and for many other cultures, it is not the symbol of positivity that we like to reflect," said Dianne Williams-Cox, a member of the Democratic Women's Club of Florida. "It belongs in a history book and I think that's going to be the best place for it. We're not longer there, we're so much more progressive now than where we were back then, so put it in a history book, not out front for everyone to see. We're all Americans, let's see the American flag." TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The New Service of Florida) - Hundreds of law-enforcement officers from across Florida gathered Monday at the state Capitol to remember seven of their colleagues who died in the line of duty in 2016, along with three officers who died decades ago. Bagpipes played "Amazing Grace" while survivors placed roses on a flower-covered memorial to honor loved ones, as each name was read aloud. The event, hosted by the Fraternal Order of Police, included a 21-gun salute, and helicopters flew above the Capitol courtyard. Massachusetts State Police Sgt. John Kotfila lost his son, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy John Kotfila Jr., last year. The deputy was killed in a head-on collision with a wrong-way driver near Tampa in March 2016. The elder Kotfila said ceremonies like the one held Monday help families heal, while also serving as a morale booster for law enforcement. "It's a hard day," he said. "It's a bittersweet day. The amount of respect that you are seeing now, it kind of makes it worthwhile being a police officer." Monday's ceremony was the 35th-annual event honoring fallen officers. So far in 2017, three law-enforcement officers have died in the line of duty. Over the years, nearly 800 police in Florida have died while on the job. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Legislation ready to be debated by the full House and Senate would require high-school students to earn a half-credit in personal financial literacy in order to graduate. Currently, high schoolers only receive some consumer math instruction as part of a greater economics course. Bill supporters say kids graduating high school today are often bombarded with credit card offers, car loans and few of them go off to college knowing how to properly manage their finances, even if they have taken high level math classes. House bill sponsor Larry Ahern hopes to change that. The senate version of the bill is set for a final vote on Wednesday, while the house has yet to schedule the measure for a floor vote. If approved by the full legislature, and signed into law by the governor, the bill would take effect for students entering ninth grade this fall. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Over 2,000 are expected to ride hundreds of miles in this year's Police Unity Tour. Members of the Police Unity Tour proudly wear their motto, "We Ride For Those Who Died." There are chapters of the Police Unity Tour all over the country, officers and survivors both riding together to keep the memory of the fallen alive. In 2015, WTXL traveled with the Police Unity Tour, Chapter 8, as they rode 250 miles from Portsmouth, VA to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. This year, WTXL is continuing its commitment to following the survivors and officers participating Police Unity Tour. Rachelle Denmark, who is an investigator at Tallahassee Police Department, will also be helping us as a contributor this year. Our coverage of the 2017 Police Unity Tour will kick-off on May 5th. Links for More Information The Police Unity Tour The primary purpose of the Police Unity Tour is to raise awareness of Law Enforcement Officers who have died in the line of duty. National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Founded in 1984, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is dedicated to honoring and remembering the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers in the United States. National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is centered in the 400 block of E Street, NW, Washington, DC and is the nations monument to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. Officer Down Memorial Page The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc., (ODMP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring America's fallen law enforcement heroes. More than 20,000 officers have made the ultimate sacrifice in the United States and it is with great honor that the ODMP pays a lasting tribute to each of these officers by preserving their memories within its pages. Concerns of Police Survivors Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. (C.O.P.S.) provides resources to assist in the rebuilding of the lives of surviving families and affected co-workers of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. National Police Week In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week. Currently, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on Washington, DC to participate in a number of planned events which honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. The videos of the child's murder on her father's Facebook page was accessible for roughly 24 hours. The father was having paranoia about his wife leaving him and not loving him, By Reuters: A Thai man filmed himself killing his 11-month-old daughter in two video clips posted on Facebook before committing suicide, police said on Tuesday. People could access the videos of the child's murder on her father's Facebook page for roughly 24 hours, until they were taken down around 5 p.m. in Bangkok (1000 GMT) on Tuesday, or about a day after being uploaded. advertisement Last week, Facebook said it was reviewing how it monitored violent footage and other objectionable material after a posting of the fatal shooting of an elderly man in Cleveland, Ohio was visible for two hours before being taken down. The harrowing footage from Thailand shows Wuttisan Wongtalay tying a rope to his daughter's neck before dropping her from the rooftop of a deserted building in the Thai seaside town of Phuket. Wuttisan's suicide was not broadcast but his lifeless body was found beside his daughter, said Jullaus Suvannin, the police officer in charge of the case. "He was having paranoia about his wife leaving him and not loving him," Jullaus told Reuters. Reuters was unable to contact the mother of the dead child. Calls to her mobile number went unanswered. Television images showed her weeping and holding the dead baby. A regional Facebook representative in Singapore was not immediately available to comment. After the company faced a backlash for showing the video of the Cleveland killing, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook would do all it could to prevent such content in the future. Thai netizens voiced outrage about the clips showing the child's killing. "This is the most evil clip I've seen in my life," said one user, Avada Teeraponkoon. "I couldn't stand it for more than one second." "How can he watch his own child stop breathing?" said another, Rujirek Polglang. "He should have just died alone." The killing was the first in Thailand known to be broadcast on the social networking site, said Thai deputy police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen. "It could be influenced by behavior from abroad, most recently in Cleveland," Kissana told Reuters. Before they were taken down, the first video had drawn 112,000 views by mid-afternoon on Tuesday, while the second video showed 258,000 views. Also Read: Police urge Ohio man who live streamed murder on Facebook to turn himself in 40 people do nothing but watch 15-yr-old's gangrape, live on Facebook: Welcome to 2017 For over three years, Kim murder suspect lived mystery life in Malaysia advertisement Video shows deadly assault on North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's half-brother Sweden: 3 men arrested for gangraping woman, broadcasting live on Facebook How more and more Indian couples are live streaming sex to earn quick money --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: It is the end of the road for couple Farhan Akhtar and Adhuna Bhabani. They took the fans by surprise when they announced their separation last year. After being married for 15 years, Farhan and Adhuna parted ways, and filed for a divorce last October on mutual consent. According to a report in Mid-Day, the Bandra family court granted the ex-couple a divorce on Monday. The report suggests that the custody of their two daughters Shakya and Akira will remain with Adhuna, while Farhan will have the rights to access them whenever he wants. advertisement Farhan's lawyer Fazaa Shroff-Garg told the daily, "The divorce by mutual consent was allowed by the family court in Bandra." Both of them were present at the court on Monday. It was in January last year that Farhan and Adhuna released a joint statement announcing that they were ending their 15-year marriage. The statement read, "This is to announce that we, Adhuna and Farhan, have mutually and amicably decided to separate. Our children remain our priority and it is immensely important to us, as responsible parents, that they be protected from unwarranted speculation and public glare. We sincerely request that we are given the privacy that is required at this time to move forward in a dignified manner." Ever since their separation, a lot has been said about Farhan's link-up rumours with his co-actors. But he has rubbished all such rumours. Farhan and Adhuna tied the knot in 2000. The couple met on the sets of Farhan's directorial debut, Dil Chahta Hai. ALSO READ: What exes Farhan Akhtar and Adhuna Bhabani did at the divorce table ALSO READ: Farhan loses his cool when asked about estranged wife Adhuna Bhabani ALSO WATCH: Ranbir-Katrina to Farhan-Adhuna, biggest celebrity splits of 2016 --- ENDS --- Ahead of the May 7 runoff, France's two presidential candidates traded barbs on Tuesday with Emmanuel Macron accusing Marine Le Pen of promoting hatred. She, on the other hand, called him the "candidate of the oligarchy." By Reuters: France's two presidential candidates traded barbs on Tuesday with centrist Emmanuel Macron accusing far-right rival Marine Le Pen of promoting hatred, while she labeled him as the "candidate of the oligarchy." Macron and Le Pen, leader of the National Front (FN), go head-to-head on May 7 after taking the top two places in Sunday's first round. Opinion polls indicate that the business-friendly Macron, who has never held elected office, will take at least 60 percent of the vote against Le Pen after two defeated rivals pledged to back him to thwart her eurosceptic, anti-immigrant platform. advertisement However, since Sunday Le Pen has been on the offensive. She has portrayed the 39-year-old former investment banker as weak in the face of Islamist militancy, the heir to unpopular outgoing President Francois Hollande and part of the country's privileged elite. Macron has also come under fire from potential allies and Le Pen for acting as if victory next month was already in the bag after visiting a restaurant on the Left Bank on Sunday night after his first round triumph, handing ammunition to his opponents who described it as shallow, arrogant behaviour. Speaking after Hollande warned him earlier in the day against taking victory for granted, Macron sought to regain some initiative. 'HAVEN'T WOKEN UP WITH A HANGOVER BECAUSE LE PEN IS HERE' "Some have woken up with a hangover because Le Pen is there. I haven't," Macron told reporters after his first campaign trip since Sunday. "Nothing is won ... I have never considered one minute that it was won. My battle is to defeat Marine Le Pen." On France 2 television, Macron said the 48-year-old Le Pen would bring disaster to the economy and divide it with "hatred". "When I hear Madame Le Pen's slogans, her tones and her gestures, I see a lot more brutality on her side than mine. The brutal project, the project of hate and rejection is not on my side," he added. A Harris poll published late on Tuesday showed that more than 60 percent of French people believed that Le Pen had begun her campaign better than Macron with more than 40 percent considering Macron's restaurant celebration a mistake. Seeking to capitalise on her momentum, Le Pen has attempted to distance herself from her own party, saying she was not the candidate of the National Front, only supported by it, and was in fact the "candidate of the people" fighting the "candidate of the oligarchy." "My opponent has a vision that is disembodied. He only has eyes for the big cities. He is addressing them," she said, adding that unlike Macron she had campaigned in rural France. "The election is not done. The oligarchy has already installed Emmanuel Macron in the president's seat. The people will reserve a major surprise for the oligarchy," she said. advertisement ALSO READ | France: President Francois Hollande urges countrymen to reject far-right leader Le Pen in presidential run-off vote ALSO READ | French presidential election: Centrist Macron appears set for presidency in runoff with far-right leader Le Pen ALSO WATCH | Bengaluru court sets ex-French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, accused of raping daughter, free --- ENDS --- Top Trump administration officials will hold a rare briefing on Wednesday at the White House for the entire US Senate on the situation in North Korea, senior Senate aides said on Monday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In a meeting with ambassadors to the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Trump said that called the status quo with North Korea "unacceptable." Trump met with the ambassadors for lunch and was accompanied by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Hailey, Chinese Ambassador Liu Jiayi and top aides daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner. Trump speaking before the UN ambassadors X After admonishing the UN Security Council's inaction following the Syrian chemical attack, Trump said "The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable, and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs." He added that "North Korea is a big world problem, a problem we have to solve." US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley (L) with President Trump (Photo: AFP) Trump said that the United Nations Security Council must prepare for imposing new sanctions on North Korea, saying that for decades it had closed its eyes to the North Korean threat and said it was a big problem to be solved at last. All 100 senators have been asked to the White House for the briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the aides said. While top administration officials routinely travel to Capitol Hill to address members of Congress on foreign policy and national security matters, it is very unusual to call on the entire 100-member Senate to be present at such an event, and for the four above-mentioned top officials to be involved. R to L: Close aides and relations Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, who were also in attendance as Trump made his statement (Photo: EPA) US officials have expressed mounting concern over North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, and its threats to attack the United States and its Asian allies. USS Carl Vinson ( ) X USS Carl Vinson headed toward North Korea (Photo: EPA) President Donald Trump criticized North Korea's "continued belligerence" and said its actions were destabilizing during a telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, the White House said. The Senate briefing will take place at 3 pm EDT. House aides said they were working with the White House to set a similar briefing for members of the House of Representatives. On Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Trump and called on both the United States and North Korea to show restraint. The conversation was the second since their meeting in Florida earlier this month. Trump had recently demanded that China be more hands on with reining in North Korea. The North Korean flag (Photo: Reuters) North Korea, for its part, continues to make threats regarding the US. On Monday, the North Korean government mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun published an op-ed that stated, "The US should not act out of panic, but carefully weigh the detrimental consequences that its actions that any provoking and foolish military operation on its behalf would have." Ballistic missiles on display at the North Korean capital of Pyongyang (Photo: Reuters) China is North Korea's only major ally, but in recent years China's patience has been growing thin due to North Korea's conduct. China has repeatedly called for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and is concerned that the situation in the region will spiral out of control and lead to war and the collapse of its impoverished neighbor. North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un (Photo: AFP, KCNA via KNS) Meanwhile, Trump continues to signal that all options are on the table, as he dispatched the USS aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and other ships to the Korean peninsula, where two Japanese destroyers joined the US ships for a joint exercise. North Korea plans to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Army on Tuesday, while some sources in the West fear that it will use the anniversary to conduct a nuclear test or launch ballistic missiles. WASHINGTON -- Top Trump administration officials will hold a rare briefing on Wednesday at the White House for the entire U.S. Senate on the situation in North Korea. All 100 senators have been asked to the White House for the briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Monday. While administration officials routinely travel to Capitol Hill to address members of Congress on foreign policy matters, it is unusual for the entire Senate to go to the White House, and for all four of those officials to be involved. Saudi Culture and Media Minister Awad Al-Awad called on Israel to stop construction in the settlements, which he called "illegal," and even claimed that they constitute an obstacle to peace. Al-Awad said this at the end of the weekly cabinet meeting and called on Israel to withdraw "from all the occupied Arab territories." The Palestinian presidential office welcomed the minister's remarks. The heads of Israel's intelligence and security community expressed their strong opposition to the authority of the National Cyber Bureau (NCB), according to a report by Channel 2 news. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The report contends that the head of Mossad, Yossi Cohen, the head of Shin Bet, Nadav Argaman, Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan and the Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Udi Adam, penned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Security Cabinet a letter where they claimed that the bill authorizing the bureau constitutes a serious violation of the core security concern of the State of Israel. Head of Mossad, Yossi Cohen (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) The report also said that after Netanyahu announced the establishment of the NCB and its annual budget of NIS 200 million, the prime minister promised the heads of the security establishment coordination on the issue. However, after receiving the details of the proposed law, the members of the security and intelligence community announced that they were opposed to the move. The four signatories demanded that the legislation be stopped immediately and that a law be enacted that would meet Israel's national security needs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an ultimatum to German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, conditioning their meeting on Gabriel not meeting as planned with representatives of Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem organizations. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Gabriel responded saying that it would be "regrettable" if Netanyahu cancelled the meeting due to what Gabriel describes as "completely normal" encounter. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Israel for Holocaust Remembrance Day (Photo: AFP) Gabriel said it would be "unthinkable" to cancel meetings if Netanyahu met government critics in Germany. But he says a cancellation of Tuesday's meeting wouldn't be a "catastrophe," and wouldn't change his relationship with Israel. He added, "You can't get a proper and comprehensive picture in any country on Earth if you only meet in government offices." Gabriel, who is also deputy chancellor, is making his first visit to Israel and is expected to continue to the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. According to Channel 2 news, when Netanyahu learned of his planned meetings with representatives of the leftist organizations, his office sent a message to the German delegation that this was provocative behavior. However, in an attempt to compromise with the Germans, Netanyahu's office made it clear to Gabriel that it would not object to a junior representative meeting the organizations on Gabriel's behalf. Gabriel, a leader of the Social Democratic Party in Germany, holds firm views on Israel regarding the conflict with the Palestinians. Gabriel lays a wreath at Yad Vashem for Holocaust Remembrance Day (Photo: AFP) In the past, he accused Israel of implementing an apartheid regime in Hebron and provoked anger in Jerusalem when he traveled to Tehran immediately after signing the nuclear agreement with Iran. Netanyahu's ultimatum comes during a period of instability between Israel and Germany highlighted by Germany cancelling an inter-governmental meeting scheduled for next month in protest of the Regulation Law and settlement construction. The chairman of the Zionist camp, Isaac Herzog, announced that he would meet as planned with the German foreign minister and attacked Netanyahu for his ultimatum. "Netanyahu is running away from the court. Placing the ultimatum is a serious blow to Israel's foreign relations with the largest economy in Europe and a true friend of the Jewish people. PM Netanyahu and Belgian PM Michel (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO) "Instead of running away, I call upon Netanyahu to meet with the German foreign minister and present his views and positions, without fear of organizations," said Herzog. The incident with Gabriel comes about two months after Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, who visited Israel earlier this year, met with representatives of Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem a day after his meeting with Netanyahu. As a result of the meeting, Netanyahu ordered the summoning of the Belgian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry. The Associated Press contributed to this report. (Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg) Speaking from her hospital bed in the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem on Monday, SSgt. Salem Fuaz recounted the stabbing attack at the Qalandiya checkpoint in which she was wounded. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "The Palestinian terrorist called me. I approached her and she asked me to help her exit the crossing. When I turned around, she pulled out a knife and stabbed me in the back," said Fuaz. Ben Hur visiting Fuaz (Photo: COGAT) Head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen. Ahavat Ben Hur, who was visiting Fuaz in the hospital, told her, "I'm happy I can be here to visit you today when you only have a light wound. Your presence at the crossing everyday affects thousands of residents, and unfortunately today, a terrorist chose to take advantage of the fact that our representatives are deployed at any time to help the Palestinian population. I wish you a speedy recovery and come back to us as soon as possible. " SSgt. Fuaz, 25, from Eilabun, enlisted six years ago as a combat soldier in the Caracal Battalion before transferring to the Border Police. Photo: MDA Two years ago, she began to serve in the Civil Administration as a checkpoint NCO. In this capacity, she is responsible for operations at the crossing, providing a permanent presence in the busy morning hours and being in contact with the local Palestinian population to provide assistance. The Shin Bet identified Fuaz's attacker as Asya Kabaneh, 41, from the village of Duma near Nablus. Asya, who is a married mother of 9, said during investigation that for a long time she has been in conflict with her husband, who threatened to deport her to her family in Jordan. The investigation also revealed that she had fought with her husband the night before over the education of their children and as a result, she decided to carry out an attack in order for the security forces to shoot her becausein her wordsshe was fed up with her life. A reading from Dvarim: But beware and watch yourself very well, lest you forget the things that your eyes saw, and lest these things depart from your heart, all the days of your life, and you shall make them known to your children and to your children's children. (Deuteronomy 4:9) Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter My father never forgot. The things he saw stayed with him all the days of his life. He lived to speak of them to me, and to my children. My father was a witness. He was a witness to the worst atrocity that man has ever unleashed on fellow man. And he was a witness who believed that to acknowledge the suffering of anotherand to have them feel less alonewas an imperative for every human being. He spoke for victims around the world: Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur. The thought that genocides could occur in the wake of the Holocaust haunted him. But my father was a witness to more than the Holocaust, he was a witness to the Jewish lives in Eastern Europe which it had claimed. He was a witness to his parents beliefs and their traditions and their values, some of which continued even in this place, even in that time: the father and son saving crusts of bread for each other, the Rabbis condemning God at trial and then praying the evening prayer. Late Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel with his son Elisha. Will you be a witness to the hope that my father represented through his words and actions? I remember my father followed the instructions each year to lead the Pesach Seder as if he too had been there to witness the redemption from Egypt. Can you imagine it? Pesach was the last holiday he spent with his family before they were sent here to die. And still he supplemented the direct memory of the horrors he experienced with the ancestral memory of a people given their freedom. He was a witness to a way of life that linked him to his father and his fathers father and all the way back through the generations. And my father was also a witness to a miracle, the miracle that was the creation of the State of Israel in his time: A Jewish homeland where his sisters children and the Jewish people would never again be left to the worlds mercy. He was a witness to all these things. What are you a witness to? Are you a witness to the crimes that occurred here? Will you be silent while history is in danger of being rewritten, while voices in France are now denying the Vichy governments enthusiasm for the rounding up of Jews? Or will you be a witness that historys lessons are going unheeded, when many in both Europe and the United States want to turn away Muslim refugees fleeing chemical warfare in Syria? Will you stand by when African-Americans have reason to be terrified of a routine traffic stop, when Christians are slaughtered in Egypt because they are labelled infidels, when girls in Chad, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan are threatened, raped, or shot for pursuing an education, when homosexuality in Iran is a crime that carries the death penalty? Or will you be a witness to those who live in fear because of the color of their skin, or their gender, or their religion, or their non-belief, or their sexual preference? If you are Jewish Will you wait another generation for another Pew Report to tell us how many Jews are practicing increasingly fewer elements of Judaism in the home, threatening our continued survival as a people with treasured traditions and ethics? Or will you be a witness at the britot, the bar and bat mitzvahs, the Jewish weddings of your children? Will you say Kaddish for your parents - and will your children say Kaddish for you? And if you are of another faith will you witness and elevate those elements of your tradition which encourage human rights and dignity, as my father did with his? Will you turn your back on the history of the wars launched and provoked to wipe the State of Israel off the map, to the terror she was subjected to even as land was offered for peace? Or will you confront BDS on your college campuses when it holds Israel uniquely accountable for the regions ills while remaining silent as her enemies teach hatred to children? Will you be a witness to the anti-Semitism that lurks just beneath the double standards applied to Israel? Will you be a witness to the hope that my father represented through his words and actions? Will you be a witness to small acts of kindness in your immediate life, as well as the larger ones needed on the world stage? Will you teach your children how to be witnesses themselves, how to tell a bully from a victim, how to stand up to a bully when sides must be taken? I will be a witness. I am here today with my first cousins Steve and Sydney and we are witnesses that we are standing in the place where my father and mothers families were sent to die simply because they were Jews, packed like animals for the slaughter onto the train while their neighbors watched. I am a witness to history and to a generation of heroes, to the veterans of the Allied Forces who liberated these camps and put themselves in harms way to break the grasp of Fascism. I am a witness to my fathers deep and undying connection to his people, and to his belief in our collective humanity regardless of ethnicity or borders. And I am a witness to my chil dren who brought so much joy to their grandfather, to my son in whom my fathers gentle soul lives on, and to my daughter, exactly nine years old today, whose soul throws off the brilliance of a thousand suns. Her name Tziporah bears witness to a little girl of the same age, my fathers sister, who was sent to the flames here 73 years ago. Each Friday night, we light the candles and sing the songs and welcome in the Shabbat together. And my wife and I once again become witnesses that the enemy has failed; we become witnesses that Am Yisrael Chai - we, the Jewish people, live. Elisha Wiesel, the son of late Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, lit a torch in memory of his father at this years March of the Living , which was held in Poland on Monday. Several artists and musicians signed an open letter calling on Thom Yorke and his bandmates in Radiohead to cancel their planned performance in Israelor at least, "to think about it again." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The letterwhich was disseminated on Holocaust Remembrance Daywas signed by English director Ken Loach, Thurston Moore of the band Sonic Youth, Tunde Adebimpe of the band TV on the Radio and Roger Waters, one of the most vocal proponents of the BDS movement. Thom Yorke (L) and Radiohead (Photo: Getty Images) "We understand youve been approached already by Palestinian campaigners. Theyve asked you to respect their call for a cultural boycott of Israel, and youve turned them down," the letter began. "Since Radiohead campaigns for freedom for the Tibetans, were wondering why youd turn down a request to stand up for another people under foreign occupation. And since Radiohead fronted a gig for the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, were wondering why youd ignore a call to stand against the denial of those rights when it comes to the Palestinians. By playing in Israel, youll be playing in a state where, UN rapporteurs say, a system of apartheid has been imposed on the Palestinian people.' The signatories also addressed Dudu Tassa and his band, the Kuwaitis, who will be opening for Radiohead during their world tour. Roger Waters (Photo: Getty Images) "You may think that sharing the bill with Israeli musicians Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis, who play Jewish-Arabic music, will make everything OK. It wont, any more than mixed performances in South Africa brought closer the end of the apartheid regime," it continued. "Please do what artists did in South Africas era of oppression: stay away, until apartheid is over." Attached to the letter were separate statements from some signatories, including Thurston Moore, who said, "If any concerned, humanitarian-conscious activists employ a boycott to protest brutal injustice in their country and request artists and scholars to refrain from working and/or being promoted as supportive of the normalization of that countrythen I choose NOT to cross that line and suggest to all to not be complicit. It is a small sacrifice in respect to those who struggle in honorable opposition to state-sponsored fascism." Moore was scheduled to perform in Israel in April 2015, but chose to cancel his appearance for ideological reasons and came out in support of the BDS movement. Roger Waters, a known pioneer in BDS's attempted assaults against cultural exchange with Israel, has signed many requests to cancel performances in the country, including those of the Chemical Brothers, Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, Rolling Stones, Neil Young and others. In a video released last week, Knesset Member Erel Margalit (Zionist Union) proudly declares himself a leftist. Since Rabins murder, he says, we have hung our head. We are leftists, and we love Israel just as much as anyone else. Its our country. It belongs to all of us. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Margalit is running for chairman of the Labor Party, and his chances, according to observers in the party, are not particularly high in light of the current composition of party members. But his video is actually important, and its important because it reflects an internalization of a basic problem that the Israeli Left is dealing withthe delegitimization of its actual existence. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid often says that there are more people in the State of Israel who define themselves as vegetarians than people who define themselves as leftists, and he is probably right. One of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus great contributions to the Israeli discourse is turning the definition of left into a curse, an accusation and a condemnation . He took this labeling straight from the American reality, which he is so fond of: There, in the conservative circles, the word liberal is uttered as if it were a disease. In Israel, the success was much greater. From the leftists have forgotten the meaning of being Jewish to this very day, Netanyahu is busy turning any legitimate argument into an identity conflict. In this conflict, the word leftist is both an indictment and a conclusive conviction. Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Israeli discourse has been drowning in a toxic ocean of labels (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg) Make it political, Netanyahu used to tell his people repeatedly every time they faced the oppositions arguments, and thats what they did. Since then, the Israeli discourse has been drowning in a toxic ocean of labels, the most powerful and fatal one being leftist, and it has been joined by Haredi, settler, Ashkenazi and more, as far as the bubbling hatred can reach. Now, there is some pathetic attempt to create an opposite poisonous labeling: Those swear with leftist, and those curse with national-religious, worse than Hezbollah . Both sides are forgetting that, in the end, we all live here together. Thats not just a saccharine sloganits a fact which requires a certain behavior. There are those who accuse the Left of bringing about its own collapse and poisonous labeling through its mistakes, but these people usually forget that Netanyahu began the delegitimization project in the 1990sway before Camp David, Ehud Barak, the second intifada or some imaginary radicalization of the camps margins. The truth is much simpler and much more depressing: Netanyahu is willing to eliminate the legitimate Israeli discourse, because its easier to unite the base that way. A normal political system cannot exist without some kind of balance between right and left. When was the last time you heard Netanyahu or his sycophants talk about the legitimacy of a political discourse in Israel or say that people should listen to opposing views, and listen to them respectfully? Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States, is said to have physically prevented a lynching at the beginning of the American Revolution. An angry mob arrived at the home of a loyalist who supported the abominable British rule, but then Hamilton showed up and told them that a revolution was not enoughit had to be respectable. He managed to save his rivals life. The Israeli discourse lacks any mutual respect. It regularly invalidates the rivals arguments by using his identity. Thats low, and most importantly, it neutralizes the option of logically considering the issue. The governmentany governmentshould know that the public is not a mechanized puppet which is activated through a poisonous magic slogan. Israel is the only state in the world which was founded by left-wing parties, with a clear socialist agenda. They didnt rise to power in elections or through a revolution. They actually founded and ran the state. The Zionist project was run by them continuously from the 1930s to 1977. One cannot erase this heritage, even if one opposes it. We need renewed legitimization for the word left. And by we, I mean the Israelis. Shas spiritual leader, Rabbi Shalom Cohen, threatened to quit the governing coalition and slammed the High Court on Monday for its decision to approve an amendment to Tel Aviv municipal bylaws that opened supermarkets on Saturday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Cohen, the successor of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and president of its Council of Torah Sages, made his comments during a conference held by Shas in Tel Aviv. Aryeh Deri (L) and Rabbi Shalom Cohen (R) (Photo: Photo: Efie Schrer and Yaakov Cohen) "We have the 'High Court of Crazy' that makes all the problems of desecrating Shabbat. They rule today. We need to fight against everything this High Court does and if not, we will even quit the government," Cohen threatened. He also praised the representatives of the Haredi parties in Tel Aviv who announced their resignation from the municipal coalition Tuesday in light of the High Court decision. Cohen further expressed hope that Shas would succeed in preventing the implementation of the new bylaw. Additionally, Cohen heaped praise on Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri for attempting to promote a law to bypass the High Court's decision to allow for the opening of supermarkets on Saturday. "Praised be the lord who provided us a representative in Rabbi Aryeh Deri, who fights for us in all manners on this issue. Pray for Rabbi Deri that the Lord will guide him and continue to help him for His glory," proclaimed Cohen. France's outgoing president, Francois Hollande, on Monday urged people to back centrist Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the French presidential election. He said far-right leader Marine Le Pen's place in the run-off represented a "risk" for France. By Reuters: France's outgoing president, Francois Hollande, on Monday urged people to back centrist Emmanuel Macron in a vote to choose his successor next month and reject far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose place in the run-off represented a "risk" for France. Macron and Le Pen, leader of the National Front (FN), go head-to-head on May 7 after taking the top two places in Sunday's first round. advertisement Opinion polls indicate that the business-friendly Macron, who has never held elected office, will take at least 61 percent of the vote against Le Pen after two defeated rivals pledged to back him to thwart her eurosceptic, anti-immigrant platform. Hollande, a Socialist nearing the end of five years of unpopular rule, threw his weight behind his former economy minister in a televised address, saying Le Pen's policies were divisive and stigmatised sections of the population. "The presence of the far right in the second round is a risk for the country," he said. "What is at stake is France's make-up, its unity, its membership of Europe and its place in the world." Global markets reacted with relief to Sunday's vote, which broke the dominance of established parties of the centre-left and centre-right but still left the most market-friendly and internationally minded of the remaining contenders in pole position to become France's next leader. The euro touched five-month peaks while Europe's STOXX 600 index rose 2 percent. Surveys pointing to a clear Macron victory soothed investors who have been unnerved by Le Pen's pledges to ditch the euro, print money and possibly quit the EU. Many had feared another anti-establishment shock to follow Britain's "Brexit" vote and Donald Trump's election as US president. BATTLE BEGINS Le Pen said late on Monday she was taking "a leave of absence" from leading the FN to focus on campaigning, in a move that appeared to be a mere formality that changes nothing in her campaign platform. She told France 2 television: "I will feel more free and above all, above party politics, which I think is important." Le Pen has said for months she is not, strictly speaking, an FN candidate but a candidate backed by the FN. She has long distanced herself from her maverick father Jean-Marie, the former FN leader, and in the election campaign has put neither her party's name nor its trademark flame logo on her posters. Opening the battle for second-round votes, Le Pen highlighted the continuing threat of Islamist militancy, which has claimed more than 230 lives in France since 2015, saying the 39-year-old Macron was "to say the least, weak" on the issue. advertisement She also said she wanted to talk to sovereignist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, who won nearly five percent of the first-round vote and has not said which side he would take in the next. "His platform is extremely close to ours. Patriots should come together to fight those who promote unbridled globalisation," she said. Le Pen has promised to suspend the EU's open-border agreement on France's frontiers and expel foreigners who are on the watch lists of intelligence services. Macron's internal security programme calls for 10,000 more police officers, and 15,000 new prison places, and he has recruited a number of security experts to his entourage. However, opinion polls over the course of the campaign have consistently found voters were more concerned about the economy and the trustworthiness of politicians. Le Pen's campaign took aim on Monday at what they see as further weak spots: Macron's previous job as an investment banker and his role as a deregulating economy minister under Hollande. Analysts say Le Pen's best chance of overhauling Macron's lead in the polls is to paint him as a part of an elite aloof from ordinary French people and their problems. advertisement "Emmanuel is not a patriot. He sold off national companies. He criticised French culture," Florian Philippot, deputy leader of Le Pen's National Front, told BFM TV. Philippot called Macron "arrogant" and said his victory speech on Sunday had shown disdain for the French people by making it appear as though the presidency was already won. In that speech, Macron appeared to respond to Le Pen's claim to be the protector of France's workers and their values by saying: "I want to be the president of patriots in the face of a threat from nationalists." Le Pen needs to avoid a repetition of 2002, when her father, FN founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, surprisingly made the second round, but was then humiliated by right-wing president Jacques Chirac as mainstream parties united to block a party they considered racist and anti-Semitic. His daughter has done much to soften the FN's image, gathering support especially among young people - a quarter of whom are unemployed - with her promises to push back against "rampant globalisation". BUILDING A MAJORITY Still, two defeated candidates - conservative Francois Fillon and Socialist Benoit Hamon - did not even wait for Sunday's count to urge their supporters to rally behind Macron, who took 23.74 percent of votes on Sunday to Le Pen's 21.53. advertisement A Harris survey saw Macron going on to win the run-off against her by 64 percent to 36. An Ipsos/Sopra Steria poll gave a similar result while a new poll by Opinionway on Monday put the margin at 61 percent to 39 percent. Whichever candidate wins on May 7 will need to try to build a majority six weeks later in a parliament where the FN has only two seats and Macron's year-old En Marche! (Onwards!) movement has none. Macron has already enlisted some 50 sitting Socialist lawmakers to his cause, as well as a number of centrist party grandees. Manuel Valls, a former Socialist prime minister on the right wing of the party who broke with the far-left Hamon's campaign after failing to beat him for the party ticket, said on Monday he would be ready to work with Macron. "We must help him (Macron) as much as we can to ensure Le Pen is kept as low as possible," Valls told France Inter radio. Sunday's outcome was a huge defeat for the two centre-right and centre-left groupings that have dominated French politics for 60 years. Conservative Francois Fillon, who had been the favourite to win the election before allegations emerged that he had paid his wife and two children from the public purse for work they did not do, came third with less than 20 percent. He said on Monday that he would not be at the forefront of his party's parliamentary campaign. Hamon got only a third of the 19.5 percent secured by the maverick former Trotskyist Jean-Luc Melenchon, emphasising the disarray of the French Left after five years of Hollande. ALSO READ | French presidential election: Centrist Macron appears set for presidency in runoff with far-right leader Le Pen ALSO READ | Europe must prepare itself for difficult times ahead: Nicolas Sarkozy ALSO WATCH | Bengaluru court sets ex-French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, accused of raping daughter, free --- ENDS --- A woman was appointed for the first time Tuesday to the position of qadi, (Muslim religious judges dealing with family law) by The Committee for the Appointment of qadis. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Attorney Han Khatib, who is the first female to ever be appointed to the position, holds a master's degree in law, specializing in marital law and Sharia law, and is also qualified as a mediator. Attorney Han Khatib Khatib is a resident of the northern Arab city of Tamra and is married with four children. Speaking after the appointment, Committee Chairwoman and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) expressed her satisfaction with the latest addition. We made justice in an institution whose job it is to make justice and for the first time, we chose a woman for the position of qadi (magistrate or judge of the Sharia court), which in my opinion should have happened long ago, Shaked said. This is great news for Arab women and Arab society in general. I am excited about this choice and hope that this is only the first one before the appointment of more women to the position. Ayelet Shaked in the committee Moreover, the committee appointed a Bedouin candidate, Salem Sana from Lakiya, to fill the post of qadi in the south of the country. The director of the Sharia courts, Iyad Zahalka, was also appointed to the same position in the Court of Appeals. In addition to Chairwoman Shaked, members of the committee include Religious Affairs Minister David Azoulay, Sharia Court President Abd al-Hakim Samara, Sharia court director Iyad Zahalka, MK Esawi Frej and Yoav Ben-Zur and Bar Association deputies Osama Saadi and Rasmi Zahalka. "We chose four talented and excellent cadets today, and I am sure they will do their job in the best possible way," Shaked added. Security forces shot and neutralized a terrorist on Tuesday afternoon after he attempted to carry out a stabbing attack at Huwara near the IDF Samaria Territorial Brigade base in the West Bank. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter While brandishing a knife, the terrorist charged at a group of Golani soldiers from the 51st Battalion, who were standing in a square near the base. The soldiers opened fire at the man before he managed to reach them. Knife from Monday's attack (Photo: Shin Bet) The terrorist was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva. The attack is the second to have taken place within two days. On Monday morning on Holocaust Remembrance Day, a female soldier was stabbed at the Qalandiya checkpoint, north of Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided not to meet with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel Tuesday, according to a government official, following Gabriel's insistence on meeting with the far-left organizations Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem during his visit to the area. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Reports of Netanyahu's decision first surfaced in the German tabloid, 'Bild.' They were later confirmed by the government spokesperson who said Netanyahu was upset that Gabriel had refused to comply with his ultimatum not to meet with Breaking the Silence, a group that publishes testimony, often anonymous and unverified, about alleged daily crimes and misconduct former soldiers say they witnessed being committed in the West Bank. Prime Minister Netanyahu and German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (Photo: AFP and AP) The crisis is apparently escalating as sources stated Netanyahu wanted to speak with the German foreign minister on the phone to explain his position, but Gabriel refused to accept the call. "I didn't want to enter the political game in Israel, but it's not a disaster, my attitude and that of Germany will not change," Gabriel told reporters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. "I have been here many times, I have met Prime Minister Netanyahu many times, I have good relations with him, so I was surprised by the cancellation, and I am very sorry about the cancellation. It is important to meet with non-governmental organizations and to speak with government institutions as well as with non-governmental organizations." Israeli leaders oppose the group's work, citing the anonymity of the claims and its outreach efforts to foreign audiences, which are often funded by foreign governments. Earlier in the day Gabriel said it would be "regrettable" if the meeting were canceled. The Israeli official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue with the media. Gabriel, whose government remains one of Israel's staunchest allies in Europe, told reporters that he was not informed officially of a possible cancellation. "I can't answer your question because I don't know if it is true that the meeting is not taking place," he said during a news conference with the Palestinian prime minister in the West Bank. "I only know this from the media, and I don't know the motives," he said. "If it is the case, someone will explain it to me at some point." Earlier, the foreign minister told Germany's ZDF television that it was "completely normal" to meet with Breaking the Silence and B'tselem, another group critical of Israeli policies. Gabriel, who is also Germany's vice chancellor, said it would be "unthinkable" to cancel meetings with Netanyahu if the Israeli leader traveled to Germany and met government critics there. Breaking the Silence activists (Photo: Louise Green) "It would be regrettable if there were a cancellation," he told ZDF "But it's not as though it would be a catastrophe for me. I have been in this country so often and have a lot of friends, and it wouldn't change my relationship with Israel." He noted that a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin was also planned. "You can't get a proper and comprehensive picture in any country on earth if you only meet in government offices," added Gabriel. "I can't imagine that we would not do such things in the future just to get government appointments." An Israeli official said that Netanyahu's position remained the same. "It's a choice between Breaking the Silence and the prime minister," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a diplomatic matter. The Israeli official said Gabriel was welcome to meet B'tselem. Amit Gilutz, a spokesman for B'tselem, said there were no plans to cancel Tuesday's meeting. Two ultra-Orthodox were arrested as part of a Border Police operation initiated for attacking uniformed people in Beit Shemesh. Border Police went undercover, wearing IDF uniforms in Beit Shemesh, and when they were attacked by two ultra-Orthodox men, those men were arrested. An Israel court ruled Tuesday that the extremist ultra-Orthodox community Lev Tahor ("A Pure Heart"), which lives in a jungle in Guatemala and has many Israeli members, is a cult. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "It is sufficient for my ruling to consider the conduct of the community towards its children, in order to determine that this is an abusive cult that severely harms the bodies and souls of the children of the community," wrote Judge Rivka Makayes, vice president of the Family Court contained within the Central District Magistrate's Court. Makayes ruled in the petition filed by the attorney general and relatives of minors who are in the cult. The judge further wrote, "The evidence presented to me, both in direct testimony and in indirect testimony, led me to the conclusion that the Lev Tahor community treats the children of the community, inter alia, with severe physical punishment, with underage marriage (from the age of 14 for boys and 15 for girls), with spouses who sometimes have age differences of up to 20 years. Members of the cult in Guatemala "In addition, there is a punitive policy towards members of the community that includes the separation of children from their parentseven in infancyand the transfer of children to be raised in another family; preventing formal education and isolation from the outside world and all external sources of information; intimidation and threats; exiling minors from the community who are disobedient to the community's authority and its leaders and emissaries alone are able to get by in the world; allegations of unique clothing; frequent migration from place to place, leaving overnight without any preparation, all in accordance with the decisions of the head of the community. "Finally, it was proven that when the minors leave the community, they suffer from severe psychiatric problems for many years." In Israel, it is estimated that the sect has between 50 and 60 families, including among them between 150 and 200 children. The cult wanders around the world and made headlines after a Quebec juvenile court ruled that some children should be removed from their parents' custody. The sect then moved to another province in Canada and then to Guatemala, where it settled in an isolated place in the jungle. The attorney general asked the court to declare the children of ultra-Orthodox who want to join the sect as at-risk. A court order preventing the children's being removed from Israel, but their parents disappeared with them before the legal proceedings were finalized, and they apparently live today in the jungle. Therefore, the ruling was given today in the presence of one party only. Despite this, the judge explained that the court's decision is important in helping to prevent other families from joining the cult and to use the full resources of the state to try to return the children of the community. (Translated and edited by J. Herzog) RAMALLAHA bear bit off the forearm of a nine-year old Palestinian boy who tried to feed it during a school visit to a zoo in the occupied West Bank town of Qalqilya on Tuesday, Palestinian police said. A police spokesman said the boy approached the caged bear with food when the animal pounced, severing the limb at the elbow. The bear then ate the arm. The boy was being treated at a local hospital. President Donald Trump commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day with a speech at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In the speech, Trump condemned those who deny the Holocaust and pledged to confront anti-Semitism. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Trump's address X The president spoke Tuesday as part of the museum's unveiling of its new conservation and research center, home to a vast collection of artifacts donated by those who survived Hitler's massacre of Jews during World War II. The Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and attempted annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. By the end of World War II, six million Jews had been brutally slaughtered," said Trump. We support the Jewish Diaspora and the State of Israel as we fulfill our duty to remember the victims, honor their memory and their lives, and celebrate humanitys victory over tyranny and evil, the statement continued. During this week in 1945, American and Allied forces liberated the concentration camp at Dachau and other Nazi death camps, laying bare to the world the unconscionable horror of the Holocaust. We must remain vigilant against hateful ideologies and indifference...Every generation must learn and apply the lessons of the Holocaust so that such horror, atrocity, and genocide never again occur. Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the nation's annual commemoration of the Holocaust. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer apologized recently for making what he later said was an "inappropriate and insensitive" statement comparing Adolf Hitler to Syrian President Bashar Assad by suggesting that Hitler "didn't even sink to using chemical weapons." The remark ignored Hitler's use of gas chambers to kill Jews during the Holocaust. A senior IDF officer revealed details of the IDF attack on Syria , and expressed concern about the consequences of the confrontation between the United States and North Korea. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter In a briefing to reporters, the official said that the nuclear tension in North Korea could have a security impact on Israel, especially in view of the possibility that the confrontation between Washington and Pyongyang would harm the ability of the United States to help secure the Middle East. The security source added that the IDF had intelligence about the use of sarin gas by Bashar Assad's army already in real time, immediately after the attack, adding that Israel did not update Russia in real time on IDF attacks in Syria. Regarding the latest attack, he said that about 100 Hezbollah missiles had been destroyed. He added that the gravest threat from Israel's perspective was Hezbollah on the northern border, but the most explosive threat was Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Polish government is moving towards a large order of Israeli- and-US-developed Patriot anti-ballistic systems . Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The American company Raytheon is a partner joined with the Israeli company Rafael in developing and manufacturing the advanced missile, and the Ministry of Defense has already authorized them to offer it to Poland. Patriot battery (Photo: Roee Idan) Earlier this month, the Polish government announced that it had asked the US administration for additional information on Raytheon's proposal for a new aerial defense system. The Poles want to strengthen their aerial defenses against aircraft and ballistic missiles as a result of the rise in security tensions in Eastern Europe caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea. The purchase of eight Patriot batteries could amount to $7.5 billion. In an attempt to lower the costs of the deal, the Poles prefer to purchase the system with its interceptor missiles being the Israeli-American stunner, which costs considerably less than the new Patriot interceptors. In such a case, Rafael's share, would reach more than $1 billion in the deal. Although they did not officially announce the choice of a Patriot over the Midas system offered by Lockheed Martin and its European partners, the Poles set November as the target date for signing the purchase agreement and made it clear that they expected to receive the first two batteries by the end of 2019. Poland, a member of NATO, is insisting that 50 percent of the deal be handed over to local companies. Inter alia, the Poles are seeking to domestically manufacture the Stunner interceptors, which are currently being produced in Israel. The Ministry of Defense is expected to grant this request. Several years ago, Poland purchased 1,000 Rafael anti-tank Spike missiles in a deal worth $150 million, and it may order an additional quantity. (Translated and edited by J. Herzog) On Tuesday, the police carried out an undercover operation to arrest the attackers of ultra-Orthodox soldiers in Beit Shemesh, using policemen who went undercover as soldiers. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Two ultra-Orthodox men who physically assaulted the disguised policemen were arrested by other undercover police officers who were present. Footage of the arrest (. ) X The operation began with the disguised police officers walking the street, who were dressed as soldiers serving in the Military Police. After a short time, local residents gathered around them and shouted abuse at them. From the footage Later on, two of them approached the policemen and physically attacked them. At this point, additional undercover policemen who were dressed as ultra-Orthodox Jews jumped on the two assailants and arrested them. The police said that this is just one part in a series of operations in which police officers disguise themselves as Haredi soldiers to elicit attacks after a series of recent violent incidents. (Translated and edited by J. Herzog) In the seven years since India witnessed the worst Naxal attack on security forces in Dantewada, nothing seems to have changed on ground. By India Today Web Desk: The "cold-blooded murder" of 25 jawans of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been widely reported as the worst Naxal attack on security forces since 2010. What then is the worst Naxal attack on security forces in India? On April 6, 2010, 76 CRPF jawans were killed in an ambush by Naxals near Chintalnar village in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. The Naxal attack almost wiped out CRPF's 82nd Battalion. advertisement Following the attack on CRPF personnel in Dantewada, Naxals had looted 82 weapons--a trend that continues till date. According to reports, 22 weapons have been looted by Naxalites after the Sukma attack. DIFFERENT YEARS, SIMILAR NARRATIVE The Dantewada attack prompted then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to call a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC). The NSC had considered calling the Army to deal with Maoists--the idea is yet again gaining currency in the wake of the Sukma attack. Then Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "If this is war--it has been thrust upon the state". Today, Home Minister Rajnath Singh called the Sukma attack a "cold-blooded murder" and hinted at the government planning to revisit its strategy to deal with Naxalites. The site where CRPF jawans were attacked in Sukma. The site where CRPF jawans were attacked in Sukma. In 2010 too, experts argued that the government's strategy to deal with Naxals had to change. Instead of CRPF Battalions chasing lower-rung cadres, experts believed that a more sharp approach would be to strategically target the leadership. Following the Dantewada attack, questions were raised on intelligence and tactical failures. It was reported that counter-ambush drills were not followed, CRPF personnel did not have adequate weapons and there was little ground intelligence. Seven years later, Naxals launched yet another attack on CRPF jawans in Sukma and similar questions are being raised on why and where the CRPF went wrong. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has sought a report on the Sukma attack from the CRPF, is believed to be of the opinion that leadership failure is to be blamed for the loss of 25 jawans. The CRPF DG, however, has denied any tactical or intelligence failure on the part of his forces. NO CHANGE IN MODUS OPERANDI The modus operandi of the Naxals during the Sukma attack is eerily similar to the one used seven years ago in Dantewada. Nearly 300 Naxals were hiding when the 74th Battalion of the CRPF reached Kalapathar near Chintagufa in Sukma on Monday. The Naxals managed to split the CRPF Battalion into smaller groups and fired indiscriminately at them. They used sophisticated weapons to attack CRPF jawans. advertisement "First, Naxals sent villagers to trace our location, then almost 300 Naxals attacked us," said a CRPF jawan who survived the Sukma attack. In Dantewada, the CRPF battalion was ambushed in a similar manner with Naxals opening fire, and the CRPF jawans getting scatterred to take cover. The CRPF men were soon surrounded by Naxalites, who used AK-47s, among other weapons, to fire at them. "They were firing at us with everything, AK-47s, INSAS rifles, light-machine guns and SLRs," said Ramesh Kumar Singh, a survivor of Dantewada attack. ALSO READ: Sukma attack: How CRPF jawans walked into 'kill zone' set up by Naxals Sukma Naxal attack: Who is Hidma, man believed to be behind the killing of 25 CRPF jawans? Sukma attack: Here's how Naxal violence is the biggest killer of our security forces ALSO WATCH | Life in the Red: When India Today visited Naxal hotbed in Chhattisgarh --- ENDS --- Palestinian leaders said on Tuesday Britain had rejected their request for an apology for a 1917 declaration that helped pave the way to the state of Israel, and they would pursue international court action unless London backtracked. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the apology in an address to the UN General Assembly in September, but Britain plans to hold celebrations along with Israeli officials to mark the Nov. 2 centenary of the Balfour Declaration. British Prime Minister Theresa May has invited Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to attend events commemorating the Balfour Declaration in November. Other commemorations are expected to take place in Israel during the year. Balfour and the declaration "The answer came in a written letter to the (Palestinian) Foreign Ministry that the apology is refused," Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian ambassador to Britain, told Voice of Palestine Radio on Tuesday. "It means the Queen and the government of Britain will not apologize to the Palestinian people and the celebration marking 100 years since the Balfour promise will be held on time." There was no immediate comment from Britain's Foreign Office. In the 1917 declaration, the British government said it viewed "with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". It also said "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine" Palestine was under British rule when Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour made the policy statement in a letter to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community. Palestinians have long condemned the document as a promise by Britain to hand over land that it did not own. Hassassian said that unless Britain apologized, cancelled planned celebrations and recognized the state of Palestine, the Palestinians would go ahead with plans for a lawsuit. "This is the only condition upon which we can close this file permanently," he said. Israel declared independence in 1948, at the end of British Mandatory rule and after the UN General Assembly voted in 1947 in favor of a plan, rejected by Palestinian representatives, to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state. Right-wing activists appealed to Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit on Tuesday to investigate the mayor of the village of Arraba in the Galilee for abetting terrorism as well as receive clarifications and explanations for state funds that according to them were divested to "a show of support for the terrorist." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The letter, which was sent from the National Union party, was also sent to Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri. (Photo: Yariv Katz) In the letter, the party demanded an investigation against the town's mayor, Ali Asala, on the grounds that they had "participated in funding a release party" for the longest-serving female security prisoner, Lena Jarbouni, a few days ago. The letter was sent by Ophir Sofer, the secretary general of the National Union, on behalf of the entire party, under the title "An immediate investigation into the funding of a celebration of support for terrorism." (Photo: Yariv Katz) The letter read that "in honor of Jarbouni's release, the Arraba Council held a big celebration in cooperation with the Knesset members from the Joint List, with posters of support and words of encouragement to the terrorists still incarcerated." "I am calling upon you to urgently open a criminal investigation against the mayor and to examine the extent of the funding that came from the municipality and, of course, from the taxpayers' money," the letter said. "In addition, I implore you to order the Israel Police to enter the town and remove the flags and signs that encourage terrorism." Jarbouni, a resident of Arraba, was convicted in 2004 of contact with Islamic Jihad activists and conspiracy to carry out attacks and of assisting the enemy during war. (Photo: National Union party) Jarbouni, who was 29 at the time and was sentenced to 17 years in prison, was convicted of continuing contact with members of the Islamic Jihad in Jenin, especially with the head of the Jihad in the city, Thabit Mardawi, who committed murders against Israeli civilians and had been sentenced a few months prior to 21 life sentences. Jarbouni met with Mardawi while she was aware of his goals and the goals of his organization. In her indictment, the judges noted that she provided Israeli ID cards to the terrorists, rented an apartment for them in Israel, placed bank accounts at their disposal, conspired with terrorists to carry out attacks and gave them information, while covering for dangerous murderers. During her trial, she expressed regret over her actions, but stressed that her connections with her operators were innocent. Sofer explained that "the National Union party will act to ensure that all those involved in supporting terrorism will be punished and, if necessary, toughen the sanctions for supporting terrorism via Knesset legislation." Arraba's mayor Asala said in response: "I haven't been summoned to any investigation. As soon as there is something I will answer all questions." A few days ago, hundreds of people welcomed Jarbouni. A resident of the village said that "Lena is a heroic woman; we all support her. We will not allow the racists to hurt her. We are proud of her. Unfortunately, there are racists in the country who are only looking to find ways to harm her and the people who participated in the festivities. The celebrations will continue, and the racists' actions, will not." (Photo: Yariv Katz) MK Osama Saadi, a resident of Arraba himself, said in response: "This is a baseless complaint by delusional elements whose only purpose is to incite against the Arab public and its leadership. The conference was initiated by the Arab Israeli Monitoring Committee and the Public Committee and the Arraba Council on the occasion of the release of one of the town's residents after 15 years in prison. It should also be noted as a conference in support of the hunger strikers' struggle, which is a just struggle for proper living conditions in prison and the return of basic human rights that the prisoners were deprived of. "The entire Palestinian people supports this just struggle, and is not deterred by the threats of the delusional right. We will continue to struggle for the end of the occupation and for a just peace between the two peoples, and the establishment of an independent sovereign Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel within the 1967 borders." (Translated and edited by N. Elias) By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Incorporating TN-POL-MADUSUDANAN story) Chennai, Apr 25 (PTI) A "good ambience" is evolving for holding merger talks between the two factions of the AIADMK, O Panneerselvam, who heads one of the camps, said today. Panneerselvams remark came a day after the two factions were squabbling and blaming each other for the delay in the talks getting off the ground. advertisement "A good ambience is evolving in both the factions for talks," Panneerselvam, whose camp has put stiff conditions for the talks to begin, including expulsion of AIADMK (Amma) general secretary V K Sasikala and her nephew and deputy T T V Dhinakaran from the party, and a CBI probe into the late chief minister J Jayalalithaas death, said. The thrice former chief minister, however, did not elaborate. Coming hours after his close aide E Madusudanan demanded removal of Sasikalas portraits from the party headquarters here "to uphold its sanctity", Panneerselvams comments indicated a softening of stand, possibly after back channel talks between the two factions. Formal negotiations for merger have not started yet. "The portraits of Sasikala should be immediately removed from the party headquarters to uphold its sanctity," said Madusudanan, the chairman of the presidium of the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) faction led by Panneerselvam. Panneerselvam, who held parleys with his supporters, however, did not give any timeline for the commencement of talks which hit a roadblock with his side refusing to abandon its two key demands. Playing down the demands, Forest Minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan of the camp led by Chief Minister E K Palaniswami said, "We cannot respond to what Madusudanan says." There has been a buzz about the merger ever since senior ministers led by Palaniswami revolted against Sasikala and Dhinakaran. However, despite formation of committees by the two factions on April 21, the talks have been a non-starter. Panneerselvam faction had yesterday claimed that the rival camp was in a state of "confusion," a charge rejected by the latter. The Palaniswami faction has maintained since a case has already been filed in court for a CBI probe into the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaas death, the Panneerselvam camp should wait for the verdict. On the demand for expulsion of Sasikala and her family members from the party, it has said related proceedings are pending before the Election Commission challenging her appointment as general secretary. The Panneerselvam camp has moved the EC challenging the appointment of Sasikala, contending it was done in violation of the party bylaws. advertisement After the revolt, Dhinakaran had said he was "stepping aside" but cannot resign as AIADMK deputy general secretary without the approval of Sasikala, who is serving jail term in a disproportionate assets case in which Jayalalithaa was the main accused. Neither of them have been expelled by the Palaniswami faction yet. Dhinakaran is being grilled by the Delhi police in connection with allegations that he tried to bribe an Election Commission official to secure the AIADMKs two-leaves election symbol which has been frozen. PTI VGN SA TVS VS SK SK --- ENDS --- Airbnb hosts in Melbourne are making up to $150,000 annually, according to Airdna, an analytics company that tracks the performance of Airbnb rentals around the world. Up to 15,640 properties were listed on Airbnb at the start of February this year, a significant increase from February last year, when 12,886 properties were listed on the platform. The Airdna report also highlighted Melbournes top-performing Airbnb listings, with those making the most money for their owners appearing to be fairly humble dwellings. Of the citys top-performing listings, the Fitzroy backpacker hostel The Nunnery is estimated to be making the greatest annual revenue, pulling in about $154,160. The Nunnerys guesthouse can accommodate up to 21 guests at a time and is listed at $1,399 per night. A studio apartment in Richmond is another top performer, making about $47,181 annually, while hosts renting out a bedroom in Oakleigh are bagging an estimated $43,000 annually. Airdna calculates estimated annual revenue by adding up all the reservations over the last 12 months. It also calculates the advertised daily rate of each unique reservation and then factors in the cleaning fee. Many of the top listings are clustered around Southern Cross Station, mirroring analysis by University of Melbourne researchers Andy Krause and Gideon Aschwanden. Other clusters exist on the northern end of Chapel St, St Kilda, and the southern end of Bay Street in Port Melbourne, among others. While theres no official data on the effects Airbnb is having on Melbournes private rental market, Krause and Aschwanden are exploring the impact Airbnb is having on this market. Related stories: Report: Airbnb Isnt Affecting Sydneys Rental Prices Would A Proptech Startup Succeed In Australia? As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More District of Columbia: From the resounding setbacks in Congress to the stunning policy flip-flops, Donald Trump has certainly been confronted with a steep learning curve in his opening months at the White House. While the new US president has shown a capacity to change both his tone and his positions, Trump has struggled to convey a clearly articulated worldview. As the symbolic milestone of his 100th day in power, which falls on Saturday, draws near, a cold, hard reality is setting in for the billionaire businessman who promised Americans he would "win, win, win" for them. At this stage of his presidency Donald Trump is the least popular US leader in modern history (even if his core supporters still fully support him). The 70-year-old Trump, whose election victory unleashed a political shockwave around the world, is still clinging to the take-no-prisoners, unpredictable, impulsive style that made him a property mogul and reality TV star. But the onetime anti-establishment candidate who promised to "drain the swamp" in Washington appears to have recognised -- with a mix of naivete and craftiness -- that he has one of the most difficult jobs in the world. In just his first few weeks in office Trump suffered some crippling blows -- the federal courts halted his proposed travel ban, and Congress failed to move ahead on health care reform. "Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated," Trump said during his efforts to see Obamacare -- his Democratic predecessor`s signature domestic policy achievement -- repealed and replaced. "After listening for 10 minutes, I realised it`s not so easy," Trump said after talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping about North Korea. The demands and constraints of the Oval Office -- where every word uttered counts -- are quite different from the daily stump speeches Trump made on the campaign trail. Who to turn to for advice? Whose advice to heed? What kind of relationship to build with Congress, even when it`s nominally controlled by one`s own party? How much latitude to afford the usually powerful State and Defense Departments? All of his predecessors have said it: moving into the mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is a shock to the system. "There`s just something about this job as president every president faces -- you know, that you think one thing going in and then the pressures of the job or the realities of the world, you know, are different than you thought," George W Bush said recently. Aside from his unwavering penchant for morning tweetstorms, often influenced by the ebb and flow of headlines on Fox News, Trump has changed. In the choice of his teams as well as in some negotiations, a sort of "presidentialisation" seems to be unfolding -- albeit haltingly. Trump, who was elevated to the highest office in the United States with no prior political, diplomatic or military experience, says his ever-evolving approach works. "I do change and I am flexible, and I`m proud of that flexibility," Trump said, shortly before authorising air strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over what Washington says was a sarin attack on civilians. On China, Russia and NATO, his about-faces have -- to some extent -- reassured some Americans, and some of Washington`s allies. "When a president moves from being so wrong to being so right on such important questions, the sensible response is not to carp but to celebrate, however cautiously," The Washington Post said in an editorial, reminding readers of the harsh, dark tone of Trump`s inaugural address. But his approach also includes risks. From Syria to North Korea, what is the risk of dragging the United States into a military conflict with an unpredictable outcome, a situation Trump warned against on the campaign trail? How would the Republican president react if a major terror attack were to happen on US soil, as it did on 9/11?Both style and substance reveal that Donald J Trump is an American president like no other before him. In a rather disconcerting interview given to Time magazine in March, in which Trump defended his controversial, far-fetched or just plain false statements one by one, he said: "What am I going to tell you? I tend to be right." More than three months after taking office, many of his detractors still deem the profile written by author Philip Roth for The New Yorker in late January to be a just one. He wrote of a president "ignorant of government, of history, of science, of philosophy, of art, incapable of expressing or recognizing subtlety or nuance... and wielding a vocabulary of 77 words." Trump`s numerous policy pivots and resets also raise questions about the very definition of his fluid brand of "Trumpism" -- which revolves around his ubiquitous "America First" slogan, a seemingly simple idea that is nevertheless tough to explain. The internal squabbles within the Trump White House have not helped the president move forward with articulating his long-term vision. Within a group that includes the ultra-conservative Steve Bannon, one thing stands out: the prime positioning of his family, especially daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The successful nomination of conservative federal judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court stands as the major success of the first 100 days of the 45th president of the United States. All too aware that he doesn`t have much to show for those days, Trump lashed out with a tweet decrying the "ridiculous standard of the first 100 days" -- one that his team has repeatedly said was vital. Trump, who regularly talks about possibly running for re-election, has more than 1,300 days ahead of him until his first term ends. Caracas: A third person, a man, was killed Monday raising the number of people killed in three weeks of massive demonstrations to 24, state television reported. The latest casualties come after thousands of protesters took to the streets on Monday to raise pressure on President Nicolas Maduro to leave office. New Delhi: To discuss the future of the India-US energy partnership, one of the first Trump administration officials to visit India from the Department of Energy (DOE) held a roundtable meet here with the think tank CEEW on Tuesday. The Council of Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is an advisor the the Indian government. Beth Urbanas, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at the office of International Affairs in the US, DOE, discussed the issues including energy access, renewables and energy efficiency, energy security, and energy technologies. The discussion was held among the US official and the adviser to the Minister of Power and top officials from think tanks, including Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy, Clean Energy Access Network and others. "Urbanas is one of the first Trump administration officials to visit India and is responsible for managing DOE's bilateral and multilateral engagement with Asian and American countries," said Sitanshu Noarad from CEEW. Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW, guided the discussion on measures to preserve the trusted close partnership that has developed between India and United States over the years. "The discussion focused on the next steps in the India-US Energy Partnership, identifying key energy priorities and potential areas of convergence between the two countries," CEEW said in a statement. By Manjeet Sehgal: In a surprise raid conducted by the vigilance team of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam at the Police Lines in Gurgaon on Tuesday, 17 Haryana police officials were found stealing power, vigilance officials told India Today. "A Haryana Power Utilities vigilance team conducted a surprise raid and found 24 employees using illegal connections. While 17 were found using a direct supply from the mainline without meters while meters of seven others were found tempered with," a state government spokesperson said. advertisement The raids which were conducted in 500 flats at 6 am continued for more than five hours, the official said. The officials also recovered the wires which were used to get illegal supply. The tempered power supply meters have been sent for a laboratory test. Power theft is a cognisable and non-bailable offence in Haryana. There is a provision to impose a fine and imprisonment up to three years. "The officials will assess the amount of fine on the basis of actual power load. The accused police officials will be served a notice to pay the fine. FIRs will be registered against the accused officials besides a legal action, if they failed to pay the fine," the official said. Also read: UP: Power theft will soon attract jail term; govt promises to help 'honest man', end electricity woes Also read: Out of power: Mulayam Singh's Rs 4-lakh power bills unpaid --- ENDS --- District of Columbia: The southern state of Arkansas, rushing to execute several inmates before a lethal drug expires next week, put to death two inmates late Monday, the first double execution in the United States in 17 years. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said that Jack Jones and Marcel Williams, both sentenced to death in the 1990s, were executed by lethal injection after higher courts rejected their final legal appeals. Arkansas had planned to put eight convicted murderers to death in 11 days -- a record, had it been carried out -- but four have won reprieves. Jones, 52, was executed after the US Supreme Court rejected an 11th-hour request from his attorneys asking justices to reconsider a procedural issue from his trial. Williams, 46, died hours later after his appeals were exhausted. His lawyers had filed a string of last-minute challenges, which included allegations that Jones suffered unnecessarily because he was executed improperly, and that Williams was so obese that it would be hard to find a proper vein for the lethal injection. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has said the accelerated execution timetable was necessary as the state`s stock of a sedative used in lethal injections will expire at the end of the month. Rutledge said in a separate statement that the family and friends of the victims had "seen justice carried out".The execution process began at 7:06 pm (0006 GMT Tuesday) and Jones was pronounced dead at 7:20 pm, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper cited Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves as saying. Jones was calm as he made a rambling final statement while strapped to the gurney, saying he tried to become a better person and apologizing to Lacey, a daughter of Jones`s victim, 34-year-old Mary Phillips, the paper said, citing media witnesses in the death chamber. Three hours later the lethal injection process began on Williams, who according to the newspaper refused to make a final statement. He was pronounced dead at 10:33 pm (0333 GMT). Last minute appeals had delayed the execution, which had been scheduled for one hour after Jones`s execution. Last week, on Thursday, Ledell Lee was put to death in the state`s first execution in more than a decade. Many of the legal clashes over Arkansas`s plan focus on the use of the drug midazolam, a sedative meant to render a condemned person unconscious before other drugs induce death. Critics say it does not always adequately sedate prisoners, potentially causing undue suffering. And McKesson Medical-Surgical, a distributor for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, had asked courts to ban the use of a paralytic it sells, vecuronium bromide, in the chemical cocktail used to kill prisoners. Arkansas has scheduled another execution for April 27. The last US state to execute two convicts in one night was Texas in August 2000. Sukma: Hidma, the commander of the second battalion of the People's Liberation Gureilla Army (PLGA ), is said to be behind the Maoist attack at Sukma district of Chattisgarh in which 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred. 25-year-old Hidma is a dreaded Maosit commander, who operates in the Sukma-Bijapur region in south Bastar. Hidma was allegedly involved in 2013 Jiram Valley attack, which killed at least 31 people, including then state Congress chief Nandkumar Patel. It's also believed that the Maoist commander was responsible for the deady attack on security forces on March 11, 2017, in which 12 CRPF personnel were killed and their arms looted when Naxals ambushed their patrol party in the Maoist hotbed of Sukma in Chhattisgarh. At least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and six wounded in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district by 300 to 400 heavily-armed Maoists on Monday. The 74th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) came under the fierce attack at 12:30 pm on Friday in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region. The 99-member CRPF patrol was on foot on the interior road, providing security to road construction activity, when it came under sudden attack. Also Read - Sukma: 70% of Maoist attackers were women; 25 CRPF personnel killed This was the worst attack by Maoists in Chhattisgarh since 2010 when 76 CRPF troopers were killed. Twelve CRPF men were killed in a similar Maoist attack in Sukma early this year. Sukma: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh and other top officials on Tuesday to paid tribute to 25 brave CRPF jawans who were killed in a deadly Maoist attack in Sukma yesterday. The attack took place between Burkapal-Chintagufa area in south Bastar, the worst Maoist violence affected district of the state. President Pranab Mukherjee, VP Hamid Ansari, PM Narendra Modi and many senior leaders had yesterday condemned the attack on CRPF jawans and expressed their heart-felt condolences. Here are the latest updates in the Sukma encounter case:- -Of the 25 CRPF jawans killed in the attack, three hailed from West Bengal. Two were from Cooch Behar and another was from Nadia district. We have decided to give financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the three slain jawans. We will also provide jobs to them, Mamata Banerjee told reporters, as per PTI. -The WB government would give Rs five lakh to the family of the slain jawan, she said, as per PTI. -West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visits the house of CRPF jawan KK Das who was killed in the Naxal attack in Chhatisgarh's Sukma. -Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today condoled the death of four CRPF personnel from the state and announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh each to their families. -Getting reports of three Naxal deaths in the attack. Sacrifice of jawans wont go in vain, will take revenge in Naxals stronghold, says Bastar IG. -Naxals started firing, gheraoed CRPF jawans in a restricted area; firing continued for around 1.5 hours, says Bastar IG Vivekanand Sinha, as per ANI report. -Home Minister Rajnath Singh visits Balaji Institute of Medical Science in Raipur to meet injured CRPF personnel. Chhattisgarh: Home Minister Rajnath Singh visits Balaji Institute of Medical Science in Raipur to meet injured CRPF personnel #Sukma pic.twitter.com/uW65nXzy7o ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017 -Saddened, but at the same time feeling very proud. Not only my son, but many others made this sacrifice: CRPF CT Saurabh Kumar's father. -In Rohtas, family members mourn the demise of CRPF jawan Krishna Kumar Pandey, who lost his life in Sukma Naxal attack yesterday. -Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh meet injured CRPF personnel at Ramkrishna Care Hospital. Raipur: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh meet injured CRPF personnel, at Ramkrishna Care Hospital #Sukma pic.twitter.com/plgCoulflz ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017 -Rajnath Singh held a meeting with Chief Minister Raman Singh and other senior officials of the state. -Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Das Tandon, senior state and paramilitary officials also paid homage to martyrs. -A high alert has been sounded in Jharkhand in the wake of Sukma Naxal attack on CRPF jawans, say reports. -We are working to root out the problem of Left Wing Extremism: Singh -Left Wing Extremist groups are anti development & anti-poor: Singh -It was a 'cold-blooded murder' in Sukma, says Rajnath Singh. -We have accepted the attack on our jawans as a challenge: Singh. -We have decided to revise our LWE strategy if need be, have called a meeting of officials of various state govts on May 8: Rajnath Singh. -Naxalites seeking to destablise development, says Rajnath Singh. -Naxals using tribals as fodder: Rajnath Singh. -This is a cowardly act, the Centre and state govts will together work and take action. This is an act of desperation, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh. -Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a detailed report from CRPF on Sukma attack, say reports. -Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh at Wreath laying ceremony of 25 CRPF Personnel who lost their lives in Sukma. Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh at Wreath laying ceremony of 25 CRPF Personnel who lost their lives in #Sukma pic.twitter.com/ZZBych0e4h ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017 -Here are the pictures of 25 CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Sukma Naxal attack yesterday. Pictures of 25 CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #Sukma Naxal attack yesterday pic.twitter.com/o6gnS6bxIR ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017 -VP Hamid Ansari condemns attack on CRPF personnel in Sukma, says " there cant be any justification for heinous acts;perpetrators be punished". -"We were set upon by 300 of them... villagers, women and the militia-types in black uniforms. They had rocket launchers... automatic weapons, AK 47, INSAS rifles. We also killed many of them," he claimed. -Before attacking, the Maoists sent locals to establish the position of the CRPF team, a survivor, Sher Mohammad, had claimed. -CPI(M) has criticised the Centre over the barbaric attack on CRPF personnel, saying it is not concerned about internal security. -Taking to Twitter, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury also wondered on whom the onus of the incident lies and called for fixing political responsibility for the security failure. -The names of the others, all belonging to the Delta company of the 74th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), are:-Sub-Inspector K K Das, Assistant Sub-Inspectors Sanjay Kumar, Rameswar Lal, Naresh Kumar, Head Constables Surender Kumar, Banna Ram, L P Singh, Naresh Yadav, Padmanabhanand and Ram Mehar, Constables Saurabh Kumar, Abhay Mishra, Banmali Ram, N P Sonkar, K K Pandey, Vinay Chandra Burman, P Alagupandi, Abhay Kumar, N Senthil Kumar, N Thirumurgan, Ranjit Kumar, Ashish Singh, Manoj Kumar and Anup Karmakar. -The six injured have been identified as ASI R Chembram, Constables Mahender Singh, Jitender Kumar, Sher Mohammed, Lachhu Oraon and Sonawane Eashwar Suresh. -Mortal remains of CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Sukma Naxal attack brought to CAF camp (Mana) in Chhattisgarh. Raipur: Mortal remains of CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #Sukma Naxal attack, brought to CAF camp (Mana) #Chhattisgarh. pic.twitter.com/3ukEhDJmiA ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017 -Director General of the CRPF and senior officials are expected to reach Sukma today. -Bastar Inspector General Vivekanand Sinha and DIG Sunderraj have also left for Sukma. -MoS Home Hansraj Ahir will also visit Raipur today in the wake of Naxal attack. -Union Home Minister Rajanth Singh will visit Chhattisgarh today. #Sukma Naxal attack: HM Rajnath Singh to visit Raipur tomorrow #Chhattisgarh ANI (@ANI_news) April 24, 2017 -Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh had cancelled his engagements in Delhi and has rushed for Raipur where he will hold a meeting later today. -The attack on CRPF jawans is cowardly and deplorable, said PM Modi, while Rajnath Singh vowed ''nobody will be spared and the sacrifice of the slain jawans won't go in vain.'' -President Pranab Mukherjee, VP Hamid Ansari, PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and several leading politicians and political parties have condemned the attack. -The mortal remains of six personnel have reached the Burkapal camp. -The six injured CRPF personnel have been shifted to a hospital in Raipur. -As many as 90 CRPF jawans were part of the road opening party when they were attacked by the Naxals. -The weapons of the CRPF jawans were also looted by Naxals. -The attack took place on personnel of the 74th Battalion of the CRPF as they were assisting the local population in road building activity in the district. Mumbai: A day after 25 CRPF troopers were killed in a forested patch in Chhattisgarh, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Thackeray said the PM's claim of hitting Naxalism through demonetisation has fallen flat, a day after one of the deadliest attacks at a place between Burkapal and Chintagufa in Sukma district. In February, the PM had told the Rajya Sabha that around 700 Maoists have surrendered post-demonetisation and funds to terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir have been choked while insisting that the note ban has had a direct impact on Naxalism and terrorism. At least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and six wounded in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district today, the deadliest attack by naxalites targeting security forces this year. The naxalites mounted the assault at around 12:25 pm in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country. The area is close to the Chintagufa-Burkapal-Bheji axis, the hotbed of naxal violence which has seen a number of such attacks in the past resulting in high casualties. The government has sought custody of liquor baron Vijay Mallya from the UK, but Indias success rate at extradition has been no more than 36 percent over 15 years, according to a report by Factly.in, a data journalism portal. This means India managed one extradition of every three sought. While 62 fugitives have been extradited to India from a foreign country between 2002 and 2016, 110 fugitives are yet to be extradited though a formal request has been made by India, according to an answer to the Lok Sabha on December 6, 2016, Factly reported. Mallya was arrested by the Scotland Yard -- and released on bail -- on April 18, 2017, in connection with an extradition request filed by India on February 8, 2017. The UK government has sent the request to the concerned court, and the arrest marks the beginning of the extradition process. Mallya is wanted in several cases related to economic offences in India. The now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines that he set up owes over Rs 9,000 crore ($1.5 billion) to state-owned and private banks, it has been widely reported. There were 16 extradition requests pending with UK as of July 2016, according to an answer to the Lok Sabha. Only one fugitive has been extradited from the UK -- Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, an Indian citizen, for murder; the extradition came in October 2016, 23 years after India`s extradition treaty with the UK came into force in 1993. The highest extraditions happened from the UAE (18), followed by the US (9). While four each were extradited from Canada and Thailand, three have been extradited from Germany and South Africa. India has extradition treaties with 47 countries, among them Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, Oman, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. India also has extradition arrangements with nine countries -- Croatia, Fiji, Italy, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Sweden and Tanzania. What is the process of extradition? A request for extradition can be initiated against a fugitive criminal who is formally accused of, charged with or convicted of an extradition offence. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) takes up extradition requests with the concerned foreign countries when a request for extradition is received from the relevant law enforcement agencies in India. All extradition requests should be supported by documents and information as prescribed by the MEA guidelines. It has to be noted that each extradition request is different and the request is dependent on the specific treaty/agreement signed with a country. The offence should also be defined in the list of the extradition offences. What are the offences defined in the extradition treaty with UK? The extradition treaty signed in 1993 with the UK defines the scope of the extradition offence as one which is punishable by law for a term of imprisonment of at least one year. The treaty does not classify political offences as extradition offences but it provides an exhaustive list of offences that will not be treated as a political offence. Most fugitives extradited in 2005 The most (8) fugitives were extradited in 2005 followed by seven each in 2003 and 2004. Six fugitives were extradited in 2015 during the rule of the current government. Most people extradited for murder & terrorism-related offences Out of the 62 fugitives extradited since 2002, 14 were for murder-related offences and 10 for offences related to criminal conspiracy. As many as nine fugitives were extradited for terrorism-related offences, including three from the UAE, in relation to the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Washington: Any "serious actions" taken by the Trump Administration on the H-1B visa programme would be a cause of "worry" as a majority of Indian exports in the services sector go to the US, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian has said. "If there are serious actions taken it's something that's going to kind of worry us a lot because, remember that our exports of services are about 40 to 45 per cent of the total exports, Subramanian told an audience here last week. "Something like 50 to 60 per cent of all our exports of services goes to the United States. So it would worry us quite a bit,? he said while responding to a question on the H1-B visa during his visit at the Peterson Institute, a top American economic think-tank. Subramanian said that India would be "okay" as long as the visa reforms are manageable and it's keeping a close watch on it. "Anything that is going to interfere with export growth creates anxiety (in India). In the context of the United States, we're all watching very carefully the H1-B visa situation,? the Chief Economic Advisor said. "On the visa side, I don't know but as long as you know we can keep this thing manageable. You know it should be okay,? he said. During his US visit, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also taken up the the H-1B issue with the American side and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy. President Donald Trump had earlier this month 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, a decision that would impact India's USD 150 billion IT industry. The Indian IT industry expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America. The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations. The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry. Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals. India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive. Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to cancel talks set for Tuesday with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over the visiting diplomat`s plan to also meet rights groups critical of Israel`s government. An Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed reports that Netanyahu threatened to cancel the meeting if Gabriel also met with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B`Tselem. Breaking The Silence seeks to document alleged Israeli military abuses in the Palestinian territories, while B`Tselem has worked on a range of issues and has strongly opposed Israeli settlement building. Cancelling the meeting between Netanyahu and Gabriel would be a rare step, but in line with the current right-wing Israeli government`s stance against groups it accuses of having political agendas. "We are learning through the Israeli media that Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom I have frequently met, wants to cancel this meeting because we want to meet critical representatives of civil society," Gabriel told German public television station ZDF. "It is difficult for me to imagine this because that would be extremely regrettable... It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad." Gabriel added that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met critics of the German government during a visit to Germany. Such disputes have arisen in the past between visiting foreign officials and Israel`s government. In February, Israel reprimanded the Belgian ambassador after the country`s prime minister, Charles Michel, met with B`Tselem and Breaking The Silence during a visit to Israel. However, there was no public rebuke from the government when British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson met with anti-settlement NGO Peace Now during a visit in March. Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years and Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian territory has drawn intense international criticism. Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. Hyderabad: A woman from Hyderabad has sent an audio message to her daughter, alleging that she is facing mental and physical harassment by her sponsor in Saudi Arabia. She has further requested the Indian government to bring her back to India. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday asked the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia to rescue and repatriate the woman. Swaraj's direction to the Indian embassy officials in Riyadh came after The Times of India reported that the woman was deceived by her agents and was now physically harassed by her sponsor. In a series of tweets, the minister said, "I have asked Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia to rescue and repatriate her to India at the earliest. I have asked @ProtectorGenGOI to proceed against the agent who sent her to Saudi Arabia." Salma Begum, 39, a resident of Babanagar 'C' block, was allegedly sent to Saudi Arabia by two agents identified as Akram and Shafi of the same locality on January 21, 2017 on a housemaid visa, reported the daily. As per Sameena, the daughter of Salma Begum, her mother was deceived by Akram and Shafi. "My mother is in trouble in Saudi. She wants to return home but her Kafeel is not allowing her to get back here. I even met Akram requesting him to get my mother back, but he did nothing so far. We went to Kanchanbagh police station, but the police appear to be unmoved by the matter and have not taken any action so far,'' Sameena said. She added that she came to know that her mother was sold to the sponsor for Rs 3 lakhs. "The torture started when she denied to a contract marriage with her Kafeel (sponsor) in Saudi Arabia. She, however, informed me sending a message that she was sold by agents. So the Kafeel does not want to send her back,'' Sameena added. She further said that police have not taken any action against the agents despite several complaints. "I am trying all efforts to bring my mother back home. I kindly request Telangana and central governments to bring my mother back to India,'' Sameena urged. By Press Trust of India: From Deepak Ranjan Yerevan (Armenia), Apr 25 (PTI) India will help Armenia to build satellite and remote sensing data matters and train Armenian scientists as both the countries today signed three agreements to boost bilateral cooperation. The agreements were signed after Vice President Hamid Ansari held talks with the top leadership of Armenia including President Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian. advertisement The two sides stressed that there cannot be double speak on the issue of terrorism. During the talks, Ansari stressed that there cannot be bad or good terrorism. The two sides acknowledged that there cannot be double standard on terrorism and the international community should speak in one voice against the menace. Armenia stressed that how it had voluntarily supported India in international forums including the United Nations. Briefing about the meetings, MEA Secretary (East) Preeti Saran said that the two countries are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic ties and the Vice Presidents visit starts a new chapter in their relationship. During the talks, the two sides identified connectivity as an important aspect of their relationship and agreed that there is need to enhance cooperation as far as direct flights between the two countries are concerned, Saran said. They also agreed to liberalise the visa regime issue to improve people-to-people contact, she added. Both the sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in the agricultural sector and a joint working group will meet soon to finalise the broader outline, she said. They also agreed to enhance space cooperation in which satellite, remote sensing data matters, training of scientists are important aspects. India will help Armenia in this sector, she said. The two countries also agreed to enhance cooperation in the broadcasting and film sector especially Bollywood. "Armenia has invited Indian film industry to shoot films in their country. A team from Bollywood is expected to come Armenia to explore the possibility," Saran said. Armenian president told Ansari that Bollywood films are popular in his country and his grand daughter was fond of Bollywood music. India had helped Armenia in many fields including establishing a centre of excellence, Param super computer besides setting up a number of computer labs in schools. IT and machine making is an important area of thrust for both the sides and a possibility of a joint venture will be worked out, she said. Ansari handed over an invitation from President Pranab Mukherjee to Armenian President Sargsyan to visit India. Sargsyan accepted the invitation. Armenian Foreign Minister also invited his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. advertisement The Armenian President hosted a lunch in honour of Ansari. Earlier, Ansari visited the Armenian genocide memorial and paid tribute to the victims with a minute of silence. He visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI), watched the displays and left a note in the guest book. He later planted a fir tree in the memory Alley. PTI DR ZH AKJ ZH --- ENDS --- Ahmedabad: With the race for the Rashtrapati Bhavan heating up, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, Tuesday, chose an unlikely candidate as his choice for the highest constitutional post in the country. And, Swamy choice is former Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel as the party's candidate for the election to the President's post. "One of the best candidates for the President is former Gujarat CM Anandibehn Patel. So what, if she is a Gujarati? I am too a Gujarat's son-in-law," Swamy tweeted. One of the best candidate for President is fmr Gujarat CM Anandibehn Patel. So what if she is Gujarati? I too am Gujarat's son in law. Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) April 25, 2017 His tweet in support of Anandiben has created a flutter in the Gujarat unit of the BJP. Swamy's comments come at a time when there is intense speculation on who the BJP will select as its Presidential candidate. The Presidential elections are likely to be held before July end. Party workers in Gujarat were left discussing if Patel would be in the race for the post of President. Nobody from the party, however, was willing to comment on the issue. When contacted, Patel herself refused to give her view on the tweet. Union minister Mansukh Mandavia, who was in Gandhinagar, too refused to comment on the tweet saying he has not seen it. Patel became the Gujarat chief minister in May 2014 after Narendra Modi quit the state's chief ministership for over 13 years to be sworn as the country's Prime Minister. Patel quit as the chief minister in August 2016. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi: A batch of Yoga guru Baba Ramdevs Patanjali Ayurved's amla juice has "failed" to clear a laboratory test, due to which the Canteen Stores Department, the retailing entity selling consumer goods to armed forces, has suspended its sale. Responding to the news, the company said the amla juice is a medicinal product unlike other juices sold in the market and that it is absolutely safe for human consumption. Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry sources said a show cause notice has been served on the company after the juice "failed" the test carried out at West Bengal Public Health Laboratory, Kolkata. The sources said as per procedure, CSD has immediately suspended the sale of the particular batch of the item and sent a show-cause notice to the company to examine the deviations and explain about them. They said "further action" will be taken on receipt of a reply from the firm. The CSD had sent samples of 'Amla Juice' having index no. 85417 and batch No. GH1502 to the laboratory in Kolkata, they said. The Patanjali Ayurveda said its amla juice is an ayurvedic medicine and test on it should be conducted as per the norms of the AYUSH Ministry. The firm said norms prescribed by the country's food regulator--Food Safety and Standards Authority of India-- were not applicable to the juice. The CSD regularly sends items from its inventory for testing at various government-run laboratories across the country. Earlier, reports had claimed that insects were allegedly found in a packet of Patanjali Atta Noodles in Haryana and fungus in a packet of Patanjali ghee in Haridwar. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday scrapped the moderation policy under which grace marks are given to students in exams for difficult questions. The decision, taken at a high-level meeting, could result in lower cut-offs in university entrances. The move comes after the CBSE had in December last year requested the Human Resource Development Ministry to help develop a consensus among all state boards on completely removing the marks moderation policy which is considered as the reason behind inflated scores in board exam results. Under the moderation policy, examinees are awarded up to 15 percent extra marks in certain papers if the questions are deemed to be difficult. However, the practice of awarding grace marks will continue to ensure that a student clears an exam if he or she needs a few marks to do so. If the states also decide to adopt the policy, the soaring cut-offs for admission to colleges are likely to go down. The CBSE has opined that a unilateral scrapping of the policy would put its students at a disadvantage during undergraduate admissions and considered it important that all state boards agree to it. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi [India]: In times gone by white doves or pigeons were often viewed as traditional symbols or messengers of peace and pacifism, but, in the new millennium, when technological advances are being made in minutes, days, months and years, one would not have expected a bird to come across from Pakistan with a message of sorts imprinted under one of its wings. This is exactly what happened at the border out post (BOP) Babalianwala on the Rajasthan-Sindh border on Tuesday, when a white-colored pigeon landed from the Pakistan side at 7.55 a.m. and sat on a barrel of LMG for about five minutes before being caught by Border Security Force (BSF) border patrol personnel posted there. Acting on the orders of commanding officer of the 135th Battalion of the BSF, B.K. Sharma, BSF personnel Sunil Pathania and Sarad Yadav examined the pigeon and found the serial number 03023633 written on its tail. A similar incident was reported on January 13, 2017 at Samathewala. At that time too, a pigeon was nabbed and was found to have a metallic ring with the tag number 021JEET-KPK on its right leg. The use of a dove or a pigeon and an olive branch as a symbol of peace originated with the early Christians. These birds often appear in political cartoons, on banners and signs at events promoting peace such as the Olympic Games, or at various anti-war or anti-violence protests, etc.), as also in pacifist literature. A person who is a pacifist is sometimes referred to as a dove, while a person opposed to diplomacy can be referred to as a hawk, but when it comes to relations between India and Pakistan, a bird being regarded as a messenger of peace is a far-fetched notion, and can only be viewed with suspicion and distrust. New Delhi: A group of students from the northeast, along with some ABVP activists, were detained on Tuesday as they were going to protest outside the Chinese embassy here against the Chinese government's move to rename six towns in Arunachal Pradesh. Starting from Arunachal Bhawan, the agitators headed towards the Chinese Embassy but were stopped midway by police. The protesters of the Arun Chetna Manch also included a few members of RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) were continuously shouting slogans like 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' "We joined these people because the leader of the demonstration (Romjir Rakshapa) is a Delhi University cultural secretary and we support India' s integrity " ABVP member Himang Verma told IANS. Rakshapa said that he belongs to Arunachal Pradesh and lives in one of the renamed towns, and that he cannot allow it. "Arunachal Pradesh is part of India... My district's name is changed to something which I cannot even pronounce. I am a proud soul of India, " he told media persons. "The Chinese government is also misleading people through media that inhabitants of Arunachal Pradesh support China and want to be a part of it, which is a complete falsehood... I am an Arunachali and I belong to India, " he added. 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". Thiruvananthapuram: The opening day of the Kerala Assembly session on Tuesday witnessed chaos with the opposition demanding the resignation of State Power Minister MM Mani for his controversial remarks about women plantation workers, but Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ruled it out. The chaos in the House led to the Speaker rushing through the proceedings of the day. When the House assembled at 8.30 am, the Congress-led opposition was on its feet shouting slogans, demanding suspension of Question Hour to take up leave for an adjournment motion to discuss the "indecent" remarks of Mani. But Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said they could raise it at the appropriate time. Later, moving leave for an adjournment motion, senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said it was a "shame" that a State Minister, Mani, has spoken indecently about women and demanded that he step down. "While all leading CPI-M and CPI leaders have strongly criticised the speech of Mani, Vijayan, who earlier said what Mani spoke was not right, is now defending Mani. We do not know why Vijayan, who has earlier asked EP Jayarajan and AK Saseendran, to resign, is not asking Mani to quit. Mani claims he is a villager, but he has used abusive words, which are not spoken by villagers. He has to go," said Radhakrishnan. Mani on Saturday night had reportedly used abusive words about women plantation workers and since then the Women`s Collective, whom he allegedly abused, has been on a protest demanding an apology. From Tuesday morning two of the women started an indefinite fast on the issue. Mani, who was given time to explain his remarks, told the Assembly that he is a simpleton from a village and does not use big literary Malayalam words. "A section of the media is against me. My words have been twisted out of context. There are just six women now sitting in protest of whom two are from the BJP and Congress and only four are from the Women`s Collective," said Mani. Vijayan, replying to the demands of the Opposition, said that Mani has already tendered an unconditional apology and he need not step down. "He hails from Idukki and his words also are in that style. Some vested interests have blown it out of proportion to make political capital out of it. A section of the media also appears to have twisted his speech," said Vijayan. However, dissatisfied with the replies of Vijayan and Mani, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said that if Mani has done no wrong, then why did he apologise at all. "While all the women leaders of the CPI-M have condemned Mani`s speech, Vijayan does not seem to understand it. None should forget that the CPI-M had tall leaders like EMS and others, and it has come to a stage that today it is led by people like Mani. We are firm that Mani has to go and we will continue our protest till he quits," said Chennithala. Soon after his speech, the opposition trooped into the well of the house, forcing the Speaker to rush through the proceedings listed for the day and wind up the day`s sitting. Earlier in the day, Mani was stopped on his way to the Assembly by women activists of the Youth Congress, who were removed by police. The student and youth wings of the Congress party also protested in front of the Assembly demanding Mani`s ouster, but they were prevented from reaching the Assembly by the police. New Delhi: Intelligence agencies tracking cross-border terrorism have warned that Pakistan is now sending terror ideologues and preachers into Jammu and Kashmir to 'brainwash' Kashmiri youths. The move is indicative of a change in Pakistan's strategy as it is relying more on these terror preachers than its foot soldiers to execute its nefarious anti-India plans. These preachers, the intelligence agencies warn, have been given a single-line order to lure as many young men as they can, and persuade them to take up arms, according to a report published by DNA. A recent review done by the intelligence agencies and the Army claimed that out of the 150 Pakistan-trained terrorists currently operating out of J&K, 40 to 50 have not fired a bullet in recent times. These terrorists have become preachers with a mission to recruit and influence youngsters to take on security forces. Abu Dujana, the commander of dreaded terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, which is active in J&K, is among the Pakistani terrorists who are now preparing the next generation of local militants. DNA also quoted sources as saying that these terror preachers are coaxing women and young girls to join the stone-pelting mobs. "They have realised being part of terror operations is too much of a risk. Instead, they are focusing on radicalising the youth and launching them into terror activities," the report quoted a security official as saying. The recent trend of locals pelting stones at security forces is a result of Pakistan's changed strategy, sources said. In the last one year, at least 25 terrorists have managed to slip as mobs pelted stones at the forces while a gun-battle was on. Abu Dujana managed to escape twice in these incidents. "The 'preachers' are telling their 'students' to also target civilians," stated another official. There have been three recent incidents when locals have been targeted. The tactic has already led to an all time high in local terror recruitment. A recent review done by the army shows there are close to 250 local recruits and 150 Pakistani terrorists in Kashmir as of now. Security agencies are alarmed by the sharp increase in the number of local as well as Pakistani terrorists. Before local Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in July last year, the tally stood at 91 locals and 60 Pakistanis. Wani's killing triggered months of unrest in the state with frequent violent clashes between civilians and security forces. Security forces have managed to kill 40 terrorists this year, gunning down 32 in the hinterland and eight at the LoC. Bengaluru: While several dignitaries and government officials have removed red or blue lights from their official vehicles, it appears that Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has not taken the Centre's ban on red beacons seriously. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah today refused to remove red beacons from his official car when he was quizzed by a reporter regarding the Centre's ban on red lights. Why should I remove? he was quoted as saying by ANI. Why should I remove? It is to be removed from May 1st: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on red beacon pic.twitter.com/ax2KOapfXb ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017 The Karnataka Chief Minister, however, corrected himself quickly and said, ''It is to be removed from May 1st.'' Karnataka Congress veteran initially appeared to be unaware of the Centre's order for removing red beacons from vehicles of officials, ministers and Chief Ministers of states. The CM reportedly asked one of his staff members as to why red beacon was being removed. In a significant decision, the Union Cabinet had recently announced to end the use of red beacons on top of the vehicles used by government officials and dignitaries. This decision was taken on April 19, 2017, with the aim of putting an end to the VIP culture. The use of these lal battis will be banned from May 1, 2017. Kochi: A state native moved the Kerala High Court on Tuesday seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged "sexually loaded statements" made by Power Minister M M Mani, who has strongly refuted the accusations. In his petition to the court, Kerala resident George Vattukulam accused Mani of making sexually-loaded, anti-woman statements at a public meeting in Kunchithanni. George quoted the minister as saying that the women leaders and "Pembilai Orumai," the women activists of plantation workers in hilly Idukki district had regularly indulged in "an orgy of drinking and other activities" during their month-long stir in Munnar last year. The petitioner alleged Mani has "now outraged the modesty and used abusive language, sexually loaded statements against more than 10,000 women who participated in a historic struggle." Mani earlier insulted a woman principal of Painavu Government Polytechnic using abusive language and sexually loaded statements with gestures and later he apologised for that, the petition said. "The respondent is a habitual offender and regularly uses abusive language and sexually-loaded statements especially against the women," it said. It also accused Mani of using abusive language against efficient civil service officers. The high court is expected to take up the petition for hearing on Thursday. Mani, however, has refuted the allegation against him on the floor of state assembly. He told the assembly today that he had not used any offencive language against women. "I have not used the word woman even once in my 17-minute speech," which he claimed had been edited by the media, a section of which was against him. New Delhi: HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday condemned the killing of 25 CRPF personnel by Naxals in Chhattisgarh as an act of cowardice. "Since their strength is getting reduced they are doing such things. This is a strategy of cowards. This is a cowardly attack...As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, this sacrifice will not go waste," Javadekar told reporters on the sidelines of an event here. At least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and seven wounded in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district yesterday, in the deadliest ambush by Naxalites of security forces this year. The nearly 100-strong CRPF patrol providing security for road construction work came under fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions at around 12:25 pm in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country. By Press Trust of India: From Deepak Ranjan On Board Special Aircraft, Apr 24 (PTI) India has a strong case to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Vice President Hamid Ansari said today, stressing that he hopes to ensure Polands support during his visit to the country. Ansari, who is on a five-day visit to Armenia and Poland, said Poland has supported Indias bid to join the NSG earlier and now that the "rules were being reworked" it will continue to do so. He said this apparently referring to the nuclear non-proliferation regime linkage to Indias joining the NSG. advertisement "As far as NSG is concerned, the rules were being reworked. Old rules are being amended," he said. "We have good relationship (with Poland) and we want to develop the relationship with the country," Ansari said. Speaking about the areas of cooperation between India and Poland, he said one such area was the coal sector. "Another area is agriculture. India looks forward to strengthen the bilateral trade engagement with Poland," he told reporters on board his special aircraft. He said India is set to sign an MoU with Poland in the agriculture sector. There is also considerable potential for bilateral engagement in the defence sector. "Poland is a big country. It is our strongest trading partner in central Europe. We have USD 3 billion trade with the country. Indian companies are working there," he said. India has close economic ties with Poland. Indian investments in Poland amount to around USD 3 billion and Polish investments in India are of about 600 million USD. Ansari will reach Poland on April 26 and over the next two days meet the Polish president and the prime minister, who will host a banquet in the vice president?s honour. He will also meet the speaker of the Senate. About Armenia, which would be his first stop during the tour, he said, "We have very good relations with the country and it supports us on many issues at various international fora." Armenia is a member of the Eurasian economic zone and India hopes to tap that market, he said, adding that India had helped Armenia during the 1988 earthquake. This is Ansaris first visit to Armenia and Poland. The vice president, who will be in Armenia till April 26, is accompanied by his wife, Salma Ansari, Union Minister of State for Small, Medium & Micro Industries Giriraj Singh, Members of Parliament Sitaram Yechury, D P Tripathi, Vivek Tankha and Thupstan Chhewang and senior officials, besides media representatives. In Armenia, Ansari will hold discussions with the president, prime minister and the foreign minister in the capital of Yerevan, besides attending a host of events. advertisement The president of Armenia will host a lunch in his honour the prime minister will host a banquet. The visit to Armenia takes place at a time when the two countries are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Armenia. This is the second visit at the level of the vice president of India to Armenia. In Poland, Ansari will inaugurate a business seminar. He will deliver a lecture at the University of Warsaw and will inaugurate the Indian Embassy Chancery cum Residential Complex. PTI DR ABH --- ENDS --- Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is one of the key accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case. Bombay High Court, however, denied bail to Lt Col Prasad Purohit, a co-accused in the case. Sadhvi Pragya, who was arrested nearly nine years back, was granted bail on a surety of Rs 500,000 and two surities of same amount after the National Investigation Agency had granted a 'clean chit' to her in May 2016. She has also been ordered to submit her passport to the NIA and appear on dates in trial court. Meanwhile, the victims of the Malegaon blasts have decided to challenge the bail given to Sadhvi Pragya in Supreme Court. Sadhvi Pragya and Col. Purohit had earlier filed pleas in the Bombay High Court seeking bail. Earlier in March, the High Court had reserved its order on the bail plea filed by Purohit. The duo had moved the High Court after the special court that deals with terror cases probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) rejected their bail pleas. Earlier, while filing for bail, Purohit had claimed that Abhinav Bharat Trust, that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed was used to procure the weapons and explosives used for the blast, was formed keeping senior army officers in the loop and was to be registered as a political party. The chargesheet filed by the NIA this year had said that Purohit flouted the service rules by forming the outfit in 2006, despite being an army man. The investigating agency said Purohit and the other accused collected funds for the outfit, which were then used to buy weapons. In his bail plea, Purohit had reportedly said that he was acting in discharge of his duty to gather more intelligence. "The circumstances show Abhinav Bharat was to become a political party and even a registration form for the same was found through the sources of the accused," read the bail plea. The state ATS had chargesheeted 12 alleged 'Hindu extremists', including Lt. Col. Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, in the case. The serial bomb blasts outside a cemetery near Hamidia mosque at Malegaon near Nashik on September 8, 2006, claimed 37 lives and injured over 100 people. With ANI input New Delhi: Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services (Mahindra Finance) has reported a fall of 37 per cent in standalone net profit at Rs 234 crore for the last quarter ended March. Its net profit stood at Rs 370 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Total income, however, increased by 9 per cent to Rs 1,843 crore during the quarter from Rs 1,690 crore a year earlier, Mahindra Finance said in a release. At the board of directors meeting held today, the company recommended a dividend of 120 per cent or Rs 2.40 per share. With PTI Inputs Jaipur: Independent MLA Hanuman Beniwal on Tuesday drew the ire of the Rajasthan Assembly Speaker after he rushed into the well of the House and tore papers during the Question Hour. As soon as the Question Hour began, Speaker Kailash Meghwal said that Beniwal's question was related to three separate departments and, therefore, it has been cancelled. His question was listed to be taken up at the start of the Question Hour. Irked by the ruling, Beniwal said it was injustice and hit out at the government. He stormed the well of the House and tore his set of printed questions. This drew sharp reaction from the speaker and Parliament Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore. The Speaker warned Beniwal of action after which Congress MLA Pradyuman intervened and took Beniwal back to his seat. Leader of Opposition Rameshwar Dudi said that Beniwal had submitted his question two-and-a-half months back and it was approved and listed for today. To this, the speaker said that any "mistake" can be rectified by the chair at any point of time. The speaker then continued with the proceedings. New Delhi: SS Rajamouli's magnum opus 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion' is going to witness the biggest release a film has ever seen. The huge canvas on which the project is set and presented demands an even bigger and colossal opening, isn't it? According to DNA.com, 'Baahubali 2' is set to release in as many as 8000 screens across the country. Yes! Isn't it jaw dropping? Well, the report states that the film is surely going to appear in an upward of 6,000 screens and efforts are in place to make that number reach a huge 7000. Furthermore, quoting a source, the report states, Bollywood films run on close to 5,000 screens across the country. In South India, 3,000-odd screens cater to major Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. Do the math. With no other film (Hindi or otherwise) arriving alongside Baahubali 2 on April 28, the only face-off in theatres will be the one on screen between Prabhas and Rana Daggubati. The source predicts the first day collections of Baahubali 2, saying, Even if you assume the film releases across 6,500 screens, the first-day collections could well be to the tune of Rs 60 crore. Also, as April 28 is not a holiday, one cannot expect cent per cent collections all over, but they will be huge. Expect numbers to be in the excess of Rs 50 crore, at least. Dont be surprised if numbers turn out to be even bigger since a film has never had such a lavish pan-India release before. 'Baahubali 2' stars Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah, Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj and Nassar in pivotal parts. The film is releasing on April 28, 2017. Puducherry: The opposition AIADMK in Puducherry on Tuesday termed as "political drama and anti-people," the day-long bandh called today in Puducherry by the DMK in support of the drought-hit farmers. Even as farmers from Tamil Nadu had wound up their agitation in New Delhi, the bandh being observed with the backing of the ruling Congress "is a clear case of people being hoodwinked by the DMK," the AIADMK (Amma) legislature wing leader, A Anbalagan told reporters here. He also said, the bandh "is utterly uncalled for and aimed at disrupting the normal life of the people." The territorial government led by Chief Minsiter V Narayanasamy has not taken any steps to relieve the farmers in the Union Territory of their sufferings caused by drought, he alleged. Anbalagan urged the Centre to take note of the "disturbing scenario" and initiate appropriate steps against the Puducherry government. On Lt Governor Kiran Bedi's remarks that elected representatives had not turned up during her week-end visits to various areas despite invitations, he said he had not received any invite from her during her recent visit to his Uppalam constituency. Anbalagan further said Bedi should abstain from making such "incorrect" comments about the people's representatives. Chennai: The opposition parties led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhaghan (DMK) will be observing a state-wide shutdown in support of drought-hit farmers on Tuesday. The DMK, the Congress, multitude of trade unions, farmer bodies and even the film fraternity have pledged support to the shutdown. However, the E. Palaniswamy-led state government asserted that normalcy will not be affected. The police said it has taken all adequate steps, including proper deployment of personnel in order to maintain law and order in the state. Association of groceries, trade unions of auto drivers and local vegetable markets have also extended their support towards the bandh. DMK has called for shutdown in order to urge the Central and state government to fulfill the farmers' demands including adequate relief and setting up of a Cauvery management board. However, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have termed the bandh call as being politically motivated. Earlier yesterday, the Tamil Nadu farmers suspended their protest till May 25 after Chief Minister E. Palaniswamy's assurance. "If our demands are not fulfilled we will start our protest again after 25th May. If we get train tickets, we will leave today," said Ayyakanu, an agitating farmer. Palaniswamy yesterday said he discussed the farmers' issue in the NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting and forwarded their demands to the Prime Minister. The farmers have been grabbing headlines for their unique and sometimes bizarre methods of protest since they arrived in Delhi over 38 days ago. Adorned with human skulls around their necks, the farmers attempted to grab the attention of authorities towards their condition and demands for drought relief package. The farmers have so far performed 'Angapradakshinam' - rolling prostrate on the street at Jantar Mantar - staged suicides, conducted mock funerals, shaved off half their moustaches and beards, stripped in front of the Prime Minister's office, eaten dal and rice off the road, stood with mice in their mouths and have hung skulls around their necks, which they claim belong to farmers in their state who committed suicide because of mounting debt. The farmers have been demanding Centre's intervention to write off their loans from nationalised banks, a revised drought relief package and resolve the alleged drying up of the Tamil Nadu leg of the Kaveri river. The state government and the Madras High Court have already waived their loans from co-operative banksa Chennai: The AIADMK faction, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EK Palaniswami, today held a consultative meeting of key party functionaries here, amidst expectations of the rival factions of the ruling party holding merger talks. Palaniswami chaired the meeting of a group of party district secretaries, who play a key role in its organisational structure. The meeting, the first after the April 17 revolt by the Palaniswami camp against party deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, was held at the AIADMK headquarters here. It was also attended by senior leaders, including Education Minister KA Sengottayan, party sources said. The chief minister was likely to hold similar consultations with the other district secretaries in the coming days, they added. The meeting assumes significance in view of the formation of committees by the factions led by Palaniswami and former chief minister O Panneerselvam for talks on merger of the two camps. Although the merger move seemed to have hit a roadblock yesterday with both the factions blaming each other for the delay, Panneerselvam today said a "good ambience" was evolving for talks. Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today listed out various measures, including formation of farmers' associations to strengthen the agriculture sector in the state. Rao, who addressed a meeting of agriculture officers here, asked them to ascertain details of revenue villages under their jurisdiction and the extent of land holdings by each farmer. He told the officials to ensure that all the farmers have bank accounts. Rao said farmers associations should be formed at village level. Federation of farmers associations should be constituted at mandal, district and state level. The federations would take up purchasing agri produce among other functions, he said. Rao said 'crop colonies' would be formed for sowing particular crops based on advice of scientists towards helping farmers. The Chief Minister has already announced that the government would provide Rs 4,000 towards farm expenses to all farmers for both Kharif and Rabi seasons. Rao said that he had raised some of these points during a meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi. New Delhi: After parting ways with former friend and colleague Kapil Sharma, ace comedian Sunil Grover is now busy doing live shows and other programmes. Meanwhile, some online reports stated that the 'Baaghi' star is all set to come up with his own show in order to compete with the 'Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon' hunk. But, apparently, he has not signed any other television program yet. I wont deny the fact that there are offers. Yes, Ive been asked to do another show. But until I am contract-bound with Sony there is nothing else that I can talk about, let alone contemplate or accept. Once I am free to look at my options on television I will speak about the offers, a DNA report quoted 29-year-old comedian as saying. However, TV lovers are still expecting him to make a comeback on the 'The Kapil Sharma Show'. But, that scenario seems unlikely now. For the unversed, Sunil, along with Ali Asgar and Chandan Prabhakar, quit 'TKSS' after Kapil reportedly misbehaved with them in an inebriated state a month back while they were returning to India from Australia. They were detained earlier by the patrol team of BGB of Kakdanga camp from Keragachi area while they tried to infiltrate into Bangladesh illegally. By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) returned five Indian nationals including women and children after a flag meeting at Kalaroa border in Satkhira on Tuesday afternoon. The returned Indian nationals have been identified as Ramakanta, son of Bholanath of Gatiani village unfder Newton Thana of Uttar-Chabbish pargana district; his son Rup Kumar, his mother Renu Sarder; Gouri Sarder, daughter of Girindra Sarder and daughter of Rup Kumar Sumi Sarder. advertisement Earlier, they were detained by the patrol team of BGB of Kakdanga camp from Keragachi area while they tried to infiltrate into Bangladesh illegally. Satkhira, 38 BGB battalion HQ confirmed the case of detention of Indians. The detained Indian nationals were handed over to BSF members at Hakimpur BSF camp after a flag meeting. ASI RR Mina of 76 BSF Hakimpur camp lead a 5-member team in the flag meeting while 38 BGB, Kakdanga company commander, Nayeb Subedar Moklesur Alam lead a 5-member BGB team. Also read: Bangladesh: Huge cache of explosives recovered from militant hideout Also read: Dhaka: 9 lakh fake Facebook accounts suspended in Bangladesh after government requests crackdown --- ENDS --- Lucknow: Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government said on Tuesday that fifteen leaves on anniversaries of great personalities in schools and government would be cancelled. "One hour event will be organised on occasions, state power minister Shrikant Sharma told reporters. UP government today also approved the setting up of an anti- land mafia task force to check rampant land grabbing in the state, fulfilling a key poll promise. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister. "The cabinet has approved the setting up of anti-land mafia task force in the state. It will identify land grabbers in two months and strict action will be initiated against them," Sharma said. No grabbing of public land will be allowed in the name of religion, the minister added. "The construction of religious places on encroached public land will not be allowed irrespective of the religion," he said. The task force will work under the overall supervision of the state Chief Secretary while various officials ranging from the Divisional Commissioners, District Magistrates and Sub Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) and will look into the complaints, he said. A portal has also been launched in which land grabbing complaints can be registered, he said. (With PTI inputs) Lucknow: In yet another big step, Yogi Adityanath has launched a major crackdown against land mafia. Now, Yogi Adityanath government has formed a 'Anti Bhu-Mafia task force' to curb land grabbing in Uttar Pradesh. "No one will be allowed to grab land in the name of religion", said Shrikant Sharma, spokesperson of UP government, in a press conference on Tuesday. UP government took this big decision after several cases of land grabbing were reported in Uttar Pradesh. Since Yogi government has taken over a number of decsions have been taken to make UP a better state. Lucknow: Former UP minister Gayatri Prajapati and two of his alleged accomplices were on Tuesday granted bail by a POCSO court here in connection with a rape case. Special judge of a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court Om Prakash Mishra granted bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu. The court asked Prajapati to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount. A FIR was registered against Prajapati and six others on February 17 on a directive of the Supreme Court. After being on the run for nearly a month, Prajapati (49) was arrested from Aashiyana area here on March 15 and sent to jail for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter in 2014. The six others had been arrested earlier. Prajapati had approached the Supreme Court to get a stay on his arrest but the top court asked him to approach the court concerned. At the time of his arrest, Prajapati had claimed that he was innocent and alleged the charges were a conspiracy to malign him. The former minister had said that he was prepared for a Narco test to bring out the truth and also demanded that similar test on the minor victim. In the just-concluded Assembly Elections in Uttar Pradesh, Prajapati lost his Amethi seat to the BJP. The allegations against Prajapati were raked by the BJP during the elections to attack the then Akhilesh Yadav-led government. Lucknow: Samajwadi Party leader and former UP minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati was on Tuesday granted bail by a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in connection with a gang-rape case against him and his two close aides. Prajapati and his two aides were booked for allegedly gang-raping a minor. The SP leader, who was also accused of allegedly raping the girls mother, had evaded his arrest for nearly a month before he was arrested in Lucknow last month. In February, a police complaint was filed against the former minister and six others in the case following the Supreme Courts order. The Uttar Pradesh Police had also filed a non-bailable warrant against the former minister and six others for the same. Prajapati also lost to BJPs Garima Singh from Amethi by nearly 5,000 votes in the recently held assembly elections in UP. Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Aparupa Poddar on Tuesday moved the Calcutta High Court, seeking the quashing of a CBI FIR against her in the Narada sting case. Poddar's counsel claimed before Justice Joymalyo Bagchi that the investigating agency had not asked the MP about her version with regard to the alleged sting wherein a person "resembling her" is shown to be allegedly receiving money for favours. Poddar's counsel Siddharth Luthra claimed the CBI had considered the video clips as gospel truth and did not ask her about her version during the one month of initial inquiry before registering the FIR. The court adjourned the hearing till Friday. In the sting operation, which was claimed to have been done in 2014, persons resembling senior TMC leaders are seen purportedly accepting money from representatives of a fictitious company in return for favours. The high court had ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the matter. The order was challenged by the West Bengal government in the Supreme Court, which refused to grant relief on March 17 and gave the CBI one month to conclude the preliminary probe and file a FIR, if required. The CBI has booked 12 top TMC leaders, including MPs and ministers, and an IPS officer in connection with the Narada sting operation case. The FIR has been registered under section 120(b) of IPC related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with bribery and criminal misconduct. The maximum sentence for these crimes ranges from five to seven years imprisonment. The TMC leaders against whom the CBI has registered the FIR include Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and Lok Sabha MPs Saugata Roy, Aparupa Poddar, Sultan Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. West Bengal ministers including Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim, Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari, Environment minister Sovan Chatterjee, and Panchayati Raj and Rural Development minister Subrata Mukherjee have also been named in the FIR. Former state minister Madan Mitra, MLA Iqbal Ahmed and IPS officer Saiyaad Mustafa Hussain Mirza have also been made accused in the case. The sting was done by the editor of portal naradanews.com, Mathew Samuel, who claimed to have used an iPhone for the purpose. The contents had then been transferred to a laptop and stored in a pen drive. The Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh had, on a direction of the Calcutta High Court, checked the video clips and had reported that there was no tampering or editing. The CFSL had stated in its report that it could open 47 files out of 73 movie files provided in the pen drive. Canberra: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull travelled to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit his troops in the region and to asses his country`s military contribution, an official release on Tuesday said. "The Prime Minister has marked Anzac (the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day with a visit to the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq," the Prime Minister`s office wrote on its Twitter account along with photographs of this trip, Efe news reported. During his two-day visit, Turnbull met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad as well as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and US Secretary of Defence James Mattis in Kabul. Turnbull told Mattis that Australia will continue to work alongside the US, NATO and Afghanistan in encouraging security institutions in that country, said The Australian newspaper. Turnbull`s visit comes shortly after the death of 138 soldiers as a result of a Taliban attack on April 21 at a military base in northern Afghanistan, one of the worst terrorism strikes on the country`s army. Australia has deployed 270 members of its armed forces in Afghanistan for assistance and training tasks, and some 780 in Iraq and Syria to help collaborate in airstrikes. Since 2002, 42 Australian soldiers have died in Afghanistan and two in Iraq. "This trip was not just an occasion to celebrate Anzac Day with Australians (and New Zealanders) who are serving on the front lines, it was an invaluable opportunity to assess the progress of the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan," Turnbull said in a statement. Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday commemorate Anzac Day in remembrance of when the Allied troops landed in Gallipoli, Turkey, on April 25, 1915 during the First World War, where over 26,000 of their soldiers died in combat and many more were wounded. Although the Gallipoli campaign was a failure, Australia and New Zealand consider it as an important moment in which both countries forged their true national spirit, uniting the entire population in the war effort. Beijing: In a big development, China banned a dozens of Muslim baby names in Xinjiang. China has banned dozens of Islamic names for babies belonging to the restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province. This move would prevent children from getting access to education and government benefits, a leading rights group - Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. "Xinjiang authorities have recently banned dozens of names with religious connotations common to Muslims around the world on the basis that they could exaggerate religious fervour," the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. List of Islamic names banned by China 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 was quoted as saying by Radio Free Asia. Children with banned names will not be able to obtain a "hukou," or household registration, essential for accessing public school and other social services, it said. The new measures are part of China's fight against terrorism in this troubled region, home to 10 million Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority. This is the latest in a slew of new regulations restricting religious freedom in the name of countering "religious extremism," the HRW said. Conflicts between the Uyghur and the Han, the majority ethnic group in China who also control the government, are common in Xinjiang. FULL LIST A full list of names has not yet been published and it is unclear exactly what qualifies as a religious name, it said. On April 1, Xinjiang authorities imposed new rules prohibiting the wearing of "abnormal" beards or veils in public places, and imposing punishments for refusing to watch state TV or radio programmes. These policies are blatant violations of domestic and international protections on the rights to freedom of belief and expression, the HRW said. Punishments also appear to be increasing for officials in Xinjiang who are deemed to be too lenient. In January, the authorities imposed a "serious warning" on an official for complaining to his wife through a messaging app about government policies. Beijing: China has banned dozens of Islamic names like 'Saddam' and 'Jihad' for babies belonging to the restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, in a move that would prevent children from getting access to education and government benefits, a leading rights group said on Tuesday. Xinjiang authorities have recently banned dozens of names with religious connotations common to Muslims around the world on the basis that they could "exaggerate religious fervour," the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. 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 was quoted as saying by Radio Free Asia. Children with banned names will not be able to obtain a "hukou," or household registration, essential for accessing public school and other social services, it said. The new measures are part of China's fight against terrorism in this troubled region, home to 10 million Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority. This is the latest in a slew of new regulations restricting religious freedom in the name of countering "religious extremism," the HRW said. Conflicts between the Uyghur and the Han, the majority ethnic group in China who also control the government, are common in Xinjiang. A full list of names has not yet been published and it is unclear exactly what qualifies as a religious name, it said. On April 1, Xinjiang authorities imposed new rules prohibiting the wearing of "abnormal" beards or veils in public places, and imposing punishments for refusing to watch state TV or radio programmes. These policies are blatant violations of domestic and international protections on the rights to freedom of belief and expression, the HRW said. Punishments also appear to be increasing for officials in Xinjiang who are deemed to be too lenient. In January, the authorities imposed a "serious warning" on an official for complaining to his wife through a messaging app about government policies. Peshawar: At least 10 people, including six children and two women, were killed and 13 others injured on Tuesday when a passenger van was targeted with a remote- controlled bomb in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal region. The improvised explosive device (IED) blast targeted the van in Kontara village in central Kurram Agency. Ten people, including six children and two women, were killed in the blast, officials said. Thirteen people were injured in the explosion. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital. The military's media wing, Inter Services Public Relations, said a special Mi-17 helicopter has been sent to Kurram Agency headquarters Parachinar to bring the injured to Peshawar for treatment. Security personnel rushed to the blast site and cordoned off the entire area. A search operation was also conducted. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the area is frequently hit by sectarian violence. Last month, at least 28 people were killed and 100 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car "rigged with explosives" outside a Shiite imambargah in a busy market in Parachinar, the main town of the Kurram tribal region. The grisly violence sparked angry protests by residents in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency, which is prone to sectarian violence. Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehrik- e-Taliban Pakistan, had claimed responsibility for that bombing. Sulaimaniyah: Iraq`s autonomous Kurdistan region on Tuesday said Turkish air strikes in which six of its security forces were killed overnight were "unacceptable". The peshmerga, the region`s armed forces, said in the statement however that the apparent accident should be blamed on Turkey`s rebel Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK), whose affiliates were the target of the strikes. "The death of the peshmerga is regrettable and the strike on the peshmerga by Turkish warplanes is unacceptable," the statement said. Turkey carried out several strikes in Syria and Iraq against separatist Kurdish rebels and their allies overnight. Six members of the Iraqi Kurdish government`s security forces were killed. The strikes in the Sinjar area of northern Iraq were against positions held by the Yazidi Protection Units (YBS), a militia supported by the PKK, which Ankara considers a terrorist group. The PKK and Iraq`s dominant Kurdish faction, which is allied to Ankara, are rivals however and the peshmerga statement put the blame for the deaths in its ranks squarely on the PKK. "These problems and tensions are all because of the PKK`s presence," it said, accusing the PKK and its affiliates of refusing to withdraw from the Sinjar area. The Centre is in no mood for talks with Kashmir separatists despite state chief minister Mehbooba Mufti pushing for discussion with all stakeholders. By Manjeet Negi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi with a message that the government should restart talks with separatists for normalcy to return in the Valley. However, the Centre appears to be in no mood for discussion with Hurriyat leaders. Sources said the government is not in favour of talks with pro-Pakistan lobby in the Valley despite such demands from various quarters. advertisement The government believes that talks with separatists would yield no result as all such attempts have failed in the past. Pointing to the need to hold talks with all stakeholders, Mehbooba Mufti said that talks with the separatist Hurriyat (Conference) had taken place during the tenure of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. She said talks were the only way forward. ACTION AGAINST TERROR LEADERSHIP As situation in the Valley remains tense and incidents of stone pelting continues unabated, the government has decided to go ahead after the top terror commanders. Agencies have been directed to break the backbone of terror infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir. CRACK DOWN ON SOCIAL MEDIA Authorities have also been asked to continue the crack down on social media inciting violence in the region. Nearly 300 WhatsApp groups were being used to mobilise stone-pelters in Kashmir to disrupt security forces' operations at encounter sites, a police official was quoted as saying by PTI. However, most of these groups - at least 90 per cent of them - have been successfully shut down in the last three weeks. WATCH | J-K unrest: Centre in no mood to start talks with Hurriyat leaders, to go after top terrorists ALSO READ: How Jammu and Kashmir police removed 90 per cent of 300 WhatsApp groups that guided stone pelters What is the Vajpayee doctrine on Kashmir that Mehbooba Mufti wants PM Narendra Modi to follow? --- ENDS --- Manila: A Filipino lawyer has filed a complaint in the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of mass murder and crimes against humanity, the media reported on Tuesday. In the first publicly known filing to The Hague court against Duterte, lawyer Jude Sabio on Monday submitted the 77-page complaint that said the President had "repeatedly, unchangingly and continuously" committed extra-judicial executions or mass murders over three decades, amounting to crimes against humanity, reports the Guardian. It says the killing of 9,400 people began in 1988 when Duterte was Mayor of Davao city and has lasted throughout his 10 months so far as President, during which he has waged a virulent and bloody "war on drugs". The communication is based on the reports of human rights groups, Duterte`s own public admissions that he killed, media reports and the testimony of Sabio`s client Edgar Matobato, a man who testified in the Philippines senate that he was part of a hit squad that operated on Duterte`s orders. The complaint also referred to testimony from retired police officer Arturo Lascanas, another hitman who said he personally killed "about 200 people" as a member of the Davao Death Squad. The organisation, Lascanas has said, regularly took direct orders from then-Mayor Duterte to kill criminals, political opponents, and journalists. The ICC office of the prosecutor said in a statement that it had received a communication, the Guardian reported. "We will analyse it as appropriate. As soon as we reach a decision, we will inform the sender and provide reasons for our decision," the office said. Ernesto Abella, a spokesman for Duterte, dismissed the complaint as a "cynical effort" to undermine the President. The 72-year-old leader has led a bloody campaign against drugs that has left more than 7,000 people dead since June 2016, mostly suspected low-level dealers and alleged addicts. Pyongyang: A US guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea on Tuesday and envoys from the US, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo, as North Korea prepared to mark the anniversary of the founding of its military. Although a major event around the anniversary was viewed as possible, the morning came and went without any nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches. All that was publicly scheduled for the day were gatherings for mass dancing, a common celebration on major North Korean holidays. At a "national meeting" of thousands of senior military and civilian officials the day before, North Korea's Minister of Defense Gen Pak Yong Sik reiterated that the country is ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any other measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the "US imperialists." "The situation prevailing on the Korean peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the US imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression," he told the gathering. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not attend. It was not known how he was marking Tuesday's anniversary. North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying its military capability and has conducted five nuclear tests. Pyongyang launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15. Such a move could test the developing North Korea policies of President Donald Trump, who has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Korea's government. The nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at Busan in what was described as a routine port visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Commander Jang Wook from the South Korean navy public affairs office said there is no plan for any drill. The submarine's arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heads toward the Korean Peninsula in a show of force. In Tokyo, US representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun was meeting Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi and Kim Hong-kyun of South Korea. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the three envoys were to deepen cooperation and stay on the same page amid growing tension. Japan's Foreign Ministry also announced that China's envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, will visit Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi, which may take place later this week. Trump spoke by phone with both the Japanese and Chinese leaders yesterday. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted President Xi Jinping as telling Trump that China strongly opposes North Korea's nuclear weapons program and hopes "all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation." Bangkok: The Thai junta on Tuesday defended USD 393 million earmarked for a Chinese submarine, batting back criticism of the secrecy of the deal, its cost and the questionable utility of the warship. The submarine sale is the latest defence deal between Beijing and Bangkok, who have grown ever closer since Thailand's 2014 coup. Historically, the Southeast Asian kingdom has been a major purchaser of western arms, especially from its traditional Cold War ally the United States. But since the coup, which strained ties with the West, there has been a run of windfalls for China with Thailand scooping up several dozen Beijing-built tanks and inking plans to buy three submarines in total -- a purchase that will amount to USD 1 billion. Talks are also underway for China to construct a multi-million dollar armaments and military hardware repair facility in Thailand. The military-led Cabinet approved the funds for the first submarine purchase last week -- a decision that was not made public until Monday, triggering concern about a lack of transparency. The proposed sale has long fuelled controversy with critics saying submarines are of little strategic value in a country with shallow surrounding waters and no stake in the South China Sea disputes that have embroiled its neighbours. The huge cost of the vessel has also raised eyebrows in Thailand, where ordinary people are feeling the pinch from years of lacklustre growth. On Tuesday, the junta deputy leader General Prawit Wongsuwon insisted the deal was "transparent" and a good bargain for the Thai Navy. "The reason we choose Chinese-built submarines is because they are the cheapest when compared to other countries' offers," he told reporters. The submarines are needed to "protect our natural resources in the Andaman Sea," he added, stressing that neighbouring countries "all have submarines." Prawit said the first submarine will be delivered within the next six years, with two more expected over the next decade. Others are less convinced by the deal. A retired admiral recently told AFP that money for the submarines would be better spent on the desperately needed Navy patrol vessels and helicopters. "No real Navy man would push for these submarines," he said. Defence spending has tripled in Thailand over the last decade, a period where the military has seized power twice. Bangkok: A man in Phuket filmed himself killing his child and then himself on Facebook Live, Thai police said on Tuesday, the latest example of the social network`s live-streaming function being used to broadcast grisly crimes. Officers on the southern resort island said they were alerted to the video by friends of the man and rushed to an abandoned hotel near the international airport on Monday afternoon. "They had already died when I arrived there," Lieutenant Jullaus Suvannin, one of the first on the scene, told AFP, adding a smartphone was found propped up against a wall. Police said they believed the man had previously argued with the mother of the murdered child, an 11-month girl. The man had hung himself and his daughter, they said. Channel 3 television broadcast footage of the child`s distraught mother, flanked by relatives, picking up both her daughter`s body and the man`s corpse from the local hospital on Tuesday. Facebook was not immediately available for comment. The killing comes just days after Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg vowed to work to keep the world`s leading social network from being used to propagate harrowing acts like murder and suicide. Zuckerberg was responding to pressure after a man in the US state of Ohio used Facebook Live to broadcast footage of himself walking up to a stranger in the street and shooting him dead. The killer went on to fatally shoot himself after a massive manhunt and police chase. During a speech last Wednesday, Zuckerberg conceded that Facebook had "a lot of work" to do on the issue. "We are going to work on building common ground, not just getting more opinions out there," he added. Phuket`s governor called on Thais not to share the four-minute clip of the murder and suicide, copies of which could still be found on the social network on Tuesday afternoon. Beirut: The toll in Turkish air strikes on Kurdish forces in northeast Syria on Tuesday rose to 18 killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "The dead are fighters and media officials from the People`s Protection Units (YPG)," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, who had earlier reported a toll of three people killed in the dawn raids. In a statement distributed to journalists, the YPG confirmed that there were casualties from the Turkish bombardment but did not give a toll. "Turkish planes carried out a broad offensive on a YPG base that houses media and communication centres and some military installations," the YPG statement said. The strikes appear to be the first Turkish air raids in Syria since Ankara completed an unprecedented military campaign there in March. Turkey also hit local armed groups in northern Iraq on Tuesday, killing six members of Kurdish security forces in an apparent accident. The Turkish Army said it launched strikes against in northern Iraq and northwest Syria "in order to destroy terrorist havens targeting our country". "The operations will continue to be carried out from now with the same determination until the very last terrorist is neutralised," the Army said. Columbia: US immigration officials said Monday that the former head of Colombia's defunct DAS intelligence service has been extradited to his home country to face charges of psychologically torturing a journalist. Enrique Ariza Rivas, 49, was sent to Colombia at Bogota`s request, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. Rivas and other DAS officials are accused of aggravated psychological torture against a journalist and other related crimes with illegal wiretapping, the ICE statement read. "As this removal makes clear, ICE is working closely with its foreign counterparts to promote public safety and hold criminals accountable," said Marc Moore, the Miami director of the office that handles removals. Colombian courts want Ariza for his alleged responsibility in the psychological torture of journalist Claudia Juliete Duque and her underage daughter. The journalist, who had to be protected by bodyguards until she sought refuge in Spain, has accused the DAS of spying on her between 2001 and 2008, and threatening to murder her and rape her daughter when she was 10. The origin of the harassment: Duque`s investigation of the murder of journalist and humorist Jaime Garzon in 1999, in which he denounced DAS involvement in crime. The DAS, reporting to the president`s office, was involved under Alvaro Uribe`s government in scandals for infiltration of paramilitary militias and illegal wiretapping of Supreme Court justices, opponents and journalists investigating these links. Amid all the scandals, the intelligence agency was dissolved by the current president, Juan Manuel Santos, in 2011. Geneva: UN chief Antonio Guterres urged countries on Tuesday to pitch in to help prevent a looming famine in war-torn Yemen, warning that children especially were already dying at an alarming rate. "Yemen today is experiencing a tragedy of immense proportions," the UN Secretary General told country representatives gathered in Geneva for an aid pledging conference. "We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation," he said, adding that Yemen is gripped by "the world's largest hunger crisis". Appealing to donors, he stressed that "a famine can be prevented if we act quickly and commit to funding crucial life-saving assistance". The conference, co-hosted by the Swiss and Swedish foreign ministers, comes after the UN in February said Yemen needed USD 2.1 billion (1.9 billion euros) of aid this year alone. The UN had warned that unless international donors stepped up their response the war-torn country faced a "serious risk of famine". By today, only 15 per cent of that appeal had been funded, Guterres said. UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien told the conference that Yemen was "the world's largest humanitarian crisis today." A total of 17 million people, or around 60 percent of its population, are going hungry, while seven million of them do not know where their next meal is coming from and need immediate food aid, the UN said. Children especially are bearing the brunt of the crisis. "On average, a child under the age of five dies of preventable causes in Yemen every 10 minutes," Guterres said. "This means 50 children in Yemen will die during today's conference, and all those deaths could have been prevented." Many of the children who survive "will be affected by stunting and poor health for their entire lives," he added. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom noted that with two million children out of school, there is a growing risk of recruitment by armed groups, while two-thirds of girls are married off before the age of 18. "We must act now", she said. Yemen's war has pitted pro-government forces against Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies, renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to help the government retake the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country's north and west. Fighting in Yemen has killed more than 7,700 people over the past two years and forced 3.3 million people to flee their homes, according to UN numbers. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. To live and continue to create, be stronger and fight for justice these are the words that accurately describe Lerna Balikci the sister of Sevag Balikci, the ethnic Armenian soldier of the Turkish Army who was killed on April 24 in 2011. Lerna has relocated to Armenia for already one and a half years. Lerna, who lives in Yerevan with her Istanbul-Armenian husband and their 4 year old boy, says they should have made the decision on coming to Armenia long time ago. It is time for Istanbul-Armenians to come to Armenia Lerna says in Armenian. She has learnt Armenian after arriving to Armenia. My parents are in Istanbul, because Sevag is there.. Speaking on her decision to come to Istanbul, Lerna told ARMENPRESS the absence of any progress in her brothers murder trial forced her to leave the country. I have a little boy, I wouldnt like him to grow up in such unlawfulness, thats why I decided to move. My husband wanted to relocate the most. He traveled here for a few times and eventually told me Lerna, we cannot live here anymore, all of this can end badly. Of course, I wanted to stay there, because Sevag is there, I wanted to live despite everything, however I was very anxious, especially for my child. You never know what can happen, I am especially scared from explosions..Six years ago someone left our house and never came back. I was scared that someday the same can happen to my son. Thats why I said we must go to Armenia. I had to come earlier, that was my mistake Lerna said. Sevags and Lernas parents refused to leave Turkey, they remain in Istanbul. My parents are there, because Sevag is there. Regardless of everything, a part of me remains there too, Lerna said. Sevag is buried, while his murderer remains free.. Sevags murders court proceedings are continuing for six years already, without any result, while the killer hasnt spent even one single day in jail. The case has been transferred to a civilian court from the initial military court after a state of emergency was imposed in Turkey. Lerna says in the current messy situation in Turkey it is difficult to understand what result the trial will have. Its been already six years, it would be a wonder if a fair result happens Lerna said smilingly, however her smile momentarily turned into sorrow, realizing nothing will bring back her brother. What should happen after it Sevag wont return any more..We came here for him, we opened a cafe. He really wanted to do this kind of thing after returning from the Army. Now, by cooking his favorite meals my soul gets calmer a bit. But Sevag isnt here to try them.., she said. Lerna is convinced that holding her brothers killer accountable for will to some degree bring closure to their family. Millions, even billions of compensations cant return Sevag. The murdered must be jailed. Impunity will be the reason for new crimes, she said. Lerna and her familys life has changed a lot after Sevags murder. That man changed our lives, however his life continues the same way today. This is especially painful for me. For six years we entered the courtroom through the same door with the murderer. He was sitting next to me. I was staring at his hands, asking in my thoughts how could he have done such thingonly 20 days were left for Sevag to return from the Army.how could you do it..I will never forget and until now I still get goose-bumps when I remember how the murderer was leaving the court, while me and my mother were looking at him from behind Sevag was buried, while his murderer was free, Lerna said, trying to hide her teary eyes. She is convinced that the murder was a premeditated act, otherwise how can it be explained that it happened on April 24 a day which the entire world knows as the Armenian Genocide commemoration day. The family doesnt celebrate any holiday after her brothers death. It was only this year when they celebrated Easter, which, according to Lerna, was for her son Odin, they colored Easter eggs for the child. She says not for a moment has she regretted her decision. They have been welcomed well in Armenia. She mentioned how warmly they were greeted in shops and markets. And because of their accent, people thought they were Syrian-Armenians. True, now there are many Syrian-Armenians in Armenia, however now it is the time for Istanbul-Armenians to come, she said. She regrets she didnt come to Armenia earlier. Whatever happens, Istanbul-Armenians must have a plan B towards Armenia or anywhere else, but it has to be. Everything happened to us in one day. We thought we were living well, however all changed in one day, the day Sevag was murdered..Something which we never thought would happen, happened..Whereas all of this had happened to us 100 years ago, however we forgot or perhaps didnt want to remember it, Lerna said. We must continue the struggle, my parents in Turkey, and myself in Armenia. Every year Sevag is being honored on April 24 in Istanbuls Sisli cemetery. On April 24 I am here alone, my parents are in Istanbul, with Sevag. I too would like to be there, but perhaps my struggle must be continued here. I have to be strong, for Sevag, for my son.., Lerna said. On April 23, Lerna was following the torchlight procession in Yerevan with tears in her eyes. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. MEP Frank Engel (Luxembourg) wishes that regardless of who will be the President of France, he/she will use the opportunity that France is an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing country and will make proposals over the negotiation process. If there must be a progress, and all sides will accept it which can happen thanks to the Co-Chairs, they need to do something in this case. As of the moment I dont see anything more. I dont see major engagement either from the US, Russia or France, in other words, no one acts. I hope France will come to a conclusion that it must definitely play more active role in this context, and its not necessary that this must be done with an approach very close to the Armenian side, he told Armenpress. On April 23 Emmanuel Macron won the first round of French presidential election with 23.75% of votes. National Front party leader Marine Le Pen received 21.53% of votes, becoming the second candidate who passed the required threshold for the second round. The second round of the presidential election will be held on May 7. The 25th President of France will be elected based on the May 7 results. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. On April 24, the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a rally was held in front of the Turkish Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Prensa Armenia reported. More than 100 years later, the Turkish state continues to run with impunity, implementing a negationist plan as a state policy. Unlike countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan, Argentina is a pioneer in the world in the field of human rights, said in the statement of the Armenian community's youth organizations. Our message is against this Embassy that represents a genocidal and negationist state that does not change and that continues to sharpen its position as an intolerant and authoritarian state, Garo Seferian, president of the Armenian Youth Federation of South America, one of the organizers of the rally, said. Before the rally, a mass was delivered in the Cathedral San Gregorio the Illuminator that was attended by Vice President of Argentina Gabriela Michetti. Remembering the Armenian Genocide today helps us to never let this type of atrocities happen again in the history of humanity, Gabriela Michetti said. When we speak of genocide we are talking about an attack on humanity, she said, who then read a poem by William Saroyan. Michetti recalled that Argentina recognized the Genocide in 2007 by Law. A commemorative event was also held in Montevideo, Uruguay. That genocide was painful so much so that it continues to hit us today in our feelings, Deputy Alberto Asseff said. Mufti discussed the security situation in the Valley with the top brass of the Army, police, paramilitary personnel and other security agencies. Exercise maximum restraint in dealing with protests, she asked security forces. By Shuja-ul-Haq , Ashraf Wani: In the wake of the unrest simmering in the Valley, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today chaired a meeting of the Unified Headquarters, a multi-agency security body in Srinagar. In the high-level meeting, Mufti discussed the security situation in the Valley with the top brass of the Army, police, paramilitary personnel and other security agencies. advertisement The chief minister directed security agencies to undertake youth counselling sessions and ensure that there was no collateral damage while dealing with the law and order situation and asked them to exercise maximum restraint in dealing with protests. WHY COUNSELLING SESSIONS Holding counselling sessions for youth would not only help allay their apprehensions and misgivings about the system but also give the security agencies a chance to reach out to people through community policing, she said. Mufti asked the forces to ensure that people found involved in harassing a community or a section of society in the name of a social cause were brought to book. Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, Chief Secretary BR Sharma, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister B B Vyas, Principal Secretary (Home) RK Goyal, Director General of Police Dr. Sheesh Pal Vaid, GoC in C of Northern Command Liutenant General Devraj Anbu, corps commanders of various Army Formations operating in the state, Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu, senior officers of CRPF, BSF and J and K police were present in the meeting. The multi-agency meeting was held with the rank and file of the security establishment, a day after Mehbooba met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi. SECURITY AGENCIES MUST EXERCISE RESTRAINT: MUFTI The chief minister directed the security agencies to exercise restraint while dealing with provocative situations. She added wherever restraint was exercised, it showed positive results on the ground for the Government and helped in maintaining peace and order. She directed that care should be taken to avoid and minimise all collateral damage while conducting operations. There has been a spurt in tension in Kashmir since the bypoll for Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency was held on April 9. CLASHES IN VALLEY TAKING PLACE REGULARLY SINCE KASHMIR BYPOLL Nine people were killed in firing as security forces tried to quell the protests. Several clashes have been reported from across the Valley since then almost everyday. A video showing a group of CRPF jawans being heckled by Kashmiri youths on April 9 went viral. While the security forces were praised for exercising restraint in this case, another video that brought embarrassment to the Army showed a man tied to an Army jeep as a 'human shield'. advertisement Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has pitched for dialogue with all stakeholders to normalise the situation in the state. Many experts believe this resentment on the ground by Kashmiri youths is a reflection of the inaction both by the state and the Centre to politically address their concerns. Also read | Yashwant Sinha blames Kashmir unrest on BJP-PDP alliance agenda not being implemented in 2 years Also read | Mehbooba Mufti meets PM Narendra Modi over Jammu and Kashmir unrest Also read | Jammu and Kashmir unrest: Centre in no mood to talk with separatists, to go after top terror commanders WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. 50.641 females having driving license are registered in Armenia, the Police told Armenpress. According to the data of the Planning, Registration and Analysis Division of the Traffic Police, 9.768 women received driving licenses in 2016. Karine Stepanyan - 1st class specialist of the Accreditation and Licensing Agency at the Ministry of Emergency Situations, who is also a driver, says women drivers are more vigilant and cautious. I think that any woman driver, even though she is not a master, is at least cautious since there is maternal instinct in her, but male drivers are mainly in competition with the remaining male drivers and they are not yielding, Stepanyan said. 3202 traffic accidents with wounds and deaths has been registered in Armenia in 2016, however, only in 44 accidents female drivers were involved, in 2 cases the drivers died. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. While on a three-day official visit in Armenia, Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims on April 25, reports Armenpress. He was accompanied by Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian. Hamid Ansari laid a wreath at the Memorial, placed flowers at the Eternal Flame and paid tribute to the Genocide victims with a moment of silence. This is a tragedy, an indescribable things done to humans by humans, he said. M. Hamid Ansari also visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, got acquainted with the documents and exhibits on the Genocide. He left a note in the Honorary Guest Book: This memorial stands as a solemn testimony to the Armenians who suffered grave violence. It is only through the values of non-violence, tolerance and acceptance that we can hope to build a peaceful and harmonious future. Thereafter, Indias Vice President planted a tree in the Memorial Park. M. Hamid Ansari arrived in Armenia on April 24 on a three-day official visit. During the visit he will have meetings with President Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. He will also have a meeting with the faculty and students of the Yerevan State University, as well as will visit the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts Matenadaran. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. The export from Armenia to the Czech Republic has been sharply increased, Armenias Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Czech Republic and Slovakia Tigran Seyranyan told Armenpress. He said the Armenian Embassy always presents new investment programs to the Czech business circles. According to the Ambassador, the bilateral trade turnover volume between Armenia and the Czech Republic is not in accordance with the opportunities. According to the foreign trade data of the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the trade turnover volume comprised 17.267 million USD, whereas, based on the data of the Czech statistical service, it was 24.338 million USD in 2016. Such data difference probably is linked with the difference in calculation methodology. The important thing is that based on the Czech data, the volumes in the first two months of 2017 surpass the volumes of the previous year by almost 30%.The export from Armenia has been sharply increased. The Armenian brandy is actively sold in the Czech market, aluminum plate, wine and canned foods are being imported, the Ambassador said. Tigran Seyranyan said the cooperation in the fields of mechanical engineering, waste management, energy, agriculture, food industry has a great potential. I think the investment proposals directed to the EAEU, as well as the Iranian market of 80 million have significant prospects. There is a certain interest also towards the programs on creating the Armenian-Iranian free economic zone in Syunik province, the Ambassador said. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. The Unity of Georgian-Armenians Compatriot Union will endorse the Republican Party for the upcoming Yerevan City Council election, co-chair of the union RPA lawmaker Tatchat Vardapetyan told reporters. Our preferred Mayoral candidate is Taron Margaryan. We have unanimously decided to vote for him. Perhaps there might be people inside the union who have other political views, but overall the opinions are so similar that they can be labeled as unanimous, he said. The Yerevan City Council election will be held on May 14. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan hosted Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari and the governmental delegation led by him, press service of the Government told Armenpress. PM Karapetayn and M. Hamid Ansari held a private meeting which was followed by an extended format talks. Welcoming the guest in Armenia, the PM expressed confidence his visit will give a new impetus to the bilateral economic cooperation and development. The relations of our peoples have a rich history. Today as well high level mutual understanding and trust are typical of the Armenian-Indian political relations. This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and India. Despite the existing high level political dialogue between our countries, still many works need to be done in the economic cooperation field since there is a great potential for it, the PM said. In order to increase the effectiveness of economic cooperation, Karen Karapetyan proposed to target two fields exchange of technologies and agriculture, at the same time considering it necessary to continue the cooperation in the remaining fields that have a potential. We are ready to ensure necessary conditions for Indian companies to carry out their activity in Armenia. In this context I would like to highlight the Syunik Free Economic Zone which will launch in autumn. Armenias membership to the EAEU and the GSP+ trade regime with the EU will provide an unhindered access to other markets. We propose also to consider the engagement of Indian companies in Meridian jewelry, precious stones and watches free economic zone, the PM said, adding that agriculture as well has a great potential and Armenia is interested in developing the cooperation in this field. In terms of strengthening the economic ties, the PM attached importance to the North-South International Transportation Corridor program, one of the founders of which is India, adding that Armenia initiated a program within this which will enable to carry out multimodal cargo transportations from India to Russia and European countries via Armenia. In his turn, M. Hamid Ansari highlighted the warm, friendly relations of the two states and peoples. At each stage of relations our countries found cooperation goals, ways and what existed in the past will continue in the future as well. Todays world is a world of technologies and we have a growth in terms of adapting to worlds technological demands. India has capacities and is ready to share them with Armenia, including in the fields of engineering, mechanical engineering, information technologies, healthcare, pharmaceutics, agriculture and etc, Indias Vice President said. He also considered attractive the proposal to include the Indian capital in the free economic zones of Armenia, stating that they will inform this to the Indian businessmen. The important thing is that today the Indian business has a capacity and readiness to carry out investments outside India. We will observe and assist so that India and Armenia will reveal new cooperation opportunities in a wider field, he said, expressing readiness to closely cooperate in the fields of agriculture machinery supply and etc. He stated that India is open and ready for fully cooperating with Armenia. The sides also talked about issues related to the possibility on establishing direct air communication, the facilitation of visa regime, holding Armenian-Indian business forum, expanding and deepening the mutual partnership in education and culture fields. Under the presence of Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and Vice President M. Hamid Ansari a number of cooperation documents were signed between the governments of the two states. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. A deep rooted stereotype exists in Turkey regarding the Armenian Genocide issue. The Turkish state has worked in this direction for many years. Elif Selay Ertem, a Turkish citizen based in Germany, who has arrived in Armenia to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims, said for many years generations grew up in falsifications. For 102 years, the state of Turkey has presented on different levels as if no genocide happened. Falsifications were taught to the youth and children in educational institutions. Several generations have no accurate perception what had happened in 1915, Ertem said. Ertem, who is a member of the Union against genocide organization in Germany, mentioned they are raising the truth since 1998, however it is difficult to have progress in a society where such huge deeply rooted stereotype exists. You know, our activity seems like digging the ground with a pin. Meaning, it is very difficult to break this denial policy. Indeed, positive things are few, since 1998 no large numbers of people have joined us, but we believe this fight must be continued, Ertem said. According to Nilgun Kayan from the Union against genocide, Turkey carried out state level brainwashing. The Turkish state has been established based on this fraud, this lie, therefore breaking the stereotype is difficult. Yes, positive trends are few, however in conditions of globalization, Turkey cannot remain isolated, external circumstances might impact the domestic environment. After all, not only Turks are in Turkey, there are many other ethnicities and changes are possible with external support, he said. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. Norwegian foreign policy tends to be extremely careful, however, considering the political developments in Turkey it is possible Norway will change its stance on the Armenian Genocide, Norwegian historian Carl Emil Vogt said in an interview with Armenpress who is convinced that Norway should name the organized murder of Armenians what it really was: a genocide. -As a scientist, you have deeply studied the life and activity of great Norwegian humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, you published a book about him. Which episode on his activity or memories related with Armenians mostly impressed you? -When it comes to Fridtjof Nansen, I am always impressed by his ability to relate to people he met on his expeditions. He visited Armenia in 1925 as head of the League of Nations fact-finding commission to investigate possibilities to settle 50 000 Armenian refugees in the Soviet Republic of Armenia. Then he met with villagers who told him of the cruel atrocities they had suffered. Nansen's reaction was strong. He wrote: "Has any people in any part of the world suffered like this one has done? And to what end? To be deserted and betrayed at last by those who gave it such precious and binding promises in the sacred name of justice?" -Norway till now refuses to recognize the Armenian Genocide. How would you explain your countrys such stance? -Norway has refused to recognize the Armenian Genocide. This has obviously to do with the Norwegian membership in NATO where Turkey is an important member. I am of course of the opinion that Norway should name the organized murder of Armenians what it really was: a genocide. It is possible that the political development in Turkey in the nearest future will make this easier for a new Norwegian government. But I doubt it, unfortunately. Norwegian foreign policy tends to be extremely careful, to put it politely. -Although more than a century has passed since the first Genocide of the 20th century, today as well new groups of people from different parts of the world are being killed for religious, ethnic or national belonging. As a historian, how would you comment on the phenomenon of repetition of such events in different periods of the history? -The repetition of genocides or crimes against humanity is sad. Lately we have seen the so-called Islamic State attempts to eradicate the entire Yazidi population. I would say that we have to work steady and hard that such mass-killings should never ever occur on a large scale again. The term genocide is however less used in international law now, it is easier to persecute perpetrators for "crimes against humanity". Maybe this is something to reflect upon for Armenians as well? I reiterate of course that I strongly support the use of the term the Armenian Genocide. -Are you preparing a new work that will have a reference also to Armenians? -Unfortunately I am not preparing a new work with reference to Armenians now. At the time I work on a book on the fate of the very small Norwegian Roma minority (formerly called gypsies), many of whom died in Auschwitz during World War II. That so many Norwegian Roma died during the Holocaust is not well known in Norway. The survivors were not let into Norway until 1956 when they had their passports back. This is not a proud story for Norway. I do this work together with historians Lars Lien, Jan Brustad and Maria Rosvoll, my colleagues at the Norwegian Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Oslo. -During your research have you made any discovery or revealed an exclusive episode that you can share with the Armenian reader and which can have a unique impact on the international recognition of the Genocide? -I must say I have not discovered anything that can really have an impact on the international recognition of the Genocide. But I strongly think that everybody should study the personal life and academic work of the man Raphael Lemkin who coined the term genocide. It was a reaction to the fact that there was a word for the crime of killing a human being, but not a word for killing one million people - no one was even tried for it in court. The reason why he became interested in this was the Armenian Genocide. He also later more or less personally convinced the member states and the Secretariat of the United Nations to engage in these atrocities. He himself wrote the UN Genocide Convention. -I know that you visited Armenia in 1999 and were greatly impressed that Fridtjof Nansen is remembered in Armenia, his memory is respected in our country. Do you plan to visit Armenia in near future? -Yes, I loved my visit to Armenia, a beautiful country, so rich in history, culture and nature. I was really impressed by how Armenians preserve the memory of Fridtjof Nansen. I have no definite plans to visit Armenia, but I would love to go there one more. As my grandfather, the linguist Hans Vogt, was a specialist of Caucasian languages and read old Armenian, I also have plans to visit neighboring Georgia. Perhaps I would do a trip in Nansen's footsteps. After all "Through the Caucasus to the Volga" was the title of his book published in English one year after Nansen's death in 1930. Interview by Araks Kasyan YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on April 25 hosted Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari and the delegation led by him, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress. President Sargsyan welcomed the guests in Armenia, expressing hope that the official visit of the Vice President will give a new impetus to the Armenian-Indian centuries-old friendship. Speaking about the Armenian-Indian historical ties, the President said the Armenian communities formed in India in late 17-19th centuries played an active role in the countrys public, political, economic and cultural life. Both officials agreed that the Armenian-Indian relations are a firm base for strengthening the inter-state ties, as well as expanding the cooperation agenda in different fields. Serzh Sargsyan and M. Hamid Ansari attached importance to high-level mutual visits and active contacts at various levels, including also between the legislative bodies of the two countries. Indias Vice President conveyed Serzh Sargsyan the message of President of India Pranab Mukherjee where he invites Armenias President to India on an official visit to discuss the Armenian-Indian cooperation agenda and the possibilities and prospects to deepen the relations. In addition to bilateral ties, they also discussed the situation in the region, the existing threats, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process, as well as other international issues. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenias delegation led by President of the Investigative Committee Aghvan Hovsepyan will pay a working visit to St. Petersburg on April 25 to take part in the first joint session of the board of the Investigative Committees of Armenia, Belarus and Russia, the Committee told Armenpress. During the trilateral board session, a wide range of issues related to the legal cooperation and exchange of experience will be discussed. The Armenian side will deliver speech at the session. YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. Criminal case has been initiated against A. Janjughazyan for the murder of 21-year old Dmitry Yalpatev, Russian serviceman of 102 military base in Gyumri, on April 25 based on the evidences gathered by the Special Investigation Service of Armenia. A. Janjughazyan is arrested, the Investigative Committee of Armenia informed Armenpress. The murder happened on April 22 at about 17:00 in Gyumris Dudkoy 4 near Argo market. The criminal stabbed Dmitry Yalpatev 8 times in the neck, shoulder and head who died as a result of the injuries. The accused was interrogated and gave testimony about the incident. The preliminary investigation shows the accused has some problems with mental health. Particularly, during his army service, in November 2016, he committed self-harming for several times and was taken to the v department of Yerevans military hospital, where partial insanity was diagnosed and he was recognized unfit for military service. Preliminary investigation is underway. Chief minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao is in a hurry. On a sweltering Sunday, April 16, the Telangana legislature sat for the whole day and made history of sorts by increasing the reservations for Muslims in the state from four to 12 per cent, and for Scheduled Tribes from six to 10 per cent. In another unprecedented decision, just three days earlier, on April 13, he took even his cabinet colleagues by surprise by announcing that farmers in the state will be provided fertiliser at state expense from the next kharif. All 5.5 million farmers in the state, both big and small, will get Rs 4,000 an acre annually for purchase of fertilisers from the next financial year. It is apparently one of the most radical measures ushered in since Independence for the farming sector. Of course, it will cost the state about Rs 6,000 crore a year. advertisement Earlier, on April 11, fulfilling a key pre-poll promise, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government released Rs 4,000 crore as the final instalment of the Rs 16, 374 crore crop loan waiver scheme benefitting over 3.6 million farmers. "The slew of measures, including fertiliser grant, loan waiver, quality power supply and improved water sources will lead to sustainable farming in the state," says state agriculture minister P. Srinivas Reddy. That the TRS, at its biennial plenary session in Hyderabad on April 21, will renew its faith in KCR as chief minister and party president is a given. It's also likely that greater responsibilities will be assigned to his son, K.T. Rama Rao, the state's municipal administration and information technology minister. KCR is clearly positioning himself as the saviour of Telangana, embellishing the status he enjoys as the founding father of the fledgling state and possibly positioning KTR (as his son is known) for the driver's seat. That KTR is bracing for a larger role, perhaps as working president, has been evident in recent weeks with him doing the rounds of the districts extensively. "Why can't Muslims have reservations?" asks a belligerent KCR. "Are they sinners? Don't they pay taxes? Are they not citizens of India? I am not going to beg the Centre (for assent). I am going to fight for it, if required. If the Centre does not come forward (to facilitate assent for the Bill), we will raise the issue in Parliament," he declared during the debate on the bill in the legislative assembly. Incidentally, with this move, KCR has somewhat stolen the thunder from a similar plan the BJP has with the constitution of the new look OBC commission. It too will grant reservations to economically backward Muslims. Coincidentally, on the day the Telangana assembly passed the bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking at the BJP national executive meeting in Bhubaneswar about Muslims in backward regions benefitting from the commission (which the party has resolved to accord constitutional status). However, the new reservation law presents its own hurdles for Telangana. With the proposed increase, the overall reservation quota would rise to 62 per cent violating the Supreme Court's cap of 50 per cent. The state BJP, the only party opposing the move, has protested vociferously both inside the legislative assembly and statewide, calling the move "unconstitutional" and "reservation on the basis of religion". The Congress and the TDP, while supporting the bill, have dismissed it as a political ploy. advertisement Unfazed, KCR argues that the quota hike fulfills a poll promise. As he anticipates, it is likely to face challenges from the Centre and the courts. There's also a lot riding on the fate of the case over Tamil Nadu's reservation policy (standing at 69 per cent), which is now before the Supreme Court. Any which way, it's a win-win for KCR. If it gets stalled at some stage either by the Centre or the courts or both, he can always blame them and take the kudos from the voters. Whatever the impact, the TRS supremo is hoping the quota hike and the slew of other sops will ensure the party a second term in power. Telangana's farmers use about 26 million tonnes of fertiliser a year and bearing that cost will go a long way in mitigating the plight of farmers. KCR has already announced another major subsidy to farmers in supplying power free of cost to the lift irrigation projects being commissioned in the state. This involves a subsidy, as the chief minister admits, of anotherRs 12,000 crore. advertisement In effect, subsidies will account for a fourth of the 2017-18 state budget, most of it as direct benefit transfer schemes. Mandarins of the state finance department are already at their wits' end on how to manage the state's finances from next year. By the end of 2017-18, the total debt burden of Rs 1.4 lakh crore will be almost as much as the state budget. The state government is reworking agreements with banks and financial institutions on repayment of debt and interest after two years when its current term ends in 2019. The pressure to come good on its poll promises is increasingly being felt by the TRS. KCR drives policy personally, holding review meetings of one or more departments every day to take stock of the progress. "The chief minister is just 64 now, younger than many. He is very aggressive; when he wants to do something for Telangana, he will do it. The state needs such an aggressive CM," says KTR. He rules out any plans for early polls, claiming that "the TRS is confident of coming to power not only in 2019, but after that too". Following the reorganisation of the districts (up from 10 to 31) last Dussehra, the TRS is now focusing on officials to deliver. KCR plans to set up District Knowledge and Information Centres manned by an officer who analyses data and can offer innovative solutions, and work with the district collector and officials of concerned departments. "The onus will now be on officials heading district-level departments to achieve the objectives at the field level," says policy affairs advisor B.V. Papa Rao. "They will be encouraged to study data and focus on areas where it is wanting so that human development index parameters in the district can be improved steadily." advertisement The TRS is also revving up the party machine by adopting novel ways to mobilise funds. In the run-up to the April 21 party plenary and the Foundation Day rally in Warangal (April 27), leaders have been essaying different roles to raise funds through token sales and labour. So irrigation minister T. Harish Rao raised about Rs 8 lakh selling tea and vegetables in Siddipet district and KTR raised around Rs 7.5 lakh working as a juice maker at a hotel in Hyderabad near the plenary venue. Hindu religious endowments minister A. Indrakiran Reddy made Rs 6.11 lakh working at a hospital, rice mill and shopping mall in Nirmal district. Predictably, rival parties are not impressed. "KCR is treating the state as his fiefdom and is not sincere about the promises he makes, particularly the increase in the reservations quota," says the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy. KTR is dismissive of such talk. "Bangaru (golden) Telangana will be a reality only if the Congress is buried alive," he says. And it will be KTR himself who will most likely lead the charge to make the last promise a reality. The chief minister, who created smaller districts for the sake of administrative convenience, has decided to do away with the practice of appointing district committees. The party will appoint committees in each assembly constituency led by the respective MLA to look after party affairs. This is consistent with an earlier out-of-the-box initiative of KCR to build an office-cum-residence for MLAs at state expense, all done to cut the district satraps down to size. Given his master strategist reputation, KCR is already covering all the bases in the run-up to the next elections. --- ENDS --- YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. It was decided to examine the corruption cases linked with Azerbaijan during the PACE plenary session of April 25, Armenpress reports Azerbaijani azadliq.info informs. A group comprised of 3 independent experts will be set to investigate the cases of bribing some PACE representatives by the Azerbaijani government. According to the accusations a number of PACE or former representatives were bribed by the Azerbaijani government in 2013 in order to vote against a PACE resolution on political prisoners. Some media reports on this incident emerged a little later, after which PACE started to deal with this issue. In March 2017 Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland sent a letter to PACE President Pedro Agramunt urging to examine the announcement of the PACE parliamentarians about corruption cases. In the upcoming days the court session of Luca Volonte, former vice president of the PACE, against whom the Police and Prosecution of Milan filed a criminal case. He is accused of taking 2.9 million USD bribery from Azerbaijan in 2012-2013. YEREVAN, 26 APRIL, ARMENPRESS: The Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic approved on Tuesday, April 25, a resolution, condemning the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Turkey. The legislation condemns atrocities and massacres of Armenians and other religious and national minorities in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, as well as Nazi war crimes. The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic condemns the crimes against humanity carried out by the Nazis during the Second World War on the Jewish, Roma and Slavic populations in the controlled territories, the genocide of Armenians and other national and religious minorities in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, reads the resolution, which passed with 104 votes. The resolution was proposed by MP Robin Bonisch from the CSSD. LVMH says it wants to take full control of Dior, one of the most emblematic brands worldwide The world's top luxury company LVMH said Tuesday it plans take full control of Christian Dior in order to harness the "high growth potential" of "one of the world's most iconic brands," whose sales have doubled over the past five years. LVMH, which already owns Christian Dior perfumes, said in a statement it had now agreed to buy Christian Dior Couture -- the leatherware, Haute Couture, ready-to-wear, jewellery and shoes businesses -- for 6.5 billion euros ($7.0 billion). The announcement sent LVMH shares soaring on the Paris stock exchange, where they jumped by around three percent in a generally flat market. At the same time, the Arnault family who own 74 percent of the holding company, Christian Dior SA, would "demonstrate their commitment" by acquiring the remaining 26 percent, LVMH said. That would streamline the current shareholder structure and help unlock synergies, LVMH finance chief Jean-Jacques Guiony told a telephone news conference. Set up 70 years ago, Christian Dior Couture "is one of the most iconic brands worldwide", LVMH said. It sells its range of goods "almost exclusively" in 198 luxury boutiques around the world. Sales have doubled over the past five years and, last year, revenues amounted to more than two billion euros, while underlying or operating profit totalled 270 million euros. At present, Christian Dior Couture is wholly owned by Christian Dior SA. By making it a wholly-owned subsidiary, LVMH would be able to unlock its "high growth potential," it said. The deal "will allow LVMH to incorporate one of the most emblematic brands worldwide. It will allow for the regrouping of Christian Dior Couture and Parfums Christian Dior brands," the statement continued. - 'Source of growth' - "On the strength of its history and favorable prospects, Christian Dior Couture will be a source of growth for LVMH," it said. "The development of Christian Dior Couture will be notably supported over the coming years by a new creative momentum and significant investments already completed, notably in America, China and Japan." Story continues In its part of the two-fold deal, the Arnault Family Group would launch a public takeover offer to purchase the shares in Christian Dior SA it did not already own. The bid will take the form of a cash offer of 172 euros per share, plus 0.192 shares in Hermes International, valuing the each share at 260 euros, the statement said. That represented a premium of 14.7 percent over the closing share price on Monday and a premium of 18.6 percent over the average share price during the past month. The boards of directors of Christian Dior and LVMH were "unanimously favourable" to the plans, LVMH said. "This project represents an important milestone for the group," said LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault. "The corresponding transactions will allow the simplification of the structures, long requested by the market, and the strengthening of LVMH's Fashion and Leather Goods division. They illustrate the commitment of my family group and emphasize its confidence in the long-term perspectives of LVMH and its brands." Analysts also hailed the long-awaited deal. "We see a number of positives," said Exane BNP Paribas analyst, Luca Solca. "It adds a strong brand to the LVMH portfolio at a reasonable valuation and on an accretive basis and it reduces the risk of LVMH potentially buying 'trophy assets'" which would dilute returns on capital, the expert said. "The operation is being viewed positively by the markets," because it will increase the theoretical value of the share, Daniel Larrouturou of Diamant Bleu Gestion told AFP. Canada exported a record Can$36.1 billion worth of goods to the United States in April, mostly cars, natural gas and softwood lumber Trade tensions spiked between Washington and Ottawa on Tuesday as President Donald Trump accused Canada of being "very rough" on America and threatened to retaliate against restrictions on US dairy products. Trump also touted his administration's surprise decision late Monday to rekindle an old trade conflict with America's second-largest trading partner by slapping new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber. "People don't realize, Canada has been very rough on the United States. Everyone thinks of Canada of being nice but they've outsmarted our politicians for many years," Trump told a group of farmers at the White House. He said Canada was hurting American dairy farmers near the border, from Wisconsin to New York, by blocking dairy exports "and we're not going to put up with it." Trump's aggressive comments echoed a tweet he sent earlier in the day, just hours after the Commerce Department announced it was imposing tariffs of up to 24 percent on Canadian softwood lumber, which it says is improperly subsidized. - Trump-Trudeau call - Addressing reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the twin disputes underline the problems with the North American Free Trade Agreement linking the United States with Canada and Mexico, which Trump has vowed to renegotiate. "If NAFTA were functioning properly, you wouldn't be having these kinds of very prickly and unfortunate events back to back," Ross said. "They are generally a good neighbor. That doesn't mean they don't have to play by the rules." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the unexpected burst of tough rhetoric by vowing his government would be "very firm in defending Canada's interests." But Trudeau also said his officials "will work constructively together" with the United States to find a solution. The prime minister telephoned Trump late Tuesday to underscore that the US take on softwood lumber was "baseless." Trudeau "refuted the baseless allegations by the US Department of Commerce and the decision to impose unfair duties," his office said. Story continues Trump's White House acknowledged the two leaders discussed Canadian lumber and the dairy trade in the US state of Wisconsin. "It was a very amicable call," a statement said. The softwood lumber dispute between Washington and Ottawa has also seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years, with US producers accusing their Canadian counterparts of exporting lumber at subsidized prices, harming American businesses. The wood is a major part of the massive US construction and home-building industry -- an economic bellwether. Most US homes are made with wood framing and some entirely of wood. In the long-standing dispute, the Commerce Department announced late Monday that after talks with Ottawa failed to yield an agreement, it would impose duties of between three and 24 percent on softwood lumber, used for flooring, siding and other building products. Ross justified the duties by saying Canadian firms "charge a subsidized low price when the products hit the US border." The US Commerce Department said it will conduct a thorough investigation and confirm its position on the lumber tariffs by September 27. If confirmed, the tariffs would then have to be approved by the US International Trade Commission. - Dairy dilemma - Canada's dairy sector is protected by tariffs on imports and controls on domestic production as a way to support prices for the country's farmers. The latest row was triggered when Canada extended those policies to apply to ultrafiltered milk, a product used in cheese production and at the center of a thriving US export business. The US Dairy Export Council said the extension "blatantly blocks American dairy exports" and urged Trump to "take immediate action" to protect dozens of US farmers. While no other immediate retaliation was planned against Ottawa, Ross said Washington was looking into measures to "correct" what it says is an effective block on a new class of US dairy exports. "The problem with dairy isn't that they're dumping dairy products in the US. The problem is worse. They are prohibiting US dairy producers from selling their products in Canada," Ross said. Trudeau told Trump -- whose country is favored in bilateral dairy trade -- "that Canada upholds its international trade obligations, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which the US continues to have duty-free and quota-free access for milk protein substances, including diafiltered milk, and that Canada would continue to defend its interests." Canada imports over $550 million of US dairy products annually. It exports $110 million to the US market, Canadian data show. Canada exported a record Can$36.1 billion worth of goods to the United States in April, mostly cars, natural gas and softwood lumber Trade tensions between the United States and Canada ramped up Tuesday after US President Donald Trump threatened to retaliate against the US neighbor for additional restrictions it imposed on US dairy products, hours after Washington rekindled an old trade conflict by slapping new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber. "Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!" Trump declared on Twitter. It was another in the administration's aggressive shots at close trading partners, and came not long after the US Commerce Department announced it was imposing tariffs of as much as 24 percent on Canadian softwood lumber, which it says is improperly subsidized. The US Dairy Export Council said Canada's new national pricing policy for milk "blatantly blocks American dairy exports," and is forcing dozens of dairy farmers to find new customers by May 1. The group urged Trump to "take immediate action." The new pricing policies were extended to apply to ultrafiltered milk, which is used in cheese production, and "will enable significant dumping of Canadian dairy products onto the world market," the group said in a recent statement. In its annual report on trade issues last month, the office of the US Trade Representative said it remained concerned about Canada's supply management system for dairy products and the possibility of additional limits on US exports. It said it "continues to monitor closely any tariff reclassifications of dairy products to ensure that US market access is not negatively affected." - 'Unfair and punitive' - In the long-standing lumber dispute, the Commerce Department announced late Monday that after talks failed to yield an agreement, it would impose "countervailing duties" of between three and 24 percent on softwood lumber, used for flooring, siding and other products. Officials in Canada, the second most important US trading partner, rejected claims of subsidies. Story continues "Canada disagrees strongly with the US Department of Commerce's decision to impose an unfair and punitive duty. The accusations are baseless and unfounded," Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said in a statement. Canada "will vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood lumber industry, including through litigation," it said, adding that it has prevailed in international tribunals on the issue since 1983. The softwood lumber dispute between Washington and Ottawa has seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years, with US producers accusing their Canadian counterparts of exporting lumber at subsidized prices, harming American businesses. The Commerce Department said softwood lumber imports from Canada last year totaled $5.66 billion. The US is British Columbia's largest market for the wood products, with $4.6 billion in softwood lumber exported from the province last year. Producers north of the border reacted furiously to the ruling. "These duties are unwarranted, and this determination is completely without merit," said Susan Yurkovich, president of the British Columbia Lumber Trade Council. "The allegations made by the US lumber lobby are the same arguments they made in prior rounds of litigation, all of which were rejected and overturned by independent NAFTA panels," she said, calling US interests "protectionist" looking "to create artificial supply constraints on lumber and drive prices up." - 'Bad week' - "It has been a bad week for US-Canada trade relations," US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement late Monday night. On April 17 "it became apparent that Canada intends to effectively cut off the last dairy products being exported from the United States," he said, and Monday the department "determined a need to impose countervailing duties of roughly $1 billion on Canadian softwood lumber exports to us. "This is not our idea of a properly functioning Free Trade Agreement," Ross said, adding that he "tried to negotiate a settlement but we were unable." The Commerce Department said it will conduct a thorough investigation and confirm its position on the lumber tariffs by September 27. If confirmed, the tariffs would then have to be approved by the US International Trade Commission. The Canadian officials said Ottawa "has put forward a number of reasonable proposals to the current US administration that is responsive to views expressed by US industry." "We remain confident that a negotiated settlement is not only possible but in the best interests of both countries." Canada, Mexico and the United States are part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, Canadian softwood exports are regulated under a bilateral agreement reached in 2006, which expired in 2015. President Donald Trump, who took office in January, spent much of his campaign blasting the NAFTA agreement and stating that he would renegotiate it to get a better deal. TV LANDViewers of The Island With Bear Grylls are used to seeing unusual creatures visiting the cast members of the reality series, but Mondays episode left many a little shocked by the latest item to wash up on the beach. People were a bit taken aback by a shot of a hermit crab hanging out next to a black dildo on the sandy beach, and took to social media to make sure they were actually seeing what they thought they were seeing. Rem ... have I gone mental or is there a black dildo in the background of #TheIsland posted one fan, while another queried, Did anyone else spot the crab casually taking a stroll on the beach next to this big dildo? #TheIsland. Twitter was abuzz with fans of the show wondering how the dildo casually washed up on the beach, while actual cast mates were just as confused, with one proclaiming, Its amazing what you find on the beach. Reps with Channel 4, the producer of the show, confirmed to news outlets that it was in fact a real dildo that did in fact really wash up on the shore. The Island With Bear Grylls is a reality-based show where a group of British men and women are taken by Gryllsan adventurer and TV actor and producerto a remote, uninhabited Pacific Island and left completely alone for six weeks, with nothing but cameras, the clothes they are wearing and some basic tools. The British show is currently in its fourth season. Northwich-based business Roberts Bakerys logistics co-ordinator Mike Dutton has retired following a 53-year career at the firm. Leaving the company at 71 years old, Dutton joined Roberts Bakery at the age of 16 as part of the vans sales team and has undertaken roles as a wholesale supervisor, dispatch manager and morning goods manager. Dutton said he was looking forward to a well-earned retirement. Ive been really lucky to work with some fantastic people and have enjoyed my time at Roberts, Dutton said. Its a real family business that looks after people, which is rare these days. There are many people I will miss seeing, but I am looking forward to my retirement and spending more time with my wife and five grandchildren. Lindsay Occleston, family member at Roberts Bakery, said that Dutton was a terrific asset in many areas of the business. Many people at Roberts will miss him and I would like to say a huge thank you to him for all his hard work over the years, Occleston said. There are so few businesses that have such a long heritage and genuine family values, and even fewer which have loyal staff who have served for more than half a century. Dutton has passed on his passion for Roberts Bakery to his son Mark Dutton, who works for the business in slicing. Cornish business Warrens Bakery has launched a healthy menu delivery app for Plymouth-based Derriford Hospital to offer support to the medical team and staff. The new app, Fresh From Warrens On the Go which is now available for both Android and IPhone users, will deliver a menu of fresh and healthy options directly to wards to save time walking through hospital corridors. Staff can enjoy the benefits of a varied menu, from wholesome lunchtime soups, vitamin-boosting smoothies, salads and freshly made sandwiches. The app allows users to pre-order their lunch via the app, selecting a pre-appointed collection point near their ward where the Fresh From Warrens team will bring their order. For those who cannot make the collection times, there are drop-off points available around the hospital too. Mark Sullivan, chairman of Warrens Bakery, said the company recognised the need within Derriford Hospital for another level of convenience, which its new app can provide. We hope that our fresh delivery service app means hard-working staff can collect something tasty mid-shift, without having to traipse across the building to do so, Sullivan said. We have made sure that there are plenty of fresh and healthy options on the menu so that hospital staff and visitors can expect to enjoy a reliably nourishing delivery, which is quick and simple to use. The app is free to use, with no minimum order and all new users will receive 50% off their first order. Hobbs House Bakery has been declared Baker of the Year in the 2017 Farm Shop & Deli Awards. The business Tetbury store collected the award in a ceremony at the Farm Shop & Deli Show in Birminghams NEC yesterday. The store also took the South West regional award. Awards judges praised the store for its importance to the local community, good staff retention and development, and strong charity work. They added: We love the idea of courses and giving out recipes and teaching people how to make things. Hobbs House was one of the 13 category winners and nine regional winners of the Farm Shop & Deli Awards 2017. The other bakery award finalists were Bondgate Bakery, Otley; Hambleton Bakery, Rutland; and The Hungry Guest, Petworth. Now in their fourth year, the Farm Shop & Deli Awards recognise the best specialist independent retailers in the UK and celebrate high levels of service, product knowledge, initiative, innovation and community involvement. The North East region dominated this years awards with five winners from across the 13 categories, and three of the nine regional winners, including the 2017 Farm Shop & Deli Retailer of the Year Keelham Farm Shop. The awards were judged by a panel of experts from the world of speciality retail, fine food and food media, including Arthur Howell, fourth-generation butcher and 2016 Farm Shop & Deli Awards Retailer of the Year; Jon May, managing director of Fabulous Food & Drink; Nigel Nugent, head of product development for Iceland Foods; and Vince Bamford, editor of British Baker. Its a real privilege to acknowledge food and drink retailers of this quality, said chairman of judges Nigel Barden. These are passionate, enterprising, knowledgeable and diligent people. A Beetroot Multiseed Sourdough loaf, produced by Seasons Bakery, was named Britains Best Loaf 2017 at the Farm Shop & Deli Show yesterday. The full list of winners comprises: Baker of the Year Winner: Hobbs House Bakery (Tetbury), also South West regional winner Commended: Bondgate Bakery (Otley) / Hambleton Bakery (Rutland) / The Hungry Guest (Petworth) Butcher of the Year Winner: Cunningham Butchery and Food Hall (Kilkeel), also Northern Ireland regional winner Commended: Brace of Butchers (Dorchester) / Meat NW5 (London) / The Pink Pig Farm (Scunthorpe) / Walter Rose & Son (Devizes) Cheesemonger of the Year Winner: Paxton & Whitfield (London), also South East regional winner Commended: Cheese Please (Lewes) / Cheeses of Muswell Hill (London) / The Courtyard Dairy (Settle) Delicatessen of the Year Winner: Delilah Fine Foods (Leicester) Commended: Arch House Deli (Clifton) / Billingtons of Lenzie (Glasgow) / Papadeli (Bristol) / The Gourmet Pig (Fishguard) / The Norfolk Deli (Hunstanton) Farm Shop Large Retailer of the Year Winner: Keelham Farm Shop (Skipton), also North East regional winner and Retailer of the Year Commended: Bodnant Welsh Food Centre (Tal y Cafn, Conwy) / Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop (Bakewell) / Drewtons Farm Shop (South Cave) Farm Shop Small Retailer of the Year Winner: The Gog Farm Shop (Cambridge), also East Anglia regional winner Commended: Cross Lanes Organic Farm (Barnard Castle) / Dahlias Farm Shop (Blackpool) / Foxholes Farm Shop (Hertford) / Roots Farm Shop (Northallerton) / Uncle Henrys (Grayingham) / Welbeck Farm Shop (Worksop) Fishmonger of the Year Winner: Ramus Seafood Emporium (Harrogate) Commended: Latimers (Whitburn) / The Fresh Fish Shop (Haywards Heath) Food Hall of the Year Winner: Delifonseca Dockside (Liverpool), also North West regional winner Commended: Bakers & Larners of Holt (Norfolk) / Cranstons /Brampton Food Hall (Brampton) / Ludlow Food Centre (Shropshire) Greengrocer of the Year Winner: Rafters of Driffield (Driffield) Commended: Andreas of Chelsea (London) / K D Davis & Sons (Rotherham) Local Shop of the Year Winner: Siop Pwllglas (Ruthin), also Wales regional winner Commended: FINK (Boroughbridge) / Shropshires Own (Shrewsbury) / StockGhyll Fine Food (Ambleside) Market of the Year Winner: Horsforth Farmers Market (West Yorks) Commended: West Malling Farmers Market (Kent) Newcomer of the Year Winner: Brace of Butchers (Dorchester) Commended: Court Farm Shop (Cheltenham) / Donaghy & Sanderson (Pitlochry) / Love Cheese (York) / The Lambing Shed Farm Shop (Knutsford) Online Business of the Year Winner: Farmison & Co (Ripon) Commended: Dukeshill Ham Co (Telford) / Parsnips and Pears (Colston Bassett) / The Cornish Fishmonger (Saint Columb). Nestle UK is set to axe almost 300 jobs in a shake-up that includes shifting Blue Riband wafer production to Poland. Workers have been told of proposed changes, including amended and standardised shift patterns at four sites: York; Fawdon in Newcastle upon Tyne; Halifax; and Girvan in Scotland. Nestle has said the plans could result in a reduction of 298 roles across the sites. Describing Fawdon as the most complex of its UK confectionery sites, Nestle stated it was transferring Blue Riband production to a Nestle factory in Poland to simplify and focus Fawdons operation. These proposals are being made by Nestle UK to ensure that these sites operate more efficiently and remain competitive in a rapidly changing external environment, said the company. Nestle UK appreciates that this is an uncertain time for employees and will work hard to ensure all are supported through this difficult period. A 45-day consultation on the proposals will begin as soon as possible with trade unions and employee representatives. The Bharatiya Janata Party has thrown open its doors to politicians of all hues in a bid to cobble together a credible political alternative in the state ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. It's official. The Bharatiya Janata Party has thrown open its doors to politicians of all hues in a bid to cobble together a credible political alternative in the state ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The lotus, saffron leaders promise, will bloom in Kerala. There's already a buzz in Thiruvananthapuram's political circles. They're talking of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's occasional praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Other 'possibles' being spoken of include the incumbent Lok Sabha member from Kollam,N.K. Premachandran of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), former Kannur MP of the Congress, K. Sudhakaran, Travancore Dewasom Board chief and ex-MLA, Prayar Gopalakrishnan, Kerala Congress (M) leader and former finance minister, K.M. Mani, two former CPI(M) legislators and a popular Malayalam film actor. advertisement Although most of the people whose names are doing the rounds, including Tharoor, dismiss suggestions that they are looking towards the BJP, party state president Kummanam Rajasekharan says they are looking at a significant expansion of the NDA in Kerala. "We will win the confidence of the minorities and bring in people who believe in the BJP and PM Modi," he said on April 13 in Thiruvananthapuram, evidently buoyed by the BJP's successes in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere. Echoing the same confidence, former state unit chief P.S. Sreedharan says the saffron party will focus on the 5-6 constituencies where it has been successful in creating a base. And he feels that "Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's whimsical style of governance" is only helping their cause. The party also feels it has found "significant resonance" with the people on issues like the Law Academy strike (against the principal and the Left-leaning management), the land grab scandal in Munnar (where the "CPI(M)-backed land mafia are on the back foot"), and most recently, the moving protests by Jishnu Pranoi's mother (the engineering student's suicide and his mother's fight for justice have had the Pinarayi government in a bind). This is much more than the party has ever attempted in Kerala. With the Ezhava-dominated Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, tribal leader C.K. Janu and the P.C. Thomas-led Kerala Congress already in its fold, the BJP is looking to further consolidate its votebank. "Other than Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod, the party will focus on Kozhikode, Palakkad, Thrissur and Pathanamthitta constituencies. We have started work already," says a senior BJP leader. Allaying all doubts on whether the state BJP's open invitation had Delhi's blessings, Union minister Venkaiah Naidu, on a visit here on April 13, described the Congress as "a sinking ship", and called upon all "sensible and credible leaders to join the BJP". The minister also, rather tellingly, described Tharoor as an "intelligent politician". --- ENDS --- 50 armed men in camou flak jackets driving armored cars cordoned off the roads leading to a transportation company's office in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay (a "smugglers' haven in the border region with Brazil and Argentina"), blew the entire face of the building up with demolition equipment, stole an estimated $40M and escaped by motorboat up the Parana River. One policeman was killed. The heist is being blamed on the PCC ("First Capital Command"), a notorious gang founded in Brazil's overcrowded prisons. After the robbery, Brazilian police tracked some of the alleged assailants close to Foz de Iguazu, Brazil. A shootout there left at least three gunmen dead. Four others have been arrested, according to Paraguayan officials. The Paraguayan government tweeted out photos of some of the slain gunmen lying in the grass, wearing what appeared to be camouflage. Brazilian prison gang suspected in Paraguay's 'heist of the century' [Joshua Partlow/Washington Post] (via Super Punch) First Nations leaders say the federal government still doesn't have a clear path towards making a landmark UN Indigenous rights declaration reality, a year after Canada agreed to implement it. "No one is monitoring the implementation of the UN declaration across Canada," said Wilton Littlechild, a Cree lawyer, former chief and member of Parliament who worked on crafting the declaration starting in the 1970s. Littlechild said that since endorsing the declaration in 2010, the United States has put in place a monitoring process that provides regular updates on implementation. "We have yet to see that in Canada and I think it would be a very important step going forward." Realizing rights Littlechild and other Indigenous leaders from around the world are at UN headquarters in New York City for the 16th session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues that kicked off on Monday. "The adoption of the UN declaration is a milestone in the history of advancing the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world," reads a statement from Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. "Now that we have this commitment, we must work together effectively as partners to realize those rights." Bellegarde joins Inuit and Metis leaders in New York City on Tuesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the declaration and to discuss ways of implementing it in Canada. Action He points to the proposed federal Indigenous Languages Act as a positive example of the declaration in action. The cct, announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December, is being developed in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Metis leaders. In February, Ottawa also announced a review of all federal laws and policies as they relate to Indigenous peoples a move that Indigenous leaders had been calling for as a means of harmonizing the country's laws with the declaration. "We will amend laws written in a paternalistic and colonial way and implement direction given to all ministers in [Trudeau's] cabinet," Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said about the review during her address at the UN on Monday. Story continues "Where they don't exist, we are committed to finding new ways to recognize Indigenous rights and jurisdiction. Although no timeline for the review was given, Bennett announced that Canada was retracting the government's previous concerns about two aspects of the declaration that deal with "free, prior and informed consent." Free, prior and informed consent is supposed to mean that Indigenous Peoples are involved in the decision-making process as partners from the beginning of any development, but previous governments felt it amounted to a veto. Last May 10, Canada removed its permanent objector status to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, almost a decade after 140 countries adopted it in 2007. The declaration recognizes Indigenous individuals' basic human rights, as well as rights to self-determination, language, equality and land, among others. TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan faces a more complicated task this year in seeking to attend a U.N. health agency meeting than it has in the past, a senior official said on Tuesday, as the self-ruled island braces for another setback in ties with rival China. Diplomatically isolated Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, which recognizes "one China" centered on Beijing. China, in turn, views democratic Taiwan as a renegade province to be taken back with the use of force, if necessary. The decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO) will hold its annual meeting from May 22 to 31 in Geneva, but Beijing warned last year that acceptance of the "one China" principle was a condition for Taiwan's attendance. Taiwan has attended the meeting of the body, known as the World Health Assembly (WHA), as an observer since 2009, under the China-friendly predecessor of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. Invitations usually go out early in May, and Taiwan received one last year before Tsai formally took office in mid-May. "Our efforts this time have not been as smooth as before," Taiwan foreign ministry spokeswoman Eleanor Wang told a regular news briefing. Taiwan has been lobbying the WHA to attend the meeting and has roped in its friends, including the United States, its few diplomatic allies and non-government bodies to help, she said. The factors influencing the situation were "more complicated" this year, Wang added, but made no direct reference to China. In Beijing, when asked about Taiwan and the WHA meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "On issues involving Taiwan in the international sphere, we consistently advocate handling the issue according to the one China principle." China distrusts Tsai and her ruling party, which traditionally advocates independence for Taiwan. Soon after Tsai took power, Beijing cut official communication channels with her government to try to pressure her to concede that Taiwan is part of China. Taiwan was snubbed last year by U.N. aviation agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which cited the "one China" policy for not inviting it to a meeting in Canada. China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communist forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island. (Reporting by J.R. Wu; Additional reporting by Michael Martina in BEIJING; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Then-candidate Donald Trump visiting the U.S.-Mexico border in the summer of 2015. (Photo: Rick Wilking/Reuters) WASHINGTON President Trump reportedly backed off his demand that Congress include a down payment for a wall spanning the entire U.S.-Mexico border in a crucial spending bill that must pass by Friday night to keep the government funded. Republican lawmakers have urged the president to focus on border security in general instead of the wall, which Democrats have called a poison pill that would cause them to reject the bill and shut down the government. Trump told a group of conservative reporters he invited to the White House on Monday that he was open to getting funding for the wall in September when Congress debates the 2018 budget, the Associated Press reported. This is a sharp reversal from his position over the weekend and early Monday, when he doubled down on his demand for the wall. Trump tweeted repeatedly that the wall is necessary to stop the flow of drugs into the United States. If the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be! Trump exclaimed Monday, adding: #BuildTheWall. On Tuesday morning, the president claimed he had not changed his position on the wall as the fake media was claiming, but he didnt specify whether he still believed he would get the funds in this weeks spending bill, which increasingly looks like a political impossibility. Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017 The president may have realized that with Democrats ready to shut down the government over the wall and many lawmakers in his own party skeptical of it, there was little chance of reaching a deal on his signature campaign promise before the Friday night deadline. Some critics noted that Trump had long promised that Mexico and not the U.S. would pay for the walls construction. Story continues Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., praised Trump in a statement for taking the wall off the table. He had earlier called the demand a monkey wrench the president had thrown into sensitive negotiations between the parties over a series of spending bills to keep the government funded for the next five months. A view of the U.S.-Mexican border fence at Playas de Tijuana in Mexico. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) But its possible the president will find a way to declare victory even if his call for a wall goes unanswered by Congress. Several Republican senators urged the president to think of the big, beautiful wall he promised on the campaign trail as symbolic of border security in general. That way, the president could declare any increase in border spending in the spending bill a victory, right as his presidency passes the symbolic 100-day mark on Friday. Border walls and fences are part of an overall plan, but there will never be a 2,200-mile wall built. Period, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters Monday evening. I think [the wall] has become symbolic for better border security. So its a code word for better border security. Graham said the president would still be in good shape if he gets funding for border security in the spending bill thats not specifically for a wall. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also pushed for interpreting border wall as border security in general. I know its being generally referred to as a border wall, but I think its the efforts to make sure that Border Patrol can have adequate funding for the people, technology and infrastructure they think they need to secure [the border], Tillis said. I think we can be less prescriptive about exactly what the structure looks like and more focused on the fact that we need to secure the border. Both House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Schumer have signaled openness to funding border security in the spending bill as long as it doesnt go to construction of a wall or the deportation force Trump mentioned during the campaign. The Democrats could theoretically agree to funds for more surveillance technology on the border, or to hire and train more border patrol agents. But its harder to imagine them supporting an increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, since they enforce immigration laws internally in the United States and not at the borders. Meanwhile, one of the presidents staunchest defenders in Congress defended the delay of the presidents campaign promise, urging Americans to be patient. He said we would build a wall and Mexico would pay for it, but he never said when, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said Monday night on Fox Business. Some things just take time and dont occur real quick. I think thats the way with the wall. Read more from Yahoo News: U.S. imposes preliminary duties up to 24% on 'subsidized' Canadian softwood lumber Canada's forest industry felt the slap of the countervailing duties they were bracing for late Monday, with confirmation out of Washington that a U.S. Commerce Department investigation has once again concluded that softwood lumber imports are unfairly subsidized. Canadian lumber imports are expected to face new duties ranging from three to 24 per cent, starting next week. Countervailing duties are used to level the playing field when a country believes that another country's product is unfairly subsidized. The U.S. lumber industry has argued for decades that because most Canadian timber is harvested on Crown lands, the way provincial governments manage and set prices for these harvests results in cheaper lumber. "Today's ruling confirms that Canadian lumber mills are subsidized by their government and benefit from timber pricing policies and other subsidies which harm U.S. manufacturers and workers" said Cameron Krauss, the legal chair of the U.S. Lumber Coalition and a senior vice-president of Oregon's Seneca Sawmill, in a release. "Left unchecked, Canadian non-market based trade practices would yield ever increasing market share for Canadian product, displacing U.S. producers, workers, and landowners, and even allowing Canadian mills to take over U.S. assets," the U.S. Lumber Coalition said in its release late Monday. "Border measures against subsidized and dumped Canadian lumber imports are essential otherwise differences between the U.S. mostly private and Canadian mostly public timber sales systems give Canadian producers an unfair cost advantage that injures U.S. producers and their workers," it said. But Canadian governments have changed the way they operate to address such concerns. Timber auctions are now used to better reflect current market rates. "The government of Canada disagrees strongly with the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to impose an unfair and punitive duty," reads a joint statement issued by Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. "The accusations are baseless and unfounded." Story continues Anti-dumping duties still to come This week's decision is the first of two investigations that began following a petition launched last fall by the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade or Negotiations (COALITION), which includes the Washington-based U.S. Lumber Coalition lobby group, a carpenters union and about a dozen American timber producers and sawmills. It claims to represent the concerns of about 70 per cent of the U.S. industry. The investigation looked at the top four Canadian companies that export to the U.S.: West Fraser; Tolko, Canfor and Resolute Forest Products. Duties will be applied to these major importers as follows, based on the department's determination of relative injury to the U.S. industry: - Canfor: 20.26 per cent. - Resolute: 12.82 per cent. - Tolko: 19.50 per cent. - West Fraser: 24.12 per cent. All other Canadian imports will be subject to duties of 19.88 per cent, with one exception. J.D. Irving, an Atlantic Canadian company that harvests timber from largely private forests in the Maritimes, asked for a separate review of its operations. Based on that investigation, duties on Irving products will be only 3.02 per cent. Last week, the New Brunswick government said it was still fighting to exempt other Maritime producers from the U.S. actions. The duties are expected to be collected at the border starting early next week. In addition, the Commerce Department found that "critical circumstances exist," justifying the charging of retroactive duties for Canadian imports shipped over the last 90 days by all companies except for the four largest importers who were part of the investigation. These large companies do not face the retroactive duties only the smaller companies will. Canadian companies will be billed for these payments shortly, with payments due upon receipt. Susan Yurkovich, the president of the B.C. lumber trade council, said in a statement that this finding of critical circumstances represents an "unprecedented departure" from the previous U.S. approach and is "entirely arbitrary." 'We will not give up' The highest duties have been levied on companies from Western Canada. "Canadian lumber imports don't pose a threat to the U.S. lumber industry. There is enough North American demand to grow the U.S. industry while also allowing Canada to supply its U.S. customers, as we have been doing for decades," Yurkovich said, suggesting these protectionist duties will create price volatility in the U.S. market. In a statement late Monday, B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark, who is currently campaigning for re-election as premier, said her message to forest workers is: "We are here for you. We will fight for you. And we will not give up." Tuesday's duties are preliminary. On June 23, a second investigation will reveal the Commerce Department's findings on a parallel anti-dumping investigation, another remedy the U.S. lobby asked for to balance unfair Canadian imports. The full impact of the American government's actions won't be felt for months. After these preliminary duties, a combined duty rate will be set sometime next fall: the Commerce Department suggested it may come as early as Sept. 7, but Canadian industry officials suggest that could be delayed until November. The final injury determination will be made by the U.S. International Trade Commission, likely in January 2018. Canada is expected to appeal to both a NAFTA dispute resolution panel as well as the World Trade Organization (WTO.) "In ruling after ruling since 1983, international tribunals have disproved the unfounded subsidy and injury allegations from the U.S. industry," read the joint statement from Carr and Freeland on Monday. "We have prevailed in the past and we will do so again." Trump scooped Commerce Department The official findings were expected to be released Tuesday. But according to U.S. media reports, President Donald Trump announced the decision one day early at a reception for conservative journalists in Washington. Press releases from both Commerce Department and the American lobby group that petitioned for the investigation, as well as comments from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross himself, confirmed the details Monday evening. Canadian government officials including Carr and Clark, as well as spokespeople for Canada's lumber industry, are all expected to provide more reaction to these developments on Tuesday. After the expiration of the previous Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement in late 2015, Canada exported over $5 billion of softwood lumber to the United States in 2016. It was a rare period of duty-free trade for Canadian lumber, benefiting from strong demand from U.S. housing construction and a favourable exchange rate. U.S. producers lack sufficient supply to meet current demand. It's unclear what impact these new duties will have on the volume of trade from here on. Security Report: Nearly 3 in 4 Employees Disclose Confidential Data There is a lack of understanding in the workplace across sectors like education and government regarding data security policies and how confidential data should be shared. Many employees are likely to share confidential information and, more often than not, they do so without proper data security protocols. In most cases, there are no repercussions for the employees sharing this data since they are often unaware of the protocol breach. Image Credit: Dell. These findings come from the Dell End-User Security Survey, released last week. Dell commissioned a global survey of 2,608 professionals who handle confidential data at companies with 250 or more employees. Overall, the survey found that a staggering 72 percent of employees are willing to share sensitive, confidential or regulated company information. The most cited reasons for disclosing company information were: Employees were directed by management to do so (cited by 43 percent of respondents); They shared with a person authorized to receive it (37 percent); There was low risk and the benefit was high (23 percent); It will help them do their job more effectively (22 percent); and It will help the recipient do their job more effectively (13 percent). How employees deal with company information varies across industries. Employees in financial services, for example, were the most likely to share sensitive, confidential or regulated company information (81 percent of respondents in that industry), followed by employees in education (75 percent), healthcare (68 percent) and federal government (68 percent). But the problem doesnt stop at disclosing information: The survey revealed an abundance of unsafe practices that contribute to the issue. For instance, 45 percent of employees across organizations admit to engaging in unsafe behaviors throughout the workday like connecting to public WiFi when handling company information (46 percent of respondents), using personal e-mail accounts for work (49 percent) or losing a company-issued device (17 percent). These behaviors are worse in highly regulated organizations: More than half of respondents there (53 percent) use personal e-mail accounts for confidential work and more lose company devices (21 percent). However, employees at small to mid-size organizations are the biggest culprits of these unsafe behaviors. Furthermore, when employees leave a company, about 35 percent will take company information with them. Among those individuals, 36 percent will take work that they personally worked on, but 16 percent takes work that others have completed. When national origin is factored in, employees from India are the most likely to take company data with them (57 percent), while employees from Japan are the least likely (15 percent), according to the report. Other key findings from the survey include: Another common unsafe practice (which 36 percent of employees said they do) is opening e-mails from unknown senders at work, potentially opening the door for spear phishing attacks in which a cybercriminal seeks unauthorized access to sensitive information from a specific organization or individual by posing as a trusted source, the report stated; 53 percent of employees at companies that use public cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud and others for sharing or backing up work do so using a personal e-mail account rather than a corporate account; and 65 percent of employees feel it is their job to protect confidential data, but only 36 percent feel very confident about their ability to do so. In most circumstances, the employee who disclosed the information made the judgement call independently, or without receiving clearance. The report suggests that to address these data issues, companies must focus on educating employees as well as enforcing policies and procedures that secure data wherever they go, without hindering productivity. To this end, Dell recommends companies create simple, clear policies and ensure they outline steps for handling common scenarios that employees face. Additionally, security should not limit business initiatives, so there needs to be a balance between security and productivity. This can be achieved through closer alignment between an organizations C-Suite and IT teams. Finally, companies should use security solutions that protect data wherever they go. View the full report on the Dell site. Open Educational Resources University System of Maryland Scales Up OER at 12 Institutions The University System of Maryland (USMD) has selected 21 faculty and staff members to receive funding to increase the use of open educational resources (OER). Through the Maryland Open Source Textbook (MOST) initiative led by USMDs William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, more than 8,000 students will save $1.3 million in textbook costs over the upcoming fall semester. Grantees at seven community colleges and five four-year institutions will participate in the MOST initiatives High-impact OER Mini-Grant Program, which replaces traditional textbooks with OER. According to the announcement, digital course materials company Lumen Learning will help train faculty on effective OER design and scaling strategies, offering support for OER adoption and delivery, access to a collection of curated OER courses, and a platform to build, edit and deliver their course. With the platform, they can adapt and customize their instructional materials to align with their classroom needs. Related: Read here how the University of Maryland University College went textbook-free back in 2015. The MOST initiative kicked off August 2013, as a collaboration between the USM Student Council and the Kirwan Center to provide a state-wide opportunity for faculty to explore the promise of OERs to reduce students cost of attendance while maintaining, or perhaps even improving, learning outcomes, according to the announcement. Currently, OER is used in more than 60 different courses at 14 public college and universities in Maryland, saving more than 3,500 students an estimated $1 million. Facilities UC Irvine Receives $30 Million for Convergent Engineering and Science Building The University of California, Irvine (UCI) wants to increase its output of large-scale, collaborative and cross-disciplinary research in engineering, computing and physical sciences. The institution plans to build a state-of-the-art convergent engineering and science facility with a $30 million from the Samueli Foundation. The donation will be combined with $40 million from UCIs funds and $50 million in state money, adding up to a total budget of $120 million for the up-to-100,000-square-foot facility, according to the announcement. Construction could begin this fall and be completed in three years. In our strategic plan, we promised growth that makes a difference, and we recommitted ourselves to engaging in the kind of innovative research that could drive regional entrepreneurship and economic development, Chancellor Howard Gillman said in the statement. This new facility is essential to accomplish these priorities, and we are thrilled to bring this vision to life. Gillman noted that the Samueli Foundations gift will serve as a catalyst for accelerating cross-disciplinary research and scientific innovations that benefit society. Such research ranges from developing chemical and material sensors to better diagnose and treat cancer to solving cybersecurity challenges, the statement said. Susan and Henry Samueli. Image Credit: UCI News. Henry Samueli, co-founder of semiconductor corporation Broadcom and distinguished adjunct professor at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at UCI, said that he and his wife, Susan, are deeply committed to supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels along the learning pipeline, from kindergarten through higher education. Henry and Susan Samueli have been longtime supporters of UCI, having previously donated $20 million to the engineering school in 1999 and making other donations across UCI. In addition to its gift to UCI, the Samueli Foundation donated $20 million to the University of California, Los Angeles to support engineering undergraduate scholarships and internships. The state BJP has given 48 hours to Kerala CM to apologise, failing which they have threatened to take legal actions. By India Today Web Desk: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged that RSS was behind the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The CPI (M) leader made the allegation while speaking inside the Assembly. The state BJP has given 48 hours to the chief minister to apologise, failing which they have threatened to take legal actions. The state BJP chief is going to meet the regional head of RSS this evening. advertisement Also read: Babri Masjid demolition is 'more serious' than assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, says AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi 10 things to know about Mahatma Gandhi's assassination --- ENDS --- TUESDAY, April 25, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- America's prescription drug abuse epidemic may be even more deadly than expected, a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests. Some opioid-related deaths may be missed when people die from pneumonia and other infectious diseases spurred on by drug abuse. Their death certificates may only list the infection as the cause of their demise, explained CDC field officer Victoria Hall. That means a number of drug-related deaths are not being counted, since surveillance systems mainly track overdose deaths. "It does seem like it is almost an iceberg of an epidemic," Hall said. "We already know that it's bad, and while my research can't speak to what percent we are underestimating, we know we are missing some cases." More than half of a series of drug-related unexplained deaths in Minnesota between 2006 and 2015 listed pneumonia as the cause of death, Hall and her colleagues found. Twenty-two of these 59 unexplained drug-related deaths involved toxic levels of opioids. But the death certificates didn't include coding that would be picked up by statewide opioid surveillance systems. "We found if you have really profound infectious disease, like really bad pneumonia, that may be the only thing written on the death certificate. And thus it's not going to get picked up in opioid surveillance," Hall said. Opioids killed more than 33,000 people in the United States 2015. That's close to as many deaths caused by traffic crashes that same year, according to federal statistics. Nearly half of all opioid overdose deaths involved a prescription drug. This spring, the Minnesota Department of Health learned of a middle-aged man who died suddenly at home, Hall said. Two days earlier, he'd seemed ill and was slurring his words, but refused his family's pleas to go to the hospital. "He was on long-term opioid therapy for some back pain, and his family was a little bit concerned he was abusing his medications," Hall said. Testing revealed that he died of pneumonia brought on by the flu, "but also detected a very toxic level of opioids in his system," Hall said. "However, on the death certificate it only listed the pneumonia, and it listed no mention of opioids, so this death wasn't counted in the state opioid death surveillance system," she said. Opioid medications -- codeine, hydrocodone (including Vicoprofen), oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), morphine and others -- can help bring on dangerous respiratory infections or make them even worse, Hall said. "Opioids at therapeutic or higher than therapeutic levels can impact our immune system, actually make your immune system less effective at fighting off illness," Hall explained. The sedative effect of opioids also affects a person's respiratory system, causing breathing to become slow and shallow, and making the person less prone to cough, Hall said -- "making it easier for something like a pneumonia to really set in." A review of Minnesota's unexplained death database revealed 59 cases with evidence of opioid use. Of those, 22 cases had not been reported to statewide opioid surveillance because the involvement of drugs hadn't been listed on the death certificate. Pneumonia was listed as a cause of death in 54 percent of the unexplained drug-related cases, the researchers found. The Minnesota cases raise the question of whether similar drug-related deaths are being missed in other states, particularly those hardest hit by the prescription drug abuse epidemic, Hall said. Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said that emergency rooms "see a fair number of patients who use opiates. And in those patients we see, in general, a higher risk profile for developing pneumonia and other respiratory illness." The risk is even greater among drug users who smoke or have a respiratory ailment, such as asthma or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), Glatter said. "This is another in a sequence of reasons to not use opiates," Glatter said. "Physicians and all health care providers should be attuned to this risk of developing pneumonia, especially if they're going to prescribe opiates. It's another reason to proceed with extreme caution," he noted. The study results were presented April 24 at a CDC meeting in Atlanta. More information For more on opioid deaths, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram A reporter learns how to dodge terrorist threats to get the story By Rukmini Callimachi The convoy of cars flying al-Qaedas black flag swept across northern Mali in 2012. Within weeks, it felt like a curtain had been drawn. Table of Contents Attacks on the Press book cover Over scratchy phone lines, I dialed and re-dialed the numbers of city officials, which usually rang unanswered. When someone occasionally picked up, they couldnt hear me. By the time the amputations began, many were too afraid to speak. I had been the West Africa bureau chief for The Associated Press for less than a year when al-Qaeda seized and began to govern the largest slice of territory they had ever held. The sweep of desert under their control, which the terror networks North African branch held with the help of two allied groups, spanned the size of Afghanistan. It should have been a riveting story, except that I couldnt cover it: The branch of al-Qaeda that had seized the territory had bankrolled its rise to prominence by kidnapping foreigners for ransom. Soon after the group planted their black flag in the fabled desert outpost of Timbuktu, a Swiss woman who had refused to evacuate was abducted from her home. For the next 10 months, I watched from more than a thousand miles away in neighboring Senegal as reports surfaced of women being flogged for refusing to wear the black veil. I did my best to describe how they destroyed the centuries-old mausoleums of Timbuktu, spending an afternoon trying, and failing, to confirm anything beyond the most basic details. Are you sure they used a sledgehammer? I yelled into the phone one afternoon. Or was it a pickaxe? Mostly, I threw up my hands. A Timbuktu resident walks past a room where he and other residents say Al-Qaeda held European hostages at Malis Ministry of Finance regional audit department. (AP/Rukmini Callimachi) If Im honest with myself, I failed to cover the story both because it was too hard and because it was less exciting: Instead of being out in the field, I was stuck in my office, forced to report on a speakerphone. I was schooled not by another journalist, but by a report put out by a human rights group. Beginning in the summer of 2012, Human Rights Watch researcher Corinne Dufka traveled to Bamako, the capital of Mali. She spent her days at the central bus station, waiting for the buses making the journey from Timbuktu, carrying fleeing residents who had witnessed the groups brutal rule. Her report was full of the details I longed to cover: How the terror group had banned music in all its forms, going so far as to outlaw cell phone jingles. She described how one young man frantically tried to hit the answer button on his phone when someone called him and the ringer played Malian music, within earshot of the jihadists. He was beaten until he bled, her report said. It was a watershed moment for me. Huge swaths of the world are now off limits to reporters. Much of Syria and Iraq, where the militant group Islamic State has built its caliphate, are no-go zones both because of the regular dangers of war and because reporters are now targets. So is much of Libya, where until recently Islamic State ran its most important province. The area where we can operate in Afghanistan has progressively shrunk. And despite Western-backed or funded military interventions, most of Somalia, much of northern Nigeria, chunks of Niger, Chad and Algeria remain areas of extreme risk for journalists. And yet what happens inside those no-go areas has become more important than ever. For the past three and a half years, I have been approaching the edges of territories held by terror groups, inching as close as I can to the line of control, metaphorically peeking over the sandbags. In Mali, I also eventually headed to the bus stop to await the fleet of GDF buses making the days-long journey from the heart of territory controlled by al-Qaeda. I, too, spoke to the passengers as they exited the bus, the women visibly relieved to no longer have to wear the suffocating veil. And I got better at using the telephone in my office, learning to use the redial function. I kept a notepad next to my landline and tallied each call I made, telling myself I wouldnt give up until I had dialed the same number at least 20 times. The interviews would sometimes last less than a minute before the line went dead, forcing me to redial yet again. I begged each person I called to introduce me to someone else, so that each call became part of a daisy chain of interviews. It was difficult, often tedious work, but it paid off in the first weeks of 2013, when France scrambled fighter jets over northern Mali, beginning a military intervention to flush out the jihadists. I reached the city of Timbuktu days after it had been freed, part of a wave of reporters who cascaded into town, filling every available hotel room. I was not the first to reach the fabled city, but I was the last journalist to leave, staying for more than a month, until the manager of my hotel informed me that I would need to start paying a 5,000 francs (around US$10) fee each day to pay the cook. There are no other guests, so hes coming just for you, the manager reasoned. Because I had spent so much time on bad phone lines covering the occupied city, I already knew it intimately before ever stepping foot on its sand-enveloped lanes. I headed to the branch of the Banque Malienne de Solidarite (BMA bank), which had acted as the headquarters of the Islamic police. I knew the jihadists had turned the citys once-chic boutique hotel into the seat of their Shariah court, and headed there next. Residents pointed me to the garage where Abou Zeid, one of the top commanders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, responsible for kidnapping numerous Western hostages, had waited for a mechanic to fix his Toyota SUV, to the tax building where his men had typed out their set of edicts, and to the other municipal offices and private villas that had served as the infrastructure of their occupying government. In each building, I found and collected dozens of pages left behind by al-Qaedas men. Those documents, totaling more than 5,000 pages of internal correspondence and ideological treatises, have formed the core of my understanding of al-Qaeda, and helped orient my insight into its offshoot, the Islamic State. It was another way to peer over the sandbags, this time through the peephole of what they wrote to each other and about themselves. I finally left Timbuktu in March 2013, and during the next two years, my focus shifted almost entirely to the Islamic State group. I struggled at first to find the metaphorical bus stop, where I could interview the passengers leaving the territory under their control. I finally found it on the first of four trips to Iraq in 2015, in the tent cities that had sprung up on the edges of the northern town of Dohuk. It was there that the Yazidi minority, whose women had been targeted for enslavement by Islamic State, found refuge. I filled my days going tent to tent, speaking to dozens of women held by the terror group. They related the horrors of their captivity the rapes that had by then already been reported by numerous news organizations, including my own. For me, those interviews were the most intimate of windows into the state of mind of the men claiming to be acting in the name of God. The women and girls described how their abusers used scripture to justify acts of sexual violence. They told me that the fighters described their rape as ibada, the Arabic word for worship, and they described how the men holding them prayed before the rape, then took a shower and then prayed again, bookending the abuse in an act of religious devotion. I was in Iraq on November 13, 2015, when my editor called me and asked me to rush to Paris. I arrived the next day and it took me an hour and a half to drive the normally 40-minute distance between Charles de Gaulle Airport and my hotel, as we were forced onto side streets to avoid the barricades erected by the security forces hunting the surviving attackers, who killed 130 at the Stade de France, cafes and the Bataclan theater. As their names were revealed, I joined the flocks of reporters going from street to street, knocking on the doors of former neighbors, a frustrating and mostly futile exercise. It was then that I found the next peephole in the form of interrogation documents and court records, traveling by train to Brussels to pick up the first folder. France has sent more fighters to Syria than any other Western country and dozens have been arrested upon their return. In transcripts of hours-long interrogations conducted by Frances Direction Generale de la Securite Interieure, the countrys domestic intelligence unit, I was able to glimpse the outlines of a branch of the Islamic State dedicated to exporting terror abroad. In mid-2016, a source handed me a USB stick containing more than 100,000 pages of investigative documents, and I have been combing through them, using them as the spine of stories on how Islamic State mounted the machinery of terror in Europe. More recently, I have begun to collect similar interrogation records from Asia, showing the groups global reach. I am never happier than when I am in the field, and I cannot help but read with longing the accounts of reporters who covered conflict years ago, when journalists were still considered off-bounds. It was only 20 years ago that Osama bin Laden welcomed an American TV crew inside a hut on a cold mountaintop in Afghanistan. I wonder if those opportunities will ever come again for Western reporters. Until then, Ill keep on working as close as I can to the edges. Rukmini Callimachi is a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist who covers the militant groups Islamic State and Al-Qaeda for The New York Times. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Governments use copyright laws and Twitter bots to curb criticism on social media By Alexandra Ellerbeck On July 10, 2016, Ecuadoran journalist Bernardo Abad tweeted that the former vice-president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, had not paid income taxes for the year before. A week later, Abad received a message from Twitter saying his account had been blocked for violating its terms of service. Within 24 hours, at least five others accounts were temporarily suspended after they tweeted about Morenos taxes. By the end of the week, nine accounts had been temporarily suspended, according to the freedom of expression advocacy group Fundamedios. Twitter declined to comment on the suspensions. Table of Contents Attacks on the Press book cover Free speech organizations have argued that Ecuadors disappearing content and suspended accounts are the direct result of a government campaign to censor critical information. The groups claim this is part of a broader global pattern that censoring or drowning out critical voices is no longer the exclusive activity of authoritarian governments such as China and Russia, but is also being done in Ecuador and Mexico. Moreno, who was lauded for his work on disability rights in Ecuador after he was shot in the back during a carjacking and paralyzed from the waist down, later served as the U.N. Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility in Geneva. He is the likely candidate to run for president on the ticket of the ruling party after President Rafael Correas term ends next year. Much of the Twitter chatter concerned a recent report by the investigative news site Fundacion Mil Hojas (1,000 Pages Foundation) that revealed Moreno earned more than US$1 million during two years in Geneva when he was working as a special envoy there. Moreno said in a Facebook chat message that the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations exempted him from paying taxes on this money because he was a special envoy. The nine Twitter suspensions that followed reports on Morenos taxes coincided with eight more account disruptions (suspensions or forced removal of tweets) in July 2016 among activists who criticized the government in other ways, according to information provided by Fundamedios. Moreno denied making takedown requests for any of the disruptions, and Twitter did not respond to a request for comment. After Fundamedios, CPJ, and other organizations appealed to Twitter, the accounts were restored. A screen shot of the Twitter account of Ecuadoran journalist Bernardo Abad. An English translation of his tweet reads: They blocked my account for showing public documents from the internal revenue service (SRI). Lenin Moreno didnt pay taxes in 2015. (CPJ) Ecuadoran free expression groups have long complained that opposition activists and critical journalists risk having their Twitter accounts suspended due to fishy copyright or terms of service complaints. Fundamedios says it documented at least 806 notifications against 292 accounts filed between mid-April and mid-July of 2016, most of them by a single Spanish company called Ares Rights that has routinely filed requests on behalf of Ecuadoran government agencies or politicians. CPJ has been unable to independently verify those numbers, but reports of censorship on social media have been widespread in Ecuador. In 2013, Buzzfeed received a copyright notification from Ares Rights filed on behalf of Ecuadors National Intelligence Secretariat after the media outlet published leaked documents alleging that the agency had purchased surveillance equipment. Ares Rights has also filed a number of takedown requests on behalf of the Ecuadoran Secretary of Communications (SECOM) against free speech organizations and opposition media outlets, despite the fact that the government agency has denied any contractual relationship with the company in the past. SECOM did not respond to requests for comment. During the Arab Spring six years ago, social media was seen as an organic expression of popular opinion that was capable of undermining governments and sparking revolutions. While the narrative of the social media revolution has become complicated in the years since, the general idea was, and in many places still is, that social media provides a snapshot of the publics conversation. It is this assumption that leads to controversy when social media platforms step out of the background and appear to exert editorial influence. But it is not just the platforms that are influencing content: The governments that these networks of citizen journalists were supposed to check have become increasingly sophisticated in using social media for surveillance, censorship, and propaganda. Governments and high-profile political figures are, for better or worse, increasingly shaping the debates taking place on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, whether through armies of propaganda artists in Russia, China, and Mexico, the surveillance and removal of accounts as part of the United States counterterrorism efforts, or the suspension of critical Twitter accounts in Ecuador. Twitter publishes annual transparency reports about the number of takedown demands the company receives from government agencies or courts throughout the world. Between January and June 2016, those reports found that Russia had 1,601 requests, Turkey had 2,493 and the U.S. had 100, though Twitter said it did not comply with the vast majority of the removal requests. Ecuador only had one request, with which Twitter said it did not comply, in contrast with the frequent complaints of allegedly politically motivated copyright and privacy violation complaints, which are harder to detect or to link directly to the government. *** On December 1, 2014 journalist Erin Gallagher was blogging about a major protest in Mexico City. She had been following the case of a group of missing Mexican students since September 26, 2014, when the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College disappeared on their way to a protest in the capital Mexico City. A flawed investigation, and indications that the military might have been involved, stoked existing frustrations with violence and corruption in the country and sparked a series of massive protests. Gallagher covered the demonstrations remotely from her home in Pennsylvania for the website Revolution News by talking to activists and following social media. She said she was following the protest-linked hashtag #RompeElMiedo (Break the Fear), when something strange happened. I had been following the protest live all day long and into the evening, and then all of a sudden the hashtag I was following was flooded with spam, Gallagher said. When you run into it online in real time, you know that theres something strange happening. Its obvious that its not organic information. Posts connected to the hashtag were filled with nonsense, random words or symbols, to the point that it became unusable. Gallagher said that she realized she had run into political bots automated social media bots programmed to influence online discussions. Researchers who study online bots confirm that there is evidence that trolls or bots manipulate social media in Mexico in order to change trending topics, threaten journalists, push out propaganda or divert online discussions that are critical of certain political figures. I would say that Mexico is the benchmark for the worst and most manipulative use of bots, said Sam Woolley, the project manager of Politicalbots.org. Bots are used as a roadblock, he said. A bunch of information would be tweeted at activists with the goal of disrupting conversations or having a chilling effect. Nicknamed Penabots for their tendency to send messages in favor of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto or his party, experts told CPJ that bots were now being used by all political factions in Mexico. Gallagher said the general assumption that bots are active in Mexicos political discussions is so widespread that some legitimate expressions of support for the government may be mischaracterized as spam. Bots are not always easy to identify. Although there are some indicators, such as the frequency of messages, the coherence of messages, and the relationships between bots, it can be hard to definitively identify automatic accounts, especially for casual observers. And bots are becoming increasingly sophisticated. For any detection system you write, I can write a bot that gets around it, said Tim Hwang, a researcher at the New York City-based research institute Data and Society. I think it will be an arms race. Campaigns of manipulation will get more sophisticated. In Mexico, Woolley said that it is increasingly common to see bots combined with human commentators. A bot account might initiate a discussion, but then a human will take over if anyone else becomes engaged in a back-and-forth. Hwang and Woolley are both quick to point out that politically oriented bots are not always bad. They can be used to connect political activists, provide information, or track incidents. For example, there is a bot that tracks every shooting by a police officer in the United States. Still, they are subject to being abused. Even harder than identifying political bots is figuring out who is paying for them and where they come from. In March, Bloomberg cited jailed Colombian hacker Andres Sepulveda as saying he was hired by Pena Nietos campaign for president in 2012 and that one of his tasks was to manipulate online opinion by managing fake profiles and an army of 30,000 Twitter bots. Although Bloomberg said that parts of Sepulvedas narrative coincided with technical attacks and propaganda that took place during the election campaign, not every detail of his story was independently corroborated. The Office of the Presidency did not respond to requests for comment. Political manipulation is hardly centered in Ecuador or Mexico. A survey of 65 countries in the 2015 edition of Freedom Houses report, Freedom on the Net, found that 24 of them employed the use of pro-government commentators to manipulate discussion. In China, a group of government workers known as the Fifty Cent Party posts pro-government propaganda and coordinates smear campaigns against critics, while armies of government-linked commentators have viciously attacked journalists in Russia. Even the United States has researched social media manipulation for counter-terrorism efforts. Manipulation is also not limited to Twitter. Woolley and Hwang said there are bots and paid trolls on Facebook and other platforms as well. The open structure of Twitter simply makes it easier to detect. For journalists, manipulation of social media means that some discussions are lost while others are added under false pretenses. These are difficult territories to chart. Even as Ecuadoran journalists persistently republish, again and again, censored content, and Mexican journalists soldier on in the face of trolling and threats, governments and political operatives continue to expand and adapt their efforts to thwart public debate and opposition. Alexandra Ellerbeck, CPJs senior Americas and U.S. researcher, previously worked at Freedom House and was a Fulbright teaching fellow at the State University of Para in Brazil. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram For all its faults, Facebook is a lifeline for journalists in less developed countries By Karen Coates Squeezed between China and Vietnam, Phongsali is the northernmost province of Laos, a land of mountains, valleys and isolated villages that is home to more than 15 ethnic groups. As recently as a few years ago, news traveled through Phongsali at a pace akin to regional traffic: slowly, on a bumpy route rife with potholes and disruptions. Table of Contents Attacks on the Press book cover The communist government of Laos keeps tight reins on all print and broadcast media, and newspapers rarely make it this far north. Many people, in fact, do not read, and until recently, there were few phones or TVs. Then came Facebook. No longer was news limited to established routes, which in the years since has provided locals with a convenient workaround when it comes to censorship by the communist government. Though that workaround carries its own perils, including sometimes questionable vetting of facts and the threat of retribution from the government, it has changed the censorship dynamic for good. With an influx of smartphones, the face and pace of life in rural Laos has likewise changed, as has the way Laotians learn about the world around them. In 2010, I spent a week in a Phongsali village and had virtually no connection to the outside world. Power was limited to small batteries and generators and the roads were dirt. In March 2016, I returned. The highway was paved and electricity towers lined the main road. The land felt different. And it was. Young men check their Facebook pages at a restaurant in Yangon, Myanmar, over beers and dinner. The social network is improving access to news in remote areas. (Jerry Redfern) I sat one night with colleagues at a dusty roadside restaurant after a long day of reporting in the field. We drank Beer Lao while awaiting orders of minced-meat salad and sticky rice. The table was mostly silent as our Lao companions were deeply engrossed in their Facebook feeds, heads bent down, faces creased with consternation. There had been another shooting (in a spate of recent attacks) against a public bus traveling a major north-south highway. My companions watched video of the aftermath, then chatted online with family and friends. When our food arrived, we discussed an undercurrent of violence that had shaken the country. This conversation would not have taken place without this remarkable shift in rural informationthrough Facebook. Social media, and especially Facebook, is changing journalism like nothing before, particularly in places where public information has historically been stifled or hard to find. During the turbulent times, Facebook becomes the easiest and quickest place for its users to disseminate news, see and instantly upload photos, videos, and then share them with whoever you want in a format that is accessible everywhere, observed Aliya Bashir, an independent journalist in Kashmir, a northern region involved in a longtime territorial dispute between Pakistan and India, which has led to a fight for independence. The result is that citizen journalists have a new voice that never existed before. The media in Kashmir isnt what it used to be, Bashir said. It is being reborn, and with this rebirth, we are witnessing the death of government controlled media as we knew it. The emergence of Facebook has rocked the local and Indian national media field to its foundations. In September 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned the change in a speech to the Lao people in Vientiane. We want to be your partner with the young people of Laos as you strengthen your communities and start businesses, and use Facebook to raise awareness for the rights and dignity of all people, Obama told the crowd. Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, summarized a significant concern about that proliferation in a recent talk to a University of Cambridge audience. The rapid predominance of social media, she said, is happening almost without us noticing, and certainly without the level of public examination and debate it deserves. Facebook launched in 2004 with a mission to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Twelve years later, its a media giant, alternately portrayed as either the savior of journalism, or its destroyer. When Facebook first emerged, it represented a radically democratizing shift in journalism that helped amplify new voices whose opinions and experiences had never been part of mainstream media before, wrote tech journalist Annalee Newitz. In many cases, Facebook information guides mainstream media because it tends to be really fast and far-reaching, said a former freelance journalist and Vietnamese press consultant who asked to be identified only as G.V. because, she said, shes precluded from stating public opinions in her current job with an embassy staff. Vietnam has one of the worlds worst press freedom records, but social media is helping citizens circumvent government restrictions. G.V. cited a recent case involving allegedly corrupt hospital guards in cahoots with transportation companies. Facebook video footage showed Hanoi hospital guards preventing a vehicle from taking a dying baby to the childs hometown hospital. News outlets brought this forward to the relevant hospitals leaders, who completely denied the case, G.V. said. But after another video was posted from another angle, which clearly shows that the guards were at fault, she said, hospital authorities were forced to take action by firing the guards. Based on scale alone, the worlds biggest social media network presents unparalleled opportunities for reporting. Facebook is a rolodex of 1.7 billion people, who could be potential sources, witnesses, experts or leads on a journalists research and reporting, said Vadim Lavrusik, founder of the platforms journalism program. And its not just a boon to journalists. Citizens now have the power to be a mini-news bureau, Lavrusik, who led the Facebook Live engineering team, observed. They can reach audiences that were previously available only to what he calls gatekeepers such as media organizations or government-sponsored agencies. Todays journalists also use Facebook to vet and connect with sources. When InSight Crime senior researcher Deborah Bonello plans reporting trips in Mexico, she wrote in an email, I generally reach out to people via FB to make an initial contact with them. That way they can see my profile, website and connections and know Im legit. And she can research the same about them. Activists use Facebook in similar ways. It helps me report about my organization and my own activities; it helps me to communicate with people, said Long Kimheang of the Housing Rights Task Force, a Cambodian group that works with Cambodias urban poor. Calling, chatting, sending and uploading photos and video, storing and retrieving data are all possible through Facebook. When she started her work in 2010, Kimheang said, she couldnt communicate so fluidly with the public. It was very hard before, when Facebook was not very common, she said, adding that radio and TV are owned and controlled by the government and rich, and there was no outlet for grassroots organizations like hers. Now, she has more than 2,500 Facebook friends around the world, many of whom are professional contacts and supporters. But Facebook is also a for-profit company (a huge one, at that), and operates accordingly. Facebook will do what is best for Facebook, wrote WIRED staffer Julia Greenberg. More and more, the company is nudging media producers to turn away from their traditional pipelines and publish directly on the platform. No longer is Facebook just a distributor of news; its a major gatekeeper in its own right, with all the powers to publish, to censor, and to shape societys views. The ubiquity of Facebook, and other forms of social media, leads to critical questions about accuracy. As Bashir noted, fact-checking is a challenge. Anyone can post anything to Facebook without any qualifications, training, or, for that matter, any proof, she said, which contributes to the spread of misinformation, exaggeration and propaganda. The fake news phenomenon hit home in the U.S. during the 2016 presidential campaign, when Facebook and other forms of social media were used as launch pads for rumors and lies about Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and their supporters, all of which blazed across the internet. The spread of such falsehoods can have dire consequences: In December 2016, a North Carolina man who opened fire in a Washington, D.C., pizzeria later told police he was on a mission to investigate what was, in fact, a false election-related conspiracy theory. There are also questions about how Facebook determines whats trending and whats in readers best interests to see. When leaked documents revealed in May that Facebook employs human editors, analysts reacted with deep concern. Those humans, it turns out, operate like a traditional newsroom, reflecting the biases of its workers and the institutional imperatives of the corporation, Michael Nunez wrote for Gizmodo. One critical difference between traditional publishers and Facebook is that editorial decisions seem to be made in a black box, inaccessible to the public, Chava Gourarie wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review. The problem is not that there are human decisions affecting the shape of the public spherethis has always been the case, wrote Robyn Caplan of the Data & Society research institute. The concern is that these decisions are in the hands of a small group of often invisible actors who can shift these priorities at will. Many accuse Facebook and its subsidiary, Instagram, of censoring content under the murky guise of community standards. Those standards nominally prohibit images of bare breasts, profane language, hate speech, pornography, and criminal activity. But critics also note the removal of posts pertaining to plus-sized women, breastfeeding mothers, breast cancer awareness campaigners, teen sexual health organizations, indigenous rights activists, conservative journalists, pro-cannabis groups, museum exhibitions, and drag queens. While some bemoan the broad powers of Facebook to censor content, journalistsand citizens in generalface individual physical dangers when using social media. Many governments have arrested citizens for content they post online. In May, Thai authorities arrested the mother of a student activist for allegedly insulting the monarchy on Facebook with a one-word reply to a private message. The word? Ja, an affirmative that essentially means yes. In Israel, authorities have arrested dozens of Palestiniansand some Israeli Jewsin the past year for incitement of violence based on Facebook posts. In India, two girls were arrested for Facebook postings after the death of an extremist leader. When Priyanka Borpujari, an Indian journalist, wrote an op-ed for The Boston Globe, half a world away, friends warned her to be careful, although the piece was unsigned. It was very easy to know that I had written it, she said. I am definitely much more careful about what I post out there on Facebook. In Laos, authorities arrested three citizens who posted allegedly anti-government Facebook posts. Months later, Radio Free Asia reports, the government is on the hunt for Facebook friends of the three, who, at the time of this writing, had not been charged. Under a 2014 decree, Internet users face harsh jail sentences for criticizing the ruling party online. This was not the first incident involving Lao censorship of Facebook activities. A few years ago, the survivor of a plane crash that killed several prominent Lao politicians posted details of the event shortly after it happened. That posting disappeared in 10 minutes, according to a longtime expatriate in Vientiane who wished to remain anonymous. Beyond government censorship and threat of arrest, Facebook users are open to trolling and harassmentwhich can range from mean to abusive, with lasting repercussions. None of this is entirely new. Journalists on the ground have faced harassment, intimidation, arrest, rape, torture and threats with guns and knives for as long as the profession has existed. And in many cases, real-life dangers outweigh the online versions in both the fear factor and the real-life consequences. I was incarcerated briefly, I was beaten up by the cops, had my camera taken, Borpujari said. It had definitely left a big impact on my mind. The dangers she faces online are nothing compared to being on the ground and being a person whos living there. Borpujari explained what its like to work in conflict zones in India such as Assam, an eastern state where insurgents have fought a decades-long separatist movement. The moment you land in there, the whole state knows because you are not part of them, Borpujari said. She claims police have monitored her phone calls and placed her under surveillance. Information travels so fast in a conflict area, she said, and its not because of social media. Its simply because thats the scenario in a conflict situation. Repressive regimes have always had ways of tracking people, just as theyve also had ways of manipulating information. That hasnt changedbut Facebook offers yet another method. Myanmar (formerly Burma) presents an interesting case study. For decades, under the former military junta, many citizens had little access to information beyond government control. Every newspaper required a license to operate and every story underwent scrutiny by state censors. There was, essentially, no daily news in the old Burma; every publication was weekly. And almost no one had a mobile phone. Then, within a couple of years, SIM card prices dropped from US$2,000 to less than US$2. The transformation was immediate and widely apparent: Cell phones appeared nationwide in teashops, train stations, and remote village homes. The citizens of this vast and diversified country were suddenly linked by technology as never before. But there is a downside. Social media platforms like Facebook have become fertile new ground for hate speech, Nick Baker writes in the Myanmar Times. Hate speechthrough songs, pamphlets, and other forms of propagandais a longstanding facet of communication across the conflict-ridden country. While this material was once constrained by resources, manpower and geography, the advent of explosive internet connectivity has meant an unprecedented new reach, Baker wrote. In 2012, Myanmar was engulfed in anti-Muslim furordirected mostly at minority Muslim Rohingyaswhich resulted in 250 deaths and the displacement of about 140,000 people. Since then, analysts say, Facebook has served as a vehicle for spreading hate speech, though it also sparked a counter flower speech campaign. In one example, in 2014, radical nationalist Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu, who is well known for his anti-Muslim rhetoric, posted on his Facebook page the fabricated allegations that two Muslim men had raped a Buddhist woman in Mandalay. The post went viral, and Mandalay erupted in violence as Buddhist mobs tore through the citys streets, pillaging businesses. Two died and dozens were injured. Unrest among Rohingyas and violent reprisals by the army continued in parts of the country in late 2016. Meanwhile, media literacy and the ability to distinguish between truth and fiction have not kept pace. Hate speech is 360 degrees, said Ye Naing Moe, head of Burmas Yangon Journalism School. Anti-military, anti-Bamar, anti-ethnic, anti-Muslims, anti-Buddhists. Distinguishing fact from fiction is critical, he said, and ordinary people in the neighborhood really need to know how reliable the information they receive from social media and even mainstream media are, and how they can check them. When Facebook Live was launched in 2015, it allowed those with access to stream in real time. With a good connection, audiences can simultaneously watch anything from a Florida piano player to an Afghani barbecue to the latest in video news from Lower Egypt. The new tool enables us to see news as its unfolding by giving people the power of a TV camera on their mobile phones, Lavrusik said. Its a notable shift, and its happening around the world. It was Facebook Live that allowed millions to view the death of Philando Castile, who was shot by Minnesota police in July 2016. His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, posted live video of the immediate aftermath, as an officer kept a gun pointed at the couple while Castile was dying. American audiences were already accustomed to viewing cop shootings onlinebut until then, longer after the fact. Livestreaming presents new opportunities for censorship, too. In August, Facebook complied with Baltimore County, Maryland police requests to deactivate the social media accounts of 23-year-old Korryn Gaines, who posted video of an altercation with officers before they shot and killed her, as she was barricaded in her home with her 5-year-old son. One of her videos remains on Instagram while others are reportedly archived as evidence, no longer viewable by the public. Baltimore officials justify the move as a means of preserving the integrity of the negotiation process with her and for the safety of our personnel [and] her child. *** A dozen years on, Facebook is a primary outlet for news in many countries, and the questions for journalists are not so much about the ifs or the pros and cons of social media. Social media is now a given. The questions now hinge on how society is responding to dramatic changes in communication and how journalists incorporate those changes into their reporting. I think its easy to define someone like me as a social media journalist, and Ive always thought that was missing the point, said Andy Carvin, the founder of reported.ly, a groundbreaking platform designed to cover news almost entirely through social media. Carvin, who was dubbed the man who tweets revolutions for his social media-based coverage of the Arab Spring, sees vast opportunities in combining the strengths of new and traditional reporting tools and platforms. For my entire career, going back around 22 years now, Ive been interacting with people online and offline to help me better understand complex ideas and explain them to the public, he said. Thats the bedrock of any good journalism. Fundamentally, its not about the platforms, he added. Its about the willingness to develop relationships with communities. Borpujari agrees. She thinks social media canand shouldbe used for more nuanced reporting about human stories. Its ironic, she said, that people often embrace a more democratic or holistic form of online storytelling when it comes to our pets, as opposed to our fellow human beings. We watch dog videos where the dog is being funny, when the dog is being naughty, when the dog is being sleepy, when the dog is being hungry. But we dont show humans in that vast plethora of emotions or vast plethora of experiences, right? she said. When it comes to stories of people, social media gives us quickies, she said. Whatever is exciting. But the dog videos prove social media can offer more. She gives the example of an Instagram series she started after her father died as a cathartic way for me to deal with loss. It sparked a following that spurred a conversation about the loss of parents and how we dont talk about that. When Borpujari posts long missives and personal essays, people respond with their most generous and most surprising comments, she said, reacting in very beautifully surprising emotions. That was apparent to me on that night in 2016 in northern Laos, at the little roadside restaurant in Phongsali, with dinner beginning in silence and all those downward-facing heads and thumbs scrolling through Facebook feeds. It seemed an anachronistic scene in a remote little pocket of a sparsely populated country, where showers are cold and meals are cooked over wood fires. But when the owner served us fiery plates of food, and another bottle of Beer Lao was cracked, we all started talkingabout the future of Laos and worries over this recent spate of violence, which no one was able to adequately explain. We shared a meaty, reflective conversationin three languagesspurred entirely by the news on Facebook. And in that case, everything reported was true, and it was widely known despite the governments routine efforts to censor the news. Karen Coates is an independent journalist and senior fellow at Brandeis Universitys Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism. Madrid, Spain -April 25, 2017. conneXion, LS Retail's annual international conference and expo, kicks off tomorrow at the Melia Castilla Hotel in Madrid, Spain. conneXion is LS Retail's key event of the year, and features a conference and an Expo dedicated to retail and hospitality businesses as well as to LS Retail partners from all over the world. conneXion Madrid will focus on how to create unforgettable customer experiences in a changing business world. The conference program includes an Expo showcasing innovative technology, and over forty informative and inspirational sessions. "One of the most anticipated moments for our partner and customers is the joint keynote from Microsoft and LS Retail on Microsoft Dynamics 365," says Eloise Freygang, Chief Marketing Officer at LS Retail. "Last year, the release of Microsoft Dynamics 365 shook the world of retail and of IT. We have received so many enquiries about what our role will be in it: today our partners and customers can discover our plans for the road ahead," concludes Eloise. The LS Retail, Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 keynote will take place on Wednesday, April 26, and will be delivered by Marko Perisic, General Manager for Microsoft Dynamics SMB and Dynamics 365, and Dadi Karason, CTO at LS Retail. The conference features more sessions discussing major current trends, issues and innovation in the retail and hospitality industry. Luis Cabrera, Senior Program manager in the Azure machine Learning Team at Microsoft, returns to conneXion to discuss how AI and machine learning are revolutionizing retail. Doug Stephens, the Retail Prophet, will inspire attendees with a glimpse at the future of retail. On Thursday, April 27, Dominik Meier, Senior Software Engineer at adidas, will join Petur Thor Sigurdsson, Product Director for omni-channel solutions at LS Retail, on the conneXion main stage. Together, they will share how LS Retail and adidas are uniting to create technology that enhances the shopping experience in-store. At the conference Expo attendees can get acquainted with the latest software solutions from some of the best-known names in the field of retail and hospitality technology. Sponsors and exhibitors include innovative brands such as AGR Dynamics, ClickLearn, HP and Microsoft. At the Expo, guests can also receive technical support and product demos from LS Retail experts. On April 26, LS Retail will award top-performing business partners during an awards ceremony at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The conference will close on April 27 with a celebration party at Quinta de Jarama. About LS Retail For more than two decades, LS Retail has been developing easy and practical software solutions to make the shopping and dining experience a pleasure worldwide. LS Retail products and solutions are sold through a global partner network and have been installed in more than 66,000 stores in over 120 countries. Contact Information LS Retail, ehf. Eloise Freygang +354 660-7088 Eloise@LSRetail.com Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5c62838a-2a0c-4c58-93c8-c129fa1696b2 BELGRADE, Mont., April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xtant Medical Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT:XTNT), a leader in the development, manufacturing and marketing of orthopedic products for domestic and international markets, today announced it has been named as the Montana Ambassador Business of the Year. Xtant Medical was honored for making an outstanding contribution to the economic development in Montana. "We are incredibly humbled to receive this recognition from the Governor of Montana, Steve Bullock, and to be selected by the Montana Ambassadors," said Carl O'Connell, CEO of Xtant Medical. "We have exceptional people that are the engine of Xtant Medical, who embody the Montana spirit, and who are passionate about the work we perform and the ability to make a difference in the lives of others. For us, this not only speaks to our Montana-base, but to our employees across the country. We would like to commend the Governor and the Montana Congressional Delegation for the work they do to support and advocate for businesses headquartered in Montana." "Biosciences is a flourishing industry, and we felt it was important to recognize a successful Montana company in this space, and to prove that these companies can flourish in the state," said Kurt Burgess, Montana Ambassador. "Xtant Medical is the perfect example of a company that has encompassed the exceptional resources Montana has to offer to businesses. They are recognized worldwide as strong competitors in the biologics industry, and therefore deserve to be recognized for their many accomplishments." The Montana Ambassadors is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization of leaders in business, education, and local and state government with a common dedication to living and doing business in Montana and to furthering the best interests of the state. At the pleasure of the Governor, its members act as official Ambassadors of the State of Montana. Xtant Medical will formally accept this award at the Innovate Montana Symposium's Montana Ambassador's Awards Dinner on July 11, 2017. About Xtant Medical Holdings Xtant Medical Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT:XTNT) develops, manufactures and markets class-leading regenerative medicine products and medical devices for domestic and international markets. Xtant products serve the specialized needs of orthopedic and neurological surgeons, including orthobiologics for the promotion of bone healing, implants and instrumentation for the treatment of spinal disease, tissue grafts for the treatment of orthopedic disorders, and biologics to promote healing following cranial, and foot and ankle surgeries. With core competencies in both biologic and non-biologic surgical technologies, Xtant can leverage its resources to successfully compete in global neurological and orthopedic surgery markets. For further information, please visit www.xtantmedical.com. Important Cautions Regarding Forward-looking Statements This press release contains certain disclosures that may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "continue," "efforts," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "strategy," "will," "goal," "target," "prospects," "potential," "optimistic," "confident," "likely," "probable" or similar expressions or the negative thereof. Statements of historical fact also may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. We caution that these statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others: the ability to comply with covenants in the Companys senior credit facility and to make deferred interest payments; the ability to maintain sufficient liquidity to fund operations; the ability to remain listed on the NYSE MKT; the ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms; the ability to increase revenue; the ability to continue as a going concern; the ability to maintain sufficient liquidity to fund operations; the ability to achieve expected results; the ability to remain competitive; government regulations; the ability to innovate and develop new products; the ability to obtain donor cadavers for products; the ability to engage and retain qualified technical personnel and members of the Companys management team; the availability of Company facilities; government and third-party coverage and reimbursement for Company products; the ability to obtain regulatory approvals; the ability to successfully integrate recent and future business combinations or acquisitions; the ability to use net operating loss carry-forwards to offset future taxable income; the ability to deduct all or a portion of the interest payments on the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes; the ability to service Company debt; product liability claims and other litigation to which we may be subjected; product recalls and defects; timing and results of clinical studies; the ability to obtain and protect Company intellectual property and proprietary rights; infringement and ownership of intellectual property; the ability to remain accredited with the American Association of Tissue Banks; influence by Company management; the ability to pay dividends; and the ability to issue preferred stock; and other factors. Additional risk factors are listed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q under the heading "Risk Factors." The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. English Lithuanian AB Klaipedos Nafta (hereinafter - the Company) hereby informs that on 25th of April 2017 the Company has announced the annual liquefied natural gas (hereinafter - LNG) terminal capacities allocation procedure and an invitation for the potential users of the LNG Terminal to submit their requests for allocation of LNG terminal capacities for the upcoming Gas Year, lasting from the 1st of October, 2017 to the 30th of September, 2018. Letter of the invitation (Annex No. 1) is provided along with this notification on material event and is also published on the website www.kn.lt. The Company performs the allocation of capacities according to the publicly announced Regulations for Use of Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal (hereinafter - the Regulations), which were verified and approved by the National Commission for Energy Control and Prices (hereinafter, the NCECP) and the Board of the Company. During the allocation procedure of the LNG terminal capacities the LNG regasification capacities and LNG reloading capacities shall be allocated. The total volume of the LNG terminal capacity being allocated is 3.75 bcm per annum, which is equivalent to 6.5 mln m3 of LNG per annum applying a relative coefficient of expansion of 1:580. On its website the Company constantly announces and updates the information regarding the unallocated capacities of the LNG terminal, which shall be available for acquisition during the Gas Year as well. The Company shall accept the requests of potential LNG terminal users until 25th of May, 2017, 4 p.m. Lithuanian time. Annex No. 1 Invitation to provide LNG terminal capacity allocation requests. By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Repeating after dropping a word from para 2) Kochi, Apr 25 (PTI) A state native moved the Kerala High Court today seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged "sexually loaded statements" made by Power Minister M M Mani, who has strongly refuted the accusations. In his petition to the court, Kerala resident George Vattukulam accused Mani of making sexually-loaded, anti-woman statements at a public meeting in Kunchithanni. advertisement George quoted the minister as saying that the women leaders and "Pembilai Orumai," the women activists of plantation workers in hilly Idukki district had regularly indulged in "an orgy of drinking and other activities" during their month-long stir in Munnar last year. The petitioner alleged Mani has "now outraged the modesty and used abusive language, sexually loaded statements against more than 10,000 women who participated in a historic struggle." Mani earlier insulted a woman principal of Painavu Government Polytechnic using abusive language and sexually loaded statements with gestures and later he apologised for that, the petition said. "The respondent is a habitual offender and regularly uses abusive language and sexually-loaded statements especially against the women," it said. It also accused Mani of using abusive language against efficient civil service officers. The high court is expected to take up the petition for hearing on Thursday. Mani, however, has refuted the allegation against him on the floor of state assembly. He told the assembly today that he had not used any offencive language against women. "I have not used the word woman even once in my 17-minute speech," which he claimed had been edited by the media, a section of which was against him. PTI COR TGB RC RAX --- ENDS --- Lithuanian English Vilnius, Lithuania, 2017-04-25 15:30 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On 25 April 2017, during the extraordinary general meeting of Litgrid AB shareholders (legal entity code 302564383, registered address: A. Juozapaviciaus g. 13, Vilnius) the following decisions were made: 1. Approval of the consolidated annual report of the Company for 2016. Decision: To hear out the consolidated annual report of Litgrid AB on the activities of the company and the group of companies for 2016 (Annex No. 1) 2. Presentation of the external auditor's report. Independent Auditor's Report is heard. No resolutions on this matter are adopted (Annex No. 1). 3. Approval of the consolidated and set of financial statements of the Company for 2016. Desicion: To approve the set of financial statements of Litgrid AB for 2016 (Annex No. 1) 4. Distribution of the Company's profit (loss) of 2016. Decision: To approve the profit distribution of Litgrid AB of 2016 proposed by the Board of Litgrid AB (Annex No. 2) 5. Approval of the transfer of 0.004% of shares of UAB Technologiju ir inovaciju centras. Decision: 5.1. To approve the resolution of the Board of Litgrid AB of 20 March 2017 (Minutes No. 7) on approval of the sale of all the shares (1 000 shares, or 0.004% of total shares) of UAB Technologiju ir inovaciju centras (company code 303200016) owned by Litgrid AB to UAB Lietuvos energija for the price of EUR 847, calculated according to Paragraph 1.1. of the Shareholders Agreement No. SUT-309-15. 5.2. To authorise Litgrid CEO and Director of Finance Department to sign the agreement on purchasesale of 1 000 shares of UAB Technologiju ir inovaciju centras with UAB Lietuvos energija following the procedure established by the laws and to carry out all other necessary actions related with the sale of 1 000 shares of UAB Technologiju ir inovaciju centras. Information on the abovementioned decisions is also available on www.litgrid.eu. Enclosed: 1. Consolidated and the companys financial statements for 2016, drawn in accordance with the international financial reporting standards applicable in the European Union, presented together with the independent auditor's report and the consolidated annual report; 2. Profit (loss) distribution of Litgrid AB of 2016. We're sorry, you encountered a page that doesn't exist. CAMP HILL, Pa., April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its Metals & Minerals division has signed a new, ten year mill services contract with Egyptian Steel, the manufacturer of rebar, wire rods and billets in the Middle East and North Africa. The contract, valued at approximately $60 million in projected revenues over its duration, calls for the provision of mill services at Egyptian Steels Ain Sokhna plant, a new steelmaking facility now under construction in support of Egyptian Steels rapid market expansion. Under the terms of the agreement, Harsco will provide slag management, scrap management and material handling services, with future plans to design and operate onsite metal recovery and briquetting plants. Harscos services at the Ain Sokhna plant are scheduled to begin in January 2018. The contract strengthens Metals & Minerals market-leading role in the Africa and Middle East steel markets, where Harsco has been providing services since 1994. This contract addition in the Harsco portfolio is in line with our growth strategy in this strategically important region, said Harsco President and CEO Nick Grasberger. Our Metals & Minerals business is growing again and capturing new sites. This valued relationship with Egyptian Steel is built on the trust and confidence that weve developed through our exceptional teams. Egyptian Steel Group CEO and Chairman Mr. Ahmed Abou Hashima pointed to Harscos strengths in quality, the environment and its unmatched safety records as being key in expanding the relationship. We are raising the benchmark of the steel industry and becoming a leading player in Egypt and the MENA region, he said. This new contract will help us in utilizing the state-of-art, eco-friendly technologies to deliver organizational excellence in a safe environment. Together, we hope to achieve sustainable growth that ensures long-life relationships while optimizing the return to our community and stakeholders. About Harsco Corporation Harsco Corporation is a diversified industrial company providing a range of onsite services and engineered products to the global steel, energy and railway sectors. Harscos common stock is a component of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and the Russell 2000 Index. Additional information can be found at www.harsco.com. Harscos Metals & Minerals division is the largest and most comprehensive provider of onsite material processing and environmental services to the worldwide metals industry, with operations at approximately 140 customer sites across more than 30 countries. The division is a technology partner to cleaner, more efficient metal production, providing customers with economically and environmentally viable solutions for the treatment and reuse of production waste streams. About Egyptian Steel Group Egyptian Steel was established in 2010, in the field of manufacturing and rolling of steel, with the objective of providing comprehensive solutions using different techniques and the latest production and environmentally-friendly technologies for existing and new investments. Under the holding company are three well-established companies - National Port Said Steel (NPSS), IIC for Steel Plants Management and Egyptian Steel for Building Materials Trading operating four plants in Port Said, Al Ain Al Sokhna, Beni Suef and Alexandria with a total production capacity of 2.3 million tons per year of steel rebars. The plants use the latest technology of Endless Casting & Rolling for producing high quality steel rebars. This technology is distinguished for saving time and energy. The plants are also using level 3 automation, which is considered the highest technology currently available worldwide. Employees at Egyptian Steel are carefully chosen with the best calibers, experience, and professional backgrounds. The manpower of all employees is one of the strongest attributes of the group. Egyptian Steel has a very active CSR role within the communities in which it exists and across Egypt. emann wrote: Ten minutes, but all 5 correct. Here is how I rationalized each answer I got: Q1: A. We are told this explicitly in the last few lines of the passage. After 1836 people had to actually prove they were adhering to the law, not just pay the $30 fee. B - we know nothing about this. C - This is disproved later in the article, so no. D - This part of the passage only mentions the early 19th century, so there's no way to verify this. E - Technically correct, but 1836 is 6 years into the 1830s and we're discussing the entire 1830s, so this one is out. Q2: E. A - We are told nothing about the definition of, so this one is out. B - Also not really explained, so no. C- They only had to pay $30 so no. D - Perhaps, but this is outside the patent framers' goals, so no. E - This is the right choice. The goal of the patent system was to encourage national growth. The scholars are contending that the system did not help them do that. Q3: B. (Admittedly I struggled with this one a bit.) A. That's flat out not true, so no. B. Correct. We are told later on in the paragraph as the author disproves the scholars' evidence, that the support did not increase. C - Definitely not. D - No, Also disproved. Lines 30-35. E - No. Lines 40-45. Q4: D. A - irrelevant. B - We are told nothing about this, so no. C - Again, no information to go off of. D - Correct. Lines 10-15 indicate that the scholars believe that judges ruled against patentees on arbitrary grounds. The author argues against this in the later sections of the passage. Q5: C. Before I go into individual answer choices, I should explain the trick to this question. It's asking about how the author disproved the argument referenced in lines 14-15. Now, there are three arguments presented one after another after the scholars argument, but the first two are further proof that the scholars relied on, not the author. The author is simply explaining their reasoning. Okay. Here we go. A - No, this supports their argument. B Entirely irrelevant. We are told nothing about this. C - True. The author's reasoning is that if the scholars argument were true, then it would be more likely that later judges would not use those precedents as heavily, but they do, therefore the scholars argument is invalid. D - Technically untrue. The improvements didn't start until after 1836, so no. E - Just...no. We are told absolutely nothing about this argument, so no. This passage was quite tricky. It was long and had arguments within arguments. The best way I know of to deal with passages like this is to read slowly and create a chart (I use a T chart) to keep each group's arguments clear with quick abbreviated notes of each point. Hope this helps! These scholars have contended that from 1794 to roughly 1830, American inventors were unable to enforce property rights because judges were antipatent and routinely invalidated patents for arbitrary reasons I did not understand your explanation of Q5. In line 14-15, the argument is "". And the question asks which evidence in the passage challenges this argument. I guess 'constitutional rationale for the 1836' is an evidence against this argument because it challenges the previous assumption "judges were antipatient". But this constitutional rational says that It was not the judges but the automatic grants of patents, the cause of the patients to be rejected by judges later on the trial and this system was resolved by the 1836 revision. What do you think? jayanthjanardhan wrote: Hey, Can somebody please tell me about the recruitment in McDonough?...I hear most of the consulting firm that recruit (Like Deloitte, PwC, EnY) are for federal consulting for which a green card is a must. Anybody can throw more light on this? Completing MBA applications is like fighting a pissed off hydra on steroids, lop off one head and two more just take their place Signature Read More Was wondering about the very same thing... wonder if any Alums or current students could share their opinion?_________________ Hermione wrote: still not getting thru my brain... any other (possibly more basic/ step by step) explanation? sorrry guys...still not getting thru my brain... any other (possibly more basic/ step by step) explanation? OK in that case let me see if I can offer some help -I hope you are familiar with basic probability fundas -Let's say you have just ONE letter and TWO envelopes ONE of which is correctly addressed and the other addressed incorrectly.What's the probability of putting the Letter in the correctly addressed envelope -To answer this question - we see IN HOW MANY WAYS can the letter be put into the envelope - you could put it (assuming you don't know which envelope is which) in either of the two - so in total you have TWO ways of shoving the letter in. However, there's only ONE way in which it can go into the correctly addressed envelope -so 1/2 is the prob of putting in correct envelope. This is easy.Now in our current problem - let's say we have just ONE letter but FOUR envelopes. Only one of these envelopes has the address corresponding to the letter. The remaining three envelopes are incorrectly addressed.So the probability that you will put the letter correctly is 1/4. Right?What happens if i ask you the reverse question? what is the prob for putting it in the incorrect envelope. Suddenly you have three envs that are incorrect so you can put the letter incorrectly with a prob of 3/4. Right?The whole problem can be broken down into Four Events that will fulfill the requirement of the questionEvent 1 - E1We know that prob of putting ONE Letter correctly is 1/4. Now once ONE letter has been put CORRECTLY, what are you LEFT with? You are left with THREE ENVELOPES and the remaining THREE letters. Since the one letter has been put correctly (though technically we have just calculated the PROBABILITY that the first letter goes into the correct envelope) we have the remaining THREE Letters and THREE envelopes.Event 2 - E2Let's take letter number 2 now - what is the probability that it LANDS in the INCORRECT envelope. Again by the same logic as above - there are 3 envelopes remaining out of which ONLY ONE has the correct address for LETTER number 2. The remaining 2 have INCORRECT address and LETTER NUMBER 2 could go in either of these 2 to meet our condition.Thus the probability of this event is 2/3So till now what we have done is -we have calculated the prob of shoving Letter number 1 in correct env -- 1/4we have calculated the prob of shoving Letter number 2 in INcorrect env --- 2/3Event 3 - E3Now let's take letter number 3 - again according to question we want to shove this in the WRONG envelope. There are 2 remaining envelopes and hence the prob of shoving this in the wrong env (or equally in the RIght env) is 1/2.Finally we come to event E4 - the Letter number 4. This has only one way of going in so its probability of being put into the WRONG envelope is 1.ok so we can see that our grand event is actually a combination of FOUR EVENTS happening - each with a probability of its own. So to calculate the total probability of the Grand Event itself we just multiply the individual probabilities since each event happens INDEPENDENTLY of each otherEgrand = 1/4 * 2/3 * 1/2 * 1/1 = 1/12However at this point - I must introduce one last element in this question -since there are FOUR Letters - what we saw above was JUST ONE SEQUENCE of events leading to the desired result.If we arbitrarily call the letters L1 thru L4, and let's say the above was an example in which we started by Picking up Letter L1 and worked thru the remaining letters, we could have equally well started out with letter L2 or L3 or L4.Thus since each of these events ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE, meaning THEY CAN NEVER HAPPEN ALL THE SAME TIME BUT ONLY ONE LETTER AT A TIME, to calculate the TOTAL PROBABILITY of we will add the individual probabilities 1/12 + 1/12 + 1/12 + 1/12 which works out to 1/3.Phew!! voodoochild wrote: Through their selective funding of research projects, pharmaceutical companies exert too much influence upon medical research in universities. Only research proposals promising lucrative results are given serious consideration, and funding is usually awarded to scientists at large institutions who already have vast research experience. As a result, only larger universities will be able to continue developing adequate research facilities, and graduate students will learn that their future research must conform to the expectations of the corporation. Research will continue to be conducted at the expense of human welfare. Which of the following reactions of a pharmaceutical company representative would provide the strongest rebuttal to the comments above? (A) Many of the research projects funded by pharmaceutical companies do not end up being lucrative. (B) Much of the funding provided by pharmaceutical companies goes to fellowships that help pay for the education of graduate students. (C) If it were not for the funds which pharmaceutical companies provide, very little medical research could be conducted at all. (D) The committee members fail to discuss other methods of funding research projects. (E) Larger universities are the only ones equipped to conduct the kind of research sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. Can you please explain why E) is incorrect? If ONLY large universities are equipped to do the research, pharma companies are not wrong in funding ONLY large univ. Correct? The conclusion is : Research will continue to be conducted at the cost of human welfare. The author provides a bunch of evidences: only large universities will be able to conduct the research; students' research will conform to the expectations of the companies. However, if only large univ are the ones that CAN conduct the research, isn't the argument against companies weakened? Another point could be made that the author assumes that the expectations of the companies don't comply with human welfare. However, both the statements will equally kill the argument. Thoughts? VoodooChild Larger universities are the only ones equipped to conduct the kind of research sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. Yes, larger universities are the only ones big enough to handle your giant money-making schemes! Only larger universities have the resources that will ultimately allow you to line your pockets with vast quantities of graft. Without your influence, those larger universities could be working on research that directly benefits human welfare, but instead, you have forced them to work on stuff that will just benefit your bottom line! everyone where ...only larger universities will be able to continue developing adequate research facilities ... If it were not for the funds which pharmaceutical companies provide, very little medical research could be conducted at all author assumes that the expectations of the companies don't comply with human welfare The research from which we derive the greatest profits are profitable precisely because so many people benefit from the resultant breakthroughs Magoosh Test Prep Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. William Butler Yeats (1865 1939) Mike McGarryEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. William Butler Yeats (1865 1939) Signature Read More I am responding to a pm fromThe critic making this argument is saying, essentially -- pharmaceutical companies only care about profits, not human welfare, so when they dump all this research money into the universities, they are essentially hijacking and manipulating the intellectual resources of that university for their own money-making schemes, again at the expense of human welfare. At an even more simplistic level, we could reduce the argument to: When universities receive research money from pharmaceutical companies, that's bad for human welfare. Fundamentally, that's what the critic is saying, between the lines.Now, suppose the pharmaceutical company representative responds with (E): "" Then, the critic is going to say ---Answer (E) addresses the choice of larger universities, rather than all universities --- that was a point made in passing in the argument, but it is not essential to the argument. Theoretically, the pharmaceutical companies could fund research at every single university, public and private, in the whole country --- thenwould be manipulated by their money, and (according to the critic) human welfare would be hurt even more. That would be even worse! The argument aboutthe research is happening is not essential to the main argument. The essential thing is --- what really benefits human welfare? (E) doesn't touch that, and as I tried to make clear, a persistent critic would not be satisfied if they gave (E) as an answer.Not all evidence is equal. Here, the argument contains what ostensibly is a line of evidence: "", but even if this is completely cut out, denied, and the opposite is true --- every single university, big and small, gets pharmaceutical money ---- that would actually strengthen the argument, as far as the critic is concerned. If every single university, big and small, is under the profit-seeking influence of the pharmaceutical companies, then no one will do anything to benefit human welfare. It's not enough to attack what appears as evidence --- you have to think, contextually, about what it would mean for that piece of evidence to be false.Meanwhile, if the the pharmaceutical company representative responds with (C):"." If pharmaceutical companies don't invest, no research happens, no new cures or treatments for disease are developed, and human welfare is thereby hurt. The critic's argument, in its core form, is "Pharmaceutical money = bad", and this is the only answer choice that says anything like, ""Pharmaceutical money = good", which is what a rebuttal would have to say.I totally agree with you --- this is, at best, a tepid rebuttal. The critic says to the pharmaceutical companies, "Your money makes the situation bad," and (C) is essentially saying, "Yes, but it would be even worse without our money." Yes, it's a kind of rebuttal, but hardly a ringing endorsement for the ethical standing of the pharmaceutical companies. A much more powerful rebuttal would be along the lines of what you suggested --- as you said, "", so something that attacks that assumption would be an excellent rebuttal. For example, the pharmaceutical company representative could have said, "." In other words, profits and human welfare are aligned, not at odds. That would be a powerful rebuttal (except that, in all likelihood, it's just corporate B.S that manipulates the facts and misrepresents the situation, but that's getting into second-order objections, much more complex than the GMAT CR involves).Does all this make sense?Mike_________________ By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Apr 25 (PTI) A special one-day session of the Maharashtra legislature has been convened on May 17 to pass the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and other related legislations. The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis here today. Parliament has passed the central GST and Integrated GST Bill and the President has already given his assent the Bill in September last year. advertisement The GST is expected to come into force from July 1. States can also levy GST in accordance of the powers vested with them. The special session of both houses of the state legislature will be held on May 17 to pass the state specific GST Bill. The Maharashtra legislature had in a special sitting in August last year ratified the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill passed by the Parliament. PTI MR RMT BAS --- ENDS --- 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 While responding to a question on the H1-B visa during his visit at the Peterson Institute, CEA Arvind Subramanian said something like 50 to 60 per cent of all our exports of services goes to the US, so it would worry us. CEA Arvind Subramanian said that India would be "okay" as long as the visa reforms are manageable. By Press Trust of India: Any "serious actions" taken by the Trump Administration on the H-1B visa programme would be a cause of "worry" as a majority of Indian exports in the services sector go to the US, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has said. "If there are serious actions taken it's something that is going to kind of worry us a lot because, remember that our exports of services are about 40 to 45 per cent of the total exports,?" Subramanian told an audience here last week. advertisement "Something like 50 to 60 per cent of all our exports of services goes to the United States. So it would worry us quite a bit,?" he said while responding to a question on the H1-B visa during his visit at the Peterson Institute, a top American economic think-tank. Subramanian said that India would be "okay" as long as the visa reforms are manageable and it's keeping a close watch on it. ARUN JAITLEY ON H-1B VISA ISSUE IN US "Anything that is going to interfere with export growth creates anxiety (in India). In the context of the United States, we're all watching very carefully the H1-B visa situation,?" the Chief Economic Adviser said. "On the visa side, I don't know but as long as you know we can keep this thing manageable. You know it should be okay,?" he said. During his US visit, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also taken up the the H-1B issue with the American side and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy. President Donald Trump had earlier this month 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, a decision that would impact India's USD 150 billion IT industry. The Indian IT industry expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America. US MARKET ACCOUNTS FOR 60% REVENUE OF INDIAN IT INDUSTRY The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations. The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry. Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals. advertisement India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive. ALSO READ | H1-B visa: Donald Trump signs 'buy American, hire American' order, may impact Indian workers ALSO READ | Nasscom refutes allegations of H1B visa norms violation by TCS, Infosys ALSO WATCH | Arun Jaitley strongly raises visa issue with US --- ENDS --- Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee mocked the idea of affidavit filed by Centre before the Supreme Court mulling ways to generate Unique Identification (UID) for each cow in India. By Indrajit Kundu: On a day when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah began his three-day tour of West Bengal to give the party a grassroots push, chief minister Mamata Banerjee once again launched a scathing attack on the saffron brigade. "Religion means love and humanity. Religion is not about BJP's divisive ideology. BJP is busy setting people's houses on fire. They keep proclaiming aloud that they are Hindus but Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda are greater Hindus than them. We have all taken birth in Hindu households but I love Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, everyone. Don't fall for their ploy," she said while addressing a rally organised by the Kamtapur Progressive Party (KPP). advertisement During 2014 Lok Sabha elections KPP, which has a considerable clout among the Rajbongshi community in the region had supported the BJP. However, the party switched allegiance to ally with the Trinamool Congress during last year's state assembly polls. Ironically, while Mamata was visiting the Coochbehar district, the BJP president also chose the Darjeeling district in north Bengal to begin his three-day outreach programme in the state. At a time when the Centre has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court stating that it was mulling ways to generate Unique Identification (UID) for each cow in India, the Trinamool supremo mocked the idea. "Today I read in the newspaper that they are saying even cows require Aadhar cards, just imagine! Then what about those little children who survive on the milk, what card do they need?" she asked. Reiterating her stance on the Teesta water sharing issue with neighbouring Bangladesh, Mamata once again said she was willing to share water provided there was an alternative plan at hand. "We love Bangladesh a lot. If they want water, I'm not opposed to giving it to them. But I've said we can only spare water if its available. Teesta does not have requisite water. If we share Teesta water then farmers in North Bengal won't be able to cultivate. I've urged them to find out an alternative way," she said. Also Read: Day after Sukma, BJP chief Amit Shah begins Mission Bengal from Naxalbari Also read: Amit Shah to start BJP's expansion drive from Naxalbari, West Bengal Also read: Revealed! Amit Shah's Gujarat Assembly election strategy to win 150 seats WATCH | Amit Shah begins Mission Bengal with meal with booth level workers Also read: BJP President Amit Shah to spell out victory mantra for 2019 elections --- ENDS --- The US Navy sub arrived in the port city of Busan, South Korea, on the same day that North Korea celebrates the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Peoples Army, according to CNN. A statement from US Naval Forces Korea called the subs visit routine and said it was a chance to highlight the alliance between the US and South Korean navies. While the USS Michigan is not expected to take part in the joint exercises, its presence in the region is meant to send a strong message to Pyongyang. US President Donald Trump told Fox Business Networks Maria Bartiromo earlier this month that the US was sending an armada with submarines to the region. We are sending an armada. Very powerful, Trump told Bartiromo. We have submarines. Very powerful. Far more powerful than the aircraft carrier. That I can tell you. Analysts at the time suspected Trump might be referring to Ohio-class subs like the Michigan. Armed with tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, the Michigan is one of four US Navy subs that began service as a ballistic missile submarine, loaded with nuclear missiles as part of the US strategic nuclear deterrent. In the 2000s the Navy converted four of the Ohio-class subs into land-attack platforms armed with conventional weapons. Each of the four submarines can carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. They are also outfitted to stealthily deploy up to 66 Navy SEALs or other special operations troops and their equipment. The Michigan could be deployed in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, off the Korean Peninsula, said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii Pacific University professor and former director of operations at the US Pacific Commands Joint Intelligence Center. Nuclear submarines prefer to operate in water over 100 fathoms deep (600 feet). Not always possible but they like having a lot of vertical space to duck and dodge in if they encounter anything unpleasant, Schuster told CNN. The 560-foot-long, 18,000-ton Michigan is one of four converted Ohio-class subs, joining the USS Ohio, USS Florida and USS Georgia. The Michigans visit to Busan comes after North Korea on Sunday threatened to sink the American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which is beginning joint drills with two Japanese destroyers in the western Pacific Ocean. The Vinson will be joined by the Ashigara and Samidare destroyers in tactical training drills near the Philippines, the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force said. North Koreas state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in an editorial the country is ready to illustrate its military force by sinking a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike. The North Korean state newspaper claimed to have weaponry that can reach continental US and Asia Pacific region and the absolute weapon, or a nuclear hydrogen bomb. CNN cannot independently verify the newspapers claims. 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 ... Kejriwal said more than win or loss, he was more bothered about the "unabated tampering of EVMs" across the country and "betrayal". By India Today Web Desk: After almost all exit polls showed his party likely to suffer a humiliating defeat and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registering an overwhelming victory in MCD elections, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has warned of a 'movement' if predictions come true. He said, "Eent se eent baja dunga. If such results come then it proves that manipulation has happened, like in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Pune, Mumbai, Bhind and Dholpur. We are the product of a movement. We are not here to enjoy the pleasures of power. We will return to movement." advertisement The AAP was born out of a movement and it will not hesitate to go back to its roots, Kejriwal said, addressing a gathering of poll observers at his residence two days before the counting. Kejriwal said more than win or loss, he was more bothered about the "unabated tampering of EVMs" across the country and "betrayal". He cited an example of AAP MLA Mahender Yadav, saying: "Mahender is famous among the people of his constituency. In the morning, he roams on a bike in his constituency and ask people about their complaints. "And if exist polls result come true, we will give a biffiting reply," Kejriwal said. WATCH: Why local polls matter Kejriwal also cited alleged instances of the AAP getting barely two votes in villages in Punjab, "even in places where people booed the Akalis out". "There is a colony in Sanjeev Jhas constituency (Burari) where there was 100 per cent voting in the municipal polls. But if they show 50 per cent vote for the BJP then it makes one doubtful," he said. The meeting was also attended by senior party leaders including Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas and MLAs. It came against the backdrop of a fallout between Kejriwal and Vishwas. "The survival of the AAP is not just to win a few states, it is important for the country. Minorities are in difficulty and fear, people cannot travel with their livestock. To stop their false nationalism, to keep alive the real questions of this country raised at the Jantar Mantar, the AAP has to survive," Vishwas said. AAP Delhi Convenor Dilip Pandey said that the MCD poll results could be "rigged" and the ground for it was being prepared by "floating" exit polls predicting a BJP sweep. "If this (BJP sweep) is what the exit polls are saying, it is clear that the EVMs have been tampered with and these fake exit polls are being put out to prepare a ground for the rigged results," he said. Seemapuri MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam said according to the feedback of the observers, most AAP supporters had turned out to vote in large numbers despite heat wave conditions on Sunday. advertisement "So in this case if there is any manipulation then what we have been saying will be validated," he said. Two exit polls have predicted a landslide victory for the BJP in the MCD polls giving over 200 of the 270 wards, where the election was held, in the saffron party's kitty. The election was postponed in two wards due to the death of candidates. ALSO READ AAP would be heavily thumped if Delhi voted for a new Assembly todayMCD 2017 exit poll results: BJP poised to sweep Delhi municipal election, predicts India Today-Axis My India MCD 2017 exit poll results: India Today-Axis My India predicts big win for BJP, massive setback for AAP, Congress WATCH VIDEO | MCD 2017 exit poll: BJP in the lead, predicts India Today-Axis My India --- ENDS --- Moroccos Interior Ministry scolded Algerian authorities for their immoral and unethical actions with regards to 54 Syrian nationals who tried to illegally enter Morocco from Algeria, between April 17 and 19 through the mountainous border town of Figuig. Rabat deplored the actions by the Algerians to manipulate the moral and physical distress of these people as well as to sow trouble in the Morocco-Algerian border. Algerias ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the serious accusations. The ambassadors of the two countries have been summoned by the authorities of their host countries. Rabat condemned the actions as inhumane and described the Syrians as refugees while lamenting about the fragile state of women and children under such circumstances. The statement urged the Algerian authorities to assume political responsibility and morality concerning this situation. The two countries share a border of 1500km and it has been closed since 1994. Algiers summoned Moroccos Ambassador to the country and gave him a categorical denial of the false allegations which it claimed are completely groundless accusations only intended to harm Algeria. The statement for the foreign ministry added that the alleged actions are alien to Algerias ethics and the well-established tradition and hospitality. The two neighboring North African countries have been at odds over wide range of issues. Diplomatic relations have notably been affected by border issues which led to the outbreak of an armed conflict, in 1963, commonly known as the Sand War. The matter of the Western Sahara is also another controversial subject between the two countries. Algeria supports the liberation and independence of the territory that once used to be a Spanish colony but Morocco claims that it is part of its territory and has annexed it since 1975 after the departure of the Spanish. (HealthDay)The proportion of female neurosurgery residents is slowly increasing, according to a report presented during the 2017 American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting, being held April 22-26 in Los Angeles. Jaclyn Janine Renfrow, MD, of the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and colleagues reviewed databases from the AANS and the American Board of Neurosurgery (ABNS) from 1964 through 2013. They sought to determine the number and trajectory of female neurosurgery graduates. The team identified 379 female neurosurgery residency graduates over the 50-year span. The majority (70 percent) became ABNS-certified. After residency completion, 27 percent of female graduates continued into fellowship training, most commonly pediatric neurosurgery. Upon completion of training, 26 percent entered academic medicine: 46 percent attained the rank of assistant professor, 36 percent attained the rank of associate professor, and 18 percent attained full-professor rank. The authors conclude that the proportion of female neurosurgery residents is slowly increasing. "After training, the distribution of women in private vs. academic environments is roughly equal in proportion to male neurosurgeons," according to a news release. "The number of female neurosurgeons in academic leadership positions remains low, with only a single female neurosurgery department chair and an under-representation of [women] in higher academic ranks." More information: More Information Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. A new study examines the relative ages of human genes, including those implicated in cancer. The findings suggest that a propensity for rapid mutation -- one of the hallmarks of cancer -- may be ancient and deep-rooted. Credit: Jason Drees for the Biodesign Institute Cancer is often able to craftily outwit the best techniques modern medicine has developed to treat it. In an attempt to understand and combat cancer's vaunted prowess, an unusual collaboration between physicists and a leading geneticist has cast new light on cancer as a biological phenomenon with very deep evolutionary roots. Paul Davies, Ph.D., ASU Regents' Professor and Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, and physicist Charles Lineweaver, Ph.D. of the Australian National University teamed up with geneticist Kimberly Bussey, Ph.D. and biophysicist Luis Cisneros, Ph.D. of NantOmics, LLC to trace the evolutionary history of cancer genes back to the dawn of multicellularity, over one billion years ago. Asking why these cancer genes evolved and what their functionality might be, the researchers hit on an astonishing link. Cancer cells deploy an ancient mechanism used by single-celled organisms to elevate their mutation rate in response to stress. This discovery explains one of the best-known hallmarks of cancer - its high mutation rate, which contributes to the rapid evolution of drug resistance. The research involves looking anew at the genetic control switches that allow complex life to flourish. Should such regulation become corrupted, cells may lose their cooperative properties and regress to the single-celled behavior common to much more ancient organisms. Such reversion to ancestral evolutionary traits is known as atavism. Davies explains, "Lineweaver and I have long argued that cancer is a type of throwback to a more primitive ancestral form but we lacked the hard evidence. Now Kim Bussey and Luis Cisneros, with the help of students Adam Orr and Milica Milicavic, have painstakingly analyzed the evolutionary origins of a large collection of cancer genes and confirmed that one of cancer's most distinctive and troublesome hallmarks is indeed extremely ancient and deep-rooted. It has sweeping implications for therapy." The new study, which appears April 25, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, finds that mutational bursts surrounding double-stranded breaks in DNA are commonly seen in cancer. Further, such bursts are similar to those seen in single-celled organisms engaged in stress-induced mutation. In the case of cancer, the mutations appear to be spread across the genome, including older genes that are evolutionarily conserved and normally off limits to mutational events. The effect is to allow somatic cells to search ancient genome space for solutions to the stress-induced pressures they are experiencing. As corresponding author Kimberly J. Bussey, Ph.D., Principal Scientist with NantOmics and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Arizona State University, explains, a stress response that evolved to protect single-celled organisms from extinction may prove hazardous to a multicellular creature, should some event suddenly resuscitate it. "If you're dealing with a unicellular organism and the population experiences some stress that it can't deal with using the current toolbox of responses, for the population to survivefor the species to surviveit has to evolve. When a somatic cell in a multicellular organism evolves, cancer can occur." The results suggest that in cases of rapid resistance to therapy, the ability to generate regulated bursts of mutation may be at the core of this deadly disease. "On the clinical side, I think this is really going to make us rethink what we mean by curing cancer. Maybe the goal isn't curing but controlling," Bussey says. "If this is a burst response, maybe there is a level of therapy with which we can impact the viability of the tumor cells but not actually induce the stress response." Such approaches have already made some inroads into clinical use. So-called metronomic therapy applies more frequent rounds of lower-dose treatment, while adaptive therapy seeks to pulse cancer treatments in order to stabilize rather than eradicate a tumor. These and other evolutionary approaches to treating cancer offer new hope in the war against a cunning and profoundly versatile foe. Credit: CC0 Public Domain A chemotherapy drug used to treat brain cancer may increase vulnerability to depression by stopping new brain cells from growing, according to a new King's College London study out today in Translational Psychiatry. Depression is thought to be the least recognised symptom in people with cancer. It has previously been difficult to determine if some people with cancer develop depression as a result of chemotherapy or the stress of having cancer itself. Although an early animal study, these findings are the first to suggest that chemotherapy causes behavioural and biological brain changes related to depression that are separate from the psychological distress resulting from a cancer diagnosis. Recent research has shown that depression is most common in cancer patients who have brain cancer. Studies show that around 30 per cent of patients with brain cancer experience depression and the disorder is thought to be highly under-diagnosed. For example, one recent study pointed out that 90 per cent of patients self-reported symptoms of depression, whereas only 20 per cent were classified as having clinical depression. Most cancer patients are treated with chemotherapy as a lifesaving intervention that stops all cells in the body from dividing. The primary outcome of this treatment is to kill rapidly dividing cancer cells, but disrupting this process can have potential side effects related to cell division, such as hair loss. Researchers now know from animal studies that chemotherapy may similarly stop the growth of new brain cells (neurogenesis). In their new study, scientists from King's College London set out to examine whether the effects of chemotherapy on neurogenesis could alter biological brain mechanisms which increase vulnerability for depression. They administered a chemotherapy drug to mice called Temozolomide (TMZ), using the same procedure that human patients would experience in a clinic. Mice receiving the chemotherapy drug showed a significant reduction in growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus - a region associated with emotion and memory. Results from the study show that the more the drug decreased neurogenesis, the greater the increase in stress hormones when exposed to stress. When researchers looked at the mice's behaviour following treatment, they observed several changes related to depression, including robust deficits in novelty processing and a decrease in preference for a rewarding sugar solution. A lack of pleasure seeking, as observed in mice that received the chemotherapy drug, is a core diagnostic symptom of depression. Dr Martin Egeland, first author of the study, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, said: 'Although these preliminary findings are based on mice, our results suggest that chemotherapy may stunt the growth of new brain cells, which has biological and behavioural consequences that may leave people less able to cope with the stress of having cancer. 'Despite the potential side effects, chemotherapy is essential for increasing survival rates in cancer patients. However, understanding the specific effects of chemotherapy on mood could lead to improved treatments and increase quality of life for those affected by cancer.' Dr Sandrine Thuret, senior author of the study also from the IoPPN at King's College London, said: 'Our study highlights the importance of protecting brain stem cells or building up a reserve of cells before cancer treatment. This could help to preserve the mood and cognitive functions these cells are known to regulate, and could also improve quality of life for people with cancer. 'We now need to explore whether neurogenesis enhancing interventions or drugs, such as antidepressants, can alleviate this deficit in new brain cells after chemotherapy takes place.' Credit: CC0 Public Domain Children with obesity face four times the risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to children with a body mass index (BMI) in the normal range, according to a study published today in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. Researchers from King's College London looked at electronic health records from one of the largest primary care databases in the world, the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, to pull data from 375 general practices. They examined BMI measurements, diabetes diagnosis records, and other data for 369,362 children between the ages of 2 and 15. They found that 654 children and teenagers were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between 1994 and 2013. In addition, the researchers found that the rate of children developing type 2 diabetes increased from an average of six new cases per 100,000 children each year between 1994 and 1998, to an average of 33 new cases per 100,000 children each year, between 2009 and 2013. Dr Ali Abbasi, lead author from the Division of Health and Social Care Research at King's College London, said: 'As the prevalence of obesity and being overweight has rapidly risen, an increasing number of children and young adults have been diagnosed with diabetes in the United Kingdom since the early 1990s. A child with obesity faces a four-fold greater risk of being diagnosed with diabetes by the age of 25, than their counterpart who is of normal weight. 'Diabetes imposes a heavy burden on society as the condition is common and costly to treat. Estimates indicate one in 11 adults has type 2 diabetes, equal to around 415 million people worldwide. Given that diabetes and obesity are preventable from early life, our findings and other research will hopefully motivate the public and policymakers to invest and engage in diabetes prevention efforts.' Researchers also found that 1,318 children were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes during the same period. As expected, they found no association between obesity and the incidence of type 1 diabetes, which is linked to an underlying autoimmune disorder. Criteria to determine obesity in this study was dependent on the child's age - obesity was classified as having a BMI in the top five per cent of the population for their age, as measured by a 1990 study of UK children. More information: Ali Abbasi et al, Body Mass Index and Incident Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Children and Young Adults: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Journal of the Endocrine Society (2017). Ali Abbasi et al, Body Mass Index and Incident Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Children and Young Adults: A Retrospective Cohort Study,(2017). DOI: 10.1210/js.2017-00044 Suppressing production of the protein myostatin enhances muscle mass and leads to significant improvements in markers of heart and kidney health, according to a study conducted in mice. Joshua T. Butcher, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the Vascular Biology Center at Augusta University, will present the work at the American Physiological Society's annual meeting during the Experimental Biology 2017 meeting, to be held April 22-26 in Chicago. The researchers zeroed in on myostatin because it is known as a powerful inhibitor of skeletal muscle growth, meaning that people with more myostatin have less muscle mass and people with less myostatin have more muscle mass. Studies suggest obese people produce more myostatin, which makes it harder to exercise and harder to build muscle mass. "Given that exercise is one of the most effective interventions for obesity, this creates a cycle by which a person becomes trapped in obesity," Butcher said. Obesity is linked with a range of factors that increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insulin resistance and kidney damage. The researchers bred four groups of mice: lean and obese mice with uninhibited myostatin production and lean and obese mice that were unable to produce myostatin. As expected, mice that were unable to produce myostatin developed markedly higher muscle mass, though the obese mice remained obese even with more muscle. The obese mice that were unable to produce myostatin showed markers of cardiovascular and metabolic health that were on par with their lean counterparts and dramatically better than obese mice with uninhibited myostatin production. "In our muscular obese mouse, despite full presentation of obesity, it appears that several of these key pathologies are prevented," Butcher said. "While much more research is needed, at this point myostatin appears to be a very promising pathway for protection against obesity-derived cardiometabolic dysfunction. "Ultimately, the goal of our research would be to create a pill that mimics the effect of exercise and protects against obesity. A pill that inhibits myostatin could also have applications for muscle wasting diseases, such as cancer, muscle dystrophy and AIDS," he added. More information: Augmented Muscle Mass as a Novel Buffer against Obesity-Derived Hypertension, Augmented Muscle Mass as a Novel Buffer against Obesity-Derived Hypertension, app.core-apps.com/eb2017/abstr 2834d471e29e2878b9df Provided by Experimental Biology 2017 Note the realistic human-like features, including hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows. Credit: Copyright 2017 AANS. A collaborative team of neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, simulation engineers, and special effects experts have developed a unique tool to teach neurosurgical trainees how to perform minimally invasive surgical procedures. Using 3D printing and Hollywood-style special effects, the team constructed a training simulation model whose physical and functional qualities closely mimic those of the head and brain structures of an adolescent human patient. A full description of this training model and its effectiveness can be found in a new article in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics: "Creation of a novel simulator for minimally invasive neurosurgery: fusion of 3D printing and special effects," by Peter Weinstock, MD, PhD, and colleagues at Boston Children's Hospital and elsewhere. A neurosurgery residency training program generally lasts seven yearslonger than any other medical specialty. Trainees log countless hours observing surgeries performed by experienced neurosurgeons and developing operative skills in practice labs before touching patients. It is challenging to create a realistic surgical experience outside an operating room. Cadaveric specimens and virtual reality programs have been used, but they are costly and do not provide as realistic an experience as desired. The new training simulation model described in this paper is a full-scale reproduction of the head of an adolescent patient with hydrocephalus. The external appearance of the head is uncannily accurate, as is the internal neuroanatomy. One failing of 3D models is the stiffness of most sculpting material. This problem was overcome by addition of special-effects materials that reproduce the textures of external skin and internal brain structures. In addition, the operative environment in this training model is amazingly alive, with pulsations of a simulated basilar artery and ventricles as well as movement of cerebrospinal fluid. These advances provide visual and tactile feedback to the trainee that closely resembles that of the surgical experience. The procedure selected to test the new training model was endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), a minimally invasive surgical procedure increasingly used to treat hydrocephalus. The goal of ETV is to create a hole in the floor of the third ventricle. This provides a new pathway by which excess cerebrospinal fluid can circulate. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy performed on a patient-specific 3-D printed simulator. Credit: Copyright Alan R. Cohen. During ETV, the surgeon drills a small hole in the skull of the patient and inserts an endoscope into the ventricular system. The endoscope accommodates a lighted miniature video camera to visualize the operative site and specialized surgical instruments suited to perform operative tasks through the endoscope. The video camera sends a direct feed to external monitors in the operating room so that surgeons can clearly see what they are doing. To evaluate the usefulness of the training simulation model of ETV, the researchers solicited feedback from users (neurosurgical residents and fellows) and their teachers. Trainees were asked to respond to a 14-item questionnaire focused on the external and internal appearances of the model and its tactile feel during simulated surgery (face validity) as well as on how closely the simulated procedure reproduced an actual ETV (content validity). The usefulness of the model in assessing trainees' performances was then evaluated by two attending neurosurgeons blinded to the identity and training status (post-graduate year of training) of the residents and fellows (construct validity). The neurosurgical residents and fellows gave high scores to the training model for both face and content validity (mean scores of 4.69 and 4.88, respectively; 5 would be a perfect score). The performance scores given to individual trainees by the attending neurosurgeons clearly distinguished novice surgeons from more experienced surgeons, accurately reflecting the trainees' post-graduate years of training. The training model described in this paper is not limited to hydrocephalus or treatment with ETV. The simulated head accommodates replaceable plug-and-play components to provide a fresh operative field for each training session. A variety of diseased or injured brain scenarios could be tested using different plug-and-play components. In addition, the ability to pop in new components between practice sessions greatly reduces training costs compared to other models. When asked about the paper, the senior author, Alan R. Cohen, MD, at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said, "This unique collaboration of interdisciplinary experts resulted in the creation of an ultra-realistic 3D surgical training model. Simulation has become increasingly important for training in minimally invasive neurosurgery. It also has the potential to revolutionize training for all surgical procedures. Provided in the article is a link to a brief video demonstrating the surgeon's view during a simulated ETV procedure. Provided by Journal of Neurosurgery Credit: Anne Lowe/public domain A major international review led by the University of Dundee's Professor Peter Davey has identified effective and safe ways to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics in hospitals. The updated Cochrane Review published today concludes that guidelines and policies to pinpoint the patients in need of antibiotics have the greatest impact when doctors are supported to change their prescribing behaviour. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, such as pneumonia, but antibiotic resistance has become a major public health problem with some infections no longer treatable using currently available drugs. Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria lead to longer hospital stays and carry a higher risk of death. Inappropriate use of antibiotics is associated with increased resistance, and studies have shown that about half of the time physicians in hospital are not prescribing antibiotics appropriately. A team of Cochrane researchers from the UK assessed the effectiveness and safety of interventions to improve how physicians prescribe antibiotics to hospital inpatients. They also wanted to know how much variation there was among the different types of interventions they studied. Lead author Professor Davey, from the Division of Population Health Sciences at Dundee, said, "This Cochrane Review shows that a wide variety of different interventions have been successful in safely reducing unnecessary antibiotic use in hospitals. "We do not need more studies to answer the question of whether these interventions reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, but we do need more research to understand why the most effective behaviour change techniques are not more widely adopted within hospital settings. "Future research should instead focus on targeting treatment and assessing other measures of patient safety, and different interventions that explore the barriers and facilitators to implementation. Appropriate antibiotic use in hospitals should ensure effective treatment of patients with infection and reduce unnecessary prescriptions. Successful adoption of the interventions we have studied could have considerable impact on health service, policy, and future decision-making for patients." The researchers analysed 221 studies from the US, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. The interventions were aimed at healthcare professionals who prescribe antibiotics to hospital in-patients receiving acute care and those undergoing planned surgery. The interventions broadly fell into two categories. 'Restrictive' techniques applied rules to make physicians prescribe properly, whilst 'enabling' techniques provide advice or feedback to help physicians make more informed prescribing decisions. In both cases, the aim was to increase the number of appropriate prescribing decisions so that patients who were unlikely to benefit from antibiotics did not get them, whilst they were still used for patients who stood to benefit from them. The researchers found high-quality evidence that, following either type of intervention, 58 percent of hospital in-patients received treatment in line with prescribing guidelines, compared with 43 percent of the patients in the standard practice groups. The interventions shorten the duration of antibiotic use from 11 days to 9 per patient, and probably reduce hospital stay from an average of 13 days to 12 per patient. Data showed that the risk of death was 11 percent in both treatment groups, suggesting that reducing antibiotic use did not lead to an increase in harm. Further studies provided only limited evidence of an association between adopting the interventions and a reduction in hospital infections. Interventions that included enabling or restrictive techniques were consistently more effective than interventions that relied on simple education alone (e.g. meetings or distribution of guidelines). Moreover, adding enabling techniques increased the effectiveness of restrictive techniques. However, only 10 percent of interventions used the most effective enabling techniques such as goal-setting, feedback, and action planning. Bone mineral density, an indicator of bone strength, typically increases with regular exercise, acting as a protective mechanism against bone fractures and osteoporosis. But a new study suggests that the extended, high-intensity training sessions of elite athletes could reverse beneficial bone changes. Researchers from Brock University in Canada will present their findings today at the American Physiological Society (APS) annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2017 in Chicago. For nine months, researchers monitored changes in osteoprotegerin (OPG, a protein that stops bone mineral loss) and sclerostin (SOST, a protein that inhibits new bone formation) levels in female rowers training for the 2016 Olympic Games. The research team chose this group of athletes because they often have a "high incidence of stress fractures and are at risk of [bone mineral density] loss," wrote Nigel Kurgan, first author of the study. The rowers' training volume varied but averaged 1,086 minutes per week (about 18 hours). OPGmeasured through blood samplessignificantly decreased during this time, suggesting that the athletes were at risk for bone loss. SOST levels fluctuated, with the highest levels corresponding with the highest training volume and the lowest occurring when training volume was lower. Inflammation in the body also increased with more training and is thought to increase the expression of SOST, Kurgan noted. The researchers assessed bone mineral density through dual X-ray absorptiometry imaging before and after the trial period and found no change. Although bone strength remained steady, the fact that OPG and SOST expression changed significantly during heavy training may serve as a warning that "very intense training without adequate recovery period may lead to increased inflammation and subsequent bone resorption (loss)," Kurgan wrote. More information: Nigel Kurgan, a graduate student at Brock University, will present "Changes in osteoprotegerin and sclerostin across a training season in Olympic female rowers" in a poster session on Tuesday, April 25, from 12:45 to 3 p.m. CDT in Hall F of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Provided by Experimental Biology 2017 Credit: Rush University Medical Center Waving goodbye and blowing kissesno parent wants to miss out on those special moments. Among the 1 percent of the population of the United States who are diagnosed with autism, however, these small but important gestures often are missing from their behavior. Researchers at the Autism Assessment, Research, Treatment and Services Center (AARTS) Center at Rush University Medical Center have set out to alleviate this absence. The efforts include the development of a tool that can monitor subtle social communication behaviors in people with developmental and psychiatric conditions including autism. The researchers then use this information to improve the individual's communication skills and quality of life. "The process of evaluating and finally diagnosing someone with autism is complex and expensive. An additional, and sometimes overlooked, barrier is the level of expertise required to make this diagnosis," says Latha V. Soorya, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Rush. Along with Mark Pollack, MD, chairperson of the Department of Psychiatry at Rush, Soorya is heading up the project in collaboration with a software team at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest. It's a unique partnership between industry and academia that uses motion detectors, high-tech eye tracking glasses and machine learning to develop objective measures of subtle social behaviors. The "smart glasses," Tobii Pro, are somewhat like Google Glass, and give the researchers the capability to analyze where the person with autism is looking, their facial expressions, and the extent to which they are making eye contact. Watching children play Soorya and her research colleagues are studying the use of this novel, automated social-communication assessment in a Rush lab. Instead of being stocked with microscopes, though, this lab is a room full of toys. There, children being assessed are introduced to a clinician, who will be the one donning the smart glasses. The clinician begins a standardized semi-structured play assessment such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. As the clinician watches the child, cameras in the glasses record the interaction, providing researchers, clinicians and families with objective information about key social behavior such as gesturing, eye gaze and facial expression. In addition, two- and three-dimensional video cameras in the room record the interaction. The technology is being used in two ongoing trials that currently are accepting new participants. One study examines a combination treatment of oxytocin nasal spray with researcher-led group play activities designed to teach social skills. Members of this group of four or five children, which meets for 12 weekly sessions at the AARTS Center, will be randomly assigned to the combination treatment or the social play group. "We are teaching children how to read another person's body language and emotions, and what's known as theory of mindthat is, understanding one's thoughts and emotions and the fact that others may have differing beliefs," Soorya says. "We are also administering oxytocin, a synthetic hormone that has been shown to have a role in social attachment and bonding." Is a girl looking at people more frequently than before? Is a boy paying more attention to faces? These are some of the questions that can be answered using the eye tracking system. Software the research collaboration is developing use machine learning to analyze patterns from the smart glasses and cameras, producing a report on measurements of the child's social behaviors. "The information we collect from this technology will be compared against standard measures, including semi-structured play assessments and clinician ratings of improvement," Soorya says. "We will be able to compare changes in children who participate in the social thinking group to changes in children who participate in other group therapies which do not explicitly teach emotions and social thinking." Learning to follow examples The second study is led by a Rush postdoctoral fellow, Allie Wainer, PhD, who is developing a tele-health delivery system for evidence-based early interventions addressing important, early social-communication behaviors such as imitation and play. "With reciprocal imitation training (RIT), children and parents learn to imitate one another, thus enhancing their relationship. However, it's hard to measure changes in subtle social communication skills in these very young children" Wainer explains. Wainer's study uses the eyeglass system to analyze children's nonverbal behavior and the extent to which they are able to imitate their parents. "These results will help us understand how parents' use of the RIT techniques can lead to changes in important early social communication skills," Wainer says. Wainer has developed a website that can be used by parents to learn the RIT techniques, with the hope that this will help families better access and learn intervention techniques that can help their children. Distribution of online programs is a real concern for the researchers, because there are many instances of providing people with apps or websites that they do not use them. "Before this technology is disseminated on a large scale we want to find out why someone might stop using it and address those concerns," Soorya says. Using fake language to convey feelings To further advance the assessment and treatment of subtle social-communication skills, the researchers are incorporating a game in which children can watch videos of trained actors saying sentences in a fake language. "There is no semantic meaning to be understood; instead, the goal is to have the children pick up on the emotions," Soorya explains. The project uses a database of audio and video recordings featuring actors displaying different emotions. An instructor will explain to the children that they'll see someone acting out a feeling, but they won't understand what the actor is saying. The researchers will use their technology to assess emotional and nonverbal communication patterns in children with autism. These Rush scientists are interested not only in advancing the research process, but also are determined to make participation in studies more possible for caregivers. "These tools have potential to reduce time to diagnosis as well as provide objective outcomes for clinical trialsa critical gap in advancing treatment development and dissemination of effective treatments," Soorya says. If these researchers can help parents enter and understand their child's world, then strides can be made and family ties can be strengthened. This is the second time that the Shiv Sena has proposed RSS Mohan Bhagwat's name for the post of President of India. By Mayuresh Ganapatye: As President Pranab Mukherjee's term is set to expire in July, the Shiv Sena once again declared its support for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat. Coming in the support of Bhagwat, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray proposed RSS chief's name for the post. This is second time that the Shiv Sena has proposed Bhagwat's name for post of president but the RSS chief has so refused to accept it. advertisement Thackeray added, "We have suggested Mohan Bhagwat's name, haven't discussed Sharad Pawar, Pawar is Modi's guru, can't say what's in one's heart." "After a long time, some party has got one-handed power at the Centre. Who doesn't want a strong president for the country? That's why we have proposed Mohan Bhagwat's name for presidential election," said Uddhav Thackeray. On being asked whether Bhagwat was a suitable candidate to implement the concept of 'Hindu Rashtra', Uddhav Thackeray said, "Why not? At other places RSS candidates get appointed to important positions, then why not appoint him as President of India?" Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana in its editorial had earlier called RSS Headquarters as second seat of power. In another development, BJP senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi also met Bhagwat at RSS HQ in Nagpur, although the agenda of meeting was kept a secret. It would be, however, interesting to see if Shiv Sena is trying to get close to the RSS just because it has strained relations with the BJP currently. The BJP, on the the hand, has been also working on the probable name for the presidential election and the non-BJP parties are also trying to come up with a common candidate's name. In the recently held meeting between the BJP and its allies, PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah discussed the issue. Also read: Why BJP may surprise again with its pick for President of India's post Also read: Kerala CM Vijayan claims RSS killed Gandhi; BJP seeks apology --- ENDS --- Global South needs $2 trillion year to fight climate crisis U.S. officials secretly ask major banks to continue doing business with some Russian firms 19fortyfive: Is America tired of the war in Ukraine? EU replaces pipeline Russian gas with imported Russian LNG Kommersant: China split the 'unity' of the West Expert estimates level of Azerbaijan's information attack on Armenia in September, comparing it to 44-day war 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 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 Army Commander-in-Chief: Even those who claim to be superpowers do not dare to attack Iran Iran and Russia to build joint pipeline India to continue buying Russian oil Businessman Zhong Shanshan becomes richest man in China Armenia and Poland emphasize OSCE role in promoting stability in South Caucasus Banks are searched in Germany in case of money laundering by Russian businessman Armenian President reacts to Aliyev's speech at League of Arab States summit Armenia increases trade with EEU member states by $1.2 bln 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 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 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 Aliyev switches from threatening Armenia to insulting foreign leaders 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 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 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 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 Turkey voices its full and unconditional support for Azerbaijan Ombudsperson attends Armenia-EU Human Rights Dialogue session, presents facts recorded in her ad hoc reports Israeli embassy congratulates Azerbaijan on 'Victory Day' World gold prices going down Ankara offers its storage capacity for Russian grain Zelenskiy calls key conditions for talks with Russia Bitcoin price goes down Copper price goes down 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 State Security Service of Azerbaijan is scared by YouTube video about situation in Nakhichevan Newspaper: There were serious problems in organizing Global Armenian Summit MFA: Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs agree to expedite their negotiations President: UAE is a responsible energy supplier as long as the world needs oil and gas EU has serious concerns about US inflation reduction act Head of IMF: The global surge in consumer prices may be close to the high point Germany wants EU to resume trade talks with US as soon as possible Pashinyan's closed meeting with MPs of ruling Civil Contract faction is over Hungary will not support EU efforts to help Ukraine with joint funds Greece to soon ban sale of spyware U.S. military delegation arrives in Turkey German industry calls for postponement of global minimum corporate tax Podolyak: Ukraine has never refused to negotiate Elon Musk calls on 'independent-minded' voters to vote for Republicans Bezos Earth Fund pledges $1 billion by 2030 to protect carbon stocks and biodiversity 7 people killed in collision between truck and passenger bus in Turkey Nikol Pashinyan holds closed meeting with members of ruling party faction Qatar's foreign minister calls criticism of West 'arrogant' and 'racist' Algeria officially applies to join BRICS group Delegations headed by Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs meet in Washington French Finance Minister calls on EU to oppose U.S. Armenian President: Aliyev's statements about intentional destruction of mosques have nothing to do with reality German MFA reports constructive talks in EU on new sanctions against Iran Kazakhstani President Tokayev instructs to increase oil supplies bypassing Russia President of Artsakh holds expanded working meeting Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports to receive more than 250 billion drams in 2023 Borrell says EU is dependent on supplies from China Armenia official: Peace treaty implies restoration of sovereign territory Guterres thinks mankind is heading for climate hell Dollar, euro gain value in Armenia General: Iran riots were US plan to derail nuclear deal Minister: 'Lydian Armenia' may start exploitation of gold mine on Mountain Amulsar STEPANAKERT. The adversary violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani opposing forces more than 50 times, from late Monday night to early Tuesday morning. During this time the Azerbaijani armed forces fired 800 shots toward the position-holders of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) Defense Army, and with different-caliber shooting weapons, the defense army informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. In addition, the adversary fired 50 shots from sniper rifles, in easterly and southeasterly directions of the line of contact. As a result of ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan, however, NKR Defense Army serviceman Narek Harutyunyan (born in 1997) sustained a fatal gunshot wound on Monday at around 5:50pm, at the protection area of a defense army military unit that is located in an easterly direction. An investigation is underway to find out the details of this incident. The Artsakh defense army vanguard units took actions in response. By Press Trust of India: New York, Apr 25 (PTI) A financially weak pregnant womans worries about the arrival and care of her little one could contribute to the birth of a smaller, medically vulnerable baby, a new study suggests. Researchers from Ohio State University in the US, studied about 138 pregnant women who filled out questionnaires to assess financial strain, depressive symptoms, pregnancy- specific distress, perceived stress and general anxiety. advertisement Mothers in the racially diverse study group were between five and 31 weeks pregnant and 29 years old on average at the time of the assessment. The study, which was primarily designed to evaluate flu vaccine effectiveness, ran from 2013 to 2015. After the participants babies were born, researchers reviewed medical records to compare birth weight against mothers questionnaire responses during pregnancy. Researchers knew from previous studies that pregnant mothers who are socioeconomically disadvantaged have a higher likelihood of having smaller babies and worse birth outcomes. They wanted to learn was whether specific factors could be driving that connection - factors that could lead to positive interventions for women at risk of delivering low- birth-weight babies. Statistical models designed to identify those drivers landed on one statistically significant factor: pregnancy- specific distress. Researchers found that a financially strapped pregnant womans worries about the arrival and care of her little one could contribute to birth of a smaller, medically vulnerable infant. "It is important to understand the factors that make it more likely for a woman with lower socioeconomic conditions to have a baby at higher risk of complications and death," said Amanda Mitchell of Ohio State University. The study was published in the journal Archives of Womens Mental Health. PTI APA MHN SAR MHN --- ENDS --- By Mayuresh Ganapatye: After raising issue of farmer loans and stalling the state assembly for same, the Congress today targetted Devendra Fadnavis government over the issue of fuel price hike. In a protest near Mantralaya and the state BJP headquarters today, NCP leaders took out a bullock cart protest against the regular hikes that are affecting a common man. "There was a need to raise this issue as common man's budget is getting hit due to such fuel hikes. We wanted to tell common people that we are with them. Today this protest was confined to Mumbai but if the government continues such hikes on regular basis we will intensify our protest," said Clyde Crasto, NCP Mumbai spokesperson. advertisement Recently the government increased value added tax on petrol increasing the rates by Rs 3/ltr. The petrol cost in Mumbai now is at Rs 77.45/ltr. There was no change in VAT on diesel which is currently at 24 per cent plus Rs two for MMR region and 21 per cent plus Rs two for the rest of the state. Earlier this month the government had cut the price of petrol by Rs 2.91/ltr. NCP Mumbai president Sachi Ahir lead the protest rally. More than 500 NCP workers participated in this rally which started from Nariman point LIC hiding and ended at Mantralaya. NCP has up its ante against Fadnavis government. In rural Maharashtra NCP along with Congress are doing 'Sangharsh Yatra' where they are meeting farmers and villagers across the state and raising their issues. --- ENDS --- Immediately after receiving the information on the sale of Azerbaijani apples in one of the yard shops of Yerevan, the State Service for Food Safety (SSFS) of the Armenian Agriculture Ministry on Sunday launched a large-scale inspection in the market to find out whether Azerbaijani apples are sold in the Armenian market and whether this takes place only in points of sale. The inspections continued on Monday and Tuesday. Consequently, the SSFS recorded a number of cases of Azerbaijani apple sale in several sail points of Yerevan and the provinces. The inspectors banned the sale of the mentioned apples on the ground and ordered to destroy them. The SSFS passed this information together with the photos attached thereto also to other state authorities in order to work towards revealing the importer by the principle of traceability, considering the circumstance that no cargo of Azerbaijani origin, including apples, has been imported to Armenia through the border control points of the Service. As a result of the exercised state border control, within the period from April 1 to 25 apples were imported to Armenia from Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Italy. There were no apples of Azerbaijani origin in the mentioned cargo: in all the cases the goods were accompanied by relevant documents, based on which the import of the consignments to Armenia was allowed. DOE Approves Sabine Pass LNG Export Bid Golden Pass Products LLC, co-owned by Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, is now authorized to export LNG up to the equivalent of 2.21 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to any non-FTA country not prohibited by U.S. law or policy from a terminal near Sabine Pass, Texas. The U.S. Department of Energy announced April 25 that it has signed an order authorizing Golden Pass Products LLC to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the United States. The company is authorized to export LNG up to the equivalent of 2.21 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas to any non-FTA country not prohibited by U.S. law or policy from the Golden Pass Terminal near Sabine Pass, Texas -- a location that Energy Secretary Rick Perry, former governor of Texas, should know very well. The move is part of making the United States a net exporter of natural gas; DOE said it has authorized a total of 19.2 Bcf/d of natural gas exports to non-FTA countries from planned facilities in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and Maryland. "These projects, if built, would position the United States to be the dominant LNG exporter in the world," it said. "This announcement is another example of President Trump's leadership in making the United States an energy dominant force. This is not only good for our economy and American jobs but also assists other countries with their energy security," Perry said. According to the DOE announcement, Golden Pass estimates the construction of its facility will provide 45,000 direct and indirect jobs over five years and the cumulative impact of construction and 25 years of operation will provide up to $2.4 billion in federal tax revenues and $1.2 billion in state tax revenues. DOE's order followed what the department described as "an extensive review of the Golden Pass application." DOE determined that exports from Golden Pass, which is jointly owned by Qatar Petroleum (70 percent) and ExxonMobil (30 percent) for a period of 20 years are not inconsistent with the public interest. Pennsylvania Audit Finds Big Financial Problems in Unemployment Program The audit shows that, based on L&I's projections, $159.5 million in additional funding is needed over the next four years to maintain operations, avoid additional service center closings, and modernize the computer system. Pennsylvania's auditor general, Eugene DePasquale, released details of a performance audit by his agency of the state Department of Labor & Industry's Unemployment Compensation Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund (SIIF) on April 25, saying it found major accounting and oversight problems that must be corrected immediately. "People have a right to be frustrated by what we found here," he said. "If L&I had appropriately accounted for SIIF funding from the beginning, we may not be dealing with this chaos and looking at such high costs to address the problems going forward. "This audit is about more than finding out what happened to the money and how much additional funding is needed to fix the problem," he said. "It is about providing the people of Pennsylvania with the level of service they deserve. It's about the 312,000 Pennsylvanians who tried to call the UC service centers in January and got a busy signal 99.3 percent of the time. The Department of Labor & Industry must do better." In January, DePasquale began an audit of the fund, which was created by a law enacted in 2013 to temporarily supplement the decline in federal funding L&I uses to administer the UC program. When legislation to extend SIIF funding for 2017 failed in December 2016, L&I cut $57.5 million from its budget, which resulted in the closure of three of the eight UC service centers and furloughing 488 employees. The audit examined how L&I used SIIF funding from 2013 through 2016 and how much money will be needed in the next four years to maintain efficient operation of the UC program and to avoid additional budget cuts. Among the findings: During a special meeting Monday at City Hall, the Milwaukee Common Councils Historic Preservation Commission voted to grant temporary historical landmark status to two former A. Gettelman Brewing Co. buildings on the MillerCoors brewery site at 4400 W. State St. The designation stays the potential demolition of the buildings built around 1856 and 1858 for at least three months. MillerCoors, which had planned to tear down the two buildings to make room for a parking lot and truck depot, has the right to appeal the decision within five days. Supporters of the preservation of the State Theater tried, and failed, last month to get similar designation from the HPC for that building, which burned in February. A historic preservation report prepared by the city can be downloaded as a PDF here. "The Gettelman Brewery at 4400 West State Street is significant as the last remaining vestige of one of Milwaukees important and long-lived breweries," the report concludes. "Established in 1854, the brewery expanded on its site and once could count a number of buildings in its complex but it never grew into the type of complex we see at the Schlitz, Pabst Miller or even Blatz. By intent, the brewery stayed a local then regional business run by family members so there was never the drive to keep expanding production, outlets and distribution or acquire other breweries. Modest size does not equate with insignificance. "Frederick "Fritz" Gettelman ... developed many patents for equipment, machinery, even snowplows. Many of these products were soon adopted by other breweries and Fritzs achievements were recognized in his lifetime by professional brewery organizations." The brewery was founded on the site in 1854, and Gettelman sold the buildings to Miller in 1961. Gettelman continued as a separate brand until 1970. Millers popular Milwaukees Best brand began as as a Gettelman label in 1895. Miller ceased using the buildings more than two decades ago. Part of the reason preservationists and brewing history buffs are eager to save the structures is that Gettelman who was born in one of the buildings, which had been the family home before it was converted to the operation's office was a brewing pioneer. Among Gettlemans innovations were glass-lined beer tanks, a chain-type basket pasteurizer for milk and beer, a bottle washing system and the snow plow. In 2014, a Gettleman descendant suggested a permanent brewing museum in Milwaukee, and multiple Facebook suggestions have pointed to the former Gettelman building as home to that. Another suggestion was to move the buildings to Old World Wisconsin. The latter, however, wouldnt save what is perhaps the most exciting feature for beer history fans: the underground brick lagering caves, which were once a common feature of a number of Milwaukee breweries. Today, few survive. There are the Miller Caves, open to the public; the caves beneath the former Falk Brewery, which is threatened with imminent demolition; and the Gettelman caves. Theres something special about visiting a place where history happened, where great men and women did great things. We all feel it when we visit a powerful historic site. But for many of us this guy included history isnt just famous people doing much-remembered things. For me, as for others who study their genealogy, standing in a place where our own ancestors did everyday things can feel equally powerful. I dont worship my ancestors, but I do appreciate the fact that the decisions they made are why I am here. This, despite the fact that surely I was but an abstract concept, was likely never even considered by my great-great-grandparents. It reminds me that my decisions will resonate across generations in small, and maybe big ways, even if the rest of the world doesnt notice. This is how I felt when I stood in the belfry at St. Martini Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1520 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr., last month gazing down through the mesh screen of the louvered opening at the house my great-grandfather bought at the dawn of the 1920s. Its a house that every generation of my family (except my kids) has occupied since arriving in Milwaukee from Germany in 1877. Its how I felt when I stood in the sanctuary where my great-grandparents stood as children for their confirmations. And its how I felt when I peered into the classrooms of the old school building next door, where my mom studied through the 4th grade. Personally, I have no history with the church my family started a long association with another South Side church at roughly the same time but despite having never been inside before, St. Martini felt a little familiar; a little bit like home. The fact that the church, built in 1887 to designs by Herman Schnetzky doesnt hurt. Schnetzky (alone and, later, with partner Eugene Liebert) designed a number of gorgeous area churches, including Trinity/King Solomon on 4th and Meinecke, St. Michaels on 24th and Cherry, St. Lucas on K.K. in Bay View and St. Johns on 9th and Vliet, among others. His imprimatur is written on the citys skyline in cream city brick Victorian Gothic spires. And even if only subtly or subconsciously, theyre familiar to us all. (PHOTO: Karl Herschede) St. Martini got its start in 1883, when 146 members and their families at St. Stephens on 5th and Scott in Walkers Point headed southwest to start a new congregation to minister to the many Germans settling around the intersection of 16th, Muskego and Greenfield Avenues. My own family arrived and set up housekeeping on Pearl Street in this neighborhood. According to the historic designation report for the church (which was landmarked in 1987), "The number of Lutheran congregations in Wisconsin between 1870 and 1890 increased 422 percent. St. Martini was one of the congregations that resulted from this expansion." The same report avers, "Since the history of St. Martini is typical of many German Lutheran congregations in the city and was not the site of important innovations in any of these areas," it does not meet criteria for "historical significance" according to the Wisconsin Cultural Resource Management Plan. (PHOTOS: Karl Herschede) Fair play. However, as I noted above, its typicality and the fact that my typical ancestors led their normal lives here, at least in part, makes it significant to me. Id suspect there are many others with roots in the neighborhood who would agree. The report does go on to say, though, "St. Martini Church is architecturally significant to the South Side survey area and to the city of Milwaukee for its fine design and as a reflection of the late nineteenth century heyday of the near South Side as a maturing immigrant community." In a neighborhood of steeples, St. Martinis most definitely cast its silhouette on the horizon of this bustling area. Just like my mom and perhaps her dad and grandparents I can recall the peaked tower rising above the homes across the street. It was most definitely "significant." As was common, the first structure built was a two-story schoolhouse on 15th Place and Orchard Street. The cornerstone was laid in 1883 with a plan that the first floor was to be used as a school and the open top floor would serve as a temporary church sanctuary. The school and the church opened in 1844 and three years and $14,327 later, the imposing Schnetzky-designed church was ready. In 1892, an addition was put onto the south side of the school, adding two classrooms. A parsonage was also erected in 1884, but was replaced with the 1929 version we see today. Another school building and hall was built to the south of the parsonage in the 1960s. The church itself is a High Victorian Gothic structure with pinnacles and the decorative basket-weave brickwork we expect from Schnetzky, who also added his trademark chimney at the peak of the gabled roof where the nave meets the apse behind the altar. Theres a clock on the tower and three bells up in there, too. Though Pastor Alfonso Prada told me the bells dont work anymore, he didnt object when I reached for one of the ropes and pulled it, to find to our delight that they do, indeed still work. Up in the tower, theres a graffito from 1909 and a painted note saying that painters did their job up there in 1950. Though the route to the bells isnt an especially rough one requiring a couple staircases and a long ladder we decided again the final leg of a potential journey to the peak: a hand-knotted rope ladder of indeterminate age. Back down in the sanctuary, the church is quite fetching with an altar screen and pulpit from 1931, but in a traditional style. The pews were replaced a few years earlier, but, again, fit quite nicely. There are some beautiful colored glass windows throughout, in lovely muted tones, and a pair of murals depicting Jesus flank the altar. Keen eyes will note in the one on the left that Jesus has six toes on his right foot. Turns out representations of a six-toed Jesus are not uncommon and there's a whole belief system that accounts for this. Google it and you'll find plenty on the subject. Upon entering from the apse side of the church, ones eyes are immediately drawn upward to a vaulted plaster ceiling that makes the sanctuary feel even larger than it is (early newspaper reports say it could seat 600). Next, you see the curvaceous balcony home to an elaborate organ pipe arrangement which will remind you of similar examples at Trinity/King Solomon and St. Johns. Though these days, the choir loft more closely resembles the shorter one at Trinity/King Solomon, it was originally built to extend further toward the altar, as the one at St. Johns does today. In 1931, the balcony at St. Martini was brought back to its current position. At the same time a narthex or entry area was created with the construction of a wall at the back of the sanctuary, beneath the balcony. I didnt get to see the parsonage and I wasnt especially interested in the much later school building though I did get a peek inside to see if the eight bowling lanes and a bar were still in the basement (no, theyre replaced by classrooms and a cafeteria). The pins and pin setters were at this end. All gone now. But, I was eager to see inside the old school building. Much altered on the outside, with many windows bricked up and any architectural ornament removed, the school looks exactly as my mom remembered it from her time there in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In fact, in many ways, it appears unchanged since its construction. There are built-in wooden benches flanking the Orchard Street entrance. The hardwood floors are original and you can even see the discoloration where the old-style iron and wood desks were bolted to the floor. The wainscoting survives on the walls, the classroom doors are imposing and heavy, and the wooden stairs to the second floor have that comforting wear and creak that comes with use and age. Upstairs, the space used initially as a church, and later as a school assembly hall, has been carved up into two classrooms to help accommodate the roughly 280 students that currently attend St. Martini School, which is now part of the Lumin group. Interestingly, peak enrollment here was 429 in 1897 and some 1903 class registers (the photo below is from that year) suggest that these rooms once held up to 70 or 80 kids at a time, which seems astonishing to modern sensibilities. What struck me most about my visit to St. Martini is that all these years later long after my German immigrant ancestors have shrugged off this mortal coil is that St. Martini is still an immigrant church and school now predominantly Latino and still a vibrant and important presence in the neighborhood. In that way, it continues to write these little histories every single day. Returning to Our Roots On Saturday, May 13, St. Martini will host a special worship service and fellowship lunch at 11 a.m. The event, called Returning to our Roots, aims to unite old and new members of the church, as well as sister congregations, friends and community members to honor the history of the church and help it move forward by supporting the church's missions and ministries. To RSVP, call (414) 645-4094 or email stmartini1@yahoo.com. Predictions of game results between the different world champions in their best year. Credit: Jean-Marc Alliot IRIT (CNRS/INP Toulouse/Universite Toulouse Paul Sabatier/Universite Toulouse Jean Jaures/Universite Toulouse Capitole) The ELO system, which most chess federations use today, ranks players by the results of their games. Although simple and efficient, it overlooks relevant criteria such as the quality of the moves players actually make. To overcome these limitations, Jean-Marc Alliot of the Institut de recherche en informatique de Toulouse (IRIT - CNRS/INP Toulouse/Universite Toulouse Paul Sabatier/Universite Toulouse Jean Jaures/Universite Toulouse Capitole) demonstrates a new system, published on 24 April 2017 in the International Computer Games Association Journal. Since the 1970s, the system designed by the Hungarian, Arpad Elo, has been ranking chess players according to the result of their games. The best players have the highest ranking, and the difference in ELO points between two players predicts the probability of either player winning a given game. If players perform better or worse than predicted, they either gain or lose points accordingly. This method does not take into account the quality of the moves played during a game and is therefore unable to reliably rank players who have played at different periods. Jean-Marc Alliot suggests a direct ranking of players based on the quality of their actual moves. His system computes the difference between the move actually played and the move that would have been selected by the best chess program to date, Stockfish. Running on the OSIRIM supercomputer, this program executes almost perfect moves. Starting with those of Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900), all 26,000 games played since then by chess world champions have been processed in order to create a probabilistic model for each player. For each position, the model estimates the probability of making a mistake, and the magnitude of the mistake. These models can then be used to compute the win/draw/lose probability for any given match between two players. The predictions have proven not only to be extremely close to the actual results when players have played concrete games against one another, they also fare better than those based on ELO scores. The results demonstrate that the level of chess players has been steadily increasing. The current world champion, Magnus Carlsen, tops the list, while Bobby Fischer is third. Under current conditions, this new ranking method cannot immediately replace the ELO system, which is easier to set up and implement. However, increases in computing power will make it possible to extend the new method to an ever-growing pool of players in the near future. More information: Who is the Master? Jean-Marc Alliot, ICGA Journal, Volume 39-1, Avril 2017. DOI: 10.3233/ICG-160012 , content.iospress.com/articles/icga-journal/icg0012 Provided by CNRS By Press Trust of India: Aizawl, Apr 25 (PTI) No malaria death has been reported in Mizoram in the first three months of this year, a senior Health department official said today and expressed the hope that the state might be able to completely eradicate malaria soon. Joint Director (Malaria) Dr Thangkima on the occasion of the World Malaria Day, said that of the 35,801 blood samples tested during the last three months, 582 Malaria cases were found in the state but no deaths were reported. advertisement At least nine people died due to malaria during 2016 while malaria death toll were 21 and 31 during 2015 and 2014 respectively, the official said. The Joint Director (Malaria) expressed the hope that with the current rate of decrease in malaria deaths, the state might be able to completely eradicate malaria soon despite being malaria prone area. PTI HCV RG --- ENDS --- This schematic depicts the efficient deep subduction of organic (reduced) carbon, a process that could have locked significant amounts of carbon in Earth's mantle and resulted in a higher percentage of atmospheric oxygen. Based on new high-pressure, high-temperature experiments, Rice University petrologists argue that the long-term sequestration of organic carbon from this process began as early as 2.5 billion years ago and helped bring about a well-known buildup of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere -- the "Great Oxidation Event" -- about 2.4 billion years ago. Credit: R. Dasgupta/Rice University Rice University petrologists who recreated hot, high-pressure conditions from 60 miles below Earth's surface have found a new clue about a crucial event in the planet's deep past. Their study describes how fossilized carbonthe remains of Earth's earliest single-celled creaturescould have been subsumed and locked deep in Earth's interior starting around 2.4 billion years agoa time when atmospheric oxygen rose dramatically. The paper appears online this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. "It's an interesting concept, but in order for complex life to evolve, the earliest form of life needed to be deeply buried in the planet's mantle," said Rajdeep Dasgupta, a professor of Earth science at Rice. "The mechanism for that burial comes in two parts. First, you need some form of plate tectonics, a mechanism to carry the carbon remains of early life-forms back into Earth. Second, you need the correct geochemistry so that organic carbon can be carried deeply into Earth's interior and thereby removed from the surface environment for a long time." At issue is what caused the "great oxidation event," a steep increase in atmospheric oxygen that is well-documented in countless ancient rocks. The event is so well-known to geologists that they often simply refer to it as the "GOE." But despite this familiarity, there's no scientific consensus about what caused the GOE. For example, scientists know Earth's earliest known life, single-celled cyanobacteria, drew down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and released oxygen. But the appearance of early life has been pushed further and further into the past with recent fossil discoveries, and scientists now know that cyanobacteria were prevalent at least 500 million years before the GOE. "Cyanobacteria may have played a role, but the GOE was so dramaticoxygen concentration increased as much as 10,000 timesthat cyanobacteria by themselves could not account for it," said lead co-author Megan Duncan, who conducted the research for her Ph.D. dissertation at Rice. "There also has to be a mechanism to remove a significant amount of reduced carbon from the biosphere, and thereby shift the relative concentration of oxygen within the system," she said. Rajdeep Dasgupta is pictured. Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University Removing carbon without removing oxygen requires special circumstances because the two elements are prone to bind with one another. They form one of the key components of the atmospherecarbon dioxideas well as all types of carbonate rocks. Dasgupta and Duncan found that the chemical composition of the "silicate melt"subducting crustal rock that melts and rises back to the surface through volcanic eruptionsplays a crucial role in determining whether fossilized organic carbon, or graphite, sinks into the mantle or rises back to the surface through volcanism. Duncan, now a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., said the study is the first to examine the graphite-carrying capacity of a type of melt known as rhyolite, which is commonly produced deep in the mantle and carries significant amounts of carbon to the volcanoes. She said the graphite-carrying capacity of rhyolitic rock is crucial because if graphite is prone to hitching a ride back to the surface via extraction of rhyolitic melt, it would not have been buried in sufficient quantities to account for the GOE. "Silicate composition plays an important role," she said. "Scientists have previously looked at carbon-carrying capacities in compositions that were much more magnesium-rich and silicon-poor. But the compositions of these rhyolitic melts are high in silicon and aluminum and have very little calcium, magnesium and iron. That matters because calcium and magnesium are cations, and they change the amount of carbon you can dissolve." Dasgupta and Duncan found that rhyolitic melts could dissolve very little graphite, even when very hot. Megan Duncan is pictured. Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University "That was one of our motivations," said Dasgupta, professor of Earth science. "If subduction zones in the past were very hot and produced a substantial amount of melt, could they completely destabilize organic carbon and release it back to the surface? "What we showed was that even at very, very high temperatures, not much of this graphitic carbon dissolves in the melt," he said. "So even though the temperature is high and you produce a lot of melt, this organic carbon is not very soluble in that melt, and the carbon gets buried in the mantle as a result. "What is neat is that with the onset and the expected tempo of crustal burial into the deep mantle starting just prior to the GOE, and with our experimental data on the efficiency of deep burial of reduced carbon, we could model the expected rise of atmospheric oxygen across the GOE," Dasgupta said. The research supports the findings of a 2016 paper by fellow Rice petrologist Cin-Ty Lee and colleagues that suggested that plate tectonics, continent formation and the appearance of early life were key factors in the development of an oxygen-rich atmosphere on Earth. Duncan, who increasingly focuses on exoplanetary systems, said the research could provide important clues about what scientists should look for when evaluating which exoplanets could support life. More information: Global aquifers dominated by fossil groundwaters but wells vulnerable to modern contamination, Nature Geoscience (2017). nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/ngeo2943 Journal information: Nature Geoscience Tornadoes are an underestimated threat across Europe with the UK, Germany, and northern Italy at the greatest risk as tornado season fast approaches. That's according to new research by meteorologists at the University of Manchester's Centre for Atmospheric Science in its School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the European Severe Storms Laboratory in Germany. Their research, which is being published in the journal Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, is the first ever threat calculation of tornadoes across the European continent. The team analysed tornado reports from the European Severe Weather Database between 1950 and 2015, looking at the social and economic impact of tornadoes on the continent. From the 66 years of meteorological, atmospheric and weather related data analysed they found that tornadoes in Europe have caused nearly one billion euros worth of damage, over 300 deaths, and over 4400 injuries. Between 1950 and 2015, 5478 tornadoes were reported in 42 European countries. The tornado season for Europe is from May to August, with its peak in July. Such is the scale of the problem, and with European tornado season just weeks away, the team says they want to raise awareness of the issue. Dr Bogdan Antonescu, from Centre for Atmospheric Science, led the research. He said: "Currently the threat of tornadoes in Europe is not widely recognized. Few European meteorological services have developed and maintained tornado databases and even fewer have issued tornado warnings. "Therefore, we are raising awareness of the threat of European tornadoes, which is perhaps unappreciated by the public, emergency responders, and governments across the continent. "Despite what is often assumed by the general public and even by meteorologists and researchers, tornadoes do occur in Europe and they have caused thousands of injuries, hundreds of death and huge amounts of damage." Although the tornado threat seems to be less in Europe compared to the United States, the research says the true magnitude is unknown due to a huge lack of data collection. This is due to decades of neglect in monitoring tornadoes by official government and European agencies. But this wasn't always the case. There was a time when tornado research in Europe was more active than in the US. Before the Second World War, European scientists and meteorologists were actively researching tornadoes. But the interest declined after 1950, with the majority of the efforts of collecting tornado reports occurring outside the national meteorological services. This lack of national databases has now resulted in an underestimation of the tornado threat to Europe. According to the team, it is a situation that persists today despite resurgence in European tornado research in recent years. Professor David Schultz, Professor of Synoptic Meteorology from the University of Manchester, added: "The research summarizes all our current understanding of the tornado threat to Europe by showing the changes in tornado injuries and fatalities since the 1950s. It also, for the first time, estimates the damages associated with European tornadoes. No other study has systematically analysed the damages associated with tornadoes in Europe." The research also found that whilst UK, Germany, and northern Italy were at the highest risks of tornadoes, it is eastern and southern Europe where tornadoes have the highest societal impact. This means the number of injuries is twice as high and the number of fatalities three times higher in eastern and southern Europe than over western and northern Europe. This photograph shows a toy xoloitzcuintlel, a dog breed that likely descended from dogs that crossed the Bering Land Bridge with Native Americans Ancestors. Credit: Penny Inman When people migrate, Canis familiaris travels with them. Piecing together the details of those migrations has proved difficult because the clues are scattered across the genomes of hundreds of dog breeds. However, in a study published April 25 in Cell Reports, researchers have used gene sequences from 161 modern breeds to assemble an evolutionary tree of dogs. The map of dog breeds, which is the largest to date, unearths new evidence that dogs traveled with humans across the Bering land bridge, and will likely help researchers identify disease-causing genes in both dogs and humans. The study highlights how the oldest dog breeds evolved or were bred to fill certain roles. "First, there was selection for a type, like herders or pointers, and then there was admixture to get certain physical traits," says study co-author and dog geneticist Heidi Parker of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). "I think that understanding that types go back a lot longer than breeds or just physical appearances do is something to really think about." Most popular breeds in America are of European descent, but in the study, researchers found evidence that some breeds from Central and South Americasuch as the Peruvian Hairless Dog and the Xoloitzcuintleare likely descended from the "New World Dog," an ancient canine sub-species that migrated across the Bering Strait with the ancestors of Native Americans. Scientists have previously reported archaeological evidence that the New World Dog existed, but this study marks the first living evidence of them in modern breeds. "What we noticed is that there are groups of American dogs that separated somewhat from the European breeds," says study co-author Heidi Parker of the NIH. "We've been looking for some kind of signature of the New World Dog, and these dogs have New World Dogs hidden in their genome." It's unclear precisely which genes in modern hairless dogs are from Europe and which are from their New World ancestors, but the researchers hope to explore that in future studies. This diagram representing the genetic analysis of dog breeds reveals how past migrations led to the mixing of multiple breeds. Credit: NIH Dog Genome Project Other results were more expected. For instance, many breeds of "gun dogs," such as Golden Retrievers and Irish Setters, can trace their origins to Victorian England, when new technologies, such as guns, opened up new roles on hunting expeditions. Those dogs clustered closely together on the phylogenetic tree, as did the spaniel breeds. Breeds from the Middle East, such as the Saluki, and from Asia, such as Chow Chows and Akitas, seem to have diverged well before the "Victorian Explosion" in Europe and the United States. Herding breeds, though largely European in origin, proved to be surprisingly diverse. "When we were looking at herding breeds, we saw much more diversity, where there was a particular group of herding breeds that seemed to come out of the United Kingdom, a particular group that came out of northern Europe, and a different group that came out of southern Europe," says Parker, "which shows herding is not a recent thing. People were using dogs as workers thousands of years ago, not just hundreds of years ago." Different herding dogs use very different strategies to bring their flocks to heel, so in some ways, the phylogenetic data confirmed what many dog experts had previously suspected, the researchers noted. "What that also tells us is that herding dogs were developed not from a singular founder but in several different places and probably different times," says the study's senior co-author and dog geneticist Elaine Ostrander, also of the NIH. This evolutionary tree shows the relationships between dog breeds. Credit: NIH Dog Genome Project Ostrander and her colleagues have spent years sequencing dog genomes but can also frequently be found out in the field at dog shows, recruiting dog owners to participate in the study. "If we see a breed that we haven't had a good sample of to sequence, we definitely make a beeline for that owner," says Ostrander. "And say, 'Gosh, we don't have the sequence of the Otterhound yet, and your dog is a beautiful Otterhound. Wouldn't you like it to represent your breed in the dog genome sequence database?' And of course, people are always very flattered to say, "Yes. I want my dog to represent Otterhound-ness." All of the dog sequences in the study are from dogs whose owners volunteered, Ostrander says. Over half the dog breeds in the world today still have not been sequenced and the researchers intend to keep collecting dog genomes to fill in the gaps. Understanding dogs' genetic backstory also has practical applications. Our canine compatriots fall victim to many of the same diseases that humans doincluding epilepsy, diabetes, kidney disease, and cancerbut disease prevalence varies widely and predictably between breeds, while it is more difficult to compartmentalize at-risk human populations. "Using all this data, you can follow the migration of disease alleles and predict where they are likely to pop up next, and that's just so empowering for our field because a dog is such a great model for many human diseases," says Ostrander. "Every time there's a disease gene found in dogs it turns out to be important in people, too." In this Tuesday, March 23, 2010, file photo, the Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Brussels. Google has sprinkled some new ingredients into its search engine in an effort to prevent bogus information and offensive suggestions from souring its results. Most of the changes announced Tuesday, April 25, 2017, are designed to reduce the chances that its influential search engine will highlight untrue stories about people and events, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "fake news." Besides trying to block fake news, Google has reprogrammed a popular feature to omit derogatory search suggestions. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File) Google has sprinkled some new ingredients into its search engine in an effort to prevent bogus information and offensive suggestions from souring its results. The changes have been in the works for four months, but Google hadn't publicly discussed most of them until now. The announcement in a blog post Tuesday reflects Google's confidence in a new screening system designed to reduce the chances that its influential search engine will highlight untrue stories about people and events, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "fake news." "It's not a problem that is going to go all the way to zero, but we now think we can stay a step ahead of things," said Ben Gomes, Google's vice president of engineering for search. CORRECTING AUTOCOMPLETE Besides taking steps to block fake news from appearing in its search results, Google also has reprogrammed a popular feature that automatically tries to predict what a person is looking for as a search request as being typed. The tool, called "autocomplete," has been overhauled to omit derogatory suggestions, such as "are women evil," or recommendations that promote violence. Google also adding a feedback option that will enable users to complain about objectionable autocomplete suggestions so a human can review the wording. Facebook, where fake news stories and other hoaxes have widely circulated on its social network, also has been trying to stem the tide of misleading information by working with The Associated Press and other news organizations to review suspect stories and set the record straight when warranted. Facebook also has provided its nearly 2 billion users ways to identify posts believed to contain false information, something that Google is now allowing users of its search engine to do for some of the news snippets featured in its results. WHY GOOGLE CARES Google began attacking fake news in late December after several embarrassing examples of misleading information appeared near the top of its search engine. Among other things, Google's search engine pointed to a website that incorrectly reported then President-elect Donald Trump had won the popular vote in the U.S. election , that President Barack Obama was planning a coup and that the Holocaust never occurred during World War II. Only about 0.25 percent of Google's search results were being polluted with falsehoods, Gomes said. But that was still enough to threaten the integrity of a search engine that processes billions of search requests per day largely because it is widely regarded as the internet's most authoritative source of information. "They have a lot riding on this, reputation wise," said Lucy Dalglish, who has been tracking the flow of false information as dean of the University of Maryland's journalism department. "If your whole business model is based turning up the best search results, but those results turn up stuff that is total crap, where does that get you?" To address the problem, Google began revising the closely guarded algorithms that generate its search with the help of 10,000 people who rate the quality and reliability of the recommendations during tests. Google also rewrote its 140-page book of rating guidelines that help the quality-control evaluators make their assessments. GOOGLE AS REFEREE Fighting fake news can be tricky because in some cases what is viewed as being blatantly misleading by one person might be interpreted as being mostly true by another. If Google, Facebook or other companies trying to block false information err in their judgment calls, they risk being accused of censorship or playing favorites. But doing nothing to combat fake news would probably have caused even bigger headaches. If too much misleading information appears in Google's search results, the damage could go beyond harm to its reputation for reliability. It could also spook risk-averse advertisers, who don't want their brands tied to content that can't be trusted, said Larry Chiagouris, a marketing professor at Pace University in New York. "Fake news is careening out of control in some people's eyes, so advertisers are getting very skittish about it," Chiagouris said. "Anything Google can do to show it is trying to put a lid on it and prevent it from getting out of hand, it will be seen as a good thing." Although it also sells ads on its other services and independently owned websites, Google still makes most of its money from the marketing links posted alongside its search results. Google says its new approach isn't meant to placate advertisers. 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. It's a warm summer afternoon in the Tanzanian village of Lupiro, and Mikkel Brydegaard is crouching in a brick hut, trying to fix a broken laser. Next to him, on a tall tripod, three telescopes point through a window at a tree in the distance. A laptop rests on an upturned box, waiting to receive a signal. With a working laser, this system is known as lidar like radar, Brydegaard tells me, but using a laser instead of radio waves. The setup is supposed to gather precise data about the movement of malaria mosquitoes. But as the sun starts to set outside, Brydegaard is getting nervous. He and his colleagues have spent a week in Tanzania, and their device still hasn't started collecting data. They're almost out of time. Tomorrow, a solar eclipse will blot out the sun over Tanzania an event that occurs only once every few decades here, and that Brydegaard and his team from Lund University in Sweden have travelled thousands of miles to see. Their immediate aim is to see if the eclipse affects the behaviour of disease-carrying insects. Their larger mission, however, is to demonstrate that lasers can revolutionise how insects are studied. Lidar involves shooting a laser beam between two points in this case, between the hut and the tree. When insects fly through the beam, they'll scatter light and reflect it back to the telescopes, generating data from which the scientists hope to identify different species. At a time when pests destroy enough food to sustain entire countries and when insect-borne diseases kill hundreds of thousands of people every year this arrangement of beams and lenses could, just maybe, improve millions of lives. But without a working laser, the trip to Tanzania will count for nothing. Already, the team have come close to giving up. A few days ago, their two high-powered lasers failed to work. "My first thought was, OK pack everything, we head back," Brydegaard tells me. "There's nowhere in Tanzania we can find a spare part." He thought bitterly about the tens of thousands of dollars they had spent on equipment and travel. But then he walked into town with Samuel Jansson, his graduate student, and over bottles of beer they scrolled through the contacts on their phones. Perhaps, they started to think, it was possible to salvage the trip after all. Lasers may be a cutting-edge tool for identifying insects, but at the heart of the lidar method is an elegant and centuries-old principle of entomology. Almost every species of flying insect, from moth to midge to mosquito, has a unique wingbeat frequency. A female Culex stigmatosoma mosquito, for instance, might beat its wings at a frequency of 350 hertz, while a male Culex tarsalis might at 550 hertz. Because of these differences, an insect's wingbeat is like a fingerprint. And in recent years, the study of wingbeat has undergone a renaissance, especially in the field of human health. Long before lasers or computers, wingbeat was thought of in auditory even musical terms. A careful listener could match the buzz of a fly to a key on the piano. That is exactly what Robert Hooke, a natural philosopher, did in the 17th century: "He is able to tell how many strokes a fly makes with her wings (those flies that hum in their flying) by the note that it answers to in musique during their flying," wrote Samuel Pepys, a British civil servant and friend of Hooke's. But the fact that Hooke relied on his ears must have made his findings difficult to communicate. Knowledge was traditionally shared through scientific papers, letters and specimen drawings, and so entomologists tended to rely on vision rather than hearing. "The field has had a very, very narrow focus for a long time," says Laura Harrington, an entomologist and epidemiologist based at Cornell University, New York State. In the 20th century, however, researchers began to break the mould. The main wingbeat detection method was visual: the chronophotographic method, which involved taking photographs in rapid succession. This had its limitations, and a few keen-eared researchers felt there was an advantage to Robert Hooke's auditory approach especially Olavi Sotavalta, an entomologist from Finland who had the rare gift of absolute pitch. Just as a composer with absolute pitch might transcribe a musical passage by ear, Sotavalta could identify the precise tone of a mosquito's wings without the aid of a piano. "The acoustic method makes it possible to observe insects in free flight," Sotavalta wrote in a 1952 paper in Nature. In other words, because he had absolute pitch, Sotavalta was able to make wingbeat observations not only with cameras in the laboratory, but also in nature, with his ears. Scientists are informed and constrained by the senses they choose to use. Sotavalta's peculiar approach to research suggests that certain scientific insights emerge when separate disciplines collide: he used his canny ear not only to identify species during his research, but also for music. "He had a beautiful singing voice," says Petter Portin, an emeritus professor of genetics who was once a student of Sotavalta's. Portin remembers him as a tall, slender man who always wore a blue laboratory coat. Sotavalta's papers in the National Library of Finland are a curious combination of letters, monographs on insect behaviour, and stacks of sheet music. Some of his compositions are named after birds and insects. One of the strangest of Sotavalta's papers, published in the Annals of the Finnish Zoological Society, documents in astonishing detail the songs of two particular nightingales. Sotavalta heard them during successive summers while staying at his summer house in Lempaala. The paper itself seems dry, until it becomes clear that he's trying to apply music theory to birdsong. "The song of the two Sprosser nightingales (Luscinia luscinia L.) occurring in two successive years was recorded acoustically and presented with conventional stave notation," he wrote. Following on from this are nearly 30 pages of notes, graphs and analysis of the rhythm and tonality of the birds. After highlighting the similarity between the two songs, he declares: "Because of the short distance between the places where they were singing, it was concluded that they were perhaps father and son." It is as though his work is a search for some kind of pattern, some musical idea, shared by members of the same species. However, his paper in Nature was rather more consequential. There, Sotavalta describes the uses of his "acoustic method" of identifying insects using his absolute pitch, and theorises about the subtleties of insect wingbeat: how much energy it consumes, and how it varies according to air pressure and body size. Even so, only decades later did scientists such as Brydegaard reaffirm the relevance of wingbeat in the study of insects for example, malaria-carrying mosquitoes. In Tanzania, Brydegaard, Jansson and engineer Flemming Rasmussen do not have absolute pitch and, even if they did, it wouldn't help much. There are millions of insects in and around the village, and they drone on in a symphony that never ends. What these scientists have, in place of a keen ear, is a high-tech gadget and two broken lasers. And their phones. When the lasers failed, it took a few false starts to find a solution. A researcher in Cote d'Ivoire had a working laser, but he was away in the USA. Brydegaard considered sending for a replacement by mail, but knew that thanks to customs and the day-long drive from the airport in Dar es Salaam it probably wouldn't arrive in time for the eclipse. Finally, they sent a text message to Frederik Taarnhj, CEO of FaunaPhotonics, their commercial partner, and asked if he would consider sending a scientist from Sweden with some spare lasers. Taarnhj said yes. So the trio made a few frantic calls and ultimately convinced another graduate student, Elin Malmqvist, to board a plane the very next day. When she did, she was carrying three small metal boxes in her suitcase. The saga was not over yet, however. Even after the huge expense of the last-minute flight, the first replacement failed: Brydegaard, in his hurry, confused the anode with the cathode, which short-circuited the laser diode. The second laser yielded a beam, but, inexplicably, it was so faint as to be unusable. It's the last laser that Brydegaard now unpacks, hoping that at least this one will work as expected. By the time he screws it onto the tripod, it is almost sunset, and his agitation is palpable. Within the hour, it will be too dark to calibrate even a working laser. Everything rides on this piece of equipment. Laura Harrington's laboratory at Cornell looks a little like a restaurant kitchen. What resembles the door to a walk-in freezer actually leads to an incubation room. It's humid and lit by fluorescent lights. The shelves are covered in carefully labelled boxes. Harrington shows me mosquito eggs inside the kinds of disposable containers you'd carry soup in. Over the top of the containers, to prevent mosquitoes from escaping, there's some kind of net bridal veil, she tells me. The method is not quite foolproof. A few mosquitoes have escaped, and they buzz around our ears and ankles while we chat. When we talk about Sotavalta's approach, Harrington says that he was "definitely ahead of his time". Even in recent years, researchers who thought to listen to mosquitoes didn't realise how many insects are capable of listening, too. "For a long time, scientists thought that female mosquitoes were deaf that they didn't pay attention to sound at all," Harrington says. But in 2009, Harrington put that long-standing assumption to the test. In an unusual and intricate experiment, she and her colleagues tethered a female Aedes aegypti mosquito to a hair, installed a microphone nearby, and placed both inside an upside-down fish tank. Then they released male mosquitoes inside the tank and recorded the results. The team's findings astonished Harrington, and led to a breakthrough in the study of sound and entomology. Aedes aegypti conducted a sort of mid-air mating dance that had everything to do with sound. Not only did female mosquitoes respond to the sounds of males, they also seemed to communicate with sounds of their own. "We discovered that males and females actually sing to each other," Harrington says. "They harmonise just prior to mating." This 'mating song' isn't produced by vocal cords. It is produced by flapping wings. During normal flight, male and female mosquitoes have slightly different wingbeats. But Harrington found that during the mating process, males aligned their wingbeat frequency with that of females. "We think the female is testing the male," Harrington explains. "How quickly he can converge harmonically." If so, mosquito songs may function like auditory peacock features. They seem to help females identify the fittest mates. With these results in mind, and with a recent grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Harrington's lab has begun development of a novel mosquito trap for field research. Similar projects have been undertaken by teams at James Cook University in Australia and Columbia University in New York City, among others. For a researcher, there are drawbacks to the mosquito traps that currently exist. Chemical traps have to be refilled, while electric traps tend to kill mosquitoes; Harrington wants her new trap to harness the power of sound to capture living specimens for monitoring and study. It would combine established methods for attracting mosquitoes, like chemicals and blood, with recorded mosquito sounds to mimic the mating song. Importantly, it could be used to capture mosquitoes of either sex. Historically, scientists have focused on catching female mosquitoes, which twice each day go hunting for mammals to bite and which may carry the malaria parasite (males do not). But scientists have recently started to consider male mosquitoes an important part of malaria control too. For instance, one current proposal for curbing the disease involves releasing genetically modified males that produce offspring that themselves can't reproduce, to reduce the population of disease-carrying mosquitoes in a given area. Harrington's hope is that an acoustic trap using the mating song that attracts males would help make new strategies such as this possible. "What we're trying to do is really think outside the box, and identify new and novel ways to control these mosquitoes," she says. With the last laser finally in place, Brydegaard flips a switch. Suddenly, on the laptop screen next to the tripod, a small white dot appears. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief: the laser works. The team made up of Brydegaard, Jansson, Malmqvist and Rasmussen spend the last 15 minutes of daylight bringing the beam into focus. Other than a few local children, who shout "mzungu" Swahili for light-skinned foreigner no one seems especially bothered by the Europeans tinkering with telescopes. Sunset throws a beautiful, soft light across the marshy landscape around Lupiro, but it also marks the start of malaria transmission. As darkness starts to fall on the hut where the lidar system is set up, villagers walk in from the fields; pillars of smoke rise from cooking fires. Locals here rely on rice for their livelihood: the staple is served with two meals a day, and along the dusty main road, rice chaff piles up like leaves in autumn. But rice fields require standing water, and standing water fosters malaria mosquitoes. Insects have already begun to buzz around our legs. Now that evening has settled around us, the lidar system has finally begun to record a torrent of data. The team sit around the hut in the dark; a gasoline generator hums outside, powering the laser and computer. On the laptop screen, a jagged red line shows peaks and valleys. Each one, Brydegaard tells me, represents an echo from the beam. Around dusk, dozens or hundreds of insects may cross the beam each minute. We are watching the period that entomologists refer to as "rush hour" the wave of activity that begins when female mosquitoes swarm into the village and start their search for food. Nicodemus Govella, a medical entomologist at Tanzania's prestigious Ifakara Health Institute a local partner of FaunaPhotonics has seen the evening mosquito rush hundreds, even thousands of times. He knows how it feels to shiver and vomit as the malaria parasite takes hold; he has experienced the symptoms time and again. "During my childhood, I can't count how many times," he tells me. If Tanzanian epidemiologists are waging a war on malaria, the Ifakara Health Institute works like a ministry of intelligence it tracks the density, distribution and timing of bites by malaria mosquitoes. Traditionally, Govella says, the "gold standard" of mosquito surveillance was a method called human-landing catch. It's low-tech but reliable: a volunteer is given medication to prevent malaria transmission and then sits outside with legs bare, letting mosquitoes land and bite. The problem is that protection against malaria is no longer enough. Too many other diseases, from dengue fever to Zika, are also spread by mosquitoes. As a result, human-landing catch is now widely considered unethical. "It gives you information, but it is very risky," Govella says. "Other countries have already banned it." As health officials retire old strategies for malaria surveillance and control, the work on experimental techniques takes on new urgency which is where the lasers will come in. In parts of Tanzania, thanks in part to bednets and pesticides, malaria has "gone down tremendously," Govella tells me. But eradication of the disease has proved elusive. Some mosquitoes have developed resistance to pesticides. Likewise, bednets helped bring night-time transmission under control but mosquitoes have adapted their behaviour, starting to bite at dusk and dawn, when people aren't protected. In 2008, Govella's daughter contracted malaria. Thinking back, Govella's manner changes; his precise medical language gives way to a quiet passion. "I don't even want to remember," he says. "When I get to that memory, it really brings a lot of pain to me." In its early stages, malaria may look like a common cold which is why it's so important that scientists have the tools to track the spread of the parasite and the mosquitoes that carry it: to avoid misdiagnosis. In his daughter's case, the lack of information proved tragic. "Because it was not detected soon, it proceeded up to the level of convulsions," Govella says. His daughter ultimately died from complications of malaria. Almost every day since then, he has thought about eradication. "I hate this disease," Govella says. The persistence of malaria has frustrated generations of scientists. More than a century after the discovery of the parasite, it still afflicts hundreds of millions of people each year, of whom half a million die. Harrington has her own memories of the havoc wreaked by the disease: in 1998, she travelled to Thailand for a series of experiments and contracted malaria herself. "I was the only foreigner for miles and miles around," she says. As the fever set in, Harrington started to understand the real burden of the disease she studied. "I could imagine myself as a Thai villager with those illnesses," she tells me. She was far from the nearest hospital and felt alone. "I felt like, if I died, maybe people wouldn't find out." Eventually, someone found her and put her in the back of a pickup truck. She remembers sinking into delirium, staring up at a fan that spun endlessly on the ceiling. "I saw a nurse with a syringe full of purple liquid," she recalls. It reminded her of when she worked, years before, in a veterinary clinic that used purple injections to euthanise sick animals. "I thought that was the end." Finally, the fever broke, and Harrington knew that she was going to survive. "I felt incredibly grateful for my life," she says. The experience made her even more committed to her research. "I felt that I had the ability to try and dedicate my career to something that could eventually help other people." Malaria provides a vivid example of how insects threaten human health but there are many other ways that they can cause harm. Insects also spread other microbial diseases. Then there's the effect they have on agriculture. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, insect pests destroy one-fifth of global crop yields. In other words, if the world's farmers had better ways to control species like locusts and beetles, they could feed millions more people. Pesticides reduce the damage that insects cause, but when used indiscriminately, they can also harm people or kill the insects that we rely on. We remain deeply dependent on pollinators like bees, moths and butterflies, but a 2016 report showed that 40 per cent of invertebrate pollinator species are under threat of extinction. It's because of this lovehate relationship with insects that we urgently need better ways of tracking different species better ways to differentiate between the bugs that help us and the bugs that hurt us. On the day of the eclipse, at just before noon, in the blue skies above Lupiro the black disc of the moon passes in front of the sun. A group of children have gathered round; they hold in their hands small plates of welding glass that the Scandinavian scientists brought with them. By peering through the green-tinted glass, the children can see the narrowing crescent of the sun. The village around us has gone dim; our shadows have grown less distinct. Judging by the light, it feels as if a sudden storm has set in, or someone has turned a dimmer that has made the sun go faint. The scientists from Sweden, along with their partners at the Ifakara Health Institute and FaunaPhotonics, want to know if in the dim light of an eclipse insects become more active, just as they do at dusk. On the screen, we watch the red peaks, which have picked up again not as many as we saw at sunset and sunrise, but more than usual. There's a simple reason this data matters: if the mosquitoes are more active during an eclipse, that suggests that they use light as a cue, knowing when to swarm each morning and evening by the dimness of the rising and setting sun. As the data pours in, the scientists talk me through what we're looking at. Lidar was originally developed to study much larger-scale phenomena, like changes in atmospheric chemistry. This system has been simplified to a bare minimum. Each of the three telescopes on the tripod has a separate function. The first directs the outgoing laser at a tree about half a kilometre away. Nailed to the tree trunk is a black board, where the beam terminates. (To clear a path for the laser, Jansson, the PhD student, had to cut a path through the underbrush with a machete.) When insects fly through the laser beam, reflections bounce back at the device from their beating wings, and they're picked up by the second telescope. The third telescope allows the team to aim and calibrate the system; the whole apparatus is connected to a laptop computer that aggregates the data. The red peaks dancing across the screen represent insects crossing the laser beam. To record the reflections, which Brydegaard calls the "atmospheric echo", the lidar system captures 4,000 snapshots per second. Later, the team will use an algorithm to comb through the snapshots for wingbeat frequency the fingerprint of each species. This device, in other words, achieves with optics what Olavi Sotavalta achieved with his ears, and what Harrington has achieved with the help of a microphone. But there are some details in the lidar data that the human ear could never discern. For example, an insect's wingbeat frequency is accompanied by higher-pitched harmonics. (Harmonics are what lend richness to the sound of a violin; they're responsible for the resonant ring produced by a muted guitar string.) The lidar system can capture harmonic frequencies that are too high for the human ear to hear. In addition, laser beams are polarised, and when they reflect off different surfaces, their polarisation changes. The amount of change can tell Brydegaard and his colleagues whether an insect's wing is glossy or matte, which is also useful when trying to distinguish different species. As the dark disc of the sun starts to brighten again, the scientists snap pictures and try, without much success, to explain how the lasers work to local children. Now that the data is flowing, the tension that accompanied the set-up of the lidar system has simply melted away. It finally seems clear that the high price tag of the experiment won't be in vain. The team spent about $12,000 on the lidar system, not including the equally hefty costs of transport and labour. "That sounds like a lot, standing in an African village," Brydegaard admits. On the other hand, older forms of lidar, used to study the atmosphere, can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The burden of malaria, meanwhile, would be calculated in the billions of dollars if it could be calculated at all. Within a couple of hours, the bright round circle of the sun is again burning brightly. A couple of hours after that, it has started to set. We re-apply bug spray to ward off the mosquitoes that, once again, will come flying in from the marshy fields around Lupiro. Then we walk into town for dinner, which, as usual, includes rice. Three months after the experiment, I called FaunaPhotonics to learn how their analysis was progressing. After so many lasers had failed, I wanted to know whether the final one had given them the results they needed. The data was messy, they said. "Around cooking time, there's lots of smoke and dust in the air," said Jord Prangsma, an engineer responsible for analysing the data that the team brought back. He added that the data did seem to show distinct wingbeats. But it's one thing to spot those beats on a graph. "To tell a computer, 'Please find me the correct frequency,' is another thing," he said. Unlike Sotavalta, who had studied individuals, the team in Tanzania had gathered data from many thousands of insects. They were trying to analyse all of those beating wings at once. But the obstacles were not insurmountable. "We see a higher activity just around noon," said Jansson, speaking about the data from the eclipse. This suggests that mosquitoes were, indeed, using light as a cue to begin searching for food during rush hour. Prangsma added that an algorithm he had developed was starting to separate out the crucial data. "From a scientific point of view, this is a very rich dataset," he said. Over the months that followed, FaunaPhotonics continued to make progress. "Despite initial laser problems," Brydegaard wrote in a recent email, "the systems performed to the satisfaction of all our expectations." Each day that the system was in operation, he said, they had recorded a staggering 100,000 insect observations. "Indications are that we can discriminate several species and gender classes of insects," Brydegaard went on. Along with his Lund University colleagues, Brydegaard will publish the results; FaunaPhotonics, as his commercial partner, will offer their lidar device, along with their analytic expertise, to companies and research organisations looking to track insects in the field. "If we have a customer that's interested in a certain species, then we'll tailor the algorithm a bit to target the species," Prangsma explained. "Each dataset is unique, and has to be tackled in its own way." Recently, FaunaPhotonics began a three-year collaboration with Bayer to continue developing its technology. The study of wingbeat has come an incredibly long way since Olavi Sotavalta used his absolute pitch to identify insects and yet in some ways, the Scandinavian scientists' work differs very little from the Finnish entomologist's. Just like Sotavalta, they are bringing separate disciplines together in this case physics and biology, lidar and entomology to uncover patterns in nature. But they have plenty of work left to do. FaunaPhotonics and its partners will start, in a forthcoming paper, by trying to connect the dots between light, lasers and mosquitoes. Then they'll try to demonstrate that the study of wingbeat frequency could help humans control diseases other than malaria, as well as insects that destroy crops. "This is a journey that is not a few months," said Rasmussen, the engineer. "This is a journey that will go for years ahead." Provided by Mosaic This article first appeared on Mosaic and is republished here under a Creative Commons licence. Solar impacts on earth's climate are most sensitive in polar and tropical Pacific regions and the monsoon activity plays a crucial role in the propagation of solar signal between different latitudes. Credit: Ziniu Xiao Solar flux is considered to be the fundamental energy source of Earth's climate system on long time scales. In recent decades, some studies have noted that tiny variations in solar activity could be amplified by the nonlinear process in the climate system. Therefore, factors such as solar activity present intriguing and cutting-edge questions to better understand climate change. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this subject, studies in this field were insufficient in China. In 2012, China's National Basic Research Program examined the impacts of astronomy and Earth motion factors on climate change. Led by Prof. Ziniu XIAO (Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences), this five-year research program has greatly advanced understanding of this topic. One of the major achievements by the multidisciplinary team is that a robust relationship between solar wind speed and the North Atlantic Oscillation was found variations not only on a day-to-day time scale but also year-to-year, suggesting a much faster mechanism of solar influence on the atmospheric system compared to ozone destruction. Moreover, the team improved the collision and parameterization scheme and qualitatively evaluated the effects of solar energetic particle flux on cloud charge. Hence, the team proposed that the solar wind and electric-microphysical effect was the key mechanism of solar activity on climate. With the help of observations and model simulations, the team also found that the solar signal is more significant and detectable on an interdecadal time scale in some more sensitive regions, especially the tropical Pacific (e.g., the lagged dipolar convection pattern in the tropical western Pacific; lagged El Nino Modoki-like pattern on the tropical ocean surface) and monsoon regions (eg. rainband during the Mei-Yu season; the north boundary of East Asian summer monsoon). Then the team developed a physical model to depict the interdecadal response of the air-sea system to solar activity. The results above have been published in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Journal of Geophysical Research, Journal of Meteorological Research, Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, Journal of Climate, and Advances in Space Research. The follow-up research by the team is currently in progress and focuses on two main aspects: One is the effects of solar radiative forcing and solar energetic particles on climate in middle-high latitudes through modulating polar stratospheric-troposphere coupling, and the other is the response of a tropical Pacific air-sea system to interdecadal variation in solar activity and how this response propagates into middle latitudes through East Asian monsoon activity. A program report is recently published in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters. More information: Zi-Niu XIAO et al, Interdisciplinary Studies of Solar Activity and Climate Change, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1080/16742834.2017.1321951 LOFOTEN: How could the three-aisled longhouse persist in Scandinavia for 3000 years, while society underwent fundamental changes? This 83-metre-long Viking house has been recreated at Borg in Lofoten, and is the largest ever found. Credit: NTB Scanpix From the Bronze Age until the Viking Age, burial mounds could be placed on top of the remains of three-aisled longhouses. The internal posts that served as roof-supporting beams were sometimes removed before the house was set on fire. Once the house had burned to the ground, one or more burial mounds were placed on top of its remains. Marianne Hem Eriksen is a postdoc at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History. In an article in the European Journal of Archaeology, she investigates the causes of this practice. 'I studied seven different house burials from the Iron Age in Scandinavia, in five different locations: Hogom in Sweden; Ullandhaug in Rogaland; Brista in Uppland, Sweden; Jarlsberg in Vestfold; and Engelaug in Hedmark,' Eriksen tells us. The custom of setting houses on fire and placing burial mounds over of the house remains may be reminiscent of a cremation. Eriksen argues that the burial mounds may equally well mark the cremation and burial of a house not necessarily a human being. 'In some cases we have been unable to find human remains, even in places where we could expect such remains to have been preserved. Nevertheless, archaeologists have more or less implicitly assumed that somewhere or other, there must be a deceased individual.' Major upheavals According to the researcher, it is striking that the three-aisled longhouse persisted for nearly 3000 years of Scandinavian prehistory especially when considering the major upheavals that occurred throughout this period. 'Many have pointed to architecture as a fundamental expression of the ideology prevailing in a specific culture. Especially in societies that have no written language, architecture takes on special importance as a collective expression of the organization and mindset of a culture,' she points out. The period from the early Bronze Age to the Medieval period was characterized by huge and fundamental social, political and religious upheaval. Towards the end of the Bronze Age the chieftains ruled, before the bronze networks of that age collapsed. The centuries preceding the birth of Christ are said to be characterized by equality and egalitarianism. This period was followed by the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and the Age of Migration with its great movements of migrant populations this could indeed be described as 'Europe on the move'. In addition, we have the Vikings and their raiding and colonization towards the end of the first millennium AD. 'Throughout this period, people in Scandinavia continued to build their houses in more or less exactly the same way as before. That's really intriguing,' the archaeologist says. The life cycle of a house How can the longevity of the three-aisled longhouse be explained? Marianne Hem Eriksen has turned to anthropology to learn about people's relationship to their houses in various cultures. 'To people in Madagascar, a house has its own life cycle. It is born, lives, grows old and dies. The Batammaliba people of West Africa perform rituals during the construction of houses, the same rites of passage that they perform for newborn babies, adolescents and adults. When the house is completed, they perform a ritual where they "kill" the house. The house has been alive during the building process, and must be killed to make it habitable for people. Many cultures believe that the house is metaphorically linked to the human body.' The archaeologist's study of the seven longhouses reveals similar features. In her PhD thesis she shows that there is a connection between burial sites and the doors leading into the house. This has a ritual significance. There are examples of human body parts having been placed under the thresholds, or of graves being placed near entrances. In other cases, burial mounds have been placed over the door to the house, as if to close the entrance, she explains. In some cases, the burial mounds have been laid over houses that were burned down several generations earlier. This lends weight to the theory that the house was the key element. 'It's costly to invest hours of work in building mounds over the ruins of old houses that have been there for centuries. This is a financial as well as a ritual investment, and it's interesting to explore why they did this. We may imagine, for example, that they aspired to establish a linkage between real or mythical ancestors and themselves and connect with them, whether they were their descendants or not. They may have thought strategically and sought to legitimize their own power base.' Linking bodies and houses The linkage between the human body and the house implies that the house borrows many features from the human body. 'Many of the Norse words that are related to houses are derived from the human body. The word "window" comes from wind and eye and refers to openings in the walls where the wind comes in. The word "gable", i.e. the top of the end wall of the house, means head or skull.' This connection between bodies and houses may have led them to think that a house has some kind of essence, some kind of soul, Eriksen says. This may have been the reason why people at that time wanted to give their house a proper funeral when it had served its purpose, and that is perhaps why it was set on fire. 'The purpose of a cremation is to reduce the body to fragments, perhaps to liberate the soul or the essence, and this is interesting, since the houses may have been regarded as having an essence. So by burning down the house they may have had a wish to cremate it, to liberate the life force of the house. If houses and people could be part of a network that had "agency" vitality and personality this could at least be part of the explanation for the longevity of longhouses in Scandinavia.' Carrying our house with us Even today, we can find examples of linkages between people and houses. Perhaps the difference between the people of the Iron Age and modern humans is not so great after all? We all have a strong relationship to the house we live in perhaps especially the house where we grew up. 'The French philosopher Gaston Bachelard says that our first house is written into us, we carry it with us through life. Although we have walked up thousands of stairs, we never forget the staircase of our first childhood home, we recognize instinctively the steps that creak, and we never stumble. We carry the house with us for life.' More information: Marianne Hem Eriksen. Commemorating Dwelling: The Death and Burial of Houses in Iron and Viking Age Scandinavia, European Journal of Archaeology (2016). DOI: 10.1080/14619571.2016.1186918 The Union Pacific causeway on the Great Salt Lake. Around 2010, the deep waters of Utah's Great Salt Lake contained high levels of toxic methylmercury. Mercury measurements in waterfowl surrounding the lake led to a rare human consumption advisory for ducks. But by 2015, 90 percent of the deep mercury was gone. The disappearance of the mercury was not due to aggressive environmental policies or a wide-ranging cleanup effort. Instead, it's part of a story involving a large-scale unplanned chemistry experiment, a sometimes-stinky lake, and ducks in which the mercury did not disappear. The story is told in a paper published in Environmental Science & Technology. A Union Pacific railway line crosses the lake, dividing it into a smaller north arm and a larger south arm, with the line drawn right at the base of the bunny-ear-like northern extensions of the lake. Because the north arm has no major river inflow, it's much saltier than the south arm. Two culverts in the railroad line allowed briny north arm water to flow into the south arm and, because of its higher density, sink to the bottom of the south arm. The difference in density between the deep and shallow waters prevented mixing, says geology and geophysics professor William Johnson, and kept fresh oxygen from infiltrating into the deeper water layers. Decaying organic matter on the lake floor sucked all the oxygen out of the briny layer, forcing microorganisms to find something else to "breathe." Without oxygen, some bacteria turn to nitrate to fuel the chemical processes of life. When the nitrate is gone, they turn to iron, manganese, and finally sulfate. Residents of the Salt Lake Valley may have noticed a byproduct of the sulfate-breathing bacteria sulfide, a stinky rotten egg smell emanating from the lake. In another side effect, the bacteria turn elemental mercury into toxic methylmercury. "Mercury's really tricky," Johnson says. "It changes form." Elemental mercury, like the kind found in old thermometers, evaporates readily and circulates through the atmosphere. It can attach to dust particles and rain out of the sky, in a process called atmospheric deposition. With the Great Salt Lake's large surface area, it receives a lot of mercury. The toxic form of the element is methylmercury, which is toxic to the nervous system and can move up the food chain as higher organisms accumulate the methylmercury present in their prey. The Union Pacific causeway separates the blue south arm (left) and the purple north arm (right) of the Great Salt Lake. Credit: University of Utah When wildlife officials began noticing elevated mercury levels in waterfowl in the lake's wetlands, at around the same time geoscientists found highly elevated mercury in the depths of the lake, they all thought a connection between the ducks and the deep brine layer was likely. "That created this expectation that there's a link between these high concentrations of methylmercury down in the deep brine layer and the elevated concentrations in waterfowl in the wetlands adjacent to the lake," Johnson says. Then, in 2013, Union Pacific closed off the railway culverts for repair, sealing off the flow of salty water from the north arm to the south arm. When Johnson and his colleagues, Frank Black at Westminster College and Blair Stringham at the Utah Department of Natural Resources, took samples of the deep brine layer and lake-bottom sediments in 2015, they found that methylmercury, in both the water and the sediment, had decreased by 88 percent. "It seems clear that the deep brine layer was a cap," Johnson says. Without the constant inflow of north arm water, the deep brine layer finally mixed with the overlying water, bringing oxygen and driving the methylmercury into other forms, possibly elemental mercury, which would evaporate away into the atmosphere. And the ducks? Waterfowl carcasses collected both before and after the culvert closure showed no significant change in mercury levels. "If there's a direct connection between the environment at the bottom of the lake and the Hg in the ducks, you'd think you'd see a corresponding reduction of Hg in biota," Johnson says. "We didn't see that." The source of methylmercury in wetlands is still unknown, as is the exact mechanism by which the deep lake mercury disappeared. But Johnson, Black and now the US Geological Survey aren't done with the lake yet. In December 2016, Union Pacific opened a new breach in the causeway, linking once again the north and south arms of the Great Salt Lake. The breach is wider than the old culverts, and researchers are now waiting to see whether the anoxic deep brine layer re-establishes itself, and whether another "methylmercury factory will lurk at the bottom of the lake" Johnson says. More information: Carla Valdes et al. Total Mercury and Methylmercury Response in Water, Sediment, and Biota to Destratification of the Great Salt Lake, Utah, United States, Environmental Science & Technology (2017). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05790 Journal information: Environmental Science & Technology Charlotte Pearson organizes samples for radiocarbon dating. She says tree rings provide "a window into the past.". Credit: Mari Cleven For decades, radiocarbon dating has been a way for scientists to get a rough picture of when once-living stuff lived. The method has been revolutionary and remains one of the most commonly used dating methods to study the past. Charlotte Pearson says it's ready for a makeover. Pearson, an assistant professor of dendrochronology at the University of Arizona, studies the past lives of trees to better understand the history of civilizations. Dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating have intertwined histories, she explains, with roots firmly planted at the UA. A 1929 edition of National Geographic boasts, "The Secret Of The Southwest Solved By Talkative Tree Rings." The 35-page article, penned in whimsical prose, was written by Andrew Douglass, the UA scientist who invented tree ring science. Douglass was a polymath. In addition to his work as an astronomer at the UA's Steward Observatory, Douglass was the first to discover that tree rings record time. "Every year the trees in our forests show the swing of Time's pendulum and put down a mark. They are chronographs, recording clocks, by which the succeeding seasons are set down through definite imprints," he wrote in the pages of National Geographic. In its most conventional form, dendrochronology works like this. A contemporary treethat is, a tree that was either just cut down or still livingcan tell you not just how many years it has lived, but which years in which it lived. If a Bigtooth Maple were cut down on Mount Lemmon in 2016 and it had 400 rings, you would know the tree started growing in 1616. Simple enough. Tree rings just record. They are impartial recorders of change over time. They have no bias, and they have no political agenda; they just stand at locations all over the world," says Charlotte Pearson, an assistant professor of dendrochronology at the UA, studies samples under a microscope. Credit: credit: Mari Cleven But what if the wood is older? What if it's been used to build a home or a ship or a bonfire? The rings could still tell how many years the tree lived, but not necessarily when. This didn't sit well with Douglass. He set out on a series of expeditions across the southwest to bridge the gap between contemporary wood and wood beams from the ruins of civilizations long gone. He noticed that trees across the same region, in the same climate, develop rings in the same patterns. Douglass, with his knack for pattern-recognition, discovered that he could take younger wood with a known date, and then match its rings alongside the pattern of an older sample. In 1929, with a beam from Show Low, Arizona, Douglass was able to bridge the gap for the first time ever. Dates were assigned to Southwestern ruins with certainty. Indeed, the "Secret Of The Southwest" was revealed. An Isotope Called Carbon-14 But alas, pattern-matching in order to date when a tree was cut isn't always possible. Sometimes a wood sample doesn't have enough tree rings or rings with growth patterns that match an already dated sample. Sometimes important and large groups of matching samples, called "floating chronologies," remain undated. A decade after Douglass's big discovery, two Berkeley scientists took the first step towards an alternative way to date floating chronologies and indeed any other "once-living" thing. The late Andrew Douglass, who was an astronomer at the UA's Steward Observatory, invented tree ring science. Credit: Mari Cleven They were studying a little atom called carbon-14. Also known as radiocarbon, carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus of six protons and eight neutrons. Radiocarbon is in every living thing. They discovered its half-life, or the time it takes for its radioactivity to fall by half once the living thing dies, is 5,730 years (give or take 40). It's unusually long and consistent half-life made it great for dating. Willard Libby from the University of Chicago put it to the test. By 1949, he had published a paper in Science showing that he had accurately dated samples with known ages, using radiocarbon dating. Douglass passed away just two years after Libby received the Nobel Prize for his work in 1960. Radiocarbon Dating Tree Rings Today Today, dendrochronologists all over the world follow in Douglass' footsteps, and whenever it is not possible to use tree-ring dating to place wood samples in time, they use radiocarbon to date wood samples. All of this dating information comes together to produce a chronological backdrop for studying past interactions between people and their environment. "We can use the annual precision of tree rings in combination with carbon-14 to underpin some big questions in terms of the rise and fall of civilizations," says Pearson. "We can look at the tree rings as a timeline and connect with people that lived in the past, and I think that gives us more of a sense of who we are, but also a sense of where we're going and perhaps ways to deal with some of the issues that we might collectively face. "Radiocarbon dating has been a revolution in terms of the way stuff is dated in the past and is used by scientists all over the world," Pearson adds. "It can get us to within 20, 50, 100 years or so of dating accuracy." A graph of radiocarbon measured in tree rings of a sample. Credit: Mari Cleven On the scale of the universe, 20, 50 or even 100 years is, for all intents and purposes, nothing. The universe is 13.8 billion years old. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is slightly younger, at 13.2 billion years old. The Earth and our moon are both more than four-and-a-half billion years old. The first single-celled organisms on Earth did not appear until about a billion years later. Dinosaurs did not appear until 230 million years ago, and ruled the planet for 135 million years. The first modern humans did not evolve in Africa until about 1.8 million years ago. The time between then and now is just a single tick on the universe's clock. In other words, life in the universe moves inconceivably slowly. But for individual humansand entire civilizationsit does not. Fifty, 20, or 100 years is a lot of time, wherein a lot can happen. Fifty years is the difference between Alexander Graham Bell's telephone and television. The 18-year space race between the Soviet Union and United States yielded the first moon landing. It took just short of 10 years for the Ancient Greeks to build the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens. Michelangelo spent only four years painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. In 1887, Vincent Van Gogh had two ears. In 1888, he had one. Charles Darwin spent just five weeks in the Galapagos, a voyage without which he would have never written On the Origin of Species. In little more than a day, the entire population of Pompeii was wiped out by a volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Human life moves fast, and because the 20- to 50-year ballpark of radiocarbon dating doesn't quite keep up with it, Pearson and collaborators are developing a new radiocarbon method to place floating chronologies in an exact point in time. Her team at the UA includes: bristlecone pine expert Matthew Salzer; radiocarbon experts Greg Hodgins, Tim Jull, Peter Brewer, Richard Cruz and Todd Lange; dendrochronologists Tomasz Wazny and Peter Kuniholm; and archaeologist Steven Kuhn. Charlotte Pearson studies the past lives of trees to better understand the history of civilizations. Credit: Mari Cleven "It's a really privileged situation to be inthe project is building on this fantastic legacy of the creation of tree ring research and its historic role in shaping the radiocarbon dating method and we also have this unique archive of tree-ring samples to work with," says Pearson. A New Method According to Pearson, recent discoveries of large-scale "spikes" of radiocarbon in certain years have led to a growing need to revisit the way radiocarbon dates are calibrated. Radiocarbon dating, as of now, dates samples to within a few decades using a calibration curve made up of groups of ten tree rings plotted as series of single points on a graph. The points represent an average amount of radiocarbon present in those rings. This doesn't account for spikes in the data individual rings with unusually high or low amounts of carbon-14. These spikes in radiocarbon can come from a number of short-term events, such as solar flares, volcanic eruptions and changes in oceanic circulation. By lumping 10 years' worth of radiocarbon data into a single data point, spikes in radiocarbon may inadvertently skew the curve, making dates less accurate. "Spikes are a potential limitation to how well the current radiocarbon calibration curve works, and we want to investigate that for time periods of archaeological controversy. But they also offer enormous potential to act as a sort of chronological anchor for our floating chronologies," Pearson said. With funding from the Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation, Pearson is targeting a period in the Bronze Age from 2,400 to 1,400 BC, getting measurements of carbon-14 in single tree rings from a range of growth locations. What this reveals about yearly radiocarbon variation during this time period will then be applied to archaeological controversies and floating chronologies from the East Mediterranean and beyond. "Tree rings just record. They are impartial recorders of change over time. They have no bias, and they have no political agenda; they just stand at locations all over the world," Pearson says. "They capture a moment. We still have many discoveries, I believe, to make about what they can teach us." Elaine Howard Ecklund, the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences at Rice and the study's lead author. Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University As new and more effective human reproductive genetic technologies (RGTs) develop, people of faith are more likely to disapprove of these tools than nonreligious people, a new Rice University study found. Evangelical Christians are the most likely of any religious group to stand in opposition, the researchers found. The study examined how religious and nonreligious people felt about RGTs that could reveal qualities of an unborn child, such as whether the child had a disease ("disease technologies"), and those that allowed parents to select qualities for a child, such as gender, hair color and eye color ("enhancement technologies"). It included a general population survey of more than 10,000 people and 270 qualitative interviews with individuals living in the Midwest and South from a variety of religious traditions. Elaine Howard Ecklund, the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences at Rice and the study's lead author, found over the course of her research that feelings about the use of RGTs vary not only between religious and nonreligious persons but also among religious groups. When asked about the use of RGTs to prevent disease, 23 percent of evangelicals said this technology was morally wrong, compared with 9 percent of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains and 8 percent of Jews. Only 4 percent of agnostics and atheists said this technology was "morally wrong." Religious groups had a much stronger negative reaction about the morality of using RGTs to select qualities such as gender, hair color and eye color. Eighty percent of evangelicals said that this type of technology was morally wrong, compared with 66 percent of Jews and 57 percent of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains. Just over half - 55 percent - of agnostics and atheists said this type of technology was morally wrong. "A large proportion of religious and nonreligious people feel morally uncomfortable with enhancement technologies," Ecklund said. During her in-depth interviews with study participants, Ecklund found that the "Creator Schema," which emphasizes God's control and God's purposes and plans in human suffering, predominated among Evangelical Christians and at times mainline Protestants and Muslims. However, Jewish respondents expressed ambivalence toward disease RGTs and did not draw on the Creator Schema. One young member of a nondenominational Evangelical Protestant church communicated a strong version of a Creator Schema by justifying opposition to RGTs. "I believe God is in control, and that He's taking care of everything and (if) this child has a disease, then that's what God wants for this child," he said. While the Creator Schema emphasizes God's role as creator and boundaries between God and humans, the "Co-Creator Schema" provides for human partnership with God in improving life. Another participant referenced this schema in his feelings on the use of RGTs to eliminate disease. "If I could do something, then sure, yes, I would want to know," he said. He lamented that when people rejected this possibility and emphasized "just God's ability to heal and deliver ... then people die, because they neglect the physical responsibilities that God has given them." "This participant's emphasis on the concept of 'responsibilities' that God gives people suggests that humans have a partner role with God in certain kinds of actions, in this case healing genetic disease," Ecklund said. More than half of all groups surveyed - including nonreligious groups - disagreed with the use of enhancement RGTs, and many feared that enhancement RGTs might be used for "unwise ends," the authors said. "They often opposed enhancement RGTs because they saw this as related to eugenics, fearing that people would actively select or preference embryos with certain characteristics," said study co-author Jared Peifer of Baruch College. A participant from an evangelical congregation said of enhancement RGTs, "That's obviously going to the 'Brave New World' extreme of we're going to be our own gods and choose our own destiny. ... That goes back to another level. ... It reminds me of Nazi Germany, those things that - you want certain types - certain types of people in your society, you know I want my child to have this color or whatever." However, the religious individuals who supported enhancement RGTs mostly did so by considering these technologies within the abilities that God provides to humans, thereby drawing on the Co-Creator Schema. "None of this is really a problem for me because if it happens, I believe God provided the way for it to happen," said a participant from an African-American evangelical congregation. Ecklund said that the study's findings suggest that moral sensitivity rather than moral reasoning is likely to be employed as a way of addressing issues that are technologically complex under conditions where there is a scarcity of good information with which to morally reason, as is the case with enhancement RGTs. "As moral reasoning on the topic becomes organized, we expect moral sensitivity to become less noticeably apparent as individuals begin to draw more readily on established cultural beliefs," she said. More information: Elaine Howard Ecklund et al, Moral Schemas in Articulation and Intuition: How Religious People Evaluate Human Reproductive Genetic Technologies, Sociological Forum (2017). DOI: 10.1111/socf.12330 Instead of conducting a nuclear test or missile launch, North Korea staged the drill near the eastern city of Wonsan on the Korean People's Army (KPA) anniversary. By Indo-Asian News Service: North Korea on Tuesday marked the 85th founding anniversary of its military with a massive live fire drill in an apparent show of force amid tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes. Instead of conducting a nuclear test or missile launch, North Korea staged the drill near the eastern city of Wonsan on the Korean People's Army (KPA) anniversary, according to the South Korean military. advertisement The drill coincided with military exercises held by the US and South Korean navies in the Yellow Sea, off the western coast of the Korean Peninsula. The USS Michigan, one of US' most powerful submarines, also arrived in South Korea on Tuesday. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have heightened amid concerns about a possible pre-emptive strike against Pyongyang by the US to counter its provocative acts, Yonhap news agency reported. Speculation was rife that Pyongyang may conduct its sixth nuclear test or launch a long-range ballistic missile to mark its military event. "If the US and warmongers run amok with a reckless pre-emptive strike, we will stage the most brutal punishment of a pre-emptive attack in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice," said Rodong Sinmun, a North Korean newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. READY TO RESPOND TO US MILITARY ACTION The North held a meeting on Monday to celebrate the KPA's anniversary, stressing it was ready to respond to possible Washington military actions. "If the enemies dare opt for the military adventure despite our repeated warnings, our armed forces will wipe the strongholds of aggression off the surface of the earth through the powerful pre-emptive nuclear attacks," said Pak Yong-sik, minister of the North Korean armed forces. Meanwhile, Seoul's Unification Ministry said that North Korea does not seem to have any major events planned for the anniversary despite its war rhetoric. "Another military parade is not expected, as North Korea already held a massive parade on the birthday of late state founder Kim Il-sung," said a military official. Tensions are still running high as the US Navy strike group, including aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, is expected to sail near the Korean Peninsula this weekend. North Korea's media had earlier warned that its military was ready to "sink" the carrier "with a single strike" if needed. Also read: North Korean media threatens Pyongyang will 'wipe out' US from Earth's surface Also read: US President Donald Trump calls for new UN sanctions against North Korea advertisement --- ENDS --- Uber is unveiling an ambitious plan to manufacture flying cars and make them available through its Uber Elevate network Uber said Tuesday it wants to launch a system of flying cars to move people around cities, with a goal of putting demonstration projects in place by 2020. The ridesharing giant announced a series of partnerships to manufacture "vertical takeoff and landing" (VTOL) vehicles and put networks in place, a system dubbed Uber Elevate. The partner cities working with Uber are Dubai and the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis in Texas. "The goal of these partnerships is to develop a new on-demand VTOL network to enable customers in the future to push a button and get a high-speed flight in and around cities," Uber said in a statement. The announcement came at a summit held in the Dallas area with partners in the project. "What started as a simple question 'why can't I push a button and get a ride?' has turned, for Uber, into a passionate pursuit of the pinnacle of urban mobilitythe reduction of congestion and pollution from transportation, giving people their time back, freeing up real estate dedicated to parking and providing access to mobility in all corners of a city," said Uber chief product officer Jeff Holden. "Urban aviation is a natural next step for Uber in this pursuit, which is why we are working to make push a button, get a flight a reality." Uber's goal is to have the first demonstration network in place in Dubai for the 2020 World Expo in that city, and another pilot in Dallas the same year ahead of "full-scale operations" in the Texas region by 2023. The announcement came a day after Silicon Valley "flying car" startup Kitty Hawk, reportedly backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, released a video of its airborne prototype and announced plans for deliveries of a "personal flying machine" this year. Manufacturing plans Uber's plans appear more ambitious, and include partnerships with US-based Bell Helicopter, Brazilian manufacturer Embraer and Slovenia's Pipistrel to produce flying machines for short distance urban operations. "Uber's Elevate network is an exciting opportunity for Bell Helicopter to help transform how cities move people and products in the future," Bell president and chief executive Mitch Snyder said in a statement. Embraer CEO Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva praised the "unique opportunity to complement the air transport knowledge of a visionary and revolutionary ground transport company." The Uber plan also includes partnerships for "vertiports" for the flyers to take off and land, along with changing stations for the transporters, which are expected to be mainly electric-powered. Uber's agreement with Dubai Roads and Transport Authority calls for a joint study into pricing models, people movement and determining where routes should be created in the city. "The partnership will result in everything from hover and forward flight tests to actual flight operations in the Dubai area," according to a joint statement. Uber has grown into the world's largest venture-backed startup, with a valuation estimated at some $68 billion despite ongoing obstacles with regulators and taxi operators. In addition to ridesharing in some 80 countries, Uber is also testing self-driving cars in three US metro areas. Uber's growth so far has not been dented by a series of embarrassing disclosures about a culture of sexism, cut-throat workplace tactics and covert use of law enforcement-evading software. 2017 AFP Spores of the anthrax bacteria (Bacillus anthracis). Credit: CDC A team of international researchers has found that a strain of anthrax-causing bacterium thought to have been viable 80 years after a thwarted World War I espionage attack, was, in reality, a much younger standard laboratory strain. The team speculates that the mix-up was due to commonplace laboratory contamination. The study, published this week in mBio, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, highlights the advances in genomic sequencing that now enable precise tracking of bacterial strains used in biological warfare and terrorist attacks around the world. "Historically, there have always been bacterial strain mix-ups in the course of doing research," says Paul Keim, executive director of The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and senior author on the current study. "But now that we have the molecular tools, we can do the quality control on strain collections to figure out exactly what they contain." The current study helps debunk the claim that a World War I biological weapon containing anthrax-causing spores was still viable 80 years later. In 1917, German spy Baron Otto von Rosen was caught in Norway possessing lumps of sugar embedded with glass capillaries filled with a liquid holding spores of Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax. He was suspected of plotting to feed the sugar lumps, which contained the oldest known isolates of B. anthracis, to the reindeer that pulled transports of munitions and foods across the frozen Arctic tundra for the Allied forces. The poison-laced sugar remained in a Norwegian police museum until 1997, when it was sent to what is now known as the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down, United Kingdom. Researchers there used DNA amplification to determine that the agent inside the tiny glass tubes was indeed B. anthracis. After some extensive laboratory coaxing, they next cultured and isolated four colonies grown from the liquid inside the tubes. In a 1998 Nature paper, they declared that they had revived the anthrax bacterial strain that had spent 8 decades as spores (Ref 1). However, DNA sequencing of entire organism's genome was in its infancy at this time, so the exact genetic identity of the strain was never defined. In 2001, Keim was tapped to help investigate the anthrax-containing letters mailed by a terrorist across the US. At the request of the FBI, Keim's team categorized all known anthrax-causing strains, which included the Porton Down 'sugar' samples and other samples from around the world. At that time, Keim noted a very close genetic similarity between the Porton Down strains and what had become the standard laboratory reference strain used in experiments and vaccine development, known as the Ames Ancestor strain. Amidst the urgency of pinning down which strain was used in the lettersit turned out to be the Ames strainhe forgot about the strange similarity. "As we learned more and more about the Ames strain, it became obvious that it had to be a contaminant," in the Porton Down samples, says Keim. Then, at a 2013 conference, he was approached by German biodefense researchers, who had sequenced what they thought was the original German spy's strain. They too had noticed its genetic resemblance to the Ames strain. Working in tandem, Keim's Arizona team and Herman Meyer and Markus Antwerpen at the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology in Munich, sequenced the strains using next-generation sequencing (NGS), a technique that allowed them to analyze every genetic difference at the level of single letter changes to the genetic code. It also allows them to sequence a strain's entire genome, not just a handful of times, like the previous technology used in 2001, but 100 times over. The new technology also costs about 10,000 times less per genome sequenced. Both labs confirmed that the Porton Down 'sugar' strains differed by only two genetic letters from the Ames Ancestor straina near identical matching. The researchers speculate that during the intense culturing attempts of the sugar samples in 1997, spores from the Ames Ancestor strain, which were likely to be abundant in the Porton Down military defense laboratory facilities, fell into the culture media and grew. Two of the original Porton Down researchers, Martin Pearce and Caroline Redmond, collaborated on this new study to confirm that indeed, a likely contamination event threw off their results. "That work has been cited many times as evidence that spores can survive in liquid for 80 yearsand now that's clearly not true," says Keim, leaving it an open question of just how long B. anthracis spores can survive and still cause disease. "But their first finding that the capillary tube did include B. anthracis DNA was a solid result," says Keim. Unfortunately, none of the 1917 sample remains to be completely sequenced using today's technology. But how do the new study's authors know their work is not suffering from contamination, as well? "It was independently verified by two different labs, working on two different continents," says Keim, a strong argument against contamination. The work also showcases the important role that NGS can play in the quality control monitoring of bacterial strain repositories around the worldto ensure that strains being used in experiments are truly what researchers think they are and to catch strain contamination when it happens. More information: 1. Redmond C., Pearce, M.J., Manchee, R.J., and Berdal, B.P. Nature 393:747-748 (1998). Journal information: mBio , Nature - The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says the continuous voters registration would run till few months to the 2019 general election - The registration exercise is to ensure that no eligible voter was denied the right to elect leaders of their choice - The Continuous Voters Registration will begin nationwide on April 27 The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said on Tuesday that the Continuous Voters Registration beginning nationwide on April 27, would run till few months to the 2019 general election. The INEC Secretary in Niger, Alhaji Aliyu Bungudu, made the disclosure at a one-day forum for election stakeholders held in Minna. He said that the registration exercise was to ensure that no eligible voter was denied the right to elect leaders of their choice. READ ALSO: 6 strong signs Biafra may come to pass (Pictured) Bungudu assured the stakeholders that INEC would not shirk its responsibility in that regard, and urged them to mobilise the people to get registered. The voter registration exercise will continue at the local government levels when it commence, till few months to the conduct of 2019 general elections. The exercise will scale down to registration areas/wards and polling units that records zero registration during the last exercise. He therefore called on eligible Nigerians who have attained the age of 18, to take the advantage of the exercise to be registered. The Secretary said that the voter registration would be conducted in public and open places for ease of access. Bungudu also appealed to those who registered but did not collected their permanent voter cards to come forward for collection. He solicited the support of politicians, traditional and religious leaders in mobilising the populace to participate in the exercise. READ ALSO: PDP suffers big blow as Jonathans campaign manager defects to APC In the Legit.ng video below, INEC officials indicted for bribery and corruption during the River state rerun elections were arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Source: Legit.ng - A human rights group has warned youths and security personnel to shun violence in the bye election holding in Warri south constituency 1 on Wednesday - The group warned that should any youth or security personnel be caught, such would be prosecuted - It said the election should be conducted along with INEC provisions A human rights group on Tuesday challenged politicians, voters and youths who will be involved in the April 26 bye-election in Warri south constituency 1 election to conduct the election in line with the principle put together by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The group, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, also called on all security agents including the police, soldiers, members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps to maintain guiding the conduct of elections. In a phone interview with Legit.ng, Chairman of the group, Prince Kehinde Taiga, said any security agent found involved in election or any other act that is not in line with the process laid down by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would be prosecuted. This is late Omawumi Udoh. She died on December 16 in the united Kingdom. Her former position is to be contested on Wednesday in Warri south Delta state He said all constituency members, including youths should shun ballot box snatching, dumping of ballot boxes with ready filled ballot papers and intimidating people opposed to their candidates at the election which is billed to hold on Wednesday, April 26, 2017. Police, soldiers and members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps should not allow themselves to be used by politicians. They should not be swayed by money to flout election guidelines which they know. READ ALSO: We support President Buharis whistle blowing policy against small arms former militants They should not allow money turn their minds away. We will not fail to take them to court if they are caught working against INEC guidelines. Police and other security personnel are meant to protect and not act as obstacles to the good conduct of elections. We advise the people to elect people who will represent them in the house of assembly and bring democracy to them. Not all people going for political positions have the people in mind. Many are going there to amass wealth for themselves, Prince Taiga said. READ ALSO: 37-year-old mother has given birth to 38 children since age 13 (photos) The election is coming following the death of Omawumi Udoh, who died on Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at a United Kingdom hospital at the age of 56. She occupied the constituency seat in the state house of assembly for the 4th term when death took her away. The campaign for the seat in the house of assembly has been battle between members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. In this Legit.ng video, friends of Nnamdi Kanu are celebrating his release from prison Source: Legit.ng 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 Read more Chad's former president Hissene Habre will Thursday hear the final decision on an appeal against a life sentence for war crimes, crimes against humanity and rape, following his landmark conviction last year. The Extraordinary African Chambers, a body created by Senegal and the African Union (AU), sentenced Habre last May to life behind bars, an unprecedented ruling seen as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers. In July, the court further ruled that Habre should give up to 30,000 euros ($33,000) to each victim of abuses committed during his 1982-1990 rule, as well as to their relatives. Expected to begin at 1000 GMT on Thursday, the appeal verdict will be "definitive and irrevocable," the special court's spokesman Marcel Mendy told AFP. As of Tuesday it was unclear if Habre would appear, a decision that Mendy said rested with the president of the appeal court, Wafi Ougadeye. Habre, 74, refuses to recognise the court's authority and his appeal was therefore brought on his behalf by court-appointed lawyers. He refused to speak or defend himself throughout his trial. Habre's conviction brought closure for relatives of up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his time as president. One of his lawyers, who asked not to be named, said he was "confident" of his team's chances, lashing out at what he termed "Western sponsors" of the trial. If his conviction is upheld, Habre will serve his sentence in Senegal or in another AU country. Assane Dioma Ndiaye, who defended the civil cases leading to the demand for reparations from Habre, said anything less than upholding the sentences handed down would be a huge blow. Given the gravity of the accusations against Habre and the long fight for justice by the victims, "a sentence which is not in line with the facts would be a massive disappointment," Ndiaye said. Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby, and for more than 20 years lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children. Reed Brody, an American lawyer who has worked with the victims since 1999, said the evidence presented at court was "overwhelming". Brody described "handwritten instructions for the mistreatment of prisoners, the testimony of a woman he raped, witnesses who received his orders and others whom he personally sent to prison, a jail on the grounds of his palace," as examples. The trial also set a global precedent as the first time a country had prosecuted the former leader of another nation for rights abuses. DHAKA (Reuters) - China offered on Tuesday to help tackle a diplomatic row between Bangladesh and Myanmar over the flight of minority Rohingyas, two Bangladesh foreign ministry officials said. Around 69,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to escape violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar since October, straining relations between the two neighbours who each see the stateless Muslim minority as the other nation's problem. Chinese special envoy Sun Guoxiang, beginning a four-day trip to Bangladesh, urged Dhaka to resolve the row with Myanmar bilaterally, but also said Beijing stood ready to help in the matter, a foreign ministry official in Dhaka told Reuters. Sun made the proposal during a meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, the official said. He declined to be named, saying he was not authorised to speak to the media. "The envoy told us at the meeting that they were ready to help if necessary," the official said. Another foreign ministry official confirmed the information but also asked not to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter. China has strong ties with both Myanmar and Bangladesh, helping in infrastructure development in both countries. Relations with the former have warmed further since Myanmar President Htin Kyaw struck a deal in China on an oil pipeline between the neighbours after almost a decade of talks. Beijing has established a strong presence in Bangladesh, building roads and power stations and supplying military hardware. During the talks on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Haque told Chinese envoy Sun that Bangladesh welcomed Chinese efforts to tackle its problems with Myanmar stemming from the influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh, the officials said. Dhaka has proposed that Sun travel to Cox's Bazar near the border with Myanmar to see the plight of the tens of thousands of people camped there. China's ambassador to Bangladesh, Ma Mingqiang, visited a Rohingya camp there in March. Myanmar has faced growing international criticism over the latest eruption of violence against the Rohingyas. Myanmar's government has conceded some soldiers may have committed crimes but has rejected charges of ethnic cleansing. (Reporting by Serajul Quadir; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Mark Trevelyan) We were recently having a conversation with a good friend about the increasing crowds in Singapore, especially on public transport. This got us thinking back to the time when we had only one child. At the time, we did not own a car and got around mainly via BMW bus, MRT, and walking as someone once jokingly told us. Being part of the sandwiched class in Singapore, we felt that a car was an unnecessary additional expense, as the monthly car instalment could go toward paying for something more useful. With one child, it was easy enough getting around via public transport, though it did train our fitness somewhat to carry around a diaper bag, stroller, and weekly groceries. It did get a little troublesome if we were caught in the rain while carrying a heavy load, but we always had our trusty taxis to depend on when necessary. When our 15-month-old (nicknamed Kwazii) was born, however, we found that commuting with two kids was much more challenging, especially as we needed to get our four-year-old (Barnacles) to pre-school by 8am and for several of his classes after school hours. We felt that a daily bus commute with a toddler and a baby just a couple of months old would be quite taxing for one adult, as well as tiring for two young children. Not wanting to splurge on a brand-new car, we got a 10-year-old car in good condition and renewed the COE. We have been driving this car for a year, and although it had previously been well maintained, we did find that we had to take it to the workshop a few times for maintenance. In the event that we do have to get a new car in future, we came up with a wish list ideal for a family of four. Singapore being one of the most expensive countries to own a car in, it was quite a challenge for us to come up with a list of cars under S$100,000, and we narrowed our search to the following trio. For us, after price, safety is a key concern when choosing a car, followed by boot space (to hold our single and double strollers), fuel efficiency, and legroom. Story continues Hyundai Elantra The Hyundai Elantra has a stylish continental look. (Photo: Hyundai Singapore Facebook) To us, the 1.6 GLS (A) has a continental look and, based on its price, it can be a good option if a high-end sedan is out of your budget. We like the Elantras spacious interior you will still find some space (albeit slightly tight) in the middle after fitting in two child seats on both sides. As all three back seats have three-point seatbelts, we also found that a small booster seat could fit in the middle, so this car is also a possibility if you have three kids, if one is tall enough for a booster seat. There is also ample boot space to fit a tandem stroller and a luggage bag if you wanted to go on a short drive up north. The Elantra averages between 12-13km/l and is priced at about S$98,000*. Kia Cerato K3 The Kia Cerato K3 ups the ante with an impressive makeover. (Photo: Kia Singapore Facebook) In the past, we had the impression that Kia cars were a bit like tin cans and thus not very safe. However, our opinion on this car brand has done a 180-degree turnaround. The Cerato K3 has certainly upped the ante with its own facelift, with a stylish continental touch on the exterior, and spacious legroom for the front and rear seats which will grant you a comfortable ride. One of the features we like is the air-conditioning vents at the rear which provides some relief for the kids on scorching hot days! Its fuel efficiency and boot space is comparable to the Elantra but one big difference is the Cerato K3s price starting from about $86,000*. Mitsubishi Lancer EX If you prefer a Made in Japan sedan, then the Mitsubishi Lancer EX could be an option. (Photo: Mitsubishi Motors Singapore Facebook) As Japanese products are all the rage, from foodstuff to household products (like our favourite store Daiso), here is a Made in Japan sedan at a competitive price. However, as with many other Japanese products which tend to be daintily packed (which perhaps is part of the appeal), the Lancer EXs legroom for the front and rear seats feels slightly smaller than the other two cars, and there is no space in the middle once you fit a child seat on either side of the backseat. Its boot capacity is also the smallest at 400l compared to the Elanta (420l) and Cerato K3 (482l). This means you will have to travel light if you plan to go on a family road trip. However, if you are someone who prefers a Made in Japan sedan, then the Lancer EX could be an option at about S$87,000*. From the three cars described, we would go with the Kia Cerato K3, which is reasonably priced and its ample interior and boot space will definitely help when you have two kids in tow. Even though we try to pack light, we somehow end up with so many things we need to bring along for the kids on a full day out! We leave you with a photo of our current boot which will describe why space is important to us: *Average price indicated includes COE Mummy and Daddy Daycare are the pseudonyms of a Singaporean husband and wife who are raising two young boys aged four and one, nicknamed Barnacles and Kwazii from the childrens Octonauts series. Get into the minds of this couple who describe parenthood as a lifetime adventure you are always learning something new! Whoever said parenting was a walk in the park? Other articles by Mummy and Daddy Daycare: When should your toddler start potty training? How to enjoy a restaurant meal with toddlers in tow Nurturing a love for books in children President Donald Trump spiked U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership a massive free trade pact five years in the making among countries representing 40 percent of the worlds economy during his first days in office. But now Japan wants to bring the trade pact back from the dead, even if it means leaving Washington behind. Japanese trade officials told the Financial Times over the weekend that Tokyo is ready to carry TPP forward in essentially the same form it was in when Trump killed it. We will start talks on an eleven-member TPP, minus the US, at the [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] meeting in May, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said at a recent event in New York. The move signals that, even as the United States is in full retreat from free trade, many other countries are pressing ahead, even without U.S. leadership. Washington will have to grapple, though, with political fallout from detonating a trade deal that countries had worked on for years and which theyd manage to sell to skeptical audiences at home only after great pains. While Trumps decision to withdraw from TPP didnt come as a surprise, the action itself sent shockwaves through the trade world and leaving the pacts 11 other members Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam in the lurch. Many thought that was the end of TPP, widely seen as former President Barack Obamas hallmark legacy in Asia. Initially, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the deal meaningless without Washingtons leadership and access to the huge U.S. market. But now his government is singing a different tune. Theres several reasons for the about-face. First, Tokyo realized the deal could still net them some fruitful economic gains in medium-sized markets like Australia and Vietnam, especially since part of Abes economic strategy (called Abenomics) emphasizes boosting access to foreign markets to breathe life into the stagnating Japanese economy. Story continues Second, Tokyo has probably prepared the ground to minimize fallout from the Trump administration. There was a potential Trump could view [reviving TPP] as a slap in the face, said Eric Altbach, senior vice president at consulting firm Albright Stonebridge Group and former U.S. trade official working on Asian issues. Over the course of recent meetings with the administration, the Japanese probably were able to gauge level of U.S. comfort with an effort by Japan to revive TPP, he told Foreign Policy. Finally, theres some geopolitical icing on the cake: The TPP still offers an alternative to the China-centric Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a less-stringent and watered-down trade pact for members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Japan might see in a revived TPP a way to limit Chinas ability to dominate economic relations with its neighbors. But bringing TPP back from the dead will be easier said than done, in part because it will require a new draft, even if it recycles much of the language. At the end of the day you have to create a whole new legal text. You cant just strike the United States out of it, said Lauren Bosma, another trade expert with Albright Stonebridge Group. She said the slew of technical and legal aspects of trade agreements, painstakingly scrubbed line-by-line, preclude them from simply striking the United States from the document and calling it a day. And reopening the text, even with the full TPP text to start from, could be an uphill battle. The more you reopen the textyou risk cascading sets of demands that destroy the entire agreement, Altbach said. Meanwhile, Trumps grand plan to scrap multilateral trade deals in favor of bilateral ones could hit a big wall in Asia. After being the most aggressive voice pressing for tough reforms and concessions to get TPP done, Washington cant really ask bilateral partners for more concessions, Altman said. On Friday, Aso hinted at Japans hesitancy to strike a bilateral trade deal after seven years of TPP wrangling with nothing to show for it. While Japan sorts that out, the Trump administration may be warming up a bit to the kind of sprawling trade pacts that were so ill-treated during the campaign. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross told the Financial Times he was open to the idea of a free trade deal with the European Union. The first attempt, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, sputtered and all-but died after three years of negotiations, but Trump stopped short of withdrawing from it like he did TPP. That was by design, Ross said. Clearly at some point we need to do something with Europe, he said. Photo credit: TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Apr 25 (PTI) Pakistan army today said that it has contacted Indian army officials to inform them about the movement of census workers near the Line of Control (LoC). The second phase of countrywide census started on April 25 and would continue for a month. During this phase, the population in districts near LoC in Kashmir is also being enumerated. advertisement In a statement, the Pakistan army said that Indian army has been approached to inform about the movement of civil and military enumerators to civil populated areas lying close to LOC. "The step is aimed at ensuring safety and security of civil and military personnel in wake of unprovoked targeting and persistent ceasefire violations by the Indian Army," it said. The first phase of census started on March 15 and was completed on April 15. More than 118,000 civilian enumerators accompanied by 175,000 army personnel are undertaking the exercise to record the number of houses and total population. PTI SH ZH --- ENDS --- Koichi Saito (KK Fund), Mameaw Sapprasert (500 Startups), Michael Smith Jr (SeedPlus), and Champ Suthipongchai (Creative Ventures) to discuss theses and strategies for seed funding at Echelon Thailand 2017. Read on to find out more. As more technology advancements are developed, more startups are built, which means that more funding is needed. With the Asian startup ecosystem being a growing, thriving community, there is no lack of investment interests from individuals and groups. Seed funding is essential for business growth. Startups require seed funding for many purposes including hiring key personnel, development of the product, and marketing without it, most startups will fail at the early stage. It is also the hardest money for startups and aspiring entrepreneurs to get, as only a few investors are bold enough to risk cash into new businesses that are sometimes merely ideas. Fortunately for startups (and technology advancement globally), the recent years have seen the rise of venture capital seed funding, pumping life (and cash) into the growing number of early-stage startups in Asia. Join the discussion with speakers Koichi Saito of KK Fund, and Mameaw Sapprasert of 500 Startups, Michael Smith Jr of SeedPlus, and Champ Suthipongchai of Creative Ventures, as they talk about seed funding at Echelon Thailand 2017. Hear from the regions top investors as they discuss ideas and strategies for handling seed funds, analysing opportunities, and making profitable decisions, and get insights that you can use to help you grow your investments. Echelon Thailand 2017 is a tech conference (May 15-16, Bangkok) and year-long digital platform attracting international speakers, founders, investors and professionals. Register for your Echelon Thailand access pass now. New in 2017 is Echelon Thailands digital platform. Get immediate access to exclusive insights, participate in discussions and engage with the speakers and fellow attendees directly on Echelons digital platform, the moment you register (accessible from the Ecosystem page). Whats more, the digital platform will be accessible all-year even after the conference, so kickstart your Echelon experience today and embark on a year-long journey of discovery. Story continues About the panelists seed funding Koichi Saito is the Founder and General Partner of KK Fund, leveraging his experience in the internet sector, finance expertise and investment experience at PE and VC fund. He previously worked at IMJ Investment Partners as Director, and was responsible for IMJs startup investments across Southeast Asia such as iMoney, Bukalapak and Zipmatch. Prior to IMJ, Koichi worked at Private Equity Fund founded by George Soros, and was engaged in several corporate and hotel acquisitions. Koichi holds a MBA degree from IE business school in Spain. seed funding Mameaw Sapprasert is the Associate Director of 500 Startups Thailand, responsible for sourcing, screening, and analysing deals, as well as providing post investment support and relationship management. Prior to 500 Startups, she was Money Market Assistance Dealer of Bangkok Bank where she also served her internship. Mameaw holds a MSc degree from Imperial College London. seed funding Michael Smith Jr. is a Partner at SeedPlus, as seed-stage venture firm investing in early stage companies. Prior to SeedPlus, he has served as the Chief Technology Officer for HOOQ (SingTel), where he was key in driving product and technology decisions that powered premium online video content service, and Director of Global Tech Initiates for Yahoo!, where he oversaw acquisition of startups and partnerships in SEA. Michael has also helmed technology-led expansions across the region for Spuul and BEA Systems (later acquired by Oracle) and is a WebLogic alumnus who currently calls Singapore home and has been actively involved in the Asian start-up community over the past ten years. seed funding Champ Suthipongchai is a founding partner of Creative Ventures, the first Thai venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Creative Ventures brings together South East Asia business partners with US founders, focusing on infrastructure technology that are solving secular trends within healthcare, industrial, and agriculture sector. Also the Chief Strategy Officer for SHARP Thai City Electric, Champ is currently based in San Francisco, CA. Want to be part of the ecosystem? Save 10% on Echelon Thailand passes just for being our favourite e27 reader! Register NOW. Feature image credit: enciktep / 123RF Stock Photo The post Seed funding takes centerstage at Echelon Thailand 2017; KK Fund, SeedPlus, 500 Startups, and Creative Ventures as panelists in Venturecon appeared first on e27. By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States slammed South Sudan's President Salva Kiir on Tuesday for the African state's "man-made" famine and ongoing conflict, urging him to fulfill a month-old pledge of a unilateral truce by ordering his troops back to their barracks. "We must see a sign that progress is possible," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told a United Nations Security Council briefing on South Sudan. "We must see that ceasefire implemented." South Sudan descended into civil war in 2013 after Kiir fired his deputy, unleashing a conflict that has spawned armed factions often following ethnic lines. U.N. South Sudan envoy David Shearer told the Security Council, "The political process in South Sudan is not dead, however it requires significant resuscitation." The United Nations has warned of a possible genocide, millions have fled their homes, the oil-producing economy is in a tail-spin, crop harvests are devastated because of the worst drought in years and millions face famine. "The famine in South Sudan is man made. It is the result of ongoing conflict in that country. It is the result of an apparent campaign against the civilian population. It is the result of killing humanitarian workers," Haley said. She also blasted deadlock among Security Council members on how to deal with the civil war in the world's youngest state. Haley said Kiir and his government were benefiting from the council's division. She urged the council to impose further targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on South Sudan. "You're allowing President Kiir to continue to do what he's doing," she said. "If you truly care for the people of South Sudan then we must tell the South Sudanese government that we are not going to put up with this anymore." The 15-member Security Council failed in December to get nine votes to adopt a U.S.-drafted resolution to impose an arms embargo and further sanctions on South Sudan despite warnings by U.N. officials of a possible genocide. Eight council members, including Russia and China, abstained in the vote. Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Petr Ilichev told the council that it was unfair to lay all blame on Kiir's troops for the violence and that Moscow opposed additional sanctions. "Sound peace in South Sudan will not be brought about by a Security Council arms embargo, but rather by targeted measures to disarm civilians, as well as demobilize and reintegrate combatants," he said. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Toni Reinhold) By Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea conducted a big live-fire exercise on Tuesday to mark the foundation of its military and a U.S. submarine docked in South Korea in a show of force amid growing concern over the North's nuclear and missile programmes. The port call by the USS Michigan, which is designed to carry ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, came as a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group steamed towards Korean waters in an effort to deter North Korea from a sixth nuclear test or more missile launches in defiance of U.N. sanctions. Instead of a nuclear blast or a big missile test, North Korea marked Tuesday's 85th anniversary of the founding of its military by deploying a large number of long-range artillery units on its east coast for a live-fire drill, South Korea's military said. South Korea's Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was monitoring the situation and "firmly maintaining readiness". South Korea's navy said it was conducting its own live-fire exercise with U.S. destroyers in waters west of the Korean peninsula and would soon join the approaching U.S. carrier group. North Korea was defiant, saying its military was prepared "to bring to closure the history of U.S. scheming and nuclear blackmail". "There is no limit to the strike power of the People's Army armed with our style of cutting-edge military equipment, including various precision and miniaturised nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles," the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a front-page editorial. North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threat is perhaps the most serious security challenge confronting U.S. President Donald Trump. He has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile and has said all options are on the table, including a military strike. Trump sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group for exercises off the Korean peninsula as a warning to Pyongyang, but U.S. officials say sanctions, not military strikes, are the preferred option. On Monday, Trump called North Korea a global threat and "a problem that we have to finally solve" and said the U.N. Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will chair a ministerial meeting of the Security Council on Friday to discuss tougher sanctions, which U.S. officials say could include an oil embargo, banning North Korea's airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese and other foreign banks doing business with Pyongyang. On Wednesday, Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford, are to hold a rare briefing on North Korea at the White House for the entire U.S. Senate. SENATOR IMPRESSED BY TRUMP RESOLVE U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said he and fellow Republican John McCain had dinner with Trump on Monday and discussed North Korea. Graham told Fox News he was impressed by Trump's resolve. "He's not going to let this nut-job in North Korea develop a missile with a nuclear weapon on top to hit America," Graham said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "He (Trump) doesn't want a war any more than I do. But he's not going to let them get a missile. That's where they're headed and China needs to up their game to stop this before it's too late." U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said North Korea had become a "front and centre front-burner issue" and Tillerson would be "very vocal" on Friday about his concerns that countries were not doing enough to implement sanctions. "We need to move more quickly and with greater determination to convince North Korea either to pursue denuclearisation or to apply enough pressure that it stops those activities," Toner told a telephone news briefing. Japan's envoy on North Korea, Kenji Kanasugi, said he and his U.S. and South Korean counterparts agreed in talks in Tokyo on Tuesday that China should take a concrete role to resolve the crisis and could use an oil embargo as a tool. The U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, Joseph Yun, said China had "a very, very important role to play" and South Korea's envoy, Kim Hong-kyun, said they had also discussed how to get Russia's help. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 27, the Kremlin said. It did not elaborate. China, North Korea's sole major ally which nevertheless objects to its weapons development, has repeatedly called for calm, and its envoy for Korean affairs, Wu Dawei, was in Tokyo on Tuesday. "We hope that all parties, including Japan, can work with China to promote an early peaceful resolution of the issue," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. North Korea's foreign ministry said the meetings called by U.S. officials reflected U.S. pressure that could "ignite a full-out war" and showed that Pyongyang's decision to become a nuclear power was correct. The official China Daily newspaper said it was time to step back from harsh rhetoric. "Judging from their recent words and deeds, policymakers in Pyongyang have seriously misread the U.N. sanctions, which are aimed at its nuclear/missile provocations, not its system or leadership," the newspaper said in an editorial. "They are at once perilously overestimating their own strength and underestimating the hazards they are brewing for themselves." (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina in Beijing, Kaori Kaneko, Linda Sieg, Elaine Lies and Tim Kelly in Tokyo, Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick, Susan Heavey and David Brunnstrom in Washington, and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel and James Dalgleish) President Kiska has dispersed all questions surrounding his future in politics before Easter, when he announced he was not planning to run for parliament. Andrej Kiska does not want to walk down the path of party politics. (Source: Sme - J. Kroslak) Font size: A - | A + I will not found a political party. I will not run for parliament. And, obviously, I am not thinking of the prime-ministerial post, President Andrej Kiska said in a video published on Facebook on April 12. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Kiskas announcement came only one day after he and his wife made a public announcement that they are expecting a third child together (Kiska already has two adult children from a previous marriage, and two children with his current wife Martina). He has yet to decide whether he will run for re-election in 2019, as an independent and non-partisan candidate. He promised to announce his decision in September 2018 at the latest. It would be highly non-standard if he, as a relatively favourite politician, did not try another term in the presidential post, if he decides to stay in politics at all, political analyst Pavol Babos from the school of political science at Comenius University in Bratislava told The Slovak Spectator. Read also: Read also: President will not found any party Read more Kiska for president again? If Kiska runs in the presidential race in 2019, he is sure to be a clear favourite of the election, says Peter Spac of the school of political science at Masaryk University in Brno. In that case, Smer will very likely lead a strong negative campaign against him, as it did in his first election in which he defeated PM Fico in the second, run-off round. But at the moment it is questionable how Smer will approach the election, because Robert Fico would probably not risk a repeated loss with the same rival. President Kiskas refusal to enter the party politics in Slovakia (at the moment) may come as good news for individual opposition subjects that do not need to worry about any shifts of voters to their disadvantage, Spac told The Slovak Spectator. New movements among the opposition With his video announcement, Kiska reacted to the rumours that have become more intensive over the past weeks, and that linked his future in politics mostly with the Progressive Slovakia association around businessman Ivan Stefunko that is expected to be transformed into a political party, with a centre-left programme. Kiska was rumoured to be getting ready to become its leader once it is transformed into a political party. Progressive Slovakia in reaction stated that his decision will not influence their activities whatsoever. Even though Progressive Slovakia stands by many of the values that President Kiska represents, its emergence and its future is in no way connected with the presidents political activities, the association wrote in the statement and added that their organisation is based on a wide group of people who want to move Slovakia forward. Kiska would have been a very welcome member for Progressive Slovakia, because this subject needs to overcome a certain intellectual feel that it has created so far, according to Spac, and the president with wide support among voters would be an ideal candidate to do so. With Kiskas no to party politics, Spac believes Progressive Slovakia has no reason to maintain the group presentation of its representatives any longer, and it can directly name its leader. One week after Kiskas announcement, independent MPs Miroslav Beblavy (formerly the number two politician of the now obsolete Siet) and Jozef Mihal (who recently left the SaS) announced they were founding a new political party together with their fellow independent parliamentary deputies. Read also: Read also: New political party will emerge in Slovakia Read more The party should emerge within one year and it is clear that Beblavy and Mihal are to be its leading faces. Among the reasons they listed for their decision, they said they no longer wanted to wait until people from the Progressive Slovakia initiative get moving. Beblavy claims that they made the final decision two weeks ago, that is before Kiska officially announced he was not planning to join the opposition ranks. Troubled relations in the highest places In the past weeks, politicians of the ruling Smer and the Slovak National Party (SNS) have built up tension between themselves and Kiska. When the disagreements, particularly about foreign policy, grew, Fico blamed it on the presidents advisers. I understand that his advisers are pushing him into conflict, because Mr President is preparing some political background for the future, the prime minister said in March 2017 on the TA3 news channel, and reiterated that he was not going to get dragged into the conflict. In the most recent development, Smers Fico and Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, as well as SNS leader and Parliaments Speaker Andrej Danko repeatedly attacked Kiska for using a governmental plane for frequent flights to his hometown, Poprad. Will Kiskas decision not to run as competition to Fico and Danko in the next parliamentary election change anything about it will they target him less? It is possible that the intensity of the attacks of ruling politicians against Kiska will decrease, but the president has already shown that he has got the sense for opening topics that are not to the governments liking and are a burden for them, Spac said, citing the presidents support for the recent anti-corruption march organised by students in Bratislava on April 18 as an example. Babos opined that the attacks on Kiska could calm down if they were only meant to lower his popularity among the electorate were he to join a political party as competition to Fico and Danko. But if the aim was rather to divert attention away from their own problems, and the public pressure on placing responsibility on Minister Kalinak, then the sharp stances towards the president might not disappear completely, Babos said. Radka Minarechova contributed to this report Protesters gave the government two weeks to fulfil their demands. Font size: A - | A + Corruption has reached such a level that people should act immediately. The Main symbols of the governments failure to deal with this problem are special prosecutor Dusan Kovacik, police chief Tibor Gaspar and Interior Minister Robert Kalinak; and they should resign. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement This was the main message of secondary school students Karolina Farska and David Straka who organised an anti-corruption march in Bratislava on April 18. Kalinak to jail, Kalinak to jail and resign, resign around 5,000 people yelled during their joint speech. On the same day, organisers stated that the government has two weeks to respond. Yet the government, together with the prosecutor's office and police representatives, have shown little will to accept the protesters demands. Read also: Read also: This is not a game, and these are not children Read more I am offended by the fact that I should be removed for something I did not participate in; and without any argument or explanation, Gaspar said during a debate of the private broadcaster TA3. Protests can be successful if they take place repeatedly and in other regional cities, not only in Bratislava, according to political analysts. The students stated that they are ready to repeat the protest if the government will not fulfil their demands. They added, however, that they cannot sustain repeated regional protests. The problem is that we could not maintain the quality of marches at such a level as it was in Bratislava, Straka told the Sme daily. They would probably not take place under our supervision. Responses to protest Though Kovacik has been refusing to respond about the protest since it took place, Prime Minister Robert Fico did comment on the corruption but avoided questions about personnel changes. He stated that it is good when young people are actively interested in the happenings in the country and want to help it through concrete deeds. He went on to say that the government perceives corruption as a long-term problem and is taking steps to remove it. Yet Fico and his Smer party have been standing by Kalinak since the interior minister started facing suspicions that he halted an investigation of businessman Ladislav Basternak who is now accused of tax fraud. A politician has to take into consideration that several thousand people demand Kalinaks resignation, according to Culture Minister Marek Madaric (Smer), However, he must also take into consideration the fact that several tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people voted for him, Madaric said, as quoted by the Dennik N daily. Its a matter of balance and circumstances. Justice Minister of the coalition Most-Hid party, Lucia Zitnanska repeated that Kalinak should leave. It was an expression of something that we all felt, Zitnanska said about the anti-corruption protest, as quoted by Dennik N. Police Corps President Tibor Gaspar stated that he does not feel the need to resign for any professional failure, adding that he is not personally responsible for investigating corruption offences. On the other hand, he explained that if Kalinak decides to dismiss him for political reasons, he will respect it. Moreover, he stated that he will not run for this post again. I was thinking about the end anyway due to fatigue syndrome, Gaspar told pluska.sk news website. Read also: Read also: About 5,000 marched against corruption Read more Protest should go further If the students that organised the anti-corruption protest want to be able to push through their requests, they have to repeat it and march in other cities as well. Sociologist Martin Slosiarik, political scientist Grigoij Meseznikov and Transparency International Slovakia head Gabriel Sipos agree that massiveness of protests is what matters. If tens thousands of people participated it would be a huge protest by Slovak standards, Slosiarik told the Sme. The first protest demanding investigation of Basternak back in 2016 attracted around 5,000 people. From 3,000 to 4,000 attended the Gorilla protests caused by a leaked, reportedly secret service file named Gorilla describing ties between business tycoons and top politicians. Despite their numbers not reaching that of the April 18 anti-corruption protest, those protests became well-known because they were not about a single protest, but about a series of protests. There were eight Gorilla protests and a dozen Basternak protests. This should also happen in current case, according to Slosiarik. It shouldnt be one single event when they come and present their demands, Slosiarik told the Sme. The April 18 event was successful but demanding and now organisers are awaiting the governments reaction to their memorandum. If they decide to continue the anti-corruption marches, it should rather be a challenge to the public so that more mature activists continue with them, according to Straka. He expresses his fear that future marches could attract extremists. Those would turn against us, Straka told the Sme. The most condensed overview of Slovak cinematography is the Week of Slovak Film that takes place in April. Rudolf Urc recevies the Sun in the Net 2017 for special contribution to cinematography went to Rudolf Urc. (Source: TASR) Font size: A - | A + Slovak films shot in the past year were not just successful at international festivals in Rotterdam and Berlin, member of the Board of the Slovak Film and TV Academy, Marek Lescak, said shortly before the opening of the Slovak film week on April 3, but also managed to attract mass audiences to local cinemas. More national movies attractive to local audiences are expected. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The previously biennial Sun in the Net awards have now been made annual, Mirka Brezovska of the LITA civic association (which represents the rights of artists) noted. The week is becoming more and more condensed and it gets harder to fit all the films made into the time available, head of the Slovak Film and TV Academy (SFTA), Martin Sulik, said for The Slovak Spectator. The seventh Sun in the Net awards bestowed for Slovak films by the Slovak Film and TV Academy (SFTA) on April 7, was marked mostly by two movies, Masaryk and Ucitelka / The Teacher. Masaryk received eight prizes and The Teacher four, the TASR newswire wrote. Masaryk from director Julius Sevcik got the award for the best actor in a main role (Karol Roden), best actor in a supporting role (Oldrich Kaiser), the best cinematography (Martin Strba), the best editing (Marek Opatrny), the best film sound (Viktor Ekrt and Pavel Rejholec), the best architect/stage designer (Milan Bycek), the best costumes (Katarina Strbova-Bielikova) and best masks (Lukas Kral). The Teacher got the prizes for best directing (Jan Hrebejk), best actress in a main role (Zuzana Maurery), the best script (Petr Jarchovsky) and the best film music (Michal Novinsky). Zuzana Maurery as The Teacher (Source: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival) Other categories were: the best documentary (Steam on the River, directors Robert Kirchhoff and Filip Remunda) the best film directing (Tomas Weinreb and Petr Kazda for I, Olga Hepnarova) the best actress in a supporting role (Zuzana Kronerova for Marika in the Red Captain) film sound in a documentary (Lukas Kasprzyk for Richard Muller: This Is Not Me). The Sun in the Net award for special contribution to Slovak cinematography went to dramaturgist, script-writer, director, publicist and teacher Rudolf Urc who, being a dissident and forbidden to work in documentaries, developed animated films to an unprecedented level, including the first Slovak animated cartoon, Janosik (by cartoonist Viktor Kubal). A novelty this time round was the online voting of the wider public for the best national movie which was won by The Teacher. SFTA head comments on Slovak movies Slovak films shot in the past year were not just successful at international festivals in Rotterdam and Berlin, member of the Board of the Slovak Film and TV Academy, Marek Lescak, said shortly before the opening of the Slovak film week on April 3 but also managed to attract mass audiences to local cinemas. More national movies attractive to local audiences are expected. The previously biennial Sun in the Net awards have now been made annual, Mirka Brezovska of the LITA civic association (which represents the rights of artists) noted. The week is becoming more and more condensed and it gets harder to fit all the films made into the time available, head of the Slovak Film and TV Academy (SFTA), Martin Sulik, said for The Slovak Spectator. The seventh Sun in the Net awards bestowed for Slovak films by the Slovak Film and TV Academy (SFTA) on April 7, was marked mostly by two movies, Masaryk and Ucitelka / The Teacher. Masaryk received eight prizes and The Teacher four, the TASR newswire wrote. Two films dominate Masaryk from director Julius Sevcik got the award for the best actor in a main role (Karol Roden), best actor in a supporting role (Oldrich Kaiser), the best cinematography (Martin Strba), the best editing (Marek Opatrny), the best film sound (Viktor Ekrt and Pavel Rejholec), the best architect/stage designer (Milan Bycek), the best costumes (Katarina Strbova-Bielikova) and best masks (Lukas Kral). The Teacher got the prizes for best directing (Jan Hrebejk), best actress in a main role There was no selection for the Sun in the Net and the Week of Slovak Film, Martin Sulik of SFTA said, and we included all films that fulfilled the criteria stated in the statutes like last year the film for young children, or sometimes short or animated films as they also form our national cinematography. The number of feature films and documentaries has not changed, Sulik added, specifying that what was different now was the smaller number of animated movies three which was not sufficient to form a special category to evaluate them and award a prize (as five is the minimum number for competition). A film takes a year, two or even more to make and it is a gamble, in the sense that it is hard to say what films will be released for distribution in a certain year, SFTA chairman explained. SFTA head - and film actor and director - Martin Sulik. (Source: Sme - Jozef Jakubco) A trend he stressed as more general and not typical just for Slovakia or the Czech Republic but more widely for central and the whole of Europe, is co-productions. This is good, as Slovak film-makers are confronted with their Czech and Polish colleagues and get to see their works in a wider context, he noted. As for the laureate of the special award, Rudolf Urc, Sulik stressed that this film-maker impacted national cinematography both on a practical, authorial and theoretical level, mostly in the genres of documentaries and animated movies. Also his studies on film-making and monographs on animated films and on Viktor Kubal, as well as journalism and his lecturing at Bratislava Academy of performing Arts, made history in national film-making and art. His post-1989 documents after he was again allowed to work helped capture the political twists and turns of communist-Czechoslovakias political and social life. The 25-year-old Italian suffering from the disease studies in Kosice. Font size: A - | A + Slovakia registered its first case of imported measles. The patient was examined and is stable, said spokesperson for the Public Health Authority Zuzana Drobova. The regional public health authority in Kosice was informed by the University Hospital of Louis Pasteur in Kosice about the hospitalisation of a 25-year-old patient with permanent residence in Italy with a suspicion of measles, Drobova told the Sme daily. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement An Italian student who currently attends the Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, he was not vaccinated against measles, she added. The student was probably infected in Novy Sad in Serbia, where he has been since March 27, specified the hospitals spokesperson Ivana Staskova. He was hospitalised on April 7 and released 11 days later, she told Sme. The beginning of the illness was serious as the student suffered from a high temperature and noncancerous liver disease, while he had a rash on his body. The doctors also examined all people he was in touch with, and their health condition is still being monitored. The respective authorities also checked all employees of the university hospital whether they were vaccinated against measles, Sme reported. Read also: Read also: Vaccination is not about business, health minister says Read more Chief Slovak hygienist Jan Mikas meanwhile called an all parents who have not vaccinated their children yet to do so. They should visit their paediatrician and talk about the possibility. The call concerns mostly four-year-old non-vaccinated children in Bratislava, Trencin, Banska Bystrica and Kosice regions as the vaccination rate there is below 95 percent of the whole population. Usually, children are vaccinated against measles between 15-18 months of age and then again when children are 11 years old. The vaccination against measles is compulsory. The vaccine used for this purpose is the MMR shot, which is also used to vaccinate against mumps and rubella. It belongs among the vaccines parents refuse the most, said child doctor Milusa Dzupinova from Presov. The reason is that they are afraid of some harmful effects, Sme reported. Currently, the countries which are suffering from a high number of measles cases is Italy and Romania, with 1,020 and 1,955 reported cases, respectively. From Romania, the disease spread also to Hungary where 52 cases were reported in mid-March, Sme wrote. Some defendants in the corruption scandal of the first Fico government claim they are innocent. Font size: A - | A + Radoslav B., who currently faces charges in the ill-famed bulletin-board tender, failed to close a plea bargain, though he expressed a will to do so back in March. Neither the accused nor the prosecutor has specified the reasons, the SITA newswire reported. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement As a result, he and another four defendants in a case going back to 2007 heard the charges. The case involves the announcement of a 120 million competition for supplying the then Construction Ministry with various legal and advertising services, co-financed by EU funds. The call for applicants was placed only on a bulletin board in a corridor at the ministry, then under the remit of the Slovak National Party (SNS). The tender was won by the only bidder in the tender, a consortium of companies including Zamedia and Avocat, both businesses with links to the then-SNS party leader Jan Slota. The case is described as one of the biggest scandals of the first government of Robert Fico (2006-2010). Read also: Read also: The official from bulletin-board tender wants to plead guilty Read more After hearing the charges, two SNS ministers, who led the Construction Ministry at the time, Marian J. and Igor S., as well as Zdenka K. claimed they are innocent. Radoslav B. and Tomas L. did not comment at all, SITA reported. In his testimony, Marian J. denied making any agreement with the other four on exact steps made in the public procurement to secure trainings and raise awareness about operation programmes of the EU. When commenting on the fact that the announcement of the competition was placed in the corridor closed to the public, he said that these matters avoid the minister. Radoslav B., who served as a ministry officer, said that they found no flaws in the one submitted bid. He also rejected the claim there was a certain agreement on the winner or that he had known about some unlawful practices. Former minister Igor S. refused to testify before the court, SITA reported. The prosecutor charged Marian J. with manipulating the public procurement and public auction as an accomplice, abusing the powers of a public official, and violating his duties when administering someone elses property. The remaining four people, identified as Igor S., Radoslav B., Tomas L. and Zdenka K., were accused of manipulating the public procurement and public auction as accomplices. 66 percent of them went to non-EU citizens. Font size: A - | A + Slovakia granted altogether 309 people citizenship in 2015, of which 66 percent went to citizens of non-EU countries. The most successful applicants were Ukrainians (23.6 percent of all citizenships granted), followed by Czechs (22.7 percent) and Americans (10 percent). Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement On the other hand, Slovaks were the third most successful applicants for citizenship in Hungary, the SITA newswire reported, referring to the data of the Eurostat statistics office. Back in 2015, about 840,000 people were granted citizenship of some EU member states, which is a drop compared with the previous years. Of the total number of people granted citizenship, 87 percent were received by non-EU applicants. The biggest group of citizens who were granted EU citizenship in 2015 were Moroccans (mostly in Italy, Spain and France), followed by Albanians (in Italy and Greece), Turks (particularly in Germany), Indians (mostly in the United Kingdom), Romanians (half of them in Italy), Pakistanis (half of them in the UK), and Algerians (mostly in France). Romanians (28,400 people) and Poles (17,800 people) comprise the two biggest groups of EU citizens who were granted citizenship in other EU member state, SITA reported. The Eurostat data also suggests that every fifth person who received a EU citizenship in 2015 became a citizen of Italy (178,000 people or 21 percent of all citizenships granted). The next on the list is the UK (118,000 people or 14 percent), followed by Spain (114,400 people or 14 percent), France (113,600 people or 14 percent), and Germany (110,100 people or 13 percent). Regarding their number of new citizens to the number of local inhabitants, the most citizenships granted per 1,000 citizens was in Luxembourg and Sweden, followed by Cyprus, Italy, and Ireland, SITA reported. They claim that foreign workers do not have the same conditions as their Slovak colleagues. Font size: A - | A + The trade unions association OZ KOVO is set to organise a protest in Bratislava on April 28, demonstrating against plans to introduce more liberal rules concerning the employment of foreigners in Slovakia. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement As many as 400-500 people are expected to take part in the protest, the TASR newswire reported. We accept people from Serbia, for example, said Emil Machyna, head of OZ KOVO, as quoted by the Dennik N daily. But they often dont have the same conditions, working time, the collective agreement doesnt apply on them, so it is then hard to force the employer to act differently. Currently, the unemployment rate in Slovakia has hit record low levels, amounting to 8.04 percent in late March. Big companies say the jobless are not interested in their job offers, however, thus they have to seek workers abroad, Dennik N wrote. The workforce required could still be found within Slovakia, the trade unions claim. Moreover, they opine that if companies want to hire foreigners so much, they should hire them under the same conditions pertaining to Slovaks. OZ KOVO is determined to hold talks with the Labour Ministry regarding changes in legislation to this effect, TASR reported. Read also: Read also: Slovakia to open labour market to foreigners Read more Serbs dominate among foreigners that come to work in Slovakia, while Ukrainians top the list of employees from so-called third countries, according to TASR. Though the trade unions do not oppose the plans to hire foreign workers, they claim they should have the same working and salary conditions as Slovaks. The statistics of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family suggest more than 35,000 foreigners currently work in Slovakia. While citizens of EU member states have free access to our labour market, those coming from non-EU countries often avoid the laws by being hired in other EU states and then coming to Slovakia, Dennik N reported. This is also the case of some 6,000 Serbs currently working in Slovakia who can officially stay here for three months, according to the daily. Though the companies ask for loosening conditions for Serbs, the Labour Ministry refuses such a step, Dennik N reported. By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Apr 25 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said his country attaches great importance to SAARC and wishes to see it as a vibrant regional organisation. Sharif made the remarks during his meeting with Foreign Minister of Maldives Dr Mohamed Asim here. According to the Prime Minister Office, Sharif said that Pakistan attaches great importance to SAARC and wishes to see it as a vibrant regional organization and is committed to the principles and objectives of the SAARC Charter. advertisement "It was Pakistans ardent desire to promote peace and cooperation in South Asia for which security and stability are pre-requisites," he said. SAARC is an eight-member regional grouping that comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Sharif said Pakistan attaches high importance to its ties with Maldives and both countries are bound in fraternal ties of common faith, mutual understanding and respect. "We need to work for enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries," he stressed. Sharif said that it was encouraging to note the growing Parliamentary cooperation between Maldives and Pakistan. The visit of Pakistans Senate Chairman to Maldives last year is a testimony of strengthened parliamentary ties, he added. Asim thanked the Prime Minister for warmly welcoming him and delegation members to Pakistan and expressed the hope to further strengthen ties between the two countries. The Maldives Foreign Minister, who is on official visit to Pakistan, also held talks with Advisor to PM Sartaj Aziz. The two sides agreed to enhance their cooperation in different fields. PTI SH ZH --- ENDS --- The biggest airport in Austria is lobbying to construct a third runway, using Slovakia as a deterrent example. Font size: A - | A + Either 30,000 new jobs here or in Bratislava, reads one of the mottos used in the campaign recently launched by Schwechat airport in Austria aimed to construct a new, third runway, the Sme daily reported. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The airport claims that the new jobs can be created not only in the aviation industry, but also in construction and tourism sectors. They should be created until 2030 when the runway is expected to be built. Thanks to it, the number of tourists travelling to Vienna may increase by as many as 1 million, the daily reported. The Schwechat airport has been planning to build the new runway for already 16 years, but its plans were marred by a local court that stated environmental protection as a reason against the runway. The airport however disagrees with the decision. It now plans to win the support of the public. To achieve this goal, it established a special website, at which it has published several alarming announcements, including the one concerning Bratislava. Read also: Read also: Transport minister silently replaces Bratislava airport director Read more If the runway plans do not go ahead, Bratislava could benefit from the thwarted plans in the future. The reason is that compared with other central European airports, it is the closest to Schwechat, Sme wrote. Moreover, it offers other advantages, including two runways whose capacity is not being fully used yet. It also has not exhausted its environmental limit, makeing it attractive for airlines, Boris Tomciak, analyst with the company Finlord, told Sme. There are also some disadvantages, like the size of the airport and the low number of passengers using it. To increase it, the airport would have to invest more money. Neither the Slovak Transport Ministry nor the Bratislava airport has commented on the current situation at the Schwechat airport. For 2016 India spent $56 billion on defense, the fifth largest defense budget on the planet (behind the United States, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia). Pakistan barely makes the top 20 with $10 billion a year. Indian spending is 3.3 percent of GDP while Pakistan is 2.7 percent. In 2016 Pakistan boosted defense spending 15 percent. For the last five years Pakistan has, on average, increased its defense spending about 11 percent a year. Neighboring India spends more than five times as much. Chinas defense spending ($215 billion) is the largest in the region and second largest in the world. Defense spending in South Asia has risen nearly 50 percent since 2001. The main cause is the aggressive territorial claims of China and the continuing belief in the Pakistani military that India is engaged in a well concealed plot to take over Pakistan. The large portion of government spending going to the military is under growing criticism inside Pakistan, mainly because Pakistan lags way behind India and China when it comes to spending on education, infrastructure and public health. The Pakistani government tries to justify the high defense spending by pointing out that since 2011 Pakistan has suffered $57 billion in economic losses because of Islamic terrorism. That is tragic but the neighbors (and the United States) point out that those losses are largely because Pakistan has supported Islamic terrorists since the 1970s and continues to do so even though many Islamic terror groups have declared war on Pakistan. Pakistan Battles Local Islamic Terrorists In Pakistan local Islamic terrorists seeking to bring down the government have reorganized after three years of heavy attack by the security forces and demonstrated their capabilities by being a lot more active in 2017. There was a spike in Islamic terrorism related deaths in February (114 civilians, 23 soldiers and police and 125 Islamic terrorists) for all of Pakistan. The total Islamic terrorism related deaths for all of 2016 was 1,803 (150 a month), compared to 3,682 for 2015. Islamic terrorism related deaths for March were 28 percent of what they were in February and about 20 percent more than for January. Until the wave of attacks in February Pakistan expected to have, for the first time since 2005, a year where there were under a thousand Islamic terrorism related deaths. Back in 2005 there were 648 dead and in 2003 only 189. Pakistan blames the Americans, India and non-Moslems in general for the growth of Islamic terrorism violence in Pakistan since 2003. Pakistan blames the usual suspects for the current resurgence. Yet India, with six times as many people, has kept annual terrorism (mostly not Islam related) to under a thousand a year since 2012. In response to the February attacks Pakistan ordered a countrywide offensive against all Islamic terrorist groups. Several major Islamic terrorist attacks were disrupted and so far there have been over 4,500 arrests, over a hundred Islamic terrorists killed and the effort continues. This campaign is having some unexpected side effects. Many of those arrested turned out to be gangsters or businessmen who supplied gangsters and Islamic terrorists (it is often difficult to tell the two apart). It turned out that a number of those arrested (terrorists and non-terrorists alike) also worked for foreign governments. The most common ties were with Iran, but some had links to Afghan and Indian intelligence. The 2014 counter-terror campaign was supposed to eventually cover the entire country but that never happened because the military believed it could control most of the Islamic terrorist groups outside of North Waziristan and keep terror attacks inside Pakistan down. That was working until February 2017. The military is again under pressure from Pakistanis and the neighbors to crack down on all Islamic terror groups. That is clearly not happening because there are still army supported Islamic terrorist camps in Pakistan (northern) Kashmir and from these camps come a steady flow of Islamic terrorists who attempt cross the Indian border. Most dont make but enough do to replenish the ranks of Islamic terrorist groups in Indian Kashmir. More of these Pakistani Islamic terrorists are showing up in India because, thanks to adroit use of the Internet, there is a resurgence of popular support among Moslems in Indian Kashmir and the Pakistani Islamic terrorists are trying to use that to recruit locally and revive its revenge attack efforts, in which former Islamic terrorists and supporters in Kashmir are killed and prominent (or pro-government) Moslems threatened with the same if they do not actively support Islamic terrorism, at least as practiced in India against anyone who opposes Pakistan having control over all of Kashmir. The Kashmir Front The Pakistani problems with Islamic terrorism has had repercussions across the border in northwest India (Kashmir) where Indian security efforts have calmed down the 2016 spike in Kashmir violence due to the death of popular (in the Internet) local Islamic terrorist leader Burhan Wani. That spike in violence did not last into 2017 and the Pakistani effort to increase Kashmir violence is back to where it was a year ago. So far in 2017 33 Islamic terrorists were killed in Kashmir, compared to 149 in 2016 and 105 in 2015. Arrests of Islamic terrorists in Kashmir is 20 so far this year compared to 79 in 2016 and 67 in 2015. The violence by civilians (mobs of young men throwing stones or worse) has declined over 90 percent compared to late 2016. Pakistan appears to have realized that the spike was indeed temporary because border crossing attempts by Pakistan-based (and sponsored) Islamic terrorists have declined this year. Since the 1970s Pakistan has been trying to use Islamic terrorists from Pakistan to trigger a popular uprising in Indian Kashmir and use that to gain control over all of Kashmir. That strategy failed as seen by the fact that Pakistan sponsored terrorism deaths in Kashmir peaked in 2001. By 2011 India had reduced that violence by over 95 percent. Despite that Pakistan kept recruiting, training and sending Islamic terrorists into India without anything to show for it. Seeking an alternative method in the last few years Pakistan has been using cash (to buy more local support) and exploiting social media in an effort to encourage young Moslems in Kashmir to join Pakistani backed terror groups. That led to a popular (especially on social media) young (21) Kashmiri Islamic terrorist (Burhan Wani) becoming a local celebrity for his largely fictional efforts to make Kashmir an independent state. Then Wani got into a gun battle with police on July 8th 2016 and was killed. For an Internet celebrity, getting killed unexpectedly can be a great career move, at least in the short term. In Kashmir this led to an outbreak of massive, and often violent protests that have left nearly a hundred dead and over 6,000 wounded in 2016. While alive Burhan Wani was seen as someone who could revive Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), which was once the most powerful Islamic terror group in Indian Kashmir. HM has been fading away since 2010 as more of its leaders were killed or captured and few local replacements came forward. HM is unique in that it came to be dominated by Indian Kashmiris and resisted control by Pakistan. While still receiving personnel and other aid from Pakistan, HM was more sensitive to Kashmiri needs and desires, not what Pakistani foreign policy demanded. As a result, when the Kashmiri population turned against Islamic terrorism after 2001 HM began to decline but still retained more local support than the groups that were basically Pakistani inventions. Thus HM maintained its position as the major Islamic terror group in Kashmir because increased Indian success at border security hurt the groups more dependent on personnel and aid from Pakistan. The 2016 increase in violence is faded in large part because older Kashmiri Moslems know that Pakistan is financing the violence but it is Kashmiri families that are paying the price in lost children, property and employment opportunities. While young Kashmiris have little respect for the past, their elders do and by the end of 2016 the parents regained control of the situation. India responded to the concerns of the parents (who are also voters) with increased efforts to revive the economy after three decades of Pakistan sponsored violence. The government is putting more effort into upgrading the schools in Kashmir as well as more investments in existing and new businesses. This is not headline worthy news but is what counts most in Kashmir. April 24, 2017: In eastern India (Chhattisgarh State) some 300 Maoist rebels ambushed 99 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) para-military police guarding and participating in a roadbuilding project. The attack left 25 police dead and six wounded. The Maoists used automatic weapons and grenades and fled before reinforcements could arrive from a CRPF camp two kilometers away. Apparently few if any of the rebels were killed or wounded. This was the largest loss of para-military police in a single actions since 2015 and the second such ambush in this area this year. This was embarrassing for the government which had been reporting that this area had been largely cleared of leftist rebels. The government is investigating the situation to discover what they got wrong. Back in 2015 India responded to similar defeats by increasing (with 17 new battalions) its para-military CRPF for operations in Kashmir and eastern India. The CRPF is the principal national police organization dealing with terrorists and rebels. Founded in 1939, and retained when India became independent in 1947 by 2010 the CRPF had nearly 200,000 personnel. It deployed over 70 battalions of para-military police back then, including seven rapid action battalions that can be quickly sent to any part of the country to deal with outbreaks of violence. The CRPF is heavily involved fighting Maoists. Since 2010 the CRPF has been expanded 50 percent with 12 if the 17 new battalions (of about 1,100 men each) going to eastern India for use against Maoist rebels. This campaign has been successful because the CRPF now had enough personnel to clear Maoist groups out of most rural areas where the leftists had become a dominant factor in local affairs. April 23, 2017: In southwest Pakistan (Baluchistan) a roadside bomb hit a passing army patrol, killing four soldiers and wounding three. This happened near the Iranian border so it is unclear who planted the bomb (Islamic terrorists or local separatists). April 20, 2017: China and Pakistan finally signed the agreement that grants China a 40 year lease on new facilities China is building in the southwestern port of Gwadar. The lease grants China most (over 80 percent) of the revenue brought in by port and free trade zone operations. Gwadar is a key part of the $55 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This project began in 2013 when China agreed to spend $18 billion to build a road from Gwadar into northwest China. This will require drilling long tunnels through the Himalayan Mountains on the border (in Pakistani controlled Kashmir.) The road and a natural gas pipeline are part of the larger CPEC project. This will make it much easier and cheaper to move people, data (via fiber optic cables) and goods between China and Pakistan. India fears Gwadar will serve as a base for Chinese warships. Pakistan has no problem with Chinese warships using Gwadar as it helps keep local troublemakers out. The thousands of Chinese coming into Pakistan for this project are prime targets for Islamic terrorists and tribal separatists in Baluchistan. The people in Gwadar will benefit greatly from the construction and the expanded port but the lease agreement provides no payments to the government of Baluchistan. Because of the threats from locals and Islamic terrorists in general Pakistan has formed a special security force, currently 20,000 strong, dedicated to keeping the foreign (mainly Chinese) workforce safe. China has helped with security effort. For example in January the Pakistani navy put into service two 600 ton, Chinese built, patrol ships to help protect the newly expanded port. A third one of these arrived today. At the end of 2016 the Pakistani navy officially established Task Force 88 in Gwadar, a city of 100,000 and site of one of the biggest construction projects in the country. The new naval task force will use warships, maritime patrol aircraft and UAVs to guard the coastal areas from any Islamic terrorist attack against ships, especially Chinese ones. Pakistan has assured China that there would be no terrorist violence against Chinese working on upgrading the port of Gwadar and land links north to China. Pakistan is willing to pay a high price to get CPEC done because it means Pakistan has an ally against Iran and even Western powers that might have some violent disagreement with Pakistan. April 19, 2017: In northwest India (Kashmir) Pakistan violated the ceasefire for the seventh time this month by firing at Indian troops with machine-guns and mortars. Kashmir border violence by Pakistani troops was way up during 2016, as it was along the entire Indian border. But half (268) of the nearly 600 ceasefire border violations in 2016 were in Kashmir. This was in violation of a 2003 agreement between India and Pakistan. In December 2015 Indian and Pakistani military leaders met on the Kashmir border to reaffirm efforts to reduce violence on the LOC (Line of Control) in Kashmir. Yet such incidents still occur despite the 20o3 ceasefire. Because of internal politics in Pakistan the Pakistani army revived the border violence in 2016. This was all about the continuing battle between elected Pakistani politicians and the military over the threat from India. The Pakistani generals justify their large budget and numerous other privileges by the need to deal with the Indian threat. But there is no Indian threat. The Pakistani military refuses to accept that and the border erupts once more as the Pakistani generals try to justify their privileges and powers. This is no longer seen as just a local issue. The Pakistani military is also under growing domestic (by elected Pakistani politicians) and international (especially American) pressure to cease all support for Islamic terrorism but has not shown any indication of changing. For example the new head of the Pakistani military, appointed at the end of 2016, spent much of his career working directly with forces (military and Islamic terrorist) causing violence on the Indian border and in Kashmir. Raheel Sharif, a retired Pakistani general is now in Saudi Arabia to lead the IMAFT (Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism). He joins 1,200 Pakistani military personnel already there to train Saudi troops. Founded (in late 2015) IMAFT is largely funded by Saudi Arabia, as are the Pakistani trainers in Saudi Arabia. At first Pakistan was reluctant to participate in IMAFT but eventually joined the other 40 members. Raheel was selected to lead IMAFT in January 2017 but not everyone in Pakistan was comfortable with that and it took several months to get Pakistani government approval. When Saudi Arabia announced IMAFT it named 34 Moslem nations (Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, Comoros, Cote dIvoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Qatar, the Palestinians, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, the UAE, and Yemen) as members. Indonesia, largest Moslem nation on the planet, was described as considering joining. The nation with the largest number of Moslems, India, was apparently not invited to join. All the current members are largely Sunni. Some nations are not welcome, like Iran, Syria and Iraq. This is because the Sunni Gulf States (led by Saudi Arabia) are at war with Iran, which considers Syria and Iraq allies. Pakistan has not announced exactly what it would do as part of this new coalition but did make it clear it will not take part in any operations against Iran or Syria. Such compromises were required to get enough senior Pakistani politicians and generals to agree. The Saudis, and many senior Pakistani politicians and generals are backing a proposal that 5,000 Pakistani troops be leased to the Saudis to help guard their Yemen border. April 17, 2017: In northwest India (Kashmir) Pakistani troops again opened fire on border posts. One soldier was killed by a sniper and dozens of farm animals were killed by machine-gun and mortar fire. Indian troops returned fire and this continued from before dawn through the day. Pakistan has upgraded its March announcement that it had begun building a security fence along its Afghan border. Now Pakistan is speeding up construction along the entire 2,600 kilometers border. This is part of an effort to hinder the Pakistani Taliban, and other illegal groups (terrorists and smugglers) from easily moving back and forth. The initial fence construction was to be along the border with the Afghan provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar. These two provinces are where there has always been a lot of lawless activity and these days it is full of Islamic terrorists hostile to either Pakistan or working for Pakistan (against Afghanistan). The new plan will continue giving priority to areas where there are the most problems but will not stop there and eventually (by the early 2020s) have a fence along the entire Afghan border. Most of the Afghan border is rural, thinly populated and lacking roads. The border violence has been going on for years and is more about unresolved border disputes than anything else. Most of the Afghan-Pakistani border is still called the Durand Line. This was an impromptu, pre-independence invention of British colonial authorities and was always considered temporary (or at least negotiable) by locals. This was mainly because the line often went right through Pushtun tribal territories. However, the Afghans are more inclined to accept the Durand Line, and fight to maintain it. Thus recent Pakistani efforts to build more fences and other structures on their side of the border was an attempt to make the Durand line permanent and no longer negotiable. Pakistan is following the example of India which announced in late 2016 that it would build a security fence along its entire 2,900 kilometer border with Pakistan and this effort would be completed by the end of 2018. The new fence design is called five layer because it uses multiple sensors (vidcams, night vision cameras, thermal imagers, ground surveillance radar, seismic sensors and laser barriers) to provide layers of surveillance that intruders have to penetrate to get into India undetected. All the sensors are linked to control centers which can deploy rapid reaction forces or aerial surveillance as needed. All this will make it still more difficult for Islamic terrorists to get into India. The Pakistani fence along the Afghan border will not be this complex but will include 420 small border forts that will house troops along with some sensors (like ground radar). Pakistan now plans to have 338 new border installations (mainly the forts) built by the end of 2018. Already 43 new border posts have been completed and another 62 are under construction. April 16, 2017: In Pakistan Ehsanullah Ehsan a notorious Pakistan Taliban and ISIL leader surrendered. Until 2014 Ehsan was chief spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban but after the Pakistan army invaded North Waziristan, the main sanctuary for many Islamic terror groups hostile to the Pakistani government, he switched to ISIL and helped found Jamaat ul Ahrar, a small Islamic terrorist groups composed of many disgruntled Pakistani Taliban. That did not work out so well and by 2015 many of the former Taliban members went back to the Taliban, joined another ISIL group or abandoned Islamic terrorism entirely. The group disintegrated further as several factions emerged, one of them led by Ehsan. Jamaat ul Ahrar is still active inside Pakistan but has suffered heavy losses (from combat, arrests, desertion and defections) as a result of the major anti-terror campaign he government launched in February 2017 after a particularly nasty attack inside Pakistan. Nepal, which has long maintained close economic and political ties with India, held its first joint military exercises with China. Nepal has also had problems with communist (Maoist) rebels over the last two decades and China made itself useful in dealing with that situation. China is trying to increase its presence in Nepal. April 14, 2017: In Pakistan (Lahore) police raided an Islamic terrorist hideout and captured a female suicide bomber who had come to the city with two male associates to attack a Christian church on Easter Sunday. The woman, a medical school student, was to be the suicide bomber and when captured she provided details of her group and her operation (which never happened.) Its common for captured suicide bombers to talk freely, especially women, who are often coerced to carry out an attack. April 6, 2017: In northwest India (Kashmir) near the Pakistani border, a rare April avalanche killed three soldiers in the same area where January avalanches killed 20 soldiers. All this took place near army camps that both nations maintain along the Kashmir border. Some of these camps are high up, at an altitude of 6,500 meters (20,000 feet) or higher. These are the highest military camps on the planet, the result of not precisely demarcating the 740 kilometer long border. One 75 kilometer portion is on the 6,500-7,000 kilometer high Siachen glacier. The reason for not precisely marking that part of the border was the inaccessibility of those 75 kilometers of ice and thin air. This bizarre situation developed in the late 1970s, when Pakistan began a campaign of Islamic terror attacks on Indian Kashmir. In response, India moved more police and troops to Kashmir and in 1984 moved troops onto the Siachen glacier to block Pakistan based Islamic terrorists from sneaking into Indian Kashmir. No terrorists appear to have ever used the glacier route into Indian territory but with the high levels of terrorist violence in Indian Kashmir, desperate measures seemed reasonable. Pakistan responded to the Indian action by moving troops up onto the glacier as well. Since then, over a thousand soldiers have died, and even more injured, while serving in those harsh conditions (thin air, intense cold, constant snow and ice plus frequent inaccessibility). After September 11, 2001, the two countries began negotiating a ceasefire, and one was signed in 2003. This ended the frequent gunfire on the glacier (usually initiated by the Pakistanis), but efforts to negotiate a withdrawal of troops from the glacier have so far failed. India finally signed a deal to buy $2 billion worth of air defense systems from Israeli firms. The purchase is mainly about customized (for India) Israeli Barak 8 SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems. India wanted a modified naval version (LRSAM) and land version (MRSAM) of the Barak 8. Although this project has been in the works since 2006 it encountered problems, mainly on the Indian side, that held up completing the work, and getting everyone to sign off on the contracts.. April 5, 2017: In Pakistan (Lahore) a Taliban suicide bomber attacked a census team and killed six people, most of them soldiers guarding the census workers. Many groups oppose the Pakistani census which is supposed to be held every ten years. Islamic terrorists opposed to the census were a major factor in delaying the census and the current one if the first in 19 years. Opposition to the census is usually because many political and religious groups claim more supporters than they actually have and an accurate count (like the census) is not in their best interest. April 4, 2017: Afghanistan and Pakistan began using a new hotline established so that military commanders on both sides of the border could quickly contact each other to deal with an unexpected border incident. Britain helped Afghanistan and Pakistan negotiate some new security cooperation deals, including regularly exchanging details of people wanted for criminal activity along the border. Online Education Lacking a Teacher, NJ High School Offers Chemistry on Computers The Atlantic City School District could not find a certified chemistry teacher to fill a key chemistry teaching position at its one high school last summer and fall. So the district turned to Edmentum, a provider of online courses, to fill the void. This year, four classes at Atlantic City High School are being taught via an online course, with backup support from an Earth science teacher who is not certified to teach chemistry. The full story can be found in The Press of Atlantic City. This is the way of the future, said Assistant Superintendent Sherry Yahn in an interview with The Press of Atlantic City. She added that the district is looking at other online programs. While students in the chemistry classes said they didnt mind being able to work at their own pace, almost all interviewed said they would prefer a live teacher. Basically its like your teaching yourself, junior Citlalli Madden, 17, told The Press. She said she is currently getting an A in chemistry. The online chemistry classes at Atlantic City High School represent the confluence of several key education issues that are occurring across the country: a shortage of science teachers, cuts in school funding and the growth of online courses. Only 80 new teachers were certified in chemistry in 2016, according to New Jersey Department of Education data. Only 41 new teachers were certified in physics. While the online courses may seem to provide a temporary solution to budget and teacher-shortage issues, educators and administrators are wary of turning their brick-and-mortar schools into online academies. Yahn said the school district is still looking for a chemistry teacher. But the district is also considering using Edmentum courses for an alternative high school program next year. The Atlantic City School Board approved spending $35,400 for as many as five Edmentum EdOptions Academy chemistry classes at its January board meeting, according to The Press of Atlantic City. But board members strongly questioned Yahn about why that was necessary. Yahn said applicants agreed to take the chemistry teaching job, then backed out. The district had a substitute in the class, Diana Arndt, who is certified in Earth science but not chemistry, so she could not teach the entire year. She remains in the class to assist. People can just make more money as scientists than they can as science teachers, said Linda Smith, president of the New Jersey Science Teachers Association, in an interview with The Press. To read the entire story, visit The Press of Atlantic Citys website. To learn more about Edmentum, visit that companys site. Mobile Tech Common Sense Education Launches #DeviceFreeDinner Campaign Common Sense Education, a project of the nonprofit organization Common Sense, is sponsoring a Device Free Dinner campaign, with the hashtag #DeviceFreeDinner. Common Sense Education is encouraging the distribution of an online toolkit for educators, which offers tips on achieving media balance at home. The Device Free Dinner website provides resources for teachers, students and schools to host a device-free event through school. The resources include posters, student activities and tips on advertising the event. Possible dinner conversation topics are also included, as well as social media tags. The website offers three suggested steps: Organize a device-free event at your school; Get your students involved; and Share with parents and caregivers. A video on the Device Free Dinner site says the average American spends nine hours per day on devices. Ditching electronic devices during meals leads to better conversation, laughter and healthier kids, the site says. To learn more about the #DeviceFreeDinner campaign, visit Common Sense Educations website. To view the video on the effort, see the link below: Distance Learning Mobile Classroom to Connect Thousands of Students to Killer Whales Thousands of elementary students from across the United States are expected to travel virtually to Washington states Penrose Point and Lime Kiln Point state parks in May to see orcas and other aquatic life in their natural habitats through Journey to the Parks, a series of high-tech distance learning experiences. The free, interactive events, funded by the Washington State Parks Foundation, facilitated by Inspired Classroom and provided by the experts at Killer Whale Tales and Harbor WildWatch, will leverage a state-of-the-art satellite-based mobile classroom from GCI (General Communications Inc.), Alaskas largest telecom, to connect students with wildlife and experts. The Penrose Point experience will be held May 9-11, while the Lime Kiln Point experience will be held May 15-17. To virtually transport students from across the country to remote state parks in Washington, strong, reliable broadband connectivity is key, said Pam Lloyd, vice president of GCI Education and Healthcare, in a statement. Our mobile classroom gives students the opportunity to visit faraway places theyd never experience otherwise. Its exciting to see technology and education come together to offer students a one-of-a-kind learning experience. In addition to GCI, technology partners Polycom and VisionNet will empower classrooms to connect remotely to the events. Participating classrooms will get to see biologists at work, take virtual park tours and learn about orca identification and research, including: the specific criteria that whale researchers use to identify whales; and why tracking whales is an important part of whale research. Students will also participate in a hands-on activity where they will experience what it is like to communicate using only sound. During the event at Penrose Point State Park, students will take a close look at marine invertebrates using a virtual microscope. Naturalists and marine biologists will discuss the shoreline ecosystem near the park. Our intention is to expand this educational service by utilizing the signature experience of state parks as learning platforms and, as a result, bring state parks within reach of a wider range of children and families, said John Floberg, executive director of Washington State Parks Foundation, in a statement. Classrooms interested in participating in can register at this site. Inspired Classroom, an interactive distance learning company, will record the content and provide it to classrooms around the globe, the company said. Virtual Classroom New Google Earth Has Exciting Features for Teachers Google has recently released a brand new version of Google Earth for both Chrome and Android. This new version has come with a slew of nifty features teachers can use for educational purposes with students in class. Following is a quick overview of the most fascinating features: 1. Voyager: Voyager is a showcase of interactive guided tours to help teachers and students virtually explore beautiful places from all around the globe. You can learn about wildlife with Natural Treasures from BBC Earth, or have a personal encounter with the 12 little monsters featured in Sesame Streets Girl Muppet Around the World. There are actually more than 50 immersive stories in Voyager, with more stories added every week. 2. Feeling Lucky Feature: This new feature enables users to visit unexpected places with a single click of a button. More than 20,000 different places are already curated; you simply roll the dice and see where you land. Once a user has landed on a point of interest, s/he can open a Knowledge Card to learn history and facts about that place and see more pictures of it. To add a dash of serendipity to ones travels, one can flip through the stack of cards and discover related places. 3. 3D Imagery: This new feature allows you to explore different parts of the world in 3D. Whether its the Grand Canyon or Chateau de Chambord, you will get to easily create and share postcards of beautiful sceneries you come across and share them with others through a generated link. 4. This is Home: This is a special Voyager story that allows the user to take virtual journeys into traditional homes from cultures around the globe. The user is invited to step inside a Peruvian chuclla, a Bedouin tent and a Greenlandic Iloq, and meet the people who live there. Check back and visit more homes in the coming months. 5. Google Earth VR: With a virtual reality headset, the user can explore different parts of the world, including cities, landmarks and natural points of beauty. With Earth VR, the user can fly over a city, stand at the edge of a mountain, even soar into space. Google Earth VR is available now on Steam for the HTC Vive. Learn more on this site. The video below offers more to learn about the new Google Earth: By Press Trust of India: Washington, Apr 25 (PTI) Pakistans new Ambassador to the US Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry has called on President Donald Trump and presented him his credentials. "I presented my credentials to the US President Donald Trump," Chaudhry was quoted by Geo News as saying. "I conveyed best wishes to the US president on behalf of Pakistan?s leadership and people and expressed the desire that the ties between the two countries continue to strengthen," Chaudhry said. advertisement "President Trump also expressed his good wishes, especially for the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," he said. Prior to this, Chaudhry served as the countrys foreign secretary. Chaudhry, a Foreign Service officer with over 36 years of bilateral and multilateral experience in the field of diplomacy, was appointed the ambassador to the US in February this year. PTI NSA --- ENDS --- By Marianna Parraga and Alexandra Ulmer HOUSTON/CARACAS (Reuters) - As political turmoil in Venezuela mounts, oil firms including Norwegian major Statoil ASA and Spain's Repsol SA have further reduced their already-dwindling ranks of expatriate employees in the country, sources familiar with the situation said. Statoil, Repsol and Chevron Corp are among the foreign oil companies that hold minority stakes in more than 40 joint ventures with state-run Petroleos de Venezuela [PDVSA.UL] (PDVSA), providing cash-strapped Venezuela with crucial crude production and income amid a debilitating economic crisis. Venezuela, South America's largest oil exporter, has been pummeled by a brutal economic crisis that has millions skipping meals, unable to afford soaring prices for basic goods and facing long lines for scarce products. More than a dozen people have been killed during near daily clashes this month between security forces and protesters calling for elections, the release of jailed activists, and autonomy for the opposition-led congress. At least 10 people have also died during night-time looting. Leftist President Nicolas Maduro has accused the protesters of plotting a coup against him. There are no reports of the unrest affecting operations in Venezuela's often isolated oil fields, but some firms have been spooked by frequent barricades blocking streets and National Guard forces firing tear gas in capital Caracas, where foreign oil companies are usually based. Statoil, which has a joint venture in the country's Orinoco Belt extra-heavy crude region, has withdrawn its five to six expatriate staff that remained in the country, two sources said. Statoil's website says it has 30 employees in Venezuela including local staff, although it was not clear how many were native Venezuelans. Some expatriate staff with family at Repsol, which has a 40 percent stake in the Petroquiriquire joint venture with PDVSA and also participates in the Orinoco, have recently left the country, although others remain, two separate sources said. Repsol has about 10 non-Venezuelan employees. The sources all spoke within the past few days and requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Statoil said it has been following the situation to guarantee the safety of its staff, including local employees and expatriates. Its operations are proceeding as normal, it added. Repsol did not respond to requests for information. Chevron declined to comment on security and personnel issues. Russia's Rosneft told Reuters on Tuesday that "the inner political situation in Venezuela does not affect the operation of the joint venture. The works are carried out as scheduled." HIGH-RISK OPERATION The turmoil underlines the difficulty oil companies encounter maintaining operations in high-risk countries from Latin America to Africa to the Middle East. Such markets typically compel the firms to pay premium salaries for expats and employ specialized security staff to protect their families. Chevron last year advised expats living in Venezuela with their families to transfer to other locations, company sources said, part of a gradual winnowing down of expat staff as life grew more difficult there. Venezuela's crime epidemic has long plagued foreign staffs. Worsening shortages of goods are also making the country increasingly inhospitable. Top Chinese oil executives nearly all relocated to neighbouring Colombia about a year ago because they were frequently targeted by kidnappers, a source said. Foreign oil executives who remain in Caracas are typically restricted to living in certain areas, sometimes banned from travelling after dark, and compelled to move around in armoured vehicles. The recent moves by foreign oil companies recall an exit of foreign staff from oil majors in Venezuela amid heightened protests in 2014. Those demonstrations ultimately wilted due to protester fatigue, a tough government response, and because unrest largely failed to spread to poorer areas. At Chevron, which participates in two oil projects in the Orinoco Belt, expats are staying put for now but the company has been monitoring looting to decide whether to change their status, another source said. The U.S. embassy in Caracas last week recommended its citizens living in Venezuela avoid areas where demonstrations may erupt spontaneously as protests may result in violence. (Writing by Christian Plumb; Editing by Matthew Lewis) The damage caused by gangsters who used explosives to rob a security company of millions of dollars in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay AFP Gustavo GALEANO Asuncion (AFP) - Dozens of suspected Brazilian gangsters blasted into a secure vault containing millions of dollars in southeastern Paraguay on Monday, leaving a policeman dead in what officials called the "robbery of the century." Some 50 gunmen with explosives and military-grade weaponry left the city of Ciudad del Este looking like a war zone after a two-hour overnight assault on a security firm and police headquarters, authorities and witnesses said. A joint Paraguayan-Brazilian police operation against the fleeing assailants on the country's porous border near the famous Iguazu waterfalls killed three suspects and resulted in "at least four arrests," Paraguay's interior ministry said in a tweet, embedded below. Tweet Embed: https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/856591493246668800 Operativo en Foz de Yguazu permite interceptar a sup. autores del asalto a #Prosegur: 3 muertos y al menos 4 detenidos. Con @RRPPpoliciapy pic.twitter.com/MOriPF0mH3 The tweet showed a photograph of a policeman standing over the body of a man in bloodied camouflage clothing. Other pictures on the ministry's Twitter page showed what were apparently the getaway cars snared by police and a collection of captured ammunition and flak jackets. Tweet Embed: https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/856606896328933376 Ministro @lorenzolez y Comando Instit. #Policia permanecen en #Foz con la #Federal. Operativos contra asaltantes #Prosegur. @RRPPpoliciapy pic.twitter.com/vRLRVgWJcR Tweet Embed: https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/856612320939839489 En poder de los detenidos y abatidos, hallaron armamentos pesados, municion gruesa,chalecos antibalas y salvavidas,cargadores #Foz #Prosegur pic.twitter.com/w3QSMTu0H9 Brazilian authorities confirmed there had been a deadly clash but would not give more details. "There was an exchange of fire," a federal police source for the state of Parana told AFP. "There were dead and wounded but we are not giving more information for now. We're still looking for people." Story continues Brazilian President Michel Temer promised to support Paraguayan police "with all necessary resources." "The Brazilian government expresses solidarity with the victims of this criminal act and, especially, with the relatives of the dead Paraguayan policeman," he said. 'Like bombs in a war' Shocked Paraguayan officials said it was an unprecedented attack for Ciudad del Este, a key trading hub near the borders of Brazil and Argentina in an area linked to drug gangs. The target of the raid was Prosegur, a firm specializing in safely transporting cash. Far from simply overwhelming security at the facility, the raiders caused multiple diversions around the city, setting vehicles on fire to block roads and detonating explosives near police headquarters. "The noise rang out around the city like bombs in a war," one man who witnessed the attack, Antonio del Puerto, told AFP. Paraguay Ciudad del Este Brazil robbery of the century (Mariana Ladaga/Diario ABC Color via AP) Television images from the scene showed the Prosegur building was virtually destroyed, with rocket casings lying around and burned-out vehicles in the streets. Police reports said the attackers included members of First Capital Command, one of Brazil's most powerful drug gangs, which is based in Sao Paulo and has fought turf battles in Rio de Janeiro and across the country's prison system. Public prosecutor Denise Duarte said the men wore masks and spoke Portuguese, the language of Brazil. Vault was packed It remained unclear just how much the assailants made off with. Duarte said the Prosegur vault "was full" at the time of the robbery. Police said the vault can hold up to $40 million in cash but authorities had yet to verify the amount. The attackers abandoned several vehicles at the site, including armored trucks, one of them mounted with what was described as an anti-aircraft gun. Brazil Paraguay Ciudad del Este robbery of the century car burning torched (Mariana Ladaga/Diario ABC Color via AP) "The security firm's premises has been destroyed and the attack caused chaos and terror in the city," the governor of surrounding Alto Parana state, Justo Zacarias, told reporters. "Nothing like this has ever happened in Paraguay." Paraguay's police chief Luis Rojas said it was "very feasible" that the attackers had help from within the police force. He said he had contacted security forces in Brazil and Argentina to help catch the robbers. "I am going to seek the resources and the best men to work to catch these people," he said. NOW WATCH: Watch drone footage of Rios Olympic stadium thats now become a ghost town See Also: If news stories are anything to go by, Europe is performing poorly when it comes to vaccination and the anti-vaxxer is to blame. In Britain, public memory still persists of the infamous measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) controversy, arising from a now debunked 1998 Lancet article about a link to autism. MMR vaccine uptake plummeted during that time and since then there have been outbreaks of measles in Dublin in 1999 and Swansea in 2013, leading to four preventable deaths. Other European countries have experienced cases of disease not seen in decades, such as the first case of diphtheria in Spain for 28 years in 2015 and the continued spread of measles. So whats really going on? Immunisation in Europe Its European Immunisation Week, a World Health Organisation initiative to raise awareness of the importance of immunisation. So, how is Europe doing on immunisation coverage? From the examples given it would appear not very well. However, regardless of controversies and outbreaks, people who oppose vaccination are a small minority. A climate of scepticism rather than opposition is a more accurate description. Europe recently was found to be the least confident region globally regarding vaccine safety and according to the Vaccine Confidence Project, France is the most sceptical country in the world. Despite this, Europe still tends to have high vaccination rates, along with North America, Central America, and Asia. The success is due to easy access to vaccines which is not the case for other regions. Saudi Arabia is one notable exception, as a country that reached full coverage in 1990 through an expanded programme of immunisation, better education, and increased wealth. The country also has one of the highest levels of confidence in vaccines with only 1% of the population disagreeing that vaccines are safe. At the other end of the scale, the Indian sub-continent, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South-East Asia have low vaccination rates largely because of poverty, and limited access to vaccination services and health education. Story continues Best and worst performing But not all European countries are uniformly high vaccinators. According to a study on vaccine performance, Denmark, Iceland, Romania, Austria, Moldova, San Marino and Ukraine have had the lowest vaccination coverage in Europe (since 2000). Particularly high vaccination rates, meanwhile, can be found in Russia, Hungary and Slovakia the legacy of former Eastern Bloc health policies, which enforced mass childhood immunisation campaigns. However, in some areas, the fall of communism either saw vaccination becoming a lower priority (Ukraine and Romania) or the collapse of vaccination services altogether (Georgia in the early 1990s). Given Europes generally high vaccination rates, we might expect a corresponding belief among populations that vaccinations are safe and important. But as already noted, the continent remains the most sceptical region in the world. Scepticism about vaccine safety does occasionally, but not always, tally with low uptake. France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia and Slovenia, are among the least confident, but this is not strongly reflected in coverage rates, which are high. In Ukraine, however, low uptake and low confidence appear to closely match, and the country saw outbreaks of polio in 2015 in part, attributable to the recent conflict. Elsewhere, countries with high confidence may be constrained by poor vaccination services, which prevent higher coverage. If vaccination is not offered at a high enough availability and standard, there is arguably less capacity for opposition. Still, there are cases (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Syria) where, besides technical and organisational constraints, political and social resistance has become a greater problem. Researchers in global health and development, Kennedy and Michailidou, have argued that resistance to vaccination in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria, is better explained by the political conflicts there. Vaccination is therefore linked to concerns over interference, control and dominance by unwanted forces, whether internal or foreign. Pockets of resistance In Europe, there are similarly pockets of resistance. Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK have had measles outbreaks associated with alternative views on lifestyle, education and medicine, as well as among some religious groups. These subgroups may better explain the recent outbreaks of measles in Europe than a widespread anti-vaccination movement. Europe should not be complacent about its generally high coverage but nor should it be alarmist. Access problems do persist as seen in some of the former Eastern Bloc countries that once excelled at vaccine provision, or among vulnerable subgroups, such as Roma communities. However, the complicated relationship between vaccine uptake, beliefs, and attitudes means that there is not a ready-made formula to ensure children are protected from childhood diseases. More than ever, in Europe as well as other regions, vaccination is inextricably tied to politics, lifestyles, principles and trust of authority rather than access alone. The situation needs careful monitoring. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. The Conversation Samantha Vanderslott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above. PETA has called on PM Narendra Modi to "set a global example by ensuring that exclusively healthy, humane, and environmentally friendly vegan meals are served at all government functions." By Chayyanika Nigam: Following the German environment minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been urged to "direct his ministries to go meatfree" in a letter from India Chapter of PETA. The German environment minister recently banned meat from being served at her ministry's meetings and events. The letter in possession with MAIL TODAY read, "Germany's ministry went meat-free because meat production is one of the leading contributors to climate change, which is causing people throughout India to suffer through severe droughts, heat waves, and more. advertisement "The meat industry is heating up the planet and gobbling up our natural resources, but we can fight climate change by starting with what's on our plates," said PETA India spokesperson Nikunj Sharma. "PETA is calling on Prime Minister Modi to set a global example by ensuring that exclusively healthy, humane, and environmentally friendly vegan meals are served at all government functions." The letter further emphasised on the climate change, which is occurring 10 to 100 times faster than in the past, and India is no stranger to its negative effects. While more than 194 million people in India are undernourished, 60 per cent of the world's grain supply is used to feed farmed animals, as it takes 10 kg of grain to produce just one kg of meat. United Nations said a global shift towards a vegan lifestyle is vital in order to save the world. Eating meat also causes suffering on a massive scale. At the slaughterhouse, animals are dismembered while they're still conscious. ALSO READ | Designer Anupama Dayal bags a PETA prize for compassion towards animals ALSO READ | Child rights commission in Tamil Nadu demands ban on PETA website for sexually explicit content ALSO WATCH | Jallikattu and Kambala may face fresh legal hurdle as PETA plans to move Supreme Court --- ENDS --- By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union governments could get 60,000 euros for each asylum-seeker they take in above their quota, or chose to pay that amount if they fall below their share, Malta proposed, in a bid to end a row over migration that has sharply divided Europe. Tiny Malta, where migrants land after crossing the Mediterranean, hopes to persuade eastern European countries to end their refusal to take in asylum-seekers under a system aimed at relieving the pressure on the southern frontline states. With anti-immigration sentiment boosting nationalists in elections across the bloc, and Britain's decision to quit the EU, dealing with the unprecedented wave of people fleeing the Middle East and Africa is vital to the EU's future. The proposal from Malta, which holds the rotating EU presidency, will be discussed by EU states' representatives in Brussels on Wednesday. It suggests that at times of particularly high migrant arrivals, the distribution of asylum-seekers across the bloc would kick in "quasi-automatically" and each country would be obliged to take a number of them based on its size and wealth. "In order to overcome the political obstacle to receive an unknown number of persons ... an EU overall cap for allocations could, for example, be set at 200,000 applications per calendar year," says the proposal, seen by Reuters on Monday. The figure is ambitious, given that EU states only managed to relocate some 17,000 asylum-seekers over nearly two years under a previous programme meant to deal with 160,000 people, which has collapsed in acrimony. That system formally expires in September and several EU leaders are pushing for a new agreement by the middle of this year. If that fails, as seems likely, the EU is set for a big showdown over migration in the second half of 2017. Under the Maltese proposal, EU states would be obliged to take in at least half of their quota and could meet the other half by providing help such as money or staff to help with the screening of people arriving in frontline states. Countries hosting more people than they are due would receive 60,000 euros per extra person over five years. Those who take in fewer people than their quota, would pay the same amount for every asylum-seeker they fail to take. That compares with a 250,000 euro fine floated by the bloc's executive European Commission a year ago for each asylum seeker a country refuses to take. For the eastern Europeans, which cite security as well as the largely homogenous make-up of their societies for their refusal to help, Malta suggested a three-year phasing-in period to "further develop their asylum and reception systems". (Editing by Robin Pomeroy) CONAKRY (Reuters) - Riots have paralysed a major bauxite mining hub in Guinea, Africa's top producer, as residents erected barricades and burned tyres to protest against high pollution levels and power cuts, government and company officials said on Tuesday. The unrest broke out on Monday night in the city of Boke, home to mining companies Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB) and Companie Bauxite de Guinee (CBG) which each export around 15 million tonnes of the aluminium ore annually. "It's a problem with electricity that aggravated the situation. We are working on finding a solution to the problem," said Saadou Nimaga, secretary general at Guinea's Mines Ministry. A police source said anti-riot police had been sent to rein in the protests on Tuesday. Mining activity has fuelled tensions in cities such as Boke, where much of the population remains poor and unemployed despite Guinea's mineral riches. The West African nation possesses about a third of the world's bauxite reserves. A senior company official, who asked not to be named, said the riots had caused a slowdown of activities at CBG, which is 49 percent owned by the Guinean state and the remainder by Alcoa, Rio Tinto Alcan and Dadco. Representatives for SMB were not immediately available for comment. The company is owned by Chinese firms Winning Shipping Ltd and Shandong Weiqiao along with UMS International Ltd and Guinea. "It's nearly the whole city that has risen up against the pollution and power cuts," said another mining company official who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Joe Bavier and David Evans) By David Mardiste AMARI AIR BASE, Estonia (Reuters) - Two of the U.S. Air Force's newest and most advanced jets landed in the Baltic state of Estonia for the first time on Tuesday, a symbolic gesture meant to reinforce the United States' commitment to the defence of NATO allies that border Russia. The visit of the F-35 stealth fighters, which flew from Britain and spent several hours in Estonia, is part of broader U.S. jet pilot training across Europe as the NATO alliance seeks to deter Moscow from any possible incursion in the Baltics. Russia denies having any such intention. "This is a very clear message," Estonia's Defence Minister Margus Tsahkna told Reuters. "The United States is taking the show of unity very seriously," he said of the jets that are designed to avoid detection by conventional radar. The deployment of NATO troops and equipment, as well as strong words of support from senior U.S. officials, have helped to reassure Baltic leaders who had been worried about U.S. President Donald Trump's commitment to defending Europe. In last year's election campaign, Trump voiced admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and contacts between his aides and Russia before and after the November vote prompted concerns in Europe that Trump would seek a deal with Moscow. Trump also described NATO as "obsolete", though as president he has expressed support for the alliance. Earlier this month, the U.S. Air Force said a small number of Lockheed Martin Corp F-35A jets, one of the smaller, lighter variants of the fighters, would come to Europe for several weeks of training with other NATO military aircraft. On Tuesday, the jets spent several minutes making low-flying passes over Estonia's Amari air base before landing. "The significance is the demonstration of how NATO is seeking to evolve and develop it air power capabilities," said Stuart Evans, deputy commander of NATO's Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) at Ramstein Air Base. F-35s are in use by the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, and by six other countries: Australia, Britain, Norway, Italy, the Netherlands and Israel. Japan took delivery of its first jet in December. Estonia and its Baltic neighbours Lithuania and Latvia are former parts of the Soviet Union and today are members of NATO. They requested greater NATO support following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. (Editing by Robin Emmott and Gareth Jones) A US submarine has arrived in South Korea as fears of North Korean nuclear test escalated, weeks after Donald Trump sent a warship to the Korean Peninsula. USS Michigan, an Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at a naval base in Busan, and will join an incoming group of warships led by aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. Tensions between the US and North Korea continue to rise as the US moved a missile-armed submarine to South Korea (Reuters) According to reports, North Korea has marked the 85th anniversary of its army by staging its largest-ever artillery firing drill to mark the occasion. The submarines arriving follows a US warship (Reuters) There is no limit to the strike power of the Peoples Army armed with our style of cutting-edge military equipment including various precision and miniaturised nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, the countrys stage-controlled Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a front-page editorial. The move comes following rising tensions between the US and North Korea, as each side up its rhetoric in recent weeks. MORE: Donald Trump comment may have sparked nuclear arms race MORE: Russia sends troops to North Korea border as tensions escalate MORE: Kim Jong-un warns of super-mighty preemptive strike against United States Last week, US vice president Mike Pence declared that the era of strategic patience is over regarding North Koreas desires to develop nuclear weapons. President Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change, he said. We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the development of nuclear weapons, and also its continual use and testing of ballistic missiles is unacceptable. The USS Michigan is an Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine (Reuters) Days earlier, the North Korean regime, led by Kim Jong-un, defied Donald Trumps demands, launching missiles in a failed test. North Korea showing a variety of offensive missiles at yesterdays military parade and daring to fire a ballistic missile today is a show of force that threatens the whole world, South Koreas foreign ministry said in a statement. In an unconventional move, the entire US Senate has been asked to attend a briefing on North Korea on Wednesday at the White House. Story continues This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not, Trump told the Security Council on Monday. North Koreas a big world problem, and its a problem we have to finally solve. People put blindfolds on for decades and now its time to solve the problem, he said. However, some commentators have argued that Trump has backed himself into a corner over North Korea. It is not clear how the US will react if North Korea continues to defy its demands. Its been all about pressure and brinksmanship and military tools and tactics and chess something, and now to literally, directly taunt the leader of North Korea is like poking the hornets nest yet again, Paul Carroll, program director at the Ploughshares Fund, a group working to eliminate nuclear weapons, told CNN. If you do this kind of ratcheting [up] of rhetorical tensions but also sending military hardware into the region, if you do that absent of any kind of offramp or door or window for the North Koreans to consider walking through and reengaging in any sort of discussions, bad things are going to happen, he added. After the US sent a warship to the region, Pyongyang reacted angrily, threatening to sink the aircraft carrier warning of a super-mighty preemptive strike against the US. China has urged for calm. President Xi Jinping urged all parties to maintain restraint and avoid actions that would increase tensions. UK & Ireland Online Poker Rankings: Three New Names Enter UK Top 20 April 25 2017 Matthew Pitt Editor The United Kingdoms online poker tournament rankings, provided by PocketFives.com, has three new names among its top 20 ranked players but it is still Conor 1_conor_b_1 Beresford who leads the way. Beresford finished fifth in the $150,000 Gtd High Roller at partypoker for a $10,085 score and two days later won the Big $215 at PokerStars for $11,646. These two excellent results have placed a 405.90 gap between himself and second-placed Patrick pleno1 Leonard in the UKs standings The first new name in the UK top 20 is that of Belgiums Kenny SpaceyFCB Hallaert. The man who finished sixth in the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event has more than $3.35 million in online poker tournament cashes and is now ranked 56th in the world. Another newcomer is David davaman Lopez, one of the many Spanish grinders gracing the shores of the UK with their presence. Lopez recently won the $1,050 Thursday Thrill at PokerStars for a $39,716 score, which happens to be the second-largest online cash of his career. Completing the trio of new additions is Richard Keldo Kellett. Playing under the moniker noonionsblud at partypoker, Kellett has racked up several final tables, including a win in the $50,000 Gtd Uppercut for $12,305 and a runner-up finish in the $150,000 Gtd Main Event for $20,452. Special mentions have to go to luckyfish89 who won the $120,000 Mega Deep at 888poker and walked away with $24,444 and to the online legend that is Chris moorman1 Moorman who won the $215 Weekender at PokerStars for $7,935 and a $30,000 guaranteed event at a USA-facing poker room. UK Online Poker Rankings (Apr. 25, 2017) UK Rank Player Points 1 Conor 1_conor_b_1 Beresford 7134.39 2 Patrick pleno1 Leonard 6728.49 3 Manu mbo90 Bardon 5938.18 4 Ludovic ludovi333 Geilich 5492.48 5 Vicente vicenfish Delgado 5288.18 6 Scott Aggro Santos Margereson 5251.81 7 Kenny SpaceyFCB Hallaert 5235.72 8 Oscar MendaLerenda Serradell 4933.83 9 Chris moorman1 Moorman 4843.57 10 malakastyle 4670.74 11 luckyfish89 4575.36 12 Phil philroyal888 Mighall 4567.29 13 Oliver 3BunPass Price 4502.82 14 que_te_crio 4445.54 15 Sam TheSquid Grafton 4396.06 16 David davaman Lopez 4358.01 17 Richard Keldo Kellett 4319.68 18 Jamie EzGame89 OConnor 4290.30 19 Owain sngwonder Carey 4231.17 20 Rick TheClaimer Trigg 4206.91 James Noonan Leaps into Pole Position in Ireland James Jaymo Noonan is the new Irish number one ranked player, leapfrogging both Toby JobyToyce Joyce and long-time leader Dan NukeTheFish! Wilson. Noonan won a $40,000 Gtd Uppercut at partypoker for $8,000 and went on to finish as the runner-up in the PokerStars $10K Payday Phase 2 for a $9,556 addition to his bankroll. Noonan now has more than $2.17 million in online cashes and has soared to 38th in the world rankings, representing his loftiest ever position. The player known as myleftfoot cemented his position in seventh-place by winning a $55 NLHE Win the Button event at PokerStars for $1,025 while a string of deep runs has resulted in Sean monkeybudgie Prendiville climb from 10th place up to eighth. Popular pro and blogger extraordinaire Dara Doke OKearney finished third in a $40,000 Gtd Uppercut for $4,300 and last night won the 5,000 Gigabyte on the MPN network for $2,364. When the latter is added to his points tally, OKearney could return to the Irish top 10. Irish Online Poker Rankings Top 20 (Apr. 25, 2017) UK Rank Player Points 1 James Jaymo Noonan 5540.45 2 Toby Jobytoyce Joyce 4968.27 3 Dan NukeTheFish! Wilson 4895.01 4 Noogaii 3965.05 5 FoxyLisa 3911.66 6 Tomas luckymo32 Geleziunas 3762.63 7 myleftfoot 3570.65 8 Sean monkeybudgie Prendiville 3246.70 9 Daniel danielt999 Tighe 3244.13 10 Kevin SuitedAcesBaby Killeen 3226.14 11 Cathal shinerrr Shine 3218.76 12 Dara Doke OKearney 3096.30 13 Nicholas YerSoLucky Newport 2999.62 14 Daragh daragh999 Davey 2843.65 15 Gary relaxnspew McGinty 2805.22 16 Conor ccoonnoorr ODriscoll 2682.51 17 Jason blaaaaaah666 Tompkins 2575.55 18 Dan DatWillDoPig Rankin 2461.66 19 rtspurs 2235.02 20 Kamal AceOfShamrocks Singh 2211.84 Our trip to Italy (and Paris) will cover a little over two weeks. Well be in Rome, Lake Como and Venice, then finishing up in Paris for two nights. As of today, the forecasts indicate mild temperatures and pleasant conditions in Rome and Venice, and chilly, possibly wet conditions in Lake Como. The last time we were in Italy, much of Europe was experiencing an unusually hot spring, so Im happy for the cooler temps, as I find them much easier to pack for. When push came to shove, I opted for a no muss, no fuss wardrobe. Ive selected pieces that will layer well to accommodate changing conditions. As always, I dont include outerwear, accessories or underpinnings as part of my 12 items. And at the last minute Ill give myself the option to add a wild card depending on weather and my mood. So lets dive right in to the details Shoes I really wanted to include some non-black footwear, as it just feels more seasonally appropriate. But because of the rain currently in the forecast, Im including my black weatherproof ankle boots. Low-heeled pumps , left. ( Similar ) We have a few dinners on the schedule that are a step up from casual, so I decided to include these leopard ankle strap pumps. I know theyre comfortable for long periods on my feet (though Ill probably limit their wear to evenings) and the leopard print gives simple outfits a nice lift. , left. ( ) We have a few dinners on the schedule that are a step up from casual, so I decided to include these leopard ankle strap pumps. I know theyre comfortable for long periods on my feet (though Ill probably limit their wear to evenings) and the leopard print gives simple outfits a nice lift. Slip-on sneakers, middle. ( Similar )I wanted something a little fun and funky. And Not Black. Ive road-tested these the last couple of weeks and theyve passed with flying colors for comfort and durability. middle. ( )I wanted something a little fun and funky. And Not Black. Ive road-tested these the last couple of weeks and theyve passed with flying colors for comfort and durability. Weatherproof ankle boots, right. (Similar)For wet and/or chilly weather. I also like to wear ankle boots on travel days to protect my feet. You never know when that Dude In A Hurry is going to run over your toes with his heavy suitcase. Pants After some dithering, I went with what I know works. Two pairs of slim leg jeans (one lighter wash, one medium), and two pairs of Eileen Fisher stretch crepe pants (one slightly cropped, the other hits just below the ankle). Medium wash jeans (similar). Lighter wash jeans (similar) . I decided to include a lighter pair in case the weather warms up. . I decided to include a lighter pair in case the weather warms up. Slim black knit pants, ankle length (similar). Slim black knit pants (similar). Both of these black pants can dress up easily if needed. They also can be hand washed in the sink if necessary, and will hang to dry overnight. Theyre comfortable and breathable even if the weather warms up. Best travel pants Ive found yet! Tops I decided to stick with tees and sweaters this time. Black merino wool pullover (similar). Mines Uniqlo from last year. Its a little different from the style currently available, has a high-low hem and covers my bum. Mines Uniqlo from last year. Its a little different from the style currently available, has a high-low hem and covers my bum. Cashmere blend striped tee (similar). Lightweight long grey sweater (similar). Mines from last year, but its a nice sweater thats not boxy or bulky, so can layer underneath a jacket. Mines from last year, but its a nice sweater thats not boxy or bulky, so can layer underneath a jacket. Striped 3/4 sleeve tee (similar). This is a very lightweight tee, good in heat. This is a very lightweight tee, good in heat. Long-sleeved black silk tunic (similar) . . Pink graphic tee. In case the weather warms up, or I hit the wall with neutrals. Jackets Im bringing two jackets this time rather than a cardigan. One jacket can dress up for evening, the other is lightweight and can be dressed up or down. Silk kimono jacket (similar). Short fringe edge tweed jacket (similar) Scarves Im using scarves to add color and pattern. As I described in an earlier post, Color And Neutrals In A Travel Wardrobe, Ive limited my tops to stripes and graphic prints, and scarves to florals. The pattern mix works so that any of the scarves can be worn with any of the tops. Silk-cashmere blend long scarf (similar) . . Cotton-silk blend long scarf (similar) Silk square scarf (gifted).(similar) Cashmere poncho (similar style). Outerwear And Bags (Dont worry, those are just sun spots on the Gucci; it hasnt faded.) I opted for two water-resistant jackets, one thats a bit heavier and warmer, and one thats a very lightweight shell. I still havent found a day bag I like better for travel than my Pandora, but will also throw in a smaller crossbody bag for variety and a pop of color. Utility jacket (similar) . This jacket is several years old from Sandro. I still love it as much as the day I bought it in London. . This jacket is several years old from Sandro. I still love it as much as the day I bought it in London. Rain jacket (similar). Black satchel/crossbody bag. Red crossbody bag. Most of these pieces are from last year or are even older, but I tried to find items that are similar in style or fabric composition. I try to be sure that most of what Im packing is washable. Im often asked about what sleepwear I pack for travel. In warmest weather Ill pack a silk chemise, otherwise I love my Cool Nights pajamas. Whew! I think Im ready. For more of my spring and summer travel wardrobe suggestions, check out my Travel Wardrobe Resource Page. By Press Trust of India: (EDs: Adding detailed observation of POCSO court) Lucknow, Apr 25 (PTI) Former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati and two of his alleged accomplices were today granted bail by a special court here in connection with a rape case. Special judge of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court Om Prakash Mishra granted bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu. advertisement The court asked Prajapati to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount and directed the accused that they would not affect trial or influence the witnesses during trial and remain in the territorial jurisdiction of the court during the trial. It held that the complainant had given her implied consent in the incident. The court observed that since she did not complain to the police or the competent court despite claiming that they had been committing rape on her for last three years, it was an indication that she had given implied consent. It also observed in the order that the circumstances revealed that the accused were implicated in the case due to malafide intention. In his bail order, the judge said there was contradiction in the statements of the woman and her daughter as recorded under section 161 of CrPC and 164 of the CrPC. The court also noted that the woman had earlier lodged an FIR in Chitrakoot against three of the accused on almost same allegations but she did not say that rape was committed on her. "Now after three years of the alleged incident she has leveled the allegations. The incident took place three years ago and it was repeated time and again but the woman did not approach the police or court for lodging her FIR. This goes to prove that the woman had given her consent for cohabitation," the court observed. An FIR was registered against 49-year-old Prajapati and six others on February 17 on a Supreme Court directive. Prajapati was then a minister in the Akhilesh Yadavs Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh. When asked about the bail granted to his former cabinet colleague, Akhilesh said, "Its good that he got bail. Please tell me if there is anything wrong in it. " After being on the run for nearly a month, Prajapati (49) was arrested from the Aashiyana area here on March 15 and was sent to jail for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter in 2014. advertisement The six others had been arrested earlier. Prajapati had approached the Supreme Court to get a stay on his arrest. But the apex court asked him to approach the court concerned. At the time of his arrest, Prajapati had claimed that he was innocent and the charges were a conspiracy to malign him. The former minister had said that he was prepared for a narco test to bring out the truth and also demanded a similar test on the minor victim. The allegations against Prajapati were raked by the BJP during the state assembly elections to attack the then Akhilesh government. The Supreme Court order to file a police complaint against Prajapati had come just two days before the third phase of polling in the seven-phase state elections which saw Samajwadi Party winning only 47 of the 403 assembly seats while the BJP and its allies bagged 325 seats. The BJP had accused Akhilesh of shielding his tainted minister, a charge refuted by the Samajwadi Party. PTI NAV SMI ZMN --- ENDS --- The University of North Georgia (UNG) Alumni Association welcomed home hundreds of alumni and their families for Alumni Weekend 2017, a weekend filled with events, reunions, awards, and fellowship on the university's Dahlonega Campus. Among those returning to campus was retired Lt. Gen. Burke Garrett, '81, who served as reviewing officer and guest speaker for the Corps of Cadets Military Awards Review. Garrett, who retired from active duty in December after more than 35 years of military service, shared his three-point philosophy for being an effective leader, which he summed up as: "Know your stuff. Take care of your people. Lead with courage." Garrett's last assignment was deputy commander of the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. "All of us here today wish you the very best as you prepare to take up the mantle of leadership and I hope that in some small way, these lessons can illuminate the path ahead," he told cadets. "Thank you all for the courage you have to be the leaders we need in this world today." Inclement weather moved the event inside to Memorial Hall gym, which could only hold one-third of the Corps of Cadets. Awards and scholarships were presented to some three dozen cadets. Lt. Col. Bruce Gannaway, '98, this year's recipient of the Ralph Colley Spirit of North Georgia award, also was guest speaker for the annual Memorial Retreat. One of the many events held over the weekend was the North Georgia Dahlonega Alumni Shared Interest Group (SIG) Awards Luncheon. Ten individuals were recognized for outstanding leadership, service and excellence in their roles serving or attending the university. This year's Alumni Hall of Fame Award was given to Dr. Jim Crupi, '70, president and founder of Strategic Leadership Solutions, for his outstanding professional career and contributions to community service. Crupi is a member of the Board of Advisors for UNG's Institute for Leadership & Strategic Studies and a trustee of the UNG Foundation. Nancy Clark, '54, president of the UNG Alumni Association Board of Directors, received the Golden Steeple Award for her long record of support and extraordinary contributions to UNG and the Alumni Association. Bob Babich, '85, a member of the UNG Alumni Association Board of Directors, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for his support of the university and excellence in his profession and community. Capt. Shannon Vaughn, '07, received the Young Alumni Award for his excellent professional career and outstanding contributions to community service. Lt. Col. Bruce Gannaway, '98, received the Ralph Colley Spirit of North Georgia Award, which is given to an alumnus who has experienced adverse circumstances in his/her life and has risen above those circumstances to live an exemplary life. While conducting dismounted operations with his Cavalry Troop on Dec. 21, 2007, Gannaway was injured by an improvised explosive device and lost his left leg below the knee and suffered a severe injury to his left arm. Rather than taking a medical retirement, he requested to remain active duty, and subsequently deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as the comptroller for the 75th Ranger Regiment. Dr. Donna Gessell, professor of English, and Dr. Ben Wynne, professor of history, received UNG Distinguished Professor Awards for excellence in teaching and service to students, the university and scholarly publication. Cameron Harper, a senior nursing student, and Krystal Jemmott, a senior cadet majoring in criminal justice, received the Paul M. Hutcherson Outstanding Student Award for demonstrating the highest ideals of citizenship through their accomplishments on campus or in home or community life. Katelyn Shook, a freshman who plans to major in biology, received the Dot Strother Scholarship due to her demonstrated citizenship and leadership potential. Gannaway, who serves as commander of the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Hood, Texas, also spoke during the weekend's 34th Annual Memorial Retreat Ceremony, which pays tribute to all UNG alumni of the armed forces who gave their lives, as well as faculty, staff, students, and friends who passed away since the prior ceremony. "Sacrifice comes in all shapes and sizes and our American freedoms are worth it," Gannaway said. "I know some of the faces of the names on the granite marker to my left. A couple of my fellow cadets that I knew who were ahead of me, Maj. Kevin Jenrette, class of '95, and Capt. Jeremy Chandler, class of '97. Those soldiers were proud to serve in the Army and their communities. They died in service and their families shoulder the sacrifice of their grief." For the first time, the UNG Alumni Association also hosted a live music and family fun event on Saturday afternoon exclusively for Alumni Association members that featured performances by alumni Shawn Mullins, '90, Jay Drummonds, '91, and Wayne Baird, '89, and Dahlonega native Kurt Thomas. Throughout Alumni Weekend, UNG provided a front-row seat at various events via Facebook Live in support of "Recall," a combination "in person" and "virtual" reunion event in conjunction with Alumni Weekend 2017; both Saturday's Memorial Retreat and Sunday's Military Awards Review were live streamed in their entirety. All the videos of events can be viewed on the UNG Facebook page. GREEN VALLEY, Ariz. A wind-whipped grass and brush wildfire that forced the evacuation of several homes in southern Arizona has now grown to nearly 11 square miles but remains 5 percent contained. The fire started midday Sunday in outskirts of the Santa Rita Mountains about 10 miles southeast of Green Valley amid dry and windy conditions. Authorities say the cause of the fire remains under investigation. No damage to structures has been reported, but 12 people were evacuated from homes. Crews say there is active fire behavior and the flames are being fueled by gusty winds, low relative humidity and dry vegetation. Lt. John Cambra of the Southeast Arizona Incident Management Team says two Type 1 hotshot crews arrived in the area Monday to help with the firefighting effort. Albuquerque engineering firm Team Technologies Inc. won a three-year, $900,000 contract for testing and maintenance work on the U.S. Air Forces fleet of B-2 stealth bombers. The company will do aircraft electrocmagnetic hardiness testing directly on the aircraft at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, plus equipment testing and maintenance work at Teams facilities in Albuquerque. Well make sure the plane is still immune to electromagnetic threats, said Team chief technology officer Scott Wilson. Well check the electric circuits to look for any vulnerabilities and address them. The Air Force currently operates 20 B-2 bombers, considered critical to the nations long-range strike arsenal. Its the only U.S. aircraft that combines long range, large payload and stealth in a single platform. The majority of the work will be done here at our facilities, although well go twice a year to do on-site testing in California, said Team President and CEO Bob Sachs. The contract offers several years of work with the Air ForceOur tasks could grow to include other aircraft as well. The company, which originally launched in 1986, faced some difficult times during the recession. But its won a fairly steady stream of work in recent years after diversifying it customer base and branching into more service areas. Apart from its traditional engineering and contract manufacturing work for government and commercial clients, it now helps startups incubate their companies at the firms high-tech, 36,000-square-foot facility at the Sandia Science and Technology Park. Team also launched a new business accelerator this year with city backing to help local startups design and build new hardware products. The company has repeatedly appeared on the annual Flying 40 list of fast-growing technology companies. It reported $10.5 million in revenue in 2013. It currently employs 25 people. An educational assistant at Rio Grande High School was arrested Monday for having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old male student, according to a spokeswoman for the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office. Deputy Felicia Romero said detectives were informed Monday of the relationship between 36-year-old Luis Chavez and the former student, who now attends another high school. Detectives made contact with the victim, who is a current APS student, said Romero. The victim disclosed information regarding criminal sexual penetration of a minor by an Albuquerque Public Schools employee. Chavez was arrested and charged with criminal sexual penetration of a minor, criminal sexual contact of a minor, and sexual exploitation of a minor. Detectives are looking for any other possible victims and are asking anyone with information about Chavez to come forward. Monica Armenta, an APS spokeswoman, said Chavez had been employed at Rio Grande since January 2013. Educational assistants are hired to assist teachers and work in classrooms, she said. She said now APS is moving toward firing him. In this situation, the district is moving toward immediate termination, Armenta said. Tips: BCSO asks anyone with information about the case or other possible victims to call 505-377-6565. SANTA FE A federal appeals court has upheld an earlier ruling that requires Pojoaque Pueblo to negotiate a gambling compact with Gov. Susana Martinezs administration, not the U.S. Interior Department. It wasnt immediately clear how the ruling would affect the pueblos casinos, north of Santa Fe. Pojoaque has operated the Buffalo Thunder and Cities of Gold casinos since mid-2015 without a state compact outlining revenue-sharing requirements and other conditions. But federal prosecutors said they would wait for the litigation to end before deciding how to respond. New Mexico stands to gain about $6 million a year in shared revenue from gambling operations on Pojoaque land, though the details, of course, depend on whether the tribe agrees to the same compact that others have, according to the Martinez administration. The revenue would go into the general fund for basic state operations. Michael Lonergan, a spokesman for the governor, said the administration hopes the latest court decision will end the dispute. As weve said all along, were simply asking for Pojoaque to play by the same rules as other New Mexico tribes, Lonergan said in a written statement. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday issued a 58-page decision affirming an earlier ruling that blocked the Interior Department from establishing gambling rules for Pojoaque. Pojoaques previous agreement with the state expired in June 2015 and the two sides failed to reach agreement on a new one. Pojoaque wanted to stop sharing revenue with the state, lower the gambling age from 21 to 18 and allow alcohol in gambling areas. The pueblo also argued that the state had failed to negotiate in good faith. Pojoaque turned to the Interior Department and asked for approval of its gambling operations. The state government then sued the Interior Department, contending it didnt have authority to get involved. The Journal wasnt able to reach Pojoaque Gov. Joseph Talachy for comment Monday. CHICAGO In his first public appearance since leaving the White House in January, former president Barack Obama told young leaders here Monday that special interests dominate the debates in Washington and that he had failed to realize his aspirational goal of uniting Americans in red and blue states. That was an aspirational comment, the former president said of his famous 2004 Democratic National Convention speech, prompting laughter from the audience at the University of Chicago. He added that when talking to individual Americans from different political backgrounds, you learn that theres a lot more that people have in common than it would appear. But, obviously, its not true when it comes to our politics and our civic life. Obama, who has kept a relatively low public profile since the end of his second term, did not mention President Donald Trump once during the 90-minute event. But he said he was determined to galvanize younger Americans to do more politically because they were the ones best positioned to bridge the current political divide. The single most important thing I can do is to help in any way prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world, said Obama, who sat onstage, wearing a black suit, white button-down shirt and no tie, with a half-dozen Chicago-area activists in their teens and 20s. In keeping with his previous vow not to criticize his successor, Obama speaking days before Trumps 100-day mark made little mention of Republicans rush to dismantle his legacy back in Washington as quickly as possible. Republicans are debating whether to try again this week to dismantle parts of the Affordable Care Act after failing to vote on a bill in March. Trump has signed executive orders and bills from Congress undoing Obama-era regulations on everything from climate change to guns. And the Senate just appointed a conservative to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court after refusing to hold nomination hearings last year on Obamas pick, D.C. Circuit Court Chief Judge Merrick Garland. Obama referred to none of that. Instead, he focused on political polarization, which he ascribed to gerrymandered electoral districts, money in politics, a politicized media and voter apathy, especially among young people. The one thing Im absolutely convinced of is: Yes, we confront a whole range of challenges, from economic inequality and lack of opportunity, to the criminal justice system to climate change to issues related to violence. All those problems are serious, theyre daunting, Obama said. But theyre not insolvable. What is preventing us from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our politics and our civic life. The session, which took place at an intimate hall near where he got started as a community organizer, and a few miles away from where he gave his carefully orchestrated farewell address this year, marks the start of public appearances the former president will deliver in the United States and overseas. Hell be in Boston next month to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, and in Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. His wife, Michelle, for her part, will deliver her first paid speech Friday in Orlando at a meeting of the American Institute of Architects. On Sunday, Obama had met behind closed doors with members of Chicago Create Real Economic Destiny (CRED) program, an initiative headed by his former education secretary, Arne Duncan, which aims to provide job opportunities for the citys at-risk young adults. An aide said in an email that the meeting was the first in ongoing conversations and efforts by the Obamas to work with private and public groups that are committed to tackling violence, poverty and unemployment in communities around the country. Mondays audience was filled mostly with aspiring Chicago-area college students, dressed in their best suits and ties, many of whom grew up watching and cheering Obamas political rise. Jon LeVert and Marquise Davion, both student government leaders and film majors at the Columbia College Chicago, said they were looking for the former president to give some assurance that things arent as bad as they hear it is in Washington, and a road map on how to make things better in their communities. We have these people excited to do something, itd be great to hear from him: You can do this by x, x and x, Davion said. While Obama tried repeatedly during the event to emphasize the legitimacy of different political viewpoints, noting that many Americans want immigration to be lawful and orderly and that it is important not to assume that everybody who has problems with the current immigration system is racist, it remains unclear whether the message he was hoping to convey would take root. The political polarization he decried was on display just outside the hall where he spoke: Three protesters stood outside with white posters taped to their backpacks that read, Obama, we are not on the same intramural team as Trump. As he talked on stage, the former University of Chicago law professor sounded less like a lecturer than an inquisitor. What is it that you think would make the big difference in young people saying, If I volunteer for this, I might make a difference? he asked high school senior Ayanna Watkins after pointing out that only one-third of young people vote in midterm elections. As Obama pressed the point, panelist Ramuel Figueroa offered that activists need to connect personal problems to policy issues to get people invested in elections. If youre working two jobs and cant afford day care, its not because youre lazy, said Figuero, an undergraduate at Roosevelt University who had served in the military before starting college. Of activists, he said, You need to demonstrate some connection. And Obama probed the political divide that exists on college campuses, which tend to be overwhelmingly liberal. All of the hand-picked panel members were Democrats except for one Republican, University of Chicago undergraduate Max M. Freedman. Asked by Obama whether he has a hard time being heard on a college campus as a Republican, Freedman replied, You can expect some level of ostracization from certain people. Theres a significant empathy gap, not just here, but everywhere. . . . Weve cloistered ourselves, Freedman said. Civic engagement, at some point, will require a level of civility. During his time in office, Obama relished holding town halls with young people while traveling overseas. Mondays event had a similar feel, though he was visibly looser than he was while serving as president. Even as he bemoaned how Americans had created news silos through their social media feeds, he joked, Or maybe youre just looking at cat videos, which is fine. At another point, he noted that while his use of marijuana in his youth had not hurt his political career because he was forthright about it, I would advise all of you to be a little more circumspect, in terms of your selfies. Obamas re-entrance into the public spotlight comes at a time when there really is no clear leader of the Democratic Party, and its grass-roots base is demanding one. The former president did not mention his partys struggles after its disappointing 2016 election, but he said he wants to be a resource for young people looking to get involved politically, especially through a post-presidency foundation he is setting up. He framed engaging younger people as the best antidote to a divisive Washington. Theres a reason why I am optimistic, even when things arent going the way I want, he said as he wrapped up his appearance. And thats because of young people like this. Obamas interest in young leaders heartened Dorian Meighen, a student at Roosevelt University: All that he did, he will still continue doing, and hell still be there to help people even though hes not in office. In the nearly five years it took Robert Pirsig to sell Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, 121 publishers rejected the rambling novel. The 122nd gently warned Pirsig, a former rhetoric professor who had a job writing technical manuals, not to expect more than his $3,000 advance. The book is not, as I think you now realize from your correspondence with other publishers, a marketing mans dream, the editor at William Morrow wrote in a congratulatory note before its 1974 publication. He was wrong. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values sold 50,000 copies in three months and more than 5 million in the decades since. The dense tome has been translated into at least 27 languages. A reviewer for the New Yorker likened its author to Herman Melville. Its popularity made Pirsig probably the most widely read philosopher alive, a British journalist wrote in 2006. Pirsig, a perfectionist who published only one major work after Zen but inspired college classes, academic conferences and a legion of Pirsig pilgrims who retrace the anguished, cross-country motorcycle trip at the heart of his novel, died Monday at his home in South Berwick, Maine, The Associated Press confirmed. He was 88 and had been in failing health. Zen and Pirsigs less successful 1991 novel, Lila, are not easy reads. In both, he develops what he calls the Metaphysics of Quality, a philosophy that attempts to unite and transcend the mysticism of the East and the reason of the West. Zen is the account of a 1968 motorcycle trip that Pirsig, his 11-year-old son Chris and two friends made from Minneapolis through the West. A fifth traveler was sensed but unseen: Phaedrus, Pirsigs alter ego, brilliant, uncompromising and obsessed with the search for truth. Like the real-life Pirsig, the ghost-like Phaedrus had an IQ of 170, entered a university at 15 and, as a young man, was committed to mental hospitals where he underwent electroconvulsive therapy. He was dead, Pirsigs narrator writes in Zen. Destroyed by order of the court, enforced by the transmission of high-voltage alternating current through the lobes of his brain. On the trip, though, the dead Phaedrus was all too active, a real but intangible force vying for the soul of the emotionally unstable Chris. Chris is spared in the novel, but Pirsigs actual son Chris struggled with drug addiction and, at 22, was stabbed to death during a 1979 mugging in San Francisco. It was at a bus stop near the Zen Buddhism center where he lived. While the book has a more or less happy ending, Zen is filled with unanswered and, perhaps, unanswerable questions. Pirsig, who weathered schizophrenia but was devastated by its treatment, doubts everything: reality, sanity and himself. What I am, he writes, is a heretic whos recanted and thereby in everyones eyes saved his soul. Everyones eyes but one, who knows deep down inside that all he has saved is his skin. Born Sept. 6, 1928, in Minneapolis, Robert Maynard Pirsig was the son of Harriet and Maynard Pirsig. His father was a law professor and dean of the University of Minnesota Law School. Stammering and inattentive, Pirsig flunked out of the university at 17, two years after he entered. Enlisting in the Army, he served in Korea and returned to Minnesota, receiving his bachelors degree in 1950. Over the next eight years, he married fellow student Nancy Ann James, studied Eastern religions in India, lived in a Mexican seaside town, wrote advertising for mortuary cosmetics and, returning again to Minnesota, earned his masters degree in journalism in 1958. In 1960, he taught English composition at what was then Montana State College, where he refused, for philosophical reasons, to issue grades. He once disrupted a speech by the institutions president, shouting, This school has no quality! Two years later, he was teaching at the University of Illinois-Chicago when he was hospitalized for an emotional collapse. This is described in the psychiatric canon as catatonic schizophrenia. It is cited in the Buddhist canon as hard enlightenment, he told Britains Observer newspaper in 2006. Still struggling with his illness, he set out to write what he thought would be a short essay about the journey he and his son made to San Francisco on his 1964 Honda Superhawk. The resulting manuscript turned into Zen, which, unedited, was nearly 30 percent longer than War and Peace. In addition to fleshing out a tortured father-son relationship and sketching out a philosophy, Zen defended technology even as surging environmental awareness was giving it a bad name. In his traveling friends refusal to learn basic engine maintenance, Pirsig saw a clash of cultures. The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower, he wrote. To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha which is to demean oneself. Pirsigs unexpected success with Zen made it no easier for him to write Lila: An Inquiry into Morals. He started plotting out the fictional account of sailing down the Hudson River with an over-the-hill former prostitute 17 years before it was published. To get a line that is exactly right, you sometimes have to sacrifice everything, he told The Washington Post in 1991. That goes for being a celebrity, for interaction with people, personal comfort, everything. After a long separation, Pirsig was divorced from his first wife in 1978. Several months later, he married Wendy Kimball, a writer he met while sailing off the Florida coast. They crossed the Atlantic and lived aboard his boat in England, the Netherlands and Sweden before returning to the U.S. in 1985. Rarely giving interviews or making public appearances, the writer dubbed New Englands second most reclusive novelist (J.D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye and a virtual hermit until his death in 2010, was no doubt the first) published no other books. In 2012, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Montana State University but could not attend the ceremony because of poor health. In addition to his wife, he is survived by son Ted and daughter Nell. In 1984, his daughter, then 4, provided the last line to his afterword of Zens 10-year anniversary edition. It was: ooolo99ikl;i.,pyknulmmmmmmmmm 111. She reached around the corner of the machine and banged on the keys and then watched with the same gleam Chris used to have, Pirsig wrote in one of his few light moments. If the editors preserve it, it will be her first published work. SANTA FE Santa Fes campaign review board voted Monday to reprimand the libertarian Rio Grande Foundation for not filing financial disclosure forms related to what the foundation called an education initiative on a proposed tax on sweetened beverages that will be decided in a May 2 special election. The Ethics and Campaign Review Board also ordered the Albuquerque-based non-profit to file campaign disclosure statements. But RGF president Paul Gessing and attorney Colin Hunter said they may challenge the boards rulings. Hunter said the action opens the door to considering a challenge on First Amendment grounds. He said the citys financial disclosure requirements were working as intended by chilling the speech of groups like the Rio Grande Foundation. My inclination is to fight, Gessing said. Im not going to be bossed around or bullied by a mayor who controls the process. On April 6, Gessing issued a news release calling the effort to pass the tax a public deception campaign. The foundation also posted and advertised on Facebook an animated video critical of the proposed tax and Mayor Javier Gonzales. It had been viewed about 160 times as of Monday. The mayor is a leading proponent of the proposed 2-cent-per-ounce tax on sodas and sugary drinks to raise an estimated $7 million annually for early childhood education programs. At issue in the complaint by retired lawyer Edward Stein was whether RGF or its No Way Santa Fe initiative is, under city code, a political committee that must make campaign financial disclosures if it spends at least $250. Gessing has said that RGF had called off speaking on the soda tax and a mailer campaign after getting a notice from the city attorneys office. Stein said No Way for Santa Fe was a propaganda effort funded by dark money. Glenn Silber, a documentary filmmaker, gave an affidavit and testimony that the video would have cost at least $3,000 to make. RGF adopted the expensive video, making No Way Santa Fe a PAC, Stein argued. Gessing declined to say where the video came from but said it didnt cost RGF anything. He said it was provided by a nonprofit from outside New Mexico. He also provided receipts to show RGF spent less than $200 on the Facebook ads. He and Hunter argued that neither RGF or the No Way Santa Fe effort constitute a PAC and instead RGF has operated for years as a 501(c)3 nonprofit that is not required to make the disclosures mandated for political committees. The campaign boards unanimous decision, however, found that No Way Santa Fe is a political committee, and that it had exceeded the $250 threshold. Steins complaint against RGF included an email about the video from Morty Simon, a longtime supporter of the mayor who was involved Gonzales successful mayoral campaign in 2014. Simon said in an interview later he didnt recall talking to the mayor about the complaint before Stein filed it. We might have had a conversation after (Stein) filed it, Simon said. Councilors say no surplus While the campaign board was meeting at City Hall, three city councilors Peter Ives, Signe Lindell and Renee Villarreal held a news conference outside to argue that soda tax opponents are spreading misinformation about the city budget. Gonzales said in January that there would be $4.5 million in revenue over expenses at the end of the fiscal year ending June 30. At the beginning of recent budget deliberations, city officials also used the word surplus to describe a $15 million overage expected for 2017-18. One mailer later sent out by the anti-tax Better Way for Santa Fe says, Overflowing with cash, the city wants YOU to pay more. If were overflowing with cash, I dont know where it is, Lindell said Monday. I resent this kind of advertising going out. Its not true. Ives said that only $1.2 million of a surplus would be available to fund general programs next year. City officials have said the rest is designated for discrete funds and that any current surplus isnt a recurring source that could go for pre-K. Ive also said a one-time surplus that could possibly be used to help pay debt for the campus of Santa Fe University of Art and Design, a private university on city-owned property that recently announced that it will close next year and is expected to stop paying $2.2 million annually for rent. David Huynh, spokesman for Better Way for Santa Fe and Pre-K, said the organization used media reports that had direct quotes from Mayor Javier Gonzales about the supposed surplus. We relied on newspaper reports and the mayor, who said we had a multimillion dollar surplus, Hyunh said. Its frustrating to hear about a surplus we dont know about, Villareal said. We do need to look for a revenue source thats reoccurring. Student groups have filed a lawsuit against the University of California at Berkeley, saying school officials violated their right to free speech when they canceled a talk by a controversial speaker last week over security concerns. The lawsuit, filed by a prominent Republican lawyer, Harmeet Dhillon, on behalf of Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation, a national group fighting First Amendment issues on many campuses, charges that the universitys actions smother the speech of conservative students whose opinions are a minority at Berkeley. Berkeley has become a flash point in the national debate over free speech, with clashes between the far left and the far right flaring into violence this year. The prestigious public university, where the campus free speech movement was born decades ago, has in recent months become a magnet for protesters and masked agitators who have fought, set fires and tossed explosives. In February, President Donald Trump raised the threat of pulling federal funds from the public school after university police put the campus on lockdown and canceled a talk by another controversial figure, Milo Yiannopoulos, amid intense protests. Berkeley College Republicans invited conservative commentator Ann Coulter to speak on campus Thursday, but university officials canceled the event because of concerns that they could not ensure student safety. They then invited her to speak next week instead at a safer location. Coulter is not a plaintiff, but on social media she called it our lawsuit and said they had asked for a safe venue for her speech THIS THURSDAY. The lawsuit contends, Though UC Berkeley promises its students an environment that promotes free debate and the free exchange of ideas, it had breached this promise through the repressive actions of University administrators and campus police, who have systematically and intentionally suppressed constitutionally-protected expression by the students who invited Coulter and the many students whose political views align with the plaintiffs, simply because that expression may anger or offend students, UC Berkeley administrators and community members who disagree. The lawsuit, which requests unspecified damages, attorney fees and a jury trial, names four university leaders, including University of California President Janet Napolitano and Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, and three campus police officials as defendants. Dianne Klein, a spokeswoman for the University of California, sent a statement in response to the suit: The University of California welcomes speakers of all political viewpoints and is committed to providing a forum to enable Ann Coulter to speak on the Berkeley campus. The allegation contained in the complaint filed by Young Americas Foundation that Ms. Coulter is being prohibited from speaking because of her conservative views is untrue. As the complaint itself notes, Young Americas Foundation has sponsored many other speaking events at UC Berkeley in past years, including that of conservative political commentator and author Ben Shapiro, and the organizations efforts have led many notable conservatives to share their viewpoints with students and the public on campus. UC Berkeley has been working to accommodate a mutually agreeable time for Ms. Coulters visit which has not yet been scheduled and remains committed to doing so. The campus seeks to ensure that all members of the Berkeley and larger community including Ms. Coulter herself remain safe during such an event. The College Republicans did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit Monday. It used to be that universities were the beacon of intellectual thought and debate, Cliff Maloney Jr., president of Young Americans for Liberty, wrote in an email Monday. It is a shame that administrative agendas and regulations have stifled open and honest discourse. . . . All speech, whether popular or not, must be protected and we encourage students to challenge their public universities by demanding constitutional policies and practices. Who wants to be the President of India? It's the greatest job ever. Your salary of Rs 1.5 lakh a month may not sound much, but it's tax-free and may soon become Rs 5 lakh. And the perks are more than worth the small amount of effort you have to put in: for five years of speech-making, inaugurating, launching, felicitating and rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty of the world, you get to live in the most exclusive and expensive piece of real estate in the world-three times the size of Vatican city-free of rent. Your palace is larger than that of the Sultan of Brunei, the Royals of England or the US President. It's the perfect job for perfect happiness. Set amidst 33 acres of peaceful woodlands, you wake up to the cawing of peacocks, potter around your 340 rooms, 11.5 miles of corridors, order around your battery of 200-plus staff and bodyguards, go for a ride in your Mercedes-Benz S6000 or any of those luxury sedans in your motorcade, taste those signature dishes rustled up by chef Montu Saini, youngest Club des Chefs des Chefs member, retire to meditative reverie in your majestic library, listening dimly to the distant hoofbeats of your parading horses, as the heart of capital Delhi lights up with your illuminated parapets. If you get tired of all these, take off for any of your two luxury retreats in Hyderabad and Shimla. Or travel anywhere in the world, for free. Because you are the President of India. advertisement And, right now, there's a vacancy afoot. President of India Pranab Mukherjee is down to the last 90 days in office. On July 26, the next First Citizen will step into the country's most exclusive address, to a 21-gun salute. The Rashtrapati Bhavan is ready to be taken once again. Who wants the top job? And who will get it? Rumours are swirling. Experts are pumping numbers. Whispers from New Delhi's corridors of power are percolating from one social circle to another. The nation is waiting. With bated breath. Power games The President of India is largely a ceremonial post. "The President is also a creature of the Constitution of India," points out Supreme Court advocate Kunal Chatterjee. Article 52 says: "There shall be a President of India." Who's eligible? A citizen of India, age 35 and above, and must not hold an office of profit under any government at the Centre or the states (Article 58). "The key clause of eligibility is that the candidate should be qualified for election as a member of the House of the People," adds Chatterjee. That means, he or she will have to declare assets, be mentally sound, should not be bankrupt and should not be criminally convicted. According to Section 361(3), though, no process for arrest or imprisonment of the President can be issued during his (or her) term of office. Unlike all the excitement of elections, where citizens vote directly for their representatives, presidential polls are a less-trumpeted moment and an unusual exercise in democracy, explains former Chief Election Commissioner, T.S. Krishnamurthy-chosen not so much by ideology, but by a complex political arithmetic. Yet it is increasingly one of the most political processes, says Chintamani Mahapatra, professor of political science at JNU. Tough negotiations and intense party politicking have gone up, with coalition governments at the Centre. The moot point is: what's the political message a party's sending across to the voters? UPA 2 had chosen a woman, Pratibha Patil. It had a Sikh as the PM (Manmohan Singh) and a Muslim as the Vice-President (Hamid Ansari). India has had a Muslim president four times, a Dalit, a Sikh and a woman. Only a tribal is left out, adds Mahapatra. Saffron moment The presidential elections 2017, however, represent an extraordinary moment: India is very close to getting its first president from the saffron brigade. For the first time, the BJP-led NDA is getting ready to have a President of its choice. In 2002, the last time the coalition was in power under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it was short of numbers and had to back consensus candidate A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, says P.D.T. Acharya, former Lok Sabha secretary-general. advertisement This time round, the NDA has a majority in the Lok Sabha as well as electoral gains in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam. Count in the sweeping victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and governments in Manipur and Goa. With the support of its key constituent, the Shiv Sena, and a little help from one-time allies-the Biju Janata Dal of Odisha or the AIADMK of Tamil Nadu-and the NDA will get a President it chooses. Mohan Bhagwat. Photo: Shailesh Rawal Numbers game The President of India is chosen not by universal adult franchise but by an electoral college. And the value of votes goes by a formula worked out by the Constitution on the basis of population figures frozen from Census 1971. Accordingly, 776 elected members of Parliament (MPs)-543 from the Lok Sabha and 233 from the Rajya Sabha-along with 4,120 members of legislative assemblies (MLAs), or a total of 4,896 electors, can vote for the President. The total 'value' of their votes is 1,098,882. While MPs have a vote value of 708 each, that of MLAs depends on the state's population. Reaching one more than the magic halfway mark of the total value of votes, 549,442, can make or break a party's chances of getting its candidate elected as President. This time the math seems clearly in NDA's favour (see graphic). Before assembly elections 2017, the coalition's strength was around 450,000, short by 185,000 votes. With support from key constituent Shiv Sena (25,893 votes), the ruling party's strength now is around 532,000, about 17,500 short of the half-way mark. The BJD and AIADMK could help bridge the gap. advertisement Big players President Pranab Mukherjee is eligible for re-election, as there are no term limits in India. At the INDIA TODAY Conclave on March 18, he had expressed his unwillingness to seek re-election: "In a democracy, one must melt into the masses." Although a post-retirement bungalow is being spruced up for him, the buzz is the veteran Congress leader is lobbying for a second term. The BJP shouldn't have any cause for concern, though: a stickler for constitutional rectitude, he has gone with the flow of the Modi government, praising demonetisation, echoing the PM's proposal to hold all elections concurrently, signing controversial ordinances, proclamations and executions. He has long expressed his admiration for the PM, who addresses him as "Pranab da". Mukherjee also has friends across party lines: in the 2012 presidential elections, parties in the Opposition had cross-voted in his favour. advertisement Other big names doing the rounds include: BJP stalwarts L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, apart from RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat. The PM dropped hints about Advani as the next President of India at a meeting on March 8 at Somnath, Gujarat-from where Advani started his rath yatra to Ayodhya in 1992-as a befitting gurudakshina to his political mentor. The Shiv Sena pushed Bhagwat's candidature most aggressively for a while, as a President who could realise the "dream" of a Hindu Rashtra. But both Advani and Bhagwat have announced they are not in the race. Advani and Joshi face trial for conspiracy in the 25-year-old Babri Masjid demolition case, although that does not make them ineligible. In 2007, there was a call for the Central Bureau of Investigation to interrogate candidate Pratibha Patil before the presidential poll. She and her brother G.N. Patil were implicated by the wife of Congress worker V.G. Patil in his murder in 2005. All eyes on Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweets birthday notes to world leaders from his official handle ('Birthday wishes to Pakistan PM Mr Nawaz Sharif. I pray for his long and healthy life'), polite messages to political rivals ('Greetings to Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi. May Almighty bless her with long life & good health'), good wishes to celebrities he admires ('Happy birthday legend @SrBachchan') and just sometimes to people no one really knows of. And his 28,855,661 followers pan, fast cut and zoom in on them. As the race for the President tightens, Modi's 'favourite' men and women join the list of possible 'surprise' candidates. Actually, there's no surprise here. As veteran scholar of constitutional law M.V. Pyle explains in his Constitutional Government in India, the Constitution confers enormous power on the prime minister. For the party which secures a majority in Parliament, the President is often its nominee, and the "personality of the prime minister" has a substantial influence in the selection of the presidential candidate. Modi with Amit Shah. Photo: Vikram Sharma The dark horses One such 'favourite' for the presidential race is Droupadi Murmu, 59, the first tribal woman to become the governor of Jharkhand, and who started garnering attention as the potential "first tribal President of India" ever since the PM tweeted on June 20, 2015: "I convey warm birthday greetings to the governor of Jharkhand, Droupadi Murmu ji." Ever since, she has been crying hoarse to the press that she doesn't know who recommended her name for the post of governor, that it might be her clean image and that, no, she doesn't know the PM very well, and never got the opportunity to communicate directly with him. But Murmu could very well be the next President. A graduate of Utkal University, she started her political career as a grassroots activist for tribal rights in the 1990s. On any given day, one can find her interacting with women from self-help groups, extending financial and other help to children of raped mothers, feeding distressed visitors at Raj Bhavan, raising state pension for the disabled, paying tribute to Santhal icon Birsa Munda, urging people to forget caste, creed, religion, language and community and think only of the nation. Murmu does not own a house and has a modest bank balance, despite having been a two-time MLA and heading several ministries in Odisha. If Murmu got a birthday tweet from the PM, Thawar Chand Gehlot, 69, minister of social justice and empowerment, broke three world records to celebrate the PM's 66th birthday last year: he got nearly 1,000 children to light lamps in 30 seconds, had about 1,000 wheelchair-bound people arrange themselves in a formation to read 'Happy Birthday PM' and gave away 3,400 hearing aids to 1,700 deaf persons. The Dalit leader has even been awarded Best Legislator by the Madhya Pradesh assembly in the past. As the lone Dalit representative in the BJP parliamentary committee, he stands a good chance if the NDA wants to make Dalit identity the calling card of the next President. A long list The list is getting longer. Looking for a female presidential nominee? Think Sumitra Mahajan, the soft-spoken but battle-hardened Lok Sabha Speaker, or Sushma Swaraj, minister of external affairs and one of the very few serious female mass leaders in the BJP. How about cultural icons? Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, the face of the Modi government's social campaigns, has taken himself out of the race ("I'm not qualified to be President"). With the BJP eyeing Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana, the buzz is about a seriously high-profile candidate from down south. And who better than the charismatic superstar Rajinikanth or 'digital' icon N.R. Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys? Is there one candidate all the 32 allies of NDA will support? Who would that be? Are all the allies on board on the messaging the NDA wants to send across the nation in choosing one candidate over another? Beyond names and numbers, it's now time for delicate bargaining and tough negotiations. And as the NDA gets down to brass tacks, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is getting busy. Under the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, the ECI can call the election 60 days before the term of the outgoing President expires. All eyes are on the second week of June, when the ECI is likely to open nominations, with elections in the third week of July. The big players tend to stay on the sidelines until very close to the end. Expect a rush of candidates to come forward from the middle of June. --- ENDS --- CHICAGO If Laura Kipnis thought she was under fire in 2015 after writing an essay for The Chronicle of Higher Education criticizing an emergent sexual paranoia on college campuses, then her new book will surely catapult her into the status of public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of legions of angry feminists. Kipnis aforementioned essay earned her a 72-day Title IX investigation after two students at Northwestern University, where Kipnis is tenured, complained that her writing was, in itself, a violation of the federal act that states, No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. She was exonerated. Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus is her reaction and an inquiry into a culture of infantilizing women and making men the default perpetrators in she-said-he-said campus complaints of sexual impropriety. Seemingly every page is a condemnation of a university culture where students are no longer treated as consenting adults and investigations into alleged abuses proceed like 17th-century witch trials, requiring a trigger warning for any sensitive souls who dare brave its contents. For instance, Kipnis writes: The idea of rape culture has become the campus equivalent of 9/11: in both cases, horrible real events take on mythic proportions, becoming resistant to precise analysis. On campus, the term rape culture, like the term terrorism, has become the rhetoric of emergency. Fear becomes the guideline, promulgating more fear. The problem is that fear rhetoric obfuscates more than it explicates; nevertheless, officialdom leaps to action. This is just from the prologue, before shes really gotten going. Kipnis attempts throughout the book to examine how out of control the sexual politics on campus have gotten such that some professors professional reputations and lives are being ruined while others are cowed and censored for fear of ever running afoul of paying customers (read: students). She does this by describing her own investigation; the case of her colleague, philosophy professor Peter Ludlow, whose career was ruined by accusations of sexual assault and the ensuing Title IX investigation; and some of the countless stories shared with her from people who also got tangled up in baseless accusations of misconduct. Her conclusion is that universities today are multibillion-dollar international businesses with brand promises to uphold and donors to placate. And in such a landscape, it is expeditious to plow money into handling accusations of sexual misconduct under the lax for the accused standards of the on-campus Title IX adjudication process. Potentially scandalous incidents are made to go away through a combination of dismissal of professors and cash payouts to students. The reality is that the more that colleges devote themselves to creating safe spaces, that new campus watchword, the more dangerous campuses have become for professors, and the less education itself becomes anyones priority. As a result, sociology professors live in fear of discussing abortion, law professors are afraid to lecture on rape law, and on and on. But this aspect of Unwanted Advances is just the tip of the iceberg. More chilling, Kipnis writes, is how campus administrators, and the special-interest groups they bow to, are rolling back hard-won feminist markers of dignity. Women on campus are now, Kipnis says, by default, virtuous maidens, ready-made victims in a system devoted to persuading a generation of young women that theyre helpless prey and convincing everyone else that accusers dont lie. Throughout her book, Kipnis bends over backward to repeatedly and vehemently note that she is (a) a certified left-wing feminist and (b) absolute in her belief that women should be safe from harm on campus, at work and everywhere else. But, she says, there needs to be a focus on self-understanding and personal responsibility that schools and society are reluctant to address: What would happen if we stopped commiserating with one another about how horrible men are and teach students how to say, Get your [expletive] hand off my knee? Yes, theres an excess of masculine power in the world, and women have to be educated to contest it in real time, instead of waiting around for men to reach some new stage of heightened consciousness just in case that day never comes. For some women, this will be an article of faith. For others, well, consider this fair warning that you wont enjoy Kipnis book. E-mail: estherjcepeda@washpost.com. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group. SAN DIEGO President Trump appears to have softened his position on NATO, free trade, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, the advice of generals, and whether China is a currency manipulator. This is welcome news to Never Trump elements on Wall Street and in the Washington establishment, who are holding out hope that this could be a normal presidency after all. But there is one issue where Trump and his cohort are not going soft: immigration. On that front, the administration is doubling down on cracking down. Team Trump is pressing ahead with plans to build a barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border, punish so-called sanctuary cities, hire thousands of additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents, end the catch-and-release policy, and appoint 125 new immigration judges over the next two years to speed up the deportation process. As Attorney General Jeff Sessions said recently during a visit to the border: This is a new era. This is the Trump era. For a while there, it seemed as if Trump was prepared to deal sensibly with immigration by not revoking President Obamas executive actions, not deporting those undocumented young people known as dreamers, telling members of his Hispanic Advisory Council during the campaign that he wanted a humane and efficient approach to the undocumented that could include legal status, and acknowledging that what he sold to voters as a seamless 2,000-mile wall along the U.S.-Mexico border will be more like a patchwork of fencing along a few hundred miles. In his first 100 days in office, the president learned that health care reform and dealing with North Korea are more complicated than he thought. Yet Trump learned the same thing about immigration even before he took office. But now that he seems to have empowered Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to shape U.S. immigration policy, there is reason for concern. Sessions record in the Senate shows that he is not just anti-undocumented immigrant but anti-immigrant. Now that he wants the Justice Department to have a larger role in immigration policy, he should try to reform the system so that more immigrants can come into the country legally, instead of simply keeping out those who come legally. Meanwhile, Kelly has been all over the map. During a recent trip to Mexico, he declared: There will be no mass deportations. But during an appearance on NBCs Meet The Press, he warned the undocumented: If youre here illegally, you should leave or you should be deported. Sometimes, Sessions and Kelly disagree. While visiting the border, Sessions urged federal prosecutors to look for ways to charge undocumented immigrants and said that anyone in the country illegally should expect to be deported. Someone should loop in Kelly who, on Meet The Press, said just because youre in the United States illegally doesnt necessarily get you targeted. With Sessions and Kelly cast as the Abbott and Costello of immigration policy, youd think more people would be nervous. Yet you dont hear many complaints, aside from the open-border activists whom no one listens to anyway. Could it be that the political establishment and business community are not as pro-immigrant as they pretend to be? Theyre not the only ones. Show me a region of the country that complains about having too many immigrants. And Ill show you a bunch of people with short memories who, 10 years ago, were so desperate for workers to build their homes, pick their crops, and babysit their children that they did everything but place help-wanted ads in foreign newspapers. Oh wait, actually, some U.S. companies did do that. After more than a quarter-century of writing about immigration, Im sick to my stomach of hearing a chorus of dishonest Americans complain about something that is any way you look at it a self-inflicted wound. Just look at who accounts for much of the economic growth in this country, who is taking the risks, and who is producing much of the wealth sometimes for themselves as budding entrepreneurs but more often for others. A new study by the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative found that, over the last decade, the number of Latino-owned businesses grew 300 percent faster than the national average. And 61 percent of these entrepreneurs are immigrants or children of immigrants. Americans have it backward. Instead of driving out immigrants, we ought to be begging the world for more. Anti-Semitic incidents in New Mexico reported to the Anti-Defamation League have more than doubled since 2015, according to the ADLs annual national Audit of Anti Semitic Incidents released Monday. The number of incidents rose from seven total in 2015 to 11 in 2016 and seven in the first quarter of 2017, ADL New Mexico Regional Director Suki Halevi said. There was also a doubling at the national level, with anti-Semitic bullying and vandalism at nondenominational K-12 schools, according to the ADL. Overall, incidents in the United States surged more than one-third in 2016 and have jumped 86 percent in the first quarter of 2017. Among the 18 reported incidents in New Mexico in 2016 and 2017 were two bomb threats at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque, Halevi said. Other local incidents involved verbal harassment of Jews, cyber-threats of violence against Jews, anti-Semitic graffiti, an anti-Semitic radio broadcast in Santa Fe, and anti-Semitic bullying and slurs in schools, she said. Most significant is were seeing things that we didnt see before, she said. In November, an Albuquerque woman with a Hillary Clinton sticker on her car was in the parking lot of a gym when she saw someone spitting on the cars trunk. She confronted the offender, who stated that she looked like a Jew and she should get ready for your next exodus because were about to clean out this country. The 2016 presidential election and the heightened political atmosphere played a role in the increase, Halevi said. The annual audit highlighted political graffiti posted in May 2016 in Denver that read: Kill the Jews, Vote Trump. In November, a St. Petersburg, Fla., man was threatened by someone who told him Trump is going to finish what Hitler started. In the months leading up to the election, ADL Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Greenblatt commented: Im not saying that Donald Trump is a racist or anti-Semite, but the racists and anti-Semites have come out of the woodwork during this political season to support him. He further said that candidate Trumps failure to quickly and decisively condemn white supremacists had mainstreamed their racist views and emboldened them. The ADL estimated that 2.6 million tweets from account holders posted from August 2015 to July 2016 contained anti-Semitic language. Nearly 20,000 of those tweets were directed at journalists. Trump eventually released a terse statement saying, Anti-Semitism has no place in our society, which needs to be united, not divided. In Albuquerque, swift response to the JCC bomb threats by the community at large, elected officials, school administrators and religious leaders, including those from the Islamic Center of New Mexico, was extremely important, said Halevi. Thats what tells the community and the people spreading this hate that this is not who we are. This is not New Mexico. Two months after University of New Mexicos student government approved funding requests to bring two conservative speakers to campus, the sponsoring student groups still have not scheduled the events. That means UNM College Republicans and the Young Americans for Freedom could lose their $5,000 allocations to host Christina Hoff Sommers and Ben Shapiro respectively, at least for this year. But that did not stop a small protest on campus Monday, as the Students for Socialism picketed outside the administration building and met with acting president Chaouki Abdallah to request he ban the speakers from campus something they said Abdallah declined to do. Instead of him using his influence to do it, he put the responsibility on students and said we need to go to the organizations who are hosting these speakers and debate with them, and try to get them to not invite these speakers, Karina Rodgers, co-president of UNMs Students for Socialism group, said about the groups conversation with Abdallah. Instead of him doing his actual job as president of the university and protecting his students, hes placing it on us. Abdallah was not available for comment Monday afternoon, but a spokeswoman said the president encouraged dialogue between groups from opposing viewpoints and noted that free speech is legally protected. She also referred to UNMs statement on free speech, which says in part, While the University may not agree with every speakers expressed viewpoints, UNM believes it is imperative to the higher education experience to maintain free speech on our campus, and, over time, provide a variety of viewpoints. Marina Herrera, president of the UNM College Republicans and a member of the Young Americans for Freedom group, did not immediately respond to Journal questions about plans for Shapiro, a former Breitbart News editor at large, and Sommers, a conservative think tank scholar who has argued some campus sexual assault studies exaggerate the problem by too broadly defining assault. While ASUNM has approved funding for their appearances, its unclear when, or if, either is coming. A story on The Daily Wire, where Shapiro is editor in chief, indicated UNMs Students for Socialism was protesting Shapiro and Sommers even though they have not been invited to speak at the University yet. Sommers tweeted the same complaint Saturday. The new debate over free speech comes just months after a UNM visit by the provocative right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos, whose January event drew hundreds of supporters and hundreds of protesters. ASUNMs undergraduate student Senate approved $5,000 each for Shapiro and Sommers as part of its standard application process for funding, according to ASUNM spokesman Gabe Gallegos. By law, he added, the student government cannot make funding decisions based on personal opinion about the subject matter. But Gallegos said the sponsoring groups have not entered into contracts for the events, and without that step, the $10,000 could revert back to the ASUNM general fund for use next year. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal WASHINGTON Congress returned from a two-week Easter recess Monday with a potential government shutdown looming over a budget impasse, but White House officials signaled that President Donald Trump is eager to strike a deal to keep government operating. The federal government will run out of money Saturday Trumps 100th day in office unless lawmakers pass legislation to pay for agencies to stay open. The White House and Congress hope to reach agreement on a bill this week to keep the government running through Sept. 30, the end of the 2017 budget year. In recent days, Trump administration officials have demanded that lawmakers include money for construction of a security wall along the Mexican border in the bill to finance government operations. It has emerged as the biggest stumbling block to a budget agreement. A White House official told the Journal and other regional news outlets at a briefing on Monday that Trump is committed to border security generally but seemed to back away from any hard-line demands that the wall be included in the eleventh-hour spending bill. Negotiations (with lawmakers on Capitol Hill) are ongoing, the official said. We need to make sure that the government continues to do its job, stays open. The president makes clear that is his priority and its something we have emphasized in those negotiations. The proposal to build the wall is unpopular with congressional Democrats and even some Republicans, including Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico. The administration official, who declined to be identified, said that border security is one of the presidents priorities but that there are many facets to the objective, not just construction of a wall along the border. Asked by the Journal what the White House would say to those members of Congress who contend that a border wall wouldnt be effective in stemming illegal immigration, a White House official replied: I would say wait and see. Although Trump promised some accomplishments during his first 100 days in office (some have been fulfilled, and some havent), on Monday his aides downplayed the traditional benchmark for presidents. However, they did tout some accomplishments, including withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, pushing ahead with the Keystone XL pipeline, and strikes against a Syrian airfield in response to the Syrian governments attacking its own people with poison gas in the civil war there. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., told the Journal on Monday that during town halls in New Mexico last week he heard the states residents fret about President Trumps attempt to take health care away from hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans, shut the government down over funding for a border wall we dont need, and deport immigrants when they seek health care or report crimes. I think the presidents first 100 days have been a disaster for New Mexico and for the country, and I will continue to work to hold him accountable, Udall said. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump vowed to build the wall and make Mexico pay for it. Since then, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has flatly rejected the notion that Mexico would pay for the wall, and recently Trump has said the U.S. will begin building the wall and make Mexico pay for it later. Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall, Trump tweeted over the weekend. On Twitter, Trump has accused Democrats of allowing drugs and violent gangs to flow into the United States by objecting to the wall. Trump also plans to outline an ambitious tax cut plan Wednesday, telling The Associated Press last week that it would include a massive tax break for both individuals and corporations. Trump would also like to revive a failed effort by House Republicans to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. He also hopes to use the $1 trillion catchall spending bill for a multibillion-dollar down payment on a Pentagon buildup, and perhaps a crackdown on cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on enforcement of immigration law. A man who suffered from an unknown medical condition while in police custody died Tuesday, according to spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department. Fred Duran said investigators are still determining how Timothy Dauk, 50, died. He said Dauk may have been attempting to commit suicide and had illegal substances in his system, including heroin. This is still an on-going investigation, Duran said. On Monday night officers from various local agencies took over the investigation from APD after Dauks condition worsened while in police custody, said another APD spokesman Tanner Tixier. Because the individual had contact with police officers immediately prior to suffering from his medical episode, a full inter-agency investigation was initiated, Tixier said in an emailed update sent out around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. At this time, officers and witnesses are being interviewed, lapel camera footage is being reviewed and a full investigation is underway. Tixier said multiple people called police shortly after 10 p.m. to report that a man was running into traffic and trying to jump on vehicles near Lomas and the Interstate 25 frontage road. Officers arrived and arrested a suspect who appeared to be under the influence of an unknown narcotic, Tixier said. Paramedics were called. A short time later, the male subject suffered from an unknown medical condition and was rushed to UNMH, Tixier said. Its unclear if officers used any force during the arrest. Tixier said multiple agencies are investigating the incident, including the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office, the Rio Rancho Police Department and the New Mexico State Police. LAS CRUCES, N.M. New Mexico State University has launched an ambitious campaign to raise $125 million amid uncertainty with state funding. The southern New Mexico college is set to hold an energized event on Friday to unveil the campaigns theme and to announce a new gift to the university. Country music star Bri Bagwell is scheduled to perform at the event. Officials say the campaign, which extends through 2019, aims to create $50 million in new scholarship endowments. Last month, New Mexico State University Chancellor Garrey Carruthers announced that the university is considering merging colleges and cutting programs amid ongoing state budget cuts. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed the states entire higher education budget. A special session will now be held for lawmakers to determine funding for colleges and universities. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. A prosecutor on Tuesday portrayed a former Northern Arizona University student as a killer who carried out his own deranged sense of justice when he opened fire on a group of people during a drunken fight near the campus. The account came during closing arguments in the murder trial of Steven Jones, 20, who killed one student and wounded three others in what he said was self-defense after being punched in the face just a few weeks into his freshman year in 2015. Jurors began deliberating after closing arguments were finished. They were expected to resume deliberations Wednesday morning. The incident in Flagstaff came at a time of heightened anxiety over school shootings, occurring just days after a gunman killed nine people in a writing class at a community college in Oregon. The Arizona incident started as a late-night drunken brawl among fraternity members and ended in gunfire after Jones went to his car, retrieved a gun and opened fire as the fight continued, authorities say. The defendant didnt just retaliate with his fists. He escalated it, and he came back with a gun. He wanted to teach someone a lesson, prosecutor Ammon Barker said. Again, this is not self-defense. Barker showed the jury autopsy photos of Colin Brough, who was killed, in arguing that Jones should be found guilty of murder. Attorney Burges McCowan, who represents Jones, said his client waited until the last possible moment to open fire as he was being chased by upper classmen after he was hit in the face. He didnt want to take the chance. He had to stop them, McCowan told the packed courtroom. McCowan said Jones holstered his gun after shooting Brough and another student who chased him and started to provide aid to Brough. But he was then attacked by others and shot two other students in the struggle, McCowan said, characterizing the confrontation not as a fist fight but rather a mob attack. Prosecutors say Jones could have walked away from the fight without resorting to gunfire, but he chose instead to go to his car to retrieve a gun and return to the fray. What he did afterwards has nothing to do with self-defense and has everything to do with retaliation, Barker said. He wanted to be the judge, jury and executioner. Jones, dressed in a dark gray suit and wearing plastic-framed glasses, kept his eyes trained on the lawyers as they made closing arguments. He testified earlier in the trial that he was accosted by a drunken group of strangers, punched in the face and chased by some members of the group, prompting him to run to his vehicle and get a .40-caliber handgun. Jones had said he went back toward the group and fired his gun, but he didnt mean to hurt anyone. He testified he fired several shots to stop the immediate threat that was coming at me. The shooting also wounded Nicholas Piring, Nicholas Prato and Kyle Zeintek. None of the victims was armed. Zeintek, who lost a kidney and part of his intestine due to his injuries, had testified that he tried to run away moments before he was shot twice in the back. Prosecutors didnt seek the death penalty. A first-degree murder conviction carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Jurors have the option of returning lesser verdicts that carry lighter sentences, such as second-degree murder and manslaughter. COPENHAGEN, Denmark A Swedish court on Tuesday sentenced three men aged 18-24 for participating in a gang rape that was streamed live on a closed Facebook group. The Uppsala District Court said one of the men was given a sentence of 27 months for rape and assistance to rape. The others were given respectively one year which was halved because he was a minor at the time of the crime and six months. Two of the men are Afghan citizens and the third is a Swedish citizen of Afghan descent. Judge Nils Palbrandt said the victim, a woman in her 30s, was under influence of narcotics and alcohol was not able to give her consent to the sexual act, as was claimed by the men. The men, too, were influenced by alcohol during the act. The court said the film had received a lot of attention both in Sweden and internationally. During the four-day trial, the video was aired behind closed doors, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. The men also were sentenced to pay total damages of 300,000 kronor ($33,890) to the victim. The three were arrested in January in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, after police received tips about the streaming and the rape and interrupted the broadcast. The Department of Energy has chosen five small businesses to work with Sandia National Laboratories on commercialization of next-generation clean energy technologies. The companies will work with Sandia under the DOEs Small Business Vouchers pilot program, which gives small businesses access to intellectual and technical resources, according to a news release from Sandia. In all, eight national labs will receive $7.3 million in vouchers to work with 38 small businesses, according to the DOE. The companies selected to work with Sandia are M3Wave LLC of Salem, Ore.; California Wave Power Technologies LLC of Berkeley; Sentient Science Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y.; Ceramic Tubular Products of Lynchburg, Va.; and Vacuum Process Engineering Inc. of Sacramento, Calif. The vouchers total $1.14 million and range from $160,000 to $354,000 each. The potential for widespread national impact from these partnerships is profound and exhilarating, Jackie Kerby Moore, Sandias manager of technology and economic development, said in the news release. The companies are working on a wide variety of clean-energy efforts: M3 Wave will work with Sandia and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to adapt its deep-water modeling tool, NEXUS, to track differential wave energy by recreating conditions common on the ocean floor. The goal is to develop a more complex modeling system to predict and increase areas of efficiency up to 25 percent. California Wave Power wants to identify, design and assess decision-making systems to advance wave energy converter technology and do scaled prototype testing of the systems. The project could accelerate adoption and increase the capacity of marine hydrokinetics energy in the U.S. by 70 percent or more. Sentient Science is developing a technology to predict and extend wind turbine blade life and significantly cut the cost of wind energy. Ceramic Tubulars high efficiency, low emissivity receiver tubes for concentrating solar power plants could let them operate at higher temperatures and efficiencies and help achieve the DOE SunShot goal of six cents per kilowatt hour cost of electricity by 2020. Vacuum Process Engineering is working on a process to greatly increase the capacity and reduce the cost of microchannel heat exchangers. The project will use Sandias 3-D printing to test and evaluate the process. By Press Trust of India: Chandigarh, Apr 25 (PTI) Punjab Police has firmed up plans to set up a Special Operation Group (SOG) on the lines of the National Security Guard (NSG) to deal with any terror attack in the state which shares border with Pakistan. "We are working on setting up the SOG here as we have the NSG at the central level," a senior official of the Punjab Police said today. advertisement The main objective of the SOG will be to neutralise any threat posed by Fidayeen or terrorist groups by responding to that situation as quickly as possible. "The SOG will primarily be dealing with Fidayeen or terror attacks and will also prevent any hostage like situation," the official said. The Punjab Police also has plans to rope in experts from Israel or USA for providing training to the SOG members to combat terror threats successfully. "We are even ready to give the members of the SOG specialised training by experts from Israel or US forces," the official said. The group will also have members of the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) who were trained by Israeli military counter-terrorism experts. The SOG will be led by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Rakesh Chandra, the official said. Notably, Punjab had witnessed two terror attacks in 2015 and 2016. In the first attack, three heavily-armed terrorists wearing army fatigues, had stormed a police station in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district in July 2015 killing seven persons, including a Superintendent of Police, before they were gunned down during a day-long operation. In the second attack, four terrorists who had sneaked in from across the border had attacked the Pathankot air base on the intervening night of January 1 and 2 last year, claiming the lives of seven security personnel. The Punjab government yesterday had announced to set up an Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) to break the nexus of militants and gangsters flourishing in the states prisons. The official said the ATS will also effectively deal with the target killings as the state has witnessed several such incidents including killing of RSS leader Jagdish Gagneja and Shiv Sena leader Durga Prasad Gupta in the past. Apart from this, the Punjab Police is also in the process of changing the nomenclature of the Special Task Force (STF) set up to deal with dreaded gangsters. "The STF which deals with gangsters will soon have new name as the STF name has now been given to the anti-drugs team," the official said. advertisement The Punjab government had set up the STF led by ADGP H S Sidhu with the intention of wiping out the drug problem from the state. The dreaded gangsters, "who are striking at their will", are proving to be a big challenge for the force. The police had set up the STF to nab notorious gangsters operating in the state. PTI CHS VJ DIP --- ENDS --- SANTA FE A Lovington man was arrested early Monday morning after police say he broke windows to several businesses along a downtown Santa Fe street and stole merchandise. According to a Santa Fe police report, officers responded to a call about a man breaking windows to shops on East Palace Avenue around 12:30 a.m. An officer later spotted 35-year-old Lelan Gilmore, who ran away while carrying what seemed to be a womans purse. When police caught Gilmore, they saw that he had several lacerations to his forearms and was highly agitated and speaking incoherently. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for his cuts. Officers saw that display windows to the Santa Fe Gallery, Noella Jewelry Couture Gem and Bead Gallery, Grace and Street Feet had been broken and merchandise was missing. Blood was also found on the broken window panes, the report says. Police searched the bag Gilmore was carrying, which is believed to have been stolen from Street Feet, and found several items with price tags on them. Gilmore faces 10 counts in all, including three charges of buglary and five of criminal damage to property. Gilmore doesnt have a criminal history in New Mexico, according to online court records. Correction: An earlier version of this story misquoted Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity who said, The Martinez administration was unable to articulate any harms from the wolves, not to the wolves. A U.S. appeals court has lifted an injunction that temporarily prevented the federal government from releasing endangered Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico, but the state says the underlying case will continue to move forward. Advocates said the ruling means the federal government is again free to release endangered Mexican gray wolves into the wild in the recovery area in New Mexico, that means between Interstate 40 and the U.S.-Mexico border despite the states opposition. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Tucson on Tuesday vacated a preliminary injunction sought by New Mexicos Department of Game and Fish in district court last year. The injunction was sought as part of a broader claim by the state against the U.S. Fish and Wildlifes wolf program. While were disappointed in the courts ruling, the case will continue to move forward, said Lance Cherry, spokesman for Game and Fish, in an emailed statement. Well continue to do all we can to show how unpermitted, experimental release of Mexican wolves by the federal government will be harmful to New Mexicans. Fish and Wildlife spokesman Jeff Humphrey said, At present, we and our solicitors are reviewing the ruling. Until weve reviewed that ruling, were not making any plans on what to do with wolves immediately. The appeals court said in its decision that Game and Fish failed to present sufficient evidence to support a finding that it is likely to suffer irreparable harm absent a preliminary injunction. In 2015, citing an insufficient management plan, Game and Fish denied the service permits it requested to release wolves bred in captivity into the wild. Fish and Wildlife claimed authority to pursue wolf recovery under the Endangered Species Act and placed two wolf pups in a den in the Gila National Forest in early 2016 without a state permit. Game and Fish subsequently took the service to federal district court and won the preliminary injunction. The appeals court decision essentially gives Fish and Wildlife a green light to move forward with its wolf recovery program in New Mexico, according to advocates even as additional litigation plods ahead. The ruling is noteworthy in pointing out that the Martinez administration was unable to articulate any harms from the wolves, said Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity in Silver City. The decision makes clear that the Fish and Wildlife Service has the authority to do whats needed to save the Mexican gray wolf and other endangered species from extinction. The program has faced stiff opposition from southwestern New Mexico ranchers and the administration of Gov. Susana Martinez. Wolves are known to prey on cattle, and the return of an apex predator to ranch and forest lands in Grant and Catron counties has caused alarm. The Endangered Species Act gives them carte blanche to run over the top of anybody anytime, anywhere, said Gila Livestock Growers Association President Laura Schneberger, about Fish and Wildlife. It would be nice to see the state go ahead and look it over again, see if they can appeal it again or go at it from a different angle. The service counted at least 113 Mexican wolves in the recovery zone in Arizona and southwestern New Mexico in early 2017. That was up from 97 wolves in the wild the prior year. In New Mexico, most of the wolves roam the Gila National Forest. Facing the likelihood of state funding cuts for higher education, Northern New Mexico College is raising tuition 4.5 percent for most students. NNMCs Board of Regents voted 3-1 on Monday to raise tuition rather than impose programmatic and staff cuts. The announcement comes after Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed the states higher education budget this month. She is expected to call lawmakers back to Santa Fe for a special session to finalize a budget that includes funding for colleges and universities. The tuition increase is solely based on the state budget challenges. No other issue was driving that decision, College President Rick Bailey said in a news release. Not all students are affected, according to the college. About 40 percent of students are protected from the increase by the colleges Tuition Promise Program, which locks in what full-time students pay in tuition and fees from the time they enroll. NNMC, with campuses in Espanola and El Rito, has struggled with its finances over the years. The colleges books are under investigation by the state Auditors Office, which is questioning 744 hours of potential non-approved leave time by the former college president that may have cost the college $87,000, not including taxes and benefits. The audit also turned up problems involving no-bid contracts, housing and legal services totaling another $300,000. The Auditors Office previously announced an alleged theft of $200,000 in cash and checks by its financial service director, who then resigned. We acknowledge that the college has its work cut out for it in terms of our fiscal processes and ongoing investigation, Bailey said. But make no mistake. The sole reason for the Boards decision to raise tuition is the massive cut the college and higher education has endured from the state. NNMC raised tuition 8.9 percent two years ago and by 14 percent in 2013 while also cutting programs. 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. Petra Barth came late to photography. But she is making up for lost time. Barth, who was born in Germany and studied fashion design in Milan, worked in the fashion industry before moving to the United States 13 years ago and enrolling in photography courses at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. (Now the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.) I was pretty fed up with the fashion business, and photography was sort of a lifelong dream of mine, she says. At first she didnt know what kind of photography she wanted to do, but an interest in social issues in developing countries sparked during travel to India at age 23 led her to documentary work. In Germany she had avidly read Latin American literature, and soon after enrolling at the Corcoran she decided to take her cameras on a road trip to Central America and Mexico. The journey cemented her dedication to documentary photography. I didnt have a plan and didnt want a plan, she says. I wanted to experience what I saw, not to go with a preconceived subject in mind. I got involved pretty deeply in photographing small rural communities, in El Salvador and Guatemala, and when I came back I had tons of photographs. She showed them to one of her teachers as the Corcoran, Andy Grundberg, formerly the photography critic of the New York Times, who advised her to look at the collection of photography from different places within a bigger framework. Shed been traveling all over, and she said, Here is my work from Nicaragua, here are my pictures from Mexicali, Grundberg recalls. I said, Isnt this work really about all the Americas, as opposed to just these different places youve been? He also told her to study the work of Robert Frank. It was an aha moment for her, Grundberg says. It shows you where she was coming from she hadnt heard of Frank. But he became a big inspiration for her. His suggestions have had a powerful effect of Barths life and work. Heeding Grundbergs advice, she continued her travels, but with a new focus, having conceived of a longterm project she called Las Americas, a view of daily life in locations stretching from Chile and Central America to the United States. I went to places that people dont normally go, villages, towns and smaller cities the kinds of places that are never reported on, except when theres a natural disaster and the media comes, she says. The black-and-white work, which until 2014 was shot on film, includes portraiture, landscapes, and reportage. About four years ago, Barths journeys came to a standstill at the U.S.-Mexico border. There she embarked on a series that has marked another stage in her evolution as a photographer. Barth arrived in the area as the United States was building up enforcement measures, including a fence, to keep undocumented migrants from entering the country. In the divided city of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, she began documenting life on both sides of the border. I followed deported migrants as well as people who tried to cross the border in an attempt to find work or reunite with families living in the U.S., she writes about the work. I wanted to know more about these people often referred to as migrants or illegals and learn why they risk their lives to cross the unforgiving desert. In Nogales, she contacted two nonprofits, on the U.S. side, a group called the Border Community Alliance, which works to bridge north and south with cross-border tours and social and education programs, and on the Mexican side a community organization called FESAC, or Fundacion del Empresario Sonorense (Foundation of Sonoran Entrepreneurship). Through FESAC she was led to the San Juan Bosco shelter, a way station of sorts for people who have been deported from the U.S. There Barth began a series of portraits of the people passing through the shelter. She titled it Los Mochileros, or The Backpackers. Barth notes that in recent years increased border enforcement by the U.S. has significantly slowed the number of migrants crossing the border illegally. (See this 2016 report from Pew Research Center.) As a result, the Department of Homeland Security estimated in 2015 that the probability of getting caught by the border patrol was 54 percent, up from about 36 percent in 2005, she writes in a statement about her Backpackers project. Despite the fact that fewer migrants try to cross into the US, the misery of those who do is shocking, and their suffering is profound. Her portraits, shot with her subjects posed against a bare white wall and uniformly framed, form a typology of the misery. Barth has made five trips to the shelter over the years, always photographing the deportees in the same room a space lit by a single fluorescent light fixture that doubles as a chapel. It was really dark, the worst you can imagine, she says. The entire series was shot with a Leica Monochrom camera; Barth later compensated for the poor lighting in Photoshop. Almost everyone she approached at the shelter wanted to be photographed, she says. I asked permission, and then I would be alone with them for a while, waiting for the right moment to photograph them, when they were at ease with me, Barth says. Her goal, she says, was to put the focus on the faces of these people she met in the shelter. Her work has been entirely self-financed. I have not received any grants yet, even though I applied to many of them and did not give up the hope, Barth says. The financing part was very hard and often made me question my work and wonder if it would be better to drop everything. I had to put in much of my own savings, and I sold some prints along the way. When you meet someone as a student, youre always skeptical about how its all going to turn out some people disappoint you and some people amaze you. Petra's one of the people who amazed me, says Grundberg. She dedicated herself to learning photography, at the Corcoran and in workshops with other photographers, and she has pushed herself and gone about her work with very little in the way of public acknowledgement. The acknowledgement is now coming. Last summer, Barths Backpacker portrait series was shown at the Houston Center of Photography, and this year it will be exhibited at the Venice Biennale, from May 13 through November 26. The timing is important, as the United States moves toward building the border wall that Donald Trump promised during his presidential campaign. In Nogales, the busiest international crossing in Arizona for workers and a hub for international trade, Barth was introduced to the complexities of trans-border culture and economics. She says that many of the people she spoke to, on both sides of border, are wary of a wall. That impression is born out by a Cronkite News-Univision News-Dallas Morning News poll published last July, which found that the majority of residents of U.S. and Mexico border cities oppose a wall. In the dimly lit room at San Juan Bosco shelter, Barth put the focus on the faces behind the numbers, and in doing so found her voice as a documentary photographer. Google was granted a patent for a drag-and-drop solution designed for mobile devices, as revealed by a set of documents that were recently published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent obtained by the Mountain View-based Internet company describes a significantly improved version of the rudimentary drag-and-drop functionality thats currently supported by the Android operating system. Googles new patent envisions an interface in which users who start dragging a selection or an item are presented with an overlay window that allows them to choose an app into which they want to drag their selection. The overlay window would feature smart suggestions that would change based on the type of an item that a user is trying to drag, e.g. dragging a music file would suggest music players, audio editing tools, and communications solutions, while dragging a phone number would quickly present the user with the option of opening their default dialer and simply dropping the selection into the app. Its currently unclear whether the overlay window would also support the option of selecting any app installed on the device in case the item thats being dragged isnt instantly recognized by Googles algorithms. Regardless, the solution seems to be a rather convenient method of manipulating text, numbers, and files in Android that sounds more efficient than what Googles open source operating system is currently offering. With that said, the patent doesnt specify that the solution outlined above was specifically designed for Android devices, though Android seems like the only realistic mobile candidate for receiving such a feature in the future. As with all patents granted to Google and other tech giants in the country, the sole fact that the Alphabet-owned company went through the trouble of patenting this particular solution doesnt necessarily mean this technology will ever be commercialized. Even if Google integrates the drag-and-drop feature into Android at some point in the future, such a functionality still wouldnt be able to accomplish much on its own if developers dont code their apps with it in mind. Regardless, an update on Googles latest patent might follow later this year. Google is working on making the Internet more accessible to users in India by bringing down the language barriers with a new update to Google Translate, as well as by adding support for 11 additional Indian languages to Gboard. Starting today, Google Translate will rely on the search engine giants new Neural Machine Translation technology for translating English into nine widely used Indian languages, and users in India will be able to take advantage of the new tool through the Translate feature thats integrated into Google Chrome. According to Google, although there are more than 400 million Internet users in India today, only around one-fifth of the population is fluent in English, meaning that numerous Indians are faced with significant language barriers when accessing the Internet. Google intends to bring these barriers down by implementing its new Neural Machine Translation technology into Google Translate. Unlike the previous translate system, Neural Machine Translation is capable of translating full sentences at a time as opposed to translating sentence fragments. This gives Google Translate more contextual awareness and allows for more accurate translations adjusted to the human speech with proper grammar. With Neural Machine Translation, Google Translate now supports the translation of the English language into nine Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Malayalam, and Kannada. Google Translate with Neural Machine Translation is now baked into Google Chrome, giving users in India access to more accurate translations on the web. Additionally, starting today Google will automatically translate local reviews on Google Maps for both desktop and mobile platforms, and lastly, the company is bringing the Rajpal & Sons Hindi dictionary straight into Google Search in collaboration with the Oxford University Press. As for the mobile side of things, Google is releasing a new update to its Gboard Android application to include 11 additional Indian languages on top of the 11 languages that are already supported, bringing the number up to a total of 22 Indian languages featuring prediction and auto-correct options, as well as transliteration support allowing users to write in their native languages by spelling words phonetically using the QWERTY alphabet. Gboard users can also access Google Translate right from the keyboard by tapping the G button, and furthermore, the latest Gboard update introduces new text editing tools, extra resizing and repositioning options, and improvements to text prediction accuracy, the Alphabet-owned company said. The Huawei Watch 2 was announced at Mobile World Congress back in February, and despite the original Watch launching in Canada (and many other countries), the company currently has no plans to launch the Watch 2 in Canada. Thats unfortunate for those in Canada that were wanting to get their hands on the brand new smartwatch from Huawei which also runs on the latest version of Android Wear, but it does leave the door open for Huawei to change their mind down the road. Previously, customers in Canada were able to buy the Huawei Watch from the Google Store, but thats no longer an option, and theres a waitlist for the LG Watch Style, giving Canadians very little choice when it comes to Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches right now. Huawei Watch 2 was seen as a bit of a downgrade from the original Huawei Watch, largely because its a bigger smartwatch with a larger bezel. It does run on Android Wear 2.0, which includes Android Pay, Google Assistant and much more, which is a big deal. But it still hasnt been as popular as the original smartwatch, at least not yet. However the original Huawei Watch wont be getting Android Pay support (even though there was a report going around that stated that the watch had NFC inside, it actually doesnt), so that is a reason to buy the new Huawei Watch 2 instead. But for Canadians, theres very little available for smartwatches. Youre only other choice for Android is the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier (not even the Classic), with the LG Watch Style coming later this year. Its unfortunate that the Huawei Watch 2 is having a somewhat of a botched launch this year, considering the original Huawei Watch launched pretty quickly and became a best seller almost instantly. Hopefully Huawei can get things straightened out, as there are likely a good number of people in Canada that would love to get their hands on the latest smartwatch from Huawei. Heck, they likely are wanting to just get their hands on an Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch, since there have been zero of them to launch in the country so far. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus started making its way into owners hands last week, with the official launch happening last Friday in many of their key markets. And now some users are noticing that they dont have the quick access shortcut for the camera on their device, while some do have it. Basically, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus have the ability to double press the power button to launch the camera app without unlocking the device, this isnt new for the Galaxy S8 though. But for some regions, that option isnt there, its nowhere to be found on the phone, one of those areas is India. Its currently unclear why this is the case, and Samsung has not yet mentioned why. Since Samsung hasnt confirmed this, its hard to tell whether this omission is on purpose or not, and since its not available in some regions and not all, it seems to be a bug that Samsung may fix in an upcoming software update. Of course, this bug isnt as big of a deal as the DQA error update that is being sent out right now (that issue actually made the device almost impossible to use). Its possible that Samsung had to disable this quick access shortcut in some regions due to patents and such, which is the case with the fingerprint sensors on Sony smartphones in the US. Hopefully Samsung will let everyone know whats going on in the very near future. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus have been receiving rave reviews since they launched last week, and customers are mostly happy with the device. Samsung actually announced that pre-orders for these two smartphones were 30% higher than the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones that were released last year. Thats pretty incredible considering the entire Galaxy Note 7 debacle. It shows that plenty of customers stuck around for Samsung, and many others were excited by the minimal bezel approach on these two new smartphones. Hopefully the good news will keep on rolling for Samsung with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus in the coming weeks. An update today is bringing with it improved 4K content support on the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV. In particular, support for 4K content available through Google Play Movies & TV. Which now brings Googles movie & TV app more in line with the wealth of already supported 4K content available on the SHIELD, like for instance Amazon Video, Netflix, VUDU, and more. This essentially brings full closure to an issue which was picked up on last year, following Googles announcement that Google Play Movies & TV now lets you rent and buy titles in 4K. The issue seemed to revolve around the VP video codec level in use, with Google requiring a minimum codec level. One which, at the time, was not supported by SHIELD Android TV devices. Although that has since been rectified. The Google Play Movies & TV 4K support is not all that is on offer today though. As NVIDIA has also confirmed that the SHIELD Android TV now supports 4K content that is cast from a SHIELD owners smartphone or tablet. A feature that will be of particular benefit to those who often make use of video apps on their mobile devices. In fact, to further highlight how the SHIELD now stacks up when it comes to 4K content, NVIDIA has released a new comparison detailing the strength of the SHIELDs 4K third-party app compatibility, compared to a number of other popular TV streaming boxes. Including the Apple TV, Amazons Fire TV, Googles Chromecast Ultra, Roku devices, and so on. You can see the comparison in detail below. Of course, now that the SHIELD is even more 4K-compliant than it was before, it still only remains as compliant as the rest of the setup. To be able to make use of 4K content fully, the SHIELD needs to be coupled with other 4K-enabled aspects. Which means not only the TV set that the SHIELD is connected to, but also the cabling that connects the two. That all said, if all aspects are 4K-compliant, then it seems the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV (both the 2015 and 2017 models) now meets most, if not all, of your 4K streaming needs. Initially, the pension intended for around 4.18 lakh beneficiaries, was stopped on various grounds that included migration, change in address, problems with bank accounts or death of the actual recipient. By Press Trust of India: The Rajasthan government has discontinued the social sector pension to over 3 lakh 80 thousand recipients after finding that the money was not reaching the intended beneficiaries. Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Arun Chaturvedi shared these details in the state Assembly after an MLA of the ruling BJP, Ghanshyam Tiwari, raised the issue saying discontinuation of pensions was causing hardships to many people. advertisement Chaturvedi said that the government had conducted a verification drive in 17 of the state's 33 districts last year to check whether the pension was reaching the intended beneficiaries. He said that after the drive, the pension intended for around 4.18 lakh beneficiaries, was stopped on various grounds that included migration, change in address, problems with bank accounts or death of the actual recipient. There were 1,79,798 cases where pension was stopped on the ground of death, Chaturvedi said. PENSIONS OF 38,000 PERSONS STOPPED WRONGLY However, after re-verification, around 38,000 persons were found to be actual beneficiaries whose pensions were stopped on invalid grounds. "The remaining were not eligible for pension," the minister said. He said for people, whose pension was stopped wrongly, arrears would be paid and the pension would be resumed. Tiwari demanded that action be taken against officials who were responsible for wrongly discontinuing the social security pension. It was an attempt to malign the image of the government, he claimed. The minister said that the district collectors have been asked to take action against the responsible personnel. ALSO READ: Aadhaar details of lakhs of pension beneficiaries published on Jharkhand government website: Reports 7th Pay Commission: Government starts releasing arrears for defence pensioners ALSO WATCH: Union Budget 2017: 5 blockbuster takeaways --- ENDS --- Introduction Do we have a good one for you today the new LG G6 takes on the popular OnePlus 3T. The completely redesigned LG G6 with its all-glass body goes head-to-head with the updated OnePlus 3T. While LG did a revamp on the old metal bodied, modular LG G5 to come up with the more modern looking LG G6, OnePlus took their popular OnePlus 3 model and updated the processor, battery, and added a scratch-resistant lens cover to introduce us to the OnePlus 3T. The LG G6 will work on all major US networks, but the OnePlus 3T will only work on AT&T and T-Mobile in the US for 4G LTE. Lets look at just what these two devices have in common, if anything, and then we will take a closer look at each one in hopes that we can determine a winner of this comparison. The LG G6 and the OnePlus 3T have a few things in common. The displays of the two devices are 0.2-inch different in size, but the larger G6 is slightly smaller in physical size, but weighs in at 5 grams heavier than the OnePlus 3T. The displays use a different technology, the different resolutions, and different Gorilla Glass for protection. They use the same Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor and the same Adreno 530 GPU for graphics. They pack different amounts of RAM 6GB in the OnePlus 3T and 4GB in the LG G6 different amounts of internal storage, but only the LG G6 has the means to expand its memory via a microSD card. The primary camera areas and the front-facing camera (FFC) areas could not be more different the LG G6 uses dual 13MP cameras, and the OnePlus 3T uses one 16MP sensor but both take great pictures. The FCC on the LG G6 uses a 5MP while the OnePlus 3T uses another 16MP sensor. Both have a fingerprint sensor for unlocking the device as well as NFC for authorizing mobile payments, including Android Pay. They both use a non-removable battery, and both have rapid charge capabilities. They come with the usual suspects WiFi, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, NFC, and the newer reversible Type-C port for charging and data transfer. Advertisement Please take a thoughtful look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below, and here you will see just how these two great devices stack up against one another click on the View Full Comparison link at the end of the chart to expand the details. After that, we will look at each device in greater depth and point out some of its pros and cons. From all of this information, we will try to determine the winner based on specs and execution of design and functions. Specifications LG G6 Advertisement Redesigned with new materials, new display, to its looks, the new LG G6 looks and acts nothing like the old LG G5 that it replaces. Unfortunately, that leaves many LG G5 owners out in the cold without any new modules that support the G5 design. The LG G6 uses an all-new glass design with smaller bezels and rids itself of the unpopular painted metal and modular body form of the G5. The new sealed design allowed the G6 to gain an IP68 certification, but did away with one of LGs most sought after features the removable battery, which are becoming fewer and fewer. To help compensate for this, LG increased the battery size and now includes standard wireless charging. LG increased the display from 5.3-inches to 5.7-inches and gave it an 18:9 screen ratio that makes it slightly taller and narrower. LG continued with dual cameras but changed their megapixels. Lets see if LG did enough to their LG G6 and see just how it stacks up to the OnePlus 3T. LG did some upgrading on the G6s IPS LCD QHD+ display by increasing it to 5.7-inch and giving it a new 18:9 screen ratio. This ratio causes the display to be slightly taller and narrower, but allows more display in a smaller area. LG included the always on feature that not only saves battery life, but also makes glancing at notifications much easier and quicker. The resolution comes in at 2880 x 1440 pixels with an impressive 564 pixels-per-inch (PPI) and is now Dolby Vision/HDR10 compliant. This ratio gives the viewer a more natural theater-like experience when watching movies and it allows two perfect squares for on-screen multi-tasking. LG decided to use the SD821 quad-core processor over the newest SD835 octa-core processor, causing many to question LGs judgement however, with the SD835s availability issues, it may turn out to be smart move. It has dual cores clocked at 1.6GHz and another dual-core clocked at 2.35GHz. The LG G6 packs 4GB of DDR4 RAM and 32GB of internal memory that is expandable to 2TB via a microUSB card. You can see a growing trend toward a dual-camera design something that LG has embraced for a while one just has to look at the LG V10, V20, G5, and now the G6. The LG G6 uses dual 13MP sensor cameras for both the primary and secondary camera. The LG G6s primary shooter comes with all of the technology, such as an f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, OIS, and dual-tone LED flash. Called the primary camera for a reason, this is the camera the G6 will use for regular picture taking. The second 13MP camera comes with an ultra-wide-angle lens for capturing a wider group shot or a landscape picture and has a fixed focus with a smaller f/2.4 aperture. LG decreased the FCC from an 8MP to a 5MP sensor and gave it an f/2.4 aperture for selfies and video chatting, which is unusual as more smartphones are increasing their FFC size as the importance of social media climbs. LG did take away the removable battery, but increased the size from 2800mAh to a 3300mAh, added Quick Charge 3.0, and standard wireless charging. Advertisement LG kept the fingerprint sensor on the back of the device, which was an easy decision due to the small bezels, and it still acts as the on/off switch. LG deleted another of its perennial favorites with the G6, the IR Blaster, but kept the FM radio around in certain markets. The LG G6 is also the first non-Google smartphone to include Google Assistant onboard so you can use your LG G6 to communicate with Googles growing ecosystem that includes Google Home and Chromecast. The LG G6 measures 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm, weighs in at 163 grams and comes in Mystic White, Astro Black, or Ice Platinum. The device is available on all the leading carriers for about $700 for the 32GB model. OnePlus 3T OnePlus had a good thing going with their OnePlus 3, but rather than wait until 2017 to come out with a new model, OP updated it with a Snapdragon 821 and a larger battery and started selling it as the OnePlus 3T. The two devices were physically identical looking except for a subtle color change to a Gunmetal color. According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 821 is 10-percent faster than the Snapdragon 820, so the OP3T gained some speed. OnePlus also improved the battery size from 3000mAh to 3400mAh and added a scratch-resistant lens cover over the primary camera. The OnePlus 3T offers no expandable memory so you have to settle for the base 64GB model or a 128GB model. The OnePlus 3T is an all-metal device that has excellent build quality, decent specs, and a decent price but how does it hold up to the more expensive LG G6 that uses the same processor and GPU? Advertisement OnePlus does not like to use QHD displays on its devices so the OnePlus 3T comes with their familiar FHD display, but they went with a new Optic AMOLED technology in the 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and a respectable 401 PPI. The OnePlus 3T includes the Snapdragon 821 with the same dual cores as the 820 clocked at 1.6GHz and another at 2.35GHz and running the same Adreno 530 GPU as the OnePlus 3. The OnePlus 3T is one of the first smartphones to use a full 6GB of DDR4 RAM nobody is sure exactly how OP manages 6GB, but they own the bragging rights. There is a full 64GB of the faster UFS 2.0 internal storage with no available expansion, but you can now order a model with 128GB of internal memory. The OnePlus 3 already had an excellent camera so OP just kept it on the OnePlus 3T but it now includes a more scratch-resistant sapphire covered lens. The camera includes PDAF, an LED Flash, a decent f/2.0 aperture, and OIS for stability. OP increased the already large 8MP FFC camera to a huge 16MP with a f/2.0 aperture to take great selfies and for video chatting. The OnePlus 3T includes a larger 3400mAh non-removable battery that includes OnePlus Dash Charge that will give you up to a 60-percent charge in only 30 minutes. OnePlus was a small company that had a few hits and misses when it came to designing a complete smartphone, but the OnePlus 3T is OnePlus best effort to date. This time they included both a fingerprint sensor and NFC chip on their OnePlus 3T, allowing the user to make mobile payments as well as use Android Pay. If the OP3T would only work on Verizon and Sprint, more users could and would enjoy the OnePlus experience. It runs mostly stock Android 7.0 Nougat (upgraded) with OnePlus OS called OxygenOS on top. The OnePlus 3T measures 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm and weighs in at 158 grams. It will cost you about $440 USD for the 6GB/64GB model and about $480 for the 6GB/128GB model, and there is a choice of Gunmetal, Soft Gold, or a newer Midnight Black color. Advertisement And The Winner Is The Final Word Advertisement Okay, the LG G6 is pictured above because it is certainly has more features than the OnePlus 3T, but the OP3T is right on the G6s tail because of the value it offers. For about $250 less than the LG G6, the OP3T offers the same processor, the same GPU, and 2GB more RAM. The OP3T is a solid device, that takes great photos and is an excellent performer if you are on AT&T or T-Mobile networks and you may be perfectly happy living with the OP3T, and save yourself some money. However, when it comes to features and availability, the LG G6 has to take the upper hand in this specification comparison. For starters, it has the looks of a more modern smartphone with its 18:9 ratio display along with slim bezels, and its QHD+ display resolution. The G6 also uses an always-on display technology and is Dolby Vision/HDR10 compliant. The LG G6 offers expandable memory, dual cameras, Hi-Res Audio, wireless charging, is IP68 certified, and it can be used on all major US carriers. These reasons are why the LG G6 is picked as the winner of this comparison. Android will grab a 90-percent share of the global smartphone market by the end of this year, a recent report by DigiTimes suggests. Handsets running Googles operating system have accounted for approximately 85 percent of the global market in 2016, the same source claims, noting that the ubiquitous mobile OS still isnt showing signs of slowing down as it continues increasing its already massive lead over other mobile platforms. While industry watchers predict that Apple will have a strong year due to the tenth anniversary of the iPhone that will likely drive up the demand for iOS-powered devices, Android original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are reportedly ready to challenge Apples position on the market, with Samsung, LG, and Huawei having already released high-end devices that can compete with products made by the San Diego-based tech giant. While it remains to be seen whether the LG G6, Huawei P10, and the Huawei P10 Plus will do well on the market, the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus are expected to become massive commercial hits that will outsell every other competitor in the Android ecosystem. Samsung already manufactured approximately 17 million units of its latest flagship lineup, which is a 40-percent increase compared to the initial batch of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge, industry sources told DigiTimes, adding that the South Korean consumer electronics maker will likely manage to ship over 60 million models of its flagship duo by the end of the year. Apart from the aforementioned tech giants, Chinese Android OEMs like Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo are also expected to continue their aggressive expansion efforts and increase their performance in 2017, especially in developing markets like India. While the western markets have been showing signs of saturation for years now, India is a unique case of a massive emerging market thats still growing in an impressive manner. According to recent estimates, Indian consumers will purchase approximately 130 million new handsets over the course of this year, which is a market share that all major OEMs in the world deem worth fighting for. While it remains to be seen whether Android as a whole manages to increase its market lead by the end of the year, the smartphone industry in general is expected to become even more competitive in the coming months. T-Mobile held their earnings call yesterday following their Q1 2017 financials, and CEO John Legere made a point to talk about how Verizons network couldnt handle unlimited data. Stating that since their competitor launched unlimited data in the first quarter, Verizons network speeds have decreased about 14% making the network even slower. Also noting that Fran Shammo, who recently stepped down and retired from the CEO position at Verizon, knew that his network couldnt handle unlimited data and kept pushing the fact that their customers didnt want it. Legere noted that Verizons network is now slower than AT&Ts, and also took some time to tout that T-Mobiles network has gotten 10% faster. For the most part, this is due to the fact that Verizon has more users on 4G LTE now and doing more things like streaming video and music, which does take up a fair amount of bandwidth on their network. So it makes sense that data speeds have gone down, but the real question here is what will Verizon do to improve their network. T-Mobile has had unlimited data for years and years (actually they never got rid of it), so their network has been built around unlimited data and can handle the large amount of video streams on their network at one time. Verizon will obviously dispute the fact that their network has gotten slower, and state that they still offer the biggest network in the US, which is starting to be less of a selling point for customers these days. Verizon said in their quarterly earnings last week that they were on pace to lose around 400,000 customers in the quarter, before they announced Verizon Unlimited. Their Unlimited plan helped keep users on their network, and bring in new customers to help stop the bleeding. So its working to keep customers on their network, but they will need to do something about the capacity of their network soon, or they may still end up losing big numbers in the coming quarters. Now Legere did not mention where he got these speed numbers from, so we may have to wait for the next network tests to come out from Nielsen, RootMetrics, Ookla and such. U.S. variants of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus boast FM radio support that isnt locked in any way, according to several members of the XDA Developers boards that recently took online to confirm that the FM tuner on their devices hasnt been disabled. Members of the recently released Galaxy S8 lineup that are being sold stateside are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip (SoC) that ships with an integrated FM radio tuner, though some wireless carriers occasionally choose to disable those chips for a variety of reasons. However, owners of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile have now all confirmed that the FM support on their devices works without any issues. All users in the United States who want to tune into traditional radio stations on their Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus can do so by downloading any FM radio app. Members of the XDA Developers boards suggested the NextRadio app thats currently available for download on the Google Play Store free of charge, though any similar tool should be able to accomplish the same purpose. The AKG earphones that ship with every Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus can act as an antenna when using either device to listen to FM radio broadcasts, users have confirmed. The South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer isnt advertising its latest pair of high-end Android smartphones as being capable of tuning into FM broadcasts, but thats likely because the international variants of the handsets powered by the Exynos 8895 SoC dont support the same functionality. Its currently unclear whether Sprints versions of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus also boast unlocked FM radio tuners, though that seems like a probable scenario. Regarding the devices themselves, Samsungs latest flagship lineup officially hit the market last Friday, following months of anticipation and a massive advertising campaign thats still going strong. Both devices have enjoyed a positive first response from tech critics and consumers and are expected to become commercial hits that will help Samsungs mobile unit generate billions of dollars in revenue over the course of this year. The apex court noted that the co-accused of petitioner Wani have been released on bail in 2001. By Press Trust of India: The Supreme Court today granted bail to a former Aligarh Muslim University scholar Gulzar Ahmed Wani, an alleged Hijbul Mujahideen operative lodged in jail since 2001 for orchestrating a blast in the Sabarmati Express train in 2000. The blast in the train was carried out on the eve of the Independence Day when it was on its way from Muzaffarpur to Ahmedabad and was close to Kanpur, claiming ten lives. advertisement A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud observed that Wani has suffered incarceration for over 16 years and has been acquitted in nine out of 11 cases lodged against him. The bench, noted that out of 96 prosecution witnesses, only 20 witnesses have been examined so far and directed the trial court to examine all material witnesses by October 31. "The trial court is directed to complete the exercise of examining the material witnesses by October 31, 2017. Whether the exercise is completed or not, the petitioner (Wani) shall be released on bail from November 1, 2017, on set terms and conditions of the trial court," the bench said. The apex court noted that the co-accused of petitioner Wani have been released on bail in 2001. PRECEDING EVENTS Wani, who was arrested by Delhi Police in 2001 with explosives and incriminating materials, is a resident of Peeparkari area of Srinagar and is currently lodged in Lucknow. He was pursuing PhD in Arabic from AMU when he was arrested from the national capital on July 30, 2001. The arrest was made in connection with explosives recovered in Delhi. Son of retired government employee Ghulam Mohammad, Wani after completing his studies at Baramullah in Kashmir, came to Uttar Pradesh where he completed his graduation and post-graduation from AMU. The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on August 26, 2015 had denied bail to Wani saying "release of such persons would adversely affect the interest of the society". Wani had challenged the High Court order before the apex court which had last year directed the trial court to expeditiously examine the material witnesses of the case in six months. After the blast, Wani was booked under various sections of Railway Act, Indian Penal Code and Explosives Act in the case lodged at GRP police station, Barabanki. The blast had occurred on the evening of August 14, 2000. --- ENDS --- advertisement The creation is called Flyer, and it is an electric flying machine. Its makers describe the object as an all-electric aircraft, but it is closer to a flying boat for other reasons.It will be available to consumers by the end of this year, and you can already sign up as a member on the companys website to get a small discount when it is ready. Unlike other vehicles that can fly, this one does not need a pilots license, which would have been an annoying thing to obtain even if you are a wealthy individual.FAA regulations consider it to be an Ultralight aircraft. The idea with the Kitty Hawk Flyer is that it is meant to fly over water, and that any user will be able to learn to operate it in minutes.Driving a car is not a skill that is learned in minutes, but rowing a boat or riding a bicycle is notoriously easy, so this craft may be created for leisure use in situations where lakes and rivers are concerned.A three-year membership costs $100, and it gets users a $2,000 discount off the sales price, access to dedicated merchandise and equipment, and even access to a flight simulator. The makers of this vehicle have not specified what happens if you try to operate it on land, or if that is even possible.As you can observe in the video, which is part commercial, part flight test (the man in the clip is an engineer with Kitty Hawk), the craft does not seem to fly that high, but it may be faster than the average boat, while also being way more fun to use. It weighs about 100 kilograms (220 lbs), Softpedia notes, and it can fly at up to 25 mph (40 km/h). Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's sister, Upama Singh, wants to sue senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh along with some news channels for "assassinating Pragya's character and ruining their lives". By Siddhartha Rai: Upama Singh's sister is finally coming out of jail after almost a decade. But she knows her sibling - Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the once touted face of "saffron terror" and an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case- will roll out in a wheelchair and not run into her arms. Happy about the relief, Upama is also seething with rage inside. She wants to sue senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh along with some news channels for "assassinating Pragya's character and ruining their lives". advertisement Two bombs fitted to motorcycle went off in the Muslim-dominated Maharashtra town on September 29, 2008, killing seven people. The saffron-clad Sadhvi got bail from the Bombay High Court after spending eight years behind bars though she was moved to a Madhya Pradesh hospital recently for cancer treatment. Co-accused Lt Colonel Shrikant Purohit, however, did not get relief. The two moved the HC after a trial court rejected their bail applications last year. 'WE WANT TO SUE DIGVIJAYA SINGH' "Look at the number of lives these people have destroyed on the altar of their anti-national politics," Upama told MAIL TODAY. "My sister was called what not: from a terrorist to someone who feigned sainthood as she wanted to marry someone; that she had an affair. For us who have known this devout soul from when she was a child, these words fell as molten iron in the ears. While she is a religious mind and she has forgiven her tormentors, we are common people and we have been pained so much that we want to sue Digvijaya Singh and those news channels that assassinated her character for vested interests. I want to teach them a life lesson so that they cannot do this to anyone else in future." Hardline Hindu groups had rallied behind Pragya and Purohit even as detractors accused the duo of fomenting and participating in socalled saffron terror. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) welcomed the family's wish to file a lawsuit. "The Congress had launched the bogey of saffron terrorism to appease the Muslims. They arrested many holy figures to attest to their construct. For the first time in world history a woman saint was put through three narco tests. Nothing came out of it. This conspiracy has been exposed. They must sue these people for defamation," said VHP's international joint general secretary Surendra Jain. "The people have already spoken: they have been obliterated by people who have spoken through the ballot. We will welcome if the family fights for their dignity and for their lost years." Pragya as well as Purohit were both arrested in 2008 and charged with plotting the blasts as part of a pro-Hindu group, Abhinav Bharat. The court granted her bail, while observing "there is no material on record to prove prime facie case against her", as one of the victim's lawyers opposed the plea. "We take turns to attend to my ailing sister. She can't do much by herself by now. Her cancer has just eaten her up," Upama said. "My son was with her this morning when the news broke." advertisement 'TRUTH HAS TRIUMPHED' Upama told MAIL TODAY that Pragya was in prayer when the news broke. Her nephew, who was attending to her at the time, waited for her meditation to end. Finally, when she was told about the bail, her first words were: "Ant bhala to sab bhala. Satya ki vijay hui. (All is well that ends well. Truth has triumphed)." "Digvijaya Singh has a history of always being proven right on every issue," said Maharashtra Congress secretary Shehzad Poonawalla. "If somebody is aggrieved, they have a right to approach the courts. Even today, Pragya is out on bail and the whole world knows the manner in which the Modi government has forced NIA to do a U-turn and save Sangh Parivar-affiliated terrorists. This allegation has been made by (former) special public prosecutor Rohini Salian too." The Malegaon blasts case was first investigated by Maharashtra's anti-terror squad led by its chief Hemant Karkare. However, the top cop was killed battling terrorists during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. "These anti-national politicians created a bogey and churned Pragya in it," said Upama. "Singh made comments on her, saying our father's and her family's assets needed to be investigated. Our father became sick, bed-ridden due to paralysis and then died a broken man. Our mother too could take no more; she is sick and confined to bed now. My family, son and daughter, is completely in her attendance. Our brother-in-law could not even come to know family life: he shuttles between Mumbai, Bhopal and Delhi; between jail and hospital." advertisement Upama alleged that Pragya was put through unspeakable torture after she was arrested and since then her health has been deteriorating. "Due to the excruciating torture, she has developed complications in her spine, which is a cause of grave concern for us. While Pragya kept enduring the torture, she also developed breast cancer," said Upama. "She needs surgery, but she has refused it so far as undergoing a procedure when post-surgery care would be none inside the jail is pointless." ALSO READ | 2008 Malegaon blast: Sadhvi Pragya Thakur gets bail, Lt Col Purohit stays in jail ALSO READ | Will approach Supreme Court to get bail: Lt Col Purohit's wife WATCH VIDEO | 2008 Malegaon blast case: Bombay High Court grants bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur advertisement --- ENDS --- The good news for those willing to jump aboard the K ship is that the positions are spread across a wide variety of areas. The latter range from engine building, final assembly and paint to prototyping, CAD design, service, electrical harness construction or purchasing.As recruiting people over Facebook and Twitter ads, the description of the ideal candidate is anything but conventional."Were looking for the guy or girl who might be passionate enough about Koenigsegg to check in here regularly, but someone who might also have their own UserID on a forum like Buildthreads or Garaget. Were looking for passionate car people who have spent years getting their hands dirty. You might have built your own project car, restored a classic or fabricated and then installed your own interior," the automaker explained.The company is also okay with the idea of people who have "non-traditional backgrounds", so that diploma might not be mandatory.It's no secret that Koenigsegg 's current waiting lists means that a customer ordering a car today will have to wait between 4 and 5 years before receiving his hypercar.Koenigsegg currently builds under 20 cars per year, with the automaker aiming to ramp up production to 30 vehicles per year by the end of next year.The staff boost will also bring benefits in the development area. For instance, Koenigsegg has been struggling to find time for rebuilding the One:1 prototype that was torn apart while trying to set a Nurburgring record last year.To put things shortly, the carmaker wants to bring the waiting list down to 2 years. And, of you think you can help Christian von Koenigsegg achieve this goal, you can find more details in the "work" section of the Koenigsegg website. MPV The German brands representatives say that new products are more relevant than ever before, but they need to be supported with adequate marketing, and a strong dealer network with good after sales performance will need to keep the name of the automaker high in the car industry.You might expect the marque to enter new areas in an attempt to cover all possible areas of the premium car segment, and some think that the launch of a pick-up truck is an example of this phenomenon.However, the three-pointed star will not enter all of the available niches in the market, said its representative in an interview with the Australians at CarAdvice The statement comes from Britta Seeger, the head of marketing and sales for Mercedes-Benz, and she emphasized the fact that the most important thing for Mercedes-Benz is to maintain its premium status.Instead of senselessly launching new products to cover niches that people did not know existed, the company will cut models that are not reaching subjective expectations regarding sales. The R-Class , anthat did not get as many clients as expected, was provided as an example.Therefore, the brand will not invest in a product that risks a poor reception on the market. If we were to speculate on what Mercedes-Benz might cut from its current line-up, the B-Class is one of the possibilities.The market received the compact MPV with open arms at the time of launch and in the years that have passed since its debut, and it even exceeded the results of volume MPVs, but few improvements have been added to the range. Meanwhile, its smaller brother, the A-Class, is preparing to receive a new generation.With that in mind, we should wonder why the B-Class has not been spied while testing its successor, when the current model was launched before the ongoing A-Class . The difference could be a hint that Daimlers premium division is considering axing the B-Class from the lineup once the current model ends its production cycle. As any Zuffenhausen aficionado will tell you, the visual changes applied to the hybrid hypercar follow the Porsche mid-cycle revamp tradition, which means we're dealing with limited transformations.The nose of the gas-electric Porscha now features Mission E-borrowed light clusters, while the front apron and the hood have also been touched by Russian designer Aksyonov Nikita , who is behind the project.The German automaker's side-to-side LED taillight design, which has taken over an important side of the Porsche line-up, has made its way onto the 918 S. Following the guidlines set by the front fascia changes, the rear apron packs a few styling cue updates, such as the vents on the sides of the bumper.Notice that this 918 Spyder doesn't feature the extreme aero Weissach Package and yet this can bee seen as an aid towards focusing on the new look of the hyper-hybrid.Speaking of a Porsche efforts that follow the footsteps of the 918 Spyder, we might just have to wait until the half of the following decade before the automaker comes up with a successor for its now-retired halo car.As Oliver Blume, the carmaker's CEO, explained at the Geneva Motor Show last month, the carmaker introduced such a special machine every ten years and, since the 918 was produced until 2015, it's not difficult to do the maths.However, with the market become more demanding by the year and Porsche's financial situation following a rising trend, we might get to meet the 918 Spyder 's successor earlier than 2025. What's most remarkable about John Barcus' life in aviation is that those of his generation didn't consider their lives remarkable at all. The polls say centrist Emmanuel Macron has more or less smooth sailing to the French presidency in the second round of voting on May 7. But Kremlin-linked hackers have already attempted to infiltrate his campaign, and political observers expect further attempts to disrupt the election by Vladimir Putin, who supports far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Quick take: With most polls showing Macron up 20 to 25 points, Le Pen stands very little apparent chance of winning. But even if Putin can't swing the election to her, he can serve his long game of encouraging divisions within NATO countries, and fomenting doubt about the integrity of their democratic institutions. Look for fake news to raise the specter of terrorism and sow distrust of Muslim migrants. Putin favors Le Pen in part because she has said she'll vote to terminate EU sanctions against Russia. She has explicitly identified herself with the Russian leader and President Trump, describing them as "new world" politicians, and Russia has supported her party with millions of Euros in funding. U.S. and European intelligence agencies have rung the alarm about intrusive Russian cyber and fake news attacks that appear designed to create a crisis environment in the West. Now, experts say France is next. Daniel Baer, the former US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said: "Russian disinformation won't just be about Macron. It will amp up the terrorist threat as a political hot button. It will be aimed at arousing anti-Muslim sentiment. Given that Le Pen is so far back in the polls, my hunch is that as with the U.S. the Russian game plan will not be primarily about making her win, but rather about sowing doubt/discord/confusion." The ground in France as in the U.S. and elsewhere in the west is fertile for such action, said Pasi Eronen, a cyber expert with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Putin's method, he said, is to needle already-existing discontent. "We are allowing Russia to work against us by not addressing those wounds in our society," he told me. 24 April 2017 14:22 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, two Azerbaijanis who are kept hostages by Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, are experiencing health problems, said Eldar Samadov, the deputy head of the working group of Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons. Samadov said that the State Commission discussed the issue [health state of the hostages] in detail with the international organizations. "Representatives of the organizations noted that they will conduct the necessary monitoring on this issue, and even invite international doctors, who will check the health condition of the hostages," Samadov told Trend. Samadov further said that the State Commission continues to work towards the release of the hostages. Asgarov and Guliyev were detained by the Armenian armed forces in July 2014 while visiting their native places and graves of loved ones in the occupied Azerbaijani Kalbajar region. Moreover, Armenian forces killed the third Azerbaijani citizen Hasan Hasanov. Later, Guliyev and Asgarov were judged illegally by the unrecognized courts of a separatist regime in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Following an expedited judicial process in December 2015, Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years. Attempts of Azerbaijan to provide justice and to free its citizens are still unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Shahbaz Guliyevs brother Ilham told Azvision that the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will visit Dilgam and Shahbaz in the near future. He added that Shahbazs family has sent a letter to him with the help of the ICRC some days ago. They said that the letter will be handed over to him at the meeting and they will also deliver his letter to us. Since then, we have received no information about my brother, Guliyev said. Azerbaijans State Committee on Affairs of Refugees and IDPs, the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons and other agencies have repeatedly urged international organizations, including the ICRC, to assist in release of Guliyev and Asgarov, whilst the problem remains topical yet. Azerbaijan, whose over 4,000 citizens were taken captive, hostage, or went missing as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, has repeatedly declared its readiness to begin negotiations with Armenia to free the captives and resolve the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, the Armenian side keeps ignoring all attempts of Azerbaijan and international organizations, thereby disrespecting the international law and hindering the settlement of the conflict. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 24 April 2017 16:21 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova The International Mugham Center has hosted the awarding ceremony of the second Booktrailer Festival in Azerbaijan. Booktrailers are short videos that promote a book or an author, providing a good illustration of the book content. The project aims at promoting books, supporting and developing creative forms of reading, searching talented young people in cinematography and promoting bookrailers as a part of art and business. The festival, which took place under the slogan "Promote a book, get promoted with a book!" was organized by actor Ruslan Sabirli with support of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The festival was timed to the World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day, held annually on April 23. Book is the best friend. How often do we hear these words? In modern life there are a huge number of various sources of information, but nothing can replace a book, a priceless gift to mankind. It's a storehouse of knowledge, a great thoughts and good advice, source of wisdom and conscience. This was the keynote speech delivered by Ruslan Sabirli. In their speeches, First Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan Vagif Aliyev, MP Ganira Pashayeva, honored art workers Mushfiq Hatamov, Ayaz Salayev and Kanan Mammadov, actress Senuber Iskenderli stressed the importance of the project and wished young people further creative achievements. Later the winners were named. Booktrailers were assessed by each member of the jury individually. In the end, the Organizing Committee summarized the assessment of each jury member. 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 chose the winner of the festival. Thus, the first place went to Elnur Rzayev, who created book trailer on the book by Ramiz Rovshan "Breath". The second place was shared by Emin Hasankhanzadeh (Mushfiq Khan, O 2) and Orkhan Adigezalov (Agshin Yenisey, "I Write you a letter"). The third place was shared by Galib Mirzaliyev (Azer Elshadoglu, "Night man"), Javidan Alizadeh (Tarana Valid ,"Suicide,) and Veli Mammadov (Sahila Ibrahimova, "Coup"). The first place got 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's participants expressed gratitude to the event organizers. The gala evening was hosted actress and radio host Aygun Akif, who appeared in a gorgeous dress from the fashion house of Gulnara Khalilova. Media partners of the event are Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az, Azernews.az --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 April 2017 17:31 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The EU recognizes the leading role of the OSCE Minsk Group in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Herbert Salber said in Yerevan on April 25. He added that the EU is ready to contribute to the intensification of negotiations in this format. Earlier, during his visit to Azerbaijan, Salber noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be solved in a peaceful way, without military means. A political settlement is possible if the ceasefire is respected, he stressed. Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years. Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Despite Supreme Court's order which criminalises homosexuality, a police sub-inspector in Punjab went ahead and married her same-sex partner. By India Today Web Desk: India's criminalisation of homosexuality did not stop a Punjab police sub-inspector from marrying a woman and that too with full Punjabi style. Manjit Kaur, a sub-inspector in the Punjab Police, tied a knot with a woman and it wasn't a hush-hush affair. Jalandhar's Pucca Bagh witnessed a big fat same-sex wedding. While the cop wore a red turban, her bride rode a chariot. The marriage was solemnised according to the Hindu rituals, as reported by The Tribune. Reportedly, the wedding took place in the presence of their families, many classmates and colleagues of Manjit too were present at the ceremony. advertisement This is not the first time that a same-sex couple has gotten married. In fact, India has its very own gay marriage bureau. Benhur Samson, an NRI, established India's first avenue where gays can find their soulmates in 2016. The bureau helps them find the right match, both within and outside the country. Samson started the arranged gay marriage service when he received numerous requests from gays regarding prospective life partners. Till 2013, he used to help gays with surrogacy. According to figures submitted by the government to the Supreme Court in 2012, there are 25 lakh gay people in India. Perhaps, it is time the Supreme Court goes ahead and takes a progressive step and decriminalises homosexuality. Also read: Homosexuality is legal in these 10 Muslim countries Two nuns met at a mission, fell in love, ditched the Church and married each other Repeal 377, let Rainbow Flags fly-Diplomats --- ENDS --- 25 April 2017 18:43 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The ongoing Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories poses a huge threat to peace in the region, said Vusal Huseynov, the deputy-chairman of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE as he addressed the free debate of the spring session of the PACE. "Since our past session on February 26, Azerbaijani people commemorated the 25th anniversary of tragic genocide committed by Armenian regime against civil population in Khojaly occupied region of Azerbaijan in 1992. I would like to draw your attention to such crime against humanity and pay tribute to the victims of the genocide. More than 600 hundred people, including women, children, elderly were killed, 487 people were severely wounded and 1,275 people were captured and subjected to torture, the fate of 197 people remains unknown. Not only these people and their families are the victims of this crime, I believe everyone, including us are and will be the victims of this crime against humanity until the impunity goes on and those liable are not brought to justice," Huseynov said. Huseynov reminded that those represented in the leadership of Armenia today are liable for the killings. The current President Serzh Sargsyan, in his interview which can be easily found in the internet, notes and I quote him: "Before Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought that they can joke with us; they thought that the Armenians were people who could not raise their hand against the civilian population. We were able to break that stereotype. And that's what happened." These are the words of a president of a country which is a CoE member state. Armenia presents itself to the world as "a victim of the so-called genocide" but the world should know the true face of it and crimes committed in occupied territories of Azerbaijan," Huseynov said. "Therefore, it's very important that we speak up and act for justice for prevention of similar tragedies in the future. As the ongoing occupation by Armenia of Azerbaijani territories continues, which poses a huge threat to peace in the region, there can't be guarantee of safety." Huseynov stressed that Azerbaijan supports peace and is willing to resolve the conflict by peaceful means. But let's look at the attitude of Armenian authorities to peace. I want to give an example of a civil society peace initiative recently launched by Armenian and Azerbaijan civil society activists called Armenia Azerbaijan peace platform. This was the first initiative of this nature since the conflict began and laid the foundation for further peace activities. Several human rights defenders in Armenia joined it from the beginning, took part in the joint conference and campaigned for its expansion. However, this civil peace initiative also was oppressed by Armenia. The Armenian authorities launched a dirty campaign against those seeking a civil dialogue with Azerbaijan. Under different pretexts representatives of civil society organizations, activists were arrested for carrying out peace-building projects and for having contacts with the platform, he said. Huseynov added that Armenian media named these people "traitors" and called for their punishment and encouraged to murder the Armenians who joined the conference in Baku. These were the actions of a state, which talks about peace and human rights. How we can expect peace and dialogue, if ordinary civil initiatives are oppressed," Huseynov said. 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. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 April 2017 15:00 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva Despite the complexity of regional dynamics in South Caucasus, multilateral formats, improving political and economic ties between the countries, provide serious support to regional development. A new trilateral format between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia, which is under creation, will serve as a ground for increasing trust between the neighboring countries. On the sidelines of the Russian Press Council Conference being held in Alanya on April 23-26, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the cooperation within the trilateral Azerbaijan-Turkey-Russia format can strengthen the stability in the South Caucasus region. Cavusoglu noted that Turkey has high-level relations with Azerbaijan and good relationship with Russia. He also expressed confidence that the trilateral Azerbaijan-Turkey-Russia format will be a positive example of cooperation between the three countries. The cooperation of Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey, on the one hand, will support the development of tripartite economic ties. On the other hand, it will bring them closer from the political point of view, which, in turn, will have a positive impact the establishment of peace, security and stability in the region. Currently, there are several trilateral formats in the region such as Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Turkey-Iran and Azerbaijan-Turkey-Turkmenistan. The best example of the effectiveness of such cooperation is the tripartite format with Georgia. The benefits brought by the large-scale projects of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the first bypassing Russia oil pipeline in the post-Soviet territory after the Cold War, and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline to the three countries are obvious. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project is expected to further strengthen the neighborly and fraternal relations among the three countries and enable the countries to supply domestically produced goods to the world markets. After implementing these projects, Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan trilateral relations has gained a strategic character and also become vital for many Western partners. With Turkey's diversification of the ways leading to Central Asia, Azerbaijan will become the main point in this direction. This will positively affect the development of transport infrastructure by ships on the Caspian Sea and rail transportation in the region. It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan and Turkey are the key countries in all the mentioned interstate structures. It might be explained by the fact that AzerbaijanTurkey relations have always been strong mostly described as "one nation with two states". Azerbaijans geopolitical and strategic location also allowed and paved the way for Turkey to reach beyond the Caspian Sea and expand its relations with the countries in the region in various spheres, including energy, commerce, and transportation. Notwithstanding the fact that Turkey and Russia earlier have sided with different parties between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, Ankara and Baku both could have found ways to overcome their territorial limitations (Turkey borders Azerbaijan only through its exclave - Nakhchivan), and at the same time to advance the relations with Moscow within the new multilateral format. The sides expect not only economic, but also political results from trilateral formats of cooperation. The creation of trilateral format between Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey might also impact the settlement of Karabakh conflict. Many analysts and experts suggest that the rapprochement between Russia and Turkey may reach high enough to affect Armenia as well. Against the background of a favorable political atmosphere, the significant progress can be made in Karabakh dispute. The three-way cooperation format Ankara-Baku-Moscow could accelerate the peace process, on the condition that Russia will force the aggressor Armenia to take a constructive position. In this case, not only Azerbaijan but also Turkey may join the Eurasian Economic Union, according to experts. The idea of creating the tripartite format of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia was initiated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the framework of his St. Petersburg meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in August 2016. 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. Ankara has no diplomatic relations with Armenia due to the dispute over the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which Yerevan regards as genocide. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 April 2017 14:27 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova Medical officers refusing to render a medical assistance to a patient without a grounded reason will have to pay fine. In accordance with the law and procedures, increased penalty will be imposed on medical officers who denied medical assistance thus causing less serious harm to health of the patient. The amount of the fine will be from 1,000 ($587) to 1,500 ($881) manats in accordance with the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. The current legislation specifies a fine for this act in the amount of up to 300 nominal financial unit or a penalty in the form of corrective work for the term of up to 1 year, or deprivation of freedom for the term of up to 1 year, or imprisonment for the term of up to 6 months with deprivation of the right to hold the certain posts or to engage in certain activities for the term of up to 2 years or without it. The deliberate abandonment, without the help of a person who is in a life-threatening or health-threatening state and is deprived of the opportunity to take measures for self-preservation in cases where the perpetrator had the opportunity to provide assistance to this person and was obliged to show concern for him, will be imposed a fine in the amount of 1,000 ($587) to 1,500 ($881) manats, or attracted to corrective labor for up to one year, or imprisonment for up to six months. The proposed changes will be discussed at a plenary session of the Milli Mejlis [Parliamnet] on April 25. Besides the changes dealing with medical sphere, the meeting will also discuss amendments in other articles of the Criminal Code. For example, it is proposed to raise the maximum penalty for insult, while the maximum fine may be increased three times for the libel. Articles 147 (libel) and 148 (insult) of the Criminal Code will be amended. The fines for violation of both clauses will also range from 1,000 ($587) manats to 1,500 ($881) manats. The anti-corruption law, giving a bribe will be punishable by a fine in the amount of 5,000 - 8,000 manats ($2,937-4,700) (in the current legislation 1,000 -2,000 manats ($587-1,175) ), or by imprisonment for a term of 2-5 years. Forcing a citizen to vote against his will or prevent him from voting will be fined in the amount of 2,500 - 5,000 manats ($1,467-2,937), according to the draft law. Fines for giving bribes may be tightened as well. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 April 2017 16:26 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva The 48th meeting of the Committee for Culture, Education and Social Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation kicked off in Baku on April 25. About 50 delegates from the member countries take part in the meeting, which will mull cooperation in the field of healthcare. Addressing the meeting, Committees Deputy Chairman Ozcan Ulupinar called for decisive steps to improve the healthcare system in the BSEC countries. First Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ziyafat Asgarov , in turn, underlined the need for joint efforts to address the global political and economic problems. The world has never felt such need for cooperation before. It also refers to the BSEC region, he said. He noted that over the past years, Azerbaijan has achieved economic progress, increased its economic potential and ensured the development of the healthcare system. As one of the important directions of the long-term development strategy pursued by Azerbaijans president, large-scale healthcare reforms are being implemented and investments are being made in the sector, he said. More than 500 medical centers have been constructed or repaired. Mortality rate among mothers and babies has sharply decreased. In this regard, familiarity with the experience of developed countries and international cooperation are of great importance. During the meeting, the deputy chairman of the committee was elected. The representative of Ukraine Sergey Kunitsin was re-elected to this post. The protocol of the 47th meeting of the Committee, held in October 2016 in Bucharest, was also approved. BSEC was established on June 25, 1992, on the basis of the Istanbul Summit Declaration and the Bosphorus Agreement signed by 11 heads of state. The key objective of the organization is to support multilateral political and economic initiatives in the Black Sea region. The organization comprises 13 countries. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 April 2017 15:44 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Baku has hosted an international conference entitled Development of women entrepreneurship: problems and prospects. The event brings together experts and delegates from Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Japan, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Sweden, Tajikistan, Morocco and Romania, as well as representatives of international organizations. Chair of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs Hijran Huseynova, opening the conference, thanked the Azerbaijani authorities for assistance in organizing the event. She said the conference aims to develop women entrepreneurship and expand cooperation in protecting women`s rights and ensuring their employment. Huseynova stressed that development of women entrepreneurship has a positive impact on society. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov, addressing the event, stressed the significance of ensuring economic independence of women. He highlighted the government`s efforts to boost the development of women entrepreneurship. Thanks to measures taken by the government the number of women entrepreneurs has increased in Azerbaijan in the past two years, he noted. On importance of the women entrepreneurship, the deputy premier further commented: A comprehensive condition is created in the country for the development of relevant field. Speaking at the conference, President of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs Employers Organizations of Azerbaijan Mammad Musayev said the number of women entrepreneurs increased dramatically. Musayev noted that there are more than 121,000 women entrepreneurs in the country. Encouraging women entrepreneurship, improving their skills and increasing professionalism will contribute to the development of the country`s economy in general, he added. The conference is co-organized by Azerbaijan`s State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Economy and the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers') Organisations of Azerbaijan Republic (ASK). --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 April 2017 17:39 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva The extension of the Vienna agreement on the oil output reduction will be in Azerbaijan's interest, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev told reporters on the sidelines of SOCAR forum in Baku on April 25. "The decision on the reduction of oil production, made in December 2016, has yielded positive results," he said. The oil price has been varying within the range of $50-60 per barrel since January 2017, that is, precisely what we expected. I think that the measures taken earlier have brought benefits." Aliyev added that the participants of the upcoming meeting should agree to extend the agreement till the end of 2017 to keep oil prices at a stable level. "The extension of the agreement is beneficial for us, so we will not oppose this decision," the minister said. Energy-rich Azerbaijan produces three grades of crude oil - Azeri BTC, Azeri Light, and Urals. The price of a barrel of Azeri Light crude oil fell $0.03 to stand at $53.21 on the world markets on April 25. In December 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. Non-OPEC producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 bpd starting from January 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months, to take into account prevailing market conditions and prospects. The participation of Azerbaijan in joint oil production cuts is defined at 35,000 barrels per day. The countrys oil output in March 2017 amounted to 733,300 barrels, 40,000 barrels of which accounted for condensate. The volume of daily production in February amounted to some 776,400 barrels, while the volume of daily export at 604,100 barrels of oil with some 50,000 barrels accounting for condensate and 26,800 barrels fall to a share of oil products. This January, the volume of daily production amounted to some 793,900 barrels, while the daily export was 617,000 barrels. Prior to the landmark deal, the volume of production in the country was at the level of 37.72 million tons of oil, while daily output stood at 829,100 barrels. Oil production of the country in 2017 is forecasted to stand at 39.797 million, while average daily oil production will amount to 800,000-807,000 barrels. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 17 April 2017 12:58 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva Turkmenistan will hold next parliamentary elections on May 21, 2017. The county will simultaneously hold the election of members to local governing bodies Halk Maslahaty (Peoples Council) and Gengeshi in connection with changes in the administrative and territorial structure of the regions. The countrys Central Election Commission (CEC) reported that currently candidates are being nominated. The Democratic Party and initiative groups of citizens nominated the candidates to the parliament in the constituency # 7 Gunesh in Ashgabat and in the constituency #106 Vekil in Mary province. Several candidates are nominated for one seat in all districts. As soon as the process of nomination ends, the registration of candidates will be conducted. Later, the meetings with voters will be held. In accordance with the constitution of Turkmenistan, the countrys parliament adopts laws, makes changes and additions to the basic law, approves the state budget, addresses issues of holding a national referendum, appoints the president election, the parliamentary election, as well as members of representative bodies. The Turkmen parliament also ratifies and denounces international treaties, decides on changing of the state border and the administrative-territorial division of the country. MPs are elected for a period of 5 years on the basis of universal, equal and direct voting by secret ballot. The number of MPs in the parliament is 125. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva 18 April 2017 12:32 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva Foreign ministries of Turkmenistan and Iran, during political consultations held in Ashgabat, paid attention to the Caspian Sea issues and cooperation in energy sphere, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry reported on April 17. Noting the similarity of positions on ensuring peace, security and sustainable development in the region and the world as a whole, the sides expressed their commitment to further development of regional and international cooperation. In this context, the two sides paid attention to issues of assistance for Afghanistan. The sides also focused on issues of further development of cooperation in the field of power industry, oil and gas and transportation. Turkmenistan and Iran border on the Caspian Sea and have a land border. During the years of long-term cooperation, several large-scale economic projects have been implemented. The two states built the border dam Dostluk (Friendship) and completed the North-South railway project based on the trilateral agreement signed in 2007 with the participation of Turkmenistan, Iran and Kazakhstan. Iran also purchases electricity in Turkmenistan. Iran ranks third in the foreign trade of Turkmenistan, due primarily to natural gas purchases. Turkmenistan has been exporting gas to Iran under a 1997 agreement. In turn, Turkmenistan imports raw materials, building materials, steel products and inorganic chemicals, plastic products, rubber, detergents, food and other consumer goods from Iran. The countries aim at increasing the volume of bilateral trade to $60 billion within the next 10 years. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 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. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 April 2017 17:23 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva U.S. President Donald Trump called for changes in the UN and claimed that there is a need to review funding of the international organization. "For a long time I have believed that the UN is not effective enough, but it has enormous potential," he said at a meeting with the ambassadors of the countries that are members of the UN Security Council in Washington. In addition, the American leader called on to review issues related to UN funding, RIA Novosti reported. "We also need to carefully study the budget of the UN. The costs are completely out of control," Trump said. The president's budget outline proposed deep cuts in the U.S. contribution to the UN, which could dramatically impair its peacekeeping functions around the world. He has proposed a 28 percent budget cut for diplomacy and foreign aid, which includes an unspecified reduction in funding for the United Nations and its agencies, as well as enforcement of a 25 percent cap on U.S. funding for peacekeeping operations. In March, the U.S. administration circulated a draft budget for 2018, which confirmed that it would reduce UN funding. Washington demanded that the world organization "curb costs." Also, the White House said that the U.S. administration will refuse to fund UN programs on climate change on April 20. Trump has long been known for criticizing United Nations, saying that this structure is not working in full force and thus making the European countries to become concerned over American leaders statements. In December 2016, Trump referred to the UN as a "club" for people to "have a good time." As a candidate, he questioned the institution's effectiveness in dealing with international threats. Today, the issue of increasing the effectiveness of the UN Security Council, including the use of all its statutory peacekeeping capabilities, is becoming increasingly important due to a number of international crises. Most likely, the main reason for the Council's poor effectiveness lies in its inability to ensure the implementation of its resolutions in a number of cases. A clear example of this is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, that emerged due to Armenia's illegal territorial claims towards neighboring Azerbaijan in 1988. So, Armenia keep under occupation 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory in defiance of international law. In 1993, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted four resolutions (No. 822, 853, 874 and 884), condemning the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, reaffirming respect for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the inviolability of international borders and the inadmissibility of the use of force for the acquisition of territory. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. So, to preserve its authority today the UN, regarded as the guard of peace globally, may really need changes, better tools and mechanisms to enforce its decisions. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The ivory used to make the sex toy is believed to date back to the 1840s. By India Today Web Desk: Every now and then, facets of history surface in the contemporary world and end up fascinating everyone in attendance. Such was probably the case when Irish auctioneer, Damien Matthews, decided to put a Victorian-era sex toy up for grabs. Damien Matthews of Matthews auctioneers describes the product as a "beautiful piece, which comes from one of the well-known Anglo-Irish families." advertisement The sex toy aka the "Antique Carved Ivory Ladies Companion" is reportedly, made of ivory that dates back to the 1840s. Also Read: Fur coat worn by Titanic stewardess sells for Rs 1.4 crore! "A family member found it in a drawer, and he put it in the auction for fun really. We believe the ivory dates back to the 1840s. This fellow, the original owner, was in India in the 1840s, where he shot himself an elephant, and brought the tusk home," Damien was quoted as telling the Irish Times. Believed to be carved in China, the leather case of the toy was made in Ireland. According to Damien's conversation with Irish Times, the sex toy could have been a "loving gift" from the traveller to his wife. "You can see that because the level of detail is incredible, down to the folds of the skin. There's a heart carved at the base of it, where her finger would have been, and a receptacle in which she could keep a lock of his hair." The toy is being seen as a rare representation of sexual awakening during the Victorian era. --- ENDS --- 25 April 2017 16:23 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli A sharp jump in tourists flow to Azerbaijan cannot but rejoice both the economy and the inhabitants of the country. Hotels, restaurants, recreation areas, and shopping centers filled up with foreigners and this shows the interest of tourists in a newly chosen destination. In the last two years Azerbaijan has received most part of all tourists from Arab countries, who enjoy the mixed style of the capital, feeling themselves simultaneously on the East and Europe. Mahir Gahramanov, Head of Department at the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said that the number of tourists arriving in Azerbaijan from Jordan increased by 2 times in 2016 compared to 2015, while from Kuwait by 3.2 times, from Qatar by 5.5 times, from Saudi Arabia and Oman by 10 times, from UAE by 22 times, from Iraq by 30 times. He made the remarks at the event on "Tourism excursion services. Halal management system. Hotels held on April 25. Given the wonderful climate of Azerbaijan, its culture, cuisine, nature, attractions, and diversity, the number tourists from Arab countries into the country increased significantly. The tourists mainly choose the most popular destinations Baku, Gabala, Quba and many other cities. The government takes a series of necessary measures to make the country a favorite tourist destination. The introduction of a simplified visa system for the countries of the Persian Gulf, China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore has positively affected the flow of tourists. There is a growth in tourist flow from the Muslim countries. For instance, the number of tourists from Iran has also doubled in three months of 2017 compared to the same period of 2016," he said. Today, the country can accommodate about 40,000 tourists in its 535 hotels, which include a series of luxury hotels Excelsior, Hilton, Four Seasons, Fairmont, JW Marriott, Kempinski as well as several budget hotels for cost-conscious travelers. Some 25 hostels and 92 apartments for tourists operate in Baku, adding that all these facilities are private. However, the growth of tourism in Azerbaijan and increasing number of tourists has encouraged construction of new hotels across the country. Gahramanov said that 140,000 bedrooms are not enough and their number should be increased. Application of halal standards in hotels is voluntary for the countries. There are some Muslim tourists, who want to stay away from the environment they have in their homeland. However, 70 percent of them want to feel themselves in a familiar environment. Thats why we should become more attractive. And creation of halal standards is one of these ways, he said. The number of Iranian citizens, who visited Azerbaijan during Novruz holiday in 2016 increased by 35-40 percent, compared to 2015. Alongside the capital city Baku, Iranian tourists also travel different regions such as Lankaran, Lerik, Masalli, Gabala and Sheki. Tourism in Azerbaijan has a thousand-year tradition. To make sure it is enough to remember the Great Silk Road, which contributed to not only commercial, but also cultural exchange. A special surge of interest in the country located on the Caspian Sea shore, however, arose during the era of hydrocarbon resources. Situated on the Great Silk Road, and divided partially between Eastern Europe and Western Asia, Azerbaijan blended the best from both cultures, forming its own unique rich culture, thats why its people are neither totally Eastern, nor totally Western. Azerbaijan has shown high growth rates in Europe on three main creation used in hotel business efficiency. It was mentioned in the article entitled "Europe's hotel industry has shown growth in the first quarter of 2017" published on the portal publituris.pt of Portugal. The hotel business is measured by the booking, the room rate, revenues, and price criteria. With one of the worlds most improved economies in 2017 and rising 13 spots in the World Economic Forums global ranking, Azerbaijan's capital saw massive improvements in hotel performance in the first quarter of the year, according to the STR analytic company. Exchange rate fluctuations made the destination cheaper for many international visitors, the portal said. STR analysts note the performance growth is particularly impressive considering the market experienced significant supply growth of 18.1 percent in 2015 and 6.8 percent in 2016. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain. Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that. And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details. If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) The Delhi High Court today sought the responses of the Centre and the Delhi government on a plea claiming severe shortage of drugs for AIDS patients at some of the anti-retroviral treatment centres, including the AIIMS. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra issued notice to the two governments and sought their response on an NGOs application in which it has alleged that due to the shortage of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, adult patients were being given paediatric dosages of the medicines. advertisement The NGO, Delhi Network of Positive People, has alleged that there was "severe shortage and stock out" of various drugs meant for the people living with HIV (PLHIV) at the Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) Centres at AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital and Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, among others. It also claimed that due to the shortage of the medicines, patients afflicted with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), were being given dosage for only 15 days as against the practice of 30 days. As a result, patients have to incur travel expenses two or more times in a month to get their required dosage of medicine, the NGO said. It said that as on April 11, 2017, the ART Centre at AIIMS ran out of essential ARV drugs, despite the NGO informing the Additional Project Director of Delhi State Aids Control Authority on March 27 about the shortage. However, the same ARV drugs were available in the open market at prices ranging between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 per pack, which the patients who are below the poverty line cannot afford, the application has said. It has sought directions to the Centre and the Delhi government to replenish the stock of the essential ARV drugs and other such medicines at the ART centres, including AIIMS. The application by the NGO was filed in one of the two ongoing PILs alleging that poor HIV patients have been denied the right to free treatment as well as accessibility to and availability of essential medicines and tests. The petitions have also alleged that the ART Centres are understaffed as patients were being asked to wait for hours before the doctor sees them. The pleas have also sought directions to the two governments and other authorities to fill up vacant posts of doctors and staff at the ART centres and ensure a three-month buffer stock of ARVs at these centres at all times. The petitions have said that while the ARV drugs cannot cure HIV, they do protect the immune system which helps HIV patients to live longer and healthier lives and reduces the risk of sexual transmission of the disease. PTI HMP PPS ARC --- ENDS --- advertisement By India Today Web Desk: DMK working president MK Stalin was arrested today at Tamil Nadu's Thiruvarur while protesting with the farmers near the town's bus depot in the wake of a day-long statewide bandh called by his party across the state. Normal life has been affected in Tamil Nadu due to the shutdown strike called by the Opposition parties led by the DMK, which along with the Congress, CPM, CPI, VCK, IUML, had called for the shutdown on April 16. advertisement The Opposition parties have urged the Tamil Nadu government to waive off all farm loans and convene a special session of the Assembly to discuss the farmers' issues. They have also passed resolutions urging the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board, the Cauvery Regulatory Authority, declare the Cauvery delta region as Special Agriculture Zone, scrapping of the hydro-carbon project and others. A host of trade unions affiliated to the Opposition parties, farmers bodies, the film fraternity and other organisations including a lorry operators association, have pledged support to the general strike. The ruling AIADMK (Amma), and the BJP have hit out at the bandh call, calling it "politically motivated". ALSO READ | Tamil Nadu bandh: Anti-social elements may instigate violence, says DMK's Stalin Tamil Nadu braces for bandh today, major services likely to be affected --- ENDS --- Only 46% of working adults in Ireland say there is a company pension plan available for them at work and, where there is such a plan, 76% of people are saving into a company pension. This is according to new research conducted by Irish Life which gives an insight into the pension status of Irelands workforce. Nearly half of all workers who make savings into a group pension plan (49%) are aware of the amount that their employer pays into the plan. From the research, younger workers seem better informed about their workplace pension than their older colleagues. Two thirds of workers aged 18-34 know how much their employer contributes into their pension plan, in comparison to only one quarter of those aged 55 or older knowing the contribution levels. Overall, women were less aware of employer contribution rates (40%) compared to men (56%). Only 54% of workers know that saving into a pension is a tax efficient way to save for the future, showing a lack of awareness among Ireland's workforce. However, those 55 years and older are more aware of this (69%). Pension plans that employers contribute to are the second highest valued workplace benefits for employees in Ireland (25% of employees rate workplace pension highest), just behind the 28% of employees who value health insurance most. Pension plan benefits are even more valuable as employees get older 42% of those aged 55 and older say this is their most valued workplace benefit. Commenting on the research findings, Managing Director at Irish Life Corporate Business, Tony Lawless said, "It is encouraging to hear that people are saving into their workplace pension plans. However, worryingly, many people still dont understand the tax breaks available on pension savings and more than half of those working say they do not have a group pension available to them. This highlights a significant lack of awareness, as all employers must provide access to either a company pension scheme or PRSA." Source: www.businessworld.ie Modified On Apr 25, 2017 06:02 PM By akas HP Lubricants and Leo Burnett India are working together to make the Indian national highways safer for driving. They have innovated and implemented the worlds first anti-collision vehicle management system on the NH1, which connects Jammu-Srinagar and has been listed as one of the most dangerous highways in the world by National Geographic. The project is known as 'Roads That Honk', and to prevent accidents on sharp turns on hilly roads, it consists of SmartLife poles at both sides of sharp curves and hairpin bends. Both the poles communicate with each other with the help of wireless technology and monitor the incoming traffic with radar systems. The poles detect the speeds of incoming vehicles and then communicate with each other to alert the drivers of the approaching vehicles on either side with the sound of a horn. The poles transmit an electromagnetic wave of 24 GHz frequency range and measure the shift of the reflected electromagnetic wave. The moving vehicles cause the frequency shift which is known as Doppler effect. As the distance between the pole and the vehicle changes, the frequency shift also increases and this helps to calculate the speed of the vehicle. According to the Police Department which looks over the Jammu-Srinagar Highway, the number of accidents have significantly reduced after the implementation of the SmartLife pole. Currently, the progress of this system is being observed, and it is likely to be installed at more locations across the country in the near future. India has one of the highest road accidents in the world. According to reports published by the government, more than 140,000 people were killed in road accidents in 2015. While automakers are busy making our cars safer, we also need to make sure that our highways are also safe. India has a vivid geography, and the SmartLife pole can be certainly used in many places to reduce the risk of accidents. Roads That Honk Photo: USGS A powerful magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off central Chile's coast Monday evening, but there were no reports of injuries or damage and authorities ruled out the possibility of a tsunami. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centred in the Pacific about 35 kilometres west of the port city of Valparaiso and hit around 6:40 p.m. Buildings swayed in Santiago, the capital 115 km to the east. The USGS revised the quake's magnitude down from an initial reading of 7.1. Chile's emergency services office said no damage to infrastructure was reported from the quake, which was felt more than 900 miles away in Cordoba province and other parts of neighbouring Argentina. Chile is earthquake-prone. A devastating 8.8-magnitude quake and the tsunami it unleashed in 2010 killed more than 500 people. It was among the strongest ever recorded. Other strong quakes since then have triggered mass evacuations along Chile's long coast. But seismologists say the South American country's heavy investment in structural reinforcement of buildings has helped reduce the damage from even strong quakes. Boost for conservative Anglicans as South Carolina join ACNA Conservative Anglicans in America received a major boost last week when South Carolina joined a breakaway traditionalist grouping. The Diocese of South Carolina voted unanimously to join the Anglican Church in North America, a splinter group from the official Anglican body, The Episcopal Church, on Friday. One of the nine original TEC regions formed in 1785, South Carolina's decision to join the conservative faction completes its separation from its more liberal forefather. 'I cast my vote to affiliate with the ACNA with eager and expectant faith,' said Bishop of South Carolina Mark Lawrence during his address to the convention. 'I believe God has called us to this and I believe we will find a deeper richness in our vocation, fuller fellowship in the Spirit, a more zealous thrust in mission,' said Bishop Lawrence, who survived an attempt by TEC to oust him in 2012. 'But most of all, I believe a door will be opened, the fresh winds of the Spirit will blow, and a caged eagle will soar.' ACNA split from their episcopal bishops in 2009 and is affiliated with GAFCON, a conservative faction of Anglican leaders many from Africa and the 'global south'. ACNA is not a member of the wider Anglican Communion and instead aligns itself to GAFCON's 2008 Jerusalem declaration made in reaction to a perceived liberalisation of the western Anglican churches. Most Rev Foley Beach, Archbishop of the ACNA, welcomed South Carolina to the grouping, which now has 111,853 members in 966 churches and 32 dioceses spread across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. 'I am thankful for Bishop Mark Lawrence, for his steadfast and Godly leadership, for his friendship, and for his humility throughout this entire process,' he said. 'Your witness in mission, in scholarship, and steadfast commitment to the historical teaching of the Bible is commendable. You are bringing with you many gifts that will further strengthen our Province, and the larger Anglican world.' Christian Pakistani family's 14-year old daughter kidnapped at gunpoint A Christian Pakistani family have reported that their 14-year old daughter was abducted during an armed robbery of the family's home. Maria Bibi, 14, was reportedly taken from her family at 3am on 15 April in Gaggo Mandi in the Vehari district of Punjab, Pakistan. The home of her mother, Bushra Bibi, 46, and three younger siblings was reportedly attacked by three men who scaled the walls of the home and broke into the property. The armed men reportedly waved their guns at the family and told them to kneel while they looted the property. The home was reportedly robbed of 13,000 rupees (102) and gold jewellery valued at 50,000 rupees (400). The family say that the men then took Maria with them, said the family would not see Maria again and ordered them not to tell the police or they would be killed. Other accomplices were reportedly heard outside, shouting 'have you got the girl yet?' Maria's father died six years ago due to a heart attack, leaving Bushra alone to look after Maria and her siblings aged 11, 12 and 13. Maria worked as a cleaner. The British Pakistani Christian Association (BCPA) say the local police have been slow in reacting to the kidnapping. Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the BPCA, said: 'Until we got involved police were refusing to register a First Incident Report, this deplorable insouciance towards kidnap, rape and forced marriage of vulnerable Christian girls, is based on an Islamic bias within police authorities. 'The regular failure by police to react to such cases has created an impunity which leads to bold acts of violence towards Christians and other minorities. 'We are in touch with the Government of Pakistan through the High Commission and have alerted them to this incident. I am sure that a more concerted response will be enacted by the Police and we have been assured of this.' The BPCA have set up a charity appeal to raise the required funds (600) for a lawyer to support Maria's family, and advocate should a legal battle ensue. Conservative Anglicans confirm plans to defy Welby over liberal drift Conservative Anglican leaders have confirmed they are considering planting a new 'missionary' bishop in the UK to address the Church of England's 'drift from orthodox, Biblical Christianity'. GAFCON primates are meeting this week in Lagos, Nigeria, and will discuss defying the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby by refusing to attend a meeting of all the global Anglican leaders called by him for October. The conservative faction sees Welby's failure to discipline liberal leaning Anglican churches as a betrayal after threatened 'consequences' handed to The Episcopal Church in the US failed to materialise. The rebel leaders are already considering intervening on what they see as the liberal slide of the CofE. The plan to plant their own archbishop to oversee conservative parishes would be in direct challenge to the CofE's authority and hierarchy, the Mail reported. It comes after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York issued a statement calling for a 'radical, new Christian inclusion' for gay couples after their conservative leaning report was rejected by the Church's ruling general synod in February. Confirming the move was being considered, a GAFCON spokesman told Christian Today it was in response to requests from British Anglicans. 'The GAFCON Primates recognise the existence in England, Scotland and Wales of faithful Anglicans who are already distanced from their local structures because of revisionist teaching and practice in the Church of England leadership, and they are ready to provide assistance. One option is to consecrate a missionary Bishop to give oversight if necessary. 'That the GAFCON Primates are considering consecrating a bishop with particular responsibility for these Islands is not a secret and should not come as a surprise. . . Many of the world's senior Anglican leaders, including the Archbishops who lead the GAFCON movement, have for some time been concerned about the Church of England's drift from orthodox, Biblical Christianity.' Of even greater concern for the conservative body is the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC), another branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which looks set to approve gay marriage in June. If the move goes ahead, GAFCON could look to a similar plant in Scotland. A spokesman said: 'The situation in the UK is not uniform. Within England there is troubling ambiguity from diocese to diocese in their teaching and pastoral practice as it pertains to human sexuality and biblical church order. 'However, the situation in the Scottish Episcopal Church is of immediate concern. There has been a clear rejection of biblical truth by the Scottish Episcopal Church, and they are expected to finalise this rejection of Anglican teaching and apostolic order in the upcoming June meeting of their Synod. 'Alternative structures and oversight will need to be in place should that unfortunate reality come to pass. At their meeting this week, the Gafcon Primates will be considering a range of options for how to care for those who remain faithful to Jesus' teaching on marriage.' Launching the BJP's booth level campaign in the state, Amit Shah met party workers at the house of a BJP supporter and had lunch with booth level workers at a small hut. By Indrajit Kundu: With an aim to strengthen his party at the grassroots, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah began his three-day trip to West Bengal from Darjeeling district on Tuesday. Shah landed at the Bagdogra airport in the morning and went straight to historic Naxlalbari area, the birthplace of the violent Naxal uprising in the 1960's. Launching the BJP's booth level campaign in the state ahead of next year's panchayat polls, Shah met party workers at the house of a BJP supporter and had lunch with booth level workers at a small hut. advertisement "Today I've come here as a general worker of the BJP. Just like me, lakhs of BJP workers will reach out to seven lakh booths. I may have addressed several massive rallies across the country, but let me tell you nothing can be more satisfying than today's meeting in this tiny village in Bengal," Shah told party men amidst a rousing welcome. The BJP has seen a steady rise in its vote share in the state over the past few years. In last year's Assembly polls, the party managed about 10 per cent votes, while in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections it got an unprecedented 17 per cent vote share. In the recently concluded by-elections in Kanthi Dakshin seat, the BJP moved up to the second spot ahead of the Left front, a trend that has now become pan Bengal. Thus, Shah and his team knows well that if they want to win big in the state, they must make a dent in Mamata's actual vote bank, in rural Bengal. REACHING OUT TO PARTY MEN Shah chose a door-to-door campaign in rural north Bengal to reach out to party men, in order to give a renewed thrust to the BJP's campaign in the state. During a meeting with booth level workers, Shah attacked the Mamata Banerjee-led government alleging that the state administration was creating obstacles in implementation of various central welfare schemes. "While central schemes are working well in other states like Gujarat, UP and Haryana, we are facing several obstacles in Bengal. The state government here feels that they can check the rise of the BJP by creating such hindrances. But let me remind them, the more they create obstacles, the more lotus will bloom in Bengal," he said. Alleging that the Trinamool Congress was attacking Opposition political workers in the state, Shah commended the efforts of the BJP workers in the face of such threats. "I want to commend my party men who have continued to work for the BJP despite the violent attacks. Let me assure you that development shall win over violence one day. Nobody can stop the BJP's rise in Bengal," he said while addressing BJP supporters. After his stay in North Bengal, the BJP president will be reaching Kolkata by train on Wednesday morning where he will directly challenge Mamata Banerjee in her own Bhawanipur constituency in south Kolkata. advertisement Also read: Amit Shah to start BJP's expansion drive from Naxalbari, West Bengal Also read: Revealed! Amit Shah's Gujarat Assembly election strategy to win 150 seats WATCH | Amit Shah begins Mission Bengal with meal with booth level workers --- ENDS --- Conservative vicar calls on bishop to 'repent' over thanksgiving for gay couples A Conservative Anglican vicar is calling on his bishop to repent for saying the Church's view on sexuality was 'morally unacceptable'. Rev Steven Hanna, of St Elisabeth, Becontree, said his church 'could not in good conscience' attend an upcoming conference organised by Bishop Steven Cottrell after he called for thanksgiving prayers for gay couples. In a presidential address Bishop of Chelmsford Stephen Cottrell said the Church of England was seen as 'immoral' for its refusal to welcome gay marriage and said it should reach an 'agree to disagree' compromise over gay marriage as it had done over women's ordination. 'It would be particularly foolish for us to ignore the missiological damage that is done when that which is held to be morally normative and desirable by much of society and by what seems to be a significant number of Anglican Christian people in this country, is deemed morally unacceptable by the Church. As I have said before, I am not sure the church has ever before had to face the challenge of being seen as immoral by the culture in which it is set,' he said in an address to Chelmsford's local diocesan synod. But Hanna said his bishop had 'not said clearly what we believe he should have said' and called on him and other bishops to repent. 'We disagree that it is damaging to mission to proclaim biblical and traditional views on marriage and faithful sexual relations only within the boundaries of traditional marriage,' he said in a statement on Monday. 'We believe to proclaim this is consistent with Christ's gospel. We believe it is faithful to being Christ's disciples and faithful to His mission and not damaging to it, even if many do not like that message. Not to proclaim this, we believe, is unfaithful. 'We call all our bishops to public repentance - both for what they have said publicly and for what they needed to say clearly but haven't publicly said.' It comes amid growing friction within the CofE as it wrestles over the next steps on sexuality. A report that held a predominantly conservative line on gay marriage was rejected by the ruling general synod in February. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York responded to the unprecedented defeat by calling for a 'radical new Christian inclusion' for gay couples in the Church. But conservative factions have hinted they could switch their loyalties, and more importantly their financial support, away from the CofE as they perceive a liberal shift. GAFCON, a traditionalist grouping of mainly African primates, has called for a 'new vision' for the Anglican Communion. 'Despite its enduring historical symbolism, Canterbury can no longer be the defining centre, but through the Gafcon movement a growing number of faithful Anglicans are now recovering their true identity in the gospel itself as the Bible is restored to its rightful place at the heart of the Communion.' Could you go to Pippa Middleton's wedding, even if not invited? Celebrity weddings including that of Pippa Middleton on May 20 could be attended by uninvited members of the public, thanks to guidelines newly published by the Church of England. The guidelines state that 'a marriage is a public ceremony which at the least all parishioners are entitled to attend'. The Telegraph pointed out that this could mean strangers rubbing shoulders with Miss Middleton's sister and brother-in-law, the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge during her wedding to James Matthews, a hedge fund manager and heir to a large Scottish property, at the Berkshire church of St Mark's. The rules mean that all residents of the parish of Englefield, which surrounds St Mark's Church have the right, in theory, to attend the ceremony. Andrew House, the chairman of the parish council for the neighbouring village of Bradfield, where Pippa was born and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate spent her early years, told the paper: 'It's a rather nice thought that they [parishioners] might be able to attend. I'm sure there will be interest.' The document, entitled Celebrity Marriages in Anglican Cathedrals and Churches and produced by the Church of England Synod's legal advisory commission, members of the public are entitled to attend 'as long as there is available seating or standing room unless a genuine question of safety or security arises'. While the document states the rules do not need to be followed if 'a genuine question of safety or security arises', this is a health and safety provision, only to be enforced if the church becomes dangerously overcrowded, The Telegraph reported. Stephen Borton, the chief clerk of the faculty office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: 'The document is pretty clear. Parishioners and those on the electoral roll have the absolute right to attend services of public worship, and they can't be denied access. Marriages are not a private event, they are public. 'It is a parish church and if any of the parishioners or any of those on the electoral roll wished to attend, they could not legally be refused. That of course does not extend to those from outside, such as the press.' House added: 'Some people will no doubt want to wish the couple well, especially those Englefield parishioners who knew the Middleton family from when they lived in the area. Kate went to Brownies here and there are still people in the area who remember her.' A representative for the wedding said: 'For security reasons we are making no comments on the private details of this wedding (being held on private property).' However, although St Mark's lies on the private Englefield Estate, which has been owned by the family of Conservative MP Richard Benyon since the 17th century, it is understood that parishioners would still have the right to attend what is a public service. Church of England lawyers said that where parishioners need to cross private property to get to a public place of worship, a 'church way' has to be provided to guarantee access. Church weddings have always been public events, but this is the first time that the Church of England's guidance on the subject has been published online. The guidelines emerged following a request from a curate attending a Church of England seminar. The Englefield Estate said that the marriage was a 'private ceremony and we are not able to comment or provide any details'. The Church document states: 'The same law applies to the weddings of celebrities in Anglican cathedrals and churches as it does to the weddings of any other persons, although there may be added complications if the couple have entered into an agreement for exclusive publicity with a magazine or other form of media...However celebrated the couple may be, the preliminary requirements before a marriage may be celebrated remain the same as for any other marriage, namely, the calling of banns, a special licence, common licence or a superintendent's registrar's certificate.' David Irving praises Manchester University for refusal to restrict his books, attacks 'Jewess' campaigner The convicted Holocaust denier David Irving has praised Manchester University for its refusal to move his books away from 'open access' and attacked 'the Jewess' campaigning for them to be restricted. Last month, Christian Today revealed that the university had come under fire over its controversial position from the eminent Jewish academic Irene Lancaster, who is leading a campaign to have the books moved in its main John Rylands library. The campaign follows a successful attempt by Dr Lancaster, who was the first Teaching Fellow in Jewish history at Manchester University, to persuade Churchill College, Cambridge to move Irving's books to available only on request. Now, Irving has attacked Dr Lancaster, repeatedly calling her 'the Jewess' and praising the 'suitably frosty reply' from Manchester University. After referring to the Cambridge story, also revealed by Christian Today, Irving has written on his website: 'The Jewess went on to bitch at Manchester University, who have awarded her a suitably frosty reply...Applause for Jewess Irene Lancaster's crazed attempts to get Cambridge, Manchester, and other UK universities to block David Irving's books.' Irving has also attempted to get any supporters to contact Dr Lancaster by publishing an email address for her. Dr Lancaster, who has engaged in extensive research on the Holocaust and has worked with the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre in Jerusalem, told Chrisian Today: 'The fact that David Irving has attacked me in gross and defamatory language on his website, using the most offensive and insulting of misogynistic and anti-semitic tropes, worthy of the Nazi propaganda he so admires, is proof, if proof is needed, that the man has a problem with women, a specific problem with Jew women, and the greatest problem of all with Jewish women experts in the field of Jewish history and contemporary antisemitism. 'His continuous and increasing vicious personal attacks, in which he yet again falsifies the truth, is proof that Irving is a vicious anti-Semite, liar, distorter of historical evidence, manipulator and Adolf Hitler apologist.' Meanwhile, Dr Lancaster has written a hard-hitting letter to the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, appealing for support from Jewish leaders. In the letter written last weekend and seen by Christian Today, Dr Lancaster says that it is 'outrageous' that her campaign has been met with 'deafening absence' from the Chief Rabbi and other Jewish community leaders. The developments come amid a growing row over antisemitism in British universities and after the Minister for Higher Education, Jo Johnson, urged institutions to tackle 'intimidation and violence' against Jewish students. In February, Johnson wrote to the chief executives of the representative bodies for higher education institutions, reminding them of their responsibility to ensure students do not suffer 'discrimination, harassment or victimisation'. That same month, Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury and the Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge wrote to Johnson expressing concern about the presence of Holocaust-denying material on open display at university libraries. In his letter, Dr Williams suggested that the government should hold a position on the subject, and points to the 'Prevent' legislation as being a possible tool for tackling the issue. Dr Williams said that Holocaust-denying material should be labelled and available on request and not indiscriminately, and compares it to jihadi material. Dr Lancaster described Manchester University as a 'disgrace'. In a statement to Christian Today, a spokesperson for Manchester University said last month: 'It is true that David Irving's books are available from the University Library...The University's position is that it is important that students should be able to read Irving when they write their essays about Holocaust denial. Their availability is not antisemitic: it shows that our students are discerning persons, and that we trust them.' The response followed appeals from the Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton, Graham Stringer, who has written to the President and Vice Chancellor of Manchester University, Dame Nancy Rothwell. Dr Lancaster said: 'I am absolutely appalled at the stance taken by Manchester University towards the request by a number of people, including their own Anglican Chaplain and the local MP as well as myself. 'We have asked that the Irving collection be removed from open access on the shelves of the University to closed storage, where they should be labelled as Holocaust-denying material and be available by prior request only to accredited scholars in the field. 'This is a matter of actual and deliberate distortion of fact, not simply expressing unpleasant or unacceptable opinions. With Holocaust denial, there is solid legal judgment to back up the exclusion of these works from history shelves and unrestricted access. 'Greater Manchester is home to the fastest-growing observant Jewish community in Europe and yet time and time again the University simply acts as if we do not exist. 'I regard Manchester University as a disgrace in every way. We Jews are simply not welcome at Manchester University.' In her letter to the Chief Rabbi, Dr Lancaster wrote: 'It is outrageous that those of us who care about the welfare of the Jewish community and also about the factual nature of history, have, in your deafening absence, had to depend for assistance on well-meaning people who are not Jewish, such as journalists from the national and church press, Anglican chaplains and former Archbishops to do your work for us,' she wrote. 'It is time for the Chief Rabbi of the day to turn his attention to the emergency problem of the well-being of Jewish staff and students on campus, as well as to the increasing menace of anti-Semitic fantasies being taught as factual history by people who obviously despise the Jewish community of this country. 'I and others therefore look forward to hearing from you that you agree to carry out the role for which you were appointed and that you will let me know by return that I am able to inform other interested parties and well-wishers that the future of the Jewish student body and academic staff in this country is finally in the right hands.' Dr Lancaster has not received a reply from the Chief Rabbi. Does Being Conservative On Gay Sex Help Church Growth? Anglicans must listen more carefully to the rapidly growing conservative provinces like Nigeria and South America, according to the head of major project assessing the state of the Church around the world. New research shows a rapid growth in the global Anglican Communion over the last 50 years despite dire decline in the Church of England and The Episcopal Church in the USA. The extensive data, laid out in Growth and Decline in the Anglican Communion, highlights the shift from a predominantly white Western denomination to now where Anglicans are now predominantly from the global south. David Goodhew, editor of the research, said the shift must be reflected in the Church's theology and practice. 'One doesn't just do theology by weight of numbers but it would be simply unjust to ignore the fact that the bulk of the Anglican Communion is now outside the Western world and also to ignore the gifts there,' he said in an interview with Christian Today. 'Those of us who are white Westerners who have historically had the power in the Communion should be very careful before we start ordering others around or indeed talking over others,' he added. 'We should be thinking very hard when we feel something strongly that there may be quite a bit of our culture in there. It isn't just we're right and they are wrong.' Tensions across the worldwide Communion have ramped up over the issue of sexuality in particular with the deeply entrenched conservative provinces appalled the American's endorsement of gay marriage. GAFCON, a conservative grouping of mainly African leaders, have called for alternative leadership other than the Archbishop of Canterbury currently seen as the first among equals among all Anglican figures. Goodhew warned the Church as a whole needs to think very carefully about how to forward with deep rifts already firmly in place on both sides. 'People use this word 'inclusive' a lot,' he said. 'If I'm honest I'm slightly suspicious of it because it can be a weapon. 'People define what they want inclusion to mean and then exclude everyone else on the basis of supposedly being inclusive. 'I believe a gospel inclusion includes taking very seriously what the whole Communion is saying and that includes particularly the Communion outside the West.' The issue of growth is a heated one with conservatives citing their larger congregations and growing attendance figures compared to the rapidly declining Church in America. But Goodhew is reluctant to reduce the issue of growth to one of conservative versus liberal theology. 'Churches that grow are churches that intend to grow they want to grow. Perhaps that sounds too simplistic. But that means they have a theological reason why they are trying to grow. That is where the tradition has an impact. It is the churches that is drawing on their tradition whether that is their understanding of the Bible, their understanding of Church tradition, their understanding of the Holy Spirit that is pushing them to try and engage with their community and that is what is leading them to growth. 'Churches that are repeating what they have always done and aren't entirely sure why are rather less likely to grow.' 'At the moment in terms of tradition, it would only be honest to say that the growth we are seeing most is in the evangelical charismatic wings of the church. 'But not only that. If you look at Papua New Guinea, Borneo, Melanesia you are seeing thriving Anglo Catholic princes. So it can happen there. It just happening so widely in the Catholic provinces.' General Election 2017: The Conservative Christian candidates who could, in spite of everything, lose their seats From the way the Conservative party have begun this campaign it would seem their major worry is that people will take their victory for granted and not bother voting. The main tactic looks set to stoke up fear a Jeremy Corbyn premiership could happen. 'There is a real risk of Jeremy Corbyn with the support of the SNP and Lib Dems becoming Prime Minister," is the message coming out of Conservative party headquarters. But for some of their Christian MPs, the fear is more real than imagined. In the south-west of the UK, the heartland of 'soft-Tories' who like the EU,Conservative MPs face a resurgentLiberal Democrat party. Here are seven Tory MPs who could lose their seats at the General Election on June 8. Caroline Ansell Eastbourne Majority of 733 In 2015 new MP Caroline Ansell narrowly snatched the south-coast seat away from the Liberal Democrat Stephen Lloyd. The popular former MP is mounting a campaign to be re-elected and a majority of less than a 1,000 is perilously small for Ansell, who has made a strong impact in her two years in the House of Commons. A strong Christian, Ansell has spoken on the importance of the government's family test as well as campaigning against assisted suicide. Her saving grace in Eastbourne may be her decision to vote Leave in the EU referendum. Her constituents largely followed with 57 per cent backing Brexit. If this number turn out for her on June 9, she should have enough to keep her seat against the Lib Dem, who have pitched themselves as fundamentally opposed to Brexit. Maria Caulfield Lewes Majority of 1,083 A neighbour of Ansell, Maria Caulfield is in a similar predicament. Thanks to an unprecedented collapse of the Liberal Democrats in 2015, Caulfield narrowlytook the seat of Lewes from the entrenched Norman Baker who had held it since 1997. Although Baker is not standing again, the Lib Dems will be eyeing a return to Lewes with candidate Kelly-Marie Blundell preparing a strong challenge. Caulfield will be particularly anxious given her decision to back Brexit in the EU referendum, against the feelings of her constituents, 53 per cent of whom voted to Remain. The outspoken Christian, who led the campaign against attempts to decriminalise abortion, may well pay the price this time around. Derek Thomas St Ives Majority of 2,469 Down the coast in Cornwall, Derek Thomas will be hoping his decision to back Brexit, will save him for the Lib Dems. He took his seat from Andrew George in 2015 and the Lib Dem who had been the town's MP since 1997 is considering a come back. Cited as a key seat in the upcoming election, Thomas will hope 55 per cent of his constituents who backed Brexit will opt for him over the pro-EU Lib Dems. Another thing in his favour is with Labour a distant fourth, UKIP came third in St Ives and those voters, now they have achieved their aim of leaving the EU, are more likely to back him than the Lib Dems. David Mowat Warrington South Majority of 2,750 Travelling up to the Cheshire town of Warrington, David Mowat faces an all together different challenge. His closest rival is not the Lib Dems but Labour. Despite holding the seat since 2010, Mowat still has a relatively small majority of 2,750. His constituents narrowly voted for Brexit (by 50.6 per cent) unlike Mowat who describes himself a 'reluctant inner'. But despite the threat from Labour, who held the seat for 18 years before Mowat arrived, he can rely on Labour's confusion over Brexit and dismal polling to mean he should survive June 8. Kevin Foster Torbay Majority of 3,286 Back on the south coast, Kevin Foster faces a different challenge again. He nabbed the seaside town from Adrian Sanders in 2015 after the Lib Dem had held it 1997. But he faces a different challenge to many of his south-coast Conservatives. A remainer in a seat where 62 per cent voted to leave, Foster must convince his constituents he can be trusted on Brexit. Despite the antagonism against him by Brexiteers, his stance may help stave off the challenge by the Lib Dems who are even less likely to convince the 62 per cent to back their pro-EU campaign. Ben Howlett Bath Majority of 3,833 Another steal from the Lib Dems in 2015, a huge factor this June will be the 68 per cent of Bath who backed Remain. Although Howlett led the south-west's Remain campaign, his allegiance to the Tories and Theresa May could give him a real headache in this election. The Lib Dems' Don Foster had held the seat comfortably since 1992 and Howlett had to overturn his nearly 12,000 majority to win in 2015. Now the Lib Dems are eyeing Bath as one of their key targets for this election. But they have not been helped after their candidate and local chairman Jay Risbridger withdrew from the race citing personal and business reasons. Jewish and Muslim leaders warn against voting for 'dangerous' Marine Le Pen in French election Jewish as well as Muslim leaders have lamented the success of the French far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in getting through to the second round in the presidential contest, and warned voters now to reject the 'dangerous' candidate. Le Pen came second on Sunday after the centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron, with 21.53 per cent of the vote to Macron's 23.74 per cent. The two candidates now face off against each other for the second round of voting on 7 May. The President of the European Jewish Congress, Moshe Kantor yesterday described Le Pen as 'dangerous' and added that it was 'extremely regrettable that more than one in five French voters voted for Le Pen'. Kantor pointed out that Le Pen, who has temporarily stepped down as National Front leader, recently 'made comments against the historic record of the Holocaust, which makes her no less dangerous than her Holocaust-denying father who she has tried to hide'. He was referring to comments made by Le Pen earlier this month when she denied that France was responsible for rounding up more than 13,000 Jews at a Paris cycle track to be sent to Nazi death camps during the Holocaust. Meanwhile, a senior French Islamic leader also used the word 'dangerous' and called on the country's 5 million Muslims to 'vote massively' to elect Macron. Dalil Boubakeur, the rector of Paris's Grand Mosque, described the final May 7 vote 'decisive for the destiny of France and its religious minorities'. He said: 'The Grand Mosque of Paris and its National Federation call on Muslims in France to vote massively for candidate Emmanuel Macron'. Without referring explicitly to Le Pen, Boubakeur added that French citizens must comprehend the 'threat embodied by xenophobic ideas dangerous to our cohesion'. Le Pen launched an attack yesterday against Macron, presenting him as inexperienced and saying he would be 'weak' in facing Islamic terrorism. In a conversation with reporters, she said: 'I am going out to meet with the French people in order to draw their attention to important matters, including Islamic terrorism, which Mr. Macron speaks about with gentle, weak words.' Muslim man who threatened Christians while holding gun on Facebook Live is charged A Muslim man who threatened Christians while holding a handgun in a live video on Facebook in the US has been charged. Ehab Abdulmutta Jaber, 45,told those attending a Christian conference in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to 'be scared' and 'be terrified' while he brandished the weapon on the live stream. The charges, which include one count of 'terrorist threat,' could result in prison for a maximum of five years or a penalty fee of up to $10,000. Jaber was also indicted for possessing methamphetamine after police discovered the drug along with more firearms in his home. He was escorted out of the Worldview Weekend Christian Conference in South Dakota on April 9 after security personnel saw him recording a video of the event while holding a handgun, according to the Christian Post. The security staff then realised that he had gone to the car park and had begun a live stream from his Facebook social media account in which he brandished guns and issued threats laced with profanities. Sioux Falls Police Officer Sam Clemens initially said that no charges will be filed against Jaber as he had permits for all his firearms. 'He had a lot of guns with him but he wasn't breaking any laws,' Clemens said. 'He didn't threaten anybody directly, he didn't threaten any groups of people anything like that and it's not illegal to carry guns or have guns with you.' Jaber later told KDLT News that he was upset because of the event, which he claimed was 'branded' as an anti-Muslim rally. 'There were children, there were men, women of all ages,' he said. 'It was like a family picnic come to hate all Muslims.' He added: 'I didn't go there because it was a Christian conference, I went there because it was anti-Muslimism and I was curious.' He also claimed that he was not escorted out of the event, and left of his own accord. 'I was done with the event. I didn't go to hurt anyone, so I left,' Jaber said. 'Neo-Pagan Sexual Morality' Spreading Throughout Church, Warns Conservative Archbishop An influential conservative archbishop is warning 'neo-pagan sexual morality' in the Church of England is at risk of spreading throughout the global Anglican Communion. Most Rev Nicholas Okoh, head of the traditionalist GAFCON grouping, describes increasing calls for the Church to soften its stance against gay relationships as 'distressing'. He says the 'confusion' over the issue is 'now at greater risk of being spread' throughout the global Anglican Communion. Deep rifts exist between conservative Anglicans in the global south and the liberal Episcopal Church in the USA which permits gay marriage. The CofE is seen as the heart of the Anglican Communion and a recent report by bishops that held a conservative view on marriage was rejected by its ruling general synod. The report, Okoh said, 'tried to face two ways' while not permitting any change in marriage but calling for 'maximum freedom' for gay couples within existing laws. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, heads of the CofE, issued a letter following the report's defeat calling for 'a radical new Christian inclusion in the Church' based on a '21st century understanding of being human and of being sexual'. Okoh said: 'The Archbishops' talk of radical inclusion and a 21st century understanding has given great encouragement to those who want to bring the Church of England into line with the values of secular society.' The result was traditional views had been downgraded to 'provisional and secondary' he claimed. 'In these troubled times it is good to recover the biblical perspective that 'here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come' (Hebrews 13:14). Our defining centre is not a place, but a person, the Lord Jesus Christ and our ultimate authority is not a human institution, but the Word of God. We gathered in Jerusalem in 2008 in the place that witnessed the mighty acts of God in the death and resurrection of his Son and from where the Apostles were sent out to all the world. We shall return next year with great thankfulness to God for his continued favour, but our eyes will be upon the heavenly Jerusalem, the City of God, of which we are members by grace and we eagerly look forward to its full revealing when Jesus returns.' Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a statement last week to nine self-described sanctuary cities, ordering them to certify compliance with federal immigration law. Sessions in particular cited gang-related crime in these cities, and, in reference to New York, remarked, New York City continues to see gang murder after gang murder, the predictable consequence of the city's soft on crime stance. Those words prompted outrage from New York mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD commissioner James ONeill. The mayor called Sessionss statement outrageous and an insult to law enforcement. Month after month crime has gone down, de Blasio said. That seems to have reached everywhere but Washington, D.C. Commissioner ONeill said that his blood began to boil when he heard the attorney generals claims. To say were soft on crime is absolutely ludicrous. Other elected officials took to Twitter to denounce Sessions. City council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who is planning a massive legislative effort to block municipal cooperation with federal authorities on immigration enforcement, called Sessionss remarks Ridiculous & surely illegal. Some reporters chimed in on the mayors behalf, editorializing, for instance, that # are unequivocally on BDBs side. But Sessions didnt claim that crime is rising in New York City, as it is in Chicago and other major cities. He said that New York is plagued by gang-related homicide, and that the city has gone soft on enforcement. Are these statements true? So far in 2017, New York City has had 64 homicides, with arrests made in 38 cases. The NYPD describes 16 of these homicides as gang-related. That means that at least 25 percent of the citys killings this year have been gang murders. The real number is probably much higher. Twenty-six murders remain unsolved, and these tend to be nighttime shootings in which suspects slip away, a characteristic of gangland killings. In recent years, approximately half of all New York City homicides have been gang-related. With two-fifths of this years murder cases still open, its likely that at least some of them will turn out to be gang-related. Sessions is right that New York City has seen gang murder after gang murder, on the order of at least one per week, and maybe two. Thats not much compared with Chicago today or with New York in the 1980s, but it indicates that violent gangs operate with some regularity. Hundreds of gang-related, nonlethal shooting incidents occur, too. The NYPD has taken down lots of gangs100 in 2016, according to Commissioner ONeillbut more work clearly remains to be done. Is Sessions right that the city is soft on crime? Crime is, after all, at historic lows across New York, even as it spikes nationwide. The NYPD deserves enormous credit for that. But its not all good news: the citys political class wants to lower crime figures largely by defining crime out of existence. The de Blasio administration has reduced the penalties for public consumption of alcohol, possession of marijuana, and public urination. The recent Lippmann Report, which urges the closure of the municipal jail on Rikers Island, encourages the city to decriminalize prostitution, turnstile jumping, and the possession of gravity knives. If there are no laws, there can be no crime, and hence no criminals. QED. Brooklyns acting district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, wants to reduce criminal charges for illegal immigrants to make it less likely that they will be deported. He promises to seek immigration-neutral disposition of criminal cases. This policy will require all prosecutors to coordinate with defense attorneys to discuss the potential consequences of guilty pleas on the defendants immigration status. If someone confronts a guilty plea that would automatically subject them to a harsh immigration penalty, explained Gonzalez, and theres another possible plea that would hold them accountable and ensure public safety, justice demands they be given the one that doesnt have immigration consequences. The district attorneys for Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx will likely join him in this new cause. De Blasio and the rest of the citys leadership insist that sanctuary policies somehow make New York safer. Following this logic, then, protection of the undocumented should be the ultimate goal of public policy, since well just get safer and safer the more illegal residents we harbor. Unlike the last eight years, however, an attorney general in Washington doesnt see it that way. Photo by Handout/Getty Images The murder of a policeman by a Muslim terrorist on the Champs-Elysees is another illustration of the laxity of the French criminal-justice systema laxity that it shares with the British system, and which demonstrates a corrosive lack of cultural self-confidence. Karim Cheurfi is 39: the age of terrorists seems to have risen of late, but this may be a passing anomaly. He started as a criminal early in life, and by the time he was sentenced, at 23, to 20 years in prison for the attempted murder of three police officers, he had already been convicted 20 timesoften for violent robbery. In 2001, in the events that finally sent him to prison, he fired at and injured two police officers after a car chase, during which he exchanged one stolen car for another. In the police station, he jumped an officer who entered his cell, grabbed his gun, and shot him five times. The policeman was lucky to survive. Cheurfi was paroled early, in 2013, despite having been sentenced to a further 18 months imprisonment for violence toward a fellow inmate while in prison. It was not long, however, before he committed another serious crime, this time for aggravated burglary, for which he was sentenced to four years imprisonment, with two suspended. He was released in 2015 on two years probation. Despite parole restrictions that forbade him from leaving the country, Cheurfi went to Algeria for a month. The magistrate accepted his alleged reasonto get marriedand simply reminded him of the conditions of his parole. It is unsurprising that he paid no attention. In December 2016, Cheurfi again came to the attention of the authorities when he was overheard threatening to kill police in revenge for Muslims killed in Syria. He was also reported to have been seeking weapons. His house, it turned out, contained masks and hunting knives, but he explained that they were to be used for carnival purposes. Police held him on suspicion but released him for lack of proof. Two months later, he killed the policeman on the Champs-Elysees. An article in Le Monde said that the case was bound to reignite debate on the laxity of the French criminal-justice system. It is symptomatic of the problem that the word laxity appeared as laxity, as though juridical negligence were a wild allegation, a figment of someones febrile imagination. But the case of Karim Cheurfi is far from an isolated one: indeed, such stories emerge regularly. Meanwhile, people like Cheurfi view themselves as victims rather than as perpetrators. According to an acquaintance, Cheurfi believed that the police had ruined his life because they had been instrumental in the long imprisonment that had left him unable to marry or have children at the usual age. After all, at the time, he had only stolen a car with a gun in his possession, and if the police had left him alone, no one would have been hurt. Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday launched his party's expansion drive in five states from West Bengal's Naxalbari village, declaring development and progress will start from the place where the left-wing extremism had its origins in the late 1960s. By Indrajit Kundu: A day after the deadly Naxal strike in Sukma which killed 25 CRPF personnel, BJP president Amit Shah dared the ultras with a befitting retribution. Kick starting his three-day long outreach programme in West Bengal, Shah symbolically chose the historic Naxalbari village, once infamous for the origin of violent ultra Left movement in the 1960's. Explaining the symbolism behind the move, Shah said, "It is not a mere coincidence that we chose Naxalbari, rather we want to send across a message. Communists and those who believe in Leftist ideology had spread massive violence across the country from this very place; but today I can see how PM Modi's Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas slogan echoes across the same region which once gave birth to such mindless violence." advertisement "The attack on our jawans in Sukma was an act of cowardice. If they think that we will bow down after such attacks and leave the battle midway, they are highly mistaken," Shah later said while addressing party workers in Siliguri, 20km from Naxalbari. Of the jawans who were martyred in Monday's attack, Shah reminded that there were some from Bengal too. "Their sacrifice will not go in vain," the BJP president said adding that his government will surely retaliate with more force. "The Prime Minister and Home Minister have already said that our government will act against these people who indulge in such mindless violence with a new blueprint and renewed vigour," Shah said. WATCH | Amit Shah begins Mission Bengal with meal with booth level workers Also read: BJP President Amit Shah to spell out victory mantra for 2019 elections Also read| Sukma attack: Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, West Bengal govts announce ex-gratia for families of martyrs Also read | Sukma attack: How CRPF jawans walked into 'kill zone' set up by Naxals Also read | Naxal attack on CRPF jawans in Sukma: All you need to know WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- The former trustees of Kids Company have said that they would vigorously defend any attempt to disqualify them from acting as company directors in the future, following media reports that the Insolvency Service was considering action. Yesterday Sky News said it had learned that lawyers for the governments Insolvency Service had written to former trustees, including Alan Yentob, to warn them it is minded to pursue disqualification proceedings against them. Kids Company chief executive Camila Batmanghelidjh has also reportedly been included in this action. The Insolvency Service was appointed to wind up the charity after it collapsed in the summer of 2015. It has the power to seek bans on directorships for individuals of up to 15 years. A spokesman for the Insolvency Service said: Our investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collapse of Keeping Kids Company and the conduct of the directors is ongoing. It is not appropriate to comment further at this time. Trustees response Last night trustees issued a joint response to say that they would defend themselves and warn of wider implications for the charity sector. In a statement they said: As former trustees of Kids Company, we are jointly responding to unconfirmed reports that the Insolvency Service may or may not recommend that proceedings are taken to disqualify us as company directors. As non-executive trustees we were responsible for overseeing the charity. At all times we had the interests of the children and young people in our care as our primary concern. We freely gave significant amounts of our personal time and money to that end. We took professional advice on legal and financial matters. In order to satisfy our funders, it was necessary to undergo regular, stringent scrutiny and validation by external independent parties, including auditors. It is deeply regrettable that the charity was forced to close following the instigation of a Metropolitan Police investigation of allegations that subsequently were found to be unfounded. There is no suggestion that we acted dishonestly or in bad faith. As far as we are aware, there has never been a case where trustees of a charity have been disqualified by a court in circumstances such as these. We acted diligently throughout, and if any proceedings are brought will defend ourselves vigorously. What happens to us could have serious implications for the thousands of other trustees who want to do charitable work in this country. The Charity Commission is also investigating Kids Companys collapse and is expected to publish the findings from its statutory inquiry at some point this year. Two parliamentary select committees have already published their findings into the charity, with both criticising trustees' actions . Civil Society Media runs a number of training courses for trustees, which combine governance and leadership theory with practical case studies and interactive group sessions. For more information, and to book, click here How much does visual imagery, especially photography, determine the success or failure of a presidency? In the first 100 days, the Trump White House has distinguished itself with largely forgettable imagery, in contrast to the Obama administrations brilliant orchestration, creation, and curation. The approach to photography under Trump has ranged from haphazard to negligent. In the early going, team Trump operated with a paucity of photographers and editing staff. Staff members, such as the press secretary, have doubled as photographers. There does not appear to be much strategy in terms of which photographs are posted to staff social media accounts and which land on the presidents personal accounts or official feeds. White House Photographer Shealah Craighead has been poorly utilized. This administration has abandoned the popular White House Flickr feed. And the administration doesnt even have a photo section on the White House website. RELATED: Former White House photographer grabs headlines with Instagram sass A crescendo of embarrassing images seemed to hit a new peak last week with the administrations cringe-worthy video touting the release of an American aid worker from Egypt. A post shared by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on Apr 21, 2017 at 2:07pm PDT Sign up for CJR 's daily email Is this an announcement? An ad? A music video? A propaganda clip? If the Trump communications people were competent, we might appreciate the odd melange of photo, text, and song as something different from a student product in an introductory video class. But this, and almost every other visual expression coming from the Trump administration, feels rough, random, distant, out-of-focus, mixed-up, or thrown togetherno substitute for a style or an aesthetic. The administration has not only made poor use of photography, it has also suffered for its ineptitude. The most obvious visual gaffes include: Couch Gate, in which Kellyanne Conway tweeted photos of a photo-op with black college and university officials from the Oval Office couch; that bizarre scene from the Mar-a-Lago dining room following a North Korean missile scare; and Trumps awkward meeting during the transition with the Japanese Prime Minister. In that instance, photos distributed by the Japanese government raised hackles over Ivanka Trumps presence and the President-elects conflicts of interest. What @StCrow version showed was Conway in way of WH photographer (right). House of rivals. Key pix from 100 days: https://t.co/YUj3yzRubs pic.twitter.com/zgbaPXuHwR Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 28, 2017 Conways Couch Gate action suggest a White House communications office in disarray and a contempt for internal procedure. Thats why the image above by New York Times photographer Stephen Crowley is so illuminating. What you see on the right side of the frame is the White House photographer in the process of taking a group portrait. (The understandably not-so-great result was posted to the White House Instagram feed). In a rational world, Conway would have been helping stage the official photograph, making sure that the White House photographer had all the support necessary to create the best official shot while doing visual justice to the larger group of educators. Instead, reflecting the truer culture of the West Wing perhaps, Conway took advantage of the moment to serve herself. What also hasnt drawn broader attentionsaturated as we are by social media and the notion today that everybody is a photographeris the haphazard, do-it-yourself approach to both the marketing and the historical documentation of Trumps presidency. Until recently, Trump and the administration displayed disregard for the White House photographer and a White House visual-media operation. There is no better example of that disregard than this one. The photo was posted by the press secretary following Trumps address to Congress. Reflecting Trumps penchant for adulation, the photo captures the White House staff giving him a heros welcome. Wouldnt the moment have been better served by something other than an amateur-looking cell-phone shot? The irony here is that the photo, which only circulated on the press secretarys Twitter feed, actually captures the White House photographer in the background. RELATED: Donald and Melania Trumps relationship through a lens Artfully applied, White House photography is an essential vehicle for informing, illustrating, and storytellingall key elements of modern leadership and persuasion. The photos weve primarily seen from this White House convey a sense of distraction and amateurism. A post shared by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on Feb 28, 2017 at 6:10pm PST Is the White House aiming for some quirkiness in the shot above? The speech to the Congress was one of the high points of the Presidents early tenure. The view in this shot from so far away not only minimizes it, but the prominence of the octopus-like mics in the aisle further muddies the view. A post shared by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on Apr 5, 2017 at 1:30pm PDT In the past month, the White House has added professional photographers to its communication team. The recent Instagram photo above, however, does not provide the sense the White House has raised its visual game. Hashtagged to something called the Exclusive Team Trump BTS (read: Behind the Scenes), the image reflects a woefully literal interpretation, with an emphasis on behind. The Obama imagery was so powerful not just because of how artful it was, but because of its apparent candidness. Obama and Souza gave us the impression we were flies on the wall, or part of the teameven part the family. In numbing contrast, photographs of Trump are often awkwardly, even painfully posed, with Trump almost always ensconced at the center. Like local chamber-of-commerce snaps or old corporate newsletter photos, they call attention to themselves as slavish, clone-like endorsements here accented by gratuitous thumbs-up gestures. RELATED: 12 images that capture the new reality show at Trump Tower The mundanity of the photos the administration has circulated (mostly through staffers social media accounts) also raises a question: What is the role of Craighead, the official White House photographer? In "Trump First 50 Day" album, WH photographer's access often no better than press's. Unless media fixation the pt. https://t.co/bqYCGWavkk pic.twitter.com/DFczToUG6b Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 12, 2017 In early March, the White House published a Facebook photo album of 50 photos to commemorate 50 days in office. (I analyzed the collection more thoroughly here.) Perhaps the most curious thing about those photos is what they suggest about Craigheads access, or lack thereof, to the president, and their lack of chemistry. Craigheads access to the president is often no better than the press pools, and sometimes worse. The album is dominated by pictures of Trump meeting the media, or photos of photo-ops. Because these scrum photos continue to dominate White House social media, I believe Trump, like in every other way, is simply obsessed with the media and the attention he is receiving. (Of course, these photos also depict how symbiotic the relationship is.) To the extent this White House does have a visual agenda, it is focused on reinforcing the presidents political attacks. Take the photo the Trump White House published to promote that 50-day photo album, for example. Nearly three months after the fact, it felt like the administration was still trying to have the last word on inauguration attendance. Thanks to White House Chief of Staff for this wonderful picture of the MLK bust in the oval pic.twitter.com/Lzgj6RljvI Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 21, 2017 Or, consider this tweet from Sean Spicer on the administrations first day of work after a White House pool reporter accidentally tweeted that the Oval Office bust of Martin Luther King Jr. had been removed. If you followed the story, Zeke Miller, Times White House reporter, immediately and prodigiously apologized for the mistake. That didnt stop Spicer, however, from calling it out in the White House pool reportand then making it the subject of a tweet. A visual theme that seems to emerge from this White House is racial pandering. Not three months into the new administration, the examplesthe hastily arranged group portrait with the leaders of historically black colleges and universities merely one of themkeep coming. Besides notable transition photo ops with well-known figures such as Kanye West and Don King, White House photo-ops or visual events that have drawn skeptical attention include images showing people of color sitting behind Jeff Sessions at his confirmation hearing, the Administrations choice of a black park ranger to accept Trumps salary, and Trumps photo with Ben Carson in front of the Ben Carson display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. RELATED: 7 photos that capture the absurdity of this election season Then theres Trumps awkward penchant for sitting the one African-American in a room right next to him, such as at a CEO forum in February. Other photo-ops are strategically seeded with people of color. Hoping to increase their percentage of the African-American vote, George W. Bush and Karl Rove also made this a practice, in one case actually photoshopping a campaign ad shot at a military base to add more black soldiers. The photo above was taken during Trumps visit to US Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Also noteworthy was the lack of black faces in the video of Trumps meeting with the Congressional Black Caucuss executive board. Arranged in response to Trumps controversial photo-op with the black college leaders, the board sat opposite the president out of view of TV cameras. The Congressional Black Caucus is not going to be a potted plant or a photo opportunity, one of its members told The Washington Post. Amidst the visual banality of the Trump administration, the photo above stands out. Taken by Craighead, the image of Trumps team monitoring the Syria strike was widely circulated in the media. As a piece of propaganda, its bears a clever likeness to the historic Obama situation room photo taken during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In almost every way, however, it is a weak facsimile. The Obama team was assembled in the high-tech Situation Room in the White House. Team Trump gathered in a secured meeting room in his country club with a Quiet Area sign taped to the door. The Obama team was observing the actual mission. The Trump team was participating in a briefing on the raid an hour later. In the Obama photo, attendees were limited to senior or strategic personnel with a military, foreign policy, or national security portfolio. The Trump photo displays a hodgepodge of cabinet members, with the only active military officer in the room guarding the door. In the Obama photo, the military officer guiding the operation sits at the head of the table while the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is just off his shoulder. The Mar-a-Lago shot, in contrast, and typical of most Trump White House photos, shows the president at the center while others encircle him, in this case, mirrored by other men wearing red ties. The Trump team is also suited up for dinner, indicating how this mission was awkwardly executed right after dessert during a much-touted summit with the President of China. To some, photographs might seem ephemeral to the act of governing. They might seem superfluous, like illustration or window dressing. In our increasingly visual culture, however, imagery cannot be an afterthought. The Trump administrations failure to understand that is one more deficit among its heap of woes. TRENDING: A hidden message in memo justifying Comeys firing Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Michael Shaw is publisher of the nonprofit visual-literacy and media-literacy site ReadingThePictures, an analyst of news photos and visual journalism, and a frequent lecturer and writer on news imagery, photojournalism, and documentary photography. Follow ReadingThePictures via Twitter and Instagram. THE STORY STARTED WITH A TIP from a trusted source in a community that doesnt much trust reporters. The top elected officials in impoverished East St. Louis Township in southwestern Illinois were covering up trips to Las Vegas, the source told George Pawlaczyk, an investigative reporter at the Belleville News-Democrat. In a series that earned Pawlaczyk and his reporting partner, Beth Hundsdorfer, McClatchys top prize for the second year in a row, the team revealed that elected officials charged more than $200,000 over four years to a taxpayer-supported American Express card, which was used to pay for gas, construction materials, and dinners and gifts for political allies. The scandal led to felony charges for six people and an overhaul of how the township government conducts business. The townships former supervisor was recently sentenced to five years in prison for his role. I can think of nothing worse than taking from the indigent, said the judge, who doubled the 30-month sentence prosecutors had recommended. This community in some places looks like Dresden in World War II. The News-Democrat investigation of East St. Louis township is more than an example of good local investigative journalism. Its a rare bright spot for a community that needs reportersthe kind increasingly in short supply in financially strapped newsroomswho show up at zoning meetings and ribbon cuttings and get to know officials and residents through feature stories and police blotters, the kind of reporters who spotlight both good news and bad. The courtroom was packed with community members for the sentencing, Hundsdorfer recalls, but not with reporters. With the exception of the News-Democrat, from the county seat in nearby Belleville, East St. Louis has no steady journalistic presence anymore. Larger news organizations stopped covering it as a community because of lack of resources, Shula Neuman, executive editor of St. Louis Public Radio, says of East St. Louis. How many times can you tell a story about a city that is fraught with corruption and down on its luck? We pay attention to it when there is a scandal there. Im ashamed to say that because my own newsroom is guilty. But its like that. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project EAST ST. LOUIS IS LOCATED ACROSS the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Most of the citys 27,000 or so residents are black; nearly half live below the poverty line. The eight percent unemployment rate is roughly twice the national rate. Youre looking at a community where prosperity is just missing, Pawlaczyk tells CJR. Theres vacant houses, places where houses have burned down.The poverty is just everywhere. The city is severely blighted, a place without shoes, let alone any bootstraps, wrote Goldie Taylor, editor at large for The Daily Beast, last year. In 2015, East St. Louis had 889 violent crimes, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report. (East Peoria, a similarly sized city in central Illinois, had 96 reported violent crimes.) Taylor, who grew up in the city, wrote, I always knew I would leave. I simply didnt know whether it would be in the back of a police car, a coroners wagon, or my mothers used Pontiac. The Belleville News-Democrat is one of the few media organizations that pays regular attention to East St. Louis. Much (though certainly not all) of the coverage is related to crimesomething the Riverfront Times, a St. Louis alt-weekly, noted in 2008 when it awarded its Best Reporter title to Carolyn P. Smith, the News-Democrats East St. Louis beat reporter: This has to rank as one of the most depressing, frightening and, to put it mildly, lively beats on the planet. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the major regional newspaper that covers the metropolitan area, does not have a reporter assigned to East St. Louis. Instead, it covers the city through its topical beat reporters, says Marcia Koenig, the papers assistant managing editor of Metro. Tim ONeil, who had covered East. St. Louis for the paper as part of his beat covering the east side of the metro area, recently took a buyout. Jay Tebbe, president and publisher of the Belleville paper, says the News-Democrat considers the east side of the St. Louis metro area to be the front porch of its community. (Belleville and East St. Louis share a county government.) One of the reasons we remain very focused on East St. Louis coverage is that it does directly impact and affect what goes on in St. Clair County, he says. For a lot of the St. Louis media, its not that they dont come to this side of the river, its that theres plenty to focus on the Missouri side. The communitys relationship with the press is an uneasy one, in part, because it seems like reporters only show up when something bad happens. Thats one of the reasons why Charmaine Savage started I Am EStL in 2016. The purpose of the magazine is to counter the narrative that East St. Louis is a bad place, says Savage, who grew up there and returned after retiring from a career in the US Navy. To be honest with you, we despise the Belleville News-Democrat because theres only a sprinkling of good stories about East St. Louis, she says. Theyve done stories on a couple of people Ive featured in the magazine. To us, it looks like them going out of their way to find something or to do a story about us here in East St. Louis that makes us look bad. Savage tells CJR that the News-Democrat did a very nice story on me when I started the magazine. But its sprinklings, and they are supposed to be the preeminent publication for St. Clair County. Savage isnt dismissive of the township fraud that the investigation team uncovered. They did some amazing work, she says. We need watchdog groups. But the city also is more nuanced than its worst scandals, and journalism that only focuses on corruption misses all of the other stories that make up a community. ANDREW THEISING, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR and chair of the political science department at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, says places like East St. Louis are easy to ignore. Even the state does not provide the appropriate oversight, he says, which makes it all the more important for the news media to keep watch. Something I believe strongly in and have tried to include in my research is this idea that states need to be responsible for their cities that they create, all the government theyve created, Theising says. Local government is a creation of the state. He says the News-Democrat investigation was important because state oversight panels created for places like East St. Louis are not effective. This is where the news media plays an important role, he says. Frequently the media point these institutions in the right direction. Neuman, the St. Louis Public Radio editor, says there are good stories to tell in East St. Louis, like why people choose to stay in spite of the citys problems or why they come back, like Savage did. But its hard for her to imagine how news organizations will cover the stories that need to be covered, given how limited newsroom resources are. In the last several years, the venerable Post-Dispatch has reduced its newsroom through buyouts and layoffs, and in 2015, Gannett closed its St. Louis printing plant. Like many areas of the country, St. Louis is not immune to the shrinking and shifting within the media industry. Its hard enough for us to cover enough the heavily populated suburbs, must less the east side, Neuman says. What would it take, then, to tell more of East St. Louis stories? Somebody who shows up at the same meetings again and again, Neuman says. Nobody is keeping an eye on a city known to have problems. Where is that public accountability? For now, its with the Belleville paper, although newcomers like I Am EStL can help tell stories that the community wants and needs to hear, too. Unfortunately there are issues, says Tebbe, the News-Democrat publisher. Obviously there is a history and track record that just begs for folks to pay attention. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jackie Spinner is CJRs correspondent for Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. She is an associate journalism professor at Columbia College Chicago and a former staff writer for The Washington Post. Follow her on Twitter @jackiespinner. Sen. said Tuesday that President Donald Trump will not allow "the nutjob" leader of North Korea to develop missiles that could threaten the United States. The South Carolina Republican made his comments about Kim Jong Un on Twitter a day after having dinner with Trump. Graham tweet: Pres @realDonaldTrump is NOT going to let the nutjob in North Korea develop a missile - with a nuclear weapon on top - that can hit the US. In a Fox News interview earlier Tuesday, Graham said he preferred to curb North Korean aggression through diplomacy, "using China," Pyongyang's only major ally, to stop North Korea from trying to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. Graham said he sees military force as a "last resort." "[Trump] doesn't want a war any more than I do, but he's not going to let them get a missile. That's where they're headed. And China needs to up their game to stop this before it gets too late," Graham told Fox. Graham and Republican Sen. of Arizona, like Graham a noted foreign policy hawk, both attended the dinner with Trump. Graham's office did not immediately respond to a request to comment on what they specifically discussed. McCain's office declined to comment. Carthage Area Hospital is moving its administration and non-clinical departments to the Franklin Place Professional Building at 40 Franklin St. in the village of West Carthage. The facility is moving the offices as it works to expand clinical space at the main campus at 1001 West St. in the village of Carthage. (Photo provided by Carthage Area Hospital) WEST CARTHAGE, N.Y. Carthage Area Hospital this week plans to move its executive and administration offices to another building in West Carthage as it works to expand clinical space at the main campus in Carthage. Theyll be operating in the Franklin Place Professional Building at 40 Franklin St., located off State Route 26 in West Carthage, the hospital said in a news release issued Monday afternoon. The Black River separates the villages of Carthage and West Carthage in Jefferson County. Carthage is located in the town of Wilna and West Carthage is part of the town of Champion. Besides the administration offices, the organization has also moved its corporate compliance, human resources, and marketing and quality assurance departments, along with the medical-staff coordinator to the same building. Those non-clinical departments moved during the past two weeks, according to the news release. All departments will operate less than two miles from the main campus. The hospitals Patient Accounting and Fiscal departments were already located at 40 Franklin Place, Suite 1A. All hospital staff telephone numbers and emails remain the same. Besides expanding clinical space, Carthage Area Hospital completed the moves to help the organizations move to a medical-village model, as part of the delivery-system reform incentive-payment program (DSRIP). DSRIP is the main mechanism by which New York State will implement the Medicaid redesign team (MRT) waiver amendment, according to the website of the New York State Department of Health. DSRIPs purpose is to fundamentally restructure the health-care delivery system by reinvesting in the Medicaid program, with the primary goal of reducing avoidable hospital use 25 percent over five years, the website says. We approach every change with a patient-first mentality, Rich Duvall, CEO of Carthage Area Hospital, said in the news release. When we decided to consolidate our non-clinical teams under one roof, we asked ourselves: How will this benefit our patients? The answer was simple. Its an opportunity to maximize clinical space for providers to deliver first-rate care while also improving our existing patient facilities. Established in 1965, Carthage Area Hospital is a 25-bed hospital, serving about 83,000 residents in Jefferson, northern Lewis and southern St. Lawrence counties. The hospital also operates a network of community-based clinics, including its Family Health Center, Pediatric Clinic and Womens Way to Wellness and provides a range of specialty care, including general surgery, orthopedics, urology, physical therapy and behavioral health. Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com A small Off Broadway Theater is opening in Manhattan. The theater consists of an orchestra section and a balcony. The manager purchased a computer for its automated ticket system; and youve been awarded the contract to program the test system that will assign seats for the Opening Night of String Man. Your program should display the following choices: Please enter 1 for orchestra and 2 for balcony. If the person types 1, your program will assign a seat in the orchestra section (rows 1-10, 20 seats per row). If the person types 2, your program should assign a seat in the balcony section (rows 11-20, 15 seats per row). Use a two-dimensional irregular array of primitive type boolean to represent the seating chart of the theater. Initialize all the elements of the array to false to indicate that all seats are empty. As each seat is assigned, set the corresponding elements of the array to true to indicate that the seat is no longer available. Your program should never assign a seat that has already been assigned. If either the orchestra section or the balcony becomes full, your program should display a message indicating that section is full; and ask the user if they would like a seat in the remaining section. If the user responds, no, your program should display the string, Next performance is in one week. If both sections are full, your program should display the string, Sorry, Opening Night is Sold Out. When a seat is assigned, your program should print out a ticket indicating the row and seat assignment. Member 13189964 wrote: and youve been awarded the contract to program the test system That's you, not anyone here. This site is not here to provide free code, or to do your homework assignments. HomeWork is not set to test your skills at begging other people to do your work, it is set to make you think and to help your teacher to check your understanding of the courses you have taken and also the problems you have at applying them. Any failure of you will help your teacher spot your weaknesses and set remedial actions. Any failure of you will help you to learn what works and what don't, it is called 'trial and error' learning. So, give it a try, reread your lessons and start working. If you are stuck on a specific problem, show your code and explain this exact problem, we might help. As programmer, your job is to create algorithms that solve specific problems and you can't rely on someone else to eternally do it for you, so there is a time where you will have to learn how to. And the sooner, the better. When you just ask for the solution, it is like trying to learn to drive a car by having someone else training. Creating an algorithm is basically finding the maths and make necessary adaptation to fit your actual problem. The idea of "development" is as the word suggests: "The systematic use of scientific and technical knowledge to meet specific objectives or requirements." BusinessDictionary.com[^] That's not the same thing as "have a quick google and give up if I can't find exactly the right code". Patrice Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein it could not print the message like bellow /* this is the first program */ only print /* */ package javaapplication5; import java.io.BufferedReader; import java.io.FileInputStream; import java.io.FileNotFoundException; import java.io.IOException; import java.io.InputStreamReader; import java.util.logging.Level; import java.util.logging.Logger; /** * BufferedReader and Scanner can be used to read line by line from any File or * console in Java. * This Java program demonstrate line by line reading using BufferedReader in Java * * @author Javin Paul */ public class BufferedReaderExample { public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException{ //reading file line by line in Java using BufferedReader FileInputStream fis = null; BufferedReader br = null; //String line; try { fis = new FileInputStream("E:/Sum.txt"); br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(fis)); String line; while((line = br.readLine()) != null){ if(line.contains("/*") || line.contains("*/")|| line.contains("//")){ System.out.println(line); } else System.out.println(""); } br.close(); } catch(IOException e){ System.out.println("file could not read"); } } } When I tried to run a code, an error occurred. Please explain why error occurred and how to fix it, thanks. Here is my code: Java import java.util.ArrayList; class Demo { public static void main( String [] args) { ArrayList list1 = new ArrayList(); ArrayList list2 = new ArrayList(); int index = 0 ; list1.add( " ahio" ); list1.add( " bro" ); list1.add( " higoodbye" ); list2.add( " hi" ); list2.add( " goodbye" ); for ( String x : list1) { for ( String y : list2) { if (x.contains(y)) { index = list1.indexOf(x); list1.set(index, x.replaceAll(y, y.replaceAll( " [a-zA-Z]" , " *" ))); } } } System.out.println( String .join( " " , list1)); } } Here is my error: Warning\Error Exception in thread " main" java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: -1 at java.util.ArrayList.elementData(ArrayList.java: 418 ) at java.util.ArrayList. set (ArrayList.java: 446 ) at Demo.main(Main.java: 20 ) index is -1 , which indicates that the element was not found in list1 . You need to check the values of all the variables to see why. [edit] In the last case x contains "higoodbye" and y contains "hi" . The search succeeds and the contents of the element in list1 is modified. On the next iteration of list2, y contains "goodbye" so it matches x, but the element in list1 has been modified so the indexOf method returns -1. [/edit] modified 1-May-17 3:31am. I am trying to use third party sdk or restful api to enable Biometric Authentication in our web based application. Currently I am checking which will be best and fits the requirement. Any suggestions please? HI Everyone! So this is my first post here and I'd like some help from you. So this method should return all priority Notes but they should be sorted by their priority like the notes with priority 1 comes first and after that priority 2 and so like this. This in an ArrayList and I've stopped here because I can't figure out how to do .. Could you please help me with this sortation? Thanks in advance Java 
public PriorityNotes[] getPriorityNotes(){ PriorityNotes[] PriorityNotes = new PriorityNotes[notes.size()]; PriorityNotes = notes.toArray(PriorityNotes); int i; for (i = 0 ; i < notes.size(); i++){ } return PriorityNotes;}











Collections.sort[^] to sort it in order.





here I just posted this method because I thought you'll understand that I created it

So could you explain how to use the Collections.sort[^] ?



and where to put this? inside the for loop



Costea Cornea wrote: So could you explain how to use the Collections.sort[^] ?



and where to put this? inside the for loop What Richard meant was, that you should only call the sort function on the ArrayList object of yours. Also, you have not shown the structure of your PriorityNote object, does it contain a priority field in itself, or do you assign a value on runtime? If that is a built in field there, then just call the sort function, and to even control how an object is sorted, read java - Sort ArrayList of custom Objects by property - Stack Overflow

The sh*t I complain about

It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem

~! Firewall !~





Ok here I'll give you my fields to see which I have



Java private int numberOfNotes; private ArrayListnotes;



and that's all fields which I have



Java Collections.sort(notes);



how to make a chat application in java on wan?



hi



I have created a java application(exe).

Now when I try to execute the application from a directory whose name is in unicode(Japanese),it crashes.

I could not figure out the problem ,its showing packager.dll issue.



Please help..







msvcp100.dll

msvcr100.dll

packager.dll



then double click the .exe application crash shows the error like



Problem Event Name: APPCRASH

Application Name: SimulatorEndUser.exe

Application Version: 0.0.0.0

Application Timestamp: 55761984

Fault Module Name: packager.dll

Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0

Fault Module Timestamp: 55761993

Exception Code: c0000005

Exception Offset: 000129a0

OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48

Locale ID: 1033

Additional Information 1: 0a9e

Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Additional Information 3: 0a9e

Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789



Benjamin Bruno wrote: Exception Code: c0000005 means you are trying to access an address that is not in your address space. You will need to use the debugger to find the actual code that causes the error.



we are working on visa give me a suggetion , and sample code to call the POSLink class?


04/24/2017

Photo (c) Victor Koldunov - Fotolia Earlier this year, we reported on a study that showed how college students can reduce stress by being more self-compassionate. The central idea was that freshman students should avoid negative self-judgments and relax their academic standards to fit their new setting.

Now, a new study suggests that students should also practice mindfulness in addition to self-compassion. Researchers from Penn State say that taking time to catch your breath and meditate can help increase students overall life satisfaction.

We found that underneath the stress that students are experiencing is a deep desire to appreciate life and feel meaningful connections with other people. It is our responsibility as educators to create academic environments that nurture both students minds and hearts, said lead author Kamila Dvorakova.

Alleviating stress and anxiety

To help college students ease into their first year, Dvorakova and her colleagues offered an eight-session training program on mindfulness. At the sessions, students were asked to focus on mindfulness meditation and developing an accepting, nonjudgmental attitude towards current thoughts and feelings.

"We offered an experiential, practice-oriented training. Rather than telling the students what to do, we had them explore and talk about how to be mindful in their daily lives and discover the benefits for themselves, said Dvorakova.

By the end of the eight-week period, students were asked to rate their overall satisfaction and describe any changes that occurred because of the training. Overall, students reported significant increases in life satisfaction and significant decreases in depression and anxiety when compared to students who did not participate in the sessions. Additionally, the researchers found that there was an overall drop in alcohol use amongst participants.

Important transition

Participants said that taking three mindful breaths, practicing breath awareness, and being mindful of their emotions were the three most helpful in-class exercises that they learned, and 98% of respondents said that they would recommend the program to their peers.

"The beginning of the college career presents such a unique opportunity -- all of these students are going through this same transition at the same time," said mindfulness and meditation integration specialist Mark Agrusti.

"These freshmen are beginning to acquire habits and perceptions that will shape their lives as students and adults, so it's a perfect time for them to discover practices, such as mindfulness, stress management, self-care and emotional literacy skills."

The full study has been published in the Journal of American College Health.
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Outdated laws and limited, expensive internet access slow the island nations progress

By Carlos Lauria

Cubas media landscape has begun opening up in recent years, transformed by a lively blogosphere, an increasing number of news websites carrying investigative reporting and news commentary, and an innovative breed of independent reporters who are critical of, yet still support, socialist ideas.

Table of Contents Attacks on the Press book cover

The energized press scene contrasts with the island nations restrictive legal framework, which curbs freedom of speech under the guise of protecting the independence or territorial integrity of the state. Though the constitution bans private ownership of the press and all media are supposedly controlled by the one-party Communist state, the spread of independent reporting is a sign of change.

Reporters, from the most criticalwho are known as dissidentsto journalism school graduates, documentary filmmakers, and pro-revolutionary bloggers, are opening new spaces for free expression and entrepreneurial journalism that seemed off limits just a few years ago.

Bloggers said they have embraced the loosening of restrictions. We are seeing opportunities that were inconceivable five years ago, said Alejandro Rodriguez, who quit his job in 2012 at Adelante, a state-run weekly in the eastern city of Camaguey, to start a blog.

Cuban President Raul Castro holds up a copy of the newspaper Juventud Rebelde in Havana in December 2010. Freedom of speech is still curbed despite a series of press reforms. (AP /Ismael Francisco, Prensa Latina)

However, many said that more work needs to be done, with the threat of arbitrary detention, vague and outdated laws, and limitations on internet access slowing Cubas press freedom progress.

Internet access in Cuba, which the U.N. rates among the lowest in the Western Hemisphere, is still inaccessible to most citizens. And though large-scale systematic state repression has eased significantly, the most strident opponents in the media say they still face harassment and intimidation from authorities.

The media field began expanding in 2011, when President Raul Castro introduced market-style reforms to reinvent socialism, though many of those reforms have been implemented sluggishly and, in some cases, have been reversed.

When the call for loosening of restrictions was first made, the party leadership urged the Cuban population to be critical of the government and state institutions. Castro told the Peoples Assembly in a December 2010 speech not to fear discrepancies and differences of opinions.

Journalists, especially those working for the state press, have been emboldened by these statements. And though there is almost no criticism of government policies in the state media, most newspapersincluding the national daily Granmahave started Letters to The Editor sections that provide a vehicle for Cubans to express opinions.

State journalists and academics in Havana said they recognize the need for the official press to become more critical, and some have called for a public information law. Laura Blanco Betancourt, a reporter for the state-owned provincial daily Vanguardia, acknowledged that the lack of a culture of debate had prevented candid discussions within the official press. Jose Ramon Vidal, a former editor of the daily Juventud Rebelde, went further in an interview published in the December 2015-March 2016 edition of Mexican magazine Razon y Palabra, where he argued that Cuba should change its communication model because important social issues were being left behind. Vidal, now a communications professor at the University of Havana, said the propaganda-based media model faced a crisis and that Cubans no longer paid attention to it.

Raudiel Pena Barrios, a lawyer in Havana, wrote in the online magazine OnCuba, the mere fact that [freedom of information] is under discussion is big news in the Cuban context. In the article, The Right to Information Cuba: Possibility or Utopia? Pena said that such legislation should help to democratize access to information.

Blanco Betancourt, who is based in Santa Clara province, said that a public communications strategy could help, adding that any such legislation must include access to public information for all Cubans.

Though Cubas tight grip on the press has waned in recent years, authorities still exert control over the media and the most critical independent journalists continue to face harassment. Long-term incarcerations have become rare since the 2003 crackdown (during which CPJ documented 29 journalists serving lengthy prison sentences), but detentions and summons are still common, CPJ research shows. The once-common tactic of accusing journalists of acting as mercenaries at the service of the United States has become almost obsolete.

The restoration of diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana in December 2014, coupled with then-U.S. President Barack Obamas historic March 2016 visit to Cuba, have made it harder for the government to justify press censorship as a means to protect the nation from American aggression, Cuban journalists said. It is not yet clear how the new U.S. administration will influence that dynamic. And even on the day that Obama arrived in Cuba, independent blogger and activist Lazaro Yuri Valle Roca was arrested and held in custody for five days after trying to cover a protest by the Ladies in White, an opposition group founded by the wives of jailed dissidents. The journalist said after his release that no charges were filed, but that he was warned he could face legal action if arrested again.

The restoration of ties has led to suggestions from some analysts that Cuba may return to the Organization of American States, which expelled Cuba in 1962. But in June, Cuba said that as a show of solidarity with Venezuela, it would not join the group, the BBC reported. Castros statement came after OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro called for sanctions to be imposed on Venezuela. Membership in the OAS, whose charter includes a commission to protect human rights, would require Cuba to improve its press freedom record, including easing restrictions on internet access and ending the harassment of journalists.

***

Cuba, which was ranked 10th on CPJs 2015 list of the worlds most censored countries, has the most restrictive laws on free speech and press freedom in the Americas. Its penal code contains restrictive press freedom provisions.

Most criminal prosecutions that threaten freedom of speech include charges of contempt of authority under Article 144 of the penal code, enemy propaganda under Article 115, or acting against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state, under Article 91, which is often used in conjunction with Law 88, protection of Cubas national independence and economy, according to a 2016 comparative study of criminal defamation laws in the Americas prepared for CPJ by the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton in collaboration with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The charges can carry a prison term of up to 20 years.

Most of the prosecutions refer to the defamation of public institutions, organizations, national heroes and martyrs, which is also often used in conjunction with other provisions to curb freedom of expression by preventing public debate and criticism of the authorities and government policies.

The far-reaching transformation of the media landscape has broadened the space for criticism allowing all sectors of the press to delve into issues previously perceived as taboo, such as gay rights, allegations of official corruption and poverty.

The internet is perhaps the biggest hurdle for journalists seeking to become relevant, because most of their content is consumed outside the island. At the same time, they must pay high prices for online access and find original ways to disseminate their work to a home audience that is largely offline.

These new media journalists also operate in a legal limbo, in part because Article 53 bans private ownership of the press and recognizes freedom of speech and the press in accordance with the goals of the socialist society. Many of the journalists interviewed said they approach their work cautiously and sometimes veer away from publishing overtly critical work because of the current legal framework.

Dismantling this framework for the press and removing all barriers to individual internet access while expanding it to the population at large are key to fostering a more open environment, according to analysts and Cuba experts.

The slow loosening of restrictions reflects a government that has many high-ranking leaders over the age of 80 who are not part of an active online community. Within the government and the party leadership, there is a debate on how swift this opening should be.

Dissidents, journalists who report on social issues but are not considered hostile, pro-government bloggers, and members of the state-owned press all tend to agree on one point: They want the government to provide more, less expensive and less restricted access for Cubas 11 million people.

In a July 2015 interview in Juventud Rebelde, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, the second-highest ranking member of Cubas Communist Party, accused foreigners of trying to promote expanded internet access not for Cuban people to communicate but to penetrate us and do ideological work for a new conquest. This stubborn approach to internet access calls into question whether the government will meet its pledge of bringing access to 50 percent of the population by 2020, finances permitting. Such an achievement will demand a great deal of courage from the Cuban leadership.

Carlos Lauria, CPJs program director and senior program coordinator for the Americas, is a widely published journalist. A native of Buenos Aires, he has written extensively for Noticias, the leading Spanish-language newsmagazine.
Four CRPF personnel from Tamil Nadu, 1 from Punjab, 6 from Bihar and 3 from West Bengal were killed in the attack. Governments of these states have announced ex-gratia for their martyrs.

By India Today Web Desk: After a Naxal attack killed 25 CRPF personnel on Monday in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, state governments have come forward and announced compensation for martyrs from their respective states.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami today condoled the death of these jawans, four of whom were from the state. He announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of each of these four, who have been identified as M Padmanabhan, N Senthilkumar, N Thirumurugan and P Azhagupandi.

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Following suit, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh too condemned the attack and expressed his condolences. One Punjabi jawan, identified as Raghbir Singh, was killed in the attack.

AMARINDER ANNOUNCES COMPENSATION OF RS 5 LAKH

Amarinder announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for Raghbir Singh's family. Raghbir, a native of Sathiala village in Amritsar district, was part of the 74th battalion of CRPF, which was targeted by Naxals on Monday afternoon. Amarinder also urged the Centre to work out a comprehensive policy to deal with the Naxal menace.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced Rs five lakh to the kin of six martyrs from the state. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too announced Rs five lakh each to the families of the three jawans from the state who were killed in the ambush.

Also read | Sukma attack: How CRPF jawans walked into 'kill zone' set up by Naxals

Also read | Naxal attack on CRPF jawans in Sukma: All you need to know

WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
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Johannesburg, April 25, 2017The unconditional release of Zambian journalist Chanda Chimba is a welcome end to the injustice he has suffered, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Chimba, who has advanced prostate cancer, was released on April 21 following a pardon on humanitarian grounds from Zambian President Edgar Lungu, Zambian media reported and Chimbas lawyer, Charles Lisita, told CPJ today.

We celebrate Chanda Chimbas release, and we urge President Lungu to create an environment for a free press to flourish in Zambia, CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal said.

A court on November 29, 2016, sentenced Chimba to two years in prison on charges of failing to register his production company and two newspapers and of possession of property suspected to be proceeds of a crime, the Lusaka Times reported at the time. Chimba, who had produced a pair of documentaries critical of a politician, was the only journalist jailed in southern Africa on December 1, 2016, when CPJ last conducted its global prison census. CPJ privately petitioned the Zambian government to release him.
On Thursday, Holland America Lines ship Veendam will kick start the 29th cruise season in Saint John, according to a press release.

With final ship of the year scheduled to call on November 1, the 2017 cruise season will be one of the longest on record at Port Saint John.

Thursdays ship is scheduled to arrive at 8:00 am and depart at 5:00 pm and will be docked at the Marco Polo Cruise Terminal.

Our Port Saint John, operations group, Meet & Greet volunteers and business development and marketing staff have been working in concert to ensure the guest and ship experience here exceeds expectations, said Jim Quinn, President & CEO of Port Saint John. We know that our industry and community partners are also gearing up to welcome the more than 200,000 guests and crew we are expecting this year.

The 2017 season includes 64 scheduled cruise ship calls, more than 144,000 guests, 58,000 crew.

Among the highlights are the inaugural call from the Vision of the Seas, 12 double-ship days, four triple-ship days and the return of Disney Cruise Line.
Seabourn announced today that it has recently promoted Teresa Haughey to the role of director, Hotel Services for Hotel Operations and Daniel Putzhammer to director, Food & Beverage Operations.

"The Seabourn cruise experience is unparalleled, and Teresa and Daniel are shining examples of why both new and repeat guests have an unforgettable time onboard," said Gerald Mosslinger, vice president of hotel operations at Seabourn. "In these new roles, I'm confident their wisdom and expertise will continue to make a difference in many areas of our operations that will exceed guest expectations and help us maintain a leading position in the luxury travel industry."

Haughey originally joined Seabourn as Chief Purser in 2007, making her way to become Seabourn's first female Hotel Director. In 2014, she transferred to the Seattle Hotel Operations team, overseeing efforts to enhance the Housekeeping, Guest Services, and Purser departments.

She has been instrumental in the launch of Seabourn's Molton Brown bespoke fragrance, the implementation of the new Seabourn mattress and linen on board all vessels, and the preservation of Seabourn's ultra-luxury reputation in the market. Her duties include oversight of Housekeeping, Guest Services and Administration, as well as working closely with Human Resources to enhance crew programs.

Putzhammer started his career in hospitality on Lake Chiemsee Bavaria, Germany, where he worked in numerous bars, restaurants and hotels while getting his degree in business administration. He joined the crew on Seabourn Legend in 2005 as a bar waiter. After rising through the ranks, he was promoted to Hotel Director on Seabourn Pride in 2010. He has worked on all Seabourn ships since then, including most recently as Hotel Director when Seabourn Encore launched in December 2016. His duties include responsibility for culinary, bar and restaurant operations, as well as playing a pivotal role in the management of the Thomas Keller partnership in conjunction with the culinary ambassador.

Haughey is based in Seabourn's U.K. offices, and Putzhammer is based in Seattle. Both report directly to Mosslinger.
Members of the Federal Reserves Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council (CDIAC) raised concerns about compliance examination processes and the current regulatory landscape in a recent meeting, according to minutes released on Friday by the Fed.

CDIAC members are selected from representatives of banks, thrift institutions, and credit unions serving on newly created local advisory councils at the twelve Federal Reserve Banks. One member of each of the Reserve Bank councils is selected to serve on the CDIAC, which meets twice a year with the Board of Governors in Washington.

The council is very concerned that the working partnership that has existed for many years between examiners and bankers and credit unions is no longer working well, as manifested by increased examination timeframes, less risky concerns being mentioned as matters requiring attention or documents of resolution, and a lack of exam focus on an institutions overall risk profile, the group said.
A U.S. District Court judge in Virginia dismissed a $5 million civil lawsuit last month against the $21.3 billion Pentagon Federal Credit Union because the allegations of sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, retaliation, age discrimination and wrongful discharge, were not backed up by sufficient facts from the former employee who claimed them.

In January, Celia Coleman, 55, of Brandywine, Md., a 31-year former employee, filed the civil suit against PenFed. The lawsuit alleged that a woman supervisor sexually demeaned and assaulted Coleman repeatedly. The lawsuit also charged that the other three female employees encouraged and condoned the sexual harassment and they targeted Coleman for termination.

Accordingly, plaintiff (Coleman) has not pleaded sufficient facts to show that there was any harassing conduct, let alone that it was severe or pervasive, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in Alexandria, Va., wrote in a 12-page ruling released on March 17.

Even though Coleman filed a complaint with her supervisor about being discriminated and targeted by another employee, Coleman did not provide information about alleged specific incidents of such conduct, Judge Brinkema noted in the ruling.
Its no secret credit unions need to continually grow and attract new members, yet for a host of reasons, many still arent offering a mobile app. Its a mobile world now. A good, fully-functional app is the smartest strategy to expand your membership and thrive in the next few years, decades, and beyond.

The catch is, todays members arent typically the kind to stroll into the branch for information.

Thus elephant flies

More and more people are beginning to live their lives on mobile devices. Its not just a guess. A recent Nielsen study showed that, across all genders and ethnic backgrounds, 96% of the top mobile users range from age 18  44. The majority are under 30. Those could be the lifeblood of your credit union over the next few decades.

Another study pointed out some of these same consumers are using their phones more than they are interacting with other human beings. They want easily accessible information and answers, and they do not want to have to talk to someone to get it. That means for your credit union to reach them, you need to be accessible on their phone. Not by phone . . . in it!

An elephant never forgets

Unfortunately, the truth is, if potential members dont see an app, theyll likely just keep on scrolling. Forget quick balance checks and money transfers. Todays members want the transactions they do most on their phone or tablet.

Remote Deposit  a simple click of a camera phone to deposit checks.

ATM Locator  so they dont have to call or drive around aimlessly looking for cash

Mobile Loan Request enable them to start the loan process from anyplace at any time, such as standing at the car dealership.

The good news is, once a member sees they can perform the transactions they use most on your app, theyre more likely to think of your credit union first when life changes and new needs arise.

You can practically offer a good app for peanuts

There is a number of affordable customizable mobile platform available now that will work hand-in-hand with you to create the customized solution your credit union needs.

Justifying the cost of a mobile app has been the real challenge to this point, said Lindsay Risiner, CEO/Manager of Louisianas Barton FCU, who recently worked with CU Mobile Apps to create her mobile app with their affordable CUMA Light platform. But the functionality were enjoying is beyond anything we had expected to find within our budget. The start-up investment is a virtual steal.

Anything unrelated to elephants is irrelephant!

With the right, affordable mobile platform, you show youre providing the products and services your current members want, and those potential, tech-savvy members, especially Millennials, demand. Make the investment today to ensure your credit unions success and growth.
Confession: if you havent realized it by now, Im a bit of a nerd. I thoroughly enjoyed school, enough to be considering pursuing a Masters Degree, just for funsies. So imagine my delight when, through my NTCUE experience and success, I was able to travel to Philadelphia for one very intense week of school. And not just any school  the Wharton School at UPenn is one of the most prestigious business schools in the nation.

Ill admit that I was nervous  which you already know if you read my pre-trip blog post. I was worried that I wouldnt understand the material, that the curriculum would be over my head, and that I would grossly out of place as the only non-management attendee (I am, at present time, a Coordinator). After all, this is training for the next edition of CEOs  top executives in our industry. Im not experienced reading call reports, dealing with personnel issues, or forming the strategic plan for an entire organization.

I was delighted to discover, as DeeDee Myers had encouraged, that not only was I not out of my element, I was firmly within my element. I understood, connected with, and excelled at the content of the sessions, finding many things relevant to my current position and to my plans for future growth and advancement. I was even successful at the math  yes, math!  portions of the week (fear not; if you are considering attending the CEO Institute and are mathematically challenged, the week is not very math-intensive).
UK Airports & Nuclear Power Stations On Cybersecurity Alert

Britains airports and nuclear power stations have been told to tighten their defences against terrorist attacks in the face of increased threats to electronic security systems.

UK security services have issued a series of alerts recently, warning that terrorists may have developed ways of bypassing safety checks.

Intelligence agencies believe that Islamic State and other terrorist groups have developed ways to plant explosives in laptops and mobile phones that can evade airport security screening methods.

It is this intelligence which is understood in the past fortnight to have led the US and Britain to ban travellers from a number of countries carrying laptops and large electronic devices on board.

Now there are concerns that terrorists will use the techniques to bypass screening devices at European and US airports.

There were also fears that computer hackers were trying to bypass nuclear power station security measures. Government officials have warned that terrorists, foreign spies and hacktivists are looking to exploit vulnerabilities in the nuclear industrys internet defences.

Jesse Norman, the energy minister, said that nuclear plants must make sure that they remain resilient to evolving cyber threats.

Mr Norman said: The Government is fully committed to defending the UK against cyber threats, with a 1.9 billion investment designed to transform this countrys cyber security.

He said the civil nuclear strategy published in February sets out ways to ensure that the civil nuclear sector can defend against, recover from, and remain resilient to evolving cyber threats.

Prof Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, an independent think tank for defence and security, said: It is important for the Government to respond rapidly to evolving cyber security threats. The potential threats are wide-ranging and are coming from government and non-government sources. Crucially there has to be clear co-operation with the private sector to tackle this, especially as airports are usually in private hands.

US intelligence officials have warned that groups including Islamic State and al-Qaeda may have developed ways to build bombs in laptops and other electronic devices that can fool airport security. There are fears that terrorists made the breakthrough after obtaining airport screening equipment to allow them to experiment.

FBI experts have tested how the explosives can be hidden inside laptop battery compartments in a way that allows a computer still to be turned on. They were said to have found that the technique would be achievable using everyday equipment.

The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement: Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in electronics.

The US government continually reassesses existing intelligence and collects new intelligence. This allows us to constantly evaluate our aviation security processes and policies and make enhancements when they are deemed necessary to keep passengers safe.

Manny Gomez, a former FBI special agent, said: We had the shoe bomber, cartridge attempt, now this is the next level. We need to be several steps ahead of them.

Last year al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate group in Somalia, detonated a bomb on a flight from Mogadishu to Djibouti. The explosives were hidden in a part of a laptop where bomb-makers had removed a DVD drive. The bomber was blown out of the window but the plane survived.

However, experts have said the bomb would have been far more devastating had the plane reached cruising altitude. The warnings come as Britain remains on a severe state of alert following last months attack at Westminster, in which four people were killed and more than 50 injured.

Warnings that the nuclear industry has to do more to protect itself were contained in the five-year Civil Nuclear Cyber Security Strategy.

It says: The volume and complexity of cyber-attacks against the UK are growing and the range of actors is widening. Government officials say that the threat from cyber-attacks is growing and add: These attacks could disrupt supply, damage facilities, delay hazard and risk reduction, and risk adverse impacts to workers, the public or the environment.

Telegraph:

You Might Also Read:

Flight Ban On Laptops 'sparked by IS threat':

Ageing Energy Systems Hold Huge Potential For Cyber Attack:

Britain Bombarded With High Level Cyber Attacks:

Could Hackers Turn the Lights Out?:


Whats inside:

DAX rips on outcome of the first round of the French presidential elections

Another higher low carved on the daily, higher high/new record levels very near

Levels and considerations outlined

See the Q2 forecast for a longer-term view of where global equity markets look to be heading.

This morning, the DAX is trading higher by 2.6% following the outcome of the first round of the French presidential election. The two winners from yesterdays election, Macron and Le Pen, are headed for a May 7 run-off election, with market optimism buoyed on the former winning. The French CAC 40 index is flying, up over 4% at the time of this writing. The Nikkei gained 1.37% in Asia, the FTSE is up 1.6% in London, while the S&P 500 futures are currently up 1% hours ahead of the open in New York.

The DAX wasnt in the best health, technically speaking, heading into the weekend, but that wasnt to matter with the French election on everyones minds. The German index is now only a stones throw away from the record high of 12391 set in 2015. Back on April 3 the DAX traded up to very near the old high before quickly reversing from 12375 and not bottoming until Thursday at 11941, so sellers are in the vicinity of record highs.

While recently the DAX broke the December trend-line and lower parallel extending higher from the February low, Thursdays low came as yet another higher low in the broader trend higher. Barring a sharp reversal of todays gap, it looks likely the DAX will soon notch out a new higher high on a breakout to new record levels. A move above 12391 opens the door up for further gains, but there is resistance even at new heights by way of the top-side trend-line extending higher from the August 2016 peak and upper parallel running over peaks in Feb, Mar, and this months high. These lines come in between approximately 12475 and 12555. In the short-term a pullback may be supported by the recaptured December trend-line close to 12275.

DAX: Daily

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Come check out the commodities and equity indices webinar with Paul every Tuesday for up to date analysis on the DAX. See the Webinar Calendar details.

---Written by Paul Robinson, Market Analyst

You can receive Pauls analysis directly via email by signing up here.

You can follow Paul on Twitter at @PaulRobinonFX.
The Opposition has come together to corner the Centre over the Sukma attack.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: The Opposition, it seems has come together, to corner the Centre over the Sukma attack, in which at least 25 CRPF jawans lost their lives.

Slamming the Centre, CPI leader D Raja claimed that there is an attempt to term the Sukma attack as 'red terror.' "We strongly condemn killing of jawans. But what we see now is that there is an attempt to term the whole thing as red terror," said Raja.

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There are number of left parties that are working in Chhattisgarh's tribal areas, including the CPI.

"Ours is one of the left parties working in defence of tribal people and their rights in that region. We never agreed with Maoists politically or ideologically. We never subscribed the form of struggle that they have adopted and we never subscribe to violence the way they are carrying out. But there is a big issue that why central government is failing to handle the situation in Chhattisgarh?," said the Rajya Sabha MP.

Alleging that BJP-led state government in Chhattisgarh has alienated the tribals in the state, Raja stated, "Dr Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh has completely alienated the tribal people and the Union government too lacks a proper policy towards tribal people. The real major issue is how to address the issues related to tribals and forest rights. They should feel that this government stands for their rights and interests."

The leaders across various left parties are asking government to do introspection in connection with their policy's towards tribals.

"CRPF being the leading paramilitary organisation it doesn't have a regular head. What happened to its intelligence wing? Nobody knows. Govt will have to do serious introspection as to why things are happening in Chhattisgarh in this way and why is govt failing continuously," Raja added.

Demonetisation has not been able to break the morale of naxals and terrorist: JDU

It is JDU that had once supported the government on demonetisation issue that is now asking questions from the Centre after Sukhma attack.

Senior JDU leader KC Tyagi said, "The Central Government after demonetisation was claiming that they have successfully been able to crack economic and intelligence support of extremists outfit in Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir.But recent incidents in Kashmir and Sukhma totally contradicts the claim made by the government after demonetisation."

JDU was one of the few opposition parties that had supported demonetisation decision taken by government. And now it too has questioned one of the intentions with which demonetisation was rolled out. The leaders from other opposition parties too are asking questions linking demonetisation and Naxal attack in Sukma.

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Expressing shock on incident, Tyagi added, "This paramilitary force doesn't have a DG or director from last three months."

The former MP also listed a few demands which included - a big debate on naxal attack, why properties of tribals are being distributed to corporates and businessmen, negotiation with tribals, giving paramilitary forces the status of the Indian Army, providing modern weapons to all paramilitary forces, and checking intelligence failure.

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Naresh Yadav is one of the bravehearts from Bihar who laid his life on the line of duty in the Maoist infested Sukma district in Chattisgarh.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Head constable Naresh Yadav (45) after spending a long vacation with his family had re-joined his 74th battalion on January 10 this year. During his stay at his village in Ahila in Darbhanga district of Bihar, he started working on building a "pucca" house for his family. Couple of days back, he spoke to his wife Reeta Devi and discussed the admission of their children in a good college for further studies. His eldest son is studying in Class X while his daughter is in Class IX. His youngest son is in Class V. Yadav promised his wife to return soon to complete work of the under-construction house.

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Yadav, who has joined CRPF in 1994, did keep his promise of returning home soon but not exactly in the way he or his family expected. Naresh Yadav is one of the bravehearts from Bihar who laid his life on the line of duty in the Maoist infested Sukma district in Chhattisgarh, on Monday. Yadav is survived by his parents, wife and three children. He was the only son of his parents and also the sole bread winner in the family.

Naresh Yadav and his family

"For how long will we let our brave sons die at the hands of the Maoists. My son always used to say that the place where he is posted is a troubled area devoid of any kind of development. It appears that there was intelligence failure in Sukma incident. The Centre should take strong action against the Maoists", said Ram Narayan Yadav, the father of martyr Naresh Yadav.

Constable Krishna Kumar Pandey had also re-joined his battalion in March this year after spending the festival of Holi with his family in Bharandua in Rohtas district. The youngest of the six brothers, Krishna Kumar had promised to return home in the first week of May to attend his niece's wedding scheduled for May 5. The martyr's elder brother is also posted with Border Security Force. Married in 2013, Pandey is survived by wife Anita Devi and a 7-month-old daughter.

Krishna Pandey

"Krishna was suppossed to come back in May to attend his niece's wedding. He was managing the wedding preparations", said Mohan Pandey, elder brother of Krishna Kumar.

Like Naresh Yadav and Krishna Kumar Pandey, four other sons of Bihar, constable Saurabh Kumar from Patna, Constable Abhay Kumar from Vaishali, Constable Ranjeet Kumar from Sheikhpura and Constable Abhay Mishra from Bhojpur, were martyred in the dastardly attack by the Maoists on Monday.

ALSO READ:

After Sukma Naxal attack, Jharkhand on alert; MHA seeks report from CRPF, feels leadership failure to blame

CRPF, which lost its 25 jawans in Sukma Naxal attack, is without a full-time chief for almost two months now

ALSO WATCH:

Sukma attack: Naxals came in hundreds, attacked in different groups, says injured jawan

--- ENDS ---

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Naxals ambushed a CRPF team deployed to provide security for road construction in Chhattisgarh's Maoist hot bed Sukma. CRPF lost 25 jawans in the deadly attack.

By India Today Web Desk: Naxals ambushed a team of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, killing 25 of its jawans providing security for road construction in the area.

The nearly 100-strong CRPF party was on a regular patrol when the jawans came under heavy fire from the Maoists at around 12:25 pm in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region on Monday (April 24).

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NAXALS USED VILLAGERS AS HUMAN SHIELD

The Maoists use villagers as human shield during the gunbattle, said CRPF's Sher Mohammed, who was injured in the deadly attack.

"They (Naxals) first sent some villagers to confirm our location. Then almost 300 Maoists attacked us," Sher Mohammed said.

Hidima - the mastermind of Sukma Naxal attack.

"They were around 300 and we were about 150. We responded to the gunfire with equal force. I shot 3-4 Naxals in the chest," he added.

Injured jawans said the Naxals were well equipped and used sophisticated weapons like the AK series assault rifles in the attack.

They were around 300 & we were around 150, we kept firing. I shot 3-4 Naxals in the chest: CRPF constable Sher Mohammed injured in #Sukma pic.twitter.com/9LUK7ENRMX- ANI (@ANI_news) April 24, 2017

CONSIDERABLE NUMBER OF MAOISTS KILLED

The Maoists occupied vantage positions while targeting the CRPF party. However, the jawans swung into action immediately after coming under heavy fire and responded with equal fire power.

Considerable number of Maoists are believed to have been killed in retaliatory action by CRPF men. However, bodies of Naxals are yet to recovered. Search and combing operation is underway in the region.

The CRPF jawans killed in Sukma Naxal attack.

DEADLIEST NAXAL ATTACK SINCE 2010

This was the worst attack by Maoists in Chhattisgarh since 2010 when 76 CRPF troopers were killed. Twelve CRPF men were killed in a similar Maoist attack in Sukma early this year.

On May 25, 2013, 25 Congress leaders killed including former state minister Mahendra Karma. Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel was also killed in a Maoist attack in Darbha valley in Chhattisgarh.

WATCH | Sukma ambush: Naxals used villagers as human shields, reveals injured CRPF jawan

ALSO READ:

Chhattisgarh: 80-km stretch from Dornapal to Jagargunda a death trap for CRPF

CRPF, which lost its 25 jawans in Naxal attack, is without a full-time chief for almost two months now

Naxal attack on CRPF jawans in Sukma: All you need to know

--- ENDS ---

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Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the government was also planning to revise its Left Wing Extremism (LWE) strategy following the dastardly Sukma Naxal attack in which 25 CRPF jawans were killed.

By India Today Web Desk: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today called the Sukma Naxal attack , in which 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans were killed, a 'cold blooded murder'.

"This is a cold blooded murder. The sacrifice of our jawans will no go in vain. Attempts are being made to derail the development porcess in the region," Rajnath Singh, who was in Raipur to pay homage to the killed CRPF jawans, said.

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Rajnath Singh said the government is planning to revise its Left Wing Extremism (LWE) strategy.

"We have decided to revise our LWE strategy if need be. Have called a meeting of officials of various state governments on May 8," the home minister said.

Singh arrived in Raipur at around 10.30 am and went directly to the headquarters of the 4th battalion of Chhattisgarh Armed Force in Mana camp area where the wreath-laying ceremony was held.

Hidima - the mastermind of Sukma Naxal attack.

Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Das Tandon, Chief Minister Raman Singh, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir and senior state and paramilitary officials were also present on the occasion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack last night and offered condolences to the families of the deceased, saying the sacrifice of the brave soldiers would not be in vain.

WHAT HAPPENED ON APRIL, 25

At least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and seven wounded in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, the deadliest ambush by Naxalites of security forces in last seven years.

CRPF jawans killed in Sukma Naxal attack. (Photo/ANI)

The nearly 100-strong CRPF patrol providing security for road construction work came under fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions, inflicting heavy casualties on the personnel.

The Naxalites mounted the assault in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country.

(With inputs from PTI)

WATCH | Sukma attack cold-blooded murder, won't let jawans' sacrifice go in vain: Rajnath Singh

ALSO READ:

After Sukma Naxal attack, Jharkhand on alert; MHA seeks report from CRPF, feels leadership failure to blame

CRPF jawan injured in Sukma attack recalls ambush: Shot Naxals in chest, they used villagers as human shield

Chhattisgarh: 80-km stretch from Dornapal to Jagargunda a death trap for CRPF

Naxal attack on CRPF jawans in Sukma: All you need to know

--- ENDS ---
IoT firm Ingenu and Datora Telecomunicacoes are launching an IoT network powered by Ingenus RPMA (Random Phase Multiple Access) technology in Brazil.

The network will serve Brazils population of over 200 million, providing reliable connectivity for IoT/M2M applications such as agriculture, environmental monitoring, logistics and smart city.

Datora will deploy the Machine Network throughout Brazil, with expected completion in late 2018. The network will be integrated with its IoT Connectivity Abstraction Layer Solution (IoT CAL Solution), which allows different types of seamless connectivity for its clients.

The initial RPMA rollout will be in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazils third-largest state in terms of GDP and home of the headquarters of CODEMIG (Companhia de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais), a company responsible for significant economic development in the State and a Datora Mobile shareholder.

The Brazilian market is rapidly expanding its focus on IoT connectivity to bring useful new applications to the region, said Tomas Fuchs, CEO of Datora Group. Datoras vast experience in providing IoT/M2M connectivity and Ingenus robust, reliable RPMA technology will provide unprecedented network availability for a host of IoT solutions and flexibility of integration with our IoT CAL Solution.

Ingenus partnership with Datora is the companys largest deployment in the Latin American market to date, said John Horn, CEO, Ingenu. We are excited to align our global expansion with Datora, an established and profitable Brazilian company, to support the connectivity needs of this growing nation, and to extend the reach of our RPMA technology in Brazil.
Online trading platform provider Plus500 has reached a 550,000 settlement agreement with the Belgium Financial Services and Markets Authority.

The settlement was reached in the context of the public offering of investment instruments, including contracts-for-difference as offered by the company, in Belgium.

Plus500 said the settlement does not amount to an admission of guilt or non-compliance.

"Despite believing that it had introduced all necessary procedures to comply with the applicable legislation, Plus500 felt a settlement agreement was appropriate to respect the authority of FSMA and to reach a swift and final clearance of the jurisdictional process."

The company reaffirmed on Tuesday that it does not have any regulatory restrictions in any of the group's regulated markets.

At 0920 BST, the shares were up 0.2% to 447.75p.
The bank said it likes Ascentials willingness to reshuffle its portfolio to continually maximise organic growth.

Berenberg pointed out that as of this year, the group is disposing of a third of its brands while integrating two high-growth acquisitions: MediaLink and One Click Retail (OCR).

This, coupled with a natural growth opportunity in the US and Asia-Pacific, where Ascential is currently underpenetrated versus peers, should help to drive a double-digit earnings per share compound annual growth rate over the next three years, it said.

"With one third of the companys brands held for sale we believe that, upon their disposal, both growth and margins will improve. These disposals, coupled with a rapidly de-levering balance sheet, could give Ascential circa 200m of M&A firepower in the coming years."

Berenberg noted the company is holding the Heritage Brands as an asset for sale on its balance sheet for 72m. On last years EBITDA, this would imply an EBITDA multiple of 6.2x.

"This is materially beneath what peers trade on, i.e. circa 11x EBITDA. Our cash flow estimates do not include the proceeds of these disposals but if we did, this could add around 10% upside to our base case price target."

Miners

Goldman Sachs adjusted its ratings on metals and mining stocks on Tuesday as it adopted a tactically bearish stance.

The bank downgraded BHP Billiton and Antofagasta to 'sell' from 'neutral' and cut their price targets to 1,100p from 1,400p and 650p from 800p, respectively.

Its downgrade of BHP reflects a bearish view on iron ore, which is around 41% of the companys FY18 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

"This should see BHPs earnings profile/free cash flow generation impacted and drive consensus downgrades in our view. In addition, it pointed to FCF generation from the oil business, noting that while its commodities team remains positive on the oil price, BHPs oil business is barely generating FCF."

As far as Antofagasta is concerned, it said the 'sell' case is predicated on near-term downside risk to copper prices.

GS's economists reckon China is looking to tighten its monetary policy, which should have an impact on commodity demand. Also, with Escondida back online, the Grasberg issue being resolved and the reflation trade coming increasingly in question, the copper price rally could unwind, it added.

It downgraded Anglo American to 'neutral' from 'buy' and slashed the price target to 1,100p from 1,500p. GS said its upgrade in November was based on the belief that higher commodity prices, particularly iron ore and coal, would see significant FCF generation, which would lower net debt and result in a transference of value from debt to equity holders.

"This thesis held until mid-March, when the rebar price in China came under pressure, having a knock-on effect on the iron ore price (both are down c.25% from their highs).

"With the commodity price outlook increasingly bearish, we believe that Anglos shares are likely to remain under pressure over the near term."

Finally, Goldman removed Vedanta Resources from its Conviction List and cut the price target to 950p from 1,450p, but kept the stock at 'buy'.

The bank said that over the past two months, the stock has underperformed, paring all of its gains as sentiment towards mining has turned negative, with the market focusing more on Chinese tightening, which has seen rebar prices in China fall, with a knock-on effect on zing.

Vectura Group

Analysts at RBC downgraded Vectura Group to underperform from sector perform and cut its price target to 133p from 190p, as it remains cautious about the pharmaceuticals success with its asthma drug, Advair.

The broker said that although upcoming events could push its target price to 150p - with sentiment potentially to 180p - its is cautious on success for Vectura and thinks that consensus forecast expectations have already priced in much of the upside.

Since the companys merger with Skye, Vectura has enhanced its capabilities as a development partner to peers but it has also provided the financial muscle to progress its own expansion as a specialist commercial player in the respiratory field.

With this strategy still in its formative years, RBC sees investment in capabilities, commercialisation and research and development remaining high and likely to consume much of the free cash. It forecasts the business to generate from its key pipeline assets.

From the 10 May roll out of generic Advair (VR315) in the US, the broker expects it to add between 30-50m per year in revenue for Vectura with a 50% chance of success. But when RBC modelled the outcome of this event, it found it difficult due to the multiple potential outcomes and lack of visibility on key data points.

Vectura is targeting three to five new generic deals and said theses deals should each be additive to the investment case.

The risks to the investment remains on potential delays or failure to the US roll-out of generic Advair from the price of competitor products and the number of other competitor launches.

Vectura could be the first to launch the drug after rival Mylan suffered a setback when it recently received a complete response letter from the US Food & Drug Administration for its generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's Advair Diskus, but believes that a delay is more likely from Vectura.

Construction firms

Taking a look at the UK construction services sector, JP Morgan Cazenove upgraded Carillon to 'overweight' and said Kier Group remained its top pick for quality.

The investment bank said it remained on the sidelines for sector-mates Balfour Beatty and Interserve, which both were kept on 'neutral' ratings, though Interserve's lowly 5.3 p/e ratio valuation is quite attractive for investors with a higher tolerance to risk. It was given a target price of 260p.

Compared to construction companies, their services providers have seen relatively modest margin pressure in recent years, with Cazenove calculating gross margins have fallen by 300-400 basis points.

Infrastructure construction has also been experiencing a short-term lull in activity, which analysts attributed to political uncertainty and upheaval delaying contract awards in both the UK and US.

"Against this backdrop, we tend to prefer services-orientated business, and also prefer lower value regional construction work to infrastructure in the short term."

Carillon was upgraded from its previous 'neutral' rating due to "several areas" of upside versus the bear case, particularly a forecast of gradual deleveraging.

"We are also not convinced that Carillion over-earns vs peers, or that any valuation adjustment should be made for reverse factoring."

Kier remained analysts' "pick for quality" in the sector due to an appreciation of the movement towards services, and highways in particular.

In addition, the current share price is calculated to imply around a 9% free cash flow yield on the core Construction & Services business.

Kier's target price was set at 1,639p, with Carillion's at 292p, lifted from 231p.

For Balfour, while a nod was given to management strategy that is expected to be successful "to an extent", analysts believed the current share price reflects the execution risk and margin pressure faced.

HSBC

Analysts at Deutsche Bank revised their target price for shares of HSBC modestly higher ahead the lender's first quarter figures, due out on 4 May.

The broker forecast that HSBC's underlying revenues grew by between 12% and 13% during the first quarter of 2017 to reach $12.4bn, referencing seasonality in its Global Banking and Markets unit and positive results out from its US peers.

Worth noting, the analysts highlighted that revenue growth was key to an improvement in HSBC's return on equity.

Deutsche estimated top line growth at GBM up by between 11% to 12% on a like-for-like basis, excluding FX moves and the impact from exceptionals and disposals.

Nonetheless, it might be too soon to expect to see the full benefits from rising rates coming through in the retail and commercial banking businesses, the analysts said.

Revenues at HSBC's US Retail Banking and Wealth Management franchise were seen up 6% year-on-year at $4.7bn.

Profits before tax in the quarter were pegged at $5.3bn for reported earnings per share of 12.5 cents.

The target price on HSBC was revised from 616p to 635p, with Deutsche sticking to a 'Hold' recommendation.

Weir Group

JP Morgan revised its target price on shares of oil equipment manufacturer Weir Group, judging that it had been too cautious regarding the firm's near-term pricing power.

The analysts said the improvement over recent months in the equipment manufacturer's two main end markets, Oil&Gas and Mining equipment, had been more dynamic than it expected.

Furthermore, its peers who had already reported their first quarter figures had surprised to the upside.

Given the 10% upside potential to the broker's target and risk of positive surprises should the pricing climate improve, JP Morgan decided to upgrade its recommendation from 'neutral' to 'overweight'.

Its target price was also revised higher from 1,800p to 2,175p.

The investment bank lifted its estimate for operating profits at Weir's Oil&Gas arm by 49% for 2017 and by 26% for 2018, on the back of the company's "aggressive" cost-cutting and expectations for higher top line growth.

A bigger than expected increase in the US rig count and stronger capex spend by US-based exploration and production firms meant sales at Weir were now seen growing 14% more than before in 2017 and 17% more in 2018.

Weir's Minerals unit was also expected to see better sales growth, with JP Morgan raising its estimate for sales by 5% thanks to high aftermarket growth and a "modest" improvement in capex related demand linked to brownfield developments.

The company's price-to earnings and EV/EBITDA multiples left its shares trading at "a modest premium to our industrial universe, despite the prospect of earnings rising around 4x faster than for the sector overall between 16 and 18E."
Goldman Sachs adjusted its ratings on metals and mining stocks on Tuesday as it adopted a tactically bearish stance.

The bank downgraded BHP Billiton and Antofagasta to 'sell' from 'neutral' and cut their price targets to 1,100p from 1,400p and 650p from 800p, respectively.

Its downgrade of BHP reflects a bearish view on iron ore, which is around 41% of the companys FY18 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

"This should see BHPs earnings profile/free cash flow generation impacted and drive consensus downgrades in our view. In addition, it pointed to FCF generation from the oil business, noting that while its commodities team remains positive on the oil price, BHPs oil business is barely generating FCF."

As far as Antofagasta is concerned, it said the 'sell' case is predicated on near-term downside risk to copper prices.

GS's economists reckon China is looking to tighten its monetary policy, which should have an impact on commodity demand. Also, with Escondida back online, the Grasberg issue being resolved and the reflation trade coming increasingly in question, the copper price rally could unwind, it added.

It downgraded Anglo American to 'neutral' from 'buy' and slashed the price target to 1,100p from 1,500p. GS said its upgrade in November was based on the belief that higher commodity prices, particularly iron ore and coal, would see significant FCF generation, which would lower net debt and result in a transference of value from debt to equity holders.

"This thesis held until mid-March, when the rebar price in China came under pressure, having a knock-on effect on the iron ore price (both are down c.25% from their highs).

"With the commodity price outlook increasingly bearish, we believe that Anglos shares are likely to remain under pressure over the near term."

Finally, Goldman removed Vedanta Resources from its Conviction List and cut the price target to 950p from 1,450p, but kept the stock at 'buy'.

The bank said that over the past two months, the stock has underperformed, paring all of its gains as sentiment towards mining has turned negative, with the market focusing more on Chinese tightening, which has seen rebar prices in China fall, with a knock-on effect on zing.

At 1000 BST, BHP shares were down 0.6% to 1,207p, Antofagasta was down 1.8% to 825.28p, Anglo was off 1.6% to 1,111.50p and Vedanta was down 2% to 694p.
European passengers travelling to the US may face a ban on bringing their laptops on board as Donald Trump weighs up plans to restrict the use of computers on flights from Europe.

The US administration has already implemented a similar ban on electronic devices on passengers travelling from a number of airports in the Middle East, with anything larger than a smartphone having to be kept in the hold during the flight.

Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were the states affected by the electronics ban. Theresa May's government introduced a similar ban affecting six countries shortly after Trump's administration did.

Several reports suggest that the ban will be extended to European flights including those from the UK within the next month, according to reports, as Trump cites security reasons for the restrictions.

While it is not certain that flights from Britain will be included in the new ban, The Times newspaper was told the White House is said to be considering it as an option despite its impending departure from the European Union.

Trump faced criticism for the introduction of a travel ban earlier this year which would have denied access to the country for countries from seven majority Muslim states, but US courts blocked the decision.

International business could suffer as a result of any extension of the electronics ban, according to Mark Jenkinson, director of bespoke air charter firm, Hunt and Palmer.

"A broadening of the laptop ban away from select high-threat countries has the potential to both hinder business and hit the airlines bottom line, as execs decide they cannot afford a day of time flying to the US without such a crucial business tool," Jenkinson commented.

"For business people who fly regularly, not being able to have a laptop or tablet onboard when travelling to the US could wipe out an entire billable day. Its a big cost and a cost that the major commercial airlines could ultimately be set to pay."
European stocks started the trading session on the front foot with the previous day's intense buying pressure carrying through into Tuesday, as investors monitor political developments in France and ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting later in the week.

As of 08:09 GMT the benchmark Stoxx 600 is up by 0.10% to 386.53, alongside gains of 0.12% for Germany's Dax to 12,470.88 and a rise of 0.07% for the Cac-40 to reach 5,272.91.

Acting as a backdrop, in the previous session the White House announced it would publish the outlines of its tax cut plans on Wednesday. The Trump administration wants to slash the corporate tax rate from 35% at present to 15%, the Wall Street Journal reports, prioritising economic growth over deficit concerns.

At the weekend, French centrist presidential candidate Emmmanuel Macron made off with the most votes, 24%, in the first round of voting, with all polls indicating that he will win the run-off vote on 7 May by a wide margin.

Nevertheless, some analysts are cautioning that nothing must be taken for granted - even if he wins.

Commenting on the situation in the euro area's second largest economy and one of its two key founding partners, Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets said: "in the absence of any political party backing of his own, [he will] have to create some form of consensus on both sides of the political divide that he has done so much to disrupt, in order to forge ahead with his own brand of reform.

"That will be no mean task in a country that has a labour code that is a bigger read than the bible, and whose vested interests are notoriously resistant to any type of reform."

Overnight, Macron's rival, far-right leader Marine Le Pen stepped down as head of the National Front party, claiming that it would "free" her to unite the French people ahead of the run-off vote.

Business confidence in France was steady in April amid improved conditions in the factory sector, offset by a slip in service sector confidence.

INSEE's headline business confidence index was unchanged in April from the month before at 104.0 and in-line with economists' forecasts.

Still on the economic calendar for Tuesday, at 0900 GMT the ECB will release the results of its quarterly Bank Lending Survey.

That will be followed by US data on home price growth and new home sales at 14:00 GMT and 15:00 GMT, respectively.

German software designer SAP is moving lower after reporting that core profits were slightly lower-than-expected over the first three months of the year.

French technology outfit Atos is increasing its goal for operating margins in 2017 to roughly 10%, having posted a 2% rise in first quarter sales to reach 3.1bn.
Engineers registered the biggest gains on Tuesday on the back of supportive comments from analysts at two top brokers.

Weir Group was the biggest beneficiary as JP Morgan told clients it had been too cautious about the oil equipment manufacturer's near-term pricing power.

The broker upped its target price on the shares from 1,800p to 2,175p.

JP Morgan lifted its estimate for operating profits at Weir's Oil&Gas arm by 49% for 2017 and by 26% for 2018, on the back of the company's "aggressive" cost-cutting and expectations for higher top line growth.

A bigger than expected increase in the US rig count and stronger capex spend by US-based exploration and production firms meant sales at Weir were now seen growing 14% more than before in 2017 and 17% more in 2018.

Meanwhile, positive comments from Barclays were behind advances for IMI and Rotork.

Referencing its own employee cost analysis, it said the companies which were best positioned to benefit if and when top-line growth returned were: Spectris, Oxford Instruments, Rotork, Renishaw and Weir.

"Clearly our work cannot be viewed in isolation, and we have not made any changes to our favoured stocks in the sector, which remain Oxford Instruments, Spectris and IMI (all OW), but it does increase our interest in Rotork," Barclays said.



Among chemicals makers, it was all about Elementis, as the London-based speciality chemicals group said it was on track to grow full year operating profit across its three segments after a positive first quarter of 2017.

Banks were also higher, alongside an advance for their US-listed peers as government bonds yields continued to rise and ahead of updates out of Standard Chartered, Lloyds and RBS the next day.

Top performing sectors so far today

Industrial Engineering 11,959.20 +1.80%

Industrial Metals & Mining 2,280.00 +1.19%

Chemicals 12,809.15 +1.10%

Banks 4,207.30 +1.08%

Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 16,193.44 +0.90%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Food Producers & Processors 8,309.80 -1.59%

General Retailers 2,603.59 -0.98%

Electricity 8,257.57 -0.95%

Travel & Leisure 9,359.92 -0.64%

Insurance (non-life) 2,894.61 -0.47%
What to do in Pennsylvania if you made an error on your mail-in ballot
The Ministry of Home Affairs wants the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to submit the report on Sukma Naxal attack as soon as possible, elaborating on what went wrong.

By India Today Web Desk: A day after 25 CRPF jawans were killed in the worst Naxal attack in recent years in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, alert has been sounded in neighbouring Jharkhand.

If sources are to be believed, an operation is underway in the Bura Pahar area along the Chhattisgarh border. The entire area has been sealed.

In another development, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sought a report from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on what went wrong in Sukma.

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According to sources, the MHA wants the report to be submitted as soon as possible and is believed to have said the casualty of 25 jawans is unacceptable.

The MHA, said sources, feels the Sukma attack points to a leadership failure and a need for operations in Maoist-infested regions to be overhauled.

Hidima - who is said to be the mastermind of the Sukma Naxal attack.

DG, CRPF Sudeep Lakhtakia, however, denied tactical and intelligence failure on part of the security forces.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with Minister of State (Home) Hansraj Ahir today reached Chhattisgarh to take stock of the situation.

Rajnath Singh called the Sukma Naxal attack "a cold-blooded murder" and said the government will review its anti-Naxal strategy.

HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR: The encounter with the 74 battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) occurred at Kala Pathar near Chintagufa in Sukma, which is the worst Maoist violence-affected district in south Bastar area of the state. The area is close to the Chintagufa-Burkapal-Bheji axis, which has reported several Naxal attacks in the past. The CRPF battalion was tasked with sanitising the road for construction. By the time the 74 battalion of CRPF reached Chintagufa, around 300-400 Naxalites were already hiding in the area. The CRPF battalion was caught unawares and Naxalites successfully divided the personnel into smaller groups and triggered an IED blast. The blast was followed by Naxalites firing indiscriminately at CRPF personnel. According to CRPF sources, Hidima is believed to the leader behind the Sukma attack. The women's wing of the Naxalites also joined the attack. Injured CRPF jawan Sher Mohammed said the CRPF opened fire and "killed many" Naxalites. "First, Naxals sent villagers to trace our location, then almost 300 Naxals attacked us. We also fired and killed many," said the injured CRPF jawan. Against the 300 Naxals, there were about 100-150 CRPF jawans at the location. "I shot three-four Naxals in the chest," CRPF jawan Sher Mohammed said. According to him, the Naxalites used villagers as human shield during the gunbattle. Following the attack, Naxals looted arms and ammunition, including 12 AK-47s. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh cut short his Delhi visit and reached Raipur on Monday night and called an emergency meeting to review the situation after the Sukma attack. Minister of State (Home) Hansraj Ahir said "serious discussions are on to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again". Hansraj Ahir along with Home Minister Rajnath Singh have reached Chhattisgarh to review the situation on ground. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Naxal attack on CRPF forces "cowardly and deplorable". "The sacrifices of the martyrs will not go in vain," Narendra Modi said.

(inputs from Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu and Dharambir Kumar Sinha)

ALSO READ:

CRPF, which lost its 25 jawans in Sukma Naxal attack, is without a full-time chief for almost two months now

Chhattisgarh: 80-km stretch from Dornapal to Jagargunda a death trap for CRPF

Sukma attack: 25 CRPF jawans killed, worst Naxal attack in years

ALSO WATCH

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BEER-SHEVA, Israel...April 25, 2017 - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have found that babies born from mothers who underwent fertility treatments are at increased risk of developing many types of pediatric cancers and tumors (neoplasms).

According to the American Cancer Society, the most common pediatric neoplasms are leukemia, brain and spinal cord tumors, neuroblastomas, Wilms tumors, and lymphoma, including both Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin.

The study, published in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, was a population-based cohort analysis of babies born between 1991 and 2013 at Soroka University Medical Center in Beer-Sheva, Israel, with follow-up to age 18.

"In Israel, all fertility interventions, which include in vitro fertilization (IVF) and ovulation induction (OI), are fully covered by insurance, enabling citizens of all backgrounds access to these treatments," says Prof. Eyal Sheiner, M.D., Ph.D., vice dean of the BGU Faculty of Health Sciences (FOHS), member of its Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a physician at Soroka.

Of the 242,187 newborn infants in the study, 237,863 (98.3 percent) were conceived spontaneously; 2,603 (1.1 percent) were conceived after in vitro fertilization, and 1,721 (0.7 percent) were conceived after ovulation induction treatments.

During the follow-up period of approximately 10.6 years, 1,498 neoplasms (0.6 percent) were diagnosed. The incidence rate for neoplasms was highest among children either after IVF (1.5/1000) and somewhat lower for OI births (1.0/1000) as compared to that of naturally conceived children (.59/1000).

"The research concludes that the association between IVF and total pediatric neoplasms and malignancies is significant," Prof. Sheiner says. "With increasing numbers of offspring conceived after fertility treatments, it is important to follow up on their health."

###

Other researchers who participated in the study include Prof. Tamar Weinstock, Prof. Ilana Shoham-Vardi and Ruslan Sergienko, BGU Department of Public Health; Dr. Daniella Landau, BGU Department of Pediatrics; Drs. Ari Harlev and Asnat Walfisch, BGU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; and Dr. Idit Segal, Israel Ministry of Health.

About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) looks ahead to turning 50 in 2020, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more.

AABGU, which is headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.aabgu.org.
CHICAGO (April 25, 2017): About 150,000 people are admitted to hospitals each year for diverticulitis,1 an inflammation of an outgrowth or pouching in the colon that can cause severe abdominal pain. Furthermore, emergency room (ER) visits for diverticulitis have increased 21 percent in recent years.2 However, these ER visits don't have to land patients in the hospital as frequently as they do, according to new findings published as an "article in press" on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website in advance of print publication. A study of patients with diverticulitis who went to emergency rooms in a Minnesota health system found that about half of those admitted could have been sent home at significant savings to not only the health care system, but to the individual patients as well.



Researchers at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, reported that most patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis could safely go home with a prescription for oral antibiotics after their ER visits with a very low risk of returning to the hospital. "While that finding may not seem surprising to most surgeons, it is a poorly studied topic in the United States, and gathering some data on this occurrence is important to clarify in terms of whether there are even more people seen in the emergency room who could be safely managed at home," said lead study author Mary Kwaan, MD, MPH, FACS, assistant professor of surgery, division of colon and rectal surgery, department of surgery, University of Minnesota. National statistics have shown that only 15 percent of patients with diverticulitis who go to the emergency room need an operation right away.1



Complicated diverticulitis involves a small perforation of the pouching or outgrowth of the colon that is visible on a computerized tomography (CT) scan, whereas uncomplicated diverticulitis is defined as no identifiable perforation on a CT scan. Extreme cases involve a large perforation of the colon with peritonitis, which is inflammation of the abdomen. The goal of treatment is to relieve symptoms, typically of abdominal pain and inflammation, and to restore normal bowel function. Severe cases often require surgery. CT scanning is essential in the diagnosis of diverticulitis. "The CT scan provides us with a surrogate for determining the severity of perforation one has suffered," Dr. Kwaan said.



The researchers evaluated 240 patients treated in five hospital emergency rooms in the Fairview Health System, which includes University of Minnesota Health, from September 2010 through January 2012; 144 (60 percent) were admitted to the hospital and 96 (40 percent) were discharged to their homes on oral antibiotics.



Admitted patients were more likely to be age 65 years or older, have other health problems, take steroids to treat inflammation or agents that suppressed their immune system, have excess air in the digestive system, or have an abscess or perforation in the diverticular area as seen on a CT scan. Among those patients discharged from the emergency room, 12.5 percent returned to the ER or were admitted to the hospital within 30 days, and only one patient required emergency surgery, but not until 20 months later. "That [finding] didn't seem to be a high rate," Dr. Kwaan said. For the patients who were admitted from their emergency room visit, the hospital readmission rate was slightly higher, at 15 percent.



Dr. Kwaan and coauthors found that 53 percent of the admitted patients in their study could be safely discharged home. They used a standard that Margaret Greenwood-Ericksen, MD,2 and colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, had developed for determining low-risk diverticulitis.



Two key factors the researchers found that determined the severity of diverticulitis were high fever and high white blood cell counts. In low-risk patients, "we found that few patients had high fevers and most patients had normal or mildly elevated white blood cell counts," Dr. Kwaan said.



While the study is relatively small, Dr. Kwaan noted it is significant because it involved several emergency rooms across one health system. It also confirms findings of an earlier randomized clinical trial in Spain that concluded outpatient treatment is safe in selected cases of uncomplicated diverticulitis.3



Dr. Kwaan said physicians and hospitals could use the Minnesota study findings to develop protocols for emergency room doctors to better treat diverticulitis. "As a result of this study, a checklist approach to patient and CT characteristics can prompt a protocol that allows an emergency room doctor to quickly sort out whether or not the patient needs a surgical consult or whether they need to be admitted to the hospital, and then whether they can be safely discharged home," she said. She and her colleagues are collaborating with ER physicians to develop such protocols in their health system. The next step would be to create a feedback loop to monitor the effectiveness of the protocol.



Avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations is important for reducing health care costs and applying hospital resources more effectively. "Diverticulitis is quite a common disease, and there is a general movement among hospitals toward being more strategic with their resources," Dr. Kwaan said. "Unnecessary hospital admissions cost the system and potentially expose patients to hospital-acquired infections."



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Dr. Kwaan's study coauthors are Anne-Marie E. Sirany, MD; Wolfgang B. Gaertner, MD, FACS; and Robert D. Madoff, MD, FACS, all of University of Minnesota Health, Minneapolis.



Dr. Kwaan presented the study at the annual meeting of the Western Surgical Association, Coronado, California, in November 2016.

NOTE: "FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Citation: Diverticulitis diagnosed in the emergency room: is it safe to discharge home?? Journal of the American College of Surgeons. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2017.02.016



1Etzioni DA, Mack TM, Beart RW, Kaiser AM. Diverticulitis in the United States: 1998-2005: changing patterns of disease and treatment. Ann Surg. 2009 Feb;249(2):210-17.

2Greenwood-Ericksen MB, Havens JM, Ma J, et al. Trends in hospital admission and surgical procedures following ED visits for diverticulitis. W J Emerg Med. 2016 Jul;17(4):409-17.

3Biondo S, Golda T, Kreisler E, et al. Outpatient versus hospitalization management for uncomplicated diverticulitis: A prospective, multicenter randomized clinical trial (DIVER trial). Ann Surg. 2014 Jan;259(1):38-44.



About the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 80,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit http://www.facs.org.
"I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it's more than that," extolled John Steinbeck in his now famous Travels with Charley. The same might also be said for geriatrics in the heart of Texas, as the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) prepares to bring the field's premier educational forum for clinical care, research on aging, and innovative care delivery to San Antonio, Texas (May 18-20; Preconference: May 17), to toast the Society's 75th anniversary of leading change and improving care for older adults.

More than 2,500 physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, social workers, long-term and managed care providers, healthcare administrators, students, and other geriatrics stakeholders will come together for a program built from more than 800 abstract submissions and inclusive of more than 100 events.

"This is a special year for the Annual Scientific Meeting since it's the AGS's 75th anniversary," notes Paul Mulhausen, MD, MHS, FACP, AGSF, Program Chair. "This meeting will be a celebration not only of how far we've come in the field, but also of the research and innovations that will drive our future -- the best care possible for older adults."

Noteworthy focal points for the 2017 gathering include:

Goals-Oriented Care for Older Adults in Specialty Clinics (Thurs., May 18; 7:30-9am Central Time)

This session presents novel approaches and initiatives for developing, evaluating, and integrating person-centered, goals-oriented care in specialty geriatrics clinics that manage everything from chronic pain and depression to cardiology, mental health, and primary care coordination.

Plenary Paper Session (Thurs., May 18; 10-11am CT)

Potentially inappropriate medications, the future of Advance Care Planning (ACP), and improved emergency care for older adults are headline presentations anchoring the prestigious Plenary Paper Session. Papers were selected by peer experts and program planners from a pool of more than 800 abstract submissions.

AGS 75th Anniversary Lecture (Thurs., May 18; 11am-12pm CT)

Where have we been? Where are we going? To toast the anniversary of the AGS, join us for a special lecture by Past AGS President James Pacala, MD, MS, AGSF, to reflect on the past, present, and future of geriatrics expertise.

Controversies in Implementation of the Beers Criteria: To Deprescribe or Not to Deprescribe (Thurs., May 18; 1-2:30pm CT)

This session will offer solutions to common challenges and controversies when applying the AGS Beers Criteria to reduce the use of potentially inappropriate medications among older adults.

Providing High-Quality Dementia Care in 2017 and Beyond (Thurs., May 18; 2:45-4:15pm CT)

This symposium will explore strategies for providing optimal dementia care, including how to implement successful dementia care models and embrace cultural diversity when coordinating care.

Presidential Poster Session (Thurs., May 18; 4:30-6pm CT)

The Presidential Poster Session and Reception feature posters that received top-billing from our expert Abstract Reviewers.

Changing Landscape of Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis (Fri., May 19; 7:30-9am CT)

This program will explore evidence behind the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association recommendation to use biomarkers to strengthen early-stage Alzheimer's disease diagnoses.

Lightning Science: Brief Presentations of Top-Rated Abstracts (Fri., May 19; 7:30-9am CT)

This fast-paced, interactive session will showcase some of the best new research and innovation in aging research.

AGS Awards Ceremony (Fri., May 19; 9:15-10am CT)

Join us as we honor some of the best and brightest clinicians, researchers, and educators representing the future of geriatrics.

Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award Lecture for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation (Fri., May 19; 10-10:45am CT)

The AGS announced that Sei Lee, MD, MAS, Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), will be honored with the 2017 Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation. A Senior Scholar with the San Francisco VA Quality Scholars fellowship and rising research leader in targeting health care for older adults, Dr. Lee will deliver a plenary presentation on individualizing preventive care for older men and women.

Navigating Through Uncertain Times in Public Policy (Fri., May 19; 10:45am-12pm CT)

This session will include the very latest information on changes in the policy world as they relate to geriatrics healthcare professionals and older adults. Presenters will review AGS policy priorities and what we can expect from the new Congress and Administration.

That Was the Year That Will Be: Bench Research Findings of 2016 That Will Be at the Bedside by 2021 (Fri., May 19; 1-2:30pm CT)

This symposium will focus on basic science and translational studies that will impact clinical care--including opportunities related to neurovascular, musculoskeletal, vascular, and cellular senescence knowledge--in the next five years.

Drug Therapy Controversies: Clinical Pearls for Your Practice (Fri., May 19; 1-2:30pm CT)

This program will review literature surrounding drug-related controversies for older adults, as well as ways to manage care, communication, and involvement among older adults and caregivers.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Interventions to Prevent or Slow Cognitive Decline (Fri., May 19; 2:45-4:15pm CT)

This session will offer a synthesis of evidence on interventions to delay the onset of cognitive decline. Attendees will learn to describe the state and strength of current research on everything from physical activity to promising pharmaceuticals.

Healthy Aging (Sat., May 20; 7:30-9am CT)

This session will explore "healthy aging" by way of critical questions for our field: What is it? How can we support it? What should geriatrics healthcare professionals do to promote it?

U13 Urinary Incontinence Conference Proceedings (Sat., May 20, 7:30-9am CT)

This session will review proceedings from the National Institute on Aging-sponsored U13 conference on "Urinary Incontinence in the Elderly: A Translational Research Agenda for a Complex Geriatric Syndrome."

Geriatrics Literature Update (Sat., May 20; 9:15-10:45am CT)

A fan favorite among AGS Annual Scientific Meeting attendees, the Geriatric Literature Update will focus on 30 of last year's most important published papers impacting older adults, caregivers, and geriatrics healthcare professionals.

Integrating Geriatrics into Primary Care: Learnings from Four Model GWEPs (Sat., May 20; 11am-12:30pm CT)

One of the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program's (GWEP's, a federally funded program tasked with increasing the number of healthcare professionals with expertise in geriatrics) primary focus areas is the transformation of clinical training environments into integrated geriatrics and primary care delivery systems. This session will present practice change innovations instituted by four GWEP sites.

Emerging Trends in Cardiac Devices: What Geriatricians Should Know (Sat., May 20; 11am-12:30pm CT)

This session will offer expert perspective on the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, cardiac resynchronization therapy, mechanical circulatory support, and transcatheter and surgical aortic valve replacement, as well as device management for those approaching end-of-life.

Pharmacotherapy Update: 2017 (Sat., May 20; 12:45pm-2:15pm CT)

This symposium will address access to medications for older adults, summarizing changes over the past year in pharmacotherapy and prescription coverage available to older adults.

With more and more of us living longer, providing high-quality, cost-effective health care now and in the future will be a critical imperative. The AGS 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting stands at the crossroads between a growing demand for expert health professionals and the need for innovation supporting the health, safety, and independence of us all as we age. More information on the conference program and registration (free to members of the media) is available at AmericanGeriatrics.org.

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About the American Geriatrics Society

Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals that has -- for 75 years--worked to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Its nearly 6,000 members include geriatricians, geriatric nurses, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and internists. The Society provides leadership to healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public by implementing and advocating for programs in patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.

About the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting

The AGS Annual Scientific Meeting is the premier educational event in geriatrics, providing the latest information on clinical care, research on aging, and innovative models of care delivery. More than 2,500 nurses, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, long-term care and managed care providers, healthcare administrators, and others will convene May 18-20, 2017 (pre-conference program on May 17), at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, to advance geriatrics knowledge and skills through state-of-the-art educational sessions and research presentations. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.
Potentially inappropriate medications, the future of Advance Care Planning (ACP), and improved emergency care for older adults are among headline presentations anchoring the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS17), to be held May 18-20 in San Antonio, Texas.

Presentations at the prestigious Plenary Paper Session at #AGS17 (May 18 from 10-11am Central Time) represent some of geriatrics' most promising scholarship as assessed by peer experts and program planners from a pool of more than 800 abstract submissions. This year's highlights include:

D-PRESCRIBE Overtakes EMPOWER in Patient-Centered Deprescribing of Benzodiazepines: Preliminary Results from a Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Community-Based Trial in Canada (presented by Phillipe Martin, MSc)

As we age, more and more of us are living with multiple chronic conditions and using multiple medications as part of our treatment plans. But changes in our bodies over time can increase the likelihood that we will experience side effects or adverse reactions. "Potentially inappropriate medications" are those that may come with higher risks with age, warranting careful consideration because of the unique risks they may pose for older adults. Efforts to reduce reliance on potentially inappropriate medications rank high on the list of priorities for geriatrics healthcare professionals. In this study, researchers from Canada report on an innovative approach to deprescribing that combined tools for healthcare providers as well as education for older adults to help discontinue chronic use of benzodiazepine, a type of medication sometimes used to treat insomnia, agitation, or delirium. In the "D-PRESCRIBE" clinical trial, pharmacists in Montreal provided an evidence-based pharmaceutical opinion discouraging benzodiazepine use to physicians who prescribed benzodiazepines to older adults (older adults also were provided with an educational brochure). D-PRESCRIBE results were then compared to those from an existing program (known as "EMPOWER") that involved educating older adults using a brochure. More than 80 percent of participants in the D-PRESCRIBE group (versus just 62 percent of older adults in EMPOWER) initiated a conversation about discontinuing their benzodiazepine prescription. Over the course of the study, the D-PRESCRIBE intervention was twice as likely to result in the discontinuation of benzodiazepine compared to an intervention that relied on public education alone.

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A Patient-Facing Advance Care Planning (ACP) Website Called PREPARE Increases ACP Documentation and Engagement in a Randomized Trial of Diverse Older Primary Care Patients (presented by Rebecca Sudore, MD)

ACP is a comprehensive, ongoing, person-centered approach to communication about future healthcare choices. After years of advocacy, the service was first recognized as a benefit for older adults using Medicare beginning in 2017. ACP has a proven track record for improving the quality and respectfulness of care, but experts still need to learn more about best practices for working with older adults and caregivers when it comes to medical decision-making. In this study, researcher from the University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco VA Medical Center report on promising results from a randomized trial of an interactive, video-based ACP website and an easy-to-use advance directives. Both PREPARE and the easy-to-read advance directive increased ACP documentation in the medical record at 6 months. However, the PREPARE group had significantly greater documentation as well as self-reported engagement in ACP by older adults.

Telephone Follow-Up for Older Adults Discharged to Home from the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial (presented by Kevin Biese, MD, MAT)

The Emergency Department (ED) is often referred to as the "front porch" of healthcare since many of us--including older adults -- now enter the health system beginning with a visit to the ED. Reducing the need to return to the ED is a key goal when caring for older adults, and follow-up telephone calls have been one approach. In this study, researchers in North Carolina worked to pin-point the effectiveness of these calls by assessing how well a scripted phone call with a registered nurse reduced the likelihood for readmission among older adults recently discharged from the ED. From a study sample of more than 11,800 older adults, 2,000 individuals who had been cared for in an ED received a phone call that addressed everything from orders for medication to following post-discharge instructions and addressing follow-up issues. Interestingly, these phone calls did not reduce readmission rates or mortality within 30 days. The study suggests that more work must be done to identify effective solutions for improving ED care.

With more and more of us living longer, providing high-quality, cost-effective health care now and in the future will be imperative. #AGS17 stands at the crossroads between a growing demand for expert health professionals and the need for innovation supporting the health, safety, and independence of us all as we age. More information on the #AGS17 program and registration (free to members of the media) is available at AmericanGeriatrics.org.

About the American Geriatrics Society

Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals that has -- for 75 years -- worked to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Its nearly 6,000 members include geriatricians, geriatric nurses, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and internists. The Society provides leadership to healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public by implementing and advocating for programs in patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.

About the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting

The AGS Annual Scientific Meeting is the premier educational event in geriatrics, providing the latest information on clinical care, research on aging, and innovative models of care delivery. More than 2,500 nurses, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, long-term care and managed care providers, healthcare administrators, and others will convene May 18-20, 2017 (pre-conference program on May 17), at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, to advance geriatrics knowledge and skills through state-of-the-art educational sessions and research presentations. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.
WASHINGTON, DC -- India will not be able to meet its Paris climate agreement commitments in the coming years if it carries through with plans to build nearly 370 coal-fired power plants, a new study finds.

"India is facing a dilemma of its own making," said Steve Davis, associate professor of Earth system science at the University of California Irvine and coauthor of a new study published today in Earth's Future, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. "The country has vowed to curtail its use of fossil fuels in electricity generation, but it has also put itself on a path to building hundreds of coal-burning power plants to feed its growing industrial economy."

According to Davis and his colleagues, India has pledged to the international community to reduce its emissions intensity--the amount of carbon dioxide released per unit of gross domestic product--by as much as 35 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, and to increase the percentage of renewable energy in its power grids. The construction of 65 gigawatts worth of coal-burning generation with an additional 178 gigawatts in the planning stages would make it nearly impossible for India to meet those climate promises, the researchers say.

Further, by developing all of the planned coal-fired capacity, India would increase the share of fossil fuels in its energy budget by 123 percent. If the country also met their goal to produce at least 40 percent of their power from non-fossil sources in 2030, the total power being generated would greatly exceed its own projected future electricity demand, according to the new study.

"In looking closely at all of India's active coal plant proposals, we found they are already incompatible with the country's international climate commitments and are simply unneeded," said Christine Shearer, a senior researcher with CoalSwarm, a research institute in San Francisco, California and lead author of the new study. "These plants therefore risk either locking out the country's renewable electricity goals or becoming stranded assets operating well below optimal rates and leading to financial losses."

"India's Paris pledges might be met if they built these plants and only ran them 40 percent of the time, but that'd be a colossal waste of money, and once built there'd be huge incentives to run the plants more despite their contrary climate goals," Davis said.

India relies heavily on coal; 70 percent of the country's power comes from plants burning the fuel. Because of its historically low cost and accessibility (India has large domestic coal reserves), it is seen by the country as an aid in its quest to become a manufacturing and economic power and a way to provide electricity to the roughly 300 million people in the country who don't have it.

But the researchers stress there are significant downsides to the fossil fuel habit. In addition to spewing harmful soot and other types of air pollution into the atmosphere, coal-burning power plants are the largest carbon dioxide source on the planet, making up 41 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions in 2015.

Choices individual countries make with regard to their energy mix have a global impact, according to the study's authors.

"India's proposed coal plants will almost single-handedly jeopardize the internationally agreed-upon climate target of avoiding 1.5 degrees Celsius of mean global warming," Davis said.

The researchers are not convinced coal is the way to go for India, pointing to the example set by the only country in the world with a larger population, China. India's neighbor to the north started building too many coal plants at the height of its economic boom. Now it's having to suspend hundreds of unneeded plants that were under development, Shearer said.

Further, India's own draft National Energy Plan, released in December 2016, states no further coal power capacity beyond that currently under construction will be needed until at least 2027--although it remains unclear what the country will do about its many proposed coal plants. "India should take a hard look at these coal proposals and avoid the mistakes of China," Shearer said.

Turning the ship around will be a challenge for the world's largest democracy. Davis said one of the problems may be communication.

"The people going to the international meetings to participate in climate negotiations aren't the same one that are permitting new power plants in the country," he said. "Maybe this paper will help bring that conflict out into the open."

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The American Geophysical Union is dedicated to advancing the Earth and space sciences for the benefit of humanity through its scholarly publications, conferences, and outreach programs. AGU is a not-for-profit, professional, scientific organization representing 60,000 members in 137 countries. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and our other social media channels.

Founded in 1965, the University of California, Irvine is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy.

Notes for Journalists

This research article is open access. A PDF copy of the article can be downloaded at the following link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017EF000542/pdf.

Journalists and PIOs may also order a copy of the final paper by emailing a request to Lauren Lipuma at llipuma@agu.org. Please provide your name, the name of your publication, and your phone number.

Neither the paper nor this press release is under embargo.

Title: "Future CO2 emissions and electricity generation from proposed coal-fired power plants in India"

Authors:

Christine Shearer: CoalSwarm, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.;

Robert Fofrich, Steven J. Davis: Department of Earth System Science, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California, U.S.A.

Contact information for the authors:

Steven J. Davis: +1 (949) 824-1821, sjdavis@uci.edu
The National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences, known as the Math Alliance has been chosen by the American Mathematical Society to receive its 2017 Mathematics Programs that Make a Difference Award.

The annual award was created by the AMS Committee on the Profession to recognize outstanding programs that successfully address the issue of underrepresented groups in mathematics. The Math Alliance is honored "for its programs over the last 10 years promoting participation by groups underrepresented in doctoral programs in the mathematical sciences."

William McCallum of the University of Arizona, who served as chair of the award selection committee, said: "The Math Alliance shows what can be achieved when the community takes seriously the promise of equal opportunity for all mathematicians. By building a network of mentors and students united by their dedication to mathematics and to increasing diversity in the field, this program is having a strong positive effect that will continue for years to come. The AMS is very happy to recognize the Math Alliance with the Mathematics Programs that Make a Difference Award."

The main purpose of the Math Alliance is to ensure that students from underrepresented groups who have the ambition and desire to pursue graduate study in the mathematical sciences have an opportunity to do so in a supportive environment. The alliance helps students realize their potential for graduate work in these fields and nurtures them in their journey to becoming math science professionals.

Now based at Purdue University, the Math Alliance began in 2001 as a partnership of three Iowa State Regents universities and four Historically Black Colleges and Universities and has grown into a national network of institutions and faculty that mentor minority students in both undergraduate and graduate programs. The work of the Math Alliance has received support from the National Science Foundation since 2002.

The Math Alliance holds the annual Field of Dreams Conference, attended in 2016 by 198 undergraduates and 115 faculty from 113 institutions. In addition, Alliance mentors work at the predoctoral, masters, PhD, and post-doctoral levels to help students succeed in their studies and progress on to the next level. In 2015-16, the program listed 552 faculty mentoring over 600 active scholars. The Alliance has expanded its network 30-fold over the last 10 years and has recently been used as a model for a similar program in physics by the American Physical Society.

The ultimate goal of the Math Alliance is to spark a spiritual transformation within mathematical sciences departments as they progress away from the traditional model of weeding students out and towards embracing an inclusive model of helping all students succeed.

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The official announcement of this award, including the selection committee's citation, is available from the AMS Public Awareness Office and appears in the May 2017 issue of the Notices of the AMS at http://www.ams.org/journals/notices/201705/. No subscription is necessary.

Find out more about this and other AMS awards at http://www.ams.org/profession/prizes-awards/prizes.

Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, today the American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life.
Washington, DC - April 25, 2017 -A team of international researchers has found that a strain of anthrax-causing bacterium thought to have been viable 80 years after a thwarted World War I espionage attack, was, in reality, a much younger standard laboratory strain. The team speculates that the mix-up was due to commonplace laboratory contamination.

The study, published this week in mBio, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, highlights the advances in genomic sequencing that now enable precise tracking of bacterial strains used in biological warfare and terrorist attacks around the world.

"Historically, there have always been bacterial strain mix-ups in the course of doing research," says Paul Keim, executive director of The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and senior author on the current study. "But now that we have the molecular tools, we can do the quality control on strain collections to figure out exactly what they contain." (image: Bacillus anthracis bacteria using Gram-stain technique. credit: CDC)

The current study helps debunk the claim that a World War I biological weapon containing anthrax-causing spores was still viable 80 years later. In 1917, German spy Baron Otto von Rosen was caught in Norway possessing lumps of sugar embedded with glass capillaries filled with a liquid holding spores of Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax. He was suspected of plotting to feed the sugar lumps, which contained the oldest known isolates of B. anthracis, to the reindeer that pulled transports of munitions and foods across the frozen Arctic tundra for the Allied forces.

The poison-laced sugar remained in a Norwegian police museum until 1997, when it was sent to what is now known as the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down, United Kingdom. Researchers there used DNA amplification to determine that the agent inside the tiny glass tubes was indeed B. anthracis. After some extensive laboratory coaxing, they next cultured and isolated four colonies grown from the liquid inside the tubes. In a 1998 Nature paper, they declared that they had revived the anthrax bacterial strain that had spent 8 decades as spores (Ref 1).

However, DNA sequencing of entire organism's genome was in its infancy at this time, so the exact genetic identity of the strain was never defined. In 2001, Keim was tapped to help investigate the anthrax-containing letters mailed by a terrorist across the US. At the request of the FBI, Keim's team categorized all known anthrax-causing strains, which included the Porton Down 'sugar' samples and other samples from around the world.

At that time, Keim noted a very close genetic similarity between the Porton Down strains and what had become the standard laboratory reference strain used in experiments and vaccine development, known as the Ames Ancestor strain. Amidst the urgency of pinning down which strain was used in the letters--it turned out to be the Ames strain--he forgot about the strange similarity.

"As we learned more and more about the Ames strain, it became obvious that it had to be a contaminant," in the Porton Down samples, says Keim. Then, at a 2013 conference, he was approached by German biodefense researchers, who had sequenced what they thought was the original German spy's strain. They too had noticed its genetic resemblance to the Ames strain.

Working in tandem, Keim's Arizona team and Herman Meyer and Markus Antwerpen at the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology in Munich, sequenced the strains using next-generation sequencing (NGS), a technique that allowed them to analyze every genetic difference at the level of single letter changes to the genetic code. It also allows them to sequence a strain's entire genome, not just a handful of times, like the previous technology used in 2001, but 100 times over. The new technology also costs about 10,000 times less per genome sequenced.

Both labs confirmed that the Porton Down 'sugar' strains differed by only two genetic letters from the Ames Ancestor strain--a near identical matching. The researchers speculate that during the intense culturing attempts of the sugar samples in 1997, spores from the Ames Ancestor strain, which were likely to be abundant in the Porton Down military defense laboratory facilities, fell into the culture media and grew.

Two of the original Porton Down researchers, Martin Pearce and Caroline Redmond, collaborated on this new study to confirm that indeed, a likely contamination event threw off their results. "That work has been cited many times as evidence that spores can survive in liquid for 80 years--and now that's clearly not true," says Keim, leaving it an open question of just how long B. anthracis spores can survive and still cause disease.

"But their first finding that the capillary tube did include B. anthracis DNA was a solid result," says Keim. Unfortunately, none of the 1917 sample remains to be completely sequenced using today's technology.

But how do the new study's authors know their work is not suffering from contamination, as well? "It was independently verified by two different labs, working on two different continents," says Keim, a strong argument against contamination.

The work also showcases the important role that NGS can play in the quality control monitoring of bacterial strain repositories around the world--to ensure that strains being used in experiments are truly what researchers think they are and to catch strain contamination when it happens.

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1. Redmond C., Pearce, M.J., Manchee, R.J., and Berdal, B.P. Nature 393:747-748 (1998).

The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 48,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.

ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications and educational opportunities. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
BETHESDA, MD - In commemoration of National DNA Day, the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) hosted the 2017 DNA Day Essay Contest to encourage high school students and teachers to learn about human genetics concepts beyond the standard curriculum. This year, ASHG awarded first place to Adele Peng, a freshman at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va. Sophia Spiegel, a junior at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, N.J., won second place in the contest. Alvin Ya, a senior at Poolesville High School in Poolesville, Md., was awarded third place.

"Recent advances in biology have made gene therapy, the focus of this year's contest, more promising than ever, and have expanded the field beyond its original concept," said Michael Dougherty, PhD, Director of Education for ASHG. "We were interested to see students' perspectives on these advances and their potential effects in the clinic."

National DNA Day, celebrated annually on April 25, commemorates the discovery of DNA's double helix structure and the completion of the Human Genome Project, two key milestones in the field of genetics. Each year since 2006, ASHG has run a DNA Day Essay Contest to challenge students to examine, question, and reflect on important concepts in human genetics by writing an original essay. Winning essays use well-reasoned arguments to show a grasp of topics that are not always well-covered in high school biology courses.

This year, the contest invited students to choose one modern example of gene therapy, describe the disease or condition researchers are attempting to treat, and explain how the therapy/approach might repair the underlying cause of the disease or condition.

Students from 38 U.S. states and 21 non-U.S. countries submitted essays to the contest this year. Human genetics specialists belonging to ASHG and its leadership read and evaluated entries for their scientific accuracy, creativity, and overall writing quality.

"This year's essays continue the tradition of high-quality submissions by high school students from the U.S. and abroad that we have seen for the past 12 years, and their enthusiasm for the science reflects the excitement that our members feel about their work," said Joseph D. McInerney, MS, Executive Vice President of ASHG. "Through this contest and our other K-12 initiatives, we hope to encourage young people to explore and enjoy genetics."

ASHG will award monetary prizes to winning students as well as grants for genetics laboratory equipment to eligible teachers. Peng, whose essay described the research into using zinc finger nucleases to immunize against HIV, will receive a $1000 prize. Spiegel, whose essay described efforts to use recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors in treating Leber's Congenital Amaurosis, will receive a $600 prize. Ya, whose essay described studies of CRISPR/Cas9's potential to treat muscular dystrophy, will receive a $400 prize.

Honorable mentions were awarded to 11 students, each of whom will receive a $100 monetary prize. The recipients of honorable mentions, listed alphabetically by last name, are:

Blake Holman, a senior at Lake Dallas High School in Corinth, Texas

Jio Jeong, a sophomore at Seoul International School in Seongnam-si, South Korea

Lucy Liu, a junior at Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, Ill.

Alleanna Marquez, a junior at Whitestation High School in Memphis, Tenn.

Rhea Park, a junior at Head-Royce School in Oakland, Calif.

Tharushi Perera, a junior at Staten Island Technical High School in Staten Island, N.Y.

Arielle Rothman, a senior at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School in Great Neck, N.Y.

Julian Rubinfien, a junior at Stuyvesant High School in New York, N.Y.

Olivia Wilkes, a senior who is home schooled in Toney, Ala.

Lina Zein, a freshman at Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio

Jacob Zinberg, a junior at Torah Academy of Bergen County in Teaneck, N.J.

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For details on the 2017 contest winners, including photos and excerpts from winning essays, see: http://www.ashg.org/education/dnaday_winners_2017.shtml.
Cancer is often able to craftily outwit the best techniques modern medicine has developed to treat it. In an attempt to understand and combat cancer's vaunted prowess, an unusual collaboration between physicists and a leading geneticist has cast new light on cancer as a biological phenomenon with very deep evolutionary roots.

Paul Davies, Ph.D., ASU Regents' Professor and Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, and physicist Charles Lineweaver, Ph.D. of the Australian National University teamed up with geneticist Kimberly Bussey, Ph.D. and biophysicist Luis Cisneros, Ph.D. of NantOmics, LLC to trace the evolutionary history of cancer genes back to the dawn of multicellularity, over one billion years ago. Asking why these cancer genes evolved and what their functionality might be, the researchers hit on an astonishing link. Cancer cells deploy an ancient mechanism used by single-celled organisms to elevate their mutation rate in response to stress. This discovery explains one of the best-known hallmarks of cancer - its high mutation rate, which contributes to the rapid evolution of drug resistance.

The research involves looking anew at the genetic control switches that allow complex life to flourish. Should such regulation become corrupted, cells may lose their cooperative properties and regress to the single-celled behavior common to much more ancient organisms. Such reversion to ancestral evolutionary traits is known as atavism.

Davies explains, "Lineweaver and I have long argued that cancer is a type of throwback to a more primitive ancestral form but we lacked the hard evidence. Now Kim Bussey and Luis Cisneros, with the help of students Adam Orr and Milica Milicavic, have painstakingly analyzed the evolutionary origins of a large collection of cancer genes and confirmed that one of cancer's most distinctive and troublesome hallmarks is indeed extremely ancient and deep-rooted. It has sweeping implications for therapy."

The new study, which appears April 25, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, finds that mutational bursts surrounding double-stranded breaks in DNA are commonly seen in cancer. Further, such bursts are similar to those seen in single-celled organisms engaged in stress-induced mutation. In the case of cancer, the mutations appear to be spread across the genome, including older genes that are evolutionarily conserved and normally off limits to mutational events. The effect is to allow somatic cells to search ancient genome space for solutions to the stress-induced pressures they are experiencing.

As corresponding author Kimberly J. Bussey, Ph.D., Principal Scientist with NantOmics and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Arizona State University, explains, a stress response that evolved to protect single-celled organisms from extinction may prove hazardous to a multicellular creature, should some event suddenly resuscitate it.

"If you're dealing with a unicellular organism and the population experiences some stress that it can't deal with using the current toolbox of responses, for the population to survive--for the species to survive--it has to evolve. When a somatic cell in a multicellular organism evolves, cancer can occur."

The results suggest that in cases of rapid resistance to therapy, the ability to generate regulated bursts of mutation may be at the core of this deadly disease. "On the clinical side, I think this is really going to make us rethink what we mean by curing cancer. Maybe the goal isn't curing but controlling," Bussey says. "If this is a burst response, maybe there is a level of therapy with which we can impact the viability of the tumor cells but not actually induce the stress response."

Such approaches have already made some inroads into clinical use. So-called metronomic therapy applies more frequent rounds of lower-dose treatment, while adaptive therapy seeks to pulse cancer treatments in order to stabilize rather than eradicate a tumor. These and other evolutionary approaches to treating cancer offer new hope in the war against a cunning and profoundly versatile foe.

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Ancient Genes Establish Stress-Induced Mutation as a Hallmark of Cancer

Luis Cisneros1,2,, Kimberly J. Bussey1,3,,*, Adam J. Orr4, Milica Miocevi?5, Charles H. Lineweaver6, and Paul Davies2

1 NantOmics, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America

2 BEYOND Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America

3 Department of Biomedical Informatics, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America

4 School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America

5 Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America

6 Planetary Science Institute, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Article link: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176258

About NantOmics

NantOmics, a member of the NantWorks ecosystem of companies, delivers molecular diagnostic capabilities with the intent of providing actionable intelligence and molecularly driven decision support for cancer patients and their providers at the point of care. NantOmics is the first molecular diagnostics company to pioneer an integrated approach to unearthing the genomic and proteomic variances that initiate and drive cancer, by analyzing both normal and tumor cells from the same patient and following identified variances through from DNA to RNA to protein to drug. NantOmics has a highly scalable cloud-based infrastructure capable of storing and processing thousands of genomes a day, computing genomic variances in near real-time, and correlating proteomic pathway analysis with quantitative multi-plexed protein expression analysis from the same micro-dissected tumor sample used for genomic analysis. For more information please visit http://www.nantomics.com and follow Dr. Soon-Shiong on Twitter @ Dr.PatSoonShiong.
From American Gods to Game of Thrones; this summer is going to be a lot of fun, thanks to these shows.

Promo posters of the shows American Gods and Got season 7. Picture courtesy: YouTube

By India Today Web Desk: Summers are here, and no one wants to step out in this hot weather, because, well, the heat. And since we care about your boredom, we have a great line-up of international shows that you can start watching right away inside the comfort of your room. Sit, eat, watch, and enjoy.

The Handmaid's Tale

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale has been adapted for the small screen, and its first full trailer was released by its makers recently.

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The show will premiere on Hulu on April 26.

American Gods

Adapted from the master of magic Neil Gaiman's book American Gods, the show revolves around a mysterious convict called Shadow Moon, who learns on his release day that his wife died in a car accident.

Mr. Wednesday is recruiting for his war against the new gods. Believe everything when #AmericanGods premieres April 30 on @STARZ. pic.twitter.com/p5JTz8Urkv- American Gods (@AmericanGodsSTZ) March 15, 2017

The show will premiere on April 30 on Starz in the US, and worldwide on Amazon Prime Video.

Also see: From evoking Dylan to darkness; the new American Gods trailer is as good as it gets

Anne with an E

An original Netflix series, Anne is based on the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables, written by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

The show will premiere on May 12.

Twin Peaks

David Lynch and Mark Frost's TV series Twin Peaks is making a comeback to the small screen, and we are super-excited.

Almost nothing has been revealed regarding the plot of the series. Twin Peaks is reportedly set to premiere on Showtime on May 21.

Game of Thrones Season 7

The seventh season of the popular fantasy drama series Game of Thrones will premiere on July 16. It will be back in India on Star World, Star World HD and Star World Premiere HD.

You're welcome.

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Feeling down is a common side effect of being diagnosed with cancer. Anxiety, guilt, and distress often come hand-in-hand with diagnosis and treatment.

But a recent study by researchers from Concordia and the University of Toronto shows that these seemingly negative emotions can actually be good for patients.

Andree Castonguay, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in Concordia's Faculty of Arts and Science, says feelings of anger or guilt can inspire people to set new goals and engage in more moderate-to-vigorous exercise.

"That helps counteract the boost in the stress hormone cortisol, which those emotions also cause, and which can negatively disrupt the way the body functions," she adds.

The research, published in the journal Health Psychology, looked at recently diagnosed and treated breast cancer patients.

For the study, Castonguay and her co-authors, Concordia psychology professor Carsten Wrosch and University of Toronto kinesiology professor Catherine Sabiston, had 145 breast cancer survivors fill out a questionnaire to assess their emotions, capacity to engage in new goals and level of physical activity.

The researchers also analyzed cortisol levels using saliva samples provided five times over the course of a year by the participants.

The team then conducted detailed analyses using a modelling technique that helped them predict the relationship between the women's negative feelings, commitment to new goals, physical activity and cortisol levels over time.

They found that participants' capacity for setting new goals, like starting to go for brisk walks, facilitated the beneficial effect of negative emotions on physical activity and prevented the adverse effects of increased cortisol, which can result in a host of health problems, including a weakened immune system.

"Our results underscore the complexity of the link between emotions and health," explains Wrosch, who is also a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development.

"Although negative emotions have a bad reputation and have been linked to disease, they are also 'designed' to produce adaptive behaviours."

In particular, he adds, emotions like guilt or anxiety may motivate people to change their health-compromising behaviours and engage in more exercise. "This may be particularly important among certain cancer survivors, since inactivity, weight problems or obesity can be common risk factors."

Castonguay says that, although recent guidelines encourage breast cancer survivors to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviours, few survivors actually engage in the recommended levels.

"This includes 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week to reduce the risk of developing further health problems related to immune function, weight management and quality of life."

Based on their findings, the researchers conclude that certain negative emotions can play an important role in directing adaptive health behaviours among some cancer survivors and can contribute to long-term benefits on their physical health.

"The capacity to commit to and engage in new goals is an important resource for helping survivors meet activity recommendations and minimize the negative impact of bad moods on their biological functioning," Castonguay says.

She hopes that the study will encourage clinicians to identify cancer survivors who have difficulty selecting and commiting to new goals, and to work with them to help them follow through.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Department of Energy has chosen five more small, clean-energy businesses to work with Sandia National Laboratories to speed the commercialization of next-generation technologies and gain a global competitive advantage for the U.S.

"Sandia is excited to bring these small businesses together with our scientists and engineers to tackle challenges and bring new products to the clean-energy marketplace," said Mary Monson, Sandia's senior manager of Industry Partnerships. "These partnerships support our energy mission and help the companies and the economy. We're delighted to be a part of this kind of technology transfer."

The Small Business Vouchers Pilot, or SBV, was launched in September 2015 letting companies apply for technical help from DOE labs. In March 2016, 33 companies were selected to receive $6.7 million in funding. Seven of them are working with Sandia through vouchers totaling $1.62 million. In August 2016, another 43 companies were chosen to receive $8 million in vouchers, five of them with Sandia totaling $983,000.

The announcement of third-round awards was made April 18 at Earth Day Texas in Dallas. The DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE, said eight national labs will receive $7.3 million in vouchers to work with 38 small businesses. The companies selected to work with Sandia are M3Wave LLC of Salem, Oregon; California Wave Power Technologies LLC of Berkeley; Sentient Science Corp. of Buffalo, New York; Ceramic Tubular Products of Lynchburg, Virginia; and Vacuum Process Engineering Inc. of Sacramento, California. The vouchers total $1.14 million and range from $160,000 to $354,000 each.

"Sandia is working through the SBV pilot with small businesses nationwide, creating jobs and economic vitality," said Jackie Kerby Moore, Sandia's manager of technology and economic development. "The potential for widespread national impact from these partnerships is profound and exhilarating."

The pilot, part of EERE's Technology-to-Market program, aims to help small businesses by letting them tap into world-class expertise and tools at the labs to solve critical technology challenges. The pilot will fund projects in the areas of solar, geothermal, wind, water power, fuel cells, advanced manufacturing, bioenergy, buildings and vehicles. The types of projects include prototyping, materials characterization, high-performance computing, modeling and simulation, scaling to generate customer samples, performance validation and regulatory compliance.

The eight DOE national laboratories participating in the new round of collaborations are home to some of the most advanced, cutting edge research sites in the world, including Sandia's Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT). In 2015, DOE chose Sandia as one of five leads in the $20 million pilot to head the sectors of solar energy, wind energy and geothermal technologies. Other leads are the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence

Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The latest companies selected to collaborate with Sandia are working on a wide variety of clean-energy efforts:

M3 Wave will work with Sandia and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to adapt its deep-water modeling tool, NEXUS, to track differential wave energy by recreating conditions common on the ocean floor. The goal is to develop a more complex modeling system to predict and increase areas of efficiency up to 25 percent.

California Wave Power wants to identify, design and assess decision-making systems to advance wave energy converter technology and do scaled prototype testing of the systems. The project could accelerate adoption and increase the capacity of marine hydrokinetics energy in the U.S. by 70 percent or more.

Sentient Science is developing a technology to predict and extend wind turbine blade life and significantly cut the cost of wind energy.

Ceramic Tubular's high efficiency, low emissivity receiver tubes for concentrating solar power plants could let them operate at higher temperatures and efficiencies and help achieve the DOE SunShot goal of six cents per kilowatt hour cost of electricity by 2020.

Vacuum Process Engineering is working on a process to greatly increase the capacity and reduce the cost of microchannel heat exchangers. The project will use Sandia's 3-D printing to test and evaluate the process.

"Sandia has been a pioneer in clean-energy technologies," said Juan Torres, chief of operations for Sandia's Energy and Climate programs. "We have decades of expertise in solar, wind, water power and bioenergy, and can help these companies be successful."

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WASHINGTON, DC (April 25, 2017)-- Scientists at the George Washington University used a powerful genetic technique to test seafood dinners sold in six District restaurants and found 33 percent had been mislabeled--although in most cases with species that are either closely related or considered acceptable alternatives for menu listing.

Previous studies in other cities have shown widespread seafood substitution in which consumers are sold a completely different fish or sushi from the one listed. Those studies have indicated that seafood may be mislabeled as often as 26 to 87 percent of the time.

And in egregious cases, an unsuspecting diner is sold an expensive Tuna that is actually a completely different species of fish, often one that is much cheaper or on the endangered species list, says Keith Crandall, PhD, director of the Computational Biology Institute at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) and leader of the new study , which was published today in PeerJ.

Crandall and his team wondered if DC diners were getting what was listed on the menu. To find out, his team used DNA barcoding to test 12 seafood samples purchased in six restaurants and found that all in all they were doing a pretty good job.

"Diners that ordered tuna got tuna--although maybe a slightly different type of tuna," says Crandall. "We didn't see the kind of outright seafood fraud that has been reported in other cities."

For this study, Crandall recruited GW graduate student David Stern to embark on a dream assignment. Stern and his wife visited six popular DC eateries and ordered seafood dinners that caught their fancy. Not only did the two get to dine out at restaurants offering up such tasty fare like Crusted Albacore Tuna or Pesto Chilean Sea bass but Crandall instructed them to bring back the bills--he'd pick up the tab.

Stern and his wife ordered 12 seafood items on the menu but before diving into their food, they snipped off a small sample, stored it in a test tube, and brought it back to the lab. Stern then used DNA barcoding to identify a telltale region of the Cytochrome Oxidase I mitochondrial gene. This technique compares the seafood sample with a database of DNA barcodes from known species to identify it.

Of the 12 samples the research team found four menu items, one "Chilean Sea Bass" two "Tuna" and one "Rock Shrimp" had been mislabeled.

Other studies have found many instances in which restaurants swap out the item listed on the menu for a species that is endangered or threatened. But the GW team found only one sample with a conservation concern. The team's DNA barcoding analysis of the "Everything Tuna" sample identified it as Thunnus obesus, a species of tuna that is listed as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Redlist.

The substitutions in this study were all closely related species to the menu item or a legally acceptable swap, Crandall notes. Still, swapping out seafood does a disservice to customers who are either trying to avoid species that are endangered or are paying a higher price for a species they think is a delicacy, he says.

For example, the researchers found that one DC restaurant had listed Rock Shrimp on the menu but DNA barcoding showed it was actually serving Whiteleg shrimp. Whiteleg shrimp are typically found in aquaculture farms and are not as flavorful as deep-water Rock Shrimp.

This study, and others like it, cannot pinpoint where the swap occurs. Crandall says that buyers for restaurants can inadvertently purchase mislabeled seafood. For example, substitution of a cheaper fish for a more expensive species can happen anywhere along the food chain from the fishing boat to the fishmonger or the restaurant, he says.

In response to past reports of seafood fraud, DC and other cities passed legislation aimed at protecting the consumer. In the District, the Consumer Protection Act allows patrons to purchase samples of food or other goods for the express purpose of testing their identity.

"For the most part, our study found that DC diners with a craving for seafood are getting what they paid for." Crandall says.

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About Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University: Established in July 1997 as the School of Public Health and Health Services, Milken Institute School of Public Health is the only school of public health in the nation's capital. Today, more than 1,900 students from 54 U.S. states and territories and more than 50 countries pursue undergraduate, graduate and doctoral-level degrees in public health. The school also offers an online Master of Public Health, MPH@GW, and an online Executive Master of Health Administration, MHA@GW, which allow students to pursue their degree from anywhere in the world.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (APRIL 25, 2017). A collaborative team of neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, simulation engineers, and special effects experts have developed a unique tool to teach neurosurgical trainees how to perform minimally invasive surgical procedures. Using 3D printing and Hollywood-style special effects, the team constructed a training simulation model whose physical and functional qualities closely mimic those of the head and brain structures of an adolescent human patient.

A full description of this training model and its effectiveness can be found in a new article in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics: "Creation of a novel simulator for minimally invasive neurosurgery: fusion of 3D printing and special effects," by Peter Weinstock, MD, PhD, and colleagues at Boston Children's Hospital and elsewhere (http://www.thejns.org/doi/full/10.3171/2017.1.PEDS16568).

A neurosurgery residency training program generally lasts seven years--longer than any other medical specialty. Trainees log countless hours observing surgeries performed by experienced neurosurgeons and developing operative skills in practice labs before touching patients. It is challenging to create a realistic surgical experience outside an operating room. Cadaveric specimens and virtual reality programs have been used, but they are costly and do not provide as realistic an experience as desired.

The new training simulation model described in this paper is a full-scale reproduction of the head of an adolescent patient with hydrocephalus. The external appearance of the head is uncannily accurate, as is the internal neuroanatomy.

One failing of 3D models is the stiffness of most sculpting material. This problem was overcome by addition of special-effects materials that reproduce the textures of external skin and internal brain structures. In addition, the operative environment in this training model is amazingly alive, with pulsations of a simulated basilar artery and ventricles as well as movement of cerebrospinal fluid. These advances provide visual and tactile feedback to the trainee that closely resembles that of the surgical experience.

The procedure selected to test the new training model was endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), a minimally invasive surgical procedure increasingly used to treat hydrocephalus. The goal of ETV is to create a hole in the floor of the third ventricle. This provides a new pathway by which excess cerebrospinal fluid can circulate.

During ETV, the surgeon drills a small hole in the skull of the patient and inserts an endoscope into the ventricular system. The endoscope accommodates a lighted miniature video camera to visualize the operative site and specialized surgical instruments suited to perform operative tasks through the endoscope. The video camera sends a direct feed to external monitors in the operating room so that surgeons can clearly see what they are doing.

To evaluate the usefulness of the training simulation model of ETV, the researchers solicited feedback from users (neurosurgical residents and fellows) and their teachers. Trainees were asked to respond to a 14-item questionnaire focused on the external and internal appearances of the model and its tactile feel during simulated surgery (face validity) as well as on how closely the simulated procedure reproduced an actual ETV (content validity). The usefulness of the model in assessing trainees' performances was then evaluated by two attending neurosurgeons blinded to the identity and training status (post-graduate year of training) of the residents and fellows (construct validity).

The neurosurgical residents and fellows gave high scores to the training model for both face and content validity (mean scores of 4.69 and 4.88, respectively; 5 would be a perfect score). The performance scores given to individual trainees by the attending neurosurgeons clearly distinguished novice surgeons from more experienced surgeons, accurately reflecting the trainees' post-graduate years of training.

The training model described in this paper is not limited to hydrocephalus or treatment with ETV. The simulated head accommodates replaceable plug-and-play components to provide a fresh operative field for each training session. A variety of diseased or injured brain scenarios could be tested using different plug-and-play components. In addition, the ability to pop in new components between practice sessions greatly reduces training costs compared to other models.

When asked about the paper, the senior author, Alan R. Cohen, MD, at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said, "This unique collaboration of interdisciplinary experts resulted in the creation of an ultra-realistic 3D surgical training model. Simulation has become increasingly important for training in minimally invasive neurosurgery. It also has the potential to revolutionize training for all surgical procedures.

Provided in the article is a link to a brief video demonstrating the surgeon's view during a simulated ETV procedure.

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Weinstock P, Rehder R, Prabhu SP, Forbes PW, Roussin CJ, Cohen AR. Creation of a novel simulator for minimally invasive neurosurgery: fusion of 3D printing and special effects. Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, published online, ahead of print, April 25, 2017; DOI: 10.3171/2017.1.PEDS16568.

Funding/Disclosure: This project was supported by a grant from the Boston Investment Conference (BIC), 2015. The authors report that they have no financial stake in the success of the surgical model presented in this study.

For additional information, please contact: Jo Ann M. Eliason, Communications Manager, Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group, One Morton Drive, Suite 200, Charlottesville, VA 22903. Email: jaeliason@thejns.org; Phone 434-982-1209.

The Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics is a monthly peer-reviewed journal focused on diseases and disorders of the central nervous system and spine in children. This journal contains a variety of articles, including descriptions of preclinical and clinical research as well as case reports and technical notes. The Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics is one of four monthly journals published by the JNS Publishing Group, the scholarly journal division of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Other peer-reviewed journals published by the JNS Publishing Group each month include the Journal of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgical Focus, and the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. All four journals can be accessed at http://www.thejns.org.

Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with more than 8,300 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. All active members of the AANS are certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Neurosurgery) of Canada, or the Mexican Council of Neurological Surgery, AC. Neurological surgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the entire nervous system including the brain, spinal column, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. For more information, visit http://www.AANS.org.
Fight people smuggling by offering more options for legal migration to the EU. Stop sending migrants back to regions where their human rights are at stake. These are just a few of the recommendations presented by FRAME, a large-scale international research project on the EU and human rights. The project is coordinated by the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies at KU Leuven (University of Leuven, Belgium). The recommendations pertain to migration, but also to the impact of austerity measures on social rights and many other themes.

What is the impact of EU policies on human rights? And how can EU institutions promote human rights worldwide? These were the key questions for the researchers involved in FRAME - 'Fostering Human Rights Among European Policies' -- the largest project on human rights ever funded by the EU's Programmes for Research. The four-year FRAME project was coordinated by the Leuven Centre for Global Governance and involved more than 100 researchers from 19 leading universities.

"Our recommendations come at a time of turmoil for human rights worldwide," says project coordinator Jan Wouters from the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies. "Take migration, for instance. Thousands of refugees, including children, risk their lives trying to enter the EU as they flee war-torn regions. Our research shows that EU policies are increasingly coercive and punitive. The principle of non-refoulement -- not sending people back to countries where their human rights are at risk -- is very much at stake, and many detention centres are poorly maintained. Last but not least, the Dublin system, which makes the member state of entry responsible for the processing of asylum requests, puts too much pressure on states located on the external borders of the EU. These countries can no longer cope with the flow of migrants in a way that respects human rights."

So how can the EU ensure the human rights of migrants? "Broaden access to legal avenues for migration such as humanitarian visas or family reunification. These avenues already exist but they are the object of many restrictions. However, they are the most effective way to fight smuggling and reduce incentives to use dangerous migration routes. We also recommend replacing the Dublin system with a more centralized system based on solidarity among member states. But most of all, the EU needs to stop sending migrants back to regions where their human rights are likely to be violated."

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Closing conference

FRAME will present its policy recommendations on migration and other themes -- including the impact of austerity measures on EU citizens' social rights -- at a closing conference in Brussels on 26 April 2017. Speakers will include Herman Van Rompuy (Former President of the European Council), Stavros Lambrinidis (EU Special Representative on Human Rights), Olivier De Schutter (Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food), and Manfred Nowak (Former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture). More information is available here: http://www.fp7-frame.eu. The strategic document with policy recommendations is embargoed until 26 April 2017.
The Lomonosov Moscow State University scientists published the results of a study of the unique ultra-slow pulsar XB091D. This neutron star is believed to have captured a companion only a million years ago and since then, has been slowly restoring its rapid rotation. The young pulsar is located in one of the oldest globular star clusters in the Andromeda galaxy, where the cluster may once have been a dwarf galaxy.

Massive young stars die, exploding as bright supernovae. In this process, their outer layers of material are thrown off, and the core shrinks, usually becoming a compact and super-dense neutron star. Strongly magnetized, they rotate rapidly, making hundreds of revolutions per second, but they lose their rotational energy and slow down, emitting narrow beams of particles. They radiate a focused radio emission that periodically passes the Earth, creating the effect of a regularly pulsating source, often with a millisecond period.

In order to "return youth" and again accelerate its rotation, the pulsar can encounter an ordinary star. After teaming up to form a pair or a binary system, the neutron star begins to pull matter from the star, forming a hot accretion disk around itself. Closer to the neutron star, the gaseous disk is torn apart by the magnetic field of the neutron star, and the matter streams onto it, forming a "hot spot" - the temperature here reaches millions of degrees, and the spot radiates in X-ray. A rotating neutron star can then be seen as an X-ray pulsar as a beacon, while the matter that continues to fall on it gives an additional impulse, accelerating the rotation.

For some hundred thousand years - a mere blink in the history of the Universe - the old pulsar, which has already slowed to one revolution every few seconds, can once again spin thousands of times faster. Such a rare moment was observed by a team of astrophysicists from the Lomonosov Moscow State University, jointly with colleagues from Italy and France. The X-ray pulsar known as XB091D, was discovered at the earliest stages of its "rejuvenation" and turns out to be the slowest rotating of all globular cluster pulsars known to date. The neutron star completes one revolution in 1.2 seconds - more than ten times slower than the previous record holder. According to scientists, the acceleration of the pulsar began less than one million years ago.

The discovery was made using observations collected by the XMM-Newton space observatory between 2000 and 2013 and were combined by astronomers of the Lomonosov Moscow State University into an open online database. Access to information on approximately 50 billion X-ray photons has already allowed scientists from different countries to discover a number of previously unnoticed interesting objects. Among them was the pulsar XB091D, which was also noticed by another group of Italian astronomers who published their results several months ago. XB091D is only the second pulsar found outside of our Galaxy and its nearest satellites, although two more such pulsars were subsequently detected using the same online catalog.

The results of the first complete analysis of the X-ray source XB091D are presented in an article published by Ivan Zolotukhin, a researcher at the Lomonosov Moscow State University, and his co-authors in The Astrophysical Journal.

"The detectors on XMM-Newton detect only one photon from this pulsar every five seconds. Therefore, the search for pulsars among the extensive XMM-Newton data can be compared to the search for a needle in a haystack, " says Ivan Zolotukhin. - In fact, for this discovery we had to create completely new mathematical tools that allowed us to search and extract the periodic signal. Theoretically, there are many applications for this method, including those outside astronomy. "

Based on a total of 38 XMM-Newton observations, astronomers managed to characterize the XB091D system. The X-ray pulsar is about 1 million years old, the companion of the neutron star is an old star of moderate size (about four fifths the mass of the Sun). The binary system itself has a rotation period of 30.5 hours, and the neutron star spins once on its axis every 1.2 seconds. In about 50 thousand years, it will accelerate sufficiently to turn into a conventional millisecond pulsar.

However, it was not only orbital parameters that astronomers were able to observe, they were also able to determine the environment around XB091D. Ivan Zolotukhin and his colleagues showed that XB091D is located in the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, 2.5 million light-years away, amongst the stars of the extremely dense globular cluster B091D, where in a volume of only 90 light years across, there are more millions of old faint stars. The cluster itself is estimated to be as much as 12 billion years old, so no recent supernovae resulting in the birth of a pulsar would have occurred.

"In our Galaxy, no such slow X-ray pulsars are observed in hundred and fifty known globular clusters, because their cores are not big and dense enough to form close binary stars at sufficiently high rate" explains Ivan Zolotukhin. - This indicates that the B091D cluster core, with an extremely dense composition of stars in the XB091D is much larger than that of the usual cluster. So, we are dealing with a large and rather rare object - with a dense remnant of a small galaxy that the Andromeda galaxy once devoured. The density of the stars here, in a region that is about 2.5 light years across, is about ten million times higher than in the vicinity of the Sun".

According to scientists, it is the vast region of super-high density stars in the B091D cluster that allowed a neutron star to capture a companion about a million years ago and begin the process of acceleration and "rejuvenation."

###

The XB091D study was conducted jointly with the astronomers of the Cagliari Observatory (Italy), the Institute of Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (France). Partial funding was provided by grants from the Russian Science Foundation.
CHICAGO --- An international team of scientists, led by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, has determined the 3-D atomic structure of more than 1,000 proteins that are potential drug and vaccine targets, to combat some of the world's most dangerous emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

These experimentally determined structures have been deposited into the World-Wide Protein Data Bank, an archive supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and are freely available to the scientific community. The 3-D structures help expedite drug and vaccine research and advance the understanding of pathogens and organisms causing infectious disease.

"Almost 50 percent of the structures that we have deposited in the Protein Data Bank are proteins that were requested by scientific investigators from around the world," said Feinberg's Wayne Anderson, PhD, director of the project. "The NIH has also requested us to work on proteins for potential drug targets or vaccine candidates for many diseases, such as the Ebola virus, the Zika virus and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We have determined several key structures from these priority organisms and published the results in high-impact journals such as Nature and Cell."

Teamwork With an International Consortium

This milestone effort, funded by two five-year contracts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), totaling a budget of $57.7 million, represents a decade of work by the Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases (CSGID) at Feinberg, led by Anderson in partnership with these institutions:

University of Chicago

University of Virginia School of Medicine

University of Calgary

University of Toronto

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

UT Southwestern Medical Center

J. Craig Venter Institute

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

University College London

How the 3-D Structures Are Made

Before work begins on a targeted protein, a board appointed by the NIH examines each request. Once approved, the protein must be cloned, expressed and crystallized, and then X-ray diffraction data is collected at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. This data defines the location of each of the hundreds or even thousands of atoms to generate 3-D models of the structures that can be analyzed with graphics software. Each institution in the Center has an area of expertise it contributes to the project, working in parallel on many requests at once.

Until recently the process of determining the 3-D structure of a protein took many months or even years to complete, but advances in technology, such as the Advanced Photon Source, and upgrades to computational hardware and software has dramatically accelerated the process. The Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease, a similar center funded by NIAID, is also on track to complete 1,000 3-D protein structures soon. Browse all of the structures deposited by the CSGID.

Anyone in the scientific community interested in requesting the determination of structures of proteins from pathogens in the NIAID Category A-C priority lists or organisms causing emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, can submit requests to the Center's web portal. As part of the services offered to the scientific community, the CSGID can also provide expression clones and purified proteins, free of charge.

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This project has been supported by federal funds from the NIAID, NIH, Department of Health and Human Services, under contract numbers HHSN272200700058C and HHSN272201200026C
A supervoid is unlikely to explain a 'Cold Spot' in the cosmic microwave background, according to the results of a new survey, leaving room for exotic explanations like a collision between universes. The researchers, led by postgraduate student Ruari Mackenzie and Professor Tom Shanks in Durham University's Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, publish their results in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The cosmic microwave background (CMB), a relic of the Big Bang, covers the whole sky. At a temperature of 2.73 degrees above absolute zero (or -270.43 degrees Celsius), the CMB has some anomalies, including the Cold Spot. This feature, about 0.00015 degrees colder than its surroundings, was previously claimed to be caused by a huge void, billions of light years across, containing relatively few galaxies.

The accelerating expansion of the universe causes voids to leave subtle redshifts on light as it passes through via the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect. In the case of the CMB this is observed as cold imprints. It was proposed that a very large foreground void could, in part, imprint the CMB Cold Spot which has been a source of tension in models of standard cosmology.

Previously, most searches for a supervoid connected with the Cold Spot have estimated distances to galaxies using their colours. With the expansion of the universe more distant galaxies have their light shifted to longer wavelengths, an effect known as a cosmological redshift.

The more distant the galaxy is, the higher its observed redshift. By measuring the colours of galaxies, their redshifts, and thus their distances, can be estimated. These measurements though have a high degree of uncertainty.

In their new work, the Durham team presented the results of a comprehensive survey of the redshifts of 7,000 galaxies, harvested 300 at a time using a spectrograph deployed on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. From this higher fidelity dataset, Mackenzie and Shanks see no evidence of a supervoid capable of explaining the Cold Spot within the standard theory.

The researchers instead found that the Cold Spot region, before now thought to be underpopulated with galaxies, is split into smaller voids, surrounded by clusters of galaxies. This 'soap bubble' structure is much like the rest of the universe, illustrated in Figure 2 by the visual similarity between the galaxy distributions in the Cold Spot area and a control field elsewhere.

Mackenzie commented: "The voids we have detected cannot explain the Cold Spot under standard cosmology. There is the possibility that some non-standard model could be proposed to link the two in the future but our data place powerful constraints on any attempt to do that."

If there really is no supervoid that can explain the Cold Spot, simulations of the standard model of the universe give odds of 1 in 50 that the Cold Spot arose by chance.

Shanks added: "This means we can't entirely rule out that the Spot is caused by an unlikely fluctuation explained by the standard model. But if that isn't the answer, then there are more exotic explanations.

'Perhaps the most exciting of these is that the Cold Spot was caused by a collision between our universe and another bubble universe. If further, more detailed, analysis of CMB data proves this to be the case then the Cold Spot might be taken as the first evidence for the multiverse - and billions of other universes may exist like our own."

For the moment, all that can be said is that the lack of a supervoid to explain the Cold Spot has tilted the balance towards these more unusual explanations, ideas that will need to be further tested by more detailed observations of the CMB.

###

Media contacts

Robert Massey

Royal Astronomical Society

Tel: +44 (0)20 7292 3979

Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 699

rm@ras.org.uk

Leighton Kitson

Durham University

Tel: +44 (0)191 334 6075

communications.team@durham.ac.uk

TV & radio facilities at Durham University

Durham University's academic experts are available for interview via down-the-line broadcast quality TV facilities from our Durham City campus, via broadcast provider Globelynx.

To request and check the availability of interviewees please contact the Durham University Marketing and Communications Office using the contact number above.

You can book the Globelynx fixed camera and circuit direct by logging into http://www.globelynx.com. The IFB number is +44 (0)191 384 2019.

If you have not booked a Globelynx feed before, or if you require any other support from Globelynx, please call +44 (0)20 7963 7174 (24 hours a day) for assistance.

A broadcast quality ISDN radio line is also available at Durham University and bookings can be arranged via the Marketing and Communications Office on the contact details above. The ISDN number is +44 (0)191 386 2749.

A landline number is available in our Media Suite which houses the television and radio facilities - +44 (0)191 334 6472.

Science contacts

Ruari Mackenzie

Department of Physics

Durham University

Tel: +44 (0)191 3343027

Mob: +44 (0)7858270502

ruari.mackenzie@durham.ac.uk

Professor Tom Shanks

Department of Physics

Durham University

Tel: +44 (0) 191 3343721

Mob: +44 (0)7590 848620

tom.shanks@durham.ac.uk

Images and captions

https://www.ras.org.uk/images/stories/press/Cosmology/CMB%20Cold%20Spot.jpg

Figure 1. The map of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) sky produced by the Planck satellite. Red represents slightly warmer regions, and blue slightly cooler regions. The Cold Spot is shown in the inset, with coordinates on the x- and y-axes, and the temperature difference in millionths of a degree in the scale at the bottom. Credit: ESA and Durham University.

https://www.ras.org.uk/images/stories/press/Cosmology/CMB%20Cold%20Spot%20survey.jpg

Figure 2. The 3-D galaxy distribution in the foreground of the CMB Cold Spot, where each point is a cluster of galaxies. The galaxy distribution in the Cold Spot (black points, at right) is compared to the same in an area with no background Cold Spot (red points, at left). The number and size of low galaxy density regions in both areas are similar, making it hard to explain the existence of the CMB Cold Spot by the presence of "voids". Credit: Durham University.

Images and captions are also available from http://astro.dur.ac.uk/~ts/coldspotpics.html

Further information

The paper on the "Evidence against a supervoid causing the CMB Cold Spot" by R. Mackenzie, T. Shanks, M.N. Bremer, Y-C Cai, M.L.P. Gunawardhana, A. Kovacs, P.R. Norberg and I. Szapudi, has just appeared in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The paper can be found at https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.03814

Notes for editors

Tom Shanks is Professor of Physics at Durham University. He has research interests in observational cosmology, galaxy and quasar surveys and galaxy formation.

Ruari Mackenzie is a final year PhD student at Durham University. His PhD is entitled "Surveying the Universe via Gas and Galaxies". His PhD is sponsored by the Science and Technology Funding Council.

Their team also includes other scientists from the Universities of Bristol, Durham and Edinburgh in the UK, the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology in Spain, Pontificia Universidad Catolica in Chile and the University of Hawaii in the USA.

About Durham University

A world top 100 university with a global reputation and performance in research and education (QS and THE World University Rankings 2016/17 https://www.dur.ac.uk/about/rankings )

In the 2017 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, Durham was ranked fourth in the UK

A member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities

Research at Durham shapes local, national and international agendas, and directly informs the teaching of our students

Ranked 39 globally for the employability of its students by blue-chip companies world-wide (QS World University Rankings 2016/17)

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The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS: http://www.ras.org.uk), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. The RAS organizes scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognizes outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4000 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.

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OAK BROOK, Ill. - Researchers are training artificial intelligence models to identify tuberculosis (TB) on chest X-rays, which may help screening and evaluation efforts in TB-prevalent areas with limited access to radiologists, according to a new study appearing online in the journal Radiology.

According to the World Health Organization, TB is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. In 2016, approximately 10.4 million people fell ill from TB, resulting in 1.8 million deaths. TB can be identified on chest imaging, however TB-prevalent areas typically lack the radiology interpretation expertise needed to screen and diagnose the disease.

"There is a tremendous interest in artificial intelligence, both inside and outside the field of medicine," said study co-author Paras Lakhani, M.D., from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) in Philadelphia. "An artificial intelligence solution that could interpret radiographs for presence of TB in a cost-effective way could expand the reach of early identification and treatment in developing nations."

Deep learning is a type of artificial intelligence that allows computers to complete tasks based on existing relationships of data. A deep convolutional neural network (DCNN), modeled after brain structure, employs multiple hidden layers and patterns to classify images.

For the study, Dr. Lakhani and his colleague, Baskaran Sundaram, M.D., obtained 1,007 X-rays of patients with and without active TB. The cases consisted of multiple chest X-ray datasets from the National Institutes of Health, the Belarus Tuberculosis Portal, and TJUH. The datasets were split into training (68.0 percent), validation (17.1 percent), and test (14.9 percent).

The cases were used to train two different DCNN models - AlexNet and GoogLeNet - which learned from TB-positive and TB-negative X-rays. The models' accuracy was tested on 150 cases that were excluded from the training and validation datasets.

The best performing artificial intelligence model was a combination of the AlexNet and GoogLeNet, with a net accuracy of 96 percent.

"The relatively high accuracy of the deep learning models is exciting," Dr. Lakhani said. "The applicability for TB is important because it's a condition for which we have treatment options. It's a problem that can be solved."

The two DCNN models had disagreement in 13 of the 150 test cases. For these cases, the researchers evaluated a workflow where an expert radiologist was able to interpret the images, accurately diagnosing 100 percent of the cases. This workflow, which incorporated a human in the loop, had a greater net accuracy of close to 99 percent.

"Application of deep learning to medical imaging is a relatively new field," Dr. Lakhani said. "In the past, other machine learning approaches could only get to a certain accuracy level of around 80 percent. However, with deep learning, there is potential for more accurate solutions, as this research has shown."

Dr. Lakhani said that the team plans to further improve the models with mores training cases and other deep learning methods.

"We hope to prospectively apply this in a real world environment," he said. "An artificial intelligence solution using chest imaging can play a big role in tackling TB."

###

"Deep Learning at Chest Radiography: Automated Classification of Pulmonary Tuberculosis by Using Convolutional Neural Networks."

Radiology is edited by Herbert Y. Kressel, M.D., Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., and owned and published by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc.

RSNA is an association of over 54,600 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)

For patient-friendly information on chest imaging, visit RadiologyInfo.org.
HOUSTON -- (April 25, 2017) -- Rice University petrologists who recreated hot, high-pressure conditions from 60 miles below Earth's surface have found a new clue about a crucial event in the planet's deep past.

Their study describes how fossilized carbon -- the remains of Earth's earliest single-celled creatures -- could have been subsumed and locked deep in Earth's interior starting around 2.4 billion years ago -- a time when atmospheric oxygen rose dramatically. The paper appears online this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.

"It's an interesting concept, but in order for complex life to evolve, the earliest form of life needed to be deeply buried in the planet's mantle," said Rajdeep Dasgupta, a professor of Earth science at Rice. "The mechanism for that burial comes in two parts. First, you need some form of plate tectonics, a mechanism to carry the carbon remains of early life-forms back into Earth. Second, you need the correct geochemistry so that organic carbon can be carried deeply into Earth's interior and thereby removed from the surface environment for a long time."

At issue is what caused the "great oxidation event," a steep increase in atmospheric oxygen that is well-documented in countless ancient rocks. The event is so well-known to geologists that they often simply refer to it as the "GOE." But despite this familiarity, there's no scientific consensus about what caused the GOE. For example, scientists know Earth's earliest known life, single-celled cyanobacteria, drew down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and released oxygen. But the appearance of early life has been pushed further and further into the past with recent fossil discoveries, and scientists now know that cyanobacteria were prevalent at least 500 million years before the GOE.

"Cyanobacteria may have played a role, but the GOE was so dramatic -- oxygen concentration increased as much as 10,000 times -- that cyanobacteria by themselves could not account for it," said lead co-author Megan Duncan, who conducted the research for her Ph.D. dissertation at Rice. "There also has to be a mechanism to remove a significant amount of reduced carbon from the biosphere, and thereby shift the relative concentration of oxygen within the system," she said.

Removing carbon without removing oxygen requires special circumstances because the two elements are prone to bind with one another. They form one of the key components of the atmosphere -- carbon dioxide -- as well as all types of carbonate rocks.

Dasgupta and Duncan found that the chemical composition of the "silicate melt" -- subducting crustal rock that melts and rises back to the surface through volcanic eruptions -- plays a crucial role in determining whether fossilized organic carbon, or graphite, sinks into the mantle or rises back to the surface through volcanism.

Duncan, now a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., said the study is the first to examine the graphite-carrying capacity of a type of melt known as rhyolite, which is commonly produced deep in the mantle and carries significant amounts of carbon to the volcanoes. She said the graphite-carrying capacity of rhyolitic rock is crucial because if graphite is prone to hitching a ride back to the surface via extraction of rhyolitic melt, it would not have been buried in sufficient quantities to account for the GOE.

"Silicate composition plays an important role," she said. "Scientists have previously looked at carbon-carrying capacities in compositions that were much more magnesium-rich and silicon-poor. But the compositions of these rhyolitic melts are high in silicon and aluminum and have very little calcium, magnesium and iron. That matters because calcium and magnesium are cations, and they change the amount of carbon you can dissolve."

Dasgupta and Duncan found that rhyolitic melts could dissolve very little graphite, even when very hot.

"That was one of our motivations," said Dasgupta, professor of Earth science. "If subduction zones in the past were very hot and produced a substantial amount of melt, could they completely destabilize organic carbon and release it back to the surface?

"What we showed was that even at very, very high temperatures, not much of this graphitic carbon dissolves in the melt," he said. "So even though the temperature is high and you produce a lot of melt, this organic carbon is not very soluble in that melt, and the carbon gets buried in the mantle as a result.

"What is neat is that with the onset and the expected tempo of crustal burial into the deep mantle starting just prior to the GOE, and with our experimental data on the efficiency of deep burial of reduced carbon, we could model the expected rise of atmospheric oxygen across the GOE," Dasgupta said.

The research supports the findings of a 2016 paper by fellow Rice petrologist Cin-Ty Lee and colleagues that suggested that plate tectonics, continent formation and the appearance of early life were key factors in the development of an oxygen-rich atmosphere on Earth.

Duncan, who increasingly focuses on exoplanetary systems, said the research could provide important clues about what scientists should look for when evaluating which exoplanets could support life.

###

The research is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Deep Carbon Observatory.

High-resolution IMAGES are available for download at:

http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS007&roll=E&frame=10807

CAPTION: Earth's atmosphere, as seen in 2003 from the International Space Station, hasn't always contained large amounts of oxygen. Petrologists from Rice University and the Carnegie Institution recreated hot, high-pressure conditions from 60 miles below Earth's surface in search of new clues about the "great oxidation event" that added large amounts of oxygen to the atmosphere around 2.4 billion years ago. (Photo courtesy of ISS Expedition 7 Crew, EOL, NASA)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/04/0424_DASGUPTA-md76-lg-27nebxx.jpg

CAPTION: Megan Duncan (Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/04/0424_DASGUPTA-rd30-lg-1fhby43.jpg

CAPTION: Rajdeep Dasgupta (Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/04/0424_DASGUPTA-toon-lg-1y7drlg.jpg

CAPTION: This schematic depicts the efficient deep subduction of organic (reduced) carbon, a process that could have locked significant amounts of carbon in Earth's mantle and resulted in a higher percentage of atmospheric oxygen. Based on new high-pressure, high-temperature experiments, Rice University petrologists argue that the long-term sequestration of organic carbon from this process began as early as 2.5 billion years ago and helped bring about a well-known buildup of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere -- the "Great Oxidation Event" -- about 2.4 billion years ago. (Image courtesy of R. Dasgupta/Rice University)

The DOI of the Nature Geoscience paper is: 10.1038/ngeo2939

A copy of the paper is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2939

More information is available at:

Experimental Petrology Rice Team

http://dasgupta.rice.edu/expert

Similar research from Rice:

Study: Earth's carbon points to planetary smashup -- Sept. 5, 2016

http://news.rice.edu/2016/09/05/study-earths-carbon-points-to-planetary-smashup/

Oxygen atmosphere recipe = tectonics + continents + life -- May 16, 2016

http://news.rice.edu/2016/05/16/oxygen-atmosphere-recipe-tectonics-continents-life/

Going deep to study long-term climate evolution -- Oct. 31, 2013

http://news.rice.edu/2013/10/31/going-deep-to-study-long-term-climate-evolution/

Earth scientist Dasgupta lands NSF CAREER Award -- March 21, 2013

http://news.rice.edu/2013/03/21/earth-scientist-dasgupta-lands-nsf-career-award/

Magma in mantle has deep impact -- Jan. 9, 2013

http://news.rice.edu/2013/01/09/magma-in-mantle-has-deep-impact/

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,879 undergraduates and 2,861 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for happiest students and for lots of race/class interaction by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.
The top court on Monday issued a notice to the Ministry of Defence on a plea seeking a ban on the Army's sahayak system. The petitioner was a journalist booked under the Official Secrets Act in connection with the suicide of Lance Naik Roy Mathew, who figures in her sting video related to the buddy system.

By Harish V Nair: The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Defence Ministry on a plea seeking a ban on sahayak system in the Army whereby lower rank staff is forced to do domestic and menial work for seniors.

The petition was filed by a journalist booked under Official Secrets Act (OSA) by Nashik police in connection with the suicide of Lance Naik Roy Mathew who figures in her sting video related to the controversial sahayak(buddy) system in the Army.

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She moved SC against the misuse and abuse of OSA. The journalist, who has challenged the FIR, also sought guidelines from the apex court to prevent abuse of OSA.

'SAHAYAK SYSTEM IS A MALPRACTICE'

"The sahayak or buddy system within the Army is a malpractice and has nothing to do with Official Secrets Act," senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who appeared for petitioner and journalist told a bench headed by Justice Chelameswar.

The journalist had shot the sting video in which Mathew talks against the sahayak system in Army. After the release of the video, Mathew allegedly committed suicide. She has also sought a probe into his death. Says the petition filed through advocate Anindita Pujari: "Such FIRs not only impinges upon fundamental rights but also journalistic freedom."

The plea said: "The Army and its personnel, being citizens of India, are under equal constitutional obligation and duty to protect and promote a fair system of administration of justice through an unimpeded investigation and cannot be a party to its undermining and destruction in order to ward off scrutiny of any wrongdoings by its delinquent officers by journalists or responsible citizenry, by seeking to invoke draconian provisions of the OSA and the IPC."

ALSO READ | Army to recruit civilians for 10,000 sahayaks' posts

ALSO READ | Jawan suicide: Journalist who shot sting booked under Official Secrets Act, IPC for criminal trespass and abetment

ALSO WATCH | Army jawan who criticised buddy system found dead

--- ENDS ---
Gender may be the earliest identity and social category to emerge in development, research suggests, and acquiring knowledge about one's gender is considered a critical part of early childhood development. In one of the first examinations of early gender development among transgender preschoolers, a new study has found that these children were just as likely as nontransgender children to have preferences associated with their gender, and to have as strong and clear a sense of their gender identity.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Washington and is published in the journal Child Development.

"An increasing number of transgender children--those who express a gender identity that is different from the sex they were born with--are transitioning socially, which means they use pronouns, names, and clothing associated with their identified gender in everyday life," notes Anne A. Fast, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington and the study's lead author. "In this study, we asked whether these children differed from their nontransgender peers on basic tasks related to gender development at an early age."

The study looked at three groups of children: 36 transgender 3- to 5-year-olds, 36 cisgender 3- to 5-year-olds (children whose gender identity and the sex they were assigned at birth are the same), and 24 siblings (also ages 3 to 5) of transgender or gender-nonconforming children. Children came from across the United States, primarily identified as female, were primarily White, and were from a range of economic backgrounds.

The researchers focused on the preschool years because this is when gender begins to strongly motivate children's preferences (e.g., for toys and clothing) and behavior, and when children's understanding of gender stability emerges. It is also the youngest age gender-nonconforming children make the social transition to present in everyday life as a member of their identified gender.

In the study, the researchers asked children to complete gender development tasks to gauge their understanding of gender constancy, their preferences regarding gender, and their beliefs about gender. Children were also asked what they feel like they are "on the inside," in their minds, thoughts, and feelings.

The transgender children did not differ from children of the same gender in the control group or the sibling group on preferences, behavior, stereotyping, and identity, the study found. For example, transgender girls (who were born as boys and identified and lived as girls at the time of the study) liked dolls and pink dresses, and preferred female friends as much as cisgender girls and sisters of transgender children.

However, researchers found differences among the groups in children's beliefs about the stability of gender. While children in the control and sibling groups tended to say that their gender as a baby and their gender as an adult matched their current gender, children in the transgender group tended to say that their gender as a baby was different than their current gender, but that their gender as an adult would be the same as their current gender. Considering stability of gender in others rather than in themselves, while children in all three groups tended to believe that most other people's gender in childhood remained stable through adulthood, transgender children and their siblings were less likely than children in the control group to believe that everyone's gender was stable. And they occasionally indicated that someone's gender could change between childhood and adulthood.

Given the small size of the study sample, the authors caution against generalizing from their results. However, they also note the importance of considering transgender children: "We are increasingly aware that there are individuals who identify early in development as a gender other than the one aligned with their sex at birth," notes Kristina R. Olson, associate professor of psychology at the University of Washington, the study's senior author. "Such children should be included in work on basic gender development to expand our knowledge of gender developmental experiences and strengthen theories of gender development."

###

Support for the research came from the National Science Foundation and the Arcus Foundation.

Summarized from Child Development, Gender Development in Transgender Preschool Children by Fast, Anne A., and Olson, KR (University of Washington). Copyright 2017 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.
Irvine, Calif., April 25, 2017 - India will not be able to meet its Paris climate agreement commitments in the coming years if it carries through with plans to construct nearly 370 coal-fired power plants, according to University of California, Irvine and CoalSwarm researchers.

"India is facing a dilemma of its own making," said UCI associate professor of Earth system science Steven Davis, co-author of a study published today in the American Geophysical Union journal Earth's Future. "The country has vowed to curtail its use of fossil fuels in electricity generation, but it has also put itself on a path to building hundreds of coal-burning power plants to feed its growing industrial economy."

Further, by developing all of the planned coal-fired capacity, India would boost the share of fossil fuels in its energy budget by 123 percent. If the nation also met its goal to produce at least 40 percent of its power from nonfossil sources by 2030, the total power being generated would greatly exceed its own projected future electricity demand.

India has pledged to the international community to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released per unit of gross domestic product by as much as 35 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and to increase renewable energy in its power grids. The construction of 65 gigawatts' worth of coal-burning generation facilities with an additional 178 gigawatts in the planning stages would make it nearly impossible for India to fulfill those climate promises, the researchers said.

"In looking closely at all of India's active coal plant proposals, we found they are already incompatible with the country's international climate commitments and are simply unneeded," said the study's lead author, Christine Shearer, a senior researcher with CoalSwarm. "These plants therefore risk either locking out the country's renewable electricity goals or becoming stranded assets operating well below optimal rates and leading to financial losses."

Davis added: "We've done calculations to figure out that India's Paris pledges might be met if it built these plants and only ran them 40 percent of the time, but that'd be a colossal waste of money, and once built, there'd be huge incentives to run the plants more despite the nation's contrary climate goals."

India relies heavily on coal; 70 percent of the country's power comes from plants burning the fuel. Because of its historically low cost and accessibility (India has large domestic coal reserves), it's seen as furthering India's quest to become a manufacturing and economic powerhouse and as a way to provide electricity to the roughly 300 million people in the nation who don't have it.

But the UCI and CoalSwarm researchers stressed that there are significant downsides to the fossil fuel habit. In addition to spewing harmful soot and other types of air pollution coal-burning power plants are the largest source of carbon dioxide on Earth, accounting for 41 percent of all CO2 emissions in 2015. Choices that individual countries make in regard to their energy mix have planetwide consequences.

"India's proposed coal plants will almost single-handedly jeopardize the internationally agreed-upon climate target of avoiding more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of mean global warming," Davis said.

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About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit http://www.uci.edu.

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.
A chemistry professor in Florida has just found a way to trigger the process of photosynthesis in a synthetic material, turning greenhouse gases into clean air and producing energy all at the same time.

The process has great potential for creating a technology that could significantly reduce greenhouse gases linked to climate change, while also creating a clean way to produce energy.

"This work is a breakthrough," said UCF Assistant Professor Fernando Uribe-Romo. "Tailoring materials that will absorb a specific color of light is very difficult from the scientific point of view, but from the societal point of view we are contributing to the development of a technology that can help reduce greenhouse gases."

The findings of his research are published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

Uribe-Romo and his team of students created a way to trigger a chemical reaction in a synthetic material called metal-organic frameworks (MOF) that breaks down carbon dioxide into harmless organic materials. Think of it as an artificial photosynthesis process similar to the way plants convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and sunlight into food. But instead of producing food, Uribe-Romo's method produces solar fuel.

To see an explanation see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdTuwe2SruA&feature=youtu.be

It's something scientists around the world have been pursuing for years, but the challenge is finding a way for visible light to trigger the chemical transformation. Ultraviolet rays have enough energy to allow the reaction in common materials such as titanium dioxide, but UVs make up only about 4 percent of the light Earth receives from the sun. The visible range -- the violet to red wavelengths -- represent the majority of the sun's rays, but there are few materials that pick up these light colors to create the chemical reaction that transforms CO2 into fuel.

Researchers have tried it with a variety of materials, but the ones that can absorb visible light tend to be rare and expensive materials such as platinum, rhenium and iridium that make the process cost-prohibitive.

Uribe-Romo used titanium, a common nontoxic metal, and added organic molecules that act as light-harvesting antennae to see if that configuration would work. The light harvesting antenna molecules, called N-alkyl-2-aminoterephthalates, can be designed to absorb specific colors of light when incorporated in the MOF. In this case he synchronized it for the color blue.

His team assembled a blue LED photoreactor to test out the hypothesis. Measured amounts of carbon dioxide were slowly fed into the photoreactor -- a glowing blue cylinder that looks like a tanning bed -- to see if the reaction would occur. The glowing blue light came from strips of LED lights inside the chamber of the cylinder and mimic the sun's blue wavelength.

It worked and the chemical reaction transformed the CO2 into two reduced forms of carbon, formate and formamides (two kinds of solar fuel) and in the process cleaning the air.

"The goal is to continue to fine-tune the approach so we can create greater amounts of reduced carbon so it is more efficient," Uribe-Romo said.

He wants to see if the other wavelengths of visible light may also trigger the reaction with adjustments to the synthetic material. If it works, the process could be a significant way to help reduce greenhouse gases.

"The idea would be to set up stations that capture large amounts of CO2, like next to a power plant. The gas would be sucked into the station, go through the process and recycle the greenhouse gases while producing energy that would be put back into the power plant."

Perhaps someday homeowners could purchase rooftop shingles made of the material, which would clean the air in their neighborhood while producing energy that could be used to power their homes.

"That would take new technology and infrastructure to happen," Uribe-Romo said. "But it may be possible."

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Other members of the team who worked on the paper include UCF graduate student Matt Logan, who is pursuing a Ph.D in chemistry, and undergraduate student Jeremy Adamson, who is majoring in biomedical sciences. Kenneth Hanson and his research group at Florida State University helped interpret the results of the experiments.

The University of Central Florida, one of the largest universities in the nation with more than 64,000 students, uses the power of scale and the pursuit of excellence to make a better future for our students and society. Described by The Washington Post as demolishing "the popular belief that exclusivity is a virtue in higher education" and credited by Politico with creating a "seamless pipeline of social mobility," UCF is recognized as one of the best values in higher education. UCF aligns its teaching, research and service with the needs of the community and beyond, offering more than 200 degree programs at more than a dozen locations, including its main campus in Orlando. Faculty and students are creating innovations in areas as diverse as simulation and training, optics and lasers, hospitality management, video game design, business, education and health care to solve local and global problems. For more information, visit http://www.ucf.edu.
Shannon Beston, a third-year Ph.D. student in biology at the University of Texas at Arlington, was selected to receive funds from the National Science Foundation's Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants program to further her research into how brains and eyes evolved in response to predation.

The award will fund Beston's dissertation project, titled "The evolution of complexity: tests of the ecological drivers of eye size and brain size evolution in nature", which examines the evolution of complex traits in natural populations. Specifically, the work addresses how eyes and brains among populations of killifish, Rivulus hartii, found in the waters of the Caribbean off the island of Trinidad.

"Understanding how complex traits have evolved is a long-standing goal in evolutionary biology and the complex structure of the eye is frequently presented as an example of evolution that challenges the understanding of evolution by natural selection," Beston said.

While eye size varies extensively across species, there are very few studies that have evaluated how eyes evolve within a single species, she explained. Increases in eye size are associated with improved vision. As a result, shifts in eye size are likely connected, and potentially driven, by a variety of ecological factors, such as foraging, avoiding predators, and identifying mates. Rivulus are found in fish communities on the island that vary in predation intensity, ranging from sites where they are preyed upon by large fish to sites where they are the only species present.

"My most recent work, and the basis of the research I have proposed in the DDIG, has shown that increases in predation are associated with genetically based decreases in eye size," Beston said. "This work provides a clear link between an ecological driver of eye size evolution, but it does not establish causation. We still do not know why predators appear to select for a smaller eye size in Rivulus."

Beston hopes that the research she has proposed in the DDIG will begin to provide answers that establish a causal link between predators and prey eye size, rather than just a correlational relationship. The work she proposed involves a series of mark-recapture experiments where individual Rivulus specimens can be tracked both from populations with predators and without predators to look at how eye size correlates with variables like survival and growth rate.

"I also plan to complete perturbation experiments in the lab and in nature," she said. "These approaches will evaluate how natural selection is operating on eye size and will also allow us to experimentally test the influence of predators on eye size in Rivulus."

Matthew Walsh, UTA assistant professor of biology, said the funding will allow Beston to perform "ambitious, manipulative experiments in nature that have the potential to provide novel insights into how the vertebrate eye evolves."

"Shannon has shown tremendous growth as a Ph.D. student at UTA and is always willing to go the extra mile in the field and lab," Walsh said. "Her selection as a recipient of an NSF grant reflects the success she has achieved to date as well as the strong potential for continued success thereafter."

Beston plans to return to Trinidad to collect more specimens in August and December, as well as making several return trips in 2018, which will be paid for by her DDIG award.

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About The University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at Arlington is a Carnegie Research-1 "highest research activity" institution. With a projected global enrollment of close to 57,000, UTA is one of the largest institutions in the state of Texas. Guided by its Strategic Plan 2020 Bold Solutions|Global Impact, UTA fosters interdisciplinary research and education within four broad themes: health and the human condition, sustainable urban communities, global environmental impact, and data-driven discovery. UTA was recently cited by U.S. News & World Report as having the second lowest average student debt among U.S. universities. U.S. News & World Report lists UTA as having the fifth highest undergraduate diversity index among national universities. The University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is ranked as the top four-year college in Texas for veterans on Military Times' 2017 Best for Vets list.
Around 2010, the deep waters of Utahs Great Salt Lake contained high levels of toxic methylmercury. Mercury measurements in waterfowl surrounding the lake led to a rare human consumption advisory for ducks.

But by 2015, 90 percent of the deep mercury was gone.

The disappearance of the mercury was not due to aggressive environmental policies or a wide-ranging cleanup effort. Instead, its part of a story involving a large-scale unplanned chemistry experiment, a sometimes-stinky lake, and ducks  in which the mercury did not disappear. The story is told in a paper published in Environmental Science & Technology.

A Union Pacific railway line crosses the lake, dividing it into a smaller north arm and a larger south arm, with the line drawn right at the base of the bunny-ear-like northern extensions of the lake. Because the north arm has no major river inflow, its much saltier than the south arm. Two culverts in the railroad line allowed briny north arm water to flow into the south arm and, because of its higher density, sink to the bottom of the south arm.

The difference in density between the deep and shallow waters prevented mixing, says geology and geophysics professor William Johnson, and kept fresh oxygen from infiltrating into the deeper water layers. Decaying organic matter on the lake floor sucked all the oxygen out of the briny layer, forcing microorganisms to find something else to breathe. Without oxygen, some bacteria turn to nitrate to fuel the chemical processes of life. When the nitrate is gone, they turn to iron, manganese, and finally sulfate. Residents of the Salt Lake Valley may have noticed a byproduct of the sulfate-breathing bacteria  sulfide, a stinky rotten egg smell emanating from the lake. In another side effect, the bacteria turn elemental mercury into toxic methylmercury.

Mercurys really tricky, Johnson says. It changes form. Elemental mercury, like the kind found in old thermometers, evaporates readily and circulates through the atmosphere. It can attach to dust particles and rain out of the sky, in a process called atmospheric deposition. With the Great Salt Lakes large surface area, it receives a lot of mercury. The toxic form of the element is methylmercury, which is toxic to the nervous system and can move up the food chain as higher organisms accumulate the methylmercury present in their prey.

When wildlife officials began noticing elevated mercury levels in waterfowl in the lakes wetlands, at around the same time geoscientists found highly elevated mercury in the depths of the lake, they all thought a connection between the ducks and the deep brine layer was likely.

That created this expectation that there's a link between these high concentrations of methylmercury down in the deep brine layer and the elevated concentrations in waterfowl in the wetlands adjacent to the lake, Johnson says.

Then, in 2013, Union Pacific closed off the railway culverts for repair, sealing off the flow of salty water from the north arm to the south arm. When Johnson and his colleagues, Frank Black at Westminster College and Blair Stringham at the Utah Department of Natural Resources, took samples of the deep brine layer and lake-bottom sediments in 2015, they found that methylmercury, in both the water and the sediment, had decreased by 88 percent.

It seems clear that the deep brine layer was a cap, Johnson says. Without the constant inflow of north arm water, the deep brine layer finally mixed with the overlying water, bringing oxygen and driving the methylmercury into other forms, possibly elemental mercury, which would evaporate away into the atmosphere.

And the ducks? Waterfowl carcasses collected both before and after the culvert closure showed no significant change in mercury levels. If there's a direct connection between the environment at the bottom of the lake and the Hg in the ducks, you'd think you'd see a corresponding reduction of Hg in biota, Johnson says. We didn't see that.

The source of methylmercury in wetlands is still unknown, as is the exact mechanism by which the deep lake mercury disappeared. But Johnson, Black and now the US Geological Survey arent done with the lake yet. In December 2016, Union Pacific opened a new breach in the causeway, linking once again the north and south arms of the Great Salt Lake. The breach is wider than the old culverts, and researchers are now waiting to see whether the anoxic deep brine layer re-establishes itself, and whether another methylmercury factory will lurk at the bottom of the lake Johnson says.

###

The study was funded by the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands (FFSL) of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Jordan River/Farmington Bay Water Quality Council, Central Davis Sewer District and the iUTAH project.

This news release can be found here.

Find the full study here.
A new technique developed at the University of Virginia School of Medicine will let a single cancer research lab do the work of dozens, dramatically accelerating the search for new treatments and cures. And the technique will benefit not just cancer research but research into every disease driven by gene mutations, from cystic fibrosis to Alzheimer's disease - ultimately enabling customized treatments for patients in a way never before possible.

The new technique lets scientists analyze the effects of gene mutations at an unprecedented scale and speed, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. For patients, this means that rather than thinking about the right drug for a certain disease, doctors will think about the right drug to treat the patient's specific gene mutation.

"Every patient shouldn't receive the same treatment. No way. Not even if they have the same syndrome, the same disease," said UVA researcher J. Julius Zhu, PhD, who led the team that created the new technique. "It's very individual in the patient, and they have to be treated in different ways."

Understanding Gene Mutations

Understanding the effect of gene mutations has, traditionally, been much like trying to figure out what an unseen elephant looks like just by touching it. Touch enough places and you might get a rough idea, but the process will be long and slow and frustrating. "The way we have had to do this is so slow," said Zhu, of UVA's Department of Pharmacology and the UVA Cancer Center. "You can do one gene and one mutation at a time. Now, hopefully, we can do like 40 or 100 of them simultaneously."

Zhu's approach uses an HIV-like virus to replace genes with mutant genes, so that scientists can understand the effects caused by the mutation. He developed the approach, requiring years of effort, out of a desire to both speed up research and also make it possible for more labs to participate. "Even with the CRISPR [gene editing] technology we have now, it still costs a huge amount of money and time and most labs cannot do it, so we wanted to develop something simple every lab can do," he said. "No other approach is so efficient and fast right now. You'd need to spend 10 years to do what we are doing in three months, so it's an entirely different scale."

To demonstrate the effectiveness of his new technique, Zhu already has analyzed approximately 50 mutations of the BRaf gene, mutations that have been linked to tumors and to a neurodevelopmental disorder known as cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome. The work sheds important light on the role of the mutations in disease. Rescuing Failed Treatments

Zhu's new technique may even let researchers revisit failed experimental treatments, determine why they failed and identify patients in which they will be effective. It may be that a treatment didn't work because the patient didn't have the right mutation, or because the treatment didn't affect the gene in the right way. It's not as simple as turning a gene on or off, Zhu noted; instead, a treatment must prompt the right amount of gene activity, and that may require prodding a gene to do more or pulling on the reins so that it does less.

"The problem in the cancer field is that they have many high-profile papers of clinical trials [that] all failed in some way," he said. "We wondered why in these patients sometimes it doesn't work, that with the same drug some patients are getting better and some are getting worse. The reason is that you don't know which drugs are going to help with their particular mutation. So that would be true precision medicine: You have the same condition, the same syndrome, but a different mutation, so you have to use different drugs."

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Findings Published

Zhu and his team have described the technique in an article published in the scientific journal Genes & Development, making it available to scientists around the world. The paper was written by Chae-Seok Lim, Xi Kang, Vincent Mirabella, Huaye Zhang, Qian Bu, Yoichi Araki, Elizabeth T. Hoang, Shiqiang Wang, Ying Shen, Sukwoo Choi, Bong-Kiun Kaang, Qiang Chang, Zhiping P. Pang, Richard L. Huganir and Zhu.

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Honor Scientist Program of Korea, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health, grants MH108321, NS065183, NS089578, HD064743, AA023797, MH64856, NS036715, NS053570, NS091452 and NS092548.
Britain is facing into a "bloodbath" over a proposed trade deal with the US, an EU commissioner has warned.

EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan addressed an event organised by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), where he said the UK had made it clear it intends to pursue its own international trade agenda once it leaves the European Union.

He also derided Theresa May's plan to strike agreements with countries around the world as a fanciful notion of a "new British Empire."

Mr Hogan admitted that fault lines were already emerging with respect to any UK-US trade agreement.

International trade secretary Liam Fox is pushing for agriculture to be included in such discussions, claiming that Americans have been eating hormone beef and chlorine chicken perfectly safely for years, so whats all the fuss about? he said.

I predict an interesting debate on this. Would British farmers and consumers accept hormone beef and chlorine chicken on their supermarket shelves? I seriously doubt it. There may yet be a bloodbath over these issues.

'Rise to our standards'

He said that countries within the EU "can rest easy in the knowledge that our negotiating weight in trade deals means that our partners rise to our standards, rather than us lowering to theirs."

A pronouncement by Mrs May, on the day Article 50 was triggered, that Britain will strike similar deals with other countries outside the EU was also questionable, he suggested.

"This aim, based on notions of an Empire 2.0, is somewhat fanciful when you look at the trade-offs the UK would have to submit to in order to do deals around the world," he said.

Mr Hogan said he hoped June's general election would strengthen Mrs May's hand in facing down the "looney voices on the right of the Tory party" and that Britain would remain within the EU's Customs Union.
British farm groups have said the value of government pledges on EU farm payments made last year are 'diminishing every day' as they meet for roundtable discussions.

A roundtable meeting on Brexit, chaired by National Farmers' Union (NFU) deputy president Minette Batters, has been set up to share concerns and to promote collective action before the nation goes to the polls.

The Farming Brexit Roundtable consists of the NFU, CLA, British Poultry Council, National Beef Association, National Pig Association, Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, the Soil Association and the Tenant Farmers' Association.

Meeting for the first time last week, the organisations urged political parties to recognise the importance of agriculture to the economy and said it was a 'uniquely important time' for the industry.

Long term plans

"Our organisations welcome the commitment to honour EU payments until 2020, but farming is a long term business," they said in a joint statement.

"Frankly, the value of the assurance, given in August 2016, diminishes with each passing day."

Chancellor Philip Hammond pledged to guarantee billions of pounds for regeneration projects at risk because of Brexit, including agricultural schemes.

"Farm businesses need to know the long term plans of our political parties over the next decade, not just the next two years.

"So we urge all parties to make their plans clear in their respective manifestos to give farmers the stability required to instill confidence for the future.

Priorities

The roundtable said they considered the trading relationship in which farming will find itself post-Brexit.

They said 'it's clear' that there is a pressing need to secure continuing access to the European Union marketplace 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. Whatever the final outcome of the General Election, the next Government must secure a phased transition to the new trading agreements."
Holyrood and Westminster are in a war of words over who will control Scottish farm policy post-Brexit, and the issue over farm funding delays.

The war of words between the two parliaments has upped a notch ahead of the snap general election.

It has been claimed by some Scottish MPs that the UK government is using Brexit to kick the long-standing convergence uplift issue, worth 230 million of CAP funding, into the long grass.

Borders MP Calum Kerr has said that, despite repeatedly asking Defra when it would carry out its promised review of this funding issue, he now feared that the failure to deliver the estimated 190 million due to Scotland meant farmers north of the Border would be disadvantaged.

In a letter to UK farm minister George Eustice, he said: I urge you to resolve this issue to ensure that any post-Brexit agricultural support framework is not undermined by your governments failure to deliver a fair settlement for Scottish farmers under the current regime.

'Disgraceful way'

Stating that such negligence was a "disgraceful way" to treat Scottish farmers, the SNPs agriculture spokesperson in the House of Commons also questioned Defras ability to deliver a coherent farm policy following recent staff cuts and the increased workload of Brexit.

If it isnt in a fit state to distribute convergence money, how will it respond to the enormous complexity of Brexit?, Mr Kerr said.

The MP said that Brexit was causing enormous dysfunction within the department. As a result, famers in Scotland are already out of pocket.

Responding to the convergence claims, a Defra spokesperson said: We continue to look at this issue closely.
A wonky version of one of the UKs most expensive vegetables, asparagus, has gone on sale this week for just 1 at a major supermarket chain due to some of the crop growing in less than perfect shape during the recent warm early spring weather.

A warm early spring has encouraged asparagus shoots to push up early this year.

As shoots track the sun around the sky  and early spring sun levels are low - some of the crop has grown into an uncharacteristic crooked shape. Changeable temperatures have also led to shorter and longer spears.

Morrisons has added the crooked asparagus to its 14-strong wonky fruit and veg range  which includes carrots and potatoes  launched last year in a bid to tackle food waste.

The wonky asparagus will be the cheapest on the market (Photo: Morrisons)

Weve stepped in to buy the crop as we wanted to help growers and put this normally luxury ingredient into the hands of shoppers for just a pound, said Michael Weightman, asparagus buyer at Morrisons.

New opportunity for wonky veg

In previous years farmers may have sent a wonky crop to be processed into other food products or may not even have harvested the crop at all.

But the venture marks a new opportunity to make some fruit and veg more affordable - helping to bring down the costs of shoppers' increasingly expensive grocery bills.

Asparagus is somewhat of a delicacy because its growing season lasts just eight weeks, from St Georges Day to the summer solstice.

Morrisons sold 25,000 tonnes of wonky veg last year, reports trade magazine The Grocer.

Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Waitrose also have wonky veg lines.
The top court has held guilty of contempt the owner and medical director of a Gurgaon private hospital for providing shelter to a former legislator facing trial for murder, and fined them Rs 70 lakh each.

By Mail Today Bureau: With the accused: it could be a jail term or a hefty fine as the Supreme Court decided, and did, on Tuesday.

In a first-of-its-kind order, the bench headed by justice Dipak Misra held guilty of contempt the owner of a prestigious private hospital in Gurugram and its medical director for providing shelter for a whopping 527 days to a former legislator facing trial for murder and fined them Rs 70 lakh each. Those penalised are 76-year-old managing director KS Sachdev and 68-year-old medical director Munish Prabhakar.

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The "influential" accused, former Indian National Lok Dal MLA from Haryana's Meham town Balbir Singh, got himself admitted to Privat Hospital soon after the top court asked him to surrender after cancelling his bail on October 24, 2013, following apprehension that he was threatening witnesses.

Balbir is an accused in an indiscriminate firing incident at a grain market that left one person dead and eight injured on May 5 that year.

"They extended medical asylum to the respondent without there being any reason or medical condition justifying prolonged admission of the respondent as an indoor patient. By such conduct these medical professionals have obstructed administration of justice," a bench headed by then Chief Justice TS Thakur ruled on December 15, 2016.

Mail Today first reported about the SC indicting the doctors for sheltering the tainted politician.

'WILFUL AND BLATANT VIOLATION'

The court was pronouncing its order on a contempt petition filed by one Sita Ram, the brother-in-law of the deceased Vishnu through his advocate Rishi Malhotra. "The refusal of the accused to surrender despite the order of the highest court of the land was a wilful and blatant violation and amounted to contempt. It was a clear attempt to hoodwink the Supreme Court," Malhotra argued.

The matter of the nearly yearand-a-half long medical asylum was revealed after the CBI conducted a probe. "Singh, who claimed to be a heart patient, did not give his consent for angiography as suggested by the doctors during his admission in the hospital, and had requested for conservative treatment through medicines which was agreed to by the doctors.

"Accused Balbir Singh was not required to remain admitted in the said hospital for such a long period for the conservative treatment which he was given in said hospital as confirmed by Dr Munish Prabhakar, the consultant physician of the said hospital," reads the CBI report. Defending themselves, Sachdev and Prabhakar contended that Balbir "trapped the hospital and by non-payment of the bills kept prolonging his stay". But the top court said the argument did not inspire confidence.

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"If the hospital was really a victim of the machinations of the respondent, at the first opportunity i.e. when requisition was made by the police on 13.02.2015, the hospital would have responded immediately.

The requisition dated 13.02.2015 had informed the hospital that the respondent was a proclaimed offender and that his custody was required," the court said.

ALSO READ | Supreme Court issues notice to Defence Ministry on Sahayak system

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ALSO WATCH | Yogi Adityanath welcomes Supreme Court's observation on Ayodhya temple

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Five things for farmers to watch out for in Autumn Statement
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Apr 25 (PTI) Sweden is keen to collaborate with Maharashtra on waste management, smart cities, and renewable energy.

"I exchanged views with both the governments at the centre and in the state on global climate change efforts, ongoing international negotiations and the potential for bilateral cooperation," visiting Swedish deputy minister on climate Eva Svedling said here today.

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The minister met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the state environment minister Ramdas Kadam and discussed collaboration on climate change and sustainability solutions.

"Sweden and our business are ready to work with India on the important transformation taking place, when it comes to smart and healthy cities, renewable energy and more," she told reporters here after addressing the students of the Welingkar Institute of Communication.

Swedish companies have advanced solutions for smart energy, urban transportation, waste management and air quality, she stressed. There are over a 100 Swedish companies operating in the state which could support the clean agenda. These companies employ over 1.8 lakh directly, and 1.3 million people indirectly, she said.

Her visit is a follow-up to the joint statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven during his state visit to India last year.

"I have learnt and seen first-hand the potential and opportunities as well as the challenges faced by India, Maharashtra and Mumbai, in relation to climate change and sustainability. Climate change is a top priority for our government," Svedling said.

She also visited the dumping grounds at Govandi earlier in the day and took a ride on the Volvo hybrid city bus which is operating in Navi-Mumbai, which saves fuel up to 40 per cent in real operating conditions.

Sweden has long-term goals of reducing emissions by 70 per cent by 2030 from the 2010 levels, as well as becoming the first fossil fuel-free country by 2040, with net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2045. PTI DSK BEN NRB

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Haiti - Security : Chilean battalion pack up





Sandra Honore, the head of the UN Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (Minustah), presided last week the ceremony marking the end of operations of the Chilean battalion based in Cap Haitien.



The battalion of 340 Chilean, 47 Honduran, 44 Salvadoran and 3 Mexican soldiers officially ceased operations on 15 April and will proceed during the next few weeks to the move of its military bases and removal of its troops and equipment to the countries of origin.



Present in Haiti since the summer of 2004, the battalion was deployed during operations in Cite Soleil as well as other areas of Port-au-Prince during the first years of the mission. During its 13 years of service within the Minustah, the battalion also conducted operations in the north of Haiti, providing security and logistical support during 10 elections between 2006 and 2017. It also provided humanitarian support to respond to the various natural disasters experienced by Haiti, including the devastating 2010 earthquake and Matthew hurricane in October 2016.



The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Haiti, Sandra Honore, saluted the dedication, professionalism and above all the discipline displayed by this battalion throughout its deployment in Haiti. She called on the audience to pay tribute to all the peacekeepers who lost their lives in Haiti in the exercise of their duties, in particular to the nurse Sergeant Rodrigo Andres Sanhueza Soto (35 years) of the Chilean naval corps, shot dead in April 2015 Haiti during an administrative task https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13621-haiti-social-last-tribute-to-the-chilean-peacekeeper-killed-in-ouanaminthe.html



This ceremony was also an opportunity for the ambassadors of the countries composing this battalion to thank the government of Haiti for having accepted the services of their soldiers who served the local population under the aegis of the United Nations.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : Guy Philippe confesses and risks 20 years imprisonment !





Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Departments Criminal Division; Adolphus P. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division; Matthew G. Donahue, Special Agent in Charge, DEA, Caribbean Division; and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, announced that Guy Philippe, 49, of Haiti appeared on Monday 24 April before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of the Southern District of Florida, where he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering stemming from his receipt of cash payments derived from the proceeds of narcotics sales that occurred in Miami, Florida and elsewhere in the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Philippe faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years imprisonment. The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Altonaga in Miami on July 5, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.



"After evading law enforcement for over a decade, Guy Philippe's guilty plea demonstrates the unrelenting commitment of the U.S. government and our foreign counterparts to disrupt and dismantle transnational narco-trafficking and money laundering organizations," said Acting United States Attorney Greenberg. "Philippe cast aside his duty to protect and serve the people of Haiti. Instead, he abused his position of authority as a high-ranking Haitian National Police Officer to safeguard drug shipments and launder illicit trafficking proceeds. The prosecution of those who abuse the publics trust to facilitate criminal conduct remains a top priority for the U.S. and our Haitian law enforcement allies."



"In addition to its other pernicious effects, drug trafficking corrupts public officials and important government institutions that form the foundation of every democracy. Philippe  a former high-ranking official in the Haitian National Police  was on the payroll of the drug traffickers for years, receiving more than $1.5 million in bribe payments for protecting drug shipments," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco. "The departments investigation and prosecution of this case for more than a decade demonstrates its commitment to prosecuting all of those who facilitate the international drug trade, including the corrupt officials on the take, and that there is no place to hide from the U.S. justice system."



"It is important that Philippe accepted responsibility for his criminal offenses against the United States and the people of Haiti for his involvement in criminal activities associated with drug trafficking," said Adolphus P. Wright, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Miami Field Division, also adding "With the increased strength of our law enforcement partners, both in the United States and abroad, DEA will never abandon nor ever give up on seeking and bringing to justice those responsible for drug trafficking and the laundering of drug money, no matter how many years they attempt to evade capture."



This international investigation demonstrates the possibilities of success in identifying and producing significant prosecutorial evidence against members of drug trafficking organizations, money laundering organizations and corrupt public figures," stated Matthew G. Donahue, Special Agent in Charge, DEA, Caribbean Division. "Guy Philippe violated public trust and the confidence of the Haitian people and others throughout the Caribbean Region and the United States, by supporting and benefiting from drug trafficking organizations. The arrest of Guy Philippe is a testament to the collective mission of our federal agencies and exceptional Foreign Police Units. The Haitian Police, La Brigade de Lutte contre le Trafic de Stupefiants (BLTS), is commended for their continued hard work, dedication and assistance provided to the international law enforcement community. This investigation sends a strong message to criminal organizations globally, that the law enforcement partners throughout the Eastern Caribbean Region will not rest until these violators are brought to justice."



Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), said, "Today Mr. Philippe admitted to accepting bribes while employed as a high-ranking Haitian National Police Officer and to assisting a drug operation that brought cocaine into Miami. IRS-CI is pleased this longtime fugitive has admitted his role in the money laundering conspiracy and will now face the consequences of his actions. IRS-CI will continue to work alongside our global law enforcement partners and provide our financial investigative expertise to dismantle these international drug and money laundering organizations."



The US Department of Justice explains "According to admissions made in connection with the plea, beginning in the late 1990s, Philippe knowingly using his position as a high-ranking Haitian National Police Officer to provide protection for the shipments of drugs and drug proceeds arriving into Haiti in exchange for cash payments. Philippe admitted that from approximately June 1999 to April 2003, he received between $1.5 and $3.5 million in bribes from drug traffickers, knowing that the payments he received constituted proceeds of cocaine sales that occurred in Miami, Florida, and elsewhere in the United States. Philippe also admitted that he shared a portion of these payments with Haitian National Police officials and other security personnel to ensure their continued support for future drug shipments arriving into Haiti. Philippe used these payments to purchase a residence in Broward County, Florida; and to support himself and to support his family in the United States.



In addition, Philippe wired proceeds derived from the sale of cocaine, in the amount of $376,000, from banks in Haiti and Ecuador to a joint bank account in Miami. To avoid detection, Philippe used the names of others to wire the funds to his account. Philippe further admitted that he arranged for over $70,000 in drug proceeds to be deposited into his account that were conducted in a series of deposits each less than $10,000 to avoid the U.S. federal reporting requirements."



The DEA and IRS-CI investigated the case. The Criminal Divisions Office of International Affairs, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, DEA Port-au-Prince Country Office, Caribbean Field Division, U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protections Miami Office of Field Operations provided assistance in this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lynn M. Kirkpatrick and Andy R. Camacho of the Southern District of Florida and Senior Trial Counsel Mark A. Irish of the Criminal Divisions Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case.



The U.S. Attorneys Office and our federal partners commend the Government of Haiti, including the Ministry of Justice, Haitian National Police, and La Brigade de Lutte contre le Trafic de Stupefiants (BLTS) for upholding the rule of law and assisting U.S. counterparts.



This case is the result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations and enterprises.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20736-haiti-flash-rebound-in-the-case-of-guy-philippe.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20457-haiti-flash-trial-of-guy-philippe-postponed.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20400-haiti-flash-minister-edouard-speaks-on-the-case-guy-philippe.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20155-haiti-flash-extradition-of-guy-philippe-is-illegal-according-to-mirlande-manigat.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20036-haiti-flash-trial-of-guy-philippe-in-the-united-states.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19799-haiti-politics-demonstration-of-support-to-guy-philippe-front-us-embassy.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19796-haiti-flash-guy-philippe-pleads-not-guilty.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19790-haiti-security-all-closed-schools-in-the-department-of-grande-anse.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19774-haiti-flash-guy-philippe-was-extradited-on-what-legal-basis.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19767-haiti-flash-americans-attacked-houses-burned-down.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19757-haiti-flash-violent-reprisals-of-guy-philippe-s-supporters.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19731-haiti-flash-guy-philippe-the-charges-are-known-appearing-on-january-13-2017.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19730-haiti-justice-guy-philippe-appeared-the-minister-of-justice-convened.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19721-haiti-flash-senator-guy-philippe-extradited-to-the-usa.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19720-haiti-flash-arrest-of-senator-guy-philippe.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Apr 25 (PTI) Sweden is keen to collaborate with Maharashtra on waste management, smart cities, and renewable energy.

"I exchanged views with both the governments at the centre and in the state on global climate change efforts, ongoing international negotiations and the potential for bilateral cooperation," visiting Swedish deputy minister on climate Eva Svedling said here today.

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The minister met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the state environment minister Ramdas Kadam and discussed collaboration on climate change and sustainability solutions.

"Sweden and our business are ready to work with India on the important transformation taking place, when it comes to smart and healthy cities, renewable energy and more," she told reporters here after addressing the students of the Welingkar Institute of Communication.

Swedish companies have advanced solutions for smart energy, urban transportation, waste management and air quality, she stressed. There are over a 100 Swedish companies operating in the state which could support the clean agenda. These companies employ over 1.8 lakh directly, and 1.3 million people indirectly, she said.

Her visit is a follow-up to the joint statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven during his state visit to India last year.

"I have learnt and seen first-hand the potential and opportunities as well as the challenges faced by India, Maharashtra and Mumbai, in relation to climate change and sustainability. Climate change is a top priority for our government," Svedling said.

She also visited the dumping grounds at Govandi earlier in the day and took a ride on the Volvo hybrid city bus which is operating in Navi-Mumbai, which saves fuel up to 40 per cent in real operating conditions.

Sweden has long-term goals of reducing emissions by 70 per cent by 2030 from the 2010 levels, as well as becoming the first fossil fuel-free country by 2040, with net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2045. PTI DSK BEN NRB BAS

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Yoga is reportedly becoming popular in Zimbabwe.

Reports suggest that there are over a dozen yoga studios and fitness-pilates studios/gyms/health-club/sports-club/wellness-centre offering yoga in Harare.

There are few yoga places/teachers in Bulawayo, yoga facilities in Mashonaland East, yoga opportunities in Victoria Falls area and sometimes the classes are held in Mutare. A 7 Days Luxury Yoga Safari in Zimbabwe has been advertised from US$23,200, besides few other yoga safari offers. A lodge in Masvingo highlights enough space in the living area to conduct a yoga class, reports add.

The Art of Living reportedly has centers in Harare, Bulawayo and Kwekwe; while Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga Centres are in Harare and Bulawayo. The Hindoo Society Harare conducts twice-weekly yoga classes and there is Ananda Marga Zimbabwe Yoga Society. Embassy of India in Harare celebrated open-to-all International Day of Yoga in June last.

Welcoming the reported interest in yoga in Zimbabwe, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, urged Zimbabwe government to introduce multi-beneficial yoga in Zimbabwe schools.

Yoga, referred as a living fossil, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted.

Rajan Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.

According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to 2016 Yoga in America Study, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.

Landlocked Zimbabwe, between Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers and known for Victoria Falls, is described by Lonely Planet as one of the safest, friendliest and most spectacular countries in Africa.

Source : From Our Correspondent
The InterContinental Fujairah Resort - Opening Q3 2017

InterContinental Hotels Group announces new signings as well as openings across its MEA brand portfolio at the UAEs Arabian Travel Market and Arabian Hotel Investment Conference

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced four new hotel signings as well as six new hotel openings across the GCC in 2017 at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, UAE. The announcements are an indication of IHG's continued expansion across the MEA region in multiple segments, including luxury, business, family, and lifestyle.

IHG's four new hotel signings in the Middle East and Africa are: Crowne Plaza Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, InterContinental Doha Festival City and Staybridge Suites Lusail in Doha, Qatar and the Holiday Inn Mutare in Zimbabwe.

In addition, IHG is also opening six new hotels in the MEA region in 2017. The new hotels include Crowne Plaza Muscat OCEC in Oman, InterContinental Fujairah Resort in the UAE, Holiday Inn Doha  The Business Park in Qatar, Holiday Inn Algiers Cheraga Tower in Algeria, as well as two in Saudi Arabia: Staybridge Suites Jeddah Alandalus Mall, and the Crowne Plaza Riyadh  ITCC.

This acceleration is indicative of IHG's growth plans and operations in the Middle East. The global hospitality leader continues to focus on key cities across the region, such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Riyadh, Doha and Cairo  putting the right brands in the right locations according to demand.

Speaking about IHG's diverse and ever-growing footprint, Pascal Gauvin, Chief Operating Officer  India, Middle East, Africa (IMEA), IHG, explained: "While the increased focus on expanding our midscale brands  announced in 2016  has become more pronounced with increasing demand for our Holiday Inn brand family, we have also begun exploring opportunities to expand within the emerging luxury/lifestyle segment in the region."

We know the lifestyle segment is the fast growing in the hotel industry; we've seen it ourselves through the successful launch of our Hotel Indigo brand here in AMEA, specifically in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. We're confident there is strong growth potential in the region for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants brands and we're looking forward to building on the momentum already established here with Hotel Indigo," Gauvin continued.

The first global boutique hotel brand in the world, Hotel Indigo has gone from strength to strength since its launch into the Middle East region. IHG introduced the Hotel Indigo brand in in Riyadh in 2012 with the Hotel Indigo Riyadh King Abdullah Financial District. This was then followed by Dubai, where the Hotel Indigo Dubai Business Bay was announced in 2014, as well as the Hotel Indigo Dubai  The Sustainable City. The latter will be a Net Zero energy building, where 100% of its energy needs will be met by solar power.

This year Hotel Indigo launched in Singapore with Holiday Indigo Singapore Katong and will see the opening of Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak, the first Hotel Indigo property to open in a resort location globally in the next few months.

Rajit Sukumaran, Chief Development Officer  Asia, Middle East, Africa (AMEA), IHG explained:"The Middle East presents several opportunities across our brand portfolio. While we have great demand for our mid-scale offering in the current economic environment, we are also seeing interest in our extended-stay brand, Staybridge Suites, in response to the evolution of the region's major cities into budding business hubs. We're also actively looking for strategic partners to introduce Kimpton Hotels and restaurants to the region as we believe this is the right time accelerate the growth of our luxury/lifestyle brand portfolio. InterContinental hotels and Resorts continues to drive interest across the region, as one of the landmarks of luxury for the region."

IHG was the first international hotel company to enter the Middle East with the opening of InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut in Lebanon in 1961, followed by the opening of InterContinental Jordan in 1963 by the Late King Hussein in 2015, and InterContinental Riyadh in 1975. Currently, IHG is set to open its first resort within this brand umbrella with InterContinental Fujairah Resort later this year.
Moxy Frankfurt Airport Hotel Opens

Located at Frankfurt airport, just 15km from the city centre, Moxy Frankfurt Airport provides the perfect gateway to explore the culture and architecture in one of Germany's largest cities.

Moxy Hotels continues to expand in Europe with the launch of Moxy Frankfurt Airport, the brand's fourth hotel in Germany. Moxy Frankfurt Airport is the brand's tenth global outpost joining a fast-growing portfolio of destinations including Munich, Milan, Berlin, New Orleans, London and Vienna.

From photo booth elevators, to communal ironing rooms, to bedtime stories to checking in at the bar...every part of Moxy shakes up the traditional hotel experience," said Vicki Poulos, senior global brand director, Moxy Hotels. "Our Fun Hunter guests seek connections and experiences when they travel and want to feel inspired by their local surroundings. Moxy provides them with a fun hotel experience that enables just that, without the exorbitant price tag."

Located at Frankfurt airport, just 15km from the city centre, Moxy Frankfurt Airport provides the perfect gateway to explore the culture and architecture in one of Germany's largest cities. In true Moxy fashion, Moxy Frankfurt Airport will be a 24/7 spot for all things fun and impromptu with playful communal spaces, a buzzing bar and thoughtfully crafted offerings designed for travellers and locals who want to hang-out with their friends and meet new ones, without breaking the bank.

Moxy's fun, inclusive and youthful spirit is reflected in the combination of bold design and affordable style where communal engagement is at the centre of the experience. The interiors fuse refined and raw materials, organic and linear lines, and shared spaces. The Moxy experience kicks-off with a bright, airy and buzzing lobby. The contemporary lobby's modern furniture invites guests to relax, pick up a book from the Moxy library, connect and catch up with friends or retreat to the gym to re-energise by punching the pink Moxy punching bag. Guests of Moxy Frankfurt Airport are encouraged to take a selfie in the photo booth inspired hotel elevators, complete with props.

Moxy Frankfurt Airport's Living Room is the centre of activity, offering guests fun ways to work and play hard. Sealed concrete floors, walls lined with intriguing art and fun references to local culture including artistic beer jugs displayed on the walls are complemented by ambient lighting and comfortable accents of colour. The Living Room also features abundant power and USB outlets, and furiously fast and free Wi-Fi for ultimate connectivity. A high-energy yet cosy space for gatherings, special events or cocktails, the lounge plays host to eclectic upbeat music.

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The hotel's 305 contemporary guest rooms, ranging from standard to family size, are outfitted with sound-reducing walls, 42 LCD flat screen televisions, complimentary super-fast Wi-Fi, abundant USB ports, comfortable bedding and deep-seated armchairs in calming, neutral fabrics. Every bedroom makes a statement with a fun floor to ceiling art piece. The design is functional, flexible and uncluttered with simple, thoughtful touches including glass shelving and an open storage concept featuring a peg wall for ultimate flexibility when unpacking, in lieu of a traditional closet. Stylish bathrooms feature complimentary Muk toiletries, bright pink hair dryers, power showers and large mirrors alongside a spacious vanity area.

Moxy's 24/7 B&F (Beverage & Food), smart and fun self-service concept gives guests access to what they want, whenever they want it. The Moxy dining area offers lots of options for food and drink including fresh juices and a coffee bar. Guests can enjoy fresh Panini sandwiches and a range of healthy alternatives from salad to antipasti. An evening Crockpot entree will be served along with a variety of cocktails, craft beers and specialty wines. The bar is full-service and the hub of activity in the lobby  it also doubles as the hotel's physical check-in, where guests are greeted with a complimentary 'Got Moxy' cocktail upon arrival.

Moxy Frankfurt Airport has one flexible meeting space.

Moxy guests who are members of the award-winning Marriott Rewards loyalty programme will get exclusive access to even more digital features through the Marriott Mobile app when they book direct, including mobile check-in and check-out, keyless entry and Mobile Requests to make their travel experience seamless. Marriott Rewards members will also earn points for their stay at Moxy Hotels and can redeem for hotel stays across the Marriott Rewards portfolio of brands.

Special opening rates at the new Moxy Frankfurt Airport begin from 79.

Moxy Hotels first launched in Milan in September 2014. Moxy Tempe, Moxy Munich Airport, Moxy New Orleans, Moxy Frankfurt Eschborn, Moxy Berlin Ostbahnhof and Moxy Aberdeen Airport all opened in 2016. Moxy London Excel and Moxy Vienna Airport followed in 2017. The brand is entering the market in a bold way, with several additional identified projects slated for major metropolitan locations including Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco, Boston and Tokyo.
BETH COBERT NAMED CEO OF SKILLFUL

Posted by Press Releases on Tuesday, 04-25-2017 1:29 pm

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Former Head of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Will Oversee the Markle Foundations Work to Create a National Skills-based Labor Market New York, April 24, 2017 Markle Foundation CEO and President Zo Baird today announced the appointment of Beth Cobert, former Acting Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and a long-time leader at McKinsey & Company, as Chief Executive Officer of Skillful. Cobert will lead the Foundations work to enable all Americans to keep up with the transformations automation is bringing to jobs in the digital economy. Her appointment follows a nation-wide search for a strategic leader to oversee Skillfuls state-based efforts to create a labor market that values each individuals skillset and provides them with opportunity for a meaningful career path.  Beth is an extraordinary leader for our effort to enable anyone with a smart phone to have a smart career, said Markle CEO and President Zo Baird. Beth has a...

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Fax Machines Have Survived Digitalization: Yes! Corporates Still Use Them

Posted by Adam Korbl on Tuesday, 04-25-2017 6:09 am

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The world is growing in terms of technology and many redundant technical devices have been shown the door by businesses who are adopting the new age of technology. But amongst all this chaos the fax machine has kept its crown intact as an office device. Quick Facts Close to eighteen billion faxes get exchanged all over the globeFax are easy to use Get a hard copyPlace it in the fax machineSend it to the desired contactFax is cheaper than most communication tools Advantages of Fax Machines! Apart from the facts mentioned above fax machines have various other features: Secure Sony Pictures use fax machines for transmitting any confidential data or information. The reason? In 2014, Sony Pictures got hacked by North Korean Hacker, and as a result of that many confidential data such as client details and user social security numbers got compromised. To keep it short, let's just say that fax machines are more secure than the Internet and we all know that whatever is sent over the In...

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State Grant bolster's Telamon Insurance Commitment to Employee Training

Posted by Press Releases on Tuesday, 04-25-2017 3:06 am

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Westwood, MA-based Telamon Insurance and Financial Network receives state grant to enhance employee training and development. Telamon plans to use grant for employee career and personal development opportunities.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 c...

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DMK's MK Stalin has warned that 'the non-violent' protest may be used by 'anti-social elements' to instigate large scale violence.

Stalin warns that the non-violent protest may be used by anti-social elements to instigate large scale violence.

By Pramod Madhav: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has organised an all party protest against the Centre and the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) today for allegedly failing to take care of the farmers' needs. DMK's MK Stalin has warned that 'the non-violent' protest may be used by 'anti-social elements' to instigate large scale violence.

"Knowing that our protest for the cause of farmers' welfare will be a success, certain anti-social elements are trying to instigate violence. Do not fall for it and always follow the path of non-violence shown by Anna (CN Annadurai) and Kalaignar (Karunanidhi)," pleaded Stalin.

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The DMK called for the all party bandh across Tamil Nadu to extend support to the farmers who were protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The AIADMK and the BJP were not invited to participate as Stalin held them responsible for the farmers' plight.

AIADMK leaders claim that there is no need for the bandh now as Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami already met the protesting farmers over the issue. The AIADMK and the BJP also hit out at the bandh call terming it politically motivated

NORMALCY WON'T BE AFFECTED

In Chennai, public transport and some shops are open to avoid disruption of normal life. Daily life is not expected to be affected by the bandh. However, Stalin's disclaimer raises doubts on whether he has any premonition of Jallikattu protest -kind of violence.

On April 16, a meeting of parties including Congress, CPI(M), CPI, VCK, IUML chaired by DMK working president MK Stalin gave the bandh call.

According to DMK, the bandh is to urge the central and state governments to fulfil the demands of farmers and farm labourers which includes adequate relief and setting up of Cauvery Management Board.

ALSO READ | Tamil Nadu bandh: DMK's MK Stalin arrested during farmers protest in Thiruvarur

ALSO READ | Tamil Nadu braces for bandh today, major services likely to be hit

ALSO READ | After 41 days, Tamil Nadu farmers suspend their agitation in Delhi till May 25

ALSO WATCH | Tamil Nadu farmers suspend 41-day Jantar Mantar protest till May 25

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Although many employment agreements contain restrictive covenants of some type, when used for international assignments there may be issues with the enforceability of post-termination restrictions based on differences in laws in the home and host country. Every country has its own labor and employment laws that will often determine whether an employee on assignment will be subjected to enforcement. In most cases, it will depend on whether the covenants are similar to host country statutory limits and if the restriction or restraint is reasonable under the circumstances. While that may seem vague and hard to predict, there are methods to enhance enforceability in any country of business activity. Best Practices to Enhance Enforceability of Post-Termination Restrictions There are ways to improve the chances of enforceability of post-termination restrictions by following a few best practices. Draft the restrictive covenants to match the host country laws: Any restrictive covenant will only be enforceable in the host country if it complies with local standards, and any excessive restrictions may result in the entire clause being unenforceable. Covenants based solely on home country standards may be invalid. Document all communication of employment policies with employees:If employees are updated or given written policies, they should sign a document that they have read and understood the restrictions and agree to the terms. ...
R. Brian Dixon is a shareholder at leading global employment and labor law firm Littler Mendelsons San Francisco office. He has particular expertise in all aspects of employee compensation, including minimum wage, prevailing wage, overtime compensation obligations, and incentive compensation plans. We caught up with Brian to get his perspective on the wage and hour legislation trends for 2017, and how businesses can prepare. Please note that the following is his forecast of potential developments, and should not be considered legal advice. Whats the biggest trend to look out for in 2017? R. Brian Dixon: While there may be less activity  and possibly even some retrenching  on the federal level, there will continue to be state and local activity with respect to minimum wages, paid sick leave, and related laws. We will likely see more disputes between state governments and local governments as to when a local government has the authority to regulate wages and working conditions. What can we expect for overtime legislation in 2017, especially in light of the administration change? R. Brian Dixon: The injunction was issued against the immediate implementation of the increased salary pay rule, so theres some delay in dealing with the consequences of that increase. The DOL asked for expedited briefing on the subject because they wanted to articulate their position before the administration chan...
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
By Akshaya Nath: In the scorching heat of Tuesday morning, the streets of Chennai had come to a standstill in some of the most active zones of Tamil Nadu.

The famous shopping zones of Chennai like the ever-buzzing Pondy Bazar, Panagal Maligai and Ranganathan Street wore a deserted look. "With the Opposition parties calling for a hband in the state, we don't want to open any shops, we are also united in this cause," said a shop owner in Pondy Bazar.

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"The entire country is dependent on the earnings of the farmers and we won't be able to survive without them. The government needs to remember this, and that is exactly what they have failed to do," said Kanan, a medical shop owner at Panagal Maligai.

On a normal day, the streets that can be seen buzzing with activity and noise of autos and cars were silent. Most of the autos and shared autos in the state had also decided to stand in unison with the protesters in the state. "When the central and state government could take action about the liquor issue, why not about the farmer crisis. The farmers are the backbone of our society and we care the least about them," said KCP Saravanan, shared-auto union leader.

"We are standing in solidarity with the farmers of the state, and the people of Tamil Nadu are with us. All of them had been warned and given five to six days to prepare for the bandh," said DMK spokesperson A Saravanan, as the state of Tamil Nadu faced one of the biggest bandhs today.

The DMK along with the VCK, CPI, CPM, and Congress had called for this state-wide protest and Ayakkanu, the farmers' leader who had been protesting at Jantar Mantar for the last 40 days was also present for the protest in Chennai.

The drought situation in the state is one of the worst in 150 years, and over 400 farmers have already committed suicide. The number might increase, according to the farmers in the state. "The only solution left for us is to end this misery that we are going through. Our fellow farmers have been protesting for us in Delhi, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi still didn't feel it necessary to meet us. Doesn't it talk about how much the government cares about us?" questioned Muthuswami, a farmer from the Cauvery delta region.

The government has suggested alternative cultivation and also has instructed the district officials to take necessary step to solve the water crisis but the efforts do not solve the struggle that the farmers in the districts are facing. The ongoing power struggle that is there in the state has also left the farmers in the lurch and the reason for the continuous protest by the farmers. "We don't have a proper power system in the state now. After the death of Jayalalithaa, no one has been caring about the farmers," said Karupuswamy, another farmer from the Cauvery delta region.

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As the day winded up in Chennai, lot of shops slowly started opening and the crowd started trickling in. The day-long protest came to an end by 5pm and the Opposition party which was successful in conducting an all-party protest seemed overly elated by its effort. "We thank the people of Tamil Nadu for making the bandh a success," said the working President of the DMK, MK Stalin.

Also read: Was Tamil Nadu bandh, initially in name of protesting farmers in Delhi, more about DMK's show of strength?

Also read: Tamil Nadu farmers get heroic welcome, vow to continue fight

--- ENDS ---
The African Founding Father of California, a "Hidden Figure" to be discovered by Khubaka, Michael Harris

The "hidden figures" of California African American Heritage remains a difficult and challenging notion given the difficult journey towards freedom. Today, AB 783 (Weber) may find a way to begin to officially quantify and qualify on the record the profound contributions to the forward flow of humanity by people of African ancestry throughout the State of California.

Honorable William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. was born in Christiansted on St. Croix in the Danish West Indies (now the American Virgin Islands) on 23 October 1810 to Wilhelm Alexander Leidesdorff, Senior and Anna Marie Spark.



William father was a veterinarian manager from the Altona, Hamburg (part of the Danish Schleswig-Holstein) and his mother was of African ancestry, quite possibly from Cuba. Wilhelm and Anna Marie held a common law marriage and had four children with William the oldest. In 1837 all of the children were officially adopted by Wilhelm giving them a legal status as Danish citizens. William was sent to Denmark for his education.



Williams father had come from Denmark as a sailor to the newly forming United States of America and found himself working as a sugar seller in New Orleans while it was still under Spanish rule. In 1800 Bonaparte took the region but sold it to the United States to finance his wars in Europe and Haiti. Wilhelm and Anna Marie met and fell in love. Eventually they moved to the Danish West Indies and he took a job as a veterinarian manager in today's US Virgin Islands.



Leidesdorff was baptized as a child in the Lutheran Church and a strong community of friends saw to the boys mercantile and social education. Eventually he was sent to Flensburg, Denmark to further his education where a boy became a man. Arriving back in St. Croix, with the blessings of his parents, young William began his maritime career delivering and selling cotton from the Port of New Orleans to to New York. After becoming a naturalised US citizen in 1834 he worked his way up to Captain and was a successful trader throughout the Caribbean Basin and beyond.



William became a master mariner and his services as ships captain moved him around the East coast of North America, down into the Caribbean and even over to Europe. He built a reputation that kept him in demand. Louisiana Negro Seamen's Law of 1830 required out-of-state black seamen to depart with their ships or leave the state in thirty days if their vessel were not being prepared for an outbound voyage. Leidesdorff, was said to be the last ship captain operating out of the Port of New Orleans.



According to legend, he met the love of his life, a belle of New Orleans, Hortense down in Ole New Orleans and eventually asked her to marry him. William had been passing in Louisiana society as a European-American but decided to tell Hortense of his African blood after asking her hand in marriage. This upset her family so much that she not only annulled the engagement but committed suicide.



Heartbroken for many reasons, Leidesdorff solid reputation and official record was disparaged. He worked to clear his name and was contacted by Mr. J.C. Jones, who had been a former U.S. Consul in the Hawaiian Islands. Jones contracted with Leidesdorff to utilize the Julia Ann, a 106 ton schooner in the Pacific.



Official records of voyages of a vessel captained by William A. Leidesdorff. throughout his career offer source documentation of his international maritime activities. Captain Leidesdorff left New York about January, 1841 and navigated the Julia Ann as Captain down the Caribbean and the South American coastline, and transited the dangerous Straits of Magellan, up the coast and out to Hawaii. According to accounts by John C. Davis, a mariner and shipwright who knew Leidesdorff.



During her passage through the Straits she encountered many delays and perils, having almost constant head-winds, and being in great dread of the Indians, who were cannibals and who swarmed about the vessel in their canoes, a little distance off, apparently waiting an opportunity to pounce upon the schooner and capture all on board. A constant watch was therefore kept up to prevent such a calamity. They finally got through the Straits, and were greatly relieved to find themselves beyond the reach of the savages.



US Consul Jones, the ship Julia Anns title holder, left New York aboard another vessel headed for Panama where he was to continue the voyage with Leidesdorff. Jones crossed the forty miles of jungle and waited in Balboa. Weather delays in the Straits of Magellan caused Jones to wait sixty days before continuing on the then Sandwich Islands. This was not pioneer Boston trader Jones only vessel. He owned several other ships, the Volunteer, Louisa and Harriet Blanchard, all of which traded successfully throughout the Pacific Rim Basin.



Jones thought the Julia Ann had been lost around Cape Horn and was arranging to charter another schooner to go to Yerba Buena when his schooner dropped anchor and relieved his worries. John C. Davis, who narrates this story of Leidesdorffs arrival in Yerba Buena/ San Francisco had a brother, Robert G. Davis, who booked the voyage aboard Julia Ann in Panama to deliver merchandise along the coast of California. Two other passengers who made the trip north from Panama were Mr. John Weed of New York and J.J. Warner. The Julia Ann cleared into the Mexican Capitol of California, Monterey (100 miles south of San Francisco), on 22 June 1841.



When finally they anchored off the small cove village on the northern side of the Yerba Buena peninsula the record show Leidesdorff did not see it as tiny fishing village but a major maritime cosmopolitan trading port. His global perspective by personal experiential learning were the motivation utilized by Captain William A. Leidesdorff as his vision is seen today.



In 1844, Leidesdorff the first shipping storage warehouse, and upgraded the first San Francisco hotel in 1846, called The City Hotel (and it had a saloon), he expanded trading routes to fill his warehouse with global commodities and as the population grew to sell through his general retail store, the first shipyard, the first lumberyard adjacent to his warehouse.



He established steady trading agreements with the Russians in Alaska, Hawaiians in the Sandwich Islands, Mexicans in Lower California and the maintained essential ties in New Oleans, New York, Boston and with family in the Caribbean.



Through his vision and foresight acumen, he developed and stabilized agricultural innovation in the Sacramento Valley. He brought the first steam powered vessel to work the Sacramento River and American River to expand his significant investment at Sutter's Fort and beyond.



By 1844 Leidesdorff had become a naturalised Mexican qualifying himself the next year for an 35,000-acre land grant on the American River that he called the Rancho Rio de Los Americanos. He made the Rio de Los Americanos into a cattle and wheat ranch to serve both the needs of food and hides. Part of his vast estate is now the City of Folsom and Rancho Cordova.



Leidesdorff died and was buried on 18 May 1848, leaving behind a vast estate that was in question for years. Prior to his untimely death he had received official notification of vast quantities of gold on his immense cattle and wheat ranch along today's State Highway Route 50 corridor.



Adopted by the California State Assembly in 2003 and passing the Senate in 2004, Assembly Concurrent Resolution no. 131 designated a specified portion of State Highway Route 50 as the William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. Memorial Highway.
Today, new US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was sworn in by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and convened a group of Agriculture leadership in the White House. Tomorrow, the California Assembly Agriculture Committee weighs in on a path toward California Farm Equity. "With the uncertainty surrounding federal programs and grants, California can and should lead the way by investing in our farmers," said Assemblymember Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara). "California farmers  particularly farmers from underrepresented communities  have historically faced numerous obstacles but accessing government resources should not be one of them."

Sacramento, California  Later this week, farmers of color will have their first hearing on a bill that would change the way the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) engages with this growing demographic of California farmers. Farmer Equity Act (AB 1348)  authored by Assemblymember Cecila Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) and co-authored by Assemblymembers Caballero (DSalinas), Eggman (D-Stockton) and Limon (D-Santa Barbara)  defines Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers in California Food and Agriculture code and enables CDFA to better provide resources, outreach, technical assistance and decision-making power to farmers and ranchers of color who have been historically under-served by the state and federal governments."As a farmer, I know how hard it can be to succeed in this business. If you don't know what resources and programs are available to help you, you're already at a disadvantage. On top of that, farmers of color receive less government aid and earn less money on average, said Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry. They need a place at the table. The Farmer Equity Act will ensure that we have a plan to include socially disadvantaged farmers in our states agricultural programs and decision-making.Farmers of color have historically been subject to discriminatory practices in agriculture: from being denied land ownership in the early 19th and 20th centuries, to receiving less in government loans compared to their white counterparts. These historic civil rights struggles led to the codification of Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the 1990 Farm Bill in efforts to provide better outreach and assistance to these underserved farmers and ranchers."Sustainable and local agriculture runs deep in the traditions of California's immigrant farmers and farmers of color, but so do the inequities in accessing grant programs for environmental stewardship and market enhancement explains Kristyn Leach, a Korean-American farmer in Sunol. Taking the step to support existing and next generation farmers of color will protect our local food economies, our natural resources and our agricultural traditions in California."If AB 1348 passes, it will add the the federal definition of Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Socially Disadvantaged Group  a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic or gender prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities  to the California Food and Agriculture Code. These groups include people who are African American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic, Asian-American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander."With the uncertainty surrounding federal programs and grants, California can and should lead the way by investing in our farmers," said Assemblymember Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara). "California farmers  particularly farmers from underrepresented communities  have historically faced numerous obstacles but accessing government resources should not be one of them."California is leading the nation in the growing diversity of its farmers and ranchers. Between 2007 and 2012, census data show that California has the largest increase of Asian-American farmers of any state with over 3,500 producers. And, today, California ranks third in the nation in concentration of Hispanic/Latino farmers.Yet, despite this significant growth, farmers of color tend to earn less money on average and receive 36 percent less in government funding than their white counterparts.Farmers of color, including Hmong farmers, are often overlooked in California agriculture, said Chukou Thao, executive director of National Hmong American Farmers, based in Fresno. California can spur additional innovation in farming by making the necessary investments in and connections to farmers that face barriers due to language, culture or resources.AB 1348 will also ensure farmers of color in our urban centers are not overlooked  another growing demographic of farmers crucial for providing food in places where fresh fruits and vegetables can be difficult to find.In California, nearly one million people in 371 census tracts live in food deserts. Urban farming has a real chance to transform the hood for good, but in many of these tracts its easier to get a fifth of vodka than it is to get fresh fruit and vegetables, explains Chanowk Yisrael, founder of Yisrael Family Farms. Urban farmers are grassroots organizers leading the charge to combat impacts of eating in food deserts, but face unique barriers related to water, food sales and soil contamination. This is why urban farmers, especially those who are non-white, deserve a voice in policymaking.Advocates say it is time for California to recognize this growing shift in farmer demographics and adequately enhance and modify their outreach, technical assistance, resources and decision-making power to these farmers crucial for producing our food.Currently, in the absence of adequate state outreach and technical assistance, nonprofits have been filling the void:Reggie Knox from California FarmLink, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution that provides capital and land access to small farmers, many of whom are farmers of color, explains: "The average age of today's farmer in California is 60, and the backbone of the next generation of California agriculture is changing and diversifying. Beginning farmers, many of whom are increasingly farmers of color, face significant barriers to enter agriculture. Support from FarmLink and its peers is tailored to prepare California's newest farmers for success. The State of California can also take steps to fully equip them to feed the state and fuel its economy.AB 1348 is opportune, as more resources for farmers and ranchers have been emerging in recent years through CDFA programs and farmland conservation strategies. This bill will ensure all farmers have fair access to these important resources.The bill would also ensure greater coordination of programs and policies for farmers of color by requiring CDFA to consult with other state agencies and enabling the Department to hire a position dedicated to integrating Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers throughout department programs and policies. Additionally, AB 1348 requires CDFA to prepare a report to identify the barriers farmers face, as well as opportunities, for greater engagement and support.Contact: Paul Towers, ptowers [at] panna.org (link sends e-mail), 916-216-1082
It is almost ten years since three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished from the Portuguese coastal village of Praia da Luz.

Despite numerous public appeals, high-profile backers such as J. K. Rowling, and millions of pounds in public money, detectives have been unable to trace the youngster, who had been holidaying with her siblings and parents, Kate and Gerry, at the time.

Here is a timeline of events in the years following her disappearance.

2007

:: May 3 - Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, leave their three children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

Nothing is amiss when Mr McCann checks on the youngsters just after 9pm, but when his wife goes back at about 10pm she finds three-year-old Madeleine missing.

Jane Tanner, one of the friends dining with the McCanns, reports seeing a man carrying a child earlier that night.

:: May 4 - Sniffer dogs are brought in, the Spanish and border police and airports are notified, and volunteer teams continue combing the village, resort and beach for clues.

Fears grow that Madeleine has been abducted and friends of the McCanns accuse the Portuguese police of not doing enough to find her.

:: May 14 - Detectives take Anglo-Portuguese property developer Robert Murat in for questioning and make him an "arguido", or formal suspect.

Officers also search the home he shares with his mother in Praia da Luz, just 100 yards from where the youngster vanished.

:: May 30 - Mr and Mrs McCann meet the Pope in Rome in the first of a series of trips around Europe and beyond to highlight the search for their daughter.

:: June 3 - Children's author J.K. Rowling says she is considering putting bookmarks bearing Madeleine's face in copies of her final instalment of the Harry Potter book series.

:: August 11 - Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.

:: September 7 - During questioning of Mr and Mrs McCann, detectives make them both ''arguidos'' in their daughter's disappearance.

:: August 31 - The McCanns launch a libel action against newspaper Tal e Qual which claimed they killed their daughter.

:: September 9 - The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

:: October 2 - Goncalo Amaral, the detective in charge of the inquiry, is removed from the case after criticising the British police in a Portuguese newspaper interview.

:: November 2 - Kate McCann makes a desperate plea for information on the eve of the six-month anniversary of her daughter's disappearance.

:: November 6 - Chairman of the Portuguese Union of Police Detectives, Carlos Anjos, says the McCann family have helped create an unhelpful "monster of information" by seeking a high-profile press campaign.

:: December 25 - Kate and Gerry McCann send an anguished public message to their daughter Madeleine telling her: "Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again."

2008

:: July 21 - The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the "arguido" status of the McCanns and Robert Murat.

:: July 24 - Mr Amaral publishes a book about the case, entitled The Truth Of The Lie, in which he alleges that the young girl died in her family's holiday flat on the day she went missing. He later takes part in a documentary for Portuguese television in which he claimed that Madeleine was dead, that there had been no abduction and the McCanns had hidden her body.

:: August 4 - Thousands of pages of evidence from the Portuguese police files in the exhaustive investigation into Madeleine's disappearance are made public. They reveal details of the lines of inquiry pursued by detectives, witness statements and scores of previously unknown sightings of the little girl.

2009

:: May 1 - Kate and Gerry McCann appeal for new information and release a computer-generated image depicting how Madeleine might look two years after she first disappeared.

:: September 9 - A Portuguese judge bans further sale or publication of Mr Amaral's book following legal action by Mr and Mrs McCann. This injunction is later upheld before being overturned on appeal.

2011

:: May 12 - Mrs McCann publishes a book about her daughter's disappearance, on Madeleine's eighth birthday. Scotland Yard launches a review of the case after a request from Home Secretary Theresa May supported by Prime Minister David Cameron.

2012

:: April 25 - Scotland Yard detectives say they believe Madeleine could still be alive, release an age-progression picture of how she might look as a nine-year-old, and call on the Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, but Portuguese police say they have found no new material.

2013

:: July 4 - Scotland Yard confirms that it has launched its own investigation into Madeleine's disappearance two years into a review of the case. It has ''genuinely new'' lines of inquiry and has identified 38 people of interest, including 12 Britons.

:: October 17 - Scotland Yard says it has received more than 2,400 calls and emails following television appeals in the UK, Holland and Germany. Around another 1,250 calls were made to studios in the three countries.

:: October 24 - Portuguese police confirm that a review of their original investigation has uncovered new lines of inquiry, and reopen the case.

:: November 27 - Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said British and Portuguese police should join together as one team in their investigations.

2014

:: January 29 - British detectives fly to Portugal amid claims they are planning to make arrests.

:: March 20 - Prime Minister David Cameron has said he is willing to step in if the British investigation into the disappearance is held up by delays in the Portuguese legal system.

:: June 3 - Sniffer dogs and specialist teams are used to search an area of scrubland close to where Madeleine went missing.

2015

:: April 28 - Lisbon court orders Goncalo Amaral to pay Kate and Gerry McCann 250,000 euros (209,000) each in damages over claims made in The Truth Of The Lie and bans further sales of the book.

:: September 16 - The Government discloses that the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine has cost more than 10 million.

:: October 28 - Scotland Yard's investigation into the disappearance has been cut from 29 officers to four.

2016

:: April 3 - Home Secretary Theresa May grants UK police Operation Grange 95,000 to continue. Police confirm the investigation will be extended for a further six months.

:: April 19 - Portuguese appeal court overturns Mr Amaral's libel conviction.

2017

:: January 31 - Portugal's Supreme Court rules against the McCanns' 500,000 euro (418,000) libel claim against Goncalo Amaral. Court officials say the claims made in his book are protected by freedom of expression laws.

:: March 11 - Home Office grants Operation Grange 85,000 to continue between April and September.

:: April 25 - Kate and Gerry McCann describe the approaching tenth anniversary of their daughter's disappearance as a "horrible marker of time, stolen time" on the official Find Madeleine campaign website.
In Person Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein: I Do Not Think We Can Build Peace Quickly

Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein, former vice chairperson of the KNU. / Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy

Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein is the former vice chairperson of the Karen National Union (KNU). She is a longstanding KNU leader and has served the organization as a schoolteacher, womens rights activist, general secretary and vice chairperson. Recently she lost a KNU election due to a power struggle within the leadership. Because of her cautious approach to the peace process between the KNU and the Burmese government, she is branded by Burmese peace negotiators and some observers as a hardliner. The Irrawaddys senior reporter Saw Yan Naing sat down with Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein and asked her about the KNU election, newly-elected leaders and the peace process.

MAE SARIANG, Thailand

You were not re-elected in the KNU congress. What is the overview of that recent congress?

The elected leaders already had plans for this congress. They believed they would move forward with the peace process smoothly if they were elected. People see two groups within the KNU. They think one group goes along with the peace process but they categorize the other as not loving peace. They call us hardlinersincluding me.

Burmese peace negotiators and outsiders think people like me and Gen Baw Kyaw Heh [second in command in the KNUs military wing] are hardliners and that we dont support the peace process. This greatly impacts the KNU because even our colleagues categorizes us as hardliners, and spread that information.

This congress is worrisome. International governments including the US and the EU worried about who was elected, and the Burma Army and former government worried about hardliners being chosen.

You said propaganda caused people from the Burma Army and the international community to consider you a hardliner. What is your explanation to them?

We do not see ourselves as hardliners. There is no one within the KNU leadership who does not love peace. But people think of us as hardliners because we stand firmly on our policy. For example, I do not easily agree with the Burma Army. In a dinner meeting with representatives from the Burma Army, they said they would give two cars for use at a liaison office in Pa-an. But before the liaison office opens, the cars will be used for business. I rejected the idea because we have not discussed business among KNU leaders. I do not agree easily if we are not properly consulted. So, they see me as a hardliner.

Why you are cautious with the peace process? What are your concerns?

It has been over 60 years since we began our armed resistance. We cannot find a solution for peace at once. We have to work carefully and be honest in building genuine peace around the country. We need a good foundation and to go step by step. We have been pressured to go quickly but I do not think we can build peace quickly.

When I met a Burmese government delegation for the first time in 2011, I was doubtful because they said we had to rush to bring peace or else the Burma Army would take back power. I feel like we were pressured and threatened even from the first meeting so I hesitated and lost confidence in the process.

What is your expectation of the newly-elected KNU leaders?

My biggest concern is the Burma Army. It should withdraw its troops from the KNU territories, especially areas near civilians homes.

My priority is the withdrawal of troops because there should be safety for displaced civilians. If Burma Army troops withdraw from villages, civilians can return home and live without fear. We have asked for this since 2012 and we believed this would happen after we signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA). But it has not happened even a year after signing the NCA and no one mentions it. I want to see the new leaders press this issue for the sake of civilians.

Some newly elected central standing committee members lack political experience, while experienced leaders like you were not re-elected. Do you have any concerns about the new leadership?

It is our ethnic Karen way of thinking; people who love to discuss and debate are not wanted. Some elected leaders do not talk much. They do not complain or point out other peoples weaknesses. They worry about being disliked if they complain. Leaders who like to debate are not elected so there is no opposition within the leadership.

There are no women serving as KNU leaders. What is womens role as far as leadership?

Some leaders do not think much regarding the role of women. They think if women are skilled, they will be included in the leadership. And if they are not skilled, they will be excluded. They also think women are talkative and curious because women are not like men. Women are outspoken. But men dare not to speak to each other openly. Women are straightforward.

Women suffer in war. Some serve as local community leaders in conflict areas. Civilian safety is related to womens affairs. Men dont suffer like women. Women suffer even after war. But men do not understand. Making peace is not only about stopping the fighting. It is about ensuring safety for civilians, especially women. Women should be included in the leadership.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Burma Union Govt Demands Former Magwe Division Govt Return Missing Development Funds

Small-scale oil production sites in Magwe Divison. / J Paing / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Magwe Division chief minister Dr. Aung Moe Nyo threatened legal action against his predecessor if missing regional development funds collected in taxes from small-scale oil producers under the previous government were not returned.

The Union government instructed the previous divisional government led by U Phone Maw Shwe to return over 3 billion kyats including over 1.7 billion kyats allegedly spent on the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

Lower House lawmaker U Tun Tun of Magwes Pwintbyu Township asked Parliament in May 2016 about the alleged embezzlement of regional development funds by the previous Magwe Division government.

The Bureau of Special Investigations under the Ministry of Home Affairs launched an investigation and found that missing funds amounted to 7.5 billion kyats. The investigations findings were submitted to the Presidents Office earlier this month.

The Union government has instructed the missing funds be returned. If they dont comply, we will take legal action as instructed [by the Union government], Dr. Aung Moe Nyo told The Irrawaddy.

The Union government sent letters dated April 18 to former Magwe Division chief minister U Phone Maw Shwe and chairman of the Magwe Division Development Foundation and Shwe Thukha Microcredit Association U Nyi Tun asking them to answer for the missing funds.

The letter instructed the two to return 1.7 billion kyats, four cars, a digger, and two boats donated to the USDP through the Magwe Division Development Foundation, as well as over 1.5 billion kyats of funds transferred to the microcredit association.

Lawmaker U Tun Tun said the previous divisional government also needed to provide detailed accounts of its so-called development expenditure of over 4.1 billion kyats from divisional development funds.

Public funds should only be used for the welfare of the public. It is against the laws of the Union Election Commission to spend [public funds] on a particular party, said U Tun Tun.

Though it cant be called bribery, it is surely misappropriation, he said.

The current government of Magwe Division also levied a tax on small-scale crude oil producers3,000 kyats per barrel of crude oilsince June 2 last year, and recorded a taxation of over 1.2 billion kyats until April.

It also recorded an increase of over 1.9 billion kyats in revenues from municipal licensing fees in the 2016-17 fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal year.

The Magwe Division government met to discuss the missing funds on Tuesday.
Burma Chinese Officials Push for Kyaukphyu SEZ to Move Forward

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi meet with CITIC delegates in Naypyidaw last week. / Myanmar State Counsellor Office / Facebook

RANGOON  During a trip to Arakan States Kyaukphyu Township on Monday, Chinese official Wang Yajun emphasized that his country aims for the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to be up and running as soon as possible, local sources said.

Kyaukphyu Township administrator U Nyi Nyi Lwin said that along with Wang Yajunwho is the assistant minister of the international department of the Communist Party of Chinas (CPC) central committeea regional official from the Chinese CITIC investment conglomerate and several diplomats were present on the visit, holding talks with local authorities and businesspeople.

U Nyi Nyi Lwin said that CPC delegates expressed an eagerness to begin the SEZ project without delay, as the state-owned conglomerate CITIC was already awarded the tender to develop a deep sea port and an industrial zone by the previous government.

The visitors also explained how they would promote relationships between locals and Chinese businesspeople.

Local businessman U Tin Aung Soe, who operates May Phone More Hotel near the seashore, said that Chinese delegates and 10 Kyaukphyu businesspeople had a one-hour discussion at his hotel. He also asked Wang Yajun whether the Chinese government would develop a railroad in near future, linking Yunnan Provinces Kunming with Kyaukphyu, but was told a that memorandum of understanding on the project had not yet been reached.

Another meeting attendee, U Hla Myo Kyaw, said that the Chinese delegates asked for opinions on the ground regarding the SEZ development. He told them that locals still have not yet recovered from land confiscation suffered during the pursuit of offshore gas terminals and pipelines by the China National Petroleum Corporation.

Negative images of previous projects could hit the forthcoming SEZ project, he said.

Chinese delegates said they assumed that a lack of interaction between locals and the Chinese officials had contributed to misunderstandings, and promised to arrange more meetings in the future.

Kyaukphyu Rural Development Association coordinator U Tun Kyi criticized the meeting between Chinese delegation and the Kyaukphyu business community as lacking in transparency. He also said that the delegates had highlighted past financial support of a 15 billion-kyat livestock project in 2015 in Kyaukphyu.

However, U Tun Kyi added that until SEZ law more clearly addresses rates for farmland compensation, there will be no advantages for locals if the government proceeds with the project with the [current] SEZ laws.

Recently, about 100 fishermen were charged with trespassing by the fisheries department in Kyaukphyu and fined 50,000 kyats for being in restricted territorial waters, in an area which is now reserved for international cargo ships docking at the Maday Island deep sea port, said U Tun Kyi.

The start of an SEZ project in the area could further harm livelihoods like these, he predicted.

The Chinese delegates, led by CITIC chairman Chang Zhenming, also met with Burmas State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last week and discussed their joint venture projects in Burmas energy and transportation sectors, including the Kyaukphyu deep sea port. Dr. Than Myint, of the ministry of commerce, also reportedly talked with Chan Zhenming separately in Naypyidaw.

In late February, the International Commission of Jurists urged the government to amend SEZ law in order to meet international standards to protect human rights, and also suggested that the governments SEZ body had breached UN principles.
Burma RCSS/SSA-S National-level Political Dialogue at a Standstill

An RCSS/SSA military parade in 2016. / Ye Ni / The Irrawaddy

NAYPYIDAW  The Burma government and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-S) have not yet reached an agreement on the venue for holding ethnic-based national-level dialogue in Shan State.

Weve asked to hold the Shan political dialogue in Taunggyi or Panglong but we are still unable to agree on a venue, said RCSS/SSA-S spokesperson Col Sai La.

RCSS/SSA-S leaders discussed the issue at a Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM) on Monday, but government authorities only replied that they would consider it, said Col Sai La.

The RCSS/SSA-S has requested that the dialogue be held in the state capital for convenience of transportation, but it was reported that the Burma Army told the RCSS to conduct the public consultations in remote RCSS-controlled towns.

The national-level political dialogue is a mandatory step of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), where regional stakeholders discuss suggestions at large-scale public consultations, the results of which are shared by representatives at the Union Peace Conference.

The RCSS/SSA-S has proposed holding national-level political talks for respective ethnic groups in Shan State, as opposed to dividing the talks by region.

We dont object to holding talks in respective regions but Im afraid that such talks will not be complete, as they will not take into account the views of various sub-groups, said Col Sai La.

The RCSS/SSA-S is one of eight signatories of the NCA. The others are the Karen National Union, Chin National Front, Pa-O National Liberation Organization, Arakan Liberation Party, All Burma Students Democratic Front, Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, and the KNU/KNLA Peace Council.

Ongoing territory disputes between the Burma Army and the RCSS/SSA-S also remain unsolved, adding to the Burma Armys reluctance to allow the RCSS to hold ethnic-based political dialogue in Taunggyi.

The JICM on Monday brought no resolution, leaving the issue at a standstill.

Of eight ethnic NCA signatories, only the RCSS/SSA-S and Arakan Liberation Party have not yet held national-level political talks.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
While DMK's Stalin claimed that the shutdown across Tamil Nadu was a 'great success' to highlight farmers' cause, questions are being raised about whether it gave the party a chance to flaunt its cadres' strength.

By Pramod Madhav: With the Tamil Nadu farmers ending their 41-day protest at Jantar Mantar on April 23 for about a month after meeting chief minister Palaniswami, the rationale behind the DMK's going ahead with its statewide bandh today over the issue was unclear.

While DMK leader MK Stalin claimed that the 'all party bandh' across Tamil Nadu was a 'great success', questions are being raised about whether the agitation provided the party an opportunity to show its strength in numbers and wasn't primarily about espousing the farmers' cause.

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Stalin was arrested in his father Karunanidhi's constituency Thiruvarur for staging a road roko, where he had gone to express solidarity with the distressed Tamil Nadu farmers, who have temporarily put off their agitation following assurances from CM Palaniswami.

THE STORY IN DETAIL After being arrested, Stalin refused to get into the police vehicle and instead walked nearly five kilometers to the holding hall. In Chennai, the situation was totally different as with no key DMK leaders around, former Chennai Mayor M Subramaniam led the agitation along with CPI, CPM, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Congress. While second-string DMK leaders managed to get around 6,000 cadres to assemble for the protest in Chennai's Saidapet, these party workers staged a road roko choking the Saidapet road upto Guindy, leading to long traffic snarls. Talking about the need for such a protest, VCK leader Thirumavalan said, "The Centre is not at all concerned about the needs of the farmers. Hence such kind of a protest became necessary. All shops were closed and people of all the trade unions are with us. Prime Minister Modi didn't meet our farmers in Delhi. People of Tamil Nadu have taught him a lesson. They are fully supporting us", he said. Thirumavalan also added that the lack of leadership had compounded the plight of the farmers. Back in Thirvarur, Stalin took potshots against the chief minister, claiming that EPS had become inaccessible just like Jayalalitha and was not worried about the farmers of the state reeling under drought and the drinking water crisis the state was likely to face in the near future. When asked what was the point of holding the bandh when the farmers had called off their protest, CPM leader G Ramakrishnan, "Today's bandh was to condemn the way Modi has been treating our farmers and we wanted to show our solidarity towards them." But here's the inside story. It seems Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswami's visit to Delhi to participate in the Niti Ayog meeting changed the course of the farmers' protest. Reportedly, DMK had urged the farmers protesting in Delhi to end their agitation a day prior to Palaniswami's visit, but officials from Tamil Nadu somehow convinced the farmers to carry on with their protest until the chief minister intervened. Palaniswami's stepping into the matter and helping to bring the farmers' protest to an end certainly helped him score a few brownie points, something that allegedly irked the DMK working president, who claimed that calling off the bandh at the eleventh hour would have been an embarrassment for his party. In such a way, the 'all party protest' in support to the farmers of Tamil Nadu actually enabled the DMK flaunt its numerical strength to the Centre.

Also read | Tamil Nadu bandh: DMK's MK Stalin arrested during farmers protest in Thiruvarur

Also read | Tamil Nadu bandh: Anti-social elements may instigate violence, says DMK's Stalin

Also read | Tamil Nadu farmers get heroic welcome, vow to continue fight

WATCH VIDEO

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Burma Safe Stolen from Mandalay Ministers Office

Mandalay regional minister of ethnic affairs U Sai Kyaw Zaw speaks to media after discovering his office was burgled. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

MANDALAY  A safe containing cash and personal documents was stolen from the office of the Mandalay regional minister of Shan ethnic affairs U Sai Kyaw Zaw in the regional government building over Thingyan, the minister told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

According to the minister, 100,000 kyats in cash and his vehicle registration documents were inside the safe. No documents related to my office or the ministry were stolen, he added.

Although the safe is small [1.5-feet square] it is quite heavy and would take two or three men to carry, he said, adding that he only noticed the safe was missing when he returned to his office from a trip abroad on Tuesday.

Mandalay District Police officer, Police Col Thet Win said a case had been filed and a special team had been formed to investigate, he said.

It is still too early to say if an insider was involved. We believe we will find the culprits very soon, said the police colonel.

The Minister said he was burgled around April 20, according to security camera footage, although the robbery itself was not recorded as the CCTV cameras were tampered with.

The office of U Myo Thit, the regional minister of natural resources and environment, was also broken into.

We saw screwdrivers and tools from U Myo Thits office in my office, I think they [the thieves] tried to open the safe but were unsuccessful and later took away the whole thing, said U Sai Kyaw Zaw.

I wonder how the thieves knew U Myo Thits office had screwdrivers and tools, he said, adding that he believed it was an inside job.

News of the incident was shared widely on social media. Netizens argued that if Mandalay police cannot keep government offices secure, there is little hope for the citys residents.
Burma Trafficked Woman Reunited With Parents After 13 Years

Police at Mudon Township / Nai Ko Thu / Facebook

RANGOON  A Mon woman trafficked into China 13 years ago was reunited with her parents on April 23 after escaping her captors.

Mi Khin Si (not her real name) was aged 17 when she took a train from her grandmothers home in Ye Township, Mon State, to her own home in Mudon Township. During the journey she accepted a juice that was drugged, and was taken to Rangoon, where she was forced to work in a restaurant for three months.

Her abductorsyet to be identifiedthen sold the teenager to a Chinese man in the northern Shan State border town of Muse. It was the first of two forced marriages that she finally managed to flee with the help of human rights activist Nai Ko Thu.

In the first forced marriage, the man bought Mi Khin Si for 60,000 yuan (USD$8,750), said Nai Ko Thu, who is also a member of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society. She had two children over 12 years, he added, before the man told her she could visit her parents.

Mi Khin Si did not make it home, as she was trafficked again at the border and forced to marry another Chinese man, who badly abused her. Using the social media app WeChat, she asked Burmese friends for help.

They connected the woman with Nai Ko Thu, who visited her parents and explained the reason behind their daughters disappearance. They had accepted that she had died or been taken more than a decade before, said the activist, but this time they filed a case at Mudon Police Station.

Mi Khin Si sent her location to Nai Ko Thu, who coordinated with anti-trafficking police on both sides of the border. A lack of action in the case pushed the activist to convince the woman to report to Chinese police.

She was detained and lost contact with Nai Ko Thu when her phone was confiscated after nearly three weeks. Chinese police deported her on April 9, the same day Burmese border police informed Nai Ko Thu of her return.

Burmese police transported her first to Rangoon, then Moulmein, and finally Mudon, where, at the age of 30, she saw her parents again. Her children remain with their father in China.

Five suspects have been arrested and a further five are still at large, said Nai Ko Thu.

Chinese law does not take action against the person who buys the victim and enslaves her as a wife, he said. We can only take action against the traffickers.

Thein Zaw Myint, a police officer at Mudon Township investigating the crime, told The Irrawaddy that they would cooperate with Mi Khin Si and border police to find the culprits.

We will do what we can for the victim, he said.

Trafficking is Endemic

There were 85 cases of forced marriage out of 307 victims of trafficking last year, according to government statistics released in January, although the US State Department 2016 Trafficking In Persons shows that the number of victims may be largely underreported.

The Central Body for the Suppression of Trafficking in Persons under Burmas Ministry of Home Affairs said a total of 131 instances of trafficking led to 307 victims, of whom 213 were women and 94 were men. Forty-one were children under 16, according to the office.

China topped the list with 88 cases. Twenty-eight people were trafficked within Burma, while nine were trafficked to Thailand and six were trafficked to Malaysia.

Human trafficking is still endemic throughout Myanmar, said Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of human rights advocacy group Fortify Rights. Social media apps have been a double-edged sword throughout the region. Weve seen traffickers use a variety of platforms to communicate during the last few years in particular.

Weve also documented how trafficking syndicates with links to Myanmar have used international banks, particularly in Thailand and Malaysia, to transfer funds in the buying and selling of men, women, and children.

Its difficult to say whether trafficking is on the rise in Myanmar because its a crime in the shadows, but the authorities certainly havent done enough to combat it. Through its ongoing use of forced labor, which constitutes a form of trafficking, the military is still likely the regions worst offender.

Last June, the United States listed Burma as among the worst offenders in human trafficking. It classified Burma as a Tier 3 country in its Trafficking in Persons reportthe lowest possible rankingand stated that thousands of people displaced by conflict within the country were especially vulnerable to trafficking.
News Commercial Porn Distribution a Hard Swallow for Burmese Authorities

A screengrab from Art of Myanmar production company's pornographic film Nurse. / Art of Myanmar Production / Facebook

RANGOON  Burmese police are investigating those involved in the local production of a pornographic movie, reportedly the first to be promoted and sold online in the country.

Art of Myanmar, the production group behind the two-hour commercially produced video, has promoted the filmentitled Violet of Myanmaron their Facebook page. Shooting took place in December of last year.

The company has said that they aim to produce more genre-specific and hardcore porn films in the future.

On Monday morning, Art of Myanmar launched the video through a social media announcement: We have now proudly launched Burmas first ever [porn] HD, while providing links for a two-minute trailer that shows performers faces digitally blurred.

The trailer then went viral on Facebook.

The announcement added that customers would be charged 5,000 kyats to gain access to the complete video. In order to view another film, entitled Nurse, they were required to pay 10,000 kyats.

The trailer provides a bank account for the financial transaction, and encouraged customers to place orders from a Viber account that later crashed after it received more than 2,000 messages in 24 hours.

Quoting Burmas Presidents Office spokesperson U Zaw Htay, local media reported on Tuesday that the police had started investigating the people behind the production. An official from the Crime Investigation Department said that IT police are also following the case.

Article 292 of Burmas Penal Code says that anyone who produces or possesses any obscene object shall be punished with a term of imprisonment of up to three months, and/or a fine.

Even though the porn industry has long been taboo in Burma, the country has seen short sex films distributed by voyeurs on social media, particularly since increased internet penetration accompanied the availability of cheap SIM cards after 2014.
News New App Allows User to Walk a Mile in a Rohingya Refugees Shoes

Rohingya refugees come to Balukhali Makeshift Refugee Camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, on April 10, 2017. / Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  A ping on Kathijahs phone. The Rohingya girl picks up the message, it is from her brother Ishak in Burma.

Kat, r u safe? he writes. It was a raid, they found us. Had to run, he said, before sending a video message of him running in a jungle that was abruptly cut off.

It was a conversation between Kathijah, a fictional character, and her brother in Burma on a new smartphone app that gives users a glimpse into the daily struggles of Rohingya refugees who flee political persecution back home.

The Finding Home app effectively takes over ones phone by recreating the mobile operating system of Kathijahs handset, prompting users to answer phone calls, text messages or scroll through her photo gallery.

Advertising agency Grey, which built the app in partnership with the UN refugee agency UNHCR, said the revolutionary app aims to increase public empathy toward the plight of refugees.

We wanted to find a way of getting people to really empathize what these people go through, to feel it as if they were going through it, Graham Drew, Grey Malaysia executive creative director, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The app focuses not just on her life back home, but also on how the 16-year-old Kathijah is trying to build a new life in Malaysia.

One conversation involves her talking to a friend about how she is taking classes in English and Malay.

There are some 150,000 refugees in Malaysia, about a third of who are Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence and apartheid-like conditions in western Arakan state in Buddhist-majority Burma.

Many are children who experience struggles similar to Kathijahs.

The refugee story is often a deeply personal one, and difficult for people to understand, UNHCR Malaysia representative Richard Towle said in a statement on the launch of the app on Tuesday.

We hope that this application will allow a viewer to walk a mile in a refugees shoes in order to understand what they go through every day in order to find safety.

The interactive conversations featured in the app were constructed based on interviews with refugees, according to Grey.

The plight of the Rohingya hit international headlines again in recent months after Burma security forces were accused of carrying out mass killings and gang rapes during their campaign against Rohingya insurgents.

It sparked international criticism but a senior Burma government official denied there was any ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims.
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By Martin Khor | (Inter Press Service) |  

PENANG (IPS)  This week, Donald Trump will mark his first hundred days as US President. Its time to assess his impact on the world, especially the developing countries.

Its too early to form firm conclusions. But much of what we have seen so far is of serious concern.

Recently there have been many U-turns from Trump. Trump had indicated the US should not be dragged into foreign wars but on 6 April he attacked Syria with missiles, even though there was no clear evidence to back the charge that the Assad regime was responsible for using chemical weapons.

Then his military dropped what is described as the biggest ever non-nuclear bomb in a quite highly-populated district in Afghanistan.

Critics explain that this flexing of military might be aimed at the domestic constituency, as nothing is more guaranteed to boost a Presidents popularity and prove his muscular credentials than bombing an enemy.

Perhaps the actions were also meant to create fear in the leaders of North Korea. But North Korea threatens to counterattack by conventional or nuclear bombs if it is attacked by the US, and it could mean what it says.

Trump himself threatens to bomb North Koreas nuclear facilities. With two leaders being so unpredictable, we might unbelievably be on a verge of a nuclear war.

As the Financial Times commentator Gideon Rachman remarked, there is the danger that Trump has concluded that military action is the key to the winning image he promised his voters.

There are members of the presidents inner circle who do indeed believe that the Trump administration is seriously contemplating a first strike on North Korea. But if Kim Jong Un has drawn the same conclusion, he may reach for the nuclear trigger first.

The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof says the most frightening nightmare is of Trump blundering into a new Korean war. It could happen when Trump destroys a test missile that North Korea is about to launch, and the country might respond by firing artillery at Seoul (population: 25 million).

He cites Gen. Gary Luck, a former commander of American forces in South Korea, as estimating that a new Korean war could cause one million casualties and $1 trillion in damage.

Let us all hope and pray that this nightmare scenario does not become reality.

This may be the most unfortunate trend of the Trump presidency. Far from the expectation that he would retreat from being the world policeman and turn inward to work for America First, the new President may find that fighting wars or at least unleashing missiles and bombs in third world countries may make America great again.

This may be easier than winning domestic battles like replacing former President Obamas health care policy or banning visitors or refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, an order that has been countered by the courts.

But the message that people from certain groups or countries are not welcome in the US is having effect: recent reports indicate a decline in tourism and foreign student applications to the US.

Another flip-flop was on NATO. Trump condemned it for being obsolete, but recently hailed it for being no longer obsolete, to his Western allies great relief.

Another note-worthy but welcome about-turn was when the US President conceded that China is after all not a currency manipulator. On the campaign trail, he had vowed to name China such a manipulator on day 1 of his presidency, to be followed up with imposing a 45% tariff on Chinese products.

Trump continues to be obsessed by the US trade deficit, and to him China is the main culprit, with a $347 billion trade surplus versus the US.

The US-China summit in Florida on 7-8 April cooled relations between the two big powers. I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away, Trump said at the summits end.

The two countries agreed to a proposal by Chinese President Xi Jinping to have a 100-day plan to increase US exports to China and reduce the US trade deficit.

For the time being the much anticipated US-China trade war is off the radar. But it is by no means off altogether.

Trump has moved to shred Obamas climate change policy. He proposed to cut the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 31% and eliminate climate change research and prevention programmes throughout the federal government. The EPA, now led by a climate change skeptic, was ordered to revise its standards on tailpipe pollution from vehicles and review the Clean Power Plan, which was the centrepiece of Obamas policy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Trump has asked his Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to prepare a report within 90 days on the US bilateral trade deficits with its trading partners, and whether any of them is caused by dumping, cheating, subsidies, free trade agreements, currency misalignment and even unfair WTO rules.

Once Trump has the analysis, he will be able to take action to correct any anomalies, said Ross.

We can thus expect the Trump administration to have a blueprint on how to deal with each country with a significant trade surplus with the US.

If carried out, this would be an unprecedented exercise by an economic super-power to pressurise and intimidate its trade partners to curb their exports to and expand their imports from the US, or else face action.

During the 100-day period, Trump did not carry out his threats to impose extra tariffs on Mexico and China. He did fulfil his promise to pull the US out of the TPPA but he has yet to show seriousness about revamping NAFTA.

A threat to the trade system could come from a tax reform bill being prepared by Republican Congress leaders. The original paper contains a trade adjustment system with the effect of taxing US imports by 20% while exempting US exports from corporate tax.

If such a bill is passed, we can expect a torrent of criticism from the rest of the world, many cases against the US at the WTO and retaliatory action by several countries. Due to opposition from several business sectors in the US, it is possible that this trade-adjustment aspect could eventually be dropped or at least modified considerably.

In any case, as the new US trade policy finds its shape, the first 100 days of Trump has spread a cold protectionist wind around the world.

On another issue, the icy winds have quickly turned into action, and caused international consternation.

Trump has moved to shred Obamas climate change policy. He proposed to cut the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 31% and eliminate climate change research and prevention programmes throughout the federal government.

The EPA, now led by a climate change skeptic, was ordered to revise its standards on tailpipe pollution from vehicles and review the Clean Power Plan, which was the centrepiece of Obamas policy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The plan would have shut down hundreds of coal-fired power plants, stop new coal plants and replace them with wind and solar farms.

The policy reversals also signal that Mr Trump has no intention of following through on Mr Obamas formal pledges under the Paris accord, said Coral Davenport in the New York Times.

Under the Paris agreement, the US pledged to reduce its greenhouse gases by about 26% from 2005 levels by 2025. That can be achieved only if the US not only implements the Clean Power Plan and tailpipe pollution rules but also tightens them or adds more policies in future years, says Davenport.

She quotes Mario Molina, a Nobel prize-winning scientist from Mexico, as saying: The message clearly is, we wont do what the United States has promised to doThey dont believe climate change is serious. It is shocking to see such a degree of ignorance from the US.

Will the US pull out of the Paris Agreement? An internal debate is reportedly taking place within the administration. If the country cannot meet and has no intention of meeting its Paris pledge, then it may find a convenient excuse to leave.

Even if it stays on, the new US delegation can be expected to discourage or stop other countries from moving ahead with new measures and actions.

There is widespread dismay about Trumps intention to stop honouring the US pledge to contribute $3 billion initially to the Green Climate Fund, which assists developing countries take climate actions.

Obama had transferred the first billion, but there will be no more forthcoming from the Trump administration unless Congress over-rules the President (which is very unlikely).

Another adverse development, especially for developing countries, is Trumps intention to downgrade the importance of international and development cooperation.

In March Trump announced his proposed budget with a big cut of 28% or $10.9 billion for the UN and other international organisations, the State Department and the US agency for international development, while by contrast the proposed military budget was increased by $54 billion.

For the time being the much anticipated US-China trade war is off the radar. But it is by no means off altogether. Credit: Bigstock

For the time being the much anticipated US-China trade war is off the radar. But it is by no means off altogether. Credit: Bigstock

At about the same time, the UN humanitarian chief Stephen OBrien urgently requested a big injection of donor funds to address the worst global humanitarian crisis since the end of the second world war, with drought affecting 38 million people in 17 African countries.

The US has for long been a leading contributor to humanitarian programmes such as the World Food program. In future, other countries will have to provide a greater share of disaster assistance, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The US is turning inward at a time when we are facing these unprecedented crises that require increasing US assistance, according to Bernice Romero of Save the Children, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times. In 2016 the US contributed $6.4 billion in humanitarian assistance, the largest in the world. Cutting its funding at a time of looming famine and the worlds largest displacement crisis since World War II is really unconscionable and could really have devastating consequences.

Trump also proposed to cut the US contribution to the UN budget by an as yet unknown amount and pay at most 25% of UN peacekeeping costs. The US has been paying 22% of the UNs core budget of $5.4 billion and 28.5% of the UN peacekeeping budget of $7.9 billion. Trump also proposed a cut of $650 million over three years to the World Bank and other multilateral development banks.

The foreign affairs community in the US itself is shocked by the short-sightedness of the Trump measures and 121 retired US generals and admirals urged Congress to fully fund diplomacy and foreign aid as these were critical to preventing conflict.

The proposed Trump budget will likely be challenged at the Congress which has many supporters for both diplomacy and humanitarian concerns. We will have to wait to see the final outcome.

Nevertheless the intention of the President and his administration is clear and depressing. And instead of other countries stepping in to make up for the United States decrease in aid, some may be tempted to likewise reduce their contributions.

For example, the United Kingdom Prime Minister Teresa May in answer to journalists questions refused to confirm that the UK would continue its tradition of providing 0.7% of GNP as foreign aid.

This has led the billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates to warn that a cut in UK aid, which currently is at 12 billion pounds, would mean more lives lost in Africa.

Besides the reduction in funding, the Trump foreign policy approach is also dampening the spirit and substance of international cooperation.

For example, the Presidents sceptical attitude towards global cooperation on climate change will adversely affect the overall global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience to global warming.

With one of the worlds largest emitters of greenhouse gases becoming a disbeliever that climate change is man-made and could devastate the Earth, and no longer committing to take action domestically and helping others to do so, other countries may be tempted or encouraged to do likewise.

The world would be deprived of the cooperation it urgently requires to save itself from catastrophic global warming.

Martin Khor is Executive Director of the South Centre, a think tank for developing countries, based in Geneva.

Licensed from Inter Press Service



Related video added by Juan Cole:
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By Golnaz Esfandiari. | ( RFE/RL) |  

Update: Ms. Taleghani has been disqualified. Her journey is still amszing.

On April 14, a tiny, frail-looking woman wearing a chador and using a walker made her way slowly up the stairs of Irans Interior Ministry in Tehran.

Seventy-three-year-old Azam Taleghani was there to register as a candidate in the May 19 vote for Irans presidency.

Azam Taleghani (center) arrives at the Iranian Interior Ministry on April 14 to register as a candidate in the countrys presidential election.

Shes hoping the third time is the charm.

In 1997, Taleghani, then a 53-year-old editor and womens rights advocate, made history by becoming the first woman to register as a candidate for president.

The move was aimed at highlighting state discrimination in the Islamic republic, where no woman has ever been allowed to run for president.

It is the fate of half of Irans population that is at stake, she said then.

Taleghani was not allowed to run in 1997  or in 2009, when she tried again. No reasons were given.

Twenty years after her initial effort, Taleghani is the most prominent of the 137 women who have registered as candidates for the vote. She knows she is likely to be rejected once again.

Direct Challenge

Taleghanis move is again a direct challenge to hard-liners in control of the Guardians Council, the unelected body that is in charge of vetting candidates for presidential and parliamentary votes. The council has in the past rejected all female candidates, based on a strict interpretation of the countrys constitution.

Women make up 50 percent of the Iranian population, so the country deserves at least one female candidate, Taleghani told the German news agency dpa on April 17.

But Taleghani, the daughter of prominent revolutionary cleric Mahmud Taleghani, said she would not be broken by another rejection by the Guardians Council and that she would continue to fight for womens rights.

Speaking to journalists while registering her candidacy on April 14, Taleghani said she is pressing for a ruling on whether the Iranian Constitution truly bars female candidates from running for president. The controversy centers around the interpretation of a single word.

Ive come so that the issue with political rejal can be resolved, she said.

Article 115 of the Iranian Constitution says the president should be elected from among the religious and political rejal. Rejal, which comes from Arabic, means personalities.

Azam Taleghani has long been one of Irans most active womens rights campaigners. (file photo)

Azam Taleghani has long been one of Irans most active womens rights campaigners. (file photo)

Guardians Council members have ruled in the past that the word rejal refers exclusively to men.

But a spokesman for the council, Abbasali Kadkhodayi, said in December that it had not yet come to a conclusion regarding the issue of rejal for the May 19 vote.

Political personalities in Arabic is an idiom that refers to personalities with expertise and managerial [experience] who are politically savvy, Taleghani said in an April 15 interview with the New York-based Center for Human Rights.

Taleghani, secretary-general of the Islamic Revolution Womens Society, said the Guardians Council has never officially announced the reason that it prevents women from running for president.

The Guardians Council has never said the reason for the disqualification of women is that theyre women, even though this has been the understanding of the majority in society, she said. For example, in my case, [the council] can resort to my critical political activities to disqualify me.

Clear Message

Many are praising Taleghani for trying to run for president again, including Irans vice president for womens affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi. She said Taleghanis move sends a clear message to all, particularly men and the authorities, that they should also see the competent women of the country.

Others are criticizing Irans media for largely ignoring Taleghanis possible candidacy.

Journalist Mehdi Babaei noted that none of Irans daily newspapers covered Taleghanis registration on their front pages.

Taleghani has for years been among Irans most active campaigners for womens rights, challenging hard-line interpretations of Islamic laws that limit the rights of women.

She was one of the first women to become a deputy in the Iranian parliament following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

For years, she edited the magazine Payam Hajar, which questioned issues such as polygamy and published articles in favor of more rights for women, including equal rights to inheritance. The magazine was shut down by the authorities in 2000 as part of a crackdown on the liberal and reformist press.

Outspoken Critic

In 2003, she launched a solo protest outside Evin prison in Tehran to protest the treatment of political prisoners following the death in custody of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.

She was also critical of the brutal state crackdown that followed the 2009 disputed reelection of former President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

And she has publicly condemned the house arrest of opposition figures Mir Hossein Musavi, his wife, university professor Zahra Rahnavard, and reformist cleric Mehdi Karrubi.

The trio has been under arrest since 2011 for repeatedly challenging authorities over Ahmadinejads reelection and for highlighting human rights abuses.

In a 2013 interview, the outspoken Taleghani said she believes that Irans revolution has strayed from its original path to bring Iranians freedom and justice.

The main principles of the revolution that were highlighted in slogans and were promised to people have not been achieved, she said.

And on April 18, Taleghani criticized some Iranian politicians for spouting anti-Semitic rhetoric, saying that they should differentiate between criticizing Israels government and insulting Jews. She added that any denial of the Holocaust is the result of ignorance.

Shadi Sadr, a prominent womens rights activist who heads the London-based rights group Justice For Iran, says Taleghani has bravely used her position to repeatedly highlight the lack of political opportunities for women in Iran.

She has been consistent and she has been also using her political background and that of her [father] to bring attention to this issue, Sadr told RFE/RL in a telephone interview.

She said that this years image of Taleghani registering while using a walker was particularly powerful.

The photo reminded us that [Taleghani] is now elderly. She suffers from ailments, and she has been pushing for [women to be able to run] for years, Sadr said. Yet the discrimination is still here.

Golnaz Esfandiari is a senior correspondent with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She can be reached at EsfandiariG@rferl.org

RFE/RL

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Cenk Uygur | (Video News Clip) |  

Trump has been bragging about what great chemistry he has with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.

During his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month, Trump insisted on to negotiating a trade deal between the U.S. and Germany, only to be shut down numerous times. You cant do a trade deal with Germany, only the EU, a senior German official told the Times of London.

On the eleventh refusal, Trump finally got the message, Oh, well do a deal with Europe then, the official added.

The Young Turks: Merkel Had To Explain EU Trade To Trump ELEVEN TIMES
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By Basav Sen. | ( Inequality.org) |  

Renew Oregon is advancing innovative climate justice proposals, building on a legislative victory to expand the states use of renewable energy, with strong benefits for low-income consumers.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to participate in the Peoples Climate March in Washington, D.C. and around the country on April 29. March organizers hope to turn up the heat on federal policymakers while also bolstering support for state- and local-based strategies to combat climate change and inequality. Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Director Basav Sen recently interviewed Shilpa Joshi to learn lessons from one of the most successful state-based climate justice groups, the Renew Oregon coalition, where Joshi is organizing director.

Inequality.org: Last year, the Renew Oregon coalition won a major victory with the passage of a bill to expand the states use of renewable energy and the phaseout of coal, with strong benefits for low-income consumers. (For more details, see the new Institute for Policy Studies report How States Can Boost Renewables With Benefits for All.) Can you tell me a bit more about the coalition and its history?

Climate solutions that do not address inequality can actually make things worse for the most affected communities.

SJ: The Renew Oregon Coalition was formed more than two years ago by environmental groups to create a new space for a broad umbrella of groups who want to advocate for effective climate policy, given the state legislatures unwillingness to take bold action. This is in spite of Oregons green image. The coalition aims to translate the green image into reality through actual policy changes. It brings to the table groups who dont normally participate in climate policy, such as communities of color, labor, rural communities, public health groups, low income advocates, tribal governments, and faith communities.

Inequality.org: How do you see the work on climate as related to the issue of inequality?

SJ: The work were doing on climate is inextricably linked to inequality, because the impacts of climate change are deepening existing inequities in society. Climate change is a product of our unequal capitalist system, which is built on extraction of labor and resources from communities. We cannot act on climate in an ivory tower without addressing social inequities. Climate solutions that do not address inequality can actually make things worse for the most affected communities. Climate policy needs to move in the direction of solutions that address racial, economic and other forms of inequality.

Inequality.org: Specifically, how does Renew Oregons ongoing carbon pricing campaign address inequality?

Shilpa Joshi, Organizing Director, Renew Oregon

SJ: Renew Oregon is campaigning to put a cap on carbon emissions in Oregon by requiring polluters to buy permits to emit carbon. Forty percent of the revenue from the permits will be set aside to reinvest in historically excluded communities including communities of color, tribal communities, and rural communities.

Investments will include job training in solar and wind energy and energy efficiency in community colleges in rural areas, to make jobs in the clean energy economy accessible to historically excluded communities. One lesson that the campaign in Oregon has learned from the California experience with cap-and-trade is that the committees overseeing the use of the revenues should include representation of communities of color and rural communities.

The Oregon campaign is also building in a low-income assistance program to ensure that low income people do not bear the burden of higher energy costs, and the risks of utility disconnection. There is a similar small business bill credit to ensure that small businesses are not disproportionately burdened by higher energy costs either. Leaders from communities of color, tribal communities, low-income communities, and rural communities have been at the table building the legislation and the campaign. This ensures that the equity focus is real and not just campaign rhetoric.

Inequality.org: How did Renew Oregon build such a broad coalition?

40% of revenue from a proposed emissions cap would go towards clean energy job training and other investments in excluded communities.

SJ: Good coalition building is rooted in communication, transparency, and relationship building. As the Organizing Director at Renew Oregon, I found that organizations from various sectors were already talking to each other. I have focused on as much face-to-face meeting time as possible, to build deeper trust and understanding. The work of coalition building never stops, because we can keep building deeper trust and keep widening our circle.

Inequality.org: Any thoughts of what future campaigns the coalition might work on once this bill passes?

SJ: A key issue to deal with is carbon emissions from buildings, because Oregon has outdated building codes, and there is a huge potential to reduce emissions by retrofitting buildings and increasing energy efficiency. The transportation system in Oregon is another major sector we need to deal with, because it contributes 40 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions. We need to move away from our reliance on diesel buses and trucks and to cleaner forms of transportation.

Inequality.org: What can people do to support your ongoing campaign?

SJ: Please check out our website and our blog post providing more background information on the campaign. If youre an Oregon resident, you can sign our petition. If you represent a community organization or small business in Oregon, you can endorse the campaign as well.

Inequality.org: Finally, tell me a little bit about yourself. What motivated you to work on climate justice?

What drove me to work on climate justice was growing up in Portland, Oregon, and Mumbai, India, and seeing stark disparities in both these places. Also, learning about environmental policy at American University was a big influence on me. I see the fight for climate justice as bringing all of our struggles for a clean environment, a just economy, healthy communities, and a viable future together.

Basav Sen directs the Climate Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.

via Inequality.org



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Chloe Sevigny and Joseph Gordon-Levitt narrate this short film promoting the April 29th Peoples Climate March with music by CYN. Its the product of a collaboration between Chromista, All City and the Sierra Club with the Oscar-nominated Darren Aronofsky serving as executive producer.

Join the Peoples Climate March as we march for climate, jobs and justice in Washington, D.C. on April 29!
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - Teranga Gold Corporation ("Teranga" or the "Company") (TSX:TGZ)(ASX:TGZ) is pleased to announce two new gold discoveries from its exploration program at Golden Hill, its joint venture with Boss Resources Limited (ASX:BOE) ("Boss"), in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

The Company's new discoveries are located within the Ma and Nahiri prospects, representing the first two of the ten drill ready targets that have been identified to date at Golden Hill. All ten targets are within close proximity to each other.

"The assay results for Ma and Nahiri are very encouraging for an early stage exploration program," said David Mallo, Teranga's Vice President, Exploration. "They display good grades, widths, continuity and strike length in each prospect, and the mineralized zones occur from surface with good oxide depth developed."

Additionally, the next two targets - Jackhammer Hill and Pourey-Peksou - were also drilled during the first quarter. The Company can report that, while these assay results are pending, drilling intersected the expected alteration and structures at each of these targets.

Mr. Mallo added, "Overall, we are excited by these positive results, especially given their close proximity to one another. Based on the success of this first phase, a multi-drill second phase program on these targets has begun."

The Golden Hill property is located within the highly mineralized Hounde Greenstone Belt in Burkina Faso. This belt hosts a number of high-grade gold discoveries, including the recently discovered Sious, Yaramoko and Hounde deposits, the latter property being contiguous with Golden Hill. To the south of Golden Hill is another large land position where active exploration programs are well underway.

HIGHLIGHTS

Initial assays from the Company's initial drilling evaluation at the Ma prospect intersected favorable results over the minimum 1,300-metre strike extent drilled to date. Highlight results include:

6.5 m @ 2.67 g/t Au and 3 m @ 8.86 g/t Au in GHDD-010

9.8 m @ 1.92 g/t Au including 5.3 m @ 2.62 g/t Au in GHDD-011

7.9 m @ 2.71 g/t Au in GHDD-015

5.2 m @ 5.15 g/t Au in GHDD-017

4.9 m @ 3.64 g/t Au in GHDD-020

The initial drilling evaluation at the Nahiri prospect intersected broad, highly anomalous intersections within which highlight intervals include:

14 m @ 2.85 g/t Au including 5 m @ 6.56 g/t Au and 18 m of 1.46 g/t Au including 4 m @ 2.38 g/t Au in GHRC-011

13 m @ 1.56 g/t Au including 6 m @ 2.23 g/t Au in GHRC-010

12 m @ 1.25 g/t Au including 3 m @ 2.28 g/t Au in GHRC-001

12 m @ 1.06 g/t Au and 1 m @ 11.00 g/t Au in GHRC-015

Ma Prospect

At the Ma prospect, 13 diamond drill (DD) holes were completed to test the primary NW-trending Ma structure, a secondary, parallel, NW-trending structure and N-S trending cross-structures. To date, a 1,300-metre strike extent of the primary Ma structure has been successfully intersected in all eight of these holes over varying spacing, (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1). A complete listing of the results from the first 13 drill holes is included in Table 1.

A follow-up drill program is scheduled to begin in early May to further evaluate the strike extent on regularly spaced sections, extend drilling further along trend and test depth extensions below the initial drill holes.

Nahiri Prospect

At the maiden Nahiri prospect, 17 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes were completed in four drill profiles designed to test a 500-metre strike extent of a combined soil and auger geochemical anomaly. Three of the northernmost drill profiles, comprising a minimum 350-metre strike extent, returned the most favorable results, within a broadly anomalous gold zone. Significant results from these drill sections are outlined in Table 2.

About the Golden Hill Property Joint Venture

The Golden Hill property is comprised of three adjacent exploration permits covering 468km2 located in southwest Burkina Faso in the central part of the Hounde Greenstone Belt. Teranga, through the acquisition of Gryphon Minerals Ltd, has an earn-in agreement with Boss pursuant to which Teranga, as the operator, can earn an 80 percent interest in the joint venture upon delivery of a feasibility study and the payment of AUD2.5 million.

Table 1: Ma Prospect Drilling Highlights

Hole # Northing* Easting* Elevation Azimuth Dip EOH

(m) Interval

(m)* Core

length (m)* Grade

(g/t Au) Ma Primary Structure GHDD - 010 1237505 452175 399 39 -45 122.0 39.5 - 46.0 6.5 2.67 incl. 40.0 - 42.0 2.0 5.03 52.0 - 55.0 3.0 8.86 81.0 - 87.0 6.0 1.39 100.0 - 103.0 3.0 0.97 116.0 - 117.0 1.0 1.52 GHDD - 011 ** 1237408 452333 434 24 -45 62.1 29.2 - 40.0** 9.8 1.92 incl. 29.2 - 34.5 5.3 2.62 incl. 32.8 - 34.5 1.7 6.06 GHDD - 012 1237377 452363 440 20 -45 92.0 30.0 - 31.0 1.0 3.93 34.0 - 41.0 7.0 1.81 incl. 34.0 - 37.0 3.0 2.94 GHDD - 013 1237342 452435 437 24 -45 88.0 23.0 - 26.0 3.0 1.22 79.0 - 80.0 1.0 1.51 GHDD - 014 1237297 452457 428 24 -45 63.1 45.0 - 54.0 9.0 1.55 incl. 53.0 - 54.0 1.0 9.20 GHDD - 015 1237231 452621 412 20 -45 66.5 20.9 - 28.8 7.9 2.71 incl. 26.2 - 28.8 3.6 5.24 56.0 - 58.0 2.0 1.77 GHDD - 016 1236966 452873 375 40 -45 59.0 11.0 - 15.0 4.0 1.27 26.0 - 28.0 2.0 2.73 GHDD - 017 1237758 451855 382 39 -45 111.0 32.0 - 37.2 5.2 5.16 incl. 34.0 - 37.2 3.2 7.38 Ma Secondary Structure GHDD - 008 1237670 452122 408 55 -45 65.0 23.0 - 24.0 1.0 1.16 GHDD - 009 1237602 452159 398 55 -45 80.0 31.0 - 32.0 1.0 2.05 58.0 - 61.0 3.0 1.60 GHDD - 018 1237607 452249 406 20 -45 80.0 25.0 - 26.0 1.0 1.99 GHDD - 019 1237675 452205 412 279 -45 80.0 NSR GHDD - 020 1237687 452084 408 24 -45 80.8 23.6 - 28.5 4.9 3.64 incl. 25.9 - 27.9 2.0 7.60

* Intervals calculated with a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off and 2 metres maximum internal dilution. Sampling used lithologic contacts for the initial drill program, standard metre-metre sampling will be utilized in future. True widths are unknown. UTM's are WGS84-30N ** Interval includes 2 metres of no recovery (34.5-36.5) where hole intersected an artisanal opening

Table 2: Nahiri Prospect Drilling Highlights

Hole # Northing* Easting* Elevation Azimuth Dip EOH

(m) Interval

(m)* Core

length (m)* Grade

(g/t Au) GHRC-001 1233804 450710 359 65 -60 37 19 - 31 12 1.26 incl. 25 - 28 3 2.28 GHRC-002 1233957 450463 368 65 -60 84 12 - 14 2 1.36 GHRC-010 1233900 450533 367 65 -60 85 35 - 50 15 1.43 incl. 40 - 46 6 2.23 GHRC-011 1233917 450567 365 65 -60 80 7 -21 14 2.85 incl. 7 - 12 5 6.56 25 - 27 2 2.22 48 - 61 18 1.46 incl. 52 - 56 4 2.38 and 61 - 63 2 3.63 70 - 73 3 1.10 GHRC-015 1233790 450673 359 65 -60 82 13 - 25 12 1.06 29 - 30 1 11.00 GHRC-017 1234007 450570 361 65 -60 88 6 - 21 15 0.56

* Intervals calculated with a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off and 2 metres maximum internal dilution. Sampling used lithologic contacts for the initial drill program, standard metre-metre sampling will be utilized in future. True widths are unknown. UTM's are WGS84-30N

Competent Persons Statements

Teranga's exploration programs are being managed by Peter Mann, FAusIMM. Mr. Mann is a full time employee of Teranga and is not "independent" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Mann has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr. Mann is a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The technical information contained in this news release relating exploration results are based on, and fairly represents, information compiled by Mr. Mann. Mr. Mann has verified and approved the data disclosed in this release, including the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information. The RC and diamond core samples are assayed at the BIGGS Laboratory in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Mr. Mann has consented to the inclusion in this news release of the matters based on his compiled information in the form and context in which it appears herein.

About Teranga

Teranga is a multi-jurisdictional West African gold company focused on production and development as well as the exploration of more than 5,000km2 of land located on prospective gold belts.

Since its initial public offering in 2010, Teranga has produced more than 1.2 million ounces of gold from its operations in Senegal. Following its recent acquisition of Gryphon Minerals, the Company is fast-tracking the completion of a feasibility study for the Banfora Project. Concurrent with its production and development activities, exploration programs are underway to seek to increase the Company's reserve base through resource conversion and making new discoveries. Teranga has a strong balance sheet and the financial flexibility to continue to grow its business.

Steadfast in its commitment to set the benchmark for responsible mining, Teranga operates in accordance with the highest international standards and aims to act as a catalyst for sustainable economic, environmental, and community development as it strives to create value for all of its stakeholders. Teranga is a member of the United Nations Global Compact and a leading member of the multi-stakeholder group responsible for the submission of the first Senegalese Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative revenue report. The Company's 2015 responsibility report, which is available at www.terangagold.com/2015responsibilityreport, is prepared in accordance with its commitments under the United Nations Global Compact and in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines.
Vancouver, BC / TheNewswire / April 25th, 2017 - Montan Mining Corp. (TSXv: MNY | FSE: S5GM | SSE: MNYC) ("Montan" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that that it has entered into a binding term sheet with Cartesian Royalty Holdings Pte. Ltd. ("CRH") for a financing package of up to USD $10 million to fund the acquisition of Kairos Capital Peru S.A.C. and M&S Transportes y Servicios Generales S.R.L, including the Mirador processing plant (together, "Mirador"), as announced on February 16, 2017; and to bring Montan's 100%-owned Cerro Dorado gold processing plant into full commercial production and increase its capacity.

The Term Sheet provides that CRH will invest in three (3) tranches, each with a specified use of proceeds, as well as additional tranches at the discretion of CRH. Each tranche will be structured in a 25% equity / 75% stream ratio.

Streaming Investment Terms: For each USD $1.0 million in streaming investment, CRH is to receive 2,500 ounces of gold or gold equivalent from Montan, payable over a maximum of 50 months from closing. Repayment of each streaming investment is to commence six (6) months after drawdown over a repayment period of 42-months, subject to two (2) months of optional payment holidays whereby Montan can defer its monthly payment. Each exercised payment holiday must be separated by at least 6 months.

Equity Investment Terms: The Montan units are priced at a 20% discount to the VWAP of Montan common shares for the 30-day calendar day period immediately preceding the Term Sheet; each unit will consist of one common share and one common share warrant; the warrant will have an exercise price of a 25% premium to the VWAP with a term of five (5) years subject to TSX-V approval or other regulatory constraints.

The initial tranche ("Tranche 1") investment of USD $3.0 million is intended for the acquisition of Mirador (see Montan press release dated February 16, 2017) and will be comprised of USD $2.25 million as a secured streaming investment in Montan and USD $0.75 million as an equity investment in Montan. Conditions to closing Tranche 1 include:

Satisfactory completion of due diligence by CRH on Montan, Mirador, Cerro Dorado, and the Kairos and Cerro Dorado SAC holding companies;

Montan's raising at least USD $1.0 million for optimization CAPEX and working capital at Mirador

Development of an operating plan in consultation with CRH including all necessary permits to execute the operating plan; and

Long-term contracts at Mirador totaling no less than 70% of plant capacity.

Subsequent tranches are subject to satisfactory post-acquisition performance at Mirador, and are expected to comprise two (2) tranches to bring the Cerro Dorado plant into commercial operation and to increase its capacity to 125 tonnes per day.

Net smelter returns royalty ("NSR"): Upon closing of Tranche 1, Montan will provide CRH with a two percent (2.0%) NSR on the Mirador and Cerro Dorado plants and such other concessions, JV properties and mines that accrue to Kairos SAC or Cerro Dorado SAC; and any future assets acquired, in whole or in part, with CRH funds. 0.5% of the NSR can be purchased by Montan at any time for USD $750,000. Montan would also have a right of first offer on any sale of the NSR by CRH to a third party.

In addition CRH will have the right to appoint a non-executive director to Montan's Board of Directors for as long as the streaming investment is outstanding or CRH owns more than 5% of Montan.

"Cartesian's tailored financing solution should allow Montan to complete the purchase of the Mirador Plant and bring Cerro Dorado into commercial production shortly thereafter. We are excited at the prospect of having two assets in production before Q4 2017. We are grateful to Cartesian for their approach and the flexibility shown on the basis of project specific needs and our risk-balanced cash flow projections", stated Luis Zapata, Executive Chairman of Montan.

Peter Yu, Director of CRH stated, "Montan is a unique diversified mineral processing project with strategic locations throughout Peru and is permitted for production. We are confident the Montan team will create substantial value for its stakeholders, as well as artisanal miners in Peru through their efficient and transparent business model".

The CRH financing is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

ABOUT CRH

CRH offers innovative financing structures with the goal of creating long-term growth and value in world-class gold projects around the globe. CRH is an affiliate of Cartesian Capital Group, LLC, a global private equity firm with proven expertise in assisting closely-held companies develop into global market leaders. Cartesian Capital Group manages more than US$2.4 billion in capital and has offices in New York, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Warsaw, and Bermuda.

For more information, please visit the website at http://www.cartesianroyalty.com

ABOUT MONTAN MINING

Montan Mining is an emerging precious metals producer focusing on monetizing mining assets in Peru. The Company is is the 100% owner of the operation ready Cerro Dorado gold processing plant permitted to 125 TPD and the adjoining Rey Salomon gold mine in the southern Peruvian mining district of Arequipa; and and is completing the acquisition of the Mirador plant near Chimbote, dirstrict of Ancash. Montan Mining has an experienced management team with diverse technical, market, and finance expertise and is supported by committed and sophisticated investors focused on building value for the long term.

For more information, please visit the corporate website at http://www.montanmining.ca.
After the drought hit farmers called off their 41-day long strike at Jantar Mantar, they were welcomed grandly at their home town.

By Akshita Nandagopal: An army of green descended on Chennai central today, soldiers who returned from their mission in Delhi. Farmers from Tamil Nadu who staged a symbolic 41-day protest at Jantar Mantar returned to their home soil today to a rousing welcome from political and youth groups. Interestingly, the protesting farmers landed on the very same day that the opposition led by the DMK called for a shutdown to support farmers in the state.

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The farmers reached Chennai's iconic central railway station at 7 am and immediately sat on a dharna at the platform until cops came in and shooed them away. "We are satisfied with the state government's assurance but if they fail to fulfill their promise, we will hit the streets again," warns Ayyakannu, who has head the protest in Delhi.

The farmers' cause seem to have become a political tool in Tamil Nadu with the DMK spearheading their fight against the state and central government.

"DMK is a party committed to the welfare for farmers and we have taken up this issue being a responsible opposition. It was only we acted and called for a bandh that CM Edappadi Palanisamy met the farmers in Delhi," says DMK's A Saravanan.

But has politics trumped the real cause here? Have the Dravidian shades overshadowed the farmers' fight for relief? Well, the farmers believe their cause is still very much alive. When asked about all the politics, Ayyakannu says, "We welcome the support from different parties and don't feel our protest has any political tone. We want the government to help us and we have achieved what we wanted."

For the DMK, there couldn't be a better time to rake up the plight of farmers and grab the spotlight. The party under MK Stalin has thrived amidst the political turmoil within the AIADMK.DMK's Saravanan, however, rejects the political opportunism reasoning. He says, "A political party must voice the grievances of people of any section of society. If DMK doesn't take up this issue, who will be there for them? Opposition must take up issues that are ignored by government."

With the farmers' clarion call for help resounding across Tamil Nadu, there's added pressure on the state government to ensure they live up to their promise and meet their demands before May 25, exactly a month from now.

ALSO READ:

After 41 days, Tamil Nadu farmers suspend their agitation in Delhi till May 25

--- ENDS ---
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - Goldstrike Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:GSR)(OTC PINK:APRAF)(FRANKFURT:KCG1) is pleased to report that it has received shareholder approval of its strategic alliance with Newmont Mining Corporation and Newmont Canada FN Holdings ULC ("Newmont") announced on March 6, 2016, and has closed on the initial investment by Newmont under a March 4, 2017 Investment Agreement that provides for an investment in Goldstrike and its Plateau project of up to a total of C$53,000,000.

The Investment Agreement allows Newmont to access and explore a highly prospective new gold district in Canada's Yukon Territory. Newmont has purchased 12,705,715 units of Goldstrike at the price of C$0.4742 per unit, for an aggregate cost of ~C$6,025,050 (US$4,500,000), and now has the right to earn a 75% interest in Goldstrike's Plateau project in the Yukon and, if Goldstrike thereafter exercises its Financing Option described in the March 6 news release, to increase its interest to 80% by funding 100% of all future costs relating to the Plateau project. The Investment Agreement was approved by 100% of the votes cast in person and by proxy at the meeting of Goldstrike shareholders held on April 21, 2017.

This strategic alliance demonstrates Newmont's level of commitment to exploring in the Yukon and shows that Newmont has recognized a unique opportunity to control an entire new district-scale gold- mineralized system - more than 2,000 claims covering 350 square kilometres. Newmont has an excellent global reputation, district-scale ability and the experience and funding required to explore and potentially develop a project of this magnitude, from proving up economic reserves right through to development and production.

Goldstrike is currently preparing for the largest exploration campaign in its history, consisting of systematic exploration and drilling. Initial drill results have been very promising, with widespread high grade gold mineralization being identified over 50 kilometres. The company plans to focus on areas where high grade gold mineralization has been discovered in bedrock. Drill highlights from the 2016 drill program include intersecting 29.45 metres of shallow, broad zones of stockwork and hydrothermal breccia in Hole PSGS-16-01. The drill core from that hole contains abundant coarse visible gold and the zone remains open, confirming the consistent, robust nature of the mineralization including 6.05 grams per tonne gold over 45.5 metres, including 12.5 grams per tonne gold over 20.65 metres, including 21.13 grams per tonne gold over 12.25 metres, including 34.35 grams per tonne (1 ounce per ton) gold over 6.75 metres (Sept. 16, 2016 news release).

"We are very pleased to have completed an important investment and embarked on a strategic alliance with an industry leader such as Newmont" reported Terrence King, Goldstrike's President and CEO. "Goldstrike is now fully funded to move forward and unlock the full potential of the district scale Plateau gold project. This new strategic alliance is an excellent foundation for a long term, mutually beneficial relationship, with Newmont being the advanced explorer, mine builder and producer, and Goldstrike being the project generator, prospector and grass roots explorers - a passionate team focused on discovery. As we advance from prospecting to full scale exploration in an area like Plateau, we engage with the First Nation and local communities for their invaluable local knowledge and work together to achieve to our environmental and community goals, including respect for First Nation traditional rights and cultural heritage. We are successful when we achieve our goal of net benefit to all the stakeholders and when our operations are invaluable to the communities in which we work. Working together we succeed."

The Lucky Strike Project

Phase 1 Trenching of bedrock on Goldstrike's 100% owned Lucky Strike property, located in the heart of Yukon's White Gold District, returned values of 0.42 grams per tonne gold over 154 metres, including

0.76 grams per tonne gold over 78 metres, including 3 grams per tonne gold over 8 metres (Sept. 26, 2016 news release ). These results are from the new Monte Carlo discovery zone, which measures 1,400 by 350 metres and remains open, making it one of the largest known new undrilled gold anomalies in the White Gold District. The Monte Carlo Zone is one of five large gold in soil anomalies discovered at Lucky Strike. The other large gold anomalies include the Belmont Zone, measuring 1500 by 800 metres and remaining open, the Samson Zone, measuring 600 by 300 metres, the Boss Zone, measuring 1,000 by 1,000 metres, and the Maverick Zone, measuring 150 by 200 metres. All are located along a 10 kilometre northwest gold trend that remains open and to be drilled.

Bill Chornobay, Goldstrike's Chief Operating Officer, comments: "Over the last few years we have focused on our Flagship Plateau project, but our Lucky Strike project, located in the heart of the White Gold District, has consistently provided good results. We have carried out a series of small programs over the last 6 years, made possible in part with the support of the Yukon government by way of exploration grants. We took advantage of the downturn by slowly expanding our claim boundary to control key ground which now includes the newly identified, 10 km, drill ready Lucky Strike gold trend. The Company now controls approximately 2000 claims in the White Gold district without any underlying royalties or property payments. The Monte Carlo Zone alone is large enough in scale to host a deposit the likes of Goldcorp's Supremo Zone at Coffee Creek or the Kinross Golden Saddle deposit found on the claim block next door to Lucky Strike. Monte Carlo is only one of five large gold in soil anomalies found on the 10 km Lucky Strike gold trend, and all five zones remain to be drill tested. With very little money spent, results are in my view remarkable, most notably a trench of 154 meters averaging just under half a gram gold 0.42 gpt gold, including 15.5 grams gold over 2 meters, 3.7 grams gold over 12 meters, and 5.15 grams gold over 6 meters in bedrock. All eight trenches in the Monte Carlo Zone have encountered gold mineralization in bedrock and are drill ready. We have an advanced exploration permit application in process, in preparation for a much more significant 2017 program of trenching and drilling based on the excellent results seen to date on Lucky Strike. Our plan is to start drilling where we have a 700 meter long IP anomaly that remains open under the gold in bedrock that has been seen in the trenches.

Both Plateau and the Lucky Strike property have garnered the attention of numerous companies. Although it is still early for any decision to be made, our ideas include spinning out Lucky Strike into a stand alone company post-drilling, which I believe would unlock tremendous value for our shareholders. We have a strong base of accredited investors and institutions alike that have been long-term supporters, and obviously our new partner Newmont is going to be a significant shareholder under the terms of the Investment Agreement. We look forward to reporting the results from both Plateau and Lucky Strike following what will be our busiest exploration season to date in the Yukon.

The Yukon government has been a strong supporter of both Lucky Strike and Plateau by providing funding by way of YMET grants. Without that support, we may not have been able to advance things to where we stand today. The Yukon is a great place to do business and its untapped mineral potential is becoming very apparent globally. Large companies are looking for a place where there is still near surface high-grade gold to be found in a geopolitically stable environment. The entry into Yukon of Newmont, Barrick, Agnico, Kinross, and Goldcorp is a very strong testament to that and to their belief in the future of Yukon. We have built relationships that have turned into long term friendships going back more than 25 years, and have had the pleasure of working with many Yukoners who have contributed greatly to Goldstrike's successes. I am sure we will continue to benefit from their passion and local knowledge long into the future, and we strongly believe we are just seeing the tip of iceberg akin to the great Yukon gold rush of the late 1800s. This new gold rush we are now experiencing is just beginning and we are certain there are many new discoveries yet to come out of the vast virgin frontier of the Yukon."

For new information from this program, please visit Goldstrike's website at GoldstrikeResources.com. For further information follow the Goldstrike's tweets at Twitter.com/GoldstrikeRes.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Regulus Resources Inc. ("Regulus"), (TSX.V:REG) is very pleased to announce that diamond drilling has commenced at its AntaKori copper-gold project in northern Peru. This initial drilling program will total 15,000-18,000 m of diamond core from 20-25 holes averaging 700-800 m in depth. Drilling has commenced with one drill rig, with plans to increase to a total of four drill rigs by mid-year to allow completion of the program by approximately October. The objective of the program will be to better characterize and increase the size of the existing resource at AntaKori, culminating in an updated NI 43-101 resource estimate with a target date for completion of January 2018.

The AntaKori project currently hosts an inferred resource of 294.8 million tonnes with a grade of 0.48% Cu, 0.36 g/t Au and 10.2 g/t Ag based upon 17,950 m of drilling by previous operators (see Southern Legacy Minerals press release of July 3, 2012) (Southern Legacy Minerals and the Company entered into a business arrangement in 2014 and kept the name Regulus Resources Inc.) Mineralization remains open in most directions and the current drilling program will approximately double the total drill meterage at the project.

Copper-gold sulfide mineralization at AntaKori occurs within skarn and breccias within Cretaceous sedimentary rocks and also as younger epithermal high-sulphidation mineralization in overlying Miocene volcanic rocks that host the adjacent Tantahuatay heap-leach gold mine to the south. The younger high-sulphidation mineralization locally overprints the earlier skarn mineralization, particularly along the southern extent of the AntaKori system. The skarn and breccia hosted mineralization is likely related to a porphyry copper-gold intrusive center, that is yet to be intersected by drilling, although there are fragments of well-mineralized porphyry locally within some of the breccias. The current drilling program will be completed as per the collaborative agreement previously announced (see Regulus news release of January 23, 2017). Due to timing of the permitting process, drilling will commence along the southern extent of the Regulus AntaKori property and gradually move northward into the center of the known mineralized system. The initial holes will encounter the overlying Miocene volcanic rocks and high-sulphidation style mineralization prior to entering into the Cretaceous sedimentary sequence at depth. As the drilling progresses to the north, the volcanic rocks terminate and drill holes will enter directly into the porphyry/skarn environment within the Cretaceous sedimentary sequence.

John Black, Chief Executive Officer of Regulus, commented as follows: There is a great amount of satisfaction and excitement to see a drill rig turning at AntaKori after several years of patient and diligent work to get everything set up for this moment. Despite a setback of a few weeks due to unusually heavy rains that wreaked havoc with roads and bridges in northern Peru and delayed the arrival of drilling equipment, we now have the first rig operating and are well-positioned to ramp up the program in the following months. This initial drilling campaign will total 15,000-18,000 m leading to an updated resource estimate by a target date of January 2018. Upon completion of this phase of drilling, we will likely move directly to the next phase with continuous drilling anticipated for the next several years as we define the full extent of the AntaKori mineralization.

About Regulus Resources Inc.

Regulus Resources Inc. is an international mineral exploration company run by an experienced technical and management team, with a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration properties located in North and South America. For further information on Regulus Resources Inc., please consult our website at www.regulusresources.com.

Qualified Persons

The scientific and technical data contained in this news release pertaining to the AntaKori project has been reviewed and approved by John E. Black, (Member AusIMM), Regulus CEO, who serves as the qualified person (QP) under the definitions of National Instrument 43-101.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - Leading Edge Materials Corp. ("Leading Edge Materials") or ("the Company") (TSX VENTURE:LEM)(OTCQB:LEMIF) is pleased to announce high grade lithium results from the first five diamond drill holes at the Company's 100% owned Bergby lithium project in Sweden. Bergby was a new discovery by Leading Edge Materials in 2016, and this is the first drilling program completed at the property.

Key Results:

BBY17005 intersected 10.45m @ 1.62% Li 2 O (lithium oxide) from 2.2m depth

from 2.2m depth BBY17004 intersected 1.90m @ 2.35% Li 2 O from 10.2m depth

from 10.2m depth BBY17003 intersected 8.20m @ 1.54% Li 2 O from 2.85m depth

from 2.85m depth BBY17002 intersected 3.95m @ 1.48% Li 2 O from 0.00m depth

from 0.00m depth BBY17001 intersected 1.45m @ 0.61% Li 2 O from 4.85m depth

Blair Way, President and CEO, stated, "This first program of drilling at Bergby has intersected high lithium grades at a very shallow depth, and places Bergby as a leading lithium project in the Nordic region. Bergby was discovered by the Leading Edge Materials team early in 2016, and to have achieved both high grades and a high hit rate of potentially mineralized pegmatite under thin glacial soil cover is a credit to their work. We look forward to sharing the additional drill results and the plans for follow up of this exciting prospect."

Bergby lies in central Sweden, 25km north of the town of Gavle, secured by three exploration licenses that cover a total of 1,903 Ha. The site is close to infrastructure, with major roads, rail and power supply passing immediately adjacent to the claim boundaries.

This first Bergby drilling program is now complete, with 18 short holes for a total of 533m drilled across a 650m long trend (see Table 1 and Figure 1 for drill collars locations and orientations). The pegmatite with potential for lithium mineralization was intersected in 17 of the 18 holes drilled and is now known to have a strike length of at least 500m. Holes reported within this release lie within a 50m x 50m area near an area of lithium mineralized pegmatite in outcrop, with mineralization drilled to date lying very close to surface. Intersections included elevated levels of tantalum (see Table 2 for all mineralized intersections).

The true thickness of the mineralized interval is interpreted to be approximately 90% of the sampled thickness. Holes were targeted to test the extent of the lithium mineralized pegmatite beneath shallow glacial soil cover. Further drill results will be released as they become available.

Europe is playing a leading role in the transition to low-carbon energy generation from renewable sources, and the efficient storage of that energy. Electric mobility (EVs, HEV, PHEVs) and stationary electricity storage are dependent on high purity graphite, lithium and cobalt, where Leading Edge Materials is an active European player. Lithium has a strong and expanding market, due to the essential role it plays in lithium-based batteries for the automotive, consumer product and stationary electrify storage industries. The high electrochemical potential of lithium results in the high power to weight ratio that is essential for efficient mobile batteries.

Samples submitted by Leading Edge Materials Corp were prepared and analyzed by the ME-MS89L technique by ALS Ltd's laboratories in either Pitea, Sweden, Loughrea, Ireland and/or Vancouver, Canada, where duplicates, repeats, blanks and known standards were inserted according to standard industry practice. The qualified person for the Company's exploration projects, Mark Saxon, Director of Leading Edge Materials, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy has reviewed and verified the contents of this release.

About Leading Edge Materials:

Leading Edge Materials is a Canadian public company with principal assets in Scandinavia, a region well recognised for its promotion and investment in innovation. LEM's flagship asset is the Woxna Graphite production facility located in central Sweden targeting the supply of specialty materials for lithium ion battery production. LEM's core investments are matched to high growth markets, linked to the global shift to low-carbon energy generation and energy storage.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - Japan Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:JG)(OTCQB:JGLDF) ("Japan Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce key appointments to its senior management and Board of Advisors.

Takashi Kuriyama, a Japanese geologist having over 42 years of domestic and international exploration and mining business experience, has accepted the post of General Manager, Exploration. In addition, internationally respected geologists Douglas Kirwin and Dr. Steve Garwin have agreed to join the Company's Board of Advisors.

"We are pleased to welcome these distinguished global experts to our team," said John Proust, Chairman and CEO of Japan Gold. "Their knowledge and insight will be instrumental as we prioritize and execute exploration efforts at our existing projects and move forward with identifying and acquiring further opportunities in Japan."

Takashi Kuriyama, B.Eng., General Manager, Exploration

Takashi Kuriyama, a geology graduate of the Mining and Geology Department of Akita University, served in increasingly senior roles with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. ("Sumitomo") from 1974 until his recent retirement as General Manager of its Global Exploration and Development Department.

During his career at Sumitomo, Mr. Kuriyama had the role of Exploration and Geology Manager at Sumitomo's Hishikari world class gold mine in Kyushu, Southern Japan, and subsequently held senior exploration positions in Africa, Australia, Mexico, Canada and the United States of America. In the roles of Executive Vice President of Sumitomo Metal Mining America Inc. and Managing Director of Sumitomo Metal Mining Oceania Pty Ltd., he oversaw the development of the Northparkes copper-gold porphyry copper mine and the Pogo gold mine in Alaska.

During his career with Sumitomo, he was seconded to Japanese Government Organizations serving as Councilor at the Metals Exploration Group of the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and Director at the Joint Venture Exploration Division for the Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ).

Mr. Kuriyama also served as a Director of Teck Resources Limited from 2006 until 2016.

Board of Advisors:

Dr. Steve Garwin BSc, MSc, Ph.D., FAusIMM, FAIG, FSEG

Dr. Steve Garwin has over 29 years of experience as an exploration geologist and is one of the leading authorities on porphyry, epithermal and Carlinstyle mineralization in the circumPacific region and applies methods of structural geology and geochemistry towards gold and basemetals exploration.

He has previously worked with Newmont Mining for ten years, including two years as Chief Geologist in Nevada, USA. He has been involved with several exploration and mining projects including the Batu Hijau copper-gold porphyry deposit (where he completed his PhD), the Indo Muro, Way Linggo and Tembang epithermal goldsilver vein systems, and the Mesel sedimenthosted gold deposit in Indonesia; mines of the Carlin Trend and Battle Mountain district in Nevada; the Whistler gold-copper porphyry deposit in Alaska; and the Santa Barbara goldporphyry deposit in southeastern Ecuador.

Steve holds a BSc from Stanford and an MSc from the University of British Columbia, both degrees in geology. He obtained a PhD in economic geology at the University of Western Australia. Dr. Garwin has been an adjunct research fellow at the Centre for Exploration Targeting at the University of Western Australia since 2001 and was appointed a visiting fellow at the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University in 2014.

Dr. Garwin has been instrumental in the discovery of the porphyry copper-gold systems at Alpala - Cascabel, northwestern Ecuador and the implementation of stateoftheart detailed mapping and logging strategies for SolGold Plc. These processes have led to accurate drill hole targeting and rapid progression to resource definition.

Douglas J. Kirwin, B.Sc., M.Sc., FSEG.

Doug Kirwin is an independent geologist with 45 years of international exploration experience. Doug has held senior positions with Anglo American and Amax during the 1970's and was managing director of a successful international geological consulting firm during the 1980's and early 1990's.

In 1995 he accepted a role as Vice President, Exploration for Indochina Goldfields and subsequently became the Executive Vice President for Ivanhoe Mines Limited until 2012, after which Ivanhoe was acquired by Rio Tinto. Doug was also a director of South Gobi Energy, Jinshan Gold and a founding non-executive director of Ivanhoe Australia Ltd.

As a member of the joint discovery team for the Hugo Dummett deposit at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, Doug was a co-recipient of the PDAC inaugural Thayer Lindsley medal awarded for the most significant international mineral discovery in 2004. Other mineral discoveries made by his exploration team include the Jelai-Mewet and Seryung epithermal deposits in northeast Kalimantan, the Eunsan, Moisan and Gasado gold mines in South Korea, the Moditaung gold deposits in Myanmar and the Merlin Re-Mo deposit in Australia.

In 2006 Mr. Kirwin was the International Exchange lecturer for the Society of Economic Geologists where he made presentations at Hokkaido and Tokyo Universities and served as the Society Vice President during 2007 to 2010. He has previously been an industry advisor for the Society of Applied Geologists and China Mining and a board member of the Economic Geology Research Unit at James Cook University. Doug holds a Master of Science degree in mineral exploration from James Cook University, Australia, where he is currently the adjunct professor.

About Japan Gold Corp.

Japan Gold Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused solely on gold and copper-gold exploration in Japan. The Company has applied for 148 prospecting rights licenses in northern Japan for a combined area of 49,150 hectares over ten separate projects. Nine of the applications have been granted as Prospecting Rights. The applications cover areas with known gold occurrences and a history of mining, and are prospective for both high-grade epithermal gold mineralization and gold-bearing lithocaps, which could indicate the presence of porphyry mineralization. Japan Gold's leadership team has decades of resource industry and business experience, and the Company has recruited geologists and technical advisors with experience exploring and operating in Japan. More information is available at www.japangold.com or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 24, 2017) -

Barrick reported first quarter net earnings attributable to equity holders ("net earnings") of $679 million ($0.58 per share), and adjusted net earnings 1 of $162 million ($0.14 per share).

of $162 million ($0.14 per share). The Company reported first quarter revenues of $1.99 billion, net cash provided by operating activities ("operating cash flow") of $495 million, and free cash flow 2 of $161 million.

of $161 million. Gold production in the first quarter was 1.31 million ounces, at a cost of sales applicable to gold of $833 per ounce, and all-in sustaining costs 3 of $772 per ounce.

of $772 per ounce. We announced a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Shandong Gold, including the sale of 50 percent of Veladero for $960 million. As a next step, both companies will jointly explore the potential development of Pascua-Lama, and will evaluate additional investment opportunities.

We further optimized our portfolio through the creation of a new joint venture with Goldcorp at the Cerro Casale project.

Total debt was reduced by $178 million in the first quarter.

Full-year gold production is now expected to be 5.3-5.6 million ounces, down from our previous range of 5.6-5.9 million ounces. Approximately two-thirds of this reduction is attributable to the anticipated sale of 50 percent of Veladero. Cost of sales and all-in sustaining cost guidance for the full year remains unchanged.

A comprehensive plan to strengthen and improve the Veladero mine's operating systems is now under review by federal and provincial authorities in Argentina. Our adjusted guidance assumes normal leaching activities will resume in June, pending government approval and the lifting of judicial restrictions.

Barrick will hold its first Sustainability Briefing for investors on May 9, 2017. Visit www.barrick.com for webcast information.

Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX) ("Barrick" or the "Company") today reported strong first quarter results, with operating cash flow of $495 million, free cash flow2 of $161 million, and production and costs in line with expectations. Our focus remains on maintaining and growing industry-leading margins, driven by innovation and our digital transformation, managing our portfolio and allocating capital and talent with discipline and rigor, and leveraging our distinctive partnership culture as a competitive advantage.

Reflecting our focus on operational excellence and Best-in-Class performance, the integration of our Cortez and Goldstrike mines in Nevada is on track, with stronger-than-anticipated first quarter results and the accelerated rollout of digital mining solutions. Higher capital expenditures in the first quarter were in line with plan, and underscore our commitment to disciplined investment in 2017, as we re-invest in our business to deliver high margin ounces and growth in free cash flow per share over the long term.

We further optimized our portfolio through the creation of distinctive new partnerships. In early April, we announced a partnership with Shandong Gold Group that will help us generate more value from the Veladero mine in the short term, while potentially unlocking the untapped mineral wealth of the El Indio Belt in Argentina and Chile over the long term. In addition, we announced the creation of a new joint venture with Goldcorp at the Cerro Casale project in Chile, and new exploration partnerships with ATAC Resources and Osisko Mining, opening up new avenues to grow the long-term value of our portfolio.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

First quarter net earnings were $679 million ($0.58 per share), compared to a net loss of $83 million ($0.07 per share) in the prior-year period. A significant improvement in net earnings was largely due to approximately $1.125 billion of net impairment reversals ($522 million net of tax effect and non-controlling interest) recorded in the first quarter of 2017, reflecting the indicative fair value of the Cerro Casale project resulting from our divestment of 25 percent, and the associated partnership agreement with Goldcorp. Net earnings also benefited from lower currency translation losses compared to the first quarter of 2016, when the Company recorded $91 million of currency translation losses, primarily related to Australian entities.

Adjusted net earnings1 for the first quarter were $162 million ($0.14 per share), compared to $127 million ($0.11 per share) in the prior-year period. Higher adjusted net earnings reflect the impact of higher gold and copper prices, partially offset by higher depreciation, higher exploration and evaluation expenses, and slightly higher direct mining costs.

Operating cash flow increased to $495 million, compared to $451 million in the first quarter of 2016. Higher operating cash flow was driven by higher gold and copper prices, as well as lower interest payments, reflecting the impact of significant debt reduction completed over the past year. These favorable movements were partially offset by unfavorable working capital movements compared to the prior-year period. Free cash flow2 for the first quarter was $161 million, compared to $181 million in the first quarter of 2016. Lower free cash flow primarily reflects higher planned sustaining capital expenditures in the first quarter (see page 3 for details), as well as increased project spending at Barrick Nevada, primarily related to the development of Crossroads and the Cortez Hills lower zone, in addition to Goldrush project expenditures. These increases were partially offset by higher operating cash flow.

RESTORING A STRONG BALANCE SHEET

Achieving and maintaining a strong balance sheet remains a top priority. We intend to reduce our total debt from $7.9 billion at the start of 2017, to $5 billion by the end of 2018-half of which we are targeting this year. We will achieve this by using cash flow from operations, further portfolio optimization, and the creation of new joint ventures and partnerships.

In the first quarter, total debt was reduced by $178 million. In early April, the company announced the sale of 50 percent of the Veladero mine in Argentina to Shandong Gold for $960 million, the majority of which will be allocated to debt reduction.

At the end of the first quarter, Barrick had a consolidated cash balance of approximately $2.3 billion.4 The Company now has less than $100 million in debt due before 2019.5 About $5 billion, or 64 percent of our outstanding total debt of $7.8 billion, does not mature until after 2032.

OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS AND OUTLOOK

Barrick produced 1.31 million ounces of gold in the first quarter at a cost of sales of $833 per ounce, in line with plan. This compares to 1.28 million ounces at a cost of sales of $810 per ounce in the prior-year period.

All-in sustaining costs3 in the first quarter were $772 per ounce, compared to $706 per ounce in the first quarter of 2016. Approximately 90 percent of this increase, or roughly $58 per ounce, is a result of higher sustaining capital expenditures compared to the prior-year period. Significant items in the first quarter included planned capitalized stripping at Barrick Nevada, increased expenditures at Veladero relating to phase 4B and 5B of the leach pad, and other equipment purchases. Over the same period, cash costs3 decreased, from $553 per ounce in the first quarter of 2016 to $545 per ounce in the first quarter of 2017.

Gold production in the first quarter was impacted by the timing of autoclave maintenance at the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic. Heavy rains, road closures. and power outages associated with the El Nino weather pattern also impacted production at the Lagunas Norte mine in Peru. Both operations remain on track to achieve their original full-year production guidance.

The Company produced 95 million pounds of copper in the first quarter, at a cost of sales of $1.73 per pound, and all-in sustaining costs6 of $2.19 per pound. This compares to 111 million pounds, at a cost of sales of $1.34 per pound, and all-in sustaining costs6 of $1.97 per pound in the first quarter of 2016. Lower copper production in the first quarter was primarily the result of lower production at the Lumwana mine in Zambia, as a result of lower tonnes processed, combined with lower grades.

Please see page 29 of Barrick's first quarter MD&A for individual operating segment performance details.

We now expect full-year gold production of 5.3-5.6 million ounces, down from our previous range of 5.6-5.9 million ounces. A significant portion of this reduction is attributable to the anticipated sale of 50 percent of Veladero, which is expected to close at the end of the second quarter. Our updated guidance assumes no change to Acacia's full-year guidance as a result of the export ban on concentrates currently affecting Acacia's operations in Tanzania. It also assumes the resumption of normal processing activities at Veladero in June, subject to government approval of proposed modifications to the mine's operating systems (see Page 4 - Veladero Update).

We continue to expect full-year cost of sales attributable to gold to be $780-$820 per ounce, and all-in sustaining costs3 of $720-$770 per ounce.

Our copper production guidance for 2017 is unchanged at 400-450 million pounds, at a cost of sales applicable to copper between $1.50-1.70 per pound, and all-in sustaining costs6 of $2.10-$2.40 per pound.

Please see Appendix 1 of this press release for individual mine site guidance updates.

Gold First Quarter

2017 Current

2017 Guidance Original

2017 Guidance Production7 (000s of ounces) 1,309 5,300-5,600 5,600-5,900 Cost of sales applicable to gold ($ per ounce) 833 780-820 780-820 All-in sustaining costs3 ($ per ounce) 772 720-770 720-770 Copper Production7 (millions of pounds) 95 400-450 400-450 Cost of sales applicable to copper ($ per pound) 1.73 1.50-1.70 1.50-1.70 All-in sustaining costs6 ($ per pound) 2.19 2.10-2.40 2.10-2.40 Total Capital Expenditures8 ($ millions) 310 1,300-1,500 1,300-1,500

Veladero Update

On March 28, a coupling on a pipe carrying gold-bearing solution at the Veladero mine heap leach facility failed. Solution released from the rupture was contained within the operating site and did not result in any impact to the environment or people. The Company promptly notified San Juan provincial authorities, who inspected the site on March 29. On March 30, the Government of San Juan province temporarily restricted the addition of cyanide to the Veladero mine's heap leach facility, pending the completion of works to strengthen and improve the mine's operating systems.

Barrick presented its proposed work plan to San Juan provincial authorities on April 21, following extensive consultation with both federal and provincial officials and regulators. The provincial government has indicated it will take approximately two weeks to review the Company's proposals, a process that will also include federal authorities, including the national Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. Initial work on the proposed modifications to the heap leach facility has already begun, concurrent with the review by provincial and federal authorities. Our updated guidance assumes a resumption of normal leaching activities at the mine in June, subject to approval by the Government of San Juan province, the lifting of operating restrictions by the San Juan provincial court, and the resolution of regulatory and legal matters by the federal and provincial courts (for more information about these matters, please see Note 17 "Contingencies" of Barrick's first quarter financial statements and the notes thereto). This assumption is based on our assessment of the time required to complete the proposed modifications to the leach pad. The timing of approval for the resumption of leaching activities will depend on the actual progress of work, any potential new requirements, and a final evaluation of the completed modifications by provincial authorities. In parallel with the submission of a new technical plan for the operation, Barrick has also presented an updated community investment and engagement plan to the Government of San Juan and federal authorities for review.

On a 100 percent basis, we now expect full-year production at Veladero of 630,000-730,000 ounces of gold, at a cost of sales of $740-$790 per ounce, and all-in sustaining costs3 of $890-$990 per ounce. Barrick's share of full-year production, assuming 50 percent ownership from July 1, is expected to be 430,000-480,000 ounces of gold. This compares to our original 2017 guidance of 770,000-830,000 ounces (100 percent basis), at a cost of sales of $750-$800 per ounce, and all-in sustaining costs3 of $840-$940 per ounce.

PORTFOLIO OPTIMIZATION AND PARTNERSHIPS

The creation of new partnerships and joint ventures is a core element of our strategy to grow free cash flow per share over the long term. So far this year, we have entered into four new partnerships in support of this long-term strategy.

Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Shandong

On April 6, Barrick announced that it had entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Shandong Gold Group Co., Ltd., the leading underground mining company in China, based in Jinan, Shandong province. As a first step in the new partnership, Shandong Gold Mining Co., Ltd, the listed company of Shandong Gold Group, will acquire 50 percent of Barrick's Veladero mine in San Juan province, Argentina, for $960 million. As a second step, Barrick and Shandong will form a working group to explore the joint development of the Pascua-Lama deposit. As a third step, both companies will evaluate additional investment opportunities on the highly prospective El Indio Gold Belt on the border of Argentina and Chile, which hosts a cluster of world-class gold mines and projects including Veladero, Pascua-Lama, and Alturas. The transaction is expected to close at the end of the second quarter.

Cerro Casale Joint Venture

On March 28, Barrick announced that it has reached an agreement with Goldcorp Inc. to form a new partnership at the Cerro Casale Project in Chile. Under the terms of the agreement, Goldcorp has agreed to purchase a 25 percent interest in Cerro Casale from Barrick, as well as Kinross Gold Corporation's 25 percent interest, resulting in a 50/50 joint venture between Barrick and Goldcorp. The agreement brings a fresh perspective to the project, along with the potential for synergies in the district. It also allows us to direct capital elsewhere in our portfolio, while ensuring Barrick shareholders retain exposure to the optionality associated with one of the largest undeveloped gold and copper deposits in the world. The resulting increase in carrying value illustrates how Barrick's partnership approach is surfacing value associated with otherwise dormant options within our asset portfolio.

ATAC Resources Exploration Earn-In and Private Placement

On April 10, ATAC Resources announced that it had reached an earn-in agreement with Barrick at ATAC's Orion project in the Yukon, Canada. The Orion Project hosts the Orion and Anubis Carlin-type gold discoveries, in addition to eight other early stage Carlin-type gold prospects. These form part of the largest Carlin-type mineralized system in North America outside of Nevada. Barrick has extensive experience and expertise with Carlin-type deposits in Nevada. Barrick has the option to spend C$35 million over five years to acquire a 60 percent interest in the project, after which the companies would form a joint venture. We will then have the option to earn an additional 10 percent by spending a further C$20 million at the project. Barrick will also purchase ATAC common shares through a charity flow-through private placement for a total cost to Barrick of C$6.3 million, increasing Barrick's shareholding in ATAC from approximately 9.2 percent to 19.9 percent.

Osisko Mining Exploration Earn-In

On March 27, Osisko Mining Inc. announced that it had commenced its previously announced earn-in agreement with Barrick on the Kan property in northern Quebec. Under the earn-in agreement, Barrick must commit $15 million in exploration expenditures by December 31, 2020, to earn a 70 percent interest in the Kan property, subject to certain annual expenditure thresholds. Following the formation of a joint venture, Barrick may earn a further five percent interest by funding an additional $5 million of project level expenditures. The Labrador Trough in northern Quebec is home to numerous well known iron ore deposits and base metal prospects. We believe it has been under appreciated for its gold potential, and could develop into a core mineral district for Barrick. The partnership will leverage the on-the-ground experience and expertise of Osisko in this region, with Barrick Exploration team members embedded at the project.

SUSTAINABILTIY BRIEFING

Barrick will hold its first Sustainability Briefing for investors on Tuesday, May 9. Speakers will include Board Member and Chair of our Corporate Responsibility Committee, Nancy Lockhart, along with our Chief Operating Officer, Chief Sustainability Officer, and other leaders. Please join us for the live webcast from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at www.barrick.com.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

The scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Steven Haggarty, P. Eng., Senior Director, Metallurgy of Barrick, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

APPENDIX 1 - Updated 2017 Operating and Capital Expenditure Guidance

GOLD PRODUCTION AND COSTS Production

(millions of ounces) Cost of sales

($ per ounce) All-in sustaining costs3

($ per ounce) Cash costs3

($ per ounce) Barrick Nevada 2.180-2.260 820-860 630-680 480-510 Pueblo Viejo (60%) 0.625-0.650 650-680 540-570 420-440 Veladero 0.430-0.480 740-790 890-990 520-560 Lagunas Norte 0.380-0.420 710-780 540-600 430-470 Sub-total 3.600-3.800 770-810 650-710 470-500 Acacia (63.9%) 0.545-0.575 860-910 880-920 580-620 KCGM (50%) 0.360-0.400 750-790 680-720 600-630 Turquoise Ridge (75%) 0.260-0.280 550-600 630-710 440-470 Porgera (47.5%) 0.240-0.260 780-840 900-970 650-700 Hemlo 0.205-0.220 830-890 890-990 660-710 Golden Sunlight 0.035-0.050 900-1,200 950-1,040 900-950 Total Gold 5.300-5.6009 780-820 720-770 510-535 COPPER PRODUCTION AND COSTS Production

(millions of pounds) Cost of sales

($ per pound) All-in sustaining costs6

($ per pound) C1 cash costs6

($ per pound) Zaldivar (50%) 120-135 2.00-2.20 1.90-2.10 ~1.50 Lumwana 250-275 1.20-1.40 2.10-2.30 1.40-1.60 Jabal Sayid (50%) 35-45 2.10-2.80 2.10-2.60 1.50-1.90 Total Copper 400-4509 1.50-1.70 2.10-2.40 1.40-1.60



CAPITAL EXPENDITURES ($ millions) Mine site sustaining 1,050-1,200 Project 250-300 Total Capital Expenditures 1,300-1,500

APPENDIX 2 - 2017 Outlook Assumptions and Economic Sensitivity Analysis

2017 Guidance Assumption Hypothetical

Change Impact on Revenue (millions) Impact on

Cost of sales (millions) Impact on

All-in sustaining costs3,6 Gold revenue, net of royalties $1,050/oz +/- $100/oz +/- $415 +/- $11 +/- $3/oz Copper revenue, net of royalties10 $2.25/lb + $0.50/lb + $166 + $11 + $0.03/lb Copper revenue, net of royalties10 $2.25/lb - $0.50/lb - $133 - $9 - $0.03/lb Gold all-in sustaining costs3 WTI crude oil price11 $55/bbl +/- $10/bbl n/a +/- $16 +/- $4/oz Australian dollar exchange rate 0.75 : 1 +/- 10% n/a +/- $22 +/- $5/oz Canadian dollar exchange rate 1.32 : 1 +/- 10% n/a +/- $25 +/- $6/oz Copper all-in sustaining costs6 WTI crude oil price11 $55/bbl +/- $10/bbl n/a +/- $4 +/- $0.01/lb Chilean peso exchange rate 675 : 1 +/- 10% n/a +/- $5 +/- $0.01/lb

ENDNOTE 1

"Adjusted net earnings" and "adjusted net earnings per share" are non-GAAP financial performance measures. Adjusted net earnings excludes the following from net earnings: certain impairment charges (reversals) related to intangibles, goodwill, property, plant and equipment, and investments; gains (losses) and other one-time costs relating to acquisitions or dispositions: foreign currency translation gains (losses); significant tax adjustments not related to current period earnings; unrealized gains (losses) on non-hedge derivative instruments; and the tax effect and non-controlling interest of these items. The Company uses this measure internally to evaluate our underlying operating performance for the reporting periods presented and to assist with the planning and forecasting of future operating results. Barrick believes that adjusted net earnings is a useful measure of our performance because these adjusting items do not reflect the underlying operating performance of our core mining business and are not necessarily indicative of future operating results. Adjusted net earnings and adjusted net earnings per share are intended to provide additional information only and do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures of performance presented by other companies. They should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Further details on these non-GAAP measures are provided in the MD&A accompanying Barrick's financial statements filed from time to time on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Reconciliation of Net Earnings to Net Earnings per Share, Adjusted Net Earnings and Adjusted Net Earnings per Share

($ millions, except per share amounts in dollars) For the three months ended March 31 2017 2016 Net earnings (loss) attributable to equity holders of the Company $ 679 $ (83) Impairment charges (reversals) related to intangibles, goodwill, property, plant and equipment, and investments1 (1,125) 1 Acquisition/disposition (gains)/losses 3 8 Foreign currency translation (gains)/losses 3 139 Significant tax adjustments (3) 51 Other expense adjustments 6 68 Unrealized gains on non-hedge derivative instruments 3 (6) Tax effect and non-controlling interest2 596 (51) Adjusted net earnings $ 162 $ 127 Net earnings (loss) per share3 0.58 (0.07) Adjusted net earnings per share3 0.14 0.11

1 Net impairment reversals for the current year primarily relate to impairment reversals at the Cerro Casale project upon reclassification of the project's net assets as held-for-sale as at March 31, 2017. 2 Tax effect and non-controlling interest primarily relates to the impairment reversals at the Cerro Casale project discussed above. 3 Calculated using weighted average number of shares outstanding under the basic method of earnings per share.

ENDNOTE 2

"Free cash flow" is a non-GAAP financial performance measure which excludes capital expenditures from Net cash provided by operating activities. Barrick believes this to be a useful indicator of our ability to operate without reliance on additional borrowing or usage of existing cash. Free cash flow is intended to provide additional information only and does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures of performance presented by other companies. Free cash flow should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Further details on these non-GAAP measures are provided in the MD&A accompanying Barrick's financial statements filed from time to time on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Reconciliation of Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities to Free Cash Flow

($ millions) For the three months ended March 31 2017 2016 Net cash provided by operating activities $ 495 $ 451 Capital expenditures (334) (270) Free cash flow $ 161 $ 181

ENDNOTE 3

"Cash costs" per ounce and "All-in sustaining costs" per ounce are non-GAAP financial performance measures. "Cash costs" per ounce starts with cost of sales related to gold production, but excludes the impact of depreciation, the non-controlling interest of cost of sales, and includes by-product credits. "All-in sustaining costs" per ounce begin with "Cash costs" per ounce and add further costs which reflect the additional costs of operating a mine, primarily sustaining capital expenditures, general & administrative costs, minesite exploration and evaluation costs, and reclamation cost accretion and amortization. Barrick believes that the use of "cash costs" per ounce and "all-in sustaining costs" per ounce will assist investors, analysts and other stakeholders in understanding the costs associated with producing gold, understanding the economics of gold mining, assessing our operating performance and also our ability to generate free cash flow from current operations and to generate free cash flow on an overall Company basis. "Cash costs" per ounce and "All-in sustaining costs" per ounce are intended to provide additional information only and do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. Although a standardized definition of all-in sustaining costs was published in 2013 by the World Gold Council (a market development organization for the gold industry comprised of and funded by 18 gold mining companies from around the world, including Barrick), it is not a regulatory organization, and other companies may calculate this measure differently. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. Further details on these non-GAAP measures are provided in the MD&A accompanying Barrick's financial statements filed from time to time on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Reconciliation of Gold Cost of Sales to Cash costs, All-in sustaining costs and All-in costs, including on a per ounce basis

($ millions, except per ounce information in dollars) For the three months ended March 31 Footnote 2017 2016 Cost of sales related to gold production $ 1,238 $ 1,202 Depreciation (385) (368) By-product credits 1 (41) (38) Realized (gains)/losses on hedge and non-hedge derivatives 2 - 31 Non-recurring items 3 - (10) Other 4 (20) (10) Non-controlling interests (Pueblo Viejo and Acacia) 5 (81) (85) Cash costs $ 711 $ 722 General & administrative costs 72 58 Minesite exploration and evaluation costs 6 7 8 Minesite sustaining capital expenditures 7 262 175 Rehabilitation - accretion and amortization (operating sites) 8 17 17 Non-controlling interest, copper operations and other 9 (61) (56) All-in sustaining costs $ 1,008 $ 924 Project exploration and evaluation and project costs 6 68 47 Community relations costs not related to current operations 1 2 Project capital expenditures 7 56 40 Rehabilitation - accretion and amortization (non-operating sites) 8 3 2 Non-controlling interest and copper operations 9 (7) (17) All-in costs $ 1,129 $ 998 Ounces sold - equity basis (000s ounces) 10 1,305 1,306 Cost of sales per ounce 11,12 $833 $ 810 Cash costs per ounce 12 $ 545 $ 553 Cash costs per ounce (on a co-product basis) 12,13 $ 568 $ 577 All-in sustaining costs per ounce 12 $ 772 $ 706 All-in sustaining costs per ounce (on a co-product basis) 12,13 $ 795 $ 730 All-in costs per ounce 12 $ 865 $ 764 All-in costs per ounce (on a co-product basis) 12,13 $ 888 $ 788

1 By-product credits Revenues include the sale of by-products for our gold and copper mines for the three months ended March 31, 2017 of $41 million (2016: $28 million) and energy sales from the Monte Rio power plant at our Pueblo Viejo mine for the three months ended March 31, 2017 of $nil (2016: $10 million) up until its disposition on August 18, 2016. 2 Realized (gains)/losses on hedge and non-hedge derivatives Includes realized hedge losses of $6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 (2016: $24 million), and realized non-hedge gains of $6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 (2016: $7 million losses). Refer to Note 5 of the Financial Statements for further information. 3 Non-recurring items Non-recurring items in the first quarter of 2016 consist of $10 million in abnormal costs at Veladero relating to the administrative fine in connection with the cyanide incident that occurred in 2015. These costs are not indicative of our cost of production and have been excluded from the calculation of cash costs. 4 Other Other adjustments for the three months ended March 31, 2017 include adding the net margins related to power sales at Pueblo Viejo of $nil (2016: $2 million), adding the cost of treatment and refining charges of $1 million (2016: $4 million) and the removal of cash costs and by-product credits associated with our Pierina mine, which is mining incidental ounces as it enters closure, of $21 million (2016: $14 million). 5 Non-controlling interests (Pueblo Viejo and Acacia) Non-controlling interests include non-controlling interests related to gold production of $116 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 (2016: $126 million). Refer to Note 5 of the Financial Statements for further information. 6 Exploration and evaluation costs Exploration, evaluation and project expenses are presented as minesite sustaining if it supports current mine operations and project if it relates to future projects. Refer to page 25 of the MD&A accompanying Barrick's financial statements. 7 Capital expenditures Capital expenditures are related to our gold sites only and are presented on a 100% accrued basis. They are split between minesite sustaining and project capital expenditures. Project capital expenditures are distinct projects designed to increase the net present value of the mine and are not related to current production. Significant projects in the current year are stripping at Cortez Crossroads, underground development at Cortez Hills Lower Zone and the range front declines, Lagunas Norte Refractory Ore Project and Goldrush. Refer to page 24 of the MD&A. 8 Rehabilitation - accretion and amortization Includes depreciation on the assets related to rehabilitation provisions of our gold operations and accretion on the rehabilitation provision of our gold operations, split between operating and non-operating sites. 9 Non-controlling interest and copper operations Removes general & administrative costs related to non-controlling interests and copper based on a percentage allocation of revenue. Also removes exploration, evaluation and project costs, rehabilitation costs and capital expenditures incurred by our copper sites and the non-controlling interest of our Acacia and Pueblo Viejo operating segment and Arturo. Figures remove the impact of Pierina. The impact is summarized as the following:

($ millions) For the three months ended March 31 Non-controlling interest, copper operations and other 2017 2016 General & administrative costs ($ 9) ($ 10) Minesite exploration and evaluation costs (1) (2) Rehabilitation - accretion and amortization (operating sites) (3) (2) Minesite sustaining capital expenditures (48) (42) All-in sustaining costs total ($ 61) ($ 56) Project exploration and evaluation and project costs (6) (4) Project capital expenditures (1) (13) All-in costs total ($ 7) ($ 17)

10 Ounces sold - equity basis Figures remove the impact of Pierina as the mine is currently going through closure. 11 Cost of sales per ounce Figures remove the cost of sales impact of Pierina of $34 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 (2016: $19 million), as the mine is currently going through closure. Cost of sales per ounce excludes non-controlling interest related to gold production. Cost of sales related to gold per ounce is calculated using cost of sales on an attributable basis (removing the non-controlling interest of 40% Pueblo Viejo and 36.1% Acacia from cost of sales), divided by attributable gold ounces. 12 Per ounce figures Cost of sales per ounce, cash costs per ounce, all-in sustaining costs per ounce and all-in costs per ounce may not calculate based on amounts presented in this table due to rounding. 13 Co-product costs per ounce Cash costs per ounce, all-in sustaining costs per ounce and all-in costs per ounce presented on a co-product basis removes the impact of by-product credits of our gold production (net of non-controlling interest) calculated as:

($ millions) For the three months ended March 31 2017 2016 By-product credits $ 41 $ 38 Non-controlling interest (8) (13) By-product credits (net of non-controlling interest) $ 33 $ 25

ENDNOTE 4

Includes $598 million of cash primarily held at Acacia and Pueblo Viejo, which may not be readily deployed outside of Acacia and/or Pueblo Viejo.

ENDNOTE 5

Amount excludes capital leases and includes project financing payments at Pueblo Viejo (60 percent basis) and Acacia (100 percent basis).

ENDNOTE 6

"C1 cash costs" per pound and "All-in sustaining costs" per pound are non-GAAP financial performance measures. "C1 cash costs" per pound is based on cost of sales but excludes the impact of depreciation and royalties and includes treatment and refinement charges. "All-in sustaining costs" per pound begins with "C1 cash costs" per pound and adds further costs which reflect the additional costs of operating a mine, primarily sustaining capital expenditures, general & administrative costs and royalties. Barrick believes that the use of "C1 cash costs" per pound and "all-in sustaining costs" per pound will assist investors, analysts, and other stakeholders in understanding the costs associated with producing copper, understanding the economics of copper mining, assessing our operating performance, and also our ability to generate free cash flow from current operations and to generate free cash flow on an overall Company basis. "C1 cash costs" per pound and "All-in sustaining costs" per pound are intended to provide additional information only, do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS, and may not be comparable to similar measures of performance presented by other companies. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Further details on these non-GAAP measures are provided in the MD&A accompanying Barrick's financial statements filed from time to time on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Reconciliation of Copper Cost of Sales to C1 cash costs and All-in sustaining costs, including on a per pound basis

($ millions, except per pound information in dollars) For the three months ended March 31 2017 2016 Cost of sales $ 82 $ 89 Depreciation/amortization1 (14) (11) Treatment and refinement charges 32 46 Cash cost of sales applicable to equity method investments2 61 41 Less: royalties (7) (14) C1 cash cost of sales $ 154 $ 151 General & administrative costs 3 7 Rehabilitation - accretion and amortization 2 1 Royalties 7 14 Minesite sustaining capital expenditures 37 30 All-in sustaining costs $ 203 $ 203 Pounds sold - consolidated basis (millions pounds) 93 103 Cost of sales per pound3,4 $1.73 $ 1.34 C1 cash cost per pound3 $1.65 $ 1.47 All-in sustaining costs per pound3 $2.19 $1.97

1 For the three months ended March 31, 2017, depreciation excludes $18 million (2016: $8 million) of depreciation applicable to equity method investments. 2 For the three months ended March 31, 2017, figures include $46 million (2016: $41 million) of cash costs related to our 50% share of Zaldivar and $15 million (2016: $nil) of cash costs related to our 50% share of Jabal Sayid due to their accounting as equity method investments. 3 Cost of sales per pound, C1 cash costs per pound and all-in sustaining costs per pound may not calculate based on amounts presented in this table due to rounding. 4 Cost of sales related to copper per pound is calculated using cost of sales including our proportionate share of cost of sales attributable to equity method investments (Zaldivar and Jabal Sayid), divided by consolidated copper pounds (including our proportionate share of copper pounds from our equity method investments).

ENDNOTE 7

Barrick's share.

ENDNOTE 8

Barrick's share on an accrued basis.

ENDNOTE 9

Operating unit guidance ranges for production reflect expectations at each individual operating unit, but do not add up to corporate-wide guidance range total.

ENDNOTE 10

Utilizing option collar strategies, the Company has protected the downside on approximately 72 million pounds of expected remaining 2017 copper production at an average floor price of $2.30 per pound, and can participate in the upside on the same amount up to an average of $2.92 per pound. Our remaining copper production is subject to market prices.

ENDNOTE 11

Due to our hedging activities, which are reflected in these sensitivities, we are partially protected against changes in these factors.

Key Statistics Barrick Gold Corporation (in United States dollars) Three months ended March 31 2017 2016 Financial Results (millions) Revenues $ 1,993 $ 1,930 Cost of sales 1,342 1,324 Net earnings (loss)1 679 (83 ) Adjusted net earnings2 162 127 Adjusted EBITDA2 904 697 Total project capital expenditures3 56 40 Total capital expenditures - sustaining3 262 175 Net cash provided by operating activities 495 451 Free cash flow2 161 181 Per share data (dollars) Net earnings (loss) (basic and diluted) 0.58 (0.07 ) Adjusted net earnings (basic)2 0.14 0.11 Weighted average basic common shares (millions) 1,166 1,165 Weighted average diluted common shares (millions) 1,166 1,165 Operating Results Gold production (thousands of ounces)4 1,309 1,280 Gold sold (thousands of ounces)4 1,305 1,306 Per ounce data Average spot gold price $ 1,219 $ 1,183 Average realized gold price2 1,220 1,181 Cost of sales (Barrick's share)5 833 810 All-in sustaining costs2 772 706 Copper production (millions of pounds)6 95 111 Copper sold (millions of pounds) 93 103 Per pound data Average spot copper price $ 2.65 $ 2.12 Average realized copper price2 2.76 2.18 Cost of sales (Barrick's share)7 1.73 1.34 All-in sustaining costs2 2.19 1.97

As at March 31, As at December 31, 2017 2016 Financial Position (millions) Cash and equivalents $ 2,277 $ 2,389 Working capital (excluding cash)8 883 1,155

1 Net earnings (loss) represents net earnings attributable to the equity holders of the Company. 2 Adjusted net earnings, adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow, adjusted net earnings per share, realized gold price, all-in sustaining costs and realized copper price are non-GAAP financial performance measures with no standardized meaning under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. For further information and a detailed reconciliation of each non-GAAP measure to the most directly comparable IFRS measure, please see pages 43 to 53 of this MD&A. 3 Amounts presented on a 100% accrued basis. Project capital expenditures are included in our calculation of all-in costs, but not included in our calculation of all-in sustaining costs. 4 Includes Acacia on a 63.9% basis and Pueblo Viejo on a 60% basis, both of which reflect our equity share of production. 2016 includes production and sales from Bald Mountain and Round Mountain up to January 11, 2016, the effective date of sale of the assets. 5 Cost of sales per ounce (Barrick's share) is calculated as cost of sales - gold on an attributable basis excluding Pierina divided by gold ounces sold. 6 Amounts reflect production from Jabal Sayid and Zaldivar on a 50% basis, which reflects our equity share of production, and 100% of Lumwana. 7 Cost of sales per pound (Barrick's share) is calculated as cost of sales - copper plus our equity share of cost of sales attributable to Zaldivar and Jabal Sayid divided by copper pounds sold. 8 2017 figures exclude assets classified as held-for-sale as at March 31, 2017.

Production and Cost Summary Production Three months ended March 31, 2017 2016 Gold (equity ounces (000s)) Barrick Nevada 521 496 Pueblo Viejo1 143 172 Lagunas Norte 88 100 Veladero 151 132 Turquoise Ridge 55 50 Acacia2 140 122 Other Mines - Gold3 211 208 Total 1,309 1,280 Copper (equity pounds (millions))4 95 111

Cost of Sales per unit (Barrick's share) Three months ended March 31, 2017 2016 Gold Cost of Sales per ounce ($/oz)5 Barrick Nevada $ 916 $ 885 Pueblo Viejo1 694 606 Lagunas Norte 573 666 Veladero 846 842 Turquoise Ridge 680 715 Acacia2 816 914 Total $ 833 $ 810 Copper Cost of Sales per pound ($/lb)6 $ 1.73 $ 1.34

All-in sustaining costs7 Three months ended March 31, 2017 2016 Gold All-in Sustaining Costs ($/oz) Barrick Nevada $ 694 $ 582 Pueblo Viejo1 541 496 Lagunas Norte 428 551 Veladero 890 675 Turquoise Ridge 714 728 Acacia2 934 959 Total $ 772 $ 706 Copper All-in Sustaining Costs ($/lb) $ 2.19 $ 1.97
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - Eloro Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:ELO) (FRANKFURT:P2Q) ("Eloro") is pleased to announce further results from its on-going geological mapping and sampling program at its La Victoria Gold/Silver Property (the "Property") in Huandoval District, Pallasca Province, Ancash Department, Peru. As shown in Figure 1, this work has outlined two major new target areas in the north-central part of the Property known as Ccori Orcco. Target 1 is located approximately 1.5km east of San Markito while Target 2 is approximately 500m south of Target 1 and 1.5km east of Rufina (Figure 1). Figure 2 is a composite cross section for the San Markito-Ccori Orcco-Rufina areas showing the potential extent of the epithermal systems.

Both target areas in Ccori Orcco are at least 200m wide and extend for approximately 1 km along strike parallel to major NW-SE and NE-SW structures in the area. Mineralization is associated with hydrothermal (argillic and silicic) and supergene alteration in hydrothermal breccias associated with quartz feldspar porphyries ("QFP"). Preliminary sampling has been carried out in the area; results are pending.

Reinterpretation of historical Induced Polarization ("IP") data in the San Markito area shows a strong chargeability anomaly that coincides with the Ag-Au showings in mineralized breccias (Figure 1). The anomaly extends for at least 1250m North-South at depths from about 50 m to more than 200m, the maximum depth reached with the array that was used for the survey. The anomaly extends as far south as the last IP line. It is thus open to the South as well as to greater depth. The shape of the anomaly suggests elongation in a north or north-northwest direction, parallel to important structures that have been mapped at San Markito.

Tom Larsen, President and CEO of Eloro commented: "We have now outlined five major target areas at La Victoria. Two of these areas, Rufina and San Markito, are nearing final permit approval for diamond drilling which is expected to commence in June. Extension of the IP surveys to cover the new target areas in Ccori Orcco is planned to commence at the end of May as well as continuation of the successful mapping and sampling program. Reconnaissance work including a detailed magnetic survey will also be carried out on the new southern claim block."

Dr. Bill Pearson, Chief Technical Advisor for Eloro, added: "It is evident that there are multiple low to intermediate sulphidation epithermal systems on the La Victoria project. These systems appear to be controlled by major NW-SE trending faults with mineralization typically occurring at intersections of these faults with NE-SW trending structures as well as along intrusive-sedimentary contacts. The identification of QFP intrusives in the Ccori Orcco area is very positive as these intrusives are associated with major gold deposits elsewhere in the belt."

About Eloro Resources Ltd.

Eloro is an exploration and mine development company which holds a 100% undivided interest in the La Victoria Gold/Silver Project, located in the prolific North-Central Mineral Belt of Peru. The La Victoria Gold/Silver Project covers 80.4 square kilometres and is within 50 km of several large, low-cost producing gold mines, with three producers visible from the property. Infrastructure in the area is good with access to road, water, and electricity and is located at an altitude that ranges from 3,100m to 4,200m above sea level. Eloro also holds a portfolio of gold and base-metal properties in northern and western Quebec. For additional technical information on the La Victoria Project, the reader is referred to the NI 43-101 Technical Report on the La Victoria Au-Ag Property, Ancash, Peru filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
By Rachel Lee



The Embassy of Poland will host a "Polish Day" at the Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul on April 30.



The event is designed to promote the country's culture and language and Polish products available in Korea, including cosmetics, pottery and sweets.



"Polish Day will offer a chance to find out more information about traveling to and around Poland from travel agents and LOT Polish Airlines representatives, who will also be present at the event," the embassy said. "One of the special attractions of the day will be lottery draws, where participants will have a chance to win round-trip tickets to Warsaw sponsored by LOT Polish Airlines."



Students from the Polish Department at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies will be there to give advice and information about Polish studies. They will also give performances showcasing Polish traditional costumes and folk dance.



"Visitors will be able to enjoy delicious Polish food and look up the recipes in the specially prepared section on Polish cuisine," the embassy said. "Fans of classical music will also be able to test their skills in the Play Chopin, Win Chopin' contest, by playing a piano that will be specially set up in the square for the event."



Booths will present Polish literature that has been translated to Korean, including the recently published series "The Witcher" by Andrzej Sapkowski, as well as a Korean novel about Poland _ "Eleventh Empty Seat in Warsaw" by Kim Dae-Un.




Guests enjoy food, beer and music during last year's Great Korean Beer Festival at COEX, Seoul. / Courtesy of Media Paran



By John Redmond

Leading the Korean international beer scene, the Great Korean Beer Festival will be held at COEX in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, April 28 to May 7.

Celebrating its eighth anniversary, the 10-day fest will be hosted alongside COEX C-Festival and will carry nationwide craft beers from small breweries.

A selection of international cuisine including ham, paella, nachos, sausages, hot dogs and chicken that pair well with beer will also be available.

Some 27 local breweries and beer importers will present over 170 craft beers.

Special events include learning fun facts about beer at "Meet the Brewer" sessions and lectures on beer.

The Great Korean Beer Festival was the first to introduce the "Meet the Brewers" event in Korea and it soon became the festival's unique feature.

This year, many brewers will join the action to share stories about their beers. Visitors have a chance to tap into beer basics and learn how to best sample a beer.

Launched in 2013, the event is the first and the largest craft beer festival in Korea.

In May 2016, around 220,000 visitors enjoyed the fest at the same venue.

Organizers expect 300.000 visitors during this year's festival. It will be held at the COEX outdoor area, G20 Plaza and SM Town Plaza.

Booths are open from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

There is no entrance fee. Visitors can freely purchase beers and foods of their choice at each stand.

Beer sampler tickets let visitors try out smaller portions of various beers. A limited number of tickets are sold each day.

To get there, leave exit 5 or 6 of Samseong Station on Line 2.

Visit facebook.com/greatkoreanbeerfestival or greatkoreanbeerfestival.com for more information.
By Kim Bo-eun

Choi Sang-hak

Choi Sang-hak, a former public information officer for the Korean government, will deliver a lecture at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), Wednesday.

It will be the first lecture by a prominent guest speaker at the Myung Seok Park lecture room on campus in Seoul.

Choi, who is visiting Seoul from Washington, D.C., is also a HUFS alumnus _ he became the first graduate of the English language department in 1958.

He founded the university's English newsletter, The Argus, and published its first edition in 1955, as its editor-in-chief.

After graduation, Choi began working for the public relations office under former President Syngman Rhee, monitoring foreign press.

In 1963, he became a foreign press officer for the then-Ministry of Culture and Information, and worked at Korean embassies in Japan, the U.S. and Canada.

Choi was also in charge of advertorials promoting Korea, and contributed to the expansion of Korea's overseas promotion agency.

He received a presidential citation in 1970 for his contributions that year in promoting Korea at an expo held in Osaka, Japan, and was recognized as a Proud HUFS Alumnus in 2014.

Choi will speak about his experiences promoting Korea, including challenges he faced under the authoritarian rule of former President Park Chung-hee, as he was ordered by the government to change the context of or suppress negative articles on the political unrest in Korea.

At the time, foreign correspondents for major new outlets around the world covered anti-government demonstrations by students.

Choi will elaborate about how he overcame such difficulties _ he determined he could not fabricate the stories or prevent their publishing as they were factual reports _ but instead tried to promote positive aspects of the country such as tourism.

Around 100 students and 40 alumni will attend the lecture delivered in English. The students were selected as outstanding individuals from the English language department.

"I hope students will broaden their view so they can become world leaders in international relations and economy _ further elevating Korea's national status," Choi said.




By Lee Han-soo, Park Si-soo





Nam Jae-joon

The military is still on alert over possible infiltration tunnels the North Koreans built, former state intelligence agency chief Nam Jae-joon said Monday during a televised debate involving nine minor presidential candidates.

The former four-star general is running for South Korea's presidency as a candidate of the minor opposition Patriotic Party. He has an approval rating below 1 percent.

"Our military has not yet put its guard down over North Korea's possible infiltration tunnels (into South Korea)," Nam said after another minor contender, Kim Min-chan, asked him about the issue. "The military believes that there are one or two infiltration tunnels under the south side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that remain undetected." He said the military is still "devoting itself to searching for them."
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) In an oblique reference to Pakistan backing various terror groups, Afghanistan today said time has come to send a strong message to states sponsoring terrorism.

Afghan Ambassador Shaida Abdali said terror has been used as a tool against both Afghanistan and India and that concerted efforts must be initiated to combat terrorism in the region. He said those supporting terror is known to everyone now.

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Abdalis comments during a lecture at a leading think- tank came days after over 140 people were killed in a Taliban attack in an army base in the Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

He said that time has come to revive the India- Afghanistan-US trilateral dialogue to ensure a well- coordinated strategy against terrorism.

"State sponsorship of terrorism has become an old fact. We are hoping and waiting for this ground reality to change," he said.

He said India will continue to hold a strategic place in all areas of cooperation.

"Afghanistans effort to address its immediate security and development priorities, while dealing with its immediate neighborhood and beyond will in no way affect the countrys strategic relationship with India," he said.

Abdali said Indias support on accomplishment of Afghan military "wish list" is an ongoing process, but that he would not like to talk about it in public

The envoy said there should not be any "duplicity and selectivity" in defining terrorism.

"Using one terror outfit against the other is nothing but a disaster, not a solution - the recent Taliban attack on Afghan Army in Mazar-e-sharif is a case in point," he said.

Abdali also condemned the Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district yesterday in which 25 CRPF personnel were killed.

He said that the states sponsoring terrorism must be delivered a strong message not to indulge in such acts, adding

"If we continue to use one terrorist group against another, the future is very dark," he said, adding, "Terrorism is the biggest challenge which is hampering our vision and progress."

He also pitched for a regional consensus for long-term stability in Afghanistan and support to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process

"India and Afghanistan need to conduct a strategic review of our bilateral, regional and international partnerships to deal with the evolving uncertain world," he said.

Abdali said the future of Afghanistans security environment will depend on a holistic and sincere fight against terrorism both at the regional and global level.

He also complimented India for its contribution in reconstruction of Afghanistan. PTI MPB ZMN

--- ENDS ---

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Lt. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal, the commanding general of the 8th U.S. Army, speaks next to a statue of Gen. Walton H. Walker, a Korean War hero, at Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul, Tuesday. The U.S. Army began the relocation of its base from Yongsan to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, with the transfer of the statue. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye

The U.S. Army at Yongsan Garrison, central Seoul, began base relocation in earnest to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province Tuesday, to what will be its largest overseas base.

The large-scale relocation project began with a historic ceremony to mark the relocation of the Gen. Walton H. Walker monument, hosted by the Eighth U.S. Army in front of its headquarters.

Gen. Walker was the commander of the Eighth Army when it was deployed to the Korean Peninsula with the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War on June 25, 1950.

"The Gen. Walker statue will be moved from Yongsan to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek," the Eighth Army said in a release, noting that this event will mark the beginning of the Eighth Army's relocation.

Born in 1889 in Texas, Gen. Walker has been called a Korean War hero as he played a pivotal role in defending against North Korea. Under the general's command, "the United Nations Command was able to transition to the offensive and soon thereafter, the North Korean People's Army was in full-retreat" in September of 1950, the Eight Army said. He was killed in a jeep accident in Korea in December 1950.

"Despite the statue being moved, make no mistake about it. Our alliance gachigapsida (Let's go together)' spirit remains ironclad and strong," Lt. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal, the commanding general of the Eighth Army, said in a speech.

Participants in the event also included U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks and retired Army Gen. Paik Sun-yup, the honorary commander of the Eighth Army.

The Eighth Army will complete its relocation by June, while the USFK headquarters will be moved by November, according to officials.

The allies have been carrying out projects to relocate the USFK and return land to the South Korean people through two major plans  the Yongsan Relocation Plan (YRP) and the Land Partnership Plan (LPP).

The YRP is to relocate the U.S. Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul including USFK headquarters and Eighth Army headquarters to Pyeongtaek, while the LPP will consolidate 2nd Infantry Division from north of Seoul to Pyeongtaek, located 70 kilometers south of the capital.

The expenses for the YRP are estimated at about 8.86 trillion won, while those for the LPP are estimated at 7.1 trillion won. South Korea shoulders the cost of the YRP, and the U.S. bears that of the LPP.

Officials said the allies have completed 94 percent of the construction work as of March to transform Camp Humphreys, a U.S. Army garrison, into a gigantic base that will be three times larger than its old size and equipped with up-to-date facilities.

The size of the camp will triple from 1,041 acres to 3,453 acres, and the population will increase from 11,000 to 42,000, officials added.
Moon Jae-in, left, and Yoo Seung-min at a presidential poll TV debate held at SBS Prism Tower in Sangam-dong, Seoul, Apr. 19. / Korea Times file



By Ko Dong-hwan

Contenders Moon Jae-in and Rep. Yoo Seung-min clashed in one of the hottest verbal volleys during the first presidential poll TV debate on April 19. Yoo from the splinter conservative Bareun Party asked opinion poll-leading Moon of the Democratic Party of Korea: "Is North Korea your jujeok'?"

Yoo was questioning whether Moon considered the North his "main enemy." Moon said it is "not up to me to answer as a presidential hopeful." Yoo clearly wanted to see whether Moon would admit to the majority's belief that North Korea poses a significant threat to South Korea. When Moon avoided the answer by saying it was a matter for the Ministry of National Defense, Yoo pressed him to clarify his stance. But Moon never did.

As the May 9 election looms to fill the void following former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment and removal from office in March on corruption and bribery charges, candidates and parties have been at loggerheads over jujeok ideology.

While North Korea is usually mentioned when the topic is raised, presidential contenders and their supporters have demanded opponents identify their jujeoks and, based on the answers, attacked their campaign policies.

"I could not help but suspect Moon's national security policies," minor liberal People's Party leader Park Jie-won said after the debate. "Not answering (Yoo's) question suggested that if he became the president, he will visit North Korea before the U.S., which is very dangerous."

People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo said: "I think it is inappropriate of Moon not to admit North Korea as his jujeok, especially in this dire situation threatened by the North's imminent nuclear weapon test."

Ahn's comment attracted criticism from another candidate, Shim Sang-jeong of the progressive minor Justice Party, who asked him during the second TV debate on Apr. 23: "If we designated North Korea as our jujeok, can we look forward to a two-Korea referendum?"





Ahn Cheol-soo, left, and Shim Sang-jeong at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, December 2016 / Korea Times file



"I think whether to tag the North as jujeok is up to the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman general, not the president, who rather has to work to keep the peninsula peaceful," she said, calling jujeok ideology "obsolete" and saying she "never expected him to take a pie from that idea."

The defense ministry told a briefing on April 20 that the South Korean military does not use the term.

Reports following the first presidential TV debate said the Defense White Paper, an official document on national security released to the public, has not used the term since 2004. The Ministry of Unification also rejected the idea of North Korea being the nation's jujeok, saying it "considers the North as an enemy but also a partner for Korean reunification."

With the term having lost its linguistic validity in official circles and people increasingly upset at politicians clinging to ideological skirmishes to win votes, the kerfuffle over jujeok has turned into no more than "the Red Scare" phenomenon  fears of communists taking over the world.

A North Korean defector-turned-newspaper reporter lamented on Facebook about the jujeok issue, comparing it with "the futile conflict between rival parties during the reign of King Hyojong and Hyeonjong of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) over how to bury the kings' mothers."

"If Moon admitted North Korea as jujeok, it would beget another excuse for opposing forces to attack him," DongA Ilbo reporter Joo Seong-ha said on Apr. 21. "Such shallow-mindedness shown by the so-called presidential hopefuls will never lead to reunification. It's worse than the North.

"Whether defining the North as jujeok is not important. It fastens us to a shackle. We must instead consolidate our view on the North as a reunification partner'. That, I think, will be agreed by most of the citizens."
By Lee Sun-ho





To average contemporary Koreans, the two tragic sea-sailing-vessel accidents that have dominated our news and consciousness in this country will never be forgotten. The two maritime tragedies have been very controversial, spurring further debate over responsibility and how it should be tied to entities in Korea.

One was the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan on March 26, 2010. The ship was a Pohang-class corvette of the ROK Navy, and was carrying 104 personnel off the country's west coast around Baegnyeong Island, 46 of whom were killed.

The other was the capsizing of the MV Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014. The ferry, built and operated in Japan almost 18 years ago without any incident until 2012 when it was retired and sold to Cheonghaejin Marine Co., Ltd., enjoyed a monopoly on the lucrative Incheon-Jeju route. It carried 476 passengers comprised of 325 students and 14 teachers of Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. Tragically the ship sank to the bottom of the sea near Jindo off Korea's southwestern coast, and 304 passengers (including nine still missing) were trapped inside and drowned.

The cause of the 1,200-ton navy warship (PCC 772) sinking remained in dispute with North Korea which is backed up by China and Russia, although overwhelming evidence pointed to a he powerful non-contact underwater explosion of a North Korean torpedo fired by a midget submarine, as proven by a co-investigation team. This was even explained to the United Nations Security Council by Dr. Yoon Duk-yong, co-chairman of the team and a scientist and engineer.

In contrast, the heart of the reason why the 16,700-ton Sewol capsized was it was severely overloaded due to corrupt safety inspectors and surveyors. She left dock in Incheon on April 15, 2014, and sank near Maenggol Strait the following morning.

It is regrettable that the two tragedies have been abused for the election-related political split of Koreans' ideology into two: one for the Taeguk (Korean national) flag-waving pro-government conservatives, the other for the candlelit yellow ribbon, anti-government progressives at their passionate outdoor mass rallies, calling for former President Park Geun-hye to be impeached, ousted and jailed.

On March 24 this year, the Second West Sea Protection Day ceremony was held at Gwangwhamun Plaza in Seoul with the participation of 5,000 people, covering bereaved family members of a number of the Yellow Sea battle dead, military personnel, civilians and government authorities concerned. It is quite abnormal to note that no opposition party leaders joined the sorrowful event, while two government parties, namely the Liberty Korea Party and the Bareun Party (a breakaway group from the former Saenuri Party) were present. It was absurd to see that the so-called pro-government-rooted Bareun Party Assemblymen beginning to attach yellow ribbons once the Sewol was lifted out of the water on March 23, 1,073 days after the incident.

It is shameful that the political parties tried their best to trace the whereabouts of ousted President Park for seven hours. She was in the control tower of the nation, as per protocol for any horrible national disasters. There, she could direct administrative efforts and send out orders efficiently. A similar sea incident under the Kim Young-sam administration could be made tracing the sinking of the 110-ton MV Seohae on Oct. 10, 1993 where 292 passengers among 362 people on board were drowned while sailing from Wido to Gyeokpo, Buan County, North Jeolla Province in the Yellow Sea.

Additionally, it is most deplorable to politicize these tragedies. The already rocket-high government budget from taxpayers has been disbursed to Sewol salvage operations for three years, and compared to the amount of public money spent on the Cheonan case it is still unfinished. It is extremely unfair and must be rectified.

After all, the two unforgettable maritime tragedies in Korea with the sacrifice of 46 navy sailors and 304 civilians should be treated alike and cherished as a way for unity and solidarity for the nation without any biases or prejudices for political gain.

The writer is an ombudsman columnist for The Korea Times in Seoul. Reach him at kexim2@unitel.co.kr.
By Stephen Costello





Korea has long been eclipsed by the importance, geopolitical weight, and commercial opportunities of Japan and China. It is time to change those calculations. The evolution of these countries' relative impact on policy discussions, with Korea playing a larger role, began in the 1990s. The largest issues in US relations toward East Asia return relentlessly to Korea. This turn has not always been natural, but it has been logical. Developments now can go several ways, but the political landscape is different from the way it was in previous decades.

The main US relationship in East Asia is with China. In the 1990s there was a degree of US-China cooperation on trade and security. Most importantly, China supported the two initiatives surrounding Korea that were underway during that decade.

For one thing, it may return to power a set of ideas and conceptions of the Korean regional role, responsibility and capabilities that had only been fully empowered once before, for only three years (1998-2000). At that time, those ideas and policies began to dramatically alter power relationships, and were projected to lock some of them in.

Secondly, it could rupture  for an indefinite period  the attempt by conservatives in the US, Japan and South Korea to divide the region into Cold War-era camps, with China, Russia and North Korea in one; and Japan, South Korea and the US in the other.

A third consequence of the Korean election could be enhanced pressure on North Korea to accept the intrusiveness required to begin international interactions, and begin denuclearizing.

Forth, China could also feel new pressures against its disruptive efforts to undermine key aspects of international rules. Ironically, Korea's greater engagement with North Korea, Japan and China will shrink China's room to conduct damaging campaigns  either in the SCS and ECS, in an economic war with South Korea, or through military intimidation.

The new South Korean president has several big moves available to him. Again, it is no coincidence that the last time the ROK government tried to make these plays was after the first ever transfer of political power to the opposition, in February 1998. The past decade could be called "Korea's lost decade of playing a strong hand badly."

The biggest and most consequential changes on Korea, the Peninsula, and in the region could come from this president. He is not a big guy. He will need a lot of help. Any of those changes, assuming that he chooses to advance them, will deeply impact US interests. In the shorter term they will impact the politics between the Blue House and White House, between administrations, and between military, diplomatic and commercial institutions. In the longer term, they will change and improve the US position in East Asia.

What would these changes be? Rather than being tied down and limited by external powers and events, South Korea could play several strong cards.

First, the president could meet with the North Korean leader soon. It is possible that he will wait for months of preliminary contacts and planning, but he doesn't have to. Whenever he does, he can do a lot of listening, and he can talk to some of the top planners for DPRK economic expansion. He will thus quickly become the one guy who has sat with Kim Jung Un, who begins to understand his views and priorities, and who is uniquely positioned to bring South Korea into mutually-beneficial interactions.

Second, he could begin to lead an East Asian Middle Powers group to address several urgent problems. Together with Japan and Australia he could coordinate strategy to maximize their power and independence, and address the pressures from the US and China to choose one or the other.

Third, he could deepen and expand Korea's lead in a regional government, science, industrial and regulatory approach to energy, climate change, transportation and economic/political integration. This is as much about modernism as it is about political power groups. Here is where domestic and inter-Korean infrastructure projects would have their greatest impacts.

Fourth, he could upgrade and modernize the US-Korea alliance. All candidates embrace the alliance as the bedrock of South Korea's security and even its identity. Now the impeachment of President Park Guen-hye, and the public participation in it, have deeply affected society. At this election time Koreans are feeling a different and more grounded sense of identity and independence.

Over the next year, the biggest question for the US leadership, and for US diplomats, is how they will accept changes in Washington, Seoul and the region, and how they will maximize US alliance and strategic interests. Instead of trying to push China and South Korea to do what they will not do, it will be better to let Korea lead, capitalize on it, and leverage US interests by doing so.





Stephen Costello is a producer of AsiaEast, a web and broadcast-based policy roundtable focused on security, development and politics in Northeast Asia. He writes from Washington, D.C. He can be reached at scost55@gmail.com.
by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, April 24, 2017

Burts Bees wanted to create a permanent tribute to Burt Shavitz, its late, great co-founder. After all, his bearded image is still on every product it sells, and his life  lived out in simplicity in a tiny turkey coop in the Maine hinterlands  embodied many of the values the Clorox-owned company says it still stands for, like simplicity, beauty in nature, and of course, bees.

So the company has torn down the 300-square-foot cabin and reassembled it in the middle of its Durham, N.C. headquarters, with an elaborate virtual-reality experience, including video interviews with Shavitz, who died in 2015 at the age of 80.

We decided to move it to headquarters as a project to commemorate Burt, says Katharine Belloir, account director at Baldwin&, the Raleigh, N.C.-based agency that represents Burts Bees. We worked with Google and Media Monks to recreate the cabin experience, so you can look out of windows and see exactly what Burt saw, in a 360-degree view.

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The new exhibit joins the companys Observation Hive and Matthew Willeys Good of the Hive Mural, both also located at the brands headquarters in Durhams American Tobacco Campus, an urban revitalization project with 1.5 million annual visitors.

Belloir tells Marketing Daily the permanent exhibit offers a peek into the real Shavitz. People can come stand on his porch, put on the viewfinder and get to know Burt, including taking a close look at his artifacts, she says.

While Shavitz was undoubtedly the King of Rustic and a tiny-house pioneer, his relationship with the company he co-founded, not to mention Roxanne Quimby, the other co-founder, was as bristly as that famous beard.

To summarize what has become beauty-business legend: While his name remained on the company, he was pushed out 15 years after its founding, which he said was due to an affair with a co-worker. (He also had an affair with Quimby.) Quimby bought him out in 1999, reportedly for a house valued at $130,000. The New York Times later estimated that his share would have been worth $59 million in the 2007 sale of the company to Clorox. And his take on the corporate parent? Well, except for the fact that theyre from Clorox, theyre nice people, he told the New Yorker.

Belloir says that despite the barbs, he also had a great affection for the company. I met him several times, and you could tell he still cared about it, she says. And Burts Bees customers are still enthusiastic about the brands homespun vibe. They really embrace the values he did, she says, especially living simply and being so close to nature.

While Clorox doesnt break out the results of Burts Bees, in its most recent quarterly results, it credits innovations in its lip care and color products with driving 4% sales growth in its lifestyles division. And in a recent presentation to investors, it says 2017 launches are scheduled to include Lip Balm with Flavor Crystals, as well as an entirely new category, stepping into consumables with Burts Bees Protein Drink.
by Tobi Elkin @tobielkin, April 25, 2017

Googles decision to make traditional TV advertising inventory available to buy in its DoubleClick Bid Manager (DBM) platform should, theoretically help move things further along on the programmatic TV front.

Google on Monday said its working with WideOrbit, clypd, and Google Fiber, Googles broadband Internet and IPTV business unit, to offer access to national, local, and addressable TV inventory in DBM.

'Programmatic TV has become a bit of a loaded word in the industry, Sara Bitetti, global programmatic Video Lead, Google, told Real-Time Daily via email. Our goal with DBM is to allow advertisers to take a data-driven approach to plan, buy, and measure their audiences on TV content, on any device, with a single platform, she said.

Bitetti added that Google already offers brands the ability to reach their audiences whenever they watch, whether live or on-demand, and across all digital screens including connected TV, mobile apps, and desktop. She positioned the latest announcement as moving beyond digital video to enable agencies and advertisers to buy traditional TV in DBM with the addition of measurement functions.

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As audience buying is key for advertisers, Bitetti said Google's providing access to traditional TV inventor offers audiences complementary to those advertisers are already reaching with digital video.
By Press Trust of India: Maharajganj (UP), Apr 25 (PTI) An Uzbek national has been arrested while allegedly trying to cross over to Nepal without visa papers in Sonauli area on the India-Nepal border, officials said.

Dilrabo (34), from Tashkent in Uzbekistan, was on his way to Nepal from Chandigarh when he was arrested by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) yesterday, officials said.

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The SSB personnel found his Uzbekistan passport but no Indian visa papers, SSB Commandant Shiv Dayal said.

Sonauli is located on the India-Nepal border and is a well known transit point between the two countries.

A case has been registered and the Intelligence agencies have been informed about the matter, Dayal said. PTI COR KIS IKA

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by Tanya Gazdik , April 24, 2017



Hartford Funds and Bloomberg Media Studios have tossed out the marketing playbook used by nearly every financial company.

The financial services company isnt interested in a campaign pegged to life milestones like kids growing up, cars, accidents, marriage, new homes, etc.

Instead, the two companies devised their own native branding campaign playbook around current day news. Previously they focused on market-moving events, like Brexit, the presidential debates and the election itself.

The 2017 campaign, which includes 11 pieces of custom content on Bloombergs website, kicks off this week with the next major market-moving event: the controversial French election.

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Digital custom content is distributed via promos on Bloomberg.com on desktop, mobile and tablet devices and amplified via social extensions (Bloomberg's LinkedIn, Twitter and Outbrain feeds). The print execution consists of "spreadvertorials:" custom content page with adjacent brand ad. These will appear in three issues of the bi-monthly Bloomberg Markets magazine.

The Hartford Funds' own digital campaign consists of brand ads, which appear run of the Bloomberg.com site as well as several home pager takeovers throughout the year. The brand will also run a 14-week schedule of brand ads on Bloomberg Radio.

Hartford Funds brand promise of human-centric investing revolves around delivering insights that help financial advisors build deeper, more engaging relationships with their clients, said Marty Swanson, chief marketing officer, Hartford Funds.

This years campaign is expanding with the addition of a four-part custom series podcast premiering in the fall which will live on bloomberg.com.

Hartford Funds also has an editorial sponsorship of the Bloomberg podcast "Masters in Business" which will feature a 2 minute cut-down version of the custom podcast.

Our Market Moving Moments program with Bloomberg aims to be the calm in the storm for advisors during key news cycle events, offering unique perspective they can use to engage clients during some of their most stressful investing moments, Swanson says.
by Sara Guaglione , April 25, 2017

New York journalists Heidi Moore and Ryan Sager have launched a careers site called Ladders. The focus of the new digital publication is how work impacts our lives and the world around us, as well as career news and advice.

"We spend a third or more of our lives at work, yet office life tends to get treated as an afterthought," stated Sager, who serves as Ladders editorial director, overseeing its team of seven editors and reporters.

"We see the workplace as the day-to-day arena of human achievement, a place where small personal battles are won and lost every hour, he added.

Moore, who will be Ladders editor-in-chief, added: "We aim to cover the world of work as news every single day. Our jobs change who we are. We want to bring readers the human stories of success and struggle, and we're arming you to improve your work life with news, analysis, advice, and wit."

Feature stories include The Millennial Workforce, a look at what motivates millennials in the workplace, based on a survey of more than 4,700 adults. Key findings include millennials were the only age group to say career growth was more important than starting salary when accepting a job offer.

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Millennial men were the group most likely to think it acceptable for companies to expect people to answer work emails outside of business hours.

Another feature on Ladders is The Ladders 101, a list of influencers on the topic of work and careers, ranging from economists and CEOs to startup founders and celebrities.

A post describing the list reads: We want to honor the people who really do work right  from the professors and psychologists who teach us more about ourselves and the economy to the women who fight for equal pay to the celebrities whose stories teach us to try harder and ask for better."

Other stories include Why making to-do lists wont help you get things done and 8 mistakes I made as a manager and how you can avoid them.

Ladders also has a job search section on the site.

Sager has previously worked at Time, New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, where he developed and launched Review, the popular WSJ Weekend section devoted to books and ideas.

Moore has worked at The Wall Street Journal, Mashable and The Guardian US, where she launched the US Business and Money sections.

Separately, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, Hannah Karp, has been named news director at Billboard. She will work closely with Mike Bruno, Billboards SVP of content, to oversee coverage. Karp hire confirms the publication's commitment to producing high-quality music business coverage.

Karp previously covered music, national news, sports, travel and consumer products at WSJ. Now, she will play a central role in assembling the Topline news section of Billboard magazine, as well as breaking news across its digital platforms.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 25, 2017

Pressing its case against weight loss marketer Roca Labs, the Federal Trade Commission argues in new court papers that the company's attempts to stifle bad online reviews harmed consumers.

The FTC says that the Sarasota, Florida-based marketer's prior practice of stifling bad reviews was likely to leave people with an overly favorable impression of the company's merchandise.

"Prospective customers searching for information on Roca Labs or similar products would not necessarily know that previous purchasers had negative experiences, let alone their complete nature," the FTC writes.

Citing evidence provided by Temple University professor Paul Pavlou, the agency adds that Roca Labs' prior practice of squelching bad reviews increases consumers' "willingness to buy" its products.

The agency's papers, filed Monday, come in response to Roca Labs' request that U.S. District Court Judge Mary Scriven in Tampa dismiss allegations that its use of non-disparagement clauses amounted to an unfair business practice.

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The battle dates to September 2015, when the FTC sued Roca Labs. Among other charges, the FTC challenged the company's clauses forbidding bad reviews.

Roca Labs, which touts its weight-loss products as more effective than gastric bypass surgery, allegedly said in a prior version of its sales terms (sent in package inserts and also available online) that any negative Web reviews would be considered defamatory. The company also told consumers that they would be subject to $100,000 in damages for posting reviews, according to the FTC.

Roca Labs followed up on its threats by suing at least four customers, according to the FTC.

The company argued in recent court papers that the FTC's complaint marked an attempt to apply the Consumer Review Fairness Act retroactively. That law, passed last year, outlaws non-disparagement clauses in form contracts.

But the FTC counters that Roca Labs' terms of service were illegal even before Congress passed the Consumer Review Fairness Act. "The enactment of a statute expressly dealing with specific conduct does not compel the conclusion that a prior statute did not already prohibit the conduct," the FTC writes.
By Press Trust of India: The US has said that it greatly values investments by Indian companies and wants to see bilateral business ties remain strong, days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue of tightening of the H-1B visa regime with his American counterpart Steven Mnuchin. "We want to see US-India business-to-business ties remain strong," State Department Acting Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference.

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He was responding to questions on the ongoing review of H-1B visas by the Trump Administration and its impact on the Indian IT companies, who are heavily dependent on it.

"We greatly value Indian companies continued investment in the US economy, which also, of course, supports thousands of US jobs," Toner said.

"With respect to any new requirements on visas, Id have to check and see if thats been updated," he said, adding that under the current government, the US has been looking at ways to strengthen the processes like visa interview and admission processes.

Toner said that this had been the case from the beginning of the Trump administration and certainly with respect to immigration and with refugee flows.

"Those processes are ongoing," he said.

On being asked about the visa review process, Toner said, "It's important to remember that this is always a part of how our consular bureau works and our consular officers work overseas, and our embassies and missions work overseas, and that is were always reviewing the processes that are in place to issue these visas and finding ways to strengthen them, because we want to ensure the security of the American people."

During his US visit, Jaitley on Saturday had raised the H-1B visa issue with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals were making to the US economy. He had also raised the issue with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross earlier.

President Donald Trump had signed an executive order earlier this month for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its abuse, a decision that would impact India's USD 150 billion IT industry.

The Indian IT industry had expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations.

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The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry.

Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals.

India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive.

The US had earlier this month also accused top Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system.

ALSO READ | Major action by Trump administration on H1-B visa would worry India: CEA

ALSO READ| H1-B visa: Donald Trump signs 'buy American, hire American' order, may impact Indian workers

ALSO READ| Nasscom refutes allegations of H1B visa norms violation by TCS, InfosysALSO WATCH | Arun Jaitley strongly raises visa issue with US

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Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said that police has arrested some people and that her government will not tolerate these of kind of incidents in her state.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: Almost a month after the murder and lynching of 55-year-old Pehlu Khan, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has broken her prolonged silence on the heinous act.

Raje said that police has arrested some people and that her government will not tolerate these of kind of incidents in Rajasthan.

Raje's response comes a day after about 23 former IAS officer's wrote an open letter to her condemning the incident and demanding justice for Pehlu Khan.

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"We are very disturbed by the lynching and murder of Pehlu Khan in Alwar. We are also dismayed by the acts of omission and commission by the government following the incident, including the delay and marked reluctance in arresting all those guilty of the act," the letter read.

Khan was beaten to death on April 1 in Alwar district of Rajasthan by cow vigilantes. Khan and four others were attacked while they were going towards Haryana after purchasing cattle from Rajasthan's Ramgarh. Khan was attacked by gau rakshaks who branded him as a cattle struggler.

The shocking incident was caught on camera. Khan who was rushed to a hospital succumbed to his injuries on April 3.

The incident had triggered a debate across the political spectrum, with many criticising Raje for not condemning the incident and her government's reluctance in punishing the perpetrators.

Also Read:

Justice for Pehlu Khan: Former Rajasthan IAS officers write to CM Vasundhara Raje demanding probe

Alwar Lynching: Civil society members protest in Jaipur, demand justice for Pehlu Khan

Congress attacks Vasundhara Raje government for failing to provide protection to Kashmiri students

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Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard signed a five-year, $125MM extension, according to CSN's Jim Salisbury. The deal includes a $23MM option for 2017 with a $10MM buyout. Howard is currently under contract through 2011, so the extension runs from 2012 through 2016. AOL FanHouse's Ed Price tweets the yearly salaries, noting that there is a limited no-trade clause. Hot stove junkies won't be seeing Howard join Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, and Adrian Gonzalez in the 2012 free agent class.

Howard is in his age 30 season, so the contract begins with his age 32 season. The length makes this an unnecessary risk, and at $25MM a year the Phillies didn't get a discount for taking the gamble and locking him up two years before free agency. Tip of the cap to agent Casey Close, who negotiated the deal.

Back in '08 Howard set a first-time arbitration record with a $10MM salary. A year later he signed a three-year, $54MM extension to buy out his remaining arbitration years. The Phillies clearly like to lock up their guys.
April 26: Millers MRI is being sent to Dr. James Andrews for a third opinion, writes MLB.coms Steve Gilbert. Miller, according to Gilbert, was asked directly if the first two readings of his MRI results showed a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

They see something in there, Miller said to reporters. They havent given me specifics yet, exactly what it is or how were going to handle it or what were going to do to fix it.

Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic spoke to D-backs manager Torey Lovullo about the impending third opinion, though Lovullo downplayed the ominous nature of that development.

Its part of the plan that we had talked about all along where we were going to have this group look at it and come together and get as much information as we possibly could, and pass it along to Shelby and figure out what the best game plan is, Lovullo told McManaman.

April 24, 6:50pm: Miller is slated to visit orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache for a second opinion, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets.

4:36pm: As expected, the Diamondbacks have moved righty Shelby Miller to the 10-day with forearm tightness, per a club announcement. He was forced out of his start yesterday with an apparent injury, prompting obvious concern from within the organization.

[RELATED: Updated Diamondbacks Depth Chart]

For the time being, reliever Silvino Bracho will take the open roster spot. Its not immediately clear how the club will fill the gap in its rotation, though it seems reasonable to think that righty Archie Bradley could get a shot. The former top prospect has thrived thus far in a bullpen role.

Theres still no word on a diagnosis for Miller, who entered the year looking to engineer a turnaround following a disastrous debut season in Arizona. Through 22 innings over four starts, he had worked to a 4.09 ERA with 8.2 K/9 but also 4.9 BB/9 while sitting around a career-best 95 mph with his fastball.

All things considered, those numbers provided both cause for optimism and reason for wariness. The hope remains that the 26-year-old has avoided a significant injury, so that both Miller and the team have the chance to find out whether hes capable of making a full rebound.
KSM born, Kawku Sintim-Misa in a recent interview has revealed that, DKB has gone toe to toe with Nigerian biggest comedian Basket-mouth and flawed him easily.

Speaking to MzGee, host of Hitz FMs Showbiz, KSM without any fear retorted that, DKB has flawed all Nigerian comedians particularly Basket- Mouth on stage.

He broke that chain when he went toe to toe with the Nigerian and flawed them. He went toe to toe with Basket Mouth and flawed him without a doubt. I am begging that lets not use that one night to judge his string of performances, he said.

KSMs comment has come as result the recent backlashes at DKB when Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings walked out during his performance at the Easter Comedy show which took place at the Accra International Conference Center.

KSM also added that DKB has high sense of humor, hence his decision to crown him as the King of GH Comedy.

He has an amazing sense of humour. DKB is a very funny person. He is very hilarious. When he did his show called Point of View, he practically filled up the National Theatre. His last show I saw at Silverbird, he got a standing ovation. So, he has one bad night and all of a sudden, its like he is the worst that ever happened to Ghana comedy, I dont think it is a fair assessment.

He is hereby asking Ghanaians not to judge DKB for just one bad night.
Good Morning, Minority Leader! My letter may come as a surprise to you. But be assured that I bear you no malice. I'm only a curious citizen who seeks answers to questions nagging his medulla. Indeed, I'm a citizen and not a spectator.

I take this opportunity to congratulate you and your other colleagues on winning your parliamentary seats in the competitive December 2016 poll. To be able to withstand the destructive force of a tsunami is no mean achievement. You and your folks deserve commendation for resisting the strength of the tsunami that hit your party at the poll.

As a Minority, I know your main responsibility is to keep the ruling government on its toes. If my memory serves me right, you and your colleagues in the Minority have so far organized not less than three press conferences. You may think you are doing a good job; but have you bothered to ask yourselves whether your objectives are being met?

It is good to organize press conferences to express your view point on issues. But when it becomes obvious that you are organizing press conferences to delude your party folks that you are putting the government on its toes, then you must know that you have credibility issues.

The Ayari-bribe saga has also added to your credibility problems. Mahama Ayariga swore by the Holy Qur'an that he had received bribe from Mohammed Muntaka. The latter also swore by same that he never gave any bribe to the former. As a Minority and a leading member of the Appointments Committee, you were in a better position than most of your compatriots to know exactly what had happened. Indeed, you knew the truth but decided to be politically correct by seeing no evil, hearing no evil and speaking no evil.

In your heart of hearts, do you think your countrymen and women would ever trust you again? You know the pathological liar between the two but decided to keep mute for political expediency. Well, some of us will continue to press until you find your conscience and tell us the truth. So I ask; who between Ayariga and Muntaka lied through the teeth and committed blasphemy?

I do know very well that you are in a very difficult position. Frankly, I do not envy you at all. To be leader of demoralized, dejected, confused and parochial-seeking members of a party in opposition is not the most admirable position to find oneself.

I was in an office complex at Kanda in Accra when your deputy, James Avedzie, addressed a press conference on the $2.25 billion bond saga. The reaction of many to the voice blaring from the radio was one of contempt and scorn. The disdain was such that one could feel it. Obviously, your deputy's voice brought out a feeling of de ja vu.

Indeed, the masses are not as stupid as you and your folks think. They are increasingly becoming aware of the political chess game you are playing. Many claim your party was incompetent in government, and even more incompetent in opposition. Others even claim that you are also a bunch of ignoramuses who have no clue about proper management of the economy.

So, you see, the anger directed at Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice-President, for referring to you and your ilk as ignorant is unfounded. It is unfounded because any politically neutral person in the country could tell that your conflict of interest allegation is standing on wobbly legs  thereby exposing your ignorance on the issue.

Come to think of it; could your allegation of conflict of interest be attributed to the proverbial sour grapes? We all remember how the Atta Mills and Mahama governments used eight years to chase a phantom $3 billion Chinese loan. It is obvious that your party is embarrassed by the fact that the smart Nana Addo government could raise $2.25 billion within its first hundred days in office.

Sometimes it amazes me how fine blokes like your humble self ended up in the camp of the mendacious folks. How can you continue defending the fraudulent AMERI deal when it is no longer secret that it was one of the methods your party used in milking the cow when you were in government? Is it not obvious to you that the continuous defence of such fraudulent deals will make it difficult, if not impossible, for the 'lame horse' to be healed?

Mr Minority Leader, the disease affecting your party has been diagnosed by Physician Bawumia. Fortunately for you, he has prescribed an effective drug to cure the ailment. Humbly accept the remedy and start reading because it is the only cure to your ignorance.

My unsolicited counsel to you and your party is to save your cries and ignorant rants until after the appointment of the Independent Prosecutor. From what I gather, he is going to be tenacious, merciless and insatiable. Not even the witch-hunting chorus would slow him down. Even as I advertise a wry smile, I ask: Why don't you save your cries and rants for Mr Independent Prosecutor?

I shall write to you again in the not-too-distant future, Deo volente!
While 62 fugitives have been extradited to India from a foreign country between 2002 and 2016, 110 fugitives are yet to be extradited though a formal request has been made by India, according to a report.

By Indo-Asian News Service: The government has sought custody of liquor baron Vijay Mallya from the UK, but India's success rate at extradition has been no more than 36 per cent over 15 years, according to a report by Factly.in, a data journalism portal. This means India managed one extradition of every three sought.

While 62 fugitives have been extradited to India from a foreign country between 2002 and 2016, 110 fugitives are yet to be extradited though a formal request has been made by India, according to an answer to the Lok Sabha on December 6, 2016, Factly reported.

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Mallya was arrested by the Scotland Yard -- and released on bail -- on April 18, 2017, in connection with an extradition request filed by India on February 8, 2017. The UK government has sent the request to the concerned court, and the arrest marks the beginning of the extradition process.

Mallya is wanted in several cases related to economic offences in India. The now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines that he set up owes over Rs 9,000 crore ($1.5 billion) to state-owned and private banks, it has been widely reported.

There were 16 extradition requests pending with UK as of July 2016, according to an answer to the Lok Sabha. Only one fugitive has been extradited from the UK -- Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, an Indian citizen, for murder; the extradition came in October 2016, 23 years after India's extradition treaty with the UK came into force in 1993.

LIST OF EXTRADITIONS

The highest extraditions happened from the UAE (18), followed by the US (9). While four each were extradited from Canada and Thailand, three have been extradited from Germany and South Africa.

India has extradition treaties with 47 countries, among them Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, Oman, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

India also has extradition arrangements with nine countries -- Croatia, Fiji, Italy, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Sweden and Tanzania.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF EXTRADITION?

A request for extradition can be initiated against a fugitive criminal who is formally accused of, charged with or convicted of an extradition offence. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) takes up extradition requests with the concerned foreign countries when a request for extradition is received from the relevant law enforcement agencies in India.

All extradition requests should be supported by documents and information as prescribed by the MEA guidelines. It has to be noted that each extradition request is different and the request is dependent on the specific treaty/agreement signed with a country. The offence should also be defined in the list of the extradition offences.

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WHAT OFFENCES ARE DEFINED IN THE EXTRADITION TREATY WITH UK?

The extradition treaty signed in 1993 with the UK defines the scope of the extradition offence as one which is punishable by law for a term of imprisonment of at least one year.

The treaty does not classify political offences as extradition offences but it provides an exhaustive list of offences that will not be treated as a political offence.

Most fugitives extradited in 2005

The most (8) fugitives were extradited in 2005 followed by seven each in 2003 and 2004. Six fugitives were extradited in 2015 during the rule of the current government.

Most people extradited for murder and terrorism-related offences

Out of the 62 fugitives extradited since 2002, 14 were for murder-related offences and 10 for offences related to criminal conspiracy.

As many as nine fugitives were extradited for terrorism-related offences, including three from the UAE, in relation to the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Rakesh Dubbudu has been working on issues related to the Right to Information for a decade. Factly.in is dedicated to making public data meaningful. The views expressed are those of Factly. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)

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Also read | Vijay Mallya extradition from UK to take at least 6-12 months: Enforcement Directorate

Also read | How the CBI is preparing for extradition of Vijay Mallya from London

ALSO WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
MTN Heroes of Change has come to stay not only because it is backed by the strongest telecoms brand in the country, but also because of the powerful and lasting impact of the deeds that are adjudged, showcased and rewarded as heroic.

In this third season of the TV reality show, ten of such heroic deeds are being showcased, rewarded and encouraged to make an even greater impact on society.

The ten were selected after months of screening over 2,400 entries received for Season III of MTN Heroes of Change, and they have been airing weekly since Saturday 4th March and will run for 13 weeks.

They are airing on GTV every Saturday at 5:30 pm; Multi TV on Sundays at 5:00 pm; 7:00pm.TV3 on Sundays at 6:30 pm; and GhOne on Sund7:00 pm.

The shortlisted projects cut across the three focus areas of MTN Foundation namely Health, Education and Economic Empowerment.

The final 10 nominees are Joseph Asakibeem, Dr. Michael Edusei-Nsowah, Genevieve Basigha, Ibrahim Bafara Alhassan, Nana Prof. Osei Darkwa III, Joana Deegbe, John Amankrah Essel. The others are Rev. Fr. Moses Asaah, Rev. Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson and Jack Dawson.

Heroes

Episode one saw Joseph Asakibeem, based in Sirigu in the Upper East region, and he provides medical aid to children born with varying deformities.

He also educates the community against the false belief that children born with deformities are "spirit children" and must be killed. His project is supported by Afrikids UK through Afrikids Ghana.

Through persistent education, Joseph has succeeded in preventing the needless murder of many innocent children born with deformity.

The second episode saw the catholic priest who has chosen to care for marginalized persons living with HIV and AiDS.

Rev. Monsignor Alex Bobby Benson runs a house called "Matthew 25" where he provides spiritual, emotional, material and financial support for persons affected by HIV and AIDS, with funding from the Catholic Church, friends and other individuals.

In episode three, Dr. Michael Edusei-Nsowah who runs a self-funded rural eye health project, is showcased as an MTN hero of change because he has helped numerous people with varying eye problems.

Dr Edusei-Nsowah travels to health facilities in Asonomaso in the Ashanti Region to give medical help to people who require eye treatment. Beneficiaries pay a token of just GHC5 for consultation services.

Rev. Father Moses Asaah was the MTN hero of change for the fourth episode of the show. Through his NGO, Regentropfen Education Foundation, Rev. Asaah takes care of orphans and other needy children within Namoo in the Upper East by providing shelter and food.

He has set up a scholarship fund, which helps brilliant but needy children through school; he has built a library and built a university in the village of Namoo with a hostel facility near completion.

Rev. Father Asaah funds the project through donations from individuals in Germany and Stiftung Regentropfen.

Genevieve Bashinga is deaf and dumb, but in spite of all the odds, she has set up a school in Obuasi in the Ashanti region, which caters to deaf and dump children.

What make Genvieve an MTN Hero of Change is that she sustains the project largely from her own pocket, plus just GHC70 fees parents of those children pay per term.

Ibrahim Bafara Alhassan operates from Wa in the Upper West Region, where he is credited with helping to eradicate poverty through his self-funded poultry project called Vision Farms.

Ibrahim distributes birds to interested individuals who rear and resell them. He started with just 10 birds, but now the project is a movement spreading across 11 districts in the region.

Nana Prof. Osei Kofi Adarkwa III is the Chief of Patriensa, and President of the Ghana Technology University College. He has established a 5 year developmental program to transform his community.

Nana has helped construct a road that has significantly cut the time farmers take to commute from their farms to the market. This has helped them avoid long dangerous treks from farm to market and also significantly reduced the incidence of produce going bad.

His project is partially self-funded and is also supported by Nana's friends.

Joana Mansah Deegbe, a lawyer and educationist made the MTN HOC list because she mobilized donations from family, friends and her church to set up a community library in Shiashie in Accra, to enable children improve their reading and literacy skills.

John Amankrah Essel has taken it upon himself to set up schools in very remove communities within Breman Asikuma to give the children in its environs the required education.

Over 300 children have benefited from his project, which is funded through his personal income as well as a small token paid by the parents of the students.

Graphic Designer and Social Worker Jack James Dawson has set up and runs the APPLE Foundation at Atitekpo in the Volta Region. APPLE stands for Association of People for Practical Life Education, and the Foundation rescues children from trafficking.

Jack uses his personal income and donations to run his project, and that is what makes him an MTN HOC this season.

Prize

At the end of the 13 week TV series, an awards event will be organised during which the ultimate winner will be announced. The ultimate Hero of Change will receive GH100,000 to support his/her community project.

Selected winners for the various categories will all be recognized with financial prizes. The remaining six finalists will also receive consolation prizes.

Commenting on Heroes of Change Season III, the Corporate Services Executive of MTN, Mrs Cynthia Lumor said we launched the Heroes of Change project to celebrate ordinary people impacting society in an extra ordinary manner. We are looking forward to projecting their stories and to reward them for their selfless services.
Washington, D.C  On Saturday, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia declared before a large crowd of Diaspora at the Ghanaian High Commission, Our mission is clear, to make Ghana the most successful and business friendly economy in Africa. The event capped a week of high level meetings for a delegation of senior government officials who traveled to London and Washington, D.C. to present the governments roadmap for revitalizing Ghanas economy.

Traveling with the Vice President is a delegation that includes the Senior Minister, the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, the CEO of GIPC, and the Presidents Advisor for Media and Special Projects. The team traveled to London on Tuesday and on to Washington, DC on Wednesday to meet with investors, bond holders, government officials, the Diaspora, and other key stakeholders. In addition to public events and meetings with US government officials, the delegation participated in 2017 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Throughout a series of public events and high level meetings, the delegation has delivered a consistent message: this government will control the debt and get Ghana working again. Toward the end of last year, investors and the international community were expressing concerns over Ghanas debt profile, which ballooned from $9.5B in 2008 to $122B in 2016. In engagements this past week, the delegation has emphasized that an immediate focus for the Akufo-Addo administration is to restructure the countrys existing debt away from the current short term, high interest loans to longer term, lower interest loans that will save Ghanaian tax payers money. International investors demonstrated their confidence in this governments strategy two weeks ago when they flocked to purchase $2.25B in cedi denominated bonds which would be used as part of the re-profiling to replace the more expensive debt with less expensive debt.

The Vice President and Minister of Finance have been articulating the governments plan to increase revenue by fighting corruption, erasing ghost workers from the payroll, lowering taxes, addressing the energy crisis and creating an environment that is conducive to investment. The team has also laid out plans to improve the countrys infrastructure, increase efficiency at the ports, and establish a national ID and address system. The trip comes on the heels of the introduction of the governments first budget, which delivered on campaign promises such as free SHS, $1 million in development funds for each district, and expanded agriculture investments that will create jobs for the youth.

The delegation will depart Washington on Monday for New York, where they will continue to meet with investors, bond holders and members of the Diaspora. They will return to Accra on Tuesday.
On the 3rd of April 2017, the Chatham House London published on its website its nominees for 2017 Chatham House Prize, to be awarded by the Royal Institute of International Affairs of the U.K, of which the winner will be announced later this year, and an award ceremony to take place in the autumn.

To the surprise of many Ghanaians, especially CENAB UK Advocacy group, the name Charlotte Osei, Chairperson of Ghana's Electoral Commission (EC) was included in the list of nominees. This is because her outfit purportedly ensured peaceful and transparent electoral process in the 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, and also for consolidating further, Ghana's 24 - years old democratic journey.

However, CENAB UK, a UK-based Ghanaian advocacy group believes that the reasons cited by the London Chatham House to include Mrs. Charlotte Osei, who will receive the 2017 Prestigious Award if she wins amongst other nominees, is flawed. We contend this for various tangible reasons as far as the 2016 general election is concerned.

As one of the well respected Prestigious awards in the world, the Chatham House Prize is mostly awarded to a person, persons or an organization that is deemed to have made the most significant contributions to the improvement of international relations in the previous year. It will be a big misplaced and controversial decision to consider Mrs. Osei to receive such an award amongst well deserving nominees such as Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, for formally ratifying a peace agreement with the FARC rebel group and bringing an end to the war in Colombia, and Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO, for steering NATO through one of the most complicated periods in its recent history.

Before Charlotte Osei took over from her predecessor, Dr Afari-Gyan, the former Ghana EC Chairman, Ghana had conducted a number of peaceful and transparent elections to the appreciation and admiration of the world, and had made tremendous significant improvements on its electoral processes since December 2000.

Coming towards the December 2016 general elections, though very important reformative decisions were taken by the EC that improved on the general transparency, fairness and enhancement on the peaceful elections in Ghana, on record, none of these important reformative ideas leading to decisions to improve the process was candidly initiated by Mrs. Charlotte Osei or by the institution of the Electoral Commission itself.

All instances of reformative ideas and suggestions leading to these great significant improvements on the Electoral process were initiated by individual Ghanaian citizens and the Opposition Parties, most of which the EC overtly contested against.

Furthermore, in all cases, reformative decisions that were finally taken by the EC were foisted on the Commission by the Supreme Court of Ghana, and with compelling reasons for the EC to implement them.

Mrs. Charlotte Osei's infrangible posture started earlier before the elections, when she vowed not to allow any significant reforms to take place in the electoral process for the 2016 elections. This was in spite of all the good reformative suggestions made by the Supreme Court, the Civil Society Organisations, the opposition Political Parties and Christian organisations in Ghana.

At one stage, the EC was described by some opinion leaders as having lost focus on her mandate to ensure a peaceful and transparent elections, and was likely, if care was not taken, to plunge Ghana into chaos due to their stance, as political tension was considerably raising.

In some instances when the Supreme Court of Ghana had passed judgements on a case against the EC, urging them to take further steps to ensure free, fair and transparent elections, the EC Chairperson, Mrs. Charlotte Osei would deliberately flout such unambiguous orders by the Supreme Court.

Having deliberately caused frustration on the Supreme Court, Justice S. Gbadegbe, one of the Supreme Court Justices at an open court sitting, descended heavily on the Electoral Commission (EC), vowing not to allow it to plunge the country into chaos as the December 2016 general election was reaching home stretch.

Justice Gbadegbe is on record to have openly stated, the justices would not sit aloof, make pronouncements and watch the EC, headed by Mrs. Charlotte Osei, to flout their orders."

Mrs. Charlotte Oseis obstinate posture not to allow for a transparent process before the elections, led to some Ghanaian citizens registering their displeasure through peaceful demonstrations. One of such peaceful demonstrations turned into violence when the Police visited brutal attacks on ordinary Ghanaian demonstrators, most especially on women who took part in the demonstration. In the process, one gentleman lost one of his eyes as a result of fired rubber bullets by the police. There is pictorial evidence available on the internet and on all the social media.

Finally, an instance of failed EC website and their failure on electronic and social media updates after the poll had closed, through out the 48 hours before the final results were declared, the Commission festered unnecessary false rumours about the delayed results which again increased the avoidable tension mounted in the country, a situation that was saved from being escalated by the congratulatory message sent by Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, one of the Presidential contestants, and followed by others from the diplomatic missions in Ghana.

With all these few instances and details available, we do not believe it will make good prudential judgment to award Mrs. Charlotte Osei with such a world class prize for only supervising, but without any proactive input as commissioner, in the recent Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana. We think she is undeserving of this prize and entreat the management at Chatham House to reconsider their decision.
Immigrant children and youth from Africa and Central America have been found to be three times likely to be shot than Canadian residents of the same age.

It has also been found that immigrants from Africa and Central America accounted for almost 70 percent of assault-related gun injuries in Canada.

These findings were contained a special document by researchers who analyzed hospital records to determine which groups of people are most at risk for gun related accidents or violence assault in Ontario province.

According to the report which was first published by Toronto-Sun newspaper, fire arms injure a child or youth almost every day in Ontario Province.

The research finding was that there were 355 fire arms injuries an average each year among children and youth about 70 percent which resulted in death.

Shocked by the news, a prominent Ghanaian resident in Toronto Mr. Emanuel Quaye, is planning offer the African youth the opportunity to unearth their talents through music and dance competition.

He disclose to this reporter when reacting to the news as well as commenting on what to do to keep the children away from assaults and gun fire injuries.

Mr. Emanuel Quaye, observed that, Black Africans in foreign destinations have rough diamonds of which lacking any knowledge of how to polish them to precious minerals have fallen victim to fire arms injuries and assault related issues.

He explained that African children in North America precisely Canada and United States of America[U.S.A.] the reason they are falling into this whole gangster image is because they do not recognize who they are and where they came from.

They bought a lie, of where they came from and somewhere along the line we have to address the lie, remove the deception and live a different vision, a different portrait of what a young black man or black woman can actually achieve he challenged.

Mr. Emanuel Quaye noted that, African Canadians and African Americans are trying to find his true identity. But many of them are still confuse as to who they are and where they came from.

He further noted as a result of that some of that some of our younger children are now finding themselves in hip-hop generation which is easy to find and it is being thugs and as a result of that they are searching for themselves through expression of music, dance and arts.

For this reason Mr. Emmanuel Quaye with Gold Dust Productions are presenting the first ever African Got Talent Show to be held in Toronto to help these talented youth who otherwise falls victim to gun injuries become stars.

Fliers already in circulation in Toronto and cited by this reporter has great prizes to be won by contestants as the first ten finalists will sign a recording contract with big music production companies to come out with their albums.

Aside that the third prize has 1,000 dollars in addition to 20 hours free studio time, the second prize 2,000 dollars in addition to 40 hours free studio hours and the first prize 3,000 dollars, a free trip to Africa and another recording contract with a major recording company in North America.

So please call 647-657-1112, 647-569-8618, 647-388-5751 or email: [email protected] for free audition and registration registration.
Guilin Pharma, a subsidiary of the Fosun Pharma group, has donated malaria drugs and other medical items to the Pantang Psychiatric Hospital in connection with the 2017 World Malaria Day celebration.

The Day will be commemorated globally on Thursday, April 25 with the WHO theme: End Malaria for Good.

According to the World Malaria Report 2016 , in 2015, there were 212 million new cases of malaria and 429,000 deaths. One child dies from malaria every two minutes. Nearly half of the world's population is at risk of malaria.

Malaria remains both a major cause and a consequence of global poverty and inequity: its burden is greatest in the least developed areas and among the poorest members of society. Many of those most vulnerable  especially young children and pregnant women  are still not able to access the life-saving prevention, diagnosis and treatment they so urgently need.

Thankfully, global partners and the key stakeholders believe, We can be the generation that ends malaria  one of the oldest and deadliest diseases in human history.

Against this backdrop, Guilin Pharma has over the years supported a number of good causes, as part of its corporate social responsibility and contribution to the global effort to control malaria.

The company is recognized globally as an integrated industry chain for Artemisinin-based medicines. The company market its products in developing countries, and supply products to clients all over the world. Its clientele includes , WHO, UNICEF, ICRC, MSF, as well as other governmental, profit- and non-profit organizations.

Guilin Pharma has been operating in the Ghanaian market over the past seven years, producing a variety of drugs, but focusing on Anti-malaria drugs production, and other generic drugs.

In 2015 the company made a similar donation to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.

The items (Anti-Malaria drugs,G-Abzole, LED Display Screen, Wound Plasters, Thermometers and Stethoscopes) were presented by Mr. Wang Yafeng the Managing Director and Mr. Cyrus Baidoo the Sales and Marketing Manager of Guilin Pharmaceuticals.

Receiving the donation, the acting head of the pharmacy unit of the hospital Mrs. Sheila Gyasi Nimako thanked Guilin for the gesture, and noted that such support would help in the fight to control and ultimately end Malaria.

She noted that the hospital is challenged and therefore needs more of such support. And stated her outfit will do well with more of such support from other companies.

Pantang is one of three Psychiatric hospitals in Ghana. It is the largest and was commissioned in 1975.
25.04.2017 LISTEN

Accra, April 24, GNA - Mr D.O. Odamptey, Chairman of the 1994 Old Students Association of the Osu Presbyterian High School, has urged old students to help tackle some of the challenges facing the school.

He said it would be a worthy course for all year groups of the School to unite to raise the image of their alma mater in the form of giving back to the institution for succeeding generations.

Mr Odamptey gave the advice at the bi-annual congregation of the 1994 year group to interact and brainstorm on the way forward to assist the school.

As part of the group's commitment to support society, the members decided to pay the fees of brilliant but needy students of the School, a gesture they shown last year, with the Chairman picking three students this year to support.

Mr Odamptey said it was their intention to increase the number of such students annually as God improved their fortunes and substance.

He asked members to show commitment and consistence in the payment of dues so that more developmental initiatives could be taken up.

Mr Kweku Bondzie Ampah, the Treasurer of the Association said such meetings were very relevant because it opened up opportunities for members apart from socialisation and networking effect.

He said plans were far afoot to tackle some of the developmental deficiencies in the science block of the school in the not-too-distant future to promote the learning of science.

GNA
Ghanaian writer, G. K. Sarpong is set to release his latest book this April dedicated to the promotion of entrepreneurship around the world especially in Africa. G. K. Sarpong who has authored several books notably Develop the Master in You , Entrepreneurship Africa and Building Success revealed that he was inspired by entrepreneur giant, the late Steve Jobs in writing his new book.

The new publication titled The Laws of Entrepreneurship is designed to assist young and upcoming entrepreneurs around the world have access to an entrepreneurial guide that will enable them navigate the foundational complexities in building successful business enterprises.

G. K. Sarpong gives us insight into his new book he has sub-titled Unraveling Steve Jobs as he sits down with South African journalist, Mtago Voldoune.

Below is the transcript of the full interview;

Mtago Voldoune: Thank you very much for your time. I am happy to have finally met you. I have followed you keenly over a couple of months. Your articles seem to center on entrepreneurship in Africa, so why Steve Jobs? Why not business giants like Papa Kwesi Nduom in your home country or Zimbabwes Strive Masiyiwa?

G. K. Sarpong: First of all, I am grateful for taking the time to have this interview with me. Yes, entrepreneurship is something that is very central to my publications and off course I highly respect the likes of Nduom and Masiyiwa for what they are doing.

The focus of this new project transcends Pan-Africanism if I have to put it that way [Laughter in the room]. Why Steve Jobs? Steve Jobs for me is one of the best things to have happened to entrepreneurship in this century. Steve Jobs ingenuity as a business leader has revolutionalised the 21st century. Are you aware that Steve Jobs App Store created a new industry overnight? By June 2011 Apple had paid out $2.5 billion to app developers and over 500,000 apps had been developed for Apple alone.

If I am to counsel any young man today on whom to learn entrepreneurship from, my first response would be Jobs, and maybe perhaps throw in Phil Knight or a Masiyiwa. But, this is not to discourage the young man in my village who may look up to a successful local business leader.

Mtago Voldoune: What sets this book apart from your other publications? I have had the opportunity to go through the draft manuscript. Tell us a little bit about the content especially drawing on Steve Jobs and an applicable law.

G. K. Sarpong: Let me attempt to answer the second question first. First of all, anybody who has closely followed very successful entrepreneurs as I have will come to a certain conclusion and here Steve Jobs clearly fits into such narrative. Steve Jobs was a 100 percent product person and this is very evident in all of his products beginning with the first Mac. His love for every aspect of the product design meant that he was very much involved in the creative process of all his products focusing on functionality, affordability and usability. This brings me to the Law of Procedure which operates by the principle that to every problem, there is a process by which it must be best resolved using todays limited know-how. The entrepreneur who is able to provide solutions by applying the most innovative business strategy will be positioned to make the most profit. Now, here is why Steve Jobs is considered among certain great entrepreneurs like Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, James Watt etc. He was the product over profit kind of entrepreneur placing his motivation directly in line with consumer interests. This is why I chose to focus on Steve Jobs; his obsession with coming up with great products and secondly, his commitment to delivering the best.

Now, back to the first question, this book by its design is very simple to digest and easy to apply. Because it is specifically designed for young entrepreneurs or businessmen, the language is very simple with focus on practical experiences drawing from varied successful entrepreneurs in Africa and also other parts of the world. So at the end of the day, there is always an African touch to my publications. [Laughter]

Mtago Voldoune: It is interesting to see you included some local entrepreneuring heroes in the book. I only know Dr Michael Agyekum. Please mention one of these heroes that you admire very much. What is his or her story?

G. K. Sarpong: A few successful entrepreneurs readily come to mind but Sir Sam Jonah stands tall because his story has lot similarities with Phil Knight, whom I have come to appreciate a lot. Sir Sam Jonah is a former CEO of Anglo Gold Ashanti, who began his professional career as a shovel- boy in the Ashanti mines at the age of 19 and rose through the ranks to become the Chief Executive Officer. His story is particularly fascinating to me because despite encountering a major roadblock to becoming an engineer from his own mother at a young age, he was able to hold on to his passion and make his dream a reality. Sir Jonah now holds several international directorships as well as profitable investments around the world.

I have come to admire and appreciate Sir. Sam Jonah a lot for what he stands for and his contribution to development of entrepreneurship.

Mtago Voldoune: How do you assess the situation of entrepreneurship in Africa at this time?

G. K. Sarpong: I will tell you this Mtago. Africa by default is an entrepreneurial continent. Almost every young adult in Africa is running his or her own business or intends to do so at a point in time, but there is a major challenge for entrepreneurs across the continent. Lending rates on the continent makes access to capital a major challenge for many entrepreneurs in Africa. The lending rate for South Africa at the close of 2016 was around 11% whereas Nigeria averaged 16% in 2016. Ghana averaged 28% compared to United States and some other OECD countries where lending rates are below 3%. So these are some major challenges affecting the continent. That is why the focus now has been on encouraging partnerships and joint-enterprises. I am hopeful that things will get better as the necessary pressure is continuously mounted on the economic managers.

Mtago Voldoune: I am glad you have made time for this interview. Finally, when should we expect the book to be out and perhaps for how much?

G. K. Sarpong: I expect it to be out before the close of April or early May and it will be available in my Amazon store , hard copy and soft copy. I am yet to meet with my team to agree on a price but it will be something affordable, that I can assure you. [Big smile on his face]

Mtago Voldoune: Thank you very much Mr. Sarpong and all the best in your future endeavors.

G. K. Sarpong: Thank you too Mtago.

Subscribe to G. K. Sarpongs store at www.amazon.com/author/gksarpong.
The Director of Religious Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Rev. Friar George Arthur, was brusque when he presented a homily during the induction service for the new Inspector General of Police, Mr. David Asante-Apeatu, last Sunday.

It is rare for service personnel to openly diagnose the law enforcement agency the way he did, but considering his calling as a man of God, a cleric of no mean standing, his outspokenness was not totally surprising. It is the kind of openness which could have sent 'children with sharp teeth' under the old order charging at him.

The new IGP does not have to commission an enquiry into the malaise of the Ghana Police Service so he can apply the necessary antidote, the cleric's remarks having come handy, covering all the areas that need to be tackled in order to restore the law enforcement agency's glorious days  long overwhelmed by self-inflicted acts of misdeeds.

If he allows the fear of God to be his cornerstone, the battle is won already. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

One of the areas touched by the chaplain, which almost all Ghanaians, especially those in the Police Service, know but avoid discussing openly is the dangerous issue of ethnicity. We dismiss it as non-existent at the peril of the law enforcement agency and the country. Some strangely dismiss it as nonsense, but such denial cannot lead us to addressing it.

Victims of ethnicity  which has unfortunately been given oxygen by persons at the top of the police hierarchy  feel it. They continue to harbour the pain of having nobody to turn to at their times of torments, having been denied their dues in the form of promotions, study leaves and others. Promotions have been withheld sometimes as a result of the application of this crude practice in an institution which should be spared such malpractice.

The hushed plaudits the chaplain received outside the chapel said it all about the many hearts his words soothed. The cankerworm has gone hand-in-hand with the inappropriate politicization of the system.

Today, it is easy for some police personnel to show their political colours without fear of reprimand  the offence, it would appear, no longer attracting sanctions.

DAILY GUIDE during the past regime, reported about a cop who became so partisan that he made it to Facebook, yet nothing was done about him because he was, in view of his partisan superiors, politically correct and so untouchable.

Morale got so low until three months ago when after the change in government personnel began hoping for positive developments in the Service, an institution they joined with high hopes.

Disgruntled cops and Ghanaians are looking up to the new Chief Constable to address the myriad challenges he has inherited from the previous political and police administrations. Let him draw inspirations from President Akufo-Addo, who has not been daunted by the glaring challenges as he soldiers on to conquer new grounds to the admiration of his compatriots and the international community.

Even enlistment into the Ghana Police Service has been contaminated with scandals, the most visible of them all claiming the career of a top officer and earning for the institution an unattractive image dent.

The task before the IGP is enormous but if the president is not scared and already holding the bull by the horns, he too can do wonders. After all, he told his kids that if the goal is not overwhelming, it is not big enough. The goal in his case is transforming the Ghana Police Service to a world-class institution where best practices are the cornerstones. We wish him Godspeed.
25.04.2017 LISTEN

Chief Alhaji PRO - Tanko Umar, a veteran Journalist who double as President of Ghana Zabrama Association and Greater Accra Regional Zabrama Chief has appealed to the government to as a matter of urgency put measures in place to curb the discrimination and intimidation of Zabramas in the country.

Chief Tanko who made the appeal at the sideline of the installation of the Zabrama paramount Chief at Zabrama line, a suburb of Greater Accra stated that their people are being discriminated and intimidated in some government and private institutions and are described as aliens hence his appeal.

According to him, the people of Zabrama have been in Ghana for centuries and have married the indigens with children serving in high official positions therefore it is unconstitutional and uncalled for to be seen as such adding that the people of Zabrama have contributed massively towards the socio-economic and infrastructural development of Ghana.

The Zabramas originated from Niger, and have settled in Ghana for a long time, with majority of them being traders.

Zabrama he said are honest and trusted when it comes to doing business and have been living peaceful with other tribes.

With this, he called on the government to ensure that Zabramas are treated fairly and are given their share of the national cake.

According to the veteran journalist, the constitution has stated that language is not a barrier for an indication of who is not a Ghanaian and the Zabramas would put to right the thinking of people about the way people look at Zabramas in Ghana.

He further appealed to government to build unity among Zabramas and others adding that in society where there is segregation that community will not progress.

On his part, the newly installed Chief Alhaji Ibrahim Iddrisu Migaa assured of his commitment to ensure his people forged ahead in unity than it used to be in the past.

Chief Iddrisu urged the government to help communities renovate and expand their markets to encourage the youth to go into trading.

This to him would reduce the unemployment rate at Zabrama line and Zongo communities in general across the country.

The magajia [Queen Mother] Samira Amidu Amadu, advised all parents in the community to desist from investing their money on buying expensive clothes for marriage and naming ceremonies but rather channel it in their children education.

She added that giving maximum Education to your children will help brighting their future that the Zabrama communities will be proud to have Doctors, Lawyers, nurses and among others.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) went ahead to draw cheques from an account belonging to former President John Mahamas brother, Ibrahim, despite an earlier warning to the revenue-collecting state agency to hold on with the withdrawals until certain payments had been made into it by the government, private legal practitioner Abraham Amaliba has said.

His revelations come amidst a two-week ultimatum given to Mr Mahama to pay some GHS10 million that two of his companies  MBG Limited and Holman Brothers  owe the state as duties in connection with some heavy duty equipment he cleared at the Tema port in 2015 while his brother was President.

Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong, who first blew the lid on Mr Mahama, claimed the businessman issued 44 dud cheques to the GRA in connection with the payment of the duties.

Speaking on Class91.3FMs Executive Breakfast Show on Tuesday 25 April, however, Mr Amaliba said Mr Mahama gave express warning to GRA not to withdraw the cheques since he was awaiting the payment of some monies into it by the government.

My knowledge is that there were accounts existing and cheques were issued from that account. Now do you know that there was information from Ibrahim to GRA not to present certain cheques because government has not paid and there was no money in it? Has that come to your attention? So thats why some of us are asking: Who asked GRA, who prompted GRA to nonetheless go and present those cheques regardless of the warning given by Ibrahim to them not to proceed? Mr Amaliba told Moro Awudu.

Who asked GRA nonetheless to present those cheques for the creation of that offence as issuing dud cheques because when you issue a cheque, you either tell the person he should go and cash it or you give a counter-order that: Dont go until you crosscheck with me.

Meanwhile, Ningo Prampram MP Sam Nartey George, who has been speaking for Mr Mahama on the issue, told Accra-based Joy FM on Tuesday that not all cheques issued bounced.
Jhargram MP Uma Soren used Rs 16.39 crore of her MPLAD funds to pay for new ceiling fans, water purifiers/coolers and LED lamps in 3,000 state schools.

She may have a winner here. The Trinamool Congress's youthful Jhargram MP, Uma Soren, used Rs 16.39 crore of her MPLAD funds to pay for new ceiling fans, water purifiers/coolers and LED lamps in 3,000 state schools in her constituency.

But rather than claiming credit for a scheme that will bring schoolchildren respite from the searing summer ahead, the media-shy Soren is rolling it out in the name of 'Mamatamoyee Jangaler Ma' (caring mother of Jangalmahal, as Mamata Banerjee is often referred to in these parts). The West Bengal chief minister, reports say, is overwhelmed. Ceiling fans for schoolrooms are being sent under the 'Mamatamoyee Sneher Porosh (loving touch)', the LED lamps under the 'Mamatamoyee Ashirwaad (blessings)' and the coolers will be the 'Mamatamoyee Amritdhara (spring of nectar)'.

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And to make sure the deification is complete, the gifts will all be emblazoned with Banerjee's smiling visage. To her credit, in the six years she's been in office, the chief minister has worked tirelessly to bring peace and governance to the Maoist violence-afflicted Jangalmahal area comprising West Midnapore, parts of Bankura and Purulia.

Predictably, the Opposition is unimpressed. CPI(M) leader Amiya Patra questions the purpose of putting Mamata stickers on fans and coolers, pooh-poohing it as another gimmick to gain advantage in the panchayat polls slated for 2018.

--- ENDS ---
Kingsley Carlos Ahenkorah, a deputy Minister for Trade and Industry has sparked some apprehension and controversy among stakeholders of the international business community especially those who trade in Ghana with his recent call on Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) to redouble its efforts to actualize Single Window operations in the country.

The deputy Minister is the Chief Executive Officer of Carloking Freight, a registered freight and clearing company, recently in the news on allegations of causing revenue loss to Ghana, and his call on GCNet comes as a surprise to stakeholders because the government of Ghana has a contract with West Blue Ghana Consulting Services mandating it to operate the Single Window platform. It is therefore shocking that a deputy Minister would be urging another company to also take up Single Window.

Indeed West Blue has made enviable strides since it introduced the Single Window platform and has empirical evidence it has helped blocked leakages in government revenue as well as brought speed and transparency in trade facilitation and business transactions and Ghanas ports.

Interestingly, the deputy Minister, speaking at a programme organized by GCNet last week said Ghana as a country is too small to operate two single window platforms therefore GCNet should speed up its efforts to start implementing Single Window.

The comments from the deputy Minister for Trade and Industry has been interpreted as a direct attempt to undermine the works of West Blue and also a clear opposition with attempts by the Ministry of Finance to build strong collaboration between the two institutions to close the gap to block revenue loopholes at the port.

GCNet Must Integrate System With West Blue

Just two weeks back, Finance Minister, Kenneth Ofori- Atta, charged GCNet to work in close collaboration with West Blue to improve governments revenue at the countrys ports.

He said GCNet should integrate its system with that of West Blue in order to deal with under valuation and misclassification at the ports.

Mr. Ofori- Atta gave this directive when GCNet paid dividend to government recently.

He expressed worry about the gap between West Blue and GCNet with regards to the Customs Classification and Verification Report (CCVR).

The gap between West Blue and GCNet with regards to the Customs Classification and Verification Report (CCVR) sometimes become a worry and we hope that we resolve this, the Finance Minister said and further called for strong collaboration between the two institutions to close the gap to block revenue loopholes at the port.

It is expected that GCNet would fully integrate its system with West Blue Consulting as part of the National Single Window process.

Under the National Single Window being implemented by West Blue Consulting in collaboration Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), all systems in the supply chain must be integrated so that importers would not attempt to falsify documents, under-declare and pay less for a consignment imported.

Carloking Freight

The company is registered as one that offers freight and clearing services and is believed to belong to the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Kingsley Carlos Ahenkora.

Checks on the companys website, www.carloking.com , has the name of Kingsley Carlos Ahenkora as the Chief Executive.

Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyepong, recently announced on public television that the operations of Carloking has caused some huge financial loss to the state as the companys activities led to some loss in government revenue. The loss is said to be in millions of dollars.

The Assin Central MP claimed he has documents to prove his allegation but has since not provided it and the claim has not proven beyond doubt. It is also not on record that the claim has been denied or challenged by the company.

West Blue Vs Revenue Loss

Since West Blue started operating the Single Window platform at Ghanas ports, in collaboration with the Customs Division-Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), one of its bragging rights has been blocking losses in government revenues and if the allegation Ken Agyapong is making against Carloking is accurate, West Blue should have the data and be able to provide it for the anomaly to be corrected.

It has worked closely with the international governing bodies on trade facilitation in the implementation of the National Single Window in Ghana and the aim is to align Ghana to international best standard trade practices as required by the international governing bodies like World Customs Organization (WCO) which Ghana is signatory to.

Revenue collection by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority has increased by more than 28 percent as at the end of 2016.

This increment is due to the introduction of the National Single Window Project which has been complementing the efforts of the Customs in harmonizing operations at the ports.

The introduction of the project has impacted positively on Ghanas ease of doing business at the ports.
Eight charges have been preferred against the five Chinese and their Ghanaian counterparts, who were arrested by the Western Regional Police Command on March 24, 2017 for allegedly mining gold illegally in River Ankobra in two communities  Bamiankor and Duwale  in the Western Region.

They were charged with conspiracy to commit crime and undertaking small-scale mining without license contrary to Section 99(2) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, causing intentional and unlawful harm and damage to property, causing unlawful damage intentionally and unlawfully to property in a manner likely to cause danger to life.

They were also charged with pollution of water contrary to section 23(1) of the criminal offences, pollution of water contrary to section 24 of the Water Resources Commission Act, 1996.

The other charges are engaging in mining activity using methods not known or approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), disregarding a directive and obligation imposed under the immigration Act and also making false representation contrary to section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act,1960.

All the 10 suspects pleaded not guilty to the eight charges when they appeared before a Sekondi High Court yesterday, and the court, presided over by Justice Edward Amoako Asante, remanded them into prison custody to reappear before it on May 3, 2017.

It would be recalled that about two weeks ago when the suspects appeared before the court, it ordered the seizure of the 'water home' and other equipment on the River Ankobra purportedly built by the Chinese illegal miners for their operations in the river.

The court also remanded five Chinese and five Ghanaians into police custody to give the court ample time to look for a certified Chinese interpreter to help interpret the proceedings to the Chinese nationals.

When the court sat yesterday, a certified Chinese interpreter, Yang Weiqiang, was available to interpret proceedings to the Chinese nationals.

He was led by Chief Interpreter, Nat Karikari of the Judicial Service, Headquarters in Accra.

The prosecutor, George Sackey, a Senior State Attorney, mentioned the names of the Chinese suspects as Dong Cheng, unemployed; Huang Jiang, Engineer; Nin Guorui, welder; Yin Bi Qiang, spare parts dealer and Li Zilong, cook.

He gave the names of the Ghanaian suspects as Eric Owusu, carpenter; Kwabena Adjei, small scale miner; Nana Adu Ackah Mensah, farmer; Kwesi Owusu, unemployed and Kofi Darko, driver.

He told the court that in the early part of 2017, the Police Regional CID in Sekondi, had a tip-off that some Asians and Ghanaians had invaded the banks of River Ankobra and were engaged in illegal mining on the bed of the river.

Armed with the information, the Regional Police Command organized an operation on May 24, 2017 to clamp down the illegal miners.

The team visited the area and spotted the accused persons busily engaged in alluvial dredging on board a huge boat mounted on River Ankobra, which served as their permanent place of abode.

The police managed to enter the boat and arrested the accused persons.

When a search was conducted on the boat, a quantity of black sand concentrate in a metal container suspected to contain gold was found together with machine parts.

In the course of investigations, it was realised that the accused persons did not have authorization from the Minerals Commission to conduct that mining procedure.

The suspects were also not able to produce any authorization from the EPA or the Water Resources Commission.

According to the Senior State Attorney, the five Chinese nationals had not been able to produce evidence to authorize their operation of a mining concession or engage in any type of mining activity in Ghana.

After investigations they were charged and arraigned before court.

Two witnesses, who were called to testify about the case all, alleged that the Chinese 'galamseyers' polluted the River Ankobra with their activities and eased themselves and threw their left over meals into the only source of water for the people.

One of the lawyers of the accused persons, Samuel Ericson Abekah, prayed the court to grant bail to the accused persons who had languished in cells for four weeks, because the offences were bailable ones, but his application was refused.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi


A cross-section of the youth and their executives receiving prayers. INSET: Prophet Davis Akuffo-Addo

Prophet Davis Akuffo-Addo, a Senior Pastor of the Creator's Blessing Church in Accra, has cautioned Ghanaians against acts that undermine the youth of the country.

According to him, the youth were important in the development of the country.

He stated that any country that despises its youth would eventually fail, indicating that do not act in such a manner that anybody shall despise you on account of your youthful age.

Prophet Akuffo-Addo, speaking in an interaction with DAILY GUIDE on the sidelines of the launch of the Youth Ministry of the Church on the theme: Glory of Your Youth, was emphatic that the youth have a significant role to play in the development of the country.

Making reference to the Bible, the man of God stated that Timothy was a young man but his age was not a barrier to achieving his mission because he was not undermined in the society.

He tasked the youth to use their talents to serve God and country.

In a sermon, Richard Kumah, the youth chaplain, stated that the youth must use their energies usefully.

He said some youth do not respect the elderly and have no patience in life, adding that the youth must love each other and be devoted to God.

Ernest De-Graft Morrison, an elder of the Church who chaired the event, in a keynote address, admonished the youth to lead lives worthy of emulation and shun questionable behavior.

In a speech, Kojo Abedoo Dadzie Youth President, said the purpose of the launch was to officially make the Youth Ministry an avenue for the growth and development of the church.

We want to ensure that the Youth Ministry becomes the foundation for the growth and development of our beloved church he said.

Mr Dadzie further indicated that we also intend to promote among the youth social, spiritual, educational and career programmes that will adequately meet their physical and spiritual needs.

The launch was preceded by a health walk on Saturday.

Prophet Isaac Owusu Atta, the senior prophet of the church, was also in attendance.

[email protected]

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson


Delay in releasing of presidential polls on the grounds that the EC IT department had been compromised; Alleged over-voting in Ashanti region that ostensibly being investigated before official certification. This proved to be a delay tactic and false. Putting out a blatantly wrong figure of 49% as interim voter turn-out for the presidential poll, which was later debunked.

Credible intelligence that the EC had set up two lines to transmit presidential election results {a super high-speed line and regular speed line} without disclosure to all the presidential contestants or their representatives at Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).

Enforcement of electoral rules by the EC and political party accountability remains weak. What is more worrying is her blatant refusal to take advice and consider opinions from stakeholders. As we know, Ghana is not a dictatorship to warrant dictatorial tendencies.

The EC did not have any plan towards setting up the National Collation Centre in a more spacious location on Election Day to accommodate many stakeholders. This made it difficult for many stakeholders to follow certified results as and when the EC received them.

The EC under Mrs. Charlotte Osei failed to capture two sources of internally generated funds {IGF} in their 2017 Budget Estimates presented to Ghanas parliament in April 2017. This is a clear case of graft distasteful in all intents. These funds were from journalists (GHC10.00 as accreditation fee for Election 2016, something unknown in Ghana's election history. She further charged GHC5.00 for every application for a misplaced/lost voter cards).

The European Union Observation Mission in its report on Ghana 2016 election had this to say; "The Registration process for Presidential Candidates in the 2016 elections (under Mrs. Charlotte Osei) was problematic. The process was not sufficiently inclusive and the spirit of the law was not fully respected."

That Mrs. Charlotte Osei has brought disunity into the 7 member Commission which does not augur well for the well being and image of the Commission.

A report on 30th March 2017, from Ghana's Special Budget Committee of Parliament had concluded that as a result of Mrs. Charlotte Oseis leadership the Commission do not trust themselves. There is gross distrust amongst the 7 member Commission under her leadership, and that they are not on good terms with each other. (See www.starrfmonline.com/2017/03/30/ec ). This was never the case under the former Chairman of the Commission.

The Electoral Commissions own in-house software had such a weak security protocols that in the word of Mrs. Osei; we were forced to ignore the software and use manual collations. Clearly this is not a hallmark of an award winning performance. If any actor to the electoral process had raised a concern, in concert with other issues raised, it might have been unnerving for the nation, considering that primarily post-election activities are key trigger to election violence.

Mrs. Osei faulted profoundly when she refused to given access to the secured transmitted results, even as a read only access. Many of the political party representatives found this behaviour unacceptable since it appears to be shrouded in secrecy and lacked transparency.

It is worth noting that, Mrs. Charlotte Oseis bizarre posture not to allow for a transparent process before the elections, led to some Ghanaian citizens registering their displeasure through peaceful demonstrations. One of such peaceful demonstrations turned violent when the police (allegedly on the instruction of powerful persons in the then government) visited brutal attacks on ordinary Ghanaian demonstrators, most especially on women who took part in the demonstration. During the course of the brutality, one gentleman lost an eye as a result of fired rubber bullets by the police. There is pictorial evidence available: http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/2015/September-16th/photos-violence-mars-let-my-vote-count-demo.php

Finally, the EC had no instant social media update for which many Ghanaians who are on the move can rely on for trustworthy updates. So the reportage that such system was up and running should be disregarded and not counted as an achievement.

In conclusion, Mrs. Charlotte Osei may have announced historic presidential elections results on the 9th on December but the many issues surrounding her administration could have occasioned unfortunate and regrettable occurrences. She fought and misrepresented many meaningful suggestions towards the peaceful elections, which caused major embarrassment for her outfit.

The peaceful outcome of the 2016 general elections was the collective effort and tolerant the political parties had for each another and goodwill that Ghanaians have enjoyed since the birth of the 4th Republic in 1992.

We, respectfully, strongly implore your distinguished organisation to ponder on your final consideration. It is time to ignore and punish public officials who acts with complete disdain for the constitution and disregard court rulings but turn round to hypocritically and opportunistically seek for honours they have not earned.

Yours faithfully,

. 

DR NANA AYEW AFRIYIE HENRY ASANTE

(CHAIRMAN) (VICE CHAIRMAN)



ARNOLD BOATENG

(GENERAL SECRETARY)

CC: HE JOHN BENJAMIN,

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER,

ACCRA GHANA
One thing that has become clear since the Government began to take the galamsey problem seriously is that the actual scale of the woeful pestilence has been under-estimated by most people in Ghana.

Some people think it's a few water-bodies that have been tampered with by galamseyers.

But that's not true. The Atewa Forest Range in the Eastern Region, for instance, is the source of three major Rivers: Densu, Birem and Ayensu. Now, Densu is the source of the water that flows into the Weija Reservoir, which supplies most of Accra with its water.Destroying that source of water is not just tampering with Accra's water supply system. It is declaring a water siege on the people of our capital.

This is what the Water Resources Commission has to say about the importance of Densu: The River takes its source from the Atewa Range near Kibi and flows for 116 km into the Weija Reservoir.... The Densu River is of special importance since it includes the Weija Reservoir, which supplies water for approximately half of the Accra Metropolitan Area.[Or at least, 600,000 people].

In February 2016, I published an article entitled YIEEE! RIVER DENSU TOO IS DEAD? inwhich I drew attention to the implications of the galamsey going on in the Atewa Forest Range and its effect on the Densu basin. I described in vivid detail, the daily travails of the people of Nsawam and Adoagyiri.

But articles like that did not cut any ice with the authorities of the time. Indeed, the ongoing visits to galamsey sites by the new Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Peter Amewu, continually expose the confusion and negligence that plague the institutions that we expect to be at the forefront of the battle against galamsey.

Here is one very troubling account of what occurred during the Minister's visit: QUOTE:  Amewu grills Minerals Commission boss over mining licenses

[The] Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu could not come to terms with the explanation provided by the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Tony Aubyn, over a prospecting licence given to Okobeng Mining, a small scale mining company operating in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region.

Okobeng Mining, despite the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry directive to halt all small scale mining activities across the country, was seen miningfor gold [a] few meters away from the Ankobra River, with a prospecting licensc at Dwira Dominase in Nzema East Municipal. Visibly worried, Mr Amewu, who was leading a high-powered government delegation on a two-day visit to some mining sites in the Western Region, questioned the Minerals Commissions boss [Tony] Aubyn about the companys permit. Mr. Amewu was shocked [when he] realized that the company was mining for gold .... with a [mere] prospecting licence.

He bemoaned [the fact] that this company has finished mining already and is doing an alleged reclamation, with a licence that does not [even] allow it mine. He asked Aubyn Who gave these people their prospecting licence to operate [in the] last two months without my notice? I have been the Minister for the past five months ]and] this licence was issued [in the] last two months. How did it happen without my knowledge?

Aubyn suggested that the matter be addressed when the team returns to Accra because, whichever way it is, it must have been signed by a Minister. It could have been signed by the former sector Minister! But Mr. Amewu insisted [on getting]... to the bottom of the issue, by inquiring from the representatives of Okobeng Mining, who were present at the site:.... When did you start working? After the [mine manager] answered saying, they started mining at the area three months ago, Mr. Amewu asked Aubyn again: Who gave the company the prospecting licence to the company?"

....He was dissatisfied with [Aubyn's] submissions, [and Mr Amewu] directed that every operation ongoing on the site [should cease]. He also directed that executives of the company be summoned to Accra to answer questions.

The violations Mr. Amewu expected the Minerals Commission boss to have prevented [included] the fact that the company had already finished mining at an area where [its] working permits allowed [it] to only prospect for gold. [Mr Amewu] also questioned the [Minerals Commission boss] on why mining had taken place at the companys site less than 30 meters to the main Ankobra River. UNQUOTE

One question that was not raised by the Minister, probably because it has been hidden from him, was whether the mining licence in question, whether signed by a Minister or not, was legal, inasmuch as it had not been ratified by Parliament, as required under the 1992 Constitution. The clear indications are that the Minerals Commission facilitated the issue of many small-scale mining licences, without making the applicants aware that they could not begin operations with the licences until Parliament had ratified them. What motivated the Commission to do this, since it must be assumed that its top officials were conversant with the laws under which their Commission operates, remains a mystery. But the way state institutions have been infected with corruption may help answebthe question.

The utter confusionsurrounding the legality of licences issued by the Commission appears to have spread aalso to the ranks of the law enforcement agencies. For if one Googles illegal+miners+arrest+Ghana, one comes up with no less than 622,000 entries. Yet seldom does one read that an illegal miner had been imprisoned in accordance with the mining laws. Maybe the designation of some courts by the Chief Justice as galamsey courts indicates a new commitment on the part of the judiciary to do its part in making galamsey a more patently risky undertaking to its operators than hitherto. Of course, the courts  however determined to end galamsey they might be  can do nothing unless illegal miners are vigorously prosecuted before them. I must say the police and the national prosecution service have let the country down badly by neglecting to prosecute galamsey cases with any amount of serousness. Both foreign and Ghanaian illegal miners who are caught in the act by the police are often allowed to be bailed by persons whose names are not disclosed to the public. Yet without these hidden patrons of galamsey, the evil could not continue. They should be named and shamed. The Minister of the Interior should demonstrate that he fully supports the President's call to end galamsey by instructing the police to oppose bail whenever lawyers ask the courts to offer bail to those charged with engaging in galamsey. We don't grant bail to violent armed robbers and murderers, do we? Well, galamsey, by destroying or poisoning our drinking water with cyanide and mercury, is just as murderous as cutting someone with a knife, or shooting him dead with a gun.

Not only that  the police could swiftly end applications for bail on behalf of galamseyers if they used their professional information-gathering methods to obtain from prospective bail applications, information about the capos[masterminds] in the galamsey business and passed the information on to the CID or the ministerial task force set up by the Government to end galamsey.

The Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana consular service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should also do their bit in subtle detective woerk and thereby make it impossible for foreigners intent on doing galamsey business in Ghana, to obtain admission into the country. No country allows criminals into its territory and there are protocols for international co-operation (through INTERPOL) used to catch criminals and would-be criminals in existence, which Ghana can use to good advantage.

Finally, I'd like to recommend the following to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources: please, wherever possible, use the local inhabitants to gather information and obtain intelligence on how best to smoke out galamsey operators from their particular localities. Of course, there will be bad eggs among the ncommuituies, but the great majority of them are aware of the danger posed by galamsey to themselves and their families, especially those unborn.

I was very pleased to read that the Minister destroyed some water-sachets he had discovered hidden near a galamsey site. Didn't that cast the Minister in the light of a Daniel come to judgement? The galamsey operators come to make other people's water undrinkable. But they protect themselves by drinking sachet water! What cheats they are. A marvellous crowd indeed who deserve our sympathy because they are only trying to earn a living!! The next time the Minister catches some galamsey operators red-handed, he should force them to drink the muddy water they leave behind after they have dredged rivers and washed gold in them with mercury and cyanide.

Mind you, I don't blame them  the past tolerance of their activities by our stupor-infected government, and the eloquent excuses constantly offered on behalf of the would-be murderers by some opinion leaders who should know better, have combined to convince them that the generality of Ghanaians are a bunch of utter incompetent fools, who deserve to be sent to anearly grave by merely drinking the water endowed to them by Nature thousands of years ago.
Nairobi (AFP) - Two years after Burundi's president plunged the central African country into turmoil, the regime shows no signs of easing up on a crackdown that has forced hundreds of thousands to flee.

The UN estimates that at least 500 people have been killed since President Pierre Nkurunziza sought a third term in April 2015. Aid groups say as many as 2,000 people have died.

Nkurunziza's re-election move violated the two-term limit set by the constitution and a 2006 peace deal that ended a dozen years of civil war.

The head of state claims that his first term doesn't count because he was appointed after the war, and not directly elected.

He has also suggested a possible change to Burundi's constitution that would let him run again in 2020.

In the meantime, his ruling CNND-FDD party has unleashed its feared youth wing known as the Imbonerakure -- "those who see from afar" in the local Kirundi language -- who now reign with impunity across much of the country.

"The Imbonerakure have become the spearhead of the repression, they have spread out across the country identifying and harassing the opposition," said Florent Geel of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

And the UN rights chief condemned the youth wing this month for repeatedly calling for the rape and murder of opposition supporters, saying it amounts to a "campaign of terror".

The feared youth wing of the ruling CNND-FDD party -- the Imbonerakure -- reign with impunity across much of Burundi. Their name means "those who see from afar" in the local Kirundi language

The East African Community plans a summit meeting for May, which many officials see as the last chance to find a diplomatic solution to a crisis that has prompted more than 400,000 people to flee the country.

'You won't be heard from'

"The crisis is behind us, security is assured, peace has returned to Burundi and everyone is going about their business," said the country's first vice president, Gaston Sindimwo.

But opposition leaders as well as NGOs say this claim of "peace" results from brutal repression that has left hundreds dead.

The Imbonerakure often set up roadblocks to search vehicles heading north into Rwanda or south into Tanzania, arresting scores of "suspects", several witnesses told AFP.

"The entire population is terrorised because anyone can arrest you in the street and you won't be heard from again," a resident in Bujumbura, the capital, said on condition on anonymity.

The national headquarters of the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) in the capital, Bujumbura

"The fear is so strong that sometimes a father won't dare ask the security services for news of his missing son," he said.

The government has rejected all of the UN's reports on the violence and calls for inquiries, as well as a Security Council resolution seeking the deployment of 228 police officers.

"The regime in Burundi has grown more radicalised, but it has taken advantage of the growing divisions on the Security Council as well as the paralysis of the African Union, which has allowed it to act with complete impunity," according to a UN diplomat in Geneva.

'Inflated egos'

A scene from May 2015 that shows a protestor opposed to the Burundian president's bid for a third term, confronting members of the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the ruling party, armed with sticks

The political opposition, and many elements of civil society in general, have fled Burundi.

The opposition has also been weakened by internal divisions and "inflated egos among some of us," said an opponent of the regime who lives in exile and who asked to remain anonymous.

Negotiations between the regime and the CNARED, an umbrella of opposition groups, have stalled despite international pressure and financial sanctions imposed by the EU.

A foreign diplomat in Bujumbura said the government also worries about rebel groups forming in neighbouring countries, including the Republican Forces of Burundi (Forebu), which mainly consists of deserting police and soldiers.

"Many Burundians now believe that this is the only language understood by President Pierre Nkurunziza, who refuses to talk about peace," said Jeremie Minani, an opposition leader.
25.04.2017 LISTEN

In recognition of the 47th Earth Day today, Girls for Environment (G4E) is joining individuals and organizations around the world in the celebration and to dedicate this day to ensuring that women and girls become environmental and climate literate citizen, poised to take action and be a voice for change. G4E is part of Conservation Alliances (CA) Environmental Education Program (EEP) to create the platform for young people to learn about the environment and become good environmental stewards.

The promotion of environmental literacy especially among girls in school is a big step in solving most of Ghanas environmental challenges since women can better safeguard natural resources for posterity. Women and girls are untapped agents of change and a powerful resource in the battle against climate change. As a country, we need to build a global citizenry fluent in the concepts of climate change and aware of its unprecedented threat to our planet through environmental literacy.

The Girls for Environment initiative is empowering girls in school with knowledge to inspire action in defense of environmental protection through activities such as; connect with nature trips, learning web-based toolkit on the environment, documentary shows on environment, among others.

Environmental literacy programs in schools is not only an engine for enforcing environmental laws but also for creating green technologies and jobs. G4E plans to engage more women and girls particularly in Northern Ghana to be at the forefront of issues on natural resources thereby improving environmental condition in Northern Ghana.

As we mark World Earth Day with the theme: Environmental and Climate Literacy, Girls for Environment is calling on the government to help promote climate change adaptation programs with the prospects of stemming the tide of girl child migration to the south. Improving environmental literacy among women and girls will foster better community decision making and a greater resilience to climate change.

About Girls for Environment (G4E)

G4E is a project organized by the Northern Program of Conservation Alliance (CA) to campaign for efficient management of natural resources in Northern Ghana with women and the girl child playing pivotal roles.
A section of the Accra-Kumasi railway line at Osino in the Fanteakwa District in the Eastern Region has allegedly been destroyed by two mining companies.

Kibi Goldfields Limited and Narawa Mining are alleged to have gone beyond their allowed limits and mined the buffer zones of the Birim River and either yanked off part of the line or mined beside it.

The two companies have since ceased their activities following the directive of a court.

During a visit to the area last Saturday, the Daily Graphic saw the railway lines removed and packed in a bushy area on the concession of the Kibi Goldfields, while the section on the Narawa concession was exposed because of mining activities along it, contrary to the two companies cadastral map.

The map dictates the allowable limits of mining activities on a given concession.

Eastern Corridor Railway Line

The activities of the two companies come at a time the government has expressed the desire to revive the railway industry, including the rehabilitation of the Eastern Corridor Railway Line.

The Accra-Kumasi line is the Eastern Railway Line which covers a distance of 330km and starts from Accra to Kumasi, with a branch line from Achimota to Tema. When the line becomes operational, it will decongest the Tema Port and facilitate the movement of cargo and passengers to Kumasi and its environs.

An unhappy Chief of Akyem Hemang, Osabarima Mmirrikkissi Okasum Apori, who has mounted a campaign against the two mining companies, described them as irresponsible miners.

The map says they should be 100 metres away, but they have destroyed the railway line. The line may not be functional but it's a public property which shouldn't be said, he mentioned.

Apart from the damage to the railway line, the Daily Graphic also saw extensive damage that had been done to the Birim River, with a section of the river allegedly diverted by Kibi Goldfields without the consent of the Water Resources Commission (WRC) as required by law.

At the time the Daily Graphic visited the area, the two companies were not mining but the trail of destruction was evident.

There were uncovered pits and trenches with water within what used to be a cocoa farm, according to Osabarima Apori.

At the Narawa site, there were visible signs of mining activities close to the Birim River with portions of it filled.

Court injunction

According to Osabarima Apori, it took a courts directive for the companies to halt their activities.

The operations of the two companies had ceased due to an injunction granted Osabarima Apori by a Koforidua High Court in October last year.

The court had held that the two mining companies had breached the mining laws by working within the buffer zone.

War on illegal mining

The Akyem Hemang chief had waged a war on illegal mining in the area. He explained that his fight against the miners was a pre-emptive defence to prevent the two companies from extending the harm they had caused at Osino to his stool lands.

When contacted, an official of the WRC, Mr Mawuli Lumor, who led a team to the area to assess the operations of the two companies following a request from Osabarima Apori, agreed that they had breached the terms of mining.

The Daily Graphic also found out that the two companies had no environmental permit, an assertion Mr Lumor admitted and said they had been directed to acquire the document from the Environmental Protection Agency.

He, however, stated that the companies adhered to the water management standard within their operational areas.
Dakar (AFP) - Chad's former president Hissene Habre will Thursday hear the final decision on an appeal against a life sentence for war crimes, crimes against humanity and rape, following his landmark conviction last year.

The Extraordinary African Chambers, a body created by Senegal and the African Union (AU), sentenced Habre last May to life behind bars, an unprecedented ruling seen as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers.

In July, the court further ruled that Habre should give up to 30,000 euros ($33,000) to each victim of abuses committed during his 1982-1990 rule, as well as to their relatives.

Expected to begin at 1000 GMT on Thursday, the appeal verdict will be "definitive and irrevocable," the special court's spokesman Marcel Mendy told AFP.

As of Tuesday it was unclear if Habre would appear, a decision that Mendy said rested with the president of the appeal court, Wafi Ougadeye.

Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre leaves a Dakar courthouse in June 2015

Habre, 74, refuses to recognise the court's authority and his appeal was therefore brought on his behalf by court-appointed lawyers. He refused to speak or defend himself throughout his trial.

Habre's conviction brought closure for relatives of up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his time as president.

One of his lawyers, who asked not to be named, said he was "confident" of his team's chances, lashing out at what he termed "Western sponsors" of the trial.

If his conviction is upheld, Habre will serve his sentence in Senegal or in another AU country.

Assane Dioma Ndiaye, who defended the civil cases leading to the demand for reparations from Habre, said anything less than upholding the sentences handed down would be a huge blow.

Given the gravity of the accusations against Habre and the long fight for justice by the victims, "a sentence which is not in line with the facts would be a massive disappointment," Ndiaye said.

Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby, and for more than 20 years lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children.

Reed Brody, an American lawyer who has worked with the victims since 1999, said the evidence presented at court was "overwhelming".

Brody described "handwritten instructions for the mistreatment of prisoners, the testimony of a woman he raped, witnesses who received his orders and others whom he personally sent to prison, a jail on the grounds of his palace," as examples.

The trial also set a global precedent as the first time a country had prosecuted the former leader of another nation for rights abuses.
The Communications Director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akomea has been appointed as the Managing Director of Intercity State Transport Company (ISTC).

Mr. Akomea takes over from Nuamah Donkor, who was appointed by former President John Dramani Mahama in 2014.

Titus Glover, Deputy Minister of Transport made this known when he paid a working visit to ISTC yesterday to familiarize himself with the operations of the company.

Mr. Glover, who was accompanied by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and other officials, also held a meeting with the outgoing MD, Mr. Nuamah and management.

He commended the MD for taking steps to get the company out of the crisis, calling on the management and staff of the company to offer their full support to the incoming MD, Mr. Akomea.

Mr. Glover, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the maintenance culture at the company, urging it to improve the maintenance culture.

He entreated management to manage the company like their own property to ensure success.

Why is the private sector doing well more than government, is it because we dont take government work seriously and we do whatever we like? Mr. Glover quizzed.

It is time for a paradigm shift to change things for the good of everybody.

The outgoing MD, Mr. Nuamah said with structures he had put in place, ISTC would soon reclaim its past glory.

He said the company would receive about 100 buses from a private company this year, adding that a Driver Vehicle License Authority (DVLA) center would soon be established on the premises of the company to facilitate vehicle valuation and inspection.

[email protected]

By Cephas Larbi


Courtesy of The Webby AwardsLady Gaga's Grammy tribute to David Bowie has nabbed her three Webby Awards.

All three awards were in different categories, but they were all for the David Bowie tribute she did in February of 2016, which she created in partnership with Intel.

Coldplay won a Webby Award as well: Best Music Video for "Up&Up."

Other winners included Steve Buscemi and Gillian Anderson for Best Actor and Actress, and, in various categories, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the movie Deadpool, Lena Dunham's Women of the Hour podcast, the Missing Richard Simmons podcast, and Game of Thrones.

The awards will be handed out during a May 15 ceremony in New York City hosted by Joel McHale, which will be available on demand May 16 at Webbyawards.com.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
NO HOME FOR OLD MEN? While in the wake of measures to protect cows, more and more cowsheds are being proposed, on the other hand, a large chunk of senior citizens have very few old-age homes to seek shelter in.

The government wants to set up a cow shelter in each Indian district (Picture for representation)

By India Today Web Desk: There has a been an unmistakable outpour of love for the holy cow in the country over the last few months, if not years. Compared to other animals, the cow has always received a higher degree of protection under India's Constitution.

However, once a cow lives past the first eight to nine years of its average 14-15-year life span, it is incapable of yielding milk becoming a liability for the farmers. Owing to this, the farmers are compelled to sell off the unproductive cows, either to other farmers or slaughterhouse.

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In order to prevent the dire situation, the central government proposed the setting up of 'sanctuaries' or cow shelters to take care of the aging and unproductive cattle. At present, India has around 122.98 million (a little over 12 crore) cows, according to the 2012 livestock census.

Interestingly, a look at the numbers reveal that the government's proposed expenditure on caring for unproductive cows far outstrips the amount of public money dedicated to the welfare for India's senior citizen populace.Going by even the most conservative calculation, the proposal to establish a cow shelter in each Indian district will have the government spending about Rs 778 crore every year on feeding India's unproductive cows (those that do not yield milk).

On the other hand, the government in 2014-15 had spent around Rs 22 crore on taking care of over 4,000 senior citizens in government-backed 187 old age homes, each with a capacity of 25, across India.

The 'one-cow-shelter-one-district' proposal would see the government sheltering over 3.5 lakh unproductive cows across the country. Incidentally, about 1 crore unproductive cows are added the overall cattle population each year in the country.

On the contrary, 4,675 (187 old age homes multiplied by their maximum capacity of 25) senior citizens form a small fraction of the country's 103.8 million old age population.

OLD COWS vs SENIOR CITIZENS For India's unproductive cows, the government wants 'sanctuaries' where the bovine animals can be nurtured. At a daily cost of Rs 60 for feeding a single cow, this would translate to the government spending Rs 60 crore every day (Rs 60 multiplied by 1 crore, the number of unproductive cows added every year) on feeding the cows. Of the country's billion-plus population, 103.8 million (around 10.4 crore) citizens were above the age of 60 at the end of 2011. About 50 per cent of these senior citizens were estimated to be financially dependent on others. For India's senior citizens, the government has the Central Sector Scheme of Integrated Programme for Older Persons (IPOP), which provides grants for running and maintaining old age homes, day care centres, mobile medi-care units, among others. More practically, the money spent on cows and cow shelters would be lower. The Centre has submitted a report to the Supreme Court proposing the establishment of a shelter homes with a capacity to hold 500 abandoned cows in each Indian district. This would mean sheltering 3,53,500 cows (500 cows multiplied by 707 districts) across India. Under the one-shelter-one-district proposal, Rs 2 crore would be spend every day to feed India's cows (Rs 60 multiplied by 3,53,500 cows). For each shelter, considering it is packed to capacity, the government would spend Rs 30,000 every day or Rs 1.10 crore every year. If 707 shelters are established, the total expenditure would amount to Rs 777.7 crore ever year. Under the IPOP, the government provides Rs 11,94,500 every year for an old age home of 25 destitute senior citizens. This comes to Rs 131 spent on a single senior citizen every day, over double of what it takes to feed a cow. However, while the proposal to care for unproductive cows would see 707 shelters being set up, the number of old age homes being supported under the IPOP have been falling with each passing year. In 2012-13, 269 homes were covered under IPOP, while in 2013-14, the figure was 207. In 2014-15, the figure fell to 187, while in 2015-16 (until November 26, 2015), it reached 137.

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Figures: Ministry of Social Justice, news reports

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ALSO READ | Shocking state of affairs in 'gau shalas' of Uttar Pradesh

ALSO READ | Aadhaar-like UID number for cows to check smuggling, suggests Centre in report to Supreme Court

ALSO WATCH | Cow vigilante attacks: Is PM Modi's warning being ignored?

--- ENDS ---
Queen-Mother Idia, Benin, Nigeria, Now In British Museum, London, United Kingdom

25.04.2017 LISTEN

We, Europeans, who have received and transmitted and continue to transmit these objects, are on the side of the conquerors. To a certain extent, this is also a heritage that weighs us down. But there is no fatality. The good news is that in 2017 the history of Europe being what it is and has also been for centuries, a history of enmity between our nations of bloody wars and discriminations painfully overcome after the Second World War, we have within ourselves the sources and resources to understand the sadness, or the anger or hatred of those who, in other tropics, much further away, poorer, weaker, and have been subjected in the past to the intensive absorbing power of our continent. Or to put it simply: it would be sufficient today to make a very tiny effort of introspection and a slight step aside for us to enter into empathy with the dispossessed peoples Benedicte Savoy (1)

I read with great interest an article entitled University-owned Benin collections may be loaned to Nigeria written by Monty Fynn on 4 April 2017, in Varsity, independent student online newspaper of the University of Cambridge. (2)

The article reports that an agreement was reached at meeting of a so-called Benin Dialogue Group that met in Cambridge during the first week of April 2017 with delegations of the Benin Court, Nigerian museums, and a number of European museums with major Benin collections to establish in Benin City an exhibition of a certain number of Benin artefacts loaned by European museums. According to the article, the display will consist of rotating material from a consortium of European museums. (3) There are no details about which artefacts will be in the projected display nor about the museums that will make contributions. We do not know whether the British Museum, the museum that holds the greatest number of the looted Benin artefacts, will be participating in this project nor whether any artefacts from British museums will be loaned and when this project will start. The participation of the British Museum cannot be taken for granted. When the museums met in 2013 to draw the so-called Benin Plan of Action, the venerable museum did not participate owing to alleged logistic difficulties to travel to Benin.

The reported information seems to have come from a statement by Prince Gregory Akenzua. A spokesperson of the University of Cambridge is also reported to have stated that the agreement builds on the Benin Plan of Action of 2013. We prefer not to comment here on that miserable document. (4) It may be symptomatic of the nature of the discussions said to be going on that the public receives very little information. We are to be surprised by a scheme that may raise many controversies.

In the absence of more details about the proposed display in Benin City, we

reserve our right to make detailed comments later. Meanwhile, we offer a few

preliminary comments on the available information. We believe that ideas

should be discussed vigorously before they are concretized and before it is too

late to change or challenge them. The long 500 years period of relations

between Africa and Europe has taught us several lessons which should not be

ignored even by museum officials.

We should pay careful attention to the idea of successors to the looters of the

Benin artefacts making a loan to the rightful and legitimate owners of the

artefacts looted in 1897 by the members of the nefarious British Punitive

Expedition . Since when do looters or their successors loan the very stolen

objects to the owners instead of simply and correctly returning them? What will

be the status of the Benin artefacts that were wrenched from their locations with

great violence and mayhem? Would this mean that, for instance, Nigerians

cannot send any of the artefacts to Ghanaians for a Pan African festival in

Accra without the consent of Europeans? Are we moving forwards or

backwards? We should be aware that by accepting a loan of looted Benin

artefacts, one could be considered to have recognized thereby the ownership or

ownership rights of the museums in the artefacts. One will be estopped , in

English law, from asserting a contrary position later. So far, no such recognition

of ownership has been formally accepted. Once we reach such a situation, we

can forget all our claims for restitution of looted African artefacts. A dangerous

precedent would have been set for other African States.

It would be interesting to know what price Nigerians would pay for this revolving display of Benin artefacts. Would they have to pay money for the loan? Would they be paying for the loan of their own artefacts to the successors of the notorious looters? Or would there be some other consideration such as renouncing forever any claim to the looted artefacts? There is in the museum world, as elsewhere, no such thing as free lunch.

The danger here is that much of the arrangements between African museums and their European counterparts are usually shrouded in mystery and the public never gets to know the details. The need for transparency is not felt by many African and European museum officials. Many museums appear to be run almost as secret societies. No one knows about their expenditures and they react badly to questions about details of their finances. They do not see it as a duty to inform the public about arrangements with other institutions .

They invite the public to see and admire the objects in exhibition but do not want an inquisitive public that seeks information about the administration of the museum. For example, nobody knows what the Russians paid for having a Parthenon marble flown to St. Petersburg for exhibition. We also do not know how much Nigeria received for Benin: Kings and Rituals-Court Arts from Nigeria in Vienna, Paris, Berlin and Chicago. Nor is one informed about the expenses of Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa.

It is true though that many African governments have not provided sufficient funds for their museums which must often rely on external funds from the very States that are holding our looted artefacts. That clearly weakens the bargaining position of African museum officials in their dealings with European museums. Think of the deleterious effect of such situations on the production of knowledge in museum studies. The often-stated commitment of African governments to African culture is not generally followed by any concrete acts. Hardly any politician follows the example of Leopold Sedar Senghor who made sure that the budget of Senegal made sufficient provisions for arts and culture.

The idea of Europeans establishing in Benin City a permanent display of looted Benin artefacts that continue to be in European ownership should be considered by every African as an insult to Nigerians and African peoples. Successors to looters become arbiters of the location and display of Benin artefacts. The wishes of the Oba of Benin are simply ignored.

The Benin artefacts should be returned to the Oba of Benin and his people who may decide to organize a display showing artefacts that were looted in 1897 by a violent British army. This would be the true history of the Benin Bronzes, however painful and shameful this may be for some persons and institutions. For the sake of all those who lost their lives and properties in the notorious invasion, the true story of Benin should be preserved. Falsification and distortion of history will not do.

Nigerian officials should finally pay some attention to the so-called manifest destiny of Nigeria on the African continent and bear in mind that any arrangement they reach with European museums and governments will be cited as precedent for similar agreements regarding restitution of looted artefacts from other African States.

The report on the proposed display of Benin artefacts on loan from European museums demonstrates once more, if another proof were necessary, European contempt for Africans and our intelligence. How could anyone, conversant with the history of the violent detachment of the artefacts from the palace of Oba Ovonramwen in 1897 make such a proposal? Would Europeans accept such a proposal if their looted treasures were in Nigeria and were shown from time to time in London and then returned to Benin where they would be kept for good? Do Benin artefacts belong to Nigerian history or European history? And how can any respectable African agree to such a proposal? Where is the self-respect of African representatives?

We expect nothing short of the full restitution of the famous Benin Bronzes such as the hip-mask of Queen Mother Idia, now in the British Museum, the bust of Queen-Mother Idia, now in the Ethnological Museum, Berlin, the plaque of Oba Ozolua and his retainers, now in World Museum, formerly Ethnological Museum, Vienna, the altar with Oba Ewuakpe, in the Ethnological Museum, Berlin, Germany, as well as the altar with Oba Akenzua I. in the same museum. These Benin nobles must return home to occupy their rightful place in the history and culture of the Benin and Nigerian peoples.

The famous and well-known bronzes, relating to Benin history and culture, should be returned to Benin unless the Oba of Benin agrees that some of them may stay abroad. It would not be acceptable that European museums select for their own use the better-known objects and return to Nigeria lesser known artefacts.

What the people of Benin need is not a museum of rotating artefacts, here today in Benin City and back tomorrow in Berlin or London. We do not know whether other countries have such a system, apart from special exhibitions. In most countries, historical figures, such as Queen-Mother Idia, would have their statues standing at a definite place in a definite museum for decades.

Students and pupils would visit such figures at places known by all. But how do you teach the public about such personalities when they are constantly changing and returning to the countries that have been keeping them since the invasion of 1897? How do you create and build knowledge on such basis? No one could prepare a history of Benin for schools on such basis.

Regarding the number of artefacts to be returned, one would hope that the Nigerians may agree to leave a few in European museums but the majority should be returned. For example, the Ethnological, Berlin, holds some 508 Benin artefacts. There is no reason why at least 300 should not be returned to their original abode in the palace of the Oba of Benin from where they were looted. (5). We believe Benin should have most of Benin artefacts just as the Europeans have most European artefacts. Alas, Westerners have banned justice and morality from issues of restitution. For example, instead of seriously considering returning many Benin artefacts to Benin City, German museum officials are busy working on how they can display the artefacts in the new Humboldt Forum now under construction in Berlin. (6) Those holding looted items do not seem to have any urge to return them.

Western museums holding looted Benin artefacts are not likely to change their attitudes so long as countries like Nigeria do not increase the pressure on them to release stolen objects. Since Independence in 1960, Nigerian parliaments and governments have frequently requested the restitution of the looted artefacts and have mandated of ficials to contact the holders but so far not even one of the looted artefacts in the museums has been returned. In a speech delivered in Vienna, at a conference on New Cultures of Collaboration, Sharing of Collections and Quest for Restitution: The Beni Case, Vienna, December 2-3,2010, the Director-General of the National Commission on Museums and Monuments(NCMM), Nigeria, invited what he called international museums to establish museums with branches in source countries. (7) The idea is not new and has been mentioned by a Nigerian scholar some decades ago.

We consider this idea very dangerous. When we have Western museums known for holding looted Nigerian artefacts, refusing to return any, it does not seem right to invite them to open branches in Nigeria. In effect, one is inviting them to open a depot at the source for the looted/stolen artefacts in their museums. As the Director-General would know from the examples of British lootings he mentioned, the universal museums, (which he prefers to call international museums) have always played a major role in such lootings. For example, Richard Rivington Holmes, an assistant in the manuscripts department of The British Museum, had accompanied the expedition against Magdala, Ethiopia, as an archaeologist. He acquired a number of objects for the British Museum, including around 300 manuscripts which are now housed in the British Library. http://www.britishmuseum.org (8)

Whether in Beijing, (China,1860), Magdala, (Ethiopia,1868), Kumasi, (Gold Coast, Ghana,1874) or Benin City, (Nigeria,1897), it is obvious that the looted articles were not taken at random by wild soldiers hungry for loot; the objects were taken with advice from experts from museums or auction houses. Even in our days when meetings are held on what objects we should save in case of war, this is usually a training seminar by experts to instruct on what is valuable in a museum or palace which one should take out. Looters in time of invasions do not simply loot on instinct but with knowledge, training and skill.

We can imagine the consequences of inviting universal museums to open Branches in Nigeria, as regards corruption and looting of artefacts. One facilitates the transfer of looted artefacts from Nigeria. We used to think that one of the major mandates of the NCMM was to secure the return of the thousands of Nigerian artefacts abroad but instead it now seem to be inviting the illegal holders of the artefacts to open branches in Nigeria. Something is not right here.

Readers may have noticed that it is only when an international meeting is on the question of restitution of looted African artefacts that the word sharing features prominently. There has never been a meeting between Africans and Westerners on artefacts where sharing is mentioned in connection with European artefacts. We have mentioned often that we could also share with Europeans their cultural artefacts but nobody has taken up the suggestion or criticised it. It appears the Europeans are so shocked by the idea that a European painting, for example, a Turner or Picasso could be sent to an African museum. The European attitude is:

mine is mine, yours is ours . It appears that those who talk about sharing are not really interested at all in sharing the looted artefacts they hold. What they mean by sharing is that Africans agree to their keeping the objects and from time to time they may display one or two objects to Africans. Otherwise where is the difficulty for the Ethnological Museum of Berlin sharing the 508 objects it has with Benin? Has the museum shown its goodwill by, for example, sending a few of the artefacts to Benin until there is agreement on the eventual number of artefacts to be returned? Numbers are not even being discussed.

African delegates are sent to argue for the restitution of our looted artefacts and they end with discussions on sharing the looted African artefacts with Europeans. It seems in the opinion of many Europeans, Africans do not even deserve to have African artefacts. If Nigerian representatives feel they cannot, after all these years, make any progress towards the recovery of Nigerian artefacts, they should inform their people and government so that they may take other measures and relieve them of their impossible mandate.

Above all, there should be no attempt to create any illusions that Nigeria has been successful in the recovery of looted artefacts. When Nigerian peoples, parliaments and governments request the return of Nigerian treasures abroad, they are surely not thinking of customs and police seizures of criminal attempts to transfer artefacts

abroad: they think of the thousands of Nigerian artefacts in museums and other institutions in the West - they think of the Benin bronzes in the British Museum, London, Ethnological Museum, Berlin, World Museum, Vienna and Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York and Musee du quai Branly, Paris.

Routine police and customs seizures of unlawful attempts to smuggle Nigerian artefacts should not be confused with efforts at restitution that have so far failed. The return of some of the artefacts looted in 1897 was not a result of Nigerian efforts but a decision by an individual British subject, Dr. Mark Walker who, disturbed by his conscience that the artefacts inherited from his great-grand father were secured through violence against the Benin people, returned them to Benin. (9) The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, voluntarily returned 8 pieces of looted art to Nigeria . Again, this was not due to any Nigerian demand or pressure. Moreover, the museums action was related only to artefacts stolen after 1970 thus excluded artefacts looted in 1897 . The museum is still holding artefcts stolen in 1897 .

Two Artefacts Returned By Dr. Mark Walker r bp.blogspot.com

The lack of enthusiasm in pursuing the recovery of looted Nigerian treasures has been noted by many. Plankensteiner, a curator of the exhibition, Benin Kings and Rituals-Court Arts from Nigeria, has written:

Sothebys had informed the Nigerian authorities in advance about the upcoming sale with an official letter to the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments(NCMM). The Art Newspaper reported that Nigerian official bodies made no formal claims in the end; also, an approach to the family seemingly never happened, although it had been planned by officials of the NCMM

Willett also deplored the slow reaction of the NCMM in replying to reports they

received from customs or international colleagues who informed them about

detected stolen objects and in officially claiming them back. (10)

It is interesting to note that the auction sale of a Benin bronze, Queen-Mother Idia mask, mentioned above was finally aborted because of agitation by Nigerian students abroad. There was no input from Nigerian authorities nor was there any follow up to the issue by Nigeria. The Galway family may have sold the mask privately without too much publicity.

Again, Cambridge students succeeded in making the University authorities consider the return of the Benin Cockerel without any real input from Nigerian authorities and yet we are given the impression that the student agitation was somehow the result of the so-called quiet diplomacy .

Prof. Wilhelm Ostberg, has also stated that Nigerian officials may have other interests in lending national treasures without seeking reciprocity and that may also explain why the same officials are not keen to submit formal requests for restitution:

There are many ways to develop relationships besides returning museum objects. Informally, it also appears that different kinds of collaboration that are currently in progress are more important to Nigerian museums. That might explain why Nigeria has not registered any formal demand for the return of the Benin collections, but has preferred to engage in dialogue and cooperation with museums that have Benin collections. It seems Nigeria is chary of bringing the matter to a head. How does one otherwise explain that the National Museum of Nigeria was willing to lend its extensive and unique collection of Ife art to the British Museum for a special exhibition 2010, without demanding reciprocity? (11)

No one has challenged this assertion by the former Director of the Ethnological Museum, Stockholm, a museum that organized with Nigeria an exhibition on Benin artefacts in Stockholm.

We do not know exactly how many artefacts were stolen in 1897 but we accept that more than 3000 artefacts were looted as stated in a plea before the British House of Commons by Prince Edun Akenzua, great-grandson of Oba Ovonramwen in whose reign the artefacts were removed from the Obas palace. (12) What is more important for the issue at hand, is the number of Benin artefacts that the various Western museums hold.

This number could be easily established if the museums were interested in helping. As stated in the annex below, most museums refuse to divulge the number of Benin artefacts they hold. And yet they are public institutions or claim to serve the public.

It would be interesting to know how the displayed Benin objects would be insured. Who will pay for the insurance? Would it be the European museums who would be acting as owner or Nigeria as a user? Would the objects be insured with a European insurance company or a Nigeria company? Would the details be made known to taxpayers? We recall that during FESTAC the proposal to bring home the hip-mask of Queen-Mother Idia was accompanied by exorbitant claims for insurance that Nigeria was finally unable or unwilling to accept.

We note that the discussions on the return of Benin bronzes have so far involved only European museums. What about American museums? Is the British Government, that is ultimately responsible for the looting and dispersal of the Benin artefacts, going to assume its responsibility, and ensure that the looted artefacts are returned or will the Nigerians have to negotiate separately with Americans and thus free the British Government from its responsibility of having sent its troops to Benin who looted the artefacts?

We would expect Nigerian officials and their European counterparts to elaborate a set of principles that would make the choice of artefacts to be returned apparent and recognizable. The whole process should be transparent and not be shrouded in a cloak and dagger operation as some are wont to do. The Nigerian public, the European public and students of Benin culture should be enabled to follow discussions and measures on a matter of a wider public concern.

Nor should Nigerians accept a procedure that would keep the people of Benin waiting for another hundred years before they finally see the return of their valuable treasures. The proposed arrangement would turn looters and their successors into owners and make owners and their successors miserable beggars. The arrangement would clearly reduce the pressure on the holders of looted artefacts to return them.

It seems that international cooperation and solidarity cease for many Westerners when it comes to restitution of looted African artefacts. They will do everything except return them to the legitimate owners. Westerners, even today, seem to have a deep-seated reluctance to admit that slavery, colonialism and imperialism and indiscriminate use of violence against Africans are all wrong and hence their unwillingness to restore looted African artefacts as they have done for other peoples. Compensation for loss of life and destruction of property are clearly not on their agenda. And they find Africans to accept this situation.

The latest proposal to establish a rotating display of Benin artefacts in Benin City shows clearly that Western museums have not yet abandoned their pretentious claim to universalism which was used to justify their retention of looted artefacts from around the world. That unfounded and arrogant racist claim based on imperialist and colonialist assumptions about Caucasian superiority, supported by some Enlightenment philosophers, has been demolished in the last decades and is no longer directly presented but still appears to be the basis of many Western thoughts and actions. (13) The notion still seems to reign in museum circles but must African officials and intellectuals accept such racists beliefs, even if they have done their apprenticeship and studies in Western universities and museums?

Contemporary Westerners purport to condemn the imperialism and colonialism of their forebears but are unwilling to give up any of the artefacts looted during previous eras. They appear in this light to be worse than their predecessors. Could Western museums be the last bastions of colonialism and imperialism by holding on to looted artefacts which should have been returned at the time of Independence?

Does anybody find it proper to propose to the Oba of Benin, owner of the

Benin Bronzes, the sharing of the looted Benin artefacts in the western world?

Do our senses of legality and morality permit such a proposal? In effect,

successors to the looters are saying to the successors of the Benin owners, let us

share what our predecessors stole from your ancestors. Can self-respecting

Nigerians accept such a proposal and become accomplices after the fact of the

looting of 1897?

Arrogance, denigration, humiliation, racism and lack of respect have been the hallmarks of Western discourse on restitution of looted African artefacts and the recent proposal of displaying Benin artefacts in Benin City is no exception. Nothing demonstrates more clearly the powerlessness of the African continent than the issue of restitution of looted African artefacts.

Future generations will marvel at those who proclaim the freedom of art and artistic creativity at every occasion but stubbornly refuse to return looted African artefacts they have been holding illegally for decades. They have hijacked the most important African contribution to the civilisation of the universal advocated by Leopold Sedar Senghor. (14)

But should the recipient countries continue to be so completely oblivious to the feeling of deprivation which is suffered by the loser countries? What is more, in many cases, objects which now adorn museums and private homes in the recipient countries and which. are merely regarded as curios or objets dart have overriding cultural and historical importance for the countries of origin. That is why the discussion on the restitution or return of cultural property is often accompanied by impassioned outbursts.

Ekpo Eyo. (15)

Kwame Tua Opoku. 21 April,2017

Oba Ozolua and his retainers, Benin, Nigeria, now in World Museum, formerly Ethnological Museum, Vienna, Austria.

NOTES

1.Nous, les Europeens, qui avons recu et transmis et continuons de transmettre ces objets, nous sommes du cote des vainqueurs. Dune certaine maniere, cela aussi, cest un  heritage qui nous ecrase . Mais il ny a pas de fatalite. La bonne nouvelle, cest quen 2017 lhistoire de lEurope ayant ete ce quelle a ete aussi pendant des siecles, une histoire dinimities entre nos nations, de guerres sanglantes et de discriminations peniblement surmontees apres la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, nous avons a linterieur de nous-memes les sources et les ressources pour comprendre la tristesse, ou la colere, ou la haine de ceux qui, sous dautres tropiques, plus loin, plus pauvres, plus faibles, ont ete soumis par le passe a  lintense pouvoir absorbant  de notre continent. Ou pour dire les choses simplement : il nous suffit aujourdhui dun minuscule effort dintrospection et dun leger pas de cote pour entrer en empathie avec les depossedes.

Benedicte Savoy, Objets du desir. Desir dobjets Histoire culturelle du patrimoine artistique en Europe. XVIIIeXXe siecles Lecon inaugurale prononcee au College de France le 30 mars 2017

https://www.college-de-france.fr/site/en-benedicte-savoy/inaugural-lecture-2017-03-30-18h00.htm

The official English text of the brilliant lecture in French by Professor Savoy at the College de France is not yet available but I found her ideas so encouraging that I decided to provide an English translation based on the French text and the simultaneous English interpretation for my readers. We will bring the English text to the attention of readers when available.

2. Exclusive: University-owned Benin collections may be loaned ... - Varsity

www.varsity.co.uk/news/12683

Exclusive: University-owned Benin collections may be loaned to ...

www.nigeria70.com/nigerian...university_owned_benin_collecti

Exclusive: University-owned Benin collections may be loaned to ...

www.dubnews.com/more.php?...University-owned+Benin+collec..

3. See Annex below.

4. K. Opoku, Benin Plan of Action for Restitution: Will this ensure the return of the looted Benin artefacts, https://www.modernghana.com/news/449521/benin-plan-of-action-for-restitution-will-this-ensure-the.html

Benin Plan of Action (2) Will this miserable Project be the last word on the Looted Benin Artefacts? www.modernghana.com/.../benin-plan-of-action-2-will-this-mise...

K. Opoku, http://www.museum-security.org/2013/02/kwame-opoku-benin-plan-of-action-for-restitution/

5. K. Opoku, Did Germans never hear directly or indirectly Nigerias demand for the return of looted artefacts? www.africavenir.org/.../kwame-opoku-did-germans-never-hear-.

did germans never hear directly or indirectly nigeria's demand for ...

www.museum-security.org/Kwame_Opoku_Germany_Nigeria_Benin.htm

K .Opoku,  Queen-Mother Idia and Others Must Return Home: Training Courses... https://www.modernghana.com/.../queen-mother-idia-and-others- .

6. K. Opoku, Germans Debate Legitimacy and Legality of Looted Artefacts in Ethnology Museum, Berlin www.museum-security.org

7. Yusuf Abdallah Usman Who owns Benin artefacts? - Daily Trust https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/...owns-benin-artefacts/6103.html

I noticed that a text I translated from German has been used in this speech without any acknowledgement or mention of the source of information.

Dr. Andreas Luderwaldt of the Ubersee-Museum Bremen had this to say:

When I now look at the source and history of individual collections and objects in the Ubersee-Museum Bremen which I represent here and try to trace back, then I must say that abysses will be opened up; not that the objects were appropriated with violence as in Benin. There are other possibilities of illegal acquisition; there is gentle force. I therefore appeal to all museum officials to research the history of their collections; we would then show more understanding for the demands for restitution.

Both the German original and my English translation can be found in my article, Benin to Berlin Ethnologisches Museum: Are Benin Bronzes made in Berlin? www.africavenir.org/.../content_uploads/Opoku_BeninBerlin_06.pdf

Benin to Ethologisches Museum: Are Benin Bronzes made in Berlin? ...

https://www.modernghana.com/.../benin-to-berlin-ethnologisches..

Wenn ich mir jetzt die Herkunft und Geschichte einzelner Sammlungen und Objekte im Ubersee-Museum Bremen, fur das ich hier spreche, ansehe und versuche zuruckzuverfolgen, so mu ich sagen, da sich dabei Abgrunde auftun; nicht da die Dinge mit Gewalt wie im Falle Benin angeeignet wurden. Es gibt auch andere Moglichkeiten der illegalen Beschaffung, es gibt die sanfte Gewalt. Ich mochte daher an alle Museumsmitarbeiter appellieren, der Geschichte ihrer Sammlungen nachzugehen; dann durfte auch von unserer Seite mehr Verstandnis fur Ruckgabe-Forderungen aufgebracht werden.

Das Museum und die Dritte Welt, Ed. Hermann Auer, K.G.Sauer, Munchen, New York London, Paris 1981, p.155.

The astonishing view expressed by Peter-Klaus Schuster that all objects in his museums were legally acquired is, fortunately, not shared by many of his colleagues. Luderwaltd from the Ubersee-Museum Bremen stated in an International Symposium in 1979 that: When I now look at the source and history of individual collections and objects in the Ubersee-Museum Bremen which I represent here and try to trace back, then I must say that abysses will be opened up; not that the objects were appropriated with violence as in Benin. There are other possibilities of illegal acquisition; there is gentle force. I therefore appeal to all museum officials to research the history of their collections; we would then show more understanding for the demands for restitution.

8. On the role of the British Museum in the Magdala looting we refer to our article, A History of the World with 100 Looted Objects of Others: Global Intoxication? We wrote in footnote 14 as follows:

Richard Rivington Holmes, an assistant in the manuscripts department of The British Museum, had accompanied the expedition against Magdala, Ethiopia, as an archaeologist. He acquired a number of objects for the British Museum, including around 300 manuscripts which are now housed in the British Library. http://www.britishmuseum.org . Professor Richard Pankhurst has written about Richard Holmes as follows: One of those present at this large-scale looting was Richard (later Sir Richard) Holmes, an Assistant Curator in the British Museums Department of Manuscripts, who had been appointed Archaeologist to the expedition. He later noted in an official report that the British flag had not been waved much more than ten minutes over the fort of Maqdala before he had himself entered it. Shortly afterwards, while night was falling, he met a British soldier who was carrying the golden crown of the Abun, or head of the Ethiopian church, and a solid gold chalice weighing at least 6 lb, i.e. pounds. Holmes purchased them both for four pounds Sterling. He was also offered several large manuscripts, but declined to buy them as they were too heavy for him to carry The Ethiopian Millennium  and the Question of Ethiopias Cultural Restitution nazret.com http://www.elginism.com . An internet site provides the following: The invading British force included a number of mysterious civilians and an "official archaeologist", a Mr Richard Holmes, said to have secured "many interesting items" from Magdala. Holmes was an assistant in the British Museum's Department of Manuscripts, but soon after the successful war became Sir Richard Rivington Holmes KCVO, Keeper of the Queen's Pictures and Librarian to Queen Victoria and her son Edward VII at Windsor Castle (from 1870 until 1906). http://www.elecbk.com/facts.htm

9. Kwame Opoku  A Briton Returns Two Looted Benin Artefacts ...

www.museum-security.org/.../kwame-opoku-a-briton-returns-tw ..

10. Barbara Plankensteiner, The Benin treasures: difficult legacy and contested heritage, pp.139-143, in Brigitta Hauser-Schaublin and Lyndel V. Prott (eds), Cultural Property and Contested Ownership, 2016, Routledge, New York.

See also, K. Opoku, Recovering Nigerias terracotta - Afrikanet.info

www.afrikanet.info/.../RECOVERING_NIGERIA__S_TERR

LET OTHERS LOOT FOR YOU: LOOTING OF AFRICAN ARTEFACTS ...

https://www.modernghana.com/.../let-others-loot-for-you-looting ..

11. Wilhelm Ostberg,  The Coveted Treasures of the Kingdom of Benin, p.68, Whose Objects, catalogue of exhibition at the Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm, 2010, Etnografiska museet (Museum of Ethnography.

12. Appendix 21-The Case of Benin Memorandum submitted by Prince Edun Akenzua www.publications.parliament.uk  ...  Culture, Media and Spor

13.The major Western museums that have hitherto pretended to be universal museums are described by the Director -General of NCMM as international museums. Museums such as British Museum, London, Louvre, Paris Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York, Ethnological Museum, Berlin, and Ethnological Museum, Vienna are neither universal nor international no matter how much they pretend. A universal museum would be a museum set up by representatives of the peoples or states of the universe. So far, no such museum exists. These major museums have undoubtedly looted materials from almost the entire universe. Is that what makes them universal? Are they to be designated by the looted objects they are illegally holding? These museums are also not international but national. The British Museum, for example, is a British museum established, financed and administered by Britain. Its name indicates its status. An international museum properly speaking would be a museum set by at least two nations, financed and administered by them. The Trustees of British Museum are appointed by the British Queen and the Prime Minister of the UK.

Because of maximum criticism, the major museums dropped gradually the designation universal museums and took the designation encyclopaedic museum but this did not seem to protect them from continued criticism. They are now trying international museum but this will also not prevent their being criticised so long as these changes of names are mainly intended to justify their illegal holding of the artefacts of other countries and cultures.

K. Opoku, Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums: Singular Failure of an Arrogant Imperialist Project,

declaration on the importance and value of universal museums https://www.modernghana.com/.../declaration-on-the-importance...

K. Opoku, When will Everybody Finally Accept that the British Museum is a British Institution? Comments on a Lecture by Neil Macgregor. www.elginism.com

when will everybody finally accept that the british museum is a british ...

https://www.modernghana.com/.../when-will-everybody-finally-a..

K. Opoku, Is Nationalism as such a dangerous Phenomenon for Culture and Stolen/Looted Cultural

is nationalism as such a dangerous phenomenon for culture and ...

https://www.modernghana.com/.../is-nationalism-as-such-a-dange

Is the Declaration on the Value and Importance of Universal Museums Now Worthless? Comments on Imperialist Museology, Is the Declaration of the Value and Importance of the Universal Museums

www.museum-security.org/opoku_universal_museums.htm The Cultural Nationalists are all on the other side

https://www.modernghana.com/.../the-cultural-nationalists-are-all...

Immanuel Wallerstein, European Universalism-The Rhetoric of Power,2006, The New Press,New York.

14. Although we disagree with most of the theories of Senghor, especially his characterization of differences between African and European mentalities, as well as his ideas regarding the civilisation of the universal, this theory has the advantage that it allows for the existence of diverse cultures without any one culture claiming inherent supremacy. Senghors universalism is preferable to the universalism of the Europeans which is often no more than a barefaced attempt to justify the conquest and destruction of non-European peoples and the looting of their national treasures and resources. This is clearly demonstrated by the writings of the supporters of the so-called universal museums and their practice. It is very difficult to understand the support or sympathy exhibited by some Africans towards a theory supporting European conquests and destruction in Africa, Asia and in the Americas.

15. Ekpo Eyo, Return and restitution of cultural property -Nigeria Return and restitution of cultural property; Museum; Vol.:XXXI, 1; 1979 unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001273/127315eo.pdf Archaeologist, Professor and Museologist Ekpo Eyo Dies

Pair of leopard figures, now in the Royal Collection Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, London, UK. The commanders of the British Punitive Expedition force to Benin in 1897 sent a pair of leopards to the British Queen soon after the looting and burning of Benin City.

ANNEX

SHORT LIST OF HOLDERS OF BENIN BRONZES

Almost every Western museum has some Benin objects. Here is a short list of some of the places where the Benin Bronzes are to be found and their numbers. Various catalogues of exhibitions on Benin art or African art also list the private collections of the Benin Bronzes. Many museums refuse to inform the public about the number of Benin artefacts they have and do not display permanently artefacts in their possession since they do not have enough space. See Dohlvik, Charlotta (May 2006). Museums and Their Voices: A Contemporary Study of the Benin Bronzes (PDF). International Museum Studies, p.26.

A museum such as World Museum, Vienna, formerly Ethnological Museum, Vienna, has closed for 17 years (2000-2017) the African section where the Benin artefacts are, apparently due to repair works which are not likely to be finished before 2017.

Berlin  Ethnological Museum 508-580.

Boston, - Museum of Fine Arts 28.

Chicago  Art Institute of Chicago 20, Field Museum 400

Cologne  Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum 73.

Glasgow _ Kelvingrove and St, Mungo's Museum of Religious Life 22

Hamburg  Ethnological Museum, Museum of Arts and Crafts 196.

Dresden  State Museum of Ethnology 182.

Leipzig  Ethnological Museum 87.

Leiden  National Museum of Ethnology 98.

London  British Museum 700.

New York  Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art 163.

Oxford  Pitt-Rivers Museum/ Pitt-Rivers country residence, Rushmore in Farnham/Dorset 327.

Philadelphia -. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 100.

Stockholm  Museum of Ethnography 43

Stuttgart  Linden Museum-State Museum of Ethnology 80.

Vienna  World Museum, formerly Ethnological Museum 167.

Altar Group With Oba Akenzua I, Benin, Nigeria, Now In Ethnological Museum, Berlin, Germany
Dakar (AFP) - At least 20 people, the vast majority of them women, were killed when a wooden boat capsized off the coast of central Senegal in a delta region popular with tourists, firefighters told AFP on Tuesday.

A traditional wooden boat overturned near the coastal town of Bettenty on Monday night, with 72 on board, all except two of them women, said Commander Oumar Kane, a senior official with Senegal's national firefighters.

"Unfortunately, we have 20 dead bodies and one missing," Kane told AFP on Tuesday. "The search is ongoing" though 51 people had been saved so far, he added.

The women are believed to have been on their way to look for seafood in a coastal area well known for delicacies such as oysters, and where tourists flock in large numbers.


The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has asked for a month extension to allow its members the opportunity to biometrically register with the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

According to NAGRAT, there has never been an occasion where its members were told that the Controller and Accountant General was going to use data from SSNIT as the basis for payment of salaries.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, last week ordered the removal of about 26,589 names of public workers from the government's payroll.

Those affected, according to the Ministry, have not been registered on the new SSNIT biometric system, despite several directives to do so.

Mr. Ofori Atta on February 10 2017 requested the Controller and Accountant General to inform all public servants on the government's mechanized payroll system who had not registered in the SSNIT biometric system to do so by the end of February, warning that salaries of unregistered workers would be suspended indefinitely until they have completed their SNNIT re-registration.

Commenting on the development Tuesday on Morning Starr, the President of NAGRAT, Christian Addae Poku said the move by the Finance Ministry is unwarranted, arguing that SNNIT is a different entity from the Controller and Accountant General Department.

The Controller and Accountant General Department, he said, pays teachers first before SNNIT gets its contributions from the teachers thus using SSNIT data to delete names from the payroll we see it as putting the cart before the horse.

According to him, the Finance Minister's directive to the Controller and Accountant General to suspend payment of salaries of teachers yet to register biometrically with SSNIT is not right, especially when there was no prior warning.

He said the practice over the years has been that before such directives are issued, meetings are held between the unions and the Ghana Education Service and other stakeholders to educate them in order for smooth execution and cooperation.

Then, we will also go ahead and inform our members, he told Morning Starr host Francis Abban Tuesday, adding that in that case we are trying to help everybody.

But the government's claim that it is not going to pay salaries of teachers because they are not on SNNIT biometric register sounds more punitive than being reparative.

He thus pleaded for a month's extension in order for those not captured on the biometric register to be able to register.

-Starrfmonline
Am I back from retirement? I haven't had enough rest yet and I find myself back in the fray arguing about Bonds, Galamsey, Invisible Forces, Delta Forces, Azorka Boys and all manner of illegal things Ghana is throwing up. But I am back and I hope with as much vim as I can muster for at least another decade.

So .. hello readers!

Well, the Invisible and Delta Forces have been corralled, jail terms and fines imposed and some discipline restored except for all the noise being made by NPP member of Parliament and financier Mr. Kennedy Agyapong whose personal crusade is now a confused mess of effusions wherever he can find audience. Unfortunately, he comes across as a somewhat uncouth orator shouting out his invincibility because he has a connection to the NPP hierarchy that we regular citizens are not privy to, but have to accept as possible surprise, disclosure made even more intriguing because he is still walking as free as a woyome- mould cloaked in political fabric of just recent memory.

How interesting that we have so soon dropped the heat off Alfred Agbesi Woyome, who just a few weeks ago was the main fulcrum of protest in an election corruption campaign that could have been the true cost of our democracy had the results gone a different way.

We campaigned hard and determinedly and my only regret is I never had the opportunity to record the events my way, as I peaked too early and run out of adrenalin. But it was a sweet victory and even more pleasurable not to hear the noise from Fiifi Kwetey, Ablakwa and the rest of the NDC talking heads. And the margin was significant. I think we are still yet to know the full and final result, as there are still a few more constituencies yet to be added to the final score. But I could have missed the announcement.

So Ibrahim Mahama was arrested and asked to cough up that value of bad cheques of nearly GH12million. He admits to issuing these dud cheques over two years and has expressed willingness to pay back the tax-payer's monies that for some strange reason the Ghana Revenue Authority never found prudent to collect or prosecute when his brother was then the reigning king: of Ghana.

You would have thought that the President's brother who is rumoured to own several cars and residences would be a very easy target to pin down and search his pockets for some chop change, which he should have, on account of all the easy contracts he sole sourced through his consulting company Engineer's and Planners. He is even involved in the now totally baffling Ameri energy deal, which is beginning to look like we gave away $150million to a broker and which is now the biggest yet to be unravelled theft, if only we can.

The team from IMANI Ghana led by Bright Simmons and with the support of all his work mates and all Ghanaians who can read, is yet to show the way on how we collect money from an air-tight contract crafted in rock-tight language, which even though proven numerically as a major loss to the Ghanaian taxpayer, appears to be another win for the slimy NDC operators whose contract approval scheming in Parliament will soon become legendary.

You know this will one day become the stuff of a major blockbuster starring the legendary=Ghana=Parliament as portrayed by the new minority leader in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu.

In an interview with GHOne Television this past week, Haruna praises Alan Bagbin as legendary as we still look for the new successor to the Mahama legacy. Strangely, the NDC mantra seems to be evolving into the new hope that a decision at Congress and the appointment of a new national executive will heal the recuperating lame horse ridden by a dead goat; made special because they have managed to snare the young aging Kwesi Botchway to run around Ghana asking foot soldiers how they can win the next election in 2028!

I wonder what Kwesi B expects to get out of all this. Could it be another opportunity to take a whack at his head-on with Jerry John after he was kicked out of the University of Ghana hall during one of the more hot headed times of the NDC?

No one from their camp is listening to what the voters told them in 2016 that a gap of a million votes will need a lot of accelerated pregnancies to mature in time for them to make up the gap. I think Nana Addo should call an early election just to let it sink in that the voters have said their piece and while he is at it, kindly lift the tax on condoms just for the sake of the NDC. Oh. It was already done? Let's do it twice just to be certain.

So no where cool as the NDC washes some dirty linen all over Ghana looking for good clean water from the rivers they ignored and allowed galamsey to overrun the terrain in search of our now dwindling gold reserves.

Occupy Ghana's charge into the galamsey space created a significant level of awareness. As we prepare to do battle with the Chinese wreckers who have virtually destroyed the water bodies with the help of limp institutional heads, we continue to beg for what is ours, asking them to please leave our gold and take away their armoury of mercury and cyanide.

The challenge now is whether this government will be tough enough to stand up to the kingpins of the gold diggers and push the chiefs and district authorities to insist that the Minerals Commission and those we have trusted to keep our water clean and drinkable will erect a conscience and make restitution for a fast fading future.

Which is why Vice President Bawumia needs to get off the campaign trail and get into achievement mode. His checklist of one hundred and three achievements in a hundred days including intentions to do and paper allocations of money was just a tad infantile to score intellectual marks here. One achievement one day? Good political rhetoric but I would have been happier with just a solid ten.

If we are to see the achievements, a hundred days is too soon to judge and the impact is definitely not here yet. I am still paying VAT for account maintenance on my Ecobank account and my electricity bill is still playing havoc with my bank balance and dancing kpanlogo with my fridge. It should be getting better soon, I hear.

Ghana. Aha a y d papa. Alius valde week advenio. Another great week to come.

Sydney Casely-Hayford, [email protected]
First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo yesterday launched the Ghana Malaria Foundation, a group made up of Ghanaian business entities who have come together to raise funds to support malaria control in Ghana.

The launch took place during the commemoration of the 2017 World Malaria Day themed 'end malaria for good'.

Mrs Akufo-Addo, speaking at the launch, explained the country's impressive gains in the fight against the illness by reducing malaria deaths by over 70 percent.

This has been possible with the tremendous support of the Ghana government, our health partners and other organisations working with a common aim to beat malaria. A lot of investment has been made for us to witness this tremendous progress and we must commend all the actors involved, she said.

However, Mrs Akufo-Addo who is an advocate for the prevention of malaria among infants called for the need to sustain the gains and do even more if the country is to eliminate malaria.

This calls for more and sustained investment. There is a large gap in our funding levels which needs to be filled in order to achieve a malaria-free Ghana and this is where the business community can lend its support, she stressed.

Justifying the call, the first lady mentioned that malaria over the years has had a devastating effect on the productivity of businesses in the country through employee absenteeism due to malaria.

Every business in Ghana has a worker who has suffered malaria before and knows the cost malaria has on its profitabilityThe cost is huge and businesses can no longer remain indifferent to the fight against malaria. I, therefore, appeal to the corporate world to support this cause. By investing in the fight against malaria, you will be exercising your power to stop deaths due to malaria, she added.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri & Abigail Owiredu-Boateng
Libreville (AFP) - US special forces on Wednesday begin pulling out of Central African Republic where they deployed in 2011 to help hunt the brutal LRA warlord Joseph Kony.

The move, which was announced last month, will see US troops pulling out of the country's east where they have been helping Ugandan forces track down rebels from the feared Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

"The time has come to move forward because the organisation itself is really in a survival mode," General Thomas Waldhauser, head of the US military's Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a telephone briefing last week.

One of Africa's longest-surviving rebel groups, the LRA has terrorised parts of central Africa for 30 years.

Several years ago it counted several thousand fighters but today has fewer than 100, with the rebels dispersed across parts of CAR, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and South Sudan.

Since it was set up by Kony in 1987, the LRA has slaughtered more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children who were forced to become sex slaves and soldiers, UN figures show.

Lord's Resistance Army

In 2011, Washington sent in around 100 US troops to eastern CAR to help regional forces hunt down Kony, adding another 150 special forces airmen three years later.

But last month, AFRICOM said it would be wrapping up the operation, which has cost between $600 and $800 million, even though Kony remains at large.

'Significant success'

"This operation was a significant success," Jeffrey Hawkins, the US envoy to CAR, told France's RFI radio in early April.

Ugandan troops, who have been in eastern CAR since 2009, are also withdrawing from the area.

Last week, the army said the mission to neutralise the LRA had been "successfully achieved" and that Kony "no longer poses any significant threat" to Uganda's national security.

Although his power is much diminished, Kony -- who combines religious mysticism with guerrilla tactics and a grim reputation for kidnapping and mutilation -- remains at large.

Rebel chief Joseph Kony has evaded US and Ugandan troops but his power is diminished

According to Paul Ronan of the US-based advocacy group Invisible Children, which was behind an explosive 2012 video highlighting Kony's atrocities and calling for his capture, the warlord is believed to be either in Sudan or CAR.

A self-styled prophet, Kony launched his bloody rebellion in a bid to overthrow the Ugandan government and impose a regime based on his own version of the Ten Commandments.

He is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity, where one of his commanders, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial.

'Why do we care?'

Earlier this year, questions appeared to arise over the level of US commitment to its various operations in Africa in the form of a set of questions posed by the transition team of incoming president Donald Trump to the State Department.

"The LRA has never attacked US interests, why do we care? Is it worth the huge cash outlays? I hear that even the Ugandans are looking to stop searching for him, since they no longer view him as a threat, so why do we?" said the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

And last month, AFRICOM's Waldhauser confirmed the operations were drawing to a close, saying there were only about 100 LRA rebels and that the mission had "essentially taken that group off the battlefield."

Fears in the east

"Everywhere, in cafes, people are talking about the departure of the Ugandan and American troops," a resident of Obo, a town in CAR's southwest, told AFP by phone.

On April 17, around 6,000 people in the town took to the streets to demand that both sets of troops stay in place until they can be replaced by Central African forces.

Although there are UN peacekeeping forces from its MINUSCA mission in Central Africa, very few of them are present in the east of the country.

"This withdrawal will lead to a renewal of LRA attacks in the southeast," warned Thierry Vircoulon, a specialist on central Africa at IFRI, the French institute for international relations.

"Nobody is under any illusion that the Central African troops which are to be sent there to avoid a security vacuum will be able to neutralise the LRA."

As well as the threat from Kony's militia, the eastern region is also struggling with attacks by other "armed groups", regional police chief Ghislain Dieu-Benit Kolengo told AFP.

He was referring to rebels from the mainly Muslim ex-Seleka militia and from the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC), a splinter group from a rebel force in neighbouring Chad which rights groups say executed 32 civilians and captive fighters late last year.

"Even though we are officially ending the so-called counter-LRA mission, we are certainly aware of the fact that we don't want to leave a void there," said Waldhauser.

And he said Washington would continue to offer support to African troops in the form of both "training" and "intelligence".
Kampala (AFP) - Brutal rebel commander Joseph Kony has sowed terror across four African nations for three decades, even evading capture by US and Ugandan soldiers who have now given up the chase.

The former Catholic altar boy became one of Africa's most notorious rebels at the head of his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), combining religious mysticism with an astute guerilla mind and bloodthirsty ruthlessness.

The US passed a law in 2010 to deploy around 100 special forces to work with regional armies in hunting down Kony but is now withdrawing while the rebel leader remains at large, though his power is much diminished.

Kony's marauding insurgency claimed to be fighting to overthrow the Ugandan government and impose a regime based on the Bible's Ten Commandments. It has killed more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children who were forced to become sex slaves, soldiers and porters.

While battling the Ugandan government Kony and his dwindling band of bush fighters have earned a grim reputation for kidnapping and mutilation.

The leader's whereabouts are not known and his forces have been hit by a constant stream of defections, deaths and surrenders of both foot-soldiers and commanders.

Small LRA groups continue to carry out attacks, mostly on civilians in villages, in the border regions of Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sudan.

Self-proclaimed prophet

In 2005, the self-proclaimed prophet -- along with four of his deputies -- were the first people indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

One commander, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial while the three others are believed to have been killed.

A member of Uganda's northern Acholi ethnic group, Kony attended primary school before taking up arms in around 1987, following in the footsteps of another messianic rebel, Alice Auma Lakwena, a former prostitute who is believed to have been either his cousin or aunt.

Lakwena, who died in exile in Kenya in early 2007, believed she could channel the spirits of the dead, and also told her followers that holy oil she gave them could stop bullets.

Kony claims the Holy Spirit issues orders to him on everything from military tactics to personal hygiene, terrifying his subordinates into obedience.

A young Acholi boy walks past abandoned huts in Amuru in northern Uganda. The LRA first emerged in the mid-1980s when it took up arms, claiming to defend the Acholi people

The rebellion claimed to be defending the Acholi people against President Yoweri Museveni, who seized power from northern military rulers at the head of a rebel army in 1986.

Despite widespread northern resentment against Museveni, Kony's policy of abductions soon lost him the support of local groups, who suffered in the government's brutal war against the LRA.

At the height of the conflict, the government had forced some 2 million people into camps.

Evading capture, justice

Kony, who is thought to be in his 50s, speaks broken English and Acholi and has only rarely met outsiders, but in an interview with a western journalist in 2006 he insisted that he was "not a terrorist" and had not committed atrocities.

"We want the people of Uganda to be free. We are fighting for democracy," he claimed.

Nevertheless, ex-LRA abductees say they were forced to maim and kill friends, neighbours and relatives, and participate in gruesome rites such as drinking their victims' blood.

In the 1990s, the LRA conflict spilt into neighbouring countries after the Sudanese government in Khartoum began backing the group in retaliation for Uganda's support of southern Sudanese rebels battling for independence.

When Sudan signed a peace deal with the southern rebels in 2005, support for the LRA dried up and, after being forced into neighbouring DR Congo by the Ugandan army, Kony agreed to peace talks.

But negotiations dragged on and, amid mutual distrust and anxiety over the ICC warrant, Kony repeatedly failed to turn up to sign a deal.

In late 2011, following pressure from US campaigners, President Barack Obama deployed US special forces troops to help regional armies track down Kony.

Kony surged to unexpected worldwide prominence in March 2012 on the back of a hugely popular internet video that called for his capture.

Made by US-based advocacy group Invisible Children, the Kony2012 film became one of the fastest-spreading internet videos in history after more than 100 million users across the globe watched it in just a few days.

But popular interest quickly waned and despite the increased pressure, after more than 30 years in the bush Kony remains a master of evasion, ditching satellite telephones in favour of runners to communicate, and living off wild roots and animals.

The US and Ugandan militaries claim the LRA is all but defeated and rendered irrelevant, yet Kony remains free, outsmarting and outlasting all who have sought him.
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The Progressive People's Party (PPP) has noted with keen interest the political happenings in the world. We are particularly excited that voters in France made an emphatic rejection of the so-called two traditional political parties that have ruled the country since the days of Charles de Gaulle.

We are happy the French have blazed the trail by not offering the Center right Republicans and the Center left Socialists the chance to be part of the second round elections to be held in two weeks time.

It is shocking to note that just as in 1 Samuel 15, God rejected Saul as King, voters in France have snubbed the country's political establishment; voting, and supporting far-right populist Marine Le Pen and newcomer Emmanuel Macron through to the second round of the French presidential election. Is it not refreshing that neither candidate is a member of the old parties that have dominated the country for decades?

We wish to encourage Ghanaians to take inspiration from the bold decision of the French to retire the so-called dominant political parties for failing in recent years to deal with the challenges of France; including unemployment and a faltering economy.

The reasons the French assigned for this political tsunami is much lighter than what we are encountering in Ghana. It is public knowledge that, because our leaders are not acting up, our problems have been exacerbated by corruption, illiteracy, poverty, overly centralized governance, etc.

Ghanaians must learn from best practices to save the country as major political parties all over the world are losing their dominance over politics, as smaller so-called fringe parties are gaining prominence. We cannot continue to keep rotating from bad to good, and vice versa when we know the PPP is the rising tide which will be lifting all boats; and stand as a positive alternative to the duopoly. At least we must recognize that nothing positive happens and endures.

We hope the people of Ghana are taking note of what citizens of other parts of the world have been doing to free themselves from their febrility, challenges and difficulties. This is why it is the considered opinion of the PPP that a calm sea does not make a skilled sailor and a burnt child dreads the fire.

Although the PPP did not win the 2016 election, we associate ourselves with the popular adage that a flower blooms more than once. Just as a wonder lasts but nine days, we are confident that the French experience talks to the danger of a duopoly and the commendable citizens courage to upset the tired status quo which has yielded no positive fruits.

Ghanaians must take note of the freshness and newness such courage brings and NOT be afraid of changing, when the time comes, their business as usual circumstances and achieve greater heights.

AWAKE GHANA

Signed:

Paa Kow Ackon

Communication Director
The Paramount Chief of Dormaa Traditional Area in the Brong Ahafo Region says he did not endorse then President John Mahama despite singing his praises in the heat of the 2016 elections.

Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu II said he only praised the former President for his stellar work in the area of infrastructure.

In a meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last week, he said it is difficult to look a prominent person in the face and criticise him.

Former President John Mahama

When Akua Donkor comes you cannot say anything against herand when your younger brother who has left came I didnt say anything against him, Oseadeyo Agyeman Badu II said in Bono.

The Dormaa Paramount chief was heavily criticised when he said then President Mahama had achieved more than any President from except Kwame Nkrumah.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

In a video that went viral, Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu II said he was prepared to abdicate his stool if he lost a debate over the president's achievements. He didn't mind if he had to become a serial caller to parrot the then president's achievements, he vowed.

But four months after Mr Mahama lost his bid to get re-elected; the Dormaa Paramount chief is now claiming that the media distorted his comments.

He said he did not reference the performance of the former President in the areas of corruption, galamsey and economic wellbeing of Ghanaians.

I spoke about his strength which I will do to everybody who comes before me, he said.

Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu II said he will extol the good works of President Akufo-Addo if he fulfils his campaign promises.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | [email protected]
The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed today [Tuesday] met with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) constituency Chairmen in Tamale ahead of the official announcement of the final list of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executive nominees.

It is expected that the much-awaited final list could be announced on Wednesday, April 27, 2017 and it is anticipated that there could be chaos in some part of the Northern Region.

This informed the Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed's emergency meeting with the party leaders to avert any untoward situation.

Already, there are early warning signals of possible rejection of the President's nominees if the masses preferred candidates are not nominated.

Some of the identified hotspots are Tolon, Savelugu, Zabzugu and Daboya Mankarigu districts where some NPP supporters earlier accused the constituency executives of not doing due diligence during the shortlisting of applicants.

Out of the 26 district assemblies in the Northern Region, the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly is the only one that can boast of Iddrisu Musah Superior as the Mayor.



By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonlie.com/Ghana
Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha hit out at the BJP-PDP government for not acting on the Agenda of Alliance.

By Brijesh Pandey: Finding the outcome of much-anticipated meeting between Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Prime Minister Narendra Modi disappointing, former external affairs minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said that dialogue is the way forward in the current scenario of unrest.

The senior BJP leader hit out at the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir for not acting on the 'agenda of alliance'--a common minimum programme prepared by the coalition government.

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"More than two years have passed and we have not acted upon that document, instead we are finding alibi for why we have not acted upon that document," Yashwant Sinha said.

HERE IS WHAT YASHWANT SINHA SAID ON THE KASHMIR UNREST AND BJP-PDP ALLIANCE: Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said that when the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP formed the government, they came out with a document called 'agenda for alliance'. Sinha said the agenda stressed on reconciliation and talked about following the principles of Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat and Jamhooriyat, which were laid by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "More than two years have passed and we have not acted upon that document, instead we are finding alibi for why we have not acted upon it," Yashwant Sinha said. The senior BJP leader said holding dialogues with all stakeholders is the way forward in the current climate of unrest in Kashmir. Dialogue, Sinha said, will help the government in finding a solution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue. "I hope this bloodshed will stop," said Yashwant Sinha, adding that he hoped that the powers that be would act without losing time. Yashwant Sinha said that he travelled to Jammu and Kashmir twice in the last one year and had sent a report of his visits to the Prime Minister's Office. He did not receive any response from the PMO, Sinha claimed. "If they had started the dialogue process by now, I would have said that our report had some impact. But since the dialogue process has not started and other recommendations that we made have not been acted upon, it clearly indicates that the report, as far as the government is concerned, has no value," Yashwant Sinha said.

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--- ENDS ---
Dakar (AFP) - At least 20 people, almost all women, were killed when a wooden boat capsized off Senegal's central coast in a delta region popular with tourists, firefighters told AFP on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday night, with the traditional flat-bottomed boat overturning off Bettenty, an island area just north of The Gambia, with 72 on board.

All except two of those on board were women, said Commander Umar Kane, a senior firefighting official.

"Unfortunately, we have 20 bodies and one person missing," Kane told AFP, saying another 51 people had been rescued.

He said there were only two men on board.

The boat capsized as the women were on their way to look for seafood, he said. The incident occurred in a coastal area well known for its delicacies like oysters, where tourists flock in large numbers.

Bettenty is an island area in the Saloum delta where such boats, known as pirogues, are often used for travelling between the mangroves and from one islet to another.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, with divers called in to help the search, Kane said.

L'Observateur daily said the boat had capsized in high winds, while other newspapers said it had foundered because it was overloaded.

Echos of Joola

Several papers recalled the Joola tragedy of 2002 when a ferry sunk during a storm, killing more than 1,800 people in what was one of the world's worst-ever maritime disasters.

In that incident, the ferry was licensed to hold just 580 people, including crew, but investigators found it was carrying well over 2,000 when it went down while passing the Gambian coast.

Only 64 people were rescued.

The Bettenty sinking came 12 days after a deadly fire ripped through a Muslim retreat in southeastern Senegal killing around 30 people.

Police are still investigating the cause of the blaze which hit a site visited every year by hundreds and sometimes thousands of pilgrims from the country's powerful Tijaniyya Muslim brotherhood.

Initial reports suggested it may have been caused by a gas canister which exploded while pilgrims were making tea in a straw shelter, with police arresting four people.
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The cases of child sexual abuse and defilement of underage/teenage girls at schools, at home and in between are quotidian. The story of the 16-year-old JSS III student of Day Secondary School Tunga Minna, who was allegedly impregnated by the vice principal, Muhammad Muhammed Kuyizhi generated public outcry from different quarters. Wife of the president, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, took personal interest in the matter. She called on relevant authorities to ensure that justice is done.

Hajiya Aisha contacted the wife of Niger state Governor, Dr. Amina Sani Bello to take interest in the case before Fati Auna magistrate court. Chief press secretary to the governors wife, Aisha Wakaso, hinted that the Child Rights Agency was also monitoring to ensure that due diligence was done. The accused was said to have had sex with the girl three times in his office, thereby contravening sections 19 and 25 of the state Child Rights Act. Just recently, the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwanu Suleman Adamu called on the state government to separate boys and girls in schools to ensure morality and preserve the future of children.

I must assert that this is just one in hundreds of thousand cases of rapes against underage female citizens. Villages, towns and cities are no difference in the records of this social menace. Many little girls die from such wicked acts unnoticed. Unwanted pregnancies and abandoned newborn babies from these heinous and inhuman activities are many.

Sexual abuse, researchers say, is the misuse or wrong use of sexuality whether in action, touching of breast or buttocks, very intimate body contact or actual sexual intercourse with a child. It also alludes to use of words suggestive of intention to engage in any form of sexual activity or practice. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that at least one in five of worlds female population has been physically or sexually abused. The threat is increasing among girl children who often have faced problems of gender inequality in addition to the usual problems of unguarded childhood and adolescence manifested in child labour and street hawking.

Street hawking, in turn, is a common form of child labour in developing countries Nigeria inclusive and the female children are mostly victims. According to research, the child on the street is exposed to malnutrition, respiratory tract infection, mental illness and violence including sexual exploitation by men. It is widely believed that the men prefer young girls as sexual partners because they assume they are sexually inexperienced hence are less likely to be infected with sexually transmitted disease (STD).

Sexual abuse among female street hawkers/vendors in Nigeria is another source of worry. A research by African Journal of Reproductive Health on womens health and action research centre showed that street hawking exposes young girls to all forms of hazards, including sexual abuse. Data collected through research proved that the mean age of the female hawkers was 13 + 2.2 years. Out of 186 respondents, 130 (69.9%) had been sexually abused with 32 (17.2%) having had penetrative sexual intercourse (28.1% were forced and 56.3% submitted willingly) while hawking. Majority of them (59.4%) of the sexual partners were adults. Worrisomely, there was low awareness of the twin risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among the respondents.

Furthermore, there has been deliberate discrimination against the girl child especially as regards education with the wrong belief that their marriage deprives the parents and family of such investment. In order not to waste limited resources and to make the girl more relevant to her family, she is given minimal education and the result is low aspiration and limited career and employment opportunities. There are also stress related problems when some of these girls are given to rich families as house helps or sent into street hawking.

Aderinto Adeyinka Abideen in an academic journal article Gender and Behavour argues that the special circumstances in which girl children find themselves in urban Nigeria expose them to possible risks of physical, psychological and sexual abuse which in turn increase their vulnerability to early pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS.



The United Nations Childrens Education Fund (UNICEF) treats child labour with great concern in Nigeria, in spite of legislative measures. It defines child labour as work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children and deprives them of opportunities for schooling and development. Statistics released by International Labour Organization shows that the number of working children under the age of 14 in Nigeria is estimated at 15 million. These jobs include street vendors, beggars, car washers, cobblers, shoe shiners, mechanics, hairdressers, bus conductors and domestic servants and farm hands.

The West Africa Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) Nigeria Platform, with support from the Ford Foundation held a dialogue in Abuja on Curbing Early Marriage and Protecting Childrens Rights in Nigeria with a clarion call for the integration of child marriage prevention efforts into existing development programmes while stakeholders who were instrumental to the passage of the Child Rights Act at the national level should act collectively to see that the Act is eventually promulgated into law in all the states of the federation.

Rachel Harvey, the chief of child protection for UNICEF in Nigeria, says about 80 percent of children are abused again and again with the abused mostly knowing their abusers who tend to be parents, other relatives or male teachers. Children revealed that they didnt know where to go. The majority of children dont know where to seek help, Harvey said.

Further research shows that girls start working at an earlier age than boys, particularly in the rural areas. They also suffer the triple burden of housework, school work and work out of home whether paid or unpaid. Cases abound in connection to presumed spiritual leaders engaging in the dastardly acts. Lagos state police command once arrested one Chukwuma Nkwocha, general overseer of the Tongue of Fire Restoration Ministry, for allegedly keeping 30 under-aged girls as sex slaves. A 56-year-old prophet Taiwo Oluboyode impregnated his 16-year-old daughter in Odode, Idanre area of Ondo state. Vanguard reported that the teenager carried the pregnancy for her father. Again, a7-year-old girl identified as Talatu Musa Paul was reported dead after allegedly being raped through the anus by a 21-year-old son of a Senator in Taraba state.

The abominable cases are many and many individuals and groups are pushing for stiffer penalties for the crime. To achieve far-reaching success in the flight against child abuse, most especially sexual harassment of the female child, all the government and non-government organizations must come together and re-strategize toward a common goal. The Ministry of Women Affairs, NAPTIP, NOA, WOTCLEF as well as Awesome Treasures Foundation, AWP Network, DAWN, FIN, KIND Nigeria, Mirabel Rape Crisis Center, Moremi Initiative, Nigerian Women Fund, STER Nigeria, She Leads Africa, WAAW Foundation, Wellbeing Foundation, WiMBiz, WITIN, WTEC and WOWE have more assignments to carry out in this regard. Poverty alleviation, health education and protective child right policies that can decrease prevalence and the associated risks of child abuse must be promulgated.

A Non Government Organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), through its director, Ishaq Akintola, however, believes that honourable and dignifying child marriage is better than child prostitution which is rampant in Nigerian cities and red light zones. He compared the globalization and promotion of homosexualism, lesbianism and same-sex marriage as a direct challenge to Gods divine order.

Therefore, the view of Reps Ibrahim Garba Mohammed (APC, Kano) is in order. There should be special and stiffer laws against rape in Nigeria. Confirmed rapists should not be allowed to go on bail but be remanded in prison, tried and jailed. After that there should bepsychiatric tests on them because for someone to defile a two or three-year-old girl, that person must be insane. Only an insane person can rape an infant.

Muhammad Ajah is an advocate of humanity, peace and good governance in Abuja. E-mail [email protected]
25.04.2017 LISTEN

Winneba (C/R) April 25, GNA - The Winneba Police has arrested the Chief of Effutu Ansaful, Neenyi Ansaful III for assaulting a-48-year old taxi driver at Winneba.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Reverend John Agbemaiese Crime Officer of the Winneba Police Command, told the Ghana News Agency that on the 13th April 2017 at about 1400 hours, the alleged victim Victor Apetogbor came to the station with the left eye swollen and reported having been assaulted by one Neenyi Ansaful III without any provocation.

He said the suspect was arrested and after their investigations he will be arraigned before the court.

Mr Apetogbor told the GNA that his family bought a parcel of land at the cost of One Hundred and Ten Thousand Ghana Cedis (110,000.00) from the Chief at Ansaful near Winneba Junction.

According him they went to the site recently only to find out that the pillars they erected on it had been removed and replaced with trips of sand and blocks by unknown persons.

He said they reported the matter to the chief who promised to refund their money.

Mr. Apetogbor said over three months now all efforts to get the chief to retrieve the said money failed, saying on April 13th, 2017 he spotted the chief in another taxi in Winneba Township and he stopped it.

He said he spoke to the chief and both of them agreed to go to the police station as he turn his taxi to follow them to the police station the car in which the chief was seated sped off towards Nsuakyere a community in Effutu.

He said he chased them and managed to overtake the car.

He said he opened the front door to speak to the chief who was then sitting at the back seat but the chief responded by giving him a hefty blow to his left eye him.

He said he then rushed to report the matter at the Winneba Police station.

GNA
By Linda Asante-Agyei, Ghana News Agency Special Correspondent, Geneva

Courtesy Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Geneva, April 25, GNA - The Guinness World Records has officially presented a certificate to the Uniting to Combat NTDs programme, for setting a charitable world record of donating 207,169,292 doses of drugs in multiple venues within 24 hours.

The donation by 10 world pharmaceutical companies formed part of a global initiative to fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

The pharmaceutical companies were: Bayer, Eisai, Gilead, GSK, Johnson &Johnson, MSD, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi.

Marco Frigatti, Head of Global Records Management Team, Guinness World Records, who made the presentation, said the record was now considered one of the largest medical donation programmes in the world, greatly assisting the WHO's Roadmap in its aim to reach 2020 control of NTDs.

He noted that whilst more than the 207 million NTD medicines donated in a day represent less than 10 per cent of the total number of medicines, it was more than enough to set a Guinness World Record for most medication donated in 24 hours.

'The record title accomplished by Uniting to Combat NTDs, is a reflection of what impact collaboration, aligned strategies, and diverse partnerships can have on humanity,' he added.

The Organisation's effort was recognised at the just ended week long Global Partners Summit, organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which also marked 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.

Representatives of Member States, donor agencies, foundations, the private sector, academia and stakeholders and pharmaceutical companies participated in the summit.

The 207 million drugs donated on January 30th represented just a small amount of the group's generosity.

Since 2012, when United to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases signed a declaration to control or eliminate 10 of the worst neglected diseases, they have donated 7 billion treatments.

NTDs are a group of debilitating infectious diseases such as elephantiasis, river blindness and trachoma that affect the world's poorest communities.

Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General WHO, said several influential foundations also helped to make the incredible record possible.

The idea behind this record is a noble one, inspired by a mission of the World Health Organization to eradicate 17 Neglected Tropical Diseases affecting thousands of helpless individuals in impoverished nations.

By enlisting the help of healthcare companies who could donate the necessary medication to rehabilitate infected people, efforts by the Uniting to Combat NTDs alliance proved to be record-breaking.

Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO said the record breaking was a reminder of the work necessary to deliver a treatment from a manufacturer's warehouse, from the officials who receive and organize donations, the NGOs and government programs who deliver it to remote communities, all the way to the heroic health workers who dedicate their lives to bringing those treatments to patients.

Treatment donations at such a large scale have enabled extraordinary reach and impact by NTD programs around the world.

Since the goal to eliminate 17 NTDs first began, more than 300 million people who required preventative treatment for at least one NTD five years ago no longer need it.

Ms Thoko Elphick-Pooley, Director of the Uniting to Combat NTDs Support Centre who received the certificate, said the Guinness World Records title was shared by all the partners of the Coalition, whose collective work has helped to drive progress and lift the burden of NTDs from some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

Over the past five years, Uniting to Combat NTD had contributed to significant improvement in fighting these severely infectious diseases, which affect millions.

Compared to five years ago, companies were now donating hundreds of millions more treatments each year from one billion treatments in 2011 to more than 1.5billion treatments in 2015.

Bill Gates expressed his excitement to celebrate the group that achieved this incredible feat, Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases, a coalition of drug companies, governments, health organizations, charities, and other partners who work to reduce the burden of tropical diseases that impact the world's poorest.

He was grateful to the pharmaceutical companies that have been making the historic donations year after year and commended them and their partners for their efforts in ensuring that millions of people were receiving the medicines they needed to cure and protect them from these diseases.

These diseases, he noted, were in retreat and the world was moving closer to the day when they would be eliminated altogether.

'Of course, all world records get challenged. And I for one will be thrilled for the day when this record for drug donations gets broken. So will the millions of families around the world who need them,' he added. GNA
A Plus has made a distasteful comment about Kofi Adams over Ibrahim Mahama's dud cheque brouhaha; stating that the NDC national organisor's brain should be used at a laboratory to discovery what causes stupidity.

According to the loudmouth musician, people have been jailed for minor offences hence unfair for the brother of former President Mahama to be walking free while he has allegedly issued 44 dud cheques to government.

You issue 44 dud cheques to government, nobody has arrested you. They have even given you time to pay what you owe. What else do you want? he queried the accused in a lengthy Facebook post.

A Plus who appears to be peeved by the whole episode of Ibrahim Mahama's dud cheque issue verbally attacked Kofi Adams for jumping to the defense.

 People like Kofi Adams, the NDC national organiser who instead of working for his party (NDC) a day to elections, was busy drinking beer with girls on the Spintex road is [now] talking nonsense [because EOCO is grilling Ibrahim Mahama for evading tax?]

People have gone to jail for 10 years for stealing cassava and goat. Police has arrested people for 500 Ghana cedis dud checks. Some have gone to jail for one roll of weed; and someone has issues 44 dud checks and is walking free. The most annoying part is that some NDC people are defending him.

As for Kofi Adams, they have to put his brain in a science lab and use it to teach children what makes a man stupid, the irate musician fumed.
Charlotte Osei, EC Boss

25.04.2017 LISTEN

Pressure group, 'The Alliance for Accountable Governance', (AFAG), has petitioned the Royal Institute of International Affairs of the U.K against rewarding chairperson of the Electoral Commission Charlotte Osei with the 2017 Chatham House Prize.

The EC boss was nominated in April by the award committee for her role in ensuring a peaceful and transparent electoral process in Ghana in December 2016, further consolidating Ghana's 24-year long democratic journey.

Other dignitaries in contention for the award are Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia and Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO.

The Chatham House Prize is awarded to the person, persons or organization deemed to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

But in a petition to the Royal Institute of International Affairs of the UK, AFAG stated that the processes leading to the 2016 general elections was fraught with a series of courts cases, and a high level of tension which could have plunged the nation into chaos.

According to AFAG, Mrs. Osei is not deserving of the award adding that the 2016 elections was only successful due to the peace loving nature of Ghanaians.

Below is the full letter by AFAG:

ALLIANCE FOR ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE

P. O. BOX OS 3547 OSU.

Email: [email protected]

|Tel: 233- 501287870 | 233-209830546 | 233-248274646

THE PRESIDENT

THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS,

CHATHAM HOUSE,

10 ST JAMES SQUARE,

LONDON SW1Y 4LE

25TH APRIL 2017

Dear Sir,

MRS CHARLOTTE OSEI, GHANA'S ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER, UNFIT FOR CHATHAM HOUSE PRIZE

The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), Ghana, is a keen follower of your activities. We appreciate your mission to help build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world. In Ghana, we are a civil society organisation, independent of the state, to ensure that we contribute to the proper functioning of our democracy and enlightening the Ghanaian public.

In October 2008, we were, as most Ghanaians, delighted that the Chatham House honoured President John Agyekum Kufuor with the Chatham House Prize. His achievements were quite obvious and celebrated across the globe.

However, AFAG, with much of the civil society community in Ghana, is alarmed following the news that Mrs Charlotte Osei has been shortlisted for the prestigious award in her short and unimpressive stay at the helm of Electoral Commission of Ghana. AFAG is a champion of democratic processes, supportive of any actor in the electoral space that deserves to be rewarded for their work but we have strong reservation on Mrs. Charlotte Osei.

We respectfully state our reservations as follows:

1. The Electoral Commission was dragged to court a record 12 times under her leadership in less than 24 months. Mrs Charlotte Osei was on the wrong side of all significant court litigation prior to the election, including those she initiated (such as the correct interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling on ridding the voter roll of ineligible persons, grounds for disqualifying presidential aspirants). The impunity with which she acted on several occasions and her blatant disregard for Supreme Court rulings against her outfit makes her unfit and undeserving for your noble prize.

2. Significant omissions in the provision of C1 94, leaving huge gaps in election transparency and independent poll results validation contrary to the recommendations contained in the Supreme Court on the 2012 presidential election petition. This had to be corrected through litigation. An example is the Electoral Commission's returning officers' mandatory signature on the official poll results and party agent access to the same document.

3. Developments between the closing of the polls on December 7 and announcement of final election results on December 9, which brought the country to a state of apprehension and created needless tension, could have been completely avoided. This was caused by:

a. Delay in release of presidential polls on the grounds that the EC's IT department had been compromised;

b. Alleged over-voting in Ashanti Region that was ostensibly being investigated before official certification. This proved to be a delay tactic and false.

c. Putting out a blatantly wrong figure of 49 per cent as interim voter turnout for the presidential poll, which was later debunked.

4. Credible intelligence that the EC had set up two lines to transmit presidential election results (a super high-speed line and regular speed line) without disclosure to all the presidential contestants or their representatives on the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).

5. Enforcement of electoral rules by the EC and political party accountability remains weak. What is more worrying is her blatant refusal to take advice and consider opinions from stakeholders. As we know, Ghana is not a dictatorship to warrant dictatorial tendencies.

6. The EC did not have any plan towards setting up the National Collation Centre in a more spacious location on election day to accommodate many stakeholders. This made it difficult for many stakeholders to follow certified results as and when the EC received them.

7. The EC under Mrs Charlotte Osei failed to capture two sources of internally generated funds (IGF) in its 2017 budget estimates presented to Ghana's parliament in April 2017. This is a clear case of graft distasteful in all intents. These funds were from journalists (GHC10.00 as accreditation fee for Election 2016, something unknown in Ghana's election history. She further charged GHC5.00 for every application for a misplaced/lost voter ID card).

8. The European Union Observation Mission in its report on Ghana's 2016 election had this to say: The registration process for presidential candidates in the 2016 elections (under Mrs. Charlotte Osei) was problematic. The process was not sufficiently inclusive and the spirit of the law was not fully respected.

9. That Mrs Charlotte Osei has brought disunity into the seven-member Commission which does not augur well for the wellbeing and image of the Commission.

10. A report on 30th March 2017, from Ghana's Special Budget Committee of Parliament, had concluded that as a result of Mrs Charlotte Osei's leadership the Commissioners do not trust themselves. There is gross distrust amongst the seven-member Commission under her leadership, and that they are not on good terms with each other. (See www.starrfmonline.com/2017/03/30/ec). This was never the case under the former Chairman of the Commission.

11. The Electoral Commission's own in-house software had such a weak security protocol that in the word of Mrs Osei: We were forced to ignore the software and use manual collations. Clearly this is not the hallmark of an award-winning performance. If any actor to the electoral process had raised a concern in concert with other issues raised, it might have been unnerving for the nation, considering that, primarily, post-election activities are a key trigger to election violence.

12. Mrs Osei faulted profoundly when she refused to give access to the secured transmitted results, even as a read-only access. Many of the political party representatives found this behaviour unacceptable since it appears to be shrouded in secrecy and lacked transparency.

13. It is worth noting that Mrs Charlotte Osei's bizarre posture not to allow for a transparent process before the elections, led to some Ghanaian citizens registering their displeasure through peaceful demonstrations. One of such peaceful demonstrations turned violent when the police (allegedly on the instruction of powerful persons in the then government) visited brutal attacks on ordinary Ghanaian demonstrators, most especially on women who took part in the demonstration. During the course of the brutality, one gentleman lost an eye as a result of fired rubber bullets by the police. There is pictorial evidence available: http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/2015/September-16th/photos-violence-mars-let-my-vote-count-demo.php

14. Finally, the EC had no instant social media update for which many Ghanaians who are on the move can rely on for trustworthy updates. So the reportage that such system was up and running should be disregarded and not counted as an achievement.

In conclusion, Mrs Charlotte Osei may have announced historic presidential election results on the 9th on December but the many issues surrounding her administration could have occasioned unfortunate and regrettable occurrences. She fought and misrepresented many meaningful suggestions towards the peaceful elections, which caused major embarrassment for her outfit.

The peaceful outcome of the 2016 general elections was the collective effort and tolerance the political parties had for each other and goodwill that Ghanaians have enjoyed since the birth of the 4th Republic in 1992.

We, respectfully, strongly implore your distinguished organisation to ponder your final consideration. It is time to ignore and punish public officials who act with complete disdain for the constitution and disregard court rulings but turn round to hypocritically and opportunistically seek honours they have not earned.

Yours faithfully,

DR NANA AYEW AFRIYIE

(CHAIRMAN)

HENRY ASANTE

(VICE CHAIRMAN)

ARNOLD BOATENG

(GENERAL SECRETARY)

CC: HE JOHN BENJAMIN,

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER,

ACCRA GHANA

-Starrfmonline
GAJ - Her Excellency the Second Lady of Ghana, Mrs. Samira Bawumia took some time out of her busy schedule on Sunday, April 16, to meet with a cross-section of the Ghanaian community in an event organized by the Ghanaian American Journal (GAJ) in Manchester, Connecticut.

After a hectic day on Saturday April 15, where she attended a conference organized by the Yale University Association for African Peace and Development (YAAPD), the Second Lady was gracious to join the Ghanaian community on a beautiful Easter morning for a breakfast meeting.

The Founder and Publisher of GAJ, Mr. Fred Kojo Kyeremeh and other members of the community took the opportunity to welcome Mrs. Bawumia. During his brief welcome remarks, Mr. Kyeremeh thanked Mrs. Bawumia for honoring the invitation to interact with the community. He also introduced the community members in attendance and thanked them for taking time out of their Easter morning to welcome Mrs. Bawumia.

Mrs. Bawumia on her part, thanked the members present for welcoming her into the City of Village Charm Manchester, Connecticut. She talked about her visit to Yale University, where she encouraged students during her speech to work hard and not be deceived by the comforts of campus life.

She also took some time to talk about the state of healthcare in Ghana. With that, she talked about the work her NGO, the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Project (SEHP) is doing to tackle the numerous issues plaguing our current healthcare system in Ghana. Several members in the audience, including healthcare professionals, took this opportunity to inquire and pledge their commitment and willingness to contribute in diverse ways to support the vision of the NGO.

The Ghanaian American Journal on their part assured the Second Lady of its mission to improve information flow between Ghanaians back home and those living in America. GAJ also assured the Second Lady of its commitment to assist in identifying problem areas, providing needs analysis and ensuring proper allocation and accountability of donations, especially during times of major disasters.

Ms. Abena Sarpong delivered the closing remarks. She thanked the Second Lady for being a positive role model and encouraged her to continue to work for the benefit of the vulnerable in society.

Also representing GAJ were Mr. Kwasi Ntem-Mensah, Managing Editor and Nana K. Bonsu, Director of Information and Technology.

For more information on how you can support the mission of the Second Lady, please visit www.sbawumia.org to read more about the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Project (SEHP).
The Ghana UK Based Achievement awards (GUBA) is back and this year, it celebrates, acknowledges, and supports Ghanaian based businesses and individuals in Ghana and the United Kingdom. The not-for-profit business and innovation awards presents the opportunity for these businesses to come together for a night to reflect on their achievements and be recognized.

After the final elimination phase, nominees for the Made in Ghana, Professional of the Year and Charity of the Year categories were announced on Friday 21st April 2017 at the GUBA Ghana Launch event at the residence of the British High Commissioner to Ghana, His Excellency Jon Benjamin, in Accra.

Amongst the finalists from the Made in Ghana category is Booomers International, currently the biggest player and market leader in bamboo bicycle production in West Africa. The company was started by the enterprising Kwabena Danso after five years of building bamboo bicycles on a small scale for individuals and organisations.

An elated Kwabena Danso said I am very excited about this recognition and will first of all want to thank God for making this possible. Also, I think it is important to express my gratitude to the team I work with and everyone who has been involved in bringing the company this far. This is the beginning of greater things to happen and it will definitely serve as a challenge to us to be more innovative, creative and productive, rather than becoming complacent.

A Ghanaian social enterprise, Booomers International recently made international headlines when it launched its branded Bamboo Electric Bicycle (MY VOLTA) at the just ended 2016 Euro Bike Show in Germany in partnership with its German distribution partners, MY-Boo. Being the first of its kind, the bamboo electronic bicycle with mid motor has received some great reviews from known bicycle fanatics worldwide.

Currently, the company has gone beyond just bicycles and is developing new products from bamboo. The companys products are in high demand in Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, USA and will this year launch on the UK market. The story of Booomers is a unique one that indicates how determination and discipline can make a local company become a force to reckon with on the international market.

The 2017 GUBA awards night is scheduled to take place on Saturday 3rd June 2017 at the Intercontinental Hotel, 02, London and serves as the night to officially announce the GUBA 2017 winners from the shortlisted nominees.

Voting for nominees of the respective categories is currently underway and ends on 30th April 2017. To vote for Booomers International to win the Made in Ghana category, kindly visit www.gubaawards.co.uk/voting/made-in-ghana/
Former President of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa, has congratulated the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on his election to the highest office of the land, and has urged him and the country to continue on the path of democracy, and continue being the star of Africa.

Benjamin Mkapa made this known on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, when he paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at the Presidency, on his way to deliver a lecture at the University of Development Studies, in Tamale.

The last time we met, you were a prospective candidate, but you have finally made it. More importantly, you have made it in a peaceful, serene election; the results were unquestionable, which places you in a position of authority to lead your country, the former Tanzanian president said.

Former Tanzanian President, Benjamin Mkapa

He also congratulated Ghanaians for the seriousness with which they undertook the civic responsibility of electing their leaders, and thanked Ghana for the example they are showing to the people of Africa. Continue, therefore, to be a shining example to the people of Africa.

Benjamin Mkapa noted that current Tanzanian President, John Magafuli, has put industrialization and the addition of value to raw materials as his major focus. Additionally, agricultural development is a major preoccupation of his. I have learnt that agricultural development is a major preoccupation of yours, and I hope that you succeed.

On his part, President Akufo-Addo thanked the former President for the gesture of his visit, and for the collection of autographed books given to him in 2014, during his time as presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party.

President Akufo-Addo told Benjamin Mkapa that he had the privilege of meeting the new President of Tanzania at this years AU summit in Addis Ababa and discovered that we had very similar programmes. It is good for all of us that we have woken up to the realization that there is no future for us in being exporters of raw materials.

He continued, If we are going to give jobs to our people, we can only do so in a modern, industrialised economy. So, that is very much the focus of what we are doing here in Ghana.

We have a very ambitious programme. We have committed ourselves to establishing small and medium scale industries in each of the districts in our country over the next four years.

On agricultural development, the President told Benjamin Mkapa about the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, launched in Goaso a week ago, which, he explained, will affect the lives of 200,000 farmers in the first year, with some 2.5 million farmers benefitting at the end of 4 years.

We are living in a country that has everything. We have the land, and, yet, we find ourselves importing plantain from Cote dIvoire and tomatoes from Cote dIvoire. We are saying to ourselves that, within the next 24 months, all these things will be a thing of the past, he said.

In concluding, President Akufo-Addo stated that we continue to wish that Tanzania, like Ghana, continues down the path of orderly development, and that we will see countries who have living Presidents like you who are still contributing to the lives of their people, once they are out of office. It is an inspiration for the rest of the continent, and it is an inspiration that people do not have to hang onto power for 30 to 40 years to be relevant.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
The Small Scale Miners Association in Kumasi says it will petition the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II over governments decision to stop galamsey.

The Association said it wants the Asantehene to speak to government to reconsider its decision on clamping down on small-scale illegal mining.

At a meeting in Kumasi Tuesday the Association said the government is unfairly magnifying the effects of the activities of its members as though it is the biggest threat in the country.

The government has intensified efforts to halt galamsey which is responsible for the pollution of the countrys water bodies. The Brim River in the Eastern Region and Ankobrah in the Western Region have been muddied by activities of illegal miners.

The Tano River in the Brong Ahafo Region has dried up for the first time in 40 years, a development that experts have described as worrying.

Lands Minister, John Peter Amewu has for the past week been touring some illegal mining sites in the Eastern and Western Regions to find ou the extent of damage caused the environment.

In the company of journalists on Saturday, he destroyed bags of sachet water belonging to some illegal miners in Tumentu in the Western Region.

The bags of water had been stored in a metal cage while the miners destroyed water bodies that serve residents in the community.

Disappointed by the extent of pollution caused the water bodies, Mr Amewu charged at the cage and destroyed the sachet water. The miners reportedly fled from the scene.

The Lands Minister has also asked all the mine inspectors in the nine mining districts to proceed on leave for their negligence in the galamsey fight.

Government has said it will put in place an alternative livelihood programme for illegal miners expected to be out of work following moves to end their activities.

The Lands Minister has explained governments policy, Multilateral Mining Integration Project (MMIP), will help absorb illegal miners who will be affected by the clampdown.

But the Small Scale Miners Association said it is dissatisfied with the handling its members.

It said government should not hide behind the cloak of creating jobs for its members when there are jobs on the ground.

The Association said it wants government to find a way of helping them mine in an environmental friendly manner rather than stopping them.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | [email protected]
Singapore Airlines and Jet Airways have set deadlines to withdraw their flights operating out of the Amritsar international airport due to unusually high landing charges levied by the Airport Authority of India, reports Ramesh Vinayak.

By RAMESH VINAYAK: The decision by two major international airlines to discontinue their flight operations from Amritsar has pressed a panic button in Punjab, considering its serious fallout on the state's booming travel and hospitality sectors.

With Singapore Airlines and Jet Airways setting deadlines to withdraw their flights operating out of the Amritsar international airport, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has swung in action and would soon be meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to ensure that the international airlines cancel their pull-out plan and an expeditious completion of much-delayed Rs 140-crore project for expansion of the Amritsar international airport terminal.

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Already caught in a tailspin due to a deepening global recession, escalating cost of aviation fuel and dwindling passenger traffic, both Singapore Airlines and Jet Airways have opted to discontinue their flights due to unusually high landing charges levied by the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

The Singapore Airlines, for instance, shells out Rs 1.54 lakh as landing charges for its each flight operating out of Amritsar as compared to Rs 75,000 it pays up at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

In fact, the airlines decision has evoked strong reaction from ruling Shiromani Akali Dal- Baharatiya Janata Party alliance and also from the opposition Congress. Navjot Sidhu (BJP MP from Amritsar) has threatened to hold a protest at the airport and burn an effigy of the UPA government for "deliberately making the Amritsar airport economically unviable."

Not to be left behind when the Lok Sabha elections are round the corner, former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has declared his plan to lead a delegation to the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on the issue which has caused a concern to the Punjab-origin NRIs who have been major beneficiaries of international flights from Amritsar.

Even eight years after it was notified as an international airport, Amritsar, despite its worfully inadequate infrastructure, has seen an exponential growth of passenger traffic of mostly Punjabi NRIs.

The Amritsar airport, in fact, has been getting more international passengers than the domestic traffic. The international passenger rush at Amritsar has galloped by 165 per cent in last three years. From 22,190 passengers - 5,762 international and 16,428 domestic - in 1998, the air traffic has unexpectedly soared to 5, 96, 228 passengers in 2007, with international travellers accounting for a phenomenal figure of 4, 88, 310 - roughly 80 per cent of the total traffic.

With average weekly flights of 85 operated by ten international and domestic carriers, Amritsar now gets more international traffic than even Goa and Ahmedabad.

An explosive growth of passenger traffic at Amritsar - a direct result of open air policies and an advantageous location for the Punjab-origin NRIs - have far outpaced the infrastructure which virtually collapsed by the time the Airport Authority of India launched its plans to upgrade it. The number of flights has increased from 1864 in 2003 to 5754 this year.

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However, the flights have landed before the AAI's plans to bolster infrastructure could take off. As a matter of fact, the volume of passenger traffic grew much larger and faster than the authorities had expected, virtually swamping the airport expansion plans that have been mired in fits-and-starts mode of implementation.

"Amritsar has rapidly emerged as one of the busiest air hubs but has a lot to catch up with on infrastructure," says the Amritsar airport director Arun Talwar. A big chunk of the Punjabi NRI traffic - who at one-time formed one fourth of total international traffic at the IGI, Delhi - has shifted to Amritsar in last five years because of its proximity to their native places.

After much delays, a new terminal, built at cost of Rs 70 crore and meant to handle peak hour rush of 500 passengers, was made operational in February 2006. Spread over 14,500 square meters, the facility was expected to take care of six to seven per cent growth in air traffic a year, which however surged at a phenomenal 55 per cent in 2004-2005 itself.

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By the time, the new terminal was commissioned; it was already bursting at the seams and found to be grossly insufficient to cater to the fast growing traffic. Consequently, the second phase of expansion of terminal by another 42,000 square meters and to handle an additional passenger load of 700 was hurriedly started in December 2006.

The second phase, which was expected to be completed by March this year, has been delayed because of mid-way extension of the floor area by 11,000 square meters and changes in the building designs. It's now expected to be commissioned by the end of the year.

"Things are seemingly poised to be better but the pace of infrastructure and facilities looks like never ending," says Daljit Singh, a frequent flyer between Amritsar and New Zealand - echoing the sentiments of most NRI passengers who tend to gloss over the ordeal at the airport for the sake of advantage of landing closer home. But, that advantage may soon be over with two leading airlines deciding to discontinue their operations out of Amritsar.

--- ENDS ---

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United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday urged the divided UN Security Council to back an arms embargo and sanctions against South Sudan after the UN envoy reported that the war there is worsening.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council that UN demands for a ceasefire, access for aid workers and a return to political talks had been "totally ignored" by President Salva Kiir's government.

"I call on this council to move forward with the tools available to it, such as with further sanctions and an arms embargo, or the violence and atrocities will continue," Haley said.

"We must tell the South Sudanese government that we are not going to put up with this anymore."

France and Britain backed the US call for tougher measures, but Russia said there was no need for an arms embargo and China urged the council to be more "positive" in its approach to South Sudan.

The previous US administration failed in December to win support at the council for an arms embargo and sanctions, with Russia, China, Japan and Egypt among eight countries that abstained in a vote on the measures.

Haley's remarks indicated that the new US administration would try again to push for an end to weapons sales and sanctions on those who undermine peace efforts.

"If you want to continue to see starvation in South Sudan, doing nothing is exactly what you need to keep doing," said the US envoy.

Helping the people of South Sudan is "not about hope", "not about wishes", she added. "That's about action, and I call on the Security Council to act."

UN envoy David Shearer earlier told the council that the situation was dire after more than three years of war.

"Virtually no part of the country is immune from conflict. Yet there has been no concerted effort by any party to adhere to a ceasefire," said Shearer.

"Instead, over the past month, we are seeing an intensification of the conflict."

After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 3.5 million people displaced.

In February, South Sudan and the United Nations formally declared a famine in parts of northern Unity State affecting 100,000 people, a disaster that UN officials said was "man-made" and could have been averted.
Officials of the Bank of Ghana have exonerated the Minister of Finance in the controversial $2.25 billion bond issued in April, 2017.

The Head of Financial Management Service at the Bank of Ghana, Stephen Opattah insists no single individual can skew the issuance of bonds to favour one person or another.

He also insisted that given the operations of the bond issue it was practically impossible for anyone to predetermine who the investor will be.

His comments made before members of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament Tuesday follows allegation by the Minority in Parliament that the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta had "cooked" the $2.25 billion bond issue for his friend and business partner Trevor Trefgarne who is director of Franklyn Templeton, the company that bought 95% of the bond.

Trevor is also Director of Enterprise Group Ltd, a company in which the Finance Minister partially owns.

A former Deputy Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson who addressed a press conference on behalf of the Minority in Parliament says Trevor took advantage of the business connection he has with the Finance Minister in order to win a deal the vice president had described as the "deal of the year."

According to him, the deal was shrouded in secrecy and sold off to Franklyn Templeton.

The Minority has called for a Parliamentary inquisition into the deal and further threatened to proceed to the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice for a thorough investigation to be conducted into the deal.

Officials of the Bank of Ghana, who were key players in the bond issued appeared before the committee to answer queries from the 2015 Auditor General's Report about foreign exchange receipts and payments.

However MP for Effutu Afenyo Markins for the second time smuggled in the question on the controversial $2.25 billion bond after his first attempt was shot down by the chairman of the Accounts Committee James Avedzi.

He got the answer from both Stephen Opattah and the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana Johnson Asiamah.

"In such a system you cannot predetermine who the investor will be," Opatta said.

On the part of the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana Johnson Asiamah it is impossible for a bond to be issued in secrecy.

According to him, in the beginning of the year government announces its borrowing plans which is available for all investors and potential investors bid for it and can therefore not be a secret transaction.

But the MP for Keta Richard Quarshigah is standing by the Minority's claim.

He explained to Joy FM's Evans Mensah on Top Story the deal was an international transaction which ought to have received Parliamentary approval.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
Police in the Ashanti region have arrested two persons in connection with an attack on Chinese expatriates in Obuasi.

A third person who attempted to escape from the police grips was shot dead, Monday.

This comes nearly a month after five gunmen attacked the expatriates in Obuasi and made away with an ash Hyundai Saloon car, ten phones, two laptops, pump action gun and 3,000.00 cedis.

The suspects were said to be wearing military uniforms and wielded a pump action gun and two locally manufactured vehicles when they attacked.

The Chinese expatriates quickly reported the matter to the police who then alerted all patrol teams to be on a look out.

According to the Ashanti Region Police commander DCOP Ken Yeboah, two of the gun men were rounded up yesterday at Krofrom upon intelligence.

Explaining the circumstances under which the suspects were arrested DCOP Ken Yeboah said they received information, Monday April 24, 2017, that two suspects were in possession of the stolen car at Kofrom in Kumasi.

"A team was dispatched to the area and arrested Philip Kojo Danso and Kojo Asamoah Daniel with the said vehicle. Suspect Kweku Asare in the course of the operation tried to escape from the police but was shot and in the process died instantly," he explained.

Meanwhile, eight other miscreants who stormed a funeral grounds at Abuakwa, a surburb of Kumasi with machetes to avenge an assault case were also arrested by the police.

They are accused of inflicting cutlass wounds on one Collins Opoku in the process.

All of them were charged with the offences of conspiracy to commit crime and use of offensive weapons.

They have been put before an Nkawie Circuit court and remanded into prison custody.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com
25.04.2017 LISTEN

Wenchi, (B/A), April 25, GNA - A Concerned youth group in the Wenchi Municipality in the Brong-Ahafo Region, on Monday appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to give Mr Yaw Opoku Atuahene, a former Managing Director of the Agricultural Development Bank, a political appointment.

According to the group, Mr Atuahene, a seasoned banker, and a native of Wenchi contributed immensely to the victory of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in election 2016, not only at the Wenchi constituency but also at the national level.

'The overwhelming contributions of Mr Atuahene, who stooped low to become a polling station agent for the NPP in the Wenchi constituency, could not be overlooked' Nana Adom Busia, the spokesman for the group told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region.

He indicated that many people in the Wenchi Municipality were not happy because 'it seems the government wants to neglect Mr Atuahene a strong pillar behind the NPP in the Wenchi constituency'.

Nana Busia explained that, as a stronghold of the NPP, the strength of the party could easily diminish and narrow its fortunes in Election 2020, if some prominent and bigwigs of the NPP in Wenchi were not giving political appointments.

Flanked by other members of the group, the spokesman pointed out that 'President Akufo-Addo would be ungrateful to the people of Wenchi', if he failed to give Mr Atuahene a political appointment in his government.

'We believe the government and the NPP in general will recognise and appreciate our tremendous contributions, which enabled our great party to regain political power in election 2016, and listen to our concerns', Richard Kwadwo Adu, the assemblyman for Ntoase Electoral area in the Municipality told the GNA.

Mr Adu who is the Wenchi constituency Youth Organiser of the NPP, emphasised that they remained a strong party under a 'great elephant' and all tendencies that had the potential to break its rank and file ought to be dealt with.

He observed that although the youth of Wenchi had utmost hope and confidence that the ministers the President appointed could perform, there were others such as Mr Atuahene ou there, whose contributions to the growth of the party ought to be recognised.

Mr Adu commended the government for the 'planting for food and jobs' campaign, and was optimistic that the one-district-one-factory project would be a reality to create more jobs for the youth.

Mr Atuahene, an Agricultural Economist, Poultry Scientist and Project/Financial Analyst, joined the ADB in 2001 and was until his elevation to the Deputy Managing Director (Credit and Banking) of the bank.

He had previously worked at the National Investment Bank (NIB) and Prudential Bank. He holds a BSc (Agricultural & Resource Economics), MSc (Poultry Science) and MA (Economics, Statistics & Extension Methods) degrees from the Oregon State University, USA.

Mr Atuahene has also participated in a number of short courses in Basic Project Appraisal, Investment Project Appraisal, Investment Analysis and Management, and Agriculture Project Planning with Computer.

GNA

By Dennis Peprah, GNA
25.04.2017 LISTEN

Accra April 25, GNA - A 71-year-old driver who splashed acid on his son and his eight-year-old granddaughter at Achimota has been sentenced to six years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court.

The two victims are said to have suffered severe burns with the son on his neck whilst the grand-daughter on the right eye and cheek.

Michael Kwame Martins who was being held for causing harm pleaded guilty before the court presided over by Mrs Marian Affoh and his sentence was deferred to Tuesday April 25.

Handing sentence on Tuesday, the court also ordered Martins to pay GH200.00 and GH100.00respectively to the victims.

Prosecuting Detective Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Agnes Boafo said the complainant Francis K Martin is a 38-year-old driver and son of the accused.

They reside in accused's late father's house at Achimota, Accra. On April 3, this year at about 9:30 pm the accused and the complainant had a misunderstanding over soaked clothes placed in a water container located between their doors.

According to the prosecution, the complainant moved the said container to the doorstep of the accused. The content of the container poured on the floor and the complainant left to buy sachet water.

Soon after the complainant returned, the accused without any provocation poured on his son Francis some acid and which splashed onto the eight-year-old granddaughter.

The complainant reported the matter to the Police at Mile seven and medical forms were issued to them to seek medical attention.

The accused was arrested and charged before the court.

GNA

By Joyce Danso, GNA
Effiduasi (Ash), April 25, GNA - The Sekyere Presbytery Chairperson of the Presbyterian Church, the Reverend Ernest Odame Asare, has asked Ghanaians to step back from lawlessness and indiscipline.

He spoke against unrestrained destruction of the environment through illegal mining, multiple land sales and violent conduct of political party supporters and said if the nation was to make significant headway in development, these could not continue.

What was making the situation even more disturbing, he noted, was the involvement and tacit approval of these acts by some prominent people including chiefs.

The Rev Asare was delivering the sermon at the 14th session and thanksgiving service of the presbytery held at Effiduasi.

'When the Holy Spirit moves, there is peace' was the theme chosen for the event.

He urged the church to boldly condemn anything undignified and unhelpful to the image and the peace of the country.

The Rev Asare used the occasion to remind public officials and everybody in position of trust to be accountable, open and transparent in whatever they did.

It was important they put the interest and welfare of those they were leading ahead of personal comfort and convenience, he added.

He rallied the people to stand solidly behind the government in the implementation of its development agenda.

That, he indicated, was not to say that they should not point out any mistakes, it made.

Awards were presented to individuals and groups who had made unique contribution to the growth of the presbytery.

GNA

By C. M. Boaten, GNA
By Gifty Amofa, GNA,

Kumasi, April 25, GNA - A suspected robber, who has been on the police wanted list for some time now, has been gunned down and two of his colleagues, arrested and detained by the police in Kumasi.

They had attacked and robbed some Chinese of their Honda Accord saloon car, 10 mobile phones, two lap top computers, a pump action gun and cash of GHE3,000.00 in the mining town of Obuasi.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Ken Yeboah, the Ashanti Regional Commander, identified the deceased as Kwaku Asare.

He gave the names of the pair, they were holding as Philip Kwadwo Danso and Daniel Kwadwo Asamoah.

He told a media briefing in Kumasi that a pump action gun, locally made pistols, military uniform and masks were seized from them.

The stolen car, he added, had also been recovered by the police.

DCOP Yeboah said three other suspects - Acheampong alias 'IK', Kwasi alias 'Selasi and Yaw, however managed to slip through and they had launched a massive manhunt to arrest and bring them to justice.

He said the Obuasi police received information about the robbery, last Sunday, and alerted the various patrol teams in the region and personnel manning the checkpoints.

Barely 24 hours after the crime, the regional anti-robbery squad, was tipped off that the stolen car had been sent to a washing bay at Krofrom in Kumasi and quickly moved to the place, where Danso and Asamoah were caught right in the act of replacing the number plate.

They confessed stealing the car from the owners and mentioned their accomplices including the deceased, who was traced to Sofoline.

He was shot and killed as he attempted to escape and his body had been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital's morgue.

A search of Danso' room at Obuasi uncovered two pump action guns, two locally made pistols and a live cartridge.

The pair also led the police to retrieve the original number plate of the car from a nearby bush.

DCOP Yeboah indicated that that Asare, Acheampong and Danso had been on the police wanted list for terrorizing miners at the Manso-Watreso and its surroundings.

He called for their victims to come forward to assist the police in their investigations.

GNA
Accra, April 25, GNA - The third annual International Conference on Business Management and Entrepreneurial Development (ICBMED) has ended at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).

The two-day conference, which was organised by the UPSA, was on the theme: "Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Development in Africa: Information Communication Technology (ICT) As a Strategic Tool".

Professor Abednego Okoe Feehi Amartey, the Vice-Chancellor of UPSA, described the UPSA as a research-oriented university which challenges itself to solving practical problems in the society and Africa at large.

'In essence, the purpose for organising ICBMED is for challenging issues to be proposed, research solutions suggested and recommendations given.

"It also seeks to build one of the pre-eminent global intellectual and professional platforms dedicated to discussing, analysing, and advancing solutions to the challenges facing the development of African business through business and management research and information dissemination," he said.

Speaking on the topic; 'SME Development: The Role of ICT-Strategy and Innovation,' Mr Solomon King Adiyah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of eSolutions Consulting, said SMEs were the bedrock of economic development and must, therefore, be capitalised on.

He enumerated the various challenges facing SMEs in the country and said the lack of innovations and ICT were the root causes.

The CEO of EDEL Technology Consulting, Mrs Ethel Coffie, said there was the need for small businesses to incorporate technology in their business or risk losing them.

"Not being innovative will kill your business, and you even close the opportunity to earn additional profits," she said.

Mr Derek Appiah, the Country Director of Microsoft Corporation, in the plenary address, said e-business was right for startups.

He explained the importance and need for security measures to be put in place as far as e-business in Ghana and the world are concerned.

Papers presented at the conference spanned various topics namely: Central Banking, Accounting and Finance, Communication and Public Relations, Corporate Governance, Information and Communication Technology, Information Systems Management and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.

At the closing ceremony of the two-day programme, Prof Charles Barnor, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of UPSA, said this year over 100 paper submissions were made and 74 were selected for presentation at the conference.

Another 18, he said, were presented by the Graduate School of the University, making a total of 92 papers received and vetted for presentation during the two-day conference.

UPSA's directors, heads of department and deans of faculties were present at the function including Reverend J.K. Antwi, the Director of Finance and Dr Ibrahim Mohammed, the Director of Research.

GNA

By Iddi Yire, GNA
25.04.2017 LISTEN

The Agricultural Development Bank (adb) has announced a total of GH450 million to, among other initiatives, support the government's 'Planting for Food and Jobs' programme.

The fund, according to Mr Daniel Asiedu, Managing Director of the Bank, is expected to meet the payment requirements for the agro inputs supplied to beneficiaries under the programme and also support viable agricultural initiatives in 2017.

Mr Asiedu explained that GH150million is directly going to support the 'Planting for Food and Jobs programme' with GH300 million serving as credit facility to support various viable projects in the agricultural value chain for the 2017 financial year.

Mr Asiedu who was speaking after recent launch of the initiative at Goaso, in the Brong Ahafo Region pledged the unflinching support of the Bank in partnering the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to successfully implement the objectives of the policy.

'The Bank will assist the hardworking farmers participating in the programme to expand their operations to transit into successful commercial farmers by providing the necessary support,' he said.

Mr Asiedu added that ADB would pre-finance a number of agro input suppliers selected by the MoFA under the programme.

'We at ADB endorse this great initiative and will like to use this opportunity to call on other financial institutions to do likewise by allocating funds for agricultural financing,' he added.

Launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the programme is designed to increase agricultural production, ensure sustainable supply of food at cheaper cost and create about 750,000 direct and indirect jobs for farmers and the youth.

Additionally, it is expected to increase the production of maize by 30 per cent, rice by 49per cent, soybean by 25per cent and sorghum by 28per cent from the current production levels.

It also seeks to create general awareness and encourage workers in both the formal and the informal sectors and the unemployed to grow grain crops and vegetables in open spaces, including backyards in urban areas.

President Akufo-Addo declared that 'Planting for Food and Jobs' was the answer to the modernisation of agriculture, which was expected to end the migration of the youth to city centres in search of non-existent jobs.

'Food is unnecessarily expensive in the country that is blessed with fertile land. Our production methods are not modern and income levels of farmers and fisher folk remain low, making the sector unattractive to the youth as a viable means of livelihood,' he said.

GNA
25.04.2017 LISTEN

Washington, D.C, April 25, GNA - Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has assured Ghanaians in Diaspora that the Government was committed to making Ghana the most preferred destination and business-friendly economy on the African continent.

The Vice President and Minister of Finance emphasised Government's plans to increase revenue by deleting ghost workers from the payroll system, lowering taxes and addressing the energy crisis as well as creating a conducive environment for investment.

The delegation reiterated Government's determination to improve the country's infrastructure, increase efficiency at the ports, and issue national Identity cards and digital addressing system.

The meeting with the Ghanaians in Diaspora was held at the Ghana High Commission Office.

The event capped a week of high profile meetings by the Ghanaian delegation including senior government officials who traveled to London and Washington, D.C. to present the Government's roadmap for revitalising Ghana's economy.

The delegation consistently expressed Government's determination to control the country's debt and get Ghana working again.

The delegation included the Senior Minister, the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Petroleum Corporation and the President's Advisor for Media and Special Projects.

The team traveled to London and Washington, to meet with investors, bond holders, government officials, Ghanaians in Diaspora, and other key stakeholders.

It also participated in 2017 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The trip comes on the heels of the Government's first budget, which anchored on the New Patriotic Party's campaign promises such as free Senior High School, one million dollar development fund to each of the 275 constituencies, as well as expanding agricultural investments to create jobs for the youth.

Throughout the meetings and public events, some investors and the international community expressed concerns about Ghana's debt profile.

The delegation stated that the Nana Akufo-Addo's Administration was determined to restructure the country's existing debt by moving from the current short term, high interest loans to longer term, and lower interest loans that would save the Ghanaian tax payers' money.

International investors expressed their confidence in the government's debt management strategy and cited the issuance of the $2.25 billion bond, which was issued in cedi denomination but purchased in dollars.

The bond is part of the re-profiling of the country's debt to replace the more expensive debt management strategy being used in the past.

The delegation would depart Washington for New York, where they will continue to meet with investors, bond holders and members of the Diaspora.

They will return to Accra on Tuesday.

GNA
Want to know the right places to shop? Here is a list of the top online shopping sites in Nigeria.

Among the most trusted shopping sites in Nigeria are Jumia.ng.com, Jiji.ng and Konga.com.

Here is a top list of online shopping sites in Nigeria in accordance with the ratings from Alexa.com:

Jumia.ng.com

There are no doubt that this is the number one online shopping website in the country. Among all the top visited Nigerian sites it occupies the 10th position. When compared with other shopping sites, it is the the number one online store visited in Nigeria.

Average time which visitors spend on the website daily is almost 7 hours. That is a very serious indicator.

Jumia.ng.com provides you with lots of various goods for every life situation. What's more, an overwhelming advantage is that they have free shipping. You can order any goods you like and after receiving the payment for them, all the purchased items will be at your doorstep.

Konga.com

The second place in the rating is occupied by Konga.com. It is believed to be the largest online mall. It provides you with all the conditions for happy shopping - nationwide delivery, countless ranges of goods, reasonable prices etc.

Amazon.com

This site is also considered to be one of the most popular in Nigeria. Amazon platform has gained worldwide popularity and nowadays it tends to become an important player in the field of appreciated online stores in Nigeria.

Apart from these top giants in the sphere of online services, there are some other variants, such as:

Payporte

Payporte is not only the Nigerian avenue for electronic purchases, it is also a place where you are guaranteed to receive proper after-sales support.

It provides you with the common mechanism of buying goods - just ordering them online. You do not have to worry about your safety because of the fact that Payporte conducts special anti-fraud activities to help eliminate the illegal dealings

What's more, you can make use of the special offer of its affiliate company. In this case, if you don't have any goods to sell, you can promote goods of other sellers who are interesting in having their good featured on the platform.

Yudala

This online shopping platform welcomes everyone who wants to take advantage of great sales on Black Friday.

The main peculiarity of Yudala is that it offers you the opportunity to pay on delivery so you can inspect your goods before making payments.

READ ALSO: 5 most affordable shopping sites you can get the best sales on

Apart from offering to buy products via the online platform, with Yudala you can buy things in shops of the biggest cities in Nigeria.

Vconnect

Shopping via Vconnect means dealing with a really trustworthy corporation that takes into consideration any question and problems which may arise during pre-sales and after-sales period.

The main advantages are good quality, high standards, reasonable prices and fast delivery.

Dealdey

Dealdey attracts those interested in lower prices and bargains. However, you need to be very attentive so you can see when sellers offer expensive goods at really low prices.

Olx Nigeria

Olx is a great avenue for buying really good items at cheaper prices, but you need to be careful and on alert in order not to be deceived by frausdsters.

Mobofree

Mobofree is a platform for online shopping which can offer you the chance to exchange goods at your own prices. This is a new way of earning and spending money.

Chrisvicmall

Chrisvicmall's main peculiarity is that it is involved in the shipping of items from China to Nigeria.

Hope you have enjoyed this list of Nigerian online stores and have chosen the most suitable for your exact needs. Despite the fact that many sites protect their users, you must always be attentive and careful while shopping online.

READ ALSO: 5 benefits of buying clothes on Jiji

Source: Legit.ng
- Former president Goodluck Jonathan said he was disappointed in former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Attahiru Jega

- The ex-president in a book written by Segun Adeniyi, titled Against the Run of Play, said he was not comfortable with how Jega handled the 2015 elections

- Jonathan also defended his decision to postpone the 2015 election

Former president Goodluck Jonathan said he was disappointed in former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Attahiru Jega over the handling of the 2015 general elections

Legit.ng gathered that the ex-president in a book written by Segun Adeniyi, titled Against the Run of Play, said was not comfortable with how Jega handled the elections.

Jonathan said: I was disappointed by Jega because I still cannot understand what was propelling him to act the way he did in the weeks preceding the election.

READ ALSO: Here are the 12 states that owe salaries despite bailout

Former president Goodluck Jonathan said he was disappointed in former chairman of INEC Attahiru Jega over how he handled the 2015 general elections

As at the first week in February 2015 when about 40 percent of Nigerians had not collected their PVCs, Jega said INEC was ready to conduct an election in which millions of people would be disenfranchised.

The former president also said he had a meeting with Jega to express his reservations about the preparedness of INEC for the elections, but he insisted that it would go ahead.

Jonathan said: Of course, the Americans were encouraging him to go ahead yet they would never do such a thing in their own country. How could we have cynically disenfranchised about a third of our registered voters for no fault of theirs and still call that a credible election?

The interesting thing was that the opposition also supported the idea of going on with the election that was bound to end in confusion.

The election was scheduled for February 14, 2015, but Jonathan's administration shifted it by six weeks.

Jonathan in the book also defended his decision to postpone the election, saying it was for security reasons.

He said: When the military and security chiefs demanded for more time to deal with the insurgency, the reasons were genuine.

As at February 2015, it would have been very difficult to vote in Gombe, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. But moment all the arms and ammunition that had been ordered finally arrived, the military was able to use them to degrade the capacity of Boko Haram to the level in which they posed the threat to the election.

In a previous report by Legit.ng, the suspended director-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayodele Oke, told Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo that his agency received the sum of $289,202,382 on the orders of Goodluck Jonathan in February 2015.

READ ALSO: Senator Melaye performs his 'Ajekun Iya' song with a Live Band

A government source disclosed that the suspended NIA boss will formally submit documents to a panel headed by Osinbajo, showing that the transaction was approved by Jonathan through the former NSA Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).

What else has been happening in Nigeria recently? Check out this Legit.ng video on the latest events:

Source: Legit.ng
- Omokri says the expulsion of a journalist without knowledge of presidency is a worrying pointer to that the President Buhari government is not in charge of affairs at Aso Rock

- The former aide on new media to ex-president Jonathan said the seeming lack of control explains suspended SGF's demand to know who is the presidency that announced his temporary removal from President Buhari's cabinet

- The Punch correspondent was expelled for reportedly writing an unapproved story about the president's health

Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has expressed deep concern over reports that the presidency was not informed before a journalist was sent packing from the Presidential Villa on Monday, April 24.

Legit.ng recalls that Olalekan Adetayo, a Punch correspondent, was expelled from the Presidential Villa on Monday, April 24 afternoon by President Muhammadu Buharis Chief Security Officer (CSO) Bashir Abubakar Bindawa.

Adetayo was sent packing over a story he wrote on the president's health.

Omokri (left) says the government of President Buhari (right) appears to lack control of affairs at Aso Rock.

His tag was seized before he was subsequently driven out of the State House.

Omokri said it was worrying that the Presidency was claiming lack of knowledge of the matter when they were supposed to be in charge.

READ ALSO: Customs boss, Education minister, others linked to SGF job

He then wondered who was in charge of ruling the country if a CSO could take such a big decision without the Presidency knowing.

Omokri then tweeted:

Legit.ng gathered that this Omokri tweet is in reference to reports that in his reaction to his suspension by President Buhari on Wednesday, April 19, Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babchir Lawal told reporters who asked him for comments to ask the presidency why he was suspended.

In an encounter with reporters shortly after his suspension was announced, a clearly shocked Lawal stalled on all the questions he was asked.

While he was informed that his suspension was announced by the presidency, Babachir retorted: Who is the presidency?

Watch this Legit.ng TV video of comparisons by Nigerians on who is a better leader between President Buhari and Vice President Professor Osinbajo.

Source: Legit.ng
Despite the adultery scandal he found himself in, Apostle Johnson Suleman, seems to be warming his way back into people's hearts with his latest gesture.

Legit.ng gathered that the embattled general overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, who recently gifted a member of his church with a Toyota Camry, took his kindness a step further.

According to a post shared on his Facebook page, Apostle Suleman, took care of a woman's house rent for the NEXT TEN YEARS!

The woman had been owing her landlord N40,000, and Apostle Suleman took care of her bill. The preacher's kind gesture shocked the woman so much that she collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Click this link for more news on Apostle Suleman: https://www.legit.ng/tag/apostle-johnson-suleman.html

The woman and her daughter are overwhelmed with the preacher's kind gesture

Sharing the post, he wrote:

It what is now the major talking point in Ibadan - Nigeria, the fiery Prophet of God popularly called The Oracle was again on duty doing His Father's business at the University of Ibadan while he is having a 2 day crusade.

The duo of Mrs. Comfort Gabriel and her daughter Funmilayo both collapsed when they realised that the family of 6 would no longer be running from the landlord due to their inability to pay their one year rent which stood at forty thousand naira (N40,000).

The Man of God who had earlier located the younger Gabriel through a prophetic insight had accurately mentioned the travails of the family in recent times which he declared that "Their time for restoration has come"

READ ALSO: Canadian singer accuses Apostle Suleman of impregnating her

When the Man of God heard N40,000 in his Spirit and mentioned it, he didn't know what specifically it meant until they told him it was the money they owed the landlord.

Laughing majestically he responded; 'You do not need to bother God about that, I will settle it".

He went ahead and announced the payment of a 10 years rentage settlement to the tune of four hundred thousand naira (N400,000) and immediately gave them N200,000 while the other part would be given to them tomorrow for security reasons.

Jesus is Lord.

READ ALSO: Lizzy Johnson Suleman on the streets of London (Photos)

The woman holds her money

See more pictures below:

Woman collapses after hearing her house rent has been paid for the next ten years

The woman was given some money

The woman was given some money as well

The woman was also given N200,000 cash

Meanwhile, see how Apostle Suleman's adultery scandal topped social media trends:

Source: Legit.ng
- Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose and Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode have entered court room to witness Kanu's trial

- Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode had earlier been blocked from entering the court

- Nnamdi Kanu is facing trial alongside three other pro-Biafra agitators, Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi

- For more of the latest news and updates on Biafra news visit https://www.legit.ng/tag/biafra-news.html

There was a mild drama at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court this morning April 25, as security operatives, barred former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, from entering inside the court scheduled to deliver ruling on whether the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, should be released on bail.

Kanu, who was hitherto the Director of Radio Biafra and Television, is facing trial alongside three other pro-Biafra agitators, Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.

However, the Ekiti state Governor Ayo Fayose and Fani-Kayode later forced their way to the courtroom to show solidarity to detained Kanu.

READ ALSO: Protest hits Abuja court in preparation of Nnamdi Kanu's trial

Trial Justice Nyako had slated today to rule on applications by the defendants seeking to be admitted to bail pending determination of the five-count criminal charge the Federal Government slammed against them.

Former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode

Legit.ng gathered that Fani-Kayode, who is equally facing criminal charges the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against him, upon his arrival at the court to face his trial, sought to gain entry into the sister court handing Kanus case but was blocked by operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS.

BREAKING: Fayose, Fani-Kayode defy DSS, enter court room to witness Nnamdi Kanus trial

It took the intervention of lawyers to persuade the security operatives to let the former Minister into the courtroom, even though officials of Kuje Prison had yet to bring the defendants to court for the ruling.

BREAKING: Fayose, Fani-Kayode defy DSS, enter court room to witness Nnamdi Kanus trial

Atmosphere within the heavily-guarded high court premises is tensed, with many pro-Biafra supporters, brandishing different Biafra insignia and flags, chanting at a distance, as they were also barred from standing within perimeters of the court premises by gun wielding security men.

READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu granted bail by High Court in Abuja

Journalists are equally facing tough hurdle to gain entry into the court room, with a few that managed to squeeze in, ordered to surrender their handsets. The ruling will also determine whether FG should be allowed to shield identities of witnesses billed to testify against the defendants.

In this Legit.ng video below, a retired army major calls for dialogue between IPOB and the federal government.

Source: Legit.ng
- Nnamdi Kanu has been granted bail on health grounds by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja

- As part of his bail conditions, the court ordered Kanu never to grant any press interview pending the outcome of his trial

- The IPOB leader is also ordered not to be in a gathering of more than 10 persons

The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has been granted bail by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

Legit.ng reports that Nnamdi Kanu was granted bail on health grounds by the court on Tuesday, April 25.

The IPOB leader is also expected to provide three sureties one of who must be a serving senator, a jewish religious leader and highly respected person and must own a land in anywhere in Abuja.

Nnamdi Kanu in court on Tuesday, April 25.

The bail bond was set at N100 million for each surety.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Fayose storms Abuja court for Nnamdi Kanu's trial

As part of his bail conditions, Kanu was ordered never to grant any press interview pending the outcome of his trial.

The court also ordered that he will not be in a gathering of more than 10 persons.

The judge on the matter Justice Binta Nyako said Kanu's bail will be revoked if any of the orders are flouted.

However, the other accused persons were denied bail.

According to the judge, treasonable felony - the charges against them is a serious offence against the state.

Also, the judge refused the application by Kanu to vary her previous order on protecting witnesses in the matter.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Fayose, Fani-Kayode defy DSS, enter court room to witness Nnamdi Kanus trial

Nyako said the witnesses who have been identified as security operatives cannot be exposed in the course of the trial.

She further held that the witnesses will be identified with alphabets during the trial.

Legit.ng recalls that that prior to his arraignment today, members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in their hundreds were seen gathered at the court premises.

The protesters said they were in Abuja from all states across Nigeria to support their leader Nnamdi Kanu.

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state was also at the Federal High Court Abuja to show support for pro-Biafra agitator Nnamdi Kanu.

According to Lere Olayinka, Fayose's aide on new media, the governor is presently seated inside Federal High Court 4 as the leader of the secessionist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) appears before Justice Nya

In the Legit.ng video below, watch reactions that trailed the bail condition granted to Nnamdi Kanu in court today, April 25.

This is the first time that Fayose is openly showing support for the movement for the break away of the the Southeast from the Nigerian union as desired by pro-Biafra supporters.

In the Legit.ng video below, a retired army major calls for dialogue between IPOB and federal government.

Source: Legit.ng
In Nigeria, when it comes to food, there are certain unspoken rules and regulations which one must adhere to. You just know they exist but you do not know why.

Growing up, your parents may have told you that you cannot eat with your left hand but they never have a good reason why it so wrong.

Some of these food rules are just too funny and if you flout them, you will be in trouble. Legit.ng has gathered some for you.

1. Eating with your left hand is a taboo

If you have ever been slapped for eating with your left hand, you would understand that doing anything with your left hand, especially eating is a NO NO. Do not eat with your left hand, do not write with your left hand, do not receive things with your left. In Nigeria, you are not to do anything in this life with your left hand. So, you have to eat with your right hand and if you do so with your left, the kind of looks you get from people will give you reasons to think twice.

READ ALSO: Here are the 12 states that owe salaries despite bailout

2. Women always cook the foods

There is this saying that a womans place is in the kitchen. It is an unofficial food rule that women are responsible for preparing the food in Nigeria. The mans duty is to help in the eating. He may help out if he feels like.

3. You should eat rice every Sunday

Some Nigerians cannot do without eating Sunday rice

Wonder who came up with that rule that rice should always be eaten on Sundays and why. Rice occupies a special slot when planning for Sunday meals. Most Nigerian families eat rice every Sunday. Some people will throw a fit if they do not eat rice on a Sunday.

READ ALSO: Names of God in different Nigerian languages

4. You cannot serve a visitor or elderly person only a piece of meat

Nigerians love their meat and some see serving an older person with a piece of meat as being disrespectful. Why is it so wrong to give an older person one piece of meat?

5. You cannot pick meat or fish before someone older

This applies to when two or more people are eating together. The younger person is expected to wait for the older person to pick meat or fish first. Also, if a younger goes to pick meat from the pit, he or she is expected to pick the smallest piece and leave the big chunks for the older people.

6. A Nigerian party without jollof rice is incomplete

No Nigerian party is complete with jollof rice

Jollof Rice is the life of the party. For Nigerians, no party is complete without it and even the guests leave their homes with the knowledge that they are going to eat party jollof rice. You can serve other meals but jollof rice MUST be available. It is like a taboo for jollof rice not to be present at any Nigerian function.

READ ALSO: 7 outrageously funny reasons Nigerians eat meat last

7. You have to say thank you to all the people present after you finish your meal

It does not matter whether you bought the food yourself and the older people had no hand in its provision, you must say thank you to them when you are done eating.

Legit.ng team took a trip to Kuto market, Ogun state to check out the prices of foodstuff there.

Source: Legit.ng
- Nnamdi Kanu and the other three accused persons have been taken to Kuje prison after their court appearance

- Kanu's relatives are making arrangements to meet the bail conditions for his release

- Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state says it is unfortunate that many Nigerians are treated in the same way like Kanu.

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, has been whisked away by operatives of Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Prisons Service after he was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

Nnamdi Kanu and the other three accused persons were taken in a green prison vehicle escorted by four other black hilux vans.

Although, it is still unclear when the bail conditions will be perfected by the IPOB leader, Legit.ng reports that Kanu's relatives left immediately to make arrangements for the release the IPOB leader.

The Federal High Court had earlier ruled that IPOB leader provides three sureties one of who must be a serving senator, a jewish religious leader and highly respected person and must own a land in anywhere in Abuja as part of his bail conditions.

Kanu has been remanded in Kuje Prison pending when his bail conditions will be met.

Legit.ng learnt that the bail bond was put at N100 million for each surety.

The judge presiding over the case, Justice Binta Nyako, also ordered Kanu never to grant any press interview pending the outcome of his trial

He is also expected not to be in a gathering of more than 10 persons

Justice Binta Nyako noted that Kanu's bail will be revoked if any of the orders are flouted.

Meanwhile, the Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose has given reasons for appearing in court for Nnamdi Kanu's trial today, Tuesday, April 25.

Fayose, who wore an Igbo cap to the court, told journalists outside the courtroom that Kanu is a Nigerian who was being treated unjustly for no reason.

The governor said it is unfortunate that many Nigerians are treated in the same way like Kanu.

His words: "This nation belongs to all of us, I have come to identify with the Igbo people. My position remains that Kanu will one day walk into freedom in this our great country."

The governor's presence elicited jubilation from members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) gathered outside the courtroom.

In the Legit.ng video below, Nnamdi Kanu accuses the DSS of detaining Nigerians arbitrarily.

In the Legit.ng video below, watch reactions that trailed the bail condition granted to Nnamdi Kanu in court today, April 25.

Source: Legit.ng
Legit.ng gathered that a young man recently became the victim of what appears to be some form of racism after trying to make a purchase in South Africa.

A Nigerian man identified as @Skinnochi, took to his Instagram page to share a post about how he suffered what appears to be racism, in South Africa recently.

According to him, he had tried to order some items from a popular florist but was shocked by their attitude towards him, despite the fact that he had already paid for the said items.

The company known as netflorist, reportedly told @Skinnochi that they were 'uncomfortable' with selling the gifts to him.

READ ALSO: Buratai shows off his pet snake in a selfie

He shared the post saying:

"In case you are thinking of ordering gifts from www.netflorist.co.za and you are BLACK or worse still not South African they will be UNCOMFORTABLE to sell to you."

See more pictures below:

READ ALSO: Drama as police rents out station to church for over 5 years in Ejigbo (photo)

READ ALSO: Residents beat up man who slapped a lady for wearing IPOB cap in Rivers (photos, video)

However, it is yet to be ascertained if it was an act of racism or xenophobia against the Nigerian man.

Meanwhile, see how Nigerians protested against xenophobic attacks recently:

Source: Legit.ng
The city of Aba in Abia state was practically turned downside up on Tuesday, April 25.

The frenzy was due to the bail granted the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra - Nnamdi Kanu.

The streets of Aba were filled with pro-Biafrans who sang and danced to the news of Kanu's bail

Kanu was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, April 25.

Pro-Biafra suppoerters came from all over Nigeria to be a part of the ruling.

There were protests in support for Kanu, songs and chants were not left out of the entire drama.

Like so many other cities across Nigeria, the bail fever gripped Aba town.

Below are photos from Aba where Nnamdi Kanu has been termed a hero of his time.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Nnamdi Kanu taken to Kuje Prison after getting bail

Nnamdi Kanu was granted bail based on health reasons

BREAKING: Fever grips Abia state, as pro-Biafrans celebrate Kanu in Aba

READ ALSO: Pressure! 6 crucial reasons why Biafra will be achieved

BREAKING: Fever grips Abia state, as pro-Biafrans celebrate Kanu in Aba

BREAKING: Fever grips Abia state, as pro-Biafrans celebrate Kanu in Aba

BREAKING: Fever grips Abia state, as pro-Biafrans celebrate Kanu in Aba

READ ALSO: Fayose opens up on why he attended Nnamdi Kanu's court trial (photos, video)

BREAKING: Fever grips Abia state, as pro-Biafrans celebrate Kanu in Aba

Source: Legit.ng
- A magistrate court sitting in the Bayelsa has struck out a case against 44 members of IPOB

- The Bayelsa state police command had charged the accused persons to court on three count charges bordering on conspiracy, beach of public peace and unlawful gathering

- In delivering judgement, the court struck out the case against the detained IPOB members on the ground that it had a no case submission

A magistrate court sitting in the Bayelsa state capital, Yenagoa, has set free about forty-four members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from police detention.

The Sun reports that the IPOB members were arrested in October 2016 by men of the Joint Military Task Force code named Operation Delta Safe during their meeting at Okaka area of the state capital and handed to the police authorities for prosecution.

READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu granted bail by High Court in Abuja

The Bayelsa state police command charged the accused persons on three count charges bordering on conspiracy, beach of public peace and unlawful gathering.

But counsel to the arrested IPOB members, Barr. Kingsley Nwosu, had argued before the court for a no case submission, describing the arrest and trial of the IPOB members as a deliberate attempt to intimidate and violate the fundamental rights of people to freedom of gathering.

Nwosu said the prosecution, the Nigerian Police, failed to produce a credible witness to substantiate the three count charges against the IPOB members.

Legit.ng learnt that in delivering judgement, on Tuesday, April 25, the court struck out the case against the detained 44 IPOB members on the ground that it had a no case submission.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Fayose storms Abuja court for Nnamdi Kanu's trial

They were subsequently discharge and acquitted.

The presiding magistrate, Magistrate Penawei Mukoro, before striking out case, declared that the prosecution was unable to establish a prima-facie case against them.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, has been whisked away by operatives of Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Prisons Service after he was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

Legit.ng reports that Nnamdi Kanu and the other three accused persons were taken in a green prison vehicle escorted by four other black hilux vans.

Although, it is still unclear when the bail conditions will be perfected by the IPOB leader, but Kanu's relatives left immediately to make arrangements for the release the IPOB leader.

In the Legit.ng video below, watch as Nnamdi Kanu emerges from court after being granted bail.

Source: Legit.ng
- Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki has paid a surprise visit to the Uduehi family, who recently gave birth to a set of quintuplets

- The Edo state governor supported the family with N1 million and promised them additional support by covering the medical bills

- The family who is based in Abuja have named their children Ainose, Esose, Osejade, Obehi and Omose

Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki has paid a surprise visit to the Uduehi family, who recently gave birth to a set of quintuplets at the National Hospital in Abuja.

Uduehi, who hails from Ekpoma in Esan West local government area of Edo state, had earlier expressed surprise and joy at having five children at once revealing that they had only asked God for twins.

READ ALSO: Fayose, Fani-Kayode defy DSS, enter court room to witness Nnamdi Kanus trial

A statement endorsed by the Governor's Chief Press Secretary, Mr. John Mayaki said: "Governor Obaseki, on hearing the news, immediately paid the family a visit through a representative.

Mr and Mrs Imudia Uduehi and their children

He supported them with N1 million, while he also promised them of additional support by covering the medical bills among other bills".

Legit.ng gathered that the delegation representing the governor was led by Mr Festus Osagie Osaigbovo, who said: We are here at the instance of His Excellency, Mr Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, the governor of Edo State.

When he heard of the quintuplets delivered at the Abuja Hospital, he immediately put together this team from the liaison office to bring warm greetings to you (the family) and this hospital.

He continued: He has assured that he will settle all the bills that may arise from the care of these children. The governor will personally visit the family and the quintuplets.

The family, consisting Mr Imudia Mark and Mrs Oluwakemi Uduehi, is based in Abuja and have named their children Ainose, Esose, Osejade, Obehi and Omose.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita has promised to give the couple a house in Abuja.

READ ALSO: IPOB lists 8 mysterious things about Nnamdi Kanu

Oyo-Ita made the promise while visiting the children on Saturday, April 22, in Abuja. She said that the house will be given under the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) Scheme.

Watch the Legit.ng video below of how a corps member is putting smiles on peoples faces.

Source: Legit.ng
- Nnamdi Kanu has denied rejecting the bail granted him

- The leader of IPOB was granted bail on health grounds by Justice Binta Nyako earlier today

- Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Kanu's lawyer, says the bail condition will be met in 48 hours

Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu has denied rejecting the bail granted to him on Tuesday, April 25.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Fayose storms Abuja court for Nnamdi Kanu's trial

Daily Post had reported that Kanu vowed to remain in Kuje prisons with his co-accused persons.

The report added that Kanu rejected the bail because his co-defendants were not allowed bail.

According to the source, who spoke to Daily Post: I just finished speaking with Kanu. He has vowed to remain at Kuje prisons pending when his co-accused persons are granted bail.

He made it clear that these other three persons were arrested because of him (Nnamdi) and as such he cant abandon them there."

The leader of IPB, Nnamdi Kanu was granted bail on health grounds by Justice Binta Nyako earlier today

Kanu and three others, David Nwawuisi, Benjamin Madubugwu and Chidiebere Onwudiwe, are facing trial before the court on allegations of treason, among other charges.

Kanu was granted bail on health grounds with 12 conditions attached to the bail by the presiding judge, Binta Nyako.

Although the request for bail was by all four defendants, only Kanus bail was approved, with the listed conditions.

Legit.ng reported that Nnamdi Kanu was granted bail on health grounds by Justice Binta Nyako.

READ ALSO: Court frees 44 IPOB members from detention

But in an interview with Premium Times Kanus lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said the report that his client rejected the bail was all rumours.

Its all rumours. Were you not in court? Mr. Ejiofor asked How could he have rejected the bail, when he didnt do that in open court? Its rumours. Know that now!

Regarding the bail, Ejiofor said Kanu will meet the conditions within 48 hours but warned that any attempt by government to afterward deny his client bail would be vehemently resisted.

Ejiofor also told Legit.ng: "The terms have been listed as the conditions for the bail which we believe within the next 48 hours will be perfected."

"However, I made it clearly known to the world and everybody who cares to listen that this order of the court must be obeyed.

"Any attempt by the Federal Government to flout this particular court order will be resisted.

"In fact as a matter of fact, it will bring to an end to this trial because we will opt out of the trial and we will not allow him to be tried if the orders are flouted," the lawyer said.

He added that: "The court has also made it clear to everybody that this order must be obeyed."

Ejiofor said the era whereby court orders are flouted by Nigerian government and its agencies are long gone and would not be tolerated by him, his client and the IPOB as a group.

Legit.ng recalls that prior to his arraignment today, members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in their hundreds were seen gathered at the court premises.

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state was also at the Federal High Court Abuja to show support for pro-Biafra agitator Nnamdi Kanu.

In the Legit.ng video below, watch reactions that trailed the bail condition granted to Nnamdi Kanu in court today, April 25.

Source: Legit.ng
- Ex-governor, Babangida Aliyu, and his former chief of staff, Umar Nasko, have been sent to jail over alleged fraud

- Aliyu was alleged to have committed the offense while he served as governor for two-terms in the Niger state

The Federal High Court has ordered that the immediate past governor of Niger state, Babangida Aliyu, be remanded in prison custody until May 4.

Justice Mohammed Mayaki of the High Court sitting in Niger state also ruled that governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 election, Umar Nasko, be remanded in prison, Premium Times reports.

READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu granted bail by High Court in Abuja

Legit.ng recalls that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had on Tuesday, April 25, arraigned Babangida Aliyu, and Umar Nasko, over alleged N3bn fraud.

Aliyu was alleged to have committed the offense while he served as governor for two-terms in the Niger state.

EFCC alleges that former governor, Babangida Aliyu, diverted funds while in office.

Nasko also served as chief of staff and commissioner for environment under Aliyus administration between 2007 and 2015.

According to the charges filed against the former governor, the EFCC alleged that he diverted N520m from the Niger State Government Security Account domiciled in Zenith Bank account between January and March 2011.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Fayose, Fani-Kayode defy DSS, enter court room to witness Nnamdi Kanus trial

The anti-graft agency said that within the same period, the former governor also allegedly diverted a separate N1.7bn from the same account.

The commission said in 2015 Aliyu and Nasko allegedly diverted about N1.09bn, which was 16 per cent shares of Niger State in the North South Power Company Limited.

The alleged crimes are believed to be in contravention of sections 97 and 312 of the Penal Code.

In the Legit.ng video below, watch as Nnamdi Kanu emerges from court after being granted bail.

Source: Legit.ng
- Makarfi's PDP faction says Buhari needs adequate rest and continuous medical attention

- The opposition party says there is no synergy between the offices in the villa

The Ahmed Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described President Muhammadu Buhari as an elder statesman, who needs adequate rest and continuous medical attention, The Cable reports.

The PDP faction made this known while reacting to the expulsion of Olalekan Adetayo, state house correspondent of The Punch, from the presidential villa in Abuja,

Legit.ng had reported on Monday, April 24, that Bashir Abubakar, chief security officer (CSO) to Buhari, ordered Adetayo out of the villa for writing stories said to be uncomplimentary of the Buhari administration.

PDP says Buhari is an elder statesman who needs adequate rest

READ ALSO: UPDATED: Kanu denies rejecting bail as lawyer pledges to meet conditions in 48 hours

Before the reporter was expelled, he was questioned by the CSO on two reports  titled Seat of powers event centres going into extinction and Fresh anxiety in Aso Rock over Buharis poor health published on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

But hours later, President Muhammadu Buhari recalled The Punch reporter.

However, PDP has said that the development shows there is no synergy between the offices in the villa.

This was disclosed by Dayo Adeyeye, spokesman of the Markafi group.

He said the reports from Olalekan Adetayo should not have elicited such action from the CSO.

According to Adeyeye, any attempt to gag the media in whatever form, is an assault on the countrys democracy.

READ ALSO: Amechi, Ikedife condemn Kanu's bail conditions

He said: The PDP acknowledges Mr. Presidents health challenges; and as a human being and an elder statesman, we quite understand the need for him to have adequate rest and continuous medical attention.

We are therefore not too surprised that the president has not in recent times been able to fully face the rigours of government and has to make very rare public appearances.

This is pretty obvious to all Nigerians. The PUNCH story is therefore nothing extraordinary. It merely reflects what Nigerians already know with perhaps a little bit of speculative license. It therefore should not have elicited the extreme reaction from the presidents chief security officer.

The media as the fourth estate of the realm is an important pillar of any democracy. Any attempt to gag the press in whatever guise is an abridgment of the rights of the people and a direct assault on our hard earned democracy.

He added: We therefore totally condemn the action of the presidents CSO. He must realise that we are in a democracy and not military dictatorship.

For the umpteenth time, we want to reiterate that Nigerians deserve to know the health condition of their president. No one has the right or power to hide the president behind the curtain while dishing out instructions to Nigerians in the name of the president, it read.

We join all well-meaning Nigerians to wish the president a speedy recovery and pray that the Lord Almighty will grant all that is required for him to fulfill his responsibilities to our dear country.

Recently, Legit.ng took to the streets of Lagos to ask Nigerians if President Buhari has truly taken the country out of recession. Watch below

Source: Legit.ng
Nearly three months after being tapped to lead USDA, Sonny Perdue today was sworn in as the 31st U.S. Secretary of Agriculture during a small ceremony at the Supreme Court. The U.S. Senate confirmed Secretary Perdue by a vote of 87-to-11 last night.

Perdue, 70, was nominated to lead the agency on Jan. 19, just days before President Trump was sworn in as president of the United States. Perdue succeeds former USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack who stepped down after leading the agency for eight years during the Obama administration. Vilsack joined the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) as president and CEO in February 2017.

Perdue will oversee USDAs more than 100,000 employees and a budget exceeding $150 billion. He was born into a farming family in Bonaire, Georgia, and his career spanned stints as a farmer, agribusinessman, veterinarian, state legislator and governor of Georgia. He is not related or affiliated with the food company Perdue or the poultry producer Perdue Farms.

Commenting on his appointment, Perdue said: The only legacy that I seek is the only one that any grandparent or parent seeksto be good stewards, and to hand off our nation, our home, our fields, our forests, and our farms to the next generation in better shape than we found it. Making sure that Americans who make their livelihoods in the agriculture industry have the ability to thrive will be one of my top priorities. I am committed to serving the customers of USDA, and I will be an unapologetic advocate for American agriculture."

Perdues policies as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture will be guided by four principles:

Maximize the ability of the men and women of Americas agriculture and agribusiness sector to create jobs, to produce and sell the foods and fiber that feed and clothe the world, and to reap the earned reward of their labor. It should be the aim of the American government to remove every obstacle and give farmers, ranchers, and producers every opportunity to prosper. Prioritize customer service every day for American taxpayers and consumers. They will expect, and have every right to demand, that their government conduct the peoples business efficiently, effectively, and with the utmost integrity. As Americans expect a safe and secure food supply, USDA will continue to serve in the critical role of ensuring the food we put on the table to feed our families meets the strict safety standards weve established. Food security is a key component of national security, because hunger and peace do not long coexist. Remember that Americas agricultural bounty comes directly from the land. And today, those land resources sustain more than 320 million Americans and countless millions more around the globe.

In a statement Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) who originally opposed the nomination, said :After a thorough review of his qualifications and priorities, I support the nomination of Governor Perdue to serve as Agriculture secretary. Although we have some differences on policy, we share a commitment to support American agriculture and strengthen our small towns and rural communities. I look forward to working with Governor Perdue as we write the 2018 farm bill. Farmers and families in Michigan and all across rural America need a champion at USDA."

As secretary, I will champion the concerns of farmers, ranchers, foresters, and producers, and will work tirelessly to solve the issues facing our farm families," Perdue said. I am proud to have been given this opportunity and look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work as we continue to move the USDA and our nation forward."

In January, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), which represents food, beverage and consumer product companies, weighed in on the former governors nomination. As Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdues agricultural business background and experience as governor will serve the U.S. well," the trade group said in a statement. GMA looks forward to working with him on issues key to keeping America's food the safest and most affordable food supply in the history of the world."
Digestive health has become big business. Its difficult to determine the impetus. Have consumers always had gut health issues and its just becoming socially acceptable to explore the options? Has the internetcoupled with education efforts by brand holdersshed additional light on the subject? Is it that more consumers are seeking products to maintain good health, let alone aid with any irregularities? Or are there just so many new market innovations that consumers cant help but notice these products during their regular shopping?

Most likely a mix of all of the above, the important takeaway is consumers are increasingly interested in products to help support the microbiome. And although a segment of the market will always gravitate toward familiar fiber powders and probiotic supplements, an entirely new base of consumers is looking for creative delivery formats, tasty functional foods and beverages, or convenient dosing with a power-packed punch.

Now in its 6th year, the SupplySide West CPG Editors Choice Awards (ECAs) provides the ideal outlet to celebrate innovation in product development. Featuring nearly 30 categories across supplements, food and beverage, the awards recognize the best in the years product launchesas determined by our seasoned staff of health and nutrition editors.

With the increasing formulation capabilities of probiotics and expanding slate of gut health ingredients, digestive health products have become some of the most versatile in the industry. Their flexibility also positions them to qualify in multiple ECA categories. For instance, in addition to digestive health supplements, weve seen digestive products fare well in childrens products, coffee/tea, probiotics, breakfast food, salty snacks and animal nutrition. Now thats exciting!

Although youre welcome to submit multiple products for consideration, you should select the most applicable category for each product. If youre unsure of the best fit, simply visit our awards home page and click on the individual categories to find a description, as well as the contact information for the editor. Wed be happy to share our thoughts about which category provides the best opportunity for your unique formulation to shine.

Best of all, the top finalists in each category will be recognized and the winners announced at SupplySide West in Las VegasThursday, Sept. 28 for the supplements categories; and Friday, Sept. 29 for food and beverage. Products from the finalists are displayed on the show floor, and besides bragging rights, the winners are acknowledged on stage, where each receives a personalized trophy. There will be additional media coverage across the SupplySide Health & Nutrition Network brand sites, including photos and discussion of each brands unique positioning.

Nominations are open through Friday, July 31, 2017, but dont delayalthough the online application form is fairly concise, we also need two product samples; one for editorial review, and the other for potential display at the show. Good luck!
Starbucks' new "Unicorn Frappuccino" has made waves on the internet for its colorful presentation, but a Connecticut health department is trying to draw attention to the large amount of sugar found in the purple-pink drink.

On Friday, the Stratford Health Department called out the newest Starbucks treat on Facebook. The post read, "While the Unicorn Frappuccino may be pretty to look at, it's loaded with 59 grams of sugar! That is over two times the amount of sugar recommended by the American Heart Association!"

According to the nutritional information provided by Starbucks, a grande size (16 ounces) of the drink contains 410 calories and 59 grams of sugar. The smaller tall size (12 ounces) contains 39 grams of sugar and the super-sized venti (24 ounces) contains 76 grams of sugar.

The American Heart Association recommends limiting daily sugar intake to no more than 36 grams for men and no more than 25 grams for women.

Starbucks provides the nutritional information for its drinks on its website. Many of the other Frappuccino drinks have comparable sugar contents.

A 16-ounce Caramel Frappuccino and Cotton Candy Creme Frappuccino both have 66 grams of sugar, compared to the Unicorn Frappaccino's 59 grams. The Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino has 69 grams of sugar, the Green Tea Creme Frappuccino has 65 grams and the White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino has 64 grams.

5 Starbucks Drinks With More Sugar Than Unicorn Frappuccino

Despite the high sugar content, Starbucks lovers are taking the unicorn craze a step further, according to the "Today" show. One Reddit user posted a photo of a colorful lemonade that she said she made with Starbucks coworkers from the powders of the Unicorn Frappuccino. The photo has since been deleted, but photos of similar creations were also posted by Instagram users.

The lemonade drink is not on the official Starbucks menu, and the Unicorn Frappuccino is only available for a limited time.
As the political fight in Washington over Planned Parenthood intensifies, the number of abortions performed in Massachusetts continues to fall.

Abortions in the state have dropped by nearly 11 percent - from 20,802 in 2010 to 18,570 in 2015 - according to an Associated Press review of the most recent Massachusetts Department of Public Health statistics.

The decline mirrors nationwide trends.

A report released in November by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the abortion rate for 2013 was 12.5 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44 - down 5 percent from 2012 and half the number of abortions reported in 1980.

A more recent survey by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, found the annual number of abortions in the U.S dropped to well under 1 million in 2014, the lowest since 1974.

This month, President Donald Trump signed legislation aimed at letting states deny federal family planning money to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. The law reverses a rule that said states couldn't block the money.

But Jennifer Childs-Roshak, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the drop in the number of abortions is often overlooked in the political debate over funds for Planned Parenthood. She said better access to birth control, more reliable birth control and better sex education are responsible for the decline.

A key to the improved access to birth control nationally was the 2010 health care law signed by President Barack Obama that classified birth control as a preventative service, she said.

"When you make it easy for women to use birth control, they use it and it works," she said.

Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Anne Fox credited the drop in abortions in part on efforts by her group, including social media campaigns, a quarterly magazine and educational programs targeted at high schoolers and others.

"It absolutely is happening, we're thrilled, and we absolutely believe our education efforts are making a difference," Fox said. "Our goal is to educate everyone so there isn't a need to go to the door of a clinic."

The statistics also show why Planned Parenthood remains at the center of the abortion debate more than four decades after the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision that established a nationwide right to abortion. More than 57 percent of the abortions in Massachusetts during 2015 were performed at Planned Parenthood clinics.

In Massachusetts, support for the organization remains strong. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has said his administration is prepared to increase state assistance for Planned Parenthood clinics if Congress blocks Medicaid funding for the organization.

The Massachusetts statistics provide other detail on abortions in 2015, including:

-Nearly 77 percent were obtained by women between the ages of 20 and 34.

-71 percent of the abortions were performed in the first eight weeks of pregnancy; just 15 abortions were performed at 24 weeks of pregnancy or later.

-More than 74 percent of abortions were obtained by women who were not married.

-About 46 percent of the women obtaining abortions were white, compared to 16 percent who were black, about 13 percent who were Hispanic and 6 percent who were Asian.

-Half of the abortions were first-time abortions for the women involved; 25 percent had had one previous abortion while 9 percent had had three or more previous abortions.
Right-wing politician Marine Le Pen claimed victory alongside centrist Emmanuel Macron for the French presidential runoff, with the future of the European Union at stake.

Centrist Emmanuel Macron placed first and far-right leader Marine Le Pen placed second in initial exit polls in the first round of Frances presidential election, advancing them to a head-to-head showdown in the runoff on May 7.

Macron, who was economy minister until August, has never held elected office and has struggled to create as energetic or committed a base as Le Pens, even as he has led in many opinion polls.

Macron says he would have the EU do more to help weaker EU countries.

Le Pen would pull France from the EU.
The combat laser for the AC-130J gunship is rapidly moving from the concept to the practice according to General Brad Webb, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command. Webb recently visited MIT Lincoln Labs to view its advancements, and saw Naval Sea Systems Command Dahlgrens latest efforts to network all of the various components within the aircraft.

A proof of concept for a high-energy laser on a gunship will help pave the path for AFSOC to pursue directed energy weapons on other aircraft.

Over the next year, the command plans to make major strides in the development of the technology, Webb said.

It will first conduct vibration tests, he said. In the fiscal year 2014 office of the director of operational test and evaluation annual report, J. Michael Gilmore, the Pentagons top weapons tester at the time, found that the AC-130J was having issues integrating its precision strike package because the gunship was generating more vibration than previous aircraft. That created the risk of fratricide, Gilmore noted. While the issue was resolved years ago, Webb said he would keep a close eye on any such reoccurrence with the laser integration.

The next step will be to construct a special window  which will be placed where the gunships 30mm gun port currently resides  from which the laser beam will shoot.

Once those tests have been completed, the command plans to fly the laser on the gunship, he said.

Webb added that while the technology is being designed for an offensive capability, it could also be used for defensive missions. Defensive capabilities would absolutely be an added capability for the command.

In the fiscal year 2017 DOD budget request, the Defense Department asked for $674.3 million for directed energy weapons. Over the next five years it will allocate $3.4 billion across the board.

The Pentagon is currently in the process of developing a directed energy weapon roadmap.



AC130J will have its 105mm gun, 30 mm gun and a combat laser
The 3% Conference, which supports female creative leadership at agencies, has estimated that only 11 percent of creative directors are women, even as they account for half of the industrys work force. For black women, the field is even tougher: Last month, the Interpublic Group publicized statistics from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission showing that fewer than 1 percent of executives in advertising, public relations and related services are black women.

When you consider someone like Carol Williams could come up and be African-American and a woman and come to a place where she is inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame, that accomplishment cannot be understated, said Judy F. Davis, a professor of marketing at Eastern Michigan University and author of the book Pioneering African-American Women in the Advertising Business. Its an important symbol in terms of the history of the advertising business.

(The Hall of Fame, which is administered by the American Advertising Federation, inducted its first African-American woman two years ago: Catherine L. Hughes, the founder of Radio One, the countrys largest black-controlled multimedia company.)

Ms. Williams, who is in her late 60s, said she had initially been hired by Rudolph Perz, the creator of the Pillsbury Doughboy. She was behind the campaign Say Hello to Poppin Fresh Dough  the Doughboys name  and created his female counterpart, Little Poppy, who was not subject to the famous giggle-inducing belly pokes that Poppin Fresh endured. (The decision, she recalled, followed a huge discussion, with the team ultimately deciding it was abusive to poke Little Poppy because she was a young girl.)

Ms. Williams eventually became the first woman to be a creative director at Leo Burnett, but her career was not without challenges. She learned to ignore or detach herself from situations where men would say culturally unacceptable things, she said, and advanced without having a female boss or peer to derive mentorship from.

It was a challenge, for example, to balance a demanding workaholic culture with the need to pick up her daughter, who is also named Carol, from school on time, she said.

The environment drove her to create work that led to tangible results for brands, she said. A campaign for Pillsbury relied on a paper knife to highlight the texture of its canned frosting, a stunt that changed many Americans perception of the product. Before her work with Secret, she said, women were perceived as soft, delicate creatures that didnt sweat.
Moreover, the middle-income group was smaller  and the groups at either extreme larger  in the United States than in any of the 11 Western European countries studied.

And incomes in the middle rose faster in Europe than they did in the United States, according to Pew. Median incomes in the middle tier grew by 9 percent in the United States between 1991 and 2010, compared with a 25 percent gain in Denmark and a 35 percent increase in Britain.

The United States, including the middle class, has a higher median income than nearly all of Europe, even if the Continent is catching up. The median household income in the United States was $52,941 after taxes in 2010, compared with $41,047 in Germany and $41,076 in France.

And while inequality may be widening, the proportion of households in the upper-income strata rose to 15 percent from 13 percent.

Financially, the U.S. remains well ahead of the countries in Europe, Mr. Kochhar said. The difference is how incomes have evolved, and they are catching up.

Although the cutoff of the study, 2010, may have highlighted weak income gains because it was in the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession, he said that was not enough to alter the studys findings.

Its a clear trend that the middle class in the U.S. is shrinking and not keeping up financially with the upper-income group, he said. There is an aura of redistribution of income from middle income to upper income.
I am sad that I am not on television anymore.

With those words, Bill OReilly broke his silence on Monday evening, addressing listeners for the first time since he was ousted from Fox News amid revelations that he and the network paid millions of dollars to settle allegations of sexual harassment against him by multiple women.

After 20 years as the king of cable news, Mr. OReillys return to broadcasting came not on camera, but in a 19-minute recorded podcast on his personal website. At the outset, he acknowledged to his fans that this was a completely different experience than what youve had in the past.

I was very surprised how it all turned out, Mr. OReilly said of his forced exit last week from Fox News. I cant say a lot because theres much stuff going on right now. But I can tell you that Im very confident the truth will come out. And when it does  I dont know if youre going to be surprised, but I think youre going to be shaken, as I am.

Mr. OReilly said that he would record a current-events podcast on his subscription-based website, airing four nights a week, that he hoped would soon develop into a genuine news program. But he demurred on offering further details about his abrupt removal from the air.
Kate OBeirne, who cogently advanced the conservative agenda in the pages of National Review and unflinchingly defended it on the CNN program The Capital Gang, died on Sunday in McLean, Va. She was 67.

April Ponnuru, a friend, said the cause was lung cancer.

If Irving Kristol was the Godfather of neoconservatism, then Kate OBeirne was the den mother of the modern American right, Jonah Goldberg, a senior editor of National Review, wrote on its website.

Mrs. OBeirne devoted her life to conservative causes. She served in the Department of Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan; was deputy director of domestic policy studies and vice president of government relations at the Heritage Foundation; and was Washington editor and wrote the Bread and Circuses column for National Review under its founding editor, William F. Buckley Jr.

For 11 years she sparred with Robert Novak, Albert Hunt, Mark Shields and Margaret Carlson on The Capital Gang. She was also a substitute host on Crossfire on CNN and a commentator on NewsHour With Jim Lehrer on PBS.
Dennis Edwards Jr., the judge who presided over the trial of Mark David Chapman, John Lennons killer, in 1981, died on April 13 at his home in Manhattan. He was 95.

The death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Ayanna Behin.

Mr. Edwards had served for more than 15 years as a law secretary to the New York Supreme Court before Mayor Robert F. Wagner appointed him a judge on the criminal court in 1965. He was reappointed by Mayors John V. Lindsay in 1972 and Edward I. Koch in 1981.

At the criminal court, which handles arraignments and misdemeanor crimes, he set bail, heard testimony and pronounced sentences (or dismissed charges) for a long procession of Vietnam War protesters, the restaurateur Toots Shor (accused of assaulting an unruly customer in 1967) and a teenage robbery suspect who charged the bench and hit Judge Edwards over the head with his shoe.

His most famous case came as an acting Supreme Court justice in 1981, when Mr. Chapman, against the advice of his lawyer, pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Lennon outside his apartment building, the Dakota, in Manhattan in December 1980. The charge was second-degree murder.
The number of New York City public school students living in homeless shelters has increased in each of the last five years, reaching nearly 33,000 in the 2015-16 school year, the citys Independent Budget Office said in a report on Monday.

That is 4,000 more students than at any point during the previous academic year, an increase of 15 percent.

The report, by Liza Pappas, an education policy analyst for the budget office, documented not only the increasing number of homeless students but also how they are distributed around the school system. These students, who often need extra services to help compensate for disruptions in their home lives and their schooling, tend to be clustered in a relatively small number of schools.

At a vast majority of city schools, few students live in shelters. But at 45 schools, in each of the last five years, more than 10 percent of the students have been homeless.
Coal, oil, gas and chemical industries, technology and pharmaceutical companies contributed a big chunk of the record $107 million collected to pay for the inauguration, according to numbers released by the inaugural committee last week. Thats more than double the $53 million President Obama raised in 2009, for bigger festivities that drew many more attendees. If Mr. Trump had divided his inauguration cash among the Americans who stood on the National Mall for his swearing-in, each one would have gotten about $699.

The inaugural committee says any money not spent will be given to charity  but Mr. Trumps record of lying about his philanthropy puts that in doubt.

Two presidents before Mr. Trump tried to limit corporate financing of their inaugurations. George W. Bush capped all gifts at $100,000 in 2001 and $250,000 in 2005. President Obama capped contributions to his first inaugural at $50,000 and banned money from lobbyists; he blew through that precedent at his second inaugural, capping individual gifts at $250,000 but accepting corporate cash of up to $1 million. Mr. Trumps inaugural committee upped that ante by eliminating limits on individual contributions and retaining the $1 million cap on corporate money.

Mr. Trump, as a real estate mogul campaigning for president, often bragged about buying political influence. In office he has dutifully done the bidding of donors who have been brazen in demands for regulatory favors, while failing to make any progress on the health insurance, jobs and middle-class tax cuts he promised to his working-class base.

AT&T gave more than $2 million in cash, plus in-kind donations; Verizon and Comcast pitched in smaller amounts. Theyve been rewarded with efforts by the Federal Communications Commission to scuttle net neutrality and other rules they dont like. The pharmaceutical companies Amgen and Pfizer kicked in a total of $1.5 million. After Mr. Trumps White House meeting with Big Pharma, he backed off his campaign promise that government would negotiate lower drug prices for Americans.
FRONT PAGE

Because of an editing error, an article on Sunday about the influence of the real-estate industry on tax issues referred incorrectly to the makeup of Congress when it approved a 1986 tax overhaul. Republicans were in the majority in the Senate and Democrats controlled the House; there was not a Democratic Congress then.



An article on Sunday about people outside the White House whose advice is sought by President Trump referred incorrectly to one such informal adviser, Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots. Mr. Krafts loyalty to the president dates partly to Mr. Trumps thoughtfulness when Mr. Krafts wife died, not when his father died. The article also referred imprecisely to the legal credentials of Sheri A. Dillon. While she has advised President Trump on ethics issues, she specializes in tax law; she is not an ethics lawyer.

INTERNATIONAL

A picture caption on Sunday with an article about an Afghan woman with dementia who has been ordered deported from Denmark misidentified the woman, Zarmena Waziri, in some copies. In the 1989 photograph of her family, she is the second woman from the right, not from the left.

BUSINESS DAY

The Advertising column on Monday, about Trojans new ad campaign intended to make women more comfortable buying condoms, rendered incorrectly the name of a political action group whose founder questioned the timing of the campaign given the current political climate. The group is #VoteProChoice, not Vote Pro Choice.
SAN FRANCISCO  Yahoo shareholders will vote June 8 on whether to sell the companys internet businesses to Verizon Communications for $4.48 billion. A yes vote, which is widely expected, would end Marissa Mayers largely unsuccessful five-year effort to restore the internet pioneer to greatness.

But Ms. Mayer, the companys chief executive, will be well compensated for her failure. Her Yahoo stock, stock options and restricted stock units are worth a total of $186 million, based on Mondays stock price of $48.15, according to data filed on Monday in the documents sent to shareholders about the Verizon deal.

That compensation, which will be fully vested at the time of the shareholder vote, does not include her salary and bonuses over the past five years, or the value of other stock that Ms. Mayer has already sold. All told, her time at Yahoo will have netted her well over $200 million, according to calculations based on company filings.

Ms. Mayer did give up additional equity compensation that she would have received in 2017 as a penalty for her management teams failure to act on a 2014 breach of the companys systems that led to the theft of data on 500 million users. Last month, the federal government indicted four people, including two Russian intelligence officials, in that crime.
Companies like Unroll.me have long acted as intelligence services offering insights to businesses seeking to gain a competitive edge. Both Uber and Lyft pay for information from Slice as well as other data services, according to two people familiar with the companies competitive intelligence programs, who asked to remain anonymous because the programs were confidential. Uber and Lyft declined to comment.

Unroll.me, which was bought by Slice in 2014, is a tiny player in the personal data market. The larger data brokers  with names like Acxiom, CoreLogic, Datalogix and ID Analytics  have been the subject of inquiries by a congressional committee and the Federal Trade Commission.

In 2014, after concluding its investigation, the F.T.C. called on Congress to protect consumers against the unchecked collection and marketing of their digital data. The F.T.C. report detailed how some of the companies classify consumers in data-driven social and demographic groups for marketing purposes with labels like financially challenged, diabetes interest and smoker in the household. The concern is that such classifications could be used to limit fair access to financial services or health insurance.

The F.T.C. recommendation, which was endorsed in a separate report by the Obama administration, was not taken up in Congress.

Unroll.me bills itself as offering an easy way to clean up your inbox. After someone grants the service access to his or her email account, Unroll.me serves up a list of all the subscriptions they are a part of, with the option to quickly opt out of the ones they no longer want to receive. The company also organizes subscription emails and delivers a newsletter-style digest of some subscriptions.

The service, which began as a test in 2011, quickly took off with users, attracting the attention of Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce giant that now owns Slice. Rakuten invested in Unroll.me before Slice ultimately bought it.

Unroll.me discloses its freewheeling use of personal data in its privacy policy, which says that we may collect, use, transfer, sell and disclose nonpersonal information for any purpose and that the data can be used to build anonymous market research products and services.
WASHINGTON  In case anyone was wondering, President Trump wants it known that he does not care about the false judgment of his administration after just 100 days. Its an artificial barrier, he sniffed the other day. Not very meaningful, he scoffed. A ridiculous standard, he added on Twitter.

So how is Mr. Trump spending his final week before the artificial and ridiculous 100-day point of his presidency? With a flurry of action on health care, taxes and the border wall to show just how much he has done in the first 100 days  amplified by a White House program of first-100-days briefings, first-100-days receptions, a first-100-days website and a first-100-days rally.

It may not be meaningful, but Mr. Trump has invested quite a lot of meaning in the 100-day grading period, deeply anxious that he be judged a success at this early stage. And not just a success, but one with plenty of superlatives: the most successful president with the most executive orders and bills signed and the best relationships with foreign leaders and the most action taken by any president ever in the first 100 days. Even though its an artificial barrier.

As with so much else, Trump is a study in inconsistency, said Robert Dallek, the presidential historian. One minute he says his 100 days have been the best of any president, and the next minute he decries the idea of measuring a president by the 100 days.
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration announced on Monday that it would impose new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports, escalating a longstanding conflict with Americas second-largest trading partner.

The Commerce Department determined that Canada had been improperly subsidizing the sale of softwood lumber products to the United States, and after failed negotiations, Washington decided to retaliate with tariffs of 3 percent to 24 percent. The penalties will be collected retroactively on imports dating back 90 days.

The decision came days after President Trump complained bitterly about Canadas dairy trade practices, and the tariffs signaled a harsher turn in his relationship with Canada, even as he seeks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. While he has often assailed China, Mexico and others for their trade practices, he seemed to have forged a strong relationship with Canadas prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

The United States and Canada have been at odds over softwood lumber in one form or another since the 19th century, with the current dispute tracing back to 1982. The United States imported $5.7 billion in softwood lumber last year alone, mainly for residential home building.
White House officials declined to comment on the 15 percent target, which people close to the administration cautioned could change between now and the announcement on Wednesday, perhaps repeatedly. They warned that the details were sketchy at best, and others who have discussed the tax overhaul plan with administration officials in recent days said there was still indecision at the highest levels about what elements to include and in what form.

What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? Whats their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Learn more about our process.

The Wednesday deadline, set hastily by Mr. Trump last week in a comment that appeared to catch some of his closest advisers off guard, was an effort to showcase an ambitious plan for economic growth during his first 100 days in office. During the campaign, he promised to introduce a tax cut proposal to Congress in the first 100 days. But he has had no major legislative achievements to point to as evidence of an activist economic agenda.

The 15 percent cut represents a return for Mr. Trump to the economic vision that animated his campaign, and a victory of sorts for Mr. Mnuchin, who has been a supporter of the plan. The cut also helps Mr. Mnuchin jockey for position as the driving force behind the tax overhaul effort.

Our analysis has always shown that of all the economic bang for the buck from all of the changes that were in the original Trump plan, you get the most economic juice from cutting the corporate rate, said Stephen Moore, an economist at the Heritage Foundation who advised Mr. Trumps presidential campaign.

One question that Mr. Trump will have to answer, Mr. Moore said, is whether the 15 percent rate would apply only to corporations or to small businesses, as well. But there are plenty of other unknowns, he added.

They can change their minds, Mr. Moore said. Theyve been all over the map.

Members of Mr. Trumps team of economic advisers are set to meet with Republican leaders in Congress on Tuesday to discuss the plan.
WASHINGTON  The annual Holocaust remembrance ceremony at the Capitol is typically a noncontroversial event. But Tuesdays commemoration is fast becoming a rallying point for critics who accuse the Trump White House of courting white nationalists and playing down the suffering of Jews.

In his first three months in office, President Trump has found himself at the center of recurrent and at times bewildering controversies surrounding his relationship with Jews. His daughter Ivanka is a convert to Judaism and is raising her children Jewish.

This month, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said that Adolf Hitler had not used chemical weapons against his own people, though Mr. Spicer later apologized profusely. And in a news release for Tuesdays event at the Capitol, the White House copied, nearly word for word, language posted on the website of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which is sponsoring the commemoration.

Some Jewish groups have already expressed concern about the White House chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, who was accused by a former wife of making anti-Jewish comments, and his deputy, Sebastian Gorka, who has been accused of links to far-right groups in Europe. The criticism goes back to the 2016 presidential campaign, when Trump supporters fired anti-Semitic attacks at his opponents and at journalists viewed as hostile to his candidacy.
Venezuelan government officials blamed the opposition for attacks against pro-government demonstrators on Monday during sit-ins organized by the opposition that gathered thousands in support of elections.

Officials said the casualties included two dead in gunfire in Merida and Barinas States, among the places where opposition protesters gathered against President Nicolas Maduro.

The sit-ins were the latest in a series of large demonstrations over the past three weeks. They became almost daily occurrences after security forces last Wednesday attacked crowds of peaceful protesters with rubber bullets and water cannons. The toll has mounted, with more than 20 deaths in looting and clashes with the security forces.

Mondays sit-ins had aimed to scale back the violence. Crowds with umbrellas and blankets closed a main highway in Caracas, singing songs, reading books and playing dominoes and cards.
The campaign of the French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has been targeted by what appear to be the same Russian operatives responsible for hacks of Democratic campaign officials before last years American presidential election, a cybersecurity firm warns in a new report.

The report has heightened concerns that Russia may turn its playbook on France in an effort to harm Mr. Macrons candidacy and bolster that of Mr. Macrons rival, the National Front leader Marine Le Pen, in the final weeks of the French presidential campaign.

Security researchers at the cybersecurity firm, Trend Micro, said that on March 15 they spotted a hacking group they believe to be a Russian intelligence unit turn its weapons on Mr. Macrons campaign  sending emails to campaign officials and others with links to fake websites designed to bait them into turning over passwords.

The group began registering several decoy internet addresses last month and as recently as April 15, naming one onedrive-en-marche.fr and another mail-en-marche.fr to mimic the name of Mr. Macrons political party, En Marche.
Chris Soules, who rose to fame as a star on the reality television series The Bachelor, was arrested by the authorities in Iowa after they said he fled the scene of a crash that killed one person.

Around 8:20 p.m. Monday, the Buchanan County Sheriffs Office received a report of an accident near the northeastern city of Aurora, the sheriffs office said in a statement. Investigators said Mr. Soules, 35, was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado southbound when he rear-ended a John Deere tractor that Kenneth Eugene Mosher, 66, was driving.

The collision caused the tractor to go into a ditch, and the authorities said Mr. Mosher was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mr. Souless truck went into a different ditch, but the sheriffs office said he was not injured in the accident and left the scene before deputies arrived.
It was a sticky June day in the financial district when the choreographer Will Rawls, still recovering from a performance of his piece The Planet Eaters, first met the poet Claudia Rankine. She and her husband, the filmmaker John Lucas, were investigating his work for a potential collaboration merging poetry, video and dance.

I was a little beside myself, Mr. Rawls recalled after a recent rehearsal of What Remains, the project that came out of that meeting and that opens on Thursday at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College. I was exhausted and sweaty, and in walks Claudia Rankine.

They hit it off almost instantly  not always the case when it comes to artistic blind dates. Their matchmaker was Gideon Lester, the artistic director of theater and dance at the Fisher Center, who paired them not only with each other but also with a theme. What Remains is one of seven new works in Were Watching, a four-day multidisciplinary exhibition organized by Mr. Lester around the topic of surveillance, broadly defined. Its guiding, open-ended question, as he put it in a recent interview, is this: What is the effect of the surveillance state on the experience of being human?
The L.A. Dance Project, founded in 2012 by Benjamin Millepied, has signed a five-year lease for its own rehearsal and performance space in the downtown Los Angeles arts district, and will move to its new headquarters in October. The troupe will share the former industrial building with the Ghebaly Gallery, and refashion its portion of the 12,000-square-foot interior to include two studios and a performance space with a seating capacity of about 300.

Symbolically, its a big deal, Mr. Millepied said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. We are really the first dance company here to have its own performing venue, and we hope to have around 40 performances a year. A company needs to have a permanent place in a city to really be part of it.

Mr. Millepied, the French-born former New York City Ballet principal, returned to Los Angeles last year with his wife, the actress Natalie Portman, after leaving his position as the director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet.

He said that the raw space would be equipped with a full lighting plot and modular seating. Well be able to create work and rehearse with lighting, which is a major luxury, he said. He added that he planned to program multidisciplinary performances and events year-round, have classes and workshops, and offer the space to other artists and ensembles when the troupe is on tour.
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta has the largest collection of Thornton Dial works in the world. Its now about to get bigger, thanks to a major acquisition of artworks courtesy of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation.

A total of 54 works by contemporary African-American artists from the South make up the gift and purchase. Thirteen of those are by Mr. Dial, a self-taught artist who used scavenged materials to depict black struggle in the South. The acquisition includes Crossing Waters (2006-11), which refers to the trans-Atlantic slave trade and was the largest painting ever made by Mr. Dial, who died last year.

With the acquisition, the museum will also receive 11 quilts by the women of Gees Bend, a remote community in Alabama renowned for its beautiful quilting. In a 2002 review in The New York Times of a Gees Bend collection at the Whitney Museum, Michael Kimmelman called them some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced.

The collection also includes works by Lonnie Holley, Ronald Lockett and Sam Doyle. To showcase the new pieces, the museum will increase the space in its folk and self-taught art galleries by 30 percent, as part of a permanent collection reinstallation planned for 2018.
A museum can be a showcase for just about anything, it seems. The Museum of Ice Cream will take you through a fantasy world of sprinkles and gooey chocolate topping. Visitors to the Museum of Sex in New York City meander through the artifacts of erotic life and history.

Do you want to unburden yourself of the pain of a broken heart? You can, the Museum of Broken Relationships suggests, by visiting its curated collections in Los Angeles or Zagreb, Croatia, of mementos donated anonymously by people who share similar feelings of love gone bad.

Now, if anyone is interested in why some gadgets have ended up on the garbage heap of product history, Dr. Samuel West, an organizational psychologist, says he hopes to show them why at the Museum of Failure.

The museum will open in Helsingborg, Sweden, on June 7 with a curated collection of over 60 products that, the museum website says, can provide insight into the risky business of innovation. A collection of nine objects from the museum is on tour, stopping in Miami, Berlin and Amsterdam.
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. What do you think of it? What else are you interested in? Let us know: thearts@nytimes.com.

A Milestone for Trump (and Late Night)

On Saturday, President Trump will have been in office for 100 days, and the late-night hosts had plenty to say about it.

Stephen Colbert, whose ratings have been up lately, wondered whether Mr. Trumps enigmatic reference to S.C. in a Friday tweet might have been about him:
A LINE MADE BY WALKING

By Sara Baume

308 pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $25.

What if you are a sensitive and offbeat soul, determined to be an artist, but suspect you have no talent? At what point does fortitude (all those chapters, drawings, songs) pass into life-destroying intransigence?

And, oh God, what if you are not even so offbeat? What if every time you walk into an espresso bar, you spy a dozen tortured humans in black knitwear who seem as miserable as you are? What if your life is a portable anthology of cliches?

The Irish writer Sara Baume, in her second novel, A Line Made by Walking, picks up these sorts of eternal questions, packs them into her rucksack and carries them quite a long way.

Her novel is about Frankie, who is 25, cries all day and rolls around the carpet of her rented room like a small, gut-shot mammal. Frankie has studied art in Dublin, where she dressed the part: A ring through my lip, a ring through my nose, a pair of oxblood Doc Martens.
After Puharich, every psychic and crystal-ball reader piled on. The C.I.A., for example, funded efforts to produce a drug that would turn off ESP even before ESP itself was discovered. Our Army (Be all you can be) conducted classified experiments to detect ESP in cats. How the Army planned to weaponize ESP cats is not explained. When Uri Geller met Wernher von Braun, he used psychokinesis to bend the rocket scientists gold wedding band, then fixed his pocket calculator via mind control. Analysts in the Pentagon decided Geller could be used as an antiballistic missile system, altering the electrical circuits of incoming ICBMs. In the Pentagons words, imagining the utility of psychokinesis for this task would not be conceptually difficult.

None of the experiments described in Phenomena struck me as scientific. The psychics were tested by other believers, as it was maintained that any negative attitudes would foil the experimental results. There was no legitimate peer review or efforts to replicate results. Management overseers  the people who got the money  were philosophically onboard. One of them, Maj. Gen. Albert Stubblebine, admitted that his goal in meditation was to learn how to levitate.

What the psychic researchers were best at was finding success where none existed. When, in 1988, Marine Lieut. Col. William Richard Higgins was abducted in Lebanon by Hezbollah, one of our nations top remote viewers, Angela Dellafiora, was asked to find him by psychic means. She announced that he was still alive, being moved from place to place, and was on water. In fact, he was long dead. The terrorists had kept his body on ice to preserve it. Dellafioras supervisor declared success. After all, she had said he was on water, and ice is frozen water.

Jacobsen does not come up with a dollar total for how much has been spent by the government on psychic phenomena, but the Stanford Research Institute, where some of this work was conducted, had a yearly budget of $70 million. Jacobsens admirable deadpan style made me first believe that her book is an expose of government foolishness. In the final chapters, however, she appears sympathetic to the field.

Kenneth Kress, a C.I.A. analyst, wrote that belief is a binary issue with regard to the paranormal. There are two types of reactions positive and negative, with little in between. Jacobsens sources should have used mind control to get her a more receptive Times reviewer. I was a bust in catechism class, never getting behind the Jesus stuff. The miracle of feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes mystified me. With such powers, I would go, Hey, filet mignon for everybody! Same deal, Uri Geller. With mental metal-bending skills, why not form sheet metal panels for General Motors rather than ruin peoples silverware?

In the late 1970s I constructed the editorial format for a science magazine called Omni. The owner asked me to include some coverage of paranormal science. During a 10-year period, looking for just one legitimate event, I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of this mans money, not to mention suffering through tedious lunches with lunatics. (Have you ever tried eating creme brulee with a bent spoon?) Then there were meetings with the psychics equally creepy codependents, the debunkers. Every psychic phenomenon our staff looked at was quickly discredited, or duplicated easily by magicians.

Phenomena winds down as a picaresque novel should. It goes nowhere, and there is no character development. The people end up as shallow as they began. Jacobsen finds Geller filthy rich but still willing to bend spoons for people in restaurants. In 1995, suffering from dementia, kidney failure and gangrene in one leg, Andrija Puharich, surrounded by feral cats (sans ESP), fell down a flight of stairs to his death.
(Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Good morning.

Heres what you need to know:

 Seeking an A on a test he rejects.

President Trump has dismissed the 100-day point of his administration on Saturday as an artificial barrier that is not very meaningful.

Nevertheless, he has invested plenty of meaning into the period, anxious to be judged a success from an early stage, our chief White House correspondent writes.
Two lawyers for Mr. Jones, emailed on Tuesday, were not available for comment.

One of the InfoWars stories that is the subject of Chobanis lawsuit involved a 2016 sexual assault in Twin Falls that drew national headlines. The InfoWars video promoted on Twitter on April 11 reported that three children involved in the assault were refugees, and then it gave details of Chobanis policy of hiring refugees in the city.

The Twin Falls County prosecutor, Grant Loebs, said in an interview on Tuesday that the assault case had nothing to do with Chobani. He said he was not authorized to speak about the details because the case involved minors, although he noted that the local news media had been reporting on it since it happened last year.

Mr. Loebs said that on June 2, 2016, a 5-year-old girl at an apartment complex in Twin Falls was sexually assaulted by three boys, ages 7, 10 and 14. Two of them were refugees from Eritrea, and one was from Iraq. The children pleaded guilty to separate charges including sexual exploitation of a child and misdemeanor battery.

There was no gang rape, no knife attack, and we did not charge anybody with rape because no rape occurred, Mr. Loebs said.

The lawsuit filed by Chobani said Mr. Jones and his companies had declined to remove the reports or publish a retraction despite multiple written demands.

It said the defendants acted with actual malice to harm Chobanis reputation and to discourage customers from purchasing its products. The lawsuit is seeking a jury trial, and the amount of substantial damages Chobani has suffered will be provided at a trial.

The lawsuit also noted that Mr. Jones was no stranger to spurious statements. It cited his previous contentions that the Sept. 11 attacks were orchestrated by the United States government and that the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax concocted by those hostile to the Second Amendment.
LONDON  The LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury empire and the French billionaire Bernard Arnault announced on Tuesday a series of moves to take over Christian Dior in a $13.1 billion deal to consolidate control over the 70-year-old Parisian fashion house.

The transaction would simplify LVMHs relationship with Christian Dior by buying out minority shareholders. LVMH, the worlds biggest luxury group by revenue, already owns Parfums Christian Dior, and the deal would give it ownership of the Christian Dior haute couture, leather, mens and womens ready-to-wear, and shoe businesses.

As part of the proposal, one of the largest for the luxury goods conglomerate, the Arnault family offered to buy the 25.9 percent of Dior it does not already own. The family would hand over a mix of cash and Hermes shares, valuing Dior at 260 euros, or $282, a share, LVMH said. That represented a 15 percent premium over the closing price on Monday.

The LVMH fashion and leather goods division would then buy Christian Dior Couture for an enterprise value of 6.5 billion.
Do companies really listen to the feedback they get from their mainstream investors? said Michelle Edkins, global head of corporate governance at BlackRock. I think they are certainly making an effort to listen more.

But activists, she added, can act as an important check and balance on management that has lost its way.

Before Neuberger Berman approached the activists, it talked to Whole Foods representatives and made its case for change. While the company undertook some reforms  for one, scrapping its dual-chief-executive structure in November  the conversations yielded little effect on the companys dwindling share price.

So Neuberger Berman executives prepared an inch-thick presentation, the kind of document usually produced by activists. It took broad aim at Whole Foods, criticizing everything from its cozy board and wilting produce to its pricey real estate in well-heeled neighborhoods like Columbus Circle, where Whole Foods has a store in the Time Warner Center  one of the most expensive retail spaces in New York City. With that in hand, they approached several hedge funds, including Starboard Value and Elliott Management.

Before long, Jana was amassing shares of Whole Foods. On April 10, as it unveiled its stake in the company, it ticked off a list of complaints that echoed Neuberger Bermans concerns: The brand was suffering, customer service was lagging and the company needed fresh blood on the board.

Jana declined to comment.

Neuberger Berman declined to comment about its interactions with hedge funds regarding Whole Foods, but said the firm was willing to take a more active role in certain situations. We have engaged with the company quite aggressively over the course of the last period of time, said Joseph Amato, president and chief investment officer of Neuberger Berman, referring to Whole Foods.
President Trump wants a corporate tax rate of 15 percent, even if it affects his promise to curb deficits, according to people with knowledge of the plan.

Mr. Trump told his staff that he wanted a tax cut to sell to the American public and that it was less important that the plan could add to the federal budget deficit, according to The Wall Street Journal, which had earlier reported the proposal.

The tax cut was one of Mr. Trumps marquee campaign promises, but he had not embraced it since taking office. If the plan were to take root, some Republicans might recoil at such a deep cut because of its potential to increase the deficit.

There were few further details about the proposal. White House officials declined to comment on the 15 percent figure, but people close to the administration cautioned that there was still indecision at senior levels about what elements to include and in what form.
Tyson Foods has found a delectable new bite to swallow in its quest to become Americas premier protein provider from the farmyard to the kitchen table. The $3.2 billion purchase of AdvancePierre, a ready-to-eat sandwich maker, takes the Springdale, Ark.-based poultry company further up the food value chain. Along with plans to carve off some less wholesome morsels, Tyson is giving investors plenty to cluck about.

The countrys largest producer of broiler chickens, Tyson had already been reducing its dependence on the volatile commodity meat business. In 2014, for example, it forked out $8.5 billion for Hillshire Brands, another prepared-foods producer. AdvancePierre, whose forerunner Tyson owned briefly after acquiring the meat producer Hudson Foods in 1997, is more digestible.

Its also pretty juicy. The Cincinnati-based outfit, which gets two-thirds of its revenue from selling sandwiches through food-service companies and convenience stores, had an Ebitda  earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization  margin of 15.9 percent last year, well above Tysons 9.4 percent.

The new owner is paying for the privilege, forking over a $770 million, or 32 percent, premium to AdvancePierres share price before talk of a deal first surfaced earlier this month. Thats more than covered by the $200 million of fat Tyson expects to trim. Once taxed and capitalized, those are currently worth $1.4 billion to shareholders.
In a memo dated April 17 that was also released Monday, the department instructed its security officers to review its policy for the use of force, emphasizing the directive that the safety of innocent persons and officers is of paramount importance. All four officers involved in Dr. Daos removal have been placed on administrative leave.

The release included personnel files for all of the officers involved, including Officer Long, Officer Steven L. Smith, Officer Mauricio Rodriguez Jr. and Sgt. John Moore, as well as the notice given that each was being put on administrative leave. Officer Long and Sgt. Moore had each been disciplined for minor, non-violent incidents in the past.

The department also released audio of the original call in which the airline asked for help.

Two passengers are refusing to get off the aircraft when instructed by the agent and also the supervisor, an airline employee tells the police dispatcher. He could not give a description of the passengers.

Any information on were they drinking, were they doing anything like that? the dispatcher asks a little later in the recording.

No, its something with an oversold and didnt volunteer or something like that, the United employee responds.

In fact, the flight was not oversold. United was attempting to make seats available for a flight crew that needed to be in Kentucky for flights the next morning. The airline tried to get volunteers, but when no one stepped forward four people were selected and told to leave. Two complied, but Dr. Dao refused, saying he had patients to see the next day.

Multiple passengers made videos of the physical confrontation that followed, in which Dr. Dao was dragged down the aisle by his arms. He was later seen returning to the flight with a bloodied mouth in a state of confusion. He was eventually removed in a stretcher.
The Trump administration may be pondering a retreat from the United States climate commitments, but corporate America is moving ahead with its own emissions goals.

Nearly half of the Fortune 500 biggest companies in the United States have now set targets to shrink their carbon footprints, according to a report published Tuesday by environmental organizations that monitor corporate emissions pledges. Twenty-five more companies adopted climate targets over the last two years, the groups said.

Almost two dozen companies, including Google, Walmart and Bank of America, have pledged to power their operations with 100 percent renewable energy, with varying deadlines, compared with just a handful in 2015. Googles data centers worldwide will run entirely on renewable energy by the end of this year, the technology giant announced in December.

We believe that climate change is real, and its a severe crisis, said Gary Demasi, who directs Googles energy strategy. Were not deviating from our goals.
LOUISVILLE, Ky.  Three years ago, Joe Heron, a pharmaceutical executive turned beverage-industry entrepreneur, moved here from Minneapolis to open a distillery. But unlike the dozens of other would-be whiskey barons setting up shop in Kentucky these days, Mr. Heron and his wife, Lesley, werent interested in making bourbon. They wanted to make brandy.

Mr. Heron, 54, who hails from South Africa and wears a wide, gray soul patch like an aging roadies, was no stranger to the drinks market: He had already made a small fortune developing a health drink and a hard cider. But even he is surprised at how well his new company, Copper & Kings American Brandy Company, has done, with orders pouring in from 28 states.

Brandy has become a quiet giant of the liquor industry. More than 13 million cases were sold domestically in 2016, outpacing gin, Scotch and Irish whiskey, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. And most of that  eight million cases  was American brandy.

People ask, Is it hot? I say, Its about to get white hot, Mr. Heron said on a recent tour of his distillery, a converted warehouse in this citys Butchertown district, just east of downtown.
This time he marched me back to the pot and added not one but three enormous palmfuls of kosher salt. The perfectionist in me was horrified. Id wanted so badly to do that polenta justice, and the degree to which Id been off was exponential. Three palmfuls!

Cal grabbed spoons and together we tasted. The corn was somehow sweeter, the butter richer. All of the flavors were more pronounced. I had been certain he had ruined the pot and turned my polenta into a salt lick, but the term salty did not apply to what I tasted. All I felt was a satisfying zing with each mouthful.

Having experienced the transformative power of salt, I wanted to learn how to get that zing every time I cooked. I thought about the foods I loved to eat growing up  and that bite of seaside cucumber and feta, in particular. I realized then why it had tasted so good. It was properly salted.

Salt and Flavor

James Beard, the father of modern American cookery, once asked, Where would we be without salt? I know the answer: adrift in a sea of blandness. Salt has a greater impact on flavor than any other ingredient. Learn to use it well, and food will taste good.

Salts relationship to flavor is multidimensional: It has its own particular taste, and it both balances and enhances the flavor of other ingredients. Imagine taking a bite of a rich espresso brownie sprinkled with flaky sea salt. The salt minimizes the espressos bitterness, intensifies the flavor of the chocolate and offers a savory contrast to the sugars sweetness.

Does this mean you should simply use more salt? No. It means use salt better. Add it in the right amount, at the right time, in the right form. A smaller amount of salt applied while cooking will often do more to improve flavor than a larger amount added at the table. Seasoning a buttermilk-marinated chicken the night before you plan to cook it will give salt ample time to diffuse throughout the meat and enhance the flavor of every bite. And unless you have been told by your doctor to limit salt consumption, you can relax about your sodium intake from home-cooked food. In almost every case, anything you cook for yourself is lower in sodium than restaurant food.
Forces fighting for the future of New York Citys fashion industry came to a head on Monday evening in the less-than-chic but nevertheless most fitting of places: the auditorium at the High School of Fashion Industries in Manhattan.

On one side were those battling on behalf of the garment district, a neighborhood that takes up about a dozen blocks in Midtown Manhattan and is home to more than 400 clothing manufacturing businesses. Since 1987, the area has been split into two sectors that are protected by special zoning regulations that discourage landlords from converting space used for industrial purposes to residences, offices or hotels.

Facing off against them were proponents of a plan sponsored by the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio that seeks to strip the zoning protections and gradually shift the heart of the industry to Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a move supported by $51 million worth of investments in technology, jobs training, business development and costs associated with moving. The plan is backed by the Garment District Alliance and the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
I had hoped readers would enjoy following a food vendor around on the streets of Manhattan for a day, but I hadnt expected the story I wrote about Kabir Ahmed to take on a life of its own.

Mr. Ahmed, 46, immigrated from Bangladesh 23 years ago and now works five or six days a week selling chicken biryani and other hot dishes out of a halal food cart in the Financial District. The job is difficult and unglamorous, like many jobs in the food industry. It does not pay well.

Mr. Ahmeds wife had mentioned to him, in passing, the idea of saving up for a family cruise in the Caribbean. It was a luxury that Mr. Ahmed knew they could not afford for their family of six, but for some reason it had stuck with him.
When is silence a lie. From John Edgar Widemans Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File (Scribner, 2016, Page 112). The award-winning writer was born the same summer as Emmett Till, in 1941.

What does a question mark do? It looks and acts sort of like an ear, waiting at the end of a sentence for an answer. Where are you going? we might ask, and our voice will naturally rise to signal curiosity, and whomever were asking will tell us theyre going out for ice cream or to a petting zoo or to work, and we will consider our question answered, transaction complete.

So what is the effect of a question without a question mark? Consider, for instance, the jarringly flat statement, Where are you going. The voice, ominously, fails to rise. Curiosity has been replaced by something else: terror, accusation, exhaustion. Its the kind of thing you might hear at 2 a.m. in a dark room as you try to sneak out the front door. No answer is expected. No answer will satisfy.

John Edgar Widemans Writing to Save a Life is full of such questions. Do extreme circumstances mitigate lies. Do pigs stink to cows. Cows to pigs. The book is an attempt to solve a historical mystery: Why was Louis Till, the father of Emmett Till, court-martialed and hanged in Italy by the United States Army in 1945? Did he really commit the crimes he was accused of? What else might have happened? How deep do the layers of American injustice run?

Wideman does not really believe in easy answers. On top of which, the historical record keeps leading him, again and again, into dark and silent alleys. So he frames his questions without question marks. Why would anyone reading the tale today challenge its impartiality. Do they live on another planet inhabiting the planet I inhabit. Will a moment finally emerge in which a collection of lies offers access to truth. Some questions have no answers. Why pretend otherwise?
The borders messages always carry with them hints of violence. In the 19th century, the American frontier was a place of conquest, a place where laws did not apply and deadly clashes could happen at any moment. That aura of risk and brutality still hangs over airports, the closest thing we have to frontier outposts and the gateways to cross-border travel. When travelers step into the secure area of an airport, they leave behind bottles of water, take off their shoes and expose their bodies to X-rays, all for the sake of protecting themselves from the potential violence of terrorists. But this system can perpetrate violence by itself. This month, a ticketed passenger who refused to give up his seat on a United Airlines flight from OHare International Airport in Chicago was brutally dragged away by the police. David Daos injuries, according to his lawyer, Thomas Demetrio, include a concussion, a broken nose, two lost teeth and sinus damage that could require surgery. Demetrio went on to ask, Are we going to just continue to be treated like cattle?

This dehumanization is a common feature of the border. Some years ago, returning home from a holiday in Morocco, my husband and I passed through immigration at Kennedy Airport. The border agent glanced at my passport, which lists Morocco as my place of birth. Then she looked at my husbands and, with a chuckle, asked him how many camels he had traded for me. Even in my shock, I understood that what the agent was trying to assert was her own authority, her superiority over me. If I had dared to challenge her, I might have ended up subject to a secondary search and further questioning. My silence was the price that the border demanded.

Border walls are literal expressions of our worst fears. Terrorists, rapists, drug dealers and various bad hombres are all said to come from somewhere else; drawing lines, we are told, will keep us safe from them. But the lines keep multiplying. What formally counts as the border, according to the United States government, is not just the lines separating the United States from Canada and Mexico, but any American territory within 100 miles of the countrys perimeter, whether along land borders, ocean coasts or Great Lakes shores. That 100-mile strip of land encompasses almost entirely the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont  along with the most populated parts of many others, including California and Illinois. In total, the 100-mile-wide border zone is home to two-thirds of the nations population.

This is such a staggering fact that it bears repeating: The vast majority of Americans, roughly 200 million, are effectively living in the border zone. Any of these people could one day face checkpoints like the one I went through in Sierra Blanca, Tex. They can be asked about their citizenship and, if they fail to persuade the agent  because of how they look, act or sound  they can be detained. The Justice Department established these regulations in 1953 and, though they periodically attract attention, they have never been changed. As we move to erect and enforce more borders, this is another message worth apprehending: Borders do not simply keep others out. They also wall us in.
As a reviewer, I wouldnt blame readers if this section werent the first thing they turned to in their newspapers. It is, after all, some distance from the obituaries, and priorities are priorities. Perhaps, they too are inclined to read the obits as soon as possible, even to the point of bypassing the front page  unless of course it carries a piece about somebody famous who died, unexpectedly or not.

Why? One reason is primal: We keep nervous, vigilant watch over our mortality and an expedient means for us to mark time is to keep up on who among the prominent, or even casually known, has checked out for good. The second reason is aesthetic preference. Im not a salaried employee of The New York Times, so Im allowed to say here that some of the finest writing in daily journalism can be found on The Timess obituary pages. Their consistent quality is an enduring legacy of the papers former chief obit writer Alden Whitman (1913-1990), whose thoroughly researched, elegantly written biographical essays about the great and near-great between 1964 and 1976 helped set a higher professional standard while enhancing the reputation of a trade once considered a training ground for novice reporters or a vocational graveyard (so to speak) for staff members sliding toward retirement.

Whitmans name doesnt come up in Vanessa Goulds Obit, a documentary about The Timess necrology team at work. Nonetheless, her film carries many of Whitmans virtues and those of his successors. It is modest, observant, graceful and nonchalantly witty. Beneath bright newsroom lighting, cameras peer avidly over the shoulders of writers and editors as they work to meet deadlines, assemble facts and obtain perspective on the recently deceased.
ALBANY  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has hired a former top aide to several Republicans, including his cross-Hudson counterpart, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, as his new chief of staff.

The aide, Maria Comella, 36, had worked as an outside consultant for Mr. Cuomo this year, helping to formulate the governors 2017 agenda. Still, her appointment on Tuesday was striking if only because of Ms. Comellas prominence in national politics.

Before joining Mr. Cuomos camp, Ms. Comella served a host of Republicans as part of presidential campaigns, including a winner  George W. Bush in 2004  and two unsuccessful campaigns in 2008: those of Rudolph W. Giuliani and Senator John McCain.

More recently, she was deeply embedded with another presidential also-ran: Mr. Christie, for whom she served as communications director and as deputy chief of staff in New Jersey and as chief messaging officer for his aborted 2016 presidential effort, according to Mr. Cuomos office, which announced her new job as part of recent and continuing staff changes.
Homework for young children has been a recurrent parenting issue since the beginning of the 20th century, according to Paula S. Fass, a professor emerita of history at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of The End of American Childhood. Worries about its excesses have ebbed and flowed; students got heavy loads in the 1950s, when Americans were particularly worried about their ability to compete with the Russians after the launch of Sputnik. Homework spiked again in the 1980s with the release of the now-famous A Nation at Risk report, which indicated that American students were falling behind their peers in other parts of the world.

Today, though, worry about excessive homework is competing with anxieties about student achievement and global competition. The situation is compounded by an urge among parents to have as much control over their children as possible, Dr. Fass said.

What you are looking at is the tension between that progressive view that children need to be protected from being adults, and still these parents want their kids to succeed, she said.

The National Education Association and the National PTA have weighed in, suggesting that students get 10 minutes of homework per grade, starting in first grade  what educators sometimes refer to as the 10-minute rule. Dr. Cooper also endorses this policy.

The focus for many anti-homework parents is what they see as the quality of work assigned. They object to worksheets, but embrace projects that they believe encourage higher-level thinking. At P.S. 11 in Manhattan, even parents who support the no-homework policy said they often used online resources like Khan Academy, a nonprofit organization that provides free educational videos. The schools website also includes handwriting exercises, scientific articles, and math and reading lessons. Sophie Mintz, whose son is in second grade at the school, said that the no-homework policy had afforded him more time to build elaborate Lego structures.

But parents with fewer means say the new policies dont take into account their needs and time constraints, and leave them on their own when it comes to building the skills their children need to prepare for the annual state tests.

Ms. Sierra, the P.S. 11 parent who opposed the change, said that although the school included test prep materials on its voluntary homework site, she had a hard time getting her children to do the work.
Sounds of 17th-century natural life in Manhattan  chirps, caws, groans, croaks, screeches  are now available on the website Unsung.NYC, where they are stitched adjacent to our (mostly) human-made 21st-century clamor. The result, Calling Thunder, is an aural bridge across four centuries. It builds on Dr. Sandersons stunning work, with Markley Boyer, in creating visualizations of the rolling landscape of 1609 Manhattan  known by the Lenape people as Mannahatta, the island of many hills  that are twinned with photographs of the same points in the modern city. We see hills and streams at places now occupied by skyscrapers and subway tunnels; a red maple swamp where an H&M store stands in Times Square.

Drawing on an archive of wildlife audio in Cornell Universitys Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds, Calling Thunder adds layers of immersive sound to images at four points in Manhattan: Collect Pond Park, near the courts in Lower Manhattan; the High Line, the park built on the stilts of a New York Central Railroad spur along the West Side; the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side; and Inwood Hill Park, at the northern tip of Manhattan.

The Unsung website offers various ways to take in the weave of history, research and informed speculation in Calling Thunder, each with its own rewards: as a simple audio recording, 360-degree video, or, coming soon, virtual reality. It is a collaboration of Bill McQuay, a former sound engineer with NPR who is now an audio producer with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and David Al-Ibrahim, an interactive storyteller and graduate student at the School of Visual Arts.

At Collect Pond Park, once a five-acre spring-fed basin, 60 feet deep, forests were cleared, hills flattened, the pond drained and filled. What survives is a burrow of a public square tucked in a grove of court and government buildings. In Calling Thunder, the contemporary scene dissolves into line drawings suggesting what may have been in 1609. Mr. McQuay compares it to a coloring book. The sound is the color that we are trying to get the listener to put within that outlined environment, he said. We dont view the world in 360 degrees, but we hear the world in 360. We hear sound all around us. Thats the way were wired.
Gail Collins: Welcome back, Matt. Its good to be conversing again, and since you and our readers are now acquainted, I dont need to mention that youre a senior writer at The Weekly Standard. Or a hard-core fan of fly fishing.

And that you love dogs and hate politicians. Im with you on the first but I have to admit I have a soft spot for politicians. Its a hard life. Somebody has to do it.

Matt Labash: Careful, Gail, or youll normalize me. But thanks for inviting me back to your safe space, even as Im still trying to pry the nails out of my hands after readers crucified me for my quasi-defense of Trumps wall last week. We like to kid ourselves that we contain multitudes. But most of us arent nearly as complicated as we think, and you pretty much captured me in three sentences, neglecting only to mention that Im a Gemini who likes to take long walks on the beach.

I hasten to add, however, that I dont hate all politicians. Ive always been soft on Edwin Edwards, the four-time Louisiana governor and one-time convict, who Ive profiled on a couple of occasions, even as he was headed to prison. During one of his many corruption trials, after a sequestered jury was caught stealing towels from the hotel, Edwards said he had been judged by a jury of my peers. On another occasion, when a prosecutor asked Edwards if hed been lying on the stand, Edwards replied, No, and if I were, youve got to assume I wouldnt be telling you. You have to respect a guy who is that honest about his dishonesty.
A virulent nationalism, tinged with bigotry, is on the rise across much of the world. It helped elect Narendra Modi in India and sustains Vladimir Putin in Russia. It has vaulted Marine Le Pen to the final round of the French election. She is the underdog in the runoff, but its chilling to see that this weekend she seems to have won voters under age 34.

In the United States, Donald Trump won the White House despite  and partly because of  his disdain for Mexicans, Muslims and African-Americans and his flirtation with anti-Semitic tropes.

In the face of this ethnic nationalism, citizens often face difficult choices. They have to decide how much of a priority to place on combating it.

Should voters eschew their favorite candidate and vote for one with the best chance to defeat the nationalist? Should policy experts be willing to work in an administration that plays footsie with intolerance? Should a museum dedicated to fighting hate, like the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, host a hateful president?
A Filipino lawyer formally asked the International Criminal Court on Monday to charge President Rodrigo Duterte and 11 officials with mass murder and crimes against humanity over the extrajudicial killings of thousands of people in the Philippines over the past three decades. The I.C.C. should promptly open a preliminary investigation into the killings.

The lawyer, Jude Josue Sabio, filed the complaint in his own name, but he also represents two men who have publicly said they were paid members of the death squad that Mr. Duterte set up in Davao City when he was the mayor to hunt down drug dealers. After he was elected president last year, Mr. Duterte took the killing campaign nationwide, effectively declaring an open season for police and vigilantes on drug dealers and users. In all, Mr. Sabio said in the 77-page filing, more than 9,400 people have been killed, most of them poor young men, but also bystanders, children and political opponents.

Mr. Sabio is not the first to accuse Mr. Duterte of mass killings  so have Human Rights Watch, in 2009; Amnesty International, this January; and some brave Filipino politicians. The I.C.C. chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, declared last October that the court was closely following developments in the Philippines.

There are reasons why the I.C.C. might be reluctant to go after Mr. Duterte. He is enormously popular with many Filipinos, for whom narcotics are a major scourge.
Calling the living conditions at sites such as Moria, the place on the Greek island of Lesbos that Francis called a concentration camp, merely difficult diminishes the gravely inhumane treatment that men, women and children are suffering for no other crime than wanting freedom and a better life. It fails to acknowledge the hopelessness at places like Australias island prisons for migrants where, as Roger Cohen wrote in The New York Times, human beings have been left to fester, crack up and die.

And to be honest, are parallels between Europes treatment of migrants and the Nazis treatment of Jews and other persecuted populations during World War II really such a stretch? In late 2015, The Times reported that, while the migrant crisis is no genocide, not since the Jews were rounded up by Nazi Germany have there been as many images coming out of Europe of people locked into trains, babies handed over barbed wire, men in military gear herding large crowds of bedraggled men, women and children.

The situation today is no less distressing. In January, Moria saw a spate of deaths as tents collapsed under heavy snowfall at the overcrowded camp.

To be fair, its not as though Mr. Harris is unaware of the plight of refugees. The American Jewish Committee is among the leading supporters of IsraAID, which brings together Israeli Jews and Arabs to provide volunteers and medical help to migrants and refugees, including those at Moria. And when President Trump signed executive orders in January authorizing construction of the wall on the Mexican border and blocking the admission of refugees from countries of terror concern, Mr. Harris joined other leaders of faith groups  including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops  in condemning the move.

No serious observer can question Pope Francis sensitivity to Jewish concerns. Indeed, in the words of Rabbi David Rosen, the committees international director of religious affairs, There has never been a pope with as deep an understanding of Jews as Pope Francis. Certainly the pope is not above criticism, and the committee has the duty to defend Jewish values. But the context of Francis remarks make it clear that the pope  who last year met with Holocaust survivors at Auschwitz  had no intention of minimizing Nazi atrocities. He was simply doing what he has been doing for as long as we have known him: urging not only Catholics but the world at large to open their eyes to the needs of the suffering.
These days everything puts me in mind of Jane Addams. Many of the social problems we face today  the fraying social fabric, widening inequality, anxieties over immigration, concentrated poverty, the return of cartoonish hyper-masculinity  are the same problems she faced 130 years ago. And in many ways her responses were more sophisticated than ours.

Addams was born to an affluent family in Cedarville, Ill., in 1860. She was a morally ambitious young woman who dreamed of some epic life of service without much idea about how it might come about. In her teenage years, she earnestly set to reading  Pilgrims Progress, Plutarchs Lives, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire  but in her twenties she was one of those young people who dont get to themselves quickly. They spend years in study and in acquiring degrees with a vague sense they are preparing for something, without actually leaping into what it is they might want to do.

Addams took a Grand Tour of Europe and found herself in a vegetable market as the leftovers were being tossed to a crowd of paupers, who stood with their grasping hands upraised. The image had a powerful effect on her. Forever after, the sight of hands raised up, even in dance and calisthenics, caused her to feel the pain of poverty and want.
ARPAs barrier proposal was rejected by the Pentagon as too expensive and requiring an American military commitment to Vietnam that the White House wasnt yet ready to make. Yet as happens with many bad ideas, the proposal was recycled just a few years later as the conventional war in Vietnam escalated. The barrier, a former ARPA official wrote, was resurrected out of desperation by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. This time, the task was given to an ARPA-funded group of scientists called the Jasons that the Pentagon Papers described as the cream of the scholarly community in technical fields.

Rather than an actual wall or fence, the Jasons advised developing something akin to a virtual barrier made up of acoustic and seismic sensors linked to a command-and-control computer center that would cue military aircraft to strike. Sensors would pick up people or vehicles crossing this invisible line; algorithms would calculate their position; and then those coordinates would be sent to pilots who would bomb the estimated location.

By 1967, the Air Force was dropping strings of acoustic sensors along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Those sensors would detect passing convoys and relay the data to a pair of IBM mainframe computers in Thailand, which would in turn direct helicopter gunships and aircraft to the predicted coordinates. Rather than dropping bombs on something they had seen, pilots were for the first time attacking based on computer-derived targets, ushering in the era of push-button warfare.

Conducted largely in secret, the project, code-named Igloo White, suffered from myriad technical problems, such as the sensors short battery life. When word of the project started to leak, McNamara was forced to make a public announcement, though he provided few details about the barrier. I do not intend to give the enemy the advantage of knowing what materials we will use, where they might be used or in what quantities, McNamara said at a news conference in September 1967.
Consider the pollock.

It is the most voluminously caught fish in the United States, accounting for a quarter of everything Americans catch. As such it is the major bulwark against the United States multibillion-dollar seafood trade deficit  the second-largest deficit in our trade portfolio, after crude oil. And it is, today, the main component in the McDonalds Filet-O-Fish, or the fish delight, as Donald Trump likes to call it.

Now consider the presidents budget for the people who make his preferred sandwich possible.

If Congress seriously entertains the White Houses suggestions, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  a popular target for conservatives, who see it primarily as a source of pesky climate-change research  and the National Marine Fisheries Service it oversees will lose 17 percent of its funding. This despite Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Rosss desire to try to figure how we can become much more self-sufficient in fishing and perhaps even a net exporter.

As the three of us consider this statement, a common wry fishermans response comes to our lips: Yeah, good luck with that, buddy.

Because of repeated sacrifices made by American fishermen working with NOAA over the past 40 years, the United States now has the most robust and well-managed wild fisheries in the world. Federal observers oversee 99 percent of the large trawlers fishing for pollock, ensuring that this largest of fisheries maintains an impeccable set of management tools.
Background reading:

 Ms. Steinhauers article about how an unwillingness among Republicans to pay for a wall between the United States and Mexico could lead to another down-to-the-wire battle over a spending bill. Her story begins, To be clear, it isnt that hard to keep the governments lights on.

 Republicans agree that they dont want a shutdown, but they struggle with how to avoid one.

 Mr. Trump wants it known: Grading 100 days is ridiculous (but his were the best).

Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Tweet me at @mikiebarb. And if that isnt enough, we can even text.

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NEWPORT, R.I.  After a makeover that made it into a luxury destination at the easternmost tip of the Hamptons on Long Island, N.Y., Gurneys Montauk Resort and Seawater Spa is bringing its name to another seaside hot spot: Newport, R.I.

The owners of Gurneys resort are transforming a former Hyatt Regency on Goat Island, between Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay, into a second Gurneys.

Behind the project is George Filopoulos, the founding principal of Metrovest Equities, and Lloyd Goldman, founder of the BLDG Management Company. Along with backing from Square Mile Capital Management, they are putting about $18 million into improving the 257-room resort, which, while open in the meantime, is scheduled for a grand opening in May.
If you happen to be in Canada on a clear night, look to the stars and maybe youll see it: a strip of light stretching from east to west, all the way from the banks of Hudson Bay to the fjords of British Columbia.

Is it a wayward piece of the aurora borealis? Or maybe a planes contrail? A rarely seen strip of a proton aurora? Or is it a comets tail?

Actually, its none of the above. Scientists are still working to figure out exactly what theyre dealing with.

And until that day, theyre going to call it Steve.

What sets Steve apart is not just its charmingly banal name. Its also the way it has been  and is still being  discovered, said Eric Donovan, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary.
John Krafcik, Waymos chief executive, in January. The company is seeking a broader range of feedback from riders in self-driving cars, he said.

Credit... Brett Carlsen for The New York Times
Tear yourself away from the picture-postcard Pacific views on Route 1, south of the border between California and Mexico, and you see Valle de Guadalupe undulating to the east, its Mars-like boulders and vast stretches of rose-gold-colored dirt belying the fact that there is some pretty great wine being grown here.

Valle is not a new wine region  some vineyards date from the 1920s  but this Mexican wine country is calling to millennials, with modern, design-y wineries and grit that cant be found in Napa or Sonoma. Its also cheaper than those areas, and less likely to be trodden by tour bus crowds  more Choose Your Own Adventure than Club Med. The valley is also relatively easy to reach, and services have cropped up to let visitors imbibe while someone else takes the wheel. Club Tengo Hambre and Turista Libre offer guided food and wine tours; Uber Valle allows Uber users to hail a wine country chauffeur for a day.
Whats better than a springtime getaway to Paris? There may be only one answer: a trip to the City of Light thats more affordable this year compared with the past several seasons.

Data from Expedia.com show that the price of plane tickets to Paris has dropped 30 percent from Los Angeles, 60 percent from Chicago and 65 percent from New York City, compared with last spring and spring 2015.

The decline, according to Sarah Gavin, a company spokeswoman, is because airlines are seeking to woo travelers back to Paris after a rough tourism climate in 2016. More recently, a gunman killed a police officer on the citys tourist-heavy boulevard, the Champs-Elysees, on April 20.

The terrorist attack in Paris in late 2015 and the attacks in Europe, in general, has led to fewer travelers visiting the city and better deals to be had from airlines, Ms. Gavin said.
Benjamin R. Barber, a political theorist whose 1995 book, Jihad vs. McWorld, presciently analyzed the socioeconomic forces leading to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and a surge in tribalism around the world, died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 77.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, said his son, Jeremy.

Mr. Barber was an academic and public intellectual who argued, with missionary zeal, the virtues of decentralized democracy, or unmediated self-government by an engaged citizenry, as he once wrote.

In books like Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age (1984) and The Conquest of Politics: Liberal Philosophy in Democratic Times (1988), he outlined the ways that ordinary citizens might assume a more powerful role in shaping their lives through local, communal institutions  a network of public spaces encouraging interconnectedness and citizen involvement in politics.

His cause gained urgency with the rise of globalization and the growing resentment of traditional societies against the secular, consumerist values of Western capitalism. The nation-dissolving forces of information technology and global markets were on a collision course, he argued, with resurgent religious fundamentalism and parochial loyalties deriving from blood and soil.
Good morning.

(Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Lets turn it over to Jennifer Medina, a correspondent based in Los Angeles, for todays introduction.

The shelves are mostly bare, save for a few rolls of toilet paper and Campbells soup. Paper strewn all over the floor, shopping baskets knocked over in a rush. Rodney King We Love You Brother, is scrawled in black spray paint on a wall.

Normally, the small room at Community Coalition, a nonprofit organization in South Los Angeles, is filled with computers available for local residents. This month, it has been transformed into a looted store, as part of the organizations Re-Imagine Justice exhibit commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1992 riots.

Los Angeles has gone through significant changes since the four white police officers who beat Mr. King were acquitted by an all-white jury in Simi Valley. Murder rates have plummeted and the Police Department is widely credited for adopting more community-oriented tactics.
A judge in San Francisco on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Trumps efforts to starve localities of federal funds when they limit their cooperation with immigration enforcement, a stinging rejection of his threats to make so-called sanctuary cities fall in line.

The judge, William H. Orrick of United States District Court, wrote that the president had overstepped his powers with his January executive order on immigration by tying billions of dollars in federal funding to immigration enforcement. Judge Orrick said only Congress could place such conditions on spending.

The ruling, which applies nationwide, was another judicial setback for the Trump administration, which has now seen three immigration orders stopped by federal courts in its first 100 days. And as with the rulings halting his two temporary bans on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries, the presidents own words were used against him.

Though Justice Department lawyers argued in the case that the government did not intend to withhold significant amounts of money, the judge noted that the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions had suggested the punishment could be far greater.
Inmates, correction officers and investigators are testifying in Milwaukee this week to help determine whether jail employees will be charged with abuse in the dehydration death of an inmate who the authorities say was deprived of water for a week.

Prosecutors and a lawyer representing the estate of the inmate, Terrill Thomas, say that correction officers turned off the mans water supply in an isolation cell in April 2016, and that he was unable to ask for help because he was having a mental health crisis. He died on April 24, 2016.

In March, the Milwaukee County district attorneys office requested an inquest, a relatively uncommon legal procedure in which a cause of death is examined for possible criminal charges. After a week of testimony, jurors will decide whether to recommend charges against jail employees, though the district attorney is not bound by the recommendation.

Erik Heipt, the lawyer representing Mr. Thomass estate, said in an interview on Monday that Mr. Thomas, 38, had bipolar disorder, and that he was not operating in a world of reality when he was jailed.
WASHINGTON  President Trump sent a powerful message to those who doubt his will to fight anti-Semitism  and to his own supporters in the white nationalist movement  during an annual Holocaust remembrance ceremony at the Capitol on Tuesday.

The president, who was slow to denounce campaign endorsements by racists including David Duke, made an unequivocal statement of support for Israel and pledged to confront anti-Semitism in a speech attended by lawmakers and survivors of Hitlers war on European Jewry.

We pledge  never again, said Mr. Trump, invoking the phrase adopted by Jewish leaders after World War II. We must never shrink away about telling the truth about evil in our time. We know that in the end, good will triumphs over evil.

The president, who was with Israels ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer  an American-born former Republican operative close to American conservatives  vowed to protect the Jewish people in the United States and abroad, and he criticized those who deny that the mechanized murder of six million Jews ever happened.
John Daniel Davidson explains the difference between hate speech, fighting words and incitement, within the context of the First Amendment. He then uses this distinction to criticize some groups on college campuses who violently protest speakers with whom they disagree. Read more 

_____

 George D. ONeill Jr. in The American Conservative:

For me and many others on the right, Russia is not the main focus, but a component of years of effort to advance a more realistic and restrained U.S. foreign policy.

If this series on partisan writing has made one thing clear, its that not all conservatives are comfortable with an interventionist foreign policy. Within this context, George D. ONeill Jr. explains why he and other conservatives are optimistic about a cooperative relationship with Russia. The Cold War ended nearly 30 years ago, he writes, and a realistic and restrained relationship with Russia will foster global peace and prevent destructive interventions. Read more 

_____

 David Scharfenberg in The Boston Globe:

Its ism as game-changer, as once-in-a-generation challenge to political orthodoxy.

David Scharfenberg explains how the genius of Trumpism can survive even without President Trump himself. Comparing the power of this movement to that of Juan Peron and Ronald Reagan, Mr. Scharfenberg explains how the idea of a new nationalism will prevail even if the president reneges on his campaign rhetoric. Read more 

_____

From the Left

 David Remnick in The New Yorker:

During his first hundred days in office, Trump has not done away with populist rhetoric, but he has acted almost entirely as a plutocrat.

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, reviews the first 100 days of the Trump administration with a scathing takedown of the presidents actions and style. He exhorts younger politicians to gather themselves for the 2018 midterms and the 2020 Presidential race, and urges those who oppose President Trump not merely to resist but to organize. Read more 
When the former N.F.L. player Joe McKnight was shot and killed last year in what the authorities described as a case of road rage, it was a high-profile example of what has been a marked increase in the use of guns in such confrontations, a new analysis shows.

The analysis was published by The Trace, a nonprofit news organization focused on gun violence. It found that cases of road rage involving a firearm  where someone brandished a gun or fired one at a driver or passenger  more than doubled to 620 in 2016, from 247 in 2014.

The Trace compiled its data from the Gun Violence Archive, which inventories and catalogs episodes of gun violence in the United States based on news and police reports and other sources.

There were at least 1,319 road rage episodes involving firearms during the three-year period examined, with at least 354 people wounded and 136 killed, The Trace reported.
BEIJING  The Chinese government, further tightening its grip on Muslims in western China, has prohibited parents from choosing names like Muhammad, Arafat and Jihad for their children.

Officials described the ban, introduced this month, as part of an effort to curb religious fervor in the western region of Xinjiang, home to more than 10 million Uighurs, a mostly Muslim minority group.

The government considers Xinjiang a hotbed of Islamic extremism, violence and separatist thought. But many Uighurs say the governments strict limits on worship and speech are responsible for tensions in the region.

The list of names, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times by Uighur activists, is titled, List of Banned Ethnic Minority Names. It bans more than two dozen names, including Mujahid and Medina.
When Americans are detained in North Korea, they can expect harsh conditions, with tiny prison cells, little food or water and even less daylight. And their story line is preordained: A forced confession, a show trial, a sentence to years of hard labor with little chance of appeal.

The arrest on Saturday of Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-duk, brings to three the number of American citizens currently being held in North Korea. The others are Otto F. Warmbier and Kim Dong-chul. Little, however, is known about Mr. Kims case, including why he was detained.

But the experiences of other Americans who have been detained and eventually released by North Korea, often with the help of prominent American politicians, crack open the door on the secretive regimes network of prison camps and the deprivation found there.

It was a 5-by-6-foot cell, and there were a couple of slats on the doors, Laura Ling, an American journalist detained in 2009, revealed in a magazine interview after her release. There were no bars, so you couldnt see out, and if they closed those slats, it just went completely dark. There was no way to communicate with the outside world.
SALAT ISLAND, Indonesia  In the lush rain forests of central Borneo, a group of young orangutans, endangered refugees from human development, swung from branch to branch.

One, named Lykke, who had been found stranded on a palm oil plantation when she was just a month old, snagged a pineapple left by her handlers and scampered up a tree, where she began tearing into the ripe fruit.

She was one of 13 adolescent orangutans recently transported to an unspoiled, 5,200-acre tract of Salat Island, acquired last year by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 1991. When they reached the sanctuary, the auburn-maned apes clambered out of the cages they had arrived in and climbed up to freedom.
SEOUL, South Korea  The United States and South Korea began installing key elements of an advanced missile-defense system in a rural southern county on Wednesday, a day after North Korea held huge artillery drills to mark the 85th anniversary of the founding of its military.

Work on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, also known as Thaad, got underway in Seongju, 135 miles southeast of Seoul, while China, which strongly opposes the Thaad system, continued to try to tamp down tensions over signs that North Korea was preparing for a nuclear test.

It remained unclear whether the installation was ahead of schedule; Washington and Seoul have said only that they want Thaad operational soon or within this year.

The deployment has become a key issue in the campaign for the May 9 election to choose the successor to former President Park Geun-hye, who had agreed to the deployment but was forced from office in disgrace last month.
BEIJING  An American businesswoman from Houston was sentenced to three and half years in prison in China on spying charges on Tuesday, over two years after Chinese security officers spirited her away and 20 or more years after the alleged espionage was said to have taken place, her lawyer said.

But the businesswoman, Phan Phan-Gillis, often called Sandy, may soon be deported to the United States, allowing her to reunite with her husband, Jeff Gillis, who has adamantly rejected the accusations and fought for her freedom, said her lawyer, Shang Baojun.

After a secret trial in the morning in Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi region in southern China, a judge declared Ms. Phan-Gillis guilty, sentenced her and ordered her expelled from China  but left unclear whether she had to serve out her prison sentence before being deported, Mr. Shang said by telephone.

A court can order expulsion from the country for foreign nationals either after serving a sentence or concurrent with a sentence starting, but the judge wasnt clear on which applied here, so I also have to wait to read the verdict, Mr. Shang said. Of course, I hope that theyll deport her as soon as possible, but we have to wait until we see the written verdict to be sure.
In Thailand, there was broad anger over the crime, which the police said appeared to have been driven by jealousy. Mr. Wongtalay had fought with his wife the night before the killing after searching her phone and accusing her of having another relationship.

The video showed Mr. Wongtalay fixing a noose around his daughters neck and then dropping her off the side of a building. After a burst of crying, he climbed over the side to retrieve her body. His subsequent suicide was not shown online.

A second video of the police taking both of the bodies down that night remained on Facebook.

Facebook has been under scrutiny for what role it should play in overseeing the billions of posts and videos that are uploaded on its site each day. Facebooks founder, Mark Zuckerberg, addressed the issue at a company conference this month in response to a case in which a man in Cleveland posted a video of himself shooting and killing a 74-year-old stranger.

The deaths in Thailand highlight the global scope of the problem. As Facebook has pushed to further ensconce itself in the lives of its users, it has urged them to share their most intimate experiences on its site. That has resulted in a flood of posts and videos in different languages, cultural contexts and time zones across the world. Accidents and crimes have also occasionally shown up, and patrolling that has proved difficult.

Last summer, an Italian wing-suit base jumper streamed his own death in an accident, while in January, three men in Sweden were arrested and accused of raping a woman and broadcasting it to a private Facebook group. In February, two journalists were fatally shot during a Facebook Live broadcast in the Dominican Republic.
SYDNEY, Australia  The state wants to subsidize surfers who buy electromagnetic devices to repel sharks. Other voices insist on deploying nets or hooks to catch and kill them. One hunter has proposed dispatching a rapid-response team on helicopters to just shoot the shark in the head.

The death last week of Laeticia Brouwer, a 17-year-old surfer, in a shark attack off Australias southern coast has renewed debate in the country over what, if anything, should be done to protect people who venture offshore in a place mad for watersports. Fourteen people have been killed by sharks nationwide since the start of 2012.

Last week, the federal environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, accused Western Australia, the state where the last three fatal attacks occurred, of failing to respond to the problem. The commonwealth would welcome any proposal to protect human life first and foremost, he said, suggesting culling or other measures as the state saw fit.

Vic Hislop, a former shark hunter from Queensland, called for the helicopter strike teams in an interview with News.com.au, warning, As they continue to let the sharks escape after they eat somebody, its going to get worse and worse. Make no mistake.
PARIS  The far-right leader Marine Le Pen faces an uphill battle in Frances presidential runoff, less than two weeks away. But she saw daylight through a small window on Tuesday, and from an unlikely source: her defeated counterpart on the far left.

Alone among all of Frances major political personalities, Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of his own France Unsubjugated movement, who finished a strong fourth in Sundays voting, has refused to endorse Ms. Le Pens opponent, the former economy minister Emmanuel Macron.

Mr. Melenchons critics say his obstinacy is petulant, wounded pride that can only help Ms. Le Pens National Front. But it also speaks to the passions that Mr. Macron, a seemingly mild-mannered centrist, provokes in large parts of the French electorate, far left and far right, who share a view of the 39-year-old former investment banker as a fire-breathing incarnation of evil market culture.

As populism and anger over the impacts of globalization energize much of the electorate, Mr. Melenchons stand has added a new element of uncertainty into the final round of voting on May 7.
BERLIN  Ivanka Trump shared the stage Tuesday with some of the worlds most powerful women, representing the United States at a meeting of female business leaders.

But during a panel discussion that also included her host, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Ms. Trump was jeered by members of the audience.

On her first official overseas trip as an adviser to the president, Ms. Trump was thrust into a more familiar role  defending her fathers behavior to skeptical foreigners.

The German audience is not that familiar with the concept of a first daughter, the panels moderator, Miriam Meckel, editor in chief of the financial weekly WirtschaftsWoche, said. Id like to ask you, what is your role, and who are you representing, your father as president of the United States, the American people, or your business?
As if Western politics were not volatile enough, a wave of recent elections seemed to offer contradictory evidence as to whether populism is advancing or receding.

It triumphed in the British vote to leave the European Union and in the American presidential race, fell short in the Dutch elections, and won its greatest-ever success in Frances first presidential round and faces likely humiliation in the second round.

But these results may not be as contradictory as they seem. Populism, research suggests, has been steadily growing since the 1960s. It is now reaching a size that is often too small to win outright, but is large enough to shape and, at times, to upend the politics of a country.

Whether populist parties win or lose depends not just on the level of popular support  which appears surprisingly consistent across countries  but also on the nature of the political system.
MOSCOW  By Russian standards, the news conference on Tuesday was unusual: an airing of grievances by two female flight attendants who had taken the rare step of suing Aeroflot, the countrys flag carrier, for age and sex discrimination.

The event took a bizarre twist, however, as two men defending the airline interrupted the proceedings to upbraid the two employees, talking about ones breast size, and undercutting repeated assertions from Aeroflot that it had not discriminated by arguing that attractive flight staff were important for business.

Both sides focused on what they said was a move by Aeroflot in 2016 to enforce weight guidelines for its cabin staff, suggesting that women fit into a maximum clothing size of 48, equivalent to a 14 in the United States. Men were allowed somewhat more weight, according to an independent union representative.

The two women, Evgeniya V. Magurina and Irina N. Ierusalimskaya, who sued separately, said they were barred from international flights, losing a significant chunk of their potential paychecks, because their clothing sizes were larger. (Ms. Magurina said hers is 52.)
BARCELONA, Spain  Nine men were arrested on Tuesday in a series of early morning raids in and around Barcelona, Spain, in connection with the March 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels.

The arrests were a reminder that an international investigation continued 13 months after the attacks, which struck the Brussels airport and a subway station, killing 32 people, and three bombers.

Jordi Jane, the home affairs minister for the Catalonia region, said the arrests were made in connection with the terrorist attacks that occurred in Belgium last March, but he added that the precise role of the men was still being investigated. The suspects were believed to have links with an organized group associated with jihadi terrorism, he said.
MOSCOW  A website that has previously carried Al Qaeda messages on Tuesday issued a claim of responsibility for the recent subway bombing in St. Petersburg, Russia, publishing a statement from a previously unknown cell said to be working on behalf of the terrorist group.

Experts urged caution because the website, Agence Nouakchott dInformation, or ANI, is associated with Al Qaedas branches in Africa and is not a normal venue for the terrorist groups claims of responsibility from elsewhere in the world. The claim that appeared on the website was repeated on Al Andalusi, a channel on the messaging service Telegram associated with Qaeda operations in Africa. There was no similar post on Al Qaedas main media channel, which on Tuesday posted an audio recording eulogizing one of the groups fallen leaders.

Russian investigators identified Akbarzhon A. Dzhalilov as the suicide bomber who carried out the April 3 attack, which killed 15 people and wounded at least 60. Security officials at the time said they were unsure whether Mr. Dzhalilov had acted alone, and they detained several other people in connection with their investigation.

The previously unknown group claiming responsibility, the Imam Shamil Battalion, said in its statement that Mr. Dzhalilov had acted on the orders of Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda, according to a translation provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist propaganda. The statement also threatened additional attacks.
ANKARA, Turkey  The credibility of the judges who oversaw Turkeys referendum last week is being called into question because most of them were hastily appointed when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan purged the judiciary after last summers failed coup.

A narrow majority of Turks voted on April 16 to change the Constitution in a poll that formally granted vast new powers to the office of the Turkish presidency beginning in 2019 and informally validated the already-authoritarian mind-set of Mr. Erdogan.

But the legitimacy of Mr. Erdogans victory has been tainted by accusations of voter fraud at polling stations across the country  and by an odd series of erratic decisions on the day of the vote by the judges who head the electoral commission. Eight of the 11 judges on the panel had been recently replaced.

The opposition has questioned the results of thousands of ballot boxes, after videos showed evidence of ballot-box stuffing and voter intimidation on the day of the vote, and opposition campaigners faced prolonged intimidation during the campaign that preceded it.
JERUSALEM  It was hardly the first time a top-level meeting had been canceled over hard feelings. But when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called off a session with the German foreign minister here on Tuesday, it seemed a particularly sharp reflection of the tension within Israel, and with its allies, these days.

Israeli and German officials said the cancellation of the top-level meeting planned for later in the day came after the German minister of foreign affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, met with the group Breaking the Silence, which opposes the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. Mr. Netanyahu has accused the group of slandering Israeli soldiers.

The tension began when the Israeli news media addressed the possibility that Mr. Gabriel would visit with the group and reported that Israeli officials  and probably Mr. Netanyahu himself  were threatening that the visit would be a deal-breaker for the planned top-level meeting ahead.

Perhaps predictably, Mr. Gabriel, who is also Germanys vice chancellor, did not take it well.

It simply cant be, Mr. Gabriel told reporters in Israel. Imagine if we would invite Mr. Netanyahu to Germany and he wants to meet with NGOs that are critical of the government and we say, If you do that well break off the visit. People would tell us were crazy.
ERBIL, Iraq  Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday in an unusually intense operation that presented a new complication for the United States military campaign against the Islamic State.

The Turkish militarys targets included the Y.P.G., a Kurdish militia that has played an important role in the American-backed operations in Syria against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Adding to the tensions in the region, Kurdish officials said one Turkish airstrike had mistakenly struck Kurdish pesh merga troops on Mount Sinjar in northwestern Iraq, killing at least five and wounding more, some critically.

The pesh merga in Iraqs autonomous region carried out the opening attacks in the offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, and they have been an American ally in operations against the militants.
RIO DE JANEIRO  The heist was cinematically daring even for the South American borderland famed as a smugglers haven.

In the dead of night, the squad of outlaws set cars ablaze on the streets of Ciudad del Este, the Paraguayan city on the so-called Triple Frontier where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina share a border. Amid the chaos, they sprayed gunfire on the entrance of a Spanish cash transporting company before using explosives to blast their way into the safe room.

After the crew stole millions of dollars in cash and fatally shot a police officer at the scene on Monday, some of the assailants fled by boat across the vast reservoir of the Itaipu Dam to Brazil. Security forces on Brazilian soil engaged them in a gun battle, killing three of the suspects and arresting at least eight others.

This is something war-torn countries endure, said Cornelio Melgarejo, the director of a shelter for street children adjacent to the plundered complex in Ciudad del Este. Still, he added, Its not every day you hear the blast of explosives in a place where children are sleeping.
President Trump has promised to revive the coal industry and double down on fossil fuels, creating so many energy jobs, but he has not focused on the increasingly important role of renewable power in Americas energy economy.

Last year, the solar industry employed many more Americans than coal, while wind power topped 100,000 jobs.

Power creation jobs in 2016 1.9 million Natural gas 398,235 Coal 160,119 Solar 373,807 Bioenergy 130,677 Wind 101,738 Oil 515,518 Other* Nuclear 76,771 Hydroelectric 65,554 Geothermal Renewable and low emission tech Fossil fuels (*Includes some fossil fuels) Power creation jobs in 2016 1.9 million Natural gas 398,235 Coal 160,119 Solar 373,807 Bioenergy 130,677 Wind 101,738 Oil 515,518 Other* Nuclear 76,771 Hydroelectric 65,554 Fossil fuels Renewable and low emission technologies *Includes some fossil fuels Power creation jobs in 2016 1.9 million Natural gas 398,235 Oil 515,518 Coal 160,119 Other* Bioenergy 130,677 Nuclear 76,771 Solar 373,807 Hydro 65,554 Wind 101,738 Fossil fuels Renewable and low emission technologies *Includes some fossil fuels Power creation jobs in 2016 1.9 million Natural gas 398,235 Coal 160,119 Solar 373,807 Bioenergy 130,677 Wind 101,738 Oil 515,518 Other* Nuclear 76,771 Hydroelectric 65,554 Geothermal Fossil fuels (*Includes some fossil fuels) Renewable and low emission technologies

Those numbers come from a Department of Energy report published in January by the Obama administration that provides the most complete picture available of American energy employment.

A Department of Energy spokesperson for the current administration declined to discuss the report on the record.

In 2016, 1.9 million Americans were employed in electric power generation, mining and other fuel extraction activities, according to the report  a field well call power creation for short.

More than 373,000 Americans worked part or full time in solar energy, and just over 260,000 of them  or about 70 percent  spent a majority of their time on solar projects.

Most solar energy jobs were in installation, construction and manufacturing, as the relatively new industry continued to add capacity. Solar power still generated a small share of United States energy output last year.

The coal industry, which has shed jobs since 2012, primarily due to competition from cheap natural gas, employed just over 160,000 workers nationwide. About 54,000 coal jobs were in mining.

It's important to note that power creation isnt the only source of energy employment. The Energy Department report found another 2.3 million jobs in energy transmission, storage and distribution, a number that includes powerline and pipeline workers and more than 900,000 retail jobs, such as gas station workers and fuel dealers. If non-traditional energy workers are included in the mix  those involved in manufacturing and installing energy-efficient products  the total number of energy-related jobs swells to 6.4 million.

Solar has more jobs across the country, but coal is a more important employer in some states.

Employees in industry per 10,000 workers 5 20 50 100 200 Solar Coal Wind Hydroelectric Natural gas Oil and other fossil fuels Employees in industry per 10,000 workers 5 20 50 100 200 Solar Coal Wind Hydroelectric Natural gas Oil and other fossil fuels Employees in industry per 10,000 workers 5 20 50 100 200 Solar Coal Wind Hydroelectric Natural gas Oil and other fossil fuels Employees in industry per 10,000 workers 5 20 50 100 200 Solar Coal Wind Hydroelectric Oil and other fossil fuels Natural gas

Of course, energy jobs arent equally distributed throughout the country.

California, a state with robust renewable energy standards and installation incentives, had the highest rate of solar power jobs per capita last year. Roughly 84 of every 10,000 workers in the state held part or full time jobs in the solar industry. Nevada came in close second, followed by Hawaii, Vermont and Massachusetts.

Midwest and Great Plains states had the highest rates of wind energy employment. The region has been leading the way on renewable power generation thanks to its strong wind resources.

Though supporting fewer total jobs, the coal industry still employed an outsize share of workers in two states: Wyoming and West Virginia.
Jimmy Choo, Bally and Belstaff up for sale

Worldwide

Private investment company JAB Holdings, majority shareholder of the Jimmy Choo, Bally and Belstaff brands, is to sell its investments in fashion to focus on the luxury food and dining segments, particularly coffee.

Owned by Germanys billionaire Reimann family, JAB is to sell its 67.66% stake in the premium shoe brand Jimmy Choo. Shares of the brand are reported to have increased 10% on the announcement, valuing the group at more than 720 million (US$922 million). The sale is expected to attract interest from strategic, private-equity firms from the U.S. as well as from the Middle East, China and Russia. Founded in 1996, Jimmy Choo reported operating profits of 42.5 million (US$54.44 million) in full 2016, up nearly 43%, attributed to the success of its luxury Miami trainers range. Read more here.

The Reimann family, who also owns American cosmetics brand Coty, has been building an empire composed of coffee brands. The JAB Luxury Holding division, comprised of premium fashion brands Jimmy Choo, Bally and Belstaff, is claimed to make up less than 10% of the Luxembourg headquartered JABs total portfolio. On April 24, the Group announced a review of its strategic options relating to its investment in Bally, including a possible sale of the company.

Since investing in Bally in 2008, JAB Luxury has continued to support the long-term development of the company and its leading brand. JAB has however made significant investments in coffee and related areas in recent years, and as a result, now considers its investment in luxury as non-core. JAB has therefore made the strategic decision to focus on its successful core businesses of consumer goods, including Coty, said a statement. We consider disposals of JABs luxury business make sense as they do not offer the same cost synergy advantages as the companys other businesses in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, nor have they provided JAB with any dividend income.
The events on September 11, 2001, changed the world. It was the excuse for the US government to launch military attacks on seven Middle Eastern countries, causing civilian casualties in the millions and sending waves of Muslim refugees into the Western world. The US government wasted trillions of dollars destroying countries and murdering women and children, while public infrastructure in the US deteriorated, Americans' homes were foreclosed, and American health needs went unattended. 9/11 was also the excuse for the destruction of the protection that the US Constitution provided to ensure the liberty of the American citizen. Today no American has the protection of the civil liberty that the Constitution guarantees.

On September 11, 2001, when a neighbor called and told me to turn on the TV, I stopped what I was doing and turned on the TV. What I saw was the two World Center Towers blowing up. I had often enjoyed lunch in the rooftop resturant in one of the towers across the street from my Wall Street Journal office.

A miniscule by comparison frail aluminum airliner hit one massive steel tower and then another aluminum airliner hit the other. There were some plumes of orange outside the buildings. Then approximately after one hour, less in one case, more in the other, the two towers exploded floor by floor as they fell into their own footprint.

This was precisely the way the news anchors described what I was seeing. "It looks exactly like a controlled demolition," the news anchors reported. And indeed it did. As a Georgia Tech student I had witnessed a controlled demolition, and that is what I saw on television, just as that was what the news anchors saw.

Later that day Larry Silverstein, who owned, or rather, held the lease on the World Trade Center, explained on TV that the free fall collapse in the late afternoon of the third WTC skyscraper, Building 7, into its own footprint was a conscious decision to "pull" the building. Pull is the term used by controlled demolition to describe a building wired with explosives to be destroyed. Building 7 had not been hit by an airliner, and suffered only minor and very limited office fires. Silverstein's statement was afterwards corrected by authorities to mean that the firemen were pulled from the building. However, many videos show the firemen already out of the building with the fireman stating that the building was going to be brought down.

As there is no doubt whatsoever that Building 7 was wired for demolition, the question is why?

Because Americans are an insouciant and trusting people and confident of the inherent goodness of their country, years passed before even experts noticed that the official story stood in total contraction to known laws of physics, was in total contraction to how buildings collapse from asymmetrical damage, and could not have collapsed due to being hit by airliners as the buildings met all code requirements for withstanding airliner collusions. Many did not even know that the third skyscraper, Building 7, had collapsed.

Professor Steven E. Jones, a professor of physics at BYU, was among the first to see that the official story was pure fantasy. His reward for speaking out was to have his tenure contract bought out by BYU, many believe under orders from the federal government backed up with the threat that all federal support of science at BYU would be terminated unless Stephen Jones was.

Cynthia McKinney, a black woman who represented a Georgia congressional district in the US House of Representatives was either much brighter or much braver than her white colleagues. She raised obvious questions about 9/11, questions begging to be asked, and lost her seat.

Approximately five years after 9/11, San Francisco architect Richard Gage noticed that the three WTC buildings did not fall down in any way consistent with the official explanation. He formed Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, currently about 3,000 members. This group includes high rise architects and structural engineers who actually are experienced in the construction of skyscrapers. In other words, they are people who know what they are talking about.

These 3,000 experts have said that the official explanation of the collapse of three skyscrapers stands in contradiction to known laws of physics, architecture, and structural engineering

In other words, the official explanation is totally impossible. Only an uneducated and ignorant public can believe the official 9/11 story. The US population fits this description.

A&E for 9/11 Truth is gradually gaining assent from architects and engineers. It is very difficult for an architect or engineer to support the truth, because the American population, which includes patriotic construction companies, whose employees fly American flags on their trucks, don't want to hire architects and engineers who are "enemies of America aligned with Arab terrorists." In America, if you tell the truth, you are in great danger of losing your customers and even your life.

Think now about physicists. How many physics faculties do you know that are not dependent on federal grants, usually for military-related work? The same for chemistry. Any physics professor who challenged the official story of 9/11 with the obvious fact that the story contravenes known laws of physics would endanger not only his own career but the careers of his entire department.

Truth in America is extremely costly to express. It comes at a high cost that hardly any can afford.

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The Oval Office

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Reprinted from RobertReich.org

Trump's failure to accomplish little or any of his agenda during his first 100 days is striking. But we should not forget the vast harm he has done in this comparatively short time -- especially his degradation of the presidency.

From early in the Republic, we have looked at the office of the president as a focal point for the nation's values. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and his Teddy's fifth cousin, Franklin, are studied by school children as both exemplars of what it means to be president and of the moral authority of the office. It is not merely what these men accomplished, but how they did it; not just their policies but their positive effects on the institutions of democratic governance.

True, many of our presidents have fallen short of those ideals. But our disappointments in them largely reflect the high expectations we have of those who hold that office.

But not until Trump has the moral authority of the office disappeared.

I'm old enough to recall when John F. Kennedy invited the world's great artists, writers, and philosophers to dine at the White House. The nation felt ennobled. Donald Trump invites Sarah Palin and Ted Nugent, who once called President Obama a "mongrel," and we feel sullied.

But it has not just been Trump's vulgarity.

There have also been Trump's lies -- blatant, continuous, and unsubstantiated even after the lack of evidence has been pointed out repeatedly. They are not just any lies, but lies that deepen Americans' suspicion of one another and undermine our confidence in our system of government -- such as his repeated contention that "three to five million" people voted illegally in the last election, or that Obama spied on him during the campaign.

Prior presidents have embellished the truth and on occasion have lied about a particular important thing, such as the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But before Trump we have never had a president who chronically lies, whose lies have become an integral part of his presidency even in the first 100 days.

We have also been confronted with Trump's vast family business, from which he continues to benefit even though the decisions he makes in office affect the what he earns, and the almost certain decisions by foreign governments to curry favor with him by bestowing benefits on his business. He shrugs off such conflicts -- even refusing to release his tax returns, even inviting his daughter and son-in-law, each with their own businesses and conflicts of interest, to join him at the highest reaches of the White House.

Some presidents have profited from their presidencies after they leave office through large speaking fees and book contracts. But never before Trump have we had a president for whom conflicts of financial interest during his presidency are flagrant yet ignored.

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Resist! / Pacifica

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The progressive vision for America -- to make life better for all families, not just the privileged elite at the top -- has suffered setbacks. After the 2016 election, Republicans control the White House, both chambers of Congress and more than half of state governments.

Liberal hopes for free college, universal healthcare, equal opportunity, female rights, higher minimum wage, less militarism, less imprisonment and other left-wing goals seem doomed, at least for now. All that reform-minded folks can do is try to prevent losses of past social progress.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is trying to rally progressives into stronger unified resistance against the conservative Trump era. Her new book, "This Fight is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle Class," is a blunt weapon.

From the New Deal to the 1980s, she points out, America "built the greatest middle class the world has ever known." She continues:

"We built it ourselves, using our own hard work and the tools of government to open up more opportunities for millions of people. We used it all -- tax policy, investments in public education, new infrastructure, support for research, rules that protected consumers and investors, antitrust laws -- to promote and expand our middle class". Income growth was widespread, and the people who did most of the work -- the 90 percent of America -- also got most of the gains."

However, trickle-down economics under President Reagan turned the tables, giving ever-bigger favors to the rich, who used snowballing technology and their amassed wealth to corral more power.

Warren, a former Harvard professor, writes that she spent years researching the "great and terrible story" of middle-class decline. Today, college debt hobbles many families. Job insecurity grows as electronic breakthroughs wipe out more jobs. Wealth keeps amassing in hands of the 1 percent who control corporations and investments -- and who stash their money in overseas shelters.

"People are angry because trade deals seem to be building jobs and opportunities for workers in other parts of the world, while leaving abandoned factories here at home," Warren continues. ""Today, this country works great for those at the top. It works great for every corporation rich enough to hire an army of lobbyists and lawyers. It works great for every billionaire who pays taxes at lower rates than the hired help. It works great for everyone with the money to buy favors in Washington."

She calls President Trump a man "always on the hunt for his next big con." She urges progressives to follow the pattern of the million-member Women's March on Washington, to mobilize resistance against conservative attempts to slash the public safety net and human rights.

Another form of resistance is citizen lawsuits to prevent new law changes from scuttling past public gains locked into statutes.

With Republicans controlling most government power, will it be possible for progressives to resist effectively? Maybe -- maybe not. But at least conscientious Americans shouldn't just surrender.
"Two corrupt cops from the NYPD licensing division were plied with strippers, wined, dined and taken on lavish vacations to Mexico and the Bahamas," reports the New York Daily News. Why? Because in return for nice things, they were allegedly willing to "expedite" the process of applying for and receiving gun permits.

Left unmentioned in the story is the other why. Why would someone be willing to blow that kind of money on gun permits?

Simple: Because New York City's government requires such permits, then makes the process for getting them long (3-6 months), tedious (in addition to the application, up to nine pieces of paperwork and one or more "personal interviews"), expensive (a non-refundable application fee of $340, plus $87 for a fingerprint check) and, worst of all, discretionary. After rolling around in all that red tape, maybe the police bureaucrat "assisting" you doesn't like the way you look that day and it turns out you just wasted a bunch of time and money.

It's unsurprising that a secondary industry would spring up to make the application process easier (although obviously more expensive). It's equally unsurprising that people with more money than time would farm out their permit needs to that industry. And it's not surprising at all that that industry would, if necessary, resort to bribery to deliver the goods.

The US Constitution is crystal clear on the subject at hand: "[T]he right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Legally conditioning exercise of that right on possession of a permit is most manifestly an infringement.

Additionally, leaving issuance of permits under the clearly unconstitutional scheme to the discretion of bureaucrats is a recipe for both tyranny and corruption.

Finally, as a practical matter, the permit scheme only wastes the time and money -- and places at risk the lives -- of those who choose to be "law-abiding." Criminals who want to carry guns don't apply for permits to do so. They're criminals, remember? They don't care if they're breaking laws, nor do they want their identities tied to the guns they use in the commission of their crimes.

It might be going a bit far to describe cops who "expedite" gun permits in return for cash bribes or favors as heroes. But they're not nearly as corrupt as the system they're accused of subverting. New York City needs to abandon its evil and unconstitutional "gun control" schemes.
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Bottom-Up is a direct and logical look at how we live our lives, conduct our business, manage our societies, and, most importantly, communicate with each other. Author Rob Kall explains it all in plain English. But don't let the readability of this book fool you into thinking that it's not important. Kall cuts to the heart of the most critical issues in communication today. This book is as important as game theory. And people will take notice."



John Kiriakou, former CIA officer and author of The Reluctant Spy and Doing Time Like a Spy
Reprinted from www.alternet.org with author permission

Just exactly what the hell are they afraid of? Are the fossil fuel billionaires, corporations, and lobby really so strong that they can cow entire television networks and newspapers? Not to mention politicians?

All day Saturday, Earth Day I'd been on-and-off watching CNN and MSNBC while working on a new book. And I've heard repeated dozens of times that Trump and his buddies like Scott Pruitt don't want to "sacrifice jobs" on the altar of "climate regulations."

Never once has anybody pointed out that there's another side to the story.

It's simple, but I haven't heard it spoken out loud even once, from NPR to CBS: "There are huge profits to be made in poisoning us and our Earth, and the people profiting from that have and are funding politicians, 'think tanks' and PR firms, and television networks (via advertising), to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars over the decades. The people denying science are doing so because of the cash."

Why the hell won't anybody say that out loud?

ExxonMobil, we now know, has known about the damage their products were doing to our planet since at least the 1980s. Instead of changing their business plan, they began to directly and indirectly fund climate-change-denying groups in a big way. The Kochs aren't idiots, yet their network of corporate and billionaire funders is one of the main sources of money to politicians like Pruitt and, presumably, Trump (in the largest sense).

We are being poisoned for profits, and the scientists who are pointing this out are being shut down. And in the case of high-profile scientists like Michael Mann, even subject to extraordinary levels of harassment.

The waste materials from fossil fuel use and production are killing our planet and us. From cancers and asthma, to global warming, to driving wars around the world, these poisons are fouling our politics as well as our air, water, and food supply.

This is not a secret. Electronic and print media that don't take large amounts of money from fossil fuel interests have documented this in excruciating detail over the years (""Koch-supported lobbyists, foundations and political operatives are at the center of climate-science denial -- a cause that forestalls threats to Koch Industries' vast fossil fuel business," for example, by Frank Rich in The New York Times).

But our TV media, and our politicians, both beholden to the fossil fuel industry and the billionaires it produces, won't even say it out loud.

When Trump says that he won't sacrifice jobs for the environment, this lazy media and the politicians it's willing to put on the air won't even point out the simple truth that a cleaner environment actually creates jobs.

Trump repealed the streams rule, so that coal companies can dump poisonous waste directly into our rivers and streams. He said he was doing it to "protect jobs." But that makes no sense: there's a lot more work/jobs involved in designing, building, and implementing systems to prevent or clean up fossil fuel poisons than there is in hiring a guy with a dump truck to throw waste into the river.

Doing away with President Obama's rules that moved in the direction of cleaning up coal-fired power plants won't "save jobs": to the contrary, the people who designed smokestack scrubbers (for example), the companies that manufactured them, the people who maintain and clean them, will all lose their jobs.

The only "new jobs" that will come from more poison in our air are in the medical field, as more cancers and lung diseases show up in our ERs. And if that's his pitch, why doesn't anybody in the media ask him to say it out loud?

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sign at Women's March

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"Laziness is a trait in blacks" -- donald trump

During the mid-1070's, a particularly crude joke was placed into America's thoughts catalogue by a reputed bigot; the appropriately surnamed Earl Butz, a farm belt Republican from Indiana who served as US Agriculture Secretary during the Nixon and Ford eras.

The joke zeroed in on a character trait supposedly common among males of a certain demographic. Its premise was that in life, the needs of such males are simple and few. The punch-line was nauseating enough to gag a maggot.

All they need, Butz cracked, "are loose shoes, tight p*ssy, and a warm place to sh*t!"

At age 70, America's reputed President, donald trump, is certainly old enough to perhaps recall where he was when he heard of Butz's grotesquely "off-color" punch-line. He no doubt recalls how even in the pre-politically-correct 1970's, the outrage it stirred was enough to help bring an end to Butz's career in public service.

Even so, back then, the premise of Butz's "loose shoes" allegory formed a perfect fit relative to the worldview of many Americans; perhaps among them, one donald j. trump. The inescapable pervasiveness of racially stereotypical thinking related to issues of "character" among males of a certain demographic, curtailed any hope that a man of Barack Obama's heritage could be seriously thought of as possessing anywhere near the level of character required to serve as President of the United States. That curtailment didn't evaporate until 2008 -- some 30 years after Butz's hideously vulgar remarks. That's when, in a truly remarkable event, America elected a black president.

Yet now, in the wake of Obama's two terms, there are some who might consider it far more remarkable that America has somehow managed to make it through the first 100 days of donald trump's hair-raising "presidency." Those one hundred days have provided more than enough time for any forthright observer to figure out that in far too many ways, Butz's crude depiction of expedient behavior forms a perfect fit relative to the personal and professional character of -- not America's first black president -- but that of America's 45th, a white man from Queens. And if trump, a quintessential narcissist, were at all capable of shutting down -- at least temporarily -- his compulsion for denial, and, take a thoughtful look at his own personal history, the symbolism being raised here would be something he'd easily recognize.

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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob Kall's Bottom Up is a revaluation of values, not the empty mouthing of the word 'democracy' that is so common, but the application of belief in popular wisdom to every aspect of life. Actually believing that the views of more people is better, means a new way of thinking about the world that is democratic, feminist, localist, populist, and radically richer than the elitist perspectives that are more common even in the parts of the world that shout the word 'democracy' the most. Here we come to understand both the power of small groups and the upsides to internet crowd sourcing, the potential of nonviolent movements and ways in which the past has not been what we supposed. Don't just read this book; get lots of people to read and talk about it."



David Swanson, host, Talk Nation Radio, author of War No More: The Case for Abolition.
About Me

I'm a patent lawyer located in central New Jersey. I have a J.D. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, where I studied graphite intercalation compounds at the Center for Materials Research. I worked at Exxon Corporate Research in areas ranging from engine deposits through coal and petroleum to fullerenes. An article that I wrote in The Trademark Reporter, 1994, 84, 379-407 on color trademarks was cited by Supreme Court in Qualitex v. Jacobson, 514 US 159 (1995) and the methodology was adopted in the Capri case in N.D. Ill. An article that I wrote on DNA profiling was cited by the Colorado Supreme Court (Shreck case) and a Florida appellate court (Brim case). I was interviewed by NHK-TV about the Jan-Hendrik Schon affair. I am developing ipABC, an entity that combines rigorous IP analytics with study of business models, to optimize utilization of intellectual property. I can be reached at C8AsF5 at yahoo.com.

View my complete profile
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Part I - The Dilemma

Government intelligence agencies, particularly those in the United States, have a problem. Its nature was spelled out by the retired British diplomat Alastair Crooke in an article entitled "Trump's 59-Tomahawk Tweet," appearing 8 April 2017. As the title suggests, Crooke was reacting to President Trump's precipitous attack on a Syrian government airbase, following the chemical weapons episode of 4 April 2017 at the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Crooke notes that U.S. intelligence had raised doubts as to the Syrian government's responsibility for the release of poison gas. It seems likely that the Russians had alerted U.S. forces that the Syrian air force was going to attack a rebel warehouse in Khan Sheikhoun that was allegedly full of explosives and weapons. Unbeknownst to the Russians, the Syrians, and the Americans, the warehouse also held a poisonous mix of organic phosphates and chlorine. There is also evidence suggesting that whatever released the poison gas came from an explosive device placed on the ground. Wherever the resulting gas cloud came from, and a Syrian government bomb is certainly not the only possibility, It spread over a local neighborhood and killed a number of exposed residents.

The American mass media nevertheless immediately blamed Damascus for an attack using chemical weapons. Trump, also immediately, believed the mass media. He is, after all, increasingly known as the Fox TV president. Taking his cue from the media, he paid insufficient heed to his own intelligence agencies' doubts. As a result, as Crooke puts it, "the Tomahawks flew."

All of this led Crooke to ask "whether Western intelligence agencies still retain an ability to speak-out to power." Can they still, effectively, convince their governments not to assume that mainstream media information is accurate, but "rather to await careful investigation" before "rushing to judgment" on important issues?

If the answer to Crooke's questions is No, then what is left of the integrity of the intelligence agencies? Are they now reduced to producing "politicized intelligence assessments" that validate predetermined government policies? Unfortunately, for the United States, this fate appears to threaten the government's professional intelligence personnel. They seem impotent before a president who has never admitted to a serious mistake in his life - a man who believes that truth is nothing more or less than his own opinion. It might very well be that, facing a crumbling domestic situation produced by his own ill-advised behavior, President Trump sought to recover some credibility by "retaliating" against an alleged crime by Bashar al-Assad.

At least in the short run his maneuver appears to have worked. Trump got an embarrassing amount of positive press following this latest bellicose posturing, and too many editorialists and "talking heads" have asserted that his shooting off 59 Tomahawk missiles (only 39% of which hit their target), and thereby killing yet more Syrians, was a "beautiful" and "presidential" act. These commentators also are not known to admit to being wrong.

Part II - Historical Precedents

There are actually many historical precedents for this current dilemma of the intelligence agencies. It stands to reason that every once in a while people whose job it is to analyze world affairs will end up telling their national leaders what they don't want to hear. And while some politicians can handle this better than others, many can't handle it at all. Here are some examples of the latter. Documented descriptions of the first two examples can be found in my book America's Palestine (University Press of Florida, 2001) and a documented description of the third example can be found in my book Foreign Policy Inc. (University Press of Kentucky, 2009).

-- In 1918 the British War Cabinet, led by David Lloyd George and Alfred Balfour, was in the midst of negotiating what would become known as the Balfour Declaration with the World Zionist Organization (WZO). The British sought the support of world Jewry (which they mistakenly believed the WZO represented) for the Entente war effort in exchange for a British promise to support a "Jewish National Home" in Palestine if in fact the British were victorious.

Specifically, (a) the British believed the WZO could facilitate entrance of the United States into the war through its influence with President Woodrow Wilson. And indeed, American Zionists such as Louis Brandeis did have access to the president. However, Wilson was determined to bring the U.S. into the war quite independently of Zionist wishes. Then, (b) the British were convinced that the WZO could prevent the Russian government (by that time under Soviet control) from leaving the war. This was based on the fact that Leon Trotsky was a Jew. But the British intelligence post at their Petrograd embassy informed the leaders in London that Trotsky was hostile to Zionism, seeing it as a divisive nationalist movement. It is here that intelligence information was ignored by Lloyd George and Balfour in favor of political wishful thinking - their firm, if fallacious, belief in Jewish world power.

-- If we move forward to 1947-1948 something similar occurred. This incident involved the U.S. president Harry Truman. Truman had been Vice President when, on 12 April 1945, Franklin Roosevelt died. Succeeding to the presidency in mid-term, he stood for election to that office on his own in 1947. It was a point of pride for him that he win the election, and like Lloyd George and Arthur Balfour thirty years earlier, he was convinced that the Zionists wielded enough influence with American Jews to help him achieve his goal. Now an informal deal was struck. The Zionists would help get Truman elected and Truman would help the Zionists get approval for the division of Palestine by the United Nations and subsequently grant diplomatic recognition to the new state of Israel.

Taking a stand against this arrangement was the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (NEAA) of the State Department. Those in the NEAA were privy to a range of intelligence sources that Truman knew little of and cared less about. Thus, when members of the division informed Truman that pressure for partition at the United Nations and precipitous diplomatic recognition of Israel would all but destroy U.S. relations with the Muslim world, and thus harm America's national interests, Truman refused to take this information seriously. Indeed, Clark Clifford, one of Truman's chief political advisors, told a representative of the NEAA that Harry Truman's election was the only "national interest" that counted.

-- The Zionists have long been a particularly intrusive political lobby throughout much of the West. However, politicians do not need their outside influence to become so fixated that they will ignore their own intelligence services. Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 President George W. Bush became convinced that the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was involved in the attack. When the American intelligence services told him this was unlikely, he refused to believe them and sought to establish an independent "intelligence" operation in the Pentagon that would tell him what he wanted to hear - a list of alleged Iraqi transgressions that soon included the fallacious claim that Saddam possessed "weapons of mass destruction." None of Bush's convictions proved true, yet he launched an invasion of Iraq anyway, killing at least half-a-million Iraqis, destroying the country's political and social infrastructure, and destabilizing the entire Middle East.

Part III - Conclusion

Intelligence agencies have many functions and we know that some of them can be downright criminal. But it can be argued that their main role is the gathering and analysis of information from around the world so that their respective governments can have an accurate idea of what is going on and make decisions accordingly. The suborning of that role almost always leads to very bad decisions.

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Hosni Mubarak

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A court of Egyptian military leader, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who assumed the title of Field Marshal after overthrowing the elected President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, Monday sentenced 20 supporters of Morsi to death.

The brutal military dictator el-Sisi has been cracking down on the opposition since the overthrow of President Morsi. He has killed more than 800 protesters in a single day, and has imprisoned tens of thousands of dissidents since he took power.

Not surprisingly, el-Sisi became President in a controversial election in 2014.

In July 2013, the ouster of President Morsi sparked many protests by his supporters, including a pair that were held at al-Nahda Square and Rabaa al-Adawiya Square in Cairo on August 13, 2013, which led to the killing of several hundreds of demonstrators by security police.

Rights groups say the army's crackdown on the supporters of Morsi has led to the deaths of over 1,400 people and arrest of 22,000 others, including some 200 people who have been sentenced to death in mass trials.

In late 2014, an Egyptian court issued death sentences to 188 Morsi supporters, which sparked an international outcry against the controversial verdicts. In 2015, the death penalties were reduced in 149 cases.

In October 2016 a kangaroo court in Cairo confirmed a 20-year prison sentence against Mohamed Morsi. In April 2015, a Cairo court had sentenced Morsi to 20 years in prison for inciting violence against protesters who had staged a sit-in outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace in December 2012, when Morsi was still in power.

Mohamed Ahmed, an expert at the Amnesty International, said in a press statement last month that "Egypt is currently facing a severe human rights crisis that can never be compared to the situation during Mubarak's rule," referring to former dictator Hosni Mubarak who was toppled after a popular revolt in 2011.

Amnesty International annual report of 2016/2017 said: "The authorities used mass arbitrary arrests to suppress demonstrations and dissent, detaining journalists, human rights defenders and protesters, and restricted the activities of human rights organizations. The National Security Agency (NSA) subjected hundreds of detainees to enforced disappearance; officers of the NSA and other security forces tortured and otherwise ill-treated detainees. Security forces used excessive lethal force during regular policing and in incidents that may have amounted to extrajudicial executions."

Criminal courts continued to conduct mass unfair trials involving dozens -- sometimes hundreds -- of defendants on charges of participating in protests and political violence following the ousting of Mohamed Morsi as president in July 2013, the Amnesty report said adding: In some trials involving defendants who had been subjected to enforced disappearance, courts accepted "confessions" obtained through torture as evidence.

Interestingly, an Egyptian kangaroo court on March 2, 2017 acquitted former Egyptian dictator Air Marshal Hosni Mubarak over his involvement in the killings of hundreds of protesters in 2011. The US-client Air Marshal Hosni Mubarak ruled for more than 30 years. In June 2012 he resigned and handed over power to army.

In addition to dedicated special courts for terrorism-related trials, military courts unfairly tried hundreds of civilians, including in mass trials, the Amnesty report pointed out adding: In August the authorities extended a law vastly expanding the jurisdiction of military courts to include crimes committed against "public installations" for a further five years.
Reprinted from shadowproof.com



Laura Poitras

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Documents released in response to a lawsuit suggest Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras was stopped routinely by airport security because she was falsely accused of involvement in an ambush in Iraq. The attack resulted in the death of a United States soldier in 2004.

Poitras shared more than 1,000 pages of documents with the Associated Press. While the AP did not indicate what specific agencies released documents, it reported members of a U.S. Army National Guard unit from Oregon claimed to have seen a "white female" with a "camera on a rooftop just before they were attacked." Multiple guardsmen believed she may have known about the attack ahead of time and failed to share this information with U.S. forces "because she wanted to film" the ambush.

At the time, Poitras was in Iraq filming her documentary, "My Country, My Country." She unequivocally denied this spurious allegation.

"There is no ambush footage," Poitras asserted. "That's the narrative that they created, but it doesn't correspond with any facts."

Author John Bruning, who wrote "The Devil's Sandbox: With the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry at War in Iraq," dedicated a full chapter ("The Woman On the Roof") to soldiers in the battalion who believed they saw Poitras. He also apparently passed allegations about Poitras on to the U.S. military.

There was a lieutenant colonel, who thought he may have seen Poitras on a rooftop. He returned home and was later interviewed by Bruning.

"In February 2006, a military police agent from Fort Lewis, Washington, interviewed the lieutenant colonel and the author," according to the Associated Press.

Not only did Bruning speak to military police about Poitras, but he later told a lieutenant colonel, who suspected Poitras was on the roof, that he was certain Poitras was the "woman on the rooftop" after he exchanged emails with her. That prompted the lieutenant colonel to pass what Bruning had told him on to the military.

Poitras never suggested she was the woman in any email to Bruning. He chose to identify with the soldiers in the battalion and act against her.

"She was not in fear of her life or being kidnapped at a time when Western journalists were being abducted and executed," Bruning maintained in a sworn statement to military investigators. But that ignores what Poitras told him via email, which is that she "did not venture out onto the street" the day of the attack because she did not think it would be a "good idea."

The Army Criminal Investigation Command could not substantiate the allegations against her.

"A review by our legal staff of the information developed thus far revealed credible information does not presently exist to believe Ms. Poitras committed a criminal offense; however, this could quickly change if Ms. Poitras were to be interviewed and admitted she had knowledge of the ambush and refused to notify U.S. forces in order to further her documentary and media interest," according to a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

It was in May 2006 that Army officials summarized the status of the investigation for the FBI and soon after the harassment by airport security started.

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parisite, predator economics

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I have come to the conclusion that capitalism is successful primarily because it can impose the majority of the costs associated with its economic activities on outside parties and on the environment. In other words, capitalists make profits because their costs are externalized and born by others. In the US, society and the environment have to pick up the tab produced by capitalist activity.

In the past when critics raised the question about external costs, that is, costs that are external to the company although produced by the company's activities, economists answered that it was not really a problem, because those harmed by the activity could be compensated for the damages that they suffered. This statement was intended to reinforce the claim that capitalism served the general welfare. However, the extremely primitive nature of American property rights meant that rarely would those suffering harm be compensated. The apologists for capitalism saved the system in the abstract, but not in reality.

My recent article, "The Destruction of Inlet Beach," made it clear to me that very little, if any, of the real estate development underway would be profitable if the external costs imposed on existing property holders had to be compensated. http://www. paulcraigroberts.org/2017/04/ 17/destruction-inlet-beach/

Consider just a few examples. When a taller house is constructed in front of one of less height, the Gulf view of the latter is preempted. The damage to the property value of the house whose view has been blocked is immense. Would the developer build such a tall structure if the disadvantaged existing property had to be compensated for the decline in its value?

When a house is built that can sleep 20 or 30 people next to a family's vacation home or residence, the noise and congestion destroys the family's ability to enjoy their own property. If they had to be compensated for their loss, would the hotel, disquised as a "single family dwelling" have been built?

Walton County, Florida, is so unconcerned about these vital issues that it has permitted construction of structures that can accommodate 30 people, but provide only three parking spaces. Where do the rental guests park? How many residents will find themselves blocked in their own driveways or with cars parked on their lawns?

As real estate developers build up congestion, travel times are extended. What formerly was a 5 minute drive from Inlet Beach to Seaside along 30-A can now take 45 minutes during summer and holidays, possibly longer. Residents and visitors pay the price of the developers' profits in lost time. The road is a two-lane road that cannot be widened. Yet Walton County's planning department took no account of the gridlock that would emerge.

As the state and federal highways serving the area were two lanes, over-development made hurricane evacuation impossible. Florida and US taxpayers had to pay for turning two lane highways into four lane highways in order to provide some semblance of hurricane evacuation. After a decade, the widening of highway 79, which runs North-South is still not completed to its connection to Interstate 10. Luckily, there have been no hurricanes.

If developers had to pay these costs instead of passing them on to taxpayers, would their projects still be profitable?

Now consider the external costs of offshoring the production of goods and services that US corporations, such as Apple and Nike, market to Americans. When production facilities in the US are closed and the jobs are moved to China, for example, the American workers lose their jobs, medical coverage, careers, pension provision, and often their self-respect when they are unable to find comparable employment or any employment. Some fall behind in their mortgage and car payments and lose their homes and cars. The cities, states, and federal governments lose the tax base as personal income and sales taxes decline and as depressed housing and commercial real estate prices in the abandoned communities depress property taxes. Social security and Medicare funding is harmed as payroll tax deposits fall. State and local infrastructure declines. Possibly crime rises. Safety net needs rise, but expenditures are cut as tax revenues decline. Municipal and state workers find their pensions at risk. Education suffers. All of these costs greatly exceed Apple's and Nike's profits from substituting cheaper foreign labor for American labor. Contradicting the neoliberal claims, Apple's and Nike's prices do not drop despite the collapse in labor costs that the corporations experience.

A country that was intelligently governed would not permit this. As the US is so poorly governed, the executives and shareholders of global corporations are greatly enriched because they can impose the costs associated with their profits on external third parties.

The unambigious fact is that US capitalism is a mechanism for looting the many for the benefit of the few. Neoliberal economics was constructed in order to support this looting. In other words, neoliberal economists are whores just like the Western print and TV media.

Yet, Americans are so insouciant that you will hear those who are being looted praise the merits of "free market capitalism."

So far we have barely scratched the surface of the external costs that capitalism imposes. Now consider the polution of the air, soil, waterways, and oceans that result from profit-making activities. Consider the radioactive wastes pouring out of Fukushima since March 2011 into the Pacific Ocean. Consider the dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico from agricultural chemical fertilizer run-off. Consider the destruction of the Apalachicola, Florida, oyster beds from the restricted river water that feeds the bay due to overdevelopment upstream. Examples such as these are endless. The corporations responsible for this destruction bear none of the costs.

If it turns out that global warming and ocean acidification are consequences of capitalism's carbon-based energy system, the entire world could end up dead from the external costs of capitalism.

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This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

From his "big, fat, beautiful wall" to his travel bans, much of Donald Trump's push to isolate America, like so much else in his program, has hit a series of ugly speed bumps. Not only won't the Mexicans "pay" to build that much-promised wall, but even Congress is unlikely to do so, as its price tag soars by the week. Of course, much of what Trump wants to do when it comes to keeping "them" out, or throwing "them" out, has (as TomDispatchregular Aviva Chomsky writes today) already been done. Our last president wasn't given the moniker of "deporter-in-chief" by his critics for nothing, and as for that wall, a far more sophisticated, layered version of it is already in place, complete with advanced sensors, cameras, drones, biometrics, spy towers, radar systems -- much of the technology tested on America's distant battlefields -- as well as actual walls. Even if there isn't a single old-fashioned wall along the full length of the U.S.-Mexican border, the construction of the layered "wall" that does exist began in the years of Bill Clinton's presidency and its expansion has continued in a bipartisan fashion ever since.

And yet, even if Donald Trump never builds his wall, his attitude, whether toward Mexicans or Muslims, and the spirit of nativism and authoritarianism he's released in those who police and bureaucratically control America's borders, along with a bully-boy language that relies on phrases like "extreme vetting" and on demands to turn over personal passwords for electronic equipment at the border, will go a significant way toward walling this country in. Take tourism. Just the other day, Dubai's government-owned airline, the largest in the Middle East, announced that it was significantly cutting back on its flights to the U.S. because interest among its customers had fallen radically and bookings were way down. ("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.")

But it isn't just Mexicans and Muslims, the obvious targets of Trump's banning efforts and other restrictive urges, who are losing their urge to travel here; it's true, too, of Asians and Europeans. According to travel companies, interest in voyaging to America, whether for vacation or business, is down across the planet. Searches for flights to the U.S. have, for instance, dropped by 13% in Great Britain, 35% in New Zealand, and 40% in China. Twenty-nine percent of Britons recently claimed that they were far less eager to holiday in America. (Globally -- go figure -- only Russian interest seems to be up.) And if, as Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly has warned, the present visa-less travel from most European countries comes into question, watch out.

Already, it seems clear that tourism to the U.S. has taken a genuine hit -- a drop, reports the Bureau of Economic Analysis, of 10.2% for last December, January, and February. According to Tourism Economics, 4.3 million visitors will decide not to come to the U.S. this year, a potential loss of $7.4 billion, and in 2018 those figures might rise to 6.3 million and $10.8 billion. (The "Trump slump" in tourism already underway will obviously also mean lost jobs for the jobs president.)

And don't forget that, as with America's wars, so with the walling in of America, there's a distinct history here for President Trump to build on and, as Aviva Chomsky writes today, it's a history that is remarkably, dismally bipartisan. Tom

Making Sense of the Deportation Debate

How Bill Clinton and Barack Obama Laid the Groundwork for Trump's Immigration Policies

By Aviva Chomsky Ever since he rode a Trump Tower escalator into the presidential race in June 2015 and swore to build his "great wall" and stop Mexican "rapists" from entering the country, undocumented immigrants have been the focus of Donald Trump's ire. Now that he's in the Oval Office, the news has been grim. A drumbeat of frightening headlines and panicked social media posts have highlighted his incendiary language, his plans and executive orders when it comes to immigrants, and the early acts of the Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents when it comes to round-ups and deportations. The temperature has soared on the deportation debate, so if you think we're in a completely unprecedented moment when it comes to immigration and immigrants, you're in good company. Trump has repeatedly claimed that immigrants, especially undocumented ones, are flooding the United States, causing crime waves, and depleting social service budgets. Never mind that the number of such immigrants has been in steady decline since 2008, that immigrant crime rates are lower than citizen crime rates, that the undocumented have no access to most social welfare programs, and that crime figures, too, have generally been on the decline in recent years. The media has played its own role in fanning the flames. Since Donald Trump entered the Oval Office, news reports have proliferated about rising raids, arrests, detentions, and deportations. These suggest that something new, terrifying, and distinctly Trumpian -- something we've simply never seen before -- is underway, including mass sweeps to deport individuals who would have been protected under the previous administration. The numbers tell a different story. A Washington Post scare headline typically read: "ICE Immigration Arrests of Noncriminals Double Under Trump." While accurate, it was nonetheless misleading. Non-criminal immigration arrests did indeed jump from 2,500 in the first three months of 2016 to 5,500 during the same period in 2017, while criminal arrests also rose, bringing the total to 21,000. Only 16,000 were arrested during the same months in 2016. The article, however, ignores the fact that 2016 was the all-time low year for arrests under President Obama. In the first three months of 2014, for example, 29,000 were arrested, far more than Trump's three-month "record." And even though arrests went up during Trump's first three months in office, deportations actually went down, mostly due to the fact that the number of immigrants crossing the border declined. To those who have been following deportation politics in this country, Trump's policies, as they are now unfolding, have an eerie resonance. They seem to be growing directly out of policies first instituted in the presidencies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. True, President Obama liked to talk about "our tradition of welcoming immigrants," while our new president has tossed such liberal humanitarian rhetoric in the garbage can, instead playing up a harsh nativism. Still, the fact is that two Democratic presidents laid the groundwork for Trump's developing policies. It was, after all, President Clinton who oversaw the draconian "Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act" of 1996. It drastically increased all levels of immigration "enforcement," expanding the Border Patrol, criminalizing numerous types of low-level immigration violations, and facilitating and expanding deportation procedures. (A similar emphasis on casting blame on individuals for structural and systemic problems was also at the heart of Clinton's welfare reform of that same year.) In many ways, Donald Trump is only reiterating, with more bombast, ideas and policies pioneered under Clinton, that then became a basic part of Barack Obama's approach to immigration. Those policies drew directly on racist tough-on-crime and anti-terrorism police tactics that also helped foment white racial fears. Anecdotally speaking, there have already been numerous cases of detention and deportation that appear to go far beyond what was occurring in the Obama years. But a closer look at those cases and at the numbers suggests surprisingly more continuity than change. Both the mainstream media and social media have highlighted what appear to be extreme cases of the arrest of DACA ("deferred action for childhood arrivals") youth, also known as "Dreamers," as well as of individuals appearing for routine check-ins with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, or other arbitrary detentions and deportations. Most of these cases, however, have been far more in line with Obama-era policies than readers of such news might imagine. Then, too, "low-priority immigrants" were swept up surprisingly often in what the New York Times in 2014 called "the net of deportation."

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Vanessa Truong Wins WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event

April 25, 2017 Mo Nuwwarah Editor

One of the biggest World Series of Poker Circuit events of the year concluded very early on Tuesday when Vanessa Truong topped a 1,164-player field for a $318,646 payoff at WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event.

Truong, a Vietnam native who now calls nearby Raleigh, North Carolina, home, works as a nail salon tech. It's her first recorded live cash.

"Can't explain it, kind of like a dream," she told WSOP reporters after the win.

Official Final Table Results

Place Player Hometown Prize 1 Vanessa Truong Raleigh, NC $318,646 2 Daniel Pearlman Hollywood, FL $196,809 3 Joshua Horton Rainsville, AL $146,245 4 Dustin Nelson Tallahassee, FL $109,998 5 Jason Gooch Vidor, TX $83,756 6 Jose Anaya San Antonio, TX $64,532 7 Billy Cashwell Stedman, NC $50,302 8 Mike Horchoff River Ridge, LA $39,652 9 Corey Bierria Atlanta, GA $31,603

The 1,164 entries created a massive prize pool of $1,746,000. Players finishing among the 118 paid positions included 2015 WSOP Circuit Cherokee champ Ryan Jones, David Bach, Leif Force, Chance Kornuth, Ari Engel, Marshall White and Hunter Cichy.

According to the live updates, Truong had one of the shortest stacks when the unofficial final table began, toting just 19 big blinds. That changed early on when she got aces in on a queen-high flop in a three-bet pot, doubling through Mark Petersen, who held queen-jack. He bubbled the official final table shortly thereafter.

With nine players left, Corey Bierria defended his big blind from a Truong open in the small, and the two saw a flop. Truong checked and called a bet and then checked a turn. Bierria shoved all in for the size of the pot, and Truong decided to call with . She was good against Bierria's and held when a hit the river.

After Mike Horchoff busted, Truong scored another elimination when her ace-queen counterfeited the pocket deuces of Billy Cashwell as two pair hit the felt.

Jose Anaya came into the event with two third-place finishes in big WSOP Circuit Main Events already this year, but he was stopped in sixth this time. He called for his stack when chip leader Daniel Pearlman put him all in blind versus blind. Pearlman had just but that was enough against when a four hit the board on the river. Anaya didn't improve.

Truong got lucky, busting Jason Gooch in fifth when he shoved in 10 big blinds with . She looked him up with . A king flopped to send Gooch to the rail.

Truong then continued to run hot, winning flips against Dusty Nelson and Josh Horton to take a slight lead heads up against Pearlman.

The match would end up lasting nearly four hours, with Truong leading most of the way but seemingly unable to deal a finishing blow to Pearlman. After being reduced to just about seven big blinds, Pearlman found one double but could not get a second when he ran into Truong's . A flop gave him outs, but running offsuit queens gave Truong the win.

Here's a look at all of the other players who collected gold rings at the Cherokee stop:

Event Winner Prize $365 Reentry Bryan Carter $165,400 $365 Double Stack Turbo John Nelson $38,560 $580 Reentry Jessie Bryant $62,476 $365 Six-Max Robert Hankins $43,662 $365 PLO Reentry David Chapman $23,051 $365 Eight-Max Turbo Ron Germany $41,914 $365 Monster Stack Ricardo Eyzaguirre $74,853 $1,125 NLHE David Aker $70,731 $365 Turbo Chase Blanton $26,533 $365 Turbo John Wilder $34,055 $365 NLHE Cody Pack $24,622
This Friday marks the maybe-arbitrary, maybe-meaningful milestone of one hundred days under Trump and/or Steve Bannon and/or his daughter and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Jubilant for some, reason to binge on The Handmaid's Tale for others, Trump's reign will, regardless, be remembered as the first President of the post-meme era.

Looking back, the first presidential memes came of age during the Obama Presidency and, often, were fun celebrations of irksomeness or love--particularly brotherly love. There was affection there.

This, famously, was Biden's favorite Obama-Biden meme.

Trump's relationship with the internet has been more polarizing. On Facebook, there is an entire 84,000-follower strong page dedicated to "Dank Trump Memes" that feature such content as a "Most Interesting Man in the World"-meme that labels Democrats an assembly of poorly-paid fast food employees. (Poor people! What losers!) On the other side of the aisle, there is a 260,000-follower strong page dedicated, more humbly, to "Donald Trump Memes" and posts more conventional riffs off some of the more batshit things our president has uttered during his hundred-day long reign. Choose a side, I guess.



Back in the Bush era, people on the left caught on to late-night cable comedians in order to find an adequate expression of their alienation from the ruling political order. But while characters like John Oliver and Samantha Bee are, indeed, making a killing ratings-wise, they live and work in a whole new language now: the linguistics of the instant-response, one-hundred precent meme language.

Let's look back:

1/20: The Mystery of the Inauguration Crowd

Befitting out first meme president, Trump began generating memes from day one. The inauguration of our first reality TV antagonist as president was not just awkward for democracy, it was just awkward. Figures from both sides of the aisle were enlisted by my social media to channel confused vibes: both the outgoing Democratic First Lady and a former Republican President looked mildly flabbergasted at the proceedings, emotions millions in the country shared vigorously. (Allegations, later, that Bush called the event "some weird shit" also helped.)

But no Inaugural-themed meme quite took off like the comparisons of crowd size at Trump's inauguration with Obama's eight years earlier. Even the National Parks got in on the fun before being shut down by the Make America Unfun Again-police. Creative manipulations ranged from attempts at Harry Potter wit to a litany of, further, memes comparing the crowd of the two inaugurations to scenes of other large masses of peoplea meme that was compelling in its fundamental argument against the visual power inherent in bothering to reductively communicate through memes in the first place.

About to drop a coffee table book of paintings on bad bookstores everywhere, former President Bush was able to jolt his popularity to new highs at Trump's inauguration

1/24: The Executive's Orders

Unable to use his party's congressional majority to get very much done, Trump's first hundred days were notable for their repeated use of the executive power of the president to sign pieces of paper. Ever the visual president, these Executive Order signings were accompanied by large ceremonies of white people standing behind Trump as he flashes the signed document for all to see that he is capable of attaching his absurdly incoherent handwriting to a piece of paper. Instantaneously, this became a meme.

The inauguration of our first reality TV antagonist as president was not just awkward for democracy, it was also just awkward.

A twitter account, @TrumpDraws, managed, itself, to draw over 400,000 followers to its illustrations portraying Trump as a kindergarten-level artist. Pokemon portfolios followed along with trippy goes at hypnosis. Many of these orders called for closing of our borders to thousands of refugees, the construction of an environmental disaster in North Dakota and authorizing the bombings of foreign nations.

4/2--bonus round: More recently, this meme found itself inverted after Trump refused to sign one of his own executive orders, after being asked about the allegations of treason being brought against Trump's former National Security Advisor. That, too, would find expression in the world of meme, paired with music from HBO comedies Curb Your Enthusiasm and Veep.

1/30: Trump's Large, Evil Ass

Shortly after our oldest commander-in-chief begun being photographed walking up the handrails of the Presidential aircraft, people began to take notice of the sheer size of the President's posterior. Much like Trump's own presidential campaign, a lengthy battle on Reddit really got things going. In between the airport rallies and the weekly protests in the capital, Trump's ass captivated the nation. It was adorned on Kim Kardashian, it was shown riding a broom in The Wizard of Oz. It was seen going up itself, in another charged moment of meme-on-meme commentary.

The evil witch of Trump's ass

2/12: Trump's Small, Evil Hands

Proof that memes are meaningful predictors of political and social behavior came by way of Trump's interactions with other nation's leading men. They were also awkward. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was one of the first to find this out after Trump refused to politely let go of his hand after grabbing and shaking it at nearby cameras vigorously. Many online sympathized with Abe's struggle. Even Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, had to pretend to acquiesce to Trump's handplay.

Shortly afterward, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau (2/14) would manage to outshake Trump and, bested by the more attractive man, he stopped shaking people's hands. Later, German PM Angela Merkel (3/17) would, notably be refused Trump's tiny hands.

By March, Trump had stopped offering handshakes

Much like Trump's own presidential campaign, a lengthy battle on Reddit got things going.

3/17: His Press Secretary's Tie

Sean Spicer has the Internet's pity. Earlier in March, photos of him as an easter bunny looked so sad the Internet had no idea what to do with them. Within a week, Spicer had shown up in St. Patrick's Day garb--which for some people means wearing a green tie. The Internet, as they say, as if speaking about some large beast, consumer of digital flesh, was pleased.

What happens when u wear a green tie on TV  pic.twitter.com/gAohulqeck

 Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) March 16, 2017

What was Spicer talking about that day? What dirty deeds was he trying to get done dirt cheap? Who knows. "More costumes," the Internet demanded.

4/6: His Own Tie

Trump, himself, is known for having many nefarious ties. Back in February, The New York Times was unconvinced that Trump had properly severed his ties to the "488 Trump companies" that Trump has held some position in. Which is why we, at the New York institution that is Popdust, were excited to have the privilege of reporting on a video that Conde Nast subsidiary GQ made illustrating how long and wacky ties that Trump regularly wore could look. "I couldn't even pick my favorite," we wrote at the time for some reason. An entire Twitter account, @TrumpsTies, was able to accumulate over 23,000 followers with that conceit. It's more than I have!

4/7: His Many Meetings

Trump, as President, likes to meet with his staff and talk about what I assume is some serious shit. Earlier this month, jumping bunny Sean Spicer tweeted a photo of Trump's Situation Room, reminding us that the photo was "ed for security," in case we needed to be convinced that the President was not up to those aforementioned serious things. Many, online, lambasted Spicer for setting up a shoot meant to invoke the famous Obama-Killing-Bin-Laden set up that Trump's predecessor, always one for borrowing, used. More importantly, however--it became a meme:

Emergency meeting to discuss worldwide shortage of Viagra pic.twitter.com/WH4bvP2T1m

 Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) April 7, 2017





Trump's remaining 1095 days in office will, likely, provide an even deeper trove of memes, creating a kind of Presidential meme library that world has never seen before. Keep tuned and we'll keep you in tune.

Andrew Karpan is a published meme expert and his latest, 'In Trolls We Trust: The Fake News About Real News' (Oxford) will be hitting bookstores this July. Follow him on Twitter.

More meme content:

Meme Report: Revive The Millennium Falcon As A Face of the Trump Resistance!

Jonah Hill's new Danny Brown music video is what happens when the Cash Me Outside-girl finally cashes us, outside

Will 'Sound Grip' memes be the first big meme of April?
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-25 14:00:12

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Alix Resources Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Alix Resources Corp. (TSX Venture:AIX). has issued a press release with the following headline:Alix Intersects 1,000 ppm Lithium in the 1st Drill Hole on its Agua Fria Lithium Project, Sonora MexicoTo 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 Alix Resources 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/Alix Resources Corp.Source: Alix Resources Corp. (TSX Venture: AIX, WKN: A12GQ2, ISIN: CA01642R3009)Date: April 25, 2017Time: 8:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Alix Resources 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: 2017-04-25 16:51:08

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for SmallCapPower--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - SmallCapPower (TSX:APH). has issued a press release with the following headline:Aphria Inc. (TSX: APH) and Some Other Canadian Marijuana Stocks are Looking AttractiveTo 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 SmallCapPower, 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:Source: SmallCapPower (TSX: APH, TSX Venture: ACB, TSX: WEED)Date: April 25, 2017Time: 10:49 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of SmallCapPower 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.)
* 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.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-25 10:04:01

Paris, Hannover, 25th April 2017 - Atos, a leader in digital transformation, announces a worldwide first solution which captures agricultural data directly via satellite to optimize farming practices. Together with start-up TerraNIS, Atos is using its business analytics solution Atos Codex to convert data into valuable information for the agriculture sector.

Growing consumer expectations (demand for new products and practices, traceability and food security), regulatory requirements and environmental regulations, and the rising cost of raw materials (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, water) all put pressure on the agricultural sector.

Crop genotyping has now become a priority to support the selection of crop varieties that will be best capable of solving future food and climate crises.

As leader of the SparkInData* consortium, Atos uses the power of its Atos Codex analytics platform to capture data via satellite which has biophysical indicators to help farmers best optimise farming practices - such as best crop choice, appropriate crop nutrition and the right fertilisation and harvesting periods.

A revolution in business and technology

Extracting information that is useful to farmers from raw satellite imagery requires an immense amount of computing power in order to manage and process the large amounts of data. It also requires a great deal of business expertise to give practical meaning to the images.

Capturing and optimising agriculture data has many immediate and long-term benefits:

Optimization of raw material management to achieve substantial cost savings of around 15%;

Elevated qualitative results - agricultural yields and production quality become sustainable and reliable;

Deepened knowledge of operations, year-on-year evaluation of impact of different farming practices helps farmers to continue to progress in their profession.

Case Study: European satellites for a major American customer

Atos is using the latest generation of satellites, Sentinel-2 Earth observation, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), which is capable of providing views using visible and near infrared light with a resolution of 10m to 60m, a perimeter of 290km and a revisit frequency of five days, which is ideal for monitoring crops.

For one of its biggest clients in the U.S. Atos is monitoring more than 100,000 hectares of crops and 6,000 plots of land (including wheat, corn, soy and vegetables) to provide biophysical indicators of plant development, such as the level of chlorophyll and the proportion of green foliage. This monitoring can detect any anomalies or discrepancies within and between plots of land. By connecting this information with data from the field, thanks to Atos Codex business analytics solutions, experts can then provide diagnostics and suggest adjustments to farming practices.

Philippe Miltin, Global SVP Manufacturing & Retail at Atos: "With the power and flexibility of new analytical and cognitive tools, we are able to access the full value of this resource. This allows our clients in manufacturing to refine their practices and adapt to the new economic, regulatory, social and environmental needs. Together with start-up TerraNIS we meet this dual challenge by combining its advanced agronomy and imaging skills with the capabilities of Atos Codex."

Dominique Grelet, Head of Atos Codex at Atos explains: "The choice of Atos Codex technology brings a great deal of flexibility to farmers, making it possible to deploy a similar offering at any customer worldwide. We are proud to bring this cutting-edge technology to customers, taking satellite imagery and relevant data and transforming it into valuable information for immediate and long-term business results."

The new Atos Codex solution using business analytics via satellite is available worldwide and can be deployed in a wide variety of market sectors.

Atos experts will be on-hand at Hannover Messe up until 28th April to talk in-depth about the Atos Codex solutions.

More information on client case study:

Thanks to Atos and TerraNIS La Coop Federee is turning to precision in agriculture

Data Analytics - Transforming the future of agriculture

*The consortium, baptised SparkInData, has various members: Atos as consortium leader, SMEs TerraNis, Geomatys and Geosigweb, Mercator-Ocean, (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales), IGN (Institut National de l'Information Geographique et Forestier), BRGM (Bureau des Recherches Geologiques et Minieres), IRIT (Institut de Recherche Informatique de Toulouse at Paul-Sabatier University), the Engineering School of Purpan and the competitive centre of Aerospace Valley.

About Atos Codex

Atos Codex is the Atos brand for business driven analytics, Internet of Things and cognitive solutions consisting of methodology, design labs, an open industrial platform factory as well as high-performance data analytics. It provides clients a complete set of products and skills to design, build and run digital business platforms. Atos Codex is a key pillar of Atos' Digital Transformation Factory to deliver its clients digital transformation that is on time, on budget and on specification.

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. www.atos.net

Press Contact:

Jose de Vries - jose.devries@atos.net +31 6 30 27 26 11 @josee_devries





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: ATOS via Globenewswire


PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-25 16:27:01

Bank to offer Investment Banking, Debt and Equity Capital Markets, Markets and Securities research capabilities

Citi Receives CMA License in Saudi Arabia

Citi

Karim Seifeddine

Dubai - 00971 450 99707

Edwina Frawley-Gangahar

London - 0044 207 508 2340

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C)

The Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority (CMA) today announced that a license has been granted to Citi. The business will be branded Citigroup Saudi Arabia and will provide a full range of investment banking, debt and equity capital markets, markets, and securities research capabilities to its local and international institutional clients.

"Saudi Arabia is a regional economic leader and a strategically important market for Citi. We are very proud of our long association with Saudi Arabia and are delighted at the opportunity to establish a presence in the Kingdom, said Jim Cowles, Citis CEO for Europe Middle East and Africa. Saudi Arabia has embarked on a profound economic transformation journey and we are excited and committed to contributing to this endeavor. We will strive to make a positive financial and social impact by providing Citis best in class resources and capabilities to our clients and stakeholders.

Citi has been present in the Arab world since 1955 and offers full scale corporate and investment banking services. Citi's institutional capabilities in the region include Treasury & Trade Solutions, Corporate & Investment Banking, Markets & Securities Services and Capital Markets Origination.

About Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://new.citi.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201704250061
Communicable Diseases Treatment Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-25 09:39:18

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616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Communicable diseases are known as diseases which are transmitted from one person or animal to another. The communicable diseases are also known as contagious diseases. The communicable diseases are caused by the transfer of pathogens from one human to another. These pathogens are bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic. The pathogens are normally transferred through blood, breath, sexual contact, mucus and saliva. The contaminated surfaces such as countertops, doorknobs and commonly handled equipments also provide a medium for transmitting the pathogens. The communicable diseases affect the individuals and communities. The communicable diseases are treated with the antibiotics typically to kill the pathogens and agents and renders them noninfectious. The prevention and control of communicable diseases through proper treatment augments the market growth of the global communicable disease treatment.Communicable Diseases Treatment Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global communicable diseases treatment market is projected to grow at a significant CAGR over a forecast period. The rising prevalence of the communicable diseases such as contact communicable diseases and sexually transmitted diseases is the leading factor increasing the demand of the communicable diseases treatment market. The increasing awareness about the advanced disease treatments and availability of advanced medical infrastructure in developed countries also boost the growth of communicable diseases treatment market. The increasing research and development activities and new product development to antidote the communicable diseases also propel the growth of the global communicable diseases treatment market. The development of new research and diagnostics tools to diagnose the communicable diseases also help to treat the communicable diseases in early phase and drives the market of communicable diseases treatment over a forecast period.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3466 However, the stringent rules and regulations for the approval of new treatments and drugs for communicable diseases may hamper the growth of the global communicable diseases treatment market. The less awareness and lack of knowledge about the treatment of the communicable diseases in the poorly developed and low-income countries may also restrain the growth of the global communicable disease treatment market.Communicable Diseases Treatment Market: SegmentationThe global communicable diseases treatment marketis classified on the basis of types, indication and distribution channel.Based on types, the global communicable diseases treatment marketis segmented into the following:Contact Communicable DiseasesSexually Transmitted DiseasesOral Contamination DiseasesHelminthic DiseasesAir Borne DiseasesBased on indications, the global communicable diseases treatment marketis segmented into the following:Common ColdGastroenteritisPink EyeGonorrheaHepatitisWhooping CoughHIV/AIDSOthersBased on distribution channel, the global communicable diseases treatment marketis segmented into the following:HospitalsSpecialty ClinicsRetail PharmaciesOtherCommunicable Diseases Treatment Market: Regional OverviewThe global communicable diseases treatment market is segmented into the seven regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The North America is dominating and contributed the leading shares to the global communicable diseases treatment market in terms of revenue and volume due to the availability of advanced treatment facilities and awareness for the communicable diseases in the region. The Western Europe has also contributed the significant shares to the global communicable diseases treatment market in terms of revenue due to developed medical infrastructure. The APEJ is the most lucrative market for the treatment of the communicable diseases as the increasing prevalence of communicable diseases and the rapidly growing population in the region, expected to register a moderate growth rate over a forecast period. The MEA and Latin America are at a nascent stage of the global communicable diseases treatment market and anticipated to show a moderate growth in the global communicable diseases treatment market over a forecast period. Overall, the global communicable diseases treatment market is expected to register a significant CAGR over a forecast period.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3466 Communicable Diseases Treatment Market: Key PlayersThe key players of the global communicable diseases treatment market are Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline plc., Johnson & Johnson Inc., Medtronic Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis International AG, Novo Nordisk A/S, Pfizer Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Sanofi SA.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-25 15:00:17

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Far Resources Ltd.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, BC (FSCWire) - Far Resources Ltd. (CSE:FAT). has issued a press release with the following headline:Far Resources Completes Phase 2 Drill Program at its Zoro Lithium Property, Snow Lake, ManitobaTo 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 Far Resources Ltd., 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/Far Resources Ltd.Source: Far Resources Ltd. (CSE: FAT, FWB: F0R, WKN: A2AH8W, ISIN: CA30734R1001)Date: April 25, 2017Time: 9:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Far Resources Ltd. 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: 2017-04-25 16:35:02

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gazit-Globe (NYSE:GZT) (TSX:GZT) (TASE:GZT), invites you to participate at 10:00 am US EDT/ 5:00 pm Israel Time on Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017 in a live conference call with senior management to discuss the Company's results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Gazit Globe's financial statements and MD&A for the quarter will be released prior to the call, and will be available on the Company's website at: www.gazitglobe.com in the "Investor Relations" section and on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml as well as on the Canadian Securities Administrators' website at www.sedar.com.

The conference call can be accessed by dialing:

United States 1888 668 9141

Canada 1866 485 2399

United Kingdom 0800 917 5108

International / Israel +972 3 9180644

A presentation and replay of the call will be available on the company's website, in the "Investor Relations" section.

Webcast link: http://www.veidan-stream.com/?con=Gazit_Globe_Q1_2017_Results_Conference_Call

About Gazit-Globe

Gazit-Globe is a global owner, developer and operator of high quality necessity-driven supermarket-anchored retail properties in urban markets. Gazit-Globe is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:GZT), the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:GZT) and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE:GZT) and is included in the TA-35 index in Israel. As of December 31, 2016, Gazit-Globe owns and operates 426 properties in 20 countries, with a gross leasable area of approximately 6.6 million square meters and a total value of approximately US$ 22 billion.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-25 15:00:12

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for GLG Life Tech Corporation--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - GLG Life Tech Corporation (TSX:GLG). has issued a press release with the following headline:GLG Life Tech Corporation Announces Debt Restructuring Proposal to Be Presented To Shareholders for Approval at May 29th AGM and Special Shareholders MeetingTo 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 GLG Life Tech Corporation, 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/GLG Life Tech CorporationSource: GLG Life Tech Corporation (TSX: GLG)Date: April 25, 2017Time: 9:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of GLG Life Tech Corporation 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: 2017-04-25 14:30:09

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Kapuskasing Gold Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Kapuskasing Gold Corp. (TSX Venture:KAP). has issued a press release with the following headline:Kapuskasing Gold Expands Kings Court Copper/Cobalt Project in Newfoundland LabradorTo 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 Kapuskasing 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/Kapuskasing Gold Corp.Source: Kapuskasing Gold Corp. (TSX Venture: KAP)Date: April 25, 2017Time: 8:30 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Kapuskasing 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: 2017-04-25 17:53:01

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE





Lectra helps automotive suppliers leverage Industry 4.0 opportunity

Leather interior suppliers get a glimpse into connected manufacturing at Lectra's "Go Digital: What Industry 4.0 Means for Automotive Leather" event

Paris, April 25, 2017 - Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials, asserts its stewardship of the automotive leather industry's 4.0 transformation with the third consecutive edition of its annual event on the digitalization of leather cutting processes.

Decision-makers from more than 20 countries assembled at Lectra's International Advanced Technology and Conference (IATC) center in Bordeaux-Cestas recently to discuss the new business opportunities emerging from digitalization of the automotive leather value chain, from factory to consumers. Topics presented by industry experts and Lectra customers included, among others, the smart factory of the future, likely impact of the Made in China 2025 initiative and chief business challenges to overcome for automotive industry players.

Driven by cloud-based solutions, smart manufacturing and powerful analytics, the new connected economy and industrial revolution are redefining business models and manufacturing processes. The real-time communication enabled between connected objects, production lines and services boosts manufacturing flexibility while optimizing the use of available resources. As an organization at the forefront of the Industry 4.0 movement, Lectra's aim in hosting the event is to help the automotive leather industry prepare for the changes to come by learning more about the vital technologies they need to implement, as well as adopt more collaborative, agile and efficient practices.

"Although automotive players realize that 4.0 transformation is underway, they often don't know how to go about it," observes Norbert Audeoud, Operational Excellence & Strategic Transformation Expert. "Reflecting together on 4.0 transformation will make the task less challenging for the makers of leather interiors, while presenting great opportunities for performance improvement and business development."

In the opinion of Benny Daniel, Director of Consulting, Frost & Sullivan, the Go Digital event underscores the urgency for companies to plan and execute their 4.0 transformation. "The automotive industry is fiercely competitive and digitalization of the manufacturing sector will only make the landscape more uncertain. By acting now, automotive players can ensure they don't lag behind once the pace picks up."

From the standpoint of Henning Gathmann, Material Development, Leather, AUDI AG, new ways of doing business and running factories will also bring about new ways to meet consumer demand. "The connected economy is making it possible to satisfy consumer expectations in novel, technologically enabled ways. This event provides us with a unique opportunity to share our market vision with suppliers."

Alberto Silvagni, head of the automotive division of the Mastrotto Group, was pleased to share insight on his company's successful digital transformation with other automotive leather suppliers. "Competing in a connected supply chain requires a more flexible approach. Now that we've digitalized our cutting room, the next step for us is to increase automation elsewhere in our customer processes, to provide them with actionable information in real time."

The event brought into sharper focus the importance of fostering interaction in the automotive leather ecosystem at such a critical time in suppliers' 4.0 transformation. "Industry relationships are central to our success," remarks Celine Choussy Bedouet, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Lectra. "Providing answers to broad-reaching questions like 4.0 transformation is as much a part of what we do as developing advanced technologies and specialized services, all of which create value for our customers."

About Lectra

Lectra is the world leader in integrated technology solutions (software, automated cutting equipment, and associated services) specifically designed for industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles, and composite materials to manufacture their products. It serves major world markets: fashion and apparel, automotive, and furniture as well as a broad array of other industries. Lectra's solutions, specific to each market, enable customers to automate and optimize product design, development, and manufacturing. With more than 1,550 employees, Lectra has developed privileged relationships with prestigious customers in more than 100 countries, contributing to their operational excellence. Lectra registered revenues of $288 million in 2016 and is listed on Euronext.

For more information, please visit www.lectra.com

Contact - Lectra Headquarters / Press Dept.: Nathalie Fournier-Christol

E-mail: n.fournier-christol@lectra.com

Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 64 42 37 - Fax: +33 (0)1 53 64 43 40





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: LECTRA via Globenewswire


PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-25 15:00:09

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for RESAAS Services Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---LOS ANGELES, CA (FSCWire) - RESAAS Services Inc. (CSE:RSS). has issued a press release with the following headline:Shea Homes(R) Launches New Development Marketing Initiative Using RESAASTo 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 RESAAS Services Inc., 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/RESAAS Services Inc.Source: RESAAS Services Inc. (CSE: RSS, OTCQX: RSASF)Date: April 25, 2017Time: 9:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of RESAAS Services Inc. 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.)
Veterinary Biologicals Biobank Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-25 09:35:50

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Future Market Insights

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# 603 Words

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Veterinary biological Biobank collects biological samples, associated data, and store them for future purposes. They are invaluable resources of all types of research, mainly aimed at improving animal healthcare, diagnosis, and treatment. Veterinary Biologicals especially includes serums, toxins or analogous products which are natural in origin and mainly intended to use in the treatments of animals. They primarily act through stimulation, supplementation, enhancement or modulation of the immune system or immune responses. The veterinary biologicals are mainly used in the production of the vaccines, bacterins, antibodies, diagnostics, antitoxins, toxoids, immunizing components, immunostimulants intended for the purpose of improvement of animal health conditions. Recent advances in veterinary biological biobank made it possible to use software for simplifying sample registration and identifications, quality assurance, categorizing the sample properties, sample tracking, etc. Veterinary Biologicals biobank also play an integral part in conservation to counteract the loss of genetic diversity in animal species. Veterinary Biologicals Biobank can be established within research institutes or veterinary companies or as stand-alone organizations. They also improve research and strategy in the different aspects of the veterinary and harmonized data management to improve scientific understandings.Veterinary Biologicals Biobank Market: Drivers and RestraintsA well-managed veterinary biologics biobank is a critical prerequisite for a high-quality research with proper collection, processing, storage and tracking helps the researcher to the link between molecular and clinical information. It is ultimately accelerating the biomedical research projects to develop novel diagnostics and treatment methods using animal species and act as a primary driver. They also provide samples for large-scale screening studies and database repositories. The increasing government support to preserve the genotype and phenotype of the animal species is fuelling the growth of the veterinary biologicals market. All these factors act as a driver in the growth of the veterinary biologics biobank market.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3446 Lack of harmonized standards for regulation of veterinary biologicals, improper collection, sampling and storage of veterinary biological in biobank acts as a restraint. Ethical issues and reimbursement concerns also acting as a restraint on the growth of veterinary biologicals biobank.AVeterinary Biologicals Biobank Market: SegmentationSegmentation based on TypePublic Veterinary Biologicals BiobankPrivate Veterinary Biologicals BiobankSegmentation based on TypeVeterinary ClinicsVeterinary CompaniesResearch InstitutionsVeterinary Biologicals Biobank Market: Market OverviewThe veterinary biologicals biobank have observed a robust growth rate from the past few decades. The growth mainly attributed due to the increasing demand for high-quality biologicals for the research purpose from all disciplines. Because of globalization, there is a high risk of cross-species disease transmission. Veterinary Biologicals biobank enables the storage of biological sample for cross-species surveillance. To check this disease transmission and preservation of native species, government encouraging the companies and non-profit profit organizations to establish a veterinary biologicals biobank. The future of veterinary biologicals biobank anticipated with double CAGR during forecasting period.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3446 Veterinary Biologicals Biobank Market: Region-wise OverviewNorth America is dominating the global veterinary biologicals biobank market due to the increasing demand. U.S represents the largest market share in the North America due to increasing support from government and non-profit organizations. Europe and Asia-Pacific are fastest growing regions in veterinary biologicals biobank during the forecasted period. The veterinary biologicals biobank market in underdeveloped countries is slow when compared to the developed countries.Veterinary Biologicals Biobank Market: Key ParticipantsThe key participants in the veterinary biologicals biobank are IZSLER, Vetbiobank, Cornell Veterinary Biobank, University of Nottingham, etc. Due to increasing demand, the focus of companies is shifting towards partnership and collaboration with Government and Non-profit organizations.
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.




We invite articles submitted by our readers. You can add an article (subject to editorial approval) by emailing the Juan Wilson with what you want to post.We will include your name as the author, or, if you are forwarding another's words, we will add you as the source.
Bankruptcy attorneys at Consumer Action Law Group are currently providing free consultations to residents that want to stop foreclosure In Riverside, California.

1 2 3 4 5 Received A Notice Of Foreclosure Sale? Call 818-254-8413 We Can Help We Eliminate Debt and Stop Foreclosure Need A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer? Call 818-254-8413 Bankruptcy Attorney  Lauren Rode Received A Notice Of Foreclosure Sale? Call 818-254-8413 We Can Help!

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-- The word "bankruptcy"may sound frightening, but for many Riverside residents, it has become a word of hope. This is because filing for bankruptcy is now a popular legal strategy for stopping foreclosure and getting out of debt. Riverside bankruptcy attorneys explain exactly how filing bankruptcy is helping Riverside residents."The type of bankruptcy someone files depends on their circumstances,"said bankruptcy attorney Lauren Rode . "Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies are the most common for at-risk homeowners."Indeed, they are common. Last year in Riverside County alone, there were about 8,065 chapter 7 and 1,962 chapter 13 bankruptcies filed. So why exactly are so many people filing bankruptcy?When someone files for bankruptcy, they are asking to catch up once they have fallen behind on mortgage and car payments, as well as legally discharge debts they simply cannot pay. "Filing for bankruptcy enables someone to save their home and car, and also eliminate unsecured debts like credit cards, medical bills, and personal loan obligations." California bankruptcy attorney Rode explained: "Bankruptcy can also help to remove second and third mortgages, as well as IRS back-taxes."It also helps by protecting consumers from creditor harassment, by mail, phone, or lawsuit.In order to protect bankruptcy law from being abused, the state has specific criteria for who can file each chapter.Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a white flag, in which the debtor is asking for forgiveness on all unsecured debts. Conversely, a chapter 13 bankruptcy means that the debtor wishes to pay off secured loans such as home loans or car loans, but needs a new payment plan. In chapter 13 bankruptcy, the person's property and assets are protected, such as savings accounts, home equity, and personal belongings. Chapter 7 offers a much more comprehensive elimination of debts, but does not protect assets the same way as Chapter 13.In order to determine who qualifies for bankruptcy, the court looks into a person's income. "They use something called the 'mean test,'" Bankruptcy lawyer Rode explained. "This combines their earned income, plus any additional income. If a debtor's income is above the state median of $54,586, they may not qualify for chapter 7 bankruptcy in California, but usually they can file chapter 13."Bankruptcy is a complex legal process, and most people start by hiring a Riverside bankruptcy lawyer if they live in Riverside, California. Next they must gather all necessary paperwork, including pay stubs and tax returns. Debtors are required to complete credit counseling classes before they file. After that, paperwork is filed and a hearing is held at the Riverside Bankruptcy courts. Once the actual filling is complete it must be reviewed by the court to pave the way for debt elimination and repayment.Afterwards, in a Chapter 13, the person must follow the payment plan. This plan usually lasts 3 years if a filer's income is below the state median, and 5 years if it is above. At the end of the repayment period, the filing party is free of any remaining balance on dischargeable loans.Fees vary, but as of 2015 the cost of court filings for bankruptcy in Riverside County was $335 for chapter 7, and $310 for chapter 13. Attorney fees for Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcies usually range from $750-4500, depending on the chapter and complexity of the case.Anyone who lives in the state of California can talk to a Riverside bankruptcy attorney 818-254-8413. Attorneys at Consumer Action Law Group will take the time to review any situation on the first call and recommend a smart course of action.
Former Miss Brooklyn's Outstanding Teen competes as Miss Brooklyn

By: Miss Queens Scholarship Org

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-- Brittney Hollingsworth was Miss Brooklyn's Outstanding Teen 2011, and she placed 1Runner Up at Miss New York's Outstanding Teen. Now at 22 and as Miss Brooklyn, she will be stepping on the Miss New York stage for the first time as a Miss this May.A Brooklyn native, this senior at the College of Staten Island has chosenas her platform. Since winning her title in September 2016, she has spent time throughout the city making appearances, volunteering, and sharing her story. In March, during Women's History Month, she was awarded by Sister's With Purpose for her work in the community, and maintaining her role as a superb role model.Brittney is on her way to being a licensed social worker, and has the difficult task of choosing between Columbia University, New York University, Fordham University, Hunter College, and the College of Staten Island for graduate school after being accepted to each schools' Master's program. She is proud of her Latina and West Indian culture, and will be showcasing this love in the talent portion of competition May 26 to May 28. On May 28, she hopes to join Leigh-Taylor Smith, and become the next Miss Brooklyn to become Miss New York.On Saturday, May 13, 2017, Brittney will be hosting a mother-daughter dance party to benefit the Children's Miracle network. Follow her at @missbrooklynorg for more info on Instagram.If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Shekinah Monee at 347.725.1182 or email at missbrookorg@ gmail.com
Mexican folklore meets Mendocino County in this world premiere, a gentle comedy inspired by Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.

By: IAMA Theatre Company

Species Native to California

Contact

Lucy Pollak Public Relations

***@lucypr.com Lucy Pollak Public Relations

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-- Everyone's a part of the family  until they're not.presents theof a deceptively gentle comedy about family, land, labor and loss.directsbyrunnningatFor a decade, two families  one white and progressive, one undocumented  have lived together on a Northern California wine country estate in something like harmony. But political changes and financial mishaps leave them both suddenly facing uncertain futures. As everyone clamors to save the estate, a vengeful ghost haunts the fruitless vineyard, intent on breaking the balance. Mexican folklore meets MendocinoCounty in Fortenberry's homage to Chekhov'sAccording to Fortenberry, she was struck by how many of Chekhov's themes resonate today, including the importance of land  specifically, the relationship between those who own it and those who work it."I'm fascinated by alliances where the parties might have very different views of the relationship,"she explains. "When I was younger, I had a friend who invited an undocumented family to live with her, and I always wondered what that dynamic was like."Gonda, whose father is an immigrant, is passionate about both politics and socially relevant material. "Who could have even imagined the times we live in now?" he asks. "This play is about the hope that can spring from even the darkest situations."is performed in English with a liberal sprinkling of Espanol. The ensemble includes(SyFy'sNBC'sABC's),(upcoming filmwith Denzel Washington, HBO's),at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center),(CW'sat International City Theatre),(Steppenwolf Theatre Co., Joseph Jefferson nomineeforat Chicago's Circle Theatre),(Comedy Central's, Showtime's),(Disney's) andat The Theatre @ Boston Court).was developed during a residency at Old Growth Arts in SonomaCounty, and was read as part of the Youngblood New Blood series in NYC and recently at Theatricum Botanicum as part of their GreenRead series.Dorothy Fortenberry's plays have been produced and developed by Actors' Theatre of Louisville (Humana Festival), Arena Stage, Center REPertory Company and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among others. She has received commissions from Ensemble Studio Theatre and Yale Rep. She lives in Los Angeles, where she writes for television, most recentlyfor Hulu. Fortenberry is a winner of the 2011 Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights and holds an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama.runsthrough, with performances onandatandat(dark Sunday, May 28). All tickets areis located atin. On-site parking is free. For reservations and information, callor go to www.iamatheatre.com
SMi's Defence Exports 2017 Conference moves to Rome with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Economic Development and Leonardo.

By: SMi Group

193 x 185 DefExorts copy

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-- As Italy continues to become a key player in the global arms trade, SMi Group's 12th annual Defence Exports will take place in Rome on the 27and 28of September.Bringing insights and support from high-level representatives of government and industry on best practices and compliance strategies, the conference will feature three key presentations from the host nation including: The National Authority of Armament Licensing and Controls - UAMA: An Overview of Exports & ImportsMinister Plenipotentiary Francesco Azzarello, Director, National Authority - UAMA (Armament Licensing and Controls) - Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Italian Regulations and Controls on Dual-Use Items: Ensuring efficient management of dual use itemsDr Massimo Cipolletti, Head of Unit, Dual Use Items, Commercial Embargoes and Chemical Weapons, Directorate General for International Trade Policy, Italian Ministry of Economic Development Compliance with Export Control Laws: A Multinational Corporation's ExperiencePierfilippo Rossetti, Head of Trade Compliance, Legal, Corporate Affairs and Compliance, LeonardoOur host nation speakers join an international line-up of government experts who will provide updates on regulatory developments, as well as industry pioneers who will explore strategies and best practice for compliance.The complete roster of speakers and their presentations can be found on www.defence-exports.com/prlog.Defence Exports 2017 will look at how regulation controls such as ITAR, EAR, ECR and Dual-Use are affecting European and Global compliance; crucial updates on the Wassenaar Arrangement, AAT; as well as exploring how to combat some of the challenges of the 21st century such as cloud, IT and electronic-data, export violation due to weak cyber security plans.For those interested to attend, registration is now live at www.defence-exports.com/prlog. Early Bird discounts apply.12DEFENCE EXPORTS CONFERENCE27-28 September 2017Crowne Plaza Rome, St Peter's, Rome, Italywww.defence-exports.com/prlog---ENDS---Contact Information:For queries on military bookings, contact James Hitchen on jhitchen@smi- online.co.uk . For sponsorship and exhibition details, contact Sadia Malick on smalick@smi- online.co.uk . For media enquiries contact Honey de Gracia on hdegracia@smi-online.co.uk.About SMi Group:Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries. We pride ourselves on having access to the world's most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. More information can be found at http://www.smi-online.co.uk
By: 1oT

Contact

Mart Kroodo

***@1ot.mobi Mart Kroodo

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-- 1oT is becoming the leading global connectivity provider for Internet of Things (IoT) startups and is especially proud of its strong market presence in connected light vehicles segment. 1oT's global SIM cards and self-service based connectivity platform called the 1oT Terminal are being used by hundreds of smart IoT startups all over the world. With this release, 1oT is not only strengthening its position among smaller and medium sized IoT device makers, but is unlocking its platform-as-a-service to large market players, including Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).1oT is announcing three major upgrades to its service. Firstly, due to growing interest from developing countries, the company's cellularand is now. 1oT is one of the few aggregators in the world providing such broad coverage and partnering with most of the top mobile carriers worldwide. All this enables 1oT to combine endless custom pricing plans to meet every specific need of a global IoT device maker.Secondly, as of 1st of May 2017,s. The first white-label pilot project has successfully been carried out by one leading European MNO. The 1oT Terminal enables MNOs to address B2B & B2B2C business models and is an unavoidable tool for mobile operators to start monetising M2M connections and IoT services.According to Mart Kroodo, the co-founder and CEO of 1oT, the 1oT Terminal is an essential bridge between MNOs and enterprises, helping MNOs to overcome key bottlenecks faced today: "MNOs are poorly positioned in providing contemporary end-user oriented IT solutions, customer experience and subscription management options for IoT device makers. Booming IoT evolution and downward trending mobile data prices are forcing MNOs to come up with value-adding services to protect their margin levels."Broadly speaking, there are four major shortcomings in today's MNO service that the 1oT Terminal-as-a-Service is addressing:No self-service based solutions for ordering, setting up and managing SIMs.Lack of flexibility in billing mechanisms.IoT device makers' segment is more fragmented and often led by innovative SMEs (leaving connected cars aside).Today's IoT device maker is not just looking for cheap data prices, but is interested in receiving real-time information, controlling all its SIMs on self-service basis and integrating functions with its own applications and systems.1oT undoubtedly covers basic functionalities that today's IoT device makers are looking from connectivity service, such as receiving real-time information about SIM sessions, detecting the location of SIMs, setting data limits and being able to integrate all functionalities with their systems & applications via API. Moreover, end-clients can set up notifications and alerts for detecting behavioural abnormalities with their SIMs. Research shows that the 1oT Terminal has saved end-clients 32% in mobile data traffic by applying notifications. From the administrative side of functionality, MNOs can set up custom pricing plans and fully automate billing for their end-clients.According to Mart Kroodo, the effective, automated and self-service based management platform takes a huge weight off from labour intense operations and sets a strong support level for dropping mobile data prices. In addition to MNOs and MVNOs, the 1oT Terminal is also a good fit for high-data-volume clients providing full service to their end-clients.Thirdly, the 1oT Terminal now holds many value-adding services and apps. Most importantly, the 1oT Terminal can be applied as a supreme platform of many other existing connectivity platforms. Marko Peterson, the co-founder and CTO of 1oT, brings an example: "The 1oT Terminal now enables its clients to integrate other SIMs from Cisco Jasper ( https://www.jasper.com/ ) platform to our Terminal and manage them all from the 1oT Terminal. Additionally, our platform enables the use of data analysis tools, SIM location positioning using Cell ID, sending SMS messages and so forth."Looking ahead, 1oT is dedicated to be one of the first in the world to offer eSIM solutions in addition to ordinary SIM cards. It is estimated that within 2 years, most smart devices will be connected to the network through eSIM cards. Additionally, the company is closely monitoring the development of NB-IoT and LTE-M network technologies.1oT ( http://1ot.mobi/ ) provides a hassle-free worldwide cellular connectivity solution to IoT device makers (OEMs). 1oT service brings the 2G, 3G, and 4G data services of several mobile operators to a single service platform and provides smart device makers worldwide network access for their devices. 1oT provides smart device makers with SIM cards that are tailored for IoT devices, can be controlled through API and work worldwide. The company is part of Mobi Solutions Group (http://mobisolutions.com/)and was founded in 2016 in Estonia. The founders of 1oT are Mart Kroodo, Marko Peterson and Rain Rannu.Mobi Solutions (http://mobisolutions.com/)is a mobile value-added services provider and developer which during its 15+ years of activity has brought numerous internationally successful telecommunications, IT, and mobile services to the market, for example Fortumo (https://fortumo.com/), Messente (http://messente.com/), Mobi Lab (http://lab.mobi/), MobiGW (http://mobigw.mobi/), and Nevercode (https://nevercode.io/). The group's most prominent subsidiary is the mobile carrier billing service provider called Fortumo (https://fortumo.com/), which is backed by Intel Capital and serves customers like Microsoft, Facebook, Google Play and Spotify. In addition to services developed within the company, Mobi Solutions is a financial investor in several successful start-ups, such as Pipedrive (https://www.pipedrive.com/), Taxify (https://taxify.eu/), Click & Grow (https://www.clickandgrow.com/), and Teleport (https://teleport.org/)http://1ot.mobi/blog/1ot-now-available-in-over-150-countries-and-unlocking-its-connectivity-platform-to-mnos
Only South Florida Organizing Company with Dedicated Team of Employees Including Eight Certified Expert Organizers; Has Helped More Than 1,000 Families Clear the Clutter Since Being Founded in 2006

By: Me In Order(TM)

Me In Order

Contact

Melissa Perlman

BlueIvy Communications

***@blueivycommunications.com Melissa PerlmanBlueIvy Communications

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-- With the awareness of and need for professional organizers on the rise, Me In Order (www.meinorder.com), a team of hands-on professional organizers committed to creating order and peace for its clients so that they can live richer and more fulfilling lives, announced this week the launch of the Me In Order South Florida branch.Me In Order South Florida is the first step in a national expansion plan, which strives to support clients achieve organization and order across the country. While the Me In Order "hub" in Jupiter, Florida, provides infrastructure, marketing, accounting, and scheduling support, specific branches (such as Me In Order South Florida) will handle local sales and organizing. Following the Me In Order South Florida flagship launch, Me In Order plans to model the concept in Atlanta, Georgia and Nashville, Tennessee."South Florida is our home, which made it the right place to roll-out our model concept," said Jeremie Barber, CEO and Founder of Me In Order. "Our first goal is to create peace and order for 1,000 households in one calendar year here in South Florida. Our second goal is to expand Me In Order to 30 of the largest markets in the country."Kelly Barber is the founding partner and Regional Leader of Me In Order South Florida. She is a Certified Professional Organizer & Certified Expert Organizer. "As individuals continue to learn about the existence of professional organizers, the need for our services continues to grow rapidly," Kelly Barber said. "The diversity of our clientele is strong which shows us that what we provide is and will continue to be beneficial no matter what market we open in."According to the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), one in four Americans would like to be better organized. Me In Order and its team of 11, including eight certified expert organizers, are confident they can achieve this for their clients thanks to proven training, back-end support, compassion, and full-range of services.Me In Order offers three main areas of service:: Imagine being unpacked, organized and settled-in to your new home the day after the moving truck leaves. The Me In Order team of Certified Expert Organizers regularly makes this a reality for families all over South Florida. Packing, unpacking, donation collections, and more are all handled.: Declutter and create systems of organization, and then maintain those systems with the Keeping Order maintenance program. Ideal for the household or office going through lifestyle changes, closing a storage room, or gaining a new member.: Ideal for the DYI type, this service allows clients to learn how to get organized through Me In Order's online community, complete with how-to videos, articles, tips and individualized support. 80% of what we keep we never use. (Agency Sales Magazine) The average American burns 55 minutes a day  roughly 12 days a year  looking for things they know they own but can't find. (Newsweek) Executives waste six weeks per year searching for lost documents. (Fast Company Magazine) 50% of homeowners rate the garage as the most disorganized place in the house. (NAPO) 23% of adults say they pay bills late (and thus incur fees) because they lose them. (Harris Interactive) The average American receives 49k-plus pieces of mail in their lifetime and 1/3 of it is junk mail. (NAPO)Me In Order is a team of hands-on professional organizers committed to creating order and peace for its clients so that they can live richer and more fulfilling lives. Founded in 2006 by Jeremie and Kelly Barber and headquartered in Jupiter, Florida, Me In Order has helped more than 1,000 families clear the clutter, setup systems of organization, and maintain. The company currently is focused on the South Florida market but has plans to expand to support clients across the country. Learn more at www.MeInOrder.com.
Geoffroy de Lamalle, CEO, eProseed

Contact

Alexandra Toma

***@eproseed.com Alexandra Toma

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--eProseed's CEO,, is proud to announce that the company will be the exclusive sponsor of the Oracle Integration & API Cloud CAB Summit for the EMEA region that will take place in London, United Kingdom, on May 9 & 10, 2017.The Oracle Integration & API Cloud CAB Summit is an exclusive event where a group of selected participants drawn from multiple industries have the opportunity to engage in peer-to-peer dialogue, share best practices, participate in interactive sessions and demos, learn about product strategy roadmaps and latest product releases, provide feedback on product requirements, and even influence future product direction.eProseed's ACE Directors and members of Oracle's Product Management and Engineering teams will discuss, with the participating customers, the transformation now taking place in the market as organizations are moving their business models to the cloud."The rapid adoption of cloud-based applications by the enterprise, combined with organizations' desire to integrate applications with mobile technologies, is dramatically increasing application integration complexity. With simplified cloud, mobile, on-premises and Internet of Things integration capabilities, all within a single platform, Oracle SOA Suite 12c meets this challenge and delivers faster time to integration, increased productivity and lower TCO", notes Geoffroy de Lamalle."In fact", he adds, "eProseed has recently recorded a number of significant achievements at the EMEA level, notably with production customer deployments of SOA Cloud Services and Mobile Cloud Services."This edition of Oracle Integration & API Cloud CAB Summitwill explore in particular the new Oracle iPaaS integration services that enable users to quickly integrate on-premises and cloud, mobile or IoT applications, including Oracle Integration Cloud, Oracle SOA Cloud Service and Oracle API Manager Cloud Service.eProseed is an ICT services provider and a software publisher. Honored with 14 Oracle Excellence Awards since its inception 7 years ago, and boasting 8 Oracle ACE Directors, eProseed is an Oracle Platinum Partner with in-depth expertise in Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Engineered Systems. eProseed is also the publisher of FSIP, a comprehensive financial supervision solution dedicated to Central Banks, Financial Regulators and Supervisory Authorities.eProseed's portfolio of business applications and business accelerators is built on state-of-the-art, reliable technologies and sound knowledge of today's challenges, developed and maintained with the highest standards in mind. Comprehensive training and support are provided by eProseed's experts for both applications and underlying technologies.Headquartered in Luxembourg, in the heart of Europe, eProseed has offices in Beirut (LB), Brussels (BE), Dubai (AE), London (UK), New York (USA), Porto (PT), Riyadh (SAU), Sydney (AU), and Utrecht (NL).Visit us at http://www.eproseed.com
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The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PardeeRAND.edu) is home to the only Ph.D. and M.Phil. programs offered at an independent public policy research organizationthe RAND Corporation.
Spanish satellite operator Hispasat has reached an agreement with Telefonicas broadcasting solutions unit, TSA, to distribute AMC Networks International channels in Spain and Portugal.





Under the term of the deal, the full details of which will be unveiled during NAB 2017 in Las Vegas, Hispasat will distribute AMC Networks International Iberias 14 pay-TV channels through to 2020. Starting in September, the channels will be using the EMEA coverage of the Hispasat 30W-5 satellite.In addition to the distribution agreement, Hispasat will be also showcasing at NAB the latest developments of its Ultra HD, free-to-air channel Hispasat 4K, which is available in Europe via the Hispasat 30W-5 satellite and across North and Central America via the Amazonas 2 satellite.The operator has recently incorporated into the channels line-up several short films selected from the finalists and winners of the Hispasat 4K International Short Film Festival, an event that is preparing its third edition Hispasat has also announced that it is preparing to launch the Amazonas 5 satellite in the coming months to increase its direct-to-home (DTH) television capacity, enabling 500 new channels to be broadcast and consolidating the companys footprint in Latin America.
Spanish- and English-language content monopolise YouTube content, with the UK and Spain being largest online video producers thanks to their great overseas audiences.





According to research carried out by Tubular Labs and released on Google Spains official blog, 72% of YouTube content created in Spain is consumed abroad, mostly in Latin America. Mexico and Argentina are the main markets for Spanish content, consuming 18% and 14% respectively.According to the report , Spain is only surpassed by the UK; over 78% of YouTube content created in the UK is exported, mainly to the US, Canada and Australia.Creating Spanish-language content brings the possibility of creating actual, global communities, as well as opening opportunities for business in different markets, said Google in a release.The main advantage technology and digital media brings for content creators is the possibility of reaching a larger audience beyond the traditional target, added Octavio Dapena, general manager, Egeda , an organisation that manages rights of content producers and a YouTube partner since 2008.
Two regional US cable providers, Marquette-Adams of Oxford, Wisconsin and Highlands Cable Group of Highlands, North Carolina, have licensed the SES-provided Ultra HD programming through Vivicast Media following trials of the SES platform.





SES has said that over 20 MVPDs, with a combined audience of nearly ten million subscribers, are testing its all-in-one UltraHD solution, which packages a 4K UltraHD channel line-up, satellite distribution services and reception equipment. Programming includes ten 4K UltraHD channels, including Fashion One 4K, Travelxp 4K, 4KUNIVERSE, NASA TV UHD , INSIGHT TV, UHD1, C4K360, Funbox 4K, Nature Relaxation 4K as well as SESs UHD demonstration channel, which are hosted on a trio of SES satellites at the centre of the orbital arc (SES-1, SES-3, AMC-18), which covers 100% of the cable headends in the US.Vivicast has played an integral role in the launch of commercial linear UltraHD by securing licensing rights for the pay-TV providers offering the line-up.These historic commercial linear UltraHD services are being delivered to subscriber homes by cutting-edge pay-TV providers, who are leveraging SESs satellite-based UltraHD platform, said Steve Corda, vice president of business development in North America for SES . We have delivered on our bold plan announced at NAB two years ago, which was laser-focused on enabling linear UltraHD home delivery in half the time it took HD to reach the same television milestone in the US. SES cut through the operational and technical barriers with our scalable solution delivered via satellite, which provides high quality UltraHD and can reach over 100 million television households throughout North America.We have launched our UltraHD services well ahead of schedule on SESs breakthrough solution, which has enabled Highlands Cable Group subscribers to be among the first to enjoy 4K UltraHD television in North Carolina, said Nin Bond, managing member and GP at Highlands Cable Group. Response to our new UltraHD services has been extremely strong, as our subscribers can watch a tremendous line-up of UltraHD content on their new 4K UHD TVs.
Cincinnati Bell has broadened its deployment of the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) multi-network solution to support over-the-top (OTT) video delivery of its streaming app, Watch Fioptics.





The app is a complimentary offering to Cincinnati Bell Fioptics subscribers to help fulfil the company's mission to deliver content on any device. Verimatrix will enable secure premium services to Roku streaming players and TVs, along with set-top boxes (STBs), iOS and Android devices and future device development, with its ViewRight web client security package. The Watch Fioptics App is available on iOS and Android devices with other devices coming later in the year.The Watch Fioptics app is an OTT app-based service where subscribers can access their TV package on a variety of devices. VCAS for Internet TV, powered by the multi-network VCAS platform, provides Cincinnati Bell a complete multiscreen security solution for OTT services over networks implementing HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), which is the dominant adaptive bitrate (ABR) protocol supported by Roku and other mainstream CE devices. VCAS for Internet TV enhances the basic HLS security model with capabilities that support subscription and transaction-based pay-TV services to ensure only authorised users can access their content, and provides an easy upgrade to MPEG-DASH delivery as a future service option."We have relied on Verimatrix as we have grown our offering to allow users to access their content in the way they wish to consume it," said Cory Beimesche, VP, consumer solution design and management at Cincinnati Bell. "VCAS for Internet TV enables us to reach all the devices we need and ensures that we can securely deliver OTT video to meet customer demand. Plus, its ability to harmonise rights across these devices helps streamline our delivery.""The strength of our partner ecosystem and our ability to deploy revenue security solutions quickly and across essentially all device types are what set Verimatrix apart for this deployment," said Steve Oetegenn, president at Verimatrix . "We are excited to not only support OTT delivery of Cincinnati Bell's Watch Fioptics service, but also pave a new path for other operators to easily add Roku streaming devices to their multiscreen line-up.
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.
BRUSSELS -- Serbias Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has told European Union officials that Belgrades top foreign policy priority after Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic assumes Serbias presidency on May 31 will continue to be joining the EU.

Dacic made the remarks after he met in Brussels on April 24 together with Vucic, Serbias president-elect, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn.

Dacic told journalists in Brussels after the meeting that it is of the utmost importance that Belgrade's European integration maintains its momentum and avoids standstills.

"It means that Serbia will do its best," Dacic said. "It will try to play a constructive role, which will ultimately yield in the Balkans a zone of stability and peace."

Dacic said he and Vucic talked with the EU enlargement commission about "all existing challenges, including different statements which run counter to the search for common interests in the Balkans but strive to go back to the past which is fraught with a risk of conflicts that, instead, endanger Balkan peace and stability."

Meanwhile, Hahn on April 24 commended Serbia "for having shown leadership when it comes to regional cooperation and good neighborly relations."

In an apparent reference to recent comments by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama about the potential unification of Albania and Kosovo, Hahn said he was disappointed and annoyed by "inflammatory statements from certain leaders in the region."

Hahn said those statements could be considered as "interference in neighboring countries" and that "implying changing borders" was not acceptable and "more than unnecessary and counterproductive."

"If somebody believes that such a kind of statement might put pressure on us, it would be a big mistake because this can easily backfire," Hahn said.

"One should be aware that the Europeans have a strong interest in peace, stability, and prosperity in the region," Hahn said. "This can only be achieved via good neighborly relations, if everybody works together and is contributing to the further development of the region."

Vucic -- the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) -- was elected in April as Serbia's next president, winning the contest outright in the first round ballot with about 55 percent of the vote.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak


A new study co-authored by U of T Engineering professor Greg Evans shows that subways increase our personal exposure to certain pollutants, even as they decrease overall emissions -- and that Toronto has the highest levels in Canada.

The findings come from data collected on TTC platforms and in trains over three weeks in the summer of 2010 and the winter of 2011. In collaboration with researchers from Health Canada and McGill University, Evans and his students used portable detectors for particulate matter -- tiny particles suspended in air -- and found them to be much higher than in the ambient air outside.

The team evaluated air quality using a metric called PM2.5, which measures the mass of airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres per cubic metre of air. "While larger particles get caught in your nose or throat, these ones can make the twists and turns to be able to get deep down into the lungs," says Evans. For comparison, a typical human hair is 50 to 100 micrometres wide.

Evans says that a typical outdoor PM2.5 value for Toronto would be on the order of 10 micrograms of particles per cubic metre of air. On a poor air quality day in Toronto, that value might rise as high as 30 micrograms per cubic metre, and the particles would be visible in the air as haze.

But on Toronto subway platforms and trains, the team measured an average value of 100 micrograms per cubic metre. "That's comparable with a typical day in Beijing," says Evans. The results are published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

On the street, combustion sources such as cars and trucks are the dominant contributors to PM2.5 levels. But subway trains are electric, so the particles in subway stations must be coming from a different source.

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"We know from analyzing the composition of the particles that it's not just everyday grime," says Evans. "The metal concentrations are very high, and the ratios of manganese to iron are similar to what you see in steel."

This composition suggests that abrasion between the wheels and track of the train is grinding off tiny steel particles. As each train comes into the station, it pushes a column of air in front of it, which stirs up these particles along with any other dust settled at track level.

In aboveground stations, such as Rosedale and Davisville, the team found that PM2.5 measurements were about half what they were underground. Vancouver's Skytrain system, which is primarily aboveground, also had much lower average PM2.5 values at, 17 micrograms per cubic metre. Montreal's system, while entirely below ground, averaged 36 micrograms per cubic metre, which Evans says may be because its rubber wheels, concrete rails, and wood-based braking system leads to less abrasion than steel-on-steel.

Long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution has been associated with negative effects on the respiratory and cardiac systems, and short-term exposures to high levels can aggravate asthma or trigger heart attacks. Current Health Canada guidelines recommend that indoor PM2.5 levels be kept "as low as possible," and at minimum, lower than the outside air.

Evans points out that these findings must be taken in context. Most commuters only spend about an hour or so on the subway each day, which means that its impact on overall daily exposure is limited. "Taking transit only increases a given daily overall exposure by 20 per cent," says Evans.

By contrast, the outdoor PM2.5 level can vary day today by much more than 20 per cent simply due to the weather. "The comparison between the three subway systems shows that this is a preventable exposure and we should take steps to reduce it," says Evans. "These particles may also be more toxic than typical outdoor particles due to their high metal content."

"The findings are similar to previously published studies conducted in metro systems across the world," says Keith Van Ryswyk, Scientific Project Coordinator at Health Canada's Air Health Science Division and lead author of the study. "The results from the study can be used to help guide transportation planners in Canada to improve air quality for commuters."

Evans says exposure could be reduced by upgrading ventilation systems and cleaning up the dust that may be the source of the particles. He points out that his measurements were taken before the introduction of new train cars on Toronto's Line 1, the Yonge-University-Spadina line, in 2011. These new cars may already be reducing exposure through better braking systems and improved air filters, although those studies have not yet been done.

In the meantime, Evans says he will continue using subways for his daily commute, at least when biking is not an option. "Public transit offers the advantage of better air quality overall across the city," he says. "This isn't enough for me to stop taking the subway, but at the same time, we should try to reduce our exposure."
Around 2010, the deep waters of Utah's Great Salt Lake contained high levels of toxic methylmercury. Mercury measurements in waterfowl surrounding the lake led to a rare human consumption advisory for ducks.

But by 2015, 90 percent of the deep mercury was gone.

The disappearance of the mercury was not due to aggressive environmental policies or a wide-ranging cleanup effort. Instead, it's part of a story involving a large-scale unplanned chemistry experiment, a sometimes-stinky lake, and ducks -- in which the mercury did not disappear. The story is told in a paper published in Environmental Science & Technology.

A Union Pacific railway line crosses the lake, dividing it into a smaller north arm and a larger south arm, with the line drawn right at the base of the bunny-ear-like northern extensions of the lake. Because the north arm has no major river inflow, it's much saltier than the south arm. Two culverts in the railroad line allowed briny north arm water to flow into the south arm and, because of its higher density, sink to the bottom of the south arm.

The difference in density between the deep and shallow waters prevented mixing, says geology and geophysics professor William Johnson, and kept fresh oxygen from infiltrating into the deeper water layers. Decaying organic matter on the lake floor sucked all the oxygen out of the briny layer, forcing microorganisms to find something else to "breathe." Without oxygen, some bacteria turn to nitrate to fuel the chemical processes of life. When the nitrate is gone, they turn to iron, manganese, and finally sulfate. Residents of the Salt Lake Valley may have noticed a byproduct of the sulfate-breathing bacteria -- sulfide, a stinky rotten egg smell emanating from the lake. In another side effect, the bacteria turn elemental mercury into toxic methylmercury.

"Mercury's really tricky," Johnson says. "It changes form." Elemental mercury, like the kind found in old thermometers, evaporates readily and circulates through the atmosphere. It can attach to dust particles and rain out of the sky, in a process called atmospheric deposition. With the Great Salt Lake's large surface area, it receives a lot of mercury. The toxic form of the element is methylmercury, which is toxic to the nervous system and can move up the food chain as higher organisms accumulate the methylmercury present in their prey.

When wildlife officials began noticing elevated mercury levels in waterfowl in the lake's wetlands, at around the same time geoscientists found highly elevated mercury in the depths of the lake, they all thought a connection between the ducks and the deep brine layer was likely.

"That created this expectation that there's a link between these high concentrations of methylmercury down in the deep brine layer and the elevated concentrations in waterfowl in the wetlands adjacent to the lake," Johnson says.

Then, in 2013, Union Pacific closed off the railway culverts for repair, sealing off the flow of salty water from the north arm to the south arm. When Johnson and his colleagues, Frank Black at Westminster College and Blair Stringham at the Utah Department of Natural Resources, took samples of the deep brine layer and lake-bottom sediments in 2015, they found that methylmercury, in both the water and the sediment, had decreased by 88 percent.

"It seems clear that the deep brine layer was a cap," Johnson says. Without the constant inflow of north arm water, the deep brine layer finally mixed with the overlying water, bringing oxygen and driving the methylmercury into other forms, possibly elemental mercury, which would evaporate away into the atmosphere.

And the ducks? Waterfowl carcasses collected both before and after the culvert closure showed no significant change in mercury levels. "If there's a direct connection between the environment at the bottom of the lake and the Hg in the ducks, you'd think you'd see a corresponding reduction of Hg in biota," Johnson says. "We didn't see that."

The source of methylmercury in wetlands is still unknown, as is the exact mechanism by which the deep lake mercury disappeared. But Johnson, Black and now the US Geological Survey aren't done with the lake yet. In December 2016, Union Pacific opened a new breach in the causeway, linking once again the north and south arms of the Great Salt Lake. The breach is wider than the old culverts, and researchers are now waiting to see whether the anoxic deep brine layer re-establishes itself, and whether another "methylmercury factory will lurk at the bottom of the lake" Johnson says.
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers collaborated with an international team of scientists to achieve a significant milestone in the effort to understand pathogens responsible for some of the world's most deadly infectious diseases.

After a decade of work, the Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases (CSGID) -- a consortium of 10 scientific institutions in the U.S., Europe, and Canada -- announced that it has determined the 3-D atomic structures of more than 1,000 proteins.

Determining these structures is an important step in identifying and understanding where a pathogen might be vulnerable to assault by drugs or vaccines. Such vulnerabilities are frequently found at the points where molecules bind to one another, said Dr. Zbyszek Otwinowski, Professor of Biophysics and Biochemistry, who leads the UT Southwestern group participating in the project. Dr. Dominika Borek, Assistant Professor of Biophysics and Biochemistry, who works in Dr. Otwinowski's laboratory, contributed crucial expertise for the successful completion of these studies.

To make a 3-D structure, a protein must be cloned, expressed, and crystallized, and then X-ray diffraction data are collected at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. These data define the location of each of the hundreds or even thousands of atoms to generate 3-D models of the structures that can be analyzed with graphics software. Each institution in the Center has an area of expertise it contributes to the project, working in parallel on many requests at once.

The UT Southwestern team manages the salvage pathway, meaning scientists design custom methods for determining structures of molecules that resist standard approaches and for which the high potential for drug or vaccine development justifies applying advanced efforts.

Structures solved with help from the UT Southwestern team include proteins involved in the replication of the Ebola virus -- a pathogen notorious for its ability to evade the body's immune system. Their X-ray crystallography work formed the basis for preclinical studies currently underway in university and industry laboratories.

"When other scientists run into trouble determining crystal structures, Drs. Otwinowski and Borek are among the top people in the world who can develop these advanced approaches because they understand the theory so deeply and they have created such powerful methods to deal with difficult problems," said Dr. Michael Rosen, Chair of Biophysics at UT Southwestern and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Dr. Rosen has secondary appointments as a Professor of Biochemistry and in the Cecil H. and Ida Green Comprehensive Center for Molecular, Computational, and Systems Biology. Dr. Rosen also holds the Mar Nell and F. Andrew Bell Distinguished Chair in Biochemistry.

UT Southwestern's contribution to the Ebola project began when a scientist at the Washington University School of Medicine requested the consortium's help in structural studies of the Ebola protein VP35. UTSW researchers conducted detailed structural studies of a VP35 protein fragment that interacts with the Ebola nuclear protein (NP) to form a complex that protects Ebola's genetic material from digestion by the host's enzymes.

The structure revealing the interactions between the VP35 fragment and the NP protein provided the first glimpse into the protein complex's role in viral replication. That work, part of a multicenter study to better understand the complex's function, was reported as a Cell Reports cover story in 2015.

This 3-D structure is among the 1,000 now deposited by the consortium into the World-Wide Protein Data Bank, an archive supported by the National Institutes of Health that is freely available to the scientific community. The CSGID's breakthrough research is funded by two five-year contracts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with a total budget of $57.7 million.

The CSGID, based at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, includes UT Southwestern and the University of Chicago, University of Virginia, University of Calgary, University of Toronto, Washington University School of Medicine, J. Craig Venter Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, and University College London.
Scientists believe that biochar, the partially burned remains of plants, has been used as fertilizer for at least 2,000 years in the Amazon Basin. Since initial studies published several years ago promoted biochar, farmers around the world have been using it as a soil additive to increase fertility and crop yields. But a new study casts doubt on biochar's efficacy, finding that using it only improves crop growth in the tropics, with no yield benefit at all in the temperate zone.

A team of researchers from the United Kingdom, Portugal, The Netherlands, Canada and the U.S. gathered data from more than 1,000 experiments conducted around the world that measured the effect of biochar on crop yield. By using meta-analysis, an advanced statistical technique that analyzes many studies at the same time, they performed rigorous testing to determine whether the beneficial effect of adding biochar depends on geography.

That's when the surprising result emerged. Although previous studies assumed that the beneficial effects of biochar are universal, applying to soils in all climate zones, researchers proved that geography matters by assembling and analyzing this very large dataset.

"We saw a huge boost for crops grown in the tropics, but zero results for crops in the temperate zone," said Dr. Bruce Hungate, Director of the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University and co-author on the study. "Given all the talk about the benefits of biochar, we were really surprised."

The idea of biochar was inspired by a rare type of humanmade soil found in the Amazon Basin, terra preta -- Portuguese for 'black earth', so named because the soil is rich in black carbon generated by the partially burned remains of old plants, much like charcoal. Terra preta is fertile, with favourable pH, unlike typical tropical soils, which are low fertility and acidic. Initial experiments showed that adding biochar to typical tropical soils increased crop yields, making it possible for farmers to cultivate a plot of land in these soils for more than a few years.

The new study supports that view. "It makes sense that biochar can benefit farms in low-nutrient, acidic soils such as in the tropics," explained Dr. Hungate, "But many temperate zone soils are higher in nutrients and more moderate in pH. And if, on top of that, farmers add nutrients through fertilizers, there isn't much room for biochar to increase yield."

Many other benefits have been claimed for biochar, including managing waste, storing carbon in the soil and being more environmentally friendly than adding synthetic chemicals to the soil. The new study did not evaluate these other potential benefits, and the authors note that some of them may still hold true in both temperate and tropical regions.

"There may be a potential upside to using biochar in the temperate zone, like promoting soil carbon storage to slow climate change," said Dr. Hungate, "but our analysis, summarizing more than 1,000 observations, shows that the yield benefits just aren't there. So if the goal for biochar application is boosting crop yield, stick to the tropics."

The report has been published, open access, in Environmental Research Letters.
This 15-year-old hacker was minting money with his DDoS tool at an age when others are busy with schooling

What were you doing when you were a 15-year-old? Probably studying hard to make good grades and enter a decent college. When most kids are busy with their academics, a whiz kid hacker was making $$$s with his DDoS tool. Adam Mudd used his hacking and coding skills to wreak vengeance all across the world from Greenland to Newzealand. As a 15-year-old, Mudd reported earned $500,000 from his nefarious activities which caused mayhem amongst Xbox Live users, and players of the computer games Runescape and Minecraft.

Titanium Stresser the Mudd DDoS Tool

At the age of 15, he created a software tool called Titanium Stresser that could carry out DDoS attacks. This simple malware would soon end up causing millions in damages to victims Adam probably never even dreamed about. Going by the alias themuddfamily Adam created the malware when he was just 16 back in 2013. Adam personally carried out around 594 attacks, at least one of which targeted West Herts College  the college he studied in. The attacks on West Herts College crashed the network, cost about 2,000 to investigate and caused incalculable damage to productivity. His justification for this particular attack being that he was bullied while studying and no action was taken. The rest of his attacks include varied attacks however including the University of Cambridge, University of Essex and the University of East Anglia.Some of his other targets were Minecraft, Xbox Live, and the fantasy game Runescape.

The attacks from the buyers

Though he did carry out approximately 600 attacks right from his bedroom, thats not the worst of it. By reports of the trail, Mudd also dealt in sales of the tool leading to an exponential growth in the number of attacks taking place. Soon after he created the malware, he began selling it, raking in $307,298.35 and 259.81 bitcoins  worth an overall 386,079  all this by the time he turned 18. This lead to a grand total of 1.7 million attacks spread across 650,000 victims. One of the worst hit being Runescape which was at the receiving end of 25,000 attacks that cost them a bill of 6 million  mainly in preventive measures.

The Trial

The reason we are getting to hear about these attacks only now is the result of the trail of Adam Mudd. Jonathan Polnay, the prosecutor, said the effect of Mudds hacking program was truly global, adding: Where there are computers, there are attacks  in almost every major city in the world  with hotspots in France, Paris, around the UK. The court was also notified that Adam suffered from Asperger syndrome which had previously not been diagnosed. As a consequence of this syndrome, Adam was unable to empathize with the victims of his attacks even though he clearly understood that what he did was wrong.

Polnay said: This is a young man who lived at home. This is not a lavish lifestyle case. The motivation around this we tend to agree is about status. The money-making is by the by.

Adam though, has confessed to the crimes of committing unauthorised acts with intent to impair the operation of computers; one count of making, supplying or offering to supply an article for use in an offence contrary to the Computer Misuse Act; and one count of concealing criminal property back in the month of October, although he was sentenced only now.

Ben Cooper the defendant for Mudd pleaded for a lesser sentence claiming that Adam had been sucked into the cyber world of online gaming and was lost in an alternate reality after withdrawing from school because of bullying. His statement to the court read This was an unhappy period for Mr Mudd, during which he suffered greatly. This is someone seeking friendship and status within the gaming community.

Although the presiding judge noted Adams condition, he also said he could not avoid pronouncing a sentence. Below is the observations by the presiding judge,
No one knows where a horse named Ambassador was born, but he ended up, like so many others, at an airport in Canada.

Ambassador, a horse who was shipped from Canada to Japan in 2015 | CHDC

Almost every week - from Edmonton and Calgary airports in Alberta and the Winnipeg airport in Manitoba - unwanted horses are packed into crates and flown across the ocean. They land in Japan, one of the leading importers of horsemeat; 6.5 million pounds of horsemeat were imported by the country in 2016 alone. But the live horses exported to Japan are used for something very specific: a kind of specialty sushi called basashi. "The meat needs to be consumed within three days after being slaughtered in order to be eaten as sushi," Ewa Demianowicz, campaign manager for Humane Society International, told The Dodo. Not only that, oils harvested from the horses' bodies are also used in beauty products.

Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Guy And Wild Shark Have Been Best Friends For Decades

"It is sad and difficult to understand," Debby Murtagh, director of research and community outreach for the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC), told The Dodo. "Japan relies on the imports to boost production to meet consumer demand." Many of the live horses are imported so that Japanese farmers can raise them in a particular way to achieve the kind of meat they want. "The live horses are further raised to develop 'marbling,'" Murtagh said.

Ambassador in a holding pen during export | CHDC

In 2015, Ambassador was just one of 5,782 horses to suffer this fate, according to the CHDC. Last year, live horse exports from Canada increased to 5,839. The horses don't just come from Canada - while horse slaughter is illegal in the U.S., American horses are routinely shipped north just to enter the slaughter pipeline.

Horses being loaded onto airport-bound trucks at a feedlot | CHDC

And flights to Japan are far from easy on the horses. The flight is generally 16 to 18 hours long, sometimes longer. Regulations from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) allow horses to go without food, water or rest for up to 36 hours.

Trucks full of horses on their way to the Calgary airport | CHDC

Several horse deaths during transport in 2012 show what can happen on these shipments. Three horses died during a landing accident and six more died in-flight "due to a combination of a substantial delay, the large size of the horses, and significant stress levels in the animals." Takeoff and landing appear to be particularly stressful for the animals, according to the CHDC. One horse being flown from Calgary was discovered upside down and dead in his crate.

Crates of horses lined up at the airport for shipment | CHDC

There are two major issues with the logistics of these shipments, Demianowicz explained. Horses of a certain height are not supposed to be packed into crates with other horses. And the crates are generally just too small. Infractions on these regulations happen all the time, according to Demianowicz. "The industry does this because it's a higher profit if they jam-pack the horses in the crates," she said. "If they were to follow regulations, it would not be as lucrative of a business."

It is against regulation for horses to touch the top of the crate but it still happens. | CHDC

Even though the shipments are overseen by the CFIA, the agency that set the regulations, the rules aren't always enforced. "They're aware that there are ongoing infractions and they're not doing anything about it," Demianowicz said. "They wrote these regulations and they are not following their own rules."

Airplane getting ready to load crates of live horses bound for Japan | CHDC

And even if the rules were followed perfectly, there is a larger problem with the inherent cruelty of live export. "There's something very troubling that we export live animals to be slaughtered in another country where we have no idea of the regulations of slaughter is over there and no control over what happens to them," Demianowicz said. "They have to endure hours and hours of transport without food, water or rest. These are the last days of their lives." "There's no way to make this easy on the horses," she added.
Sonoma is a cocker spaniel who lived with the same family his entire life. But at 20 years old, they decided that Sonoma was "too old" - and left him at the Carson Animal Shelter in California. Poor Sonoma is nearly blind and deaf, and was so confused when he was left behind in a strange place, far away from the only home he'd ever known. His former mom said she used to come home to find him swimming in their pool because he was so old and confused, and she felt she just couldn't handle it anymore.

Frosted Faces Foundation

The super senior was left at a public shelter where he may not have lasted very long because of his age, but luckily, Frosted Faces Foundation, a senior dog rescue based in San Diego, found out about Sonoma and immediately stepped up to take him in. "At any age, the only languages a dog will ever know are fierce loyalty and love," Kelly Smisek, founder of Frosted Faces Foundation, told The Dodo. "There is nothing one can say to explain to your dog all of the reasons you feel your decision of abandonment is justified, and that is why we operate Frosted Faces Foundation."

Dodo Shows Dodo Heroes Woman Devotes Her Life To The Stray Dogs Of Bali

Frosted Faces Foundation

The day after taking him in, Sonoma's rescuers immediately took him to the local vet to get him checked out and see how many health issues the senior pup had. It turns out he had infected ears and an ulcer in his left eye, which rescuers made sure got treated, and also a handful of masses and skin tags. Otherwise, he seemed to be in good health. Despite his age, all of his bloodwork came back completely normal.

Frosted Faces Foundation

"He has some tiny hang-y masses and lots of skin tags, but we aren't going to do anything too crazy," Smisek said. "The man did make it to 20 years old without being carved upon, so perhaps the only thing he requires beyond the treatment for his eyes and ears is a loving home!"

Frosted Faces Foundation

Sonoma's eyes and ears have already started to heal, and his spirits seem to slowly be lifting. He loves meal time, and can't seem to avoid dragging his long ears through his food bowl every single time he eats. Sonoma may be old, but he still has so much life left in him - and he's more than ready for his second chance.

Frosted Faces Foundation

"Sonoma's days will go on, his heart will heal, and we will be his advocates," Smisek said. "Where anger meets love, we act."

Frosted Faces Foundation

Sonoma is now looking for his forever family, and whoever he ends up with, Frosted Faces will be helping to cover his medical expenses for the rest of his life. He has so many people on his team now, and they'll stand by his side until he finally finds his perfect happy ending.

Frosted Faces Foundation
Carol H. Williams started working in the advertising business in 1969, when young African-American women like her were a rarity in the industry.

Once in those early years, she recalled recently, an older white woman she worked with remarked, apropos of nothing, Dont you think black people were much happier when they were slaves?

She said they were always singing and dancing, Williams said. I said, You need to turn your television off, and she was stunned by that statement. I dont know what she was expecting me to say.

Williams, a creative mind behind major campaigns for brands like Secret, Pillsbury and the Walt Disney Co., said she had simply walked away and limited her conversations with the woman after that.

She wasnt going to get me distracted with that ignorance and irrelevance where I couldnt do my job or get focused, Williams said. There is no re-education for that kind of nonsense.

The U.S. workplace and the ad industry have evolved strikingly since then, but perhaps not fast enough. On Tuesday evening, Williams became the first African-American woman with a creative agency background  the class of executives exalted on Mad Men  to be inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame, which was established in 1948.

Williams, the founder of Carol H. Williams Advertising, got her start at Leo Burnett in Chicago. There, she coined the tagline for Secret deodorant  Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman  and helped sell Americans on Pillsbury canned frosting back when the boxed version was in vogue.

Her induction comes as Madison Avenue continues to grapple with a lack of women and minorities in its top ranks, and faces intensifying pressure to diversify from advocacy groups, major brands and its own leaders.

The 3 Percent Conference, which supports female creative leadership at agencies, has estimated that only 11 per cent of creative directors are women, even as they account for half of the industrys workforce.

For black women, the field is even tougher. Last month, the Interpublic Group publicized statistics from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission showing that fewer than 1 per cent of executives in advertising, public relations and related services are black women.

When you consider someone like Carol Williams could come up and be African-American and a woman and come to a place where she is inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame, that accomplishment cannot be understated, said Judy F. Davis, a professor of marketing at Eastern Michigan University and author of the book Pioneering African-American Women in the Advertising Business. Its an important symbol in terms of the history of the advertising business.

(The Hall of Fame, which is administered by the American Advertising Federation, inducted its first African-American woman two years ago: Catherine L. Hughes, the founder of Radio One, the countrys largest black-controlled multimedia company.)

Williams, who is in her late 60s, said she had initially been hired by Rudolph Perz, the creator of the Pillsbury Doughboy. She was behind the campaign Say Hello to Poppin Fresh Dough  the Doughboys name  and created his female counterpart, Little Poppy, who was not subject to the famous giggle-inducing belly pokes that Poppin Fresh endured. (The decision, she recalled, followed a huge discussion, with the team ultimately deciding it was abusive to poke Little Poppy because she was a young girl.)

Williams eventually became the first woman to be a creative director at Leo Burnett, but her career was not without challenges. She learned to ignore or detach herself from situations where men would say culturally unacceptable things, she said, and advanced without having a female boss or peer to derive mentorship from.

It was a challenge, for example, to balance a demanding workaholic culture with the need to pick up her daughter, who is also named Carol, from school on time, she said.

The environment ultimately drove her to create work that led to tangible results for brands, she said. A campaign for Pillsbury relied on a paper knife to highlight the texture of its canned frosting, a stunt that changed many Americans perception of the product. Before her work with Secret, she said, women were perceived as soft, delicate creatures that didnt sweat.

In those days, I saw people would execute a project because they enjoyed executing the project and the project was just that to them, she said. Whereas when I would execute a project, it impacted the bottom line.

She left Leo Burnett in the early 1980s and started her own agency in Oakland, California, in 1986. The agency, which has just under 40 employees and locations in Chicago and New York as well as Oakland, has created campaigns for brands including Wells Fargo, Buick, the U.S. army and Disney, for which it made the popular Signs commercial in 2007, featuring a boy using sign language to communicate with his grandfather.

Williams said the industry still has work to do in connecting with African-Americans. She is concerned that agencies catering to multicultural audiences employ mass marketing strategies that look to target such consumers simply by casting minorities in ads, or making assumptions based on social media data.

It becomes an issue of, If they see themselves in a commercial, theyll buy the product, rather than it being about the messaging and how that messaging is delivered to them, she said.

Some companies are also using digital technology to withdraw what they perceive as insights out of these communities, she added, instead of developing research techniques to really get to know this culture.

Her comments seemed particularly notable in the wake of a widely derided commercial from Pepsi, which invoked imagery from the Black Lives Matter movement. Davis said it was very interesting to see that sort of ad, almost 50 years after another African-American ad executive, Barbara Gardner Proctor, was fired from an agency for refusing to work on a hair product ad that sought to mimic a civil-rights protest.

About the Pepsi ad, which was made in house, Davis said, It has been suggested, and I certainly agree with the sentiment, that if people of colour perhaps had been at the table when the execution was conceived, perhaps there would have been input from that level that would have suggested maybe this wasnt a good idea.

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Thanks to the phenomenon of fake news, Google is going to start asking you for help with its search results rather than relying solely on its algorithms.

The search giant said Tuesday that it will make it much easier for anyone to give it feedback on its search results, which is the way that most people use Google. For everyday users, that means that if you see a result featured on Googles pages that you think is wrong or offensive, then you can actually do something about it.

Read more: Facebook, Google to tackle fake news in Canada with new tools

Google framed the problem as a quality issue. Today, in a world where tens of thousands of pages are coming online every minute of every day, there are new ways that people try to game the system, said vice president of engineering Ben Gomes in an official blog post.

According to Google, approximately .25 per cent of its results have been returning offensive or clearly misleading content. The company didnt specify how many queries that really is  but the search-engine-focused news site Search Engine Land reported that Google estimated in 2015 that it handles 3 billion searches per day. Some back-of-the-envelope math suggests that users could be seeing as many as 7.5 million misleading results every day.

Users will see options to report bad information that shows up in Featured Snippets  a.k.a., the little summary boxes that appear at the top or sides of Google searches. They will also be able to report offensive autocomplete suggestions  the suggested phrases that show up when you begin typing a query in the search engine.

Users can report suggestions for being hateful, explicit or violent. For the snippets, users can also report when the summaries are inaccurate.

Google has also tweaked its search algorithms to ensure that low-quality content shows up lower in search results, which should minimize their reach. This should address issues such as one Google dealt with last year, when a prominent Holocaust denial site showed up at the top of search results for did the holocaust happen.

Since the U.S. election, several companies including Google and Facebook have taken steps to deal with false information that looks legitimate being passed through their products. In the past, both companies have been hesitant to step in and provide quality controls for information that appears on their products, preferring instead to let their algorithms weed out bad results.

And like Facebook, Google has recently undertaken broader efforts to fight misleading information and hate speech online. The company has started pairing some claims online with fact-check articles, which say whether a claim is true or false. It has also released a tool for developers to let them automatically moderate online messages better.

Google users will start seeing the reporting options Tuesday. This particular effort has been underway since mid-December, said Google spokeswoman Susan Cadrecha in an email.

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OTTAWAMitsubishi Electric Corp. has been fined $13.4 million by Ontarios Superior Court of Justice after the Japanese auto parts company pleaded guilty to three counts of rigging bids.

Its the second-largest fine to date by a court in Canada since a federal investigation into bid rigging was launched more than four years ago.

Canadas Competition Bureau says Mitsubishi entered into illegal agreements with a competing Japanese car parts manufacturer.

The companies conspired to determine who would win certain calls for bids issued by Honda and Ford for the supply of alternators, and by General Motors for the supply of ignition coils. The calls for bids occurred between 2003 and 2006.

The largest fine to date under the bureaus campaign was $30 million levied in 2013 on Yazaki Corp. for rigging bids on wire harnesses for Honda and Toyota.

Correction  April 26, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that incorrectly used the logo of Mitsubishi Motors. As stated in the story, Mitsubishi Electric is the subject of the lawsuit, not Mitsubishi Motors.

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NEW YORKWells Fargo & Co. board members narrowly survived a shareholder vote in the wake of the banks account scandal, with some eking out such razor-thin majorities that it may hasten their departures.

At a raucous annual meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., investors granted 15 directors support ranging from 53 per cent to 99 per cent, the company said. The Tuesday results came after tense exchanges, with security officers escorting out one man who shouted questions for several minutes, demanding to know what the board knew and when you knew it. Other speakers chided the panels oversight after employees got caught opening legions of accounts without customer permission.

Wells Fargo stockholders today, I think, have sent a clear message of dissatisfaction, chairperson Stephen Sanger, who drew 56 per cent backing for his re-election, told the audience. The board has recognized that message.

Read more:

Wells Fargo Q1 profit beats forecasts despite scandal

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf steps down amid sales scandal

Bank leaders met and called investors in recent days, asking them not to shake up the board as it responds to findings that, for years, employees sought to meet aggressive sales targets by opening bogus accounts. Proxy advisers and California Treasurer John Chiang had urged shareholders to reject as many as 12 of the firms 15 directors, a move that chief executive officer Tim Sloan said would be crazy. Critics contend the misconduct went unchecked as the board failed to bolster internal controls.

Shareholder support was lowest for Sanger and some directors on two board committees: The risk panel, which is supposed to help ensure internal controls are effective, and the corporate responsibility panel, which guards the banks reputation.

Enrique Hernandez Jr., the chairperson and CEO of Inter-Con Security Systems Inc., drew 53 per cent backing. Federico Pena, who served as both U.S. energy secretary and transportation secretary during the Clinton administration, got 54 per cent. Cynthia Milligan, former dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, got 57 per cent.

The rebuke caps a seven-month scandal that has also drawn withering criticism from regulators and both chambers of Congress, and prompted the resignation of Sloans predecessor, John Stumpf.

Last year, no board members drew less than 95 per cent support. Weaker backing can hasten departures.

Any member of that board who received less than a substantial majority  and I would say 75 per cent-plus  should consider resigning because its a significant portion of the shareholders that are giving them a no-confidence vote, Matthew Patsky, CEO of Trillium Asset Management, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television after the meeting. His firm voted against most of the board.

While damages to clients were relatively small  once calculated at roughly $3 million (U.S.) in fees on unauthorized accounts  the look inside branches struck nerves. Stories emerged of tellers struggling to hit untenable goals to keep jobs, clients finding mystery dings on credit reports and bosses ignoring  or even encouraging  abuses over a decade.

Sanger said in an interview after the meeting that shareholders werent singling out the performance of specific directors.

They selected who to vote against based on a variety of reasons, and yet we dont view that as rebuke to any individual member, he said. The board isnt currently considering replacing any members, he said. Still, he suggested some directors might leave earlier than previously planned.

Shares of the bank gained 2.3 per cent to $54.86 at 2:35 p.m. in New York. The stock has climbed about 10 per cent since regulators fined the company $185 million in September, setting off the scandal. That performance trails the 29 per cent advance in the KBW Bank Index of 24 major U.S. lenders.

Its been a busy seven months, but we are focused on making things right, making real progress, and Im fully confident were on the right path, Sloan said Tuesday.

Early on, the meeting was halted for several minutes after Bruce Marks, an advocate for low- and moderate-income homebuyers, began shouting without a microphone, demanding every director explain what they knew about the abuses. Tensions mounted as police officers stepped into the room. Sanger pleaded for him to wait until a question-and-answer session later, but ultimately called for a recess. Security officers escorted Marks out.

As soon as the meeting resumed, more people interjected, pushing directors to speak.

Why wont they turn around? Why wont they be held accountable? asked Fred Hornbuckle, who said he owns about 500 shares. The board was seated at the front of the room, facing the podium.

At other banks hit by scandal, low support for directors has prompted exits within months.

After JPMorgan Chase & Co. lost billions of dollars on bets overseen by a trader known as the London Whale, three-quarters of the boards risk committee won less than 60 per cent backing at a 2013 meeting. Two of them, David Cote and Ellen Futter, stepped down about four months later. Another, James Crown, who led the committee, is still on the board and the panel.

A vast majority of S&P 500 directors comfortably secure at least 90 per cent shareholder support, according to Equilar Inc., which compiles data on corporate governance matters.

However, the data shows directors that didnt clear that hurdle have tended to end up with lower approval ratings than in past years, suggesting that theres a more uniform view among investors on whats acceptable and what isnt.

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No nation can achieve true greatness if it lacks the courage and determination to undertake the surgery necessary to remove the cancer of poverty from its body politic.

Thats a useful quote to keep in mind as the Wynne government pushes aside the naysayers, at least for the moment, and undertakes a three-city social policy experiment to test the efficacy of basic income. Hamilton, Lindsay and Thunder Bay are the chosen Petri dishes for the three-year Ontario Basic Income Pilot (OBIP) project, which means that this big test  will basic income not only provide better support for those on the bottom rung but also help push them up the ladder  may outlive the current government.

Or not.

The federal-provincial Manitoba Basic Annual Income Experiment of the 1970s, or Mincome, didnt survive the political changing of the guard from Ed Schreyers NDP government to Sterling Lyons Conservatives. The fuller story: interest in the project, located in Dauphin and Winnipeg, was waning at the federal level. The project had already pushed beyond its initial time mandate when the plug was pulled, leaving behind a confusion of data and first person accounts. There were even complaints about researchers trying to get to interviews with Dauphinites in the middle of a Manitoba winter. Images of cost escalation arent difficult to conjure.

Throughout there was deep skepticism here in Ontario, which had been offered federal funding to conduct a similar experiment, but took a pass, taking the position that guaranteed income and negative income tax experiments had been conducted in the United States dating back to 1968, albeit with inconsistent results.

So the first takeaway is that regardless of what happens in the next provincial election, all parties need to pledge allegiance to OBIPs full three years. History tells us that the rigorous research and evaluation experts promised by the Wynne government had better be the best in their field for this will be key to a robust scientific outcome. The third-party research consortium that will evaluate the study has yet to be announced.

The remnant data from Mincome has been much discussed, including here in an interview with Evelyn Forget, a University of Manitoba health economist. Forgets first focus was on health outcomes, with the significant finding that health care utilization was reduced and mental health complaints dropped significantly.

When I spoke to Forget last spring she emphasized that one of the really big findings was the increase in high school completion for the children of Mincome-receiving parents. Particularly boys, Forget said. Before Mincome they had been under a fair amount of family pressure to go out and become self supporting. When Mincome came along I guess their families decided they could support them in school a little longer.

Thats a huge win that cant be overstated, and the kind of result that plays into both federal and provincial promises to help advance inclusive growth.

Wisely, the Wynne government is not taking the Dauphin saturation site approach in which all residents were invited to participate  a very weird way of doing an experiment, Forget said, though the family files proved a goldmine for her own research  but rather will build its data base on 4,000 randomly selected participants between the ages of 18 and 64. Residents will be invited to apply.

A key point too is that by choosing Lindsay, Hamilton and Thunder Bay, the government has chosen representative sites that mirror the province as a whole: north, central, large, small. When I spoke with Forget she made the point that so much data  health, justice, education  is now routinely collected, its a completely different world than it was in 1974.

There are two elephants in the room.

The first is the fear that such a plan will serve as a disincentive to work  will there be negative labour market effects? And if so, where will they pop up?

The second, from the other end of the political spectrum, is that social programs will be compromised. The governments announcement states that participants receiving support through Ontario Works will continue to receive the Ontario Drug Benefit.

The government hopes the first perceived barrier will be overcome by a 50-cents-on-the-dollar incentive: for every dollar earned, the basic income amount will be reduced by 50 cents.

Its long past time that we figured out the labour market impacts of such a strategy.

Oh, and that opening quote? Those are the words of Senator David Croll, who led the senate committees report on poverty in Canada. In 1968. The key recommendation of the report? A guaranteed annual income.

Senator Crolls words ring a familiar bell. Heres what the Wynne government said in its release Monday: Our approach to basic income is a simplified way to deliver income support that provides a floor under which nobody can fall.

Heres Senator Croll addressing the Empire Club in 1972: What does the guaranteed annual income do? In essence, it simply means providing a floor below which the income of Canadians will not be allowed to fall.

A near half century has passed. Its now up to the Wynne government to hold the experiment to a gold standard, and resolve the decades old guaranteed income conundrum once and for all.

jenwells@thestar.ca

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FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.Letters from Buckingham Palace seldom accompany touring orchestras, but when the Royal Scottish National Orchestra visited a half-dozen Florida cities last month it carried one from its patron, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

It also carried along its Toronto-born music director since 2012, Peter Oundjian, a musical bigamist whose other marriage, since 2004, has been with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Bigamy, I hasten to add, is actually legal where conductors are concerned. The years when a Eugene Ormandy would spend 37 years devoted to one orchestra, the Philadelphia, are long past.

By the way, it was the experience of guest conducting the Philadelphia that led to Oundjians invitation to Scotland, when an impressed music administrator at the American orchestra subsequently became chief executive officer of its Scottish counterpart.Somehow we just clicked, the maestro recalls. Its a very passionate, spontaneous orchestra with a tremendous free spirit. Besides, he laughs, Im one-quarter Scottish. My grandfather on my mothers side was from Scotland.

Peter has a special quality, suggests Krishna Thiagarajan, the orchestras current CEO. He is one of the few conductors who have played in a string quartet and is very close to my way of thinking. I ran the (conductorless) Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. That collaborative spirit in music is invaluable.

Ive known Peter a long time, adds veteran deputy concertmaster William Chandler. I played in a master class for him when I was 21 and he was maybe 24 or 25. I think of his conducting as very violinistic. He invites us to make a sound. He has walked into an orchestra with a long history (125 years) and has adapted to what we have done. He connects well with the audience, too.

We have a six-year strategy, says Thiagarajan, including international touring, coming to North America every two years. Wed love to come to play in Toronto. Scotland has a very strong connection with that part of Canada.

In the U.K. we have been overshadowed by Birmingham, Manchester and the London orchestras. But there has been a turnover of generations over the last three years, with a number of new players and close to a 50-50 gender balance now; we have a wonderful new rehearsal hall, and our profile is rising. We went to Spain with Peter a few weeks ago and are trying to reinvent ourselves as an international orchestra, he adds.

In the 1990s a lot of European orchestras turned inward and the American orchestras became stronger, so touring became less of an option. Now we think of ourselves as cultural ambassadors for the U.K.

Hmm. Another point of similarity with Toronto, whose orchestra is also trying to become more of an international player, with a tour next month to Israel, Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany.

Every orchestra is very much influenced by where they play, Oundjian points out. In Glasgow, the Royal Concert Hall has very clear sound and, in Edinburgh, Usher Hall is more intimate and resonant. I remember when I took the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to Orchestra Hall in Detroit. It was like having a great engine in a car that didnt need it. We had to build the orchestra into Roy Thomson Hall.

Im not saying that it doesnt play well in rehearsal, but the RSNO really rises to the occasion in concert, while the Toronto Symphony is one of the best sight-reading orchestras in the world. The players are already well prepared when they come to rehearsal, Oundjian says.

In Toronto, I am much more hands on. I approve everything that goes onstage and Im close to many of our patrons, trying to raise an awareness of the value of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in the community. In Scotland, Im much less involved in the concerts I dont conduct and in fundraising.

As Oundjian is also quick to point out, conductors who are music directors tend to spend more time with their spousal orchestra in North America than in Europe. Although his commitment has diminished in recent years, he used to spend 14 weeks annually with his Canadian orchestra and he spends only eight, plus touring and recording, with his Scottish.

Moreover, he recently became a trigamist, if you will excuse the expression. A longtime adjunct professor at Yale University, he is now also principal conductor of the Yale Philharmonia. It has been said of cats, and perhaps it is also true of orchestras, that they are like potato chips. One is not enough.

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An Ontario Court has dismissed two claims by St. Annes Indian Residential School survivors, saying no judicial probe is needed into the actions of the Canadian government because it did not hide 12,000 documents detailing abuse suffered while at the notorious school.

Survivors of the James Bay residential school have spent years trying to convince authorities that an investigation was needed regarding the access to 12,000 documents that were part of a lengthy criminal probe concerning abuse at the school. Five former church employees were convicted.

Ontario Superior Justice Paul Perell dismissed the claim concerning the 12,000 documents, known as the Cochrane documents, which are transcripts of confidential and privileged examinations for discovery of the testimony of nearly 1,000 St. Annes survivors who suffered sexual, physical and emotional abuse while at the school. Perell said Canada has provided a transparent explanation for why the balance of the Cochrane documents have not been produced. The documents are confidential and privileged, he wrote in his April 24, 2017 ruling.

The second dismissed claim is from the St. Annes survivors  Edmund Metatawabin and the Peetabeck Keway Keykaywin Association (St. Annes Survivors Association), and K-10106, a female claimant. They requested a judicial investigation and an order extending the independent assessment process (IAP) deadline for former students of St. Annes school who did not file an IAP claim, and, an order reopening IAP claims. This was all denied. The IAP is

From the early 1900s to 1976, children from remote northern First Nations including Weenusk, Attawapiskat, Fort Albany and Moose Factory were forcibly removed from their homes and taken to St. Annes Indian Residential School, which was operated by the Catholic Church and funded by the government of Canada as part of a nationwide effort to try to assimilate indigenous children to Canadian culture. For more than a century, 150,000 indigenous children were taken away from their parents and sent to residential schools.

Former St. Annes students Metatawabin and his brother Mike frequently travelled to Toronto from their James Bay homes along with dozens of other survivors to be part of the court case. Alvin Fiddler, Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, a political organization representing 49 northern Ontario First Nations, also attended court frequently.

I am obviously very disappointed by the decision. I feel for Ed and the other survivors from St. Annes, said Fiddler, who also worked for the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

We will carefully review the decision and consider next steps. We cannot stop here. Their fight for justice is too important, Fiddler said.

Perell wrote there is no mystery about whether the delayed production of the Cochrane documents had an adverse effect on independent assessment claims because as of April, 2017, there have been 38,096 claims nationally, of which 504 claims are from students at St. Annes.

Perell noted payments nationally to claimants excluding legal fees and disbursements total $2.6 billion, with 19 claims of former St. Annes students still in progress, payments to former St. Annes students through the IAP total $31.9 million, net 15 per cent for legal fees. Perell added the success rate for former St. Annes students in making claims was 95.2 per cent which compares to an 89.2 per cent success rate in the IAP nationally.

Michael Swinwood, who along with lawyer Fay Brunning have acted for Ed Metatawabin and the claimants pro bono, said Perell ruled Canada has not breached the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

Swinwood said the survivors now must decide if they are going to appeal.

I wish I could say exactly what we are going to do. I dont know. It is a fulsome decision, he said.

You have to take into account Justice Perell is a damn good judge. Despite the fact we dont like the results, we have our work cut out for us on what we are going to do. These people have legitimate claims, he said.

Swinwood added he finds it curious that the decision cited stats that say 92 per cent of St. Annes claimants have been compensated. So what? Does that mean the 7.5 per cent of the rest have their rights denied? Do we know what that stat is? he said.

Earlier this month, the justice department in Ottawa sent NDP MP Charlie Angus part of a release of 70,000 pages of emails, speaking notes and memos related to the residential school as part of an ongoing access to information request. Of the 1,200 pages Angus received, only a few documents were not blacked out.

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Toronto Community Housing, the largest social housing provider in Canada, is planning to close 400 homes next year because of a lack of repair money.

Those closures, on top of 600 units to be boarded this year, would bring the total number of shuttered homes to 1,000 by the end of 2018.

There are now more than 181,000 people on the wait list for subsidized housing.

The fact that hundreds more people will lose their homes was outlined to board members at a meeting Tuesday, just days ahead of a provincial budget announcement that has left city officials seriously concerned the city will be short-changed on social housing.

We should be discussing how to open new affordable housing units, not debating how many were going to have to close, said Councillor Joe Cressy, who is a member of the board.

In a city as wealthy as ours, in a province as wealthy as ours, it is an absolute failure on the part of all levels of government if we close units.

Full stop.

Toronto Community Housing, which manages nearly 60,000 units across 2,100 buildings, needs to secure an additional $350 million for repairs next year in order to prevent further closure of homes that will no longer be safe to live in.

The repairs are substantial; in 2016, they included fixing roofs, structural deficiencies, elevators and mechanical issues like plumbing.

Closing units means TCH is responsible to re-house those that are displaced, putting additional pressure on the waiting list that has continued to grow since 2007.

The original 10-year repair plan approved by the city budgeted a total $2.6 billion. Of that, $1.73 billion in funding is still needed. The plan called for spending $438 million next year.

But Toronto Community Housings vice-president of facilities management, Sheila Penny, explained only $82 million is available.

Of that, $38 million will come from further mortgage refinancing  which has up until this point largely financed the more than $900 million in repairs spending.

Eyes are now on the province, which is set to unveil a budget on Thursday.

Although Premier Kathleen Wynne recently indicated all three levels of government should be working together on housing in 2017, reinvesting in social housing would mean a reversal of decades of provincial downloading of the responsibility for the homes.

Unveiling her governments Fair Housing Plan last week, the premier made no mention of social housing.

That announcement was met by a statement from the citys housing advocate Councillor Ana Bailao.

Toronto strongly encourages the province to step-up, and provide much needed funding, to help prevent the closure of social housing units in Toronto, it read, in part.

On Tuesday, Bailaos message was direct on the closure of social housing units: If we dont continue the (repairs) program, then its going to get even worse, she told the Star.

We have to know if we can count on them to address this huge housing issue.

Mayor John Tory said he too has received no assurances about provincial funding.

Its time for all hands on deck to keep this city great and to make it a place thats fair to live for all people, he told reporters on Tuesday.

Housing Minister Chris Ballards office offered no details when asked about the issue by the Star this week.

Canadas new government agrees with Ontario that there is a need to invest in housing and infrastructure. We are ready to strengthen our partnership with the federal government to ensure that our most vulnerable people are not left behind, said a statement from spokesperson Theresa Lubowitz.

The $82 million in repair money budgeted for next year does include $23 million from the federal governments first phase of social infrastructure dollars announced last year.

As part of its 2017 budget announcement, the federal government dedicated $11.2 billion to housing over 11 years, falling short of the $12.6 billion over eight years request from mayors of major municipalities, including John Tory.

But the federal government has yet to elaborate on how much will be available for social housing repairs and how much of it will be available for next year.

Were just not sure yet how the federal money will flow and how it will be allocated. Were hopeful we get more information on this soon, Toronto Community Housing spokesperson Brayden Akers said in an email

The federal government was unable to provide clarity on the matter this week.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is currently working on detailed program designs, and, as a result, the mechanisms through which funding from budget 2017 will flow will be announced later, wrote Mathieu Filion, spokesperson for Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, who is responsible for housing.

Former interim CEO Greg Spearn, whose sudden resignation was announced Tuesday, has been sounding the alarm on the repair backlog for the past two years, noting they would hit a wall in 2017 without dedicated funding.

He told the Star earlier this year that TCH would be on track to close a unit a day in 2018 if more funds were not secured.

If TCH does not keep up with repairs, it is estimated more than 7,500 homes will need to be boarded up  more than 10 per cent of the entire portfolio.

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A Toronto District School Board trustee is calling for the board to review its application process for special arts high schools, after an OISE study highlighted that kids who attend such schools are overwhelmingly white and from high-income families.

Scarborough trustee Parthi Kandavel called the results of the study concerning but said they come at a good time as the board is reviewing equity and has hired an outside consultant to do public consultations.

If you come from an affluent family that is able to afford the piano, ballet, art classes, singing, whatever it is, your application is going to look much stronger than those other folks who may not have the experience, he said.

He also recommended that the school board build another arts school in a low-income area.

TDSB director of education John Malloy said the Integrated Equity Framework will come back in the fall with recommendations on how to address equity beyond just arts schools.

We understand that we need to make changes, he said. Its important for our community to know that the changes required are complex, but were committed to making them, and at the end of the day all of our students need to have access to our programs.

The study, published Monday in the peer reviewed Education Policy Analysis Archives, found that in the three arts schools analyzed for the report, students were overwhelmingly white and upper class.

Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder Yusra Khogali said the results are not surprising but validating.

As a spoken word artist, the 24-year-old discovered the art form through her community and YouTube videos and not from her TDSB education.

She said the cost of equipment, such as musical instruments, can also mean minority student miss out on arts training. And they may be less included to take risks in the arts if they come from marginalized backgrounds.

This is something that also affects that. Were not able to take a shot at our dreams though art, she said.

A separate study led by York University professor Carl James published last Friday, found 39 per cent of black students were enrolled in applied courses, while 81 per cent of white students were in university-track academic courses.

Looking at data from 2006 to 2011, the study also found 42 per cent of black students had been suspended at least once by the time they finished high school, compared to 18 per cent of white students.

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Ontario workers urgently need paid sick days, predictable schedules, and equal pay for equal work as the province prepares to release its recommendations for employment law reform, advocates say.

The final proposals from the so-called Changing Workplaces Review are expected in May, following roughly two years of public forums, research, and consultations aimed at identifying how government should respond to what critics call the crisis of precarious work.

With the budget coming up this week, its time for Ontario to take updating its employment and labour laws off the back burner, said Chris Buckley, head of the Ontario Federation of Labour, at a news conference Tuesday.

A strong economy must be built on decent jobs.

In a statement, Minister of Labour spokesperson Michael Speers said the government was creating a framework for an economy focused on decency for workers and fairness for families.

Ontario workers want us to get this done right, rather than just quickly, he said.

By protecting Ontarians and giving them the tools to adapt to the modern workplace, we will make sure Ontario remains a place where everyone is able to reach their full potential, where everyone can prosper, and where everyone is supported.

Key areas of action, advocates said Tuesday, include making it easier for workers to join unions, eliminating exemptions in current employment laws that mean some workers are not eligible for even basic rights, and ensuring temp agency, part-time and casual employees get equal pay for equal work.

They also called for mandatory paid sick days and predictable schedules in all workplaces, and making more Ontarians eligible for protection under the Employment Standards Act by expanding the definition of employee.

As previously highlighted by the Star, critics say many workers are currently misclassified by their bosses as independent contractors  a category that has no protection under the act.

Deena Ladd, head of the Toronto-based Workers Action Centre, said Thursdays budget needs to reflect the governments intentions on precarious work.

What we are wanting to see from the budget is a clear indication that Kathleen Wynne is serious about labour law reform and issues of poverty facing workers, she said.

They have the majority right now, they have the power to put in legislation and fulfill their mandate to address precarious work.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has urged government to ensure any employment law reforms do not unduly limit businesses flexibility and economic growth, and has called for evidence-based modernization.

With respect to claims that there has been an unprecedented spike in the number of people holding multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet, the evidence is non-supportive, the group said in its submission to government, citing Statistics Canada data.

Worker advocates argue the decline in work quality has been well documented in recent years, including in research conducted by McMaster University, which suggests that 52 per cent of jobs in the GTA are now insecure.

The government has been examining the problem of precarious work for years and the results are clear, Buckley said. There is no reason for Ontario to leave workers suffering under outdated employment laws.

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If Ontario is serious about putting children at the centre of its new child welfare legislation, it must commit to track what happens to them when they become adults, says a new report.

And the government should use that information to improve the consistently poor outcomes faced by youth raised in the care of childrens aid societies, says the reports author Jane Kovarikova, a former foster child and PhD candidate in political science at Western University.

I understand that the government is focused on having a child-centred system, which is an excellent step in the right direction, she said in an interview.

But I would like it to be an evidence-based, or an outcome-based, child-centred system, she said, because if you dont measure whats happening to the youth you have been serving . . . how do you know if your policies or reforms are having any impact?

Limited Canadian and international research overwhelmingly shows people who grew up in foster or group home care experience low academic achievement, high rates of homelessness, early parenthood, unemployment, conflict with the law, mental health problems and loneliness, says the report.

It is tempting to suggest that traumatic backgrounds and personal characteristics of youth are the cause of these poor outcomes, Kovarikova says in her report released Monday by Irwin Elman, Ontarios Advocate for Children and Youth.

However, the findings from this study suggest structural factors and professional practices inherent in the child protection system may contribute significantly to poor outcomes for youth aging out of care, she concludes.

Since Ontarios child protection system is designed without consideration of youth outcomes when they become adults, it is impossible to assess if the policies and services are working properly, she says.

Ontario should partner with academic institutions and other provinces to study youth over time after they leave the care of childrens aid, to track the problems they face and suggest ways to improve the system.

An evidence-based child-protection system focused on youth outcomes is essential for effective intervention in the lives of vulnerable children and families, the report says.

Elman praised Kovarikovas report for its potent combination of lived experience and academic rigour.

It is the type of wisdom we simply have to be listening to in order to create change, Elman said. We are very proud to partner with Jane on this work.

Like many of her peers, Kovarikova left foster care in the Barrie area to live on her own at age 16 and dropped out of high school due to the financial and emotional stress. She later learned she could take upgrading courses at college so she could apply to university.

Kovarikova credits mentors in the education system for helping her achieve her academic dreams, which included completing a Masters degree in human rights at the London School of Economics. But she knows her experiences are rare among youth who have grown up in foster care.

This issue has great personal significance to me, said Kovarikova, 33, who has worked as chief of staff to former Barrie MPP Rod Jackson and currently serves on the board of Simcoe-Muskoka Family Connexions, which provides child protection services for the area.

It is my wish to raise the greatest public awareness possible on improving the child protection system so that every young person can achieve the best outcomes possible.

Ontarios $1.5 billion annual child protection system serves about 17,000 children and youth a year, including about half who have been permanently removed from their families by childrens aid societies.

Every year, about 800 to 1,000 so-called Crown wards age out of care at either age 18 or 21. About 16 per cent of 16- and 17-year-olds live independently with minimal support at a time when most Canadian youth do not begin to live independently until well into their 20s, the report notes.

In Ontario, only 44 per cent of Crown wards complete high school compared to 81 per cent of students in the general population. Fewer pursue post-secondary education and of those who go to university, fewer finish their studies compared to their peers. A university graduate earns over $1 million more in a lifetime than someone who did not complete high school, the report says.

A British Columbia study found that as many as 90 per cent of youth in care were on welfare within six months of aging out. An American study found 56 per cent of former youth in care were living in poverty by age 23 and 24. And up to 30 per cent youth who had aged out of care reported being homeless, according to another U.S. study.

Youth in care are detained by police at higher rates than their peers despite the lack of evidence showing youth in foster care committed more frequent or severe crimes.

Early interaction with the criminal justice system is self-reinforcing, leading to later criminality, the report notes.

In B.C., researchers found women who grew up in foster care were four times more likely to become pregnant by age 19. And as many as 35 per cent of these women said the pregnancies were wanted.

One third of Ontarios Crown wards have a mental health disorder, the majority report having special needs and half rely on psychotropic medication, the report says.

Many youth submissions to the Ontario legislature in 2012 cited loneliness as an inevitable outcome of growing up in foster care.

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Ottawa is being urged to offer redress to the Roma refugees who were the clients of three disciplined Toronto lawyers and subsequently had their asylum claims rejected by Canada.

Now that the last of the three lawyers has been slapped with penalties for professional misconduct over their handling of Roma refugee cases, a community coalition has asked Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen to create a special program to grant permanent residency to their affected clients.

While the Law Society of Upper Canada sanctions recognize the lawyers misconduct, they dont assist the victims. We need a specific program to provide redress to this group of vulnerable people, said lawyer Maureen Silcoff of the Redress for Roma Refugee Coalition. They continue to face harassment and persecution back home.

This month Joseph Stephen Farkas was suspended for six months, ordered to pay the law society $200,000 and placed under supervision by a refugee lawyer for at least one year after a disciplinary tribunal found he had failed to properly supervise his non-lawyer employees when serving some Roma clients.

It followed similar disciplinary actions against lawyers Viktor Hohots and Elizabeth Jaszi. Hohots was suspended for five months and barred from practicing refugee law for two years. Jaszi was fined and disbarred. An Osgood Hall Law Journal article estimated the lawyers represented 986 Hungarian Roma refugees between 2008 and 2012. Many were denied asylum and deported, the article said.

The recent sentencing of Farkas marked an end to the six-year fight by members of the Roma community and their supporters to get the law society to investigate and act on their complaints, which started as early as 2011.

The findings of professional misconduct of the three lawyers have not brought any justice to the claimants and families who were directly represented by these lawyers. The penalties do not reflect the damage and harm caused to them, said Gina Csanyi-Robah of the Canadian Romani Alliance.

The persecution against the Roma in eastern Europe is worsening by the day. We are asking the government to right the wrong done to these people. These penalties against the lawyers can no way be compared to what these deported families are suffering.

Canadas acceptance rate of Hungarian claims, most of them Roma, now hovers at about 70 per cent, compared to just 16 per cent in 2012. Csanyi-Robah said the increase is an indication of the threats faced by Roma refugees, the inability of the Hungarian government to properly protect them and the improved quality of legal representation theyre receiving in Canada.

In an affidavit provided in a letter to Hussen, one deported Roma family from Miskolc, Hungary said they could only find housing in a segregated neighbourhood, which has no running water, electricity or paved roads. Instead of enrolling their three children in appropriate grades, the school authorities sent them back to several grades, the family said.

My 17-year-old son was sent to Grade 5 and my youngest daughter was sent from eighth grade to third grade. My son was deeply embarrassed about being sent back to Grade 5 as a 17-year-old and he ended up quitting, said the mother of three, whose family was represented first by Jaszi and later by Farkas, and spent three years in Canada before being deported in 2014.

No matter where we move, we face the threat of being forcibly evicted because we are Roma. My family is falling apart physically and emotionally, especially my husband and children.

Silcoff said the coalition has kept in touch with some of the former Roma clients of the three lawyers who have been deported. She estimated that no more than 150 families or 600 people would apply to return to Canada under the proposed program.

The coalition said the Canadian government could either admit these people as permanent residents or grant them temporary resident permits to return to Canada and be reassessed for permanent status under humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Silcoff said the coalition requested in February a meeting with Hussen and didnt hear back from his office until last week after an inquiry by the Star about the proposal.

A spokesperson for the immigration minister said a meeting with the coalition is yet to be scheduled and offered no further comment.

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Hydro One customers behind on their bills wont have to fear disconnections until June 1 as the utility extends its winter relief policy by a month.

The move comes as company officials continue contacting about 3,000 households at risk unless they can get on long-term payment plans their family budgets can handle.

This gives us some time to go after some of our customers with larger arrears, to work with them more closely to get them on a plan, said Ferio Pugliese, executive vice-president of customer care.

Accounts considered the most serious owe $2,500 or more to Hydro One, which serves 1.3 million homes and businesses across the province.

About 60 per cent of customers in arrears are now on plans and 320 across the province were hooked back up to the grid over the winter, Pugliese said.

Other measures to improve service for customers who have been disconnected include waiving the $300 security deposit for residences and reducing deposits for eligible businesses, the latter which had faced average costs of $1,700.

This was really impacting the viability of small businesses, Pugliese said, noting the waiver is only for companies that can demonstrate good payment records in the past 12 months.

The Ontario government passed legislation in February to ban winter disconnections by all utilities in the province, although Hydro One had already agreed to that in December and began reconnecting them.

Hydro Ones disconnection extension will last until lower electricity rates start kicking in under Premier Kathleen Wynnes promised 25 per cent rate cut, which includes the instant rebate of the 8-per-cent provincial HST on electricity bills that began January 1.

Another 17 per cent, on average, will come off bills starting in June.

People will be in a much better position to affordability, said Pugliese, whose company is contributing another $2.2 million to the United Ways Low Income Energy Assistance Program.

Hydro One has been under intense scrutiny from opposition parties at Queens Park in recent weeks for high executive salaries and the quiet departure of the giant utilitys ombudsman, Fiona Crean.

Chief executive officer Mayo Schmidts total compensation is $4.84 million.

Wynnes government is midway through a partial privatization of Hydro One to raise an estimated $9 billion for new infrastructure, such as transit projects, and to pay down debt in the electricity system.

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CANBERRA, AUSTRALIAAustralias prime minister said Tuesday he is looking forward to meeting soon with U.S. President Donald Trump, three months after their heated telephone conversation over an Obama-era refugee deal.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was speaking to reporters at the al-Minhad airbase in the United Arab Emirates after meeting in Afghanistan with U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis and greeting Australian troops in the Middle East ahead of Veterans Day commemorations on Tuesday.

Turnbull met in Sydney over the weekend with U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence, whose visit was intended to smooth over any lingering hard feelings after the prime ministers contentious phone call with Trump on Jan. 28 over a refugee resettlement deal struck by the previous Obama administration.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

Turnbull said Tuesday he will announce his Trump visit very shortly. The meeting will take place in New York, according to media reports.

Weve had very good meetings with Vice-President Pence and the Defence Secretary James Mattis just in the last few days. I look forward to continuing those discussions with President Trump and will do so at an early opportunity, Turnbull told reporters.

Australia is unhappy with Trumps decision to pull the United States out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull refuses to comment on a January 28 conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump who says he'll study "dumb" refugee deal.

Read more: Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull scraps visa for skilled foreign workers

Under the refugee resettlement agreement, the United States will take up to 1,250 refugees that Australia houses in detention camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Trump, who campaigned on tough-on-immigration policies, was enraged by the agreement, prompting a tense phone call with Turnbull and an angry tweet in which the president dubbed the deal dumb.

White House spokesman Sean Spicers subsequent mispronunciation of Turnbulls name as Trumbull did not help matters.

The fallout has left relations between the U.S. and Australia at their lowest point since the Vietnam War, when Australias then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam criticized a series of bombings authorized by then-President Richard Nixon.

Turnbull on Tuesday left open the possibility of Australia increasing its military contribution in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

He also announced an additional 110 million Australian dollars ($83 million U.S.) over three years in humanitarian and stabilization assistance for Iraq.

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Greek yogurt giant Chobani filed a lawsuit Monday against right-wing radio host Alex Jones, accusing the conspiracy theorist of publishing false information about the company.

Chobani says that Jones and his InfoWars website posted fabricated stories earlier this month that linked Chobani owner Hamdi Ulukaya and the company to a sexual assault case involving refugee children. The company filed the lawsuit in Idaho District Court in Twin Falls, where it operates the largest yogurt plant in the world.

"(Jones) is no stranger to spurious statements. He has claimed that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9-11 attacks and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut," Chobani's attorneys wrote. "Mr. Jones has now taken aim at Chobani and the Twin Falls community."

Read more: Trump team is full of conspiracy theorists: Analysis

The complaint says InfoWars released a video on April 11 describing Chobani's practice of hiring refugees and a sexual assault case that did not involve the yogurt company.

During the video, an Info Wars reporter republished statements that claimed the Chobani plant brought crime and tuberculosis since it opened the plant five years ago while also pointing out previous reports of its willingness to hire refugees in Twin Falls.

In an audio statement posted on his YouTube channel Monday night, Jones said sources in the White House and Congress told him that billionaire George Soros, a frequent target of Jones attacks, was behind the lawsuit. Soros is not named in court documents, and there is nothing suggesting he is involved in any way.

Jones vowed to fight the case, saying it was without merit.

Im not backing down, Im never giving up, I love this, he said in the recording. They have jumped the trillion-pound great white shark on this baby.

Jones has made a name for himself peddling outrageous conspiracy fantasies over the years, including claims that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax and that the government orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Last month, he apologized for promoting Pizzagate, a fabricated story that accused Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman of running a child sex abuse ring out of a Washington pizza restaurant.

Jones has enjoyed a surge in popularity in the past year, buoyed in part by his chummy relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, who appears to have based some of his own conspiratorial views on Infowars stories.

Chobanis plant in Twin Falls is the largest yogurt-producing facility in the world. Ulukaya, the owner, is a Turkish immigrant known for his refugee advocacy. More than 300 refugees work at the Twin Falls plant and another facility in New York, according to the Idaho Statesman.

The company came into Jones crosshairs last summer, after a story about refugees in Twin Falls sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl drew national attention. Several right-wing websites, including Infowars, seized on the news, inaccurately reporting that the girl was raped at knifepoint by a gang of Syrian men. Infowars, Breitbart News and other outlets sought to connect the incident to the refugees employed at the Chobani plant in town.

Authorities in Twin Falls said the girl was sexually assaulted, not raped, and that there was no knife involved in the attack. They also said the suspects, who have since pleaded guilty, were minors from Iraq and Sudan, as The Washington Post has reported.

As recently as mid-April, Infowars was still linking Chobanis refugee hiring practices to the crimes, according to the companys lawsuit.

Jones is no stranger to spurious statements. He has claimed that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, read the complaint. Mr. Jones has now taken aim at Chobani and the Twin Falls community.

"The defendants defamatory statements were designed to cause  and did in fact cause  customers to call for a boycott of Chobani's products," the lawsuit stated.

Chobani's attorneys say Jones has ignored requests to remove the inaccurate coverage. It's seeking at least $10,000 in damages.

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JERUSALEMPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cancelled talks Tuesday with the German foreign minister over the visiting diplomats plans to sit down with an Israeli rights group, sparking a rare diplomatic feud with one of Israels closest and most important allies.

The last-minute cancellation cast a cloud over a visit that had been meant to draw attention to years of friendship between the two countries and coincided with Israels annual Holocaust memorial day.

Netanyahus office said the prime minister wouldnt meet with foreign dignitaries who meet groups that slander IDF soldiers as war criminals, referring to Breaking the Silence, a whistleblower group critical of Israeli military actions in the West Bank.

Netanyahu, who also serves as foreign minister, said this would be his position in receiving visitors in the future.

My policy is clear  not to meet with diplomats who visit Israel and meet with organizations that slander IDF soldiers and seek to put our soldiers on trial as war criminals, he said.

He said that those same diplomats would never dream of doing this in the U.S. or U.K., or in any other place.

The German minister, Sigmar Gabriel, was set to meet with members of the organization during his visit to Israel and said Netanyahus cancellation was relatively surprising since such meetings were rather standard for foreign diplomats.

Gabriel said he didnt want to be turned into a plaything for Israeli domestic politics, using unusually frank language in light of the sensitive nature of Israel-Germany ties.

Israel and Germany have had a long, close and complicated relationship. Israel was established in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany killed 6 million Jews. The countries only established diplomatic relations in 1965.

Today, Germany is a key Israeli trade partner and ally in Europe, and assumes responsibility for the crimes committed during the Holocaust. Both Gabriel and former president Joachim Gauck took part in Holocaust memorial events in Israel on Monday. When he met with Rivlin, Gabriel called the Holocaust the most criminal action we did in the history of humankind.

But tensions occasionally flare up over Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, as well as settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem. Germany, along with most of the international community, considers Israeli settlements illegal.

Speaking after Netanyahu cancelled their meeting, Gabriel said German officials would be called crazy if the German government acted in such a way during a Netanyahu visit to Germany.

Gabriel has been Germanys foreign minister since January and its vice chancellor since 2013. This is his first visit to Israel in the new job.

Earlier, Gabriel had said it would be regrettable if Netanyahu cancelled their planned talks in Jerusalem.

You cant get a proper and comprehensive picture in any country on Earth if you only meet in government offices, added Gabriel. I cant imagine that we would not do such things in the future just to get government appointments.

Israeli opposition lawmaker Tzipi Livni called Netanyahus cancellation of the meeting a strategic mistake that stems from fear and weakness.

It places Israel and its government on the same level of importance as a small, marginal organization and makes a martyr of them in the eyes of the world, said Livni, a former foreign minister.

Breaking the Silence is a group of former Israeli combat soldiers opposed to Israels nearly 50-year occupation of the West Bank. The group publishes testimony, often anonymous, about what former soldiers say is the dark underbelly of service in the Palestinian territories.

Israeli leaders oppose the groups work, citing the anonymity of the claims and its outreach efforts to foreign audiences. They say there are better, more legitimate ways to criticize the army.

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Workers at a factory in China used by the company that makes clothing for Ivanka Trumps fashion line and other brands worked nearly 60 hours a week to earn wages of little more than $84 a week, according to a factory audit released Monday.

The factorys 80 workers knit clothes for the contractor, G-III Apparel Group, which has held the exclusive license to make the Ivanka Trump brands $214 dresses, $107 blouses and other clothes since 2012. The company also makes clothes for Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and other brands.

Trump has no leadership role in G-III, and the report did not give the factorys name or location, or say whether it was working on Ivanka-brand products at the time of the inspection.

Inspectors with the Fair Labor Association, an industry monitoring group whose members include Apple and Nike, found two dozen violations of international labour standards during a two-day tour of the factory in October, saying in a report that workers faced daunting hours, high turnover, and pay near or below Chinas minimum wage.

Read more:Ivanka Trump challenged on U.S. presidents views at womens summit

The inspection offers a rare look at the working conditions of the global manufacturing machine that helped make Trumps fashion brand a multimillion-dollar business.

Its release also comes as the presidents daughter has sought to cast herself as both a champion of workplace issues and a defender of her fathers buy American, hire American agenda. Trump, whose book Women Who Work debuts next week, was in Germany on Tuesday for public discussions about global entrepreneurship and empowerment.

We can add billions to the global economy by creating an enabling environment, increasing womens labour force participation and business ownership, and improving the productivity of their work, Trump wrote in a Financial Times essay Monday.

Trumps company declined to comment on the factory inspection. Messages left with G-III were not returned.

Now an official adviser to her fathers White House, Trump stepped down from her management role but retains an ownership interest in her name-brand company. Its assets were moved into a trust that is now overseen by her husbands siblings. Trump is the sole beneficiary of the trust, which is valued at more than $67 million.

Chinese factories are by far the dominant suppliers for Ivanka clothes, though G-III also works with manufacturers across Vietnam, Bangladesh and South America. G-III factories overseas have shipped more than 99 tonnes of Ivanka-brand blouses, skirts, dresses and other garments to the United States since October, shipping data shows.

The clothing line licensed by U.S. President Donald Trumps private business is also almost entirely made in foreign factories. Trump last week signed an executive order that he said would push the government to aggressively promote and use American-made goods and to ensure that American labour is hired to do the job.

Workers at the G-III factory in China were required to work 57 hours a week on a regular basis to hit production targets, inspectors found. Though Chinese law sets the limit for overtime at 36 hours per month, workers in all of the factorys departments exceeded that limit, working up to 82 hours of overtime a month between September 2015 and August 2016.

The factorys workers made between 1,879 and 2,088 yuan a month, or roughly $370 to $411, which would be below minimum wage in some parts of China. The average manufacturing employee in urban China made twice as much money as the factorys workers, or roughly 4,280 yuan a month, according to national data from 2014.

Fewer than a third of the factorys workers were offered legally mandated coverage under Chinas social insurance benefits, including a pension and medical, maternity, unemployment and work-related injury insurance, inspectors found. The factory also did not contribute, as legally required, to a fund designed to help workers afford housing, inspectors said.

Workers earned five days of leave a year, though a small fraction of experienced employees were eligible for more. The factory did not have a union, inspectors said, and the workers lone representative was a factory appointee.

Inspectors also cited the factory for a number of workplace safety concerns. It did not train loading workers on safety techniques or provide employees with equipment that could reduce injury, including lifting belts or seats with backrests.

The factory, which began operating in 1992, had also never sought an assessment of occupational disease hazards like those common among workers dealing with repetitive tasks and harsh chemicals.

Two inspectors from SMT-Global, a third-party monitoring group, inspected the factory one month before U.S. President Trumps election victory. The Fair Labor Association then alerted G-III to the problems it had discovered  including 24 violations of standards set by the United Nations International Labour Organization  and asked what steps it would take in response.

The factory pledged to make some progress to improve training, assess hazards, hire more workers and reduce overtime demands. But it did not commit to increasing worker pay and at times pushed back against recommendations that could improve workplace safety.

Of occupational hazards, inspectors wrote that the factory thinks the workers health is covered by social welfare and insurance policy, and working conditions such as chair and loading staff safety are not as important.

The Washington-based Fair Labor Association was founded in 1999 by a group of non-profits, universities and clothing companies after a series of scandals over sweatshop labour and other abuses.

The group has inspected more than 1,500 factories used by its affiliate companies, including G-III, whose contract factories in China, India and Pakistan have been inspected seven times since 2007. Factories are chosen at random for inspection, though company leaders are alerted of the audits beforehand, a Fair Labor Association spokesman said.

Other G-III factories in China have been cited for similar issues. In a 2015 Fair Labor Association audit, inspectors found that 15 per cent of one factorys workers made below minimum wage, or as little as $4.84 a day. The factory was also cited for weak safety protections, including running most of its sewing machines without needle guards and stocking its first-aid kits with only cotton swabs and Band-Aids.

Since partnering with Ivanka Trumps company in 2012, G-III has been the sole licensor of Ivanka-brand clothing, though other firms hold contracts to make the brands shoes, handbags and jewelry. Trump has championed the company, saying in a 2012 statement that G-III has distinguished itself as a trusted partner for some of the worlds finest and most visible brands.

Global sales of Trumps brand have boomed in the months since her father began his pursuit of the White House. Net sales for her clothing collection soared by $24.3 million in the year that ended Jan. 31, G-III data shows.

An Ivanka company executive said the brand saw some of its best performance ever in February, the same month U.S. President Trumps senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News viewers to go buy Ivankas stuff. Conway was counselled by White House officials after the statement, which appeared to violate a federal rule banning public officials from endorsing private products.

Ivanka Trump sat next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month during a White House roundtable discussion on workforce development. She also spoke Tuesday in Berlin as part of a panel, alongside Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, devoted to womens entrepreneurship.

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BERLINIvanka Trump was alternately applauded, booed and prodded during her first high-profile excursion as an emissary for her fathers White House, while participating in a prestigious Berlin panel on womens issues Tuesday afternoon.

The trip, to the international W20 summit on womens entrepreneurship, was an illustration of both the power and the complexity of that role: The audience clapped for Ivanka Trumps stated support of issues such as paid family leave and increased access to child care, but some jeered or groaned at mentions of the president she was there for. Others were hoping for clarification on what, nearly 100 days into the Trump administration, Ivankas advocacy would look like.

Youre the first daughter of the United States and youre also an assistant to the president, said panel moderator Miriam Meckel, the editor in chief of the German weekly business magazine WirtschaftsWoche, in her opening question to Trump. The German audience is not that familiar with the concept of a first daughter. Id like to ask you, what is your role? And who are you representing: your father, as president of the United States, the American people or your business?

Certainly not the latter, Trump responded, adding, Im rather unfamiliar with this role as well, as it is quite new to me. She remained poised throughout the exchange, explaining that she was listening and learning and that she hoped that knowledge would help her effect incremental, positive change.

It was a more pointed line of inquiry than Meckel had asked any of the other women on the panel, which included Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. But Trump had come to the summit with more to prove.

Read more:Ivanka Trump-brand clothing workers endure long hours, low pay

When Merkel visited the White House in March, some critics had thought it inappropriate that the elected chancellor was seated next to the presidents daughter. But Merkel herself was apparently unbothered. She and Ivanka Trump realized they shared interests in womens entrepreneurial issues, her office later said, and extended the younger Trump a personal invitation to participate in the panel.

In the days before Ivanka Trumps arrival, German newspapers parsed the meaning of her visit, wondering if Merkel had found in Ivanka  perceived as levelheaded and moderating  more palatable diplomatic inroads than with U.S. President Donald Trump. How powerful will Ivanka Trump become? wondered one newspaper headline. Another simply ran a picture of Ivanka, captioned with the phrase, First Whisperer.

In the audience, before the panel, the specter of HBOs John Oliver ran through the InterContinental Hotels ballroom, where the panel was being held: The late-night host had dedicated a segment to worrying about nepotism and the power held by Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.

Ivanka Trump has become a subject of wide interest and wider speculation. She has never expressly disagreed with her fathers policies in public, but she says that she has done so in private. She has been a vocal supporter of various family-friendly policies, but its been unclear what that support would look like in practice. Its been difficult to tell how much Ivanka planned to blaze her own policy paths, and how much she would be a spokesperson for her fathers policy goals.

The Tuesday panel, as one U.S. delegate to the W20 put it, had the potential to be her global coming-out party on a serious level.

The panel covered a wide array of issues. Trump said she was concerned about a shortage in mentors for young businesswomen and about the digital divide that prevented women in developing countries from accessing the technology necessary to do business in a modern world. At one point, the moderator asked panelists whether they considered themselves feminists, and while Merkel demurred, saying she wasnt sure whether she fit the title, Trump proudly raised her hand, and spoke of the fact that people in hiring positions at the White House were predominantly women. (The presidents cabinet, though, is populated almost entirely by men.)

But it was mention of the chief occupant of the White House that ultimately drew consternation from audience members.

Some of the most powerful women of the G20, including first daughter and assistant to the U.S. president, Ivanka Trump, arrive in Berlin to participate in the W20 Summit.

My father has been a tremendous champion of supporting families, she told the moderator.

Several audience membersbegan to audibly groan and hiss, prompting Meckel to speak over the noise: You hear the reaction from the audience, she said. Some attitudes toward women that your father has displayed might leave one questioning whether hes such an empowerer of women.

Ivanka responded that she could speak about her fathers support for women as a daughter, saying in her household, there were never barriers or expectations based on gender.

After the panel, she answered questions from a cluster of reporters, including a few on whether she thought the moderator had questioned her more harshly than the other panelists.

Im used to it, Trump said, smiling.

She said she thought it was important for people to learn to disagree in respectful ways, which is what she thought had happened at the conference. She spoke excitedly about an international fund that had been discussed during the panel, one that would provide female business owners access to capital, another issue about which she feels passionate.

Trump, who promoted child care and family leave policies during her fathers campaign, also told reporters that child care is going to be part of comprehensive tax reform.

Before the event, the president tweeted that he is proud of @IvankaTrump for her leadership on these important issues.

The 35-year-old Trump stepped away from both running her fashion brand and from an executive role at the Trump Organization to become an unpaid White House adviser, but she continues to own her lifestyle brand, which allows her to profit off her rising profile and has prompted criticism from ethics experts.

After she left the hotel, she toured a vocational training centre, stopping to greet and ask the names of each student, admiring their work, pretending it was her fault when hot beverage machine theyd built seemed to malfunction.

I should have pressed coffee,  she apologized. I threw it a curveball by pressing hot chocolate. 

Before heading to a formal dinner, Trump visited the capitals memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis. Trump converted to Judaism before her 2009 marriage to Kushner, also a White House adviser.

During the 25-minute visit, Trump walked slowly through the field filled with concrete slabs. She was accompanied by U.S. Embassy personnel and a strong police guard to keep curious tourists and others at a distance.

She paused occasionally to look at the slabs, meant to symbolize the chaos of the Holocaust, and donned sunglasses before emerging on the other side of the monument to a crush of cameras and onlookers.

Read more:

China defends Ivanka Trump trademark approvals amid conflict-of-interest controversy

What would Ivanka do?: Why young Chinese women idolize Trumps daughter

Ivanka Trump responds to criticism, says lack of public denouncement isnt silence

With files from The Associated Press

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Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and her lieutenants pounded her rival Emmanuel Macron, as the front-runner in the race for the French presidency remained quiet for a second day.

Thirty-six hours after they took the top spots in the first round of the presidential election and progressed to the May 7 run-off, Le Pen, 48, has been interviewed on one of the main evening news shows and visited Pariss wholesale food market, while 39-year-old Macron has barely been seen. Polls suggest Macron should win the runoff by at least 20 percentage points, the latest one Tuesday from OpinionWay showed Macron would get 61 per cent.

His project is to deregulate everything: labour, trade, borders, immigration, Florian Philippot, vice-president of Le Pens National Front, said on France Info radio Tuesday. Hed be in a better position to lecture if he had a good record at the economy ministry, but he destroyed jobs, increased debt, and contributed to the de-industrialization of France.

After years of economic under-performance and a wave of terrorist attacks, the final phase of the French election has become a struggle over two radically different visions of the countrys future. For Macron, France should maintain its commitment to the liberal order of free-trade and European engagement, while Le Pen demands barriers to shield workers and markets from international competition.

Macron continued to rack up endorsements from across the political mainstream on Tuesday, with Bruno Le Maire, a candidate in the Republicans November primary and former adviser to Macrons conservative rival Francois Fillon, offering his support. Le Maire told BFM TV hell vote for the centrist and would be prepared to join his government.

Fillon and the Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon have both endorsed Macron, as has President Francois Hollande. Communist-backed Jean-Luc Melenchon, who get 19.6 per cent in the first round, hasnt said who hell support in the runoff.

Read more:

Trudeau and Trump are watching the vote in France, but for different reasons: Hebert

French presidential candidate Le Pen steps down as head of National Front party

French election is new front in the fight against far-right populism: Editorial

Richard Ferrand, Macrons campaign chief, insisted voters should back Macron on merit rather than because of the advice of other politicians.

Its up to the French to decide, not this or that leader who has just been rejected, Ferrand said in an interview on France Inter Tuesday

Macrons only appearance since a tetchy encounter with reporters outside a restaurant in the early hours of Monday was at a remembrance ceremony in Paris for the Armenian genocide Monday where he didnt speak.

We will not be holding back in this campaign, Ferrand said. Macron will visit a hospital near Paris Tuesday afternoon and hell hold a rally in the northern city of Arras Wednesday. Le Pen appears on Frances most-watched television station Tuesday and then has her own rally in the southern city of Nice Thursday. Both will attend a memorial for the police officer killed in last Thursdays attack on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Le Pen on Monday said shes stepping down as head of the National Front party to be a free candidate who could represent all the French people. In a television interview she said her campaign was about protecting the French, whereas Macron was for savage globalization, deregulation of labour, and mass immigration.

Macrons critics have tried to ram home the idea that hes an out of touch elitist by attacking him for an acceptance speech Sunday night that appeared better suited for the final victory than preparing for the second round, and for taking his staff to a left-bank brasserie.

He lacked gravitas, he looked too satisfied with his first round and acted like its a done deal, when its not a done deal, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, head of the Socialist Party who has endorsed Macron, said on RTL Radio. We need to be careful, she keeps adding to her votes. 

Meanwhile, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marines father whom she has ejected from the party because of his repeated comments playing down the World War II occupation of France, said she should have run a harder campaign.

It was too cool, he said on France Inter radio. Id have been more aggressive against those of the left and the right who are responsible for the decline of this country.

Jean-Marie Le Pen says his daughter's campaign was 'too laid-back', a day after Marine Le Pen announced she would step back from day-to-day management of the National Front party.

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KANSAS CITY, MO. This is not going to feel good: The National White Privilege Conference is coming to Kansas City.

The notion that whites in America step into their communities with more advantages of earned and unearned privileges than their neighbours of colour is a hard conversation starter.

The social activists who urged the annual conference to come to Kansas City know that talking about white privilege brings charges of reverse racism. It gets lampooned as white guilt.

But everyones pain and discomfort is a good place to start the talk, says Seft Hunter, executive director of Kansas Citys Communities Creating Opportunity.

Its like putting your hand on a glass-top stove, he said.

With the first swell of heat, you want to snatch your hand away. But this experience means to arouse self-examining pain, Hunter said.

Hes not just thinking of the diverse crowd of close to 2,000 people expected from around the country downtown Thursday through Sunday on a mission to strengthen a collective struggle against inequity and systemic oppression.

Hes thinking as well of the wide Kansas City community surrounding the scene and so many people who will take pause at the provocative words: white privilege.

The image of the stove, Hunter said, came from the Rev. Susan McCann, the rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Liberty, Mo. She was another of those who wanted the conference to come.

This is Kansas Citys moment to confront its own racially and economically stressed history together, Hunter said.

This is such an important moment, he said, quoting McCann, its too critical to take your hand away from the stove.

In order to examine white privilege, he said, you have to legitimize discomfort as an appropriate way to feel.

This is the 18th-annual gathering of the conference, started by Eddie Moore, founder of The Privilege Institute in Denver. This is the first time Kansas City will host.

Can Kansas City handle it?

Eva Kathleen Schulte, the former executive director of Communities Creating Opportunity  known as CCO  wondered that when a friend invited her to the 16th version two years ago in Louisville, Ky.

Even before she met Moore or the sponsoring group, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, she imagined the difficulties the event courts.

Moore recounted in his blog after the 17th-annual conference in Philadelphia that personal attacks, derogatory language . . . harmful and vile threats were some of the costs for holding open and honest discussions on white supremacy, white privilege and oppression.

For people among the white majority who struggle economically with no trust funds in sight, many see perceived favours extended to minorities as reverse racism. A famous Harvard University study in 2011 showed the disparate views of racism, with just 16 per cent of whites believing there is still a lot of discrimination, compared to 56 per cent of blacks who felt that way.

The David Horowitz Freedom Center in Los Angeles is among organizations and groups at the front of a growing belief that Americans are now seeing black skin privilege.

The risk of going head-on at this discourse by hosting a conference with white privilege in its name was jarring at first, Schulte said.

After her meetings with the Kentucky hosts and with Moore, and after going through many of the institutes and workshops in Louisville, Schulte believed Kansas City needed this experience.

Real change in advancing an equitable community cannot happen, she said, unless we are explicit that people start from different places.

Every human being is somewhere on the huge spectrum of earned and unearned privilege, she said. People should not shy away from the notion of privilege as an excuse for not wanting to engage in the conversation.

Naming it, she said, exposes the sea we swim in.

Marquita Brockman Taylor, also with CCO, went with Schulte to the Philadelphia conference last year, with a mind of helping make Kansas City ready for 2017.

CCO and other Kansas City organizations have been laboring in causes of social justice for years, and the White Privilege Conference is a chance to learn strategies that help draw diverse communities into the same space in challenging, but safe, ways, Taylor said.

So often, she said, one racial or economic group will be the comfortable hosts of a gathering and another group is the awkward visitors wondering if they really belong.

But at these conferences, all are uneasy, she said, and thats a good thing.

You can open up and tell the truth, she said. You can ask, What is it like being a black person? What do you think of me as a white person? You will learn something.

It was hard at the Philadelphia conference, looking at people not like herself and telling each other what they thought of their nationalities, their race, their ethnicities.

Media are not permitted in to record the sessions. No interviews are allowed of participants. The intentions are to let people feel protected in exposing their fears and misunderstandings.

The sessions will be mixed race and gender, but the attendees gather in separate demographic groups to debrief at the end of each day.

They make sure you leave whole, Brockman Taylor said.

The conference is popular with academians, teachers and college professors, students, social workers, community organizers  people whose life passion has been advancing inclusion and economic and social equity.

Keynote speakers coming to Kansas City include author and educator Glenn Singleton, professor and author Michael Eric Dyson, diversity consultant and poet Amer Ahmed, psychologist and community organizer Hsiao-wen Lo, writer and activist Jacqueline Keeler and the performing duo Josh Healey and Jasiri X.

And when people leave the conference, Hunter expects people will better understand their anxiety. They will know more of how to be creative in that space . . . and how to extend grace. Ill commit to work through it and give you two, three and four times to explain what you mean.

And it starts with facing up to those words. White privilege.

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Who will blink first - Netanyahu or German Foreign Minister?

Its time to make clear to Germany that we too have red lines, the official told Arutz Sheva. If it was a low-level meeting, it might have looked different. But when the Foreign Minister comes here and goes to meet with organizations that are working against the government's policy and against the Prime Minister's policy, this is unacceptable."

The Prime Minister would never come to a country like Britain or Germany, where there are organizations that are working against the government's policy, and meet with the heads of those organizations. How would that country react if he did? There is significance to such a meeting held by a foreign minister, the source continued.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ultimatum on Tuesday, saying that it would be "regrettable" if the latter decides to cancel their meeting because the Gabriel's meeting with representatives of left-wing Israeli organizations.

Speaking to German TV network ZDF, Gabriel defined his planned meetings with representatives of B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence and "totally normal."

Gabriel said that he had only learned of Netanyahu's threat from the media and noted it would be "inconceivable" for the German minister to cancel a meeting with the Israeli leader if the latter met with figures critical of the German government. He nevertheless said that "it wouldn't be a catastrophe" if their meeting is cancelled, and that it wouldn't change his ties with Israel.

"You never get the full picture of any state in the world if you just meet with figures in government ministries," he said.

Netanyahus ultimatum to Gabriel was backed on Monday by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), who said she "backs the Prime Minister's decision to set a red line regarding anti-Israel organizations such as B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence. This is an important struggle against those who defame Israel in the world."

MK Yoav Kisch (Likud), who heads the Knesset House Committee, expressed support for Netanyahus move as well, saying, "The German Foreign Minister and any other leader who wants to meet those who spread poison against Israel must understand: Legitimizing hatred of Israel is out of the question."

Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to meet today with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. Last night, Netanyahu issued an ultimatum saying he would cancel the meeting if Gabriel did not cancel meetings he has scheduled with European-financed anti-Israel NGO's. At first, it was reported that Netanyahu was referring to ' Peace Now ,' but it now appears that it's even worse: Gabriel proposes to meet with B'Tselem and ' Breaking the Silence ,' both of which are guilty of libeling Israel on the international stage.Netanyahu was quite blunt Gabriel apparently plans to go ahead with his meetings with the anti-Israel organizations.Netanyahu has plenty of support within the government.But of course the opposition thinks Netanyahu should meet with Gabriel anyway.In my not so humble opinion, Gabriel ought to be declared persona non grata if he goes ahead with the meetings with Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem. The European - and particularly German (read I Sleep in Hitler's Room ) - obsession with finishing the job that Hitler started (God Forbid) needs to be met head on. Especially on the day after Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Labels: B'Tselem, Binyamin Netanyahu, Breaking the Silence, European anti-Semitism, German anti-Semitism, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Peace Now, Tzipi Hotovely
BANGKOKA man in Thailand upset with his wife hanged their 11-month-old daughter on Facebook Live and then killed himself, police said.

Police Col. Jirasak Siemsak said officers found the bodies of 20-year-old Wuttisan Wongtalay and the baby in an abandoned hotel in Phuket province after receiving reports of the video.

He felt neglected by his wife because they had been fighting so he took his 11-month-old daughter to the site of the crime which is the abandoned hotel, Jirasak said Tuesday. Then we found the bodies hanging off the hotel.

The man made the broadcast Monday evening, and the video was made inaccessible by Facebook late Tuesday afternoon.

The mother of the child was crying and was very sad, Jirasak said. I am also very sad. It is a personal dispute and they were still very young.

The incident came less than two weeks after a man in Cleveland, Ohio, posted on Facebook footage of himself shooting a man to death. A series of other offensive broadcasts, including sexual assaults, has caused Facebook to seek ways to block such videos as quickly as possible.

Read more: Cleveland shooting in Facebook video the latest in growing trend of online violence

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said last week that his company has a lot of work to do on the problem.

The chief investigator in the Phuket case, Lt. Jula-at Suwannin, said police have yet to question Wuttisans 20-year-old widow because they are giving her time to grieve.

In Thailand, the potential for problems with Facebook Live became an issue last May when local media used the platform to broadcast live video of a university lecturer who was locked in a six-hour standoff with police who were seeking him in the shooting deaths of two colleagues. After negotiations for his surrender failed, he fatally shot himself with a handgun, a moment that was shown live.

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WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump will mark the end of his first 100 days in office with a flurry of executive orders, looking to fulfil campaign promises and rack up victories ahead of that milestone by turning to a presidential tool he once derided. But Trumps frequent use of the executive order points to his struggles getting legislation through a Congress controlled by his own party and few of the orders themselves appear to deliver the sweeping changes the president has promised.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

White House aides said that Trump will have signed 32 executive orders by Friday, the most of any president in their first 100 days since the second world war. Thats a far cry from Trumps heated campaign rhetoric, in which he railed against his predecessors use of executive action late in his tenure as president Barack Obama sought to manoeuvre around a Republican Congress. Trump argued that he, the consummate deal maker, wouldnt need to rely on the tool.

The country wasnt based on executive orders, said Trump at a town hall in South Carolina in February 2016. Right now, Obama goes around signing executive orders. He cant even get along with the Democrats, and he goes around signing all these executive orders. Its a basic disaster. You cant do it.

But after taking office, Trump has learned to love the executive order.

In an email blast to reporters on Tuesday, the White House touted the sheer volume of orders as evidence for the suspect claim that Trump has accomplished more in his 100 days than any other President since Franklin Roosevelt. The White House has defended the use of executive orders as necessary to accomplish the speedy solutions it says the American people elected Trump to enact.

At first, the presidents West Wing advisers fashioned an onslaught of executive action to set the tone for this term, with the centrepiece of that first-week blitz being Trumps travel ban. But that hastily drawn ban was rejected by the courts. A second replacement order also remains in judicial limbo.

Presidents frequently turn to executive orders when they struggle to advance their agendas through Congresses controlled by the opposition party. In Trumps case, hes struggled to pass his agenda even though both houses of Congress are in the hands of Republicans; his health care bill never even came for a vote in the House of Representatives after it drew sharp criticism from moderate and conservative Republicans alike.

And in the Senate, Republicans need to win over some Democratic lawmakers to get the 60 votes needed for passage of a contested bill. But the Senate is generally more inclined to cut bipartisan deals than the House because senators have statewide constituencies.

This president has found that legislating is hard work, said Mark Rozell, dean of George Mason Universitys Schar School of Policy and Government. Executive orders are the easiest, simplest way to showcase action by the president to begin to fulfil some of the pledges made in the campaign.

A review of Trumps executive orders reveals that a number of them represent necessary first steps at unravelling Obama-era environmental safeguards and financial service regulations. In some cases, there is no other way around those administrative hoops and some of the orders have brought about major changes. Among them: his late March order that directed federal agencies to rescind any existing regulations that unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources, a move that rolls back environmental protections that was denounced by Democrats and environmentalists and cheered by Republicans who advocate energy independence.

But many of Trumps executive orders signed with great fanfare have had little immediate impact.

For instance, during his campaign, Trump talked tough on trade, vowing to slap punitive tariffs on companies that move production offshore and on countries that undercut U.S. goods. Aides hailed one of the executive orders he signed on the topic as historic. Yet the order called only for the completion within 90 days of a large-scale report to identify trade abuse and nonreciprocal practice.

And while Trump has pledged to overhaul the nations tax code, the order he signed on Friday simply commissions a review of the nations tax regulations.

On Tuesday, Trump is expected to sign an order that will create an interagency task force that that will be charged with identifying measures to spur American agricultural growth. On Thursday, hes expected to sign an order to create whistleblower protections in the Office of Veteran Affairs while making it easier to discipline or terminate employees who fail to carry out their duties to help veterans. Hes also poised to sign an order that directs a review of the locations available for offshore oil and gas exploration. Another will instruct the Interior Department to review national monument designations made over the past two decades.

Unlike his predecessor who abused executive authority to expand the size and scope of the federal government in an end run around Congress, President Trump is using his legal authority to restrain Washington bureaucrats, said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Trump is far from the first president to turn to governing by executive orders signed from the friendly confines of the Oval Office rather than by legislation that would need to wend its way through the halls of Congress. Obama had frequently criticized his predecessor, George W. Bush, for governing unilaterally, but he too turned to the executive action, particularly after the Republicans seized control of Capitol Hill.

Obama signed 276 during his eight years in office, slightly less than Bush (291) and Bill Clinton (364) did in their two terms, according to data from the University of California-Santa Barbara. Executive orders were used relatively infrequently until Theodore Roosevelt ushered in a new era of executive action at the beginning of the 20th century, signing more than 1,000 while in office and establishing a template his successors.

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WASHINGTONFresh off slapping a duty on Canadian lumber, U.S. President Donald Trump is now making threats about dairy as the northern neighbour has suddenly, unexpectedly, become his No. 1 target for criticism lately on trade.

The president tweeted Tuesday: Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!

Thats what he wrote the morning after his government announced initial duties up to 24 per cent on Canadian lumber, with more expected later this year.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

Lumber and dairy are long-standing irritants  and were also a problem file under previous presidents. In softwood lumber, the countries have a once-a-decade cycle of tariffs, trade litigation, and ultimately settlements.

Whats new is how Trump is playing up the issue.

While Barack Obama referred to lumber as a minor irritant, the self-styled America First president is playing up these irritants as examples of his desire to get tough on trade.

His sudden flurry of complaints about Canada are a dramatic departure from the early days of his presidency  suddenly, hes complaining less about China and Mexico, and more about the northern neighbour.

Read more:

Trump steps up trade tirade with new tweet threat on Canadian dairy: Watch!

Trump threatens 20 per cent tariff on Canadian softwood lumber

What Donald Trumps anti-Canada rant means: Walkom

U.S. President Donald Trump promised on April 18 to defend American dairy farmers who have been hurt by Canada?s protectionist trade practices, during a visit to the cheese-making state of Wisconsin.

In an exchange late Monday with conservative media gathered at the White House, the president said, according to Breitbart News: We love Canada, wonderful people, wonderful country, but they have been very good about taking advantage of us through NAFTA.

Then his commerce secretary went out of his way to link this dispute to broader complaints, about dairy and about NAFTA: It has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations, Wilbur Ross said.

This is not our idea of a properly functioning free trade agreement.

The softwood spat is unfolding amid a much bigger trade issue  the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Despite remarks from the president and his cabinet secretary, neither lumber nor dairy are actually part of the current NAFTA. However, different actors would be pleased to add provisions on one or the other..

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ANKARATurkish warplanes struck suspected Kurdish rebel positions in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from Baghdad and criticism from the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, which is allied with Kurdish factions in both countries.

The Syrian Kurdish militia known as the Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, said 20 of its fighters were killed and 18 wounded. The YPG is a close U.S. ally against IS but is seen by Ankara as a terrorist group because of its ties to Turkeys Kurdish rebels.

Read more: Support of Kurds could put Canada in awkward spot when Daesh is defeated in Mosul

The airstrikes also killed five members of the Iraqi Kurdish militia known as the peshmerga, which is also battling the extremist group with help from the U.S.-led coalition.

YPG spokesman Redur Khalil said the Turkish aircraft struck the groups headquarters in Karachok, in Syrias northeastern Hassakeh province, causing extensive damage to the headquarters as well as nearby civilian property.

The YPG is among the most effective ground forces battling IS, but Turkey says it is an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and that PKK fighters are finding sanctuaries in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.

A Turkish military statement said the pre-dawn strikes hit targets on Sinjar Mountain in northern Iraq and a mountainous region in Syria. It said the operations were conducted to prevent infiltration of Kurdish rebels, weapons, ammunition and explosives from those areas into Turkey.

The military said in a later statement that the airstrikes hit shelters, ammunition depots and key control centres, adding that some 40 militants in Sinjar and some 30 others in northern Syria were neutralized.

In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, the U.S.-led coalition said Iraqs neighbours need to respect Iraqi sovereignty.

We encourage all forces to ... concentrate their efforts on ISIS and not toward objectives that may cause the Coalition to divert energy and resources away from the defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, it said, using another acronym for IS.

Iraqs Foreign Ministry denounced the strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and called on the international community to put an end to such interference by Turkey.

Any operation that is carried out by the Turkish government without any co-ordination with the Iraqi government is totally rejected, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Jamal told The Associated Press.

He cautioned against a broader Turkish military operation, saying it would complicate the issue and destabilize northern Iraq.

Although Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq, this was the first time it has struck the Sinjar region. Turkey has long claimed that the area was becoming a hotbed for PKK rebels.

Sinjar Mayor Mahma Khalil said the strikes started at around 2:30 a.m., killing five members of the peshmerga and wounding nine. Khalil said he was not aware of any casualties among PKK rebels.

The peshmerga command called on the PKK to withdraw from the Sinjar region, saying the PKK must stop destabilizing and escalating tensions in the area.

The PKK has led an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984, and is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its allies.

Last year, Turkey sent troops into Syria to back Syrian opposition fighters in the battle against Daesh and curb the expansion of the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces.

The Syrian Kurdish forces denounced Tuesdays strikes on their positions as treacherous, accusing Turkey of undermining the anti-terrorism fight. The Syrian Kurds have driven IS from large parts of Syria and are currently closing in on Raqqa, the de facto capital of the extremists self-styled caliphate.

By this attack, Turkey is trying to undermine Raqqa operation, give (IS) time to reorganize and put in danger lives of thousands of displaced, the YPG said on its Twitter account.

In Damascus, meanwhile, officials denounced new U.S. sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on 271 people linked to the Syrian agency said to be responsible for producing non-conventional weapons. The move was part of an ongoing U.S. crackdown in response to Syrian President Bashar Assads alleged use of chemical weapons.

Khaled Abboud, a member of parliament, said the centre is purely a research centre, mostly for agricultural studies.

The sanctions are new attempts by the U.S. administration to put pressure on the Syrian state, he told The Associated Press, adding that the centre is a peaceful research centre.

The U.S. has blamed Assad for a chemical weapons attack earlier this month that killed more than 80 civilians in the rebel-held northern Idlib province. Syrian officials strongly deny the charges.

An airstrike in Idlib on Tuesday killed at least 12 people, including civilians, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The area is controlled by hard-line rebel factions, some associated with Al Qaeda. The Observatory, which relies on contacts inside Syria, said it suspected a Russian jet was behind the strike.

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The Chicago Department of Aviation is defending the officers in the infamous United Airlines video, saying they used minimal but necessary force when they dragged a passenger off a flight.

A report from the department describes what the officers say happened earlier this month on United Express Flight 3411. It says that the passenger, David Dao, was aggressive and violently swung his arms at officers, who then had to forcibly remove him from the plane.

The encounter, captured on videos taken by other passengers, and the airline companys handling of the aftermath set off international outrage and a prolonged public relations nightmare for United.

According to the report, flight crews called security officers because a passenger, Dao, was yelling and refusing to leave the aircraft. A United official earlier told passengers that it needed four volunteers to give up their seats for off-duty crew members. But no one volunteered, so the airline chose the passengers. Three agreed to leave, but Dao, a 69-year-old Kentucky resident, refused.

Three officers tried several times to convince Dao to give up his seat, the report says.

Im not leaving this flight that I paid money for. I dont care if I get arrested, he told one of the officers, according to the report.

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The report says Dao became increasingly combative and began swinging his arms with his fists closed after one of the officers tried to grab him. It says the officer was able to pull Dao up from his seat and toward the aisle, but then lost his grip because Dao kept fighting.

Thats when Dao fell and hit his mouth on the armrest, according to the report, which was posted online by the Chicago Tribune.

At some point, Dao went limp. Disturbing videos taken by other passengers show him bleeding from the mouth as he was dragged off the plane.

The report says Dao was taken to the jet bridge, where he lay down and told the officers that hes diabetic. At some point, it said, he ran back to the aircraft, held onto to a pole inside and said, Im not getting off the plane. Just kill me. I want to go home.

Dao was again removed from the plane and eventually agreed to be taken to a hospital.

The incident happened April 9 at Chicago OHare International Airport, on a plane that was headed to Louisville. The officers involved have been placed on leave.

Outrage over the incident was compounded by the airline companys initially muted response to it. Uniteds chief executive, Oscar Munoz, released a statement the following day apologizing for having to re-accomodate the passengers. In a letter he sent to his employees, Munoz appeared to blame Dao, saying he refused to co-operate after he was politely asked to leave, prompting flight crews to call for help.

Two days after the incident, Munoz issued a more humbled apology, saying he was disturbed by what happened and that he deeply apologizes to Dao. By then, Uniteds stock prices had plummeted and outrage had reached China, where public anger was fuelled by reports that Dao is Asian. He is originally from Vietnam.

United has since changed its policies so that crew members will no longer be allowed to displace passengers who are already seated on the plane. Off-duty airline crews are now required to check in at least an hour before a flight leaves. The purpose is to avoid having to find a seat for a crew member after all the passengers have already boarded.

United also will no longer ask law enforcement officers to remove passengers from flights unless it is a matter of safety and security, according to a statement.

Munoz, who was awarded Communicator of the Year by PRWeek just a month before the public relations debacle, also promised further review of the airlines policies and to release a public report by Sunday.

But Munozs assurances have so far done little to convince lawmakers that broader changes arent necessary.

A group of Democratic senators said this week that United hasnt responded to its questions about the incident.

I am disappointed and troubled that United Airlines has so far failed to answer basic questions about the troubling incident aboard Flight 3411, said Sen. Maggie Hassan. No passenger should ever experience the mistreatment that we all saw on that United flight. I will continue to use all of the tools at my disposal, including introducing legislation later this week, to help prevent such an incident from happening again and to strengthen consumer protections for the flying public.

Hassan, along with Sens. Brian Schatz, Dick Durbin, and Charles E. Schumer, sent a letter to Munoz demanding a more detailed account of what happened on the plane and a clearer understanding of the airlines policy on removing ticketed passengers after theyve boarded a flight. The senators have yet to receive a response.

United and the Chicago Department of Aviation also have not responded to a separate set of questions from leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee.

In a letter sent to leaders of the Senates Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security, Munoz outlined concrete actions the airline has taken in light of the dragging incident. He said United will provide answers no later than Thursday.

Likewise, Ginger S. Evans, head of the Chicago Department of Aviation, which manages OHare, and the three officers involved in the incident, also had asked for more time to respond.

A few lawmakers have indicated plans to introduce legislation in response to the incident.

Rep. Neal Dunn said last week that he plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit airlines from involuntarily removing paying passengers off a flight to make room for other passengers or crew members when there are no empty seats left.

Passengers should have the peace of mind to know they will not be dragged off a plane once theyre in their seat, Dunn said in a statement.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal had sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao demanding a swift, sweeping investigation into United Airlines and the industry practices that led to this incident.

Blumenthal said in an earlier statement that hes working on a passenger bill of rights.

Dao, a doctor from Kentucky, suffered a serious concussion, a broken nose and other injuries. He also lost two of his teeth, according to his attorney, Thomas Demetrio.

Demetrio had said that his client will probably sue United.

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Michael T. Flynn, President Donald Trumps first national security adviser, may have violated federal law by not fully disclosing his business dealings with Russia when seeking a security clearance to work in the administration, the top oversight lawmakers from both parties in the House said Tuesday.

The troubling finding came after Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House oversight committee, and other lawmakers on the panel reviewed classified documents related to Flynn, including the form he filled out in January 2016 to renew his security clearance, known as a SF-86.

As part of the review, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the committees senior Democrat, said Flynn did not disclose in those documents payments totalling more than $45,000 he received from the Russian government for giving a speech in Moscow in 2015.

Chaffetz also said Flynn appeared to have inappropriately accepted payments from companies linked to Russia without first getting required approval from the Pentagon and the State Department.

As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey or anybody else, Chaffetz said. And it appears as if he did take that money. It was inappropriate, and there are repercussions for a violation of law.

The development shows that Flynns short time as Trumps national security adviser continues to be a distraction for the White House, months after he was fired for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey I. Kislyak. In March, Flynn filed papers acknowledging that he worked as a foreign agent last year representing the Turkish government, causing another uproar.

Chaffetz and Cummings also said White House officials refused their request to turn over other internal documents related to the hiring and firing of Flynn.

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said Tuesday that to ask for every call or contact that a national security adviser made is pretty outlandish, if you will.

In a letter to the lawmakers, the White House cited concerns about disclosing classified information with regard to Flynns interactions as national security adviser  adding it simply does not possess the information predating his time in the administration.

In short, the White House has refused to provide this committee with a single piece of paper in response to our bipartisan request, and that is unacceptable, Cummings said.

Chaffetz said he did not think it would be necessary to subpoena the documents, calling the administration co-operative so far.

At the very least, Chaffetz said, any inappropriate payments to Flynn should be recovered. Cummings pointed out that knowingly falsifying or concealing a material fact is a felony which may result in fines and/or up to five years imprisonment.

Robert Kelner, Flynns lawyer, played down the significance of the allegations. But he did not dispute the committees assertion that Flynn had failed to disclose the information.

As has previously been reported, General Flynn briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of DOD, extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip, and he answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip during those briefings, he said in a statement.

It was only after Flynn was forced out as national security adviser that his dealings in Russia came into sharper focus.

In March, congressional investigators led by Cummings revealed Flynn had been paid more than $65,000 by companies linked to Russia in 2015. That included more than $45,000 from RT, the Russian governments English language television channel, for his Moscow speech, which lawmakers said he failed to disclose. He was photographed sitting next to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at the channels anniversary gala during that trip.

Flynn also came under scrutiny for belatedly filing papers  after his departure from the Trump administration  registering as a foreign agent for his work last year lobbying on behalf of Turkey in a dispute with the U.S. government. He was paid more than $500,000.

Chaffetz and Cummings said they do not plan to call Flynn before their panel, deferring to an ongoing Pentagon investigation and the House Intelligence Committee, which is leading the Houses investigation into Russian interference in the election.

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Something is rotten in the Peel Regional Police Service. And if the force cant clean up its act, the province should consider stepping in.

Incidents of apparent racism threaten to undermine the forces relationship with the highly diverse community it serves, 57 per cent of which are people of colour.

The latest example, described in a stinging report released last Friday by Ontarios Human Rights Tribunal, is the case of Staff Sgt. Baljiwan (B.J) Singh Sandhu.

The tribunal concluded that race played some role in the South Asian officers being passed over for promotion in 2013. Specifically, it found that Sandhu was discriminated against because the force attached little value to the years of police work hed done in the South Asian community.

Of 33 applicants, Sandhu was one of only two denied the opportunity to compete.

By all accounts, Sandhu, who began working for Peel in 1989, after coming to Canada from India in 1981, had had a successful career, with numerous commendations and awards, before applying for the promotion. His application was rejected, however, because, according to his bosses, he lacked front-line experience as a uniform supervisor, and had performance issues.

But the tribunal blew a hole in those claims, concluding that Sandhu was passed over in large part because his important work on diversity was discounted in evaluating his suitability. The work was devalued because the community was devalued, the tribunal ruled.

This is by no means the first time the Peel police force has been accused of racial bias. The force was among the most outspoken proponents of carding, the police practice of stopping people and collecting information, which disproportionately affects black and brown males.

Peels police chief, Jennifer Evans, continued to argue for cardings merits well after other forces had scrapped it, and even in the face of community outrage and the police boards call to suspend it. (The province has since announced rules to eliminate race-based carding).

Earlier this month, in response to mounting controversy, the Peel police board hired an independent firm to conduct an audit to investigate the degree of racism and to seek a solution.

This is a step in the right direction. But as with the York Region District School Board, where repeated incidents of racism and Islamophobia caused the province eventually to intervene, if Peel police cant clean up their own mess, Queens Park should not hesitate to act.

Barry Swadron, one of Sandhus lawyers, says the lesson he has taken from his clients case is that Peel police see the South Asian community and other visible minority residents as second class.

For civil rights and public safety, it is urgent that the community be assured thats not the case.

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Two of TJX Companies (TJX) - Get Free Report stores, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx, are said to be in talks with local officials about bringing a distribution facility to San Antonio, MySanantionio.com reports. The facility would bring at least 1,000 jobs to the city and be located on its south side.

"If there is an opportunity to bring a thousand jobs to San Antonio and a thousand jobs to the southern sector of San Antonio, we're always happy to talk to these companies," District 3 council woman Rebecca Viagran told the publication.

The stock was up slightly on Monday afternoon.

(What will move markets this quarter and how should investors position themselves ahead of time? Jim Cramer sat down with four of TheStreet's top columnists recently to get their views. Click here to listen to his latest Trading Strategies roundtable with them and read their advice for stocks, bonds, forex and gold.)
Even before the vision of Verisney ["What Would a Verizon Mega Deal Look Like? Welcome to Verisney World"], AOL's Huffington Post has seemed increasingly like the little toe on the gigantic foot of Verizon (VZ) - Get Free Report , the telco behemoth. Though word has leaked out that the 12-year-old, but seemingly long-in-the-tooth Huffington Post would be re-housed under Verizon's new Oath brand, alongside fellow acquisition-to-be Yahoo! (YHOO) , these content businesses make up a tiny percentage -- about 2% -- of Verizon's revenue. Even with Yahoo! added in, a deal now expected to close in June, that combined content business would still generate no more than a fifteenth of Verizon's overall revenues.

Yet Oath -- a name that seems unintentionally nefarious in an age of mistrust -- is one of Verizon's major plays, and major talking points to investors, as it tries to transform itself from an old dumb pipes company. As it milks its mature wireline business and deals with hyper-competition in wireless, the company believes producing and owning content is a major route forward.

Against that landscape, Huffington Post, the site that acts as the broadest face of AOL, launches its long-overdue facelift. This morning, long-time HuffPost visitors see a site more befitting 2017, compared to the dated old look, seemingly dated back to its 2005 founding. First off, it's now officially HuffPost -- acceding to the nickname many have called it over the years.

As it formally drops the "Huffington," it's a direct reminder that Arianna Huffington who co-founded the site with venture investor Ken Lerer, has moved on, embracing corporate health advocacy as a new business. Beyond its name, the site achieves a modernity, smartly matching its trademark tabloid-eque heads with its acute images - and then packaging those "splashes", as it redistributes HuffPost stories across the social verse. Those splashes make a lot of business sense, allowing site content to move more seamlessly onto other platforms.

For new HuffPost Editor-in-Chief Lydia Polgreen, the rebranding and redesign builds the foundation for bigger editorial changes to come. It is that "splash," though, that reinforces HuffPost's often-irreverent take of, and off, the news.

"The splash is our most important billboard, much like a tabloid's front page would be a billboard," Polgreen told me Friday. "It now will automatically travel with the story anywhere it goes. It becomes an almost meme-like artifact that could travel across the internet and hopefully have the chance to go viral. We're known for our clever headlines and photo pairings so we'd like to be able to send that out everywhere," says Polgreen.

"You know what's interesting is one of the reasons that we started thinking about doing it this way is that so many people when we have a really great splash headline, people would screenshot it and then share the screenshot. For example, when Bill O'Reilly was fired the other day, the headline that we had on it was 'Billy on the Street,' which is of course a pop culture reference to a popular show hosted by Billy Eichner. It's a hilarious headline, and it has this great kind of smirking photograph of Bill O'Reilly. So tons of people screenshotted it and shared it on Facebook and on Twitter and on Instagram. Billy Eichner saw it himself and tweeted about it and it became a moment."

So is this the old Huffington Post in new clothes? At this point, yes, but Polgreen says the redesign gives her a new landscape to redraw.

"It's a redesign and a rebranding," she says. "We're updating the name and we're also redesigning the site in a major way for the first time. It's a real kind of departure from the kind of tongue in cheek faux newspaper look that we had to a look... but it's also still has that tongue-in-cheek look back but in more of a tabloid style, which I think the direction we want to take it in. I've always thought that the classic design felt much more broadsheet, but the actual storytelling felt like a tabloid."

The next step: a collection of new top-level hires to lead in the implementation of Polgreen's vision. Consider the redesign and rebranding then a new platform for the next HuffPost.

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Polgreen, now 41, came to HuffPost among great notice in December. A highly regarded rising young editor at the New York Times, she had led the editorial side of the Times' now-$50 million investment in global editions. The first of those editions - New York Times en Espanol - defines non-U.S. audiences as a key building block of the future, both in advertising and in reader revenue.

That makes the larger global challenge of the Huffington Post well known to her. When we first spoke in early April, she had just returned from South Africa, helping launch Huffington Post's 17th non-U.S site. Some of those sites are partnered with media partners (Media24 in South Africa); others are wholly owned. All the journalists, though, work for HuffPost, says Polgreen. In total, they make up what is surprisingly large would-be journalistic force: 600 full-timers. Polgreen's number one goal in that regard is alignment. "Collaboration, collaboration," she repeats.

Those foreign forays offer only one of the business conundrums for HuffPost.

It's tough to assess the profit the company is yet wringing out of those outposts. Costs can be kept low, but Alphabet/Google (GOOGL) - Get Free Report and Facebook's (FB) - Get Free Report dominance of the global digital ad trade may impede fast revenue growth. Further, competition for audience can be brutal. Incumbent in-country publishers up their games while everyone from Buzzfeed to Business Insider to the New York Times see the same opportunity. Come 2022 and the globalization of American news media will pay dividends for some, but others will fail to make the grade.

While Huffington Post's business strategy has run ahead of its now-retired 2005 look, it's a strategy that has struggled and seemed increasingly uncertain in the later Obama years and now into the Trump era

More generally, Huffington Post - which six years ago trumpeted that its U.S. digital audience had exceeded Polgreen's alma mater -peaked a couple of years ago, while the Times and the Post have soared past it.

In fact, the latest report provided by Comscore shows that Huffington Post has lost about 30 million monthly unique visitors over the past two years.

We know few metrics about the Huffington Post business, any data held within AOL, about which Verizon itself now discloses little in its filing. We do know that AOL's own annual revenue loss of about 4% paralleled that of the mothership itself, in its just-released annual report.

Meeting the revenue - and profit - challenges, of course depends much on product. That's where Polgreen aims her repositioning, a work in progress.

That's a tall order. HuffPost has been seen as a predictable liberal publication, and that whole question of being progressive in 2017 is a gnarly one.

Polgreen takes a modern view of the "traffic" question. "Well I think that the conversation about the metrics that matter has really shifted over the last couple of years. When I worked for The New York Times we were super -focused on engagement. There was a brief period after the Innovation Report where everyone was fretting about our traffic being cannibalized by people who were smarter at racking up page views. Look, page views are important, having a big audience is a great thing and its important in and of itself.

"But I think that as the business model's evolved, news organizations are taking a hard look at what analytics and metrics are telling them -- what analytics are telling them and what metrics really matter. So I think for me it's less about the gross size of the audience and really focusing on getting people to be more loyal and engaged, and to deepen their relationship with us. So I would say this is aimed more at engagement than it is at increasing our overall audience size."

Polgreen's right, but there too, the Times and Post and all the other competition now issue the engagement crie de coeur.

In terms of how the content will change, Polgreen's a bit enigmatic, but leans less into a blue state/red state metaphor, and more into a haves/have some dichotomy, and talks of developing empathy with the Obama-turned- Trump voters.

HuffPost certainly has innovated smartly over time. Its HuffPost Live - a business it shuttered a year ago - offered an intriguing blend of a daytime TV talk show and what Facebook Live is becoming.

Says Polgreen, "It was ahead of its time."

To be sure, mastering video - and its monetization - is a major task, and one of the big reasons Verizon bought Tim Armstrong's AOL.

As Polgreen broadly sketches her intended editorial re-positioning of HuffPost, we know that she and her cohorts, most notably HuffPost CEO Jared Grusd must also figure out where HuffPost fits into AOL and where AOL fits into Oath and where Oath fits into Verizon; a Disney, or other buy/merger, would only add a sixth layer of organizational chess.

At this point, Polgreen has some running room. Verizon's deep pockets mean that quarterly results at HuffPost are less important than at many publicly owned news companies. Yet the clock is running, as Verizon considers the pledge it has offered investors -- having to prove it's a company of tomorrow and not of yesterday.
Fred'sFRED on Monday settled with an activist investor to add two directors to its board in its latest boardroom shuffle in hopes that regulators in Washington will get the message that the small drugstore chain can absorb hundreds of Rite AidRAD pharmacies required by a regulatory review.

Specifically, Fred's agreed to appoint Digital First Media CEO Steven Rossi and Timothy Barton, a technology expert and former CEO of Freightquote.com, to its board as part of a settlement with Fred's largest shareholder, sometimes activist fund Alden Global Capital. The board will expand from eight to nine members with the two new directors. Alden reported owning a 25% stake.

The nominations come after Fred's installed three new directors in March and another earlier this month. The boardroom shuffle is intended, in part, to show the Federal Trade Commission that it can acquire as many as 1,200 Rite Aid Stores that the agency would have ordered divested as a condition of antitrust clearance for Walgreens' (WBA) - Get Free Report planned acquisition of Rite Aid.

That would roughly triple the size of Fred's, which currently has 601 pharmacy and general merchandise stores. The purchase would presumably give Fred's, which has a mainly rural presence, a larger urban footprint.

Recent news suggests that the FTC could be looking to block the Rite Aid-Walgreens deal over concerns that Fred's just couldn't absorb so many Rite Aid stores. Walgreens has repeatedly upped the number of stores it is willing to divest to win FTC clearance, but the agency released a statement April 5 seeking public comment on private equity firm Sycamore Partners's wish to sell 323 Family Dollar Stores it acquired as part of Dollar Tree's 2015 acquisition of Family Dollar Stores. Sycamore said they could "no longer operate as a viable standalone business.

However, the newly installed directors are intended to show that Fred's can become a significant national player. The installation of Barton, for example, is intended to respond to concerns that they can't overcome technological impediments to integrating the new stores. Barton founded Freightquote in 1998 and grew it into the largest online freight shipping provider in the U.S. - his installation on the board is intended to demonstrate that Fred's board has someone with the technological expertise to oversee such a major integration.

Also, the board added people with key retail and financial expertise. In March it added Christopher Bodine, who worked for 24-years at CVS, helping to manage several of the company's largest acquisitions including its integration of Caremark. He helped oversee the CVS acquisition of 1,260 Eckerd stores as well as the integration of more than 700 Sav-on and Osco stores. The company also added Peter Bocian, a financial expert who served as CFOs at both Starbucks and Safeway. Also, Michael Bloom, the company's CEO as of August, was brought onto the board. Bloom had previously been the COO of Family Dollar Stores. He had spent more than 20 years with CVS Caremark. Earlier this month, Fred's also brought on Linda Longo-Kazanova, who was the chief HR officer at Keurig Green Mountain, and has talent acquisition expertise.

Alden has dabbled in activism in the past. The fund reported a 9.6% stake and agitated for a shake-up of the board of Pier 1 Imports (PIR) - Get Free Report last year as part of an effort that came after the company's CEO said he would step down. The fund said it wanted to work collaboratively with Pier 1's board to find a new CEO, but the retailer said it had no desire to work with Alden to reconstitute its board.

Alden has carried out activist campaigns at two other companies in recent years, according to FactSet-- Emmis Communications (EMMS) - Get Free Report and Visteon (VC) - Get Free Report . Its campaign at Visteon included a proxy contest.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on presidential candidates today to promote economic self-sufficiency and to be less reliant on Western investment, Reuters reports.

Khamenei's statement further distances himself from Hassan Rouhani, Iran's current president, who has sought closer Western ties and foreign investment.

Allies of Khamenei hope voters of the May 19 election will turn away from President Rouhani because of the sluggish pace of economic recovery.

"The candidates should promise to focus on national capabilities and domestic capacities to resolve the economic issues ... rather than looking abroad," Khamenei said.

(What will move markets this quarter and how should investors position themselves ahead of time? Jim Cramer sat down with four of TheStreet's top columnists recently to get their views. Click hereto listen to his latest Trading Strategies roundtable with them and read their advice for stocks, bonds, forex and gold.)
Shares of Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) - Get Free Report, the world's largest publicly traded copper firm, were higher by 6.13% to $12.96 per share during late morning trading on Tuesday after it slashed its production outlook, the Financial Times reports.

The lower forecast stems from a dispute with the Indonesian government which has banned Freeport-McMoRan exports from the country's Grasberg Mine, the world's second-biggest copper mine.

The Phoenix-based firm had anticipated selling 4.1 billion pounds of copper this year and now expects 3.9 billion after Jakarta banned shipments from Grasberg.
General Electric (GE) - Get Free Report is said to be discussing a significant move into wind power in Chile with an independent energy producer, sources told Reuters.

GE is in talks to provide wind turbines for wind farms that will be developed by Ireland's Mainstream Renewable Power throughout the South American country.

Reuters sources did not say which company would be responsible for what percentage of the project. However, the wind farms would require a total investment of as much as $1.6 billion.

Shares of GE were lower slightly on Tuesday afternoon.

(What will move markets this quarter and how should investors position themselves ahead of time? Jim Cramer sat down with four of TheStreet's top columnists recently to get their views. Click here to listen to his latest Trading Strategies roundtable with them and read their advice for stocks, bonds, forex and gold.)
Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Canada, the United States, and the Asia Pacific region. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, Offshore, Canadian Manufacturing, U.S. Manufacturing, and Retail segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen and heavy oil in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. This segments Foster Creek, Christina Lake, Sunrise, and Tucker oil sands projects, as well as Lloydminster thermal and conventional heavy oil assets The Conventional segment holds assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, Clearwater, and Rainbow Lake operating in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as interests in various natural gas processing facilities. The offshore segment engages in the exploration and development activities. The Canadian Manufacturing segment includes the owned and operated Lloydminster upgrading and asphalt refining complex, which upgrades heavy oil and bitumen into synthetic crude oil, diesel fuel, asphalt, and other ancillary products, as well as owns and operates the Bruderheim crude-by-rail terminal and two ethanol plants. The U.S. Manufacturing segment comprises the refining of crude oil to produce diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, asphalt, and other products. The Retail segment consists of marketing of its own and third-party refined petroleum products through retail, commercial, and bulk petroleum outlets, as well as wholesale channels. Cenovus Energy Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
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Militants launched 21 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas over the past day.

This is reported by the ATO press center.

The tensest situation was observed in Mariupol direction, where the enemy used ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft mounts, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns to shell Ukrainian positions near Marinka (35 km south-west of Donetsk). In addition, militants fired at Krasnohorivka (29 km west of Donetsk), using antitank grenade launchers. Ukrainian marines came under small arms fire outside Hnutove (19km north-west of Mariupol).

In Donetsk direction, Russian-backed militants used 82mm mortars, antitank grenade launchers and heavy machine guns to launch attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk) and Verkhniotoretske (22km north-east of Donetsk). Ukrainian strongholds outside Troitske (69km west of Luhansk) and Pisky (12km north-west of Donetsk) came under antitank grenade launcher and small arms fire.

In Luhansk direction, Ukrainian servicemen came under small arms fire in Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk).

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The airline company Qatar Airways has announced the launch of twelve new routes in 2017-2018, including flights to Kyiv, Reuters news agency reports.

Other destinations include San Francisco, Cardiff, Malaga, Mykonos, Accra, Prague, Mombasa and Abidjan, the report states. A reminder that Qatar Airways is the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar headquartered in Doha. The airline company operates flights to 144 destinations and has been awarded a five-star rating by Skytrax. mk
The National Energy Company of Ukraine Ukrenergo states that electricity supply to occupied areas of Luhansk region will be halted on April 25.

The company made a relevant posting on its official Facebook page.

Actions will be carried out in line with the requirements of state-owned enterprise Energorynok under the Procedure approved by the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry's decree as of June 10, 2015, No. 440, reads the report. .

The decision to suspend electricity supply was made because of the debt for electricity supplied and consumed in separate districts of Luhansk region.

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The level of confidence in the Ukrainian police grew from 39% to 44% over the past six months.

Chairman of the National Police of Ukraine Serhiy Kniazev said this during the meeting at the Interior Ministry of Ukraine on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The results of sociological surveys, which were conducted by the government contact center and representatives of the international projects, show that the level of public confidence in the Ukrainian police grew from 39% to 44% over the past six months," Kniazev said.

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In the run-up to the first round of the French presidential elections comparisons were drawn invariably between ideological bedfellows Donald Trump and National Front leader Marine Le Pen. But the rise of the centrist Emmanuel Macron also shares some similarities with Trumps capture of the White House  at least when it comes to having the skill to fire up an army of enthusiastic volunteers, many of whom had not previously been active in politics.

Macrons rise  he topped the poll in yesterdays first round featuring eleven candidates  is an object lesson for Europes centrist politicians in how to combat the populism of the right. The continent's centrists of both left and right were quick to congratulate Macron, with even the German government throwing caution to the winds and wishing him luck in the second round of voting.

Chancellor Angela Merkels official spokesman Sunday wished Macron all the best and the German Foreign Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, also hailed the results putting Macron ahead of Le Pen. I'm sure he will sweep away the far-right, right-wing populism and the anti-Europeans in the second round," Gabriel said in a Tweet.

Like Trump, Macron has never been elected to anything. The 39-year-old former investment banker and briefly socialist economy minister  he was appointed to the post by outgoing French President Francois Hollande  has gone from being a rank outsider to the favorite to win the French presidency in the run-off next month against Le Pen.

Naysayers dismissed Macrons bid when it launched as a champagne bubble that would quickly burst. It hasnt. In less than a year the progressive maverick, who bills himself as neither left nor right, has rapidly built up his party En Marche! (Onwards!). It now boasts 250,000 members  twice the size of Frances establishment Socialist Party.

Since 1958, when the Fifth Republic was established by French wartime leader Gen. Charles de Gaulle, no independent candidate without electoral experience, has come near to securing the Elysee Palace.

Macron may be chalk to Trumps cheese when it comes to ideology: hes pro-globalization, pro-free trade deals, pro-EU and welcoming of immigrants. But like Trump and Europes populist right-wingers, Macron has benefited from rising public anger toward the establishment party machines. Macron on the campaign trail promised a democratic revolution to upset a hidebound French political system and has been every bit as dismissive of the old party dogmas as Le Pen.

When challenged on his government inexperience in the wake of the terrorist shooting on the Champs-Elysees last week, Macron parried that hed prefer not to have any, judging by the ineffectiveness of experienced politicians in France in recent decades.

Much of his campaign has been built on the excitement of his followers as well as his own character. They have flocked to stadium rallies and organized thousands of small-scale gatherings at cafes and bistros around the country to debate policies and to engage doubters.

Regardless of whether the reforms they push are for more free trade and deregulation or protectionism and nationalism, those who position themselves as outsiders benefit from public disdain of the elites, as both Macron and Le Pen did on Sunday, humbling the countrys established parties of left and right. But whereas Le Pens challenge comes from the nationalist fringe, Macron has mounted a populist insurgency from the center of French politics.

In France, the establishment parties went to their radical wings to pick their presidential contenders, leaving Macron an opening in the middle. His supporters may be different from Trumps  they are more white collar, metropolitan and educated  but like Trumps followers they, too, have grown tired of the old party dogmas that have failed to provide stability and security.

In France, Britain, the Netherlands, Austria and the U.S. the same people  blue- and white-collar workers, intermediate occupations and farmers  are joining the populist revolt, according to Christophe Guilluy, author of The Twilight of Elite France (Le crepuscule de la France den haut). The rift between the global markets winners and losers has replaced the old right-left split, he argues.

Macrons electoral trick has been to persuade enough of the losers  mainly white-collar but to a greater extent than predicted blue-collar voters as well  that he has some pragmatic policies that will provide answers to the challenges facing France, from streamlining the pension system, freeing many households from housing tax and reducing government charges and fees and cutting back on regulations and bureaucratic red tape.

Now in the second round two very different stark views will be presented for voters to pick from: Macrons more inclusive and cheerful view of a France that has the confidence to remain open to Europe and trade and welcomes new immigrants and those already in the country, and a more traditional view of France presented by Le Pen that points to rampant globalization as a danger to the countrys culture, jobs and security.

Victory will largely be determined by how Frances traditional working-class casts its vote.
France's two contenders for the presidency launched their campaigns Monday in a frantic bid to garner an absolute majority by convincing voters they each have the measure of change that French voters want.

The choice before French voters in the final round of elections on May 7 will be between staying the course in the European Union or following the lead of Britain and leaving the bloc.

In picking former banker and economy minister Emmanuel Macron and nationalist crusader Marine Le Pen, voters rejected mainstream parties in what analysts said amounted to a revolution in French politics. For the first time since the founding of Charles de Gaulle's Fifth Republic, the left-leaning Socialists and the right-leaning Republicans were shut out of the race.

"In two weeks, I want to become your president, the president of all the people of France. The president of patriots against the threat of nationalists," Macron told supporters at a rally after his victory in the first round, taking a jab at Le Pen and drawing on the sensibilities of French voters who want change, but not at the cost of overturning France's relationship with Europe.

Le Pen's victory message to supporters was one of determination to march ahead with an agenda to strengthen France's borders, curtail immigration, chase out the establishment politicians, and throw off the influence of Brussels.

"It is time to free the French people from the arrogant elite who want to dictate people's behavior, because, yes, I am the candidate of the people," she told cheering supporters.

EU partisanship

EU officials, in an unusual move, congratulated centrist Macron, a gesture analysts say shows the alarm that Le Pen's advance to the second round is causing among EU leaders.

"Le Pen's program will cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs in France and in Europe," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Monday during a visit to Jordan. "It will be done at the expense of the ordinary workers, and that is why we support Emmanuel Macron."

France, Gabriel said, "is a large European nation without which we cannot shape Europe. That is why his program for France is tantamount to a new beginning in Europe. We have the chance together to manage to reform Europe with Emmanuel Macron."

European markets soared as did the euro on Monday, something analysts attribute to relief the race will be between a moderate and a candidate of the extreme.

In the days before the poll, speculation had grown that far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon might have a chance after his popularity surged in the final moments, which would have meant a race between the far right and the far left.

How far from center?

In the first round, the polls were mostly correct in predicting a shift to non-traditional parties, but analysts caution the second round could be more unpredictable, since it will be a measure of how far voters want to go in their push for change.

Polls and many observers are betting on a Macron victory, saying Le Pen will find it difficult to reach beyond her established support base, which is largely in the economically depressed, de-industrialized northeast of France.

Macron will have to convince voters that he does not represent an extension of the policies of unpopular outgoing Socialist President Francois Hollande, despite the past close ties between the two men.

Some analysts believe the task may not be so difficult, considering many voters on the center and left may see themselves as voting against Le Pen, rather than for Macron.

French voters, they say, may have attained the change they wanted at this stage by excluding the traditional parties from the race.

Jean-Yves Camus, a political analyst in Paris, sees the appetite for change as similar to that of the United States last November, but believes the French may not be ready to go all the way.

"There's the same feeling I heard in the United States at time of its election," Camus told VOA. "We also have this feeling here. But the National Front is not the only party that wants to change the system. The left also wants to change the system.

"There is anger at the politicians, but I think not to the point where this will become a revolution," he said.
Rodrigo Tot, a 60-year-old farmer and activist, was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize on Monday for work in his Guatemala homeland, an honor that comes after two previous Latin American winners were murdered in the last year.

The diminutive, soft-spoken evangelical pastor was recognized for defending his indigenous Q'eqchi community's lands against a mining company and the government.

In a statement, Goldman praised Tot for "intrepid leadership of his people and defense of their ancestral land" and noted his fight has come at great personal cost: In 2012, one of his sons was shot to death in "an assassination that was passed off as a robbery."

In an interview with the Associated Press, Tot said he was grateful for the honor but remains the same leader and person as before.

"I think this could be a stimulus for the work we do," he said, adding that he considered the award all to be recognition for "the struggle, because we are fighting hard for our land and our natural resources."

Latin America is the most dangerous region for environmental activists, with more than 570 of them murdered between 2010 and 2015, according to the London-based group Global Witness.

In March 2016, Goldman honoree Berta Caceres of Honduras was killed by armed men who invaded her home. And in January 2017, Mexican indigenous leader Isidro Baldenegro, another recipient of the prize, was slain in Mexico's northern state of Chihuahua.

Mining interests

Tot, leader of the Agua Caliente "Lote 9" community in El Estor in Guatemala's eastern department of Izabal, has fought for decades to try to make the government recognize locals' right to fertile farmlands that are also coveted by mining interests for nickel and gold deposits that lie beneath.

The struggle began in 1974 in response to a new law requiring landholders to pay about $4,500 to receive property titles. In 1985, a provisional title was granted to Tot and 63 other indigenous farmers in the community while they completed payment.

But three years later, records of the community's ownership of the land mysteriously disappeared. And when the last payment was made in 2002, the government refused to hand over the legal title.

In 2004, the Mines and Energy Ministry granted a mining license for a region covering 16 Maya communities including Agua Caliente, and those rights later passed to Compania Guatemalteca de Niquel.

"That is why we defend it, because there are lots of natural resources," Tot said. "There are 10 springs that supply lots of communities. We are preserving the mountain because if it dies, there will no longer be any water."

He and the community have fought in the courts to block mining on their land, arguing it poses environmental risks to forests and streams.

"Tot indefinitely delayed mining in Agua Caliente," Goldman said in its statement.

Allegations of violence

Mining companies have been accused of using violence against those who oppose their projects in Guatemala, often in poor and marginalized indigenous communities. Other lawsuits allege abuses including rape and forcibly removing farmers from their terrain.

According to Calas, a Guatemalan environmental and social law nonprofit group, in every case where indigenous communities have opposed mining projects, the government has backed the companies.

Tot said he has received threats against his life. In 2012 the Inter-American Commission on Human rights ordered protective measures for him and his lawyer, something that the Guatemalan government has not provided.

"I will never forget the loss of my son, but I continue to fight," Tot said. "We are no longer in the 1980s, when they could make a leader disappear and everything was kept quiet. Not today. When they make a leader disappear, 10 more rise up."

Recounting his arrival in in the community at age 12 after his parents died, Tot said he learned to love the land while growing up there. As an 18-year-old during Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war, he was conscripted into the Civilian Patrol, a paramilitary organization that aided the army in controlling the population.

Tot said he was forced to do so and didn't support the military. He said that "there were many disappearances" during the period, including the killing of the community's then-leader for his efforts to defend the land.

But Tot used the experience to learn how to organize resistance.

On March 18, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights agreed to consider a lawsuit brought accusing Guatemala of violating the community's rights to land, natural resources, free determination and self-government by denying their title.

"We are not only asking to be legalized. We already paid. We have the receipts, the records and the right," Tot said. "We have to defend [the land] as far as can be."
An Italian journalist has returned to Italy after being detained for two weeks in Turkey, apparently because he entered an area near the Syrian border without proper permission.

Gabriele Del Grande, a blogger and documentary maker who has written about refugees, was detained after entering the area of Hatay in southern Turkey. He arrived Monday at Bologna airport on a flight from Turkey. He said he had been treated well but wanted to know why he was deprived of his freedom for 14 days "for doing his job."



Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, flanking Del Grande at the airport, credited quiet diplomacy for the release.



Del Grande said he went on a hunger strike for seven days, so the first thing he wanted to do was "go eat."
The Italian and Greek governments are counting on France's likely next president Emmanuel Macron to help them see off populist parties that blame European Union-enforced austerity and open immigration policies for economic and social ills.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni both called Macron on Monday to congratulate him after the independent centrist won Sunday's first round of voting in the French election.

The former economy minister, who is seen in southern Europe as an opponent of rigid austerity, is favored to defeat far-right, anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen in the May 7 run-off.

Five Star Movement a concern

The ruling parties in heavily indebted Italy and Greece hope his enthusiasm for the EU will help them see off challengers such as Italy's Five Star Movement, which wants a referendum on ditching the shared euro currency.

A Greek official said Tsipras and Macron had an amicable discussion in which Macron noted his previous support for Athens in tough bailout talks with EU powers.

I supported the need for a change of stance towards Greece, the official quoted Macron as telling Tsipras. It is certain that if I'm elected we will work closely together to ensure that Europe meets the needs of our generation.

Gentiloni also spoke to Macron, an Italian official said, adding that the two would work together to ensure Europe can face its economic challenges.

Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, who is plotting a path back to power at elections due next year, also welcomed Macron's first-round victory, saying he represented a Europe that looked to the future, not to the decimal points.

Italian European Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi told Reuters a Macron presidency would bolster the ruling Democratic Party (DP) against populist forces like Five Star, which opinion polls show rivaling the DP with as much as a third of the vote. A path to government remains difficult, however, given its refusal to consider alliances and Italy's electoral system.

Le Pen's plans

Five Star and the right-wing Northern League question to varying degrees the adoption of EU open-immigration policies, the cornerstone of which is the Schengen open-borders area.

Macron's first round win and his likely victory in the second round will help give us a push, Gozi said.

Le Pen wants to get out of the eurozone, to get out of NATO, to dismantle Schengen and basically do many things that either the Northern League or Five Star want to do here. So if Macron wins, it is excellent news for us.

The French connection

For Greece, a Le Pen victory would knock its major EU ally out of the union and weaken its defenses against a push from Germany, the bloc's biggest creditor, for continued austerity.

Greece has debts equal to 178 percent of its economy and is struggling to conclude a progress review on reforms prescribed by its international lenders in exchange for vital loans.

Outgoing French President Francois Hollande helped fellow leftist Tsipras seal a 86 billion euro ($93 billion) bailout from the EU in July 2015, its third since 2010, which kept the crisis-hit country in the eurozone.

It expires next year, however, and Athens now needs France to lobby the rest of the EU, especially Germany, to agree to debt relief. Tsipras is counting on this support as the next election approaches in 2019.

Markets react to results

Relations between Greece and France are strategic, they are based on mutual interests and common views on European affairs and I believe that Macron would stick to Hollande's policy, which was supportive on Greece, deputy foreign minister George Katrougalos told Reuters.

A senior Greek government official close to the bailout talks, which resume this week in Athens, agreed that a Macron presidency would be sympathetic and supportive of Greece.

Markets in Greece and Italy also welcomed the prospect of a Macron victory next month. Greek 10-year government bond yields hit a two-and-a-half-year low and Italian yields sank despite a credit rating downgrade on Friday.
The U.S. and China are launching four rounds of talks, as U.S. President Donald Trump heads to China later this year in a visit aimed at strengthening cooperation to reduce tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

In a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, Trump said he's "looking forward to the state visit to China," according to a readout published by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Coordinating efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and addressing the threat posed by North Korea's missile and nuclear programs are expected to be high on the agenda in Trump's first visit to China.

"President Trump [during his call with Xi] criticized North Korea's continued belligerence and emphasized that Pyongyang's actions are destabilizing the Korean Peninsula," the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders met in Mar-a-Largo earlier this month.

In a departure from the previous administration, four rounds of talks are being initiated to focus on U.S.-China relations under the Trump administration.

The first round of the US-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, led by the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon, will be held in Washington in the coming months.

"We would like to start the preparation soon of the first round of Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, Cyber and Law Enforcement Dialogue, as well as Social and People-to-people Exchange Dialogue," Xi told Trump in the phone call, according to the Chinese government statement.

For years, the main channel to manage U.S.-China relations was the bilateral Strategic and Economic Dialogue, an annual high-level gathering for the two countries to discuss a wide range of regional and global issues.

The dialogue started under the George W. Bush administration as the Strategic Economic Dialogue and was later upgraded by former President Barack Obama after he took office.

A possible time for Trump's visit to China is in November, when he will attend the U.S.-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the East Asia summit in the Philippines, along with the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in Vietnam.
General Motors' Venezuelan subsidiary has sent a message to almost 2,700 staff informing them that they are no longer employed by the company and had received severance pay in their bank accounts, according to two employees.

A Venezuelan court last week ordered the seizure of the company's Valencia plant, ruling in favor of two dealers that had filed a case in 2000 against the subsidiary on grounds they had not complied with an agreed sale of 10,000 vehicles.

Workers say that before the seizure was announced, GM had been dismantling the plant, which has not produced a car since the beginning of 2016 because of shortages of parts and strict currency controls in the OPEC nation.

The seizure, which GM called "illegal," comes amid a deepening economic and social crisis in leftist-led Venezuela that has already roiled many U.S. companies.

"We all received a payment and a text message," said a worker who had worked for the company for more than a decade, adding that his corporate email account had been deactivated over the weekend.

"Our former bosses told us the executives left and we were all fired. There is no longer anyone in the country," added another employee who received the same message on his personal cell phone and a payment to his account. He had been at GM for five years.





The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the layoffs or the worker allegations it had already been dismantling the plant.

GM said last week that it was halting operations and laying off workers due to the "illegal judicial seizure of its assets."

'Show Your Face'

The leftist government of Nicolas Maduro says it is not seeking to expropriate the plant, which has been operating for 35 years, and has called on GM to come back.

"To the current General Motors president of Venezuela, Jose Cavaileri: You come here, show your face and share with us the options to restore normality," said Labor Minister Francisco Torrealba said Monday.

GM is not the first company to fire Venezuela employees by text message. Clorox did the same two years ago when announcing its exit from the crisis-struck country, after which workers took over the plant.

GM's plant closure comes after Venezuela's automobile production fell in 2016 to a record low of eight cars per day, according to a local automotive group.

Two union spokespeople said they had no official company information on the layoffs, but said that most workers received the messages along with a bank deposit.

Neither employee would reveal the amount they received but union leaders said it was too low.
A rendering of the View at Waterfront at 1100 6th Street SW, where some apartment units are allegedly being treated as illegal short-term rentals, according to a recent lawsuit filed by D.C.s attorney general. (Mill Creek Residential)

The Districts attorney general is suing a California company for allegedly turning units in four D.C. apartment buildings into illegal short-term rentals.

Attorney General Karl A. Racine on April 21 filed a lawsuit against Ginosi USA, a Los Angeles-based travel accommodations company, alleging that the short-term rentals are prohibited under the Districts Rental Housing Act, which states that apartment units may not be converted into transient rentals. At least two of the four apartment buildings in question are rent-controlled properties, according to the lawsuit.

The suit also alleges that Ginosi USA  part of an Armenia-based chain  has failed to pay taxes to the District, even though it charges customers a 15.5 percent sales tax. The lawsuit is seeking an injunction to stop the rentals, as well as back taxes and civil penalties that amount to more than $1 million.

Ginosi did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

My office is using all of the tools available to us to preserve affordable housing for District residents, Racine said in a statement. We will aggressively pursue individuals and companies that seek to circumvent the Districts rent-control laws, and we are actively investigating other instances where apartment managers or owners are treating rent-controlled apartments like hotel rooms and renting them out on sharing-economy platforms.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine filed the lawsuit on Friday, just days before the D.C. Council was set to hold a hearing to discuss new restrictions on short-term rentals. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

[A rent-controlled D.C. building commanded big bucks on Airbnb]

Hundreds of District residents gathered before the D.C. Council last week to discuss proposed restrictions on short-term rentals. For more than eight hours, they debated a bill introduced by Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5) that would limit property owners to renting one unit at a time, and only in their permanent homes. A vote is planned for later this year.

The goal of the legislation, McDuffie said, was to clamp down on commercial operators like Ginosi that are essentially turning housing units into hotel rooms.

The allegations outlined in this lawsuit are deeply troubling and illustrate the need to create a sensible regulatory framework for short-term rentals, McDuffie said in an email.

The bill would also create a new business license for short-term rental hosts. Under current rules, District residents must have basic business licenses, but McDuffie says those rules are not well understood and are seldom enforced.

Demand is much higher than supply, McDuffie said in a January interview, and when you turn an apartment building into a de facto hotel, it has a deleterious ripple effect on the housing stock.

[D.C. lawmaker to introduce new restrictions on Airbnb, other short-term rentals]

In the case of Ginosi, the lawsuit states that the company has been advertising short-term stays on its website for at least four years. Nightly rates range from about $150 to $360  amounts that the lawsuit states are significantly higher than permitted under rent control laws.

By including rent-controlled units in their partnership, defendants are diluting the stock of affordable housing available to District residents, the lawsuit says.

The short-term rentals are located in the following buildings: Mass Court (300 Massachusetts Ave. NW), the Phoenix (1421 Massachusetts Ave. NW), the Rodney (1911 R St. NW), and the View at Waterfront (1100 6th St. SW). Units in those buildings are marketed on Ginosis website as apartels  which the company says combine the concept of a hotel with the conveniences of a fully furnished apartment.

According to Ginosis website, guests have spent a total of 42,053 nights at its D.C. properties. An additional 964 bookings are in the works.

The companys owner, Eric Ginosian, is also named in the suit. He could not be reached for comment.

In addition, the lawsuit names the owners and management companies for those buildings  Daro Management Services, Daro Realty, Greystar Real Estate Partners, T-C Mass Court, Mill Creek Residential Trust and John Hancock Life Insurance Co. USA  for allowing Ginosi to operate short-term rentals in the buildings they manage. Representatives for the companies did not respond to requests for comment.

Each of the defendants knew of each others unlawful trade practices in violation of District law, the lawsuit states.

Read more:

Even Canadians are skipping trips to the U.S. after Trump travel ban

A rent-controlled D.C. building commanded big bucks on Airbnb

He bought Trumps childhood home for $1.4 million  and flipped it weeks later for a yuge profit
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The White House launched a rhetorical fusillade against its close ally and neighbor on Tuesday, accusing Canada of rough trade practices that have hurt American workers and farmers. The anti-Canada invective  reinforced by U.S. announcements of sweeping tariffs on Canadian lumber imports  have few parallels in modern history and brought an immediate rebuke from the other side of the border, triggering fears of a trade war between two major economies.

In a sharp pivot from his earlier criticism of China and Mexico for their trade practices, President Trump suggested that Canadas benign image was deceptive and that the countrys policies were damaging and unfair to the United States.

People dont realize Canadas been very rough on the United States. Everyone thinks of Canada being wonderful and civil, Trump told a roundtable of farmers at the White House. I love Canada. But theyve outsmarted our politicians for many years, and you people understand that.

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been criticized at home for courting Trump during a visit to the U.S., said the country would protect its industries. Im polite, but Im also very firm in defending Canadas interests, Trudeau told the broadcaster CTV.

The rhetorical divide carried over to a telephone call between the two leaders later Tuesday. The statement from the prime minister's office mentioned "baseless allegations" from the U.S. commerce department and its decision to impose "unfair duties". The White House in a brief statement said: "It was a very amicable call."

Trumps comments earlier in the day followed a 45-minute, televised excoriation of Canadian trade practices by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, as well as an announcement of new tariffs targeting Canadas important lumber industry.

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Ross, who appeared at the White House press briefing, took a hard line against Canadian trade policies regarding dairy and lumber  the two commodities at the heart of the trade dispute.

They are a close ally. Theyre an important ally. Theyre generally a good neighbor, the commerce secretary said. That doesnt mean they dont have to play by the rules.

Ross said the disputes also illustrated the problems with NAFTA. "If you think about it, if NAFTA were functioning properly you wouldnt having these kinds of very prickly, very unfortunate developments back-to-back. So in that sense it shows that NAFTA has not worked as well as it should," he said.

The escalation of rhetoric represented the biggest breach in relations since 2003, when Canada said it would not take part in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

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And it raised concerns about unintended consequences on both sides of the border. Canadian officials warned that U.S. home builders could be hit hard by the new lumber tariff because it could increase the cost of supplies they use for construction.

Its not the issues that are surprising  its the rhetoric, the animosity, the off-the-cuff remarks about American allies that in no way help us or the U.S.," said Donald Abelson, who chairs the political-science department at Western University in Ontario. " . . . Seems to believe it's perfectly acceptable to hit American allies over the head with a hammer.

But the Trump administrations newly aggressive rhetoric earned praise from Republican and Democratic lawmakers in lumber and dairy states.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, both Minnesota Democrats, celebrated the lumber tariffs as welcome relief to workers and rural communities in their state. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) praised the move to protect the states dairy farmers.

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Canadian lawmakers have also begun to dig in. During a technical briefing Tuesday, some Canadian officials raised the possibility of a legal challenge to the softwood-lumber tariff under the North American Free Trade Agreement or the World Trade Organization, although neither could happen until 2018, after the Commerce Department makes its final determinations.

Tuesdays exchanges capped a week of barbed comments from Trump and other officials about Canadas marketing and trade policies.

Trump has said he intends to renegotiate NAFTA, the pact that has governed commerce across the border for more than 20 years. However, he has yet to take the formal step of notifying Congress he intends to reopen the deal.

The president has been ramping up his rhetoric against Canada for a week, telling a gathering in Wisconsin last week that Canadas dairy trade policies were very unfair and promising to change them.

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On Monday, meanwhile, the Commerce Department slapped Canadian softwood lumber with tariffs of up to 24 percent.

Markets reacted immediately, with the Canadian dollar falling to its lowest value in more than a year.

The tough talk from the White House  just two months after Trudeaus cordial visit to Washington  was a surprising turn for a bilateral relationship that Canadian Ambassador David MacNaughton recently called a model to the world.

It also risks straining the United States' relationship with one of its most important trading partners.

Trudeau warned Tuesday that both countries would be hurt by protectionist trade policies.

We are tremendously interconnected in our economy with that of the United States, Trudeau said. But its not just a one-way relationship. . . . You cannot thicken this border without hurting people on both sides of it.

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The showdown has its roots in two conflicts, one involving Canadian exports of softwood lumber and the other involving Canadian imports of a dairy product called ultra-filtered milk.

The dispute over ultra-filtered milk began last year, when dairy farmers in Canadas largest province, Ontario, adopted a new pricing scheme that priced out U.S. competitors.

As a result of the price change, several dairy processors in the United States lost their contracts with Canadian cheesemakers. One of those dairy processors then went on to cancel its contracts with 75 Wisconsin farmers  although some of the farmers have found new markets.

The dispute over softwood lumber has been raging for decades. The U.S. lumber industry has long complained that Canada subsidizes its producers by selling them cheap wood from government land, an arrangement that rises from the fact that most Canadian forests are government-owned.

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On four occasions since the 1980s, the United States has responded to these alleged subsidies by imposing what is known as a countervailing duty tariff  a tax meant to offset the subsidy and bring lumber prices up to market levels.

The last time such a tariff was imposed, in 2001, Canada took the issue to the WTO and won. One of Trumps top economic advisers, Peter Navarro, has called the WTO decision unfair.

The Canadians have played us, he told The Washington Post earlier this year.

More recently, the Obama administration began its own investigation into the alleged subsidies, responding to requests from lawmakers in lumber-producing states. The investigation concluded this week with the Commerce Department announcing a countervailing duty of roughly 20 percent. That could amount to $1 billion in tariffs.

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Nearing its 100-day mark, the Trump administration is embroiled in battles on several fronts: how to replace the Affordable Care Act, overhaul the tax code and fund a wall along the Mexico border.

Now, President Trump and Republican leaders in Congress are opening another potentially explosive door: gutting Obama-era Wall Street regulations.

On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to take up legislation that would slash many of the rules put in place by 2010s Dodd-Frank Act to rein in banks after the financial crisis. Trump has ordered three reviews of banking rules, including two last week. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is scheduled to deliver a report to Trump in June on which industry rules should be rolled back.

For Republicans, the effort could lead to a bit of redemption. Dodd-Frank became law with almost no Republican support, and conservative lawmakers say it has fallen short of Obama administration promises that it would discourage risky behavior by big banks and prevent another taxpayer bailout of failing institutions.

Yet their efforts to undo the law have already hit some speed bumps. With Congress tied up with complex efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, make significant changes to the tax code and pass a budget resolution to avoid a government shutdown, efforts to roll back Dodd-Frank have taken a back seat.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), chair of the Financial Services Committee, is pushing forward with legislation to effectively replace the 2010 law, and the bill is expected to come up for a House vote by mid-May. But Senate leaders have not indicated when they would take up the bill if it does pass, and many industry lobbyists say the measure could languish until late in the year or 2018.

Hensarling faces opposition from not only Democrats and consumer groups but also big-bank CEOs. Several industry leaders have said they do not support gutting the law, despite complaining for years about the regulatory burden.

We have redesigned the way in which large financial institutions in this country function, and reworking those regulations would add new uncertainty, Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman said recently . I would not start again. Thats a terrifying thought to start again, because whats going to replace it?

Hensarling initially introduced the Financial Choice Act in 2016, a time when even supporters said it had little chance of passing while a Democrat held the White House. That changed after Trumps election. Industry lobbyists descended on Hensarlings Dallas office as the longtime lawmaker crafted his revisions.

At its core, the proposed legislation offers the countrys nearly 6,000 banks a choice: If they want to avoid many of the regulatory burdens imposed by Dodd-Frank, they must significantly increase their emergency financial cushion. That way, even if they ran into financial trouble, the banks would have enough money to survive without taxpayers help, Hensarling has said.

Hensarlings bill would also weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and repeal the Volcker rule, which restricts big banks ability to make risky financial bets. And it would subject big banks less often to stress tests to prove they could survive economic turmoil.

Lawrence J. White, an economics professor at New York Universitys Stern School of Business, dubbed such proposals outrageous.

Banks can change their portfolios relatively rapidly, which means they can get into trouble relatively rapidly, he said. There should be more stress tests, not less, White argued. The whole point is that these guys are big and systemic, White said. If they found themselves in an adverse scenario, the consequences are substantial.

Another sticking point may be the Durbin amendment, which caps the fee banks charge retailers for processing debit-card transactions. Hensarlings bill would eliminate the provision, setting up a potential battle between the banking and retail industries.

Dozens of members of the major retail industry groups, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and National Retail Federation, plan Wednesday to descend on Capitol Hill to talk to lawmakers about the issue while the Financial Services Committee holds a hearing on Hensarlings bill. The industry is betting lawmakers will recoil at the prospect of the repeat of the bloody battle that took place in the Senate when the Dodd-Frank provision was originally debated years ago.

The goal is to stop it in House, said Austen Jensen, vice president for government affairs for the Retail Industry Leaders Association. We want to be able to avoid that vote.

It is unclear how wedded Hensarling is to repealing the provision, which the banking industry has complained has cost the industry  and its customers  billions. I believe repeal of the Durbin Amendment belongs in the Financial CHOICE Act, but I recognize many Members of Congress are studying this issue and are listening to both sides, Hensarling said in a statement.
People look at merchandise for sale at the Ivanka Trump store in Trump Tower in New York on Dec. 11, 2016. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images)

Workers at a factory in China used by the company that makes clothing for Ivanka Trumps fashion line and other brands worked nearly 60 hours a week to earn wages of little more than $62 a week, according to a factory audit released Monday.

The factorys 80 workers knit clothes for the contractor, G-III Apparel Group, which has held the exclusive license to make the Ivanka Trump brands $158 dresses, $79 blouses and other clothes since 2012. The company also makes clothes for Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and other brands.

Trump has no leadership role in G-III, and the report did not give the factorys name or location, or say whether it was working on Ivanka-brand products at the time of the inspection.

Inspectors with the Fair Labor Association, an industry monitoring group whose members include Apple and Nike, found two dozen violations of international labor standards during a two-day tour of the factory in October, saying in a report that workers faced daunting hours, high turnover, and pay near or below Chinas minimum wage.

The inspection offers a rare look at the working conditions of the global manufacturing machine that helped make Trumps fashion brand a multimillion-dollar business.

Its release also comes as the presidents daughter has sought to cast herself as both a champion of workplace issues and a defender of her fathers buy American, hire American agenda. Trump, whose book Women Who Work debuts next week, was in Germany on Tuesday for public discussions about global entrepreneurship and empowerment.

We can add billions to the global economy by creating an enabling environment, increasing womens labour force participation and business ownership, and improving the productivity of their work, Trump wrote in a Financial Times essay Monday.

Trumps company declined to comment on the factory inspection. Messages left with G-III were not returned.

[German crowd boos Ivanka Trump for calling her father a champion for families]

Now an official adviser to her fathers White House, Trump stepped down from her management role but retains an ownership interest in her name-brand company. Its assets were moved into a trust that is now overseen by her husbands siblings. Trump is the sole beneficiary of the trust, which is valued at more than $50 million.

Chinese factories are by far the dominant suppliers for Ivanka clothes, though G-III also works with manufacturers across Vietnam, Bangladesh and South America. G-III factories overseas have shipped more than 110 tons of Ivanka-brand blouses, skirts, dresses and other garments to the United States since October, shipping data shows.

The clothing line licensed by President Trumps private business is also almost entirely made in foreign factories. Trump last week signed an executive order that he said would push the government to aggressively promote and use American-made goods and to ensure that American labor is hired to do the job.

Workers at the G-III factory in China were required to work 57 hours a week on a regular basis to hit production targets, inspectors found. Though Chinese law sets the limit for overtime at 36 hours per month, workers in all of the factorys departments exceeded that limit, working up to 82 hours of overtime a month between September 2015 and August 2016.

The factorys workers made between 1,879 and 2,088 yuan a month, or roughly $255 to $283, which would be below minimum wage in some parts of China. The average manufacturing employee in urban China made twice as much money as the factorys workers, or roughly 4,280 yuan a month, according to national data from 2014.

[Trump signs Buy American, Hire American executive order, promising to fight for American workers]

Fewer than a third of the factorys workers were offered legally mandated coverage under Chinas social insurance benefits, including a pension and medical, maternity, unemployment and work-related injury insurance, inspectors found. The factory also did not contribute, as legally required, to a fund designed to help workers afford housing, inspectors said.

Workers earned five days of leave a year, though a small fraction of experienced employees were eligible for more. The factory did not have a union, inspectors said, and the workers lone representative was a factory appointee.

Inspectors also cited the factory for a number of workplace safety concerns. It did not train loading workers on safety techniques or provide employees with equipment that could reduce injury, including lifting belts or seats with backrests.

The factory, which began operating in 1992, had also never sought an assessment of occupational disease hazards like those common among workers dealing with repetitive tasks and harsh chemicals.

Two inspectors from SMT-Global, a third-party monitoring group, inspected the factory one month before President Trumps election victory. The Fair Labor Association then alerted G-III to the problems it had discovered  including 24 violations of standards set by the United Nations International Labor Organization  and asked what steps it would take in response.

[Ivanka Trump responds to critics: I dont know what it means to be complicit]

The factory pledged to make some progress to improve training, assess hazards, hire more workers and reduce overtime demands. But it did not commit to increasing worker pay and at times pushed back against recommendations that could improve workplace safety.

Of occupational hazards, inspectors wrote that the factory thinks the workers health is covered by social welfare and insurance policy, and working conditions such as chair and loading staff safety are not as important.

The Washington-based Fair Labor Association was founded in 1999 by a group of nonprofits, universities and clothing companies after a series of scandals over sweatshop labor and other abuses.

The group has inspected more than 1,500 factories used by its affiliate companies, including G-III, whose contract factories in China, India and Pakistan have been inspected seven times since 2007. Factories are chosen at random for inspection, though company leaders are alerted of the audits beforehand, a Fair Labor Association spokesman said.

Other G-III factories in China have been cited for similar issues. In a 2015 Fair Labor Association audit, inspectors found that 15 percent of one factorys workers made below minimum wage, or as little as $3.30 a day. The factory was also cited for weak safety protections, including running most of its sewing machines without needle guards and stocking its first-aid kits with only cotton swabs and Band-Aids.

[Why Ivanka Trump isnt doing a book tour for Women Who Work]

Since partnering with Ivanka Trumps company in 2012, G-III has been the sole licensor of Ivanka-brand clothing, though other firms hold contracts to make the brands shoes, handbags and jewelry. Trump has championed the company, saying in a 2012 statement that G-III has distinguished itself as a trusted partner for some of the worlds finest and most visible brands.

Global sales of Trumps brand have boomed in the months since her father began his pursuit of the White House. Net sales for her clothing collection soared by $17.9 million in the year that ended Jan. 31, G-III data shows.

An Ivanka company executive said the brand saw some of its best performance ever in February, the same month President Trumps senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News viewers to go buy Ivankas stuff. Conway was counseled by White House officials after the statement, which appeared to violate a federal rule banning public officials from endorsing private products.

Ivanka Trump sat next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month during a White House roundtable discussion on workforce development. She also spoke Tuesday in Berlin as part of a panel, alongside Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, devoted to womens entrepreneurship.

Matea Gold contributed to this report.


At Cherry Blossom PUB, half the bar evokes nostalgia for Super Mario Bros. video games. The other half is full of cherry blossoms. (Kate Patterson for The Washington Post )

When Cherry Blossom PUB, the citys most-talked-about pop-up bar, reached its final days recently, you could find more than 70 people quietly queued up outside at any given time, staring at their phones, whiling away the hours till it was their turn through the doors and into the sensory overload.

With its barbacks dressed as characters from Super Mario Bros., cat-shaped ceramic tiki mugs and branches drooping with the weight of polyester pink blossoms hanging overhead, the Cherry Blossom PUB (for Pop Up Bar) in Shaw was the Kusama exhibit of the bar world, the answer to millennials obsession with novel experiences, perfect for selfies and also fleeting.

From the moment you open, youre three-deep till last call. Youll see 800 to 1,200 people a night, says Derek Brown, co-owner of the string of adjacent watering holes on Seventh Street that were transformed from quiet date spots to this buzzed-about tourist attraction.

Opened in March, it was gone by April.

But the insatiable craze for Instagram-worthy pop-up bars? Looks like its sticking around.

The notion of a pop-up is at least a decade old. Temporarily taking up residence in existing restaurants or bars, pop-ups have been frugal ways to test dishes and an aesthetic before signing a high-dollar lease and risking a reputation. Some drum up interest and investors. Some simply provide a creative outlet for someone with a day job and a dream.

But if you pay close attention to Washingtons dining scene, youll notice that theres something different about the latest flurry of short-term supper clubs and bars.

At Radiator, the bar in the Mason & Rook hotel off the 14th Street corridor, bartenders are playing out a Sex on the Beach-fueled scene from the Tom Cruise classic Cocktail on the hotel rooftop. On H Street, a Will Ferrell-themed bar dubbed Stay Classy will take over the restaurant known as Mythology next month, staying as long as the crowds keep coming.

[Gulp. Howd we get to the $22 cocktail?]

On Capitol Hill, the three-year-old restaurant Barrel last fall quietly turned its basement bar into a Trump-themed watering hole, replete with cardboard cutouts of the then-candidate and a menu of drinks that required customers to shout out some of the Donalds most eyebrow-raising quotes. One bourbon-based quaff was called How Stupid Are the People of Iowa?

One factor driving this new wave of pop-ups: Washington is a city with so many restaurant and bar openings that few can keep track. Last summer, according to an informal count by the blog Eater, more than 80 restaurants opened in town. Taking closings into account, the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington data showed that the city was up by a hundred restaurants and bars last year alone.

In this newly restaurant-saturated city, pop-ups have taken on the air of shake-ups. Radically new concepts every few months have become a way to seem like a new bar all over again.

The exploding bar or restaurant scene, its nerve-racking in that you always have to attempt to stay relevant, says Brad Ingwell, co-owner of Barrel.

Brown and his partners see at least a few more opportunities to exploit the craze. Another over-the-top pop-up bar is in the works; and the company has even hired its own special projects coordinator, whose skills include making authentic-looking tree branches and getting the lights to blink on cue. As for the sherry bar, whiskey bar and oyster bar that the new pop-up could occupy? Brown speaks about them in the past tense.

Sometimes you get blindsided by your own interests and the things that you like, and you realize theres a variety of interests that people have going into a bar, and a variety of things that they want to see, says Brown. Not everybody is coming just for the drinks. 



People lined up for hours to get into the blossom bar, which was open for a little more than a month. (Kate Patterson/for The Washington Post)

Even the drinks bore out the theme: One rum agricole tiki-style drink came in its own ceramic lucky cat. (Kate Patterson/for The Washington Post)

Brown first opened Miracle on Seventh, a temporary all-things-Christmas bar for one month in 2015, masking the walls of Mockingbird Hill, the sherry-focused bar, behind hundreds of yards of wrapping paper. The waits to get inside grew to an hour or more. And so the bar returned this past Christmas.

The success of the Trump Bar  it also drew a line, and media coverage  prodded the staff to turn Barrels bar into a kind of running joke, transforming it into a Seinfeld-themed bar for the holidays, an elaborately decorated Russian-slash-authoritarian bar to coincide with the inauguration (nearly every cocktail featured vodka), and an over-the-top Irish bar called the Smashed Potato for St. Patricks Day (sample beverage offering: Addicted to Craic). It will return as a Kentucky Derby bar when the ponies race next month.

Barrels revolving pop-ups, says Parker Girard, the bars beverage director, are as much about keeping the old people as it is about attracting the new.

1 of 12 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  See photos of a local bar with an ever-revolving theme  its drawing crowds View Photos Angie Fetherston and Matt Fox of the temporary Cherry Blossom PUB (Pop Up Bar) and Mario Bar in Shaw were looking to attract customers with fun, theatrical decor. The bar closed in mid-April, but at least one more iteration of this pop-up is ahead. Caption Angie Fetherston and Matt Fox of the temporary Cherry Blossom PUB (Pop Up Bar) and Mario Bar in Shaw were looking to attract customers with fun, theatrical decor. The bar closed in mid-April, but at least one more iteration of this pop-up is ahead. Angie Fetherston, co-owner of the Cherry Blossom PUB, and Matt Fox, the bars recently hired special projects coordinator, helped build out two novel bars that opened for little more than a month, luring tourists and locals alike. Kate Patterson/for The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

Its really hard to remain cool. Coolness is something you can never put your finger on.

Girards inspiration werent other pop-ups but bars such as Trick Dog in San Francisco and Pouring Ribbons in New York, which upend their themes and cocktail lists regularly to keep things fresh. A certain theatrical variability has invaded the dining and drinking scene elsewhere, too: In Chicago, chef Grant Achatzs Next turns from steakhouse into a Chinese restaurant, to, um, the defunct El Bulli as regularly as some of us go out to a fancy dinner. Beetle House, a pop-up bar whose theme is  wait for it  the director Tim Burton, has been drawing crowds in New York and will soon expand to Los Angeles.

At Barrel, What it allows us to do is play with ideas that definitely couldnt work as a whole bar, says Girard.

Brown agrees that the chance to flex creative muscles is part of the allure.

If youre in this business as a creative outlet, it gets boring to sling the same thing over and over again, he says.

But beyond the next pop-up or two, Brown wont commit to saying that the business model is here to stay.

There will be a time, I think, that it jumps the shark, that people will tire of seeing novel bars, he says with a laugh. I dont know when that will be, but well see it, if we last that long  because nobody will show up at our bars anymore.
Stephen K. Bannon is a former head of Breitbart News Network, which is struggling to gain congressional press credentials. (Jim Watson/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

Breitbart News Network, a conservative media organization once headed by Stephen K. Bannon, a top adviser to President Trump, isnt qualified to hold a congressional press pass.

A committee of journalists who oversee news media access to Congress decided Tuesday to table indefinitely a Breitbart request for press accreditation. Breitbart had formally applied several months ago for passes that enable reporters to freely move about the heavily guarded Capitol.

The rejection wasnt a judgment on Breitbarts news coverage but a reflection on its technical qualifications, members of the committee said. News organizations must show the volunteer credential panel that they arent owned or controlled by an organization that lobbies Congress, a step designed to prevent political operatives from acting as journalists.

The White House applies less scrutiny to applications for media credentials and has accredited a wide variety of news organizations, including Breitbart.

Breitbarts profile soared during the presidential campaign when it backed Trump and promoted many of his anti-immigrant, pro-nationalist policies. Its best-known writer was the provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, who resigned from the site in February after videos of him praising pedophilia emerged.

Breitbarts application for permanent congressional credentials has long been complicated by potential conflicts of interest, including its connection to Bannon, who was its executive chairman before becoming Trumps campaign chairman in August.

Bannon  who once boasted that Breitbart was the platform for the alt-right  is now Trumps chief strategist; he formally resigned from Breitbart last fall. (The term alt-right typically refers to a far-right movement whose followers hold racist, anti-Semitic and sexist beliefs and who desire a whites-only state. But in a later interview with the Wall Street Journal, Bannon sought to define the term differently, saying the alt-right is composed of younger people who are anti-globalists, very nationalist, terribly anti-establishment.)

Congressional press gallery rules state that applicants must not be engaged in any lobbying or paid advocacy, advertising, publicity or promotion work for any individual, political party, corporation, organization, or agency of the U.S. Government.

Breitbart has faced questions from the five-member committee about its owners and investors and its Washington headquarters, a Capitol Hill townhouse it calls the embassy.

Although Breitbart presented documentation of Bannons resignation from the company, it was unable to resolve the ownership question to the committees satisfaction.

Specifically, the panel expressed concerns about the connections between Breitbart and the Government Accountability Institute, a Florida-based research organization focused on investigating money and politics. GAI was co-founded by Bannon and is funded by Robert Mercer, a billionaire hedge-fund manager and conservative political donor who is also an investor in Breitbart. Mercers daughter, Rebekah Mercer, is chairman of the GAI board.

In addition, some of the editors listed on the Breitbart masthead continue to hold leadership roles with GAI, whose president, Peter Schweizer, is the author of Clinton Cash, a best-selling book that detailed financial connections among foreign governments and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

The committee said that Breitbart hadnt fully satisfied its concerns about its Washington headquarters. The townhouse Breitbart lists as its office is owned by Moustafa el-Gindy, an Egyptian businessman and politician; Breitbart rents the building from him.

Breitbart has given favorable coverage to el-Gindy, a former member of the Egyptian parliament who is affiliated with the political party backed by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, according to the Daily Beast. One Breitbart story labeled el-Gindy a senior Egyptian statesman who has played a pivotal role in the revolutions against former President Hosni Mubarak and the Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Gindy and Breitbart are the subject of a complaint filed with the Justice Department in 2016. The complaint, whose source is unidentified, alleged that el-Gindy rented his townhouse to Breitbart at below-market rates while Breitbart promoted his political career, all without disclosing their financial relationship, in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Daily Beast reported.

Breitbart did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The committees vote to table Breitbarts application means that it wont grant its reporters any more temporary credentials when the current ones expire at the end of May. The committee said that it would reconsider Breitbart for credentials if it remedies the masthead and office issues.

Without temporary or permanent press passes, Breitbart journalists can still enter congressional facilities, but they must do so through public access, an inconvenient step.
Dear Heloise: My part-time job at a retailer offers direct deposit into my checking account. The retailer also can deposit my pay onto a prepaid card. Its like a credit card, but if I need cash, I use an ATM, which charges me a fee. Please tell your readers to read the fine print!

A Worker Bee in Dallas

Worker Bee in Dallas: Thanks for the good information that Im more than happy to pass along!

Readers, a prepaid (payroll) card is like a debit or gift card. There is no bank account to withdraw from or even check your balance. An employer deposits or loads your wages onto the card. You can shop, pay bills, etc., like its a regular credit card.

However, when getting money from an ATM, you have to pay the ATM fee to get your money! So, if you need cash, take out more than you think you will use, so there is only a one-time fee.

Dear Heloise: My complaint is people who throw their garbage in the trash can unwrapped. It stinks! As soon as the lid is lifted, the wind blows papers out, and as the men lift to dump the trash, corncobs, watermelon rinds and apple peels fall out  ugh! The smell from the trash cans is awful.

I wrap my garbage in recycled bags. I feel for the trash pickup men who have to smell all that trash.

A Reader in Boardman, Ohio

Reader in Boardman, Ohio: You are right: The trash should be contained so it doesnt fly about, and corncobs, apple peels, etc., should go in the compost pile, if possible. Wet garbage can be put in a store plastic bag, tied and then put into the garbage can.

Heres how I clean the big outdoor trash can: vinegar and dish soap! Put several cups of vinegar and a big squirt of dishwashing soap in the trash can, fill with water about one-third of the way and scrub with a broom. Dump out, rinse and let the can dry in the sun. Vinegar is handy for so many uses around the house, and it is cheap, readily available and safe to use. Would you like to receive a collection of my favorite vinegar helpers and how-tos? Visit Heloise.com to order a pamphlet, or send $5, along with a long, stamped (70 cents), self-addressed envelope, to: Heloise/Vinegar, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. You can hang a car deodorizer on the inside of the trash can to help keep it fresh.

Dear Readers: If you enter drawings or sweepstakes, or when signing on for a subscription, your name can end up on a mailing list! My Heloise Hint: Use variations and initials of your name.

Dear Heloise: When I want to freshen up my throws and bedspreads, I take them outside and give them a good shakeout. The fresh air helps, too.

M.B., Fayetteville, Ark.

Heloises column appears six days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Send a hint to Heloise , P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-5000, or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com.
Ivanka Trump was alternately applauded, booed and prodded during her first high-profile excursion as an emissary for her fathers White House, while participating in a prestigious Berlin panel on womens issues here Tuesday.

The trip, to the international W20 summit on womens entrepreneurship, was an illustration of both the power and the complexity of her new role: The audience clapped for Trumps stated support of issues such as paid family leave and increased access to child care, but some jeered at mentions of the president she was there on behalf of. Others were hoping for clarification on what, nearly 100 days into the Trump administration, her advocacy would look like.

Youre the first daughter of the United States and youre also an assistant to the president, said panel moderator Miriam Meckel, the editor in chief of the German publication WirtschaftsWoche, in her opening question to Trump. The German audience is not that familiar with the concept of a first daughter. Id like to ask you, what is your role? And who are you representing  your father, as president of the United States, the American people or your business?

Certainly not the latter, Trump responded, adding, Im rather unfamiliar with this role as well, as it is quite new to me. She remained poised throughout the exchange, explaining that she was listening and learning and that she hoped that knowledge would help her effect incremental, positive change.

It was a more pointed line of inquiry than Meckel had asked any of the other women on the panel, which included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. But Trump had come to the summit with more to prove.

When Merkel visited the White House in March, some critics had thought it inappropriate that the elected chancellor was seated next to the presidents daughter. But Merkel herself was apparently unbothered. She and Ivanka Trump realized they shared interests in womens entrepreneurial issues, her office later said, and Merkel extended the younger woman a personal invitation to participate in the panel.

In the days before Ivanka Trumps arrival, German newspapers parsed the meaning of her visit, wondering if Merkel had found in Ivanka  perceived as levelheaded and moderating  more palatable diplomatic inroads than with President Trump. How powerful will Ivanka Trump become? wondered one newspaper headline. Another simply ran a picture of Ivanka, captioned with the phrase, First Whisperer.

Ivanka Trump has become a subject of wide interest and wider speculation. Its been difficult to tell how much she planned to blaze her own paths, and how much she would be a spokeswoman for her fathers goals.

She has never expressly disagreed with her fathers policies in public, but she says that she has done so in private. She has been a vocal supporter of various woman-friendly policies, but its been unclear what that support would look like in practice. (She has a book on women in the workforce due out next month.)

The Tuesday panel, as one American delegate to the W20 put it, had the potential to be her global coming-out party on a serious level.

The panel covered an array of issues. Trump said that she was concerned about a shortage of mentors for young businesswomen and about the digital divide that keeps women in developing countries from accessing the technology necessary to do business in a modern world. At one point, the moderator asked panelists whether they considered themselves feminists, and while Merkel demurred, saying she wasnt sure whether she fit the title, Trump proudly raised her hand, and spoke of the fact that people in hiring positions at the White House were predominantly women. (The presidents Cabinet, though, is populated almost entirely by men.)

But it was mention of the chief occupant of the White House that ultimately drew consternation from audience members:

My father has been a tremendous champion of supporting families, she told the moderator.

Several audience members in the ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel began to audibly groan and hiss, prompting Meckel to speak over the noise: You hear the reaction from the audience, she said. Some attitudes toward women that your father has displayed might leave one questioning whether hes such an empowerer of women. During the presidential campaign, the then-candidates biggest scandal followed the discovery of an old Access Hollywood tape in which he bragged of kissing and grabbing women.

Ivanka Trump responded that she could speak about her fathers support for women as a daughter, saying in her household growing up, there were never barriers or expectations based on gender.

After the panel, she answered questions from a cluster of reporters, including a few on whether she thought the moderator had questioned her more harshly than the other panelists.

Im used to it, Trump said, smiling. She said that she thought it was important for people to learn to disagree in respectful ways, which is what she thought had happened at the conference. She spoke excitedly about an international fund that had been discussed during the panel  one that would provide female business owners access to capital, another issue about which she is passionate.

After she left the hotel, she toured a vocational training center, stopping to greet and ask the names of each student, admiring their work, pretending it was her fault when the hot beverage machine theyd built seemed to malfunction.

I should have pressed coffee,  she apologized. I threw it a curveball by pressing hot chocolate.


Elisabeth Moss as Offred and Alexis Bledel as Ofglen in the Hulu series The Handmaids Tale, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood. (George Kraychyk/Hulu)

If there is an urtext of modern feminism, especially for those of us who prefer it in the form of juicy dystopian novels instead of lofty essays, then Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale is probably the closest thing weve got. Its one of those books that people believe can tell a lot about another person based on what that other person thought of it.

Is your new boyfriend woke enough? Has he read The Handmaids Tale?

Is your new book club smart enough? How do they discuss The Handmaids Tale?

Has your relationship with your repressed Protestant mother festered for so long that you have never considered her as a complex woman with a rich inner life and her own unrealized desires and fears? Pour her a merlot and give her The Handmaids Tale. That ought to get you somewhere, even if its somewhere you later wish you hadnt gone.

It means something to people  deeply, politically and almost spiritually. The new Hulu adaptation (Elisabeth Moss, Alexis Bledel) is a lot of things, but mostly its validation for those fans among us who dont do cosplay as a rule, but who understand exactly the symbolism and the power of red capes and white bonnets.

(Hulu)

Like a lot of good speculative fiction, describing the plot ends up short-selling the story, but for those who havent read it well try: In a near-future universe of rising sterility and falling birthrates, the United States has been taken over by a right-wing theocracy. To rebuild the population, the new government has reintroduced the biblical practice of forced surrogacy (Remember Rachel and Leah and their fertile handmaids in Genesis?).

Rich women get to be wives to Commanders. Other women, if they can still bear children like the books heroine, Offred, are made into handmaids. Sent to training centers to learn obedience. Made to wear red. Not allowed to control finances or read. All told in spare, ironic prose with not an extra ounce of flesh on it.

The book was published in 1985 to near-glowing acclaim, winning the Arthur C. Clarke Award, nominated for a Booker Prize and a Nebula Award. One exception was the review written by Mary McCarthy, herself a famous novelist, who criticized Handmaids Tale for simultaneously being too unbelievable and not creative enough. Nothing like the linguistic tour de force, A Clockwork Orange,  she sneered in the New York Times.

Which  thank God, because some of us cant stand that book. And which, moreover, elaborately misses the point. The Handmaids Tale didnt need linguistic cartwheels to transport its readers to an unfathomable new world. Handmaids world was meant to be fathomable  same technology, same cities, same fretting over womens bodies  and its horrors were not all that new.

[The Handmaids Tale is timely, essential viewing]

Over the years, its been assigned in college literature classes, yanked out of school libraries, celebrated and denigrated and feared and loved. Legions of women first found it on their mothers bookshelves, or on the bookshelves of cool aunts or babysitting clients, an introduction to the messiness of womanhood.

Its been banned. Of course its been banned, appearing on the American Library Associations list of the top 100 banned books of the decade, for both the 1990s and 2000s. People said it was anti-Christian. (Its not, just anti-crazy fundamentalist  or had too much disturbing sex.) Astute readers might point out that anyone who singled out the sex as the disturbing element wasnt paying enough attention. The true terror of the book isnt the acts people commit, but the mind-set  the brainwashed masses lulled into accepting the unthinkable as the ordinary  that allows people to commit them.

And what does Margaret Atwood, the creator of this world, think of all of this?

We met with her recently, sitting on straight-backed chairs in the sort of generically opulent downtown D.C. hotel suite that could have been one of the Commanders parlors, but which today had been repurposed as an interview room. Next door, cast and crew of the series are in their own interview rooms; outside, a long line of journalists  all female, all appearing to be in their 30s  await their own time slots to ask Atwood the same questions she has patiently answered over and over in the course of three decades.



Darren Calabrese Associated Press

Could it happen? How close are we? says Atwood, 77, sharing what those questions typically are. Especially, How close are we? Especially that. When the book first came out in England, people said, Jolly good yarn, because theyd already had their religious civil war. The Canadians, who are quite diverse, might not be able to gain the critical mass required to attain a monolithic theocracy. But Americans, it was either, It cant happen here, dont be silly, or How close are we? 

She doesnt know the answer. She doesnt know how close we are, as a society, or if were close at all. She doesnt know what happens to Offred at the end of the novel. She doesnt even know Offreds real name. Over decades, readers decided it was June based on contextual clues  June is the only character name, introduced in a roll call, who is not otherwise accounted for  but it was never Atwoods original intent.

I created a vacuum, and it was filled, she says. Not in an inappropriate way, but it wasnt my idea.

She wrote the book on a typewriter in 1984, and it happened in fits and starts because she just kept worrying it was too weird to present to an editor. Then she showed a draft to a trusted friend and said, I think Im going to get a lot of hate mail, and the friend said, I think youre going to be rich, and both of them were right. And decades passed, and the book kept growing.

Some books escape from the book itself, and this is one of them, she says. Its been a film. Its been an opera  a really good opera. Its been a ballet. Its being a graphic novel right now. It turns up as memes in elections. Its about to be a television series. Its recently been proposed to me that it should be a video game. Although I cannot begin to imagine what that would be like.

[Ingenious new audio version deepens original book]

She wafts a hand. Its out of the box. I feel as though its no longer something I have control over. Not that you ever have control over the book.

Our time is up. We were given only 20 minutes! We wanted to know so much more! But she has other people to see. That night we will go see Atwood sit on a panel presented by the Smithsonian Associates, in which all of the questions we thought to ask are asked yet again, by all of the devoted fans.

There was an essay a few years back by the feminist comedian Lindy West about the television show Law & Order: SVU, and why so many women are compelled to watch a show in which week after week, bad things happen to women. Watching SVU is like pressing a bruise, West wrote  a way to exorcise ones deepest fears in the safe confines of television.

One wonders if The Handmaids Tale presses that same bruise. Because the book is essentially a page-turning tour through every conceivable female nightmare. Loss of independence. Subjugation at the hands of men. Rape. Violence. Losing a child, or being thought of as less-than for being childless. All of it state-sanctioned.

[Hulu series role became a waiting game for star Elizabeth Moss]

This is what lead actress Elisabeth Moss remembers about her first reading of the book, back when she was a teenager. We talk about it with her, when we are shuffled over to her hotel suite. After her first reading, she didnt hang on to the plot specifics, she says, so much as she was affected by the sense that she could be going about her business in a modern, everyday society, and then the next day be stripped of her rights and place in the world.

And, she says, and nobody would come to help you. She thought about that for years. She thought about whether she was worthy to play a character that had impacted her so intensely.

Its inevitable that classic works are repurposed and reinterpreted in current contexts. A few weeks ago, a group of women walked purposefully into the Texas state legislature building wearing red capes and bonnets  handmade handmaids  protesting what they saw as the restriction of womens reproductive rights. Around the same time, some right-wing viewers who saw the shows trailer online criticized it in the comments as anti-Trump propaganda. This led another commenter to respond, If you see The Handmaids Tale, written over 30 years ago, as a subtweet at your political movement, what does that say about your movement?

Go ahead and read it as social commentary  Atwood doesnt mind if you do. She knows The Handmaids Tale belongs to the world now. Or go ahead and read it just as a thought experiment, divorced from current events, for what it would look like to have a world upended and for how to maintain sanity when that happens.

But just as it is a recipe book for how to create a hellhole, its also a recipe book for how to resist one  whether that resistance happens by flouting the rules, or by learning how to work them for ones own benefit, or whether the resistance happens only in the quietude of ones mind. Free thoughts, in an un-free space.

Its a really good book.
A National Park Service employee posts a sign on a barricade closing access to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. Congress plunged the nation into a partial government shutdown, forcing about 800, 000 federal workers off the job and suspending most non-essential federal programs and services. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

The daily work of local government  trash pickup, teaching in public schools and more  will continue without a hitch in the nations capital if the federal government shuts down this week amid disputes between the White House and Congress over spending on a border wall, D.C. officials said.

Kevin Donahue, deputy mayor for public safety and justice, said the District would not be forced to repeat the scramble to continue operating that ensued in 2013, when the federal government shut down for 16 days after conservative Republicans refused to fund the government unless the Affordable Care Act was gutted.

The shutdown threatened the District, whose budget is tied to that of the federal government. Then-Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) managed to keep the city open by dipping into budget reserves and designating every one of its tens of thousands of employees as essential to the protection of public safety, health and property, which insulated them from the furloughs that affected roughly 800,000 federal workers.

Since then, however, the District has adopted a new interpretation of its budget autonomy  the ability to raise and spend local funds without congressional approval  and Congress has decided that the Districts budget should remain in effect during any standoffs over federal spending on Capitol Hill.

Our budget has a degree of separation from the Congress that it did not have at the time of the last shutdown, Donahue said Tuesday. We believe, in the event of a shutdown, that there will be no effect on city services, nor will we need to take the extraordinary step of declaring all employees essential.

That doesnt mean District residents wont notice effects if the federal government grinds to a halt.

Trash collection and maintenance for federal landmarks, such as the Mall, could cease during a shutdown. Donahue said that smaller, federally controlled parks throughout the city  such as Franklin Square downtown or Stanton Park on Capitol Hill  could also go untended, perhaps prompting extra effort from the citys Department of Public Works.

In 2013, garbage and rats accumulated in some of those places, ultimately leading the District to spend $92,000 on cleanup during that October shutdown.

The broader economic and social effects of a government shutdown would also be keenly felt in a city where the federal workforce accounts for 1 in 4 jobs.

As the Friday deadline to pass a spending bill to keep the government open approaches, it remains unclear whether the GOPs internecine battles over budget priorities will end in the kind of stalemate that resulted when Barack Obama occupied the White House.

Trump has publicly insisted that any new spending bill must include money for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a core campaign promise he once asserted he would force Mexico to fund. But the idea is fiercely opposed by Democrats and is anathema to many Republicans, and the Trump administration signaled Monday that it was preparing to retreat from its earlier demand for wall funding to keep the government open.
A new majority took over the Howard County Board of Education in December and passed sweeping measures to assert its authority over Superintendent Renee Foose.

In response, she sued them.

Now the superintendent and board of education are locked in a costly power struggle with dueling accusations and no lack of recriminations. The internal strife threatens to disrupt Marylands sixth-largest school system, a district with 76 schools and 55,000 students that consistently ranks among the best in the nation.

Ive been very disappointed with the way that were operating right now, said Kathryn McKinley, principal of River Hill High School. It just seems to be dysfunctional.

The dispute escalated this month after the board dismantled Fooses scholarship program to send aspiring teachers from low-income families to McDaniel College in Westminster, Md. The Teachers for Tomorrow program was heralded as the first of its kind in the country and an innovative approach to diversify the teaching corps in Howard County schools.

McDaniel President Roger Casey said he is consulting attorneys after the board backed out and abandoned the student finalists for 11 scholarships.

We thought this was just atrocious. How could you possibly lead your students on? Casey said. Theyre basing these decisions about a battle that they have with the superintendent.

Three new board members were sworn in Dec. 5, giving the seven-member panel a majority critical of Foose. The board quickly passed eight resolutions to broaden its authority. Foose responded the next month with a lawsuit in Howard County Circuit Court alleging the board passed illegal measures to undermine her. A trial has not been scheduled.

Foose said she filed suit to preserve her ability to run the school system without interference from the board. Were getting calls that board members are coming into schools unannounced and stirring things up unnecessarily and causing controversies, Foose said. This is so not necessary.

Her critics on the board have said they were elected to rein in a superintendent regarded by some as secretive and dictatorial. The community spoke loud and clear in the election that it is extremely unhappy with the direction and management of the school system, said Cynthia Vaillancourt, the board chairwoman.

The tension has widened a rift between central office staff loyal to Foose and the elected board members. The two sides are at an impasse over payment of the boards nearly $150,000 in legal bills. And staff members have petitioned the Howard County Office of Human Rights to intervene, claiming board members have created a hostile work environment and have belittled and bullied employees. Vaillancourt contends that staffers loyal to Foose pressured others to sign.

The recent quarrel over Fooses ambitious Teachers for Tomorrow program was especially contentious. The first class of 11 scholarship recipients selected last spring included graduates of Reservoir and Wilde Lake high schools, one of whom was the first in his family to attend college and another born in Caracas, Venezuela.

The contract with McDaniel College, signed in August 2015, requires the school district to subsidize tuition for up to 12 students per year. The district pays about $12,000 a year for each scholar. The college and donors cover the rest of the cost, roughly $50,000 a year. In exchange, the students pledge to work three years for Howard County schools after graduation.

McDaniel administrators interviewed 14 finalists this spring for the second scholarship class. But the board voted this month to cut the second class to a single student, saying one satisfies the requirement of up to 12.

The board pledged to fund four full years for the students already accepted, but canceled the program after that.

Board members said that Foose never raised enough money to continue covering the costs of the program. But McDaniels Casey said that he found a donor willing to contribute $100,000 a year, and Foose contended that the school system could have raised more if the board helped.

Vaillancourt said Foose should have warned the board that money was dwindling before interviews for the second class of students began.

I feel terrible. There is no excuse for anybody to be put in this position, Vaillancourt said.

Five board members routinely side against Foose. The Howard County Education Association, a union with 5,500 members, surveyed more than 3,000 school district employees and announced last month that support for Foose has plunged to 10.8 percent.

The situation is untenable, said Paul Lemle, president of the union and a critic of Foose. Its absolutely time for her to go.

Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman declined to comment through a spokesman. He has called the lawsuit an unfortunate distraction.

State law long ago established that local boards couldnt fire their superintendents, except in Baltimore City. That power rests solely with the state superintendent of schools, who hasnt fired a superintendent in at least 20 years.

In 2012, Foose became the first woman to lead Howard County schools, and she defended her performance in the lawsuit, noting that the district scored the highest in Maryland on state and national academic measures in the past three years. The countys graduation rate peaked at 93.5 percent under Foose in fiscal year 2015, her attorneys wrote. The previous board of education renewed Fooses four-year contract for $273,000 last year.

Still, she was sharply criticized over her handling of mold found at Glenwood Middle School in 2015. Critics said she delayed telling parents and teachers about the mold and alleged that students became sick as a result.

State law establishes that a superintendent can be fired only for five reasons: immorality, misconduct, insubordination, incompetency or willful neglect of duty.

In a January Facebook message, Vaillancourt urged voters to petition state legislators to change the law.

State Delegates Vanessa E. Atterbeary and Eric D. Ebersole, both Democrats from Howard County, sponsored a bill in February that would empower local boards to fire their superintendents. The bill stalled in committee.

Meanwhile, hostility between the two sides has spilled out at board of education meetings, including over the boards legal bills.

Attorneys billed the district about $146,200 for five weeks of work, according to invoices obtained by the Baltimore Sun. An attorney from the firm of Saul Ewing LLP charged as much as $576 an hour.

The bills include almost $3,000 for the boards attorneys to review news coverage of the lawsuit, including an article from The Washington Post. Vaillancourt said the expense was necessary to document Fooses statements to see what shes been saying in public, the positions she has taken.

Payments to contractors require approval from the superintendent; Foose has argued that the boards attorneys are no exception. Foose is paying her own legal bills, although she declined to reveal the amount.

The Maryland State Board of Education ruled last month that contracts are invalid without Fooses signature, but that the superintendent cannot withhold approval for arbitrary or capricious reasons.

The bills remain unpaid. The state has ordered Foose and the board of education to mediation. Both sides must report their progress by May 30.
THE DISTRICT

D.C. prosecutors drop robbery charge against Pa. man

Prosecutors in the District have decided not to pursue a criminal case against a 24-year-old Pennsylvania man arrested in a robbery Sunday in the Palisades area of Northwest Washington.

D.C. police said they had charged Darius Leo Clarke, of Upper Darby, Pa., with robbery. Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office for the District said Tuesday that his office did not go forward with charges in this case and that the office does not comment on charging decisions.

Dustin Sternbeck, the chief D.C. police spokesman, said: Based on the preliminary investigation on the scene, [police] had probable cause to make an arrest of the subject.

The incident occurred about 2 p.m. in the 4800 block of MacArthur Boulevard. Police said that the victim was at a gas station when a bag was grabbed from his shoulder and that the man who took it jumped into a car that drove off but crashed nearby.

According to a police report, the robbery victim caught up with the car at the crash scene, where money had scattered, and held a man for police.

 Peter Hermann

VIRGINIA

Man is found dead after apartment fire

A man is dead after an apartment fire in Woodbridge, Va., officials said.

The incident happened about 11:30 p.m. Monday in the 3500 block of Sherbrooke Circle in the Lake Ridge area of Prince William County. When firefighters arrived, they found a man who later was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police identified the man as Simeon Saplan Lim, 54, of Manassas. Officials said the homicide unit and the countys fire marshals office jointly are investigating the death and the fire.

 Dana Hedgpeth

Burglar hits medical offices in Fairfax

Cash and iPads were stolen over the weekend during break-ins at 17 medical offices in the Fairfax County area, according to police.

The break-ins occurred Saturday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Inova Fair Oaks Medical Campus along Joseph Siewick Drive in Fairfax.

In a statement, Fairfax County police said they think a man broke into a secured lockbox that had the office keys.

Police described the burglar as being Hispanic or Middle Eastern with light-colored skin. He stands about 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet tall and weighs between 175 and 200 pounds. The man is said to have cropped black hair and a mustache. He was reported to be wearing a blue shirt, khaki pants and black shoes.

 Dana Hedgpeth
Montgomery County elections officials said they will review registration procedures in response to allegations from a conservative watchdog group that the countys rolls are packed with ineligible voters  even as advocates and county Elections Board staff raised questions about the groups claims.

Judicial Watch said in a letter this month that there was strong circumstantial evidence that Montgomerys lists are filled with names of voters who have died, moved out of state or are noncitizens. It said the charge is supported by data showing more registered voters in the county than there are citizens of voting age (18 and over).

The group said it would sue the state of Maryland within 90 days unless officials show they have taken action to clean up voter lists and come into compliance with the National Voter Registration Act.

Montgomery is one of more than 90 counties in 11 states  and the only one from Maryland  targeted by Judicial Watch. Democrats have a 2-to-1 registration advantage in the county, which has a population of just over 1 million people and is the states most populous jurisdiction.

Voter fraud is totally unacceptable. We take this issue very seriously, Elections Board President James Shalleck, a Republican appointed by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), said at the boards meeting Monday.

Under state law, the party that controls the governors office holds the majority on state and local elections boards. The state board, which oversees the county panels, said last week that it will also review practices in response to Judicial Watchs allegations.

Records show that Montgomerys total registration of 657,548 is higher than its voting-age population of 633,295, a figure that comes from census data.

But at the Elections Board meeting Monday, staff members said that there are as many as 16,000 active voters in Montgomery who dont show up in the census. About half are 16- and 17-year-olds allowed to register because they will be 18 by the time of the next federal election. The other half includes county voters who are living overseas, either with the military or in the private sector.

The disconnect between registration and voting-age population also reflects the lengthy process required by federal law to remove someone from voter rolls, board staff said.

It takes four years to cancel, or remove, a person, a change that can happen only after two sample ballots are returned with no forwarding address and the individual fails to vote in two consecutive federal elections.

Overall, the county has removed more than 76,000 voters from its rolls since 2015.

Sarah Brannon, director of government agency voter registration for Project Vote, told the board Monday that the National Voter Registration Act, also known as the motor voter law, was intended to expand access to voting.

The two Democrats on the five-member board agreed that there should be no tolerance for fraud or sloppy practices. But they cautioned that ill-conceived sweeps of the rolls could inadvertently disenfranchise eligible voters.

We also dont have a tolerance for removing people from the rolls unless were absolutely sure, said board member David Naimon.

In public comments, some speakers demanded an aggressive investigation and more.

The countys GOP chairman, Dick Jurgena, called for the board to fire Election Director Margaret A. Jurgensen, saying that the draining of the swamp needs to start here and now.

Board members did not respond to his demand. At the beginning of the meeting, the board gave Jurgensen a citation for her 15 years of service.
Julia E. Hamblet, former director of the Women Marines of the U.S. Marine Corps. (U.S. Marine Corps/U.S. Marine Corps)

Julia E. Hamblet, a retired colonel who was was instrumental in integrating women into the regular Marine Corps in the late 1940s and became the longest-serving director of the womens branch of the Marines, died April 17 at a retirement community in Williamsburg, Va. She was 100.

The specific cause of death could not be immediately determined, said a niece, Doreen Hamblet.

After working in Washington for several years with the old U.S. Information Service, Col. Hamblet joined what was then called the Marine Corps Womens Reserve in 1943.

She was among the first women sworn in as commissioned officers during World War II. She said she joined the Marine Corps because she had one brother in the Army and another in the Navy and wanted to be impartial.

More than 20,000 women served as Marines during World War II, but the womens branch was officially part of the reserves and was separate from the regular Marine Corps. Other womens military branches had acronyms, such as the Navys WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) or the WACs (Womens Army Corps), but there was no shorthand for female Marines.

They dont have a nickname and they dont need one, Marine Corps Commandant Thomas Holcomb told Life magazine in 1944. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere at a Marine post. They inherit the traditions of Marines. They are Marines.

Soon after she was commissioned, Col. Hamblet was named adjutant to Col. Katherine A. Towle, the director of Women Marines, and served at bases in California, North Carolina and Virginia.

Most female Marines held clerical and administrative jobs, but others worked as radio operators, photographers, control tower operators, weather observers, musicians, statisticians, journalists and cryptographers. At the end of the war in 1945, Col. Hamblet  then holding the rank of major  commanded 2,600 women in an aviation group at Cherry Point, N.C.

For some time, I had mixed feelings about the appropriateness of women serving in the regular Marine Corps, Col. Hamblet said in a 2004 interview for the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation. All Marines, officers and enlisted, were trained to fight . . . an assignment legally prohibited to servicewomen.

In 1946, Col. Hamblet was named director of the Womens Reserve, but postwar demobilization saw the ranks of female Marines dwindle to fewer than 200.

I discovered that we could not get the active duty leaders we wanted for our reserve units, she said, without providing them the security of the regular service.

The Womens Armed Services Integration Act was passed in 1948, which made women full-fledged Marines, although they remained in separate units from the men for decades. Female officers could not hold a rank higher than colonel.

By 1953, when Col. Hamblet succeeded Towle as director of Women Marines, she commanded a corps of more than 2,700 female troops. Typical of the news coverage of the time, reporters freely commented on Col. Hamblets age (36) and appearance. Time magazine described her as a girl who was born to pose for a recruiting poster.

During the six years she led Women Marines, Col. Hamblet appeared on the nationally televised game shows Whats My Line? and To Tell the Truth. She voluntarily stepped down in 1959 because I was blocking other women officers for promotion.

She later became a military adviser to the commander in chief of allied forces in southern Europe and led a training unit at Parris Island, S.C., before retiring from the Marine Corps in 1965. Her decorations included the Legion of Merit.

Julia Estelle Hamblet was born Mary 12, 1916, in Winchester, Mass. Her father was a chemical engineer.

Known to her family as Judy, she graduated in 1937 from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., then worked for six years with the U.S. Information Service. She received a masters degree in public administration from Ohio State University in 1951.

After her military career, Col. Hamblet spent 13 years as an official with the U.S. Office of Education (later the Education Department). She was based for several years in Seattle, where she supervised a federal student loan program in the Northwest.

She retired to Alexandria, Va., where she volunteered with the American Red Cross and YWCA and was an elder at Alexandrias Old Presbyterian Meeting House. She moved to Williamsburg in 1986.

She had no immediate survivors.

Col. Hamblet often reminisced with her nieces and nephews about her career in the Marine Corps, calling it a decision I never regretted in 22 years of active duty.
The world faces the prospect of more tension with China over trade, security and human rights after Xi Jinping awarded himself another five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party and called for self-reliance in technology, a stronger military and protection of core interests abroad. At a party congress, Xi gave no sign of plans to change the "zero-COVID strategy that has frustrated Chinas public and disrupted business and trade. He called for faster military development and announced no change in policies that strain relations with Washington and Asian neighbors. Xi is tightening control at home and trying to use Chinas economic heft to increase its influence abroad.
A fake coupon supposedly linked to a $30, $50 or $100 Mothers Day promotion for Lowes has been circulating on Facebook. (Matt Rourke/AP)

Authorities are warning that what looks like a too-good-to-true deal from Lowes, the home improvement store, is in fact a scam.

The fake coupon supposedly linked to a $30, $50 or $100 Mothers Day promotion has been circulating on Facebook.

The Lynchburg, Va., Police Department sent out a warning online for buyers to not click the links and not to answer questions.

The website Snopes also warned that the scheme is similar to others that pretend to be from Amazon, Costco, Home Depot or Kroger. The gimmick is that users will also pass the coupons on to their Facebook friends.

The Better Business Bureau gave several tips against such frauds, including this one: Dont believe what you see.

The business group said if a survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. But the group said few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.
Prosecutors in the District have decided not to pursue a criminal case against a 24-year-old Pennsylvania man who was arrested in a robbery that occurred Sunday in the Palisades area of Northwest Washington.

D.C. police said they had charged Darius Leo Clarke, of Upper Darby, Pa., with robbery. A spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office for the District said Tuesday that his office did not go forward with charges in this case.

The spokesman, Bill Miller, said his office does not comment on charging decisions.

Dustin Sternbeck, the chief D.C. police spokesman, said: Based on the preliminary investigation on the scene, [police] had probable cause to make an arrest of the subject.

The incident occurred about 2 p.m. in the 4800 block of MacArthur Boulevard. Police said the victim was at a gas station when a bag was grabbed from his shoulder. The man who had taken the bag jumped into a car, which was driven away and crashed into a nearby tree.

According to a police report, the robbery victim caught up with the car at the crash scene, where money had scattered over the street, and held a man there for police.
The man charged in the 2009 disappearance and slaying of Pamela Butler told a friend that it was easy to get rid of a body, a D.C. homicide detective said Tuesday.

The friend, who is a witness in the case against 51-year-old Jose Rodriguez-Cruz, told detectives that Rodriguez-Cruz had once said if you dig a hole deep enough, no one will find it, D.C. homicide detective Michael Fulton testified in D.C. Superior Court. Rodriguez-Cruz made similar comments about his ability to hide a body to two other people, according to authorities.

Rodriguez-Cruz was charged this month with first-degree, premeditated murder in the death of Butler, his onetime girlfriend. She was 47 years old when she went missing Valentines Day weekend eight years ago. Her body has not been found.

[Ex-boyfriend arrested in 2009 disappearance, death of Northwest woman]

During Tuesdays preliminary hearing, homicide prosecutor Deborah Sines argued that Rodriguez-Cruz had a pattern of abusing women and may also be responsible for the disappearance of his first wife, Marta Rodriguez. She went missing in 1989.

Sines said Rodriguez-Cruz told his second wife that he knew how to make sure no one ever found a body.

During the nearly five-hour hearing, prosecutors also said they had identified another woman who recounted abuse by Rodriguez-Cruz. They said the woman told detectives that Rodriguez-Cruz duct-taped her wrists, held a gun to her head and repeatedly sexually assaulted her during a 2004 incident in Fairfax County. The woman said he also threatened to sexually assault her 3-year-old daughter, authorities said in court.

This man doesnt impulsively kill. He abducts women, duct-tapes them, sexually assaults them and then holds them captive, said Siness co-counsel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner. Duct tape and a gun are his weapon of choice.

Without Butlers body, and no clear crime scene, authorities have built a case that relies in part on Rodriguez-Cruzs history of violence.

Rodriguez-Cruz, wearing an orange D.C. jail jumpsuit, sat next to his public defender and watched as the detective and prosecutors outlined their evidence against him. Butlers family, including her mother and brother, sat in the audience in the courtroom.

Fulton testified that authorities are working to bolster their case against Rodriguez-Cruz. On Friday, he said, police searched Rodriguez-Cruzs Northern Virginia home in connection with his first wifes disappearance and found a Ruger semiautomatic pistol.

In addition, Fulton said, D.C. authorities are testing items found in Butlers home for possible DNA evidence.

Fulton described the Fairfax County attack in court, testifying that the woman involved was a security guard at a federal office who also ran a stand at Eastern Market with Rodriguez-Cruz on weekends. The woman said that on the morning of Jan. 9, 2004, she went to Rodriguez-Cruzs home to talk about their work. Fulton said the woman told detectives that when she arrived at the apartment, Rodriguez-Cruz put a gun to her head and a pillow over her face and said: I could kill you tomorrow and no one would ever find your body. I can make your body disappear.

The woman told detectives that Rodriguez-Cruz sexually assaulted her as her young daughter was in the apartment, Fulton said. When Rodriguez-Cruz later fell asleep, she told police, she grabbed a knife with one hand and her daughter with the other and tried to run out of the apartment. Rodriguez-Cruz woke, pulled out his gun and grabbed her, the woman said. She then stabbed him multiple times.

Fulton said the woman, who at the time spoke little English, was unable to give a full account of what happened and was arrested and charged with assault. The case never went to trial after Rodriguez-Cruz stopped cooperating with Fairfax authorities, Fulton testified.

Rodriguez-Cruzs public defender, Judith Pipe, argued that her clients past relationships were not relevant to the Butler case.

Pipe noted that in Butlers otherwise immaculate home, there was evidence that someone had riffled through files in her home office and strewn them across the floor. There was also a box of floppy disks on the floor, a latex glove and some duct tape. This looks like a burglary at the house, Pipe said.

Judge Hiram E. Puig-Lugo said he found enough evidence to hold Rodriguez-Cruz in jail until trial. Puig-Lugo cited evidence such as video surveillance footage that showed Rodriguez-Cruz going in and out of Butlers house about the time of her disappearance. At one point, he is seen carrying five large bags out of the house and a white bucket holding what appears to be cleaning supplies.

Puig-Lugo also noted that although there was no evidence of a crime scene in the home, cadaver dogs detected signs of a decaying body in the rear passenger seat and trunk of his vehicle.

Puig-Lugo determined that Rodriguez-Cruz would be a danger if he were released and set his next hearing for July 28.
Two D.C. police officers were injured in a crash after their police cruiser was struck by a driver who was later arrested for driving while intoxicated in Southeast Washington, officials said.

The crash happened around 9 p.m. Monday along the 11th Street bridge and Interstate 295.

The police cruiser was waiting on the side of the road for a tow truck with another vehicle that was stopped when it was hit by the vehicle.

The driver of the car  Joseph Clarence Lomax, 40, of Fort Washington, Md.  gave two different accounts to police of what happened, according to a police report.

At one point, he said he lost control of his vehicle as he was driving and hit the cruiser. Then he said he was driving in the right lane when a car hit his vehicle and that caused him to strike the police cruiser.

The officers were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, police officials said.

Lomax was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
Prince William County Sheriff Glendell Hill rescinded his endorsement of Corey Stewart for governor over all that Confederate stuff. (Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post)

Corey Stewarts Confederate-centric bid for Virginia governor has cost him the endorsement of a longtime political ally and prompted four of the five Republicans who serve with him on a county board to back his GOP rival.

Prince William County Sheriff Glendell Hill yanked his endorsement from Stewart over the weekend and announced he was backing former Republican strategist Ed Gillespie in the June 13 primary.

All that Confederate stuff  I dont think thats really necessary for a person thats running for public office, Hill told The Washington Post on Monday. Its something that divided our country and the races, and we just dont need that. We want a governor thats going to represent and serve all the people.

At the same time, four of Stewarts Republican colleagues on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors came out for Gillespie.

Stewart (At Large) is the chairman of the county board, and the five other Republican supervisors had intended to stay neutral, even after Gillespie personally asked for their backing, Supervisor Martin E. Nohe (Coles) said. They made that decision partly as a professional courtesy and partly to prevent politics from complicating negotiations over the county budget, Nohe said.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie, right, gestures as he participates in a debate with Corey Stewart, left, and state Sen. Frank W. Wagner at Goochland High School in Goochland, Va., on Saturday. (Steve Helber/AP)

But recent events  including Stewarts participation in a Confederate-themed ball two weeks ago and the appearance of an airplane streaming a Confederate flag and Stewart banner Friday  led the four to reconsider, Nohe said. The fifth, Supervisor Maureen S. Caddigan (Dumfries), remains neutral.

Some of those colleagues stood with Stewart during other controversies, most notably during the crackdown he led against illegal immigration in the county about a decade ago. His embrace of Confederate symbols has caused them to wonder whether the veteran Prince William politician can survive reelection in his diverse county.

Politics is a weird thing, but it is difficult to imagine someone who has so closely associated himself with symbols of segregation like the Confederate flag doing well in an election in a majority-minority community like Prince William, Nohe said.

[Trumps mini-me struggles to get traction in Virginia]

Last month, 62 percent of those in a straw poll conducted by the countys Republican Party chose Gillespie, while 24 percent backed Stewart.

Stewart has made the preservation of the states Confederate monuments a central theme of his candidacy. After the Charlottesville City Council voted in February to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a downtown park, Stewart adopted it as a cause. Last week, a Stewart supporter flew a plane over an outdoor political gathering that streamed a Confederate flag and a banner reading, Vote Corey Stewart June 13.

That was a tipping point for Prince William County Supervisor Ruth M. Anderson (Occoquan). She said she immediately picked up the phone and offered her endorsement to Gillespie.

When I saw that, it just did something to me, she said. Its just too much, too much.

[Did a Republican running for Va. governor really dress up like a Confederate gent?]

Without naming Hill, Stewart issued a written statement that suggested he had rescinded his endorsement amid pressure from weak-chinned Republican brass.

The Confederate flag is not the issue, Stewarts statement said. The radical lefts obsession with tearing down historical monuments is about silencing all dissent, and weak-kneed establishment politicians like Ed Gillespie who refuse to stand strong and instead cave to the slightest hint of pressure from the left.

Hill, an African American and Republican, said he has often campaigned with Stewart since they first won their respective offices 12 years ago. Until now, Hill said, they have generally seen eye to eye. Hill supported Stewarts previous crackdown on illegal immigration, although he said he took issue with some of Stewarts rhetoric, which included a pledge to hunt . . . down illegal immigrants who commit crimes in the county.

We dont need to be mean-spirited about it, Hill said. Just enforce the law.

Hill announced his change of heart in a written statement issued by Gillespies campaign, but he said no one twisted his arm to make the change.

Been around too long for that, he said. I had been thinking about it for a few days. It started out, you know, with the Charlottesville issue, and it moved on to other things. I just got tired of seeing it.

[Protesters mob provocative Va. governor candidate as he defends Confederate statue]

Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and counselor to President George W. Bush, trumpeted the endorsements as proof of his appeal in vote-rich, racially diverse Northern Virginia.

Prince William County is a diverse, growing part of Virginia, and Im humbled to have the support of these strong leaders, he said in the statement from his campaign.

Stewart and Gillespie are in a three-way race for the GOP nomination with state Sen. Frank W. Wagner (Virginia Beach). On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and former congressman Tom Perriello are vying to succeed Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who is prohibited by the state constitution from serving back-to-back terms. Both parties will pick their nominees in June 13 primaries.

[Youre Fired: Trump campaign dumps Virginia state chair Corey Stewart]

Far behind Gillespie in fundraising and endorsements, Stewart has tried to grab attention by defying political correctness in the manner that helped propel Donald Trump to the White House. Stewart was Trumps Virginia chairman until he went too rogue even for that unconventional campaign, which eventually fired him for participating in a demonstration against establishment Republicans.
(YouTube/Ralph Northam)

RICHMOND  Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is the first candidate with a sustained TV ad in the Virginia governors race, seven weeks before the June 13 primary contest against Democratic challenger Tom Perriello.

Northams campaign on Tuesday announced a six-figure ad buy with a spot called Making Progress Every Day.

So far, most candidates have stuck to online videos, with the exception of Republican challenger Corey Stewart, who had a one-time TV spot on Inauguration Day in January. Republican front-runner Ed Gillespie has a big war chest similar to Northams - both lead the field with about $3 million on-hand - but has yet to crack the broadcast airwaves.

[Perriellos Va. governor bid boosted by several big donors, including Soros]

The other Republican challenger is state Sen. Frank Wagner (Virginia Beach), who has released a series of online videos.

Perriello, a former congressman, has wielded a savvy online campaign using social media and folksy videos that have drawn thousands of viewers.

Recent polls show that few Virginians know much about Northam, despite his having served as lieutenant governor for the past three years. In a Quinnipiac University poll earlier this month, both Perriello and Northam were rated favorably by 24 percent of respondents, but more than two-thirds of voters had no opinion about either.

Northams ad, which is airing mostly in Richmond and Hampton Roads markets, features a number of ordinary people offering brief testimonials about how he has made a difference in their lives.

One mother thanks Dr. Northam (hes a pediatric neurologist) for helping her son cope with a degenerative disease. Another woman praises his efforts to ban smoking in restaurants, and another credits him for fighting Republican efforts in the General Assembly to require transvaginal ultrasounds before abortions.

Lori Haas, whose daughter was wounded in the Virginia Tech shootings 10 years ago, says Northam stood up to the NRA in the aftermath of that tragedy. And in a rarity for Virginia politics, the spot highlights marriage equality when Norfolk resident Tim Bostic remembers how Northam supported his efforts to overturn Virginias ban on same-sex marriage.

He did one of the readings at our wedding, Bostic says. He supported marriage equality before it was popular to do so.

Perriellos campaign, which has drawn a lot of national attention because of his support from Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), said it will begin its television advertising soon but wouldnt disclose specific plans.

Perriello picked up an endorsement from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Northam, meanwhile, picked up endorsements from several dozen emerging leaders - young Democrats in Virginia, including Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma), a leader of the Democratic partys progressive wing, endorsed Tom Perriello in the Democratic primary race for Virginia governor on Monday.

Perriello is in a tight contest for the partys nomination against Democrat Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who is backed by nearly every Democrat in the state legislature, congressional delegation and statewide office. The primary is June 13.

Warren gave the nod to Perriello during an interview with The Huffington Post in which she called Perriello, a former one-term congressman from Charlottesville, an exciting guy.

Hes the kind of guy who says, I am going to make change and Im going to make change not for the richest, not for the most powerful, not for whats politically expedient. I want to make change for hard-working families, Warren said.

Warrens embrace follows an endorsement of Perriello earlier this month from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), perhaps the main leader of progressive politics in the country right now. Together, the two add a layer of national star power to Perriellos insurgent campaign., something the campaign hopes to translate into campaign cash, volunteers and, ultimately, votes.

[Sanders endorses Perriello]

Perriello jumped into the race in January, surprising Northam and state party leaders, who had expected the lieutenant governor to have a clear path to the nomination. Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who is backing Northam, is prohibited by the state constitution from seeking a second consecutive term.

Perriello has promoted an economic populist message in his gubernatorial campaign. Northam and his allies challenge his progressive credentials, noting several conservative stances Perriello took while in Congress - including support for a measure to allow oil and gas drilling off Virginias coast, defending the National Rifle Association and voting for an amendment to the Affordable Care Act that would have restricted funding to insurance plans that cover abortion.

Early polls show the pair tied or with Perriello with slight edge over Northam but within the margin of error.

Since his unexpected entry into the race, Perriello has outraised Northam, taking in $2.2 million to Northams $1.4 million, according to an analysis released last week by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

Perriello has drawn big money from national Democratic donors, including philanthropist and liberal activist George Soros. Fundraising reports for the first quarter of this year show that 57 percent of Perriellos money came from outside Virginia, compared with 11 percent out-of-state donations for Northam, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

Still, Northam had almost twice as much campaign cash available as Perriello as of March 31, with $3.3 million compared with Perriellos $1.7 million.

A spokesman for Perriello said the endorsement from Warren was unexpected.

In a statement, Perriello said he was proud to have Warrens support in my progressive campaign to raise wages, make college more affordable, and put consumers ahead of unchecked greed, so that no Virginia family is left behind.

Virginia is one of just two states to hold a gubernatorial election this year (the other is New Jersey) and both national parties are closely watching the state as an early test of voter sentiment in the era of President Trump. With its proximity to Washington and a workforce and economy that are heavily tied to the federal government and the military, Virginia is signficiantly impacted by federal policy.

Perriello and Northam will face off in the first debate of their primary contest on Saturday in Fairfax County. They are competing to run against the winner of the GOP primary race, also on June 13, among former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, state Sen. Frank Wagner (Virginia Beach) and Corey Stewart, the chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.
Virginias largest jurisdiction is preparing to adopt yet another budget that will stretch existing resources to fund schools, public safety and other priorities  the new normal amid a weak local economy that has hampered tax revenue for nearly a decade.

On Tuesday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors moved forward with a 2018 budget that would keep the residential property tax rate at $1.13 per $100 of assessed value  tacit recognition that residents, who overwhelmingly rejected a meals tax proposal in November, do not want their tax bills to increase.

Supervisors made tiny tweaks in the $4.1 billion spending plan, transferring $1.7 million more to the countys financially struggling school system and $2 million to the Diversion First mental-health services program.

Two members of the 10-person board, Supervisors Kathy Smith (D-Sully) and Dan Storck (D-Mount Vernon), voted against those changes, saying the budget does not do enough to support schools, social-service programs and raises for county employees.

We cannot cut our way to prosperity, Smith said. I believe it is time for the board to step back and consider if our budget process is working the way it should.

The county plans to give $2.17 billion to its growing school system of nearly 187,000 students, about $47 million short of what officials sought. It is pursuing $35 million in police reforms recommended by an appointed commission after the 2013 fatal shooting of an unarmed man outside his home.

The board adopted an array of long-term guidelines to contain expenses amid forecasts from county officials that funding commitments for Metrorail will rise in coming years and a steady increase in elderly and low-income residents will mean greater demands for services.

They include a review of county pension plans in hopes of reducing the growing burden theyve placed on budget resources. The board also directed the countys staff to examine locally funded services for the disabled, prioritize police reforms that could be funded in the short term and find ways to prioritize funding for human services.

Were sort of treading water for a year, and I think we need to do that so we can recalibrate where we are in terms of addressing what I think is a pretty clear, though disheartening, financial picture, said Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock).

Board Chairman Sharon Bulova (D) said balancing the budget, which will be formally adopted in May, has been difficult, particularly as the state and federal governments also deal with spending cuts, adding that were trying as hard as we can to stimulate the economy.
Scott Gottlieb, President Trump's nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration, speaks April 5 at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)

In December 2006, Scott Gottlieb did something unusual for a deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration: He joined other FDA officials who tried to help a pharmaceutical company secure more fentanyl for a powerful painkiller product.

The company, Cephalon, was running short of the opioid it put in a lollipop designed for the intense pain of some cancer patients, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Post. But Cephalon was also under investigation at the time for illegally pushing doctors to prescribe the drug for other uses, from headaches to back pain.

Gottlieb is the Trump administrations nominee to head the FDA. While his exact role in the episode is in dispute, his critics contend that his participation demonstrates the kind of friendly relationship with the pharmaceutical industry that they fear he will create at the FDA if he is confirmed.

When the prescription opioid epidemic was exploding, it appears Dr. Gottlieb advocated to put even more addictive fentanyl onto the market when it wasnt appropriate or necessary, said Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who has previously criticized Gottliebs ties to the drug industry. We cannot have a leader at the FDA who has aided and abetted the prescription drug and heroin epidemic by pushing more addictive, deadly opioids onto the American public. Markeys office has asked the Drug Enforcement Administration for documents related to the episode, in which Cephalons request was ultimately rejected.

[FDA nominee to recuse himself from decisions on 20 health care companies]

Gottlieb declined to comment, citing the long-standing tradition of staying silent before a Senate committee vote on his nomination, which is scheduled for Wednesday. But Sheldon Bradshaw, a former FDA attorney, said Gottliebs role was minimal  confined to a meeting of FDA and DEA officials on Dec. 8, 2006, and only because protocol called for a deputy commissioner to be present given the participation of similarly high-level DEA representatives. In any event, Bradshaw added, Gottliebs responsibility was to help the FDA protect legitimate pain patients from possible shortages of critical analgesics.

The FDA isnt there to shill on behalf of Cephalon. Theyre there to inform the DEA what the medical needs are, he said.

The FDA itself had opened an investigation of Cephalon, but it is unclear whether Gottlieb or the other officials were aware of it at the time they met with the DEA. The month before the meeting, reports of a probe by the Connecticut attorney general had surfaced in the Wall Street Journal.

Gottlieb has said he will recuse himself from agency decisions for a year involving more than 20 companies he has worked for, invested in or had some other kind of financial relationship with, according to his federal ethics filings. That includes two big pharmaceutical firms, GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He also has said he would resign as a member of Glaxos product investment board.

There is no evidence in Gottliebs financial disclosure statements that he has accepted any payments from Cephalon, which was acquired in 2011 by Teva Pharmaceuticals. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

In a document submitted to a Senate committee as part of the confirmation process and obtained by The Post, Gottlieb wrote that none of my actions were undertaken on behalf of, or intended to benefit, a particular person or company. Rather, my role was to represent the agencys public health positions.

Gottlieb called publicly in 2012 for the DEA to relinquish its control over the manufacture of drugs that contain controlled substances and transfer that authority to the Department of Health and Human Services.

[FDA nominee: Agency unwittingly fueled opioid epidemic]

Cephalon pleaded guilty in 2008 to illegally promoting the fentanyl lollipops  marketed under the name Actiq  and two other drugs, and paid a $425 million fine. The Justice Department said the company instructed its large sales force to focus on physicians other than oncologists and to promote Actiq for a wide variety of pain despite the restrictions imposed by the FDA.

According to court papers in a related case, just 1 percent of the prescriptions filled for Actiq in the first six months of 2006 were written by cancer doctors. The companys revenue from the drug soared in just a few years.

Whoever is in charge of the FDA must put the peoples safety over drug company profits, said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who has joined Markey in criticizing Gottlieb.

Since long before the opioid crisis mushroomed into the epidemic it is now, the FDA and the DEA have fought over whether the public needs more narcotics. (The fentanyl responsible for a surge in overdose deaths in the past few years is almost entirely a synthetic black-market version, not the drug produced for medical use.)

The DEA controls the annual quota of drugs containing controlled substances that are produced in the United States each year, and it assigns each manufacturer a certain portion of that allotment.

The 2006 fight between the two agencies over a possible shortage festered for months. Cephalon told FDA that it was running low on fentanyl because it was trying to produce its own branded Actiq as well as supplying two generic companies with versions of the lollipop, according to a letter from Steven Galson, then director of FDAs Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which monitors the U.S. drug supply. And the company had to destroy a sizable quantity of the painkiller because of a manufacturing problem, it said.

The FDA agreed. This will result in a shortage which is anticipated to last approximately 10 weeks, Galson wrote in a letter to a DEA official obtained by The Post.

The DEA was not convinced. The agency also met with Cephalon and said the public faced no shortage of the painkiller, because Cephalon had enough on hand and the two generic companies had more, according to a letter from then-Deputy Administrator Michele Leonhart to the FDA. It warned the FDA not to declare a shortage of Actiq or to suggest the use of another Cephalon fentanyl product, Fentora.

The episode was curious for another reason. The meeting came little more than three weeks before the start of 2007, when Cephalon would gain access to its full fentanyl quota for the next calendar year. Leonhart said she had difficulty understanding why Cephalon needed more fentanyl with so little time remaining until 2007.

We find no basis to conclude that Cephalon must be given additional quota to use over the remaining 18 days of 2006, she wrote.

Alice Crites contributed to this report.
OKLAHOMA

Executions should stop for now, panel says

Oklahoma should keep executions on hold until it can revise its capital punishment system, according to the findings of a report released Tuesday from a commission that has been conducting a review of the states use of the death penalty.

The 11 members of the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission discussed their final report at the state Capitol.

Executions have been on hold in Oklahoma for more than two years while the Department of Corrections develops new protocols for carrying out death sentences. Fifteen Oklahoma death row inmates have exhausted their appeals and are awaiting execution dates.

The commission was formed after Oklahomas execution process faced increased scrutiny after several botched lethal injections. The reports release comes a day after neighboring Arkansas carried out two executions on the same day, part of an original plan to execute eight inmates over an 11-day period.

 Associated Press

NEW YORK

Former NYPD officers arrested in gun probe

A former New York police lieutenant, two former police officers and a lawyer who once worked as a prosecutor were arrested in a federal gun-licensing probe Tuesday as authorities said police employees traded speedy handling of gun permits for paid vacations, jewelry, catered parties, cash and visits to strip clubs.

According to court papers, the trading of gun licenses for bribes stretched from at least 2010 to 2016. Authorities said members of the NYPD License Division solicited and accepted bribes from individuals who charged customers thousands of dollars in fees to secure gun licenses.

NYPD Commissioner James P. ONeill said more than 100 gun licenses have been revoked as the department reviews more than 400 license applications to ensure they were properly processed.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said bribes resulted in licenses being awarded to people with substantial criminal histories, including convictions for crimes involving weapons or violence.

Among those charged was Paul Dean, 44, of Wantagh, a police lieutenant and the second-highest-ranking member of the License Division when he retired in January 2016. He supervised about 40 uniformed police employees and had ultimate authority to approve or reject licenses and upgrade requests, authorities said.

Also charged was John Chambers, 62, a Manhattan attorney who worked from 1983 to 1985 as an assistant district attorney in the Brooklyn district attorneys office. Others arrested Tuesday included a retired police officer who worked in the licensing bureau from 2011 through 2016 and a police detective who retired in 1999 but sought gun permits for others as he operated a gun store.

 Associated Press

Chicago crosses 1,000 gunshot-victim mark: Two people were killed and five others were wounded in a single hour in Chicago on Monday as the number of gunshot victims this year passed the 1,000 mark. The city reached the grim milestone four days later than last year, when gun violence was at its highest level in two decades, according to data kept by the Chicago Tribune. As of Tuesday morning, at least 1,008 people had been shot in Chicago this year. Last year the city passed the 1,000 mark on April 20.

 Chicago Tribune
CHARLESTON  Some Eastern Illinois University professors, students and others will be getting revved up on campus before their trip up to Springfield for a teach-out Thursday demonstration by the University Professionals of Illinois union.

According to a press release, faculty will be taking part in a small rally at 8:30 a.m. in the W parking lot adjacent to Taylor Hall before heading off on buses to Springfield.

Billy Hung, the EIU-UPI media coordinator, said those who cannot actually head to Springfield will have a chance to cheer on the cause before those who will be participating are leaving.

Hung said about 114 people have signed up to be on one of the buses headed to Springfield, but said there is room for more. However, he noted there is a limit to a number of people they can fit on the buses they will have for the trip up.

Those participating will be protesting Gov. Bruce Rauners cuts to higher education and the failure to produce a balanced budget, the release read. State lawmakers and the governor have yet to compromise on a budget, now two years into the state budget impasse.

Because of this impasse, state agencies like state universities have suffered its effects.

Hung said people in the higher education community are demonstrating because of the lack of support the state has shown higher education in the state.

This funding trend cannot continue without doing permanent damage to higher education, Hung said.

Beyond supporting state universities, which have faced layoffs and programs cuts, as a result, Hung said those going to Springfield are driven by the effect it might have on students and their student loan debt they accrue.

Those going will be bringing the classroom to the Rotunda at the State Capitol as part of a statewide effort among those in higher education.

College professors will hold classes about the importance of MAP funding, the need for new revenue, and the impact of Rauners political ultimatums on our communities, according to a press release.

The teach-out is expected to start at 11 a.m., and a rally in Springfield will follow from 1:15 p.m. until about 2 p.m.
Industries from around the world spent nearly $1 billion to lobby the federal government during the first quarter of this year, according to a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics  the highest in five years.

The uptick was driven by both optimism and fear over the priorities of President Trump and the Republican Congress, lobbying experts said. However, nervous drugmakers logged their biggest increase in spending amid signs that the new president may try to drive down drug prices.

The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been extremely chaotic, said Muftiah M. McCartin, a vice chair at Covington & Burling, which saw a 32 percent spike in earnings from lobbying, the largest growth of any firm. As a result, companies across the globe are seeking assistance to help navigate the new administration.

As president, Trump has vowed to pursue sweeping policies that would have an enormous impact on a wide range of industries, including eliminating 75 percent of federal regulations and overhauling the federal tax code. Congressional Republicans, who secured full control of the Capitol in the 2016 election, are already at work trying to fulfill another Trump pledge: rewriting health reforms enacted in the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

While first-quarter spending on lobbying grew to $838 million from $827 million during the same period last year, the number of registered lobbyists actually declined to 9,175 from 10,225. Lobbying experts said the decline was due in part to Trumps announcement that lobbyists would not be welcome on his transition team or in his administration.

The administration since has relaxed that position, but lobbying experts said they expect the trend to hold.

I think Trump has made it clear that being a lobbyist is not something that is held in high regard, said Caleb P. Burns, a partner at Wiley Rein, which has seen its lobbying earnings drop slightly in the first part of this year. I dont think that has materially changed, and I predict those numbers wont rise.

Spending, on the other hand, is rising rapidly. Covington, the biggest beneficiary, earned $4 million during the first part of this year. Donations by the firms political action committee heavily favored Republican candidates last year, according to a CRP analysis. The firm has been hired to work on numerous issues, including trade, health care, food and drug safety, national security, transportation and infrastructure, and tax reform.

The biggest jump in spending came from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the drug industrys trade group, which spent $8 million during the first quarter of the year, a 35 percent increase over the first quarter of 2016. PhRMA was the third-highest spender in the first quarter, the centers analysis showed, moving up from No. 5 during the same period in 2016.

A PhRMA spokesman said the group does not comment on lobbying activity. However, drugmakers have expressed concerns about a number of issues since Trump was elected.

In a Fox News interview in February, for example, Trump said he would look for ways to lower drug prices, stating, My new thing is going to be pharma, because we pay too much. Trump also spoke in support of permitting Medicare  the nations largest purchaser of prescription drugs  to negotiate with drugmakers to drive down costs, an idea the industry has long opposed.

Drugmakers also have been alarmed by Trumps interest in speeding up the rigorous federal drug-approval process. Drugmakers consider federal testing and review critical to building confidence in new  and often expensive  medications. In contrast to many other industries, PhRMA has hired lobbyists to keep the current regulatory system in place.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce continues to rank first in spending, significantly outpacing every other company, industry and trade group, the analysis shows. The Chamber spent nearly $25 million  an 8 percent increase over the first quarter of last year and more than double the amount spent by the second-ranking National Association of Realtors, the analysis showed.

Chamber spokeswoman Blair Latoff Holmes said the Chambers lobbying activity reflected our commitment to advancing regulatory reform and cutting red tape. Holmes said the groups top legislative priorities include the Regulatory Accountability Act, which would significantly restrict the federal governments power to adopt new regulations or safety standards. The bill has passed the House but has yet to be taken up in the Senate.

AT&T also ranked near the top in lobbying spending in the first quarter of this year, reporting nearly $4.6 million in lobbying costs. In February, the company paid $85.4 billion to acquire Time Warner, a deal that will not be finalized unless federal antitrust officials determine it would hurt not consumers.

During the campaign, Trump expressed opposition to the deal, saying it would put too much concentration of power in the hands of too few. Democrats in Congress also have raised concerns about the deal, which is under review by the Justice Department.

Alice Crites contributed to this report.
INDIA

Maoist rebels kill 25 paramilitary troops

Maoist rebels killed at least 25 paramilitary soldiers and injured six in central India on Monday in one of the worst attacks on the countrys security forces in recent years, police said.

The rebels fired from hilltops at the soldiers, who were guarding workers building roads in a forested area of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh state, police said.

The government has been trying to improve roads in the dense jungles of Chhattisgarh to make it easier for security forces to pursue the rebels.

CNN News18 television quoted a paramilitary soldier as saying that hundreds of rebels attacked members of the Central Reserve Police Force and that there was an exchange of gunfire.

The insurgents, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting for more than three decades in central and eastern India, staging hit-and-run attacks to press their demand for a greater share of wealth and more jobs for the poor.

Last month, the rebels killed 11 paramilitary soldiers in an ambush in the region.

The government says the rebels are Indias biggest internal security threat. According to the Home Ministry, they operate in 20 of Indias 29 states and have thousands of fighters.

 Associated Press

IRAN

British charity workers

last appeal is rejected

Irans Supreme Court has upheld a five-year jail sentence for a British Iranian charity worker convicted on unspecified charges relating to national security, her husband said Monday.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested by the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps last April at a Tehran airport as she was about to return to Britain with her 2-year-old daughter after a family visit.

Iranian news media have said that she was convicted of plotting the soft overthrow of Irans clerical establishment, a charge denied by the foundation and her family. She was sentenced to five years in prison in September.

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said the appeal was her last legal opportunity to challenge the sentence.

Ratcliffe said his wife has still not been allowed to know the exact charges on which she was convicted. He urged the British government to publicly call for her release.

Britains Foreign Ministry said later Monday that it was deeply concerned by reports that the appeal had been rejected.

 Reuters

World Health Organization

3 African nations to test first malaria vaccine

Three African countries have been chosen to test the worlds first malaria vaccine, the World Health Organization announced Monday. Ghana, Kenya and Malawi will begin piloting the injectable vaccine next year with hundreds of thousands of young children, who have been at highest risk of death.

The vaccine has the potential to save tens of thousands of lives if used with existing measures, said the WHOs regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti. The challenge is whether impoverished countries can deliver the required four doses of the vaccine for each child.

Malaria remains one of the worlds most stubborn health challenges, infecting more than 200 million people every year and killing about half a million, most of them children in Africa. Bed netting and insecticides are the chief protection.

The vaccine will be tested on children 5 to 17 months old to see whether the protective effects shown in clinical trials can hold up under real-life conditions. At least 120,000 children in each of the three countries will receive the vaccine, which has taken decades of work and hundreds of millions of dollars to develop.

Kenya, Ghana and Malawi were chosen for the vaccine pilot because all have strong prevention and vaccination programs but continue to have high numbers of malaria cases, the WHO said.

 Associated Press

16 killed as migrant boat sinks in Aegean: Greek authorities said 16 people, including two children, were killed after a migrant boat sank in the eastern Aegean between Greece and Turkey. Two people were rescued. One of them, a pregnant woman, told Greek authorities that she had been among about 25 people who had set sail late Sunday from the Turkish coast heading to the Greek island of Lesbos. Patrol boats and helicopters were searching for those thought to be missing.

Israel indicts teen in bomb threats: An Israeli American teenager was indicted in Israel on allegations that he made thousands of hoax bomb calls, some targeting U.S. Jewish community centers, and earned $240,000 by offering to phone in threats against schools, hospitals and planes. The suspect, who is Jewish, was arrested in Israel last month. The indictment alleged a profit motive. The suspect is said to have had the equivalent of about $240,000 in his bitcoin account earned via make-a-threat services he offered on the dark net, which includes members-only websites unavailable to the public.

 From news services
YEMEN

$1.1 billion pledged by donors, U.N. chief says

International donors have pledged $1.1 billion for war-torn Yemen, the U.N. secretary general said Tuesday, appealing to the fighting sides to grant access to humanitarians and revive diplomatic efforts to end a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 civilians.

Antonio Guterres ended a day-long Yemen aid conference in Geneva by hailing the clear generosity and solidarity of governments and civil society after two years of conflict in the Arab worlds poorest country.

The conference raised pledges for more than half of the $2.1 billion sought by the United Nations this year. The appeal was only 15 percent funded previously.

Guterres said the pledges must be translated into effective support for Yemenis. We basically need now three things: access, access, access for humanitarian actors to reach all Yemenis in need, he said.

The war has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, obliterated the health system, led to broad human rights violations, and impeded imports of crucial food, resources and medicines.

Aid groups want improved access to civilians, a halt to deadly airstrikes by a Saudi-led, U.S.-supported coalition that has been fighting Shiite rebels, and more respect for international law.

U.N. officials say the worlds largest humanitarian crisis is in Yemen, where 17 million people are classified as food-insecure.

 Associated Press

TURKEY

Opposition losesreferendum challenge

Turkeys high administrative court on Tuesday dealt a new blow to the main opposition partys efforts to appeal the result of a referendum that will greatly expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogans office, rejecting a request that it overturn a controversial decision by the nations electoral authority.

The Republican Peoples Party, or CHP, was contesting the April 16 referendum, citing irregularities during the voting  in particular, an electoral board decision to accept ballots not bearing the official stamps.

The court ruled against the CHPs request to overturn the boards decision, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Meanwhile, legislators representing Europes top human rights body on Tuesday voted in favor of reopening monitoring procedures in Turkey, reflecting strong concern about the functioning of democratic institutions in the country.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europes monitoring committee voiced concerns about the constitutional amendments approved in the referendum. Turkey rapporteur Marianne Mikko said the amendments do not comply with our fundamental and common understanding of democracy.

Turkey, a founding member of the Council of Europe, had been under post-monitoring dialogue since 2004.

 Associated Press

ISRAEL

Leader cancels talks in spat with Germany

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly canceled talks Tuesday with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over the visiting diplomats plans to sit down with an Israeli rights group, sparking a rare diplomatic feud with a close ally of Israel.

The cancellation cast a cloud over a visit meant to draw attention to years of friendship between the two countries and coincided with Israels annual Holocaust memorial day.

Netanyahus office said he would not talk to foreign dignitaries who meet groups that slander IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers as war criminals, referring to Breaking the Silence, a group critical of Israeli military actions in the West Bank.

Israel and Germany have a long and complicated relationship. Israel was established in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust, in which Nazi Germany killed 6 million Jews. The countries established diplomatic relations in 1965. Today, Germany is a key Israeli ally in Europe. But tensions occasionally flare up over Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

 Associated Press

Spain arrests 9, looks into ties to Belgium attacks: Spanish police said they arrested nine men and raided 12 properties in Barcelona in an operation against Islamist militant suspects. At least three of those arrested were suspected of links to the suicide bombings in Belgium in March 2016, which killed 31 people, Spains high court said. Police said the men who were arrested  one Spaniard and eight Moroccans  were living in Catalonia.

St. Petersburg bomber acted on al-Qaeda orders, group says: A group called the Imam Shamil Battalion has asserted responsibility for the metro bombing in St. Petersburg this month that killed 16 people and said the bomber was acting on orders from al-Qaeda, according to the SITE monitoring group. In a statement originally published by a Mauritanian news agency and translated by SITE, the little-known group said the bomber acted on instructions from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

 From news services
British Prime Minister Theresa May talks to students and first-time voters at Cox Green School in Maidenhead on April 21. (Leon Neal/Reuters)

Regarding Anne Applebaums April 21 op-ed, The new political landscape:

By calling an election, British Prime Minister Theresa May hopes to increase her slender majority and bolster her position in Parliament, enabling her to counter her far-right, Euroskeptic fellow Tory members. An enhanced majority would mean greater flexibility to pursue a soft Brexit, enabling Britain to retain closer ties to the European Union.

The election may not bode well for the Scottish National Party and its leader, Nicola Sturgeon, who recently overplayed her hand in calling for a new referendum on Scottish independence. A decline in SNP seats, coupled with an increased Tory majority, would effectively shut down talk of another referendum and validate Ms. May.

With the Labour Party in tatters, the election may be an opportunity for the moderate wing to reemerge as a potent political force.

Populism appears to be on the wane  the underlying sentiment in Britain is for the political drama to cease and for the job to get done, which augurs well for Ms. May on June 8. Contrary to Ms. Applebaums assertion, the Conservatives are still very much the party of former prime minister David Cameron, though perhaps with a more politically astute leader.

Celia Boddington, Arlington
CHECHNYAS STRONGMAN, Ramzan Kadyrov, hardly skipped a beat when it was revealed that his security forces were kidnapping and torturing gay men in the republic. Instead of investigating and punishing those who inflicted the horrors, Mr. Kadyrov, a violent provincial boss who enjoys the blessings of Russian President Vladimir Putin, immediately went after the Moscow newspaper that brought the situation to light. Reporters have been threatened and denounced, and forced to flee Russia.

On April 1, Novaya Gazeta, known for digging into sensitive topics, published an expose showing that Mr. Kadyrovs security services were detaining and executing gay men, holding them in squalid conditions and outing them to families for suggested honor killing. Three are known to have died, and more than 100 are believed to have been seized and held in a prison near the town of Argun. Since the story broke, further corroboration has come from gay men who escaped captivity and reported they were tortured, harassed and threatened. The purge has been confirmed by Human Rights Watch, which quoted one victim as saying, They treated us like animals.

Russia put down secessionist rebels in Chechnya in two wars that wreaked havoc on the republic. Today, Mr. Kadyrov rules by brute force and with Kremlin backing. Chechen society is traditionally conservative, and homosexuality is viewed as taboo. The newspaper report was immediately greeted with jeers in the republic. On April 3, at a gathering of Chechnyas religious and political leaders in the capital Grozny, an adviser to Mr. Kadyrov accused the newspaper of defamation and called its journalists enemies of our faith and our motherland. There was talk of retribution.

On April 15, Chechnyas press and information minister called the newspapers report a filthy provocation. On April 19, Mr. Kadyrov appeared in a photo opportunity with Mr. Putin in the Kremlin and denounced the article as a provocation. Mr. Putin was impassive.

Mr. Kadyrov appears to enjoy a certain impunity. His men are suspected of carrying out the murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in 2015, but somehow Russian law enforcement is unable to bring to justice whoever ordered the killing.

The anti-gay purge in Chechnya has been widely condemned by the United States and others. But Russias human rights commissioner, Tatiana Moskalkova, told a parliamentary committee that it was probably just a provocation, a false denunciation. Indeed, very few people in Russia seem willing to stand up to Mr. Kadyrov. Novaya Gazeta has expressed fear for the lives of its reporters.

In an open and free society, this chain of events would be cause for alarm: secret torture chambers, runaway authority, intimidation of the press. But Russia is not free, and Mr. Putin hardly seems perturbed. He tolerates brutality and coercion as instruments of state power, deaf to the cries of anguish from its victims.
When a prominent Washington peace activist was asked recently to name the leading anti-interventionists in the Senate, he responded, Rand Paul and Mike Lee, both Republicans. Democrats are in the midst of a furious struggle over what they stand for and who is included in their coalition, yet on foreign policy questions, their silence is deafening. When President Trump decided to drop 59 cruise missiles on Syria in response to purported use of chemical weapons, there was more debate about the attack among Republicans than among Democrats.

The Democratic establishments record on foreign policy has been disastrous. Most Democratic leaders supported the war of choice in Iraq, the largest foreign policy debacle since Vietnam. They cheered the humanitarian intervention in Libya that has ended in the humanitarian horror of a ruined country, racked by violent conflicts, where the Islamic State is consolidating a backup caliphate. They applauded President Barack Obamas surge in Afghanistan even as that war dragged on year after year. They touted the United States as the indispensable nation, demonstrating a predilection for military intervention and regime change that rivals that of Republican neoconservatives. Many considered Obama too weak and too wary of intervention, despite the fact that he left office bombing seven nations, dispatching Special Operations forces to more than 120 countries and calling for increased spending on a military that already consumes nearly 40 percent of the worlds military budget.

In 2016, Trump showed how unhappy Americans were with that record of futility. During the campaign, he lambasted Hillary Clinton for Iraq and Libya. He derided regime change. He argued that the United States had wasted $6 trillion in the Middle East for nothing. He claimed his America First policy would focus on the Islamic State and protecting our borders. He intimated that he would seek to work with Russias Vladimir Putin to take out the Islamic State.

In less than 100 days, Trump has discarded many of his most populist and popular positions. In addition to dropping cruise missiles on Syria and the mother of all bombs in Afghanistan, hes dispatching more forces to Syria, getting the country more entangled in Yemen and Somalia , and girding for a confrontation with North Korea. He calls for pumping the military budget up even beyond levels sought by Obama and paying for it by decimating public services at home  from support for public schools to environmental and worker protections.

Trump has proved more con man than strongman, but Democrats havent had much to say about these head-spinning reversals. They largely applauded Trumps bombing of Syria and were reassured by his flip-flops on NATO and the moderating of his positions on China and trade. Objections to his military budget increase have focused more about the domestic cuts than the idiocy of pumping more money into an already bloated military.

(Reuters)

With Democrats in the political wilderness, having lost the White House and both houses of Congress, this is the time for fundamental debate and reassessment. A challenge to the failed doctrines of the Democratic foreign policy establishment is long overdue. Cries for unity or attempts to police the boundaries of conventional wisdom should be seen for what they are: an attempt to evade responsibility for calamitous failures.

The need for a new course is clear. Our corporate-led globalization strategy has devastated U.S. workers, racked up unprecedented trade deficits, exacerbated inequality at home and abroad, and essentially ignored catastrophic climate change. Our reflexive interventionism has left us mired in endless wars. Our assertion that we will police the world has undermined international law and institutions while sparking new tensions with Russia and China. Our bloated Pentagon continues to consume resources desperately needed for rebuilding the United States at home.

Leaders who begin to lay out a common -sense foreign policy of realism and restraint will find a responsive public. This will be true even if Trump manages somehow to avoid triggering a new war or global catastrophe.

Some suggest it will take a war to create an antiwar movement that demands change. But the wars are already ongoing. Our attempt to police the world has already proved too costly. Where is the Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren of foreign policy? Many Democrats are positioning themselves to take on Trump four years from now. Theyd be wise to seek leadership by demonstrating it.

Read more from Katrina vanden Heuvels archive or follow her on Twitter.
The April 21 front-page article U.S. again weighing WikiLeaks charges did not address the custody issue in the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Any extradition request to Britain would fail, as Mr. Assange enjoys asylum in the Ecuadoran Embassy. A request under the U.S.-Ecuador extradition treaty or asking Ecuador to end his asylum would likely be fruitless. The pending Swedish extradition request is also an issue.

Most significant, extradition may not occur for a political offense. In any extradition proceeding this would be a difficult issue, as the charge of theft of U.S. classified information or violation of the Espionage Act, as mentioned in the article, would have a decidedly political character.

Harry R. Marshall Jr., Chevy Chase

The writer is a former senior legal adviser

in the Justice Departments Criminal Division Office of International Affairs.
MARTINSVILLE (JG-TC) -- Martinsville residents are invited to take part in two upcoming meetings on updating community development plans and strategies.

The Martinsville on the Move community booster group reported that the "Mapping Refresher" meetings are scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Thursday and May 4 at the community center downtown.

In spring 2012, the city and Martinsville on the Move contracted with Illinois Rural Development at Western Illinois University to conduct a Mapping program to identify the assets of the community and develop a vision for the future.

More than 40 area residents participated in the Mapping program. The sessions resulted in the creation of community action teams for festivals and events, education, downtown renovation, housing, green efforts, and industrial facilities.

Martinsville on the Move reported that the 2012 strategy needs to be updated and community help is needed for these updates. Representatives from Western will conduct the refresher meetings.

"The broader the base of participants in the refresher program, the better the outcome will be," Martinsville on the Move reported.

All community members are welcome to attend the meetings. Martinsville on the Move has asked that local governments, civic groups, schools, businesses, and churches have representation in the refresher program. More information is available by calling 1-713-865-0022.
President Obama created new national monuments in a sacred tribal site in southeastern Utah and in a swath of Nevada desert on Dec. 28. Bears Ears monument encompasses 1.35 million acres of land in Utah. (The Wilderness Society)

President Obama created new national monuments in a sacred tribal site in southeastern Utah and in a swath of Nevada desert on Dec. 28. Bears Ears monument encompasses 1.35 million acres of land in Utah. (The Wilderness Society)

Orrin G. Hatch, a Republican, represents Utah in the U.S. Senate.

In a remote corner of southern Utah, twin buttes tower over a rugged landscape of rolling foothills and jagged red rock. The two mesas, known as the Bears Ears, represent the latest battlefield in an escalating war over public lands  the results of which will have widespread implications for all Americans.

If youve never heard of Bears Ears, you will; if you dont care, you should.

The Bears Ears are sacred to local Native American tribes, and the surrounding area is home to thousands of archaeological sites that detail the history of the lands ancient inhabitants. That these cultural sites deserve protection is beyond dispute. But how they should be protected is a matter of significant disagreement.

Recognizing the intrinsic value of the archaeological and environmental features surrounding Bears Ears, I joined other members of Utahs congressional delegation in working with locals, Native American tribes and government leaders to develop a plan to preserve this land for future generations. Together, we held countless meetings with hundreds of stakeholders over a three-year period to determine the best path forward.

In good faith, we coordinated with President Barack Obama on our plans. But in the twilight hours of his presidency, he betrayed us, foregoing our grass-roots effort in favor of a top-down monument designation  unprecedented in size and scope.

When Obama declared the Bears Ears National Monument, he ignored the years of work that Utahs congressional delegation spent fighting to pass legislation to protect the region through a fair and open process. He ignored the state legislature and the governor. He ignored the stakeholders and local residents who were striving together to find a workable solution. He ignored the best interests of Utah and cast aside the will of the people  all in favor of a unilateral approach meant to satisfy the demands of far-left interest groups.

With the stroke of a pen, Obama locked away an astonishing 1.35 million acres, a geographic area larger than the total acreage of all five of Utahs national parks combined. He did so citing his prerogative under the Antiquities Act  a century-old law intended to give presidents only limited authority to designate special landmarks. Instead of exercising restraint under the act, Obama  and indeed, many of his predecessors  wielded this law as a blunt instrument for executive overreach.

Understanding the history of the Antiquities Act is key to understanding what happened at Bears Ears. The Antiquities Act was a well-intentioned response to a serious problem: the looting and destruction of cultural and archaeological sites. When applied as intended, the law has been indispensable in preserving our nations rich cultural heritage. But the law has been abused by past presidents to advance a radical political agenda  all at the expense of the separation of powers.

By leveraging his authority under the Antiquities Act, Obama seized millions of acres of public land through his Bears Ears monument designation, violating both the spirit, and arguably, the letter of the law. Such actions represent the height of executive hubris.

It was never supposed to be this way. When Congress passed the Antiquities Act more than 100 years ago, the bills lead sponsor  Rep. John Lacey of Iowa  called evil the very notion that the president would use the law to designate more than a few square miles of land. Lacey would certainly be appalled if he saw how his bill has been exploited today. With his abuse of authority under the Antiquities Act, Obama perpetuated a dangerous precedent that undermines Congresss constitutional obligation to manage lands within the federal domain. Unless we act now to reset this precedent, the consequences for future generations could be dire.

In the months to come, the American people should ask themselves: Do we want a president who is deferential to the peoples duly elected representatives in the management of public lands? Or do we want a self-appointed landlord who flouts Congress and the Constitution in the service of an extreme partisan agenda?

Although it may come as a surprise to his detractors, President Trump understands better than anyone the lasting damage wrought by past presidents under the Antiquities Act  and he stands ready to undo the harm brought about by their overreach. Indeed, in all my years of public service, I have never seen a president so committed to reining in the federal government and so eager to address the problems caused by these overbearing monument designations. When I raised the Bears Ears issue with the president in the Oval Office, he assured me that he stands ready to work with us to fix this disaster.

Working with the new administration, I believe we can set a new precedent regarding the management of federal lands  a precedent that restores the original meaning of the Antiquities Act, returns power to the people and rebuilds trust between the states and the federal government. In this endeavor, I look forward to working with state leaders and the Trump administration.
I applaud the April 17 editorial Smart criminal justice reform about actions in New York to reform the criminal justice system, and I would like to point out an opportunity to do the same much closer to home. I recently sat on a jury in Fairfax County that convicted the defendant of first-degree murder. Given all the facts in the case and the instructions provided by the court, reaching a verdict was a difficult yet straightforward logical process. We were then told that it was our job to recommend a sentence  in this case between 20 years and life in prison. We were given little guidance or instruction, and the ensuing process was riddled with personal beliefs rather than application of the law.

Virginia is one of only six states that do this, and it should be stopped right now. A jury of peers, with proper instructions and definitions, can be expected to arrive at a just verdict. Imposing a sentence is an altogether separate matter and should be adjudicated as such.

Barry Altman, Vienna
It was a tokin gesture.

Marijuana users are feeling a bit paranoid about Attorney General Jeff Sessionss threats to crack down on states (and the District) that have legalized marijuana. So on Monday, at high noon, activists gathered on the Capitol lawn for what they called a joint session, and they appealed to a higher authority. They brought in a ganjapreneur, a hemperor, a Rastafarian and a dozen activists wearing what looked like Keebler elf hats  and they held a religious ceremony for the protection of their sacred herb.

Dear God, said Dawn Lee Carty, offering a Christian prayer while holding a bottle of cannabis oil, were asking you to blow your breath up on the Hill, on Mr. Sessions, on this whole legalization and decriminalization thing . . . You, God, created this seed.

Rev. Billy Talen from the Church of Stop Shopping, wearing a priestly collar and an all-white suit, offered a prayer for nonbelievers: Thank you, cannabis, he chanted. Marijuanalujah!

Another activist performed a Buddhist chant. Adam Eitinger, leader of the Districts legalization effort, DCMJ, offered a Hebrew marijuana prayer.

Finally came the Rastafarian, holding a Lion of Judah flag. Praying in the name of his imperial majesty, he asked for protection as we partake in our sacrament today.

The prayers were not answered. Some of the activists lit joints and inhaled  and four were quickly handcuffed and hauled off into waiting vans by 30 Capitol police. Bummer, dudes. One toke on federal land is over the line.

The cannabis conundrum should blow your mind. A Quinnipiac University poll last week found that 60 percent of Americans think marijuana should be made legal, while only 34 percent are opposed. Even larger majorities support medical marijuana and opposed a federal crackdown.

At odds with this overwhelming public opinion is Sessions, who has hinted at a federal crackdown against marijuana, which he called last month only slightly less awful than heroin. That puts the Trump administration on a collision course with the eight states that have legalized recreational marijuana and the majority of states allowing medical marijuana.

So what will happen? If its like most initiatives so far in the Trump administration, nothing much. This means well probably muddle along with the patchwork system now in place, with the federal government neither legalizing pot nor cracking down  a system that, as the ganjapreneur put it Monday, kind of makes no sense.

I know to what she reefers.

I applied for a medical marijuana card in the District  for strictly, ahem, journalistic purposes  to see how the current system works in the absence of federal involvement. I contacted one of the Districts medical marijuana dispensaries, which set me up for an appointment with a doctor. Upon arrival at this practitioners office, I had my weight and blood pressure taken in a large closet full of coffee supplies. Then I met the doctor, a Trinidadian educated in Jamaica, who sat across his desk from me. Drawings of Salk, Pasteur and other medical giants graced the walls. A gas station was visible through the window. I told the doctor I have low-back pain, which is true, and then I gave him his fee: $150 in cash only. He stuck the bills in his desk drawer and approved me for a marijuana card.

A friend had a similar appointment and said she had depression. When the doctor noted that her intake form said she already has a prescription for depression, she hastily revised her symptoms: Menstrual cramps! She got a card, too.

This arrangement may be superior to a black-market system for pot, but its hardly preferable to a nationwide system that strictly regulates and taxes marijuana the way it does the more dangerous drug of alcohol. That will only happen with time, and with another administration.

On the positive side, the stalemate gives the D.C. pot activists (the same group previously displayed a 51-foot inflatable joint outside the White House and handed out joints to congressional staffers) time to improve their pitch.

Many activists arrived late for their joint session Monday. They were a cacophony of marijuana shirts and stockings, wigs and hats, flags, dreadlocks and, despite the rain, sunglasses. A sign claiming that eight presidents used cannabis, from George Washington to Barack Obama, misspelled Zachary Taylors name Tayler. The hemperor offered his view that the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp.

After an hour and 20 minutes of speeches about marijuana, even the police looked bored, but they revived when a distinctive smell wafted over the Capitol lawn.

Before he was hauled off, the Rastafarian briefly placed a soggy sacramental joint between his lips as he preached: For too long, theyve held down cannabis.

And apparently well have to chill out while they hold it down a little longer.

Twitter: @Milbank

Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Tracy Grant is a deputy managing editor of The Washington Post.

Several months ago, I found myself climbing the rickety stairs of a run-down commercial building to a dank, windowless office, where I waited with two other middle-aged white women whose cars, like mine, had been unceremoniously towed earlier that afternoon.

Sitting behind the desk was a clearly flustered African American woman in her late 20s. Even seated, she was statuesque, with cornrows wrapped in a neat scarf. But her hands shook as she took $120 from each of us in exchange for the return of our vehicles.

Im really sorry, she said, as much to herself as to any of us. Im still trying to figure this all out. This was my husbands business. He died six months ago, and if I dont figure this out, Ill lose everything he worked to build. Im not sure I had ever seen a lonelier soul.

As she led us toward the impound lot, I reached out and gently touched her arm. Youre going to be okay, I told her. My husband died 10 years ago; its hard, but youll get through it. Youre a strong woman.

She looked back at me with gratitude and perhaps a glimmer of hope. Really? You look like youre doing good.

I am not normally a sharer, and I have a strong resolve to respect other peoples personal space, so this was far from typical behavior for me. But the premature and world-shattering death of a spouse is a great equalizer. The simple democracy of the experience can unite perfect strangers in a moment of humanity.

That is a significant part of the takeaway from Option B, Facebook executive Sheryl Sandbergs deeply personal self-help book. Published just shy of the second anniversary of the sudden death of her husband, SurveyMonkey chief executive David Goldberg, the explicit point of the book  written with organizational psychologist and family friend Adam Grant  is to figure out what life looks like when Option A is no longer available. Sandberg exposes, with at-times heartbreaking honesty, the reality that nothing  not money, success or education, nor even the support of an online community  can inoculate you against the pain of grief that is delivered when least expected and very much out of the proper order of life. And in the telling of her own story, Sandberg becomes a most unlikely Every Widow.

I approached the book with significant skepticism. I was not a big fan of Sandbergs phenomenally successful first book, Lean In. It felt for me  as a mid-life professional woman when it was published in 2013  both obvious and pandering to millennial first-world problems. And as with Lean In, Sandberg is launching Option B alongside a campaign to create support circles, connected through Facebook. I am an at-best occasional and always deeply conflicted social-media user. Facebook was in its infancy when my husband died in 2007, but I cant imagine, even today, that I would have shared his struggle and ultimate death that way.

And yet, time and again, Sandberg had me nodding my head in affirmation, uttering a silent Exactly right or thinking, as I read a certain piece of advice, That would have been helpful.

She is most effective when talking about the most wrenching part of her story: the grief she shared with her two children, who were 7 and 10 at the time of their fathers death.

Sandberg recounts calling a childhood friend while still in the hospital with her husbands body and, before even explaining what had happened, screaming hysterically into the phone: Tell me my kids are going to be okay! Tell me theyre going to be okay. The subsequent scene in which she returns home to tell her son and daughter that their father is dead took me back to the excruciating helplessness of telling my 11-year-old twin sons that their father had lost his seven-month battle with cancer. The desire to hold them close, to assure them that their whole world hasnt collapsed, that what they still know of their lives  friends, school, home and, most essential, Mom  will abide.

But the book is more than memoir, and so interspersed with such devastating scenes are equally powerful strategies for coping when your world has gone tilt.

Early in Option B, Sandberg presents a diagram of concentric rings of grief that her co-author created for her. At the center are her children; one ring out includes herself, Daves mother and brother; one ring further are her family members and Daves other relatives; and beyond that are more family and friends. The conceit is simple: Seek to console those who are closer to the center than you; accept solace from those in circles further removed than you.

That left Sandberg needing to comfort her children while she was bereft. It meant finding a way to grieve and heal herself while not losing control when her kids needed her most.

One day my son told me it made him sad when I cried, she writes, so I began holding back my tears, running up to my bedroom and closing the door when I felt them well up. . . . A few days later my son asked me in anger, Why dont you miss Daddy anymore? By protecting him from my tears, I had stopped modeling the behavior I wanted from him. I apologized for hiding my emotions and started letting him see them again.

Sandberg goes to great pains to acknowledge that, even in tragedy, she is lucky. For too many families, economic stability, as much as emotional stability, is shattered by death. With that emphasis, she largely avoids the narrow focus on the world of privilege that was one of the chief sources of criticism of Lean In. The exception in Option B is the chapter Failing  and Learning  at Work. It opens with Sandberg taking her kids, at Elon Musks invitation, to a SpaceX rocket launch, and it concludes with her giving a symbolic necklace to a co-worker who is running a division at Facebook while battling cancer. Reading it, I felt divorced from Sandbergs experience.

Still, sharing this loneliest of journeys is at the heart of what Sandberg tries to do, and largely succeeds in doing, with Option B. She is wise and honest and funny and practical in ways that are likely to stay with the reader. She quotes author Bruce Feilers advice  Instead of offering anything, just do something  as a powerful answer to the oft-repeated lament I dont know what to do or say to someone who is grieving. My husband died nine days before my 43rd birthday. A dear friend announced to me at his funeral: Were going out to dinner on your birthday. Steve will look after the kids. No asking, just declaring. To this day, it remains one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.

Sandbergs book is not lyrical in the way that C.S. Lewiss or Joan Didions reflections on grief are. But neither is she almost pornographic in her depiction of the pain of loss, as those authors are. She spends very little time dwelling  for example, she found comfort in journaling but stopped purposefully after 156 days, so today I end this journal. And try to restart the rest of my life.

Sandberg does not set herself up as the widow role model. There are clearly many ways to grieve, and as she notes in a knowing way, grief morphs from day to day and sometimes from hour to hour. Her experience  losing a spouse suddenly, without a chance to say goodbye  is different from the slog through cancer or other long-term diseases. Yet she seems to understand that when children are left without a father, no discussion of a good death is possible.

Through stories of others, she explores other types and manners of losses: children, siblings; car wrecks, suicide. But at its core this is a book about being a young widow. It is a book for them, and for those who love them but cant quite fathom what might be going through their minds at any moment.

For those of you wondering, this is what it is like to be a widowed mother, trying to reconcile your old, seemingly quotidian life with your new, unfathomable one: Sometimes Ill be working at the kitchen table and my heart will skip a beat when I think for a brief second that he is opening the door and coming home.

By the end of the book, Sandberg has started to heal. But she is honest enough to acknowledge that the journey of grief is not a linear one. And she very likely will be in a very different place five years from now.

Still, in sharing that vulnerability, in showing that she really has walked the widows walk, she earns the credibility to remind readers that no matter how devastating the loss, there is always an Option B  and that there is not only an opportunity but also a responsibility to figure out what that is.

And that is a message as useful to a widow who inherited a tow-truck company in the Washington suburbs as it is to a Silicon Valley executive.
Joseph S. Nye Jr. is University Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University and former dean of Harvards Kennedy School of Government. He is the author of Is the American Century Over?

The president got off to a rough start in his first 100 days, but he learned from his first crisis and might have had a successful foreign policy if he had lasted four years. That, of course, was John F. Kennedy with the Bay of Pigs, who later managed to launch arms-control negotiations with the Soviets. Presidents can learn on the job.

The most notable takeaway from President Trumps first 100 days of foreign policy is how much he learned. During the 2016 campaign, he stunned allies by questioning Americas alliance structure, and days before taking office, he dismissed NATO as obsolete. Yet 82 days into his presidency, he told NATOs secretary general that NATO is no longer obsolete. NATO did not change; Trumps policies did  especially his harsh tone on China and his undue praise for Vladimir Putin.

(Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)

Given those shifts, its reasonable to guess that Trumps role in history will not be to preside over the end of the liberal world order, as many have feared. Still, its not clear he fully understands what it will take to preserve U.S. leadership in the modern world.

In the 19th century, the United States was a minor player in world politics. In 1917, Woodrow Wilson led the United States into World War I, but the Senate would later reject his League of Nations. After the troops came home, the United States became virulently isolationist in the 1930s, becoming the worlds most powerful democracy but refusing to lead in producing order. The result was a disastrous decade of economic depression, genocide and world war.

[President Trumps first 100 days: In his words and ours]

World War II was the wake-up call. Harry Trumans post-war decisions created permanent alliances with a military presence abroad. When Britain was too weak to support Greece and Turkey in 1947, the United States took its place. We invested heavily in the Marshall Plan in 1948, helped to create NATO in 1949 and led a U.N. coalition that fought in Korea in 1950. In 1960, we signed a security treaty with Japan.

Americans have had bitter debates over major mistakes such as intervention in Vietnam and Iraq, but the bedrock consensus in U.S. foreign policy for seven decades has been our alliance system. Not until 2016 had a major presidential candidate called that into question. Fortunately, Trump has stopped questioning U.S. alliances, but the rise of populism at home still poses a great danger to the American centrality of the global balance of power.

The real problem the United States confronts is not that it will be overtaken by China or another contender, but that it will face a rise in the power resources of many others  both states and nonstate actors. Our problem will be entropy  the inability to get work done. We will face an increasing number of new transnational issues that will require as much power with others as it does power over others.

This is a world that requires networks, institutions and the soft power of attraction. In a world of growing complexity, the most connected states are the most powerful. The United States comes first in terms of the number of embassies, consulates and missions abroad. Washington has some 60 treaty allies whereas China has only a few. In political alignments, the Economist estimates that of the 150 largest countries in the world, nearly 100 lean toward the United States while 21 lean against it.

These networks are important assets for generating the soft power necessary to organize states in response to new transnational threats such as terrorism, financial instability and climate change. Unfortunately, Trump still does not seem to understand the importance of soft power. His budget director proudly announced what he called a hard-power budget, and Trump wants to cut funding for the State Department and the United Nations.

[Trumps most striking accomplishment so far]

The wise men of the 1940s created international institutions as well as alliances. They understood that smart power requires the combination of hard- and soft-power resources. President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked to establish the United Nations as a framework regarding the use of force and the Bretton Woods economic institutions that led to unprecedented prosperity.

The system the United States created has been called a liberal international order, because openness produces public goods available to all. But the label is confusing because it covers political-military affairs, economic relations, ecological relations and even promotion of liberal values. It remains to be seen to what degree these different aspects depend on each other and what the result will be if Trump unpacks the post-1945 package.

Fortunately, after 100 days, the military aspect looks more robust than Trumps early rhetoric suggested. But the same cannot be said about the international economic system or the governance of global commons. If we want any hope of preserving American leadership, Trump will have to do a lot more learning in the months to come.
President Trump speaks during a working lunch with ambassadors of countries on the United Nations Security Council and their spouses at the White House in Washington on Monday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump is fond of his first 100 days. I dont think that there is a presidential period of time in the first 100 days where anyone has done nearly what weve been able to do, he said recently.

Ahem.

To give you a sense of how ridiculous this is, lets start with the two Hundred Days champs: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.

In his first 100 days in 1933, at the depths of the Great Depression, Roosevelt signed 15 major bills, rescuing the banking system, winding down Prohibition, slashing the budget, regulating Wall Street for the first time, limiting foreclosures, raising disastrously low crop prices, enacting bank deposit insurance and putting 250,000 young men to work through the Civilian Conservation Corps, which eventually employed 3 million Americans. Finally, Roosevelt signed the National Industrial Recovery Act, which reshaped every aspect of the American economy (though not always for the better). The country came out of its coma psychologically. One journalist observed that, for all of his shortcomings, the new president had accomplished three magnificent things: hope, action and self-respect.

Johnson was sworn in after John F. Kennedys assassination in late 1963, but his real first 100 days came in 1965 after his reelection in a landslide. The long-term impact was immense: After civil rights demonstrators were beaten in Selma, Ala., in March, he told Americans, Their cause must be our cause, too. . . . And we shall overcome. His stand led to the August signing of the Voting Rights Act, the most important civil rights legislation in a century. Johnsons first 100 days also saw approval of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which brought aid to poor schools. Just after the first 100 days came Medicare and Medicaid.

[President Trumps first 100 days: In his words and ours]

In fact, according to the American people, every president since Roosevelt has had a more successful debut than Trump. The latest Gallup Poll shows Trumps approval rating at 40 percent, the only president with the support of less than half of the public at this point in his term.

In 1961, Kennedy suffered a serious setback with the botched Bay of Pigs invasion. But his humility after the fiasco and a sense of renewal in the nation sent his approval ratings to 83 percent, the highest on record for the first 100 days.

Many have lately compared Trump to Jimmy Carter, who alienated the Democratic Congress in 1977 by proposing to kill more than a dozen expensive water projects in the districts of powerful House barons. But Carters extraordinary grasp of complex issues when he took phone calls on CBS with Walter Cronkite and in a televised town hall meeting in Massachusetts sent his approval ratings 23 points higher than Trumps. Even his calls for Americans to conserve energy were popular.

In 1981, Ronald Reagans bold package of tax cuts, domestic budget cuts and defense increases appeared to be stalled in the Democratic Congress. But after he was wounded in March by John Hinckley Jr., his program began moving quickly through Congress and his popularity went to 68 percent.

Even presidents who experienced unexceptional first 100 days have almost always had something lasting to show for it. George H.W. Bush signed legislation protecting whistleblowers. Bill Clinton won the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Motor Voter Act expanding voter registration. And George W. Bush didnt win big victories at first, but within six weeks after his first 100 days, he had his big tax cut in place.

The most significant first 100 days of recent times came in 2009, when Barack Obama pushed through the second installment of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)  a $350 billion bank bailout  even before he took office. Then came the $787 billion stimulus, an expansion of childrens health insurance and helping to save General Motors and Chrysler. Even though no one knew at the time that the taxpayers would get their money back, Obamas popularity was still 24 points higher than Trumps is today.

Historians judge presidential debuts by lasting legislative achievements, not tweets or theatrics. Yes, some of Trumps right-wing appointments and executive orders will do semi-permanent damage, though most of the orders merely study the problem and do not have the force of law.

[Is Donald Trump the Great Disrupter? Probably not.]

Under Trump, the Senate did approve Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, but only after Republicans nuked long-standing Senate rules. Beyond some highly specific congressional resolutions, Trump has nothing to show so far for his promises. No major legislation has come to the Senate floor, and it looks as if none will for some time. The use of the Congressional Review Act, which allows reversal of last-minute regulations from the prior administration, is a blow, especially to the Clean Power Plan. But otherwise, if the repealed regulations were so crucial, why did Obama wait nearly eight years to issue them?

The 100 days milestone may be artificial, but first impressions count and the first 100 days are a good indicator of success or failure in a presidents crucial first year in office.

Trump has plenty of time to recover. Past is not prologue for presidents, especially so early in their terms. But Trumps claim to historic success so far gives new meaning to the two biggest words of his first 100 days: fake news.
PRESIDENT TRUMP campaigned on a promise to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. Now, with Congress having to renew federal spending authority by weeks end, he believes hes entitled to a down payment on that wall. Whats wrong with that logic?

A number of things, but this above all: No responsible leader would use the possible shutdown of the federal government as a political cudgel. The last time a budget impasse produced a partial shutdown, a 16-day version in 2013, some 850,000 federal employees were put through a wrenching furlough and access to national parks and the Smithsonian was curtailed, with serious consequences for tourism across the country. All told, the economy lost $24 billion, according to an analysis by Standard & Poors. Mr. Trumps first priority must be to avoid repeating or doubling down on that debacle.

In a discursive interview with Julie Pace of the Associated Press, Mr. Trump suggested that the responsibility of his job indeed may be sinking in. Its massive, he said of his new position. And every agency is, like, bigger than any company. So you know, I really just see the bigness of it all, but also the responsibility. And the human responsibility. You know, the human life thats involved in some of the decisions.

For a man who campaigned on the notion that he possessed special capabilities that could reduce the challenges facing American government to a series of wins, which would occur quickly, as he put it, this epiphany represents progress  but only up to a point. Even as he spoke to Ms. Pace, Mr. Trump was making it more difficult for Congress to reach a deal on extending federal spending authority past its April 28 expiration date.

Specifically, he had injected a demand for an appropriation for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, implying that, if he did not get the money, the government might have to shut. A leader truly concerned for the human life thats involved in some of these decisions would not risk a repeat of the 2013 mess, especially at a time when top negotiators for his own Republican Party in Congress seemed on their way to an agreement with Democrats that would avoid it.

If he wants to make a case for his wall on its merits, and separate from budget brinkmanship, he is entitled to do so  though as we have said before, he has a weak case. It may be, as Mr. Trump told Ms. Pace, that my base really wants it, but the project is otherwise unpopular, including with many Republican legislators from the border region, and for good reason. A physical barrier along the entire southern border would be a colossal waste of money and a terrible symbol of American attitudes. That would be true even if, as he repeatedly promised during the campaign, Mexico would foot the bill. And it wont.
A Mexican flag in Tijuana is seen behind an immigrant-rights protester near the U.S.-Mexico border wall in San Diego on April 21. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

In the annals of pathetic climb-downs, this Sunday-morning tweet from President Trump deserves a special place of honor, or perhaps dishonor:

Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall.

To put those weasel words in context, let me ask a question of all you small-business owners out there. If a customer brings some merchandise to the cash register and promises that one of his neighbors will pay you for it eventually . . . at a later date . . . in some form, what are your odds of ever seeing that money? How likely is it that in some form means cash? Do you let him walk out with the goods, or do you remind him you werent born yesterday?

Trump apparently believes we are all hopelessly naive. With his presidency nearing the 100-day mark, he is desperate not to have to acknowledge that his outrageous, ridiculous, impossible campaign promises were, in fact, outrageous, ridiculous and impossible.

There was nothing ambiguous about his pledge to build a wall along the southern border, with Mexico footing the bill. This is what Trump said in August following his meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has categorically denied that his country will pay a dime toward the barrier: Mexico will pay for the wall, believe me, 100 percent. They dont know it yet, but they will pay for the wall.

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Now, however, Trump is threatening to shut down the government or destabilize the health-insurance market if Congress does not appropriate $1.4 billion to begin work on the wall. So he wants U.S. taxpayers to pay for the thing, amid ever-more-vague promises that Mexico will ante up in some form at some future date. Like, never.

The idea of a 2,000-mile, 30-foot-high, big, beautiful wall along the entire border was always more of a revenge fantasy than an actual proposal. Still, its worth examining the impracticalities and impossibilities, because political debate is meaningless if it has no connection to the real world. Trumps shtick about the wall doesnt even rise to the level of truthiness, let alone truth.

Begin with the border itself. Most of the land on the U.S. side is owned by state governments, private citizens or Native American tribes. Given substantial opposition among those who live along the border to the idea of a wall, Trump would have to order the federal government to seize much of the needed land through eminent domain. Stories of fifth-generation ranchers being dispossessed will hardly go over well with the segment of Trumps base that favors small government.

The desert terrain is forbidding. Billions of dollars worth of roads would have to be built to get construction equipment and materials to the border, causing untold environmental damage. The ecology of the region would be altered, with inevitable impact on wild animal populations.

This terrible idea comes at a time when net illegal migration across the border into the United States is close to zero. It also comes at a time when electronic sensing devices and aerial drones can provide a far more cost-effective way of monitoring and controlling the border.

It was a dumb idea from the start. But Trump evidently feels compelled to pretend that hes actually going to build the wall as advertised. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney has actually threatened Democrats, of all people, that if they dont support funding for the wall in spending legislation that must be passed this week, Trump will block subsidies that make it more cost-effective for insurance companies to participate in the Affordable Care Act exchanges.

Someone should remind the president that Republicans control both chambers of Congress; he should be threatening Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, not Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Someone should also inform Trump that he runs the executive branch now  and if he chooses to sabotage the ACA, hes welcome to the blame.

1 of 83 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  See what President Trump has been doing since taking office View Photos The beginning of his term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. Caption The beginning of the presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. March 17, 2017 President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, walk to Marine One at the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

Trump also promised a Muslim immigration ban, which the courts havent let him deliver. He said NATO was obsolete but now says its not. He promised health insurance for everybody but supports a bid by House Republicans to snatch it away from 24 million people. He promised to drain the swamp but refuses to address his own and his Cabinet members many conflicts of interest.

He lied to us, repeatedly and shamelessly. His supporters may not care  yet  but history is unforgiving. Yelling fake news cannot mask a fake presidency.

Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.
In his April 19 op-ed, From Truman to Trump, David Ignatius unconvincingly argued that President Trump should emulate the qualities of President Harry S. Truman. Mr. Ignatius argued that Mr. Trumps flip-flops in foreign policy and national security suggest he has shown a flexibility and pragmatism and cited China, Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin , and what Mr. Ignatius called mundane issues, such as the Export-Import Bank.

A better indicator of Mr. Trumps world is his continued assault on those who wish to address the disaster that is climate change and his attempts to punish in every way any effort in government and the private sector to slow down and blunt its global effects, which would devastate much of our Earth. The same holds true in his continued praise for the worst dictators around the world. His pinprick bombing in Syria without even a glimmer of a long-term strategy shows his shallowness and thoughtless character, not his command of foreign affairs or considered strategy. Mr. Trumps broader foreign policy strategy remains transactional and intuitive.

Mr. Trumps life is based on his own interests. Citizens would do better in keeping a good level of skepticism and voicing their objections to actions that put our nation and world at risk.

Harry C. Blaney III, Washington
Eric Liu, founder of Citizen University and executive director of the Aspen Institute Citizenship & American Identity Program, is the author of Youre More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizens Guide to Making Change Happen.

As Donald Trump approaches the 100th day of his presidency, lets give him credit: He has sparked one of the greatest surges of American citizen action in half a century. Indeed, this burst of civic renewal may be more enduring than anything else he has done in his chaotic first months on the job.

For decades, civic educators and activists have wondered what it would take to get a greater number of Americans more involved in self-government. All it took, it turns out, was a bombastic, authoritarian, nativist president whose erratic behavior and executive overreach made him a vivid threat to democratic norms and the Constitution.

All across the country, in red and blue precincts alike, many Americans are for the first time joining civic clubs, publishing newsletters, creating political reading groups, organizing rallies, lobbying lawmakers and relearning the basics of how a bill becomes a law  or how a court can block an executive order.

To be sure, President Trump didnt intend to generate this civic surge. And he tries at every turn and in every tweet to play down or discredit it. But it nonetheless is the most concrete way that Trump thus far has made America great again: He has awakened millions of people to become active participants in civic life rather than passive spectators.

[President Trumps first 100 days: In his words and ours]

The nationwide science marches, tax marches and womens marches are one measure of this great awakening. So are the rallies in defense of Trump. So is the influx of dollars and volunteer hours to groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union or the Southern Poverty Law Center. So, too, is the phenomenal growth of Indivisible, which began as a Google document written by ex-congressional staffers on how to pressure a member of Congress and has now spawned more than 6,000 self-organized local chapters. This is a new and durable force in American politics.

Though much of the new civic engagement is negative  activated, that is, by a desire to resist or block Trump and his agenda  there is no question that Americans left and right are developing civic muscles that can be put to many uses for many years.

(Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

Indeed, its important that many agendas emerge. A single centralizing force such as Trump is best neutralized not with a single source of opposition but with a swarm of countervailing forces, like antibodies to a virus or Lilliputians to a Gulliver.

This is why libertarians are speaking out against Trumps casual but menacing suggestions that protest be punishable or the rights of criminal suspects abridged. Meanwhile, social justice progressives and pro-business conservatives both are pushing back as Trump officials propose capping legal immigration. And frustrated Trump voters are organizing to hold their man to his America First pledge as he gets the United States more entangled in conflicts abroad.

All across the political spectrum, people are taking this opportunity  now that we are appreciating anew the importance of civics class  to hold public debates in every setting possible about the balance of responsibilities between citizen and state.

Most of all, this is a moment for people on the left and right alike to find common interest in strengthening the habits of local self-government. Calling members of Congress is great. Sharing email alerts about the president is necessary. But as the ACLUs #peoplepower campaign has been showing in thousands of local gatherings, we all can have far more direct civic impact by becoming literate in the power structures of our own cities, counties and states.

[Is Donald Trump the Great Disrupter? Probably not.]

Indeed, the civic surge of the Trump era reminds us just how much the local matters  a lesson the right has generally understood better than the left. The local is where citizens can practice power every day  not just in resistance but in creation  and see the results of our actions and omissions.

The framers of the Constitution knew that local militias, rooted in their communities, were motivated to defend liberty not as an abstraction but as a face-to-face experience. We are seeing today the spontaneous emergence of networks that are like civic militias: locally rooted webs of citizen lawyers, citizen journalists, citizen scientists, citizen artists and citizen preachers, self-organizing to defend freedom on a moments notice.

We have Trump to thank for this. We can show him our gratitude by further limiting his ability to do harm  and further bolstering our ability to repair the republic.
My friend, publicity-shy but otherwise admirable, has an odd way of spending his free time. He flies to some of the worlds most Godforsaken places and tries to help some of the worlds most Godforsaken people. This is how he got to the Dadaab refugee camp on the Somalia-Kenya border, a moonscape of sun-blanched trees adorned with errant plastic bags, where young men, such as the ones my friend encountered, until recently dreamed of America. No longer, though. We are not wanted anymore, one of the refugees said. America is not a friendly place. They said theyd prefer to go back to war-torn Somalia.

My friend was disbelieving.

Youd rather go back to a war zone than go to America? he asked.

Yes, the young man said. Yes, his friends nodded in agreement.

Their reason: President Trump.

My friend was both shocked and appalled. He is no naif. He has lived all over the world, worked in India and Afghanistan, and dealt with refugees from drought and refugees from famine and refugees from war. The Dadaab camp residents are mostly the latter, goat and camel herders escaping Somalias persistent civil war. Dadaab has some 245,000 residents, the numbers fluctuating with conditions. Drought brings more. Rain brings less. The thought of America always brought hope. Trump, though, has repurposed the Statue of Liberty. Her upstretched arm no longer beckons. It is the halt of a border cop.

I am not the world traveler my friend is, but I know the exhilaration and pride of being an American in shambolic places where the sewers run free. My country is known  yes, for its power and sometimes for its alleged or actual crimes  but also for its presumed goodness, its quality of justice, its huge welcome: a country with open arms.

The America that lived in the minds of people around the globe was the great American empire, the one of aspiration, hope and decency, and the one that remained even as the physical one contracted. This is the one that mattered. It mattered to people overseas and to Americans themselves. We had a view of ourselves. We were good. We were generous. We were sometimes dumb and sometimes cruel, but these were uncharacteristic moments, like a flash fight in an otherwise good marriage. We were always ready to make up.

Now we have shown an ugly face to the world. It is Trump the pugnacious and Trump the intolerant and Trump the dishonest and Trump the angry and Trump the malevolent and, finally, Trump the ugliest of Americans. It is the Trump who has disheartened refugees and even discouraged tourism, which declined immediately after the late-January travel ban.

Never mind the loss of tourist dollars and never mind, too, lost tax revenue. What matters more is the loss of the image we used to have as a nation. I never knew what was meant by American exceptionalism, but surely it applied to the aura of specialness that one could sense abroad. My grandmother, an immigrant from the Polish shtetl, used to refer to it all the time. Only in America, shed say over and over again. It was the immigrants common expression of wonder. What a place, America! What a people, Americans!

The Dadaab camp was established by the United Nations 25 years ago. It has become a considerable city, with even a bookstore and other amenities. Its residents live on U.N. assistance and contributions from hard-pressed Kenya. Conditions are harsh; the war is unending, yet life insists on its routines. One thousand children are born a month. Some young people have never known a different place.

But even there, as if on the rising haze from the heat or the dust blowing in from the desert, the image of Trump comes rolling in like yet another plague. The American visitors take comfort from the indomitability of the refugees and, inescapably, the dumb luck of their own fortunate birth. They walk from group to group, inquiring, wondering, asking the usual questions and expecting the usual answers. But then they come to the group of young men whose views of America have changed. They no longer want to go there. It is not a friendly place, one of them said.

My friend calls Dadaab a dead-end spot in the middle of nowhere. You can Google it. It is a parched place. The trees cling to life, but the great American Empire of Hope is already dead.

Read more from Richard Cohens archive.
The government watchdog group Democracy 21 on Tuesday asked White House senior adviser Jared Kushner to recuse himself from a wide array of policy areas due to Kushners decision to retain ownership of hundreds of his businesses.

Trump has given his son-in-law responsibility for a long list of issues, among them the Middle East, opioid addiction, veterans affairs and a newly formed Office of American Innovation staffed by former business executives and tasked with solving deeply entrenched government problems.

Kushner also serves as a shadow diplomat, advising on relations with China, Mexico and other nations.

Like Trump, however, Kushner entered the White House owning hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate and other assets, an arrangement that Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, said could allow him to affect policies to enrich him or his family.

He has an unprecedented role assigned to him in the White House, Wertheimer said. He is the presidents son-in-law, and he has a vast and complex set of business interests that have been valued at as much as $740 million.

Kushner, and his wife, Ivanka Trump, walk outside the West Wing moments before President Trump and Jordan's King Abdullah II participate in a news conference on April 5. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Democracy 21 is a nonprofit organization focused on government corruption and campaign reform. In the five-page letter delivered Tuesday the group calls on Kushner to publicly announce now that you are recusing yourself from any involvement in a number of policy areas in order to avoid conflicts of interest and the appearance of such conflicts.

Those areas ought to include China as well as matters including real estate, taxes, trade, banking and financial services, and certain foreign policy areas, the group argued.

Washington attorney Jamie Gorelick, who represents Kushner and his wife, White House adviser Ivanka Trump, issued a statement saying he would review the letter.

Mr. Kushner has consistently said that he would follow government ethics requirements, including by recusing from particular matters consistent with the conflict-of-interest and impartiality rules Gorelick said.

Two White House spokesmen did not immediately comment.

In the financial disclosure form he filed with the government, Kushner reported owning a stake in nearly 300 different assets or companies collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars, most of which he still owns.

He also listed more than 200 positions or titles he held while in the private sector and reported having resigned from all of them, including posts at his familys real estate firm and the New York Observer newspaper, mostly in January of this year.

The president is exempt from some ethics rules that other officials are not, and Wertheimer said those rules require that Kushner recuse himself from issues with China in particular because of his wife Ivankas trademark applications there.

Kushners company has also reportedly sought investments from wealthy Chinese individuals and Chinese insurance giant Anbang for real estate projects.

Wertheimer argued that Kushner ought to additionally recuse himself from other policy matters such as taxes or financial services from which he could personally benefit.

In addition to the hundreds of assets Kushner reported, he also listed borrowing tens of millions of dollars from nine banks, often in partnership with his father, New Jersey developer Charles Kushner.

Those banks are regulated by policies Kushner may now have a hand in shaping.

We think hes got to take steps beyond the statutory requirements to ensure the American people that he is not engaging in conflicts of interest, or creating the appearance of conflicts, and that he is not using his office for personal financial gain, Wertheimer said.

Democracy 21 is also one of three groups that asked the U.S. attorneys office to investigate whether President Trump has received payments or benefits from foreign governments that could violate the Constitutions emoluments clause.

The clause bars officials from receiving payments or favors from foreign governments.

Staff reporter Tom Hamburger contributed to this article.
The lead Democrat and Republican on the House Oversight Committee meted out a rare bipartisan rebuke of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn on Tuesday after seeing private information that confirmed the former administration official failed to disclose foreign income from Russia and Turkey.

[Flynn did not initially reveal income from Russia-related entities]

The public criticism by the senior Republican on the Houses chief investigative panel is unusual and presents a dilemma for the White House, which was accused of failing to provide everything the committee asked for  an assertion White House press secretary Sean Spicer disputed.

Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and the panels ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), suggested that Flynn broke the law. Flynn was ousted in February after misleading Vice President Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.

The lawmakers said they believe Flynn neither received permission nor fully disclosed income he earned for a speaking engagement in Russia and lobbying activities on behalf of Turkey. They reached the conclusion after viewing two classified memos and a disclosure form in a private briefing Tuesday morning.

(Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)

Personally I see no evidence or no data to support the notion that General Flynn complied with the law, Chaffetz told reporters after the briefing.

Added Cummings: He was supposed to get permission, he was supposed to report it, and he didnt. This is a major problem.

The bipartisan criticism of Flynn is a striking departure from the partisan discord that has defined recent Oversight Committee investigations. Democrats have often complained of being shut out of major decisions in high-profile investigations such as the Benghazi probe.

It comes as the House and Senate intelligence committees move into a new phase of their investigations into Russias alleged interference in the 2016 election, including alleged ties between campaign aides and Russian officials. The FBI is also investigating Russias suspected interference in the elections and ties to the Trump campaign.

After a rocky start, the House Intelligence Committee is gaining steam with a new head of the Russia investigation. Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.)  who stepped in after the committees chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), recused himself  has scheduled a classified briefing next Tuesday with the directors of the FBI and National Security Agency. He has invited former CIA director John Brennan, former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. and former acting attorney general Sally Yates to testify in an open hearing.

The Senate is also taking action. Yates and Clapper are scheduled to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on May 8.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Tuesday that his panel had finished the initial round of over 20 interviews and planned to pick that pace up with more in the near future.

Flynn is on the list of officials Burr hopes to bring in for an interview. The senator noted the panel had been interested in speaking to him from the beginning.

In many cases in investigations like this, you get one shot at people, Burr said, explaining why they had not yet invited him. So we want to make sure were as thorough as we possibly can be.

Chaffetz and Cummings stressed Tuesday that as a former military officer, Flynn would have needed special permission for his December 2015 appearance at a gala sponsored by RT, the Russian-government-funded television station, for which he was paid $45,000. For his work lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government, he was paid more than $500,000.

It does not appear that was ever sought, nor did he get that permission, Chaffetz said.

The Republican later added that while Flynn was clearly not in compliance with the law, it would be a little strong to say that he flat-out lied.

Democrats immediately pounced on the news, claiming that it was yet another drip of damaging information implicating the Trump worlds relationship with Russia.

The disturbing news that General Flynn may have violated the law in connection with his security clearance may be just the tip of the iceberg, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday. These revelations highlight the importance of the intelligence committee working in a bipartisan way to request and receive documents with respect to any financial arrangements Flynn and others in similar positions may have had with foreign governments, he said.

According to the New York Times, Flynn isnt the only member of Trumps team who left his contacts with foreign officials off his official security-clearance application  Jared Kushner left his meetings with Russian officials off the same form.

Chaffetz and Cummings stressed that Flynns omission could cost him. Violations of this nature can be punished by up to five years of jail time. The FBI could open an investigation into the matter, and if it has not already, Congress could ask them to do so.

Those decisions will probably be up to the Justice Departments new deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, whom the Senate confirmed Tuesday by a vote of 94 to 6. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from matters involving the Trump campaign.

The bar for prosecution is high. The law requires investigators to show that Flynn knowingly and willfully made false statements. Prosecutors would not be able to make a case if Flynns forms were inaccurate because of carelessness or an honest mistake.

Chaffetz stressed that the government should recover the money paid to Flynn by foreign entities, a figure that would at least be in the tens of thousands of dollars. But Chaffetz announced last week that he would resign from Congress in 2018 and perhaps leave much sooner  setting off a scramble to replace him. On Tuesday, Chaffetz also said the House Intelligence Committee would be the panel to compel any testimony from Flynn.

Spicer would not say in his Tuesday briefing whether Flynn may have broken the law.

That would be a question for him and the law enforcement agency. I dont know what he filled out or what he did or didnt do, Spicer told reporters. He filled that form out before coming here, so it would be up to the committee and other authorities to look at that.

He insisted the Trump administration had provided all the documents Congress requested.

Every document they asked for its my understanding theyve gotten, he said.

The Oversight Committee asked the White House in March for documents pertaining to Flynns security-clearance applications, the vetting that occurred before he was named national security adviser, and all of his contacts with foreign agents, including any payments received. In particular, the committee heads requested to see a disclosure form known as the SF86, on which Flynn was obligated to declare any foreign income.

On April 19, the White House sent the committee a reply, stating that any documents related to Flynn from before Jan. 20  the day Trump took office  were not in its possession and that any documents from after that date did not seem relevant to the investigation.

Spicer added Tuesday that records requests for Flynns conversations with foreign contacts were unwieldy, arguing it was Flynns job to talk with foreign counterparts on a daily basis.

To document every call that he may have made is not exactly a request that is able to be filled, he said.

[Oversight Committee jockeying heats up in wake of Chaffetz announcement]

Flynn counsel Rob Kelner of Covington & Burling said his client has spoken extensively with the government about the matter. As has previously been reported, General Flynn briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of DoD, extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip, and he answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip during those briefings, Kelner said in a statement.

[Heres what we know about Trumps ties to Russian interests]

The documents that committee members reviewed Tuesday came from the Defense Intelligence Agency and showed that Flynn had not declared any income from Russian or Turkish sources, committee leaders said.

Kelner also noted that lawmakers might be interested in seeing documents that could shed light on what Flynn told the White House and his foreign contacts before he was named national security adviser, and what led to his exit less than a month later. During the transition period, Flynn told the incoming White House that he might need to register as a foreign agent.

David Nakamura and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost
President Trump had promised religious groups that he would reverse the Obama administrations requirement that employers provide birth control to their employees under the Affordable Care Act.

But his Justice Department indicated Monday that its not yet giving up a fight with religious schools and nonprofits that are suing over the contraception mandate.

The department has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit for an additional 60 days to negotiate with East Texas Baptist University and several other religious groups objecting to a requirement to which they are morally opposed.

The request doesnt necessarily mean that Justice plans to continue defending the mandate; the agency could be buying extra time as the new administration figures out its next move. A department spokeswoman said Tuesday that she had no comment on the request to the 5th Circuit.

But the lack of clarity from the Trump administration is dismaying to several religious organizations, including the Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of nuns that fought the mandate for several years but expected an immediate reprieve under the Republican president. They believed that either the Justice Department would halt its appeal in the case or the administration would seek a rule change from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump pledged during the campaign that as president hed side with the mandates opponents, indicating to Catholic leaders that he would ensure the requirement was lifted.

I will make absolutely certain religious orders like The Little Sisters of the Poor are not bullied by the federal government because of their religious beliefs, Trump wrote in a letter last fall to the Catholic Leadership Conference.

The fight over whether employers with religious objections to birth control should have to pay for it was one of several high-profile battles over President Barack Obamas 2010 health-care law. The law requires employer-sponsored health coverage to include certain preventive services  the Obama administration interpreted that to include all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraception.

The Obama administration gave religious colleges, schools and charities a way out of providing contraception coverage by allowing them to delegate that job to a third party. Under a Supreme Court ruling, certain corporations can take that route, too.

But some religious nonprofits say that doesnt go far enough and that they want to be fully exempted from the mandate in the same way churches are. Last May, the Supreme Court tossed those cases back to appeals courts, directing them to guide the Obama administration and the nonprofits toward a compromise.

East Texas Baptist University and other plaintiffs represented by the nonprofit law firm Becket are now asking the Justice Department to drop its appeal of a district court ruling in their favor, allowing them permanent relief from the mandate.

This litigation has gone on long enough, the plaintiffs wrote in a petition last week to the 5th Circuit. It is time for the Department of Justice to move on, and to allow the court, the universities and other religious ministries to move on as well.

But Justice argued in its petition to the 5th Circuit that it needs more time to litigate the case because numerous Cabinet and subcabinet positions in several federal agencies involved remain unfilled several months into the new administration.

The issues presented by the Supreme Courts remand order are complex, the Justice Department wrote.

Read more at PowerPost
A new Republican bid to keep the government open past Friday includes no fresh money for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, diminishing the chances of a last-minute spending fight.

The decision to withdraw a roughly $1.5 billion request to begin building a physical barrier between the two countries may eliminate the White Houses best chance to secure the funding and begin construction this year. Nonetheless, President Trump and his aides vowed Tuesday that a wall will be built by the end of his current term.

GOP leaders submitted the new offer Tuesday in an effort to appease Democrats, whose votes are needed to avert a shutdown of federal agencies.

The wall was never going to be in there. There arent enough Republican votes, said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and a lead negotiator.

In exchange for backing off the border funding request, Republicans insisted on increases in border security and defense spending, including an unspecified amount to repair fencing and new surveillance technology to patrol the nearly 2,000-mile border, according to multiple House and Senate aides familiar with the ongoing talks. Democrats have indicated that they would support such a plan as long as no money goes toward an actual wall.

(Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

Some in the White House have calculated that the Trump administration will have a better chance of funding the wall later this year. Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, told reporters Tuesday that the administration knows that the budget plan for fiscal 2018, which begins in October, is probably going to be a better place for us to better make the case for specific bricks and mortar for the wall. I think that we will have funding for physical barriers.

The two sides remain at odds over whether the spending bill would include money for subsidy payments under the Affordable Care Act, how long to extend a health-care program for coal miners and unrelated policy measures known as riders.

Tuesdays offer came as Republicans also pushed negotiations on tax reform and health care, eager to demonstrate forward motion on Trumps other top domestic priorities. Republican congressional leaders and the chairmen of tax-writing committees huddled with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn to review details of Trumps tax plan. And conservatives in the House were mulling support for a new proposal to revamp the nations health-care system.

A breakthrough came Monday, when Trump seemed to soften his demand for immediate funding for a border wall, telling a small group of conservative reporters he would be open to delaying a confrontation with Democrats over the border until September.

But by Tuesday, a defiant Trump insisted that no matter what happens with the spending fight, the walls going to get built.

Meeting with farmers at the White House, he defended his administrations work on border security so far, noting that illegal border crossings have dropped more than 70 percent in the past year.

(The Washington Post)

Asked by reporters when the wall would be built, Trump said, Soon.

When one reporter asked whether the wall would be built in his first term, Trump said, Yeah, we have plenty of time. Weve got a lot of time.

[No, no, no, no: Spicer wont say funding for border wall is delayed]

Even if funding for a border wall is revisited in the coming months, Trumps signature campaign pledge will run into fierce resistance in Congress. Border-state Republicans, fiscal conservatives in his own party and Democrats consider the project a non-starter.

A lot of us have been pushing for additional border security funding for a while, but a solitary, 2,000-mile wall has never been a must-have for anybody in a border state, said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), whose state has more than 300 miles of border with Mexico.

Speaking for many Democrats, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has repeatedly called a border wall immoral.

Despite the presidents fluctuations, congressional leaders remained encouraged that at least for now, the White House wont be pushing for border wall money.

The fact that the wall is now off the table  Americans should breathe a huge sigh of relief, said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate leadership, acknowledged that when it comes to the spending talks, the wall is becoming more of a nonissue.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a top appropriator, agreed, saying that Trumps comments were helpful to resolving weeks of talks over spending.

This is that moment where the president has to determine that you need some Democrat votes in the Senate to get the bill done. And the Democrats have to determine that there are a lot of things in that bill that they want, as well, Blunt said. They need a bill that the president will sign, and nobody can get too far out of the zone and hope to get both of those things done.

[Trump is caving on border wall funding after showing his base that he tried]

Less clear was whether Trump would feel blowback from his base. The White Houses decision to back off its request earned a rebuke from prominent conservatives, including radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who told his millions of listeners Tuesday that Trump is caving on his demand.

Faulting Democrats for threatening a shutdown, Limbaugh added that if Trump is willing to withdraw a demand for border wall money, then the Democrats will have just learned that this threat works on Trump, too, not just all the other Republicans.

House and Senate negotiators worked throughout a two-week Easter break on details of the spending plan, but the talks broke down last week after White House officials began demanding greater concessions from Democrats, including explicit funding for the wall.

[President Trump just had his bluff called  again]

The issue of health subsidy payments, which affect approximately 7 million Americans, has become the primary sticking point in the talks, the aides said. Democratic leaders demanded that the subsidies, which already are prescribed in the Affordable Care Act but which Trump has said he might not continue, be fully funded in the short-term spending bill to give Congress the power to make the payments.

But some Democrats have signaled a willingness to back down from that demand if the administration commits to continuing the payments on its own. Democrats also may be calculating that if Trump decides to stop the payments, the near-certain political damage would fall to him.

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-

ranking member of his caucus, said Tuesday that the subsidies should be handled by the White House, not Congress.

The president has the authority to go ahead and do it. He ought to do it, Hoyer told reporters.

The payments are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit filed by House Republicans, arguing that Congress should have to sign off on the subsidies. A federal district court ruled last year that the payments were illegal but allowed the program to continue during the appeals process.

It is unlikely that both the House and Senate will have enough time to pass an agreement before Friday, increasing chances that Congress will temporarily extend current spending levels. Negotiators would not confirm plans for a stopgap spending measure, but members of the appropriations committees are prepared to approve emergency spending to keep the government open for several days, according to several congressional aides.

Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, David Weigel, Sean Sullivan, Tory Newmyer, Paige Winfield Cunningham and Karen Tumulty contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost
The White House sought Monday to calm a jittery Washington ahead of a showdown with Congress over spending, and President Trump softened his demand that a deal to keep the federal government open include money to begin construction on his long-promised border wall.

Despite one-party control at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, the brinkmanship that came to define spending battles in the Obama years has tumbled into the Trump era, as have the factional divisions over strategy and priorities that have gripped the GOP for a decade.

But with a Friday deadline looming to pass a new spending bill, the Trump administration projected confidence that a shutdown would be avoided. In the face of fierce Democratic opposition to funding the walls construction, White House officials signaled Monday that the president may be open to an agreement that includes money for border security if not specifically for a wall, with an emphasis on technology and border agents rather than a structure.

Trump showed even more flexibility Monday afternoon, telling conservative journalists in a private meeting that he was open to delaying funding for wall construction until September, a White House official confirmed.

The president is working hard to keep the government open, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters Monday. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said he was very confident that an agreement would be reached by Friday, but he pointedly said he could not guarantee that a government closure would be averted.

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

At issue is whether the spending measure will explicitly allocate funds toward building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border  a campaign promise that was a rallying cry for Trumps base and one on which he is eager to demonstrate progress by Saturday, his 100th day in office.

Democrats, meanwhile, gave the White House an opening, saying they would agree to some new money for border security  so long as it did not go toward the creation of a wall, something House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has called immoral.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) blasted the idea of a wall while suggesting that a combination of smart technology and law enforcement, including the use of drones, would be a much more effective way to secure the border without hitting an impasse in Congress.

[Showdown looms as Trump demands funding for wall on U.S.-Mexico border]

Republicans were working to define Trumps campaign promise down, arguing that any form of border security would fulfill it.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin answers questions during the daily press briefing at the White House as press secretary Sean Spicer looks on. The president is working hard to keep the government open, Mnuchin said. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

There will never be a 2,200-mile wall built, period, said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a supporter of immigration reform who challenged Trump in the 2016 primaries. I think its become symbolic of better border security. Its a code word for better border security. If you make it about actually building a 2,200-mile wall, thats a bridge too far  but Im mixing my metaphors.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a member of Senate leadership, said that there could be a wall in some places and technology in other places, implying that there would not be funding for the wall sketched out in campaign rhetoric. I think youre going to get a down payment on border security generally, he said.

Trump has asked Congress for $1.5 billion in new money to start construction on the wall, and he wants an additional $2.6 billion for the fiscal year that begins in October. The wall, experts say, would cost $21.6 billion and take 3 years to construct.

At the White House, Spicer portrayed Trumps position not as a demand but rather as one of two priorities  the other being additional military funding  in evolving negotiations with Congress. He left open the possibility that the president could agree to funding for border activities generally, such as additional fencing or drones.

Im not going to get ahead of the negotiations that are ongoing, Spicer said.

Should lawmakers fail to find consensus by Friday, there are plans ready to quickly pass through the House and Senate what is referred to as a short-term C.R., a continuing resolution to keep the government open until discussions are finalized.

The Senate returned Monday night and the House returns Tuesday from a two-week recess, leaving only three days this week when both chambers will be in session.

The more conciliatory language emanating from the White House did not stop Trump from continuing to hammer away on Twitter at what he claims is an urgent need for the wall. In a pair of posts, Trump sought to build public pressure on lawmakers to pass funding for wall construction.

The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! he wrote in a morning post.

In another message several hours later, Trump wrote that if the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be! #BuildTheWall.

Still, Trump has left himself wiggle room to agree to sign a government funding bill that does not include money for the wall.

My base understands the wall is going to get built, whether I have it funded here or if I get it funded shortly thereafter, Trump said in a recent interview with the Associated Press. That walls getting built, okay? One hundred percent.

Asked if he would sign a bill without wall funding, Trump told the news service, I just dont know yet.

[Trumps AP interview, annotated]

The debate over wall funding is just one of several moving pieces congressional leaders are trying to address this week to avoid a partial government shutdown. In 2015, President Barack Obama made a deal with congressional lawmakers to fund government operations through April 28, 2017. If a new agreement isnt reached by then, many federal employees will stop being paid, national parks will close, and a number of other changes will kick in  as in 2013, the last time the government shut down.

Since new rules about spending bills went into place after Jimmy Carters administration, a government shutdown has never occurred when a single political party has controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Paramount for many Republican lawmakers is funding the government, as opposed to the wall specifically. If the government shuts down, they fear, voters could blame the GOP for failing to govern, and the party could suffer the consequences in the 2018 midterm elections.

Id like to make it as clean as we can and fund the government, said Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.). I wouldnt mind funding the wall, but its a question of what we can do. The question is, whats doable and will we make the deadline?

Sen. James E. Risch (R-Idaho) said that an effective wall along the border had been authorized years and years and years ago, in the Secure Fence Act of 2006.

Its been partially built and partially funded. He wants to fund the rest of it and build it  perfectly legitimate debate that should take place on that, Risch said.

Asked if that debate could happen in three days, Risch chuckled. Things get done quickly around here when they want it to get done, he said.

Even when Republicans controlled the House during the Obama administration, they could rarely pass spending bills without Democratic support. That is because a number of the Houses most conservative members often refused to support such bills, making a bipartisan majority coalition a necessity. In addition, 60 votes are needed to pass a requisite procedural vote in the Senate. With just 52 seats, Senate Republicans will need bipartisan support in that chamber as well.

Among other guarantees, Democrats want assurances that insurance subsidies through the Affordable Care Act will continue to be funded. There have been discussions among Republicans that Democrats could agree to provide money for the construction of the wall in exchange for those health funds, but Democrats have refused.

Sunday morning, congressional Democrats submitted to Republicans a compromise spending plan, which included some new money for border security but only if it did not go toward a wall. Democrats also asked for assurances that the health insurance subsidies would continue to be funded, language that would shore up benefits for coal miners and a change that would expand Medicaid benefits to people in Puerto Rico, according to a senior Democratic congressional aide.

Pelosi told reporters on a conference call Monday that Congress was on the path to get it done until [Trump] did intervene and that the administrations actions so far belied his campaign promise to make Mexico pay for the border wall.

James Norton, a former deputy assistant undersecretary for homeland security under President George W. Bush, said funding for technologies, such as cameras and radars, on the border has dropped off since the early 2000s. He said to get money for the wall or other border security measures, the administration will have to sell specifics to lawmakers.

Each part is going to need to be sold in a specific way to Congress, and theyre going to have to hit the Hill hard, Norton said. It wont be easy.

Damian Paletta and Sean Sullivan contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost
100 years ago, April 25, 1917

MATTOON -- The Illinois Central Railroad President's Special was in Mattoon yesterday afternoon for almost two hours, the office cars of President Markham and General Manager Foley being attached to the rear end of train No. 2 of the Illinois Division for movement to Chicago. While here, the officials visited the freight house and the new passenger station improvements... CHARLESTON -- A vicious dog attacked Charleston Marshal Kraft Monday evening and succeeded in biting the officer in several places on his left wrist before he could send a couple of leaden balls into the dog's body which forever has cured that dog of the biting habit. Marshal Kraft was called to D Street to kill a dog and was walking toward the canine when it suddenly jumped forward and began to bite him. The officer received treatment from a physician.

50 years ago, 1967

MATTOON -- Extended water and sewer facilities, more fire stations, street improvements, housing developments and a comprehensive recreation program are some of the things that must be implemented for Mattoon to forge ahead in its quest for industrial and economic success. This undertaking, according to George M. Pendell, managing secretary of the Mattoon Association of Commerce, is necessary in order to meet the present and future needs of industry. These improvements, Pendell told the Mattoon Rotary Club, will take money. He recommended the issuance of general obligation bonds to finance the improvements... MATTOON -- Members of the occupational clubs at Mattoon High School received awards last night at the annual Employer-Employee Banquet at the Mattoon Holiday Inn. Recipients were Paula O'Day, Distributive Education; Georgia Kelly, Home Economics Cooperative; Ruth Branson, Office Occupations; and Wanda Davidson, Diversified Occupations. Teacher-coordinators are Hal Kottitz, Miss Marty Hanner, Don Pyle and William Brandvold.

25 years ago, 1992

CHARLESTON -- More than 400 competitors and 500 volunteers gathered at Eastern Illinois Universitys OBrien Field yesterday for the annual Area 9 Special Olympics. The athletes represented 19 organizations from Coles, Clark, Cumberland and Edgar counties. Although the emphasis at Special Olympics is not on winning, Becky Ard of Mattoon was thrilled when she finished first in the 200-meter dash for the fourth consecutive year CHARLESTON -- Two Charleston High School students are reigning queens of pageants. Holly Sidenstricker is the reigning Cinderella Teen while Charlotte Martin has been named Miss Illinois Teenager. Sidenstricker won the Cinderella Teen pageant in July 1991. Among her prizes was a color TV, $500 modeling scholarship and $1,000 travel expenses. Martin earned the title of Miss Illinois Teenager last month. She received a $1,000 savings bond, luggage, trip to the national pageant and $2,000 in modeling scholarships. Martin will compete in the National Teenager contest in Opryland, Tenn., in August.

100 years ago, April 26, 1917

MATTOON -- The new Illinois Central Railroad passenger station will be the "second-best building" in the city, said an IC engineer today. "From a standpoint of perfection," he said, the structure will be second only to the post office. The name, "Illinois Central Railroad," in cast iron letters almost 3 feet high, will be placed above the canopy of the west wall of the passenger station now under construction. The letters, "I.C.R.R.," large size, will mark the front of the new building... MATTOON -- Big Four Railroad eastbound passenger trains now pull to the front of the new passenger station before stopping to discharge or take aboard passengers. This was impossible until this week, it being necessary to keep heavy trucks from the new platform while the concrete was setting... CHARLESTON -- William Moody and Charles Thrasher have succeeded in solving the high cost of living problem. Their system is inexpensive, the outlay consisting of a can of worms, several fishing lines and some cut fishing poles. On Saturday these two men visited the Ambraw, where they caught a carp that tipped the scales at 9 1/2 pounds, and furnished Mrs. Moody and Mrs. Thrasher with five "full messes" of fish.

50 years ago, 1967

MATTOON -- The Mattoon school board has named John G. Wargo as superintendent of schools. Wargo, 40, this summer will complete requirements for a doctorate in education from Indiana University. A native of Benld, Ill., he graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1959. He received his master's degree from the University of Illinois. He has been a teacher, principal and superintendent with experience in Rushville and Clinton, Ill. The action today marks the end of a search to fill the vacancy created by the March 1 resignation of Virgil H. Judge. He resigned to become president of Lake Land College... MATTOON -- Two dawn redwood trees were planted on the front campus of Mattoon High School this morning as tributes to two MHS graduates who have given their lives in the Vietnam War. The trees are in memory of Marine 2nd Lt. Gary D. Shields, who was killed Jan. 11, and Marine Lt. Philip Henry Rathe, who was killed on July 19, 1966. Attending the ceremony were Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Rathe, parents of Lt. Rathe, and Mr. and Mrs. Don Shields, parents of Lt. Shields, and Dick Shields, brother of Lt. Shields.

25 years ago, 1992

Sunday. No paper.


Migrants and refugees spend the night camped outside the Tiburtina train station in Rome. (Alessandro Penso/The Washington Post)

For hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants, Italy became a safe harbor, a landing place for those crossing the treacherous cobalt blue of the central Mediterranean Sea. But this long-tolerant nation is moving to create a de facto migrant blockade  by striking an odd bargain with Libya, its dysfunctional and war-ravaged neighbor to the south.

Libya is the main launching point for migrants streaming into Europe from across a broad swath of the globe, and whose numbers this year are again surging. Under the plan, Italy would train and equip Libyan guards to scour coasts and deserts to stop, push back and detain migrants before they reach the high seas.

European leaders are counting on the Italian effort in Libya to shut down the last major corridor to the continent for migrants, largely ending a massive influx that began in 2014. But aid groups warn that the plan could come at an overwhelming human cost by trapping untold thousands of migrants in Libya, where the rule of law has all but disappeared since Moammar Gaddafi was toppled nearly six years ago.

Nevertheless, in the coming weeks, Italy is poised to begin dispatching 10 sea vessels as well as helicopters, four-wheel-drive vehicles and communication equipment to facilitate the new Libyan patrols.

We will stop boats from taking off from the coast . . . and stop migrants from crossing into Libyan territory, said Ahmed Safar, the Libyan ambassador to Italy. Those apprehended will be escorted to the nearest detention facility.

[E.U. strikes deal to return new migrants to Turkey]



A 17-year-old migrant from Eritrea stands outside the Tiburtina train station in Rome. (Alessandro Penso/For The Washington Post)

With the Trump administration also seeking to curb irregular migration to the United States, the move highlights the new lengths to which Western nations are willing to go to protect their borders. Success, critics say, could leave migrants subjected to almost surreal levels of violence. Interviews with more than a dozen asylum seekers who arrived in Italy from Libya in recent weeks painted a picture of a conflict-ridden country where migrants face systematic rapes and beatings.



Still others say they have been bought and sold as chattel in a thriving, modern-day slave trade. In recent weeks, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a group associated with the United Nations, told of migrants being put up for auction in parking lots in Libya, with some being purchased for as little as $200.

[E.U. nations pull welcome mats for migrants, imposing new restrictions]

Such fates, migrants and aid groups say, sometimes come at the hands of the same Libyan officials who would be the migrants keepers. Italian refugee camps like one just north of Rome, for instance, are teeming with traumatized asylum seekers like Tirhas Sbhetleab who describe Libyan officials as tormentors.

The 35-year-old single mother fleeing the harsh regime in Eritrea suffered an eight-month ordeal in Libya. In July, she and dozens of other migrants who paid $5,000 for the trip to Europe were apprehended at sea by a Libyan military ship, she said. They were taken to a police station in Sabratha, on the Libyan coast, before being locked up 25 to a cell in a fetid detention center.

For months, she said, she was whipped by guards with a black electric cord and served meager rations, including one glass of water each day. She watched some inmates die. Many of the younger women and girls, she said, were taken outside at night to be raped by guards.

She suffered a different fate.

One afternoon, a senior guard came to her side, Sbhetleab recalled, dragging her up by one arm. She was hauled into a room and given a blood test. Once she was found to be free of disease, she was sold to a Libyan family as a house cleaner.

I rose at 5 a.m. and worked until midnight, she said, speaking in a trembling voice as she cried softly. I had no pay. They beat me. The woman of the house complained that she had paid too much for me. So I shouldnt be allowed to take breaks.

When she was resold to another Libyan family last month, she said, a young man in the house allowed her to make a phone call. She called her family in Eritrea, who thought she had died at sea. They helped her establish contact with another Libyan smuggler, she said, and before dawn on the morning of March 19, she fled the house and met a driver about a mile away. She escaped to Italy a few days later.

If you leave us in Libya, you leave us to die, she said.

According to a report by UNICEF, 34 migrant detention centers have been identified in Libya. The Libyan governments Department for Combating Illegal Migration runs 24 of them, while others are run by entities including local administrations. In addition, armed groups hold migrants in an unknown number of unofficial detention camps.





International observers have access to less than half of Libyas government-run detention centers. Even in those, aid groups say, standards fall far below internationally accepted levels.

The detention centers do not meet the basic conditions for humans, said Othman Belbeisi, head of the IOMs Libya mission. I would say that many times, in some of the centers, even food is not available for all migrants.

But with new arrivals this year  about 27,000 through early April  jumping 24 percent over the same period last year, Italy is losing patience.

An agreement struck last year with Turkey helped close the eastern migrant route to the continent via Greece, with Italians seeking a way to do the same in the central Mediterranean.

Yet the Libyan deal is just one part of a new migrant crackdown in Italy, a nation that, urged on by Pope Francis, actively conducted search-and-rescue operations in 2013 and 2014 to save migrants at sea.

[How do you stop migrants? In Hungary, with border hunters.]

The Italian coast guard is still orchestrating rescues, although often with the aid of merchant ships. Groups such as Doctors Without Borders are also staging regular missions into the central Mediterranean to find and rescue migrants.

But two main factors have led Italians to take a harder line: First, the attack in December on a Christmas market in Berlin was carried out by a Tunisian asylum seeker who arrived in Europe via Italy  prompting critics here to take aim at migrants as a security risk.

Also, migrants who landed in Italy once rapidly moved on to more prosperous nations in Europes north. But as the Swiss, Austrians and French have been more aggressive about migrant checks at the Italian border, many more asylum seekers are staying put. Italy had 122,960 asylum applications in 2016, up from 83,530 in 2015.

In response, the Italian Parliament this month approved a law that limits the appeal process for rejected asylum seekers. Interior Minister Marco Minniti is also seeking to open 16 detention centers nationwide where rejected asylum seekers scheduled for deportation  including those seen as security risks  would be held until they could be safely removed.



A group of Eritreans outside the Tiburtina train station. (Alessandro Penso/For The Washington Post)

Minniti is also an architect of the Libya plan, which includes the training of nearly 130 members of the Libyan coast guard by the Italians. In an interview, he said such training, along with plans for international monitoring at Libyan detention centers, would ensure that migrants detained there would be humanely treated.

In addition to coastal patrols, he said, the Libyans will also set up new surveillance in the Sahara to stop migrants from entering Libyan territory. Minniti said the plan would aid migrants by discouraging them from coming. This year, more than 1,080 have died at sea, with untold more dying inside Libya.

[More than 1,000 migrants and refugees have died crossing the Mediterranean]

The people who land in Italy arrive from the violent hands of human traffickers, he said. All we are doing is saving them from that fate.

Critics counter that deteriorating security in Libya may not allow for substantial international monitoring. In addition, many migrants are being kept in camps where smugglers hold them for months while extorting cash from their families.

Those who have escaped fear systemic killings should the way forward to Europe be blocked.

Are they crazy? said Ismail, a 23-year-old Eritrean living in a Red Cross camp in Rome who would give only her first name for fear of reprisals against her family back home. She became pregnant after a smuggler raped her in Sudan, she said. In Libya, where she was held for eight months as smugglers extorted more money from her family, her captors repeatedly raped her despite her advanced pregnancy, she said.

If they cant get them across, the smugglers will just kill them all or leave them to die, she said. I know this. I saw how they treated us. Some [of the migrants] killed themselves because it was easier than going on.



A group of Eritreans set up a tent outside the Tiburtina train station. (Alessandro Penso/For The Washington Post)

Stefano Pitrelli in Rome and Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin contributed to this report.

Read more

How Pope Francis is leading the Catholic Church against anti-migrant populism

German politicians demand new deportation centers, more police powers and re-vetting of migrants

Germany used to be the promised land for migrants. Now, its turning back more of them.

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Emmanuel Macron, candidate for the 2017 French presidential election, speaks to journalists during a visit to the Hopital Raymond-Poincare in Garches, near Paris, France, April 25, 2017. (Pool/Reuters)

As two political outsiders battle to become Frances president ahead of a runoff next month, each is looking ahead to a biting reality: If they want to pass laws, they need lawmakers on their side.

And right now, their two parties combined command three lawmakers out of 925 in Frances Parliament.

Centrist newcomer Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen both aim to capture the lower house of Parliament in Junes legislative elections. Their tally could make or break their presidencies  but in a nation where traditional parties are in disarray, few politicians are willing to predict what could happen.

Call it the Donald Trump dilemma. The outsider president came to Washington pledging to drain the swamp. He has found himself stymied by a shortage of allies in Congress.

The challenge may be particularly steep for Macron, who is the formidable front-runner ahead of the May 7 presidential runoff. Vanquished leaders of traditional parties have united behind him to attempt to deny Le Pen the presidency. But that unified front is unlikely to hold for the Parliament. And if Macron wins a mandate but flops in his bid to improve life for French citizens, the anti-E.U. Le Pen may come back stronger than ever.

French voters want massive change. And you cannot change the way you do politics if you have the same faces, said Macron spokesman Benjamin Griveaux. Macrons year-old party has received at least 30,000 applications from people who want to run in June for the 577 seats of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, he said, and a full-time staff of nearly two dozen has been paging through the candidates. The first round of the legislative elections is June 11. The runoffs are a week later.

[What you need to know about the French presidential election]

One of the lessons of the vote that took place last Sunday is a deep willingness to have a renewal of our politicians, Griveaux said, adding that he was confident that Macrons party, On the Move, would win a majority and would not need to rely on other parties to pass its agenda if he is elected.

A parliamentary majority for the victorious president would follow historical precedent in modern France. But this is a precedent-shattering year, a fact tacitly acknowledged by President Francois Hollande on Tuesday, as he spoke at a memorial service for Xavier Jugele, the police officer killed Thursday by a man who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

What is needed is consistency, perseverance, Hollande told a somber crowd that included both Macron and Le Pen, rather than one-upsmanship and disruption.

Macron won just 24 percent of Sundays first-round vote, the third-lowest victory share since 1965  a warning sign of a lack of passionate support, analysts said. Almost half of French voters opted for anti-system candidates, compared with less than a third in the previous election in 2012.

Macron was economy minister until August, but the 39-year-old former investment banker has never held elected office. He has staked his improbable bid on a pledge to improve the French system, not explode it  but he has gotten as far as he has less on the strength of his message and more on the failings of his rivals, analysts say.

Its amazing what hes doing, said Dominique Reynie, a professor of political science at Sciences Po in Paris. Its a masterpiece to become a president so quickly and so young, but the political situation fundamentally is very, very dangerous.

To have someone like Macron trying to make a majority with left and right, he said, is like the last chance for the political system.

Recognizing the challenge, his party has entrusted heavyweights of French political life to run the legislative campaign. The goal, the campaign spokesman said, is for half of the candidates to be political neophytes. Half will be recruited from Frances political system, ideally from both the left and right sides of the political spectrum. And half the candidates will be women.

Already, some lawmakers from the defeated parties are looking beyond the presidential election to try to launch a comeback from the legislature.

Edouard Philippe, the mayor of Le Havre, said that some fellow members of the center-right Republicains party are advocating only a fleeting alliance with Macron, just long enough to defeat Le Pen on May 7.

Some of my friends in the party can admit they will vote for Macron, but they are strongly advocating a position of opposition, and they hope to win the legislative election, Philippe said.

He said that strategy risked tearing apart the nation.

The risk of us getting Marine Le Pen elected this year is strong in my view, and I want to avoid that, he said. And the risk of Marine Le Pen getting elected in five years from now, if Macron fails, is strong as well.

Le Pens team is also preparing for the legislative election, though it has historically struggled to overcome steep barriers in the electoral system. It captured only a single seat in the lower house in 2012, for example, even though she won 17.9 percent of the first round vote for the presidency.

After Marine Le Pen is elected, it is possible that personalities from other parties will want to run under the National Front banner. We will change our list of candidates accordingly, said National Front treasurer Wallerand de Saint-Just. If she is elected, this will be a major disruption in French political life, and in other parties as well.

And if Macron wins, the National Front isnt going anywhere, de Saint-Just said.

We will be the most important, if not the only force of opposition to Macron. We would seek to be a pivotal force in the Parliament, he said.

Virgile Demoustier contributed to this report.

Read more

Macrons strong finish in the French election shows populist wave may be ebbing

French election could bring a jolt to Western security, no matter who wins

This chart shows how the French election is a break from the past

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Vehicles that belonged to the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units were damaged by Turkish airstrikes in Syria. The U.S.-backed group, which is battling the Islamic State, said 20 of its fighters were killed. (Rodi Said/Reuters)

Turkey stepped up its bombing campaign Tuesday against Kurdish militants outside its borders, killing as many as 20 U.S.-backed fighters in Syria and expanding its strikes in Iraq, an escalation that could complicate efforts to combat the Islamic State.

The predawn raids drew swift rebukes from the United States and Iraq, which accused Turkey of not properly coordinating the strikes. The government of the Iraqi region of Kurdistan described the strikes as painful and unacceptable after five of its peshmerga fighters were killed in an apparent misfire.

The Turkish military said the raids targeted terrorist hotbeds and supply routes used by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to smuggle ammunition, arms and explosive material into Turkey, where it is waging an insurgency.

But the PKK affiliate hit in the Syria strikes  the Peoples Protection Units (YPG)  has played a key role in turning back Islamic State militants and is a major component of U.S.-backed forces preparing for an assault on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. In a statement, the YPG said 20 of its fighters were killed.

These airstrikes were not approved by the coalition and led to the unfortunate loss of life of our partner forces in the fight against ISIS that includes members of the Kurdish peshmerga, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters, using another name for the Islamic State. He said the United States was deeply concerned about the strikes. We have expressed those concerns to the government of Turkey directly, he added.

[Pentagon plan to seize Raqqa calls for significant increase in U.S. participation]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government is increasingly alarmed by the growing sway of Syrian Kurdish fighters across Turkeys southern border and has repeatedly asked the United States to abandon its support for the YPG. The incident underscores the increasing tension between Washington and Ankara over the role of the Kurdish fighters, which is complicating planning for the Raqqa offensive.

A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record, said that members of the U.S. military working on the ground in Syria were not in the immediate vicinity of the Turkish strikes but that the attack on a partner force with which they have worked closely had caused consternation among those troops.

On Tuesday, Turkey also struck targets near Mount Sinjar in Iraq for the first time, widening its air campaign there. The PKK has been expanding its presence in the area since helping rescue thousands of Yazidis trapped there during the Islamic States 2014 rampage.

Turkey and the government of Iraqi Kurdistan have repeatedly asked the PKK to leave. The tension has erupted into clashes in recent months, with several PKK-affiliated Yazidi fighters killed in confrontations with Kurdistans peshmerga forces. Local officials say this is distracting from pressing issues such as expelling the remaining Islamic State militants from the area and rebuilding.

[Yazidis who suffered genocide are fleeing again, but this time not from the Islamic State]

Khalil Adar, a spokesman for the PKK in Sinjar, said none of the groups bases were targeted in the raid. Instead, in addition to the five peshmerga fighters killed, he said, locations of the PKKs Yazidi affiliate were hit.

Zerdasht Shengali, a spokesman for the Yazidi forces, said the Turkish strikes hit a radio station, a cultural center and a media center. One civilian was killed, he said.

He called on all Kurdish parties to unite against Turkey. We need to be one hand against our enemy, he said.

Turkeys state news agency published aerial footage of what it said were the airstrikes in Iraq, showing large explosions at what appeared to be three locations, including a site with a tower that crumpled after being hit.

Fahim reported from Istanbul. Aaso Ameen Shwan in Irbil, Missy Ryan in Washington and Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Read more

Turkey summons U.S. envoy amid reports of weapons aid to Syrian Kurds

Turkish-backed rebels in Syria make major gains against Islamic State

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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The Senate voted Tuesday 94-to-6 to confirm Rod Rosenstein as the deputy attorney general, the second-highest ranking official in the Justice Department and the person who will oversee the investigation into suspected Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election because the attorney general is now recused.

Rosenstein, 52, will serve essentially as the chief operating officer of the Department of Justice, reporting only to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and managing most of the departments day-to-day affairs. He had worked since 2005 as the U.S. attorney in Maryland, where he earned a reputation as an independent and even-keeled prosecutor. His tenure was unusual in that it spanned Democratic and Republican administrations.

Rosensteins confirmation was never truly in doubt  although his confirmation was still contentious, as he refused to commit to appointing a special counsel to oversee investigations of alleged election meddling by Russia. Rosensteins confirmation hearing came the week after Sessions announced that he was recusing himself from any presidential-campaign-related investigations after The Washington Post reported that he had met with the Russian ambassador twice during that campaign and had not disclosed that fact at his confirmation hearing.

[Grilled on Russia probe, deputy attorney general pick sidesteps Democrats calls for special prosecutor]

Rosenstein said he would handle the case the way I would handle any investigation and appealed to legislators patriotism.

I dont know the details of what, if any, investigation is ongoing, but I can certainly assure you if its America against Russia, or America against any other country, I think everyone in this room knows which side Im on, he said.

The investigation, though, continued to dog Rosensteins path to the upper ranks of the Justice Department. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said last month he would hold up the vote on Rosenstein until FBI Director James B. Comey briefed his panel about probes into alleged ties between the Trump administration and Russian officials  a matter that was then out of Rosensteins control.

Rosenstein is only the second Senate-confirmed official at the Justice Department; all of the other top posts are being filled by people serving on a temporary basis.

The senators voting against Rosensteins confirmation Tuesday were all Democrats: Cory Booker (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.).
As North Korea conducted live-fire drills Tuesday and South Korea, Japan and the United States carried out their own military exercises, the White House said there is still room for a diplomatic resolution.

The more that we can solve this diplomatically and continue to apply pressure on China and other countries to use the political and economic tools that they have to achieve a goal in stabilization in the region, but also to tamp down the threat that North Korea faces, I think that that is something that we all share, said White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

Spicer said the cordial meeting Trump had with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida this month was paying off dividends. He boasted that this presidents relationships that hes building with heads of government is clearly reestablishing Americas place in the world and getting results for the country.

At the same time, one of the largest U.S. guided-missile submarines showed up in the South Korean port of Busan, presaging the imminent arrival in the region of a naval strike group led by an aircraft carrier. And Kim Jong Uns regime marked the 85th anniversary of the founding of North Koreas army Tuesday with its typical bluster.

If the enemies dare opt for the military adventure despite our repeated warnings, our armed forces will wipe the strongholds of aggression off the surface of the Earth through powerful preemptive nuclear attacks, Defense Minister Pak Yong Sik said in a televised speech before a hall filled with the countrys top brass.

A national meeting at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang in celebration of the 85th anniversary of the Korean People's Army. (Korean Central News Agency/AFP/Getty Images)

Analysts had been concerned that North Korea might seek to mark important dates this month  the birthday of the states founder was celebrated with a huge military parade on April 15  with a nuclear or ballistic missile test. North Korea did launch a missile on April 16, but it exploded within seconds.

[Trump gets on the phone to Asia as another North Korea flash point looms]

But on the latest anniversary Tuesday, the North instead conducted large-scale live-fire drills near Wonsan on its east coast, South Koreas joint chiefs of staff said.

The Souths Yonhap News Agency reported that the exercises were North Koreas largest to date, involving some 300 or 400 pieces of artillery, but the joint chiefs did not confirm the number.

Analysts warned against reading too much into the exercises with conventional weaponry, noting that North Koreas annual winter training cycle culminates in big exercises every year around this time.

Still, North Korea remains defiant despite mounting pressure from the Trump administration and, increasingly, China to stop its missile program.

China has a very, very important role to play to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions, Joseph Yun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, told reporters in Tokyo.

Yun met with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts Tuesday in Tokyo, and Chinas main point man on North Korea was also in town, in a sign that diplomacy is not entirely dead.

We agreed that we will strongly warn that North Korea should stop further strategic provocations, said Kim Hong-kyun, South Koreas representative. But we will take strong punitive action that the North could not bear if it pushes ahead with one despite the warning.

New York, the U.N. Security Council scheduled a special ministerial meeting Friday to discuss further sanctions on the regime in Pyongyang.

But with increasingly provocative statements and actions coming from North Korea, the emphasis is on military deterrence.

A Navy destroyer, the USS Wayne E. Meyer, began maritime exercises Tuesday with a South Korean destroyer in the Yellow Sea, west of the Korean Peninsula. Separately, another destroyer, the USS Fitzgerald, was conducting drills with a Japanese destroyer in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, east of the Korean Peninsula. The two exercises were scheduled to continue Wednesday.

[Nervous over North Korea, Japan issues guidelines for missile attack]

Both exercises demonstrate a shared commitment to security and stability in Northeast Asia, the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement, as well as the U.S. Navys inherent flexibility to combine with allied naval forces in response to a broad range of situations.

Earlier, the Navy announced that the USS Michigan, an Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, had arrived in Busan for a regularly scheduled port visit.

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, together with two guided-missile destroyers and a cruiser, are expected to arrive in the waters off the Korean Peninsula in the next few days and stage a combined tactical operation with the South Korean navy.

On Wednesday, the White House will hold a briefing on the North Korea situation for all 100 senators.

Read more:

Twenty-five million reasons the U.S. hasnt struck North Korea

Trumps armada finally heading to Korea

White House warns North Korea not to test U.S. resolve

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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The systematic political offensive against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, portraying him as a threat to national security, reached new depths of depravity on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show.

Not only did Marr conduct the political equivalent of an ambush, but he did so on the obscene basis of demanding a pledge that Corbyn commit to waging nuclear war.

Marrs interrogation had a deranged character. His first question noted that, should Labour win the June 8 general election, Corbyns first task would be to write four letters to the captains of Britains nuclear submarines instructing them what to do if this countrys attacked in a nuclear strike. So what will you be telling them... You have to say fire or dont fire... You have to give them in those letters a strict instruction.

Corbyn replied that his strict instruction would be to follow orders when given.

This prompted Marrs rejoinder, Can I ask you directly; are there any circumstances in which youd authorise a nuclear strike? Any circumstances?

Corbyn replied that any use of nuclear weapons is a disaster for the whole world and that nuclear weapons are not a solution to the worlds security issues. Theyre the disaster of the worlds security issues if ever used. He expressed concern at the build-up of tensions between the US and North Korea, as well as the Trump administrations trying to unpick President Obamas deal with Iran.

Marr followed this rather muted criticism of Donald Trumps cabal of warmongers by questioning which world leaders Corbyn would call first after taking power.

He then returned more directly to topic, asking, And do you tell ... President Trump that we are no longer a nuclear-armed power ... Would a Labour government cancel the Trident programme?

Corbyn, who has stated his personal opposition to the Trident nuclear programme, replied evasively that Labour is presently undertaking a strategic defence revieweven though Labour reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the nuclear arsenal last July, when 140 of its MPs voted for renewal, against 47 who voted no and 41 abstentions or absences.

Marr raised that the former head of NATO, General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, had described Corbyn as a threat. [Last September Rasmussen said Corbyns refusal to clearly state that as a possible prime minister of the UK, he would not be sure that he would defend NATO allies, would tempt Russian President Vladimir Putin to aggression to test the resolve of NATO.]

Corbyn replied that he would want to work with NATO leaders in building up an effective, sensible relationship with non-NATO countries such as Russia to de-escalate tensions around the world. President Trump seems to be going very much in the opposite direction.

Marr could not conceal his hostility, declaring, Your enthusiasm for getting around the table with people and talking to people is well known.

He then demanded that Corbyn answer for his opposition to the deployment of 800 British troops to Russias border with Estonia; whether he would tell President Trump that we will no longer be taking part in air strikes in Syria and Iraq and whether he would agree to take out Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, with a drone strike.

Marrs performance will have cemented his standing in ruling circles as a reliable hatchet man.

It should be noted that the content of the four letters to Britains nuclear submarine commanders is, by tradition, confidentialOnly Labours James Callaghan has ever indicated the contents of his. And they deal only with the UKs response to a nuclear strike by a hostile power.

But this is no longer to be tolerated. Britains ruling elite is set on establishing that the fundamental criteria for leading the country is a readiness to launch World War III and end all life on earth.

This was already made clear when Prime Minister Theresa May was asked during the July 2016 parliamentary debate on Trident renewal, Are you prepared to authorise a nuclear strike that could kill hundreds of thousands of men, women and children?

May replied firmly, even enthusiastically, Yes.

The response to the Marr-Corbyn interview by the Tories was to up the ante.

Defence Minister Sir Michael Fallon not only denounced Corbyn for questioning strikes against terrorists, refusing to back the nuclear deterrent, and querying our Nato deployment in Estonia. Fallon told the BBCs Today programme, In the most extreme circumstances we have made it very clear that you cant rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike. [Emphasis added]

Significantly, Fallon took pains to praise the brave Labour MPs who backed the renewal of Trident and who had corrected Corbyn.

He was referring to the immediate response of the Labour Party to the Marr interview. Within hours, a party spokesman insisted, The decision to renew Trident has been taken and Labour supports that. On Monday morning, Labours election campaign chair Andrew Gwynne told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that renewal of Trident would absolutely be in the partys manifesto and was not part of a defence review. He concluded that Jeremy knows that Trident is Labour party policy. ... Jeremy has set out his views on defence and that is absolutely that we are committed to making sure that Britain is well defended.

Whatever Corbyn may believe as an individual, when it comes to a readiness to uphold the predatory interests of British imperialism through militarism and war, there is nothing to distinguish Labour from the Torieseven if this means pushing the nuclear button. And Corbyn is incapable of waging a genuine fight against war, because this would demand a call for an insurrection by the working class not only against the Tory government, but against his own party.

The dangers this raises for working people are acute.

Behind Mays calling a snap general election is an attempt by the ruling elite to provide a veneer of democratic legitimacy to her governments agenda of trade and military war through hopefully securing a large majority at the expense of Labour. Only this can explain the furious campaign against Corbyn, portraying him and anyone who supports him as a threat to national security.

However, the reality is that there can be no democratic mandate for policies that are antithetical to the social interests of millions of working people and which centre on plans for possible war waged in alliance with the USin Syria, against North Korea and even the nuclear-armed powers of Russia and China.

This agenda requires brutal state repression, as is underscored by the gang-up of ex-military chiefs against Corbyn renewing demands that he should be prevented from coming to power at all costs.

Former First Sea Lord Alan West, formerly a Labour minister responsible for security and an adviser to then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, warned ominously that Corbyns views will lead people in the forces to ask, Is this chap really fully supportive of us in the military?

Former British Commander in Afghanistan, Colonel Richard Kemp, stated, Quite literally if Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister enacted the policies he describes, he would have blood on his hands. These comments show why he must never be elected to lead this country.

Former chief of defence staff, Lord General Richards, said, Jeremy Corbyn, unlike many of his distinguished predecessors in the Labour Party from Clement Attlee through Denis Healey and beyond, has demonstrated why he should not be trusted with the ultimate responsibility of Governmentthat of the nations defence and security.
The world looked on in horror last night as two inmates were put to death in Arkansas in the first double-execution in the US since 2000. The second execution was halted temporarily after the first prisoners attorneys claimed their clients execution appeared to be torturous and inhumane.

The execution process for Jack Jones Jr., 52, began at 7:06 p.m. local time at the states Cummins Unit in southeast Arkansas. The prisoner, who had spent more than two decades on death row, was pushed into the death chamber in a wheelchair, having had one leg amputated as a result of diabetes. Jones was pronounced dead by the coroner at 7:20 p.m., 14 minutes after the procedure began.

Attorneys for the second inmate set to die, Marcell Williams, 46, argued that Jones was moving his lips and gulping for air after being administered midazolam, suggesting he had not been rendered unconscious by the first drug in the execution protocol.

US District Judge Kristine Baker issued an emergency stay just before Marcel Williams was to be put to death, but later lifted the stay, allowing the execution to proceed. Williams execution began at 10:33 p.m., and he was pronounced dead 17 minutes later.

The US Supreme Court had previously denied requests from both inmates to stay their executions.

Jones and Williams were among eight inmates Arkansas had sought to rush to execute over an 11-day period before the states supply of the midazolam, one of the three drugs in the lethal injection protocol, expired at the end of the month.

Four of the original eight have now been given either temporary stays or clemency, after a flurry of legal challenges by the inmates to stop their lethal injections. Ledell Lee was executed Thursday night. One more execution, of Kenneth Williams, is scheduled for Thursday.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, has the power to grant clemency but declared it his duty to the victims families that justice is done. He dismissed the fact that the eight men he condemned to die include those with cognitive impairment, brain damage, and histories of trauma and abuse. Most of them have never had their mental health or life histories investigated and presented to a jury or judge.

Hutchinsons defense of the rapid-fire execution scheduleon the basis that the states supply of one of the execution drugs is going to expirecan only be described as debased and medieval. It can be compared to a hangmans complaint that his supply of rope was running low and that backwoods lynchings must go forward post haste.

There is an element of deliberate provocation in this rushing against time to carry out state-sanctioned murdera declaration that the state can and will kill, opposition and international opinion be damned. A willful assertion of cruelty, barbarism and backwardness. It recalls the declaration of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, writing gleefully about the bombing of Serbia in 1999, You want 1950? We can do 1950. You want 1389? We can do 1389.

The most reactionary sentiments are promoted as part of the campaign by the ruling class for capital punishment. The Times published an article yesterday with interviews from some who had witnessed previous executions. One prosecutor was quoted as commenting on the state killings he had viewed: These were two evil people, and their executions did not bother me at all. It was done. It should have been done.

In the coverage that has been given to Arkansas rush to execution, virtually no attention has been given to the tragic life histories of those condemned to die. What kind of society produces such broken individualsand then justifies their state killings as justice well deserved?

Jack Jones, Jr. was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 for the brutal murder of Mary Phillips and the attempted murder of her daughter, Lucy Phillips. Jones suffered from bipolar disorder and depression. Joness symptoms of mental illness date back to his childhood, when he suffered physical abuse at the hands of his father. He was also abducted and raped by three strangers. He attempted suicide twice. The jury that convicted him heard almost none of this mitigating evidence.

Williams was sentenced to death in 1997 for the 1994 murder of Stacy Errickson, a 22-year-old woman. Williams was a victim of sexual abuse before the age of 10. By the time he was 12, Marcels mother was routinely pimping him ... in exchange for food stamps, for food, for a place to stay (Fair Punishment Project). She also routinely beat him. The jury never heard compelling evidence about his background of severe abuse.

Both men suffered from diabetes, sleep apnea and hypertension, conditions brought on by their excessive weight gain while imprisoned.

Arkansas has executed a total of 28 people since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, and 478 people before then, according to available records.

One of the most notable Arkansas executions in the modern era was that of Ricky Ray Rector in January 1992, who was sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of a police officer. Rector was convicted of shooting the officer in the back and then turning the gun on himself. The attempted suicide effectively resulted in a frontal lobotomy, rendering Rector incapable of comprehending his death sentence.

Bill Clinton, then a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, flew home mid-campaign to ensure that Rectors execution went forward as scheduled. It took Arkansas prison staff more than 50 minutes to find a suitable vein for Rectors lethal injection, and witnesses reported that they could hear him moaning behind the curtain blocking the view to the execution chamber.

President Clinton would go on to sign into law the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), which severely limited the federal writ of habeas corpus for death row inmates and extended the death penalty to dozens of crimes.

While the vast majority of industrialized nations have outlawed capital punishment, it is supported in the US by wide layers of the political establishment in both big business parties. This is the case even as public support for the death penalty continues to decline.

As governor of Texas, George W. Bush signed off on 152 executions. He contemptuously mocked Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War, before allowing her lethal injection to proceed.

Barack Obama commented after a particularly heinous execution in Oklahoma, in which the inmate writhed and gasped for air for 43 minutes on the execution gurney, There are certain circumstances in which a crime is so terrible that the application of the death penalty may be appropriate.

The current occupant of the White House, Donald Trump, has a particularly repugnant connection to capital punishment. Following the rape and beating of a white woman jogger in New Yorks Central Park in 1989, the real estate mogul took out full-page ads in the citys four big daily papers proclaiming: BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY! BRING BACK THE POLICE! Even after the convictions of the five black men, who were juveniles in 1989, were vacated, Trump still maintained their guilt.

There is little daylight between such statements by Trump and his actions as president, in which he has presided over the dropping of the Mother of All Bombs on the Afghan/Pakistani border, the firing of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on a government airbase in Syria, and the liberation of Mosul, Iraq, turning an estimated 300,000 into homeless refugees.

Trumps efforts to Make America Great Again have ushered in an even more open escalation of state violence. His administration has vowed to take the shackles off of immigration police, essentially targeting every undocumented immigrant living in the US for apprehension and deportation.

Trump has proposed a $54 billion budget increase for the Pentagons war machine, the intelligence agencies and the Department of Homeland Security, to be offset by savage cuts to social programs. As civilians are targeted by US airstrikes in flashpoints across the globe, police in the US carry out daily shootings of unarmed and often mentally ill individuals. The ruling elites acceptance and promotion of capital punishment is of a piece with this reactionary agenda.

The US Supreme Court, which failed to block the executions of Jack Jones, Marcell Williams, or Ledell Lee, has continuously upheld the death penalty. While ruling that capital punishment should not be used against the mentally impaired, or those convicted of crimes committed as juveniles, it has allowed the death penalty to stand. Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch cast his first recorded vote as a justice in the 5-4 decision allowing the execution of Lee to proceed Thursday night.

It was the nations high court that ruled in 2015 that midazolam, the drug expiring in Arkansas, could be used in executions despite the fact that it was involved in gruesome deaths in at least four states. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito noted at the time that because it is settled that capital punishment is constitutional  the Constitution does not require the avoidance of all risk of pain.

In a speech in 2002, the now-departed Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stated: You want to have a fair death penalty? You kill; you die. Thats fair death is no big deal. Such are the sentiments of the most reactionary wing of the black-robed justices that sit on the highest court in the land.

These statements exemplify the ruling elites outlook on capital punishment. It is aimed at acclimatizing the population to the daily murder and brutality of the capitalist state. While the ruling authorities claim that the United States is a beacon of democracy in a world gripped by terror, the American ruling class wallows in violence and criminality.
Many fans on Twitter were missing former President Barack Obama more than ever as he delivered his first public remarks since leaving office during a forum in his adopted hometown of Chicago on Monday.

At the event, which was held at the University of Chicago, Obama reflected on how he got his political start as a community organizer in the city more than 30 years ago, and facilitated a town hall-style forum on community organizing and civic engagement with young leaders from area schools.

He opened his remarks with a joke, asking the crowd: So uh, whats been going on while Ive been gone?

On the back end now of my presidency, now that its completed, Im spending a lot of time thinking about what is the most important thing I can do for my next job? he continued. And what Im convinced is that - although there are all kinds of issues that I care about and all kinds of issues that I intend to work on - the single most important thing I can do is to help in any way I can prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world.

The former president added that he has been encouraged by the tolerant and thoughtful and entrepreneurial young people he has met in his travels around the country. So the question now, he says, is: Are there ways in which we can knock down some of the barriers that are discouraging young people about a life of service? And if there are, I want to work with them to knock down those barriers. And to get this next generation and to accelerate their move towards leadership.

Obamas first public event of his post-presidency was met with an outpouring of love and support on Twitter, with many comparing him favorably against his successor, President Donald Trump. Heres what some people are saying:

#MSNBC live with Obama right now. Boy oh boy, I forgot what a grown up president sounds like. PS I bet this has Trumpy-kins all worked up. - champersAP (@rogerNYC77) April 24, 2017

Complete sentences, sense of humor without insulting others, no lies. I miss President Obama!!! - Ivan (@pseudo_hunter) April 24, 2017

I MISSED OBAMA.



And having a president with actual empathy. - Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) April 24, 2017

Watching President Obama speak with this brilliant group of people made me realize how much I missed intelligent, comprehensive sentences. - Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) April 24, 2017

It39;s so strange watching and listening to President Obama right now. It feels like ages ago that this sense of calm I feel was mundane. - Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) April 24, 2017

Obama39;s first post-White House public speech is at noon EST, in case you39;ve forgotten what an actual president is supposed to sound like. - Gabe Ortiz (@TUSK81) April 24, 2017

Watching Obama on TV with young panel you see and hear decency, looking and listening to Trump you see a fraudulent scumbag. - George Hill (@george62122222) April 24, 2017

Watching Obama be his smart, funny, compassionate and engaging self is a great reminder of how completely abnormal everything is now. - The Resisterhood (@resisterhood) April 24, 2017

Was just watching President Obama39;s talk at The University of Chicago and for a brief moment I forgot Trump existed - Ariba Siddiqui (@asiddiqui94) April 24, 2017

Though Obama has indirectly criticized Trump since his inauguration, he did not mention his successor during the forum. A source told The Hill earlier this month: Its not in anyones interest ... for [Obama] to become the face of the resistance or narrate the Trump presidency. Hes acutely aware that when [Trump] speaks, he sucks up all the oxygen, and that suppresses the next generation of leaders from rising.

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Obamas two-day trip to Chicago marks his reentry into public life and comes after a series of vacations with family and friends - including trips to Palm Springs, California, Richard Bransons private island in the British Virgin Islands, and an exclusive resort in French Polynesia.

On Sunday, Obama began his Chicago visit by meeting privately with at-risk young men on the South Side to talk about gang violence, jobs skills and employment, a spokesman told the Chicago Tribune. The meeting, which was not open to the media, was with members of a program created by Obamas longtime friend and former education secretary, Arne Duncan, the newspaper reported.

RELATED VIDEO: In Two Words and One Photo, Former Obama White House Photographer Schools Sarah Palin, Kid Rock and Ted Nugent on Respect

Obamas next public outing will come on May 7, when he will visit Boston to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. The former president will also meet with his one-time closest ally, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in Berlin next month - on the same day President Trump is set to meet with other NATO leaders in Brussels.

Obamas wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, is also returning to the public spotlight soon. She and former President Bill Clinton will both participate in the 2017 Partnership for a Healthier America Summit to end childhood obesity in Washington, D.C. May 10-12.

This article was originally published on PEOPLE.com
Its been three days since missing 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas was reunited with her family in Tennessee, after allegedly spending more than a month with her accused kidnapper and former high school teacher, Tad Cummins.

Although Elizabeth is safe, her older brother says her ordeal is far from over.

It makes me relieved that shes not physically broken, James Thomas, one of Elizabeths nine siblings, tells PEOPLE. But at the same time it makes me worried about ... how far did he [Cummins] sink his teeth into her mentally?

Cummins, 50, abducted Elizabeth on March 13 after grooming her during the school year, authorities allege.

The teen was last seen at a local restaurant that March morning in Maury County, Tennessee. Elizabeth and Cummins were discovered last week in a remote cabin near Cecilville, California, after a tipster saw the pair and contacted authorities, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman Josh Devine told PEOPLE.

It was exciting, James, 27, says of reuniting with his sister. We hadnt seen her in well over a month. It was just amazing.

He tells PEOPLE that much of his immediate family was there to welcome Elizabeth home. (Some relatives bosses would let them just [jump] shift and run to be there, he says.)

One of the first things James told his sister was that I loved her and I missed her, he says.

Elizabeths big sister Sarah was there too, tearful and smiling, according to James.

When you first saw her, you couldnt believe it was her, he says. I mean, I didnt believe it was her. Part of me was still like, Theyre playing a joke on us or something, until that first moment you hugged her. And then you were like, Its her, we actually have her back. 

From left: Elizabeth Thomas and Tad Cummins.

In the immediate aftermath of Elizabeth being found, one of her sisters, Kat Bozeman, told PEOPLE the family was absolutely thrilled and blessed to have her safe and on her way home.

James declined to say where Fridays reunion took place or to reveal certain other details, out of concern for Elizabeths privacy as she recovers.

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Whenever I was talking to her, I didnt ask her questions about it, he explains. I just wanted to have a normal conversation, because I felt what was best for her right now is just ... lets avoid the scary stuff. Im not going to pry, Im not going to ask her anything thats going to cause her more stress.

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.

Elizabeth and Cummins - who taught her health sciences at a Maury County high school before being fired after disappearing in March - were the subject of an ongoing AMBER Alert, and investigators have said they were possibly living off the grid.

Ultimately, authorities say the pair was located in a tiny, four-walled cabin in California, which had no running water, electricity or heat piping. They were previously spotted in Oklahoma.

Tad Cummins

She was taken from her family by a 50-year-old man, whether she was coerced or not and everything is ... well, I believe the coercion, James tells PEOPLE. I dont believe it was her idea. It was more him putting ideas [in her head].

The easiest way to manipulate somebody is to make it their choice, make them come up with the plans, he continues. You make them [say], Hey, lets do this. You just kind of lure them into doing that. If its their plan, theyre more likely behind it than if you went, Hey, lets do this. 

Elizabeths father, Anthony Thomas, told ABC News that her mood has fluctuated since she was found.

Sometimes shell be happy and laughing and back to the same old girl. And then shell be sometimes just in a fetal position crying, he said, noting that Elizabeth had appeared to have lost some weight.

Its been a roller coaster for her.

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the familys lawyer said Friday that Elizabeth was comfortable and resting. The attorney added that she was being evaluated and treated by mental health experts specializing in trauma.

There is no doubt she has suffered severe emotional trauma and that her process of recovery is only just beginning, the statement read.

Cummins was arrested last week and faces multiple charges in Tennessee and California, including aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor, as well as a federal charge, authorities have said.

He is being held in the Sacramento County Jail in California and will be arraigned on Monday afternoon. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

The search is over, but now theres the trial, James tells PEOPLE. Its far from over. I mean, the trial process could probably take years cause its a multi-state issue now.

Of Cummins, he says, I want to throw the book at him myself.

James adds, I think its best if I dont see him. ... I dont quite know what Id do.

With reporting by CHRISTINE PELISEK

This article was originally published on PEOPLE.com
From the early days of his campaign, President Donald Trump promised Americans a big, beautiful wall built along the border of Mexico - and that Mexico will pay for it. Now, the first half of that pledge is at a standoff with the second half while the federal government teeters on the brink of shutdown.

Trumps insistence that American taxpayers foot the bill for getting the wall started is one of the thorny issues-along with Obamacare subsidies and expanded military spending-that Congress is wrestling with as lawmakers in Washington face a deadline for passing this years budget. Inaction would lead to a shutdown of the federal government.

But how likely is a shutdown - and what would it mean to everyday life?

Why is the government (potentially) shutting down?

In the end, it all really comes down to funding the proposed wall on the Mexican border. Every year, Congress must outline and vote on a federal budget. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told The Hill that budget negotiations between Republicans and Democrats were actually going pretty well, until the White House got involved and called for funding for the wall.

I dont think [a government shutdown] is inevitable at all, Schumer, a New York Democrat said. Parties were negotiating quite well, until Donald Trump and the White House threw a monkey wrench into this, with the wall. Its my view that if the president stepped out of it, we could get a budget done by Friday.

And White House officials seem to agree - at least on the prospect of avoiding a shutdown. On Sunday, White House officials said they didnt want the government to shut down over the wall negotiations, and that theres no interest in a shutdown and theyll do what it takes to avoid one, according to CNN.

Mick Mulvaney, Trumps budget director, offered Democrats a compromise, of sorts, in exchange for their agreement to fund at least initial construction of the wall: A dollar towards Obamacare subsidies for low-income Americans for every dollar thats dedicated to building the wall.

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Democrats were not much moved.

The US government is supposed to take care of its citizens and, according to the President, Mexico is supposed to pay for the wall, Matt House, a spokesperson for Schumer, said, according to CNN. If the administration would drop their eleventh-hour demand for a wall that Democrats, and a good number of Republicans oppose, congressional leaders could quickly reach a deal.

There is bipartisan opposition to shutting down the government over the wall, according to the New York Times, which could get in Trumps way as his first 100 days in office come to an end - the same day as the budget deadline.

Wait, isnt Mexico paying for the wall?

Trump may have campaigned on the promise of Mexico paying for the wall, but thats definitely not happening any time soon. Even Trump all but admitted this in a series of tweets this weekend.

The Democrats don39;t want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS 13 gang members. - Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2017

Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall. - Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2017

Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Trump tweeted about the walls funding. Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall.

Trump contends that the plan is to have Mexico pay for the wall at a later date, so construction can begin as soon as possible. However, as Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto has repeatedly said his country will of course not pay for the wall (and their ex-president, Vincente Fox, said the same in more colorful language), theres a sizable chance that if Congress decides to fund the wall, reimbursement from Mexico will never come.

How long will a shutdown last?

Its hard to say, but likely not long. Shutdowns, of course, are not a good thing: They interrupt the American democracy and no party wants to take responsibility (or be blamed by the American people.) The last shutdown, in 2013, lasted for 16 days. Before that, there hadnt been one for nearly 20 years - since that which started at the end of 1995, and lasted for 21 days, until January 1996. The length of that particular shutdown, however, could be explained by timing (it fell over the holidays.)

So if it does happen this time, less than a month would be a safe bet based on precedent.

How will a shutdown affect my life?

Federal employees will feel the most immediate impact, barred from work-and the pay that comes with their hours at the office.

Critical workers would be excluded so that Post Offices will still be open, USDA food inspections will still be done and air-traffic controllers will still be in their towers making sure all our planes land safely, according to CNN. Services for veterans also shouldnt be affected, as their budget is created a year in advance. In the courts, all employees will keep working for 10 business days after the start of the shutdown, with non-essential employees being barred from work after that. Cases, however, will still be heard.

And if you had a trip planned to a national park, youre out of luck: Those will all be closed throughout the duration of the shutdown. You also cant get loans from the government during a shutdown, nor a new gun permit.

The shutdown will have the most profound - and smelly - effect on the lives of those who live in the nations capital. Because Congress approves Washington, D.C.s budget, trash collection will cease in the city until end the of the shutdown. And for a city thats a part-time home to Congress and produces 500 tons of trash, according to the Washington Post, thats even more incentive for any shutdown to come to a quick wrap-up.

This article was originally published on PEOPLE.com
Concept art of Gotham City for proposed Warner Bros. theme park in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (Photo: Warner Bros. Consumer Products)

By Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter

Batman v Superman may have brought both Gotham and Metropolis together on the big screen for the first time, but now those cities will have a real-world presence  thanks to Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi.

The theme park has revealed plans for six themed worlds that are going to populate it. Here are the areas:

Metropolis and Gotham City

These two areas are inspired by the DC Comics universe, and will feature skyscrapers befitting some of its larger-than-life superheroes. The concept art for Gotham City (above) shows off a Joker presence as well. See the concept art for Metropolis below:

Concept art of Metropolis for proposed Warner Bros. theme park in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (Photo: Warner Bros. Consumer Products)

Cartoon Junction, Bedrock, and Dynamite Gulch

These three areas will draw from Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera, and characters such as Bugs Bunny and Scooby-Doo will be walking around.

Concept art of Bedrock for proposed Warner Bros. theme park in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (Photo: Warner Bros. Consumer Products)

Concept art of Cartoon Junction for proposed Warner Bros. theme park in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (Photo: Warner Bros. Consumer Products)

Concept art of Dynamite Gulch for proposed Warner Bros. theme park in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (Photo: Warner Bros. Consumer Products)

Warner Bros. Plaza

This area draws from old Hollywood and the era in which these characters were first created.

Concept art of Warner Bros. Plaza for proposed Warner Bros. theme park in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (Photo: Warner Bros. Consumer Products)

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is slated to open in 2018 and is located on Yas Island. Warner Bros. is working with Miral on the project, which will encompass 1.65 million square feet and feature 29 rides, shows and attractions.

We Try Everything on the Menu at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theme Park:

Read More from THR:
Music revenue grew 12 percent in Latin America in 2016, the highest increase for any region internationally, according to IFPI's just-released Global Music Report 2017. It was the seventh year in a row that growth in Latin America topped that in other parts of the world.

There was a 57 percent rise in streaming revenue in Latin America, where digital now represents half of the total market.

"The growth is being driven by streaming and mostly by Spotify and Apple," Jesus Lopez, CEO of Universal Music Latin America, says. "The challenge is to get more and more consumers to convert from ad-supported models to subscription services. Part of that challenge is to tailor local solutions that reflect the consumer behavior of people in their own territories, such as differences in the periodicity of payments -daily or weekly - and spending in local currency."

Spotify's Director of Economics Will Page highlighted the strength of Latin America in the IFPI report.

"We're looking at the possibility of Brazil and Mexico potentially overtaking the UK and Germany in terms of user numbers," he is quoted as saying. "That's not to the detriment of the UK and Germany, it's all about the unexpected and exceptional performance of Brazil and Mexico. They're bigger countries of course, but whilst their infrastructure is much less developed, their smartphone adoption is escalating at a much faster rate, driving access to services like Spotify."

Music revenue in Mexico, the region's second largest market, grew by 23.6 percent in 2016. Banda Sinaloense MS de Sergio Lizarraga, Maluma and Coldplay were Spotify's three most-streamed artists for the year, according to company figures.

While many smaller markets also saw growth, Latin America's largest market, Brazil, actually declined by 2.8 percent last year overall.

Alfonso Perez Soto, vp business development Latin America at Warner Music Group, agreed with Lopez that music services could make greater gains in the region by increasing localization.

"We need fans to convert to paying for music subscription services and that means digital platforms need to offer a range of ways for people to pay," Perez Soto said in the report, adding that teams should be on the ground in different markets to produce more local editorial content and forge local partnerships.
Chicago (AFP) - Chicago hit a grim milestone Tuesday, with more than a thousand people shot in the Midwestern US city since the beginning of the year.

According to the Chicago Tribune newspaper 1,008 people have been shot in the city -- at least 182 fatally -- since the beginning of January, a pace roughly unchanged since the same period last year.

The largest city in the Midwest has been struggling with a stubbornly high murder rate that peaked at more than 750 last year, the highest in two decades.

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) offered conflicting data for the first four months of 2017, saying 172 people were killed and 954 shot -- a nine percent decline compared to the same period last year.

The police department did not account for shootings on area expressways under the jurisdiction of a separate agency, which could explain the conflicting data, according to CPD spokesman Kevin Quaid.

There were also 3,500 shootings, mostly concentrated in poor sections of the city with rampant gang and drug-related violence.

The city plans to hire nearly 1,000 additional officers over two years to address the problem, and is increasingly relying on high-tech solutions.

Quaid highlighted the addition of "intelligence hubs" in the city's violence-plagued neighborhoods as one reason they are reporting fewer shootings so far this year.

"Officers and data analysts run historical crime data, gang intelligence, and social networking analytics through predictive software programming to help officers focus on the right people, at the right place, at the right time," Quaid told AFP in an email.

Chicago police last week became the first US police agency to use a new web tool where residents can anonymously report crime.
The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.

Students wondering whether business school is worth the time and money may be comforted by the results of a recent survey. When the Graduate Management Admission Council asked nearly 15,000 alumni if they were satisfied with their decision to go to business school, 92 percent said yes.

But the financial value of an MBA varies widely among full-time programs. In some instances, the average recent graduate's student loan burden is larger than his or her starting salary. In contrast, at the 10 programs with the highest salary-to-debt ratio, the starting salaries of recent graduates are far greater than their debt.

[Here are four questions to ask business school alumni.]

MBA graduates of the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas--Dallas made the most money relative to their debt among the 87 ranked business schools that reported these data to U.S. News in an annual survey.

The average starting salary among MBA graduates of the program who were employed within three months of graduation was $86,644. That's more than 12 times the average amount of student debt acquired by the school's MBA recipients who borrowed: $7,132, excluding college debt.

The average salary-to-debt ratio among ranked business schools that reported these data to U.S. News was 1.986. But, at the 10 schools where salaries dwarfed debt the most, the average salary-to-debt ratio was 4.368.

Among the 10 schools with the highest salary-to-debt ratios, only one school had a six-figure average starting salary: the Foster School at the University of Washington. At this school, the average starting salary was $111,847, compared with an average debt burden of $32,047.

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[Dive into job rates and starting salaries for MBA grads.]

Five of the 10 MBA programs with the highest salary-to-debt ratios are labeled as Rank Not Published. U.S. News has calculated a rank for each of these programs but has decided not to publish it, since the rank falls in the bottom quarter of ranked full-time MBA programs.

Below is a list of the 10 business schools where average starting salaries for full-time graduates in the class of 2016 were substantially larger than the average amount of MBA student debt among graduates who borrowed. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Business School Compass to find salary and debt data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.

U.S. News surveyed 471 schools for our 2016 survey of business programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Business Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data comes from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The salary and debt data above are correct as of April 25, 2017.

Ilana Kowarski covers graduate schools for U.S. News. You can reach her via email at ikowarski@usnews.com.
Avoid the extremes in these metro areas.

How you take to the weather where you live can be a major factor in how much you enjoy living there. U.S. News went on the hunt for the metro areas -- out of the 100 largest in the U.S. -- with the most moderate temperatures and plenty of sunshine. We used data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information, factoring in the average number of cloudy days and the average number of days above 90 or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Those with the fewest cloudy days and the most balanced temperatures made our list. Read on for Best Places to Live in the U.S. for the Weather.

20. Augusta, Georgia

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 72

Metro Population: 580,178

Median Home Price: $138,259

Median Annual Salary: $42,230

Days Below Freezing: 53

Days Above 90 Degrees: 78

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 218

This northern Georgia metro area rounds out the top 20 with an average of just 53 days below freezing and 78 days hitting 90 degrees or more. Augusta is a fairly popular destination for retirees looking to avoid the high cost of living common in many warm-weather spots farther south.

19. Charlotte, North Carolina

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 14

Metro Population: 2,338,792

Median Home Price: $189,508

Median Annual Salary: $48,370

Days Below Freezing: 64

Days Above 90 Degrees: 45

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 214

The Queen City comes in at No. 19 with fewer hot days than Augusta -- just 45 annually, on average -- and 64 days dropping below freezing.

18. Columbia, South Carolina

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 56

Metro Population: 792,530

Median Home Price: $140,483

Median Annual Salary: $42,200

Days Below Freezing: 55

Days Above 90 Degrees: 77

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 218

Between Charlotte and Augusta on a map you'll find Columbia, our next great place to live for the weather. With a similar number of cold and hot days to Augusta, Columbia sees a little more rainfall in summer and fall. But the city has slightly drier winters and springs compared to Augusta, making the two fairly comparable in terms of weather.

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17. Little Rock, Arkansas

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 38

Metro Population: 722,684

Median Home Price: $152,267

Median Annual Salary: $42,530

Days Below Freezing: 55

Days Above 90 Degrees: 75

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 219

Moving west but remaining in the south, Arkansas' capital city typically has 55 days with lows below 32 degrees and 75 days above 90 degrees throughout the year. With 219 days of clear or partly cloudy skies, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy the weather in Little Rock.

16. Memphis, Tennessee

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 93

Metro Population: 1,340,336

Median Home Price: $153,641

Median Annual Salary: $41,880

Days Below Freezing: 53

Days Above 90 Degrees: 68

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 214

Located along the Mississippi River in southwestern Tennessee, Memphis offers residents an average of 53 days that hit a low temperature below freezing and 68 days that peak above 90 degrees.

15. Greenville, South Carolina

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 29

Metro Population: 852,631

Median Home Price: $155,478

Median Annual Salary: $41,010

Days Below Freezing: 61

Days Above 90 Degrees: 40

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 221

Located in the northwestern portion of South Carolina, Greenville enjoys milder weather partly due to its proximity to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Of the 221 days residents can spot some sun throughout the year, a little over half are clear days, with an average of 100 partly cloudy days.

14. Birmingham, Alabama

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 90

Metro Population: 1,138,476

Median Home Price: N/A

Median Annual Salary: $45,590

Days Below Freezing: 51

Days Above 90 Degrees: 61

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 210

Birmingham comes in at No. 14 with a decent number of both hot and cold days, though residents experience, on average, 10 more days above 90 degrees throughout the year than they endure nights below 32 degrees. With 155 completely cloudy days out of the year, Birmingham residents typically see just 99 fully clear days annually.

12. Modesto, California

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 99

Metro Population: 791,252

Median Home Price: $236,235

Median Annual Salary: $44,047

Days Below Freezing: 22

Days Above 90 Degrees: 82

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 261

Tied at No. 12 with its neighbor Stockton, California, Modesto enjoys a good deal of days above 90 degrees, with 82 hot days a year, on average. But cold nights are far less frequent. The Modesto area typically hits freezing temperatures or below 22 days throughout the year.

12. Stockton

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 98

Metro Population: 708,554

Median Home Price: $288,421

Median Annual Salary: $45,330

Days Below Freezing: 22

Days Above 90 Degrees: 82

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 261

Similar in population size to Modesto, neighboring Stockton takes the other half of the No. 12 spot for the Best Place to Live for the Weather. With an average of only 104 cloudy days per year, residents are lucky enough to enjoy some sun more than 70 percent of the year.

11. Sacramento, California

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 66

Metro Population: 2,221,525

Median Home Price: $323,833

Median Annual Salary: $53,340

Days Below Freezing: 18

Days Above 90 Degrees: 73

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 265

A bit milder on both the cold and hot ends of the spectrum, Sacramento is about 75 miles north of Stockton and Modesto. The Northern California metro area -- and state's capital city -- averages 265 clear or partly cloudy days per year.

10. San Juan, Puerto Rico

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 100

Metro Population: 2,263,582

Median Home Price: N/A

Median Annual Salary: $29,050

Days Below Freezing: 0

Days Above 90 Degrees: 65

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 276

Puerto Rico's capital city rounds out the top 10 with 65 days hitting above 90 degrees, but no days dipping below freezing temperatures. San Juan's location in the Caribbean means it has an elevated risk of storms during hurricane season. But those storms certainly aren't the whole story, as the San Juan area averages 276 clear or partly cloudy days annually.

9. Atlanta

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 50

Metro Population: 5,535,837

Median Home Price: $194,856

Median Annual Salary: $49,430

Days Below Freezing: 44

Days Above 90 Degrees: 43

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 217

Atlanta gets some cool nights and its fair share of hot days, but those almost completely cancel each other out across an entire year. With an average of 149 cloudy days per year, Georgia's capital has more gloomy days than others on the list, but the sun is certainly present most days.

8. Tulsa, Oklahoma

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 59

Metro Population: 962,676

Median Home Price: $148,788

Median Annual Salary: $43,730

Days Below Freezing: 76

Days Above 90 Degrees: 73

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 235

The first of two Oklahoma metro areas on the list, Tulsa comes in at No. 8 with a difference of just three days between the average nights dipping below freezing and average days peaking at 90 degrees or above.

7. Washington, D.C.

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 4

Metro Population: 5,949,403

Median Home Price: $371,772

Median Annual Salary: $65,910

Days Below Freezing: 68

Days Above 90 Degrees: 35

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 202

Getting both the cold of winter and the blistering heat of summer, the District of Columbia has just enough balance that residents can find something to complain about in all seasons. The nation's capital is also the northernmost metro area to make the list, though it doesn't experience quite as many below-freezing lows as the place that takes the No. 6 spot.

6. Oklahoma City

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 36

Metro Population: 1,318,408

Median Home Price: $149,646

Median Annual Salary: $44,280

Days Below Freezing: 76

Days Above 90 Degrees: 71

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 235

While Oklahoma City experiences plenty of of cold nights and hot days, a near-even balance between the two makes either extreme seem more tolerable from a full-year view. Of those 235 days where residents see at least some sun, 139 of those, on average, are completely clear.

5. Los Angeles

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 88

Metro Population: 18,388,091

Median Home Price: $487,716

Median Annual Salary: $51,766

Days Below Freezing: 0

Days Above 90 Degrees: 21

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 263

Not the only SoCal metro area on the list, Los Angeles averages just 103 cloudy days per year. With no nights of freezing temperatures and 21 days over 90 degrees, the City of Angels makes for a great place to enjoy warm weather without extremes.

4. Honolulu

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 46

Metro Population: 984,178

Median Home Price: $511,600

Median Annual Salary: $49,320

Days Below Freezing: 0

Days Above 90 Degrees: 24

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 271

That tropical vacation wasn't too good to be true -- Hawaii's weather really is that nice all the time. Honolulu's island location is the perfect spot if you want to avoid freezing lows at night and experience few days above 90 degrees.

2. San Jose, California

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 3

Metro Population: 1,925,706

Median Home Price: $829,792

Median Annual Salary: $78,620

Days Below Freezing: 0

Days Above 90 Degrees: 2

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 260

Tied for second place due to its close proximity to a Bay Area neighbor, San Jose averages only two days above 90 degrees per year and doesn't experience freezing temperatures at all. It's no wonder the city is the capital of Silicon Valley -- tech startups can't resist the ideal weather.

2. San Francisco

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 16

Metro Population: 4,528,894

Median Home Price: $700,875

Median Annual Salary: $66,900

Days Below Freezing: 0

Days Above 90 Degrees: 2

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 260

Known for its rolling fog, it may come as a surprise that San Francisco comes in at No. 2 on the list. But that fog often burns off by the afternoon -- and 260 days out of the year, on average, are clear or partly cloudy.

1. San Diego

Best Places 2017 Ranking: 22

Metro Population: 3,223,096

Median Home Price: $484,625

Median Annual Salary: $54,210

Days Below Freezing: 0

Days Above 90 Degrees: 3

Mean Number of Clear or Partly Cloudy Days: 263

With no freezing days and just an average of three days over 90 degrees, San Diego tops our list of the Best Place to Live for the Weather. And with just 102 cloudy days per year on average, you'll be spending plenty of time on the beach enjoying the blue skies and sunshine.
The 8-year-old daughter of a police officer slain in the line of duty showed an incredible amount of kindness when she picked up the tab for a New Jersey cop at a restaurant where she was dining with her mom.

Read: Widow of Slain Officer Gives Birth to Baby Boy Months After Husband's Death

Mikayla Raji, 8, was with her mom Mimi Jimenez-Raji at the Helmetta Township eatery when they spotted Officer Joseph Quinn picking up dinner.

He engaged in conversation with the little girl [and] unbeknownst to him, the little girl [] wanted to buy him dinner, Chief James Craparotta of the Jamesburg Police Department told InsideEdition.com. Mom agreed, and quietly went and paid for the dinner without the officer knowing.

When the waiter refused to tell Quinn who had covered his bill, he used diligent police work to discover it was indeed Mikayla.

That was when he also discovered Mikayla was the daughter of Thomas Raji, a Perth Amboy police officer who was killed in 2008 when a drunk driver broadsided his cruiser.

Mikayla wasnt even born yet. Mikaylas mom was seven months pregnant at the time, Craparotta said. This was just such a kind gesture by such a sweet little girl, that we felt like we needed to do something to pay-it-forward.

The following day, their department decided to put together a GoFundMe page to raise money for her education as a way of banding together and supporting her in the place of their fallen brother in blue.

She said that her favorite store is Barnes & Noble, so she likes to read... I think shes a pretty good student and I think shes going to go far, Craparotta said.

Read: Moms Donate Breast Milk to 4-Month-Old Baby After Police Officer Mom Is Slain in Line of Duty

They also reached out to her to invite her to lead the Memorial Day parade in their town, as a way to honor her fallen father.

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Shes real excited about that, he explained. She has a great deal of pride that her dad and her mom were both police officers. She supports the police and shes just feels like were a part of her life  its part of her family.

Watch: 8-Year-Old Daughter of Slain Cop Gets Police Escort to School: 'She Has 50 Uncles for the Rest of Her Life'

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By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma said on Tuesday the Internet should be a utility available to the whole world, putting his weight behind a U.N. call for e-commerce to boost developing economies and help fight poverty. Ma, who advises the United Nations trade and development agency UNCTAD on small business and young entrepreneurs, was the star attraction at a conference on e-commerce for development. "The Internet should be treated as a utility and should be treated also as the infrastructure of global development," he said. "Everything will be online and everything online will have data. And data will be the energy for innovation." UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said he and Ma would meet in Kigali in July with 10 African presidents and young entrepreneurs, aiming to persuade the politicians of their responsibility to help their young populations realise their potential. Ma said his first trip to Africa would focus on e-commerce payment to support inclusive and sustainable development, as well as education and environmental protection. Ma, a Chinese citizen, said he would bring a big group of Chinese business leaders looking for business opportunities and partnership in Africa. He said Alibaba Group Holding Ltd had created 33 million jobs in China because each small business online could create at least three jobs. He met U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in January and said the firm would create a million U.S. jobs. Earlier, a group of developing countries launched a roadmap for using e-commerce to drive growth, narrow the digital divide and help poorer countries develop. Argentina's Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra said she hoped the World Trade Organization would agree a new e-commerce mandate at a meeting in Buenos Aires in December. Pakistan's Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said only half the world's population would be online by year end - 40 percent in the developing world and 15 percent in poorer countries. "The offline population in developing countries is mostly poor, female, elderly, less educated and in rural areas," he said. Issues such as data protection and taxation of crossbred online purchases must be worked out, he said, but e-commerce could be "a bulwark against the negative effects of globalisation". The developing world needed a voice, he said, comparing a small group of internet giants, such as Amazon, e-Bay and Alibaba, to the veto-wielding nations of the U.N. Security Council. (Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Dakar (AFP) - Almost 30 people have died in two boat accidents in Senegal and The Gambia, neighbouring west African nations with poor maritime safety records.

Twenty-one people, most of them women, were killed on Monday night when a traditional flat-bottomed boat overturned off Bettenty, a central Senegal island area, with 72 on board, said Commander Oumar Kane, a senior Senegalese firefighting official.

All except two present were women, and another 51 people had been rescued, he added.

Bettenty lies in the Saloum delta where such boats, known as pirogues, are often used for travelling between the mangroves and from one islet to another.

The boat capsized as the women were on their way to look for seafood, and the incident occurred in a coastal area well known for delicacies like oysters, where tourists flock in large numbers.

The second incident took place on Monday night in the River Gambia, the waterway which splices tiny Gambia almost into two, said police spokesman Foday Conta in Banjul.

"Eight fishermen died yesterday night after their boat capsized," he told AFP.

"Their boat capsized in the river between the villages of Diabugu and Tabajang in the Upper River Region of the country. They were on board a fishing canoe," Conta added.

The Gambia is a sliver of a nation that sits entirely surrounded by its larger neighbour, Senegal.

Reporting on the incident in Senegal, L'Observateur daily said the boat had capsized in high winds, while other newspapers said it had foundered because it was overloaded. Senegalese radio station RFM said some of the women were pregnant.

Meanwhile Senegal's official APS news agency reported that Fisheries Minister Oumar Gueye was en route to the site of the tragedy to present the government's condolences.

- Echos of Joola -

Several Senegalese papers recalled the Joola tragedy of 2002 when a ferry sank during a storm, killing more than 1,800 people in what was one of the world's worst-ever maritime disasters.

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In that incident, the ferry was licensed to hold just 580 people, including crew, but investigators found it was carrying well over 2,000 when it went down while passing the Gambian coast.

Only 64 people were rescued.

Boat accidents in both nations are often deadly as fishermen and ordinary citizens use canoes or makeshift boats to travel but often lack lifejackets, while many cannot swim.
Amazons retail website is currently facing a nationwide outage. Areas that are majorly affected include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Diego on the West Coast and New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., on the East Coast.

The retail giants website seems to have gone down in parts of major cities such as Richmond in Virginia, Nashville in Tennessee, Tampa in Florida, Houston, Denver, Chicago and Minneapolis.

While the company is yet to acknowledge the issue, customers have taken to social media to complain.

Some customers said they are unable to access Amazons video platform as well.

Many customers said this was the first time ever they had seen the website down.

Customers reported a variety of errors. While some were directed to a page saying, Sorry, something went wrong at our end or Website temporarily unavailable, others received an Error 503 message. Error 503 is an HTTP status code, which means that the websites server is not available.

Many customers compared the outage with the Amazon Web Services disruption in February and took down a bunch of website including Audible, Quora and Netflix.

The company later stated the error had occurred due to one of the companys staffers entering a wrong code in one of its subsystems, which took down all subsystems.

The cause of the current outage was not known as of 3:18 a.m. EDT.

This is a developing story.

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As he approaches his 100th day in office, Donald Trump does not have many achievements or much support. Fewer than 42 percent of Americans approve of his job performance, the lowest level of support of any president at this point in his administration  lower even than Gerald Fords numbers after pardoning Richard Nixon. But he is benefiting from two trends. First, his base still loves him; his approval rating among Republicans is, Im sorry to say, 84 percent.

The second trend is harder to discern, and it cant be reduced to numbers, but I am convinced it is real. I refer to the countrys growing acceptance of the unacceptable.

People adjust to any situation, no matter how bizarre or abnormal. An alien landing on Earth would be yuge news, to use Trumps favorite word, but alien landings every day would quickly become ho-hum. So it is with the outlandish occupant of the Oval Office  he is increasingly being treated as a normal president even though he is anything but.

What was once unthinkable is now unremarkable. There is now a tendency, even among many of my Never Trump friends, to shrug their shoulders at his latest shenanigans. It is simply too difficult to stay outraged nonstop for 100 days, much less for 1,461 days  the length of one presidential term. Trump continues to say and do things that are, by any reasonable standard, egregious, but we notice his offenses less and less because they are such a frequent occurrence.

A few recent examples, big and small, illustrate the point.

Trump all but endorsed Marine Le Pen for president of France, telling The Associated Press that a terrorist attack in Paris will probably help her because she is the strongest on borders and she is the strongest on whats been going on in France. He had not one word of censure for Le Pen in spite of her partys long history of anti-Semitism, racism, anti-Americanism, pro-Putinism, and Holocaust denial. Trumps statement did not appreciably help Le Pen, who finished second behind the centrist Emmanuel Macron, and it may even have hurt her. But it is inconceivable that any previous president would have offered words of praise for such a fringe figure who is, according to one of her own former advisors, surrounded by real Nazis.

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 Trump has been outspoken in praising cruel dictators. He rolled out the red carpet for Egypts Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, praising this tyrant, who is overseeing mass torture and mass detentions, for having done a fantastic job in a very difficult situation, and saying he has the strong backing of the United States. Trump did manage to win the release of an American citizen who was held unjustly in Egyptian prison for three years, but he has nothing to say about the many other innocents locked up and abused by Sisi.

Even worse, Trump called Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on his victory in a rigged referendum that was widely seen as the death knell for Turkish democracy. The U.S. State Department noted that the vote was marred by irregularities and an uneven playing field, but Trump was silent regarding these abuses. You would have to go back to the Nixon administration to find any precedent for an American president offering such unambiguous support for human rights violations and the destruction of democracy.

 While expressing support for foreign demagogues, Trump consistently criticizes Americas staunchest allies. Just last week, he said Canadas measures to support its dairy industry were a disgrace, as if the United States didnt engage in its own market-distorting agricultural subsidies, and added, Were not going to let Canada take advantage [of the United States]. Now hes imposing 20 percent tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports. This comes after he had picked fights with other allied leaders, from Mexico to Australia.

 Trump hosted a motley crew  including Kid Rock, Sarah Palin, and Ted Nugent  for dinner on April 19 at the White House, during which they posed for a disrespectful selfie in front of Hillary Clintons official portrait as first lady. The real problem, however, was inviting Ted Nugent at all. This is the same Ted Nugent, after all, who referred to former President Barack Obama as a subhuman mongrel and a piece of shit; who called former Secretary of State Clinton a toxic cunt and a worthless bitch; who said Obama and Clinton should be tried for treason & hung; who said, Id like to shoot them dead, in reference to undocumented immigrants; and who claimed there is a Jewish conspiracy to push gun control. Any one of these comments would have disqualified Nugent from stepping foot into any other White House. Trump, however, spent four hours squiring Nugent and his other guests around the executive mansion.

 Trump continues to be a conflict-of-interest disaster area. Not only has Trump himself recently won coveted trademarks from China, but so has his daughter Ivanka, who is a senior aide to her father in arguable violation of an anti-nepotism law. Both the Trump Organization and Ivanka Trump Marks LLC continue to expand their activities around the world, doing business with companies closely tied to foreign regimes. As the AP notes, The commercial currents of President Donald Trumps White House are unprecedented in modern American politics, ethics lawyers say.

 Trump casually bragged in his AP interview that his TV ratings on CBSs Face the Nation  or, as he prefers to call it, Deface the Nation  are the highest since the World Trade Center came down. Coming from any other president, this insensitive comment would have caused days of news coverage; coming from Trump, its barely noticed.

The problem with the Trump administration, just as with the Trump campaign, is that the outrages come so fast and furious that there is hardly any time to digest any of them before we are on to the next one. As a result, the public becomes numb to what is happening.

This apathy is especially damaging when it comes to Kremlingate  the ties between Trump and Vladimir Putin, who, evidence suggests, intervened in the U.S. election to help elect him. Troubling new connections continue to come to light. Just recently, for example, we learned that the Trump inaugural committee accepted $1 million from Alexander Shustorovich, who is, as the Wall Street Journal notes, a Russian-American businessman whose business dealings and relationships with top Russian officials and state-owned companiesdealings that prompted the U.S. to refuse to allow him to be part of a uranium deal two decades ago, on national-security groundsled the Republican National Committee to return a $250,000 check from him in 2000.

Yet the Shutorovich donation was not noted until the sixth paragraph of the Journal story and was generally ignored by the rest of the news media. Just as little attention has been paid to other Trump-Kremlin connections  such as the secret meetings that Erik Prince, Blackwater founder and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, had in January with Russian representatives in the Seychelles. The Trump campaign claims that Prince was not part of the transition; the Boston Globe has assembled compelling evidence that the White House is lying.

Countless other Trump-Kremlin links cry out for investigation, and there is scant reason to think that the Republican-controlled intelligence committees in the House and Senate will be up to the job. There is an obvious need to appoint a special counsel and/or a bipartisan, 9/11-style committee, but that will never happen absent a lot more public pressure than has been evident to date.

Trump doesnt have much support, it is true, but the failure among his many critics to mobilize and maintain a higher level of indignation is letting him get away with his offenses against good taste, sound policy, ethical norms, and possibly even the law itself.

Photo credit: MATTHEW BUSCH/Getty Images
Video surfaced Friday of a tearful mother allegedly distraught after her baby was nearly hit with a double-wide stroller by a male American Airlines flight attendant on a Dallas-bound flight from San Francisco.

Tony Fierro, a Dallas resident who can be seen leaving his window seat to defend the woman and confront the flight attendant, talked with local media about the incident. In the video, Fierro repeatedly requests the name of the male flight attendant in question and then later goes face-to-face with the flight attendant. "You do that to me and I'll knock you flat," Fierro told the flight attendant before making his way to him.

The flight attendant is then seen pointing his finger at Fierro, telling him to "stay out of this." The flight attendant then dares Fierro to hit him while both are in the aisle, saying "try it" and "come on, hit me."

"A baby almost got hurt. That's what just fired me up, so that was it. I don't want to make a big deal about it," Fierro told WFAA, an ABC affiliate in Dallas.

WFAA also spoke with Surain Adyanthaya, who filmed the incident and posted it in on Facebook. Adyanthaya wrote on Facebook that the altercation started when the flight attendant violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby.

"He was very upset, Adyanthaya said of the flight attendant. He grabbed it and just pulled it off, sort of violently yanked it, and then stormed off the plane with it.

Read: Is United's Brand Damaged Forever? Airline Must Prove Its Worth After Passenger Dragging Video

The woman ultimately chose to board another flight and was upgraded to first class, Reuters reported Sunday. The airline suspended the flight attendant and issued a formal apology to the woman in a statement.

"We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers. We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident. We are making sure all of her family's needs are being met while she is in our care. After electing to take another flight, we are taking special care of her and her family and upgrading them to first class for the remainder of their international trip. "The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions. The American team member has been removed from duty while we immediately investigate this incident."

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Bob Ross, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), released a separate statement about the incident.

"There are really two stories here related to this incident aboard a San Francisco to Dallas flight. One, we dont know all of the facts related to a passenger who became distraught while boarding a plane and therefore neither the company nor the public should rush to judgment," Ross said. "Second, it appears another passenger may have threatened a Flight Attendant with violence, which is a violation of federal law and no small matter. ... We must obtain the full facts surrounding these incidents. Our passengers and the Flight Attendants deserve nothing less."

American Airlines

Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

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The former star of TV's The Bachelor is being held behind bars after cops say he fled the scene of a fatal car crash.

Read: New Video Shows Dr. David Dao Boarding United Flight Before Being Dragged Off

Chris Soules, 35, wore a green prison jump suit and orange flip flops to go before a judge after being charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing death.

The fatal wreck happened at 8:20 p.m. Monday night in Aurora, Iowa. Soules was driving his 2008 Chevy pickup when cops say he rear-ended a John Deere tractor. Both vehicles went flying into a ditch.

The reality star allegedly fled the scene on foot, state police said. The driver of the tractor was identified as a 66-year-old local man, Kenneth Mosher.

Mosher was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities say Soules was in possession of alcoholic beverages and containers. However, he was not charged with drunk driving.

Soules, a farmer from Iowa, was one of the most popular "Bachelors" ever. He was dubbed "Prince Farming when he appeared on Season 19 of the show in 2015.

At the show's finale, he proposed to Chicago nurse Whitney Bischoff. The engagement lasted six months before they split. He later appeared on Dancing With the Stars.

The Buchanan County Sheriffs Office said Soules bail has been set at $10,000.

Read: After Getting Perfect Score, 'Glee' Star Heather Morris Sent Home From 'Dancing With the Stars'

His rep told Inside Edition that Soules was devastated to hear the man on the tractor passed away," adding that "his thoughts and prayers are with the man's family."

Watch: Soccer Coach Arrested After Allegedly Fathering 15-Year-Old Former Player's Baby

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Ex-con-turned-model Jeremy Meeks was barred from entering England and turned away at Heathrow Airport Tuesday as he arrived for a photo shoot.

Read: 'Hot Mugshot Guy' Makes Runway Debut at New York Fashion Week

Meeks, 33, who rose to fame as the hot convict in 2014 due to his attractive mugshot, was photographed looking upset after he was told he could not enter the country.

Meeks had flown to London for a fashion shoot, but was turned away after officials there apparently learned about his criminal history.

I've been denied," the model said on social media as he walked through the airport. "London don't want me here. I done served my time. S*** is crazy. Don't make no sense."

"We went into the U.K. and went through immigration and they detained Jeremy," his manager, Jim Jordan, told the DailyMail.com. "He wasn't arrested but they deported him out of the country. They wouldn't let him come into the country."

The DailyMail.com obtained images of Meeks looking forlorn and dejected in Heathrow as he was about to be deported.

Read: Royal Pain: Runner Sprays Prince William With Water During London Marathon

He was released from prison in 2016 after serving time for gun-related charges and immediately embarked on a successful modeling career. He made his runway debut at New York Fashion Week in February.

Watch: Holocaust Survivor With No Family Celebrates 92nd Birthday With Dozens of Guests, Including Supermodel Bar Refaeli

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Hold on to your hats  or give them some time, because the fifth untitled Indiana Jones movie will be strolling into theaters in 2020. That's one year later than planned  it's an election year, if you can even imagine such a thing.

SEE ALSO: The end is near for cinema. Go to the movies while there's still time

The latest Indiana Jones project with Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford was originally slated for July 19, 2019, but is now scheduled for July 10, 2020 (Jon Favreau's The Lion King took over the 2019 date). On the film's release date, Ford will be just shy of his 78th birthday.

Little is known yet about the fifth installment in the series besides Ford's return (Shia LaBeouf is mysteriously absent from any press releases thus far). Based on that and The Force Awakens and the upcoming Blade Runner sequel, there's a solid theory out there that the curmudgeonly actor is killing off his most iconic characters.

Because nostalgia is king, expect Indiana Jones 5 to pay homage to the originals and to Spielberg and Ford's collaboration history. Personally I'm still holding out for justice for Short Round and probably will be until I die.

WATCH: How Indiana Jones barely survived development hell
If there is such a thing as a Trump Effect in European politics, its not unfolding quite the way that Europes liberals had feared.

No stampede of dark horses from the nationalist fringe has come trampling across the European Union. No other countries have yet followed the British to the exit. Instead, the leaders of the right seem to be suffering one setback after another, which is all the more remarkable given how confident they felt just a few months ago.

On Jan. 21, the day after Donald Trumps inauguration, the leaders of Europes main right-wing parties gathered in the German city of Koblenz to celebrate the return of nationalism to both American and European politics. The headliner at their summit was Marine Le Pen, the leader of Frances National Front, who declared from the stage that, Were living through the death of one world and the birth of a new world.

She spoke too soon. Out of the four party leaders who shared that stage in Koblenz, two have since faced humbling defeats. The Dutch politician Geert Wilders saw his nativist Party for Freedom roundly beaten by the pro-E.U. incumbents in an election held last month. His allies in the right-wing Alternative for Germany have meanwhile seen a drop in the polls so steep that their chairwoman, Frauke Petry, announced last week that she would not lead the party into the German elections due this fall.

By comparison, Le Pen has fared better - though not nearly as well as shed hoped. Her second-place finish on Sunday in the French presidential race earned her 21.4% of the vote, enough for her to enter the second round of the elections, which will be held on May 7. But the result was more than three percentage points weaker than her partys tally during the European Parliamentary elections held in 2014.

So what exactly happened to the revolutionary wave Le Pen and the others had promised in Koblenz? In some ways the conditions for it are still in place. The French elections, much like Trumps victory in November and the Brexit referendum in June, demonstrated that voters across the Western world are fed up with the political establishment. Neither of Frances two mainstream parties made it into the second round, and the first-place finisher, Emmanuel Macron, had never run for office before.

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Also working in Le Pens favor is the fact that xenophobia and, in particular, a deep aversion to immigration from the Muslim world, are still driving the debate in European politics, just as they did in the U.S. during the Trump campaign and the U.K. ahead of Brexit. In a survey published in February by Chatham House, an average of 55% of respondents in ten E.U. countries agreed that all further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped. Only a fifth of respondents disagreed with this statement.

And if such feelings are combined with the E.U.s aging population, idling economy and high unemployment, it sets the stage nicely for right-wing populists to attract mass support, or even take power, on the backs of voters fed up with the status quo. What the nationalists seem to be missing in Western Europe is the skill and the charisma to seize on these opportunities.

Just take Austria. Much like in France over the weekend, the Austrian presidential elections last fall saw the two establishment parties both knocked out of the race during the first round of voting. The two run-off candidates in Austria were both outsiders one from the far-right Freedom Party, the other linked to the left-wing Greens and the campaign centered around the issue of illegal immigration, where the Freedom Partys Norbert Hofer had the clear advantage. But in the end he was defeated by 73-year-old Alexander Van der Bellen, whose liberal, centrist campaign had all the razzle-dazzle of a civics lecture.

According to most polls and projections, Le Pen is now headed for the same sort of disappointment. It would not be her partys first. During the French presidential ballot in 2002, her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the National Front, also made it to the run-off vote on a platform laced with xenophobia. But the prospect of him winning the presidency so horrified the French electorate that the elder Le Pen ended up with less than 18% in the final round.

There is still a chance that his daughter will fare better. But so far, the closest thing to a discernible Trump Effect in Europe has served to weaken support for Le Pen and her fellow travelers on the right. Once Europeans had gotten a chance to observe the Trump campaign and see how the Brexit referendum was playing out, enthusiasm for the E.U. went up across the bloc, according to a survey published in November by Germanys Bertelsmann Foundation.

Meanwhile, a grassroots movement in support of European liberalism with its core values of inclusiveness, tolerance and open borders has found its voice across Western Europe, routinely filling city squares with massive demonstrations against right-wing populism.

One of this movements biggest shows of force took place outside of the Alternative for Germanys annual convention this weekend in Cologne. Tens of thousands of protestors came out against the partys illiberal message, bringing the city center to a standstill and dwarfing even the biggest rallies that Germanys anti-immigration forces have recently been able to attract. It seemed a fitting illustration of the partys electoral outlook. After peaking at about 15% in the polls last year, it has dropped as low as 7% under Petrys leadership in recent weeks. So her decision to step aside makes sense. Doing otherwise would risk stumbling toward yet another defeat - not just for her, but for the new world her movement supposedly helped represent.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Intuition. Its that voice in the back of your head telling you that you should bring a raincoat or umbrella. Its that sinking feeling you have in the pit of your stomach when feeling that youve been betrayed. Its the instant connection that you have with your best friend. Its that hunch that you should make that investment or take a business risk .

Intuition has long been studied. From Aristotle to Carl Jungs groundbreaking studies in the early 20th Century. More recently, intuition has been linked to successful executive management and been favored by successful individuals like Steve Jobs, who said , Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. Thats had a big impact on my work.

However, intuition also has a bad reputation. Dr. Gerd Gigerenzer, a German social psychologist and director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, told The New York Times that is because it is not thought to be rational. That can be a problem in some situations, that demands too much information. Plus, its slow.

Dr. Gigerenzer adds, When a person relies on their gut feelings and uses the instinctual rule of thumb go with your first best feeling and ignore everything else, it can permit them to outperform the most complex calculations.

A gut feeling, Dr. Gigerenzer says, is a judgment that is fast. It comes quickly into a persons consciousness. The person doesnt know why they have this feeling. Yet, this is strong enough to make an individual act on it. What a gut instinct is not is a calculation. You do not fully know where it comes from.

Despite the misconceptions, intuition is beneficial. Its a form of intelligence that allows you to understand and use information that will guide you throughout life .In fact, Bruce Kasanoff makes the argument in Forbes that intuition, is in fact, the highest form of intelligence.

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Sometimes, a corporate mandate or group-think or your desire to produce a certain outcome can cause your rational mind to go in the wrong direction. At times like these, it is intuition that holds the power to save you, writes Kasanoff.

That bad feeling gnawing away at you is your intuition telling you that no matter how badly you might wish to talk yourself into this direction, it is the wrong way to go.

Smart people listen to those feelings, concludes Kasanoff. And the smartest people among us - the ones who make great intellectual leaps forward - cannot do this without harnessing the power of intuition.

How Intuition Enhances Your Life

There is a growing body of anecdotal evidence, combined with solid research efforts, that suggests intuition is a critical aspect of how we humans interact with our environment and how, ultimately, we make many of our decisions, Ivy Estabrooke, a program manager at the Office of Naval Research, told the New York Times in 2012 .But, what exactly do intuitive people do differently and how does that enhance their lives?

They listen to their inner voice, instead of ignoring it. Slow down, spend some time by yourself, and listen to that voice in the back of your head. We often make our best decisions when we balance our instincts and rational thinking.

They practice empathetic accuracy. This means that they can read others body language and tone of voice to understand their thoughts and feelings. Its an effective way to develop more meaningful relationships.

They create .  Creativity does its best work when it functions intuitively, writes researcher and author Carla Woolf .

They practice mindfulness.  Mindfulness can help you filter out the mental chatter, weigh your options objectively, tune into your intuition and ultimately make a decision that you can stand behind completely, explains the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute .

They trust their gut. Theres a reason why we refer to intuition as a gut feeling. Sometimes our body is telling us that somethings wrong. We either feel sick to our stomachs or still to get clammy. Dont ignore your Spidey senses. Theyre telling you that something isnt right.

They analyze their dreams. While some dreams are nonsense, there are plenty of other dreams that are trying to tell us something. Dont dismiss these dreams. The ask, Where did this dream come from? and What can I take away from it?

They let go of negative emotions. Your intuition can fail when youre depressed or angry. And, those negative emotions arent good for your health or productivity as well. Those who are intuitive, however, are able to accept and let go of these emotions.

Make no mistake about it. Intuition is a powerful part of our intelligence that can assist us in making better decisions.

Tips to Harness the Power of Intuition

Thankfully, intuition is something that we can turn up by following these tips:

What is your gut feeling? When making a decision, youre probably going to be competing with your thoughts and your gut. Instead of overthinking or overanalyzing the situation, consider how you feel about making this decision, as opposed to thinking about it. Keep in mind that when listening to your gut you should be calm.

Inside or outside? Are there outside forces, your family, friends, or colleagues, pushing you in a certain direction? Thats not always a bad thing. But, remember, these outside forces always have an agenda, so take their advice with caution. Unlike your inner sense that always has your best interest at heart without an agenda attached.

Keep a journal . Writing your thoughts and feelings down on papereven if you think you have little to say  helps the nonconscious mind open up, advises Francis P. Cholle , author of The Intuitive Compass: Why the Best Decisions Balance Reason and Instinct.

Knowing or thinking? I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics, wrote Virgin Group founder Richard Branson in his memoir. I tend to make up my mind about people within thirty seconds of meeting them. In other words, sometimes we just know an answer before being asked and having time to think about.

Silence your inner critic. Allow the inner dialogues to happen without fear or ridicule, writes Cholle.

Remember, your gut feeling could be wrong. While you should listen to your gut or inner voice, there are times when it can be wrong. Before making any rash, risky , or major decisions, make sure that you instincts gel with your thoughts. For instance, you may have the gut feeling that you need to start a business, but youre still going to need to think about your industry, audience, marketing, etc. After your research, you may decide that you need to develop a different business because the one you had wont be profitable.

Image: john rampton

John Rampton is serial entrepreneur who now focuses on helping people to build amazing products and services that scale. He is founder of the online payments company Due. He was recently named #2 on Top 50 Online Influencers in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine. Time Magazine recognized John as a motivational speaker that helps people find a "Sense of Meaning" in their lives. He currently advises several companies in the bay area.

WATCH: This self-proclaimed cyborg turned his prosthetic eye into a tiny camera
(The online version of the April 24 story is refiled to fix byline, and typo in 12th paragraph) By Alister Doyle OSLO, April 25 (Reuters) - The Arctic's quickening thaw is melting the permafrost under buildings and roads from Siberia to Alaska, raising world sea levels and disrupting temperature patterns further south, an international study said on Tuesday. The frigid region's shift to warmer and wetter conditions, resulting in melting ice around the region, may cost the world economy trillions of dollars this century, it estimated. The report by 90 scientists, including United States experts, urged governments with interests in the Arctic to cut greenhouse gas emissions. U.S. President Donald Trump doubts that human activities, led by use of fossil fuels, are the main driver of climate change. "The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth, and rapidly becoming a warmer, wetter and more variable environment," according to the study, which updates scientific findings from 2011. "Increasing greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the primary underlying cause," they wrote in the study commissioned by the Arctic Council grouping the United States, Russia, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland. Arctic warming could have cumulative net costs from 2010-2100 of between $7 trillion and $90 trillion, it said, with harm exceeding benefits such as easier access for oil and gas exploration and shipping, it said. The period 2011-2015 was the warmest since records began in 1900. Sea ice on the Arctic Ocean, which shrank to a record low in 2012, could disappear in summers by the 2030s, earlier than many earlier projections, it said. ACCELERATING MELT "The Arctic is continuing to melt, and it's going faster than expected in 2011," Lars-Otto Reiersen, head of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) which prepared the report, told Reuters. Among signs of harm, thawing permafrost has triggered more landslides at Russia's Bovanenkovo gas field in Siberia. Rare warmth and spring floods closed the highway to Alaska's North Slope oilfields for three weeks in 2015. Further inland in Alaska, though, there have been drier conditions, meaning wildfires were worse there now than at any time in the past 10,000 years, it said. Rising temperatures are threatening livelihoods of indigenous hunters and thinning sea ice vital to wildlife such as polar bears and seals. The Arctic is warming fast partly because snow and ice reflect the sun's faint heat into space. The thaw exposes ever more darker-coloured sea water and ground that absorb more of the sun's heat, in turn accelerating the melt. Walt Meier, a NASA scientist who was among the authors, said there was also new evidence since 2011 that the thickest Arctic sea ice, which survives multiple summers, was breaking up. "Multi-year ice used to be a big consolidated pack. It's almost like a big thick ice cube versus a bunch of crushed ice. When you warm the water, the crushed ice melts a lot quicker," he told Reuters. Among recommendations, the report said Arctic states and those interested in the region "should lead ... global efforts for an early, ambitious and full implementation" of a Paris Agreement in 2015 among almost 200 nations to limit warming. Reiersen at AMAP said that appeal for action was similar to ones issued in the past by Arctic governments. The eight Arctic Council nations are due to hold a meeting of foreign ministers in Fairbanks, Alaska, on May 11. But it is unclear if the scientists' advice will be heeded in the conclusions of the U.S.-led meeting. Trump threatened in his campaign to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and has sometimes tweeted that global warming is a hoax, preferring to bolster the U.S. fossil fuel industry. (Reporting by Alister Doyle; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
(VARNER, Ark.) - Arkansas executed inmate Jack Jones Monday night and prepared for another lethal injection in what would be the nations first double-execution since 2000.

Jones was pronounced dead at 7:20 Monday night, 14 minutes after the procedure began at the states Cummins Unit in southeast Arkansas. There were no apparent complications, and Jones chest stopped moving two minutes after officials checked for consciousness.

Jones, whod argued that his health conditions could lead to a painful death, gave a lengthy last statement. His final words were: Im sorry.

I hope over time you can learn who I really am and I am not a monster, he said in the roughly 2-minute statement.

Inmate Marcel Williams was scheduled to be executed at 8:15 p.m. Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeals.

Jones was sent to death row for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. He was also convicted of attempting to kill Phillips 11-year-old daughter and was convicted in another rape and killing in Florida.

Jones said earlier this month that he was ready for execution. He used a wheelchair and hed had a leg amputated in prison because of diabetes.

The state conducted its first execution last week after a nearly 12-year hiatus. Initially, Gov. Asa Hutchinson scheduled four double executions over an 11-day period in April. The eight executions would have been the most by a state in such a compressed period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The state said the executions needed to be carried out before its supply of midazolam, one lethal injection drug, expires on April 30.

The first three executions were canceled because of court decisions, then inmate Ledell Lee was executed last week.

Williams morbid obesity makes it likely that either the IV line cannot be placed or that it will be placed in error, thus causing substantial damage (like a collapsed lung), his attorneys wrote in a court filing asking justices to block the execution.

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Both men were served last meals on Monday afternoon, Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves said. Jones had fried chicken, potato logs with tartar sauce, beef jerky bites, three candy bars, a chocolate milkshake and fruit punch. Williams had fried chicken, banana pudding, nachos, two sodas and potato logs with ketchup, Graves said.

Before Lees execution Thursday, Arkansas hadnt put an inmate to death since 2005. In several of the 31 states where executions are legal, drug shortages have often forced delays as manufacturers prohibit their use in executions. Arkansas believes that secrecy it grants to suppliers can solve that problem, though it still has difficulty obtaining the drugs. Courts have also forced rewrites of Arkansas lethal injection protocols, causing further delays. Jones and Williams committed their crimes more than two decades ago.

In recent pleadings before state and federal courts, the inmates said the three drugs Arkansas uses to execute prisoners - midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride - could be ineffective because of their poor health.

Jones, 52, lost a leg to diabetes and was on insulin. Williams, 46, weighs 400 pounds, is diabetic and has concerns that the execution team might not be able to find a suitable vein to support an intravenous line.

The poor health of both men, their lawyers claimed, could make it difficult for them to respond during a consciousness check following a megadose of midazolam. The state shouldnt risk giving them drugs to stop their lungs and hearts if they arent unconscious, they have told courts.

In a response filed with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for the state said the inmates had filed an avalanche of lawsuits to obtain stays. The mens attorneys countered that the state forced their hands.

If there was an avalanche of litigation, as the state complains, thats because the state created an avalanche of execution dates, Julie Vandiver wrote.

The last state to put more than one inmate to death on the same day was Texas, which executed two killers in August 2000. Oklahoma planned a double execution in 2014 but scrapped plans for the second one after the execution of Clayton Lockett went awry.

Arkansas executed four men in an eight-day period in 1960. The only quicker pace included quadruple executions in 1926 and 1930.

Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas.

Authorities said Williams abducted and raped two other women in the days before he was arrested in Erricksons death. Williams admitted responsibility to the state Parole Board last month.

I wish I could take it back, but I cant, Williams told the board.

Jones was given the death penalty for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. He strangled her with the cord to a coffee pot.

In a letter earlier this month, Jones said he was ready to be killed by the state.

I forgive my executioners; somebody has to do it, wrote Jones.

The letter, which his attorney read aloud at his clemency hearing, went on to say: I shall not ask to be forgiven, for I havent the right.

Including Jones, eight people have been executed in the United States this year, four in Texas, two in Arkansas and one each in Missouri and Virginia. Last year, 20 people were executed, down from 98 in 1999 and the lowest number since 14 in 1991, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

___

Associated Press writers Jill Bleed contributed to this report from Little Rock.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
By Steve Barnes LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Arkansas carried out back-to-back executions on Monday night, administering lethal injections to two men convicted of rape and murder to become the first U.S. state to put more than one inmate to death on the same day in 17 years. Marcel Williams, 46, was pronounced dead at 10:33 CDT, a little more than three hours after the execution of 52-year-old Jack Jones, according to officials at Cummins Unit prison, about 75 miles southeast of the state capital, Little Rock. The two men were among eight that the state had initially planned to execute over the course of 11 days this month, prompted by the impending expiration date of the state's supplies of midazolam, a sedative used as part of the three-drug protocol. Four of those executions have been put on hold by court order. Jones was convicted of raping and killing Mary Phillips, 34, in 1995 and trying to murder her 11-year-old daughter. He also was convicted of rape and murder in Florida. Williams was convicted of the 1997 kidnapping, rape and murder of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson. He also abducted and raped two other women. Governor Asa Hutchinson said he hoped the executions would bring closure to the victim's families. Williams' execution was temporarily put on hold just minutes before he was scheduled to die by U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in Little Rock, after his lawyers raised concerns that Jones' execution had been botched. In a last-minute appeal, Williams' attorneys claimed Jones was still moving more than five minutes after he received a sedative, midazolam, that is supposed to render inmates unconscious. That description did not appear to match initial observations from reporters witnessing the execution. They described Jones' lips moving after he finished his last words but said there were no signs of distress, according to local media reports. Officials said Williams was in the death chamber and on the gurney when word of the stay arrived. Baker lifted her order around an hour later after holding a brief hearing on the matter, court filings showed. In his final words, Jones apologized to the young girl he left for dead, now a grown woman. "I hope over time you could learn who I really am and I am not a monster," he said, according to reporter witnesses. Williams did not offer any last words, witnesses told local media. They said he may have received more than one dose of midazolam and that he was breathing heavily for a few minutes after the initial injection. The time between the first injection and the pronouncement of death was 17 minutes, officials said. The twin executions followed a flurry of unsuccessful appeals earlier on Monday to the U.S. Supreme Court and the Arkansas Supreme Court. Both Jones and Williams had argued that their obesity put them at heightened risk of pain due to the controversial midazolam, which was previously used in botched executions in Oklahoma and Arizona. The U.S. Supreme Court denied those claims without comment. States with the death penalty have struggled to obtain enough lethal injection drugs, including midazolam, as manufacturers and distributors have increasingly refused to provide supplies for capital punishment. Jones was the second inmate executed in Arkansas since 2005, after the state put Ledell Lee to death last week. Arkansas has scheduled another execution on Thursday. (Writing and additional reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Bill Trott & Simon Cameron-Moore)
An artificial womb that could someday sustain extremely prematurely born infants has managed to keep baby sheep alive for four weeks.

The womb, called a biobag, is a plastic bag filled with fluid to mimic the conditions inside of a uterus. A baby born too early could spend a few weeks in the bag, where tubes from their umbilical cord to an external device would provide oxygen to their blood. After that, the baby would be taken out of the bag and hooked up to a mechanical ventilator, which would help them breathe until they develop sufficiently to breathe on their own.

The technology could someday better support infants born in the middle of the second trimester, as early as 22 or 23 weeks into the pregnancy. Currently, babies born so early have a low chance of surviving  about 50 percent  and the devices that keep them alive can also cause severe and permanent damage.

Dr. Alan Flake, a pediatric and fetal surgeon at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, tested different version of the biobag on prematurely born lambs, the results of which are described this week in Nature Communications.

In the most advanced version of the device, lambs that couldnt live on their own outside of their mother survived for up to four weeks in the bags. After they were delivered, their lungs functioned well  similar to normal lambs of their age, Flake said.

Read more: Surprising study finds possible culprit in preterm births

The duration of support is outstanding, said Dr. George Mychaliska, a pediatric and fetal surgeon at C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital, who has spent the past 10 years researching similar systems, and was not involved in this study. He was able to keep extremely premature lambs alive for one week in a published study, and two weeks in as-of-yet unpublished research.

None of these artificial uterine environments are available to babies in the clinic, and human trials on a device are at least three years away, the scientists estimate.

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A promising, but tricky, technique

Right now, the prospects for extremely premature babies are grim. The best available treatment for babies born with underdeveloped lungs is to put them on a ventilator  a mechanical device that pushes oxygen into their lungs  but those are far from ideal.

We know that even a few hours of that damages the lungs of a 24-week infant, Mychaliska said. Our hands are tied, because in the absence of that, the baby would die. So we accept some lung damage to keep the baby alive.

By contrast, environments that imitate the inside of a uterus continue delivering oxygen to the fetus via the umbilical cord, or directly into the arteries, which could avoid the lung damage.

But challenges have been numerous. Its difficult to stick tubes into the umbilical cords because they shrink when they are exposed to oxygen or perturbed. Artificial uteri can also easily become contaminated with infections, and the fetal heart is weak and sometimes cant handle artificial pumping of blood.

In tests on sheep, Flake first slits open the uterus as if he were performing a caesarean section. Then, he connects an artificial blood-circulation system to the ends of the umbilical cord. Finally, he takes out the tiny lamb, umbilical cord included, and places it into the biobag, which is filled with a brew of electrolytes. The entire process takes about two minutes, he said.

In the most advanced device tested in Flakes study, eight lamb fetuses spent three to four weeks in personal biobags. Then they were taken out of the bags and placed on mechanical ventilators for about 12 hours before being euthanized for study, Flake said. (Some lambs were kept alive longer, but are not part of this study.)

The lambs were killed quickly because the intention of this study was to determine how the lambs developed in the biobag, and Flake didnt want the lambs to grow too much out in the real world.

Human trials on horizon

Whether such an approach would work for human infants  and whether parents would accept it  remains an open question.

Some wonder whether the optics of a baby in a bag might scare off parents.

Ive talked to other practitioners who think that families might not be able to accept that their baby is going to be placed in a bag for four weeks, said Dr. Brian Gray, a pediatric surgeon at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis who was not involved in the study. Its very science fiction-y. Some people might not be able to accept that.

Co-first author Dr. Emily Partridge, a research fellow at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, acknowledged the concern, but said that even though it might look weird, the medical care that infants would be getting in these biobags would be a vast improvement over currently available technology.

Flakes team has patented the device and is in consultation with the Food and Drug Administration to plan a preclinical trial in animals as a prelude to doing a trial in humans. The device that Flake plans to use for that trial is similar to the device discussed in the Nature Communications paper, but not exactly the same. He said that the next animal study should be done in two or three years, and a human trial should start in three years.

Read more: Giving newborns medicine is a dangerous guessing game. Can we make it safer?

And lambs arent a perfect model for humans. Specifically, at the equivalent stage of development, humans are much smaller, and their brains are less well-developed. None of the lambs incubated in the biobag experienced bleeding in the brain  but it might still happen in humans, causing brain damage or death.

No human infants have yet developed in these sorts of artificial uteri. But many lambs have. And at least one has lived to tell the tale.

Its known in Flakes paper only as long-term survivor, and spent 25 days gestating in an earlier version of the biobag, which resembled a large tank. Flake said that one of the researchers in his group developed an emotional attachment to the lamb, so a decision was made to donate the lamb to a farm. Flake declined to disclose the lambs new home, and stressed that the long-term survival of the research subjects was not the purpose of the study.

But somewhere in the fields of Pennsylvania, a biobag-grown lamb is gamboling among its wild cousins  a futuristic thought indeed.
Stock markets mostly rose Tuesday following the previous session's record runs triggered by the first-round result of France's presidential election.

Gains were strongest in the US, where the Nasdaq surged above 6,000 for the first time and the blue-chip Dow index jumped more than one percent following several strong earnings reports from big companies.

The increases were more modest among European equity indices, while the euro reached its highest level so far of 2017 against the dollar.

Global shares had soared Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron topped the initial vote and looked well on course to beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the May 7 run-off.

"Markets have continued their push higher from yesterday, although at a much more relaxed pace," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG trading group.

"The immediate impact of Macron's first-round success is wearing off, but the relief is still palpable among investors."

The outlook also improved for the euro currency, which no longer looks vulnerable to a so-called Frexit threatened by Le Pen.

"The risk of both the euro zone and the broader European Union unraveling dissipated in a meaningful way with centrist Emmanuel Macron finishing first in last week's preliminary election and projected to take the next and final round of voting on May 7," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions.

In the US, gains were propelled in part by strong earnings with three Dow members posting strong advances after reporting solid earnings. Industrial giant Caterpillar surged 7.9 percent, DuPont 3.6 percent and McDonald's 5.6 percent.

Analysts also have been heartened by talk in recent days from the White House touting news of a long-awaited tax cut plan, with President Donald Trump expected to release details on Wednesday.

- Key figures at 2100 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 20,996.12 (close)

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New York - S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 2,388.61 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.7 percent at 6,025.49 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 7,275.64 points (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.1 percent at 12,467.04 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 5,277.88 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 3,583.16

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.1 percent at 19,079.33 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.3 percent at 24,455.94 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,134.57 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0934 from $1.0867 at 2100 GMT

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2835 from $1.2793

Dollar/yen: UP at 111.12 yen from 109.78 yen

Oil - Brent North Sea: UP 50 cents at $52.10 per barrel

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 33 cents at $49.56 per barrel

burs-jmb/hs
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Automakers on Tuesday urged the state of California to further ease its proposed regulations for autonomous vehicles, saying the state did not respond to their earlier objections by making enough revisions to its planned set of rules for self-driving cars. At a public hearing in Sacramento monitored via webcast, automakers urged California to drop some additional proposed regulations and leave much of the oversight to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But safety and consumer advocates urged the state to adopt strict oversight, and an official from San Francisco said cities should have more local control. A number of automakers have said they plan to begin deploying self-driving vehicles, some in commercial fleets, by 2020-2021. Paul Scullion, a manager at the Association of Global Automakers, said California's proposed regulations go "too far." The group opposes California's plan to require a permit to deploy autonomous vehicles, which must meet performance and design criteria. "We do not think requiring a permit to deploy is the right approach," Scullion said. Global Automakers said it opposes California's proposal that it could withdraw permits to deploy vehicles even if they met federal requirements. Ron Medford, director of safety at Alphabet Inc's self-driving unit Waymo, urged California to quickly issue final rules "to provide manufacturers with the certainty that they need." Brian Soublet, deputy director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, said the agency will review written comments before unveiling final rules. Andre Welch, a Ford Motor Co official, asked the state to lift the proposed prohibition on testing self-driving vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds, such as multi-passenger shuttles. Existing California regulations require self-driving test vehicles to have conventional manual controls such as steering wheels and pedals, as well as a backup driver. California moved to change the rules as many states said they would allow testing of vehicles without conventional controls. In March, California's Department of Motor Vehicles revised proposed rules to allow testing by the end of the year of autonomous vehicles without human backup drivers. After objections from automakers, the proposal was revised to drop requirements that local communities approve testing and that companies generate a year of testing data before being allowed to deploy vehicles on public roads. Among those who called for strict oversight of self-driving cars were Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety. "We do not trust the auto manufacturers or the tech industry to protect the public in the absence of federal motors vehicle safety standards," said the group's president Rosemary Shahan. The group Consumer Watchdog called for stricter state rules, noting that there were not yet any federal standards for self-driving cars. In written comments, the group said relying on federal standards would amount to a "meaningless house of cards." In February, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said she was reviewing self-driving vehicle guidance issued by the Obama administration. Those guidelines call on automakers to voluntarily submit details of self-driving vehicle systems to regulators in a 15-point "safety assessment." California has proposed requiring companies submit a copy of a voluntary assessment submitted to NHTSA. David Strickland, a lawyer representing a group of self-driving advocates including Google, Ford and Uber [UBER.UL] opposed California's proposal, saying it effectively makes the assessment mandatory. Tom Maguire, an official at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, said in some cases the proposed rules "rely too heavily on manufacturers' self certification of their safety technology." The agency believes cities should have the authority to deny deployment and determine when and how testing occurs. General Motors Co official Paul Hemmersbaugh said California should drop plans to include separate privacy rules for driverless cars. The company said California's proposed liability rules could make automakers liable regardless of fault for any crash. He said that would be "unduly punitive" and could have a "chilling effect on testing and deployment of self-driving cars." (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio)
The former president, who avoided saying Donald Trumps name during Chicago speech, vowed to help young people get more active in politics and public service

Barack Obama returned to the public stage on Monday with some wry jokes, a smart-casual outfit, and a pledge to direct his post-presidential energy to nurturing the next generation of leaders.



Speaking at the University of Chicago in his adopted home town, the former US president was relaxed and in good humour, like a man who has been on a long holiday, which he has. He wore a dark jacket and white shirt with tieless open collar and began by quipping: So, uh, whats been going on while Ive been gone?

There was laughter from an audience of community organisers, activists and students, a group unlikely to contain many supporters of Donald Trump, who has made groundless claims of wiretapping against his predecessor and whose 100th day in office is on Saturday.



Obamas political afterlife  he is still only 55  has been the subject of much speculation and he has evidently been pondering the issue himself since leaving the White House on 20 January. On Monday he provided an answer: he will concentrate, above all, on trying to fix Americas dysfunctional politics.

Im spending a lot of time thinking about what is the most important thing I can do for my next job and what Im convinced of is that, although there are all kinds of issues that I care about and all kinds of issues that I intend to work on, the single most important thing I can do is to help in any way I can prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world.



Issues, such as economic inequality and lack of opportunity, a skewed criminal justice system and climate change, must be confronted, he noted, adding: All those problems are serious, theyre daunting, but theyre not insoluble. What is preventing us from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our politics and civic life.

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Obama also highlighted the gerrymandering that he said had driven Democrats and Republicans further apart, the influence of money in politics that lets special interests dominate debates in Washington, and changes in the media that leave people listening to those who already agree with them, further reinforcing their own realities to the neglect of a common reality that allows us to have a healthy debate and then try to find common ground and actually move solutions forward.

About 20 or 30 years ago there was a common baseline of facts, he added. The internet has in some ways accelerated this sense of people having entirely different conversations  Or maybe youre just looking at cat videos, which is fine.

Obama reflected on the most memorable line of his breakthrough speech at the Democratic national convention in Boston nearly 13 years ago. When I said in 2004 that there were no red states or blue states, there were the United States of America, that was an aspirational comment, he said, to some mirth in the audience. Obama remained serious, pressing on: And its one, by the way, that I still believe in the sense that when you talk to individuals one on one, theres a lot more that people have in common than divides them. But obviously its not true when it comes to our politics and our civic life and maybe more pernicious is the fact that people just arent involved; they get cynical and they give up.

The only people able to fix this problem are the young, he said, and now he intends to focus on the barriers that discourage young people from public service. I want to work with them to knock down those barriers and get this next generation to accelerate their move toward that leadership. If that happens, I think were going to be just fine.

Obama, who had expected Hillary Clinton to succeed him, has kept a low profile since the end of his second term. He has focused on building his foundation and starting to write his memoir, along with taking some holiday time in Palm Springs, California, and the British Virgin Islands, where he spent time with billionaire businessman Richard Branson, and on the yacht of music mogul David Geffen near the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. But he issued a statement in support of protests against Trumps travel bans on several Muslim-majority countries.

On Monday, after brief remarks, the 44th president moderated a panel discussion with young activists and leaders. He hit on themes familiar from his presidency and his earlier career as a community organiser in Chicago. There was also self-deprecation  Im old  and lighthearted advice about the diplomacy of marriage and not oversharing on social media. If you had pictures of everything Id done in high school, I probably wouldnt have been president of the United States, he said.

He did not mention Trump by name but did offer a coded attack on his anti-immigration crackdown, saying it was important for critics to understand that foreigners coming to the US were overwhelmingly families who are just looking for a better life for their children. I would say, sometimes in crowds that didnt want to hear, its not like everyone in Ellis Island had all their papers straight.

Immigration has always been a bit loose and haphazard, he continued, sometimes driven by economic imperatives or biases. If you look at what was said about Irish when they were coming here  They talked about them the same way people talk about immigrants today  The realities of seeing immigrants as people, not other, is important.

But the former president also called on pro-immigration advocates to have respect for those who are concerned about the system and not assume they are automatically racist. He observed: Thats an example of us being able to listen.

About 500 people attended the invitation-only even, which was also televised. Obama, who had given his presidential farewell speech in Chicago in January, evidently relished his return to the spotlight but said at one point: Im a little out of practice. Wheres the staff person? How long are we supposed to be here?

And despite Trumps attempts to undo his healthcare reforms and much else in his legacy, he concluded on an upbeat note. Theres a reason why Im always optimistic even when things are not going the way I want and thats because of young people like this, he observed.
Conakry (AFP) - As Conakry's year as World Book Capital gets under way, book lovers in Guinea are seizing a rare opportunity to instil a lifelong appreciation for the written word in a nation where most people are illiterate.

The ramshackle west African capital ushered in a year of all things literary on Sunday with acrobatics, slam poets and books in every corner, beginning a year of events as UNESCO's designated capital for the promotion of reading.

Images of authors' faces and dust jackets are newly splashed across walls and billboards in this city of two and a half million people, while books multiply by the minute on stands and in neat arrangements on the floor for pedestrians to browse.

The World Book Capital concept is now in its 17th year after beginning life in Madrid in 2001 with the aim of promoting a year-long programme of events to make bibliophiles out of the most reticent readers.

Speaking at the opening event in the city centre, President Alpha Conde described the UNESCO designation as "more than an honour", calling it a unique chance for Guinea to "initiate its cultural renaissance and return to its former place in the cultural arena of Africa".

Conde described Guinea's literary figures as bulwarks against an Africa "at risk of losing its cultural identity".

However, the country's literary path is laden with obstacles.

According to the most recent UN data just 25 percent of Guineans are literate, and of those who completed school just 35-40 percent read regularly, according to the education ministry.

"We are making a big push because Guineans don't like to read at all," said Mamadou Bailo Diallo, president of Guinea's street booksellers association.

"We are trying to persuade Guinea to buy books," Diallo added. "But what is really important is not to buy, but to read."

Many of the booksellers offer second-hand stock in so-called "bookshops on the floor", selling them directly from the pavement.

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As the city prepared for its year of the word, this traditional method was mixed in with more conventional bookstands set up for the ceremony, where children's books nestled next to encyclopaedias.

- Underfunding -

For a country struggling with high rates of poverty, buying books can slip as a priority when it is sometimes difficult to meet basic needs, a gap the World Book Capital concept hopes to address.

Sansy Kaba Diakite, the director of the project in Guinea, said a digital lending initiative will offer an alternative to underfunded and neglected African libraries, and promised that Conakry's citizens would not be the only ones to benefit.

"Exercise books, books in schools, in universities and bookshops" were being distributed in four provincial locations, he said, with the particular aim of celebrating Guinean authors including Camara Laye, a pioneer of francophone African literature, and novelist Tierno Monenembo.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke to Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric about his phone call with President Trump after the election. Bloomberg and Couric discussed the insults that Bloomberg and Trump traded on the campaign trail, but Bloomberg said, I hope he turns out to be a good president, and if he asks for help, I think as a patriot, as patriots we should give him the help. He continued, The public has spoken. Lets get on with it.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.  Wells Fargo's shareholders voted Tuesday to retain all 15 members of the company's board of directors, though a few came perilously close to being voted out.

Four of the directors, including Nebraska resident Cynthia Milligan, got less than 60 percent of the vote.

Milligan, the former dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the bank's longest-serving board member, was retained with 57 percent of shareholder votes.

The others getting less than 60 percent, were Enrique Hernandez, Jr. (53 percent), Federico Pena (54 percent) and Stephen Sanger (56 percent). All four candidates received at least 98 percent of shareholder votes in 2016.

Sanger, the board chairman, said in a statement that stockholders had sent the board "a clear message of dissatisfaction."

"Let me assure you that the Board has heard that message, and we recognize there is still a great deal of work to do to rebuild the trust of stockholders, customers and employees," he said.

Wells Fargo has been under fire since September, when it agreed to pay $185 million to regulators in connection with fraudulent sales practices, which resulted in as many as 2.1 million checking, savings and credit card accounts opened without customers consent.

This month, the bank said it would pay $142 million to settle a customer class-action lawsuit. It also remains under investigation by federal and state agencies, including the Justice Department and the California attorney generals office.

An investigation by the bank's own board of directors, released earlier this month, found that the problems at Wells Fargo and its overly aggressive sales culture date back at least 15 years, and that executives had little interest in dealing with the issue until it spiraled out of control.

The board's investigation said both former CEO John Stumpf and former community banking head Carrie Tolstedt, a Nebraska native and UNL graduate, when presented with the growing problems in the community banking division, were unwilling to hear criticism. It rescinded $47.3 million in stock options to Tolstedt, on top of $19 million the board had already clawed back. It took back $28 million more from Stumpf's compensation, on top of $41 million already clawed back.

Along with the millions taken back from other executives earlier this year, the roughly $180 million in clawbacks are among the largest in U.S. corporate history.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday that despite President Trumps rhetoric, he would not be able to resuscitate the countrys declining coal mining industry.

In all fairness, he is not going to be able to bring back those jobs, the billionaire media mogul told Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric. There is nothing that is going to stop the decline in the number of people that work in coal because the use of coal is going down given its problems and cheaper alternatives.

But Trump has gone out of his way to promise exactly that. Throughout the campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to bring mining jobs back to Appalachia, and he did not back off that claim after taking office.

Our coal miners have been treated horribly, and we are going to turn that around  and we are going to turn it around quickly, Trump declared in February.

Flanked by coal miners last month, Trump signed an executive order to start the process of dismantling former President Barack Obamas Clean Power Plan and promised to reverse the fortunes of coal mining throughout Appalachia.

But Bloomberg told Couric that nothing could be done to revitalize coal because its rife with health and environmental problems and there are cheaper alternatives. And Trump knows this, Bloomberg said.

Its a little bit disingenuous to say, Im going to bring the jobs back when you know full well you cant, he said.

The former mayor compared Trumps appeal to coal miners with promising to bring back jobs to buggy whip manufacturers or people who worked for Eastman Kodak, which was upended by cellphone cameras and other digital photography.

He said the U.S. should look out for people who lose their jobs because of technological progress, whether its miners or employees at retail stores that had to close because of Amazon. But he said the U.S. should not create problems just to give people jobs.

Thats like saying, Weve got a lot of veterans we got to take care of. That doesnt mean we should start a war to give them something to do. We have to figure out how to help our vets, but you dont want to do things that hurt lots of people just to give people jobs. If the jobs disappear, lets help the people.

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Bloomberg and Carl Pope, an environmentalist and the former executive director of the Sierra Club, sat down with Couric to discuss their new book, Climate of Hope. They say their message isnt so much about what will happen to the planet hundreds of years from now as it is about what businesses, cities and people can do now to be healthier and more prosperous.

In response to last weekends March for Science on Earth Day, Trump argued that economic growth enhances environmental protection, adding, Jobs matter!

But in his conversation with Couric, Bloomberg flipped that claim.

A pro-environmental policy generally leads to better economics. No. 1: If you stop disease and early deaths, you would save a lot of money. No. 2: Some of the things you should do would help you enjoy life more, will let people get around easier and therell be more commerce, Bloomberg said.

Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt  a longtime opponent of the agency he currently leads  routinely criticize federal regulations intended to protect the environment. Both contrast such regulations with protecting jobs in the fossil fuel industry.

Bloomberg acknowledged that confronting the climate crisis would create an economic shakeup that would result in some people losing their jobs. But he said the lives saved would outweigh those costs.

How do you measure the lives that are going to be saved on one side with the cost of the jobs to other people? The answer there is we have to find ways to help those who do lose their jobs, Bloomberg said.

For his part, Pope said that when he first learned about climate change in the 1980s, he underestimated how severely the scientific evidence would be denied and resisted. Trump himself has long rejected climate change as a hoax.

Climate change has become controversial because it will mean a major transition in our economy, Pope said. There will be lots of winners and a few losers, and those few losers have put up an astonishing dogged and unfortunately somewhat effective resistance by deciding that if they simply kept the science argument going, the public would feel permanently disempowered from acting.

Michael Bloomberg speaks to reporters after a meeting with French president Francois Hollande on March 9. (Photo: Christophe Ena/AP)

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By Maria Clara C Pestre and Daniela Desantis RIO DE JANEIRO/ASUNCION (Reuters) - Brazilian federal police on Tuesday arrested eight people suspected of killing a police officer and blowing up a building while robbing a security company of millions of dollars in a volatile border town in Paraguay. Three suspects were killed in a shoot-out after the movie-like heist in the contraband hub of Ciudad del Este on Monday. Security company Prosegur said in a Tuesday statement that its losses did not exceed $8 million, much less than the $40 million that some media initially reported. Brazilian gang First Capital Command (PCC), based in Sao Paulo, probably organized the operation, according to a Paraguayan police document that Reuters saw. Brazilian federal police said in a statement that they had seized six rifles, two boats and seven vehicles in Foz de Iguacu, a town across a river from Ciudad del Este, in addition to making the arrests. "This was an assault with a well-planned operation," Paraguayan Security Minister Lorenzo Lezcano said on Monday. "They had powerful weapons and explosives." Forty or 50 people were involved, Lezcano added. Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes ordered the military to bring order to Ciudad del Este, long known as a hub for trafficking counterfeit goods, drugs and weapons. A regional police chief was also fired. Video footage of the assault showed more than a dozen cars on fire around the Prosegur building, meaning police could not access the scene for several hours. Cartes has been trying to shed Paraguay's reputation for lawlessness in recent years, and Brazilian investment in the landlocked nation of 6.8 million has helped spur one of the fastest economic growth rates in Latin America. Violent protests in Asuncion last month over Cartes' attempts to change the country's constitution and run for a second term raised eyebrows among business groups, however. He now says he will not seek re-election. Insecurity in the so-called tri-border region is a concern of Paraguay's larger neighbors, Brazil and Argentina, which are trying to curb drug trafficking from gangs like the PCC. (Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Brasilia (AFP) - Thousands of Brazilian indigenous tribe members clashed with riot police Tuesday while demonstrating in the capital, Brasilia, for greater rights.

Some of the indigenous people were armed with bows and arrows, while police rained tear gas onto the protesters. Groups of demonstrators carried coffins representing indigenous dead in the takeover of their ancestral lands across Brazil and some tried to break into the Congress building.

The protest took place in what's dubbed Indigenous Week, a series of activities in the capital highlighting the tribes' many problems as they attempt to coexist with ever an ever expanding agricultural industry and try to enforce their land rights.

Many attended the protest dressed in traditional garb, including feathers and body paint.

"The coffins represent all the indigenous people from 305 ethic groups who have died over the years," said Marize de Oliveira, 58 a historian of the Guarani people.

"The agricultural and evangelical lobby want to destroy our rights and turn Brazil into the world's breadbasket, ending biodiversity."
By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - Whatever Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives promise in their manifesto before a June election, managing Britain's exit from the European Union will limit her opportunity to push wide-ranging radical domestic change. Brexit is already diverting government attention from other, often pressing, issues - the number of laws coming into force has dived to a 20-year low - and parliament will be occupied for a long time in deciding the fate of EU legislation introduced during Britain's four-decade membership of the bloc. May, who was appointed prime minister shortly after Britain voted last year to leave the EU, has framed the election on June 8 as an opportunity to bolster support for her Brexit plan, while saying it will help her put her own stamp on government. She will rip up several of the pledges made by predecessor David Cameron and hope a bigger majority will secure parliamentary backing for some more contentious measures, such as opening new selective schools and capping energy prices. But beyond a few flagship policies she is most passionate about, Brexit will dominate. The complexity of delivering Brexit will sap government and parliamentary time, possibly requiring as many as 15 pieces of major legislation, and leave little room for domestic policy promises. "The reality is that Brexit eclipses so many other legislative priorities, and will do for years to come," said Daniel Greenberg, a legal adviser on domestic legislation to the lower House of Commons. The manifesto, expected to be published early next month, will set out the promises May has made on Brexit, including plans to leave the EU's single market, end free movement of people from the remaining member states and pull out of the European Court of Justice, which rules on EU law. But it is unlikely to go into detail on her negotiating stance after months of keeping her cards close to her chest. DIVERTING ATTENTION Analysis by Thomson Reuters legal business shows 1,642 pieces of legislation were introduced in 2016, down 29 percent from the previous year and the lowest level since 1997. "The last government slowed down on legislative activity ahead of the vote, and now the decision has been taken to leave the EU, only the more favored non-Brexit related issues are going to see significant legislative attention," said Greenberg. The government proposes to convert all EU laws into domestic legislation, after which further parliamentary time will be spent deciding which should then be amended, replaced or repealed. On top of this, the Institute for Government (IFG) think tank predicts 10 to 15 new bills and thousands of pages of secondary legislation will need to be passed by parliament to put in place arrangements in areas such as immigration and customs before Britain's expected EU departure in March 2019. On average the Queen's Speech, which sets out the government's legislative programme for the year, contains around 20 flagship bills, leaving little room for non-Brexit measures. The government, which is cutting spending to reduce the budget deficit, also does not have the capacity to focus on major new policies unrelated to Britain's EU exit. Some of the ministries set to be heavily involved in Brexit preparations, such as the Home Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, have faced the biggest cuts to their budgets and staffing levels, according to the IFG. "Brexit is going to take so much public policy time, political time and cabinet time that I am not sure how this country can address all of the other things it needs to address," said Brigid Laffan, director of the European University Institute's Robert Schuman Centre. BREXIT-OBSESSED Beyond leaving the EU, voters cite healthcare as the next biggest issue facing the country, followed by immigration, the economy, housing and education, according to pollsters YouGov. The government has been under pressure on many of these issues, with housebuilding falling well short of its promised level, immigration running at nearly three times its target, and schools complaining of cuts to funding. The Conservative manifesto for the last election in 2015 included a pledge to spend at least an additional 8 billion pounds ($10 billion) on the National Health Service (NHS) by 2020, but the chief executive of NHS England has said it needs as much as 21 billion pounds. That manifesto also promised to cap residential social care charges for the elderly from 2016, but shortly after the election the government announced this would be delayed to 2020. "Having such a Brexit-obsessed government means that they are not doing their day job. They are not providing the decent public services that people want," former Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg told the BBC. Yet with the opposition Labour Party divided and accused of lacking a clear message on Brexit, polls suggest May's Conservatives will be returned to power with a bigger majority. That gives her the freedom to focus on Brexit and a handful of other measures which she might otherwise have struggled to get past even her own party, such as new selective grammar schools, or those which are less traditionally associated with the Conservatives' laissez-faire economic policy. May's "modern industrial strategy" - a interventionist approach to rebalance Britain's heavily services-based economy - will feature, while ministers have said there will also be a pledge to act in the energy market, possibly through a cap on prices for domestic customers. The Conservatives have also raised the prospect of scrapping a 2015 promise not to raise three taxes which are the state's biggest revenue raisers and to protect pension increases. Last month finance minister Philip Hammond was forced to reverse plans to raise payroll taxes for the self-employed amid accusations that it broke that manifesto pledge. "It's self-evidently clear that the commitments that were made in the 2015 manifesto did, and do today, strain the ability of the government to manage the economy flexibly," Hammond said during a trip to Washington last week. ($1 = 0.7802 pounds) (editing by David Stamp)
When a federal patent court ruled that the nonprofit Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard could legally license its version of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing system, it opened the door to millions of dollars of revenue for the institute. It also contributed to the seismic shift occurring in science whereby tax-exempt research institutes established under an emerging model of free market philanthropy can amass money to further their research and protect their commercial interests.

The Broad Institute, a tax-exempt organization established by contributions totaling $1.4 billion by Eli Broad and Ted Stanley, is hardly the only one of these nonprofit models. For instance, Napster cofounder and former Facebook president Sean Parker set up the nonprofit Parker Foundation to explore cancer immunotherapy and other public health goals while retaining rights to any patents that might emerge from it. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are investing $3 billion to create the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, which would retain the exclusive right to commercialize its inventions.

The tax-exempt Broad draws National Institutes of Health funding to subsidize dozens of basic research projects, many of them conducted with commercial partners. But it is the Broads handling of its own CRISPR business and partnerships that threaten to undermine its nonprofit mission. These relationships can challenge the concept of public interest, such as when the Broad sells CRISPR licenses to Monsanto for agricultural applications, since a sizable fraction of the public may not agree that genetically modified crops serve the public interest. Or it might not be in the public interest when a favored corporation reaps a financial benefit, such as when the Broad sells exclusive licenses for CRISPR to Editas Medicine, a company that was spun out of the institute.

These nonprofit-corporate partnerships raise questions about the extent to which taxpayers should subsidize tax-exempt biomedical research by nonprofits that retain the rights to license patents and appear willing to defend them in court.

Read more: Broad Institute prevails in heated dispute over CRISPR patents

The Broad is testing how close a nonprofit can be to a corporation. Soon after patents were issued to the Broad for CRISPR-Cas9, its director, Eric Lander, turned to Third Rock Ventures, a company to which he has close personal ties, for an early shot at investing in Editas. That startup was founded by Feng Zhang, a core researcher at the Broad. Editas obtained an exclusive license to CRISPR-Cas9 from patent holders including the Broad for cash and stock equity, and began funneling $34.1 million (by the end of 2016) to reimburse the Broads legal fees in its court battle for the rights to CRISPR-Cas9. As millions were flowing from the now publicly traded Editas to the Broad, Editas cofounder David Liu was installed as a core member at the Broad, further strengthening ties between the Broad and its commercial partner. Zhang and colleagues then patented an application of a related genome-editing technique called CRISPR-Cpf1 and, through the Broad and other institutions, granted Editas an exclusive license to use this technology for medical applications.

This kind of tight relationship with a for-profit corporation clearly puts the concept of nonprofit to the test. How many tens of millions should the Broad be allowed to take from Editas? How many of the founders of Editas should be installed into leadership positions at the Broad? Does granting of exclusive licenses constitute a special favor, a quid pro quo? Those are the kinds of questions that regulators should be asking, but arent.

The Broad, possibly aware that its nonprofit mission could be at risk, published at the end of 2016 a guide to its intellectual property licensing philosophy. It noted that non-profit institutions [like the Broad] should, in general, favor non-exclusive licenses over exclusive licenses. The document immediately walked back that principle, saying that investors would need to make a large investment to turn [intellectual property] into a commercial product and could not recoup this investment without exclusive rights. By the end of the statement, the Broad made a case that special deals were good for everyone as exclusivity may be appropriate because there is a clear case that it will better serve the public good.

In fact, a nonprofit may not confer a private benefit to a corporation. Private benefit is defined as non-incidental benefits conferred on disinterested persons that serve private interests. The law says that any private benefit must be relatively insignificant in size to the nonprofits overall revenue and a necessary side effect of achieving the nonprofits objectives. I asked the Internal Revenue Service and the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General about this, but both declined to comment on how financially entangled the Broad and Editas could legally become and what, if any, breaches could trigger an investigation.

The privatization of federally funded science could scarcely have been imagined when national funding was first proposed. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt directed his chief of military research and development, Vannevar Bush, to create a model for funding science after the war. In Bushs poetic 1945 document, Science the Endless Frontier, he argued for robust funding through the NIH and the creation of the National Science Foundation. These and other efforts led to a briskly expanding scientific research base in the US. In the 1950s, physicist and MIT president Karl Compton noted of scientists in general, I dont know of any other group that has less interest in monetary gain.

Thats changed. By 1980, a landmark ruling upheld early biotech patents. The Bayh-Dole Act enabled universities, small businesses, and nonprofit institutions to pursue ownership of inventions that arose from federally funded research. Today, scientists talk openly about figuring out the model, whereby public money can be turned into private wealth, and escalating biotech battles are a hot-button issue.

Science, long conceived as a public trust, is now characterized by an ownership culture. That is raising questions about how much taxpayers should pay for grants that feed into this culture and its incipient biotech wars. There is something intuitively wrong about a tax-exempt nonprofit organization such as the Broad being so financially aggressive. Taxpayers should not be paying for biomedical research and development that preferentially benefits the scientific elites who hold and legally defend their property ownership.

Michael Eisen, a University of California biologist who is now a candidate for US Senate, has argued that taxpayer-funded academic scientists should not patent seminal technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9. In a more nuanced opinion published in Science, patent lawyers Jacob S. Sherkow and Jorge L. Contreras argue that research institutions should limit their use of surrogate licensors  such as Editas  which have exclusive licenses to use a nonprofits technologies.

A clause in contracts between Editas and the Broad allows the company to permit licensing of CRISPR for single-gene targets it doesnt plan to monetize to other third parties. But that clause may be moot, since Editas has the right to sublicense CRISPR and would and could monetize most anything within its grasp.

In fact, Editas has already struck up a $737 million partnership with Juno Therapeutics and a $90 million deal with Allergan. Sherkow and Contreras argue that, to be fair, a nonprofit such as the Broad should license CRISPR for only one application at a time  even to a partner like Editas. Sherkow told me that to the extent theyre going to use exclusive licenses, they should do it narrowly, on a gene-by-gene basis. In other words, a nonprofit should limit licensing to a specific target. In the CRISPR world, that might mean that the Broad could license to Editas the right to use its genome editing technology on the CEP290 gene to develop treatments for an inherited eye disease, but not hand over the whole basket of patent applications to this one friendly company.

Read more: Sean Parkers put up big bucks for cancer. Weve got questions

Under a 1980 law, the public could petition the government to make CRISPR licensing more accessible if the terms of the license are not reasonable  meaning that licensing terms should be affordable and not under the control of a single company. Its clear the Broad and Editas do not want to allow that.

The public benefit of CRISPR is uncertain. An independent report issued in March showed that a dozen candidates vying to become the first gene therapy drug approved by the FDA (none of them developed using CRISPR technology) carry jaw-dropping costs, raising questions about how most folks could even pay for such drugs. CRISPR treatments, if and when they make it to the market, are likely to be equally unaffordable.

Competition in biomedical science will continue to ratchet up through the means of large nonprofit hubs and exclusive corporate partnerships. Regulators will need to step up and ensure more equitable fair play for licensing or begin to cut federal funding streams for these nonprofits.

As taxpayers, we need to support research by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the NIH. But corporate welfare should be subject to the same rigorous standards as public welfare. Biomedical researchers who command surplus cash flows and convey private benefits should be subject to a means test to determine if they should continue to receive public assistance.

Writer Jim Kozubek is the author of Modern Prometheus: Editing the Human Genome with Crispr-Cas9, published by the Cambridge University Press. Between October 2013 and May 2016, he worked as a data scientist for Brigham and Womens Hospital with an affiliation to the Broad Institute.
By Farah Salhi BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The head of a Budapest university pressured by Prime Minister Viktor Orban appealed to Brussels for help on Tuesday, a day before European Union lawmakers were to discuss concerns about the Hungarian leader. Central European University (CEU) President Michael Ignatieff, former head of Canada's Liberal Party, told a meeting in the EU's political capital he was determined to defend the institution founded by the liberal U.S. financier George Soros. The EU's executive European Commission has threatened Hungary with legal action over Orban's drive to gain control over independent institutions, which many in the EU worry run against their shared values on human rights and democracy. The university, which defends the Hungarian-born financier's "open society" outlook that Orban opposes, has already won the backing of officials in the United States and elsewhere. "I need the support of Europe. I have support in Washington, I have support in Berlin, I have support in Budapest, I got support in Munich," Ignatieff told the meeting. "It's now time to get some support in Brussels," the Canadian scholar said. The threat to the CEU was triggered by new education laws adopted despite mass street protests that tightened controls on foreign universities operating in Hungary. The CEU has stood as a bulwark of liberal thinking in Hungary and across eastern Europe since it was first opened in 1991 after Soviet-backed communism collapsed in the region. Orban's government has said the legal changes were needed to prevent foreign universities from issuing dubious diplomas. But Orban critics say the move against the CEU is part of a broader push to stifle dissenting voices and put independent institutions - including the judiciary, media and non-governmental groups (NGOs) - under closer government control. Since coming to power in 2010, Orban has repeatedly clashed with NGOs funded by Soros, who champions the internationalist open societies the more nationalist-minded Hungarian dislikes. The EU has become increasingly worried about Orban, with other grievances including his policies on migration and energy. "The Hungarian government wants to remain a member of the EU without accepting any of the EU's basics values. The only thing that it's happy to accept is EU funding," Marta Pardavi, president of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, told Reuters. "This is becoming an unpredictable and very hostile climate for civil society in an EU member state." The scope of EU action against Hungary is limited, however, as any sever punishment would require the unanimous backing of all the other member states. Orban could count on his allies in the current Polish government to oppose that. (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Nairobi (AFP) - At least 26 people were killed and many others injured in a head-on crash between a bus and a truck on the highway between Nairobi and Kenya's second city Mombasa, police said Tuesday.

"It was a very bad head-on collision. We lost 26 people in the accident," Leonard Kimaiyo, police chief for the southern town of Kibwezi said.

Another senior officer said the bus, heading to Mombasa, was overtaking several vehicles when it collided with an oil tanker.

Kenya has a poor road safety record, with up to 3,000 people killed each year according to police. The World Health Organization puts the toll at 12,000.

In December at least 40 people were killed an accident around 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Nairobi, in which a tanker smashed into several other vehicles before exploding.
Phnom Penh (AFP) - Cambodia on Tuesday said it will renegotiate a deal with Washington where convicted criminals with Cambodian heritage are deported to the Southeast Asian nation, retracting an earlier statement that the deportations had been suspended.

For the last 15 years, the two nations have had a repatriation agreement allowing them to forcibly deport criminals with ties to the other country.

More than 500 felons with Cambodian heritage have been deported from the US, many with few ties to their ethnic homeland or even the ability to speak Khmer.

Earlier in the day Chum Sounry, a spokesman for Cambodia's foreign ministry, said news of the suspended agreement was delivered to W. Patrick Murphy, one of the State Department's most senior Asia diplomats who is currently visiting.

The deal, Chum Sounry said, had been "criticised by both Cambodians here and Cambodian communities in the US" as a form of "double punishment".

But in a later statement he clarified that the deal was still in place and that Phnom Penh wanted it "amended".

Earlier in the day he said any new deal should contain provisions ensuring repatriations are only voluntary and that deportees should have the right to visit family in the US.

The US embassy in Phnom Penh told AFP it had been informed of Cambodia's desire to renegotiate certain aspects of the agreement.

Relations between the United States and Cambodia have grown increasingly frosty in recent years.

Washington secretly bombed Cambodia during the Indochina wars but went on to be a major donor as the country emerged from the ashes of the Khmer Rouge genocide, pouring billions in aid into the country.

It also took in tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees over the decades.

But Cambodia's premier Hun Sen has become noticeably more critical of Washington in recent years, a period in which he has grown much closer to China.

China has lavished poverty-stricken Cambodia with billions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans over the past few decades.

Story continues

Unlike aid from the US, Beijing's support comes without pressure on strongman Hun Sen to clean up his government's dismal human rights record.

Hun Sen's speeches routinely lambast Washington and earlier this year Cambodia cancelled annual military drills with the US military.

Officials at the time denied the decision was an effort to appease rival superpower China, with whom Cambodia had recently held drills.
The Legislature has greenlighted a process that could speed up construction of the proposed Lincoln East Beltway and other major highway projects.

The change allows Nebraska to strike an agreement with the Federal Highway Administration to make state transportation officials responsible for signing off on their own environmental reviews.

State Roads Director Kyle Schneweis says it could shave a full year off the timeline for projects such as the East Beltway.

"It's as simple as elimination of duplication of efforts," Schneweis said.

Lawmakers voted 48-0 Monday to approve the change during a morning of mostly procedural votes on measures that had previously advanced through two rounds of debate. Lincoln Sen. Mike Hilgers sponsored the bill (LB271), and it was prioritized by Lincoln Sen. Suzanne Geist.

The state already conducts its own environmental reviews, but that work must be approved by federal officials for road projects that involve federal aid. Under the new change, the state could make a deal to sign off on its own documentation.

The state's work would still be subject to annual audit, but the audits would be limited to snapshots of projects and the state's overall review processes.

It isn't an automatic change. Nebraska must still demonstrate it can adhere to federal law through what Schneweis described as a "rigorous" 12- to 18-month negotiation process.

Once that negotiation is complete, the deal would apply to all federal-aid projects in Nebraska going forward.

One important note: It's too late for the measure to impact environmental reviews for the planned Lincoln South Beltway.

"Luckily for us, we're through that phase already, or almost," Schneweis said.

The four-lane South Beltway will link U.S. 77 southwest of the city to Nebraska 2 east of Lincoln and is expected to cost about $300 million. State and local officials hope to begin construction by 2020.

There's no telling yet when construction could begin on the East Beltway. The long-sought 13-mile freeway would connect Interstate 80 and Nebraska 2 east of the city, at a cost comparable to that of the South Beltway.

The environmental-review bill was one of two roads-related proposals approved by the Legislature on Monday.

Lawmakers also OK'd a measure (LB339), backed by Gov. Pete Ricketts, to combine the state departments of Roads and Aeronautics into the Department of Transportation. The vote on that bill was 47-0.

Here's a look at some other bills approved Monday:

Whiteclay task force

Nebraska will form a task force to address public-health issues in Whiteclay under a measure (LB407) by Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks.

Whiteclay is an unincorporated village with eight residents and four beer stores, which are frequented by residents of the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol is banned. The fate of the beer stores remains uncertain following a Nebraska Liquor Control Commission decision last week to deny their liquor licenses.

Bioscience Innovation Act

The bill (LB641) would create the Bioscience Innovation Cash Fund to be administered by the Department of Economic Development to provide financial assistance to bioscience-related businesses applying for financial assistance under the Business Innovation Act.

Inspector general for child welfare

With the bill (LB207), the inspector general would be able to release a final report based on an investigation to bring awareness to systemic issues within child welfare, if it's in the best interest of the public. Also, no personnel action could be taken against an employee for disclosing wrongdoing or for providing information or testimony pursuant to an investigation by the office.

Poaching penalties

People caught hunting illegally in Nebraska may face stiffer penalties but could avoid jail time if they live in other states and can't immediately pay a fine.

The bill (LB566) will make Nebraska a member of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, which improves communication between wildlife officials in different states. The measure also increases some poaching penalties.

Immunity for reporting overdoses

People who seek emergency help for themselves or another person because of a drug overdose will be immune from prosecution for drug possession under a bill (LB487) sponsored by Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld. The measure also protects emergency responders from liability if they administer the drug naloxone to treat an apparent opioid overdose.

Libertarians on the ballot

Lawmakers approved a bill (LB34) that would allow any political party with 10,000 or more registered voters to remain recognized in the state, regardless of how its candidates perform in statewide elections.

The measure is sponsored by Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, the Legislature's only Libertarian member, and backed by the Libertarian Party of Nebraska.

Tourism Commission revamp

The Nebraska Tourism Commission will be reformed to include representatives of 11 geographic districts from across the state under a measure (LB222) by Sen. John Stinner of Gering. At least seven members must be affiliated with the tourism industry.

'Cheri's Law'

Health care facilities must notify mammography patients if they have dense breast tissue under a bill (LB195) by Omaha Sen. Joni Craighead. Dense breast tissue can make it more difficult to detect cancer on a mammogram and might be associated with a slightly increased risk for breast cancer.

Radon-resistant construction

A task force will craft proposed minimum standards for making new construction radon-resistant and recommend them to the governor and Legislature under a bill (LB9) by Omaha Sen. Bob Krist. Radon is believed to be the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers.

Insurance for first responders

The Legislature approved a bill (LB444) prohibiting state and local governments from canceling health insurance coverage for law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, prison workers or others who regularly interact with high-risk people in state custody if those employees lose working hours as a result of an on-duty assault.

Perinatal hospice

The Department of Health and Human Services would be required to create and organize geographically a list of perinatal hospice programs available in Nebraska and nationally, and post it on its website, under a bill (LB506) from Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston.
The Center for Public Integrity has won an Edward R. Murrow Regional Award for its collaboration with Retro Report on a documentary about deployment of police in schools.

The 12-minute piece, "Unraveling Zero Tolerance, examines the roots and evolution of using police in schools, and the controversial consequences. Touted as critical to fending off school shootings, drug dealers and disorder, zero tolerance policies morphed over time into a blizzard of student suspensions and arrests for minor indiscretions, many of them involving manhandling of kids by over-aggressive cops. Now some are wondering whether the zero tolerance solution is turning out to be worse than the problem it was designed to address.

Retro Report is a nonprofit documentary project that looks back at major news events or controversies through the lens of history, examining how legislative or societal reactions played out after the headlines faded.

The Centers work on Unraveling Zero Tolerance was done by reporter Susan Ferriss, who has investigated harsh school discipline policies and school policing extensively.

This story is part of Criminalizing kids. Scrutinizing the use of law enforcement and courts to respond to kids conduct at school or other circumstances. . Click here to read more stories in this series.

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In 2011, Ferriss looked at suspensions and expulsions of students amid broader concerns that children were being criminalized and pushed into a school-to-prison pipeline. In 2012, her stories probed school policing in Los Angeles, where the nations biggest school police force was issuing thousands of court citations to mostly Latino and black kids in low-income schools.

In 2013, Ferriss documented how students in rural California were expelled from regular school for disciplinary reasons  sometimes with police involvement  and forced to enroll in alternative schools so far away they had no alternative but home study. And in 2015, she investigated national school-policing data showing that Virginia led in student-police contact that disproportionately affected students with disabilities, and those who were black or Latino.

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The Murrow Awards have been given since 1971 by the Radio Television Digital News Association, and are designed to honor outstanding achievements in electronic journalism.

This story is part of Criminalizing kids. Scrutinizing the use of law enforcement and courts to respond to kids conduct at school or other circumstances. . Click here to read more stories in this series.

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Copyright 2017 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
Dakar (AFP) - Chad's former president Hissene Habre will Thursday hear the final decision on an appeal against a life sentence for war crimes, crimes against humanity and rape, following his landmark conviction last year.

The Extraordinary African Chambers, a body created by Senegal and the African Union (AU), sentenced Habre last May to life behind bars, an unprecedented ruling seen as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers.

In July, the court further ruled that Habre should give up to 30,000 euros ($33,000) to each victim of abuses committed during his 1982-1990 rule, as well as to their relatives.

Expected to begin at 1000 GMT on Thursday, the appeal verdict will be "definitive and irrevocable," the special court's spokesman Marcel Mendy told AFP.

As of Tuesday it was unclear if Habre would appear, a decision that Mendy said rested with the president of the appeal court, Wafi Ougadeye.

Habre, 74, refuses to recognise the court's authority and his appeal was therefore brought on his behalf by court-appointed lawyers. He refused to speak or defend himself throughout his trial.

Habre's conviction brought closure for relatives of up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his time as president.

One of his lawyers, who asked not to be named, said he was "confident" of his team's chances, lashing out at what he termed "Western sponsors" of the trial.

If his conviction is upheld, Habre will serve his sentence in Senegal or in another AU country.

Assane Dioma Ndiaye, who defended the civil cases leading to the demand for reparations from Habre, said anything less than upholding the sentences handed down would be a huge blow.

Given the gravity of the accusations against Habre and the long fight for justice by the victims, "a sentence which is not in line with the facts would be a massive disappointment," Ndiaye said.

Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby, and for more than 20 years lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children.

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Reed Brody, an American lawyer who has worked with the victims since 1999, said the evidence presented at court was "overwhelming".

Brody described "handwritten instructions for the mistreatment of prisoners, the testimony of a woman he raped, witnesses who received his orders and others whom he personally sent to prison, a jail on the grounds of his palace," as examples.

The trial also set a global precedent as the first time a country had prosecuted the former leader of another nation for rights abuses.
In a major step aimed at improving the survival odds for extremely premature infants, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia researchers have created an artificial womb  a fluid-filled BioBag that kept fetal lambs alive and healthy outside their mothers until they could survive on their own.

The animals received oxygen through their umbilical cords and continued to develop much as if they had remained in the uterus, leading the team to express hope that the procedure could be tried on the youngest human preemies within three to five years.

The authors of the research stressed that they were not trying to enable the delivery of babies earlier than the current limit of viability, generally 22 to 23 weeks of pregnancy.

This unborn lamb was able to develop inside an artificial womb pic.twitter.com/lxuri2g7DI  CNN (@CNN) April 26, 2017

Instead, their goal is to provide a safe transition to the outside world for those infants, most of whom die under the current standard of care. Those who survive usually suffer from grave disability, such as chronic lung problems or cognitive impairment.

It is very clear that they simply are not ready to be here, said Emily A. Partridge, one of the study's authors.

Physicians not involved with the research, published Tuesday in Nature Communications, hailed it as a big advance. Jay Greenspan, a neonatologist and chair of pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University/Nemours, called the team's efforts heroic and monumental.

Still, he cautioned that performing the procedure on extremely early human preemies would be a challenge, in part because they are one-third to one-half the size of lambs at the same stage of development. Most of the lambs in the study were removed from their mothers at the equivalent of 23 to 24 weeks' gestation for human fetuses, which at that point are less than a foot long and weigh a little more than a pound.

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Surgeries become even more challenging because these babies are so small, Greenspan said.

But George B. Mychaliska, who is developing a different type of artificial womb at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital, agreed that some form of device could be tried on human infants within several years.

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA

Alan W. Flake, left, Emily A. Partridge, and Marcus G. Davey led the artificial womb research at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Researchers have tried to create such a support system since the 1960s for premature lab animals  lambs are commonly used because they are developmentally similar to humans  but have struggled to accommodate their delicate, underdeveloped anatomy.

A primary problem is the lungs. In very premature lambs, as well as human infants, the tiny sacs that exchange air and carbon dioxide with the blood are not fully developed; the maturation process stops when the lung cells are exposed to air at birth. Currently, intensive-care teams use ventilators to force air into the lungs of the youngest preemies, often damaging the organs.

The Children's Hospital team, led by fetal surgeon Alan W. Flake, approached the problem in stages. First, team members tried immersing lambs in a fluid bath to allow continued lung development, but some became infected by contaminated fluid.

Years of tweaking led to the closed "BioBag" system, which recirculates sterile fluid and features watertight ports to accommodate medical instruments. The fluid contains electrolytes for nutrition; future versions may include growth factors and proteins to prevent infection.

The lead "tinkerer," as he refers to himself, was Marcus G. Davey, a fetal physiologist who talks like an engineer. Because he built the system from scratch, some of the parts came from unconventional sources.

"A lot of the equipment we have here in the lab is from Home Depot," Davey said.

Since the animals' lungs were immersed in fluid, much as with a fetus that remains inside the mother, the researchers needed to deliver oxygen.

Normally, fetuses get oxygen through the mother's blood, via the umbilical cord. After delivery, however, the cord tends to spasm and contract, making access difficult.

The Children's Hospital team solved this problem by devising an adapter that could be quickly attached to the umbilical cord moments after birth, allowing the insertion of a thin tube known as a cannula so the lamb's blood could circulate through an external oxygenator, which serves the function of a lung. Surgeons administered medication to prevent cord spasms, and also kept the operating room at a toasty 90 degrees, as umbilical cords are more likely to shrink in cooler surroundings.

Other researchers have tried a variety of different methods for delivering oxygen, generally with an electric pump. But that approach can overtax a premature animal's circulatory system, leading to problems such as swelling and heart failure, Flake said.

Instead, the premature lambs at Children's Hospital pumped the blood with their own hearts, directing it through an external oxygenator. The latest generation of these devices exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide across sophisticated, low-resistance membranes, so the tiny hearts had enough strength to push blood across them.

The protocol called for keeping the lambs on the system for no more than a month, supporting them until they (and someday, it is hoped, their human counterparts) could be successfully switched to a ventilator.

The team reported successful results with eight lambs. Seven were euthanized so that the researchers could ascertain that they had achieved normal development of the brain, lungs, and other internal organs. The other lamb grew into a sheep and appears normal.

The same is true for several additional lambs that received the treatment but were not part of the study published Tuesday, Flake said.

"We've bottle-fed them, we've grown them up, and they're reasonably normal in every respect that we can tell," the surgeon said.

In the United States, an estimated 30,000 births each year are defined as critically preterm, occurring at less than 26 weeks into the pregnancy. But the artificial womb would be an option only for those that are delivered by cesarean section, as the umbilical cord spasms quickly after a vaginal birth, Flake said.

Asked how much it would cost to sustain a baby in an artificial womb, hospital officials said it was too soon to speculate. But they said it would be more than offset by reducing the risk of long-term disability, which currently costs the health-care system billions of dollars each year.

Mychaliska, the Michigan physician who is working on an alternate technology, cautioned that with Children's Hospital's approach, parents would be asked to try the artificial womb without knowing whether their baby might be OK without it.

"Not every 24-weeker does poorly," Mychaliska said.

In Michigan's system, called an artificial placenta, physicians can first see if lambs will breathe on their own before hooking them up to the system. The animals' lungs are then filled with fluid to allow further lung development; they are not immersed like the animals in Philadelphia.

Flake countered that if anything goes amiss with the Children's Hospital approach, a premature animal can quickly be removed from the bag and placed on a ventilator as it normally would be.

The next steps for the Philadelphia team include one more study in animals, as well as creating a device with medical-grade plastics for eventual use on humans. The human system is designed to be as womblike as possible; the babies would be kept in the dark, and they would hear recorded maternal heart sounds. Their parents would be able to see them via a "darkfield" camera, Flake said.

Children's Hospital has funded the research itself; it declined to reveal the total amount.

The project began more than five years ago, when Partridge proposed it to Flake, convinced that there had to be a better way to treat extremely premature infants. Five years from now, they hope to know the answer.

Staff writer Marie McCullough contributed to this article.

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BEIJING (Reuters) - China aims for non-fossil fuels to account for about 20 percent of total energy consumption by 2030, increasing to more than half of demand by 2050, its state planner said on Tuesday, as Beijing continues its years-long shift away from coal power. In a policy document, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will peak by 2030 and total energy demand will be capped at 6 billion tons of standard coal equivalent by 2030, up from 4.4 billion tons targeted for this year. The NDRC said it wants to increase oil and underground natural gas storage facilities, but it did not give any further details. The statement largely reiterated previous pledges contained in five-year plans and other policy documents and aimed at boosting wind and solar power usage. (Reporting by Josephine Mason and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Photo credit: Via Sina.com

From Popular Mechanics

China is building a factory so big that when it's done, it will be able to accommodate the construction of four submarines at once-out of sight from military enthusiasts and spy satellites alike.

According to Popular Science, Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industrial Corporation is building the plant in Huludao, Liaoning Province. The place will have two parallel assembly lines. The gigantic hall reportedly is where China will begin construction on is latest attack submarine, the Type 095.

Photo credit: Via Chinese Internet.

Despite having control over its Internet and press, the Chinese government has had enduring problems with military enthusiasts sneaking pictures of new ships and aircraft under development or construction. While some of this is useful to telegraph China's broader intentions and give a hint of its capabilities, the rest of it is considered a nuisance. Building an indoor submarine factory keeps sensitive subjects such as the hull shape of a submarine or even the propeller design a secret.

This does not necessarily mean China now has a submarine-building edge over the U.S. The U.S. Navy commissions about two submarines a year, each of which takes about three years to build. That puts U.S. submarine construction at about six at a time, ahead of this factory's four. Of course, China builds submarines at other locations too, and may even build them a little faster.

Photo credit: Via Newport News shipyard.

Speed isn't everything. Even if China ends up capable of building more submarines per year than the United States can, there's the question of quality. The Type 095 is expected to be quieter that the second tranche of Los Angeles-class attack submarines that were built in the late 1980s, and Russian Victor III or Akula-class submarines built in the early 1980s.

In other words, China is approximately 30 years behind the United States in submarine quieting technology. Chinese submarines in the 1980s were about as quiet as American submarines from the 1950s, while modern American submarines such as the Seawolf or Virginia-class boats are so quiet they're described as "quieter at 25 knots than the Los Angeles class at pierside." This is not a field where China has been able to close the gap.

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DHAKA (Reuters) - China offered on Tuesday to help tackle a diplomatic row between Bangladesh and Myanmar over the flight of minority Rohingyas, two Bangladesh foreign ministry officials said. Around 69,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to escape violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar since October, straining relations between the two neighbors who each see the stateless Muslim minority as the other nation's problem. Chinese special envoy Sun Guoxiang, beginning a four-day trip to Bangladesh, urged Dhaka to resolve the row with Myanmar bilaterally, but also said Beijing stood ready to help in the matter, a foreign ministry official in Dhaka told Reuters. Sun made the proposal during a meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, the official said. He declined to be named, saying he was not authorized to speak to the media. "The envoy told us at the meeting that they were ready to help if necessary," the official said. Another foreign ministry official confirmed the information but also asked not to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter. China has strong ties with both Myanmar and Bangladesh, helping in infrastructure development in both countries. Relations with the former have warmed further since Myanmar President Htin Kyaw struck a deal in China on an oil pipeline between the neighbors after almost a decade of talks. Beijing has established a strong presence in Bangladesh, building roads and power stations and supplying military hardware. During the talks on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Haque told Chinese envoy Sun that Bangladesh welcomed Chinese efforts to tackle its problems with Myanmar stemming from the influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh, the officials said. Dhaka has proposed that Sun travel to Cox's Bazar near the border with Myanmar to see the plight of the tens of thousands of people camped there. China's ambassador to Bangladesh, Ma Mingqiang, visited a Rohingya camp there in March. Myanmar has faced growing international criticism over the latest eruption of violence against the Rohingyas. Myanmar's government has conceded some soldiers may have committed crimes but has rejected charges of ethnic cleansing. (Reporting by Serajul Quadir; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Mark Trevelyan)
(WASHINGTON) - As the world braces for a possible North Korean nuclear test, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged restraint in a call to President Donald Trump. Americans U.N. envoy warned of a strike if Pyongyang attacks a U.S. military base or tests an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Xis phone call with Trump came amid signs Pyongyang could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test explosion since 2006, or the latest in a rapid series of missile tests, further advancing its ambitions of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.

In Washington, the Trump administration invited the entire 100-member Senate for a briefing Wednesday on the escalating crisis. Adding to the atmosphere of animosity, officials said North Korea has detained a third U.S. citizen.

Trump told ambassadors from U.N. Security Council members that the status quo in North Korea is unacceptable and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions.

This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem, and its a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now its time to solve the problem, he said at the White House.

North Korea poses one the sternest national security challenges facing the 3-month-old Trump administration. The administration has settled on a strategy emphasizing increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, rather than trying to overthrow Kim Jong Uns isolated government or use military force. But senior officials have repeatedly said that all options remain on the table.

China is a traditional ally of North Korea and fought on its side in the 1950-53 Korean War. Those ties have frayed, but Beijing remains the Norths economic lifeline. The Xi-Trump call on Monday morning Beijing time was the second time the two leaders have spoken by telephone since meeting in Florida earlier this month.

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Xi told Trump that China strongly opposes North Koreas nuclear weapons program, which violates U.N. Security Council resolutions, and hopes all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Chinas official broadcaster CCTV said.

A White House readout of the call said Trump criticized North Koreas continued belligerence and the leaders reaffirmed the urgency of the threat. They committed to strengthening coordination to denuclearize North Korea, a statement said.

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and ships in the strike group accompanying it are continuing to move toward the South Korea region, after completing a short naval exercise with Japanese ships in the Philippine Sea. But the ships are probably several days from arriving in the region.

In addition to the Carl Vinson, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered, guided-missile submarine, is due to arrive Tuesday on a routine port visit at Busan, South Korea, a U.S. defense official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the ship movement publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tuesday marks the founding anniversary of North Koreas armed forces. It has marked such dates in the past with displays of its military capabilities.

Commercial satellite imagery suggests the North has been readying for weeks for an underground atomic explosion, and could conduct one at any time. Alternatively, a long-range missile test could show North Korean progress toward being able to fire a weapon at America. But any decision by Trump to resort to military action would be highly risky, principally because the capital of close ally South Korea lies within range of North Korea artillery and rockets.

Nikki Haley, Trumps U.N. ambassador, said Monday the U.S. wasnt looking for a fight with Kim and wouldnt attack North Korea unless he gives us reason to do something. She praised Chinas increased pressure on North Korea.

Asked about the threshold for U.S. action, Haley told NBCs Today that if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously were going to do that.

But asked what would happen if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, Haley said, I think then the president steps in and decides whats going to happen.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the briefing to senators will be delivered by four top administration officials: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford.

The latest American held in North Korea is Tony Kim, who also goes by his Korean name Kim Sang-duk. The 58-year old taught accounting for a month at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. He was detained on Saturday, according to Park Chan-mo, the university chancellor. No details on why Kim was detained have been released.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
The American actor will be reunited with the "Hell or High Water" director, David Mackenzie, on the epic period drama "Outlaw King," bringing the story of Robert the Bruce and the Wars of Scottish Independence to Netflix, reports Deadline.

Chris Pine is expected to take the role of Robert the Bruce, the Scottish king who led his country to independence from English rule in the early 14th century.

The film, being developed by Netflix, will reportedly reunite a trio from "Hell or High Water," which scooped four nominations at this year's Oscars. As well as David Mackenzie behind the camera, Ben Foster could be set to join Chris Pine on the "Outlaw King" cast. After playing the brother of Chris Pine's character in "Hell or High Water," Ben Foster could now step into the role of James Douglas, the Scottish knight who was a chief commander during the Wars of Scottish Independence and who became chief advisor to Robert I, King of Scots.

"Outlaw King" sets out to celebrate the Scottish king, whose image was somewhat tarnished by the movie "Braveheart." The character, played by Mel Gibson, was portrayed as a traitor, manipulated by his father. However, the Netflix film restores the monarch's reputation as a defender of free Scotland.

Scottish filmmaker David Mackenzie has been highly in demand since "Hell or High Water." He is expected to start filming "Outlaw King" in August, ahead of other potential projects, including "The Brotherhood," starring Michael Fassbender and Margot Robbie.

"Outlaw King" adds another title to the list of movies developed by Netflix, such as "War Machine" with Brad Pitt, "Bright" starring Will Smith" and "Okja" with Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal, which is in the running for the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
A number of senators with educational experience as teachers or administrators joined Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha on Monday in an effort to derail a bill that would allow teachers to use physical force to control violent students.

The bill (LB595), introduced by Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, was caught in a filibuster after three hours of debate and stood in danger of disappearing from this year's legislative agenda.

"I don't know if I have 33 votes," Groene said following adjournment for the day.

That's the number required to break a filibuster, and Speaker Jim Scheer of Norfolk will seek assurance from Groene that he can produce that kind of support before he's willing to return the bill to the legislative agenda.

Groene has argued that teachers want and need the legal assurance they can use physical force and restraint when it's absolutely necessary to control a violent student.

The Nebraska State Education Association, which represents teachers throughout the state, testified in favor of the bill at its public hearing.

Sen. Roy Baker of Lincoln, a former teacher, principal and longtime school superintendent, has offered an amendment to the bill that would simply assure teachers may use "physical contact short of corporal punishment" to preserve order and control.

Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, a former teacher, said she strongly opposes the bill, arguing that it "does nothing to address the root of the problem," which often stems from life circumstances beyond the control of the student.

Some students may have had no parental support, she said, and others may not have eaten at all that day or perhaps been bullied or teased before the incident of violent behavior occurred.

The Legislature's focus should be on addressing the lack of behavioral mental health programs that could help resolve some of those issues and engage the entire family, Walz said.

Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha, a former teacher, supported Baker's proposal and said it's important to "train teachers to create a welcoming environment" in the classroom, with instruction that includes skills in "safe restraint."

Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha, a longtime high school principal, also supported Baker's amendment.

Chambers offered a motion to send the bill back to the Education Committee, but it failed on a 14-24 vote.

Groene argued that an increasing "breakdown of discipline in the classroom" prompted him to introduce the bill. An NSEA survey demonstrated that 82 percent of its members believe that's a problem that needs to be addressed, he said.

Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston said an unusually swift response to the questionnaire represented "a cry for help."

Sen. Tom Briese of Albion said the Legislature should "give teachers the tools they need to control the classroom."

Groene said he can count "25 votes for sure" in support of his bill, and will "check it out" to see if he can reach the 33-vote requirement imposed by the filibuster.

But he has no doubt that his bill is needed, he said.

"There is a problem out there," Groene said.
Kuwait City (AFP) - The two church bombings that killed dozens in Egypt this month targeted unity among Muslims and Christians in the most populous Arab nation, Coptic Pope Tawadros II said Tuesday.

Suicide bombers from the Islamic State group attacked two churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria on April 9, killing 45 people in the deadliest attacks on Coptic Christians in recent memory.

The attacks which hit on Palm Sunday "were not aimed at Copts only but at the heart of Egypt... They aimed at breaking the unity of Egyptians," the Tawadros told a news conference in Kuwait City.

"Unity among Egyptians has existed for the past 14 centuries and these attacks will not affect the Egyptian people," he said.

Copts, who make up about one tenth of Egypt's population of more than 92 million, have been targeted several times in recent months.

In December, an IS suicide bomber struck a Cairo church, killing 29 people.

Jihadists and Islamists accuse Copts of supporting the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, which ushered in a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

Tawadros, on his first visit to Kuwait where a large Coptic community lives, was met by Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and top officials.

He said Egyptian security forces and the military are doing their role in protecting Christian places of worship which have become a target of attacks in recent years.

Egyptian police last week arrested Ali Mahmoud Mohamed Hassan, one of 19 suspects whose names police made public after the Palm Sunday explosions.

The April 9 attacks, weeks before a planned visit by Catholic Pope Francis, prompted the government to declare a three-month state of emergency.
By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The partner of a Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 said he "didn't know it was a kid" when he responded to an emergency call about an armed man at a park, according to video released on Tuesday.

Cleveland Police Department officer Frank Garmback, in a video of a police interview following the shooting of the African-American child, became emotional several times.

I didnt know it was a kid, Garmback said as he covered his face with his hands in the video released by the Rice family's attorney Subodh Chandra.

The shooting by a white officer of Rice as he was playing with a replica gun that fired pellets was one of a string of killings that fueled protests against the use of deadly force by U.S. police, particularly against minorities.

Chandra released the video on Tuesday as part of the family's push to have both officers fired, calling them incompetent.

In 2015, a Cuyahoga County grand jury declined to charge Garmback or Timothy Loehmann, who fired the fatal shot on Nov. 22, 2014. Both officers now face administrative charges that could result in suspension or termination.

Loehmann and Garmback's attorney, Henry Hilow, questioned the release of the videos.

It is suspicious and prejudicial to any kind of fair and unbiased hearing, Hilow said in a phone interview.

Both officers remain restricted to desk duty, but want to return to active patrol, Hilow said.

In March, a Cleveland police dispatcher was suspended eight days for failing to warn the officers a 911 caller had described the scene as probably a child with a fake gun.

Last year, Cleveland settled a civil lawsuit the family filed for $6 million.

In his video interview, Garmback described the scene after Rice was shot and his frustration at the slow response of the ambulance. I can see this kids eyes rolling in the back of his head. He is barely breathing and there is no rescue squad, he said.

In contrast, Loehmann showed little emotion during his interview, which ran twice as long as his partner's. He continually referred to Rice as "the male" or "the black male" while investigators repeatedly asked him to clarify the events of the shooting.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer in Cleveland, Editing by Ben Klayman and Andrew Hay)
Record rainfall caused an eerie scene in South Carolina this week as floodwaters inundated a cemetery.

At least one coffin floated to the surface of the graveyard in Georgetown County Monday, forcing family members to tend to American flags and flowers adorning the monument before they were lost.

Watch: Did Jesus Christ Have a Brother Named James?

Those family members also told WCSC that this isn't the first time the casket has surfaced.

They were faced with a similar problem during Hurricane Matthew, which tore through the region after devastating Haiti seven months ago.

Family said they aren't sure how to fix the problem.

"Well it's an eerie feeling in your stomach," Henry Gibson told WCSC. "Like I was saying earlier when they put him back down last time... I know they did a good job. So I don't know why he's coming back up again."

Watch: Horse Lays His Head on Coffin as He Mourns the Loss of His Human Best Friend

Monday's rains were the worst the Charleston area has experienced since Matthew and even bested all time one-day precipitation totals as three inches had fallen before the day was even over.

In addition to the cemetery, several neighborhoods in the area were flooded. Drier conditions were expected for Tuesday.

Watch: Siblings Come Together to Build Customized Coffin for Contractor Brother

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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
A Confederate monument in New Orleans will be relocated after it was disassembled Monday morning. The statue is one of four prominent Confederate monuments that will be removed from New Orleans' city center.

Amid protests from some  and celebration from others  The Liberty Place monument, a large and historic obelisk located at one end of Iberville Street, was deconstructed by local authorities in the early morning hours, the Associated Press reported.

The Louisiana city is in the process of taking down four major Confederate monuments and statues, some of which include the Robert E. Lee statues at Lee Circle and the Jefferson Davis statue. The Liberty Place statue was the first to go. The monument was built to commemorate an event in which members of the Crescent City White League sought to oust a biracial state militia in police force, post-Civil war, according to CNN.

The morning of the statues deconstruction, protesters arrived at the site to voice their disapproval of the landmarks removal. The now-dissembled monument will be relocated, and police barricaded the area to ensure the monuments safe disablement.

READ: Confederate Flag Update: New Orleans Can Remove Three Monuments From The Historic South, Federal Court Rules

The statues removal coincides with Confederate Memorial Day, which often takes place on the last Monday of April, according to Time and Date. Although the state of Louisiana does not celebrate the holiday, some states like Georgia and Alabama do, and government offices within the states close in observance.

The removal of these statues sends a clear and unequivocal message to the people of New Orleans and the nation: New Orleans celebrated our diversity, including and tolerance, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a press release. Relocating these Confederate monuments is not about taking something away from someone else. This is not about politics, blame or retaliation. This is not a naive quest to solve all our problems at once. This is about showing the whole world that we as a city and as a people are able to acknowledge, understand, reconcile  and most importantly  choose a better future.

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Parents today have many choices when it comes to public high schools.

Communities may be home to traditional public high schools and several publicly funded alternatives -- including magnet, charter and career and technical schools and programs -- that are free to residents.

President Donald Trump's administration aims to expand programs that allow families to choose a school -- public or private -- and use public money to pay for it.

[Consider these 10 things when picking your child's high school.]

But many families may wonder what makes these alternatives distinct from their typical neighborhood public high school. The following facts may help.

1. Charter schools are designed to be different. Charter schools are public schools run by independent groups, usually nonprofits, that have more freedom to do things differently, says Claire Smrekar, associate professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University.

For example, schools may have an atypical school calendar or schedule classes differently, she says. Charter schools receive greater autonomy, but generally must improve student performance, usually a requirement of charters granted by districts or states where schools are located.

However, outcomes are mixed at charter schools, which have been around since the 1990s, says Smrekar, whose research focuses on school choice. About 20 percent of the top 500 institutions in the 2017 U.S. News Best High Schools rankings are charter schools.

Charter high schools typically emphasize college readiness, she says. "No excuses" charter high schools, in particular, are often very structured and stress discipline and high academic achievement. Circumstances like single parenthood or poverty do not justify poor performance in these schools.

Generally, charter school students are admitted through a lottery if there are not enough seats, Smrekar says. Transportation to and from school isn't always provided.

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Oklahoma mom of four Christi Roselle has two high schoolers -- one attends a magnet school, while another attends a charter. She says there are a few cons to both magnet and charter high schools -- extracurriculars are more limited, for example. Overall, she's been very happy with both schools, but once her younger children reach high school she'd like to send them to the charter school because she thinks it's a better fit for her kids.

2. Magnet schools were created in the 1970s as a tool to desegregate schools. Magnets are designed around a central theme, such as math and science or the performing arts, says Smrekar, the school choice expert.

These distinct schools aim to attract students from all over a district to create a diverse school, she says. Magnet schools today still aim to cultivate a diverse student body, but increasingly districts aren't under court order to do so.

Students are typically admitted to magnet schools through a lottery. At academically selective magnet schools, students need to meet certain academic requirements, Smrekar says. Some magnet programs are housed within traditional high schools.

Magnet schools make up about 15 percent of the top 500 schools in the 2017 high schools rankings.

[See what schools topped the Best High Schools rankings.]

"The smaller class size does allow youngsters who may not be as adept socially to find a social group," says Judith Peterson, principal of Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston, South Carolina, ranked No. 11 in the nation. She says the nature among students at the rigorous school, with about 160 students per grade, is to support each other.

While Peterson is a strong supporter of Academic Magnet, she says it's not for everyone and that she still believes in traditional public high schools.

3. Career and technical programs aim to prepare students for in-demand jobs. High schoolers in career and technical programs today often prepare for sought-after jobs in fields like technology, says Smrekar.

Standalone high schools focused on career and technical education are not very common, though they exist. Learning isn't focused on a particular setting. Students could spend time at high school, a community college or employer, she says.

Teens leave high school with the skills and credentials needed to land an in-demand job or to continue their education.

Today, career and technical programs may be aligned with industry partners. Pathways in Technology Early College High School in Brooklyn, New York, for instance, operates with tech company IBM and the New York City College of Technology.

Students at this Brooklyn early career and college high school can stay for six years and graduate with a diploma, an associate degree in a STEM field -- science, technology, engineering and math -- and with in-demand industry skills, says Rashid Ferrod Davis, founding principal. Workplace learning opportunities are available during the 12-month school year.

[Learn how 13th grade offers some teens an easier transition to college.]

Roselle, the mom in Oklahoma, likes having choices.

"You don't have to just put your child into one particular school," that might not be the right fit, she says. "When you've got options, you can find the right fit for the right child -- I really like that."

Check out the High School Notes blog for a snapshot of what's going on in U.S. high school classrooms.

Alexandra Pannoni is an education digital producer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com.
A police officer called to a noise complaint in a Texas town failed to shut down the party  and joined it instead.

A neighbor called police about the loud music playing from a children's dance club in San Antonio at about 1 a.m. Sunday.

Read: Cop Gets Out His Dancing Shoes to Collect Donations for Salvation Army

But when police arrived, they didn't turn the music off. Instead, one of the officers taught the kids how to salsa dance.

Leslie Sapp, who runs the Next Generation Dance Crew, said the officer asked her to play a song and when the music started, he broke out his moves.

In a video she posted to Facebook, the police officer is seen taking her daughter by the hand and dancing with her.

"Super cool of him," she wrote on Facebook.

Read: Pregnant Pole Dancer Defies Critics With Impressive Moves: 'It's Empowering'

The Next Generation Dance Crew aims to inspire and encourage youth to express themselves through dance, which is exactly what the officer did.

"There is a lot of negativity in the world when it comes to cops, and he broke that stereotype," Sapp told KSAT. "He didnt have to take his time to do that and could have just (gone) in and shut it down."

Watch: 85-Year-Old Kicks Off Her Shoes and Dances to Banjo

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A bill that would allow ex-felons to vote without a two-year wait after their sentences are complete won approval from state senators Monday, but not by a lot.

It will now move to Gov. Pete Ricketts' desk for his signature.

The Legislature voted 27-13 on final reading, not enough for a 30-vote veto override if one comes.

The bill (LB75) came out of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee on a 5-1 vote, but was questioned by committee Chairman John Murante.

Murante said he's concerned not only about the question of the bill's constitutionality, and who has the authority to restore civil rights, but also that certain felonies, such as fraud and in particular voter fraud, would make the restoration of those rights not in the state's best interest.

Other conservative states, including Texas and Nevada, have repealed their post-sentence voting bans.

A study by Nebraskans for Civic Reform, "Removing the Wait: Disenfranchisement in Nebraska," showed Nebraska is depriving more than 7,000 citizens who have completed their felony sentences of the right to vote.

The total number, including those in prison and jail, on parole or probation, is more than 17,500.

One of every 18 black Nebraskans  5.6 percent  is deprived of the right to vote, compared with one of every 81  1.2 percent  total adults in the state.
By Eric Auchard FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Two foundations tied to Germanys ruling coalition parties were attacked by the same cyber spy group that targeted the campaign of French presidential favourite Emmanuel Macron, a leading cyber security expert said on Tuesday. The group, dubbed "Pawn Storm" by security firm Trend Micro, used email phishing tricks and attempted to install malware at think tanks tied to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Feike Hacquebord said. Hacquebord and other experts said the attacks, which took place in March and April, suggest Pawn Storm is seeking to influence the national elections in the two European Union powerhouses. "I am not sure whether those foundations are the actual target. It could be that they used it as a stepping stone to target, for example, the CDU or the SPD," Hacquebord said. The mysterious cyber spying group, also known as Fancy Bear and APT 28, was behind data breaches of U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Merkels party last year, Hacquebord said. Other security experts and former U.S. government officials link it to the Russian military intelligence directorate GRU. Hacquebord and Trend Micro have stopped short of making that connection. Russia has denied any involvement in the cyber attacks. Since 2014, Merkel has pushed the European Union to maintain sanctions on Russia over its actions in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Her coalition partners, the Social Democrats, back a more conciliatory stance towards Moscow. "What we are seeing is kind of a replication of what happened in the United States," David Grout, a Paris-based technical director of U.S. cyber security firm FireEye, said of technical attacks and efforts to spread fake news in Europe. Hacquebord said on Monday he had found new evidence that Macron's campaign was targeted by Pawn Storm. (https://goo.gl/8Ja2Bq) FAKE SERVERS German officials have told Reuters that politicians fear sensitive emails stolen from senior lawmakers by Russian hackers in 2015 could be released before the election to damage Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term, and her conservative party. Trend Micro uncovered efforts to break into the accounts of CDU politicians in April and May, 2016. The BSI, Germany's federal cyber security agency confirmed these attempts but said they were unsuccessful. New attacks in 2017 suggest renewed efforts to gain comprising data is underway, Hacquebord said. Pawn Storm set up a fake computer server located based in Germany at kasapp.de to mount email phishing attacks against the CDU party's Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and a server located in the Ukraine at intern-fes.de to target the SPD's Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). A KAS spokesman said BSI warned KAS in early March of "peculiarities" but that a subsequent network scan by the government cyber security agency found "nothing suspicious". The BSI declined to comment, as did the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations of Russian involvement. "We would be pleased if this investigative group sent us the information, and then we could check it," Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. "Because for now it does not go beyond the boundaries of some anonymous people." Trend Micro published a 41-page report charting Pawn Storm attacks over the past two years, building on a dozen previous technical reports (https://goo.gl/WvjuLv). A timeline can be downloaded here (https://goo.gl/npY0OJ). (Additional reporting by Peter Maushagen in Frankfurt, Andreas Rinke and Andrea Shalal in Berlin and Maria Tsvetkova in Moscow; Editing by Richard Lough)
By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - Two Venezuelan men died on Tuesday from gunshots at political demonstrations, bringing to 26 the number of fatalities around this month's protests against President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government. The state prosecutor's office said Orlando Medina, 23, was gunned down on a street in western Lara state during a protest local media identified as anti-Maduro. Luis Marquez, 52, died in the Andean state of Merida in the early morning after being shot on Monday at a pro-Maduro rally, state ombudsman Tarek Saab said. In more than three weeks of chaos since Venezuela's opposition launched street protests, 15 people have died in violence around demonstrations and 11 others in night-time lootings, the state prosecutor's office said on Tuesday. Political activists and Venezuelan media have reported more deaths, but those have not been confirmed. The ruling Socialist Party accuses foes of seeking a violent coup with U.S. connivance, while the opposition says Maduro is a dictator repressing peaceful protest. With near-daily demonstrations by both opponents and supporters of Maduro, there have been fatalities on both sides, as well as one National Guard sergeant killed during a protest. "Any death hurts, government or opposition," chief state prosecutor Luisa Ortega said in a speech. Four fatalities were adolescents and 437 people had also been injured. ELECTIONS SOUGHT The opposition's main demands are for elections, the release of jailed activists and autonomy for the opposition-led legislature. But protests are also fueled by a crippling economic crisis in the oil-exporting nation of some 30 million people. The unrest is Venezuela's worst since 2014, when 43 people died in months of mayhem sparked by protests against Maduro, the 54-year-old successor to late leader Hugo Chavez. Nearly 1,500 people have been arrested, with 801 still detained as of Tuesday, rights group Penal Forum said. Trying to keep the pressure on Maduro, the opposition Democratic Unity coalition is planning a march on Wednesday toward downtown Caracas. Past attempts to reach that area have been blocked by security forces using teargas and rubber bullets against masked youths hurling stones and Molotov cocktails. "The Venezuelan people will stay in the street until there is an election timetable, a humanitarian aid channel, freedom for political prisoners and independence for public institutions, especially the National Assembly," said Ismael Garcia, a legislator with opposition party Justice First. Thousands of red-shirted Maduro supporters marched in the state of Falcon on Tuesday, chanting pro-government slogans and denouncing the opposition for violence. "They call themselves defenders of human rights but then they murder people. They're the same as 2002," Socialist Party No. 2 Diosdado Cabello told the crowd, referring to a short-lived coup against Chavez that year. (Additional reporting by Andreina Aponte and Corina Pons; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Grant McCool and Andrew Hay)
From Road & Track

"You couldn't do it," Tim Kuniskis said bluntly.

It was the night before the 2017 New York International Auto Show. Just minutes earlier, Dodge had officially unveiled the 2018 Challenger SRT Demon, the 840-horsepower super-Hellcat that can rip through the 1/4-mile in 9.65 seconds. I was sitting alongside Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Car Brands at Fiat Chrysler, in one of two Demons onstage as media and Dodge fans pored over its every angle.

I'd asked Kuniskis, previously the President and CEO of SRT, whether owners of "regular" Challenger SRT Hellcats could upgrade their middle-rung 707-horsepower muscle cars to Demon-level performance. The Dodge exec made it seem nearly impossible.

"Number one, the engine is completely different," he told me. "We deck-hone the block, a different machining process on that. New crankshaft, new connecting rods, new pistons, new camshaft, new valvetrain, new supercharger. Basically, it's just the heads that carry over."

He continued. "The suspension, technically, I guess you could replicate, but you'd literally have to rebuild the whole car. You can't duplicate the trans brake. You could duplicate the driveline-you'd have to replace the driveshaft, the half shafts, and the rear gear assembly. You could probably take the torque converter. That's about it, really."

Kuniskis's answer shows his obvious pride in what SRT engineers have accomplished with the Demon. The car offers a whole raft of equipment and technology that's never before been offered on a production car, all aimed at making it the quickest stock vehicle ever to run the quarter-mile. The suspension he mentioned? It's a trick active system that goes all the way soft up front and firm in the rear to promote weight transfer on a drag strip launch-but snaps back to a firmer, more stable setting when you need to steer. The trans brake? It's a tried-and-true piece of drag racing hardware, one that no automaker has ever before offered from the factory-in part because aftermarket systems have a reputation for grenading drivelines if used clumsily.

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SRT engineers made hundreds of changes, big and small, to create the Demon. It's more than 200 lbs lighter than the Challenger Hellcat it's based on; it makes 133 more horses, 120 more lb-ft of torque, and shaves more than a second off that car's 0-60 time-and still meets all emissions, fuel economy, and crash safety regulations. This is a nine-second car that pops wheelies, yet still carries Dodge's 60,000-mile drivetrain warranty.

No, it's not fair to compare aftermarket tuner offerings to the factory Demon. But it is inevitable. So I went to the guy building the quickest hot-rodded Hellcats in the world to see how he could replicate the Demon's performance, and at what cost.

Joshua Schwartz is the owner of High Horse Performance, a Smyrna, Delaware-based speed shop specializing in the third-generation Hemi V8 engine. High Horse-tuned Hellcats routinely run nine-second quarter-mile times-clearly, Schwartz knows how to build a 'Cat that runs with the Demon.

"To get a standard Hellcat up to Demon levels, it's really just turning up the boost, doing exhaust work, intake work and tuning," Schwartz told me over the phone. Add in a gearing swap, from the factory 2.62:1 final drive to a shorter 3.09, and you're in the Demon's neighborhood. "We have a ton of customers where we take them from 11 psi, the factory boost, to 15 psi, retune them with exhaust work, then gears, drag radials, and on their race gas tune typically they'll run 9.80 with full-weight Hellcats." Strip out the 200-plus pounds of weight that the Demon sheds, and you're well on your way to 9.65, Schwartz says.

But you'll need plenty of practice to do it. High Horse's developments are all real-world tested on the shop's white Challenger Hellcat. Nicknamed "TopCat," it currently runs a 9.15-second quarter-mile on stock engine internals and the factory ZF eight-speed automatic transmission. "When the car was running 9.5s, 9.6s, it took me a month and a half, eight trips to the track, before I learned how to launch the car," Schwartz told me. His best times are achieved by loading the torque converter at the line, releasing the brake, then patiently adding in throttle. "As I feel the rear end squat, I can just roll in quicker on the gas pedal, but I have to initiate that weight transfer myself," Schwartz said.

Schwartz said his shop is experimenting with suspension upgrades to help with weight transfer, and his TopCat runs with a race seat, race fuel, the NHRA-mandated chute, and drag radials. The Demon's combination of launch control, trans brake, and suspension-assisted weight transfer likely make a measurable difference in the car's drag strip performance, Schwartz said.

So, what would it cost to build up a Demon-chasing Hellcat? High Horse offers a package with 18 psi of supercharger boost, a race gas tune, drag radials, swapped rear end gears, and exhaust upgrades. "It's right around a $10,000 package," Schwartz says, "and with drag radials we had a bunch of guys last year running in the 9.5 to 9.7 range consistently." Such a setup usually nets around 800 rear-wheel horsepower, Schwartz says, though he prefers to go by drag strip times over chassis dyno numbers.

A base-model Challenger SRT Hellcat with an automatic transmission skates in at just under $69,000. Add ten grand for High Horse's upgrades and tuning expertise, and you're running mid-nines for right around 80 grand. With the Demon expected to come in at just under $100,000, the savings adds up to a whole bunch of spare rear tires. So why spring for the Demon at all?

"I think the fact that it has a warranty is huge," Schwartz says. "That alone, to a lot of our customers, is really a huge selling point, because pretty much everything I do, I'm voiding the warranty on that car." Add in the super-limited production numbers-3000 Demons slated for the US, 300 for Canada, one model year only-and the peace of mind of knowing your speed equipment is street legal and engineer tested, and suddenly that factory-built drag racer begins to make sense.

Not that Schwartz and the High Horse Performance team are worried. "We're hoping that once the Demon comes out, we'll get a nice influx of them through our shop for roll cages to make them NHRA legal," he said. And perhaps some of those Demon owners will ask him to add a few horses on top of the 840 that Dodge offers. "I don't know how aggressive they were, if they left horsepower on the table," he said. "There might still be some room in there for tuners like myself to get our hands on the cars and turn it up a little bit more."

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Using the same techniques as you would to find out about your own ancestors, you can test your dog's DNA but you might not like the answers.

Read: How Reliable Are Home DNA Ancestry Tests? Investigation Uses Triplets to Find Out

Phyllis Von Saspe of New York wanted to know if her $1,700 designer dog Emma really is a Shorkie, a mix of Shih Tzu and Yorkie. So she had the dogs DNA tested.

According to DNA tests, Von Saspes dog, Emma, who was purchased from a breeder in Washington State, is not a Shorkie but she's a mutt  part Shih Tzu and part Pomeranian, according to her DNA analysis.

I felt deceived, Von Saspe said.

Cliff Mintz was also eager to know more about his dog Moose, which was sold to him by a New Jersey breeder as a purebred Havanese.

According to a DNA test, he's not a purebred Havanese, but part Shih Tzu and part Havanese.

I think it happens a lot more than you know, Mintz said.

So with the help of Kathleen Summers of the Humane Society of the United States, Inside Edition went puppy shopping in Manhattan. At the Chelsea Kennel Club we spotted a cute little doggie in the window.

The store's manager told us three different times that the dog was a purebred Coton de Tulear.

Purebred Coton's are known for their cotton white coats. The dog, named Jak, was purchased by Summers and Inside Edition for $950.

From there, we took the little guy straight to the vet, where we had his cheek swabbed for DNA, just like is done with humans.

The DNA sample was then sent to Adam Boyko, the chief science officer and co-founder of Embark - a company that specializes in analyzing dog DNA.

Hes a mutt, just like my dog at home, Boyko said of Jak. Boyko says Jaks DNA results show he is not a purebred Coton and is actually a combination of Maltese, Havanese and other mixed breed groups.

The manager of the Chelsea Kennel Club, where we purchased Jak, insists that the dog is a full breed Coton.

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Read: How Accurate Are Home DNA Ancestry Kits? Investigation Uses Triplets to Put Companies to the Test

We have documentation and registry papers that say that its a Coton from the breeder itself," the manager said.

The pet store sent us registration papers, signed by the breeder, which list Jak and his parents as Coton's. They say these papers, not DNA, are the industry standard for determining whether a dog is a pure breed.

Jak now lives with a loving family in Baltimore who couldn't care less whether he's a mutt or not.

Sarah Jensen, Jaks new owner, said: We don't care if he's a Coton or a Maltese or whatever he is. We are going to love him forever.

Watch: Therapy Dogs Empower Young Victims in Courthouse: 'A Dog Gives Them Strength'

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Donald Trump has criticised North Koreas belligerence in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, amid escalating tensions between the US and the North.

Mr Trump told Mr Xi that North Koreas actions are destabilising the Korean Peninsula, according to a White House readout of the call. The White House says both leaders reaffirmed the urgency of the threat in North Korea, and pledged to strengthen their coordination on this issue.

A Chinese state media report on the call, however, said Mr Xi urged restraint and asked Mr Trump to refrain from taking any action that will aggravate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Read more

US could strike North Korea if it conducts another nuclear test

Mr Trump has spoken out aggressively against North Korea in recent weeks, calling the country a problem that will be taken care of. He recently deployed a fleet of four warships to the Sea of Japan as a show of force in response to North Korean missile tests. He told United Nations Security Council ambassadors on Monday that the UN must be prepared to impose stronger sanctions on the country.

"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem and it's a problem that we have to finally solve," he said. People put blindfolds on for decades and now its time to solve the problem.

North Korea has responded in kind, marching new ballistic missiles through the streets of Pyongyang during a recent celebration of the birth of the country's founder and proclaiming that they will respond without the slightest hesitation to US aggression. The government recently detained a third US citizen who was visiting the country, according to the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang.

North Korean officials have previously said that Mr Trumps hostile rhetoric is escalating tensions between the countries.

Trump is always making provocations with his aggressive words, North Korea Vice Minister Han Song Ryol said earlier this month. Its not the [Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea] but the US and Trump that makes trouble.

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WH Readout of POTUS call with Chinese President Xi: pic.twitter.com/RNgwinQKb4  Ali Vitali (@alivitali) April 24, 2017

China, meanwhile, has urged a measured approach to the conflict. Officials have asked the US to suspend military exercises with South Korea. Mr Xi is vocally opposed to the anti-missile system that the Trump administration has started installing there.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman urged all sides to stay calm and restrained, and dont take any actions that could escalate tensions. White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said in a press conference on Monday that China had been "very, very helpful" in dealing with North Korea.

Mr Trump also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday. The White House said only that they addressed a range of regional and global issues of mutual concern."

Vice President Mike Pence returned early from a diplomatic trip to the Asia-Pacific on Monday, citing a busy week in Washington.
Donald Trump has called the Security Councils inaction against Syria's President Bashar al Assads alleged use of chemical weapons as a failure while they were sitting next to him after a White House luncheon.

The president said he is disappointed because the UN doesnt like to take on problems and said the 15 member countries of the Security Council have remained blindfolded for decades to taking action on threats like North Korea.

Sources told The Independent that the Security Council also met with members of Congress for coffee and discussed North Korea, Syria, and what Mr Trump called "big reforms" to the UN that certain US legislators and Mr Trump would like to see.

Read more

Trump to order billions of funding cuts to UN agencies

US Ambassador the UN Nikki Haley, who holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month - said the meeting was a chance for members to see what the president is engaged in foreign policy and how he really need[s] them to engage.

He appeared to attempt a joke regarding Ms Haley - suggesting she could be replaced if unpopular - but commented that she is doing a great job.

"Does everybody like Nikki?" asks @realDonaldTrump



Laughter



"Good, otherwise she could easily be replaced." pic.twitter.com/2zZ3Q5VV7Y  Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) April 24, 2017

Mr Trumps criticism of the UN prior to the lunch meeting is well-documented - he called it a a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time during his 2016 campaign.

He has also made clear his dislike of the fact that the US shoulders much of the burden for funding the UN, but made clear at the meeting he would be less concerned about this if the UN did a "good job".

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"If we do a great job, I care much less about the budget because you're talking about peanuts compared to the important work you're doing," he said.

Richard Gowan, a UN expert with the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Independent that Mr Trumps comments could actually be useful blather.

He said the Security Council has been adrift on issues like South Sudan and Syria because of infighting among the five permanent members, which includes Russia.

Mr Trump was accurate in his statement that certain issues like those have been discussed repeatedly over the years, without any real change.

Ms Haley also commented that the meeting at the White House was a chance for the Security Council to see that the US is all about action. She said "reforms on spending" and past resolutions were discussed, but member countries have not commented as yet as to how those reforms were received.

He may just scare a few Council members into being a bit more constructive in future, said Mr Gowan.

However, Mr Trumps comments on US contributions to the UN could prove geopolitically dangerous.

The president has used the word unfair to describe American taxpayer contributions to both the North American Treaty Organisation (Nato) military alliance and the UN before.

US funding to the UN gives Washington huge leverage, Mr Gowan said.

Any major cuts to funding from the US - covering approximately 22 per cent of the overall budget and 28 per cent of the peacekeeping budget - could open the door to China, undermining Mr Trumps America First motto.

Mr Gowan noted that China could easily fill the financial gap and increase its own leverage.

With North Korea as a major problem unaddressed for far too long according to Mr Trump, Chinas increased financial leverage could result in a thornier political conflict with China and Russia for the US.

Chinas bombers are already on high alert due to Mr Trumps recent stance on North Korea. He is moving a fleet of aircraft carriers to the Sea of Japan as a result of a failed nuclear test by Pyongyang.

Despite the seemingly undiplomatic language, Mr Gowan said publicly dismissing the UN while continuing to work with them behind the scenes is fairly common for Republican presidents.

Mr Trump said that though the UN is underperforming, the group has tremendous potential.

I see fantastic things ahead for the United Nations, he added.
Final reading delayed on Vargas bill

The Legislature passed over a bill (LB427), introduced by Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas, that would authorize school districts to adopt policies for pregnant and parenting teens, and accommodate student mothers who are breastfeeding. Sen. Steve Erdman filed an amendment on the bill that would limit the requirements to Lincoln and Omaha school districts.
Donald Trump has been accused of misunderstanding the fundamentals of an ongoing trade spat between the US and Canada over dairy farming tariffs.

The Republican leader announced he would address Canadian milk imports and would allow US farmers to "start selling milk in our country.

However his claims have been lambasted as making no sense at all, with many highlighting the minimal amount of Canadian dairy exported to the US - estimated at $112.6 million (87m) in 2016 compared to the $631.6 million (493m) of US dairy exports to Canada.

Its going to mean that farmers are going to start selling milk in our country," Mr Trump told a group of Conservative reporters, according to Breitbart News.

One user wrote on Twitter: "Trump was talking about Canadian dairy exports. They barely exist. We have a hermetically sealed industry. On dairy, we are North Korea."

Trump absurdly claims tackling Canada Dairy means US farmers will start getting to sell milk. Canadian exports to US basically don't exist.  Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 25, 2017

Trump was talking about Canadian dairy exports. They barely exist. We have a hermetically sealed industry. On dairy, we are North Korea https://t.co/gOK2EpXMVV  Alexander Panetta (@Alex_Panetta) April 25, 2017

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. It is frequently criticised by other dairy-producing countries and the US President had promised to defend American dairy farmers hurt by the country's protectionist trade.

However industry group Dairy Farmers of Canada blamed US milk producers building far too much capacity in recent years, forcing them to confront an oversupply of milk and resulting in cut backs.

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To use a phrase that has recently come out of the US, Wisconsin farmers are using alternative facts, the groups director of communications and government Isabelle Bouchard said.

The Wisconsin people are trying to find an enemy  when in reality the problem they have is that they're overproducing.

Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also lashed out at the remarks, telling Bloomberg: The US has a $400 million dairy surplus with Canada so its not Canada thats the challenge here.

Speaking at a cheese-making factory in Wisconsin, Mr Trump vowed to stand up for US dairy farmers.

We're also going to stand up for our dairy farmers, he said. Because in Canada some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers and others.

He also reiterated a threat to eliminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico if it cannot be changed.

We love Canada, wonderful people, wonderful country, but they have been very good about taking advantage of us through NAFTA, he said.

US dairy industry groups want to see the former real estate mogul challenge Canadas pricing policy that has disrupted some US dairy exports, and prioritise dairy market access in NAFTA renegotiation talks.

Additional reporting by Reuters.
Donald Trump has demanded congress provide funds to build his controversial border wall with Mexico - apparently willing to threaten Democrats even if he risks a government shutdown.

The president is embarking on a flurry of activity as he looks to ratchet up achievements ahead the anniversary of his first 100 days in office. He will sign executive orders on energy and rural policies, meet the president of Argentina, outline a new tax reform plan and visit a National Rifle Association event in Atlanta.

Mr Trump is also seeking to persuade Democrats to fund the border wall, while avoiding a looming shutdown of the federal government.

The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! If  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2017

The wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! If ... the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be, he said on Twitter.

The president, whose approval rating are the lowest of any commander-in-chief for more than 70 years, is desperate to score a big legislative victory in the first three months, considered to be the salad days of any administration.

But his plan to repeal and replace the President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, failed to gather full party support and imploded last month. It never even came to a vote.

Video not available for syndication

Jeff Sessions: Congress will pay for the wall

If no deal is agreed on spending, parts of the federal government will shut down at 12.01am on Saturday. Mr Trump is demanding that congress include funds for the construction of the wall, which he made a key theme of his 2016 presidential campaign and which he says will stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States.

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The funding bill will need 60 votes to clear the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 52 seats, meaning at least some Democrats will have to get behind the bill, Reuters said.

Aides stressed over the weekend that funding for a border wall and a vote on an effort to repeal and replace Obamacare were immediate priorities. They asserted that both still could be accomplished in the coming week.

I dont think anyone foresees or expects or would want a shutdown, budget director Mick Mulvaney told Fox News.

Mr Trump has claimed Mexico will repay the United States for the wall if Congress funds it first. But the Mexican government is adamant it will not finance a wall and Mr Trump has not laid out a plan to compel Mexico to pay. Department of Homeland Security internal estimates have placed the total cost of a border barrier at about $21.6bn.

One senior Republican congressional aide told the Associated Press said that if not enough progress is made by Thursday, Congress would likely have to try to push forward a stop-gap spending bill to keep the government operating while negotiations continue. Leading Democrats have said they would support such a measure only if there was progress in the private talks.

But Democrats want the narrative that they dealt him a loss on the wall, the aide said.

It is unclear whether Mr Trump would sign a deal that did not include money for the wall.

On Sunday, he appeared to dangle the prospect of funding some elements of Obamacare in exchange for Democrats support in the spending talks. He tweeted that the 2010 healthcare restructuring, which was Mr Obama's signature domestic achievement and which enabled millions more Americans to secure healthcare coverage, could fail sooner than thought without an infusion.
US State Department documents obtained by Foreign Policy magazine show that while President Donald Trump intends to stick to his promise to slash foreign aid, under the budget proposals the Palestinian Territories would receive increased funding.

The Trump administration announced last month that it planned on reducing the diplomacy and foreign aid budget by 28 per cent in the next fiscal year while increasing funds for military programmes and preserving Israels current $3.1bn (2.4bn) security aid package.

The leaked documents propose a cut in assistance for several countries across the world, but a 4.6 per cent rise for both the West Bank and Gaza - a total of $215m (168m) for fiscal year 2018.

Video not available for syndication

Teacher attacked by right-wing American Jewish group 'for being Palestinian'

Syria, Iraq and Libya would also receive increased aid spending, the 15-page proposal said, as the administration seeks to more closely link aid with the US national security objectives.

The moves are somewhat surprising considering Mr Trumps lukewarm attitude towards the Palestinian authorities and pledged support for Israel during his election campaign and tenure so far.

While Jordans King Abdullah is the only Middle Eastern leader to have been invited to meet the president twice so far, Jordan - which hosts more than 1.4 million Syrian refugees - would have its aid slashed by 21.7 per cent.

Lebanon, where one in four of the population is now Syrian, would have its budget cut by 22.7 per cent, and Yemen - currently embroiled in a two-year-long civil war, and where the UN estimates more than half of the 27million strong population is food insecure - would see its aid reduced by 16.8 per cent.

Health programmes worldwide would also face a 25 per cent decrease in funding. Other sweeping cuts would target food security institutions, as well as programmes and offices for global womens issues and climate change.

The administration is also seeking to merge the State Department with USAID, the governments development wing - a streamlining move former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios told Foreign Policy would end the technical expertise of USAID, and in my view, it will be an unmitigated disaster for the longer term.

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Earlier this year more than 120 retired US generals and admirals wrote to Congress urging the body to fully fund diplomacy and foreign aid, arguing the functions were critical to keeping America safe.

Congress is highly unlikely to approve the Trump administrations proposals in their current form.

The budget plans have already faced bipartisan opposition among politicians. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called the leaked documents dead on arrival.
Donald Trump has claimed his administration 'will not stand' for Canada making business tough for US dairy farmers in border states.

"Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult," Mr Trump tweeted. "We will not stand for this. Watch!"

The tweet echoed comments reportedly made by Mr Trump at a closed-door meeting with conservative journalists the night before. Breitbart News, which was present at the event, reported Mr Trump claimed dairy farmers in Wisconsin and upstate New York are getting "killed by NAFTA".

Read more

The great dairy trade war that will test Trump

Canada maintains a high tariff on imported dairy products, which dissuades American dairy farmers from selling many of their products in the country.

At the meeting, however, Mr Trump reportedly claimed Canadian tariffs were hurting American dairy farmers in the US market, too.

Telling reporters he would address Canadian dairy imports, Mr Trump said: Its going to mean that farmers are going to start selling milk in our country.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shot back quickly, telling Bloomberg, The US has a $400 million dairy surplus with Canada so its not Canada thats the challenge here.

Canadian officials have blamed global dairy overproduction, not Canadian policies, for American dairy farmers woes.

US dairy farmers discarded more than 43 million gallons worth of excess milk last year, according to US Department of Agriculture numbers.

Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

US complaints stem largely from the decision of one dairy company, Grassland Dairy Products, to discontinue business with approximately 75 Wisconsin dairy farmers.

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The company cited changes in Canadian prices as the reason for the decision. Several farms in and New York were affected as well.

Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary Ben Brancel and New York Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball wrote a letter to the the US Department of Agriculture about the situation this month. Around the same time, Mr Trump began calling Canadian tariffs "unfair" and vowing to "stand up for our dairy farmers."

"Canada, what they've done to our dairy farm workers, it's a disgrace," Mr Trump told reporters last week. "...We're not going to let Canada take advantage [of the US]."

Mr Trump has yet to set specific policy on dairy trade, but did announce tariffs on Canadian lumber imports on Monday. Duties on Canadian lumber will range from 3 to 24 per cent.

"It has been a bad week for US-Canada trade relations," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.
High school course selection matters.

Grades and strength of high school curriculum are among the top factors college admissions officers weigh when vetting freshman applicants, according to a report released in 2016 from the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

Families navigating the selection of high school classes can use the following do's and don'ts for guidance.

Do create a rigorous -- yet balanced -- schedule: Students should take challenging classes, such as honors or Advanced Placement courses, says Jodi Edmunds, school counseling department chairwoman at Walter Johnson High School in Maryland. But they should balance their schedule with easier classes, too.

Students can talk with their teachers about what courses will offer the appropriate challenge, she says.

Parents can be the voice of reason in these conversations for what seems like an appropriate course load, says Edmunds, and sometimes need to set limits for students.

If students are not ready for a challenging class and earn a C, they could potentially create an unfavorable picture of themselves for colleges or universities they apply to, since that grade could represent many different things, says Geoff Heckman, school counseling department chair at Platte County High School in Missouri.

Don't take classes for the wrong reasons: Students shouldn't take a class just because their best friend is taking it or it's a course they think they need to get into college, says Edmunds.

Many students at her school feel they need to take many AP courses to get into college, she says. "The reality is that they don't need to take every course at that particular level," she says. Students should focus on their strengths and ensure they have time to devote to studying.

Parents shouldn't set unrealistic expectations either, she says. Focus on where the student fits academically and don't add pressure.

[Get answers for parents about college-level classes in high school.]

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Do consider future plans when selecting high school classes: Students should first think through their career plans and whether they want to go to a four-year college, the military or straight to the workforce after graduation, says Heckman, who was named the 2016 Missouri School Counselor of the Year.

From there, students can determine what high school classes will best prepare them for their intended path.

Students should take challenging courses early on in high school if available, especially if they plan on going to a postsecondary institution, he says. Junior and senior year, students should take courses that mirror expectations for what they want to do after high school.

While students don't need to know exactly what they want to do after high school, the closer they can get to figuring out their career path, the better prepared they will be, he says. He helps his students who are unsure of what they want to do after high school identify some kind of career path based on interests to help guide course selection.

While students should take courses that interest them or align with college and career goals, they should be mindful they are fulfilling graduation requirements too, says Edmunds.

Don't neglect to plan early: Freshmen and sophomores should become familiar with all the courses their school offers and what prerequisites are required, says Heckman. Otherwise, students may miss out on classes they want to take later.

Ninth grade might be a good time for students to repeat a course they took in eighth grade, such as foreign language or math, to build a strong foundation before moving forward, Edmunds says.

[Learn how to use college goals to choose senior year courses.]

Students can also research what the basic requirements are for colleges they are interested in attending -- something school counselors could help with, she says.

Yale University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, offer advice on high school course selection on their websites.

Parents should respect what their child wants to do, but can play an important role in guiding students through the course selection process, Heckman says. "I don't want them to sit back and just watch everything unravel," he says.

Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.

Alexandra Pannoni is an education digital producer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com.
Chicago (AFP) - Newly released reports from security officers at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport paint an unflattering picture of the man dragged from a United Airlines flight, setting off a worldwide uproar.

The documents, requested by US media outlets which reported on their contents Tuesday, say passenger David Dao was "aggressive," and that one of the three officers attempting to remove him from his seat on United Flight 3411 had lost his grip when Dao flailed his arms, causing the 69-year-old to fall and injure himself.

The reports also for the first time identified the three Chicago Department of Aviation officers on the plane, one of whom wrote that they had used "minimal but necessary force" to remove Dao from the packed flight to Louisville, Kentucky.

United has said it needed to bump passengers to make room for United staffers who were on duty the next day in Louisville.

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Video of the April 9 incident captured by fellow passengers went viral on social media. It also caused a public relations calamity for United and airport officials, sparked worldwide outrage, and led to multiple apologies from United as well as an internal probe of its policies and practices.

According to the documents, officers had tried repeatedly to convince Dao to exit the plane. But, he responded, "I'm not leaving this flight that I paid money for. I don't care if I get arrested," Officer Mauricio Rodriguez wrote in his incident report.

- 'Swinging his arms' -

Officer James Long grabbed Dao to pull him off his seat, later writing that the man "started swinging his arms up and down with a closed fist."

Dao knocked one of the officer's hands off, making Long lose his grip, "which caused the subject to fall" against an armrest, Long wrote.

In a subsequent statement, Rodriguez said Long had "assisted the subject by using minimal but necessary force to remove the subject."

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Dao, a doctor returning home to Kentucky after a vacation, was left bloodied with a broken nose and a concussion. He lost two front teeth and will need reconstructive surgery, according to his lawyers who said they plan to sue.

Dao attorney Thomas Demetrio did not return a call from AFP seeking comment about the newly released accounts of the incident. But he told the Los Angeles Times they were "utter nonsense. Consider the source."

The incident has reverberated throughout the airline industry.

Delta Airlines raised to $10,000 the amount it would pay passengers to voluntarily give up seats on overbooked flights.

American Airlines changed policies so that passengers already on a plane could not be removed to make room for others.

United said it would no longer call police to deal with customer service issues.

The airline, which initially lost some $500 million in stock value but has since recovered, also promised to release the results of its own internal investigation by April 30.
The Hague (AFP) - A group of Dutch people born through IVF treatment demanded on Tuesday that DNA tests be done on the late head of a sperm bank who according to reports may have fathered up to 60 children.

Jan Karbaat, who died earlier this month at the age of 89, is rumoured to have donated his own sperm while he ran his Rotterdam clinic, according to the rights group Defence for Children, which along with another group Donorkind, is representing parents and children in the case.

"Even though he has died, there are still ways to compare his DNA with the DNA of his suspected biological children," said Defence for Children, which also accuses him of abusing his position and negligence of his patients.

Dutch public broadcaster NOS and the Dutch daily AD said he may have fathered as many as 60 children, falsifying the data, the screening results as well as the descriptions of donors, while also exceeding the maximum number of six children allowed per donor.

His clinic reportedly closed in 2009.

"It's crazy that he is no longer around," IVF baby Moniek Wassenaar, 36, told AD.

"He has taken his secrets with him to the grave."

She met Karbaat in 2010, and recognised some physical similarities.

"We both have a large forehead and a wide mouth," she said. "He told me it was possible that I was his biological child."

But the doctor refused a blood test, and instead told of how proud he was to have used his sperm.

He said "he was intelligent and in good health. So he could share his genes with the world. He saw it as something noble. He had no notion of ethics and downplayed the impact on the IVF kids," Wassenaar recalled.

Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, each child has the right to know who his or her parents are, Defence for Children said.

"The organisations are calling on members of Karbaat's family to voluntarily provide DNA samples," it said.

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Before his death, the affected parents and children had launched a lawsuit against him. A hearing is set for May, but the case has been suspended in the hopes the family will provide DNA.

"We understand how painful this issue is for relatives in these difficult times," the organisation added.

"But we want to shed light on the difficult situation the IVF children and their families find themselves in, as they must live with the uncertainty of their parentage."
Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump and US lawmakers inched closer to a deal on Tuesday avoiding a government shutdown, as the president, eager to showcase a win marking his first 100 days, retreated from a demand to fund a border wall.

With the government set to exhaust its current funding at midnight Friday, the White House is under the gun to craft a compromise that would keep the government running while not appearing to cave on Trump's demand that Congress fund a wall on the border with Mexico.

"Hopefully, we'll reach an agreement some time in the next couple of days," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, but he did not rule out passing a short-term extension that gives lawmakers time to craft a final deal.

While lawmaker said the funding legislation would steer clear of including funding for a border wall, it is expected to cover broader border security measures, such as the use of drones or anti-tunnelling technology.

But a deal remained far from certain. Among the sticking points is the fate of cost-sharing arrangements that help reduce health insurance costs for low-income Americans buying plans through the Affordable Care Act, the reform implemented by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.

Trump had been on a collision course with lawmakers over the wall, demanding that Congress include funding to start construction in its new spending bill.

Democrats blasted the approach, warning that Republicans risked being blamed for shuttering the government barely three months into Trump's administration.

"There aren't enough Republican votes to put the wall in" to the spending bill, said veteran Senator Patrick Leahy, top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.

With jitters rippling through Washington, Trump apparently agreed to soften his demand days before the deadline.

- Optimism -

He told a group of conservative journalists he was open to delaying funding for the wall's construction until September, a White House official said, according to The Washington Post.

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By Tuesday, the administration was acknowledging Trump's plan could be pushed back.

"Building that wall and having it funded remains an important priority to him," advisor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News.

"But we also know that that can happen later this year and into next year."

With shutdown fever appearing to break in Washington, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said he was "optimistic" about reaching a timely deal, provided Republicans do not include controversial other issues such as defunding Planned Parenthood clinics.

"We're pleased he's backing off," Schumer said of Trump's funding demand.

Instead of a wall, lawmakers are expressing support for a broader set of border security measures, including using drones and other high technology.

"We're not opposed to border security," Schumer said.

"We are opposed to the wall. And we're not going to allow any dollars in any kind of border security appropriation to be used for a wall. Period."

Building the wall was Trump's signature campaign promise, but Democrats note that Trump pledged Mexico would pay for it.

Even as the White House appeared to soften its rigid posture, Trump sent mixed messages.

"Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc," he said Tuesday on Twitter.

The president then insisted the wall would be built "soon," but offered no time frame other than within his four-year term.

"The wall's going to get built, folks," Trump told reporters.

- 'Active negotiations' -

Congress, returning from a two-week break, now has three days to strike a deal.

Lawmakers have warned that a stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution, may be needed to give Congress breathing room to finalize the spending details.

"This is active negotiations," Republican Senator David Purdue said.

With the 100-day mark landing on Saturday and few legislative victories under his belt, Trump is pressing to fulfill another campaign pledge.

As a candidate, he repeatedly vowed to reform the tax code and slash the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent.

An announcement on such reforms is due Wednesday.

Conservatives have sought a reduction in tax rates for years, but they are also adamant about reducing the debt. Some Republicans appeared hesitant to embrace such slashes to corporate tax rates.

"Fifteen percent might be too low," House Republican Leonard Lance told CNN.

Democrats have expressed little appetite for dramatically reducing taxes, especially for big business.

If there are no significant tax breaks for small business or working-class Americans, "that would certainly for me be a non-starter," Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow said.
By Catherine Ngai and Jarrett Renshaw

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. East Coast refiners are looking to buy increasing volumes of domestic crude oil from the Gulf Coast, two sources said, the latest twist in a trade flow upheaval in the wake of the opening of the Dakota Access pipeline.

Major U.S. East Coast refiners profited from railing hundreds of thousands of barrels of discounted Bakken crude to their plants daily from 2013 until 2015. But as more and more pipelines were built in North Dakota, the discount began to disappear, and so did the rail cars.

Now, at least two East Coast refiners, Phillips 66  and Delta Air Lines Inc's  subsidiary Monroe Energy, are looking to move more crude by ship from Texas into the Philadelphia area. The Dakota Access pipeline starts up in May, giving the Gulf access to the Bakken shale play, and will likely sap any lingering economic incentive for Bakken-by-rail, which is more expensive.

This option is more expensive than oil imported to the East Coast, typically from Nigeria. Analysts and traders expected that once the Dakota line came into service, East Coast and West Coast refiners would rely on foreign barrels.

In 2016, 13 million barrels of crude went from the U.S. Gulf to the East Coast, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. By comparison, the East Coast took in 323 million barrels of imported crude last year.

Shipping sources say that costs could range between $2.60 to $3.50 a barrel for the two-week round trip on a U.S. flagged vessel. That is lower than the peak, brokers said, because a number of spare vessels are available. Taking a cargo of Nigerian Bonny Light to Philadelphia costs about $1.40 a barrel, brokers said.

Brokers interviewed said bringing U.S. oil via tanker to the East Coast gives refiners access to a variety of crude grades available in Texas, where most U.S. oil ends up now.

"It's about optimizing assets. From Texas, you could bring up Eagle Ford, Permian or even Bakken crude," said one source.

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That journey could guarantee a steady supply of domestic crude, as both Phillips 66 and Monroe Energy already have U.S.-flagged Jones Act tankers contracted, brokers said, so bringing that crude would not be difficult. Phillips 66 and other refiners use their tankers to shuffle products to higher margin regions or to bring crude to their refineries.

Even with added Gulf shipments to the East Coast, refiners there should still receive the bulk of their supply from foreign sources due to economics, said Sandy Fielden, director of oil and products research for Morningstar.

West Africa produces crude that is "gasoline rich," he said, important for East Coast refiners. He said he doubts sending Jones Act tankers makes a lot of sense financially because the spread between global benchmark Brent  and U.S. West Texas crude  futures is not enough to justify the shift.

In an earnings call last year, Phillips 66 President Tim Taylor said the combination of the Dakota pipeline and water could potentially supply the 285,000 barrel per day Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey.

Moving crude by water from the Gulf up the Eastern Seaboard is not unheard of. Since October, NARL Refining LP has booked at least seven cargoes from Texas ports to its 130,000 bpd Come-By-Chance refinery in Newfoundland, in eastern Canada. In the previous 10 months, NARL booked just four Texas cargoes, according to Reuters Eikon shipping data.

(Additional reporting by Liz Hampton in Houston; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman, most commonly known as El Chapo, is reportedly having a tough time in prison.

According to the New York Times, Guzmans lawyers have filed a series of complaints on their clients behalf concerning his treatment at the Metropolitan Correction Center in New York City. These filings claim Guzman is being denied access to his family and the media, as well as being kept locked in his cell for 23 hours a day. Guzmans lawyers are now asking Judge Brian M. Cogan of Federal District Court in Brooklyn to help improve their clients jail conditions.

In the past, the Times reported, federal prosecutors pointed to Guzmans history to defend his restrictions, including the fact hes twice escaped from high-security prisons in Mexico. Late last year, Guzmans wife said she was afraid that he was losing his mind in a Mexican jail. His lawyers also said Guzman was sleep deprived while detained in Mexico.

Guzman has since been extradited to the Correction Center, where he faces charges for drug trafficking and organized crime in the U.S.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Gov. Pete Ricketts fulfilled a long-standing wish of Nebraska veterans Tuesday.

A bill the governor signed into law will place Nebraska's four state-run homes for disabled veterans under the oversight of the state Department of Veterans' Affairs for the first time.

Those homes have long been operated by health officials, and veterans groups have lobbied to change that oversight for decades.

"I've been waiting for this for probably 15 years," said Jim Cada, chairman of the Veterans' Homes Board, which reviews applications for admission to the homes and advises the state on their administration. "We're going to correct some issues that we've had in the past."

Cada said the change will help maintain quality of care at the homes, increasing flexibility to ensure nurses are "paid properly" and facilities are well-maintained.

Some 1,200 full- and part-time positions will be affected, including direct-care and maintenance staff at the four homes as well as administration, said state Veterans' Affairs Director John Hilgert.

Ricketts said the merger will form "one, united team" working to help Nebraska's 143,000 military veterans.

Sponsored by Sen. John Murante of Gretna, the measure (LB340) was among three veteran-related bills Ricketts signed into law Tuesday.

Another bill allows the state Department of Health and Human Services to issue temporary occupational licenses for military spouses stationed in Nebraska. That measure (LB88) was sponsored by Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue.

The third measure gives spouses of active-duty or recently discharged service members preference in hiring by governmental entities in the state. That bill (LB639) was sponsored by Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard.

"This is a good day for veterans," Cada said.

He noted that on Wednesday, Lancaster County launched the state's second veterans treatment court, aimed at supporting veterans and active-duty service members who face felony charges.

And work on the state's new Central Nebraska Veterans Home in Kearney is looking "really, really good," Cada said.

State officials broke ground on the 225-bed facility, a replacement for the existing Grand Island Veterans Home, last spring. It is scheduled to open in fall 2018.

Hilgert said construction is on schedule, with one of six "neighborhoods" essentially finished.

"It almost looks like it's done," Cada said.

The state has a substantial waiting list for its four veterans homes, and Cada said "hundreds and hundreds" of people have applied to live at the new home in Kearney.

The others are in Bellevue, Norfolk and Scottsbluff.
Whatever you think of Frances centrist establishment, you have to hand it to them: They took the threat of populism seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they dumped an incumbent president, created a totally fictitious party, and hitched their star to an unknown, telegenic 39-year-old whose defining biographical characteristic is that he married his high school French teacher. The idea was to give some revolutionary sheen to a centrist platform, and, barring some unforeseen catastrophe in Round 2, it seems to have worked. Emmanuel Macron, a globalist nobody, is well-positioned to become the next president of France, and perhaps even the next interim leader of the free world  at least until a new American president is sworn in.

Macrons success raises the question of whether center-left regimes are foundering under the weight of an unpopular platform or simply unpopular leaders. Although crucial blocs of voters in many countries undoubtedly favor retreating from global institutions like NATO and the European Union, its not clear whether such views actually command a majority in any country, perhaps not even in the United Kingdom, where multiple surveys indicate that most voters, faced with a weakening pound, wish Brexit had failed.

In France, the doomed Socialist Party machine of President Francois Hollande and his former prime minister Manuel Valls, instead of clinging to vanity and suffering defeat at the hands of Marine Le Pens National Front brownshirts, concluded that fascism could be stopped in its tracks, but only through drastic action: dismantling the party system, committing suicide as a ruling class, and effectively endorsing a younger spokesman with a full head of hair.

The New York Times recently glossed Macron as someone with the profile of an insider but the policies of an outsider. The truth is closer to the opposite. Macron successfully branded himself as an outsider while boosting an agenda that differs little from his predecessor. Most impressively, Macron managed to co-opt the millenarian, apocalyptic rhetoric of his opponents on the extreme right and the extreme left. (It doesnt hurt that hes a man whose most fearsome opponent is a woman.) In his victory speech after the first round, Macron spoke of changing the face of France and smashing the system that was incapable of dealing with the problems of our country for more than 30 years. He told his supporters that they were an image of renewal, and he identified the main challenge for France as turning the page of our political life. While Macron adopted a platform that is incrementalist  loosening labor market restrictions, increasing public spending, strengthening the EU  he adopted a register that is revolutionary.

English-language publications typically translate En Marche!, the name of Macrons centrist coalition, as forward, but forward fails to convey the names explosive, eschatological ring. En Marche means not simply forward  a slogan that, a la benighted Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bushs Jeb!, might suggest continuity with the old regime  but something closer to turned on or on the march. Its not that Macron has fooled voters into thinking hes a bomb-thrower  they know perfectly well that hes pushing a neoliberal agenda. Macron might not sound totally believable when he calls for smashing the system, but change-hungry voters still appreciate the feeling of being targeted. Authenticity isnt the only thing rewarded in politics; effort is rewarded, too.

Exactly how successful Macrons gambit will be wont become clear until after the parliamentary elections in June, when En Marche! will have its hands full trying to field a slate of electable candidates for an imaginary party. Macrons most important objective, though, has already been accomplished. If polls are to be believed  and they are  fascism, Thatcherism, or Communard hologramism arent likely to come to the Elysee Palace.

Its hard not to draw an unfavorable comparison between the center-left strategy in France and the center-left strategy in the United States, where leaders of the Democratic Party are mostly digging in, apparently unwilling to contemplate a hard reboot of personnel. Democratic Party regulars are fired up, but the partys leaders, who remain unpopular, seem to be having difficulty capitalizing on that enthusiasm. Trump, by all accounts, has had a miserable first 100 days in office, with innumerable controversies and no major accomplishments. Nevertheless, some analysts say his approval ratings, in the low 40s, are consistent with narrow re-election. The Republican Party, which controls the entire federal government and most levers of power in the states, is deeply unpopular, but the Democratic Party, which controls nothing, is even less popular, according to some polls. The irony is that the Democratic Partys platform on issues like health care, education, and immigration is as popular  and as progressive  as its ever been.

There are many reasons why Democrats had a poor showing in 2016, but an important reason is that they were represented by septuagenarian leaders who had been wounded, over a period of decades, by billions of dollars of negative advertising. Fair or unfair, those ads hit their mark. Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi remain historically unpopular figures.

Macrons success suggests an obvious move. When leaders are unpopular, get new ones. For individuals, unpopularity can accumulate over time, but it isnt transitive. After all, no Democratic politician in the United States (except possibly Anthony Weiner) is nearly as unpopular as Hollande. And yet Macron, whom Le Pen calls Hollandes baby, and who served as Hollandes economy minister, is well on his way to replacing his old boss. Just because voters have come to hate Pelosi doesnt mean theyd hate Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota. Pelosi, in particular, has had a good run  her shepherding of Obamacare will go down as a historic accomplishment  but its time for her to resign.

Center-left globalism, however you judge its record at improving living standards for people in the developed world, is a coherent ideology with a reasonably popular message. It has had some political superstars associated with it  Barack Obama, Tony Blair  and some political duds  Hollande, Al Gore, Gordon Brown. Ironically, given globalists reputation for pragmatism, most globalist leaders who become unpopular are loath to take the pragmatic step of giving up office in the service of their ideology.

This is a mistake, particularly when confronting adversaries like the Kremlin or the GOP, which has focused its electoral strategies on the politics of personal destruction. Although Americas Republicans have won the popular vote in a presidential contest only once in the past 25 years, their performance has been extraordinary when you consider that theyve never pursued an agenda that commanded anywhere near majority support. Democrats complain about dirty tricks and unfair attacks, but instead of constantly litigating the truth before the court of popular opinion, which turns out not to be a court at all, theyd do better to hand over the scalps of the leaders Republicans have maimed and cycle through to new people with thinner track records.

Photo credit: SYLVAIN LEFEVRE/Getty Images
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with Reuters that he can and will return to the ruling AK Party once the High Electoral Board (YSK) announces official results of a referendum that will give him sweeping powers. Erdogan told Reuters that a party congress would decide whether he would resume leadership of the party, adding that the timing of the congress would be decided by party officials. He said early elections following a narrow victory in last Sunday's referendum were not on Turkey's agenda and added that neither the country's constitutional court nor the European Court of Human Rights had the authority to review the outcome of the vote. Erdogan also said that he had not discussed a potential cabinet reshuffle with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. He said developments showed Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) would surpass $22.5 billion, which Turkey had seen during his time as prime minister, in 2017. (Reporting by Samia Nakhoul, Nick Tattersall and Orhan Coskun; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Dominic Evans)
Erin Moran did not have comfortable and convenient days when her stint on TV ended. The Happy Days star died poor.

On Saturday, Moran was found dead and a source told Daily Mail that her death was allegedly due to heroin overdose. Aside from this, the source added that the actress was broke and homeless after she was kicked out of her mother-in-laws trailer.

In 2010, Moran lost her home in Palmdale, California to foreclosure. Her last acting credit was in Not Another B Movie that was released in the same year. However, she appeared on reality TV in 2012. At the time of her death, it was not confirmed if she was employed or not, People reported.

READ: Erin Morans cause of death was not immediately known

In June 2012, Moran and her husband, Steve Fleischmann moved into his mothers trailer to take care of his ailing mom. However, they did not stay there for long. Morans publicist confirmed this in a statement.

Erin and her husband did, in fact, move in with her ailing mother-in-law over a year ago. They are helping take care of her, as any loving family would do, the publicist said.

Morans drunken brawl with her mother-in-law prompted the latter to kick them out from her trailer. Erin was going out to bars and coming home at all hours of the night, sometimes with her rowdy bar friends, and Steves mom just couldn't take it anymore, said the source. The two women were reportedly screaming profanities at each other on the night Fleischmanns mother kicked her out. The older woman was still in her curlers and nightgown.

After leaving the trailer, Morin and her husband stayed at Holiday Inn Express in Corydon. They stayed there for a couple of days. The actress reportedly caused a certain disturbance but was not kicked out of the hotel.

Morans Happy Days co-stars gave her tribute online. OH Erin... now you will finally have the peace you wanted so badly here on earth ...Rest In It serenely now.. too soon, Henry Winkler wrote on Twitter. Ron Howard also shared another tribute on his social media account.

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Erin Moran

Photo: Getty Images/Frazer Harrison

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Parliament is expected to begin the process to lift the immunity of France's far-right presidential challenger Marine Le Pen on Wednesday for her alleged misuse of European Union funds, parliament officials said. French judges have asked European lawmakers to remove immunity of the National Front candidate, who is a member of the EU legislature, to allow further investigation into allegations she abuse of funds to pay for party assistants. The announcement will be made at a plenary sitting in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon, two parliament officials said, in line with standard procedures. While a financial scandal derailed the presidential bid of French conservative Francois Fillon, Le Pen, who is staunchly anti-EU, has so far survived the allegations unscathed. She came second in Sunday's first round, and will now face independent centrist Emmanuel Macron in a run-off. She could be summoned by the parliament as early as next week to provide explanations about the case, though if she were she might decide not to appear, with the second round due to be held on May 7. The parliament is also assessing whether to lift her immunity over a separate case of defamation in France. Le Pen has denounced legal proceedings against her as political interference. EU lawmakers have already sanctioned Le Pen for misspending EU funds. Since February her monthly salary as an EU lawmaker has been cut by half to about 3,000 euros and other allowances have been withdrawn. The French investigation is aimed at establishing whether other sanctions are warranted. The EU legislature lifted Le Pen's immunity in March in relation to a another French investigation over her posting of pictures of Islamic State violence on social media, an offence that in France can carry a penalty of three years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros ($82,000). ($1 = 0.9137 euros) (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editing by Richard Lough)
Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - Lawmakers from across Europe voted Tuesday to reopen a monitoring probe into Turkey over rights concerns, sparking anger from Ankara as its relations with the continent continue to slide.

The move by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) marks an unprecedented step back for Turkey, which becomes the first of the group's 47 member states to be reinstated on monitoring due to worries over its governance.

The assembly, made up of more than 300 members of national parliaments from Council of Europe countries, voted by 113 in favour and 45 against fresh monitoring in Turkey "until these concerns are addressed in a satisfactory manner", with 12 abstentions.

The PACE said it was urging Turkey to lift a state of emergency imposed after last July's failed military coup as soon as possible, and pushing for the release of lawmakers and journalists awaiting trial.

It also called for "urgent measures to restore freedom of expression and the press".

Russia and Azerbaijan are currently subject to monitoring of the type now demanded for Turkey, which would involve regular visits by two rapporteurs as well as debates on any progress.

Turkey has since 2004 held "post-monitoring" status, implying progress in recent years but lingering concerns over human rights and the rule of law.

Ankara reacted angrily to the downgrade, blaming "political motives" for the vote which it said left "no choice to Turkey but to reconsider its relations with PACE".

It defended its response to the coup, which has seen a massive crackdown including tens of thousands of arrests and public sector sackings that have drawn heavy criticism from Western allies.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters in Ankara that the "political decision did not "match Turkey's reality".

Yildirim said Turkey would evaluate the move, adding: "We will decide on what next steps we must take," without giving further detail.

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But the premier admitted that Turkey's "relations with the European Union had reached its lowest level in recent times", quoted by the private Dogan news agency.

The foreign ministry said Turkey was "countering simultaneously the most brutal terrorist organisations, such as PKK, FETO and Daesh", referring respectively to Kurdish militants, the group it blames for the coup, and the Islamic State jihadists.

It insisted its response to threats faced by the country were "necessary and proportionate" and blamed "xenophobia and Islamophobia" in Europe for what it called rising "anti-Turkey sentiments".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin slammed the decision on Twitter as neither based in "truth or fairness".

Along with tensions over the post-coup crackdown, Turkey's relations with western European governments have also been strained by this month's referendum expanding Erdogan's powers, which critics say could lead to one-man rule.
By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A leading European human rights body on Tuesday put Turkey on a watchlist over the crackdown on dissent since last year's coup attempt, rights violations and concerns about President Tayyip Erdogan's increased grip on power. Turkey reacted furiously to the vote at the Strasbourg-based Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, saying it smacked of Islamophobia and was a "disgrace to this organ, which claims to be the cradle of democracy." The 47-member Council of Europe is separate from the European Union, but the vote is likely to be a further setback in Turkey's bid to join the EU. The Turkish lira weakened on the vote, dipping to 3.6001 to the dollar from 3.5862. EU accession talks made very little progress in more than a decade and were further put into question by the security crackdown that followed the failed coup last July. Relations with the EU soured even more during a referendum campaign this month on granting Erdogan more powers, during which he accused Germany and the Netherlands of acting like Nazis by banning Turkish political rallies. The Council of Europe applies its monitoring scheme to all countries when they join, but this was the first time it has been reopened against any member of the body, which includes Russia, Ukraine and all 28 EU member states. In a resolution, the assembly - made up of parliamentarians from the various member states - voiced concern over Turkey's sweeping dismissal and detention of civil servants, judges, prosecutors and academics following the botched coup, as well as the closure of independent media and non-governmental organizations. The vote to open the procedure against Ankara passed with 113 votes in favor versus 45 against. The assembly called on Turkey to swiftly lift the state of emergency and free jailed lawmakers and journalists. EU lawmakers will debate relations with Turkey on Wednesday, the bloc's foreign ministers will discuss the situation on Friday and EU leaders are expected to exchange views when they meet over Brexit on Saturday. The European Union has already said Turkey's EU negotiations will cease should Erdogan reinstate death penalty, as he has indicated he might, and the EU official responsible for negotiations with potential new member states has called for a new format of relations with Turkey. Some EU officials hope that, even if it came to formally aborting Turkey's EU bid, the bloc could reenergize talks on trade with a NATO ally whose cooperation is vital in dealing with the unprecedented flow of migrants from the Middle East. Others, however, say progress would be hard without a breakthrough in talks on reuniting the island of Cyprus. "Many words will be spoken but I am not sure we are ready to have this discussion, maybe better not to open it since we don't know really where we want to land," a senior EU diplomat said. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Washington (AFP) - Former White House national security advisor Michael Flynn never reported receiving payments from Russian entities on his top-level security clearance form, a senior US lawmaker said Tuesday.

Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz said it appeared Flynn -- who stood down as a top aide to Donald Trump amid controversy over his ties to Russia -- broke the law by failing to disclose the payments from Russia's RT television.

Flynn, a former US military intelligence chief who was a close advisor to Trump during last year's campaign, was paid more than $33,000 dollars to attend an RT gala in December 2015, where he sat at a table with President Vladimir Putin.

The payment came to light amid the sprawling probe into Russian interference in the US election, in which investigators are especially focusing on the ties between Moscow and several Trump advisors.

Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said there was no sign the retired three-star general had the required permissions to attend the gala, nor that he reported the payment when seeking to renew his security clearance a month later.

"Personally, I see no information or no data to support the notion that General Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said after a briefing on the issue by officials of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which Flynn headed from 2012 to 2014.

"He was supposed to seek permission and receive permission from both the secretary of state and the secretary of the army prior to travelling to Russia to not only accept that payment but to engage in that activity," Chaffetz told reporters.

Elijah Cummings, the Democratic vice chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the reporting violations may constitute felony crimes that could bring up to five years imprisonment.

Flynn has denied any wrongdoing, amid reports he is under investigation by both the Defense Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Flynn's lawyer Robert Kelner said in a statement that Flynn had kept the DIA informed about the Russia trip at the time.

"General Flynn briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of DoD, extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip, and he answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip during those briefings."

- Facing punishment? -

Kelner said in March that Flynn is willing to testify in a US counter-intelligence investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the election to help Trump, in exchange for immunity.

Flynn was forced to step down as Trump's national security advisor less than a month into the job for failing to disclose private conversations he had held with Russia's US ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December following the election.

After his resignation, he was also shown to have accepted $530,000 to lobby for Turkey during the campaign, without registering as a foreign agent as required by law.

He also accepted $11,250 each from a Russian air transport firm and a Russia-based computer security firm.

Chaffetz said Flynn is now facing possible punishment from the Pentagon, including being forced to give up the payments.

In a parallel development, with concerns mounting that Republicans are stalling the Russia probe, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced that two top former officials -- ex-acting attorney general Sally Yates and former director of national intelligence James Clapper -- will testify on May 8.

Both were deeply involved in the investigation into Russian interference during the second half of last year under former president Barack Obama.
Baghdad (AFP) - Jihadist militants from the Islamic State group posing as liberating security forces killed at least 15 civilians who welcomed them in central Mosul, officials said on Tuesday.

Wearing police uniforms, they entered parts of the Old City on Monday to trick residents into showing their support for the federal forces, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) and a local official said.

"Daesh (IS) terrorist gangs committed a brutal crime yesterday morning in an area of Mosul's Old City," the JOC said in a statement.

It said the jihadists, who are defending their last Mosul bastions against a huge six-month-old offensive by the security forces, wanted to "confound civilians who expressed joy and welcomed them with chanting".

They killed women and children, the JOC said, "to make it clear the area was still under enemy control".

The statement did not specify how many were killed in that manner but Hossameddin al-Abbar, a member of Nineveh provincial council, told AFP at least 15 civilians were shot dead.

"Daesh members, some of them wearing federal police uniforms, entered the Al-Maidan and Corniche areas of the Old City," he said.

"They were driving black vehicles and posing as liberators from the Iraqi forces," Abbar added.

"When some families welcomed them, they arrested several of them. They executed at least 15 other people," he said.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's far-right Freedom Party made a clear commitment on Tuesday to the European Union and the euro currency, moving further away from past calls to quit the bloc as speculation about early parliamentary elections grows. "We need a real, subsidiary union," Norbert Hofer, the party's defeated presidential candidate last year, told a news conference in Vienna. Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache said at the same event that he wanted to keep the euro but did not favor deeper union, adding: "Europe and the European Union need to be rethought ... we do not want a centralized European federal state." Strache also congratulated French far-right leader Marine Le Pen Le Pen for an "excellent, historic success" in the first round of France's presidential election on Sunday. Le Pen's calls for France to quit the euro and the EU helped her into the May 7 run-off although she is expected to be easily beaten by centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron. Increasing tensions between Austria's ruling Social Democrats and their Peoples' Party junior coalition partner have raised speculation that parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2018 could be held as soon as November. If the anti-immigrant FPO, which has been topping opinion polls for more than a year, can translate that lead into seats, it is likely to be part of a new government, and party leader Strache even has hopes of becoming chancellor. But the long-time EU-critic, who called for Austria to consider leaving the bloc in 2005, will need the votes of Europe-friendly centrists to take power. Austria has historically been closely committed to the EU, which it joined in 1994 after two-thirds of voters backed membership in a referendum. A SORA survey after Britain's Brexit vote last June found 70 percent of Austrians wanted to stay in the bloc. The FPO's Hofer called last summer for an Austrian exit referendum but backed off from the idea during his campaign for the presidential run-off. Strache said that while he did not want to leave the euro, policies needed to be rethought to make the single currency work for all members. "We do not want to abolish the euro today or tomorrow, but we want an honest, critical discussion at last," Strache said. (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Catherine Evans)
A former Husker cross country runner was charged in North Carolina with felony animal cruelty and conspiracy for his alleged involvement in the shooting of a military veterans emotional support dog.

Jarren Heng, 25, was a runner at Nebraska from 2010 to 2013, according to records.

The dogs death was filmed by Heng and the animals owner, Marinna Rollins, 22, according to arrest warrants issued by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.

Army officials said Heng, a Norfolk native, is a soldier stationed at Fort Bragg.

Heng and Rollins, who had the dog for emotional support due to post-traumatic stress disorder, are accused of tying the dog, named Cumboui, to a tree in a wooded area in North Carolina between April 16 and 17.

"Rollins and Heng each videoed the other shooting Cumboui," the warrant says.

Heng is also heard in the video asking to shoot the male pit bull. Rollins is seen dragging Cumbouis body around before putting it in a shallow grave, the warrant says.

The warrant says Rollins posted on her Facebook page that she was sad her dog had to "go to a happier place."

Heng was originally released on a $5,000 bond, according to jail records, but the Fayetteville Observer newspaper reported a judge later increased his bond to $10,000. Jail records say he's back in custody. Rollins' bail was set at $10,000.
(Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress have refused Democrats' calls for a special prosecutor or select committee to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including possible links between President Donald Trump's campaign and Moscow, saying investigations by congressional committees are sufficient. U.S. intelligence agencies said in January that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the chairman of Hillary Clinton's Democratic campaign to influence the election on behalf of Trump, a Republican. Russia has denied this. The Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department all launched investigations under President Barack Obama. Following are some ways Congress is looking into the matter: HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE - The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence began its investigation of potential Russian influence on the 2016 presidential race before Trump took office on Jan. 20. The panel's chairman, Republican Representative Devin Nunes, a close Trump ally, recused himself from the investigation last month. Before he stepped aside, Democrats had questioned whether the committee could conduct a credible investigation after Nunes received information at the White House about surveillance and discussed it with Trump before briefing Democrats on the committee. Nunes was replaced as leader of the House investigation by Republican Representative Mike Conaway, an intelligence panel member. The committee held a high-profile public hearing on March 20 with testimony by FBI Director James Comey and NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers. But Nunes canceled another planned public hearing with former Obama administration officials James Clapper, who was director of national intelligence, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and ex-CIA Director James Brennan, causing committee Democrats to accuse him of political motivations. The two parties reached a solution last week, announcing a closed hearing with Comey and Rogers for May 2, and a public one with the Obama administration officials for an as-yet-to-be-determined date. SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE - The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is conducting its own investigation, which also started before Trump took office. Staffers have begun interviewing intelligence analysts involved in the report announced in January that charged Russia with seeking to influence the election on Trump's behalf. Its chairman, Senator Richard Burr, was re-elected in November in the Republican sweep that carried Trump into office and preserved Republican control of Congress. He and Senator Mark Warner, the committee's Democratic vice chairman, have pledged that their investigation would be bipartisan despite questions over Burr's close ties to the White House. But far fewer staff members have been assigned to the panel's investigation than previous high-profile intelligence probes in Congress, according to sources and a Reuters review of public records. SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE - Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the panel's subcommittee on crime and terrorism, and Sheldon Whitehouse, the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, are looking into Russian attempts to influence the election. The subcommittee announced on Tuesday that it would hold a public hearing on May 8 with testimony by Yates and Clapper. Its chairman of the full Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, and top Democrat Dianne Feinstein also have had officials brief panel members. SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE - The Appropriations subcommittee that oversees U.S. government spending for the State Department, which is also chaired by Senator Graham, has also held hearings on Russian attempts to influence elections. HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE - Representative Jason Chaffetz, the committee's Republican chairman, has resisted calls to investigate the Trump administration. But he and Representative Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the committee, said on Tuesday Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn likely broke the law by failing to get permission to be paid for a trip to Russia in 2015. Chaffetz announced last week that he would not run for re-election in 2018, and said he might leave office even before the end of his term. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by G Crosse and Andrew Hay)
The end of one of the worlds deadliest preventable diseases may finally be on the horizon. This week, just in time for World Malaria Day, the World Health Organization announced it will begin testing the first-ever malaria vaccine in parts of Africa next year.

The WHO and regional partners will begin distributing the injectable vaccine  RTS,S  in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi in 2018, specifically targeting young children, who are most vulnerable to the deadly strains of the mosquito-borne disease.

British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline developed the vaccine, also known as Mosquirix, and conducted clinical trials between 2009 and 2014. The vaccine proved only partially effective in the clinical trial phase, but its still the first malaria vaccine approved by top regulatory authorities, including the European Medicines Agency.

If the pilot tests prove successful, it would be a big step toward rooting out one of the worlds most widespread and deadly diseases. For Africa, which suffers the brunt of global malaria cases, its welcome news a long time coming. In 2015, the year of the latest available data, the WHO estimated 212 million people around the world contracted malaria and 429,000 died. Some 90 percent of those cases and deaths took place in Africa.

The prospect of a malaria vaccine is great news. Information gathered in the pilot will help us make decisions on the wider use of this vaccine, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHOs regional director for Africa. Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa, she added.

A vaccine could also be of use in other parts of the world in years to come. Warming temperatures are widening the areas suitable for the mosquitoes that carry the virus; scientists expect malaria (and other mosquito-borne diseases) could spread as far as northern Europe.

A coalition of international organizations and humanitarian groups including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, are bankrolling the pilot programs first phase, running from 2017 to 2020, for a price tag of $49.2 million.



The global health community made big strides in combating malaria in recent decades even without a vaccine. In the past 15 years, malaria fatalities have fallen by 62 percent thanks to increased awareness, better treatments, and disease prevention measures such as insecticides and mosquito nets.

Photo credit: TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images
As France and the world look to the second round of French presidential elections, the candidates themselves, past and present, are also eyeing Junes parliamentary elections.

On Monday, Francois Fillon, who placed third in the April 23 first round with 20.01 percent of the vote and so will not be a contender in the May 7 second round, said he will not seek to be the leader of his party. So, too, did he say he will not run to keep his seat in parliament. I will have to think about my life in a different way, and to heal the wounds of my family, said Fillon, who was charged during his campaign for using roughly a million euros in parliamentary funds to pay for jobs as parliamentary aides for his wife and children.

This means that someone else  perhaps former president Nicolas Sarkozy, perhaps some Sarkozy-backed candidate  can make a move to don the Republican crown heading into the parliamentary elections.

And which party wins by how much in those parliamentary elections is likely to matter quite a bit. If Emmanuel Macron, who came in first in the first round, is elected president of France, he will need to work with parliament to translate his platform of hope and optimism into policies that somehow address the roughly 40 percent of French voters who put their ballots behind the far-right Marine Le Pen and far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon, both of whom appealed to globalizations discontents  and who arent going to disappear after June.

If Macron manages not only to win the presidential race, but win by a hefty margin, it could help him overcome the fact that his movement is only roughly a year old. His first task: recruiting and selecting 577 people to run for parliament as members of his quasi-party. But while a decisive victory in May would give him a bump in the parliamentary elections, its unlikely hed win a majority, Sheri Berman, a French politics expert at Barnard College, said.

A governing coalition seems the more plausible scenario, and the question is whether he would be able to cobble one together from more centrist socialists and more reasonable center-right members, Berman said.

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The next question is whether that governing (and governable) coalition will be able to pass bills that actually work. Or, to put it another way: if Aprils big story in France was the end of the traditional parties, Junes may be whether politicians across party lines can work together for the good of their people.

And if Macron loses and Le Pen wins? Shes stepping aside as head of her party  which, at present, has two seats in the National Assembly  to show shes above partisanship (her replacement, Jean-Francois Jalkh, is on record saying he believes it was impossible for Zyklon B to have been used for mass extermination, which was its exact purpose at Auschwitz). But as endorsements for Macron by Fillon and Benoit Hamon showed on Sunday, theres strong opposition to Le Pen and the National Front across party lines. Unless that sentiment reverses dramatically by June, Le Pen, too, may find it difficult to make good on those pesky campaign promises.

Photo credit: LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images
Less than two years after officially launching its Pony Car beyond its domestic US borders, the Ford Mustang is the world's best-selling sportscar.

In all, Ford sold 150,000 Mustangs around the world in 2016 which, according to the latest industry data from IHS Markit, means the car is not only America's most popular sportscar, it has now conquered the world, too, despite some hard-hitting European and Japanese competition.

The Mustang has outsold the Mazda MX-5 Miata, BMW 4 Series, Nissan 370Z and the venerable Porsche 911 among others to claim the top spot, leaving many to ponder why it took Ford so long -- 51 years -- to finally offer its most famous muscle car to European and Asian customers.

Over the past 12 months, 45,000 Mustangs were sold beyond North America and every time the car arrives in a new territory, demand surges. For example, since arriving in China, sales have climbed 75%, making it the country's most popular sportscar. But that's to be expected from a country that wants to buy into US culture. What is a surprise is the reaction in Germany.

The birthplace of the automobile and home to some of the world's most desirable and performance-focused automotive marques, the Mustang is proving more popular than the Porsche 911, Audi TT and the hardtop and soft-top Porsche 718 models (Boxster and Cayman).

While in the UK, the Mustang can claim to be the most popular car in the country that sends more than 250hp to its wheels.

Not even less than impressive performance in recent EuroNCAP tests seem to have dented demand for the car, especially in V8 GT guise.

"The legacy of Mustang continues to grow, and in places it never reached before," said Mark Schaller, Ford Mustang marketing manager. "We continue to make it available in new markets, and drivers in those markets continue to respond with resounding approval."

As the new, heavily refreshed 2018 model year Mustang rolls out towards the end of this year, Ford expects demand to surge again and forecasts that by the end of next year 30% of production will be for export, compared with 17.5% over the past 12 months.
During a radio interview Friday, former Fox News guest Debbie Schlussel described two incidents in which host Sean Hannity propositioned her. Schlussel said she denied his advances both times and was subsequently not invited back on his show.

Schlussel attempted to clarify the situation Monday during an interview with LawNewz in which she said that while both incidents took place, she did not think Hannity sexually harassed her. Regardless, the exposure came at a bad time for Fox News Channel, fresh off the heels of releasing veteran anchor and top moneymaker Bill O'Reilly after numerous sexual harassment allegations, as well as allegations in 2016 against former CEO Roger Ailes.

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 former guest on the network, claimed that OReilly offered to get her a position there but revoked his help after she refused to go to a hotel room with him. She later filed a lawsuit against Fox News and OReilly.

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Photo: Reuters

Jan. 10, 2016: Fox settled with Juliet Huddy, an on-air personality, for $1.6 million after she accused OReilly of making inappropriate phone calls, trying to kiss her and damaging her career after she declined his advances.

Jul. 6, 2016: Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against Ailes accusing him of sexual harassment after she was fired from the company in June.

Jul. 9, 2016: New York Magazine broke a story in which it detailed the proliferation of sexual harassment allegations against Ailes. Gabriel Sherman reported that he spoke to six women who contacted Carlsons attorney relaying incidents from as far back as 1960.

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Read: Who Is Debbie Schlussel? Former Fox Guest Says Hannity Incident Wasn't Harassment

Jul. 21, 2016: Ailes resigned amid rampant sexual harassment allegations. By the time he officially stepped down, the number of women accusing him of misconduct was in the double digits, according to a report by New York Magazine.

Aug. 22, 2016: Andrea Tarantos, a former host on Fox News, filed a lawsuit in which she claimed Ailes and OReilly harassed her during her time there.

Sept. 6, 2016: Fox News settled a lawsuit filed by Carlson against Ailes for $20 million. Meanwhile, 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News Channel, also issued a public apology to Carlson.

Nov. 15, 2016: Fox News host Megyn Kelly released her book Settle for More in which she accused Ailes of sexual harassment.

Feb. 15, 2017: A federal investigation into 21st Century Fox began as a result of settlements made in sexual harassment cases without telling shareholders.

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Photo: Reuters

Mar. 9, 2017: Fox News settled with former contributor Tamara Holder for $2.5 million. Holder had accused an executive at the company of sexual assault.

Apr. 1, 2017: The New York Times released an investigation in which they found that OReilly and Fox News had settled with five women in the past for a total of $13 million. Four cases centered on sexual harassment while the fifth was about verbal abuse.

Apr. 18, 2017: Lawyer Lisa Bloom tweets that she plans to represent a new woman in a sexual and racial harassment case against OReilly, bringing the count to six women in total.

Apr. 19, 2017: 21st Century Fox issued a statement declaring that OReilly would not be returning to the network. 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, the company wrote.

Read: Everything We Know About Accusations Against Fox News Host Bill O'Reilly

Apr. 21, 2017: Schlussel described two incidents in which host Hannity propositioned her and she declined his advances. The conservative commentator said she stopped being booked on the show after that.

Apr. 23, 2017: Hannity issued a statement in which he described Schlussel as a serial harasser on a campaign to smear and besmirch his reputation. I have retained a team of some of the finest and toughest lawyers in the country who are now in the process of laying out the legal course of action we will be taking against this individual, he wrote. I will fight every single lie about me by all legal means available to me as an American.

Apr. 24, 2017: In an interview with LawNewz, Schlussel said she was not accusing Hannity of sexual harassment. I would never accuse him of that, she said. Sexual harassment has a special meaning under the law and I would never accuse him of that.

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Photo: Reuters

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By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - France's two presidential candidates traded barbs on Tuesday with centrist Emmanuel Macron accusing far-right rival Marine Le Pen of promoting hatred, while she labeled him as the "candidate of the oligarchy." Macron and Le Pen, leader of the National Front (FN), go head-to-head on May 7 after taking the top two places in Sunday's first round. Opinion polls indicate that the business-friendly Macron, who has never held elected office, will take at least 60 percent of the vote against Le Pen after two defeated rivals pledged to back him to thwart her eurosceptic, anti-immigrant platform. However, since Sunday Le Pen has been on the offensive. She has portrayed the 39-year-old former investment banker as weak in the face of Islamist militancy, the heir to unpopular outgoing President Francois Hollande and part of the country's privileged elite. Macron has also come under fire from potential allies and Le Pen for acting as if victory next month was already in the bag after visiting a restaurant on the Left Bank on Sunday night after his first round triumph, handing ammunition to his opponents who described it as shallow, arrogant behavior. Speaking after Hollande warned him earlier in the day against taking victory for granted, Macron sought to regain some initiative. "Some have woken up with a hangover because Le Pen is there. I haven't," Macron told reporters after his first campaign trip since Sunday. "Nothing is won ... I have never considered one minute that it was won. My battle is to defeat Marine Le Pen." On France 2 television, Macron said the 48-year-old Le Pen would bring disaster to the economy and divide it with "hatred". "When I hear Madame Le Pen's slogans, her tones and her gestures, I see a lot more brutality on her side than mine. The brutal project, the project of hate and rejection is not on my side," he added. A Harris poll published late on Tuesday showed that more than 60 percent of French people believed that Le Pen had begun her campaign better than Macron with more than 40 percent considering Macron's restaurant celebration a mistake. Seeking to capitalize on her momentum, Le Pen has attempted to distance herself from her own party, saying she was not the candidate of the National Front, only supported by it, and was in fact the "candidate of the people" fighting the "candidate of the oligarchy." "My opponent has a vision that is disembodied. He only has eyes for the big cities. He is addressing them," she said, adding that unlike Macron she had campaigned in rural France. "The election is not done. The oligarchy has already installed Emmanuel Macron in the president's seat. The people will reserve a major surprise for the oligarchy," she said. (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Gareth Jones and Sandra Maler)
By Michel Rose PARIS (Reuters) - French presidential favorite Emmanuel Macron came under fire from both potential allies and his run-off rival Marine Le Pen on Tuesday for acting as if victory next month was already in the bag. Macron's visit to a Left Bank brasserie on Sunday night after his first round triumph in particular handed ammunition to his opponents who described it as shallow, arrogant behavior. Macron, a 39-year old former investment banker, pipped the National Front candidate to first place on Sunday and opinion polls see him comfortably beating Le Pen on May 7 to win the keys to the Elysee. He took to the stage to thank his supporters in a 15-minute speech with his arms held aloft in a V for victory before going on with aides and a few celebrities to La Rotonde brasserie. "They were patting themselves on the back with the whole celeb crew," Le Pen remarked while visiting a wholesale market near Paris on Tuesday. "It shows that this arrogant cast thinks it's already won and can do what it wants with the country." A centrist who has never held elected office, Macron would be France's youngest ever president. He was silent the day after voting, leaving the field open to Le Pen who canvassed support in northern France where unemployment is high. She attacked Macron for being "weak" in the face of terrorism, days after an Islamist militant killed a policeman on the Champs Elysees boulevard. Speaking after President Francois Hollande warned earlier in the day against taking victory for granted, Macron said he was more determined than ever to beat Le Pen. "Some have woken up with a hangover because Le Pen is there. I haven't," Macron told reporters after his first campaign trip since Sunday. "Nothing is won. If things were won, we would not have seen how other elections turned out. I have never considered one minute that it was won. My battle is to defeat Marine Le Pen." Political leaders from France's two shell-shocked mainstream parties on the right and left have endorsed Macron, including the unpopular outgoing Socialist President Francois Hollande and defeated conservative candidate Francois Fillon. Yet perceptions of complacency could pose a big risk to Macron's Elysee bid. Pollsters say a low turnout would favor Le Pen. Political analysts have contrasted Macron's actions and those of ex-president Jacques Chirac in 2002 when Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine's father who founded her National Front party, shocked the establishment by reaching the second round. On that occasion, Chirac issued a grave five-minute statement. He went on to beat Le Pen senior in a landslide run-off vote. "He (Macron) was way off the mark, as Charles de Gaulle once put it," said Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, head of the Socialist party, referring to the post-war leader's self-criticism for not seeing the significance of the 1968 student riots. "FALSE START" "I haven't found the first 48 hours of the democratic candidate to be up to the job of fending off her attacks," Cambadelis said. Others accused Macron of hubris. The left-leaning Liberation newspaper said Macron "already sees himself there". The financial daily Les Echos said he had made a "false start". Many compared Macron's dinner at La Rotonde, an elegant brasserie favoured by artists such as Ernest Hemingway before the war, to former president Nicolas Sarkozy's victory celebration at the upscale Fouquet's restaurant in central Paris in 2007. Those images gave ammunition to Sarkozy's opponents who portrayed him as the "bling-bling" president, an image that stuck throughout his mandate. "The Rotonde was a mistake," Dominique Wolton, a political communication specialist at French research institute CNRS. "It's extraordinary that they repeated the Fouquet's mistake again." Macron's team went out on morning radio shows on Tuesday to try to put out the volleys of criticism. "After months and months of work and canvassing, it was normal that our candidate salute all the militants who supported us," said Richard Ferrand, head of Macron's political movement. (Additional reporting by Emmanuel Jarry and Simon Carraud; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Richard Lough)
A 33-year-old former University of Nebraska-Lincoln research assistant and graduate student faces up to a year in jail after police say she stalked her physics professor.

Veronika Burobina, of San Diego, denied the allegations against her.

Police say she harassed the professor, ignoring repeated requests of university police to cease contact with the man, investigators said in court documents.

The professor called UNLPD Feb. 1 to report a disturbance in Jorgensen Hall, saying Burobina had shown up at his office without an appointment, police said.

She left before officers arrived.

He told officers she was his student several years ago and had harassed him via email and telephone calls ever since, according to court documents.

Burobina worked for the physics and astronomy department between June and September of 2014, according to a UNL spokesman. She previously worked as a graduate research assistant at the university and studied electrical engineering in 2011 and 2012.

Police believe she drove to Lincoln from California in November, got into his apartment building and waited outside his door.

On Jan. 18, he received 18 phone calls from a telephone number belonging to Burobina, police said.

She sent him emails claiming he stole her work, destroyed her life and caused her pain, police said.

After investigators asked her to stop contacting him, she returned to Lincoln April 15 in an attempt to contact the professor, according to court documents.

She was arrested Thursday and taken to jail.

Prosecutors charged her Friday with misdemeanor stalking, and a judge ordered her not to contact the professor.

Burobina's attorney at the Lancaster County Public Defender's Office declined to comment on the case Tuesday.

She has been released from jail on $5,000 bond.

This is the 11th stalking case investigated on campus in the last year, according to UNL police reports.
Photo credit: Twitter / Carvel

From Delish

While there are plenty of great free food deals going on this week, the obvious winning choice is free ice cream at Carvel. On Thursday, April 27, the dessert shop is giving away junior-size cones as part of its annual Free Cone Day from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at participating locations.

You can choose from vanilla, chocolate, and the limited-edition Cookie Butter flavor (which made with real Biscoff cookies, so it's a must-try while you're there). The speculoos soft-serve is only available through May 28, so you better get your hands on a cone sooner than later.

Free Cone Day is Thursday, April 27 from 3p-8p. Get a free junior soft serve cone, including our Cookie Butter flavor with @BiscoffCookies! pic.twitter.com/90mFaeceb8 - Carvel Ice Cream (@CarvelIceCream) April 18, 2017

To keep the warm feelings going, you can also donate to the Red Cross' National Day of Giving. In return, Carvel will offer customers a $1 coupon book worth more than $20 in savings-with all proceeds going towards a donation to support American Red Cross disaster relief efforts. Honestly, free ice cream and a charitable donation sounds like an ideal day to us.

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KUWAIT (Reuters) - A prominent Kuwaiti opposition politician and government critic has called for political reforms in the Gulf state in his first public comments since he was freed from prison last week. An outspoken former parliament deputy, Musallam al-Barrak was freed on Friday after serving a two-year prison sentence for insulting the country's ruler, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. He has in the past argued for broader electoral laws, a tougher line on corruption and judicial oversight for government work. His release was expected to boost opposition efforts, especially against austerity measures introduced last year. "I send my message to the decision makers: act fast and I am sure if the authorities take one step toward reconciliation, the people will take two steps," Barrak told some 2,000 supporters in Farwaniya province, south-west of the capital, late on Monday that nobody wanted to change the ruling system, but added: "If the government takes a step toward political reforms, we are ready to take steps in the same direction,". Barrak was long at loggerheads with the authorities over changes made in 2012 to an election law which he and other opposition politicians said were to prevent them taking power. He was initially sentenced to five years in jail in 2013 after a court found him guilty of insulting the emir in a 2012 speech in which he appealed to him to avoid "autocratic rule". But an appeals court in 2015 reduced the sentence to two years in jail after which he was taken into custody. Citizens of the Gulf country, one of the world's wealthiest, have bristled at recent fuel subsidy cuts and utility price hikes that the government pushed through the outgoing parliament with relative ease. Kuwait avoided mass Arab Spring-style unrest but citizens held large street protests in 2012 after the emir changed the electoral law. While Kuwait allows more freedom of speech than some other Gulf Arab states, the emir has the last say in state affairs. There has been a series of political trials and authorities have revoked citizenship of some Kuwaitis in the past two years that have drawn rebuke abroad and anger at home. (Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Scientists have extracted DNA from the skeletal remains of several 19th-century sailors who died during the ill-fated Franklin Expedition, whose goal was to navigate the fabled Northwest Passage.

With a new genetic database of 24 expedition members, researchers hope they'll be able to identify some of the bodies scattered in the Canadian Arctic, 170 years after one of the worst disasters in the history of polar exploration.

The results were published April 20 in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

A doomed voyage

Led by Sir John Franklin, a British Royal Navy captain, the 129-member crew embarked in 1845 in search of a sea route that would link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The sailors were doomed after their ships became trapped in thick sea ice in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in 1846. [In Photos: Arctic Shipwreck Solves 170-Year-Old Mystery]

The last communication, a short note from April 25, 1848, indicated that the surviving men were abandoning their ships  the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror  just off King William Island and embarking on a harsh journey south toward a trading post on the mainland. None of them seems to have made it even a fifth of the way there.

Over more than a century, search parties and scientists have discovered the remains of several Franklin sailors in boats and makeshift campsites scattered along this route. The bones bear scars of diseases like scurvy. Some even have the signatures of cannibalism, according to one recent study that confirmed the 19th-century reports of Inuit witnesses who had described piles of fractured human bones. Several artifacts from the HMS Erebus, including a medicine bottle and tunic buttons, as well as the ship's bronze bell, have also been uncovered.

In the latest look at the array of bones, a team led by Douglas Stenton of Nunavut's Department of Culture and Heritage, a territory in northern Canada, conducted the first genetic tests on members of the expedition who died following the desertion of the ships.

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Stenton and his colleagues were able to get DNA from 37 bone and tooth samples found at eight different sites around King William Island, and they established the presence of at least 24 different members of the expedition. Twenty-one of these individuals had been found at locations around Canada's Erebus Bay, "confirming it as a location of some importance following the desertion of Erebus and Terror," Stenton told Live Science.

The researchers say their results offer a more accurate count of the number of expedition members who died at different locations. A few of the early fatalities were buried at Beechey Island and their frozen remains, which were exhumed by archaeologists in the 1980s, were eerily well-preserved. The bones of the sailors who died after abandoning the ships, however, were much more scattered, dispersed by animal scavenging and human activity.

Stenton said that, in one case, bones from the same individual were found at two different sites about a mile (1.7 kilometers) from each other. The researchers think that an 1879 search party most likely found some of the bones, and then carried them to the new site and reburied them.

Stenton and colleagues hope they will eventually be able to use the database to identify the crew members and better reconstruct what happened in the final months of the expedition.

"We have been in touch with several descendants who have expressed interest in participating in further research," Stenton said. "We hope that the publication of our initial study will encourage other descendants to also consider participating."

Women among the dead?

Four samples in the study were identified as female, which doesn't fit with the picture of an all-male expedition crew. The authors ruled out the possibility that these samples came from Inuit women because the genetic and archaeological evidence associated with these four individuals also suggests they were European. [Tales of the 9 Craziest Ocean Voyages]

"We were surprised by the results for those samples because in planning the analysis it hadn't occurred to us that there might have been women on board," Stenton told Live Science.

Stenton and his colleagues think the most likely explanation for this discrepancy is that ancient DNA studies commonly fail to amplify the Y chromosome (the male sex chromosome) due to insufficient quantity or quality of DNA, which can result in false female identifications of the dead. However, the researchers noted that it wasn't unheard of for women to serve in disguise in the Royal Navy.

"Some of these women were smuggled onboard [the] ship, and others disguised themselves as men and worked alongside the crew for months or years before being detected or intentionally revealing themselves to be female," the authors wrote.

They cited cases such as Mary Anne Talbot, who served on two Navy ships during the Napoleonic wars of the 18th century before being found out after being wounded. Unfortunately, Stenton said he doesn't think it will be possible to definitively say whether the four Franklin samples are really just false results, but his team concluded that it would have been very unlikely for so many women to be serving secretly on this voyage.

Original article on Live Science.

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By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) - Transgender preschoolers are no less confident than their peers about their gender, a new study found. They were just as likely as non-transgender children to say their gender as grownups would be the same as their gender in preschool. "These new findings show that, for example, transgender girls believe they will grow up to be women just as much as other girls believe they will grow up to be women," said senior author Kristina Olson, of the University of Washington in Seattle. "Same thing for transgender boys. Our groups were equally confident about their future gender being stable." People who are transgender do not identify with the sex assigned to them at birth. A person born with the anatomy of a female may identify as male, or vice versa. Sometimes, people don't identify with either gender. People whose gender identity and anatomy do match are known as cisgender. Writing in the journal Child Development, Olson and her co-author Anne Fast quote a previous study from New Zealand that estimates about 1.2 percent of people are transgender. Olson's previous research found that transgender and cisgender elementary school students reach gender-related milestones at a similar pace. The new study focused on preschoolers. Researchers interviewed children between the ages of 3 and 5 years, including 36 who were transgender, 24 who were cisgender with a transgender sibling and 36 cisgender children without transgender siblings. Along with observing how the children dressed, the researchers also asked how they saw themselves as adults, what they thought of the adult or childhood genders of people in pictures, what toys they'd like to play with and who among people in pictures would be their friends. Overall, transgender children answered similarly to their cisgender peers of the same gender. For example, children who identified as male were likely to gravitate toward objects that are stereotypically masculine, like an orange tool set or red barbecue set. Meanwhile, children who identified as girls gravitated toward stereotypically feminine objects, like a pink and sparkly dress. Transgender children did differ from their cisgender peers when asked about their gender as babies. For example, a transgender child identifying as female would say she was a boy as a baby, while a cisgender preschooler identifying as female would say she was a girl as an infant. Olson's team isn't sure why transgender children view their gender in infancy as different from their gender in preschool. The children may be parroting what they've heard from adults about their birth, Olson said in an email. "They might also hear this question as being about how people used to treat them versus how they treat them now," Olson added. "More research is necessary to figure out exactly what is happening here." The new study shows transgender children demonstrate the same developmental gender hallmarks as children who are not transgender, she said. "So this paper, like our past study, shows that from the perspective of the child's identified gender, these socially-transitioned transgender children look just like most other kids," said Olson. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2pf6lKf Child Development, online April 25, 2017. (In paragraph 12, corrects to Olson from Olsen)
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will legislate additional reforms sought by its lenders but implementing them in 2019 and 2020 is contingent on securing further debt relief, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday. "We will obviously legislate (the measures) in order to secure a deal on debt relief," Tsipras told ANT1 television, saying he wanted a solution to Greece's debt mountain by the end of May. "They won't be implemented... unless we get a solution on debt," he said. A sovereign government had the right to back out of a deal if its interlocutors did not respect it, he added. (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou)
Athens (AFP) - Greece's creditors resume a long-delayed audit Tuesday in an urgent bid to unlock billions of euros in bailout loans needed for a looming July payment deadline.

Athens and its creditors -- the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- managed to iron out differences on additional fiscal cuts, to restart the talks that had been interrupted in March.

But disagreements remain on labour rights and the partial privatisation of Greek near-monopoly electricity provider PPC -- both thorny issues for the leftist-led government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

"Talks are to begin tomorrow and are expected to last several days," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a daily briefing on Monday.

Greece and its creditors agreed a third, 86-billion-euros bailout deal in July 2015.

But the International Monetary Fund has so far refused to take part after two prior programmes on the grounds that the targets were unrealistic and Athens' debt mountain unsustainable.

A senior IMF official said on Friday that it was "urgent" to reach a new agreement on the bailout programme, the latest payment of which has been held up by the row between Greece and its creditors.

Under pressure from its creditors, Athens earlier this month accepted to reduce pensions in 2019 and lower tax breaks in 2020.

- Cuts worth 4 bn -

According to reports, the total package of cuts over two years is worth around four billion euros (4.3 billion dollars).

The announcement of some positive fiscal figures should help the talks.

Athens last week said it had registered a primary surplus of 4.19 percent of GDP in 2016, a figure confirmed by EU statistics agency Eurostat earlier this week.

That's over eight times the intended target, though critics note it was partly achieved by not paying Greek state providers.

Under the bailout, Greece needed to clock a primary surplus of 0.5 percent of output in 2016, followed by 1.75 percent this year and 3.5 percent in 2018.

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The eurozone is confident that Greece can deliver a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2018 but the IMF has said only 1.5 percent is feasible.

The IMF also needs more clarification from Europe on how it will implement promised debt relief for Greece, he said.

Last week, the Greek statistics agency said the nation's debt in 2016 stood at nearly 315 billion euros or 179 percent of output, up from 177.4 percent in 2015.

If these two issues are resolved, the IMF has said it will be able to participate financially in the aid plan, as it did in 2010 and 2012.

In an article published in the Wall Street Journal last week, PM Alexis Tsipras said the EU-IMF squabble was holding back Greek recovery.

"We have committed to fulfilling the obligations undertaken to our creditors despite the political cost," Tsipras said.

"But the safest way to ensure this is by boosting growth and ending the punishing policies of the past," he said.

Additional debt relief for Greece has proved a contentious point for many of its European creditors including Germany, where additional concessions are unpopular with an electorate called to ballots later this year.

A compromise is required to sign off on a second review of the bailout programme and unblock a tranche of loans Greece needs for debt repayments of seven billion euros in July.
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - A group called the Imam Shamil Battalion has claimed responsibility for a metro bombing in the Russian city of St. Petersburg that killed 16 people and said the bomber was acting on orders from al Qaeda, according to the SITE monitoring group. The claim by the little-known group was originally published by the Mauritanian news agency ANI, which is often used by West and North African jihadist groups to release statements. The statement, posted by SITE on Tuesday, said the bomber, Akbarzhon Jalilov, had acted on instructions from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, in the April 3 attack on the metro in Russia's second biggest city. "Following the instructions of Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri ... the lion Akbarzhon Jalilov, one of the knights of Islam in the Imam Shamil Battalion, carried out a heroic operation ... in the city of St. Petersburg, concurrent with the visit to it by the criminal (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," it said. It said the metro attack was revenge for Russian violence against Muslim countries, citing Syria and Libya as well as the Russian republic of Chechnya. "To the Russian government, which apparently has not taken a lesson from its defeat in Afghanistan, we say: This operation is only the beginning, and what is to come will make you forget it, Allah permitting," the statement read, implying there would be even more deadly attacks against Russia in the future. Russian forces have intervened in the Syrian conflict in support of President Bashar al-Assad and are targeting jihadist fighters and others opposed to the Syrian leader. (Reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by Gareth Jones)
(Reuters) - Highlights for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Monday: WALL AND LOOMING SHUTDOWN Trump indicates an openness to delay his push to secure funds for his promised border wall with Mexico, potentially eliminating a sticking point as lawmakers worked to avoid a shutdown of the federal government. TRADE The United States will impose preliminary anti-subsidy duties averaging 20 percent on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says, escalating a long-running trade dispute between the two neighbors. NORTH KOREA Trump says the U.N. Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on North Korea as concerns mount that it may test a sixth nuclear bomb as early as Tuesday. Top Trump administration officials will hold a rare White House briefing on Wednesday for the entire Senate on the North Korean situation, senior Senate aides say. TAXES Trump's zeal to unveil a tax plan before his 100th day in office is raising questions about just how thorough his "tax reform" plans will be, amid signals his focus now is on slashing tax rates. RUSSIA INVESTIGATION The Senate's main investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has a much smaller staff than previous high-profile intelligence and scandal probes in Congress, which could affect its progress, according to sources and a Reuters review of public records. MAR-A-LAGO A U.S. State Department website published an article this month about President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, stoking criticism from prominent ethics experts. SYRIA The United States blacklists 271 employees of a Syrian government agency it says was responsible for developing chemical weapons, weeks after a poison gas attack killed scores of people in a rebel-held province in Syria. HEALTHCARE A congressional vote on a Republican healthcare legislative plan may not come for weeks as leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate continue negotiations over possible proposals, the White House says. UNITED NATIONS Trump complains the United States is shouldering an unfair burden of the cost of the United Nations, but says if the world body reforms how it operates, the investment will be worth it. (Compiled by Jonathan Oatis and Bill Trott; Editing by Grant McCool and James Dalgleish)
(Reuters) - Highlights for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday: NORTH KOREA North Korea conducts a big live-fire exercise to mark the anniversary of its military's founding as a U.S. submarine docks in South Korea in a show of force. RETREAT ON THE WALL The threat of a U.S. government shutdown this weekend appears to recede after Trump backs away from a demand that Congress include funding for his planned border wall with Mexico in a spending bill. TAXES Trump's two tax policy chiefs are scheduled to go to Capitol Hill late on Tuesday to meet with top lawmakers as Washington digs for details on an impending Trump tax plan. TRADE The United States and Canada face off in a renewed battle over softwood lumber that threatens to spill over into multiple other sectors, although Trump says he does not fear a trade war with Canada. Mexico's government says it will fight any measures in a U.S. tax overhaul that break international trade rules, and threatens to review cross-border cooperation on migration and security if upcoming negotiations founder. Mexico can impose annual trade sanctions worth $163.23 million against the United States after winning a dispute over trade in tuna fish, a World Trade Organization arbitrator rules. SANCTUARY CITIES A U.S. judge blocks a Trump executive order that sought to withhold federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities for immigrants. NATO Two of the Air Force's newest and most advanced jets land in the Baltic state of Estonia for the first time, a symbolic gesture meant to reinforce the United States' commitment to the defense of NATO allies that border Russia. RUSSIA Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn likely broke the law by failing to get permission to be paid for a trip to Russia in 2015, the leaders of the House of Representatives oversight panel say. Two former U.S. officials, intelligence director James Clapper and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, will testify next month in a Senate investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Senate Judiciary Committee says. IVANKA TRUMP Ivanka Trump is booed in Berlin when she describes her father as a "tremendous champion of supporting families" and says she is still fine-tuning her role as first daughter and informal White House adviser. (Compiled by Jonathan Oatis and Bill Trott; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Peter Cooney)
Vienna (AFP) - The Austrian city of Linz, where Adolf Hitler spent several years as a teenager, will once again display an Aphrodite sculpture offered by the Fuehrer after keeping it in storage for years.

The bronze work by the Nazi sculptor Wilhelm Wandschneider was brought to Linz in 1942 as a "personal gift" from Hitler, who wanted to make the city the "cultural capital" of the Third Reich.

For 65 years it stood in the rotunda of a park overlooking the city, where the German dictator lived between 10 and 18 years old.

But it was quickly removed in 2008 after a group of art students revealed its unsavoury origins.

Linz's Nordico museum, which had stored the work, will now add it to its collections, Doris Lang-Mayerhofer, who heads the city's culture and tourism committee, said Tuesday.

A detailed explanation will accompany the Aphrodite, she said, adding that the city wanted to make an "active effort at remembrance" rather than "dismantle history".

Lang-Mayerhofer, a conversative OVP lawmaker, said the decision garnered unanimous support of parties represented on the city council, as well as the backing of the federal chancellery.

The Greens backed the museum option since it would keep the statue from becoming a beacon for neo-Nazi pilgrimages, while the far-right FPO said it would protect the work from "political vandalism".

Despite Linz's relative insignificance for Nazi Germany, Hitler named it one of his "Fuehrer cities" alongside Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Nuremburg.

Linz had organised in 2008 an exposition delving into this cumbersome heritage.
Vienna (AFP) - Human activity risks contaminating pristine water stockpiled deep underground since the age of the mammoths, said a study Tuesday that warns of a looming threat to a critical life source.

So-called "fossil" groundwater -- more than 12,000 years old -- trickled into sub-surface aquifers long before it could be tarnished by pollution from farming and factory chemicals.

Generally stored at depths of more than 250 metres (820 feet) under the Earth's surface, the ancient resource had been assumed to be shielded from pollution by humans -- who rely on it more and more as shallower sources dry up.

Now, researchers have found traces of modern-era rainwater in wells that bring "fossil" groundwater to the surface -- pointing to a contamination risk.

"It's a bit like going to an old folks' home and suddenly realising there are also little kids running around. That's great, except if the little kids have the flu," said study co-author James Kirchner of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

The fear, he explained, is that younger water may pollute the ancient aquifers with fertilisers, pesticides or industrial runoff from Earth's surface -- though they have not found any evidence for this yet.

Groundwater is rain or melted ice that filters through Earth's rocky layers to pool in aquifers -- a process that can take thousands, even millions, of years.

It is the largest store of unfrozen fresh water on Earth.

Groundwater is pumped to the surface with wells for drinking and irrigation, and supplies about a third of human water needs.

- Thinking long-term -

For the latest study, presented at a European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna, a research team set out to determine how old Earth's groundwater really is.

They used radiocarbon and tritium content to distinguish old from young groundwater and determine their relative abundance.

New groundwater has more tritium, a short-lived isotope of hydrogen, as it was more recently exposed to Earth's atmosphere and surface, tainted by nuclear tests since about the 1950s.

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Radiocarbon, on the other hand, takes almost 6,000 years to decay. It is therefore much less abundant in fossil water.

The data showed that "most of the groundwater under our feet is surprisingly old," said Kirchner.

Roughly half -- potentially more -- dates from 12,000 years ago or more.

"The assumption would be if your groundwater comes from a time when mammoths were roaming the Earth, that those mammoths did not have chlorinated hydrocarbons," Kirchner explained.

"If your water dates from a... pre-industrial era, the assumption would be it can't be carrying industrial-era contaminants down underground."

Against expectations, however, the team found that about half of "fossil" groundwater wells they studied contained detectable levels of tritium, indicating the presence of younger water.

"This observation questions the common perception that fossil groundwaters are largely immune to modern contamination," concluded the study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Fellow author Scott Jasechko, of the University of Calgary, said the findings were worrying on two levels.

Not only may "fossil" groundwater be exposed to contamination, it would also take millennia to replenish once used up.

"Conserving groundwater for future generations is important and requires us to consider timespans beyond the typical political or land management timescales of years or decades," he told AFP.

The High Plains aquifer in the United States, for example, would take an estimated 6,000 years to refill, according to the study authors.

And Libya's Nubian aquifer, formed in a geological epoch when the now-dry region was wet and green, is being depleted at a rate of six million cubic metres of water per day.
By Dave McKinney

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Democratic-led Illinois House defied a veto threat by the states Republican governor by passing legislation on Tuesday to expand state-funded coverage of abortions for low-income residents and for state employees.

The measure, which passed the House 62-55 and now moves to the state Senate, also aims to keep abortions legal in Illinois if the U.S. Supreme Court follows President Donald Trumps call to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that permitted abortions 44 years ago.

The vote represented a rare legislative victory for abortion-rights advocates at a time when the battle to restrict abortion in the United States has heated up with the election of Trump as president with a conservative Congress.

The intent ... is to protect women from a president who has been very, very clear about his desire to overturn Roe v Wade and make abortion illegal in some states, said state Representative Sara Feigenholtz, a Chicago Democrat and the bills chief House sponsor.

Governor Bruce Rauner, regarded by political analysts as one of the nation's most vulnerable governors in 2018, has promised to veto the legislation, saying Illinois should focus on less divisive issues and instead pass a full-year operating budget for the first time in nearly two years.

A veto by Rauner would be a sharp turn from his previous position, which political opponents are poised to exploit. As a candidate in 2014, he supported expanding abortion access.

It will be a clear litmus test as to who supports reproductive rights and who does not, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan told a womens rally outside the state Capitol before the vote.

Illinois' Medicaid program covers abortions in cases of rape, incest and when a mother's life or health is threatened. The expansion would enable poor women to obtain elective abortions.

Also, the legislation would allow state employees now deprived of abortion services under state health insurance to have the procedures covered.

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Rauners office could not immediately be reached for comment, but his Republican backers in the House castigated the legislation as an immoral, costly drain on a state facing financial ruin.

I dont really understand how we can say we do care about the most vulnerable among us when we have limited funds and well be spending money for something that not only is opposed by many of us but is considered to be an abomination, said state Representative Terri Bryant, a Republican from southern Illinois.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
JAKARTA, Indonesia  Indonesias tradition of moderate Islam, frankly, is an inspiration to the world, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said at a joint press conference last Thursday during a visit to the country. In your nation, as in mine, religion unifies  it doesnt divide.

His timing could have been better. He arrived in Southeast Asias largest country the day after a contentious Jakarta gubernatorial election, in which the incumbent, Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, lost soundly after a protracted, divisive, sometimes violent campaign season marked by religious tensions.

In the end, what was remarkable about Ahok wasnt his ugly fall but his quixotic rise. He was neither the first Christian nor the first Chinese-Indonesian governor of Jakarta, a city of 10 million and capital of the worlds largest Muslim-majority country, although he was the first double minority to hold the office. His singular public profile, while compounded by his ethnic and religious background, was in part self-fashioned: He ran as an independent in a country controlled by powerful and tribalistic political parties, he evaded the taint of corruption (although it is commonplace and often consequence-free), and he dared to be brash in a political climate that often prizes opaque serenity.

Ahoks irreverence played an unquestionable role in his downfall. His offhand, if glib, remark on the campaign trail last September, when he riffed on a Quran verse that contests whether Muslims can vote for non-Muslim leaders, led to a monthslong Islamist-populist protest movement that twice brought Jakarta to a screeching halt. His now-victorious opponent, former Education Minister Anies Baswedan, is an independent who both implicitly and overtly allied his campaign with Islamist groups, whipping a segment of Jakarta into a furor that culminated in his 58 percent victory in the polls.

But the hand-wringing among Indonesias chattering classes, who fear Ahoks defeat signals Islamism may soon overrun their country, has been overwrought. Its certainly true that last falls protests were the largest ever seen in Jakarta. And the newly mainstream status of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the hard-line group that organized them, must be considered a significant development. Indeed, FPIs hysterical charges against Ahok led swiftly to a controversial blasphemy trial, which meant Ahok was obliged to attend weekly court appointments in the last months of his campaign. (In Indonesia, blasphemy, defined as deviant interpretation of any of the six officially recognized religions, has been illegal since 1965 and is punishable with up to five years in prison.)

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In reality, however, the election was not a symbol of a major shift in Indonesian politics, so much as an imperfect case of the countrys endemic electoral fight between pluralistic democracy and political Islam. Not every populist who emerges victorious in a fierce election after indulging in reactionary rhetoric should be considered a major disruption to his or her countrys system of politics. Certainly Baswedan  a former university rector, Fulbright scholar, experienced cabinet member, and longtime moderate, who nevertheless engaged in some reprehensible rhetoric over the last six months  doesnt qualify as a destructive political force.

Ahok didnt help himself politically. All along, he was unapologetic about unpopular policies, including mass evictions in poor neighborhoods that he wanted to raze for touristic redevelopment. Groups affected by these policies enthusiastically joined anti-Ahok protests, adding another, less reactionary layer to the popular discontent.

For us, there is only one choice, said Chaerul, a cab driver who lives in a low-income housing development built by Ahok. Ahok is cruel. Not a single resident I met at Rumah Susun Jatinegara voted for Ahok. Most were forcibly relocated there in 2015 after the city government forced them out of their riverside slum.

Even before the blasphemy charge, Ahok aroused mixed reactions. Polls consistently showed that while his performance garnered about 80 percent satisfaction, his general approval rating/electability hovered between 30 and 40 percent, as the Jakarta Post reported. In February 2016, well before the incident, Indonesian media expressed concern for Ahoks election prospects, given his propensity for toilet words (he is well-known for swearing).

All this suggests that Ahok had vulnerabilities ever since he rose to his post in 2014  whether from simmering racism or unpopular policies or personality quibbles. Ahok wasnt merely a symbol but a human candidate, with unique skills and flaws. Thats why the notion of his electoral defeat serving as a referendum on the state of Indonesian pluralism has a whiff of overstatement.

And yet political Islam was undoubtedly the big winner of the day. If FPIs campaign was, as some commentators have said, a trial balloon for exploiting identity politics for political gain in Indonesia, it worked stunningly well and is sure to be repeated. The current president  Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi  is a moderate, up for re-election in 2019. The race promises to be messy.

Race and ethnicity were once so taboo in Indonesian public life that they had their own acronym, SARA. Thats Suku Agama Ras dan Antar Golongan, or ethnicity, religion, and race relations, a term popularized during Suhartos New Order dictatorship, when public discussion of SARA was prohibited to encourage national unity. Like most taboo subjects, though, race and religion often mattered deeply; ethnic Chinese have long been viewed with suspicion and resentment in some quarters and have been the target of violence and government-backed massacres.

This gubernatorial race, at any rate, was an identity free-for-all, with FPI exhorting voters not to back a non-Muslim, mosques erecting banners that they wouldnt bury Ahok voters, and Baswedan promising to create Muslim-friendly (alcohol-free) nightlife in Jakarta.

The strategy worked well and remarkably fast. By February, 70 percent of registered Jakarta voters approved of Ahoks performance as governor, according to a survey  but more than half of those people said they would not vote for him because they felt he had offended Islam. Now that the cat is out of the bag, it may usher in a generation of Indonesians who cast their votes on explicitly religious lines.

Members of Indonesias centrist establishment were caught off guard by the popular appeal of the anti-Ahok movement. They tried several tacks  staying silent, then gently discouraging, then condemning FPI  but none worked. And their authority to speak on the case was never clear. After all, the supreme leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest moderate Muslim organization in Indonesia, was one of the religious figures who signed the fatwa that led to Ahoks arrest.

NU admitted as much to Foreign Policy in February, saying the group was blindsided by the unstable foundations of its brand of tolerant pluralism.

After the election, when politicians resume their daily life, these religious sentiments will not go away easily, said Alissa Wahid, an NU official and daughter of late Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid. Now, hard-liners will be more confident in pressuring locals behavior, especially their political agendas. They present their motive, she said, as piousness or devotion, but its actually bringing the seed of intolerance to others.

But the likely end of Ahoks political career is not the end of Indonesian pluralism. Although the Kafkaesque charge and trial leveled against Ahok will be analyzed for years to come, it was a spark atop the pile of grievances many religious Jakartans have accrued with their countrys secular establishment.

Indonesias young democracy, at any rate, is still robust: More than 80 percent of those eligible voted in the runoff election, even higher than the 77 percent who voted in February. (Only about 57 percent of eligible Americans voted in the most recent presidential election, for comparison.)

Ahok, too, came remarkably far in Jakarta politics for someone whos not a local or even from Java  he grew up in the distant Bangka-Belitung province, known largely for tin mines, where his grandfather worked. He was hand-picked by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle to join Jokowi, then the mayor of a midsized city in Java, on his Jakarta gubernatorial ticket in 2012. When Jokowi became president in 2014, Ahok assumed the governorship. During his time in office, Ahok has closed red-light districts and seedy nightclubs, expanded Smart Cards for access to social services, and cleaned the citys notoriously bilious Ciliwung River.

Ahoks defeat is a setback for democracy in Indonesia, said Wati, a polling station staffer in East Jakarta, after the results became apparent on election day. Its really sad. But us supporters will never regret rooting for him. He was, she told me, a new kind of politician.

A few days before the election, Ahok promised to execute as much of his agenda as he could before leaving office in October. His ability to do so depends on the verdict of his ongoing blasphemy trial. FPI is pressing for a maximum five-year penalty, but prosecutors just floated a light sentence of two years probation, sans jail time.

Last week was momentous for Muslim-majority democracies, beginning with Turkeys referendum on presidential power and ending with Ahoks loss and potential imprisonment. Whereas Turkey and Indonesia both, at different points in this century, looked like the inevitable future of tolerant democracy in the Muslim world, each just took a decisive step toward authoritarianism and political Islam, respectively. In Indonesia, at least, the election reflected high voter turnout and various state and nonstate interests, rather than the will of a particular individual, but the outcome cant be described as a step toward multicultural democracy.

But when ugly sentiments like racism and fundamentalism are forced into public conversation, a public reckoning, with an uncertain outcome, is inevitable. Whats clear is that Ahoks idiosyncratic life in politics deserves to be celebrated, much as the forces that agitated for his decline, now loosed from their box and unlikely to return anytime soon, continue to suggest otherwise.

Photo credit: ED WRAY/Getty Images
India could issue millions of cows with unique identification numbers, the latest effort to protect the sacred animals amid a spike in violence by Hindu vigilantes against farmers accused of cattle smuggling.

The government has told the Supreme Court that millions of cows will be tagged with a tamper-proof plastic tag linked to a national database in a bid to curb smuggling within India and beyond its borders.

Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India, and their slaughter is a punishable offence in many states.

"Each animal will have a unique number that will have details like age, breed, sex, height, colour, horn type and special marks," a senior officer from India's home ministry that prepared the recommendations told AFP.

A panel from the home ministry was tasked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing government to propose measures against cross-border smuggling after a petition was filed by an animal rights group in the Supreme Court.

Nearly 175,000 cattle are seized annually on the largely porous borders with Bangladesh and Nepal, according to home ministry figures, with unofficial estimates of the illegal cow trade pegged at nearly two million animals.

But the proposal comes amid a spike in violence by Hindu mobs against farmers transporting livestock, and a broader crackdown on butchers in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh.

Vigilante squads roaming highways checking livestock trucks for the sacred animals have proliferated since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.

These so-called "cow protection squads" beat a Muslim man to death on a highway in Rajasthan this month, accusing him of secretly taking cattle to an abattoir for illegal slaughter. The man was a dairy farmer transporting milk cows.

Three men transporting buffaloes in their truck were beaten this week in the capital New Delhi.

At least 10 Muslim men have been killed in similar incidents across the country by Hindu mobs on suspicion of eating beef or smuggling cows in the last two years.

Most Indian states have banned cow slaughter and imposed heavy penalties and jail terms on offenders, while the transportation of cattle across state lines is also barred in several jurisdictions.
A mentally ill inmate died after prison staff cut off his supply of water for seven days.

Thirty-eight-year old Terrill Thomas was found dead in his cell in solitary confinement, with a medical examiner concluding the cause of death was "profound dehydration".

An inquest into his April 2016 death in the Milwaukee County jail was launched on Monday.

According to the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, assistant district attorney Kurt Benkley, who is leading the five-day inquest, said in an opening statement that surveillance videos showed three corrections officers cut off the water to his cell.

Read more

Prisoner died 'after jail staff failed to treat his severe asthma'

This, they claim, was a disciplinary measure after Thomas reportedly flooded another cell.

However, according to the inquest, the officers who shut off his water did not document the decision, nor did they inform supervisors.

Jail policies state that prison inmates drink water from their sink, which Thomas was unable to do. Mr Benkley also claimed Thomas did not receive any other form of hydration with his food.

Inmates have previously indicated that they told jail staff about Thomas lack of water.

Thomas family filed a Federal Civil Rights complaint on 9 March, claiming that Terrill Thomas serious medical and psychological needs were deliberately ignored and neglected while in custody and conclude that it was due to the negligence and deliberate indifference of the defendants that he died.

Read more

Mental health patients are being treated as criminals

The family claim that Thomas, who was arrested on suspicion of shooting a man at Potawatomi casino, suffered from bipolar disorder and had been in the midst of a mental breakdown.

They are asking for compensation, punitive damages, attorney's fees and a consent decree prohibiting defendants from depriving an inmate of hydration.

Decorie Smith, an officer who worked three night shifts in Thomas wing, testified on Monday: "If someone requests, 'Can I get my water turned on?' and I find out their water is off, I turn it on.

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Benkley indicated that Thomas may not have been able to ask for water because of the nature of his illness, and was therefore "unable to tell people about his basic needs".

In the course of the five days, correctional officers are expected to testify that they had no knowledge of his water being turned off.

The inquest will consider if there is probable cause to charge anybody for a crime.

The Milwaukee County jail did not immediately return a request for comment.
A judge sentenced a 20-year-old Lincoln man to a probation term and jail time for shooting into a Dunkin Donuts last year.

Lancaster County District Judge Robert Otte told Kyle J. Kemnitz he was giving him a second chance by not sending him to a state penitentiary.

Lincoln police arrested Kemnitz in February 2016 for shooting out two windows of the doughnut shop near 84th and O streets and shooting a sign at Southeast Community College.

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Jan Lipovsky said at sentencing Monday that Kemnitz was lucky the employees were in the back of the restaurant that morning and not injured.

Kemnitz said he had been associating with the wrong people and has since got into drug-and-alcohol treatment to better himself.

His attorney, Craig Wittstruck, said Kemnitz had otherwise been a law-abiding citizen and asked Otte to give him probation.

Otte ultimately agreed.

The judge noted that Kemnitz received a generous plea agreement that dropped a shooting charge that carried a mandatory minimum of three years' prison time and reduced another charge carrying a mandatory five years' incarceration.

Kemnitz must serve one year in jail beginning May 1, but Otte allowed him to apply for house arrest after serving 90 days.

Upon his release from jail, he must serve four years on probation.

The man driving during the shootings, Dustin Acker, will be sentenced in May for aiding and abetting Kemnitz and criminal mischief.
New York (AFP) - The entire Wells Fargo board of directors was reelected Tuesday after a bruising, rowdy annual meeting where shareholders castigated the bank's leadership over a fake accounts scandal that severely damaged the company's image.

Even so five members, including the chairman, received only tepid support from investors.

The cantankerous gathering in Ponte Vedra Beach, in northeast Florida, lasted nearly three hours and was repeatedly interrupted by irate shareholders, and even a Catholic nun.

After the meeting the bank announced that Chairman Stephen Sanger was reelected with just 56 percent of the vote, and four other board members received scant support of 60 percent or less. Companies often replace board members who barely achieve reelection.

"The Wells Fargo investors have sent a clear statement of dissatisfaction," Sanger said at the end of the gathering. "I assure you that the board has heard that message."

The bank's leaders opened the meeting in by apologizing anew for the fake accounts scandal and reviewing the changes made since it became public, including replacing the chief executive, eliminating product sales goals for retail bank staff and raising pay for lower-ranking employees.

The scandal came to light in September 2016 when the bank reached a settlement with regulators to pay $185 million after opening some two million deposit and credit card accounts without customers approval or knowledge.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who opposed 10 of the board members, called the vote a "stunning rebuke" to leadership.

"Investors have lost faith in Wells Fargo's board," Stringer said on Twitter. "Investors want change. These wrongs need to be made right. Accountability matters."

Morningstar analyst Jim Sinegal said the board "holds some responsibility" for the debacle and the company's "painfully slow response."

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In addition, results in the first quarter "show that the scandal is having an effect on the business, and the lack of action today certainly won't do anything to help them repair their reputation."

- Getting an earful -

"We are facing these problems head on and Wells Fargo is emerging a much stronger company," said chief executive and board member Tim Sloan, who was reelected with 99 percent of the vote.

But Sloan and Sanger got an earful from agitated shareholders. One investor interrupted the executives to demand a response from each board member on whether they were "complicit or incompetent" in the affair.

"Let each one speak to say what they knew and when they knew it," said the investor who was ultimately led out of the meeting.

Sanger declined to open the floor to individual board members.

Sister Nora Nash called for a report on the "root causes" that led to the retail sales scandal.

She represented the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, a Catholic order of nuns which holds 14,832 shares of Wells Fargo stock.

Nash characterized the lapses on retail sales as part of a "systemic" problem in the bank, which extends to mortgage lending and other practices. The proposal garnered 22 percent of the votes.

Shares of Wells Fargo rose 1.7 percent to $54.56.
Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq is holding hundreds of millions of dollars Qatari negotiators had brought to Baghdad as ransom money for the release of kidnapped hunters, the prime minister said Tuesday.

A hunting party consisting of 24 Qataris and two Saudis kidnapped in southern Iraq in December 2015 was released last week and flew back home from Baghdad on Friday, according to officials in the three countries.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a news conference that Qatari negotiators had come to Baghdad prior to the release with what he said was hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom money.

"The Qatari government sent its envoy to Iraq and asked to bring a private plane," Abadi said.

"We were surprised that there were big bags, so we seized them and they contained hundreds of millions of dollars," he said.

"This money was brought in without the approval of the Iraqi government. We have a central bank and a judiciary," he said, explaining he would insist due process be followed.

"Hundreds of millions to armed groups? Is this acceptable," Abadi asked, without specifying to which groups he was referring.

The hunting party was released without word from the Iraqi interior ministry or any other official on who had kidnapped them in the first place nor what the terms of their release were.

Sources close to the negotiations however told AFP that their release was part of a broad regional deal between Iran and Qatar involving the evacuation of residents from government-controlled villages in northern Syria.

Qatar has long been thought to have sway on some Sunni rebel groups in Syria, including the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front that besieged the villages.

The same sources said ransom money and prisoner exchanges were also part of the deal.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel appointed its first female judge in its Muslim sharia court system on Tuesday, officials said, a move hailed as historic.

Hana Khatib, an attorney from the northern town of Tamra, was selected by an Israeli justice committee alongside three men to become a religious judge, or qadi, in the courts ruling on personal law for Muslims inside Israel.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, from the far-right Jewish Home party and head of the committee that selected Khatib, said the appointment of a female religious judge "should have happened a long time ago."

"This is great news for Arab women and the Arab society," she said in a statement.

"I'm excited over the choice, and hope this is the bellwether for further appointments of women."

Aida Touma-Sliman, a female Arab lawmaker from the Joint List coalition, called Khatib's appointment "a historic move" that was the result of a long legal struggle, adding it would benefit all Arabs in Israel.

"It's time to believe in the power of Arab women in filling any role, making decisions and being in positions of influence in society and state, and removing the obstacles from the way," she said in a statement.

In Israel, family law -- divorce, marriage, endowments -- falls under the jurisdiction of religious courts, and separate systems exist for the country's different creeds.

Khatib is the first woman not only for the Muslim sharia courts but for all the religious courts in Israel, as no women serve as judges in the Jewish or Druze courts.

There are not many women qadis around the world. Two women serve as sharia judges in the neighbouring Palestinian Authority.

Khatib will be sworn in by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in a few weeks.

There are nine regional sharia courts in Israel as well as an appeal courts, with today's appointments bringing the number of qadis in the Muslim system to 18.
Ivanka Trump heard boos and hisses at the W20 conference in Berlin on Tuesday after she described President Trump as a champion for women and families.

Im very proud of my fathers advocacy, the first daughter said during a panel discussion on womens economic empowerment, drawing audible scoffs from the audience. Hes been a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive.

She was asked whether he could be considered a champion of women given his history of making sexist and misogynistic comments.

Ive certainly heard the criticism from the media, and thats been perpetuated, she said. But I know from personal experience. And I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades when he was in the private sector are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job.

Ivanka Trump, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the W20 conference in Berlin on Tuesday. (Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

As a daughter, I can speak on a very personal level, knowing that he encouraged me and enabled me to thrive, she continued. I grew up in a house where there was no barriers to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity.

Trump, who was recently installed as an unpaid White House adviser, was asked to describe her role. She has long been one of her fathers closest confidants, and she helped craft maternity-leave policy during the campaign.

The Germans are not that familiar with the concept of a first daughter, the moderator asked. What is your role? Who are you representing: your father as the president of the United States, the American people or your business?

Trump, who relinquished running her fashion brand before taking an official West Wing role, said it is certainly not the latter.

I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, she said. It is quite new to me. It has been just under 100 days, but it has been a remarkable and incredible journey.

Trump said she was humbled by the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to participate in the discussion, and hoped to bring the knowledge and advice gleaned from the event back to both my father and the president.

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As for the booing and hissing, the first daughter brushed it off.

Politics is politics, as Im learning, Ivanka Trump told reporters after the event. Im used to it. Its fine.

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Berlin (AFP) - Ivanka Trump, making her overseas debut as the US "First Daughter" at a women's summit in Berlin, drew groans and laughter on Tuesday as she defended her father's attitude towards women.

Sitting on a G20 panel with female leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and IMF chief Christine Lagarde, Donald Trump's daughter caused the audience to bristle when she praised "my father's advocacy" and his role as "a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive".

The panel moderator, a finance journalist, interjected, saying: "Some attitudes toward women your father has publicly displayed... might leave one questioning whether he is such an empowerer for women."

"I've certainly heard the criticism from the media and that's been perpetuated," replied the 35-year-old Ivanka about her father, who faced public outrage during the campaign over a 2005 video in which he was heard making degrading remarks about women.

"I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades, when he was in the private sector, are testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man."

- Trump 'enabled me to thrive' -

Ivanka, a former model who started her own fashion line, has worked for her billionaire-father's company and now has an office in the White House.

She said her father "encouraged me and enabled me to thrive".

"I grew up in a house where there were no barriers to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity... There was no difference for me and my brothers."

President Trump meanwhile tweeted he was "proud" of Ivanka for "her leadership on these important issues".

Merkel is seen to be cultivating a good relationship with Ivanka as a key communication channel with the Trump presidency, given that Berlin and Washington have differed on issues from refugees, to NATO defence spending to Germany's trade surplus.

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News magazine Der Spiegel saw the meeting as "a summit of the two women who are supposed to moderate Donald Trump -- if that is even possible".

It said "the hopes of the free world rest on the two women because they supposedly have the power to influence the man who looks down on women".

- 'A veritable coup' -

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily said that for Merkel to "have lured Ivanka is a veritable coup for the chancellor", adding that "it would be difficult to find a more important and influential representative".

Ivanka has been accused in the United States of benefiting from nepotism, and was ridiculed on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy show for being "complicit" in promoting Trump's divisive policies.

Undeterred, she has spoken out on women's empowerment, most recently in a Financial Times op-ed article co-written with World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

They said only 55 percent of women participate in the paid labour force worldwide and called for better training, improved access to finance and legal changes.

On the panel Tuesday, however, Ivanka immediately faced a tough opening question from the moderator, Miriam Meckel, editor-in-chief of business weekly WirtschaftsWoche.

Asked whether she was in Berlin to represent her father, the American people, or her business, Ivanka replied: "Certainly not the latter... I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, it is quite new to me.

"It's been a little under 100 days but it's just been a remarkable and incredible journey. You know as an entrepreneur and as an individual prior to this, in the private sector, I care very much about empowering women in the workplace."

Ivanka Trump also visited electronics giant Siemens for a tour of its technical academy and Berlin's Holocaust memorial.

A demonstration against Ivanka's visit was scheduled outside a gala dinner Tuesday.

Kathleen Brown, of the protest group Coalition Berlin, charged that Ivanka's clothing line is produced in "sweatshops" with mainly female garment workers in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

"How can Ivanka Trump talk of women's 'empowerment' at the same time President Trump has blocked funding for international reproductive care? Ivanka's silence on life-and-death matters for women is deafening."
The Trump administration is dead set on Ivanka Trump bridging the gap between the president and wary women after sexual harassment allegations ran rampant throughout Trump's presidential campaign. Thankfully, women around that world continue to give that quick-fix idea a resounding "no."

The first daughter faced an understandably rough crowd at an international women's summit in Germany on Tuesday when she called her father a "tremendous champion of supporting families."

SEE ALSO: Donald 'Grab them by the p*ssy' Trump on his respect for women

There to participate in panels on empowerment and entrepreneurship at the Women20 Summit, Trump's daughter was met with a booing, hissing audience who clearly disagreed with the notion that President Trump supported women.

Ivanka insisted she has "certainly heard the criticism from the media" concerning her father's attitude toward women, and said through her role in the Trump administration, her goal is "incremental positive change."

Trump also said her father "encouraged me and enabled me to thrive," speaking on "a very personal level" given her close relationship with the president.

Journalists tweeted from the event:

The crowd audibly rumbled, booed when Ivanka mentioned her father's support of women.  Emily Jane Fox (@emilyjanefox) April 25, 2017

Some in audience now hissing Ivanka as moderator presses her about @POTUS attitude toward women. #W20  Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) April 25, 2017

NOW: Ivanka Trump, in Berlin, gets booed & hissed by audience when she says her father is "tremendous champion of supporting families."  Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) April 25, 2017

Ivanka gets booed and hissed by audience when she says her father is a"tremendous champion of supporting families."  Annie Karni (@anniekarni) April 25, 2017

Can you grab them by the p*ssy blame them?

WATCH: Merriam-Webster throws shade at Ivanka Trump after she can't define the word 'complicit'
By Michelle Martin BERLIN (Reuters) - Ivanka Trump was booed in Berlin on Tuesday when she described her father Donald as a "tremendous champion of supporting families" and said she was still fine-tuning her role as first daughter and informal White House adviser. Trump, 35, who is seen as an increasingly important influence on her father, told a women's summit organised by the Group of 20 major economies in the German capital that she wanted to use her influence to help empower women. Asked whether she represented the president, the American people or her business as first daughter, she replied: "Well certainly not the latter, and I am rather unfamiliar with this role ... it has been a little under 100 days but it has just been a remarkable and incredible journey." Ivanka Trump's appointment as an adviser, with access to classified information, was highly unusual for the daughter of a president. Seeking to allay ethics concerns, she said last month she would serve in the White House in an unpaid, informal role. In Berlin, she discussed support for women entrepreneurs with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde among others. "I'm listening, I'm learning, I'm defining the ways in which I think that I'll be able to have impact," she told the panel discussion. "I'm seeking the counsel .. . of informed and thoughtful women and men and I'm really striving to think about how best to empower women in the economy, both domestically and across the globe." But the audience was unsympathetic when she called her father a "tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive", with the moderator moving the discussion on amid a chorus of boos. PROUD FATHER Donald Trump found himself at the centre of a furious controversy during the presidential campaign when a video surfaced in which he boasted about grabbing women's genitals. Asked whether some of the attitudes expressed by her father raised questions over his commitment to empowering women, Ivanka Trump said her experience and that of thousands of women who had worked for him showed he believed in women's potential. "I grew up in a house where there were no barriers to what I could accomplish ... there was no difference for me and my brothers and I think as a business leader you saw that and as a president you'll absolutely see that," she said. During the Berlin discussion, Donald Trump tweeted a link to a Financial Times editorial Ivanka co-authored with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on investment in women and said he was "proud" of his daughter for "her leadership on these important issues". Ivanka Trump's visit has received a mixed response in German media. The newspaper Berliner Zeitung, which has described her as "the president's whisperer", said German officials would "certainly be hoping that the president's daughter will convey a positive image of Germany to her father". Another paper, Tagesspiegel, was more sniffy about her credentials, opining that Trump's dependence on family members - also including her husband Jared Kushner, a chief presidential adviser - was like a "vote of no confidence" in everyone else he was surrounded by. (additional reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Richard Lough)
Japan's gaffe-prone disaster reconstruction minister resigned Wednesday after remarking it was lucky the catastrophic 2011 earthquake-tsunami had hit a largely rural region rather than Tokyo.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was forced to apologise to residents of the devastated northeastern region of Tohoku, which is still recovering more than six years on, after Masahiro Imamura sparked outrage with his comments.

"It was good that it (the disaster) occurred over there in Tohoku," he said late Tuesday.

"If it had been close to the capital zone, there would have been enormous damage," he added, referring to the vast Tokyo conurbation.

A massive undersea quake on March 11, 2011 sent a tsunami barrelling into Japan's northeastern coast, leaving more than 18,500 people dead or missing and sending three reactors into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

After submitting his resignation, Imamura said he deeply regretted the comments.

"I caused great trouble to the people of Tohoku and hurt their feelings. I'm very sorry," he told reporters, bowing.

Abe, who was attending the same political gathering on Tuesday, apologised to guests soon after Imamura's remarks, saying they were "extremely inappropriate".

Imamura's words "hurt the feelings of people in the disaster-hit areas", a grim-faced Abe said Wednesday in further comments on the incident.

"As prime minister, I'd like to apologise deeply to the people in the disaster-hit areas," he said.

Abe said he will replace Imamura with Fukushima native and veteran politician Masayoshi Yoshino.

It was not the first time Imamura has courted controversy.

He came under fire earlier this month after he said people who had not yet returned to areas of Fukushima recognised by the government as safe to live in are "responsible for themselves."

He then attempted to oust the journalist whose question led to the remarks at a news conference, shouting: "Get out!"

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Abe's approval rating, although still above 50 percent, has recently fallen, as scandals erode public confidence in a government now in its fifth year.

A vice economy minister resigned last week after a magazine reported on an extramarital affair.

That came just weeks after the resignation of Shunsuke Mutai, a vice minister for reconstruction, who had joked last month the "(rubber) boot industry made money" following a deadly typhoon which claimed 19 lives in the northern town of Iwaizumi last year.

Abe took power in December 2012 vowing to end years of on-and-off deflation and revitalise the world's third-largest economy.

He was also elected on the back of widespread frustration with the previous administration's handling of the 2011 nuclear disaster and perceived mismanagement of ties with key ally the United States.

But he has recently been forced to distance himself and his wife from a nationalist school operator whose purchase of state land to build a primary school at a huge discount has drawn allegations of shady dealings.
Nancy Hicks Reporter Nancy Hicks reports on Lincoln city government, but shes been following the leaders of local and state government for more than 40 years. Follow Nancy Hicks 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

Maggie Mae Squires, candidate for City Council in next week's election, has announced she will drop her Democratic Party affiliation after the election and register as an independent.

Squires can't switch now, before the election, even though the race itself is nonpartisan.

Squires is upset with local Democratic leaders who head an independent group called Vote Local, Vote Lincoln. The group pulled its support of her because of her stand in support of legalizing cannabis.

The group, which includes Mayor Chris Beutler, City Councilwoman Jane Raybould and Rick Hoppe, the mayor's chief of staff, is encouraging voters to support two other Democrats.

They did not tell Squires they were withdrawing support for her for three weeks during the heart of the primary campaign. Squires was expecting their help during the primary.

Squires says, in her heart, she is an independent.

Council candidate apology accepted

Brayden McLaughlin, a City Council candidate, has issued a formal apology to the Nebraska Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for implying that he provides architectural services.

The group's director, in a formal response, said it does not believe McLaughlin intended to misrepresent his services.

McLaughlin listed architecture as one of his areas of expertise at a public forum before the primary election, and he includes architecture on the website for his company, Bridgewater Consulting.

Though some Democrats have said McLaughlin is posing as an architect, and claiming to be a licensed architect," a more neutral observation would be that he was careless in his language.

McLaughlin, who took some architecture classes in college, is not an architecture graduate nor a licensed architect.

Below is his response to a letter from AIA Nebraska.

Recently at a forum for Lincoln City Council candidates, I referred to the work my firm does as architectural services. I am an urban planner and my company, Bridgewater Consulting, does urban planning and design work. I am not a licensed architect, and I do not want the misuse of the word while answering a question to give that impression.

And here is the response from AIA Nebraska executive director Sara Kay.

We thank Brayden McLaughlin for clarifying his comments. We have no reason to believe Mr. McLaughlin intended to misrepresent his services, and we appreciate his willingness to address the issue.

Braatz gave away donations

Lou Braatz, who lost his City Council bid in the April primary, has given away his campaign donations to local nonprofits.

Braatz had $2,225 that he planned to use if he was one of the six candidates who moved on to the general election. Or I was going to be able to write bigger checks to local nonprofits than I ever had if he lost in the primary.

Braatz came in seventh.

So he set up an online poll and asked supporters to decide where to send the money. He wrote a $1,000 check to Friendship Home; $750 check to the Lincoln Bike Kitchen, which came in second by one vote; and a $500 check to the Food Bank of Lincoln.

Some supporters suggested he should hang onto the money in case he decided to run again. But Braatz said he believes people should have to start over when they run for another seat.
By Linda Sieg and Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) - The secretary-general of Japan's ruling party said on Tuesday he will attend China's New Silk Road summit in May, a sign Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to improve ties with Beijing amid tensions over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs. But an adviser to Abe said Tokyo remained cautious about the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), created at least in part as a way to fund the Silk Road plan. "Given the international situation starting with North Korea, mutual understanding between Japan and China is vital," Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai was quoted by Jiji news agency telling a news conference, adding he would attend the May 14-15 China summit. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Suang confirmed the attendance. Geng gave no other details. Concerns have grown that a sixth North Korean nuclear test could be imminent and that the test, or another long-range missile launch, could occur around the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the North's Korean People's Army on Tuesday. North Korea conducted a big live-fire exercise on Tuesday to mark the foundation of its military, media reported, in defiance of U.S. warnings against such action. Nikai, a ruling party heavyweight and second to Abe in the party, is known for his close ties to China. Japan's ties with China have long been plagued by the bitter legacy of World War Two and mistrust over present-day regional rivalry. But Japan, like the United States and South Korea, wants Beijing, North Korea's main backer, to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its missile and nuclear programs. Japan's trade minister, Hiroshige Seko, is also considering attending after receiving an invitation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference, while Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of business lobby Keidanren will also go. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in announcing a list of those attending the summit earlier this month, which includes many Asia leaders, did not mention officials from Japan, South Korea or North Korea. Chinese President Xi Jinping has championed the "One Belt, One Road" initiative to build a new Silk Road linking Asia, Africa and Europe, investing billions of dollars in infrastructure projects. Japan, following Washington's lead under then-U.S. President Barack Obama, did not join the AIIB, partly from concern it was a vehicle to boost China's regional clout and a potential rival of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Manila-based institution dominated by Japan and the United States. In May 2016, the AIIB and ADB signed an agreement setting the stage for joint financing projects. "We remain cautious about AIIB and need to examine its transparency even more closely, since China plays a dominant role in its governance," Abe adviser Masahiko Shibayama, told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Michael Martina in BEIJING; Editing by Michael Perry and Clarence Fernandez)
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Sometimes, its hard to tell what year the Trump Administration thinks it is. Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions expressed amazement that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific could block President Donald Trumps latest travel ban. It seemed he was stuck somewhere pre-1959, before that far-off land, which most of us just call Hawaii, became a state.

Sessions later claimed that he was just stating a geographic fact: Hawaii is, indeed, located in the Pacific Ocean. But he cannot deny the subtext. By overtly portraying our fiftieth state as a distant region rather than part of his own homeland, Sessions said: This place is foreign, not really part of us. He channeled a complicated chapter in American history - one that the President has explicitly praised and that still pains other islands in the Pacific.

In March 2016, the New York Times asked then-candidate Trump to pinpoint when, exactly, he thought America had been great. His answer: Around 1900, which he called a pretty wild time for this country and pretty wild in terms of building that machine, that machine was really based on entrepreneurship etc., etc.

That sentence seems to be about money. Indeed, having passed Great Britain as the worlds largest industrial economy in 1890, the country was doing well. But the wilder, more notable times were happening in the geopolitical sphere, where the United States, a country founded on ideals of anti-colonialism, was creating a sprawling overseas empire in the island-grabbing image of Great Britain and other European powers. This was United States central ambition of the time. It intended to expand trade, increase military might and show the world that the U.S. had arrived.

The reason Hawaii is now a part of the U.S. is that in 1893, American interests overthrew Queen Liliuokalani, the ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii, imprisoning her in her bedroom at Iolani Palace. It was a violent action against a sovereign nation. A century later, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed an Apology Resolution, acknowledging the U.S.s role in this conspiracy. But American leaders of the nineteenth century celebrated, including William McKinley, who was elected president in 1896, on the Republican ticket. During the campaign, he vowed to annex Hawaii, and two years later, he did just that, saying, We need Hawaii just as much and a good deal more than we did California - it is manifest destiny.

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Hawaii was merely the starting point. After the Spanish-American War, in 1898, the U.S. took over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, followed in 1900 by American Samoa and in 1917 by the Danish West Indies, which were immediately rechristened the U.S. Virgin Islands. Aside from the Philippines, all of these remain American territories. (They were joined in 1976 by the Northern Mariana Islands.)

Historians refer to this as the U.S.s Imperial Moment, and it was the catalyst for the American century, paving the way for later nation-building and other overseas dalliances from the Panama Canal to Iraq to all-but-forgotten moments like the 1983 invasion of Grenada.

The Americans often arrived with saviors proclamations, a mask for the paternalist and racist enterprise. The residents of these new territories were, in this view, conquered people. Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded McKinley, defended colonialism by saying, in 1909, that the expansion of the peoples of white, or European, blood during the past four centuries has been fraught with lasting benefit to most of the peoples already dwelling in the lands over which the expansion took place.

For many Americans, this also meant that the newly-acquired islands should never be fully politically integrated with the rest of the nation. Author Willis Fletcher Johnson made the case in his 1903 book A Century of Expansion, saying that Hawaii should remain a territory in perpetuity, to prove the ability and right of this nation to acquire and to hold colonies, never intended for statehood, at any distance in any part of the world.

Look closely at Jeff Sessions Pacific Island remark, and at Trumps love for the Imperial Moment, and its hard not to see a connection to McKinley, Roosevelt and A Century of Expansion. Theres a line in the sand between real America and everywhere else - a nationalism-fueled decree that only the so-called authentic citizens have access to the full rights and benefits of conferred by the government and the broader society.

And, critically, the subtext of Sessionss comments goes beyond Hawaii - which did, after all, eventually get statehood. In many important ways, the Imperial Moment is alive for the four million Americans who live in the territories - those islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Territory residents cant vote for President and, in the case of American Samoans, arent even American citizens by birth. (Theyre nationals; its complicated.) Across federal programs and services, there are many funding discrepancies, such as the fact that Guam, despite proudly boasting a military-enlistment rate higher than any state, ranked last in per-capita spending for veterans services by the Department of Veterans of Affairs in 2012.

This system could not exist without the aid of the other branches of government. It is also in large part thanks to a series of Supreme Court cases, called the Insular Cases, which began in 1901. The Insular Cases established that the territories belonged to the U.S. but were not wholly part of it. They lacked the full protection of the Constitution or the local sovereignty of states - they were, effectively, colonies. In one of the earliest cases, Downes v. Bidwell, the court ruled that the territories were foreign in a domestic sense, unworthy of full inclusion in the U.S. because they were inhabited by alien races unable to adapt to Anglo-Saxon principles.

Archaic as that sounds, the Insular Cases still stand. There are no signs of change, and there havent been regardless of who was in charge: Last year, the Obama Administration effectively endorsed the Insular Cases in a Supreme Court case regarding Puerto Rican sovereignty. No sitting president has visited more than three territories. No sitting president has ever even been to the Northern Mariana Islands.

Its still early in the new Administration, and the President is famously unpredictable. But the evidence so far indicates that his Administration is particularly disinclined to help the territories. Millions of Americans will continue to live as second-class citizens as long as people like Jeff Sessions remain stuck in the Imperial Moment, thinking of them as lesser places and lesser people.

Doug Mack is the author of The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA and has written for Travel + Leisure, National Geographic Traveler and the San Francisco Chronicle. He lives in Minneapolis.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Jimmy Wales, one of the minds behind the internet's cheat sheet, Wikipedia, has launched a new, unaffiliated website called the WikiTribune.

On the site's opening video message, Wales adjusts his glasses and tosses out the site's lofty ambition: "The news is broken, but we've figured out how to fix it."

SEE ALSO: Wikipedia stats reveal how our collective memory works

Oh really, Mr. Wales? Well, before we even got to look at the site, it turns out that someone made a miscalculation, because at around 8:30 p.m. ET, the site was totally down. Yes, it came up not long after, but the launch day hiccup was a freshman reminder that "fixing the news" isn't as easy as some think it is.

After taking a couple of potshots at traditional news media and lumping it in with social media, Wales presents his vision of "rethinking" the news by pairing professional journalists with community members to produce and verify news stories that are supported by subscribers. Included in the business model are the claims of no advertising and no paywall, with stories updated as facts come in and are vetted by the site's community. Basically, Wikipedia for news.

Image: wikitribune

Although the first reaction from some seasoned media veterans may be to dismiss the idea, it's important to remember that even though sourcing facts from Wikipedia is still considered a no-no by professionals, many people use it for that exact purpose anyway.

The site's advisors include veteran journalist and journalism professor Jeff Jarvis, actress Lily Cole, and former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, who started Truemors, a site that let users post news and have it rated by other users.

Currently, WikiTribune's 30-day crowdfunding goal is focused on hiring 10 journalists, with the lowest subscription tier starting at $10 on up to any amount someone decides to pay.

Crowdsourcing news has been tried in the past, but the difference here is that the "Wiki" branding along with Wales' involvement may give the venture some traction with contributors and readers who are already familiar with Wikipedia as a resource.

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Still, Wikipedia's reputation as a place where inaccurate information often lingers on an important topic page may trump Wales' pledge to harness the model to serve readers solid news. Simply put, the Wikipedia model  even with professional journalists and community members looking over the stories  may not be enough to vet potentially inaccurate stories before those stories go viral and spread incorrect information.

We're sure to see a bunch of hot takes in the coming days regarding WikiTribune's chances, but we'll only have to wait a few weeks to find out just how much people do or don't want a Wikipedia for news.

WATCH: Bill O'Reilly is finally out at Fox News, but hold off on your victory dance
Kampala (AFP) - Brutal rebel commander Joseph Kony has sowed terror across four African nations for three decades, even evading capture by US and Ugandan soldiers who have now given up the chase.

The former Catholic altar boy became one of Africa's most notorious rebels at the head of his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), combining religious mysticism with an astute guerilla mind and bloodthirsty ruthlessness.

The US passed a law in 2010 to deploy around 100 special forces to work with regional armies in hunting down Kony but is now withdrawing while the rebel leader remains at large, though his power is much diminished.

Kony's marauding insurgency claimed to be fighting to overthrow the Ugandan government and impose a regime based on the Bible's Ten Commandments. It has killed more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children who were forced to become sex slaves, soldiers and porters.

While battling the Ugandan government Kony and his dwindling band of bush fighters have earned a grim reputation for kidnapping and mutilation.

The leader's whereabouts are not known and his forces have been hit by a constant stream of defections, deaths and surrenders of both foot-soldiers and commanders.

Small LRA groups continue to carry out attacks, mostly on civilians in villages, in the border regions of Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sudan.

- Self-proclaimed prophet -

In 2005, the self-proclaimed prophet -- along with four of his deputies -- were the first people indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

One commander, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial while the three others are believed to have been killed.

A member of Uganda's northern Acholi ethnic group, Kony attended primary school before taking up arms in around 1987, following in the footsteps of another messianic rebel, Alice Auma Lakwena, a former prostitute who is believed to have been either his cousin or aunt.

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Lakwena, who died in exile in Kenya in early 2007, believed she could channel the spirits of the dead, and also told her followers that holy oil she gave them could stop bullets.

Kony claims the Holy Spirit issues orders to him on everything from military tactics to personal hygiene, terrifying his subordinates into obedience.

The rebellion claimed to be defending the Acholi people against President Yoweri Museveni, who seized power from northern military rulers at the head of a rebel army in 1986.

Despite widespread northern resentment against Museveni, Kony's policy of abductions soon lost him the support of local groups, who suffered in the government's brutal war against the LRA.

At the height of the conflict, the government had forced some 2 million people into camps.

- Evading capture, justice -

Kony, who is thought to be in his 50s, speaks broken English and Acholi and has only rarely met outsiders, but in an interview with a western journalist in 2006 he insisted that he was "not a terrorist" and had not committed atrocities.

"We want the people of Uganda to be free. We are fighting for democracy," he claimed.

Nevertheless, ex-LRA abductees say they were forced to maim and kill friends, neighbours and relatives, and participate in gruesome rites such as drinking their victims' blood.

In the 1990s, the LRA conflict spilt into neighbouring countries after the Sudanese government in Khartoum began backing the group in retaliation for Uganda's support of southern Sudanese rebels battling for independence.

When Sudan signed a peace deal with the southern rebels in 2005, support for the LRA dried up and, after being forced into neighbouring DR Congo by the Ugandan army, Kony agreed to peace talks.

But negotiations dragged on and, amid mutual distrust and anxiety over the ICC warrant, Kony repeatedly failed to turn up to sign a deal.

In late 2011, following pressure from US campaigners, President Barack Obama deployed US special forces troops to help regional armies track down Kony.

Kony surged to unexpected worldwide prominence in March 2012 on the back of a hugely popular internet video that called for his capture.

Made by US-based advocacy group Invisible Children, the Kony2012 film became one of the fastest-spreading internet videos in history after more than 100 million users across the globe watched it in just a few days.

But popular interest quickly waned and despite the increased pressure, after more than 30 years in the bush Kony remains a master of evasion, ditching satellite telephones in favour of runners to communicate, and living off wild roots and animals.

The US and Ugandan militaries claim the LRA is all but defeated and rendered irrelevant, yet Kony remains free, outsmarting and outlasting all who have sought him.
A local police dog now has an extra line of protection. The Eaton County Sheriff's Office received these extensive trauma kits or 'buddy bags' on Monday. They have emergency first aid items for deputy Aaron Campbell to use in case his dog Cash ever gets hurt on the job. He'll get training from the Michigan State University Veterinary Clinic so he can keep Cash alive until he can get him to a doctor. A group called Back the Badge Michigan raised money for the kit.
MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - A crash between a passenger bus and a tanker ferrying cooking oil has killed 24 people along the main highway connecting Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and the port city of Mombasa, police said on Tuesday. The accident occurred in the Kibwezi area around midnight (5 p.m. ET) on Monday as the bus driver was trying to overtake another vehicle but collided with the oncoming tanker truck, Kibwezi police chief Leonard Kimaiyo told Reuters by telephone. "Twenty adults and three children died on the spot, while one adult died later in hospital," Kimaiyo said. The bus was heading to Mombasa from Nairobi. Kimaiyo said most of the passengers were families returning from Easter festivities and students preparing for the reopening of schools after holidays. Another 19 people were injured. Kimaiyo said the death toll could rise. (Reporting by Joseph Akwiri; Editing by George Obulutsa and Paul Tait)
Just over a week after the U.S. dropped the so-called Mother of All Bombs on ISIS fighters in eastern Afghanistan, a bloody attack on an Afghan army base has highlighted the countrys central security threat  the Taliban insurgency.

The deployment of the 21,000 lbs GBU-43 bomb, the largest non-nuclear device ever used in combat, in Afghanistans Nangarhar province generated global headlines and was described by President Donald Trump as a very successful mission. But although ISIS has claimed several attacks in Afghanistan, including a raid on an Afghan army hospital in the capital Kabul in March that killed dozens of people, the April 21 raid on the army base in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif has underlined the worsening of the Taliban insurgency nearly two decades after the militants were ousted from the capital Kabul by a U.S. led invasion in 2001. The assault comes as Washington weighs a call from the top U.S. commander there for more American troops to continue the fight against the Taliban.

Here is what you need to know about the April 21 attack, the Taliban insurgency and what Washington might do next:

The Mazar-e-Sharif raid was the deadliest such attack since 2001

As many as 10 Taliban fighters dressed in Afghan army uniforms and driving military vehicles reportedly killed at more than a 100 Afghan soldiers on April 21. The scale of the attack  the bloodiest raid on security forces since the beginning of the war  shook Afghanistan. The Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, condemned the attackers as cowardly and infidels, and a day of national mourning was declared over the weekend.

While the focus in Washington remains on combating the threat from international terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda, the raid highlighted the Talibans ability to strike at the heart of the Afghan security apparatus, which remains weak, compromised by mismanagement and rampant corruption. The army base at the center of the attack serves as the headquarters of Afghanistans 209th Corp. Heavily guarded and located in what was considered one of Afghanistans safer cities, it is the largest Afghan army installation in the north of the country. That a small group of insurgents managed to breach the security net around the base and embark on an hours-long killing spree raised troubling questions about the ability of Afghan security forces to counter the insurgency and sparked the resignations of the countrys defense minister and army chief. Ghani also reshuffled the local army leadership, as the Taliban threatened further attacks.

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It came as the Taliban makes territorial gains across the country

Alongside increasingly bloody attacks, the Taliban has been capturing more ground in Afghanistan following the end of the Nato combat mission and the exit of most foreign troops from the country in 2014. In mid-November, 2016, only around 57% of the countrys 407 districts were under Afghan government control or influence, according to the latest assessment from the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. That was down almost 15% from November, 2015, as the Taliban expanded its influence, engaging in clashes with security forces across the country.

As the fighting intensifies, the number of civilians killed or injured in the conflict has climbed to record highs, according to the U.N. More than 11,000 civilians were killed or injured in 2016, including more than 3,000 children, with the international body attributing responsibility for the vast majority of casualties to anti-government forces  mainly the Taliban.

Concerns are also growing about Russian support for the Taliban, with the top U.S. commander in the field, Gen. John Nicholson, telling reporters in Kabul on April 25 that he was not refuting claims that Moscow was providing weapons to the insurgency.

The worsening situation presents a challenge for the U.S., as it weighs its presence there

The deterioration on the ground forced the Obama administration to scrap plans of leaving office with only a small U.S. embassy-based force in Kabul. Instead, the former U.S. President stepped down with more than 8,000 American troops still stationed in the country. Now, the Trump administration is weighing a call to increase the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan, with Gen. Nicholson telling the Senate Armed Services Committee in February that we have a shortfall of a few thousand troops there. His views were echoed a month later by Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Command, who said: I do believe it will involve additional forces to ensure that we can make the advise and assist mission more effective.

So far, however, there has been little clarity from the White House about what it plans to do next. On April 24, as the Mazar-e-Sharif attack triggered the exit of Afghan military chiefs, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis made an unannounced stop in Kabul to assess the picture on the ground as he prepares his recommendations on Americas future strategy. 2017 is going to be another tough year for the valiant Afghan security forces and the international troops who have stood, and will continue to stand, shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan against terrorism, he said.
The Nebraska League of Conservation Voters has endorsed City Council candidates Leirion Gaylor Baird, Roy Christensen and Bennie Shobe for the three at-large council seats.

The three candidates are dedicated to conserving our communitys natural and financial resources, and we can trust that they will enact common-sense solutions to protect our health and safety if elected this May, said the group's executive director Eliot Bostar.

Throughout their time on the Lincoln City Council, Leirion Gaylor Baird and Roy Christensen have demonstrated commitment to our citys natural legacy while implementing common-sense solutions that are fiscally responsible.

The addition of Bennie Shobe to the Lincoln City Council would solidify the councils commitment to ensuring that our natural legacy is protected and that our community thrives," Bostar said.

The groups mission is to turn conservation values into political priorities, and ensure that land, air and water are protected for future generations. To achieve that end, it works to elect candidates who will champion conservation policies while in office.
By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. Senate Democrats are asking a U.S. audit watchdog to review whether KPMG failed to disclose or prevent fraud when it audited Wells Fargo's  books during the time period that the bank's sales force was opening two million unauthorized accounts.

In an April 25 letter to Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman James Doty, Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey said they were concerned that the accounting company issued clean audit reports for Wells Fargo & Co from 2011 through 2015 even though KPMG became aware of the fraud during at least some of that time.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Mary Eschet declined to comment.

Manuel Goncalves, a KPMG spokesman, said the firm takes its role as independent auditor seriously and it is confident its audits were done appropriately.

KPMG also previously defended its performance in a November 2016 letter to Warren and Markey, saying it did not think misconduct at Wells Fargo implicated any of the bank's "key controls over financial reporting" and that the opening of an unauthorized account "did not itself have an impact" on the financial statements, according to the letter.

"KPMG, in its role as Wells Fargo's independent auditor, failed to prevent or even publicly disclose the fraud that affected hundreds of thousands of customers, and cost the company CEO his job," Warren and Markey wrote.

Wells Fargo has been under fire since last fall, after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators fined the bank for opening as many as 2.1 million accounts in customers' names without their permission.

The bank remains under criminal investigation, its former CEO John Stumpf was forced to resign and an internal investigation released by the bank recently found that former retail division head Carrie Tolstedt ignored the systemic nature of abusive sales practices - a claim her lawyers have denied.

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Anger over the account scandal was apparent at Wells Fargo's annual meeting on Tuesday, as shareholders repeatedly demanded answers and the meeting was briefly recessed after a shareholder made a "physical approach" toward a board member.

Investors at Tuesday's meeting also asked questions about KPMG and why it was able to give the bank a clean bill of health for its financial statements.

The lawmakers, in their letter to the PCAOB, asked Doty about whether the PCAOB has reviewed KPMG's audit work and whether the firm had run afoul of PCAOB rules.

A PCAOB spokeswoman said the board looks forward to reviewing and responding to the letter.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Ross Kerber and Dan Freed; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Paris (AFP) - Marine Le Pen had a mixed welcome at a market near Paris on Tuesday, with some traders jostling for a picture with France's far-right presidential candidate but others booing her hard line on immigration.

Le Pen, who is duelling for the presidency with pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron, arrived at Rungis, Europe's biggest wholesale fresh food market, at the crack of dawn.

The visit was part of her bid to woo what she called "the France that gets up early" -- a term coined by conservative ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy during his 2007 campaign to refer to workers and the self-employed.

With its hangars of giant cheeses, animal carcasses and towering crates of fruit, the sprawling market in the suburb of Rungis has long been a favourite campaign stop among presidential candidates.

"Marine Le Pen is coming here? I hope I can get a selfie with her!" one employee told reporters waiting for her in a light drizzle.

Wearing a white jacket with the market's logo, the blonde 48-year-old National Front (FN) politician meandered through the aisles, a retinue of party officials in tow.

Vendors in white coats, some of them first- or second-generation immigrants, gathered around as she set out her proposals to defend French producers from what she calls "runaway globalisation".

Her manifesto includes a tax on the contracts of foreign workers and a requirement that retailers stock a certain percentage of French products.

"When there is unfair competition, we'll set up barriers and say 'there are regulations, you can't do that'," she declared.

Le Pen has also pledged to deport all undocumented immigrants, part of a French-first programme that drew boos from some traders.

"Do you have your papers?" a vendor in a blood-spattered coat asked a colleague jokingly.

"We're workers too. We pay our taxes," a fruit vendor shouted. "It's a disgrace," another said repeatedly.

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A tomato sailed through the air but missed Le Pen, landing with a splat on a reporter's head.

"Jerks. They're not the guys who are usually here," said one of Le Pen's aides, suggesting she had fallen into a trap.

- Promises, promises -

The atmosphere was cordial for the most part, however, with wholesalers engaging Le Pen in conversation and showing off their wares.

In the meat hall, trader Francis Fauchere questioned Le Pen's plan to impose the use of French-produced meat in school canteens and civil service foodhalls.

"It'll never happen. The canteen budget doesn't extend to French meat," he said, arguing that French producers were better off focusing on high-end markets.

Speaking to journalists afterwards, Fauchere said he planned to abstain from voting in the May 7 runoff.

"They're all the same. We see them once every five years and they all promise the same thing," he said.

A week ago it was 39-year-old Macron who had come to visit, with a message of "working more to earn more" -- another of Sarkozy's old campaign slogans.

One vendor, who did not wish to be named, accused the two candidates of trying "to be seen in the same light as people who really are hard-working."

But Claude Garnier, a 74-year-old retired butcher who helps his son on the market, said Le Pen would get his vote.

"I prefer Mrs Le Pen because Macron... he's a Socialist," he said.
By Michel Rose PARIS (Reuters) - French far-right veteran Jean-Marie Le Pen said on Tuesday his daughter Marine, who faces centrist Emmanuel Macron in a May 7 presidential runoff, should have campaigned more aggressively for Sunday's first round, following the example of Donald Trump. With 7.5 million votes, Marine Le Pen beat the National Front party's previous election record on Sunday but failed to pip pro-EU Macron to the first place. The intervention by her father follows her announcement on Monday that she plans to step back from day-to-day management of the far-right party he founded ahead of the runoff and marks the latest tussle between the two of them over its future direction. "I think her campaign was too laid-back. If I'd been in her place I would have had a Trump-like campaign, a more open one, very aggressive against those responsible for the decadence of our country, whether left or right," 88-year-old Jean-Marie Le Pen told RTL radio. The two have been at odds since Marine Le Pen launched moves to clean the National Front's image of xenophobic associations in the run-up to the campaign for the 2017 presidency. Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked the world in 2002 by qualifying for the second round of the presidential election and then went on to lose in a landslide to conservative Jacques Chirac. He was frequently accused of making xenophobic and anti-Semitic statements and Le Pen expelled him from the party in 2015, though as the party's founder he remains a well-known figure and represents a body of opinion in the party. In another sign of his influence, the National Front has borrowed about 6 million euros from a political fundraising association he heads. Marine Le Pen's decision to take a leave of absence from the day-to-day management of the party appeared to be an attempt to portray herself as being above the narrow world of National Front politics and broaden her appeal to the wider electorate ahead of the crucial runoff vote. Her program calls for sharp curbs on immigration and on the rights of immigrants living in France, as well as the expulsion of foreigners under suspicion of having militant Islamist links. But she is seeking all the same to distance herself from the toxic legacy of her father and the xenophobic and anti-semitic undertones of his previous campaigns. Under France's Fifth Republic, the president is the head of state, very much like a monarch in other countries, a role described by founder Charles De Gaulle as being above party politics - something Le Pen may have had in mind in her Monday night statement. She may also be seeking to play Macron at his own game, as the 39-year old centrist has refused to join mainstream parties, and consistently described his "En Marche!" (Onwards!) party structure as a "movement" transcending the left-right divide. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Philippa Fletcher)
Paris (AFP) - The world's top luxury company LVMH said Tuesday it plans take full control of Christian Dior in order to harness the "high growth potential" of "one of the world's most iconic brands," whose sales have doubled over the past five years.

LVMH, which already owns Christian Dior perfumes, said in a statement it had now agreed to buy Christian Dior Couture -- the leatherware, Haute Couture, ready-to-wear, jewellery and shoes businesses -- for 6.5 billion euros ($7.0 billion).

The announcement sent LVMH shares soaring on the Paris stock exchange, where they jumped by around three percent in a generally flat market.

At the same time, the Arnault family who own 74 percent of the holding company, Christian Dior SA, would "demonstrate their commitment" by acquiring the remaining 26 percent, LVMH said.

That would streamline the current shareholder structure and help unlock synergies, LVMH finance chief Jean-Jacques Guiony told a telephone news conference.

Set up 70 years ago, Christian Dior Couture "is one of the most iconic brands worldwide", LVMH said.

It sells its range of goods "almost exclusively" in 198 luxury boutiques around the world.

Sales have doubled over the past five years and, last year, revenues amounted to more than two billion euros, while underlying or operating profit totalled 270 million euros.

At present, Christian Dior Couture is wholly owned by Christian Dior SA.

By making it a wholly-owned subsidiary, LVMH would be able to unlock its "high growth potential," it said.

The deal "will allow LVMH to incorporate one of the most emblematic brands worldwide. It will allow for the regrouping of Christian Dior Couture and Parfums Christian Dior brands," the statement continued.

- 'Source of growth' -

"On the strength of its history and favorable prospects, Christian Dior Couture will be a source of growth for LVMH," it said.

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"The development of Christian Dior Couture will be notably supported over the coming years by a new creative momentum and significant investments already completed, notably in America, China and Japan."

In its part of the two-fold deal, the Arnault Family Group would launch a public takeover offer to purchase the shares in Christian Dior SA it did not already own.

The bid will take the form of a cash offer of 172 euros per share, plus 0.192 shares in Hermes International, valuing the each share at 260 euros, the statement said.

That represented a premium of 14.7 percent over the closing share price on Monday and a premium of 18.6 percent over the average share price during the past month.

The boards of directors of Christian Dior and LVMH were "unanimously favourable" to the plans, LVMH said.

"This project represents an important milestone for the group," said LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault.

"The corresponding transactions will allow the simplification of the structures, long requested by the market, and the strengthening of LVMH's Fashion and Leather Goods division. They illustrate the commitment of my family group and emphasize its confidence in the long-term perspectives of LVMH and its brands."

Analysts also hailed the long-awaited deal.

"We see a number of positives," said Exane BNP Paribas analyst, Luca Solca.

"It adds a strong brand to the LVMH portfolio at a reasonable valuation and on an accretive basis and it reduces the risk of LVMH potentially buying 'trophy assets'" which would dilute returns on capital, the expert said.

"The operation is being viewed positively by the markets," because it will increase the theoretical value of the share, Daniel Larrouturou of Diamant Bleu Gestion told AFP.
Cops in Alabama have arrested a man they say locked two children with the trash at an apartment building.

The two children were the subjects of a welfare check early Sunday and were discovered covered in ants in a trash bin.

Watch: Mom Burns 9-Year-Old With Hot Iron For Not Bringing Papers Home: Cops

Police were also at the building in search of a man, identified as 25-year-old Lorenzo McCullough, "who was suicidal and was threatening harm to the two children ages 2 and 4," according to a statement from Dothan police.

Investigators say they located McCullough, but he fled when they attempted to speak with him. "McCullough ran into the back door of another apartment and was found hiding in a closet," cops said.

At that point, the childrens whereabouts were unknown. Authorities canvassed the area looking for them with the help of a police K-9 and a bloodhound.

Read: Teacher Charged With Child Sex Abuse After Being Impregnated by Student

The children were found at 2 a.m. in the "brick waste container area" and were taken to a hospital for medical treatment.

McCullough has been charged with two counts of torture or willful abuse of a child under 18, attempting to elude law enforcement officers, and unlawful breaking and entering of a vehicle.

Read: Boy, 11, Reportedly Killed Himself After Mistakenly Thinking His Girlfriend Had Taken Her Life

Related Articles:
Authorities released the names of the eight people facing felony drug and weapons charges after federal, state and local investigators found several pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and guns during searches in the Lincoln and Omaha area Monday.

Aurelio Martinez Rodriguez, 44, of 2917 N. 43rd St., was the only Lincoln man federally indicted. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of aiding and abetting the distribution of 50 grams or more of meth, according to Robert C. Stuart, Nebraska's acting U.S. Attorney.

Three men from Alamo, Texas, each face a charge of distributing 50 grams or more of meth: Roberto Ochoa Cantu, 43; Javier Reyna, 37; and Juan Zuniga Gloria, 39.

Court filings did not spell out any connections between the men or the others arrested in the drug raid.

But four others, including three Lincoln residents, were arrested and charged on state drug and weapons charges.

In a 6 a.m. raid, FBI agents, along with members of the Lincoln/Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force, found a baggie containing more than two ounces of meth in a woman's boot in the apartment of Jully Nguyen, 25, and Angel G. Deleon, 26, at 10th and E streets, according to court documents.

Their two toddlers were taken into state custody.

They were each charged Tuesday with possession of 28 to 139 grams of meth, which carries a penalty of five to 50 years in prison.

DEA agents and officers from the local task force found an unregistered shotgun in the Lincoln home of Carlos Valdez, 57, according to court documents.

Valdez, who lives in the 2500 block of Southwest Soukup Drive, is prohibited from possessing guns after a previous conviction for dealing cocaine in 1990, police said. Valdez told officers the shotgun belongs to his son, who lives in Chicago and that it should have been registered in his son's name, the document says.

Prosecutors charged him with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, which carries a penalty of three to 50 years in prison.

In Omaha, police arrested Ycemia Y. Gonzales, 44, and prosecutors charged her with possession of 28 to 139 grams of cocaine. That offense carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison.
A man who stood up to a flight attendant who purportedly hit a mother of-two in the face with a baby's buggy while violently taking it from her has spoken publicly about the incident for the first time.

Insurance executive Tony Fierro was dubbed a hero after footage of him confronting the flight attendant was widely circulated online.

A baby almost got hurt, Mr Fierro told Texan TV channel WFAA-TV. That's what just fired me up, so that was it. I don't want to make a big deal about it.

Read more

The 46-year old Dallas resident is reportedly a deacon and founder of a community church, while also working as president of an insurance company.

The incident has attracted attention in the wake of the forcible removal of a doctor from a United Airlines flight earlier this month.

American Airlines has apologised and suspended the flight attendant involved.

Surain Adyanthaya, a passenger on the plane, uploaded the footage to Facebook, writing AA Flight attendant violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby on my flight, hitting her and just missing the baby.

Then he tried to fight a passenger who stood up for her.

Video not available for syndication

United Airlines passenger is dragged off plane because airline overbooked

In the footage, the mother is seen standing in the crew area holding a baby, crying and asking for her stroller back.

Mr Fierro then stands up and demands the name of the employee involved in the stroller incident. He returns to his seat, then returns when the staff member re-appears through the cabin door. He then shouts: Hey bud  you do that to me and Ill knock you flat.

As the captain looks on from the flight-deck door, the employee says: Try it. Hit me.

The captain orders the passenger to sit down, and then follows the staff member out of the cabin door.

American Airlines responded to the footage saying: The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions.

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The airline said the employee has been removed from duty pending an investigation.

American Airlines is keen to avoid creating a public relations catastrophe like that experienced by United Airlines, which initially blamed its passenger, Dr David Dao, for a violent scuffle, before finally apologising.

The statement from American Airlines said: We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers. We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident.

It said the woman who was filmed crying during the confrontation had been placed on a different flight where she would be upgraded to first class.
People do crazy things in the quest for love. But crazy to avoid love? Read on.

A 32-year-old man from India hatched a fake terror plot to avoid holidaying with his girlfriend. Yes, you read that right.

SEE ALSO: Man fights off Twitter scammer by vowing to marry her in a 'Hindu mosque'

Motaparthi Vamshi Krishna, who incidentally is married with a child, couldn't afford a vacation his "online girlfriend" desired, Straits Times reports.

But not one to let go of his male pride, the imaginative Hyderabadi decided to create a situation where the proposed vacation becomes a non-starter due to external reasons and not because he is broke.

He sent a hoax mail to the police in which he pretended to be a woman who has overheard a plane hijack plan. The incident resulted in heightened security at many major airports in India last week.

Until the Hyderabad City Police discovered the real deal. They traced the sender's IP address back to an internet cafe. And later, arrested the bloke.

Krishna reportedly confessed that he had an online girlfriend in Chennai who had asked him to go on a trip with her to Mumbai and Goa.

"He didn't have the money, but if he cancelled because of that, it would have hurt his pride, and his friendship with the girl would've come to an end... So, his thinking was that if the flight was to be cancelled and it was because of the airport, he wouldn't be at fault," a top police official was quoted as saying.

Slow clap!

WATCH: Device claims to 'turn off' cramps: Hoax or hope?
It's that time of year again. High school seniors who plan to attend college in the fall are gearing up to take the plunge.

As families prepare for the life-altering change, not only students but parents often experience increasing anxiety.

We usually think of separation anxiety as something experienced by younger children. We see kids tear up when they have to leave their parents; a child may hold tight to a mother's hand or a father's leg. However, separation anxiety is not limited to children. As kids prepare to leave the nest, parents may experience this kind of anxiety as well.

[See: 7 Healthy Dorm Must-Haves.]

It's natural to worry about your child when he or she leaves home. As your baby becomes a college student, you only know what he is willing to share with you. Despite being more connected than ever, you still only know the basics, and now you have to rely on inconsistent and sporadic contact to glimpse what is happening in your child's life.

A parent's anxiety becomes a problem, however, when that parent doesn't know how to let go. If a parent is constantly thinking about a child, can't sleep for fear that something might be wrong, is reaching out to check in all the time and is consumed with worry about what the child is doing, that parent may be experiencing separation anxiety. While we often think our worry is about another person (in this case, the child), it may really be about how you, as the parent are doing. Are you going to be OK now that your child has left home?

According to Dr. Jess Shatkin, a psychiatrist at New York University's Child Study Center, "Whether the student lives at home or goes away to attend college, the move represents an emotional separation for both parents and child. For most, the end of high school marks the symbolic end of childhood." For many parents, this can be a time of excitement. Simultaneously, though, parents commonly experience a sense of loss. This loss may amplify the anxiety parents are also experiencing.

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[Read: How Parental Stress Negatively Affects Kids.]

Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, parents may struggle with relinquishing control. It's important to let go and allow your children make decisions for themselves. While you can provide advice and guidance, you have to take a step back.

So, how can parents manage their own fears while supporting their children as they explore the world without them? Here are some strategies to try:

-- Refocus your energy. You have more time now to focus on yourself and what you enjoy doing. Revisit old interests. Discover new ones.

-- Readjust your expectations. Your child will always need you. She will just need you differently. Your relationship will shift as your child matures and gains more equal footing. Recognizing this, and encouraging the change in your dynamic will promote positive interactions and engagement.

-- Provide guidance. When your anxiety is in full force, it's easy to want to over-engage and overextend yourself, doing as you can for your child, even if that's not what your child needs. Offer advice and guidance, without the pressure. It's a fine line, and one that you need to work out with your child.

-- Accept that your child will make mistakes. College is a time of exploration for students. It's a time for kids to separate from parents and become more independent. As part of this learning process, students will make mistakes and parents need to prepare for that.

[See: How College Students Can Avoid Getting Sick.]

It's scary to watch your child leave home, entering a world where you cannot protect him from all he may encounter. Your job shifts from parent to mentor. As Melissa T. Shultz writes in her book, "From Mom to Me Again: How I Survived My First Empty-Nest Year and Reinvented the Rest of My Life," "The goal is for your children to feel as if they can come to you without fear of disappointment, anger and judgment. That means that both of you have to make the shift, and it starts with you -- you have to make the effort to see them in a new light so they see themselves in that light too."

Take a minute to recognize that you instilled in your child the values needed to make good choices and be successful. Now take a deep breath. You and your child will be OK.

Dr. Jennifer Hartstein is a nationally recognized child, adolescent and family psychologist practicing in New York City. She is a frequent contributor to news programs, including NBC's "The Today Show" and CBS' "The Early Show." Dr. Hartstein is the author of "Princess Recovery: A How-to Guide for Empowering Girls to Create Their Own Happily Ever Afters."
Americas leaders are playing Russian roulette with our future

People holds up signs during the March for Science in San Francisco, California on April 22, 2017. Thousands of people joined a global March for Science to fight back against what many see as an assault on facts by populist politicians. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

This past weekend, hundreds of thousands of people in the US and around the world marched in support of science. Next weekend, the Peoples Climate March will follow.

Redglass Pictures and StarTalk Radio created a short film in which the brilliant scientist and communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson  though not specifically talking about the science marches  perfectly articulated the motivations behind them.

For example, last weekends March for Science was largely a pushback against the creeping science denial among todays political leaders, about which Dr. Tyson said:

But in this, the 21st Century, when it comes time to make decisions about science, it seems to me people have lost the ability to judge what is true and what is not; what is reliable and what is not reliable; what should you believe, what should you not believe. And, when you have people who dont know much about science standing in denial of it, and rising to power, that is a recipe for the complete dismantling of our informed democracy.

The climate march is in response to so many of our political leaders using science denial to obstruct the important debate about policy solutions:

So once you understand that humans are warming the planet, you can then have a political conversation about that  [policy solutions] have political answers. And every minute one is in denial, you are delaying the political solution that should have been established years ago.

Mythbuster Adam Savage was interviewed on MSNBC about why he decided to speak at and participate in the March for Science in San Francisco:

we live in a time where people are passing legislation like in North Carolina to not pay attention to science when making legislation about coastal water levels rising. That is absolutely ludicrous and anti-human. We need to make, as you just said, policies based on the best evidence we have available to us, and thats why Im marching.

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The marches have drawn some attention. PBS NewsHour  the only American network news program to consistently report on climate change  did a story featuring our own Geoffrey Supran:

The underlying problem is that its been decades since weve known enough about the threats posed by human-caused climate change to mitigate those risks. It should be a no-brainer: we have one planet with one climate that we depend upon entirely for our survival. We are in the process of fundamentally changing its atmosphere by dumping 35 billion tons of carbon dioxide into it every year. Our only reasonable option is to curb that carbon pollution as quickly as possible before we destabilize the Earths climate.

We seemed to finally be moving in the right direction with the Paris agreement, and now the American government is reneging on its pledges and doing everything in its power to increase carbon pollution. Members of the House Science Committee, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the President of the United States deny basic scientific findings made decades ago. The President proposed a budget that would slash funding for scientific research, hes failed to appoint people to key scientific posts in his administration, and Republicans in the House of Representatives passed two bills to stifle science at the EPA.

Its madness. We are risking the future of our society on the slim chance that a 3% fringe minority of climate scientists is right and 97% are wrong. Its like playing Russian roulette, but with far worse odds. At least with Russian roulette theres a 5-in-6 chance (83%) youll be fine. Thats a far sight better than the 3-in-100 (3%) gamble our leaders are taking on climate change. Worse yet, even the 3% dont deny that humans are altering Earths climate, which is an inherently risky proposition.

Weve reached the point where scientists are taking to the streets to make it known that were failing to heed their warnings. Thats a step far outside the comfort zone for most scientists, but its the right move. Our leaders will only act on climate change if their voters demand it. Right now while voter support for climate policies is high, because of an effective misinformation campaign and continued media false balance, many view it as a low priority.



Hopefully, seeing scientists marching in the streets will raise public awareness about the urgency of the problem were causing so that they demand change before its too late.


Hodeidah (Yemen) (AFP) - Yemeni protesters reached the Red Sea city of Hodeida Tuesday, ending a week-long march from the capital to demand that the rebel-held port be declared a humanitarian zone.

Some 25 protesters made the 225-kilometre (140-mile) walk, dubbed the "March for bread", to call for unrestricted aid deliveries to Yemen, where Iran-backed Huthi rebels have battled government forces allied with a Saudi-led Arab coalition for two years.

Protesters waved flags emblazoned with loaves of bread and chanted slogans demanding that the port be spared in the war, which the United Nations estimates has killed more than 7,700 people and left millions struggling to find food.

"The Hodeida port has nothing to do with war... Let them fight anywhere, but leave the port alone. The port is for our women, children, our old people," said Ali Mohammed Yahya, who walked for six days from Sanaa to Hodeida.

Hodeida, the main entry point for aid, is currently Huthi-controlled but fears are mounting over a potential coalition military offensive to seize it.

The United Nations last week urged the Saudi-led coalition not to bomb Hodeida, Yemen's fourth most populated city.

Rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday warned a military offensive "would be devastating far beyond Hodeida since the city's port is a crucial access point for lifesaving international aid".

Seven humanitarian organisations warned of the "catastrophic" impact of any attack on Hodeida, describing it as a "major lifeline for a country on the verge of starvation".

"Such an attack risks tipping a country starved by two years of war into near certain famine, risking the lives of millions," said a joint statement by the groups including Action Against Hunger, Medecins du Monde, Norwegian Refugee Council, Saferworld, Save the Children, Tearfund and War Child.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition has denied there are plans for an offensive against Hodeida.

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The conflict in Yemen pits the Huthis, allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, against government forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive early this year to help Hadi's forces close in on Yemen's entire Red Sea coast, including Hodeida.

The UN has appealed for $2.1 billion in international assistance this year for Yemen, one of four countries facing famine in 2017.

burs-jj/ny-ak/srm
Geneva (AFP) - The World Trade Organization on Tuesday gave Mexico the green light to impose $160 million in annual tariffs against the United States in retaliation for Washington's discriminating against Mexican tuna imports.

The long-running tuna trade feud between the North American neighbours centres on the controversial "dolphin safe" label.

For more than two decades the United States has required all tuna imports to be certified "dolphin safe", part of a campaign to save a species that had been decimated by fishing nets.

But Mexico argues that the US applies stricter standards to its exporters to acquire the "dolphin safe" certification than to those from other countries.

A 2015 WTO ruling agreed that the US had inaccurately evaluated the risks to dolphins posed by Mexican tuna fleets.

The Geneva-based WTO, which aims to ensure a level playing field in global trade, cannot force countries to change their trade policies.

But it can authorise retaliatory measures against countries that do not comply with its rulings.

Tuesday's decision follows the US refusal to adjust its labelling of Mexican tuna.

A WTO arbitrator authorised Mexico to hit US exports with $163 million (149 million euros) in annual tariffs in response.

But the dispute looks set to carry on.

Last year, Washington amended its tuna labelling guidelines, applying the tougher standards applied to Mexico to all importers.

If the WTO ultimately decides that the US is now treating all nations equally, its previous 2015 decision would be quashed.

Further complicating the case is a threat from US President Donald Trump's administration to disregard WTO rulings that hurt American trade interests.

Trump, who campaigned as a populist claiming that Mexican imports were hurting the US economy, has also called the WTO "a disaster".
By Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - Climate change has put nearly 12 million Colombians at risk from natural disasters like flooding and landslides, which could kill hundreds and cause serious infrastructure damage, the environment minister said on Tuesday. Recent heavy rains have endangered residents in dozens of towns and cities, especially in neighborhoods of makeshift construction on deforested slopes of the Andes mountains. Deadly avalanches and flooding in the cities of Mocoa and Manizales killed more than 330 people this month. At-risk cities in the Andean country, which has a population of 49 million, are typically located along riverbeds or in mountainous areas, Environment Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo told Reuters in an interview. Disaster prevention efforts include relocation of high-risk neighborhoods and construction of retaining walls to hold back landslides, Murillo said. "Colombia is very vulnerable to phenomena of extreme climate variability and climate change," Murillo said, adding that around 500 municipalities are constantly in medium or high alert for flood and landslide risks. "We have to move toward a culture of prevention and response to early warnings. Close to 12 million people are in high-risk conditions," said the minister, a former mining engineer. Deforestation of mountainous and jungle areas in Colombia significantly increases the risk of disasters like landslides. Colombia has reduced annual deforestation to 124,000 hectares from 282,000 hectares in 2010 and hopes to take the level below 100,000 hectares next year, Murillo said. Some deforestation is caused by ranchers and farmers looking to expand arable land. Illegal logging, gold mining and the cultivation of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine, also contribute. "If we don't take urgent, extreme measures to implement our climate threat prevention policies, we could be facing the possibility that some of these events take place again," Murillo said, referring to the disasters in Mocoa and Manizales. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Andrew Hay)
As promised, owners of the four beer stores in Whiteclay are appealing last week's decision by the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission to deny renewal of their liquor licenses.

An attorney for the beer stores said Monday that appeal filings were being sent to Lancaster County District Court via overnight mail.

In copies of the filings shared with media, attorney Andrew Snyder of Scottsbluff argues the Liquor Commission's decision was "arbitrary and capricious," not supported by evidence and contrary to Nebraska law.

Snyder also asks the court to allow the beer stores to remain open until the appeal is resolved to shield them from "irreparable harm and injury in the form of lost income."

A judge in the case has yet to be assigned.

The Liquor Commission last week decided not to renew the stores' licenses after they expire Sunday, citing concerns about law enforcement in Whiteclay. The unincorporated village has eight official residents, but its four liquor stores sell millions of cans of beer each year, much of it to residents of South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol is banned.

The beer store owners argue the Liquor Commission considered inappropriate evidence and violated their due process rights by ordering them to reapply for their liquor licenses, rather than receiving automatic renewal.

The stores are Arrowhead Inn, State Line Liquor, D&S Pioneer and Jumping Eagle Inn.

Unless a judge suspends the commission's decision, the stores will be forced to close Sunday.
Sydney (AFP) - The world needs to do more to protect the Antarctic wilderness and its wildlife, scientists warned Tuesday, as they marked World Penguin Day.

The flightless seabirds -- a favourite with children for their clumsy, waddling gait -- offer a useful yardstick for researchers to judge the health of their habitat.

"Penguins are great ambassadors for understanding the need to conserve Southern Ocean resources," Christian Reiss, an Antarctic fisheries biologist at the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told AFP.

"They are the iconic species of this ecosystem and the fate of their populations will depend on effective ecosystem-based management, including understanding the role of climate change and human impacts."

A Pew study in 2015 showed two thirds of the world's 18 penguin species, which range from the volcanic Galapagos Islands on the equator to the frozen sea ice of Antarctica, were in decline.

Antarctic penguins in particular are vulnerable to climate change, with shifting ice reducing habitat while warming seas affect their prey.

Scientists blame intense fishing pressure on forage species such as krill, as well as pollution, degradation of breeding grounds, and climate change.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, only two types of penguin -- Adelie and King -- are increasing in numbers.

- Struggling to adapt -

Penguins live most of their lives at sea but return to land to breed and molt, making them important gauges of marine health that are easily accessible to researchers, who can then develop realistic and effective conservation ocean strategies.

Stanford University marine scientist Cassandra Brooks, who specialises in the Antarctic, said penguin populations on the frozen continent were both increasing (Adelies in the Ross Sea) and decreasing (Chinstraps in the Antarctic Peninsula area).

"In short, we know climate change is dramatically changing the Antarctic environment and that the animals that comprise the Southern Ocean ecosystem are struggling to adapt," she told AFP.

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"Scientists need to continue working to untangle the complex interactions between climate change and penguin populations."

A deal sealed last year by the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) -- an international grouping tasked with overseeing conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Antarctic Ocean -- will see a massive US and New Zealand-backed marine protected area established in the Ross Sea.

The sea is one of the last intact marine ecosystems in the world, home to penguins, seals, Antarctic toothfish, whales and huge numbers of krill, a staple food for many species.

It is considered critical for scientists to study how such ecosystems function and to understand the impact of climate change on the ocean.

But two other proposals -- the Australia and France-led East Antarctica sanctuary and a German plan to protect huge tracts of the Weddell Sea -- are still under negotiation.

The East Antarctica sanctuary proposal spans one million square kilometres (386,000 square miles) while the Weddell Sea plan would extend from the southeast of South America over an area of some 2.8 million square kilometres.

"A network of Southern Ocean MPAs (marine protected areas), which include no-take zones in areas important to penguin life history, may help ensure their survival in an uncertain future," said Brooks.

The CCAMLR holds its annual meeting in Hobart, Australia, in October.
Nuclear-armed North Korea on Tuesday marked a military anniversary with a massive conventional firing drill, Seoul said, as a US guided-missile submarine docked in South Korea amid tensions over Pyongyang's weapons ambitions.

Speculation had mounted that the North could carry out a sixth nuclear test or another missile launch to mark 85 years since the founding of its army.

But no such event -- which usually happens in the morning -- had taken place by the evening, and instead Seoul's defence ministry said Pyongyang was conducting a "massive fire drill" in the eastern port city of Wonsan.

The South's Yonhap news agency cited a government source as saying the exercise was the North's "largest ever" and was presumed to have been overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un.

Washington has sent the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula, where it is expected to arrive -- after a derision-provoking delay -- later this week.

Confusion had clouded the carrier's whereabouts earlier this month after US officials indicated it was sailing towards North Korea when in fact it was heading south.

The vessel will take part in joint naval drills with the South's forces to "demonstrate Seoul and Washington's strong determination to punish North Korean provocations", the South Korean Navy said in a statement.

They will take place in the East Sea, the South's name for the Sea of Japan, it said, and the two allies will also begin joint naval exercises in the West Sea -- what it calls the Yellow Sea -- on Tuesday "in relation to the current security situation".

The nuclear-powered US submarine USS Michigan also made a port call at Busan in the South on Tuesday in another show of force, while US navy destroyers carried out separate joint exercises with Japanese and South Korean vessels.

President Donald Trump has said the US was sending an "armada" to the Korean peninsula, including submarines.

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According to the US Navy's Submarine Force Pacific website, the USS Michigan carries more than 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

They are capable of precision strikes against the North's nuclear facilities, but the South Korean Navy called the visit "routine" and said the submarine would not take part in any joint exercises.

- 'Brutal punishment' -

North Korea has ambitions to build a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the US mainland. Tensions have soared in recent months as it carried out a string of missile tests that sparked tit-for-tat sabre-rattling between it and Washington.

Pyongyang's rhetoric always intensifies in the spring, when Seoul and Washington hold joint military drills which it sees as rehearsals for an invasion.

The North's Rodong Sinmun -- the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea -- warned Tuesday of dire consequences in the event of a US-led pre-emptive strike.

It promised "the most brutal punishment... in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice".

North Korea launched two missile tests this month while Trump and his senior aides have warned that "all options are on the table" against Pyongyang, including military action.

Trump on Monday urged UN Security Council ambassadors to consider stronger sanctions against Pyongyang, and US senators will be briefed on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is to chair a ministerial-level Security Council meeting on the North on Friday.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against invasion. A spokesman for its foreign ministry on Tuesday claimed the meetings -- coupled with Trump's fresh policy of "maximum pressure and engagement" on Pyongyang -- showed the threat it faced from the US.

"They are explicitly advocating pressure on us, which is as dangerous as lighting the fuse on an all-out war," he said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency.

Top nuclear envoys from Japan, South Korea and the United States met Tuesday in Tokyo and vowed "stern action" against any fresh North Korean provocations.

US special representative Joseph Yun said he discussed American policy to "enhance pressure" on Pyongyang "because we really do not believe that North Korea is ready to engage us towards denuclearisation".

The trio also agreed that China and Russia should play a bigger role in reining in the North, said Kim Hong-Kyun, South Korea's chief envoy on the issue.

"Cooperation with China and Russia is the most important for effective pressure on North Korea," he said.
Miami (AFP) - An unmanned NASA spacecraft, Cassini, is poised to plunge into the gap between Saturn and its rings, a pioneering journey that could offer an unprecedented view of the sixth planet from the Sun.

The first of the spaceship's 22 deep dives between Saturn and its innermost ring is scheduled for April 26 at 5:00 am Florida time (0900 GMT), NASA said.

Then comes a nail-biting wait.

Communications with the spacecraft will go dark during the dive and for about a day afterward, while it makes scientific observations of the planet.

If Cassini survives the trip, it could make radio contact with Earth as early as 3:05 am (0705 GMT) on April 27.

"Images and other data are expected to begin flowing in shortly after communication is established," NASA said.

Cassini is a 20-year-old joint mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

The 22-foot-tall (6.7 meter) spacecraft launched in 1997 and began orbiting Saturn in 2004.

Cassini is running low on fuel, and will make a death plunge into Saturn's surface on September 15.

The decision to end the mission was made in 2010, to avoid damaging moons like Enceladus, which could be explored for signs of life in the future.

- Dangerous moment -

Venturing between the planet and its rings for the first time represents "a dangerous moment for the mission," Luciano Iess, Cassini team member at Italy's Sapienza University of Rome, said at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna.

Skimming Saturn at an altitude of about 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers), the spacecraft will be closer than ever to the band of ice and space rocks that circle Saturn.

The debris move at a speed of about 67,800 miles (109,000 kilometers) per hour.

The rings around Saturn -- a gas giant that is second in size in our solar system only to Jupiter -- are thousands of miles (kilometers) wide, but only 30 to 300 feet (nine to 90 meters) deep.

The spacecraft's final dives aim to offer a fresh look at the rings, potentially revealing more about their mass and whether they are old or new.

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"If the rings are massive, this means that they are old. They can date back to the formation of the Saturnian system," Iess said.

"If the mass is small, then the rings are young and they have been formed by a different process."

Some scientists believe that rings could have formed after asteroids smashed into some of Saturn's moons, creating a trail of debris.

Saturn has more than 60 moons, and Cassini has made new discoveries on some of them, which may have conditions suitable for a form of life.

The flyby should also provide more information about the interior of Saturn.

"We hope to get a measurement of the core mass, how many heavy elements are concentrated in the interior of Saturn," said Iess.

Cassini dropped a European probe on Saturn's massive moon Titan and revealed its surface of methane liquid seas, including a complex system of methane rain and runoff.

It discovered that the icy moon Enceladus conceals a subsurface, salty ocean beneath its crust, and may be able to support living microbes.

Cassini also observed storms, lightning and clouds around Saturn for the first time.

Cassini has made "a wealth of discoveries," said Nicolas Altobelli, Cassini project scientist with the European Space Agency.

"We will have to rewrite many textbooks on planetary science."
In his visit to Israel this week, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had hoped to meet both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a range of civil society groups. But in a sign of growing bilateral tensions over settlements in Palestine, Gabriel was forced to choose  and Netanyahu didnt make the cut.

In his first trip to Israel since assuming his position as foreign minister earlier this year, Gabriel hoped to push for a two-state solution while maintaining the historically robust Germany-Israel relationship. He also planned to meet with local several nonprofits, including Breaking the Silence, a group founded by Israeli veterans that highlights Israeli military abuses against Palestinian civilians.

But on Monday, Netanyahu threatened to break off the meeting with Gabriel if he followed through with the planned session with Breaking the Silence.

Gabriel refused to comply. Instead, he told German broadcaster ZDF, You never get the full picture of any state in the world if you just meet with figures in government ministries.

Netanyahu, clearly incensed, canceled the meeting. Imagine if foreign diplomats visiting the United States or Britain met with NGOs that call American or British soldiers war criminals,remarked a spokesperson. Leaders of those countries would surely not accept this. Perhaps in an attempt to smooth over relations, Netanyahu tried to get Gabriel on the phone on Tuesday, according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz, but Gabriel declined.

The spat comes amid rising tensions over Israels settlements policies in Palestine. In early February, Israels parliament, the Knesset, passed a law that retroactively legalized thousands of settlements on land in the occupied territories, providing compensation for the Palestinians whose land was being used but without providing them a means to reclaim it. Advocates for a two-state solution decried the law as a serious blow to any peaceful resolution to the decades-long conflict.

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The current German administration supports a two-state solution. In the wake of the laws passage, a German foreign ministry spokesperson remarked, Our trust in the Israeli governments commitment to the two-state solution has been fundamentally shaken.

Diplomatic fallout ensued. In February, German Chancellor Angela Merkel cancelled a conference with Netanyahu and other officials. Government sources said the cancellation was related to the upcoming German elections in September, but Haaretz reported that the real reason was anger over the settlements bill.

Netanyahu has also recently sought to reduce the influence of what he considers leftwing organizations, especially those that criticize the Israeli military. Founded by veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces, Breaking the Silence has gathered and shared the testimonies of more than 1,000 soldiers who have served in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, making it a particular target. In February, Netanyahu asked British Prime Minister Theresa May to cease its indirect funding, via UK-based Christian groups, of Breaking the Silence.

The settlements arent the only issue between Israel and Germany. Netanyahu faces conflict of interest allegations over a big contract with a German shipyard to build new submarines for the Israeli navy; the Israeli Defence Forces has said it doesnt want or need the expensive new subs.

Despite the rift, Israel aims to maintain strong bilateral ties. Our relations with Germany are very important and they will not be affected by this, read a statement issued by Netanyahus office.

Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to cancel talks set for Tuesday with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over the visiting diplomat's plan to also meet rights groups critical of Israel's government.

An Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed reports that Netanyahu threatened to cancel the meeting if Gabriel also met with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem.

Breaking The Silence seeks to document alleged Israeli military abuses in the Palestinian territories, while B'Tselem has worked on a range of issues and has strongly opposed Israeli settlement building.

Cancelling the meeting between Netanyahu and Gabriel would be a rare step, but in line with the current right-wing Israeli government's stance against groups it accuses of having political agendas.

"We are learning through the Israeli media that Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom I have frequently met, wants to cancel this meeting because we want to meet critical representatives of civil society," Gabriel told German public television station ZDF.

"It is difficult for me to imagine this because that would be extremely regrettable... It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad."

Gabriel added that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met critics of the German government during a visit to Germany.

Such disputes have arisen in the past between visiting foreign officials and Israel's government.

In February, Israel reprimanded the Belgian ambassador after the country's prime minister, Charles Michel, met with B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence during a visit to Israel.

However, there was no public rebuke from the government when British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson met with anti-settlement NGO Peace Now during a visit in March.

Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years and Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian territory has drawn intense international criticism.

Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled talks on Tuesday with Germany's foreign minister in a rare move after the visiting diplomat declined to call off meetings with rights groups critical of Israel's government.

Netanyahu's meeting with Sigmar Gabriel was cancelled after the German diplomat decided to go ahead with talks with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem.

Gabriel held a joint meeting with the rights groups in the evening, a spokesman for B'Tselem told AFP, without giving further details.

Breaking The Silence seeks to document alleged Israeli military abuses in the Palestinian territories, while B'Tselem has worked on a range of issues and has strongly opposed Israeli settlement building.

Cancelling the meeting was a rare step, but in line with the current right-wing government's stance against groups it accuses of having political agendas and of unfairly tarnishing Israel.

Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying, in a reference to Breaking The Silence, "imagine if foreign diplomats visiting the United States or Britain met with NGOs that call American or British soldiers war criminals".

"Diplomats are welcome to meet with representatives of civil society but Prime Minister Netanyahu will not meet with those who lend legitimacy to organisations that call for the criminalisation of Israeli soldiers."

It added, however, that "our relations with Germany are very important and they will not be affected by this".

Gabriel told journalists in Jerusalem that he regretted Netanyahu's decision, but also said that he did not think it would badly impact relations between the two countries.

He and Netanyahu, who also serves as Israel's foreign minister, "will find an opportunity to speak with each other on the phone or to meet in an upcoming visit", he said.

"This does not mean the breaking of diplomatic relations. We need to keep this a little bit in perspective."

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Gabriel earlier told German public television station ZDF that a decision to cancel the meeting would be "extremely regrettable".

"It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad," he said.

Gabriel added that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met critics of the German government during a visit to Germany.

- Delayed summit -

Such disputes have arisen in the past between visiting foreign officials and Israel's government.

In February, Israel reprimanded the Belgian ambassador after his country's premier, Charles Michel, met both B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence during a visit to Israel.

However, there was no public rebuke when British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson met with anti-settlement NGO Peace Now during a visit in March.

Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years, and Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian territory has drawn intense international criticism.

Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Germany has been among critics of Israeli settlement policy.

A German government spokesman said in February that a summit with Israel planned for May had been delayed, with Israeli media reporting it was because of the Jewish state's controversial new settlements law.

Israel passed a law in February that legalises thousands of settler homes built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.

The current government, seen as the most right-wing in Israeli history, has frequently criticised NGOs it accuses of unfairly tarnishing the country's image.

- 'A red line' -

Last year, Israel's parliament adopted a law seen as targeting left-wing groups critical of the government by forcing NGOs that receive most of their funding from foreign states to declare it.

The law was criticised by the European Union, which said it risked "undermining" values that the EU and Israel shared.

Both B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence are among groups that have received European support.

Israeli deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely said Tuesday that her ministry for the past couple years was waging a battle against "anti-Israel organisations that are massively funded by European states".

"Weve decided to draw a red line," she told army radio.

Gabriel, however, still met President Reuven Rivlin, whose role is mainly ceremonial, on Tuesday afternoon.

After the two men gave speeches, they held a heated meeting lasting more than an hour, a source in the president's office told AFP.

Rivlin repeatedly called Israel's army the "most moral in the world", the source said.

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LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank offered $150 million in currency forwards at an auction on Monday, it said in a statement, part of its efforts to narrow the spread between official and black market exchange rates and improve foreign exchange liquidity. Traders, citing a notice from the central bank, said settlement will be between one week and 45 days. The sale will be via a wholesale auction to meet forex demand from businesses. The central bank has been intervening on the official market to try to narrow the spread between the two markets since intervention began in February and has sold about $4 billion, analysts say, a pace they doubt it can sustain. The central bank also said on Monday it offered $52 million to small and medium enterprises to help them access foreign currency, needed for imports, and $44.2 million for travel and medical fees, among other services. In a circular cited by Reuters on Monday, the bank also said it will now allow investors to engage in foreign exchange trading at rates the buyers and sellers set, a move it hopes will increase the amount of dollars available. The president of Nigeria's association of bureaus de change said its group has already started consultations with some foreign investors with a view to increase dollar supply on the parallel segment of the market. Aminu Gwadabe said retail currency bureaus are trying to attract more foreign capital with the cooperation of the central bank, to boost dollar liquidity and provide support for the local currency. On the official market, the currency was quoted at 306 per dollar, and at 381 per dollar on the black market. (Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Additional reporting by Paul Carsten in Abuja; Editing by Larry King)
The Russian Foreign Ministrys Human Rights Commissioner, Konstantin Dolgov, moved from his current post into Russian President Vladimir Putins administration. And who will replace Dolgov?

That would be nobody.

On Tuesday, Russia media outlet Izvestia learned from an unnamed source at the Ministry that all of Dolgovs functions will be moved to the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights, run by Anatoly Viktorov. The post of the commissioner will be abolished, as the Ministry no longer sees a use for it. There is a whole department that is engaged with these issues, the source said.

They deal with different issues, though. Dolgov represented Russia on issues of human rights, the rule of law, and democracy, while the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights works on more specific issues, such as, Izvestia helpfully notes, Russian citizens who are imprisoned in the United States, like arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The Department in question had no comment for Izvestia, and neither did Dolgov  as an employee of the presidential administration, he said, it would no longer be appropriate for him to comment on such matters.

The reshuffle suggests that Russia is placing even less emphasis on the concept of human rights inside of its diplomacy. But, then, since the 1990s, Russia has conceived of universal human rights less as memorandums to sign and more as another language in which to defend its own actions abroad (a charge that could certainly be levelled against other countries, too). In fact, in 2015, Putin signed a law suggesting Russia could ignore dictates issued by the European Court of Human Rights (Russia has been under the European Convention on Human Rights since the 1990s).

Russias understanding of human rights abroad in recent years has included invading Ukraine to defend the Russian-speaking population and unsuccessfully trying for a spot on the UN Human Rights Council while supporting the Syrian regime and bombing opposition-controlled parts of that country. And so it is as yet unclear what it means that Russia is dissolving the position dedicated to the idea of human rights and democracy around the world.

What is clear is that, in downgrading human rights on its international agenda, Russia isnt entirely alone. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent a powerful signal shortly after taking office when he did not hold the traditional press conference to present the agencys annual human rights report. The State Department has taken other steps to signal that human rights will be less important to U.S. foreign policy than they were in the Obama years, such as removing human rights as a condition of an arms sale to Bahrain and possibly reversing the Obama administrations December decision to suspend the sale over attacks on civilians in Yemen.

Photo credit: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images
WASHINGTON -- Foreign leaders and local interlocutors, aka pundits, might as well take a vacation for the next few minutes until Donald Trump's next foreign policy "strategy" surfaces from deep within his amygdala.

For to presume a strategy when Trump toys with potentially lethal nations -- threatening to tear apart the nuclear agreement with Iran or putting North Korea on notice that doom may befall it any moment -- is to imagine that a toddler has given grave consideration to the gravitational aspects of toppling his brother's Lego edifice.

Theories, nevertheless, abound as the world wonders, no doubt with fear and loathing, what the president of the United States is going to say or do next. It does seem at times that Trump won't be satisfied unless and until he has managed to prompt a nuclear confrontation with some nation -- or two.

One theory goes that by talking tough, Trump is putting the world on notice that the U.S. is no longer the weak sister, if I may use an old expression, it had become under President Obama. They'll tremble at the thought of engaging America except to please her, goes such thinking.

Let me clarify: Trump is rattling his borrowed saber because that's what he does. The bully in chief no longer has to file lawsuits to try to evict widows from their homes for monetary gain. Now he has a military -- the world's largest, to be precise -- and can decide over chocolate cake to fire missiles at Syria.

Another extant theory concerns the contradictions within his administration. While U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley talks tough on Russia, Trump protects his benign bromance with President Vladimir Putin. This surely has nothing to do with a recent Reuters report that a Russian government think tank came up with a plan to influence the 2016 election.

One at least finds solace in Trump's recent conclusion that NATO does, in fact, matter. But what happened to the candidate who criticized opponent Hillary Clinton for being too hawkish, and who said we can't fight two wars at once? How about World War III?

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, meanwhile, pounds Iran with one fist, saying it's not complying with the nuclear agreement fashioned by his predecessor, John Kerry. With the other, he pens a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan saying that Iran is in full compliance. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, rather than quaking, tweeted Friday: "We'll see if US prepared to live up to letter of #JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) let alone spirit. So far, it has defied both. Should I use my highlighter again?"

This isn't to make light of the Iran agreement, about which Trump may be right. It was a lousy deal. But it apparently was the only one possible in July 2015 after months of negotiations among Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. -- plus Germany and the European Union. What, pray tell, does Trump think would happen if the U.S. unilaterally shreds the deal?

So, at last count, Trump had North Korea threatening a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike," Russia sending equipment to the North Korean border, and China making military preparations just in case. Meanwhile, Iran, which exerts power in nearly every pit of barbary, chuckles.

Good cop, bad cop may be useful in reducing a prisoner to confession, but the contradictory messages emanating from Washington serve mostly to confuse -- and not in a good way. Trump, by conveying to allies and non-allies that he's likely to do anything at any moment, is telegraphing not strength but instability and impulsivity. The overarching sense is that no one's in charge, or at least no one not wearing a water-squirting boutonniere.

To countless Americans, it feels as though Trump is making the world a less-safe place, explaining in part Gallup's recent report that at 100 days, Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president since the poll began in 1953. Rather than a master strategist, he's a human grab bag of tactics wandering erratically everywhere in search of someone or something to conquer. The notion that he has a plan that he's just not sharing would be edifying if evidence to the contrary weren't so convincing.

For now, it seems equally likely that Trump discovered his foreign policy strategy in a Chinese fortune cookie left behind at Mar-a-Lago by a visitor. The amygdala would have signaled Trump's head to nod in agreement upon reading the message: "Soon you will be emperor of the world."
(PYONGYANG) - South Koreas military said Tuesday that North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military.

The exercise took place as a U.S. guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea and envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo to discuss the growing threat posed by North Koreas nuclear weapons and missiles program.

Though experts thought a nuclear test or ballistic missile launch might happen, the morning came and went without either.

North Korean General Warns of Pre-Emptive Strike

Crowds in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, laid flowers and paid respects at giant statues of the countrys former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, one day after the minister of defense reiterated that the North is ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the U.S. imperialists.

The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression, Gen. Pak Yong Sik told a national meeting of thousands of senior military and civilian officials.

Read More: TIME Exclusive: Will South Korean Presidential Hopeful Moon Jae-in Pull the World Back From Nuclear War?

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said it is closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where it said the drills were being held. South Koreas Yonhap news agency earlier said that the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seouls Defense Ministry couldnt confirm such details.

The streets of Pyongyang were quiet. Flower-laying and bowing at statues and portraits of the leaders is a regular routine on major anniversaries. People also gathered in open spaces to take part in organized dancing, another common way to mark holidays.

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Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day, said Choe Un Byol, who had come with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders.

North Korea often also marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. Pyongyang launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Koreas nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim has said the countrys preparation for an ICBM launch is in its final stage.

U.S. Navy Gathers Off Korean Peninsula

The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Cmdr. Jang Wook from South Korean navy public affairs said there was no plan for a drill.

The submarines arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heads toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea around the weekend.

Despite the buildup, President Donald Trump has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the Norths only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Koreas government.

Washingtons Word

Trump told ambassadors from U.N. Security Council member countries that they must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea.

This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not, Trump said at a White House meeting Monday. North Korea is a big world problem, and its a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now its time to solve the problem.

Nikki Haley, Trumps U.N. ambassador, said the United States is not looking for a fight with Kim and would not attack North Korea unless he gives us reason to do something. She praised Chinas increased pressure on North Korea.

Asked about the threshold for U.S. action, Haley told American broadcaster NBC that if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously were going to do that.

But asked what if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, she said: I think then the president steps in and decides whats going to happen.

Diplomats Meet in Tokyo

The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed Tuesday to put maximum pressure on North Korea, the Souths envoy for North Korea said after meeting his American and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo.

We agreed to warn North Korea to stop any additional strategic provocation and take intolerably strong punitive measures against Pyongyang if it goes ahead with such provocations, Kim Hong-kyun told reporters following his meeting with Joseph Yun of the U.S. and Japans Kenji Kanasugi.

Read More: Dont Mess With Us, North Korea Says as U.S. Plans Next Move

Kim said they discussed ways to get more cooperation from China and Russia, which they agreed is crucial to applying effective pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. He said they also recognized Chinas recent steps toward that goal.

Japans Foreign Ministry announced that Chinas envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, was arriving in Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi that may take place later this week.

Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi and Ken Moritsugu in Tokyo and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Photo credit: Jay Directo / Getty

From Popular Mechanics

In the latest salvo from North Korea, the country's state newspaper has likened an approaching U.S. aircraft carrier to a "gross animal" and threatened to sink the ship with one blow. Could North Korea really destroy an American aircraft carrier ? The answer is almost certainly no.

Yesterday, North Korea's state paper the Rodong Shinmun warned: "Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike." The warning was issued after it was revealed the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson was headed to the Korean Peninsula. Two Japanese destroyers, the Ashigara and Samidare, are joining up with the carrier strike group, which consists of the Vinson, the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain, and guided missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy.

North Korea has the fourth largest military in the world, consisting of 1,190,000 men and women under arms. That's pretty impressive considering there are only 25 million people in the entire country. Still, that's a reflection of how many people wear a uniform, not actual military strength. There are reasons to be concerned about the country's military-for instance, its aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons. But when it comes to ways to sink an aircraft carrier, North Korea has relatively little ability to project power beyond its borders.

Photo credit: KCNA photo.

Modern anti-ship missiles are probably the best way to sink a carrier. North Korea is known to possess anti-ship missiles, but most of them are obsolete models descended from the Soviet 1960s-era Styx missile, including the Chinese Silkworm. The Styx was one of the first anti-ship missiles; it sank the Israeli destroyer Eilat in 1967. The Silkworm in particular has a 1,000-lb. shaped charge warhead that would likely damage a carrier's hull.

But while they are powerful, these missiles are old and vulnerable to modern electronic countermeasures and air defenses. They also have a fairly short range-shorter than the aircraft on the carrier itself. So it would be easy for a ship like the Vinson to sit off the coastline and safely launch airstrikes.

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A newer missile, what appears to be a copy of a Russian Kh-35 anti-ship missile, appeared in North Korea in 2014. While a Kh-35 would have a better chance of scoring a hit on a carrier, they also suffer from a range limitation, and North Korea probably could not bring more than a handful of them to bear on the Vinson at a time.

Photo credit: Ed Jones / Getty

Another way to sink a carrier is with aircraft carrying rockets and bombs. North Korea has a fleet of jet fighters and attack aircraft, but the newest are MiG-29 "Fulcrum" fighters nearly 30 years old. North Korea has only five flyable Fulcrums. North Korea also has 35 Su-25 ground attack aircraft similar to the A-10 Thunderbolt II, but lacking a big gun. While these could make attack runs on a carrier, they're more useful supporting ground troops, and North Korea would have to choose between attacking a carrier or its stated goal of "liberating" South Korea by invasion.

All 40 aircraft, while capable of carrying bombs and rockets, could probably do some damage to temporarily interrupt flight operations on a full-size nuclear aircraft carrier, but by no means could sink it. Pitted against four Aegis air defense destroyers protecting the Carl Vinson, it's unlikely any of the 40 aircraft would return to base.

Photo credit: KCNA photo.

Finally, a submarine-or even better, a group of submarines-could try to sink the Vinson. North Korea has about 40 subs, including 20 ancient Romeo-class submarines, 10 smaller Sang-O ("Shark") coastal submarines, and 10 Yeono-class midget submarines. Most recently, a Yeono-class sub is thought to have sunk the South Korean corvette ROKS Cheonan with a torpedo. While this was a considerable feat for North Korea, the Cheonan was ambushed unprepared, while the Vinson would have its escorts busy searching for the noisy, easily detected North Korean submarines. Vinson also weighed about 98,500 tons more than the Cheonan, making it more difficult to sink, and has a double hull to protect against torpedo attacks.

Photo credit: Ed Jones / Getty

And then there are nukes? North Korea is definitely a nuclear power, and may have as many as a dozen nukes. We don't know if any of these nukes are weaponized-that is, suitable for placing on missiles such as the Hwasong-7, one of the country's older and more reliable designs based on the original Soviet Scud. While Hwasong-7 has a respectable 621-mile range, it's also unguided, meaning that by the time the missile reaches its target (if it hasn't already been shot down), a moving target such as an aircraft carrier would already be miles away.

In the end, North Korea has an even bigger and more basic problem: It couldn't actually find a carrier if it wanted to. The country has shore-based radars, but those have limited range and a carrier can easily stay out of range. A carrier's aircraft and escorts will shoot down or sink any of North Korea's aircraft, drones, submarines, or surface ships before they gets with sensor range of the mother ship. While this isn't guaranteed in every scenario, North Korea's antiquated equipment is easily to detect.

The only near-invulnerable means of detecting a carrier, a satellite, is out of the country's grasp. The failure of the U.S. media last week to realize the Vinson was in the Indian Ocean, and not the Sea of Japan, was telling because North Korea didn't realize the gaffe either. And there's nothing more North Korea would like to do than to call the United States on empty promises.

North Korea's warning that it would destroy an aircraft carrier is the usual bluster from Pyongyang that has little grounding in reality. Starved of funds, North Korea has poured military expenditures into nuclear weapons whose effects are measured in miles. Even then, a carrier is surprisingly nimble and a difficult target to hit. While carriers aren't invulnerable against every potential adversary-Russia and China are two notable examples-a carrier such as the Vinson has little to fear from North Korea.

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Brinkmanship wont convince Kim Jong-un to negotiate. It can serve only to strengthen North Koreas belief in the indispensability of its warheads

Mike Pence has warned North Korea not to test Trumps resolve. But adversaries of America have every reason to do just that. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

Anyone who harbors the illusion that Donald Trump will be able to threaten North Korea into peacefully giving up its nuclear weapons should think about Libya.



Muammar Gaddafi was the Kim Jong-un of his day, an exceptionally eccentric leader of a rogue state that managed to make itself a pariah among the nations of the world. Gaddafi famously traveled in the company of an all-female security force, advocated the destruction of Switzerland, and also, for a time, sought to turn Libya into a nuclear stronghold.



And yet he did not. Thanks largely to the diplomacy of the Clinton and Bush administrations, Gaddafi voluntarily abandoned his nuclear weapons. The diplomatic effort required both forcefulness and great delicacy. While imposing crippling economic sanctions on Libya, the United States also pursued back-channel negotiations to convince Gaddafi that the sanctions would be lifted in exchange for his giving up on his nuclear ambitions.



The quid pro quo and the promise of future cooperation could not work without forging bonds of trust between two distrustful and antagonistic parties. And yet the diplomacy succeeded. Gaddafi dropped the weapons program and the sanctions were promptly lifted.



What followed was a remarkable, even bizarre, rehabilitation of the erstwhile mad dog of the Middle East. The US hailed Libya as a model for other proliferators to mend their ways and help restore themselves to international legitimacy and removed Libya from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. In 2009, Gaddafi arrived in Italy, a guest of the G8 leading industrial countries. There, he shook hands with Barack Obama.



Two years later he was dead.



The Arab Spring swept over Libya; huge street protests turned into armed rebellion, and Gaddafi responded with brutal force. Nato answered with its warplanes, and the air cover they supplied allowed rebel forces to overthrow the government. Gaddafis corpse was soon on display.



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My point is not to rehash the wisdom of Natos actions. Instead, it is to imagine the events from the perspective of a Kim Jong-un, challenging as that may be. Clearly Nato never would have risked intervening had Gaddafi developed a nuclear arsenal. The takeaway for a despot like Kim must be painfully simple  relinquish weapons and die.



All this means that the chance of negotiating a peaceful end to North Koreas weapons program is vanishingly small. Alas, Donald Trump seems intent on destroying whatever chance might remain. As Bill Clinton understood, the only possible path to peaceful disarmament is by building trust where there is only suspicion and hostility. This requires patience and planning. Trump appears incapable of either.



Trump evidently believes that a show of toughness and a display of brinkmanship will convince Kim Jong Il to negotiate. The thinking betrays a disturbing ignorance. The threat of force can only work to deter a nation from developing nuclear weapons. Once that threshold has been crossed, the threat is worse than empty. It can serve only to strengthen the North Koreans in their belief in the indispensability of their warheads.



Worse still, Trump seems temperamentally incapable of strategic thinking. When he openly confesses that he only learned of the complexity of the Chinese-North Korean relationship after being briefly tutored by Xi Jinping, Chinas president, he does more than reveal an embarrassing lack of preparation. He sends a powerful message to Americas adversaries.



It is much the same message that is sent when a commander-in-chief misplaces a carrier group, cannot correctly name the country he has just struck with missiles, and launches his most vociferous verbal volleys against allies such as Australia and now Canada while expressing squeaky admiration of strongmen like Erdogan.



The vice-president, Mike Pence, has warned North Korea not to test Trumps resolve. But adversaries of America have every reason to do just that. And that is the greatest threat to world peace.



The danger is that these provocations, invited by Trumps ignorance and inconstancy, will escalate in a manner that no one  least of all an untutored, undisciplined and unsophisticated neophyte in world affairs  will be able to control.


RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian leaders said on Tuesday Britain had rejected their request for an apology for a 1917 declaration that helped pave the way to the state of Israel, and they would pursue international court action unless London backtracked. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the apology in an address to the U.N. General Assembly in September, but Britain plans to hold celebrations along with Israeli officials to mark the Nov. 2 centenary of the Balfour Declaration. British Prime Minister Theresa May has invited Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to attend events commemorating the Balfour Declaration in November. Other commemorations are expected to take place in Israel during the year. "The answer came in a written letter to the (Palestinian) Foreign Ministry that the apology is refused," Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian ambassador to Britain, told Voice of Palestine Radio on Tuesday. "It means the Queen and the government of Britain will not apologise to the Palestinian people and the celebration marking 100 years since the Balfour promise will be held on time." A British Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that there would be no apology and described the Balfour Declaration as "an historic statement", but said Britain continued to work for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. "We continue to support the principle of a Jewish homeland and the modern state of Israel, just as we support the critical objective of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state," he said. Britain would mark the centenary "in an appropriate and balanced manner", he added. In the 1917 declaration, the British government said it viewed "with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". It also said "...nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..." Palestine was under British rule when Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour made the policy statement in a letter to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community. Palestinians have long condemned the document as a promise by Britain to hand over land that it did not own. Hassassian said that unless Britain apologised, cancelled planned celebrations and recognised the state of Palestine, the Palestinians would go ahead with plans for a lawsuit. "This is the only condition upon which we can close this file permanently," he said. Israel declared independence in 1948, at the end of British Mandatory rule and after the U.N. General Assembly voted in 1947 in favour of a plan, rejected by Palestinian representatives, to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state. Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, along with the Gaza Strip that is now controlled by Palestinian Islamist faction Hamas. Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in those territories. The last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014. (Writing by Nidal Almughrabi; editing by Jeffrey Heller and Mark Heinrich)
Japanese authorities have admitted that citizens can expect a mere 10-minute warning of a North Korean missile attack. The disclosure comes at the same time as a massive spike in interest in a civil-protection website run by countrys Cabinet Secretariat, where views have surged almost sevenfold from March to reach 2.6 million this month.

According to the Japan Times, regional disaster-management officials meeting in Tokyo last week called for the implementation of a national system of drills, and for changes in the law to make it easier for them to order mandatory evacuations.

However, Hirofumi Yoshimura, the mayor of Osaka - a city of 8.8 million - told the Times: A missile may not be detected as soon as it leaves the launch pad ... and that could take several minutes. He added: The warnings and alarms might only sound four or five minutes before a missile arrives.

Kazuhiro Nogi-AFP/Getty Images A man in Tokyo walks in front of a news video reporting a military parade marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung on April 16, 2017.

In the event of a North Korean strike, Japanese are presently being advised to seek shelter underground or in strong concrete buildings. Those unable to do so are advised to get low on the floor or crouch under tables. Schoolchildren in Osaka are being told to hide under desks, the Times reports.

Regional tensions are extremely high following revelations that North Korea could be preparing for its sixth nuclear test in defiance of international warnings. Nikki Haley, Washingtons U.N. ambassador, has said that the U.S. will retaliate against North Korea if it tests an intercontinental ballistic missile or attacks a U.S. base.

Rapid advances made by North Korea in ballistic-missile development have made Japan extremely vulnerable. The country is home to around 54,000 U.S. troops, making Japan a target if conflict breaks out on the Korean Peninsula.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
CALEDONIA  In light of this 2017 national theme for Womens History Month (March), the Racine Dominicans celebrated two local trailblazers. This years theme promotes people who have successfully challenged the role women traditionally held in both business and the paid labor force.

Racine Vocational Ministry (RVM) program director Lori Life and Voces de la Frontera executive director Christine Neumann-Ortiz were honored as Women of the Year in a special prayer service and presentation March 19 at the Siena Center, home of the Racine Dominicans.

For the past 12 years through RVM, Life has helped unemployed men and women develop the skills not only to find work, but also to retain it.

Lori has listened to peoples stories and successfully steered them along the path to recovery and wholeness, said Sister Carol Wester, who nominated Life for the award. By assisting people to become economically self-sufficient, she uses her power and influence to assure they have the resources needed to build a full life for themselves and their families, and to become productive members of our local society.

Neumann-Ortiz has served as executive director of Voces de la Frontera since its inception in 2001.

She is a strong role model for women, especially poor Latinas, stated the three sisters who nominated her for the award, Sisters Jean Verber, Therese Van Thull and Judene Walsh. She has committed her life to empower women and men to claim their rights by providing education, training and experience. There is no doubt when listening to Christine where her heart is in the struggle for truth, justice and nonviolence in the Racine and Milwaukee communities.

The month of March annually celebrates womens impact in history. In 2005, the Racine Dominicans inaugurated their Woman of the Year award to recognize the outstanding work of local women. The Dominicans have a 155-year history of serving Racine and beyond. They are a community of Catholic sisters and lay associates who live by the mission, committed to truth, compelled to justice.
Its hard to know if President Donald Trump has had much fun in the three months hes been in the White House. Its certain hes not having fun this week, what with his 100-day report card coming and the likelihood that somebody is going to be grounded if he doesnt gets those grades in health care, infrastructure and tax reform up.

So it had to be a nice break for Trump on Monday morning when he got the opportunity to call the International Space Station from the Oval Office to congratulate station commander Peggy Whitson for breaking Americas long-duration space flight record, at 534 days over the course of three missions, as well to chat with newly arrived astronaut Jack Fisher. Trump was flanked by his daughter Ivanka and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins.

Talking to astronauts in space is one of those little showpiece perks thats hard for any President to get wrong, and that includes Trump. But thats not to say the President didnt skid into a few moments of conversational hydroplaning. Here are the highlights and lowlights.

00:01: Trump begins the conversation with, Station, this is your President. Do you hear me? This formulation is NASA protocol, with every social call required to begin with Station this is [your name here.] Presidents can bend the rules, though, and in 2015, Barack Obama chose a slightly folksier Come in International Space Station, this is President Barack Obama. Trump might want to drop the possessive pronoun next time, although given the fact that he referred to the United States Armed Forces as my military less than two weeks ago, we might have to get used to this.

00:35: Whitson confirms that she can hear the White House, and Trump responds, Well thats what we like. Great American equipment that works. Its a nice touch. NASA builds deeply cool stuff and U.S. contractors and subcontactors deserve the props.

01:08: Reading from a script, Trump introduces Whitson but pronounces her name Whatson. Somewhere, Dr. Seuss files an intellectual property claim.

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03:14: Whitson tells Trump that all of NASA is excited about missions to Mars in the 2030s, as directed by your new NASA bill. This is how its done and Whitson, a pro, knows it. In March, Trump signed a NASA spending request that included the Mars target and, while its the very same target Obama included his own requests, credit for the brainstorm always goes to the guy behind the desk. Thats how you ensure that you get the same goodies next year.

05:05: The conversation turns to space station technology, and Whitson reports that astronauts recycle their urine into drinking water. Trump laughs and responds, Better you than me. We shall move on and let future historians parse all of the layers in this.

07:20: Trump asks Whitson, What do you see as timing for actually sending humans to Mars? Is there a schedule and when would you see that happening? This is, um, awkward. There is indeed a schedule. It is the 2030s - as directed by that NASA bill. Whitson, who may be thinking that another 534 days look pretty good right about now, fields that wild pitch as well as she can: Well, I think as your bill directed, it will be approximately in the 2030s. She pivots quickly to talk about all of the hardware that is being built to make the mission possible and she gets out of the inning reasonably cleanly.

08:02: But not entirely cleanly. Trump responds, Well we want to try and do it during my first term or at worst during my second term, so well have to speed that up a little bit, OK? Presidential jokes always get laughs - another Oval Office perk - and this one does too, though the air-to-ground lag time gives this one the feel of something the crew had to chew on first.

14:00: Aerospace has never been as much of an entrepreneurs business as it is now, and Trump gives props to the job creators, adding, I have many friends that are so excited about space they want to get involved. He does not name the friends. No word if they include Pavarotti and Frederick Douglass.

16:32: After Fisher takes a feel-good minute to tout STEM education for the kids watching the livestream, Trump makes a head-snapping turn. I have to say theres tremendous military application in space, he says. Were rebuilding our military like never before. The sound you hear after that is china breaking in Europe and Moscow. January of this year marked the 50th anniversary of what is informally known as The Outer Space Treaty, an international accord that, among other things, explicitly prohibits the militarization of space. So, um, happy 50th. At least it means STEM jobs.

16:56: Wrapping up, Trump asks, What is next for Americans in space? Then, reading from his script, he answers, Im very proud that I just signed a bill committing NASA to the aim of sending American astronauts to Mars. Just guessing here, but the timeline might be right around the 2030s.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
ELLINGTON, Conn. (AP) -- Police in Connecticut have cited Fitbit records in an arrest warrant for a 40-year-old man charged with killing his wife in 2015.

Richard Dabate (DAH-bayt) faces murder, tampering with evidence and making a false statement charges in the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Connie Dabate on Dec. 23, 2015.

Authorities say the 40-year-old Dabate told them a masked man had entered their home, shot his wife and tied him up before he burned the intruder with a torch. But the New York Daily News reports (http://nydn.us/2oHT1Nj ) Connecticut State Police wrote in an arrest warrant that Connie Dabate's Fitbit was logging steps after the time Richard Dabate told them she was killed.

Dabate's bail was set at $1 million last week. His lawyer told the Hartford Courant that his client maintains his innocence.
Warsaw (AFP) - Someone has taken a chainsaw to dozens of cedars and spruces belonging to Poland's environment minister, police said Tuesday, in what media speculated was a tit-for-tat move for a controversial tree-cutting law.

The unknown perpetrators cut down 33 trees -- which were three to seven metres (10 to 23 feet) in height -- on Jan Szyszko's private property in the northern town of Tuczno overnight Sunday to Monday, local police spokeswoman Beata Budzyn told AFP.

Local media and environmentalists believe the incident may have been an act of revenge against a law introduced by Szyszko which since January has allowed homeowners to knock down trees on their property without requesting permission.

"This may have been a desperate move, a cry of desperation from someone who snapped and wanted to express his anger this way over everything that is happening in Poland," said environmentalist Adam Bohdan.

Homeowners previously had to ask for authorisation from local environmental officials to cut down trees when the diameter exceeded a certain size.

Critics say the "Szyszko law" has resulted in a massive number of trees being cut down around the country.

Environmental groups have also condemned Szyszko for having allowed controversial logging in the ancient Bialowieza forest, a World Heritage site that includes some of Europe's last primeval woodland.
By Tom James

(Reuters) - Prosecutors in Wisconsin have begun investigating the 2016 death of a mentally ill man who died of dehydration in a Milwaukee-area jail run by conservative Sheriff David Clarke, local media reported.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office opened an inquest Monday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court into the death of Terrill Thomas, 38, who was found unresponsive in the Milwaukee County Jail on April 24, 2016, after seven days without water, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. In September 2016 a county medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

The inquest allows prosecutors to question witnesses under oath and present evidence to an advisory jury and is part of a process of deciding whether and against whom to file charges.

Officials with the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office could not be reached to comment.

Clarke, who as sheriff of Milwaukee County heads the agency responsible for the jail, could not be reached for comment, but in January defended conditions in the facility following Journal-Sentinel stories about medical positions going unfilled in the county's jail system.

Clark, who often appears on conservative news outlets and spoke at the Republican National Conventions on behalf of Donald Trump's presidential bid, said the media and Democrats lied about the jail.

In the case of Thomas, surveillance videos show three guards cutting off the drinking water supply to the cell housing the inmate, the Journal-Sentinel reported, citing Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley's opening statement on Monday.

The newspaper previously reported that inmates near Thomas heard him beg for days for water before his death. The newspaper said corrections officers told other inmates Thomas' water had been shut off because he had flooded his previous cell and his behavior was erratic.

Thomas had been arrested nine days before his death, charged with shooting a man in the chest and later firing two shots inside a casino in the midst of what family members told local media was a mental breakdown. He was being held pending a pre-trial mental competency evaluation.

(Reporting by Tom James in Seattle; Editing by Ben Klayman and Bill Trott)
Trustees of the University of Utah voted Tuesday to reinstate Mary Beckerle as chief executive of the Huntsman Cancer Institute after days of protests over her abrupt firing.

The vote is a quick reversal for the board and for University of Utah leaders who summarily dismissed Beckerle last week with little explanation. After a trustees meeting today, University President David Pershing released a statement saying that Beckerle is reinstated effective immediately.

This past week has been an extraordinary and challenging time for our university and community, the statement said. Members of our campus community spoke out and made their perspectives known. It is now time, I believe, to return to our mission of serving our students, caring for our patients and pursuing critical research.

Beckerles reinstatement follows an internal power struggle and several days of demonstrations by cancer institute patients and employees. The dispute pitted University of Utah President David Pershing and Dr. Vivian Lee, the head of the universitys hospital, against Jon Huntsman Sr., the patriarch of one of Utahs most powerful families and the benefactor of the universitys cancer institute. He had called the decision to fire Beckerle pathetic and accused Lee of a power grab.

The battle was unusually intense, even by the standards of high academia, where political struggles are common but often unfold behind closed doors. Huntsman, whose family owns the Salt Lake City Tribune, took out a full-page ads in two local newspapers to protest Beckerles removal last week and the Tribune had also published an editorial calling for Lees firing.

Lee left Tuesdays meeting without speaking with reporters. and has remained publicly silent during the battle. During her tenure, Lee has raised University of Utahs national profile, launching a first-of-its kind effort to track the actual costs of delivering care and aggressively pushing efforts to focus on patient-reported outcomes.

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Read more: Why my health system collects and publishes patient reviews

In a brief email about Beckerles removal, Lee credited her with raising the Huntsman Cancer Institute to new heights, noting her role in securing its comprehensive cancer center designation by the National Cancer Institute  a status that brings significant financial resources and prestige. Huntsman Cancer Institute is the only facility with that designation in the intermountain west.

But the note offered no explanation for why she was removed. Meanwhile, an online petition to protest Beckerles removal collected more than 3,500 signatures.

This story has been updated to reflect that Beckerle has been reinstated.
RACINE  For undocumented immigrant families, deportation has become a growing specter of concern since the election of President Donald Trump.

On Monday, the Racine Unified School District Board opted to take a little more time to review a resolution pushed by immigration advocates that would bar district personnel from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

More than two dozen people  the bulk of them students  showed up for the School Board meeting, urging board members to pass the resolution declaring schools and other district properties safe zones for immigrants regardless of status.

The Milwaukee Board of School Directors, which oversees the Milwaukee Public Schools, passed such a resolution in March and since then immigrant advocacy groups have been lobbying the Racine Unified School District to pass the same resolution.

Earlier this month, during a Racine Unified School Board work session, several current and former Unified students, along with members of Voces de La Frontera and Youth Empowered in the Struggle, listened to district officials and School Board members discuss the resolution.

Backers of the resolution had hoped to see the School Board pass the measure on Monday night when it was on the agenda as an action item, but the board voted unanimously to forward the resolution to its Governance Committee for further review.

Board member Mike Frontier said his hope is that the board could sit down with supporters and come up with concrete policies to protect students.

I dont think Voces is looking for something symbolic, I think we are looking for concrete steps, Frontier said.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director for Voces, called the failure to approve the resolution disgusting as she and fellow supporters filed out of the room.

She added that the parents and students who revealed their immigration status during the meeting deserved better.

The students who spoke in favor, many of them undocumented themselves or the children or siblings of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries, told stories of their parents difficult journeys to this country, and of the fear they face daily that those family members might be taken away from them.

What are you doing to protect me? asked Talia Ruiz, a 9-year-old at Fratt Elementary, whose father and sister, a Case High School graduate, are undocumented. I am scared and I dont like it.

Other students, including one student whose father emigrated from Africa, also urged the School Board to act.

America was built on immigrants. We need to love and welcome all people, said Lamines Haynes-Seck, a junior at Horlick High School.

The fine print

The resolution under consideration is the same as one approved in Milwaukee, and it calls for the district to establish a number of policies regarding interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, as well as directing the district to set up services such as information sites for immigrant students and families, and creating bilingual Know Your Rights presentations for students and family members to discuss their rights regarding interactions with law enforcement and immigration agents.

Judge blocks Trump order on sanctuary city funding SAN FRANCISCO  A federal judge on Tuesday blocked any attempt by the Trump administration t

Among other matters, the resolution would also require district personnel not inquire about or record a students or a family members immigration status, and not disclose, without parental consent, the immigration status of any student or other personally identifiable information. It would also bar all voluntary information sharing with immigration agents across all aspects of the district to the fullest extent possible under the law.
Dubai (AFP) - A group suspected of links to Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for this month's metro bombing in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, US monitor SITE Intelligence Group said Tuesday.

Alleged suicide bomber Akbarjon Djalilov, a Russian national born in Kyrgyzstan, killed 15 people and wounded around two dozen others in the April 3 blast that ripped through an underground train.

The Imam Shamil Battalion said it carried out the attack under the orders of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, SITE said, citing a statement from the group published Monday by the Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency.

It said the bombing served as a message to Russia and countries engaged in war with Muslims that the "price" of that war was "expensive", according to SITE.

"This operation is only the beginning, and what is to come will make you forget it, Allah permitting," the monitoring group quoted the statement as saying.

"Your security reinforcements will not deter us, neither will your precautions, from reaching to your homes, for Allah to heal the chests of the believers."

Russia has been on edge since the alleged suicide bombing in Saint Petersburg.

It is fighting a lingering Islamist insurgency in the mainly Muslim North Caucasus, a region that has provided a steady stream of fighters for extremist groups battling in Iraq and Syria.
Sao Paulo (AFP) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called Tuesday for the European Union to sign a free trade deal by the end of the year with South American bloc Mercosur.

"This deal is closer than ever, and that's why we must speed up negotiations to close it by the end of 2017," he said at a meeting with business executives during a trip to Brazil.

The EU and five-member Mercosur have been negotiating since 1999 to create a trans-Atlantic free-trade zone covering some 760 million people.

But the talks broke down in 2004 and remained on hold for six years.

They have surged back to the forefront recently as the EU seeks alternatives to its proposed trade deal with the United States, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership -- now in danger under US President Donald Trump.

On the South American side, the arrival in power of business-friendly, pro-trade leaders in Argentina and Brazil has revived interest in the deal.

In a whirlwind visit, Rajoy met with Brazilian President Michel Temer in Brasilia, then jetted in for the business forum in Sao Paulo, the economic capital.

Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, is a founding member of Mercosur, along with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The fifth full member, Venezuela, was suspended last year for violating the group's democratic and trade standards.
Just months into office, the Trump administration has rattled allies and partners in North America, Europe, and Asia. Now you can add Africa to that list.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson invited the chairperson of the African Union to Washington for a meeting, then backed out on him at the last minute, infuriating African diplomats, several sources tell Foreign Policy.

Tillerson invited African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki to Washington the week of April 17, after Faki ended meetings at the United Nations in New York. Several sources close to the matter say Faki scheduled his trip to Washington on April 19 and 20 while waiting for the details to be sorted out. But then Tillersons office went radio silent for several days, and left the head of the 55-nation bloc in the lurch and fuming, the sources said.

Tillersons team eventually got back to Fakis entourage as he was about to depart New York and offered a meeting with lower-level State Department officials, but Faki cancelled his Washington visit entirely.

Diplomatic and protocol missteps  particularly in dealings with Africa  can have lasting consequences and potentially burn bridges that took decades to build, experts warn. Thats especially important as other geopolitical rivals continue to ratchet up their own global influence. Faki chairs the only continent-wide organization that speaks for Africa as a whole, and has been supportive of U.S. efforts to take a tougher line against terrorism.

The incident also showcases how the understaffed State Department can botch even basic tasks like scheduling courtesy visits, mistakes that send political shock waves through the countries they spurn. And experts say such moves by the administration threaten to unwind years of bipartisan progress on forging close U.S.-AU ties, particularly while China boosts its political clout and footprint on the continent. (The gleaming new AU headquarters in Ethiopia is Chinese bought and built.)

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African Union officials were incensed, said Reuben Brigety, former U.S. ambassador to the African Union who was privy to Fakis botched visit. Brigety said the notion of a secretary inviting a top foreign dignitary to Washington, then canceling the meeting and not informing the dignitary until the last minute is just the dumbest thing in the world.

This is ridiculous, particularly at a time when Africans are increasingly becoming more and more aware of their choices in partners around the world, said Brigety, citing China.

The State Department declined to comment and referred FP to the African Union.

Arikana Chihombori, the AU ambassador to the United States, confirmed to FP that Tillerson invited Faki to Washington and that the meeting didnt end up taking place.

The people I dealt with at the State Department were very attentive and did the best they could, she said, adding that she didnt expect it would harm relations between Washington and the AU. We tend to rise above situations like this, she said.

The understaffed State Department, which lacks scores of key middle-management positions including the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, may have played a big role in the snafu.

Either nobody is home at State and theyre making rookie mistakes, or theyve decided theyre not going to make this relationship a priority, said Brigety, who is now dean of George Washington Universitys Elliott School of International Affairs.

The Washington-based nonprofit Constituency for Africa was slated to host Faki for an event while he was in Washington, before the whole visit was called off. This was going to be a courtesy visit, an easy win [for Tillerson], said the groups president and chief executive Melvin Foote. Why would you not want this meeting to happen?

Sources say the State Department offered Faki as consolation a brief meeting with either Tom Shannon, the acting deputy secretary of state and under secretary of state for political affairs or with K.T. McFarland, a former television pundit named Trumps deputy national security advisor, who is preparing to be U.S. ambassador in Singapore. One source told FP this offer left the African Union officials just more incensed.

The mistake also undermines one of Trumps own foreign-policy goals, namely putting more teeth into the fight against terrorism. Faki gained widespread praise for being outspoken in the continents need to confront terrorism, and is viewed in Europe and Washington policy circles as a hawkish U.S. ally in Africas fight against terrorism.

He concurrently serves as minister of foreign affairs of Chad, which is busy waging its own war against the Boko Haram Islamic militants based out of neighboring Nigeria. Chad also hosts the headquarters of Frances major counterterrorism operation in the Sahel.

Its not the first time the Trump administration has spurned African officials. In March, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, one of Africas most influential heads of state, visited Washington and no one at either the White House or State Department would meet with him, Brigety said.

Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Russian officials accuse Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of siding with the west after rejecting plan to reinvestigate evidence of sarin gas

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, meets with his Syrian counterpart, Walid Muallem, in Moscow on 13 April. Photograph: Pavel Golovkin/AP

An increasingly bitter dispute between Russia and the west over an inquiry into the recent chemical weapons attack that killed about 80 people in Syria has revealed the extent to which the two sides are unable to agree on basic facts  or even agree a process to ascertain the truth.

The row has also brought into questions of future international support for the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the internationally respected multilateral body responsible for overseeing control of chemical weapons.



OPCW leadership said on Thursday it had found incontrovertible proof that sarin gas or a similar substance had been released, but did not reach a view on responsibility for its deployment.

At the meeting in The Hague the OPCW executive rejected a Russian-led plan for an OPCW investigation to be restarted, prompting the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, to claim that the west was not interested in the truth of the incident  only in finding excuses to oust President Bashar al-Assad from power.

The west has blamed the Syrian air force for the attack on Khan Sheikhun area in southern Idlib on 4 April to which Donald Trump responded with cruise missile attacks that led to the destruction of more than 20 Syrian warplanes. It was the most decisive US military intervention since the war began, and raised the question of whether America will launch fresh attacks if evidence of further chemical weapons emerges.

Russia, meanwhile, has variously claimed that Syrian opposition fighters may have mounted a false flag operation, and that the Syrian air force bombed opposition targets where munitions filled with poisonous substances were being made.

Following a meeting with the EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, on Monday, Lavrov again called for the OPCW to send its experts to Khan Sheikhun and the Shayrat airfield to look into the alleged chemical incident.

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The Russian move was rejected by 21 to six with 13 abstentions, as countries such as the UK said the existing impartial assessment should not be undermined, adding on-the-ground assessments could occur but only if the security position allowed.

Russian media reported this position as a decision to block on-site assessments.

In the past, shots have been fired at OPCW expert assessors operating in Syria, and the OPCW says it is currently impossible to guarantee the safety of experts if they personally visited the site of the attack. The Syrian air force has offered to suspend attacks in the region to allow the inquiry to go ahead.

The OPCW insists the samples gathered from the attack site both from those killed and from victims in Turkish hospitals are genuine.

The French government has also said it will produce evidence, believed to be intelligence intercepts of phone calls, that the attack was mounted by Syrian air force planes, and could not have been a false flag operation.

The OPCW has in the past avoided politics and operated through consensus, but such neutrality has been challenged in Syria.

Lavrov condemned the complete incompetence on the part of his western colleagues, who he said were prohibiting the OPCW from sending their experts to the site of the incident, as well as to the airfield from where aircraft loaded with chemical weapons allegedly flew out.

Lavrov said both the OPCW fact-checking missions tasked with looking into the Idlib incident are being headed by UK citizens, which Lavrov called a very strange coincidence that runs contrary to the principles of an international organization.

The director general of the OPCW, Ahmet Uzumcu, responded by saying that he had full confidence in the professionalism and impartiality of his investigators.

In a statement, Uzumcu said that samples had been collected from three dead victims and seven survivors and had been analysed at OPCW-designated laboratories. The results of the analysis indicate that the victims were exposed to sarin or a sarin-like substance.

.

Russia has also questioned how members of the White Helmets civilian rescue mission were able to operate in the area so soon after the attack.

But Dr Alistair Hay, professor of environmental technology at the University of Leeds, said: It is quite possible the concentrations of sarin would have dispersed by the time White Helmets arrived. But sarin adheres to a lot of different material and it should be possible to gather evidence in soil or clothing.

On Monday, the US issued sanctions against 271 people linked to the Syrian agency responsible for producing non-conventional weapons.

The sanctions target employees of Syrias Scientific Studies and Research Center, which the US claims partly enables the use of chemical weapons.
While several torture tests have proven the Galaxy S8 is not quite as explosive as previous flagship iterations by Samsung, new texts show the new handset is quite susceptible to damage through more mundane means, such as dropping. According to SquareTrade product testing labs, the only limit for the Samsung Galaxy S8 infinity display is sidewalks.

SquareTrade released the results to its breakability tests for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus Monday, which determine the all-glass design of the smartphones make them especially fragile. With an overall breakability score of 76 for the Galaxy S8 and 77 for the Galaxy S8 Plus, there is just, even more, proof that those who have or are interested in purchasing the devices should also invest in a protective case.

Face down front, face down back and side drops resulted in cracks and shattering on all sides for both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, which is a first for a smartphone.

Typically, devices will have some sort of metal frame, that will prevent such all-inclusive damage. However, Samsung opted for an all-glass design on the Galaxy S8 for aesthetic purposes, as well as to usher in its thin-bezel infinity display.

SamsungS8BreakabilityScorecard_FINAL

Photo: SquareTrade

In addition to drops, SquareTrade also tested the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus for water resistance, bendability, tumble tests, materials, and repairability. The devices scored well during water tests due to their IP68 water and dust resistance. The rating protects products in five feet of water submersion for up to 30 minutes. Audio muffling quickly cleared up according to testers. However, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus bend and break quickly under pressure and tumbling yielded results similar to drops.

Testing revealed the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are challenging to open for repair, but parts are easily exchangeable once the handsets are pried apart from their extensive adhesive. Still, owners would likely be better off sending handsets in for professional servicing or getting a new model if a handset breaks.

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Not only does Samsung offer its own warranty program for the Galaxy S8, SquareTrade also offers a protection plan and owners can inquire with carriers and other retailers about device insurance.

Overall the devices are determined to be a medium-high risk for damage. While the breakability score is rated out of 100 instead of out of 10, SquareTrade noted that the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus performed worst on its breakability tests than the previous Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge spring flagships, which were determined to have a medium risk of damage.

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus released officially Friday and are already determined to be hot sellers on the market. Polls by SquareTrade have found consumer confidence in Samsung is high at 89 percent.

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KENOSHA  A Bradford High School student was taken into custody after reportedly stabbing another student Tuesday morning at the school.

The victim, whose name had not been released Tuesday, was taken by a Flight For Life helicopter to an area trauma center and was being treated for life-threatening injuries.

The Kenosha Police Department responded to a report of a stabbing at the school, 3700 Washington Road, at about 8:25 a.m., according to a police news release.

A police school resource officer intervened and immediately took the suspect into custody. Nobody else was injured. The weapon used in the incident was recovered, according to the release.

A release issued at 9:30 a.m. said the school was in soft lockdown, although the suspect was in custody and there was no further threat to students, staff, or the community.

Police were continuing to investigate Tuesday. No further details were released Tuesday about the suspect or victim.

According to Tanya Ruder, chief communications officer for the Kenosha Unified School District, Bradford students were sent home at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Due to the active crime scene at Bradford High School and our concern for our students well-being, we initiated an early dismissal at 10:30 a.m. for Bradford students and have canceled all Bradford after school activities, Ruder said in a statement.

School will be in session tomorrow (Wednesday) and additional counselors will be on hand. The district wants our students, staff and community to know that the alleged suspect and weapon are in police custody and there is no imminent threat to others. We have been and will continue to work closely with the Kenosha Police Department on this incident. Our thoughts are with the hospitalized student and the family.

Sports games affected

In the wake of the stabbing incident, four Southeast Conference varsity and junior varsity sports events scheduled for Tuesday were postponed, according to the SEC website.

The Horlick-Bradford baseball games and the Park-Bradford softball games, which were to be played in Kenosha, were among the postponed games.

The Red Devils girls soccer matches and boys tennis meets, both of which were against Horlick at Horlick, also were postponed.

There were no makeup dates posted for the events.

Horlick girls soccer coach Matthew Tuttle understood why Tuesdays game was called off, and Tuttle said he and Bradford coach David Naylor are working on a rescheduled date because its a Southeast Conference game.

My condolences go out to the specific student and the community in general, Tuttle said.
Abu Dhabi (AFP) - A Saudi novelist has won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, becoming the third author in 10 years from the kingdom to grab the Arab world's most prestigious literary award.

Mohammed Hasan Alwan won for his novel "A Small Death", which is a fictionalised account of the life of a Sufi scholar and philosopher, Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, from his birth in Muslim Spain in the 12th century until his death in Damascus.

The novel follows Ibn Arabi's mystic Sufi experience and heroic travels from Andalusia to Azerbaijan, via Morocco, Egypt, the Hijaz in today's western Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Turkey, according to an abstract posted on the prize website.

"Of a sensitive and anxious nature, Muhyiddin struggles with inner turmoil throughout the course of his travels," the abstract said.

Though "90 percent of the novel is fiction," Alwan said after receiving the award "I felt the pain while writing it."

"Ibn Arabi remains a controversial figure... but I believe that a reader of the novel would not disagree with the human side it portrays," he added.

Alwan, 38, was for the second time among the shortlisted novelists after his novel "The Beaver" made it to the last six in 2015. Its French edition went on to win the best Arabic novel translated into French for that year.

This year, Alwan competed with five other authors from Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon and Libya.

Born in Riyadh, he graduated with a doctorate in international marketing from Carleton University in Canada, and has published five novels.

Alwan was chosen in 2010 as one of the 39 best Arab authors under the age of 40 by the Beirut39 project.

Dubbed as the "Arabic Booker", the $50,000-prize is supported by the Booker Prize Foundation in London, but it is funded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.

The two other Saudi novelists who previously won the prize were Abdo Khal in 2010 for his "Throwing Sparks" and Raja Alem, who shared the top prize in 2011 for her novel titled "The Dove's Necklace".

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"The culture and arts arena in Saudi Arabia has been rather active over the past 10 years," Alwan told AFP, speaking of the ultra-conservative kingdom when public cinemas remain banned and women face tight restrictions, including a unique ban on driving.

"The Saudi society is going through a phase of massive change. There is a young population facing various intellectual changes, which brings on many questions... When such questions are posed, novelists find their chance to repose them in a literary form," he added.

Last year, Palestinian author Rabai al-Madhoun won the award that was launched in 2008.
Scott Baio is defending himself today over remarks he made about the death of former co-star Erin Moran.

Speaking on a New York radio show on Monday morning, Baio, who believed his former Joanie Loves Chachi co-star died of a heroin overdose based on published reports, criticized the actress.

Read: The Tragic Fall From Grace in Erin Moran's Final Years

You do drugs or drink, you're going to die," he said on The Bernie and Sid Show. "I'm sorry if that's cold, but God gave you a brain."

What Baio didn't know at the time was that Moran had actually died of stage 4 throat cancer.

I jumped the gun," he told Inside Edition Tuesday. "I should have known better, but I went with the information that I had."

He said that he assumed the heroin overdose reports were true because "of all the stories about Erin and that's what I went with.

I feel horrible for her, he added. "I feel horrible for her family."

Despite his attempt to distance himself from the remarks, Baio was savaged on social media.

"So sad Scott Baio outlived Erin Moran," read one tweet.

Another said: "If Scott Baio wasn't such a hasbeen, he might have been able to help his former co-star."

Baio claims that the Twitter onslaught stems from his public support for President Trump.

If I was a liberal Hollywood person I would have gotten a complete pass, he told Inside Edition. Because I am a conservative and a pro-Trump guy, they dont let anything slide with me.

"I should die instead of her? I jumped the gun ok? Am I a horrible human being?

Morans final days were spent in an Indiana trailer park after leaving California in 2010, when her home was foreclosed.

Baio's eyes filled with tears as he spoke about Moran's widely reported struggles with drugs over the years.

Read: Erin Moran's 'Happy Days' Co-Stars Mourn Her Death: 'Such Sad Sad News'

"When I heard that it was heroin I got so angry because I don't want that happening to my kid," he told Inside Edition. "And that's where that came from because I am tired of hearing about it I am tired of this. I am tired of hearing about drugs and death! I've had it. That's when it hit me hard."

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Baio said he still has warm feelings about his former co-star, who was also his first girlfriend, saying: I just wish she could have found whatever that was that she needed to give her some contentment. I don't think she ever found that.

Watch: Eddie Murphy Mourns Loss of Older Brother: 'Charlie Filled Our Family With Love and Laughter'

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Sean Hannity has come under the scanner after a former Fox News guest said the host invited her back to his hotel room after an event in Detroit. However, others who have appeared on Hannity's show rubbished the allegation.

Debbie Schlussel, during an appearance Friday on the Pat Campbell Podcast, did not specify when the incident took place but said she was never invited back to the channel after she turned down Hannitys advances.

Read: Sean Hannity Takes Heat From Conservatives For Hosting Donald Trump Warm-Up Event

He had some event at a bookstore where he signed his book for people standing in line. He asked me to come meet him at this book signing, Schlussel said on the podcast. So I met him there and it was very awkward. He had me stand up there with him while he signed books and I felt very weird. These people dont know me and they didnt come for me to sign their books.

So then I left to get ready for the show and he said, Why dont you come back with me to my hotel? and I said no, I have to get ready for the show, Schlussel added. The conservative commentator added that Hannity invited her back to his room again after the show, and that she declined again.

And then after that, I wasnt booked on a show again. And he called me and yelled at me, she said.

However, Hannity maintains the allegations have been fabricated and threatened to take legal action against Schlussel.

LET ME BE CLEAR THE COMMENTS ABOUT ME ON A RADIO SHOW THIS WEEK by this individual ARE 100% false and a complete fabrication, Hannity said in a statement to New York Daily News. This individual is a serial harasser who has been lying about me for well over a decade. The individual has a history of making provably false statements against me in an effort to slander, smear and besmirch my reputation.

Hannitys defense was supported by others close to him, like conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren, who said the Fox News host was always respectful. She also said the allegations were utter b-------.

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Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Debbie Schlussel as a Fox News contributor instead of a guest. The error has since been rectified.

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The White House will host the entire Senate on Wednesday for an extraordinary briefing on North Korea amid rising tensions with Pyongyang and growing questions about how the Trump administration intends to halt the regimes pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Classified briefings for lawmakers from top officials are not unusual and are held on a regular basis on Capitol Hill. But in this case, President Donald Trump belatedly proposed that a planned briefing on North Korea be hosted at the White House, with the secretaries of State, Defense, the U.S. militarys top officer and the head of national intelligence due to speak to senators.

The last-minute decision, coinciding with tough rhetoric from the White House and bellicose threats from North Korea, took lawmakers by surprise and fueled doubts about the Trump administrations often disjointed efforts at crafting a policy to neutralize the North Korean nuclear threat. Administration officials have publicly jettisoned long-standing U.S. policy on North Korea but have yet to articulate what will replace it.

In a meeting with U.N. Security Council representatives on Monday at the White House, Trump cited the urgency of the threat posed by North Koreas nuclear and missile programs, and suggested his administration was determined to address the danger once and for all.

People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now its time to solve the problem, Trump told the diplomats.

The White House has repeatedly said that it has abandoned the Obama administrations approach of so-called strategic patience, saying it will not tolerate North Koreas march toward a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile. But its not clear how Trump and his deputies intend to crack a problem that has vexed the United States and its allies for more than a quarter of a century.

Senior officials say the primary focus of U.S. policy at the moment centers on a diplomatic push to persuade China to use its influence with North Korea to force Pyongyang back from the brink.

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But its doubtful Washington has sufficient leverage to convince Beijing to impose an economic squeeze on the North. Moreover, China has always feared any action that could trigger the collapse of the Pyongyang regime on its border. Previous U.S. administrations have tried the same approach and come away disappointed with Chinas cautious steps.

All sides understand the stakes and understand what needs to happen, a White House official told Foreign Policy, referring to discussions with China. But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it remained to be seen if China would take the necessary steps against North Korea. He added that there is not infinite patience on our side but did not elaborate.

Some experts have urged the White House to impose sanctions directly on Chinese companies if Beijing refuses to press Pyongyang, but administration officials declined to say if that option is under serious consideration.

Experts told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing on Tuesday that even if China agreed to ramp up pressure on the regime, North Korea probably would not give up its efforts to build nuclear warheads for long-range ballistic missiles.

We essentially have to prepare for a North Korean capability that will ultimately reach the United States, said Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who served in the former Bush administration.

Cha said efforts at deterring the North through sanctions or military deployments are worth pursuing but also posed dangers because of the unpredictability of this regime.

The Trump administration has warned that all options are on the table, including potential military action. But a former senior official in the Bush White House said that destroying North Koreas nuclear arsenal through military strikes could prove impossible, given the technical advances made by the regime.

There are an increasing number of nuclear targets and those targets are increasingly hard to reach, said Aaron Friedberg, a professor at Princeton University who served under former Vice President Dick Cheney.

North Koreans are starting to develop mobile ballistic missiles. The problem with preempting or attacking in a preventative way and destroying the North Korean nuclear capabilities is only getting worse, Friedberg told the committee.

The sense of urgency over North Koreas nuclear program has steadily mounted in the U.S. intelligence community and the Pentagon over the past decade, as the regime has demonstrated increasing technical prowess.

Although the North makes plenty of false claims about its nuclear capabilities, the nuclear tests are not solely provocations or opportunities for saber rattling, said Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association. Over the past five tests, the country has increased the explosive yield of its nuclear warheads, and the regimes scientists are also likely using the tests to experiment with different warhead designs.

After five tests we should also assume that North Korea can build a warhead small enough to fit on short or medium range ballistic missiles, Davenport said.

Its unlikely that Wednesdays briefing at the White House will clear up concerns among many lawmakers about the administrations handling of tensions on the Korean peninsula, particularly after its bungled messaging about the location of an aircraft carrier.

The administration suffered an embarrassing episode last week when it acknowledged that a naval strike group, spearheaded by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, was not off the coast of the Korean peninsula as officials had announced earlier. In fact, the warships were thousands of miles away, training with the Australian navy.

The incident reinforced fears in Japan and South Korea about U.S. credibility and that the Trump administration was failing to consult with allies about its responses to North Korea. One South Korean presidential candidate, Hong Joon-pyo, from the conservative party of ex-president Park Geun-hye, said the confusion caused by the American administrations statements on the whereabouts of the carrier could mean that Seoul would not trust Trumps words in the future.

Still, administration officials believe an assertive U.S. military presence in the region in recent weeks has sent an unmistakably stern warning to North Korea as the regime appears poised to conduct its sixth nuclear test.

The United States is set to test one of its own missile systems on Wednesday, when an unarmed Minuteman III ballistic missile will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

These Minuteman launches are essential to verify the status of our national nuclear force and to demonstrate our national nuclear capabilities, Col. John Moss, commander of the U.S. Air Forces 30th Space Wing commander, said in a statement.

Off the coast of Korea and Japan this week, U.S. Navy ships are also conducting drills in the Sea of Japan with the South Korean and Japanese navies. The destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and Wang Geon are engaged in one exercise, while two other destroyers  the USS Fitzgerald and Japans Chokai  are also operating together nearby.

Pyongyang greeted the deployments with typical bombast, after the USS Carl Vinson eventually made its way toward the Korean peninsula, and the USS Michigan, a guided-missile submarine, made a port visit to South Korea this week.

If the enemies dare opt for the military adventure despite our repeated warnings, our armed forces will wipe the strongholds of aggression off the surface of the earth through powerful preemptive nuclear attacks, Defense Minister Pak Yong Sik said in a televised speech Tuesday.

The regime kicked off Tuesday with a vast live-fire artillery exercise that included as many as 400 long-range guns  the same weapons that would be trained on Seouls civilian population in the event of a war.

Photo credit: US Navy Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Z.A. Landers via Getty Images
From Delish

North Carolina moms-to-be might want to add Hawthorne's New York Pizza & Bar to their contact list. Several Charlotte women have nicknamed a buffalo wing pizza from the restaurant "The Inducer," claiming it has speedy powers when it comes to kick-starting labor.

To be honest, the pizza in question sounds delicious - layered with chicken, mozzarella cheese, and Hawthorne's special medium-hot buffalo sauce. The science behind their theory isn't quite there but moms-to-be keep heading to the North Carolina restaurant nonetheless.

Apparently the labor-inducing legend dates back to 2010, Charlotte Five reports, when Ali Aldrich was pregnant and eager to deliver. She ate the spicy pizza for dinner, went to the hospital, and gave birth to her daughter the next morning.

Since then, several other Charlotte moms have tried out the trick, with varying levels of success. Mandii Green, a representative for Hawthorne's, told Munchies that the latest buffalo-induced birth was just a few weeks ago - and the mother gave birth within four hours of eating the pizza!

This isn't the first time pizza has been said to have superpowers. In 2013, a local pizzeria in Sacramento, CA claimed its "preggo pizza" helped induce labor for dozens of women, and in 2016, Reale's Italian Cafe in Austin, TX saw a similar outcome.

While the spicy sauce on Hawthorne's pizza is thought to be the trick, research doesn't quite back this up. According to Cleveland Clinic, there's no evidence that spicy foods can trigger labor (same with sex, exercise, or raspberry leaf tea, by the way). However, doctors say spicy foods are perfectly fine to eat while pregnant. The placebo effect could be gearing ladies up for the hospital, since spicy foods can cause digestive upset, which could feel like contractions.

The jury's still out on whether this Charlotte pizza is actually speeding up labor, but we say order it anyway. We'll take any excuse to eat yummy pizza, pregnant or not.

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The hair care company Shea Moisture apologized Monday after social media backlash over an ad it released last week.

It shows white women, and just one woman of color, talking about hair hate and how Shea is their go-to productprompting cries of whitewashing. The product, founded in Harlem in 1991, has a strong African-American customer base.

SEE ALSO: Pepsi finally unites America with its terrible Kendall Jenner ad

Wow - we really f-ed this one up! Please know that our intent was not, & would never be, to disrespect our community, a candid statement posted to Shea Moisture's Facebook page read.

SheaMoisture is CANCELLED pic.twitter.com/T4Dru1JgAq  NANA JIBRIL  (@girlswithtoys) April 24, 2017

"You guys know that we have always stood for inclusion in beauty and have always fought for our community and given them credit for not just building our business but for shifting the beauty landscape," the post continued.

The video was part of a campaign Shea Moisture announced earlier this month called #BreakTheWalls, in which it rails against stores that relegate its products to designated "ethnic" sections of beauty aisles.

The company had kept its wares out of retail for 16 years because of that sort of discrimination, according to a spokesperson.

An article in Racked published shortly after the launch questioned whether the brand was selling out on its core African-American customer.

@KimberlyNFoster I wrote a piece about all of this and SM responded to me as well: https://t.co/PyxsKwa5RR  Morgan Jerkins (@MorganJerkins) April 24, 2017

Then too, Shea Moisture responded with an article-length apologetic statement, claiming that the narrative shift does not mean the company is abandoning its roots. It also denied that the new campaign amounted to a full rebrand.

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"We dont take any of our community for granted and are a certified minority, black-owned, family-held business that has taken pride in serving our community for 25 years  when large conglomerates ignored women of color and simply marketed products to them vs. making products for them," the company said at the time.

The CEO of Shea Moisture parent Sun Dial Brands, Richelieu Dennis, doubled down on the damage control in a video interview with the editors of Hello Beautiful.

"I can tell you that's never going to happen," Dennis said in response to concerns the line would lose focus on its black customers.

Yet the latest ad, in which white women outnumber the sole woman of color, compounded the brand's public relations problem.

Monday's apology came after Twitter users had dragged the company for hours over what they saw as the whitewashing of its marketing.

As of Monday afternoon, "Shea Moisture" was the top trending topic in the country on Twitter.

Black women out here getting fired for having 4c hair and shea moisture has the audacity..... pic.twitter.com/CsLCq5vtEA  SeaSea (@CeceTMach) April 24, 2017

does shea moisture know who buys shea moisture?  Vann R. Newkirk II (@fivefifths) April 24, 2017

I'm sorry but since when did white people use Shea Moisture pic.twitter.com/nw5bOWPr9W  k (@trashfave) April 24, 2017

"I never liked my red hair, so I dyed it blonde. I use Shea Moisture now for no reason in particular, thanks for listening, drink Pepsi."  Writey McScriberson (@afroSHIRL) April 24, 2017

Waiting for Shea Moisture to drop a video of a white girl using their black castor oil edge treatment  victoria sanusi  (@victoriasanusi) April 24, 2017

The Shea Moisture fiasco should be proof that we aren't exaggerating. We really can't have anything to ourselves. THANKS Shea  CODIne (@CurvaceousCodi) April 24, 2017

Pepsi: We just had the biggest PR nightmare w/ that ad. Black Twitter hates us.



Shea Moisture: Hold my 10-in-1 Renewal System Conditioner.  NUFF  (@nuffsaidNY) April 24, 2017

"ID LIKE TO ANNOUNCE MY NEW POSITION AS CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF SHEA MOISTURE" pic.twitter.com/yy3RzjjiTo  THE KID MERO  (@THEKIDMERO) April 24, 2017

The fact that shea moisture is doing all this just to STILL be in the ethnic aisle at target.  JP (@jillybean_109) April 24, 2017

If you are looking for an alternative to Shea Moisture, support Avocurl. Owned and operated by a Black woman! @Avocurl  Brotha B (@BlakeDontCrack) April 24, 2017

Black women built SheaMoisture. And not the "I was teased for having good hair" Black women. Black women will take it right on down too.  Kimberly N. Foster (@KimberlyNFoster) April 24, 2017

Shea Moisture is getting dragged on their FB page for that new commercial. Yikes pic.twitter.com/8wPFVy83wz  DarkSkintDostoyevsky (@daniecal) April 24, 2017

Black women have supported and gave free press to Shea Moisture for YEARS. And then they have a "hair hate" commercial with white women?  no. (@DatGirl_ICEY) April 24, 2017

"HEY! We want to use Shea Moisture too!" pic.twitter.com/9qfoGBKZAf  Ira Madison III (@ira) April 24, 2017

watch urban outfitters start selling shea moisture  gel from tx (@ririsnipplering) April 24, 2017

Shea Moisture been drew a line in the sand, but now they're throwing the sand in the eyes of dark BW w/ kinky hair.  Trudy (@thetrudz) April 24, 2017

They done gentrified Shea Moisture  pic.twitter.com/XD7PTOaYNI  Tey Boogie  (@Tey_Gunna) April 24, 2017

Shea Moisture: Our products are for everybody

Shea Moisture: Proceeds with ad campaign for 3B hair and straighter.  Bettina Judd (@bettinajudd) April 24, 2017

Shea Moisture could have just said "All Hair Matters" then ended the ad over a bottle of Pepsi.  Janan (@jananamirah) April 24, 2017

But Cantu is better than Shea Moisture pic.twitter.com/iwh8wlifOt  admirekyrie (@admirekyrie) April 24, 2017

When Target announces a buy two Shea Moisture bottles get a free Pepsi sale pic.twitter.com/9CRhNN79sV  Ira Madison III (@ira) April 24, 2017

Wow - we really f-ed this one up! Please know that our intent was not, & would never be, to disrespect our community https://t.co/8zDX8QsknP pic.twitter.com/HfecozoFKg  SheaMoisture (@SheaMoisture) April 24, 2017

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WATCH: Man kicked out of city council meeting for trying to recreate Kendall Jenner's Pepsi ad
RACINE  A Kenosha man is facing multiple charges after a Friday night tirade in which he allegedly tried to pick fights, tangled with law enforcement officers and spit on an emergency room technician.

Nathaniel K. Sumlin Jr., 26, of the 3700 block of 15th Street, is facing felony charges of battery to an law enforcement officer and throwing or discharging bodily fluid at a public safety worker, and misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer, disorderly conduct.

According to the criminal complaint:

On Friday, Racine police were dispatched to the 1000 block of North Memorial Drive for a report of an intoxicated person threatening to fight anyone who walked by the house.

Responding officers allegedly observed Sumlin walk out into traffic and almost be struck by vehicles. Sumlin was taken into custody and was being taken to the hospital for a medical check, but en route Sumlin reportedly began to bang his head on the barrier case inside the police squad car, which resulted in an order to take Sumlin directly to the County Jail.

Upon arrival to the jail, Sumlin was found to be unconscious and paramedics were summoned. Sumlin was given three doses of Narcan, which revived him. He was then transported to the hospital.

At the hospital, Sumlin reportedly broke his cloth restraints and attempted to disconnect various medical monitors. He then reportedly kicked a deputy in the face as police attempted to refasten the restraints. Sumlin also reportedly spat on a hospital technician.

Sumlin is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. May 3 at the county Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave. He remained in custody at the County Jail as of Monday night.
With Adam Rawnsley

Slash and burn. The Trump administration is developing plans to cut assistance programs for developing countries and merge the State Department with USAID, according to an internal budget document and sources obtained by Foreign Policy.

According to a detailed 15-page State Department budget document, the overhaul also includes rechanneling funding from development assistance into a program that is tied closely to national security objectives, reports Bryant Harris, Robbie Gramer and Emily Tamkin. The document, which FP has posted, shows that many countries in Central and East Africa in particular  where Washington has long battled al Qaeda and other extremist groups  would see aid wiped out completely. But plan is hardly fully baked, as foreign assistance programs remain popular on Capitol Hill. Senator Lindsey Graham went as far as to declare Trumps budget dead on arrival.

The guns of April. Happy Tuesday, which the regime in North Korea marked by launching a massive live-fire artillery exercise. The South Korean news agency Yonhap said that as many as 400 pieces of long-range artillery participated in the exercise, and were the same type of guns which are stationed along the border with South Korea, putting the 10 million residents of Seoul well within their range.

The exercise marked the 85th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army and popped off the same day the USS Michigan, an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, made a port call in Busan, South Korea intended as a show of force. The Michigan can carry about 150 cruise missiles and launch Special Operations teams while submerged offshore.

Speeding up. The Trump administration has shown a sense of urgency in dealing with the North and its ongoing missile tests, and expected upcoming nuclear test, which would be its sixth in the past decade. The New York Times David Sanger and William Broad write that the urgency stems from a a stark calculus: a growing body of expert studies and classified intelligence reports that conclude the country is capable of producing a nuclear bomb every six or seven weeks.

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In a meeting with members of the United Nations Security Council at the White House on Monday, Trump told the diplomats it is time to solve the problem of a nuclear North Korea. That meeting will be quickly followed up on Wednesday by a remarkable gathering of all 100 U.S. Senators at the White House for a classified briefing on North Korea, and a Security Council meeting on Friday chaired by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that will be focused on the rogue nation.

Turtle Bays day. The sudden prominence of the United Nations and the U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley has surprised some U.N. watchers who expected the institution to be marginalized under the Trump administration, FPs Colum Lynch writes. But some diplomats have told him theyre careful not to confuse fiery rhetoric with action, pointing out that Haley has done little but deliver speeches, while the Trump administration policies of pulling support for the World Trade Organization, walking away from the Paris Climate Accords and gutting funding for U.N. peacekeeping missions remain unchanged.

Russia supplying Taliban? During a press conference in Kabul on Monday, the head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis declined to refute earlier claims that the Kremlin is supplying weapons to the Afghan Taliban. We continue to get reports of this assistance, Gen. John Nicholson said. A U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told reporters the Russians have increased their supply of equipment and small arms to the Taliban over the past 18 months, according to the Washington Post. The official said the Russians have been sending weapons, including medium and heavy machine guns, to the Taliban under the guise that the material would be used to fight the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan. Instead, the official said, the weapons were showing up in some of Afghanistans southern provinces, including Helmand and Kandahar  both areas with little Islamic State presence.

Washington slaps sanctions on Syria. First, the United States responded to Syrias chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun on April 6 with missiles, writes FPs Emily Tamkin. Now, it is responding with sanctions. On Monday, the U.S. Treasury announced one of the largest sanctions actions in history, designating 271 employees of Syrias Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) as responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons and the means to deliver them. The sanctions will block any property the Syrians might have in the United States, and bars U.S. persons from any dealings with them.

Welcome to SitRep. Send any tips, thoughts or national security events to paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or via Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley.

Breaking THAAD. China is still steaming mad over the U.S. and South Koreas decision to deploy a missile defense system that Beijing feels is uncomfortably close to its territory. Now, according the Wall Street Journal, it may be carrying out cyber attacks against South Korean defense and government sites in order to retaliate against the decision. Analysts at FireEye say theyve seen an uptick in hacking groups connected to the Chinese military and intelligence services break into a series of South Korean networks since Seoul began hosting the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), gaining entrance by sending out spear phishing emails with malicious attachments. China has reportedly retaliated with economic means as well, cancelling tour groups bound for Korea.

Denmark. Denmark says Russian hackers have been camping out in the email accounts of its Ministry of Defense for two years, a charge Moscow denies. Denmarks Center for Cybersecurity claims that hackers tied to the Russian government managed to make it into Ministry of Defense accounts, making off with unclassified information but were thwarted when they tried to breach the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A spokesman for the Kremlin dismissed the report, saying Russia does not do hacking attacks.

Deja vu. Russian hackers have tried to break into French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron campaign networks, according to a new report by the cybersecurity firm Trend Micro. The company says hackers from the Pawn Storm group linked to Russian military intelligence sent Macron campaign a spoofed website designed to trick them into spilling their passwords. Macrons campaigns top tech staffer Mounir Mahjoubi tells the AP that the campaign was aware of the intrusion attempts and managed to block them.

Bills. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is warning that the F-35 program could rack up over a billion dollars in additional costs if testing is delayed. Investigators say the Pentagon has an overly rosy timetable for testing the stealth fighter jet and that historical flight test data points to testing pushing well into 2018. That delay could cost the Defense Department another $1.7 billion.

Terms and conditions. The Obama administration didnt tell the whole story about the cost of the Iran nuclear deal, according to a scoop from Politico. After announcing the release of seven Iranian prisoners held on sanctions violation charges, the Obama administration quietly dropped charges against 14 other Iranian fugitives wanted for sanctions-busting. The Justice Department had sought to prosecute the 14 men on charges that theyd smuggled sensitive American military technology and weapons and leased an aircraft to support the terrorist group Hezbollah. Prosecutors complained that the administration also put the brakes on Iran-related cases as the nuclear agreement drew nearer.

Departures and arrivals. Deputy National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland is officially out at the National Security Council, but the White House has yet to announce a replacement. McFarland is heading to a new job as ambassador to Singapore, part of what many suspect is a housecleaning by current National Security Advisor Gen. H.R. McMaster. Insiders tell Politico that Dina Powell, McMasters pick for deputy national security adviser for strategy, is in the running for the job but could end up sharing responsibilities as McMasters deputy with the councils chief of staff Keith Kellogg, who has been with Trump since the 2016 presidential campaign.

Photo Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images
Libreville (AFP) - US special forces on Wednesday begin pulling out of Central African Republic where they deployed in 2011 to help hunt the brutal LRA warlord Joseph Kony.

The move, which was announced last month, will see US troops pulling out of the country's east where they have been helping Ugandan forces track down rebels from the feared Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

"The time has come to move forward because the organisation itself is really in a survival mode," General Thomas Waldhauser, head of the US military's Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a telephone briefing last week.

One of Africa's longest-surviving rebel groups, the LRA has terrorised parts of central Africa for 30 years.

Several years ago it counted several thousand fighters but today has fewer than 100, with the rebels dispersed across parts of CAR, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and South Sudan.

Since it was set up by Kony in 1987, the LRA has slaughtered more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children who were forced to become sex slaves and soldiers, UN figures show.

In 2011, Washington sent in around 100 US troops to eastern CAR to help regional forces hunt down Kony, adding another 150 special forces airmen three years later.

But last month, AFRICOM said it would be wrapping up the operation, which has cost between $600 and $800 million, even though Kony remains at large.

- 'Significant success' -

"This operation was a significant success," Jeffrey Hawkins, the US envoy to CAR, told France's RFI radio in early April.

Ugandan troops, who have been in eastern CAR since 2009, are also withdrawing from the area.

Last week, the army said the mission to neutralise the LRA had been "successfully achieved" and that Kony "no longer poses any significant threat" to Uganda's national security.

Although his power is much diminished, Kony -- who combines religious mysticism with guerrilla tactics and a grim reputation for kidnapping and mutilation -- remains at large.

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According to Paul Ronan of the US-based advocacy group Invisible Children, which was behind an explosive 2012 video highlighting Kony's atrocities and calling for his capture, the warlord is believed to be either in Sudan or CAR.

A self-styled prophet, Kony launched his bloody rebellion in a bid to overthrow the Ugandan government and impose a regime based on his own version of the Ten Commandments.

He is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity, where one of his commanders, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial.

- 'Why do we care?' -

Earlier this year, questions appeared to arise over the level of US commitment to its various operations in Africa in the form of a set of questions posed by the transition team of incoming president Donald Trump to the State Department.

"The LRA has never attacked US interests, why do we care? Is it worth the huge cash outlays? I hear that even the Ugandans are looking to stop searching for him, since they no longer view him as a threat, so why do we?" said the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

And last month, AFRICOM's Waldhauser confirmed the operations were drawing to a close, saying there were only about 100 LRA rebels and that the mission had "essentially taken that group off the battlefield."

- Fears in the east -

"Everywhere, in cafes, people are talking about the departure of the Ugandan and American troops," a resident of Obo, a town in CAR's southwest, told AFP by phone.

On April 17, around 6,000 people in the town took to the streets to demand that both sets of troops stay in place until they can be replaced by Central African forces.

Although there are UN peacekeeping forces from its MINUSCA mission in Central Africa, very few of them are present in the east of the country.

"This withdrawal will lead to a renewal of LRA attacks in the southeast," warned Thierry Vircoulon, a specialist on central Africa at IFRI, the French institute for international relations.

"Nobody is under any illusion that the Central African troops which are to be sent there to avoid a security vacuum will be able to neutralise the LRA."

As well as the threat from Kony's militia, the eastern region is also struggling with attacks by other "armed groups", regional police chief Ghislain Dieu-Benit Kolengo told AFP.

He was referring to rebels from the mainly Muslim ex-Seleka militia and from the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC), a splinter group from a rebel force in neighbouring Chad which rights groups say executed 32 civilians and captive fighters late last year.

"Even though we are officially ending the so-called counter-LRA mission, we are certainly aware of the fact that we don't want to leave a void there," said Waldhauser.

And he said Washington would continue to offer support to African troops in the form of both "training" and "intelligence".
By Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's SK Hynix Inc on Tuesday booked record quarterly profit due to strong demand for high-tech memory chips, and said the DRAM supply shortage that has pushed up prices will continue throughout 2017. The extent of the shortage is likely to ease toward the end of the year, stabilising prices somewhat, but demand will keep rising due in part to the continued spread of cloud computing, SK Hynix said on an earnings conference call. The results are the industry's first in a year when analysts expect earnings records thanks to a so-called supercycle in which demand for smaller, more sophisticated chips for servers and smartphones far outstrips production capacity. That has pushed up chip prices and widened profit margins. Overall industry revenue this year is likely grow 32 percent to a record $104 billion, showed data from researcher IHS. "This is a supercycle that's never been seen before. It'll be very easy (for SK Hynix) to exceed $5 billion in monthly revenue this year," said analyst Hwang Min-seong at Samsung Securities. "Since there is little additional clean room space (chip production facilities) becoming available until 2019, such a trend is seen continuing next year as well." TOSHIBA BIDDING The world's second-biggest maker of all major types of memory chips, behind Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, also said it will stick to short-term capital expenditure plans for NAND chips regardless of whether rival Toshiba Corp sells its chip business. Toshiba wants to sell most or all of the unit, the world's second-largest NAND chip maker behind Samsung. It has narrowed bidders to SK Hynix, Western Digital Corp, Broadcom Ltd and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn), people familiar with the process told Reuters. Analysts have said some suitors might be more aggressive in boosting investment and output should they acquire the business, igniting a price war and hurting profitability. "We don't know how the Toshiba deal will progress, and even if there is a certain outcome, we don't expect big changes in our short-term planned NAND flash capex," President Kim Joon-ho said on the conference call. He did not comment on SK Hynix's bidding status. RECORD PROFIT SK Hynix said operating profit more than quadrupled in January-March from the same period a year earlier, to 2.5 trillion won ($2.20 billion). That compared with a 2.4 trillion won Thomson Reuters StarMine SmartEstimate from a survey of 24 analysts. Revenue rose 72 percent to a record 6.3 trillion won. DRAM shipments fell 5 percent from October-December while the average selling price rose 24 percent. NAND shipments fell 3 percent while the average price rose 15 percent. DRAM accounted for 74 percent of revenue whereas NAND accounted for 24 percent. Other products made up the remainder. SK Hynix's stock price was down 0.6 percent at 0230 GMT as investors sought to profit on shares bought in the expectation of record earnings, analysts said. The benchmark Kospi share price index was up 0.2 percent. ($1 = 1,133.8500 won) (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A military court in Somalia has executed four men it said were al Shabaab militants who were behind a 2016 attack that killed 80 people, a military officer said on Tuesday. The four men were executed in Baidoa, which lies about 245 km (150 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, on Monday. The same court executed on Tuesday a policeman who was accused of killing a civilian and wounding the victim's two sons, officials said. "Yesterday, four militants who had been behind blasts were executed. More men accused of being al Shabaab members will be executed today or tomorrow," Major Nur Aden, a military officer in Baidoa, told Reuters. In Tuesday's execution, Ali Buubo Mohamed, a policeman, was shot by a firing squad after he was found guilty of killing Kassim Abdi and injuring his sons. He was sentenced to death last November. Mumin Hussein Abdullahi, the deputy prosecutor of the court, confirmed that execution. The four militants were found guilty of being responsible for twin blasts in Baidoa in February 2016, resulting in 80 deaths. Al Shabaab often carries out such attacks in the capital and elsewhere in its bid to topple Somalia's government and to drive out African Union peacekeeping troops. The al Qaeda-linked group wants to impose its harsh version of Islamic rule in Somalia. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alison Williams)
JOHANNESBURG -- When South African President Jacob Zuma rose to deliver the opening remarks to a session of the country's House of Traditional Leaders in Cape Town last month, the mood was, at best, politely attentive.

As the president plodded through his prepared remarks on the state of the country, he didn't so much as look up at the bright patchwork of leopard skin cloaks and beaded headdresses in front of him -- and his heavy-lidded audience afforded him approximately equal enthusiasm.

Then, abruptly, Zuma jolted upright, his voice suddenly animated.

"Your majesties," he began, "At the heart of our problem as Africans has been the fact that ... our land was taken away."

The audience, too, seemed to sit up taller. The solution, the president continued, was for the country to begin an audit of who owned the country's land before white colonizers arrived -- and then to begin taking it back without compensation.

For the two and a half decades since South Africa became a democracy, land has lurked quietly behind much of the country's politics. When apartheid ended in the early 1990s, white farmers owned about 70 percent of South Africa's land, a result of centuries of deliberate and widespread dispossession of the black majority. Since then, a vast program of voluntary land redistribution has shifted about 8 percent of that land, or just under 17 million acres, back into black hands. (Many more South Africans dispossessed of their land have received cash settlements).

But many, including the president, feel progress has not gone fast enough.

Meanwhile, the conversation around land redistribution has revived another set of questions -- about who mans the gates of the country's history, and how to decide which versions of the past deserve the most space in the present.

Zuma's insistence on a pre-colonial land audit, for instance, has called into question how the country should determine exactly which dispossessed people deserve to be given their land back. Is it anyone who ever had land taken from them by force? Only those who lost it in the last two centuries? Or should there be some other metric altogether?

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At present, South African law only recognizes claims from people booted from parcels of land after 1913 -- the date of a particularly nefarious piece of colonial legislation that granted whites the right to 90 percent of South Africa, setting the tone for a century of dispossession and downward mobility for black South Africans.

Because the law limits itself to the last century, it means much of the evidence to prove what happened can be found in the country's archives -- vast repositories of colonial documents, maps, and title deeds that capture, often in meticulous detail, how land was shoved from black hands to white ones again and again in the last hundred years.

But those archives also come with clear limitations.

"Our archives are a two-edged sword," says Verne Harris, archivist for the papers of Nelson Mandela and a former deputy director of South Africa's National Archives. "They're full of the voices of those in power, full of disinformation." But, he says, by skimming off useful information -- dates, names or locations, for example -- they can also be used for purposes their creators never intended.

In Johannesburg, for instance, Baile Sedumedi has used an old municipal map he dug up from the bottom of a box in South Africa's National Archives to show where the houses once stood in his old neighborhood of Sophiatown, a chaotically multiracial community known for its jazz clubs, illegal drinking joints and cinemas until it was razed to the ground by the apartheid government in the 1950s. Several families have successfully used the map as part of their claims to previous land ownership in the neighborhood.

And it has psychological value too, he says.

"That map was so important -- it let us show what was there to show what we lost," says Sedumedi.

At the same time, however, a "deadly combination of neglect and politicization" have left many of the country's archives largely inaccessible to those who need them most, Harris says. Many local and provincial archives, for instance, are understaffed, poorly maintained and geographically distant from the communities that need them for land claims, legal cases, and other services, according to a 2014 report into the state of the country's archives.

That's a sharp change of pace from the 1990s, Harris says, when archive preservation was seen as a key building block to the country's new democracy -- a way to bring into the open and redress the wrongs of the past. But that thinking began to shift, he says, as the country's politicians realized that laws welcoming the public into archives with open arms could eventually reveal their own compromising political dealings. Slowly, laws around the classification of public records began tightening, and the archives themselves watched funding slide away.

Zuma has not said how he will conduct his "pre-colonial land audit," but many worry it will go the way of many recent land claims -- simply entrenching the power of people who already have it.

"It sounds nice politically -- return the land to the people -- but what's most likely to happen is you'll see land turned over to tribal authorities who say they're descended from the rightful pre-colonial custodians," says Michelle Hay, a researcher who conducts land claims investigations. Often "it's a smokescreen" for those in power to gain more, she says.

It is also, for Zuma, a pipe dream. Even within his own party, the ruling African National Congress, opinions on land restitution -- especially without compensating the owners, as was infamously done in neighboring Zimbabwe -- are sharply divided, and political change on the issue appears unlikely in the short term future.

Still, he says, the country's history cannot be complete without it.

"We've addressed the political power -- we have it... but we are not in control of the economic power," he told the traditional leaders in March. "The critical element of the economy is land. Our land was taken away. It's not in our hands... and the time to talk and analyze has passed. It is time for action. Concrete action."

Ryan Lenora Brown is a Twitter.
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea confirmed on Tuesday that North Korea was carrying out a large-scale live-fire drill in areas around the city of Wonsan. South Korea's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a brief statement that the North Korean exercise was under way on Tuesday afternoon. "Our military is closely monitoring the North Korean military's movement," the office said. The firing exercise took place on the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army, amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula over the North's development of weapons. (Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By Sonya Dowsett MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish police said on Tuesday they had arrested nine men and raided 12 properties in Barcelona in an operation against suspected Islamist militants believed to be linked to last year's attack on Brussels airport. The operations were carried out in conjunction with Belgian and Moroccan police. At least three of those arrested were suspected of links to the Belgian suicide bombings in March of last year, which killed 31 people at the Brussels airport and on a metro train, Spain's High Court said in a statement. The nine arrested men were Moroccan apart from one Spaniard and were aged between 30 and 40, the police said. Most already had criminal records related to organised crime such as drug trafficking. Most had lived for more than 20 years in the northeastern region of Catalonia, although they often returned to Morocco for visits, the court said. House searches turned up documents, computers and memory drives that will now be analysed by authorities, as well as at least three guns and drugs including marijuana, the police and court said. Raids of houses in Morocco connected to the men are currently underway in collaboration with Moroccan police, the police said. The raids follow an eight-month investigation of a group of suspected Islamist militants with links to organised crime in the Barcelona area, the police said. The investigation remains open. Police said they started tracking the gang as a result of a tip-off from a member of the public. The tip-off was an anonymous call to police from a member of the public concerned about drug trafficking, La Vanguardia newspaper said. Not including Tuesday's arrests, Spain has detained 22 people in 16 separate operations this year in connection with Islamist extremism, according to Interior Ministry figures. (Additional reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Isla Binnie/Jeremy Gaunt)
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's High Court ruled on Tuesday that the son of one of Catalonia's most prominent political figures would be jailed to prevent him obstructing an investigation into an alleged money laundering and tax fraud scheme carried out by his family. Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, the oldest son of former Catalan regional head Jordi Pujol, was jailed without bail after a judge questioned him on Tuesday and decided he was obstructing the investigation, according to the court's ruling. Under Spanish law, prosecutors can request that suspects be kept in prison for up to two years if certain conditions are met while they continue with an investigation. Judge Jose de la Mata wrote in the ruling that Pujol Ferrusola would be sent to jail to avoid the concealment, alteration or destruction of evidence. His father, a figurehead for Catalan nationalism who ran the regional government between 1989 and 2003, was stripped of his political titles and honors in 2014 after admitting that he had hidden a multi-million euro fortune abroad for three decades to avoid taxes. His case remains under investigation. Pujol Ferrusola is suspected of coordinating the management of his family's wealth in Andorra and other countries using a web of companies set up to conceal more than 11 million euros ($12.03 million) from Spanish authorities, the ruling said. He had withheld evidence and information since the start of the investigation, it said. His defense rejects the prosecution's claims, the document said. Reuters was not able to contact Pujol Ferrusola's lawyer for comment. ($1 = 0.9146 euros) (Reporting by Angus Berwick; Editing by Gareth Jones)
WELLINGTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English was flying to the mountainous resort city of Queenstown on Tuesday to meet intelligence officials from the "Five Eyes" network, which includes the U.S. FBI, CIA and National Security Agency. The meetings, designed to facilitate intelligence sharing between the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, are being held at a sensitive time for the Asia-Pacific region as tension between the United States and North Korea escalates. However, six U.S. and allied government sources told Reuters it was a routine annual get-together that was not being held to respond to any particular crisis. The confirmation of the meetings indicates that "Five Eyes" countries hold regular intelligence conferences, a fact not widely known outside intelligence circles until now, according to analysts. "I can confirm that it's Five Eyes, just part of the regular cycle of conferences that are held," English told reporters on Monday. He declined to specify which officials were attending. The officials and English declined to discuss what topics would be on the agenda, although English said he would use the meetings as an opportunity to stress New Zealand's dedication to the intelligence-sharing network. "It's becoming increasingly obvious, I think, that as you consider these supra-national threats like ISIS that you work together with other countries," English said, using a common acronym for the Islamic State militant group. A source at one of the agencies confirmed that the New Zealand conference was an "annual get-together ... a regular meeting of all of the seniors". Activities by Russia's government and counter-proliferation of nuclear arms in North Korea would likely be discussed, alongside more mundane topics like managing diversity in the workplace and how to prevent whistleblowers, according to Massey University security and defense analyst Rhys Ball, who formerly worked for New Zealand's intelligence service. "The interesting thing about this conference, I think, is that this might offer some of those senior officials the first opportunity to meet up with some of the new American intelligence officials," Ball told Reuters. U.S. officials declined to discuss the movements of specific senior officials. A source familiar with the matter said senior Canadian officials were taking part. New Zealand media reported that FBI director James Comey would attend and published photos of him disembarking from a plane in Queenstown on Sunday. The sources told Reuters that agencies whose top officials were expected to attend included the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency from the United States, Britain's MI-5, MI-6 and Government Communications Headquarters, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Communications Security Establishment Canada, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the Australian Signals Intelligence Directorate, and New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau and Security Intelligence Service. (Reporting By Mark Hosenball and Charlotte Greenfield; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Paul Tait)
Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German software giant SAP on Tuesday reported falling profits in the first quarter despite an increase in revenues, blaming the drop on higher staffing costs.

Between January and March, subscriptions to the group's cloud computing and support services grew 34 percent compared with the same period in 2016.

That helped power a 12-percent increase in revenue to 5.3 billion euros ($5.8 billion) over the first three months -- slightly higher than analysts had forecast.

But the firm's operating, or underlying profit fell 17 percent compared with the first quarter of 2016, to 673 million euros.

Meanwhile, net profit fell 7.0 percent to 530 million euros -- well short of the 608 million euros analysts had predicted.

The bottom line was "primarily impacted by an increase in share-based compensation expenses, which increased due to the strong development of SAP's share price and an increase in employee participation," the firm said in its statement.

Some 65 percent of SAP's 85,750 employees take part in the scheme.

Executives say they are confident that the drop in profits will not hold the group back from reaching its objectives for the full year.

"We're off to a good start to reach our full year targets and we are confident that we will grow our profitability in 2018 and beyond," chief financial officer Luka Mucic said in a statement.

The group aims to reach revenue of between 23.2 and 23.6 billion euros in 2017, up from 22.1 billion euros last year, with profits between 6.8 and 7.0 billion euros compared with 6.6 billion euros in 2016.

SAP only makes forecasts using non-IFRS accounting rules, which exclude certain costs.
By Emily Flitter NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than a dozen state prosecutors urged President Donald Trump in a letter on Tuesday not to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, which commits the United States, along with 200 other countries, to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to slow global warming. With the letter, attorneys general from 12 states as well as the District of Columbia and American Samoa have joined a chorus of voices, including major fossil fuel energy companies as well as environmental advocates, condemning the idea of exiting the agreement, which the Republican president has criticized in the past. "Climate change, if left unchecked, will lead to global environmental dislocation and disaster on a scale we likely cannot imagine," the prosecutors wrote, urging the president to "maintain and reconfirm the United States' commitment to this groundbreaking agreement." The Paris accord, reached by nearly 200 countries in 2015, seeks to limit global warming by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from burning fossil fuels. As part of the deal, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by between 26 percent and 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. In an April 14 appearance on television show "Fox & Friends," Scott Pruitt, a former attorney general for Oklahoma whom Trump appointed to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, called for an "exit" from the Paris Accord while Energy Secretary Rick Perry, speaking at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance conference in New York on Tuesday, said Washington should "renegotiate it." Pruitt and Perry were among the administration officials scheduled to meet last week to discuss the U.S. position on the accord, but the meeting was canceled. Sources told Reuters on April 5 a group of coal producers told White House officials that remaining in the global deal to combat climate change would give U.S. negotiators a chance to advocate for coal in the future of the global energy mix. Tuesday's letter was signed by top prosecutors from Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont. (Reporting by Emily Flitter; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Sandra Maler)
The Michigan Department of Health is urging pregnant mothers to get tested for STDs. Many infections that can occur in pregnant women can also affect a newborn baby, but transmission can be prevented with proper testing. Doctors recommend that pregnant women get tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and Syphilis at their first prenatal visit, and then again between 26 and 28 weeks. Testing is important because many people don't show symptoms of those infections. In the past five years, Michigan has had three preventable cases of perinatal hepatitis b, three cases on congenital syphilis and three babies born with HIV.
After being sued for raising property taxes above the state cap last year, the Lower Merion School District  which lost the case  is proposing to do the same to fund next year's budget.

On Monday night, about 200 people packed into district headquarters in Ardmore to hear administrators make a brief pitch for their $266 million budget proposal for 2017-18, a 2.7 percent increase over the current school year. The tax rate would go up 2.99 percent, meaning a homeowner with a property at the median assessed value of $250,000 would pay an additional $205.

Last August, a Montgomery County judge ordered Lower Merion to roll back its 2016-17 property tax hike from 4.4 percent to 2.5 percent  the maximum increase permitted by the state without a special exception. The lawsuit had been brought by a small group of township residents who charged that the district had hidden large surpluses while raising taxes sharply since 2006. Last week, a Commonwealth Court panel dismissed the district's appeal, citing a procedural problem.

At the Monday hearing, Superintendent Robert Copeland argued that rapid growth of enrollment and capital expenses, coupled with insufficient state funding were driving the districts tax increases. Lower Merion will again need to ask the state for an exception to raise taxes above the cap.

The 8,400-student district  Pennsylvania's most affluent  is committed to maintaining class size and its plethora of unique academic programs, according to Copeland. In touting its schools' excellence, I would argue the proof is in the pudding, he said, to applause from the audience.

A majority of the parents and residents who rose to speak backed the district's argument that steadily increasing property taxes over the last decade are the price for delivering high student achievement.

The ongoing tax lawsuit is about depriving other peoples children of a great education and giving them a basic one instead, said Daniel Marein-Efron, of Wynnewood. He said that property taxes in Lower Merion are comparable to other Montgomery County districts and that any mandated cuts would disproportionately affect poorer, non-white and disabled students.

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Minimal details of the budget proposal were offered only after a lengthy presentation by middle-school students in the districts special integrated programs. It was nearly 9 p.m. before the contentious budget back-and-forth got underway.

Several speakers expressed support for the legal challenge led by aviation attorney Arthur Wolk of Gladwyne, who has charged that district officials claimed budget deficits that didnt exist to justify exceeding the state cap on tax hikes. Those levies have risen by 53.3 percent since 2006.

Wolk was not present, but another plaintiff, Philip Browndeis, read a scathing letter from Wolk, who has vowed to sue the township again if it does not change its budgeting practices and continues to raise taxes.

Many speakers pointed out that they were not arguing for program cuts or smaller class size, which is how the school district and its supporters have framed the debate. They say they are proud of the schools, but that the school board has misled taxpayers by projecting large deficits to justify raising taxes, when it actually had socked away millions in reserve.

Bruce Bowman said he appreciated his sons education in Lower Merion schools. But the issue, he said, was whether the community believed the boards argument that its budgeting practices were appropriate. Youre losing the trust of the community, he said.

Another speaker, Rose Serota, said, This pits neighbor against neighbor. People are looked at as enemies. Serota said that if the school board continues to fight the lawsuit, I think youre doing a disservice to the community.

Its not that we want less of a quality education, but an education that is fair to all the people who live here, said Brad Moser, of Gladwyne, who graduated from Lower Merion High School. He said his mother was going to lose her home because of high taxes and urged the board to respect the elders in the community.

Matt Birch, a Lower Merion teacher, said he relocated to the district after fighting for three years to get his son extra help in a neighboring school. He said his son was now a junior who takes advanced placement and honors courses. I moved to this district for my children to get the education they deserve, he said.

When someone in the audience asked him the percentage tax increase being proposed, Copeland declined to answer until directed to do so by the school board president.

After hearing from several speakers that the district kept $60 million in its reserve fund, Copeland finally said that figure was inaccurate. It was $55 million, he said, eliciting some laughter from the audience.

He also said the district continues to be as transparent and efficient in the use of public funds as we have in the past.

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Stockholm (AFP) - A Swedish court on Tuesday sentenced three young men to prison for gang raping a woman and livestreaming the attack on Facebook.

Reza Mohammed Ahmadi, 21, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison for rape and accessory to rape, while Maysam Afshar, 18, was sentenced to one year in prison for rape, a reduced sentence because of his age.

Both are Afghan citizens who have been granted residency in Sweden.

Emil Khodagholi, a 21-year-old Swedish citizen, was sentenced to six months in prison for aggravated defamation for posting the rape on Facebook, and for failing to report it.

The men were arrested in the town of Uppsala northwest of Stockholm on January 22 after members of a closed Facebook group, which has 60,000 members, saw the attack streamed live and alerted police.

The film has since been removed from Facebook but it has been circulated on the internet.

Swedish prosecutors argued that Khodagholi had encouraged his friends, and "laughed and in close proximity filmed the incident with his mobile phone, and posted it live or very shortly after the rape on Facebook."

All three denied committing any crime. Ahmadi and Afshar admitted having sex with the woman but said it was consensual.

Khodagholi argued he was not the only one to film the events, and claimed he was unaware the victim did not want the images to be public.

But prosecutors said the woman was "heavily drunk" and "under the influence of drugs", which the men must have also noticed, the Uppsala district court said in a statement.

"It's not possible for a person in such a situation to consent (to sex)," judge Nils Palbrant said in a statement.

The men were also ordered to pay damages totalling 335,000 kronor ($38,000, 34,850 euros) to the victim.
Stockholm (AFP) - Sweden on Tuesday released a second suspect held over the deadly Stockholm truck attack earlier this month, prosecutors said.

"The person is no longer a suspect," the prosecution authority said in a statement, providing no other details about the person nor the reason for the arrest or release.

Four people were killed -- including two Swedes, one Briton and one Belgian -- when the driver of a stolen beer truck mowed down pedestrians on a busy shopping street in central Stockholm on April 7.

Rakhmat Akilov, a 39-year-old Uzbek national, confessed to driving the truck and is being held in custody but investigators are still searching for possible accomplices.

The second unnamed suspect was arrested on Sunday and released late Tuesday.

No terror group has claimed responsibility for the rampage, which resembled vehicle attacks in Nice, Berlin and London.

Construction worker Akilov is a father of four who was refused permanent residency in Sweden in June 2016. He went underground last year after receiving a deportation order, police said.

He is known to have sympathies for jihadist groups, including the Islamic State (IS).
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish court jailed three men on Tuesday for up to two and a half years for the rape of a woman that was broadcast live on Facebook. The rape, which shocked Sweden, took place earlier this year in the city of Uppsala, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Stockholm. Viewers of the live broadcast alerted police who swooped on an apartment in the city and detained the men. Two of the men were convicted of rape and the third, who received a six-month sentence, of failing to report the crime and defamation for broadcasting it. The court did not give their ages but said they were born between 1992 and 1998. The men had denied the charges, saying the woman had given consent to having sex with them. However, the court said the woman had been heavily intoxicated by alcohol and drugs and was in a very vulnerable situation. "It is not possible for a person in that situation to give consent. They should therefore be held accountable for rape," said Nils Palbrant, chairman of Uppsala district court chairman, said. The broadcast is the latest graphic video to bring into focus the complex ethical and policy issues faced by Facebook Live and others. Facebook Live allows anyone to broadcast a video directly from their smartphone. But while traditional TV broadcasters are subject to regulations, Internet streaming services do not face the same restrictions and enforce their own terms of service. (Reporting by Johan Sennero; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Tad Cummins, the Tennessee teacher arrested on accusations of kidnapping his student Elizabeth Thomas, will be presented in court Monday, CNN reported.

Cummins was arrested Thursday, almost five weeks after he went missing with the girl from Culleoka, Tennessee. Thomas was found in Northern California after law enforcement carried out a nationwide search.

Read: Who Is Tad Cummins? Facts About Ex-Teacher Who Allegedly Kidnapped Student Elizabeth Thomas

According to Siskiyou County, Californias prosecutor Kirk Andrus, Cummins is expected to be arraigned in Sacramento as he is currently in federal custody in California.

CNN also quoted acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Jack Smith as saying that the teacher may face at least 10 years in prison on the federal charge of transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of criminal sexual intercourse. In addition to this, Cummins will also face state charges of sexual contact with a minor and aggravated kidnapping.

Cummins, 50, disappeared with Thomas, 15, on March 13, days after they were reported to have been seen kissing in a classroom. According to surveillance video from March 15, which was released by authorities, they were spotted at a Walmart in Oklahoma City. The trail became cold soon after and Cummins was added to Tennessees Most Wanted list.

After both Cummins and Thomas were found, the teachers estranged wife Jill Cummins, who filed for divorce recently, said she was glad they were safe.

She is excited that they were found and nobody was hurt, her attorney Michael Cox was quoted saying by the publication. She has not spoken to Tad.

This is not somewhere they had frequently visited, he added, explaining that Cummins wife did not know why he went to California. Im not aware that they had ever been there.

In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America last week, Cummins wife voiced her disappointment with her husband.

I forgive him and I still love him, but it doesn't mean that I could ever trust him again, she said at the time. Because he betrayed my trust to the point that it's totally broken.

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By Katy Migiro SHISHIYU, Tanzania (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - With six wives, 16 children, 60 grandchildren and 500 acres of land, 80-year-old Tanzanian traditional healer Kuzenza Magoso worries his descendants could start fighting over his estate when he dies. Family land disputes can turn violent in Tanzania, where property is traditionally passed on from one male to another without title deeds or written wills. "To avoid conflict, I thought it was better for each wife to have her own house and property," said Magoso, a tall man with a white beard, wearing a red felt hat and an oversized jacket. "I don't care what people say about me. What's important to me is to make sure I have done the right thing for my family." Magoso's six wives each have a title deed showing they co-own their land with him. This is highly unusual in Tanzania where most rural land has not even been surveyed. Recognising the problem, the government has announced plans to issue titles to 2.5 million people by 2020 to protect rights and reduce land disputes, lands minister William Lukuvi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Undocumented tenure, which the United Nations estimates accounts for 70 percent of land ownership in developing countries, is rapidly being replaced by individual titling throughout the world. Women and the poor risk being left out, as savvy investors and elites better understand the importance of title deeds and how to get them, land rights experts say. "If formalisation is going to happen, it's so important that it happens equitably and inclusively," said Jennifer Duncan, a lawyer with Landesa, a Seattle-based land rights charity. "Land is still a critical asset of production for about 50 percent of the world." Tanzania has been embroiled in a series of controversial land acquisitions, as foreign companies jostle for land that villagers and indigenous people claim as theirs. "WOMEN ARE PROPERTY" Experts say giving women land rights unlocks enormous benefits for them, their families and the nation but they are often excluded because of culture, poverty and ignorance. "It was not easy to convince a husband to own land jointly," said Haji Kihwele, programme coordinator in northwestern Tanzania for Oxfam, which has supported the issuance of more than 500 titles in five villages in the region since 2015. "They said that women are property, so property cannot own property." Women own one-third of the 500-odd titles issued through the Oxfam project, usually jointly with their husbands, he said. The African Union is campaigning for 30 percent of registered land to be owned by women by 2025, which could reduce poverty and exposure to domestic violence as well as providing collateral for loans and security in old age, experts say. Women with strong land rights in Tanzania earn up almost four times more income, according to 2011 research by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute. "If they don't own the land, they don't make the decision on what they are growing," said Juliana Nnoko-Mewanu, a researcher on women and land with Human Rights Watch. Men tend to grow cash crops that are profitable and marketable, and may not allow women to plant slow-maturing foods, like cassava, she said. BEST IN AFRICA The bigger challenge for Tanzania is to find the money to issue title deeds at all. The East African nation has model land laws, drawn up after grassroots consultation. "It's the best example in Africa... of how it could be done well," said Duncan. "Under the legal framework, the communities should know where their boundaries are and have the right to decide what happens within those boundaries." As a first step, most of the borders of Tanzania's 14,000 odd-villages have been demarcated and mapped, she said. But only 10 percent of villages have completed the second stage of drawing up land use plans, according to Tanzania's Land Rights Research and Resources Institute, which must be done before title deeds can be issued. Land use plans show what parts of a village are needed for agriculture, public facilities and conservation and, critically, what idle land could potentially be sold to investors. "The government is still reluctant to promote this exercise, seeing as it's very expensive," said Kihwele, adding that the government requires 9 million Tanzanian shillings ($4,000) per village, although Oxfam has done it for half this cost. "To make sure that food production is sustainable, this land should be legalised." Lands minister Lukuvi said the registration process has been moving slowly especially in rural areas due to lack of operational capacity and financial constraints. Tanzanian farmers whose land has been taken by the government and leased to mining companies and large-scale food producers have received minimal compensation, he said. Seif Hussein, assistant administrative secretary for infrastructure in Tanzania's northern Mwanza region, acknowledges the problem but said local governments are short of compensation funds. The government's budget is focused on developing land use plans for fast-growing urban areas to stop slums mushrooming, he said, rolling out a glossy Mwanza city plan on his office desk. Mwalu Daudi, 41, a divorcee, is glad to be among the lucky few single women in Shishiyu village with a title deed. Her aunt was macheted to death in an inheritance dispute. "Women are suffering when their husbands die or they divorce," said Daudi, a solidly-built woman with plaited hair and a pink shawl around her shoulders. "No one can come and disturb me." The International Women's Media Foundation supported Katy Migiro's reporting from Tanzania ($1 = 2,230.0000 Tanzanian shillings) (Reporting by Katy Migiro Additional reporting by Kizito Makoye; Editing by Katie Nguyen. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.)
Languages are constantly evolving, and many have come and gone during the course of human history. Is Icelandic about to head into obscurity? The Associated Press reported it could be in danger of dying just like Latin, the language spoken by the once powerful ancient Romans. Blame technology.

The revered Icelandic language, seen by many as a source of identity and pride, is being undermined by the widespread use of English, both for mass tourism and in the voice-controlled artificial intelligence devices coming into vogue, the AP said. Asgeir Jonsson, an economics professor at the University of Iceland, told the news service, Not being able to speak Icelandic to voice-activated fridges, interactive robots and similar devices would be yet another lost field.

Read: Ancient Mammoth Hunters Made This Countrys Men the Tallest in the World

Its not the only language at risk because of technology. About a third of the worlds 6,000 languages  including Gaelic and Latvian  are at risk of being lost in the coming decades, the Multilingual Europe Technology Alliance reported.

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Photo: Pixabay, public domain

In the case of Iceland, foreign laborers making up a good chunk of the workforce, contributing even likelier people will use other languages.

Teachers are already sensing a change among students in the scope of their Icelandic vocabulary and reading comprehension, the AP said.

While some officials are pushing to save Icelandic, there arent a lot of citizens to share that load  Iceland boasts a population of fewer than 350,000 people. Thats a smaller group than there is in Wyoming, the least populated state in the United States.

Icelandic is a language that descended from the Vikings Old Norse. Icelandic has remained relatively unchanged since the 12th century, and so old Icelandic manuscripts can still be read by todays Icelanders, National Geographic reported. While the language can be daunting to outsiders, most Icelanders are fluent in English, and many also speak Danish, Norwegian or Swedish.

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See also:

Scientists Use Skull and Bones to Recreate Ancient Womans Face

Ancient Carvings Show Comet Crash That Changed the Climate

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Bangkok (AFP) - The Thai junta on Tuesday defended $393 million earmarked for a Chinese submarine, batting back criticism of the secrecy of the deal, its cost and the questionable utility of the warship.

The submarine sale is the latest defence deal between Beijing and Bangkok, who have grown ever closer since Thailand's 2014 coup.

Historically the Southeast Asian kingdom has been a major purchaser of western arms, especially from its traditional Cold War ally the United States.

But since the coup, which strained ties with the West, there has been a run of windfalls for China with Thailand scooping up several dozen Beijing-built tanks and inking plans to buy three submarines in total -- a purchase that will amount to $1 billion.

Talks are also underway for China to construct a multi-million dollar armaments and military hardware repair facility in Thailand.

The military-led cabinet approved the funds for the first submarine purchase last week -- a decision that was not made public until Monday, triggering concern about a lack of transparency.

The proposed sale has long fuelled controversy with critics saying submarines are of little strategic value in a country with shallow surrounding waters and no stake in the South China Sea disputes that have embroiled its neighbours.

The huge cost of the vessel has also raised eyebrows in Thailand, where ordinary people are feeling the pinch from years of lacklustre growth.

- 'Toys for the boys' -

On Tuesday the junta deputy leader General Prawit Wongsuwon insisted the deal was "transparent" and a good bargain for the Thai navy.

"The reason we choose Chinese-built submarines is because they are the cheapest when compared to other countries' offers," he told reporters.

The submarines are needed to "protect our natural resources in the Andaman Sea," he added, stressing that neighbouring countries "all have submarines."

Prawit said the first submarine will be delivered within the next six years, with two more expected over the next decade.

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Others are less convinced by the deal. A retired admiral recently told AFP that money for the submarines would be better spent on desperately needed navy patrol vessels and helicopters.

"No real navy man would push for these submarines," he said.

Defence spending has tripled in Thailand over the last decade, a period where the military has seized power twice.

"As the military has the final say on budgeting, there should be no surprise that we should see the junta seeking more 'toys for the boys'," said Paul Chambers, a expert on the Thai military.

"This is a contributing factor to Thailand's current economic morass," he told AFP, adding that the junta tried to keep the deal quiet because of its unpopularity.

The army, navy and air force tussle over the spoils of budget hikes, reflecting the balance of power among the military.

Thailand's military famously purchased a small Spanish aircraft carrier in the 1990s that now languishes in a port and has no aircraft.
A man in Phuket filmed himself killing his girlfriend's child and then himself on Facebook Live, Thai police said Tuesday, the latest example of the social network's live-streaming function being used to broadcast grisly crimes.

Officers on the southern resort island said they were alerted to the video by friends of the man and rushed to an abandoned hotel near the international airport on Monday afternoon.

"They had already died when I arrived there," Lieutenant Jullaus Suvannin, one of the first on the scene, told AFP, adding a smartphone was found propped up against a wall.

Police said they believed the man, Wuttisan Wongtalay, had previously argued with the mother of the murdered child, an 11-month girl.

It was not immediately clear whether the child was his.

Channel 3 television broadcast footage of the child's distraught mother, flanked by relatives, picking up both her daughter's body and the man's corpse from the local hospital on Tuesday.

Phuket's governor called on Thais not to share the four-minute clip of the murder and suicide, copies of which could still be found on the social network on Tuesday afternoon, some 24 hours after it went live.

It showed the man hanging the helpless girl from the edge of the derelict hotel.

Wuttisan's moment of suicide was not broadcast in the clip but his body was later found hanging the same way.

In a statement late Tuesday Facebook described the incident as "appalling".

"There is absolutely no place for content of this kind on Facebook and it has now been removed," the social network told AFP.

The killing comes just days after Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg vowed to work to keep the world's leading social network from being used to propagate harrowing acts like murder and suicide.

Zuckerberg was responding to pressure after a man in the US state of Ohio used Facebook Live to broadcast footage of himself walking up to a stranger in the street and shooting him dead.

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The killer went on to fatally shoot himself after a massive manhunt and police chase.

During a speech last Wednesday Zuckerberg conceded that Facebook had "a lot of work" to do on the issue.

"We are going to work on building common ground, not just getting more opinions out there," he added.

Facebook already has a 24-hour team of moderators who decide whether to remove content that is reported to them. Suicides and crimes are prioritised.

But the network says they are limited by how quickly they can respond to the sheer volume of content posted online each day.

They add that there have been instances where reported videos of a suicide attempt has resulted in a person being saved by local law enforcement, including such a case in Thailand in January.
By Harry Pearl SYDNEY (Reuters) - Thousands of people in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Turkey and Britain attended dawn services on Tuesday to commemorate ANZAC Day, the Gallipoli landings during World War One and the Thai-Burma "death railway" of World War Two. The day marks the landing of thousands of troops from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey on April 25, 1915. The ill-fated military campaign against the Turks has become an important anniversary to remember troops from both countries who served and died in war. Gallipoli was the first time that soldiers from Australia and New Zealand fought under their own flags and is seared in the national consciousness as a point where their nations came of age, emerging from the shadow of the British empire. Veterans and their families marched by flag-waving crowds and laid wreaths at war memorials in Sydney and other Australian cities. In Turkey, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and New Zealand Justice Minister Amy Adams attended a dawn service at ANZAC Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula where they laid wreaths. Turks mark what they call the Canakkale War on March 18 - the day in 1915 that saw the start of the main Allied naval assault on the Dardanelles Straits. More than 130,000 were killed during the campaign, most of them Turks. The 102nd anniversary of ANZAC Day was held amid tight security in Gallipoli after the Australian government said it had received information of a possible attack during the ceremony. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull posted a message and photo on social media on Tuesday after his unannounced visit to Australian troops in Afghanistan and Iraq this week. "We do not glorify war. ANZAC Day is not the anniversary of a great victory, but it commemorates the triumph of the human spirit," he said in a video message posted on Facebook. In Thailand, two former prisoners of war joined other Australians at Hellfire Pass in Kanchanaburi province, where POWs were forced by the Japanese army to build the infamous Thai-Burma "death railway" in 1942-43. "There's a lot of young people coming now and it's good that they learn what happened during the war," said 100-year-old former POW Harold Martin. Neil MacPherson, 95, who also worked on the railway, said: "I do think of mates of mine that didn't come through it and remembered them as they were then, rather than as Harold and I are now." More than 90,000 men died during the railway's construction - 12,000 prisoners of war and more than 80,000 Asian laborers. In London, hundreds of people attended a dawn service where Britain's Prince Andrew was among those paying their respects. (Reporting by Harry Pearl in SYDNEY, Juarawee Kittisilpa in Kanchanaburi, and Amy Sawitta Lefevre in BANGKOK; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Paul Tait)
As New Jersey Governor Chris Christie takes the lead in crafting the Trump administrations response to the opioid crisis, he and his colleagues need to understand that we cant fix the problem until we kick our long-term addiction to the war on drugs and accept overdoses for what they are: a health issue.

Although the majority of Americans who consume illicit drugs do so without addiction, opioid overdose has become a deadly reality. Every day, 120 to 140 people in the US die from drug overdoses, more than from gunshot wounds or car accidents. About 90 of these are due to opioids.

A growing number of Americans believe that drug misuse is a health problem. Yet we continue to rely on law enforcement and the criminal justice system to deal with it, despite resounding evidence that punishment does not stop people from misusing drugs. Hefty penalties for the possession or sale of drugs have been on the books for decades. They have done little to reduce the use of illicit substances, but have instead led to out-of-control incarceration, deprived communities, and wasted public resources.

Expecting the criminal justice system to solve a health crisis does more harm than good. For example, many jurisdictions are still reluctant to distribute naloxone  a lifesaving antidote to opioid overdose  to drug users and their families and friends. Instead, they limit its distribution to police officers and first responders. Police who carry naloxone can save lives, even though basic emergency medical technicians along with family members and friends of people who use drugs are more likely to be present and able to respond immediately to an overdose.

Read more: Chris Christie brings heartfelt approach to Trumps opioid commission, but some controversy too

Treating law enforcement as the primary responder to overdoses encourages punitive responses, like charging overdose survivors and bystanders with drug possession and other offenses. One town in Ohio has even started penalizing survivors with a misdemeanor charge of inciting panic  punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine  after saving them with naloxone. These penalties discourage people from calling for help when someone around them is overdosing and will likely cause more deaths than they prevent.

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The widespread adoption of drug courts  praised by former US Attorney General Eric Holder as a way to strengthen public health and build stronger, safer communities  is a similarly flawed solution. While some people have found help through drug courts, many of them rely on judges, not doctors, to make decisions about treatment. Drug courts often require total abstinence as a one-size-fits-all solution, sometimes ordering people off of medications like methadone or buprenorphine that are helping them reduce their reliance on heroin. Drug courts can also push people into the treatment system who arent dependent on drugs.

People for whom drug-court-ordered treatments dont work are then punished and pushed back into the criminal justice system, often with harsher prison sentences than they would have received in the first place.

Theres a better way. Its called harm reduction. This approach focuses on reducing the negative effects of drug use rather than on punishing people who use drugs in an often-futile attempt to make them stop. Harm reduction options like supervised injection facilities or drug consumption rooms have successfully prevented fatal overdoses and connected people to treatment in cities such as Vancouver, Sydney, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Zurich; there are 74 official drug consumption facilities in Europe alone.

Through its Open Arms program, Sao Paulo successfully provides housing, job training, drug treatment, and social services to people who use drugs without demanding abstinence. Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark all permit doctors to legally prescribe medical heroin to longtime users who have failed other treatments. These are just a few examples of countless projects around the world that provide holistic harm reduction services.

Law enforcement can play an important role in harm reduction. In fact, police can respond more effectively when they put health first. In Seattle, the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program lets police officers divert users and low-level dealers to harm reduction services instead of sending them to court and jail. That approach is catching on in cities across the country, including Santa Fe, N.M.; Albany, N.Y.; Baltimore; and Atlanta. University of Washington researchers found that LEAD in Seattle decreased recidivism by nearly 60 percent, and saved millions of dollars. LEAD participants were also significantly more likely to obtain housing, employment, and legitimate income.

In Vancouver, Canada, police have urged drug users to use the citys supervised injection facility, Insite, to prevent overdoses. In countries as diverse as Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, and Moldova, police have developed operational guidelines to respect the human rights of people who use drugs and advance public health goals like HIV prevention.

Read more: Opioid users flock to a safe place where they are monitored  and not judged

If we are serious about preventing overdoses and reducing the harm associated with substance misuse in the US, similar programs should be created here. We need solutions that meet people where they are, treat them as human beings, and provide evidence-based services to help them make necessary changes to lead healthier and safer lives.

That means providing tools and services directly to drug users and their families and friends, and supporting frontline responses by health and social service providers. We need harm reduction options based on evidence, public health, and a respect for human rights.

Above all, we need to kick our harmful and ineffective addiction to punishment  so police, health providers, and people who use drugs can work together to save and transform lives.

Marc Krupanski is a program officer with the Public Health Program of the Open Society Foundations, which aims to advance health and human rights by promoting social inclusion, transparency, accountability, and participation in health policy and practice. The Open Society Foundationss Public Health Program supports projects and organizations that advance the health and human rights of people who use drugs in over 26 countries.
When President Donald Trump welcomed Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to the White House earlier this month, he offered a warm greeting meant to put years of ill will between Cairo and Washington behind. I just want to let everybody know, in case there was any doubt, that we are very much behind President el-Sisi, Trump said.

But there are plenty of people in Washington, especially on Capitol Hill, who wish that wasnt quite the case.

Its important for me that Egypt become successful, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.-S.C.), the chairman of Senate Appropriations Committees Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs at a hearing Tuesday. His point? The uncritical U.S. embrace of Sisi and his controversial human rights record could make it harder to help Egypt fix what ails it.

All three experts who testified before the panel  Michele Dunne, a longtime Middle East expert at the State Department now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Elliott Abrams, who served in the George W. Bush administration and is now at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Tom Malinowski, formerly Obamas assistant secretary of State for democracy, human rights, and labor  painted the U.S.-Egypt relationship as a relic of a bygone era. All agreed that, given the poor human rights and economic conditions in Egypt at present, the relationship should be reconsidered.

In the 1970s, when Washington helped nudge Moscow out of Egypt and built closer ties with Cairo, Abrams said, Egypt was the most influential Arab country in the region. That is no longer the case.

And the Egyptian military, which has gobbled up billions of dollars in U.S. assistance in recent decades, is still built to refight the 1973 war with Israel, rather than take on Islamist militants. Whats more, he said, hamfisted security operations and brutal security services have not endeared the generals to regular folks. Egyptian policy shifted sympathy from military to militants, Abrams said.

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In theory, Washington could encourage better behavior from Egypt, which, with its 1.3 billion in assistance, is the second-largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid after Israel. But aid, especially if it goes for the military, can often just become a blank check, Dunne said. The U.S. doesnt have a way to ensure our assistance is not making the problem worse.

To help fix that, she suggested investment in human development and education instead of huge cash transfers. Abrams argued aid should be reviewed so that it is clearly used to target terrorism. And Malinowski urged the subcommittee to ask the question, Is our investment in Egypt appropriate? My strong view is that it is completely out of balance. He, too, said the United States should review its aid program. It could get a lot more out of whack: Trumps proposed budget would slash development aid and re-channel much foreign assistance through security budgets.

Some key lawmakers seem to be getting tired of Egypt, which has in the six years since the start of the Arab Spring struggled to achieve a stable economy or deliver many of the idealistic visions that animated protesters in Tahrir Square. Graham said just because Egypt has historically been stable does not mean it will always be. We need to reshape the relationship in a way thats sustainable, he said, adding that the military cannot be the strongest player in the economy.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) received assurances that Egyptian-Israeli relations would not deteriorate in the absence of U.S. support, a line of questioning that seemed to suggest the United States could reconstruct its relationship toward Egypt without awakening the wrath of Israels staunch supporters.

Trumps no-questions embrace of Sisi doesnt just color U.S.-Egyptian relations, Malinowski said: The rest of the world has noticed, and comes up when the United States tries to discuss human rights. (Just a few days ago, video emerged of extrajudicial killings by members of the military in North Sinai.)

The whole world sees the spectacle of el-Sisi welcomed in the White House without a mention of human rights, said Malinowski, saying he was saddened by the spectacle.

Photo credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
The world's most eligible bachelor is coming to Tinder  and he may not be who you expect.

In a new campaign launched Tuesday, Tinder has partnered with the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya to introduce users to Sudan, the last known male northern white rhino in existence. The platform hopes to save Sudan's species from extinction.

SEE ALSO: 9 incredible ways we're using drones for social good

As the last hope for all northern white rhinos, 42-year-old Sudan is one of the most protected animals on the planet, surrounded by armed guards at all times. He lives at the conservancy with the only two female northern white rhinos, Najin and Fatu.

But he's been unable to breed with Najin and Fatu due to a number of issues, including old age and a low sperm count.

Image: Tinder

Through Sudan's Tinder profile  complete with an adorable profile photo  Tinder and the Ol Pejeta Conservancy hope to raise a hefty $9 million to fund in-vitro efforts in lieu of natural breeding to save the northern white rhino.

"As a platform that makes millions of meaningful connections every day, raising awareness about Sudan the Rhino and the importance of finding his match seemed like something we could support in a really impactful way," a Tinder spokesperson told Mashable. "We've heard countless stories about Tinder babies, but this would be the first match to save a species."

Any users who see ads on Tinder could potentially see Sudan the Rhino in their card stack. When users swipe right on Sudan, they'll receive a message that features a link to donate, which would help fund ongoing research focusing on "assisted reproductive technologies."

Scientists are currently testing ways to use in-vitro fertilization on Najin and Fatu, as well as female southern white rhinos with Sudan's stored sperm, hoping to achieve white rhino pregnancies to support population growth.

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Southern white rhinos aren't endangered, but they are a different subspecies from northern white rhinos. These offspring, then, wouldn't be 100 percent northern white rhino, but experts say that option is better than extinction. And there are currently 17,000 southern white rhinos in existence, meaning chances of success are much higher.

White rhino populations around the globe have been severely threatened by poaching, with hundreds killed each year by illegal hunters. The animals are killed for their horns, which are traded illegally and used in traditional Asian medicines to treat a range of illnesses. They're particularly vulnerable to poaching because they're relatively unaggressive and travel in herds.

Sudan at the Ol Pejeta Conservacy in central Kenya.

Image: Glyn Edmunds / REX / Shutterstock

If successful, this would be the first time scientists carry out artificial reproduction in rhinos. They hope to establish a herd of 10 northern white rhinos after five years.

"Saving the northern white rhinos is critical if we are to, one day, reintroduce rhinos back into Central Africa," said Richard Vigne, CEO of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. "They contain unique genetic traits that confer upon them the ability to survive in this part of Africa. Ultimately, the aim will be to reintroduce a viable population of northern white rhino back into the wild, which is where their true value will be realized."

This isn't Tinder's first foray into supporting social good causes. Recently, the dating app let any user allocate $100 to a women-focused charity on International Women's Day. In 2014, the company partnered with Amnesty International to bring awareness to child and forced marriage around the globe through a series of in-app ads.

WATCH: The last Sumatran rhino left the U.S. to save his species
Washington (AFP) - The death toll from last week's Taliban attack on an Afghan military base stands at 144, a senior US defense official told AFP on Tuesday.

The exact toll from the assault had been unclear, with Afghan officials ignoring calls to break down the tally it gave of more than 100 soldiers killed or wounded.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the US defense official said that in addition to the 144 killed, about 60 more security forces were wounded.

Friday's attack on the Afghan National Army base outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif is believed to be one of the deadliest-ever Taliban attacks on a military installation.

Ten gunmen dressed in soldiers' uniforms and armed with suicide vests entered the base in army trucks and opened fire at unarmed troops at close range in the mosque and dining hall.

"The reason so many were able to be killed is you can't take weapons into the mosque or dining facility, you had a large group of people in a confined space," the official said.

"We think this was a very well-planned operation, probably four to six months to plan."

About 30 coalition forces were at a different part of the base at the time of the attack, but they were there in a train-and-advise capacity and were not involved in repelling the assault, which lasted about six hours, the official said.

Those coalition troops were likely German or US, though other nationalities may have been present too, the official said.

According to the US government's Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), 6,785 Afghan soldiers and police officers were killed between January 1 and November 12, 2016 with another 11,777 wounded.
(Reuters) - Toshiba Corp <6502.T> has decided to drop its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Aarata, which declined to approve the company's full-year financial statement, the Nikkei financial daily reported. The Japanese tech company is in the middle of a conflict with PwC Aarata over recent results and governance issues at Westinghouse Electric, its American nuclear subsidiary. Massive cost overruns at four nuclear reactors being constructed by Westinghouse in the Southeastern United States have forced Toshiba to estimate a $9 billion annual net loss and take drastic measures. PwC Aarata's refusal to sign-off on Toshiba's results has given the Tokyo Stock Exchange potential grounds for delisting the company. The company is in talks with second-tier auditing firms with which it has no potential conflicts of interest, the Japanese newspaper reported. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
The Hague (AFP) - Forget fake news. European police have joined forces to seize almost 10,000 tonnes of fake and harmful food and drink, from caviar to cashews, booze to bubbly water and even unassuming stock cubes.

Some 230 million euros ($250 million) worth of "potentially harmful" counterfeit food products and over 26 millions litres of beverages were impounded in a four-month joint Europol and Interpol operation involving 61 countries, the two agencies said Tuesday.

In total 13 million items were seized, and 13 people arrested during 50,000 checks carried out at shops, markets, airports, seaports and industrial estates from December 1 to March 31 in the sixth such annual operation, a joint statement said.

During the operation dubbed OPSON VI, German police cracked down on undeclared peanuts, cashew nuts and almonds mixed into imported hazelnut spreads and not labelled, which could have posed dangers for people with allergies.

"This operation has once again shown that criminals will fake any type of food and drink with no thought to the human cost as long as they make a profit," said Interpol coordinator Francoise Dorcier.

In France, police seized 179,000 counterfeit seasoning stock cubes posing as a famous brand, the two agencies said. It was not clear if they were the Maggi brand, so beloved in French households.

And in Tuscany, Italian police swooped on an organised group producing counterfeit red wine in a Tuscan farmhouse. In a new trend they also flushed out 31,000 bottles of mineral water, imitating a registered brand, in a separate operation.

Investigations took a fishy turn in Portugal, where in a warehouse in Porto thousands of cans almost expired sardines in tomato sauce were uncovered. Some 311,000 cans were seized along with 9,900 packing boxes, and the business was immediately shut down.

Some 530 kilos (1,160 pounds) of dodgy clams "unfit for human consumption" were also found in Spain, while in Denmark investigators uncovered several samples of supposed virgin olive oil which did not live up to their labelling.

More than 1,300 litres of vodka and whisky were seized in two illegal sites in Greece, and a large quantity of unrefrigerated, unpacked and unlabelled meat was tracked down with alcohol and tobacco in Ireland.

"OPSON VI confirmed the threat that food fraud represents, as it affects all types of products and all regions of the world," said Europol's head of intellectual property crime Chris Vansteenkist.
A Chinese court indefinitely postponed the trial of a prominent human rights lawyer on Tuesday, his supporters said, in a case that has sparked international concern after allegations he was tortured.

Xie Yang, who had worked on numerous cases considered politically sensitive by the ruling Communist Party, was among hundreds of legal staff and activists detained in a crackdown in the summer of 2015.

Dozens of supporters and several diplomats gathered at the court in the central city of Changsha for the start of Xie's trial -- believed to be on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" -- were told the case would not be heard on Tuesday.

Last-minute delays in sensitive trials are not uncommon even though Chinese law requires courts to give a defendant's family and lawyers three days notice of any changes, said Amnesty International China researcher Patrick Poon.

A new date was not provided.

Xie, who was arrested in the so-called "709 crackdown", claims police have used "sleep deprivation, long interrogations, beatings, death threats, humiliations" on him, and the EU has voiced concern over his case.

"Our country is always emphasising the rule of law, so through Xie Yang's case we can tell whether or not there is any kind of reality in that," a supporter at the courthouse told AFP, requesting anonymity.

Eleven countries, including Canada, Australia and Switzerland, also cited Xie's case in a letter to Beijing criticising China's detention practices.

"We are following this case very closely and our human rights counsellor is in Changsha today," a Beijing-based EU spokesman told AFP.

-- State power --

Xie is being represented by a court-designated advocate after he was denied the right to pick his own defence, his former attorney Chen Jiangang said.

The new lawyer, He Xiaodian, could not be reached for comment and the courtroom also did not answer calls on Tuesday.

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Chen said He had contacted Xie's family on Monday night to advise them not to go to the courtroom. "But they did not get any clear information saying the trial date was different," he said.

Court officials had confirmed to Xie's wife, Chen Guiqiu, that the trial would start Tuesday, she said in a statement last week.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a tightening of controls on civil society since assuming power in 2012, closing avenues for legal activism that had opened up in recent years.

While the government initially targeted political activists and human rights campaigners, it has increasingly turned its attention to the legal professionals who represent them.

"The lawyers are seen as threatening because what they do in the ordinary course is use courts to attack government policies," Karla Simon of the New York University School of Law told AFP.

Among Xie's clients were Chinese activists who supported Hong Kong democracy.

In December, he was indicted on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" and "disrupting court order", according to US-based charity Chinese Human Rights Defenders.

An AFP reporter at the court Tuesday was taken into police custody for about an hour, with officials saying they wanted to verify his credentials.
SAN FRANCISCO  A federal judge on Tuesday blocked any attempt by the Trump administration to withhold funding from "sanctuary cities" that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration officials, saying the president has no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued the preliminary injunction in two lawsuits  one brought by the city of San Francisco, the other by Santa Clara County  against an executive order targeting communities that protect immigrants from deportation.

The injunction will stay in place while the lawsuits work their way through court.

The judge rejected the administration's argument that the executive order applies only to a relatively small pot of money and said President Donald Trump cannot set new conditions on spending approved by Congress.

Even if the president could do so, those conditions would have to be clearly related to the funds at issue and not coercive, as the executive order appears to be, Orrick said.

"Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the president disapproves," the judge said.

It was the third major setback for the administration on immigration policy.

The Justice Department had no immediate comment.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said the president was "forced to back down."

"This is why we have courts  to halt the overreach of a president and an attorney general who either don't understand the Constitution or chose to ignore it," he said in a statement.

A Justice Department attorney, Chad Readler, had defended the president's executive order as an attempt to use his "bully pulpit" to "encourage communities and states to comply with the law."

And he said the order applied to only three Justice Department and Homeland Security grants that would affect less than $1 million for Santa Clara County and possibly no money for San Francisco.

But the judge disagreed, saying the order was written broadly to "reach all federal grants" and potentially jeopardizes hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to San Francisco and Santa Clara.

He cited comments by the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions as evidence that the order was intended to target a wide array of federal funding. And he said the president himself had called it a "weapon" to use against recalcitrant cities.

The government hasn't cut off any money yet or declared any communities to be sanctuary cities. But the Justice Department sent letters last week warning communities to prove they are in compliance. California was informed it could lose $18.2 million.

"Sanctuary cities" is a loosely defined term for jurisdictions that don't comply with immigration authorities.

The Trump administration argued that the executive order applied narrowly to cities that forbid officials to report people's immigration status to federal authorities. Orrick said it could also be construed to apply to cities that refuse to hold jail inmates for immigration authorities.

The Trump administration says that sanctuary cities allow dangerous criminals back on the street and that the order is needed to keep the country safe. San Francisco and other sanctuary cities say turning local police into immigration officers erodes the trust that is needed to get people to report crime.

The order has also led to lawsuits by Seattle; two Massachusetts cities, Lawrence and Chelsea; and a third San Francisco Bay Area government, the city of Richmond. The San Francisco and Santa Clara County lawsuits were the first to get a hearing before a judge.

On Tuesday, mayors from several cities threatened with the loss of federal grants emerged from a meeting with Sessions saying they remain confused about how to prove their police are in compliance with immigration policies.

The sanctuary city order was among a flurry of immigration measures Trump has signed since taking office in January, including a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries and a directive calling for a wall on the Mexican border.

A federal appeals court blocked the travel ban. The administration then revised it, but the new version also is stalled in court.

___

Associated Press writer Sadie Gurman in Washington contributed to this story.
Donald Trump will meet Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in New York next week, rebooting a relationship that got off to a rocky start shortly after the US president's inauguration.

The White House announced Tuesday that the meeting will take place May 4 at the USS Intrepid museum in New York, where Trump is set to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II.

It will be their first encounter since a surly introductory phone call last January rattled the long-standing alliance between the two nations.

"The president will hold a bilateral meeting with Malcolm Turnbull of Australia," the president's spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.

Turnbull said he was "delighted" at the invitation, for which his government had pushed, according to Australian media.

"Australia and the United States are enduring allies," the prime minister said in a statement.

"Our alliance has been forged over many decades, through times of war and times of peace, securing our nations' freedom and peace and security in the world."

During his introductory phone chat with Turnbull, Trump reportedly exploded, cutting short the call when he learned about a previously agreed deal for the United States to take refugees from Pacific island detention centers.

Trump later tweeted his disapproval of the "dumb deal" signed by his predecessor Barack Obama.

That left some in Australia questioning the mercurial US president's commitment to the decades-old relationship.

During a visit to Australia last week that partly aimed to smooth ruffled feathers, US Vice President Mike Pence reaffirmed US plans to take the refugees.

Nevertheless, friction between Washington and Canberra has increased during Trump's presidency over several stumbling blocks, including the US withdrawal from a trans-Pacific trade deal that would have given Australian firms more access to markets in the United States and several key regional markets.

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Next week's meeting will be held on the hangar deck of the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier.

The Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 -- a major naval engagement in the Pacific Ocean during World War II -- pitted the Japanese navy against US and Australian naval and air forces.

A strategic victory for the Allies, it marked the first time they checked a major Japanese advance since the start of the war.
WASHINGTON  Not quite 100 tumultuous days into his term, President Trumps foreign policy remains a work in progress  a frequently shifting, unpredictable approach to world affairs that has unsettled rivals, but also sometimes unnerves even close allies who wonder if anyone can speak with authority for the Twitter-reliant commander in chief.

In interviews over the past three weeks, diplomats representing major U.S. allies in Washington, career U.S. foreign policy hands, lawmakers and aides of both parties cautioned against making snap judgments of Trumps America First foreign policy at the traditional 100-day mark. They underlined that the new president faces a steeper learning curve than some of his predecessors as a result of his lack of government experience and a governing style many referred to as disruption. They also noted that a large number of pivotal positions at the Pentagon and State Department remain vacant, hindering the regular policymaking process.

At the same time, some embassies in Washington are prepared to send home their own 100-day assessments of how the new president is making the transition from the frequently improvisational rhetoric of his history-making campaign to the job of handling crises, challenges and opportunities on the global stage.

The whole bias so far of the Trump candidacy and presidency, at least rhetorically, has been a bias towards disruption, said Richard Haass, a former George W. Bush senior State Department official who has been the president of the Council on Foreign Relations for over a decade. Its early, but you can understand why some people would be unnerved, Haass told Yahoo News by telephone.

During the campaign, Trump promised an unpredictable foreign policy that keeps Americas enemies guessing. Earlier this month, in the aftermath of a chemical weapons attack that led him to rain cruise missiles on a Syrian military base, the president explained that he views himself as a very flexible person ready to embrace new approaches if the world changes.

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But sometimes the world doesnt change, and the presidents language does.

About 10 days before his Feb. 13 talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House, Trump complained in a meeting with lawmakers about Americas relationship with its second-largest trading partner and repeated his campaign denunciations of the North American Free Trade Agreement as unfair.

You realize Canada runs a $16 billion surplus with the United States? Trump declared (incorrectly) at the meeting, according to one participant, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with President Trump in the Oval Office in February. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

But later, with Trudeau at his side in the East Room of the White House, the complaints vanished. We have a very outstanding trade relationship with Canada, he declared. Rip up NAFTA? Not the parts having to do with Canada, Trump said. Well be tweaking it; well be doing certain things that are going to benefit both of our countries. Its a much less severe situation than whats taken place on the southern border, he told Trudeau.

A month later, Trump had abandoned the tweaking, forcefully complaining at an April 18 rally in Wisconsin about Canadas very unfair treatment of American dairy farmers, then escalating his rhetoric in an appearance in the Oval Office two days later.

Canada, what theyve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace. Its a disgrace,  he said. We cant let Canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they did to our workers and to our farmers, he added, vowing to get to the negotiating table with Canada very, very quickly.

Canadas embassy provided Yahoo News with a lengthy rebuttal from Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland to Trumps trade complaints, but did not directly address the dramatic shift in tone.

Whether the chaos is a feature or a bug of Trumps approach to world affairs, it has left some in Washington flummoxed. His shifting moods have sometimes left advisers only able to guess at what he wants. And even though his national security team has drawn praise and remains accessible to lawmakers and allies, it doesnt always have the final word on policy.

Its become a commonplace in diplo circles to joke that this president has handed the security portfolio to the military, and everything else to the economists from Goldman Sachs, one diplomat for a major U.S. ally said on condition of anonymity. But the reality is that we, and they [the administration], are trying to figure out what the actual policies are.

Another diplomat for a different major U.S. ally told Yahoo News that while his country cant complain about access to top Trump advisers  like Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster or Vice President Mike Pence, experts on the National Security Council or Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner  they dont always provide clear answers.

Jared Kushner on a tour of Baghdad, April 3, 2017. (Photo: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro/DoD/Handout via Reuters)

Its not an access problem. The problem is, on the one hand they dont tell us anything, on the other they tell us something but add that they dont necessarily speak for the president, because he has not formally declared where he stands, the diplomat said. Trump aides have been unable or unwilling to say when to expect the presidents review of the strategy for destroying the so-called Islamic State, for example, or whether the missile strikes from earlier this month were the beginning of a new policy of punishing atrocities with targeted strikes, the diplomat said. What we hear is, Hmm, no, I really cant say.

Another diplomat, also representing a close Western ally, described this more cautiously as the administrations improvisational approach to some issues. Senior Trump aides are candid about where they think the policy is going, but they are very clear when the final decision will rest with the president, that official said.

While some try to dissect Trumps tweets on foreign affairs, the third diplomat warned against viewing them as policymaking.

You can follow the tweets, hour by hour, or you can stand back a little bit, and think about what youre hearing in private discussions to think about the actual direction of the policy, that official said.

Trump has bought some goodwill from once-skeptical Capitol Hill hawks by promising to boost military spending but unsettled many in Congress by proposing a massive cut in State Department funding. Lawmakers and allies generally had a warm reaction to his missile strike against Syrian forces, seen by some as a long-overdue signal after Barack Obama threatened military action but failed to follow through.

It was important because it sent a message to the world that the United States is prepared to act if necessary, Leon Panetta, who served as defense secretary and CIA director under Barack Obama, told Yahoo News. But like everything Trump, theres a huge amount of unpredictability, because youre not sure that theres an underlying strategy thats been thought out here and that they simply arent reacting to crisis when it happens.

On some other significant issues, Trump has broken  or at least postponed  some major campaign-trail promises. He has largely backed off threats to confront China on trade, notably a pledge to formally accuse Beijing of manipulating its currency to gain an edge for its exports. He has acknowledged in an interview that his confidence that China could easily resolve the growing threat from North Korea was misplaced.

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping with their wives, first lady Melania Trump and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan, at Mar-a-Lago. (Photo: Alex Brandon/AP)

Trumps softer tone on China is the most welcome sign of transition from being outsiders in transition to being insiders who govern, Haass said.

To some extent its a reflection of the primacy of the urgency of the North Korea issue, Haass said. But its also a reflection that foreign policy cannot be only about the transformation of the Middle East, it has to be also about stabilization of Asia.

The uncertainty is much less of a problem on North Korea, where the Trump administration has carried out a formal policy review that the president has signed off, making it easier for diplomats to shrug off policymaking-by-tweet.

And the president has kept at least one major foreign policy promise: He ripped up the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, which was already dead in Congress.

In the aftermath of dumping TPP, which was designed in part to reassure allies that the United States would not cede Asia to China, the Trump administration has worked hard to reassure allies in the region. Mattis, Tillerson and Pence have all traveled there.

I think it is fair to say that the best thing about the Trump administration at this point is his national security team, Panetta told Yahoo News. They are professional, adults, they seem to understand the challenges and the risks, and fortunately Trump appears to be listening to them and adjusting his positions.

Trump has also repudiated his campaign trail dismissal of NATO as obsolete and questioning the mutual-defense promise at its core. He now endorses the alliance, while pressing fellow members to meet their self-imposed goal of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.

Where he once predicted better ties with Russia, he now takes a harder line, virtually ruling out lifting economic sanctions over Moscows actions in Ukraine. His angry denunciations of the Iran nuclear deal havent led him to tear up the agreement. He has delayed on his promise to quickly move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which would risk a backlash from the Arab world. The United States hasnt pulled out of the Paris climate agreement he and some of his top aides have denounced  at least not yet.

President Trump with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a news conference at the White House in April. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

At the same time, he has ramped up the U.S. troop presence in Syria ahead of what is expected to be a difficult campaign to roust the Islamic State from its self-proclaimed capital, Raqqa. And White House officials expect him to sign off on the Pentagons request for thousands of additional forces in Afghanistan, where America still has roughly 8,400 troops fighting Americas longest war.

Experts note that Trump has given broad freedom to Mattis on military affairs, and that the retired general has been running a broad review of the war on the Islamic State.

But the president has not given Mattis leeway to decide what our Syria policy will be, or what our China policy will be, according to Elliott Abrams, who advised Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush on foreign policy and was briefly considered for the No. 2 job at the State Department. These involve the president, vice president, national security adviser, secretary of state and other senior officials.

Trump has had a busy-bordering-on-hectic diplomatic schedule during his first months in office. He has formally met with a parade of world leaders and senior officials from Britain, Japan, Canada, Israel, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Germany, Iraq, Denmark, Egypt, Jordan and Italy, as well as the secretary-general of NATO. His first foreign trip is likely to be a late-May NATO summit in Brussels, followed by a gathering of leaders from the Group of Seven rich democracies in Sicily.

But vacancies at senior levels in the State Department and Pentagon hamper the normal foreign-policy-making process, even hindering some of Trumps priorities because the people in charge of communicating among agencies arent in place, making it hard to forge a consensus. One academic has called it a neckless government, where the head and body arent connected. (The academic, Paul Light, also used that nickname back in 2009, when Obama had a similar problem.)

President Trump escorts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the White House in February. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

Its less of a problem at the Pentagon, Abrams explained. The difference between the Department of State and the Department of Defense is that Tillerson has to appoint all the senior officials, while Mattis has the whole uniformed military in place and ready to work for him on Day 1, he said.

The arbitrary 100-day mark isnt an especially good one for gauging foreign policy, only for getting a general sense of a new president. For now, some of his critics see his top national security choices and his shifts from his campaign rhetoric as reasons for optimism  while remaining aware that things could change.

After 100 days, I have a lot of trust in the national security team, Panetta said. But Im not sure I trust Trump yet.

Read more from Yahoo News coverage of Trumps first 100 days:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on May 4 in New York City, a White House spokesman said on Tuesday. The bilateral meeting will follow a speech by Trump aboard the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier turned museum on the Hudson River, to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, a major World War Two naval battle during which the United States and Australia fought the Japanese, spokesman Sean Spicer said. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Eric Walsh; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - US President Donald Trump told UN Security Council ambassadors that the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was "not a deal breaker" in negotiations on ending the war, Russia's envoy said Tuesday.

Trump, who has branded Assad "a butcher", said it was up to the Syrian people to decide, during a White House luncheon meeting on Monday with the 15 ambassadors, said Russian charge d'affaires Petr Iliichev.

"He said that the future of Assad is not a deal breaker," Iliichev told AFP.

"He said that whether he stays or he leaves is not important. What is important is the political process, the cessation of bloodletting, of hostilities."

"And then the people will decide."

Iliichev insisted that Trump specifically used the words "not a deal breaker" in reference to the future of the Syrian leader.

UN-brokered talks on ending the six-year war in Syria have hit a wall over opposition demands that Assad step down as part of any settlement.

Russia, Assad's top ally in the war, has long insisted that Assad's fate would be settled through elections to be held as part of a transition.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said his understanding of Trump's policy on Syria was to "end this conflict as swiftly as possible" and that this entailed "political talks that will lead to a transition, after which Assad will no longer be in power."

Following a suspected chemical attack that prompted the United States to fire missile strikes, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said that peace in Syria would be impossible with Assad in power.

"There's not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime," she said.

"If you look at his actions, if you look at the situation, it's going to be hard to see a government that's peaceful and stable with Assad."

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The United States toughened its tone toward Assad following the suspected chemical attack in Khan Sheikhun that Washington blamed on his forces.

Trump, who had floated the idea during his campaign of cooperation with Damascus to fight Islamic State, said Assad had "crossed a lot of lines" with the alleged use of chemical weapons and that his attitude towards him had changed "very much."

Syria and North Korea were the main topics at the meeting between Trump and the Security Council, but the ambassadors also raised concerns about proposed cuts to US funding to the United Nations.
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Monday stressed the importance of remembering lessons of the Holocaust, underscoring the need to "remain vigilant against hateful ideologies and indifference."

"Every generation must learn and apply the lessons of the Holocaust so that such horror, atrocity, and genocide never again occur," Trump said in a proclamation marking the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.

Recalling that the Holocaust was "the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and attempted annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazi regime and its collaborators," the Republican president stressed the need to "remember the victims, honor their memory and their lives, and celebrate humanity's victory over tyranny and evil."

"We pledge to never be bystanders to evil. We must never forget," said Trump, who will give a speech Tuesday at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

Presidential adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump, who converted to Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner, said in a White House statement that world leaders should pledge to ensure that "genocide like the Holocaust will never happen again."

She will be in Berlin on Tuesday participating in a "Women 20" meeting about female economic empowerment, and will visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the statement said.

President Trump raised eyebrows in January shortly after taking office when he issued a statement marking Holocaust Remembrance Day that made no mention of the six million Jews killed.

The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks acts of anti-Semitism, called the omission "puzzling and troubling."

Trump was also criticized for his slow reaction to a spate of anti-Semitic threats against Jewish community centers.

Earlier this month, White House spokesman Sean Spicer was forced to apologize after appearing to favorably compare Adolf Hitler's actions during the Holocaust to atrocities carried out now by Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad.

His comments provoked outrage far beyond America's borders, especially in Israel.
Donald Trump barely mentioned Canada while campaigning for president, and it certainly wasnt one of the countries he charged with eating our lunch on trade. Yet President Trumps first substantial actions on trade have been targeted at Canada, normally considered an American BFF. Whats going on?

Not much that wasnt already in the works, it turns out. Canada and the United States are, in fact, longstanding trade partnersbut there have always been a few disputes regarding certain industries, even under the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in 1994. Whats different all of a sudden is, well, Trump, and the bombastic remarks he tends to make on matters few people were paying attention to until he declared trade the bogeyman responsible for falling middle-class living standards.

Trump recently said a Canadian effort to protect domestic dairy farmers was disgraceful, because it imperiled some American dairy exports to Canada. And his Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, said recently that the United States will impose tariffs of 3% to 24% on imported Canadian lumber products used in homebuilding, to fight back, Ross says, against unfair subsidies that push the Canadian product below market prices.

Ongoing trade disputes with Canada

It would be less surprising to see such Trumpian punishments targeted at China or Mexico. But Canada turns out to be an easy target because the lumber dispute has been simmering for years, and the US government actually laid the groundwork for tariffs during the Obama administration. Its not necessarily a surprise, says Cathleen Cimino-Isaacs of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. This has been a bilateral irritant for decades. The United States has been a longstanding user of these practices. Maybe Trump will accelerate the use of them.

The US has pursued six trade disputes against Canada at the World Trade Organization since 1998, relating to products such as dairy, grain and wheat. Canada has pressed 16 disputes against the United States during the period of time, involving beef, pork, wheat, syrup and other products. Six of those 16 disputes involved the same category of lumber the US Commerce Department now plans to fight back on, indicating the tit-for-tat nature of trade disputes. In general, one nation typically claims the other is imposing unfair tariffs on imports, or otherwise tilting the playing field to favor domestic producers. Some outcomes are inconclusive, while in other cases, the WTO finds in favor of one side or the other, and the offending party generally knocks it off. Canada has accused the United States of cheating on trade just as the United States is now accusing Canada.

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There are similar procedures for settling trade disputes among the three signatories of the North American Free Trade AgreementCanada, Mexico and the US. There have been more than 200 disputes since the deal went into effect in 1994, bust most of those date to the 1990s. Since 2010, there have only been a handful of disputes, indicating the three nations generally get along on tradeor at least they did before Trump arrived.

The United States is much friendlier with Canada on trade than it is with China. There are 4 distinct trade protection orders in place regarding Canadian imports to the US; there are 163 such orders pertaining to Chinese imports. Only 13 such orders relate to Mexican imports. But Trumps beef with Mexico isnt really about cheap imports from there; its the outsourcing of jobs once done in America to factories south of the border.

President Obama pursued numerous sanctions against trade partners his administration accused of unfair behavior, and won in many cases. But Obama barely ever talked about trade disputes and never blamed trade for the nations economic problems, the way Trump does. So some voters might think the US government never paid attention to trade abuses until Trump showed up, which isnt true. In reality, Trump has simply made trade a much bigger deal, with voters almost certain to hear a lot more about it during the next four years.

Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com

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Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.
By Richard Cowan and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump indicated an openness on Monday to delaying his push to secure funds for his promised border wall with Mexico, potentially eliminating a sticking point as lawmakers worked to avoid a looming shutdown of the federal government.

Trump, in a private meeting with conservative media outlets, said he may wait until Republicans begin drafting the budget blueprint for the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1 to seek government funds for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the White House confirmed.

Trump, whose approval ratings have slid since he took office, is facing a Friday deadline for Congress to pass a spending bill funding the government through September or risk marking his 100th day in office on Saturday with a government shutdown.

"Now the bipartisan and bicameral negotiators can continue working on the outstanding issues," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement on Monday night.

Earlier on Monday, Schumer reiterated an assertion made last week that bipartisan negotiations in Congress were going well until the White House began demanding money for the wall as a condition for accepting a funding bill.

Although Republicans control both chambers of Congress, a funding bill will need 60 votes to clear the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 52 seats, meaning at least some Democrats will have to get behind it.

If no spending measure covering April 29 to Sept. 30 is in place before 12:01 a.m. (0401 GMT) on Saturday, government funds will halt and hundreds of thousands of the country's several million federal employees will be temporarily laid off.

Those in jobs deemed essential such as law enforcement are expected to keep working in the hope they will receive back pay. Non-essential sectors such as national parks are liable to be closed and programs such as federally funded medical research will grind to a halt.

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Failure to approve a government funding bill could also throw new doubts over Republicans' ability to fashion a budget blueprint for the next fiscal year or to succeed in a major effort to cut corporate and individual taxes that Trump has touted.

STICKING POINTS

Congressional leaders will likely have to decide by late on Tuesday whether negotiations are progressing enough to try to pass a spending bill funding the government through September, Senator Roy Blunt, a member of the Republican leadership and Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters on Monday.

If negotiations have slowed or stalled, Congress could pursue a short-term extension of existing spending levels to avoid a government shutdown, giving lawmakers more time to reach a deal. Leading Democrats have said they would support such a measure only if talks are progressing.

Short-term funding measures, known as continuing resolutions that cover periods of days, have been used to avert government shutdowns in the past. But in 2013, conservative Republicans forced a 17-day shutdown in a failed attempt to repeal former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

A Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare imploded in Congress last month and the White House said on Monday that another vote could not come for weeks.

But Trump has dangled the prospect of funding some elements of the law, which enabled millions more Americans to secure healthcare coverage, in exchange for Democrats' support in the spending talks.

The White House had offered to include $7 billion in Obamacare subsidies that allow low-income people to pay for healthcare insurance in exchange for Democratic backing of $1.5 billion in funding to begin construction of a barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border.

It was unclear on Monday whether delaying wall funding until later spending negotiations would invalidate the White House pledge to include Obamacare subsidy funding for low-income people in the current proposal funding the government through September.

Trump has argued that a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States. In a Twitter message on Monday, Trump wrote: If... the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be!

Earlier on Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump's demand that Congress include funds for the construction of the wall remained a White House priority.

"The president has made very clear that he's got two priorities in this continuing resolution: No. 1, the increase in funding for the military and No. 2, for our homeland security and the wall," Spicer told reporters.

The White House is confident in the direction of the talks and an announcement is expected soon, Spicer said, although he declined to say specifically whether Trump would sign a bill that did not contain money for border security and the wall.

Trump has said Mexico will repay the United States for the wall if Congress funds it first. But the Mexican government is adamant it will not provide any financing and Trump has not laid out a plan to compel Mexico to pay. Department of Homeland Security internal estimates have placed the total cost of a border barrier at about $21.6 billion.

Aside from inflaming relations with a major trading partner, the planned wall has angered Democrats. They showed no sign of softening their opposition on Monday and sought to place responsibility for any shutdown squarely on Trump and congressional Republicans.

(Additional reporting by Ayesha Rascoe, Julia Edwards Ainsley, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Paul Simao and Amanda Becker; Editing by Frances Kerry and Peter Cooney)
Washington (AFP) - Slash corporate taxes and hope the resulting bounce in economic growth brings in enough government revenue to stop the budget deficit from ballooning.

This is the centerpiece of a sweeping new tax policy outline that President Donald Trump is due to unveil Wednesday.

The move will come with the 100-day mark of Trump's young presidency fast approaching and Congress working to pass spending legislation to avoid a government shutdown Friday night.

Officials have described Wednesday's announcement as a statement of principles rather than the unveiling of precise legislation. But no president has overseen a comprehensive reform of the US tax code since 1986 -- and several have tried.

Still, Trump has said he may seek to enact the biggest cuts to corporate and individual tax rates ever, with such pledges helping US stocks rally ever higher on Tuesday.

Trump's efforts will no doubt be complicated by his plans to revive health care reform after a prior attempt fell victim to disagreements among Republican lawmakers last month.

And the corporate tax cut pledge -- which would see marginal tax rates for companies fall from 35 percent to as little as 15 percent -- as well as other ideas advanced by the administration will have to contend with the complex realities of US fiscal policy and a starkly divided Congress.

Republican lawmakers are loath to increase deficits and passage of tax cuts frequently involves delicate compromises on the countless deductions offered by the tax code.

- Paying for itself? -

Yet various estimates say dropping corporate taxes to 15 percent as favors doing could add north of $2 trillion to the budget deficit over a decade. Republicans in Congress have proposed a somewhat higher rate of 20 percent.

As details of the tax plan began to emerge, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Trump likewise planned to slash the top tax rate for "pass-through" companies to 15 percent.

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The category includes most US businesses, including Trump's own real estate firms, and describes the passage of income to the business owners, according to the Journal.

The Trump administration also plans to cut taxes on the middle class, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The president's daughter Ivanka, meanwhile, has likewise promoted the idea of a tax break for child care.

Calculations using so-called dynamic scoring, which assumes that economic growth will replace revenues otherwise lost to tax cuts, could lessen the forecast fiscal burden created by Trump's tax proposals.

On the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund spring meetings last week, Mnuchin said Trump's tax proposals "will pay" for themselves with growth, a view often greeted with skepticism by Democrats.

"These promises about all kinds of growth and investment that are going to be triggered by these tax cuts never appear, and the empirical historical record is clear on that," Jared Bernstein, a former economic advisor to then vice president Joe Biden, told The Wall Street Journal.

Trump has also proposed reducing the number of income tax brackets from seven to three (33 percent, 25 percent and 12 percent) while increasing annual US economic growth to three percent or higher.

Economists, however, say that without major increases in productivity and the size of the labor force, such tax cuts are unlikely to be deficit neutral, meaning that they do not add to the deficit.

Mnuchin was optimistic last week, saying that the Trump administration "fundamentally believes in dynamic scoring."
Tucker Carlson made his debut Monday night in the primetime slot formerly occupied by ousted Fox News host Bill OReilly by debating transgender rights with his first guest, Caitlyn Jenner.

Carlson opened the interview by commending Jenner for her support of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential race.

Jenner quickly clarified that she never outwardly supported Trump.

The media did that for me, she said. Im on the Republican, conservative side, and he wound up being our candidate. So I certainly was going to vote for him.

But Jenner, the reality television star turned transgender rights activist, said Trump has not made progress on LGBT issues.

Thats where my fight is, she said. I thought Trump would be good, but hes kind of disappointed me in the first 100 days.

Still, Jenner said she doesnt regret voting for him.

Im not a one-issue voter, she said. Id rather convince the Republican Party to do a better job when it comes to all LGBT issues than convince Democrats to lower taxes and lower regulations and let our country thrive.

Related: Ivanka Trump booed at W20 summit after calling father a champion for women

But Jenner said shes troubled by some of the signals the Trump administration has been sending on transgender rights, including its rescinding of Title IX protections for transgender students in public schools. During the campaign, Trump said Jenner could use any Trump Tower bathroom she wanted.

Jenner also told Carlson that she would like to see the murders of transgender women prosecuted as hate crimes.

Carlson wondered why it isnt enough to simply treat the killings as homicides, since everyones an American and all lives are equal.

Too many times, trans women who are murdered are brushed off to the side, Jenner explained. Oh, look, its only a trans woman. Look what she was doing.

At the top of the show, Carlson addressed his arrival in OReillys time slot.

For those of you tuning in and expecting to see someone different in this anchor chair, Carlson said, I know the feeling well. I watched Bill OReilly for years, and I always marveled how well prepared he was. How tough he was and how crisply and toughly he expressed his views. What OReilly did was not easy. He set a high bar to meet. And Ill do my best to meet it.

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Fox parted ways with OReilly last week amid mounting allegations of sexual harassment.

Later, Carlson assured viewers that the tone of the 8 p.m. hour would not change.

The show will always be, as weve said, the sworn enemy of lying pomposity, smugness and groupthink, he said.

Read more from Yahoo News:

 This was the culture: Former Fox colleagues react after Bill OReilly ouster

 Obama makes first public remarks since leaving office

 Trump approaches 100 days with lowest job approval rating in more than 70 years

 Hillary Clinton reportedly said that was my last race after losing election

 Trump: Syria gas attack had a big impact on me
Tunis (AFP) - Tunisia's parliament voted on Tuesday to ease the country's harsh law on drugs, in a move that could see offenders like youths caught smoking marijuana escape jail terms.

The North African country has faced mounting calls from rights groups and civil society to reform the law.

Tuesday's vote comes after the National Security Council headed by President Beji Caid Essebsi announced in March measures to limit the number of drug-users sent to prison.

Law 52, dating back to the rule of toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, imposes a mandatory one-year jail sentence for narcotics use, ruling out any mitigating circumstances.

Judges were obliged to apply the law, with offenders facing sentences of up to five years in jail.

On Tuesday 133 legislators out of 144 parliamentarians present in the national assembly voted to amend the law, granting judges the power to use their own discretion and take into account mitigating circumstances.

This could mean that some first-time offenders will avoid prison.

Justice Minister Ghazi Jeribi told lawmakers the vote was a "temporary" measure until broader reform of Law 52.

"A considerable step has been taken," lawyer Ghazi Mrabet, who has long campaigned against the harsh terms of the law, said on Facebook.

"Civil society has won the first battle but the fight will continue."

Before Tunisia's 2011 revolution, Law 52 was used to suppress criticism of the Ben Ali regime.

Its application has since become widespread, with thousands of young Tunisians locked up each year, mostly for cannabis-related offences.

Between 2011 and 2016, the number of trials under the law shot up from 732 to 5,744, official figures show.

At the end of December, the government presented a draft amendment to parliament.

The text, which initially provided for the abolition of prison sentences for the first two convictions, is still blocked in the legislature.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will not let northern Iraq's Sinjar region become a base for Kurdish PKK militants and will continue military operations there and in northern Syria "until the last terrorist is eliminated," President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters on Tuesday. "We are obliged to take measures. We must take steps. We shared this with the U.S. and Russia and we are sharing it with Iraq as well," Erdogan said in an interview in the presidential palace in Ankara. "It is an operation that (Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud) Barzani has been informed about." Turkish planes bombed Kurdish fighters in Sinjar and in northeast Syria on Tuesday, in a widening campaign against groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Erdogan said he regretted the death of several members of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces, also deployed in Sinjar, during the Turkish operation and made clear that Turkey's action was "absolutely not an operation against the peshmerga". (Reporting by Samia Nakhoul, Nick Tattersall and Orhan Coskun; Editing by Tuvan Gumrukcu)
ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish court declined to hear an appeal by the main opposition party challenging the acceptance of unstamped ballots in the referendum to expand President Tayyip Erdogan's powers, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday. The council of state, Turkey's high judicial body handling complaints and appeals against state and public institutions, said it had no jurisdiction in the case, Anadolu reported. The decision was taken on a majority of votes, it said. The council of state was not immediately available for comment. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which appealed to the court last week, had also demanded the official results of the hotly contested referendum be postponed until the case is resolved. The results are due to be announced 11 to 12 days after the April 16 referendum, the High Electoral Board (YSK) has said. Preliminary results put the "Yes" vote at 51.4 percent. Held under a state of emergency in place since a failed coup last July, the referendum was criticized by European election observers, who said the decision to allow unstamped ballot papers to be counted had removed a main safeguard against voting fraud. Erdogan and government ministers have rejected criticism of the vote as politically motivated, and the YSK last week dismissed challenges by the CHP and two other opposition parties. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Dominic Evans, Larry King)
AL-MALIKIYAH (Syria) (AFP) - Turkish warplanes killed more than two dozen Kurdish fighters Tuesday in strikes in Syria and Iraq, where the Kurds are key players in the battle against the Islamic State group.

Turkey said it had carried out the strikes against "terrorist havens", vowing to continue acting against groups it links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

In northeast Syria, strikes targeting the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) -- who are leading the offensive against IS stronghold Raqa -- were reported to have killed 20 fighters.

In northern Iraq they killed six peshmerga fighters from the autonomous Kurdish government, usually allied with Ankara, in an apparent accident.

Baghdad condemned a "violation of international law and Iraqi sovereignty".

"The Iraqi government condemns and rejects the strikes carried out by Turkish aircraft on Iraqi territory," said government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi.

The United States said it was "deeply concerned".

"We are very concerned, deeply concerned that Turkey conducted air strikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper coordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat ISIS," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, using another acronym for the jihadist group.

The strikes underlined the complexities of the battlefields in Iraq and Syria, where twin US-backed offensives are seeking to dislodge IS from its last major urban strongholds.

They could also exacerbate tensions between Ankara and its NATO ally Washington, which leads an anti-IS coalition carrying out air strikes in Syria and Iraq and sees the Kurds as instrumental in the fight against IS.

- Turkish vow -

Turkey said its strikes aimed "to destroy terrorist havens targeting our country" and vowed to press the offensive "until the very last terrorist is neutralised".

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An army statement said the strikes "destroyed" shelter areas, ammunition warehouses and PKK communications facilities.

It said 40 PKK fighters were "neutralised" in Iraq and around 30 in Syria.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said if the PKK threatens border securtity, Turkey "will take steps to remove this threat regardless of whether it comes from country A or country B".

"Dozens of simultaneous air strikes" targeted YPG positions near the Syrian city of Al-Malikiyah, including a media centre, a monitoring group said.

The strikes killed three media officers and 15 YPG fighters, one of the highest death tolls from Turkish air raids on Kurdish militia, said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman.

YPG spokesman Redur Khalil said 20 YPG fighters were killed and 18 wounded, three critically. Two civilians were also injured.

An AFP journalist saw collapsed buildings and rescuers searching through the rubble.

Representatives of the US-led coalition visited the site of the air strikes, the YPG's political arm, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), said on Twitter.

An officer wearing a patch bearing a US flag was seen at the site with YPG fighters.

- 'Problems and tensions' -

Ankara has bombed the YPG in northern Syria for months, calling it a "terrorist" group because of its ties to the PKK, which has been waging a deadly insurgency against Turkey since 1984.

While the air raids on Syria appeared to hit their intended targets, the bombardment in Iraq instead killed members of Kurdish security forces typically allied with Ankara.

The peshmerga ministry in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government said the raids killed five of its fighters and one intelligence officer.

Turkey appeared to have been targeting a minority Yazidi militia allied with the PKK and based in the northwestern region of Sinjar.

The peshmerga denounced the strike as "unacceptable" but focused blame on PKK-affiliated groups.

"These problems and tensions are all because of the PKK's presence," it said, accusing the PKK and its affiliates of refusing to withdraw from the Sinjar area.

- Multiple offensives -

The peshmerga have been instrumental in the battle against IS in northern Iraq though have stepped back in recent weeks as Iraqi forces advance against IS in Mosul.

Iraqi forces on Tuesday said they had retaken full control of Tenek, one of west Mosul's largest neighbourhoods.

Eastern Mosul was recaptured in January and a push on the western half launched the following month has made steady progress despite fierce resistance.

IS is facing multiple offensives across Syria and Iraq -- often led by governments or forces that otherwise bitterly oppose each other.

Turkey launched an unprecedented cross-border operation into Syria in August to fight IS and to keep the YPG in check.

The YPG makes up the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters taking on IS in Syria.

After chipping away at IS territory across the north, the SDF is now locked fighting the jihadists inside Tabqa, a town on the Euphrates River.

Clashes continued inside south and west Tabqa after heavy US-led air strikes overnight, the Observatory said.

The SDF entered the town on Monday as part of its offensive on Raqa, Syrian heart of the jihadists' self-styled "caliphate" since 2014.

burs-mm/hkb/dv
His historical movie about the Pentagon Papers affair, starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, has been slated for limited release in December followed by wide release January 2018, two months before "Ready Player One," a feature film that sees Steven Spielberg return to the science-fiction genre.

Announced in March under the since-abandoned title "The Post," Steven Spielberg's film about the Pentagon Papers now has a release date -- even though the movie hasn't yet been filmed. The picture, starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, is scheduled for general release in the US on January 12. A limited release in a handful of theaters on December 22, 2017, will ensure eligibility for the 2018 Oscars, 20th Century Fox has announced.

The film is based on one the first and biggest major scoops in the history of American journalism. In 1971, the press revealed extracts from a 7,000-page top-secret report shedding light on the origins of the Vietnam War, containing evidence to suggest that the USA deliberately provoked the conflict.

Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep will play two major figures of American journalism, Ben Bradlee and Kay Graham, who were editor and publisher of the Washington Post when the Pentagon Papers were published in 1971.

Steven Spielberg's second movie release of 2018 lands March 30, with "Ready Player One," based on Ernest Cline's dystopian novel of the same name. The film tells the story of Wade Watts, a teenager who seeks refuge from harsh reality in the OASIS, a virtual world invented by the wealthy and eccentric James Halliday. The film marks Steven Spielberg's return to science fiction, a field that the director hasn't explored since 2005's "War of the Worlds."
By Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The threat of a U.S. government shutdown this weekend appeared to recede on Tuesday after President Donald Trump backed away from a demand that Congress include funding for his planned border wall with Mexico in a spending bill. However, even if the fight over wall funding is over, Republicans and Democrats still have some difficult issues to resolve as they face a Friday night deadline. There was growing sentiment in Congress that they will need to opt for a short-term extension of current spending, possibly of one week's duration, in order to finish up negotiations on the longer-term bill for funding through the end of September. Yeah, it looks like it, said Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Senate Appropriations Committee member, when asked by a reporter about the likelihood of a short-term extension. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, however, that it was too soon to talk about such a possibility and that negotiations were still under way to reach a longer-term deal. Trump removed a crucial sticking point when he said on Monday evening that he may wait until Republicans begin drafting the budget blueprint for the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1 to seek funds for the wall. The president's fellow Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but the current spending bill, which has to be passed by Friday night, will need 60 votes to clear the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 52 seats. Democratic leaders had said they would not support a bill that included funds for the wall. If no spending measure covering April 29 to Sept. 30 is in place before 12:01 a.m. (0401 GMT) on Saturday, government funds will halt and hundreds of thousands of the country's several million federal employees will be temporarily laid off. Trump had run the risk of being blamed by Democrats for a shutdown whose start would coincide with the day he marks 100 days in office. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer welcomed Trump's Monday night comments and noted that there were opponents of the wall among Republicans too. Its really good news that the president seems to be taking the wall off the table," Schumer said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. It would remove the prospect of a needless fight over a poison pill proposal that members of both parties dont support. ... If the threat of the wall is removed, as I hope is the case, our negotiations can continue and we can, hopefully, resolve all of the outstanding issues by Friday. SHORT-TERM OPTION The border wall, which Trump says is the best way to halt the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the country, was a signature election pledge last year. By dropping his call for immediate funding for it, he may clear a path to a spending bill but he loses something to tout as progress on his agenda since taking office on Jan. 20. A White House effort later this year to get Congress to fund the wall could face a similar fate given that some Republicans also oppose it. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who represents the southwestern border state of Arizona, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, said there is a need for a wall in some border locations and alternative deterrents in others. A lot of us have been pushing for additional border security funding for a while, but a solitary 2,000-mile wall has never been a must-have for anybody in a border state, he said. Trump, however, said he had not changed his stance, tweeting on Tuesday, "It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc." Trump has said Mexico will eventually repay the United States for the wall, but the Mexican government has been adamant it will not do so, and Trump has not laid out a plan to compel it. Internal Department of Homeland Security estimates have put the cost at $21.6 billion. Republican Senator Roger Wicker said there was a "substantial figure" in the spending bill dedicated to border security. Such spending, not explicitly for a wall, would likely be acceptable to both parties. Congressman Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House of Representatives, said he would advise his colleagues to support a short-term funding proposal only if a longer-term fix was imminent. Short-term funding measures, which are known as continuing resolutions and which cover periods of days or weeks, have been used to avert government shutdowns in the past. But in 2013, conservative Republicans forced a 17-day shutdown in a failed attempt to repeal then-President Barack Obama's healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act. (Additional reporting by Amanda Becker; Writing by Frances Kerry; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military started moving parts of the controversial THAAD anti-missile defense system to a deployment site in South Korea on Wednesday amid high tensions over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs. Washington and Pyongyang have been ratcheting up pressure on each other in recent weeks, with the United States sending a aircraft carrier group and nuclear submarine to the region and North Korea attempting more missile launches in defiance of layers of U.N. sanctions. North Korea said on Wednesday leader Kim Jong Un had supervised the country's "largest-ever" live-fire drill to mark the 85th founding anniversary of its military, with more than 300 large-calibre, self-propelled artillery guns demonstrating their fire power at an event on its east coast. The firing drill came instead of a nuclear test or the launch of a long-range missile as feared amid pressure from the United States and China, its sole major ally which has been irritated by Pyongyang's weapons development. The United States and South Korea agreed to deploy THAAD in response to the threat of missile launches by North Korea. However the move has angered China, which says the advanced system will do little to deter the North while destabilizing the regional security balance. South Korea's defense ministry said some elements of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system were moved to the site on what had been a golf course in the county of Seongju in the country's southern region. "South Korea and the United States have been working to secure an early operational capability of the THAAD system in response to North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threat," the ministry said in a statement. The U.S. and South Korean militaries have been reluctant to publicly discuss the progress of the deployment as candidates in a May 9 presidential election debated whether the move should go ahead or be delayed until after the vote. Television footage showed military trailers carrying large units including what appeared to be launch canisters being driven into the planned THAAD battery site, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Seoul. Images showed local protesters hurling water bottles at the vehicles and police trying to block them. A U.S. submarine designed to carry 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles entered a South Korean port on Tuesday as the USS Carl Vinson carrier group steamed toward the Korean waters in an effort to deter the North from a sixth nuclear test and more missile launches. South Korea's navy has said it plans to hold a joint drill with the U.S. strike group late this month. TEST OF FIRE POWER The North's KCNA news agency said Kim Jong Un supervised the live-fire drill by its artillery units, navy and airforce and involving submarines firing torpedos. "The brave artillerymen mercilessly and satisfactorily hit the targets and the gunshots were very correct, he said, adding that they showed well the volley of gunfire of our a-match-for-a-hundred artillery force giving merciless punishment to the hostile forces," KCNA said. U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to prevent the North from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile and has said all options are on the table. He said North Korea a global threat and "a problem that we have to finally solve" while calling on the U.N. Security Council to impose new sanctions. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said he and fellow Republican John McCain had dinner with Trump on Monday and discussed North Korea. Graham told Fox News he was impressed by Trump's resolve. "He's not going to let this nut-job in North Korea develop a missile with a nuclear weapon on top to hit America," Graham said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The United States began moving the first elements of the advanced missile defense system into South Korea in early March after the North test-launched four ballistic missiles. South Korea accuses China of discriminating against some South Korean companies operating in China because of the THAAD deployment. Seoul and Washington say the sole purpose of THAAD is to defend against North Korean missiles, but China is concerned the system's powerful radar can penetrate its territory and undermine its security. (Editing by Lincoln Feast)
U.S. News only includes public schools in its annual high schools rankings, but the types of institutions represented and the students who attend those schools are diverse.

Out of the 20,487 eligible schools analyzed and the 6,041 schools awarded a medal, charter and magnet schools top the list for the 2017 national high school rankings. But the selective schools make up only about 16 percent of all medal-winning schools. Traditional public schools have the most representation in all three medal categories: gold, silver and bronze.

To earn a medal, schools must pass a four-step evaluation, which looks at students' performance on required state tests, their graduation rates and their college readiness. Only 500 schools earn a gold medal. Students at those schools show the highest level of college readiness, based on Advanced Placement participation rates and the proportion of students who do well on those exams.

[Learn more about how U.S. News calculated the Best High Schools rankings.]

Unlike traditional public schools that accept students based on location, charter schools are publicly funded but independently run and have more freedom to decide how coursework is taught. However, the schools must meet the performance conditions determined by their contract or charter or risk closure.

[Consider these different types of public high schools for your teen.]

Charter schools are open to the public, but typically have limited enrollment and may accept students through an application process. Some academic-focused magnet schools also have an application process to attract top talent in a region but tend to draw in students based on a theme such as STEM education -- science, technology, engineering and math -- or the arts. Others may operate on a lottery system.

U.S. News evaluated schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. South Dakota, which did not give U.S. News permission to use it s AP results in the rankings, is the only state that doesn't have at least one gold or silver medal school. Maryland has the largest percentage of eligible schools with gold and silver medals. Massachusetts has the largest percentage of gold medal schools.

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See the [top public high schools.]

Nationwide, the top-ranked schools are found in a variety of communities and serve many different kinds of students. About 38 percent of all medal-winning schools are in rural areas. Most of the gold medal schools are found in the suburban areas of large cities.

Students in poverty make up at least 25 percent of the total enrollment in about three-fourths of all medal-winning schools. And at more than a third of schools, at least 25 percent of the student body is black and Hispanic.

Stay up to date with the U.S. News High School Notes blog.

Briana Boyington is an education digital producer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at bboyington@usnews.com.
By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate's main investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election is equipped with a much smaller staff than previous high-profile intelligence and scandal probes in Congress, which could potentially affect its progress, according to sources and a Reuters review of public records. With only seven staff members initially assigned to the Senate Intelligence Committee's three-month-old investigation, progress has been sluggish and minimal, said two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, who requested anonymity. A committee aide, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said two more staff members were being added and a few others were involved less formally. "We need to pick up the pace," Senator Martin Heinrich, a committee Democrat, told Reuters on Monday. "It is incumbent on us to have the resources to do this right and expeditiously, and I think we need additional staff." While some directly involved in the investigation disputed characterizations of the probe as off track, the appearance of a weak Senate investigation could renew calls by some Democrats and other Trump critics for a commission independent of the Republican-led Congress to investigate the allegations. The intelligence committees of the Senate and House of Representatives have taken the lead in Congress in examining whether Russia tried to influence the election in Republican Trump's favor, mostly by hacking Democratic operatives' emails and releasing embarrassing information, or possibly by colluding with Trump associates. Russia has denied such meddling. With the House intelligence panel's investigation for weeks stymied by partisan squabbles, the Senate committee's parallel probe had appeared to be the more serious of the two, with Republican Chairman Richard Burr and top Democrat Mark Warner promising a thorough and bipartisan effort. Burr, a member of Congress since 1995, last month called the Russia probe one of the biggest investigations undertaken in Congress during his tenure. Previous investigations of national security matters have been much larger in terms of staffing than the one Burr is overseeing, according to a review of official reports produced by those inquiries, which traditionally name every staff member involved. (Graphic: http://tmsnrt.rs/2oYtUs8) A House committee formed to investigate the 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans had 46 staffers and eight interns. The Senate Intelligence Committee's years-long study of the CIA's "enhanced" interrogation techniques during President George W. Bush's administration had 20 staff members, according to the panel's official report. A special commission separate from Congress that reviewed the intelligence that wrongly concluded former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq involved 88 staffers. A special Senate committee's 1970s investigation into Watergate-era surveillance practices tapped 133 staffers. A joint House-Senate probe of the 1980s Iran-Contra affair during Ronald Reagan's presidency involving secret sales of arms to Iran to try to win the release of American hostages, with proceeds going to Nicaraguan rebels, had 181 staffers. Spokeswomen for Burr and for Warner declined to comment on the staffing levels. 'INDICATORS OF A COMMITMENT' The listed sizes of various investigations may be an imperfect comparison because not all staffers listed may have actually had a substantial role, congressional sources said. Investigations often grow in size over time, and a committee aide said the panel had secured $1.2 million in additional funding for the Russia election investigation. But the numbers are still broadly "relevant as indicators of a commitment to an investigation," said Steven Aftergood, a secrecy expert with the Federation of American Scientists. "For this investigation to be successful, the committee must recognize the enormity of the job and provide the resources to tackle it," Senator Ron Wyden, another committee Democrat, said in a statement. Wyden sent a letter last month to Burr and Warner requesting that the probe include a thorough review of any financial ties between Russia and Trump and his associates. None of the staffers possess substantial investigative experience or a background in Russian affairs, two of the sources said. The investigation has not yet conducted interviews with Trump associates suspected of having links to Russian intelligence services, two sources and the aide said. The investigators have focused on reviewing thousands of pages of documents supporting a previous U.S. intelligence agency finding that Russia interfered to help Trump, and have spoken with intelligence officials in preparation for interviewing key witnesses, they said. The House intelligence panel's chairman, Republican Devin Nunes, who was a member of Trump's presidential transition team, on April 6 stepped aside from leading that probe because he was under investigation by the House ethics committee for allegedly disclosing classified information. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also conducting a wide ranging counter-intelligence investigation into alleged Russian interference and potential collusion with Trump associates, though its findings may never become public. (Reporting by Dustin Volz; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Will Dunham)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved President Donald Trump's choice for U.S. Trade Representative, bringing Robert Lighthizer a step closer to taking office as U.S. trade disputes with Canada and Mexico heat up. The panel also voted to approve a legal waiver for Lighthizer from a 1995 law that prohibits people who did work on behalf of foreign governments from serving as the top U.S. trade negotiator. Lighthizer did work on behalf of the Brazilian agriculture agency in the late 1980s and assisted a colleague with work for a Chinese electronics industry group in 1991. Lighthizer's nomination now moves to the full U.S. Senate for approval. If confirmed, he will represent the Trump administration in its planned renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday announced 20 percent anti-subsidy duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports amid a long-running unresolved trade dispute between the United States and its second-largest trade partner. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea conducted a big live-fire exercise on Tuesday to mark the foundation of its military as a U.S. submarine docked in South Korea in a show of force amid growing concern over the North's nuclear and missile programs.

The port call by the USS Michigan came as a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group steamed toward Korean waters and as top envoys for North Korea policy from South Korea, Japan and the United States met in Tokyo.

Fears have risen in recent weeks that North Korea would conduct another nuclear test or long-range missile launch in defiance of U.N. sanctions, perhaps on the Tuesday anniversary of the founding of its military.

But instead of a nuclear test or big missile launch, North Korea deployed a large number of long-range artillery units in the region of Wonsan on its east coast for a live-fire drill, South Korea's military said. North Korea has an air base in Wonsan and missiles have also been tested there.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

"North Korea is conducting a large-scale firing drill in Wonsan areas this afternoon," the South's Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The South Korean military was monitoring the situation and "firmly maintaining readiness", it said.

The South's Yonhap News Agency said earlier the exercise was possibly supervised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea's state media was defiant in a commentary marking the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean People's Army, saying its military was prepared "to bring to closure the history of U.S. scheming and nuclear blackmail".

"There is no limit to the strike power of the People's Army armed with our style of cutting-edge military equipment including various precision and miniaturized nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles," the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a front-page editorial.

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North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threat is perhaps the most serious security challenge confronting U.S. President Donald Trump. He has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile and has said all options are on the table, including a military strike.

Trump sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group for exercises off the Korean peninsula as a warning to North Korea and a show of solidarity with U.S. allies.

South Korea's navy said it was conducting a live-fire exercise with U.S. destroyers in waters west of the Korean peninsula and would soon join the carrier strike group approaching the region.

China, North Korea's sole major ally which nevertheless objects to its weapons development, has repeatedly called for calm, and its envoy for Korean affairs, Wu Dawei, was in Tokyo on Tuesday.

"We hope that all parties, including Japan, can work with China to promote an early peaceful resolution of the issue, and play the role, put forth the effort, and assume the responsibility that they should," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in Beijing.

Japan's envoy on North Korea, Kenji Kanasugi, said after talks with his U.S. and South Korean counterparts that they agreed China should take a concrete role to resolve the crisis and it could use an oil embargo as a tool to press the North.

"We believe China has a very, very important role to play," said the U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, Joseph Yun.

South Korea's envoy, Kim Hong-kyun, said they had also discussed how to get Russia's help to press North Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 27, the Kremlin said. It did not elaborate.

RARE SENATE BRIEFING

Matching the flurry of diplomatic and military activity in Asia, the State Department in Washington said on Monday U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would chair a special ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council on North Korea on Friday.

Tillerson, along with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford, would also hold a rare briefing for the entire U.S. Senate on North Korea on Wednesday, Senate aides said.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said those meetings called by U.S. officials clearly reflected the U.S. pressure that could "ignite a full-out war" on the Korean peninsula.

"The reality of today again proves the decision to strengthen nuclear power in quality and quantity under the banner of pursuing economic development and nuclear power was the correct one," the unidentified spokesman said in a statement issued by the North's state media.

On Monday, Trump called for tougher U.N. sanctions on the North, saying it was a global threat and "a problem that we have to finally solve".

"The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable," Trump told a meeting with the 15 U.N. Security Council ambassadors, including China and Russia, at the White House. "The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs."

The official China Daily said it was time for Pyongyang and Washington to take a step back from harsh rhetoric and heed calls for a peaceful resolution.

"Judging from their recent words and deeds, policymakers in Pyongyang have seriously misread the U.N. sanctions, which are aimed at its nuclear/missile provocations, not its system or leadership," the newspaper said in an editorial.

"They are at once perilously overestimating their own strength and underestimating the hazards they are brewing for themselves."

The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Michigan, which arrived in the South Korean port of Busan, is built to carry and launch ballistic missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina in BEIJING, Kaori Kaneko, Linda Sieg, Elaine Lies and Tim Kelly in TOKYO, and Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick, Susan Heavey and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON, Vladimir Soldatkin in MOSCOW; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel)
By Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared poised to clamp down on where corporations can be sued, a potential setback for plaintiffs' lawyers who strive to bring cases in courts and locales they consider friendly.

The nine justices in two separate cases heard appeals of lower court rulings allowing out-of-state injury lawsuits against drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and BNSF Railway Co.

Companies and plaintiffs are engaged in a fight over where lawsuits seeking financial compensation for injuries should be filed. Companies typically can be sued in a state where they are headquartered or incorporated, as well as where they have significant ties. They want to curtail plaintiffs' ability to "shop" for courts in states with laws conducive to such lawsuits.

Bristol-Myers was appealing a California Supreme Court ruling allowing that state's courts to hear claims related to its blood-thinning medication Plavix even though most plaintiffs do not live in the state and the company is not based there.

Based on questions asked during the argument, the court's conservative majority appeared to side with the companies' view while its liberals wondered how it would be unfair to add out-of-state claims to a case that would proceed anyway.

Conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy expressed skepticism over California handling matters for residents of all other states.

"That's a very patronizing view of federalism," Kennedy told the plaintiffs' lawyer, Thomas Goldstein. "California will tell Ohio, 'Oh, don't worry, Ohio, we'll take care of you.'"

If suits involving out-of-state residents can be handled in every state, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts added, "I don't see that it increases the efficiency at all."

'ALL OF THE ABOVE'

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan suggested Bristol-Myers did not want to face multiple trials in California specifically because of plaintiff-friendly juries or the possibility of punitive damages.

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"All of the above," the company's lawyer Neal Katyal said, adding that it is harder to get cases thrown out of court before trial in California.

The underlying lawsuits filed in 2012 against Bristol-Myers and California-based drug distributor McKesson Corp involved 86 California residents and 575 non-Californians, alleging Plavix increased their risk of stroke, heart attack and internal bleeding.

The California Supreme Court ruled in August 2016 that it could preside over the Plavix case because Bristol-Myers Squibb conducted a national marketing campaign and sold nearly $1 billion of the drug in the state. Bristol-Myers is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York.

The justices also appeared to be leaning toward Texas-based railroad BNSF. The company is appealing a 2015 Montana Supreme Court ruling allowing out-of-state residents to sue there over injuries occurring anywhere in BNSF's nationwide network.

The case focused on a federal law concerning railroads, but Roberts seemed skeptical that a ruling siding with the plaintiffs would be limited to that context.

Roberts wondered whether other companies operating in multiple states including airlines and trucking companies could similarly be sued in states where they operate but are not based.

"How do you decide what other companies and industries are at home in Montana?" Roberts asked the plaintiffs' lawyer.

Rulings in both cases are due by the end of June.

In an unusual twist, Justice Stephen Breyer's cellphone rang shortly after the Bristol-Myers argument began, which he scrambled to turn off. Members of the public are forbidden from bringing electronic devices into the court's chamber. A court spokeswoman called Breyer's cellphone ringing an "oversight."

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Additional reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)
San Francisco (AFP) - Uber said Tuesday it wants to launch a system of flying cars to move people around cities, with a goal of putting demonstration projects in place by 2020.

The ridesharing giant announced a series of partnerships to manufacture "vertical takeoff and landing" (VTOL) vehicles and put networks in place, a system dubbed Uber Elevate.

The partner cities working with Uber are Dubai and the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis in Texas.

"The goal of these partnerships is to develop a new on-demand VTOL network to enable customers in the future to push a button and get a high-speed flight in and around cities," Uber said in a statement.

The announcement came at a summit held in the Dallas area with partners in the project.

"What started as a simple question 'why can't I push a button and get a ride?' has turned, for Uber, into a passionate pursuit of the pinnacle of urban mobility -- the reduction of congestion and pollution from transportation, giving people their time back, freeing up real estate dedicated to parking and providing access to mobility in all corners of a city," said Uber chief product officer Jeff Holden.

"Urban aviation is a natural next step for Uber in this pursuit, which is why we are working to make push a button, get a flight a reality."

Uber's goal is to have the first demonstration network in place in Dubai for the 2020 World Expo in that city, and another pilot in Dallas the same year ahead of "full-scale operations" in the Texas region by 2023.

The announcement came a day after Silicon Valley "flying car" startup Kitty Hawk, reportedly backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, released a video of its airborne prototype and announced plans for deliveries of a "personal flying machine" this year.

- Manufacturing plans -

Uber's plans appear more ambitious, and include partnerships with US-based Bell Helicopter, Brazilian manufacturer Embraer and Slovenia's Pipistrel to produce flying machines for short distance urban operations.

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"Uber's Elevate network is an exciting opportunity for Bell Helicopter to help transform how cities move people and products in the future," Bell president and chief executive Mitch Snyder said in a statement.

Embraer CEO Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva praised the "unique opportunity to complement the air transport knowledge of a visionary and revolutionary ground transport company."

The Uber plan also includes partnerships for "vertiports" for the flyers to take off and land, along with changing stations for the transporters, which are expected to be mainly electric-powered.

Uber's agreement with Dubai Roads and Transport Authority calls for a joint study into pricing models, people movement and determining where routes should be created in the city.

"The partnership will result in everything from hover and forward flight tests to actual flight operations in the Dubai area," according to a joint statement.

Uber has grown into the world's largest venture-backed startup, with a valuation estimated at some $68 billion despite ongoing obstacles with regulators and taxi operators.

In addition to ridesharing in some 80 countries, Uber is also testing self-driving cars in three US metro areas.

Uber's growth so far has not been dented by a series of embarrassing disclosures about a culture of sexism, cut-throat workplace tactics and covert use of law enforcement-evading software.
NextShark

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.
Photo credit: eBay/rkmotorscharlotte

From Road & Track

With the mid-1969 entry of the Dodge Charger Daytona into NASCAR's Grand National series, Ford needed something serious to maintain its years-long dominance of the series. Its 1969 entrant, the Torino Talladega, wouldn't cut it, so Ford set to work developing a new homologation special for the 1970 season. That car, the Torino King Cobra, never made it to the track, but thankfully two prototypes survived. And now one of them can be yours.

Photo credit: eBay/rkmotorscharlotte

The King Cobra prototype seen here just turned up for sale on eBay Motors with an asking price of $459,000. As NASCAR-related relics go, it doesn't get much more rare than this.

This Torino King Cobra, a prototype meant to indicate what a production street version of the homologation special would look like, is equipped with a hot Boss 429 engine hooked up to a four-speed manual toploader transmission. In race spec, Ford intended to tune the King Cobra's 429-cubic-inch V8 to produce a heady 700 horsepower, but it's unclear how much power this particular car makes. The 429 isn't this prototype's original engine, either-Ford initially tested this car with a 460-cubic-inch V8.

Photo credit: eBay/rkmotorscharlotte

Ford cancelled the Torino King Cobra project before the 1970 NASCAR season began, the same year that political infighting within the automaker led to president Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen's firing and a steep drop in Ford's motorsports budget. NASCAR itself didn't help matters either, regulating the so-called "aero cars" out of eligibility for the 1971 season.

Photo credit: eBay/rkmotorscharlotte

After the Torino King Cobra project was cancelled, NASCAR team owner Bud Moore bought both working street car prototypes from Ford for $1200 total. Moore didn't do much with them-this particular example spent years abandoned in a South Carolina field. Two Ford fans found the car and restored it to its former glory, which was a huge challenge, since many of its aerodynamic body parts were made from scratch.

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Photo credit: eBay/rkmotorscharlotte

It's remarkable that this car still exists, let alone in such nice condition. This will undoubtedly be the crown jewel of some lucky collector's fleet.

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United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council is expected to vote Thursday on a draft resolution backing a UN bid to re-start talks on settling the decades-old Western Sahara conflict, diplomats said.

The draft resolution would also put pressure on the Polisario Front independence movement to immediately withdraw fighters from a tense buffer zone after Morocco pulled back its forces in February, according to the text seen by AFP.

The United States circulated the proposed resolution to the Security Council on Monday after consulting with France, Russia and Britain on the measure that would also extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara for a year.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the council in a report this month that he planned to re-start negotiations "with a new spirit" to try to end one of the world's most intractable conflicts.

"It is indeed time to look ahead and to re-launch negotiations, that is what we want," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters as the council met Tuesday to discuss the draft text.

Morocco and the Polisario fought for control of Western Sahara from 1974 to 1991, with Rabat taking over the desert territory before a UN-brokered ceasefire in the former Spanish colony.

Rabat considers Western Sahara an integral part of Morocco and proposes autonomy for the resource-rich territory, but the Algerian-backed Polisario Front insists on a UN referendum on independence.

- Pressure on the Polisario -

Welcoming what he described as a "new momentum" for talks, Delattre said the issue of the Polisario's withdrawal from the Guerguerat post near the Mauritanian border had to be addressed first.

"There is one issue we need to solve and that is Guerguerat," he said.

Uruguay and Russia however said the draft resolution lacked balance.

"It's very unbalanced in the way it handles the Polisario," said Uruguay's Ambassador Elbio Rosselli, adding that the text failed to mention the broader context of "how we go to where we are".

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Last month, long-serving UN envoy Christopher Ross resigned following tensions with Morocco, which accused him of bias in favor of the Polisario.

Former German president Horst Kohler has been tipped to replace him.

The draft resolution calls on Morocco and the Polisario Front to "resume negotiations" with a view to achieving a "just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution."

The council "affirms its full support for the commitment of the secretary-general and his personal envoy towards a solution to the question of Western Sahara," according to the draft.

The United Nations opened negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front in 2007 and there have been several rounds since, with the latest held outside of New York in 2012.

There has been little progress however over resolving the future status of Western Sahara.
Kinshasa (AFP) - UN officials launched a bid Tuesday to raise $65.4 million (59.75 million euros) in emergency funds for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violence in Democratic Republic of Congo's Kasai region.

Fighting between government troops and tribal militias has forced more than a million people from their homes over the past eight months.

The UN's humanitarian affairs coordinator Mamadou Diallo said the funds would help "respond to the urgent and multiple needs of 731,000 people during the next six months" in the Kasai area.

The vast majority of people in need of help are women and children, he added.

Thousands of those displaced have no access to food, clean water or health care, he said.

Fighting flared in the diamond-rich region 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.

Last week the United Nations said it had registered 1.09 million internally displaced people in the region as of April 1.

The UN has accused the Nsapu rebellion of using child soldiers and committing several atrocities, while also denouncing the disproportionate use of force by the military.

The UN has reported finding 40 mass graves, while two UN researchers investigating the violence have been abducted and killed.

On Monday the Congolese authorities released a video showing the grisly murders of the pair, and blamed Nsapu's men for the act.

It showed Michael Sharp, an American, and Zaida Catalan, a dual Swedish-Chilean national, surrounded by seven people speaking Tshiluba, the main language of Kasai, armed with machetes, sticks and one with an old gun.

The two foreigners are quickly forced to sit on the ground before orders are barked out and they are shot. One of the victims is then beheaded.
After months of college application tasks and an anxious waiting period, high school seniors are starting to receive college acceptance letters. Many students may be relieved, but the hard work isn't necessarily over.

Now you need to make a decision. If you are lucky enough to receive multiple acceptances, you must choose one. With so many factors to consider, how can you ensure you're making the right choice for this major chapter in your life?

While you don't want to put too much pressure on yourself, evaluate your options carefully. Two current undergraduates recently shared their college decision strategies to help you prepare to pick a college before National College Decision Day on May 1.

[Get expert tips and advice on making the college decision.]

-- Identify your deal breakers: Before you can make any decision, large or small, you need to determine which factors are most important to you and key to you having a great education experience.

You may have created a list of criteria when you put together a short list of colleges to apply to, but now you need to differentiate between the elements you simply like and those you feel you can't live without.

Jump-start your decision process by reviewing each school based on the deal breakers you identify. Which schools offer the things you can't live without and which don't?

Mina Shenouda, a senior at Rutgers University--New Brunswick, said via email he wanted a specific type of college location. "I wanted to choose a school that was safe and that also had fun stuff to do if I wanted to explore other areas," he said.

Shenouda also said it was important to him to find a school that offered the best programs for his goals, including his potential major, minor and extracurricular activities.

Madeleine Wagner, a junior at the University of North Georgia, said via email the most important factors for her were affordability and opportunities within the school, specifically a biology program.

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"When I first sat down in my biology class when I started the university, other students around me were immediately discussing the material and making study groups," she explained. "That's when I felt I made the right choice, surrounding myself with like-minded people who understood me."

[Follow these 10 steps to picking the right college.]

-- Research and ask last-minute questions: As decision day approaches, you still may have questions. Don't be afraid to dig further for answers to these questions or reach out to the school.

As you evaluate schools based on your list of must-haves, you may come across information that you didn't know to research before or that you were unaware of. But if you can't find the answers you need, don't be shy about asking the school.

Shenouda advises asking questions so you are as prepared as possible for college. "There are a few elements that I wish I had prepared for when I was still in high school. First and foremost, I wish I had looked into the requirements more thoroughly in regards to my major, as well as general core requirements," he said.

"I was a little clueless about it at first and didn't necessarily know how it worked, which made scheduling classes later on slightly difficult." Consider contacting the appropriate departments at the schools you're looking at to confirm what the requirements for your intended major are like and if you feel comfortable with those paths.

Financial aid opportunities and general facts about tuition are other aspects you may wish to ask more questions about. Shenouda noted this was an important consideration as he chose between schools.

"The cost of education was my biggest determining factor," he said. "You don't want to be paying student loans for the entirety of your life, so you have to choose a school accordingly."

[Check out the colleges where students are the most eager to enroll.]

-- Make the decision for you: Like many students, you may have various people, including family and friends, giving input on your college decision.

While many of your trusted relatives and peers may have valuable insights that can contribute to your decision, ultimately the choice is yours and yours alone. Only you can fully realize which aspects of a college will make you truly happy and fulfilled, so keep that at the front of your mind.

Moreover, fully consider each option. It can be easy to let a particular school become a front- runner early on in your decision-making process, and it may even become the winning choice -- but be sure to carefully evaluate every school that has accepted you, since you had particular reasons for applying to each school.

"Definitely keep an open mind. Students can always transfer and change majors, but there's no re-living a certain semester," said Wagner. "There's no making up for lost time, so don't go to a school specifically for a high school relationship or to make someone else happy. A student's college experience is his or her own, and the student must put his or her self and their education first."

Cathryn Sloane is a marketing manager for Varsity Tutors. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Iowa.


New York (AFP) - Three former New York police officers and a lawyer were arrested and charged Tuesday in a bribery case that allegedly plied police for years with exotic holidays, prostitutes and thousands of dollars in exchange for issuing gun licenses.

Two other sacked officers and two so-called gun license "expediters" have already pled guilty in the case, which prompted New York's police department -- the largest in the United States -- to implement reforms.

More than 100 gun licenses were issued on the back of bribes without conducting necessary background checks or following up on red flags, acting US attorney for Manhattan Joon Kim told reporters.

"They allegedly sold their oath to serve and protect," Kim said of the arrested former officers, named Tuesday as Paul Dean, 44, Robert Espinel, 47, and Gaetano Valastro, 58.

Dean, once the second-highest ranking member of the gun license division, and Espinel are accused of deliberately retiring from the police to run their own expediting services, driven by greed after seeing those in the business making more than $10,000 per license.

Valastro retired from the police in 1999 as a detective, later owning a store in Queens that sold firearms and provided weapons training.

The fourth suspect is 62-year-old John Chambers, a former assistant district attorney in Brooklyn and lawyer who helped clients navigate the licensing process in exchange for money.

From 2010 to 2015 Chambers allegedly bribed police with tickets to Broadway shows and sporting events, meals out, an $8,000 wristwatch and, for three pistol renewal applications, $1,500 in cash.

Others allegedly bribed police with thousands of dollars stuffed in envelopes, or hidden in magazines and sent through the mail, all-expenses paid vacations to the Caribbean and Hawaii, expensive liquor, visits to strip clubs and the services of prostitutes.

Two former police officers David Villanueva, 43, and Richard Ochetal have already pled guilty to accepting bribes in the case, US prosecutors first revealed in June 2016.

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License expediters Frank Soohoo, 55, and Shaya Lichtenstein, have also pled guilty.

Soohoo allegedly took two police officers and their wives on a string of free holidays to the Bahamas, Mexico and the Dominican Republic -- even in one case on a honeymoon to Hawaii -- from 2014 to 2016.

He also allegedly plied police with the services of strippers.

New York police chief James O'Neill said the force had taken "immediate steps" to prevent the crimes from happening again, implementing changes and replacing all supervisory licensing staff.

Last June two New York police officials were arrested and charged with bribery for allegedly receiving luxury perks in exchange for providing special services to wealthy businessmen between 2012 and 2015.

Businessman Jeremy Reichberg, a major contributor to Mayor Bill de Blasio, was also charged with allegedly receiving services such as police escorts and help settling disputes in exchange for gifts.
Washington (AFP) - The United States is "deeply concerned" by Turkish air strikes that reportedly killed more than two dozen Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria, the State Department said Tuesday.

The strikes underscore the delicate political tightrope the United States is treading in Syria -- and to a lesser extent in Iraq -- where it is relying heavily on Kurdish forces to conduct the ground fight against the Islamic State group.

"We are very concerned, deeply concerned that Turkey conducted air strikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper coordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat" IS, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"We have expressed those concerns to the government of Turkey directly."

Turkey is a key US ally and a NATO member, so America must be careful not to alienate its partner and risk losing Ankara's support for the anti-IS fight and access to Turkey's vital Incirlik airbase.

Turkey said it had carried out the strikes in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq against "terrorist havens" and vowed to continue action against groups it links to the outlawed Kurdistan's Workers' Party (PKK).

US commandos are working with local Kurds on the ground, much to the fury of Turkey, which sees the Kurdish YPG forces as a terrorist offshoot of the PKK that has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

"This is a very complex battle space. We're cognizant of that," Toner said.

"We are also cognizant of the threat that the PKK poses to Turkey... But these kinds of actions frankly harm the coalition's efforts to go after ISIS."

The Pentagon offered a more muted response.

"We don't want our partners hitting other partners," a senior US defense official told AFP.

"We've got to figure out exactly who got hit. We don't know yet. We do know where the strikes were, but we don't know exactly who is dead."

The United States is counting on the SDF, a Syrian Arab-Kurdish alliance, to push into the IS bastion of Raqa in Syria, and is currently weighing whether to provide the Kurdish faction with heavy weaponry and other materiel.
President Donald Trump has taken a number of important decisions pertaining to his administration at his Palm Beach, Florida estate, causing it to be dubbed the winter White House. The term gained further legitimacy after the websites of numerous U.S. embassies featured an article promoting the Mar-A-Lago club.

The article, titled Mar-a-Lago: The winter White House, attempted to give visitors from across the world an inside look into the property that is frequented by the president.

Read: How Much Time Does Trump Spend At Mar-a-Lago? New Site Tracks Costs Of President's Travel To Resort

When socialite and cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post built Mar-a-Lago  Spanish for Sea to Lake  in 1927, she spared no expense, the description read. The 114-room mansion sits on eight hectares of land, with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and an inland waterway on the other.

The post also mentioned that even though Trump is not the first U.S. president to have access to the property, he is the first one to use it.

The publicity provided to the private club owned by the president did not go down well with many and sparked a major backlash that led to the post being removed Monday evening.

As the WH plans deep cuts to hunger programs and foreign aid, so nice to see taxpayer money being used responsibly...to promote Mar-a-Lago, Democrat Representative Mark Takano wrote on Twitter.

Norman Eisen, who served in the Obama White House as special counsel for ethics and government reform, told CNN: This is outrageous, more exploitation of public office for Trump's personal gain.

He also likened the use of government infrastructure for the promotion of Mar-a-Lago to an instance where Trump aide Kellyanne Conway used a television interview to urge people to buy the presidents daughter Ivanka Trumps clothing line.

Story continues

After the removal of the article from the State Departments ShareAmerica site, it was replaced with a note that read: The intention of the article was to inform the public about where the president has been hosting world leaders. We regret any misperception and have removed the post.

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Washington (AFP) - Sales of new homes in the United States forged higher for the third straight month in March, hitting the fastest pace since July, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The acceleration came as the volume of new houses for sale reached its highest level in nearly eight years, pointing to homebuilders' efforts to meet consistently strong demand in a tight market.

Housing analysts say the recovery has produced an exceptionally tight market, with supply failing to keep pace with a rebound in demand driven by steady job creation and rising wages.

American homebuyers snatched up newly built single-family homes in March at an annual rate of 621,000, seasonally adjusted, the highest in eight months and a sharp 5.8 percent above February's already-strong result, according to the report.

The unusually warm weather in January and February unpinned sales over the winter and analysts only expected a very modest increase last month.

But sales for March were a stunning 15.6 percent higher than the same month of 2016.

The Commerce Department estimated the stock of homes for sale at 268,000, the highest since July 2009, in the depths of the Great Recession.

However, the brisk sales pace meant supply was actually falling and was estimated at only 5.2 months, down 3.7 percent over February.

In a further sign of the tight market, the average home price rose 7.5 percent for the month to $315,100 but this was up only 1.2 percent from March 2016.

The rising prices was in line with the Case-Shiller home price index, released earlier Tuesday, showing the 20-city composite index rose 0.7 percent from February.

Analysts, however, cautioned that the Commerce Department's monthly sales numbers were volatile and often subject to large revisions.

Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said the increase of 34,000 home sales was "dwarfed" by a margin of error that was greater than 90,000.

"Moreover, the mortgage applications numbers, which tend to lead new home sales by about three months, suggest that we should expect lower sales over the next three months."
Los Angeles (AFP) - A US judge on Tuesday blocked an executive order by President Donald Trump that could deny billions of dollars to so-called sanctuary cities as punishment for harboring illegal immigrants.

Dealing a fresh setback to Trump's pledged crackdown on undocumented residents, Judge William Orrick of San Francisco's federal court issued a preliminary injunction barring any attempt to implement the January 25 executive order.

"Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the president disapproves," Orrick said.

The decision -- which could impact more than 300 cities and counties that have denounced Trump's order -- is another blow to the White House following successful court challenges to its two travel bans targeting Muslim-majority countries.

Trump's order threatened the transfer of some $1.7 billion to Santa Clara County and $1.2 billion for San Francisco.

The White House issued a scathing statement claiming that "the rule of law suffered another blow, as an unelected judge unilaterally rewrote immigration policy".

The judge's "erroneous ruling is a gift to the criminal gang and cartel element in our country," and is "one more example of egregious overreach" by a single judge that "undermines faith in our legal system".

Nevertheless "we are confident we will ultimately prevail in the Supreme Court," the statement read.

- 'Historic affirmation' -

Santa Clara counsel James R. Williams described it as "a historic affirmation" of the constitutional principle that Washington cannot "coerce local governments into becoming federal immigration enforcers."

Orrick noted that the government's lawyers had sought to avoid arguing the issue of whether the Trump administration had the right to take such steps.

Story continues

Instead, they weakly challenged the right of San Francisco and Santa Clara County to fight the order because neither had been formally declared "sanctuary jurisdictions" -- a phrase that remains vague in the law.

The judge said the key issue remained Trump's repeated statements that funding is a "weapon" to use against cities that resist his policies. That demonstrates the government's intent, he said, and is unconstitutional.

"The Constitution vests the spending powers in Congress, not the president, so the order cannot constitutionally place new conditions on federal funds," he said.

Dave Cortese, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, said the decision had dealt a "major setback" to the politics of fear.

"Millions of people across the country can continue to receive essential medical care, go to school and remain active members of their communities without fear that their local governments are being forced to work against them, rather than for them," he added.

The decision was being closely watched in Seattle, which filed its own lawsuit against the order in March.

Ed Murray, mayor of the northwestern city of almost 700,000, issued a statement welcoming the ruling as "yet another rebuke" of Trump's "dangerous overreach."

New York mayor Bill de Blasio denounced Trump's "illogical and unconstitutional desire to scapegoat immigrants" while Chicago's Rahm Emanuel vowed his administration would not "sit idly by while President Trump threatens American cities because he doesn't share our values."

- Reform 'long overdue' -

California attorney general Xavier Becerra said the president was trying to "hijack crucial resources, sow fear among California families and make our communities less safe."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions lashed out at sanctuary cities on Friday last week accusing them of allowing illegal immigrants who are violent criminals to go free.

Orrick's ruling however still allows the Department of Justice to follow through with threats made to nine cities last week -- including Chicago, New Orleans and Philadelphia -- to cut specific program grants if the cities did not adequately cooperate with federal immigration officers.

The order "does not purport to enjoin the Department's independent legal authority to enforce the requirements of federal law applicable to communities that violate federal immigration law or federal grant conditions," Justice spokesman Ian Prior said.

A meeting in Washington on Tuesday between a group of major-city mayors and Sessions demonstrated that the two sides remain at odds over Trump's election promise to expel some 11.3 million immigrants without legal residency.

The mayors said federal policy remains unclear and inconsistent, and complained the government is telling them to deploy local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws.

"None of this discussion would be necessary if Congress and the president would enact comprehensive immigration reform, which is long overdue," said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday urged the divided UN Security Council to back an arms embargo and sanctions against South Sudan after the UN envoy reported that the war there is worsening.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council that UN demands for a ceasefire, access for aid workers and a return to political talks had been "totally ignored" by President Salva Kiir's government.

"I call on this council to move forward with the tools available to it, such as with further sanctions and an arms embargo, or the violence and atrocities will continue," Haley said.

"We must tell the South Sudanese government that we are not going to put up with this anymore."

France and Britain backed the US call for tougher measures, but Russia said there was no need for an arms embargo and China urged the council to be more "positive" in its approach to South Sudan.

The previous US administration failed in December to win support for an arms embargo and sanctions, with Russia, China, Japan and Egypt among eight countries that abstained in a vote on the measures.

Haley's remarks indicated that the new US administration would try again to push for an end to weapons sales and sanctions on those who undermine peace efforts.

"If you want to continue to see starvation in South Sudan, doing nothing is exactly what you need to keep doing," said the US envoy.

Helping the people of South Sudan is "not about hope", "not about wishes", she added. "That's about action, and I call on the Security Council to act."

The ambassador however did not specify whether the United States would present a resolution to impose new measures on South Sudan, now in its fourth year of war.

- Worsening war -

UN envoy David Shearer told the council that the situation was dire, with fighting in Wau, South Sudan's second city, and the Equatorias states of South Sudan.

Story continues

"Virtually no part of the country is immune from conflict. Yet there has been no concerted effort by any party to adhere to a ceasefire," said Shearer.

"Instead, over the past month, we are seeing an intensification of the conflict."

After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and more than 3.5 million people displaced.

In February, South Sudan and the United Nations formally declared a famine in parts of northern Unity State affecting 100,000 people, a disaster that UN officials said was "man-made" and could have been averted.

The United Nations has 14,000 peacekeepers deployed in South Sudan, but the mission is repeatedly blocked by the government and opposition fighters.

Over 220,000 civilians are sheltering in six UN sites, under the protection of UN forces.

A UN panel of experts last month called for an arms embargo in a report that said the government was spending oil revenue on weapons as its citizens faced starvation.

China, which has sent peacekeepers to South Sudan, and Russia stressed that regional countries must play a key role in finding a solution.

Chinese Deputy Ambassador Wu Haitao said the council should send out more "positive and enthusiastic messages" to the government in Juba.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said there remained much resistance within the council to imposing an arms embargo. "I don't think there's a huge change of opinion" since the failed bid in December, he told reporters.
Washington (AFP) - Trade tensions spiked between Washington and Ottawa on Tuesday as President Donald Trump accused Canada of being "very rough" on America and threatened to retaliate against restrictions on US dairy products.

Trump also touted his administration's surprise decision late Monday to rekindle an old trade conflict with America's second-largest trading partner by slapping new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.

"People don't realize, Canada has been very rough on the United States. Everyone thinks of Canada of being nice but they've outsmarted our politicians for many years," Trump told a group of farmers at the White House.

He said Canada was hurting American dairy farmers near the border, from Wisconsin to New York, by blocking dairy exports "and we're not going to put up with it."

Trump's aggressive comments echoed a tweet he sent earlier in the day, just hours after the Commerce Department announced it was imposing tariffs of up to 24 percent on Canadian softwood lumber, which it says is improperly subsidized.

- Trump-Trudeau call -

Addressing reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the twin disputes underline the problems with the North American Free Trade Agreement linking the United States with Canada and Mexico, which Trump has vowed to renegotiate.

"If NAFTA were functioning properly, you wouldn't be having these kinds of very prickly and unfortunate events back to back," Ross said. "They are generally a good neighbor. That doesn't mean they don't have to play by the rules."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the unexpected burst of tough rhetoric by vowing his government would be "very firm in defending Canada's interests."

But Trudeau also said his officials "will work constructively together" with the United States to find a solution.

The prime minister telephoned Trump late Tuesday to underscore that the US take on softwood lumber was "baseless."

Story continues

Trudeau "refuted the baseless allegations by the US Department of Commerce and the decision to impose unfair duties," his office said.

Trump's White House acknowledged the two leaders discussed Canadian lumber and the dairy trade in the US state of Wisconsin. "It was a very amicable call," a statement said.

The softwood lumber dispute between Washington and Ottawa has also seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years, with US producers accusing their Canadian counterparts of exporting lumber at subsidized prices, harming American businesses.

The wood is a major part of the massive US construction and home-building industry -- an economic bellwether. Most US homes are made with wood framing and some entirely of wood.

In the long-standing dispute, the Commerce Department announced late Monday that after talks with Ottawa failed to yield an agreement, it would impose duties of between three and 24 percent on softwood lumber, used for flooring, siding and other building products.

Ross justified the duties by saying Canadian firms "charge a subsidized low price when the products hit the US border."

The US Commerce Department said it will conduct a thorough investigation and confirm its position on the lumber tariffs by September 27. If confirmed, the tariffs would then have to be approved by the US International Trade Commission.

- Dairy dilemma -

Canada's dairy sector is protected by tariffs on imports and controls on domestic production as a way to support prices for the country's farmers.

The latest row was triggered when Canada extended those policies to apply to ultrafiltered milk, a product used in cheese production and at the center of a thriving US export business.

The US Dairy Export Council said the extension "blatantly blocks American dairy exports" and urged Trump to "take immediate action" to protect dozens of US farmers.

While no other immediate retaliation was planned against Ottawa, Ross said Washington was looking into measures to "correct" what it says is an effective block on a new class of US dairy exports.

"The problem with dairy isn't that they're dumping dairy products in the US. The problem is worse. They are prohibiting US dairy producers from selling their products in Canada," Ross said.

Trudeau told Trump -- whose country is favored in bilateral dairy trade -- "that Canada upholds its international trade obligations, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which the US continues to have duty-free and quota-free access for milk protein substances, including diafiltered milk, and that Canada would continue to defend its interests."

Canada imports over $550 million of US dairy products annually. It exports $110 million to the US market, Canadian data show.
Amari (Estonia) (AFP) - Two of the US Air Force's most advanced warplanes, F-35 stealth fighters, landed for the first time in Estonia on Tuesday for exercises in the small NATO state amid tensions with neighbouring Russia.

The move was seen by Estonian defence officials as a gesture underscoring Washington's commitment to its NATO partners.

Rhetoric by US President Donald Trump, who called NATO "obsolete" shortly before he took office, deeply rattled the alliance's easternmost members bordering Russia. Trump has since reversed much of his criticism.

"Using the most modern fighter jets of the United States in Europe guarantees the sovereignty of all NATO member states," Estonian Defence Minister Margus Tsahkna said quoted by the local Baltic News Service.

"We share the same values and are ready to protect the territory of NATO member states from any kind of possible aggression," he added, speaking at Estonia's Amari air base where the jets landed.

F-35s, devised to have radar-evasive abilities, are billed as the most advanced warplanes of their kind.

The US Air Force deployed the multi-role fighters to Europe earlier this month for joint exercises NATO partners.

"I think the role of the training deployments being run by the United States Air force is to demonstrate the unique capabilities of the F-35 as they start to integrate into European operations with all the NATO and European partners," Air Marshal Stuart Evans, deputy commander of NATOs Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), told AFP at the Amari base.

NATO is currently deploying four battalions for the first time to Poland and Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as tripwires against any Russian interference on its eastern flank, a region formerly under Moscow's control and spooked by its actions in Ukraine.
Washington (AFP) - The United States should stay in the Paris climate accord but renegotiate it, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Tuesday, alleging that some European countries were not doing enough to curb emissions.

A decision is expected by President Donald Trump next month on whether or not to stay in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement limiting global carbon emissions, signed by 194 countries.

"I'm not going to say I'm going to go tell the president of the United States, 'Let's just walk away from the Paris accord'," Perry said during the Bloomberg New Energy Finance conference in New York.

"But what I am going to say is, I think we probably need to renegotiate it," he said.

"We need to sit down and they need to get serious about it," he said.

Perry offered no details about how he thought it should be renegotiated, but said said the United States and China were making a real impact on reducing emissions.

He then questioned the actions of France and Germany.

He gave no specifics on France, other than to say he gave French and German ministers a look that was meant to imply, "What are you all doing?" during a G-7 meeting in Rome earlier this month.

Germany, he went on, has made a decision to "get out of the nuclear business" and "double down -- to hear them tell it -- on renewables," he said.

"But the fact is their emissions have gone up because they are using more coal, and they are using coal that is, you know, not clean technologies," Perry added.

"My point is, don't sign an agreement and then expect us to stay in an agreement if you are not going to really participate and be a part of it."

- Trump's 'open mind' -

During his campaign for the US presidency, Trump vowed that he would scrap US participation in the Paris accord.

After his November 8 election, however, Trump has been evasive on the subject, at one point saying he had "an open mind."

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His secretary of state, former ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson, told lawmakers at a confirmation hearing that the United States should stay in the agreement, which was reached after years of negotiations.

Although Trump cannot unilaterally dismantle the accord, he can initiate the process for a US exit from the agreement.

The United States is the world's biggest economy and the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide after China, and its exit would be a major blow to global efforts to combat climate change.
Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court took a narrow view Tuesday on the immunity from lawsuits enjoyed by Native American tribes, which are treated in some respects like sovereign states that cannot be sued in American courts.

In a case involving a limousine driver who rear-ended a car on a Connecticut freeway, the highest court in the land ruled unanimously that tribal employees do not always have immunity when involved in incidents that take place far from reservations.

The justices revived a civil lawsuit filed by the injured occupants of the car in state court, overturning the Connecticut Supreme Court's decision to dismiss the case because the driver worked for the Mohegan Tribe, which runs a casino in the state.

"We hold that, in a suit brought against a tribal employee in his individual capacity, the employee, not the tribe, is the real party in interest and the tribe's sovereign immunity is not implicated," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the court.

Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump's recently appointed nominee to the court, did not participate in deliberations over the case.

The issue dates back to 2011, when William Clarke -- a tribal Gaming Authority employee -- was driving clients from the Mohegan Sun Casino and rear-ended a car in which Brian and Michelle Lewis were riding.

The couple sued Clarke in Connecticut state court seeking damages. But Clarke sought to have the case dismissed on the grounds of tribal sovereign immunity, arguing that the accident occurred while he was performing his duties as a tribal employee.

The couple's battle to get Clarke to be tried in his personal capacity, without tribal immunity, lasted more than five years.

While the state court ruled in favor of the Lewises, the state Supreme Court reversed course.

The US Supreme Court disagreed.

"Clarke may not avail himself of a sovereign immunity defense," it ruled.

Native American tribes can manage and regulate their own judicial disputes internally, but their external sovereignty is still subject to federal treaties and laws.
Trump 100  Voices from overseas This combination of images shows people interviewed by the Associated Press regarding President Donald Trumps first 100 days in office. Top row left to right: Diane Lallouz in Tel Aviv; Payam Mosleh in Tehran; Hamza Abu Maria in Ramallah; Shahrzad Ebrahimi in Tehran; Dan Mirkin in Tel Aviv; Fatmeh (full name not given) in Damascus; Mohamed Shire in Mogadishu. Bottom row left to right: Yuri (last name not given) in Moscow; Shimon Abitbol, in Tel Aviv; Raya Sauerbrun in Tel Aviv; Ute Hubner in Berlin; Juan Pablo Bolanos in Mexico City; Ra So Yon in Pyongyang; and Mohammad Ali in Damascus. (Photos: AP)

It was the most stunning political victory of the 21st century, one that brought shocked concern in many parts of the world and cheers in others. One uncontroversial certainty was that it would cause reverberations around the globe.

Donald Trump campaigned on an America First platform, but has found himself as president drawn into thorny geopolitical complexities aplenty in the first 100 days of his administration. Relations with Russia plummeted to an all-time low, as Trump himself described it, in the wake of the U.S. missile strikes on the Syrian governments airfield in response to a deadly chemical attack. The administrations Syria policy and how to handle President Bashar Assad seesawed.

A window of opportunity appeared with China after Trump hosted President Xi Jinping for a summit at his Florida estate, but tensions on the Korean Peninsula soared over North Koreas nuclear program. Mexico showed consternation and agitation over the presidents planned border wall, but gave no sign it would pay for the structure as Trump had repeatedly promised voters.

Trumps travel ban rocked refugees and asylum-seekers in several Muslim-majority nations, though it was blocked by federal courts at home. There were echoes of darker U.S.-Iran days, but nothing yet that would derail the landmark nuclear deal, as the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued to simmer.

Associated Press journalists in North Korea, Syria, Iran, Somalia, Israel, the West Bank, Russia, Germany and Mexico have gauged the global temperature by asking people five questions. (AP)

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr

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Associated Press journalists Raf Wober in Pyongyang, North Korea, Mohammad Nasiri in Tehran, Iran, Zeina Karam in Beirut, Lebanon, Abdi Guled and Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu, Somalia, Ami Bentov in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jelal Hassan and Eyyad Moghrabi in the West Bank, Douglas McCabe in Berlin, Vladimir Kondrashov in Moscow and Alex Triboulard in Mexico City contributed to this story.
Photo credit: YouTube

From Popular Mechanics

A ferry recently crashed into a port wall in the Canary Islands, injuring 13 passengers and hospitalizing five people, Spanish authorities told the Independent. A spokesman for the company that owns the ferry, Naviera Armas, said the ship suffered a "loss of electrical power" that led to the crash. The sea wall took significant damage as chunks of concrete tumbled onto a service road, and underwater fuel pipes were ruptured, leaking an oil slick into the Atlantic that stretches about two miles long.

The ferry was able to dock following the incident and the passengers were put up in hotels for the night. The regional government has begun an emergency procedure to clean the oil spill. As for the retaining wall, it held, though it's going to require a bit of mending.

Source: The Independent

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An unlikely guest never misses a visit to this 81-year-olds home on the mountainside.

Read: Goat and UPS Driver Form Unlikely Friendship: 'She Is Always Around for a Great Laugh'

The wild stag is named Flippen, and he has been dropping by to check on his old friend twice a day for the last four years.

In return for the animals companionship, Mette Kvam of Aurland, Norway, returns his affection by giving him head rubs and feeding him bread and other snacks.

She says that they are so lucky for having each other, Britt Haugsevje Vangn, who caught the display on camera, told Caters News. Mette has no kids and since her husband passed away she has no one  she only has Flippen in her life now.

But, it seems like Flippen has no problem keeping the widow company. Hes even sometimes spotted sleeping outside her home.

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China, the UK, the European Union and Brazil have all filed questions at the United Nations about the United States policies on climate change amid international concern that Donald Trump will withdraw the US from the historic Paris Agreement.

While the Trump administrations plans remain unclear, there have been suggestions the US could face trade tariffs if its greenhouse gas emissions are allowed to increase while the rest of the world makes substantial cuts.

Beijing asked the US to explain what measures would be taken to reach a target to cut emissions by 17 per cent between 2005 and 2020, which is currently expected to be missed.

Chinese officials said the target would be even more challenging given Mr Trumps stance on the issue.

And they directly contrasted the Republican presidents views  he has ludicrously described climate change as a hoax perpetrated by China  with those of Barack Obama.

According to the projections  the US needs to take additional measures to achieve their 2020 targets, China said in a question lodged at the UN.

Given that President Trump is not supportive of President Obamas Climate Actions plan, it is even more challenging to achieve the 17 per cent emission reduction in 2020 purely through domestic actions.

Does the US have any plan or preliminary thoughts on using international market mechanism to accommodate recent changes?

If still not, what additional measure will the US consider to take to achieve the 2020 target?

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Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate could be flooded due to climate change

Mr Trump has begun the process of dismantling the Clean Power Plan (CPP), which was the flagship climate policy of his predecessor.

Clean Power Plan is among the most important mitigation actions of the Presidents Climate Action Plan 2013, the Chinese submission said.

Although the Party has explained that the estimated mitigation impact was not reported because the Plan is expected to start delivering emission reductions after 2020, it is believed that the anticipation of full implementation of CPP will have significant impacts on the electricity market and relative investment choices before 2020.

Story continues

Has the US prepared any alternative approaches to mitigate emission of electricity sector in case the CPP is cancelled?

The European Union also asked what additional measures would be taken to meet the 2020 emissions target. It noted that emissions in 2013 were 10 per cent below the level in 2005.

Could the US provide additional information on how its mitigation actions to date have had an impact on emissions reductions? the EU asked.

Please could the US provide additional information on how believes its future implementation of actions will ensure it achieves its targets?

The UK asked what assessment had been made of the impact of policy announcements made recently by the US.

And Brazil noted the US was forecast to cut emissions by 13 to 15 per cent by 2020, which would miss the target.

It asked whether the US was planning to put the additional measures in place.

The questions were filed in February but have only recently been released.

They referred to a US report on its progress on climate change which had been submitted to the UN by the Obama administration.

The Trump administration was due to hold a crunch meeting earlier this month about whether to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, but it was cancelled. A decision is expected to be announced by the end of May.

Administration officials appear divided on the issue with some arguing the US should stay to have a seat at the table during international talks.

But, speaking to Bloomberg, experts suggested remaining a signatory to Paris while not genuinely living up to its commitments would be a bad move.

This whole idea of being binding or non-binding is a distinction without a difference," Marlo Lewis, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Trump and whoever comes after Trump will continually be caught in this no mans land where if you dont do what Obama promised, you are breaking a promise that America, allegedly, has made to the world.

And Mike McKenna, a strategist who advises energy companies, told Bloomberg that paying only lip-service to Paris would turn the United States into a professional liar and hypocrite.

If were not going to participate in honest action, the right answer is, get out, he said. It is weaselly and beneath our national honour to do something like this.
The dust is finally settling on the long-awaited Yahoo-AOL merger, but the new company wont have a familiar face from Yahoo on board. Current Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will not join Oath, the joint company formed by the Yahoo-AOL merger, and plans to leave in June, USA Today reported.

While Mayer was long expected to step away from Yahoo following the merger, her exact plans were indefinite. As USA Today noted, Oath is officially expected to confirm the news when the company announces its leadership team Tuesday. Along with Mayer, most of Yahoos executive staff is expected to leave.

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Oath, which AOL CEO Tim Armstrong announced on Twitter earlier this month, will be a subsidiary of Verizon. The joint company is also expected to be a play for Verizon to bolster its assets and presence in the online advertising market. Yahoo assets not purchased by Verizon will be spun off into a separate holding company called Altaba.

Mayer originally joined Yahoo in 2012 after a long stint at Google in various executive roles. During her tenure as CEO, the former search giant struggled to maintain its presence against competitors like Facebook and Google.

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Geneva (AFP) - Countries around the world Tuesday pledged more than one billion dollars to help prevent a looming famine in war-torn Yemen at a conference UN chief Antonio Guterres called a "remarkable success."

Yet the $1.1 billion (1.0 billion euros) promised fell far short of the $2.1 billion the United Nations has estimated is needed this year alone in a country facing "a tragedy of immense proportions."

But Guterres praised the generosity of donor nations, pointing out that such conferences generally do not gather more than a third of the requested amount.

This shows a "remarkable solidarity with the Yemeni people," the UN secretary general told reporters.

Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, who along with his Swedish counterpart co-hosted the conference, also applauded the results but acknowledged that "we need even more."

When opening the conference Tuesday morning, Guterres had said it was vital to act quickly.

"We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation," he said, adding that Yemen is gripped by "the world's largest hunger crisis".

He warned that children especially were already dying at an alarming rate, but stressed that "a famine can be prevented if we act quickly and commit to funding crucial life-saving assistance".

The UN had already said back in February that it would need $2.1 billion to help avert famine in Yemen, but by the time Tuesday's conference opened, that appeal had only been 15 percent funded.

- 'Writhing with hunger' -

Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid Mubarek Bin-Dagher had urged donors to be generous, describing how some of his compatriots were "writhing with hunger".

"$2.1 billion is the minimum that we should plan on raising," he told the conference.

UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien meanwhile said that Yemen was "the world's largest humanitarian crisis today."

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"We must do more and can do more," he said, insisting that "we can, with your money and support, scale up, we can avert famine and the worst catastrophe."

But O'Brien underlined that humanitarian aid alone would not resolve Yemen's crisis.

"We need an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to negotiations and peace," he said.

Yemen's war has pitted pro-government forces against Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies, renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to help the government retake the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country's north and west.

Fighting in Yemen has killed more than 7,700 people over the past two years and forced 3.3 million people to flee their homes, according to UN numbers.

All UN mediation attempts and seven declared ceasefires have so far failed.

- '50 children will die' -

The conflict has dramatically deepened Yemen's drawn-out humanitarian crisis, with a full 19 millions people -- two-thirds of the population -- now in need of humanitarian aid, the UN said.

A total of 17 million of them are going hungry, including more than two million children currently considered acutely malnourished.

"On average, a child under the age of five dies of preventable causes in Yemen every 10 minutes," Guterres said.

"This means 50 children in Yemen will die during today's conference, and all those deaths could have been prevented."

Many of the children who survive "will be affected by stunting and poor health for their entire lives," he added.

Anthony Lake, head of the UN children's agency, urged the world to act immediately, warning that "these children cannot wait for an official famine to be declared."

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom noted that with two million children out of school, there is a growing risk of recruitment by armed groups, while two-thirds of girls are married off before the age of 18.

"We must act now", she said.
Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelan protesters planned a new march Wednesday against President Nicolas Maduro, defying his government despite the deaths of more than 25 people in an increasingly violent political crisis.

The opposition called on protesters to march on central Caracas, a pro-Maduro bastion where the seat of government is located.

Previous attempts to reach the city center have degenerated into clashes between riot police and stone-throwing protesters.

Twenty-six people have died so far this month in violence around the protests, including four minors, according to Attorney General Luisa Ortega.

Maduro put the figure at 29 deaths in a speech Tuesday evening, without giving details.

"Twenty-nine of our countrymen have been murdered, and the right-wingers are to blame. The people are demanding justice," he said.

The center-right opposition blames Maduro for severe shortages of food, medicine and other essentials in the oil-rich country.

Maduro, the heir of the leftist "Bolivarian revolution" launched by the late Hugo Chavez in 1999, says the shortages and the protests are part of a US-backed plot to topple him.

The crisis deepened late last month when the Supreme Court moved to seize power from the National Assembly, the only lever of state authority Maduro and his allies do not control.

The court partly backtracked after an international outcry. But the opposition was further galvanized when authorities banned senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles from politics.

In just under a month of unrest, more than 400 people have been injured, and nearly 1,300 arrested, the attorney general said.

- Journalists face 'alarming' threats -

That includes 14 arrested journalists, their union said Tuesday, condemning the figure as "alarming."

More than 100 journalists have been assaulted while covering the protests, it added, accusing the national guard of "harassing, beating and intimidating" reporters.

Story continues

The opposition accuses the government of using the security forces to repress peaceful protests, and of sending armed thugs to attack them.

The government in turn accuses the opposition of paying armed agitators to stir up violence.

Maduro has resisted more than a year of efforts to force him from office, though he said over the weekend that he was willing to hold regional elections that have been postponed indefinitely.

With few options left to get rid of him before the end of his term in 2019, the opposition is urging all-out street rallies to push for elections.

"We cannot give up. If we manage to keep up this pressure we will achieve change," said senior opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara, rallying support for Wednesday's protests.

The opposition said it would try to march on the offices of the national ombudsman, Tarek William Saab, whom it accuses of betraying his duty to defend Venezuelans' human rights.

The Organization of American States has meanwhile called an extraordinary meeting on the Venezuelan crisis Wednesday.

Falling prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports have slashed its revenues, leading to critical shortages and looting.

But while Maduro's camp lost its majority in the National Assembly when the opposition won a landslide in legislative elections in 2015, it retains a firm grip on the courts, electoral authorities and -- crucially -- the military.
MarketWatch

To attract new customers, many banks are now offering lucrative cash bonuses  anywhere from $100 to $2,000  for simply moving money into their various savings and checking accounts. A recent Reddit thread highlighted dozens of first-hand accounts of people earning thousands of dollars by moving their money to various bank accounts to get the bonuses, and then moving on. Indeed, you may simply be better off with a high-interest savings account as many of those are paying more than they have in a decade (see some of the best savings account rates you can get now here).
Gambling and playing the lottery could be more accessible for Pennsylvania residents if the state passes proposals for an online expansion.

Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey are states that currently allow online gambling, while online lotteries are permitted in Kentucky, Georgia, Illinois and Michigan. Pennsylvania would be the first state to allow both casinos and the lottery online if legislation passes.

Republican State Representative Scott Petri says the legislature is considering three different proposals tied to the expansion of casinos into online platforms.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Lottery Spokesperson Gary Miller says proposals for online lotteries are circulating for the Department of Revenues budget for the next fiscal year set to start in July.

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The main reason lotteries are considering this is because they need to be where their players already are, Miller told Fox News.

Miller noted that the lottery benefits older populations in Pennsylvania by generating $1 billion per year toward programs for the elderly.

With a growing number of senior citizens needing this, we need more options, Miller said.

Online casinos are also up for debate. Petri says some Pennsylvania casinos oppose online gambling because they argue itll take money away from brick-and-mortar casinos.

WITH TWITTER STREAMING DEAL, PROFESSIONAL VIDEO GAMING GETS MORE SOCIAL

One proposal offers a mini casino option, which some stakeholders say will allow for small local shares in the industry, according to Petri.

Amid financial challenges, Petri says communities are also worried about what a shift to online platforms means for current casino employees future jobs.

A debate has also ensued on whether tax rates should be the same for online platforms as brick-and-mortar casinos.

The online gambling industry says it shouldnt be, according to Petri.

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The entire [online] industry thinks it should be 15 percent but not more than 20 percent, Petri told Fox News. Thats in contrast with the 54 percent brick-and-mortar slots rate, Petri said.

Story continues

Petri added that brick and mortar casinos argue that they incur more costs, so online platforms should not be given the benefit of a better tax rate.

Petri says he will try to bring the parties together toward a solution in the coming days.

As chairman of the committee, I think its important that I be an honest broker, Petri told Fox News.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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By Stephen Nellis REUTERS - Apple Inc must replace faulty iPads exchanged under its Apple Care warranty program with new products rather than refurbished ones, a Dutch judge ruled earlier this month. On April 18, the court ruled that a woman who had a purchased an iPad 2 Air in 2015 and returned the device to Apple due to problems with its Wi-Fi connectivity was entitled to a new device. Apple had attempted to give the woman a refurbished iPad, as the company allows for in the terms of service of its Apple Care programs, but the woman refused to accept it. "A replacement iPad is, despite everything that Apple has argued about it, not a new iPad, but a replacement," the judge wrote. "Apple is not selling replacements as new in the market. Apple sells refurbished devices through its authorized partners such as mobile phone carriers. Apple did not immediately return a request for comment on the ruling. A civil lawsuit has been filed on similar grounds in federal court in California. The case is set for trial in December 2018. (The Netherlands case is case number 4708463 CV 15-36253 EXPL, and the California case number 3:16-cv-04067-WHO Maldonado et al v. Apple, Inc et al.) (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Chris Reese)
By Sophie Sassard and Helena Soderpalm LONDON/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Mobile telecom equipment maker Ericsson faces a long and painful overhaul after shrinking markets, tough competition and restructuring costs pushed it to a quarterly operating loss on Tuesday. The Swedish company, which is seeking to reposition the business for growth under new chief executive Borje Ekholm, reported an operating loss of 12.3 billion Swedish crowns ($1.4 billion) as previously announced provisions, writedowns and restructuring costs pushed it deep into the red. That compared with a 3.5 billion crown profit in the same period last year and a mean forecast for a 12.0 billion crown loss in a Reuters poll of analysts. Ekholm wants to focus the business on lucrative core networks while restoring profitability in its IT & Cloud unit. It is also exploring partnerships or a sale of all or part of its media unit. Sales came in at 46.4 billion crowns, below the consensus forecast of 47.3 billion, while the gross margin was 13.9 percent versus the 17.9 percent seen by analysts. The company reiterated its guidance to at least double 2016 margins beyond 2018 through more aggressive cost-cutting. "What we see now is a need ... to intensify our efforts further on the cost side," Ekholm said on a call with analysts, adding that this would include streamlining its portfolio. Ericsson cut its total workforce by almost 5,000 last year to around 111,000 as part of a drive to improve profitability. Ekholm said he expected the steps he is taking to lead to significant profitability improvements as early as 2018. Critics question whether Ekholm, a veteran Ericsson board member, is best placed to turn the business around. They say a more varied, international management team at rival Nokia was key to its revival. Ericsson backers say the company has changed the guard, albeit internally, and is doing a good job of promoting a new generation of managers. INVESTOR SCEPTICISM Shares were down 3.2 percent at 1204 GMT, reflecting investor scepticism. UBS analysts expect 2017 EBIT to fall by more than 3 percent and the stock to decline by the same amount. "The only positive factor is networks' underlying margin of 12 percent," said Inge Heydorn, a fund manager at Sentat Asset Management, referring to the company's main business. "The rest is basically just more of the same, mainly a weak market," Heydorn said. Sentat does not have a position in Ericsson shares. Ericsson, backed by prominent Wallenberg family-backed Investor AB and Industrivarden, is under pressure to take greater advantage of the global surge in data traffic, enterprise networking and cloud computing. It has been hit by a drop in spending by telecoms firms, with demand for next-generation 5G technology still years away, and weak emerging markets. It also faces mounting competition from China's Huawei and Finland's Nokia. The company stunned investors in March by announcing $1.7 billion in provisions, writedowns and restructuring costs. The bulk of the provisions were related to "transformation projects" - operators needing to upgrade old systems - in Ericsson's IT & Cloud business, the company said. A second tech investor, with no stake in Ericsson, said weak performance at the other units, IT & Cloud and Media, showed the need to exit unprofitable businesses. Sector bankers scouting the market for possible partners or buyers for the media assets said they are having a hard time as the unit is small and not growing. A banker who worked for Ericsson in the past said the company overpaid for media acquisitions in 2012-13 and will hardly recoup its investment. Bankers said Media solutions - which provide consulting, systems integration and managed TV services - could appeal to large IT players such as France's Atos, while broadcast services could be sold to "bottom-fishing" private equity funds which have lower expectations of returns and tend to keep assets longer than traditional funds. Bankers ruled out any imminent takeover of Ericsson but said some rivals could take a look once the business stabilizes. Speculation of a possible Ericsson-Cisco tie-up has been doing the rounds since the companies struck a strategic partnership two years ago. Ericsson said industry trends from 2016 were expected to continue in 2017. It has forecast the mobile infrastructure market to decline by 2-6 percent this year and stabilize after that. ($1 = 8.8115 Swedish crowns) (Additional reporting by Olof Swahnberg; Editing by Mark Potter and Adrian Croft)
By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers voted on Tuesday to ban online retailers from treating consumers differently depending on where they live and expanded their proposed law to include music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple's iTunes. Ending so-called geoblocking is a priority for the European Commission as it tries to create a single market for digital services across the 28-nation bloc, but many industries argue that they tailor their prices to specific domestic markets. Tuesday's vote means the European Parliament can begin final negotiations with EU member states to reach a deal on the proposal, after which it would become law. The proposal, which will apply to e-commerce websites such as Amazon, Zalando and eBay, as well as for services provided in a specific location like car rental, forbids online retailers from automatically re-routing customers to their domestic website without their consent. Amazon already makes it retail websites accessible to customers anywhere in Europe and says 98 percent of its own stock is available to shoppers from any European country. In a blow for the book publishing and music industries, European Parliament members voted to include copyright-protected content such as music, games, software and e-books in the law. That would mean music streaming services such as Spotify and iTunes would not be able to prevent, for example, a French customer buying a cheaper subscription in Croatia, if they have the required rights. The music industry has argued that extending the geoblocking ban to copyright-protected content could lead to a waterbed effect - pushing up prices in areas that are cheaper now. However, EU member states favor excluding copyright-protected services from the geoblocking ban. "Booksellers can't be forced to sell across borders. It is a company choice, in line with the evolution of the market, and booksellers' first concern is to keep their business afloat," said Fabian Paagman and Luc Treutenaere, co-Presidents of the European and International Booksellers Federation. Under the proposal, consumers would be able to buy goods online even when the retailer does not deliver to their country of residence. Retailers would not be forced to deliver cross-border though, so an Italian buying a TV off a German website would have to arrange their own delivery or collect it. Consumers will also be able to take advantage of better prices for car rentals, hotel rooms or music festivals on websites in other countries, which may have previously re-routed them to their local version. "What we want is simple: to end discrimination in the single market, based on people's nationality, residence or temporary location," said Roza Thun, the MEP who is steering the legislation through the European Parliament. (Editing by David Clarke)
The Galaxy S8 is finally out, and it's fantastic. But not everyone who scored Samsung's new flagship is having a great time.





Credit: Jeremy Lips/Tom's Guide

Credit: Jeremy Lips/Tom's Guide

According to multiple user reports, Galaxy S8 owners are now reporting issues with Wi-Fi connectivity as well as wireless charging. These complaints come just days after some Galaxy S8 devices started showing a strange red tint on the display.

Samsung told The Wall Street Journal that it will issue two patches for its new smartphone this week: one to fix an issue where users are having spotty Wi-Fi connections, and another to fix the red tint issue. According to WSJ, Samsung says that these problems are not product defects and can be resolved via software.

MORE: Galaxy S8 User Guide: Tips, Tricks and How-Tos

However, there's one issue that Samsung has yet to announce an official fix for. In this Samsung support thread, various users noted that their S8 won't charge wirelessly with older wireless charging pads.

A Samsung representative replied to the complaint with "There might be an update to fix that, or it might need one of the new wireless chargers in order to work." Not exactly encouraging.

These issues don't seem like a dealbreaker (especially since many of them are getting patched), but they're worth knowing about for anyone who has their eyes on a new Galaxy S8. On the bright side, at least Samsung's new phone isn't blowing up.

See also : 10 Reasons Galaxy S8 Beats the iPhone 7
Samsung acknowledged last week that theres a red tint issue with the Galaxy S8, but the company said a software fix should help users get rid of it. The first reports detailing the problem emerged out of South Korea, where the Galaxy S8 was first released. Its unclear at this time what causes the problem or how many users are affected. Consumer Reports set out to investigate the matter and discovered that out of eight Galaxy S8 units it purchased, half of them had reddish displays. But, overall, the organization concluded it is not a controversial issue.

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Our display evaluators noted that displays of four of our test models appeared slightly more red than the other four, Consumer Reports said, according to Business Korea. Its unclear how much consumers might object to the red tint, especially if they werent looking at two phones side-by-side.

In spite of the reddish tint, the images on the display were not noticeably distorted or uncomfortable to see, the report notes.

Users can already try to fix the issue by going into the display section of the Settings app, with Samsung expected to roll out an update as early as next week to address the problem. Consumer Reports also said that the Galaxy S8s camera is among the best weve ever tested, and the water resistance and scratch resistance are significantly improved compared to the Galaxy S7.

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Google has unveiled new measures aimed at helping news organizations drive more subscriptions and generate revenues (AFP Photo/LOIC VENANCE) (AFP)

Washington (AFP) - Google on Tuesday announced changes to how it delivers and ranks internet searches, the latest effort by the tech giant to weed out "fake news" and offensive content.

The new initiative includes tweaks to the algorithm used by Google to deliver search results, while offering users more options to flag inappropriate content, including for "autocomplete," or the suggestions Google makes while someone is typing a search query.

"Our algorithms help identify reliable sources from the hundreds of billions of pages in our index," Google vice president of engineering Ben Gomes said in a blog post.

"However, it's become very apparent that a small set of queries in our daily traffic (around 0.25 percent), have been returning offensive or clearly misleading content, which is not what people are looking for."

Gomes said that Google is seeking to crack down on "new ways that people try to game the system."

"The most high profile of these issues is the phenomenon of 'fake news,' where content on the web has contributed to the spread of blatantly misleading, low quality, offensive or downright false information," he wrote.

"While this problem is different from issues in the past, our goal remains the same -- to provide people with access to relevant information from the most reliable sources available."

Both Google and Facebook have taken steps in recent months to curb the spread of hoaxes and misinformation amid concerns these may have influenced voters in the 2016 US election.

Both firms have sought to cut off ad revenues to websites that promote false news, but have acknowledged they need to do more.

Gomes said the latest effort is part of an ongoing process and includes "real people who assess the quality of Google's search results" and provide feedback.

The tweak in search ranking aims "to help surface more authoritative pages and demote low-quality content," he added.

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Gomes said the effort aims to avert incidents that gained notoriety last year such as the high ranking of a website which claimed the Holocaust did not happen.

Additionally, Google will make it easier for users to flag inappropriate "autocomplete" suggestions and "snippets" of website after some past embarrassments.

"The content that appears in these features is generated algorithmically and is a reflection of what people are searching for and what's available on the web," Gomes said.

"This can sometimes lead to results that are unexpected, inaccurate or offensive"

Gomes said the new system enables users to "inform us directly if you find sensitive or unhelpful content."

"We plan to use this feedback to help improve our algorithms," he added.
Humans have always been endlessly fascinated with our evolutionary history, and discovering a new species of human that once roamed the Earth is certainly cause for interest. When scientists announced the discovery of a tiny hobbit-like bipod called Homo floresiensis in Indonesia way back in 2003, they thought perhaps it was simply an evolutionary fork of the well-documented Homo erectus, but now theyre not so sure. New research by the Australian National University suggests that the hobbits evolved from a much earlier human species, painting an even more interesting picture of their existence.

Don't Miss: Man who made his living killing African wildlife gets eaten by African wildlife

The study, which was published in the Journal of Human Evolution, ruled out a number of theories as to the origin of Homo floresiensis, including the possibility that it was simply a singular dramatic mutation of Homo sapiens. These ancient humans were extremely small compared to what we consider normal today, measuring only about three-and-a-half feet in height, which made determining their specific origin a matter of much scientific curiosity

To accomplish the task, researchers thoroughly studied the remains of florensiensis and were able to come up with 133 data points to compare with other known primitive human species. By determining that the hobbit-human skeletal structure had much more in common with our most ancient ancestors from Africa, Homo habilis, and that the pint-sized people were likely an evolutionary offshoot that occurred alongside habilis. If that is indeed the case, it would mean the hobbit-like species lived somewhere in the neighborhood of two to three million years ago.

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13 injured as police, locals clash in Jumla

At least 13 persons including seven women were injured when a clash broke out between police and locals in the premises of District Administrative Office (DAO), Jumla on Tuesday.
By Georgina Prodhan HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Russia's Kaspersky Lab has temporarily backed off filing a competition complaint that Microsoft is abusing its market dominance to crowd out anti-virus software makers such as itself, founder and Chief Executive Eugene Kaspersky said. Instead, Kaspersky - who threatened in November to complain to the European Commission - said he would keep talking to Microsoft about changes he wants the U.S. software giant to make before deciding whether to press his case in a few months. "They are listening to us and they made a few changes. It's an ongoing process," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Hannover Messe industrial trade fair. "Of course if Microsoft agrees to all our requests we will not file it." Microsoft had no immediate comment, while the European Commission declined to comment. Kaspersky says Microsoft is foisting its own Defender anti-virus software on Windows 10 users at the expense of rivals, and creating obstacles for independent security software developers to enter the market. He did not elaborate on his exact requests or what changes Microsoft had made. But in a November blog post entitled: "That's it. I've had enough!" he complained that Microsoft did not give independent developers enough time to adapt to new Windows versions, did not warn users that their anti-virus software could be replaced when upgrading Windows, and did not always ask users for explicit approval to install Defender. "Microsoft's actions aren't only making things worse for users and killing off the whole ecosystem of independent developers," he wrote at the time. (http://bit.ly/2eP27pe) "They're also undermining users' trust in Microsoft: creating an illusion of security while destroying the main competitive advantage of its platform  openness and democracy." Russia's anti-monopoly commission is investigating Microsoft for allegedly abusing its dominance in the antivirus software market in response to a complaint filed by Kaspersky. Kaspersky said that case was proceeding and he did not know what the result would be. (Additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; Editing by Adrian Croft)
The day some of you have been waiting for is finally here: you can now test drive Googles self-driving cars. Before you get too excited though, you should know that you dont get to keep the car, and that the pilot program is only available in Pheonix, Arizona.

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Waymo, which is what Googles self-driving car division is now known as, has offered test driving opportunities to some residents in the Phoenix area. But the company is now opening the program to the public, which means anyone can apply to test out one of the companys futuristic cars.

In a blog post, Waymo explained that a handful of Phoenix residents have been testing the self-driving car for the past month, and that the program is now expanding to cover more people. Over the course of this trial, well be accepting hundreds of people with diverse backgrounds and transportation needs who want to ride in and give feedback about Waymos self-driving cars, Waymo CEO John Krafcik said.

Waymo also announced that its adding some 500 self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans to its fleet, on top of the existing 100 models that it began testing on public roads earlier this year. The company says that while it accumulated millions of miles of self-driving experience so far, it wants to learn even more about the main beneficiary of the technology, the human inside the vehicle.

Now, with this program, were turning our attention to the people who will benefit from this technology, the CEO said. Well learn things like where people want to go in a self-driving car, how they communicate with our vehicles, and what information and controls they want to see inside.

A video telling the story of some of the first Waymo testers is embedded below.

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The Pawn Storm group, which has been linked to several high-profile hacking attacks in the West, is accused of using "phishing" techniques to try to steal personal data from French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and members of his En Marche campaign (AFP Photo/Patrick KOVARIK) (AFP/File)

Paris (AFP) - French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's political campaign was targeted by a group of Russian hackers last month, according to a report by a cybersecurity research group on Tuesday.

The Pawn Storm group, which has been linked to several high-profile attacks in the West, used "phishing" techniques to try to steal personal data from Macron and members of his En Marche! campaign, Japan-based Trend Micro said.

Pawn Storm, also known as APT28, is also believed to be behind the attacks last summer on the US Democratic National Committee, thought to be aimed at undermining Hillary Clinton's presidential bid.

It is widely suspected of having links to Russia's security services, and Moscow has been seen as a keen backer of Macron's rival in the presidential race Marine Le Pen, who met President Vladimir Putin in a surprise visit to Moscow ahead of the vote.

Macron and Le Pen were the top two finishers in the first round of voting on Sunday, moving on to the second-round run-off on May 7.

"There is always some technical uncertainty when it comes to attribution," Loic Guezo, a strategist for Southern Europe at Trend Micro, told AFP.

"But we have analysed the operating tactics with data compiled over two years, which allowed us to determine the source."

The director of Macron's digital campaign, Mounir Mahjoubi, welcomed the report after "constant attacks of all sorts, including phishing attacks, since December and January".

"We weren't able to attribute them to anyone, which is what this report does. It confirms the suspicions we have had since February," Mahjoubi told AFP.

He added that the campaign had bolstered its digital defences in the wake of the attacks, including cutting connections to the computer servers hosting the campaign's network in February after an attack coming from Ukraine.

"But we shouldn't be naive. With cyberattacks, a group of hackers can also work for a bigger group or interests. It would take an investigation to find out for sure, and a presidential campaign is not the time for that," Mahjoubi said.

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- 'Plenty of resources' -

Other suspected Pawn Storm targets in recent months include media groups such as The New York Times and Al-Jazeera.

Several political officials and government agencies also see the group behind sophisticated attacks, including ones targeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party, government ministries in Denmark and the Czech Republic, and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"To focus on such a range of targets over such a long time, you need plenty of human and financial resources," Guezo said.

But on Monday, Russia denied any involvement in the French election.

"Which groups? Where do they come from? Why Russia?" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"It resembles the accusations made by Washington which to this day remain hollow, and they do no honour to the people making them."

It is not the first time that Macron's En Marche! has sustained a phishing attack, in which email users are tricked into clicking on a link that appears legitimate or from a legitimate sender, which then lets hackers burrow into their account or even a larger computer network.

An internal campaign report details thousands of attempted attacks or intrusions since Macron launched his campaign last year, which Richard Ferrand, the campaign's secretary-general, said in February were "organised and coordinated by a structured group, and not individual hackers."

Also in February, Macron's spokesman Benjamin Griveaux accused the Kremlin of mounting a "smear campaign" via state media against the centrist former economy minister, a staunch defender of the European Union.

For Trend Micro, the targeting of Macron's campaign is simply the latest in a long list of attempted hacking attacks by the Russian group.

"As we look at Pawn Storm's operations over a two-year period, we can see how the group has become more adept at manipulating events and public opinion through the gathering and controlled release of information," it said in its report.
Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge owners who got their phones from Verizon can now jump for joy. The wireless company is now rolling out the Android 7.0 Nougat update for the 2-year-old smartphones.

On Monday, Droid-Life reported about the rollout of the Nougat update for the two Galaxy phones after receiving tips from owners that they were prompted to update their handsets to the latest software version available to them. Galaxy S6 users are getting the G920VVRS4DQD1 update, while S6 edge owners are receiving the G925VVRS4DQD1 software version.

Some users who already got the updates shared screenshots of the notification they got. Based on the notification, the new system updates comes with security updates, a new battery management page, enhanced multitasking options, photo effects as well as filter previews and a keyboard update that improves language predictions.

READ: Samsung to fix Galaxy S8 red screen problem

It wasnt clear if the Android 7.0 Nougat update comes with the March or April security patch, as per Phone Arena. Whats clear for now is that the new software for the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge will eat up more than 1GB of memory.

Since Verizon just started rolling out the updates, users are advised to manually check if they are already available in their area. To do this, they should head to Settings then tap System Updates. A notification saying a new update is now available for download should appear. It is important that devices should be connected to a WiFi network when downloading the updates.

Verizon said that the software updates for the two smartphones have been tested to optimize performance, resolve known issues and apply the latest security patches. More details are provided on Verizons support pages for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.

The release of the Nougat update for the two devices comes about two weeks after the Galaxy S6 edge+ was updated to Android 7.0.

Galaxy S6 edge

Photo: Reuters/Beawiharta Beawiharta

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Workers on the operations floor of a plant in Icheon run by SK Hynix, which saw quarterly net profit leap 98 percent year-on-year to 3.22 trillion won ($3 billion) (AFP Photo/KIM MIN-HEE) (POOL/AFP/File)

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix on Tuesday said profit in the first three months of the year boomed more than 300 percent to a record high as strong demand for memory chips used in mobile phones boosted prices.

First-quarter net profit surged 324 percent on-year to 1.89 trillion won ($1.66 billion) while operating profit jumped 339 percent to 2.4 trillion won -- also a record.

Strong demand for NAND flash memory chips used in smartphones and other mobile gadgets, coupled with industry-wide supply shortages, pushed up prices and boosted the firm's margins, SK Hynix said.

Prices for DRAM chips -- widely used in PCs and computer servers, and a key component of the firm's sales -- also rose, it said, adding demand would remain strong thanks to the popularity of cloud computing services and high-end PCs for gamers.

The firm's overall sales grew 72 percent on-year to 6.28 trillion won, another quarterly record.

Shares in SK Hynix closed unchanged at 52,400 won in Seoul Tuesday after rising as much as 1.5 percent in morning trade.

The company is the world's second-biggest maker of DRAM chips after Samsung, which earlier this month flagged a 48 percent jump in the first-quarter operating profit owing to strong sales of memory chips.

SK Hynix is in the midst of an attempt to take over the semiconductor unit of troubled Japanese tech giant Toshiba, with a consortium led by the firm reportedly offering to pay more than $9 billion.

If the deal goes through, it would make SK Hynix the global number two maker of NAND memory chips. It is currently fifth.
The Trump administration late last month surprised travelers from various Middle Eastern countries with a ban on laptops and tablets for carry-on luggage. Any electronics larger than a phone have to be deposited in the checked-in baggage, the new air travel regulation said. The UK soon followed with a similar rule, although the two countries did not target the same Middle Eastern countries with their respective gadgets ban. The UK ban also specified strict measurements for a banned device.

The US is now looking to expand the ban to cover all of Europe and even the UK.

Don't Miss: Some Galaxy S8 users experience Wi-Fi and wireless charging issues

Soon after the ban was instated, reports indicated that theres a worry that terrorists may target certain flights with bombs disguised as iPads or other large electronic devices. The reports noted that attackers would want to place these explosive devices inside the cockpit, preferably close to the windows, to achieve maximum damage.

According to The Guardian, British officials understand from their US counterparts that the band will be extended to flights from Europe. The ban may include the UK as well.

Its unclear at this time what would determine the Trump administration to extend the ban, or when itll happen.

Weve said we will continue to evaluate the threat environment and make determinations based on that assessment, but we have not made any decisions on expanding the current restrictions against large electronic devices in aircraft cabins from selected airports. US Department of Homeland Security Gillian Christensen said.

Some technology experts have voiced their concerns about the ban, suggesting that a bomb placed in checked-in baggage may be equally damaging.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
After months of anticipation and enough leaks to last a lifetime, Samsung finally released the Galaxy S8 in the United States last week. As we said in our review, Samsungs new flagship is the Android phone to beat in 2017. But if you just recently upgraded to another phone or simply arent interested in spending $700 on a new phone, this free icon pack on Google Play might help tide you over.

Don't Miss: Some Galaxy S8 users experience Wi-Fi and wireless charging issues

The infinity display and stellar camera are clearly the two standout features of the Galaxy S8 and S8+, but if youre desperate to get a taste of the Galaxy S8 design on your current Android phone, the Aspire Ux S8 icon pack is an acceptable compromise. It features over 600 high quality icons, new wallpapers, support for Dynamic Calendar, a tool to request new icons and a dashboard for ease of use.

The Aspire icon pack typically costs $0.99, but you can download it free of charge for a limited time. The creators also say that they plan to continue updating the pack with new icons and features on a weekly basis, so if you download it now, you can receive all of those update for free as well.

Whether or not you prefer the Galaxy S8 look to the standard look of your Android device will obviously determine how interesting this deal is to you, but at the low price of $0.00, it cant hurt to give it a try. Just remember that youll need to use a different launcher than the stock launcher to apply the icons.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
- The Ghana Armed Forces has opened the 2017/2018 recruitment into the service

- Interested persons can buy a scratch card and then log on to www.gaf.mil.gh to apply.

Click here to get the latest trending news in Ghana.

The Ghana Armed Forces has opened the 2017/2018 recruitment process for eligible candidates to be recruited into the security service.

READ ALSO: Threat or prophecy? Nana Addo ordered to sacrifice two-month's salary or suffer premature death

This was contained in a press statement signed by the director of public relations of the Armed Forces, Colonel Aggrey-Quarshie.

The statement said interested applicants would be informed about where they can buy the scratch cards for the application in an advert in the Monday (April 24, 2017) issue of the Ghanaian Times and another in the Daily Graphic on Friday (April 28, 2017).

The sale of online application Scratch Cards will commence throughout the country on Tuesday 25 April, 2017 at designated Ghana Post Offices listed in the advert. The portal for the online application will be activated from Monday 08 to Wednesday 31 May, 2017. Interested persons can log on to www.gaf.mil.gh to apply.

The statement warned member of the public to avoid middlemen who often swindle potential applicants by claiming to help them get enlisted in the service and called for such people to be reported to the police.

The Ghana Armed Forces wishes to inform the general public that the Force does not employ middlemen or charge fees for recruitment. The public therefore strongly advised to desist from paying monies to any person(s) who present themselves as agents or middlemen with the promise to help potential recruits join GAF.

Share your views on this with us in the comments section below.

READ ALSO: Nana Akomea has angrily rejected Akufo-Addo's appointment and the reason will shock you

Source: YEN.com.gh
Arzu demands removal of mandatory provision for Dalit woman candidate

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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW ORLEANS) -- New Orleans has become the latest place in the South to take down monuments or symbols to the Confederacy.



Workers early Monday dismantled a 35-foot granite obelisk, the Liberty Place monument, which honored whites who tried to defeat a racially integrated government installed in New Orleans after the Civil War. The city will also remove three statues to Confederate military officers in coming days.



"We will no longer allow the Confederacy to literally be put on a pedestal in the heart of our city," Mayor Mitch Landrieu vowed.



New Orleans' toppling of Confederate monuments is part of a trend that gained speed and momentum after a mass shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, when avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine African Americans in a bible-study session.



In the aftermath of the massacre, calls came from both Republicans and Democrats in South Carolina to take down a Confederate battle flag that flew atop the statehouse in Charleston.



South Carolina's public grappling with symbols of its history sparked calls from activists and politicians around the country to take down Confederate flags and monuments in other places.



Southern Poverty Law Center, an advocacy and research organization focused on fighting bigotry and discrimination, published a survey in the wake of the Charleston shooting that found more than 1,503 symbols of the Confederacy in public spaces in the U.S., nearly all of them in the South.



The group asserted in its study that the symbols of the Confederacy can't be separated from the ideology underlying the Southern states' defense of slavery after the Civil War.



"There is no doubt among reputable historians that the Confederacy was established upon the premise of white supremacy and that the South fought the Civil War to preserve its slave labor," the study states.



South Carolina took the Confederate battle flag down from its perch on the statehouse on July 10, 2015, little more than three weeks after the church killings.



Since then, Confederate flags have also been taken down at other locations including the Alabama statehouse, Oklahoma Baptist University and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia. Souvenir Confederate flags were also taken off the shelves at major retailers like Sears and Walmart and at small gift shops such as at the Civil War Museum of the Western Theater in Kentucky and at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland.



Defenders of public displays of Confederate monuments and symbols say they are important markers of history.



Robert Bonner, a 63-year-old who participates in Civil War re-enactments, protested the removal of the Liberty Place monument in New Orleans, telling The Associated Press that the city's decision to take it down was "terrible."



"It's a terrible thing," Bonner said. "When you start removing the history of the city ... you start losing where you came from and where you've been."



Aware of opposition to removing the Liberty Place monument, the workers who took it down did so while it was still dark and wore both masks and bulletproof vests.



Some historians, echoing the view of the Southern Poverty Law Center, say many of the monuments to the Confederacy were put up less to commemorate history than to make a statement after the Civil War against any granting of full rights and political power to former slaves.



"Many of these statues were mounted in the 1890s and during the time of Jim Crow," when laws enforcing racial separation took hold, said Matt Karp, associate professor of history at Princeton University and author of a book on the legacy of slavery.



"These were political [statements] and not meant to be viewed as neutral symbols" of history, Karp said.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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The 25th of April

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1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process.

2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive.

3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents.

4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance.

Vote

View Results
By Damali Mukhaye

The president of the Democratic Party Norbert Mao has asked the vice president of Buganda region Betty Nambooze and her defiant group of DP MPs to observe the party constitution and leadership or leave the party.

Addressing journalists at the party headquarters at city house in Kampala, Mao said that the Masaka conference was illegal and uncalled for since the party leadership did not approve it.

He explains that Nambooze and her team are spreading tribal propaganda putting Buganda at the forefront forgetting that other tribes have also contributed to the development of the party.

He warns that if they cannot obey the party constitution, they are free to get out and go where they are happy, warning that the party will not allow to be disorganized.

DP Buganda Leaders were on Sunday blocked from holding a meeting in Masaka because the party leaders had not approved it.

Earlier, the party National Executive Committee suspended Nambooze for three weeks over defying the party president.

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Today the 14 suspects alleged to have masterminded the murders of two Muslim clerics have opted to remain silent and let court proceed to write the final verdict basing on the evidence and exhibits already on court record.

The suspects including the leader of the Tabliq sect in the country Shiekh Younus Kamoga have today appeared before the International Crimes Division of the High court for their defence.

However through their respective lawyers; Fred Muwema and Macdusman Kabega , the suspects informed the judges that they have chosen to exercise their Constitutional right to remain silent.

After ordering the accused to defend themselves on the 13th/April 2017 , lead judge Ezekiel Muhanguzi informed them that they had three options to choose from; one being giving a sworn evidence where prosecution cross-examines them, giving a unsworn defence or keeping quiet. they have chosen the latter.

The three presiding judges Ezekiel Muhanguzi, Percy Tuhaise and Jane Kiggundu unanimously ruled that prosecution had made out a case against each of the 14 men that warrants them to make a defence on charges of murdering fellow sheikhs; Mustafa Bahiga and Hassan Kirya, Terrorism and the attempted murder of Shiekh Haruna Jjemba.

The case has now been adjourned to the 26th/May 2017 for both prosecution and defence to address court on their final written submissions.

The accused have been further remanded to Luzira prison.
ALBION  A Rome City man who impregnated a 12-year-old girl was sentenced to 30 years in prison for child molesting.

Vaughn D. Boutwell II, 32, pleaded guilty to the Level 1 felony count and was sentenced Tuesday morning.

The entire 30-year sentence will be served as executed time, meaning hell have to serve at least 22.5 actual years before being eligible for release. Once let out of prison, hell have to register as a violent sexual predator for life.

In April 2016, the Rome City Police Department was contacted by staff at Parkview Noble Hospital to alert police that a 12-year-old girl had come into the emergency room and was pregnant.

Police interviewed the girl, who told detectives she had been accosted by a man while walking along Sylvan Lake who raped her. She later told police she made up the story and had actually had sex with a man named Brandon from Michigan. Investigators later determined that story was false as well, according to police reports.

Officers received tips that Boutwell might be responsible and asked the girl about it. She became emotional during the interview but repeatedly denied that he was involved, according to a police report.

In June, the girl gave birth to the child and police obtained DNA samples from the baby and from Boutwell. A genetic test showed a 99.9999 percent probability match of parentage, according to court documents.

In court Tuesday, Boutwell said he was using acid at the time and was high when he had sex with the girl, but had little else to say in his own defense.

Im ready to pay. So I cant say much, Boutwell said in court.

His attorney Jim Abbs asked the court to consider sentencing Boutwell to 20 years  the mandatory minimum for such a crime  and then a lengthy term of probation.

I know he would like to take this whole situation back, but he cant do that, Abbs said.

Noble County Prosecutor Eric Blackman had agreed to offer a plea with a cap of 30 years on the sentence, but expected to get the full 30 years in prison time. The prosecutor called the incident unspeakable.

Boutwell has an extensive criminal history dating back to his juvenile years, most of which involves substance abuse offenses and property crime, which also justified a longer sentence.

Somewhere along the line, he crossed a major line, Blackman said. This is as serious as it gets.

Noble Superior 1 Court Judge Robert Kirsch said he saw no reason to suspend any of Boutwells sentence and gave him the full 30 years. He also fined Boutwell $500 plus court costs and ordered him to pay $100 to the Noble County Public Defenders fund.

Per the plea agreement, Boutwell was not declared a credit-restricted felon, which would mean he would have to serve six days in order to earn one day of credit for good behavior. That would have added about an additional three years of actual time to Boutwells sentence if it had been applied.
Perseverance paid off for the Onalaska High School fab lab.

On Tuesday, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch awarded the school district a $25,000 Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. grant for its fabrication laboratory, a portion of $500,000 in grants given to 21 school districts around the state. Almost 70 applications were received this year. Onalaska applied last year but was turned down.

The fab lab program, which the high school started looking into at the beginning of the 2015-16 school year, provides access to equipment such as a computer-controlled ShopBot, vinyl cutter and a laser cutter that allow students to tackle hands-on engineering projects. Students learn problem-solving and teamwork skills as well as real-world applications of things they learn in their science, mathematics and other classes.

These skills help make students college- and career-ready, Kleefisch said. Fab labs are a big part of the talent pipeline and help students learn the skills they need for the workforce.

Onalaska High School teacher Ben Heiser said the district has been piecing together the fab lab using funding from the districts $500,000-per-year technology referendum, financial support from the Onalaska Education Foundation and help and advice from Western Technical College, local businesses and The Upper Mississippi Manufacturing Alliance. Funding from the grant will help the high school expand the fabrication lab, providing additional equipment such as an additional laser cutter, a 3D printer and rolling work tables.

While currently limited to use by the high school, district staff hope to bring in elementary and middle school students as well as opening up the fab lab to the community on the weekends. The district also hopes to increase the number of girls in fab lab classes in order to get participation closer to the 50-50 mark.

Students have worked on a number of projects, such as designer trusses that can withstand certain amounts of force, cardboard chairs that will stand up to specific punishments and a mechanical sorting device that can sort materials and weights using sensors and other technology. Whether students jump into the workforce right away after high school or go on to college or university, these science, technology, engineering and math skills are valuable to all employers looking for workers that can solve problems and work together as a team.

Were building the future and getting you ready for the next step, Onalaska Superintendent Fran Finco said.

These skills help make students college- and career-ready. Fab labs are a big part of the talent pipeline and help students learn the skills they need for the workforce. Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch
Earlier this month, as I finished filing and paying our familys federal taxes, I came across a video clip of President Trump speaking in February at a meeting with airline executives. In the video, Trump promises hell be lowering the overall tax burden of American businesses, big league.  Were going to be announcing something I would say over the next two or three weeks that will be phenomenal in terms of tax.

It was vintage Trump, crowing about what he sees as his ability to accomplish great things. What was striking was that his promise of tax relief  something most Americans would love to see  was being directed not to middle-class taxpayers, but to executives of an industry whose 2016 international profits were $35.6 billion.

Trump wants us to believe that pouring even more money into the likes of Delta, American and United Airlines will lead to job growth in our cities and towns. Americans know better.

And Trump clearly believes that being wealthy confers no obligation to pay a reasonable share of taxes, and that he deserves to be excused from the tax responsibilities that ordinary Americans bear.

Trump was confronted about this by Hillary Clinton in a September 2016 debate: Maybe he doesnt want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that hes paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybodys ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didnt pay any federal income tax,. He responded: That makes me smart. A strong majority of Americans disagree, with 67 percent endorsing the word selfish, and 61 percent calling it unpatriotic.

For the last decade, the top 10 percent of Americans took in as much income as the lowest 90 percent combined. Those in the very top 1 percent  earning about $1.4 million a year or more  are getting most of the countrys income growth.

For those at the top of the pyramid, acquiring necessities  basic food, clothing, and shelter  costs only a small fraction of what they earn. True tax reform would eliminate many deductions and loopholes for the financially privileged, and relieve the burden on those with lower incomes.

This isnt what Donald Trump has in mind. Business Insider reports that the administration has a strategy to keep their tax plan details under wraps at least until August. That will give plenty of time to lobbyists for corporate interests to help craft a bill to shift taxes away from large corporations, and toward middle class and working class individuals.

Ordinary Americans who hope to see their taxes reduced are likely to be very disappointed.

Paul Ryan told a national television audience in February that the House will be working on revenue-neutral tax reform. This is government terminology for tax changes without tax reduction, a shifting of tax burden from one group to another. The indications from Trump are that he wants large corporations and jet-setters to get the bulk of the tax breaks, leaving middle class, working class and low-income Americans to pick up the slack.

The fact that Trump is concealing his tax returns from 2006 to the present speaks volumes. Trump is the first president elected since the Watergate scandal who has refused to make his recent returns public. His secrecy means that Americans will not be able to sort out how much entanglement the Trump family businesses have had with Russia and other world powers, and to what extent his proposals may be slanted toward self-gain rather than tax relief for those who need it.

Americans need to demand two simple things. First, that Congress refuse to consider tax-rate revision until Trump releases his returns for the last decade. Second, any changes in the tax code must be favorable to those who truly need relief: middle class and working class Americans, along with owners of family farms and small businesses.

In his address to Congress at the end of February, Trump promised We will provide massive tax relief for the middle class. This is the same man who made a campaign promise to take care of the health insurance needs of all, only to push a bill designed to take away health insurance away from 24 million Americans. As the old saying goes Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
WASHINGTON (TNS)  When a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, 2011, the White House suddenly found itself confronting a nuclear crisis halfway across the globe.

Radiation was wafting from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and President Barack Obama needed to make immediate decisions: Should he evacuate U.S. military bases near Fukushima? Should he also call for the evacuation of 90,000 Americans living in Tokyo  surely sparking panic in a region of 37 million people?

Answers to these questions fell largely to Obamas science adviser, John P. Holdren, a physicist. Holdren quickly put together a model that suggested that the expected radiation levels, while worrisome, would be far lower than the Pentagon had first estimated. Evacuation orders were put on hold. As Jeffrey Bader, a former senior director at the National Security Council, said in 2012, Holdrens rapid and careful work had averted a potential slide toward unnecessary and damaging decisions.

Three months into his presidency, Donald Trump has yet to appoint a science adviser. The Office of Science and Technology Policy, which grew to 135 employees under Obama, is at just one-fourth that level. Trumps proposed federal budget, prepared without the input of a science adviser, calls for deep cuts in federal science agencies, particularly those involved in climate-change research.

Science advocates are pushing back. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people attended March for Science events worldwide, including one in Washington. Even bigger crowds are expected this Saturday for the Peoples Climate March, a response to the presidents environmental policies.

Trumps defenders say his priorities are jobs, the economy and national security, and they expect him to make science appointments in due time. Rigorous science is critical to my administrations efforts to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection, Trump was quoted as saying in an official statement from the White House.

But critics say Trump seems indifferent to science, which could skew his policy decisions and limit his ability to respond knowledgeably to a national emergency, such as an oil spill or nuclear accident.

Science advisers can have a lot of clout, said Holdren, who held the job for all eight years Obama was in office. For Trump, he said, Every day of delay without some senior people in science and technology is opportunity lost.

Deep cuts to science

On the campaign trail, Trump was an outspoken skeptic of climate-change science and of vaccines and a frequent repeater of unverified facts and falsehoods. As president, he has made just one top science appointment, selecting Michael Kratsios, the former chief of staff for Silicon Valley investor and Trump adviser Peter Thiel, to serve as the White House deputy chief technology officer.

By contrast, Obama had recruited Holdren and his scientific team roughly a month before he was inaugurated in 2009. That team included physicist Steven Chu, Obamas pick for energy secretary and the first Nobel Prize winner to be nominated to a Cabinet position.

Trump has made clear that he wants to scale back numerous federal science programs, including the National Institutes of Health, and ax many of Obamas research initiatives. His budget calls for eliminating the Department of Energys Advanced Research Projects Agency, a $280 million cut. Pushed forward by Chu and Obama, this agency was created in the George W. Bush administration with an aim of making the United States more competitive in advanced energy technologies.

This month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he was eliminating the National Commission on Forensic Science, an advisory panel of scientists, judges, crime lab leaders, prosecutors and defense lawyers. The panel was formed after a 2009 National Academy of Sciences report found serious flaws in how forensic evidence was being used in criminal cases. But many federal prosecutors and district attorneys opposed the commission for fear it would lead to re-litigation of past criminal convictions.

One Washington think tank with close ties to Trump has recommended eliminating the Office of Science and Technology Policy, an executive branch agency Congress created in 1976 that was previously headed by Holden. The OSTP and its surrounding bureaucracy do not provide anything in service to the president that specially appointed committees might not also accomplish, as has historically been done, wrote the Heritage Foundation in a report last year.

In an interview, Holdren rebutted that contention, arguing that special scientific committees cant be formed in time to respond to emergencies or to answer questions a president might pose while deliberating policy. During the Fukushima nuclear crisis, Holdren said, he and his staff worked double overtime. I went through two 90-hour weeks, he recalled.

Traditionally, the Office of Science and Technology Policy is headed by the presidents science adviser and serves as his or her research staff. While Trump hasnt signaled whether he will keep the office, he has met with two science adviser candidates. One is William Happer, a Princeton professor emeritus of physics whos a prominent skeptic of human-caused climate change.

The other is Yale computer scientist David Gelernter, a prolific author, critic of academia and global warming skeptic. Like Happer, Gelernter met with Trump at Trump Tower in New York in January. He also was a victim of the Unabomber, injured by a letter bomb sent in 1993 by Ted Kaczynski, the anarchist and domestic terrorist.

Gelernter couldnt be reached for comment, but in an interview in The Scientist in February, he forcefully rejected the claim that Trump is an opponent of science.

The idea that he is anti-science is bigoted, said Gelernter. I think its the worst kind of bigotry. Its the kind of bigotry that says non-Ivy League Ph.D.s  ordinary human beings who havent won any science awards and dont come from Harvard  are probably too stupid to be interested in science.

'Critical' to finding solutions

Lynn Scarlett, who held the Interior Departments No. 2 post in the Bush administration, said Trumps low number of science appointments was partly a reflection of the administrations general lag in filling many positions. As of Monday, Trump had nominated people to only 82 of 554 executive branch jobs requiring Senate confirmation, according to a database maintained by The Washington Post and Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group.

Among the science agencies, top jobs have yet to be filled at the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among other agencies.

Scarlett, who now works at the Nature Conservancy, said she was disappointed Trump had proposed deep funding cuts for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, NOAA and other environmental science programs. Such decisions could reflect a lack of scientific input, she said. You need people who can help digest the science programs and interpret them for non-science leadership, she said.

When Bush took office, the Interior Department adopted different policies from those of the Clinton administration  it was more pro-business, less regulatory  yet it still depended on science, said Scarlett. Scientists were involved in decisions about thinning forests to reduce wildfire risks, as well as the Bush administrations 2008 decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species because of climate change, she said.

Science is about how the world works, said Scarlett. It informs us on what the problems are, but its also critical to formulating what the solutions are.
WASHINGTON (TNS)  In the closing weeks of his campaign last year, Donald Trump laid out what he called a 100-day contract with voters  an ambitious flurry of administrative and legislative steps that he vowed would start the process of draining the swamp and protecting American workers.

With many of those promises as yet unfulfilled or abandoned, President Donald Trump and his aides scrambled this week to present a glowing picture of vast accomplishment even as they downplayed the significance of the 100-day deadline looming Saturday.

Trump isnt the first president to try to balance high expectations against harsh reality in the first months of a new administration. But the traditional temporal benchmark has become a case study for what the news cycle has come to mean in the Trump era.

The media  and cable news, especially  love a good round-numbered milestone, and Trump is a voracious consumer of cable news. So Trumps aides are contributing to a spectacle that they simultaneously dismiss as meaningless, knowing it is a priority for their boss as he juggles bold campaign pledges against the difficulty of heading the vast U.S. government.

Cabinet officials and other surrogates are being dispatched across the country to talk up the administrations early doings, boasting as White House chief of staff Reince Priebus did Sunday of Trump fulfilling his promises at a breakneck speed.

The president will be busy in Washington all week, signing executive orders and presenting what he has repeatedly promised will be a big announcement on tax reform Wednesday.

His aides cautioned Monday that Trump simply will be outlining principles for tax reform and not a detailed proposal to spur congressional action.

As several new polls show a majority of Americans disapprove of the presidents performance so far, he also will speak in venues to constituencies that have graded him more favorably.

On Monday, it was a reception with conservative media. On Friday he is set to address the National Rifle Association.

And on Saturday night, Trump will hold a campaign-style rally in Harrisburg, Pa., less than 50 miles from Gettysburg, where he made his 100-day compact with voters in October.

It promises to be the administrations most active public outreach effort so far  all in service of what White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday called an artificial deadline for evaluating Trumps achievements.

As Spicer parried with reporters at his televised briefing, he acknowledged there was something of a circular aspect to all this.

I dont think theres anyone in this room that hasnt lodged a request to say, Were writing a story on the 100-day mark, were doing this on the 100-day mark, and so, you know, we want to make sure that we answer your questions as truthfully as possible and as thoroughly and comprehensively, he said.

Asked to identify successes, Spicer repeatedly pointed to a reduction in the number of people caught crossing the border illegally, more than 30 executive orders that Trump has signed, and the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.

A pair of White House officials laid out similar themes at a 40-minute briefing at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which sits beside the White House, one of several such briefings scheduled this week.

The two staffers, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters, pointed to what they said were accomplishments in three areas: safety and security, prosperity and accountability.

They promised detailed online fact sheets later in the week, along with a social media component. They downplayed Trumps failures to keep promises like securing Mexican funding to build a border wall or getting the GOP-led Congress to pass health care or any other major legislation, and the repeated refusal by federal courts to let the administration bar visitors from mostly Muslim countries.

Nor did they acknowledge Trumps flip-flops on an array of foreign policy issues, from NATO (its no longer obsolete) to Russia (he now calls for maintaining sanctions) to the Iran nuclear deal (his administration confirmed last week that Tehran is continuing to honor its commitments).

They cited poll numbers showing Trump has maintained support with most of the voters who put him in office, blaming media coverage on other poll findings that showed his overall approval numbers are historically low for a new president during his early honeymoon period.

When asked about Trumps numerous promises for his first 100 days that have not been met, the officials recast them as ongoing top-line priorities.

The 100-day metric is mostly media-driven, one official said. In our view, were here for eight years.

Complicating the milestone week is the most mundane and basic of governing tasks: passing a spending bill in Congress to keep the government running.

The White House has asked Congress to add billions of dollars to a stopgap spending bill to start construction of a wall along the Southwest border and other border security efforts, a request that even fellow Republicans are wary to grant.

Unless the House and Senate approve a temporary funding measure by midnight Friday, the government would shut down for the second time in four years  this time in a capital where Republicans control all branches of government.

Although the 100-day measuring stick is often disparaged as arbitrary, research has shown that presidents have more ability to achieve goals they set early in their terms, said Julia Azari, a political science professor at Marquette University in Wisconsin.

One of the more important pieces of the narrative presidents have is their claim to represent change, and they lose that the longer theyre in office, she said.

Asked by The Associated Press on Friday whether he should be held accountable for meeting the goals of his 100-day contract, Trump hedged.

Somebody put out the concept of a 100-day plan. But yeah. Well, Im mostly there on most items, Trump said. But things change. There has to be flexibility.

Spicer offered a more positive spin in his news conference Monday.

We feel very good about what weve done as we head up to this first hundred days, he said. I think youre going to continue to see a lot of action and a lot of results going into the second hundred days, the third hundred days, you know, all the way through.
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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 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D23 has announced 2 new events celebrating Epcots 35th Anniversary: A Fanniversary event and a Progressive Dinner.

Join The Official Disney Fan Club as we celebrate the 35th anniversary of Epcot during D23s annual Fanniversary celebration throughout the month of October! Inspired by Walt Disneys vision for an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982, as the second theme park at Walt Disney World Resort.

Gold and Gold Family Members have the chance to kick off Fanniversary with a visit to Epcot on October 1 for a D23-exclusive celebration event!

The event will take place at the World Showplace Events Pavilion and includes three presentations that celebrate the magic of this fan-favorite theme park over the past 35 years. The presentations will include rare content and stories from Disney luminaries who played an influential role in the development of Epcot!

All attendees will also have the chance to enjoy a lunchtime look back at Epcot over the years while snacking on a boxed lunch at your table. No event would be complete without a one-of-a-kind gift created exclusively for this celebration.

Tickets are $135 per person, plus a $5 per person processing fee. Tickets go on sale May 2, 1t 1 pm ET. https://d23.com/d23-event/d23s-fanniversary-celebrates-35-years-of-epcot/

D23 Behind the Scenes Experience: A Progressive Dinner Celebrating 35 Years of Epcot

The Fanniversary kick-off celebration continues on the evening of the 35th anniversary of Epcot with an intimate behind-the-scenes, progressive dinner taking place at a variety of private venues throughout Epcot. The multi-course meal will highlight fan-favorite foods found throughout Future World and World Showcase. Attendees will progress through dinner within private areas of Epcot including the General Motors Lounge above Test Track and The Living Seas Salon! Throughout the progressive meal, guests will have the opportunity to spend time with fellow Disney fans, as well as honorary Disney luminaries and special guests. At the conclusion of the dinner, guests will enjoy a special, behind-the-scenes experience of an iconic Epcot attraction.

The event begins at 6pm and lasts approximately 4.5 hours. Tickets are $250 per person, plus a $5 per person processing fee. Tickets go on sale May 3rd at 10:00am ET.

This one-of-a-kind experience wouldnt be complete without a custom gift, created exclusively for you.

For more information visit: https://d23.com/d23-event/progressive-dinner-celebrating-35-years-epcot/

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U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson broke the record Monday for the most total time spent in orbit by an American. Commander Whitson, who is currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), has been in space a total of 534 days during her career.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to Whitson by video from the Oval Office.

"Five-hundred and thirty-four days and counting. That's an incredible record to break. And on behalf of our nation, and frankly on behalf of the world, I'd like to congratulate you. That is really something."

The 57-year-old Whitson is the most experienced U.S. woman astronaut. When she returns to earth next September, NASA says she will have spent more than 650 days in space during three stays on the ISS. Speaking from space, she told the president what this day meant to her.

Its actually a huge honor to break a record like this. But its an honor for me basically to be representing all the folks at NASA who make this space flight possible and who make me setting this record feasible.

She explained to Trump how technology in the ISS allows astronauts to convert their urine to drinking water. She said it is not as bad as it sounds.

Commander Whitson said her dream to be an astronaut came from the Apollo program that sent men to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. It became a goal for her when the first female astronauts joined the program.

Holding records is not new to Whitson. In 2008 she was the first woman to command the space station. This year, she became the first woman to command it twice.

Last month she set the record for most spacewalks by a female. She has spent more than 53 hours outside the space station.

And, from 2009-2012, she was the first female chief of NASAs astronaut office.

With a doctorate in biochemistry, Whitson has held a number of research-related positions at NASA. During the current mission, Expedition 51, Whitson and the other crew members aboard the ISS are conducting about 250 science experiments.

They include increasing the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment, and growing fresh food in space.

Being able to grow fresh food in space is a necessary part of sending humans to Mars. Last month, President Trump made humans reaching Mars by the 2030s an official goal for the space agency.

Whitson told the president that NASA officials are excited about the missions to Mars in the 2030s.

Her fellow U.S. astronaut Jack Fisher arrived at the ISS last week for the first time. He also spoke to the president about nations working together in space.

Its amazing, the International Space Station is by far the best example of international cooperation and what we can do when we work together, in the history of humanity. And I am so proud to be a part of it.

Congress still has to approve the money to fund the presidents program of getting humans to Mars.

Im Mario Ritter.

Anne Ball wrote this story for Learning English with material from VOA and NASA. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit us on our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

feasible  adj. possible to do

convert  v. to change (something) into a different form or so that it can be used in a different way

urine  n. waste liquid that collects in the bladder before leaving the body

doctorate  n. the highest degree given by a university

endeavor  n. a serious effort or attempt
ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- The White House continues to send mixed signals over whether it will draw a hard line on requiring that funding for a border wall be included in any spending bill that hits the president's desk.



President Trump signaled to a gathering of conservative media on Monday that he may be open to a delay in funding for his proposed border wall.



The president said, according to tweets from conservative media at the gathering this evening, that his administration could get the funding for the wall this week or could come back to it in September.



Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) quickly seized on the remarks in an off-camera response Monday evening, saying it's good for the country that the president is taking the wall off the table in negotiations with Congress over government funding.



It's good for the country that President Trump is taking the wall off the table in these negotiations. Now the bipartisan and bicameral negotiators can continue working on the outstanding issues," Schumer said in a statement.



But when asked by ABC News on Tuesday morning, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the president has not given up on getting funding for the wall now. He said funding for the border wall remains a White House priority for both the fiscal year 2017 and 2018 spending bills.



Democrats in Congress have vowed to block the passage of a last-minute appropriations bill if it includes funding for the wall.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

In many areas of the world, taking a deep breath of air can be unhealthy and dangerous.

The WHO estimates that air pollution is responsible for about 6.5 million premature -- or early -- deaths every year. It estimates that nearly 600,000 of those who die are children under the age of five.

Most of these deaths, WHO officials say, happen in developing countries.

With all this pollution in the air, many people try to protect themselves and reduce their exposure. So, some people use face masks. You may have seen pictures of people wearing such masks in big cities like Beijing and Tokyo.

But do they work?

One expert tells VOA Learning English that some work much better than others.

We see lots of air pollution that just passes right through these cloth materials. And for us, its an important public health issue because people worldwide are choosing to use these kinds of masks to reduce their exposure.

Richard Peltier is a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in the Department of Public Health and Health Sciences.

He studies the effects of exposure to air pollution.

Recently, he was the lead author of a study on how well inexpensive face masks work.

Peltier led a team that tested several types of inexpensive face masks they bought on the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal. These masks are commonly used in other polluted parts of the world.

First, what is an N95 mask?

The N95 is generally considered to be the gold standard, or the best. The U.S. government rates the N95 face mask for people who might work around pollutants. So, air quality experts like Peltier know exactly what it can do and what it cannot do.

Peltier calls the N95 mask a more advanced version of the inexpensive cloth masks that he studied. The researchers used the N95 mask in their study for comparison.

However, Peltier says, N95 masks are either not available or too expensive in many places where pollution is severe. Also, he adds, it is made of paper. So, it can't be washed and reused like cloth face masks.

But what we find in many parts of the world are the unavailability of N95 masks. You cant buy these. Or if they are available, they are too expensive. So, people chose to substitute the N95 masks for inexpensive pieces of cloth.

The face masks that Peltier and his team studied can be bought on city streets in places like China, Nepal and India. He explains that these face masks have some effect -- but not enough.

So, the masks that we studied do have some effect. Its not a complete effect and its nowhere near comparable to an N95 mask.

The researchers found that the most popular type of mask -- an inexpensive cloth rectangle that you can wash -- provided little protection against the smallest particles. These particles of pollution are less than 2.5 micrometers and can penetrate deep into the lungs.

He adds that there are other face masks on the market that meet the expectation of an N95 mask. But most of these masks are too expensive. So, they are not an option for people in the developing world.

But there are other technologies out there -- commercial products  that do sort of meet the expectation of an N95 mask. They do work very, very well. However, one of the issues that we find, is that a lot of these masks are too expensive. Theyre not financially attainable by many people in the developing world.

Peltier says if you have a job that pays you $25 a week, you cannot afford a $25-$35 face mask.

Which inexpensive face mask works best?

So, among the cheaper cloth face masks -- is there a difference in quality?

Peltier says yes. He explains that cloth masks with exhalation valves performed better in testing.

However, it is not the exhalation valve itself that makes the mask more effective. Face masks with these valves are usually thicker. The thicker material is what makes the mask better at keeping out pollutants.

The cloth masks that had exhalation valves were a little thicker in material. There was more material to the masks itself. And we think thats actually what causes the pollution to be captured by the mask and reducing the exposure. It's not the exhalation valve itself. That valve is merely for a user's comfort. We think that the feature of the mask that makes it most useful is how thick the material is. How much material is between the air pollution and you.

Also, surgical masks made out of paper performed surprisingly well. In an interview with the New York Times, Peltier explained that these paper masks didnt fit as snugly to the face. But rather they stuck against the wearers wet mouth.

A good fit is most important

Peltier and other air pollution and health experts agree on one important thing: No matter how much you pay for a mask, they only work if they fit snugly on your face.

But, if they are made out of cloth, too tight is not good either. During his study, Peltier found that if a person pulled their cloth mask too tightly, it lost the ability to filter anything.

False sense of security

You might think that wearing any type of face mask is better than wearing nothing at all.

Wearing a face mask  an inexpensive, non-working face mask made out of cloth  does give a false sense of security because it makes you feel like youre being protected when in fact youre not. You feel like youre doing something good for your body to protect yourself from air pollution. But in reality its not doing anything at all or its doing very little.

Peltier adds that this false sense of security might prevent you from taking other measures to protect yourself, such as avoiding highly polluted areas or avoiding outside exercise during times of very high pollution.

Health officials around the world warn that air pollution is only getting worse. And not just in poorer countries.

Air pollution is a global problem and it is growing in magnitude across the planet. And individuals can make informed decisions about reducing their exposure to air pollution, whether its through wearing appropriate masks or avoiding an exposure that will, in fact, have health benefits to that individual.

And thats the Health & Lifestyle report.

Im Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

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Words in This Story

premature  adj. happening, arriving, existing, or performed before the proper, usual, or intended time;

exposure  n. the fact or condition of being affected by something or experiencing something

inexpensive  adj. reasonable in price

gold standard  adj. a model of excellence

rate  v. to determine or assign the relative rank or class of

substitute  v. to put or use in the place of another

attainable  adj. to be able to come into possession of

exhalation  n. the action of forcing air out of the lungs

valve  n. a mechanical device that controls the flow of liquid, gas, etc., by opening and closing

snugly adv. to cause to fit closely

magnitude  n. great size or extent

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Now, test your understand with this short quiz.


Frances two non-traditional presidential candidates offer voters a big choice: stay or leave the European Union.

Emmanuel Macron is a former economy minister and Marine Le Pen is the leader of the National Front party. The two will face each other in the May 7th election, after finishing first and second in the first round of voting on Sunday.

Macron, 39, and Le Pen, 48, finished ahead of candidates from the leading French political parties, including the party of the current president.

Le Pen wants French voters to follow Britain and vote for Frances exit from the European Union. She also calls for major limits on immigration.

Macron wants France to remain in the European Union. He promises new spending on job training and building up roads, transportation and less-polluting energy.

Establishment backing Macron

Macron ran as an independent and political outsider. But political leaders, both inside and outside France, quickly offered support for Macron.

Outgoing French President Francois Hollande said Le Pen would deeply divide France at a time when terrorism threats require solidarity.

Macron was the top adviser on economic issues for Hollande. He ended that role to start his En Marche independent party. His partys name means, In Motion" in French.

Francois Fillon of the conservative Republicans finished in third place in the weekends voting. On Monday, Fillon urged his supporters to vote for Macron.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel joined officials from Spain and the European Union in supporting Macron on Monday.

If Macron wins on May 7th, he would become Frances youngest president.

Le Pen out campaigning

Le Pen did not waste any time attacking her opponent.

On Monday, she called Macron weak in the fight against Islamic terrorism. During an appearance at a farmers market in northern France, she told reporters that Macron has no program to stop terrorism.

Le Pens supporters criticized Macrons job as an investment banker and his efforts under Hollande to deregulate the French economy.

Florian Philippot is deputy leader of Le Pens National Front. He said on BFM TV that Macron will not help French workers. He sold off national companies. He criticized French culture, Philippot said.

Macrons early lead

Macrons establishment support and early lead in the polls appeared to please investors.

Stock markets across Europe saw big increases Monday and the Euro increased value against the American dollar. CAC 40, the French stock market index, increased 4.1 percent on Monday to close at its highest level since early 2008.

But some experts say a Macron win is not guaranteed.

They noted that British voters surprised experts last year by approving withdrawal from the European Union, a move that has become known as Brexit. And few political experts saw Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton in last years American presidential election.

Christophe Guilluy is author of The Twilight of Elite France. He said, In France, Britain, the Netherlands, Austria and the U.S. the same people -- blue- and white-collar workers, intermediate occupations and farmers -- are joining the populist revolt. The rift between the global markets winners and losers has replaced the old right-left split.

Luis Ramirez and Jamie Dettmer reported on this story for VOA News. Bruce Alpert adapted the story for Learning English with additional reporting by Reuters and the Associated Press. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page.

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Words in This Story

exit - n. the act of going out or away from something

poll - n. an activity in which several or many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to get information about what most people think about something

strategy - n. a plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time

solidarity - n. a feeling of unity between people who have the same interests, goals

motion - n. an act or process of moving

deregulate - v. remove regulations on an activity

white-collar - adj. having the kind of jobs that are done in an office instead of a factory or warehouse

intermediate occupations - phrase . other kinds of jobs


President Donald Trump spoke with the leaders of China and Japan about tensions related to the possibility of North Koreas weapons tests.

The phone calls took place as North Korea prepares to mark the 85th anniversary of the establishment of its Korean Peoples Army on Tuesday.

The Trump administration released a statement saying the president criticized North Koreas belligerence saying the countrys actions were harming security on the Korean Peninsula.

The statement also said the two leaders agreed on the urgency of the threat presented by North Koreas missile and nuclear programs. It said the two leaders were committed to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese state media reported that Xi said he hopes all parties will exercise restraint over the issue of North Korea. He also restated the position that China opposes anything against United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

Trump also spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for 30 minutes. Abe told reporters in Tokyo Monday, We agreed to strongly demand (that) North Korea, which is repeating its provocation, show restraint.

He added that, We will maintain close contact with the United States, maintain a high level of vigilance and firmly respond.

U.S. aircraft carrier nears the Korean Peninsula

The discussions with the Japanese and Chinese leaders take place as the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and a group of warships travel to waters near the Korean Peninsula. Officials in Seoul said Monday that the strike group is to carry out joint exercises with South Korean naval ships.

A Ministry of National Defense spokesman did not provide further details.

There are concerns that North Korea may carry out a long-range missile launch or another nuclear test on the military anniversary date.

North Korea reacted angrily to news of U.S. warships nearing the area in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper. Officials said the country is combat-ready to oppose the nuclear powered aircraft carrier.

China may increase pressure on North Korea over tests

China may be showing a greater willingness to pressure North Korea over its nuclear tests. An editorial in the Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the Global Times, stated that another test would likely result in decreasing the amount of petroleum exported to North Korea.

Reports over the weekend suggest that the price of gasoline in North Koreas capital, Pyongyang, has more than doubled. It is unclear if the price increase and possible shortage are the result of decreased supplies or the threat of a cut in exports.

China is North Koreas largest trading partner and provides nearly 90 percent of its oil.

U.S. President Trump has repeatedly called on China to do more to pressure its neighbor over activities not permitted by U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The Global Times editorial also said "Beijing should oppose the move by diplomatic channels rather than get involved through military actions."

However, the editorial said China would get involved militarily if South Korean and U.S. troops crossed the Korean border in an effort to oust the regime.

South Koreas Unification Ministry said Monday that the editorial, although not official policy, shows China is taking a more active part in controlling North Korea.

North Korea detains another American

On Saturday, North Korea detained a Korean-American who was teaching in

Pyongyang. The man identified as Tony Kim was teaching at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST). Evangelical Christians established and partly fund the university, which teaches students who are children of the countrys leaders.

Kim was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport as he was about to leave the country.

The chancellor of the University, Chan-Mo Park, said the reason for the arrest is not known. However, he told Reuters that it may have been related to an outside activity such as helping an orphanage.

Two other Americans are now held by North Korea.

Kim Dong Chul, a missionary, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for subversion. Otto Warmbier, an American college student, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for trying to steal a political poster.

Im Jonathan Evans.

This story is based on reports from Steve Herman, Brian Padden, Zladica Hoke and Fern Robinson. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. 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

vigilance n. watchfulness, carefully noting signs of danger

provocation n. an action that causes someone to become angry

belligerence n. an aggressive or angry action

editorial n. writing that gives the opinions of a publications editors

regime n. a form of government

obligations n. things that are required by law or because of a promise or requirement

circumstances n. a condition or fact that affects a situation
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.
Fritz Kramer. Forces of Resistance Inside Germany, an Address given by Fritz Kramer at a members' meeting of the Trade Union Centre for German Workers in Great Britain. 10x8", 25x21cm, 15pp. Printed at the Espedite Duplicating Bureau, London, and printed September 1943. Original wrappers, staple bound. Offset, printed on both sides of each page. Provenance: Library of Congress, with their Surplus/Duplicate stamp on the front cover, as well as a tiny "LC" perforated stamp at the bottom of the front cover. Very Good condition. $95 Only 6 copies located WorldCat/OCLC (National Library Scotland, London Metropolitan University, Deutsche National, New York Public Library, Hoover Institute, British Library.

"The Trade Union Centrefor German Workers in Great Britain (TUCGWGB) was founded just before the outbreak of the Second World War, but did not begin its work in earnest until the release of many of the German exiles, who were interned at the outbreak of war. The chairman of the TUCGWGB, Hans Gottfurcht, had for many years been an active trade unionist in Germany, where he helped establish a number of illegal trade unions under the Nazis. The establishment of the TUCGWGB was regarded as necessary because of the particular situation brought about by the large influx of refugees and exiles. Whereas it would normally have been expected for these new arrivals to join existing British trade unions (which they did as well), there was always a sense that their stay in Great Britain would only ever be temporary, and that they needed a representative organisation that would reflect their particular interests. After the war and the demise of the TUCGWGB, Hans Gottfurcht went on to become a pivotal figure as liaison between the newly formed Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund and the occupying British authorities."--the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Colombia's tourism industry was almost non-existent for many years while it was in the middle of drug wars and guerilla uprisings. However, that appears to be changing, with a new peace deal recently signed by the government and FARC rebels who has previously been responsible for a lot of violence in the country. Hoteliers and people in the hospitality industry are hoping that this new era of peace will herald an increase in tourism to Colombia, which is famous for its Caribbean coastline and incredible coffee country.

Colombia may have been on the backpacker route for some years now, but tourism has yet to become a staple of the country's economy. Colombia boasts one of South America's most stable and growing economies on the continent, and that bodes well for potential travelers who may have stayed away in more violent times. According to reports release last year, 2016 saw a spike in tourists visiting the area, with over 5 million people coming to the country, a record number.

Cheaper flights and investment in tourist infrastructure in terms of coastal development and accommodation are attracting more tourists, but there is also a certain charm in visiting a country where its natural landscapes and resources haven't yet been exploited by bigger hotel chains. Coastal resorts like Cartagena have always been popular destinations, but now less visited places like La Guajira are also providing opportunities for enterprising hoteliers, who see a market for development in areas that are under the tourist radar. The government seems to be keen to support this progress in the tourism industry, and are planning on starting a 30-year tax exemption program to encourage growth in the sector.

A few notable Hotel Projects currently under construction are:

Conrad Cartagena, Cartagena

Eurostars Torre Bacata, Bogota

RADISSON BLU, Santa Marta

More information on International Hotel Chains and Hotel Constructions active in Colombia can be found on TOPHOTELPROJECTS, the specialized service provider in the exchange of cutting-edge information of hotel construction in the international hospitality industry.

Jule Grass

Marketing Manager

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TOPHOTELPROJECTS

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US Vice President Mike Pence has thanked U.S. service members based in America Samoa, citing challenging times for the military in the Asia-Pacific.

Completing a visit to the region and en route back to the United States, Pence addressed some 200 soldiers during a refueling stop in Pago Pago. He told the troops the Trump administration was seeking a large increase in military funding.

During his stop, Pence also dedicated a sign that will greet visitors at a veterans clinic. He met with American Samoan officials and troops on his way to Hawaii at the end of his tour that included a visit to the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea.

The trip offered evidence that Pence has become one of President Donald Trumps chief emissaries on the world stage, patching up relations, reassuring allies still wondering what to expect from Trump and diving into international crises like North Korea.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that the vice president was to shorten his visit to Hawaii ahead of a busy week for the administration in Washington.

Pences office said he would depart Hawaii today [Macau time] after meeting with U.S. Pacific Command leaders and troops stationed in Honolulu. Plans for a visit to the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor have been postponed, Pences office said.

Pences trip to Asia was planned weeks ago. But it dropped him in South Korea just in time to deliver North Korea a stern warning from the U.S.: that all options are on the table when it comes to curbing the Norths nuclear ambitions, and that the Trump administration will seek support from its allies to pressure Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

His foray into the DMZ and his meetings with South Korean and Japanese leaders allowed Pence to shape a key American foreign policy issue, presenting a new challenge for a politician whose prior foreign policy experience was limited to trips to the Middle East as a congressman and trade missions to Japan, China, Israel and Europe as Indianas governor.

Pences early foreign travel schedule contrasts sharply with a mostly homebound Trump, who is not scheduled to travel overseas until late May for NATO meetings in Belgium and a gathering of the Group of Seven major industrial nations in Italy. Pence partly covered that ground when he visited Germany and Belgium in February.

Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, had visited nine countries by late April 2009, his first three months in office, checking in with allies such as Canada, Britain and Germany. The last first-term president to wait until May to take his first foreign trip was Jimmy Carter in 1977.

Enter Pence, whose still-evolving diplomatic playbook includes several components, all steeped in humility, personal ties and his religious faith.

In some ways, Pence is the advance team: His earlier trip to Europe and his Asia trip that ends tomorrow are partly laying the foundation for journeys being planned for Trump. In other ways, Pence is the face of reassurance, offering in-person outreach to world leaders Trump has clashed with or who have doubted Trumps commitment to them at the start of his presidency. Ken Thomas, Pago Pago, AP
While global risk appetite returned yesterday on the heels of Frances presidential election, shares in China bucked the trend, dropping the most in three months. The Shanghai Composite Index has lost almost 5 percent since its mid-April peak, worse than all other national benchmarks in the world. The slump in Chinese stocks is deepening as authorities seek to reduce economic leverage and regulators intensify supervision on the countrys financial sector. While the selloff has been relatively contained, with European politics taking center stage instead, investors may be forced to take note if the losses continue, as predicted by analysts. We shouldnt forget what happened two years ago, said Mark Tinker, head of Axa Framlington Asia in Hong Kong, referring to 2015s dramatic collapse in Shanghai share prices. The hope is that this is all just a preemptive strike from the Chinese government to make sure markets dont squeeze up too much. The risk of contagion is low as long as people dont start confusing the stock market with the economy.

Israel-China construction deal reportedly bans settlements

Israel and China have signed a deal to bring Chinese construction workers to Israel, but the workers will reportedly be barred from building in West Bank settlements at Chinas insistence. Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said the deal ensures they will work in areas agreed upon by both sides that take into consideration their safety and well-being. He would not elaborate but Israeli media reported this as meaning the workers will not be working in territory Israel captured in 1967 that the Palestinians claim for a future state. The international community mostly views Israeli settlements there as illegal and an obstacle to reaching a two-state solution to the conflict.Israel says settlements along with other core issues like security should be resolved in peace talks.

Nicaragua once again blocks canal protest against Chinese company

The Nicaraguan government has once again blocked a planned protest by opponents of a Chinese companys project to build an interoceanic canal across Nicaragua. The countrys National Police force said in a statement over the weekend that the protesters were disturbing the peace. A lawyer for the farm groups organizing the weekend protest in the central town of Juigalpa said at least one person was wounded. Monica Lopez Baltodano said about a dozen organizers had been detained by police. Sceptics have doubted whether the canal concession, granted in 2014 to a Chinese company, will ever be built. It has barely broken ground. Critics say the canal project threatens to displace rural communities and damage the environment. About 7,000 families living along the route face displacement.
For a little over 100 days, President Donald Trump has rattled Washington and been chastened by its institutions.

Hes startled world leaders with his unpredictability and tough talk, but won their praise for a surprise strike on Syria. Hes endured the steady drip of investigations and a seemingly endless churn of public personnel drama.

Its a different kind of a presidency, Trump said in an Oval Office interview last week with The Associated Press, an hourlong conversation as he approached last Saturdays key presidential benchmark.

The full transcript of the interview is available on macaudailytimes.com.mo.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) will terminate employment contracts with 94 of its irregularly recruited staff, as stated in a report released by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) on March 10. IC president Leung Hio Ming disclosed this information yesterday, during a press conference at the IC office regarding the aforementioned report. All department heads were required to occupy the front rows in the conference room.

The CCAC report highlighted several unlawful hiring practices at the IC. The report was issued just weeks after a leadership change at the IC, in which former president Ung Vai Meng quit unexpectedly and was replaced by Leung, one of the bureaus former vice presidents.

Leung began by explaining that between 2010 until the present, IC has purchased 32 public facilities and organized many different art events. This resulted in an increased workload, and the department began facing severe pressure in terms of human resources.

About three fourths of the people will end their relationship with IC between June and September, revealed Leung. The aforementioned 94 people are still working for the IC.

Leung noted that IC, following the CCAC report, has already terminated its previous employment contracts with these staff members.

However, in order to allow IC more time to adjust itself in terms of human resources, the IC has continued to employ these people through temporary contracts to meet emergency needs.

The law states that citing emergency needs as justification for a temporary contract allows IC a maximum of one year to resolve its employment difficulties.

Besides the majority who will leave IC before the end of September, the remaining workers will also gradually leave the department before their temporary contracts finish. They [the 94 people] need time to plan their future, said Leung.

The CCAC report also pointed out that the bureau had appointed two department heads who had less than five years of working experience.

Leung claimed that the above happened because several Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) functions, employees and facilities were merged with IC, which had appointed 14 department heads back in January 1,2016.

Due to the deviation of the ICs understanding of legal articles, flaws arose within the institutes administrative behaviors, explained Leung. According to him, Chief Executive Chui Sai On waived working experience requirements for the two department heads.

Last Friday, while attending a meeting at the Legislative Assembly, Chui said that he would never, within his term, make use of his rights to waive working experience requirement for any kind of leadership.

The new IC president also expressed that he completely agreed with and respected the CCAC.

Regarding the parties responsible for the aforementioned human resources problem, Leung said that all department heads and leaders are responsible for the problems, as the problems spread widely all over IC.

They [the issues found] do not involve interests or violations of the law, said Leong, adding that many levels have problems.

Although the improper recruitments were approved by IC leaders as well as by other IC high officials, Leong did not disclose any accountability or punishment to be undertaken by these leaders.

However, he repeatedly indicated that these mistakes happened only because of the ICs imperfect knowledge of the regions laws, and were therefore unrelated to corruption.

Leung further repeated several times that the [CCAC] report had great impact over the IC, and a great influence over the society.

He also expressed his hope that society will continue to support the IC, and look at it in a comprehensive and objective way.

Alexis Tam says Ung is not involved in corruption

The Commission Against Corruption report was released a few weeks after IC former president Ung Vai Meng stepped down from his position.

Regarding the doubts whether Ung was involved in the improper recruitment of human resources, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam spoke in Ungs support last Sunday, asserting that no corruption was involved in the recruitment.

He was not familiar with the laws, [and] is not involved in any corruption, said Tam, adding that Ung might not have a deep understanding of the citys laws regarding the employment process. He was not aware that it was a mistake back then, Tam said.
Army rebels are in control of Portugal tonight after an almost bloodless dawn coup ended nearly 50 years of dictatorship.

Shortly after midnight, tanks rolled into the centre of Lisbon. The Salazar Bridge over the River Tagus was seized and the airport, radio and television centres were taken.

Troops armed with machineguns stormed the barracks where the Prime Minister, Dr Marcello Caetano, and several of his ministers had taken refuge.

The former deputy armed forces minister, General Antonio de Spinola, received the surrender of the prime minister, who has now fled into exile to the Portuguese island of Madeira.

By sunrise the Movement of the Armed Forces, or MFA, was in control. It issued an immediate proclamation appealing for calm and patriotism.

After almost five decades of dictatorship, it promised to restore civil liberties and hold general elections to a national assembly as soon as possible.

The MFA condemned Portugals foreign policy. After 13 years of fighting, it said, Portugal had been unable to achieve peace between Portuguese of all races and creeds.

It also called for a clean-up of state-run institutions which had legitimised the abuse of power.

A seven-man junta, led by General Spinola, would oversee the transition period until democracy could be established.

General Spinola and his troops received a heros welcome from crowds, who gave them cigarettes, food, newspapers and carnations which were in full bloom at the time.

In one violent outburst, up to six civilians were killed after shots were fired from the headquarters of the police station  and troops responded by storming the building.

The Democratic Elections Commission group, which contested last years parliamentary elections against the Government, issued a statement today saying that the group considered as positive an act which could lead to the overthrow of a regime which for 50 years has oppressed the people of Portugal.

The majority of Portuguese troops, nearly 140,000 out of 204,000, are posted overseas, propping up Portugals tottering colonial empire in Angola, Guinea and Mozambique.

General Spinola was sacked from his job as deputy armed forces minister last month after writing a book, Portugal and the Future, in which he argued that the Portuguese could not win its African wars by military means alone.

He was Governor and Commander in Chief of Portuguese Guinea between 1968 and 1972 and was widely respected for trying to win over the hearts and minds of the local population.

His book was regarded as heretical by the countrys right-

wing establishment  in particular his stated claim that Portugal was not defending the West and its civilization by colonising African states.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

The 25 April coup became known as the Carnation Revolution. It ended the longest dictatorship in Europe, the Estado Novo.

The new regime pushed through a rapid and hasty programme of decolonisation. Over the next few years Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, and Angola all became independent.

General Spinola served briefly as interim president and was succeeded by General Francisco da Costa Gomes.

Between them they nationalised about 60% of the economy and carried out a major redistribution of land.

Hundreds of political prisoners were released.

Over the course of the next decade a stable [multi] party system was established.

Caetano spent the rest of his life in exile in Brazil.

Freedom Day is now celebrated as a national holiday on 25 April.
The US President, Ronald Reagan, has landed in China at the start of a six-day visit  the first by an American president since Nixon in 1972.

He arrived with his wife, Nancy Reagan, just after 1400 local time (0600 GMT), and was driven to Tiananmen Square, in the centre of the Chinese capital, Beijing, for a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People.

He was greeted by the Chinese President, Li Xiannian, to the deafening sound of a 21-gun salute.

Mr Li told Mr Reagan he shared his view of the importance of the Pacific region, referring to a comment made by Mr Reagan in a statement before his arrival.

President Reagan then attended a banquet given in his honour by President Li.

Mr Reagan used the occasion to speak, in Chinese, about the need for mutual respect and benefit between China and the United States.

The president is accompanied in China by a party of more than 600 journalists, aides, secret service men and officials who guard the codes for launching nuclear missiles.

The talks start tomorrow, and are expected to address a variety of subjects.

The White House spokesman, Larry Speakes, said the United States and China are expected to reach an agreement to assist US companies in helping develop commercial nuclear power in China.

But there is no sign of any compromise over the key issue of Taiwan.

The government-controlled Peoples Daily newspaper has today re-stated the view of the Chinese government that relations with America are being held back by Washingtons support for the Kuomintang nationalist regime in Taiwan.

Until Nixons visit in 1972 Washington only recognised the ousted nationalist government in Taiwan, where it had been forced into exile after being overthrown by communist forces in 1949.

Nixon, however, signed the Shanghai Communique, which for the first time recognised the communist government in Beijing. It resulted in diplomatic relations between the two countries for the first time, as well as the transfer of diplomatic recognition to Beijing as the Chinese capital.

Washington still continues to support Taiwan, however, and maintains unofficial links, including the sale of arms, to the frustration and anger of the communist leadership in Beijing.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

There was, as expected, no agreement on the key issue of Taiwan. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping told President Reagan the US should not interfere in the process of reunifying China.

The Sino-American relationship is widely seen as one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world, and has gone through many ups and downs.

Perhaps the lowest point was the Chinese armys brutal suppression of student democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. US-China relations were frozen for almost 10 years.

There have also been several difficult incidents, such as the Nato bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999, and the collision of a US spy plane with a Chinese jet in 2001.

Washington continues to supply Taiwan with arms, and there is still little progress towards addressing persistent criticisms of Chinas human rights record.

But Chinas campaign for wider global acceptance resulted in its membership of the World Trade Organisation in 2001.

Diplomacy between the two countries still remains fraught with difficulties, and looks set to remain a delicate balancing act for the foreseeable future.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman Jack Ma said society should prepare for decades of pain as the internet disrupts the economy.

The world must change education systems and establish how to work with robots to help soften the blow caused by automation and the internet economy, Ma said in a speech to an entrepreneurship conference in Zhengzhou, China.

In the next 30 years, the world will see much more pain than happiness, Ma said of job disruptions caused by the internet. Social conflicts in the next three decades will have an impact on all sorts of industries and walks of life.

It was an unusual speech for the Alibaba co-founder, who tends to embrace his role as visionary and extol the promise of the future. He explained at the event that he had tried to warn people in the early days of e-commerce it would disrupt traditional retailers and the like, but few listened. This time, he wants to warn against the impact of new technologies so no one will be surprised.

Fifteen years ago I gave speeches 200 or 300 times reminding everyone the Internet will impact all industries, but people didnt listen because I was a nobody, he said.

Ma made the comments as Alibaba, Chinas largest e-commerce operator, spends billions of dollars to move into new businesses from film production and video streaming to finance and cloud computing. The Hangzhou-based company, considered a barometer of Chinese consumer sentiment, is looking to expand abroad since buying control of Lazada Group SA to establish a foothold in Southeast Asia, potentially setting up a clash with the likes of Amazon.com Inc.

Ma, 52, was also critical of the traditional banking industry, saying that lending must be available to more members of society. The lack of a robust credit system drives up the costs for everyone, he said.

The China Entrepreneur Club event is host to many of the countrys startup founders, but even here Ma got a celebritys reception. As he took the stage, the crowd surged closer and snapped selfies with Ma in the background. During a Q&A session, people jumped up and down to get attention and then often used the time with a microphone to marvel at the opportunity to talk with him.

Ma was at times brutal in his criticism of companies that wont adapt. At one point, he said cloud computing and artificial intelligence are essential for business  and if leaders dont get that, they should find young people in their companies to explain it to them. Another time, he called for traditional industries to stop complaining about the internets effects on the economy. He said Alibaba critics ignore that Taobao, its main online marketplace, has created millions of jobs.

Alibaba shares have outperformed this year on expectations it can withstand efforts by rivals such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. to capture digital ad spending and muscle in on its turf. The company is moving into untapped rural markets and investing in new sources of income, such as online media and cloud computing  one of its fastest-growing businesses in 2016.

He also warned that longer lifespans and better artificial intelligence were likely to lead to both aging labor forces and fewer jobs. Machines should only do what humans cannot, he said. Only in this way can we have the opportunities to keep machines as working partners with humans, rather than as replacements. Bloomberg
French voters shut out the countrys political mainstream from the presidency for the first time in the countrys modern history, and yesterday found themselves being courted across the spectrum for the runoff election.

The May 7 runoff will be between the populist Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, and French politicians on the moderate left and right immediately urged voters to block Le Pens path to power.

The defeated far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, pointedly refused to do the same, and Le Pens National Front is hoping to do the once unthinkable and peel away voters historically opposed to a party long tainted by racism and anti-Semitism.

The voters who voted for Mr. Melenchon are angry voters. They can be in agreement with us, said Steeve Brios, a vice president of Le Pens National Front party. He said they express a choice outside the system.

Choosing inside the system is no longer an option for French voters, who rejected the two mainstream parties that have alternated power for decades in favor of Le Pen and the untested Macron, who has never held elected office and who founded his own political movement just last year. Turnout was 78 percent.

Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, whose party holds a majority in the legislature and whose President Francois Hollande is the most unpopular in modern French record-keeping, got just 6 percent. The conservative candidate fared marginally better, coming in third with just shy of 20 percent of the vote.

We are in a phase of decomposition, demolition, deconstruction, said former Socialist prime minister Manuel Valls. We didnt do the work  intellectual, ideological and political  on what the left is, and we paid the price.

Both center-right and center-l

eft fell in behind Macron, whose optimistic vision of a tolerant France and a united Europe with open borders is a stark contrast to Le Pens darker, inward-looking French-first platform that calls for closed borders, tougher security, less immigration and dropping the shared euro currency to return to the French franc.

European stock markets surged on the open as investors welcomed the first-round results, with Macron favored to win. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wished Macron all the best for the next two weeks.

Merkels chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, tweeted that the result for Emmanuel Macron shows: France AND Europe can win together! The center is stronger than the populists think!

Le Pens father, Jean-Marie, made it to the second round against Jacques Chirac in 2002 and was crushed. Many commentators expect the same fate for his daughter, but she has already drawn far more support than he ever did and shes transformed the partys once-pariah image.

Le Pen offers an alternative for anyone skeptical of the European Union and Frances role in it, said Louis Aliot, the vice president of the National Front party.

Im not convinced that the French are willing to sign a blank check to Mr. Macron, he said.

But Macrons party spokesman, Benjamin Griveaux, said the far-right candidate is hardly a vector of change.

Shes been in the political system for 30 years. She inherited her fathers party and we will undoubtedly have Le Pens running for the next 20 years, because after we had the father, we have the daughter and we will doubtless have the niece, he said. So she is in a truly bad position to be talking about the elites and the people.

Macron came in first in Sundays vote, with just over 23 percent; Le Pen had 21 percent; Melenchon and losing conservative candidate Francois Fillon each had 19 percent. Fillon, a former prime minister, bested the former Trotskyist by just 94,998 votes.

Protesters overnight burned cars, danced around bonfires and dodged riot police at the Place de la Bastille and Republique. Twenty-nine people were detained at the Bastille, where protesters waved red flags and sang No Marine and No Macron! in anger at the results. Sylvie Corbet & Elaine Ganley, Paris, AP
MTR Corporation Chairman Frederick Ma has defended the proposed introduction of fare hikes in Hong Kongs Airport Express MTR, stating that it is the first fee hike since it came into operation in 1998.

Ma urged lawmakers to approve the proposed 10 percent fare hike, as cited in Hong Kong reports.

According to him, the service has been running at a loss and has been facing increasing costs from staff pay increases and facility upgrades.

The chairman also contended that its fares are cheaper compared to airport rail services overseas.

The Airport Express has been in operation for 19 years and the fare has not been changed, he said. I think its just fair that we will be granted this 10-percent increase.

If the plan is approved, starting this June, a trip via Octopus card from the Hong Kong station to the airport will cost HKD110, while trips to the airport from Kowloon and Tsing Yi will cost HKD100 and HKD65 respectively.

The fares for adult single-journey tickets are proposed to be raised by an amount between HKD10 and HKD15, while the fare for a 30-day round-trip ticket would see an increase of HKD15 to HKD30.

Ma is confident that the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link will commence operation by late 2018, hoping to reach an operation agreement with the Hong Kong government by late July.
Fresh off an immense North Korean parade that revealed an arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, rival South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that Pyongyangs follow-up act will be even bigger.

North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying military capability, and South Korean officials say theres a chance the country will conduct its sixth nuclear test or its maiden test launch of an ICBM around the founding anniversary of its military today.

Such moves could test the developing North Korea policies of President Donald Trump, who has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of China, North Koreas only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow the Norths government.

Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Koreas nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said that the countrys preparation for an ICBM launch is in its final stage.

Seouls Defense Ministry has said the North appears ready to conduct such strategic provocations at any time. South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the countrys acting leader in place of ousted President Park Geun-hye, who has been arrested over corruption allegations, has instructed his military to strengthen its immediate response posture in case the North does something significant on the April 25 anniversary.

Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a phone call yesterday, agreed to urge North Korea to refrain from what Abe called provocative actions. The North Korean nuclear and missile problem is an extremely serious security threat to not only the international community but also our country, the Japanese leader told reporters afterward.

Theres also a possibility that North Korea, facing potential changes in regional dynamics as Washington presses Beijing to pressure Pyongyang more aggressively, opts to mark the anniversary with a missile launch of lesser magnitude. North Korea separately fired what U.S. officials said were a Scud-type missile and a midrange missile earlier this month, but the launches were analyzed as failures.

While Trump has dispatched what he called an armada of ships to the region, including an aircraft carrier, U.S. officials have told The Associated Press that the administration doesnt intend to militarily respond to a North Korean nuclear or missile test.

In a statement released last week, North Koreas Foreign Ministry accused Trump of driving the region into an extremely dangerous phase with his sending of the aircraft carrier and said the North was ready to stand up against any kind of threated posed by the United States.

With typical rhetorical flourish, the ministry said North Korea will react to a total war with an all-out war, a nuclear war with nuclear strikes of its own style and surely win a victory in the death-defying struggle against the U.S. imperialists.

Under the watch of Kim, North Korea has been aggressively pursuing a decades-long goal of putting a nuclear warhead on an ICBM capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

North Korea conducted two nuclear tests last year alone, which would have improved its knowledge on making nuclear weapons small enough to fit on long-range missiles. It also last year launched a long-range rocket that delivered a satellite into orbit, which Washington, Seoul and others saw as a banned test of missile technology.

On April 15, North Korea offered a fresh look at its advancing nuclear weapons and missiles program in a massive military parade in Pyongyang honoring late state founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current ruler.

The displayed military hardware included prototype ICBMs and new midrange solid-fuel missiles that can be fired from land mobile launchers and submarines, making them harder to detect before launch.

The parade also featured previously unseen large rocket canisters and transporter erector launcher trucks, or TELs. This indicated that North Korea was developing technologies to cold-

launch ICBMs, ejecting them from the launch tubes before they ignite in midair, which would prevent its limited number of ICBM-capable launcher trucks from being damaged and also allow the missiles to be fired from silos.

Analysts say that the North is also likely developing solid-fuel ICBMs, and that some of the canisters might have contained prototypes.

North Korea had earlier shown signs it was working on a new ICBM.

In March, the Norths state media reported that the country successfully conducted a ground test of a new high-thrust rocket engine, which it said was a breakthrough for the countrys space program and efforts to create Korean-style strategic weapons. Kim was then quoted as saying the whole world will soon witness what eventful significance the great victory won today carries.

While North Korea almost certainly needs more time to create a solid-fuel ICBM, test launches for its existing liquid-fuel ICBMs, including the KN-08s and KN-14s, could come much sooner.

Experts say these missiles could one day be capable of hitting targets as far as the continental United States, although North Korea has yet to flight test them. Kim Tong-Hyung, Seoul, AP
Boarding the Douglas DC-3 is like returning to the era of black and white movies, when commercial aviation was making its first steps. A model of the twin-engine propeller plane, which revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s, arrived at the Macau International Airport on Sunday as part of the Breitling DC-3 World Tour.

The plane is expected to depart today to Taiwan, from where it will fly to Japan, for a one-month stint at several airshows. It will later cross the Pacific toward the US, where it will stay for part of the summer. The total length of the world tour is six months, covering 55 cities and 28 countries.

Since it took off in Geneva in March 9, exactly 77 years after it flew for the first time in 1940, the plane has made a number of stopovers at the Balkans, before it moved on to the Middle East and the Gulf states, after which it charted a course towards Greater China, showcasing in events and air shows.

The captain and owner of the DC-3, Francisco Agullo, spoke with journalists yesterday at the hangar where the airplane is parked. Besides the DC-3, Agullo  a former Swissair pilot  currently flies private jets. He has accumulated 12,000 flight hours in different types of aircrafts, including nine round the world flights, one of them with an ultralight plane (in 2010).

The Swiss captain said that the heritage plane was last flown commercially by Eastern Airlines in 1988. He bought it in 2008, and restored it almost to its original version  with exception of the cabin and the cockpit, upgraded to modern flight requirements, which are completely different then they were in the 40s. To make the longer stretches of the world tour, the plane has also been adapted to have a 14 seat capacity in order to carry extra fuel, which is stored in the cabin.

When asked about the difference between flying a 77 year-

old plane and a modern one, Agullo said: I always give this example: I dont know if youve had the opportunity to drive an old car or an old truck. It is very heavy, there is no power steering. But you can drive the modern cars nice and easy, because they have power steering. The airplanes are exactly the same. You can fly an Airbus A380, the biggest plane in the world, with two fingers But the DC-3? You need two hands and your friend [the co-pilot] needs to help with power because it is so heavy. It is a different philosophy, but this is a lot of fun.

Curiously, the DC-3 is still being used by a few airliners in countries like Colombia, Bolivia, US (namely in Alaska) and Canada, occasionally with a replacement engine but retaining the remaining parts.

In Colombia they use the airplane to fly in the jungle, for example. It is quite amazing to see an airplane still flying commercially in certain countries. The reason is that, in the aviation world we say that the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3. And that means a lot and its true. This airplane can carry 30 people inside and land on a field, in the mud strip or on a grass strip that is only 800 meters long. There is no other airplane that can do this, even today, Agullo said, adding that it is still possible to find original parts for the model, although it is becoming more difficult.

When asked about what is going to happen to the plane after the world tour, Agullo pledged not to sell it. I hope that we can keep the airplane for as long as possible in flying condition. We want people to come and fly with us. That is what we really want to do for as long as possible, he concluded.

During the Macau stopover, the plane was authorized to make a 15-minute flight, cruising 800 meters above Macau with some invited guests.

Over 16,000 DC  3 s produced

The maiden flight of the Douglas DC-3 took place on December 1935. A total of 16,079 DC-3 were built in three different countries, with the majority being built in the US (10,655), with others in Russia (4,937) and a small number in Japan (487). The models production ended in 1945. A military version (the C-47) was also used extensively during World War II. The current market price of the DC-3 ranges from USD300,000 to USD5 million, according to Francisco Agullo. There are currently around 150 DC-3s flying around the world.

500 watches aboard

BREITLING is marking the world tour by introducing a limited edition of its Navitimer aviation chronograph. Five hundred watches will make the world tour aboard the DC-3. The watch will be on sale this fall, after the tour ends. According to the captain, the watches are being kept inside the plane in a secret location.
Rightly so, Macau government policies support the creation of new small and medium enterprises. Successful new businesses can create more jobs and wealth if they have an international focus, especially in a place as small as Macau. If you want to be your own boss and open a new restaurant, then set your sights on opening a chain of restaurants in Macau, the Pearl River Delta and beyond and not just one little local restaurant.

As one way of supporting new businesses the Macau government has the Young Entrepreneurs Aid Scheme, which is a good idea but which also has several problems as I outlined in an earlier article some time ago. The Scheme is for interest free loans, but each loan is limited to a maximum of MOP300,000 and requires a guarantor. In this way the government is acting very much like a conventional Asian bank, which usually require extensive guarantees before extending loans. The need for such guarantees is a major stumbling block for most aspiring young entrepreneurs because it puts the risk of the venture onto the guarantor, who is likely to be an older family member. Something that leads to more risk sharing with the capital provider would be better approach.

For many new small businesses the major need for funding is to buy operating equipment and, often to a lesser extent, stock. For example, a new restaurant needs kitchen equipment, air-conditioners, furniture and so on which must be purchased and set up before opening. It also needs wine and food, but the value of these raw materials is not so high, and they can quickly be transformed into sales.

In many parts of the world operating equipment can initially be rented to reduce capital expenditures and free up more money to purchase initial working stock. For example, in Australia new hospitality businesses can go to SilverChef (www.sliverchef.com.au) to negotiate a rental agreement for the equipment they need to buy. SilverChef then buys the equipment and rents it to the new business, and at the end of the rental agreement the business can choose to buy the equipment, or SilverChef keeps it for re-rental or sale. Similarly, if you buy computer or other electronic equipment from Dixons Electronics in the UK, a company called ThinkSmart (thinksmartworld.com) will give you trade finance so you can pay for it over 6-24 months.

Of course, using these financial arrangements increase the total cost of the equipment, but spreads the payment over a long period of time. This is often very beneficial for new businesses because it frees up initial capital for other uses. The rentor also shares in the risk of the new business by owning the equipment, and so has a strong interest in evaluating new customers and the viability of their business proposals. In Australia and elsewhere these kind of equipment rental/leasing arrangements are very popular with small businesses because of their risk sharing nature and the way that they spread capital investment over time.

This kind of equipment financing does not seem to be used much in Macau, but it can significantly ease the initial capital burden on new businesses. Maybe the Macau government could consider underwriting local banks or set up a new financial institution to provide these kinds of financial services to businesses as a way of helping local businesses to develop and diversify? Given the experience elsewhere I am sure that they would be very popular with budding local entrepreneurs.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday canceled a meeting with the visiting German foreign minister over the latters plans to sit down with Israeli rights groups, sparking a rare diplomatic feud with one of Israels closest and most important allies.

The last-minute cancellation cast a cloud over a visit that had been meant to draw attention to years of friendship between the two countries and coincided with Israels annual Holocaust memorial day.

An Israeli official said Netanyahu was upset that German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel was meeting with Breaking the Silence, a whistleblower group critical of Israeli military actions in the West Bank. The Israeli official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.

At a news conference with Israels president, Gabriel made no mention of Netanyahus snub. But earlier, he had said it would be regrettable if Netanyahu canceled their planned talks in Jerusalem.

It would be regrettable if there were a cancellation, he told Germanys ZDF television. But its not as though it would be a catastrophe for me. I have been in this country so often and have a lot of friends, and it wouldnt change my relationship with Israel.

You cant get a proper and comprehensive picture in any country on Earth if you only meet in government offices, added Gabriel. I cant imagine that we would not do such things in the future just to get government appointments.

Gabriel has been Germanys foreign minister since January and its vice chancellor since 2013. This is his first visit to Israel in the new job.

Breaking the Silence is a group of former Israeli combat soldiers opposed to Israels nearly 50-year occupation of the West Bank. The group publishes testimony, often anonymous, about what former soldiers say is the dark underbelly of service in the Palestinian territories.

Israeli leaders oppose the groups work, citing the anonymity of the claims and its outreach efforts to foreign audiences. They say there are better, more legitimate ways to criticize the army. AP
A flash flood of fruit juice from a beverage plant in southern Russia has flowed into a towns streets and into the River Don.

The Prosecutors Office in the Lipetsk region said in a statement that the roof of PepsiCos Lebedyansky factory collapsed yesterday, injuring two people. Later on yesterday, rescue workers were still working to clear debris from the factory floor.

The prosecutors said several tons of fruit juice had been spilled, and local media posted videos of torrents of a pinkish substance streaming down the streets. Authorities said they were monitoring pollution levels in the River Don, one of Russias longest, after the juice was reported to have spilled into the river.

Pepsico did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Taiwans digital minister Audrey Tang, a computer prodigy and entrepreneur who taught herself programming at age 8, says shes a civic hacker, who like a locksmith uses specialized skills to help rather than harm.

Appointed by leaders hoping to better connect with young voters who helped sweep independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen into office last year, 35-year-old Tang is using her expertise to more directly involve the public in policymaking, and to counter fake news.

Just by getting people to listen to the ideas that they dont like, basically, develops their immune systems, Tang said in an interview with The Associated Press while visiting Seoul for the annual Codegate international hacking competition.

If people have already considered carefully even the position of people they dont agree with, they already have some kind of inoculation in their mind, so that they will not fall victim to rumors, she said.

Keeping the public engaged is crucial given Taiwans status as a self-ruled democracy of 23 million people that separated from the Chinese mainland amid civil war in 1949.

Communist-ruled Beijing insists the two sides are part of a single Chinese nation. Public opinion on the issue is divided.

One of Tangs initiatives is an artificial intelligence-powered system called Pol.is that aggregates and shares public views on policy issues to help determine the exact degree of support for a particular position. The government can use that data, for example, in negotiations over regulating Uber and other taxi services, Tang says.

The approach reflects an effort to encourage deep thinking and listening on a mass scale, unlike the fragmented and half-baked ideas often found in social media posts, said Ming-Yeh Rawnsley, a research associate at Centre of Taiwan Studies, SOAS University of London.

It is important that Taiwanese government is thinking about practicing deliberative democracy, said Rawnsley. While the explosion of social media platforms creates many exciting opportunities for public expression and mass participation, it also leads to a phenomenon where everyone wants to talk, but few care to listen.

Tangs digital-friendly stance includes allowing top-level computer game players in Taiwan to serve an alternative form of the islands compulsory military service. That gives professional e-sports League of Legend players the same opportunities an Olympics medalist would get.

Next year, she plans to introduce classes on information technology and media literacy for all school years to help students learn to distinguish rumors and falsehoods from facts.

The idea is not about spotting fake news but about being able to make decisions  so that people dont get swayed in one way or another based on rumors, Tang said.

Taiwanese are keen on online forums like Twitter, whose 140-character limit for posts favors writing in Chinese ideograms that often can say more with fewer characters than in English.

Tang objects to the term fake news, saying its unfair to journalists. But she says she finds U.S. President Donald Trumps enthusiastic use of Twitter refreshing.

Trumps short declarations, though often surprising, leave little leeway for misinterpretation, she contends.

If I make all my messages self-contained and short, then theres no danger of being taken out of context. Thats the basic thing Ive learned, Tang said. @realDonaldTrump uses Twitter  the way it is meant to be (used), she said.

Tang is Taiwans first transgender government minister, a rarity especially in East Asia, where outspoken conservative groups often publicly condemn sexual minorities.

Not so in Taiwan, she says.

I would say Im just post-gender or post-genre, meaning that I dont think there should be things that only one gender should do, said Tang, who early on showed she has a mind of her own.

Seeking ways to streamline math calculations, she taught herself computer programming while only 8. She dropped out of school by the time she was 14. By the time she was 20 she had already started a software company in Silicon Valley.

A dry wit, she quips that sometimes people mistake her height, 180 centimeters, for her apparently genius-level IQ.

Tangs involvement in politics took off during Taiwans Sunflower movement of 2014, when she became well known for helping officials interact with citizens using the internet during the protests against a trade agreement with Beijing.

Given the ever-present risk of cyberattacks, as digital minister one of the first things Tang did after joining the Cabinet was to make government information systems more secure and then rigorously test them for loopholes.

The utmost importance is to get people to still see the internet as a secure place  so that people can still form communities where it is still possible to talk with strangers, to learn from strangers, she said. Basically, if we dont do our job right on security on the internet, it becomes a fragmenting force instead of a community force.

The risk is that the online world would become a place where people live essentially in their own realities, and that is as undemocratic and as non-humane as we can imagine, she said. Youkyung Lee, AP
Former nutrition and obesity professor Rocio Medina, who is one of the designers of a new study program to train professionals in the field at the University of Monterrey in Mexico, visited Macau as part of the Herbalife Asia Pacific Wellness Tour 2017. Medina is also the vice president of Herbalifes Nutrition Institute.

Since starting her private practice in Mexico in 1994, Medina has been addressing multiple issues related to bad nutrition and its consequences in Mexico  a country that is known as the The Fattest Country of the World because Mexicos obesity rate is extremely high.

To learn more about these topics and their relation to the modern lifestyle, and the growth of obesity cases in the region, the Times spoke to Dr Medina on the sidelines of the Herbalife tour at Landmark Hotel in Macau.

Macau Daily Times (MDT)  As an urban society, Macau is facing the same challenges as other developed societies. Is obesity a worldwide problem?

Rocio Medina (RM)  There are currently trends that we are living worldwide and HK and Macau are not an exception. They are growing markets [for our products] because we are living in an epidemic of bad nutrition and obesity. The latest surveys show a growth [in the number of people who are overweight] in most of the age groups, with the exception of the older ones, but even those results [of Body Mass Index (BMI)] are due mostly to the loss of fat mass and not fat, which leads us to talk now about body composition instead of just weight. We are trying to educate our members and let them know that obesity is not just overweight, its about how your body is composed.

MDT  What are these problems related to? Is it just about what we eat?

RM  The lifestyles that we are living right now dont make it easy for us to get good nutrition. Its really difficult these days with everyone rushing, women working  we dont have time to have meals in a balanced way.

MDT  The last survey done in Macau in 2015 found that between 15-20 percent of the population between the ages of four and 22 were facing obesity problems  a growth of more than three percent compared to 2010. Is it what we are feeding our youth that is the major problem?

RM  What I think is that parents are not at home anymore, since they are working, and kids are not as active as they used to be. As parents, we want to keep our kids safe at home, and so we provide them tools that are convenient to keep them at home. They are not doing enough exercise, they are more sedentary and we bring home fast food that is cheap and convenient, sometimes because we dont have time to prepare meals.

With all this, we are giving them the wrong idea and the wrong knowledge of what good nutrition is, and since we are not at home we dont push them to eat vegetables and fruits, and they are not as tasty as pastries and cakes and sweets, and we let them eat whatever they want because we are working. So its in fact a combination of factors that are leading our young generation to increase their weight and the fat in their body composition, and of course this results in what we have been seeing in the last years regarding health conditions in younger people that we didnt used to see 20 or 30 years ago. Diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia  those were health condition for older people (40 years old and above) but now we see them in very young people: kids and teenagers.

MDT  In your opinion, what is the role of schools in regards to this particular topic or educating young generations?

RM  I think education is a key point. It is really important to educate our kids in the field of nutrition, but [it is also the role of] the family, as what we are doing at home is crucial.

I will give you the example of Mexico, [one of the worlds leading countries] on obesity. The government started a program in schools that prohibited the sale of junk food, but you know what happened? The parents provided the junk food to the kids and they took it to school. There wasnt any good result after that program.

So I think the government, society and family should all have that knowledge. Of course the government can and should invest in education of the parents and kids from a very young age, so they can receive that education at home and at school.

School is very important, and we can and should have at least one nutrition class from kindergarten, but family plays a very important role. We need to follow the same path, otherwise kids get confused. If their parent is giving them junk food and the school is saying it is bad [to eat those foods], of course they will believe their parents more. They wont think their parents arent doing a good thing for them. We need to be consistent on this.
The 15th Goodwill Ambassador Program organized by the Rotaract Club of Macau has closed by unveiling the winning team, which won a trip to Nepal. The presentation and award ceremony took place recently at the Centro de Actividades Juvenis do Porto Exterior.

The grand winner this year was the group Triple C, with their humanitarian project A Liter Of Light.

The winning project, which was selected from four finalist submissions, aims to provide people in need with access to solar energy.

The group of four Rotaract club members won a sponsored trip to Nepal as Goodwill Ambassadors, with the purpose of meeting local and foreign Rotaractors and participating in local services that assist the needy.

The four teams had emerged as finalists after three rounds which included interviews, training and community activities. The teams were put to the test in the final round with a presentation of their projects and the results achieved, followed by a Q&A session by the judges.

This years theme  Humanity in Action  had the purpose to create an awareness among teenagers about human rights problems, such as human and organ trafficking, said the president of the organization, Matthew Wong.

The chairperson of the Organizing Committee also added, contestants brought creativity and team spirit into full play. Their performance was impressive and outstanding.

The competition, which reached its 15th edition this year, intends to keep youngsters engaged in community and charity activities, as well as to impart additional skills through training and information sessions.
Macau marked the second anniversary of Chinas Space Day yesterday by holding an educational session to promote interest in astronomy among young students.

The event, held at the Science Center, was organized by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ). About 400 middle school students attended the event.

Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping, a crew member of Chinas Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft, shared her experience of ground training and orbit operation with the students after showcasing several video clips about the space mission.

Wang has previously held a lecture while in space for middle and elementary school students, via a nation-wide live TV broadcast. When asked about her most interesting experience during the mission, Wang replied that she had found the loss of gravity as the most interesting, but added that it had also created inconveniences such as sleep difficulties.

The astronaut added that if she could land on the moon in future, she would want to dress like Change, the moon goddess in Chinese myth, with a pet rabbit in her arms, which made the students break into laughter.

Jin Sheng, a specialist on popularization of astronomy to youths, briefed the students about Chinas space program.

DSEJs head Leong Lai said in her opening speech of the event that Macaus youth will learn about the achievements of Chinas space industry and the endeavoring spirit of Chinese astronauts.

China Space Day was initiated last year to mark the launch of Chinas first satellite on April 24, 1970. MDT/Xinhua
Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals showed a 5.7 percent increase year-on-year to 2,501,219 in March, and a slight month-to-month increase of 0.2 percent.

Overnight visitors rose by 13.9 percent year-on-year to 1,336,384, while same-day visitors decreased by 2.4 percent to 1,164,835.

Visitors from mainland China increased by 11.5 percent year-on-year to 1,655,103 in March, with those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (741,199) rising by 18.4 percent.

Mainland visitors came mainly from Guangdong Province, Hunan Province and Fujian Province.

Visitors from the Republic of Korea (65,393), Japan (33,158) and Taiwan (84,347) increased by 56.9 percent, 19.2 percent and 7.5 percent year-on-year respectively, while those from Hong Kong (492,215) decreased by 12.6 percent.

Meanwhile visitors from the United States (16,203) and Canada (7,519) registered an increase whereas those from Australia (6,720) and the United Kingdom (4,798) saw a decrease.

Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by land went up by 5.1 percent year-on-year to 1,416,109, with visitors arriving through the Border Gate increasing by 3.6 percent.

Visitor arrivals by sea increased by 4 percent year-on-year to 877,254. Those disembarking at the Outer Harbor and the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa rose by 5.6 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

Visitor arrivals by air increased by 18.6 percent year-on-year, with those arriving at the airport rising by 18.3 percent.

In the first quarter of 2017, visitor arrivals totaled 7,872,461, up by 5.6 percent year-on-year. Overnight visitors rose by 12.1 percent while same-day visitors edged down by 0.2 percent.

The average length of stay of visitors increased by 0.1 day year-on-year to 1.2 days. For overnight visitors, the average length of stay decreased by 0.1 days to 2.1 days, whereas that of same-day visitors remained stable at 0.2 days.

During the first quarter, visitors from mainland China (5,317,678), the Republic of Korea (229,605) and Taiwan (225,620) increased by 7.6 percent, 32.0 percent and 1.9 percent respectively while those from Hong Kong (1,520,574) dropped by 2.5 percent. Moreover, visitors from the United States (44,122) and Canada (19,128) increased year-on-year while those from Australia (21,822) and the United Kingdom (12,928) decreased.
The first Vietnamese bank granted government approval to sell a majority stake to a foreign investor could attract an investment of at least USD700 million.

Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank, the fifth-largest by assets, said its in talks to draw that investment by selling a controlling stake to a sole foreign investor. The funds will help strengthen its financial products and speed up the resolution of remaining bad debt.

Saigon Commercial Bank, or SCB, plans to sell more than half of the bank at par value through the issuance of new shares, Chief Executive Officer Vo Tan Hoang Van said.

Were really looking for a partner who would not only put money into the bank but also has the same vision about this market, Van said in an interview at the banks Ho Chi Minh City headquarters, adding that he wants an investor to help grow the bank. More importantly, they need to help our clients to complete their real estate projects so that we can solve the bad debt issue in a shorter time.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in a Bloomberg Television interview in January he plans to increase the governments 30 percent cap on total foreign ownership in banks to hasten the overhaul of Vietnams banking system. He singled out Ocean Bank, taken over by the State Bank of Vietnam in 2015, as a weak institution the government is willing to sell immediately to a foreign investor.

Saigon Commercial Bank has been in talks with six investors, including banks, equity funds and insurance companies from Norway, Indonesia, Taiwan and China, Van said. An unnamed foreign investment fund earlier this year offered to buy a 15 percent stake, according to Van. The bank also expects intensifying negotiations with two potential investors from China and Indonesia.

The lender aims to submit its stake sale plan to the central bank for approval early next year and expects to close the deal in mid-2018, Van said. The bank plans to hire an international bank as a consultant, he said, adding that the prime minister must ultimately sign off on the deal.

The sale of a majority stake may also affect plans for a listing after 2019 when its restructuring process, which began in 2012, is completed, Van said. Mai Ngoc Chau, Bloomberg
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for restraint on North Korea in a phone call with Donald Trump, who also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the U.S. and Japan began joint naval drills in the region.

Xi  in his second confirmed phone conversation with Trump since their summit this month  urged all parties to avoid any actions that might exacerbate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, state broadcaster China Central Television said yesterday. Abe told reporters following a separate call with Trump that he had praised the U.S. leaders policy of keeping all options on the table for countering the North Korean threat.

Abe said Japan had begun naval exercises with the USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft carrier leading a strike group into the region. South Korea is also considering whether to conduct drills with the U.S. naval flotilla, which embarked for the Korean Peninsula after initial confusion about an itinerary that first saw it bound for joint exercises with Australia.

Speculation is once again mounting over whether North Korea will conduct a sixth nuclear test today to mark a key date on the nations calendar  this time the 85th anniversary of the Korean Peoples Army.

North Korea may have resumed work at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, according to analysis of satellite imagery by 38 North, a program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies that studies the nations nuclear activities.

I said I had high regard for President Trumps ability to use actions and words to show that all options are on the table, Abe told media including public broadcaster NHK in Tokyo. We were in complete agreement that we would need to continue to firmly urge restraint by North Korea, given that it has continued these dangerous provocations.

On Xis call with Trump, he said China firmly opposed any action that violates United Nations Security Council resolutions, and called for regular China-U.S. contact in what he described as a rapidly changing international situation, according to CCTV. Trump said he hopes to meet Xi in person again soon, following their summit at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, and looks forward to a state visit to China, CCTV reported.

Kim Jong Uns regime is seeking to develop the ability to fire a nuclear warhead as far as North America, justifying the program as a deterrent against attack. Trump has been trying to get China to do more to bring its neighbor and ally into line, saying last week that he had absolute confidence that Xi could help solve the issue.

Chinas willingness to press North Korea has sparked a battle between the nations media outlets. Without referring to China by name, North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency said April 21 that the country is talking rubbish that the DPRK has to reconsider the importance of relations with it and that China was dancing to the tune of the U.S. DPRK is an abbreviation for North Korea.

In response, Chinas Communist Party-affiliated Global Times newspaper wrote in a commentary that no matter how many articles KCNA publishes, whatever future measures North Korea takes, Beijings stance wouldnt be affected. If North Korea conducts a nuclear test, Beijing will undoubtedly support the UN in adopting tougher sanctions against it, including oil embargo, said the newspaper, which is known for its nationalistic views.

KCNA also denounced the U.S.s aircraft carrier deployment. Such intimidation and blackmail can never frighten the DPRK, it said, adding that the country will react to a total war with an all-

out war.

Envoys from the U.S., South Korea and Japan are scheduled to meet in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss ways to deter any additional provocation from North Korea and secure a constructive role for China, South Koreas foreign ministry said last week.

Meanwhile, reports emerged that North Korea had detained a U.S. citizen, bringing to three the number of Americans being held in the isolated country. Bloomberg
SALEM, Ore.  The head of Bethel Heights Vineyard looked out over the 100 acres of vines her crew of 20 Mexicans had just finished pruning, worried about what will happen if the Trump administration presses ahead with its crackdown on immigrants.

From tending the plants to harvesting the grapes, it takes skill and a strong work ethic to produce the winerys pinot noir and chardonnay, and native-born Americans just arent willing to work that hard, Patricia Dudley said as a cold rain drenched the vineyard in the hills of Oregon.

Whos going to come out here and do this work when they deport them all? she asked.

President Donald Trumps hard line against immigrants in the U.S. illegally has sent a chill through the nations agricultural industry, which fears a crackdown will deprive it of the labor it needs to plant, grow and pick the crops that feed the country.

Fruit and vegetable growers, dairy and cattle farmers and owners of plant nurseries and vineyards have begun lobbying politicians at home and in Washington to get them to deal with immigration in a way that minimizes the harm to their livelihoods.

Some of the farm leaders are Republicans who voted for Trump and are torn, wanting border security but also mercy toward laborers who are not dangerous criminals.

Farming uses a higher percentage of illegal labor than any other U.S. industry, according to a Pew Research Center study.

Immigrants working illegally in this country accounted for about 46 percent of Americas roughly 800,000 crop farmworkers in recent years, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from the U.S. Departments of Labor and Agriculture.

Stepped-up deportations could carry significant economic implications, a 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture study said. If Americas unauthorized labor force shrank 40 percent, for example, vegetable production could drop by more than 4 percent, the study said.

The American Farm Bureau Federation says strict immigration enforcement would raise food prices 5 to 6 percent because of a drop in supply and because of the higher labor costs farmers could face.

In addition to proposing a wall at the Mexican border, Trump wants to hire 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and has served notice that he intends to be more aggressive than the Obama administration in deporting immigrants.

ICE agents have arrested hundreds of immigrants since Trump took office, though how much of a change from the Obama administration that represents is a matter of debate.

Field hands have been among those targeted, with apple pickers detained in upstate New York and Guatemalans pulled over in Oregon on their way to a forest to pick a plant used in floral arrangements.

It doesnt appear the arrests themselves have put a sizable dent in the agricultural workforce yet, but the fear is taking its toll.

Some workers in Oregon are leaving for job sites as early as 1 a.m. and staying away from check-cashing shops on payday to avoid dragnets. Farm employers are worried about losing their workforces.

They say, Dont go out, dont get drunk, dont do nothing illegal because they need us too. They worry too, said Moses Maldonado, who is in the U.S. illegally and has worked for nearly four decades tending wine grapes and picking fruit in Oregon.

In Los Banos, California, asparagus farmer Joe Del Bosque said workers are so afraid of being arrested in the field that he struggled to find enough hands in March to pick his crop.

When immigration attorney Sarah Loftin held a recent seminar in the Oregon wine-region town of Newberg to talk about immigrants legal rights, she was surprised to see that about half those present were winery owners or farmers.

By law, job seekers must provide documents establishing their eligibility to work in the U.S. But the papers are often fake. Many agricultural employers say that its not their responsibility  and that they lack the expertise  to determine if theyre genuine.

At the same time, they say that U.S.-born workers have little interest at laboring in the dirt and the cold at the crack of dawn.

As 18 Guatemalans in hoodies and rubber boots toiled in such conditions recently in Oregons Willamette Valley, their boss expressed admiration for their willingness to do the back-breaking work he said native-born Americans wont do.

Homeless people are camped in the fir forest over there, the farmer said, pointing to a stand of trees. And theyre not looking for work.

He lamented that crackdowns may force him to retire because he wont be able to find workers. Fearing reprisals from federal agents, he spoke on condition of anonymity and didnt want even his crop identified.

Some immigration hardliners say people who are in the U.S. illegally steal jobs from Americans. But a 2013 study by an economist at the Center for Global Development looked at farms in North Carolina and found that immigrant manual laborers had almost zero effect on the job prospects of native-born U.S. workers.

It appears that almost all U.S. workers prefer almost any labor-market outcome  including long periods of unemployment  to carrying out manual harvest and planting labor, Michael Clemens wrote.

While lobbying for visa and immigration reforms, agricultural employers are also looking into contingency plans such as mechanization or a switch to less labor-intensive crops. In Vermont, officials are considering a vocational program to train inmates in dairy farming.

Dudley, the vineyard owner, isnt optimistic about some of the alternatives.

I dont trust that temps off the street, or jailhouse labor, or whatever alternative they come up with would work, she said.
Take a scroll through your junk email folder and youre bound to find a scam email or two. Just hit delete! Some are more obvious than others, but scammers are pros at coming up with new tactics to try to get your personal information or money.

Better Business Bureau is warning about a recent email con that tries to trick recipients into downloading a malware-infected attachment. Sounds standard, right? It is, except this con has their targets names and addresses, and claims to be monitoring their behavior online.

Heres how the scam works: You receive an email informing you that youve been caught performing fraudulent activities online. One version claims you have been using PayPal to illegally transfer funds. The accusation is false, of course, but the email has your real name. The Council of Better Business Bureaus reports some targets of this scam say their address is also on the email, though the address may be out of date.

The emails author warns that someone has been monitoring your online activities and collecting evidence to take to the police. Luckily, the scammer has attached the incriminating evidence to the email, so you can see it and respond. How kind!

No matter how curious you are, dont download the file. The attachment adds malware to your device, which scammers then use to capture passwords or hunt for sensitive information.

How to spot

an email scam

Be wary of unexpected emails that contain links or attachments. Do not click on links or open files in unfamiliar emails.

Check the reply email address. One easy way to spot an email scam is to look at the reply email. If the email is from a company, it should on a company domain, spelled correctly. Watch for slight misspellings.

Dont believe what you see. Just because an email looks real, doesnt mean it is. Scammers can fake anything from a company logo to the Sent email address.

Consider how the organization normally contacts you. If an organization normally reaches you by mail, be suspicious if you suddenly start receiving emails or text messages without ever opting into the new communications.

Be cautious of generic emails. Scammers try to cast a wide net by including little or no specific information in their fake emails. Be especially wary of messages you have not subscribed to or companies you have never done business with in the past.
TWIN FALLS  Dr. Theran Adamson has joined the medical staff at Intermountain Hospital in Boise.

Dr. Adamson practiced in Twin Falls and Coeur dAlene for the past several years. He has a medical degree from the University of New Mexico and completed a family practice residency in Maryland. Adamson is board certified in family practice and recently also became board certified in addictionology.

At Intermountain Hospital, he will see adult and adolescent patients in Intermountains New Start and Clean & Sober Teens substance use treatment programs. He will also be available for consultation on patients throughout the hospital and be growing an outpatient addiction medicine practice at Intermountain.
TWIN FALLS  A day to remember lives lost was also a day to celebrate renewal.

A baby girl in pink tights, hat and coat wobbled on two chubby legs near a plaque in Twin Falls City Park. The plaque  surrounded by red roses, yellow tulips and pink carnations  pays homage to the memory of those lost in the mass killing of Armenians and the contribution that Armenian Americans have to made to the community.

About 30 community members gathered around the plaque on the 102nd anniversary of the genocide of Armenians that occurred in present-day Turkey. Around the world, people of Armenian descent also commemorated the 102 years since the genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. April 24 marks the day when the mass killings started.

The event in the park included a prayer and remarks from those in attendance. Before the prayer, children were ushered in front of the plaque for a group photo. Above their heads, branches with white blooms swayed in the early evening breeze. After the gathering in the park, a candle vigil for Syria was held at the St. Ignatius Orthodox Church, followed by a traditional Armenian dinner.

During her remarks, organizer Liyah Babayan noted how the tree symbolizes they way she and other Armenians have laid roots in Twin Falls.

Every year we do this, Babayan said. And every year there are new babies. Thats what true survivalism is about.

Violet Nahapet also found joy on the sad day. She loves how the Armenian community in Twin Falls grows with each young child. Nahapet has two grandchildren who are half Armenian and half American.

We have a mixture of cultures, Nahapet said. It enriches the American culture. The culture is becoming more multi-face. We are so happy to be here. It is home.

Winnie Christensen attended with her two small children. Christensen said shed like to see more people in Twin Falls attend the yearly gathering.

We should all be educators to others, she said. Its up to me to educate my kids. Thats why I bring my kids with me everywhere. Let us not be victims, but survivors.

The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that tens of thousands of people took part in a march and rally outside the Turkish Consulate. Southern California is home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia with more than 200,000 people of Armenian descent live in Los Angeles County, according to U.S. census data.

Today, Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide. Nahapet pointed out the harm of denial in her remarks before the group. She brought up Adolf Hitlers speech to commanders before the German invasion of Poland, which is a quote inscribed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The ending of the quote says: Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formations in readiness  for the present only in the East  with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum) which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?

We are not here to spread the hatred toward anyone, Nahapet said. We are here to say no to genocide. We are here to remember history so it doesnt repeat itself.

President Donald Trump issued a statement on Monday to commemorate one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century, but declined to call the mass killings genocide.

I was very disappointed I have not heard any remarks from our president acknowledging a genocide took place, Babayan said. I expected him to be more courageous and anti-establishment. Hes shown how deep the suppression and control of the Turkish government is in the United States.

The Turkish government has spent millions lobbying Congress on the issue, the Los Angeles Times reported. It succeeded in persuading President Barack Obama to reverse a campaign promise to label the killings a genocide. Trump was the first Western leader to congratulate Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by telephone after a referendum last week granted him sweeping new powers, the Los Angeles Times also reported.

Babayan is working to get the movie The Promise to show in Twin Falls. It stars Christian Bale and is set during 1915 at the start of the genocide. Babayan said the movie, which opens Friday, is not scheduled to show in Twin Falls.

For her, the movie is a step in the right direction to further acknowledge the genocide that took place.

Its important for several reasons, Babayan said. It becomes part of dominant culture and it opens up conversations in mainstream culture.
TWIN FALLS  The city is raising several fees at the city pool.

The new structure increases monthly and yearly pass fees, and creates separate prices for residents and non-residents. It also reduces whats saved by going with an annual pass versus monthly passes over a year.

Aquatics Director John Pauley said that an individual annual pass has been getting a person 3.6 months free  when compared to what he or she would pay for 12 monthly passes.

Thats a lot of time to be giving away, he said.

We went with a times-10 strategy, Pauley said.

The new annual pass is the same price as 10 monthly passes. A residents annual pass will now cost $270 and a non-residents annual pass will cost $320 (the previous cost was $212).

The City Council unanimously approved the new fees at its meeting Monday. The city took over pool operations in April after the Magic Valley YMCA, trying to recover from financial struggles, backed out of its contract.

Daily admission fees will stay the same, Pauley said.

Former aquatics director John Twiss warned that higher fees may discourage some people from paying to use the pool year-round.

I think youre going to hurt yourself in the fall, he said. You may be OK in the summertime because thats the busy time.

In order to get as many kids in swimming lessons as possible, Pauley said the city also increased the number of students per instructor during summer swim classes. This will lower the cost for individuals.

Winter swimming classes and classes with younger children will remain with a ratio of one instructor to four children.

This is probably the first overhaul in pricing at the city pool in nine years, Pauley told the Times-News.

Also at the meeting, the City Council unanimously voted to create an ad hoc committee for a future recreation center.

The committee would consider a previous groups findings of recreation needs and challenges, but take them to the next step: a feasibility study that could cost $59,000 or more.

The intent at this point, really, is to set this group up for success, Parks and Recreation Director Wendy Davis said.

She will make her committee member recommendations before the City Council at a future meeting.
TWIN FALLS  High-achieving teenagers interested in science can take free college classes next school year under a pilot program at the College of Southern Idaho.

Called the Dual Credit General Education Academy, the program will allow 25 students from Magic Valley high schools to earn 40 college credits over two years  all of their general education classes.

Its another way the college is helping students get a jump-start on college, a big push in Idaho in recent years. Plus, it reflects a changing higher education landscape, with high schoolers already making up nearly half of CSIs student body.

It came about as an idea to bring students to campus and as a way to identify these very high-achieving high school students who would be a good fit for these STEM majors, said Jarred Aslett, advanced opportunities senior coordinator at CSI.

The regular $130 per-credit fee will be covered by the Idaho Department of Educations Fast Forward program and CSI Foundation. Students will have to pay only for digital textbooks and class supplies.

Youre really going to get your first part of college for free, Aslett said. But the program is a two-year commitment for really ambitious students.

Teenagers interested in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) fields must apply by May 19. Classes start in June.

Those interested must be entering 11th grade next school year and have at least a 3.0 grade point average.

Twin Falls School District leaders plan to talk with school principals and counselors about identifying students interested in the new CSI offering.

I think its a great opportunity for our students and it provides more choices for them, said L.T. Erickson, secondary programs director. It will be a cohort of students who have similar interests.

One challenge for students who want to participate: Theyll have to take college classes such as calculus in one semester.

Typically, students take dual credit classes  earning high school and college credits simultaneously  over an entire school year. Its a benefit to our students because theyre able to take it at a slower pace, Erickson said.

Teens who want to participate in CSIs new program must be the right student for the course, said school district spokeswoman Eva Craner.

Students must be prepared, she added, and be willing to put in extra time and effort into classes.

Ericksons daughter, 18-year-old Twin Falls High School senior Cheyenne Erickson, took dual-credit chemistry last school year.

In total, she has earned 28 college credits. She plans to attend CSI next school year to finish up her general education requirements and wants to become a high school math teacher.

Cheyenne wont benefit from the new CSI program. But the college is hoping to attract younger students like her to apply.

I feel like dual-credit classes have been really beneficial, she said, and the cost is covered.

Taking a college class in one semester would be more challenging, Cheyenne said, but I feel like it would be good preparation for college.

The new program will offer students a clear path for continuing their education at CSI or another college or university.

By the time students finish the program, theyll have an academic certificate and will be in CSIs honors program.

If they decide to attend another school, credits can be transferred. And the academic certificate is recognized by other Idaho public colleges and universities.

Over two years, students will take two classes each semester, including summers, taught by CSI faculty members.

Theyll take classes in the mornings at CSIs Twin Falls campus and return to their high schools in the afternoons.
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May 25, 1951April 23, 2017

REXBURGMarla Ann Holyoak Ricks, 65, of Rexburg passed away peacefully in her sleep on April 23, 2017. She fought a valiant battle with multiple sclerosis which was diagnosed in 1968. She overcame many odds, living with this disease for nearly fifty years. She will be remembered for her happy, positive disposition; her smile, her love of life, and her love for her many friends and family. She will be greatly missed by all who know her.

Marla was born on May 25, 1951, in Rupert, Idaho to George Albert Holyoak and Laurece Davis Larsen, and attended school in Burley. She made friends easily, many of whom she kept in contact with and associated with until her death. She loved her friends, and enjoyed regular visits and telephone calls with them.

In high school, she was student body secretary, and also participated in drama and Bel Cantos. She represented Burley High School at Girls State and was selected to go to Girls Nation, where she was elected Vice President. It was the first time and also the last time that both the president and vice president were from the same state. She loved politics and was very engaged in local issues as well as national issues. She was proud of and loved the United States flag, and stuck up for our freedoms every chance she got. She never backed down from defending her country, and all the freedoms we enjoy.

She married Cecil Ricks on June 3, 1970, in the Logan LDS Temple. This began a happy marriage and two sons were born to them. Jared was born in Hailey, Idaho and Nathan was born in Rexburg just short of three years later. These boys brought her much happiness and joy. Marla and Cecil lived in Provo, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada; Blackfoot, Idaho; Hailey, Idaho; and Rexburg for the last 38 years.

Marla was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served faithfully in many callings. She loved the sisters in her ward and they loved her. She taught many people the meaning of LOVE.

She is survived by her husband, Cecil of Rexburg; sons, Jared (Michelle) Ricks of Shelley and Nathan (Carrie) Ricks of Pocatello; and eleven grandchildren, Mariya, Hailey, Benson, Thomas, Andrew, Lola, Seth, Franklin, James, Emma and Anderson. She is also survived by a sister Janet (Hal) Stock of Orem, Utah; a brother, David (Kathryn) Holyoak of Naperville, Illinois. She is preceded in death by her parents, a sister and two brothers.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 29, at the Plano LDS Chapel, 5973 North 5000 West, in Rexburg, with Bishop Burt Hensley officiating. The family will receive friends Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. at Flamm Funeral Home in Rexburg and Saturday from 10 to 10:45 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment will be in the Rexburg Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.flammfh.com.
Marvin Coates

TWIN FALLSMarvin Wilford Coates, funeral at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, at Twin Falls LDS Stake Center, 2085 South Temple Dr.; visitation from 1 to 1:45 pm prior to the service at the church. (White Mortuary Chapel by the Park.)

Fleeta Barron

TWIN FALLSFleeta Barron of Twin Falls, graveside service at 3 p.m. Friday, April 28, 2017 at the Buhl West End Cemetery to celebrate her ninety-five years. (Farmer Funeral Chapel in Buhl)

Robert Sorenson

TWIN FALLS  Robert Sorenson, graveside service with military honors at 2 p.m. Friday, April 28 at Sunset Memorial Park, Twin Falls.

Marilyn McKim

IDAHO FALLSMarilyn McKim, graveside service at 11 a.m. Friday, April 28 at the Paul Cemetery, 550 W 100 N, Paul. A visitation will be held from 9:30 until 10:30 a.m. at the Rasmussen Funeral Home, 1350 E 16th St in Burley.

Sylvan Clark

HAGERMANSylvan William Clark, 94, funeral service at 11:00 a.m., Friday, April 28, at the Hagerman L.D.S. Church. A viewing will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Farmer Funeral Chapel in Buhl.

Rozella Reed

RUPERTRozella Reed, funeral services at 11 a.m. Friday April 28, at the 7th Day Adventist Church in Heyburn. Burial will follow at the Paul Cemetery. Viewing will be held from 6-8:00 p.m. Thursday April 27, at Hansen Mortuary and one hour prior to services at the church. Services are under the direction of Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary.

Janell R. Arrington

TWIN FALLS Janell R. Arrington, funeral services at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 29, 2017 at the West Stake Center LDS Church, 667 Harrison Street in Twin Falls. Visitation is on Friday evening, April 28 from 6-8 p.m. at Reynolds Funeral Chapel, 2466 Addison Ave. East, Twin Falls as well as on Saturday from 10-10:45 a.m.

Mary Belle Powell

TWIN FALLSMary Belle Powell, celebration of life with the residents of Woodstone Heritage, from 9:30 until 11 a.m. Saturday, April 29. There will be an open house at 1 p.m. at the family home in Hansen.

Marvin Chamberlain

TWIN FALLSMarvin Chamberlain, memorial service at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 29, at the Snake River Elks Lodge, 412 E 200 S in Jerome. A reception will follow. Reynolds Funeral Chapel.

Christine Chambers

FILERChristine Chambers, memorial service at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 29 at the Filer Church of the Nazarene, 315 Yakima Ave, Filer with a reception to follow.

John Taylor

TWIN FALLSJohn Taylor, graveside service at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the Hazelton Cemetery. Arrangements have been entrusted to White Mortuary, Chapel by the Park.
President Donald Trump's former national security adviser did not properly disclose payments from Russia and does not appear to have complied with the law, House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings said Tuesday after reviewing Michael Flynn's application for a security clearance.

"As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey or anybody else. And it appears as if he did take that money. It was inappropriate. And there are repercussions for the violation of law," Chaffetz said.

Chaffetz and Cummings announced their findings to reporters on the Hill following a classified gathering of the committee in which they reviewed documents that Cummings described as "extremely troubling."

"I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said, referring to whether Flynn received permission from the Pentagon or the State Department or that he disclosed the more than $45,000 he was paid for a speech he gave to RT-TV in Russia.

Chaffetz said that the committee will send a letter now requesting information from the inspector general at the Department of Defense and the comptroller of the US Army to determine how they will handle news of Flynn's security clearance. One action, he said, may be seeking repayment of money from Flynn -- possibly in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Cummings noted that the security clearance states that knowingly leaving off payments from foreign governments is a felony punishable with up to five years in prison. But he and Chaffetz both said that it was not for them to decide whether Flynn committed a crime.

"We're not here to make the final determination," Chaffetz said Tuesday.

No officials have accused Flynn of committing any crimes.

Flynn's lawyer, Robert Kelner, said Tuesday that Flynn was not hiding anything, noting that he briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency on his trip to Russia.

"As has previously been reported, General Flynn briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of DoD, extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip, and he answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip during those briefings," Kelner said in a statement to CNN Tuesday.

The news comes after the White House declined to provide documents related to Flynn that the panel investigating him had requested, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short outlined in a letter to the House oversight committee how it would not complete the request from the panel, referring some requests to the Department of Defense, saying the office doesn't have custody of some of the other documents or simply stating "we are unable to accommodate" others.

A White House aide disputed that the White House was withholding anything from the committee, saying they could not provide documents they do not have access to. The aide said that they directed oversight investigators to the appropriate agencies.

The announcement about Flynn comes a week after CNN reported that Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a senior adviser to the President, has yet to detail to the federal government all of his foreign contacts, a condition of receiving his top secret security clearance, CNN has learned.

When Kushner first submitted his forms to the FBI, he left the section about foreign contacts blank -- despite the fact that he had met with a large number of foreign emissaries and leaders once Donald Trump became the president-elect and he became the point man for international contacts for the incoming Trump administration.

Whether Flynn properly disclosed payments from foreign governments on his security clearance application was the subject of the House oversight committee meeting Tuesday, as members reviewed the first batch of documents related to the investigation coming from the Pentagon.

The committee gathered Tuesday morning at the Capitol to review classified material provided by the Department of Defense in response to its March 22 request for more information on Flynn, according to MJ Henshaw, a spokeswoman for House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz.

The committee has sent additional requests for information about Flynn to the White House, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. However, Tuesday's meeting will only include responses from the Pentagon.

Oversight investigators also revealed last month that Flynn had received $530,000 for work his lobbying firm did that, according to the committee, likely benefited the Republic of Turkey.

The House and Senate intelligence committees have been leading the primary investigations into Russia's interference in the US elections and possible coordination with top aides to the Trump campaign. However, the House oversight panel has taken a particular focus on Flynn's work -- drilling down in a series of requests.

Flynn was forced to resign from his role as Trump's national security adviser after it was discovered he withheld information about discussions he had with Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn is one of four former Trump aides at the center of the FBI's probe and is a top target for House and Senate investigators as well.

Since he resigned, Flynn has retained a lawyer and has offered to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution -- an offer nobody has apparently taken him up on.

CNN's Gloria Borger and Brian Rokus contributed to this report.
Elizabeth Thomas, the Tennessee teenager kidnapped by her teacher, was withdrawn and thinner after she was rescued, family members said Monday.

"She didn't look like herself at all. She looked like she was very worn out, very thin. And very jittery," her father Anthony Thomas said on "Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield" on HLN. "She's somebody who's actually more sure of herself, usually all smiles and she's been sort of the life of the party."

Thomas and Elizabeth's older sister, Kat Bozeman, spoke with Banfield about the teenager's recovery. The 15-year-old high school freshman is apprehensive about being around people, said family members, who have kept conversations light and not peppered her with questions about her 39-day ordeal as she tries to heal.

Last week, authorities found the teenager in Northern California and arrested her forensics teacher, Tad Cummins, 50. A federal judge in California on Monday approved a request to transfer Cummins back to Tennessee, where he will face charges of kidnapping the teenage girl.

'Poor excuse for a human being'

Cummins is charged with transportation of a minor across state lines for the purpose of criminal sexual intercourse. The charge carries a minimum of prison term of 10 years and a maximum of life.

Cummins admitted he had gotten a small watercraft and conducted a test run from San Diego to Mexico, where he planned to take the teenager, according to a federal complaint.

Anthony Thomas called Cummins "a very poor excuse for a teacher and authority figure, a father .... he's a poor excuse for a human being," reacting to an interview with Cummins' sister defending her brother's actions. In the interview with NBC's "Today" show, she said her brother said Elizabeth wanted to run away and he didn't want her to go alone and went with her to make sure she was safe.

In an earlier interview Monday with CNN, Elizabeth's sister-in-law, Danielle Thomas, said Elizabeth may have thought she and Cummins were going on a one-day excursion and didn't anticipate leaving for more than a month and traveling more than 2,000 miles away.

"Number one, she didn't pack that many clothes," Danielle Thomas said. "Number two, she left her dog behind. And number three ... she is very active in her youngest sister Rebecca's life. So much so, that Rebecca would call her mommy. So, in my heart I don't think she would have left Rebecca for a very long time."

Danielle Thomas said the family's first inclination when Elizabeth went missing was that she had run away. But the family immediately realized what had taken place when Cummins' wife called and told them he was also missing.

"Immediately you get ticked off because some perverted old man has absconded with a member of your family. And then, there were times when we were upset at both, and then just at him. And then we were emotional," she said.

Family members said Elizabeth, one of 10 children, was recuperating at an undisclosed location, where she will undergo counseling and ease back to normalcy.

"Right now, she's somewhere where she can relax and be looked after by family and close friends and just take a break from everybody," Anthony Thomas said. "We can't just .... throw her right back in there and tell her to go clean her room."

'She's very withdrawn'

Bozeman said: "We're trying to keep everything light so she can heal."

Anthony Thomas and Bozeman, who were speaking from Columbia, Tennessee, said the teenager's weight loss is noticeable.

"This child loves food and she loves coffee," Bozeman said, adding that her sister is happy to "eat real food."

But the difference was also noticeable in the expression in his daughter's face, Anthony Thomas said.

"She is the only extrovert in an introvert family and she's very withdrawn," Bozeman said.

Danielle Thomas insisted that Elizabeth was still the jovial and playful teenager, who had peanut butter fights with her siblings in the middle of the kitchen. But when asked if the teenager was OK, Danielle Thomas said no, and shook her head.

"There are times where you think she's OK and there are times where she's curled up in the middle of the floor crying and shaking and having panic attacks," Danielle Thomas said.

Anthony Thomas said he hasn't thought about the weight of a possible trial and that his daughter may have to face her alleged abductor in court.

"It's a day by day thing," he said.

"We've gone through probably the worst experience of my life so far was having her gone, not knowing where she was or how she was," her father said. "There's a lot still to go through."

He added: "But at least, we've got her back and that's the important thing and we can start moving ahead."

CNN's Sara Sidner contributed to this report.
Democrats and #NeverTrump Republicans, unhappily, were prescient about a Trump presidency. President Donald Trump has proven himself intellectually, temperamentally and morally unfit to govern. He refuses to learn what he does not know, so he makes constant gaffes and reveals his ignorance. He rages at the press, to no avail. (The media does its job and Trump's approval sets records for awfulness.) Predictably he's accomplished very little -- actually nothing, save the Supreme Court confirmation that requires legislative action. He's surrounded himself with cronies, family members and ignoramuses who cannot manage to draft a defensible travel ban (thank goodness) or unite the GOP on health care or tax reform. He arguably violates the emoluments clause every day, and both he and his children have managed to make conflicts of interest and self-enrichment the rule, not the exception, for high officials.

Trump's ineptitude and feckless advisers provide a partial explanation for why more damage has not been wrought. He's had to settle for phony executive orders that only "study" bad ideas (e.g., protectionism, building the wall) rather than pursue them. His tone and demeanor are much worse than what he has managed to pull off. Aside from a White House arguably the most feeble and chaotic in a century or so, why have his "wins" been kept to a minimum?

The answer: Democracy is holding up well under its stress test. Trump's election has provoked a sense of urgency and, yes, fear, among many Americans. (According to polls, Trump remains uniquely unpopular for a president at this stage in his presidency.) Rather than hide under their beds, however, Americans have reacted by protesting (on Jan. 21; at airports; for science on April 22), turning out by the thousands at town halls, organizing themselves, giving money to causes they care about, signing up to run for office and contacting lawmakers before key votes. They turned out in force in the GA-6 special election, overwhelmingly voting for Democrat Jon Ossoff or for Republicans who did not embrace Trump. And they've subscribed to mainstream newspapers in record numbers.

Speaking of the press, despite bullying, hiding from and insulting the media, Trump hasn't affected respected news outlets one iota. They continue to fact-check him, investigate his conflicts and reveal his team's ties to Russia. It's no wonder he is so furious with the media -- he cannot control them or block (even by distracting tweets) facts from getting to the public.

The courts have also done their part. Over and over again, federal courts struck down his Muslim ban. He tried, but failed miserably, to bully judges. He'll win some and lose some in court for the remainder of his presidency but on his first big, unconstitutional project he was stopped in his tracks.

Trump has also been guided away from many of his destructive and dangerous foreign-policy notions by national security adviser H.R. McMaster, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. Even Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has resisted Trump's pro-Russia bent. Give credit to Trump for choosing them, but the country should be grateful they've essentially (BEGIN ITAL)set(END ITAL) foreign policy (e.g., shoring up NATO and Asian alliances) rather than implement whatever crackpot ideas he was peddling.

In sum, Trump may be anti-democratic and inclined to authoritarianism, but Americans are not -- and don't appear ready to give in.

There's one glaring exception to the refusal of Americans and democratic institutions to fall in line behind Trump: Republicans in Congress. With a paltry number of exceptions, Republican lawmakers have excused or ignored Trump's conflicts of interest. They show zero interest in enforcing the Constitution's emoluments clause. They refuse to take action to force the release of his tax returns. In the case of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) they've entirely abandoned their constitutional obligations.

Nearly all Republicans opposed a select committee to investigate his Russia scandal. The Senate has rubber-stamped every nominee (a couple have had to drop out), even ones who had ethical weaknesses, lacked experience and displayed unnerving ignorance about the subject matter they were to be responsible for.

Most Republicans have refused to rebuke Trump's wild claims (e.g., President Obama wiretapped him), egregious statements (siding with National Front proto-fascist Marine Le Pen) and out-and-out lies (e.g., crime is rising due to illegal immigrants). They have put party and partisanship above country and principle, just as they did in the election.

Republicans failed to pass health-care reform not because they determined Trump was backing an extreme, counterproductive and cruel bill, but because it did not go far enough. (The exception here was an undetermined number of moderates who objected to pulling the rug out from the neediest Americans.) Despite pre-election talk about restricting the executive, they've raised not a peep about executive orders, including ones that seem to trample on local control (e.g., his so-called sanctuary city order).

As bad as Trump has been -- in our book he's been just as bad as we anticipated -- democracy is faring better than we feared. Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress, again with some noticeable exceptions, have demonstrated they have neither the ability nor the will to check the president. They'd better step up to the plate soon or voters will conclude the only way to prevent further damage to the Republic is to vote for Democrats in 2018.
iStock/Thinkstock(PARIS) -- Leading French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's campaign has been the target of cyberattacks at the hands of the same group linked to attacks against the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign team, according to a reputable security research firm.



Feike Hacqueboard, a senior threat researcher with security firm Trend Micro, told ABC News that he has identified four internet domain names connected to a group called "Pawn Storm" that were used to target the French centrist's campaign with so-called phishing attacks.



"The attacks could have started [in the middle of] March and I think they went on for half of April," Hacqueboard told ABC News in a phone call from the Netherlands.



Pawn Storm is also known as Fancy Bear and APT28, among a number of other monikers. The group has been linked by several private security firms to the Russian government, and in some cases, the Russian military intelligence agency called the GRU.



For its part, Trend Micro -- as a policy -- does not point fingers at state actors for fear of interfering in the political process, Hacqueboard said. But he conceded that Pawn Storm are after targets that are of interest to the Russian government.



In addition to the DNC, the group was behind the recent cyberattacks on the Turkish parliament and Angela Merkel's party in Germany (the CDU), as well as cyberattacks on the parliaments of Montenegro and Germany, according to Hacqueboard.



We see that the fingerprints of these attacks are the same," the researcher said. "The mode of operation is very, very similar."



A spokesman for the French government cybersecurity agency ANSSI confirmed the attacks on the Macron campaign to Reuters, but would not comment on whether Pawn Storm was behind them.



Among the group's favored attack methods, Hacqueboard said, is an attack called "phishing."



This attack method sees hackers send duplicitous emails to their targets that appear to be from legitimate institutions or organizations. The emails usually demand that the target hand over some personal information, such as a password, in order to avoid some negative outcome, such as having a social media or email account locked.



The emails appear authentic, but in reality are designed to gather personal information that hackers can then exploit to gain further access to systems.



Richard Ferrand, secretary-general of Macron's party, previously accused Russia of trying to influence the French election in a February news conference and urged the French government to take action to prevent any "foreign meddling," according to Reuters.



The French election is in full swing. A first round of votes on Sunday saw Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen best nine other candidates and advance to a second round of voting that is scheduled for May 7.



Le Pen has in the past expressed support for Russia's annexation of the Crimea region from Ukraine, according to BBC News. That annexation was widely condemned by the international community.



Le Pen has also called for the European Union to lift sanctions imposed on Russia, saying that they were "counterproductive," the BBC reported.



The Macron campaign did not return ABC News' request for comment.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Moroccos International Agricultural Fair (SIAM 2017), held in Meknes on April 18-23 under the theme: Agribusiness and sustainable agricultural value chain, drew an unprecedented number of 1230 exhibitors.

Nearly 810,000 people have visited he fair, said Jaouad Chami, director of the 12th edition of the Fair, who was speaking to the press on the last day of the event.

The Fair brought together participants, exhibitors and visitors from Morocco and from 66 countries, including 19 African nations, he said, adding that 33 conferences and seminars, dealing mainly with agri-food and sustainable agriculture were held as part of the event.

SIAM 2017 celebrated Italy as a guest of honor and hosted 20 foreign delegations with the attendance of 15 ministers, Chami underscored.

Twenty-one agreements were signed during the fair, which has become a hub for agribusiness and agriculture professionals to seal deals and exchange experiences.

SIAM 2017 was also an occasion to showcase the headway achieved by Moroccos agricultural sector and offered a venue for exchange with international actors in the field.
The boss of Cement giant LafargeHolcim, Eric Olsen, announced his resignation in a bid to clear the atmosphere and bring serenity back in the firm charged for dirty deals with the Islamic State group in Syria to sustain its activities.

Olsen announced his own resignation, which will be effective on July 15.

While I was absolutely not involved in, nor even aware of, any wrongdoing I believe my departure will contribute to bringing back serenity to a company that has been exposed for months on this case, Olsen said in a statement.

An independent internal inquiry found the protection payments made to intermediaries to keep open the Jalabiya plant in northern Syria were not in line with its policies, Reuters reports.

The inquiry however did not blame Oslen for any wrongdoing.

In June, French media Le Monde and other media slammed the French-Swiss joint venture for striking deals with armed groups including IS in war-ravaged Syria.

Investigations conducted by the French daily indicate that the French company, which acquired the Jalabiya cement works, located at some 150 Km northeast of Aleppo, in 2007 entered into a deal with IS through intermediaries to ensure that the terror group does not attack the business.

Le Monde also revealed that the firm bought licenses from and paid taxes to Islamic State middle-men and oil traders to secure free circulation of its goods.

Companys chairman Beat Hess, a Swiss national will take over from Oslen in July. He has been director of the company since 2010, Reuters reports.
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.
Rwanda and Microsoft have launched a huge project to build 500 smart classrooms nationwide by end of 2017, local newspaper, The New Times reported.

The project will allow the East-African nation to digitize its education sector by giving students access to computers and basic software as well as internet access for teaching and learning.

I would say that before the end of the current financial year you will have smart classrooms in Rwanda where this new way of teaching with digital identity will certainly be in place, Microsofts regional education industry manager for West, East, Central Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, Warren La Fleur told The New Times newspaper.

The Ministry of Education said the project will reduce the cost of delivering learning materials to schools and improve learning outcomes.

500 smart classrooms across the country could be fully connected by August 2017, A Ministry of Education official, Nkubito Bakuramutsa, said.

Its a very strategic partnership. The idea is to ensure that Rwandan students become global citizens capable of working locally, on the continent, but also anywhere in the world, Nkubito Bakuramutsa added.

In Rwanda, students in all schools are expected to have access to the internet by 2020.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday announced that the first vaccine against malaria, Mosquirix, was developed by GlaxoSmithKline and that pilot tests on children will take place in three African countries: Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.

The Mosquirix vaccine (also called RTS, S) was created especially for infants aged 5 to 17-month olds, the WHO said.

An estimated 360,000 children are expected to be given the vaccine during the pilot phase (2018  2020).

The prospect of a malaria vaccine is great news, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHOs regional director for Africa. Information gathered in the pilot will help us make decisions on the wider use of this vaccine.

Malaria has killed 429,000 people worldwide in 2015, with 92 percent of victims in Africa and two-thirds of them children under five.

The vaccine should be used alongside other preventative measures such as bed nets, insecticides, repellents, and anti-malarial drugs, the WHO said.

Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa, Moeti said.

This vaccine is a weapon amongst others, it is one of the tools at our disposal, she added.

Symptoms of malaria include fever, muscle pain and headache as well as vomiting and diarrhoea.
Angolas Council of the Republic on Monday proposed Aug. 23 for the presidential election in the central African nation. The decision hangs on President Jose Eduardo dos Santos approval, Reuters reported.

President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, 74, has personally confirmed earlier this year the news that he would not run again for the presidency of Angola during this year elections.

The ruling MPLA party in December 2016 named its Vice-President and defense minister Lourenco as its candidate for the 2017 polls. He is expected to win.

Dos Santos, who has ruled Angola since 1979, has called for free and fair elections.

Angola, which vies, with Nigeria, to be Africas biggest oil producer, has been struggling to cope with the impact of crude prices that tumbled more than 50 percent since mid-2014. The commodity accounts for 70 percent of revenue and almost all exports.

Despite its oil wealth, most of the OPEC-member countrys 22 million people live in grinding poverty.

Last year, Dos Santos said his government was generating barely enough revenue to pay off its debt.

Finance Minister Archer Mangueira earlier this week said in an interview he expects the economy to expand 2.1 percent in 2017 after an increase of just 0.1 percent or 0.6 percent in 2016.
Cameroonian journalist and correspondent with Radio France Internationals Hausa service, Ahmed Abba, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for non-denunciation of terrorism and laundering of the proceeds of terrorist acts.

The military tribunal also sentenced him to pay a fine of over $90,000 (55,726,325 CFA francs) or face five extra years in prison in default of payment.

Abba is accused of being an accomplice to two members of the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, which has launched attacks on Cameroonian soil.

The prosecution also accused Abba of failing to notify authorities when he became aware of the activities of the Boko Haram sect.

The journalist was acquitted of the charge of glorifying acts of terrorism.

His Lawyer Clement Nakong said he would appeal Abbas sentence within the 10 days set by the court.

Journalist Associations and Rights groups described the conviction and sentencing as an unfair trial, a travesty of justice.

Amnesty Internationals Lake Chad researcher Ilaria Allegrozzi said in a statement that Ahmed Abbas conviction, after torture and an unfair trial, is clear evidence that Cameroons military courts are not competent to try civilians and should not have jurisdiction in these cases.

Ahmed Abba should never have been detained, prosecuted, and convicted for his journalismlet alone ordered to spend a decade behind bars, said the New York- based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), through its Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This outrageous sentence signals the lengths that Cameroon authorities are willing to go to intimidate the media and thwart freedom of the press. She added.

Abba was arrested on July 30, 2015 in Maroua, capital of the Far North region where more than 1,200 people have been killed in attacks attributed to Boko Haram.
Italian journalists explore Georgias tourism potential

Journalists from Italy have visited Georgia to explore the countrys touristic potential and promote Georgia as a tourist destination for international visitors.During the one-week press tour the journalists visited Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery in Georgias third largest city of Kutaisi: the cathedral and monastery clearly portray the flowering of medieval architecture in Georgia.Later the media representatives went to Borjomi and Stepantsminda areas and then to Georgias city of love, Sighnaghi, in the wine region of Kakheti.While in Kakheti the journalists were introduced to Georgian, ancient winemaking traditions and even baked a traditional Georgian dish of cheese-filled bread, khachapuri.Articles about Georgias tourism potential will be published in National Geographic Traveler and travel magazine Touring.The Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) organised this special press tour with the aim of raising awareness of Georgia and making the country a more popular tourist destination for foreigners.
The News in Brief

No-Vote Wins Turkish Referendum Ballot in Georgia



59.3% of voters in Georgia voted against the ruling party-proposed amendments in the April 16 Turkish constitutional referendum.



Two polling stations were opened for Turkish nationals in Georgia, one at the Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi, the countrys capital, and another one at the Consulate General in Batumi, in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara.



711 of 1789 eligible voters cast their ballots in the referendum vote, putting the voter turnout at 39.7%.



The voting results differed across the two locations; while Tbilisi voted overwhelmingly against the proposed changes with 65.1% no-voters to 34.9 in favor, the result in Batumi was almost tied with 50.9 against to 49.1% in favor of the amendments.



The April 16 referendum enables sweeping changes to the Turkish constitution, leading to the introduction of a presidential regime. (civil.ge)







Georgian priest suspected of murder suing government for unfair trial



A priest awaiting trial for murder is suing Georgia at the European Court of Human Rights, claiming the country is depriving him of a fair trial.



Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze is accused of planning to poison a member of the Georgian patriarchs inner circle.



The Tbilisi-based non-governmental organization Human Rights Center, which is assisting Mamaladze in the lawsuit, said on Wednesday it will file the suit this week.



Mamaladze decided to sue Georgia at the ICHR after the Prosecutors Office again rejected his lawyers appeal to exempt them from non-disclosure obligation they signed on to at an early stage of the investigation. The defense lawyers since claimed that being forced to not disclose documents has limited their competitiveness.



Mamaladze was detained at Tbilisi airport on February 10 as he was boarding a plane to Berlin sodium cyanide in his luggage. As an archpriest, he was part of the inner circle of Patriarch Ilia II, who had undergone laparoscopy on his bladder and was staying at a hospital in the German capital.



Law enforcers first tried to keep the arrest secret, but after Rustavi 2 reported on it, police had to acknowledge it and informed that the priest was under investigation for poisoning attempt.



The exact target of the alleged murder attempt has been a matter of much speculation. Officially the archpriest is charged with attempted homicide of Shorena Tetruashvili, one of the advisers to the patriarch. Although not holding any formal position within the Church hierarchy, she is believed to hold a strong sway over the archbishops and the patriarch himself. (DF watch)







Fire injures one Georgian in Athens, Greece



A Georgian woman has been injured as a result of a fire in Athens, Greece. As the head of the Georgian migrants information center, Avtandil Giunashvili, has told IPN, the fire occurred on April 16 in the Calatia municipality. A 72-year old woman died as a result. An old man and the Georgian woman also were in the house. The woman worked as an assistant for the family.



According to Giunashvili, Georgian citizen Nato Chanturia remains hospitalized. Her health condition is critical but stable.



The head of the Georgian migrants information center visited the hospital to see the injured Georgian citizen. Family relative Giorgi Dididze has informed him that Nato Chanturias family demands assistance, as all the documents necessary for her registration in hospital have been destroyed. (ipn)




Is that not what the Democrat Party has created right here in America, transforming a once prosperous, strong, united, and safe nation into a debt-laden, militarily weak, socially divided, and increasingly dangerous society? Here are some of the Bizarro policies and beliefs inflicted on us by the neo-socialist, globalist, anti-American Democrat Party over the past few decades  PAUL E. SCATS
via @Colleen_Wright

Christine Hoffman, the embattled principal of Campbell Park Elementary in Pinellas County, will leave campus while an "administrative review" is conducted, district officials said Monday.

Hoffman created an uproar last week when she sent an email to her school staff about classroom rosters for the coming year and said "white students should be in the same class" with no explanation or context. She later sent out a second email to staff apologizing for "poor judgment," and a letter went home to parents Friday with an invitation to meet with parents Monday morning and afternoon.

Hoffman requested the transfer off campus, said Lisa Wolf, a district spokeswoman. In her absence, an assistant principal will take over, assisted by a member of the school district's Transformation Zone team. It's not clear yet when, or if, Hoffman will return.

Parents and community activists have been calling for Hoffman to resign. Pressed by parents to do so Monday, two eyewitnesses said that Hoffman refused and said, "I am the best thing that has happened to Campbell Park."

More here from the Tampa Bay Times' Gradebook.
@JeremySWallace

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn has already made clear he is not running for governor.

But on Tuesday during a brief appearance in Tallahassee, he sounded like he is still struggling with having passed up a chance to run.

Im built for a good fight, Buckhorn said.

He made clear there were a lot of good reasons to pass on the race, but he said he thinks he would have been a strong candidate. The trouble he said was always going to be how to manage a primary because of his willingness in the mayors office to work with Republicans like Gov. Rick Scott on issues.

Thats what governing should be, Buckhorn said, acknowledging in a primary it would have been used against him. I would have had more trouble with the primary than a general.

Buckhorn said if he had run, hes not sure if his best selling point - having run a major Florida city - would have carried the same weight as it once did in Florida politics.

My whole case would have been, look, I can do this job because of [being mayor], Buckhorn said.

The field of Democrats running or weighing a 2018 run include Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, former congresswoman Gwen Graham, Orlando businessman Chris King, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and personal injury lawyer John Morgan. On the Republican side, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Florida Sen. Jack Latvala have all expressed interest in the race.

All that said, Buckhorn said his real wish is that term limits wouldnt keep him from running for another term in Tampa.

If I didnt have term limits, I wouldnt go anywhere, he said.
@ByKristenMClark

If House Republicans follow through this week on plans to vote on a budget for 2017-18 that simply mirrors this year's, they will have to scrap a slew of top education priorities they had sought this year and worked for months to craft -- including their $200 million "schools of hope" plan to provide incentives for specialized, high-performing charter schools to set up in predominantly low-income areas.

"Our responsibility, constitutionally, is to pass a budget, so if it means that's what we have to do and walk away, then that's what we have to do," House pre-K-12 education budget chairman Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, told the Herald/Times mid-afternoon on Monday. "We come back next session -- which, September starts committee [weeks] -- and we go back at it again."

The House's backroom offer over the weekend of what its calling a "continuation budget" was rebuffed by Senate leaders, leaving the two chambers deadlocked. The House isn't backing down, though.

MORE: "Stalemate in the Florida Capitol as budget talks collapse"

Diaz said the plan is: "We're going to take last year's budget and put it on the floor and pass it, which means it's a take-it-or-leave-it offer -- which means there's no conference [negotiations]. That means they [the Senate] would have to turn down that bill for us to not have a budget and send us in to special session. That's where we are right now."

The status of budget negotiations could change by the hour, but for now, "the House is prepared to walk away with a continuation budget. We're fine with it," Diaz said. "It's a budget that will obviously not include all of these new twists and wrinkles and doesn't address those things that we think are a very high need and emergency needs, as we've said, but at the end of the day, we have to pass a budget."

"If that's where we have to go, that's where we have to go. We can't go climbing to the $85 billion that the Senate wants," Diaz added.

Diaz said he and his counterpart in the Senate -- Senate pre-K-12 education budget chairman David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs -- are still talking privately to find middle ground on key budget issues affecting public schools. But he said their conversations are limited because they don't have budget allocations, a figure of how much money they would have to work with.

"It doesn't matter what we talk about because we don't have allocations," Diaz said. "We're talking about concepts and things that are important and how to help these kids in these low-income schools, et cetera, et cetera -- but it's all conceptual."

Photo credit: Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, addresses a luncheon audience at the James Madison Institute in Tallahassee, Fla. on Jan. 26, 2017 with Miami Republican Rep. Michael Bileca, left. Kristen M. Clark / Herald/Times Tallahassee bureau
For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts Page
A Missoula County District Court jury has convicted a 47-year-old Missoula man of drugging and sexually assaulting girls as young as 12.

Finding Erik Nugent guilty, Deputy County Attorney Ryan Mickelson said in his closing statement, would allow the girls to be given back in just a small way what has been taken from them.

Jurors convicted Nugent guilty of six counts of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and four of sexual abuse of children. He has been in the Missoula County jail since he was arrested in September.

Nine girls  some of whom testified at trial  told a detective that Nugent gave them drugs, including methamphetamine, LSD, marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms, according to court documents. One girl said she saw nude photos of one of the other teens on Nugents computer, and another said Nugent showed her a topless photo of another underage girl and video of him molesting her.

In his closing statement, Mickelson said a therapist contacted police after Nugent spoke of his interest in one girl and told the therapist he'd molested some of the others. Coworkers also reported Nugent to the police after he made repeated sexual comments about children, according to court documents.

Nugent didn't react as the verdict was read after just over two hours of deliberation, although he and his attorney asked that jurors be polled individually, with each having to verbally agree they had decided on guilty on each of the charges.

He will be sentenced by District Court Judge Karen Townsend on July 11.

Mickelson told jurors that the nine girls involved in the case ranged from 12 to 17 years old during their interactions with Nugent, who was 46 at the time. Some did not testify at trial, with Mickelson adding that those who did had to publicly relive and relay their tragic experiences.

Included in the charges is that Nugent raped two of the girls, then 14, while they were drunk or high on drugs he'd given them.

There has been absolutely nothing to refute the charges against the defendant, he said.

Chris Daly, Nugents public defense attorney, had reminded the jury that the prosecution had the obligation to prove his clients guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. He said some of the girls didnt testify at trial, and that the information about what happened to them was anecdotal.

Furthermore, he said the testimony from the girls who did take the stand stemmed from memories of times when they were admittedly under the influence of drugs. They might have hallucinated the occurrences, he said.

Mickelson responded by saying there was no way several girls would have been able to hallucinate the same version of events.

Daly said one of the girls stopped seeing Nugent because her boyfriend was upset about the relationship. Daly told jurors they should take that into account when determining if the girl gave honest answers about what happened to her.

He also said there was no evidence that Nugent sold the girls the drugs, required sexual acts in exchange for them, or even handed them the drugs. The evidence showed only that the girls attended gatherings hosted by Nugent where there were drugs.

But Mickelson said that even if Nugent gave away the drugs, that was still illegal.
Quote Donald Trump Jr.: If you like Donald Trump, you will like Gianforte.

So, if you like having a liar for president, you will like Greg Gianforte.

If you like having a president who wants to give tax breaks to his rich friends while destroying our environment, you will like Gianforte.

If you like having a president who uses his office to make himself and his kids rich, you will like Gianforte.

If you like having a president who crawls into bed with the Klan, Aryan Nation and white supremacists, you will like Gianforte.

If you like having a president whose life has been built around greed and selfishness, you will like Gianforte.

If you like having a president who wants to take health care away from millions of Americans, you will like Gianforte.

If you like having a president who brags about being able to sexually assault women, you will like Gianforte.

If you like having a president who ridicules disabled people, you will like Gianforte.

If you like having a president who wants to butcher our educational system, you will like Gianforte.

Loren Pinski,

Missoula
In January 2016, the Huffington Post published an article titled

Americas Financial Racial Divide: The Racial Breakdown of U.S. Wealth in Black and White," by Antonio Moore, esq. According to the article, There are about 120 million households in the United States. In terms of race there are 83 million white households and 14 million black households. Also, out of the 83 million white households, 23 million had more than $356,000 dollars in net assets, while only 700,000 black households had more than $356,000 in net assets.

Moreover, the article goes on to say, The median white family has a net worth of $116,000 which indicates 41 million white households across the nation. In comparison, nearly 40 percent or 5.6 million African-American homes in the U.S. have zero or negative net worth. That means 5.6 million black households in America are treading water financially and should not be donating to any charity or any nonprofit organizations fundraising campaign. Indeed, black people with a zero net worth must understand they are their own charity.

Ultimately, what this means is that wealthy Americans, especially whites, are not stepping up to pay their fair share of taxes or charitable contributions.

Russian writer Leo Tolstoy described the attitude of the rich toward the poor. He wrote, I sit on a mans back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means, except by getting off his back. It is this type of attitude by the rich which prevents the racial wealth gap to close.

Kevin Palmer,

Martinez, Georgia
HELENA  Republican leadership and the governor are going back to the drawing board for compromise on a bill that would use bonding to pay for some infrastructure projects.

A group of about a dozen lawmakers, mostly Republicans, met with Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock early Tuesday morning to discuss what it would take to pass an infrastructure package, though they came to no deal.

The governor had previously picked several Republican-favored bills from a list presented by that party's leadership as part of a negotiation to get an infrastructure bonding bill passed this session.

The Legislature has not passed an infrastructure bonding bill for several sessions. In 2015, a package failed by one vote. And the session before, Bullock vetoed the infrastructure bill, saying it was necessary to balance the state budget.

Some Republicans in the House and Senate are opposed to the idea of bonding to pay for statewide infrastructure projects, though among others there is a gradient of comfort depending on the amount of money being bonded. There are two bills in play, one that calls for $78 million and carried by Rep. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, and another carried by Sen. Eric Moore, R-Miles City, that has $98 million.

Cuffes bill had less bonding at first, but was amended to add in projects that have caused friction, including a veterans' home in Butte and upgrades to Romney Hall on the Montana State University campus. Moores bill includes those projects, plus additional money for school projects.

Its estimated about 10-15 Republicans in the House and another 10 in the Senate wont support any sort of bonding.

Democrats have tried to sell bonding as a good deal in a year when the state budget is tight, with House Minority Leader Jenny Eck repeatedly pointing out several school districts are asking voters this spring to bond more for school projects  Bozeman at $125 million for a new high school and $63 million in Helena for three new elementary schools.

House Speaker Austin Knudsen of Culbertson said Republicans understand that, but its not a point that gains any traction. I dont think we have a Republican caucus full of morons.

Bullock also said Montana has a low debt level compared to other states.

But many Republicans, who hold a majority in the Legislature, argue the state should not enter into any debt to pay for projects, while others have concerns about the state transferring cash set aside for these types of projects into the states general fund to help balance the budget and replacing that money with bonding.

The package of bills Bullock agreed to let become law in exchange for an infrastructure package included two bills to change workers compensation rules, another to allow for 10-year license plates, a land access bill, a non-genetically modified seed bill and a bill to pay for regional water projects.

But Knudsen said in the occasionally tense meeting Tuesday morning that those bills werent enough.

He asked for the governor to sign one of the two bills that would either outright ban or severely limit access to abortion, as well as allow a charter school bill that, though its carried by a Democrat, is unpopular within the party. A third bill Knudsen floated was one exempting wells on family-transferred land from regulation.

Those bills were on the original list provided to Bullock to pick from.

Sen. Jon Sesso criticized the bills Knudsen selected. I dont understand what the linkage is between social policy and job creation and economic development. To interject that division into the infrastructure debate is misplaced.

Through the meeting, Knudsen repeatedly said hes not the dictator of his caucus and that he asks members to vote their conscience.

Bullock and Knudsen at times clashed during the meeting, and it was clear there also wasnt complete consensus among Republicans at the table about which bills should be prioritized.

Moore said he didnt care which infrastructure bill passed or if it had his name on it, while some in attendance said that Cuffe had pride in authorship and wanted the final package.

More also suggested a global haircut on the amount of bonding in either of the bills, saying that reducing the total amount bonded by cutting the budgets for each project by something like 10 percent might make the bill more appealing.

Sen Llew Jones, R-Conrad, said removing more-controversial projects like Romney Hall might gain some Republican votes, but lose other Republicans votes, including possibly his in the Senate, and many Democrats.

The meeting was among Republican Reps. Jeff Essmann, Rob Cook, Frank Garner, Mike Hopkins, Speaker Pro Tem Greg Hertz and Knudsen. Democratic Representatives included Casey Schreiner and Minority Leader Eck.

On the Senate side, Republicans Moore and Jones were there. Sesso was the lone Senate Democrat. Also there was Dan Villa, the governors budget director, and his deputy chief of staff Ali Bovingdon, plus two members of the communications staff.

A mid-morning fire alarm that cleared the building caused more flurry in an already busy morning. After people were let back into the Capitol, Republicans wouldnt say when they planned to meet again to develop a new list to present to Bullock, though some said they expected it to happen between House floor sessions in the early afternoon. It was also unclear if or when legislators would meet with the governor again.

Before a 2 p.m. House floor session, Knudsen said he didn't think things progressed any further than where negotiations were left in the morning meeting.

Some lawmakers said that it would be easier to hash out a deal without media present. The morning meeting was not announced publicly, and reporters found out about it by sitting outside the governors office.

It also wasnt clear if the Speaker of the House was initially invited, saying when he entered I must have missed the memo about the 8 oclock meeting in the governors office.

Another attendee said he found out about the meeting after getting a text message from a phone number he didnt know.
Police reports

Police arrested a Butte man for felony burglary early Sunday morning after they said they caught him in the basement of an apartment building stealing copper wire and plumbing. Police said the owner of the under-renovation Apex Apartments called dispatch around 4:45 a.m. Sunday to report security footage of two men in the basement of his building on the 400 block of West Park Street. Officers were previously called to the building hours earlier at 11 p.m. on Saturday where the owner showed police security footage of two men stealing a shop light at 2 a.m. Officers patrolling the area hoping to catch the burglars responded to the call and noticed the building's back door was open with copper wire and plumbing stacked inside ready to be taken out. In the basement, police found Thomas Crump, 44, who was booked for felony burglary. Crump was previously released from jail on April 18 after being arrested at a casino for felony criminal contempt after officers recognized him and ran his criminal history. Police said Crump had a bench warrant out for his arrest after failing to appear before Judge Brad Newman in Butte District Court for an arraignment on burglary charges on March 16. Crump pleaded not guilty to that earlier burglary charge on April 6.
HELENA  Republican leadership and the governor are going back to the drawing board on finding a compromise to pass a bill that would use bonding to pay for some infrastructure projects.

A group of about a dozen lawmakers, mostly Republicans, met with Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock early Tuesday morning to discuss what it would take to pass an infrastructure package, though they came to no deal.

The governor had previously picked several Republican-favored bills from a list presented by that party's leadership as part of a negotiation to get an infrastructure bonding bill passed this session.

The Legislature has not passed an infrastructure bonding bill for several sessions. In 2015, a package failed by one vote and the session before Bullock vetoed the infrastructure bill, saying it was necessary to balance the state budget.

Some Republicans in the House and Senate are opposed to the idea of bonding to pay for statewide infrastructure projects, though among others there is a gradient of comfort depending on the amount of money being bonded. There are two bills in play, one that calls for $78 million carried by Rep. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, and another carried by Sen. Eric Moore, R-Miles City, that has $98 million.

Cuffes bill had less bonding at first, but was amended to add in projects that have caused friction, including upgrades to Romney Hall on the Montana State University campus and a veterans home in Butte. Moores bill includes those projects, plus additional money for school projects.

Its estimated about 10-15 Republicans in the House and another 10 in the Senate wont support any sort of bonding.

Democrats have tried to sell bonding as a good deal in a year when the state budget is tight, with House Minority Leader Jenny Eck repeatedly pointing out several school districts are asking voters this spring to bond more for school projects  Bozeman at $125 million for a new high school and $63 million in Helena for three new elementary schools.

Knudsen said Republicans understand that, but its not a point that gains any traction. I dont think we have a Republican caucus full of morons.

Bullock also said Montana has a low debt level compared to other states.

But many Republicans, who hold a majority in the Legislature, argue the state should not enter into any debt to pay for projects, while others have concerns about the state transferring cash that was set aside for these types of projects into the states general fund to help balance the budget and replacing that money with bonding.

The package of bills Bullock agreed to let become law in exchange for an infrastructure package included two bills to change workers compensation rules, another to allow for 10-year license plates, a land access bill, a non-genetically modified seed bill and a bill to pay for regional water projects.

But Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, said in the occasionally tense meeting Tuesday morning those bills werent enough.

He asked for the governor to sign one of the two bills that would either outright ban or severely limit access to abortion, as well as allow a charter school bill that, though its carried by a Democrat, is unpopular within the party. A third bill Knudsen floated was one exempting wells on family-transferred land from regulation.

Those bills were on the original list provided to Bullock to pick from.

Sen. Jon Sesso criticized the bills Knudsen selected. I dont understand what the linkage is between social policy and job creation and economic development. To interject that division into the infrastructure debate is misplaced.

Through the meeting, Knudsen repeatedly said hes not the dictator of his caucus and that he asks members to vote their conscience.

Bullock and Knudsen at times clashed during the meeting, and it was clear there also wasnt complete consensus among Republicans at the table about which bills should be prioritized.

Moore said he didnt care which infrastructure bill passed or if it had his name on it, while some in attendance said that Cuffe had pride in authorship and wanted the final package.

More also suggested a global haircut on the amount of bonding in either of the bills, saying that reducing the total amount bonded by cutting the budgets for each project by something like 10 percent might make the bill more appealing.

Sen Llew Jones, R-Conrad, some have said removing more-controversial projects like Romney Hall might gain some Republican votes, but lose other Republicans, including possibly his in the Senate, and many Democrats.

The meeting was between Republican Reps. Jeff Essmann, Rob Cook, Frank Garner, Mike Hopkins, Speaker Pro Tem Greg Hertz and Knudsen. Democratic Representatives included Casey Schreiner and Minority Leader Eck.

On the Senate side, Republicans Moore and Jones were there. Sesso was the lone Senate Democrat. Also there was Dan Villa, the governors budget director, and his deputy chief of staff Ali Bovingdon, plus two members of the communications staff.

A mid-morning fire alarm that cleared the building caused more flurry in an already busy morning. After people were let back into the Capitol, Republicans wouldnt say when they planned to meet again to develop a new list to present to Bullock, though some said they expected it to happen between House floor sessions in the early afternoon. It was also unclear if or when legislators would meet with the governor again.

Before a 2 p.m. House floor session, Knudsen said he didn't think things progressed any farther than where negotiations were left in the morning meeting.

Some lawmakers said that it would be easier to hash out a deal without media present. The morning meeting was not announced publicly, and reporters found out about it by sitting outside the governors office.

It also wasnt clear if the Speaker of the House was initially invited, saying when he entered I must have missed the memo about the 8 oclock meeting in the governors office.

Another attendee said he found out about the meeting after getting a text message from a phone number he didnt know.
HELENA  After scores of changes, both chambers of the Montana Legislature have agreed on a version of the bill that would set rules for the state's medical marijuana industry.

On Monday, the state House of Representatives passed a version of Senate Bill 333 that came out of a conference committee, which is made up of members of the House and Senate.

The Senate approved the conference committee version with a third hearing on Friday.

Proponents repeatedly presented the bill in the House on Monday as "sideboards" to an industry that, without the bill, would remain largely unregulated.

Opponents were skeptical of the rapid amendments made to the billscores of language changesin the past couple weeks.

"The bill is too big, too complex and has too many moving parts," said Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby. "And it was brought too late in the session."

SB333 picks up where a ballot initiative, I-182, left off. Voters approved the initiative in November to ease restrictions on the program, which threatened to put many providers out of business.

While the initiative calls for testing, SB333 would require it for some providers. The bill would also initiate a "seed-to-sale" tracking system for the product and renew provider licensing procedures.

The structure to generate revenue, a fundamental part of the bill, saw multiple changes during the past couple weeks. There were proposals for taxes, various fees and sometimes a combination of both.

The current version, which has been passed by both the House and Senate, restores a gross sales tax that was previously removed by a committee. It calls for a 4-percent tax on gross receipts for the next year and a 2-percent tax after.

According to a fiscal note for the bill, the 4-percent tax could raise as much as $811,167 in that first year, given the current number of registered cardholders.

The current bill also proposes licensing fees for providers. That would cost $1,000 for providers serving 10 or fewer registered cardholders. The fee would be $5,000 for those who serve more. Licenses would be renewed annually.

Nearly three-quarters of providers serve fewer than 10 cardholders, according to the state health department. Those smaller providers would also be exempted from mandatory product testing for about three years.

The fees and taxes are meant to cover the entire cost of the program.

This industryits a business," said Rep. Rae Peppers, D-Lame Deer. "And if we are to see it succeed, we need to make sure that we have those fees to support the testing, tracking systemswhatever we need to ensure its success.

While it's a positive sign for proponents of the bill that both chambers agreed on language, some groups still oppose its swift passage.

Kari Boiter of the Montana Patient Rights Network said on Monday that the tax hits smaller providers more heavily than the larger ones, which she said led the House Taxation Committee to adopt a fee model.

She also worried that the tax would more directly transfer into the cost of medical marijuana for cardholders.

Everything that was done to address patient and small providers concerns has been completely gutted by the conference committee," Boiter said.

Other opponents to the bill have decried the use of tax for a medicinal product. Montana Cannabis Industry Association lobbyist Kate Cholewa said previously that the tax structure is more equitable for all provider business sizes.

SB333 still needs to pass a third reading in the House. After that, it would go to Gov. Steve Bullock.
BILLINGS  A controversial national monument on Montanas Upper Missouri River Breaks could get new scrutiny under an executive order expected Wednesday from President Donald Trump.

Trump is expected to call for a review of all national monuments declared over the last 21 years. The review would include the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, created by President Bill Clinton on Jan. 17, 2001, less than a week before George W. Bush took office.

Opponents to the Clinton designation said a review was in order. Others worried the order would lead to an erosion of federal public lands policy.

I would be in favor of overturning it, rancher Matt Knox said of the monument that surrounds several acres of his place. These designations are kind of a magnet for lawsuits by these environmental groups.

The Upper Missouri River Breaks area includes 149 miles of the Upper Missouri River from Fort Benton downstream to the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, and adjacent federal lands mostly owned by the Bureau of Land Management and portions of Arrow Creek, Antelope Creek and the Judith River. The monument covers about 377,346 acres of federal land, including the Missouri Breaks country north of the river.

But there are also significant swaths of private land within the monument area, Knox said. His neighbor has more than 6,000 acres within the monument boundary.

Life within the monument area changed very little. Cattle still graze on private property and state and federal lease land. Ranchers were able to negotiate continued cattle grazing into the monument framework. But its the way the monument came into being that frosts opponents.

Knox said there wasnt enough local input before Clinton made the monument designation. Clinton made last minute monuments designations in five states and the U.S. Virgin Islands as the clock ran out on his presidency. Presidents are allowed to designate monuments under the Antiquities Act without congressional approval.

Robert Poertner, of the Missouri River Stewards, said Clinton was trying to build a public land legacy before exiting the White House and pushed the monuments through so last minute that the Federal Register had to publish over the weekend to finalize the designations before Bush was inaugurated. People dont realize how much private land wound up in the Missouri Breaks monument, he said.

When you see the big outline on the map, what you dont see is that 80,000 acres of it is private land, Poertner said.

Like Knox, Poertner sees a bigger threat in what the monument might mean to central Montana property owners in the future, rather than what its meant so far. He worries that some bigger federal action might be on the horizon. Thats a palpable fear in these parts, where former U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, a Republican, warned voters of an even bigger designation under President Barack Obama. Obama never fulfilled that prophecy.

Theres no reason to fear a review, said Tim Dwyer, of Friends of the Missouri Breaks Monument. The monument was done right. But what Trump's anticipated order might mean to the Antiquities Act is a concern.

Its not necessarily a direct threat, but it is an indicator that there might be an attack on the Antiquities Act and thats a major tool for preserving public land, Dwyer said.

When designating the central Montana monument, Clinton said the Breaks is the only major portion of the Missouri River to be protected and preserved in its natural, free-flowing state. The area also is the premier segment of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

Lewis and Clark spent three weeks in 1805 traveling the area, which includes rolling grasslands, white cliffs, rugged badlands and remnants of ancient cottonwood groves. The explorers journals described the wildlife, geology of the river banks and Native American cultures.

Clinton also designated Pompey's Pillar a national monument with the same 2001 designation. That move was more popular. The 150-foot tall sandstone formation on the banks of the Yellowstone River is where Capt. William Clark carved his initials on July 25, 1806, while returning from the Pacific Ocean. The signature is the only remaining physical evidence of the 1804-06 Lewis and Clark Expedition. Clark named the rock after Sacajaweas infant son, Pomp.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Montanas former Republican representative in the U.S. House, will be the person in charge of reviewing monuments under Trumps directive. The Department of Interior did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

However, in March Zinke told Lee Montana that Trump had the ability to review and change monuments created by previous presidents.

"Theres no doubt that a president can modify a monument that has been done before. Theres precedent in that, Zinke said. I think what the goal is on monument designation is to make sure you have local, and state, broad support of the people who live there, the people who are most affected by the monument.

Montanas U.S. senators both said a review of current national monuments was worthwhile.

I dont think theres any harm popping the hood and taking a look to make sure things are working for folks in rural America, U.S. Sen. Tester, D-Montana, said However, if the outcome rolls back public access and undermines the outdoor economy surrounding these treasured places, Ill be the first person to defend our Montana way of life.

Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines echoed Zinkes call for more local input on monument designations.

Local land use decisions should come from the folks who live and work on the land every day, not out-of-state bureaucrats, Daines said. Im glad to see President Trump scrutinize the use of the Antiquities Act to ensure that farmers, ranchers, sportsmen, community members, state and local governments have a say in local land decisions.

News of Trumps pending executive order broke in the Salt Lake Tribune, which is covering the disputed Bears Ears National Monument designation by Obama. Republicans in Congress have opposed the designation. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told constituents that the national monument issues surrounding Bears Ears would be fixed by the current administration.

"When President Obama designated the Bears Ears monument in December, he did so ignoring the voices of Utah leaders who were united in opposition, and even more importantly, ignoring the voices of local Utahns most affected by this massive land grab," Hatch said in a statement.

The Bears Ears area includes more than one million acres of land sacred to Native Americans. It houses thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings.
Montana Tech's Rayelynn Connole will receive the Award of Excellence from Montana State University-Billings' College of Education at its spring Convocation on May 5.

The award recognizes people across Montana who make significant and lasting impacts on Montana K-12 teachers and students.

Connole works for the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program housed within Montana Tech's Institute for Educational Opportunities. She has worked for CFWEP for 10 years serving currently as the program director and prior as the curriculum coordinator.

CFWEP has been a leading provider of environmental and restoration education programs and services in western Montana since 2005. It offers multi-disciplinary science and history programs for schools, teachers, and students in and around the Upper Clark Fork River Basin. It also offers public education and outreach services such as tours, events, and publications that connect the public with the science and history of the amazing landscape of western Montana. The program serves approximately 4,000 students each year and has served in total 40,000 Montana students, according to a news release.

Connole has led multiple Math Science Partnership projects granted by the Office of Public Instruction, including her current project, the Montana Partnership with Regions for Excellence in STEM in partnership with MSU-Billings. She has collaborated with Montana Tech's Marisa Pedulla to deliver the National Institute of Health project titled Bringing Research into the Classroom, which serves teachers and students throughout the state of Montana.
Ivanka Trump defended her father at a women's panel in Berlin Tuesday after attendees hissed when she attempted to champion her father's commitment to women's issues.

The event opened with the first daughter explaining her role in the White House.

"You are first daughter -- German audience not familiar -- what is your role -- to whom are you represented? Your father, the American people, or your business," asked Miriam Meckel, editor of German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche.

"Well, certainly not the latter, and I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, as it is quite new to me," replied Trump, a top adviser to her father. "It has been a little under 100 days, but it is just been a remarkable, an incredible journey."

"So it's very early for me. I'm listening, I'm learning, I'm defining the ways in which I think I'll be able to have impact," she added.

The audience interrupted Trump with hissing and boos during a discussion on paid leave when she began describing her father as an advocate for women.

"That is something I'm very proud of my father's advocacy, long before he came into the presidency, he championed this in the primaries. He's been a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive," Trump said before the crowd began reacting negatively.

Meckel asked Trump to respond to those who question if the President is an "empowerer of women" given his past controversial statements.

"I've certainly heard the criticism from the media and that's been perpetuated, but I know from personal experience, and I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades when he was in the private sector are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man," she said.

"So I think in my personal experience -- and you were asking me about my role as daughter -- and as adviser, as a daughter, I can speak on a very personal level knowing that he encouraged me and enabled me to thrive," Trump added.

Trump was participating in a panel discussion on women's empowerment and entrepreneurship at the W-20, a summit of G-20 countries aimed at promoting women's workforce participation and equality. She was one of eight participants, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, and International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde.

Merkel personally invited Trump on her first international trip since her father assumed office to discuss business, foreign policy and other issues of importance between the US and Germany.

CNN's Elissa Nunez contributed to this report.
The controversy surrounding sexual assault prosecution is everywhere, not just in Yellowstone County, and not only in Montana. By and large across the nation, juries still have problems recognizing what constitutes consent. And partially, thats due to confusion about the way that victims react to a rapist attacking them.

Many people are skeptical when they hear a rape victim didnt fight off an attacker or scream out for help. Its important to understand that rape is a traumatic event that affects victims differently. Neurobiological research supports the fact that victims react in many different ways.

Some victims might fight back or be able to flee. Some victims might not be able to move any part of their body, while others find they can only move one finger or some other random body part. Some victims are unable to speak. Some have an out-of-body experience. These are just a few examples.

There are many reactions a victim might have when someone rapes them, and all reactions are automatic instinctual reflexes. Victims have no control over how their body reacts.

In addition, most victims know the person raping them. Often, the rapist is someone the victim trusted. Victims dont want to hurt their acquaintance, friend, or romantic partner who is attacking them.

Once the attack is over, there is no standard way a victim will react to the trauma. Victims have been known to say things that appear odd to others, such as thanking the attacker. Victims also might do things that confuse those on the outside, such as providing the attacker with a ride home. For those who havent been the victim of a rape, it helps to understand that even after the attack is over, the victims brain and body are still operating as if they are in imminent danger. Things that look strange from the outside might be a victims way of trying to protect themselves from further harm.

After a victim is safe from the attacker, no two victims will respond the same way. Some might seek out someone to tell immediately, or seek to have a Sexual Assault Nurse Examination (SANE) done. Some might not want to tell anyone for many reasons  they fear others wont believe them (especially if the rapist was someone they know), they dont want to get in trouble (if, for example, the victim is a minor who was drinking), they feel shame, or they think the rape was somehow their fault. If the victim knows their attacker well (perhaps the rapist is a friend or a family member), they might not want their perpetrator to be punished by the legal system.

The truth is that nobody knows how they would react to the trauma of being raped until it happens to them. While changing laws and definitions is an important step forward for Montana, we also need to educate each other. Without jurors who understand what the trauma of rape does to rape victims, getting justice will remain a challenge.

-- Beth Wiley is an educator and communication coordinator for Domestic and Sexual Violence Services in Red Lodge.
ABCNews.com(BERLIN) -- An estimated 1 million refugees came to Germany in 2015 alone, nearly half of them hailing from war-torn Syria. Thousands of Syrian newcomers seeking asylum in Germany have since settled in the nation's capital of Berlin, a city that itself has a recent history marked by political division and war. Now several Syrian refugees are leading a weekly walking tour of Berlin's historic center that draws parallels between the citys history and the civil war in Syria. Organized by the initiative Refugee Voices Tours, the tour is aptly called Why we are here.



The two-hour excursion includes stops in locations such as the Topography of Terror, an outdoor museum on the site of the former Nazi secret service headquarters, and Checkpoint Charlie, which was an entry point to the Soviet-controlled East Berlin during the nearly three decades that the city was divided by the Berlin Wall. In that time, many East Germans attempted to sneak into West Berlin in hopes of finding a better life.



Its similar to what happened in Syria, guide Eyas Adi tells ABC News' Sarah Hucal and tour participants. A lot of people tried to go as refugees to the Western world because they wanted more freedom; they wanted the opportunity to build a new life for their families and more suitable situations in a more stable country.



The tour also seeks to clear up any misconceptions about refugees. Many ask, Why Germany, why Europe? says Adi. He points out that Germany and Europe as a whole aren't the only places hosting Syrian refugees. Turkey is currently home to 2.9 million Syrians, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Lebanon and Jordan, which have relatively small populations of about 6.5 and 4.4 million respectively, host over 1 million Syrians each. Many Syrians in those countries live in camps with only basic life necessities.



For Adi, leaving Syria was not something he had wanted. Before he moved to Berlin in May, he was studying medicine and working with UNICEF and the humanitarian aid group Syrian Arab Red Crescent in Damascus. But when it came to the point that he could no longer avoid the Syrian government's mandatory service in the military, he decided that fleeing the country was preferable to serving with President Bashar al-Assads forces.



Today, Adi and others lead the weekly walking tour while they continue to settle into life in Berlin. He shares with tour-goers his own experience as a refugee in Germany. He also fields common questions, such as why Germany was a popular destination for asylum-seekers and why so many refugees are young men.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
ATALISSA, Iowa  The 60th annual Atalissa Community School reunion and banquet will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 29, in the Atalissa Fire Station with the meal being served at 5:30 p.m.

Reservations ($12) can be made with Don Dickey (563-299-1264) or Arlene Keith (319-627-4242) or e-mail dgkakk@Lcom.net by April 26.

Anyone who attended the Atalissa Community School and their spouse or friend is invited.
MUSCATINE  While CenturyLink plans to expand high-speed Internet services in Muscatine, the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors is attempting to clean up sites CenturyLink has already worked on in the county.

At Monday's meeting, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved permits for the Bettendorf-based company to install Internet cables at two locations, on Independents Avenue and 231st Street, but only if a clear penalty and fee is included if the sites are not cleaned up after the work is done. White also discussed the possibility of hiring a full-time employee to monitor CenturyLink sites.

But, County Engineer Keith White said there are existing problems at more than 40 sites where CenturyLink has been permitted to work.

"Last year, I [compiled] a comprehensive list of all damages," White said.

He said CenturyLink did not respond when he sent the list, which outlines damage to property such as unfilled holes, which he has documented and photographed. White estimates at least $20,000 in damages.

He said it is possible CenturyLink will return to repair damage at the sites this spring, but a lack of communication leaves the board uncertain.

"In my opinion, they are gone," White said. "Are they going to come back? I don't know."

County Board Vice Chair Scott Sauer said he has personally filled a hole left by CenturyLink on his property, but the county cannot expect all residents to do the same.

Board member Matt Bonebrake said some residents have complained, signaling the possible need for litigation or a class action lawsuit.

White said the county never forces contractors to pay an insurance fee upfront, even though it is listed in every permit. Board members agreed enforcing the fee could stop contractors from leaving behind unfinished work.

"This is one board member who would like to see real enforcement," Robert Howard said. "If we have to show compassion and say [contractors] would get a portion of the fee back when the work is done, then fine."

Board members decided to approve two new permits for CenturyLink, but only if a clear penalty and fee is included. White also discussed the possibility of hiring a full-time employee to monitor CenturyLink sites.

This week, CenturyLink announced it will expand high-speed Internet services to about 2,200 households and businesses in Muscatine, as part of its initiative to bring broadband internet to rural Iowa.

Old Barn at Discovery Park

Also at Monday's meeting, board members took another step toward clearing the site of the cottage near the Old Barn at Discovery Park. On April 3, the board unanimously agreed to tear down the cottage due to mold and asbestos.

This past Tuesday, demolition on the cottage was completed, and now the site has a barrier fence around it. Planning and Zoning Administrator Eric Furnas said contractors estimate the cost to fill and clean the lot will be about $2,400.

Board members unanimously approved a contract with Valley Construction to back-fill the cottage basement and remove and fill a cistern nearby.

In other business

The board affirmed a FY18 application to the Iowa Department of Public Health to continue the Iowa Grants to Counties program for well testing, plugging and reconstruction. The grant amount has been $26,000 in previous years.

Members discussed the possibility of the Iowa governor signing a bill that would end the ban on retail fireworks sales, from June 1 through July 8, and from Dec. 10 through Jan. 3. Muscatine County is considering creating a local ordinance, which could require vendors to have a special use permit or a local license, as well as insurance.

The board moved to terminate the engineering and consulting services agreement with Lutz Engineering & Consulting for the Muscatine County Community Services/DHS Parking Lot Project, and agreed to accept a proposal from Watersmith Engineering for the same project. Board members exclaimed frustration over the project, which is now five weeks behind schedule and has left about 60 vehicles with no place to park.
MUSCATINE  Elizabeth Medina wants eighth graders to think about college early and often. Medina, admissions coordinator at MCC, organized a day of activities that would help students start that process.

Students from West and Central Middle Schools toured Muscatine Community College with college students. Walking through the library, the hallways and the theater department, the students had the chance to see college life for themselves and ask questions.

They met with admission officials from the college and from Western Illinois and St. Ambrose universities. There also was a recruiter from the U.S. Navy.

These interactions, Medina said, are important to students, even if theyre not sure college is for them.

Its helpful for them because they get to be on campus. Maybe its not important for them now, but its important for them to take something from it, she said.

They also got a primer on paying for college.

How much do you think a semester in college costs? Lynn Longstreth, MCC financial aid officer asked the students.

The students gave vastly different answers, ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 a semester.

Longstreth said the cost at MCC was about $1,700.

She ran through other costs like books and living expenses, asking the students to estimate how much money they might need to save or borrow.

They need to start saving their money and figure out how theyre going do that to go to college, Longstreth said. For some of them, this is the first time theyve even realized that it even costs to go to college.

Then, Longstreth asked them how they might pay for college. Students gave wide and varied answers, including savings and borrowing money from the bank. Longstreth told them about federal financial aid, scholarships and Pell grants.

The goal is to educate them as to how much things cost and how it can be realistic for them to go to school and explain to them how they can get financial aid to make school possible, she said.

These conversations, she said, are meant to help students get used to unfamiliar terminology, like FAFSA and Pell grants, so they will remember they have options, even if they wont remember the terminology.

Theresa White, counselor at West Middle School said the MCC trip is part of the schools strategy of exposing students to higher education. In seventh grade, students visit the University of Iowa and in eighth grade, they come to MCC.

It kind of starts them thinking about career choices, are they college-bound or are they trade school-bound? We want to expose them to career options, she said.
MUSCATINE  The Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Muscatine plans to re-open its kindergarten to Grade 8 school in the Fall of 2018. The Adventist Christian School operated on and off for decades, closing its doors in 2015 because of declining enrollment.

Pastor Eddie Cabrera said there has been renewed interest in the school in recent months, prompting the church to hold an informational meeting about the school Sunday night.

We started to notice that there were more and more people who were connecting with that idea and so we decided to hold a meeting, he said.

Muscatine has a Catholic school, Ss. Mary and Mathias Catholic School, but Cabrera said the Adventist Christian School will appeal to a different group of families.

(Ss. Mary and Mathias) is a Catholic school and along with it you have Catholic teaching and we are a Protestant-evangelical denomination, so where Ss. Mary and Mathias will not appeal to people of those faith, we would, he said.

Though the schools structure is still under discussion, Cabrera said the church would ideally like to hire one full-time teacher to teach all grades in a one-room setup.

Some people might call it Little House on the Prairie education;' its not that, he said. But we have found that the multi-grade classroom is very effective. Not only that the older children can set an example for the younger ones in behavior and things like that, but the older ones, they assist the younger students and that reinforces everything that theyve learned in previous grades.

Parents and guardians will volunteer at the school to help the teacher set up activities, operate a library and make lunches, among other tasks.

The church already has a dedicated school facility on its property and a faith-based curriculum that is taught in Seventh Day Adventist schools worldwide, said Joe Allison, Iowa-Missouri Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist school superintendent, who attended the meeting.

He said the curriculum will include social studies, math, reading and writing alongside scripture and science, with science lessons conforming to Seventh-day Adventist beliefs.

Students will learn about evolution as a theory, but science lessons also will include intelligent design.

Theyll get the math, theyll get science. Theyll get social studies. Theyll get English all that stuff. And they will learn to write their name in cursive, Cabrera said.

The structure of the school is yet to be determined and will depend on parent and guardian wishes.

It really depends on where the parents want to go, because obviously, private education is education that you pay for, Cabrera said.

Allison said he hoped the school will remain open in the long run.

Opening and closing it in a couple of years is not something that wed like to do, but thats part of the reality, he said. The thing that would prevent it from happening is that we would have success  a successful school year would pretty much assure another school year.
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 []
Comedian Wilson Muirania Gathoni, popularly known as Jaymo Ule Msee, is taking his craft to the next level.

The comedian who has risen to prominence for making hilarious online videos is immersing himself in a political drama series, Ms. Politician, as a producer and actor.

The show is set to premiere on the first day of May. More details to be released soon.

The comedian spoke to Buzz about Ms. Politician and below are the excerpts.

Youre not known for this kind of projects, why inject yourself into a political drama?

When I read about this project I became so passionate about it, I sat down with my co-producer and decided this is what we were going to do because it will change the conversation about female leadership in Kenya and highlight the elements people fear especially young women when seeking leadership.

Why should players in the arts industry start talking about serious matters like development issues?

People in the arts wield a lot of influence and whenever they start a conversation people are inclined to follow. If theres something you are passionate about, start talking about it. The Jaymo Ule Msee team saw an opportunity to change society and took it.

What is your vision for this project?

Being an election year, we want to influence as many people as we can to elect women leaders. There are stereotypes on women and why women shouldnt lead. We will be successful if we see an increase in women leaders after we are done with this project. In reality we are far from the results that we want but we will get there.

Who is a good leader to you since you portray a bad one in the series?

We have this incumbent leader who is entangled in corruption, squandering of resources and there is no improvement on infrastructure. Sifa Dede, my co-lead, plays a character that has a drive for change; good schools, infrastructure, employment and all the functions of a Governor. In real life, every leader should do what they were elected to do. Period.

You have young followers as Jaymo Ule Msee, whats your message to them?

A lot of times we sit down and wait for change to be brought to us instead of being at the forefront. Young people should rise up, if you see something that needs to be fixed its up to us to fix it. If you think that you are the change people want then go implement it. Make the right decisions.
Eric Omondi is back at it again!

After several months since the release of his last How to Be installment, the Kenyan top comic is putting the final touches on what promises to be his best one yetHow to be U.S President Donald Trump.

On social media, the comedian who has also gained an immense following for his music and film parodies is already building up the anticipation among his 1 million Instagram followers with behind the scenes snaps of what we can expect soon.

The pics show the comedian clad in a black suit and adorned with the necessary Donald Trump paraphernalia..his blonde wig.

In another Instagram post, he is seen on a boat with his crew in Diani shooting scenes for the upcoming video.

Check it out. This is one to look out for so keep it Nairobi Wire for when it finally drops.

Say Iif you get the joke?????????????? #HowToBeTrump A post shared by Eric Omondi (@ericomondi) on Apr 23, 2017 at 4:46am PDT

Are you ready for Donald??? A post shared by Eric Omondi (@ericomondi) on Apr 23, 2017 at 10:45am PDT
The daughter of incumbent Kisumu governor Jack Ranguma has hit back at actress Lupita Nyongo after the Oscar winner endorsed her father for the Kisumu gubernatorial seat in the upcoming elections.

Rangumas daughter, Tanya, has dismissed Lupitas assertions that Anyang Nyongo has a good development record during his stints as the MP for Seme and then Kisumu Rural Constituency.

Lupita praised her father in an open letter posted as a video on Facebook, as she made a passionate appeal to the Kisumu electorate to vote for her father to clinch the ODM ticket.

I have witnessed the development Kisumu in terms of electricity spreading, schools being built, roads being constructed and medical facilities coming up. You (Prof Nyongo) have a lot to do with that I support your bid to be governor of Kisumu county We all know that there is a lot to be done but I know that Kisumu County will be a better place and leap into the future with you steering it, Lupita said.

However, Tanya, who has also been living in the United States, and only recently returned to the country to campaign for her father, questioned Prof Nyongos development records and implied Lupita should be endorsing governor Ranguma instead.

Based on her statements, Lupita should really be a Ranguma supporter, because the developments she has witnessed in Kisumu over the last few years are actually things that my father has done, without any help from Professor Nyongo, Tanya lamented on Sunday.

He also represented Seme in parliament for 20 years, and his development record according to CDF records was pathetic, she added.

She described her father as a servant leader who only wants the advancement of all Kisumu residents.

A recent poll by survey company TIFA indicated that the incumbent governor is ahead of Prof Nyongo, with 66 percent of voters likely to vote him in again.
Former Devolution cabinet secretary Anne Waiguru is set for a big win in Kirinyaga County.

Provisional results as of Tuesday morning had her leading the race by nearly 20,000 votes. These are however official results from Jubilee. Unofficial results from the ground have her way ahead with nearly 30,000 votes between her and her closest rival Joseph Gitari, who is the current Kirinyaga Central Member of Parliament.

Incumbent Governor Joseph Ndathi is set for a third place finish.

Many Kenyans on Twitter are not impressed with Kirinyaga people for voting in someone who has hit corruption-related headlines than anyone else in the recent past.

While Waiguru may have won round one, she will still face some stiff opposition from Martha Karua who is running on a Narc-Kenya ticket in August.

UPDATE: With 99% of the votes counted, these are the results.

Waiguru: 102,927

Gitari: 44,745

Ndathi: 19,078

Here are some tweets from KOT.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY , who hurt you  azin, are you fellas for reals ? !! ??  Spliff Star ?? . (@issaboychild) April 25, 2017



https://twitter.com/MachioOkumu/status/856753967300304897

Kirinyaga voted in a thief,,, Barabas aachiliwe Yesu asulubiwe  luke bahati (@lukebahati) April 25, 2017

Waiguru is winning Kirinyaga Jubilee nomination proving that for you to succeed as a politician in Kenya you must be a criminal or a thief  Cyprian, Is Nyakundi (@C_NyaKundiH) April 24, 2017

"Tumechagua Waiguru ndio Uhuru akue analala hapa Kirinyaga."~ Voter from Kirinyaga.  Kenya Eric (@MheshimiwaKenya) April 25, 2017

Those 33,890 voters in Kirinyaga taking stupidity to a new height. You will be naked & homeless in 5 years #AnneWaiguru #JubileeNominations  Mital (@Mital_KE) April 25, 2017

You are voting for kidero but you don't want kirinyaga people to vote in waiguru pic.twitter.com/YOoYDkTN5B  Njogu (@Eddie_Njogu) April 24, 2017

@K24Tv @Ian_Wafula atleast kirinyaga pple will stand to benefit from nys loot  Bmw (@wamryann) April 25, 2017

This is how blind Kenyans can be.

Battle For Kirinyaga:- 134 Polling Stations

Ann Waiguru-33,890

Joseph Gitari-14,909

Joseph Ndathi-6,950  Agindo O Nicholas (@AgindoN) April 25, 2017

People living in Nairobi have no clue whatsoever of the Kenyan politics. Case study: Kirinyaga's gubernatorial race.  Ben Mutuku (@mutuku__) April 25, 2017

Waking up to news that Kirinyaga folks have elected Anne Waiguru pic.twitter.com/uWm1oc5g42  Don Quixote (@eNdekerere) April 25, 2017

@MuregaNjoroge KIRINYAGA might be a rare proof that Satan has followers  JW Media (@jwmedia64) April 25, 2017

After the transformation waiguru did at NYS, save all the drama with the scandals, she would do the Kirinyaga people some great good  Prometheus MBS (@Kenribs) April 25, 2017

Hiyo duel ya Waiguru na Karua pale Kirinyaga itakuwa kwa Sportpesa jackpot.  Mahatma Gathee (@Gishuvski) April 25, 2017

The incumbent governor of Kirinyaga came third ?? Non performers out! We need change  Wilson Osinde (@Osindewilson) April 25, 2017

mbona watu wanatuingilia kirinyaga coz of voting Ann Waiguru. Its high time you mind your own business. We know what we r doing  Ras Bonie Boniface (@bonie_ras) April 25, 2017

Waiguru after taking Kirinyaga light duties pic.twitter.com/jfAwI9zL6S  Jose wambugu (@JoseWambugu) April 25, 2017

Kirinyaga people wanted to make a statement that no way they will have the incumbent for another five years.  KirinyagaDecides (@KirinyagaRising) April 25, 2017

I WONT never forgive Kirinyaga pple. Now Waiguru has a big chance to legitimize her stolen wealth  Contraribot (@contraribot) April 25, 2017

Am proud atleast i don't come from Kirinyaga #Waiguru  Wenger out (@dominchez_mwema) April 25, 2017

A young man from Kirinyaga whose life wld ve changed if NYS money wasnt stolen will vote Waiguru in. And he ll be stuck in poverty fr life.  Patrick Sampao (@durkchild) April 25, 2017

Waiguru! The people of Kirinyaga don't even know, they could have just planted bombs in their homes and set them off! Am so frustrated!  Migwi (@MigwiWambugu) April 25, 2017

All people from Kirinyaga county should be accompanied by Adults,clearly making decisions ni matatizo  Pepe Le Pewe (@Aref_Caleb) April 25, 2017

It is unbelievable the people of Kirinyaga have elected Waiguru. It's true in Kenya money talks  Robert Ochieng (@rob_otis) April 25, 2017

Why are people complaining about Kirinyaga?? Go vote in your respective counties and leave us in peace please.  Mercy Kabutu (@mercy_kabutu) April 25, 2017

All people from Kirinyaga county should be accompanied by Adults  Daktari (@Dr_Barasa) April 25, 2017

But seriously, how retarded are these Kirinyaga Jubilee people?  Elega (@ThePimpala) April 25, 2017

In Nairobi, 20billion Can't be accounted for, If u r complaining about Waiguru in Kirinyaga and u Support Kidero, equal demand for justice  Nick Lee Liberator (@RealLiberatorKe) April 25, 2017

Look at y'all castigating Kirinyaga people for voting in Waiguru while you vote in corrupt leaders in your respective areas. Nyani!  Notch (@Gatuha_) April 25, 2017

So kirinyaga governor will be a woman. Either the thief or the snitch.  QS.Ng'ang'a (@QSvosty) April 25, 2017

Why would the Kirinyaga people vote for Waiguru? Then again we voted for a president who was in court for crimes against humanity soooo.  The Queen (@lilakanyiva) April 25, 2017
Napa Valleys annual groundwater checkup yielded the verdict that the water table in the world-famous grapegrowing region is generally very shallow and that the basin is full.

There are problem spots, such as the Petra Drive area northeast of the city of Napa that the county is studying. The Coombsville area still faces groundwater challenges, though the county sees the situation as having stabilized.

But overall, the countys 2016 groundwater report by consultating engineers Luhdorff & Scalmanini to the Napa County Board of Supervisors last week emphasized the positive, especially when it came to the valley floor.

I think the message I really want to challenge everyone with is, how do we share this with our residents? Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza said.

Michelle Benvenuto of Winegrowers of Napa County agreed.

This is good news, quality and quantity, Benvenuto told supervisors. We have to let Napa know whats going on.

The 2016 data was gathered before the latest rainy season hit, bringing Napa State Hospital more than 43 inches of rain, the third wettest total on record since 1892. Some stations on the valley floor have reported receiving more than 50 inches of rain since Oct. 1.

As a result of all this rain, next years groundwater report should look even better, county Natural Resources Conservation Manager Patrick Lowe told the Board.

News is hardly good everywhere in the state. In the San Joaquin Valley, where wells have been overused for decades, some areas have seen recent subsidence rates as much as two feet annually.

As a result, California is requiring communities to take steps to oversee groundwater supplies.

Napa County is trying to convince the state that it has managed the Napa Valley groundwater basin in a sustainable way over a decade. Otherwise, it must form a groundwater sustainability agency by July and this agency must create a groundwater sustainability plan by 2022.

The county is counting on its 1,000-page-plus basin analysis report to sway the state. But the state Department of Water Resources has received various submissions from people and agencies who are urging the agency to reject the countys request.

In response, the Napa County submitted a 76-page letter to the Department of Water Resources addressing the various criticisms.

At the heart of this debate is whether Napa County has avoided what the state calls undesirable results. These results are chronic lowering of groundwater levels, significant groundwater storage reduction, significant seawater intrusion, significant degraded water quality, significant subsidence and significant depletions of groundwater connections with streams and rivers.

For example, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is concerned that groundwater use near the Napa River affects the amount of groundwater that can seep into the Napa River and increase its summer flow to help fish, such as the steelhead trout.

In the Napa River, the late spring through fall season is a critical period in the life of steelhead, the letter said. Insufficient flow during this period can delay or preclude migration patterns and decrease rearing habitat.

Napa County responded that diminished groundwater flows into the Napa River have happened at times since the 1930s during dry years. The two parties disagreed over whether the condition is worsening.

The Union of Concerned Scientists is concerned that land subsidence may be occurring. But the county responded that the Union of Concerned Scientists has misinterpreted the data.

Now all the county can do is wait to see if the state will agree that it is already doing a good job managing its groundwater. It expects a decision within a few months.
After going where no Napan had gone before, Kate Rubins has again entered new territory: the White House.

Rubins, a 1996 Vintage High School graduate who on Oct. 29 completed a 115-day journey aboard the International Space Station, met President Donald Trump on Monday in Washington, D.C. to join in his congratulatory phone call to Peggy Whitson, who set the record for most time in space by a U.S. astronaut.

During nearly four months in earth orbit, Rubins took part in two spacewalks  including an excursion to install a new portal to dock future U.S. spacecraft replacing the retired space shuttles  and oversaw more than 200 scientific experiments, including the first in-space tests of a handheld DNA sequencer.

Rubins noted that such sequencing on the cellphone-size device can detect microbes aboard spacecraft and monitor astronaut health.

Thats fantastic, Trump said. Ive been dealing with politicians so much, Im so much more impressed with these people, you have no idea.

The visit with the president was the latest honor for Rubins, who joined the NASA astronaut corps in 2009 after a career as a biologist investigating viruses and other pathogens. In February, she returned to Vintage to share with students the story of her journey, which followed two years of preparation and began with a July 7 liftoff from Kazakhstan.

Rubins is staying on with NASA as its deputy director for human health and performance. The post puts her in charge of other astronauts medical care and researching the life-support technology needed to sustain future travelers to Mars and other distant destinations.

On Monday, Whitson, in the midst of her third mission on the orbiting science platform, surpassed the record for NASA explorers of 534 days, two hours and 48 minutes of total time in space. By the time she returns to Earth in September, Whitson, at 57 the oldest female space traveler ever, will have logged 666 days in orbit over three flights.

This is a very special day in the glorious history of American spaceflight, said Trump, who was joined for his call from the Oval Office by Rubins and Ivanka Trump, his daughter and close adviser.
A new study says saturated fats don't clog arteries. So go ahead and fry up that bacon guilt-free while you catch up on the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)
U. S. Representatives Mike Thompson and John Larson know their Social Security facts. They spoke truth at their recent town hall, contrasting dramatically with the misinformation featured in the April 17 Register opinion article by the Heritage Foundation (Where do your tax dollars go?).

Sure, its complicated, but there are some basics that can help to frame an honest conversation.

Social Security is an insurance program, not an entitlement. The Federal Insurance Contribution Act payments (see FICA on your pay stub), not income taxes, make up the Social Security Trust Funds. Benefits are paid from the Social Security Trust Funds because a worker has paid premiums into the funds. The Trust Funds are guaranteed by the full force of the federal government.

Each month, in our local Representatives district alone, 130,000 of our neighbors receive $170 million in Social Security. For over a third of beneficiaries, Social Security is the only income. This money is spent locally, returned to our economy for housing, food, and medical expenses. Fortunately for us all, Social Security has never missed making its monthly payment.

Major changes were last made to strengthen Social Security nearly 35 years ago. More work is needed now. Congressmen Thompson and Larson have devised a thoughtful and workable plan to continue the promise of Social Security into the next century.

Let us support them in this good work, and in so doing help our parents, our children and ourselves.

Linda K. Jesmok

Napa
ROHNERT PARK -- The director of a Boys and Girls Club afterschool program was arrested Monday on suspicion of posting a 6-year-old girl's photo and her personal information in an internet child pornography chat room, according to the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety.

Benjamin Goerke, 22, of Rohnert Park, was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and was booked into Sonoma County Jail. Goerke posted $50,000 bail early this morning and is scheduled to be arraigned in Sonoma County Superior Court on Friday.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security informed the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety on March 29 that the girl's photo and personal information were posted on the Internet site, where images of child pornography are shared and arrangements are made to have the children available for molestation.

The girl's parents confirmed the girl's posted name, Petaluma address and phone number were correct and that her photo was taken at an afterschool program at a Boys and Girls Club in the Petaluma area, according to public safety officials.

The IP address of the user who posted the photo and information was traced to Goerke's residence on East Cotati Avenue in Rohnert Park.

Goerke was program director of the afterschool program the girl attended and he worked at other Boys and Girls Clubs in Petaluma, public safety officials said.

Investigators got a $50,000 arrest warrant for child endangerment and arrested Goerke at the afterschool program on Monday. Officers searched his home and took electronics that access the Internet.

Goerke admitted taking non-pornographic photos of the girl with his cellphone and accessing her personal information remotely through the Boys and Girls Club's network, Rohnert Park Cmdr. Aaron Johnson said.

Officers are still investigating whether there are additional victims related to Goerke's activities.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO -- An unusual visitor paid a visit to South San Francisco police Tuesday morning: a wayward turkey.

The turkey showed up in the police station garage, according to Twitter and Facebook posts by the Police Department displaying a photo of the errant bird perched atop a black and white police car.

"Aside from marking its territory on some of the vehicles, the turkey seems more interested in joining the K9 unit," reads the post on the department's Facebook page.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been notified "so the turkey will soon have proper care and environment," police said in the Facebook post.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge in San Francisco Tuesday blocked an executive order by President Donald Trump that threatened to deny federal funding to sanctuary cities and counties.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued a preliminary injunction in a pair of lawsuits filed by the city of San Francisco and Santa Clara County.

Orrick wrote that the "plain language" of the order issued by Trump on Jan. 25 threatens all federal funding for cities, counties and states deemed by the Trump administration to be sanctuary jurisdictions

shielding undocumented immigrants from federal deportations.

The judge said it is unconstitutional for the executive branch to place new conditions on federal funds because that would intrude on Congress's spending power.

"The Constitution vests the spending powers in Congress, not the president, so the order cannot constitutionally place new conditions on federal funds," Orrick wrote.

"Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the President disapproves," the judge said in the ruling.

Orrick rejected an argument made at a hearing earlier this month by a U.S. Department of Justice lawyer who contended the order should be interpreted narrowly to apply only to a limited set of federal criminal justice grants.

The judge said that argument was not plausible because the wording of Trump's order addressed all federal funding and because Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions had made broad statements threatening to withhold, terminate or claw back federal funding.

Orrick said his ruling did not prevent the government from enforcing any existing conditions imposed on federal grants or from developing regulations to define a sanctuary jurisdiction.

The San Francisco and Santa Clara County lawsuits were among several filed around the nation to challenge the executive order, but were the first to receive a judicial ruling. Another of the pending lawsuits was filed in federal court in San Francisco by the city of Richmond.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez said in a statement, "We're fighting for the United States Constitution and we succeeded after the Trump Administration tried to do an end run around it. The court's decision is a win for the neediest people in our nation."

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera also issued a statement about today's ruling.

"Faced with the law, the Trump administration was forced to back down," Herrera said. "This is why we have courts -- to halt the overreach of a president and an attorney general who either don't understand the Constitution or chose to ignore it."
Officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have confirmed that a mountain lion snatched a dog last week from a home in the unincorporated San Mateo County community of Pescadero.

At about 3 a.m. on April 17, a 15-pound Portuguese Podengo was on the end of a bed of a home in the area of 800 Native Sons Road and began barking.

The barking woke up a woman who was sleeping with a child in the bedroom with its French doors open so the dog could get out, according to the San Mateo County Sheriffs Office.

The woman looked up and saw the shadow of an animal. The animal snatched the dog from the end of the bed and walked out. The woman got up and looked for the dog and saw wet footprints that looked like mountain lion footprints, then called 911, sheriffs officials said.

Sheriffs deputies went to the home and also saw what they believe were mountain lion prints and they got in touch with wildlife officials.

Later that morning, a wildlife officer went to the home and did not see any prints but collected some blood, which was analyzed and found to be blood predominantly of a pet dog.

The blood had trace amounts of mountain lion DNA, wildlife officials said.

Mountain lions rarely go into a persons home. They are usually elusive and rarely seen, according to wildlife officials.

However, it is common for mountain lions to kill domestic animals, Fish and Wildlife Capt. Patrick Foy said.

The lion probably killed the dog for food, according to Foy.

State wildlife officials urge residents to secure their property and pets, particularly if they live in an area with a lot of wildlife. The home in Pescadero was in an area where there are few other homes, Foy said.

The homeowner could get a permit to kill the mountain lion but chose not to. Wildlife officials wont do anything else related to the case.

For more information about staying safe in areas where mountain lions live, people can go to http://www.wildlife.ca.gov/keep-me-wild/lion.
The Federated Women of Upper Napa Valley will meet at 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 3, at the First Presbyterian Church, 1428 Spring St. in St. Helena.

The special guest speaker is Ben Hill, executive director of Volunteer Services at St. Helena Hospital.

The Federated Women encourages anyone interested in learning about volunteering opportunities at the local hospital, to please join them for the meeting.
When Joanne Gouaux moved her family to St. Helena she said it was for the schools and the school districts Special Education programs.

That experience was so positive that she has become a Special Education advocate, now bringing parental education and instruction about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to the Napa Valley.

Gouauxs son had a visual disability that was preventing him from succeeding in school. Called dyslexia, it is a specific learning disability  according to International Dyslexia Association  that is neurobiological in origin.

But though her sons condition was known to school teachers and administration in the East Bay school district where he was a first grader, she could not get the district to provide him with the appropriate programs to help him.

I would come to pick him up outside his class each day, she wrote to the St. Helena Star. And nearly every day the teacher would sneer at me and say You know he really needs to work harder. Then, according to Gouaux, She very sternly told me, in front of my son, that his problem was that he was lazy, and not applying himself. He started crying as we walked to the car. I was stunned. I wanted to cry too.

When she urged the principal to get a team together to evaluate him, the principal told her there were other children with greater needs than her son. They insisted they would not provide an academic assessment until he was at least two grades behind, she recalled.

I did not know my sons legal rights, she said. I was confused, devastated and felt like I was being asked to prove that my sons difficulty learning was due to an invisible disability, rather than a disobedient child.

Thats when Gouaux began a two-year search for help, transferring to different school districts and attending endless meetings and appointments with specialists. Then a friend on the Calistoga school board told her she should talk with Helen Bass, director of special services in the Calistoga Elementary School. Bass in turn recommended Dr. Cindy Toews, who at the time was the assistant superintendent of the St. Helena Unified School District.

Toews is currently the superintendent of the Howell Mountain Elementary School District.

Dr. Toews returned my call the same day and over that brief 15 minute call convinced me that her district would indeed assess my son and provide appropriate services. So I took a leap of faith, packed up my family and moved to St. Helena. Dr. Toews kept her promise.

St. Helenas staff created an ideal program for a child with her sons profile, Gouaux said. The family lived in St. Helena for a year before moving away. But in that short time, she said, her son became a fluent third grade reader, and his enjoyment and confidence at school was restored. She believed the services shed obtained in St. Helena and the districts dedicated staff were crucial to her sons success. So she thought, after the familys move to another school district, his services could be transferred to her sons new school.

She was wrong.

In many respects, Gouaux had to start all over again, informing the school of her sons rights under a unique law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It was also when she realized that her family was not unique; that 10 percent of children in school districts had been legally identified as Students with Disabilities and that many families and school administrators did not fully understand the legal rights of these students.

Thats when she realized that she needed to become a Special Education advocate.

The idea for a seminar training came to me in January after a couple of months of deep thinking on where exactly the knots are in the system, she said. It seemed to me that something wasnt flowing: information about Special Education, eligibility, service programs, trainings and options.

Gouaux, through a series of efforts, contacted the leading legal expert in IDEA in Washington, D.C.  Peter Wright  and persuaded him to come to the Napa Valley. He will be the featured speaker at the Lincoln Theater in May in the seminar that Gouaux is producing.

The seminar will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday, May 19. Tickets cost $190 for individuals and $235 for professionals. Preregistration is required at lincolntheater.com.

Wright is an attorney who represents children with special educational needs. He has successfully represented clients before the U.S. Supreme Court (Florence County School District Four v. Shannon Carter, 1993). Wright is also the co-author of a number of books, including Wrightslaw: Special Education Law and Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind; and Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy.

This conference, according to Gouaux, is designed to give parents, educators, healthcare providers, advocates and attorneys access to practical tools they can use with their children, students, patients and clients who have learning disabilities and other special needs.

Gouaux began simply as a parent of a child with special needs. The St. Helena Unified School District helped her learn what could be accomplished when the right services are applied. Now shes returning to the Napa Valley with the intent of bringing a better understanding of the rights of Individuals with Disabilities.
Tuesday, April 18

0928  A resident suspected his debit card might have been skimmed on Monday while he was at a gas station. Later that evening he checked his bank account and discovered several debits had been made at a fast food restaurant in Santa Rosa. He notified the bank and cancelled the card.

1522  A resident of Switzerland who was vacationing with his family in St. Helena reported that his rental car broke down on Stockton Street. After being unable to repair it, the rental car company towed it Monday morning, with his drivers license inside. The company advised him to go to their office in Napa and rent another car. But when he got there, they refused to rent him a car because he didnt have his license with him and they claimed to have no knowledge of the former broken-down vehicle. An officer contacted an employee at the rental car company and suggested she do a little more to assist her customer. The employee confirmed the car was now in San Francisco and agreed to send the customers license either to the customers St. Helena address or to the police department.

2200  A Grove Court resident reported various parking problems in the area.

Wednesday, April 19

0155  Following a traffic stop at Main/El Bonita, police arrested a 33-year-old Milwaukee, Wisconsin man on suspicion of DUI.

1210  A semi rear-ended a Ford Edge in the northbound lane of Main Street near Vintage Avenue. There was a minor injury and the road was temporarily blocked.

1544  Police responded to a domestic disturbance on Crane Avenue.

Thursday, April 20

1131  Someone rummaged through a house on Sulphur Springs Avenue. Police took a burglary report.

Friday, April 21

0616  Report of a verbal disturbance on Main Street. There had been a misunderstanding between customers and a checker.

0720  Report of loud construction starting at 7 a.m. near Elmhurst Avenue.

1111  A car rear-ended a dump truck near Main/Grayson, blocking traffic. Nobody was hurt.

1344  Report of a lady sitting on a bench yelling and having a conversation with herself near Railroad/Adams.

Saturday, April 22

0752  A man reportedly hit someone in the face on Hunt Avenue. Police took an assault/battery report.

0809  Cash, keys and various freezer products were stolen from a Main Street business. The burglars had destroyed a screen door. Police took a burglary report.

0959  Someone broke the window of a car on Pine Street and stole some change.

1323  A robbery was reported on Crane Avenue. The suspect was wearing a dark black sweatshirt and dark jeans. After robbing the victim, he sped away toward Valley View Street in a gray/blue/graphite-colored Honda sedan.

Sunday, April 23

2247  Police were asked to assist the CHP with a car blocking Silverado Trail near Pope Street. Five people were using their cell phones as lights to alert oncoming traffic.

Monday, April 24

1057  A mountain lion was seen near White Sulphur Springs Road over the weekend.

1731  Police contacted a construction supervisor near Spring Mountain Road and warned him about starting work before 8 a.m.

1906  A resident asked to talk to an officer about a family member who wasnt allowing her to speak to her grandfather.
Help is on the way for St. Helenas treacherously undulating downtown sidewalks, which will be replaced over the next few years thanks to a $1.2 million grant.

The Napa Valley Transportation Authority (NVTA) board approved the projects funding on April 19 as part of a countywide package of One Bay Area Grants, which draw on local, state and federal funding sources. St. Helenas sidewalk funds come from the federal government and require a city match of $300,000, for a total project cost of $1.5 million.

The grant will pay for smoother sidewalks, 17 wheelchair-accessible curb ramps to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and new street trees with deeper root systems that wont damage sidewalks or utilities along Main Street between Pine Street and the Pope/Mitchell intersection. Sidewalk bulb-outs that reduce the amount of time pedestrians have to spend in traffic will be installed at the intersections of Main/Spring, Main/Hunt and Main/Pine.

Tracey Perkosky, grants manager for the city of St. Helena, said the size of the award is really incredible, since sidewalks grants usually come in at closer to $50,000 or $100,000, especially for small cities like St. Helena.

Perkosky said St. Helenas grant application was ranked highly because smoother sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements encourage people to walk instead of drive, which in turn reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves air quality. The evaluation process considered pedestrian counts and projected greenhouse gas reductions.

By fixing the sidewalks and making downtown aesthetically more beautiful, more people will walk here, said Perkosky, who called the application a true collaborative effort among city staff.

The condition of the sidewalks was a recurring theme at a town hall meeting the City Council held in February, when several people described tripping and falling. In addition to the safety hazards, serious injuries can expose the city to expensive litigation.

The improved sidewalks wont appear right away. Perkosky said the project will be designed in fiscal year 2018-2019, and construction is scheduled for 2020-2021. The grant requires construction to be complete by 2022.

Because the work involves federal money, Caltrans will have to approve each stage of the project, which contributes to the extended timeline. The city will also have to consult with Caltrans on the bulb-outs and the curb/gutter improvements, since Main Street is a state highway.

In the meantime the city will reach out to the public, local businesses, and the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce on yet-to-be-determined details such as the style of the new sidewalk (concrete, new brick pavers, or the existing pavers) and which trees to plant in which spots.

We purposely didnt specify certain details  like what the new sidewalks are going to be  because we wanted to engage the community, Perkosky said.

Perkosky credited the NVTA for helping the city secure the funding. The NVTA collected grant requests from around the county, ranked them, and made recommendations to the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which formally signed off on the recommendations.

Perkosky said the city will look at drawing its $300,000 match from gas tax revenue or possibly from local Measure T sales tax revenue.
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will visit the Republic of Malta on 26 and 27 April 2017 to attend the informal meeting of the EU Ministers of Defence in Valletta.

During his visit, the Secretary General will meet with the Prime Minister, Dr. Joseph Muscat, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. George Vella and the Minister of National Security, Mr. Carmelo Abela.

Media Advisory

27 April 2017

+ 09:15 Secretary Generals doorstep at Grand Masters Palace

The doorstep will be streamed live on the NATO website

Still and video imagery of the visit will be available from the NATO website after the event.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg)
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Ukraines Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, to NATO Headquarters on Tuesday (25 April 2017) for discussions on Ukraines reform agenda. In a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, Minister Klympush-Tsintsadze briefed Allies on Ukraines reform efforts and annual implementation plans.

The Secretary General reaffirmed NATOs strong support for Ukraine and thanked Kyiv for pursuing an ambitious reform agenda in the defence and security sector. He also expressed his condolences to the loved ones of the OSCE paramedic killed and those wounded in the explosion in eastern Ukraine on Sunday (23 April). He said that the incident underscored the need for the Minsk Agreements to be implemented in full. Allied ambassadors reiterated this message, stressing the importance of guaranteeing safety and freedom of movement for OSCE monitors. Allies also encouraged Ukraine to take reforms forward to strengthen its defence forces and democratic institutions, and tackle corruption.
The Project 885 class uses a combined hull design, with the light hull covering only the bow section of the pressure hull to reduce noise. The hull is made of high-strength low-magnetic steel enabling the Kazan to dive below 600 m deep.



It has its torpedo tubes aft of the sail, rather than at the bow for the first time in the history of Russias shipbuilding. The solution allowed fitting the bow with the antenna of an advanced sonar. Eight versatile vertical launcher systems (VLS) accommodate advanced Russian-made Kalibr (SS-N-27 Sizzler) and Oniks (SS-N-26 Strobile) sea-launched cruise missiles.



Expert Mikhail Barabanov has told Izvestia that the shipbuilders cut the length of the Kazans hull by altering her layout and, possibly, modifying her power plant.



"The requirements specification for the Project 885 nuclear-powered submarines dates back as far as the 1980s," Barabanov explained. "The Severodvinsk turned out to be big indeed. It measures 140 m long and displaces more than 14,000 tons. Therefore, the Project 885M design was modified to tailor it to new missions, with the submarine retaining its combat capabilities. This is a rather popular approach in shipbuilding. For instance, when the construction of the Project 945 [Sierra] and Project 971 [Akula] series commenced, the Navy and shipbuilders began to introduce modifications at once."



For now, the Russian Navy operates a single Project 885 submarine, the Severodvinsk. The Kazan shall be the second one in the family. Four more - the Arkhangelsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Perm - are in various stages of completion in the shops of the Sevmash Shipyard. The seventh ship in the class, the Ulyanovsk, will be laid down this summer. All of the submarines will feature the improved design, according to the Izvestia daily.



 Copyright 2017 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This visit is yet another example of the steadfast ROK and U.S. naval partnership, said Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea. We [U.S. and ROK navies] work closely with one another every day of the year and this well-deserved port visit is a chance for Michigan Sailors to enjoy the wonderful Busan culture that U.S. Navy Korea Sailors experience each and every day.



USS Michigan is one of four Ohio-class guided-missile submarines. The Navys guided-missile submarines provide the Navy with unprecedented strike and special operation mission capabilities from a stealthy, clandestine platform. Armed with tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, guided-missile submarines are capable of launching missile strikes and supporting Special Operation Forces (SOF) missions.



This crew has displayed incredible professionalism and dedication throughout this deployment, Capt. Joe Turk, Michigans commanding officer, said. Every Sailor understands the importance of our mission and every one of them is dedicated to ensuring that mission is a success. I simply cannot be more proud of their service.



Measuring more than 560 feet long and weighing more than 18,000 tons when submerged, Michigan is one of the largest submarines in the world.



We are looking forward to a chance meet up with our ROKN [Republic of Korea Navy] partners and learn about the culture of Korea, for the first time for many of us, myself included, said Turk.



Michigan is the second submarine of the Ohio-class of ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and guided missile submarines (SSGNs), and the third U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. Michigan is homeported in Bremerton, Washington and is forward deployed from Guam.
15:41

India today demanded consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying. This was conveyed by Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad Gautam Bambawale to Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua during a meeting sought by him. On April 19, a meeting between Bambawale and Janjua was rescheduled. Pakistan has denied India's request for consular access to 46-year-old Jadhav over a dozen times in the last one year.



The Indian envoy also handed over an appeal to the Pak Foreign Secretary for Jadhav under the Pakistan Army Act Section 133(B) seeking to go to Court of Appeals.



Pakistan Army has already rejected any chance of granting consular access to Jadhav who was sentenced to death for espionage and subversive activities. On April 14, Bambawale had met with the Pakistani foreign secretary, showing increasing concern of India about the fate of Jadhav. He told media after his meeting that he had asked for list of charges and authentic copy of verdict of military tribunal against Jadhav to launch appeal against his conviction. He also said that India was seeking consular access on the basis on international law humanitarian grounds. Pakistan Foreign Office has said that during the period of trial of Jadhav, due judicial process was followed and he was provided a lawyer in accordance with relevant laws and the Constitution of Pakistan. Jadhav was awarded death sentence by the Field General Court Martial earlier this month, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out. 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 Pakistan's 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.
The envoy conveyed Pakistan's best wishes to Trump, who has completed 100 days in office, and said Islamabad was committed to strengthening friendly relations with Washington, Dawn online reported.

The envoy told Geo News that Trump, in his meeting on Monday, expressed good wishes for Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Chaudhry was Pakistan's Foreign Secretary since December 2013. Before that he served as the Foreign Office spokesperson.

--IANS py/mr

( 99 Words)

2017-04-25-14:56:08 (IANS)
The threat of the quasi state terror outfit Islamic State (IS) may spill over the South Asian region and beyond, Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali warned on Tuesday. " Although we have a number of fresh (terrorist) groups, our focus will be on a new phenomenon called Daesh (as the IS is also called)," Abdali said while delivering a lecture "Strengthening India-Afghanistan Strategic Relations in an Uncertain World" organised by the think tank Brookings India. "This is the most dangerous phenomenon we are facing. This most brutal, brutal phenomenon is growing in Afghanistan and its effects are being felt by the people of Afghanistan," he said. Abdali expressed the hope that the countries of the region and the rest of the world would help Afghanistan in dealing with "this most dangerous group that we face today that can literally spill over the rest of the region and beyond". His comments come after the US dropped the massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) or the "mother of all bombs", also dubbed as the most powerful non-nuclear bomb, on April 13 targeting an IS tunnel network in Afghanistan. Without naming Pakistan, the Ambassador said that terrorism was being used as a tool "against Afghanistan, against India and other countries of the world". Stressing that there should be no duplicity in dealing with terrorism, he said that one should not differentiate between the IS and the Taliban. However, he was wholesome in his praise for India for its role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Recalling that New Delhi and Kabul had upgraded the bilateral relationship into a strategic relationship, Abdali said that India was the first strategic ally of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. "We are grateful to India for being the largest donor in the region and the fifth largest donor in Afghanistan's reconstruction," he said.. He said that the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his country twice in the last couple of years showed the importance India gave to Afghanistan. Modi visited Kabul in December 2015 to jointly inaugurate with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani a new building of the country's parliament built with Indian aid and then again in June last year to inaugurate the India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam. "India has contributions in each of the achievements of Afghanistan in the last 16 years," Abdali said. From almost no education in 2001, there are now millions of students going to school in Afghanistan, he said, adding that there are over 16,000 Afghan students studying in India. According to the Ambassador, in a country of 30 million people, there are over 20 million mobile users, over 60 TV channels and over 200 newspapers. "We had presidential and parliamentary elections," he said. "From no army and no police, today we have 352,000 army and police (personnel)." Abdali said that the role of all countries was necessary in the reconstruction of Afghanistan in this new world order of multi-polarity. "A better Asia and a peaceful Asia can be achieved by learning from past mistakes," he said. The Ambassador also called for operationalising the India-Afghanistan-US trilateral partnership for peace and stability in Afghanistan. --IANS ab/bg ( 536 Words) 2017-04-25-16:20:17 (IANS)
New Delhi [India], Apr 25 (ANI-NewsVoir): CFA Society India, one of the 147 CFA Institute member societies, jointly hosted its annual Putting Investors First event 'Rethinking Financial Services for Millennials' in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). Putting Investors First is a global CFA Institute initiative and part of the Future of Finance program that aims to raise awareness and build support for aligning the interests of investors and their customers in a way that fosters trust and improves out comes for investors. The event featured two power-packed panel discussions on the state of the investment profession and its preparedness in serving millennials. Panelists included Navneet Munot, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, SBI Mutual Fund; Kalpen Parekh, Joint President, DSP BlackRock AMC; Ravi Subramanian, Author, If God Was A Banker; Mandar Mhatre, Entrepreneur and Investor; Partha Iyengar, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Life and Money; Amit Kumar, Partner and Director, The Boston Consulting Group; and Talvinder Singh, Product Head, Flagship, OYO Rooms. What experts' say: "What millennials are looking for is ease and convenience in investment. It's important for the industry to bring more simplicity in processes or documentation to attract them. Government should consider bringing a scheme for investment in equities called Jan Nivesh Yojana along the lines of the Jan Dhan Yojana to attract millennials," said Navneet Munot, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, SBI Mutual Fund. "Most millennials' large investment decisions are emotionally driven; hence we need to understand and guide them on their investment requirements," said Partha Iyengar, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Life and Money. "It is a welcome change to see millennials increasing interest insavings and investing at a younger age as compared to earlier generations. This trend is positive and further educating these potential investors about various investment options will be important," said Mandar Mhatre, Entrepreneur and Investor. "We need to engage with millennials and make them aware about investments, especially when markets are high," said Kalpen Parekh, Joint President, DSP BlackRock AMC. In its recently released the Future State of the Investment Profession study, CFA Institute describes an investment industry at an existential crossroads and warns that investment industry leaders who fail to transform their business models may jeopardise the future of their firms. "Nearly 30 percent of India's population was born between 1980 and 2000. Compared to earlier generations, millennials save, borrow and invest in ways that differ significantly from older consumers. Investment industry leaders need to make decisions over the next five years that will not only impact their firms but also the entire landscape of the investment profession as we know it. Ultimately, putting Investors First is about creating the right products and giving sound advice," said Jayesh Gandhi, CFA, President, CFA Society India. Key Survey Findings -The views of more than 1,000 investment management professionals, including CFA charter holders indicate that significant change on all fronts lies ahead over the next five to 10 years. Changing Investment Trends -73 percent expect environmental, social and governance factors will become more influential -70 percent expect financial centers in the Asia-Pacific region will become more influential -Business Models Facing Pressure -84 percent expect industry consolidation -70 percent expect to see more assets going into passive investment vehicles -63 percent expect profit margins at asset management firms to remain flat or to contract -57 percent expect institutional investors will look to reduce costs by in-sourcing more investment management activities Opportunities on the Horizon -55 percent expect globalization will offer new opportunities for investment professionals, while 18 percent perceive globalization as a threat -49 percent expect technologies will present new opportunities for investment professionals, while 23 percent see new technologies as a threat Among the megatrends identified are technological advances, redefined client preferences, new macroeconomic conditions, different regulatory regimes reflecting geopolitical changes and demographic shifts. The scenarios are not forecasts but include possibilities for the future state of the investment industry. (ANI-NewsVoir)
US oil giant Chevron Corporation has announced that its subsidiary, Chevron Global Ventures Ltd., has entered into an agreement to sell the shares of its subsidiaries in Bangladesh to a Chinese consortium, a media report said. The Chinese consortium is Himalaya Energy, owned by China ZhenHua Oil Co and CNIC Corporation Ltd. The financial deal has not been disclosed, the Daily Star reported. Chevron Bangladesh operates Block 12 (Bibiyana Field) and Blocks 13 and 14 (Jalalabad and Moulvibazar fields). The closing of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions. Chevron is currently responsible for more than half of Bangladesh's daily gas production. Whereas Bangladesh daily produces around 2,600 million feet per day (mmcfd) gas, Chevron provides more than 1,400 mmcfd from these three fields. Of them, the Bibiyana field provides more than 1,100 mmcfd. Besides, Chevron also daily produces around 9,000 tonnes of condensate - a liquid fuel by-product found in some gas fields. The remaining gas fields of the country produce around 1,500 tonnes of condensate. Chevron's earlier operations -- that includes discovery of the massive Bibiyana field in the late nineties -- were spearheaded by Unocal, which was globally acquired by Chevron in 2005. The company invested around $3 billion, while it currently has 538 employees. Chevron operates under two Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) under which it gets a maximum of $3 dollars for per thousand cubic metres of gas -- while Bangladesh gets a proportionally bigger chunk of gas as free share -- making the deals very profitable for the country. Chevron announced selling its assets in different countries -- including Bangladesh -- last year, due to the oil price slump. Since Chevron decided to sell its Bangladesh asset, the government had made an offer that Chevron did not accept. Since then Chevron was negotiating with Chinese company ZhenHua Oil, the Daily Star reported. Chevron Corporation is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies. Through its subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide, the company is involved in virtually every facet of the energy industry. Chevron (previously Unocal) introduced three-dimensional seismic survey in Bangladesh for the first time in the late nineties while surveying the Bibiyana field area. --IANS rn/bg ( 371 Words) 2017-04-25-18:02:08 (IANS)
Claiming that a water sharing deal on Teesta river with Bangladesh may jeopardise the daily lives of North Bengal residents, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she would have no problems in providing water to the neighbouring country provided the Centre is ready to look at "suitable alternatives". "We have no objection in giving water to Bangladesh. But Teesta has no water. If the water is tapped from Teesta; the residents of Siliguri, Jalpaiguri won't have water to drink, the farmers wont be able to grow crops. I know this because I have seen the situation myself," Banerjee said here. The Trinamool Supremo, who earlier proposed tapping the water of other rivers instead of Teesta, urged the Centre to look for suitable alternatives for water sharing. "We have asked them (Central government) to look for an alternative. The Shankosh river gets overflown every year. Why isn't there a plan to tap the water from there?" she questioned. "Tap the water from Shankosh and pass it though Torsha, Manshi, Dhanshi to Bangladesh. I have no objection," Banerjee suggested. Recalling her government's initiative in solving the enclave issues with Bangladesh, Banerjee claimed the relationship with the neighbouring country would continue to remain "friendly". "We have solved the 'Chitmahal' (enclave) issue that was left disputed for 70 years and helped the erstwhile enclave dwellers to get their long awaited rights. I believe the relations between India and Bangladesh is very good and it will continue to remain that way," Banerjee added. Following the implementation of the historic Land Boundary Agreement, Bangladesh and India exchanged 162 adversely-held enclaves on August 1, 2015. --IANS mgr/ssp/rn ( 291 Words) 2017-04-25-19:24:08 (IANS)
David MacKenzie, director of 'Hell or High Water,' is currently in talks with streaming giant Netflix to direct 'Outlaw King,' according to Hollywood Reporter.

Chris Pine and Ben Foster, who starred as brothers in Mackenzie's Oscar-nominated movie, are both in talks to star in the project.

Pine, 36, would play the Scottish king while Foster, 36, is in talks to play knight James Douglas, the king's loyal aide.

The 'Starred Up' helmer is writing the screenplay for the film, which is set to shoot on location in Scotland in August.

This is Mackenzie's first project since his breakthrough film 'Hell or High Water,' which got nominated for four Oscars at this year's Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

He was also a serious contender to direct 'Scarface' for Universal studio, until the project was shelved. (ANI)
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) on Tuesday began an emergency campaign to immunise 30,000 children against measles in Baidoa, one of the hardest-hit areas in Somalia. Steven Lauwerier, Unicef's Representative in Somalia, said the children have never been immunised before and come from remote areas. Health workers often cannot reach them because of decades-old conflict that has ravaged the country, Xinhua news agency reported. "The only way to prevent sickness and death from measles is to make sure all children receive the vaccine," Lauwerier said. "A child suffering from severe acute malnutrition is nine times more likely to die from a disease like measles than a healthy child. We have no time to lose," he said. Conducted in partnership with the Health Ministry, WHO, and several non-governmental organisations, the campaign also includes a vitamin A supplement to boost immunity as well as de-worming tablets. About 5,700 cases of suspected measles have so far this year been reported across the country, more than the total number of cases in 2016. Measles, a viral respiratory infection that spreads through air and contact with infected mucus and saliva, thrives in congested, unsanitary displacement camps. More than 100,000 people have come to Baidoa in search of assistance, including at least 70,000 in March alone. "We know only too well from the 2011 famine that measles, combined with malnutrition and displacement, is an especially lethal combination for children," said Lauwerier. The Baidoa campaign is part of an effort to vaccinate about 110,000 displaced children below five years old in hotspots across south central Somalia, plus 250,000 children in Somaliland, against the deadly contagious disease, by the end of May. --IANS py/vt ( 288 Words) 2017-04-25-17:56:08 (IANS)
The Indian Embassy in Brussels will organise the events in close cooperation with yoga institutes, schools and universities in various Belgian cities, including Brussels, Antwerp, Durbuy, Ghent, Leuven, Kortrijk, Enghien, Liege, Mons, and in Luxembourg from June 17 to June 25.

The flagship event of the third International Day of Yoga will be held at Bois de la Cambre park in Brussels on June 18, where the the programme will include a public yoga session followed by specific mini-Yoga sessions emphasising the different aspects of yoga.

Rakesh Kumar Arora, Counsellor and Charge d' Affaires at the Indian embassy in Brussels, said 6,000 yoga enthusiasts participated in the various Yoga events held in Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU last year.

He recalled that in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address at the United Nations General Assembly had defined Yoga as "India's gift to the world" and had urged global leaders to observe an International Day of Yoga.

In a positive response, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in December 2014 designating June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.

--IANS nawab/lok/vd

( 227 Words)

2017-04-25-22:58:08 (IANS)
BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha Rahul Singh told ANI, "- The government should take harsh measures to finish Naxalism in India. At the same, I appeal the West Bengal government to take strict action against the people who are involved in Maoists activities running at Jadavpur University."

Singh further stated he was "extremely pained" by the killing of twenty-six CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh on Monday, further assuring that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government will take strict action against the militants.

Hundreds of Maoists on Monday massacred at least 26 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district in the bloodiest attack in the state since 2010.

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack, while the latter described the attack as cowardly and deplorable.

He assured that the Centre is monitoring the situation closely and the sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain.

In a series of tweets, he expressed condolences to the CRPF families saying the country is proud of their valour. (ANI)
In a disturbing revelation, world's heaviest woman Eman Ahmed's sister Saimma Selim has alleged that Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala, who has been treating the former, is not correct about his updates about Eman's health and recovery, adding that her sister has not recovered at all. "Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala is a liar and is not giving right/factual updates about Eman's recovery. Eman has not recovered one bit," Saimma said. However, when ANI approached Dr. Lakdawala to know the other side of the story, he denied all the allegations leveled against him by Saimma. In fact, the doctor said that Eman is doing well and a CT scan is to be done to ascertain her neurological condition. Turning the tables, the doctor also said that Saimma is creating a scene because she does not want to take her sister back to Egypt due to financial reasons. "Eman is fine and is doing good. She has recovered well and only a CT scan is to be done to ascertain her neurological condition. Actually, Everything was right with Saimma for initial 15 days after Eman's treatment started but when she recovered and we suggested that she can be taken back to Egypt, Saimma started to create all this drama as she doesn't want to take her sister back to Egypt due to financial reasons," he told ANI. The doctor also said they would be moving Eman from her ward to the CT scan room where one can see the stark difference between what Saimma is claiming and what the reality is. Earlier on April 21, 36-year-old Egyptian Eman Ahmed, who was the heaviest woman in the world at 500-plus kg until a few months ago, had lost 250kg in two months after undergoing surgery here at Saifee Hospital. "Eman has done miraculously well. We actually didn't expect her to do this well because we had estimated that in six odd months she would lose around 200 kg," Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala, obesity surgeon told ANI. "The weight loss has also dramatically improved her health. Eman's heart, kidneys and lungs are functioning better and her water retention levels are also under control," said the doctor. Shedding light on the challenges he and his team faced, Dr. Lakdawala said, "More than a challenge, we took it as a humanitarian cause. We just couldn't see her lying like that, so helpless, simply waiting for death to come. The risks of this case were 99%. I think now, we have given her a chance to live. If she gets physiotherapy done properly and wants to be able to walk, Eman will have to put in the efforts." "We'll now weigh her after three-four weeks and are hoping she'll come under the 200 kg mark. She is a fighter and she has a will to fight this," he added. (ANI)
This is the first visit of President Anastasiades to India.

Ahead of his visit, the President expressed hope that India can help Cyprus in its quest for reunification as it has close ties with Turkey.

Earlier in September 2015, he had substantive meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The visiting dignitary will travel to Delhi tomorrow where he will address a business forum and deliver a talk at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) the next day.

His other engagements on that day include a meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee followed by delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Modi. Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also call on President Anastasiades.

India and Cyprus enjoy close, friendly and time-tested ties. On many global issues, both countries share similar views. Almost all Cypriot President's have come to India on state visits.

Cyprus and India enjoy robust economic ties. Cyprus is a major investor in India.

With cumulative Foreign Direct Investment of above US$ 8.5 billion, Cyprus is the eighth largest foreign investor in India and has invested in areas such as financial leasing, stock exchange, auto manufacture, manufacturing industries, real estate, cargo handling, construction, shipping and logistics. (ANI)
The whole anti-Left Wing Extremism strategy would be reviewed at meeting to be held in Delhi on May 8, the Home Minister told reporters.

He said yesterday's strike was an act of cowardice, which showed the desperation of Naxals in the wake of the operations against them.

The Home Minister while replying to a question, denied that his Ministry thought that there was any lack of leadership in the CRPF.

He said Naxals were trying to hamper development by making tribals as their shield.

The Home Ministry has sought a report from the CRPF DG over the incident which is one of the most severe strikes from Maoists in the state.Earlier, the Home Minister paid tribute to the CRPF martyres at Sukma.More UNI NAZ/DEVN AE ADG 1246

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-867694.Xml
A joint team of Special Task Force (STF) and district police arrested a dreaded criminal and his five associates and seized a huge cache of firearms from Dhurlakh village under Warishnagar police station area in Samastipur district in the wee hours today. Police said here that the gangster Mohammed Shamim, who was involved in various incidents of bank loot, and his five associates were nabbed from the roof of a house following a specific intelligence input when they were fast asleep. STF personnel seized a carbine, four pistols and large number of live cartridges from their possession. The nabbed outlaws are being subjected to intensive interrogation to get vital clues from them about recent bank dacoities and also nab other members of the gang, police added.UNI DH AD1324 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-867776.Xml
Prajapati was arrested on March 15 from the Aashiyana area in Lucknow by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF).

The Samajwadi Party leader, who was also accused of allegedly raping the girl's mother, evaded his arrest for nearly a month before he was arrested.

In February, a police complaint had been filed against the former minister and six others in the case following the Supreme Court's order.

The Uttar Pradesh Police had also filed a non-bailable warrant against the former minister and six others for the same. (ANI)
"Deputy Election Commissioners Umesh Sinha and Sandeep Saxena, besides Director of EC Secretariat Nikhil Kumar, were briefed by J&K Chief Electoral Officer Shantmanu, Divisional Commissioner (Kashmir) Baseer Khan, senior police and paramilitary officers and the District Election Officers concerned about the by-poll preparedness and security situation in south Kashmir," an official statement said here.

"The Chief Electoral Officer also held a detailed meeting with the representatives of political parties, contesting candidates, and officers of police and other security agencies, in which District Election Officers and SSPs of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts participated through video-conferencing," it said.

The meeting held discussions on security situation and other related issues regarding the conduct of Anantnag by-polls, the statement added.

While the by-poll is scheduled for May 25, the state government has sought its deferment because of the deteriorating security situation in the Kashmir Valley.

--IANS sq/nir/vt

( 179 Words)

2017-04-25-17:26:08 (IANS)
Aiming to capture West Bengal in 2021 Assembly elections, BJP president Amit Shah today launched his "Booth Cholo Aviyan" after having a simple veggie lunch at a dalit'stin-roof hut in this erstwhile Naxalite bastion. After landing at Bagdogra airport, Mr Shah drove straight to this sleepy hamlet to start his booth cholo political campaign to create awareness about the BJP ideology among the masses and the importance for replacement of the Mamata Banerjee government in 2021 polls. With temperature hovering around 40 degree Celsius, Mr Shah preferred early lunch at the residence of Geeta Mahalir and Raju Mahalir at Kotiajote, a predominantly tribal area. Sitting on the floor, Mr Shah had rice, chapati, dal, papad, fried potato and parwal and chatted with Geeta, who along with her two daughters made all the preparations. Keeping an eye on 2019 Parliament polls and 2021 Bengal Assembly elections, Mr Shah immediately held Dalia Tatia booth meeting with party functionaries along with state president Dilip Ghosh, party's national secretary Rahul Sinha and Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia. But the importance was given to the grassroots people's opinion and their grievances against the Mamata Banerjee government. Mr Shah was here on the first day of his three-day whirlwind West Bengal tour and is expected to gather information from the people about their real problem and expectation from the BJP. Mr Shah by this evening would attend at least two meetings in Siliguri and Phooleswar before boarding a Kolkata-bound train tonight. The presence of BJP's national president in this erstwhile Naxalite bastion has triggered a new political feeling among the people, whose condition hasn't much changed since Independence. The communist movement, especially the armed struggle, was their line of agitation but that gradually faded away with the arrest and death of Charu Majumder. An octogenarian couldn't hide his surprise after witnessing the people's enthusiasm to greet the BJP leader in this Naxalbari area where the people had not thought beyond communist ideolgy. President Amit Shah, who has already vowed to expand party's footprint in West Bengal ahead of the 2019 Parliament polls, is now aiming to oust the Trinamool Congess in 2021. UNI XC-PC SJC -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-868047.Xml
A 25-year-old youth was killed when a policeman allegedly resorted to firing last night around 2355 hours in Thoubal district. To protest the killing, people today blocked the Imphal Moreh national highway. Protestors piled up burnt tyres and wood to stop movement of vehicles. Kh. Santosh Singh of Thoubal Athokpam Awang Leikai, who was witnessing a Thabal Chongba festival last midnight at Ukhongshang Mayai Leikai was shot dead by a policeman, identified as Elangbam Rajesh (30) of Thoubal Ukhongshang . The policeman was detained by Manipur Police personnel . The body of the youth was still lying at JNIMS. Police beefed up security in the area and efforts were on to clear the highway. UNI NS KK -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-868057.Xml
The proposed two child policy of Assam government is a regressive step and could backfire as it happened in China where the sex ratio has skewed due to the one child policy which the government had to ease up, said a report by Oxfam India, a non-governmental organisation which works for the socially excluded people in the country. "The government of Assam needs to focus on enabling measures to improve women's education, health care and access to contraception. It is only these measures that have worked in any developing country to reduce population growth. Coercive measures can backfire as we have seen in China where the sex ratio has skewed due to the one child policy which the government had to ease up now," said Oxfam India CEO Nisha Agrawal. It proposes to make people with more than two children ineligible for government employment, electoral participation in panchayat and municipal elections. Additionally, it also suggests introduction of minimum educational qualification criteria for the contesting candidates. "The disincentives that Assam intends to put in place for people having more than two children are regressive and would disproportionately impact the most disadvantaged. Communities with higher fertility rates, which are usually the poorer ones, will be most impacted by such exclusionary measures. We hope the Assam government will reconsider its policy," Mr Agrawal said. "Research in states that have enacted similar polices like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Haryana have shown that disqualification of candidates on basis of the number of children, has led to the desertion of families, unsafe abortions, giving away of children and initiation of new marriages by male elected members. Women have been reported to doubly bear the brunt of this disqualification clause. It is also a violation of the basic right of every citizen to participate in the democratic process," Mr Agrawal added. As per the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS 4), Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (children per woman) of Assam is now at par with that of all India at 2.2. With reducing TFR, population is moving towards stabilisation in the state. In education on the other hand, the state is lagging behind. Only about a quarter of women (26.2 per cent) (15-49 years) have 10 or more years of schooling as against 35.7 per cent for all India average. According to the Sample Registration System (July 2011-13), the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in Assam of 300 per 1 lakh live births is the highest in the country, the corresponding national number being 167. The state registers a very high infant mortality rate (48 per 1000 live births in Assam as against 41 all India) and under-5 mortality rates (56 in Assam as against 50 all India). Sex ratio at birth has reduced from 1033 in 2005-06 to 929 in 2015-16. The proposed two-child policy is likely to further skew the ratio unfavourably as also seen in the case of China. The Assam government had announced the draft population policy which proposed making education free for all girls up to university level. The policy also suggests that people with more than two children will be ineligible for government jobs and polling in local elections. The draft policy states that, "every family in Assam should have access to quality education, healthcare and employment opportunities". However, the policy disputes its own positive action by proposing adoption of a coercive approach to promote the advantages of a small family.UNI ABI AKM 1611 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-868085.Xml
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mounted a torrid attack on the BJP for its communal and divisive politics. Speaking at a public meeting at Chakchaka here, Ms Banerjee maintained that "we do not need lessons in Hinduism from the BJP." Hinduism is an ancient religion. Was the BJP around when Vedas were written? Ramakrishna, Vivekananda are our icons. We do not need lessons in Hinduism from BJP," she said. The chief minister slammed the Centre for its decision to start UID for cows. "They have lost it. Are goats and fish next? They should give fodder to cows instead of Aadhaar card. This is ridiculous," the CM said. Ms Banerjee alleged instead of working for development, BJP is busy carrying out propaganda on social media "We respect and love all religions. We will not tolerate divisive politics," the chief minister said. "We love Bangladesh. But if we give Teesta water, North Bengal will not get water. We have given an alternate proposal," the chief minister said. Ms Banerjee said Bengal will show the way to the rest of India. Bengal will become the best in the world. The Chief Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for projects worth Rs 1100 crore here. Ms Banerjee announced Chakchaka will be developed as a industry hub "Our govt does not make tall promises in the air. We are in touch with ground realities. We fulfill our promises. We have Swami Vivekananda merit scholarship worth Rs 200 crore for economically weaker sections. We are giving soft loans to students to pursue higher education," she said. Ms Banerjee said, "My best wishes to the inhabitants of Chhitmahal. We are working for their development.We have decided to give recognition to 5 refugees colonies. 400 refugee families will be benefited." "I believe Cooch Behar town must be declared a 'heritage city'. We will take the necessary steps.We allotted Rs 50 lakh for the development of Cooch Behar stadium," she said. The chief minister said coverage of cleanliness mission in Bengal is 90 per cent while national average is 64 per cent. Cooch Behar has become the 5th ODF district of Bengal. 76000 people have received govt benefits today. 91 per cent people in Cooch Behar have received direct benefits. Ms Banerjee said, "We have decided to give a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the families of slain jawans. Our Food Minister will receive the last remains of the slain jawans. We will give govt job to the next of kin.Three jawans were among those who were martyred yesterday. I visited the family of one of them." The chief announced the state government has decided to set up the Rajbongshi Development Board. The board is going to work for the well-being of the Rajbongshi people; this is the latest board to be set up by the State Government for the ethnic communities of north Bengal. She was felicitated by Kamtapur People's Party at a function in Raas Mela Math. Speaking on the occasion, she said, "We have set up a committee to give recognition to Kamtapuri language." She also distributed the benefits of various schemes such as Kanyashree, Yuvashree, Sabuj Shree, Siksha Shree, Swami Vivekananda scholarship, agricultural equipment among others. UNI BM AKM 1651 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-868174.Xml
Twenty-five Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel lost their lives in Sukma district on Monday. Three of the troopers were residents of West Bengal.

"Three jawans from Bengal were martyred in Sukma. Bengal's jawans have always worked for the service of the nation," Banerjee tweeted.

The Chief Minister visited the houses of two troopers -- Krishna Kumar Das and Binay Chandra Barman -- who hailed from Cooch Behar.

--IANS mgr/ssp/lok/mr

( 115 Words)

2017-04-25-17:42:22 (IANS)
A CRPF trooper who survived the massacre of 25 colleagues by Maoists in Chhattisgarh said on Tuesday that 50 insurgents would be killed in revenge. Constable Mahendra Kumar, warded in a hospital here, said in a slow and halting voice that he himself would go back to Sukma district, where the carnage took place on Monday, once he recovers. Sounding weak and with his head bandaged, Kumar said from the hospital bed that the Central Reserve Police Force contingent was in a forested patch to give security to workers engaged in building a road. "Suddenly firing began from our left," he told journalists. "From nowhere 30 to 40 Maoists emerged and began firing. "When we began retaliatory firing, they split into two or three groups and scattered in three directions. "One group went to our front, got into a pit that had been dug up and resumed firing. The others took us on from both the left and right side." Kumar felt that 25 to 30 Maoists were injured in the counter firing by the CRPF. Suddenly, a bullet grazed Kumar's shoulder, felling him. When he woke up, he found himself in a hospital. Other CRPF troopers who escaped the massacre had similar tales. One wounded trooper said he suspects a few cowherds who came to the spot the CRPF personnel were located in, apparently passed on the information to the Maoists. "They saw our location. We suspected something but could not do anything since they were not armed. "About 15 minutes after they left, scores of Maoists appeared on the scene, dressed in black. And they attacked us from all sides. We too hit back." According to him, the Maoists had AK-47 assault rifles, Self Loading Rifles, INSAS Rifles, rocket launchers and mortars. "In fact they had all the weapons that the CRPF has." After the Monday carnage, the attackers escaped with several more weapons, adding to their weaponry in a vast forested tribal-dominated region where the Maoists have run a parallel state for decades. A third CRPF trooper put the number of Maoists who ambushed them at about 300. They outnumbered the 99 CRPF personnel who were readying for lunch when they were targeted. It was the worst attack by Maoists on security forces in Chhattisgarh since 2010. --IANS mr-hindi/py/rn/vd/bg ( 394 Words) 2017-04-25-18:54:08 (IANS)
Bihar government has geared up to check illegal mining in the state with several concrete measures including aerial surveillance by drones being taken to ensure stringent action against the offenders. State Mining Minister Muneshwar Chaudhary told media persons here that Bihar government had taken concrete measures to check illegal mining across the state while final decision on proposed new measures to tighten the noose around mafias would also be taken to achieve the goal. " Services of drones would be utilised to keep strict vigil on those engaged in illegal mining and stringent action would be taken against them on the basis of inputs received", Mr Chaudhary said adding that it was becoming difficult to monitor in far flung areas and services of drones would be of much importance to check illegal mining in such region. The Mining Minister said that 4,663 raids were conducted and 223 people were arrested in Bihar during the period from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 for their involvement in illegal mining and alleged irregularities. Altogether 863 FIRs were lodged and a total amount of Rs 16.31 Crores were recovered as penalty from the offenders, he added. MORE UNI KKS-IS AKM 1823 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-868387.Xml
Leaders and the workers of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) today staged a dharna before the collectorate here in support of their various demands. The dharna which was led by Shivlal Mahto demanded the state government to release party legislator Pradeep Yadav without any delay from Godda Jail. They also demanded that those displaced in Hazaribagh due to the project of the NTPC be provided alternative employment. The party leaders accused the Raghubar Das government of being a dictator and said that the state government was scared due to regular people agitation and was trying to send everyone in jail. They also said that the party would continue its struggle for the cause of the poor and the farmers of the state. UNI XC-AK AKM 1848 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-868468.Xml
Websites of Delhi University (DU), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Indian Institute of Technology -Delhi and some other educational and training institutions were hacked allegedly by some Pakistan-based groups on Tuesday. The portals of DU, AMU, IIT-Delhi and IIT-BHU, when opened, did not show the usual information and were posted with messages and videos about alleged atrocities by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. The hackers, who called themselves PHC, also posted some pro-Pakistani slogans on the websites, and said: "Nothing deleted or stolen. Just here to deliver my message to Indians." The message asked Indians if they were aware of what their soldiers were doing in Kashmir. The hacked portals also had "Pakistan zindabad" slogans. Websites of University of Kota, Army Institute of Management and Technology, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, and National Aerospace Laboratories did not open or could not be reached. When contacted, educational institutions said they were linked to Ernet India Server which hosted their websites. Afsar Khan, former Registrar and a member of AMU website management team, told IANS that the website for admissions was hosted locally and was working fine. "Ernet (Education and Research Network) India Server that hosts websites has been hacked. They are working on it and it will be restored within 3-4 hours. Our website for admissions, which is hosted locally, is working fine and we won't face any problem on that front," he said. DU, in its statement, said the website of the university was inaccessible from outside the campus for some time "due to some problems in the domain name servers pointing incorrectly to another site". "The problem was detected and immediately rectified by contacting ERNET, who has provided the domain name for University of Delhi," the statement said. IIT-Delhi spokesperson Kalyan Bhattacharjee told IANS that there was nothing wrong with their server and it was Ernet that was hacked. "Our server is intact. We are registered with the ERNET -- under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. They have a DNA server and has our addresses," he said. "It is this address location that was tampered with by some external agency," Bhattacharjee said, adding that the ministry is investigating the matter. --IANS sk-vn-sar-ps/tsb/vt ( 382 Words) 2017-04-25-22:58:07 (IANS)
'City of peonies' to export flowers to Australia

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-04-25 13:04

ZHENGZHOU - Luoyang, China's "city of peonies," will export 1 million cut flowers to Australia, as part of a flower trade cooperation.



Shenzhou peony company, a major flower growing enterprise in Luoyang of central China's Henan Province, has signed a deal with several Australian distributors to sell 1 million peonies and Chinese herbaceous peonies to Australian customers in 2017.



"In order to pass the quarantine inspection of Australia, we have translated Australian standards and import regulations on cut flowers, and offered training to flower farmers since last year," said Guo Xueliang, head of the city's entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau.



"It is estimated that each cut flower will cost three Australian dollars, more than five times the price in China," said a deputy general manager with the company surnamed Cao.



Cao added that the company would expand its flower planting scale next year to meet the growing demand of cut flowers in foreign markets.



Statistics show that Luoyang exports fewer than 100,000 peonies and Chinese herbaceous peonies to foreign countries and regions each year. It is expected to export 20 million such flowers in the following two to three years.



The city has been growing peonies for more than 1,500 years. The flower was preferred by royal families for its luxuriant blossom, which symbolizes prosperity and wealth.
A large number of people, including CRPF personnel and hundreds of others, gathered at the Patna airport and paid their respects to the slain troopers.

Their funeral will take place in their respective villages on Wednesday, police said.

The 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers killed in Chhattisgarh's Sukma included Naresh Yadav from Darbhanga district, Saurabh Kumar from Danapur in Patna, Abhay Kumar from Vaishali, Ranjit Kumar from Sheikhpura and Abhay Mishra from Bhojpur district.

The body of sixth CRPF trooper Krishna Kumar Pandey, was flown to Varanasi, as his native place in Rohtas district is closer from there.

According to officials, Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav, BJP legislator Sanjiv Chourasia, JD-U legislator Shayam Razak, Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Agrawal and Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj were present when the bodies arrived at the airport.

In the deadliest Maoist attack since 2010, the 25 CRPF men were killed when nearly 300 heavily armed Maoists ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch in Sukma district in Chhattisgarh and escaped with their AK-47 assault rifles.

Six CRPF men were also received severe injuries in the attack.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of deceased CRPF troopers.

--IANS ik/nir/vd

( 252 Words)

2017-04-25-23:12:08 (IANS)
French presidential front-runner representing the far-right National Front (FN) Marine Le Pen said that she would step down as the party's leader to focus on gathering large number of voters ahead of the decisive round in May. "I have always considered that the President of the Republic is the President of all the French and must gather all the French, but it is necessary to translate words into act," she told France 2 public television on Monday. "I decided to leave the presidency of the National Front, and I am no longer the President of the National Front. I will be above partisan considerations," Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying. "We are the ones who will defend the most and the best the democracy. None of my actions will be carried out without the people or against the people. I am the only one who can guarantee the French's protection," she added. Le Pen brought the anti-establishment FN party into the country's political mainstream on Sunday's first round to elect new president for the next five years. She came second with 21.30 per cent, or 7.67 million votes, a record number mirroring a growing public support for anti-immigrant party hostile to Europe. The 48-year-old female presidential contender succeeded her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 to head the NF party. Since then, she has been working to softening the party's image by targeting widespread support of young public and workers. --IANS vgu/ ( 253 Words) 2017-04-25-07:50:08 (IANS)
The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has raised serious concerns over widespread torture, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Pakistan. During its meeting in Geneva, the committee experts said the impunity for such acts committed by state officials and forces associated with the state, including military, the police and intelligence agents, is a cause of worry. "Some 1,200 cases of enforced disappearances had been registered since 2010, while 487 cases of alleged torture had been documented by non-governmental organizations during the 2014 to 2016 period. The specific prohibition of torture in the law was very narrow, as it included only torture for purposes of extracting a confession", said the committee in its first review of implementation in the country of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It added, "Some 90 per cent of women in Pakistan faced domestic violence, and women continued to be victims of so-called honour killings. Other issues of concern included the persecution of religious minorities and sectarian attacks such as the one in October 2016 which had killed 27 persons." The committee will hold a meeting from April 18 to May 12 to review "State Parties" - which include Pakistan, Behrain, Afghanistan, Argentina and South Korea- implementation of the Convention. Pakistan ratified the Convention in 2010 and presented its first report in 2016. The CAT, however, posed various questions and sought clarifications after Pakistan's delegation headed by Kamran Michael, Minister for Human Rights, introduced its report saying that public servants were prohibited from engaging in acts of torture under any circumstances, while the 2002 Police Order imposed penalties on the police officers who tortured or abused a person in their custody. His report added, "The Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 was the prime legislation covering the investigation and adjudication of acts of terrorism and it provided protection and safeguards in accordance with human rights norms and standards." Expressing concern over torture in Pakistan prisons, the CAT experts said, "Majority of the prisoners are tortured in Pakistan; significant proportion undergo sexual abuse in detention; and, there is no independent mechanism for redressing such cases." The participants at the meeting also raised concern over April 13 lynching of a university student Mashal Khan, who was killed over allegations of blasphemy. The participants questioned the state's failure to prevent such acts of violence. Committee Vice-Chairperson and Rapporteur for Pakistan Felice Gaer said, "In October 2012, the Supreme Court (of Pakistan) had issued an interim order ("Balochistan Law and Order Case") which held that there was overwhelming evidence implicating the Frontier Corps in cases of missing persons in Balochistan. Had there been any inquiry into the responsibility of members of the Frontier Corps for disappearances in Balochistan, including investigations into alleged enforced disappearances of political leaders Shulam Mohammad Baloch, Lula Baloch, and Sher Mohammad Baloch? How many complaints of torture had been received against members of the Pakistan Rangers since 2010 and what measures had been taken to investigate and prosecute them?" The Committee was further concerned that Pakistan was not adequately exercising due diligence to prevent violence, including torture, by members of extremist groups, while its intelligence agencies had been accused of providing sanctuary to the Afghan Taliban, Haqqani Network and Kashmir-focused armed groups. The delegation was asked to provide data on the prosecution of members of those groups for abduction, sexual abuse and other related offenses. (ANI)
As China prepares to imminently launch its first indigenously built aircraft carrier in Dalian, and as the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) celebrated its 68th anniversary on 23 April, attention is turning to how and where China will use its growing fleet of such platforms. The mention of Pakistan as a possible base for the PLAN raises the growing specter of Chinese warships crisscrossing and patrolling the Indian Ocean even more than it has hitherto. This is, and should be, of concern to India, even though Beijing is legally entitled to do so. David Shinn, an adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington Universityand writing for The Jamestown Foundation, commented, "Since 2008, China has significantly increased its naval presence in the Indian Ocean, giving rise to Indian concerns of potential military encirclement and raising questions in American strategic thinking about China's ultimate objectives. Both the United States and India maintain a much stronger naval presence than China in the Indian Ocean, but the balance is beginning to shift." The PLAN's very first foray into the western Indian Ocean was only in 2000, but the PLAN has since gained far more than just a temporary foothold in the western Indian Ocean. This opportunity was leveraged by China in December 2008 when it deployed its first anti-piracy task force to the Gulf of Aden. The 25th rotational anti-piracy task force is now operating there, with a typical group comprising two warships and a replenishment vessel. However, in 2014 the PLAN also dispatched a conventional submarine and a nuclear-powered submarine the following year. Given that submarines are not ideal platforms with which to intercept pirates, there were obviously deeper strategic reasons behind it, including giving the PLAN invaluable deployment experience. Furthermore, for the past five years there were no pirate attacks by Somalia-based pirates, but there has been a resurgence since March. For example, earlier this monthIndian Navy (IN) warships and a PLAN warship helped rescue the Tuvalu-flagged bulk carrier OS 35 after being boarded by pirates. Interestingly, despite zero pirate attacks for many months, China has not brooked the idea of removing its naval presence in the area. In fact, it is quite the reverse. Since last year China has been constructing a so-called "logistics facility" in Djibouti under a ten-year leasing agreement. There is absolutely no chance that China will withdrawfrom the Gulf of Aden or Djibouti, no matter what the piracy threat is. This can be traced back to several reasons. One is China's growing international interests and investments in places like Africa and the Middle East. The presence of forward-deployed military assets helps protect Chinese citizens and businesses.Evacuations by PLAN warships have already occurred in Yemen and Libya, for instance. Another is President Xi Jinping's hallmark One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative. This strategic "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" stretches from the Chinese coast, through the Indian Ocean, reaching the African coast and even as far as the eastern Mediterranean. Military engagement will closely follow economic investment along these various tentacles that this initiative is spreading. China, often dubbed "the factory of the world" and operating the fourth largest commercial shipping fleet in the world, is totally reliant on seaborne trade for raw materials and exports. It is the largest consumer of imported oil, of which 52% comes from the Middle East and 22% from Africa. Thus, 82% of its oil transits the Strait of Malacca chokepoint, and nearly 40% through the Strait of Hormuz. Such figures underscore the necessity of China protecting its sea lines of communication. This is also why China is showing interest in the Arctic northern sea route. Another reason is China's contribution to United Nations peacekeeping missions, including 235 personnel in Darfur in Sudan and 1,063 soldiers in South Sudan at the moment. If it has military outposts along the periphery of the Indian Ocean, including Africa, China could rapidlysupport these UN deployments. China has not been totally coy about its expanded security remit either. Its 2015 Defense White Paper promised the country would protect interests "concerning energy and resources, strategic sea lines of communications, as well as institutions, personnel and assets abroad". Consequently, the PLA is required to"safeguard the security of China's overseas interests" and build the nation "into a maritime power." Establishing overseas bases or support facilities is also in natural accord with China's declared policy of shifting to a combination of "offshore waters defense" and "open seas protection". The revelation that the PLAN Marine Corps will multiply from its present 20,000 members to nearly 100,000 is again further indication that China is seriously eyeing and anticipating overseas expeditionary deployments. Some will doubtlessly deploy to Djibouti, and Gwadar is another expected destination. China's single carrier, the Liaoning, has not ventured farther afield than the South China Sea, but it is only a matter of time before a Chinese carrier does enter the Indian Ocean. Where else could China set up military bases? Apart from the aforementioned Gwadar port and Djibouti base, Chinese corporations have been building commercial port facilities in Egypt (at both ends of the Suez Canal), Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. The Seychelles and Maldives have previously been named in mostly Indian publications as potential hosts for Chinese bases, but no such deal has eventuated to date. Incidentally, in 2011 China won a 15-year contract from the International Seabed Authority to prospect the seabed in a zone south of Madagascar, and a Chinese research vessel has been operating there since 2015. Amidst a fair degree of Indian paranoia over the "string of pearls" issue, it is important to remember that China's highest priority remains its own coast, the South China Sea, Strait of Malacca and Western Pacific. China is particularly wary of the Malacca Straitchokepoint, which is just two miles wide at its narrowest point. Former president Hu Jintao labeled it the Malacca Dilemma, and this is a major reason why China has been building overland oil and gas pipelines to reduce dependence on this vulnerable strait, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. China has invested heavily to create military infrastructure on reclaimed reefs in the South China Sea. Not only do these bases protect Hainan Island, home to a PLAN nuclear submarine base, but they help shore up the eastern end of the Malacca Strait. It is only natural that China will try to do the same in places like Djibouti and along the Indian Ocean rim, even though it must tread softly because of the political sensitivity of the issue. At this stage, Beijing cannot contemplate sea control strategy in the Indian Ocean so far from home and with minimal regional bases. Nevertheless, a permanent presence at new regional bases, plus the deployment of submarines, could offer sea denial capabilities in that ocean. Indeed, China is a long way from competing with either the IN or USN in the Indian Ocean. The latter has its 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, plus Diego Garcia in the middle of the ocean is a critical naval and air support base. The USA also has an Africa Command (AFRICOM, established in 2007) and a base at Djibouti with approximately 4,000 troops. Incidentally, Japan has a modest-sized base in Djibouti with a couple of maritime patrol aircraft. India, hemmed in by mountains and China to the north, and archenemy Pakistan to the west, is reliant on seaborne trade too. Indeed, 90% of its trade by volume and 90% of its oil travels by sea. Unsurprisingly, the ocean, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Lombok and Malacca Straits, is declared the IN's "primary area of interest". The PLAN could never hope to field a warship fleet in the Indian Ocean that could effectively compete with the IN, which aims to have a 200-ship navy by 2027. Furthermore, it has been reaching out and cooperating with countries like Japan and Vietnam. India also signed a logistics exchange memorandum of agreement that allows India and the USA to use each other's facilities for supplies and repairs. Certainly the strategic equation is complicated. China is helping Pakistan build up its navy (including future conventional submarines, Zulfiquar-class frigates and Azmat-class missile boats), while both Pakistan and India are nuclear-weapon states. Deploying nuclear weapons at sea would raise the stakes, and it is surely something the USA does not want to occur. At the same time, Delhi and Washington have no desire to see rising Chinese hegemony in the region. Shinn opined, "A strong case can be made for maximizing UScooperation with India in the Indian Ocean region while, at the same time, identifying areas where Washington and New Delhi can bring China into the picture in an effort to minimize future conflict among the three parties and enhance regional stability." He listed possible areas of cooperation as exercises, intelligence sharing, disaster relief, counterterrorism, combating drug and arms trafficking, and counter-piracy. The academic Jonathan Ward, also writing for The Jamestown Foundation, stated, "While OBOR-related infrastructure has been used militarily, China is also expanding its Indian Ocean naval presence by proxy, supplying Pakistan with eight diesel-electric submarines, and thus giving India's neighbor a transformative boost in its undersea capabilities." Mistrust between China and India will not be overcome easily, especially when China is not communicating well its strategic intentions in the Indian Ocean. This distrust now ranges far from the Himalaya border dispute as ithas taken on a serious maritime aspect. China could do much to thwart or frustrate India, including basing capital warships or troop contingents inneighboring Pakistan or elsewhere. Care must therefore be taken by Delhi not to allow the Sino-Indian relation to descend into a downward spiral whereby China nefariously uses security tensions as justification for such deployments. While strategic competition in the Indian Ocean is clearly intensifying, Ward went so far as to assert, "There is little doubt that sea power in this century will be defined by the rise of the Chinese and Indian navies." (ANI)
French far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen has announced that she is stepping down as leader of her National Front (FN) party to focus on gathering a large number of voters ahead of the decisive round in May. The move comes just a day after she reached the second round of the French Presidential elections, where she will face centrist Emmanuel Macron on May 7. In the first round of voting centrist Emmanuel Macron won 23.9 per cent and Le Pen received 21.4 per cent. Le Pen told French TV on Monday night that she needed to be above partisan considerations. "I have always considered that the President of the Republic is the President of all the French and must gather all the French, but it is necessary to translate words into action," she told France 2 public television on Monday. "I decided to leave the presidency of the National Front, and I am no longer the President of the National Front. I will be above partisan considerations," she said. "We are the ones who will defend the most and the best in the democracy. None of my actions will be carried out without the people or against the people. I am the only one who can guarantee the French's protection," she added. Le Pen brought the anti-establishment FN party into the country's political mainstream in Sunday's first round to elect a new President for the next five years. The 48-year-old presidential contender succeeded her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 to head the NF party. Since then, she has been working on softening the party's image by targeting widespread support of the young and the workers. After the first round of voting, French President Francois Hollande urged voters to choose Macron to keep out Le Pen. Speaking from the Elysee presidential palace, Hollande said that Le Pen's platform of pulling out of the euro would devastate the country's economy and threaten French liberty. He said that the far-right would "deeply divide France" at a time when the terror threat requires "solidarity" and "cohesion". Macron was Hollande's top adviser on economic issues from 2012 to 2014, then economy minister in his Socialist government for two years. --IANS soni/bg ( 380 Words) 2017-04-25-15:14:08 (IANS)
North Korea on Tuesday marked the 85th founding anniversary of its military with a massive live fire drill in an apparent show of force amid tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes. Instead of conducting a nuclear test or missile launch, North Korea staged the drill near the eastern city of Wonsan on the Korean People's Army (KPA) anniversary, according to the South Korean military. The drill coincided with military exercises held by the US and South Korean navies in the Yellow Sea, off the western coast of the Korean Peninsula. The USS Michigan, one of US' most powerful submarines, also arrived in South Korea on Tuesday. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have heightened amid concerns about a possible pre-emptive strike against Pyongyang by the US to counter its provocative acts, Yonhap news agency reported. Speculation was rife that Pyongyang may conduct its sixth nuclear test or launch a long-range ballistic missile to mark its military event. "If the US and warmongers run amok with a reckless pre-emptive strike, we will stage the most brutal punishment of a pre-emptive attack in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice," said Rodong Sinmun, a North Korean newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. The North held a meeting on Monday to celebrate the KPA's anniversary, stressing it was ready to respond to possible Washington military actions. "If the enemies dare opt for the military adventure despite our repeated warnings, our armed forces will wipe the strongholds of aggression off the surface of the earth through the powerful preemptive nuclear attacks," said Pak Yong-sik, the minister of the North Korean armed forces. Meanwhile, Seoul's Unification Ministry said that North Korea does not seem to have any major events planned for the anniversary despite its war rhetoric. "Another military parade is not expected, as North Korea already held a massive parade on the birthday of late state founder Kim Il-sung," said a military official. Tensions are still running high as the US Navy strike group, including aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, is expected to sail near the Korean Peninsula this weekend. North Korea's media had earlier warned that its military was ready to "sink" the carrier "with a single strike" if needed. --IANS soni/mr ( 396 Words) 2017-04-25-15:24:09 (IANS)
So far, Kaspersky Lab has identified nearly 9,000 botnet command and control servers and hundreds of compromised websites, including government portals.

In the operation, cybercrime investigators from Asean countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam exchanged information on specific cybercrime situations in their respective countries. China also contributed with an additional cyber intelligence report.

"Public-private sharing is a critical step in fighting cybercrime in the region. But for this operation, access to intelligence and technology has been as important as the experience of learning from each other throughout the process, resulting in better understanding and collaboration between private partners and law enforcement agencies," said Anton Shingarev, Vice-President Public Affairs of Kaspersky Lab.

The operation was carried out from the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) in Singapore, the research and development facility of the organisation.

Kaspersky Lab provided the Interpol team with an exclusive report on a WordPress plugin vulnerability that has affected thousands of websites in the region, including those belonging to government agencies, universities, NGOs and private businesses.

Through these vulnerabilities, cyber criminals injected malicious codes to over 5,000 legitimate webpages around the globe and redirected the users to advertising pages of counterfeit goods.

"Sharing intelligence was the basis of the success of this operation, and such cooperation is vital for long term effectiveness in managing cooperation networks for both future operations and day-to-day activity in combating cybercrime," added Noboru Nakatani, IGCI Executive Director.

--IANS qd/na/bg

( 283 Words)

2017-04-25-15:26:08 (IANS)
The Daesh (or Islamic State) is the most dangerous phenomenon Afghanistan is facing today, said the country's envoy to India, Shaida Abdali on Tuesday. "Terrorism is being used as a tool against Afghanistan, India and a number of countries around the world. There are a number of terror groups and Daesh is the most dangerous phenomenon we are facing today," Abdali said while speaking on "India-Afghanistan Strategic Relations in an Uncertain World", an address organised by Brookings India. He noted that Afghanistan has made progress in dealing with the Daesh and expressed hope that countries around the region and the world will help Kabul deal with it. "Daesh in Afghanistan is not from Syria or Iraq. The Daesh in Afghanistan is a creation of splinter militant groups, including the TTP and others," he said. Abdali stressed that there is a need to convey a strong message against terrorism particularly state-sponsored terrorism, it will never be able to win militarily. In order to find a durable solution against the menace of terrorism, he said, "I hope India, Afghanistan and the US will operationalise their trilateral strategic dialogue." He added that the new US administration is much stronger in terms of its approach in the war against terrorism. Commenting on Pakistan's allegation of Afghanistan harbouring terrorists and terror camps, the envoy rubbished these claims as 'baseless' and 'highly irresponsible' adding that Afghanistan itself has been the biggest victim of this menace. He added that a durable solution for the problems in Afghanistan can only be achieved if there is no duplicity and no selectivity in defining terrorism, or in other words using one terror group against the other. He added that it is also crucial to not have substitutes for state to state relation, have sincere regional cooperation in continued partnership with international community and regional consensus in the long term stabilization of Afghanistan as a common good. Even though Taliban remains the primary threat in Afghanistan, there have been growing concerns over the presence of the Islamic State in Afghanistan. The latest carnage claimed by the IS in Afghanistan was the attack on Sardar Daud Khan Hospital in Kabul on March 8, when men dressed as medics detonated explosives to open the hospital's main gate and proceeded to open fire on unarmed civilians and medical personnel. The attack claimed over a 100 lives. (ANI)
Prominent Sindhi nationalist organisation Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) held a massive anti-China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) rally from the Indus Highway to the tomb of Sain G M Syed in Pakistan's Sindh province. The JSMM also held a political gathering in the town of Sann in District Jamshoro on the occasion of 22nd death anniversary of Sain G M Syed, the 20th century Sindhi scholar and politician who laid the foundations of Sindhudesh movement. Sindhi nationalists commemorated the death anniversary of Sain G M Syed on the occasion. JSMM, JSQM, JSM, JST and other nationalist organisations also held political gatherings while book fair and awareness camps were also organised. Tens of hundreds of Sindhis visited Sann to commemorate the life, struggle and ideology of Syed. The participants of the anti-CPEC rally were carrying anti-CPEC, anti-extremist religious terrorism, anti-human rights violations' banners and play cards, demanding safe recovery of missing Sindhi political activists. The participants of the rally also protested against human rights violations, persecution of religious minorities, forced conversions, expulsion and forced marriages of Sindhi Hindu Girls. They asked for rejection of CPEC projects and demanded total independence for Sindh. JSMM leaders and activists placed floral wreaths on the tomb of Sayed and the martyrs of Sindhudesh movement and recited national anthem of Sindhudesh as a salutation on the eve of the 22nd death anniversary of Late Sindhi leader. A political gathering was also organized at the occasion where JSMM leadership and Sindhi intellectuals spoke to the audience vowing to continue their struggle for Sindhudesh and paid rich tributes to the life and struggle of Sain G M Sayed. The gathering was presided over by the exiled Chairman of JSMM, Shafi Burfat via audio link address. He paid homage to the thoughts, ideology, and life of Sayed and analyzed the current political scenario of Sindh. In his address, Burfat said "Sindh has always been an independent country and nation since ages. After the creation of Pakistan, the hopes of Sindhis were not accomplished, and Sayed was the man who outstandingly rejected the religious basis for the existence of Pakistan and political course of engineered Pakistani politics. He had declared the struggle for an independent secular, democratic state of Sindhudesh for Sindhis. Speaking of the current political situation, Burfat declared CPEC as the death warrant for the cultural, economic, geographic existence of Sindhi and Baloch nations, deeming it a "Punjabi conspiracy to strengthen its imperialist expansionist hegemony over Sindh and Balochistan." He also termed CPEC as a "trigger of international conflicts and nuclear arm's race in the region" and "strategic military design of Chinese aggression over the Indian Ocean" and demanded International Community and UN to take an immediate notice of Pakistani state's brutality and atrocities against the Sindhi and Baloch political activists. Burfat condemned the enforced disappearances of JSMM, JSQM activists and life sentences and imprisonment of JSMM activists. He also condemned the persecution of religious minorities, expulsion, forced conversions, forced marriages of Sindhi Hindu girls in Pakistan instigated by the state institutions and the murder of Pashtun student Mashaal Khan. He criticized the role of Sindhi Feudal in partnering the imperialistic designs of Punjab and genocide of the Sindhi and Baloch Youth. "Pakistan is a sanctuary, sponsor and epicenter of the islamic extremist terrorism, it deceived the world in war on terrorism and the time for retribution is near," he said. "We, the Sindhudesh Movement, are now entering a phase of mature, decisive, disciplined politics to annihilate the designs of greater punjabi imperialism against the existence of historic Sindhi nation. Activists should prepare themselves to make sacrifices and commitment to the cause." he added. JSMM central Leaders Shabir Mallah, Hafeez Sindhi and others also spoke to the audience and condemned the state's brutality, savagery and ongoing paramilitary operation against the nationalist activists. A large number of Women also participated in the commemoration gathering of Syed's 22nd anniversary. Jeay Sindh Students Federation (Student wing of JSMM) also organized a membership and public opinion camp at Sann to spread awareness about the statutory sentence of capital punishments to its Chairman Hafeez Pirzado, activist Asif Baat and enforced disappearances of its activists and collective rights of Sindhi students. (ANI)
It has also become the first party to bring forward the manifesto for the local election scheduled for the next month.

Former Prime Minister of Nepal as well as President of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba unveiled the manifesto in a program organized at party head office in Sanepa.

The 52-page manifesto promises to make optimum use of water and human resource for the prosperity of the nation with the focus in development of agriculture and tourism sector.

The party has also promised to give right to the local levels for the creation of favorable environment for the investments.

The Nepali Congress also presented ambiguous plan of creating five lakh job opportunities in a year.

With 20 days remaining for the commencement of local polls, Nepali Congress solely has unveiled its manifesto.

Other political parties of Nepal have claimed to be preparing the manifesto but are yet to announce the date to unveil it.

The delay thus seen has ignited the fear that the polls will not be held in the speculated dates.

The cabinet meeting on Sunday gave a nod to the Election Commission to hold the elections in two phases which the government hopes agitating parties participate in the election. (ANI)
At least four persons suspected of having links to the perpetrators of the Brussels airport and metro attacks of March 2016, were detained in Barcelona, officials said. According to regional authorities, police carried out raids early Tuesday in an operation against a group with alleged links to terror groups and organised crime here and detained nine persons, Efe news reported. Of the nine, four persons are suspected of having links to the perpetrators of the Brussels attack, though there were no signs they were planning an attack in Spain, Catalonia's regional head of the interior Jordi Jan said. According to Jan, in addition to the 12 raids carried out on residences in the Barcelona area -- where at least three weapons, drugs and money were found -- raids on homes were also being carried out in Morocco, where seven of those arrested came from. He said links had been found between some of the nine arrested in Barcelona and the alleged perpetrators of the Brussels attacks that left 35 dead and more than 340 injured. Sources close to the investigation said the arrested, aged between 30-40 years old, were all Moroccan -- apart from one Spaniard -- and had spent almost two decades in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, taking regular trips to Morocco. --IANS vgu/ ( 223 Words) 2017-04-26-02:22:07 (IANS)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-24 21:56:33|Editor: ying

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by Abu Hanifah

JAKARTA, 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian central and regional governments are taking steps to promote further marine destinations in eastern region of Wakatobi and Morotai, aimed at vibrating tourism that would eventually give direct positive economy impacts to people around the destinations.

The steps were manifested in year-long tourism events in the eastern destinations which are best known for their breathtaking undersea coral, biodiversity views and small tropical isles with pristine beaches.

Wakatobi and Morotai are part of Indonesia's now-developed 10 new tour destinations, highly expected to spur the nation's economy from tourism sector which has been set core industry by the government.

Hosting the launch of tourism event calendar in Wakatobi here, Southeast Sulawesi Governor Nur Alam said that the year-long events would comprise festivals to further promote the beauty of Wakatobi Island to the world.

"Wakatobi has been set as the nation's development model for small islands and lagged region through tourism," the governor said recently.

The festivals would highlight marine and local cultural attractions, to be peaked by the ninth national-scale event of Wakatobi Wonderful Sail slated on August 10 to 13.

Wakatobi, that has marine resort and offers undersea beautiful scenery, is a frequent stop for foreign cruise ships during their sail in Indonesian waters.

The governor expected that the series of festivals in Wakatobi would further lure domestic and foreign visitors which this year targeted at 40,000.

The province itself has welcomed a total of 22,380 domestic and foreign visitors last year, or 19.5 percent higher than a year earlier.

Meanwhile for its destination near Pacific Ocean of Morotai, Indonesia has prepared a six-month festival that comprise of marine-related competitions for the visitors.

Addressing the launch of the events called 2017 Wonderful Morotai Island Festival (WMIF), Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said massive promotion needs to be taken to promote the far-flung destination to make it a world class one.

"The events were expected to lure 135,000 foreign and 540,000 domestic visitors to come there this year," the minister said over the weekend to address the event slated from May to October this year.

Among competitions featured in the 2017 WMIF were photo contest and fishing at open sea which attract many foreign and domestic enthusiasts.

The destination located in North Maluku province is famous for its beautiful and undersea coral scenery featured with wrecks of World War II battle ships which are many in Morotai seabed.

The minister added that the government has planned to expand the capacity of airstrip serving in Morotai so as to provide international access to the destination which is close to the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, China and several Pacific island countries.

An Indonesian private developer firm, Jababeka, revealed recently that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) document with an Asian investor partner to develop hospitality accommodation in Morotai.

In the MoU document, Jababeka Chairman Darmono said that his firm's partner was willing to develop hotels and villas in Morotai with total rooms of up to 300.

Without disclosing his investor partner, Darmono said on Sunday that the initial investment to begin the project was 100 million U.S. dollars and could be expanded to 1 billion U.S. dollars in the future.
Photo taken on April 24, 2017 shows a scene of the Ancient Civilizations Forum in Athens,Greece. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

ATHENS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The first Ancient Civilization Forum kicked off here on Monday as countries representing early civilizations across the world aim to pool their wisdom together to address today's problems and challenges with stronger cultural and economic ties.

The forum, a Greek initiative with China as co-organizer, is attended by delegations from 10 countries representing major ancient civilizations. Other participants include Bolivia, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Mexico and Peru.

Beneath the towering Acropolis of Athens, delegations headed by foreign ministers of the 10 countries attended the two-day forum, which is "in a bid to promote cultural heritage and cooperation," according to the Greek government.

The forum took place at the magnificent Zappeion Megaron, a building of historic significance and an active part of Greece's history over the last 130 years.

CONTINUITY, STABILITY

The 10 countries represent more than 40 percent of the world population and are at the center of international political developments in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

In his welcoming address to the inauguration of the forum, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said that dialogue and coordination of civilizations could help tackle today's challenges of war and terrorism, urging the crisis-hit Europe to retrieve its lost root of civilization -- peace and solidarity.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said in his opening speech that at a time of instability, ancient civilizations offer continuity and stability.

He said that the culture of compromise and consensus, ability to fight for justice should be needed.

The achievements of the past gain increasingly more value, not when one rests on one's laurels, but when they are utilized to form a better present and a more hopeful tomorrow and this is the aim of the forum, Kotzias said in his invitation to the participants.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari told the forum that the cultural diversity of the world should be respected and treasured, since "if all flowers were of the same color, they will have not been attractive."

The minister condemned the Islamic State(IS) for devastating the cultural heritages in his country.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry said that the forum revives values that should be universal and a source of inspiration.

"At this time when the world is suffering from extremism of all kinds at the global level, we need the lessons we can draw from old civilizations," said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "We can contribute by promoting dialogue and understanding."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told press at the end of Monday's forum that three consensus including peace, inclusiveness and cooperation have been achieved by the ministers.

CLASH OR COORDINATION

At Monday's ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the forum, the ministers stressed the common vision to utilize cultural heritage to promote friendly relations, international cooperation, peace, stability and prosperity.

Foreign ministers attending the meeting reached the consensus that the so-called "clash of civilizations" can be avoided through dialogue and cooperation.

Greek diplomats said it was the first time that countries from four continents meet around the same table for a cultural initiative, aiming to form a "positive agenda" of cooperation.

Although the countries participating in the forum come from different geographical areas and cultures, they are all considered cradles of ancient cultures and are coming together to discuss issues such as the "role of culture as a source of soft power and the key tool of a modern and multidimensional foreign policy," the Independent Balkan News Agency reported.

Another aim of the forum is to highlight the international cultural cooperation as a factor for economic development.

"Civilization brings diversity closer, it is a source of wealth," Kotzias said, "Civilization is both global power and financial power, creating jobs, promoting economy. "

In his meeting with Greek leaders and foreign ministers from other countries, the Chinese foreign minister stressed the ongoing forum derives from the same origin as the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative in the sense that they both provide thoughts and culture for the cooperation of countries across the world with focuses on peaceful development and common prosperity.

Wang said the 10 countries convene to derive "nutrition" from their ancient values and civilizations to realize their own development, provide solutions to today's world challenges as well as explore new development path for the all human beings.

China advocates that different civilizations should understand and be tolerant of each other to promote common development, he said.

"Only through dialogue of different civilizations can we maintain regional and global stability," he added.

He stressed that only through peaceful means should all the disputes and conflicts be addressed as "dialogues" should serve as the bridge.

"China has been treasuring peace but also respecting the differences and diversity of different cultures and civilizations, " Wang said. "The whole world, whose fate has never been so closely knitted, is a community of common destiny. "

He called on all the countries to reject "conflicts of civilization", transcend social and ideological differences and prejudices.

The senior Chinese diplomat also urged all the present countries to join hands to strengthen their cooperation, so as to achieve common prosperity and development.

"We should inherit our traditional cultures, remain confidence and respect and honor each others' social system and development path," Wang said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 04:38:25|Editor: MJ

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RIO DE JANEIRO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China is Brazil's biggest foreign investor so far this year, according to consulting firm Dealogic on Monday.

In the first four and half months of 2017, Chinese investors spent 5.67 billion U.S. dollars on mergers and acquisitions, representing 37.5 percent of total investment in the country.

Chinese investment in Brazil up to mid-April amounts to nearly half of the 11.92 billion U.S. dollars China spent in 2016.

Trailing China were Argentina and Netherlands, with 1.6 billion and 1.1 billion U.S. dollars respectively.

The rise in Chinese investment comes at a time when Brazil is improving its trade balance with China, thanks to increased iron and petroleum exports.

Brazil's positive trade balance went from one billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of last year to 5.5 billion U.S. dollars in the same period of this year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 04:53:31|Editor: yan

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DUBAI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The federal supreme court in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sentenced on Monday a UAE citizen to 10 years in prison for joining the Islamic State terrorist organization, state news agency WAM reported.

The court also put the 21-year-old convict on the observation list.

The young citizen was sentenced to only one year in prison before, a verdict challenged by the State Security Prosecutor who referred the case to the federal court.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 05:03:35|Editor: ying

Security members inspect the company Prosegur after a robbery in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, on April 24, 2017. Paraguay government on Monday ordered the deployment of military troops to the southeast city of Ciudad del Este after tens of millions of dollars were robbed and one police officer killed, according to reports from Paraguay. (Xinhua/Christian Rizzi/AGENCIA ESTADO)

MONTEVIDEO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Paraguay government on Monday ordered the deployment of military troops to the southeast city of Ciudad del Este after tens of millions of dollars were robbed and one police officer killed, according to reports from Paraguay.

"The Public Security Ministry and National Police are going to deploy a significant (number) of men and security personnel at key locations," Paraguay Interior Minister Lorenzo Lezcano said in an interview with a radio station in Asuncion, the capital, on Monday.

Around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, a well-organized and well-armed group of 40 to 50 assailants broke into a private company and went away with 40 million U.S. dollars.

During the four-hour operation, the robbers exchanged fire with local police, killing one and wounding four.

Ciudad del Este, the second-largest city, is located 350 km east of the capital.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 05:48:47|Editor: yan

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KHARTOUM, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The British ambassador said here on Monday that his country would work with the international community to achieve comprehensive peace in Sudan.

"We are committed to work with the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP), led by Thabo Mbeki, the Troika, the U.S. and Qatar to achieve peace in Sudan, particularly Darfur," British Ambassador in Khartoum Michael Aron told reporters after a meeting with leaders of the external relations committee in Sudan's parliament.

The British diplomat commended the ongoing efforts to implement the national document of the Sudanese national dialogue conference which concluded in October last year.

He said what concerns Britain is the way to combine the document of the national dialogue with the AU road map and find an encouraging climate to enhance peace in Sudan.

In March 2016, the Sudanese government unilaterally signed the AU road map related to the cease-fire in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur regions in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

Five months later, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector, the Justice and Equality Movement and the opposition National Umma Party, led by Saddiq al-Mahdi, also signed the road map.

In October 2016, Sudan's national dialogue conference approved the national document after a year of deliberations.

The final document, covering principles of rule, public freedoms, identity, peace, unity, economy and external relations, will serve as the basis of the country's permanent constitution.

In January 2014, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir declared an initiative calling on the opposition parties and the armed groups to join a national dialogue to end the country's crises.

However, major political parties and armed movements, including the Revolutionary Front Alliance which brings together the SPLM/northern sector and the major Darfur armed movements, refused to participate in the conference.

The Darfur armed groups and the SPLM/northern sector, citing decisions of the AU Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council, insisted that a preparatory conference should be held first to make all the Sudanese political forces agree on procedures to initiate an equitable dialogue, a demand that the Sudanese government rejected.
KATHMANDU, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Nepal has only completed reconstruction of 22,234 houses out of the total 800,000 damaged by a deadly earthquake in April 2015 as the Himalayan nation marks the second anniversary of the disaster on Tuesday.

Of the total houses rebuilt, most of them are done by the residents without the government support, according to Nepal Reconstruction Authority (NRA), a government agency which coordinates reconstruction efforts.

Most of the families who are eligible to get government's grant to rebuild their houses are yet to receive full payment, only getting the first tranches of 50,0000 Nepalese rupees (482 U.S. dollars) out of the total pledged 300,000 Nepalese rupees (2,893 U.S. dollars) in full installments.

The Nepalese government has identified 626,695 families to benefit from the government's grant. Of them, 54,3606 have got first tranches of the grant from the government. The NRA has also started distributing the second installments in a few districts out of the 14 hardest-hit districts. The full payment will be made in three installments.

"I have to admit that the reconstruction has been slow," Govind Raj Pokharel, chief executive officer of the NRA, said on Monday.

He said that lack of trained human resources are the main reason behind the delay. "The frequent protest and resignation by the technical staffs demanding higher pay also contributed to the delay."

A massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal on April 25, 2015, killing over 9,000 people and leaving thousands injured.
TOKYO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Sixteen people were injured in an explosion at an iron factory on Tuesday morning in Japan's northernmost Hokkaido prefecture, local media quoted first responders as saying.

According to local reports, a furnace exploded at the iron factory in Asahikawa at 8:30 a.m. local time (2330 GMT Monday) with the injury count quickly rising from five to 16 with at least one person seriously injured, firefighters on the scene said.

Firefighters have cordoned off the area around the factory and advised local residents to evacuate in case there are further explosions.

The blast at the factory, which is located 2 km from JR Asahikawa Station, has not affected the train line's operations, local media said.
SYDNEY, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A controversial scheme that Australia's Victorian politicians rorted to take taxpayer funds they were not entitled to has been closed.

Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, announced the "sweeping" changes, under which the Members of Parliament (MPs) who had wrongly take the money would be forced to repay the money.

The government came under fire in March when it was revealed that House Speaker Telmo Languiller and his deputy Don Nardella had incorrectly used the second residence allowance intended for MPs who represent electorates in rural areas.

Under the reforms, approved by Andrews' Cabinet on Tuesday, the second residence allowance would be made available exclusively to country MPs while travel allowances would also be tightened.

An independent tribunal will be established to set MPs salaries and rule on what allowances each MP is entitled to.

Languiller has since repaid the money he wrongly took but Nardella, who resigned from the Labor Party but remains in parliament as an independent, has repeatedly refused the opportunity to repay the 130,000 U.S. dollars he claimed.

Andrews said parliament would vote to recover the money if Nardella did not pay him back himself.

"If he does not pay that money back before these bills come into the Parliament in just a couple of months' time, I think all of us on across the Parliament will take that out of Mr Nardella's hands and we will recover that money," Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.

Matthew Guy, leader of the Opposition Liberal Party, said he supported the changes but believed Andrews was too soft on Nardella.

"Daniel Andrews has today given Don Nardella a leave pass, he has allowed him to keep drawing a salary, he's allowing him to remain a Member of Parliament," Guy said.

"Not only should Don Nardella pay the money back, he shouldn't be in Parliament."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 09:40:37|Editor: Liangyu

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RIO DE JANEIRO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Reigning Brazilian Serie A champions Palmeiras could secure a berth in the Copa Libertadores knockout phase if they defeat Penarol in their Group E match on Wednesday.

But to do so, Bolivian outfit Jorge Wilstermann must avoid losing their away clash against Argentina's Atletico Tucuman on Tuesday.

Palmeiras currently lead the group with seven points from three matches, one point ahead of second-placed Jorge Wilstermann.

Uruguay's Penarol are third with three points and Atletico Tucuman fourth with one point.

According to Palmeiras' former Brazilian international midfielder Jean, Penarol will be a formidable opponent at their Campeon del Siglo stadium in Montevideo, despite their poor form so far in the competition.

"We have to look at the bigger picture," Jean said. "It's important to secure our place in the next phase as soon as possible. We are going out to get three points. But when playing away from home the main thing is not to lose. A draw would be an excellent result."

Other teams that can book a place this week in the next stage of South America's top club competition are Brazil's Gremio, Argentina's Godoy Cruz and Paraguayan outfit Club Guarani.

Gremio and Club Guarani, who both have seven points, will meet at the former's Gremio Arena in Porto Alegre on Thursday while Godoy Cruz are away to Sport Boys Warnes of Bolivia on the same day.
SYDNEY, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of homes in Australia's Victoria state have been damaged by overnight floods brought on by a severe thunderstorm.

State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers were called out to attend hundreds of calls, with vast majority of them coming from the state's west near Geelong and the Surf Coast.

Marc Dorey, an SES spokesperson, said there were reports of flash flooding, building damage and flooded homes.

"We've pretty much cleared all of the jobs overnight," Dorey told News Limited on Tuesday. "Most of the calls came through in a couple of hours and it took a while to churn through those."

"There were a number of cars that became stuck as they've driven into flood water," Dorey said.

The spokesperson said that volunteers were bracing for another spike of calls on Tuesday morning as residents woke up and were able to properly assess the damage.

Michael Efron, a senior forecaster from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), said that the Geelong was the worst hit area by the storm.

"(It) brought very intense rainfall in around half-an-hour to an hour and that resulted in flash flooding," Efron told Fairfax Media.

"Inverleigh, just west of Geelong had 37mm since 9 a.m. However, of that 30mm was in one hour when that storm went through between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m."

Though the storm had passed, rain continued to fall in Melbourne on Tuesday morning and it was expected to continue throughout the day.

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) warned people to remain cautious around the floodwater and to avoid driving in areas where the road was covered by water.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 10:00:43|Editor: An

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ROME, April 24 (Xinhua) -- President of Xinhua News Agency Cai Mingzhao met here with CEO of ANSA news agency Giuseppe Cerbone on Monday over further cooperation between the largest news media of China and Italy.

During their meeting, Cai said the peoples of China and Italy have a long history of friendship, and have further developed it in recent years thanks to the promotion of the two countries.

Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni is expected to attend a high-level forum on China's Belt and Road Initiative to be held in May in Beijing, indicating a new high of China-Italy relations, he said.

As the most important news agencies in China and Italy, Xinhua and ANSA should play a greater role in promoting ties between the two countries, Cai said.

For his part, Cerbone said ANSA is ready to develop cooperation with Xinhua in the new media sector, such as photos and videos service on the basis of long-term partnership.

Cai left Rome late on Monday. During his stay in Italy, he also met with Giuseppe Marra, president of Adnkronos, a well-know news media in Italy, and Paolo Panerai, CEO of Italian media group Class Editori.
SYDNEY, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Speed limits on major roads in Australia's Victoria state have been slashed in order to protect deteriorating freeways.

VicRoads has considerably reduced the speed limits in dozens of locations across the state due to unsafe conditions, News Limited reported on Tuesday.

The decision has been slammed by motorists and councils who said the new limits were being introduced by the government to avoid fixing potholes.

Des Trotter, a bus driver who operates on regional school routes in western Victoria, said drivers and passengers were being put at risk.

"If we don't do anything, the roads will just crumble and how many 80 kilometer per hour (kmph) or 60 kmph zones can you have?" Trotter told News Limited.

"It is just very dangerous and maintenance on the vehicles is skyrocketing. (The road) is causing so much damage to our front end and our tyres."

Analysis revealed that drivers in the state's west were being worst affected.

The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, a roadside assistance company, called for a 900-million-U.S. dollar restoration package.

A spokesperson for VicRoads said weather had played a factor in the limit cuts.

"We always prioritise this work, however it is not possible to undertake more significant works during the wet winter months," she said.

"We undertake regular maintenance and road hazard inspections until more comprehensive works can be completed weather permitting."

Ryan Smith, a roads spokesperson for the Opposition, said funding had been cut.

"Country Victorians are sick and tired of driving on roads that are getting worse by the week," Smith said.

Victoria's Roads Minister Luke Donnellan denied the allegations of under-funding, saying the government had spent more than 200 million U.S. dollars on road maintenance since being elected in 2014.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 11:10:56|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China's quarterly job report delivered a positive message Tuesday as 3.34 million new jobs were created in the first quarter and the unemployment rate fell to 3.97 percent.

The number of new jobs was 160,000 higher than that in the same period last year, and the unemployment rate was down 0.07 percentage points from a year earlier and 0.05 percentage points lower compared with the previous quarter, official data showed.

"China's job market posted a strong start this year and remained stable in the first quarter," said Lu Aihong, spokesperson of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, at a press conference.

Economists said the lower jobless rate suggested a healthier picture of Chinese economy.

From January to March, job vacancies rose 7.8 percent year on year while applicants increased 2.1 percent, according to data with the ministry.

"The need for workers is particularly pressing in the manufacturing sector," said Zhang Yizhen, vice minister of human resources and social security.

China's manufacturing sector in March stayed above the boom-bust mark for the eighth month in a row, reinforcing the message conveyed by increased industrial business profits, and shedding light on economic restructuring progress.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 11:36:02|Editor: An

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HANOVER, Germany, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The need for further awareness building, the requirement for entirely new skills, and the need for traceable and comparable industrial standards are three challenges in implementing the concept of Industry 4.0, said a senior UN official on Monday.

Li Yong, director general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), said that although Industry 4.0 has the potential to improve productivity and competitiveness, to increase energy and resource efficiency, and therefore to protect the environment, these challenges should be addressed, the UNIDO chief told the Sino-German Intelligent Manufacturing Investment Cooperation Conference during the world's largest industrial trade exhibition -- the Hanover Fair.

"UNIDO is more than ready to assume its role in tackling these challenges," he said, showing confidence in collaborative actions with the international community, with which potential losers of this new industrial trend can be turned into its main beneficiaries.

Li emphasized the importance of city-to-city cooperation, which UNIDO actively promotes through international and high-level Belt and Road (B&R) events -- B&R Inclusive and Sustainable City Exhibition and Dialogue, which was held for the first time in Vienna last year.

Li said "the second high-level B&R event will take place in Vienna from Sept. 26 to Sept. 28, 2017," which will discuss sector-specific urban development challenges and will aid in the development of concrete project-based opportunities for business matchmaking, financing and investment.

Regarding Sino-German cooperation in intelligent manufacturing, or aligning Germany's "Industry 4.0" with "Made in China 2025," Li said, China and Germany, both as very important member countries of UNIDO, have a long tradition of friendship, sharing a common interest in enhancing business collaborations and engaging in long-term joint ventures.

He is very confident that Chinese cities can offer a conducive business environment to allure more foreign companies from Germany and other countries that are looking for business potential in the thriving sub-regions of China.

It is very encouraging to see the renewed attention given to high-tech industrialization as a driver of economic diversification, value addition, economic growth and sustainable development, the UNIDO chief said.

He underlined that "history shows that no country in the world has reached a high stage of economic and social development without an advanced industrial sector."

For its 70th year, the five-day Hanover Fair, which opens on Monday, is expected to attract around 200,000 visitors this year.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 11:51:05|Editor: An

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GUIYANG, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China's top alcohol brand Kweichow Moutai reported a net profit rise of 25.2 percent year on year from January to March.

Moutai's net profits in the first quarter rose to 6.1 billion yuan (around 886 million U.S. dollars). Its sales revenues during the period reached 13.3 billion yuan, up 33.24 percent year on year, according to Kweichow Moutai on Tuesday.

In 2016, Moutai saw its output reach around 60,000 tonnes, with sales revenues surpassing 38.8 billion yuan and net profits reaching 16.7 billion yuan, up 18.99 percent and 7.84 percent, respectively, year on year.

Distilled in the town of Maotai in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Moutai is considered the country's national liquor and often served on official occasions and at state banquets.
HANOI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The 24th annually Vietnam International Exhibition on Products, Equipment, Supplies for Pharmaceutical, Medical, Hospital and Rehabilitation (Vietnam Medi-Pharm 2017) will be held here on May 10-13, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said on Tuesday.

A total of 410 businesses and organizations from 30 countries, including China, India and South Korea among others, will participate in the largest ever exhibition this year, doubling the scale of 2016's event with 200 exhibitors from 20 countries and regions, said the organizers.

The MoH's annual Vietnam Medi-Pharm exhibition aims to popularize a view of modern and advanced community health and enhance international integration, with main exhibits include medicine, medical supplies and equipment, clinic and hospital furniture and equipment, medical examination and consultation services, surgical equipment, insurance, among others.

During the exhibition, there will be conference introducing Vietnam medical and pharmaceutical market, trading policies when doing business in Vietnam hosted by related departments and associations under the MoH.

Vietnam Medi-Pharm 2017 will help local and international enterprises to introduce their products, exchange and study experience, expand investment market and facilitate technology transfer, said MoH's Deputy Minister Pham Le Tuan.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 12:06:09|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- For Gao Hengrui, 20, going to a bookstore is no longer only about buying books, rather, it is a "culture hunt."

Wine tasting, photo exhibitions, themed lectures -- cultural events like these have made bookstores a "must-go" for young Chinese.

"Bookstores today are not just stores, but public spaces where people can relax," Gao said.

As China's consumer spending on culture grows, the country's bookstores are reinventing themselves. Redefining themselves as "knowledge centers" or "cultural hubs," physical bookstores are reviving an industry in a downturn.

CITIC Books, the book chain owned by Chinese conglomerate CITIC Group, for example, offers value-added services to meet the demand of a niche market.

CITIC Books targets a group of customers it calls "the rising class," offering them new products in its bookstores, such as drones and 3D-enabled phones.

To diversify its income streams, CITIC Books also offers customized services to corporate executives, selecting the "right" books to cater to the demand of individuals based on their personal characteristics such as age and interest.

"Bookstores are not just selling products now. In fact, they are selling lifestyle," Fang Xi, general manager of CITIC Books, told Xinhua.

In 2016, CITIC Books' parent company, CITIC Press, generated a net profit of 128 million yuan (about 18.6 million U.S. dollars), 28 percent more than the previous year, according to the company's annual report.

Revenue growth will accelerate as the book chain opens more stores this year, according to Fang. Confident in the company's growth potential, Fang said that CITIC Books plans to open another 60 stores in 2017.

Like CITIC Books, branded bookstores around the country are looking for their own niche market. In Guangzhou, a bookstore operates much like a boutique shop, offering designer accessories and artwork while giving readers space to read. In Beijing, a bookstore features cats, inviting cat lovers worldwide to spend an afternoon with books, coffee and their favorite pets.

What underlies the transformation of physical bookstores is a shift in China's consumption, which is becoming increasingly diversified and culture oriented.

"Not that long ago, big companies in China had all the power to determine what products would be made available to the market," said CITIC Group chairman Chang Zhenming in the company's annual report. "That era is long gone, and consumption models have changed to reflect the primacy of customer desire."

Whether it's selling artworks or offering coffee, booksellers have their own way to answer the call.

"The change in bookstore culture exactly reflects what's going on in the economy," Fang said.

Cultural spending in China as a whole is gaining momentum as authorities push the cultural sector. China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), the country's social and economic development blueprint, is attempting to make the culture a "pillar" in the country's economy.

Local governments have also introduced detailed support measures, including rewards and tax incentives, to encourage physical bookstores.

According to a poll conducted by Renmin University of China, the Culture Consumer Index, a measure of the country's cultural consumption, increased from 73.7 in 2013 to 81.5 in 2015.

With government support and rising demand, publishers like CITIC Books cannot find a better time to innovate.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 12:26:15|Editor: Liu

Photo taken on April 19, 2017 shows Volkwagen cars at the 7th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai, east China. The exhibition kicked off in Shanghai Wednesday.(Xinhua/Ding Ting)

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China is aiming to become a world auto-making powerhouse in a decade, vowing to boost development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) and relax restrictions on foreign ownership.

The country will strive to achieve breakthroughs in key technologies and markedly increase the share of Chinese brands in the international auto market by 2025, according to an auto industry development plan released Tuesday by three government departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

By 2020, China will see NEV output and sales hit 2 million annually, the plan said.

That number is about four times the current level. China sold 507,000 NEVs last year, the most in the world for a second year and up 53 percent from 2015, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

Restrictions on foreign ownership in the country's joint-venture car makers will be relaxed "in an orderly manner," the plan noted.

China, the world's largest auto market, caps foreign stakes in joint ventures in the domestic auto industry at 50 percent.

The government plan also predicted China's annual auto output to reach around 30 million by 2020 and 35 million by 2025.

Auto sales in the country hit a record high of 28.03 million in 2016, up 13.7 percent year on year, according to CAAM.
SEOUL, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was carrying out large-scale artillery drills Tuesday on the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its army, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

There were signs that the DPRK's military was conducting large-scale, live-fire drills around the city of Wonsan on its east coast, Yonhap said, citing an unidentified South Korean government source.
A Nepalese laborer works amidst the debris at a Tamang monastery damaged during the 2015earthquake, at Swayambhunath in Kathmandu, Nepal, Jan. 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Pratap Thapa)

KATHMANDU, April 25 (Xinhua) -- It has just been two years since Bishnu Shrestha opened the "Hotel Small Heaven" in the Tatopani area which borders China, with the hotel targeting traders involved in Nepal-China trade and tourists when the deadly earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015.

Since the quake, the Tatopani-Khasa (Zhangmu) border point, which was the main trade route for inland bilateral trade between the two countries, has remained closed, leaving Shrestha's business in dire straits.

The closure of the border point has severely hurt businesses which used to depend on the cross-border movement of goods and people, such as local hotels and restaurants, shops, business people carrying goods, and loaders among others.

"The traders and the Indian tourists were our main customers," said Shrestha, recalling how his 28-room hotel used to be bustling with Indian tourists. "From May to September, Indian tourists used to fill the hotel rooms here," he said.

He added that Nepalese traders involved in trade with China and those who used to visit the area to take a bath at a hot pond (Tatopani) believed to cure many ailments, also used to stay in hotels there.

Following the closure of the border two years ago, Shrestha rarely has customers stay in his hotel. Yet he has kept the hotel open, hoping that the border point will open one day.

With his cash flow largely stopped due to a lack of patronage, Shrestha is struggling to repay the bank loans taken to build the hotel.

Shrestha borrowed 7 million Nepalese Rupees (67,515 U.S. dollars) from banks to build the hotel at a cost of 40 million Nepalese rupees (385,802 U.S. dollars). "I have been paying the interest only but with much difficulty," said Shrestha, who had to abandon his other business of importing Chinese readymade garments following the closure of the border point.

After hearing that China is developing infrastructure in the Nyalam area near Zhangmu to reopen the border, Shrestha is hopeful that his hotel business will survive. Nepalese officials also believe that the Tatopani border point will reopen after China completes the infrastructure development at Nyalam.

There are about a dozen hotels in the bordering areas and most of them are in sorry state following the closure of the border two years ago, according to Sindhupalchowk Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a group of district-based business people.

Not only the hotels, hundreds of container loaders and drivers have also lost their jobs due to the closure of the border point, according to Nimfunju Sherpa, senior vice-president of Sindhupalchowk Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Sherpa himself sold most of the containers he had owned following the closure of the border. "I had over two dozen containers but sold around half of them," he said.

"I use these to import goods through Rasuwagadhi, the only operating border point on the western side of Tatopanni to do business with China, as well as for the delivery of goods brought via sea from southern border points," said Sherpa.

Sherpa, who also owns a wholesale electronics shop and a clothes store, now imports most of his goods from China by sea via Kolkata, India.

It takes between 45 and 60 days for Nepalese traders to import goods via sea from Guangzhou, compared to 15-20 days it used to take when importing through Tatopani.

According to traders, although the Rasuwagadhi-Geelong trade route has been operational for land based trade, it is not as easy to import goods through this route as it is through Tatopani-Zhangmu because of poor road conditions along the border.

There are also some restrictions on Nepalese traders entering China.

"I used to import most of the goods from China through Tatopani, but now I have been importing most of the goods by sea," said Bishnu Gwachha, who owns a kitchenware shop in the Bhaktapur district of Kathmandu.

Importing goods by sea costs more, both in terms of time and finance, but Gwachha sees few alternatives.

"I also incurred losses after the goods I was trying to import got stuck at Zhangmu for six months after the earthquake," he said, adding that both Nepalese traders and Chinese business people have suffered losses due to the closure of the Tatopani border point.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 12:41:21|Editor: An

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ZHENGZHOU, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Luoyang, China's "city of peonies," will export 1 million cut flowers to Australia, as part of a flower trade cooperation.

Shenzhou peony company, a major flower growing enterprise in Luoyang of central China's Henan Province, has signed a deal with several Australian distributors to sell 1 million peonies and Chinese herbaceous peonies to Australian customers in 2017.

"In order to pass the quarantine inspection of Australia, we have translated Australian standards and import regulations on cut flowers, and offered training to flower farmers since last year," said Guo Xueliang, head of the city's entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau.

"It is estimated that each cut flower will cost three Australian dollars, more than five times the price in China," said a deputy general manager with the company surnamed Cao.

Cao added that the company would expand its flower planting scale next year to meet the growing demand of cut flowers in foreign markets.

Statistics show that Luoyang exports fewer than 100,000 peonies and Chinese herbaceous peonies to foreign countries and regions each year. It is expected to export 20 million such flowers in the following two to three years.

The city has been growing peonies for more than 1,500 years. The flower was preferred by royal families for its luxuriant blossom, which symbolizes prosperity and wealth.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 13:06:24|Editor: Liu

Workers work at the Liaoning section of a high-speed railway in northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 11, 2017.(Xinhua/Yang Qing)

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Growth scares come and go in the Chinese economy, but they never eclipse its resilience.

Once again, the doomsayers were caught out when China's statistics agency reported higher-than-expected growth of 6.9 percent in the first quarter, an eye-popping figure in a still precarious global environment.

The Chinese economy was once renowned for the hum of its assembly lines, the belch of its smokestacks and the clang of its construction sites.

But gradually, consumption and service sector have become new benchmarks of the Chinese economy. In the first quarter, 77.2 percent of growth was driven by consumption, and the service sector accounted for 56.5 percent of the overall economy. In terms of growth, the service sector leaves agriculture and the secondary industry far behind.

Robust growth produces well-paid jobs. China's unemployment rate has stayed under 5 percent while resident's per capita real disposable income outpaced the GDP growth.

Premier Li Keqiang has said that China's economy has not only been able to avoid a "hard landing," but is also stabilizing and improving with a better structure and more jobs.

A resilient China was depicted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a key factor offering a sunnier outlook for the global economy, helping dispel the gloom that has lingered since the Great Recession ended.

After raising China's 2017 growth projection to 6.6 percent, the IMF said it might raise the forecast again.

While the world economy is stuck in the doldrums, China is running like a powerhouse. World Bank data showed it contributed more than 30 percent of global growth in 2016.

While there are encouraging signs, China is not immune from risks. It has a long to-do list, with reform at the top.

The IMF has warned of breakneck expansion in bank lending and dangerous real estate bubbles. Effective measures are essential to resolve these problems to prevent them from growing too costly to solve.

The Chinese government has put supply-side structural reform as its top priority for economic management. The reform will help address excess capacity, restrain credit and curb debts. No one should doubt the government's resolution.

With the world economy facing tighter financial conditions and rising protectionism, the Chinese economy is heading for a bumpy journey. However, confidence should be maintained given China's resolution and resilience.
PHNOM PENH, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Tuesday rolled out its red carpet for Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on his official visit to the kingdom to boost bilateral ties and cooperation.

Nguyen Xuan Phuc was greeted by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen with a brass band and guard of honor at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

The two leaders held talks focusing on politics, economics, trade, investment, tourism, education and health, Kao Kim Hourn, a minister attached to the Cambodian prime minister, told reporters after the meeting.

"In the economic front, the two prime ministers agreed to boost the two-way trade volume to 5 billion U.S. dollars in coming years," he said. Trade volume between the two countries was valued at 2.92 billion U.S. dollars in 2016.

The two leaders also discussed issues related to border and Vietnamese immigrants in Cambodia, Kao said.

At the end of the meeting, the two prime ministers witnessed the signing ceremony of four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) focusing on a feasibility study for an expressway from Cambodia's Phnom Penh to Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, the construction of a Phnom Penh-Hanoi Friendship Boulevard, the construction of a rehabilitation center for drug addicts in southwestern Cambodia's Preah Sihanouk province, and renewed fishery cooperation.

Kao said the Vietnamese side agreed to provide 3 million dollars to Cambodia for the construction of the rehabilitation center for drug addicts and 2 million dollars to develop a market in southeastern Cambodia's Tboung Khmum province.

The Vietnamese prime minister arrived in Cambodia on Monday for a two-day visit.
YANGON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's education authorities have encouraged outstanding high-school students to apply for ASEAN scholarship to further study in Singapore, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

According to official media Tuesday, students born between 2001 and 2003 are eligible to seek the scholarship and the deadline of application is set for Wednesday.

ASEAN scholarship winners will study in selected Singapore schools from Secondary Three to Pre-University Two, subject to their performance.

The scholarship is tenable for four years and winners will be awarded Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A -Level) of equivalent certificate.

Candidates are required to be proficient in English and enthusiastic in participation in co-curricular activities, the report said.

Developing the potential and equipping youths with important skills for the 21st century are the main aim of the ASEAN scholarships.

The selection test for short-listed candidates will be held in Yangon, the report added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 13:56:35|Editor: ying





New Zealand's Governor-General Patsy Reddy (2nd R) attends the ANZAC Day National Commemoration Service in Wellington, New Zealand, on April 25, 2017. ANZAC serving as an acronym for Australia New Zealand Army Corps and the date marked the 99th anniversary of the first landings by Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli, Turkey, in 1915. (Xinhua/Su Liang)

by Xu Haijing, Matt Walsh

CANBERRA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of thousands of Australians flocked to ceremonies held across the country in honor of those who died in war on Australia's national day of remembrance, Anzac Day, on Tuesday, while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull paid a secret visit to Australian troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Anzac Day is held on April 25 each year on the anniversary of the first landings of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) troops at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. The offensive, undertaken during World War I, was deemed one of the campaign's biggest failures, but is memorable for the mateship and camaraderie shown among allied soldiers.

The downpour of rain failed to deter 50,000 of Canberrans from attending the Dawn Service held at the Australian War Memorial when the dawn broke. The service is to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey on April 25, 1915, the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during World War I.

Some 10,000 people also attended the the National Ceremony held later in the morning when veterans marched in front of the Australian War Memorial. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce laid wreath as the representative of Prime Minister Turnbull.

The PM's office published photos from the unannounced visit to social media on Tuesday morning, showing Turnbull meeting with Australian servicemen and women who are both assisting local forces in the fight against Islamic State (IS) and helping local communities rebuild from the war.

The trip was kept a secret in order to protect Turnbull and his party, with the prime minister visiting Iraq on Sunday and Afghanistan on Monday, thanking troops for their commitment to helping in the region.

"At every level, you're helping the forces of Iraq defend themselves and liberate their country from Islamic State," Turnbull told the Australian soldiers during his visit, as reported by a press release by the PM's office.

"We are fighting with the same allies we fought with 100 years ago, but in a different fight and I want to thank you on the eve of Anzac Day for your service."

In Iraq, the Australian prime minister visited Australian special forces soldiers in Baghdad, handing out 15 service medals, while he also spent time at Camp Taji with Australian and New Zealand military personnel.

He briefly met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi before jetting to Afghanistan, where he visited Camp Qarga outside capital Kabul, and later met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

In a post to social media on Tuesday, the prime minister thanked Australian servicemen and women all over the world for their commitment to keeping the world, the Middle East in particular, safe.

"It has been an honor to meet the servicemen and women in the Middle East to thank the Anzacs of today for their service. Almost 2,000 Australians are helping to defeat and destroy the terrorists, they are defending freedom here so that we can live in freedom at home," Turnbull posted to social media website Facebook.

Across Australia, services and parades are held in cities and small towns to commemorate the war dead and pay tribute to the servicemen and women.

More than 100,000 people lined the Sydney CBD's streets and waved flags as an estimated 16,000 veterans marched by, despite the warning from the police that there might be terrorist attack on the day.

Security was tight in Sydney where police used water-filled barriers and blocked roads amid concerns about a potential lone-wolf style terrorist attack.
KABUL, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has met with visiting Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on bilateral relations, the Afghan Presidential Palace said Tuesday.

"Both sides talked over the expansion of bilateral ties and Australian assistance with Afghanistan in a meeting in the Presidential Palace on Monday," it said in a statement.

Turnbull was quoted in the statement as saying that he was interested in establishing relations between Australian and Afghan universities in order to encourage bilateral cooperation in the areas of mines, water management, project management, program management and health services.

"Turnbull promised that he will follow these issues upon his return to Australia," the statement noted.

During the meeting, Ghani described Australia as a historical friend of Afghanistan and thanked Australia for its assistance and cooperation with Afghanistan in different areas.

"Afghanistan and Australia have excellent and friendly relations. President Ghani recently visited Australia where agreements in the areas of technical and scientific cooperation were signed. Also, an MoU worth 320 million Australian dollars was signed by both countries in accordance with commitments of Brussels Conference during this visit," the statement reads.

Turnbull has expressed his condolences and sympathies to the Afghan leaders and people over the latest terrorist attack on Afghan army base.

On Friday, a deadly Taliban attack on the base left over 135 soldiers killed and 60 others injured in the northern province of Balkh.
MANILA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will push for a greater Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) unity and deeper economic integration within ASEAN and other countries in the region when Southeast Asian leaders meet in Manila this week.

As the chair of the 10-member ASEAN, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Philippines hopes to set the tone for the next 50 years of ASEAN's future.

"Now, more than ever, it is important to realize that our destiny lies in ASEAN and (in the Asia) Pacific region. I put forward our initiatives and priorities for a stronger ASEAN," Duterte said recently.

In his speech in Davao City in January, Duterte stressed the need to maintain regional peace and stability, and called for renewed constructive engagement with ASEAN dialogue partners.

UNITY, COOPERATION CRUCIAL TO BLOC'S COLLECTIVE SUCCESS

Duterte said that unity and cooperation, which have defined ASEAN over the last five decades, will be crucial to the bloc's collective success as a community. "We are committed to the building of a strong and resilient ASEAN community," he said.

"We must continue working on a bigger, more open and rules-based market for business and trade to thrive," he added. "We must forge on with increased people-to-people interaction through commerce, travel and education. We must strive for a region that promotes and maintains peace, security and stability."

This year, he said, the focus will be to work for regional peace and stability, pursue maritime security and cooperation, advance inclusive, innovation-led growth, strengthen ASEAN resiliency, and promote ASEAN as a model of regionalism and as a global player.

Acting Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo stressed the need to have peace and stability to attain ASEAN's core goals of economic development and community-making.

"Our goal is to advance common interests, all aligned towards the realization of a truly rules-based, people-oriented, people-centered community," Manalo said.

The ASEAN leaders will discuss issues that would promote peace, security and stability in the ASEAN region," he said.

"We will reassert ASEAN centrality," Manalo said, adding that Duterte "will raise issues which would support or enhance greater ASEAN centrality and involvement in regional issues and promote ASEAN unity."

ASEAN needs to have regional centrality and solidarity to ensure the region's continued peace and prosperity. Although ASEAN has outlasted regional crises, analysts say tensions and challenges continue to test its solidarity and resolve.

POSITIVE RESULTS ON CODE OF CONDUCT FRAMEWORK TALKS

Aside from community building, Manalo said the leaders are expected to talk about security issues besetting the region including the developments in the South China Sea, and how to address non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, transnational crimes and disaster response.

The issue of the South China Sea is linked directly to regional peace and stability. Efforts are underway to craft a framework for a code of conduct aimed at reducing tensions in the South China Sea.

"It's very promising and it gives us a lot of optimism that we're moving in the right direction," Manalo said.

Manalo has predicted that maybe by mid-year "we might have a framework of a code of conduct."

"At least, we have now a very clear basis to negotiate a code. Hopefully this will continue in the years ahead and translate into something very concrete," he said.

The top diplomat said there is a renewed trust between ASEAN and China thanks to the improving Sino-Philippines relations.

"I think what this really signifies is that we're now in a position to try and seriously have a code, a framework and in the process talk about this problem, how to manage these tensions. And I think there's been now a better element of trust and I think better political will," he said.

ASEAN TO CULTIVATE EXTENSIVE ECONOMIC COOPERATION, INTENSIVE INTEGRATION

Another key issue on the agenda at the Manila summit is to cultivate extensive economic cooperation and intensive integration.

The Philippines has committed to fasttracking the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a giant freed trade pact backed by China that aims to tie together ASEAN's free trade agreements with trading partners of Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.

Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the Philippines will push for the "substantial conclusion" of RCEP that will expand the ASEAN market from 600 million people to 3.5 billion by the yearend.

RCEP negotiations were launched in November 2012 in Cambodia, and scheduled to conclude by the end of 2015. While this deadline has passed, negotiations are expected to intensify this year with experts predicting that an RCEP deal could occur this year.

Wilfrido Villacorta, former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN, said the countries of ASEAN have always been very diverse.

Hundreds of languages are spoken in the region. In terms of population or area, some countries are large and some are small, some are rich and some are poor. But remember that their geographical proximity and the desire for mutual protection propelled the establishment of ASEAN in 1967.

Despite the rapid development and progressive integration achieved over the past few decades, ASEAN economies remain extremely diverge, marked by a low degree of convergence. But that is exactly what ASEAN is doing now, to further integrate their economies. ASEAN now is trying to shape a common strategy to promote development and stability in the region, Villacorta said

Richard Heydarian, the professor from De La Salle University, believed promoting the ASEAN economic integration is easier than political integration and social and cultural integration, saying some countries still haven't got a consensus on regional security issues.

A chairman's statement will be issued at the close of the summit. ASEAN leaders will meet again in November for another summit and the East Asian Summit that will be attended by leaders from ASEAN dialogue partners.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 14:36:51|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, April 25 (Xinhua) -- At least four militants and a kid were killed while four security personnel injured during an overnight clash between the militants and the forces in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, officials said Tuesday.

Spokesperson of paramilitary troops Rangers said that the forces conducted a search operation at the militants' hideout on a tip-off by another terrorist arrested a few days ago by the forces.

The operation was conducted in Urdu Bazar area of the city on Monday night and ended after seven hours in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, he said.

The spokesperson said that the militants hurled hand grenades at the rangers during the operation in which four troops got injured.

In retaliatory attack, the forces shot one militant dead while three others blew themselves up upon being cornered.

A hard-core militant tried to flee from the compound and was arrested by the rangers, the spokesperson said.

A five-year-old kid, who was passing by the site with his family, also got killed after receiving a bullet injury during the exchange of firing between the forces and the militants.

The spokesperson said that the insurgents rented the house three months ago and were preparing suicide jackets and other explosives for terrorist activities in the city.

He said that the militants could not be identified and their details will be shared after the completion of identification process.

The spokesperson said that a huge cache of arms and ammunitions were also recovered from the militants' hideout. Enditem
BERLIN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Germany made a sign of relief on Monday after Sunday's first-round presidential election in France.

"We are pleased and relieved that the vote of the French voters is a pro-European one," Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) quoted a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry as saying.

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and ultra-right candidate Marine Le Pen both entered the second round, but it is generally believed that the former would win on May 7.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman also wished Macron good luck in next month's second round, according to the DPA.

Sigmar Gabriel, German vice chancellor and foreign minister, told reporters that he believed that Macron "was the only pro-European candidate who did not hide behind prejudices against Europe."

One dissenting voice came from Frauke Petry, the co-leader of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party, who congratulated Le Pen for reaching the second round.

"France has given a clear rejection of stagnation and exaggerated political correctness and wants alternatives," DPA quoted Petry as saying.
Sourcew: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 15:01:37|Editor: MJ

A demonstrator takes part in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela, on April 24, 2017. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez on Saturday called for "true and accessible" global media coverage of the recent situation in the country. Since April 1, Venezuela has seen intense protests by both government and opposition supporters in Caracas and across the country, which have claimed at least 15 lives. (Xinhua/Boris Vergara)
A nurse draws a blood sample from a young girl for the malaria test at the Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in Mbale, Uganda, April 26, 2014. (Xinhua/Daniel Edyegu)

NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled a new malaria vaccine called RTS,S that will be piloted in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi next year to gauge its efficacy and safety.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony in Nairobi, WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said the launch of a malaria vaccine developed after years of painstaking research marked a critical milestone in the fight against the tropical disease.

"The prospect of a malaria vaccine is great news. Information gathered in the pilot program will help us make decisions on the wider use of this vaccine," Moeti said.

Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa, she added.

Developed through a public-private partnership, RTS,S malaria vaccine has been recommended by a scientific panel appointed by the WHO to gauge its efficacy.

The selection of Kenya, Ghana and Malawi to participate in the malaria vaccine pilot program was based on their well-laid structures to fight the disease alongside high prevalence levels.

Moeti noted that RTS,S vaccine will complement existing interventions like drugs, indoor spraying and treated nets to vanquish the malaria-causing parasite that is transmitted by mosquitoes.

"We require new diagnostics, more effective anti-malarial drugs and new chemical formulations to prevent insecticide resistance in order to win the war against malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa," Moeti said.

She said the UN Health agency has mobilized funds to support implementation of the initial phase of the malaria vaccine pilot program that covers 2017-2020.

"The vaccine will be assessed as a complementary intervention in Africa that could be added to our existing toolbox of proven preventive, diagnostic and treatment measures," said Moeti.

She said the Sub-Saharan African region prevented an estimated 6.8 million malaria deaths between 2001 and 2015 thanks to political goodwill and robust financing toward prevention and treatment tools.

WHO statistics show that in 2015, 13 out of 15 countries accounting for 80 percent of global malaria burden were in Africa.

The director of the WHO Global Malaria Program, Pedro Alonso, urged African governments to scale up investments in proven interventions like insecticide treated nets, indoor spraying and medicines to reduce malaria infections and deaths.

"We have highly efficacious prevention and treatment options that should be scaled up to eliminate malaria in high endemic African countries," said Alonso.

He said the initial pilot program of the RTS,S malaria vaccine will target 700,000 African children.

Kenya's cabinet secretary for health, Cleopa Mailu, hailed the launch of a malaria vaccine, saying it will accelerate progress toward elimination of the disease.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 15:32:13|Editor: Mengjie

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Liu Qibao (L), member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, and Matrai Marta, executive vice chairman of the Hungarian National Assembly, attend the release ceremony of the Hungarian version of Chinese President Xi Jinping's book "Xi Jinping: the Governance of China" in Budapest, Hungary, on April 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

BUDAPEST, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian language edition of the book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" was released here Monday at the National Bank of Hungary (MNB), receiving warm applause from the Central and Eastern European country.

Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Marta Matrai, deputy speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, attended the book-releasing ceremony.

Liu introduced the rich connotation of the book from the perspective of party governance, state governance and global governance.

He pointed out that since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core, put forward a series of new ideas and new strategies based on China's contemporary national conditions and development practice, which profoundly answered the major theoretical and practical questions in party and state governance in the new era.

Liu said that President Xi's book is the main embodiment of the series of new theories, ideas and strategies. The publication of the Hungarian version of the book will open a new window for the Hungarian people to observe and perceive China, he added.

It will also help them to better know and understand China's ideas and road of development as well as China's domestic and foreign policies, said Liu.

"China is the biggest, most important power in Asia, but it looks at the global problems with a responsible attitude," said Marta Matrai. "Many people try to find the secret of the Chinese miracle, and this book might help them get the answer," she added.

"The book of the Chinese president is a smart and wise one, which bears the messages of a 5,000 year-old culture," the governor of the Hungarian central bank Gyorgy Matolcsy said.

"One of the most important messages of this book is that behind every important economic result, there is a well functioning and steady state," Matolcsy noted, stressing that the "renewal of the China dream was a condition for a global renewal."

The book contains 79 chapters of speeches, talks, interviews, notes and letters that Xi made or wrote between November 2012 and June 2014.

The Hungarian version is the 19th foreign language into which the book has been translated. The book has been distributed in over 6.2 million copies worldwide.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 15:37:16|Editor: ying

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ISLAMABAD, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani army said four hardcore terrorists, who were involved in "committing heinous offenses relating to terrorism," were hanged on Tuesday.

An army statement said the terrorists were convicted on the charges of killing of innocent civilians, attacking armed forces of Pakistan and law enforcement agencies.

The terrorists were tried by military courts and were executed at a prison in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

All the convicts were the active members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a statement from the army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said.

The convicts admitted their offenses before the magistrates and the trial court.

The military courts were established for the speedy trial of the terrorists after the deadliest attack on an army public school in Peshawar in December 2014. Nearly 150 people, mostly students, were killed in the Taliban claimed attack.

Last month, the parliament approved a constitutional amendment to revive military courts for two more years.

The two-year term of the military courts expired in January and the treasury and opposition benches joined hands to pass a constitutional amendment for a two-year extension.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 15:42:16|Editor: Mengjie

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BUDAPEST, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Hungary have agreed to deepen cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative and 16+1 framework.

China-Hungary relations are at their best after years of all-round development, Liu Qibao told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday.

Liu, head of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said China attaches great importance to Sino-Hungarian relations.

He noted that China is willing to work with Hungary to improve cooperation in economy and trade, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and other areas within the Belt and Road Initiative and 16+1 framework.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road and maritime trading routes, bringing mutually beneficial economic outcomes for every nation it reaches.

The 16+1 framework is a cooperation platform created in April 2012 by China and 16 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries including Hungary.

During the meeting, Liu introduced the new ideas and new strategies of national governance put forward by the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core since the 18th CPC National Congress.

He said the CPC is willing to deepen communication with Hungary's ruling Fidesz Party on ideas of state and party governance in order to promote the further development of Sino-Hungarian relations.

Orban, who is also head of the Fidesz Party, said the Hungarian government and his party attach great importance to relations with China.

He said Hungary will remain open and actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and the 16+1 framework, constantly enriching the content of Sino-Hungarian ties.

Orban said he was looking forward to his trip to Beijing in May for an international forum on the Belt and Road Initiative and for a visit to China.

At the invitation of the Fidesz Party, Liu paid a three-day visit to Hungary. During the visit, Liu also attended a ceremony for the launch of the Hungarian-language edition of the book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China."

Liu also attended a ceremony for the launch of the China-CEE Institute and opened the Chinese Film Festival in Budapest.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 15:52:21|Editor: Mengjie

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HEFEI, China, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China's human-like robot, named Jia Jia, did a live "interview" with Kevin Kelly, a famous U.S. journalist and technology observer, on Monday.

The interview was hailed by scientific experts as "having symbolic significance" as it is the world's first interactive conversation between an "artificial intelligence (AI) reporter" and a human being.

FIRST AI REPORTER

"Jia Jia, can you sing or play me some music?" Kelly, co-founder of the tech magazine Wired, asked in a one-on-one conversation with the AI robot.

"You can get them yourself," Jia Jia answered wittily.

Wearing a traditional Chinese women's fashion, the eye-catching robot looked astonishingly realistic, and was even blinking and smiling during the entire interview.

"Do you like me?" Jia Jia asked.

"Yes," Kelly replied.

"I think so," said Jia Jia.

These conversations were conducted via Skype from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei in east China's Anhui province. Its content was not pre-arranged or designed in any way.

Kelly has been following the development of AI for years, and one of his conditions to receive Jia Jia's interview is not to control the content of their dialogue.

"It's good for Jia Jia to take up such a challenge," said Professor Chen Xiaoping, director of the Robotics Laboratory at the USTC.

"I would give her 70 points (out of a hundred) for her performance," said Chen, Jia Jia's head developer.

Chen believed Jia Jia's "interview" with Kelly had great significance for the research and development of AI robots.

"There were some delays and confusions due to the (Skype) network. Apart from that, I think the conversation was successful," Chen said, adding Jia Jia's response to some questions are quick and satisfactory.

Besides Kelly, Jia Jia had also made interactive conversations on Monday with several computer experts and media representatives, including Bart Selman, Professor of Computer Science Department of Cornell University.

"How old are you?" Selman questioned the humanoid robot, who responded in a joking tone that "Girl's age is a secret." While asked about what she is looking forward to as a robot, Jia Jia replied, "I am looking forward to Friday, my paycheck (day)."

Selman said that Jia Jia, the first AI reporter as far as he knows, could help people peek into the future of the fast growing artificial intelligence.

ROBOT GODDESS

Dubbed "robot goddess," Jia Jia has a beautiful face, long flowing locks and rosy red cheeks, looking very much like a real woman.

The human-like robot from China is designed with natural eye movement and speech, which is in synchronization with its lip movement.

The life-like robot was first trotted out in 2016 by Chen and his research and development team at the USTC, which also developed the model service robot "Kejia."

According to Chen, it took the team three years to develop on the basis of research this new-generation interactive robot, which can speak, show micro-expressions, move its lips and move its body.

The AI robot is programmed to learn skills, recognize human faces and interaction and is equipped with a cloud-based system for memory storage.

She was able to accurately answer a query about the day's weather, hold basic conversations and recognize the gender of her questioners.

The interview on Jia Jia, initiated and live streamed by Xinhua, could have some symbolic significance for the future news-gathering and interview, said Jin Jianbin, a professor with the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University.

Though rapid advancements have been made in artificial intelligence over recent years, Chen and Jin believe, AI robots could not replace human journalists in the short term as they still lack the ability of planning and creativity.

However, both of the experts saw a bright future for AI development.

Just as Kelly has said, as for AI development, "we are at the beginning of the beginning -- the first hour of day one. The greatest products of the next 25 years have not been invented yet."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 15:57:21|Editor: ying

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VIENTIANE, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Lao Health officials are investigating a report that human sperm has been imported into Laos, local daily Vientiane Times quoted a senior government official as saying on Tuesday.

Lao law prohibits the trade of human organs including blood and sperm, Director General of Health Care Department under Lao Ministry of Health Chanphomma Vongsamphan told Vientiane Times on Monday.

Thai media reported on Saturday that a man attempting to smuggle what is believed to be human sperm out of Thailand to another fertility clinic in neighboring Laos was arrested recently.

Nithinon Srithaniyanun, the courier, told Thai authorities that he had picked up sperm from four clinics in Bangkok for delivery to another fertility clinic in the Lao capital of Vientiane, Thailand's the Nation reported, citing the authorities in charge.

Nithinon was earlier arrested by authorities at the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge checkpoint in the northeastern Thai province of Nong Khai where he attempted to smuggle six tubes of what is believed to be human sperm stored in a frozen nitrogen tank into Laos.

Thai customs officials said Nithinon had travelled from Thailand to Laos 20 times during July last year and February this year. In addition, he also travelled to Cambodia 24 times from September last year to April this year.

Chanphomma said Lao Health Minister Bounkong Syhavong has told officials in charge to inspect the report. "We have inquired into a consultant of the clinic in question. The consultant denied any involvement by the clinic in illegal action," he said.

Chanphomma stated that further investigation is being carried out to verify the issue. He stated that there is not a clinic in Laos that is licenced to offer surrogacy services. But many clinics are licenced to offer healthcare services including offering consultations on how couples should prepare themselves and their health as they plan to have a baby.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 16:07:24|Editor: Mengjie

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PRETORIA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China and South Africa on Monday launched a people-to-people exchange mechanism and held its first meeting in Pretoria.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, who is also co-chairperson of the China-South Africa High-Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism (PPEM), read out a congratulatory letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first PPEM meeting.

In her remarks, Liu said the establishment of the PPEM is a strategic decision made by Xi and South African President Jacob Zuma in view of the overall situation of China-South African relations.

It is also an important step to implement the outcomes of the 2015 Johannesburg summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, marking the launch of China's first inter-governmental high-level PPEM with an African country.

Liu said that the PPEM will play an important role in enhancing China-South African relations, deepening bilateral cooperation and facilitating South-South cooperation.

In recent years, with numerous meetings between the heads of state of the two countries, the China-South Africa relationship has maintained a strong momentum and kept enriching itself, said Liu, stressing that bilateral ties are at their best.

It is imperative to bring into full play the leading role of the PPEM to push forward bilateral exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of areas such as education, culture, science and technology, health, youth, women, sports, think tanks, press and tourism, she said.

The vice premier called for the creation of a new pattern of people-to-people exchanges featuring governmental and nongovernmental efforts as well as the broad participation of various parties.

At the meeting, South African Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa also read out a congratulatory letter from President Zuma.

Mthethwa said the South Africa-China PPEM will enhance the mutual understanding and learning between the two peoples and give a boost to South African efforts to realize the African Dream.

Mthethwa noted that with the launch of the PPEM, South Africa and China will be better positioned to jointly face up to challenges and promote common development and prosperity.

During the meeting, Liu and Mthethwa also witnessed the signing of six cooperation agreements.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 16:32:32|Editor: ying

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MOSUL, Iraq, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi government forces on Tuesday freed a new neighborhood after heavy clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants in the western side of Mosul, the Iraqi military said.

The elite forces, known as Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), drove out IS militants from the neighborhood of al-Tanak in western edge of the city of Mosul and raised the Iraqi flags on some of its buildings after fierce clashes, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, from the Joint Operations Command (JOC), said in a statement.

The recapture of Tanak neighborhood, which had long been one of the main IS redoubts in Mosul, came after several days' battles against terrorist militants.

The latest advance is part of operations to retake control of the remaining IS-held neighborhoods in the western side of Mosul.

It is also part of slow push toward the western and northwestern edges of Mosul's densely populated old city center, where roughly 400,000 residents are believed to still be trapped under IS rule.

Meanwhile, federal police and interior ministry special forces, known as Rapid Response, pushed further reinforcement troops to the edges of the old city center to initiate progress from new directions in the areas of Bab al-Toub and Bab al-Jadid, Lt. Gen. Raid Shakir Jawdat, commander of the federal police forces, said in a press release.

The move came as fierce clashes continued in the narrow streets in the old neighborhoods around the historical al-Nuri Mosque in the middle of Mosul's city center.

The troops' progress in the old city center is much slower than the early phases of the offensive by the stubborn resistance of IS militants, in addition to the orders to the troops that restricted the use of heavy bombings and increased sniper fire against the militants holed up in densely populated area to reduce civilians casualties.

Also in the day, the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units launched in the early morning a new operation to dislodge IS militants from their desert stronghold in the town of Hadhar and nearby villages, some 80 km southwest of Mosul, a media office for Hashd Shaabi said in a statement.

After several hours of their advance, the paramilitary units cleared three villages near Hadhar from IS militants and defused many roadside bombs, the statement said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-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.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 16:37:36|Editor: ying

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by Juan Manuel Nievas

BUENOS AIRES, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The economies in Latin America and the Caribbean region are gradually bouncing back from a regional recession, but to sustain growth they need to eliminate "structural bottlenecks" and improve "quality infrastructure," experts said Monday.

The statement was made as financial experts gathered in Washington from April 21 to 23 for the annual Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

In his latest assessment of the Latin American region, Alejandro Werner, director of the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department, said, "The economies ... are slowly recovering from the regional recession in 2016," although risks remain ahead.

He cited both the internal factors like "corruption concerns in some countries and upcoming elections" and the external risks, such as "greater global policy uncertainty, a rising tide of economic nationalism in advanced economies and a potential tightening of global financial conditions."

However, with "medium-term growth projected to remain subdued at 2.6 percent, tackling structural bottlenecks is essential to supporting and raising medium-term growth" for Latin America, said Werner.

"Priorities include improving quality infrastructure and education, encouraging further female labor participation ... and enhancing the business environment and governance," he noted.

The IMF expert said Brazil, South America's biggest economy, buoyed by a bumper crop and higher iron ore prices, "is expected to return to positive (growth) territory in 2017."

In Argentina, "the economic recovery is expected to continue in 2017, driven by a rebound of private consumption" and an uptick in exports.

Argentina was slated to hold mid-term elections on Oct. 22 that will serve to gauge President Mauricio Macri's popularity and potential to run for the re-election for the 2019-2023 term.

While "Mexico's real GDP growth is expected to decelerate to 1.7 percent in 2017," largely due to the uncertainty about its future ties with the United States, it is expected to recover to reach 2 percent in 2018, according to IMF experts.

In the lead-up to the Spring Meetings, the World Bank echoed the IMF's projections of growth recovery in Latin America, saying "the region's average growth will turn positive this year."

In a press release, the bank said the GDP in the region "is expected to grow by 1.5 percent this year and 2.5 percent in 2018, putting an end to six years of an economic downturn, including recession over the past two years."

In an interview with Xinhua, Andres de Nichilo and Martin Dukart, two analysts from Argentine consulting group Asia Viewers, also said, "The region needs to modernize its infrastructure and logistics, and reduce transport costs, or it could run into the risk of obstructing greater productivity and development."

They noted that the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a potential key player in bolstering the infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

The AIIB "is an essential agency for undertaking the large-scale infrastructure works that Latin American and Caribbean countries need," they said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 16:47:40|Editor: ying

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COLOMBO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a lorry in Bentota, in southern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, police said.

The private passenger bus was on its way to capital Colombo when the lorry was on its way to the southern city of Galle.

The wounded were rushed to nearby hospitals by the police and residents in the area.

The drivers of the two vehicles are among those injured and receiving treatment in hospital.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 16:52:42|Editor: ying

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SEOUL, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted large-scale live-fire artillery drills on Tuesday to mark its army anniversary, said South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement.

The DPRK staged the large-scale exercises of firepower on Tuesday afternoon around the city of Wonsan on the east coast, it said.

The South Korean military was closely monitoring the DPRK's moves as it maintains firm combat readiness, said the statement.

Tuesday's drills, believed to be the largest-ever live-fire exercises carried out by the DPRK, reportedly involved between 300 and 400 long-range artilleries. The drills were observed by top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

The DPRK in the past tended to mark significant dates by displaying its military capabilities. On April 15, the country conducted a massive military parade in Pyongyang to mark the birthday of its founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong Un.

The live-fire drills in the DPRK on Tuesday came amid ongoing joint military exercises of South Korea and the United States.

The U.S.-South Korea war games, code-named Foal Eagle, kicked off on April 13 and would last till the end of the month. It was denounced by the DPRK as a rehearsal for northward invasion.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 17:27:52|Editor: ZD

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party China (CPC) Central Committee said that the Party's inspection work has been greatly invigorated since the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting on Tuesday.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong addresses the first meeting of the China-South Africa High-Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism in Pretoria, South Africa, April 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Hi, here is what you need to know about China.

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a congratulatory message to the inaugural meeting of China-South Africa High-Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism held in Pretoria, South Africa, expressing great expectation about the mechanism.

In the message, Xi noted that the China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership has kept a strong growth momentum in recent years and brought real benefits to the peoples of both countries.

The mechanism is the first of its kind between China and an African country and an important follow-up action to implement the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Johannesburg Summit, Xi said in the congratulatory message.

- - - -

ATHENS -- China pledged Monday to continue its active role in the economic reconstruction of war-torn Iraq.

The promise came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari on the sidelines of the ongoing Ancient Civilization Forum here.

Wang said Iraq has made important contributions to the world's anti-terrorism cause, pledging China's support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq.

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ONBOARD SHIP XIANGYANGHONG 09 -- Chinese scientists embarked on a deep-sea mission in the South China Sea on Tuesday, the beginning of the second stage of China's 38th oceanic expedition.

China's manned submersible Jiaolong with her crew of scientists arrived in the location aboard the mother ship Xiangyanghong 09 on Tuesday.

The submersible is expected to conduct its first South China Sea dive this year on Wednesday if the weather conditions allow, according to Wu Changbin, general commander of the second stage of the expedition.

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BEIJING -- China on Monday urged all related parties to stay calm and exercise restraint and not to take any moves that may further escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the remarks at a daily press briefing, saying that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is complicated, sensitive and extremely tense.

The United Nations Security Council has clearly prohibited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear and missile activities, Geng added.

- - - -

BEIJING -- China's quarterly job report delivered a positive message Tuesday as 3.34 million new jobs were created in the first quarter and the unemployment rate fell to 3.97 percent.

The number of new jobs was 160,000 higher than that in the same period last year, and the unemployment rate was down 0.07 percentage points from a year earlier and 0.05 percentage points lower compared with the previous quarter, official data showed.

"China's job market posted a strong start this year and remained stable in the first quarter," said Lu Aihong, spokesperson of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, at a press conference.
BAGHDAD, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish warplanes on Tuesday conducted air strikes targeting the positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, killing at least five Iraqi Kurdish fighters and wounding ten others, local Kurdish media reports said.

The Turkish jets, in the early hours of the day, hit the PKK positions in different areas in Sinjar mountain in northwestern Iraq, but the Iraqi Kurdish fighters apparently were killed by mistake at their position which was close to the PKK positions, according to the official website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a major Kurdish party in which the Iraqi President Fuad Masoum is a leading figure.

There were no immediate reports on possible casualties among the PKK rebels in Sinjar area.

Meanwhile, the Turkish military said it has carried out air strikes against suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq and in northeastern Syria, in a bid to prevent militants from smuggling fighters and weapons into Turkey.

The PKK, waging a separatist war against Turkey since 1984, is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Cambodian peacekeepers take an oath of allegiance before leaving for Mali in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on April 25, 2017. Cambodia sent the fourth batch of 309 troops, including 25 females, to join a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the conflict-torn West African nation of Mali on Tuesday, officials said. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

PHNOM PENH, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia sent the fourth batch of 309 troops, including 25 females, to join a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the conflict-torn West African nation of Mali on Tuesday, officials said.

The troops would replace the third batch, whose one-year term had come to an end, said Gen. Pol Saroeun, Commander-In-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), during a sending-off ceremony held at the capital's Military Airbase.

The peacekeepers are divided into two groups. One will be responsible for airport repairs and maintenance and the other will be in charge of explosive ordnance disposal.

"It's a high risk mission in Mali due to ongoing armed conflicts and a threat from terrorism," he said, advising the troops to be extra vigilant.

Gen. Saroeun also told the group to strictly comply with the UN discipline and the RCAF rule when they perform their duties in Mali.

Debora Comini, United Nations Resident coordinator, said Mali was a long way from home and the mission would undoubtedly challenge the peacekeepers professionally and personally.

"On the other hand, it is a great opportunity for you all to do great honor to your units, your fellow-soldiers, yourselves as well as to Cambodia, which is dedicated to international peace, security and friendship," she said.

"Through its contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping missions, Cambodia stands out as an example to the world," she said.

Comini added that their dedication to helping others, sharing their skills with other countries that are suffering from conflict, would be precious and a source of hope and inspiration to many.

According to Comini, since 2006, Cambodia has dispatched a total of 4,459 personnel, including 171 females, to join UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, Syria, Lebanon and Mali.
NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency said Tuesday it has repatriated some 61,665 Somali refugees in Kenya since the return exercise begun in December 2014.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in its bi-weekly Update released in Nairobi that some 1,836 refugees were supported to return to their home in Somalia in the past ten days.

The UN agency said 22,351 out of 61,665 refugees were supported in 2017 alone, adding that 20,991 refugees are currently being registered for voluntary repatriation.

"Road convoys to Somalia are suspended due to the heavy rains in Dadaab area of operation and some parts of Somalia. UNHCR Somalia and its partners are closely monitoring the accessibility of roads in the twelve designated return areas," it said.

However, UNHCR said flights to Mogadishu currently facilitate the voluntary return of those willing to travel by air as well as flights to Kismayu in southern Somalia.

More than two million Somalis have been displaced in one of the world's most protracted humanitarian crises that have now entered its third decade.

An estimated 1.1 million people are internally displaced (IDPs) within Somalia and nearly 900,000 are refugees in the region.

Experts say continuing political and security stabilization progress in Somalia, along with growing pressures in hosting countries, makes this a critical moment to renew efforts to find durable solutions for Somali refugees.
File photo taken on Aug 15, 2007 shows Chinese doctor Wu Weiguo (2nd L) discuss with local doctors in Lusaka, capital of Zambia. In 1963, China's first foreign aid medical team arrived in Africa. For the past 50 years, Chinese government has sent 23,000 medical personnel to 66 countries and regions, most of which are African countries. (Xinhua/Zhai Xi)

PRETORIA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China and African countries held a ministerial conference here on Monday with the aim of stepping up China-Africa cooperation in health.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, Minister of National Health and Family Planning Commission Li Bin, and health ministers from 31 African countries attended the conference with the theme of "China-Africa Health Cooperation, From Commitments to Actions.

Addressing the China-Africa Ministerial Conference on Health Cooperation, the Chinese vice premier hailed China-Africa health cooperation as an epitome of the China-Africa community of shared future.

Liu said numerous moving stories of health cooperation have been recorded in the history of China-Africa friendly relations.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Johannesburg listed public health cooperation as part of the 10 China-Africa cooperation plans, lifting China-Africa health cooperation to a new level, she noted.

Since then, China and Africa have worked together to follow through on the outcomes of the summit and made new progress in health cooperation, said Liu.

China hopes that the conference will boost efforts to further implement the outcomes of the FOCAC summit so as to usher in an even broader future for China-Africa cooperation in health, said Liu.

The Chinese vice premier said China has been accelerating the building of its own health sector while actively participating in global health governance.

China stands ready to work with all other countries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to address the global health challenge, and through South-South cooperation, to help build the health sector in developing countries, she said.

Enhanced China-Africa health cooperation will not only benefit the 2.4 billion Chinese and African peoples, but also help enhance the health and wellbeing of all mankind, she said.

She called for intensified efforts to improve the accessibility of Africa's health services, strengthen the public health prevention and control system and capacity-building in Africa, scale up support for the health needs of the youth and women, deepen people-to-people exchanges in health and bring more benefits to the people through China-Africa health cooperation.

More than 200 participants, among them Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Executive Director Michel Sidibe, attended the conference, where World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan sent in a video message.

Representatives of various parties spoke highly of China's achievements in the health sector as well as China's support for African countries.

They also expressed hope for enhanced cooperation with China to help Africa realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by world leaders in 2015.
JUBA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Tuesday denied meeting Sudanese rebels, saying Juba was not supporting or hosting insurgents fighting the Sudanese government.

The Sudanese intelligence agency on Monday accused President Kiir of hosting rebel leaders of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) in Juba from Wednesday to Saturday last week.

Khartoum warned Juba to stop backing the rebel group and avoid interfering in their country's affairs.

However, presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny denied the accusations, saying that South Sudan has no interest in destabilizing its northern neighbor since it battling several challenges such as rebellion and hunger.

Ateny said South Sudan would continue to seek diplomatic avenues to address the recent row.

"President Salva Kiir didn't have any meeting at the weekend. We have no clue or else to where and when President Kiir met the rebels of North Sudan. South Sudan is struggling with so many difficulties and is not interested in meeting other people's rebels," he said.

"We are going to engage with Sudan diplomatically and we want to assure them that South Sudan is not thinking of destabilizing because we have nothing to gain from destabilizing Sudan," Ateny added.

Sudan and South Sudan have regularly accused each other of supporting opposition groups fighting both governments.

Sudan accuses the South, which separated from Sudan in 2011 following decades of armed conflict of supporting rebels in the Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur regions.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 18:28:12|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) - China Tuesday confirmed that the secretary general of Japan's ruling party will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation next month in Beijing.

Japanese Liberal Democratic Party's Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai will attend a high-level conference during the forum, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a routine press briefing.

At least 28 heads of state and government will attend the forum scheduled from May 14 to 15, as well as more than 1,200 senior officials, scholars, entrepreneurs, representatives of financial institutions and media organizations from 110 countries and regions, and more than 60 international organizations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 18:28:12|Editor: xuxin

The USS Michigan nuclear-powered submarine arrives at port of Busan, South Korea, April 25, 2017. (Xinhua/NEWSIS)

SEOUL, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine on Tuesday arrived at the southern port of Busan, South Korea, amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula, YTN television reported.

The USS Michigan guided-missile submarine has already arrived at Busan, the South Korean military was quoted as saying. The broadcaster did not elaborate on the exact time of its arrival.

Although the nuclear submarine is not supposed to participate in any drills or military operations, its call would send a meaningful message to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said the YTN.

At a national meeting held Monday, the DPRK again warned the United States that it would stage preemptive nuclear strikes against American forces.

The USS Michigan is one of four Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines loaded with nuclear missiles. The 170-meter-long, 18,000-ton submarine can carry as many as 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of some 1,600 km.

The Michigan's call on South Korea came amid mounting tensions on the peninsula. The USS Carl Vinson nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is sailing toward the peninsula.

The rare re-routing of the super-carrier to the peninsula had raised concerns about possible airstrikes on the DPRK's nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, the DPRK Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the Korean Peninsula is on the verge of war due to "reckless action" by the United States using both economic sanctions and increasing military threats.

According to South Korea's military, the DPRK conducted large-scale live-fire artillery exercises on Tuesday to mark its army anniversary.

The DPRK's artillery drills came amid ongoing joint military exercises of South Korea and the United States.

The U.S.-South Korea joint war games, which were denounced by the DPRK as a rehearsal for northward invasion, would last till the end of this month.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 18:33:11|Editor: ying

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NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- East Africa's largest black rhino sanctuary, Ol Pejeta Conservancy on Tuesday launched a 9 million U.S. dollar appeal to save the endangered northern white rhino from extinction.

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy CEO Richard Vigne told a media briefing in Nairobi that the funds will be used towards ongoing research into assisted reproductive techniques for the rhinos.

"Once perfected, the new technology in in-vitro fertilization will aid to achieve successful pregnancies to gradually build up a viable herd of northern white rhinos," Vigne said.

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is home to the three remaining northern white rhinos in the world, one male and two female rhinos.

The 360 square kilometers conservancy in northern Kenya is the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa. Vigne said that remaining northern white rhinos are too old to breed and therefore are infertile.

"So we need to use artificial techniques, the exact way that is used in infertile human couples in order to recover the white rhino species," he added.

International zoological experts in European Zoos are currently developing a technique that involves implanting fertilized eggs into surrogate white rhino females.

The conservationist hopes to begin breeding the endangered rhinos so that they are eventually introduced into their natural habitats in Central Africa.

Vigne said that the northern white rhinos have been driven to extinction by poachers due to demand for rhino horns in the Far East. Kenya has around 690 black rhinos and 407 southern white rhinos.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 18:38:13|Editor: ying

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MADRID, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Catalan police force of Spain confirmed Tuesday that it has detained eight people in an operation against a group linked to jihadist terrorism in the Barcelona region in Northeast Spain.

The operation, which came after the eight-month cooperation with Belgian authorities, included a series of raids carried out at 4:30 am local time (0330 GMT) in Barcelona and the surrounding towns of L'Hospitalet de LLobregat, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Cornella de LLobregat and Masquefa y Ripollet.

The eight detainees were identified as "Moroccans" aged between 31 and 39 years.

The investigation began eight months ago after the police received pieces of unconnected information from citizens, which showed the existence of an organized group with links to both jihadist terrorism and organized crime.

The exchange of information between the Spanish and Belgian authorities led to the uncovering of these links.

In an interview with Catalan TV, Josep Lluis Trapero, the commander of the local police, noted the detainees had a "clear membership" of the Islamic State, and that investigation could help find the chief plotters of the terrorist attacks that hit Belgium and France.

"It's possible they (the detainees) have not just been in Belgium, but also in other European cities," Trapero said, adding that Wednesday's operation was "clearly the most important we have carried out up to now."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 19:28:28|Editor: ying

(L-R) U.S. special envoy Joseph Yun, Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian affairs chief Kenji Kanasugi, South Korean special representative Kim Hong-kyun shake hands during a meeting in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2017. The senior officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan met in Tokyo on Tuesday amid rising tensions with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). (Xinhua)

TOKYO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan met in Tokyo on Tuesday amid rising tensions with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The meeting was attended by U.S. special envoy Joseph Yun, South Korean special representative Kim Hong-kyun and Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian affairs chief Kenji Kanasugi.

Kim told reporters that the three countries would continue to exert pressure on the DPRK, adding that punitive measures were also discussed in case Pyongyang should carry out future acts of provocation.

Kanasugi said the three countries agreed to strengthen their deterrence power and urged the DPRK to exercise restraint.

The United States has maintained its stance that all options, including military action, are on the table regarding the DPRK's missile and nuclear programs.

A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine on Tuesday arrived at the South Korea port of Busan. The USS Michigan guided-missile submarine is not supposed to participate in any drills or military operations, but its call would send a meaningful message to the DPRK, said South Korea's YTN television.

At a national meeting held Monday, the DPRK again warned the United States that it would stage preemptive nuclear strikes against American forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 19:28:29|Editor: ying

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JERUSALEM, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel's political arena was stirred Tuesday by Netanyahu's threat to cancel talks with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over the visiting diplomat's plan to meet with groups critical of Israel's action in the West Bank.

An Israeli official speaking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity confirmed reports that Netanyahu has threatened to call off a meeting with Gabriel if he meets members of Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem, two Israeli rights group.

Breaking The Silence collects testimonies from Israeli soldiers about improper or illegal activities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. B'Tselem is a legal organization that documents violations of human rights and international law in these territories.

Gabriel rejected the ultimatum. He told German public television station ZDF that he learned about it from the Israeli media.

"We are learning through the Israeli media that Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom I have frequently met, wants to cancel this meeting because we want to meet critical representatives of civil society," Gabriel said.

"It is difficult for me to imagine this because that would be extremely regrettable," he said. "It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad," he said, adding that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met government critics in Germany.

Gabriel is on a visit to the Middle East to press for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On Tuesday morning, he met with opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, chairman of the Labor party. In the afternoon, he is scheduled to meet with President Reuven Rivlin, according to a statement released by the President's Residence.

Such incidents occurred in the past during visit by officials to Israel.

In February, Netanyahu instructed the foreign ministry to reprimand the Belgian ambassador after Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel met with representatives of Breaking The Silence and B'tselem during a visit to Israel.

Right-wing political leaders hailed Netanyahu's move. Education Minister Naftali Bennett and leader of the Jewish Home ultra-nationalist party said his party is "backing" Netanyahu.

"Breaking The Silence is not an organization that is anti-Netanyahu, but an anti-Israel and anti-Israel Defense Forces. It is inappropriate for a foreign minister who visits a particular country to meet with people who are acting against that state," Bennett said in a statement.

The two groups have become a frequent target for condemnations by right-wing politicians, who accuse them being "traitors" who acts against Israel.

A new law from 2016 requires non-governmental organizations that receive more than half of their funding from overseas governments or bodies like the European Union to publicly state that they receive foreign funds.

The law targets specifically human rights groups because right-wing groups almost always rely on local donations.

Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Middle East war and had controlled these lands ever since, despite international criticism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 19:28:29|Editor: ying

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KABUL, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) hailed Afghan government's current efforts in fight against corruption on Tuesday.

Afghan authorities have made headway in their fight against corruption while enormous challenges remain, a report released Tuesday by UNAMA here said.

The report "Afghanistan's Fight Against Corruption: The Other Battlefield" highlighted the progress the country has made in addressing corruption and drew on internationally recognized best practices to provide recommendations for how the government, with the continued support of the public and the international community, can build on those achievements.

Early last year, the government formed a council, the National High Council for Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption, to maintain a heavy-handed approach against corruption. The council has regularly been holding meetings chaired by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani since its formation.

"For the sake of the country's future, corruption in Afghanistan must be addressed and eliminated," Tadamichi Yamamoto, special UN envoy and head of UN mission, was quoted in a UNAMA statement.

"The United Nations welcomes the progress already made, and fully supports the government's ongoing efforts to fight corruption in the interest of ending impunity, ensuring accountability and transparency, and restoring integrity to the management of public services, finances and natural resources," he said.

Meanwhile, some Afghan lawmakers and civil society members reportedly said that the existing anti-corruption measures have not been strict enough to serve as effective deterrents.

They said Afghanistan would not be able to achieve lasting peace and prosperity unless the government is able to eliminate or at least minimize corruption in government and non-government entities.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 19:33:33|Editor: MJ

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang (C-R) and Secretary of Bangladesh's Ministry of Agriculture Moinuddin Abdullah (C-L) shake hands during a handover ceremony in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 25, 2017. China on Tuesday handed over 6,004 pieces of farm machinery and agricultural equipment to Bangladesh's Ministry of Agriculture under a grant aid program to help the country modernize its agriculture sector. (Xinhua/Liu Chuntao)

DHAKA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday handed over 6,004 pieces of farm machinery and agricultural equipment to Bangladesh's Ministry of Agriculture under a grant aid program to help the country modernize its agriculture sector.

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang handed over the farm machineries and agricultural equipments to Secretary of Bangladesh's Ministry of Agriculture Moinuddin Abdullah at a ceremony in Dhaka.

Abdullah told Xinhua that Bangladesh will be immensely benefited with Chinese machinery and equipment in augmenting agriculture production.

"They (China) developed immensely in agricultural researching and in all other areas. They invented many new varieties of rice. They have been self-sufficient in food production for the world's most populous country by using modern technologies," said the official.

"You know our land is small. Technologies of developed countries are not suitable for Bangladesh. So, we need Chinese small and durable machines and equipments which are also cheaper," Abdullah added.

Ma expressed the hope that with this kind of technology transfer, Bangladeshi farmers will be able to double or triple their rice production per acre.

"I hope this is going to be a functional cooperation (between Bangladesh and China) which can really help Bangladesh to develop its own agriculture," he said.

He said there are eight Chinese experts now in Bangladesh to help the country's experts in cultivation of hybrid rice.

China and Bangladesh should show the world that this kind of cooperation is win-win, on the basis of equality and mutual trust, said Ma.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with Iranian officials and ambassadors of Islamic countries, in Tehran,Iran, April 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

TEHRAN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday urged the presidential hopefuls to rely on the domestic potentials in their programs for economic development, state IRIB TV reported.

"Give words to the people that you won't look beyond the borders to solve the (economic) problems," Khamenei said in a meeting with some of the Iranian political and military officials.

Khamenei said that he is asking the presidential candidates to "promise in their campaigns that for the progress of country, for economic development, they would not rely on the other side of the borders, but on the nation."

Last week, Guardian Council of Constitution, Iran's high legislative body, released the names of six candidates for the upcoming presidential election.

The approved candidates include incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, Tehran Mayor Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, Imam Reza Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian and chairman of the Shrine of Shiite Imam Reza, the first Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, Mostafa Mirsalim, former adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as president, and former vice president Mostafa Hashemitaba.

The qualified candidates started their election campaigns on early hours of Friday, which will continue until 8 a.m. May 18 local time. Iran's presidential election is slated for May 19.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 19:38:34|Editor: ying

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ISLAMABAD, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Tuesday launched a three-year technical assistance program to strengthen the criminal justice response in Pakistan to counter terrorism, officials said.

The EU and UNODC officials said the Pakistan Action to Counter Terrorism (PACT) program, which was launched at a ceremony in Islamabad, is aimed at supporting the efforts of government of Pakistan to counter the threats of terrorism.

The EU will provide the financial support of 7 million euros (7.61 million U.S. dollars), a statement from the UN office in Islamabad said.

The project will improve the investigative processes and promote the use of forensic evidence during the prosecution stages of terrorism related cases. It will also strengthen the coordination between the terrorism-hit northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Department, Police and Prosecution, the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police.

"More than ever there is a need for strong international collaboration to counter terrorism. Counter terrorism will remain a top priority in the EU's security dialogue with Pakistan and the PACT is a logical next step in this longstanding solid partnership," said Jean-Francois Cautain, EU Ambassador to Pakistan in his remarks.

The UNODC Country Representative Cesar Guedes said "UNODC has been collaborating with the government of Pakistan for over 37 years and for the first time it would be providing assistance in the area of counter terrorism by working closely with the relevant stakeholders at both provincial and federal levels in partnership with the European Union."

Member of NACTA Choudhry Muhammad Asghar appreciated the close working relation of EU and the UN with the government of Pakistan for making collaborative efforts in eliminating terrorism.

"The government of Pakistan is in the process of implementing a National Action Plan against terrorism and the objectives of the signed project would directly contribute towards its execution," he said.

UNODC is the key UN entity with the mandate and expertise to deliver counter-terrorism legal technical assistance to member states for the ratification, legislative incorporation and implementation of the international legal instruments against terrorism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 19:48:36|Editor: MJ

Representatives from companies of Vietnam and Zhejiang Province of China communicate at Zhejiang-Vietnam Purchasing Conference in Vietnam's capital Hanoi on April 25, 2017. Vietnam is completing procedures to establish a trade and investment office in China's Zhejiang province, said Do Kim Lang, deputy head of Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Le Yanna)

HANOI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is completing procedures to establish a trade and investment office in China's Zhejiang province, said Do Kim Lang, deputy head of Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Tuesday.

Lang made the remark at Zhejiang-Vietnam Purchasing Conference held in Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Tuesday attended by 30 Chinese companies and more than 80 Vietnamese companies.

In the past few years, Vietnam and China have enjoyed close economic cooperation, said Lang, adding that Vietnam has established its first representative office in China's Chongqing Municipality and it is expected to set up a second one in robust economic hub of Hangzhou city, capital of east China's Zhejiang province, to bring the bilateral trade ties to a new height.

Huang Xiaohang, vice chairman of the Zhejiang Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that 30 Chinese companies, which focus on cultural industries, will have the chance of face-to-face negotiations with Vietnamese counterparts in project investment, industry cooperation, market development, and technical exchanges among others.

Both countries should establish mechanism to make trade promotion activities regular and effective, said Huang.

According to Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Vietnam and China have long-lasting traditional relations. In the past few years, the bilateral ties have maintained non-stop developments. For 11 years in a row, China has been Vietnam's biggest trade partner and Vietnam's No. 1 export market.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 19:48:37|Editor: ying

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by Elias Shilangwa

LUSAKA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Zambian authorities have been trying to save an endangered timber species, the Mukula, but it seems their efforts are yet to yield any tangible results.

Barely a week passes without stories of trucks laden with logs en route to being exported outside the country being intercepted.

The Mukula tree is on high demand outside the country, which has fueled illegal trade. The tree has earned the nickname "gold" among local people.

The Mukula, whose scientific name is Pterocarpus chrysothrix, is one of the most valuable trees because of its huge properties.

The tree has three layers where the heart wood or inner brown part is used for making gun butts, the second one for the making of furniture while the outer part is believed to contain medicinal values.

Early this month, the country's tax agency revealed that over 250 trucks laden with Mukula logs were marooned at various border points after being impounded.

This followed a statutory instrument barring the transiting of the logs through Zambia signed by President Edgar Lungu.

According to Kingsley Chanda, Commissioner General of the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), his officers will continue impounding trucks carrying Mukula logs.

"As ZRA, we have decided to hold up all the trucks until investigations are concluded," Chanda told reporters recently after reports emerged that some of the confiscated logs were purported to have been imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Another statutory instrument will soon be signed which will completely make it illegal to use the Zambian soil to transit the endangered tree species, according to the Minister of Lands Jean Kapata.

"Once the statutory instrument is signed, it will mean that Zambia is not going to allow any transit of the Mukula logs on its soil," she said when she presented her ministry's quarterly report to the Zambian president.

There were also reports that the government was considering calling on the army to help in halting the illegal trade in the Mukula logs after increased concerns that the tree is now threatened with extinction.

But despite the measures announced so far, the illegal harvest of the Mukula tree has continued unabated. Stakeholders have since called on the government to come up with more stringent measures.

According to the Center for Trade and Policy Development (CTPD), the government should consider other options such as encouraging the setting up of timber processing factories. Legalizing and encouraging the setting up of processing plants is believed to enable the government to collect enough revenue from tree species, creating value addition.

Isaac Mwaipopo, the organization's acting executive director said closing borders as a measure to deter the illegal trade in Mukula logs was unsustainable. Instead, the country should seize the opportunities presented in the demand of the timber species to earn foreign exchange by legalizing the business.

For the Timber Producers Association of Zambia (TPAZ), tackling the problem of illegal export of the Mukula logs should not be left to the government alone but requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders.

TPAZ president Charles Masange, however, expressed concern that the government has not been taking seriously suggestions and submissions from stakeholders in the wood sector.

According to him, engaging the army was not the solution but that the government should employ more forestry officers as well as reduce the duty required for legal exports of timber products.

His views have been supported by the Zambia National Association of Sawmillers which believes that the problem of illegal harvest and export of the Mukula logs is far bigger than meets the eye which government alone cannot tackle.

William Bwalya, the association's president said the government should come up with proper regulations on the exploitation of the country's forest resources because currently people were harvesting the Mukula tree without due regard to the law. He lamented the illegal harvest taking place in both state and customary land.

Official data show that the country has a high rate of deforestation of between 250,000 to 300,000 hectares per year.

Despite the country being one of the most forested countries in Africa, with over 60 percent of the country covered in woodlands, there are growing fears that the rampant cutting of timber species, such as Mukula, will worsen the situation if nothing is done to stop the trend. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 19:53:38|Editor: Mengjie

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KIEV, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Tuesday that he hopes to deepen all-round cooperation with China.

"We will continue to further deepen cultural and economic cooperation between Kiev and Beijing," Poroshenko wrote on Facebook, while commenting on his wife's participation in the Sino-Ukrainian cultural exchanges week, titled "One Belt One Road."

Cultural dialogue between the East and the West is the key to a sustainable global development and the path towards freedom and peace, Poroshenko said.

The Sino-Ukrainian cultural exchanges week kicked off on Monday in the Ukrainian capital. The festival is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Ukraine and the upcoming Belt and Road forum for international cooperation in Beijing in May.

Ukraine and China established diplomatic ties on Jan. 4, 1992, shortly after Ukraine gained its independence from the former Soviet Union.

The Belt and Road means the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that are in development under an initiative brought up by China in 2013, which aspires to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a discussion about the Report of the State Comptroller for Operation Protective Edge at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem April 19, 2017. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

JERUSALEM, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel's political arena was stirred Tuesday by Netanyahu's threat to cancel talks with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over the visiting diplomat's plan to meet with groups critical of Israel's action in the West Bank.

An Israeli official speaking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity confirmed reports that Netanyahu has threatened to call off a meeting with Gabriel if he meets members of Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem, two Israeli rights group.

Breaking The Silence collects testimonies from Israeli soldiers about improper or illegal activities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. B'Tselem is a legal organization that documents violations of human rights and international law in these territories.

Gabriel rejected the ultimatum. He told German public television station ZDF that he learned about it from the Israeli media.

"We are learning through the Israeli media that Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom I have frequently met, wants to cancel this meeting because we want to meet critical representatives of civil society," Gabriel said.

"It is difficult for me to imagine this because that would be extremely regrettable," he said. "It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad," he said, adding that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met government critics in Germany.

Gabriel is on a visit to the Middle East to press for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On Tuesday morning, he met with opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, chairman of the Labor party. In the afternoon, he is scheduled to meet with President Reuven Rivlin, according to a statement released by the President's Residence.

Such incidents occurred in the past during visit by officials to Israel.

In February, Netanyahu instructed the foreign ministry to reprimand the Belgian ambassador after Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel met with representatives of Breaking The Silence and B'tselem during a visit to Israel.

Right-wing political leaders hailed Netanyahu's move. Education Minister Naftali Bennett and leader of the Jewish Home ultra-nationalist party said his party is "backing" Netanyahu.

"Breaking The Silence is not an organization that is anti-Netanyahu, but an anti-Israel and anti-Israel Defense Forces. It is inappropriate for a foreign minister who visits a particular country to meet with people who are acting against that state," Bennett said in a statement.

The two groups have become a frequent target for condemnations by right-wing politicians, who accuse them being "traitors" who acts against Israel.

A new law from 2016 requires non-governmental organizations that receive more than half of their funding from overseas governments or bodies like the European Union to publicly state that they receive foreign funds.

The law targets specifically human rights groups because right-wing groups almost always rely on local donations.

Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Middle East war and had controlled these lands ever since, despite international criticism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 20:03:43|Editor: ying

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JAKARTA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has allocated some 2.53 trillion rupiah (about 190.5 million U.S. dollars) to finance projects aimed at assuring access of electricity in villages located in far-flung eastern region's provinces this year.

Most of the investment goes to provinces in Papua, an official said here on Tuesday.

Haryanto WS, business director of state-run power utility firm of PLN for Maluku and Papua, said provinces entitled to host the projects were North Maluku, Maluku, West Papua and Papua.

He said Papua and West Papua provinces would get 71.53 percent from the allocation due to higher number of villages and high operational cost for tough geographic condition.

He added the access to electricity projects would cover a total of 564 villages in those provinces with 365 of them in Papuan provinces.

The power generator systems designed to serve in those villages were solar cell and diesel powered generators, he added.

"Most of the nation's villages with lack of access to electricity were in Papua," he said, adding that at present 2,511 villages across the country are yet to have electricity access.

He was optimistic that the projects would be accomplished by the end of the year.

PLN expects to secure electricity access in 1,272 villages in Papua and 537 others in Maluku provinces by the end of 2019.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 20:08:44|Editor: ying

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (C) addresses a high-level pledging event for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen in Geneva, Switzerland, April 25, 2017. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that only a cessation of hostilities and a political settlement can bring about a permanent end to the conflict and the suffering of the Yemeni people. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)

GENEVA, April 25 (Xinhua)-- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that only a cessation of hostilities and a political settlement can bring about a permanent end to the conflict and the suffering of the Yemeni people.

"Yemen today is experiencing a tragedy of immense proportions. Two years of conflict have devastated the lives of ordinary Yemenis," Guterres said here at a high-level pledging event for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

"War has devastated the economy, destroyed health services, and forced three million people from their homes -- leaving many unable to earn a living or grow crops. Basic services have collapsed, placing millions at risk of disease and other threats," he noted.

According to the UN, nearly two-thirds of the population, or almost 19 million people, need emergency support. Some 17 million are food-insecure, making it the world's largest hunger crisis. And seven out of 22 governorates are facing a severe food security emergency.

The UN head called on the parties to the conflict to engage in peace talks facilitated by his Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

He urged everyone to facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid by air, sea, and land. All infrastructure must remain open and operational, he said.

Guterres said the humanitarian appeal for 2017 was 2.1 billion U.S. dollars, of which only 15 percent has been met until now.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 20:34:38|Editor: ZD

Brian Goldberg shows a Jianbing at the kiosk of Mr. Bing in UrbanSpace food court in New York, the United States, April 17, 2017. UrbanSpace in midtown New York is a place white-collars come for lunch during their workdays. For the past a few months, customers have always lined up before a kiosk under a banner with Chinese characters. What this kiosk sells is a very authentic Chinese food in north China -- Jianbing, or the Chinese crepe. The kiosk is branded "Mr. Bing", and is owned by Brian Goldberg, who is born and raised in New York. Goldberg is very involved with Chinese culture: he was a Chinese major back in college in Boston, and studied in China 20 years ago. "When I went to China, I just love Jianbing so much, it tastes so good, the texture is so good, it is hot, it's fresh, it's customizable, they make it how you like it. When I come back to America, you can't find it. So if you like something and you can't get it, what you do? You make it!" said Goldberg. Goldberg's Jianbing plan is not a whim. It was the theme of his business plan when he was a MBA in Columbia University, Goldberg's Chinese Crepe. As a student, though he didn't have enough funds to proceed. It was until five years ago that he made the first step in Hong Kong. To open the Hong Kong shop, Goldberg spent many weekends flying back and forth from Beijing, Tianjin, and Shandong Province, the origins of Chinese Jianbing. After tasting tons, he fixated on one kiosk in Beijing, Xiaoyan Jianbing, whose chef offered to teach him and his Hong Kong employees the recipe. In Hong Kong, Mr. Bing was a blast, but Goldberg always thought of going back home. Two years ago, he moved back to New York and put himself into his Jianbing shop, opening pop-ups across New York to see how customers like it. Selling Jianbing to New Yorkers is surely not the same with selling them to Chinese. To cater to the taste of Americans, Goldberg applied several changes to the recipe after trial and errors. The Jianbing as you see today at Mr. Bing's is a revised version: fried wonton skin is used to replace dough stick, and a signature Chinese spicy source instead of fermented bean curd, and there is meat, which Americans love. According to Goldberg, the best-selling flavors are Peking duck and the original. Apart from the UrbanSpace kiosk, Goldberg is also planning on opening another two, in Chelsea and Flatiron separately. Even with one storefront, Goldberg is selling hundreds of Jianbing each day. He is confident this Chinese snack can be something, "Anyway, Americans didn't know much about sushi or burritos back twenty years," Goldberg said, "And they are having them all the time." The great goal of Goldberg is bringing Jianbing to the world and establishing his own signature brand with Mr. Bing.(Xinhua/Wang Ying)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 20:13:47|Editor: Mengjie

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LANZHOU, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A 53-year-old Chinese man has been prosecuted for charges including robbery, rape, murder and dismembering bodies, the local procuratorate in Gansu Province confirmed Tuesday.

The serial killer from Gansu, surnamed Gao, was accused of killing 10 women and an eight-year-old girl between 1988 and 2002, said the procuratorate in the city of Baiyin.

According to reports from local media, many of Gao's victims were dressed in red, and some parts of the victims' bodies were missing, which lead some media to dub him the Chinese "Jack the Ripper."

Police in Baiyin had screened men living close to the crime scenes without success. They discovered Gao after one of his relatives committed a crime and underwent DNA testing in 2015.

Gao was arrested on August 26 last year.

The procuratorate told Xinhua that Gao will be tried, but did not give a specific date.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 20:23:48|Editor: Mengjie

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HONG KONG, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K) launched a new index that tracks the attention of Chinese mainland investors on Hong Kong-listed stocks, it said here Tuesday.

The H+K Chinese Investor Attention Index brings together data from across multiple sources in the Chinese mainland to analyze where the appetite lies for investments in Hong Kong stocks, the New York-based service communications agency said.

The index tracks an overall attention score as well as the top 10 stocks receiving the most attention from the mainland investors across small, medium and large capitalizations.

It also takes a deep dive into which industries are grabbing the most attention from Chinese investors.

Managing Director of H+K's Hong Kong branch K W Lam told a media conference that activities of Chinese investors have become increasingly important, yet there is not a leading indicator that helps the market understand the changes in perceptions of mainland investors toward Hong Kong-listed stocks.

The new index will offer the industry greater insight at a time when communicating with Chinese investors is critical, even for small-cap companies, he added.

The agency also released its first report analyzing the index, drawing on historical data from across the past five quarters, including more than 3.2 million news articles, more than 300,000 forum discussions, and over 30,000 research reports by financial institutions, it said.

The report showed that the top five industries that received the most investor attention during the research period were property, banking, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and insurance.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 20:38:52|Editor: ying

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COLOMBO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- More than 50 young parliamentarians from Asia-Pacific countries gathered in Sri Lanka on Tuesday for a two-day meeting to discuss their role in advancing an inclusive and peaceful society and preventing violent extremism in the region.

A statement by the UN Office in Colombo said the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Parliament of Sri Lanka, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) jointly convened the Regional Meeting of Young Parliamentarians of the Asia-Pacific region to engage on preventing violent extremism.

"Parliaments are among the key institutions that can play an effective role in preventing violent extremism. In addition to ratifying and facilitating implementation of international conventions and resolutions, parliaments also deliberate on and adopt laws that provide the framework for national policies," the UN statement said.

"Young parliamentarians, as representatives closest to a country's youth, have a particularly crucial role to play."

In his opening speech, Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said the theme of the meeting was most relevant to be discussed at any forum in the context of the violence and mayhem that are being unleashed each day in all parts of the world.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 20:53:55|Editor: ying

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WINDHOEK, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Namibian feminist and women rights organization, Sister Namibia will avail self-defense classes on April 29, to 100 women in a quest to fight gender-based violence (GBV) in the country.

Media Officer at Sister Namibia, Elsarien Katiti, told Xinhua on Tuesday that these safety projects are conducted with funding from one of their donors who promote gender equality and peace.

"What we teach is how to stay safe and how to literally get away when someone surprise attacks. We do not promote violence, but safety and thus how to avoid violence," she said.

Gender-based violence is rife in Namibia, and Katiti said with these sessions, they seek to empower girls by creating a sense of urgency, so that they can realize they can protect themselves.

According to Katiti, participants are chosen based on the availability of time and money and since they commenced with the trainings in 2015, they have managed to reach out to 1,300 women.

"This year we wish to train trainers in addition to us conducting the workshops so that we can reach out to many other girls," she added.

In 2016 alone statistics from the Namibian Police show that more that 2,000 cases of gender-based violence were reported in the country.

Meanwhile, besides embarking on the self defense classes, Sister Namibia also runs a project called SisterPADS, which is a pilot project aimed at promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women, through the use of reusable sanitary pads.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 21:14:01|Editor: ying

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PYONGYANG, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Tuesday said it would never yield to pressure by the United States as the latter spearheads a global campaign to isolate and stifle the country.

A DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman told the Korean Central News Agency that the United States was seeking to gain public support at home and abroad for a new policy called "maximum pressure and engagement."

"U.S. President Trump personally invited the delegates of the member states of the UN Security Council to the White House to discuss the issue of the DPRK," said the spokesman.

"A closed-door briefing on the new policy toward the DPRK will be reportedly held in the White House for the senators in the presence of high-ranking officials including the State and Defense secretaries," said the spokesman.

"This is just a risky act little short of lighting the fuse of a total war," the spokesman added.

Trump said Monday when meeting envoys of 15 UN Security Council member countries at the White House that the "status quo" of the DPRK was "unacceptable" and the country was a "world problem which should be solved," calling for harsher sanctions against Pyongyang.

"As the U.S. has unsheathed a dagger to stifle the DPRK at any cost, the DPRK will stand against it," said the DPRK spokesman.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 21:19:05|Editor: ying

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GENEVA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 43,204 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe this year, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported Tuesday.

According to the latest statistics, most of these migrant entries have been documented in Italy, a country which has already seen some 36,581 individuals land on its shores since the beginning of the year.

IOM said that the figure represents close to a 45 percent surge from the total number of arrivals to Italy through the same period in 2016.

Unsurprisingly, the central Mediterranean route linking North Africa with Italian shores also remains the deadliest passage for migrants.

The Geneva-based agency reported that 1,002 men, women, and children have died there this year, out of a total 1,089 migrant deaths registered on all Mediterranean Sea routes in 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 21:24:06|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese customs has been an important player in protecting intellectual property rights (IPR), taking a firm hand against smuggling of illegal products, a customs official said Tuesday.

In 2015, China started a three-year campaign to protect the image of "made-in-China" products internationally, with a focus on products exported to Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and countries along the Belt and Road.

More than 43,000 batches of goods suspected of IPR infringement have been seized during the campaign, involving more than 81 million individual items, Zou Zhiwu, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), told Xinhua.

IPR infringement in the imported products have been rising at around 10 percent a year. In 2016 alone, Chinese authorities seized 670 batches of illegal goods, including fake lubricants imported from Malaysia.

For the healthy growth of the e-commerce sector, the GAC has acted on Internet-related IPR infringements by joining with e-commerce platforms and integrating online and offline supervision, he said.

In 2016, customs authorities streamlined the procedures for file for IPR and suspended charges, resulting in 8,844 IPR filings last year, up 55 percent year on year.

Chinese companies are becoming more aware of IPR protection and had filed 27,873 IPR with GAC by the end of last year, accounting for 52.51 percent of all IPR on record, Zou said.

Chinese companies are also victims of IPR infringements.

Customs seized 7.58 million pieces of goods suspected of infringing the IPR of Chinese companies in 2016, up 13.2 percent from the previous year.

Last year, GAC took measures on 12 IPR protection cases in which IPR of Chinese companies were infringed upon, up from 4 cases in 2015.

As IPR infringement in foreign trade is an international issue, China has advocated cooperation in law enforcement of customs authorities from different countries and regions.

Zou said GAC had established cooperation mechanisms with customs of more than 130 countries and regions and signed over 190 cooperation documents, including memos with the Unites States, the EU, Russia, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The country has also taken an active part in IPR-related affairs under multilateral frameworks, including World Intellectual Property Organization and World Customs Organization.

Looking ahead, Zou said GAC will continue to take strict measures on IPR infringement, enhance cooperation with other government departments, and deepen law enforcement collaboration with other countries and organizations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 21:39:10|Editor: ZD

Emmanuel Macron, French presidential candidate for the On the Move (En Marche) movement, delivers a speech at a rally after the first round of French presidential election in Paris, France on April 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Jose Rodriguez)

PARIS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- France's first round election sent pro-market, pro-European Union centrist Emmanuel Macron and anti-euro, anti-immigrant far-right candidate Marine Le Pen to a runoff on May 7 when voters will have to choose to between the two.

The two frontrunners have shaped a new political landscape by knocking out traditional parties, but winning the presidency with a majority may still turn hard for both of them.

Opinion polls predict that the business-friendly Macron, who has never held elected office, would seize a large lead in the second round against Le Pen after two defeated challengers offered to back him to reject the anti-immigrant and anti-Europe platform.

In a latest support in a string of rallies, outgoing president Francois Hollande said backing his former economy minister would preserve the country's unity and social model in face of populism.

"I will vote for Emmanuel Macron. He is the one who can defend our values which maintain the French unity during this particular period," Hollande said in a television address.

Clear favorite in polls and enjoying a series of rallies, ex-investment banker is likely to boost his chances to win power on May 7.

However, an untested policy and still fragile "On the Move" party he created a year ago, may challenge the novice to gather a strong majority in legislative election to transform his campaign pledges into deeds.

He said his party is planning to field candidates in all 577 constituencies in the upcoming legislative election, with half of them having no previous parliamentary experience, which prompts opponents to cast doubt on his ability to win enough seats in the lower-house National Assembly.

Furthermore, with no establishment party on his back, Macron's young movement lacked a party's machinery needed to win parliamentary contest in June.

If failing to score a large victory in the parliamentary election, Macron will be likely dependent on one of the main political parties to implement his policies, which the currently ruling Socialist party might consider too pro-market and the conservative right party might see as a continuity of the Socialist government.

Speaking to Xinhua, Madani Cheurfa, secretary general of the Political Research Center of Sciences Po (CEVIPOF) said the parliamentary elections in June will be "more important than ever."

"The legislative elections will show if the winner of the second round will have a large majority or a coalition. This would make us enter into a France where the practice of power will be more animated, more intense," he added.

The outcome of Sunday's vote offered relief to morose markets which feared radicals could rule the European Union's second largest economy for next five years. Stocks in France and in Europe reported a sharp gain after Macron came out on top in the first round election. However, eyes now are on parliamentary election.

"It is highly likely that Macron will be elected president, but he will then lead a country whose political divide is unprecedented, leaving open the question of whether he will have a majority to govern," Bruno Cavalier, an economist at Oddo Securities, wrote in a note.

As for Le Pen, a high turnout could improve the far-rightist's score but not much enough to break glass ceiling and defy "everything except Le Pen" voting prospect.

Erwan Lestrohan, director of opinions department at BVA pollster, expects that continued terror threats and rising risks of immigration crisis give a boost to Le Pen who embraces a protectionism approach. But, the 48-year-old lawyer does not have enough solidity to win the presidential run-off.

In 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of the far-rightist candidate and founder of National Front party, cruised to the second round after beating Socialist rival Lionel Jospin, prime minister of then president Jacques Chirac, a fact that triggered massive protests against the far-right.

In the second decisive round, Le Pen failed to snatch the first place with a poor score of 17.79 percent against Chirac who seized a large victory of more than 80 percent after the right and the left parties rallied around him.

Thomas Guenole, political scientist and professor at Sciences Po, predicts the same scenario for this year's presidential race.

Defiant Le Pen clung on her chances as the president "of people". She promised to protect French citizens against "savage globalization" and " to defend the French nation, its unity, its security, its culture, its prosperity and its independence."

"We can win. We will win. Things have changed a lot. The movement I lead has been at the top of all the last election," she told France 2 television.

She said contacts with the center-right are in progress in an attempt to seek a possible alliance.

Macron and Le Pen will face off in a decisive runoff on May 7.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 21:49:10|Editor: ying

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BELGRADE, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Estonia will continue to support Serbia's European integration process during Estonia's presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) that starts in July, Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser said here Tuesday.

Mikser made the remarks while meeting with Serbian Prime Minister and president-elect Aleksandar Vucic discuss Serbia's European path, bilateral ties, as well as relations between countries in the region, a Serbian government statement said.

Mikser congratulated Vucic on his victory in the presidential elections and stressed that "progress of Serbia on the EU path is very important for the stability of the region."

According to the statement, Vucic stressed during their conversation that membership in EU and stability of the Western Balkans were priorities for Serbia, and updated Mikser on results of economic reforms that led to the stabilization of the business environment and a more favorable investment climate in Serbia.

During his visit to Serbia, Mikser also met incumbent president Tomislav Nikolic and foreign minister Ivica Dacic and exchanged positions about Serbia's European integration.

Dacic and Mikser agreed that EU integration should be a means to secure peace and stability in the region, as well to achieve economic development.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 21:54:14|Editor: ying

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ARUSHA, Tanzania, April 25 (Xinhua) -- There are possibilities of poor crop harvests in Tanzania at the end of this farming season due to the invasion of plant pests, mostly armyworms and Quelea Quelea, and floods in some parts of the east African nation.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Tanzania's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, the situation is likely to cause food deficit in the regions of Njombe, Tabora, Singida and Manyara as floods destructed infrastructures such as roads and farms.

The floods also destructed irrigation schemes in the western region of Katavi.

In March, this year, the government sprayed pesticides in all the regions which reported the invasion of plant pests and rehabilitated destructed infrastructures.

The ministry said that major pests that attacked crops were quelea, armyworms, rodent and red locust.

Quelea outbreak was reported in Tanzania's southern highlands' key paddy growing areas such as Mbarali (Kapunga Estate), and in northern Tanzania's district of Same (in Ndungu Irrigation Scheme), Moshi Rural District in Lower Moshi and Kahe areas.

The outbreak of armyworms was reported in Lindi, Coast, Morogoro and Rukwa (in Nkasi District), while rodents and locust outbreak occurred in Iringa and Morogoro region (Iringa district, Lindi district, Ruangwa, Kilwa, Kilombero, Kilosa, and Liwale district).

The government by then distributed a total of 120 liters of pesticide in Kilombero district and 50 liters in Rufiji district to fight against armyworms.

On the invasion of new armyworm species in the western region of Rukwa, Mathew Mtigumwe, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, said recently that the government was aware of the presence of a new species of armyworms which are believed to have entered Rukwa Region via neighboring Zambia.

He said about 15,000 liters of pesticides have already been procured to curb the new worm's threat.

"We have had to bring in new pesticides after it came to our notice that these are a new species known as fall armyworms, that hit maize crops and can't be controlled by the available pesticides," Mtigumwe explained.

According to the official, the ministry has embarked various initiatives to control the worms situation in other regions include Katavi, Mbeya, and Songwe.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 21:59:16|Editor: ying

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SOFIA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Webit Festival Europe, one of the largest digital technology events in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), kicked off here on Tuesday, gathering nearly 5,100 attendees from over 90 countries and regions.

The two-day forum, held in Sofia Tech Park under the patronage of Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev, Sofia Mayor Jordanka Fandakova and the European Commission, includes 12 parallel conferences on topics, such as Marketing and Innovation, Digital Economy Leadership, Smart Cities, Mobility, Digital Transformation, and Security and Privacy.

"Undoubtedly, this is one of the most important events in our region dedicated to digital industries and entrepreneurship," Radev said at the opening ceremony.

The boom in digital technologies has resulted in many social, political, business and philosophical consequences, the Bulgarian president said.

These technologies could be beneficial or harmful, depending on how they would be developed and used, said Radev, who had been a professional jet fighter pilot from 1987 to August 2016 when he retired from the army.

Radev said he was convinced that the participants in the event would unite around common human values so that these technologies serve for peace and prosperity.

Teodor Sedlarski, Bulgaria's caretaker Minister of Economy, said the event was part of the strategy for digitization of the Bulgarian economy, which aimed at transition to new industries, new technologies, new forms of employment, and new business models.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 22:04:19|Editor: ying

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NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's second-hand motor vehicle imports are likely to decline in 2017 to hit 60,000 units down from 75,000 in 2016, the industry association said on Tuesday.

Kenya Auto Bazaar Association (KABA) Vice Chairman Mark Oburu told Xinhua in Nairobi that the reduction is due to anxiety surrounding the 2017 general elections as well as slight weakening of the Kenyan shilling versus international currencies.

"We expect second hand imports to decline as consumer adopt a wait and see approach regarding the upcoming general elections slated for Aug. 8," Oburu said when E-commerce portal OLX launched a service to allow car buyers and sellers to transact safely and conveniently.

However, in the past decade, Kenya's second hand imports have witnessed a steady increase due to stable economic growth that has created demand for personal vehicles.

Oburu said that second hand vehicles account for 70 percent of all vehicles sold in the country.

"They are popular among consumers as they are affordable as compared to new vehicles," he added. According to KABA, second hand imports retail in Kenya for as little as 4,500 U.S. dollars.

The vice chairman noted that vehicles sales have been fuelled by the availability of loans for vehicles.

The lucrative vehicle industry has also lured global vehicles manufacturers to establish assembly plants in the country.

In the past one year, German manufacturer Volkswagen and French automaker Peugeot has commenced operations in Kenya.
Cadets attend a training session at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, the United States, Sept. 3, 2016. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

STOCKHOLM, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The total world military expenditure rose to 1.686 trillion U.S. dollars in 2016, an increase of 0.4 percent in real terms from 2015, according to a report released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

According to the report, "the United States remains the country with the highest annual military expenditure in the world. U.S. military spending grew by 1.7 percent between 2015 and 2016 to 611 billion U.S. dollars."

The think tank said the growth in U.S. military expenditure in 2016 could signal the end of a trend of decreases in spending due to the economic crisis and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. However, U.S. spending in 2016 remained 20 percent lower than its peak in 2010.

"Despite continuing legal restraints on the overall U.S. budget, increases in military spending were agreed upon by Congress," said Aude Fleurant, director of the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure (AMEX) program.

"Future spending patterns remain uncertain due to the changing political situation in the United States."

Meanwhile, military expenditure in Western Europe "rose for the second consecutive year and was up by 2.6 percent in 2016." There were spending increases in all but three countries in Western Europe, and Italy recorded the most notable increase, with spending rising by 11 percent between 2015 and 2016, according to the report.

Overall spending in Central Europe grew by 2.4 percent in 2016.

"The growth in spending by many countries in Central Europe can be partly attributed to the perception of Russia posing a greater threat,"said Siemon Wezeman, senior researcher at SIPRI.

"This is despite the fact that Russia's spending in 2016 was only 27 percent of the combined total of European NATO members."

Trends and patterns in military expenditure vary considerably between regions. Spending continued to grow in Asia and Oceania, Central and Eastern Europe and North Africa. By contrast, spending fell in Central America and the Caribbean, the Middle East (based on countries for which data is available), South America, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Headquartered in Stockholm, SIPRI's research covers international conflicts, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 22:24:25|Editor: ying

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BRUSSELS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Council of Europe (CoE), a pan-European rights organization, decided Tuesday to reopen the monitoring procedure on Turkey, a move that sparked outrage in Ankara.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, France, voted to reopen the monitoring procedure against Turkey with 113 votes for, 45 against, and 12 abstaining. The vote came after debating on a report drawn on by the monitoring committee of the CoE, which raised concerns on "the implementation of the state of emergency, the large-scale and disproportionate effect of the decree laws" in Turkey.

The report also expressed concern about "the constitutional amendments (in particular respect for the separation of powers, checks and balances, and independence of the judiciary) to secure a presidential system," as well as the organizational conditions of the referendum on April 16.

The CoE's decision irritated Ankara, which, in a strongly-worded statement, condemned the "unjust decision of PACE taken with political motives in contravention to the established procedures."

"This decision by the PACE parliamentarians in fact shows an imprudent mind-set lacking strategic vision and ignoring the common and democratic values on which Europe is founded," said the statement issued by the Turkish foreign ministry.

"Deciding to re-open the monitoring procedure on Turkey, a staunch defender of contemporary European ideals and values and a founding member of the Council of Europe, under the guidance of malicious circles at the PACE, is a disgrace to this organ, which claims to be the cradle of democracy," the statement added.

The Turks voted "yes" in a referendum on April 16 to bring about a metamorphosis in the current parliamentary model of government into a presidential system, with a limited set of checks and balances among the governing authorities.

It was staunchly promoted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but many in Turkey and Europe believe that the change in system grants the president too much power.

The PACE decided to close the monitoring procedure on Turkey in 2004, after Ankara put in place a set of reforms in the early 2000s. Since then, Turkey has engaged in a post-monitoring dialogue with the CoE.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 22:24:25|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China hopes to enhance cooperation with Belarus on security issues for the Belt and Road programs, a state councilor has said.

Guo Shengkun, who is also public security minister, made the remarks when meeting with Stanislav Zas, state secretary of the Belarusian Security Council on Monday.

He called on both countries to step up cooperation on security issues for the Belt and Road programs such as the China-Belarus Industrial Park and to jointly fight against terrorism, transnational crime and cyber crime under the consensus reached by heads of the two countries.

Zas said Belarus is willing to expand the width and depth of law enforcement cooperation with China so as to make joint efforts to meet challenges and threats.

The China-Belarus Industrial Park is being built on the outskirts of Minsk. The two countries have agreed to build the park into a model project under the Belt and Road Initiative, which connects Asia with Europe.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 22:29:25|Editor: Mengjie

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ATHENS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli has spoken highly of the first Ancient Civilization Forum which wrapped up Tuesday with ambition to enhance cultural and economic ties of the ten countries representing world's early civilizations.

Zou, speaking with Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Monday on the sidelines of the forum, said the forum, a Greek initiative with China as co-organizer, has realized the communication between the oriental and occidental civilizations.

The forum are attended by countries representing major ancient civilizations, with other participants being Bolivia, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Mexico and Peru.

Zou said that the Chinese and Greek civilizations, which share a lot of similarities, have seen communications and exchanges at the forum.

"The forum, initiated by the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and supported by the Chinese side, has been an important achievement of the Sino-Greek cultural communication year," Zou said. "It also marks the coordination and cooperation in multilateral areas in international affairs."

The ambassador noted that the forum has been dedicated to promoting dialogues between civilizations and mutual learning from each other so as to advance the world's peace and development.

Zou said Greece, which has been in the debt crisis, has shown great vision in hosting the Ancient Civilization Forum.

The ten attending countries of the forum represent more than 40 percent of the world population and are at the center of international political developments in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Zou pointed out that the origin of civilizations and the history of human being's development could provide inspirations to the solution of the current problems including war conflicts, terrorism, extremism and vandalism.

"The forum is an innovative platform where the issues of culture and development are closely linked," Zou said. "The countries where ancient civilizations originated have shown strong sense of responsibility to explore effective means of cooperation and exchanges."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 22:29:26|Editor: ying

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HELSINKI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Finnish police solved a nearly ten-year-old burglary case through a DNA sample taken from a flashlight left at the crime scene, Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat reported on Tuesday.

The case took place in 2008. Two men broke into a car firm in Joensuu, eastern Finland, stealing a variety of car testers for professional use and other stuff, which were worth nearly 20,000 euros (21,830 U.S. dollars)

Kimmo Wetterstrand, senior investigating officer at the Eastern Finland Police Department, told the daily that police had carried out a technical investigation at the scene after the burglary occurred, but no trail of the suspects had been reached until DNA evidence was found from a flashlight left at the scene.

The DNA profiles fit to a Lithuanian man born in 1983, who was caught in another crime in 2010 in Oulu, northern Finland.

The man was listed on the European arrest warrant and jailed in absentia in North Karelia District Court of Finland in June last year. He was found in England in September 2016 and extradited to Finland via Estonia in April 2007.

Wetterstrand said that it was rare that such an old case was resolved.

The suspect is currently in custody and the case has been sent for consideration of charges.

The burglary was conducted by the suspect together with another man, but his identity has not been found yet, said the police.
BRUSSELS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission on Tuesday was held to address Ukraine's reform agenda, according to a NATO statement.

NATO encouraged Ukraine to go further with reforms to strengthen the country's defense forces and democratic institutions, and tackle corruption, according to the statement.

During the meeting, Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, briefed NATO allies on Ukraine's reform efforts and annual implementation plans.

Welcoming Klympush-Tsintsadze at NATO headquarters, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed NATO's strong support for Ukraine, but stressed the need for the Minsk Agreements to be implemented in full.

The NATO-Ukraine Commission was established in 1997.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 22:34:30|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) has on Tuesday held a topping out ceremony for its Chinese-built Integrated Service Center under construction on the premises of its headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

The Integrated Service Center Project, now close to completion, is a building consisting of three floors, each covering about 5,000 sq meters. The centre includes among others things, an accreditation facility, a cafeteria and the AU archives and exhibition center.

Kwesi Quartey, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), lauded the newly inaugurated expansion project as a vivid indication of the ever increasing China-Africa partnership.

Once completed, the provision of several facilities and services in the new service center will improve AU's conference operations, he said.

"This is among the many projects that China has constructed in addition to the magnificent AU headquarters project," he said, "China is a special friend for Africa."

Kwesi also expressed his expectation saying that "China will further continue to support Africa in several ways including capacity development, and modernization."

The signing of the integrated service center project was made during the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's official visit to Ethiopia in 2014.

Kuang Weilin, Head of Chinese Mission to AU, said on the occasion that once completed the new building will further improve AU's conference centre and its operations.

AU had previously inaugurated its headquarters worth 200 million U.S. dollars back in 2012. The 100-meter high structure Addis Ababa, funded and built by China, is the tallest building in Ethiopia.

According to Kuang, the AU headquarters complex which was inaugurated with great fanfare at the presence of African heads of state and senior officials highlights the friendship between the peoples of China and Africa.

"The integrated service center once again testifies China's strong commitment to work closely with the African Union," he said.
Photo taken on April 24, 2017 shows a scene of the Ancient Civilizations Forum in Athens, Greece. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

ATHENS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli has spoken highly of the first Ancient Civilization Forum which wrapped up Tuesday with ambition to enhance cultural and economic ties of the ten countries representing world's early civilizations.

Zou, speaking with Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Monday on the sidelines of the forum, said the forum, a Greek initiative with China as co-organizer, has realized the communication between the oriental and occidental civilizations.

The forum are attended by countries representing major ancient civilizations, with other participants being Bolivia, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Mexico and Peru.

Zou said that the Chinese and Greek civilizations, which share a lot of similarities, have seen communications and exchanges at the forum.

"The forum, initiated by the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and supported by the Chinese side, has been an important achievement of the Sino-Greek cultural communication year," Zou said. "It also marks the coordination and cooperation in multilateral areas in international affairs."

The ambassador noted that the forum has been dedicated to promoting dialogues between civilizations and mutual learning from each other so as to advance the world's peace and development.

Zou said Greece, which has been in the debt crisis, has shown great vision in hosting the Ancient Civilization Forum.

The ten attending countries of the forum represent more than 40 percent of the world population and are at the center of international political developments in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Zou pointed out that the origin of civilizations and the history of human being's development could provide inspirations to the solution of the current problems including war conflicts, terrorism, extremism and vandalism.

"The forum is an innovative platform where the issues of culture and development are closely linked," Zou said. "The countries where ancient civilizations originated have shown strong sense of responsibility to explore effective means of cooperation and exchanges."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 22:49:33|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers on Tuesday deliberated a bill that would extend the trial reform of the people's juror system by a year as part of efforts to increase public participation in legal proceedings and advance rule of law.

The bill, submitted by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), was reviewed by lawmakers at panel discussions of the ongoing bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), which runs Monday to Thursday.

China's two-year pilot program of the people's juror system of 50 courts in 10 provincial-level regions, including Beijing, Hebei and Heilongjiang, will expire in May. The bill suggests extending the trial reform period to May 2018.

Most lawmakers of the NPC Standing Committee made favorable comments about the extension.

"I agree to extend the trial reform by one year," said legislator He Yehui, while calling for guaranteed funds for the jury system.

"A national regulation on living allowance and travel expenses of jurors should be worked out to ensure smooth promotion of the reform," He said.

It is necessary to extend the trial period in order to gain more experience and ensure the targeted effect, Shen Deyong, deputy president of the SPC, told lawmakers Monday in his statement to the NPC Standing Committee.

Unlike the jury system in the United States, where jurors are randomly selected, jurors in China are chosen from a group of candidates recommended by local communities or authorities.

In Chinese courts, a juror exercises the same power as a judge but cannot hear a case alone nor act as chief judge of a collegial panel. Legislators, judges, prosecutors, police officers and lawyers are excluded from service.

A total of 13,322 jurors -- 4.3 times the number of judges at the 50 pilot courts -- have been selected to participate in the program, Shen said.

According to the pilot program, the number of jurors of a local court should be at least three times the number of judges.

In 2016, jurors at the 50 courts participated in hearings on 11,642 criminal cases, 64,917 civil cases and 5,213 administrative cases.

Hailing the reform achievements, Shen said the selection mechanism for jurors has changed from organizational recommendation to random selection from local qualified people in order to allow more people from different walks of life.

A large number of people familiar with public opinion were selected as jurors, Shen said.

According to the trial program, jurors are allowed to express opinions on the evidence and facts of a case, but not allowed to comment on which laws should be applied.

"Disparities remain on how to distinguish ruling on the facts of a case and the application of law in practice," Shen said.

In the program, the number of jurors required to sit on collegial panels has risen to five from the previous three.

The reform program increased the minimum age for jurors from 23 to 28 and proposed the requirement for education be lowered in rural and poor areas, where highly respected individuals could become jurors no matter their educational background.

By doing so, authorities find it is difficult to pick eligible jurors with appropriate professional backgrounds in handling specific cases.

"Some experts and lawmakers suggest that jurors be chosen based on their professions and that the selection procedure based on 'personal application and organizational recommendation' should be retained," according to Shen.

There should be a unified standard on the range of application, trial procedures and trial efficiency for collegial panels, Shen said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 22:49:33|Editor: yan

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HANOVER, Germany, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The so-called "industry 4.0" is more evolution than revolution, according to chief of the Hanover Fair 2017, the world's leading industrial trade show, which runs from Monday to Friday.

"Technical developments need time. We are talking about revolution, but it's more evolution. The developments you can see here are done step by step," Dr. Jochen Koeckler, a member of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe responsible for the trade fair, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

From April 24 to 28, more than 6,500 exhibitors from 70 nations and regions will present technologies for tomorrow's factories and energy systems in Hanover Fair 2017, themed "Integrated Industry -- Creating Value".

Koeckler explained that creating value means visitors, also investors of technology, have to understand and accept that there is a value in the integrated industry. Investors will only invest when they know that with their investments they will be more competitive.

Being asked whether robots would make people jobless, Koeckler said humans in the factory will be the core of the production. He believed that robots in the future would be more like a tool and that more people are needed to program robots and to be the guide of robots in the factory.

"In the center of decision or factory, it is still the human being. Handwork and boring work would be the history," Koeckler said, adding, "we have to be aware of life-long education and learning."

According to Koeckler, China is absolutely remarkable with more than 1200 exhibitors at the fair. "Everyone sees and feels how strong China is with the program China 2025 in the topic of industry 4.0 digitalization of the industry."

Hanover Fair celebrated its 70th year and is expecting around 200,000 visitors this year. some 60 percent of these exhibitors come from countries outside Germany this year. China is the second largest exhibiting nation both in terms of the number of exhibitors and the size of exhibiting area.

"We are increasing our partnership between Deutsche Messe and China. We are very optimistic about our future of cooperation," he said.
President Xi Jinping and his United States counterpart Donald Trump held their second phone conversation this month on Monday, and exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula situation and bilateral relations.

Xi said China firmly opposes actions that violate the resolutions by the United Nations Security Council, and China expects all the relevant parties to remain restrained and avoid taking moves that aggravate peninsula tension.

Only when all parties involved shoulder their due duties and meet each other halfway could the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue be resolved at an early date and the peninsula's denuclearization be achieved, Xi said.

"We are willing to work with all parties involved, including the US, to jointly work for the peace of the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia and the world," Xi added.

The two leaders agreed to maintain close contact through various means and exchange views on issues of common concerns at a timely manner.

Xi and Trump had their first meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Florida on April 6 and 7.

One of the meeting's major highlights is that the two countries established four high-level dialogue mechanisms, respectively focusing on diplomacy and security, economy, law enforcement and cybersecurity, society and culture.

Then Xi and Trump made a phone call on April 12 on bilateral ties, the peninsula situation and the Syrian issue.

Xi noted that members of the public from both countries and the international community have spoken positively of their recent meeting and their phone talks.

Currently, the international situation is "changing rapidly" and it is greatly necessary for China and the US to maintain close contact and exchange views on the important issues in a timely manner, Xi said.

On bilateral ties, Xi said the two sides should effectively implement the consensus that has been reached and cement the stable and developing momentum of the bilateral relationship.

Working teams from both countries should strengthen coordination and effectively prepare for Trump's visit to China within the year, Xi said.

Also, the teams should initiate relevant arrangements at an date for the four newly-built dialogues, Xi said.

Trump said he had a very good meeting with Xi at Mar-a-Lago and he is satisfied with the development of the relationship and is full of respect for the Chinese people.

Trump also said he expects another meeting with Xi soon as well as his state visit to China.

Xi said the two sides should press ahead exchanges and cooperation in areas including the economy and trade, military, law-enforcement, cyberspace, culture and localities.

Also, the two countries should reinforce communication on international and regional issues and push for the consistent development of China-US ties, Xi added.

Trump said it is greatly important for the two sides to maintain communication and coordination over major issues.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 22:59:36|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China's pension funds continued to grow in the first quarter this year, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Tuesday.

The gross revenue of pension funds totaled 970.8 billion yuan (141 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter with gross expenditures at 808.5 billion yuan, said the ministry.

The figures represented a year-on-year increase of 25.4 percent and 22.9 percent, respectively. The pension funds' account balance stood at over 4 trillion yuan at the end of March.

The ministry said that pension funds have been managed more effectively during the first quarter, with supervision in place to contain risks and ensure stable development.

China is home to more than 220 million people over the age of 60, or 16.1 percent of the population, and the numbers are growing.

As the population ages, China is trying to increase the value of its locally managed pension funds to cope with the needs of its aging population.

Pensions are traditionally held by banks or used to purchase treasury bills. They are now allowed to be invested in a variety of financial products, including bonds and stocks.

Since the end of 2016, seven provincial-level regions have entrusted their pensions to the National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF) in the hope of more diverse and higher returns.

A total of 360 billion yuan is being transferred from bank accounts across the country, operated by local authorities, to the NCSSF for investment.

The government has set a 30-percent limit on the proportion of pension funds tied up in stocks.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:04:36|Editor: yan

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BRUSSELS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Some ten Belgian cities will join several European institutions in marking the third International Day of Yoga across the country, the Embassy of India here announced on Tuesday.

A series of mass yoga sessions and health workshops will be organized in conjunction with yoga institutes, school and universities between June 17 and 25. A flagship event will be held at the Bois de la Cambre park in Brussels on Sunday, June 18, where thousands are expected to attend.

The UN General Assembly declared June 21 as International Yoga Day in 2014, after passing a resolution proposed by India and supported by 175 countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:14:39|Editor: yan

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SINGAPORE, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) announced Tuesday it is seeking to enter the healthcare business by acquiring nursing home provider Orange Valley Healthcare (OV) at 164 million Singapore dollars (117.74 million U.S. dollars).

SPH said the purchase was done in consideration of Singapore's increasing demand for aged care services in the next decade.

The proportion of population aged above 65 in Singapore is expected to double by 2030 to 900,000 from the current 450,000.

"The investment gives us an opportunity to contribute to the healthcare needs of our aging community," said CEO of SPH Alan Chan.

Chan said that SPH is looking forward to partnering the management and staff of OV to provide caring, competent and compassionate service to the elderly and their caregivers.

Karam Butalia, executive chairman of KV Asia Capital, noted that Orange Valley has been providing Singaporeans with a one-stop comprehensive eldercare service for more than 20 years.

"We trust that SPH will help solidify its position as the preeminent provider of high-quality nursing care in Singapore, and bring its holistic and integrated healthcare service to a higher level," he added.

OV now operates five nursing homes islandwide with over 900 beds. It also provides ancillary services like providing meal and catering services, offering physiotherapy and rehabilitation services, and supplying medical, nursing and healthcare equipment and consumables. (1 Singapore dollar = 0.72 U.S. dollar)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:24:41|Editor: yan

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BAKU, April 25 (Xinhua)-- A global oil pact in December to cut output has yielded positive results, Azerbaijan's energy minister said here Tuesday.

"Since January 2017, crude prices ranged between 50-60 U.S. dollars, and that is precisely what we have expected," Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said on the sidelines of an international forum sponsored by the country's state oil company SOCAR. Aliyev added that Azerbaijan supports an extension of the so-called Vienna Agreement to reduce output.

The world's oil-producing nations should "agree to extend the agreement before the end of this year in order to keep oil prices at a stable level," he said.

The forum, focusing on the oil industry downstream in the Caspian region and Central Asia, covers the latest trends in hydrocarbon exports from the region.

Oil cartel OPEC decided at a meeting in November to cut its production by 1.2 million barrels a day from October levels.

In December 2016 in Vienna, 11 non-OPEC countries, including Azerbaijan, agreed to jointly curtail oil output by 558,000 barrels per day in the first half of 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:39:48|Editor: yan

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by Xinhua writer Zhang Jianhua

SHENZHEN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- London will be a natural and strong partner of China for the Belt and Road Initiative, a senior official from the City of London Corporation said Tuesday.

"I think it is fantastic for China, as a great historic trading nation, to come up with the concept," said Catherine McGuinness, deputy policy chairperson of the City of London Corporation, one of the most powerful financial institutions in Europe.

In an interview with Xinhua, McGuinness, who was on a working visit to Shenzhen Tuesday, hailed the Belt and Road Initiative as a "tremendously exciting and ambitious initiative" that involves not only China but also many other countries along the routes.

"I think we see ourselves as the western end of the new Silk Road," she told Xinhua.

She added that the City of London would be a strong partner for the Belt and Road Initiative by sharing its knowledge and experience in infrastructure financing.

China will host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing next month. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, 28 heads of state and government will attend the forum.

McGuinness said the forum will be a "great and exciting opportunity" to advance the Belt and Road Initiative and clarify what the initiative will involve in terms of international cooperation.

Both the British government and the City of London will send representatives to the conference, she said.

"The fact that so many state leaders are coming to that conference indicates the depth of interest," she noted. "We look forward to being a partner and helping to ensure that London collaborates with you on that."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:44:51|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian authorities said on Tuesday they have taken to commercial capital Dar es Salaam the former convict of the disbanded International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for further questioning.

The former convict, Innocent Sagahutu, was arrested recently in Kagera region by immigration officials while attempting to cross into Burundi.

Abdallah Tiwo, a senior immigration officer in Kagera region in northwestern Tanzania, said the former Rwandan army officer was being questioned as why he travelled out of Arusha without special travel documents.

He added that Sagahutu, who was arrested two weeks ago, was found without valid documents at the border with Burundi while trying to get into the neigboring country from Ngara district.

Sagahutu recently completed a 15 year jail sentence for his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda where close to one million people were massacred.

He is among scores of the Rwandan nationals who were indicted by ICTR and either served their jail terms or were acquitted but have not found a country to host them because they feared returning home.

For the past two weeks he had been held for interrogation by immigration officers in Bukoba but has now been transferred to the Immigration headquarters in Dar es Salaam for further interrogation.

Last week, Ally Dady, the Kagera Regional Immigration Officer, said they arrested Sagahutu in Ngara district while he was attempting to cross into Burundi.

Dady said Sagahutu tried to cross into Burundi without valid papers, something that led to his arrest.

The immigration officer said Sagahutu had completed a 15-year jail term for his role in the massacre.

Dady said after serving his sentence, Sagahutu could not immediately find a country that would have hosted him, adding that he needed special clearance to travel out of Arusha in northern Tanzania.

Dady said Sagahutu did not possess the required documents that could have enabled him to travel out of Arusha or elsewhere.

However, Sagahutu claimed he had all papers which allowed him to travel out of Arusha region.

Sagahutu said the Immigration officers at Ngara could not read them well and that was why he was detained there for 11 days.

He added that the documents have the clearance from the United Nations offices in Tanzania, noting that he was travelling to Burundi to see his relatives.

Sagahutu added that in the recent past the same clearance permits have seen him travelling to Mozambique and Switzerland "without any problem or causing harm to anybody."

Sagahutu was among 10 Rwandan nationals who were yet to find countries to host them after serving their jail sentences for their role in the Rwanda genocide or after being acquitted.

Most of them were living in a special detention facility of the UN in Arusha.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:44:51|Editor: yan

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JERUSALEM, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday canceled a meeting with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over the visiting official's plan to meet with rights groups critical of Israeli government, local media reported.

A spokesman with the Prime Minister's Office confirmed the meeting, originally scheduled at 17:00, would not take place.

Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper reported that after the cancellation, Gabriel refused to take a phone call from Netanyahu.

Earlier, Netanyahu threatened that he would call off his meeting with Gabriel if the latter meet with the two rights groups.

Gabriel rejected the ultimatum. "It is difficult for me to imagine this because that would be extremely regrettable," he told German public television station ZDF.

"It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad," he said, adding that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met government critics in Germany.

Gabriel is on a visit to the Middle East to press for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Such incidents occurred in the past during visit by officials to Israel.

In February, Netanyahu instructed the Foreign Ministry to reprimand the Belgian ambassador after Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel met with representatives of Breaking The Silence and B'tselem during a visit to Israel.

Right-wing political leaders hailed Netanyahu's move. Education Minister Naftali Bennett and leader of the Jewish Home ultra-nationalist party said his party is "backing" Netanyahu.

"Breaking The Silence is not an organization that is anti-Netanyahu, but an anti-Israel and anti-Israel Defense Forces. It is inappropriate for a foreign minister who visits a particular country to meet with people who are acting against that state," Bennett said in a statement.

The two groups have become a frequent target for condemnations by right-wing politicians, who accuse them being "traitors" who act against Israel.

Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Middle East war and had controlled these lands ever since, despite international criticism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:44:52|Editor: yan

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NEW DELHI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- India's federal investigative agency - Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) - filed a case against its former head Ranjit Sinha in the coal block allocations case, officials said Tuesday.

"CBI filed a first information report against Ranjit Sinha under law that deals with criminal misconduct pertaining to abusing official position while holding a public office and indulging in corruption," an official said.

Sinha faces allegations of trying to scuttle investigation, inquiries and prosecutions carried out by the probe agency in coal block allocation cases, commonly known as coal scam in India, during his tenure as head of the agency.

In January this year, India's top court constituted a special investigation team (SIT) headed by present CBI chief Alok Verma to probe allegations of abuse of authority committed by Sinha.

The court's directions came after it stated it was prima facie satisfied that Sinha abused his position.

India's national auditor Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2012 pointed out that country's coal mining rights were sold off at cheaper rates to private companies.

According to CAG, the lack of transparency incurred a loss of around 33 billion U.S. dollars.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:54:56|Editor: Yamei

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ADDIS ABABA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative will provide African countries new opportunities to unleash their potential for development, noted Berhane Gebre-Chirstos, Special Envoy of Ethiopian Prime Minister.

The special envoy made the remarks Tuesday at the opening of a seminar organized on the Belt and Road Initiative in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

Welcoming the initiative, Berhane Gebre-Chirstos said the objectives of the Belt and Road Initiative are complementary to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation which has so far provided tangible benefits to Africa.

He called on African governments to take the advantage of the proposed Belt and Road Initiative by extending support for its realization in Africa and beyond.

"I have no doubt that the Belt and Road Initiative could, of course, be an engine of world economic growth in the 21st century since transport infrastructure is necessary condition for economic development and growth," he said.

"It is widely believed that the Belt and Road Initiative is a golden opportunity to bring about economic cooperation, regional integration, sustainable and speedy economic growth for Africa. It also will open the way for African countries that are already witnessing robust economic growth and have huge untapped potential in trade and investment to integrate with the global economy," he added.

Speaking on the occasion, La Yifan, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, said that the seminar was organized as part of preparation for an upcoming Belt and Road Initiative forum scheduled for mid-May in Beijing, China.

The Ambassador noted that the forum in Beijing would review the achievements made since the announcement of the initiative and would deliberate on the way forward.

"This initiative covers areas stretching from Asia to Europe and all the way to Africa, and is mainly composed of five areas, mainly policy coherence coordination, infrastructure connectivity, trade promotion, investment promotion, and people-to-people exchanges," he said.

"It is highly timely for them (Africans) to participate in this initiative because among all these five areas, we could find specific achievements and progress made... For that reason, we believe, it is necessary to organize the seminar to gather the idea and wisdom from the African perspective," said the Ambassador.

"It is an initiative that is going to bring people together in order to build a road of cooperation rather than build a war. It is also part of Chinese efforts to spread prosperity, infrastructure to revitalize this ancient Silk Road," he said.

Ethiopian State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hirut Zemene, hailed the Ethio-China overall partnership, and cooperation in infrastructure development in particular, such as the Addis Ababa light rail and the Ethio-Djibouti rail projects.

Reiterating that Ethiopia is one of African countries to attend the coming Belt and Road Initiative Forum for International Cooperation, she expressed Ethiopia's commitment to the success of the forum.

George Morara Orina, Minister Counsellor of Kenyan Embassy in Ethiopia, also made remarks focusing on the partnership and cooperation between Kenya and China in infrastructure development.

Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to promote international economic cooperation, trade, investment, and people-to-people relations.

The seminar under the theme, "Belt and Road Initiative: African Perspective," has been co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Foreign Relations Strategic Studies Institute to help deepen understanding of the Belt and Road Imitative and the benefits it brings to Ethiopia and Africa in general.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:59:57|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit on Tuesday called on the United Nations to "urgently intervene to stop atrocities against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails."

In a letter to Antonio Guterres, the UN chief, Abul Gheit expressed "deep concerns regarding the harsh humanitarian conditions which hundreds of Palestinian detainees are suffering inside Israeli prisons," according to the pan-Arab organization statement.

"The Palestinians have been on a hunger strike for almost a week now in a bid to shed light on the inhumane conditions they endure inside Israeli jails," the statement added.

Condemning the harsh practices against the prisoners, Abul Gheit called on the international community to carry its responsibility in this regard and should not only condemn the Israeli atrocities.

The international community should continue to held Israel accountable for its violations of the human rights of the Palestinian detainees and prisoners at the criminal and legal levels, Abul Gheit added in his letter.

Hundreds of the Palestinian detainees, mostly from Fatah, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, went on open strike since April 17 inside all the Israeli prisons.

In the past two days, 1,500 have joined the hunger strike, demanding to improve their captivity conditions, in one of the largest protests in recent years, according to the Palestinian Liberation Organization's detainee's affairs authority.

According to figures provided in February by Israel's Prison Service, at least 6,820 Palestinians, including hundreds of minors, are incarcerated in Israeli prisons.

Most of them are jailed for participating in the struggle against the Israeli control over the West Bank and Gaza, lands that Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East War and where the Palestinians wish to establish their future state.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-25 23:59:59|Editor: yan

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ASTANA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Kazakhstan has approved a bill that deprives offenders of "terrorist crimes" of their citizenship, the country's justice minister said Tuesday.

The list of such crimes includes severe harm to the vital interests of the country, genocide, separatist activities, creation and leadership of an extremist group and participation in its activities, according to Minister of Justice Marat Beketayev.

Besides stripping such criminals of their citizenship, additional punishment will be provided under the Criminal Code, Beketayev added.

Kazakh Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev highlighted the urgency of the law, adding that it was drafted on behalf of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Sagintayev also denied the allegation that the law was politically motivated.

"It's not connected with any political issue. We want people who participate in terrorist activities not to have an opportunity to return to Kazakhstan to spread their ideology," he said.

President Nazarbayev said earlier that Kazakh citizens who have joined DAESH (another name of the Islamic State) will be deprived of their citizenship.

"This is a compulsory measure. First of all, it is necessary to take such measures to assure that people do not join the ranks of terrorists. We tried to conduct preventive work with those who returned from the DAESH, but this did not work," Nazarbayev said. "So we decided to close their way home."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 00:20:05|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The top anti-graft body of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday said the number of corrupt officials that fled overseas saw a drastic decrease last year, as the country's popular anti-corruption campaign continues to gain momentum.

In a report posted on its website, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said a total of 19 fugitive suspects fled China last year, compared with 31 in 2015 and 101 in 2014.

"The sharp decrease in numbers ... indicates that important progress have been achieved in the current stage to return graft fugitives and their illicit gains from overseas," the report read.

China is in the middle of an anti-corruption campaign targeting both high-ranking "tigers" and low-level "flies," the terms assigned to different officials depending on rank and level of corruption.

With the space for graft and power abuse considerably narrowed at home the country is also increasingly looking to international cooperation in apprehending suspects overseas.

To do so, an operation codenamed "Sky Net" was launched in 2014, and an office for capturing suspects and recovering ill-gotten assets abroad comprising personnel from eight party and government departments including the CCDI, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in addition to the country's top court and procuratorate, was established.

Provincial authorities also set up special offices at local levels to assist the search, the report said.

Meanwhile, a database have been established to manage information on corrupt officials who have fled overseas and a system to receive information from the public.

As a result, close to 2,900 graft fugitives who had fled to over 90 countries and regions have been returned to China by the end of March this year, the CCDI report said.

Some 9 billion yuan (about 1.31 billion U.S. dollars) of illegal assets have also been recovered, it added.

Among those returned included 40 corrupt officials listed in an Interpol "red notice" of China's top 100 fugitives.

In particular, Yang Xiuzhu, the No. 1 most wanted on the list returned to China on Nov. 16, 2016 and turned herself in to authorities after spending 13 years on the run.

The CCDI noted that most of the returned corrupt officials on the "red notice" had been persuaded to turn themselves in voluntarily.

In the latest case, Li Shiqiao, former general manager of a real estate company in Ningbo City in east China's Zhejiang Province, returned from Canada and turned himself in earlier this month, after fleeing the country to Canada in April 2009.

International cooperation has also played a significant part in the office's work, the CCDI noted in the report.

It said anti-corruption and law enforcement cooperations between China and other countries such as the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand have yielded positive results.

So far, 48 countries have signed treaties on extradition with China, while anti-graft bodies from over 90 countries and regions have established friendly ties with their Chinese counterparts.

Beijing has also helped form a cross-border law enforcement network to strengthen transnational anti-corruption cooperation.

During the APEC meeting in Beijing in 2014, the Beijing Declaration on Fighting Corruption was adopted, with an aim to eliminate corruption through extradition and judicial assistance and more flexible legal measures to recover stolen money.

Last year, G20 leaders also endorsed the High Level Principles on Cooperation on Persons Sought for Corruption and Asset Recovery, and the 2017-2018 G20 Anti-corruption Action Plan in Hangzhou.

China will continue to maintain an iron hand to return graft fugitives and their illicit gains from overseas, and promote transnational anti-corruption cooperation, the report said citing an unnamed CCDI official.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 00:20:07|Editor: yan

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ABUJA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Local police in Nigeria have arrested 11 suspected kidnappers in the country's oil hub Port Harcourt, authorities said on Tuesday.

The kidnapper suspects were nabbed following intelligence report, said Abba Kyari, police commander in charge of the special operation which led to their arrest.

A former oil worker who served a multinational oil firm in Nigeria and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirate was identified as the leader of the gang, according to the police commander.

The suspect has already confessed to being a member of a militant group in the country's Niger Delta region and the mastermind of the cold-blooded murder of a militant group leader in 2009, he told reporters in Lagos.

"He also confessed to being the kingpin of a kidnap syndicate that was known for targeting medical doctors, pharmacists and other unsuspecting residents of Port Harcourt since 2015," Kyari added.

Abduction is common in Nigeria. The abduction of foreigners and high profile individuals in the country has been on the increase recently.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 00:20:08|Editor: Yamei

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File photo taken on Feb. 4, 2017 shows French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron addressing a campaign rally in Lyon, France. Centrist candidate and former minister of economy Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen on Sunday came out on top in the first round of the French presidential election, according to projections by several pollsters. (Xinhua/Han Bing)

BRUSSELS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) leaders have given a mixed reaction to the outcome of the first round of French presidential election which saw anti-euro far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron surge through to the decisive second round in May.

Reaction to France's first round of voting was swift. A European Commission spokesman tweeted that its president Jean-Claude Juncker had "congratulated" Macron "for his result at the first round and wished him good luck for the rest." The commission usually avoids commenting on on-going national elections.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier described Macron as a "patriot and European" who he felt confident would win out in the run off round with Le Pen on May 7.

"France must remain European," Barnier said.

"This campaign has been strongly influenced by the debate around Europe," said leaders of the Greens-European Free Alliance in the European Parliament, Ska Keller and Philippe Lamberts, in a statement.

Voicing support for Macron, the statement said the group called on the centrist candidate to strengthen his program, especially with regard to social justice and the ecological transformation of Europe.

"We need France to be a leader in these areas," said the statement.

Dutch far-right populist Geert Wilders, however, welcomed Le Pen's success as a "bright day for patriots in France and elsewhere who want more national sovereignty and less EU and immigration."

"Now on the way to a vigorous second round, I am hoping for a president Le Pen," said Wilders, whose party produced a disappointing result in the Dutch elections earlier this year.

French election was also closely followed by Germany, which awaits its federal elections in September, and prompted immediate response from German politicians.

"These elections are now about Europe as a whole," said Sven Giegold, German Member of European Parliament (MEP).

"The 21 percent vote for Le Pen is also a result of German politicians' lecturing attitude towards others in Europe," he added.

Meanwhile, Martin Schulz, Germany's Social Democrat candidate and former president of the European Parliament, said he hoped Macron would win the second round with a broad majority to defeat the "anti-European" Le Pen.

"We can not underestimate the mobilization required to ensure that Macron also wins the second round ... That's what has to happen now," Schulz said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 00:25:10|Editor: yan

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LUSAKA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Zambia, Africa's second largest copper producer, said on Tuesday that it expects production to hit 850, 000 tonnes this year.

Last year, the southern African nation produced 774,000 tonnes of the red metal, up from 710,860 tonnes produced the previous year.

Minister of Mines Christopher Yaluma said the increase was premised on government's prudent steps to creating a favorable investment environment in the mining sector.

The Zambian minister, in remarks delivered at the 2017 Zambia Mining Investment Forum in London, added that the country has a lot of investment opportunities in the mining sector, with large deposits of other minerals.

The government, he said, was keen to ensure that mining operations benefit the investors and the country, adding that the revision of its mining law would bring about transparency and accountability in the sector.

In 2015, the country revised its mining law which saw the mineral royalty tax for open cast mines pegged at nine percent from 20 percent while underground mining operations tax was pegged at six percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 00:25:11|Editor: yan

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LONDON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Staff in British universities from EU member states should be given a unilateral assurance before the end of this year that they can stay here, a report by politicians said Tuesday.

Parliament's all-party Education Committee report said Theresa May's government must provide guarantees to university staff from the EU affected by Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

The committee has also called for a new immigration system to be designed that better meets the needs of higher education. It also wants it easier for students from overseas to be given study visas to come to British universities.

The committee said in its report the future residency rights of EU citizens currently living in the UK remains to be clarified.

The committee's report has called for this uncertainty over staff from the EU to be reduced immediately.

"The committee calls on the Government to speedily resolve the issue of staff residency rights by unilaterally guaranteeing rights before the end of 2017 in the event of any delay on this matter," say the politicians in their report.

The report has also urged the government to remove overseas students from the net migration target, making it clear it wants talent from the EU and the rest of the world to come to Britain.

The report calls for reforms to the immigration system to reflect the requirements of higher education by facilitating, rather than obstructing, movement of higher people from and to the nation's universities, helping to ensure continued academic collaboration and the higher education sector's international competitiveness.

The committee wants the government to introduce an easier visa route for academics from across the globe, with less bureaucracy, to show it is serious in its aim of bringing in the best people from around the world.

MP Neil Carmichael, who chairs the education committee, "Higher education in the UK is a world leader but Brexit risks damaging our international competitiveness and the long-term success of our universities.

"The government must act urgently to address the uncertainty over EU staff and avert the risk of a damaging 'brain drain' of talent from our shores. As we leave the European Union we now have the opportunity to reform our immigration system to ensure we reap the full rewards of the ability of our universities to attract the brightest and best students and staff from across the world."

On students studying in Britain, the report recommends an open approach with few barriers as the best model for all international students, including those from the EU.

The committee has called for Britain to retain a reciprocal open approach with light touch controls, such as visa-free access, which would enable the preservation of a system closely resembling freedom of movement.

Carmichael said: "A future administration should develop a bold cross-government strategy to take advantage of the global reach of our universities and ensure that higher education plays an important role in upcoming trade deals with the rest of the world. If the next government takes these steps, our university sector will be able to punch its weight and seize the local and global opportunities on offer as we leave the European Union."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 00:30:14|Editor: MJ

Chen Xiaoping (R), director of a robot research and development team, and Jia Jia, an interactive robot that looks like a real Chinese young woman in traditional outfit, talk through internet with Kevin Kelly on screen, founding executive editor of Wired magazine, in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, April 24, 2017. Jia Jia was invited as a special reporter of the Xinhua News Agency to conduct the man-machine dialogue with Kelly on Monday. Jia Jia was unveiled in 2016 by Chen's robot research and development team at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei. It took the team three years to research and develop this new-generation interactive robot, which can speak, show micro-expressions, move its lips, and move its body. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)

HEFEI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Xinhua News Agency recently added a new member to its team, and he or she isn't human.

Meet Jia Jia, a special Xinhua reporter who carried out an interview on -- who else -- global AI experts and science and technology tycons.

"It's something we could never have imagined," said Jia Jia's creator Professor Chen Xiaoping, director of the Robotics Laboratory at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, a city in east China's Anhui Province.

"Many unpredictabilities during the dialouge in the interview were also a challenge to us."

The first interview conducted by Jia Jia as a special Xinhua reporter on Monday was merely a small step in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), said Chen, who has been long involved in the development of Jia Jia and honored as the "father" of the robot.

Jia Jia, did a live interview with Kevin Kelly, a U.S. journalist and technology observer, on Monday, which was hailed by scientists as "having symbolic significance" as it was the world's first interactive conversation between an "AI reporter" and a human being.

Besides Kelly, Jia Jia also had interactive conversations on Monday with several computer experts and media representatives, including Bart Selman, Professor of Computer Science Department of Cornell University.

"Jia Jia is currently third generation, Jia Jia 3.5 is coming soon, and Jia Jia 4.0 and Jia Jia 5.0 will be even better," Chen said.

Compared with Jia Jia 1.0 and Jia Jia 2.0, Jia Jia 3.0 has expressions, and can identify a human being's language and countenance, the most significant improvement which makes her more attractive and more cordial in interactive conversations, said the head developer.

Despite the improvements in her software system, Jia Jia still carries many unpredictabilities in dialogue in English, Chen admitted.

Meanwhile, Chen said AI and robots will be universal and permeable in the future, bringing more convenience.

The professor said that the "Kejia" series of robots they developed is designed to provide family services, and the robots could change people's lifestyles once available on the market.

The need to task robots with more physical labor has never ceased, Chen said, adding humans should begin to consider what's next once robots take over their jobs.

The professor also noted that the research on robots in the past were heavily focused on brains, but for Jia Jia, scientists must tap both brain and heart, and Chen called the shift to include emotions challenging.

"You know she is a robot, but you also feel she is very much like a human being," he said.

"This feeling is very good, very wonderful."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:00:18|Editor: yan

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SKOPJE, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Around four months after the general elections of Dec. 11, Macedonia is still struggling to re-establish political stability and pave the way for the forming of the new government.

Many developments have taken place during these four months but unfortunately, the political stalemate has'nt been solved yet.

The conservative VMRO-DPMNE led by the former Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, called Tuesday for a meeting between the leaders of the main political parties in order to solve the crisis that the country is going through.

But, for the Social Democrats (SDSM) of Zoran Zaev, such a meeting would not solve the protracted crisis here.

Gruevski won 51 seats in the snap elections of Dec. 11, SDSM won 49 out while the largest ethnic Albanian party, DUI won 10 seats out of the 120-seat Parliament of Macedonia.

Sixty-one members of the parliament are needed to form a government here.

President Gjorge Ivanov mandated Gruevski in early January to form a coalition and then the new government but Gruevski failed to reach an agreement with the head of DUI party Ali Ahmeti.

Afterwards, it was Zaevs turn to get the mandate and form the new government. He managed to secure 69 votes of MPs and asked the President to give him the mandate but the latter refused to do so, arguing that the platform he had presented to him was that of the ethnic Albanian parties signed in the neighboring country capital, Tirana.

In fact, the so-called Tirana Platform has been the main obstacle that has further deepened the political crisis in Macedonia.

It was proclaimed in Albania's capital, Tirana, by all ethnic Albanian parties of Macedonia at the presence of Albanian PM, Edi Rama.

Therefore, the President said in his official response that he couldn't and would never mandate a candidate who wanted to implement a platform that threatened the country's unity and sovereignty.

The Macedonian Parliament is continuing to debate such a platform where the representatives of VMRO-DPMNE keep asking Zaev to drop such platform while Zaev insists on the fact that he should be mandated given that his platform only protected countrys interests and focused on reforms.

The filibuster on Tirana platform has continued since more than a month in parliament.

VMRO-DPMNEs MPs have requested the holding of fresh elections in Macedonia as according to this party, the citizens need to be given the chance to show by their vote which platform they will support.

But, SDSM has reacted by saying that fresh elections would not lead the country out of crisis as Macedonia already had a parliamentary majority, secured by SDSM.

The head of SDSM Zaev has requested the President and head of VMRO-DPMNE to give up their attempts to delay the formation of new government.

Meanwhile, protests by United Macedonia movement continue almost every day. This movement is protesting against the so called Tirana Platform and against a coalition reached between SDSM and Albanian parties.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:00:19|Editor: yan

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LONDON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Tornadoes are an underestimated threat across Europe, the first ever report of its kind revealed Tuesday.

Experts say as the tornado season fast approaches, Britain, Germany, and northern Italy are at the greatest risk.

New research into the threats has been carried out by meteorologists at the University of Manchester's Center for Atmospheric Science in its School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the European Severe Storms Laboratory in Germany.

Their research, which is being published in the journal Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, is the first ever threat calculation of tornadoes across the European continent.

The research team analyzed tornado reports from the European Severe Weather Database between 1950 and 2015, looking at the social and economic impact of tornadoes on the continent.

From the 66 years of meteorological, atmospheric and weather related data analyzed they found that tornadoes in Europe have caused damage costing around 1 billion U.S. dollars, over 300 deaths, and over 4,400 injuries.

Between 1950 and 2015, almost 5,500 tornadoes were reported in 42 European countries. The tornado season for Europe is from May to August, with its peak in July.

Such is the scale of the problem, and with European tornado season just weeks away, the team says they want to raise awareness of the issue.

David Schultz, Professor of Synoptic Meteorology from the University of Manchester, said: "The research summarizes all our current understanding of the tornado threat to Europe by showing the changes in tornado injuries and fatalities since the 1950s.

It also, for the first time, estimates the damages associated with European tornadoes. No other study has systematically analysed the damages associated with tornadoes in Europe."

Dr. Bogdan Antonescu, from Center for Atmospheric Science, led the research.

He said: "Currently the threat of tornadoes in Europe is not widely recognized. Few European meteorological services have developed and maintained tornado databases and even fewer have issued tornado warnings.

"We are raising awareness of the threat of European tornadoes, which is perhaps unappreciated by the public, emergency responders, and governments across the continent.

"Despite what is often assumed by the general public and even by meteorologists and researchers, tornadoes do occur in Europe and they have caused thousands of injuries, hundreds of death and huge amounts of damage."

Although the tornado threat seems to be less in Europe compared with the United States, the research says the true magnitude is unknown due to a huge lack of data collection.

"This is due to decades of neglect in monitoring tornadoes by official government and European agencies," says the report.

They add there was once a time when tornado research in Europe was more active than in the U.S.

Before the Second World War, European scientists and meteorologists were actively researching tornadoes.

But the interest declined after 1950, with the majority of the efforts of collecting tornado reports occurring outside the national meteorological services.

"This lack of national databases has now resulted in an underestimation of the tornado threat to Europe," says the study.

The research also found that while Britain, Germany, and northern Italy were at the highest risks of tornadoes, it is eastern and southern Europe where tornadoes have the highest societal impact.

The number of injuries are twice as high and the number of fatalities three times higher in eastern and southern Europe than western and northern Europe.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:05:22|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The German government has blocked key aspects of a reform to the emissions testing procedure proposed by the European Union (EU), according to a report by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The reform includes stronger control mechanisms over national controlling authorities and financial penalties for car manufacturers.

The German government has not responded to the report.

According to a new diesel emission test series conducted by the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA), modern diesel cars in Germany exceed current nitrogen oxide emission limits.

Other European car-producing countries such as Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic also oppose the reforms proposed by the EU, according to the report. But the Brussels-based Transport and Environment Organization warned that some governments act more on behalf of their industry than in the public interest.

The average Euro-6 diesel car emits 507 mg of nitrogen oxide per km. The limit set for Euro-6 cars, the lowest emission rating in the EU implemented for new cars in September 2015, is 80 mg per km.

Environmental protection agencies are demanding more realistic car emissions testing. The emission limits only have to be met in laboratory tests, while actual emissions under real-life driving conditions are often much higher. The UBA tested diesel cars at a range of temperatures common in Germany, which showed emissions at cold temperatures exceeded the limits by an even greater extent.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:05:23|Editor: yan

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by Maria Spiliopoulou, Alexia Vlachou

ATHENS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The first ministerial conference of the Ancient Civilizations Forum initiative co-launched by Greece and China ended in here on Monday with a joint declaration by participating countries to establish a new annual international platform of dialogue and cultural cooperation.

According to the declaration, ministers of the first group of countries representing major ancient civilizations which are already on board with the initiative, expressed their willingness and determination to work together and invite more states and international organizations to "optimize the use of culture as an effective tool for contemporary diplomacy."

In addition to co-organizers Greece and China, which were represented by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the inaugural forum, were participating countries Italy, Iran, Iraq, Bolivia, Egypt, Peru, India, and Mexico.

In speeches and statements made during the two-day event hosted in the Greek capital, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, foreign ministers as well as scholars who participated in a parallel academic forum here, underlined the role of intercultural dialogue in promoting understanding, friendship, peace and cooperation among nations to tackle current challenges at a time of global uncertainty and instability.

"Civilizations build communication bridges with other civilizations and do not raise walls of isolation," Pavlopoulos said addressing the Athens forum.

"It is of utmost importance that civilizations cooperate against the darkness of those wishing to plunge humanity into paranoia and hatred...We must use the treasure of the past in order to build a better tomorrow," Tsipras said in his speech.

"We are here to overcome the conflict of civilizations in order to have a new melody of cultures and dialogue," Wang said, highlighting the need to draw inspiration and wisdom from ancestors to find solutions to today's problems.

"Culture for us is soft power... We prefer dialogue to fanaticism, civilization to terrorist acts," Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said at the closing press conference.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the press briefing that the "international community needs more than ever the wisdom ancient civilizations provide."

"Dialogue, understanding, human empathy, moderation are elements to be promoted by the Ancient Civilizations Forum," added Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry.

"People's diplomacy contributes to multiculturalism and peaceful coexistence," concluded Bolivia's Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Guadalupe Palomeque de la Cruz.

Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Ioannis Amanatidis told Xinhua that the forum put humanity front and center.

"Ancient civilizations can help each other to have a mutual understanding, respect, and comprehension of the diversity that every culture has in order to work together in harmony for a common future of peace and stability," said Amanatidis.

Greek media reflected the warm support of Greek people for the new initiative.

"The Ancient Civilizations Forum is a very important initiative, as for the first time in a coordinated manner, we aim to utilize our cultural heritage and identity as a soft power tool... Much can be achieved under this bold plan," according to a characteristic editorial on news portal "Liberal."

"The envoys of the ten countries participating in the Ancient Civilizations Forum sent a strong message against terrorism," reported CNN Greece, pointing to remarks made during the Athens conference.

Addressing the forum, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari warned that civilization was threatened by modern terrorism, referring to Islamist extremists' attempts to eliminate the cultural heritage of his country.

The Iraqi official called on all participants in the Ancient Civilizations Forum to intensify their efforts to safeguard culture and civilization.

"Greek ancient philosophers said 'the beginning is half of everything,' So, we had a good start and we hope that this will continue in the future as well," said Amanatidis.

The second Ancient Civilizations Forum is to be held in Bolivia in 2018.
JUBA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday at least 391,000 new malaria infections and 19 deaths have been recorded since the start of 2017 across South Sudan.

Lincoln Charimari, head of WHO Malaria program in South Sudan, told Xinhua that the country has been recording steady increase in new malaria cases over the past five years as infections among people over 5 years increased from 700,000 in 2012 to 1.1 million in 2016 and another 600,000 children under 5 years also got infected.

The official blames increased rainfall patterns, displacement of people, logistical challenges caused by poor road network of roads, floods, and understaffed health facilities for pushing up the infection rate.

"The whole population of South Sudan is at risk of malaria but within that we have got groups like pregnant women and children under 5 years are the ones that are at greater risks," Charimari said.

Charimari said the Greater Equatoria and Western regions of South Sudan recorded the highest malaria prevalence rate compared to other regions.

He called for increased efforts to enhance prevention and treatment of the life-threatening disease.

"We need to scale up the distribution of effective long-lasting insecticide-treated nets before the rainy season sets in and where possible and feasible we need to introduce residual spraying, and also improve health behavior of the people in terms of seeking care,"

According to official data from the WHO, nearly half of the world's population remains at risk of malaria with 214 million new cases of the disease reported in 95 countries last year alone and another 400,000 killed.

Malaria can be prevented by sleeping under insecticide-treated bed-nets, indoor residual spraying, and rapid diagnostic testing among others.

Countries across the globe on Tuesday marked the World Malaria Day with calls for strong political commitment and funding to eliminate the parasitic disease by 2030.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:15:28|Editor: yan

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LUSAKA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu has pardoned a journalist who was jailed after he was convicted of defaming late President Michael Sata, prison authorities confirmed on Tuesday

Chanda Chimba, a freelance journalist, was jailed in November last year after he was found guilty of defaming the late president when he was an opposition leader.

The journalist produced highly defamatory articles against Sata in the run up to the 2011 general elections which were aired on state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation.

Percy Chato, the Commissioner-General of the Zambia Correctional Services, confirmed the release of the journalist.

He said the journalist has been released under compassionate ground which allows the country's leader to pardon terminally ill patients.

The journalist has prostate cancer.

The Zambian leader, during a visit to the northern part of the country recently, announced that he would consider pardoning the journalist.

The journalist has since thanked the Zambian leader for pardoning him, saying he spent most of his time at the Cancer Diseases Hospital because of his condition, according to the state broadcaster.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:15:28|Editor: yan

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WARSAW, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The rail cargo service between the Chinese city of Chengdu and Poland's Lodz, which began operating in 2013, has become a popular logistics route for Chinese trade with Europe, as well as the fastest direct freight route between the two regions.

In Lodz, a stop along the Chengdu-Europe railway service, the first cargo trains arrived three-and-a-half years ago. "During last year and a half, we've seen more economic activity and export trains are carrying Polish products back to China," Spendcont firm CEO Michal Gawin told Xinhua.

Gawin, whose firm operates a cargo terminal in Lodz, said they observed accelerated business since last year. "This time last year, we operated approximately 15-20 trains a month. In the last half year, we've seen a more than 50 percent increase with 45-50 trains, he explained.

While cargo can be transported from Poland to China by sea and air, the railway transit time and price is most optimal, Gawin said, adding goods transported include mostly electronics and general merchandise from China, while Poland sends industrial cargo, food products with long expiration dates and machine parts.

Recently, measures have been taken to increase the speed of the China-Poland cargo railway connection, such as non-stop cargo-scanning container inspection introduced on the Polish-Belarus border.

"We hope that the Belt and Road initiative continues to develop, so that more high-quality products can be sent from Poland to China and in the opposite direction," Gawin added.

Krzysztof Piatkowski, deputy mayor of Lodz, said his city attaches a lot of importance to this train connection, as well as cooperation with China.

According to Piatkowski, the Chengdu-Lodz connection contributed to the city becoming an important hub. "The train connection is perceived as an opportunity by local food producers of juices, sweets, alcohol, including our famous Lodz cider," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:15:28|Editor: yan

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NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Liu Xianfa said China is keen for continued support of Kenyan First Lady's Beyond Zero initiative aimed at improving access to health care for underprivileged persons, according to a statement issued by the Kenyan Presidency Tuesday.

Liu who held talks with Kenya's First Lady Lady Margaret Kenyatta in Nairobi said Chinese are particularly impressed with the work of the First Lady in health matters and her efforts in uplifting vulnerable communities in the country.

According to the statement, the Chinese ambassador said his government is keen for continued support of Beyond Zero initiative especially over the proposed 2.2-billion-shilling (around 22 million U.S. dollars) state of the art referral hospital for women and children.

Through the initiative, the First Lady has been mobilizing resources for purchase of mobile clinics to augment the existing health services and therefore make health care accessible to underprivileged Kenyans throughout the country.

The envoy talked of China's investment in offering bursaries to Kenyan students and recalled the story of Mwamaka Sharifu from Lamu who was rescued from her disadvantaged background some years ago and offered a full scholarship to study traditional Chinese Medicine, the statement said.

Although from mixed Chinese and Kenyan ancestry, Sharifu now wants to return to Lamu and work with local communities.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:35:31|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Twenty five graft cases have been filed in Tanzania's newly established Economic, Corruption and Organized Crime Court, a cabinet minister told Parliament on Tuesday.

Palamagamba Kabudi, the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, said the 25 cases have been registered since the court opened its doors in November last year.

Kabudi told the august House in the political capital Dodoma that 20 cases were filed in Dar es Salaam, three in Mtwara and one each in Tabora and Iringa regions.

He said the specialized court on economic, corruption and organized crime was created after President John Magufuli has assented into law a Bill approved by Parliament to establish it.

Kabudi was tabling his ministry's budget estimates for the 2017/2018 financial year which officially starts on July 1.

President Magufuli had promised to establish the anti-corruption court during presidential campaigns for the October 2015 general election, saying fighting corruption was one of his priorities.

Earlier this month, Director General of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Valentino Mlowola said the decision by the government to establish the court showed its political will in fighting corruption.

Statistics showed that there were 3,911 cases involving corruption allegations during the 2015/16 year. Investigations on 324 of them had already been completed.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:35:31|Editor: yan

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KIGALI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda has embarked on a campaign to reduce cases of malaria infections and kicking it out of the country for good, according to the ministry of health.

The national malaria drive seeks to increase access to adequate early diagnosis and treatment services in border locations of the country, donate treated mosquito nets, extend indoor residual spraying practice to selected malaria prone districts and educate the population about best practices to prevent malaria.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Aimable Mbituyumuremyi, division manager of Malaria and Other Parasitic Diseases at the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), ministry of health said that the country was strengthening its efforts to end malaria infections.

"Significant progress is being made in Rwanda, and we are looking forward to achieve full elimination of malaria. We are putting much emphasis on early diagnosis because it's one of the most effective ways of treating and controlling malaria," he added.

Rwanda on Tuesday joined the rest of the World to mark World Malaria Day which falls on 25th April, every year.

Mbituyumuremyi said that the small central African country has achieved significant steps towards combating malaria where the disease has moved from being the first killer of children under five in 2005 to eleventh in 2011.

Latest figures from the ministry of health show malaria cases in Rwanda increased from 514,173 in 2014 to 1,957,000 in 2015. However malaria death decreased from 499 in 2014 to 424 in 2015.

According to the ministry, about 83 percent of Rwandan households have treated mosquito nets. The government targets at least one mosquito net per two people.

Mbituyumuremyi stated that about 5,000 people will be tested and treated during April 25-29, as part of the efforts to combat malaria infections.

In 2015, Rwanda was recognized for its battle against malaria, by the African Leaders Malaria Alliance Awards for Excellence in Vector Control.

According to the World Malaria Report 2016, the rate of new malaria cases fell by 21 percent globally between 2010 and 2015. Malaria death rates decreased by 29 percent in the same 5-year period. In sub-Saharan Africa, case incidence and death rates fell by 21 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

World Health Organization says that insecticide-treated nets have had the greatest impact, accounting for an estimated 69 percent of cases prevented through control tools.

It recommends sleeping in insecticide treated mosquito nets, spraying indoor walls with insecticides, and preventive medicines for the most vulnerable groups: pregnant women, under-fives and infants.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:40:31|Editor: yan

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ARUSHA, Tanzania, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in eastern Tanzania's district of Mvomero on Tuesday destroyed more than 70 acres of marijuana farms in the countrywide ongoing anti-narcotic drugs operation.

Mohamed Utaly, Mvomero District Commissioner said that 20 people have been arrested in connection with farming, processing, trafficking and selling marijuana.

He said that the suspected cannabis growers were found doing the illegal farming venture in a remote and hilly area, which cannot be easily accessed.

According to the official, the villagers were engaging in growing the cannabis, to the extent of setting up irrigating infrastructures in the area, which they use during dry season.

"They have been using rivers that flow from Mikumi National Park," he said.

"Farmers in the area were found busy taking care of the illicit drug and the crop found is in different stages. There are farms which were ready for harvesting, while other farmers were drying the leafy crop," he said.

He added that the areas where the crop is grown are hard to be accessed due to its geographical location.

"We need more personnel if this operation is to be successful in the areas, and we're also thinking of deploying a special aircraft so that we can spray herbicides or chemicals to destroy those farms," the official said.

According to him, the situation is bad in Mvomero district, especially in Doma and Mgeta areas where a number of young people are badly affected by the cannabis.

Michael Ligola, Mvomero District Director called upon local leaders in areas which are notorious for such illegal farming to team up with the the central government in the fight against narcotic drugs.

He encouraged people in their localities to engage into growing food crops for income-generating activities.

Early this year, the Tanzanian government announced a countrywide anti-narcotics operation, which includes marijuana.

Tanzania is one of the largest marijuana producers in Africa and its largest consignment is destined to Kenya's Nairobi which serves as the distribution point for Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, among others.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:50:31|Editor: yan

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RIGA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The sweeping tax reforms proposed by the Latvian Finance Ministry have been approved in principle by the Baltic country's government coalition, Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis told reporters following a meeting of coalition partners on Tuesday.

The prime minister said debates on the tax proposals will continue, but the partners will push ahead with the reform.

Latvian Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola predicted that the reform plan was likely to win the government's support as well.

Kucinskis, who represents the leading coalition partner, the Greens and Farmers Union, will be holding meetings with the two other partners of Latvia's tripartite center-right coalition, the right-wing National Alliance and the center-right Unity, this week to secure their full support for the tax reform.

The prime minister noted, however, that the most hotly disputed proposal to allocate 1 percent of social security contributions to the health sector would not be included in the reform plan.

The government is scheduled to decide on the tax reform on May 3.

Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry sent the blueprint of the national tax policy framework 2018-2021 to all line ministries, as well as social and other partners in the hope that the government might decide on its adoption at an extraordinary meeting scheduled for April 28. The delay has occurred because of Unity's objections to some of the proposed tax measures.

The main tax reforms proposed by the Finance Ministry include setting a zero-tax rate on companies' undistributed profit and a 20 percent tax rate on distributed profit, cutting the personal income tax rate from 23 percent to 20 percent, scrapping solidarity tax which is charged on high salaries, leaving a reduced tax on microenterprises in place, and raising the minimum monthly wage to 430 euros from 380 euros.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:55:34|Editor: Yamei

Photo taken on March 14, 2017 shows the "Big Ben" and the UK flag in central London, Britain. The British upper house of the Parliament passed the Brexit Bill Monday night, clearing the last hurdle for the government to trigger Brexit. (Xinhua file photo/Han Yan)

LONDON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Britain's future in Europe dominated campaigning Tuesday with the main opposition Labour Party setting out its own vision of Brexit.

Keir Starmer, Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, set out Labour's approach to Brexit, saying British voters facing a general election on June 8 have a choice of two visions.

Starmer said: "We accept that outside the EU our relationship with Europe must change. But we do not accept that Brexit has to mean whatever (Prime Minister) Theresa May says it means. We do not accept that there has to be a reckless Conservative Brexit."

Starmer said if Britain elected a Labour government it would reset the "Conservatives failing approach to Brexit".

"We will scrap the Government's Brexit White Paper and replace it with fresh negotiating priorities that reflect Labour values and our six tests.

"Labour's White Paper will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union as we know that is vital to protecting jobs and the economy," he said.

Starmer said the Labour Party believes in building a new relationship with the EU, not as members but as partners.

"Where jobs, the economy and retaining the benefits of the Single Market and the Customs Union are our priority. Where hard-fought workplace rights and the environment are protected. Where we are an open, outward looking country. Where EU nationals living here are guaranteed their rights and can live in certainty that Brexit will not affect them," he said.

Criticising the government, Starmer added: "Theresa May has said that no deal is better than a bad deal. Boris Johnson (Foreign Secretary) has said no deal is no problem. Labour are very clear that no deal is the worst possible deal."

"If Theresa May wins another 5 years in power, she will take it as a green light to side-line parliament, ignore opposition and drive through a reckless Brexit," claimed Starmer.

Prime Minister May went on the campaign trail in Wales where she said backing the Conservatives would strengthen her hand in her Brexit negotiations.

Writing Tuesday in one of the leading newspapers in Wales, the Western Mail, May she said the election was an opportunity to give Britain "the strong and stable leadership it needs to see us through Brexit and beyond".

She accused rival political parties of seeking to disrupt Britain's Brexit negotiations, "even as 27 other European countries line up to oppose us".

In her message, May said June's election was "a choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest, or Jeremy Corbyn (Labour leader) in Downing Street at the head of a coalition of chaos. It is a chance to cast a positive vote for the strong and stable leadership we need to deliver on the democratic will of the British people."

Carwyn Jones, the Labour leader in Wales, later described May's visit as a stunt.

The minority Liberal Democrats responded to May's message, saying a hard Brexit will mean real pain for people across Wales.

"This election is a chance to change the direction of the country and prevent a hard Brexit," said a spokesman for the party.

Meanwhile in the unelected House of Lords Tuesday, one of the Labour party peers, Lord Dubs, called for teens aged 16 and 17 to be given a vote on June 8.

He was speaking after it was announced that British people who have lived abroad for over 15 years will not be allowed a vote.

Cabinet Office spokesman Lord Young rejected the idea of lowering the voting age and said it will stay at 18.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 01:55:34|Editor: yan

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PRETORIA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A newly launched people-to-people exchange mechanism will give a boost to China-South Africa relations, said visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong here on Tuesday.

The Chinese vice premier made the remarks in a meeting with South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

Liu said that with guidance from Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma and joint efforts made by both sides, China-South Africa comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained good momentum.

Both sides have enjoyed deep mutual political trust and supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, she said.

Pragmatic cooperation in various fields between the two countries has progressed steadily and achieved remarkable results, she noted.

It is at this opportune time that China and South Africa officially launched the High Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism (PPEM), which will make the foundation of China-South African relationship even stronger by broadening its support from among the people and in the society, said the vice premier.

Liu expressed belief that the PPEM will help deliver the voice of African and developing countries to the world, and continuously push forward China-South Africa relations as well as China-Africa relations.

For her part, the South African foreign minister expressed that Vice Premier Liu's visit shows that bilateral relations are running at a high level.

The good relationship between South Africa and China is playing an important exemplary role in promoting Africa-China cooperation and cementing the solidarity and cooperation among developing countries, Nkoana-Mashabane said.

The foreign minister hailed Monday's successful launch of the PPEM, saying the new mechanism will provide a key platform for the two peoples to better participate in friendly cooperation between South Africa and China.

South Africa is willing to make joint efforts with China to implement the outcomes of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and continuously push forward bilateral relations, she added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 02:00:35|Editor: yan

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BUCHAREST, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Romania's Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu said Tuesday that the main priority of his cabinet in Brexit talks is for the UK pulling out of the European Union (EU) to have the least effect on Romanians in Britain.

The prime minister made the statement at the first meeting of the country's Brexit Interministerial Council.

"Our number one priority is for the process to have the least possible impact on Romanians living, working or studying in the UK, because their rights have to be protected and negotiations to this end will have to be conducted teamed up with the European Commission," said Grindeanu.

Actually, the Bucharest authorities have repeatedly reiterated that the acquired rights of Romanian nationals in UK must be guaranteed after the Brexit.

When referring to the future of bilateral relations, the prime minister told the meeting of Brexit Interministerial Council that Romania will remain UK's "friend and ally," irrespective of the UK's future place, whether inside or outside the EU.

According to Grindeanu, the meeting was convened because the European Council on this Saturday will adopt guidelines for the European Commission's mandate in the negotiations between the EU and the UK.

The prime minister also mentioned other two directions Romania should follow in the Brexit negotiations: preserving the budgets for the cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy in the financial framework 2014-2020.

The Romanian government set up last month the inter-ministerial Council for Brexit to provide policy guidelines to define Romania's stands. This Council that comprises several ministries is chaired by the prime minister and coordinated by the Minister delegate for European affairs.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 02:00:35|Editor: yan

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MOSCOW, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday demanded the Russian navy to prioritize the development of strategic nuclear forces and modernize its weaponry.

"As of the end of 2016, the share of modern weapons and equipment in the navy was about 47 percent ... The rate should be raised to 70 percent by 2020," Putin said at a meeting of the Military Industry Commission, according to a Kremlin statement.

According to him, the Russian navy should prioritize the development of strategic nuclear forces, modern weaponry and supporting infrastructure.

"Russia should ensure the presence of its naval forces in all strategically important areas of the world oceans," said Putin.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 02:05:35|Editor: yan

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NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The expansive Somali coastline that is a critical shipping route remains prone to pirate attacks despite a five year lull occasioned by enhanced patrols by international naval forces, an expert has said.

John Steed, the Regional Manager of Horn of Africa at Oceans Beyond Piracy told Xinhua in a recent interview that commercial vessels transiting through Somali waters could be targeted by pirates unless vigilance is enhanced.

"The threat of return of piracy in Somalia coastline is real if the international community does not wake up. The big commercial ships can still be hijacked by pirates," Steed said in Nairobi.

He spoke against a backdrop of a series of pirate attacks on commercial vessels off the coast of Somalia in the last two months.

Steed blamed lax policing, high youth unemployment alongside break down of law and order for the resurgence of piracy in Somalia waters.

"At the height of piracy in 2012, ships coming to high risk areas took deterrent measures like having armed guards and sailing at high speed in deep waters. Time passed and companies abandoned those measures and pirates found an opportunity to strike," said Steed.

He noted that reduced presence of international naval forces in Somali coast alongside scaling of security budget by shipping companies may have fueled latest pirate attacks.

"We had six pirate attacks this year and most of them were on commercial dhows. With war in Somalia and Yemen, it makes this crucial shipping line a potential target for pirates," Steed said.

He regretted that well heeled individuals who have profited from piracy are luring jobless Somalia youth into the criminal enterprise that promise them new sources of income.

There is ample evidence that pirates are regrouping to stage more attacks on commercial vessels sailing through Somali coastline.

Steed noted that piracy was not completely vanquished through aggressive onslaught by international naval forces or lengthy prison terms for culprits.

"Pirates have been doing other criminal activities like weapons smuggling and people trafficking. We think they have regrouped and are now more organized," Steed told Xinhua.

His organization has been advising shipping companies to invest in armed guards and avoid sailing along the shores where pirates stage attacks.

At the same time, Steed refuted claims that illegal fishing had fuelled piracy in Somali waters.

"There is no direct link between illegal fishing and piracy; pirates are funded by influential people, criminals who invest their money in the enterprise," said Steed

The retired British army officer said the international community should prioritize re-training of Somalia coast guard alongside investments in youth empowerment projects to reduce piracy.

"Offering alternative livelihoods to unemployed youth is crucial to end piracy. There is need to develop Somalia's naval capability in order to end this menace," Steed said.

He lauded China's involvement in anti-piracy activities along Somalia waters against a backdrop of reduced presence of western naval forces.

"China involvement in Somalia is a good thing. There are no many navies and China is a willing player and it is cooperating with other countries to deter piracy," said Steed.

He added that the presence of Chinese warships in Somalia coastline has bolstered efforts to prevent attack on commercial vessels by criminal gangs.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 02:05:36|Editor: yan

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HARARE, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Business people are taking advantage of prevailing liquidity challenges by charging premiums of between 10 and 20 percent to desperate cash seekers.

A bar owner operating in one of the city's eastern suburbs who refused to be named told Xinhua Tuesday that people looking for cash were paying 10 percent of the required amounts for bond notes and 20 percent for US dollars while making electronic transfers into the business people's bank accounts.

"They cannot get the cash for free. Many business people are doing this because they have to get value from the transactions," he said.

He said cash seekers would identify retailers wanting to place orders for goods at wholesalers using cash and asked to be given the cash in return for electronic transfers.

"The same is happening in the shops and council and utility banking halls where some people just mill around waiting for people intending to use cash and then offer to buy goods on their behalf using Points of Sale in return for the cash. But here no premiums are charged," he added.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya has blamed the emergence of the black market on indiscipline and general lack of confidence in the market.

RBZ recently directed that retailers and wholesalers to bank excess cash collections within 24 hours as a way of boosting liquidity in the market, but some of them have found a way of "banking" their proceeds in plastic money while getting value from the cash collected.

"Many people are looking for U.S. dollars because they have to meet certain obligations outside the country, so it is easy to charge higher premiums for the U.S. dollar than the bond notes. Unfortunately the cash is not getting into the banking system," the bar owner said.

RBZ in 2016 established a list for foreign currency disbursements which leaves college fees payments at the lowest rung of priorities, so parents have devised other means to send money to their children, including getting money on the black market.

Many people are also believed to be hoarding the bond notes for use in places which do not have Point of Sale machines, while others just remain skeptical of the banking sector and would rather keep their money elsewhere.

The bond notes and coins, which were supposed to trade at par with the U.S. dollar, were introduced between 2014 and 2016 in a bid to improve liquidity, but the central bank is facing a mammoth task trying to keep the rates at the same level as the U.S. dollar becomes more elusive.

About 130 million dollars worth of bond notes and coins are now circulating in the economy but these have failed to satisfy demand, although Mangudya said recently that they were sufficient, together with about 900 million U.S. dollars said to be in circulation.

The local currency, the Zimbabwe dollar, became moribund in February 2009 and made way to a multiple currency regime dominated by the U.S. dollar and, in the initial stages, the rand.

The others are the Australian dollar, British pound sterling, Botswana pula, Euro, Indian rupee, Chinese yuan and Japanese yen, but these have hardly been in use.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 02:35:42|Editor: yan

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VIENNA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Austrian authorities arrested two suspects following anti-terror raids in the national capital Vienna on Monday afternoon, local media reported on Tuesday.

Dozens of Agents under instruction from the public prosecutor's office accompanied by dozens of "Cobra" special forces personnel stormed five properties including apartments and a restaurant, before arresting the two men, the Krone said.

The two Syrian nationals, aged 48 and 36, are under suspicion of membership of a terrorist organization. The report stated a connection to the Islamic State (IS) is presently considered likely.

It is believed however that there was no imminent threat of a terror attack by the duo in Austria.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 02:45:44|Editor: yan

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VIENNA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz on Tuesday called on the European Union to show "honesty and clarity" concerning the status of its relations with Turkey.

"It would be good if the EU could clarify what future cooperation with Ankara will look like," Kurz said following talks with his Slovakian counterpart Miroslav Lajcak in Vienna.

Austria Press Agency quoted Kurz as saying that "Turkey is not a part of the European Union."

Based on developments over the past years in terms of democracy, rule of law, and human rights, Kurz argued Ankara has been continuously moving "further away from Europe."

The recent constitutional referendum was just "one further step in that direction," he said.

Lajcak said the Turkish government had for its part also showed no particular recent interest in EU accession talks. He said, however, that there is still a need for dialogue, and that both sides wish to maintain good relations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 02:55:47|Editor: MJ

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ANTANANARIVO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Madagascar organized at Antananarivo University a photo exhibition on Tuesday in the framework of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Madagascar.

Entitled "45 years of Sino-Malagasy cooperation", the exhibition has 60 photos showing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of education, health, cultures, economy and others, the Chinese Ambassador to Madagascar Yang Xiaorong said during the photo exhibition vernissage.

"Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Madagascar in 1972, bilateral relations of friendly cooperation have developed rapidly and remarkably in all fields such as medicine, politics, economy, commerce, culture and education," the ambassador said.

However, the ambassador stressed the education as an important field of cooperation because it concerns young people that she considered as "future of friendship between China and Madagascar.

"Cooperation in the field of education can help enhance mutual understanding because China and Madagascar are separated by a great geographical distance," the ambassador added.

For his part, the General Director of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research Blanchard Randrianambinina said that learning Chinese language and culture has become inescapable and the Confucius Institute in Antananarivo and Toamasina (360 kilometers northwest of Antananarivo), play a real role of cultural exchange between Madagascar and China.

"These two institutions contribute to the strengthening of mutual understanding between the two peoples and contribute to the strengthening of shared economic development in a win-win spirit," he said.

Many events such as broadcasting Chinese movie in Malagasy television stations, bringing Chinese musicians to Madagascar and singing competitions for Chinese citizens in Madagascar will also be organized by the embassy for the celebration of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Madagascar this year.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

KIEV, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Tuesday that he hopes to deepen all-round cooperation with China.

"We will continue to further deepen cultural and economic cooperation between Kiev and Beijing," Poroshenko wrote on Facebook, while commenting on his wife's participation in the Sino-Ukrainian cultural exchanges week, titled "One Belt One Road."

Cultural dialogue between the East and the West is the key to a sustainable global development and the path towards freedom and peace, Poroshenko said.

The Sino-Ukrainian cultural exchanges week kicked off on Monday in the Ukrainian capital. The festival is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Ukraine and the upcoming Belt and Road forum for international cooperation in Beijing in May.

Ukraine and China established diplomatic ties on Jan. 4, 1992, shortly after Ukraine gained its independence from the former Soviet Union.

The Belt and Road means the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that are in development under an initiative brought up by China in 2013, which aspires to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 04:41:35|Editor: yan

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BRATISLAVA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Slovakia has confirmed that it will participate in the international exposition Astana Expo 2017 scheduled for June 10-September 10, Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the Czech Republic and Slovakia Serzhan Abdykarimov said on Tuesday.

"I think that the Slovak pavilion will be among the most interesting in Astana. The Slovak national day at EXPO 2017 will be on July 18," said the ambassador.

According to Abdykarimov, EXPO 2017 in Astana is expected to welcome five million visitors. As many as 3,000 events of various types, such as concerts, exhibitions, presentations and ministerial forums will take place in the three-month period in the capital of Kazakhstan.

The expo's main theme is "Future Energy," and it features the following sub-themes: reducing CO2 emissions, energy-efficient life and energy for everything.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 05:02:10|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday launched an appeal of 64.5 million U.S. dollars for the Kasai region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

An estimated 1 million people have been displaced by the violence that erupted in Kasai Central in August 2016 and rippled across neighbouring provinces, leading to civilian deaths, gross human right violations and disruption of livelihoods and education for thousands of children, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"The appeal launched today will provide water, food, health services and basic household items, as well as protection services to minors, women who have suffered sexual violence and other civilians who have been victims of violence," Dujarric said at the daily UN news briefing.
Aerial photo taken on Nov. 29, 2016 shows a view of Lianyungang Port in Lianyungang City, east China's Jiangsu Province. Lianyungang Port, whose construction began in early 1930s, is now one of the important outlets from eastChina to the Pacific Ocean. Since the China-Kazakhstan logistics terminal was put into operation in Lianyungang on May 19, 2014 and the first freight train departed from Lianyungang to Kazakhstan's Almaty on Feb. 25, 2015, the port has been playing a pivotal role in connecting East Asia with Central Asia and Europe, offering an attractive alternative for the flow of trade between the three regions. (Xinhua/Han Yuqing)

by Xinhua Writers Yang Shilong, Zhang Zhihuan

NEW YORK, April 25 (Xinhua) -- It is beneficial for the United States to support China's Belt and Road Initiative, a transnational network of trade, long-term investment and economic development, said a leading U.S.expert.

"I think it would be beneficial for the Trump administration to say that the United States is supportive of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Michael Swaine, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

The Belt and Road Initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was first proposed by China in 2013. It is expected to include more than 60 percent of the world's population and more than one third of global economic output.

"The United States is not in the position, as I understand, to be able to invest huge amounts of money in the Belt and Road Initiative. It could invest expertise, it could invest a certain amount of services and things like that, that would be useful for One Belt and (One) Road Initiative. I think these sorts of things should be discussed," Swaine said.

Calling himself a "big supporter" of the initiative, Swaine said the United States government has been in recent years taken "a kind of wait-and-see attitude."

"It is not so much hostile as much as it's been...the United States is sort of 'it's a little too early to know here how viable this concept really is' and that's really led people to be cautious," he said.

"I'm very positive, I'm a big supporter of the Belt and Road. I think it's not threatening American interests. I think it could be very beneficial for the countries involved and it could be very beneficial for China," he said.

"I think it could reinforce incentives for cooperation in critical areas of the world, it can serve as a bridge for involvement by Western European countries and also by the United States. I think in concept, it is a very positive thing," Swaine said.

"This event next month is going to be the first really major event as I understand it for the Belt and Road Initiative," Swaine said when talking about the upcoming Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in mid-May, the highest level of its kind since the initiative proposed.

"So we have to see here exactly what China is prepared to do and what other countries are prepared to do in trying to support this, but I think the United States should without question support the Belt and Road (initiative)," he said.

"The United States has to be able to position itself in the global order which is not going to go away," Swaine said. "It's gonna become more globalized over time, it should not be supporting nationalist movements in Europe or elsewhere, much less in this country, that simply creates more barriers and they create more suspicion, they create more tension both domestically and internationally."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 05:32:17|Editor: yan

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ALGIERS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- An Algerian top official on Tuesday said there is no alternative to political settlement for the six-year civil war in Libya, adding that Libya's neighboring countries will meet in Algiers on May 8.

"Reconciliation and inter Libyan dialogue are inevitable for bringing back peace and security in this neighboring nation," said Minister of Laghreb Affairs, Arab League and African Union, Abdelkader Messahel quoted by the state run television.

He added that "if we want to find a political solution to the Libyan crisis, we have to ensure security in the region," stressing the need for "consensual political solution ahead of building strong institutions, unified army, security services and a stable state."

Messahel further recalled the different scourges threatening the region, including terrorist groups, criminal organizations, illegal migration and organized crime.

As part of the efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the Libyan conflict, Algeria held separate talks with Libyan high officials, including the commander of the Libyan National Army, Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and Fayez al-Serraj, head of the presidency council of the Government of National Accord.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 05:32:19|Editor: yan

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DAMASCUS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 50 Kurdish people were killed on Tuesday by Turkish shelling and airstrikes on Kurdish positions on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi borders, a monitor group reported.

The Turkish missile strikes targeted a media center for the Kurdish forces and a radio broadcast station in the far eastern countryside of Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah, near the Iraqi borders, killing 22 Kurds.

On the Iraqi side of the borders, Turkish warplanes targeted the Sinjar area, leaving 28 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based watchdog group said the death toll could likely rise as there are around 26 of others between wounded and missing.

The Turkish animosity toward the Kurds has always been obvious, with Ankara repeatedly saying it will not allow the Kurds to have a strong presence in northern Syria, near the Turkish borders.

Meanwhile, the U.S. said it was concerned over the Turkish strikes, as they were not coordinated with the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition.

The U.S. has emerged as the main backer of the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, supporting the group in their battles against the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group.

The Observatory said that at least five people were killed Tuesday by strikes believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led coalition.

Local reports said the Syrian Foreign Ministry is expected to release a statement of condemnation regarding the Turkish attacks on the Kurds.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 05:37:24|Editor: yan

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RIGA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- When the 14th "Chinese Bridge" language proficiency competition in Latvia was held in the University of Latvia on Tuesday, the contest has drawn hails from various sides.

Professor Janis Ikstens, vice rector of the University of Latvia and the board director of Confucius Institute at the University of Latvia, said that the "Chinese Bridge" has provided a perfect channel to the Chinese language learners in Latvia.

It has been playing a positive role in promoting the Latvia-China culture exchanges and friendly bilateral relation, said Ikstens.

Huang Yong, Chinese ambassador to Latvia, focused his address on the theme "Dreams Enlighten the Future", noting that the "Chinese Bridge" competition has been held in Latvia for 14 consecutive years, not only improving the Latvian learners' proficiency in Chinese and making them appreciate the charm of Chinese culture, but also helping them fulfill their dream to study in China, as they have been striving to broaden their horizon and achieve excellence.

He thanked the Latvian government and the University of Latvia for their dedication to Chinese education and voiced hope that more Latvian citizens, especially young people, would deepen their understanding of Chinese culture through learning the language.

The ambassador also encouraged the contestants and wished them good luck in the competition.

Professor Peteris Pildegovics and Professor Shang Quanyu, Latvian and Chinese directors of the Confucius Institute at the University of Latvia, stressed three highlights of the contest.

The first was the number of contestants, which has grown to its all-time high, an indication of the popularity of the Chinese language and culture in Latvia.

The second highlight was the age of the contestants which ranged from seven to 70 years old, an indication of the language's charm among young and older people. The third one was the high percentage of children and teenagers among the contestants, suggesting the growing popularity of Chinese among youngsters.

A total of 70 contestants participated in the competition this year, including 25 in the adult and university student's group and 45 in the elementary and secondary school student's group.

The competition took place in four parts: self-introduction, themed public speaking, Q&A about Chinese knowledge and a talent show. Their passionate speeches on the theme "Dreams Enlighten the Future" and the extraordinary artistic abilities and skills demonstrated in the talent show deeply impressed both the judges and the audience.

Some of the winners will travel to China to represent Latvia at the "Chinese Bridge" final competition.

The language proficiency competition will last till Wednesday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 05:47:26|Editor: yan

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CARACAS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's attorney-general Luisa Ortega Diaz Tuesday called on the government and opposition to restart their dialogue to end protests, which have left 26 people dead.

"We need to return to dialogue with valid negotiators with decision-making power, to build an agenda of agreements to allow democratic and institutional results which protect the rule of law," said Ortega Diaz in a report on the protests.

Ortega Diaz said that violent clashes had been seen since April 1 "in the majority of states, except for six," adding that 26 Venezuelans had lost their lives, including "four teenagers and 22 adults."

Ortega Diaz added that, in April so far, 437 people have been injured, 1,289 have been arrested, with 65 having been jailed and 217 to appear in court Tuesday.

After calling for dialogue, Ortega Diaz said that the leaders of both sides needed to "lower the tone of confrontation and raise the level of debate."

She concluded by saying that Venezuela is facing "such complex" socio-economic conditions that "the destruction of public and private property cannot be encouraged, terms of hate cannot be promoted."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 05:52:30|Editor: yan

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LISBON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people took to the streets in Lisbon on Tuesday to mark Portugal's 1974 Carnation Revolution that ended dictatorship.

The parade took place on the Avenida de Liberdade (Liberty Avenue), where it traditionally takes place every year.

Red roses were seen everywhere, reminiscent of the flowers put into the guns 43 years ago. The red flowers were sold by street vendors, just as they were sold to soldiers during the bloodless coup.

Young people dominated the crowds, holding up banners and flags. Though they weren't born yet when the coup took place, they have suffered the effects of recent austerity measures.

"It's important to remember the 25th of April, to remember equality and respect for democracy," 20-year-old student Joao Miguel told Xinhua.

"There is still a long way to go. We still need to give rights to immigrants... We also still need to advance in women's rights."

Miguel added that there are a lot of rights in the Portuguese constitution which are important to defend.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 06:22:37|Editor: yan

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RIO DE JANEIRO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian police announced Tuesday the arrest of nine people suspected of a spectacular robbery on a private security company in Paraguay in which they allegedly fled with around 40 million U.S. dollars.

In a statement, Brazil's federal police said that nine people had been arrested on Monday in the state of Parana, having fled there after the robbery in Paraguay's Ciudad del Este on the border with Brazil.

Two of those arrested were injured during a firefight with police, in which three other suspect robbers were killed. Besides the arrests, authorities also seized six guns, explosives, bulletproof jackets, two boats and seven vehicles.

According to press reports, the robber stole around 40 million U.S. dollars but Prosegur, the Spanish company involved, denied this on Tuesday and said the loot was closer to 8 million U.S. dollars. One security guard was killed and another was injured, along with three civilians, in the attack.

Witnesses claimed several of the robbers spoke Portuguese and were members of Primer Comando da Capital (PCC), one of Brazil's foremost criminal gangs.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 06:22:37|Editor: yan

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by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted on Tuesday to reopen its monitoring procedure against Turkey, a decision that can potentially jeopardize Turkey's European Union bid amid deteriorating relations between Ankara and Brussels.

Ankara immediately reacted to the decision, announcing that "such a decision leaves no choice to Turkey but to reconsider its relations with this institution," the 47-member Council of Europe which is separate from the EU but represents in a broader sense the European bloc' s political soul.

The PACE voted in favour of restarting its monitoring of Turkey's respect for fundamental freedoms, which concluded in 2004, with 113 of the assembly's lawmakers voting in favour, 45 against and 12 abstained.

The report called on Ankara to lift its state of emergency and release the many politicians and journalists arrested in the wake of the failed coup in July 2016 under its anti-terrorism laws.

The report also proposed for monitoring to be reopened as a measure to improve cooperation between the Strasbourg institution and the Turkish authorities. The text expressed serious concerns about the constitutional amendments that passed in Turkey's 16 April referendum transforming the parliamentary system in a presidential one.

While the report acknowledges the difficulties posed in the aftermath of the coup attempt and by the ongoing terrorist threats by the Kurdish rebels and the Islamic State (IS), it also criticizes Turkey for a "serious deterioration of the functioning of democratic institutions" manly because of the vast purges orchestrated by Ankara against suspected members of the Gulen organization, led by the U.S. exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen that the government accuses of being the mastermind of the coup plot.

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin denounced and rejected it in a communique as a "politically motivated operation."

After the vote, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement that it "strongly condemns this unjust decision of PACE taken with political motives in contravention to the established procedures."

In 2004, the EU informed Ankara that Turkey would have to exit the monitoring process, which has been in place since 1996, in order for it to fulfill the Copenhagen criteria, the standard of rules that decide if a country is eligible to join the EU.

In 2004, the monitoring process was lifted and in December the EU agreed to start full membership negotiations but talks which began in October 2005 made only little progress since then.

Relations with the EU soured especially during a referendum campaign in the past months on granting the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan more powers, during which he vehemently accused Germany and the Netherlands of "Nazi practices" by banning political rallies in their countries.

Anti-EU sentiment has risen to unprecedented levels in Turkey fueled by ever growing deception among the population on faltering and never ending membership talks and by the opposition of some EU countries to a full membership perspective for Ankara.

On the weekend, Erdogan's chief aide Yigit Bulut penned a vitriolic editorial against the EU in a newspaper, accusing harshly the bloc of islamophobia.

"The EU has reached the end of the road. The EU is done, and we are setting out for a new journey ... A new world order is being carved out and it is high time to take our role in this new world," wrote Bulut in Star daily.

The Council of Europe applies its monitoring scheme to all countries when they join, but this was the first time it has been reopened against any member of the body, infuriating the Ankara government.

"We consider this decision as the result of a campaign against Turkey. It is purely a political decision," said government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus on public TV channel TRT.

The EU has already said that Turkey's EU negotiations will halt if president Erdogan, as he promised repeatedly to his many supporters, that he would reinstate death penalty, abolished in 2004.

EU lawmakers will debate relations with Turkey on Wednesday and the bloc's foreign ministers will discuss the situation on Friday.

Some experts were not hiding their pessimism on the turn taken by relations between Turkey and EU.

"Turkey has unfortunately no more place in the political sphere of Europe. Turkey has been downgraded to the second division of the European continent," said to Xinhua by Cengiz Aktar, a leading Turkish expert on European affairs.

This senior scholar of the Istanbul Centre for political studies argued that since 2013,namely after crushing a wave of peaceful demonstrations who began in Istanbul on summer and which spread to many Turkish cities, "Turkey has in fact tried to get herself out of Europe and the state does not want any political ties with the EU."

Many analysts predict that in case of a suspension of political relations Ankara and Brussels would purely concentrate on trade ties in line with their custom union, but this scheme would also yield problems for a NATO country with a geostrategical importance at the gates of Syria and Iraq.

"Of course, it's not the end of the world, but it's nevertheless a cause of serious concern because even though the Council of Europe is not a body of the EU, the bloc is very attentive to this institution's decisions," said Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Istanbul based Centre for Economic and Political Studies (EDAM), arguing that Turkey should have proceeded with democratic reforms, as expected by the EU.

"We have to admit that Turkey has not fully respected all EU norms on democracy and human rights. She has a lot of homework to do in this regard."

"Unfortunately this could well lead to a suspension of EU-Turkey accession negotiations, which would also be a first in EU's history," added Sinan Ulgen.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-26 07:10:32|Editor: MJ

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Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (C), along with Canadian Finance Minister Morneau (L) and Canadian International Trade Minister Champagne, launches the China-Canada Economic and Financial Strategic Dialogue in Beijing, capital of China, April 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Canada on Tuesday launched an economic and financial strategic dialogue in Beijing, pledging expanded cooperation on areas including trade, investment, finance and science to add new impetus to the bilateral strategic partnership.

The dialogue came as Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang held talks with both Canadian Minister of Finance Bill Morneau and Minister of International Trade Francois-Philippe Champagne at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

Stressing that China and Canada are important economies in the Asia-Pacific region and major members of the G20, Wang said it is not only beneficial for both peoples but also conducive to world and regional peace, stability and prosperity that China and Canada cement friendship and enhance cooperation.

He said launching the China-Canada Economic and Financial Strategic Dialogue is a consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian leaders. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau made the decision last year that the strategic dialogue would be conducted at the vice-premier level, he added.

China is willing to work with Canada to implement the leaders' consensus, strengthen coordination on strategic bilateral and global economic issues and expand cooperation on trade, investment, finance, science and technology, clean energy, infrastructure and tourism in order to add vitality to bilateral ties, Wang said.

Morneau said Canada and China share extensive common interests on bilateral and global issues. Canada is ready to boost cooperation with China via the dialogue to achieve growth and prosperity, he said.

Champagne said the two countries enjoy great potential in economic and trade cooperation. Canada would like to further promote the Canada-China Free Trade Agreement and expand cooperation in various areas to forge ahead continuous development of bilateral ties, he added.

During Chinese Premier Li's official visit to Canada last September, China expressed willingness to start talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada, making the North American country the first Group of Seven economy China is seeking an FTA with.

China and Canada also aim to double their trade volume by 2025 from the 55.7 billion U.S. dollars recorded in 2015.

Currently, the two countries are holding a second round of exploratory discussions about the FTA in Canada, following the first round of meetings in Beijing in February.
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FCB declares $817M in profits

The company announced its results at its Annual General Meeting held at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre. Darbasie also announced that the banks total assets had increased from $37.5 billion to $38.9 billion and its capital base increased by more than 5.6 per cent from $6.3 billion to $6.7 billion.

Darbasie began her presentation to the meeting not with the hard numbers but by talking about the banks contribution to its customers and various interest groups. She said First Citizens is constantly upgrading its ATM network to provide better security and protection for its customers.

She also spoke about the banks consistent monitoring of customer transactions to spot and highlight suspicious transactions, and said First Citizens had introduced profit sharing for its employees.

She said while the benefits to employees were clear, it also benefitted shareholders by aligning compensation to maximise profit which benefitted the shareholders. She said that the just concluded Additional Public Offering allowed the bank to invest in the first Employee Stock Ownership Plan available for a majority State-owned company which ensured that employees compensation and retirement benefits were linked to the performance of the share price and as the share price performance improved it benefitted the shareholders.

She added that the bank works on staff creativity and camaraderie through staff conventions and other employee initiatives while it also gave back to communities through its corporate social responsibility programme which she said is built around womens issues.
Cooling off on ACs

The industry overlaps with many other sectors including tourism; the storage and transport of fish, meats, fruit and vegetables; the industrial sector; the medical sector with respect to operating theatres, the storing of vaccines, and even the morgue.

When you think about it, AC and refrigeration is way more than just sitting in a cool room. It underpins a lot of the sectors that drive our economy or at least allow it to be stable, said Dr Marissa Gowrie, Deputy Environmental Manager and National Ozone Officer in the Environmental Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning and Development.

Gowrie told Newsday that in August 1989, Trinidad and Tobago signed on to the Montreal Protocol which addressed the depletion of the Ozone Layer and set obligations for countries under the Protocol.

She explained the ozone layer was basically a UV filter, and that unfiltered UV rays could cause illnesses such as skin cancer, cataracts, and weakened immune systems. The hole in the Ozone Layer is a result of gases released into the atmosphere, including refrigerants such as Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs); the fumigant Methyl bromide; Halon, a fire suppressant; and more.

The countries came together in the 1980s and agreed to phase out these ozone depleting gases but the gases affect the ozone differently.

The Montreal Protocol addressed the worst ones first. However, in doing so, there was a time lag so all the others started to be used in so much quantity that their effect was just as bad. So the Montreal Protocol brought up the phaseout date for some of these gases. Therefore, the National Ozone Unit has helped develop support systems and framework to assist TT in meeting the obligations of the Montreal Protocol, as well as safeguarding the country.

She noted that in 2007 the use of CFCs were phased out, the process of phasing out HCFCs began in 2013, and in 2015, TT banned the import of all assembled air condition (AC) and refrigeration units that use HCFCs.

Also, in collaboration with the TT Bureau of Standards, the Ozone Unit developed labelling standards for refrigerants coming into the country ; a license is now necessary to import all refrigerants; national guidelines for AC and refrigeration practices was developed; and the Unit was also in the final stages of developing an equipment labelling standard.

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION One of the more recent steps was the Professional Certification for the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry which was launched on April 12 this year at the Hilton Trinidad.

Gowrie said the Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Industry Association (ARIA) noticed a lack of professionalism and accountability in the industry.

The organisation felt it critical to address these issues given the various sectors it services and so approached the Ministry.

For many years ARIA has been voicing that they were seeing a lot of practices they would not endorse. Because of the very rapid changes in technology and refrigerants, a technician needs to be kept abreast, must keep themselves current, and, lets face it, as a consumer you assume the technician would give you the best technical advice because you dont know better.
Cepep defends right to pursue claim against Moonilal

The company has challenged a judges decision to throw out its counter-claim against Moonilal who first sued the state agency for defamation.

In arguments before Justices of Appeal Allan Mendonca, Prakash Moosai and Andre des Vignes, the companys lead attorney Elton Prescott SC said the judge did not address his mind to his clients counter-claim when he threw out the action and instead disproportionately focussed on how much money it was getting in annual budgetary allocations.

He also submitted that the issue of whether the company was a government agency, as determined by the judge, or was a publicly traded company, as it contends, should have gone to trial.

The focus on how much money was given to the Cepep Company was just short of a political inquiry, Prescott said as he pointed to legal authorities which state that governmental agencies can defend itself against malicious falsehoods.

The Cepep Company has a right to sue for malicious falsehoods, Prescott maintained, adding that it should also be protected by the laws of defamation.

The judges ruling on the appeal will be delivered on a date to be fixed as they reserved their judgment.

In a written judgment, Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh, in January, held that the Cepep Company was restricted from suing a member of the public based on the principle that a government body should be open to inhibited public criticisms.

He said CEPEPs best defence to public criticisms would be to be transparent and straightforward in the information it provides to the public. The judge said, in this case, limited restriction on CEPEP was justified to ensure there was freedom to ask questions about its resources and criticise how these funds were being used. Moonilals attorneys had asked that CEPEPs counter- claim struck out.

Moonilals claim for defamation was filed after the CEPEP company issued a full-page statement in the press on August 24, 2016, in which it alleged misappropriation of $39.6 million in funds for construction projects in his Oropouche East constituency.

Also appearing for the CEPEP Company were attorneys Phillip Lamont and Farai Hove Masaisai while attorneys Larry Lalla represented Moonilal.
Ramdeen challenges Childrens Life Fund Authority

The State has been given until 4 pm tomorrow to rescind its decision or face having the matter go to court. The application for reimbursement was taken up by Ramdeen and attorney Wayne Sturge after Shannens parents, Arthur and Michelle Lukes application for funding for their daughters medical procedure was rejected by the authority.

The board had concluded that Shannens condition was not life threatening.

Shannen has been diagnosed with Beta Thalassemia Major, a blood related disorder, and requires a monthly blood transfusion unless a bone marrow transplant is done. Since the hemopoietic transfusion cannot be done in Trinidad, Shannens parents have had to raise funds to have the procedure done at Bambino Gesu Hospital in Italy.

It has been set for May 2.

So far, her parents have raised the 158,000 euros for the procedure, but they still need funds for their travel and stay in Italy and Shannens after care.

Ramdeen, at a news conference yesterday at his Cornelio Street, Woodbrook office, said the proceedings were brought to not just challenge Shannens case, but to challenge the interpretation by the board of management.

He said the policy and interpretation of the board would affect every child that applied to the Childrens Life Fund for medical care.

One finds it inexplicable how the board of the Childrens Life Fund could write and say they are legally precluded from reimbursement of expenses, he said.

The board didnt consider that they (the family) had to buy tickets to go there, that it is not covered by the 158,000 euros? Did they not consider that the family has to stay there? Ramdeen said he has retained the services of a doctor who is willing to testify that Shannens condition is life threatening.

If anyone with this illness goes to Mt Hope and the blood is not available or the medicine is not available or they are unable to get that transfusion, there is only one conclusion to that childs life, they will die. If that doesnt mean its life threatening, then something is definitely wrong, Ramdeen said.

Ramdeen denied that this motion was politically or financially motivated. He said they were going to ask the court for an interim order that the authority disclose to the all the material that was considered by the board in the assessment of the application made on behalf of Shannen.

Every cent the State will have to pay in this matter will be put into an account in the name of Shannen Luke for her parents to pay for her operation and the after care, so these proceedings are brought solely for the benefit of that child.

Ramdeen said he has also been seeking the assistance of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in getting the familys passports and visas organised.

He said because of the unrest in Venezuela, where the Italian visas would have been granted, the packages were stuck in the country because FedEx, through which it was sent, was unable to access its own building.
Hot Valencia cops promised relief

Sources revealed that a senior officer contacted his colleagues in the Eastern Division and assured that attempts are now being made to relocate officers as an option or to speed up the refurbishment work.

The close to 60 officers have been complaining about the excessive heat and dust blowing in their faces.

They have also complained about the lack of washroom facilities and proper place for them to have meals.

The Police Service Social and Welfare Association yesterday urged Deputy Commissioner of Police Deodath Dulalchan who is in charge of all police stations to remedy the situation or possibly face action by the officers.

Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon has also been asked to intervene.
Investigators narrow down suspects in leaked police document

Yesterday Senior Sup Mc Intyre confirmed that investigators are looking at certain persons that he did not wish to give more information since the investigation has reached a sensitive stage.

However, he also revealed that the police of Cyber Crime Unit were proving to be a big help with the investigations.

The leaked document was given to several persons of the Central Division prior to the planned Ester Raids so that the necessary man power and resources could be deployed for the time and places of the exercises.

However prior to the actual exercise being started the document was leaked on social media giving all the details of the time and places of planned road blocks and exercises especially in the troubled Enterprise area.

Yesterday Senior Sup Mc Intyre admitted that he was flabbergasted and embarrassed over the leak of the document and added that those responsible for the leak will be found and brought to justice.

He added that due to the leak he found himself in an unprecedented situation where he had to quickly change the time and places of the exercises which resulted in the seizure of two guns and the arrest of persons.

Senior Sup Mc Intyre added that he is one of the seven officers who were interviewed by officers of the Professional Standards Bureau and he had cooperated fully with the investigators.

However, he remained at a loss as to why someone would want to leak such a sensitive document and jeopardise the lives of police officers who could have easily been the target of criminal element when out on those exercises.

Yesterday sources at the Professional Standards Bureau told Newsday that all persons who were in receipt of the sensitive document will be interviewed and this could take a long time, because the probe has to be thorough.

They however admitted that they have made inroads into the investigation and the perpetrator or perpetrators will be brought to justice.

Newsday understands that an interim report into the leaked document has already been sent to Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams.
Venezuelan boat captain, crew member on guns, arms charges

Jason Barry Kullis St Clair, 33, was described as a person with no fixed place of abode in Trinidad.

Douglas Raphael Mendoza Gonzales, 28, magistrate Cheryl Ann Blake-Antoine was told, is from Rio Salado, Guira, Venezuela.

He was the captain of a pirogue named MV El Castigador which is currently berthed at Kings Wharf, San Fernando.

Their arrests stemmed from investigations by Customs and Excise Division on Friday in which the boat was confiscated.

Blake-Antoine read to both men that they attempted to import into the country a Smith and Wesson gun and a Colt firearm together with five rounds of ammunition.

Attorney Devvon Williams represented Mendoza Gonzales and pleaded for bail to be granted to him, telling Blake-Antoine that he has no previous convictions and a fixed place of abode in Venezuela. Attorney Abigail Roach who represented St Clair, pleaded for bail as well and admitted although he is a national, he lives in Venezuela and is often back and forth. She said he stays in a hotel whenever he is in Trinidad.

Attorney for the Customs and Excise Division, Harricharan Cassie, objected to bail being granted saying that the importation of guns into the country was becoming quite known and popular to law enforcement agencies.

Blake-Antoine remanded the men into custody to reappear before her tomorrow.
Road not paved since Panday was Prime Minister

From as early as 4.30 am, as commuters made their way to school and work, some Moruga residents burned debris a little distance away from the Santa Maria RC Primary School while others blocked the road at the Marac junction. Hundreds were trapped between the two roadblocks for hours and a decision was taken to close the school on account of the fire.

Our roads are in a very terrible condition, said president of the 14 ? Mile Mark Penal Rock Road, Moruga Community Council, Lester Guevarro. We have been promised that it will be paved on numerous occasions, but the last time the road was paved was under Mr Basdeo Panday. Guevarro said the area of contention lies between the ten and 16 mile marks which, they were promised by Moruga MP Dr Lovell Francis, would be paved in January 2016. Nothing has been done since, said Guevarro, and Moruga residents continue to be without a PTSC bus service to Penal as the bus stops at the ten mile mark beyond which is unpaved.

We just didnt wake up and say we going to block the road just so. It is a number of issues that are affecting the community but we needed to do something serious for people to take us seriously. The irate residents also called for pipelines to be built in Herrera Trace as has been promised for years.

Sometimes a water truck would pass and fill three tanks of water in the community. But the older residents cant afford to go and tote a bucket of water and if people are out at work, by the time they get home that water is already finished. They also called for the installation of 22 street lights which they say was promised since 2013, and for more people from the community to be employed in the teak field as was also promised last year. The constant promises have angered residents who feel like they are being spun like top in mud by officials said Guevarro.

They have accepted another promise by Francis, however, who met with the protesters yesterday and promised speedy action on their issues.

Contacted for comment, Francis told Newsday, WASA is already mobilising to run lines in Herrera Trace and the Ministries of Works and Transport and Rural Development have been asked to focus on the unpaved road. Asked for a time frame in which he expects these to be done, Francis said, Short term.

Should be a matter of weeks.
Ayers-Caesars appointment as Judge

In a statement yesterday, president of the association Douglas Mendes SC said, We do however have immediate concerns about the fact that a judge was appointed and took up office leaving behind outstanding, part-heard matters. He said the association will be seeking to engage Chief Justice Ivor Archie, the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions over the coming days to assist in finding a workable solution. The issue was raised last week by Senior Counsel Israel Khan when he appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle in the private complaint brought by the Commission of Inquiry into the July 1990 attempted coup against Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr .

The matter was being heard by Ayers-Caesar and Khan expressed fear that the case would have to be restarted. He accused Archie and the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) - the body which appoints judges - of being selfish and highly irresponsible in elevating the former chief magistrate to the Supreme Court with cases still part-heard before her .

In a statement, the Judiciarys Court Protocol and Information Manager Alicia Carter-Fisher assured that the magistrates court would not be adversely affected .

Carter-Fisher said there were no ongoing preliminary inquiries before Ayers-Caesar before her elevation .

She, however, had before her paper committals which could be continued by another magistrate .

She said it was up to the Office of the DPP to decide whether or not those matters are to be prosecuted on a case-by-case basis and that those matters which the DPP decided to prosecute will be restarted. However, Mendes said it was unfair that anyone should suffer the expense and anxiety of an avoidable repeat trial .

The full extent of the prejudice which may have been caused is not yet known, he said .

Mendes assured that the association was committed to transparency and accountability in the selection and appointment of judges .

In that regard, we do appreciate that the relative secrecy in which appointments to the judiciary are currently made has the potential to encourage suspicion and amplify disquiet especially in the darkness of a vacuum of information .

For the moment, though, the Constitution does not require more and the process is one which has been in existence since independence. He said it may be that the time has come to re-evaluate current arrangements with a view to ensuring greater transparency and accountability and to buttress confidence in the process .

We recognise the right of every citizen to pose legitimate questions regarding appointments to the judiciary, even if done forcefully, but always respectfully. Care must be taken, however, in the manner of questioning decisions made by the Commission as there is an imperceptible and elusive line beyond which the expression of even genuine disagreement may undermine the confidence which the public must continue to have in the administration of justice.
Baby Kailee will be alright, vow relatives

She has always been alright, said one relative.

She has six grandparents who have been helping take care of her since she was born and all her relatives are with her. They added that she has always had a lot of family members around her and has frequently visited her grandparents in Arouca and in Arima. Now those relatives are ensuring that she is getting everything that she needs while still coming to terms with the deaths of their loved ones.

Relatives said because of her age, Kailee-Anne is not fully aware of what happened, but family members have been keeping her in high spirits since the accident.

Just before midday on Sunday, Nicholson, 20, and Frederick, 24, were killed when their white Nissan Tiida flipped several times on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, near PriceSmart.

Police reports indicate that Frederick was driving when he tried to make a sudden stop and lost control of the car.

He and Nicholson died at the scene after being thrown from the careening car.

An autopsy done at the Forensic Science Centre in St James confirmed that the couple died from multiple blunt force trauma injuries consistent with a car accident.

Relatives said the funeral is expected to be held on Friday.
Air Guard Sgt to be laid to rest Saturday

Guevara, 38, a father of five and stepfather of four, of Bennett Village in Los Bajos, was returning home from playing cards at about 5 am when he was killed.

Police are still uncertain about how the accident occurred as the driver of the vehicle fled the scene after the accident.

An anonymous caller to the Siparia Police Station said on reaching Quarry Village in Siparia, the car ran off the road and struck a WASA main line. Guevara was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene.

Yesterday his grieving widow Debra Vargas-Guevara said it is difficult dealing with the death of her husband. I cant imagine my young, strong, handsome husband is gone.

It is very hard dealing with his sudden death, she said.

Adding to her sorrows, she said, was news of the death of her uncle yesterday. She said she is to receive counselling from the Defence Force.

And while funeral arrangements are still being finalised, Guevara, an officer in the Fixed Wing Unit of the Air Guard, is to be laid to rest on Saturday with full military rites.
Fisherman still missing

Even as Coast Guard divers and Air Guard officials continued to search, relatives yesterday told Newsday they would not give up until Sammy John of Henry Street, Orange Valley, is found.

Police said John and another man went out to sea in a pirogue and then transferred to a trawler to do repair work.

A rope which fastened the boat to the trawler became loose and John jumped into the sea to stop the pirogue from drifting away. He got into difficulties and disappeared.

Johns sister, Samantha Gayah-Lallo, said yesterday her brothers disappearance came as a shock to the family. She said only a few months ago their mother had suffered a stroke and now she is not coping at all.

She cant sleep at nights; she keeps crying. We did not expect this as all. I cant believe he is gone.

This really hurts, Gaya-Lallo said.

She said all the family wants now is to get closure. We just want to find his body to put him to rest.

This is all we want and we will not give up the search until he is found, she said.
CEPEP maintains same number of contractors

According to the fourth report of the Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC) on an examination of CEPEPs financial statements from 2009 to 2014, the committee said written evidence from CEPEP showed, In 2016, CEPEPs cost pertaining to contractors and the Governments subvention were $36,662,000 and $40,000,000, respectively. However, the PAEC observed that this year, while the total cost with respect to contractors remained constant, Government subvention decreased by $5,000,000 which resulted in a deficit. In light of this, the committee recommended that CEPEP should conduct an immediate review of the quantum paid in management fees. The committee also recommended that CEPEP take immediate steps to monitor, evaluate and review all contracts and management fees.

In its report, the PAEC noted that CEPEP moved its head office from Chaguanas to Ste Madeleine in 2016. The committee said this was a very cost effective move because the rent at the facility in Chaguanas began at $288,154 a month in 2009 and increased to $422,173 by 2012. It added that the building in Ste Madeleine which CEPEP now occupies is free.
Oil leak clean-up efforts ongoing

And while sources say an estimated 20,000 gallons of bunker fuel was accidentally released from the companys storage tank on Sunday evening , Petrotrin via media release on Sunday night stated,  Initial estimates at 8.00 pm indicate some 20 barrels of fuel oil would have escaped the companys containment. Petrotrin, in a media release yesterday issued by the Corporate Communications Department, stated, Petrotrins response teams and operations personnel were working with the regulatory bodies and the Energy Ministry engaged in clean-up and recovery efforts at Pointe-a-Pierre.

In addition to escalating its ongoing containment, monitoring and testing activities, personnel were engaged in the conduct of aerial surveys to ascertain the extent of the spill. Specialist cleaning contractors have been engaged and as a precautionary measure, booms have been deployed, the release stated.

On Sunday, after the discovery, Petrotrin officials notified regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) and the Institute of Marine Affairs as well as the Energy and Energy Industries Ministry.

In 2013, residents of La Brea and environs faced one of the worst oil spills. But yesterday, president of the La Brea Fisherfolk Association Alvin La Borde said there were no signs that any of the chemicals had reached the community.

So far everything is normal and we hope it remains so. No oil came down this way. We see officials from the IMA, EMA and Petrotrin visited the area this morning and were checking to see if they discovered anything, said La Borde.

Chief Education and Research Officer at the Oilfields Workers Trade Union Ozzi Warwick said comrades of the union were preparing reports on the issue.

Once completed, he promised the union will issue a formal statement on the matter.
Residents block roads in Todds Rd protest

They said for the last month they have only received water once a week and they criticised their Member of Parliament, Maxie Cuffie, for not assisting.

It came this morning and it gone already. Our tanks are empty and the people are fed up. Our MP has not been in the community for months.

The two councillors were here this morning.

Why cant he find himself here? This is a community he was born and raised in and he made promises to us, one woman said.

Councillor for the Caparo/Mamoral district, John Lezama, said it has been a long time residents have had to face these water problems.

The residents come out here to vent their frustration with the tardiness of the authorities in dealing with matters like this. Why every time on Sunday I have to call WASA to see if we could get water? The people would be satisfied if they could get water two, three times for the week but when you getting water once a week and only in the night, it coming in drips.

That is not satisfactory, he said.

Councillor for Longdenville/ Talparo, Ryan Rampersad, said Cuffie contacts WASA regularly to ensure the residents get a water supply but there has not been any major improvement.

We still get very low pressure when the MP contacts WASA. School reopened today and the children havent had water all weekend. This is a rural community and there are a lot of poor families and they cant afford to purchase water all the time so something really needs to be done, he said.
Garcia dismisses call for sacking

In the statement, Gopeesingh described Garcias announcement as a terrible howler. He repeated his call for Garcias dismissal and suggested a a timely public apology be issued to UWI and the regional community it serves.

In an immediate response, Garcia said, I pay no credence to what he has said. Garcia, who is also Arima MP, said Gopeesingh has been calling for his removal as education minister since he assumed office after the September 7, 2015, general election. He said Gopeesingh, the Caroni East MP, is struggling to accept the fact that he is no longer education minister. Gopeesingh was education minister in the former Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration.

In a release last week, UWI noted that chancellors are appointed in accordance with the universitys Statute 4 which clearly states, The chancellor shall be appointed by the University Council. UWI confirmed that over the past few months, it has been working through a specially-appointed search committee to identify an appropriate successor to Sir George Alleyne, who is carded to demit office in the latter half of this year.

The university said the appointment of the its new chancellor will be discussed at the upcoming annual business meeting of the University Council on April 27 in Barbados.

The Education Ministry, in a statement last week, said Garcia was directed by Cabinet to report to the general public on the facts pertaining to the recommendation of the Search Committee on the appointment of the new UWI chancellor.

The ministry said, Cabinet waited until, in its opinion, it was safe and prudent to advise our population on this development. The ministry said Bermudez was the Governments nominee for this post.
Cuffie says data is the new oil

With the amount of data that we are producing today, we believe we are sitting on a huge reserve of untapped wealth in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, he said.

Cuffie, who holds the portfolio for telecommunications and information communication technology (ICT) said, TT is ideally placed to attract investments in the business processing outsourcing (BPO) sector.

In the main address yesterday at the opening ceremony for the Internet of Things Forum: Smarter Living in the Caribbean held at the Parliament Building, Portof- Spain, Cuffie said a number of businesses including Amazon Web Services, the worlds largest provider of cloud services, two weeks ago, visited TT to explore business opportunities.

What was not announced then, he said, is that Amazon already has a toe-hold in Trinidad and Tobago by partnering with iQor, the business process outsourcing provider, to provide its services to Amazon from new offices, located in Barataria. He noted that iQor also has offices in the Tamana In-Tech Park which is serving US telecom providers Sprint and Metro.

The Barataria location, Cuffie said, will see iQor moving up from not just voice, but also SMS, online chat, and of course, email in due course. This project is expected to employ over 1,000 nationals.

Three weeks ago, he said, Cabinet approved an offer from the Indian government to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Public Administration and Communications to establish an ICT Centre for Excellence and Innovation in TT. Consideration is being given to accommodate the centre in the Tamana In-Tech Park, he said.

Also, he said, BHP Billitons announcement that it has moved its North American Petroleum accounting and reporting functions from Houston, Texas to Port-of- Spain shows TT is being considered a a major centre for BPO.

By relocating its accounting services from Houston to Portof- Spain, BHP Billiton (headquartered in Australia), he said, will be exporting accounting services from TT to the USA and other countries in the region.

This is in addition to RBC and Scotiabank which, he noted, are already using BPO services in TT.

Meanwhile, he said, discussions are ongoing to attract more companies in the financial services and energy sectors.

At the governmental level, Cuffie said, Cabinet is considering refining its ICT road map fastforward II which has a facilitative component in providing ICT infrastructure.

Our ICT infrastructure must be continuously upgraded and enhanced to keep in stride with the countrys growth and development path, he said.

With broadband internet becoming more widely available in TT and more devices created with wifi capabilities and sensors built into them, he said, the level of potential connectivity presents the perfect storm for the mushrooming of Internet of Things (IOT) and we believe that data is indeed the new oil.
Senate continues private motion on crime

Before the debate resumes, Opposition Senator Wade Mark will pose questions to Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Attorney General Faris Al Rawi on measures to improve this countrys gross domestic product and Governments timetable in carrying out the death penalty, respectively.

The House of Representatives sits at 1.30 pm on Friday at Tower D to continue debate on a motion filed by Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh about the economy.
Govt protecting womens rights

Permanent Secretary of the Gender and Child Affairs Division of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) Jacqueline Johnson announced this at the opening of a workshop on the CDAW (Convention in the Discrimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) at Cabildo Chambers in Port-of- Spain on Sunday.

Speaking on behalf of Minister of State in the OPM Ayanna Webster-Roy, Johnson said Governments commitment to CDAW is highlighted in its Vision 2030 document which was laid in the House of Representatives last Friday. We all need to look at that document closely to see what we have to do in order to achieve gender equality by 2030, she stated. Citing rape and domestic violence as hurdles to gender equality, Johnson said, We all know this because we see it regularly in the newspaper. She said Government takes the view that, One case of rape or domestic violence is too much in society. Johnson said while many girls and women are taking advantage of educational opportunities available to them, Many of our women have to contend with sexual harassment on our streets and in the workplace. She said several policy and service initiatives already started, will soon be made public in a bid to remedy this area in both the public and private sector. Johnson added there is also a need to ensure There is parity in remunera- tion such that women receive equal pay as their male counterparts for work of equal value. Saying gender equality is not something which any government can achieve on its own, Johnson said Government is committed to working with all stakeholders to achieve this objective. Working Group on Discrimination Against Women (WGDAW) chairwoman Alda Facio said the placement of gender equality in any nations constitution does not guarantee it. Facio said this was an obligation which all states must fulfil. Facio added that discrimination in the world will never be eliminated as long as there is a single instance of violence against women.

Equal Opportunities Commission chairwoman Lynette Seebaran-Suite said there needed to be a proper definition of sexual discrimination.

She also said the CDAW spoke to issues such as child marriages and the establishment of a national gender policy which are critical to ensuring this country meets its obligations under the Convention.
Never send a cop to do a man's job
Libyan nominal Prime Minister Faiez Serraj backed by the international community has been invited by President Trumps administration to visit Washington, few days after Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni urged the U.S. to play more roles in solving Libyas political puzzle, London-based Qatari media The New Arab has learned.

A senior source in the Government of National Accord (GNA) told the media that Serraj could meet with his rival Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, backed by the countrys only internationally recognized parliament. The source did not disclose any date of the trip to Washington.

Serraj and Haftar are opposed over the Libyan Political Accord signed in December 2015.

Washington has not confirmed the invitation yet.

The announcement comes few days after a meeting in Washington between President Donald Trump and the Italian Prime Minister. Urged to play more roles in Libya, President Trump indicated that the US are quite busy around the world and could not do furthermore in the North African country.

I do not see a role in Libya. I think the United States has right now enough roles, Trumps responded.

The Obama administration had backed Serraj and conducted targeted air raids against Islamic State militants. Washington last year helped neutralize the terror group in Sirte; Gaddafis hometown.

Prime Minister Serrajs leadership establishment known as the Presidency Council (PC) has been facing opposition to assert its power across the country and even in capital Tripoli where militias still hold sway.

The Libyan leader last week urged international intervention to help end rivalries between Haftar forces and PC-backed Misrata forces fighting in the south.

Libya has been torn by rivalries following the death of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi killed in a NATO-backed revolution in 2011.
French President Francois Hollande delivers a speech during a ceremony at a monument in memory of mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces in 1915, in Paris, France, April 24, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - France's outgoing president, Francois Hollande, on Monday urged people to back centrist Emmanuel Macron in a vote to choose his successor next month and reject far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose place in the run-off represented a "risk" for France.

Macron and Le Pen, leader of the National Front (FN), go head-to-head on May 7 after taking the top two places in Sunday's first round.

Opinion polls indicate that the business-friendly Macron, who has never held elected office, will take at least 61 percent of the vote against Le Pen after two defeated rivals pledged to back him to thwart her eurosceptic, anti-immigrant platform.

Hollande, a Socialist nearing the end of five years of unpopular rule, threw his weight behind his former economy minister in a televised address, saying Le Pen's policies were divisive and stigmatised sections of the population.

"The presence of the far right in the second round is a risk for the country," he said. "What is at stake is France's make-up, its unity, its membership of Europe and its place in the world."

Global markets reacted with relief to Sunday's vote, which broke the dominance of established parties of the centre-left and centre-right but still left the most market-friendly and internationally minded of the remaining contenders in pole position to become France's next leader.

The euro touched five-month peaks while Europe's STOXX 600 index rose 2 percent.

Surveys pointing to a clear Macron victory soothed investors who have been unnerved by Le Pen's pledges to ditch the euro, print money and possibly quit the EU. Many had feared another anti-establishment shock to follow Britain's "Brexit" vote and Donald Trump's election as US president.

Reuters
Mauritanians will decide on July 15 whether autocratic leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz could run again for the elections in 2019, the year his current term ends.

The date of the referendum on constitutional reforms proposed by the Presidents ruling party was set by the cabinet last week.

The fate of the President in 2019, year of the next presidential elections, is the bone of contention between the opposition and the ruling regime. The opposition believes the constitutional reforms constitute a red carpet for the regime to prepare an extension of the Mauritanian leaders stay in power.

Ould Abdel Aziz first came to power through a military coup in 2008. After winning the presidential election in 2009, Ould Abdel Aziz won a second term in June 2014.

In March, the countrys senate, although dominated by pro-regime members, rejected attempts by the ruling party to adopt the reforms.

The rejection by his own side angered the President who pushed for the referendum.

Due to this rejection, we have arrived at an impasse. But there is one way out: we will hold a referendum, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz had then told the press.

We cannot allow 33 senators who voted against these amendments to hold the whole country hostage, he had added.
The Strait of Gibraltar is the venue of the Jebel Tarik 2017 joint military training between Moroccos parachutist brigade, the Moroccan Deuxieme Brigade dInfanterie Parachutiste (2BIP) and the Royal Gibraltar Regiment.

FAR-Maroc, a website specializing in military issues, said that a second military exercise will take place in the region of Marrakech in the Middle Atlas area.

The Royal Gibraltar Regiment has been conducting annual military drills with the Royal Armed Forces since 2000. These exercises offer the Gibraltar army a wider area for training than what is obviously available in Gibraltar.

The Jbel Tarik military training takes place at the same time as the African lion 2017 between the Moroccan and the US army in the south with the participation of armies from allies in Europe (France, Spain, UK and Germany) as well as Africa (Mauritania, Senegal and Tunisia)

By the past, military exercises between Gibraltar and Morocco have raised the suspicion of Spain, which claims the British rock.

Gibraltar, the self-governing British overseas territory, is yet again in the middle of a tussle with Spain in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Since it fell to the British in 1704, the Rock has always been of utmost importance for the UKs military and commercial interests in the Mediterranean.
Jack Jones, left, and Marcel Williams. Photo: AP

On Monday night, Arkansas executed two convicted murders back-to-back, making it the first state to carry out two executions in one day since Texas did it in 2000.

The executions of Jack Jones Jr., who died at 7:20 p.m., and Marcel Williams, who died at 10:33 p.m., came amid a flurry of legal challenges. Arkansas had planned to execute eight inmates in ten days because its supply of midazolam, a sedative used in lethal injections, is expiring at the end of the month. Four of the executions were blocked by the courts, and Ledell Lee was put to death last week. Another execution is set to take place on Thursday.

Attorneys for both men had sought stays on the grounds that their medical conditions might interfere with the three lethal-injection drugs, making their deaths extremely painful. Their appeals went all the way to the Supreme Court, but were rejected on Monday afternoon.

Williamss execution was delayed at the last minute by a federal district judge after his attorneys argued that Joness execution was torturous. In their motion they claimed that corrections officials spent 45 minutes unsuccessfully attempting to insert a central line into Joness neck. They said the officials then failed to wait five minutes to ensure he was unconscious, and Jones was still moving his lips and gulping for air.

Two journalists who witnessed the execution said Joness lips only moved briefly shortly after the sedative was administered. Judge Kristine Baker lifted her stay and Williams was executed more than an hour later than scheduled.

Both men were convicted two decades ago, and admitted to their crimes. In 1995, Jones raped, beat, and strangled Mary Phillips, who was 34. Before killing her, he beat her 11-year-old daughter so badly that police thought she was dead when they arrived on the scene.

This evening, Lacey Phillips Manor and Darla Phillips Jones have seen justice for the brutal rape and murder of their mother, Mary Phillips, said Arkansas attorney general Leslie Rutledge. The Phillips family has waited far too long to see justice carried out, and I pray they find peace tonight.

In 1994, Williams kidnapped, raped, beat, and strangled Stacy Errickson after forcing her to take cash from an ATM at gunpoint. Errickson, who was 22 at the time, was a mother of two living at the Little Rock Air Force Base while her husband served overseas.

Williams did not have any last words. Jones apologized to his victims families. I hope over time you could learn who I really am, and that I am not a monster, Jones said.
Global feminist. Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Ivanka Trump came to Berlin prepared to discuss how micro-finance can #empower female entrepreneurs in the Third World to lean into innovation, and lean out of poverty. (Or so a snarky blogger might uncharitably summarize her recent op-ed in the Financial Times.) But moments after taking her place beside German chancellor Angela Merkel and IMF managing director Christine Lagarde on a panel at the W20 summit, Trump found herself discussing her own motives for being there.

Youre the First Daughter of the United States, and youre also an assistant to the president, the panels moderator, Wirtschaftswoche editor-in-chief Miriam Meckel, began. The German audience is not that familiar with the concept of a First Daughter. Id like to ask you, what is your role, and who are you representing, your father as president of the United States, the American people, or your business?

Certainly not the latter, Trump replied. Im rather unfamiliar with this role as well  It has been a little under 100 days and it has just been a remarkable and incredible journey.

Trump could not say precisely what her new job as a senior White House official entailed, but defined her goals as empowering women in the workplace and achieving incremental positive change.

The largely female crowd was willing to politely entertain Trumps attempt to rebrand herself as a feminist crusader. But when Ivanka tried to rebrand her father as the same, the audiences patience gave out.

Im very proud of my fathers advocacy, she said of the presidents official (but, so far, entirely passive) support for paid family leave, before calling her father a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive.

Boos and hisses ensued.

You hear the reaction from the audience, Meckel said. I need to address one more point  some attitudes toward women your father has displayed might leave one questioning whether hes such an empower-er for women.

Ive certainly heard the criticism from the media, thats been perpetuated, Ivanka replied, inspiring laughter from that portion of the crowd that remembers the phrase grab em by the pussy.

While Ivanka entered the event as an advocate for female entrepreneurship, and official representative of the U.S. government, she soon found herself speaking in her capacity as a daughter.
Lock him up? Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call,Inc.

President Trumps first national security adviser appears to have violated the law by failing to disclose payments he received from Russias government  even as he sought a security clearance from our own  senior lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee said Wednesday.

Michael Flynns tenure in the White House was cut short by revelations that he had misled Vice-President Pence about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador. Weeks after his departure, Flynn acknowledged that he had been on the payroll of the Turkish government while serving as a top surrogate and adviser to Trumps campaign  even as the GOP standard-bearer accused his rival of making pay-to-play arrangements with foreign governments.

Weeks after that, news broke that Flynn had neglected to list three Russia-linked sources of income  including $45,000 in speaking fees from the Kremlin-backed RT news network  in his legally required White House ethics forms.

Both of those actions appear to have contravened federal law, House Oversight chair Jason Chaffetz told reporters Tuesday. As a former general, Flynn was required to seek the governments permission before accepting payments from a foreign government. Then, after accepting the foreign payments, Flynn had a legal obligation to disclose them fully before taking a job with the Trump administration.

I see no data to support the notion that General Flynn complied with the law, Chaffetz said. It does not appear to us that [permission] was ever sought.

As a former military officer you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey or anybody else, and it appears as if he did take that money, the soon-t0-be former House Oversight chair continued. It was inappropriate and there are repercussions for the violation of law.

Chaffetz and the committees ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings reached these conclusions after receiving a classified briefing on Flynns conduct.

Cummings told reporters that, while he was not authorized to discuss the details of the documents hed been shown, we can say this: They are extremely troubling. He added: I believe these documents should be declassified to the fullest extent possible.

The White House seems to disagree. The House Oversight Committee has requested Flynns security clearance paperwork, receipts from payments he received from foreign governments, and other documents related to the hiring and firing of the former national security adviser.

The Trump administration has refused to honor a single one of those requests. On Tuesday, the committee released a letter it had received from the White House last week, in which the administration claimed it was unable to provide the desired documents, as some of the papers were not in its custody or control while others were likely to contain classified information.

The White House has refused to provide this committee with a single piece of paper, Cummings said. And that is simply unacceptable.
If the new Trumpcare is supposed to appeal both to conservatives and to moderate Republicans, one of the latters key leaders rejects the premise. Photo: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AFP/Getty Images

In an unsurprising development that nonetheless represents a heavy shoe dropping, Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania has made it known that he still doesnt want anything to do with Zombie Trumpcare. Dent, a co-chair of the Tuesday Group (an assemblage of relatively moderate House Republicans), told the Washington Examiners Philip Klein that his opposition to Trumpcare extends to the new plan worked out between members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and his fellow Tuesday Group co-chair Tom MacArthur. The changes from the original mainly involved provisions to let states move sicker folks into high-risk pools separate from the individual insurance markets everyone else is in, while offering less comprehensive health plans than Obamacare allowed, in an effort to lower premiums.

Klein reports:

After noting that he hasnt seen any legislative language, Dent said, Based on what Ive read, it does not change my position. I was a no, and I remain a no.



Dent said the proposed deal did not address his core concerns regarding Obamacares Medicaid expansion, which his state elected to participated in and the House bill would aim to phase out. In addition, he said he had concerns about the loss of coverage from repeal and the ability of low-income individuals to access healthcare.

The Pennsylvanians statement was a helpful reminder that despite all the jesuitical wordsmithing in the revised bill about people with preexisting conditions, the original Trumpcare bills abrupt elimination of the Medicaid expansion was not changed at all, and thats the bigger issue for some GOP moderates in both the House and the Senate.

Asked to respond to conservatives who argue that theyre just trying to hold Republicans to their promises to repeal Obamacare and that funding the Medicaid expansion and maintaining the core regulations would not be repeal, Dent said, By that argument, keeping the ban on pre-existing conditions would not be repealing Obamacare.

Some conservatives would emphatically agree, but thats not a very popular position.

Its an easy guess that Dents position is more representative of Tuesday Group opinion than MacArthurs, and if so, that means even if most of the House Freedom Caucus are onboard with Zombie Trumpcare, Republicans probably wont have the votes to get it out of the House, much less the Senate.

Where does that leave the GOP on repealing and replacing Obamacare? Dent thinks its okay to wait:

Dent complained that, too much of the conversation has been driven by arbitrary deadlines, referring to the initial push to pass the legislation last month, on the seventh anniversary of Obamacare becoming law, and the talk of trying to get something done in the first 100 days of the Trump presidency.

Giving up on some immediate push might also give Republicans the opportunity to go back to the drawing board and design a better plan than Trumpcare or its zombie descendant drafts. They seem to be getting more and more remote from what the public might support, and thats even before the Congressional Budget Office weighs in with the really bad news about the consequences for real people.
Down comes the monument to an 1874 fight to reverse the outcome of the Civil War. Photo: Gerald Herbert/AP

The demolition of New Orleanss monument to the members of the Crescent City White League who died in the Battle of Liberty Place is largely being covered as just another incident in the long-running effort to remove Confederate memorials from prominent official venues, and place them in museums where they denote tragic history, rather than defiant current policy. Thats understandable: The Liberty Place obelisk is the first of four New Orleans monuments the City Council condemned to removal in 2015; the others are of Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and P.G.T. Beauregard. It was also an obvious news angle that demolition of the Liberty Place monument occurred on the day formerly recognized in much of the South (and still recognized in Alabama and Mississippi) as Confederate Memorial Day.

But it is important to understand in this brief moment of publicity that the event commemorated by the now-defunct monument wasnt anything that happened during the Civil War. The Battle of Liberty Place was a major incident in the white southern terrorist resistance to postwar Reconstruction. The battle occurred in 1874, and although it was a bit of a standoff from a military point of view, its violence fed the exhaustion of northern (and Republican) willingness to defend the gains of the Civil War, leading to the abandonment of Reconstruction a few years later, followed by white supremacist rule and ultimately Jim Crow.

The combatants initially honored by the Liberty Place monument (a marker was added in 1974 that claimed it commemorated the fallen on both sides of the battle) were slain members of the Crescent City White League, an avowedly racist organization seeking to overturn a Republican state government elected with allegedly corrupt African-American votes. Police and state-militia forces  eventually relieved by federal troops  fought them in the streets of New Orleans. As Stephen Budiansky explains in his definitive account of white anti-Reconstruction terrorism in the South, The Bloody Shirt, the battle illustrated the limits of federal military power when resisted by armed white Southerners. It also showed the tragic futility of President U.S. Grants courageous efforts to vindicate the voting rights of ex-slaves, at a time when southern white hostility and northern white indifference made it a cause as lost as the Confederacy itself.

There were all sorts of ancillary effects of the Battle of Liberty Place. For one thing, the police and militia forces fighting the White League were at least initially commanded by the great Confederate General James Longstreet, revered during the Civil War as Robert E. Lees strong right arm in commanding the Army of Northern Virginia. Longstreet became a Republican after the war and settled in New Orleans; his disgrace in ex-Confederate eyes was consummated by the shedding of white blood at Liberty Place. As Budiansky explained in his book, the cult of Stonewall Jackson owed a lot to the politically driven need to disparage Longstreets contributions to Lee and the Confederate military.

It is no accident that the Liberty Place monument was authorized in 1891, during the period when Louisiana was busy disenfranchising African-American voters and institutionalizing segregation. It is not a monument to the Confederacy, but rather to the neo-Confederacy, the entirely illegitimate ideological movement that, unlike the Confederate States of America, actually succeeded in its principal aims for many decades. Precisely because it prevailed for so long, so (relatively) recently, its monuments need pulling down more urgently than those of the secessionist cause. And so yesterdays accomplishment by New Orleans, although long overdue, is one in which all Americans can share with real pride.
Closing the gap on the East Side.

Manhattans West Side reigns supreme over the East in the biking-running-strolling department thanks to the uninterrupted Hudson River Greenway. But the de Blasio administration is now giving the East Side a little love, announcing Tuesday that it will jump-start at least part of the renovation of an undeveloped section along the East River between East 38th and 61st Streets.

East Side path.

Mayor de Blasio, who is running for reelection in 2017, said the city is getting an infusion of $100 million to upgrade just the portion between East 61st Street and East 53rd Street. The New York City Economic Development Corporation will begin construction in 2019. The waterfront esplanade is expected to open in 2022, according to the mayors office.

As Curbed points out, plans to develop this particular strip of no-mans-land near the United Nations had been in the works for a few years, and one portion was even supposed to open in 2015. But, in addition to the $100 million to get construction off the ground again, the city is also setting aside $5 million to study the remaining undeveloped sections. All are part of a larger project called the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, which would eventually connect the islands entire 32-mile coastline with a contiguous pedestrian-and-bike pathway.
North Korean military personnel salute toward the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il at Mansudae Hill in Pyongyang on April 25, 2017. Photo: Kyodo

North Korea celebrated the 85th anniversary of its militarys founding with a large, live-fire artillery drill on Tuesday. Officials had feared that Kim Jong-un might use this milestone to conduct a nuclear-weapons test; instead he apparently opted to show off about 300 to 400 pieces of long-range artillery. The North Korean government also did not let up on its saber-rattling: There is no limit to the strike power of the Peoples Army, wrote a North Korean official in a newspaper editorial, armed with our style of cutting-edge military equipment including various precision and miniaturized nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

Pyongyang flexed its military might on the same day that the U.S.S. Michigan, a submarine equipped with cruise missiles, docked in South Korea. The rest of the so-called armada is now allegedly, really, headed toward the Korean peninsula where it will participate in joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises that are already underway.

Top Trump administration officials  including Secretary of State Rex Rillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis  are also briefing all U.S. Senate members on Wednesday, a rare move that underscores the geopolitical tension. Tillerson will also head up a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

Diplomats are also shuttling back and forth: Joseph Yun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, is meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo Tuesday. Some of North Koreas neighbors remain on edge, as fears escalate of a military showdown between between the Washington and Pyongyang. China has urged both countries to take a step back; President Xi Jinping delivered that message directly to Trump over the phone on Monday. In Japan, well within range of North Koreas missiles, nuclear fallout shelters and radiation-blocking air purifiers are hot items, and the government has also issued an official manual for citizens to protect themselves in the event of a North Korean attack.
Bill OReilly on the Tonight Show in 2013. Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Bill OReilly returned from vacation on Monday night, but in a much different venue than he anticipated when he signed off of his Fox News show on April 11. Five days after he was fired from the network over allegations of sexual harassment, OReilly addressed the controversy in a podcast posted on his personal website. I am sad that Im not on television anymore, OReilly said. I was very surprised how it all turned out.

OReillys podcast, The No Spin News, has been available to his websites subscribers since 2009. New episodes, which air Monday through Thursday, will be free to download this week.

During Monday nights 19-minute episode, OReilly said he intends to turn the podcast into a genuine news program. The broadcast included a discussion of President Trumps poll numbers, attacks on the mainstream press, and a dig at Senator Elizabeth Warren. This is how he addressed his firing from Fox News:

I am sad that Im not on television anymore. I was very surprised how it all turned out. I cant say a lot, because theres much stuff going on right now.



But I can tell you that Im very confident the truth will come out, and when it does, I dont know if youre going to be surprised  but I think youre going to be shaken, as I am. Theres a lot of stuff involved here.



Now, I cant say any more because I just dont want to influence the flow of the information. I dont want the media to take what I say and misconstrue it. However you, as a loyal OReilly listener, have a right to know, I think, down the lane what exactly happened. And we are working in that direction, okay?

AUDIO: On his podcast, O'Reilly says he is "sad" to not be on tv anymore and that when people find out the truth they will be "shaken." pic.twitter.com/F12KXSIzjP  Yashar Ali  (@yashar) April 24, 2017

Its unclear why OReilly felt he couldnt say more. As the Washington Post notes, the sexual-harassment lawsuits against OReilly have been settled, and presumably his $25 million severance package bars him from suing Fox News.

OReilly has insisted that the harassment allegations were all unfounded. His attorneys claimed he was the victim of a smear campaign that was orchestrated by far-left organizations, and they said they had evidence to prove it. As we learned from strategy emails the OReilly team accidentally forwarded to a Politico reporter last week, they considered telling the Murdochs about a conference call the liberal watchdog group Media Matters and Democratic fundraiser Mary Pat Bonner were coordinating to discuss their effort to pressure advertisers to pull out of his show.

Media Matters had discussed the campaign with media outlets. Nothing nefarious here, the organizations president, Angelo Carusone, said in a statement last week. Media Matters efforts were very public. Were a nonprofit and the call was to ask our supporters to help make sure we could dig in on this for the long haul. But OReilly got fired beforehand.

Meanwhile on Monday night, Fox News continued its awkward wrap-up of the OReilly era. Tucker Carlson offered praise for the former King of Cable News as he took over his 8 p.m. ET time slot for the first time.

I watched Bill OReilly at this hour for years, and I always marveled at how well-prepared he was, how tough he was, and how crisply and directly he expressed his views, Carlson said. What OReilly did was not easy. He set a high bar, and Im going to do my best to meet it. Thanks for sticking with us.
Sorry, Paul Ryan. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

By the time Republicans abandoned their plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, the bill had fallen to 17 percent in the polls, which is extremely bad. Thats the sort of thing that can happen when people on all sides of the political spectrum are criticizing a bill. President Trump and some of his allies in Congress continue to talk up the prospect of reviving their bill somehow, in some form.

But a new ABC News poll shows that the public opposes not only the Republican plan but the entire concept of repealing and replacing Obamacare. By landslide margins, the public wants Trump and Congress to keep and improve the law rather than try to replace it. And his threats to make the law implode if Democrats dont agree to his terms are even more unpopular  79 percent of the country wants him to make the law work, and only 13 percent wants him to make it fail:

Again, the issue for them is not that they have failed to design a bill that carries out their promise, its that their promise itself is deeply unpopular.

That is not even the end of the bad news. Republicans are trying to finesse their unpopular bill by letting states opt out of the laws requirements that insurers cover minimum health-care treatments and not discriminate against people with preexisting conditions. Americans hate that idea, too:

Republicans spent years deluding themselves into believing that the public was on their side in the health-care fight. The truth is that they relied all along on posturing broadly against the status quo and promising better, cheaper health insurance with lower premiums and deductibles while opposing every mechanism to pay for it. Once they had to produce the unicorn they had promised, the whole scam has collapsed on them. A total retreat, in which they walk away from their repeal crusade and cut a deal with Democrats to make the law work better, would be humiliating. But its their least-bad option.
Blame Canada. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Trump decided not to brand China a currency manipulator. He stopped bugging Mexico about buying him a wall. But if those scheming Canucks think they can get away with flooding our market with their underpriced lumber and ultrafiltered milk, then theyve got another thing coming!

On Monday, the Trump administration imposed new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, escalating a decades-old conflict with our neighbor to the north. The announcement came after the Commerce Department had concluded that Ottawa has been unfairly subsidizing its softwood lumber exporters, and negotiations between Washington and Ottawa failed to resolve the formers complaints.

Now, Canadian lumber exporters will be subject to tariffs ranging from 3 to 24 percent, depending on the amount of subsidy each producer enjoys from its government.

The Trump White House is far from the first to get hot and bothered over Canadian wood. As the New York Times explains:

The United States and Canada have been at odds over softwood lumber in one form or another since the 19th century, with the current dispute tracing back to 1982. The United States imported $5.7 billion in softwood lumber last year alone, mainly for residential home building.



At the conflicts heart is a fundamental difference in forestry ownership. In the United States, forest lands are largely held by lumber companies. In Canada, they tend to be owned by the government, and American mills contend that Canadian provinces subsidize their industries by charging low royalty rates for cutting trees. A temporary truce under President George W. Bush, which effectively limited Canadian exports to the United States, expired in 2015.

Thus, Trumps policy on this issue is less remarkable than the rhetorical belligerence with which his administration has approached a minor conflict with a core U.S. ally. Or, as the Toronto Star put it, what wasnt expected Monday was the enthusiasm with which the new American administration flung itself into the lumber hostilities.

It has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement, linking the lumber issue to the administrations broader dissatisfaction with the North American Free Trade Agreement. This is not our idea of a properly functioning free trade agreement.

Canadas reply: Sorry, not sorry.

The Government of Canada strongly disagrees with (this) decision to impose an unfair and punitive duty, Natural Resources minister Jim Carr said Monday. The accusations are baseless and unfounded.

The White Houses posture on the U.S.-Canada dairy dispute has been even more strident.

What theyve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace. Its a disgrace, Trump said of Canadas subsidized dairy exports. As Business Insider explains, this, too, has long been a point of tension between Washington and Ottawa:

Americans have long been complaining about Canadian dairy production. The country uses a supply management system to regulate dairy production and pricing, and it provides regular quotas that monitor supply and demand and helps prevent surpluses and deficits.



Last year, Canada implemented a policy that created a new class of milk prices for ultra-filtered milk, a liquid, high-protein concentrate sometimes used to make products such as cheese and yogurt. Canada lowered the prices for this milk class, so as to incentivize domestic ultra-filtered milk and better compete with the US-produced imports.



The American dairy industry did not take kindly to these developments, and argued that the policy violates NAFTA. The Canadian dairy industry has shot back that the milk reclassification policy did not change import rules nor did it impose any import taxes.

American politicians from both parties, including Barack Obama, have implored Canada to change its milk policies. But none have done so with quite as much virtriol as the current president.

Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

The Canadian government is expected to respond to the lumber tariffs by directing further aid to its newly embattled exporters, while contesting the duties legality in court.

But the Canadians wont be the only ones working to combat Trumps tariffs. American homebuilders are quite happy to have access to Canadas cheap lumber. As the Times notes, a study last year by the National Association of Home Builders found that a 15 percent tariff would jack up the prices of new homes by 4.2 percent, while costing their industry 4,666 full-time jobs.
Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz still enforces a male-guardianship system. Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Last week, Saudi Arabia  a country where women can be arrested for not wearing a hijab, only recently gained the right to vote, and remain permanent legal minors  was appointed to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the self-described principal global intergovernmental body  exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

According to Fortune, Saudi Arabia was approved for the 20182022 term in a secret ballot. It received 47 votes, fewer than any other country on the ballot, but enough to pass the threshold to join the commission. And human-rights leaders are outraged.

Electing Saudi Arabia to protect womens rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief, said Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, a nonprofit watchdog. He said in a separate interview that the vote definitely has the power of sending a message to Saudi women by putting their oppressor in a position of power and influence when it comes to womens rights.

Rothna Begum, a womens-rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, called the decision shocking; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of global womens rights organization Code Pink, called it disheartening and so revolting; and one Saudi woman told Newsweek she felt betrayed and kind of invisible. Theres no way they could know what women in Saudi Arabia go through every day, she said of those responsible for voting the country in.

The UN sent out a press release on Wednesday mentioning that Saudi Arabia had been added to the commission, but besides that, it has yet to comment. Meanwhile Helen Clark, the former administrator of the UN Development Programme, appeared to support the appointment when she tweeted, Its important to support those in the country who are working for change for women. Things are changing, but slowly.
Photo: Mark Davis/WireImage

The ongoing drama at UC Berkeley between conservative students and school administrators took another turn on Monday. The student group Berkeley College Republicans filed suit against the university after a scheduled talk with conservative commentator and writer Ann Coulter was canceled. The student group says Berkeley is discriminating against conservative students and that the matter is an issue of free speech, according to the Associated Press.



The student groups legal team is headed by Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney who is also involved with the Republican National Convention as a committeewoman. This case arises from efforts by one of Californias leading public universities, UC Berkeley  once known as the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement  to restrict and stifle the speech of conservative students whose voices fall beyond the campus political orthodoxy, the lawsuit says, according to the AP. The lawsuit is also brought by Young Americas Foundation, a national conservative organization, according to the New York Times.



The drama began when the student group invited Coulter to speak at the campus this Thursday but university officials canceled the event, citing safety concerns. Ann Coulter is welcome on this campus but at a time when we can provide a venue that law enforcement professionals believe to be protectable, a university spokesman told the New York Times. The historically liberal college has been the site of some clashes in recent months, as political and activist groups have engaged in sometimes violent confrontations resulting in destruction of property, according to the New York Times. Following some public backlash, however, Berkeley offered a alternate date for Coulters appearance, but the student group rejected the date since it falls a week before university testing.

Coulter, for her part, has maintained that she will still appear and speak on campus. On Monday night, she tweeted out a link to a Breitbart article suggesting that the National Guard be deployed if necessary to maintain public safety.


I didn't love season 1. I am hoping season 2 will be better. I was luke warm about The Last Kingdom's first season as well, but season 2 has me like WHOA. I'm hoping this is the same.

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I may or may not have already seen all of Season 2 due to the interwebs. I should probably do a rewatch of Season 1 but I think I liked Season 2 better. I think the lack of Henriette made things a bit less tortured. Having said that, while I like the show I feel like it's biggest flaw is Louis is just not compelling enough. I am much more interested in all the other characters.

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Oh for sure, I never wait for things to come to the US :) I just haven't started on Versailles yet. I watched The Last Kingdom from last week and Harlots last night instead.



One of my biggest issues is I really, really don't like shows that take place in France. I hate how feminine the costumes are for the men. I know that was the style, but something about it just reads as cheesy for me since most of the shows I watch are british characters and costumes.



Edited at 2017-04-25 01:16 am (UTC)

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Due to the interweb, you have not seen any of season 2. Laters.

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only season 2??? i feel like this show has been out forever.

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i really enjoyed season 1 (but then i'm a sucker for renaissance-era royals) didn't realize season 2 had already started! let me go get episode 1

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Which is obvs good.



You're right OP, Philippe is dramatically more charismatic and magnetic than Louis. If Louis wasn't King, he'd be the most average joe, and he only has the adoration of anyone because of his position and power. He's COMPLETELY off the damn rails this season too tbh, and completely insufferable.



I'm halfway through season 2 right now but have too many deadlines rn so need to space it out omg, but I love Fabien and [ spoilers up to idk 2x06 ] SHOOK about Claudine! Her and Fabien's love was so beautiful imho. HIS GENTLE HANDS THAT HAVE KILLED SO MANY.

There was just something sweet about them together so i'm sad she's dead.



Also kind of despise Louis, he's the brattiest of the brats. The way he treats anyone who doesn't just do as he tells them is gross, and I know he's the king and that's like his thing, but particularly when it comes to Bontemps it hurts.



When Bontemps goes to Phillipe and confesses that Louis is under Montespan's control and he's acting fucking cray and such, and he just like breaks down.... my heart broke.



And sending Fabien away from court? Your literally 2nd most loyal servant after Bontemps? I SEE I SEE. Good fucking luck with that.



Also the treacherous spy/~court historian~ is just annoying. Kill him now.



AND DIE CASSEL DIEEEEEEE, heart breaking for Sophie too :(((



I'm LOVING Liselotte!!! YAS PRINCESS PALATINE.



Edited at 2017-04-25 01:22 am (UTC) There has been a surprising amount of male nudity this season!! Far more than female I feel?Which is obvs good.You're right OP, Philippe is dramatically more charismatic and magnetic than Louis. If Louis wasn't King, he'd be the most average joe, and he only has the adoration of anyone because of his position and power. He's COMPLETELY off the damn rails this season too tbh, and completely insufferable.I'm halfway through season 2 right now but have too many deadlines rn so need to space it out omg, but I love Fabien andI'm LOVING Liselotte!!! YAS PRINCESS PALATINE.

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Yo where are you watching them? primewire makes you sign up now and I really don't want to out of paranoia lol

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Sent you a PM :)

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[ Link to spoiler ] Oh my god I totally agree about Claudine/Fabien, I am cut up that it had to end, they were so perfect together - why did they have to knock her off to give him manpain motivation! I already loved her as a character and she was so up to the task of dealing with him - I love their nature as two sides of a coin, her the doctor and him the secret police, but they both did it to help the King (not that he deserves it). Also it made Fabien unexpectedly hot.



And Bontemps going to Phillipe for help, my heart. One thing I do like about this season is they have toned down the brotherly conflict a little bit, keeping enough for interest but also letting Phillipe show how important he is to Louis.





And yeah Louis is a total dick. I think part of the reason the character is hard to connect with is that all his problems are these stupid royal concerns like "no one obeys me enough" which is hard to sympathise with, compared to Phillipe for example who is dealing with sibling rivalry and trying to be with the man he loves. I agree with all of this! I couldn't resist and binged all of Season 2 over the weekend and I might rewatch a few ha.And yeah Louis is a total dick. I think part of the reason the character is hard to connect with is that all his problems are these stupid royal concerns like "no one obeys me enough" which is hard to sympathise with, compared to Phillipe for example who is dealing with sibling rivalry and trying to be with the man he loves.

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spoil me. What happened to the dauphin? and is Sophie useful?

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I only cared about Phillipe, Chevalier, Princess Palatine, Fabien & Sophie. Everyone else needed to die a slow painful pox death.



One thing that annoyed me is we got so much female nudity and full frontal at that. Filmed totally through the male gaze while male nudity was just a few ass shots tastefully filmed from a far. *sigh*

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Phillipe, Chevalier, Princess Palatine, Fabien & Sophie



NOT CLAUDINE? Otherwise those = my faves! <333







Edited at 2017-04-25 01:26 am (UTC)

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I feel like we got to know her more in season 1 but in season 2 she didn't have much of a role. I'd put her in the neutral colum.

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Actually scratch my comment above about female to male nudity ratio, I just remembered a bunch of scenes :/

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Yeah tbh I feel like there is still a crap load more female nudity (like, full frontal all the time and all we get is a few male butts?) But at lease Alex raised the issue.

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[ Spoiler (click to open) ] Montespan is every 5 seconds in the first few eps.



His heart is in the right place, so he should fix that asap! Someone needs to remind him that it's not equality until one of the men is full frontal standing on display likeHis heart is in the right place, so he should fix that asap!

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the only semi-credit i will give them is that first scene with montespan took place while she was very pregnant and we all know pregnant women are never seen a desirable/sexual beings so at least that scene served a small purpose.

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god bless alexander

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yasss i love this show and its aesthetically pleasing self tbh. i didn't know the second season started! off to find a streaming link..

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i'm surprised at how much the show has ~softened philippe, like i'm pretty sure him and henriette did NOT like each other at all



but i like how they've made him a lot more nuanced re: his sexuality and how he was raised aside from male historians being like 'he was a flamboyant GAY who liked to dress as a GIRL hurrrr'

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I like how Phillipe on the one hand is like "fuck you all I'm gonna wear a dress" but at the same time smashes Louis out of the park as a military leader. He doesn't have time for your stereotypes.





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i loved season 1 so much I can't wait for this

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i was just thinking about this the other day. versailles is period sleaze and i love it.

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I may have seen season 2 and honestly cannot stand the chevalier being that irl he was a genuinely good fighter and Charlotte couldn't stand his ass or anyone else in the court (relevant because of reasons people will see towards the end). It was never a gay/straight happy family like they are trying to portray. I get that that this is a unique representation but he's so fucking annoying. On top of that, they fucked up Montespan. Louis never stopped being her friend because despite her getting fat and losing her looks, she was charming and smart.

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yeah its rubbing me the wrong way esp since charlotte had to fight for influence or even just attention over philippe's flavours of months





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Yeah they definitely play fast and loose with history. I was reading a bit about the Princess Palatine's correspondence the other day and it's kind of hilarious how blunt she was about hating all the favourites, mistresses etc.



I don't mind the Chevalier as a character but he is definitely ridiculously over the top. I enjoyed when Louis was like "Please God just shut up."

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Where can I watch s2?

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Sent you a PM :)

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me too pls :)

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You're the best :)

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Can i get one too?

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ahh could i have a link too, please?

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Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ

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i finally got around to watching 'la la land'



ugh

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It was so aggressively mediocre!!!

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That just says it all doesn't it lol

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right?! i saw it recently and truly without the music it would be the most bland romantic comedy of all time

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I tried to watch the trailer tonight, and couldn't even finish it.

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La La Land is one of the best movies I've ever seen. I'm so glad I'm not part of the ONTD generation that hates everything.

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"She didn't even notice Emma Stone's name on the card"



Wasn't it in huge letters?



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Yeah, lol

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when your brain knows a movie title is the thing you have to say your eyes can easily go to that phrase and miss anything else written. esp when you know time is running out.

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I'm this kind of person lol. I think it's because I'm a details person to a fault, I'm so busy examining one tree that i ignore the whole damn forest around me. It's ridiculous lol

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Maybe her eyes have ad-block.

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Reminds me of the basketball toss/Gorilla man experiment

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Now she wants to talk about it after she completely dodged this mess while Warren took all the heat. She seriously high tailed her ass outta there. She's useless.



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I think he was showing her the card?

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She was the one who blurted it out; he was stalling because he knew the card was wrong since it said EMMA STONE in giant ass letters

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I don't think he did want her to announce it though, it seemed like he was just trying to show her that the card was wrong, he was immediately whispering, 'but it says Emma Stone' when she just read out the name of the film

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She ripped it out of his hand and read the wrong answer...

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Something was off with both of them being caught up in the moment. But Warren still owned up to his tomfoolery and pointed out that he wasn't initially trying to be a tool.

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Huh. I thought they declared that the firm would not be working with the Academy moving forward...

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i mean lbr they should actually be getting a raise for all the publicity they brought to this boring shitshow

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My anxiety would not be able to handle a fuck up like that

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the way she straight up left was funny

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She didn't really, lol. She just moved to the side

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She sure waited for the dust to settle but it's not like anyone took her to task.

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He saw Emma's name and was hoping someone backstage would stop them in time

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lol

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It literally took five years to get greenlit. The only reason Whiplash exists is because Chazelle gave up on LLL and moved on with his career.

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I'm surprised Hollywood didn't jump on the chance to greenlight a movie that's a circle jerk of everything they stand for: an overly white struggle.

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silence took half a lifetime to get greenlight, and tons of indie movies take years to get greenlight too. chazelle and lll ain't that special

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I always laugh when he mentions dreams and never giving up. I can't remember word from word but it was something referring to dreams. Anyway and then someone literally comes out of no where and snatches them.

It's not funny. Or at least it shouldn't be.... but I laughed.

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the blue eyed wife comment is still funny

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I loved how she did not wanted to be part of that narrative and just ran away.



I felt bad for the other guy tbh, but it was a memorable night at least !

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Lol, no , the one that was with Faye, Warren Beatty, everybody blamed him and he truly had no idea what happened. (I did not know his name tbh)



I felt 2nd hand embarrassment for the Lalaland producers tho.

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people were so extra about the mistake. i can't name a best picture winner in the last ten years, off the top of my head. The last one I remember was Return of the King. But I'll never forget Moonlight winning.

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RotK sweeping was the best. Memories~

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i enjoyed that year. i watched with my mom. i also remember that it was the year Theron won best actress since she said she wasn't going to thank New Zealand but South Africa.

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God, the Oscars were so boring when ROTK won everything.

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Mte



The only criticism I agree with is snatching away moonlight special moment.



People being in a tizzy about the academy's credibility being ruined as if they didn't award a sexual assailant thirty minutes earlier.

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Lol yeah, I remember a few people here being so incredibly outraged on Moonlight's behalf, and really calling Warren out for not handling it better when he's a ~professional actor~ with years in the biz

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HDU

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i know i love how the camera person just goes for the dramatic zoom.

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They really do. It gives me so much life.

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She obviously should have looked at the card and realized what was wrong (it wasn't mysterious what was happening) but Warren should have stopped things from the get go and just said "oops wrong card". Wasn't the enveloped also labeled Best Actress?

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i think the envelope was labeled and it always baffled me that NO ONE at NO POINT glanced at the outside?? not even when they were waiting in the wings - no casual glance? then especially when he was confused on stage.



idgi lol

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since this has never happened before, i guess you just assume the envelope they give you is the right one. its a high pressure moment, would it even occur to you check that?

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The envelope was labeled but it was a shiny gold on red in a fancy font. I wouldn't call it "old person eye friendly." Plus the label is in the opposite side of the envelope that you'd have facing you to open it. Ideally someone should have caught it, but as we know that didn't happen.

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She probably just looked at/ for the movie title.

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Warren should have said something I agree, he explained afterwards that he didn't want to draw attention to the mistake and mess up the show, so I guess that he was stalling in the hopes that someone would come running up with the correct card. And then I think that he was trying to show someone else that the card wasn't the right one and what do you think, not meaning for Faye to just blurt out the name of the film oops

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mte

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how is awkwafina as an actress?? she seems to be doing more acting than music now so im wondering how that happened



Edited at 2017-04-25 01:55 pm (UTC)

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I only heard of her when she got cast in Oceans 8, is her music any good?

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if you enjoy raspy voices rapping badly about asian stereotypes, pussy, and new york over shitty beats, than yes

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I am really excited for this movie. The cast looks great and I hope it does well.

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I'm so glad Ronny has ~finally made it. He's been hilarious for years.

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any gay characters?

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crying @ that picture of gemma, constance, and henry. i didn't think nick's casting was good at first but now I have faith!!!

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Michelle Yeoh and Constance? We are not worthy

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I hope they release paparazzi pics from the filming of this movie I wanna see the fashionsssss

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me too. i'm excited abut this!!

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I am ready for this movie to slay my existence.



If I have to watch it everyday in theaters I will.

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I'm really excited for this movie ahhhh. It's so nice to finally see more Asian representation!

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whattt @ ronny being in this too. i still wanna know who's playing queen kitty pong and eddie the asshole. i want michelle krusiec and lynn chen in this somehow bc i want a mini Saving Face reunion. To complete the reunion Joan Chen can be Bao Shaoyen (i think that's her??? carlton's mom) in china rich girlfriend. also, gemma chan just is so beautiful omw.



Edited at 2017-04-25 02:28 pm (UTC)

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That's what *I* want to know..who is Cousin Eddie?

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Ronnie Chieng looks like an Eddie lol

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I practically screamed when Ronny posted on his insta about it





(I've been a fan of his since that weird dating show on ABC where he sold vacuums)

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I think Fiona Xie is Kitty Pong

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oh my god the casting for this is so great, i'm so exciteddddd

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I'm sf excited for this!!

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i'm really excited for this and i haven't even read the books lol

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This is horrible. :(

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Asshole scum

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does his family have a restaurant or bar... his shirt logo/name.

so sad for the person who died

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I'm pretty sure it's for his family's farm.

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absolute trash

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why did he think running from the scene was a good idea?

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he was probably drunk

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He was probably drunk. It's still incredibly stupid and he should know how stupid it is seeing as he's been charged with leaving the scene of an accident before.

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Yea you just end up with an additional charge.

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He was probably drunk, but also how long does alcohol stay in your blood? If he flees they can't test him for DUI that same night, it has to wait until he's either caught or turns himself in.

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Trash. Facing up to 5 years in prison.

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Soules was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident where death occurred. Thats a violation of Iowa code section 321.261(4), and its a Class d felony upon conviction, the Buchanan County Sheriffs Department told Heavy. He could face up to five years in prison.

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He will likely be charged with more. But they have to investigate the accident first and see who caused it. And if speed or alcohol were a factor.

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Disgusting. 5 years can go by that fast. It's just too damn sad and fucked up on many sickening levels. Dats shit wack

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i wonder if he was the one who caused the crash too

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Rot in jail tbh

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HOOOOOOOLY SHIT

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Police said there was alcohol in his car but nothing addressed yet if they were open or if he was intoxicated. Mess.

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Disgusting. Fuck drunk drivers forever!!!! Unforgivable

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I wonder if the tractor driver could have survived if this piece of shit had called for help sooner.

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Wrinkle In Time was moved up? Nice.

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I wish A Wrinkle In Time were coming sooner!

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Star Wars Ep 9 getting a May release date makes me happy, but I'm still not here for The Lion King remake and I'll probably never be.

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Yes. I prefer Memorial Day to December.

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They'll inevitably move it to December once Episode VIII

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Not with Avatar sequels coming out in December 2019. Even Star Wars won't take that chance.

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Let Indiana Jones die. Please.

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It's possible he could...

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The article is incomplete.



There are new dates for untitled Disney live action movies that allegedly are Aladdin and Cruella DeVil.



Edited at 2017-04-25 07:29 pm (UTC)

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Added already.

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So I am guessing "Untitled Live Action for April 3, 2020" is Aladdin

Wonder if "Untitled Marvel which was on July 10, 2020 moves to Aug. 7, 2020" is a sequel (GOTG3) or a new film.

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Untitled Live-Action Fairy Tale film, previously dated on July 28, 2017 moves to Aug. 3, 2018





So it's not Magic Camp.



Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2: March 9, 2018 to November 21, 2018





FUCK THIS.

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lol I'm glad you agree with me on this

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I'd put money on it eventually being pushed to December lol.

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Same, I like December.

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Episode VIII was also supposed to come out in May but was moved to December. So this one will be moved too, May is too optimistic.

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if they're delaying Indie then it must be a reboot with a diff actor... ugh.

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I just read that Spielberg will stay as director

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nah, Harrison is signed on and so is Spielberg. I think the issue is that they don't have a script yet from what I've been reading.

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Star Wars will be moved back to December again, MMW

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It probably is Disenchanted tbh

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I think Disenchanted could be the 2019 one. 2018 seems to early seeing that they have only hired the director and finalized the script.

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omg, please switch your icon... I literally had nightmares last night about it.

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Another Indiana Jones? Let the man rest already....

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The fourth one was sooo terrible. And it really is awkward how they're trying to push a senior citizen as a action hero. Let it die or have someone else take over.

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So it's going to be Harrison Ford and not a new Indy? I was hoping it be like his grandson.

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Giagantic is just flat out not being made is it lmao

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They're doing the same mistake as Pixar by focusing on sequels tbh. I hope they leave Zootopia as a standalone movie.

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There's been talk that Episode 9's move to summer may be a prelude to moving Avengers 4 into the Xmas 2019 window, but if that were the case I think they'd have announced that with all this news

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I was excited until I realized that wasn't Gallifinakis.

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Nathan and Ernie tho :'(



I'm half paying attention but ugh



Edited at 2017-04-25 07:47 pm (UTC)

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That is...not what I expecting

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Makes sense tbh.

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Rogen annoys me.

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Not awful

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The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on Tuesday that its latest estimates show that the undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Barents Sea are twice as large as previously thought, drawing criticism from green groups over potential opening up of drilling in sensitive iced areas.

The NPD has recently mapped the eastern part of the northern Barents Sea, a large part of which is located in the previously disputed area, and most of the new information has been collected after the demarcation line agreement with Russia entered into force in the summer of 2011, the Norwegian oil regulator said.

A large part of the resources in the new areawhich are estimated at 1.4 billion standard cubic meters of oil equivalentsare not open for drilling, according to the NPD.

The Barents Sea could hold a total of 2.8 billion standard cubic meters of oil equivalents, equal to 17.6 billion barrels, according to Reuters.

Environment groups WWF and Greenpeace argue that the publishing of resource estimates in areas not open to drilling undermine pledges not to open ice-capped waters to drilling.

This is a clear pressure from the oil industry to open new exploration areas to keep employment, ignoring concerns about environment and profitability, Truls Gulowsen, head of Greenpeace Norway, told Reuters. Related: Low Oil Prices Wont Deter Russia From Arctic Drilling

Last month, Norways government announced initial plans to open a record number of oil exploration blocks in the Barents Sea, sparking renewed criticism from environmental groups. Norways Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is proposing 102 blocks in the 24th licensing round, of which nine blocks are in the Norwegian Sea, and a record-high 93 blocks  in the Barents Sea. A considerable number of the blocks proposed in the Barents Sea are located north of the northernmost oil discovery in Norway.

The plans for nominating so many Arctic exploration blocks come as Greenpeace sues Norway over the previous, 23rd, licensing round, for oil companies to drill in the Arctic Barents Sea.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Last week, China National Offshore Oil Corp tendered 22 oil and gas blocks in the South China Sea, expecting bids from foreign companies that would help it develop the reserves in response to growing local oil and gas demand. It has already struck one deal, with Canadas Husky Energy, which will drill two exploration wells in block 16/25 next year.

Some might consider Husky exceptionally brave given the circumstances. A lot of the South China Sea is the object of disputes between China and its neighbors, with a court in The Hague last year ruling against Chinas claims and in favor of the Philippinesone of the neighbors opposing Chinas expansion in the basin. China however, has not acknowledged the ruling, which has heightened tensions in the area.

The South China Sea may hold 28 billion barrels of oil, according to an estimate from the U.S. Geological Survey from the mid-90s. Since then, with technology improvements, this figure could have increased substantially. Of course, low oil prices or no low oil prices, everyone wants a piece of the oil pie, and China wants the biggest one. The question is: will foreign oil companies help China take it?

Some observers note a string of challenges for CNOOC in this endeavor. First, there is the simple problem with regional hostility: if a company chooses to work with China, it may be shown the door in Vietnam or Taiwan, as some of the territory covered by the blocks, which span 47,270 sq km, is disputed by the two countries.

Second, there is the uncertainty of oil and gas ownership if exploration leads to any significant discoveries. Companies willing to team up with CNOOC on the exploration of these 22 blocks, some authors argue, will effectively be taking Chinas side in the territorial dispute, potentially straining a corporations reputation. Related: Low Oil Prices Force Abu Dhabi To Sell U.S. Assets

Third, there is the much more practical problem of the cost of exploration. According to one Chinese academic from Renmin University, exploration in the South China Sea involves high risks and high technical requirements, which only the bigger oil and gas players can afford.

On the other hand, a map of the blocks put up for sale shows that most of these are near Chinas coastline, which means they are out of the sensitive parts of the sea. A total 16 of the 22 blocks are located in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, near the coast, energy analyst Han Xiaoping notes.

This could potentially increase the confidence of foreign explorers as far as the possibility of a dispute over any oil and gas discovered goes. The other problems, however, will remain. It is a tough choice to make: China is by far the biggest market around the South China Sea, so working with the Chinese could ensure some sustainable returns. But with no fresh surveys and reserve estimate updates, the risk of failing to find viable resources is indeed high.

The CNOOC tender closes this September, so oil companies have another five months to make a decision. Keeping an eye on developments in the South China Sea is certainly advisable, but with a more pressing matter in the region, namely North Koreas insistence on developing and testing new missiles, international focus has shifted temporarily.

China is in a position to bargain for recognition of its claims in the South China Sea now  it is indeed the economic lifeline of North Korea, as President Trump called it recently, and it will need a major incentive to cut it. Whether the U.S. is ready to offer such an incentive is a whole other matter, however, just as uncertain is whether China will actually ask for it. Yet, it is a possibility worth considering.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Libyas biggest oil field, Sharara, which has been offline for most of the past month, is set to reopen after the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) reached an agreement with protesters who have repeatedly shut down the pipelines that pump oil into the field, according to PFG chief, Brigadier General Idriss Abu Khamada.

The deal that the PFG has reached will lead to the reopening of the Sharara field, which produces 200,000 bpd, according to Khamada.



At the end of March, unnamed armed factions were said to have blocked production at the Sharara and Wafa fields in western Libya, cutting the countrys total output by 252,000 bpd. Sharara alone produced 220,000 bpd before the shutdown, accounting for a large part of Libyas overall 700,000 bpd production until that point. It resumed pumping oil after a two-year pause last December.

Less than a week later, Libyas National Oil Corporation (NOC) said that after intervention from its chairman Mustafa Sanalla, the militia men agreed to release the pipeline so the oil flow could be resumed.

Another week later, production at Sharara was stopped again.

Last week, reports suggested that the El-Feel oil field in western Libyaoperated by a joint venture between Italys Eni and Libyas National Oil Corporation (NOC)had reopened after two years, and expects to start pumping oil as soon as a power outage is fixed. Related: Low Oil Prices Force Abu Dhabi To Sell U.S. Assets

Libyas NOC said on April 20 that El-Feel continues to be closed and under force majeure due to dependence on electricity sourced from Sharara, which remained closed as of last Thursday.

NOC has said that it would target production of around 1.2 million bpd by the end of this year, but this level is currently nowhere in sight. As per OPECs secondary sources, Libya  exempt from the production cuts due to the violence  produced 622,000 bpd in March, down from 683,000 bpd in February.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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As the global oil supply glut grows, Russia has not yet climbed on board of OPEC's production cut agreement extension.

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

Chart of the Week

(Click to enlarge)

 At the end of March, U.S. natural gas storage levels stood at 2,051 billion cubic feet (Bcf), or about 15 percent above the five-year average.

 Storage levels tracked average levels for most of the winter, but mild weather in February and March caused inventory drawdowns to slow.

 But that pales in comparison to the same period a year ago, when inventories stood near an all-time high, pushing prices below $2/MMBtu.

 Gas markets today are a bit more balanced, although slightly elevated storage levels could keep prices from rising to $4/MMBtu.

Market Movers

 Saudi Aramco says that the company should be valued at $2 trillion ahead of its IPO, but independent analysts see the companys value maxing out at $1.5 trillion at best.

 U.S. East Coast refiners Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) and Monroe Energy (NYSE: DAL) are hoping to buy crude oil from Texas, moving the oil by ship. The development is a stark change from years past when East Coast refiners bought large volumes of oil from North Dakota, oil that was moved by rail.

 Chevron (NYSE: CVX) has agreed to sell three natural gas fields in Bangladesh for $2 billion to Chinese frim Himalaya Energy.

Tuesday April 25, 2017

WTI and Brent stabilized on Tuesday after a week of steep losses. Market sentiment has shifted notably in a bearish direction over the past six trading days. The realization that the OPEC deal, nearing the end of its fourth month, is falling short on balancing the market is weighing on crude prices. Stephen Schork of the Schork report put it more bluntly on Tuesday: OPEC has failed miserably in its endeavour to balance the oil market. The flip side is that because the market still seems woefully oversupplied, extending the OPEC cuts seems like more of a sure bet. OPECs monitoring committee formally recommended an extension, although no final decision has been made.

Russia non-committal so far. Russia still needs to come on board with the OPEC extension, and at this point, Russia is likely the most pivotal participant in determining whether or not the cuts are extended for another six months. But Russian officials said they wouldnt commit until the official meeting at the end of May. The problem for Russia is that the initial agreement corresponded with winter months in Russia, when output typically falls. That made agreeing to the cuts easy. But the six-month extension will overlap with the Russian summer, which usually sees an uptick in production. Moreover, Russian oil companies have a handful of fields that they intend to bring online in the second half of the year. In other words, the extension will be much harder to agree to than the initial agreement. Related: Exxon Attempts To Maneuver Around Russian Sanctions

OPEC cuts causing North Sea oil to head to Asia. OPECs lower production has led to a smaller premium for Brent oil over Middle Eastern grades. Heavy crude from the Middle East, now in lower supplies, has become scarcer, allowing oil from the North Sea to find its way to Asia. Crude is trading like a game of musical chairs, Richard Fullarton, founder of London-based commodity hedge fund, Matilda Capital Management, told Bloomberg. If OPEC extends cuts then more Brent and WTI will head to the east. Meanwhile, Russia is also grabbing Asian market share from Saudi Arabia, reclaiming the number one spot for supplier to China.

Oil could hit low-$60s, but not $70. One of the worlds largest oil traders, Vitol, said that it foresees oil moving up into the low-$60s per barrel this year, but not any higher.

Exxon sought waiver to return to Russia; Trump says no. ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) asked the U.S. government for a waiver to get around U.S. sanctions on Russia, which forced the oil major to abandon a large oil discovery in the Russian Arctic in 2014. But that was asking too much. Given the speculation regarding President Trumps ties to Russia and the fact that former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson leads the State Department, a waiver would have ignited a political firestorm. The White House rejected Exxons request.

Improvement in Saudi budget leads to return of perks, less austerity. Saudi Arabias austerity program, which eliminated some notorious perks for government employees, is being pared back amid better-than-expected public finances. The budget deficit is smaller than anticipated, and the swift return of government largesse comes as the Saudi leadership is concerned about grumblings from the public from the austerity program.

Tesla to double superchargers. Tesla (NYSE: TSLA) has announced plans to double the number of superchargers for its electric vehicles from 5,000 to 10,000 across the U.S. That figure is 37 percent more than the company previously promised. Expanding the network of recharging stations is crucial in the companys efforts to sell more EVs. It will also be timely with the release of the $35,000 mass market Model 3, slated for the second half of this year. Tesla aims to manufacture 500,000 EVs annually by next year. Tesla is also in a race against the clock with its shareholders  rising debt and an eye-watering cash burn rate, Tesla is under pressure to boost revenues.

Trump to open up new offshore drilling areas. President Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday that will move to open up new offshore acreage for drilling, areas that were put off limits by the Obama administration. The executive order could open up areas of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and even the Arctic. However, the process could be drawn out and will be subjected to legal scrutiny, so it is unclear when or if the executive order will lead to action. Related: Is Australia The Next Big Thing In Shale?

Schlumberger sees poor offshore demand, but higher onshore demand. Schlumbergers (NYSE: SLB) share price was off more than 2 percent after reporting lower than expected revenues on Friday. Schlumberger said that offshore drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico was poor in the first quarter, but that the company is seeing an uptick in demand for onshore rigs and services. Higher shale drilling allowed Schlumberger to report its first quarterly increase in revenue in over two years. Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard told investors on a conference call that North America drilling activity increased rapidly during the first quarter, which was highlighted by our U.S. land revenue growth of nearly 30%, outperforming the sequential average U.S. land rig count growth of 27%. Separately, Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) also saw weak demand from the Gulf of Mexico, leading to a 15 percent drop in revenues.

Tony Hayward to depart Genel Energy. Former BP boss Tony Hayward is set to leave the small E&P Genel Energy (LON: GENL), a company that has been drilling in Kurdistan. The departure comes after several disappointing years that have seen poor drilling results and multiple downward revisions of Genels proved oil reserves in the semi-autonomous region of Iraq. Hayward co-founded Genel in 2011, calling Kurdistan undoubtedly one of the last great oil and gas frontiers. Genel was once valued at 3.1 billion, but the poor performance has seen the companys value plunge to just 215 million.

By Tom Kool from Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Oil prices took another dip on Monday, and with WTI down to $49 per barrel, crude oil has given up most of the gains that it had made so far this month, taking prices down to their lowest levels since late March.

Major investors are also losing a bit of confidence in oils comeback. Hedge funds and other money managers took a breather in the buildup, buying up long positions in the most recent week for which data is available. Much of the rally in oil prices between the end of March and mid-April occurred as investors closed out short positions and took on bullish bets. Since then, however, hedge funds have slowed their net-long builds, a sign of waning confidence in higher oil prices.

Also, the futures market no longer looks all that encouraging. The contango is back, a sign of concerns about near-term oversupply. Front-month contracts are trading at a discount to later contracts, a situation that looks more bearish than it did just a few weeks ago. "Keep a wary eye on the Brent contango," Jan Stuart, energy economist at Credit Suisse Securities LLC, told Bloomberg last week. "Bellwether Brent time-spreads have been counter-seasonally widening. That is just oil jargon for: there is too much oil still swashing around and the market is getting anxious.

Recognizing that the task of balancing the market is far from complete, OPECs monitoring committee, which was charged with overseeing compliance with the collective production cuts, has endorsed a six-month extension of the deal. The endorsement means that unless something unforeseen happens, OPEC will push for a passage of an extension at its official meeting in May. The only roadblock to keeping the cuts in place through the end of the year at this point is Russia, although most analysts dont expect them to stand in the way. Related: Is Australia The Next Big Thing In Shale?

That should help push oil prices back up. However, the meeting is several weeks away. In the short run, oil prices are floundering amid growing concerns about oversupply.

As has been the case since the beginning of the year, the main dynamic is how the OPEC production cuts stack up against the pace of growth from U.S. shale and others. By the end of the year, the U.S. could add 860,000 bpd of new supply, a sharp increase from expectations from just six months ago. The upward revision comes even as oil prices have failed to move much above the $50 per barrel threshold. In other words, U.S. shale drillers are roaring back, as Goldman Sachs recently put it, at a much faster clip than everyone expected. And the gains are coming even as oil prices are not rising as much as many had hoped.



On the other hand, the weakness in the market could be starting to deflate the momentum of U.S. shale  the blistering growth rate is starting to show some signs of slowing down. For the week ending on April 21, the shale industry only added 5 oil rigs back into operation, the lowest weekly figure since February. The previous five weeks saw rig count increases more than twice as high.

Luke Lemoine, an analyst at Capital One Securities in New Orleans, told Bloomberg that for the rig count, the rate of change has slowed over the past several weeks. If commodity prices persist here, we expect the rig count to flatten out fairly soon. To some degree, the feverish uptick in drilling activity is killing off the rally at the industrys own expense. Related: Exxon Attempts To Maneuver Around Russian Sanctions

On top of too much supply from the U.S., some demand figures are raising some red flags as well. "It's the sense that too much gasoline and really a drop in U.S. demand in particular, but a little bit of softness in India and some other places, is going to lead to an undertow for refinery runs," Tom Kloza, who co-founded the Oil Price Information Service, told CNBC. "Back to the drawing board for crude oil prices," he said on Friday, at the close of a week that saw crude drop by 7 percent. Kloza added that the oil bulls that expect WTI and Brent to move into the $60 to $70 range are going to have to come back to Earth.

The silver-lining for them, however, is that because the market is showing some cracks in it, OPEC almost has no choice but to extend the production cuts for another six months, for fear of risking a slide deeper into the low-$40s.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Domestic interest in Albertas oil sands is returning, even as international companies are withdrawing their stakes in Canadas oil sands, according to the provinces Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd.

It is business as usual for multinational oil firms to change the profiles of their assets according to short or medium-term profits. McCuaig-Boyd told Bloomberg this week that investments by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Cenovus Ltd., and Athabasca Oil Corp. are encouraging.

Royal Dutch Shell agreed to sell a majority of its assets in Canadian oil sands projects to Canadian Natural Resources last month for a total of $8.5 billion.

I see it as more glass-half-full because we have Alberta companies showing support for what were doing, McCuaig-Boyd said at the Finance Future of Energy Summit hosted by Bloomberg in New York.

Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell are still keeping their traditional shale oil projects in Montney and Duvernay alive, despite abandoning their oil sands stakes.

Its not like theyve truly left, she said. Theyre just changing some of their business.

To conserve funds and ensure continuing profitability, oil majors are cancelling or postponing investments in new production ventures, especially complex, costly projects like the exploitation of Canadian tar sands and deep offshore fields that only turn a profit when oil is selling at $80 to $100 or more per barrel. In contrast, the Permian Basin in Texas has attracted a lot of new investors in recent months due to low extraction costs and slowly recovering West Texas Intermediate prices.



Related: Is Australia The Next Big Thing In Shale?

At the time of this articles writing, Brent barrels were trading at $51.56.

In December, Statoil announced its decision to sell off its oil sands assets to Athabasca Oil Corp. in a deal worth $832 million. The Norwegian firm spent nearly a decade in Albertas oil sands, and will exit the play with a loss of at least $500 million.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

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Alberta Premier Rachel Notley warned U.S. President Donald Trump that he would face the wrath of the northern nations many allies if the freshman president begins employing energy trade restrictions with Canada.

Notley is currently in China, negotiating her countrys trade policies with the Asian giant. She told reporters that she did not know what was meant by Trumps comments about what Canada has done to its American neighbor with the energy, softwood lumber, and dairy industries.

"Canada, what they've done to our dairy farm workers, is a disgrace. It's a disgrace, Trump said before signing a memorandum about investigation the national security implications of importing foreign steel. Trump also criticized NAFTA in general, calling it a disaster, adding that that included in there is lumber, timber, and energy. Were going to have to get to the negotiating table with Canada very, very quickly

"We're not exactly sure what it is he was referring to,'' Notley said in a conference call Monday, according to The Huffington Post. "The leadership of the U.S. administration is going to find that they have a lot of their own stakeholders reminding them how much they need Canadian energy,'' she said.

Figures from 2016 show that 41 percent of all American crude imports, or 3.3 million barrels per day, came from Canada.



Related: Did OPEC Shoot Itself In The Foot?

Trump has suggested ambiguous very big changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which strings together Mexico, Canada and the U.S. through a uniform tariff policy. Opponents of the trade bloc created by the 1994 deal say it caused the growth of the U.S. trade deficit with its northern and southern neighbors, along with considerable job losses.

The U.S. is the largest refining complex in the world, and Canadas cheap heavy oil pricing relative to other competing crude grades in the West Coast and Gulf Coast has made a lot of profit for U.S. heavy oil refiners. If Canada is planning on exporting 890,000 barrels per day of crude oil to the large refining markets of the Asia Pacific with a preference for heavier crude oils, this will inevitably hurt U.S. heavy oil refiners that benefitted from refining cheap Canadian heavy crude.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

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China imported daily average of 4.69 million tons, or 34.38 million bpd, of crude oil from Russia last month. Thats 9.3 percent more than the February average, putting Russia back at the top spot of Chinas foreign oil suppliers, above Angola, which sits at number 2. Saudi Arabia fell to number 3 in March, as it cuts output deeper than it was expected to under the OPEC agreement from November.

The shuffle comes amid talks in OPEC about extending the six-month production output cut to further strengthen prices, which turned out to be less responsive to the international effort than expected.

Indeed, in six of the last seven trading sessions, crude oil benchmarks actually slipped as doubts about an extension agreement begin to rise among traders. WTI is back below $50 and Brent is holding a smidge above.

The doubts came as it emerged that global supplies are still close to record highs, despite OPECs efforts to trim them since January. In fact, over the first quarter of the year, these supplies have increased, reversing the initial enthusiasm with which markets greeted the news of the agreement.

Now Russia is fueling the worry further: Reuters reported that some Russian government officials have said the countrys oil production could rise to the highest in 30 years in 2017 if the extension agreement falls through. The possibility is reflected in local oil companies investment plans for the year.



Related: Is Australia The Next Big Thing In Shale?

For now, Russia has given its broad support for an extension, although the only specific that has come from Energy Minister Alexander Novak so far was a comment made in March stating that it is too early to discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabias King Salman has removed austerity measures aimed to narrow the budget gap opened by the low oil prices. This, according to big-name commodity analysts, makes the extension particularly important for the Kingdom. It is likely that Saudi Arabia will again spearhead the drive for an extension and could possibly agree to cut its own output further, which will allow Russia to cement its place as top supplier to China.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Nawaz Sharif asked power sector to avoid loadshedding during Ramazan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday asked the power sector to buckle up for the upcoming month of Ramazan and avoid a repeat of the 13-14 hours of loadshedding in April.



Chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE)  the third in a fortnight  the PM ordered top officials to remove supply chain hurdles that were adding to outages, even as former water and power secretary Younas Dagha passed the buck on to the ministry of finance and the power sector regulator in the absence of their top guns.



Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Finance Secretary Tariq Bajwa are currently in the US as part of meetings with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, while the chairman and members of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) are seldom called to CCoE meetings.



Sources said that Mr Dagha, who is now commerce secretary, finally showed up at the CCoE meeting after skipping two earlier sessions on April 10 and 18, for various reasons. The prime minister repeatedly asked why there had been 13-14 hours of loadshedding in April when the secretary had assured the government of power cuts not longer than three to four hours.

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Mr Dagha listed three challenges  management problems, tariff and financial issues and distribution challenges  that he had been working around while he was secretary for water and power.



He blamed the finance ministry for not making timely disbursements of tariff differential subsidies, which, at Rs118 billion for the current year, he claimed, were under-budgeted in the first place.



On top of that, the ministry had been reducing the subsidy amount every year under international obligations, even though the requirement for domestic consumers was around Rs170-180bn. He said that a number of power plants were lying idle or operating below optimal levels, despite the fact that furnace oil was abundantly available.



He also claimed that his plan to utilise some rental power plants (RPPs) and independent power plants (IPPs) on a temporary basis had remained unmoved before the Ministry of Finance for almost a year.



Under that plan, the management of such plants had agreed to generate electricity and charge only for the energy component (excluding capacity payments), provided the government supplied them fuel until the two sides reached a settlement.



Loadshedding could, therefore, be reduced to the three-four hour-level even now if funds were made available and paid to the power plants, he said.



Moreover, Mr Dhaga claimed he was not given a free-hand in administrative initiatives over his last six to eight months at the power ministry, which he insisted could have addressed problems with distribution companies.



In their tariff structure, he said, the power regulator was expecting 100pc recoveries and system losses at a level only seen internationally, even though the government had imposed three special surcharges of Rs2.50 per unit and held back tariff reductions by going into litigation against Nepras tariff cuts.



Sources said the prime minister, who was livid over the loadshedding situation during a recent address at Bhikki, did not seem in an aggressive mood and did not press for action against the officials responsible for the power gaps.



PM Sharif directed his secretary, Fawad Hassan Fawad, Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif and Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar to have separate sessions with Nepra officials at the earliest to settle tariff issues.



He warned that he would not tolerate a repeat of the unscheduled loadshedding seen in April during the month of Ramazan.



The PM also took note of repeated reports of transmission challenges when the water and power secretary briefed the meeting on the current load management plan, the implementation status of planned and ongoing energy projects and improvements in the transmission system.



The chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority briefed the meeting on the progress of hydel projects, including Dasu, Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams.



The prime minister directed the power ministry to immediately resolve upfront tariff issues with Nepra for different kinds of fuels, including LNG, solar, coal, furnace oil, diesel and gas. He also ordered all line departments to work out immediate solutions for administrative and legal issues that were holding up the implementation of energy projects on a priority basis.
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...
During one of its last flybys of Enceladus on October 28, 2015, the spacecraft grazed the moons southern pole at 8.5 kilometers per second, just 49 kilometers above the surface. It crossed the active region where jets spew material from the ocean that we know is located below the icy surface. On three previous flybys, scientists had managed to measure the composition of the jets material, and detected molecules of water, carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia. During the October 2015 flyby, they used the instrument in a mode they hoped would allow them to measure the content of hydrogen molecules in the gas of the vents.



They succeededCassini detected molecular hydrogen.



This is important because the gas is used by microorganisms, known as methanogens, to produce methane from carbon dioxide. Thriving ecosystems seen in the deep oceans of our planet near the volcanic hydrothermal vents of the mid-Atlantic ridge, for instance, depend on the production of energy using this chemistry.



The scientists are very careful when discussing the origin of this molecular hydrogen. They show that the high concentrations measured are not compatible with a geological originin other words, such a large amount of molecular hydrogen couldnt have been stored in the ice shell or in the ocean. Similarly, the scientists are confident that strong radiation on the surface of Enceladus cant be the source of this molecular hydrogen. They conclude its source is probably hydrothermal reactions between water and rock, emerging out of active volcanism, as it happens in submarine hydrothermal systems on Earth. The source of this volcanism on Enceladus is still not fully understood, but it is probably related to tidal dissipation in the moons core, which is squeezed and warmed as the satellite orbits the gas giant Saturn. As with Europa, a moon of Jupiter, this heat warms up the interior, creating an ocean with hydrothermal activity and surface fractures from which materials can escape in space.



It must be emphasized that the scientists did NOT report the detection of life in Enceladus ocean, but rather the detection of molecular hydrogenthe final piece needed to infer the presence of methanogenesis. A model including the characteristics of the ocean (temperature, pH, mixing ratio and composition) supports the idea that methanogenic life could survive in this environment. But thermodynamic models alone are not enough to claim that life is indeed present on Enceladus. In other words, habitable does not mean inhabited, and this distinction is important for astrobiologists.
Dr. Franck Marchis is a senior planetary astronomer and chair of the exoplanet group at the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute and Chief Scientific Officer and Founder at Unistellar. He began full-time work at the Institute in June 2011 after leaving a joint position with Institute and the department of astronomy at University of California, Berkeley. Marchis moved to the United States in October 2000 shortly after getting a Ph.D. from the University of Toulouse in France that he acquired while traveling around the world for his research and for the sake of exploration.

Over the past nineteen years, he has dedicated his work to the study of our solar system, specifically the search for asteroids with moons, using mainly ground-based telescopes equipped with adaptive optics (AO). More recently he has been also involved in the definition of new generation of AOs for 8 -10 m class telescopes and future Extremely Large Telescopes. He has also developed algorithms to process and enhance the quality of astronomical and biological images. He is currently the collaboration manager of the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey, which consists in imaging and characterizing Jupiter-like exoplanets using an extreme AO system designed for the Gemini South telescope.

Today, Marchis dedicates most of his energy to instruments capable of imaging and characterizing Earth-like exoplanets by being involved in education, public outreach, technology, and scientific investigations related to those ambitious projects both in the United States and in Europe. Marchis is also involved in startups related to astronomy so he joined Unistellar as a Chief Scientific Officer and VR2Planets as a scientific advisor in 2017. Marchis is a member of numerous science committees including the SETI Science council, the GPI steering Committee, the TMT Science Definition Team, PLOS One editor board, the Project Blue and the PLANETS Foundation Advisory board. He has co-authored more than 380 scientific publications, trained numerous students, and served as a science consultant and interviewee for numerous documentaries and movies in English, French, and Spanish. The asteroid (6639) was named Marchis in honor of his discovery of the first triple-asteroid system in 2007. He has been an affiliated Astronomer at Observatoire de Paris since 2003.
Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association

Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America.
GRANVILLE  The truck crash that closed part of Route 22 on Monday afternoon occurred when a truck driver hauling a load of logs fell asleep and went off the road, police said.

The driver, Eric Girouard, 36, of Victoriaville, Quebec, suffered arm injuries that were not considered life-threatening, according to State Police.

Police said he was driving a 2012 Volvo tractor-trailer north near Andrews Lane when he went off the right side of the road, then overcorrected as he tried to get back on the pavement, causing the truck to turn over and spill its cargo. It took about four hours for the crash scene to be cleaned up.

Girouard told troopers he fell asleep. He was taken to Glens Falls Hospital, and his condition was not available Tuesday morning.

The investigation was ongoing Tuesday and traffic tickets were expected to be issued, according to State Police.
GLENS FALLS  Raising awareness about climate change is no longer enough, said Catherine Atherdene, one of the organizers of the Glens Falls Climate March, taking place on Saturday.

We can march all we like, and we can read all we like, and we can talk all we like, Atherdene said. But we actually now need to get down to the nitty-gritty and take some action. Thats our theme.

The march begins at 10 a.m. Saturday in City Park in downtown, and will proceed north along sidewalks on both sides of Glen Street to Crandall Park.

Glen Street will remain open to vehicular traffic.

Once the march reaches Crandall Park, a rally will be held, with speeches and musical performances at Crandall Park concert shell.

There also will be childrens activities, community organization booths and a Story Corps oral history collection project.

The Glens Falls march is among about 600 sister marches around the world on Saturday that coincide with the Peoples Climate March in Washington, D.C., Atherdene said.

The local march and rally are open to the public, free of charge.

Tri-County New York Transition Initiative, the organizer, will provide information about its projects, including work with officials in Glens Falls and Queensbury to enroll in a state program to address climate change.

Tri-County New York Transition Initiative is a volunteer advocacy organization that raises awareness about climate change in Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties.

The organization also sponsors the In the Public Interest film and discussion series at Crandall Public Library.

The next film showing is Silent Spring at 6:30 p.m. May 3 in the library community room.

The film is the story of Rachel Carsons advocacy to stop the use of the pesticide DDT.

About 90 people participated in the climate march the group organized in Glens Falls in 2015.

Atherdene said she expects a larger turnout, perhaps even 1,000 people or more, considering the current national political mood.
GREENWICH  The village is facing a second potential lawsuit over an accident in which village crews dumped snow on top of two boys by mistake, killing one of them.

Thomas Day, the father of Tyler Day, who survived the incident, filed a notice of claim last month against the village of Greenwich. He filed it in early March, at the same time that Rachael Demarest, the mother of Joshua Demarest, filed her notice.

The Demarest claim alleges negligence by village Public Works staff before the death of her son and also names Robert Sipperly, who owns the land on which the village had been piling the snow.

A notice of claim is required when someone intends to sue a municipality, allowing the defendant to explore the claim and potentially settle without a formal lawsuit. It must be filed within 90 days of alleged wrongdoing. A lawsuit could be filed if no settlement is reached.

John Aspland, a Glens Falls lawyer who was appointed to represent the village, said the claims do not seek a specific amount of compensation.

The attorney for the complainants in both cases is Christopher Buckey of Whiteman, Osterman and Hanna LLP of Albany.

Demarests filing claims negligence and wrongful death. She is claiming injuries that include loss of support, loss of voluntary assistance, loss of possible inheritance and funeral expenses. She also said she incurred medical, hospital and nursing expenses.

Days filing is very similar, with the exception that his focus on injuries involves the continuing medical, hospital and nursing expenses for his son, as well as for the terror, conscious pain and suffering and personal injuries over the course of several hours, according to the document. His injuries are listed as hypothermia, emotional duress and continuing pain and suffering.

In both cases the filings contained a paragraph that details the negligence, citing failure to warn of the potential danger of the snow bank; failure to maintain the villages property in a reasonably safe condition; the negligence and misconduct of the villages Department of Public Works employees by failing to maintain a proper lookout before dumping snow onto the snowbank; and that the villages Department of Public Works employees were otherwise negligent.

The snowbank had accumulated as crews dumped snow there from roadsides and sidewalks over the course of several days, including the day Joshua died.

The boys were playing on the back of the pile of snow and could not be seen by public works drivers, who approached from the front. The boys lived on Rock Street, just a short walk from the snowbank.
Larry Bailey of Fort Ann and Mike Nolan of Cambridge have been appointed as new members of the panel that advises state government on distribution of about $14 million in annual funding for dairy product research, promotion, education and nutrition programs, state Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball announced Monday.
Teacher Matt Rozell will be missed by Hudson Falls school

Bravos to Hudson Falls history teacher Matt Rozell for his outstanding contributions to the Hudson Falls school district that have gone above and beyond the call of duty, year after year. Rozell has not only had an impact in the classroom, but outside of it as well with his many passionate projects that have introduced several generations of Hudson Falls students to a love of history while capturing the stories of local veterans. Rozell plans to stay just as busy in the future while writing about some of the oral histories he has captured from veterans over the years.

Village needs to deal with absent clerk

Boos to South Glens Falls Village Clerk/Treasurer Dannae Bock for failing to show up for work over the past two weeks as new Mayor Harry Gutheil tries to work through a financial plan for the coming year. Bock walked out of a meeting with Gutheil when he refused to guarantee her future employment and she asked to be fired. In the private sector, we suspect thats exactly what would have happened. Instead, Bock continues to use paid sick time, although it seems obvious she is not sick. Gutheil and the Village Board should deal with this personnel problem as soon as possible, and if Bock does not want to work, they should grant her wish.

State should expedite forensic testing

Boos to New York state officials for their inability to get a local family forensic results to see if a skull found several weeks ago is their missing child. Local police officials were told the results would take two weeks, but the Office of the Medical Examiner said last week that the agency has yet to receive the material for the testing. The test should be expedited immediately. The family has been through enough.

Queensbury approves money to help students

Bravos to the Queensbury Town Board for approving a $1,000 expense to help fund a new version of the Student Connection to help foreign students who run into difficulties while working in the region over the summer. Several communities that depend on tourism locally will all contribute $1,000 to fund the project. It is money well spent.

Police issue should be reviewed

Bravos to Whitehall resident David Molenaar for bringing up the issue of whether the village can continue to afford a police department. These are often unpopular issues with local residents, but Molenaar makes good points about revenues going down and expenses going up. It is worthy of an extended discussion within the village.

Veteran banners are a great idea

Bravos to Hudson Falls Village Attorney William Nikas for his idea to sell banners commemorating veterans and hang them from light poles in downtown Hudson Falls. Nikas saw the same type of project in Rensselaer and thought it would be a great tribute to local veterans in Hudson Falls as well. The banners will be personalized with a veterans name and photo and will be two-sided and measure 2 feet by 4 feet. The banners will cost $195. For more information on the banners, contact William Nikas at 747-4169.

Church hosts conference on porn addiction

Bravos to the Church of the Messiah in Glens Falls for hosting a conference on addiction to pornography this past weekend. At first glance, it may seem like an unusual topic for a local parish, but by all accounts, the proliferation of pornography through the internet is leading to social problems across all cultures. It was a subject that needed to be addressed.

Politicians protest Trump cuts to arts

Bravos to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for making an appearance at the World Awareness Childrens Museum in Glens Falls to draw attention to the elimination of federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. This is one of those times where we wont know what weve lost until its gone. It was further encouraging to hear Rep. Elise Stefanik has also protested Trumps cuts and that State Sen. Elizabeth Little was also on hand with her granddaughter to support Gillibrands opposition to the funding cuts.

Warren County to hold evening meeting

Bravos to the Warren County Board of Supervisors for approving a night meeting in June so more citizens can attend. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 14 at 6 p.m. We hope Warren County publicizes the meeting to encourage as much attendance as possible. We would encourage local history teachers to make attendance part of their curriculum and for local citizens to get out and see their government officials in action.
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By attempting three massive political undertakings in one week, investors will have a sense of whether or not Trump will be able to deliver on pro-growth policies that would be beneficial for markets.

If Trump can pull off the trifecta, it could restore faith that policy proposals like tax cuts and infrastructure spending are on the way. If not, look out.

Trump has laid out an ambitious schedule of events for Congress in the next week.

After an initial defeat in March, the White House has indicated that it wants to bring a new version of the American Health Care Act to the floor of the House, possibly by Wednesday.

Even with a new amendment proposed by the leaders of two caucuses on either side of the Republican party  the conservative House Freedom Caucus and moderate Tuesday Group  it is unclear whether the bill will have enough support to make out out of the House.

Also, Trump told the Associated Press in an interview on Friday that he is targeting a Wednesday release date for his "massive" tax cut plan. Trump has said that he wants to bring the corporate tax rate down to 15%.

The move has long been the most anticipated by investors because slashing the corporate tax rate would likely lead to a major increase in corporate profit margins and justify the post-election rally in stocks.

Finally, there remains the huge risk of a possible government shutdown. If a continuing resolution or spending bill is not passed by the end of Friday, sections of the federal government could be without funding and shut down.

Conservatives, the White House, and Democrats all have demands for additions to the bill, according to reports. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney even said the White House would trade $1 of funding for Obamacare to Democrats for $1 in funding for Trump's promised border wall.

These horse trading issues could throw a wrench in the negotiations, according to political research firm Compass Point's Issac Boltanksy and Lukas Davaz.

"

Trump trade already fading

Immediately following the election, the possibility of fiscal stimulus and tax cuts caused a massive jump in stock prices, particularly in those sectors like financials and industrials that would benefit the most from Trump's plans.

As we've reported, the so-called "Trump trade" has hit a wall recently and appears to be in danger of sputtering out.

Failure to deliver on next week's promises, especially avoiding a government shutdown, could be the straw that breaks the rally's back.

Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House, and so a shutdown would put into doubt the party's ability to pass any pro-growth reforms that investors want to see.

"Shutdowns can have a significant impact on the political standing of lawmakers involved," Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies wrote in a note on Tuesday.

"Considering that no full government shutdown has ever occurred while the same party controlled the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, it would seem that Republicans would have some additional motivation to avoid the dubious distinction of having the government shut down on their watch."

The failure of the American Health Care Act and the pushback of tax reform already dented investor confidence, but a shutdown  something that has a hard deadline and immediate implications  would be even worse for Trump.

In a report following the failure of the AHCA, Compas Point's Issac Boltansky and Lukas Davaz said that the failure to pass a deal would throw the tax reform question further in doubt.

"

On the other hand, if Trump is able to deliver, the Trump rally could be back on.

"Congress still seems far apart on the spending plans they need to agree on in order to avoid a government shutdown on April 28th, but talk of a new healthcare bill suggests that maybe more progress is being made behind the scenes than we realized," McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies, wrote in a note on Friday.
And that is the high road that Ghana's president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo took while speaking at an event over the weekend.

In a video that has since gone viral on social media, Nana Addo is seen speaking at an event as an umbrella slipped to brush against his face.

But it is not the speech that has gotten Ghanaians hooked.

After a momentary pause following the umbrella incident, Nana Addo made a joke, which most people have deemed a jab at the largest opposition party in Ghana, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

"This is what happens when you have the umbrella", Nana Addo jokingly remarked after the incident. "It is never steady", he added with a smile on his face.

So why does Ghanaian social media call it a jab at the opposition party?

The symbol of the NDC is an umbrella with the head of a dove at the tip.

And is was this party led by the former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, that Nana Addo and the incumbent New Patriotic Party ousted from government.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo won the 2016 presidential election to become president-elect of the Republic of Ghana.

The NPP leader polled 5,716,026 to beat incumbent President John Mahama who had 4,713, 277 as according to official results announced by Ghana's Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Charlotte Osei.

According to the EC statistics, Nana Akufo-Addo recorded 53.85% of the total votes cast as against 44.40 by President Mahama.
Kasich listed some of the shifts in Trump's platform with which he not only agreed, but said he favored during his 2016 presidential campaign.

"It's sort of like, I shake my head," he said. "China's not a currency manipulator. We like NATO. We're not going to deport 13 million people.

"It's interesting. You see, it's interesting. Never in my lifetime have I been called boring, but I think I was a boring candidate for president because I tried to be responsible."

Kasich said one of the biggest problems he faced as a candidate was that since he was a sitting governor, he could not make outlandish promises.

"I couldn't actually say that this guy could jump 12 feet in the air and slam dunk over Draymond Green," Kasich said, referring to the Golden State Warriors star and pointing at Business Insider Executive Editor Brett LoGiurato.

"You could say that," LoGiurato said jokingly.

"Yeah, but that would be what we would call 'fake news,'" Kasich quipped back. "So I wouldn't say these things."

Kasich also pointed to a signature promise that many of the Republicans who sought the presidency in 2016 made: ripping apart the Iran nuclear agreement as soon as they took office.

"I'll give you a good one," he said of an example of an outlandish, unfulfilled promise. "'When I'm president, I'm ripping up the Iran deal on Day One!' I haven't seen anyone rip up anything. Including a number of the members of the United States Senate."

Reviewing the first 100 days of Trump's presidency, Kasich said it was far too soon to give the president a grade. The Ohio governor, who at times has been sharply critical of Trump, added that he supported the missile strike on a Syrian government-controlled airfield earlier this month, which followed a chemical attack on civilians that the US has said was carried out by Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.

During and after the campaign, Trump advocated an "America First," more isolationist foreign policy, touting nonintervention in foreign wars.

"I actually think the Syria strike mattered, and I'll tell you why," Kasich said. "I was at the Munich [Security] Conference with John McCain. And people were really wondering about the country. And I think that strike demonstrated some American strength, which I think some people wanted to see. That was good."

But Kasich, who during his presidential bid advocated a tougher stance against the Syrian government, said he had "yet to see a strategy" on a larger scale from the White House on Syria's civil war and Assad's government.

"But I do think the act in and of itself did have an impact on the world in the way they were looking at us," he said. "I do believe that."

Taking another look at the Trump presidency, Kasich said the administration  like all that preceded it  would be judged on the economy it fosters and leaves behind.

"I think there will be great disappointment if all of a sudden there's not economic growth," he said. "Look, it always gets down to jobs. You don't have economic growth, things go south. If you have economic growth, people feel better about things.

"People would rather live in an area of poverty than in an area where there are no jobs," he continued. "Because if they live in poverty, they have a certain sense of hope they can get out of it. If there are no jobs, there's no hope. And bad things come from that."
And interestingly enough, Trump's zeroing in on one of the US's closest allies has garnered bipartisan support from the likes of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

Like Mexico and China before it, Canada finds itself on center stage in Trump's trade agenda. The bordering nation is preparing for what appears to be a rapidly escalating battle on softwood lumber and dairy  and, on a larger scale, the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The loudest shot in the developing battle was fired late Monday, when the Trump administration said the US would slap a 20% tariff on Canadian softwood lumber imports. Washington's argument is that the Canadian government unfairly subsidizes the sale of lumber products to the US, and it said previous attempts at negotiating a settlement had failed.

"Canada is a good neighbor," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Tuesday at the White House press briefing. "But they've got to play by the rules."

Ross said he didn't think the disputes would spark a trade war between the nations.

Trump on Tuesday morning took a swing at Canada's milk-pricing policies, which he argued effectively blocked US exports from the Canadian market and put American farmers at a disadvantage.

"Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult," he tweeted. "We will not stand for this. Watch!"

The actions followed unexpectedly harsh words from Trump on Canada last week  a departure from the warm greeting Trump extended to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in February, when he said the US-Canada trade relationship would require only "tweaking."

"It has been a bad week for US-Canada trade relations," Ross said Monday night. "This is not our idea of a properly functioning free trade agreement."

The escalation of tension between the nations, specifically on the importing and exporting of dairy products and softwood lumber, has been welcomed by leading politicians in both parties representing states close to or along the US-Canada border.

"Been fighting for NY dairy farmers on this," Schumer tweeted on Tuesday. "Glad to see @POTUS join our fight to change Canada's unfair policy that undercuts our farmers."

Klobuchar said in a statement on Monday night that the new tariffs proposed by the administration "could bring welcome relief to workers, producers, and rural communities in Minnesota and across the country that have been hurt by unfairly traded softwood lumber."

She said the countries should work to negotiate a new agreement related to softwood lumber. Her counterpart, Democratic Sen. Al Franken, one of Trump's staunchest critics in the Senate, praised the Trump administration as well for taking up the cause of dairy farmers in his state. He added, though, that Trump must "move beyond simply saying the right things."

"We need swift action to help American dairy farmers get through this crisis," he said. "I plan to fight for a solution, and I'll be continuing to press the president on this issue."

Meanwhile, Walker, one of the more conservative governors in the country, recently joined Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York in writing a letter to Trump urging him to take up the cause. The Wisconsin Republican tweeted to Trump on Tuesday, "Thanks for supporting WI dairy farmers!!!"

Canada has been swift to issue a response, doubling down and preparing for "any eventuality with the US."

"The government of Canada disagrees strongly with the US Department of Commerce's decision to impose an unfair and punitive duty," Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said in a joint statement. "These accusations are baseless and unfounded."

They continued:

"This decision will negatively affect workers on both sides of the border, and will ultimately increase costs for American families who want to build or renovate homes. The US National Association of Home Builders has calculated that a $1,000 increase in the cost of a new house would put home ownership beyond the reach of more than 150,000 American families, and jeopardize thousands of jobs in the American home construction industry. The government of Canada will vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood lumber industry, including through litigation."

The decadeslong lumber battle

The Trump administration's tariff announcement on Monday escalated a disagreement between the two countries that dates to the 1980s. Imposing tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber products is not an unprecedented response to the dispute, but it has proved ineffective in the past.

The US lumber industry has frequently argued that Canada improperly subsidizes lumber by offering cheap rates to cut trees on land largely owned by the Canadian government. In previous disputes, the squabbling led the US to impose punitive tariffs, which were often reversed after international trade tribunals sided with Canada. The two countries then negotiated settlements.

"With respect to softwood lumber, our producers and workers have never been found in the wrong," Freeland said in a statement. "The softwood industry supports thousands of jobs in both countries and has downstream benefits in communities across the continent.

"The United States needs Canadian lumber. A protracted dispute will only drive up the cost of wood and homes for US consumers."

The current dispute stems from 2015, when an agreement reached under the George W. Bush administration expired. After American mills filed a complaint, the US Commerce Department determined that five Canadian companies had received subsidies ranging from 3% to 24% and ordered countervailing duties.

The tariffs the US seeks to impose would affect roughly $5 billion worth of Canadian lumber imports, Ross told Reuters.

"It's about 31.5% of the total US market, so it's a pretty big deal in terms of the Canadian relationship," he said.

While US lumber producers have praised the Trump administration's action, not all Americans are celebrating. US homebuilders said such tariffs would dramatically raise the price of new houses and eliminate construction jobs, The New York Times reported.

The National Association of Home Builders last year found that a 15% tariff could raise home prices by 4.2% and cost 4,666 full-time jobs.

The dairy dispute

Americans have also long complained about Canadian dairy production. The US has taken issue with Canada's supply management system, which is used to regulate dairy pricing and provide production quotas to help prevent surpluses and deficits.

Last year, Canada implemented a policy that created a new class of milk prices for ultra-filtered milk  a liquid, high-protein concentrate sometimes used to make products such as cheese and yogurt. Canada lowered the prices for this milk class to incentivize domestic ultra-filtered milk and better compete with the US-produced imports.

The American dairy industry did not take kindly to these developments and argued that the policy violated NAFTA. Dozens of farmers in Wisconsin and New York have said the Canadian milk-pricing policy has negatively affected them and eliminated millions of dollars' worth of access to the Canadian market.

"What they've done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace," Trump told reporters on Thursday. "It's a disgrace."

The Canadian dairy industry has said the milk-reclassification policy did not change import rules or impose any import taxes. Instead, it says, the American dairy sector's losses are caused by milk overproduction in the US and globally.
The committee interrogated reports covering the central banks foreign exchange receipts and payments for the year 2015.

Thus, the Bank of Ghanas foreign exchange transaction and receipts and payments for the first half year and second half year of 2015.

Addressing the committee officials of the bank raised concerns about the need for government to be circumspect about bond disbursements.

According to an official from the bank, the disbursement of funds from bonds have a huge impact on Bank of Ghana's reserves.

Ghana has raised $2.2 billion from a sale of long-dated domestic bonds, boosting its central bank reserves by one-third.

Offshore buyers constituted 90 percent of accepted bids, according to Barclays Bank Ghana sources.
Ibrahim Mahama has been in the news over the last few days as having allegedly issued dud-cheques to the government, acts that have led to him being investigated by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO).

The controversial A-Plus launched an attack against Kofi Adams, the National Organizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress who has been defending Ibrahim Mahama. A-Plus believes Adams brain should be tested in the laboratory to ascertain the source of his stupidity.

As for Kofi Adams, they have to put his brain in a science lab and use it to teach children what makes a man stupid. He wrote on his Facebook.

According to reports, Ibrahim Mahama, Chief Executive Officer of the private firm Engineers and Planners, issued 44 different dud cheques linked to three bank accounts valued at over GH10 million to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). The cheques, per reports, were to pay for import duties on heavy-duty vehicles that he had imported into the country on different occasions.

Meanwhile A-Plus insists many individuals in the society have been jailed for minor offences, thus making it unfair for the brother of former President Mahama to be left scot free on the back of the alleged charges against him.

You issue 44 dud cheques to government, nobody has arrested you. They have even given you time to pay what you owe. What else do you want? he wrote of Ibrahim Mahama in a post on Facebook.

READ ALSO: Wahala

 People like Kofi Adams, the NDC national organiser who instead of working for his party (NDC) a day to elections, was busy drinking beer with girls on the Spintex road is [now] talking nonsense [because EOCO is grilling Ibrahim Mahama for evading tax?]
They do not even have smoke detectors on their premises. That was how they didnt detect the fire in time even the structure itself is supposed to have total suppression systems, sprinklers, but they did not have all that.

If they were to have those facilities installed within the premises, I think we would not have been talking about these fires now. These facilities would have automatically extinguished the fire at the time that the fire had started but there was nothing, he added.

In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Anaglatey emphasised that there was nothing put in place to protect the place in terms of fire safety.

These comments come after the President of Groupe Nduom, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom suggested that the damage caused could have been less if the Fire Service had attached more urgency in fighting the fire.

In a Facebook post, Dr Nduom called for some reforms in the service and other necessary state institutions in the face of similar disasters.

Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service and the Fire Department of the Ghana Air Force took over three hours to contain the fire which started around 4.30pm on Saturday.
This was contained in a petition by the pressure group addressed to the Institute.

They argued that the EC boss faced too many law suits in the run-up to the 2016 elections in the history of Ghana.

READ ALSO: Charlotte Osei nominated for Chatham House Prize award 2017

The Electoral Commission was dragged to court a record 12 times under her leadership in less than 24 months. Mrs Charlotte Osei was on the wrong side of all significant court litigation prior to the election, including those she initiated (such as the correct interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling on ridding the voter roll of ineligible persons, grounds for disqualifying presidential aspirants). The impunity with which she acted on several occasions and her blatant disregard for Supreme Court rulings against her outfit makes her unfit and undeserving for your noble prize.

The EC boss was nominated in April by the award committee for her role in ensuring a peaceful and transparent electoral process in Ghana in December 2016, further consolidating Ghanas 24-year long democratic journey.

Other dignitaries in contention for the award are Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia and Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO.

The Chatham House Prize is awarded to the person, persons or organization deemed to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

But AFAG said Mrs Osei does not deserve the award because the 2016 elections was only successful due to the peace loving nature of Ghanaians.

Find the full statement below:

ALLIANCE FOR ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE

P. O. BOX OS 3547 OSU.

Email: afagovernance@gmail.com

|Tel: 233- 501287870 | 233-209830546 | 233-248274646

THE PRESIDENT

THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS,

CHATHAM HOUSE,

10 ST JAMES SQUARE,

LONDON SW1Y 4LE

25TH APRIL 2017

Dear Sir,

MRS CHARLOTTE OSEI, GHANAS ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER, UNFIT FOR CHATHAM HOUSE PRIZE

The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), Ghana, is a keen follower of your activities. We appreciate your mission to help build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world. In Ghana, we are a civil society organisation, independent of the state, to ensure that we contribute to the proper functioning of our democracy and enlightening the Ghanaian public.

In October 2008, we were, as most Ghanaians, delighted that the Chatham House honoured President John Agyekum Kufuor with the Chatham House Prize. His achievements were quite obvious and celebrated across the globe.

However, AFAG, with much of the civil society community in Ghana, is alarmed following the news that Mrs Charlotte Osei has been shortlisted for the prestigious award in her short and unimpressive stay at the helm of Electoral Commission of Ghana. AFAG is a champion of democratic processes, supportive of any actor in the electoral space that deserves to be rewarded for their work but we have strong reservation on Mrs. Charlotte Osei.

We respectfully state our reservations as follows:

1. The Electoral Commission was dragged to court a record 12 times under her leadership in less than 24 months. Mrs Charlotte Osei was on the wrong side of all significant court litigation prior to the election, including those she initiated (such as the correct interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling on ridding the voter roll of ineligible persons, grounds for disqualifying presidential aspirants). The impunity with which she acted on several occasions and her blatant disregard for Supreme Court rulings against her outfit makes her unfit and undeserving for your noble prize.

2. Significant omissions in the provision of C1 94, leaving huge gaps in election transparency and independent poll results validation contrary to the recommendations contained in the Supreme Court on the 2012 presidential election petition. This had to be corrected through litigation. An example is the Electoral Commissions returning officers mandatory signature on the official poll results and party agent access to the same document.

3. Developments between the closing of the polls on December 7 and announcement of final election results on December 9, which brought the country to a state of apprehension and created needless tension, could have been completely avoided. This was caused by:

a. Delay in release of presidential polls on the grounds that the ECs IT department had been compromised;

b. Alleged over-voting in Ashanti Region that was ostensibly being investigated before official certification. This proved to be a delay tactic and false.

c. Putting out a blatantly wrong figure of 49 per cent as interim voter turnout for the presidential poll, which was later debunked.

4. Credible intelligence that the EC had set up two lines to transmit presidential election results (a super high-speed line and regular speed line) without disclosure to all the presidential contestants or their representatives on the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).

5. Enforcement of electoral rules by the EC and political party accountability remains weak. What is more worrying is her blatant refusal to take advice and consider opinions from stakeholders. As we know, Ghana is not a dictatorship to warrant dictatorial tendencies.

6. The EC did not have any plan towards setting up the National Collation Centre in a more spacious location on election day to accommodate many stakeholders. This made it difficult for many stakeholders to follow certified results as and when the EC received them.

7. The EC under Mrs Charlotte Osei failed to capture two sources of internally generated funds (IGF) in its 2017 budget estimates presented to Ghanas parliament in April 2017. This is a clear case of graft distasteful in all intents. These funds were from journalists (GHC10.00 as accreditation fee for Election 2016, something unknown in Ghanas election history. She further charged GHC5.00 for every application for a misplaced/lost voter ID card).

8. The European Union Observation Mission in its report on Ghanas 2016 election had this to say: The registration process for presidential candidates in the 2016 elections (under Mrs. Charlotte Osei) was problematic. The process was not sufficiently inclusive and the spirit of the law was not fully respected.

9. That Mrs Charlotte Osei has brought disunity into the seven-member Commission which does not augur well for the wellbeing and image of the Commission.

10. A report on 30th March 2017, from Ghanas Special Budget Committee of Parliament, had concluded that as a result of Mrs Charlotte Oseis leadership the Commissioners do not trust themselves. There is gross distrust amongst the seven-member Commission under her leadership, and that they are not on good terms with each other. (See www.starrfmonline.com/2017/03/30/ec). This was never the case under the former Chairman of the Commission.

11. The Electoral Commissions own in-house software had such a weak security protocol that in the word of Mrs Osei: We were forced to ignore the software and use manual collations. Clearly this is not the hallmark of an award-winning performance. If any actor to the electoral process had raised a concern in concert with other issues raised, it might have been unnerving for the nation, considering that, primarily, post-election activities are a key trigger to election violence.

12. Mrs Osei faulted profoundly when she refused to give access to the secured transmitted results, even as a read-only access. Many of the political party representatives found this behaviour unacceptable since it appears to be shrouded in secrecy and lacked transparency.

13. It is worth noting that Mrs Charlotte Oseis bizarre posture not to allow for a transparent process before the elections, led to some Ghanaian citizens registering their displeasure through peaceful demonstrations. One of such peaceful demonstrations turned violent when the police (allegedly on the instruction of powerful persons in the then government) visited brutal attacks on ordinary Ghanaian demonstrators, most especially on women who took part in the demonstration. During the course of the brutality, one gentleman lost an eye as a result of fired rubber bullets by the police. There is pictorial evidence available: http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/2015/September-16th/photos-violence-mars-let-my-vote-count-demo.php

14. Finally, the EC had no instant social media update for which many Ghanaians who are on the move can rely on for trustworthy updates. So the reportage that such system was up and running should be disregarded and not counted as an achievement.

In conclusion, Mrs Charlotte Osei may have announced historic presidential election results on the 9th on December but the many issues surrounding her administration could have occasioned unfortunate and regrettable occurrences. She fought and misrepresented many meaningful suggestions towards the peaceful elections, which caused major embarrassment for her outfit.

The peaceful outcome of the 2016 general elections was the collective effort and tolerance the political parties had for each other and goodwill that Ghanaians have enjoyed since the birth of the 4th Republic in 1992.

We, respectfully, strongly implore your distinguished organisation to ponder your final consideration. It is time to ignore and punish public officials who act with complete disdain for the constitution and disregard court rulings but turn round to hypocritically and opportunistically seek honours they have not earned.

Yours faithfully,

DR NANA AYEW AFRIYIE

(CHAIRMAN)

HENRY ASANTE

(VICE CHAIRMAN)

ARNOLD BOATENG

(GENERAL SECRETARY)

CC: HE JOHN BENJAMIN,

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER,
The presiding judge Mrs Marian Affoah, therefore admitted Dankyi to bail in the sum of GH10,000 with four sureties.

The case investigator was asked to verify the residential and occupational addresses of all the four sureties and ensure that they are of substantial means sufficient to post bail for the accused person.

READ ALSO: Police arrest two Ghanaian workers for killing Chinese employer

The matter has been adjourned to April 29.

Background

According to the prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Adolphine Dzansi, the complainant was a businessman residing at Ablekumah and he was the father of the victims.

The victims were however living with their mother at Teshie, but come over to their uncle's, that is the accused person, when their mother leaves town.

The prosecutor said that between last year and this year, Dankyi made the victims strip naked, laid them on his bed and had anal sex with them in turns.

Dankyi sometimes had anal sex with one of the male victims in the bathroom, the prosecutor added.

On April 10, this year, Dankyi had bouts of anal sex with the children again.

However, on April 15, after going for the children from their mother for Easter holidays, Dankyi realised that the female child was not able to walk properly.

The two other male victims subsequently narrated the ordeal they had gone through in the hands of the accused person when questioned by a witness in the case.

The female victim was sent to the Rinant Hospital at East Legon where the medical officer confirmed that she had been defiled.

The case was reported to the Police at East Legon where an extract of occurrence was prepared and forwarded to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit, Accra for further investigations.

Police also gave the complainant a Police medical form to send the three victims to the hospital.
According to the statement, Mr Awuku had said: "...Nana Akufo Addo is saying Ghanaian youth who are loyal, dedicated and motivated by love for the country, who want to serve Ghana, will not be required to pay GHS100 for any forms as it recently happened with the police." It added that Mr Awuku had stressed: "A Nana Akufo-Addo presidency will ensure that these application forms are not sold.To this end, the NDC youth have reminded government not to sell the military scratch cards or anything relating to the recruitment process for 2017 applicants and beyond.We shall follow the recruitment process with keen interest to ensure that government adheres to its promise to the unemployed youth, the statement said.
President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Christian Addai-Poku has indicated that teachers were not informed about the deadline for the biometric registration.

The Ministry of Finance has instructed the Controller and Accountant Generals Department not to pay salaries to 26,589 employees who have not been captured in the ongoing SSNIT biometric registration.

READ ALSO: GES frustrated over growing number of teachers changing their date of birth

The Ministry also announced that it had suspended the payment of SSNIT contribution to some 23,029 employees, because they could not be accounted for in a nationwide head count which ended on October 22, 2016.

But NAGRAT president, Christian Addai-Poku has argued that the directive to withhold the salaries of some of its members is unfair.

"It is really wrong because the worker has worked over the period and the fact that somebody might illegally be on the payroll doesn't mean somebody else must be denied their salary. That is going to create whole lots of problems, he told Accra-based Joy FM.

He added that if NAGRAT had been notified about the deadline, it would have ensured that its members submit their details.

He said the Association is, therefore, asking for a month to enable its members to go through with the registration process.
They argued that since the district was created all the DCEs have been appointed from Atiwa West Constituency creating the notion that the Atiwa East Constituency has no competent people from their area.

READ ALSO: NPP Chairman suspended

The Youth are therefore calling on the President to nominate a 2016 parliamentary aspirant of the NPP in Atiwa East constituency for the DCE post.

The leader of the group, Samuel Mireku, accused some party members of attempting to push for their cronies and friends to be appointed as DCE hence making unfounded allegations of dual citizenship and fraud against the peoples favourite.

He cautioned that if this continues the party in the constituency may collapse if the President does not heed to their advice.
On March 15, the group  known as Fancy Bear, Pawn Storm, Sednit, APT28, Sofacy, or STRONTIUM  began registering domain names such as "onedrive-en-marche.fr" and "mail-en-marche.fr" in an attempt to trick members of Macron's campaign team into clicking on links that looked affiliated with his political party, En Marche.

"A huge revelation in this Trend Micro report is that Fancy Bear has significantly upped the sophistication of its cyber attacks," said Greg Martin, the CEO of cybersecurity firm JASK. "They're taking advantage of vulnerabilities in cloud-based email services like Gmail to trick people into downloading fake applications, and compromising their inboxes without even having to steal a password."

Martin said that when targeted by this kind of attack, known as "OAuth phishing," the victim can't just change their password to regain access to their account.

"It's a new style of attack is very deadly and unprecedented," he said. "It's the first time we have seen this in the wild."

A more primitive version of that phishing technique was on full display during the US presidential election. Emails stolen by Fancy Bear from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, were fed to WikiLeaks and the website DCLeaks, which is run by self-described hacker "Guccifer 2.0," who researchers believe was a persona created by Russian military intelligence.

"The cat got out of the bag in terms of the tools used in the DNC cyberattacks, so Fancy Bear upped the ante this time around," Martin said.

Fancy Bear's cyberespionage activities date back to the early 2000s, when hackers would implant malware on computers to record users' keystrokes and monitor the sites they visited. That information would then be sent back to the malware creators in Russia, according to Trend Micro.

As the firm said in its report, however, the hacking team's days of under-the-radar spying appear to be over. Spanning the past two years, the group has taken on bigger targets than ever before  including US, French, and German political parties and candidates  by deploying phishing attacks, stealing information, and then weaponizing it to manipulate events and public opinion.

Cybersecurity experts caution that it is difficult to definitively trace a cyberattack back to a particular entity. Igor Volovich, the CEO of ROMAD Cyber Systems, said that the cyber artifacts used to trace hacks back to particular actors are "fungible," which makes cyberattacks difficult to attribute.

"Using an IP address or a particular code to trace a hack back to a particular actor  those things, on their own, are inconclusive," Volovich said in an interview. "But if you can correlate multiple sources of data in the attribution [of a hack], that adds a lot more credibility."

According to Trend Micro, while Pawn Storm "makes good use of webhosting providers in Western countries that offer privacy to their customers," the group still "has a clear preference for some hosting providers, DNS service providers, and domain registrars." By monitoring those service providers, the firm said, much of the group's infrastructure can be spotted and caught early.

And the fact that the hackers have consistently targeted a range of actors that could easily be characterized as Russian adversaries  including NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the US Anti-Doping Agency, the Ukrainian military, and the president of Montenegro  has left researchers with little doubt that the cyberattacks were sponsored by the Kremlin.

In December, the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike revealed that the malware that Fancy Bear implanted on Android devices to track and target Ukrainian artillery units between 2014-2016 "was a variant of the kind used to hack into the Democratic National Committee," the firm's founder, Dmitri Alperovitch told Reuters.

Russia has been fighting a proxy war with the Ukrainian military since 2014, bolstering the likelihood that the Russia's main foreign military intelligence agency, the GRU, would have attempted to compromise and track Ukrainian artillery units sometime in the past three years.

The cyberattack, Alperovitch said at the time, "cannot be a hands-off group or a bunch of criminals. They need to be in close communication with the Russian military."

The Russians would have been similarly motivated to compromise the US Anti-Doping Agency  which, along with the World Anti-Doping Agency, investigated Russia's conspiracy to corrupt its drug-testing system and ultimately banned dozens of Russian athletes from last summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In October, a Russian plot to overthrow Montenegro's pro-Western president  who has been negotiating the country's accession into NATO  was foiled at the last minute. State websites have since been targeted by two waves of cyberattacks. The Montenegrin government said the attacks were "planned and synchronized" but stopped short of attributing them to Moscow.

The Russian government's motivations to target France's Macron, meanwhile, have parallels to their attacks on the US election last year: a desire to boost the more nationalistic, Russia-friendly underdog (Marine Le Pen in France and President Donald Trump in the US) and undermine the more globalist, hawkish frontrunner (Macron in France and Clinton in the US).

On Sunday, Macron and Le Pen won the first round of the election in a historic upset that saw France's two traditional parties lose power for the first time in decades. The second round of voting, set to take place on May 7, will be perceived as a de-facto referendum on whether the nationalist fervor sweeping the West has continued into 2017  a movement that propelled Trump into the White House last year and spurred Britain's exit from the European Union.

The stakes are high for Russia. Depending on who wins, the French election could set the tone for a broader European shift toward Moscow and away from Washington. As France's foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, told the Journal du Dimanche, "It's enough to see which candidates, Marine Le Pen or Francois Fillon, Russia expresses preference for in the French electoral campaign."
Peter Navarro, the head of the newly formed White House National Trade Council and a top economic adviser to Trump, was believed to be quite possibly the most influential member of the West Wing when it came to matters of international trade, particularly involving the Chinese.

An outspoken China hawk, the ex-professor authored books such as "Death by China" and "Crouching Tiger: What China's Militarism Means for the World." He advocated for a much more aggressive stance against the Asian superpower. He believed, much as Trump expressed along the campaign trail, that China was responsible for a glut of manufacturing jobs exiting the US, pointing to China's manipulating of its currency as a top reason for why that was such.

In the White House, Navarro was set to be Trump's right-hand man in alliance with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer. Together, advocates believed they would wage a major economic battle against China. Navarro already believes that China is engaged in an economic war against the US.

But Trump's recent comments sent a shockwave to watchers of the Trump-China relationship and made them wonder if Navarro's influence has been limited.

And the comments made it appear as if Navarro's influence was being limited.

"What is left for him to do?" one top Republican operative on matters of trade told Business Insider of Navarro. The operative said it's becoming clear that head of the National Economic Council and ex-Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn is exerting increasing influence in the trade policy realm.

The operative suggested that while Trump's comments will be viewed as a "betrayal" to his trade supporters, the move against labeling China as a currency manipulator makes sense  as trade, he said, is the "only" negotiating tool Trump has it his disposal regarding China and North Korea.

A White House official disputed that Navarro and the council he was tasked with leading are being stifled.

"Peter has always been and continues to be an integral part of the president's trade team, which is dedicated to fulfilling the president's promise to the American people that he would no longer allow this country to be taken advantage of by unfair trade deals," the official told Business Insider. "Peter and the NTC particularly focus on identifying the unique problems that have created an uneven playing field for American companies doing business around the world."

The appearance of Navarro's profile becoming more limited comes at a time when an apparent power struggle is playing out in the White House. The "Goldman Sachs" wing of New York businesspeople  Cohn, senior adviser Jared Kushner, assistant Ivanka Trump, and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell  has sparred with the more populist, nationalist wing headed by chief strategist Steve Bannon. Navarro's views on trade fit in more with the Bannon wing, which has seemingly lost some of the power it held at the start of the Trump presidency.

According to a recent story in Vanity Fair, Navarro was brought into the Trump orbit by Kushner, who contacted the professor after browsing Amazon for a book that seemed to match Trump's views on China. Trump has commissioned Kushner to find someone to speak with on China, and Kushner stumbled upon "Death by China." In announcing Navarro's hiring, Trump said in a statement that he "read one of Peter's books on America's trade problems years ago and was impressed by the clarity of his arguments and thoroughness of his research."

"He has presciently documented the harms inflicted by globalism on American workers and laid out a path forward to restore our middle class," Trump's statement said. "He will fulfill an essential role in my administration as a trade adviser."

Lee Branstetter, a Carnegie Mellon University professor who served on President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 through 2012 who is opposed to many of the trade proposals championed by both Trump and Navarro, said Navarro hasn't appeared to have had much say in trade policy thus far.

"It certainly does seem to be the case that Peter Navarro is not going to have the kind of impact on trade policy that we might have expected based on the campaign rhetoric, or even what Peter himself might have expected when he accepted this position to head this new council within the White House," Branstetter said.

But Branstetter said this could stem from how little power Navarro's council has among the many White House agencies.

"Lots of administrations start lots of little councils inside the White House to address various constituencies, and many of them are quite small and quite under resourced," he said. "And in the interagency game of jockeying for power and influence, these little councils can also be at a grave disadvantage, relative to the big agencies and the more established consultative councils within the White House, like a National Security Council or a National Economic Council."

"I worked for a White House that was very different from the Trump White House, but this phenomenon of lots of little councils that weren't necessarily doing a whole heck of a lot was certainly a feature of the Obama administration and probably in all administrations that we see today," he continued. "It's easy to set something up in order to trumpet its importance, to signal to a key constituency, but it doesn't really do much beyond that."

When Navarro's position was first announced, the council's responsibilities were detailed as advising the president on trade negotiations, coordinating with other agencies, and assisting unemployed workers. The council was also designed to lead Trump's "Buy America, Hire America" program, aimed at boosting jobs in infrastructure and defense sectors.

And just days after Trump's surprising comments on Chinese currency manipulation, he signed his "Buy American, Hire American" executive order, setting in motion one of Navarro's largest responsibilities. The adviser quickly made TV appearances to talk up aspects of the order, and the White House pushed out a Navarro statement praising the order.

But with a number of Trump's promised trade initiatives being slow to get off the ground  leaving some to fear they may not be happening  Navarro's influence is increasingly under question.

Lori Wallach, head of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, a group generally in favor of the trade reforms proposed by Trump, told Business Insider that Navarro is attempting to help implement the Trump trade agenda with a number of less protectionist members of the Cabinet seemingly in opposition. And as Lighthizer has still not been confirmed  meaning that, additionally, most of the top political positions in the US trade representative's office are still yet to be filled  she said Navarro has been forced to go at it without much help.

"You've got the one person in the saddle who doesn't have structurally, [the staff,] or experience wise, the chops, to get into a huge Washington policy war," she said. "As a result, first there is the fight over the ideology, and then the second issue is not having the hands on deck to do the implementation."

"While a bunch of this initial skirmish was occurring, it was Peter Navarro, who is obviously a very bright and committed guy, but is the one guy who is not cabinet level ... so he doesn't even have the capacity to be in most of those meetings," she added. "He is someone who is the least sort of political Machiavellian in the sense that he's never played in this setting."
"Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

In the past week, the president has repeatedly criticized Canada over its dairy supply management system, which regulates dairy production and pricing to attempt to prevent surpluses and deficits.

Canada recently lowered prices for a type of ultra-filtered milk, resulting in a decrease in imports from dairy producers in northern US states like Wisconsin and New York.

"What they've done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace. It's a disgrace," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office last week.

Some Democrats have publicly supported the president in the dispute, particularly those from states affected by the new pricing policy.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging the country to come to an agreement with US dairy producers, while Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York backed Trump's opposition to the Canadian policy.

Trudeau has said Trump was misunderstanding the Canadian import market, pointing to US's dairy-trade surplus with Canada.

"The US has a $400 million dairy surplus with Canada, so it's not Canada that's the challenge here," Trudeau said last week in an interview with Bloomberg.

"Let's not pretend we're in a global free market when it comes to agriculture  We have a supply management system that works very well here in Canada," he said. "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."

The Trump administration has attempted to fulfill the president's campaign promise to take a harder line on US trade policy by increasingly picking fights with Canadian exporters.

On Monday, the administration leveled a new tariff against Canadian softwood lumber importers, accusing the country of unfairly subsidizing softwood sales to the US. The lumber dispute has been a flashpoint of US-Canada trade relations for decades.
In the past two years, the struggling department store has launched an outlet store called Macy's Backstage, added dedicated "Last Act" clearance sections to stores, and said it would add more self-service systems to its beauty and shoe sections.

These changes mark a decisive shift away from being a full-service retailer.

Off-price retail is one of the only bright spots in the industry. This year, T.J. Maxx announced plans to open 1,800 more stores globally and reported 21 consecutive years of positive same-store sales. Macy's closed 66 stores in 2016 and plans to shutter another 34 in the next few years.

We took a trip to Macy's to see how the shopping experience had changed:

We visited the flagship Macy's store in New York's busy Herald Square. The store was built over a century ago and, at the time, was the world's largest store.

Our first impressions were positive. On a gray Friday afternoon, the ground-floor beauty section was pretty busy.

Beauty is an important area of growth for the store, especially as apparel sales weaken. The US beauty industry of premium products grew by 6% in 2016 and reached $17 billion in sales, according to the NPD market-research group.

But shopping habits in this sector are changing. A survey done by the market-research firm Mintel found that 45% of beauty customers preferred to research a product on their phone rather than ask for assistance from a sales associate.

That means beauty counters, which have been a staple of the store for decades, could one day be a thing of the past. Karen Hoguet, the CFO of the store, said in March that the company was looking to test more self-service systems in the beauty department.

Some beauty displays resembled what you'd see at a discount store. Customers can grab products and head straight to the cashier.

This was also the case in the jewelry section.

We found designer earrings hanging on boards. It felt a lot like the layout at T.J. Maxx.

In fine jewelry, there were sales assistants available to help, but the area was deserted.

Macy's is trying to directly compete with off-price retailers on price. In the handbag section almost everything was on sale.

There was also a "Last Act" clearance section. This concept was introduced two years.

Piles of handbags were stacked up haphazardly with discounts of as much as 80% off.

This Calvin Klein bag, for example, was reduced to $91 from $228.

These clearance sections are also found in both the men's and women's shoe departments.

The racks were disorganized and messy.

It felt much more like a discount store than a traditional department store.

There were mismatched shoes, and garbage was scattered all over the floor.

In other parts of the shoe department, there were more traditional department-store displays.

Though many customers were left waiting for sales assistants to help them.

In November, Macy's said it would be bringing its Macy's Backstage outlets to 45 of its full-priced department stores. This was not available at its flagship store, but most of the clothing was on sale.

By offering big discounts on clothing, Macy's is hoping to win over bargain hunters who shop at off-price stores.

Off-price retail has become popular with stylish shoppers who can buy last season's designer clothes at discounted prices. At Macy's, while the prices were competitive, the clothing seemed less stylish.
At issue is a conversation that Page may, or may not, have had with Anthony Levandowski, the self-driving car pioneer who is accused of taking technology he worked on while at Google and bringing it to Uber.

Lawyers for Uber say they need to talk to Page, to ask him about his conversations with his former employee.

Page was aware thatYet, Uber argues, Page never brought it up in conversations with Levandowski or when he met with Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick in October.

"What you just heard your honor is something that was made up in the mind of Mr. Gonzalez," Waymo's lawyers said in court on Tuesday.
In what he terms as hypocrisy, Alimi expressed displeasure over the incessant attacks on his personality. He wonders why such treatment was not directed at the English journalist.

"So I heard Richard Quest is in Nigeria and as usual, my people are drooling over him.

"These are the same Nigerians that will not allow an openly gay person on their screen, or even give one a job.

"What is different about Richard Quest that makes his homosexuality harmless but my homosexuality as a Nigeria scary and threatening?

"Is it that my people think my homosexuality is in some way earth destroying but that is Richard comforting or as a people we just lack pure emotional intelligence to appreciate our own?

"My heart bleeds for Nigeria, it does make me cry for my LGBT brothers and sisters," Alimi commented in an Instagram post published on Monday, April 24, 2017.

Alimi, who got married in 2016 to his British lover, Anthony has taken any opportunity presented to him in lashing at those who have negative opinion about his sexuality.

Clergyman, Apostle Johnson Suleman was at the receiving end of the gay activist's piercing remark over his alleged sex scandal.
The Magistrate, Mrs O.O.A. Fowowe-Erusianfe, ordered that the accused should be demanded in Ikoyi Prisons pending advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The duo of Egberanmuen, 31 and Eyoekpe, 27, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful killing.

Counsel from the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Mr G.O. Osuyi, told the court that the accused committed the offences on March 23 at about 10.00 p.m. at Obawole in Ogba area of Ikeja.

The accused had posed as passengers and boarded the Kia Rio saloon car with registration no. KTU 594 DM of the deceased, Edewo Iniovasa, from Ikeja to Okeira in Ogba.

During the journey, they suddenly ordered the driver to make a U-turn and take them to Oremeji Street in Obawole area of Ogba, where he was strangled with a belt.

The accused drove away the vehicle and were traced to Benin where they were apprehended.

The offences contravened Section 233 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The prosecutor, Sgt. Kehinde Omisakin, told the court that the accused committed the offences on April 18, at about 9 a.m. at Oko-Afor in Badagry Local Government Area of the state.

Omisakin said that Onyenma had connived and conspired with Ihejirika to sell Joshua Friday, her four-day old baby, for N150,000.

She said the offences contravened Sections 276 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The magistrate, Mr A.T. Elias, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Elias ruled that one of the sureties must be a community leader while the other must be a staff of a reputable organisation.
Bobrisky who has always found a way to be in the news both for good and bad reasons, took to his Instagram page to hint he might be homosexual and listed all his achievements.

In all the interviews he has had with media outfits over the past years, Bobrisky had maintained that he has always been straight, even challenging journalists to come out with clear evidence of his gay dalliances with men.

But many Nigerians sceptical about his sexual orientation going by his bleached skin, super long nails, feminine clothes and always talking about his rich 'baes' who made sure he lacked nothing.

Yesterday, Monday, April 24, 2017, Bobrisky might have revealed his sexual orientation.

"Yes I'm gay. I have over 11 visas in my passport, I live in 5 bedrooms duplex alone in Lekki, well furnished.

U can check my snap for enough videos, not with friends. Haters will say is not my house, that I rented it.

At least I pay rent, I have access to it whenever I want. I drive a 2012 Benz; I also own a Lexus and a Toyota Camry. Abeg what other achievements can I have at 25 years and more still coming?

So continue hating, na u sabi. If na my bleach dey pain u, abeg go bleach urs too cos na light skin dey market now."

Bobrisky later edited his caption. "Yes I'm gay or straight how is it u guys problem?" he wrote in the edited version.
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Yesterday, Monday, April 24, 2017, Mr Quest was at Nigeria Info FM for an early morning interview.

During the lively interview, Richard Quest spoke about the $38M found in an Ikoyi apartment.

"The best story of the day apart from Macron has to be the money found in the apartment" Richard Quest said in his radio interview.

He further said "The next best thing is the head of the security force who says it was money that was being kept for covert operations that nobody seemed to know anything about.

"These are very serious and legitimate questions. And if these spark a debate that goes further and further than the usual debate...if that is all it does then you have wasted a good crisis.

"But if it sparks a real debate about what transparency, and where money is spent, and accountability then it is to the good. The whole whistle blower law, that has been introduced, that has brought in so much money, that has started a process, I am telling you something it won't be my generation that will see the end of this, it probably won't be yours, it would probably be your children's generation that will see finally the fruition of what we start to see now."

He also shared his opinion about the whistle blowing policy. "Anything that starts this process, you cannot continue to go round the world or exist in the world with policies that either promote or facilitates lax of transparency or corruption.

"You simply cannot. I mean there are rules against that in the rest of the world. And that is a stain, and that is going to take more than just a little bit of talk to clean up."

Popular LGBT rights activist Bisi Alimi has criticised the manner in which Nigerian media has been all over Richard Quest since his arrival.

"So I heard Richard Quest is in Nigeria and as usual, my people are drooling over him. These are the same Nigerians that will not allow an openly gay person on their screen, or even give one a job.

What is different about Richard Quest that makes his homosexuality harmless but my homosexuality as a Nigeria scary and threatening?
The Foundation also conducted medical checks on 250 other people and gave them free drugs.

Dr Tolu Afolaranmi, the team leader of the project said on Tuesday that 427 persons had so far been registered for the medical assistance.

Afolaranmi explained that the five- day exercise which began on Monday was aimed at restoring the sight of many who could not afford medical services.

The team leader said that the TY Danjuma Foundation was funding the project 100 per cent while CASI was providing expertise.

He said the five day exercise was targeting 1,000 people across the state.

We are targeting 1,000 people within the period of the exercise and the turn out for the first two days indicates that we may have even more before the end of the programme on Friday, he said.

Mr Gima Forje, the Grants and Partnership Officer of TY Danjuma Foundation said the foundation was committed to assisting the less privileged members of the public to live meaningful lives.

Forje commended CASI for the effective eye services it had been offering over the years of its partnership with the foundation.

Dr Musa Obadiah, the Permanent Secretary, state Ministry of Health lauded the foundation and the NGO for the gesture.

Obadiah also thanked the community leaders for mobilising the people to benefit from the exercise.
Mswati made the commendation in a statement signed by the Account Manager, Mr Richard King, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on the occasion of World Malaria Day with the theme End Malaria for Good.

On this World Malaria Day, we are closer than ever to realising a world free of malaria. Innovation in health and human development has driven unprecedented progress on this continent."

The theme reminds us that we must build on the progress we have made. We must redouble our efforts to protect these fragile gains. There is no work more important than this.

He said Swaziland was one of six African countries on track to eliminate malaria by 2020, 10 years ahead of the continent-wide target. Mswati said the World Health Organisation (WHO) also projected that Algeria, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Comoros and South Africa could achieve this milestone before the end of the decade.

The Kingdom of Swaziland has made significant progress in scaling-up malaria control interventions, which has led to a significant reduction in its malaria burden."

The WHO estimates that between 2010 and 2015, Swaziland lowered malaria incidence and mortality by more than 40 per cent."

Swaziland was the first country in Africa to introduce a national ALMA malaria elimination scorecard. The scorecard helps countries track accountability and action on malaria, he said.

The Executive Secretary of ALMA, Joy Phumaphi, applauded the kings leadership on this vital mission to free the continent of Malaria.

She added that Swaziland was a leader in the fight against malaria in Africa, heavily investing its own domestic resources.

She said the tremendous impact of their efforts provided a powerful model for the entire continent.

Malaria remains a critical threat in Africa."

The continent still bears the highest global malaria burden. In 2015, 195 million of the 212 million new malaria cases and 394,000 of the worlds 429,000 malaria-related deaths were in Africa."

Since 2000, malaria mortality rates across the continent have fallen by 62 per cent in all age groups and by 69 per cent among children under five."

The increase in people at risk of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa sleeping under insecticide-treated nets or protected by indoor residual spraying coupled with diagnostic testing of children."

Also treatment of pregnant women has contributed to significantly lowering incidence and mortality in Africa, Phumaphi said.

She said the achievements came at a time when African countries were providing more domestic funding to fight malaria.

Swaziland is also chair of the Southern African Development Community Malaria Elimination 8 (SADC E8).

This regional initiative leverages collective effort on malaria across Southern African borders.

The ALMA was founded in 2009.

ALMA is a ground breaking coalition of African Heads of State and Government working across country and regional borders to achieve a malaria-free Africa by 2030.

All African Union member countries are members of ALMA.
The statement was made on Monday, April 24, by the Director of WHOs Global Malaria Programme, Dr. Pedro Alonso in anticipation of World Malaria Day on April 25.

Any death from malaria  a preventable and treatable disease  is simply unacceptable, Alonso said.

Today we are urging countries and partners to accelerate the pace of action, especially in low-income countries with a high malaria burden, he added.

According to the World Malaria Report 2016, the rate of new malaria cases fell by 21% globally between 2010 and 2015. Malaria death rates fell by 29% in the same 5-year period. In sub-Saharan Africa, case incidence and death rates fell by 21% and 31%, respectively.

In recent years, seven countries have been certified as having eliminated malaria: United Arab Emirates (2007), Morocco (2010), Turkmenistan (2010), Armenia (2011), Maldives (2015), Sri Lanka (2016) and Kyrgyzstan (2016).

This certification is granted by WHO when countries achieve at least three consecutive years of zero locally-acquired cases of malaria.
In a report by TheCable, Adetayo reportedly gave an account of his meeting with Bashir Abubakar, the chief security officer (CSO) before he was expelled from the Villa.

He said: Adesina advised that I honour the invitation and update him on developments, Adetayo said.

On getting to the CSOs office, he was initially polite. He offered me a seat and asked how I was doing and I replied I was fine. He then first confronted me with my column, Aso Rock Lens, published on Saturday, April 22, 2017. He was angry with one of the items in the column titled Seat of powers event centers going into extinction.

In that piece, I highlighted some places in the Presidential Villa that hitherto had hosted high-profile events. I wrote that lately, events had not been held inside the halls. He said I was insinuating that government had collapsed in Nigeria.

The CSO then brought out a copy of April 23, 2017, edition of SUNDAY PUNCH. He was visibly angry about the lead story titled Fresh anxiety in Aso Rock over Buharis poor health. That story was about how the President had not been seen in public in the last two weeks except when he made brief appearances at the mosque inside the Presidential Villa for Jumaat services last Friday and penultimate Friday. That story included the reaction of Adesina, who said the President was recuperating and that the prayer of all was that he recovered fully soon," Adetayo disclosed.

Continuing, he said: He told me that the president was free to rule the country from wherever he liked. He said the stories were meant to portray the president as incapacitated and that it had to do with the politics of 2019 He said if God had sanctioned it, Buhari would rule the country for eight years, no man could stop him.

I caught one of them, a policeman, snapping my photograph with his telephone handset and I protested. I told him I am not a criminal and he has no right to snap me, he said.

He was apologetic and attempted to show me the handset to prove that he had deleted the picture but I told him I was not interested in his claim.

I was driven in the same security van to where I parked my car and I drove out of the presidential villa from there, Adetayo claimed.
Buharis health has been a cause for concern since he left Nigeria in January for a 49-day medical vacation in London.

Maharaji made the call on Monday, April 24, while speaking to journalists at the Maharaji Village in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

He is supposed to seek help from black men and not white men in London, he told DailyPost.

Remember the last time he was going out of the country for medical attention, I was the only one who said he would come back safe. What Im saying is that lets harness our power here to save ourselves.

You cannot sit down and be saying Maharaji Ji is not a Muslim or Christian. Is God a Muslim? So, if he can come to me, Ill heal him, he added.

Buhari returned to the country on March 10 and admitted that he had never been so sick in his entire life.
The Administrative Secretary of the commission in the state, Mr Oscar-Lee Amaechi, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Tuesday.

He said that five of the trained personnel would be assigned to each of the 18 local government areas in the state for the exercise.

Amaechi said that the exercise would be conducted in INECs office in each of the local government areas, adding that it would end on July 25.

The nationwide continuous voter registration will be done in the 774 local government areas in the federation, with Edo inclusive."

The exercise will commence on Thursday and end on July 25, 2017, lasting for 90 days."

It will commence at 9 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. on weekdays only, excluding public holidays, he said.

According to Amaechi, those eligible to register include people that have turned 18 years after the last voter registration.

Also eligible are those people with the Temporary Voter Card (TVC) whose names are not in the voters register and people who did not register at all during the last exercise."

Those who are seeking transfer from one place to the other are also eligible to participate in the exercise."

People who want to collect their should also visit INEC offices in their local government areas, he said.
A presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, made the condemnation in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.

Shehu was reacting to a statement issued by Umar in which he accused the government of President Muhammadu Buhari of being unfair in the war against corruption.

He, however, warned that the Buharis administration would neither succumb to media attacks nor would it be deterred by false accusations, adding that it would not be quenched by disgruntled elements.

The war against corruption is here to stay. As long as President Buhari is in power, Nigerians can rest assured of that.

It will not succumb to media attacks. It will not be deterred by false accusations. It will not be quenched by disgruntled elements.

According to him, by now, President Buharis administration is quite familiar with the barrage of verbal attacks that have accompanied the administrations determined war against corruption.

A number of Nigerias elite, uncomfortable with the disruption of business as usual, have fought viciously, usually via the media.

However, this comment, coming from Umar, is highly disappointing. Because he is not in a position to label accusations. He should, instead, allow other to do this.

Curiously, despite the various accusations and media attacks, no one has so far come forth with any evidence of President Buharis selectiveness in the war against corruption, he said.

Shehu challenged anyone or organization with any evidence of bias or partiality in the fight against corruption to make it public

He stated that all the agencies involved in the war against corruption were allowed freedom to carry out their responsibilities, without any interference whatsoever from the Presidency.

He said, If Umar or anyone else feels that they have any evidence to the contrary, they are encouraged to make this public.

Ultimately, the final frontier of the war against corruption is the judiciary.

After the anti-graft agencies have gathered proof of corruption and made arrests, they present the accused before competent courts of the land, who have the final say on who is guilty of corruption and who is not.

Shehu maintained that President Buhari had never interfered with the judicial process, despite publicly expressing his frustration with how slowly corruption cases were handled.

Again, anyone with a shred of evidence to the contrary is encouraged to go public with it.

A number of Nigerian elites have over the years benefitted from various forms of corruption, including monthly payouts from the office of previous National Security Advisers.

Let me clarify that this is not in reference to Colonel Umar in particular.

The Buhari administration has offended so many of our greedy elite by putting a stop to this, plugging many of the holes through which our countrys resources, belonging to each and every one of us, were looted by a few.
Oke, who has since been suspended, was said to have insisted that he informed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno about the money.

Monguno is a member of the three-man presidential investigative panel probing the cash haul.

The panel is headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, with the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami as the third panelist.

The embattled NIA boss appeared before the panel on Monday, April 24, with a heap of evidential documents, it was learnt.

Reports said for nearly 11 hours, the committee interrogated Oke and some top NIA officials, as well as examined the documents presented by them.

An unnamed source, cited by The Nation, said the panel worked from 10am and had not finished as at 9.30pm.

"What the committee did was to sieve through heaps of documents submitted by the EFCC and the NIA on the $43.4million," the source said.

"Some of the documents include findings at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on some companies engaged by the intelligence agency.

"After analysing these documents, the committee started interacting with some top officials of NIA. Thereafter at about 5.40pm, the interaction with Oke then started.

"Oke took longer time because he brought the list of projects being executed, the designs, contract papers and mode of payment," the source added.

Oke was said to have told the committee about the covert operations and projects executed by the agency.

Another source, as quoted by the newspaper, said the NIA boss gave "a spirited defence of his career and said there was no ill-motive behind the cash."

"At the end of it all, Oke was heard saying 'I did my best before the committee. I have left the rest to God."

It was also gathered that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may have suspended further actions on the interrogation of some suspects for the Osinbajo committee to conclude its work on the case.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the pensioners, who protested peacefully to the Government House, were also unhappy over the nonpayment of their pension in the last 42 months.

The spokesman of the pensioners, Mr Michael Umogbai, accused the state government of being insensitive to their plight, in spite of several promises it had made to settle them.

As I speak with you, some of us, especially those from the local governments, are being owed arrears of up to 42 months."

The government has also refused to harmonize pension in the state since 2008."

I retired as a local government worker in 1996 and I can tell you that while some of us still receive N2, 000 as monthly pension, our counterparts in other states receive about N40, 000, he said.

Umogbai described the screening pensioners were made to go through as a ploy to make them believe that the government was serious.

We have had series of the screenings and they have translated to nothing."

We are at a loss as regards the screening results. The screenings have not yielded any dividend, he said.

The Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Philip Shaibu, who received the pensioners, appealed for more patience, assuring that the pension arrears would be paid soon.

He told them that the government was working to improve its internally generated revenue to ensure that pension and salaries were paid promptly.
Ndoma-Egba said this in a statement issued by Mrs Clara Braide, Special Assistant, Communication Office of the Chairman Governing Board of NDDC, on Tuesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), recalls that Adeleke died at Bikets Hospital in Osogbo, the Osun state capital, after suffering a heart attack according to family sources.

Ndoma-Egba described Adeleke, who is also the All Progressives Congress (APC ),Senator representing Osun West Senatorial District, as a detrabalised Nigerian, a democrat, astute grassroots politician and philanthropist who distinguished himself in all positions of service.

 The history of Osun State would be incomplete without reference to his indelible contributions to the States development at social, political and economic levels when he served as its first elected Governor and a legislator.

With the death of Senator Adeleke, Nigeria has indeed lost an illustrious son whose wealth of experience was still needed as the present administration works to restore the country to path of progress, he said.

Ndoma-Egba, however, said he is consoled by the fact that the late Adeleke lived an accomplished and impactful life.
Kanu was granted a N100 million bail on health grounds by the presiding judge, Binta Nyako.

Here are other conditions Nnamdi Kanu must meet before he is released according to court.

1. Kanu must produce three sureties, including a highly respected and recognised Jewish leader.

2. Kanu must also produce a highly placed person of Igbo extraction such as a Senator.

3. He must also produce a highly respected person who is resident and owns landed property in Abuja.4. Kanu must not also attend any rally or protest.

I must stress it here that the defendant must not attend any rally. He must not be in a crowd exceeding 10 persons, the presiding judge said.

5. Kanu must sign an undertaken to make himself available for trial at all times.

6. The IPOB leader was also ordered to surrender his Nigerian and British international passports to the Nigerian authorities.

Earlier, Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayoseappeared at the Federal High Court in Abuja to show his support for the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
In a brief ruling, Justice Binta Nyako, said that she was convinced that Kanu was ill and needed more medical attention than the Nigerian Prisons was giving him.

The first defendant, Nnamdi Kanu, has appealed to the court for bail based on health grounds and it is only the living that can stand trial."

So I am minded to grant him bail so that he can attend to his health and face his trial alive, Nyako said.

Nyako gave other bail conditions to include three sureties in the sum of N100 million each.

She added that one of the sureties must be a senior highly placed person of Igbo extraction such as a senator.

The other surety must be a highly respected Jewish leader since Kanu said his religion was Judaism, while the third person must be a highly respected person who owns landed property and is resident in Abuja.

The judge further ordered that Kanu must deposit both his Nigerian and British passports with the court and that a report on the progress of his health must be made available to her on a monthly basis.

However, she refused bail to the three other defendants standing trial with Kanu, namely Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.

The judge maintained that the only reason she admitted Kanu to bail was because of his ill health.

She said that although the charge of terrorism had been struck out against the defendants, the charge of treasonable felony hanging over them was a very serious offence.

She also refused a second application by the three defendants seeking a review of her earlier ruling that witnesses who were security personnel should be protected.

She said although the defendants had made the application for variation of the ruling based on the grounds that the charge of terrorism had been dropped, the charge of treasonable felony was equally a grave one.

Based on this, she said she would stick to her earlier ruling that as long as the witnesses were security personnel, they would testify behind a curtain or wear a mask.

She adjourned the matter till July 11 and 12, for definite commencement of trial.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, and former Minister of Aviation, Mr Osita Chidoka, were in court according to them, as a sign of solidarity with Kanu.

Kanu was arrested in 2015 on an 11-count charge bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony.

Six of the charges, including that of terrorism were struck out early in 2017.
Justice Binta Nyako had on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, granted Kanu a N100 million bail on health grounds.

Kanus bail was marked with celebration across different parts of the country.

But few hours after Kanus bail application was granted, the IPOB leader was said to have rejected the move.

According to a source close to Kanu, the IPOB leader vowed to remain at Kuje prisons pending when his co-accused persons are granted bail.

I just finished speaking with Kanu, the source said.

"He has vowed to remain at Kuje prisons pending when his co-accused persons are granted bail.

He made it clear that these other three persons were arrested because of him (Nnamdi) and as such he cant abandon them there.

Nnamdi Kanu has, therefore, made it clear that he is ready to stay and die at Kuje Prisons, the source added.

Similarly, the IPOB has reacted to Kanu's bail conditions, describing it as childish.

Comrade Emma Powerful, the media and publicity secretary of IPOB, in a statement said the bail conditions were 'designed by politicians'.

The statement reads: 

The indigenous people of Biafra, IPOB and its leadership worldwide commend those who put pressure on Nigerian Government and her judiciary to release our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention illegally since October 2015.

The bail conditions which are most probably designed by politicians who are afraid of our leaders popularity is too inhuman, childish and stringent.

The oppressors are afraid of leaders popularity and they hope to cage him through this funny bail condition, we are not excited, we demand the release of our members detained alongside him.

It is unacceptable to the entire members of IPOB worldwide that the presiding judge Hon. Justice Binta Nyako attached condition towards the release of our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

The Federal Government and their judiciary through justice Binta Nyako banned Mazi Nnamdi Kanu not to grant press interview, not to sit with more than 10 people or have any gathering.

However, granting conditional release to our is unacceptable to us because he committed any crime against humanity or Nigerian state, we wondered why Binta Nyako would prefer to attach conditional release him.

ALSO READ: Governor Fayose joins Nnamdi Kanu in court [PHOTO]

Again, justice Binta Nyako refused to grant Mazi Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Mazi Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi bail who has been detained with our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu since almost two years.

We also thank the civilise Nations in United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, American Government, Israeli Government, Russian Government, European Union and others who prevail upon the Nigerian Government and her judiciary to grant our leader bail.

We also want them to pressure on Nigerian Government and her judiciary to release other three members who are still in Kuje prison Abuja.
Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is facing charges of treason before the Federal High Court.

The streets leading to the court have been blocked by security agents in Abuja, Channels TV reports.

Meanwhile, Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose is currently at the court to show his support for Kanu.

Kanu is set to face trial before Justice Binta Nyako.

Justice Nyako is expected to reach a decision on whether or not witnesses in the case against Kanu will be protected from the public.
That day, they set fire to what was left of it, chasing its inhabitants from their homestead for what now looks like the final time.

Images have since emerged in the news and on social media.

We have seen young men with bullet wounds, pregnant women and the unborn in rickety boats  an entire community floating in the Lagos lagoon as their homes burned in the distance.

Otodo-Gbame, egun for houses built in the swamp, is an ancestral fishing settlement situated on the edge of the Lekki Pennisula, on the banks of the Lagos Lagoon.

Most of the people make a living from fishing, a way of life that has defined them since their ancestors settled there in the 1800s.

The men, who are the primary fishers, spend most of their day in the Lagos Lagoon.

By tradition, the days catch is then sold to their wives who sell them in surrounding communities and markets as far as Ita-Faji and Ogun State.

Ahisu Celestine is a native of Otodo-Gbame and a graduate of Lagos State University who is the youth leader of his people and the face of his communitys struggle against the higher ups.

According to him, their fore-bearers moved there from Badagry to flee attacks from the British and the prospect of being sold into slavery.

Now they face similar attacks, albeit from familiar faces and the people who should protect them.

According to Celestine, the 9th of April was simply the most prominent battle in a war that has been on-going since 2014.

For the better part of the past three years, there has been an ongoing tussle between the Lagos State Government and a people who want little more than to live in a home that has been theirs for as long as their fathers can remember.

It started on the 11th of November 2014, that was the first day we had an attack from a neighbouring community, the Elegushi, Celestine begins.

Theres a guy called Wasiu Elegushi. He wrote a short notice that was not signed by the royal family, he says.

The notice said within one week, we should move out because they want to sell sand. I have a copy of that notice

The Elegushi are an ancient royal family that have ruled over the area known as Ikate since 1606. In recent times, the kingdom has gained more influence as large areas of Ikate-land have become prime real estate.

We called their elders to tell them what happened. Celestine continues. What they told us was that they did not know anything about it.

Before the one week elapsed, the guy brought thugs, numbering about 70 with guns and machetes. We were unarmed. This thing led to the death of one of our residents, a guy from Calabar named . They shot him

The thugs came again, a few days later on November 17, killing one of their people called Wesu Fazir. He lived behind Celestines house.

The matter was reported to the police and the residents filed a law suit through their Baale, a local community leader. The case was transferred to the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere where it was pending. Wasiu was arrested and held in Panti.

Weeks after, he was out, walking the same streets he had before sanctioning the death of two Otodo-Gbame residents.

We dont know how it happened Celestine says, gesticulating angrily with his arms stretched out. They just used their power as a kingdom to get him released

A relative calm followed. There were no attacks on Otodo Gbame for the better part of two years, until on October 9, 2016, Governor Ambode issued a statement stating that all water-front communities in Lagos would be demolished.

Why do they want to this? We are indigenes of Lagos! Is it because our job is fishing that they want to pursue us, Celestine asks in the course of our conversation. Theyve done this kind of thing to Maroko people, at the end, na to share the land

He should know. In the years before Maroko was destroyed to give way to what is now the prime real estate of large parts of Victoria Island and the Lekki Pennisula, Celestine attended school there, at Moba Primary School.

After the demolition, the school was moved and re-named Itedo Primary School.

To avert facing the same fate, the Otodo-Gbame joined forces with The Nigerian Slum and Informal Settlement Federation (also known simply as The Federation), and made monthly contributions to finance their struggle.

They wrote to the Lagos State government making their case for why, as indigenes of the state, they should not be displaced.

According to Celestine, his people have been voting in elections since the beginning of civilian rule and politicians had come to their community in the past to canvass votes.

They have the voter cards to prove this.

We have a representative from community, , hes from . He represents us in the Lagos State House of Assembly. Theres another person from in the National Assembly. We have our voters card. We cited all these things, he explains.

The Lagos State government chose not to entertain their pleas so, Celestine says, they filed a suit seeking an injunction.

The Injunction was granted saying that the demolition of all waterfront communities should be on hold he said, We were happy that as this injunction was granted, there would be no problem

There is a pattern to most land disputes in Lagos, especially as far as they involve indigent communities. It begins with royalty.

The Lagos State government affords a special status of recognition to certain kings and obas, one of which is the Oba of Elegushi.

These Obas often enforce dominion over smaller neighbouring communities, who even though they have Baales or local heads, do not have any obas recognised by the government.

Where they try and this fails, the larger, stronger community marginalises their smaller peers, instigating its residents against them by labelling them outsiders and raising questions about their history and way of life.

This is what happened in Otodo-Gbame.

We saw new faces in our community Celestine says. Fight just happened somewhere. Our Baale called the police (to tell them), fight is happening at the extreme end of MTN, we dont know what happened.

'MTN' is a small shantytown that stands between the main access road to both communities and Otodo-Gbame. According to Celestine, his people leased out the land to the residents in return for isakole (tribute).

The purpose was to provide a place where domestic and menial workers in the more opulent Lekki axis could erect small structures to live in.

They began using them against us, Celestine says.

When the police responded to their call, they arrested 27 members of the community, including the Baale.

When Pulse visited Otodo-Gbame, we met few residents of MTN who had found a way to remain there, despite their homes being destroyed.

The Balogun or Security Officer of the community claims that youth from Otodo-Gbame had attacked the community in the recent past..

One such instance was cited. In November 2016, young men from Otodo-Gbame are alleged to have kidnapped and tortured a young man, Hakeem, from MTN.

Celestine denies this, Thats a fallacy. It is an untrue statement. They want to smear our reputation. We gave them the land, why would we want to attack them?

Days after the attack, while they were expecting the Baale, on the 9th of November 2016, security agents visited the community, armed with weapons and fuel, with the support of armed thugs wearing reflective vests.

When we tried to stop them, they said it was order from above, that the Governor Ambode is aware of it Celestine says.

When the fire started from the extreme end, nobody could stop it because they were shooting sporadically he adds, thugs were following them with locally made pistols. We had to run for our dear lives

The residents jumped into the water and swam into the lagoon to safety. Some were tenants who could not swim. They were not as lucky as their patrons.

We had about 15 bodies floating in the water. We were able to recover about 5 or 6. he adds. Some of them were togolese, some were our people from the Egun tribe

That night, excavators came to finish the job, demolishing structures built with cement blocks such as the community school and health centre.

All these happened despite an existing court injunction.

Celestine says his people appealed to the courts after the incident.

Months after, on March 17, 2017, the two parties were directed to the Lagos Multi-Door Court-House to explore mediation.

The first meeting was unsuccessful, and the proceedings were adjourned to the 29th of March.

Despite this, security agents from the government and thugs from the Elegushi continued to attack the community in spurts.

The attack on the 9th of April was the death blow.

That was the day we left the community Celestine says, suddenly downcast at the thought of that night. All the roads leading out were blocked, that's why we were surprised. People were moving away in tears, leaving their property, he mutters under his breath.

Celestine lived in Otodo-Gbame with his wife, an indigene of Ebonyi, and three children; Chukwuemeka, Chukwuebuka and Senami.

When the attacks started in 2016, he relocated them to Ibadan, but they returned, saying this was their home and they would remain as long as they could.

When they started firing the teargas, I saw my children sneezing. crying. I had to jump inside the water. I held my children and my wife he gestures, as if to wrap his arms around his family. I paddled my canoe away.

In the time since this attack, despite the public outcry that followed, the Lagos State government has not reached out to the people of Otodo-Gbame.

Statements issued from the office of the Governor have claimed that the community was destroyed because the state had strong intelligence reports that militants had moved into the area in preparation to launch attacks in Lekki and the Victoria Island axis.

There has been no information or evidence to support this. Not a single gun was recovered at the scene of the demolition.

In the weeks since, it has emerged that the land on which Otodo-Gbame stood will soon be home to the high-rises that stand defiantly in the distance.

The Elegushi Royal Family has reportedly revealed plans to establish a $300 million new Imperial International Business City (IIBC).

The new 200 hectare city will be built on reclaimed lands and dredged areas of the Lagos Lagoon within the kingdom. It will also be the first eco-friendly smart business city in Africa.

To the government, this must make sense. It is a policy of displacing poor indigent communities in place for new, complex structures as it continues its aggressive push to turn this congested home of over 20 million people into what successive governors have called a Mega City.

It has happened in the past, in Maroko, Badia and Kosofe. Otodo-Gbame is not a unique case, it is just the main front in the war against tyranny and class oppression.

The case against the Lagos State government remains pending in court. Since the final demolition of their homes in March, residents have attended the court on all dates to present their case.

It is a simple one; a loss of their homes and livelihoods, against whatever reasons the government can muster to explain its actions.

The Just Empower Initiative estimates that 30,000 people have been displaced by the demolition. About 300,000 face the same fate if the state government gets its way with the remaining waterfront communities.

With help from JEI, The Federation, as well as well-meaning Nigerians, the displaced residents of Otodo-Gbame have been relocated into 16 water-front communities across Lagos.

While they have temporary roofs over their heads, some of them have had difficulty integrating into these communities.

Their hosts have been wholly welcoming but it will take some time before the Otodo-Gbame can make a place for themselves and return to their regular way of living.

All these while these communities face the threat of destruction themselves.

When asked what he would like to tell the Lagos State governor if he got the opportunity, Celestine Ahisu said all they wanted was to go home to a place where they once had roofs over their heads.
In a fresh report by Premum Times, Justice Onigbanjo On Tuesday, said judgement was postponed because issues of jurisdiction raised by the respondents should be addressed.

Onigbanjo said: While I was going through the court processes, I discovered that issues of jurisdiction were raised.

ALSO READ: Otodogbame residents making impossible demands - Lagos govt tells court

The applicant will have seven days to file their relevant court processes while the respondents also have seven days to file their court processes in response to the applicant, he said.

Onigbanjo had reportedly frowned at a letter sent to him by Megan Chapman, an Otodogbame community advocate, details of which he didnt make public.
The Federal High Court in Lagos reached the decision on Tuesday, April 25, after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) withdrew its appeal against an earlier court decision to unfreeze the bank account.

EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, however told the court on Tuesday that the commission had changed its mind about the appeal and as such was withdrawing its application for a stay of execution.

The account was frozen by the EFCC in September 2016 over suspicions that the funds were laundered.

Mrs Jonathan subsequently filed a suit against EFCC asking the court to unfreeze the account.

She insisted that the funds were gifts from friends and associates and were legally acquired.

ALSO READ: EFCC wants to take my hard earned money  Patience Jonathan
Mr Muhiyi Magaji, the Chairman of the anti-graft agency, made the clarification in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Tuesday.

The investigation is not in any way politically motivated but was aimed at getting to the root of the allegations, Muhiyi said.

The agency in carrying out the probe, is fulfilling its mandate as established by the law, he said.

I wonder why people are questioning the reason behind the investigation and at the same time trying to pre-empt what is being investigated, Muhiyi said.

He said that no amount of pressure would deter the commission from carrying out its duties, not even from the state governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.

I will not succumb to any pressure not even from the governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje. I will discharge my duties without fear or favour because I know I will account for my actions in the hereafter.

Until and until the allegations of the whistleblowers are established or otherwise, people should not preempt the investigation, said Muhiyi.

He called on Nigerians to continue to support the commission in the current fight against corruption in the state and the country at large in order to deepen good governance.

The Emirate Council is expected to honour the invitation of the state anti-graft agency on May 2 to explain how the alleged N6 billion was expended.

NAN recalls that whistleblowers had written the commission of an alleged N6 billion expenditure incurred by the Emir of Kano, Mahammadu Sanusi II, since he ascended the throne in 2014.

The commission is wading into the matter to establish whether or not Sections 120, 121 of the Constitution and Section 26 of the Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission Law 2008 (as amended) of Kano State, dealing with public expenditure, had been complied with, said the chairman.

However, reacting to the development, the Kano Emirate Council on Monday said it spent N4,314,476,542.94 since the revered first class traditional ruler assumed the throne.

The Walin Kano and the emirate councils Finance Councillor, Alhaji Mahe Bashir Wali, told newsmen at the Emirs Palace that the council had from June 8, 2014 to April 11, 2017, spent N4,314,476,542.94, and not N6 billion as alleged.

According to him, N1,893,378,927.38 was the exact amount inherited by the Sanusi II.

Giving the breakdown of the expenditures done during Sanusis three years in office, Wali said out of the N1.8 billion he inherited, N152,627,723.00 was paid to Dabo Gate Company for the procurement of furniture for the palace.

This is because after the demise of the late emir, all his belongings, including the furniture were removed and distributed to his heirs in accordance with Islamic injunction. Therefore new furniture was purchased for Emir Sanusi, Wali said.

The senior councillor added that the sum of N108 million was paid to the family of late Emir Ado Bayero by the council in respect of the late emirs personal cars inherited by the present emir. The cars now belonged to the emirate council.

He also refuted allegation of spending N15,458,660.00 as traveling expenses, saying the amount was rather spent on construction and renovation of Fadancin Dare wing of the palace.

He said N142,800,000.00 was spent on the purchase of two Bullet Proof Vehicles as approved by the State Government in a letter from the SSGs office with reference No: SSG/S/D/A/36/TI/109, and dated Sept. 17, 2014, following an attack on the late emir by Boko Haram.

Wali also explained that N154,873,000.00 was also spent on the purchase and replacement of the vehicles that were destroyed when the emirs convoy was attacked by Boko Haram insurgents.

However, he admitted that N37,054,192.06 was paid to the Airtel mobile service providers for the emirs mobile phone services, noting that majority of the charges were for roaming.

It is also on the record that after Emir Sanusi assumed office, the council reviewed the salaries and remuneration allowances of his staff which include salaries of council members, district heads and all other employees of the council.

As result of the review, the monthly spending on salary rose from N9.910 million to N36 million, the councillor said.

He also said the council raised two vouchers of N6,993,203.00 and N5,560,235.00 to Western Union being cost of Air tickets for the emirs entourage, not the emir himself who used to pay for his ticket.

"The emirate council only spent N14.732 million on chartering domestic air flight for the emir twice since he assumed office.

The first was in September 2014, when the sum of N4,651,000.00 was spent on the emirs trip to Sokoto to pay homage to the Sultan of Sokoto.

And the second was in January 2015 when N9,071,000.00 was spent on his trip to the University of Benin for his installation as the Chancellor of the university, Wali stressed.
Although Jonathan conceded defeat in the presidential election, he was not satisfied with the process leading up to the election day.

This was revealed in a yet-to-be launched book, 'Against the Run of Play', written by bestselling author Segun Adeniyi.

"I was disappointed by Jega because I still cannot understand what was propelling him to act the way he did in the weeks preceding the election," the book quoted Jonathan as saying.

"As at the first week in February 2015 when about 40 percent of Nigerians had not collected their PVCs, Jega said INEC was ready to conduct an election in which millions of people would be disenfranchised."

The former president also said that at a meeting he had with Jega before the election, he told him that INEC was not ready for the polls but he (Jega) insisted that the election would go ahead as planned.

"Of course, the Americans were encouraging him to go ahead yet they would never do such a thing in their own country. How could we have cynically disenfranchised about a third of our registered voters for no fault of theirs and still call that a credible election?

"The interesting thing was that the opposition also supported the idea of going on with the election that was bound to end in confusion," Jonathan said.

ALSO READ: Jega admits 2015 election was not perfect

The ex-president also defended his decision to shift the election for six weeks - the poll was originally slated for February 14, 2015.

He said the postponement was due to security reasons.

"When the military and security chiefs demanded for more time to deal with the insurgency, the reasons were genuine.

"As at February 2015, it would have been very difficult to vote in Gombe, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. But the moment all the arms and ammunition that had been ordered finally arrived, the military was able to use them to degrade the capacity of Boko Haram to the level in which they posed the threat to the election," he said.
Last week, Buhari suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director General Ayodele Oke.

Oke was suspended after the NIA claimed ownership of the N13B found in an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos, recently.

SGF Lawal was asked to take a break from his desk after the senate alleged that he had awarded a grass cutting contract in Yobe State worth N200M to a company he owns.

The N200M came from funds meant to rehabilitate a war ravaged north east region of Nigeria, a senate committee had claimed.

ALSO READ:

Following the suspension of the duo, Chief of Staff Abba Kyari and DG of the DSS Lawan Daura approached President Buhari and asked to exit their roles in the presidency, top ranking state house officials disclosed to Pulse on the basis of anonymity because they weren't authorised to comment on the subject.

"When Buhari suspended Oke and Daura, he sent out a message to everyone working with him. The President also charged the committee investigating the N13B found in Ikoyi to interrogate just about everyone linked with the money. It is possible that Lawal wasn't suspended because of the grass cutting contract, but because of something deeper", said the source.

ALSO READ:

The Villa source added that; "Daura of the DSS and Kyari probably have something to do with the NIA money in Ikoyi because they told Baba (Buhari) that they would like to leave government soon after SGF was suspended.

"In the case of Daura, he took his resignation letter to Buhari but Buhari rejected it. Buhari clearly told him that he should wait for the committee to complete its sitting."

was also told that the suspension of Lawal has sent jitters down the spines of several officials within the presidency who have been engaging in illicit deals.

Kyari and Daura have been rumoured to be members of the presidency cabal.

Suspended Lawal famously declared that he is a proud member of that cabal.

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai had in his memoof 2016, asked Buhari to dispense with the services of Kyari and Lawal because they were hurting his administration.

El Rufai had written the following to Buhari at the time: The two officials whose titles may enable them function as such, generally alienate those that contributed to our success.

The Chief of Staff is totally clueless about the APC and its internal politics at best as he was neither part of its formation nor a participant in the primaries, campaign, and elections".
Nwachukwu who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abakaliki , said that the suspension took place during an executive committee meeting presided over by Nwaobasi.

He said that the suspension followed due process and was ratified by over two-thirds of the members of the state executive council.

He said that the suspension was referred to the zonal leadership of the APC, in line with the partys constitution.

Nwachukwu said that the national leadership of APC ratified the suspension after it received and studied the report of the Sen. Ifeanyi Ararume committee.

Nwaobasi was suspended on May 4, 2015 following his anti-party activities, embezzlement, incompetence and gross misconduct, which led to the dismal performance of APC in the April 2015 general elections in Ebonyi .

Apart from the suspension of Nwaobasi from the executive committee, no other member of the executive committee was dropped, nor any non-elected member included on the committee, he said.

He said that APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and the Secretary, Mai-Mala Buni, were not in contempt of any court order by dealing with the Ebonyi APC state executive.

He was reacting to a publication that alleged that the two national officers were in contempt of a court order issued by Justice Alloy Nwigwe of an Abakaliki High Court.

The executive remains intact under my leadership as the acting chairman, and we are wondering where the story of disobedience to court order by the partys national chairman and secretary is coming from.

Let me put the record straight, the Ebonyi APC state executive committee has not been dissolved nor the entire executive suspended, it was only the erring chairman that was suspended from the executive.

The masterminds of the said publication are sponsored agents bent on rupturing the existing peace in the Ebonyi APC, and we are going to tackle them through legal means, Nwachukwu added.

He stressed that since Nwaobasi was suspended, the party did not organise any congress to elect state executive council members.

He explained that the party and its state and national leadership were committed to the rule of law and had been respecting the subsisting court order issued on Nov. 6, 2014 by Nwigwe, restraining the party from electing officers.

Nwachukwu said that APC as a party was established on the principle of rule of law and has great respect for the court.

Meanwhile, Nwaobasi in his reaction insisted that he remained the authentic chairman of the APC in Ebonyi, stressing that his purported suspension was illegal, null and void.

I am the authentic chairman of the APC in Ebonyi, my purported suspension is illegal, null and void and of no material effect.
The cards have been there for years; their owners have not come for them. We are appealing to the owners to come for them, Mr Abdulrahaman Adamu, the Administrative Secretary of the commission, said at a stakeholders meeting.

He said that a 90-day voters registration exercise would commence on Thursday, April 27, and advised owners of the abandoned cards to use the opportunity to collect them.

He also advised people against double registration, warning that the machines would detect such illegalities.

The official advised people relocating to other areas to fill a transfer form to facilitate the relocation of their voting points.

Adamu challenged parents, community leaders and politicians to ensured that underage persons were not allowed to register, and called for full support from all stakeholders toward success.

He, however, disclosed that the exercise would be a continuous one so as to avoid `fire brigade registration in future.

Leaders of political parties in their speeches, however, urged INEC to conduct the voters registrations at wards headquarters to encourage more eligible Nigerians to participate in the exercise.

Mr Damishi Sango, the Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), expressed fear that the exercise might not get the desired mass participation if it was restricted to local government secretariats.

Such secretariats are difficult to access by those at the rural areas. Some villages are located several kilometres away from the council secretariats and may be discouraged by the huge crowd waiting to be registered.

When these people consider the long distance they are coming from and how they will go back, they may be discouraged.

 I suggest that registration booths should be located at least at federal wards for accessibility because

it is only in Jos city that 70 per cent of people can easily go to the units and return with ease the same day.
Trump took Ambassador Francois Delattre aside during a meeting of UN Security Council envoys to Washington to ask about the vote that sets up a run-off next month between pro-Europe candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

"He asked me about the elections in France," Delattre told AFP. "I gave him a review of the situation and put things in perspective."

Trump last week had expressed support for Le Pen, the leader of the National Front, saying that she was the "strongest on borders" and the "strongest on what's been going on in France."

On Monday, French President Francois Hollande urged voters to back Macron, who topped Sunday's first-round voting with 24 percent, compared to 21 percent for Le Pen.

Security Council ambassadors held a working lunch with Trump and meetings in the Oval Office as part of the US presidency of the council in April.

Trump signaled that he was ready to work with the United Nations if the world body shows that it can reform and become more responsive to global crises.

The United States is the biggest contributor to the United Nations, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core budget and 28.5 percent of the $7.9 billion peacekeeping budget.
The right-wing opposition has been calling for the departure of the Socialist Party premier for more than 18 months in order to make way for a technical transitional government in the run-up to the June 19 vote.

Opposition parties, which are also boycotting parliament, have refused to take part in the election unless this transitional government is set up to ensure a free and fair poll.

They also accuse Rama of allowing the expansion of cannabis cultivation in Albania to raise money to manipulate voting.

Protesters blocked the entrances to highways as they waved Albanian flags and placards reading "Rama go!" and "We want a transitional government".

No incidents were reported during the protest, but police have warned organisers that they will be prosecuted if they "breach public order".

Lulzim Basha, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, told supporters that they would continue their protest movement "until the resignation of the prime minister and the establishment of a transitional government".

Rama rejects the accusations against him and has refused to resign or postpone the election.

"The time has come to build a modern democratic European state and not block roads and institutions," he said.

He accuses the opposition of trying to hinder the implementation of judicial reform, a crucial step towards European Union accession.

His opponents have called a meeting of their supporters in the western city of Kavaja on May 7, when a local election is being held, to show their ability to block a poll.

Since the fall of Albanian communism in the early 1990s, the results of elections have often been contested by the losing side, including with street protests that have sometimes turned violent.
Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz said it appeared Flynn -- who stood down as a top aide to Donald Trump amid controversy over his ties to Russia -- broke the law by failing to disclose the payments from Russia's RT television.

Flynn, a former US military intelligence chief who was a close advisor to Trump during last year's campaign, was paid more than $33,000 dollars to attend an RT gala in December 2015, where he sat at a table with President Vladimir Putin.

The payment came to light amid the sprawling probe into Russian interference in the US election, in which investigators are especially focusing on the ties between Moscow and several Trump advisors.

Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said there was no sign the retired three-star general had the required permissions to attend the gala, nor that he reported the payment when seeking to renew his security clearance a month later.

"Personally, I see no information or no data to support the notion that General Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said after a briefing on the issue by officials of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which Flynn headed from 2012 to 2014.

"He was supposed to seek permission and receive permission from both the secretary of state and the secretary of the army prior to travelling to Russia to not only accept that payment but to engage in that activity," Chaffetz told reporters.

Elijah Cummings, the Democratic vice chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said the reporting violations may constitute felony crimes that could bring up to five years imprisonment.

Flynn has denied any wrongdoing, amid reports he is under investigation by both the Defense Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Flynn's lawyer Robert Kelner said in a statement that Flynn had kept the DIA informed about the Russia trip at the time.

"General Flynn briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency, a component agency of DoD, extensively regarding the RT speaking event trip both before and after the trip, and he answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip during those briefings."

Facing punishment?

Kelner said in March that Flynn is willing to testify in a US counter-intelligence investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the election to help Trump, in exchange for immunity.

Flynn was forced to step down as Trump's national security advisor less than a month into the job for failing to disclose private conversations he had held with Russia's US ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December following the election.

After his resignation, he was also shown to have accepted $530,000 to lobby for Turkey during the campaign, without registering as a foreign agent as required by law.

He also accepted $11,250 each from a Russian air transport firm and a Russia-based computer security firm.

Chaffetz said Flynn is now facing possible punishment from the Pentagon, including being forced to give up the payments.

In a parallel development, with concerns mounting that Republicans are stalling the Russia probe, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced that two top former officials -- ex-acting attorney general Sally Yates and former director of national intelligence James Clapper -- will testify on May 8.
The Extraordinary African Chambers, a body created by Senegal and the African Union (AU), sentenced Habre last May to life behind bars, an unprecedented ruling seen as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers.

In July, the court further ruled that Habre should give up to 30,000 euros ($33,000) to each victim of abuses committed during his 1982-1990 rule, as well as to their relatives.

Expected to begin at 1000 GMT on Thursday, the appeal verdict will be "definitive and irrevocable," the special court's spokesman Marcel Mendy told AFP.

As of Tuesday it was unclear if Habre would appear, a decision that Mendy said rested with the president of the appeal court, Wafi Ougadeye.

Habre, 74, refuses to recognise the court's authority and his appeal was therefore brought on his behalf by court-appointed lawyers. He refused to speak or defend himself throughout his trial.

Habre's conviction brought closure for relatives of up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his time as president.

One of his lawyers, who asked not to be named, said he was "confident" of his team's chances, lashing out at what he termed "Western sponsors" of the trial.

If his conviction is upheld, Habre will serve his sentence in Senegal or in another AU country.

Assane Dioma Ndiaye, who defended the civil cases leading to the demand for reparations from Habre, said anything less than upholding the sentences handed down would be a huge blow.

Given the gravity of the accusations against Habre and the long fight for justice by the victims, "a sentence which is not in line with the facts would be a massive disappointment," Ndiaye said.

Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby, and for more than 20 years lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children.

Reed Brody, an American lawyer who has worked with the victims since 1999, said the evidence presented at court was "overwhelming".

Brody described "handwritten instructions for the mistreatment of prisoners, the testimony of a woman he raped, witnesses who received his orders and others whom he personally sent to prison, a jail on the grounds of his palace," as examples.
Rhetoric by US President Donald Trump, who called NATO "obsolete" shortly before he took office, deeply rattled the alliance's easternmost members bordering Russia. Trump has since reversed much of his criticism.

"Using the most modern fighter jets of the United States in Europe guarantees the sovereignty of all NATO member states," Estonian Defence Minister Margus Tsahkna said quoted by the local Baltic News Service.

"We share the same values and are ready to protect the territory of NATO member states from any kind of possible aggression," he added, speaking at Estonia's Amari air base where the jets landed.

F-35s, devised to have radar-evasive abilities, are billed as the most advanced warplanes of their kind.

The US Air Force deployed the multi-role fighters to Europe earlier this month for joint exercises NATO partners.

"I think the role of the training deployments being run by the United States Air force is to demonstrate the unique capabilities of the F-35 as they start to integrate into European operations with all the NATO and European partners," Air Marshal Stuart Evans, deputy commander of NATOs Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), told AFP at the Amari base.
"This deal is closer than ever, and that's why we must speed up negotiations to close it by the end of 2017," he said at a meeting with business executives during a trip to Brazil.

The EU and five-member Mercosur have been negotiating since 1999 to create a trans-Atlantic free-trade zone covering some 760 million people.

But the talks broke down in 2004 and remained on hold for six years.

They have surged back to the forefront recently as the EU seeks alternatives to its proposed trade deal with the United States, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership -- now in danger under US President Donald Trump.

On the South American side, the arrival in power of business-friendly, pro-trade leaders in Argentina and Brazil has revived interest in the deal.

In a whirlwind visit, Rajoy met with Brazilian President Michel Temer in Brasilia, then jetted in for the business forum in Sao Paulo, the economic capital.

Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, is a founding member of Mercosur, along with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
"We are very concerned, deeply concerned that Turkey conducted air strikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper coordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat" IS, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"We have expressed those concerns to the government of Turkey directly."

Turkey is a key US ally and a NATO member, so America must be careful not to alienate its partner and risk losing Ankara's support for the anti-IS fight and access to Turkey's vital Incirlik airbase.

Turkey said it had carried out the strikes in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq against "terrorist havens" and vowed to continue action against groups it links to the outlawed Kurdistan's Workers' Party (PKK).

US commandos are working with local Kurds on the ground, much to the fury of Turkey, which sees the Kurdish YPG forces as a terrorist offshoot of the PKK that has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

"This is a very complex battle space. We're cognizant of that," Toner said.

"We are also cognizant of the threat that the PKK poses to Turkey... But these kinds of actions frankly harm the coalition's efforts to go after ISIS."

The Pentagon offered a more muted response.

"We don't want our partners hitting other partners," a senior US defense official told AFP.

"We've got to figure out exactly who got hit. We don't know yet. We do know where the strikes were, but we don't know exactly who is dead."
Guy Philippe, a 49-year-old former senior police officer accused of taking bribes from drug traffickers, entered the plea in court in Miami, where he has been held since his arrest and extradition from Haiti in January.

He faces up to 20 years in prison in a sentence to be delivered by a judge on July 5, according to a statement by the US Justice Department.

Philippe was elected to the Haitian parliament in November. He had close ties to the country's President Jovenel Moise.

In 2004, he helped lead an armed rebellion against then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was forced to flee the country.

He was arrested in Haiti on January 5 this year on US drug charges hanging over him since 2005 and transferred to Florida the next day -- just three days before he was to be sworn in as a senator, which would have given him immunity from prosecution.

Philippe on Monday pleaded guilty to abusing his position as a high-ranking police officer to protect narcotics shipments headed to the US between 1999 and 2003, the statement said.

He did so in exchange for bribes from drug traffickers that totalled between $1.5 million and $3.5 million.

Philippe "admitted to accepting bribes... and to assisting a drug operation that brought cocaine into Miami," a Miami-based Internal Revenue Service special agent handling criminal investigations, Kelly Jackson, said in the statement.

Philippe gave some of the bribe money to other Haitian police and security personnel to ensure their cooperation, the Justice Department said. His cut was used to buy a Florida house and for his use and his family's while in the US.

The statement said, in one instance, Philippe wired $376,000 from cocaine sales to his joint bank account in Miami from banks in Haiti and Ecuador using the names of others.
The man was the latest casualty in a wave of street protests against leftwing President Nicolas Maduro, blamed by the opposition for shortages of food and medicine in the oil-rich country.

"The young man was in a demonstration" in northwestern Lara state "when he received a shot to the head that killed him instantly," the public attorney's department said in a statement.

Three other people were killed on Monday in the latest day of nationwide protests by opponents demanding elections to remove Maduro from office.

Most demonstrators rallied peacefully but some masked protesters threw stones and clashed with police who fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

The courts and electoral authorities have fended off efforts to remove Maduro since an opposition majority took over the legislature in January 2016.

Analysts say street protests are now one of the few levers the opposition has for change.

Falling prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports have slashed its revenues, leading to critical shortages and outbreaks of looting.
"I have no doubt that the French will continue to make their own decisions in their own best interest and that the terrorists will not enjoy these decisions," Mattis told reporters in the Horn of Africa nation, which hosts Washington's only permanent military base on the continent.

"They have always proven that they will stand up when it is time to stand against something like this."

The US backs France's Operation Barkhane, under which its military is fighting Islamists in five countries across the Sahel region -- Mauritania, Mali, Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso -- alongside African allies.

"We look for our partners in that part of the continent to really carry the fight there," General Thomas Waldhauser, commander of US forces in Africa, told a press conference with Mattis.

The Americans have notably been providing air refuelling for French planes and exchanging intelligence with the French forces.
The former Catholic altar boy became one of Africa's most notorious rebels at the head of his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), combining religious mysticism with an astute guerilla mind and bloodthirsty ruthlessness.

The US passed a law in 2010 to deploy around 100 special forces to work with regional armies in hunting down Kony but is now withdrawing while the rebel leader remains at large, though his power is much diminished.

Kony's marauding insurgency claimed to be fighting to overthrow the Ugandan government and impose a regime based on the Bible's Ten Commandments. It has killed more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children who were forced to become sex slaves, soldiers and porters.

While battling the Ugandan government Kony and his dwindling band of bush fighters have earned a grim reputation for kidnapping and mutilation.

The leader's whereabouts are not known and his forces have been hit by a constant stream of defections, deaths and surrenders of both foot-soldiers and commanders.

Small LRA groups continue to carry out attacks, mostly on civilians in villages, in the border regions of Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sudan.

Self-proclaimed prophet

In 2005, the self-proclaimed prophet -- along with four of his deputies -- were the first people indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

One commander, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial while the three others are believed to have been killed.

A member of Uganda's northern Acholi ethnic group, Kony attended primary school before taking up arms in around 1987, following in the footsteps of another messianic rebel, Alice Auma Lakwena, a former prostitute who is believed to have been either his cousin or aunt.

Lakwena, who died in exile in Kenya in early 2007, believed she could channel the spirits of the dead, and also told her followers that holy oil she gave them could stop bullets.

Kony claims the Holy Spirit issues orders to him on everything from military tactics to personal hygiene, terrifying his subordinates into obedience.

The rebellion claimed to be defending the Acholi people against President Yoweri Museveni, who seized power from northern military rulers at the head of a rebel army in 1986.

Despite widespread northern resentment against Museveni, Kony's policy of abductions soon lost him the support of local groups, who suffered in the government's brutal war against the LRA.

At the height of the conflict, the government had forced some 2 million people into camps.

Evading capture, justice

Kony, who is thought to be in his 50s, speaks broken English and Acholi and has only rarely met outsiders, but in an interview with a western journalist in 2006 he insisted that he was "not a terrorist" and had not committed atrocities.

"We want the people of Uganda to be free. We are fighting for democracy," he claimed.

Nevertheless, ex-LRA abductees say they were forced to maim and kill friends, neighbours and relatives, and participate in gruesome rites such as drinking their victims' blood.

In the 1990s, the LRA conflict spilt into neighbouring countries after the Sudanese government in Khartoum began backing the group in retaliation for Uganda's support of southern Sudanese rebels battling for independence.

When Sudan signed a peace deal with the southern rebels in 2005, support for the LRA dried up and, after being forced into neighbouring DR Congo by the Ugandan army, Kony agreed to peace talks.

But negotiations dragged on and, amid mutual distrust and anxiety over the ICC warrant, Kony repeatedly failed to turn up to sign a deal.

In late 2011, following pressure from US campaigners, President Barack Obama deployed US special forces troops to help regional armies track down Kony.

Kony surged to unexpected worldwide prominence in March 2012 on the back of a hugely popular internet video that called for his capture.

Made by US-based advocacy group Invisible Children, the Kony2012 film became one of the fastest-spreading internet videos in history after more than 100 million users across the globe watched it in just a few days.

But popular interest quickly waned and despite the increased pressure, after more than 30 years in the bush Kony remains a master of evasion, ditching satellite telephones in favour of runners to communicate, and living off wild roots and animals.
The warrant, first issued in 2013 by the International Criminal Court (ICC), charges Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, once head of Libya's internal security agency, with three charges of war crimes and four crimes against humanity.

The announcement comes as the court is still in a legal tug-of-war with Libyan authorities to transfer Kadhafi's jailed son Seif al-Islam to the tribunal in The Hague to face trial for crimes against humanity.

The warrant against Khaled says that between February and August 2011, the military, intelligence and security agencies carried out attacks on the civilian population "in furtherance of a policy designed by the Libyan state to quash the political opposition to the Kadhafi regime by any means".

That included "lethal force and by arresting, detaining, torturing and abusing perceived political opponents".

Prisoners across Libya "were subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including severe beatings, electrocution, acts of sexual violence and rape, solitary confinement" as well as mock executions.

As head of the agency from February to August 2011, Khaled "had the authority to implement Kadhafi's orders," it added.

The prosecutor's office asked for the warrant to be made public as it "may facilitate (his) arrest and surrender as all states will then be aware of its existence," the court said.

Born in the Janzour area of Libya, west of Tripoli, in 1942, Khaled was known by several aliases, and had "at least 10 different passports, some issued under other identities," the warrant says.

According to Libyan media, he was arrested in Cairo in April 2012, but was released again as there was no warrant against him. Since then he is believed to have dropped out of sight.

The warrant appeals to the authorities in Egypt to co-operate with the court's request for his arrest and surrender.

Although Libya is not a party to the Rome Statute which underpins the ICC, the UN Security Council unanimously mandated the tribunal to investigate abuses in the country in February 2011.

It was then still under the rule of longtime leader Kadhafi, who was killed months later by rebels in a NATO-backed uprising.

No-one in the dock

An arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity issued in June 2011 is still outstanding for his son, Seif al-Islam, said to be behind bars in Zintan, a town southwest of Tripoli that opposes the unity government based in the capital.

The new unity UN-backed government in Tripoli still faces dogged resistance from jihadist holdouts, as well as a rival administration in the east.

A bid by chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to have the ICC warrant served on the battalion commander in charge in Zintan, to compel him to turn over Islam to the court, was turned down by the trial chamber in November.

So far no-one has stood trial for atrocities in Libya, as the case against Kadhafi's former intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi was dropped, after it was declared inadmissible in October 2013.

But Bensouda has vowed her office would keep up its investigations, and said last year new arrest warrants could perhaps follow in 2017.

She vowed to make Libya a priority for her office, and told the UN Security Council in November she would seek to expand investigations to "potentially include alleged crimes committed by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.
But no such event -- which usually happens in the morning -- had taken place by mid-afternoon, and instead Seoul's defence ministry said Pyongyang was conducting a "massive fire drill" in the eastern port city of Wonsan.

The South's Yonhap news agency cited a government source as saying the exercise was the North's "largest ever" and presumed to have been overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un.

Washington has sent the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula, where it is expected to arrive -- after a derision-provoking delay -- later this week.

Confusion had clouded the carrier's whereabouts earlier this month after US officials indicated it was sailing towards North Korea when in fact it was heading south.

The vessel will take part in joint naval drills with the South's forces to "demonstrate Seoul and Washington's strong determination to punish North Korean provocations", the South Korean Navy said in a statement.

They will take place in the East Sea, the South's name for the Sea of Japan, it said, and the two allies will also begin joint naval exercises in the West Sea -- what it calls the Yellow Sea -- on Tuesday "in relation to the current security situation".

The nuclear-powered US submarine USS Michigan also made a port call at Busan in the South on Tuesday in another show of force.

President Donald Trump has said the US was sending an "armada" to the Korean peninsula, including submarines.

According to the US Navy's Submarine Force Pacific website, the USS Michigan carries more than 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

They are capable of precision strikes against the North's nuclear facilities, but the South Korean Navy called the visit "routine" and said the submarine would not take part in any joint exercises.

'Brutal punishment'

North Korea has ambitions to build a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the US mainland. Tensions have soared in recent months as it carried out a string of missile tests that sparked tit-for-tat sabre-rattling between it and Washington.

Pyongyang's rhetoric always intensifies in the spring, when Seoul and Washington hold joint military drills which it sees as rehearsals for an invasion.

The North's Rodong Sinmun -- the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea -- warned Tuesday of dire consequences in the event of a US-led pre-emptive strike.

It promised "the most brutal punishment... in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice".

North Korea launched two missile tests this month while Trump and his senior aides have warned that "all options are on the table" against Pyongyang, including military action.

Trump on Monday urged UN Security Council ambassadors to consider stronger sanctions against Pyongyang, and US senators will be briefed on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is to chair a ministerial-level Security Council meeting on the North on Friday.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against invasion and a spokesman for its foreign ministry on Tuesday claimed the meetings -- coupled with Trump's fresh policy of "maximum pressure and engagement" on Pyongyang -- showed the threat it faced from the US.

"They are explicitly advocating pressure on us, which is as dangerous as lighting the fuse on an all-out war," he said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency.

Meanwhile, top nuclear envoys from Japan, South Korea and the United States met Tuesday in Tokyo and vowed "stern action" against any fresh North Korean provocations.

Joseph Yun, US Special Representative on North Korea policy, said he discussed American policy to "enhance pressure" on the North "because we really do not believe that North Korea is ready to engage us towards denuclearisation".

The trio also agreed that China and Russia should play a bigger role in reining in the North, said Kim Hong-Kyun, South Korea's chief envoy on the issue.
In a statement, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) said South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, his deputy Taban Deng and top army commanders held meetings last week with the SPLM-N rebel group.

The group -- the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) -- is fighting Khartoum's forces in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

"These meetings were aimed at extending the war in Sudan," NISS said.

"South Sudan continues to host Sudanese rebels."

As part of this policy, Kiir and Deng held "intensive" meetings with SPLM-N in Juba between Wednesday and Saturday, NISS said.

"We are warning the South Sudanese government to stop intervening in Sudanese affairs," NISS said.

It bitterly contrasted South Sudan's policy with Khartoum's humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese refugees who have arrived fleeing war and famine in their own country.

"While Sudan has opened its borders to South Sudanese citizens, the government of South Sudan is responding by hosting Sudanese rebels," NISS said.

Officials say that during his visit to Khartoum in September, Deng had given assurances that Juba would expel rebels fighting Sudanese forces.

Armed revolts on both sides of the border have soured relations between Khartoum and Juba.

South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 under a peace deal that ended a 22-year civil war.

But Juba and Khartoum have traded allegations of supporting each other's rebels on their territory, charges which both countries deny.

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, fell into a brutal civil war in December 2013.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the country since then and more than two and a half million people driven from their homes.

Sudan is hosting about 380,000 South Sudanese refugees who have arrived since the war erupted, the UN's refugee agency says.

The influx has swelled in recent months after South Sudan declared a famine in parts of the country.
The United States circulated the proposed resolution to the Security Council on Monday after consulting with France, Russia and Britain on the measure that would also extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara for a year.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the council in a report this month that he planned to re-start negotiations "with a new spirit" to try to end one of the world's most intractable conflicts.

"It is indeed time to look ahead and to re-launch negotiations, that is what we want," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters as the council met Tuesday to discuss the draft text.

Morocco and the Polisario fought for control of Western Sahara from 1974 to 1991, with Rabat taking over the desert territory before a UN-brokered ceasefire in the former Spanish colony.

Rabat considers Western Sahara an integral part of Morocco and proposes autonomy for the resource-rich territory, but the Polisario Front insists on a UN referendum on independence.

Welcoming what he described as a "new momentum" for talks, Delattre said the issue of the Polisario's withdrawal from the Guerguerat post near the Mauritanian border had to be addressed first.

"There is one issue we need to solve and that is Guerguerat," he said.

Last month, long-serving UN envoy Christopher Ross resigned following tensions with Morocco, which accused him of bias in favor of the Polisario.

Former German president Horst Kohler has been tipped to replace him.

The draft resolution calls on Morocco and the Polisario Front to "resume negotiations" with a view to achieving a "just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution."
Monmouth College gets $20M donation

A $20 million commitment for the Monmouth College endowment is the biggest gift in school history, and one of the largest ever to an Illinois liberal arts college.

The donors wish to remain anonymous, Monmouth President Clarence Wyatt said. But the couple made the commitment because they believe in the college's mission.

Board of Trustees Chairman William J. Goldsborough said the record $20 million commitment is another step in securing Monmouths future.

Monmouth College was founded 164 years ago and is in Monmouth, Illinois.

Fresh Start fundraiser is this week

The Fresh Start Benefit Sale, the key fundraiser for Humility of Mary Housing Inc., is set for Friday and Saturday at Gertrude's Fresh Start Boutique, 3805 Mississippi Ave., Davenport.

It is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Furniture, clothing, housewares, crafts and sport supplies and decor items are for sale. There are new lighted display tables to be used at this sale.

Humility of Mary Housing provides stable homes and apartments for people in the Quad-Cities.
A 23-year-old Davenport man is facing charges after he sent indecent photos and videos of himself to a minor, and then solicited the minor for sex.

Devon Matthew Jones, 23, of 2504 Pacific St., is charged with one count of indecent contact with a child, two counts of telephone dissemination of obscene materials to a minor, and two counts of solicitation to commit a felony as he solicited the minor to perform a sex act, and solicited the minor to commit sexual abuse.

According to the arrest affidavits issued by Davenport Police Detective Erin Pape, the indecent contact and one of the solicitation charges are for actions that occurred April 21.

The other solicitation charge and one of the telephone dissemination charges are for events that occurred Oct. 31, 2016, while the second telephone dissemination charge is for an indecent video that Jones sent of himself at some point between Feb. 1 and April 21.

The two solicitation charges are Class D felonies under Iowa law that carry a prison sentence of up to five years.

The remaining charges all are aggravated misdemeanors that carry a prison sentence of up to two years.

Jones is being held in the Scott County Jail on bonds totaling $14,000.
Woman wanted in drug-induced homicide

The Rock Island Police Department is seeking the publics help in locating a woman wanted in connection with a fatal drug overdose in January.

Charlonda M. Crittenden, 42, is wanted on charges of drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony, and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, a Class 2 felony. Bond on the warrant is set at $250,000.

Just before 7 a.m. Jan. 19, the Rock Island Fire and Police departments responded to the 3700 block of 9th Street for an unresponsive man. They found Adam J. Verdick, 44, dead when they arrived, according to police.

Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said Verdick died from "adverse effects" of cocaine.

Crittenden is described as a black woman, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing approximately 210 pounds, according to police.

Anyone with information related to the whereabouts of Crittenden is asked to contact the Rock Island Police Department at 309-732-2677 or Crime Stoppers of the Quad-Cities at 309-762-9500. The public is asked not to attempt to apprehend her.

 Tara Becker

Purse snatching suspect pleads not guilty

A Port Byron woman charged with stealing a womans purse in the parking lot of the Genesis Medical Health Complex in Moline earlier this month pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Julie Marie Calderson, 51, dressed in orange jail garb, appeared at the Rock Island County Justice Center for a brief hearing and waived her right to a preliminary hearing.

She is charged with robbery, a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years in prison, and two counts of aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony punishable by two to five years in prison.

Calderon will be back in court May 26 for a pretrial conference. A trial has been scheduled for June 12. She remained in the Rock Island County Jail Tuesday on a $50,000 bond.

Police say that at 2:11 p.m. April 12, a woman leaving the Genesis Medical complex at 3900 28th Ave. was followed by a woman later identified as Calderon.

When the woman reached her vehicle, Calderon ripped her purse from her hands, according to police. A struggle ensued, and the woman was injured, according to police.

Police say a Crime Stoppers tip led to Calderons arrest two days later.

 Tara Becker

'Bachelor' Chris Soules arrested in fatal crash

A former reality TV star has been arrested following a fatal crash in Buchanan County, Iowa.

Chris Douglas Soules, 35, was taken to the Buchanan County Jail in Independence. His mother bonded him out of jail Tuesday. According to court records, Soules was involved in the fatal crash and left the scene and did not return.

He is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, which is a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years on prison upon conviction.

The arrest came after a one person died in a two-vehicle crash about 8:20 p.m. Monday on County Road W-45 near Aurora, Iowa.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, a pickup was headed south on the county road and collided with the rear of a John Deere tractor. The victim has been identified as Kenneth E. Mosher, 66, of Aurora.

Soules, a farmer from the Arlington area, was the star of the 19th season of ABC television series "The Bachelor."

 Waterloo Courier
DES MOINES  A program that would allow Iowa parents to use taxpayer money to put their child in a non-public school could be proposed next year when Iowa lawmakers resume their work.

Varied versions of so-called school choice programs are operating in dozens of states, and the data on their effect is mixed.

Republicans, who have complete lawmaking control of the Iowa Capitol at least through 2018, would like to implement some type of school choice program during next years legislative session. They would have preferred to pass something during this years session, which just ended Saturday, but those programs typically come with a healthy price tag, and Iowa legislators had to make budget reductions this year just to stay within the states means.

So Republicans will keep their fingers crossed that come next year the state budget will have sufficient breathing room for two conservative  but expensive  priorities they had to pass up this year: tax reform and school choice.

Supporters of school choice programs in general say parents should have the option  and the financial assistance  to choose where their child is educated.

Critics of school choice programs say they take critical funding away from public schools and divert taxpayer money to non-public schools that have little or no oversight, thus no way of showing whether the program is successful in increasing student achievement.

Some studies have tried to show the effect of school choice programs on student achievement and public education funding. Some results have shown increased student achievement, while others have shown student regression.

Walt Rogers, a Republican state legislator from Cedar Falls and chairman of the Iowa Houses education committee, said that before next years session begins, he will study the issue to determine what school choice policy is appropriate for Iowa.

Iowa Republicans have devoted most of their attention to educational savings accounts, of ESAs, under which parents can withdraw their child from a public school and have the taxpayer funding that would have gone toward the childs education in a public school  or a percentage of it  placed into a government-authorized savings account. Those taxpayer funds could be used for various educational purposes, including tuition at a parochial or private school, homeschooling costs, private tutoring or other educational costs.

Its incumbent upon me to look at (education savings accounts) because theres reputable data out there that says when ESAs are implemented good things happen all the way around. And theres some opposing data that says other things, Rogers said. So to me, as an education chair, its incumbent upon me to look at that, give a thoughtful study to it.

"So Ive told people over the interim thats one of the things I want to do, is dig down deeper into ESAs. Is it really a beneficial thing for communities and even states to do and try? So thats what Ill be doing, and that will guide me to how much Ill come back next year with a will to do something.

EdChoice, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for school choice programs, in 2016 compiled a sort of study of studies, an analysis of dozens of studies conducted across the country. The EdChoice report found the majority of those studies showed academic outcomes improved among students who participated in school choice programs, as did the academic outcomes of students at public schools that lost students to school choice programs. The EdChoice analysis also found no study showed a negative impact on funding for public schools in states with school choice programs.

EdChoice until 2016 was the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, named for the Nobel Prize-winning, free-market economist Milton Friedman.

The evidence points clearly in one direction, reads the EdChoice reports executive summary. Opponents frequently claim school choice does not benefit participants, hurts public schools, costs taxpayers, facilitates segregation, and even undermines democracy. However, the empirical evidence shows that choice improves academic outcomes for participants and public schools, saves taxpayer money, moves students into more integrated classrooms, and strengthens the shared civic values and practices essential to American democracy.

A few outlier cases that do not fit this pattern may get a disproportionate amount of attention, but the research consensus in favor of school choice as a general policy is clear and consistent.

The report goes on to say its results are not difficult to explain and espouses some of the long-touted conservative arguments for school choice programs: They allow parents to find the right school for their childs educational needs, they encourage competition among schools, and they save money by reducing wasteful spending.

But the author of three of the studies cited in that EdChoice report told the national fact-checking news agency PolitiFact that increased student achievement in those studies was modest at best.

Less responsible voucher advocates will say that this is proof positive that these programs work, David Figlio, a professor of education and social policy at Northwestern University, told PolitiFact. I think a more responsible take on this is these programs dont seem to be hurting public schools  at the scale that theyre at.

Figlio also told PolitiFact the schools he studied lost only a small number of students to school choice programs, so it makes sense, he said, those schools did not suffer from a loss of funding because the loss was minor.

Other studies have found similarly murky results.

A 2016 Tulane University study found Louisianas school choice voucher program had a negative impact on students who participated, especially in mathematics, in the first two years. However, the study found those results improved from the first year to the second.

Similar to the EdChoice report, the Louisiana study found school choice programs had either no impact on students at competing public schools or student achievement at those public schools increased modestly.

In general, our results present a mixed picture of the (Louisiana voucher programs) effectiveness, the report said. We find the program had a negative impact on participating students academic achievement in the first two years of its operation, most clearly in math. On the other hand, the results improved between the first and second years and, through market-based pressures, the program may have slightly increased students math scores in public schools, particularly those most affected by the competitive threat.

A 2016 study of Ohios school choice program, conducted by the conservative education think tank the Fordham Institute, found students who used the program fared worse academically than their public-school peers. That study, one of the studies written by Figlio, cautions that may be partially explained by the fact the study did not include students who left schools defined by the state as low-performing.

Let us acknowledge that we did not expect  or, frankly, wish  to see these negative effects for voucher participants; but its important to report honestly on what the analysis showed and at least speculate on what may be causing these results, the Fordham report said.

The report went on to speculate that possible reasons could include the aforementioned testing limitations, differences in schools testing environments or curriculum or that some private schools accepting voucher students are themselves not performing as well as they should.

Beyond student achievement, opponents have levied other criticisms of school choice programs, including that they often do not come with appropriate oversight and serve only to benefit families who already possess the financial means to send their children to private schools.

The term education savings account sounds really nice, like every kid ought to have one. But really, its a voucher. Its a price tag thats put on the back of an Iowa student, that they would be able to take taxpayer dollars and go anywhere that family wanted them to go, said Tammy Wawro, president of the Iowa State Education Association, which represents more than 34,000 public school educators. Its not just a familys tax rebate. It is truly taxpayer dollars going with a child into a place that we have no authority over, we are not guaranteed any significant impact for our taxpayer dollars, and theres no oversight. We ought to be very scared that that conversation even comes up.

Arizona was the first state to implement an education savings account program, and a 2016 analysis by the Arizona Republic newspaper found the program was being used largely by students from well-performing schools in wealthier districts. The newspapers report said that during the 2015-16 school year, $20.6 million was taken out of Arizona schools with A or B ratings from the state, while $6.3 million was taken out of schools with C or D ratings.

Despite the muddled results from other states with school choice programs, many Iowa Republican legislators are ready to implement a program in the state when they return to work next year.

This will create mobility and portability for Iowa students. This will be good for Iowa, said Sen. Rick Bertrand, a Republican from Sioux City. If we dont set up the funding next year, at the least we need to set up the infrastructure that puts Iowa on course for education spending accounts. Its time.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be ambassador to China will be held next Tuesday.

The committee announced Tuesday afternoon that the hearing will be at 9 a.m. Central Time on May 2. It will be webcast on the committee's website.

The announcement comes nearly five months after President Donald Trump announced that he had selected Branstad for the job. The governor's office said last week that Branstad would travel to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and Thursday of this week for meetings related to to his confirmation.

Over the past several weeks the timing of the hearing, as well as a confirmation vote, has been a matter of speculation, as the governor has made plans to transition to a new job and the state has prepared for Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds to take his place.
The on-again, off-again fountain at the Bass Street Landing plaza in Moline has hit another dry spell.

This time, the interactive feature installed in 2005, north of River Drive along 17th Street, needs more than a quick fix before it begins spraying water again.

Its worked sporadically up until last year, said Adam Holland, a Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce employee who oversees the Moline Centre Main Street Program. But it was constantly requiring patchwork.

Over the last couple years, Holland said the special service area, or SSA, board responsible for Bass Street Landing has spent between $7,000 and $9,000 annually to keep the fountain in operation.

Meanwhile, the board, which is funded by supplemental property taxes from parcel owners within the SSA, budgeted only $5,000 each year for repairs. The extra dollars, however, did not solve the problem.

"Wed get it working, and then it would shut down overnight," Holland said. "The cycle just kept repeating itself."

Last fall, the SSA board decided to stop the cycle and composed a plan to replace the fixture altogether, which will cost about $82,000.

Earlier this month, the board approved chipping in $45,000 for the project, and asked the city to pick up the rest of the tab.

Moline aldermen will vote on the measure at tonight's committee-of-the-whole meeting.

If approved, interim City Administrator J.D. Schulte said a public works crew will handle demolition of the existing feature, work that would cost a contractor about $7,500. Additionally, Schulte said he will recommend City Council authorize spending up to $29,500 from the city's general fund for the renovation.

When the tax increment financing, or TIF, district that encompasses Bass Street Landing expires in 2022, Schulte anticipates reimbursing the city's general fund with rebates.

Upon his hiring in 2013, Holland said he was given the job of fixing the spray pad, which he noted, was not properly maintained in the past.

"There are a lot of kids who come and play in this feature when it's working," he said. "But its kind of a black eye when it's not working."

Inconsistent functioning reflects the lack of funding earmarked for repairs, Schulte said.

In 2009, the Quad-City Times reported the fountain, which was managed by Ruhl & Ruhl at the time, had been inoperable because of a possible leak in one of the pipes leading to the water source. It remained dry the following summer, which city officials blamed on vandalism.

Holland said a copper fishing pole was stolen from one of the three statues of children that surround the spray jets. The old-fashioned figures of children were inspired by author Mark Twain's characters Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.

The landmark was built to honor former Moline Mayor Stan Leach for his efforts to revitalize and redevelop the community's riverfront area. In 2006, the city won River Action's Art Eddy award for the addition to the plaza.

Pending approval, Holland said crews could construct the new fountain by mid-June. The job would increase the number of spray jets from seven to 18.

Rain Deck, an Arizona-based company, would lead the construction project, with assistance from the Moline Public Works Department and All Around Town Outdoor Services in Davenport.

Schulte, who also serves as director of the city's public works department, said a team will be trained to winterize the attraction and perform other maintenance duties.

"We want to make sure this thing is reliable for a long time," he said.
1. Great day today with rain heading our way

A good Tuesday to all. We'll enjoy another nice day before rain moves into the Quad-City region tonight, Wednesday and Wednesday night.

Here are the weather details from the National Weather Service.

Today will be partly sunny with a high near 78 degrees. Southeast winds will gust high as 20 mph.

Tonight brings a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9 p.m. with new rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible with higher amounts in thunderstorms. Skies will be mostly cloudy and breezy with a low around 58 degrees.

Wednesday showers are likely after 1 p.m. Skies will be cloudy and breezy with a high near 69 degrees. The chance of precipitation is 60 percent with new rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Wednesday night brings more of the same. Showers are likely. The chance of precipitation is 80 percent with new rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. The low will be around 43 degrees.

2. Mobile food vendors launch season today at Bechtel Park

If the city of Davenport's pilot food truck program was an indication, expect lines at Bechtel Park this afternoon through evening.

The Quad-Cities Independent Food Truck Alliance will kick off a mobile food vendor event from 3-11 p.m., appealing to the eyes, nose and taste buds through the city of Davenport's new food truck ordinance. Read more.

Follow vendors schedules through Facebook at www.facebook.com/quadcityfoodtruck/

3. Two charged in counterfeit money case

A Davenport woman and a Muscatine man were behind bars Monday after police say the tried to pass counterfeit money in at least two cities. Brittany Elizabeth Purscell, 21, and Robert Stanley Nelson III, 36, face three counts each of conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony and forgery.

All the charges are a Class D felony, which is punishable by up to five years on prison. Bond was set at $5,000 cash or surety for Purscell, while Nelson was released on his own recognizance. Both have a preliminary hearing May 4.

According to arrest affidavits filed by Walcott Police Department, the two drove around to multiple locations in the city late afternoon and early evening on Sunday and tried to pass off fake money at businesses with the intent to get real money as change.

Just before 10 p.m. Sunday, Purscell went into Subway, 1303 Eagle Ridge Road, LeClaire, with a counterfeit twenty dollar bill to exchange it for real money, according to an arrest affidavit filed by LeClaire Police Department.

Nelson waited for her in the parking lot, according to the affidavit.

4. Replacement plan in place for Bass Street Landing fountain

The on-again, off-again fountain at the Bass Street Landing plaza in Moline has hit another dry spell.

This time, the interactive feature installed in 2005, north of River Drive along 17th Street, needs more than a quick fix before it begins spraying water again.

Pending Moline city council approval, crews could construct a new fountain by mid-June. The job would increase the number of spray jets from seven to 18. Read more.

5. Priests pedal for vocations, visit schools

It was the Rev. Michael Pica's idea: Pedal across Illinois, raise awareness and spiritual support for vocations in the Diocese of Peoria.

Pica enlisted the help of two priest friends, Adam Cesarek and Tom Otto, and planning began for a 320-mile ride, while making regular stops along the way to explain their goals.

It's described as a prayer-raiser, rather than a fundraiser.

On Monday, the trio  who had met in seminary school  dipped their wheels in the Mississippi River in East Moline, left from Our Lady of Grace Church and pedaled over to Jordan Catholic School in Rock Island. Read more.

6. Two-story carousel rising on the riverfront

Davenports riverfront will be gaudy with prancing ponies when a permanent two-story carousel goes round-and-round this springtime. It will be a giant merry-go-round, the only double-decker in Iowa and the only one between Chicago and Kansas.

It is now being assembled near Modern Woodmen Park, to be inspected by State of Iowa engineers before operation about May 3. Called a Venetian because of its European gee-gaws and art, it is a jewel that will have 82 sitting merry-go-round horses, 40 jumping horses that go-up-and-down and six rocking horses east of the riverfront Ferris wheel. Read more Bill.
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Iowa Sen. Roby Smith doused speculation on Monday that he'd make a run at the only remaining Democrat in Iowa's Congressional delegation, Rep. Dave Loebsack.

Those close to Loebsack have speculated for weeks that the 39-year-old Republican from Davenport would try to oust the six-term incumbent in 2018. Loebsack is one of roughly three-dozen Democrats targeted by National Republican Congressional Committee. He's among several Democrats who, last year, clung to a seat in districts where President Donald Trump prevailed.

So, unsurprisingly, those within Loebsack's orbit are on the lookout for potential threats. And Smith's name has repeatedly come up.

"That is not something I'm planning on doing," Smith said when asked about challenging Loebsack. "At least not for 2018."

Democratic speculation wasn't without cause. Smith is young. He's among the top fundraisers in Iowa's GOP. And he's managed to hold on to the 47th Senate District, which includes traditionally Democratic strongholds.

Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann and his son, Bobby, are also among the names circulating about who might challenge Loebsack. The junior Kaufmann has said that he's mulling a run.

For weeks, Smith's closest political allies dismissed the rumors that the four-term state senator would try to oust Loebsack. Instead, they argued, Smith is best-suited for the highly coveted lieutenant governorship, which will be vacant once Gov. Terry Branstad ships off to China and Kim Reynolds replaces him.

Smith's ability to raise cash and his name recognition in eastern Iowa, long desired ground for Iowa Republicans, made Smith a viable choice, his allies said.

"That's something, I think they've made their choice and it's not me," Smith said about Reynolds' successor, calling it "the best kept secret at the Capitol."

It's an interesting political moment for both Loebsack and Smith. Loebsack easily vanquished Dr. Chris Peters in November, but the libertarian Peters was largely deserted on a political island, without any real support from state and national Republicans. It was 2014's defeat of a well-funded, more traditional conservative Republican, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, that marked Loebsack's last meaningful challenge.

Smith's supporters see significant potential in the young, gregarious father of four. His opponents tend to use words like "slimy" to describe him.

Smith, too, could face a stiff challenge for Senate 47 in 2018, assuming Iowa Democrats can find a viable candidate. The 47th is split by a pair of House districts held by Republican newcomer Gary Mohr in the east and nearly untouchable Democrat Phyllis Thede in the west. The 2017 legislative session, which concluded this weekend, raised Smith's profile. He was a driving force behind legislation that would have righted Iowa's deeply inequitable school funding. But that bill died in the House, amid revenue panic-induced budget slashing. He also offered Democrats fresh ammunition by carrying voter ID legislation -- popular statewide but loathed by liberals, civil rights groups and the organization representing Iowa's county auditors.

On top of that, Legislative Republicans representing swing districts will bear the political brunt of the Legislature's conservative agenda, especially rollbacks of collective bargaining, limits on abortion access and educational funding.

But, by dismissing speculation that he'll make his second attempt at a Congressional seat, Smith positioned himself for a re-election bid in 2018. And he'll again push next year for the fix to inequitable school funding, which would score him significant points in district should it actually survive.

"I believe we will get it passed next year as long as the budget doesn't throw us another curve ball," he said.
DES MOINES  Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday he likely will sign into law legislation to expand access to medical cannabis for more seriously ill Iowans, but first, he wants to make sure the bill doesnt have unintended consequences that would allow recreational use of marijuana-derived products.

This was just worked out in the closing hours of the session, so were going to carefully review it, but I think this is certainly a subject that has a lot of interest and support, Branstad said during his weekly news conference Monday. Im pleased the Legislature was able to reach a consensus on this difficult and contentious issue."

House and Senate members worked in the sessions waning hours to reach an agreement to stop a 2014 law from expiring July 1 without something to replace it.

Authors of House File 524 said it would expand access to medical cannabis to more Iowans suffering from debilitating medical conditions but did not go as far as the Senate earlier proposed.

Currently, Iowas law decriminalizes possession of cannabis oil for treatment of chronic epilepsy. The legislation on Branstads desk would authorize up to two operations to grow marijuana and process 3 percent cannabidiol that would be distributed by five state-approved dispensaries. Iowa-based doctors could prescribe cannabis oil for treatment of up to 15 chronic conditions, if Branstad signs the bill.

I have a responsibility to diligently review and consider all aspects, and thats what I do with every bill, Branstad told reporters. But certainly, its something that Im pleased was approved, and Im very hopeful that we dont find any major problems, so I think its likely that I will sign it.

During floor debates early Saturday in the Statehouse, architects of the plan noted it likely would take up to at least 18 months for the new program to get up and running, with a new state advisory board and a bidding process for state-licensed operations producing the cannabis oil for Iowa patients. In the meantime, qualified Iowans recommended by their physicians still would have to obtain cannabidiol from out-of-state sources.

HF 524 creates an advisory board of specialists and law enforcement to review medical evidence and studies to determine what conditions should be added to the list of debilitating conditions.

It also would recommend to the Board of Medicine additional diseases that should be covered. And if it determines a condition requires cannabidiol oil with a THC level of more than 3 percent, it also would make a recommendations to the board.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  The nations governors Tuesday issued a statement urging Congress to consider modification of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act to allow the National Guard to preserve its readiness through the Military Technician program.

National Guard dual-status military technicians are full-time, federally funded uniformed employees of the state military department who serve as their governors immediate response force in times of emergency, such as tornadoes, floods, wildfires and civil disturbances, according to the National Governors Association statement.

Current law requires 20 percent of all military technicians be converted to federal civilian employees by Oct. 1, 2017, according to the governors. That conversion will seriously disrupt National Guard domestic operations by significantly reducing the number of military technicians available to respond, they say.

Federal legislation introduced in the House and Senate modernizes the Military Technician program while minimizing the impact of conversion, the association said in a news release. Also, it sets a new conversion target  4.8 percent, the level recommended by the Department of Defense in December.

National guard military technicians are absolutely essential when it comes to keeping our country safe, said Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, co-chair of the Council of Governors, which serves as a mechanism for governors and key federal officials to address matters pertaining to the National Guard, homeland defense and defense support to civil authorities. When no-notice emergency situations occur, governors call on military technicians as our primary source of immediate manpower.

Connecticut Gov. Daniel Malloy, also a co-chair of the Council of Governors, said the nations governors strongly support legislation introduced by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Rep. Ralph Lee Abraham, R-La., to modify and modernize this critically important program.

The 20 percent conversion seriously undermines our ability as state executives to respond quickly to emergencies and to keep our citizens safe, Malloy said. We hope Congress will hear us and resolve this critically important issue.
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LINCOLN, Neb. | The owners of four Nebraska beer stores that sell millions of cans of beer each year near a South Dakota American Indian reservation that is plagued by alcohol-related problems are appealing a state regulator's decision not to renew their liquor licenses.

The appeal filed late Monday in Lancaster County District Court says the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission's decision last week was arbitrary, unsupported by evidence and contrary to Nebraska law. The commission cited concerns about a lack of adequate law enforcement near the stores in the village of Whiteclay, 360 miles northwest of Omaha.

The licenses are scheduled to expire Sunday, although a judge could allow them to remain open.

The stores sell beer and malt liquor just 200 yards south of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which bars alcohol but continues to struggle with high rates of fetal alcohol syndrome and other alcohol-related issues among members of the Oglala Lakota Tribe. The stores have operated for decades, despite criticism that the area lacks adequate law enforcement to enforce state liquor laws and prevent violence and sexual assaults.

The judge will weigh the potential harm to the public against the potential harm to the businesses, said Dave Domina, an attorney for residents who oppose the liquor license renewals. A hearing on the request is expected later this week.

Domina said advocates who oppose the stores are already planning to revitalize the town.

"I think there's a real effort to begin moving forward," he said.

The liquor control commission said in its ruling that the beer store owners' testimony during an April 6 public hearing was "self-serving and failed in any way to show that law enforcement in Whiteclay was adequate and consistent with the public interest."

Longtime advocates who have sought to improve conditions in Whiteclay said the ruling could set the stage for a larger transformation that will serve members of the Oglala Lakota Nation. Lawmakers were planning to visit the area in May, and tribe members were expected to hold a prayer vigil to call for courts to uphold the commission's ruling.

"We look at this decision as an initial and vital early step in what will be a transformed Whiteclay, one that promotes life, healing and hope," said Bruce BonFleur, a faith leader who lives in Whiteclay.
HOT SPRINGS -- On Tuesday, April 18, a Hot Springs milestone was reached: The Hot Springs Area Chamber of Commerces Facebook page finally hit 10,000 likes.

According to Chamber Media Coordinator Justin Gausman, this actually happened during Easter weekend, on Saturday, April 15.

Whats so big about this?

Gausman offered some perspective. When he started working for the Chamber in August of 2013, the Chambers Facebook page had about 2,000 likes. So, in just four years time, the number of people following the Chambers information has increased five-fold.

The more people who follow us on Facebook, said Chamber Executive Director Scott Haden the more people receive real time information about what we have going on in Hot Springs. We will continue to grow this number and Justin has done a great job of not putting out too much information or post too often.

Reaching 10,000 followers on Facebook is a big milestone, Gausman said, especially for a town as little as Hot Springs. It means that the message we are sending out about Hot Springs is resonating with people.

Of course it helps in our ability to get the word out about events and things to see and do in Hot Springs but more importantly it reinforces a positive image of Hot Springs for tourists and locals especially illustrating the beauty we often take for granted living here.

Haden agreed, People trust the content that we put out on social media, and hopefully that equates to more visitors to Hot Springs.

Gausman went on to note how the citys Vision 2020 committee, in 2013, took suggestions from local residents and recognized the necessity for Hot Springs to take advantage of and better adapt to new technologies  including new media forms like social media.

Gausman recalled how former Mayor Cindy Donnell was one of the stronger voices pushing for this.

As a result, a cooperative partnership between the city, the Business Improvement District (BID) board  this is a group of hotel and motel owners  and the Chamber co-funded a new staff position at the Chamber in 2013 specifically for social media.

This positions duties broadened to include all digital media (photography, videography, websites, graphic design, billboard design, print and digital ads, etc.) and he was hired for the job.

I wouldnt attribute the success as much to the work Ive done myself but more in general just to having anyone in the position to do the work at all, Gausman said.

At the time I came on, the Chambers Facebook had about 2,000 followers  a respectable number, Gausman said. But I started developing a digital media strategy that involved more frequent posts and updates, more engaging and interesting photos and videos, and actually responding to inquiries and feedback online quickly.

The Chamber and BID also began investing in a digital marketing campaign through the Department of Tourism to drive traffic to our website, which we updated from a much more rigid and outdated one, and to social media, just increasing awareness about the area.

The last two years though in particular, weve seen massive growth which I would attribute especially to our Soak in Hot Springs campaign. It really has been a message that resonates with people I think. For years the community sought a marketing message that was both exciting and encompassed everything  didnt leave anyone out  and Hot Springs always struggled with that identity issue, but I think weve finally found our voice.

Looking ahead, Gausman sees bright things for the Chambers Facbook page.

The coolest thing Ive experienced interacting with people on social media, he said, especially people who discover our page for the first time, is that most of them arent unfamiliar with Hot Springs  they often have previously lived here, have family that live here or have toured the Black Hills before and in almost all cases have their own unique and interesting stories to share. Past residents are always thrilled to see historic photos of Hot Springs when I post them - and often share their own from personal collections. Better still are photos I see from family vacations and local events that we helped promote  when I see a grandma tag us in a picture of her grandkids at Evans Plunge and she talks about how she visited when she was a kid, or I see a video of someone catching a big one out at Angostura, thats what excites me and keeps me wanting to come back to work every day.

Thats the power of social media at its best  to connect us with one another and to share our stories, he said. So often we hear about the problems social media exacerbates like online bullying, the spread of false information, scams and so on, but people forgot those problems existed in different forms before the internet. Its easy to forget why we all jumped on in the first place. Its just human nature: we love finding our connections to other people - interests we share, stories and memories we have, and of course the people we care about.

Social media continues to evolve and change and we must adapt and keep up with any new trends, said Haden.

Visit the Chambers Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ HotSprings SouthDakota/.

Both Gausman and Haden also urged everyone to keep on voting for Hot Springs in USA Todays poll on best Midwestern small towns, visit http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-midwestern-small-town/hot-springs-south-dakota/ to vote.
PIERRE  In 2017, the Civil Air Patrol wings in both of the Dakotas will 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 didnt 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, Devils 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!!
CUSTER -- Over 180 freshman students from Hill City, Custer, Hot Springs and Edgemont participated in this years Freshman Impact: Caught in the Moment at Crazy Horse Memorial Wednesday, April 19. The program, which includes a mock accident and workshops, teaches freshman students the dangers and consequences of risky behavior such as drugs, alcohol, texting and driving and bullying, as well as how each decision can affect the long-term.

This is the sixth year Custer has hosted Freshman Impact for Southern Black Hills students. The day long prevention program was started in 2006 by Rick McPherson, who was a deputy working in a small community in Pennington County.

I was fed up with seeing kids in these horrible situations, he said, adding that he had heard of tailgate parties being busted, as well as rumors of beer cans present at accidents. I was friends with a federal defense attorney who told me to come up with some type of preventative action to help matters.

Wall was the first community to host a Freshman Impact event, with 60 students attending. This year, the program will be presented to over 2,800 freshman students in three states: South Dakota (both East and West River), North Dakota and Wyoming, all of which rank in the top 10 nation-wide list for being the worst state for teenage drivers.

I am excited we will make a difference in each of these states, McPherson said, adding that Montana may adapt the program in the next year. I hope this program gives students the knowledge to simply say no to high risk. I hope they have the ability to be a role model to other students and help their friends and classmates through the choices they face. Its all about helping one another.

This years event, which began six months ago, was coordinated by Selena Spring and Joel Behlings.

Countless hours are spent on coordinating with the schools, event personnel, fundraising, mailings and just working on the overall organization of the program, Spring said.

Spring has been involved with Freshman Impact since it first came to Custer. In the first few years of the program, Spring helped with the preparation and then became a group leader last year.

It was fun hanging out with the kids throughout the day and watching them interact with one another and participate in each of the learning stations, she said.

The day started with learning stations where small groups of students rotated through the seven stations. Inside were stations on suicide prevention, long-term consequences, social media and texting, as well as a drug presentation.

Outside, the freshman groups participated in Battle of the Belts, where students raced to put their seat belts on, competing against other teams times; and the field sobriety test, a driving course students completed while wearing drunk goggles which simulate a .17 blood alcohol content. Students were also introduced to the tools firefighters and EMT personnel use when responding to vehicle accidents, such as the jaws of life.

Every year, we change some of the topics to touch on current teen issues, but the overall message will always be the same, Spring said. If it makes one student stop and think about the decisions they make and if it saves even one life, then all the time we spend on this program makes it even more valuable.

After lunch, provided by Crazy Horse Memorial, students heard from a speaker about the consequences his family suffered after his brother  who wasnt wearing a seat belt  was killed in an accident. Following the message, students watched a skit performed by Hill City students, setting up the mock crash accident.

The mock crash  involving two cars, injuring six and killing one  showed students the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Over the course of an hour, students were able to see first responders arrive on the scene and begin helping victims, just as they would if it was a real accident. Agencies involved vary from medical, fire and law enforcement personnel from all of the areas in the Southern Black Hills, as well as representatives from the National Parks Service, U.S. Forest Service, Game Fish and Parks, Custer State Park, South Dakota State University, Ellsworth Air Force Base, MADD and South Dakota National Guard.

Each agency usually sends one or two people, which creates a team and working atmosphere in the community, McPherson said. It goes back to the proverb, It takes a village to raise a child. Thats where were coming from. Every resource has just a little bit of something to add to the program to help students make proper choices.

One of the agencies responding to this years mock crash was Lifeflight, which hasnt been able to participate in the previous five years due to weather. While the day started with cloudy skies and rain, the clouds broke around noon, allowing Lifeflight to fly in.

We were so excited to have them come, Spring said. Joel and I kept telling everyone it was our number one priority.

After the crash victims were rescued, a mock funeral was held, with services provided by Chamberlain-McColleys, as well as a mock trial with Custer County states attorney Tracy Kelley serving as prosecuting lawyer, Custer attorney Chris Beesley as defense lawyer and Seventh Circuit Judge Heidi Linngren presiding over the trial.

To find out more about Freshman Impact: Caught in the Moment, visit freshmanimpact.com.
SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. | The Nebraska State Patrol is seeking information into an investigation of theft by leasing land that included some South Dakota victims.

Calinda Barthel, aka Calinda Vantine, of Crawford, Neb., and Kelley Heller, of Chadron, Neb., were arrested Feb. 17 on charges of theft by leasing pasture land in Nebraska, according to a release from the Nebraska State Patrol.

They face 15 felony counts in district courts in Sioux and Dawes counties.

Investigator Keith Drinkwalter said the charges stem from Barthel and Heller allegedly using Craigslist to advertise agricultural sites to pasture cattle. Drinkwalter said they would convince people interested in leasing the land to pay money up front to hold the land. When another person called, they would repeat the process until they were leasing the same land to multiple people, he said.

Drinkwalter said the land is in a trust owned by Barthel's husband's family.

Alleged victims of the crimes are from Nebraska, Wyoming, Oklahoma and South Dakota, including the communities of Hermosa, Hot Springs and the Oelrichs area.

Anyone who has contacted Barthel or Heller regarding leased pasture land is asked to contact Drinkwalter at 308-432-6131 or the Sioux County Attorneys office at 308-668-2466.
A Rapid City man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for shooting another man last year who later died at a Burger King restaurant.

Mark Heinen, 34, received the maximum sentence possible after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Kiawe Walker on June 17.

Heinen had admitted in Seventh Circuit Court to recklessly shooting Walker with a handgun while high on methamphetamine, after Walker punched him in the face. The incident, Heinen said, occurred at a Rapid City storage facility where he had been living and where a female friend had arranged to buy meth from Walker.

Rapid City police said Walker died at the Burger King on East North Street, where he sought help after being struck by a bullet on his left shoulder. Emergency responders were unable to save him.

At Heinens sentencing at the Pennington County Courthouse, defense attorney John Murphy emphasized that the shooting followed a robbery gone bad and not what authorities have portrayed as a botched drug deal between the men.

It was Heinens female friend, 21-year-old Kasey Sybert, who was involved in a drug deal with Walker after she won some money at a casino, Murphy said. Heinen was around during the meeting at his home and reacted when he thought Walker was going to rob Sybert, the lawyer said.

The woman then had $900 on her lap, but no drugs were ever found on Walker, Murphy told the court.

Heinen, he said, had been frustrated with police trying to build a murder case around the shooting when it was a case of reckless and unintentional killing from the outset. Walker's death was the first of two Rapid City homicides in 2016.

Heinen was initially charged with multiple felonies, including second-degree murder, punishable with mandatory life in prison. His original charges will be dismissed under his plea agreement with county prosecutors.

In light of the facts, Murphy asked Judge Jane Wipf Pfeifle to suspend seven years of the 15-year sentence Heinen was facing and give him supervised release.

The lawyer, who described Heinen as probably his most thoughtful client, talked about the defendants upbringing in a chemically dependent household. His mother died of alcoholism, Murphy said, and Heinen himself began using drugs at age 11 and spent his entire 20s in federal prison, where he emerged with paranoia and anxiety problems.

Before Walkers shooting, Murphy said Heinen had been on a downward spiral following the death of his grandmother who cared for him after his incarceration.

The prosecutor asked for the maximum penalty.

Deputy States Attorney Scott Roetzel talked about Heinen destroying not just his life but also Walkers and the lives of both their families as a result of drug use. Heinen had admitted using meth for about a year leading up to his arrest in Walkers shooting, Roetzel said, when he should have known better after serving time for federal drug and firearm convictions.

The prosecutor acknowledged Heinens relatively young age and his taking responsibility for Walkers death. But Roetzel also noted Heinens criminal history, risk of reoffending and flight out of state. Heinen was extradited from Colorado, where he was caught a week after Walker's death.

Because of Heinens previous convictions, his maximum penalty for second-degree manslaughter was enhanced from 10 years to 15.

Judge Wipf Pfeifle said she did not believe Heinen would do well under supervised release, citing conduct such as drug use soon after his prison release and attempting to submit a fake specimen for his drug test.

Wipf Pfeifle said she could not get over how reckless Heinens behavior was, when he knew that he, drugs, money and a gun were not a good combination.

She also expressed confidence in local police, saying detectives were just doing their job while having no input from a suspect who had left the state.

Fifteen years in prison, the judge said, was appropriate for the life that was taken.

After his sentence was pronounced, Heinen spoke for the second time at the hearing. Turning his chair toward Walkers mother and girlfriend in the audience, he again apologized to the victim's family.

I didnt mean it, Heinen said. Im sorry that he died. I hope you guys can forgive me.

He earlier also apologized for the trauma to Burger King staff, including a 14-year-old restaurant worker who came to Walker's aid.

Heinen will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence and will be given credit for 300 days spent in county jail.
Oglala Sioux Tribal Police Chief Harry Martinez has stepped down following a call for his removal by a majority of the tribal council.

I just think theyre making a great mistake, Martinez said in a phone interview Tuesday.

The council also revoked the charter for the tribes department of public safety. Previously overseen by an independent board of trustees, the department will now be managed directly by the tribal government.

Martinez is the latest in a long chain of police chiefs on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation who have resigned or been forced out in the last nine years. Since 2008, the job has changed hands at least seven times, according to a memo from an attorney for the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. The memo was sent to to provide background for the law and order committee asit considered dissolving the public safety's board of trustees.

The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council held a 15-2 vote of no confidence in Martinez during a special meeting to discuss public safety on Monday, according to tribal spokesman Kevin Yellow Bird Steele.

The original motion to hold the vote was made by council member Stanley Little White Man, who is the chairman of the councils law and order committee. Martinez resigned following the results of the vote.

Yellow Bird Steele said he could not comment on the reasons why a majority of the council voted against Martinez, as the discussion was held in an executive session closed to the public. The council members were unavailable for comment Tuesday, as they were in session all day.

Though he is not from the reservation and isnt an enrolled tribal member, Martinez, 60, said he has been a police officer in Pine Ridge on and off since 1998. He said he believes the tribal council ousted him because they perceive him as an outsider. Another reason, Martinez added, was that he was beginning to pursue a long-delayed independent investigation into how federal grant funds were being used within the tribal police department.

I believe that theyve never had a chief thats too concerned about resolving whats going on in the finances department, Martinez said. I cant be intimidated by them.

When asked about an investigation into tribal police funds, Yellow Bird Steele said now that the board of trustees overseeing the police department has been dissolved, functionaries within tribal government will begin combing through the financial records at the justice center.

Counting Martinez, there have been three different police chiefs on the reservation in the last year alone.

When former police chief Eugenio White Hawk resigned last August, he was replaced by officer Mark Mesteth, who served as acting-police chief for a few months until he was replaced by Martinez in October.

According to Yellow Bird Steele, Mesteth will step back into the role of acting-police chief now that Martinez has been ousted.

In a letter to the tribal department of public safetys board of trustees earlier this month, attorney Steven D. Sandven said that there simply is no continuity in the Tribes leading positions, and that the constant flux in the police chiefs office can have a negative impact.

Ever-changing work expectations, contradictory business decisions, and erratic management can make employees feel disgruntled, he wrote, and it certainly doesnt allay Tribal members safety concerns.
It was 100 years ago when Corporal Franklin Otis Carroll, Company B, 1st Illinois Regiment of Calvary, Illinois National Guard, put in his papers for Infantry Officer School. He was accepted and reported for duty.

Carroll and his fellow officer candidates were patriots who dreamed of battlefield glory. The first entries in his War Diary are three great speeches: Pericles to the Athenians, Pauls Sermon to the Greeks at Mars Hill, and the Gettysburg Address, all written in their entirety in longhand in pencil, the Gettysburg Address from memory. Democratic principles, God and the rights of free peoples.

At the same time, Morris Samuel Martin, just 15 years old, from Kinder, Louisiana, ran away, barefoot, to join up. At 15, he may have been the youngest American soldier in the Allied Expeditionary Force. He was big for his age and easily passed muster. Never having had a pair of shoes, his Army boots were his pride and joy.

Two weeks before Officer Candidate School ended, representatives of the Army Signal Corps dropped by to ask for volunteers to fly airplanes. Carroll was a recent graduate in Electrical Railway Engineering from the University of Illinois and a cavalryman. He and four others volunteered and were immediately commissioned as first lieutenants, rising from corporal of cavalry to regular Army first lieutenant, the carrot to entice otherwise bright people to fly paper and wood kites in combat. The life expectancy of fliers on the Western Front was short.

Private Martin, outfitted and trained, sailed for France with Black Jack Pershing. He spoke French as his first language, a son of Acadians forced out of Canada to New Orleans. Martin started speaking English at the age of seven. American and French officers quickly realized the big handsome kid spoke fluent French. He served in several capacities as an aide de camp to senior officers and quickly rose in enlisted rank where he would remain, a non-commissioned officer, until World War II.

Carroll was the most natural pilot Major Stratemeyer, later Chief of Staff of the USAAF in World War II, had ever seen. His intuitive understanding of flight and his engineering degree sidelined Carroll from the fighting.

Instead, he was assigned as an advanced flight instructor at Kelly Field, Texas. He would teach many young men how to fly to stay alive. He would also be named the assistant chief engineer of the Army Air Corps by 1922.

Colonel Martin went on to tours overseas, leaving Manila with his family just months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines. He served on General George Marshalls staff as a chief interpreter and retired from the Air Force in 1947 in Spokane, Washington.

By 1938, Carroll was Chief Engineer of the United States Army Air Forces, commanding the laboratories at Wright Field, Ohio, having been the first flier to land there when it was a corn field. He took the perilous sea voyage to England in 1940 to retrieve the British aircraft industries secrets before the island fell to Germany. He would end his career leading Bells development of the X-1 supersonic jet and building the jet development center at Tullahoma, Tennessee. His stamp was on every Army airplane that fought in World War II and the next generation for Korea.

Mine is a military family whose distant origins are lost to history, but whose ancestors fought in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and who served without pause from 1914 to 1953 through the two Great Wars and beyond. Non-partisan and honorable, neither man voted in a national election until they retired.
The board of directors for Regional Health expressed "full confidence" in CEO Brent Phillips on Monday, less than a month after nearly 100 doctors at Rapid City Regional Hospital called for his removal.

The board voted unanimously in full confidence of the work being done by (Phillips) during a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday, according to a statement.

As a board, the statement read, we fully endorse and support Brent for his leadership and ability, as well as his vision and plans to create a world-class, community-based, health care system that positively impacts a large portion of South Dakota.

The Regional Health boards decision to support Phillips comes in the wake of a resounding call for the CEOs removal by a plurality of the hospitals physicians on April 4. Of the 142 physicians who attended the quarterly meeting of the hospitals medical staff, 95 cast a formal vote-of-no-confidence in Phillips.

The reasons cited varied from complaints about his management style to concerns about perceived misallocation of hospital resources, particularly in regard to the administrations recent decision to jail overflow mental health patients.

Dr. Stephen Eckrich is an orthopedic surgeon with Black Hills Orthopedic and Spine who works at Regional Hospital as a contract member of its medical staff. He describes Phillips leadership as a slash-and-burn style that is not conducive to the recruitment and retention of well-trained physicians who are interested in the long-term needs of our community.

That the members of the Regional Health Board do not appreciate the concerns of two-thirds of the doctors who work at RCRH is disappointing, but not surprising, Eckrich said in an email to the Journal. This action exemplifies why the residents of Pennington county and Rapid City must demand fundamental changes in Regional Hospital and Regional Health Board composition.

Regional Health Board Chairwoman Lia Green said she and the other board members have listened to Eckrich and the nearly 100 other doctors who are concerned about Phillips but noted that she has received letters from other medical staff voicing support for the CEO.

We are committed to work with our leadership in our entire medical community, Green said, adding, Wed like to partner, wed like to be collaborative. Were not going to change that position.

Phillips was appointed by the Regional Health Board of Directors, which oversees Regional Healths operation throughout the Black Hills.

For his part, Eckrich said hes not sure what, if any, action he and his fellow physicians will take next, but one thing is for sure in his mind.

Its not going to go away, he said. This is going to continue to be a problem and, unfortunately, I think its going to create a dysfunctional relationship between the doctors at the hospital and the administration and the board.
Moscow 2012 riot case defendant Buchenkov pleads not guilty

MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI) - Dmitry Buchenkov, who stands charged with participation in the riots on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on May 6, 2012, has pleaded not guilty, RAPSI learnt in the Zamoskvoretsky District Court on Tuesday.

In October 2016, final charges were brought against the defendant. He stands accused of participating in mass riots and attacking persons in a position of authority. There are 6 charge counts and 7 victims in the case against him, his lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina told RAPSI earlier.

His attorneys insist that he was out of Moscow on the day of riots. According to defense lawyers, Buchenkov has an alibi.

Initially, Buchenkov was put in jail. In March, the Moscow City Court replaced his detention with the house arrest.

Over 400 people were arrested and scores were injured in the authorized Bolotnaya Square protest that turned violent in May 2012. Dozens were later charged with inciting mass riots and battery against law enforcement officers.

Riot organizers Leonid Razvozzhayev and Sergey Udaltsov were sentenced to 4.5 years in prison each. Other defendants in the case received prison terms ranging from suspended sentences to four years. Several defendants were pardoned; one is undergoing compulsory mental treatment.

The convicts supporters believe that the riots were provoked by police.
Renova Groups managers to remain detained in bribery case

MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  The Basmanny District Court of Moscow has extended detention of Yevgeny Olkhovik, a co-owner of top Russian group of companies Renova and Boris Vaynzikher, CEO of Renovas subsidiary, T Plus Company, the courts spokesperson Yunona Tsareva told RAPSI on Tuesday.

Olkhovik and Vaynzikher involved in a bribery case will stay in jail until August.

Investigators in Russias Republic of Komi have initiated a criminal case against some former and acting managers of Kompleksnye Energeticheskiye Sistemy (KES) company, of which T Plus is the legal successor, on suspicion of large-scale bribery. At that time, the offices of the companys parent holding Renova were also raided.

Three men holding CEO posts in the KES at different time, Olkhovik, Vaynzikher and Mikhail Slobodin are involved in the case. Vaynzikher and Olkhovik are currently in detention. Slobodin has been arrested in absentia. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Investigators believe that between 2007 and 2014 the defendants bribed officials currently involved in the criminal case against the Republics ex-head Vyacheslav Gaizer with money and other assets. In total, they transferred over 800 million rubles ($13.3 million) to bribetakers.
Russian NGOs suit against Google over links removal set for June 21

MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI)  The Moscow Commercial Court will consider on June 21 an application filed by SOVA Center for Information and Analysis against Google seeking recovery of links removed from search results under the law on information protection, according to court records.

On August 22, the court returned the SOVA's lawsuit against Google citing some violation of the required complaint procedure on the part of the NGO as concerned the settlement of its dispute with the defending party. Earlier, it was reported that RosKomSvoboda NGO had filed an application against Google on SOVAs behalf.

According to SOVA, in March and April 2016 Google officially informed the Center that the search engine had to delete links to information from its website connected with news dated by 2006, 2008 and 2010.

The applicant claims that Googles actions curtails the organizations right to freedom of information.

The SOVA Center is engaged in information and research activities in the realm of problems related to nationalism and xenophobia; social and religious relations; political radicalism; development of liberal values; and human rights protection in Russia.
Prosecutors register 45% rise of terrorism offences in Russia in 2016

MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI)  Amount of registered terrorism crimes increased by 45% in Russia in 2016, RIA Novosti reported Tuesday citing the report of Prosecutor General Yury Chaika on law and order.

According to statistical data analysis, the number of crimes of terrorist and extremist nature increases in Russia annually.

Last year, 2,227 terrorism offenses and 1,450 extremism crimes were registered by Russian authorities, the Prosecutor Generals report reads.

The rise in crime for the last 5 years is caused by enhancement of law enforcement agencies operating efficiency in detecting involvement of Russian nationals and foreigners in terrorist activities abroad, particularly in Syria and Iraq, but not by increased terrorism in Russia, according to the report.

A considerable number of terrorism crimes registered in 2016 is connected with revealing of new criminal episodes with involvement of individuals, who had been earlier convicted of terrorism and participation illegal armed groups.
HELENA  Republican leadership and the governor are going back to the drawing board on finding a compromise to pass a bill that would use bonding to pay for some infrastructure projects.

A group of about a dozen lawmakers, mostly Republicans, met with Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock early Tuesday morning to discuss what it would take to pass an infrastructure package, though they came to no deal.

The governor had previously picked several Republican-favored bills from a list presented by that party's leadership as part of a negotiation to get an infrastructure bonding bill passed this session.

The Legislature has not passed an infrastructure bonding bill for several sessions. In 2015, a package failed by one vote and the session before Bullock vetoed the infrastructure bill, saying it was necessary to balance the state budget.

Some Republicans in the House and Senate are opposed to the idea of bonding to pay for statewide infrastructure projects, though among others there is a gradient of comfort depending on the amount of money being bonded. There are two bills in play, one that calls for $78 million carried by Rep. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, and another carried by Sen. Eric Moore, R-Miles City, that has $98 million.

Cuffes bill had less bonding at first, but was amended to add in projects that have caused friction, including upgrades to Romney Hall on the Montana State University campus and a veterans home in Butte. Moores bill includes those projects, plus additional money for school projects.

Its estimated about 10-15 Republicans in the House and another 10 in the Senate wont support any sort of bonding.

Democrats have tried to sell bonding as a good deal in a year when the state budget is tight, with House Minority Leader Jenny Eck repeatedly pointing out several school districts are asking voters this spring to bond more for school projects  Bozeman at $125 million for a new high school and $63 million in Helena for three new elementary schools.

Knudsen said Republicans understand that, but its not a point that gains any traction. I dont think we have a Republican caucus full of morons.

Bullock also said Montana has a low debt level compared to other states.

But many Republicans, who hold a majority in the Legislature, argue the state should not enter into any debt to pay for projects, while others have concerns about the state transferring cash that was set aside for these types of projects into the states general fund to help balance the budget and replacing that money with bonding.

The package of bills Bullock agreed to let become law in exchange for an infrastructure package included two bills to change workers compensation rules, another to allow for 10-year license plates, a land access bill, a non-genetically modified seed bill and a bill to pay for regional water projects.

But Speaker of the House Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, said in the occasionally tense meeting Tuesday morning those bills werent enough.

He asked for the governor to sign one of the two bills that would either outright ban or severely limit access to abortion, as well as allow a charter school bill that, though its carried by a Democrat, is unpopular within the party. A third bill Knudsen floated was one exempting wells on family-transferred land from regulation.

Those bills were on the original list provided to Bullock to pick from.

Sen. Jon Sesso criticized the bills Knudsen selected. I dont understand what the linkage is between social policy and job creation and economic development. To interject that division into the infrastructure debate is misplaced.

Through the meeting, Knudsen repeatedly said hes not the dictator of his caucus and that he asks members to vote their conscious.

Bullock and Knudsen at times clashed during the meeting, and it was clear there also wasnt complete consensus among Republicans at the table about which bills should be prioritized.

Moore said he didnt care which infrastructure bill passed or if it had his name on it, while some in attendance said that Cuffe had pride in authorship and wanted the final package.

More also suggested a global haircut on the amount of bonding in either of the bills, saying that reducing the total amount bonded by cutting the budgets for each project by something like 10 percent might make the bill more appealing.

Sen Llew Jones, R-Conrad, some have said removing more-controversial projects like Romney Hall might gain some Republican votes, but lose other Republicans, including possibly his in the Senate, and many Democrats.

The meeting was between Republican Reps. Jeff Essmann, Rob Cook, Frank Garner, Mike Hopkins, Speaker Pro Tem Greg Hertz and Knudsen. Democratic Representatives included Casey Schreiner and Minority Leader Eck.

On the Senate side, Republicans Moore and Jones were there. Sesso was the lone Senate Democrat. Also there was Dan Villa, the governors budget director, and his deputy chief of staff Ali Bovingdon, plus two members of the communications staff.

A mid-morning fire alarm that cleared the building caused more flurry in an already busy morning. After people were let back into the Capitol, Republicans wouldnt say when they planned to meet again to develop a new list to present to Bullock, though some said they expected it to happen between House floor sessions in the early afternoon. It was also unclear if or when legislators would meet with the governor again.

Before a 2 p.m. House floor session, Knudsen said he didn't think things progressed any farther than where negotiations were left in the morning meeting.

Some lawmakers said that it would be easier to hash out a deal without media present. The morning meeting was not announced publicly, and reporters found out about it by sitting outside the governors office.

It also wasnt clear if the Speaker of the House was initially invited, saying when he entered I must have missed the memo about the 8 oclock meeting in the governors office.

Another attendee said he found out about the meeting after getting a text message from a phone number he didnt know.
A Corvallis man who the sheriff's office said nearly ended up being T-boned and driving off the side of the road was charged Monday with a felony count of DUI.

Robert Edward Easley, 43, also faces a misdemeanor count of possession of dangerous drugs after a Ravalli County Sheffi's deputy opted not to throw a Bob Marley cigarette holder into a field, as Easley requested.

According to charging documents, the deputy first spotted Easely about 2 p.m. April 22 when the deputy saw a man walking into a convenience store on the north edge of Hamilton.

At that point, according to the documents, Easley appeared to be stumbling as he walked.

The deputy saw Easley get into the drivers seat of a Ford Expedition that pulled out onto Highway 93. While the deputy was attempting to catch up with the vehicle, Easely made a left turn onto Bowman Road in front of two southbound vehicles.

Easleys vehicle was nearly T-boned, the court papers said.

As the vehicle Easley was driving began to accelerate, the deputy activated his emergency lights. Initially, Easely failed to yield.

By now, the court records said, Easley was weaving within his lane. When he turned onto Rickets Road, his passenger side tires were nearly all the way off the road.

Easley then stopped his vehicle.

The deputy noted a strong smell of alcohol when he first made contact with Easely, court records said. When asked how much he had to drink, Easely replied not very much.

When Easely attempted to perform the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, Easely failed to focus on the deputys finger. Instead, he told the deputy he was watching the bird that was behind the officer.

Eventually, Easely told the deputy he wasnt willing to do the test. When the deputy asked him to stand on one leg, Easely replied that he couldnt do that even if he were sober.

Easely refused further testing, including a preliminary breath test.

Before putting Easely into his patrol car, the deputy found a Bob Marley cigarette holder on the man. The court documents said Easely told him the cigarette holder contained marijuana cigarettes and he asked the deputy to toss it into a nearby field.

The deputy didnt open the container. He didnt toss it in the field either.

At the detention center, officers discovered three marijuana cigarettes in the Bob Marley container.

Easley has prior DUI convictions in Montana in 1995, 2005 and 2006.

Ravalli County Justice Jim Bailey set bail at $10,000.
BELGRADE  A Montana man who killed his passenger in a drunken crash more than 15 years ago has been sent back to prison after being convicted of driving drunk again.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2qb2bCb ) 51-year-old Bryan Lane Prather was sentenced Monday to five years in prison with his suspended sentence on a felony negligent homicide conviction revoked.

Prather crashed his truck into a semi-trailer in 2001, killing 32-year-old Joe Riggs. He pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and had been sentenced to 20 years in prison with five of the years suspended.

He had been in prison for four years before being paroled, and then was sent back for a drunken driving charge in 2007.

He was paroled again in 2011 and received his latest drunken driving charge in February.

___

Information from: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com
HELENA  A Helena man who fatally shot his friend while pistol-whipping someone else in July has pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide.

Austin Lee Kroll-McLaughlin admitted his guilt in a last-minute hearing Friday. Kroll-McLaughlin was 18 when he fatally shot 20-year-old Ryan William Eakin.

A sentencing hearing is slated for June 20 in Helena district court.

Prosecutors have dropped a charge of felony tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. A trial on the two charges had been scheduled for next month.

Kroll-McLaughlin shot Eakin in the chest as he pistol-whipped another man the morning of July 7. He was charged with deliberate homicide under the felony murder rule, which alleges he was committing felony assault with a weapon when he caused Eakin's death.

At the time of the shooting, Kroll-McLaughlin was out on bond for a pending burglary charge. In November 2015, he was arrested for allegedly breaking into a vehicle located inside of a detached garage on the 1300 block of Lewis Street. He then reportedly tried to run from police. He is awaiting sentencing in that case as well.
1020 Bolivar.jpg

Ohio Means Jobs plans to leave its longtime home at 1020 Bolivar Road in downtown Cleveland's Gateway District, a short walk from Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena.

(Michelle Jarboe/The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A downtown Cleveland workforce-development office run by the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County is leaving its longtime Gateway District home for new digs.

The office, a local outpost for the statewide Ohio Means Jobs program, will occupy the former Whitlatch Building at 1910 Carnegie Ave. starting June 1. The job-training and support program currently is located at 1020 Bolivar Road, in a building that has been a source of frustration for public and private lenders alike.

Cleveland City Council approved legislation late Monday to enable the move. Ohio Means Jobs will sign a 10-year-and-three-month lease as the sole tenant at 1910 Carnegie. At 30,000 square feet, the new space represents a downsizing from the agency's too-large lease on 54,000 square feet at 1020 Bolivar, city officials said.

The Bolivar lease, managed by the city, ends April 30; however, the city has a 30-day holdover right that extends its occupancy through May.

Ken Silliman, chief of staff to Mayor Frank Jackson, said the looming lease expiration prompted the city to start a real estate search in December. "We concluded, for a number of reasons, that the 1910 Carnegie site was the best option," he said.

The workforce-development program will fully occupy 1910 Carnegie, the former Whitlatch Building now controlled by Hemingway Development. A for-profit college never moved into the building's lower floors, which have been outfitted with classrooms and meeting spaces.

Ohio Means Jobs, steered locally by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Workforce Development Board, helps students and adults with job searches, career counseling, placement and technical training. The program draws federal funding that flows through the state and other sources.

During the fiscal year that ended June 30, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County branch helped more than 4,200 adults find jobs and worked with more than 1,200 young people, according to documents provided to City Council last year.

Natoya Walker Minor, the city's public affairs chief, said 1910 Carnegie will be more convenient for job-seekers and employers who are hiring. She noted the building's close proximity to freeways and public transportation, including the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center, and ample parking - more than 100 spaces.

Hemingway Development, the landlord, prepared the basement and first floor of 1910 Carnegie last year to accommodate Miami-Jacobs Career College. But the private, for-profit college never moved in. Miami-Jacobs has run into accreditation problems and halted enrollment at a handful of campuses in mid-2016.

Classrooms and meeting spaces outfitted for the school proved an easy fit for Ohio Means Jobs, said Nathan Wynveen, Hemingway's director of portfolio management. Upper-floor renovations might take a few months.

The agency's youth program will move into the new space right away, Walker Minor said. Adult programs will relocate temporarily to an Ohio Means Jobs office in Brook Park.

City officials wouldn't say much about 1020 Bolivar. A county spokeswoman referred lease-related questions to the city. Executives at the Frangos Group, the Gateway District parking-lot operator and property owner that controls the building, did not respond to a request for comment.

Court records show that Cuyahoga County started pursuing $1.06 million in debt repayment tied to 1020 Bolivar more than six years ago. The county provided a $1 million brownfield loan in 2006 to assist with redevelopment of the building.

In mid-January, the court revived a judgment that was rendered in favor of the county and against Frangos Group Chairman Lou Frangos and related companies in 2011. In court records, the county claims it hasn't received any payments on the debt, which has been accruing interest at an 11 percent rate since March 2011. Litigation over the validity of the county's claim is ongoing.

Real estate records indicate that the building is divided into office condominiums. A Frangos affiliate owns the first floor, while a company tied to Birmingham Capital of Michigan acquired the upper floors last year. A Birmingham asset manager didn't return a phone call.

Until recently, the Hanna Commercial Real Estate brokerage was marketing 1020 Bolivar for sale. Gregory West, a Hanna Commercial senior vice president, said a potential deal fell through and the listing is no longer active. He referred other questions to Frangos.

Hanna Commercial also represented Ohio Means Jobs in the agency's downtown space search.
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In Nepal, the political atmosphere is rife with tensions on the issue of holding local level elections next month. The Madheshis, Tharus and other Janajati (indigenous) groups who form bulk of the nations total population have vowed to disrupt the elections as it intends to give legitimacy to new Nepalese constitution promulgated on September 20, 2015, which has not yet addressed their concerns.

In their bid to boycott the local elections, different protest programmes are being launched in Madhesh, Tharuhat and Limbuan (hills) belts. Indefinite strike will also follow as the date of election, May 14, nears. In such a situation, any attempt to impose elections in Madhesh against the will of the people is sure to invite fresh conflict both during the day of the elections, if not before.

As it is well known, the constitution was made without having any participation of Madheshis in it. Besides, their demands for redrawing provincial boundaries, population-based elections, proportional representation in state mechanisms, and citizenship related issues remained unaddressed. The constitution was amended last year, but it was merely eyewash.

Subsequently, the present government, led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, tabled the second amendment bill in the parliament to resolve the Madhesh issue. A provision was made in the new amendment bill to make second province for the Madheshis in Terai as part of the effort to redraw provincial boundaries. The amendment bill also made a provision for constituting a commission to resolve the issue of those controversial districts in Madhesh that have been clubbed with hill provinces and are yet to be integrated with Madhesh province.

But the new amendment bill was not acceptable to the agitating Madheshi groups because of the trust deficit. The Madheshis dont believe that the commission would ever do any justice with them. In 2008, the government of Nepal duly signed agreement with the Madhesh-centric political parties to grant one Madhesh province from Mechi river in the east to Mahakali river in the west, but later on it backed off and the Madheshis thus felt cheated.

And more than that there was little in the amendment bill to meet the core demands of the Madheshis. Even in the local level elections, only 35 per cent of the village councils/municipalities were given in Madhesh, though this region accommodates over half of Nepals total population of 28 million. Realising the fact that the second amendment bill would not satisfy the agitating groups, the government later on replaced the amendment bill with a new one. But the new bill also overlooked the issue of redrawing of the provincial boundaries, which angered the Madheshi and hill Janajati groups more.

Acceptance of local level elections in the way the government wants will never allow the Madheshis, Tharus and other Janajati groups to have due representation in the elections of 59-member National Assembly and also in the election of the President of the country. In addition, there would be less of resources for the development of Madhesh region. Therefore, the Madhesh-centric political parties wanted the amendment of the constitution first before conducting the parliamentary, provincial and local level elections in the country.

In 2015-16, nearly 60 people were killed and thousands of people were injured in the Madheshi protests against the constitution. Recently, on March 6 this year, the police shot dead five more Madheshi activists in Rajbiraj, a small township in Terai, closer to the Indo-Nepal border, when they were protesting peacefully against the imposition of the local elections.

Unfortunately, the government is not taking the demands of the Madheshis, Tharus and other Janajati groups seriously. Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ajay Shankar Nayak termed the present protest programmes by the Madhesh-centric political parties against the upcoming local level elections as mere drama.

But the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimlendra Nidhi made crucial revelations that the security arrangement and necessary preparations needed to be made for conducting local level polls was not sufficient. Nidhi, who represents Nepals largest political party, Nepali Congress, in the government, felt that political settlement of the Madheshi issue through dialogue was necessary for the successful completion of the elections.

Ever since preparation began for making constitution in June 2015, the major political parties have been making mistakes, one after the other, by excluding the Madheshis, Tharus and other Janajati groups in the constitution making process as well as in its amendment. Even this time, the government registered the constitution amendment bill in the parliament unilaterally without taking the Madhesh-centric political parties into confidence.

Therefore, fresh conflict in Madhesh and also in certain pockets of the hills seems to be inevitable as the government and some other political parties are in favour of holding the elections; while the Madhesh-centric parties and hill Janajati groups are in mood to disrupt it. Such a situation in the wake of the local level elections is not in the long term interest of the nation as it will further polarise the country that is already polarised on ethnic lines. It is better to make the constitution inclusive by amending it to the satisfaction of the agitating groups before holding elections for the parliamentary, provincial or local levels.

*The author is Professor of Economics and Executive Director of Centre for Economic and Technical Studies in Nepal

(The article originally published in Observer Research Foundation)
DADELDHURA, April 25: The government decision to revise the schedule of the local-level election has left the people of Dadheldhura under the province number 7 disappointed.

The people of Dadeldhura , a far-western district , were eagerly waiting for the arrival of May 14 , the date earlier announced for holding the local level election nationwide, to take part in the local election to be held after 19 years.

But as per the revised schedule, the election in four provinces including the number 7 has been put off by one month and rescheduled for June 14. With this, the Dadeldhura people could not be certain that the election would be held on the new planned date.

A group of people who returned home taking a break from their works in India just to participate in the election are left in confusion with the revision of the election schedule. They are worried whether they would be deprived of choosing their representatives at the local-level, despite a long wait in this regard.

"I arrived home taking a leave from work just for the election," said Deepak Tamang of Amargadhi Municipality-8, a migrant worker in India. He shared that he was anxious with the postponement of the election date in his province.

The postponement of the poll date has had its impact on election related activities as well which have relatively gone down in the rural areas in the aftermath of the announcement of new date for the election.

Dattisingh Bhandari, who aspires to content for the post of a ward member from the Municipality, said he, at this backdrop, is undecided whether to intensify the election campaign.

With the revision of the election date, political parties have halted the process of selecting election candidates. RSS
BHAKTAPUR, April 25: President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Tuesday visited the local Durbar Square site where there are different heritages enlisted in the world heritage site.

President Bhandari inquired about the progress of the reconstruction works of the heritages damaged by the April 25, 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Today is the second anniversary of Gorkha earthquake.

On the occasion, she inspected the Durbar square gate, Rameshwar, Badri, Kedar, Pashupati and Batsala Temples. She further inspected Lamopati Sattal and National Art Museum as well.

While inspecting the heritage sites, President Bhandari opined for remembering the originality and cultural aspects while reconstructing the heritages. She further stressed on intensifying the reconstruction works by using local resources and manpower.

President Bhandari had also inquired whether there was lack of timber for reconstruction purpose or not.

Chief District Officer (CDO) Drona Pokharel, Local Coordination Committee chief Dhruba Bahadur Koirala, Bhaktapur Municipality executive officer Rohitraj Pokharel among other concerned officials had briefed the President about the progress of reconstruction tasks. RSS
Kathmandu, Nepal: The Supreme Court (SC), the apex court of the country, has on Tuesday ordered the government to halt any types of investigations on DIG Nawaraj Silwal until the final verdict.

A full bench of Justices Jagadish Sharma Poudel, Ishwor Prasad Khatiwada and Tej Bahadur KC has made the ordered to terminate any further investigation, suspension or launch of the case against DIG Silwal relating the IGP case.

Following the governments directives the Nepal Police had been investigating on DIG Silwal alleging him for tampering the classified government documents. Nepal Police had also taken control DIG Silwal bringing him in Police headquarters to record his statement on Monday. He was released following a Supreme Court's order on Monday itself.

As DIG Silwal is a contender for the post of police chief, he had moved to the court challenging to the government decision for not appointing him as the IGP.

The SC has fixed the date of final hearing of the IGP case registered by DIG Silwal on May 2.
CHITWAN, April 25: Two students' groups close to different political parties engaged in a clash in a hostel run by Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU), Rampur.

The clash ensued between the students' groups aligned to All Nepal National Independent Students Union- Revolutionary and All Nepal Free Students' Union (ANNFSU), at around 10:30 am in the hostel mess, leaving two persons injured, according to the District Police Office, Chitwan.

ANNFSU's Chiranjibi Pant and another whose identity is yet to be ascertained have been hospitalised in Bharatpur for treatment. A dispute over a minor issue resulted in the incident, it is said. Police reached the site and took the situation under control. RSS
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The Type 002 represents not only a much bigger class of ship but will incorporate modern design and operational features, including a catapult and early-warning aircraft. (Representational image) The Type 002 represents not only a much bigger class of ship but will incorporate modern design and operational features, including a catapult and early-warning aircraft. (Representational image)

Chinas state-owned Global Times newspaper reported last month that the Peoples Liberation Army Navys (PLANs) second aircraft carrier, referred to as Type 001A is nearing completion and that another carrier, dubbed Type 002, is also under construction. The Type 002 represents not only a much bigger class of ship but will incorporate modern design and operational features, including a catapult and early-warning aircraft. A senior Chinese official was quoted as saying: China needs two carrier strike groups in the Western Pacific and two in the Indian Ocean. So we need at least five to six aircraft carriers.

Other manifestations of Chinas unfolding grand strategy abound. It has built runways and fortified seven artificial islands created in the Spratly group in the South China Sea (SCS), thereby leapfrogging the mental and physical barrier posed to the PLAN by the first island chain. India is encircled by a growing ring of Chinese power and influence. To the north, garrisons, airfields and missile sites linked by modern road-rail networks underpin Chinas dominant posture on the Tibetan plateau. Ominously, the Xining-Lhasa rail link is progressing towards Nepal, where China has made significant political inroads. To our east, Chinas Yunan province will gain access to the Bay of Bengal via rail, highway and pipeline, linking it to the deep-water port being built by China at Kyaukpyu in Myanmar.

A parallel endeavour on Indias western flank, dubbed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), will create access to the Arabian Sea from Xinjiang to the Pakistani port of Gwadar via Gilgit-Baltistan. Described by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar as violative of Indian sovereignty because it runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, CPEC forms the bedrock of Chinas South Asia strategy, with a commitment of over $50 billion.

Further west, China has set up its first overseas military base at Djibouti on the Bab el-Mandeb. To our south, China has built a new harbour in Hambantota and modernised Colombo port for Sri Lanka. All three ports could provide bases or sanctuaries to PLAN ships and submarines deployed in the Indian Ocean. There is already news that the PLAN intends to deploy its expanded marine corps to Djibouti and Gwadar. The recent Chinese sale of eight diesel submarines to Pakistan and two to Bangladesh provides conclusive evidence of Indias strategic encirclement.

Indias decision-makers are, almost certainly, receiving divergent counsel about the Dragons actions and intent. Chinas left-leaning sympathisers scoff at the encirclement thesis and maintain that China neither wants war, nor seeks further territorial gains, but only economic engagement and tangible proof of friendship, which India has consistently failed to provide by playing the Dalai Lama card, cosying up to the US and withholding cooperation on the Belt and Road initiative.

Before the recent re-naming of Indian towns by Beijing, the demand for Tawang was explained away as a bargaining ploy, and India was advised to find a modus vivendi to somehow befriend China.

Even as we dismiss these inducements to appeasement, we must note the many serious dichotomies that distort our perception of this Asian hegemon. While China looms large in Indias security perspectives, the former does not regard India as a threat  or even a competitor. For Chinese strategists, asymmetry is inherent in such relations; they bluntly advise that rather than obsessing with futile dreams of parity, India must reconcile itself to a subaltern status vis-a-vis China.

In a novel explanation of Chinas conduct, American scholar John Garver has termed it an autistic state. The analogy refers to an individual whose delusions and fantasies prevent him from comprehending the motivations and emotions of others due to this neurological disorder. For example, there is firm conviction in China that the root causes of the 1962 conflict were Indias forward policy and its putative ambition to seize Tibet.

There is also evidence of Chinese schizophrenia. While dismissing India as a weak and effete state, ideologues also vilify it as an ambitious and expansionist power, waiting to avenge its 1962 military defeat. Most irksome to them is Indias proprietary attitude towards the Indian Ocean and its growing maritime relations with the US, Japan and Australia.

While Chinas self-perception has always been that of a benign and benevolent great power (Middle Kingdom), in another example of Freudian self-deception, the Chinese simultaneously nurture a deep-seated victim mentality as a relic of Chinas subjugation and humiliation by foreign powers during the 19th century. And yet, a strong streak of realism has ensured that Chinas post-Civil War leadership retained a crystal clear vision of their aims: Hegemony in Asia, acquisition of nuclear weapons and the incorporation of Tibet into the Peoples Republic.

As Indian diplomats and security experts struggle to resolve the manifold Chinese conundrums, they need to take note of two strategic realities that emerge from the dramatic growth of PLAN and the creation of the SCS island-fortresses. These bases can be used to forward-deploy ships, aircraft and missiles to threaten US or other naval forces, and such deployments could extend the operational range of PLAN surface and air forces by as much as 600-900 miles.

This is also the distance by which the Chinese are now closer to Indias Andaman & Nicobar Islands. While Port Blair is 900 miles from Chennai, it happens to be 1,900 miles from the Fiery Cross reef, via the Malacca Strait. In the near future, when PLAN is the worlds second most powerful navy, it may feel confident enough to contemplate a re-enactment of 1962 in the Bay of Bengal to cut India down to size again. How prepared would our political leadership and the armed forces be to react against a PLAN amphibious assault, on the Andamans, supported by one or more aircraft carriers?

This may, indeed, sound far-fetched, but so did Pearl Harbour in 1941 and Namka Chu in 1962. We too will soon have a robust and modern navy at sea, but without a national security doctrine or strategy, will we know how to use it as an instrument of state policy?
The re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba is, on a number of counts, a new masterstroke by Moroccos King Mohammed VI, after his feat of arms that allowed his countrys triumphant return to the African Union (AU), commented a Western diplomat based in New York.

The re-establishment of diplomatic ties between Rabat and Havana, after nearly 40 years of severance, put a wet blanket on the leaders of Algeria and the Polisario, who have not yet assimilated Moroccos readmission to the AU, said the same diplomat who spoke under anonymity.

The recognition of the pseudo-Sahrawi republic SADR by Fidel Castros Cuba in the 1980s had been the direct cause of Rabats decision to severe diplomatic ties with Havana.

The Polisario leaders try, once again, as they did when Morocco was readmitted to the AU, to reassure the Tindouf camps populations, claiming that the restoration of diplomatic relations between Morocco and Cuba was made without conditions, which is a victory for the Sahrawi cause. But the camps inhabitants are not fooled by this kind of talk.

Supporters of Lamine El Bouhali, the staunchest opponent to the Polisario leader Brahim Ghali since his election, accuse the Fronts leadership of continuing to chase after idle dreams.

The Polisarios dissidents and opponents in the Tindouf camps agree that the ongoing turnaround is obviously in favor of Morocco. They cite, among others, the resounding breakthroughs of Moroccan diplomacy in Africa and the changes at the level of the United Nations with the departure of former Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and his personal envoy to the Sahara, Christopher Ross who both openly supported the Polisarios independence claims.

In this vein, the report that the new UN chief, Antonio Guterres, submitted to the Security Council earlier this month, put a wet blanket on Polisario leaders in Rabouni camp and on Algerian rulers as well.

The Western diplomat believes that Morocco, despite the points it scored, has to be relentless especially on the African scene, where the Polisario still enjoys the support of Algeria, South Africa and some of their cronies. He argues that it is in the black continent that Morocco should deliver its final battle to close the chapter of completing its territorial integrity.
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Apr-24-2017 19:40 TweetFollow @OregonNews Russian Woman Identified as Murder Victim Police say the investigation of the murder has been difficult.

The victim has been identified as 27-year old Anna Alekseyevna Repkina.

Photo: Benton County Sheriff's Office

(BENTON COUNTY, Ore.) - Benton County Sheriff's Office has released the name of the victim in the murder investigation that resulted in the arrest of William Chase Hargrove. The victim has been identified as 27-year old Anna Alekseyevna Repkina, born September 24, 1989 in Russia. Ms. Repkina had no known relatives living in the United States. Her family has been notified with assistance of Russian Authorities. She had just arrived in the United States. On March 1, 2017, Ms. Repkina was admitted through the Los Angeles International Airport with a valid passport issued by the government of Russia. Her most recent residence was Corvallis, Oregon. On Monday, April 17, at 5:00 pm the Benton County Sheriff's Office responded to a suspicious death in a remote location outside the community of Alsea, Oregon. A deceased unidentified white female, believed to be in her twenties, had been located in a remote forested area. A preliminary review indicated the death was suspicious, pending a finding from the Oregon State Medical Examiners Office. On April 19th, deputies from the Benton County Sheriff's Office arrested 27-year old William Chase Hargrove for Murder. Police say the investigation of the murder has been difficult. The investigation will continue and additional evidence is being examined. What took place during the six weeks since her arrival in the U.S. March 1st? Benton County Sheriff's Office asks that if anyone has information about Ms. Repkina and her activities while in Corvallis and Benton County, please contact them at 541.766.6858. This effort required a coordinated effort from a multitude of criminal justice agencies to include Benton County District Attorney's Office, Corvallis Police Department, Philomath Police Department, Oregon State Police, Albany Police Department, FBI and the Oregon Department of Justice. _________________________________________

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This report was compiled by News Editor Mike Hodgson of the Santa Ynez Valley News, who can be reached at mhodgson@leecentralcoastnews.com, and by Gina Kim, who covers crime and courts for the Santa Maria Times. Follow her on Twitter @gina_k210.
Elizabeth Thomas, the Tennessee teenager kidnapped by her teacher, was withdrawn and thinner after she was rescued, family members said Monday.
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The Russian journalist who received death threats after exposing a wave of attacks against gay men in Chechnya has fled her home in Moscow. She speaks to CNN's Matthew Chance.

As featured on Threats over gay crackdown coverage force Russian journalist into hiding A prominent Russian reporter who revealed horrific details of a crackdown on gay men in Chechnya has told CNN she is in hiding after receiving death threats.
As much as I love movies, and that is a lot or I wouldn't be here, there are certain things that turn me off almost immediately. Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish, a kind of response to the populist storytelling of his infinitely more successful The Outsiders, does almost every single thing that I hate about consciously artistic films. Yet, here I sit, in awe.

Rumble Fish takes S.E. Hinton's novel and turns it into an exercise in artifice, utilizing black and white photography to immerse the audience in the world of its color-blind muse, The Motorcycle Boy, and an aggressively avant-garde rhytmic soundtrack that turns the film into what should be an interminably long jazz exploration. So far, that's two strikes on the list of "Things Josh Hates", but somehow Coppola takes these assertive outre touches and pieces them together into a complete and intensely engaging portrait of the death of innocence that made me absolutely melt.

While in the midst of filming his adaptation of Hinton's The Outsiders, Coppola began to get antsy. The Outsiders was by design a very big, emotionally expansive and garish film. The kind of thing designed to scream at the audience to let them know how it feels. Coppola worked very hard to quiet his less mainstream friendly instincts on that film, but he felt trapped by the process. Hinton, who'd been a close collaborator on the film mentioned her other novel Rumble Fish and when Coppola read the book, he knew he had his antidote.

Rumble Fish is the story of Rusty-James (Matt Dillon), a teenager who is the younger brother of neighborhood legend The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke). When his elder brother disappears, Rusty-James loses his rudder and begins to careen through life looking for the fight that will make it all make sense. He drags what is left of his big brother's gang, Smokey (Nicolas Cage), B.J. (Chris Penn), Midget (Larry Fishburne), and Steve (Vincent Spano), through his existential crisis as he attempts to reconcile his own inability to connect with the world through acts of violence. The one thing that almost keeps him grounded is his on-again-off-again relationship with Patty (Diane Lane), a student at an all-girls school in the neighborhood.

When The Motorcycle Boy returns after a long disappearance, Rusty-James begins to regain his mojo, thinking that the life he'd lived before would make a comeback and he and the gang would go on as if nothing ever happened. What he doesn't realize is that while he is looking for truth in the glory of the past, everyone around him has moved on into a future that looks a lot different, including and especially his big brother.

LIttle by little Rusty-James' life starts to come apart as the world he knows goes on without him, no matter how hard he tries to make it stop. The Motorcycle Boy tries to protect him from himself, but Rusty-James just won't listen and it takes a shocking act of violence to wake him up.

Everything about Rumble Fish is perfect, every conscious choice made by the creative team and the actors make the film better. The pin-sharp cinematography, the expressionistic art direction and lighting, the incredible percussive score, the surreal flights of fancy, and most of all the arch and pained performances of every actor lend to a whole that is far more than the sum of its very impressive parts.

Criterion's new Blu-ray of the film is one of the best overall packages for their recent releases that I've had the pleasure to enjoy. Not only is the presentation of the film impeccable, which is certainly is, but there are hours of materials that contextualize the film in a way that helped me to understand it on a level that would normally takes several viewings.

For the film's U.S. Blu-ray debut Criterion pulled out all the stops, engaging a ton of key cast and crew to talk about their memories and involvement with the film. No interview is as engaging as that of Coppola himself, who talks in great detail about the genesis of the film as well as the stylistic decisions that went into making it stand out. We also get fascinating new interviews with Matt Dillon and Diane Lane who talk with great fondness about their involvement, and in particular Dillon's obsession with S.E. Hinton's books. Hinton also makes an interview appearance and she talks a lot about the collaborative process and close workign relationship she had with Coppola. The new interviews round out with a talk with Roman Coppola regarding his presence on the film, and cinematographer Stephen Burum and production designer Dean Tavoularis in a wonderful thirty minute conversation about their contributions to the film.

If Criterion had stopped at the new interviews, the disc would've been excellent, however, the addition of a wealth of older material makes it indespensible. Also included are behind-the-scenes documentaries from 2005 regarding the making of the film as well as the creation of the score with Stuart Copeland. Then the disc goes back to the mid-80s for contemporaneous interviews with the young cast and crew, as well as a fascinating short piece on Mickey Rourke for French TV.

Various other bits and pieces discuss the existentialist touches of Rumble Fish and some deleted scenes, but the real gem is a feature length documentary by Chilean Alberto Fuguet. This film, Locations: Looking for Rusty James, is a personal exploration of the meaning of Rumble Fish for the filmmaker and a small cult of fanatics in Chile who discovered it and worship the film in a way in which it hasn't caught on in the US. Fuguet goes to Tulsa and visits the locations of the film only to have them feel more like home than his own country, and he talks in great detail about the impact of the film on the cinphile community in his country. It's fascinating stuff.

Criterion's Rumble Fish is a revelation. While The Outsiders is literally required reading in most American high schools, and the film version is shown to thousands of classrooms every year, this one slipped by because it is so bold and subversively constructed. Hopefully this changes soon, because it's really a masterpiece, and among Coppola's finest works.
Australian filmmaker Heidi Lee Douglas is looking for support from fans of socially conscious genre cinema to help bring her latest vision to the screen.

Building off her successful first films, the Gothic short, Little Lamb, Little Lamb and the searing documentary about the battle over Tasmania's ancient forests, Defendant 5, Devil Woman promises to tackle the tempestuous relationship between man and nature.

Synopsis: Ambitious science student Eddy sets a trap to collect proof of an endangered animal living in the forest. She succeeds, but in her pursuit for more evidence she is bitten. Eddy shows her scientific findings to Alice, a tough activist stubbornly manning a blockade to stop the forests from being logged, and they discover the animal has a horrible contagion. Eddy hides the bite and signs of having caught the disease, but when two loggers attack the camp the changes overtaking Eddy's body become a threat not only to the loggers but to her activist companions as well.

Drawing on the worlds and myths of zombies and shape-shifters, Douglas says that Devil Woman sits alongside 28 Days Later.

Support for Devil Woman is also support for women in an industry where they are underrepresented. Only 16% of directors, 8% of writers and 6% of directors of photographers of Australian feature films are women. Devil Woman addresses this with its female writer, director, producer, director of photography, editor and lead protagonist and Douglas hopes the experience will empower the crew to progress in their careers.

For more information and to support Devil Woman head over to its crowdfunding page!
Jean Rollin is one of long unsung heroes of European art cinema. His career, which spanned five decades from the late '60s through the early '00s, saw him tackling horror, sexuality, and violence from a unique point of view that often placed teh focus squarely on women. As such, it seems entirely appropriate, and in fact overdue, that superstar film programmer Kier-La Janisse and Canadian film scholar Paul Corupe's micro publishing imprint Spectacular Optical are releasing a brand new book of essays about Rollin by women this summer.

The book, Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin, is edited by Diabolique Magazine editor Samm Deighan is currently up for pre-order on IndieGoGo with a wealth of perks available for early buyers. The book is to feature essays from some of film criticism's best known and most well-respected experts on genre cinema including Deighan's Diabolique colleague Kat Ellinger, and a number of other excellent authors and essayits including Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Alison Nastasi, Heather Drain, Kier-La Janisse, and many others.

Over the last twenty or so years, Rollin gained the recognition that he deserved thanks in large part to not only to the re-emergence of his films in programs around the world, but also a new generation of scholarly writing on the subject, centrally the indespensible Immoral Tales by Cathal Tohill and Pete Tombs. However, as is the case across the film writing world, the contributions of women to the canon of scholarly work on Rollin is sparse, and so a project like this is more than exciting, it's a necessary step in a very welcome direction and worthy of all the support we can give.

Follow this link to pre-order your copy of Lost Girls, and maybe grab a cool tshirt while you're at it.

Check out more details below:

Canadian micro-publisher Spectacular Optical has just launched pre-sales for its newest book focused on the career of French fantasy and horror filmmaker Jean Rollin, LOST GIRLS: THE PHANTASMAGORICAL CINEMA OF JEAN ROLLIN, penned by all women critics, scholars and film historians.

With a campaign running on Indiegogo through May 17th at https://www.igg.me/at/lostgirlsbook , Spectacular Optical is offering genre fans an early opportunity to pick up this limited-edition book, as well as a slew of additional perks such as Blu-Rays, soundtracks, books, festival passes, a Rollin Mystery Boardgame designed by cover artist Jessica Seamans (limited to 100 copies!), and  most exciting of all - the Tour de sang: an immersive tour through eight Rollin film locations in the French countryside!

This collection of essays covers the wide range of Rollins career from 1968s LE VIOL DU VAMPIRE through his 2010 swansong, LE MASQUE DE LA MEDUSE, touching upon his horror, fantasy, crime and sex filmsincluding many lesser seen titles. The book closely examines Rollins core themes: his focus on overwhelmingly female protagonists, his use of horror genre and exploitation tropes, his reinterpretations of the fairy tale and fantastique, the influence of crime serials, Gothic literature and the occult, as well as much more.

Curated and edited by Samm Deighan (DIABOLIQUE), contributors to LOST GIRLS include some of the most important critical voices to emerge over the last decade of genre journalism: Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (SENSES OF CINEMA), Kat Ellinger (DIABOLIQUE), Virginie Selavy (ELECTRIC SHEEP), Alison Nastasi (SATANIC PANIC: POP-CULTURAL PARANOIA IN THE 1980s), Marcelline Block (ART DECADES), Rebecca Booth (DIABOLIQUE), Michelle Alexander (CINEMADROME), Lisa Cunningham (THE LAUGHING DEAD: THE HORROR-COMEDY FILM FROM BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN TO ZOMBIELAND), Heather Drain (DANGEROUS MINDS), Erin Miskell (THATS NOT CURRENT), Kier-La Janisse (HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN), Gianna DEmilio (DIABOLIQUE) and veteran genre journalist Marcelle Perks (SHIVER, EYEBALL).

The cover art and chapter headings (as well as the Rollin Mystery Boardgame!) are being created by illustrator Jessica Seamans, known for her work with Landland and posters for MONDO. The artwork features Rollin regulars the Castel Twins among a combination of imagery from his films Fascination and La Rose de Fer:

LOST GIRLS will be a beautiful perfect-bound book, roughly 400 pages and heavily illustrated throughout with stills, posters, ads and other visual ephemera related to Rollin's films. A successful campaign will ensure that the book can be printed in full colour, as Rollins iconic imagery so rightly deserves.

LOST GIRLS is the third book in Spectacular Opticals ongoing series of limited run film and pop culture books, which includes KID POWER! (2014) and SATANIC PANIC: POP CULTURAL PARANOIA IN THE 1980s (2015) and will precede the previously announced YULETIDE TERROR: CHRISTMAS HORROR IN FILM AND TELEVISION, which will be released in fall of 2017. Supporting partner organizations on the campaign include Kino Lorber, Finders Keepers, Headpress, Shudder, The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies London, Fantastic Fest (Austin), Monster Fest (Melbourne) and The Fantasia International Film Festival (Montreal), where the book aims to launch in July.

About Spectacular Optical:
 "Designed to Break You: Human Rights Violations on Texas' Death Rows" | Main | "Penal Incapacitation: A Situationist Critique" 

April 25, 2017

Oklahoma commission recommends continued moratorium on executions due to "volume and seriousness of the flaws" in state's capital punishment system

As reported in this local article, "two years after the state of Oklahoma last carried out an execution, a commission spearheaded by former Gov. Brad Henry has recommended extending a current moratorium on the death penalty in Oklahoma." Here is more:

"Due to the volume and seriousness of the flaws in Oklahoma's capital punishment system, Commission members recommend that the moratorium on executions be extended until significant reforms are accomplished," Henry said in a news release. Executions in Oklahoma have been on hold since Oct. 1, 2015, the day after Richard Glossip received his third stay of execution because the Oklahoma Department of Corrections did not have the right drugs as specified in the DOCs lethal injection protocol. A multicounty grand jury issued a highly critical report nearly a year ago related to multiple agencies handling of Glossips case and the January 2015 execution of Charles Warner, and it doesnt appear as though anyone involved is any closer to being able to resume the use of capital punishment. The Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission had 10 full-day meetings, held numerous conference calls, commissioned independent studies and conducted interviews with people from all sides of the issue, including with family members of people who were wrongfully convicted. "Many of the findings of the Commission's investigation were disturbing and led members to question whether the death penalty can be administered in a way that ensures no innocent person is put to death," Henry said in the release. The commission is making 40 recommendations to address systemic problems in forensics, innocence protection, the execution process, and the roles of the prosecution, defense, jury and judiciary, according to the news release.

The full report from the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission runs nearly 300 pages and is available at this link. Here is a passages from the report's executive summary:

In light of the extensive information gathered from this year-long, in-depth study, the Commission members unanimously recommend that the current moratorium on the death penalty be extended. The Commission did not come to this decision lightly. While some Commission members had disagreements with some of the recommendations contained in this report, there was consensus on each of the recommendations. Due to the volume and seriousness of the flaws in Oklahomas capital punishment system, Commission members recommend that the moratorium on executions be extended until significant reforms are accomplished. Many of the findings of the Commissions year-long investigation were disturbing and led Commission members to question whether the death penalty can be administered in a way that ensures no innocent person is put to death. Commission members agreed that, at a minimum, those who are sentenced to death should receive this sentence only after a fair and impartial process that ensures they deserve the ultimate penalty of death. To be sure, the United States Supreme Court has emphasized that the death penalty should be applied only to the worst of the worst. Unfortunately, a review of the evidence demonstrates that the death penalty, even in Oklahoma, has not always been imposed and carried out fairly, consistently, and humanely, as required by the federal and state constitutions. These shortcomings have severe consequences for the accused and their families, for victims and their families, and for all citizens of Oklahoma.

April 25, 2017 at 03:28 PM | Permalink

Comments

It is striking Glossip is still alive.

SCOTUS decisions repeatedly are not the end of the story.

Posted by: Joe | Apr 25, 2017 3:37:02 PM

i am just a regular citizen that believes richard is innocent. has any one thought of maybe hypnotisiing the guy who did the actual murder to get him to remember correctly-obviously hes lieing!

Posted by: della | Apr 25, 2017 8:26:33 PM

Civilized world is alive and well, and abolitionist.

Posted by: Claudio Giusti | Apr 26, 2017 10:43:10 AM

The report recommends usage of a one drug protocol, which seems to be presently used in eight states [Death Penalty Information Center].

Posted by: Joe | Apr 26, 2017 12:06:28 PM

Claudio. Italy has an active death penalty. On one hand, people go to the Mafia for justice. On the other hand, a lot of prisoners commit suicide. So stop kidding yourself about Italy being abolitionist of the death penalty.

Posted by: David Behar | Apr 26, 2017 4:03:42 PM

No voice for substantive victim right to not be victimized on the Commission. Dismissed.

Posted by: David Behar | Apr 27, 2017 9:11:34 AM

Post a comment
In a video that's part test-flight footage, part commercial  we've spared you the "plot" portion in which a woman says she'll meet her friends for dinner in two-minutes flat  the company Kitty Hawk is teasing one of several personal aircraft prototypes it's developed. Named for the site of the Wright Brothers' first successful flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the vehicle might strike viewers as more Da Vinci flying machine, or a large drone with a person in it instead of a camera.

Nevertheless, the term "flying car" is being bandied about by the Mountain View-based company and the press. In fact, the device, which goes about 25 miles per hour in the video, "looks and feels a lot like a flying motorcycle," according to a Medium article/testimonial from the woman who flew it in the commercial. According to the New York Times, that was filmed in Clear Lake, CA.

"The Flyer is a radical new concept in flight," Cimeron Morrissey pitches the product she tested out. "It is meant for amateurs like me, doesn't require a license and took me just a few hours of training on a flight simulator to learn to fly it." You don't need a license to fly it because it falls under the Ultralight category of FAA regulations. That's supposed to be reassuring, apparently.

"You mount the seat and lean forward, just like you would on a bike," Morrisey explains. "The controls are built into a set of handlebars and work similar to buttons and joysticks on a video game controller. It takes off and lands vertically, like a helicopter. But unlike a helicopter, the Flyer is 100% electric and powered by eight rotors."

The Verge sounded a note of skepticism, referring to the Kitty Hawk as "an expensive toy for your next trip to the lake," which should make it a hit in Tahoe.

According to the Times, more than 12 start-ups are chasing the personal flying vehicle dream, with Uber and the government of Dubai entering the fray. Asked about the product, which is supposedly selling later this yea, the Google co-founder and Kitty Hawk investor didn't say much. Weve all had dreams of flying effortlessly," Page told the Times. "Im excited that one day very soon Ill be able to climb onto my Kitty Hawk Flyer for a quick and easy personal flight.

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and consultant Brad Templeton told the paper that while he loves "the idea of being able to go out into my backyard and hop into my flying car," he hates the idea "of my next-door neighbor having one."

Either Templeton is hinting that these things are going to be loud and annoying, or saying that, in order to keep up with the Pages or whoever his neighbors are, he's going to need to get one himself. Is there even enough room in the garage next to the Teslas?

Related: Silicon Valley entrepreneur and consultant Brad Templeton told the paper




Every day is a dog fest in Duboce Park, a central green space where canines often outnumber humans. But an annual, more formal version of a typical Saturday afternoon in the park this weekend raised $125,000 for McKinley Elementary School, or $105,000 after expenses. That sum for the 10th annual Dogfest, a fundraiser for the nearby institution, came from carnival game tickets, merchandise, a silent auction, and more.





As in past years, an "Everyday Dog Show" was held celebrating non-show dogs for their looks, walks, costumes, and tricks. That was hosted by Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony Snicket, the San Francisco writer behind the Series of Unfortunate Events books. Honors for best coat and best dog overall went to TulE the Komondor, above. TulE may have been the best, but in this writer's professional opinion, all dogs are good dogs  even this suspiciously large red one.



Dogfest via Facebook

As an Examiner columnist recalled last year, Dogfest's main stage  Duboce Park  hasn't always been the canine sanctuary it is today. "Ten years ago, tensions, anger and accusations were the norm around Duboce Park," wrote Sally Stephens. "Harvey Milk famously 'accidentally' stepped in dog poop at Duboce in front of media cameras to drum up support for his pooper-scooper law," she remembers.

As the city began to designate off-leash dog areas, it was something of a battleground. The area's then-Supervisor, Bevan Dufty, formed a task force to discuss the idea, but excluded all advocacy groups from outside the Duboce Triangle neighborhood from the discussion.



Dogfest via Facebook

After six months, the group of locals managed to reach a workable compromise on a "Multi-Use Area" rather than simply a "Dog Play Area." And, at least according to Stephens, the real insight was convening that task force, which formed a "spirit of neighborly cooperation" that endured.

"When the PTA at nearby McKinley Elementary School was searching for a new fundraiser, they liked the idea of a school carnival, but one that also reflected the neighborhood that surrounds the school. Many Duboce neighbors had dogs and, coupled with the newly opened multi-use area, the PTA landed upon the idea of a celebration of dogs and kids."

Related: Local Dog Owners Unleash 'WoofieLeaks' Documents Alleging National Park Service Anti-Canine Bias
Five years in, and the 48-year-old man accused in the April 2012 killing of seven people at Oikos University in Oakland is finally headed for trial, with a hearing scheduled Wednesday of this week. Korean-born One Goh, who is a naturalized US citizen and was 43 at the time of the shooting, has both admitted to authorities that he was responsible for the mass shooting, and has pleaded not guilty because he blames university officials for what happened. He has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but after five years of psychiatric treatment and evaluation, a judge ruled Friday that Goh is now mentally fit to stand trial, as the East Bay Times reported.

The fact that a trial is finally moving forward is sure to be a relief to the families of the seven victims, who were told by a judge after a mental competency hearing in 2015 that the trial might eventually occur, but that it would be delayed until Goh's mental state could be better stabilized.

As of 2015, Goh had actively been seeking the death penalty and hoping for a speedy trial, saying that he was looking forward to his own death. But his not guilty plea was because he wanted to be able to lay out in court all the ways in which the school had wronged him.

Shortly after the shooting, we learned that Goh had been mocked by other students and possibly instructors for his poor English language skills at the Korean Christian university, where most graduates study nursing. We also learned that he had been expelled from the school for "behavioral problems," and had returned the day of the shooting to demand a $6,000 tuition refund. As it turned out, the specific administrator he was targeting that day was no longer working at the school, but he instead shot a receptionist in the school office, and proceeded to a classroom where he shot nine of his former classmates, killing a total of seven people. Soon thereafter, and after a brief manhunt, Goh turned himself in in a shopping plaza parking lot in Alameda.

The victims, six women and one man, were: Tshering Rinzing Bhutia, 38, of San Francisco; Katleen Ping, 24, of Oakland; Judith Seymour, 53, of San Jose; Lydia Sim, 21, of Hayward; Sonam Choedon, 33, of El Cerrito; Grace Eunhea Kim, 23, of Union City; and Doris Chibuko, 40, of San Leandro.

Goh was then deemed mentally unfit for trial on multiple occasions over the last five years. Upon initial interrogation, he gave multiple statements about his motivations including "religious war" and suspicions that there had been cheating going on among his classmates. But his unmet demands for the tuition money appear to be the primary reason he showed up at the campus that day.

The small private university, meanwhile, continues to operate in East Oakland.

Previously: Oikos University Shooter One Goh Ruled Incompetent To Stand Trial For Second Time
A 29-year-old San Francisco man is dead, officials say, following a Monday morning shooting at the border of a Potrero Hill park.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, the shooting occurred at 10:35 a.m. Monday, on the 800 block of Missouri Street.

The Chron reports that the victim "was taken to San Francisco General Hospital by car before police arrived at the scene." The victim, who has been identified by the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office as SF resident Cleveland Reid, was pronounced dead at the hospital, police say.

Police have not released additional details on the case, saying only that a handgun was used in the attack, and that no arrests have been made.

Reid's death is San Francisco's 17th homicide for the year, following an April 2 shooting in the Tenderloin that took the life of Antonio Stanberry. Two suspects have since been arrested in that slaying.

Previously: Brazen Afternoon Shooting Claims Life Of Man In Tenderloin


Mayor Lee has introduced plans to convert a federally owned surface parking lot, so owned because it's behind a federal courthouse, into the city's largest supportive housing development for formerly homeless people. That would comprise two buildings with a total of 250 units of housing, as the Chronicle reports.

The parcel at 1068 Mission Street currently serves the Ninth District Court of Appeals at 7th and Mission. The city values the property at $35 million but is hoping for a federal transfer for just $1. That's been done for similar developments elsewhere, including Washington, DC. Under the 1987 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the Chronicle observes, federal properties are supposed to be considered for homeless services first before other uses are proposed.

The current proposal for the site calls for two large buildings, one 85 feet tall with 150 units of permanently supportive housing for formerly homeless single adults, and one 60-feet tall for homeless seniors over 62.

"We know what works to end homelessness, Jeff Kositsky, director of SF's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, tells the paper. These additional new units of permanent supportive housing will move us closer to making homelessness in San Francisco rare, brief and nonrecurring.

To proceed, Mayor Lee is seeking approval from the Board of Supervisors. "This kind of opportunity does not come around often in San Francisco," Lee reportedly said, "and we need to work together to make sure this property is used to help those who need it most.

Homelessness in San Francisco, judging by a loud, contentious public meeting held in the Mission District last night and attended by Mission Local, continues to be a fraught, divisive issue facing the city. Called by district supervisor Hillary Ronen, the meeting was  in theory  informational.

The city is, after all, set in its plans to use an empty industrial building at 26th and South Van Ness for 100 transitional beds, to be reserved for homeless people already living on the streets of the Mission. The shelter would be temporary, the Chronicle explains, because the building is slated to become 157 residential units  but the developer, Lennar Multifamily Communities, will allow the city to use it free of charge until construction starts next year.

But even this seemingly unobjectionable plan was met with strong resistance. "This Navigation Center is only going to create a bigger problem because it is not a solution, it is only a patch on the problem, one opponent said. Many who were aligned against the center bore signs that read "Mission is not a dumping ground. Why not build the shelter in the Marina, opponents asked?

Although the "against" camp was loud, Mission Local claims the "for" crowd had a majority at the meeting. Of the 300 homeless people already living in the Mission, about half are in tent encampments. Mohammed Nuru, director of Public Works, welcomed the center as "a great opportunity for us to move in a different direction." His department currently conducts sweeps of encampments. The temporary Navigation center will have six staffers and use a parking lot at 1515 South Van Ness as a designated space for clients to congregate.

Related: City's Homelessness Department And Public Works Are Officially At Odds Over Encampments
Im standing on our backyard patio with my spouse. Hes grilling steaks on a Weber. If you turn and draw an imaginary line straight to the east, you will see grills galore. Turn west and its twilight time, the hour of Old Fashioneds and mosquitoes. My belly is large with child number three who will grow up on a street with no sidewalks. Its a lily-white-John Updike kind of place where folks watch Vietnam" on color televisions.

Its 2017, and the Museum of Wisconsin Art is hosting a major exhibition, Hyperphotographic," (showing now through May 21) of often similarly themed photographs by Tom Bamberger. At age 68, hes donated 400 of his prints to the museum. A UW-Milwaukee philosophy major, he cant be deciphered; never mind that he taught the logic of mathematics. In the retrospective, Untitled (Grilling, 1986 ) describes the mind-numbing sameness of suburbia, but beyond that, the loss of hopeful horizons. I asked Bamberger to devise an equation about his accomplishments. He declined, so I devised this: 400-T=0. 400+T=68.

On page four of the current quarterly published by the museum is a 1977 image of the man himself. Clad in a white t-shirt, hes Milwaukees Bad Boy. A fly clings to his shirt. Does it matter if he killed it and staged the photo? Dont ask Bamberger. Hes tired of answering questions.

On Saturday, May 6, Bamberger and Friends" will convene in the museum at 1 p.m. Among the topics will be the condition of our art community. Some artists have fled to Los Angeles or New York, but not Bamberger. He embraced the technology which keeps us hyper-connected, using it to expand his career. All those faces, fields, suburbs and techno machines could be anywhere. He also writes about urban architecture, decrying repetition that dilutes rather than enhances. As a result he is sometimes blasted for his opinions. Its great to live long enough to be opinionated. Otherwise, we are lashed to the wheel of sameness.
Othello. Much Ado About Nothing. At first glance, this cross section of Shakespeares body of work doesnt have many similarities: One is a sweeping tragedy, the other ends in two weddings. UW-Milwaukees Peck School of the Arts places these two works in conversation with each other in a performance series titled Faith and Jealousy: The Responsibilities of Love, and draws out common themes that may spark new ways of thinking about these plays.

The interest factor lies primarily in the style: Five actors play all the parts in Othello, six do the job for Much Ado and each of these casts serves as the technical crew for the others show. A row of plain silver chairs sit in a row far upstage, surrounded by objects, a rack of hats and a drum that all hold enticing promise of waiting to be drawn in as tools of the story. Each play begins with a parade in which the actors introduce themselves as their multiple characters, snatching off one hat and donning another, or changing physicality to denote a switch.

The cast of Much Ado does a fair job of lifting the words and wit off the page to spar with each other; Samuel Robinson, Rachel Meldman and Austin Lepper as Don Pedro and the matchmakers, and Andrew Montano as Benedick, are in their element with the physical comedy of a fun-to-watch scene as Benedick falls into a trap to help him admit his love.

The Othello ensemble is gritty and sincere; the invisible ties between each character vibrate and hum with life through well-acted relationships and vigorous fights. Chris Westmoreland is captivating as Iago, navigating the role with humor and calm confidence. In a fascinating piece of direction from director Bill Watson, Iago and Emilia (Mary Jo Perez) busy themselves for several scenes with the act of physically creating Othello and Desdemonas bed from materials previously used onstage.

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The technical elements are few; there is little to focus on but the actors and the words. Both casts have undertaken an intriguing experiment in storytelling. At moments both struggle to keep the experiment from overwhelming the story itself; overall, the characters are clear, as is the draw to these students telling of Shakespeares beloved narratives.

The show runs through April 23 at Kenilworth Five-O-Eight, 1925 E. Kenilworth Place. For tickets, call 414-229-4762 or visit uwm.edu.
 Expand Photo: Thinkstock - Getty Images Public schools bus

Scott Walkers 2017-19 budget proposal includes a $6.5 million spending increase for school mental health services. The money, originally requested by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in November, would go toward employing more school social workers, supporting collaborations with community health providers and training school staff.

The need for these services is well documented and dire. An estimated one in five U.S. children has a diagnosable mental health condition. The 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that more than half of Wisconsin students mental health had not been good on at least one of the past 30 days, and 13% had seriously considered suicide. According to the DPI, 80% of students with mental health needs do not get professional help.

We couldnt afford to wait any longer. We wanted to push the conversation forward, and felt like it was the right time, says DPI spokesperson Tom McCarthy. We had seen the legislature and the governor paying attention to this issue and we knew that we had a strong case that schools are an active partner in making sure that all kids are mentally healthy.

The issue of youth mental health is not new to Wisconsin lawmakers, but progress toward reform has often stalled. Former state representative and psychiatric nurse Sandy Pasch describes a pattern of one step forward and five steps backward.

There have been glimmers of hope, but still huge unwillingness to deal with the major issues related to mental illness, she says.

This latest glimmer is currently being reviewed by the Joint Finance Committee and would go into effect in July. If approved, spending would aim to expand access to care while improving the climate of school mental health. As it stands, scarce resources make it difficult for many schools to meet immediate needs, let alone pursue long-term goals. For the educators and advocates facing these challenges every day, the $6.5 million is not a solution, but could be a step.

The Impact of Access

Mental illness can affect anyone, but not everyone can count on getting the care they need. When costs or logistics rule out traditional therapy, families rely on schools to bridge the gap.

School-based mental health has really come to the forefront in recent years, says Julie Incitti, president and legislative chair of the Wisconsin School Social Workers Association. When there arent enough clinics in the community or enough providers, schools can be a great way for students to access those services, and I think legislators are recognizing that.

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School social workers are employed in all Milwaukee Public Schools and in many other Wisconsin districts. They apply a systems approach to mental health care, connecting families and schools, along with interrelated agencies like juvenile justice or child protective services when needed.

Judith Kullas Shine, president of the American Council for School Social Work, explains that these providers are often licensed both clinically and by the education department. This background helps them understand mental health in conjunction with other challenges kids face.

Weve seen an increase in the number of kids who experience trauma from bullying, divorce, poverty, even parental military deployment, says Shine. So there is outreach to make sure that more kids get the help they need to be functioning, successful human beings.

Collaborations with community providers can also help overcome barriers to care. United Ways PATH (Providing Access to Healing) for Students program achieves this through partnerships between school districts and a consortium of mental health agencies.

Through PATH, therapists spend a set amount of time providing in-school counseling for students. Time is typically assigned to a district based on the percentage of its students who qualify for free and reduced meals, and the district determines how the time will be allotted in each school. Sessions take place over study periods or during a mix of different class times, to minimize scheduling disruptions. This convenience breeds consistency, which is essential for treating mental health.

When you have kids going to a clinic for therapy, maybe theyll miss an appointment, maybe parents werent able to get them to an appointment that day, says United Way Fox Cities Program Officer Mary Wisnet. When appointments are in school, we have much more consistency in that follow through.

First piloted in 2008, PATH is now offered in 30 schools across 10 districts. Surveys have shown that 72% of students experienced reduced symptoms and 44% improved academically after going through the program. A 2012 cost-benefit analysis conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison also found that PATH increased productivity and reduced expenses associated with things like medical costs and behavioral problems, with an average net benefit of $49,000 per student per year.

Limits to Expansion

Producing measurable results has helped school-based mental health expand its reach. But a lack of dedicated funding often stymies further growth.

The money for school social work positions typically comes from the general school district funds, or the special education budget. If a school district understands the value of the role, they can advocate to have a school social work position and prioritize it above other positions, Incitti says. But funding is ultimately whats driving many of those decisions.

The National Association of Social Workers recommends one professional be employed for every 250 students. Incitti says she doesnt know of any school that hits that mark. Data from the DPI in 2012 put Wisconsins ratio at 1 to 1,050.

With the PATH program, services are billed through insurance when possible. As many of the kids they work with are underinsured, this accounts for about half of their funding. When the family cant afford to meet those high deductibles and copays, thats when philanthropy kicks in, explains Wisnet. PATH is largely supported by the United Way, with help from grants.

In addition to expanding services, additional funding would make it easier to comprehensively improve the school environment. A common model for this is known as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Based on a three-tiered framework, PBIS encompasses lessons and coping skills for all students, additional screening and support for individuals, and more extensive therapy or behavioral intervention when needed. Ideally, wed want to see that kind of service level in all schools, says Wisnet.

A Need for a Greater Change

The proposed funding is an optimistic development for school mental health, but its clear that not all districts would feel the boost in finances.

With the amount of money were talking about here, we understand that its not enough to get everywhere in the state, McCarthy says. Our hope is that its enough to begin in some areas, to see some exciting, different approaches that we could then expand statewide.

While school-based mental health programs may seem poised for success, there are still underlying challenges to contend with. After all, they exist at the intersection of healthcare and education: two industries threatened by the current political climate.

Walkers refusal to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act hindered access to adequate healthcare, and put more pressure on schools to fill in the gaps. Pasch argues that Medicaid expansion would be a more effective response to the care shortages, although she acknowledges the chances of that happening right now are pretty slim.

Pasch also questions how much of an impact the funding would have in schools reeling from budget cuts and the effects of Act 10. We still have school districts struggling to put books in the library. I dont think theyre going to put a primary focus on mental health, she says. Im glad the moneys there, but its putting frosting on a lopsided cake.

Whether or not the proposed increase signals a true shift in priorities, its clear that Wisconsin students are still a long way from getting the level of care they need.

Theres so much work out there to do, Shine says. We need everybody to be working on behalf of kids.
SIOUX CITY | The future of a nearly 10-year project to renovate and redevelop the historic Badgerow Building is in doubt after a bank said the developers have defaulted on a $6 million bond agreement that is helping finance work on the downtown Sioux City landmark.

Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Bank and Trust filed for foreclosure on the building earlier this month, saying that California-based Mako One Corp., its managing partner Bruce DeBolt and two other limited liability companies owe more than $4.4 million in principal, interest and advances.

The default puts the issuance of state and federal tax credits in jeopardy, the bank said, leaving it at risk of losing "a significant portion" of collateral.

"There is no possibility, absent an infusion of additional capital or loans, that the bank will be repaid in full without a different investor receiving the federal tax credits under different conditions," the bank said in its petition, filed in Woodbury County District Court.

Under the bond agreement, the bonds' initial maturity date was June 25, 2014. That agreement was amended six times, according to the bank, with a final maturity date of this past Dec. 12.

The bank did not receive payment of the bonds by that date, and it sent a written default notice to DeBolt and his companies on March 28, according to the petition.

The bank has asked a judge to appoint a receiver to take charge of the property. A May 22 court hearing has been scheduled.

DeBolt did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

No activity could be seen inside the building Monday morning. A sign taped to an interior entrance door says the building is closed.

Built in 1933, the 12-story Badgerow Building, 622 Fourth St., is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered a prime example of the art deco style of architecture.

The building had fallen into disrepair and had been red-tagged as unfit for occupation for three years when DeBolt bought it for $440,000 in 2007. Almost immediately, he announced a $10 million plan to renovate the building to attract corporate data centers, restaurants, professional offices and other businesses.

DeBolt quickly stabilized the long-vacant building and had utility service restored. In 2008, he entered a development agreement with the city for $2 million in loans, which were to be funded with tax increment financing dollars. The city made the first $800,000 payment that year in exchange for DeBolt agreeing to a minimum property assessment of $3.5 million.

The city had been prepared to loan the remaining $1.2 million in exchange for DeBolt raising the minimum valuation to $10 million. In late 2013, DeBolt told the city he would not meet a deadline to have renovations completed and did not wish to raise the valuation. DeBolt agreed to forgo the remainder of the loan. He told the Sioux City Council at the time that he had spent about $6 million on renovations and had bonded for an additional $6 million.

The city has recouped its $800,000 loan and more through collection of increased property tax revenue on the building, city economic development director Marty Dougherty said.

"The city's been repaid. The taxpayers have been repaid," he said. "We've been collecting the taxes."

It remains unclear how much progress has been made in the renovations. A sign on the door provides a phone number that can be called if someone needs access to the building or needs to make a delivery. A person answering that number said that work is being done on the floors and painting is ongoing.

By late 2010, renovations had progressed enough to entice Raspberry's Bistro and Fine Pastry to relocate from South Sioux City to the first floor of the Badgerow. The restaurant owners abruptly packed up operations and left overnight seven months later.

In March 2013, Mako One filed a $50 million lawsuit against Sioux City-based M+ Architects and its owner, Dale McKinney, claiming that the architect had misled him about renovation costs. McKinney and M+ filed a countersuit seeking to collect nearly $160,000 in fees and interest they said Mako One had failed to pay. Both suits were later dismissed.

In August of that year, Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust issued the $6 million in historic tax credit revenue bonds to Mako, DeBolt and Badgerow, a limited liability corporation.

In late 2013, DeBolt announced he had leased the Badgerow's fourth floor for use as a high-tech data center, but did not identify the company, citing confidentiality and security reasons.

Dougherty said he had heard at one time that the data center was operating inside the building, but he did not know if it was still there. Dougherty said he calls DeBolt periodically to ask if the city can help with marketing or developing the property. He said DeBolt politely declines the offers and discloses few other details about the building.

"I don't know what he has in there now. He hasn't told me," Dougherty said.

Given developers' current interest in turning downtown historic buildings into mixed-use properties with both residential and commercial space, the failure to redevelop the Badgerow might be a lost opportunity, Dougherty said.

"I think we would all like to see a better use for the building, whether it's for mixed use, commercial or whatever," he said. "There's a tremendous interest in those kinds of properties in Sioux City and other cities."
SIOUX CITY | With the Monday airing of new plans scaling down some concrete and steel, there may not after all be a yearlong delay in the opening time of the planned northside Bryant Elementary School.

Sioux City School District officials are seeking to prevent what last month seemed possible, that Bryant school might not be built by August 2019, but rather August 2020. That delay had been announced by Superintendent Paul Gausman on March 14, after the lowest of two bids for constructing the main part of the building came in at $18.8 million, much higher than the $16 million estimate.

After that unexpected jolt to the project, Gausman said the proper course was to get new designs for the building from an architect, Cannon Moss Brygger Architects, of Sioux City. It was thought the new design would take at least two months. However, new plans were shared in the Monday school board meeting by Brian Crichton of CMB, with the cost now projected at $17,467,030.

That amount is roughly at the midpoint of the former plans and the March low bid, which gave School Board President Mike Krysl hope that the project could be pursued more quickly.

"I would liken this to a good news report...We may very well be getting this project on track, back to the (original) timeline," Krysl said.

Crichton said a key point is that the revised plans don't reduce the footage of the whole building, and keeps the same number of classrooms and the size of those instructional rooms. Gausman had previously said classroom space should not be lessened in any new plans.

No action was officially taken Monday during the board meeting, but details for future steps were set. The board members set May 8 as the date for a public hearing on the revised plans. If those plans are adopted after that heating, bids will be sought as early as May 9.

If acceptable bids are received, a construction contract could be set, with the upshot that the school opening could still be possible for August 2019.

Up to now, the new Bryant school was estimated to cost almost $20 million, including the first two phases that are already under way for just under a combined $4 million. If the new conception of the main building ends up being at the $17.4 million, the total cost could move above $21 million total.

Still, Krysl and Gausman said that is better than how things stood six weeks ago, when the $18.8 million bid arrived. Now, school officials hope the new plans work out and an acceptable bid will follow.

"Hopefully, this bid process will go well," Gausman said.

School district officials are planning to construct a new Bryant to replace the old building that dated to 1890 and was demolished in July 2016 at 821 30th St.

That happened after much neighborhood controversy on where the school should be built. After a new 10-acre spot could not be found, school officials morphed to a three-level option at the same spot as the old school was located. The size will be 106,950 square feet.

Crichton said the main changes involve reductions in costs of concrete and steel used. The Bryant metal exterior will be shifted to masonry and the gymnasium will incorporate a thinner brick, for instance. Decorative trees planned inside a media lab won't be used now and other changes have been made.

"These items do not affect the performance and longevity," Crichton said.
MILFORD, Iowa  Polaris Industries plans to put the brakes on production at its Milford, Iowa, plant by the end of the year.

Up to 300 workers will lose their jobs as a result of the move, a Polaris spokesperson confirmed late Monday after the company announced the closing of the plant.

Products built at the Milford plant included the Polaris Ranger and Rzr all-terrain vehicles and the Brutus utility vehicle. None of the products will be moved to the company's plant in nearby Spirit Lake, where Polaris employs about 650. Instead, the Milford production will shift to Polaris factories in Huntsville, Alabama; Roseau, Minnesota; and Anaheim, California.

The Milford building, a former furniture factory, will be repurposed as a storage/warehouse facility to support the Spirit Lake plant, which will continue to manufacture Indian Motorcycles.

Polaris spokesperson Kelly Basgen said she does not anticipate all 330 jobs in Milford will be lost in the transition.

Due to the ability to place some employees in open positions in Spirit Lake or other Polaris facilities, we anticipate that a slightly lower number of employees  likely 275-300  will be separated from Polaris, she said.

Ken Pucel, Polaris executive vice president of operations, engineering and lean, said the Milford employees have "performed admirably" since the plant opened in 2013.

Since we opened the Milford facility in 2013, the team has performed admirably, he said.

"They played a critical role in making the first full year of Slingshot a success and have been instrumental in driving manufacturing improvements across our off-road vehicle products, and we sincerely appreciate their contributions to Polaris, Pucel said. We evaluated a number of options to streamline our plant infrastructure. While the decision was difficult because of the impact to jobs, discontinuing manufacturing at Milford  one of our smaller manufacturing facilities  allows us to consolidate the production of similar products and improve utilization of our available capacity across the rest of our U.S. manufacturing network.

Monday's announcement is the latest job cuts in the Iowa Great Lakes region for the Twin Cities-based manufacturer of motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATVs and electric vehicles. In January, Polaris reduced the workforce at its Spirit Lake plant after discontinuing its Victory brand of motorcycles that had been made at the 400,000-square-foot plant. Around 1,000 were employed at the Spirit Lake plant at its peak.

In Monday's news release, Polaris stressed the company remains committed to maintaining its presence in the Iowa Great Lakes region.

Polaris Spirit Lake facility, just a few miles away from Milford, remains a critically important part of Polaris manufacturing footprint and will continue to serve as the manufacturing center of excellence for Indian Motorcycle," the company said in the release. "Polaris is making investments to enhance the Spirit Lake facility, including a new experience center, upgraded employee facilities and additional office space.

Also Monday, Polaris announced it was transferring metal fabrication operations for its Pro Armor aftermarket products from its facility in Riverside, California, to its recently acquired Transamerican Auto Parts facility in Chula Vista, California. Pro Armor will maintain its presence in Riverside  including its business operations, R&D, and vehicle upfit services  but will relocate to a new building.

As a result of the closings in Iowa and California, a total of about 390 jobs will be impacted. Polaris said it is offering the opportunity for Milford and Riverside employees to relocate within its network, as well as providing resources including separation pay, assistance with health insurance coverage, and outplacement services.
SIOUX CITY | A candidate who has had difficulties following through on campaign plans two years ago has announced he will again seek to replace fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King.

Paul Lunde, an attorney from Ames, in a press release said he will seek the GOP nomination for Iowa's 4th District in June 2018. Lunde sought to challenge King in the 2016 primary, but didn't secure the required number of voter signatures to appear on the ballot.

This time, Lunde said he started circulation petitions prior to the November 2016 election, when King won re-election to another two year term over Democrat Kim Weaver.

King faced another Republican challenger in the 2016 GOP primary, defeating state Sen. Rick Bertrand, of Sioux City.

Additionally, Lunde in 2014 sought to run in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Democrat Tom Harkin. Lunde missed the filing deadline to become a candidate. The Republican nomination and the seat was eventually won by then-state Joni Ernst.

Lunde said his key campaign ideas involve proposing 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Those include doing away with the Affordable Care Act mandates and eliminating lifetime appointments for judges.

"I'm willing to do what it takes to bring the Constitution up to date," he said.

Lunde, who has never held public office, is an Army veteran who has managed radio stations, worked as a teacher and published non-fiction books in addition to his career as an attorney.

The 4th District covers 39 counties in Northwest and North Central Iowa. The other announced candidate is Weaver, a Democrat from Sheldon.

Also on Tuesday, another candidate who was investigating a 2018 run in Iowa's 4th District has backed away.

Dirk Deam, an Iowa State University professor from Ames, had previously announced an exploratory look at a campaign. Deam's acting campaign manager Jared Godby on Tuesday said he is suspending the exploratory committee indefinitely. Godby said that is due to unexpected obligations regarding the health of a close family member.

King has won eight terms to the U.S. House. He has not said if he will run again in 2018.
LE MARS, Iowa | Firefighters have deemed a two-story house in rural Le Mars a complete loss after a Sunday evening fire that was kindled by windblown debris from a nearby burn pile.

Firefighters responded to the residence, at 23804 County Road C-16, shortly before 5:45 p.m., according to Le Mars Fire Chief David Schipper. By the time firefighters arrived on scene, the south and west sides were fully engulfed.

Schipper said the house is inhabited by a couple, both of whom were safely outside when firefighters arrived. Six departments responded to the scene to ensure there was enough water and enough manpower to fight the fire if it spread to another farmhouse immediately downwind.

Crews extinguished the blaze within three hours and monitored hot spots overnight. No one was injured.

Schipper said firefighters determined the blaze began when strong winds blew burning paper and other debris from a burn pile located in the yard and landed on some straw bales near the home's foundation.

Around 40 firefighters from the Le Mars, Ireton, Akron, Maurice, Sioux Center and Hawarden fire departments worked at the scene. The American Red Cross also assisted by distributing vouchers and food to the family.
Osvaldo Gutierrez, 20, entered his written plea Friday in Woodbury County District Court to one count of willful injury causing serious injury. His trial was set for July 11.

According to court documents, Gutierrez got into a fight with Rigoberto Arreola-Gomez at about 1:30 a.m. April 2 at La Hacienda, 1100 Stuben St. During the fight, Gutierrez stabbed Arreola-Gomez once in the chest and once in the abdomen, causing a collapsed diaphragm that required surgery.
President Donald Trump's former national security adviser did not properly disclose payments from Russia and does not appear to have complied with the law, House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings said Tuesday after reviewing Michael Flynn's application for a security clearance.
CHICAGO -- If Laura Kipnis thought she was under fire in 2015 after writing an essay for The Chronicle of Higher Education criticizing an emergent "sexual paranoia" on college campuses, then her new book will surely catapult her into public-enemy No. 1 status in the eyes of legions of angry feminists.

Kipnis' aforementioned essay earned her a 72-day Title IX investigation after two students at Northwestern University -- where Kipnis is tenured -- complained that her writing was, in itself, a violation of the federal act that states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

She was exonerated. "Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus" is her reaction and an inquiry into a culture of infantilizing women and making men the default perpetrators in she-said-he-said campus complaints of sexual impropriety.

Seemingly every page is a condemnation of a university culture where students are no longer treated as consenting adults and investigations into alleged abuses proceed like 17th-century witch trials, requiring a trigger warning for any sensitive souls who dare brave its contents.

For instance, Kipnis writes: "The idea of rape culture has become the campus equivalent of 9/11: in both cases, horrible real events take on mythic proportions, becoming resistant to precise analysis. On campus, the term rape culture, like the term terrorism, has become the rhetoric of emergency. Fear becomes the guideline, promulgating more fear. The problem is that fear rhetoric obfuscates more than it explicates; nevertheless, officialdom leaps to action."

This is just from the prologue, before she's really gotten going.

Kipnis attempts throughout the book to examine how out of control the sexual politics on campus have gotten -- such that some professors' professional reputations and lives are being ruined while others' are cowed and censored for fear of ever running afoul of paying customers (read: students).

She does this by describing her own investigation; the case of her colleague, philosophy professor Peter Ludlow, whose career was ruined by accusations of sexual assault and the ensuing Title IX investigation; and some of the countless stories shared with her from people who also got tangled up in baseless accusations of misconduct.

Her conclusion is that universities today are multibillion-dollar international businesses with brand promises to uphold and donors to placate. And in such a landscape, it is expeditious to plow money into handling accusations of sexual misconduct under the lax -- for the accused -- standards of the on-campus Title IX adjudication process. Potentially scandalous incidents are made to go away through a combination of dismissal of professors and cash payouts to students.

"The reality is that the more that colleges devote themselves to creating 'safe spaces,' that new campus watchword, the more dangerous campuses have become for professors, and the less education itself becomes anyone's priority."

As a result, sociology professors live in fear of discussing abortion, law professors are afraid to lecture on rape law, and on and on.

But this aspect of "Unwanted Advances" is just the tip of the iceberg. More chilling, Kipnis writes, is how campus administrators, and the special-interest groups they bow to, are rolling back hard-won feminist markers of dignity.

Women on campus are now, Kipnis says, by default, "virtuous maidens," ready-made victims in "a system devoted to persuading a generation of young women that they're helpless prey" and convincing everyone else that "accusers don't lie."

Throughout her book, Kipnis bends over backward to repeatedly and vehemently note that she is (a) a certified left-wing feminist and (b) absolute in her belief that women should be safe from harm on campus, at work and everywhere else.

But, she says, there needs to be a focus on self-understanding and personal responsibility that schools and society are reluctant to address: "What would happen if we stopped commiserating with one another about how horrible men are and teach students how to say, 'Get your [expletive] hand off my knee'? Yes, there's an excess of masculine power in the world, and women have to be educated to contest it in real time, instead of waiting around for men to reach some new stage of heightened consciousness -- just in case that day never comes."

For some women, this will be an article of faith. For others, well, consider this fair warning that you won't enjoy Kipnis' book.
WASHINGTON -- Imagine if I began a column about Attorney General Jeff Sessions this way: "I really am amazed that an attorney general who hails from a former Confederate state in the Deep South can issue a series of orders wrecking efforts to reform police practices, cutting back on voting rights and restarting the war on drugs."

The specifics of what Sessions is up to are accurate, but that knock on the land of cotton would leave my inbox bulging with rebukes to bigotry against Dixie, and I'd probably get many YouTube links to Lynyrd Skynyrd singing "Sweet Home Alabama." (Don't go to the trouble. I already have the song on my iPhone.)

Yet the man whose job is to be the top lawyer for all of us said something very similar about a federal judge in Hawaii who blocked President Trump's travel ban. For the record, here is Sessions' islophobic sentence:

"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 obvious problem in Sessions' comments, made to conservative talk show host Mark Levin (and unearthed by CNN's Andrew Kaczynski), is that Hawaii is a state like every other and has been in the union for 58 years, as Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, helpfully pointed out. Are newer states inferior to older ones?

There is also the Trump administration habit of trying to discredit any judge who rules against it, the stuff of autocratic regimes. Members of the executive branch have every right to criticize and appeal lower-court decisions, but what Sessions suggested is that Derrick Watson, the federal judge in question, somehow lost his right to rule because of where his court is located.

Hawaii has been a special place in conservative demonology because many on the right, once they had to concede that President Obama was actually born there and not in Kenya, wanted to hold on to the idea that he came into the world in a location that was, well, different.

And Sessions may have picked up his anti-Hawaii cues from right-wing media, which reported that Obama had "unexpectedly" flown alone to Hawaii on March 13, two days before Watson issued his ruling, and that Watson just happened to go to Harvard Law School with the former president.

The conservativetreehouse.com blog asked: "Coincidences? Or did President Obama travel to Hawaii to initiate, facilitate, or participate in the decision by Judge Watson?" On March 16, Rush Limbaugh got the story out there and then insisted that he wouldn't traffic in speculation. "I want to mention also Barack Obama has been in Hawaii the past few days," he said, but added, "I don't know if Obama met with the judge." Nicely played, Rush.

Here's one good thing that could come from Sessions' aloha-baiting: It might start focusing attention on the rest of that opening sentence and the damage the attorney general is inflicting. Doing so would belie the idea that Trump is somehow becoming more "moderate."

Sessions has started switching the Justice Department's stance on voting rights cases, away from minority plaintiffs and in favor of states that passed discriminatory measures such as voter ID laws restricting access to the ballot. The new DOJ stance did not stop District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos from declaring earlier this month that Texas' strict voter ID law "was passed, at least in part, with a discriminatory purpose." Thank goodness Ramos can't be criticized as one of those island judges.

Sessions also ordered department officials to review reform agreements between its civil rights division and troubled police forces nationwide, an Obama-era initiative aimed at restoring community confidence in the police after a series of shootings of unarmed black men.

Jonathan Smith, executive director of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, called the move "terrifying," but in a USA Today op-ed last week, Sessions invoked classic law-and-order rhetoric, saying he would "not sign consent decrees for political expediency that will cost more lives by handcuffing the police instead of the criminals."

And as Sari Horwitz reported in The Washington Post, Sessions is bringing back the old war on drugs, thus stopping in its tracks a once-promising criminal justice reform movement of conservatives, liberals and libertarians concerned with over-incarceration, particularly in African-American communities.

You don't have to live on an island to worry about what Sessions is doing in the name of justice.
When I was a teacher, if I left a room of students I knew anything that happened, in my absence, was my responsibility. I handled that very carefully. However, I don't see the United States as the "teacher in the room" on this planet of adults. If we choose to pull back from war (as President Obama did) we are not responsible for the vacuum that creates terrorists. That is their human greed, revenge and selfishness; we will never change that. Moreover, our seeing ourselves as the teacher in the room is why terrorists want to hurt us. The faction of the super rich who run this country (and the global economy) feel we must be the teacher in the room. This is why we are hated so much.
Beijing is looking worse by the day, Gov. Branstad.

Terry Branstad's appointment to be ambassador to China isn't some cushy hand-out, diplomats told us. President Donald Trump isn't sending him to some off-the-radar beach paradise to swill exotic cocktails at black-tie parties.

No, Iowa's venerable Republican governor is getting shipped to one of the world's most important and challenging assignments. And he'll be working for an administration that, almost 100 days in, has done nothing but flip its positions in real-time and escalate international tensions.

Much has been made about Branstad's friendly relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

But longtime ambassadors and State Department officials said that Branstad's friendship with Xi either won't count for much or could even work against him as Chinese officials look to back-door regular diplomatic protocols. Especially so when the president gets annoyed and fires off a reckless tweet or two.

The U.S. ambassador to China will be tasked day-to-day with messaging the Trump administration's policy toward in an increasingly tense geopolitical atmosphere. Only China holds real sway over North Korea, diplomats said. The U.S. and China seem destined to clash on trade during Trump's administration. Washington and Beijing are at odds over Taiwan and land rights in the South China Sea.

Enter Terry Branstad, a longtime politician, but a man without international or even federal experience.

"Being an ambassador to London is one thing," said Dennis Jett, who served as U.S. ambassador to Mozambique and Peru and now teaches at Penn State University. "We don't disagree on very much."

Trump's incessant saber rattling is bound to raise Chinese hackles, Jett said. The country's analysts have noted Trump's "hard power" budget, which would slash State Department funding by 30 percent and boost military spending 10 percent. Such a drastic shift in funding priorities sends a message.

Add to that the Trump administration's unprecedented lack of clarity on much of anything and its many freelancers claiming to speak for the White House at any moment. Shortly before November's election, scores of former diplomats and security officials -- Republican and Democrat -- signed letters castigating Trump's inability to lead on the world stage.

One day, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is that country's rightful ruler. The next, he's a despot and U.S. missiles are raining down. In one breath, NATO is obsolete. In the next, it's relevant.

And, in one moment, China is a currency manipulator gaming international markets. In the next, it's a fair trading partner, at least until the situation in North Korea doesn't improve.

Such amateurish erraticism is untenable and dangerous. And it dooms Branstad, a man with no official diplomatic experience, to years of rhetorical gymnastics in the hopes of explaining away Washington's constant inconsistency.

"He's going to try to represent the policy the best he can and hope it doesn't change the next day," Jett said.

His family's unshakable support for Trump has landed Branstad one of the toughest assignments in the world. He'll be a slave to Trump's unpredictable Twitter rants. He'll be trapped by opaque, listless foreign policy. He'll be the face left trying to make sense of Trump's impulsiveness in one of the most complicated diplomatic environments on the planet. He'll serve an administration that's struggling to fill key posts because so many expect it to end badly.

Quad-City (Iowa) Times
Labour  April 25, 2017  South African Federation of Trade Unions

Declaration of the Launching Congress of the South African Federation of Trade Unions

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) has been born. We have passed a milestone in the history of the South African trade union movement at this Launching Congress held in Boksburg from 21-23 April 2017.

700,000 workers represented by 1,384 voting delegates from 24 unions and other non-voting unions have taken the first decisive step to building a new, vibrant, independent, and democratic workers federation, leading the struggle against exploitation, mass unemployment, poverty, inequality and corruption and taking up the struggle for the total emancipation of the working class from the chains of its capitalist oppressors.

Delegates formally adopted the name, logo and colours of red, black and gold. A constitution was adopted and a Report from the Steering Committee which spelled out the way forward for the coming period, and endorsed the principles adopted by the Workers Summit on 30 April 2016.

We are building a fundamentally different type of workers organization  independent of political parties and employers but not apolitical  democratic, worker-controlled, militant, socialist-orientated, internationalist, panafricanist from a Marxist perspective and inspired by the principles of Marxism-Leninism.

Our historic mission is to rapidly build a united mass force of workers, which will transform their lives and pave the way for the transformation of society as a whole from one based on the greed of a rapacious capitalist elite to one run for the benefit of the working class and all the people of South Africa and the world.

But time is not on our side. Unless we urgently mobilize our forces to confront the quadruple challenge of unemployment, poverty, inequality and corruption and revive the trade union movement, turn the tide and fight back against their appalling conditions of life, we shall slide into a new age of barbarism, and even worse exploitation of the working class and the poor.

Principles and Character of the Federation

We have built on the founding principles adopted by the Workers Summit on 30 April 2016, made important additions and adopted the following:

1. Independence: Unions must be independent from employers (in the private and public sector) and from political parties. This does not mean that unions are apolitical.

2. Worker control and democracy: Unions must be worker-controlled and practice democracy, accountability, transparency and be tolerant. Within the federation affiliates must have autonomy.

3. Non-racialism and non-sexism: Unions must fight for the maximum unity of all workers and reject all divisive and negative sentiment such as racism, xenophobia, tribalism and ethnicity, all of which are the product of the capitalist system which exploits divisions within the working class. We should welcome and recruit migrant workers.

4. Financial self-sufficiency and accountability and opposition, in word and deed, to business unionism, corruption, fraud and maladministration within its own ranks and in a capitalist society which is inherently corrupt, which we must fight continuously and support workers exposing corruption, e.g. Prasa and all state-owned industries, and the former Midrand municipality

5. Internationalist and anti-imperialist: Unions must place a high priority on international solidarity.

6. Socialist orientation: We are committed to fight the exploitation of workers and must be ready to engage in the transformation of our societies to counter capitalist exploitation, inequalities and poverty. We are inspired by Marxism-Leninism and Marxist panafricanism, based on a commitment to socialism, internationalism, all of which are complementary.

7. Militancy in fighting for the working class and the poor: Unions must be ready to actively campaign for change, and made links with all of the oppressed South Africans.

8. We are committed to build effective organization and representation and organize in the most effective manner to represent workers and serve their interests.

9. We pledge our solidarity with all workers struggling for better wages and conditions of service or to save jobs and to do everything possible to save and create jobs.

Campaigns

Our struggle is to end class exploitation, and to dismantle colonial and apartheid capitalism and land dispossession, through a programme to reclaim land and for a socialist-orientated society. In pursuance of this we shall take up the following campaigns:

We support the Section 77 Notice submitted by the Steering Committee. In addition to its demand on unemployment, poverty and attacks on workers constitutional right to strike, we demand the banning of labour brokers, action to resolve the health crisis, for land to be restored to its rightful owners without compensation, for the scrapping of e-tolls and toll gates and the repeal of the Employment Tax Incentive Act.

Workers pension funds should be invested in projects which build houses for the workers and the poor, not to finance glass office towers in Sandton.

We demand an urgent moratorium on farm evictions of farm workers and demand that the states restore their dignity by building better houses for dwellers, who now live in houses that are no better than pigsties and go hungry even though they are the producers of food. We resolve to mobilize a campaign to end the abuses they suffer from and the fraudulent attempt to form co-operatives which are just fronts for the employers.

We shall mobilize workers to oppose Eskoms planned closure of five coal-powered power stations, which could produce 30-40,000 job losses, fight the partial privatization of Eskom by involving independent power producers, step up the campaign against nuclear energy and develop a position on transition to socially owned renewable energy.

We shall convene a Bargaining Conference to fight the attempts by the Free Market Foundation and employers to liquidate collective and centralized bargaining, and shall mobilize mass action to stop this attempt.

We shall resist with everything in our power a developing strategy by the state and their sweetheart unions to deny workers their right to join trade unions and condemn employers who refuse to grant union rights and the Department of Labour, which insists on a certificate from employers that they are prepared to process debit orders, and we condemn those employers in the public service who collude with COSATU unions to exclude independent unions and maintain conservative policies. We also call for amendments to Section 21 of the Labour Relations Act.

We demand changes to the Pensions Amendment Act and support the call for public servants to be able to use their own pensions for housing for public servants who cant get loans because of indebtedness and dont qualify for RDP houses.

GEMS should be a choice not compulsory, as it doesnt work in favour of public servants. Medical aid is exorbitant and the National Health Insurance still a dream; we are not deserting it but need immediate measures. We created GEMS, but its board is now dominated by COSATU unions.

We shall tackle the health crisis, where we see long queues only to receive a panado while the minority enjoy private care. Emergencies are not attended to and indignity and even death is imposed on psychiatric patients through outsourcing. We shall demand public quality service like in Cuba.

The education crisis is a core issue. We shall convene an education crisis summit, which will focus on the class basis of a system which generates unemployment and poverty and creates workers who are only meant to serve the interests of the capitalists and the state is limited to what the capitalists allow them to do. SAs education system is worse than those of many poorer countries.

We shall fight against food dumping, e.g. chickens and job losses linked to sugar tax, and against the use of EPWP Workers, which is used as a form of increased casualization of work in local government and exploitation.

Banks must be nationalized, in particular the Reserve Bank, not just mineral resources.

Recruitment and Organization

We shall immediately launch a recruitment campaign which must focus on the 76% of unorganized workers, but should also target COSATU affiliates because they are considered as unorganized and trapped. Shop stewards must be capacitated to take up recruitment and service.

Unions should support each others struggles and big unions give special material help to small unions and not just look after their own interests. No union should further expand its scope. We must encourage mergers where it makes the union more effective and makes organizational sense, but in the meantime unions in the same sector should cooperate.

There are disturbing developments in Nedlac proposing laws to ensure that all strikes must be peaceful, which ignores the problem that violence in strikes is instigated by employers who use police and private security to provoke and harass strikers.

We strongly condemn the refusal by government to recognise unions which have recruited in parastatals and the public service, which undermines the right to freedom of association. Those workers who have joined a union of their own choice must be given organizational rights including stop orders. We shall declare war on the political interventions by government.

We shall discuss with all unions about how best to deliver quality service  working toward the development of a service charter.

Economic, Social and Political Crisis

The current crisis, which is simultaneously political, economic and social, is rooted in the Codesa negotiated settlement which led to the end of apartheid. The settlement conceded democratic political rights, but ensured that the economy remained firmly in the hands of white monopoly capitalism, through the property clause.

This led to capture of the state and the government, the ANC and its allies by monopoly capital, and to the adoption of neoliberal, free-market capitalist economic policies in their interests. This started with Gear which was followed by the NDP. The Treasury and successive Finance Ministers were the main drivers of this process.

At the same time a section of black capitalists who were excluded from the mainstream capitalist economy, colluded with Zuma, his cronies, public officials which he appointed, and the Guptas to embark on an orgy of looting of public resources and self-enrichment through the manipulation of tenders in both the state and state-owner enterprises.

SAFTU opposes both these factions of the ruling class and refuses to take sides to defend either the corrupt looters or the mainstream white monopoly capitalists who are both fighting each other for control of the state and government for their own selfish class interests and not those of the working class and poor majority which they both exploit. We shall never support one butcher against another.

The federation will oppose any attempt to resolve this crisis within the parameters of a capitalist system which has proved that it has no solutions. It is the working class who produce the countrys wealth and who are the main consumers of its commodities.

The only way out of the crisis has to be through a mass movement of the working-class based on a program guided by the principles of Marxism-Leninism for the nationalization of the mineral and manufacturing monopolies, the banks and the land, in line with the aspiration expressed in the Freedom Charter. This discussion will be further developed in an Ideological and Political Commission.

Conclusion

At this historic Congress, we have asserted our independence and enshrined it in our decisions. We have insisted that we must be independent, but definitely not apolitical. On the contrary, being independent means that we have to be more ready to explain our positions, because these are rooted in the needs of the working class.

The new federation can show how different it is from other formations by showing that its principles are not just slogans, but guide our programmes in all that we do. There are huge expectations amongst the working class for SAFTU, and therefore have to live up to these expectations of the workers.

The new leadership that is elected to lead the New Federation are conscious of the very different traditions that we are now encompassing. Our differences are not a weakness, but an advantage, especially if we draw upon them to strengthen our overall approach.

Viva SAFTU Viva! 

President: Mack Tshabalala of NUMSA

1st deputy president: Nomvume Ralarala of SALIPSU

2nd deputy president: Thabo Matsotse of SAPU

General Secretary: Zwelinzima Vavi of NUMSA

Deputy GS : Phakedi Moleko of FAWU.

National treasurer: Motshwari Lecogo of NUPSAW

Issued by SAFTU, 23 April 2017.

Opening Address by Raymond Mnguni

Comrade Chairperson, delegates, visitors and friends. On behalf of the Steering Committee I welcome you all to this historic gathering.

It is a great honour and privilege to be asked to deliver the opening address of such a momentous event. The long wait is over. The new dawn has broken. A milestone has been reached in the history of the South African trade union movement.

We are here to build a new, vibrant, independent, democratic and militant workers federation. We are here to lead the struggle against exploitation, mass unemployment, poverty, inequality and corruption. We are here to forge ahead in the struggle for the total liberation of the working class from the chains of its capitalist oppressors.

As the Steering Committee report documents in great detail, this congress could not come at a more crucial time. Workers face the most serious crises since the end of apartheid. Unemployment is at one of the highest levels in the world, and thousands more jobs are now under threat  in Eskom and related transport services, the chicken industry, cold drinks manufacturing and the media.

More and more of the jobs that remain are insecure and low-paid, as formerly permanent jobs are lost through outsourcing, casualization and exploitation by labour brokers.

An army of vulnerable and marginalized workers is growing fast. Employers and the government are striving to sabotage collective bargaining and drive down wages to the lowest level which desperate workers will be prepared to accept. They are moving through Nedlac to restrict our basic, constitutional right to strike.

Militant Trade Union Movement

Yet just when there is a greater need than ever for a strong, militant trade union movement, the existing ones are fragmented and weak. According to the Department of Labour, in February 2016, there were 182 unions registered in our country, with another 400 unions waiting to be registered.

There are also thousands of workers in unions which are letting them down, workers who are demoralized by their leaders inactivity and opportunism, especially those in COSATU, who are embroiled in factional battles within the ANC and government and have failed to wage any fightback against their allies pro-capitalist and anti-worker policies.

Worst of all, more than three quarters of workers are not organized in any union at all, most of them in the most vulnerable sectors  part-time or casual workers who have no permanent employer of workplace, farm and domestic workers, the very workers in the greatest need of a strong trade union.

That is why one of our main tasks over these three days is to target these vulnerable workers, to revive their hopes and give them a route out of their misery. We must recognise the changing nature of the labour force, move beyond traditional areas of scope and recruit these vulnerable, unorganized workers.

As the Steering Committee report says:

We must rise above the petty squabbles that often characterize relations between unions and federations. Our country, our continent, and indeed the workers of the world, are going to be faced with monumental challenges over the next period. We have to be a beacon that attracts all workers, regardless of their union traditions, back to the front line of the class struggle.

All these, and many other challenges will be discussed in much greater detail in the discussion around the Steering Committee Report later today. But my mandate is to give a brief summary of the history of the activities of the Steering Committee and how we have arrived at this historic congress today.

In 2014 members of the COSATU Central Executive Committee voted to expel 340,000 members of NUMSA, and in 2015 to dismiss its General Secretary, Comrade Vavi. A group of COSATU affiliates which opposed these decisions, later to be known as the 9 plus unions, worked together to try to restore democracy, accountability, worker control and political independence to COSATU.

Meanwhile hundreds more members and officials were expelled from individual COSATU affiliates, many of them for exposing corruption and the embezzlement of union funds, others for their opposition to the COSATU leaders policy of propping up a dying and irrelevant Alliance, and an ANC and SACP that had abandoned their historical mission.

It became clear, particularly after the two disastrous COSATU Congresses in 2015, where FAWU and other members of the 9-plus fought bravely to turn the tide, that the leadership clique of COSATU would never accede to demands for worker unity, democracy and independence. They were never going to be the driving force for workers unity and fulfill the historic call for One Country, One Federation.

A new force for workers unity started to emerge. Discussions began between the Presidents of NACTU, FEDUSA and the former General Secretary of COSATU, who mutually agreed to convene a meeting of all unions that endorsed certain principles, including that the unions must be independent from employers and political parties, worker-controlled and democratic.

A historic meeting on 7 September 2015, attended by 26 unions, agreed to search for unity on the basis of trade union independence and democracy. This meeting laid the basis for working toward a Workers Summit and the eventual formation of a New Trade Union Federation. A Steering Committee was elected, comprising leaders of all participating trade unions.

Unfortunately almost immediately after the establishment of the Steering Committee, FEDUSA backed away, without ever making a written commitment to the New Federation and its principles.

Workers Summit

NACTU remained in the Steering Committee and participated, together with some of its affiliates (including AMCU) in the magnificent Workers Summit, which took place 30 April 2016, attended by 1500 trade union representatives, representing 52 unions attended together with 22 civil society organizations as observers.

NACTU also participated actively in the May Day Rally convened by the Steering Committee the next day, 1 May 2016. However, it then also retreated, as did Solidarity, who enthusiastically attended the Workers Summit and endorsed its final declaration, but then retreated, apparently back into the Afrikaner Laager coordinated by Afriforum.

The Workers Summit adopted a declaration called for concrete steps to be taken to launch a new, militant independent trade union federation and agreed to adopt the following founding principles, which of course you, at this launching congress, may endorse, amend and or reject.

1. Independence: Unions must be independent from employers (in the private and public sector) and from political parties. This does not mean that unions are apolitical.

2. Worker control and democracy: Unions must be worker-controlled and practice democracy, accountability, transparency and be tolerant. Within the federation affiliates must have autonomy but not independence, but differences of opinion must be tolerated.

3. Non-racialism and non-sexism: Unions must fight for the maximum unity of all workers and reject all divisive and negative sentiment such as xenophobia etc.

4. Financial self-sufficiency, accountability, and opposition, in word and deed, to business unionism, corruption, fraud and maladministration within its own ranks and in society as a whole.

5. Anti-imperialist and Internationalist: Unions must place a high priority on international solidarity.

6. Socialist orientation: Unions must be ready to engage in the transformation of our societies to counter capitalist exploitation, inequalities and poverty.

7. Militancy in fighting for the working class and the poor: Unions must be ready to actively campaign for change, and made links with all of the oppressed South Africans.

8. Effective organization and representation: Unions must organize in the most effective manner to represent workers and serve their interests.

9. Solidarity: with all workers in struggle for better wages and conditions or to save jobs.

10. Support for workers exposing corruption, e.g. Prasa and Midrand municipality.

To prepare for this congress of the New Federation, the Steering Committee on 7 March 2017 applied for registration with the Department of Labour, under the name of the South African Federation of Trade Unions.

All documents, including membership affiliation, were found to be in order, and the Registrar wrote to the Convenor of the Steering Committee on 23 March 2017 to state that the registration application was successful and the registration was gazetted on 31 March 2017. Should the congress decide to adopt a name other than SAFTU, the name change will be submitted to the Registrar.

We still face immense challenges, which the new leadership will have to confront urgently, because time is not on our side. We have to confront the quadruple challenge of unemployment, poverty, inequality and corruption and revive the trade union movement.

If workers cannot turn the tide and fight back against their appalling conditions of life, we shall slide into a new age of barbarism, and even worse exploitation of the working class and the poor.

I wish you all a highly successful congress. It must be the starting moment of a new era of progress toward the realisation of the ideals of the Freedom Charter and the emancipation of the working class and the whole of humanity. 
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
School Health Council Meeting



The St. Mary's County School Health Council will meet on Monday, May 8, 2017, from 5:00 - 6:30 PM. The meeting will be held in the Board of Education Meeting Room, at 23160 Moakley Street, Leonardtown, Maryland 20650.



The primary focus of the meeting will be a review of the proposed changes to the school system's wellness policy to reflect the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model.



For more information, please contact Dr. Andrew Roper, Supervisor of Physical Education/Health, at 301-475-5511, ext. 32104.



Updating Textbook and Instructional Materials



St. Mary's County Public Schools is in the process of renewing its textbook materials for English/Language Arts in grades 6-12.



The following textbooks will be available for review from April 27 through May 9, 2017, in the Charlotte Hall, Leonardtown, and Lexington Park Libraries:



 My Perspectives (2017) Pearson.



 Approaching Literature (2017) MacMillan.



 The Bedford Reader (2017) MacMillan.



 Springboard (2018) College Board.



For more information, please contact Ms. Michelle Gallant-Wall, Secondary English/Language Arts Supervisor, at 301-475-5511, ext. 32119.



Outstanding Employees Recognized



Superintendent of Schools, Mr. J. Scott Smith, would like to recognize several employees that have been recognized for their service and dedication to St. Mary's County Public Schools.



Ms. Karyn Timmons, Parent Liaison at Lexington Park Elementary School, has been selected as the Educational Support Professional of the Year award winner. Ms. Timmons has been employed with St. Mary's County Public Schools for ten years. The Educational Support Professional of the Year award was established in 2009 to recognize the essential role support staff has on the success of the school system by fostering a positive learning environment for students. Dr. Rebecca Schou, Principal at Lexington Park Elementary, said of Ms. Timmons, "As I've had the opportunity to see Ms. Timmons immersed in her duties as Parent Liaison, it quickly became clear to me that for her, being our Parent Liaison is much more than a job, it is a calling. She knows all of our families and they rely on her for guidance, resources and support."



Ms. Kristen McIntyre, Instructional Resource Teacher at Greenview Knolls Elementary School, has been selected as the representative from St. Mary's County Public Schools for the Maryland Teacher of the Year program. Ms. McIntyre has been employed with St. Mary's County Public Schools for eight years. She will compete against other teachers from across the State of Maryland for the Maryland Teacher of the Year Award. Ms. McIntyre holds a Master's Degree in Teaching - Early Childhood Education and a Master's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Math and Science Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a concentration in Elementary Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. Ms. Elizabeth Servello, Principal at Greenview Knolls Elementary, said of Ms. McIntyre, "Ms. McIntyre is what is right with education today. She is engaging in ways that help even reluctant learners. It is for this reason that parents, colleagues, and students at Greenview Knolls Elementary School admire and respect Ms. McIntyre."



Ms. Mary Jane Selph, Vocational Support Teacher at the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center, has been selected as the representative from St. Mary's County Public Schools for the Washington Post Teacher of the Year program. Ms. Selph has been employed with St. Mary's County Public Schools for thirty-six years. She was a finalist for the Washington Post Teacher of the Year Award competing against other teachers from public and private schools throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Ms. Selph holds a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education from Frostburg State University. Mr. Michael Egan, Principal of the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center said of Ms. Selph, "Ms. Selph is a role model for every educator, she never accepts excuses; she continues to challenge herself as well as her students and she inspires them to work to their full potential."



Ms. Jennifer Gilman, Principal of Hollywood Elementary School, has been selected as the representative from St. Mary's County Public Schools for the Washington Post Principal of the Year program. Ms. Gilman has been employed with St. Mary's County Public Schools for thirty years, the last eighteen in the role of principal. She was a finalist for the Washington Post Principal of the Year Award competing against other principals from public and private schools throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Ms. Gilman holds a Master's Degree of Education in Education Policy, Planning and Administration from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Bachelor's Degree in Early Education/Elementary Education from Frostburg State University. Lieutenant Troy McFadden, President of the Hollywood Elementary School Parent/Teacher Association said of Ms. Gilman, "Ms. Gilman is energetic, motivated, and committed with the highest degree of integrity. She has a strong understanding of the many facets of school leadership including facility planning, budget, finance, human resources management and strategic planning."



"These four employees represent the excellence found in St. Mary's County Public Schools. They are truly dedicated to the success of the students they serve and to the school community. I join the entire school system in applauding Ms. Timmons, Ms. McIntyre, Ms. Selph, and Ms. Gilman being recognized by their peers as outstanding educators" said Mr. J. Scott Smith, Superintendent of Schools.



As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, we not only thank our teachers, but principals and support staff as well. Every employee makes an important contribution to the success of our students. Ms. Timmons, Ms. McIntyre, Ms. Selph, and Ms. Gilman will represent the school system at the Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, April 26, 2017, in recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week. All nominees for the Educational Support Professional of the Year, Teacher of the Year, and Principal of the Year, will be recognized on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, at Chopticon High School, beginning at 5:00 p.m. along with other St. Mary's County Public School staff recognitions.
LA PLATA, Md.

(April 25, 2017)The College of Southern Maryland Cyberhawks won first place honors at the Maryland Community College Cyber Competition held April 7 at the Montgomery Community College Germantown Campus. The Cyberhawks competed against more than 20 teams from 10 different community colleges from across the state at the inaugural event."This was all due to the hard work of those Cybersecurity Club members," said Associate Professor James Graves, one of the team's sponsors. "They prepared for their first competition and really followed through. I'm very proud of what they have accomplished and look forward to seeing their full potential."The Cyberhawks, represented by CSM students Caleb Craft of Waldorf, Cody Hight of King George, Virginia, and Don Price of Charlotte Hall, held a consistent lead during the first half of the two-hour competition. But in the last 40 minutes a team from Frederick Community College began to challenge CSM for first place. The Cyberhawks battled back, regaining the lead in just the last 18 seconds of the competition. The Cyberhawks left the challenge as champions, earning 3,466 points overall.The competition tested the students' ability to solve cyber puzzles in five categories: computer forensics, cryptography, binary coding, networking communications and a miscellaneous mystery topic.Hight credited the Cyberhawk's communication and teamwork skills for the win. "The few times I looked up from our screens it appeared as if everyone was doing their own challenges individually, whereas if one of us got stuck on something we asked one of the others if they knew something about it, and sometimes we traded problems," he said. "Coming out in first place was significantly surprising to me. Being my first competition, I was only expecting to learn how the competitions work and have fun.""This was our first CTF competition," Craft said. "However, we have been competing in several national and global competitions that take place online. We plan on participating in future competitions and I hope we can continue to improve our knowledge and skills."As the competition's champions, the Cyberhawks won a Hak5 kit. Hight explained that the kit "contains a USB Rubber Ducky, a WiFi Pineapple Nano and a LAN Turtle. The WiFi Pineapple does not look like a pineapple, but is a personal router of sorts, in the way that it can be used as a man-in-the-middle, and using this type of attack, one can steal credentials to whatever site the victim visits."The Maryland Community College Cyber Competition was sponsored by Parsons Cyber.For information about CSM's cybersecurity program, visit www.csmd.edu/programs-courses/cyber-center/.
College of Southern Maryland (CSM) alumnus Dillon Banis.

LA PLATA, Md.

(April 25, 2017)The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) alumnus Dillon Banis has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. The award gives Banis, who graduated from CSM in 2014, the opportunity to work in Germany to assist local English teachers while serving as a cultural ambassador for the United States."It is an honor to the degree of which I never would have thought would be conferred on me," Banis said."Dillon is a one-in-a-million student, who made an impression on all of us who were fortunate enough to teach him," said CSM Professor Dr. Christine Arnold-Lourie. "Dillon is interested in everything and has explored a wide variety of subjects, including economics, music history, literature and history. A conversation with Dillon might range from composer Ralph Vaughn Williams to libertarianism to historiography, and Dillon fearlessly undertakes to challenge himself to explore and learn. He is deeply interested in culture and ready to immerse himself in the Fulbright experience. Without question, Dillon will continue to achieve wonderful things."Banis was a 2010 graduate of Chopticon High School. While at CSM, Banis, completed five honors modulesone in geography, directed by Dr. Art Viterito; one in music history, under Dr. Stephen Johnson; and three in history, directed by Arnold-Lourie. He also served as a history peer tutor and worked nearly full time to support his studies. Upon graduation, he received CSM's annual history award and the Colonial Dames Scholarship."Dillon was one of the few students that could tackle avant-garde musicalways a pleasure to have in class," Johnson said. "I'm glad his hard work is paying off."After CSM, Banis continued his education at Morgan State University, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2016. Now 25, he lives in Syracuse, New York, while he works toward his master's in history at Syracuse University and serves as a teaching assistant. He plans to also pursue his doctorate. Banis' ultimate career goal is to become a history professor or maybe work with the U.S. Department of State or a foreign policy think tank.Banis said that CSM was a good place to start his educational journey. "CSM was in every way a valuable experience, particularly the care, guidance and attention I received from my professors," he said. "I would not have even been able to start a college career had it not been for CSM. I hesitate to call anything a formative moment because I'm constantly trying to grow and expand my understanding, but if I were to peg such a moment to a particular time, I would say it was during my time at CSM."As Banis prepares to embark on his Fulbright adventure to Germany, he remembers that he first experienced international travel and cultural exchange at CSM. His first trip abroad was with the CSM travel-study program when he traveled with Professor Neal Dwyer and other students to Ireland. "Because of Dillon's curiosity, his love of learning and different experiences, never fazed, he was open to every minute of Ireland. He soaked it all in. It doesn't surprise me he's on to bigger and better things in Europehe's the kind of student we love to have in class, on travel study trips," Dwyer said."I was so moved by the experience [in Ireland] that I became determined to spend an extended period of time abroad in a non-English speaking country," Banis said.His Fulbright award will allow him to fulfill that goal. "I plan to conduct research during my free time while I'm [in Germany] and hopefully enroll in a university course," he said. "There is a chance I will be working with refugees, which is something I requested in my application ... In terms of pure academic interest, the Fulbright means that I will have a chance to become fluent in German and will, thus, be able to explore my field of interest, German intellectual history, much more in depth."The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.For information on CSM's Travel-Study Program, visit www.csmd.edu/programs-courses/credit/flexible-learning-options/travel-study/ . For information on the different degree options available at CSM, visit www.csmd.edu/programs-courses/credit/types-of-degrees/.
Karen Oliveto clutched a friend's hand, closed her eyes and wept when she learned last year she had been elected a bishop of the United Methodist Church. Oliveto, who is married to another woman, had become the denomination's first openly gay bishop.

Within minutes, a formal complaint was filed challenging her election as contrary to the church ban on clergy who are "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" - a petition that the highest Methodist judicial authorities agreed to consider. On Tuesday, the court will take up the closely watched case, the latest flashpoint over LGBT rights in a denomination splintering over the Bible and homosexuality.

"It highlights very greatly that we are two different churches and that the real difference is whether or not we're going to live by the covenant that we each have agreed to," said the Rev. Rob Renfroe, who leads Good News, a caucus of evangelical Methodists that has lobbied to uphold current teaching. Said Oliveto, "I'm in deep prayer, reminding myself of what God has called me to do."

Oliveto, who is based in the Denver area, will attend the hearing in Newark, New Jersey, accompanied by fellow bishops from the church's Western Jurisdiction, her wife, mother and childhood pastor. LGBT clergy and their supporters plan to pray outside and wear T-shirts listing the first names only of gay clergy who would risk losing their ministerial credentials by coming out.

The goal is to underscore the human cost of church policy, said the Rev. Lea Matthews of the LGBT advocacy group Methodists in New Directions. Prayer vigils are planned in the Methodist Mountain Sky Area region, which Oliveto leads, while others will join a prayer vigil online.

The court, or Judicial Council, is expected to issue a ruling a few days later.

The 12.8 million-member church, the third-largest in the U.S., was already in turmoil over same-sex relationships when Oliveto was elected. Methodists approved language in 1972 calling same-gender relationships "incompatible with Christian teaching." The top church policy-making body, or General Conference, has upheld that policy ever since, even as LGBT rights gained acceptance and other mainline Protestants, including the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), approved same-sex marriage. In recent years, the Methodists have seen their greatest growth overseas, especially in Africa, among more theologically conservative people, who have been standing with U.S. evangelical Methodists against recognizing same-gender relationships.

Deeply frustrated, Methodist LGBT advocates have stepped up pressure for new policies, holding same-sex weddings in defiance of church prohibitions and coming out as gay and lesbian from the pulpit. Conservatives responded by intensifying demands for church discipline over such actions. In one high-profile case, the Rev. Frank Schaefer was tried by a church court and defrocked for presiding at the wedding of his son to another man. Schaefer was later reinstated as a minister on an appeal of the ruling.

These divisions erupted dramatically last year at a meeting of the General Conference, which was rife with talk of a possible schism. At one point, LGBT advocates on the perimeter of a session lay on the floor with rainbow-colored duct tape over their mouths. In a narrow 428-405 vote, the conference delayed consideration of LGBT-related proposals and instead created a panel, called the Commission on a Way Forward, to review all church policy on human sexuality, aiming to find a way to keep the church together.

Renfroe said he was more focused on the outcome of the commission's work than the Oliveto hearing, although he said her election has made it harder to persuade conservative congregations to stay with the denomination while the commission conducts its review. Two large Mississippi congregations recently voted to move toward a split from the church.

In making a ruling, the high court will consider technical aspects of church law, contained in the Methodist Book of Discipline, said William Lawrence, a professor at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and a former member of the Judicial Council. Potential outcomes range from a technical decision on procedure alone that keeps Oliveto in place to a decision that would void her election, Lawrence said. "There is an extraordinary range," Lawrence said.

Ahead of the hearing, Oliveto released a video message to her church region in which she expressed some anxiety. "I find myself holding my breath in this time of uncertainty," she said. But she said she felt assured that "God is working God's purpose out."

"I love being your bishop," she said, then asked Methodists to pray.
NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 21 April 2017. NASA

Today: Fluid Shifts Dilution Measurements: The 49S subjects completed their Return minus 45 (R-45) Fluid Shifts Dilution Measurements activities today, collecting saliva, blood and urine and inserting them into Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) prior to ingesting a Sodium Bromide (NaBr) tracer.

Throughout the day, the crew will perform more collections, storing them in MELFI as well. Fluid Shifts is a joint NASA-Russian experiment divided into Dilution Measurements, Baseline Imaging, and Baseline Imaging with Chibis (Lower Body Negative Pressure). The Fluid Shifts experiment investigates the causes for severe and lasting physical changes to astronauts eyes. Because the headward fluid shift is a hypothesized contributor to these changes, reversing this fluid shift with a lower body negative pressure device is being evaluated as a possible intervention. Results from this study may help to develop preventative measures against lasting changes in vision and to prevention of eye damage.

JAXA Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) #12 Installation and Execution: The crew installed and configured the JAXA PCG#12 canisters in JEM Ryutai rack. This experiment will run until removal for return on 49S. The two canisters contain a total of 47 protein samples that were prepared by Russian and Japanese researchers from universities, national research institutes, and the private sector. The purpose of this activity is to obtain high quality protein crystals in the microgravity environment at a constant temperature for about 6 weeks. Results may contribute to the development of drugs for multidrug-resistant bacteria, Alzheimers disease, muscular dystrophy and periodontitis. They will also aid in the development of a blood substitute and biosensor.

Orbital 7 (OA-7) Arrival Preparations: In preparation for OA-7 capture and berthing this Saturday, the crew completed the following:

Reviewed Cygnus attached phase configuration, hardware, and stowage.

Relocated Portable Computer System (PCS) and cables from Japanese Experiment Module Pressurized Module (JPM) Utility Outlet Panel (UOP) to the Lab UOP.

Completed a Robotics Onboard Trainer (RoBOT) session to practice Capture Point hold runs and 2 meter runs.

Todays Planned Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos Web Site and Social Media

EKON-M. Observations and photography

Fluid Shifts Saliva Urine, and Blood Baseline Collection

Fluid Shifts MELFI Insertion Operations

Fluid Shifts Galley Water Collection Tracer Ingestion Operations

Fluid Shifts Refrigerated Centrifuge Configuration

MELFI Overview OBT

Repair CWC-I attached to UPA SPA.

KASKAD. - #02 thermostat connection and activation to +26 .

Cygnus Capture Review

FAGEN. - 4 thermostat activation to +4 

Soyuz 735 Transfers and IMS Ops

Pressurization of Elektron-VM Liquid Unit before Activation

On-board Training (OBT) Cygnus Attached Phase Operations review.

COSMOCARD. Preparing for and Starting 24-hr ECG Recording

Fluid Shifts Urine Collection Mid

Cygnus Cargo Operations Review

KRISTALLIZATOR. PCG kits transfer from Soyuz 735, Inspection, and Handover to USOS

KRISTALLIZATOR. Photo of PCG Kits Handover

Fluid Shifts MELFI Retrieve Insertion Operations

JAXA Protein Crystal Growth (PCG) Installation

CONSTANTA-2. Transfer and Setup in - No.04 at +4 deg C

Progress 435 (DC1) Stowage Ops with IMS Support

Fluid Shifts Blood 3-Hour Collection

Fluid Shifts Blood Collection  Operator

FAGEN. Kit Transfers from Soyuz 735

FAGEN. Setup of MSK kit No.06 in - No.4 thermostat at +4 deg C and MSK kit No.07 kit on SM panel 328, photography

Fluid Shifts Refrigerated Centrifuge Configuration

Fluid Shifts Saliva 3-Hour Collection

Fluid Shifts MELFI Retrieve Insertion Operations

Cygnus Capture Review

CASKAD. Transfer of Anabioz P/L from Soyuz 735. Bioreactor Setup in Thermostat at +26 deg C. Photography

STRUKTURA. Transfer of Hardware from Soyuz 735

Fluid Shifts Refrigerated Centrifuge Spin Conclude

STRUKTURA. Process Activation and Placement

STRUKTURA. Photo during the Experiment and at Exposure Location

Fluid Shifts MELFI Retrieve Insertion Operations

CEVIS Crew Handover

CALCIUM. Transfer of Calcium-  Kits from Soyuz 735 and Setup in MRM1

CALCIUM. Experiment Session 1

T2 Crew Handover

Fluid Shifts Saliva 5-Hour Collection  Subject

Photo of a scuffmark left by the Active Docking Assembly Probe on the MRM2 Active Docking Assembly () Receiving Cone

Fluid Shifts MELFI Retrieve Insertion Operations

Fluid Shifts Blood Collection Conclude Stow

Download docking cone internal surface photos to OCA

Fluid Shifts Urine Collection End  Subject

Fluid Shifts MELFI Insertion Operations

Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation

NanoRacks Microscope-3 Procedure Review

On-board Training (OBT) Cygnus Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) Session 2

Installation and Testing Voltage Converter 28-120 in RS

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

PCS Laptop Relocate

Soyuz 735 Transfers and IMS Ops

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

ISS Crew Orientation

Ghost camera setup in Cupola

Cygnus Cargo Operations Conference

Fluid Shifts Urine Collection Stow

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

Progress 435 (DC1) Stowage and IMS Ops

Health Maintenance System (HMS)  ESA Nutritional Assessment

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Fill Part 3

IMS Update

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

Completed Task List Items

Veggie 03 Pillow Watering and Photo

Lab Aft Hatch Stowage Latch Troubleshooting

Ground Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Cygnus OBT support

Fluid Shifts support

Three-Day Look Ahead:

Saturday, 04/22: Cygnus capture/berth/ingress

Sunday, 04/23: Crew off duty

Monday, 04/24: Polar (4) transfers, Emergency Roles/Responsibilities Review, OBT Cygnus emergency review, Cygnus cargo transfer ops

QUICK ISS Status  Environmental Control Group:

Component  Status

Elektron  Off

Vozdukh  Manual

[] 1  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1)  Off

[] 2  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2)  Off

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab  Operate

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3  Operate

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab  Operate

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3  Standby

Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA)  Process

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA)  Standby

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab  Full Up

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3  Off
President Donald Trump, joined by astronaut Kate Rubins, left, and First Daughter Ivanka Trump, talks with station crew members Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer from the White House Oval Office in Washington. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls. NASA.

Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson broke the U.S. record today for most cumulative time living in space, surpassing astronaut Jeff Williams record of 534 days set during his four spaceflights. She passed Williams mark at 1:27 a.m. EDT.

President Donald Trump called the International Space Station Monday morning and congratulated Whitson on her record-breaking career. Whitson and her newest crewmate NASA astronaut Jack Fischer discussed NASAs research in space and its plans to go to Mars in the 2030s.

Before todays presidential call the Expedition 51 crew members joined together to review their roles and responsibilities in the unlikely event of an emergency aboard the International Space Station. If necessary, they could put on safety gear, evacuate the station into their docked Soyuz vehicles and quickly undock for a ride back to Earth.

The crew is also unloading gear today from two new spaceships that arrived last week. Veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin has been transferring cargo from the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft he piloted to a docking last Thursday. Whitson and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet are working to offload new science experiments and crew supplies that arrived Saturday morning aboard the Cygnus resupply ship.

On-Orbit Status

Orbital 7 (OA-7) Capture/Berthing: Friday night, Robotics Ground Controllers maneuvered the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to inspect the Node 1 Nadir Active Common Berthing Mechanism (ABCM). They then maneuvered the SSRMS to the Cygnus high hover position and powered up the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) in Hot Backup mode in preparation for Saturday mornings Cygnus capture.

On Saturday, Pesquet and Whitson monitored the Cygnus approach from the Cupola Robotic Workstation and with Pesquet at the controls, Cygnus was captured nominally. Ground Controllers then maneuvered Cygnus into position to support an inspection of its Passive Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) then maneuvered and installed it to the Node 1 Nadir Active CBM. The Cygnus hatch was subsequently opened and cargo transfer was initiated.

Human Research Program (HRP) Collections (Marrow): A 50S crewmember performed the Flight Day 15 (FD15) blood and air sample collections in support of the Marrow experiment. A blood sample was collected, processed in the centrifuge and placed in the Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). A breath sample and ambient air sample were also collected and stowed for return on a later flight. The Marrow investigation looks at the effect of microgravity on bone marrow. It is believed that microgravity, like long-duration bed rest on Earth, has a negative effect on the bone marrow and the blood cells that are produced in the bone marrow.

NanoRacks Microscope-3 Instrument Operations: The crew performed NanoRacks Microscope-3 assembly and checkout for both microscopes. NanoRacks Microscope-3 will be used for viewing and capturing digital microscope photos of various science specimens.

Emergency Roles & Responsibilities Review: With the arrival of the 50S crew, all 5 crewmembers reviewed priorities during emergency response to ensure safety of the crew and safe configuration of the ISS. To meet these priorities the crew covered crew accountability, readiness of the Soyuz escape vehicle and communication and coordination among themselves as well as with ground teams during an emergency event.

Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS) Status: On Sunday, the crew reported a grinding noise in the CEVIS and were directed to stand down on CEVIS use. Ground teams met and decided that the crew can continue CEVIS use wearing hearing protection and will schedule an Ergometer Remove & Replace (R&R).

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Status: On Sunday, UPA experienced a Distillation Assembly Belt Slippage Fault and was moded to shut down. The same fault was experienced last Thursday. Ground teams met and recommends restarting the UPA which is in work.

Todays Planned Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Reminder 1 Fluid Shifts Baseline Imaging Measures

ODF Books Update on iPAD

Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos Web Site and Social Media

EKON-M. Observations and photography

??-8. Setup

CSA Generic Frozen Blood Collection 25 Minutes  Subject

Body mass measurement

CSA Generic Frozen Blood Collection  Operator

CSA Generic Refrigerated Centrifuge Configure

??-8. Closeout ops

CSA Generic Refrigerated Centrifuge Spin Conclude

CSA Generic Sample MELFI Insertion

CSA Generic Frozen Blood Collection Conclude And Stow

Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations

KARDIOVEKTOR. Execution experiment

Uninstall 50S [??1,2] TV cameras and [???-302] lights.

EveryWear Biometric Patch charging

On board Training Cygnus Emergency Procedure Review

Shift handover safety procedure review

Emergency Roles and Responsibilities Review

Transfer Cygnus Cargo Operations

Auxiliary computer systems review Specialist conference when required

50S right seat container cargo handling

Daily electrocardiogram recording (start)

Daily blood pressure measurement (start)

ISS Crew Adaptation

Post Cygnus arrival emergency OBT

NanoRacks Microscope-3 Instrument Operations

50S equipment transfer, IMS update

KONSTANTA-2. Retrieve the cartridge from [???-?] and stow at panel 418 to warm up for one hour

Fluid Shifts CCFP Baseline Setup

50S delivered ODF replacement

Post Cygnus arrival emergency OBT

Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD)  LAB

KASKAD. Manual stirring inside the bioreactor

Handover of Increment 51 Crew

NODE 1 GALLEY RACK MOD KIT MERLIN-1 INSTALLATION

KONSTANTA-2. 1st study setup and run. Specialist conference

Cygnus Cargo Operations Conference

KONSTANTA-2. Photography during the science operation

Polar Samples to Cold Stowage  Transfer 1

NanoRacks External Platform Operations Review.

NanoRacks External Platform Hardware Gather

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Test

ISS Crew Orientation

Fluid Shifts Hardware Battery Installation

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Questionnaire

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Test

HMS. Eye test

HMS. Eye test questionnaire fill-up

HMS Tonometry Test Setup

HMS Tonometry Test Crew Medical Officer (CMO)

HMS Tonometry Test Subject

HMS Tonometry Test Stow

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Vision Questionnaire

Completed Task List Items

ARED Right Upper Stop Cable Adjustment [Completed GMT 112]

Rendezvous and Prox Ops Program (RPOP) Setup [Completed GMT 112]

Lab Aft Hatch Stowage Latch Troubleshooting [Completed GMT 112]

Veggie 03 Pillow Watering and Photo [Completed GMT 112 and 113]

Expedition New Earth Video-CHOW TIME [Completed GMT 112]

Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics (DOUG) Software Review [Completed 113]

On board Training Cygnus Emergency Procedure Review [Completed 113]

Transfer 50 Soyuz USOS Unpack [Completed 113]

Expedition New Earth Video-CHOW TIME [Completed 114]

EXPRESS Rack 7 Laptop Computer battery changeout [Completed 114]

Ground Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Nominal System Commanding

Three-Day Look Ahead:

Tuesday, 04/25: NREP hardware swap, Fluid Shifts, Meteor hard drive swap/anti-virus update

Wednesday, 04/26: Fluid Shifts, sample transfer from Polars, National Assn. of Broadcasters 4K downlink

Thursday, 04/27: Fluid Shifts, P/TV 4K teardown, EVA DOUG review, Cygnus cargo transfer

QUICK ISS Status  Environmental Control Group:

Component  Status

Elektron  Off

Vozdukh  Manual

[???] 1  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1)  Off

[???] 2  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2)  Off

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab  Operate

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3  Operate

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab  Operate

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3  Standby

Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA)  Process

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA)  Process

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab  Full Up

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3  Off
In early 2011, there were rumors that Chicago-based Intelligentsia had big plans for San Francisco. Stories abounded that Doug Zell, the companys founder and then-president, was on the verge of storming into the Bay Area rc proclaim Intelligentsia the next big thing. After all, he had just set up shop in Los Angelesthe Silverlake flagship quickly becoming a coffee hot spot for Angelenos.

With San Francisco, a storied destination in its own right, just a six-hour drive away, the city was the logical next step. For a moment, the writing seemed to be on the wall. Intelligentsia absorbed local coffee legend Andrew Barnetts Ecco Caffe, announcing that the future home of the cafe and roaster would be in San Franciscos Potrero Hill neighborhood. The time for another major player in the coffee industry to enter the San Francisco fray had come. And then it didnt.

For years, the short, boxy warehouse just off the intersection of Mariposa and Texas stood quiet. The opening date for Ecco slipped further and further back, before disappearing altogether. Then, a new rumor began to circulateIntelligentsia would create a physical hub for their plans on the West Coast: a training and roasting lab. Architects were hired, plans drawn, and thennothing. For years, the space sat muted, without signage or indication of who owned it or what exactly went on inside. We knew beans were being roasted, packaged, and shipped up and down the West Coast, but the promise of something bigger failed to materialize.

Five years later, under the watchful eye of Intelligentsia president, James McLaughlin, thats finally changing. In February, the company opened the doors on the long-awaited Roasting Works in Potrero Hillthe promise of a roasting and training facility in the Bay Area, fulfilled.

We made an investment, McLaughlin says. We got to a point with the business in the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest where we needed a training lab and sales office. We needed something formal.

Intelligentsia will base much of their coffee roasting here, and the space will act as a hub for training and educating both baristas and lay coffee drinkers alike. This is San Francisco though, home to specialty coffee royalty, and an outside company building out a space here is akin to the planting of a flag.

McLaughlin knows this. This is a world-class city in terms of food and culture, he says. We can contribute to that and [the Potrero Hill space] sends a loud, clear message that were committed to San Francisco and continuing to move into it.

McLaughlinwith the help of Paul Rekstad, the West Coast sales manager for Intelligentsia and Marco Veneziano, Intelligentsias in-house Construction Project Manager, plus Berkeley-based interior design group Union Studiohas outfitted the space to artfully reflect its industrial nature without sacrificing any customer-facing approachability. A ceiling of bridge-like redwood trusses is offset by the shimmering gloss of white tile walls. The front of the building is almost entirely windows, with natural light falling in on high, cold marble tables and a poured concrete floor. It could be a cafe.

Yet, McLaughlin and team have gone to great ends to incorporate the actual workings of a roasting facilityorderly piles of burlap green coffee bags and the Probat roasterinto the space. It is at once inviting to an average San Franciscan and clearly a place where the work of producing roasted wholesale coffee comes first.

It was very important to us, Rekstad says, to frame the roasting, the production, and their different aspects in this larger open space.

For the moment, the Intelligentsia Roasting Works does not operate as a cafe. Its intent is to provide a place for wholesale customers to taste coffee as well as send their baristas for training. Though eventually there will be weekly public tastings and tours available, for now its an aesthetically pleasing space where the nuts and bolts of coffee production occur. But, in the ever-expanding San Francisco scene, its more than thatthis is a declaration of intent from Intelligentsia. The company, quiet for so long, is stepping up its West Coast game.

With this particular space, we needed a training lab and a business office, McLaughlin says. But San Francisco is definitely a city where we want to get into the coffee bar business. Stay tuned.

Noah Sanders (@sandersnoah) is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in San Francisco, and a contributor to SF Weekly, Side One Track One, and The Bold Italic. Read more Noah Sanders on Sprudge.

Photos courtesy of Intelligentsia.
On any normal racing night, usually, the headline belongs to the winner of the Open event at Pompano Park.

But on this Monday night, the headline belongs to a young lady named Molly Murphy and an amateur driver named Dein Spriggs.

Molly Murphy is the Executive Director of Equine Assisted Therapies of South Florida, a 501-c3 organization that specializes in assisting children of all ages, meaning 3 to 83, with special needs through four programs including, Therapeutic Riding, Hippotherapy, Equine Facilitated Learning and Equine Psychotherapy, which includes a Wounded Warrior Program.

Murphy, herself, gained much needed assistance from the program some 20 years ago and, since, has become its Executive Director now assisting many others within the scope of these programs.

Amateur driver Dein Spriggs, President of the Florida Amateur Driving Club, which has donated some $180,000 to various charitable causes since the clubs inception, became so intrigued by the equine assistance offered to those in need, now has stepped up to the plate personally by donating half of the earnings from his own trotter, A Crown For Lindy, to their cause from now until the end of the Pompano Park meeting.

Spriggs, who has driven over 400 winners during his career, added one more to his credit on Monday night, giving a kick to the charity by driving A Crown For Lindy ($2.60) to his 56th lifetime victory, this one in 1:59, meaning a $1,250 boost to the charity.

The victory came in the Florida Amateur Driving Club trot where A Crown For Lindy scored by 3-1/2 lengths over Tymal Recap, handled by Leopold Sawyers. On The Tab, with Leon Cable in the bike, finished third.

Said Spriggs after the winning drive, I really took an interest in this charity and their programs when our driving club donated to their cause a few weeks ago. Im even more intrigued now that I have had a chance to realize just how much they help people of all ages through their equine programs.

In accepting the generosity of Spriggs, Executive Director Molly Murphy said, I am one who has known, first hand, the power of the horse and its healing ways because I, too, was in the program years ago and, I assure you, I would not be who I am today without this program. My appreciation for Mr. Spriggs generosity runs deep.

The $10,000 Open Handicap Trot featured a well matched septet and Boli, despite being assigned the outside post, earned his second straight win for Wally Hennessey, covering the mile in 1:55.4.

Sailer Eddie (Dave Ingraham) was a fast closing second, a neck away, while Keystone Bodacious (Kevin Wallis) was even a faster closing third, three-parts-of-a-length off the winner. Diamond Dagger finished fourth while Tater Twister finished fifth after clipping off panels of :27, :57.2 and 1:26.

Said Hennessey after the event, This was not the easiest of trips for him, but hes sharp right now and he dug in late.

I kind of half-left with him with the 5 (Sailer Eddie) and the 6 (Tater Twister) leaving and I was hoping to find a spot mid-pack somewhere. I had to pull a little earlier than I wanted because I didnt want to be locked in with my horse because he can be a little anxious at times. Around the final turn, the leader got away from us a bit but Boli just kept digging and then had to really dig in late. It was a big effort for him.

Trained by Dan Hennessey, who is closing in on 1,000 career training wins, Boli is owned by Paul and Patricia ONeil and won for the fourth time in eight starts this semester, good for $25,280. Career-wise, Boli is 19 for 56 in the win column with lifetime earnings of $162,474. Boli returned $6.20 to win.

The $8,000 Open 2 Trot went to Explosive Drama, driven by Kevin Wallis, in a lifetime best 1:55.3.

The five-year-old gelded son of Explosive Matter led at every pole--:27.4, :57.1 and 1:25.4--before a :29.4 finale sealed the deal by a half-length over Legend Field (John MacDonald) with the 50-1 chance Caviart Griffin (Dave Ingraham) rallying for third.

Trainer by Barry Probber for Probber-Morse Racing and the Unity Stable, Explosive Drama was ultra-game in victory as he repelled a bid mid-way through the mile and another inn the final stages to record his second win of the year in 11 starts, pushing his seasonal total to $11,581. Lifetime, Explosive Drama has $143,433 to go along with his new lifetime mark. The winner paid $6.00 to win.

Racing continues on Tuesday night with a well-matched field of mares going to the Hummer Starting Gate in the $9,500 featured pace.

Goldstar Rockette has been installed as the 5-2 favourite in the septet and will have the driving services of Jim Meittinis. This Florida bred seven year-old daughter of Rock On, is winless in 10 starts this year but has been in the photo for win on several occasions this year while knocking on the door.

Spilling The Beans, Jets Are On, Sues Night Out, Metro Glide, Machin Marley and Miss Dollar Mam complete the field.

The Tuesday night program features a $10,000 guarantee on the Pick-4, as part of the U.S.T.A. Strategic Wagering Program. The Pick-4, which features an industry low 12% takeout, is contested on races 6 through 9.

The Super Hi-5 finale has a carryover flirting with $100,000 and the track has proposed a mandatory payout on Sunday, April 30, should there not be a single winner on Tuesday night.

Post time for the Tuesday program is 7:20 p.m.

(Pompano Park)
Tioga Downs will commence its 12th season of live harness racing on Saturday, May 6 at 5 p.m. in front of thousands of fans combining opening day with the Kentucky Derby.

Opening day will feature giveaways, a $1,000 Derby Dream bet, Derby hat contest, fireworks and much more. Tioga will race 59 days throughout the summer mixing in exciting overnight action with Grand Circuit stakes.

Tiogas top trainer from 2016, Mike Deters, and driving champion Scott Coulter will return to defend their titles. Deters title was his third Tioga Downs training title, including two of the last three years. His 34 wins beat out Tony Dinges by just three wins. Coulter, who won the driving title in his first full season at Tioga, will once again tangle with 2015s top pilot, Mike Simons, who was just five wins short of Coulters 68 wins last season.

The track from Nichols, NY will once again be home for some of the sports top stakes races. On Sunday, June 11, a leg of the Graduate series returns as four-year-old pacers and trotters will compete for a purse of $75,000 (est.). Sunday, July 2 will feature the $125,000 (est.) Tompkins-Geers three-year-old pace.

In August, things will really heat up with stakes-laden Sundays. Beginning on August 13, New Yorks finest three-year-old pacers will do battle in the $50,000 (est.) Empire Breeders Classic eliminations. The following week (on the 20th) the $500,000 (est.) finals will be held alongside the popular $175,000 Roll With Joe Open Pace, the $40,000 (est.) Miss Versatility featuring Open mare trotters and the $200,000 (est.) Tompkins-Geers two-year-olds. Finally, the last Sunday of the month will bring two new events to Tioga, formally held at Vernon Downs, the $175,000 (est.) Crawford Farms Open Trot and the $175,000 (est.) Joie De Vie Open Mare Trot. Paired with the new Tioga events, the $175,000 (est.) Artiscape Open Mare Pace and the $200,000 (est.) Reynolds two-year-olds make for an exciting last day of Grand Circuit racing at Tioga.

The 12th season at Tioga Downs will also feature new post times. Friday and Saturday nights will begin at 6:50 p.m., while Sundays and holidays will begin at 1:00 p.m. with the exception of Sunday, May 28, which will start at 6:50 p.m.

(Tioga Downs)
Judicial Watch Receives New Records on United Passenger David Dao Removal Incident -- Police Reports, New Video, Audio Files

Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5172



WASHINGTON, April 25, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch today received documents today from the City of Chicago in response to a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request for records about the removal of United Airlines passenger David Dao on April 9. The records are available here.



Judicial Watch filed a FOIA on April 11, 2017 for:

copies of all records related to the involuntary removal of passenger David Dao from United Flight 3411 (operated by Republic Airlines) on April 9, 2017, including, but not limited to, incident reports, justification memos, communications with United Airlines and Republic Airlines, communications with the Chicago Mayor's office, communications with the press, and communications with any other third parties.

The City of Chicago provided responsive records through a letter dated today:

CDA Accident/Incident Report: this documentation consists of the CDA's completed Accident/Incident Report, statements from the officers that were involved in the incident, an April 9, 2017 O'Hare Communications Center Display Event printout and the Incident/Passenger(s) Complaint of David Dao.

Supplemental Report of Aviation Security Officer James Long dated April 10, 2017

Supplementary Report dated April 11, 2017 correcting the date of the Accident/Incident Report from March 9, 2017 to April 9, 2017

O'Hare Communications Center Display Event printout from April 10, 2017

Event Chronology for ORD Event Number #P170401il 17, 2017 regarding the Use of Force Policy

Personnel files for the four Aviation Security personnel that were placed on administrative leave as a result of the incident on the airplane (in four PDF files)725

Policy and Procedures Field Manual dated May 2002: Section 1/4.2 on page I-8 addresses the use of force by Aviation Security personnel (in two PDF files)

Safety & Security Division Direction 13-03 (Use of Force Policy) dated March 1, 2013

Memo from Aviation Security Deputy Commissioner dated Apr

Four video files regarding the incident and the response thereafter

Two audio files regarding the incident and the response thereafter

The City also released a hospitalization case report concerning Mr. Dao.



"Judicial Watch recognizes the broad public interest in the removal of Mr. Dao from the United Airlines flight," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "These records provide a dramatically different account of the incident than seen on the infamous video."



Editor's Note: The full production of documents from the Chicago Department of Aviation can be found using the link/password below:



www.dropbox.com/sh/pxvqchijd4cqatz/AADHbmPkOIiioRts4cC7u1Pxa?dl=0



Password: April92017c0c



MORE: www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-receives-new-records-united-passenger-david-dao-removal-incident-police-reports-new-video-audio-files
Play at the new site will be free and first come, first served through the...
tech2 News Staff

The massive leak of Aadhaar data from the Jharkhand Directorate of Social Securitys (JDSS) servers appears to have been only one of many leaks that popped up these past few days.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which oversees Aadhaar implementation in the country, has asked government organisations to ensure that they dont reveal Aadhaar numbers and to figure out how the data got leaked, reports The Press Trust of India.

Data has leaked from a number of government institutions tasked with collecting the data for various purposes. These institutions include the JDSS, the Kerela pension department and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

According to the Aadhaar Act, publicly revealing Aadhaar numbers is illegal.

As expected, UIDAIs stance is one of shifting blame than addressing the underlying issue. In the JDSS case, the UIDAI has asked the Jharkhand government to identify the officials and staffers responsible for the leak that resulted in Aadhaar numbers and private details of around 1.4 million pensioners to be leaked online.

Pavan Duggal, a leading expert in Cyberlaw has pointed out multiple times that the Aadhaar Act is utterly inadequate when it comes to cybersecurity, protecting the privacy of individuals and for offering remedial options to affected persons.

Essentially, he said that the law fails to provide parameters for cybersecurity.

Unless this, and the innumerable issues surrounding Aadhaar are first addressed, leaks like this will only become more commonplace.
hidden

ABB has sealed a collaboration agreement with International Business Machines Corp, the Swiss engineering company said on Tuesday, the latest step in its efforts to ramp up its presence in digital technology and the Internet of Things.

In a joint statement ABB said it would combine its digital offering, which gathers information from machinery, with IBM's expertise in artificial intelligence featured in its Watson data analytics software. The two companies will jointly develop and sell new products.

"This powerful combination marks truly the next level of industrial technology, moving beyond current connected systems that simply gather data, to industrial operations and machines that use data to sense, analyse, optimise and take actions that drive greater uptime, speed and yield for industrial customers," ABB Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer said in a statement.

For example, instead of manual machinery inspections, ABB and IBM intend to use Watson's artificial intelligence to help find defects via real-time images collected by an ABB system, and then analysed using IBM Watson.

ABB has identified digital technology - where machinery communicates with control centres to increase productivity and reduce downtime - as a driver of growth. It now gets around 55 percent of sales from products that are digitally enabled.

As part of the drive, the company last year signed a strategic partnership with Microsoft to roll out digital products for customers in the robotics, marine and ports, electric vehicles and renewable energy sectors.

To spearhead its strategy, it appointed former Cisco executive Guido Jouret as its first chief digital officer last year.

Reuters
tech2 News Staff

With smartphone life cycles being what they are, the pace of development never slows. Korean technology giant Samsung only recently unveiled this years flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S8, and reports are already surfacing of a Galaxy S9 and accompanying Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip.

The report, published by The Investor, doesnt reveal much, and only suggests that a new Qualcomm Snapdragon chip is being developed for the Galaxy S9. Apparently, either Samsung or TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.) will manufacture the chip.

Snapdragon is a mobile platform thats developed by Qualcomm for, well, mobile devices.

Qualcomms current flagship is the Snapdragon 835 platform, which first made its debut in the Galaxy S8. The chip will also make its way to a number of other devices later this year, notably in the Sony Xperia XZ Premium and the recently announced Xiaomi Mi 6.

The Snapdragon 835 is manufactured on a 10 nm process, which only Samsung has been able to employ on its fabrication lines. Judging by the report, it looks like TSMC will have the capabilities in time for the 845, if that is indeed what Qualcomms new chip is called.

The Investor apparently approached Samsung for comment, but received no response.
tech2 News Staff

Update: Samsung told Bloomberg that it would be rolling out two software updates this week for its just launched Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones. Apart from the red-tinted displays that plagues a few handsets, the new update also rectifies a bug which led to spotty Wi-Fi connectivity.

Samsung has announced that it will roll out a software update to fix the red tint in the display reported by some Samsung S8 users. The company did not reveal the exact details for when the update is set to hit the current Samsung S8 and S8+ devices in the market, but it did reveal that it should happen "sometime in the next week."

A Samsung official stated that The company has already notified its nationwide customer service centres that it will release the software for fine-tuning the colour balance, while speaking to The Investor. The company has announced that it will replace the devices if the software update fails and the problem persists. However, industry experts could not reach a conclusion about how the problem can be fixed.

Some experts claim that the problem cannot be fixed using a simple software update and the root of the problem lies in the hardware. They further stated that this is a common problem that has nagged display manufacturers and the only way is to replace the hardware. Others claimed that the problem can indeed by solved by a new software update by controlling the excessive electrical signals going to the screen.

This comes days after Samsung announced the smartphone in India. The company has set 5 May as the date for the sale of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ sale in the country.
North Korea stages large-scale artillery drill as US submarine docks in South

The USS Michigan, an Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine, arrives at a naval base in Busan, South Korea, on Tuesday.

Reuters, Seoul :

North Korea conducted a big live-fire exercise on Tuesday to mark the foundation of its military as a U.S. submarine docked in South Korea in a show of force amid growing concern over the North's nuclear and missile programs.

The port call by the USS Michigan came as a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group steamed toward Korean waters and as top envoys for North Korea policy from South Korea, Japan and the United States met in Tokyo.

Fears have risen in recent weeks that North Korea would conduct another nuclear test or long-range missile launch in defiance of U.N. sanctions, perhaps on the Tuesday anniversary of the founding of its military.

But instead of a nuclear test or big missile launch, North Korea deployed a large number of long-range artillery units in the region of Wonsan on its east coast for a live-fire drill, South Korea's military said. North Korea has an air base in Wonsan and missiles have also been tested there. "North Korea is conducting a large-scale firing drill in Wonsan areas this afternoon," the South's Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The South Korean military was monitoring the situation and "firmly maintaining readiness", it said.

The South's Yonhap News Agency said earlier the exercise was possibly supervised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea's state media was defiant in a commentary marking the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean People's Army, saying its military was prepared "to bring to closure the history of U.S. scheming and nuclear blackmail". "There is no limit to the strike power of the People's Army armed with our style of cutting-edge military equipment including various precision and miniaturized nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles," the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a front-page editorial.

North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threat is perhaps the most serious security challenge confronting U.S. President Donald Trump. He has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile and has said all options are on the table, including a military strike.
Next natl poll to be held under incumbent govt

BSS, Dhaka :

Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif on Tuesday said the next national election would be held under the incumbent government as per constitution.

"Riding on public support the grand alliance will win in the next parliament election. That's why BNP is out to make different talks (allegations) about it," he told a representative's meeting of Settlement Press Sramik Karmachari Union.

Awami League (AL) Labour Affairs Secretary Habibur Rahman Siraj, Jatiya Sramik League President Shukkur Mahmud, its General Secretary Sirajul Islam and Tejgaon Industrial Area Thana Awami League President Shafiullah Shafi addressed the function, among others, with the Settlement Press Sramik Karmachari Union President Ashikur Rahman in the chair.
Jabbarer Boli Khela begins

Chittagong Bureau :

The historical and century old traditional wresting event of the port city popularly known as Jabbarer Boli Khela (wrestling) was held at Laldighi maidan in the city yesterday .

this was the 109th event of the wrestling .

The Boishaki Mela centring the Jabbarer Boli Khela also begins in the Laldighi area covering the space about 2 kilometers around Laldighi. The Mela will continue upto Thursday next.

A mela committee sources said the first competition of wrestling of Abdul Jabbar begins in 1909 during British regime.

It became a traditional culture of Chittagong in more than hundred years. City Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin attended the inauguration of Boli Khela as chief guest while the Police commissioner of Chittagong Iqbal Bahar was the formal inaugurator of the competition.

Organiser of the mela committee Councilor Jaharlal Hazari told that more than hundred wrestlers across the country registered their name for competing the wrestling.

While visiting the mela it was witnessed that different types of household products like pottery, cane, earthen , handmade wooden furnitures and cane & bamboo products , toy for children, sweat items, food products were exhibited in the fair brought from different parts of te country for sale . Seasonal fruits also seen in the vendors stalls.




Water-logging to be resolved very shortly : CCC Mayor

Chittagong Bureau :

City Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin said that water-logging problem in Chittagong city would be resolved very shortly with the implementation of Tk 5,000 crore project.

The mayor said with a view to implement the project titled "Chittagong Flood Control and Water-logging Management System", the Chinese company 'Power China' has already completed a feasibility study on the project at a cost of Tk. 47 crore. The mayor said, "Chinese government financed project would be implemented in three years following approval of the Bangladesh government".

AJM Nasir Uddin said this at a presentation ceremony of the feasibility study report of the project at Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) conference room on Sunday .City mayor said during nearly last two years, projects has been implemented to build wall of the Karnaphuli River, set up pump houses with regulators in all canals and prepare another Detailed Project Plan (DPP) for dredging the canals. The mayor also said he is relentlessly trying to solve the water-logging problem with all concerned departments and stakeholders under short and long term plans. With the permission of the government Chinese government will implement the project within three years in G2G process and there is no alternative solution for the water-logging problem, he added.

CMCCI seeks special allocation for Ctg: Addressing the Pre-Budget discussion with the Chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) Mohammad Nojibur Rhaman held at Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CMCCI) on Sunday afternoon, CMCCI chief said, "Chittagong needs special allocation for development of Chittagong Port, the prime sea port of the country."

NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman categorically agreed to form an arbitration committee to solve the disputes in export and import said.

"The next budget will target saving the local industries, creating of jobs and business, investment friendly environment in Bangladesh."

Among others, CMCCI Vice-president A M Mahbub, Member of NBR Barrister Jahangir Hossain, CMCCI Directors Mohammad Shahab Uddin Alam, Abul Bashar Chowdhury, Mohammad Abdul Awal, Mohammad Abdus Salam, Shafiq Uddin, Aminuzzaman Bhuiyan, M A Malek, Liakot Ali Chowdhury, Mohammad Lokman Hakim, W R I Mahmud and Sultana Shirin Akter addressed the meeting.
Magistrate Sanjida Sharmin fined business organisations at Jalsa Market for not having trade licence during a drive by CCC on Monday.
Film directors to boycott actor Shakib Khan

bdnews24.com :

The Bangladesh Film Directors Association has announced a temporary ban on actor Shakib Khan

in all film-related projects over his 'outrageous and defamatory' media statements in the controversy over his marriage to actress Apu Biswas.

The boycott was announced on Monday evening in a statement signed by the association's general secretary, Badiul Alam Khokon.

A legal notice has been issued by the association's executive council over Khan's libellous statements to the national media in order to protect the image and honour of its members, it said.

It also called on Bangladeshi directors to bar the actor from their projects until the association receives a 'respectful' response.

"Shakib has continued to talk nonsense about us in the media," Badiul Alam Khokon told this news agency. "We are responsible for where Shakib is today and now he lashes out at us. We have been defamed. For now we refuse to make films with him."

The association will take action against any director who works with Khan in violation of the boycott, he said.

"I will answer their legal notice," Shakib Khan told this news agency. "They are just trying to complicate matters."

He was unwilling to make any further comment on the matter.

Shakib's comments followed discussions about the actor's secret marriage with and having a child from film actress Apu Biswas, which were revealed during an interview in April.

The actor had said many directors of the Film Development Corporation spend time chatting instead of doing work.

"I gave an opinion in a daily newspaper," Shakib had said in response to backlash against his statement. "I didn't say anything bad and besides, others have said similar things before. The director's association cannot serve a legal notice to artistes."

Khan, who is also the president of the Film Artistes Association, has reportedly been using 'force' to win re-election.

Khan vehemently denied these reports and said the election would take place on May 5 after his dispute with the directors' association was resolved.
Militants` suicide vest attacks headache for cops

Citizens allegedly harassed during block raids

Police conducted block raid in houses in search of militants in Hargram and Tultulipara areas of Rajshahi city on Tuesday. Sensing a militant hideout, Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) personnel sealed off an area of one-kilometre area from early morning

Md Joynal Abedin Khan :

Frequent changes in style and strategy of the attacks by members of the different militant organizations, mainly neo-JMB, has become a new headache for law enforcers, experts said.

Such changes aim to make for militants the law enforcers fool and thus to obtain success in the assignments as set by their masterminds. Militancy has also reached a new height recently through the introduction of suicide vest attacks on people, mainly the cops, they said

The new-JMB members reorganized themselves after the Gulshan cafe attack that created panic about public security.

The experts said the law enforcing agencies also could not show any effective steps to check the killing by suicide vest attacks during their raids in Dhaka, Sylhet and Moulvibazar in recent months.

The misguided suicide attackers also issued threat to the law enforcing agencies, including Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) of Police for early actions against them in their hideouts as they believe that they would reach the Heaven just after their death.

There are allegations that police harassed the residents of the apartments where the militant dens are found.

Police also harassed the dwellers during raids while many of them lost their belongings and valuables, some alleged.

Even the dwellers felt helpless and faced massive sufferings to move here and there to lead daily

life during the raid in any building or block raid at any local area, according to them.

Recently, at least 19 people, including five women and five children, were killed in militant dens of Chittgong's Sitakunda, Sylhet's Shibbari and Moulvibazar's Borohat and Nasirpur between March 15 and March 30. Of them, 16 died in suicide vest during the cops' operations.

Earlier on November 14, 2005, the JMB cadre Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun, 28, carried out a suicide bomb attack on the Jhalakathi court premises that killed Senior Assistant Judges Jagannath Pandey and Sohel Ahmed. Mamun also tried to detonate another bomb strapped to one of his thighs to kill him on way to hospital, but the cops foiled the attempt.

Meanwhile, a team of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) on Monday night carried out a block raid on around one square kilometer area and cordoned off some houses in Court College area under Rajpara Police Station in the city suspecting the presence of militants' said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Iftekharul Alam.

On March 24, Police cordoned off a five-storey house at Sylhet's Shibbari for an anti-terror raid.

Sylhet's Atai Mohal's house owner Ustar Ali claimed that tenants lost huge money and valuables during the raid.

On March 14, police conducted block raid in Dhaka's Panthapath area to curb militancy but they have failed to nab any single militant, DMP sources said.

After the Gulshan attack, they conducted block raid in eight crime divisions of the city, they said.

Mirza Selim, a victim of Panthapath raid, said police harassed him during the raid and threatened him to face legal action. Retired Brigadier General M. Sakhawat Hossain, a security expert, told the media that militants attacked on some general people in primary stage, then different religious people in second stage and now on noted people."

"The neo-JMB members are a threat to public security. The militants reached a new stage through suicide vast attacks to operate their missions on people, mainly cops," Hossain said.

Militancy analyst and human rights activist Md Nur Khan said the militants, now connected with family members, showed their wives and kids as protective umbrellas during any raid.

"Cops may face more trouble if the family based militant links continued and that will be a massive threat to all. It is a great concern if the militant carry out attacks targeting common people," he opined.

Earlier, Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque claimed that law enforcers have no capacity to tackle target attacks and killings.

He denied harassing people during block raids and requested the citizens to help the law enforcers to conduct raid as per directions. Monirul Islam, Chief of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, said, "We think the women (who exploded the suicide vests) conducted planned attacks." The CTTC chief said militants have lost their strong position but they are able to carry out operations as some masteminds are still on the run, he added.

He also claimed that they have no powerful arms like AK 22 rifles which were used in Gulshan cafe.

CTTC unit Deputy Commissioner Muhibul Islam Khan told reporters that the two female militants who surrendered with two babies to the police are in police custody.


China ready to step into Rohingya debate

Staff Reporter :

China offered on Tuesday to help tackle a diplomatic row between Bangladesh and Myanmar over the flight of minority Rohingyas, two Bangladesh foreign ministry officials said.

Around 69,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to escape violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar since October, straining relations between the two neighbors who each

see the stateless Muslim minority as the other nation's problem.

Chinese special envoy Sun Guoxiang, beginning a four-day trip to Bangladesh, urged Dhaka to resolve the row with Myanmar bilaterally, but also said Beijing stood ready to help in the matter, a foreign ministry official in Dhaka told Reuters.

Sun made the proposal during a meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, the official said. He declined to be named, saying he was not authorized to speak to the media.

"The envoy told us at the meeting that they were ready to help if necessary," the official said. Another foreign ministry official confirmed the information but also asked not to be named, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

China has strong ties with both Myanmar and Bangladesh, helping in infrastructure development in both countries. Relations with the former have warmed further since Myanmar President Htin Kyaw struck a deal in China on an oil pipeline between the neighbors after almost a decade of talks.

Beijing has established a strong presence in Bangladesh, building roads and power stations and supplying military hardware.

During the talks on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Haque told Chinese envoy Sun that Bangladesh welcomed Chinese efforts to tackle its problems with Myanmar stemming from the influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh, the officials said.

Dhaka has proposed that Sun travel to Cox's Bazar near the border with Myanmar to see the plight of the tens of thousands of people camped there. China's ambassador to Bangladesh, Ma Mingqiang, visited a Rohingya camp there in March.

Myanmar has faced growing international criticism over the latest eruption of violence against the Rohingyas. Myanmar's government has conceded some soldiers may have committed crimes but has rejected charges of ethnic cleansing.
US to be urged for duty-quota free market access

Badrul Ahsan :

The government is mulling up a plan to press the USA authority during the TICFA meeting scheduled to be held in Dhaka next month for duty and quota- free access of local goods to its market, sources said.

Sources at Foreign Ministry said that the country already ensured improved workers' rights, better working conditions and amended labour law which were the prime demands of the counterpart to restore duty and quota- free access of local goods to the US market.

"We have prepared an agenda for discussion in the upcoming Trade and

Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) meeting where demand for duty and quota- free access of local goods will be one of the important points of discussions," a high official of MoFA told The New Nation preferring anonymity.

"We strongly believe that the US authority will acknowledge our improvement and accept our demand," he added. However, the country has also planned to give focus on getting back the generalised system of preferences (GSP) facility.

The facility was suspended by the Barack Obama Administration citing substandard workers' rights, poor working conditions and anomalies in labour law. In view of this, the government took a set of proactive initiatives to reform with a view to regaining the GSP facility. "We will discuss duty-free access to the US market and other issues," Director General (DG) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) cell of the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) Md Munir Chowdhury told The New Nation. "We will also request US officials to boost US investment in the special economic zones in the country," he said.

The government has already ensured workers' rights, improved working conditions and amended labour law. So the US government should be judicious. Meanwhile, a six-member high powered delegation from the US and other officials of the US embassy in Dhaka are expected to join the meeting, according to the MoC.

Apart from joining the TICFA meeting, the US officials will also discuss with government officials about sustainable compact regarding labour safety and rights in the readymade garment (RMG) sector. This will be the third meeting of the TICFA. The second TICFA meeting was held in Washington on November 23, 2015.

Bangladesh signed the agreement with the US in 2013.

The TICFA provides a mechanism for both the governments to discuss trade and investment issues and areas of cooperation. Bangladesh's exports to the US have been maintaining a steady growth even after suspension of the GSP because of quality garment products, according to the MoC.

The country's businessmen suggested the two countries should stress on making two-way trade more robust by increasing its volume in both ways.

"We expect to get back GSP benefit through the TICFA meeting," a leading businessman of the country told The New Nation. Bangladesh exported goods worth US $ 6.2 billion to the US during the fiscal year 2015-16.

Of the amount, 80 per cent sprang from the readymade garment sector. The country imported goods worth $ 761 million during the same fiscal, according to the MoC.


Trump calls entire Senate to White House

The Guardian :

The entire US Senate will go to the White House on Wednesday to be briefed by senior administration officials about the brewing confrontation with North Korea.

The unusual briefing underlines the urgency with which the Trump administration is treating the threat

posed by Pyongyang's continuing development of nuclear weapons and missile technology. It follows a lunch meeting Trump held with ambassadors from UN member states on the security council on Monday where he emphasised US resolve to stop North Korea's progress. "The status quo in North Korea is unacceptable and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs," Trump said at the meeting. "North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve." On Friday the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, is due to chair a security council foreign ministers' meeting on the issue in New York, at which the state department said he would call once more for the full implementation of existing UN sanctions or new measures in the event of further nuclear or missile tests.

"This meeting will give the security council the opportunity to discuss ways to maximise the impact of existing security council measures and to show their resolve to response further provocations with appropriate new measures," said Mark Toner, state department spokesman. Senators are to be briefed by the defence secretary, James Mattis, and Tillerson on Wednesday. Such briefings for the entire senate are not unprecedented but it is very rare for them to take place in the White House, which does not have large secure facilities for such classified sessions as Congress. Officials said the briefing would take place in the auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which can be adapted for such an event. Michael Anton, a spokesman for the national security council, said that although the Senate did have its own facilities, "the president offered this to [Senate majority leader Mitch] McConnell as a gesture and McConnell appreciated that so decided to do it here." "Keep in mind this is still a Senate meeting, not a White House meeting," Anton added. Senate aides were unsure of the purpose of using the White House as a venue, speculating it could be symbolic and intended to show Trump's seriousness or to showcase an assertive president as he approaches 100 days in office.

The state department appeared unaware on Monday that Tillerson would be delivering the briefing.

A sixth North Korean nuclear test has been anticipated for some months now. Some observers speculated that it could be conducted on Tuesday, on the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean armed forces, but the morning came and went without one.

Instead, Pyongyang held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan, South Korea's military said. When the US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, was asked what the US would do if Pyongyang carried out a nuclear test, she told NBC news: "I think then the president steps in and decides what's going to happen." Haley said on Monday the US was not "looking for a fight" with North Korea but warned Pyongyang should not "give us a reason" for one.

The US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its battlegroup are due to arrive off the Korean peninsula after exercises with the Japanese navy. An Ohio-class guided missile submarine, the USS Michigan, docked at the South Korean naval base of Busan on Tuesday, the US navy reported, in what was described as "a routine visit".

North Korea's state-run newspaper the Rodong Sinmun declared the country's armed forces were ready to show their strength by sinking the carrier "with a single strike".

Meanwhile the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has called for calm in a phone call with Trump. China "hopes all parties involved will exercise restraint and avoid doing anything to exacerbate the tense situation on the peninsula", he said according to a summary of the call released by China's foreign ministry.

In recent days Haley and other US officials have underlined China's helpfulness in seeking to increase pressure on the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. "Working with China for the first time - they have really been our partner in trying to make sure that we hold him at bay, and I think it's a new day when you've got China and the United States working together on a statement to condemn North Korea," Haley said.

"They put pressure on him. He feels it. That's why he's responding this way. And I think it is a different day."
Cameron arrives today

Staff Reporter :

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka today on a brief visit.

Cameron is arriving in Bangladesh at the invitation of a non-government organisation (NGO). He will leave Dhaka on Thursday in less than 24-hour stay, Diplomatic sources said.

"Bangladesh High Commission in London received a letter from his (Cameron) private secretary a week ago where he expressed his desire to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during

his visit. And the meeting has been scheduled," Foreign Ministry sources said.

Initially, his visit was planned for four days, but that has been cut short apparently due to the upcoming UK elections for June 8.

It is mentionable that British Prime Minister Theresa May requested the Queen for a general election for June 8, amid polls that indicates she could win a huge majority in the Parliament.

During his visit, Cameron will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He will take a look at a DFID (Department for International Development) project in Dhaka and attend a roundtable of the International Growth Centre.

The Centre is based in the London School of Economics and in partnership with the University of Oxford it works to promote sustainable growth in developing countries, based on high quality research.

Cameron is the Chairman of a commission which was launched in March under this Growth Centre. It has an office in Dhaka.

David Cameron was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. He resigned last year after the BREXIT voting, bringing an abrupt end to his premiership, after the British people took the momentous decision to reject his entreaties and showed their back to the European Union.


The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option.
CARBONDALE  Now in its 40th year, a Rotary Club project continues to provide crucial orthopedic surgeries to Belizean children.

While Belize has the third-highest per capita income in Central America, theres an enormous income disparity between wealthy and poor residents. Its hard to obtain good medical care there, said Jackson-Williamson County Sunset Rotary Youth Services Chair Merilyn Hogan.

That lack of care means routine injuries can turn into serious issues, as with 13-year-old Lashay of Belize City, who fell and hurt her hip two years ago.

Her hip is way out of place, and shes been dealing with this for two years, Hogan said.

At this point, Lashay likely needs a hip replacement. Thats where the Belize Childrens Program comes in.

A collaborative effort between Rotary District 6510 and Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis, the program was first established by a Shriners doctor in 1977.

In the last 40 years, weve helped over 400 children, Hogan said.

Each year, a doctor from Shriners goes to Belize to visit children with orthopedic issues.

The parents and the kids line up, sometimes half a block long, waiting to see the doctor. We can only take so many kids, and the doctor decides which one, Hogan said.

Lashay, who is staying with a host family in Carbondale, was selected this year.

The Rotary Club covers the cost of transportation to and from Belize and places the child with a host family in the area, and Shriners handles the cost of the surgery.

Its important to establish a sense of trust with the families of the children who participate in the program, as sending ones child to a foreign country to undergo surgery is a scary prospect for any parent, and the Rotary cant afford to accommodate parents as well as children, Hogan said.

The project relies on the generosity of individuals and families who are willing to open their homes to kids in need of medical care, Hogan said.

I just cant speak too highly of the host families, because they do wonderful with these kids, she said.

Lashay will head to Shriners for treatment on Friday.
The coffee industry is known for being kind of closed off and snobby, McCraw said while fixing drinks. We want to begin to build community. You dont have to know all the language before we treat you with love and respect and teach you about coffee.
SALINA, Kan.  Charges against one of three Salina men arrested for allegedly conspiring to commit a contract killing in Illinois were dismissed Tuesday.

Prosecutor Amy Norton, an assistant county attorney, said she couldn't comment other than to say that charges against Alex B. Karcher, 23, had been dismissed in a way that they could be refiled.

"Mr. Karcher will return to Illinois to address pending charges there," she said. "Once those are resolved, we will be reviewing whether or not we need to refile the charges here against him."

Karcher was one of five men indicted in Jackson County for allegedly being involved in a drug ring with possible ties to the July 31, 2016, shooting of Carbondale police officer Trey Harris. The grand jury charges allege that Karcher and four other men stored more than 11 pounds of marijuana at a rental home in Williamson County with intent to distribute between January 2015 and July 2016.

Attorneys representing Karcher had requested that his case be severed from charges pending in Saline County against co-defendants Xavier E. Lewis, 25, and Xavier L. McCray, 22. A preliminary hearing at which Judge Rene Young will decide whether evidence is sufficient to bind McCray and Lewis over for trial is expected to conclude May 17.

Charges have not been filed in Illinois against McCray or Lewis.

Evidence presentation in the preliminary hearing for McCray and Lewis has already spanned two days. Evidence technicians and law enforcement officers from Illinois testified about a series of incidents in which shots were fired, including one that injured Harris after he responded to a "shots fired" call.

The men are accused of agreeing to assist in the crime of capital murder pursuant to a contract or agreement to kill between July 27 and Aug. 1, 2016, and of traveling to Jackson County to commit the crime. The intended victims of the murder were Judios Kizeart, Darien Williams-Wright and Robert Harris, according to the complaints filed in the case.

 This article was reprinted with permission from the Salina Journal.
SPRINGFIELD  The Democratic-controlled Illinois House approved legislation Tuesday that would allow the state to cover abortions for state employees and Medicaid recipients, voting just hours after several hundred people from across the state flocked to the Capitol to lobby their lawmakers to support it.

The 62-55 party-line vote coincided with a rally by women's groups outside the Capitol which focused on a "progressive" legislative agenda, headed by the abortion measure. Springing from the inauguration of Republican President Donald Trump in January, the issue has gained enough steam this spring to force GOP Bruce Rauner to walk back his former support for expanding publicly-funded abortions.

Despite the familiarity of the arguments from both sides, the floor debate lasted two hours and was fueled by the morning rally, called the Illinois Women March, which was patterned after similar marches worldwide Jan. 21.

"Women should have access to safe, legal and accessible abortion no matter what their insurance is," said Chicago Democratic Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, the proposal's sponsor, in closing the floor debate.

Feigenholtz and other Democratic proponents argued the measure is a matter of fairness, ending the "two-tiered" system that denies low-income women and state employees the same access to abortion coverage that women insured privately or by some units of local government receive and protecting their right to make reproductive health decisions. They say the proposal would also safeguard abortion access in Illinois by striking language in current law expressing the state's intent to criminalize the procedure if the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized it is ever overturned.

But Republicans claimed the Legislature lacks necessary public support to use taxpayer dollars in funding the controversial procedure, particularly amid the state's two-year-long budget crisis.

"Where should this money come from?" asked Republican Rep. Peter Breen of Lombard, who said Medicaid-funded abortions do not qualify for a federal match and would cost Illinois an extra $60 million a year. "Should it come from cancer screenings? Legitimate medical expenses like heart medicine or insulin?"

Breen also called striking the so-called "trigger language" in existing law  which advocates say would criminalize abortion in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned  a "smokescreen" to cover the bill's funding expansion. He cited a 1989 analysis from the state's nonpartisan Legislative Research Unit that found Illinois would need to reinstate criminal penalties for abortion before that language could have any practical application.

State Rep. Dave Severin, R-Benton, opposed the legislation.

As a member of the House of Representatives this is a tough day, as many of my colleagues voted in favor of legislation to expand taxpayer funded access to abortion, Rep. Severin said. As the bill's sponsor admitted, we do not know how much this expansion is going to cost us. Aside from that, HB 40 is a blatant attack on the most vulnerable in our society. It is a shame that we are still dealing with these attacks. As a taxpayer and a Christian, I am offended that Chicago Democrats would dump the unknown cost of this disgusting practice on the taxpayers in all corners of the state.

During the debate, Democratic Majority Leader Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie of Chicago read from a statement she said Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner made during his 2014 run for governor in support of ensuring women can access abortion services regardless of income level.

Rauner said last week he opposes expanding publicly funded abortions, although he supports Feigenholtz in her effort to keep abortion legal in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

The issue has become a political flashpoint in the 2018 gubernatorial race, in which Rauner already faces six Democratic opponents, three of whom joined Tuesday's rally in support of the Women March's agenda. That agenda covers a multitude of issues advocates say would improve women's lives including protecting immigrant rights, increasing the minimum wage and ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment.

The Southern contributed to this article.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's technology czar has contracted to spend $208,000 in tax dollars for two professional memberships even though the state is without a budget and is billions of dollars in debt, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Hardik Bhatt, the $145,000-a-year secretary of the Department of Innovation and Technology, has had a $50,000 annual membership in the Chief Information Officer Leadership Council of the Virginia-based executive-assistance organization CEB Inc. since 2015. He's also approved a $29,000 subscription and annual renewal for his agency, known as DoIT, with CEB's Risk Leadership Council.

DoIT, an agency created by executive order shortly after Republican Rauner took office in January 2015, is responsible for upgrading Illinois' digital technology infrastructure, providing statewide computer and telecommunications and oversight, improving cyber security, more precise management of the state's $1 billion investment portfolio, and making services for taxpayers easier to access.

DoIT spokeswoman Jennifer Schultz said the membership and subscription are "strategic investments" to help the state improve on an "outdated, inefficient" and unsafe system.

"These groups provide guidance and research to states and Fortune 500 companies," Schultz said in a prepared statement. "The benefit to Illinois is to learn and implement best practices in organization design, cyber-security, IT governance and other areas to help us avoid making the same mistakes the state has made previously in IT."

But the expenditures frustrated Rep. Fred Crespo, chairman of the House Appropriations-General Services Committee, which is scheduled to hear testimony about DoIT's budget Tuesday. The Hoffman Estates Democrat blamed it partly on the fact that DoIT was created by Rauner and is not subject to legislative oversight.

Crespo said he's troubled that money is spent on these services when the two-year budget stalemate between Rauner and Democrats controlling the General Assembly has meant millions of dollars in cuts to human-service providers and higher education.

"We're trying to connect the dots, figure out how much money is being spent" by DoIT, Crespo said. "These social service providers, universities that are dying, why are spending money on new computers at the expense of all these families, all these students, all people hurting. Tell me how that makes sense?"

A spokeswoman for CEB Inc. did not respond to a request for comment. The contract for the risk leadership council says membership provides "proven best practices, research and insight, peer benchmarks, decision and diagnostic tools, executive networking, advisory support and live and online learning events."

Although the state had chief information officers prior to DoIT's birth, there is no evidence of membership or subscription payments to CEB for several years prior to 2015.

Crespo noted that after GOP Comptroller Leslie Munger was defeated in a special election in November, she transferred $71 million from general revenue funds to specially earmarked accounts that in large part benefited DoIT. The membership money is out of one of them, a fund for "data processing and informational services."

Bhatt's $50,000 leadership council memberships were paid for 2016 and 2017, as was one year of the risk-group membership. But Munger's replacement, Democrat Susana Mendoza, who has sparred with Rauner over spending, particularly for DoIT, has not paid one year of each membership, totaling $79,000. Mendoza has held up payment while seeking answers to general questions from DoIT on its initiatives. But the state is ultimately obligated to pay it because Bhatt signed contracts.

"This type of waste of tax dollars is why I will always demand accountability and transparency from every state agency," Mendoza said in a statement released to the AP Monday. "Right now we could use an extra $200,000 for services for children, seniors and people who need help,"

Rep. David Harris of Arlington Heights, the Republican spokesman on the House general services appropriations panel, said the CEB benefits sound like they'd be helpful to technology chiefs for Fortune 500 companies or other large corporations but wondered whether there are many public-sector members.

"It's a significant amount of money and it begs the question, is there a significant amount of benefit?" Harris asked. "Are there benefits being provided that are available in more public forums that don't cost $50,000?"
The Captain was the largest coal shovel ever built and was a Southern Illinois mining fixture until it was destroyed by fire in 1991. Those of us who have been around here remember that  the biggest machine every built and it was here in Southern Illinois.
This is the full Q&A, with minor edits, of the interview The Southern Illinoisan conducted last week with Paul Wesselmann, who grew up in Carbondale, for the story that published Sunday titled "Light shines out of darkness." Wesselmann said he wanted to speak out about being victimized at a Catholic church camp in Southern Illinois in the mid-1980s so that his story of healing might encourage other victims of abuse to reach out for help, and know they are not alone.

1. Lets start off with the basics. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Born June 2, 1967 (currently 49 years old; will turn 50 in a few weeks!) I grew up in Carbondale. I attended Thomas, Parish and Lewis schools as well as Lincoln Junior High & CCHS Class of 1985.

I attended McKendree University in Lebanon (BA psychology, 1989), and then left Southern Illinois to attend grad school at Bowling Green State University, Ohio (MA, higher education, 1991). After that I lived in Wisconsin 1991-2012, and currently reside in Cincinnati, Ohio (2012-present).

2. Describe what it has been like to live with the abuse you endured.

I didnt really experience it as a burden or trauma at first  it just seemed a normal part of life because that was the life I knew. I think the most damaging outcome of the actual abuse was assuming that my feelings of attraction to other guys was somehow related to what happened to me, and the fear that I myself could/would become a predator terrified me for years  well into adulthood in fact. The churchs concealment of the abuse contributed to the shame I felt, and made it tough to trust and respect others.

In some ways, things have gotten much easier over the years, thanks to the help of an amazing support team that has included three remarkable therapists and a handful of close friends who have consistently shown up, whether that means listening to me vent a considerable amount of frustration, holding me while I sobbed my way through flashbacks, or extending considerable patience and determination as we together figured out what I needed most during the really rough days. And oh the rough days are so rough.

Something as subtle as the sound of certain voices or even smells can transport me back to a time when I felt really alone and afraid. Im fortunate to have avoided some the addictions (drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex) that many survivors develop while trying cope with intrusive symptoms and seeking temporary relief from physical and psychological pain, but my PTSD symptoms are pesky and persistent. I have flashbacks, I sometimes space out so intensely that I have trouble knowing exactly where Im at, and sometimes have sensations in my body that make it feel like the abuse is happening in the present. Overall, Im glad to say Im a well-functioning adult, even if external successes sometimes mask my internal struggles.

One of the reasons these memories are so awful is that they were created when I was just a kid. I randomly relive these moments of feeling so confused and so alone and so terrified. These memories are disturbing not only because I didn't LIKE what was happening to me  they are so much worse because I was too young to really UNDERSTAND what was happening to me. It seems logical to my adolescent-mind that it happened because of something I did wrong or that I somehow deserved what happened. Even though Im almost 50 years old, and even though Ive had over 20 years of therapy that has been helpful in many ways, these thoughts and feelings still echo in my soul. And there are still times when I believe them.

3. How did you feel when you learned that the former, late Father Robert Vonnahmen, (who was laicized in 2007 in the face of child sex abuse allegations), had passed away in May 2016? Were you frustrated that the church did not publicize this news in some way?

Its hard to describe what it was like finding out Vonnahmen had died. I wasnt sure what to think or how to feel  it was sort of like I was standing in front of a giant chalkboard that had been wiped clean and I knew I was supposed to write something but I didnt know what. The news came to me via a private Facebook message from a camp friend (who was also an abuse victim). It just said, "Rumor has it RV died yesterday I felt blank, empty, and a little lost.

I reached out to Lynn Muscarello, the Director of Child Protection Services for the Belleville Diocese. She was able to confirm he had died the previous day, but wasnt able to supply any other information. That evening I posted the news on social media with a statement that ended: "His passing may be another opportunity to mourn the more carefree childhloods that many of us never got to experience, and to acknowledge that the world is more complicated than we like to believe. I kept hoping the diocese would say something publicly, at least to acknowledge his passing. A few employees of the diocese have privately given sincere apologies, and it has been significantly helpful that the diocese has covered the costs of over twenty years of therapy. Still, their only public statements about the abuse I endured were denials of my statements that I reported the abuse to the diocese prior to Vonnahmen's removal. They have maintained that the change in camp leadership was because of financial issues and that I had only reported someone touching me on the knee.

There is a Robert Brault quote I came across a few years ago that struck me as powerful: "Life gets easier when we learn to accept an apology we never received. Thinking about that quote in the days after RVs death, I realized I was waiting on an apology that would not ever come from my now deceased abuser, and wouldnt likely never be publicly given by the diocese.

So over the course of several days I wrote out a letter I wish I would have received from him. It was cathartic just to write it, and posting it to social media two weeks after his death magnified its impact because the overwhelmingly supportive response I received affirmed that I deserved an apology. In some ways it felt like I got one.

Even though I appreciated the private confirmation of his passing, Ill admit I was disappointed that the diocese never officially, publicly acknowledged Vonnahmens death. Their silence seemed like an act of cowardice, like they werent even willing to acknowledge his existence even after he no longer existed. I read somewhere once that hiding always suggests shame, even when it isn't there. I know there are risks to stating your truth publicly, but the costs just seem so much higher.

4. How did the abuse you endured affect your relationship with religion, with God, with the church?

The abuse itself didnt significantly alter my view of God or religion  Id had a complicated relationship with Catholicism since my father had been a Catholic priest before my parents were married, and many of my relatives remained active in the Church even though they struggled with some of its central tenets. One of my greatest teachers and role models was a Catholic nun who told me years ago that she viewed the Catholic Church as a very flawed mother, doing her very best even while making significant and costly mistakes. I continue to believe that organized religion plays an important and useful role in the lives of many people AND at the same time is also capable of doing great harm since it is led by human beings who are unfortunately still susceptible to the corruptive influences of power and greed.

Observing up close the capacity of several church leaders to publicly deny the truth while privately acknowledging my pain was frustrating. And heartbreaking. That betrayal of trust, and the continued public denials of my story that they had privately accepted as true makes it hard for me to trust others  especially authority figures.

5. It is well documented that the churchs leadership failed to protect children for years by protecting abusive priests. Looking forward, do you feel that the church has owned up to its failures? Do you believe that they have made good-faith attempts since then to reflect on the wrongdoing that occurred and rectify it to protect the children of today?

I do think they have many, many good-faith attempts to acknowledge the significant pain they caused by failing to prevent and abuse. I know they have tried to make amends from past mistakes and also worked to implement systems that will hopefully prevent further abuse. Ive repeatedly asked why they didnt follow Nelson Mandela's lead and create something like the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings that allowed South Africa to move beyond its dark history of apartheid with months of public hearings where victims, witnesses and perpetrators were encouraged to speak their truth and tell their stories. Ive never gotten the sense that the Catholic Church as a whole has recognized its need to publicly confess these sins even though its own holy sacrament of reconciliation is a core tenet of their faith. Im confident their public statements could seem more authentic and therefore be more cathartic if they came from leaders who had the capacity to comprehend and fully acknowledge the spiritual holocaust the Church unleashed on so many of its own members' souls  made significantly worse by concealment and denials.

6. Were you part of any lawsuits or legal actions involving the Church and/or Father Vonnahmen?

I have never pursued (nor had any interest in) lawsuits or legal action against the church or its leaders. I was deposed once by attorneys in a case brought when the diocese was claiming they couldnt be held responsible for any abuse that allegedly occurred at Ondessonk because it hadnt been reported to them. My understanding is that the case never went to trial  it was either settled out of court or dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.

I wrote a letter to the diocese when my health insurance stopped covering my therapy (way back in the mid-1990s) and since then they have, for the most part, been covering the costs of weekly therapy sessions.

7. What would you tell a victim that is a child or an adult who was victimized as a child who may be struggling privately with the abuse he/she endured, but who may not feel able to get help?

When I cross paths with adults who are abuse survivors, or adults who are trying to help children who they believe were abused, I tell them the bad news and the good news. The bad news is that childhood sex abuse is soul crushing, especially when committed by adults in positions of power that we trusted. And the earlier the abuse begins and the more frequent it happens, the deeper the scar tissue runs. The good news is that scars are a sign of healing as much as they are a sign of injury. There are many good resources and therapies out there that have provided significant healing to abuse victims. The best news is that it turns out that we humans are remarkably resilient creatures. The more challenges weve faced, the more remarkable it is that we made it to today. And with every step forward, we diminish the shame that comes from cowering, and we bolster the courage that comes from standing up and speaking our truth.

When Ive encountered a child or an adult who I suspect is a victim in any way, I do what I can to plant seeds of hope. I try to say some version of, Im sorry youre dealing with what Im guessing might be a really difficult situation. I went through some tough stuff and it got so much better when I finally found someone to talked to who believed me. And even if it takes a really long time, the sooner you start dealing with what happened to you, the sooner it can transform something that will always be in your past but doesnt have to be a significant part of your future.

There is an episode of The West Wing when one of the characters who was seriously injured in a mass shooting is required to meet with a crisis counselor to deal with PTSD symptoms that he didnt fully realize he was having. At the end of the episode, the counselor explained that the goal is to be able to REMEMBER the traumatic event without RELIVING it. Remembering isnt pleasant, but reliving is devastating.
CARBONDALE  Southern Illinois University Carbondale needs stability at the top and I would love to be able to provide that for us, Brad Colwell said Tuesday morning, speaking at a public forum that is part of his two-day interview for the position of chancellor.

Colwell, who has held the chancellor position in Carbondale on an interim basis for the past 20 months, was selected as one of four finalists for the job. He is the third candidate to interview.

Colwell said that when SIU System President Randy Dunn named him to the interim post in September 2015, he was asked to help bring a sense of stability and calm to the campus that could ease the transition for the next permanent chancellor.

As Dunn also has noted in the past, Colwell said during the public meet-and-greet portion of his interview held in Morris Librarys John C. Guyon Auditorium that the turnover at the top at SIUC has made it difficult for the campus to find its footing.

In the past 20 years, there have been 11 chancellors, a number that includes Colwell and Dunn. Colwell replaced Dunn as interim chancellor, as the president served dual roles for just shy of a year after the death of then-Interim Chancellor Paul Sarvela in November 2014.

Colwell said that the campus, facing financial uncertainty due to the state budget crisis and falling enrollment, is in need of bold leadership. He reviewed the steps the university has taken in recent months to right the financial ship. He talked about cuts that already have been implemented, and addressed the strategic work ongoing to identify savings up and down the financial ladder.

While saying that change is inevitable for the Carbondale campus, he did not detail specifics, but rather talked broadly about the review processes ongoing on the academic and non-academic side. Colwell said some people have asked him why, as interim chancellor, he has not taken broader action.

Please understand that with an interim before my name, there were certain things I could not do, he said. But Colwell acknowledged the next permanent chancellor will have to take bold, decisive action without a lot of time to debate it. Colwell said he is prepared to do that if chosen for the position.

Colwell said that the deeply rooted Carbondale institution is not real big on change at times but has to do a better job of being more nimble and reflective. It cannot continue in its attempt to be all things to all people, he said.

Were in a change period right now and if we dont instigate and take charge of that change, the change will be done to us  that I promise you, he said, as he walked down a list that he described as his core values for the university as it relates to his view of the leadership post he seeks.

Embracing change fell under a value category he labeled reflective. The other categories he named were: excellence, affordable, inclusivity, collaborative and recognized. Of the latter, Colwell said he wants SIU Carbondales name recognition to grow, and for it to once again be the go-to institution that rolls off the tongue of graduating Southern Illinois high school seniors considering their next steps. Colwell stressed that SIU Carbondale needs to do a better job of marketing itself to core constituencies and addressing its reputational risk, much of which is rooted in untruths or half truths.

Colwell said improving enrollment numbers over the next five to 10 years takes the collaboration of all. There is no magic bullet, he said, but Colwell said he believes that once the state budget situation stabilizes, the campus will be positioned to capitalize on its retooled strategic recruitment plan that includes more recruiters, increased and targeted visits to high schools and creative outreach to guidance counselors. Colwell said that to him, the sweet spot for enrollment in Carbondale is about 18,000 students, a number that would likely take some time to achieve, but that his gut tells him is an achievable goal. The fall 2017 enrollment was 15,987.

Colwell stressed he hopes to be a continued cheerleader for the campus. In difficult times, theres a tendency to lose sight of all the many positive attributes that make up SIU Carbondale, he said. Not only are we good  as a matter of fact, we are great, he said. Colwell said he is proud beyond pieces of the university.

About Colwell

In addition to serving as interim chancellor since 2015, Colwell is a professor in the universitys Department of Educational Administration and Higher Education. Before coming to SIU, he served as dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He was also associate dean for academic and student affairs in the College of Education and Human Services and chairman and director of graduate studies for the Department of Educational Administration and Higher Education at SIU. He has also worked as an attorney at Miller, Tracy, Braun & Wilson, Ltd., in Monticello.

Colwells academic focus is on legal, policy and school management issues, and he has published more than 50 papers and nearly 60 articles, book chapters and monographs. He holds a bachelors degree in political science from Anderson University in Indiana and a law degree as well as masters and doctoral degrees in educational administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

About the other candidates

J.S. (Jeff) Elwell, the first candidate to be interviewed for the position of the four finalists, was named president of Eastern New Mexico University only days after visiting Carbondale. He was previously the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. George Hynd, president of Oakland University in Michigan, was the second to be interviewed.

The final candidate, Carl Pinkert, vice president for research and economic development at the University of Alabama, begins his two-day interview on Wednesday. His public forum scheduled for 8:45 a.m. Thursday in Morris Librarys Guyon Auditorium.
A recent Habitat for Humanity home recipient has been devastated by a burglary

The mother of four returned to her new Kings Road home on Friday, April 21, to find that the back door had been forced open. Pieces of the door frame were on the ground.

Construction on the home had just been completed at the end of March. For the past few weeks, the mother had been in the process of moving into the Kings Road the residence.

The stolen property is valued at a total of $2,306 in household appliances, including a washer, dryer, stove and refrigerator.

Also stolen were picture frames, a gold table lamp and several cleaning items.

When authorities arrived at the scene, they found that the property next door had been burglarized as well. The property belongs to Habitat for Humanity.

The complainant said the lock on a trailer located on the property was missing and the door had been opened.

Power tools worth $3,915 were taken from the trailer. Items stolen include a chain saw, chop saw, nailers, grinders and a hammer drill. Also taken was a white exterior door.

Habitat for Humanity homes are built by volunteers.

Edisto Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Jamie Wood said Habitat will help the mother recover or replace her stolen items.

Were going to do everything we can to help her get her stuff back, she said.

Wood feels that the overall morale of the volunteers has dropped and now theyre feeling threatened, she said.

Were a little bit handicapped, she added.

All tools will need to be repurchased in order for them to continue their work.

Currently, there are no known suspects.

We feel like someone had to have seen something, Wood said.

The incident report places the burglary between 2 p.m. Thursday, April 20, and 6:09 p.m. Friday, April 21.

If anyone has any information on the burglar, they are asked to call the sheriffs office at 803-534-3550 or Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.
The State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education and the Denmark Technical College Area Commission could share control over the school under a plan being considered by the S.C. House.

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, expects the House to change a Senate bill giving control over DTC to Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical Colleges Area Commission.

Under a House plan, the State Tech Board will oversee the college for 18 months while it reviews operations and comes up with recommendations, she said. The DTC commission, will serve as an advisory capacity to the State Tech Board for 18 months.

After the 18 months, the governance of the college will revert back to the DTC commission. The commission will also be able to sign off on the recommendations of the state board.

Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, originally proposed giving the State Tech Board control over Denmark Tech. That was changed to have OCtechs Area Commission serve as the governing body for Denmark Tech.

The bill passed the Senate and is now before the House Ways and Means Committee. Cobb-Hunter is second vice chair of the committee.

It remains to be seen if the Senate would accept such changes in the House bill. Some senators have expressed concerns about the State Tech Board taking over governance of one college.

Hutto hopes the senators will agree to a plan having the State Tech Board and Denmark Tech Area Commission serving in more of a partnership capacity, rather than a governing role.

"The local board will still have input," Hutto said. "The resources of Columbia would mesh together with the local tech board."

Cobb-Hunter says the State Tech Board and OCtech have no desire to run Denmark Tech.

Also, "There is no intent on the part of the House to close Denmark Tech," she said. "I recognize the economic impact and importance Denmark Tech has to the tri-county area. There is no way I could justify closing Denmark Tech at all. Ever."

In the interim, the State Tech Board continues to work with Denmark Techs Area Commission to better understand the financial challenges and operations of the college.

"The school does not need to be held in limbo while State Tech completes its work," Cobb-Hunter said. "Our concern is to make sure the school continues to run and the students are able to receive the educational opportunities that Denmark Tech is providing."

Bamberg, Barnwell and Allendale county lawmakers have submitted a list of replacement DTC Area Commissioners to Gov. Henry McMaster for his confirmation.

Brian Symmes, McMasters spokesman, said the governor is reviewing the recommendations. There is no set timeline for appointing the new commissioners.

Cobb-Hunter is hoping that the governor's office will hold off on any confirmation of new board members until the bill is finalized and on his desk.

"I see the two working in concert," she said.

Cobb-Hunter said the focus is on reviewing the mission of the college and strengthening and enhancing those programs the college does well.

A clean sweep of the board is needed, she said. Former commission Chairman Thomas Williams, who still sits on the board, is slated to continue serving on the board.

"How do you justify keeping one person as opposed to any of the other members who probably feel they deserve to be reappointed?" Cobb-Hunter said. She said the commission needs members who dont have preconceived notions about the colleges future.
On April 3, President Donald Trump signed a joint congressional resolution that repealed the Federal Communications Commissions privacy rules. The debate prompted an unusual amount of misleading sturm und drang. Understanding whats really at stake requires a deeper exploration of this issue to dispel myths and recognize realities.

There is a common misconception that Congress stripped Americans of their privacy rights. In reality, consumers have the same rights today that they did before the vote. The joint resolution repealed an FCC order that was not scheduled to take effect until later this year. By repealing these rules, Congress preserved the status quo and consumers should see no difference because the law today is the same as it has been since at least 2015.

The purpose of repeal is to restore a level playing field among digital advertisers. Internet-based companies such as Google and Facebook are subject to Federal Trade Commission regulation, which requires companies to notify consumers regarding what information is collected and how it is used, and to allow them to opt out of such collection efforts. These rules also governed broadband providers until 2015, when the FCC inadvertently stripped the FTC of jurisdiction when it reclassified them as common carriers.

The FCC could have corrected this error by simply applying the FTC rules to broadband providers. But it instead applied a stricter opt-in rule, which prohibited broadband providers from using consumer data unless the consumer gives explicit permission.

Importantly, under both regimes, consumers ultimately control how their data is used. The only difference is the default rule: the FTC allows Google to use your data unless you say no, while the FCC would have allowed Verizon to use your data only if you say yes. This is a trivial distinction for consumers  but it would have given Google a tremendous advantage in the battle for internet advertising dollars, a market Google already dominates.

Additionally, it is a common misunderstanding that broadband providers know more about you than companies like Google or Facebook. Broadband providers cant really see all traffic  they can only gather information on ones activities at home, while Google can capture data anywhere a person is logged into a Google account or using a Google operating system. And Google and Facebook, which collect an estimated two of every three digital advertising dollars, can capture content, while broadband providers generally can only see metadata and traffic flow information.

Consumers uncomfortable with the monetization of their information still have options. All major broadband providers have privacy policies that allow consumers to opt out of data collection. Consumers can also use a virtual private network to shield their activities online, though be aware that the most reliable VPN providers are not free.

Ultimately, privacy questions cannot be debated in a vacuum. Consumer information is the lifeblood of the internet. Our information is routinely collected by many companies, but this is not necessarily problematic. Monetization of consumer data is what helps make Gmail, Facebook, YouTube, and other services free  and might someday bring broadband prices down. We cannot debate the value of potential future privacy rules without considering the consequences such rules might have on the broader Internet ecosystem.
The proposal to merge some of the state's smaller school districts to save money and use resources more efficiently is worth exploring. But don't look for it to be a cheap and easy way to fix all the problems of poor, rural districts that have been unable to meet the needs of their students for decades.

The S.C. Department of Education released a study last week showing that consolidating smaller school districts could save tens of millions of dollars. The study focused on 32 rural districts that successfully sued the state in 1993, saying the state did not provide enough money to educate their children.

The study suggests that districts could save up to $35 million if they work in pairs to share administrative and transportation costs. Five school districts consolidating some services could save close to $90 million, the study found.

We remain skeptical that the savings would be that large. While reducing the number of administrators and packing more students onto buses could save money, the figures floated by this study seem overly optimistic.

S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman also notes that the state would likely have to provide incentives to encourage districts to consolidate.

Spearman said the state could make up the difference in teacher salaries between two merging school districts or give money to two districts that want new schools if they agree to merge and build only one.

To her credit, Spearman is not proposing to force mergers among districts. She said that while some lawmakers favor that approach, the idea has not received widespread support in the Legislature.

We agree that any effort to merge districts must have the support of the communities affected. In many cases, local schools are among the only remaining institutions that hold small communities together.

Sacrificing the individual identity of a community to save money on education could prove a difficult tradeoff. But if residents and local educators buy in, the effort could be worthwhile.

Again, however, this proposal is not a magic bullet to meet all the needs of crumbling schools in the so-called "Corridor of Shame." The state has an obligation  both legal and moral  to ensure that all students throughout South Carolina have access to an adequate education.

This legislative session, lawmakers have done little to answer a state Supreme Court order to improve public education in poor districts that have an inadequate tax base to meet the needs of students. Consolidation alone is not enough.

This editorial is from The Herald of Rock Hill via The Associated Press.
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By Azernews





By Kamila Aliyeva

The 48th meeting of the Committee for Culture, Education and Social Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation kicked off in Baku on April 25.

About 50 delegates from the member countries take part in the meeting, which will mull cooperation in the field of healthcare.

Addressing the meeting, Committees Deputy Chairman Ozcan Ulupinar called for decisive steps to improve the healthcare system in the BSEC countries.

First Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ziyafat Asgarov , in turn, underlined the need for joint efforts to address the global political and economic problems.

The world has never felt such need for cooperation before. It also refers to the BSEC region, he said.

He noted that over the past years, Azerbaijan has achieved economic progress, increased its economic potential and ensured the development of the healthcare system.

As one of the important directions of the long-term development strategy pursued by Azerbaijans president, large-scale healthcare reforms are being implemented and investments are being made in the sector, he said.

More than 500 medical centers have been constructed or repaired. Mortality rate among mothers and babies has sharply decreased. In this regard, familiarity with the experience of developed countries and international cooperation are of great importance.

During the meeting, the deputy chairman of the committee was elected. The representative of Ukraine Sergey Kunitsin was re-elected to this post.

The protocol of the 47th meeting of the Committee, held in October 2016 in Bucharest, was also approved.

BSEC was established on June 25, 1992, on the basis of the Istanbul Summit Declaration and the Bosphorus Agreement signed by 11 heads of state. The key objective of the organization is to support multilateral political and economic initiatives in the Black Sea region. The organization comprises 13 countries.
By Trend





Azerbaijani soldiers and officers who became disabled in the April battles have been supplied with high-tech prostheses at the directions of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva.

These high-tech prostheses were chosen after careful examination of individual needs of the soldiers and officers who lost their body parts in the April battles in 2016.

At a meeting with a group of the disabled soldiers and officers on April 3, First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva gave instructions to supply them with artificial replacements for missing body parts to help them regain or maintain their mobility.

At Mehriban Aliyevas directions, the disabled soldiers and officers were supplied with prostheses manufactured by the worlds leading prosthetics companies, including German Otto Bock and British RSL Steeper.

The prostheses and orthopedic devices supplied to the disabled soldiers and officers are:

Harmony P3 vacuum system

Produced by Otto Bock, Harmony P3 vacuum system does both, regulating the best possible fit of the residual limb in the prosthetic socket with a weight-activated mechanical vacuum pump.

Smaller and lighter than its predecessors, the Harmony P3 pump sets itself apart with a lightweight and slim design that is readily compatible with a visually appealing cosmetic cover and can be combined with various prosthetic feet. The mechanical Harmony pump is intended for users with a moderate to higher mobility grade.

C-Leg 4 microprocessor knee

The C-Leg 4 microprocessor knee expands on clinically proven technology to deliver an improved, even more reliable patient experience while also making it easier to use and fit.

Manufactured by Otto Bock, the C-Leg has been setting fitting standards for transfemoral amputees since more than 15 years. More than 40,000 users worldwide rely on the C-Leg technology. The microprocessor-controlled leg prosthesis system is ideal for anyone with high stability and reliability requirements in everyday life. It also meets the demand for mobility and freedom. The knee joint is controlled by a complex sensor system, which permits adaptation to various walking speeds. Stability even in uncertain situations, walking slow or fast, negotiating slopes and walking down stairs step-over-step  the C-Leg supports these types of everyday mobility.

Bebionic3 prosthetic hand

Manufactured by RSL Steeper, Bebionic3 is the world's most advanced prosthetic hand.

Sleek, elegant and cutting-edge in both design and technology, Bebionic pushes the boundaries of multi-articulating myoelectric hands. As the worlds most lifelike, functional and easy to use myoelectric hand commercially available today, Bebionic is comfortable, precise and intuitive for patients, transforming the lives and abilities of amputees around the world  from helping them perform simple tasks like tying shoelaces to giving them back their control and their pride.

Silicone cover for lower limb prostheses

After an amputation, many affected individuals want to recreate their outside appearance in as much detail as possible. This can be achieved with a custom-made, anatomically shaped silicone cover based on the sound limb.

Every silicone cover is one of a kind and features a number of benefits.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

The Azerbaijani Embassy in the UAE and the Consulate General in Dubai have prevented an Armenian provocation at the Arabian Travel Market international tourism exhibition.

Representatives of Armenia attempted to demonstrate at their booth maps and other visual material promoting the unrecognized regime established in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend on April 24.

The Azerbaijani Embassy and Consulate General in Dubai have turned to the appropriate UAE authorities and organizers of the exhibition with a request to prevent the illegal promotion. After that, all materials promoting the illegal regime were removed from the booth.

Armenian diaspora often uses international exhibitions to distort the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and present this region of Azerbaijan as Armenian. However, Azerbaijan timely prevents such provocative attempts.

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.
Al Maraya Decor, one of the leading interior decorating companies in Bahrain, is showcasing its newly-launched readymade furniture range at Gulf Interiors exhibition, thus marking its entry into this segment.



The company also manufactures furniture locally at its workshop in Hamala in the kingdom, said its top official on the sidelines of Gulf Interiors, the Northern Gulf's established annual showcase for luxury interiors, design and furniture, which opened in Bahrain on April 25.



Gulf Interiors takes place in conjunction with two other major events - Gulf Construction Expo and Gulf Property Show - providing the biggest integrated B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to commerce) showcase for construction, interiors and property sectors in the region.



Al Maraya Decor said the readymade furniture is being imported from Turkey and China, and the collection is available in all the three categories: home, office and outdoor.



"The idea is to keep pace with the tight delivery schedules for our customers," remarked Aslam A R Qureshi, managing director, Al Maraya Decor.



The company, he stated, has also opened a new showroom in Sitra through its sister company Al Qasser Upholstery & Curtains.



This is in addition to its existing showroom, located in Mahooz, which showcases the companys new collection of blinds, in addition to its extensive product range of curtains, furniture, wallpaper, carpets and other products.



The products are being imported from Korea and are targeted at both the residential as well as commercial markets of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.



With an experience of over 30 years in the field of interior designing, Al Maraya Decor has also expanded into production of shaded, awnings and canopies.

The exhibition run until Thursday (April 27) at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.-TradeArabia News Service
Bahrain's parliament must work towards passing the new real estate regulatory law, which is vital to stabilise the real estate sector and regulate the professions affiliated with it, said Deputy Premier Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.

He was speaking after inaugurating three of Northern Gulf's biggest expos showcasing the very best in construction, interiors and real estate - Gulf Construction Expo, Gulf Interiors and Gulf Property Show (together known as 3Gs) on Tuesday (April 25) at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.



His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa had delegated Shaikh Khalid to inaugurate the events, said the event organiser Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE).



Stressing upon the economic, social and regulatory importance of the law and its future potential, Shaikh Khalid, said: We rely on the wisdom of MPs to quickly endorse the draft legislation and pass it to the Shura Council."

He paid tribute to HRH the Premier for patronising the annual 3Gs which he said, reflects his keenness on supporting the real estate sectors and other subsidiaries.



It is a good omen that the opening of the 3Gs coincides with the beginning of the parliamentary deliberations on the draft law, remarked Shaikh Khalid.



He expressed the hope that the new law, once endorsed and promulgated, would help stabilise the real estate sector and regulate the professions affiliated with it.



The bill which features more than 100 key articles was referred by the government to the legislative authority in May last year  two years after the law 28 of 2014 on real estate development was passed, stated the Deputy Premier.



Shaikh Khalid commended the 3Gs organisers, hailing the role of the private sector in boosting the specialised exhibition industry which turned Bahrain, along with its tourism potential, into an attractive regional and international destination.



"The partnership between the public and private sectors has paid off, yielding fruitful dividends whose windfall boosts development and consolidate citizens welfare," he stated.



The Deputy Premier welcomed the GCC, Arab and foreign exhibitors from 25 states, describing the 3Gs as a prime platform to showcase their innovative products and projects under the same roof to thousands of visitors.



The three-in-one event, he said, represent a key opportunity to showcase the potential of local and GCC markets in the construction, interior designs and properties sectors, which may pave the way to launching joint Made in the Gulf Projects.



HCE chairman Anwar M. Abdulrahman paid tribute to HRH the Premier for patronising the exhibitions, thanking the Deputy Premier who inaugurated the 2017 edition on behalf of the Premier.



He expressed delight at the Premiers auspices which, he said, reflects his keenness on supporting the private sector as it contributes to development and boost national economy.



HCE managing director Jubran Abdulrahman paying tribute to the Premiers patronage and said that the acknowledged reputation of the exhibition attracted a growing number of exhibitors and visitors year on year.



The 3Gs concept will provide an ideal marketing platform and an opportunity to communicate, interact and seal rewarding transactions in the sectors of construction, interior designs and properties, added Abdulrahman.

The 3G exhibition conclude on Thursday (April 27).-TradeArabia News Service
GEMS Education has announced the second edition of its Arab Innovation Centre for Education (AICE) Accelerator Programme which provides students a platform that helps build an ecosystem to promote, research and entrepreneurship.



The AICE Accelerator Programme provided select student-led start-ups with mentorship, training, a grant fund and an opportunity to pitch and network with regional business leaders and investors.



The programme culminated in a Demo Day where each team got 10 minutes to present their prototype to an esteemed panel of judges that consists of the regions leading investors, venture capital firms and entrepreneurs. Each team is paired with a mentor, who are accomplished individuals from various industries and the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem.



The Demo Day took place on today (April 25) in the Dubai Future Accelerators (DFA) facility in Emirates Tower.



Michael Gernon, senior vice president and global head of Innovation, Research and Development, GEMS Education, said: The AICE Accelerator Programme is a great opportunity and environment for GEMS students to be in. The programme will provide our students with a unique platform, offering them the right mix of critical thinking, commercial knowledge and entrepreneurial enthusiasm.



The teams earlier this year participated in a two-day bootcamp held at the Blended Learning Plaza in GEMS Wellington Silicon Oasis, where they participated in workshops on product development and growth, design thinking, leadership, branding, business planning and more, led by organisations such as Facebook, DTEC, TeachMeNow and Marya Leadership.



A total of 12 teams were shortlisted into the AICE Accelerator Programme from over 70 applications.



Additionally, finalists from the Global Innovation Challenge, run in partnership with California-based Singularity University - where students from around the world have created solutions to the worlds most pressing issues leveraging exponential technologies such as 3D printing and robotics, will were also be inducted at into the AICE Accelerator Programme.



This year, the AICE Accelerator Programme is in partnership with Generation Disrupt and TeachMeNow. TeachMeNow is an online tutoring platform that has provided USD 50 credit to each participating team and will be offering 10 free hours on its platform to the winner. Generation Disrupt runs fun innovation programs for kids and teens focused on making everyday objects better using technology and design thinking and had inducted several of the students into its course.



The finalists of the Global Innovation Challenge were shortlisted from over 160 projects being showcased at the GIC Expo (formerly called Maker Day) in February this year.



The awards ceremony will take place on May 8, during which the AICE winning team will be announced and given a cash prize of Dh10,000 ($2,720) and 12 months of continuous support from GEMS Education and its partners to develop their product further.- TradeArabia News Service
Brazils Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, Blairo Maggi, has announced plans to visit the UAE and Saudi Arabia to reassure the countries on the safety of Brazilian meat and poultry products.



The visit follows the Operation Carne Fraca (Operation Weak Flesh) organised by the Federal Police of Brazil to investigate some of the countrys largest meat processing companies and subsequent ban on the import of Brazilian meat and poultry products by some countries, said a statement.



The Minister will hold talks with his counterparts in these countries to reinforce Brazils reputation as a leading meat exporting country, it added.



Brazil is a primary exporter of meat and poultry products to the GCC, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. According to statistics released by the Brazil Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, the South American nation shipped nearly $1.3 billion worth of meat and poultry products to Saudi Arabia and $578 million to the UAE.



The two Arab countries have not imposed a blanket ban on imports. However, they have stopped purchasing from some of the 21 companies being probed  four in the Saudi Arabia and six in the UAE  because of unhealthy production practices.



Rubens Hannun, president of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, said: Brazil follows strict health and safety procedures in food production, including for meat which remains a major export despite the recent issue. The government has taken swift measures to rectify the situation, implement stronger safety and health protocols, and ensure more transparency to maintain the highest international food safety standards for all traded meat and poultry.

Minister Maggis visit to the KSA and the UAE is a strategic move to assure the premium quality of Brazilian products entering these markets which have continued to show their trust in Brazils meat industry, Hannun said.



Brazils Secretary for Agricultural Defense Luis Eduardo Rangel recently met Dr Koen Van Dyck, directorate general for health and food Safety (DG Sante) at the European Commission, to assure him that food quality and sanity controls are being upheld in the country.



Additionally, the World Trade Organization has stated that Brazil has assured its Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of its continuous implementation of one of the worlds most frequently and stringently audited industry regulations, the statement added.  TradeArabia News Service


Exova Warringtonfire, a leading UK-based fire testing and fire engineering organisation, said it has signed up by top Asian architecture firm DP Architects (DPA) to provide fire engineering consultancy on residential and commercial projects in the new city of Lusail, Qatar.



DPA said it is designing plans for 60 plots of land on Commercial Boulevard in Lusail.



Comprising 30 residential plots of apartment buildings and hotels and 30 commercial plots, including restaurants, retail space, office buildings, cinemas, and medical and educational facilities, every plot will be a mid-rise building and will be uniquely designed.



As part of the deal, Exova Warringtonfire will review the design of each plot and provide fire engineering consultancy to DPA over a period of two years.



Working from the Dubai office, the team will use innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling and demonstrate live fire scenarios in proposed designs to ascertain the safest, most efficient, and cost effective methods of smoke control and ventilation.



Toh Sze Chong, the director at DPA, pointed out that the Commercial Boulevard in Lusail City was a landmark project in Qatar.



"Exovas support for our design teams as our fire engineering consultant is crucial. Their expertise goes beyond advising fire engineering solutions to overcome fundamental design issues; they are also able to take further steps to help our teams with unconventional and workable fire engineering solutions in order to realize certain architectural design ideas," he noted.



Dermot Gallagher, senior fire engineer at Exova Warringtonfire, said: "The Commercial Boulevard project is an enormous undertaking and were happy to support DPA on the development of fire engineering strategies and solutions for its designs."



"We are proud of our existing relationship with DPA and know that our experience working on a variety of building types means that we will provide comprehensive guidance on meeting the regulatory requirements of each individual plot," he added.



Headquartered in Edinburgh, UK, Exova is one of the worlds leading laboratory-based testing groups. It operates 136 laboratories and offices in 33 countries and employs around 4,200 people throughout Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia/Asia Pacific and Africa.-TradeArabia News Service
Siemens is demonstrating how companies of any size can benefit from the digital revolution over an area of 3,800 sq m at Hannover Messe, the worlds largest industrial fair, running until April 28 in Hannover, Germany.



At the Siemens booth, visitors can experience how Siemens as a front runner in the world of automation is driving forward the process of digitalization not only of its own business but across the whole of industry.



The focus this year will be on the companys further expanded portfolio for the Digital Enterprise, which links the virtual and real production worlds through the simulation of machines and plants using digital twins, or with the aid of MindSphere, the cloud-based, open IoT operating system.



Using examples from the fields of additive manufacturing, energy for industry and dairy industry as well as pharmaceuticals, Siemens will be showcasing ways in which digitalization can already be used today across every stage of the entire value chain, securing its customers a real competitive edge through greater flexibility, efficiency and quality.



With our software portfolio we are the only supplier capable of offering the digital twin across the entire value chain  for products, for production and complete plants, said Klaus Helmrich, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG. We are also supporting new production methods with innovative solutions for handling systems and robot integration and through the creation of an open, digital global marketplace for additive manufacturing.



The ability to respond flexibly to individual customer requirements with small batch sizes calls for the use of simulation solutions along the entire value chain. This is where the digital twin comes into its own, precisely duplicating and simulating the properties and performance features of a physical product, a product line, a process or a complete plant in the virtual world before a single screw needs to be picked up in the real world. This means a significant rise in productivity and efficiency, as illustrated by the concrete examples on show at the Siemens booth at this years Hannover Messe.



With its extensive software offering and automation solutions, Siemens supports additive manufacturing for machine builders and users. The company is also creating a global open digital marketplace which opens up scope for completely new business models such as the sale of machine hours.



The underlying foundation for new business models for customers is connection to MindSphere, the cloud-based, open operating system from Siemens.



Working hand in hand with our partners and industrial customers, we are continuing to drive forward the expansion of MindSphere as a platform as a service, creating an ever more extensive eco system, said Helmrich.



In the MindSphere Lounge at the Siemens booth, Siemens, customers and partners will be presenting new ideas and applications. Visitors will also have the chance to experience how simply machines and production plants communicate with MindSphere applications via Totally Integrated Automation.



At the Hannover Messe 2017, Siemens will be using the example of the dairy industry to demonstrate how both process and discrete workflows in the food and beverage industry can benefit from digitalization. Factors typically affecting the dairy industry are high cost sensitivity and mass production on the one hand, coupled with the growing diversity of available flavours and innovative packaging concepts on the other.



In the field of energy management too, the smart use of data is assuming an ever more important role. In order to support dynamic networked production environments, smooth interaction between hardware and software and systematic data management are vital. Visitors to the Siemens booth will have the chance to experience the integration of energy management first hand at a real production machine.  TradeArabia News Service
A throng of up to 60 juveniles on Saturday mobbed a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train in Oakland, US, and stole a purse, duffel bag and five cellphones from passengers. At least two people were injured in the incident, said a report.



According to authorities all this happened in just 30 seconds, reported Los Angeles Times.



The youngsters were spotted by witnesses hastily jumping over fare gates before boarding a Dublin-bound train just after 9.20pm at the Coliseum Station on San Leandro Street, according the BART Police Department.



Once the minors entered the train, police said, they swarmed passengers and robbed six people by force.



Another passenger was robbed on the railway platform. Authorities said a purse, duffel bag and five cellphones were taken during the robberies. At least two passengers were treated by paramedics for face and head injuries, the police said.



It all happened pretty quickly  it was about 30 seconds, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost was quoted as saying in the LA Times.



After robbing passengers, police said, the juveniles ran into the surrounding neighbourhoods before officers could arrive at the scene. The train remained at the station for 15 minutes as officers investigated the robberies.



On Monday, the Police Department was gathering surveillance video of the train robberies, Trost said. The video footage will be shared with Oakland Police Department, Oakland Unified School District and Oakland Housing Authority to help identify the minors, she said.



Photographs of the suspects will not be released because they are minors, Trost said.



We have had success with sharing images of juveniles with this group and identifying and making arrests in the past, Trost said.



Authorities have arrested groups of teens for similar robberies at train stations in the past, she said. But those groups were not as large as Saturdays, Trost said.



The 40 to 60 is definitely a lot of people, she said. We dont usually see that.



Its unclear if the BART crowd was a so-called flash mob group and organized through social media.



In 2013, a similar fast-moving group of mostly young people menaced the streets of Hollywood. At the time, police said, the group ran in and out of traffic, knocked pedestrians over and snatched belongings along Hollywood Boulevard. Some stole tchotchkes and food as they moved along the famous thoroughfare, reported LA TImes.



More than 100 officers descended on Hollywood and searched for hours for the young people, many of whom arrived in Hollywood by subway, police said. Eventually, police arrested 11 juveniles and an 18-year-old man on suspicion of robbery, it added.
UAEs Telecommunications Regularity Authority (TRA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dubai Police General HQ to enhance cooperation in fields of information security, and work together to resolve related issues.



The agreement was signed by Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA general director and Major General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, commander-in-chief of Dubai Police.



This agreement includes 13 key subjects, including cooperation and joint action between the two sides in a number of areas related to information security, coordination mechanism for exchanging information and cooperation in resolving issues related to information security crimes within the common areas between the two parties.



Also, coordination in the field of spectrum and wireless devices, coordination in the case of harmful interference or trans boundary signals, support by the Dubai Police General HQ in the field of inspection and judicial control, facilitation of TRA functions at border crossings of the country when needed, exchange of expertise in telecommunications and in emergencies and crises.



Al Mansoori said: "We express our deep appreciation for the pivotal role played by the Dubai Police General HQ in establishing stability and security in the country. Information security, protecting virtual borders, websites and the infrastructure of the telecommunications sector is one of the main tasks of mutual interest between the two parties.



This reflects the wise leadership's directions in providing decent living conditions for all residents to ensure the continued use of smart and electronic services around the clock in all circumstances and situations, including emergencies. This agreement strengthens Dubai and the UAEs position as one of the safest countries in the region and the world. Which enhances the trust in the investment sector and entrepreneurs to start their business from the UAE, he added.

Major General Abdullah Khalifa praised the cooperation with TRA and its great role-play in serving the country and society. He pointed out that the agreement is in the interest of enhancing the security and safety of the society especially in the aspects of electronic and intelligent information security in addition to coordinating the joint work between the two sides in this context.  TradeArabia News Service
Batelco, Bahrains leading digital solutions provider, has teamed up with Brinc, an ultra-hands-on Internet of Things (IoT) hardware accelerator, to launch its new operation in the Middle East, the Brinc-Batelco IOT Hub.



Brinc Menas Middle East operation will be located in Bahrain and it will offer programmes and services tailored for IoT hardware start-ups and entrepreneurs looking for speed, access and the know-how to build successful companies, said a statement.



The deal to establish the Brinc-Batelco IOT Hub was formalised during a signing ceremony held at Batelcos headquarters recently, with Batelco Bahrain CEO Eng Muna Al Hashemi and Brinc chief development officer and head of Brinc Mena, Yasin Aboudaoud signing the agreement.



This partnership is in line with Batelco Bahrains strategy of driving innovation and supporting the growth of the economy, especially in the telecommunications and technology sector, said Eng Al Hashemi.



It is important that the Kingdom of Bahrain builds a solid foundation for entrepreneurship providing the necessary expertise, knowledge and attitude to pursue new ideas. The Kingdom was ranked 28th among most networked nations in the world according to the 2016 WEF Networked Readiness Index and 70 percent of the ICT sector talent pool are nationals. Bahrain has the highest ICT development in the region as per the Global ICT Development Index ITU, which means that Bahrain offers an ideal testing ground for new technologies and ideas, she added.



Further commenting on this partnership, Batelco Bahrain chief marketing officer Mike Stanford said: Bahrain has a very strong pool of local talent that requires the opportunity to develop, grow and deliver innovative hardware based on the requirements of todays global technology marketplace.



We look forward to building on this partnership, which will be a birthing ground not only for local talent, but talent from across the Middle East who are yearning to revolutionize the industry by building innovative IoT hardware products for the global consumer market, he added.



Brinc Mena is planning to provide an unprecedented opportunity for start-ups in the region to access mentorship, product design and development guidance, manufacturing and exposure to regional and global investors and markets, all in one programme. On-site business, manufacturing and distribution experience will also be offered.



Brinc is thrilled to start its setup in the Kingdom of Bahrain which has demonstrated its commitment to developing a world-class environment where technology entrepreneurs can thrive and further develop the country as a regional centre of excellence, said Aboudaoud.



By joining forces with an innovative solution provider like Batelco, our goal is to eventually extend our offering of comprehensive programmes and services tailored for hardware start-ups as well as expertise and know-how of manufacturing in China to the growing numbers of hardware founders in the Middle East. By providing start-ups with access to prototyping resources typically only available in Asia, we aim to harvest regional talent and showcase the ability to connect technology growth with product development and manufacturing in China, he added.



To date, Brinc has supported hundreds of founders from around the world and invested in and supported more than 30 start-ups, with a portfolio that raised more than $18 million in follow along funding and has products stores around the world.



Brinc Mena at the Brinc-Batelco IOT Hub will be launched towards Q3 2017 and will be located in the Batelco Commercial Centre building in the heart of Manama, a growing technology innovation hub. - TradeArabia News Service






Northern Gulf's biggest exhibitions showcasing the very best in construction, interiors and real estate will open their doors in Bahrain tomorrow (April 25) with a record number of property developers at the three-in-one event, which has now expanded to include an evening festival.



Collectively known as the 3Gs, they comprise the Gulf Construction Expo along with the Gulf Interiors exhibition and the record-breaking Gulf Property Show.



The 3Gs are being held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and will run concurrently at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre until Thursday (April 27).



This year, the trade shows will also feature an outdoor music and food festival in the evening as an added attraction for visitors and families, according to the organiser Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE).



As many as 140 local, regional and international exhibitors are at the events, with the Gulf Property Show this year crossing a record 2,000 sq m for the very first time since its launch in 2013.



The three exhibitions are considered a valuable springboard into the multi-billion-dollar construction, interiors and real estate markets of the Northern Gulf, where the emphasis is on showcasing the latest products, services, technologies and projects available in the region.



HCE managing director Jubran Abdulrahman said the 2017 edition successfully continues the one-stop-shop concept.



"Our aim is to promote the GCCs capacity across the construction, interiors and real estate sectors and support the economic vision of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of Bahrain, who continues to extend his patronage to our events," noted Abdulrahman.



"The 2017 edition of the shows has seen a real growth of participants from Bahrain and across the GCC looking to offer individuals and companies with a Made in the GCC option," he stated.



The 3Gs will also feature a raft of special offers and deals from exhibitors, he added.



HCE exhibitions director Ahmed Suleiman said: "Our exhibitors are aware that the shows represent a very good opportunity to sell their products and are looking to entice deal making at the shows with attractive offers."



Gulf Construction Expo, Gulf Interiors and Gulf Property Show are open between 10 am and 9 pm from April 25 to 27 at the BIECC. Entrance is free.-TradeArabia News Service
Ducab, the Middle Easts leading manufacturer of high quality cables and cabling products owned equally by Abu Dhabis Senaat and by Investment Corporation Dubai (ICD), hosted an event in Jordan recently to reveal its innovative product portfolio.



The event was held under the patronage of UAE Ambassador to Jordan Bilal Al Budoor, with the attendance of a senior level Duca delegation headed by chief commercial officer (CCO) of Ducab Mohammad A Al Mutawa, and a number of government representatives, contractors, project engineers, and consultants.



At the event, Ducab introduced the company to the Jordanian market by highlighting its complete portfolio of cabling product and services, specifically focusing on its high-voltage cables, overhead conductors, and renewable and solar cables.



The seminar also elaborated on the benefits of Ducabs specialised products including the FlamBICC fire performance range of cables that are tested in a dedicated fire test lab and specially developed to survive and operate during fire conditions.



Al Mutawa said: At Ducab, we are committed to being the highest-quality global cable manufacturer, providing smart, safe and environmentally conscious products for a continually developing modern world. We offer total quality excellence, both in terms of products and service, to ensure the delivery of superior value to our customers. With 38 years of experience in the industry, we have built a culture of continual innovation and look to take every project to the next level through technologically advanced cabling solutions.



Coinciding with the technical seminar, Ducab signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Afaneh Group of Jordan, through which it will carry out Ducabs business in Jordan.



Ducabs comprehensive product range includes a variety of high, medium and low voltage cables, as well as low smoke zero halogen cables, and fire-performance cables, copper rods and wires. Additionally, the company introduced specialised products that are designed for particular sectors and cabling needs for the energy, general construction, industrial, defense, transport and specialty industry verticals.  TradeArabia News Service


Y International (UK) Ltd, part of Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group International, has won the Queens Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2017, the most prestigious award for business excellence in the UK.



The annual award is given to organisations for their extraordinary contributions in the field of economy, business and employment generation, based on the recommendation made by British Prime Minister Theresa May and approved by Queen Elizabeth on her birthday.



The award winners are subjected to stringent auditing processes and their performance scrutinised by over 30 top government agencies, before they are included in the roll of honour. The winners name has been published in the latest edition of UK Government Gazette, and very soon Queen Elizabeth will host a reception for the winners at Buckingham palace.



This award was established in the year 1966 to honour top companies for their exceptional contribution to the UK trade, industry and economy.



Yusuffali MA, chairman of Lulu Group said: I am extremely honoured and proud to hear the news about Y International UK being selected for the prestigious Queen's Award this year. This great recognition will surely help us further strengthen our plans to expand business interests in UK and continue with our innovations and contributions to the dynamic economy of UK.



Y International UK food processing plant was established in Birmingham in 2013 to source and process food products from UK to support the tremendous demand for high quality British products in the Lulu hypermarkets across the Middle East, India and Far East. It employs over 300 UK nationals.



We are in the process of setting up another world-class food processing plant in the 12.5 acres of land allotted by Birmingham City Council, to further boost our exports and cover bigger variety of products. The planned investment would be to the tune of 36 million ($46.12 million), added Yusuffali.



Lulu, ranked as the No.1 retailer in the Mena region and one of the top 50 fastest growing retailers in the world by Deloitte, was recently in the news for buying the iconic Scotland Yard building in London and for investing in the historic East India Company. The group turnover for the year 2016 was $6.9 billion, the company said. - TradeArabia News Service


SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld airline alliance, has announced plans to boost services to some of its most valued global markets.

SriLankan Airlines has reinforced its existing services to the Middle East, Indian subcontinent and China, while targeting fresh destinations in Australasia, according to plans revealed at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai today.

With increasing demand being experienced from countries of the GCC, SriLankan Airlines will boost capacity on the Dubai-Colombo route by making it an all-widebody service served by the airline's Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The airline will also look to add further frequencies on the route by this winter, the airline said.

SriLankan Airlines chief commercial officer Siva Ramachandran said: SriLankan Airlines has been strategically expanding its reach in the region, thereby offering our passengers an enhanced travel experience and an extensive range of destinations. As the national carrier of Sri Lanka, whilst sourcing tourists from new markets, we also offer our passengers seamless connectivity across our global route network. The airline will continue to explore potential expansion opportunities in the Gulf region in order to facilitate more travellers.

SriLankan is also adding three new destinations in India, which is one of the airline's key focus destinations for transit and tourist traffic. With the addition of flights to Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam, the airline will now fly over 120 flights per week to 12 Indian cities, making it the largest foreign airline to fly to India. The airline will also look to add frequencies to its daily flights to Mumbai and New Delhi, come July.

SriLankan Airlines also intends to widen its international reach by launching a foray into Australasia, with flights planned to Melbourne this winter. Initially, four flights a week are planned between Colombo and Melbourne, as the airline anticipates to serve leisure and VFR travellers between the two countries, as well as carrying connecting passengers from the Middle East and the Subcontinent.

With tourist demand on the increase from the Far East, SriLankan also plans to beef up its services to the Asia-Pacific region. The airline, which currently flies to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Kunming in China, with a total of 15 weekly flights, will now fly daily to Guangzhou from July.

The airline will also further enhance its connectivity to Hong Kong. In addition to the three weekly services operated currently via Bangkok, the airline will introduce non-stop services to Hong Kong with two more additional frequencies. The airline will also introduce three additional terminators between Colombo and Bangkok in its triple daily services to the Thai capital.

SriLankan Airlines today flies an all-Airbus fleet, which includes the sophisticated A330-300 and A320neo aircraft connecting to 100 destinations in 47 countries (including codeshare operations).  TradeArabia News Service
Assila Hotel, Jeddahs new landmark hotel which opened last month, has appointed Harry Fernandes as the new general manager.



Fernandes is making his first appearance on behalf of the hotel at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) being held at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre (DICEC) till April 27.



Speaking at the event, Fernandes said: The Arabian Travel Market is the biggest and most important event in the Middle East travel and tourism sector and therefore it is the ideal opportunity for us to showcase Assila Hotel to the global and regional travel industry, strengthen existing relationships and make new contacts.



Commenting on his new appointment, he said: I am delighted to take the helm as general manager of the splendid new Assila Hotel in the beautiful city of Jeddah. Assila is the first Rocco Forte hotel to open in the Middle East and I am very pleased to contribute my 14 years experience with Rocco Forte Hotels and Resorts to uphold the highest standards of excellence that have established Rocco Forte as one of the premier hotels brands in the world.



Fernandes takes over from Frank Heller who was appointed as Interim GM of Assila Hotel in June 2016 to oversee the pre-opening and initial opening period, while simultaneously retaining his position as General Manager of The Charles Hotel in Munich, Germany, a position he has held since August 2007 and to which he now returns.



Fernandes started his career with the international hotel group in 2004 when he was appointed rooms division manager at The Balmoral in Edinburgh, followed by promotion to resident manager of The Balmoral in 2005. He transferred to Browns Hotel in London in 2012, then in 2014 was seconded as resort manager of the Verdura in Sicily, after which he rejoined The Balmoral until November 2016 when he came to Jeddah as hotel manager of Assila.



Prior to his career with Rocco Forte Hotels, Fernandes held various roles in the front office of several London properties including the Hilton Park Lane and the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park.



Assila Hotel occupies two towers in a prime central location on Tahlia Street, Jeddahs most fashionable business and luxury shopping area. The hotel offers 304 deluxe rooms and suites, ranging from a full city views with a glimpse of the Red Sea beyond, to the sumptuous Royal Suite which occupies 597m2 with private elevators.



Guests have a varied choice of restaurants and other food and beverage outlets each with a unique concept developed by Lydia Forte, Restaurant and Bar Development Manager of Rocco Forte Hotels and daughter of Sir Rocco Forte. The restaurant concepts range from traditional Arabic mezze to fine dining experiences with culinary delights represented from around the world.



For exercise, workouts and relaxation after a busy day, Assila Hotel offers a 25x5m rooftop pool, a gym with high-tech equipment, two squash courts, and a spa complete with saunas, steam rooms, experience showers and relaxation rooms, ensuring a complete Rocco Forte Spa experience in which guests can fully indulge in the tranquillity of the surroundings.



Superbly designed for business functions and social events, Assila Hotel offers a fully equipped business center, a range of meeting rooms in different sizes and all with natural lighting, world class conference facilities, and the magnificent Assila Ballroom that has a separate entrance from the side street, a pre-Function Lounge and a VIP/Bridal Lounge. The property includes 550 parking spaces along with a Valet Parking service.



Established by Sir Rocco Forte and his sister Olga Polizzi in 1996, Rocco Forte Hotels is a family of 11 individual hotels and resorts. All of the hotels are landmarks, both old and new, occupying magnificent buildings in exceptional locations. Led by a family who has been in hospitality for four generations, the hotels are united by their distinctive approach to service ensuring guests experience the best of the cities and surrounding areas. - TradeArabia News Service


Global hotel management company Swiss-Belhotel International has announced its further expansion in Egypt with the signing of Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 on the countrys stunning north coast.



The agreement was formalised today at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai in the presence Mohamed Yehia Rashed, Minister of Tourism for Egypt.



Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 is the second property owned by Marseilia Egyptian Gulf Real Estate Investment that will be managed by Swiss-Belhotel International.



Yasser Ragab, chairman of Marseilia Group, said: Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 is a very significant project for us and we are pleased to partner once again with Swiss-Belhotel International to operate this fantastic property that is scheduled to open in 2020. We are confident their extensive global expertise and network will prove invaluable in establishing the resort as a popular holiday destination for visitors from around the world.



Ragab added: Marseilia Group is one of that largest real estate and tourism developer where we developed over 2 million-sq-m during the last 15 years in Egypt and it has a long history full of achievements and we always seek to add a new distinctive touristic interface in our projects, today we are about to add new ones to our projects portfolio in collaboration with Swiss-Belhotel International."



Gavin M. Faull, chairman and president of Swiss-Belhotel International, said: We are very excited to extend our relationship with Marseilia Group., especially as we already work closely with them on Swiss-Belhotel Marseilia Alexandria Beach, which is part of a massive 1200-key mixed use property. Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 is a superb addition to our expanding portfolio of hotels worldwide. Egypt is a remarkable destination and these new projects are not only driven by a solid increase in demand for high-quality hotels in the country, but also reaffirm the owners confidence in our strong and distinctive brands.



With a robust pipeline of more than 2,296 rooms in development across four hotels, Egypt has emerged as a key growth market for Swiss-Belhotel International. Commenting on the groups aggressive expansion in the country, Laurent A. Voivenel, Swiss-Belhotel Internationals senior vice president, operations and development for the Middle East, Africa and India, said, We are thrilled to welcome yet another world-class property to our portfolio of hotels in Egypt. Combining the highest quality standards with local hospitality and excellent value, we are well-equipped to meet the needs of discerning international and domestic travellers.



Boasting 150 well-appointed rooms, Swiss-Belresort Marseilia Beach 4 enjoys an idyllic location in Sidi Abd El Rahman Bay which is considered to be one of the most beautiful areas in Egypt. The hotel is being developed as an upscale 4-star resort to offer guests exceptional recreational facilities and varied dining options. - TradeArabia News Service


Time Hotels Management has unveiled plans for a new four-star hotel in Dubais Al Barsha shopping district, which will aim for 80 per cent of team members to be female, led by general manager Ghada Mahgoub.



The announcement was made during a press conference at Arabian Travel Market, which is currently taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre.



The concept will provide career opportunities for more than 100 women, contributing towards goals set out by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to increase the presence of women in the workplace, said Time Hotels CEO Mohamed Awadalla.



Time Asma Hotel will feature 232-rooms over six floors, a gym, swimming pool, jacuzzi, four meeting rooms, a business centre and two restaurants, for both male and female guests.



Due to open in Q4 2017, plans are in place for two floors of the hotel to be reserved exclusively for female travellers, with dedicated services, including: dedicated room service, a female-only check-in counter, dedicated women-only guest relations, in-house baby-sitting services, in-room tablets highlighting all of the services offered for women such as bespoke beauty products, in-room beauty treatments, as well as enhanced amenities in each room.



The hotel will also offer options to book women-only taxis and female-dedicated parking spaces.



True to its name, the hotel will offer a truly unique experience for women, we want to make them feel special. And that message is also extended to our female staff, we want them to feel special as well, part of an exciting initiative advancing the case for more women in hospitality board rooms, added Awadalla.



The latest statistics clearly underpin Awadallas comments, showing women continue to be under-represented in the hospitality industry, especially in senior management positions.



We see almost equal numbers of male and female graduates leaving hospitality school, but fewer women enter in the hotel workforce, which shows the industry must do more to attract and support female professionals and their aspirations for career development, said Awadalla.



With a target of 80 per cent, women will be integral to the hotels recruitment and HR policies, led by TIME Asma Hotels first female GM, Ghada Mahgoub. Over the course of her 20-year career, Mahgoub has held senior positions in hotels in Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Ras Al Khamaih, Sharm El Sheikh and Dubai, leading teams across the reservations, events and rooms departments.



Time Asma Hotel will hold open recruitment for female employees, with training and development offered in-house to support the successful candidates in achieving their career goals, said Mahgoub.



And quite apart from the issues of gender, the concept has a commercially viable strategy. Globally, women make 80 per cent of all decisions concerning travel and spend more than $125 billion every year, with women aged between 40 and 60 representing the largest growth of any age bracket.



Unaccompanied female travel is also on the rise - Lonely Planet reported that 51 per cent of surveyed travellers plan to take a solo trip in 2017, with the number rising to 80% in Germany. Due to its reputation for personal safety, Dubai would naturally be a top choice.



Time Asma Hotel will also be ideally positioned to attract the growing number of female visitors to Dubai, whether travelling with their families, friends, or alone, said Mahgoub.



Time Asma Hotel is one of upcoming properties in the pipeline for Time Hotels in the Middle East, with new properties scheduled to open over the coming 10 months in Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Luxor, Riyadh, Jeddah and Doha.



Awadalla said: This is a very exciting chapter in Time Hotels history and we look forward to introducing a number of new destinations and concepts to the region over the coming months. - TradeArabia News Service
Wyoming, the fourth-largest producer of natural gas and home to the biggest open pit coal mine in the country, recently became the top state for renewable energy per capita.

A recent state ranking by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a group advocating for a move to renewable resources for electricity generation, also listed Wyoming as the top state for new renewable energy development.

Coming first in any renewable category may be surprising to many in the Cowboy State, and for good reason. The states coffers have historically been filled with money from coal, oil and natural gas.

But despite the apparent burst of renewable generation, Wyoming is unlikely to turn into a California or Oregon, as the extent of wind growth in the states future is complicated by taxes and politics.

***

One hundred percent of Wyomings new capacity between 2016 and 2019 will be renewable due to wind projects coming closer to fruition, as stated in the report.

In reality, the states proposed wind farms, including the planned 3,000-megawatt Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm near Rawlins, have been in the works for up to a decade. Between 2010 and 2016, while many other western states increased their renewable energy portfolios to align with new local legislation, Wyoming stayed out of the mix.

Though industry interest in Wyoming has flourished, the state, though its policies, has maintained a fierce loyalty to fossil fuel industries, which contribute billions of dollars in tax revenue to state and local coffers.

Wyomings stance draws criticism from some camps.

Wyoming is at a bit of a crossroads, where if it doesnt get on board soon its going to miss out on an incredible economic development opportunity for the state, said John Hensley, deputy director of industry data and analysis for the American Wind Energy Association and a native of Glenrock. Its an opportunity that is going to go elsewhere in the country if [Wyoming] doesnt move forward.

The AWEA puts Wyoming first in terms of wind generation potential, which Hensley said could create a cascade of investment in the state with the potential for a wind workforce, manufacturing and development within the states borders.

***

But wind developers eyeing Wyoming may not see an open door. Wyomings wind resources, though strong, are not as prime as in some other areas of the West. Checkerboard patterns of private, state and federal land ownership can slow development, particularly of transmission lines to get wind power to market. And Wyoming is the only state that taxes wind generation: $1 per megawatt hour.

Mike Madden, R-Buffalo, would like that tax to be increased. He co-sponsored a bill to that end in the last legislative session, but it never made it out of committee.

I think its incumbent on the state to be fair to all producers of electricity, Madden said of his reasoning. We cant pick one and say, We arent going to tax you. It just doesnt seem like its fair.

Madden is not opposed to wind development in Wyoming but is vehement in his objection to the federal handout thats propelled wind forward in the market and helps the industry achieve its low cost for generation, he said.

The states one-of-a-kind generation tax simply offsets some of the benefit wind is receiving from the federal subsidy, and it doesnt damage the companies bottom lines, Madden argued. Companies that say the state tax is problematic are being disingenuous, he added.

You cant have it both ways. You cant say the [federal credit] is not important, but a generation tax is fatal, Madden said.

Researchers at the University of Wyoming, however, cautioned at increasing the wind generation tax, suggesting it could deter future development in the state.

The source of contention on renewable development is the federal tax subsidy, which sunsets in four years. At that point the electricity market playing field should begin to level out. But Madden is doubtful that the sunset means an end to the wind subsidy.

Those tax credits have been renewed before, he said. All it would take would be another administration that is sympathetic towards that industry. Its just a snap of the fingers.

Other lawmakers are even more skeptical of how Wyoming approaches renewable development. A handful of senators floated a bill last session that would have added a penalty to wind and solar generation in Wyoming, for Wyoming use. The bill, which also failed, was an inverse of the renewable portfolio standards in states like Colorado, Washington and California, where lawmakers have set goals to reduce fossil fuel generation in favor of renewables.

The bills sponsors argued that it would have given traditional sources of electricity generation, namely coal and natural gas, footing to combat the anti-fossil-fuel movement in other parts of the country. Its skeptics said Wyoming energy consumption was too small to make a dent on the supply and demand across the West.

I think this perception that wind is undercutting the fossil fuel base is a misconception, said Hensley, with the wind association. If you look at wind on its own, while we continue to gain market share across the country, we are still about 5 percent. In Wyoming, most of the fossil fuel is going elsewhere. Coal is being exported to mid-Atlantic states. Its those markets that are determining what is happening to the coal market share.

***

Wind generation can quickly become controversial in Wyoming conversation, from its aesthetic impact on the landscape to its contribution to the states economy.

One of the chief complaints against it, echoed by Madden, is that unlike the traditional energy resources of Wyoming, wind offers far less in terms of jobs or revenue.

According to the UW study from 2016, Wyomings top five large wind projects, including the Chokecherry Sierra Madre project and the Viridis Eolia proposal north of Medicine Bow, would generate more than $700 million in tax revenue to local governments, more than $400 million to the state and more than $700 million to Wyoming schools, all over a 20-year period.

Coal revenue exceeds $1 billion every year.

However, wind proponents say there does not need to be a competition between wind and coal.

We are not saying that wind needs to be 100 percent of the electricity mix, said Hensley, of the wind association. It pairs well with other source of electricity: coal, natural gas, solar and hydro. Its part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy.
Gold prospectors meet

The Casper Chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America will have its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. April 26 at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Building, 2211 King Blvd. Enter through the east door. Members and guests are welcome. The speakers for this month are Mike and Marron Bingle-Davis. They are accomplished geologists and will give a lecture in regards to the geologic history of Wyoming with an emphasis on mineralization. A general club business meeting will follow this presentation. The club will also be holding a farewell party for past president and founder Rick Messina. For more information about the GPAA or the Casper chapter, or about prospecting in general, call Eric Weaner at 513-259-7902 or visit the clubs webpage at caspergpaa.org or email the club at caspergpaa@gmail.com.

Constitution Party meets

Reaching out to any members interested in liberty and who are good moral people. To get involved, come to a Constitution Party of Wyoming Natrona County gathering. The next meeting is 4 to 4:45 p.m. April 29 at the library (Crawford Room). Check us out at wyocp.com/natrona.

Model railroaders host division meeting

The Central Wyoming Model Railroad Association will host the spring meeting of the Northern Wyoming Division of the Rocky Mountain Region NMRA at the clubhouse, 1356 N. Center St., at 10 a.m. May 6.

A couple of clinics are planned, as well as an afternoon operating session, where the HO layout will be turned into a single-tracked mainline resembling a trip from Denver to Billings via Casper. Interested people are invited to try out as engineers, brakemen or conductors and new operators will be trained.

A training session for operators will be held at the next meeting at 1 p.m. April 29 at the clubhouse.

The clubhouse is still open on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Fridays from 7 to 10 p.m., and on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. The clubhouse is open to the public at no charge.

New trains include a Spirit of America, Thomas Kinkade Christmas Express and a Wells Fargo Express.

Consider holding a birthday party or other family gathering at the clubhouse. School and daycare groups are welcome as well. Call Nathan at 258-7869, Harry at 235-4950 or Homer at 266-6439 for information or scheduling.

Corvette Cruise and Dine every Tuesday

Cruise and Dines sponsored by the Central Wyoming Corvettes (a non-profit organization) are every Tuesday night through Nov. 7, 2017. Bring your corvette and meet at Whites Chevrolet at 6 p.m. and take a short cruise with several other Vettes to a local restaurant for dinner and share in the fun. Catch up with old friends or make new ones. Guest or new members are always welcome to join in the fun. See us on Facebook or visit our website.

Panhellenic lunch May 13

The annual Panhellenic lunch, sponsored by the ladies of the Casper Alumnae Panhellenic organization, will be held at 11:30 a.m., on Saturday, May 13, at the Casper Country Club. Please come and meet old and new friends.

The National Panhellenic Council was established in 1902 and is comprised of 26 sororities on over 650 college and university campuses.

Besides providing support and and friendship, members have a life-long network of sisters around the world.

Philanthropy is an important part of membership. Together, the sororities raise over $5 million for charities, provide over $2.8 in scholarships for women and volunteer over 500,000 hours each year. Most, if not all of these groups are represented by women in Casper. The University of Wyoming has three NPC sororities.

The cost will $18 and there will be two menu choices. Please call Nancy at 237-3270 or Dyann at 258-7071 for more information or to make a reservation by May 5.

Central Wyoming Corvettes meets monthly

Central Wyoming Corvettes (a non-profit organization) meets monthly the second Thursday of every month (May 11, June 8, July 13, Aug. 10) at the Holiday Inn East restaurant with dinner at 6 p.m. and the meeting at 7 p.m. Come for the cars and stay for the people. This is a group of really fun great people who over the years have donated thousands back to the community by sponsoring fun car events. Guests or potential new members are always welcome. Come see what were all about, down to earth folks who have fun giving back to the community with really fast cars. See us on Facebook or visit our website.

Flycasters meet May 10

The monthly meeting of the members of Wyoming Flycasters is held the second Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Izaak Walton League Lodge, 4205 Fort Caspar Road. Interested people are encouraged to come and consider joining. Annual membership fee is $30. Wyoming Flycasters is dedicated to educating and assisting new or old fly fisher men and women in Wyoming and conserving waters and habitat for Wyomings wildlife and fisheries.

Casper Charla meets

Would you like to practice conversational Spanish or help others learn? Come and join the Casper Charla. Te gustaria platicar en espanol? Ven y charla con nosotros! Todos son bienvenidos! Come and join us on the second Wednesday of each month this spring. The group meets at a different restaurant each month and partakes in food, drink and conversation. All levels of Spanish are welcome, from beginning to native speakers. Nos reunimos los miercoles en varios restaurantes en Casper. Ven por una copa, un antojito o simplemente una charlita. Wednesday, May 10, 5-7 p.m.: La Cocina.

Chili cook-off in May

Harley Owners Group Oil City Chapter 3533 presents the second annual chili cook-off open to the public and all ages from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 13 at Oil City Harley Davidson, 831 N. Glen Road. Admission is $5.

Ice cream in the park

Central Wyoming Corvettes is hosting ice cream in the park on Saturday, June 10, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Washington Park, and if you bring a Corvette, you will get a free ice cream cone. Stop by and have some fun even if you dont have a Corvette. Guests or new members are always welcome. See us on Facebook or visit our website.

Whites All Chevy Car Show, AutoCross

Central Wyoming Corvettes (a non-profit organization) is hosting The Whites all- Chevy Car Show at Whites Chevrolet on June 24, 2017. The car show will be open to all Chevys, not just Corvettes. Come join us. Vote for your favorite Chevy and your favorite Corvette. Registration starts at 9 a.m., the Car Show runs from 10 a.m. to noon. There will be fun for everyone for a small donation, and all proceeds go to local charities. The Shriners will be providing food and there will be multiple door prizes. Come out and see some wonderful Chevys and help us support great local organizations. Guests or new members are always welcome and we have a great time. Sunday, June 25, come join in the fun for a Low Speed AutoCross. This event will be open to Corvettes and the first eight non-Corvettes. The entry fee is $30 for each set of three races or $75 for the day. Registration starts at 8 a.m. with the first car out at 9 a.m. Helmets and closed toe shoes are required and all cars must pass technical inspection. If you want to drive fast and test your driving skills, join us for an autocross. See us on Facebook or visit our website.

Civil Air Patrol meets

Civil Air Patrol meets from 7 to 9 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at Casper National Guard Armory, 5905 CY Ave. For more information, call 259-0855.

Stammtisch at Applebees

The Casper German Stammtisch meets from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursdays at Applebees. On the second Thursday of each month we will focus on speaking German. All ability levels are welcome, as long as they are eager to hear German.
Wednesday support meetings

Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 10 a.m., 328 E. A; noon, 500 S. Wolcott; 2 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 5:09 P.M., 917 N. Beech; 5:30 p.m., 328 E. A; 6 p.m., 456 S. Walnut; 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 8 p.m., 328 E. A; 8 p.m, 328-1/2 E. A, closed; 8:23 p.m., 719 3rd St., Evansville. Douglas: 7:30 p.m., 628 E. Richards (upstairs in back). Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688.

Al-Anon: Stepping Stones to Recovery, 303 E. 2nd St., First United Methodist Church, east doors, downstairs, room 12. 7 p.m.

Narcotics Anonymous: noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 8 p.m., 302 E. 2nd St., Methodist Church, enter east side. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org.

Nicotine Anonymous: noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club. Info: Pam M., 577-0518.

OIF/OEF Support Group: 6:30-8 p.m., Casper Vet Center, 1030 N. Poplar St., Ste. B. All OIF/OEF Veterans are invited to attend. No need to pre-register. Info: 261-5355.

Teen Addiction Anonymous: 7- 8 p.m., 12-24 Club Teton Room. Info: 258-7439.

TOPS #35 Weight Loss: 6:45 a.m., First Christian Church, 520 CY Ave. Weight Loss Support Group, Weigh-in is from 6:30 a.m.-8 a.m. Info: 258-2063 or 234-5644.

TOPS #162: 8:30 a.m., United Methodist Church, 1880 Poplar. Anyone interested is invited to join. Info: 472-4926.

DAV mobile van in Casper

The DAV Mobile Service Office Van will make a visit to Casper on April 26 and again on May 4, parked at the Casper National Guard Armory, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

One of the various services DAV provides at no cost to veterans is the Mobile Service Office (MSO) Program. These offices-on-wheels travel to under-served communities across the country to help veterans and their families obtain the services and benefits they have earned. Staffed by DAV National Service Officers, the MSOs provide professional support throughout the claims and appeals process. When you come to one of the MSO locations, please bring your identification, Social Security number and any other pertinent documentation regarding your military service. DAV membership is not required to utilize these free services. For more information about MSO stops in the area, please call Leroy Kenner, NSO supervisor, at 307-433-2752.

Write Brain Books training

Mercer Family Resource Center will host a Write Brain Books Training from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mercer Family Resource Center, 535 W. Yellowstone Hwy. The training is $30 and includes lunch. The founder of Write Brain Books will facilitate the training, and it is for anyone who works with youth and look for a new way to incorporate literacy into his or her programming/instruction.

Write Brain Books are illustrated, wordless books that inspire kids of all ages to become published authors of their own storybooks, each receiving published, hardcover copies of their original tales. To register for the training, please contact Mercer Family Resource Center at 265-7366.

For more information on the Write Brain Books training, please contact Keri Owen, NCPC grant assistant, at 265-7366 or kowen@mercercasper.com.

Caps 4 Kids meets

The next gathering of those who knit and crochet stocking Caps 4 Kids will be at 12:30 or 1 p.m. to about 3 p.m. at the Central Wyoming Senior Center, 1831 E. Fourth St. All who knit and crochet are welcome. We create caps for kids of all ages using yarn that has been donated for this purpose. Patterns are available, or choose one of your own design.

Please contact the Senior Center at 265-4678 for additional information.

Quilts of Valor every Wednesday

The Central Wyoming Chapter of Quilts of Valor meets from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to sew at the Central Wyoming Senior Services Center, 1831 E. Fourth St. Quilts of Valor are made by volunteers. Donated fabrics, supplies or monetary donations are appreciated. The group makes all quilts for servicemembers who have been touched by war. Our chapter awards quilts to veterans who reside in the Central Wyoming region. Dues are $5 per year and new members are always welcome. If you have any questions, please contact Yung Hui Torske at 258-5578, Sandy Elliott at 307-5540331 or any chapter member.

Community impact at Pizza Ranch

Pizza Ranch, 5011 E. Second St., hosts Community Impact nights from 5 to 9 p.m. normally on Mondays and Wednesdays. Members of nonprofit groups bus tables for tips, and 20 percent of meal tickets from diners who mention the group are donated as well. Dine-in, delivery or pickup orders qualify. Wednesdays nonprofit is Willard Elementary.

Spaghetti at the Elks

Wednesday night special at the Casper Elks Lodge is spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread. Cost is $7, all you can eat. Children 5 to 12 are $3. Enjoy a dessert for $1. Serving from 6 to 7 p.m. or until gone. Members, significant other and guest accompanied by a member. For more information, call 234-4839. The menu is subject to change. All proceeds go to Elks charities.

Gold prospectors meet

The Casper Chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America will have its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Building, 2211 King Blvd. Enter through the east door. Members and guests are welcome. The speakers for this month are Mike and Marron Bingle-Davis. They are accomplished geologists and will give a lecture in regards to the geologic history of Wyoming with an emphasis on mineralization. A general club business meeting will follow this presentation. The club will also be holding a farewell party for past president and founder Rick Messina. For more information, call Eric Weaner at 513-259-7902, visit caspergpaa.org or email caspergpaa@gmail.com.

Paper crafts after school

The Natrona County Library will host a craft program for elementary-age students at 4 p.m. Students will create art using torn paper. All supplies provided. Call 577.READ x5 for more information.

Deadline for Beginning Experience

Beginning Experience of Wyoming is a weekend program that offers healing and renewal to divorced, widowed and separated men and women. It is a nonprofit, faith-based comprehensive program offered to all, regardless of religious preference. A Beginning Experience weekend offers support and direction to help resolve grief or anger that can follow the end of a marriage by divorce, separation or death. The next Beginning Experience weekend will be in Casper and starts at 7 p.m. April 28 and runs through around 4 p.m. April 30. The cost of the weekend is $150, which includes sleeping arrangements, meals and materials.

Scholarships are available. Registration deadline is Wednesday.

For more information, contact Curtis at 307-240-1232 or westcurtis2014@gmail.com, Diane at 262-4142 or Paulette at 267-6375.
For centuries, the Medicine Wheel in the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming has been used for prayer and vision quests by the Crow Tribe and other Native people.

Visitors come from all over the world to hike up Medicine Mountain to the wheel, a National Historical Site managed by the Bighorn National Forest with guidance from the Medicine Wheel Alliance.

On the Summer Solstice, June 20, many people are expected to arrive early to view the sun as it lines up with one of the seven cairns at the wheel.

Who made it?

The Medicine Wheels origins are uncertain.

Many believe it was built by the Sheepeaters, a Shoshone band whose name is derived from their expertise at hunting mountain sheep.

The most common Crow story is about how Burnt Face, a handsome young Crow, fell into the fire while entering his mothers tepee. Embarrassed of his severely burned face, he left his people to live in the mountains, where he built the Medicine Wheel based on instructions he received in a vision from the Sun.

Red Plume, a Crow chief during the time of Lewis and Clark, found great spiritual power at the Medicine Wheel.

At 9,462 feet elevation, on a clear day the Medicine Wheel provides a view of the Teton Mountains more than 100 miles away. It sits halfway between Lovell and Sheridan, just a dozen miles from the Montana border.

The Crow people believe morning is the most powerful time, Crow tribal member Patrick Hill said. Thats why so many travel to see the sun rise at the Medicine Wheel.

They smoke and face the sun and thank the creator for the day and what it brings, Hill said.

Scott Bear Dont Walk, a member of the Crow Tribe who grew up in Billings, Montana, said his father took the family on pilgrimages to the wheel.

The Medicine Wheel is a powerful place. We would ask my father, Who made this? He would say, The ancient ones, Bear Dont Walk said.

Ancient ones in the Crow language translates to ancestors.

Some visitors leave trinkets, locks of hair, tobacco, hand-written prayers or cloth prayer flags, but the Crow way is to leave only prayers, said Timothy McCleary, a historian at Little Big Horn College in southern Montana.

Because the Medicine Wheel is on public land, anyone can view it, but only tribal members are allowed to hold ceremonies inside the rope fence. Dave McKee, archaeologist for Bighorn National Forest, said he receives 35 to 90 requests for ceremonies at the wheel every year.

Some people can elect for a temporary closure so their ceremony can be private, McKee said, adding the ceremonies can run anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Crow tribal member Charles Yarlott worked as an interpretive ranger at the Medicine Wheel from 2012 to 2014. Budget cuts eliminated his paid position, but Yarlott said he was proud to represent his tribe during his time there.

Knowing my ancestors went up there to pray and fast makes it a special place for me, Yarlott said.

Whole world is

free to come

Linwood Tall Bull, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, is president of the Medicine Wheel Alliance. He said Crow elders have instructed him to leave prayer offerings at the wheel for four days and then bury them.

The whole world is free to come to it, Tall Bull said.

His father, William Tall Bull, spent his life fighting for the preservation of the Medicine Wheel so that it could be a spiritual place for all people. Williams name and the names of other tribal members who helped preserve the wheel are on the four benches that visitors pass on the one-mile walk from the parking lot to the wheel.

Linwood encourages visitors to stop at each of the benches during the one-mile hike from the parking lot to the wheel as a way of honoring tribal elders.

Even though the Medicine Wheel is open just a few months a year because of snow  June 20 through Labor Day in September  it receives 11,000 visitors a year.

This summer, as the caretakers of Medicine Mountain dismantle the fraying rope fence around the wheel, they will look to the members of the Native Alliance for guidance on properly disposing of the prayer offerings and other items.

Sacred landscape

McKee said caretakers work with tribal members to keep inappropriate objects including metal and plastic away from the wheel.

The landscape is sacred, but the religious uses and meaning are personal, tied through generations through clans, McKee said.

Bear Dont Walk points out that every time he visits the Medicine Wheel, he meets international visitors. He said he is grateful that people appreciate the significance of this spiritual place, and he likes to see them be respectful of it.

Sometimes it takes the French tourist or the British tourist to say, This is important stuff,  Bear Dont Walk said.

McCleary said research suggests the center cairn of the wheel is at least 800 years old, but that the outside spokes were made around 1760. The stones that make up the 80-foot wheel and its 28 spokes were gathered from the area and are mostly bread loaf-sized limestone.

One theory the wheel has 28 spokes is thats the number of ribs a bison has. McCleary said 28 is the number of rafters on the Hidatsas Sacred Lodge. It also represents the number of days in a lunar cycle.

The stars and constellations used to judge the passage of time rise every 28 days, McCleary said. That is one way the Crow used it  to tell the passage of time. The foundations of the Crow philosophy were based on the stars and constellations. We are now so disconnected from nature.

The original cairn at the site was likely made by the Shoshone Tribe as a sacred site marker, McCleary said. When the Crow came into the area, they took over the Shoshone sacred sites. Burnt Face went to the site to fast and because he was instructed on how to construct a sacred lodge, he made the wheel in the same pattern.

If you look at the wheel, it is not a circle, McCleary said. There is a flat side on the southwest, and there is a cairn outside the wheel on the flat side. That is where you have to sit to see the sunrise on solstice. It was the floor plan of a Hidatsa sacred lodge. You could tell what time of year it was at the Medicine Wheel.

McCleary suggests that Burnt Face had been trained as a sacred priest of the Sacred Lodge in North Dakota and there is evidence that Burnt Face also built two other smaller medicine wheels on Crow tribal land in Montana.

The first written description of the wheel was in 1902 when anthropologist Charles Simms wrote about it for the Field Museum in Chicago, showing the fasting beds, which had wooden covers on them.

There are five fasting beds at the Medicine Wheel, all of them large enough for a man to lie down in. Fasts would last for four days when men would not take food or water. They fasted to have a vision.

There are more than 100 known medicine wheels in the Northwest, and the Bighorn Medicine Wheel is the most accessible among them. It has been promoted for decades by the Sheridan Chamber of Commerce.

Visitors get nervous driving up the narrow gravel road with steep dropoffs, but witnessing the symbolism and spiritual power behind the Medicine Wheel make it worth the effort.
A writer and an artist are accused of stealing mens work, because people at the time thought a woman couldnt have created it.

A teen activist was shot in the head but recovered to become an even more powerful voice for girls rights to education.

A mans eyes travel over a womans body in a shopping mall. Sorry, she says, as she escapes into the nearest store, but later wonders why she was the one who apologized.

These are some of the stories women tell in Tiana Saunders play, The Feminist Thing. Theyre from real women in history and people in the community whove shared their experiences with her.

Shes producing and directing the play, which she wrote for the annual Casper College student-run productions this weekend at Casper College called Theatre Brute.

The play addresses issues including sexism, oppression, sexual assault, genital mutilation and human trafficking.

One of the problems is that people are so scared to talk about these things, because they are uncomfortable, Saunders said. But theyre so prevalent in todays society, so they need to be talked about.

But it seemed people didnt want to be in her play as soon as she told them the title. The word feminist carries a stigma and stereotypes, she said.

I can definitely feel that that sentiment is there, Saunders said.

Struggle and stigma

Some people have told Saunders and others involved in the play that they believe in things like equal pay for women, but that theyre not feminists.

Thats what feminism is, shes explained. Its not about being anti-male, she said, but about being pro-equal rights and opportunities.

Still, no actors showed up for any of three auditions Saunders scheduled.

Theatre Brute productions have always been small-scale, but generally there are a lot more people interested, she said.

She rewrote the play multiple times for a smaller cast and still struggled to fill the roles. She ended up acting in the play as well as directing it. Last week at rehearsal, she pointed out the cast is comprised of her parents, sister, a family friend and two of her friends.

Most of the cast are experienced college or community theater actors. But family friend Carrie Gomez volunteered for her first play to help Saunders and because it sounded fun, she said.

Her favorite character she portrays is 15th-century artist Artemisia Gentilesch. She was criticized in her time for being a woman painter. Gentilesch in the play tells her story about being accused of taking credit for mens artwork, scandalized in a trial for her rapist and largely forgotten by history.

Gomez didnt know what the play was about when she started, but she quickly became impressed with Saunders work, she said.

I thought, how powerful is that, and how lucky I am to be able to walk in and to be part of this, she Gomez. Theres things that absolutely give me goosebumps.

Saunders research is impressive in the roles that portray womens struggles through history and today, she added. They also leave on a note of hope, that, yeah, we have things we need to work on but we can make a difference, she said, if we are aware.

Saunders sister Sami Saunders, 11, and Amber Ordiway, 12, also portray several roles. They have both enjoyed finding out more about women whove made history, like suffragist Elizabth Cady Stanton and Malala Yousafzai.

They think the play is important because they want equal opportunities for everyone, they said.

I want everyone to have the same rights, Sami said, and everything would be good if that happened.

Some scenes give them chills or anger them, while some are moving, they said. The part where Saunders portrays a sexual assault victim at Stanford University reading her statement in court always gets to them, they said. In parts she addresses her attacker, and ends with a message to women everywhere.

I am with you, she said in the letter.

It makes me tear up every single night, Ordiway said.

Future and hope

One of the characters Saunders portrays in her play is Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an original American suffragist and social activist of the 19th century  and one of her heroes for years. Stanton meets women from history as well as modern times as they talk about their struggles, progress and their hope for the future.

Some scenes involve traumatic events, so Saunders added a PTSD warning in advertisements for her play. She was told by some teachers that the content may be a bit much for audiences, Saunders said. No violence is reenacted, but it is talked about in her play, she said.

Some of the stories she tells are from women who responded to her post on Facebook seeking experiences to tell anonymously for the play. Some have never told these stories to others, she said.

These women who have experienced these things; they need a voice and they need to be heard, Saunders said. They no longer should be silenced.

Saunders is graduating from CC this spring and plans to finish her bachelors degree in theater arts with a minor in creative writing at Flagler College in Florida.

One cool thing about doing The Feminist Thing is getting to combine both of my passions, writing and theater, she said.

Shes long been known in her circle for being a feminist and hopes to help bring the discussions of womens rights to the forefront through her play with an understanding of what feminism really is, she said.

Its not a bad word, Saunders said. I promise.
Lawmakers in Wyoming and across the nation should look at the history of opioid prescriptions and abuse when considering marijuana laws, according to one expert on substance abuse.

Bertha Madras, a substance abuse expert at Harvard Medical School and a member of President Donald Trumps recently created Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, made a broad comparison between opioids and marijuana Monday at an event that aimed to promote education about marijuana.

The lessons that we have learned from opioids are directly applicable or generalizable to marijuana, she said.

Like opioids, Madras said, medical marijuana is widely used to treat pain, which is often impossible to objectively measure and diagnose and therefore easy to abuse. Also, there was little solid research on opioids before they were widely prescribed, as Madras asserted was happening currently with marijuana. Finally, she said that government regulations were ultimately ineffective in controlling opioid addiction and abuse, and she predicts the same will happen with pot.

Our drug policy needs to be driven by our core values and rooted in science, she said.

Madras was one of several speakers at the Marijuana Education and Awareness Summit, hosted at the Casper Events Center by the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police. The summit was part of the associations campaign There is No Debate, which aims to educate people across the state about marijuana. Other speakers included the CEO of the Daniels Fund, the commander of the Denver Police Departments investigative support division and a former federal drug prosecutor.

Weve just been trying to get the conversation going, said Rhea Parsons, project coordinator for the association.

Gov. Matt Mead has signed a proclamation making this week an opportunity for Wyoming residents to learn about state marijuana laws and understand the impacts of marijuana to health and the consequences of its illegal use in the state. In his proclamation, Mead stated that marijuana has a negative impact on public health and safety and recognized substance abuse as a disease of the brain that is to be taken seriously as a medical condition.

A push to let Wyoming voters decide whether to legalize medical marijuana died in February after the petition to put the issue on the ballot was not turned in before a deadline. In contrast, Montana legalized medical marijuana in November and Colorado legalized recreational use in 2012.

In a 2016 University of Wyoming survey of 722 residents, about 81 percent of respondents said they favored legalizing medical marijuana. A majority of people did not approve of legalizing recreational use, however.

Madras, the Harvard professor, said Tuesday that studies show a correlation between marijuana use and poor academic performance, impaired motivation and use of other illegal drugs. She said parents need to be be educated on the signs of drug use and to have conversations with their kids about the dangers of marijuana and other drugs.

This should not be considered a war on drugs, she said. It is a defense of our minds. And our brains are the repository of our humanity.
The Wyoming Department of Education has released a draft plan that, among other things, proposes 15-year school achievement goals, including an 89 percent high school graduation rate.

The 72-page document is Wyomings plan to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, which was passed by Congress in 2015 and effectively replaces No Child Left Behind. Generally, ESSA puts more control of education in the hands of state educators, officials have said, and moves away from punishing schools that dont meet certain expectations.

From standards to accountability to best use of federal funds, ESSA places the responsibility to provide a well-rounded education to every student squarely on our shoulders, state schools superintendent Jillian Balow said in a department news release.

Balow highlighted the plans addition of post-high-school readiness as one of five academic indicators for high school students. The indicator evaluates schools not simply on a students ACT score or performance in advanced classes but also on career readiness.

Career readiness will be measured by the career and technical (CTE) students who complete a career pathway ... and pass a CTE exam or obtain an industry-recognized certification, the plan states.

The plan also adds an indicator that evaluates schools on English proficiency for students who are learning the language. The indicator will now be present in all schools K-12.

Department spokeswoman Kari Eakins said in an interview Monday that Wyomingites probably dont realize the number of students who are learning English. She pointed to Jacksons success with its dual-language immersion schools.

In addition to the 89 percent graduation rate, the plan also calls for:

59 percent of third- through eighth-graders to be proficient or better in math

65 percent of third- through eighth-graders to be proficient or better in reading;

46 percent of high school students to be proficient or better in math;

39 percent of high school students to be proficient or better in reading.

Those are school-by-school goals, not statewide averages, Eakins said. Even if Wyoming averages an 89 percent graduation rate, that might not mean every school is meeting the goal of 89 percent. Schools will have 15 years to achieve those levels, and the state has established interim goals that schools must meet to stay on track during that period.

For instance, Wyoming schools in the 15th percentile last year will have to improve by 1.5 percent per year to achieve the math proficiency standards for younger students.

System of support

Eakins stressed that schools that continued to lag will not be punished or forced to check boxes to get funding. Instead, the state would provide a system of support to lower-performing schools.

Its very much working with the schools, looking at their data and figuring out what are the ways we can improve, she said.

Because that support would be issued on a school-by-school basis, she added, its difficult to predict what exact measures the state might employ to help a school improve. Issues in Jackson may not be identical to problems in Cheyenne, and new research might arise that points statewide educators in novel directions in the next 15 years.

The plan also sets a benchmark to improve the performance of student subgroups. Those subcategories of students refer to black, Asian, Hispanic or white students, as well as students who receive free and reduced lunch.

Under the plan, each subgroup in Wyoming schools would perform as well or better than a school in the 80th percentile in the 2015-16 school year.

The goals have to be ambitious and attainable, Eakins said. For instance, the majority of Wyomings school districts are far below the 89 percent four-year graduation rate. Natrona County graduated 76 percent of its students last year, according to department data released in January.

The statewide average last year was less than 80 percent, though Eakins again stressed that the ESSA plan is school by school and not Wyoming-wide.

Still, a jump to nearly 89 percent is indeed ambitious. As are the reading and math proficiency levels: Department data shows that statewide, Wyomings third- through eighth-graders did not hit 59 percent proficiency for math, the plans benchmark, in at least the past three years.

15-year goals

For goals to be attainable, the department set a long timeline of 15 years, Eakins said. Wyoming isnt alone in proposing ambition with a wide window: The District of Columbias plan gives D.C. 20 years to hit its benchmarks, and Illinois sets 2032 as its deadline for 90 percent proficiency in English and math, according to data from Education Week.

Eakins said she expects the 15-year timeline to be discussed during the public comment period, which is now open for 45 days. Comments on the plan can be submitted to the department through June 8, via an online survey or by mail.

The department will hold an online public meeting at 6:30 p.m. on May 4. Public meetings are also tentatively planned for May 11 in Powell, May 18 in Riverton and June 7 in Laramie, according to a department news release.

While members of the public are looking over the plan, the department will convene an advisory committee of educators who originally reported to a legislative committee and whose report in December helped form the backbone of this draft. The State Board of Education will also convene its Professional Judgment Panel, another group of educators who establish what qualifies as proficient. Both groups will also further examine the plan.

The state board last week voted on the achievement goals, and its determinations were taken into account as the department drafted the plan, Eakins said.

Gov. Matt Mead will also have 30 days to review the plan. Eakins said she doesnt believe this version of the plan will be the same one submitted to the federal Department of Education in August or September.
RAPID CITY, S.D.  Federal officials in South Dakota said Monday that 15 people have been indicted for illegally trafficking eagles and other migratory birds after a two-year undercover operation potentially involving hundreds of birds.

U.S. Attorney Randy Seiler said that officials expect significant additional federal charges in the case, which focused on trafficking of eagles and eagle parts and feathers for profit. Authorities said the case involves more than 100 eagles, a number that could climb as high as 250.

Seiler described one operation as basically a chop-shop for eagles in which eagle feathers were stuffed into garbage bags. He said it was clear that it was a moneymaking operation and that the feathers and eagle parts such as talons and beaks were treated as merchandise.

There was no cultural sensitivity. There was no spirituality, Seiler said. There was no tradition in the manner in which these defendants handled these birds.

He said the investigation involved confidential informants, a multi-state area and the purchase of regalia items such as ceremonial fans. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorneys office said in an email that there are a variety of reasons why people buy eagle parts, and a collectors market plays a role.

Dan Rolince, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assistant special agent in charge of law enforcement for the region, said that some of those accused used code words to avoid detection by describing the eagle and other bird parts for sale using the names of animals or even car parts. He said the eagles were primarily shot.

At the end of this process, I have full confidence that it will be one of the largest cases of this nature weve ever worked, he said.

Three Rapid City men charged in the case are involved with Buffalo Dreamers, which performs Native American dance programs. Owner Troy Fairbanks has been charged with conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking and violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Lacey Act.

Fairbanks, 54, allegedly sold or traded eagle parts to an informant including a golden eagle head for $250, a trade involving about $5,400 of legal merchandise for eagle parts and selling two sets of eagle wings for $900. Rolince said that a whole eagle carcass would generally sell for between $1,000 and $1,200.

The indictment says Fairbanks in 2015 claimed he could acquire between 30 and 40 eagles by February 2016. Fairbanks also said in 2015 that he had 19 people in the Los Angeles area who wanted to buy eagle feathers/parts from him, according to the document.

It wasnt immediately clear if Fairbanks has an attorney, and he didnt immediately return an email from The Associated Press. A telephone number for Buffalo Dreamers went directly to voicemail.

According to another indictment, Juan Mesteth sold fans and eagle feathers to an informant. The document says Mesteth in 2015 discussed having connections in Wyoming who could get whole carcass eagles and would take the informant hunting for eagles. It wasnt immediately clear if the 39-year-old Mesteth, of Pine Ridge, had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Those accused in the case include people from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Authorities didnt immediately disclose how much the defendants are thought to have profited in the case, and Seiler said some of the 15 defendants are unconnected to each other.
Sen. Mike Enzi apologized Tuesday for comments he made to Greybull High School students last week after being asked about Wyomings gay and lesbian community.

Responding to a question about improving the lives of the LGBT community in Wyoming, Enzi said people in Wyoming could be anything they wanted as long as they dont push it in somebodys face, according to an audio recording of the event.

I know a guy that wears a tutu and goes to the bars on Friday night and is always surprised that he gets in fights, Enzi told the students. Well, he kind of asks for it a little bit. Thats the way he winds up with that kind of problem.

The statement was criticized by the Wyoming Democrats and LGBT rights advocates, who called on the Republican senator to apologize.

Enzi released two statements Tuesday. In the first, he spoke generally about tolerance. In the second, released after media reports of his comments began to spread nationally, he apologized.

None of us is infallible and I apologize to anyone who has taken offense, Enzi said in a statement. No offense was intended. Quite the opposite in fact, and so I ask for your understanding as well.

No person, including LGBT individuals, should feel unsafe in their community, the statement continued. My message was intended specifically to be about promoting respect and tolerance toward each other. I hope if people look at the entirety of my speech, they will understand that. I regret a poor choice of words during part of my presentation.

Word of Enzis comments began to spread Tuesday morning, after the Wyoming Democratic Party posted an abbreviated version of them on its Facebook page. The post encouraged people to call Enzis office and tell the senator his statements were hurtful and divisive.

Enzis office did not answer directly when asked Tuesday whether the Democrats were quoting the senator accurately. But Greybull Standard Editor Mathew Burciaga, who was at the Thursday event, told the Star-Tribune that Enzi did say something along those lines. Hours later, the Standard posted a story on the event, along with an audio recording and transcript.

The student had asked what work Enzi and his colleagues were doing to improve the lives of LGBT people in Wyoming. She also asked how he planned to help Wyoming live up to its name as the Equality State.

Enzi began by responding that federal law cant solve every problem and that what was needed was civility between people.

We always say in Wyoming you can be just about anything you want to be as long as you dont push it in somebodys face, Enzi told the students, before giving the example of the man in the tutu.

In a statement, the Matthew Shepard Foundation said Enzis comments are exactly the kind of hateful remarks we are working against in Wyoming and beyond.

To tell a person that they are asking for it is the same kind of harmful rhetoric people use to disqualify the claims of sexual assault victims, the foundation said. Its the same kind of rhetoric that keeps up to 61 percent of hate crime victims from reporting because they are afraid of not being believed while also having to be fearful of being re-victimized by those in power, who should be defending their rights.

Enzi was attempting in his comments to stress the importance of respecting other people, his spokesman Max DOnofrio said in an email to the Star-Tribune. Enzi told the students that people learning to live together had a more lasting effect than federal actions.

He talked about how many Wyoming folks take a live and let live approach to life, but we need to be conscious that everyone may not react the same way to differing value and belief systems. He advocates nothing but respect and civil treatment for members of the LGBT community, DOnofrio said.

Wyoming Democratic Party Chairman Joe Barbuto said Enzi should apologize to the student who asked the question.

Senator Enzis comment was not just inappropriate, it was ugly and indicative of a kind of backwards thinking that has no place in todays society, Barbuto said in a statement.

In his first statment on Tuesday, Enzi said he did not believe anyone should be bullied or attacked because of their beliefs.

Our live and let live approach is one of the great aspects of our state, he said. It is important that our students learn that the importance of respecting all people and how it is incumbent on those in the communities we live in to treat others as you would want to be treated.

Enzi has served in the Senate since 1997 and is the former mayor of Gillette. In Wyoming, hes known for keeping a low-key profile, generally avoiding the spotlight or controversial subjects.
At the 11th hour, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe has successfully inserted itself into the legal battle between the Northern Arapaho and Bureau of Indian Affairs that appears near settlement.

Northern Arapaho, feds move to settle in Wind River lawsuit The Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed Monday to mediation in th

The development suggests that last falls tribal elections, which saw significant turnover on both the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone business councils, did not mark an end to the dispute over the funding of federal services on the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming.

An undated draft document obtained by the Star-Tribune outlined a planned Wind River Inter-Tribal Council that would have effectively replaced the Joint Business Council that the two tribes used to conduct business, and enter into contracts with the federal government, until the Northern Arapaho withdrew in 2014.

Since February 2016, the NAT, EST and BIA have been involved in litigation over how the BIA enters into contracts with the two tribes.

The Arapaho argued that the BIA illegally entered into contracts with the Joint Business Council even after the Arapaho had left, meaning they were effectively negotiating with only the Shoshone for services required to be offered to both tribes under federal law.

Court: Feds likely broke law in Wind River tribal negotiations The federal government appears to have acted illegally by entering into contracts with the E

The contracts between the BIA and JBC expired in October as the lawsuit wore on, upending law enforcement as the two tribes sparred over who had authority to operate the court system on the reservation and who the federal police answered to.

The Shoshone have maintained that a joint council is necessary to ensure equal representation for both tribes in negotiations with the federal government. But last spring, the BIA agreed in principle to negotiate independent arrangements with each tribe and U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris gave legal force to that agreement last fall.

Fraught history

The plan for the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council appears to have been an attempt to create a new joint body. It was drafted by at least one member of both the Arapaho and Shoshone business councils and while it does not include a date, there are signature lines for chairmen Roy Brown and Clint Wagon  meaning that it was created after their election last fall. Neither council approved the agreement.

Instead, the Shoshone sued earlier this month to block aspects of the BIAs current arrangement with the Arapaho  namely the continued operation of the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribal Court for Arapaho members  and to force the federal government to reinstate the joint council.

NAT wants more money and more power, even though federal courts have recognized for a long time that the two tribes rightly participate in joint governance of shared programs, and share an undivided interest in Reservation resources, attorney Mark Echo Hawk wrote in the complaint.

The Wind River Reservation is the only reservation in the country where two distinct tribal governments both have sovereignty over the same geographic area.

Because 71 percent of the estimated 14,200 enrolled tribal members on the reservation are Arapaho, any per capita funding arrangements negotiated separately with each tribe  for services like health care  would inevitably provide more money to the Northern Arapaho than to the Shoshone. Under the rules of the Joint Business Council, both tribes had an equal vote in approving those type of contracts.

(Despite the population disparity, the two tribes evenly split natural resources on the reservation and receive equal shares of mining and drilling revenue.)

Morris, the judge, granted the Shoshone tribes request to be present at a previously scheduled mediation on Thursday between the Arapaho and Bureau of Indian Affairs. But he took the tribes request to become a party in the Arapahos case under advisement, meaning the decision on whether the Shoshone can join the case may depend on what role they play at the mediation.

In July, the mediator in a previous attempt to settle the funding dispute faulted the Shoshone Business Council for the talks failure.

It appears to me that either Mr. Echohawk [sic] or the SBC are unwilling to compromise on any issue, Judge Robert Blaeser wrote in a July email to attorneys in the case. Mediation does require some ability to compromise by both sides, and I conclude that the SBC is not willing to compromise.

The Shoshone lawsuit, filed April 12, draws on long-simmering resentment over the federal governments placement of the Northern Arapaho at the Wind River Reservation despite it already being occupied by the Eastern Shoshone.

EST is the only Indian tribe with a Treaty pertaining to the Wind River Reservation, Echo Hawk wrote. Despite ESTs protest, the United States unilaterally and permanently placed NAT on the Reservation.

While the Arapaho had originally been promised a reservation near Casper, the federal government compelled them to settle in the Wind River region in 1878. Shoshone leader Chief Washakie agreed to allow the Arapaho to stay on the reservation for the winter but never consented to sharing the reservation permanently. Subsequent requests for the Arapaho to be relocated were denied by the federal government.

Court issue unresolved

The lawsuit takes issue with the BIAs continued cooperation with the Tribal Court, despite federal funding for the court ending in September and the Northern Arapaho assuming the full cost of funding the court.

The BIA set up a federal Court of Indian Offenses, known as a CFR court, to handle cases involving Shoshone tribal members but continued to allow the tribal court to operate in a federal building and adjudicate Arapaho cases.

The lawsuit repeatedly refers to the tribal court as illegitimate and claims that NATs continued operation of the court, with federal support, undermines the sovereign rights of EST recognized by the supreme law of the land on the Wind River Reservation  the Treaty of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.

Wind River tribes feud over status of tribal court The Wind River Reservation tribal court remains open despite an end to federal funding and a

The complaint is notable because while the Northern Arapaho had initially named the Shoshone in their lawsuit, along with the federal government, they dropped the tribe as a defendant prior to mediation last spring and have since been suing only the federal government.

Brown and Wagon, the two tribal business council chairmen, did not respond to requests for comment this week.

On April 5, Wagon wrote a letter to the BIA stating that allowing two courts to operate on the reservation  the tribal court for Arapaho members and the BIA court for Shoshone members  was undermining rule of law and confusing tribal members.

To stop the flow of invalid orders and to ensure that a valid system of justice continues at Wind River... BIA must shut down the tribal court, Wagon wrote.

Most of the questions related to both the tribal court and whether a joint body is required for the federal government to enter into contracts with the Arapaho and Shoshone will likely be addressed during mediation, which begins this week, and may be settled by Judge Morris in his final ruling on the case.
Editor:

Sen. John Barrasso's Forum page article,"Pull out of Paris Climate deal," is a well-expressed article from his point of view, typical of conservatives. Unbeknownst to most persons is how conservatives use their minds. Perhaps most simply and appropriately stated, conservative views are issued as expressed by Carl Jung's psychological types of eight variant qualities in four sets of two opposing qualities, in this case, sensor vs. intuitive.

There are many words available here. However, sensors are characteristically traditionalists who interpret language usage literally, while intuitive persons are the mothers of invention, often speaking in metaphor. Sensors see today as today, while intuitive persons see today leading into tomorrow. If left to sensors, we'd still be living in caves.

My first acquaintance with this was President Reagan's firing of air traffic controllers on strike. Instead of stepping up to bat for the union, he removed the batting plate by firing union members. Sensors make for poor negotiators.

Instead of stepping up to bat for climate change initiatives, Barrasso prefers to remove the plate, in part due to the denial of man's participation prompting climate change, yet another sensor quality also engaging other habitual psychic qualities based in the ego.

"This bad deal for America is based on the faulty premise that the U.S. is the primary culprit of a changing climate rather than a driver of innovative solutions."

Whoever said that is a sensors assumption, however partly true. What Barrasso is denying is leadership stepping up to the plate to bat for tomorrow led by today. Stone-walling is another sensor quality leading back to cave dwelling theories. If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.
Editor:

Are you aware that the proposed federal budget calls for the elimination of the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP)? This is the program that keeps many Wyoming residents warm in the winter. Earlier this year, the Wyoming Legislature eliminated its usual additional funding for this program. Between the federal and state budget cuts, this translates to zero help for people in need of winter home heating assistance.

I recently spoke with Brenda Ilg about this issue. Ilg is the LIEAP program manager for the State of Wyoming. She said she has no authority over budget decisions, but the media and legislators often contact her for information about the influence government programs have in the lives of Wyoming residents. She added that it makes a bigger impact when budget numbers are supported with declarations from recipients about how specific programs make their lives better.

I encourage all who are concerned about these budget cuts to reach out as I did and offer their personal stories about the role LIEAP plays in their lives. We matter, and our stories can be emailed to DFSLieap@wyo.gov; or mailed to LIEAP, PO Box 827, Cheyenne, WY 82003.

Also, it is up to us to let our elected officials know how our lives or the lives of people we know have been helped by the LIEAP program and what the elimination of it would do.

I urge concerned Wyoming residents to contact each member of our states delegation in Washington, D.C.  U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, and U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney  plus the Wyoming state senator and state representative from your district. Contact information is available on the Internet, from your local newspaper or a public library.

Standing together amplifies our voices.

Additional information about the proposed cuts to LIEAP can be found at https://neuac.org/advocacy/save-liheap/
Editor:

Sen. Barrassos statement, We all want a cleaner environment, but the Paris agreement and the ill-conceived regulations it spawned, disproportionately harm Americas economy, reveals his philosophy of valuing the Earth. Anglo-European men arrived in America over 500 years ago with their philosophy about humans relationship with the Earth. The origin of this philosophy is found in the words, God said to (humankind). fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over..every living thing...

This philosophy of domination is a stark contrast to the ancient Earth-based philosophy which positions humans within instead of above. Twenty-first-century Americans are witness to how the philosophy of domination over the Earth has justified the progression of the capitalist economy, and the negative impacts of its industrial revolution have never been part of the equation. The Earth is still being used as a free dumping ground.

At one point, Chicago was called the Black City because coal soot had coated everything. It was the citizens who raised the alarm, not the captains of industry. The elected government was the peoples advocate and the court systems their tool to make industry accountable.

When Lake Erie was so polluted that it caught on fire, I began my search for reasons why the captains of industry see the Earth as theirs to plunder and pollute. This was also why, on behalf of the people, the Environmental Protection Agency was created.

Todays environmentalist philosophy is a pragmatic inclusive blend of science and understanding of humankind as active participants in the biological systems which sustain all life. Many of us comprehend, and advocate for, the non-industrial value of the unspoiled places which were created and protected by those overreaching regulations. The meaning of that political catchphrase is very different for those who believe the Earth exists to serve industry.

Personally, I am insulted by the insinuation I need to be told what is good for me, especially because cheap fuel for my car is not what I value most in life. The future has to be different than the past, and to use outdated philosophy to prop up that which has run its course is wrong.
A useful solution to Guantanamo. Most of the gangs in the U.S. are made up of non-citizens from Central America. Therefore most of the people committing these terrible crimes are not citizens. I would suggest that after they have trials, and if found guilty of violating everybody elses civil rights, they would be sentenced to Guantanamo. After theyve served their time in a secure prison location, they should then be deported to their country of origin. I dont see any conflict with our Constitution with doing this. Respectfully submitted,
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP)  A California woman has been arrested for inhaling shots of nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, while speaking with police.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2psyRLc ) officers responded to a call Saturday about a woman who had a pistol in her car in the parking lot of a Santa Rosa hospital.

An officer began speaking with the woman, who then proceeded to inhale the nitrous oxide from a canister.

The woman was removed from the vehicle and police say they found a semi-automatic pistol inside the car.

The suspect was arrested for inhaling nitrous oxide with intent to get high and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.

Her bail was set at $10,000 and she is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

___

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
Pima County has filed suit against the popular south-side bakery Le Caves, asking that it be shut down after failing five health department inspections between December and March.

In the suit, the county asks Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Bergin for a permanent injunction shuttering the doughnut shop until it comes into compliance with the countys food code. If it fails to do so, Arizona law allows for daily penalties of up to $1,000, according to documents filed Monday.

The failed inspections were not routine visits, but change-of-owner inspections triggered after the bakery, at 1219 S. Sixth Ave., lost its permit late last year after missing payment deadlines. Since a new health code was adopted in April 2016, restaurants that lose their permits are required to requalify for them, and Le Caves has so far failed to do so.

Operating a restaurant without a permit is a Class 3 misdemeanor in Arizona, according to a demand letter sent to Le Caves by the county attorney on March 1 and obtained by the Star.

After the first requalifying inspection in December, the county noted 11 deficiencies, most of which were resolved. The most significant remaining issue is the aging buildings floor, which recent photos show to be cracked and potholed in many areas.

The most recent inspection, conducted on March 31, found that no work had been done on the floors since a February inspection. A display cooler was also not keeping baked goods at established temperatures.

Owner Rudy Molina Jr. downplayed the significance of the filing, saying the county is doing what they have to do. He previously told the Star that the floors problems are a structural issue, and are not a health threat to patrons. He also noted that the bakery had passed a routine inspection in June 2016 with the floors in comparable condition.

He said hes working on getting state of the art flooring for the bakery, which isnt going anywhere.

People think that we're closed. Were still open for business, he added.

Inspection chief David Ludwig disagreed that the floor presents no health risks to customers, pointing out that their condition makes proper cleaning difficult.

Its not cleanable, you cant sanitize it, it holds water, it allows things to grow, he added. Youve got water, youve got temperature  youre going to have bacteria.

Ludwig acknowledged that Le Caves passed a routine inspection last summer. However, deficiencies in the floor were one of the violations noted, and if enough of those violations accumulated in later inspections, the bakery would have eventually received a failing probationary rating. Without fixing the floor, it would have likely failed follow-ups until the county decided to file suit, according to Ludwig.

Suing restaurants over compliance issues is a relatively rare step. Ludwig said he hopes Le Caves, which he described as historic, comes into compliance. If it does so before the suits first hearing, which usually occurs within a month, he said his office would gladly push to drop the case.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some April 25 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  Arizonans with surprise medical bills will be able to get some state help in getting them resolved.

But not until 2019.

Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday signed a measure that sets up a review process for those who get hospital bills that their insurance company says come from out-of-network providers. That starts with an informal review, which Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, said should resolve 94 percent of complaints if statistics from a similar program in Texas are any indication.

If that doesnt do the trick, there is binding arbitration between the doctor and the insurance company. And the patients maximum liability is what he or she would normally owe in deductibles and copays.

Not everyone will be eligible.

The services must have been provided in a hospital that is normally within the network that is covered by the patients insurance. It also is limited to circumstances where the patient is not told ahead of time that some services, like anesthesiology or pathology, might be provided by a doctor not within that network.

And only bills of at least $1,000 can be sent through the system.

Lesko said the delayed effective date is to give the state Department of Insurance time to set up the process it will administer.

Other Ducey bill signings:

Driving privileges

Parents who fall behind on child-support payments wont necessarily lose their ability to drive.

Legislation signed Monday by Gov. Doug Ducey provides new exceptions to existing law that says judges must suspend the licenses of those who willfully have not made payments for at least six month. The privileges are restored once the parent again becomes current.

Proponents of the measure, which takes effect later this summer, said that existing law not only does not solve the problem but actually can make it worse, as the parent can lose the ability to earn money. As approved, the law will allow the person to have a restricted license to go to work or school.

The parent would have to show he or she is employed at least 30 hours a week, has a job or school that is least a mile from home, and can show that the employment or education can reasonably be expected to contribute to bringing the obligor into compliance with the support order in a timely manner.

Cell tracking

Arizona is on the verge of having its first-ever rules on what police need to do if they want to track someones cell phone.

While tapping the phone itself to listen in requires a warrant, existing law is silent on the use of devices that can trick a phone into reporting its location. This new law will require police to obtain a warrant and spells out under what circumstances a warrant can be issued.

There also is a requirement for the person whose phone was tracked to be notified within 90 days after the surveillance ends, though there are provisions to delay that.

The issue has been under debate following disclosure that several Arizona police department have purchased cell-tracking hardware. And a lawsuit against the Tucson Police Department seeking information about how the equipment is used resulted in disclosure that the agency has not always obtained a search warrant first.
PHOENIX  Arizona is on the verge of requiring schools to do more to identify students with dyslexia and giving them the guidelines for how to deal with them.

The Senate on Monday gave final unanimous approval to legislation allowing the state Board of Education to create a handbook for schools. That already appears to be accomplished, with Rep. Jill Norgaard, R-Phoenix, telling board members earlier in the day one has been prepared and is ready for adoption.

But the potentially more significant part of HB 2202, which now goes to the governor, is redefining dyslexia in a way Norgaard said more accurately reflects the condition. She said that by itself should help students get identified earlier and get them the help they need before they fall behind.

Norgaard said Arizona will be the 15th state in the nation to create such a handbook.

What makes that all the more remarkable, she said, is until October 2015 federal education guidelines, You werent even able to mention the D-word in schools.

Whether that was a specific prohibition is less clear.

In that 2015 letter to schools, the U.S. Department of Education said it found that schools are reluctant to reference or use dyslexia in evaluating students or developing individualized education program. Assistant Education Secretary Michael Yudin said he wanted to clarify thats not the case.

Whatever the situation, Norgaard said it freed parents, educators and other volunteers to start working to ensure that schools were finding dyslexic students and providing needed help.

The problem, she explained, is that students who have problems in word recognition and decoding are often simply considered to be slow readers, especially when there is no other disability found.

Dyslexia students are typically very bright, Norgaard said. They memorize a lot of things, she said, starting as early as age 3.

It isnt until they get into second and third grade where theres a noticeable drop in reading comprehension, especially when problems are presented in story form.

Its been identified that 17 percent of students have some form of dyslexia, she said.

Part of the problem, Norgaard said, is students sometimes get identified as disabled and are put into programs where they have individualized education plans or put into special education programs. She said the change in law, coupled with the handbook, will lead to focused intervention that eventually will put the student back into the mainstream.

And theres a financial benefit to the state, said Norgaard.

If you start spending money more on early intervention youre not going to see kids fall off in third and fourth grade where they hate school, they dont want to go to school any more, she said. Norgaard said whats in the handbook follows successful models in other states.

Education board members getting updated on the handbook and Norgaards legislation got the benefit of hearing from Charlie LeVinus, a fourth-grader who has been diagnosed with dyslexia.

Charlie explained how he scored in the 96th percentile or higher among all students in a first-grade test in math, reading and other skills.

Because we were in first grade, it was read to us in class, he told board members.

However, I knew I was still having reading problems, he continued. I was afraid of being called on in class.

It took efforts by two specialists to get the diagnosis of double-deficit dyslexia. He attended a summer program five days a week, seven hours a day for six weeks to reprogram his brain.

The result, Charlie said, is he now reads above grade level.
After a year without a permanent leader, the University of Arizonas medical school in Phoenix has a new dean.

University of Tennessee Science Center cardiologist Dr. Guy Reed will be the new dean of the UA College of Medicine Phoenix, which opened in 2007 and is accredited separately from the UA College of Medicine Tucson, which opened in 1967.

Reed, who specializes in research on the mechanism of blood clots and vascular disease, will start his job in mid-July. His annual salary will be $700,000, which is the same salary received by Dr. Charles Cairns, dean of the UA College of Medicine Tucson.

The Phoenix medical school had been without a permanent dean since last spring, when well-regarded dean Dr. Stuart D. Flynn announced he was leaving in March to be the founding dean of a new medical school in Texas.

Dr. Kenneth Ramos had been serving as interim dean since Flynns departure and will return to the UA in Tucson, where he is associate vice president of precision health sciences and new head of the MD-Ph.D. program at the Tucson medical school.

Dr. Leigh Neumayer, interim senior vice president of UA Health Sciences, made Tuesdays announcement about Reeds appointment.

Reed is the Lemuel Diggs Professor of Medicine at the University of Tennessee and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, as well as interim executive vice president for Methodist Le Bonheur HealthCare.

Reed grew up in Colorado and graduated from Columbia University in New York City, where he received his bachelors degree in English literature and premedical studies. He earned a masters degree in mathematical statistics and a medical degree from Stanford University.

He completed his internship, residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Yale University, a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a postdoctoral research fellowship in biochemistry and molecular biology at Harvard Medical School.

For a decade and a half, Reed served in positions as a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health.

In 2015, the company Reed founded  Translational Sciences Inc.  signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. to develop and commercialize a treatment for patients.

Reed will be the third dean of the UA College of Medicine in Phoenix.

Based in downtown Phoenix on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, the UA College of Medicine will graduate 82 physicians on May 8. The medical school aims for classes of 80 students per year and has to date graduated 273 physicians.
PHOENIX  State lawmakers are making another bid to keep cities from requiring background checks when guns are sold from one person to another.

On a 32-23 margin, the House gave final approval Monday to legislation which would make it illegal for state or local governments to require the search of any federal or state database before personal property is sold, given away or otherwise transferred.

Nothing in SB 1122, which now goes to the governor, actually mentions firearms.

But during hearings, proponents cited legislation in other states to require background checks for the person-to-person sale of guns as a reason to make a preemptive strike to cover not just weapons but anything else local governments might want to regulate. Some of these restrictions were enacted at the ballot box by voters.

The measure also comes as former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and husband Mark Kelly have expanded their national bid to mandate background checks into Arizona. Kelly, whose wife was injured in Tucsons 2011 mass shooting that left six dead and 13 injured, said if lawmakers here cannot be convinced to adopt what he said is a widely supported law, his national group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, would spend money to elect candidates who will back such measures.

Rep. Randall Friese, D-Tucson, said he believes SB 1122, sponsored by Sen. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford, could be used to try to overturn a 2001 Tucson ordinance.

That ordinance spells out that any weapon transferred on city property first needs a background check. It was specifically aimed at the gun shows that used to occur regularly at the citys convention center. The city law was challenged in court by gun show promoters as illegal, but a trial judge and the state Court of Appeals found that Tucson, as a charter city, has wide latitude in deciding the use of its property. The Arizona Supreme Court declined to review the issue. As a result, gun shows have been moved to private venues.

During Mondays vote, Friese cited the ruling and urged colleagues to tread carefully before trying to impose their will on Tucson.

This bill will likely result in another lawsuit, he said. With this piece of legislation well yet find ourselves in another position where we have another lawsuit costing the state hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars and will lead us really nowhere.

There were no comments during the vote by supporters of the bill.

The measure already has been approved by the Senate.
(UPDATED 6 p.m.) The Sawmill Fire burning north of Sonoita is now estimated to be 18,000 acres in size and is expected to grow as strong winds grounded air tankers on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, residents in the J-6 Ranch area south of Interstate 10 are being notified by law enforcement personnel this afternoon that there may be a need to evacuate because of the fire. Officials said residents there should be preparing in case an evacuation order is given.

The fire, which started Sunday south of Green Valley near Madera Canyon, blew northeastward across the northern foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains. The fire was estimated earlier today at about 17,000 to 20,000 acres, but the size was changed later in the day after an aerial survey, according to officials.

It crossed Arizona 83 in two locations Monday night, said Heidi Schewel, spokeswoman for Coronado National Forest.

That highway, which connects Interstate 10 to Sonoita remains closed. Forest roads and trails in the area are also closed temporarily.

Red flag and high-wind advisories are in place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today, according to the National Weather Service. Steady winds of 20-to-30 mph with higher gusts are expected. There will be higher relative humidity above 20 percent during the morning, dipping to the teen in the evening.

The high winds grounded the air tankers on Tuesday afternoon, officials said. High winds made slurry drops from the tankers ineffective, said Lt. John Cambra, a fire incident commander.

Three helicopters were still flying and dropping water, he said.

Cochise County officials said residents in the J-6 area south of I-10 should begin preparations for a possible evacuation, which might be needed if the winds change direction and push the fire closer to the homes. Residents should prepare a "go bag" with needed medications, insurance papers and other documents. They should also prepare to evacuate with their pets and make accommodations for larger animals.

"The fire is burning in tall grass, riparian woodland, mesquite/oak brush, oak woodland, and pinyon-juniper fuel types, according to Schewel.

No structures have burned so far, but homes, ranches and outbuildings, communications facilities, powerlines, and the Arizona National Scenic Trail remain at risk.

Crews are working to keep the fire south of Box Canyon Road, west of Forest Road 165, and east of Sawmill Canyon, said Tiffany Davila, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. The fire is 7 percent contained.

Anyone in the vicinity of the fire should be on alert, Schewel said Tuesday morning.

The wind can change the speed and direction of a wildfire burning in flammable grass, Schewel said.

Communities in the general vicinity need to be aware that wildfire is happening in the area and winds can change direction and speed, she said.

A multi-agency force of more than 300, aided by air tankers and helicopters dropping water and fire retardant, is fighting the blaze with a full-suppression strategy, said Schewel.

There were no reports of injuries from the wildfire, said Cambra.

The fire was moving at an angle, south-to-southeast, Cambra said.

The Sonoita-Elgin Fire District posted on Facebook Monday night that the fire swept through residences in the areas Singing Valley, but no homes were lost.

About 100 people were evacuated Monday from the overall area, including 11 nuns from the Santa Rita Abbey, which is on a hillside near Gardner Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains about 7 miles northwest of Sonoita. They were directed to an evacuation center at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Sonoita.

Most evacuees got snapped up by friends and family in our small, close-knit community, said fairgrounds manager Jennifer Rinaldi. Residents of Sonoita called and offered up extra rooms in their homes.

The nuns, who are cloistered and mostly silent, found room at a local bed and breakfast. We fed them. They are great friends of ours, Rinaldi said.

Officials shut down Arizona 83, which leads from Interstate 10 to Sonoita, in both directions. Motorists should be aware of possible closures and detours throughout the area. A Forest Service road over the Santa Ritas from Arizona 83 at Greaterville was also closed.

There are several service roads on the Coronado National Forest that will temporarily close, including the entrance to Box Canyon. Service roads on the Arizona National Scenic Trail include roads 4110 to 4072, said Schewel. The following trails have also closed: Cave Creek, Sawmill and Florida Canyon.

The closures are to limit traffic while firefighters work to suppress the fire, and the roads may re-open May 8 or earlier, depending on the fire, said Schewel.

Pre-evacuation notices so far included Greaterville and Old Sonoita Highway, Singing Hills Trail, Hidden Hills, Fish Canyon and Gardner Canyon roads, the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District said.

Ranch owners were alerted that they could move their horses and cattle to the fairgrounds in Sonoita, which will serve as an evacuation center for livestock as well as people.

Hotshot crews from Payson, Globe, Aravaipa, Blue Ridge and Prescott are assigned to the fire, which has three helicopters, five air tankers and 20 fire engines. The aircraft are dropping slurry and water.

The blaze was reported at noon Sunday, just north of Madera Canyon, about 10 miles southeast of Green Valley. Later, the fire moved into the heavy timber and pretty treacherous terrain of Madera Canyon, a part of the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Ritas.

The fire is believed to be human caused but the investigation is still ongoing, Cambra said.
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter

The Bombay High Court today granted bail to 2008 Malegaon blasts accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on a surety of Rs 5 lakh. However, the High court eventually rejected the bail plea of Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, who is the co-accused in this case.

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A bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi said that the court had found no prima facie evidence against Thakur.

Sadhvi Pragya had appealed to Bombay High Court after NIA court had rejected her bail plea even after charges were dropped against her in May 2016. NIA said that there were no substantial evidences against Pragya Thakur that proved her involvement in the case.

The court has also directed Pragya Thakur to deposit her passport to NIA court and to report to NIA whenever asked for. The NIA did not object to the bail order.

Avinash Gupta, Thakurs counsel, had argued in the past that Sadhvi Pragya did not own the motorcycle used in the blast as it was sold to absconding accused four years before the blasts. He also said that victims had retracted their statements, therefore the benefit for that should go to the accused Thakur.

Around 35 people were killed and more 100 got injured when blasts occurred near a mosque in Malegaon on September 29, 2008. The blast happened in a Muslim locality of Malegaon on the auspicious day of Shab-e-Baraat.

Previously, it was speculated that blasts were the work of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) but later on, the NIA found out and filed the chargesheet against Abhinav Bharat Trust, who allegedly supplied the explosives and planned the attack.
Help India!

By Mukhtar Ahmad for Twocircles.net

The BJPs spectacular victory in Indias largest state has swept away any remaining myth of the monolithic Muslim bloc vote. In fact, it has made votes of Muslim who constitute 19% of total population as irrelevant. The BJP, feeling overconfident in majoritarian politics, decided to appoint Yogi Adityanath-considered by many as an anti-Muslim extremist-as Chief minister. This move has resulted in some apprehension and desperation in the mind of Muslims. There is discussion on social media what should be the next move of Muslims in present context.

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The emphasis in most of times is what strategy must be adopted to stop the march of communal parties or BJP. So much so that many people are now advocating that Muslims should leave electoral politics for few years. This move cannot guarantee of non-polarization as one can see the example of Christians. They are not active in the politics but still face the wrath of communal forces. Also, the onus of defeating the BJP and supporting a secular party shall not be considered as the total responsibility of Muslims. Another myth created by media that Muslims vote en bloc for any party which is in a position to defeat BJP candidate in their constituency is not correct. The problem with this type of approach is that it is impractical (because of the difficulty in identifying who is strong) and very dangerous: it divides Muslim votes and consolidates Hindu votes towards BJP. Certainly this myth is deliberately created by the media in order to divide the Muslim votes and consolidate the Hindu votes.

However, while Indian Muslims are undoubtedly facing increasing insecurity and marginalisationparticularly as Hindu right-wing forces become more powerfulthey can still have faith in majority of Hindus who are still tolerant and have no communal agenda. It is therefore important to look how best cooperation with fellow secular Hindus can be obtained.

The way out

For this, we have to look at all the possibilities that are responsible for consolidation of Hindu votes towards BJP. The social fabric which binds the Hindu and Muslims for centuries is gradually missing because of less interaction between the two communities. Also, the BJP and RSS have been exploiting certain trivial issues so that the Hindus feel that even when they are in majority they are vulnerable and do not have upper hand in society. This social aspect of the problem is much more important and serious than electoral politics and must be addressed as early as possible. However, if the votes polled by BJP is about 40 % of total votes polled. Since in elections only 60% people vote out of which BJP gets 40%. Assuming no Muslim has voted for BJP, the total Hindu votes polled by BJP is 24%. Therefore, it can be presumed that nearly 76% of Hindus are not strong supporters of BJP. Now Muslims should work to have good relations with them so that they can help counter the anti-Muslim propaganda. Some of these problems that easily identified are:

Distortion of history

There is a deliberate attempt to project that the Muslim presence has always been hostile to Indian languages, religions and culture. This religious conflict has been fuelled by ideological assumptions about that period rather than an accurate rendering of the subcontinents history.

There is a false propaganda that large sections of Muslims do not use family planning measures. It creates suspicion and ill-feeling among the Hindus as if Muslims will outnumber Hindus in few years.

Media and its manipulations

The present-day media is too much biased. The information provided by the print media (mostly vernacular) and many electronic media channels are also responsible for communal tensions.

The responsibility of terrorism

There is propaganda not only in India but worldwide that all terrorists are Muslims. The BJP propagates that threat to India is real and Hindus are victim of it. In spite of all religious of thoughts of Muslims condemning the terrorism, the propaganda continues that all Muslims support the terrorism.

But is religion responsible for communalism? There are intellectuals who do not believe that religion has any role to play in it. Bipan Chandra for example, holds that communalism is neither inspired by religion nor is religion an object of communal politics, even though the communalist bases his politics on religious differences, uses religious identity as an organising principle, and in the mass phases of communalism uses religion to mobilise masses. Although religion has no role in communalism yet communal violence is instigated by religious fanatics, initiated by anti-social elements, supported by political activists, financed by vested interests, and spread by the callousness of the police and the administrators.

The above false and unfounded propaganda is continuously fed to the media by various BJP and RSS supported organisations. It has to be tackled by historians and secular political parties. Writing to vernacular media by secular people from both communities can help to some extent in diffusing the communal atmosphere.

Among other causes are the exploitation of the deep religious traditions of both the communities. The leaders also try to use economic arguments to instil fear and suspicion in the minds of people and incite them for violence at the least provocation. In these areas, Muslims can start initiative in normalising the relations with the majority community. In the words of Jigar Moradabadi-

un ka jo farz hai vo ahl-e-siyasat janen

mera paigham mohabbat hai jahan tak pahunche

(It is for political leaders to know their duties, Love is my message far may it reach)

First of all, Muslims must become beneficial to society and get away from the web of begging for favours from the government. Muslims should strive to work with everyone. They must take part in organising protests or be part of protests on issues which are important to other social groups as well as Muslims. Simply raising the issues related to the Muslim community leaves us isolated.

The affluent Muslims generally do not work for the developmental activities. Even if they do some work it will be mainly for the welfare of Muslims alone. They must be sensitized to the problems of all weaker and sections of society. Good educational institutions may be opened in places where mixed population exists so that interaction between the children of two communities can take place. There is urgent need for a society/organisation working for the welfare of all sections of society. Legal cells may be established in every cities with Muslim lawyers ensure to provide legal aid to one and all as social responsibility.

One of the main reasons of conflict between the two communities is during the religious processions. There is need to tone down the ways of celebrations and may be observed with cooperation of both communities.

There is need to strengthen the quality of madrasa education to create teaching of human values there. For this there has to be some control by the top madrasas over them. Then the Friday sermon in jama masajid of every town must address the social aspect of Islam. The Friday sermon in local language addressing people about duties towards mankind is required in every mosque. Most Muslims seem to be somewhat unclear on the issue of mans obligation to man. (huququl Ibad). They think that so long as they fasted and prayed and paid Zakat and went to Hajj (Huququllah), it did not matter how they treated people, Muslims as well as non-Muslims (Huququl Ibad). Nothing could be farther from the truth. Conflating their religion with five Pillars of Faith, they have shed their religion of all its dynamic, liberating, enlightening and humanistic dimensions.

For this concerted effort is required by at least one organization dedicated for this purpose only.

The author is retired Professor of Electrical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University
Help India!

By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net

In a decision that is likely to raise eyebrows across the state, the Uttar Pradesh government has canceled 15 public holidays that are currently listed under the list of restricted holidays citing Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

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The list includes holidays on Juma-ul-Vida, the last Juma of Ramzan and Id-milad-un-Nabi. These two holidays fell on June 23 and December 2 respectively this year. Holiday given on the Urs of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty Ajmeri has also been cancelled.

The step is likely to be seen as an attack on the rights of various marginalised sections of the society, as Valimiki Jayanti, Vishvakarma Pooja and Agrasen Jayanti have also been now added to the list of restricted holidays.

Chhatth Pooja, which falls after Diwali, will also now come under the list of restricted holidays. All these holidays were previously gazetted holidays. The UP government has asked institutions to hold functions only to pay tribute.

Commenting on the decision, Maulana Khalid Rashid, Shahi Imam of Lucknow Idgah, told TwoCircles.net, It is not like only Muslims or the communities associated with the holidays were taking advantage of these days. These holidays are meant to benefit everyone.

But instead of ensuring an effective 10-5 job culture in government offices, the government is trying to hurt the sentiments of communities. How does the government benefit by cancelling two auspicious holidays which are celebrated by people?

But Rashid also said that previous governments had tried to lure communities in order to get votes. Yes, previous state governments did things to lure people. Instead of cancelling these days, why not just crack down on those holidays which no one celebrates? he added.

M Reyaz, Assistant Professor at Aliah University, Kolkata said, No doubt, there are far too many government holidays in India and it needs to be reduced in a systematic way.

He further said, I personally welcome such step although cancelling Chhath (Purvanchal region) and Prophets birth anniversaries (Muslims) may not go down well in certain quarters.

Pointing towards the possible controversy that may follow this decision, Reyaz said, Many people might point to fact that three holidays were connected to Muslims (of 15), but these days holidays serve little purpose except symbolism by previous governments.
Mexico and the United States are linked by several factors: political, economic, commercial, geographical, historical and social. However, the decisions and projects of the new American president, especially in regard of the migration dossier  today considered the salvation of Trumps presidential failure, so far, have created tensions between the two neighbouring countries. These tensions are fueled by the uncertainty and contradictions of the US government.

Confusing messages

John Kelly, US Secretary of Homeland Security, publicly denied on February the prospect of mass deportations, of deportations to Mexico despite nationality and the use of armed forces to prosecute illegal immigrants.

This contradicts the statements of President Donald Trump of previous days. On the contrary, Kelly stressed the spirit of dialogue, cooperation, and respect for the human rights of undocumented immigrants. However, on 6 March he said that he was planning to separate the children from their immigrant parents in order to discourage them from entering the US  talking about respect and human rights!

Despite the Mexican government's position against president Trump's initiatives, Mexicans do not trust the government or President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is well known for making bad decisions, such as the appointment of Luis Videgaray Caso as Minister of Foreign Affairs. This man has no knowledge or preparation in international and diplomatic matters, according to his own statements in his first speech.

In fact, when he was Secretary of Finance, he invited Trump on August 2016 to talk with Pena Nieto; this was done without even respecting the diplomatic protocol, nor the authority of Claudia Ruiz Massieu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time, who was not even aware of this initiative.

On 25 January 2017, Trump signed the decree about the border wall.

It is worth mentioning that the two countries share more than 3100 km of border. Currently, there are 569 km of fences to stop pedestrians and 482 km of vehicle fences, most of them built during the second term of George W. Bush. But, there is not enough money to start this expensive flagship project of $ 21.6 billion dollars, despite the appeal for tenders made in January from companies wishing to carry out this project.

The president Trump administration reaffirmed on 23 April that the financing for the Border Wall is a condition for the approval of the US budget and if the negotiations fail the government could be stymied in this regard. It is the height of irresponsibility, denounced Democratic Dick Durbin, on CNN.

Drugs and immigration

While it is true that the US has a national epidemic of opiate dependence, a wall would not be the right solution to stop the drugs from crossing. Lets take the example of heroin: trafficking is done by the passage of small quantities hidden in shoes, toothpaste, and even inside human beings! People who pass drugs are individuals from the villages near the border who need money or who are extorted to traffic in exchange for help to cross easily.

The wall is not a solution, but a mere distraction to the real problem. Furthermore, drugs and other illegal product couriers have multiple ways to evade the current border walls, like catapults, cannons, ramps, drones and sophisticated tunnels, according to the BBC.

As for illegal immigration, there are people who wish to have a better standard of living in both economic and security aspects. Building a wall will not stop them, as most of them are ready to die. Besides this, they will be more likely to fall into the hands of drug, organs and people traffickers.

Despite the "America first" policy, the jobs that are taken by Latin American immigrants are non-substitutable jobs: this means that they are jobs that the Americans do not want to take.

Moreover, the Latin American workforce is much cheaper. Even the President's son, Eric Trump, knows this. Just last February he asked to hire 23 foreign workers in his vineyard in Virginia. Indeed, President Trump already knew this too as his clothing brand 'Donald J. Trump Signature Collection' is made in Mexico.
The North Korean war took place six decades back. Down the line, the Korean Peninsula has seen a tenuous peace and despite occasional saber rattling by the North, no war has taken place. After the war, North Korea turned into an insular state which concentrated on developing a nuclear arsenal to the detriment of the welfare of the people. The Americans all along stated that they would not allow North Korea to become a nuclear power. Donald Trump has stated that if the nuclear arsenal is developed the Americans will react. Vice president Pence has said we are at the end of our" strategic patience." These are strong words and may signal an intent to bomb the North Korean nuclear sites.

Obsession with North Korea

Donald Trump is not the first American President to be obsessed with North Korea. After the end of World War II, America was involved in a war on the Korean Peninsula. The then president Harry Truman's commitment to South Korea led to a war which lasted three years.America's attempt to try and liberate the North from communism failed. In the ding-dong battle in which China entered the war on the side of the north, the battle became a stalemate. Truman went away and his successor General Eisenhower agreed to a ceasefire.

China factor

China for long has been an antagonist of the United States. The Chinese started their nuclear program sometime in the fifties of the last century.

At that time a state of war existed between the Peoples Republic of China and Nationalist China supported by the USA. In all my travels in America, I have not come across any American asking a question as to why the United States at that time did not make any attempt to stop the Chinese nuclear program. China tested their nuclear device in 1964.

History tells us that they had announced at that time that they intended to use it against the USA. Over the decades China has become a big power. One wonders why the USA did nothing. Was it because China was a big nation with a billion people? No explanation is forthcoming.

The South China Sea

We are seeing a similar approach to China in the South China Sea.

The Chinese have taken control of the Spratly islands in the South China sea and have presented the USA with a fait accompli. Something similar happened when China went nuclear and started developing nuclear weapons. In this light, the American obsession with North Korea is difficult to understand. It is for the Americans to ask themselves as to why they are obsessed with North Korea. Why did they not stop China on its march towards becoming a big nuclear power? Why have the Americans have never confronted China?
" So, what's been going on while I've been gone?" asked a smiling and relaxed Barack Obama to a group of students at The University Of Chicago. His quip, delivered with a smile, brought a laugh from the audience of students.

Trump, the elephant in the room

For the whole meeting, Obama studiously avoided the one obvious topic, that of his successor Donald trump. It has long been accepted that a new president, whilst grumbling about problems inherited from their predecessor, avoids being personal in their references. Trump has been somewhat of an anomaly in that respect, as he has been in so many other ways.

How easy it would have been to attack the current president's assault on his own legacy, to criticise his accusations of wiretapping or to otherwise critique the lamentably laboured start Trump has made to his presidency. Instead, Obama urged young people to become involved in political life.

There is a history of ill-feeling between the two which was initiated by Trump's, since unfounded, insistence that Obama was not a US citizen. How easy it would have been to attack the current president's assault on his own legacy, to criticise his accusations of wiretapping or to otherwise critique the lamentably laboured and bumbling start Trump has made to his presidency.

Obama's return to public life

The purpose of the meeting at Obama's former place of work was to urge young people to become more involved in political life.

During the hour-long audience, Obama acted as a sort of talk-show host, asking students questions about how they could become more involved in their community. Chicago was where Obama began his political career many years before and so held a special significance for him. He is keen to encourage involvement from young people, believing that the most important thing he can do is " help prepare the next generation of leadership...to take their own crack at changing the world.

"

He established 'The Obama Foundation' in 2014 in Chicago "to develop the next generation of citizens and what it means to be a good citizen in the 21st century."

Should he comment on Trump?

Many of Obama's backers would like to see him weigh in with his views on the current presidency but others feel that his silence will have more impact in upcoming special elections in Montana and Georgia as those who didn't support him as president come to view his presidency in a more positive way. Whatever happens, given the actions of the current president, it would seem that whatever Obama decides to do it will be viewed favourably by all but the most die-hard of Trump fans.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump sent out a random tweet encouraging his supporters to watch Judge Jeanine Pirro on Fox News later that night. As the broadcast begin, questions were quickly raised as to why the president wanted as many eyes on the show as possible.

Trump and Fox News

Over the last two weeks, Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have come together in the hope that they could convince enough Republicans to support their new health care bill known as the American Health Care Act. However, not long after their plan was revealed, backlash quickly followed which included enough Republican lawmakers that the president was forced to pull the bill before it could even be put up for a vote.

Trump's decision to throw the towel in on health care was seen as a defeat and an embarrassment for the administration, which didn't sit well with many conservative commentators. As seen on Fox News on March 25, it appears that the right-wing media is taking the side of the commander in chief over the Speaker of the House.

Taking to his Twitter account on Saturday morning, Donald Trump wrote, "Watch @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews tonight at 9:00 P.M." While the former host of "The Apprentice" has praised the network in the past, he usually doesn't call for people to watch a particular show at a certain time. Kicking off her broadcast, Judge Jeanine Pirro was quick to rip into Paul Ryan, going as far as calling for him to resign from his leadership role.

"Paul Ryan needs to step down as speaker of the house.The reason? He failed to deliver the votes on his healthcare bill." #openingstatement pic.twitter.com/75WbI4mcYX  Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) March 26, 2017

Ryan out?

"Ryan needs to step down as Speaker of the House," Jeanine Pirro said, before explaining "he failed to deliver the votes on his healthcare bill, the one trumpeted to repeal and replace ObamaCare." The Fox News host continued, accusing Ryan of using his "swagger and experience" to "sell" other Republicans "a bill of goods which ends up a complete and total failure and you allow our president, in his first 100 days, to come out of the box like that, based on what?"

Jeanine Pirro made a point to say that she hadn't discussed her opening monologue with the president, which is an odd comment to make by a cable news host, especially considering the timing as it was made just hours after Trump called on supporters to view the program.

Pirro concluded her comments but insisting, "I want to be clear. This is not on President Trump." Pirro's remarks echo similar sediments that came from fellow Fox News host Sean Hannity, who backed Trump over House Republicans on Friday night.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump tweeted out that he wanted his supporters to watch Judge Jeanine Pirro's show on Fox News. When Pirro kicked off her program by calling for the resignation of House Speaker Paul Ryan, questions were quickly raised as to whether or not it was a cryptic message being sent out by the president.

Trump on Fox News

After Republicans were unable to unify and get a vote off the ground on their health care reform bill known as the American Health Care Act, backlash quickly followed. The GOP was clearly split, with Donald Trump and Paul Ryan supporting the bill, while the more conservative members of the Freedom Caucus stood in hard-line opposition.

In response, the former host of "The Apprentice" first blamed Democrats for not giving their support of the bill, before lashing out on more than one occasion at the Freedom Caucus. Follow-up reports have also claimed that the president has privately put partial blame on Ryan, as well as his Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. After Trump tweeted for his supporters to watch Jeanine Pirro on Saturday night, she quickly ripped into Ryan and called on him to step down from his leadership roll. These issues were discussed during the March 26 edition of "Fox News Sunday."

Joining Fox News host Chris Wallace was Reince Priebus who was pressed on the timing of Donald Trump's tweet in relation to Jeanine Pirro's message.

After playing a clip of Pirro's program, Wallace directly asked Priebus "does the president want Paul Ryan to resign as Speaker?" In response, the chief of staff came to the defense of the president.

.@Reince45 on if Trump wants Paul Ryan to step down as Speaker: "No, he doesnt"  FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) March 26, 2017

"First of all, I will go on record that we do love Judge Jeanine and so does the president," Reince Priebus said, before claiming, "I think it was more coincidental." "Oh, come on!" Wallace fired back in amazement.

Priebus went on to state that "there was no pre-planning here" and that Trump "loves Judge Jeanine and he wanted to do Judge Jeanine a favor." When asked point blank if Trump wanted Paul Ryan removed as speaker, Priebus finally answered the question, responding, "no."

GOP trouble

While the White House attempts to paint a better picture over their latest failure, the problems behind the scenes in regards to health care have been well-documented. Whether or not there is a rift between Donald Trump and Republican leadership is yet to be seen, but it doesn't appear that the party is as unified as they hoped to be on many issues.
On Friday, President Donald Trump was forced to pull the American Health Care Act from the floor of the House of Representatives before a vote could even take place. Less than 48 hours later and the president is still not happy, lashing out on social media against the people responsible for the bill's failure.

Trump on Twitter

Repealing and replacing Obamacare has been one of the main talking points and agenda items for the Republican Party over the last eight years. Ever since the affordable care act was signed by former President Barack Obama in January 2010, conservatives across the country have vowed to repealed the law and do whatever it takes to get the job done.

After Donald Trump was elected president, it seemed as if it was a sure thing, especially considering the fact that the GOP also had majority-control of Congress. Despite this, Republicans failed to get on the same page, with Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan unable to convince the right-wing Freedom Caucus to support the bill. As seen on his Twitter account on March 26, the president is not done assigning blame.

Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 26, 2017

Taking to his Twitter account on Sunday morning, Donald Trump continued to hit back at the conservatives who he thinks cost him the chance at replacing Obamacare.

"Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Why do Republicans keep saying Trump tried hard to get the GOP healthcare bill passed? He didn't. https://t.co/ob1OMvt0NX by @JRussellMI pic.twitter.com/hqb4a5031s  Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 26, 2017

Blame game

Dozens of Republicans, mostly in the Freedom Caucus, opposed the bill as they believed the GOP health care alternative was too similar to the Affordable Care Act, labeling it "Obamacare lite." While Donald Trump is clearly still upset with those Republican lawmakers who opposed the bill, as well as conservative activist groups, that's not the only people he puts the blame on.

After the bill was pulled, Trump went on to blame Democrats for not lending their support, which was echoed on Saturday by Vice President Mike Pence. With health care now put to the side, the billionaire real estate mogul is expected to push for tax reform as his next item on his political agenda.
Maddie Weiler, 12, has been branded a hero by her mother, Brandie Weiler, after her daughter managed to fend off a carjacker, attempting to steal the familys van with her two daughters still inside. While Maddie did suffer a fractured wrist in the incident, she is definitely happy that she saved the day.

Virginia family stops to help in two-car pile-up

Weiler and her two daughters, Maddie and 7-year-old Mollie, were driving in James City County, Virginia when the incident happened. Along their way, they witnessed a collision between two cars. Weiler immediately stopped and got out of her vehicle to check on a female passenger in one of the cars.

Paul Salsman, 21, who has been accused of causing the two-car accident, then ran to Weilers van  with both girls still inside.

Weiler told ABC News that she phoned 911 and was screaming at the dispatcher, wanting someone to help because a man was trying to steal her car, with her children inside. According to Weiler, Maddie had immediately locked the door, but Salsman had put his hand through the window and unlocked the vehicle. The potential carjacker was apparently yelling but was not making any sense. At that stage, Maddie started to hit out at Salsman, while her mother attempted to pull the vehicles keys from the ignition.

12-year-old girl fights back to stop carjacker from abducting her and sister https://t.co/j0J4N88iUN pic.twitter.com/pmjBOmfObh  WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) April 21, 2017

12-year-old hits out at carjacker

The New York Daily News reports that Maddie knew exactly what she needed to do  all she could think about was getting Mollie out of the vehicle and stopping the carjacker from starting the car.

She hit out at him, saying she would do anything she could to save Mollie, who was sitting in the back seat. Maddie said if he had driven off with her sister she would have been heartbroken.

How a 12-year-old saved her little sister from an alleged carjacker https://t.co/9cU3uGywGi pic.twitter.com/1QrHoRVbwX  People Magazine (@people) April 20, 2017

However, it turns out Salsman would have gotten very far, as Maddies quick-thinking led her to switch the vehicle into drive.

She told ABC News that she knew the car wouldnt start unless it was in park. At that stage, Mollie escaped from the car and began screaming for help. Mollie told ABC News that she thought the man was going to take them and she was amazed at how Maddie responded to the situation. Salsman finally gave up with his ideas of carjacking the van, jumping out and then attempting to steal another car, just moments before police arrived on the scene.

Would-be carjacker arrested and charged

A spokeswoman for the James City County Police said that Salsman was taken to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail and has been charged with three counts of attempted carjacking, along with another felony charge relating to the hit and run. It turns out Salsman was also driving under the influence of drugs and was hit with a misdemeanor charge for that too.
Ever since the early days of his campaign for president, Donald Trump made a point to not hold back his feelings when it comes to ranting on social media. After almost 100 days in office, the president has not changed his style.

Trump on Twitter

During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump decided early on that he would use social media to his advantage. When he announced his candidacy for president, Trump quickly got off on the wrong foot with the mainstream media when he referred to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers." The press were quick to push back, which started a domino effect that has led to the current feud between the former host of "The Apprentice" and the press.

Trump has gone as far as refer to journalists as "terrible," while calling any reports he doesn't agree with "fake news." In addition to lashing out at the media, Trump has used Twitter to push his policy agenda, including his proposed border wall and his feelings about other world leaders. These issues, and more, were tackled in a pair of tweets from the president on April 25.

Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

Taking to his official Twitter account on April 25, Donald Trump set his sights on two targets. In his first social media rant of the morning, the billionaire real estate pushed back against Canada for how the country has impacted farming in the United States.

"Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult," Trump tweeted, before adding, "We will not stand for this. Watch!"

Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

Not stopping there, Donald Trump then shifted his focus onto his border wall, which media outlets reported on Monday that he would be willing to drop funding for in order to avoid a government shutdown.

Trump dismissed the reports, labeling them "fake news" in his most recent tweet as of press time. "Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL," he wrote on Twitter, while noting, "It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc." Trump has made illegal immigration and his wall a cornerstone of first his campaign, and now administration, and he doesn't look to be backing off his demands anytime soon.

Moving forward

As Donald Trump continues to use his Twitter account to push his agenda, it doesn't always go according to plan. According to the most recent round of polling, Trump's approval rating is hovering around just 40 percent, which is some of the lowest numbers to start a presidency in the last 75 years.
Presidential popular vote winner, Hillary Clinton blasted Donald trump and his administration for their lack of respect for the LGBTQ community. She pointed out that during his campaign trail he vowed to protect their rights, and he's done the complete opposite.

Look to 2018 elections

According to Daily Kos, Hillary said that we (the country) need to face the truth and realize that President Trump will never protect Lgbtq Rights, so it's time to look to the 2018 elections.

Hillary Clinton slams Trump administration on LGBTQ rights https://t.co/SDoEsVUl7I pic.twitter.com/OmgE0CaAmr  Metro Weekly (@metroweekly) April 21, 2017

She spoke about Trump's decision to overturn Obama's transgender bath policy.

In February, the president advises schools to force the students to go in the bathrooms that matched their gender. This act forced transgender students to go to bathrooms that may not match their gender identity. It went against Obama's policy and sent shockwaves throughout the transgender community.

Protecting LGBTQ rights

Trump promised to protect LGBTQ rights, but his actions say something altogether different. Clinton believes that to protect their rights, Americans need to prepare for the next set of elections in 2018.

Clinton blasts Trump administration's anti-LGBTQ attacks, urges voters to 'remember 2018' https://t.co/iqtrbu4JER  Daily Kos (@dailykos) April 21, 2017

Hillary concluded her speech by saying that the Democrats are ready for the 2018 elections, but the Republicans are feeling the pressure to maintain control. She called on all Democrats to get out a vote.
It's no secret that Donald Trump is not that popular when it comes to women. Despite his best efforts to use his daughter Ivanka Trump to improve his standing, it didn't go over well during a recent panel discussion in Berlin, Germany.

Ivanka backlash

The 2016 presidential election raised a lot of questions, with one being how Donald Trump actually won in the first place. While the former host of "The Apprentice" was able to win over support with white men in his race against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, he fell behind with most minority groups, including the female vote.

Since the election, Trump has given his daughter, Ivanka Trump, a highlighted role in the administration. Ivanka has been known to be one of her father's most calming influences and seen as someone who can pull him away from the more extreme elements in the White House, most notably being former Breitbart News CEO and current Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. As reported by The Hill on April 25, Ivanka made her first trip as adviser to the president during the W20 women's panel in Germany, but didn't receive the best response after praising her father as a champion on women's rights.

Ivanka Trump receives pushback while speaking in Berlin after suggesting her father is a tremendous champion of supporting families pic.twitter.com/tncFuZRRbw  CNN (@CNN) April 25, 2017

Ivanka Trump arrived in Germany this week and took park in a panel on women's rights during the W20 event.

At one point, she turned her attention to Donald Trump, describing him as a "tremendous champion of supporting families" whose administration will be "incremental positive change." Reaction was negative from those in attention, as reports note that many in the crowd started to boo and actually "hiss" at the First Daughter over her comments.

When pressed on Trump's policies that have been labeled as a negative for women, Ivanka was quick to be dismissive, noting that she has "personal experience" for why the media reports are inaccurate.

Trump praise

Prior to her appearance, Donald Trump gave his daughter praise on social media. "Proud of @IvankaTrump for her leadership on these important issues.

Looking forward to hearing her speak at the W20!" he tweeted.

Proud of @IvankaTrump for her leadership on these important issues. Looking forward to hearing her speak at the W20! https://t.co/e6Uajrm8zp  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

Twitter reacts

While Ivanka Trump received boos from those in attendance, social media was just as harsh in their reaction. "They booed the woman that the pu**ygrabber-in-chief would 'date' if she didn't, well, happen to be his daughter?? SHOCKER!" one tweet read. "During her speech, will she discuss how her husband met with Russian officials during the campaign but didn't disclose it to our government?" podcast host David Nuzza Nussbaum wrote on Twitter.

@realDonaldTrump @IvankaTrump And if you think buttering her up on Twitter will improve your chances with her, then you're wrong. She's likely not interested.  Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) April 25, 2017

@Mike_P_Williams @realDonaldTrump @IvankaTrump Just watched this this morning! The apple doesn't fall far from the orange.  Hope Davis (@Hada702) April 25, 2017

@realDonaldTrump @IvankaTrump She was, hissed off stage you dope.shes a spoiled CLUELESS brat .just like you  ZEUS (@ZEUS6294) April 25, 2017

@realDonaldTrump @IvankaTrump She is not a leader nor was she elected. She is a spoiled, entitled daughter/wife who is playing at something her daddy gave her. Laughable.  Patricia (@gaialuv) April 25, 2017

"Just watched this this morning!

The apple doesn't fall far from the orange," another Twitter user wrote. "Nepotism as it's worst. She is not qualified to discuss world affairs, her only qualification is daughter. Sad," another tweet went on to read.
There are many ways science supporters can further their climate change agenda. They can stage a March for Science over Earth Day weekend, or they can use violence to intimidate other scientists who hold a conflicting point of view. This Saturday, both methods were put to use in Huntsville, Alabama -- resulting in seven gunshots being fired into the offices of two noted climate change skeptics.

Gunshots for Science

Dr. Roy Spencer, a meteorologist based out of the University of Alabama-Huntsville's National Space Science and Technology Center, stated on his website that the shots were intended for Dr.

John Christy, another well-known skeptic who recently questioned the validity of climate science before Congress.

"All bullets hit the 4th floor, which is where John Christys office is (my office is in another part of the building)," Spencer wrote on his official website.

Spencer pointed out that his building was along the route of the March for Science, and said that it was "more than a coincidence" that the building was targeted later that evening. He believes that his skeptical stance on global warming was "enough to send some radicals into a tizzy."

Police believe that the shots were fired from a moving vehicle based on the angle of entry, and confirmed that shell casings were recovered outside, approximately 70 yards from the UAH National Space Science and Technology Center.

Christy and Spencer are leading voices in the small segment of the scientific community that refutes man-made global warming, and both scientists claim that they have been targeted before by radical climate alarmists. Christy became a target for radical environmentalists last month after he testified before Congress that the scientific establishment is "corrupt" and that climate science is a "murky" science.

Spencer, who received his Ph.D. in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, became a Principal Research Scientist at UAH in 2001, and formerly worked for NASA as an expert on climate science. Both he and Christy have been awarded NASAs Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for their monitoring of global temperatures.

Bullies in lab coats using science as a weapon

The March for Science rallies saw thousands of demonstrators take to the streets in cities throughout the country over the weekend. While the demonstrations were, for the most part, harmless spectacles with witty signs and banners, the march also featured its share of radical participants -- or, as National Review stated on Tuesday, those who "often use science as a weapon."

According to National Review, the D.C. March for Science featured three scientists who composed an anti-Trump screed calling for university scientists to stage a strike in protest of the president.

In December, University of Arizona professor John Weins -- a leading climate change scientist -- made national headlines after telling an interviewer that Donald Trump should "kill himself immediately."
In the course of his presidential election campaign, Donald Trump had promised to build a border wall and had also indicated that Mexico would bear its cost. The intention of the wall was to prevent entry of illegal immigrants and drugs from Mexico. However, the president has now admitted that funding will not come from Mexico at the moment, and U.S. taxpayers will have to chip in to make the wall a reality.

Is the wall really necessary?

According to Washington Times, some lawmakers have brought out a relevant point about the need for the border wall because, as per information available, there has already been a drastic drop in the number of people trying to cross over through the southwestern border.

In the opinion of the Trump administration, this drop is a result of the firm stand taken by President Donald Trump. His attitude has forced illegal immigrants from Latin America to reconsider their decisions, but the wall would still be needed to maintain the momentum.

Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly has confirmed the need to build the wall, and it must be technologically sound with adequate agents. He made the comments while he was on a tour of the border in El Paso, Texas with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

What will the wall look like?

The specifications of the border wall have been defined. The height of the prototypes must be at least 18 feet, and the preferred height is 30 feet.

It must be able to withstand breaching attempts for up to four hours and must appear to be imposing.

Senate Democrats have already released a report which mentions that the wall could stretch 1,827 miles, or most of the way across the 1,950-mile border, and the cost would come to nearly $70 billion. Homeland Security officials, however, termed the assessment as baseless and have added that unless the design and locations are finalized estimates cannot be predicted.

Who will provide the funds?

The million dollar question is the source of finance to undertake a project of this magnitude. The White House wants money for the border wall to be an integral part of the spending bill that Congress must pass next week. This demand is seen as an about turn of the administration because it had already indicated availability of money to build prototypes this year and further requirement of cash could wait till next year.

Under the circumstances, it would be worthwhile for Donald Trump to look again at the requirements and defer it until an alternate is worked out. There is a necessity to have a mechanism to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States through the Mexico route, but the objective should be to achieve it through alternate means which will involve the least investment.
China is sitting in a hard place with its North Korean Ally. Australia, Japan, and South Korea are under nuclear war threats and so is the USA. The fear among the general people of the world that one day a great holocaust will come seems to be trending towards reality with every single day that passes by. Irrespective of what Trump or his generals or the rest of the world are saying and doing, the worry that this time it could be for real sits at the forefront of the minds of civilized people across the world.

North Korean threatened on Sunday 23 April, that they were "ready to sink a US aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might " The report that originated with Thomson Reuters is just the most recent of threats reported against the United States.

While those in America who did not support the election of Donald Trump have blamed him for what is being termed the "Korean Peninsular" crisis, the threat of nuclear war has been coming from North Korea for years. Japan has been at the end of that threat possibly because Kim Jong-un is the third in the Dynasty to rule his country. The first of his family to rule North Korea, Kim Il-sung had no love for Japan who ruled the country until the breakup of Japan's empire after the second world war.

North Korea - the history of enmity

Given the history of enmity between North Korea and Japan, it is not a big surprise that Kim Jong-un has threatened that country. The US involvement comes out of the fact that they have maintained military bases in South Korea since the Korean war in the 1950's - a war which was started by Kim Il-sung, who ruled North Korea as a communist country.

North Korea is still a communist country, although it is one with a difference - it is ruled by the bloodline of the Kim family. South Korea are understandably concerned about being absorbed into this autocratic country. The recent threats of nuclear war by North Korea on American targets is, therefore, a serious threat.

More recently, it appears that Kim Jong-un is threatening everyone who may be any type of ally against his country in the event of war.

On the weekend, the New Daily reported that the Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says North Korea should focus on its long-suffering citizens rather than the development of weapons of mass destruction and investing in military testing." This was in response to North Korea warning Australia that it "could be hit with nuclear weapons if it continues to blindly follow the United States."

Will Kim Jong-un pull the nuclear trigger?

If Kim Jong-un has the nuclear capacity to start this war - will he 'pull the trigger?' The information available is scant and much of it unconfirmed, but what little there is, would indicate that this very young Supreme Leader might very well do so.

He is in his early thirties and apart from a penchant for military parades, drinking, and smoking, he has a reported passion for video games. In video games, nobody really dies, so we might think that Kim is not actually aware of the real-life implications of nuclear war. There, people would be wrong. Kim of North Korea knows very well that people die and suffer in real life.

Under his rule, there have been many executions and the Economist carried the report that in 2013 of his own uncle Jang Sung-taek's execution. It was widely reported in Asia, and in The China Times that Kim had also ordered the execution of the extended family of Jang to completely destroy all traces of Jang's existence.

"Those reportedly killed in Kim's purge include Jang's sister Jang Kye-sun, her husband and ambassador to Cuba, Jon Yong-jin, and Jang's nephew and ambassador to Malaysia, Jang Yong-chol. The nephew's two sons were also said to have been killed."

Underestimating the Supreme Leader

Another execution was the deputy security minister in the Ministry of Public Security, who was reported by the Daily Mail to have been burnt to death by a flame thrower for allegedly supporting Kim's Uncle Jang. Let us not write off the threats from a man many perceived to be a bit of bumbling fellow with a vacant smile and an ability to salute his troops on parade for three hours without flinching. Westerners may meme and joke about his haircut and his lack of apparent social graces, but he was raised in privilege from birth and in his country, he really is a supreme leader.

When he was younger he did spend some time in Switzerland but reports are he was introverted, shy and chaperoned.

This is not a video game. His challenge to attack the civilized world in a nuclear war might very well be a massive threat. I for one believe he is capable of pulling the trigger. We can only hope that this posturing and strutting about the status of nuclear weapon readiness is as far from reality as US intelligence would have us all believe.
Members of the French political landscape on Monday announced their support for emmanuel macron, the Europhile candidate facing Marine Le Pen in the final race for the French Presidency on May 7th. Following the first round of voting, fellow competitors Francois Fillon and Benoit Hamon were swift in their endorsement of the centrist Macron after he recorded the largest share of the vote and pushed Le Pen into second place. This triumph in the initial phase now puts Macron firmly in place for a victory in the run-off and set to be announced as the next President of France.

Furthermore, on Monday the current President Francois Hollande urged voters to reject the Far-Right and its leader Le Pen and put their faith and trust in the Centrist candidate, ensuring Le Pen would find it difficult to achieve the level of support required to cause a political upset and send tremors across the continent as a whole.

Financial upsurge

The results in the first round were verified by financial markets when they opened on Monday morning. Both French and other European stock markets rose on the news of Macron's performance and likely victory, with the single currency also seeing a sharp rise against the dollar, reaching a five-month high during a period of significant upheaval across the continent.

Seen by many as an extremely market friendly politician, the former banker Macron has put forward some ambitious plans to reform labor markets in the country alongside encouraging deeper integration, both political and economic, across Europe. He has also promised to introduce swift spending cuts aimed at reducing the country's deficit, although such a move is expected to encounter opposition from the other defeated parties.

Boost for Europe

In a move that went against standard protocol, the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker made a statement announcing his support for Emmanuel Macron whilst at the same time issuing a rallying cry against those attempting to destroy the European Union. Whilst the EU in general declines to involve itself with national elections, the Commission's spokesperson Margaritis Schinas stated that in this case, it was necessary to define Macron as pro-European whereas Le Pen aimed to "seek its destruction".

Whilst the National Front were successful in reaching the second round of voting, the political climate in Europe has taken a slightly unexpected turn since the election of President Trump in the US. Whilst the election of Trump on strong anti-immigration sentiment had given Far-Right groups across Europe a reason to celebrate, this has not resulted in success in terms of actual political support in their respective nations. Both Austria and The Netherlands significantly rejected such parties in their relative national elections and it seems France will follow that path in the next few weeks.

The ineffectiveness of the Trump administration has led electorates across Europe to think twice about such negative campaigning and policies.

In attempting to shake up the political establishment since coming to power, President Trump's poor performance seems only to have led to greater integration, a rejection of anti-immigration rhetoric and thus a strengthening of the EU as a whole.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned the Japanese parliament that North Korea might have the means to conduct missile attacks on Japan. This is after military intelligence revealed North Korea's attempt to develop an arsenal of missiles, which can deliver high explosive ordinance and chemical payloads such as nerve and Sarin gas.

In response, the Japanese government has started preparations for massive evacuations of cities in case of an attack. They have also issued reminders on shelter locations, evacuation routes and safety guidelines for citizens in highly populated areas in the country.

US and Japan continue its show of force in the Korean peninsula

As the US fleet, centered on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrive in the Korean peninsula, Japan has committed two of its destroyers to help in guarding the fleet. Aside from this, a Los Angeles-class submarine has docked in South Korea to conduct joint military drills with Seoul and at the same time join the show of force against Pyongyang.

The build-up of forces in the Korean peninsula is not only limited to US forces as Russian, and Chinese ground forces have been mobilized to respond to any eventuality quickly. Russia has started to amass a contingent of soldiers on its North Korean border, while China placed its air force on high alert.

Can North Korea attack Japan?

The missile arsenal of North Korea includes the Nodong 2, which has a range of 900 miles, long enough to reach Tokyo and Beijing. This missile is also capable of delivering nuclear payloads, chemical packages, and traditional incendiary warheads. It is this most likely the missile Kim Jong Un was referring to when he threatened to blow the US armada out of the water.

However, pitted against it is the entire air defense of South Korea, US, and Japan. A gauntlet of anti-aircraft and anti-missile system that will surely wither away any incoming threat. However, Kim Jong Un also boasts his possession of nuclear weapons though it is still not sure whether his claim is true or not. US surveillance shows telltale signs of nuclear development in North Korea, but definitive proof that the North already has a working nuclear warhead is still not available.

What is Trump's move on this development?

After his meeting with the UN security council in the White House, Trump has invited the entire Senate to Washington and discuss the problem with North Korea. It is still unsure what trump will do, but his talk with the UN council showed his willingness to resort to drastic measures against Pyongyang which may lead to all out war.

China and Japan have phoned Trump earlier this week to remind him to avoid any actions that may result in war. Beijing is also assuring the US that they will not react if the US does go through with a preemptive strike but warns Trump that such a move will result in more chaos.
Iran is slowly making its way back into the spotlight. Recent events at the State Department have the trump administration taking increasingly long and hard looks at Iran. Meanwhile, senator john mccain spent part of April touring Europe, lambasting the Iranian government.

Senator McCain denounced the Iranian theocracy and called for Regime Change while meeting with an Iranian resistance group, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK) in Albania early in April. The MeK is arguably the largest organized Iranian resistance group and a staunch proponent of regime change.

Senator McCain, meanwhile, has been one of the most vocal American critics of the Iranian government.

The comments were made at a ceremony in Tirana, Albania, where roughly 2600 dissidents had gathered to hear Senator McCain speak. The meeting was held on April 15th, and continues McCains long track record of calling for regime change with Iran. The rally was also attended by the National Council of Resistance of Iran President-Elect Maryam Rajavi.

Many of dissidents were previously housed at Camp Liberty in Iraq. Withe Iraqi government coming under the increasing control of Tehran, the camp was subject to numerous attacks. Hundreds of MeK members were killed over the years by attacks allegedly carried out by forces linked to Iran.

Most have now been relocated to Albania.

Trump administration increasingly vocal with Iran criticism

The Trump administration has thus far maintained its commitment to the Iranian Nuclear deal. Previously, Trump had lambasted the deal as the worst deal ever, and suggesting that he would tear it up. At one point in 2016 Trump even claimed that dismantling the deal was his number one priority.

That hasnt happened yet, but future efforts to dismantle the deal cant be ruled out.

The U.S. State Department recently certified that Iran was meeting its obligations under the deal. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, however, has alleged that Iran is a state sponsor of terror and has been destabilizing the Middle East. Meanwhile, Tillerson also suggested that the Iran nuclear deal was simply kicking the can down the road and that Obama is leaving it to other presidents to deal with.

Tillerson also said that a full government-wide review of Iran and the nuclear deal is under way.

What this means for the future is hard to ascertain, however, the Trump Administration has so far proven to be more muscular in its approach. For example, when Syria used chemical weapons the Obama administration punted to Congress. The Trump administration on the other hand was quick to order retaliatory strikes.

So far, the Iranian regime has rattled some sabers of its own, but also appears to be maintaining a lower profile. It remains to be seen whether thats due to a change in course on Irans part, or simply the fact that other issues, such as North Korea, have forced their way onto center stage.
BEIJINGAfter 20 days, the East Wind train arrived in Budapest, marking the revival of the old Silk Road and providing fresh impetus for global cooperation. The train arrived on Friday, with its 41 wagons full of clothes, toys and other Chinese goods, as well as the dust and grime collected through countries including Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus on a journey of over 9,300 km.

From China's Xi'an, the train rumbled along a route that saw trade first flourish between China and Europe more than 2,000 years ago.

Xi'an, then known as Chang'an, was the capital of China, the start of the Silk Road, and an important nexus of international trade and culture.

The city is expected to regain some of its past glory as China expands its international trade links inland. On April 1, the country announced seven new free trade zones, five of which are in inland provinces including one in Xi'an.

Xi'an now has freight train routes to Budapest, Hamburg, Moscow and Warsaw, taking Chinese goods to Europe and bringing wine, olive oil and pharmaceuticals back to China.

Faster than sea and cheaper than air, China now has express freight services to 28 European cities. Since March 2011, more than 3,500 trips have been made, and the figure should rise to 5,000 in 2020.

Besides rail connections, China is moving forward with infrastructure projects, including roads, ports and oil pipelines, all part of an ambitious plan: the Belt and Road Initiative, a transnational network of trade, long-term investment and economic development.

The initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was first proposed by China in 2013. It is expected to include more than 60 percent of the world's population and more than one third of global economic output.

The initiative, which has three major strandsinfrastructure, trade and investment, and industrial capacity cooperationwill inject fresh energy into the world economy, said Chen Xiaochen, a researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, China Renmin University.

While de-globalization is emerging in some Western countries, China firmly upholds the idea of openness and common development.

Globalization is changing largely because of the rise of China and is now more about investment, infrastructure and development rather than just trade, said Amitav Acharya, writer of The End of American World Order in a recent interview with Xinhua.

In the context of weak global growth, trade and a 13-percent drop in global foreign direct investment, the Belt and Road Initiative has won wide support. More than 40 countries and international organizations have signed agreements with China on jointly advancing the initiative. Nearly 20 countries and more than 20 international organizations are expected to sign cooperative documents with China next month.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is against narrow-minded protectionism and isolationism," said Sergei Luzyanin, director of the Far Eastern Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "We only had the Western European-American option of integration and economic development in the 1990s, now there is a new option."

"The Belt and Road has become the most important public good China has provided to the world. It was first proposed by China but now is for all countries to enjoy," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Since 2013, China has invested more than $50 billion in Belt and Road economies. A total of 56 economic and trade cooperation zones have already been built by Chinese businesses there, generating nearly $1.1 billion in tax revenue and creating 180,000 local jobs.
BEIJING  The Chinese government has zero tolerance for any fabrication of economic data as it knows the importance of authentic figures in making correct decisions and bringing tangible benefits to its people.

Of the 23 provincial-level regions that have released first quarter regional GDP figures as of Monday, Northeast China's Liaoning province recorded the slowest growth of 2.4 percent, lower than the national growth of 6.9 percent.

This is not a surprise as the local government admitted in January that a raft of economic data had been falsified from 2011 to 2014 and vowed to eliminate the bubbles in statistics.

In response to the problem, Liaoning reported a 2.5-percent drop in its 2016 regional GDP, compared with a 6.7-percent expansion in national GDP, showing the province's firm stance against falsifying data.

The issue of inflated data originates from the obsession some local officials have for impressive figures, which could bring political benefits under previous official evaluation measures.

China is changing to a more scientific evaluation system from the former system, which placed excessive emphasis on economic indicators.

Fake data are even more harmful to society than fake products, as they will distort the central government's judgment about economic realities and influence decision making.

It is also against the Communist Party of China's ideological line, which underscores seeking truth from facts, and erodes the image of the Party in Chinese people's minds.

As in Liaoning's case, the problem can also hurt the people's material well-being, as inflated fiscal figures caused a reduction in the central government's transfer payments to the local level.

The central government has responded to fake data with a definitive "no."

To ensure data authenticity and reliability, the country has unveiled guidelines on the management of statistical work, improved the legal framework and punished economic data-related violations.

"We will never tolerate statistical violations or data falsifications. There will be zero tolerance," head of the National Bureau of Statistics Ning Jizhe said last month.

Last year, the bureau investigated 15 major statistical violation cases, punishing more than 10 people in each case.

The bureau on Thursday set up a law enforcement unit that aims to become a "sharp sword" against data fabrication.

At a time when the whole country is making strides toward the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way by 2020, no fake data should be allowed.

After all, China's pledge to "leave no one behind" in building a moderately prosperous society must be fulfilled among the people, not just on paper.
Construction starts on first base for privately financed projects

China's first man in space, Yang Liwei, compares his hand with his preserved print displayed at an exhibit about China Space Day at the National Museum of China in Beijing. JIANG DONG/CHINA DAILY

Construction began on Monday on China's first commercial space industry center in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.

The Wuhan National Space Industry Base aims to attract at least 100 enterprises involved in the space industry before 2020 and generate 30 billion yuan ($4.36 billion) in annual gross product by then, according to China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the main investor. The center will occupy 68.8 square kilometers in Xinzhou district.

Expace Technology, a subsidiary of CASIC that provides commercial launch services, will invest 1.7 billion yuan to build production and assembly plants for solid-fuel carrier rockets for commercial launches. The company plans to make about 20 rockets at the center each year, it said in a statement.

In China, a commercial launch usually means a space launch financed by an entity other than a Chinese government or military agency.

The CASIC Second Academy will invest 300 million yuan to construct a research, development and manufacturing complex at the center to make small satellites. CASIC has said it will launch 156 small communications satellites into low Earth orbit, at an altitude of 160 to 2,000 km, before the end of 2025. They would form a network capable of global coverage.

Monday was the second China Space Day. On April 24, 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dongfanghong 1.

Also Monday, Expace Technology said it signed a contract with an unnamed domestic client to conduct four commercial launch missions in a week early in 2018.

The missions will employ Kuaizhou 1A, a solid-fuel carrier rocket developed by the CASIC Fourth Academy in Wuhan. The rocket has a liftoff weight of 30 metric tons and is capable of sending a 200 kg payload into a sun-synchronous orbit, or a 300 kg payload into a low-Earth orbit. Unlike most Chinese carrier rockets, it uses a transporter-erector-launcher vehicle rather than a fixed launch pad.

The first flight of Kuaizhou 1A, to launch three small satellites, was in January at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.

CASIC Fourth Academy began to develop Kuaizhou solid-fuel rockets in 2009 as a low-cost, quick-response rocket family for the commercial launch market. It has launched three of the rockets.

Zhang Di, deputy director of the academy and chairman of Expace, said a new-generation Kuaizhou 11 is under development and will make its first flight before year's end.

He said Kuaizhou 11 will have a liftoff weight of 78 tons and will be capable of placing a 1-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km, or a 1.5-ton payload into a low Earth orbit at an altitude of 400 km.
Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) political party leader and candidate for French 2017 presidential election, celebrates after early results in the first round of 2017 French presidential election, in Henin-Beaumont, France, April 23, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS -- Marine Le Pen, French presidential frontrunner representing the far-right National Front (FN), said on Monday that she would step down as the party's leader to focus on gathering large number of voters ahead of the decisive round in May.

"I have always considered that the President of the Republic is the president of all the French and must gather all the French, but it is necessary to translate words into act," she told France 2 public television.

"I decided to leave the presidency of the National Front, and I am no longer the president of the National Front. I will be above partisan considerations," she said.

Le Pen brought the anti-establishment FN party into the country's political mainstream on Sunday's first round to elect new president for the next five years.

She came second with 21.30 percent, or 7.67 million votes, a record number mirroring a growing public support for anti-immigrant party hostile to Europe.

Le Pen, the 48-year-old female presidential contender, succeeded in 2011 his father Jean-Marie Le Pen to head the NF party, which he created in 1972. Since then, she has been working to softening the party's image by targeting widespread support of young public and workers.

"The French should not be afraid nor of me neither of my project. The system is trying to make us a caricature permanently," she said.

"We are the ones who will defend the most and the best the democracy. None of my actions will be carried out without the people or against the people. I am the only one who can guarantee the French's protection," she stressed.

Despite a surge in FN public endorsement boosted by rising security fears and divided ruling camp, Le Pen is still believed to be lack of a strong majority and enough solidity to win the presidential run-off.
US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, US, April 24, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON -- The US on Monday slapped sanctions on 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in response to Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons.

The employees of SSRC, a Syrian government agency, are designated for their role in "developing and producing non-conventional weapons and the means to deliver them," the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

"These 271 SSRC employees have expertise in chemistry and related disciplines and/or have worked in support of SSRC's chemical weapons program since at least 2012," it added.

As a result of the action, any property or interest of the designated persons in the US must be blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.

The sanctions are part of Washington's response to what it believed the April 4 sarin attack on innocent civilians in Khan Sheikhoun in east Syria by the Syrian government.

Two days after the alleged chemical attack, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase to neutralize its chemical weapon arsenal.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that with Monday's sanctions, the US is sending a strong message that it would "hold the entire Assad regime accountable for these blatant human rights violations in order to deter the spread of these types of barbaric chemical weapons."
Moviegoers in Hungary can watch five Chinese films starring renowned actors this week during the 2017 Chinese Film Festival, which kicked off in Budapest on Sunday.

Jackie Chan, the Hong Kong action movie star, brought his latest film to the festival, which runs through Thursday. The film, the comedic adventure Kung-Fu Yoga, is a Chinese-Indian coproduction.

Chan, a festival ambassador, said the five films featured are among the best titles from China. The other movies are the dramas Operation Mekong, Mountains May Depart, Xuan Zang and the romance film Book of Love.

"I also found that Hungary is a nice place to produce films as well because this country has such a long history and has enjoyed a richness of cultures," Chan said. "And I found that the cost is relatively low and affordable if we produce films here."

Chan met fans before the launch ceremony and sang a song with students from the Sino-Hungarian School in Budapest.

Gabor Cserkesz, president of Budapest-based Chinese Art Center, wore a black T-shirt with Chan's name on it when he met him.

"I think this ambassador can effectively promote Chinese culture and help Hungarians to understand China better," Cserkesz said of Chan. "And movies are a good medium for us to know each other."

Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Balog Zoltan, Hungary's human resources minister, jointly inaugurated the festival.

Liu was to meet Hungarian leaders and attend other cultural and academic exchanges on Monday before heading to Greece. The trip follows a visit to Morocco to increase cultural cooperation.

Zoltan spoke about the role movies play in bridging understanding. "Our economy has started to pick up," he said. "In the same way that China is keen to develop a friendship with our small country, so we also hope to deepen the relationship with China."

He praised China's Belt and Road Initiative, saying: "We need to rebuild the Silk Road, linking the world from East to West and also from West to East."

Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, is among 28 state leaders who have confirmed their attendance at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14 and 15.

China, Hungary and Serbia have also agreed to build a high-speed railway link between Budapest and Belgrade. They plan to start work on the project after the European Commission gives its approval.

fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

Head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Liu Qibao (left) and Balog Zoltan (second from left), Hungary's human resources minister, jointly inaugurated this year's Chinese Film Festival in Hungary, which kicked off in Budapest on Sunday.Shen Chen / China News Service

(China Daily 04/25/2017 page3)
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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers speech at a conference promoting investment, trade and tourism in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh on Monday.  VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

TRA VINH  With its fertile soil and development potential, Tra Vinh Province is expected to become a new centre for trading, aquatic product processing and high-value agriculture of the southern region and the whole country in the near future, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

PM Phuc made the remarks while addressing a conference promoting investment, trade and tourism in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh on Monday, which saw the participation of central and local officials, along with representatives of Vietnamese and foreign businesses.

He said that the goal was achievable since Tra Vinh had good infrastructure, including National Highways 53, 54 and 60, and a big seaport capable of handling 20 million tonnes of cargo each year and receiving container vessels of up to 50,000 DWT.

Tra Vinh is located between the Tien and Hau rivers, the two main branches of the Mekong River, convenient for connecting with other south-western provinces, HCM City and other countries, PM Phuc noted.

While there are advantages such as a long coast to develop wind and solar power, the local climate is also ideal for growing rice, coconut trees, sugar canes, peanut trees and fruit trees to provide materials for the processing industry.

The Government leader asked Tra Vinh to zone off industrial parks so that the industrial sector could serve agriculture and aquatic product processing while attracting investment in renewable energy.

The province should help investors gain a thorough understanding of local advantages, as well as cultural, historical and religious features, he added.

The Government and provincial authorities want to listen to investors opinions to tackle obstacles hindering their operations, the PM stressed.

Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee ong Van Lam said the province was offering a number of incentives for investors and would assist businesses during their operations here.

Tra Vinh has attracted 161 investment projects, including 32 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects. Twenty-two of the FDI projects had been put in operation, contributing 60 per cent to Tra Vinhs export revenues and providing jobs for more than 35,000 workers, he noted.

At the meeting, the provincial Peoples Committee presented investment certificates and decisions to five Vietnamese enterprises and one foreign firm whose projects are worth US$240.5 million in total.

Socio-economic development

On the ceremony celebrating the provinces 25th anniversary of re-establishment on Sunday, PM Phuc expressed his belief that the provincial Party Committee, authorities and people will stay united to make socio-economic breakthroughs, contributing to the success of the Resolution adopted by the 12th National Party Congress and the 10th Resolution by the provincial Party Committee.

The government leader presented the Independence Order, first class, to the provincial Party Committee, authorities and people, the second time Tra Vinh has been honoured with a noble distinction of the Party and State.

During a working session with provincial authorities the same day, he hailed the province for encouraging results in rural development, education and social investment.

On socio-economic development measures, the leader said that agriculture remained a mainstay, specifically high-quality and high-yield rice.

Thanks to its extensive coverage area, Tra Vinh could boost shrimp farming by adopting technological advances to improve productivity, he said, adding that more attention should be paid to fruit cultivation, cow farming, fisheries and tourism.

Underscoring the importance of industries to job creation and State budget collection, he requested the province develop the processing and clean energy industries.

The province must pool all resources for development by diversifying investments, improving the business climate and facilitating start-ups, he said and added that Tra Vinh should triple the number of local firms to more than 5,000 by 2020.

Lying between the Co Chien and Hau rivers, Tra Vinh boasts a 65km coastline and 200km riverside line and nearly 80 per cent of its land coverage is used for agriculture and fisheries. The local economy grew 10.26 per cent last year.  VNS
The Long Binh  Chrey Thom Bridge connecting the southern province of An Giang in Viet Nam and Cambodias Kandal Province was inaugurated on Monday.  VNA/VNS Photo Cong Mao

HA NOI  The Long Binh  Chrey Thom Bridge connecting the southern province of An Giang in Viet Nam and Cambodias Kandal Province was inaugurated on Monday.

The inauguration, which took place in Kandal, was attended by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Cambodian counterpart, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, along with tens of thousands of residents along the shared border.

PM Phuc highlighted the accomplishments in bilateral co-operation, including positive outcomes in economics, trade, investment, security and defense, culture, education and tourism.

He noted that the collaboration between Vietnamese and Cambodian localities, especially cross-border ones, had been enhanced.

The PM stressed the significance of the bridge, saying that it would become the shortest route connecting Cambodias capital of Phnom Penh with Viet Nams border, thereby promoting bilateral trade and contributing to poverty reduction in disadvantaged border areas.

The two PMs agreed that the bridge was not only significant in terms of economy, but also politics, culture, society, security and defense, and described it as a symbol of solidarity, friendship and sound cooperation between Viet Nam and Cambodia.

PM Hun Sen took the occasion to thank the Vietnamese Government and people for supporting Cambodias escape from the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. At present, Viet Nam still assists Cambodia in the cause of nation building and sustainable development, he added.

The construction of the Long BinhChrey Thom Bridge commenced in January 2014. The Vietnamese Government provided a credit package worth US$8.76 million to help the Cambodian government build the bridge.

This is the second biggest transport project in Cambodia after the construction of Highway 78 using Vietnamese Government preferential credit.

The inauguration of the bridge also marks the two countries efforts to complete the land border demarcation and marker planting.  VNS
HA NOI  The Viet Nam National Symphony and Orchestra (VNSO) will perform a colourful and multi-faceted concert at the French Cultural Centre under the baton of conductor Kim Xuan Hieu and with soloists Pham Van Hieu and Tran Hien on April 26 & 27.

The concert will feature baroque, classical, romantic and 20th century classcial music by four composers - French Gabriel Faure; Italian Benedetto Giacomo Marcello; Danish Launy Grondahl and Austrian Franz Schubert.

Schuberts Symphony No1 will be premiered in Viet Nam whilst trompette soloist Hieu will also perform Marcellos Concerto for Trumpette for the first time.

"Schubert is considered the last of the classical composers and one of the first romantic ones. His Symphony No1 is more classical than romantic," said conductor Hieu. "Marcellos Concerto for Trumpette is a original for oboe. The piece is also played by small trumpette in the world because the two brass instruments have similar timbre".

"Hieu and Hien are soloists in the orchestra. But it is a rare chance for them to play solo at a concert," the conductor said.

Trombone soloist Hien will play Grondahls Concerto for Trombone.

Faures La Pavane will open the concert. The piece was composed in 1887 and inspired by the pavane dance. It is one of Faures most popular performance due to its deliberate but delicate tempo.

Conductor Hieu graduated from the Viet Nam Accademy of Music (VNAM) and was sent to study performing art teaching methods at the Frederic Chopin Conservatory in Paris. He also studied conducting in Viet Nam and joined master classes in Oslo, Norway with Professor Thomas Rimul. He has conducted Vietnamese and Norwegian orchestras.

As a VNAM student, Hieu founded and has been a leader of the Hanoi Brass Band in 1998 with six musicians, including Hieu and Hien. He is currently master of horn and assistant conductor at the VNSO.

Trombonist Hien has worked at the VNSO since 1991. He has attended master classes with American Professor Henry Novac and Norwegian musician Terje Alexander Grondhahl. He is currently master of trombone at the VNSO. He has performed in many countries, such as the US, Italy, Russia, Japan, Thailand and China. He received a Meritorious Artist title in 2012.

Trumpeter Hieu became an official VNSO member in 2007. He studied with Norwegian Professor Arnulf Naur Nilsen in Norway in 2008 and performed with the Norwegian Military Band. He also studied and performed with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in 2012 under Japanese tutors Professor Yukihiro Sekiyama and Professor Sachio Hotokezaka.

The two concerts will begin at 8pm at Lespace, 24 Trang Tien Street.  VNS
Hong Van

Mam tep, shrimp paste, and nem chua, fermented pork, may sound quite intimidating dishes, but dont let the pungent smell prevent you from trying these interesting specialties of Ninh Binh Province.

While Ninh Binhs nature and landscape are famous among travelers  with Hoa Lu, the countrys former capital, Trang An caves, world heritage Tam Coc Bich ong limestone caves or the Van Long swamp Hollywood movie site, not many know nem chua and mam tep, the dishes that have been long associated with the lives of natives here.

Arriving in the village of Yen Mac, one is intrigued by a string of houses selling this dish.

Fermented pork

Nem chua, fermented pork wrapped in banana leaf, looks very much like a greenish sausage. Opening the banana leaf emits a pleasing aroma of fermented pork blended with guava, generating homesickness among those raised in Ninh Binh.

Removing the greenish cover reveals the pinkish colour of pork with some shredded white skin.

The pork tastes a bit sour due to the fermentation process. It is served with dipping shrimp/ fish sauce, spiced with garlic and chilli.

Three other localities take pride in their fermented pork  the ancient city of Hue, Thanh Hoa and Phung (former Ha Tay Province). Each has a unique taste. Unlike the fermented pork of the central province of Thanh Hoa and Hue City, which is made of ground pork, Yen Mac fermented pork is made of sliced pork.

To make fermented pork, locals in Yen Mac take out the fat and slice the lean pork. The slices are then soaked with thinh (ground roasted rice) and wrapped in a cloth, which is squeezed remove any water left.

Sliced pork soaked with thinh and shredded pork skin are then seasoned with salt.

The amount of thinh and salt will decide the quality of the final product. If it is overseasoned, nem chua will be too sour, while lack of seasoning will prevent fermentation.

In summer, it takes one day to get pork fermented while in winter, it takes up to four days. Yen Mac fermented pork is dipped in fish/shrimp sauce and eaten with some leaves like fig leaves, mo (stinkvine) and inh lang (polyscias fruticosa) leaves.

Locals in Yen Mac have a story about how the dish was born. It is said that in the Nguyen dynasty, a resident of Yen Mo Thuong Village named Pham Than Duat worked in the royal court. He had a daughter with a passion for cooking. Pham Thi Thu, seeing that drinking wine and eating Hues fermented pork was one of her fathers favourites, learned how to make this dish from the skillful chefs of the royal court.

When holding a party, this home-made fermented pork was a must for the fathers colleagues who were officials serving in the royal court. The dishes made by Thu were said to be even better than those served in the royal court.

When Thu came back her hometown in Ninh Binh, she passed down the know-how to Pham Xuy, a great grandson of Duat. Xuy then opened a fermented pork eatery near Cau But market and gradually his reputation spread to other provinces. Officials would always order Xuys fermented pork for their parties. Tourists passing by would also drop in to buy it and take back home as a gift.

There is an old saying that goes like this:

Yen Mac ac san nem chua/ Tiec tung inh am thuong mua ve dung

Fermented pork  Yen Macs specialty/ Small or big parties often had it.

Shrimp paste

About 40 kilometres from Yen Mac village is Gia Vien District, an area surrounded by the three rivers  Boi, ay and Hoang Long, a land famous for its limestone caves and swamps. Thanks to its river network, Gia Vien residents have abundant tiny shrimp with which to make mam tep,

Shrimp paste here is commonly used as a type of dipping sauce or added to stirfried pork. Those who do not want to use shrimp paste for dipping, can stir shrimp paste with boiling oil, and add dry onion slices, garlic and ginger.

Gia Vien shrimp paste is made pretty much the same way as traditional shrimp sauce, yet the ingredients are quite different - locals in Gia Vien make the paste from tiny shrimp.

The process is quite simple  thinh, salt and water are added to shrimp, the mixture is then put into a terracotta pot within a month. The longer it is preserved, the higher quality the shrimp paste is.

Hoang Minh Trang, a local resident, describes the process: Making shrimp paste is not difficult but it requires care in every step and exact amounts of ingredients [thinh and salt]. To make shrimp paste, we [Trang and her husband] had to wake up at as early as 1am to catch fresh tiny shrimp, which should be cleaned within two to three hours. Otherwise, the shrimp dies and that batch of shrimp paste would not meet our standard quality, she said.

I still remember our parents going to the river to pick up tep (tiny shrimp) and either sell them at market or to the families that make shrimp paste, or bring back home to make shrimp paste for family use, said inh Thi Thanh,

The tiny shrimp is in season in November and December, when the river water turns a bit unclear and muddy, said Thanh.

These days one can catch three to five kilograms of shrimp, but the job is never easy as it requires shrimp catchers to stand five to eight hours in water, said Thanh.

Ground rice

In roasting rice to make thinh, one also needs to be patient, stiring the grains over a low heat. If overcooked, the ground thinh will taste bitter and be useless.

When I was small, I was so familiar with shrimp paste making procedures. But it was not easy for me the first times. It either smelled bad or was too salty. It took time to perfect the dish, said Tran Thi Trang of Me town in Ninh Binh. Her family now makes about 700 litres of shrimp paste every month.

Every step is important and requires meticulousness. To me, roasting thinh for shrimp paste needs the most attention. We made thinh from sticky rice that we grew ourselves. A good batch of roasted rice must be brown in colour and have an aromatic scent, said Trang.

Shrimp paste is a popular and convenient dish because it can be kept for long periods of time and doesnt need any preservatives. The longer it sits, the better the paste, said Thanh.

Besides fermented pork and shrimp paste, tilapia broth is also a popular dish of locals, especially in Tong Truong Yen (Trang An now), as this fish is found in the caves of Tong Truong Yen. Different from fish growing in other regions, tilapia here ate moss and grass and its flesh is firm and aromatic.  VNS
PHNOM PENH  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni upon his arrival in the country yesterday.

At the meeting, PM Phuc expressed his pleasure to visit Cambodia when the two countries are celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

He lauded socio-economic achievements Cambodia has made under the reign of King Norodom Sihamoni, particularly elevating its position in the region and the world.

Highlighting the Kings contributions to consolidating the partnership between Viet Nam and Cambodia, PM Phuc said he hopes the Kings will continue enhancing the ties.

Viet Nam attaches importance to friendship with Cambodia, he said, adding that Viet Nam continuously remembers the Kings assistance to Viet Nam during its national construction and defence.

King Norodom Sihamoni said he admires achievements Viet Nam has obtained during its national development and recalled the late King Norodom Sihanouks recommendations to cement relations with Viet Nam.

He spoke highly of his guests visit, saying he believes that it will enhance bilateral co-operation.

PM Phuc took the occasion to deliver an invitation to visit Viet Nam to his host and Queen Mother of Cambodia Norodom Monineath Sihanouk, which was accepted.

The same day, the PM visited the Vietnamese Embassy staff and representatives of Vietnamese expatriates living and studying in Cambodia.

Acknowledging their contributions to Viet Nam-Cambodia relations, Phuc affirmed the commitment of the Vietnamese Party and Government to assisting overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia, especially in terms of their legal status, accommodations and living standards.

He urged them to boost the two countries relationship and expand the teaching of the Vietnamese language within their community.  VNS
HCM CITY  HCM City saw a decrease in the number of strikes last year compared to 2015 thanks to a project on labour relations that began in 2014, according to the citys Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Fifty-four strikes occurred last year, 29 cases less than in 2015, Le Minh Tan, head of the department, said at a workshop held in HCM City last week.

Employees rights and benefits had not been fully ensured, including annual salary increases, insufficient quality of meals after shifts and working hours, Tan said.

He said that employers had not followed labour regulations, carried out dialogues, or signed labour agreements with their employees.

Deputy chairwoman of the citys Peoples Committee, Nguyen Thi Thu, said that dialogues between employees and employers were essential in reducing the number of strikes.

Such meetings could be held at factories, she said, adding that timely discussions about disagreements were especially important.

Le Thi Giau, head of Binh Tay Food Joint-Stock Company in Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in District 7, said the company, after taking part in the labour relations project, had not seen conflicts.

The labour agreement, issued in February between the staff and the company, is valid for three years.

Dialogues between the companys leaders and employees have helped solve complaints in a timely fashion, she added.

Tan said the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has worked on a pilot programme with peoples committees in seven districts with the highest number of strikes before 2014 and the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zone Authority (HEPZA).

The programme involves surveillance and sufficient and timely assessment of labour relations at enterprises at risk of labour conflicts and strikes. The districts included 7, 9, 12, Thu uc, Binh Tan, Hoc Mon and Cu Chi.

The number of moderators for labour conflicts was increased by 11, raising the total in all city districts to 128. The moderators received professional training, which had helped reduce conflicts and strikes, Tan said.

To raise awareness of employees and employers, more communications about labour regulations and laws had been disseminated.

Tran Hao Tri, a moderator in charge of labour conflicts in Thu uc District, said that he had worked with staff of the districts labour division and provided timely assistance in guiding enterprises when there were signs of conflicts.

As a result, they were able to prevent strikes at Freetrend Industrial Viet Nam Co. Ltd and Truong Loi Co.Ltd.

The departments inspectors have also sped up inspections of labour safety and hygiene, gender equality and the use of child labour at enterprises.

In addition, the departments district divisions have worked with local trade unions to require enterprises to sign or amend labour agreements with their employees to ensure a 13th-month salary, bonuses for helpful initiatives, and holiday time, among others.

Many enterprises in their agreements provided allowances such as bus tickets for their employees before and after Lunar New Year holidays, Tan said.

Enterprises in Thu uc District, for example, presented 3,359 bus tickets to their employees on these occasions. More than 4,200 gifts were presented to workers with financial difficulties who could not return to their hometown during the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet).

Employee dormitories

Nguyen inh Dung, a representative of the citys Department of Construction, said new dormitories for employees would improve their quality of life and help reduce the number of strikes.

The citys steering board for worker dormitories aims to have 245,000 accommodations at industrial parks, export processing zones and hi-tech parks by 2020, he said.

Of the figure, enterprises would invest in space living for 40,000 people and the remaining would be funded by individuals.

As of 2016, 34 projects with a total of 5,514 rooms for more than 39,000 workers had been completed, accounting for more than 15 per cent of demand for accommodation for workers in the city.

Nineteen projects covering a total area of 79 hectares are now being carried out, Dung said.

As of last year, the city had more than 1,570 enterprises with a total of nearly 368,500 workers at industrial parks, export processing zones and hi-tech parks.

Of the number of workers, around 70 per cent are from other provinces and cities. Nearly 258,000 workers need accommodation.

By 2020, the city is expected to have around 402,000 workers, and of that number, 281,400 will need accommodation.  VNS
All of us have heard of absent-minded professors.

It is said that Einstein once called directory information to find the address to his own house after hed lost his way.

Something on these lines seemed to have happened in HCM City last week.

A large crowd of students and guests had gathered for the lecture on Innovation Roadmap at the Hoa Sen (Lotus) University in HCM City. It was to be delivered by Prof. Truong Nguyen Thanh, deputy principal of the university.

There was an audible gasp as the distinguished professor entered the lecture hall. He was wearing a pair of shorts and T-shirts! Had the professor forgotten to change his clothes before setting out from his house? Early onset of Alzheimers?

The good professor soon put such fears to rest. He said his sartorial preference for the day was dictated by his desire to teach creative thinking.

While some students demurred, saying there could be other ways of doing it, others made the point that wearing what is considered appropriate does not by itself denote respect for others, and, vice versa, inappropriate attire does not indicate a lack of respect.

The professor clarified further: I would like the students to remove all barriers and prejudices from their mind. Think. No one forbids you to do anything, no one says what you should do and should not do.

You can say the elephant can fly, the fish can walk. If your thoughts say all that is possible, then you can dream of things that are out of the old reality. This is how creative thinking develops.

The prompt to think outside the box seems to have worked, with the professor saying several students got excited and came up with unique ideas.

Last we heard, some students were hoping that some attractive female professors also get to teach the course.

Shades of creative thinking, what?
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh has urged the four central coastal localities affected by last years environmental incident to complete compensation by June 30 this year.  VNA/VNS Photo Vo Dung

HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh has urged the four central coastal localities affected by last years environmental incident to complete compensation by June 30 this year.

He made the request at the seventh meeting of the Steering Committee on stabilising the lives and production of people in four central provinces  Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien  Hue, which were ravaged by the incident caused by Taiwanese firm Formosa in April 2016.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam, the Peoples Committees of the four affected provinces have distributed the third prepayment (paid out of the State budget before receiving full compensation from Formosa) of compensation to all districts and locals.

They approved more than VN 4.528 trillion (US$198.92 million) out of VN 5.28 trillion ($232.37 million), or 85.8 per cent of pre-paid compensation.

As of April 24, the provinces disbursed VN 4.244 trillion ($186.6 million), equivalent to 93.7 per cent of the approved amount and 80.4 per cent of the total advance payment.

Ha Tinh province distributed VN 1.129 trillion ($49.29 million), while Quang Binh province allocated 1.98 trillion VN ($87.13 million), Quang Tri VN 460.9 billion ($20.28 million) and Thua Thien  Hue VN 579 billion ($25.48 million), said Tam.

The Health Ministry reported that it took samples to test 5,369 tonnes of seafood (excluding jellyfish, fish sauces, dried and frozen seafood) gathered from April to August 2016.

So far, the provinces have destroyed nearly 1,104 tonnes of unusable seafood in storage, paying 50 per cent of its value to affected individuals and organisations.

Production and living conditions of locals in four provinces are basically stabilised, said Tam, adding that fishery resources have recovered. As many as 70-80 per cent of the vessels operating near the coast have resumed operation, while the figure is 80-90 per cent for offshore fishing boats.

In the first quarter of this year, the total catch in the localities was 25,386 tonnes, a fall of 8.8 per cent over the same period last year, he said, adding that farmed aquaculture production was 6,279 tonnes, a rise of 3.12 percent.

After considering the provinces request for nearly VN 768 billion ($33.79 million) of additional compensation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) proposed the Government pay 30 per cent of the value of stocked frozen seafood meeting food safety requirements.

The ministry also asked for approval for the destruction and compensation of 100 per cent of the value of rotten jellyfish and dried seafood stored in coastal localities at an estimated cost of VN 377.448 billion ($16.61 million).

Responding to this request, Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh assigned the chairmen of the peoples committees of the four provinces to take responsibility for determining the beneficiaries and the quantity and scale of compensation, while proving the seafood was gathered within April and August last year.

He asked the Ministry of Finance to supervise the work.

The Deputy PM also requested the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment continue guiding localities to gather samples for evaluating seawater quality in the four localities, while monitoring Formosa Ha Tinhs operations.

The MARD was asked to continue collecting seafood, seawater and sediment samples for testing.

At the same time, the ministry was urged to send fisheries surveillance forces to support the four localities in guiding fishermen not to exploit seafood in the seabed of waters within about 20 nautical miles off the coast from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien  Hue.

The mass fish deaths were first reported on April 6, 2016 when a large number of fish washed ashore in Ha Tinh province. The incident also occurred in Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien  Hue provinces.

About 70 tonnes of dead fish were found in the four provinces and Thua Thien  Hue alone reported 35 tonnes of farm-raised fish had died.

The pollution also affected more than 260,000 people who earn their living from the sea.

In June last year, Formosa accepted responsibility for the fish deaths and pledged compensation to local fishermen and to help renew the polluted marine environment.  VNS
HA NOI  The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has launched a project to ensure the safety of dams in Viet Nam, funded by the government of New Zealand.

The NZ$5 million project will be implemented at Ca river valley in the central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh during the 2016-21 period.

Viet Nam is vulnerable to natural disasters, especially storms and floods, which cause serious damage to life and property, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan on Monday.

With climate change, the weather is becoming more and more complicated, and its negative impact is worsening, he noted.

The country is struggling to operate and manage flood prevention systems in river basins and maintain dam safety.

Viet Nam has around 7,000 reservoirs, the state of many of which have been deteriorating, thereby affecting safety standards. In recent years, there have been several dam failures and other incidents that have caused serious loss to life and property. Theres an urgent need for the Government and localities to improve safety levels at dams as well as to better manage natural disasters.

With this project, along with a similar project funded by the World Bank, Viet Nam hopes to improve the quality and operations of dams and water reservoirs.

New Zealand has provided Official Development Assistance to Viet Nam for many projects, especially those related to agriculture and natural disaster risk management, the minister said. Trade between Viet Nam and New Zealand has seen strong growth in recent times, hitting US$1.15 billion in 2016, which is double the amount recorded five years ago, Tuan added.

Last year, a dam at Song Bung 2 plant in the central Quang Nam Province broke after prolonged torrential rains, flooding five lowland communes in Nam Giang District. It swept away two people and three houses, and caused an estimated loss of around VN5 billion ($222,000).  VNS
MITCHELL  If outgoing Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signs a bill legalizing the sale of fireworks in the state, things are going to get very busy at Flashing Thunder Fireworks Spectacular.

The Mitchell-based fireworks retailer and event producer already sells consumer-grade fireworks in other states, but has never been allowed to sell to Iowans.

At least, not unless Iowans bought their products in a state where the devices are legal.

Obviously, its more business for us, said co-owner Katie Mostek, of the possible law change. We are a distributor of consumer fireworks, so we would gain some business by distributing to people that are selling it in the state of Iowa, and we would also set up retail locations to sell it ourselves.

The Iowa House and Senate both passed legislation legalizing the sale of consumer-grade fireworks. That would include bottle rockets, firecrackers and roman candles.

Current Iowa law only allows the use of snakes, sparklers and caps.

The bill waiting for Branstads signature would make purchases legal across the state, but allow each of Iowas 99 counties to decide if fireworks are legal to use in their jurisdictions.

The bills met opposition from legislators concerned about public safety, as well as the impact on veterans and others suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Branstad has indicated he is willing to sign the bill, but hadnt as of Monday.

If he does, the devices could be sold from June 1 to July 8 and Dec. 10 to Jan. 3 from buildings or temporary structures.

In states where fireworks are legal, such as South Dakota and Nebraska, retailers commonly sell the devices from roadside stands or tents.

Several stands pop up each summer near Sioux City in the border communities of South Sioux City, Neb., and North Sioux City, S.D.

Mostek, in Mitchell, says it only makes sense Iowa reap the benefits of fireworks sales to its residents.

There are people buying it already anyway, she said. Theyre just going out of state to buy it.

If the bill is signed, Mostek will need to add employees to sell Flashing Thunders line of Pyros Pride fireworks.

It already has eight full-time employees at its headquarters in Mitchell.

Approximately 100 more are hired during the summer to produce the 200 fireworks shows Flashing Thunder puts on in Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska.

It also produces the fireworks shows at the Iowa State Fair.

Mostek said the company would likely add retail locations if it was allowed to sell in Iowa.
CEDAR FALLS  A decorated veteran firefighter is contemplating his next move after City Council members Monday upheld a disciplinary action he received regarding a message he posted on social media during the September flood.

After two hours of testimony, council members voted 6-0 with one member absent to uphold the action against firefighter Shane Farmer. He said after the meeting he will review further options with legal counsel and his family.

He received a verbal warning over what he termed a sarcastic personal Facebook post warning residents to heed warnings of near-record flooding.

The post suggested residents of flood-prone areas find a safe place to stay for the weekend. He added, If I have to come get you in a boat because you were smarter than the weatherman or too stubborn to leave your property you will get a stern talking to on the boat ride to dry land, adding, A case of beer may also be requested as punishment for your poor decision.

Farmer took down the post immediately when ordered to by his superiors.

Farmer told council members his post had noble intent, promoting the safety of citizens. He said the citys action against him violated his civil liberties and rights to free speech.

I have been unjustly disciplined, he said. I have maintained throughout this grievance process that I have done nothing wrong. The post was lawful and did not violate any city policy. He said he posted the item as a private citizen.

Fire Chief John Bostwick received a Sept. 22 email from an unidentified citizen who said Farmers post rubbed me the wrong way, had a condescending tone, and added, is this how you want your department represented before the community (who) will be looking to you and your team for help, guidance and the much-needed compassion a community like Cedar Falls has grown accustomed to.

These are clear messages to us this is isnt the courteous, professional, helpful manner or attitude we expect of our city employees, Public Safety Director Jeff Olson said.

City officials redacted the authors name and address from the email on the advice of legal counsel. Farmer maintained he was entitled to that information and had a right to face his accuser.

Olson said the verbal warning Farmer received is the lightest discipline the city could issue. While Farmers battalion chief did not recommend disciplinary action, Olson said he, Bostwick and others have the right to override that.

Council member Mark Miller, who lives in the flood-prone North Cedar area said, Ive read this post 10 times and, being a resident that has needed firefighters to get out of a flood, it is absolutely offensive.

This took place during one of the most serious times our town has had, council member Tom Blanford said. If you intentionally or accidentally incite fear or mistrust, were talking about a much more serious problem.

Council member Frank Darrah said to Farmer, Its very obvious to me you love your job. You care about your job. Youre probably very good at your job. You made a mistake in this situation. I sure hope it doesnt have you give up on what youre doing. Its a learning experience. Hang in there.

Farmer and a team of firefighters were honored last year by the city and received the Sullivan Brothers Award of Valor from the state of Iowa for saving a mother and two children from a burning trailer Feb. 7, 2016. He began volunteering at Cedar Falls Fire Rescue in 2001 and became a full-time firefighter in 2006.
Details werent immediately available, but a patrol officer attempted to stop a Toyota Camry on the west side around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday. The driver allegedly didnt stop, and the chase crossed the Cedar River with someone tossing a bag from the fleeing vehicle while on the Sixth Street bridge.
Authorities were called to gunfire in the area of Johnson and West Sixth streets at about 10:30 p.m. They found 15-year-old Jeremiah Weekly with a gunshot wound to his left foot.
DECORAH  Despite local efforts, Decorahs JC Penney is officially closing July 31.

Local officials have received the final word from JC Penneys legal team on the store closing; liquidation will begin May 22.

The Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce has been working with the city of Decorah to arrange a visit with the JC Penney leadership team in Plano, Texas. However, local officials received feedback from JC Penney that although the decision to close the store was difficult to make, it is final.

They know how much local communities depend on the retail outlets as an anchor for their downtowns, said Chamber Executive Director Kristina Wilgten.

An offer to assist JC Penney in relocating within Decorah to a more conducive store was not successful, said Decorah City Manager Chad Bird. Although not what we had hoped for, I did appreciate their candor and that they did not give any false hopes.

The support from the Decorah and surrounding communities has been amazing, Wilten said. The passion for our local economy has shone through in every comment and conversation.

Hundreds of letters were sent to JC Penney Chief Executive Officer Marvin Ellison since the announcement to close the store was made March 17. A petition to keep the store open received more than 4,000 signatures and numerous phone calls to company officials also were made.

Though efforts were not successful with JC Penney, now is the time for us to take our passion and following of JC Penney and turn it around to other local stores, added Wiltgen. That is the only way we will keep our vibrant community diverse and full of everyday amenities.
WATERLOO  The city is donating land and extending sewer in the Martin Road business park to lure a new biodiesel fuel blending facility.

Waterloo City Council members voted unanimously Monday to approve a development agreement with Kwik Trip Inc., of La Crosse, Wis., and sell roughly four acres of land for $1 to secure the project.

The project to be constructed along the north side of Ridgeway Avenue and west of U.S. Highway 63  directly west of the Denso North America building  will initially have four 30,000-gallon tanks, with 10 total in the future, and an indoor fuel mixing building.

City Council members had rejected the same project in October, when Kwik Trip was proposing to build it without incentives on private property near Schoitz Engineering. Heavy opposition from residents in the nearby Southland Park neighborhood sank a zoning request.

Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson said the new location is not near as many homes.

From a land-use perspective this is a heavy industrial planned district the city of Waterloo bought for industrial development, Anderson said.

But resident Gary Tielebein, who lives about a half mile from the new site, said he was still concerned about fuel vapors and possible contamination.

It wasnt approved out in the country, where it was disapproved not too long ago, Tielebein said. Why would it be approved closer to town?

Resident Kevin Everding took issue with the land giveaway.

I think its poor business for Waterloo to sell a half million dollars worth of land for a buck, he said.

Kwik Trips Wade Dumont said the facility would be built according to Iowa Department of Natural Resources requirements. Vapor mitigation measures would be in place, while double-walled tanks, a basin and underground containment area would be constructed as triple protection against a possible spill.

Councilman Bruce Jacobs thanked Kwik Trip for its investment in Waterloo and said the company has a stellar safety record.

Along with the land donation, the city has agreed to extend a sewer line to the site at an estimated cost of $120,000 to $200,000. The sewer also will serve future projects in the area, Anderson said.

Kwik Trip agrees to maintain at least a $300,000 assessed value on the project through 2023.
WATERLOO  Three Waterloo City Council members are looking for residents to serve on a local government advisory committee.

Councilmen Bruce Jacobs, Tom Lind and Steve Schmitt announced the formation of a citizens committee to review and provide suggestions on improving city services and providing them more efficiently.

Were open minded to everybody, Jacobs said. We want to get the conversation started, more or less, and get the peoples perspective to make sure were on the right track.

The only thing we ask is that they want to make Waterloo a better place to live and work, he added.

The structure of the committee  such as the number of members, planned meeting times and locations and deadline for recommendations  was not defined to date.

Jacobs said he would expect the committee members to set their own meetings and agenda.

Im willing to help if they want help and to provide guidance or information, but I dont plan to be a part of the group, Jacobs said. I think the group will establish what they want to do.

Schmitt has broached the idea of a citizens advisory committee at recent City Council meetings, comparing it to a Black Hawk County government task force on which he served in 2005.

Wed really like to get a good cross section of people from life experience to age, gender and race, he said.

Schmitt envisions a group of nine to 13 members who will set their own meeting times, structure and agenda. He hoped they would be allowed access to use a meeting room in City Hall and visit with staff.

We do not want it to be the Tom, Bruce and Steve committee at all, Schmitt said. Our goal is to maybe interact with the committee for a meeting or two and then step away from this thing.

Any Waterloo residents interested in being on the committee are encouraged to contact Jacobs, 215-8267, Lind, 232-1818, or Schmitt, 610-1938, by May 5.
DES MOINES  A program that would allow Iowa parents to use taxpayer money to put their child in a nonpublic school could be proposed next year when Iowa lawmakers resume their work.

Varied versions of so-called school choice programs are operating in dozens of states, and the data on their effect is mixed.

Republicans, who have complete lawmaking control of the Capitol at least through 2018, would like to implement some type of school choice program next year. They would have preferred to pass something this session, which ended Saturday, but those programs typically come with a healthy price tag, and legislators had to make budget reductions this year just to stay within the states means.

So Republicans will keep their fingers crossed next year the budget will have room for two conservative  but expensive  priorities: tax reform and school choice.

Supporters of school choice say parents should have the option  and financial assistance  to choose where their child is educated.

Critics say school choice programs take critical funding away from public schools and divert taxpayer money to nonpublic schools that have little oversight and offer no proof of increased student achievement.

Some studies have tried to show the effect of school choice programs on student achievement and public education funding. Some found increased student achievement, while others have shown student regression.

Walt Rogers, a Cedar Falls Republican and chairman of the House Education Committee, said he will study the issue before next session to determine what school choice policy is appropriate for Iowa.

Republicans have devoted most of their attention to educational savings accounts, of ESAs, which let parents withdraw their child from a public school and have the taxpayer funding that would have gone to that school  or a percentage of it  placed into a government-authorized savings account. Those funds could be used for educational purposes, including tuition at a parochial or private school, homeschooling, private tutoring or other costs.

Its incumbent upon me to look at (education savings accounts) because theres reputable data out there that says when ESAs are implemented good things happen all the way around. And theres some opposing data that says other things, Rogers said.

EdChoice, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for school choice, in 2016 compiled an analysis of dozens of studies conducted across the country. The EdChoice report found the majority of those studies showed academic outcomes improved among students who participated in school choice programs, as did the academic outcomes of students at public schools that lost students to school choice programs. The EdChoice analysis also found no study showed a negative impact on funding for public schools in states with school choice programs.

EdChoice until 2016 was the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, named for the Nobel Prize-winning, free-market economist Milton Friedman.

The evidence points clearly in one direction, reads the EdChoice reports executive summary. Opponents frequently claim school choice does not benefit participants, hurts public schools, costs taxpayers, facilitates segregation and even undermines democracy. However, the empirical evidence shows that choice improves academic outcomes for participants and public schools, saves taxpayer money, moves students into more integrated classrooms and strengthens the shared civic values and practices essential to American democracy.

A few outlier cases that do not fit this pattern may get a disproportionate amount of attention, but the research consensus in favor of school choice as a general policy is clear and consistent.

The report espouses some of the long-touted conservative arguments for school choice programs: They allow parents to find the right school for their childs needs, they encourage competition and they save money by reducing wasteful spending.

But the author of three of the studies cited in that EdChoice report told the national fact-checking news agency PolitiFact increased student achievement in those studies was modest at best.

Less responsible voucher advocates will say that this is proof positive that these programs work, David Figlio, a professor of education and social policy at Northwestern University, told PolitiFact. I think a more responsible take on this is these programs dont seem to be hurting public schools  at the scale that theyre at.

Figlio also told PolitiFact the schools he studied lost only a small number of students to school choice programs, so the loss of funding was minor.

Other studies have found similarly murky results.

A 2016 Tulane University study found Louisianas school voucher program had a negative impact on students who participated, especially in mathematics, in the first two years. However, the study found those results improved from the first year to the second.

The Louisiana study found school choice programs had either no impact on students at competing public schools or student achievement at those public schools increased modestly.

In general, our results present a mixed picture of the (programs) effectiveness, the report said. We find the program had a negative impact on participating students academic achievement in the first two years of its operation, most clearly in math. On the other hand, the results improved between the first and second years and, through market-based pressures, the program may have slightly increased students math scores in public schools, particularly those most affected by the competitive threat.

A 2016 study of Ohios school choice program, conducted by the conservative education think tank the Fordham Institute, found students who used the program fared worse academically than their public-school peers. That study, one of the studies written by Figlio, cautions that may be partially explained by the fact the study did not include students who left schools defined by the state as low-performing.

Let us acknowledge that we did not expect  or, frankly, wish  to see these negative effects for voucher participants; but its important to report honestly on what the analysis showed and at least speculate on what may be causing these results, the Fordham report said.

The report went on to speculate reasons could include the aforementioned testing limitations, differences in schools testing environments or curriculum or that some private schools accepting voucher students are themselves not performing as well as they should.

Beyond student achievement, opponents have levied other criticisms of school choice programs, including that they often do not come with appropriate oversight and serve only to benefit families who already possess the financial means to send their children to private schools.

The term education savings account sounds really nice, like every kid ought to have one. But really, its a voucher. Its a price tag thats put on the back of an Iowa student, that they would be able to take taxpayer dollars and go anywhere that family wanted them to go, said Tammy Wawro, president of the Iowa State Education Association, which represents more than 34,000 public school educators. Its not just a familys tax rebate. It is truly taxpayer dollars going with a child into a place that we have no authority over, we are not guaranteed any significant impact for our taxpayer dollars and theres no oversight. We ought to be very scared that that conversation even comes up.

Arizona was the first state to implement an education savings account program, and a 2016 analysis by the Arizona Republic newspaper found the program was being used largely by students from well-performing schools in wealthier districts. The newspapers report said during the 2015-16 school year, $20.6 million was taken out of Arizona schools with A or B ratings from the state, while $6.3 million was taken out of schools with C or D ratings.

Despite the muddled results from other states, many Republican legislators are ready to implement a school choice program in Iowa when they return to work next year.

This will create mobility and portability for Iowa students. This will be good for Iowa, said Sen. Rick Bertrand, a Republican from Sioux City. If we dont set up the funding next year, at the least we need to set up the infrastructure that puts Iowa on course for education spending accounts. Its time.
After strong showings in two special elections for congressional seats, Democrats are beginning to believe they have a real shot at winning control of the House of Representatives next year. But if they hope to succeed, theyre going to have to stop fighting one another.

The first straw in the wind came in Kansas, where a virtually unknown Democrat came within a few percentage points of winning the House seat Mike Pompeo, now President Trumps CIA director, won by 32 points only six months ago.

That threw a scare into us, a top Republican strategist in Washington confessed. Even in conservative districts, theres a backlash against Trump.

Even more tantalizing was last weeks primary election in the suburban Atlanta district once held by Tom Price, Trumps secretary of Health and Human Services. A 30-year-old Democratic newbie named Jon Ossoff took 48 percent of the vote and almost won the seat outright. Now Ossoff faces a tough runoff in June against a well-funded Republican, Karen Handel, who wisely distanced herself from Trump.

In a district owned by the GOP for the last 37 years, Ossoff rode a wave of anti-Trump enthusiasm and raised an astounding $8 million from Democrats around the country. He had help from a long list of progressive groups, too, with one exception: Our Revolution, the political action committee founded by Bernie Sanders.

Why didnt Sanders pitch in for Ossoff? Hes not a progressive, the Vermont senator told the Washington Post.

By Sanders yardstick, thats true. In a district Trump won narrowly in November, Ossoff ran as a generic moderate-to-liberal Democrat  a Hillary Clinton Democrat, in effect. A Bernie Sanders-style progressive, he wasnt.

But Sanders brusque dismissal of the Democrats hottest new face produced anguish even among some of his allies. What was Bernie thinking? a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus moaned to me. Thats going to make it harder for Ossoff to raise money for the runoff.

On Friday, Sanders relented. It is imperative that Jon Ossoff be elected, he said in a written statement. I applaud the energy and grassroots activism in Jons campaign. But the episode revealed a problem for the Democrats: They seem trapped in an endless loop of their bitter 2016 primary campaign.

The unresolved conflicts were on painful display last week when Sanders and the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, former Clinton backer Tom Perez, attempted to stage a unity tour. The official theme was Come Together/Fight Back, but togetherness was in short supply on the first few stops.

Perez was booed by Sanders supporters several times, even though he praised the Vermont senator lavishly and presented a policy message (drawn from Clintons notably progressive platform) not too different from Our Revolutions. In return, Sanders delivered a reprise of his 2016 message, arguing the party still doesnt get it. The Democrats have not put forward an agenda that speaks to the needs of people in pain, he said.

Intraparty squabbles normally wouldnt matter much in a non-election year. But in addition to Georgia, House seats are up in Montana and South Carolina, conservative states where Democrats need to cast a broad net.

Their strength in the Kansas and Georgia contests have led many to believe they have a better-than-expected chance to gain 24 House seats in 2018, the number they need to gain a majority. Georgia showed that the House is in play, Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster and strategist, argued. That was a huge turnout for a special election. Democrats are energized and mobilized.

Still, the House remains an uphill battle, in part because redistricting has made few seats susceptible to change. And Democrats have a chronic problem turning out voters in a nonpresidential year. Democrats underperformed the last two midterms by about 20 percent, warned Doug Sosnik, a former aide to President Clinton. Can they change that? Maybe, but just opposing Donald Trump wont be enough.

In Georgias sixth district race, for example, even though Ossoff came in first, he drew only a slightly larger percentage of the vote than Hillary Clinton did last year. DNC Chair Perez noted at least 30,000 Democrats failed to turn out in the special election. Ossoff would have won outright if 5,500 of them had shown up.

In other words, to win a majority in the House, Democrats will have to do everything right. Running Sanders progressives in every district is probably not one of those things. Democratic strategists have targeted 23 districts with Republican incumbents where Clinton won the presidential vote. Most of those seats are in the Sun Belt, seven in California alone.

Many of the up-for-grabs districts are not natural progressive territory, Mellman said. The winning coalition in Georgia 6 is not a Bernie Sanders coalition, he said.

The Sanders-Perez not-ready-for-unity tour suggests Democrats have a long way to go before the wounds of 2016 heal. Until then, Sanders and his supporters have decisions to make ahead of the 2018 congressional election: How progressive will they demand Democratic candidates be? How tough a litmus test will they apply?

They hope to change the party and change control of Congress too. The choice before them is: Which do they want to do first?
Venezuela sits on the worlds largest oil reserves. It had been South Americas longest-running democracy.

Now it is an economic and democratic basket case with even electricity rationed by the leftist government of Nicolas Maduro.

Before the opposition coalition could take control of the National Assembly after winning 60 percent of the seats in December, Maduros lame duck United Socialist Party responded by filling 12 Supreme Tribunal vacancies with judges.

In what amounted to a coup of sorts March 29, that court nullified the legislatures lawmaking powers, bestowing those responsibilities on itself. In addition, it gave Maduro the ability to suspend elections and imprison opposition leaders.

It previously had granted him sole power of the purse and overturned a law providing amnesty to 114 political prisoners.

The nullification was reversed April 1 after an outcry that included Maduro associates. But a week later the government banned opposition party leader Henrique Capriles, who narrowly lost the presidency in 2013, from involvement in politics for 15 years.

Bloody protests, including some fatalities, have gained momentum. (Maduro, no fan of any criticism, had pulled the plug on CNN for distorting the truth and booted the New York Times bureau chief.)

Shortages are rampant, including bread, soap and toilet paper.

A toilet paper alternative exists  the bolivar, the Venezuelan currency. On Nov. 1, a dollar could be exchanged for 1,567 bolivars. Four weeks later, it required 3,480 bolivars. The government is replacing its worthless 100-bolivar note with a new currency worth 20,000 bolivars.

It will make little difference as Maduros United Socialist Party  heirs to the movement founded by the late President Hugo Chavez, a self-styled revolutionary who ruled from 1999 to 2013 and fancied himself the Fidel Castro of South America  continue to take a wrecking ball to the economy.

The International Monetary Fund expects Venezuelan consumer prices to soar by 2,200 percent this year and the economy to contract by 8 percent.

The government continues to either seize industries or undercut their ability to operate profitability. General Motors pulled out last week after its plant was seized. McDonalds operates sans Big Macs or fries due to food shortages. Major airlines  Delta, United and American included  have had profits frozen and curtailed flights.

Pepsi sustained a $1.4 billion loss in 2015. Coca Cola temporarily stopped production due to a sugar shortage. Mondelez, maker of Oreos, lost $800 million.

Chavezs revolution broke up big farms and put farm workers in control. However, he also undercut them by imposing food price controls so low farmers couldnt make a profit and increasing imports using oil revenues.

Agriculture  once the bedrock of the economy  is now on life support. Without oil money, food imports are down 50 percent and farmers dont have access to seeds and fertilizer from overseas. Flour, rice, beans, milk and eggs are among the products rationed.

Medical supplies are lacking from penicillin to pain relievers. Hospitals are in crisis. Venezuela has sought UN assistance, although it lost its General Assembly vote for the second year because it failed to pay dues.

Oil revenues fell from $80 billion in 2013 to $25 billion in 2016. Despite their current rise, Venezuela will see little benefit. Because it didnt pay bills for oil service providers, many rigs were shut down.

Last December, the government pledged half its shares in Petroleos de Venezuela as collateral for a loan from the Russian oil company Rosnet, owned by oligarchs with close ties to President Vladimir Putin. On April 4, a bipartisan group of six U.S. senators wrote Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin concerned Russia could control Venezuelas oil infrastructure if Petroleos de Venezuela defaults on the loan.

Curiously, Citgo, its American subsidiary, contributed $500,000 to President Donald Trumps presidential campaign, which went unappreciated. Trump has been photographed with the wife of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez while calling for the release of political prisoners.

The only booming industry in Venezuela these days is passport applications to leave, reportedly requiring large bribes for processing.

Leftist initiatives as antidotes to poverty in Brazil, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador havent worked. However, nowhere has the failure been as spectacular as in Venezuela, which has abused its resources and bought into a bankrupt ideology.

As protests spread to include Maduros base among the lower-middle class and poor, his days have become numbered. But rebuilding the remnants of a market economy, while meeting the needs of an increasingly impoverished population, will be a Herculean task.
Q: Orange School was closed in 2015 and they are already demolishing it. Devonshire School closed in 1987 and it is still sitting there. Why?

A: As previously answered in this column, Waterloo Community Schools was checking to see if there was an interested buyer in Devonshire before moving to tear it down.

Q: To get assistance from the county in paying property taxes, your income has to be $24,000 for one person. If they raise taxes will they lower this income limit?

A: No. The income guidelines for property tax assistance is determined by the state government based on poverty levels and is not related to property tax rates set by the local government bodies.

Q: In the near future do they plan on redoing the parking lot at the boathouse in Waterloo?

A: Yes. The city of Waterloo has a $500,000 grant from the Black Hawk County Gaming Association, a $200,000 Resource Enhancement and Protection grant, bond funds and Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for a planned $1 million parking lot and landscaping project around the Waterloo Boathouse.

Q: In the past if a tree on the citys property beyond the sidewalk fell and broke and did damage to wiring or someones house the city paid for the repairs. Has this changed that they are no longer responsible for the repair? If so, when did that change?

A: When damage to private property is reported as having been caused by falling publicly-owned trees or limbs, insurance claims may be filed with the citys insurance carrier and/or the private property owners insurance company. The city relies on its insurance carrier to investigate these claims and to determine whether payment is made to the claimant on behalf of the city.

Q: We live in southwest Waterloo and our property was reassessed and went up 20 percent. Are they doing the entire city or sections of the city?

A: Every odd numbered year, the assessors office analyzes the prior two years of sales data in all neighborhoods to see if they are within tolerance set by Iowa Code. The assessed value is an estimate of the price your property is worth on the open market between a willing buyer and willing seller. Some areas saw no change while others saw an increase or decrease depending on the sales prices compared to assessed values. Your assessed value also can change due to structural changes.

Q: During the campaign, Donald Trump said he would never warn any other country before launching an attack. Yet he warned Russia before sending missiles into Syria. Why?

A: According to Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis, Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line. U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield. Presumably the administration wanted to avoid a war with Russia.
WATERLOO  A Waterloo woman was taken to the hospital Saturday after she was found on the railroad tracks with a massive leg wound, according to police.

Details of what happened werent immediately available, but authorities said Jovida Owens, 37, lost a portion of her left leg. She was taken to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital for treatment.

Police said it appeared Owens had been a pedestrian and had been in an accident with a train. She apparently remained on the tracks for about a half-hour before she was discovered by the crew of a different train as it passed, police said.

She was found about 9:50 p.m. Saturday near the East Fourth Street rail crossing and was conscious and alert, according to police.

2 men injured

in shootings

WATERLOO  Two people were injured in separate shootings over the weekend.

Both victims are expected to survive, and no arrests have been made.

Police were called about gunfire to the area of Frances Drive and Parkview Boulevard at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Chaston Dewite Fox, 24, of Waterloo, suffered a gunshot wound to the buttocks and was taken to Covenant Medical Center by an acquaintance, according to police. Officers found a number of spent shell casings in the area outside.

He remained in the hospital Monday.

During the investigation, officers found a large bag of marijuana in the hospital parking lot underneath a vehicle that was parked next to the car that brought Fox of the emergency room, said Capt. David Mohlis. He said it wasnt clear if it was related to the shooting.

Then about 11:20 a.m. Sunday, neighbors reported hearing gunshots in the area of West First and Allen streets, and police found 36-year-old Nickenson Bilsaint with a gunshot wound to his lower right leg at West Second and Denver streets. Paramedics with Waterloo Fire Rescue took him to Covenant Medical Center.

His condition wasnt immediately available, but police said he had a through-and-through wound.

Man reports robbery, shooting

WATERLOO  A Waterloo man told police someone shot at him after robbing him late Saturday.

Neighbors called police after hearing gunfire in the 900 block of West Third Street around 11:23 p.m. Saturday, and officers found 39-year-old Robert Campbell and another person in the area.

Campbell told officers he had been involved in an argument with a group of teens, and one of the teens pulled a handgun and took his watch and bracelet, according to the police report. The assailant then fired as Campbell fled, he said.

No injuries were reported, and no arrests have been made.

Man faces new

gun charges

WATERLOO  A Waterloo man who was found with a pistol under his lawn chair in March is now facing federal weapons charges.

A Waterloo police officer assigned to an FBI task force petitioned the court to charge Anntwan Dayshawn Phillips, 24, with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The criminal complaint was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, and Phillips was arrested at the police station on the warrant Saturday.

Phillips had earlier been arrested on state charges in the incident.

According to court records, Waterloo police were called after neighbors reported hearing gunfire and seeing a man in a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt running in the 600 block of Ankeny Street around 9:30 p.m. March 18.

Patrol officers saw Phillips seated in the front yard of 642 Ankeny St. He was wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, and police found a loaded 7.65mm AP handgun under his chair.

Police also found .32-caliber ammo  which is compatible with 7.65mm  in his girlfriends vehicle, which he had been driving.

No injuries were reported in the shooting.

Phillips denied being involved in the shooting.

Phillips has prior convictions for weapons charges from 2011 that prohibit him from handling firearms, according to court records.

Man shot during target practice

ARLINGTON  The Fayette County Sheriffs Office is investigating an accidental shooting near Arlington on Saturday.

A deputy was flagged down about 10:15 a.m. Saturday near 90th Street and County Road W-51, just north of Arlington. A passenger in the vehicle, Patrick A. Lynch, 50, of Grimes had sustained a gunshot wound to the ankle. The deputy gave first aid to the victim until the ambulance arrived.

Deputies said a preliminary investigation showed Lynch was target practicing with his 25-year-old son on private property north of Arlington when a 9 mm pistol went off accidentally, causing a gunshot wound to Lynchs ankle.

Lynch was transported by Arlington ambulance to Regional Medical Center in Manchester. The incident remains under investigation.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 19, 2017 | 09:17 AM | KUTTAWA, KY

A man was arrested Tuesday after police allegedly found over 75 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop on Interstate 24.

According to Kentucky State Police, Troopers stopped a vehicle near the 47 mile marker in Lyon County for a traffic violation. During the traffic stop, police said they saw several indicators of criminal behavior, which led to a search of the vehicle.

During the search, Troopers found edible marijuana, as well as over 75 pounds of high grade marijuana.

Troopers arrested 37-year-old Michael D. Wilson, of Edmonds, WA, and charged him with trafficking marijuana greater than five pounds. Wilson was lodged in the Caldwell County Jail.
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Trump is the bait and switch president:

Candidate Trump: I Love Wikileaks!

President Trump: Arrest Assange, shut down Wikileaks!

282 promises to get into office and he has reversed or broken most of them. It has to be a record for anyone becoming president

[contentcards url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-will-give-you-everything-here-are-282-of-donald-trumps-campaign-promises/2016/11/24/01160678-b0f9-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html]

I had been a huge Trump fan since day one:

But after he decided to join forces with the political correct globalist elements within his staff and totally ignore the drain the swamp idea, just like he promised, my enthusiasm for the Donald has been destroyed. The war mongering with NK is in my view a huge mistake. NK is not a threat

Trumps daughter and her husband are bad elements and should be kept far from the oval office. Trumps reluctance, fear, agenda and or whatever to abandon the swamp is a betrayal and why is Comey, Hillary, Obama and so many others are still around? Trumps unwillingness to drain the swamp has now made the 19+ intelligence organizations stronger and more forward than ever and instead of hiring, defending and or promoting more like Flynn, Trump has filled up his military staff and the NSC with plain out Globalists that have reduced Trump to a lessor state than even a puppet. The situation in the NSA,FBI and CIA are out of control, more so than it has ever been, and Trump is doing everything to help that situation blossom

Something happened with Trump a month ago:

And its not in a good way. Going after Assange and Wikileaks and the people who helped him get elected is plain out outrageous and pretending he has nothing to do with it is just stupid. Trump is a huge disappointment right now. I was for a while hoping his flip flopping and stupid decisions lately was part of a ulterior plan, but it is obvious now that the Donald has been the victim of a coup from within and wont return to the person we voted for. With Geert Wilders and Le Pen going to lose and or have lost in Europe, the Globalists have again garnered the upper hand

We are back at square one. Like it all never happened and I suspect soon Britain will be sliding back to the EU and damn what the people care about

* * * * *

Yes I believe personally:

The problem is that the US believes (deeply believes throughout the country),that it has the right to bomb other countries that they are not even in a declared war with. That is the root of the World situation we face. Would anybody think the same right for China or Russia. They have problems with certain other countries. But would most people say that it would be acceptable for them to just go around bombing them Even worse in my opinion is that if the bombing happens. The bombed countries arent expected to strike back. They are expected to just take it. I think if the US thinks that will happen with NK they are mistaken. I think if they bomb NK, the NKs will strike back with retribution. They dont seem to me to be the just take it type of people. They have a good life regardless of what you have been programed to think

* * * * *

The lines in the sand are being drawn:

Except, China, Russia and Iran do not bluff

They simply just get quietly ready to defend their motherland

This they are ready to do and the people will stand behind their country. Are you ready to stand behind the USA and her warmongering bullyboys?

[contentcards url=https://www.sott.net/article/345707-Only-fools-would-trust-warmongering-rogue-state-USA]

WtR
Here are a couple statements by Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross on U.S. - Canada trade issues. First this:

It has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations. Last Monday, it became apparent that Canada intends to effectively cut off the last dairy products being exported from the United States. Today, in a different matter, the Department of Commerce determined a need to impose countervailing duties of roughly one billion dollars on Canadian softwood lumber exports to us. This is not our idea of a properly functioning Free Trade Agreement.

The point about Canada cutting off dairy products has to do with ultrafiltered milk, I think, but as I understand it, that's a complicated situation of a government program interacting with private sector pricing decisions. What we may see is a WTO claim with elements similar to the famous Canada - Dairy case.

As for the CVDs on lumber, I'm sure the Canadians also feel that this is not their idea of a properly functioning trade agreement. I've always thought that the only way to resolve the lumber subsidies dispute is for the U.S. to bring an SCM Agreement claim against the Canadian lumber programs, and let the WTO DS process weigh in directly. Instead, we get these recurring CVD (and dumping) cases, which then get struck down at the NAFTA and WTO level, without actually resolving anything. A finding that the DOC acted improperly in a particular case does not address the underlying issue.

Speaking of NAFTA, Ross also said this:

One of the peculiarities with NAFTA, one of the very bad features, is that often the panel turns out to be three Canadians and two Americans. So you have this strange situation of foreign nationals deciding whether or not the Commerce Department properly applied its rules

Obviously, he is talking about Chapter 19 here. The question is, does he want to get rid of it entirely, or just change the process for choosing panelists?
When Rodrigo Tot talks about his land, his eyes light up.

The Indigenous leader of the Agua Caliente "Lote 9" community in El Estor, in Guatemala's eastern department of Izabal, has called the fertile farmlands his home for decades. But the resource-rich region is also coveted by corporate mining interests for the nickel and gold deposits that lie beneath.

For his 43-year struggle against these mining corporations, Toto was named this years winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize, one of six winners of the award that honors grassroots environmental leaders from around the world.

The Goldman Foundation praised Tot for his "intrepid leadership of his people and the defense of his ancestral land," despite having enduring multiple hardships in his struggle, such as the assassination of his son five years ago.

Tots fight began in 1974, when the government enacted a new law that required landholders to pay US$4,500 to receive property titles. And while in 1985 a provisional title was granted to Tot and 63 other Indigenous farmers in the community who were in the process of completing their payment, three years later, records of the community's ownership of the land mysteriously disappeared. In 2002, when the last payment was made, the government denied the community legal title to the land.

Instead, two years later, the government granted a mining license for a region covering 16 Maya communities including Agua Caliente, passing the land rights on to the mining corporation, Compania Guatemalteca de Niquel.

"That is why we defend it, because there are lots of natural resources," Tot told the Associated Press. "There are 10 springs that supply lots of communities. We are preserving the mountain because if it dies, there will no longer be any water."

Mining companies have long used violence against poor and marginalized Indigenous communities who oppose their projects in Guatemala, with the government backing the mining companies in each of these cases, according to Calas, a Guatemalan environmental and social law non-profit group.

Living in one of the top 10 most dangerous countries in the world for land and environmental defenders, Tot has received many threats against his life.

While the Inter-American Commission on Human rights ordered protective measures for him and his lawyer in 2012, the Guatemalan government has still not yet provided them.

"I will never forget the loss of my son, but I continue to fight," Tot said. "We are no longer in the 1980s, when they could make a leader disappear and everything was kept quiet. Not today. When they make a leader disappear, 10 more rise up."

Latin America is one of the most dangerous places in the world for environmental activism, exemplified through the high-profile murder of the Honduran Indigenous leader Berta Caceres last year, also a Goldman award winner. Another Goldman winner, Mexican Indigenous environmental activist Isidro Baldenegro Lopez, was murdered in January.

According to Front Line Defenders, 12 human rights defenders were killed in Guatemala in 2016, and according to Global Witness, 10 land and environmental defenders were killed in the Central American country in 2015.
Apr 25, 2017 | By Tess

In the medical field, if practice doesnt make perfect, its bound to at least get you close. But training doctors (and especially surgeons) can be somewhat tricky, as it requires using real human bodies or lifelike simulation models, which up until now have been difficult to produce. In recent years, 3D printing has been used to create increasingly realistic-looking surgical models, but those working in the field have struggled to capture the feel, texture, and movements of the human anatomy in a 3D printed model.

Low fidelity simulated surgical training model for ETV (left), high fidelity model (right)

Now, however, thanks to an innovative collaboration between neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, simulation engineers, and special effects experts, this feat doesnt seem so impossible. Together, the interdisciplinary team have developed a 3D printed training tool that is designed to help neurosurgical trainees perform a minimally invasive surgical procedure.

Research on the simulation model, which combines medical expertise with Hollywood-style special effects, was recently published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics under the title Creation of a novel simulator for minimally invasive neurosurgery: fusion of 3D printing and special effects. It was authored by Peter Weinstock, MD, PhD and colleagues from the Boston Childrens Hospital.

The 3D printed training simulation model developed by the team is a full-scale replica of the head of an adolescent who has hydrocephalus, a condition that causes increased pressure inside the skull because of excess cerebrospinal fluid. The 3D printed model is incredibly realistic, as it reproduces both the external appearance of the head and its internal neuroanatomy.

Original MRI study and imaging segmentation for the 3D printed hydrocephalus model

Unlike many existing 3D printed simulation models, which often cannot properly mimic the feel and texture of human tissues, the neurosurgical model integrates realistic special effects materials that come close to the feel and appearance of organic skin and even brain structures. After all, who better to recreate human-like materials than some of Hollywoods top special effects people who can convince us of virtually anything on the screen.

Impressively, the 3D printed model is also designed to come alive during the operation, so to speak, as its various components pulse and move just like a real human brain would. Having these realistic features (such as a simulated basilar artery and ventricles, and cerebrospinal fluid movements) provides the surgeons in training with both visual and tactile feedback that makes the experience feel all the more real.

Typically, a neurosurgeon in training will undergo a rigorous residency that generally lasts about seven years. This means that for several years they are not even allowed to touch a patient, and must simply learn by observing more experienced neurosurgeons and practice their surgical skills using the other means at their disposal. Up until now, training processes have largely relied on using human cadavers, which are expensive to store and to procure, or virtual reality programs, which are not as realistic as working on a physical model. The idea behind the 3D printed animated surgical model is to offer a more realistic and more affordable training tool for neurosurgeons.

ETV trainer assembly

As the research paper explains, the 3D printed training model was tested using a third ventriculostomy procedure (ETV), a minimally invasive surgical operation that is commonly used to treat hydrocephalus. While we wont go into much detail about the procedure, it essentially consists of making a hole in the floor of the third ventricle to enable circulation for excess cerebrospinal fluid. During ETV, an endoscope fitted with a mini video camera is typically inserted through the skull into the ventricular system to help visualize the procedure and provide real-time feedback to the surgeons.

In testing the 3D printed surgical model, the research team invited various neurosurgeon residents and fellows along with their teachers to perform the procedure and to answer detailed questionnaires about the models appearances and tactile feel. In the end, the neurosurgical residents and fellows gave the 3D printed training model high scores for its face and content validity: 4.69 and 4.88 (out of 5) respectively.

Alan R. Cohen, MD, at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the senior author of the paper, said, "This unique collaboration of interdisciplinary experts resulted in the creation of an ultra-realistic 3D surgical training model. Simulation has become increasingly important for training in minimally invasive neurosurgery. It also has the potential to revolutionize training for all surgical procedures.

ETV performed with simulator using a 0 endoscope lens

Though the realistic 3D printed surgical model was used for hydrocephalus treatment, the researchers behind the tool have said that it can also be used for other procedures, as it incorporates a number of different plug-and-play parts that can be used for various scenarios. This modular feature also helps to reduce training costs, according to the team.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Apr 25, 2017 | By Benedict

PARC, a Xerox company, has been chosen by DARPA to develop and deliver FIELDS, a new computational paradigm for advanced manufacturing processes such as combined metal additive manufacturing and machining.

PARC, a Xerox company, will develop a new computational paradigm for DARPA

In an effort to remove the limitations associated with current design platforms, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has commissioned Xerox company PARC to develop a new computational paradigm for design. The project will involve creating tools for analyzing material structures, geometric design complexity, and advanced manufacturing processes such as 3D printing. PARC says the project will have big implications for computer-aided engineering and complex engineered systems.

With this work, we aim to disrupt part, assembly, and system design for both conventional and modern manufacturing processes, said Saigopal Nelaturi, PARC research area manager. The computational innovations in modeling, planning, synthesis, and performance analysis will be developed to support the increasing freedom of manufacturing with unprecedented geometric and material complexity.

In a press release put out today, PARC CEO Tolga Kurtoglu explained that FIELDS, which stands for Fabricating with Interoperable Engineering, pLanning, Design, and analysiS, will transform product design by creating a system that automatically generates designs based on chosen parameters, resulting in improved product performance and a shortened time-to-market. PARC is planning to overcome the limitations of existing CAD software while enabling easy creation and evaluation of designs whose performance is tightly coupled to the manufacturing processes used to fabricate them.

One of those manufacturing processes will be additive manufacturing, particularly combined metal 3D printing and machining. According to Ersin Uzun, vice president and director of PARCs System Sciences Lab, FIELDS will alleviate the burden on the designer to integrate computational and practical expertise from diverse disciplines, which is a significant bottleneck in todays product lifecycle management systems. The vice president added that the framework will be adapted to specific manufacturing processes such as combined metal additive manufacturing and machining, and manufacturing with graded materials.

PARCs digital manufacturing portfolio of technologies provides the missing engineering capabilities by bringing real-world manufacturing constraints into the product design cycle and identifying manufacturing constraints of a supply chain early in the design phase, ultimately minimizing time-to-market and improving overall product quality, the company says.

DARPA recently worked with Boston Dynamics to develop AlphaDog, a four-legged military robot

PARC will work in collaboration with Oregon State University (OSU) and Wisconsin-based automation software company Intact Solutions to develop FIELDS.

DARPA, created in February 1958, is the area of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for developing new technologies to be used by the military.

Whats contained in PARCs new FIELDS solution for advanced manufacturing?

New mathematical models, representations, and computations for physical artifacts with heterogeneous, anisotropic material structure. Interoperable integration of synthesis, manufacturing planning, and analysis. Enormous design complexity by automatically searching very-high-dimensional spaces of shape, material, and process alternatives to help human designers discover physically realizable designs.

Posted in 3D Printing Technology

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Apr 25, 2017 | By Julia

General Electric (GE) is continuing to focus its gaze squarely on the EU 3D printing industry, with a game-changing investment of 100 million euros ($109 million USD) into a newly acquired production site in Lichtenfels, Germany.

Just last year, the multinational producer of jet engines, power plants, and other industrial equipment poured a total of $1.3 billion into Concept Laser, a privately held German 3D printing firm, and Swedish 3D printer-manufacturer Arcam. The strategic move secured GE majority shares in both companies, cementing its position as a global leading player in additive manufacturing.

Now, GE has continued to beef up that investment both financially and symbolically, with an additional 100 million euros invested in Concept Lasers new Bavarian site. The number of employees is now expected to rise from 200 to 300 by the end of this year.

The new developments certainly put GE on the 3D printing map in a major new way. As of now, the industrial producer currently has a firm grasp on powder and electron-beam additive manufacturing, two of the five principal 3D printing technologies. And according to GE Additive Chief Mohammad Ehteshami, the company has no interest in slowing down. Our goal is to get into all of the [five], Ehteshami told Reuters.



When asked whether this goal could be achieved through solely organic growth, Ehteshami responded: We are always studying organic and inorganic possibilities... Strategically, there are inorganic plays we would not be smart not to do."

With GE already 3D printing several of its aircraft parts, the company is now aiming to separate its additive manufacturing division from GE aviation, with plans to transform it into a $1 billion external sales business by 2020.

"I have a belief that you'll be able to print the whole jet engine," Ehteshami told reporters at the Hannover Messe industrial trade conference.

Ehteshami confirmed that GE has invested about $1.5 billion in 3D printing technologies over the past decade excluding last years acquisitions, which almost match those figures, doubling the groups total investment in 3D printing.

In addition to developing the newly acquired Concept laser site, GE has also announced plans for a new 3D printing customer training and support centre in Munich, worth 15 million euros. The first of several worldwide, the centre would serve to gain greater exposure for additive manufacturing, as well as GEs considerable stakes in the industry.

GE will continue to be on the lookout for more acquisitions opportunities, said Ehteshami.

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Apr 25, 2017 | By Julia

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have teamed up with Michigan-based furniture manufacturer Steelcase to develop a new method of 3D printing. Rapid Liquid Printing (RLP), as its been dubbed, allows for the quick production of large objects using materials already found in other industrial processes. Currently under development, the new additive manufacturing method could be a game-changer in the burgeoning field of customizing office furniture.

While RLP still very much fits under the 3D printing umbrella, the new system looks quite different from conventional 3D printing techniques. Instead of printing layer by layer, the RLP process begins with a large tank of industrial gel. Thanks to a nozzle extruding a two-part liquid polyurethane into the gel, which mixes the two liquids together, RLP can manufacture a solid object in a matter of minutes. The 3D printed item is then be separated from the gel and rinsed off with plain water, removing the need for a curing process.

The result is a production material that can be created almost instantly, say RLP developers. In this respect, traditional 3D printing is still leagues behind.

"Our process does not print with layers, does not need support materials, can be printed in seconds to minutes and uses everyday industrial liquid materials," explains Skylar Tibbits, executive director at the MIT Self-Assembly Lab.

RLP becomes even more significant when considering Steelcases involvement in the project. Were looking at interesting opportunities for our company," says Rob Poel, director of new business innovation at Steelcase. "There's been a rising demand in the workplace for personalization and customization. Companies are looking for ways to attract employees - this is one of them."

While 3D printed office furniture may already be a rapidly expanding (and increasingly lucrative) field in and of itself, Tibbits believes RLP may well change the face of 3D printing. According to the Self-Assembly Lab director, 3D printing currently struggles with a relatively slow rate of production, exclusive industrial materials, and a focus on smaller items. RLP, on the other hand, can change that; the new system is fast and uses materials already established by traditional manufacturing methods.



RLP may also create opportunities for new kinds of 3D printing to emerge, says Tibbits, since its now possible to create a single object with different thicknesses.

As a designer, whats most fascinating and unique about Rapid Liquid Printing is the line quality of the print," said Yuka Hiyoshi, a senior industrial designer at Steelcase. "Its soft, almost organic. When youre printing freely within a gel suspension, you can create these dynamic shapes without the traditional 3D printing support material and structure. There is a natural fluidity to the print thats unseen in other techniques, she added.

RLP allows for different line thicknesses within a single extrusion

Though the future may be bright for RLP, Tibbits acknowledges the new system is still in its infancy. The development still has a long way to go before it meets testing standards, say developers. Costs have to be taken into account, as well as the overall viability of the process.



But the process has officially been invented, with some early design applications already exhibited. Its exciting and promising, Poel says.

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The Apple doesn't fall far from the trees.

In the coming weeks, around 12,000 Apple employees will move into the company's brand new, well-rounded campus in Cupertino. As they walk from the gargantuan parking lots toward their high-tech new digs, they may find it irresistible not to stop and take notice of the 175-acre campus' burgeoning tree population.

As UpOut reports, Apple plans to surround the "Spaceship" with 9,000 trees (many of them apple trees, ahem)that's nearly one tree for every resident employee. The majestic verdure was all part of Steve Jobs' vision for what he predicted would be "the best office building in the world"one that would have, among its many splendors, a tree line spanning around 80 percent of the campus' landscape. Jobs outlined his green dream in a proposal to the Cupertino City Council:





It will incorporate both young and mature trees, and native and drought tolerant plants that will thrive in Santa Clara County with minimal water consumption. The increase in permeable surfaces will promote natural drainage and improve water quality in Calabazas Creek. The thoughtful and extensive landscaping will recall Cupertino's pre-agricultural and agricultural past.





But, planting a luxe urban forest is challenging, even for Appleit seems there are only so many trees to go around. As Quartz and The Chronicle have reported, Apple is said to have sourced (hoarded?) so many trees that San Francisco's Transbay Transit project can't get hold of the greenery it needs to fulfill its own leafy plans.



Not an Apple employee? Take a break from your San Francisco office to unearth your own hidden urban garden in the Financial District.
A long time ago, a good friend of minea handsome redhead well known in the city for his particular brand of witdescribed the area around the new Tilden Hotel as M-Town, as in Murder Town; or, as I once called it, DLITPUAN (Don't Loiter In These Parts Unless Absolutely Necessary) Town. I speak from experience: When I landed in San Francisco 14 years ago, I settled, like many fresh, wide-eyed transplants often do, in a cheap pre-war apartment in the Tenderloin. This city loves underdog stories of all sorts, and the recent gentrification of this neighborhood ticks all the right boxes.

The Tilden, a new boutique hotel in the former Hotel Mark Twain, is the latest in the neighborhood's renaissance, following in the footsteps of Onsen, the Saratoga, Hero Shop, In Fiore, the Jointall design-forward businesses drawing cultured San Franciscans (in droves) to the notoriously gritty area in search of a culinary, fashion, or beauty fix. The hotel itself is named after the 19th-century Chico, CA-born sculptor Douglas Tilden, whose tribute to the soldiers of the Mexican-American War, Native Sons, was unveiled in September 1897 at the convergence of Mason, Turk, and Market, or the gateway of the Tenderloin.

The lobby at the Tilden Hotel. (Aubrie Pick)

Brooklyn's Studio Tack took on the project with an eye toward 1970s glamour (in the lobby), timeless minimalism (in the guest rooms), and the ever popular Prohibition era: In the adjacent restaurant, the Douglas Room, you can find the requisite handlebar mustachioed bartenders slinging such cocktails as the Flop House Welcomea rye, chartreuse, and black tea concoctionto be served alongside such daring bar snacks as lamb tartare pies and sweetbread nuggets.





The lobby is anchored by a bulbous Harvey Prober sectional sofa in rich purple velvet that practically conjures visions of leggy, Halston-clad women languorously smoking cigarettes; the reality is less foxy, but still communal, as the seating areacompleted with Erik Buck dining chairs, two-toned Ib Kofod-Larsen wood shell chairs in beech and teak, original suede and chrome Metropolitan chairs made in San Francisco, and a Jens Risom benchtends to draw suitcase-laden tourists and laptop warriors sipping on Equator Coffee ordered from the adjoining cafe.



If you didn't recognize the building's heritage from the glammed-up lobby, you will certainly come face-to-face with it on your way to your guest room, either via the vintage two-person lift or the narrow flights of stairs. There's a certain less-flashy authenticity in these upper levels; something about their diminutive proportions and creaky floors suggests the previous incarnations of the 1928 building.





The guest rooms at the Tilden are stylishly spare. From the white walls and high-gloss black trim to the crisp white bedding and black craftsman-style headboard, the rooms are uncomplicated and have a high-brow motel feel. This occurred to me after I posted a photo I took on Instagram, which reminded me of Oakland photographer Todd Hido's haunting motel room images. (Though, to be fair, rare is the "motel" that features cultish Malin + Goetz products in the bathroom, and Tcho chocolates on the dresser. Designer condoms? Also available in-room for your, er, pleasure.)





The hotel's art program highlights emerging painters and muralists, including botanical artist and printmaker Jenny Kiker and recent Academy of Art University graduate Joe Papagoda, whose works can be seen on walls throughout the hotel. A poet in residence, Tenderloin-based Jesse James Johnson, composes optimistic stanzas that are printed on cards and placed on the beds. A poem from our recent visit seems to touch on the neighborhood's rising star status:



Star-gazing

In my father's arms

He points to

The Dippers

Winged Pegasus

The Dog Star. We follow the colored lights

Of an airplane

Ascending

Previous Next The Lobby (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Lobby (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Lobby (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Lobby (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next A Guest Room (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next A Guest Room (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next A Guest Room (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next Snacks in the Guest Room (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Cafe (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Cafe (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Hummingbird Den (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next Event and Meeting Space (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next Event and Meeting Space // Photo: Aubrie Pick Previous Next (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Douglas Room (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Douglas Room (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Douglas Room // Photo: Aubrie Pick Previous Next The Retail Shop (Aubrie Pick) Previous Next The Retail Shop (Aubrie Pick)

// Tilden Hotel, 345 Taylor St. (Tenderloin), tildenhotel.com
The University of South Florida ranked 19th, among more than 225 universities nationwide, in a Milken Institute study about how well universities convert basic research into new technologies, products and companies.

Concept to Commercialization: The Best Universities for Technology Transfer notes USF jumped up from 74th place in 2006 after ramping up research and commercialization efforts.

We really worked hard in the past 10 years in changing our culture, acknowledges Paul Sanberg, USFs Senior VP for Research, Innovation and Economic Development. We want to be Tampa Bays corporate partner.

USF efforts have gone beyond great basic research which weve been known for, he says, to patenting licenses, commercialization, business incubators and training programs.

This has involved a real concerted effort to make these activities part of tenure and promotion, Sanberg says.

Vickie Chachere, Director of Strategic Communications for USF Research and Innovation, says major companies look to be near major universities that are good at commercializing research and growing a talent pipeline. Tampa is an emerging place if you want to have potential partners, she says.

The rank is based on a University Technology Transfer and Commercialization Index that is derived from the four-year averages of patents and licenses issued, plus licensing income and the number of start-ups.

USF has a diverse portfolio spanning life sciences, engineering and other Science, Technology, Engineering and Math or STEM and the arts, Sanberg adds.

The study by Ross DeVol, Joe Lee ad Minoli Ratnatunga found all of the top 25 universities were in metropolitan areas. Universities are a source of competitive advantage; they create a skilled workforce and through R&D and tech-transfer help create new technologies and new industries, it asserts.

The University of Florida in Gainesville ranked third, following the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and Columbia University in New York City, in first and second place, respectively. Central Florida in Orlando ranked 22 while Florida State University in Tallahassee earned 88th place and Tampas H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute placed 95th.

Research universities are one of the strongest assets America can use to compete in the age of innovation, the report concludes. Research funding should be a top priority for enhancing American economic growth.

The Milken Institute, with offices in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit organization working to boost global prosperity through collaboration. Its Center for Jobs and Human Capital seeks to develop innovative, doable economic solutions that facilitate job creation and enhance funding opportunities.

USFs own study shows it ranked 10 among state universities nationwide, Sanberg notes. It ranks 9th among public universities nationally and 21st globally for the number of U.S. patents granted, according to Intellectual Property Owners Association/National Academy of Inventors (2015).
Capping off the events is a disco dance party at the Librarys Thomas Jefferson Building with disco icon Gloria Gaynor singing her hit I Will Survive in the Great Hall. The song is in the National Recording Registry, part of the collection of sound recordings that are kept at the Library of Congress and that are considered culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.

This is the first time the library has paid tribute to one specific music genre with this sort of programming, Bryonna Head, a public affairs assistant at the library, told The Washington Post. This is a celebration of an era that changed American culture forever, Head said. This celebration is not just for [Gaynor], but disco culture in general, and Ms. Gaynor just so happens to be the perfect partner for us to bring this popular era to life at the library.

Although most Bibliodiscotheque events are sold out, free tickets are still available for some film screenings and lectures at eventbrite.com. Or to celebrate disco, just pop in a Saturday Night Fever DVD and do the Hustle in your living room for old times sake.



Other events are also planned across the country to mark the 40th anniversary, including a throwback concert on July 29 at the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk in New York featuring more than a dozen disco acts. Guests include Yvonne Elliman (If I Cant Have You), Trammps (Disco Inferno), and Tavares (More Than a Woman).



Even 40 years later, the legacy of Saturday Night Fever is definitely stayin alive.


Gov. Kristi Noem wins second term: AP

The win is historic as Kristi Noem becomes the first woman to win re-election to the highest political seat in the state.
Norwegian will launch a new route from London Gatwick to Singapore this winter as the airline's growing low-cost long-haul UK network expands into Asia for the first time.

From 28th September, Norwegian will operate four weekly flights, increasing to five in the winter, from London Gatwick to Singapore Changi Airport, voted the Worlds Best Airport by passengers for five years in a row.







The new Singapore route will be operated on Norwegians new B787 Dreamliner aircraft (above) offering up to 344 seats in both economy and Premium cabins.



As one of the worlds leading centres for financial services, logistics and technology, Norwegians new route to Singapore opens up new opportunities for business and leisure travellers and access to the wider access Asia-Pacific.



Norwegian will offer UK passengers an affordable way to access the cosmopolitan Lion City, which perfectly combines the old with the new - historic neighbourhoods and temples; picturesque beaches and parks; all bordered by modern skyscrapers offering a city lifestyle of shopping malls and fine dining



Norwegian already offers flights from London Gatwick to nine US destinations including the newly announced routes to Seattle and Denver. With a huge aircraft order and new traffic rights in place, the new Singapore route marks the first step in Norwegians ambitions to expand its existing long-haul network into a range of new global markets.



Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos said: Our transatlantic flights have shown the huge demand for affordable long-haul travel, so we are delighted to expand into new markets and offer our first route to Asia from the UK.



Travel should be affordable for all so adding Singapore to our growing UK network will give passengers even more choice for affordable, quality travel to a range of global destinations.



The UK is at the heart of Norwegians ambitious plans for growth so it is a significant moment not only to launch this exciting new route, but also for it to be the first long-haul route to take to the skies with our new Norwegian UK subsidiary.



Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive, Gatwick Airport said: These new direct flights between two of the world's top three financial centres will be welcome news for business travellers, particularly at a time when global trade is increasingly important for the UK economy. Singapore is also a key tourist destination and gateway hub for long-haul travellers looking to venture further into Southeast Asia and Australia.



Im delighted that Norwegian has responded to this demand and added such a premier destination to its growing long haul network from Gatwick. Crucially, Norwegian continues to make important destinations like Singapore much more affordable and easier to reach for a wider range of passengers. 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.



Mr Lee Seow Hiang, CEO, Changi Airport Group said: We are delighted to welcome Norwegian to Changis portfolio of airlines in September; it will enhance options for Changi Airport's passengers as well as attract more UK visitors to Singapore. With changing consumer preferences and an improvement in aircraft technology, low-cost carriers have taken the opportunity to expand into the long-haul market. We will continue to work with our airline partners to exploit other such opportunities to grow their operations at Changi.



The Singapore route will be operated by the UK subsidiary Norwegian UK (NUK) which was established in 2015 to give the airline a stronger foothold in the UK market, and allow it to access bilateral traffic rights to a series of new markets in Asia, Africa and South America. NUK is headquartered at London Gatwick, and will use British-registered Dreamliner aircraft and Gatwick-based crew to operate the new services.



Norwegian carries 5.2 million UK passengers each year from four UK airports, to more than 50 global destinations. The airline has one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the world with an average age of 3.6 years and more than 200 new aircraft on order.



Norwegian has been awarded the World's best low-cost long-haul airline for two consecutive years at the SkyTrax World Airline Awards.
Qatar Airways has activated an advanced new space-based system, supplied by Inmarsat, to track all of its flights across the world.

Inmarsat worked exclusively with Qatar Airways to develop this cutting-edge solution, which covers its current route network of over 150 destinations worldwide, in addition to any future routes that will be introduced. It utilises Inmarsats market-leading satellite technology to provide the exact real-time location of the airlines aircraft in latitude and longitude.







Qatar Airways signed a contract with Inmarsat following the successful conclusion of active performance trials across its fleet over the past year, which proved that the tracking system exceeds the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)s new flight reporting standards.



His Excellency Mr Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, said: Qatar Airways has a reputation for pioneering ground-breaking new innovations in global aviation. Our partnership with Inmarsat for this global flight tracking system has once again reinforced our commitment to the highest levels of aviation safety for our passengers and employees.



Leo Mondale, President of Inmarsat Aviation, said: Inmarsat is the backbone of global aviation safety, delivering over 35 million aircraft position reports last year alone. Unlike other systems that promise space-based global flight tracking somewhere in the future, we have been providing real time flight tracking for Qatar Airways for some time. We are pleased to be working with an airline that is so highly committed to safety and innovation.
Get AfricaFocus Bulletin by e-mail! Format for print or mobile Zambia: From Democracy to Dictatorship? AfricaFocus Bulletin

April 25, 2017 (170425)

(Reposted from sources cited below) Editor's Note "Our country is now all, except in designation, a dictatorship and if it is not yet, then we are not far from it. Our political leaders in the ruling party often issue intimidating statements that frighten people and make us fear for the immediate and future. This must be stopped and reversed henceforth." - Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops, April 23, 2017 This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains three short commentaries on the current political crisis in Zambia, by Simon Allison, Nic Cheeseman, and Tendai Biti. Another AfricaFocus, also to be sent out today, focuses on the wider African and global context of "media repression 2.0" in the internet era, including a report on attacks on press freedom in Zambia. The statement cited above from the Catholic Bishops of Zambia is available at http://tinyurl.com/l9cepug The Council of Churches in Zambia has also issued a strong statement condemning the arrest of opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema (http://tinyurl.com/my4a6kx). For keeping up with recent news on Zambia, two key sources are http://allafrica.com/zambia and The Mast ( https://www.facebook.com/themastzambia/ or https://www.themastonline.com/, successor to The Post, which was shut down by the government in 2016. For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Zambia, visit http://www.africafocus.org/country/zambia.php ++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++ Analysis: Dark, dangerous days for Zambia's democracy After the attack on the home of Zambia's opposition leader, and then his arrest on spurious charges, Zambia's reputation as a beacon of democracy in Africa is under serious threat. by Simon Allison Daily Maverick, 20 April 2017 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/ - direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/lxls8nq Hakainde Hichilema is famously suspicious. The Zambian opposition leader travels with a phalanx of bodyguards, and often brings his own food wherever he goes, just in case anyone wants to poison him. He claims to have received repeated death threats. He has a safe room installed in his house. Zambian President Edgar Lungu meeting with President Jacob Zuma

on state visit to South Africa in December 2016 Until Tuesday last week, it was easy to dismiss Hichilema's paranoia as exactly that  paranoia. This is Zambia, after all, one of Africa's most established and most successful democracies. No one bumps off opposition leaders in Zambia. It's not Russia, or Venezuela, or Tunisia. And then, in the early hours of that Tuesday morning, everything changed. For Hichilema, and for Zambia. Dozens of armed police descended onto Hichilema's property. They broke down the door. They threw tear gas into the house. Dazed and confused, and above all scared, the politician and his family retreated into the safe room. I spoke to him there, on the phone. He didn't raise his voice above a whisper, and it trembled as he talked. He said that his wife and children were injured from the tear gas, which was periodically pumped through the vents of the safe room in a bid to force them out, and that his servants had been tortured. He said he could hear their screams. "This guy is trying to kill me," he said. "This guy is a dictator, a full-blown dictator." He was talking, of course, about President Edgar Lungu. The siege lasted until mid-morning. By then, Hichilema's legal team had arrived, as had journalists. His lawyers eventually coaxed Hichilema out of the safe room. He was immediately arrested, and charged shortly afterwards with treason. No one is dismissing Hichilema's paranoia now  and no one is quite sure what would have happened in the absence of that safe room into which he could retreat. What we do know is that Hichilema's arch-rival, Lungu, has now abandoned all democratic niceties in a bid to consolidate his grip on power. It was the nature of Hichilema's arrest that was most concerning: the midnight raid, the tear gas, the casual brutality meted out to the servants. It was all entirely unnecessary. Hichilema is a public figure, and could have been quietly arrested at any time. But the raid was designed to intimidate, to send an unmistakeable message to the president's opponents that Lungu's authority shall no longer be challenged. It wasn't just Hichilema, either. Chilufya Tayali, head of the Economic and Equity Party and a vocal critic of President Lungu, was arrested just two days later. His crime? A Facebook post in which he criticised the "inefficiency" of Zambia's police chief. He has subsequently been released on bail. If that sounds ridiculous  well, it is. But not as ridiculous as the charges levelled against Hichilema, which are so far entirely unsubstantiated by evidence or detail. The only concrete allegation is that Hichilema endangered the president's life when his vehicles did not give way to the president's motorcade at a cultural festival. In Lungu's Zambia, a traffic incident has somehow become treason. It's not Lungu's Zambia quite yet, however, as embarrassed government prosecutors learned in court. In their submissions against Hichilema, prosecutors made a Freudian slip, referring to the opposition leader's alleged offences against the "Government of President Edgar Lungu". They were forced to amend the charge sheet when the defence observed that such an institution does not exist: there is still only a Government of the Republic of Zambia, as much as President Lungu might like it to be otherwise. But make no mistake: these are dark, dangerous times for Zambia. And if Lungu's end goal really is to dismantle the country's hard-won democracy, then it's hard to see who or what will stop him. Domestically, the arrests of Hichilema and Tayali, along with a sustained assault on independent media, will have a chilling effect on civil society. It will take extraordinary courage and commitment to take on President Lungu's administration now. Internationally too, Lungu faces remarkably little pressure. He has already brushed off statements of concern from the United States and the European Union, warning diplomats that they are "wasting their time"; just as he brushed off concerns that his 2016 election win was marred by serious electoral fraud. South Africa, the regional superpower which does exert real influence in Lusaka, has been deafeningly silent; as analyst Greg Mills observed on these pages, it can't be a coincidence that Lungu may well have been encouraged down this path by the example of the "patronage regime" emerging in South Africa. The less leadership South Africa displays at home, the less it can project abroad. Zambia's in trouble. For so long a beacon of democracy in Africa, its enviable reputation has already been tarnished by President Lungu's actions. The risk now is that Lungu undoes that democratic progress entirely. If this all sounds a little paranoid, just remember that Hakainde Hichilema was paranoid too. And on this, he is being proved right. Zambia: President Lungu sacrifices credibility to repress opposition by Nic Cheeseman Democracy in Action, 21 April 2017 http://democracyinafrica.org/ - direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/kqo4mr4 NicDiA's Nic Cheeseman looks at the political crisis in Zambia, where the opposition leader has been charged with treason, and analyses the prospects for democratic backsliding. Nic Cheeseman (@fromagehomme) is the Professor of Democracy at the University of Birmingham Zambian President Edgar Lungu finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place in both economic and political terms. As a result, he has begun to lash out, manipulating the law to intimidate the opposition, and in the process sacrificing what credibility he had left after deeply problematic general elections in 2016. Let us start with the economy, where the president is stuck in something of a lose-lose position. On the one hand, his populace is growing increasingly frustrated at the absence of economic job and opportunities, while a number of experts have pointed out that the country is on the verge of a fresh debt crisis. Economic growth was just 2.9% in 2016, while the public debt is expected to hit 54% of GDP this year, and the government cannot afford to pay many of its domestic suppliers. On the other, a proposed $1.2 billion rescue deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has the potential to increase opposition to the government for two reasons. First, it would mean significantly reducing government spending, including on some of Lungu's more popular policies. Second, many Zambians are understandably suspicious of IMF and the World Bank, having suffered under previous adjustment programmes that delivered neither jobs nor sustainable growth. The president faces similar challenges on the political front. Having won a presidential election in 2016 that the opposition believes was rigged, and which involved a number of major procedural flaws, Lungu desperately needs to relegitimate himself. However, this need clashes with another, more important, imperative  namely, the president's desire to secure a third term in office when his current tenure ends in 2020. The problem for Lungu is that while it looks like he will be able to use his influence over the Constitutional Court to ensure that it interprets the country's new constitutional arrangements to imply that he should be allowed to stand for a third term  on the basis that his first period in office was filling in for the late Michael Sata after his untimely death in office, and so should not count  such a strategy is likely to generate considerable criticism from the opposition, civil society and international community. Lacking viable opportunities to boost his support base and relegitimate his government, President Lungu has responded by pursuing another strategy altogether: the intimidation of the opposition and the repression of dissent. While in some ways represents a continuation of some of the tactics used ahead of the 2016 election, when the supporters and leaders of rival parties were harassed and in some cases detained, the recent actions of the Patriotic Front (PF) government represent a worrying gear-shift. Most obviously, opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who came so close to leading his United Party of National Development (UPND) to victory in the latest polls, has been arrested and his home raided. His crimes? There appear to be two sets of charges. One set is relatively mundane, and relates to an incident in which Hichilema is accused of refusing to give way to the president's convoy. For this, the opposition leader has been charged with breaking the highway code and using insulting language. The second charge  that of treason  is much more serious, but also much less clear. Court documents state that 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." Although this charge has also been linked to the recent traffic incident, it seems more likely to be motivated by the president's ongoing frustration that the UPND continues to contest his election and refuses to recognise him as a legitimately elected leader. If this is the true motivation for the charges, it will only be the latest of a number of moves to cow the opposition. For example, in response to the refusal of UNPD legislators to listen to Lungu's address to the National Assembly, Richard Mumba  a PF proxy close to State House  petitioned the Constitutional Court to declare vacant the seats of all MPs who were absent. The opposition are not alone. Key elements of civil society have also come under fire. As a result of the waning influence of trade unions, professional associations now find themselves as one of the last lines of defence for the country's fragile democracy, most notably the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ). It should therefore come as no surprise that a government MP, Kelvin Sampa, recent introduced legislation into the National Assembly that would effectively dissolve the LAZ and replace it with a number of smaller bodies, each of which would be far less influential. The bills introduced by Mumba and Sampa may not succeed, but in some ways they don't need to. Their cumulative effect has been to signal that those who seek to resist the governments are likely to find themselves the subject of the sharp end of the security forces and the PF's manipulation of the rule of law. The nature of Hichilema's arrest is a case in point. Despite numerous opportunities to detain him in broad daylight, armed police and paramilitaries planned a night attack in which they switched off the power to the house, blocked access to the main roads, and broke down the entrance gate. Inside the property, the security forces are accused of firing tear gas, torture, urinating on the opposition leader's bed and looting the property. It is therefore clear that the main aim of the operation was not an efficient and speedy arrest, but rather the humiliation and intimidation of an opponent. Such abuses may help Lungu to secure the short-term goal of prolonging his stay in power, but they will threaten to undermine Zambia's future. It will  or at least it should  be politically embarrassing for the IMF to conclude a deal with Zambia while the opposition leader is on trial on jumped up charges and civil society is decrying the slide towards authoritarian rule. Rumours now circulating in Lusaka suggest that President Lungu may be preparing to enhance his authority by declaring a State of Emergency in the near future, which would further complicate the country's international standing. Lungu's blatant disregard for the rules of the democratic game also has important implications for the county's political future. Many Zambian commentators reported that the 2016 election was the most violent in the country's history, and forecast rising political instability if this trend was not reserved. Rather than heed this warning, President Lungu appears determined to put this prophecy to the test. Zambia and Zimbabwe: Why fair elections are essential for Africa's development by Tendai Biti Daily Maverick, 20 Apr 2017 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/ - direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/klunpsc [Tendai Biti was finance minister of Zimbabwe under the unity government from 2009-2013.] Zimbabwe is used as a case study of a broken society; a country in which those in power concern themselves only with maintaining power and amassing wealth. Zimbabwe is also often cited as an exceptional case. However, while it's situation undoubtedly has its own peculiarities, Zimbabwe has not followed a path that is impassable for others. It is dangerous to think otherwise. Despite the popularity of the "Africa rising" narrative that has sounded over the past decade regarding the pace of Africa's economic growth and the prospects for development, the continent continues to face significant challenges in unlocking the benefits for the majority of its citizens. While there is no singular reason for this, the one with the greatest explanatory power is the mindset of self-enrichment at the cost of social development among the elite. There is little doubt in my mind that the solution to turning this around also lies in the hands of leadership and the choices they make. And getting the right leadership in place, to make the right choices, is a question of democracy. As a former minister of finance in Zimbabwe, the proposals that came on to my desk for government financing of projects that would make a significant impact on our country were countless. Yet there was  and continues to be  absolutely no money made available by the government for any of these projects. It was often a difficult pill to swallow when all around the country malnourished families were starving while the lavish lives of those in the president's innercircle were there for all to see. Zimbabwe is used as a case study of a broken society; a country in which those in power concern themselves only with maintaining power and amassing wealth. Zimbabwe is also often cited as an exceptional case. However, while it's situation undoubtedly has its own peculiarities, Zimbabwe has not followed a path that is impassable for others. It is dangerous to think otherwise. People often ask me how it is possible that we have been able to get ourselves into this position as a country where everything is so fundamentally broken. You cannot break things overnight, I answer, but you can slowly chip away at the fundamentals and if no one does anything to stop you then quite quickly all expectations of a democratic society are abolished. The increase in the number of elections taking place in Africa since 1990 has frequently been read as a positive indicator for the continent's future development prospects. Elections are only a necessary but not a sufficient component of democracy. Yet this is undermined if the international community adopts the convenient fallacy that at least by going through the motion of holding elections a country will get it right eventually, and so the extent to which they can become a smokescreen has largely been overlooked. The frequency of elections is much easier to observe and tick off a checklist than adherence to the rule of law. However, it is the rule of law that determines a country's ability to function properly. When the law is undermined and eroded, countries can follow a downward spiral that leads to total collapse and from which it is almost impossible to recover without outside support. The rule of law in Zimbabwe has long been considered broken. The same can now be said of our neighbour north of the Zambezi, Zambia. Zambia's leadership seems intent on destroying the 50 years of work post-independence to build democracy by replicating actions we have routinely seen in Zimbabwe, notably the systematic harassment and intimidation of press, civil society and the opposition. While in the past Zambians have looked to the rule of law to protect their rights when under threat, today they find there is little prospect for protection or redress. Zambia's major independent newspaper has been closed, with its editor on the run; reports of intimidation and bribery of legal and electoral officials have become widespread; and, now, as of a week ago, popular opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has been incarcerated and charged with treason. Shocking as this bold attempt to charge the opposition leader with an offence that in theory could carry the death penalty appears, as well as the violent and shocking manner in which the arrest was conducted, if you look at the pattern of activity by the authorities in recent months and years it is less surprising. Over time Zambia's leadership has become more and more confident that they can sit above the law. While cases in which people have spoken ill of the president or alleged corruption in public institutions result in arrests and court charges, justice is slow and often elusive for those outside the ruling elite. The manner in which last year's contested election was handled by the Zambian authorities is a landmark case in this history. It's a story of the cost of electoral authoritarianism. Today, with Hichilema behind bars, it is also testament of how the region and the international community missed a critical opportunity to stem a tide of poor governance by speaking out against an electoral sham. When Hichilema's party, the United Party for National Development, challenged the 2016 election result on several grounds he was advised to call on his supporters to remain peaceful and petition the outcome in the courts, as is his constitutional right. The petition was never heard, however, on the basis of a technicality that his party continues to challenge through various appeals and court submissions to this date. This stands in stark contrast to how events played out in Ghana following the 2012 elections. Then the opposition challenge of the outcome led to a lengthy court case. While the outcome was ultimately upheld by the court, the case revealed several failings in the process for addressing ahead of future elections, and it enabled the opposition a chance to present their evidence. The process upheld the rule of law, and sent a clear signal to elites and citizens alike that they can expect to be held accountable to the law. This helped to pave the way for the peaceful transfer of power to the opposition subsequently in January 2017. The consequences of the soft approach of observers and the international community following last year's contested elections in Zambia appears to be coming back to haunt them, however. Their cautious approach and hesitancy to challenge leadership has been taken as a near enough blank check for the elite to step by step deconstruct the rule of law. While national sovereignty must be respected we must not forget that if the government in question is itself undermining the rule of law and the rights and safety of its own citizens then it has already undermined the grounds for sovereignty in a democratic nation. Moreover, the more states that are allowed to continue down this path unchallenged, the fewer voices there are left to speak out against such infractions and the more leaders elsewhere that will be motivated to preserve their stay in power through illicit means. DM AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by William Minter. AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus@igc.org. For more information about reposted material, please contact directly the original source mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see http://www.africafocus.org
While most of the ministers have already removed the red beacon atop their vehicles following the Centres ruling, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that he would remove the beacon when the order comes into force on May 1.

Why should I remove red beacon now? It is to be removed from May 1. I will remove it when the order comes into effect, Siddaramaiah said.

Echoing the same, Karnataka Law Minister TB Jayachandra said that the media should not make a hue and cry over the issue.

It is true that cabinet has taken a decision and in pursuance of the decision, an act is to be amended or execution order is to be done. It is a matter left to the Central Government. Except that cabinet decision has been taken, nothing has been heard from the Central Government. So, unless the order is issued, they should not make an issue of the whole thing. May 1 is the deadline for removing the red beacon. The Press is making a hue and cry. Only after the issue of order this should be insisted, not now, Jayachandra said.

In what could be seen as a major step towards ending the VIP culture, the Central Government, earlier this month, announced that a ban will be imposed on use of red beacon on vehicles attached to dignitaries, including the central and state ministers and other VVIPs.

The decision taken by the Union Cabinet will 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.

Following the announcement, chief ministers of various states had removed the red beacons from their cars.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis , Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani were among the ones, who removed the flash light from their vehicles after the cabinets decision.

Uttar Pradesh minister Shrikant Sharma also got the red beacon removed from his car.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is doing a good job in governing the state effectively, proving his critics wrong (they must be surprised). He is an educated man and I have learnt that he has also been a journalist. His straight forwardness and sincerity of purpose makes him a genuine person. Right or wrong, he says it and does it without any frills. After being sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogiji had asked his ministers to disclose the information pertaining to the properties held by them. He asked them to file a report every year prior to March 31 and warned them to keep a safe distance from contractors. He had asked police officials to take steps for shutting down slaughterhouses across the state. Yogiji also ordered for a blanket ban on smuggling of cows.

The officers used to be very lazy. If you feel over worked, you must tell him and he will let you have rest but dont grumble silently. I have myself written to him to let the officers work for 10/12 hours and not more because they need to be with their family and unless they sleep about six hours a day, they may fall sick. Yogijis scheme for a sumptuous thali for ten rupees is very good. I have always maintained that in a country like ours, food should be cheap and within reach of the common man. Now I am also retired and will like to have a ten rupee worth of thali as God given prasad. I even go to the extent of calling it first step of vikas.

Adityanath had formed Anti-Romeo Squad to prevent harassment of boys and girls. He had asked officials to form such squads in 11 districts in the state to prevent sexual harassment cases. The Adityanath government had waived farm loans which is likely to benefit more than 2.15 lakh small and marginal farmers in the state. I am sure Yogiji will cater to all sections of the society without discrimination. He must seek assistance from Israel in developing our waste land and putting in use best irrigation practices. I have been there and I know how well they have developed agriculture and horticulture. Seeking foreign assistance in education, electric power distribution and water resource development must be sought without hesitation.

Good teachers must be hired but their welfare also should be kept in mind. Malnutrition is a big issue that needs to be addressed not in our worthless TV channels but on the ground. Adityanath expressed his opinion on triple talaq and said that politicians who were maintaining silence on the issue were equally responsible as those practising it. He also has prohibited the usage of red and blue beacons for cabinet ministers and officers in the state. The Uttar Pradesh government took a decision in this regard in the aftermath of Modi governments initiative to ban red beacons for cabinet ministers. In an official communique, the officers and the cabinet minister have been informed about the decision. Thus BJP has taken a right step to eliminate the lal batti culture. However Army vehicles, ambulances, fire brigade and police vehicles will be exempt from this decision.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
"We are members of the STEM Community, grassroots supporters and political activists committed to bring innovation to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education, aggressively advocate for real solutions to Climate Change and elect more STEM trained candidates to public office."

314 Action wants to get thousands more scientists into politics (4,000) to be exact).

Never underestimate the power of corporate interests, under the guise of promoting science, to expand their power and control.

Now theres a political action committee designed to do just that. Its called 314 Action and its getting the word out that scientists plan to take over politics. 314 Action is especially eager to promote vaccines and denounce people like Robert Kennedy, Jr. for their questions about vaccine safety.

By Anne Dachel Imagine more and more scientists and doctors elected to state and national office. Imagine lots more vaccine industry shills like Dr. Richard Pan in California promoting bills like SB277 that removed parental choice when it comes to vaccinating children.

314 Action has connections at over 75 U.S. universities. We are adding campus chapters every day.

They're very upset at President Trump and Robert Kennedy for their questions about vaccines. The founder, Shaughnessy Naughton, is a scientist who twice ran for a congressional seat from PA (and lost) and who used to work at Wyeth.

April 22, 2017, TIME: Meet the Scientists Running for Office

By Jeffrey Kluger

For every epidemiologist or virologist who shows again and again that vaccines are safe and effective, there's a politician who insists that somewhere in a Big Pharma lab, someone is sneaking autism sauce into the shots. For every environmental researcher who explains that climate change is real, deadly and in large measure our fault, there is a politician  actually there are lots and lots of politicians  who call it a hoax. (Worse, a Chinese hoax.)

At last, it seems, the scientists have had enough, as a new TIME video makes clear. Faced with a President who originated the Chinese hoax canard, an Environmental Protection Agency Administrator who has said he "would not agree" that carbon dioxide is a principle cause of climate change, and the likes of anti-vaccine fabulist Robert Kennedy, Jr. possibly offering advice to the administration on vaccine safety, the empiricists are fighting back.

In 2016, pharmaceutical chemist Shaughnessy Naughton, a former Congressional candidate from Pennsylvania, founded 314 Action  a science-based nonprofit group that fights for evidence-based policies and recruits scientists to run for office. The group, which takes its just-right name from the first three digits of pi, claims to have already been approached by more than 4,000 potential candidates who hope to add letters like "D, Pa" or "R, Fla" to names already followed by MD, MS or PhD

Molly Sheehan (bioengineer running for Congress):

Science used to be a bipartisan issue. Everyone used to love science. 

Were in such a crisis that we cant be complacent anymore. 

As scientists, we havent done a great job of speaking to things people are worried about right now. 

Shaugnessy Naughton (founder of 314 Action)

The thought was, well just put the results of our research out there and let the facts speak for themselves. And thats not working.

I founded 314 Action to bring the scientific community together, but also to encourage them to run. We need scientists to actually step up and be involved in electoral politics.

Sheehan:



I dont want to live in a world where Im afraid if my baby drinks the bath water. And I dont want to live in a world where Im afraid of her playing in dirt because it has lead in it. 

I want her to see by me running, that when our country really is in crisis, we dont just sit down. That her mom stood up for her and that she should do that too. 

Im worried about our country 

Ending: 314 Action says more than 4,000 scientists are now interested in running for public office.

314 Action founder Shaughnessy Naughton is a scientist who used to work at Wyeth.

She ran for Congress from Pennsylvanias 8th District in 2014 and 2016 and lost both times.

Naughton/314 Action has gotten support from the media, and she makes it clear that no one should question vaccines.

April 21, 2017, CNN: Scientists won't win until they run

By Shaughnessy Naughton

Donald Trump has supplied science skeptics with a megaphone. Radio host and anti-vaccine propagandist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been approved to chair a commission on "vaccine safety and scientific integrity."

January 25, 2017, The Atlantic ran the story, Professor Smith Goes to WashingtonIn response to the new presidents stances on a range of issues, more scientists are preparing to run for political office.

For American science, the next four years look to be challenging. The newly inaugurated President Trump, and many of his Cabinet picks, have repeatedly cast doubt upon the reality of human-made climate change, questioned the repeatedly proven safety of vaccines.

Jan 21, 2017, Quartz: Scientists in the US are running for office to combat the science-denial descending on DC

US president Donald Trump did not study law or governance, yet he rose straight to the top of American politics. This gave some scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians an idea: they launched an initiative, STEM the Divide, to get more of their own into public office.

The initiative is run by a new political action committee called 314 action, named after the first three digits of pi. On its website, the PAC explains its goal is electing more leaders to the US Senate, House, State Executive and Legislative offices who come from STEM backgrounds. We need new leaders who understand that climate change is real and are motivated to find a solution.

The PACs founder, Shaughnessy Naughtona chemist and cancer researcher-turned-business owner, who has twice run for Congress and losttold the Washington Post, Especially now, we need people with scientific backgrounds that are used to looking at the facts and forming an opinion based on the facts. The impetus for organizing, she said, was Trumps choice of cabinet members who deny widely accepted scientific facts like climate change, and the validity of vaccines, among other issues.

Jan 17, 2017, Washington Post: This group wants to fight anti-science rhetoric by getting scientists to run for office

The project is partially motivated by worry over the election of Donald Trump, she said, noting that the president-elect and some of his Cabinet picks dispute the scientific consensus on climate change, vaccines and other issues.

See my past stories on how Jeffrey Kluger and TIME spin the truth about vaccines.

Aug, 2015

July, 2014

April, 2014

Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.
With your focus on promoting scientific truth, you should be interested in the research that is compiled in this book. Your dismissal of Kennedys views as anti-vaccine is completely false since at every opportunity, he describes himself as pro-vaccine, having had all of his children fully vaccinated.

I would like to ask you if youve read the book he edited on his position, Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak .

My interest is in your position on vaccines. According to everything Ive read, 314 Action is telling us we shouldnt look into the repeatedly proven safety of vaccines.

Ive been reading about 314 Action and your goal of putting more scientists into political office. The coverage 314 Action has reached from the mainstream media has been extremely supportive. Two issues repeatedly talked about in connection with the PAC (political action committee) are global warming and vaccines.

Shaughnessy and Molly, you both need to listen to what Kennedy had to say at a press conference in Washington on March 31st. It was part of the Revolution for Truth Rally and a number of informed experts spoke.

The most troubling thing Kennedy addressed during his speech was the lack of authentic safety studies on vaccines and the glaring conflicts of interest between the vaccine safety division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the vaccine companies theyre supposed to be regulating.

Kennedy had this to say:

Weve known for many years that the junk science, the tobacco science coming out of that department was crooked, and one of the reasons we knew was that the Institute of Medicine told them you got to do biological studies, clinical studies, animal studies, toxicological studies, pharmacological studies, cadaver studiesWe want all of those.

They didnt do any of them. The only thing they did was epidemiological studies. I know, from my profession, those are notoriously easy to fix. Theyre population studies. You look at an exposed population and unexposed, and you look at health outcomes.  You can design an epidemiological study to prove that sex does not make you pregnant. How would you do that? You just get rid of all the pregnant people before you study the population. You have a lot of people having sex, and nobodys getting pregnant, and you can prove sex doesnt make you pregnant. And thats what they did. Its easy to get rid of the autistic kids, you just get rid of the boys. All you have to do is get rid of one or two of them in order to dim the statistical signal.

So you get rid of the older kids, and you focus on younger populations before the diagnosis takes place. You get rid of black kids because theyre more likely to get autism. You figure out ways to exclude the populations that you think are going to pose a higher risk. And thats what they did.

Are supporters of 314 Action really promoting scientific truth or just more bad studies done at the behest of the vaccine makers? Will more scientists in public office simply expand the power and influence of corporations over our politics?

In June, 2015 the state legislature in California passed a law removing a parents right to exempt their child from mandated vaccines. This law was introduced by State Senator Richard Pan, himself a pediatrician.

There is more to the story. In an article in the Sacramento Bee on June 18, 2015 entitled, Drug companies donated millions to California lawmakers before vaccine debate, reporter Jim Miller informed readers that California state legislators are on the receiving end a lot of pharma money.

Pharmaceutical companies and their trade groups gave more than $2 million to current members of the Legislature in 2013-2014, about 2 percent of the total raised, records show. Nine of the top 20 recipients are either legislative leaders or serve on either the Assembly or Senate health committees. Receiving more than $95,000, the top recipient of industry campaign cash is Sen. Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat and doctor who is carrying the vaccine bill.

Members of the public are well aware that experts in white coats are being paid to promote corporate agendas and they use phony science to do it.

Molly, you said, As scientists, we havent done a great job of speaking to things people are worried about right now. In addition, you said youre worried about what toxins your child might be exposed to.

Every parent Im involved with wholeheartedly agrees with you. Toxic exposure should be especially important when it comes to vaccines. Parents are worried.

In an article in the UK Guardian article on March 18, 2017, you were also quoted saying,

I need to do everything in my power to ensure our country comes back to paying attention to reality and paying attention to fact.

When it comes to vaccine safety and the explosion in autism, no one is paying attention to whats going on. Scientists are happy to leave autism just one big mystery and vaccines safety in the hands of industry insiders.

You also said,[People] dont realise that medical science has had a huge impact on child mortality and morbidity.

I have to ask if youre aware of just where the U.S. ranks in terms of infant mortality. No other country spends more on health care than the U.S. does, yet we have one of the highest levels of infant mortality among the worlds developed countries. No other country vaccinates at the rate we do.

Here are some things that you both should find especially troubling when it comes to vaccine safety:

The FDA allows vaccine makers to conduct much of their own safety testing. The FDA merely accepts the results. Furthermore, vaccines are tested individually, yet a child receives multiple vaccines in a single doctor's visit. The CDC actually owns more than 20 vaccine patents. They are, in truth, a vaccine company.

There has never been a study done on the cumulative effects of the one-size-fits-every-child vaccine schedule in the U.S. What other medical product or procedure could possibly be considered safe for every child? Parents are truly playing "vaccine roulette" when they take their infants in to be vaccinated.

The FDA allows aluminum and mercury to be used in vaccines, yet neither toxic element has ever been tested for safety. (The one study on the mercury additive thimerosal was done by the vaccine maker Eli Lilly back in 1930. All the test subjects died of meningitis. This didnt stop Eli Lilly from saying it was safe. No further testing was ever done.)

There isnt incentive to produce a safe product since neither the vaccine makers nor the doctor has any liability for vaccine damage. They have been protected by federal law since 1986. They cannot be sued. Incidentally, the government's compensation program has paid out billions for vaccine injuries, including over 80 cases where the injured party became autistic as a result of vaccination.

No official has ever called for a simple comparison study of fully-vaccinated and never-vaccinated children. With so many parents now too afraid to vaccinate, the study group is out there. This would be the easiest way to show once and for all that vaccines are safe.

These facts challenge all your claims that vaccines are safe.

314 Action may have more than 4,000 scientists interested in running for public office, but if theyre just more vaccine industry spokespeople, theyre be recognized for who they really represent.

The truth is, we have the most vaccinated kids in the world and some of the sickest. Half of U.S. children suffer from at least one chronic health problem. Our schools are filled with children who can't learn, many who are non-verbal, others with diabetes, seizure disorder, behavioral problems, bowel disease, life-threatening allergies, and asthma. Health officials seem perfectly happy with the health of our kids. No one sees any of these as a crisis situation.

If 314 Action is advocating for the status quo to continue, your candidates will lose. You seem genuinely afraid that someone might honestly look into vaccine safety. The public is tired of hearing about tobacco industry-style vaccine science.

Anne Dachel, Media editor: Age of Autism
Aiken, SC (29801)

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Trump Fails to Mention Turkish Genocide

WASHINGTON -- Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian issued this response to President Donald Trump's failure to reaffirm the Armenian Genocide in his commemorative statement issued earlier today. "President Trump has chosen to enforce Ankara's gag-rule against American condemnation and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide," stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "In failing to properly mark April 24th, President Trump is effectively outsourcing U.S. genocide-prevention policy to Recep Erdogan, an arrogant and authoritarian dictator who clearly enjoys the public spectacle of arm-twisting American presidents into silence on Turkey's mass murder of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and other Christians." The President's full statement is provided below. Background The U.S. first recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1951 through a filing which was included in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Report titled: "Reservations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide." The specific reference to the Armenian Genocide appears on page 25 of the ICJ Report: "The Genocide Convention resulted from the inhuman and barbarous practices which prevailed in certain countries prior to and during World War II, when entire religious, racial and national minority groups were threatened with and subjected to deliberate extermination. The practice of genocide has occurred throughout human history. The Roman persecution of the Christians, the Turkish massacres of Armenians, the extermination of millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are outstanding examples of the crime of genocide." President Ronald Reagan reaffirmed the Armenian Genocide in 1981. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted legislation on the Armenian Genocide in 1975, 1984 and 1996. Statement by President Donald J. Trump on Armenian Remembrance Day 2017:

Today, we remember and honor the memory of those who suffered during the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century. Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by so many. As we reflect on this dark chapter of human history, we also recognize the resilience of the Armenian people. Many built new lives in the United States and made indelible contributions to our country, while cherishing memories of the historic homeland in which their ancestors established one of the great civilizations of antiquity. We must remember atrocities to prevent them from occurring again. We welcome the efforts of Turks and Armenians to acknowledge and reckon with painful history, which is a critical step toward building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future.
Beirut Bishop Says Two Bishops Abducted in Syria in 2013 Are Still Alive

Bishop Yuhanna Ibrahim (left) and Bishop Paul Yazici. Beirut -- The two bishops of Aleppo abducted in 2013 in Syria are still alive, said Mgr Daniel Kourie, Syriac Orthodox bishop of Beirut, who spoke on Saturday at the ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of the Virgin Mary's apparitions over the dome of the cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Moussaitbeh, near Beirut.

The commemoration of these apparitions, which this Church invariably commemorates on the first Sunday after Easter, coincided this year with the 4th anniversary of the abduction in Syria (22 April 2013) of the Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox bishops of Aleppo, Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, whose fate remains unknown. The portraits of the two bishops were displayed inside the cathedral and carried during the torchlight procession that marked the anniversary of the apparitions.

During the ceremony for the dual anniversary, Bishop Daniel Kourie, chairman of the commission charged with the affair, tried to be reassuring. As far as he knew "the two bishops are still alive. [. . .] Those who believe otherwise must give us evidence for their claim." The prelate added that the commission has knocked on every possible door, in Lebanon and Syria, doing their best, to find the two bishops.

Bishop Kourie called on Lebanese authorities to make this case a national cause given its impact on interfaith coexistence and dialogue. He slammed "religious and ethnic cleansing in Syria, Iraq and Egypt" and the states that support it by providing men, weapons and money.

The apparitions of the Virgin at Moussaitbeh, a mixed district of Beirut with a substantial Syriac community, are similar to those that occurred in Zeitoun (1968). The Syriac Orthodox Church considers them authentic and solemnly recognised them in a patriarchal decree. Unfortunately, they have not received the attention they deserve from the other Eastern Churches in Lebanon, all of which had turned inward at the time of the events, even though these events resonated as a warning and an appeal for openness and unity, in the face of the initial rise of the Islamist peril.
April 24, 2017

CAIRO  Two weeks after suicide bombers killed at least 48 people and wounded more than 100 in twin bombings at cathedrals in Egypt, Christian support for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appears to be wavering.

The April 9 blasts targeted St. Georges Cathedral in Tanta and St. Marks Cathedral in Alexandria governorate, where just minutes before, Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Marks Cathedral had left after leading a Palm Sunday service. The pope subsequently limited Easter morning services April 16 and called on Copts to visit families of the victims and wounded.

Those bombings came only four months after a deadly Dec. 11 blast at St. Peter and St. Paul Church in Cairo.

The twin bombings, for which the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility, pose the type of challenge Sisi needs to overcome, given that he had vowed to crack down on extremism and protect the Copts, who make up 10% of Egypts population of about 83 million people. Some Muslims have burned Christian homes and churches in the past in several parts of Egypt, but fear has been spreading even more quickly among Christians since IS started targeting them.

Suzy al-Nashed, a member of parliament for the Egypt Support Coalition, told Al-Monitor by phone that Christians, in general, are targeted because of their stance favoring the June 30 Revolution in 2013, their support of Sisi and their contribution to the ouster of then-President Mohammed Morsi.

But George Isaac, a member of the National Council for Human Rights, told Al-Monitor that Sisi's popularity has declined significantly among Christians.

"The people are disgruntled about what's happening. A comprehensive strategy is required to counter terrorism," he said. I now have a different perspective toward the regime. An adequate candidate other than Sisi will have my vote in the next election. In case there is no suitable candidate, I will not be voting.

Ishak Ibrahim, a religious freedoms researcher with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, told Al-Monitor by phone that the Egyptian churchs position so far is neither for nor against the state. He said people are just trying to cope with their sadness and anger over the bombings.

He added that the state should have taken measures to protect the Copts more effectively and must address the continued terrorist and sectarian threats against Christians security and safety.

Security is clearly being neglected, he said, which is causing such incidents to occur repeatedly. Also, We need to rectify misconceptions within Egyptian society in order for it to [resist] sectarian attacks. The thing that happened in Minya reflects these misconceptions, he said, referring to the sectarian attack April 13 in the village of Koum al-Loufi in Minya governorate just days after the April 9 blasts. Several Coptic worshipers were injured by stone-throwing villagers.

Condemning that incident, he asked why Copts should be prevented from practicing their religion, especially when they are legally licensed to do so. He pointed out that Christian citizens do not enjoy full civil rights, and he worries that attacks could lead a segment of the Christian community to distance themselves from society.

Answering a question on whether Christians will vote for Sisi in the upcoming elections, Ibrahim said, "It is a matter of political choice. Every citizen has the right to choose whomever he wants. He said he hopes the church won't push Copts to vote a certain way and that politicians won't use fear to influence them.

Speaking to Al-Monitor by phone, Islamist author Najeh Ibrahim agreed with Ishak Ibrahim that repeated terrorist and sectarian attacks targeting Egypts Copts could lead them to isolate themselves. He noted the continuing danger posed by IS, which is aware that churches are soft targets. Security is also complicated by the challenge of searching all worshipers on holidays.

"The regime is preoccupied with the political conflict, and such attacks would reappear should the current regime fail to provide a more tolerant political environment, he said. He believes Christians won't support Sisi as they did before his rise to power.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Bishop Anba Macarius of the Coptic Orthodox Minya Diocese demanded that measures be taken to protect Copts from the wave of violence.

The bishop added, A culture change is required to bring about coexistence and tolerance. The Copts continue to suffer from religious discrimination in some parts of Egypt, and some are denied specific jobs. The state needs to enforce the law."

However, he doesn't believe terrorist or sectarian attacks will prompt Copts to become isolated. They will continue to be active and to coexist and cooperate with their brethren at home, he said, stressing that a large segment of the Copts have faith in the political leadership and will continue to support it.

Parliament member Nashed also believes "widespread extremist ideas and intolerance will not drive Christians into isolation. However, she said more protection is definitely required at churches due to systematic attacks. She considers the suicide bomber's ability to enter St. Georges Cathedral a serious security oversight.

Like the bishop, Nashed pointed out that there are protective laws on the books that haven't been implemented in some parts of Egypt. She sees the need for a commission against religious discrimination, as called for in the Egyptian Constitution.

Asked if she will support Sisi in the next election, she replied, We voted for him because he saved us from a regime embracing extremist ideas. I have not, however, decided yet whether I will vote for him in the upcoming elections.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Cairo citizen told Al-Monitor he is disappointed in Sisi. Based on what he has done over the past three years, I will definitely be voting for a candidate other than Sisi, he said. The man's father, however, said, I think Sisi deserves another chance. I will vote for him if he runs in the next elections.
April 24, 2017

A panel of experts created by Congress to defend religious freedom is being accused of whitewashing Israeli discrimination against Christians and other religious minorities.

In an unprecedented public dissent against the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the only Middle East Christian on the panel is accusing the panel of a "continuing and glaring refusal" to hold Israel to account since the commission's founding in 1998. Arab-American activist Jim Zogby, a 2013 Barack Obama nominee whose term is up this year, argues in a scathing dissent to the annual USCIRF report that will be released April 26 that the panel is betraying its original mission and harming its reputation.

"Because I value the mission, I could not leave without stating publicly my concerns with how this commission has operated," Zogby told Al-Monitor. "I believe that we have not interpreted the mission correctly, and therefore we've not made a difference."

In his dissent, Zogby argues that the panel should focus its energy on advising the US State Department rather than creating "duplicative" reports of problematic countries. But he reserves most of his recrimination for the panel's reluctance over the years to take actions that could be seen as hostile to Israel.

"I believe we have an obligation to consider Israel's use of religion to discriminate against both its own citizens and Palestinians living in the occupied territories," Zogby writes, "as well as its violations of a range of freedoms of Christians, Muslims, and non-Orthodox Jews."

Zogby, a Maronite Catholic, has his own share of detractors in the pro-Israel camp. He is president of the pro-Palestinian Arab American Institute advocacy organization and unsuccessfully fought for language in last year's Democratic Party platform that would have called for an "end to occupation and illegal settlements."

"Jim Zogby has had one single goal in all of his criticism of the commission and all his activities when on the commission, and that is to attack Israel," said Elliott Abrams, a former official in the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush administrations who twice served as a USCIRF commissioner.

Zogby's dissent comes as Congress is working on new spending for legislation for groups such as the USCIRF, which was reauthorized at the end of last year. The USCIRF declined to comment ahead of the release of its report.

Zogby is not alone in his observations.

In November, representatives of 11 major US religious communities and 34 Christian groups from Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza wrote to the commissioners noting a "conspicuous gap" in reporting on freedom of religion in Israel and Palestine in its two-decade history. The letter was accompanied by a 192-page report from the US nonprofit Palestine Works accusing Israel of "structural" discrimination against Christians and other religious minorities.

"What we see in Israel and [Palestine] is a system that seeks to establish the dominant, privileged position of Jewish Israelis in a manner that has discriminated against the Christian and Muslim Palestinian population," the church leaders wrote. "The system in practice has also negatively affected non-Orthodox and secular Jews, while promoting the fragmentation of the Palestinian population along religious lines."

The letter specifically condemned "discriminatory laws that impact the freedom to marry, family reunification, discrimination in housing and land ownership, the freedom of movement, and the right to worship and to maintain holy sites." The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

The USCIRF also recently received a letter from Hiddush, an organization of Israeli and American Jews concerned with what it deems the "excessive power" of Orthodox parties, asking the USCIRF to "conduct a serious review of religious freedom issues in Israel [using the same] standards and principles used to monitor religious freedom issues throughout the world."

Both requests were rejected by a "slim majority" of USCIRF commissioners following a bitter debate, according to Zogby.

"The level of vehemence that greeted the receipt of these letters was so great that some commissioners expressed concern that if we were to adopt these requests ... it would consume the commission in endless rancorous debate, paralyzing us for the rest of the year," he writes in his dissent. "We were, in effect, bullied into silence."

Critics say it's not the first time.

Drew Christiansen, a former director of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of International Justice and Peace now with Georgetown University, accompanied Jerusalem Roman Catholic Bishop Fouad Twal before the commission in 2014. He said Twal's criticism of Israeli restrictions on Palestinians and the proposed creation of a "Christian ID" were met with open hostility.

"The reception I'd say was antagonistic, defensive of Israel and not at all interested in hearing out [...] or even volunteering remedies for these problems," Christiansen told Al-Monitor. "The whole burden of the thing was to have Patriarch Twal defend his claims, which would have been well known to anyone who knows the region and knows the policies of Israel toward Christians, particularly those living in Jerusalem."

Christiansen said an alliance of Jewish hard-liners and evangelical Christians on the commission has long stymied any investigation or criticism of Israel. Zogby argues in his dissent that as a result, the USCIRF is letting down Christian and Muslim Palestinians, encouraging Israeli rights violations and opening up the commission to accusations that it has double standards.

"The charge that USCIRF has a double standard particularly undermines our ability to effectively advocate for religious freedom in Arab countries, the leaders of which can ignore the substance of USCIRFs critique of their record and instead dismiss us as hypocritical," Zogby writes. "And so I dissent because I value religious freedom and cannot turn a blind eye from any victim community and because I know that our refusal to be balanced in our assessment of religious freedom concerns reduces our stature and calls into question our credibility."
April 24, 2017

CAIRO  President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced April 11 the formation of the National Media Council and its National Press Organization and National Media Organization. Concerns over freedom of the media have been raised among media staff, however, given that figures opposing the ruling regime were excluded from the formation.

Constitution Article 211 stipulates, The National Media Council is an independent entity that has a legal personality; enjoys technical, financial and administrative independence; and has an independent budget. The council regulates the affairs of radio, television, and printed and digital press, among others.

Based on that, the council, headed by pro-Sisi journalist Makram Mohamed Ahmed, who was previously the head of the Press Syndicate under the Mubarak regime, will have the upper hand in the media sector. Under the Institutional Regulation of the Press and the Media Law passed in December, the councils most prominent task is to advise on relevant draft laws and regulations; receive notices for the establishment of newspapers; issue licenses for the establishment and operation of audio, visual and digital media outlets; and develop and implement rules and regulations to ensure that media outlets and press institutions are abiding by the ethical standards of the profession and not causing harm to national security.

The National Press Organization, headed by journalist Karam Gaber, who chaired the Rose al-Yusuf Institution under the Mubarak regime and is known for his stances favoring Sisi, assumes the management of the state-owned press. The National Media Organization, headed by Hussein Zein, manages the state-owned media outlets to provide press, digital, audio and visual production, and broadcasting services. Both organizations also assume a censorship role over private satellite channels and newspapers, without being entitled to manage them.

The formation of the National Media Council and the national press and media organizations sparked media debate and accusations that the council is designed to curb freedom of the media because  along with the national organizations  it consists of pro-regime figures only.

Press Syndicate member Amr Badr criticized the formation of the National Media Council and the national press and media organizations. He told Al-Monitor, The formation of the National Media Council and its organizations regulating media and press activity raises concern. This is because those members who were selected by the president of the republic are known for their absolute support for the ruling regime. Most of them are affiliated with the Mubarak regime and held senior positions under his rule. This proves that the selection criteria are the same as those prevailing prior to the January 25 Revolution. Members are being selected based on their affiliation [with] the regime and abidance to its dictates. This criterion raises major concerns among journalists over the freedom of the press and media.

He added, Another problem is the absence of younger members, which means that the state has no vision toward younger people. The youunger people are the main drive of the media, and their absence would ensure a further domination by the state over the council and organizations to have its own way in the media.

He added, The National Media Councils tasks are vague. For instance, monitoring media outlets to ensure that national security is not jeopardized is something vague, because the concept of national security varies from [one] person to another. It [has] been done deliberately by the state, with the objective of having the media under its control and further predominating it. Those regimes engaged in countering the freedom of the media, and rejecting media criticism leveled against the state, are accustomed to this method.

Mohammed Shuman, the dean of the faculty of communication and mass media at the British University in Cairo, told Al-Monitor, There are many concerns over the freedom of the media, due to the timing of the April 11 presidential decree on the formation of the National Media Council and the national press and media organizations, which came two days following the April 9 blasts inside St. George's Church in Tanta and St. Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria. It also came under a state of emergency declared due to these incidents.

He added, The councils members might be influenced by the state of emergency. Their decisions and rules will, therefore, constrain the freedom of the media and communications, especially social media and digital journalism.

Shuman criticized the fact that the National Media Council and national press and media organizations count out opposition representatives and that many of their members are affiliated with former leaders under the Mubarak regime and the dissolved National Democratic Party. He said, There are no young people who are members of the council and organizations. All members are over age 50, although a majority those working in the press and media in Egypt are young people.

Chairman of the National Media Council Hatem Zakaria told Al-Monitor that the National Media Council and the national press and media organizations have excluded members who do not support the state and state plans to regulate the media and end media muddle that causes harm to the states interests at home and abroad.

Commenting on the National Media Council and the national press and media organizations not having younger members, Zakaria said, They did not include younger members because the presence of experienced members is required at the current stage in order to develop general media policies. In the next four-year term, the National Media Council and national press and media organizations might include young people as members. Their mission will be easier after the councils clear policies are developed and its role in regulating the media is determined.

He added, The National Media Council will not impose restrictions on the freedom of the media but will be working to regulate it. An absolute freedom would prejudice the country. The media needs to be responsible to avoid causing any harm to the country and society. We are taking into account the fact that the state is fighting a fierce war against terrorism.

The formation of the National Media Council and the national press and media organizations shows that the state intends to put reins on the media. Members known for their opposition to the state and its policy toward the media are excluded from the council and its organizations. This has raised concerns among media personnel, particularly since Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April 9.
April 25, 2017

According to a recent survey released by the polling firm IranPoll, incumbent Hassan Rouhani remains popular just as Irans presidential campaign kicks into high gear. But Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Rouhanis chief rival from the last presidential election in 2013, is also well regarded by voters. Does the poll, which was conducted April 11-14, set the stage for a rematch between the two men for the presidency?

According to the survey, 62% of Iranians have a favorable opinion of Rouhani; 35% have an unfavorable opinion. For Ghalibaf, who came in second to Rouhani in 2013, 67% of Iranians have a favorable opinion, while 25% have an unfavorable opinion.

The first round of the presidential elections will be held May 19.

The weakness in the broader Iranian economy has weighed heavily on Rouhanis public image. The International Monetary Fund reported in February that the Iranian economy grew an impressive 7% over the past year, but that nearly all of this growth was attributed to increased oil exports.

The survey shows that 72% of Iranians believe the economic situation has not improved as a consequence of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Nearly half  42%  say unemployment is the most important issue facing the country, with a further 13% specifically citing youth unemployment.

This latest survey shows Rouhanis popularity has retreated in the two years since the nuclear deal. An August 2015 survey, conducted by IranPoll in conjunction with the University of Maryland just a few weeks after the deal was announced, found an eye-popping 88% of Iranians had a favorable view of Irans president. A year later, Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif remained Irans most popular political figures, according to a survey by US-based polling institute iPOS, with 75% and 76% favorable ratings, respectively.

The Guardian Council, the body tasked with vetting candidates, released a preliminary slate of six presidential hopefuls on April 20. The six include incumbent Rouhani, Ghalibaf and Principlist Ebrahim Raisi. Also approved were First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, Principlist and former Culture Minister Mostafa Mirsalim, and Reformist and former Mines and Industries Minister Mostafa Hashemi-Taba. Rejected candidates now have until April 25 to appeal, with the Interior Ministry set to announce the final list of candidates on April 26-27. Campaigning will officially kick off on April 28.

The grouping Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces, known by its Persian acronym, JAMNA, held an internal ballot on April 6, which saw Raisi, Ghalibaf and three other Principlists shortlisted as presidential nominees. But Raisis name recognition remains low. Nearly half of Iranians (46%) told IranPoll that they have no opinion of him, while 32% have a favorable opinion and 22% have an unfavorable opinion.

Yet Raisis low name recognition may not prove to be a disadvantage. Rouhani was unimpressive in early polls before winning the 2013 election with 51% of the vote.

Also relatively unknown is Rouhani ally Jahangiri (29% favorable/23% unfavorable), of whom 48% in the IranPoll survey have no opinion. Mirsalim and Hashemi-Taba did not appear in the survey.

The potential rematch between Rouhani and Ghalibaf will place a spotlight on Iranian polling. Ghalibaf led Rouhani in most credible polls during the 2013 campaign. However, as Rouhanis surprise win demonstrates, its not unusual to see big swings in the polls over the course of Irans brief campaign season, which ends May 17 (all campaigning is banned 48 hours ahead of voting).

University of Maryland/University of Tehran pollster Ebrahim Mohseni found that strategic voting was a big factor in Rouhanis first-round win in 2013. Nearly a quarter of Rouhani voters later told pollsters that they actually preferred Ghalibaf but voted for Rouhani in order to deny other candidates the chance of a runoff.

The Guardian Council rejected the candidacies of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his ally, former Vice President Hamid Baghaei. Ahmadinejad has long had high unfavorable numbers among Iranian voters, but he retains a base of support.

According to IranPoll, 52% of Iranians have a favorable opinion of Ahmadinejad. Still, 46% have an unfavorable opinion, with 24% very unfavorable, the highest among all the names IranPoll tested. An iPOS survey from May 2016 found that nearly 30% of the electorate would still support Ahmadinejad in a head-to-head matchup with Rouhani, who received 41% in the same survey.

The IranPoll survey has a representative sample of 1,005 Iranian adults and was conducted by telephone April 11-14. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3%. IranPoll is a Canadian firm but conducts surveys in Iran over the telephone using Persian-speaking interviewers.

The Guardian Councils announcement marks the beginning of the silly season in Iranian politics, even where political polling is concerned. On Apr. 24, Alef, the news website run by prominent conservative Ahmad Tavakoli, published a report on a poll said to have been carried out by the Iranian state broadcaster, which claims to have Rouhani leading both Ghalibaf and Raisi in head-to-head matchups. However, its not unusual in Iran for news outlets to publish reports of nonscientific surveys. Without further details, such polls shouldnt be considered reliable if they lack the disclosure of basic methodological information.
April 25, 2017

As Iran approaches its May 19 presidential elections, the conservative candidates  who are determined to unseat incumbent moderate Hassan Rouhani  are making new campaign pledges to attract votes.

Opponents of Rouhani have been focusing on unemployment and peoples livelihoods, saying Rouhani has been wholly unable to solve the economic hardships many ordinary Iranians are facing.

Conservative Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has registered to run for the presidency for the third time, has said that if elected, he would provide 2.5 million rials ($77 at the official exchange rate) a month to every jobless Iranian.

Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran since 2005 who previously commanded the countrys police force, has also promised that he will create 5 million jobs while increasing peoples incomes by 2.5 times.

In reaction, First Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri, who is also a presidential candidate along with Rouhani  most likely to defend the incumbent from the attacks of conservative candidates  said April 24, The capability of the economy for creating jobs is clear. Therefore, it is clear that he who says he will create a few million jobs is deceiving people.

He added sarcastically, This dear brother either hasnt created jobs or doesnt have knowledge about the [relevant] figures.

Masoud Nili, a prominent economist and an adviser to Rouhani, also dismissed the possibility of Ghalibafs promises coming true. We need 26% [annual] economic growth to increase the countrys income by 2.5 times. However, we have yearned for years to reach 8% growth, Nili said April 25.

On April 24, the other main conservative candidate, Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the holy shrine of the eighth Shiite imam, promised the country's poorer classes that if elected, he would triple the monthly cash subsidy payments, which currently total 455,000 rials ($14 at the official exchange rate) per person.

Raisi, who is also the candidate of the hard-liners under the leadership of Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, added, We feel that the unemployment crisis is solvable and that this crisis can be solved by creating 1.5 million jobs every year.

Meanwhile, Rouhani kicked off his campaign with a speech in Qazvin, some 90 miles northwest of Tehran. In the coming election, the issue is not all about electing a person for the presidency; the issue is that of whether we want to continue down the path of freedom of speech or not, Rouhani said April 23.

He added, In the coming election, the main issue is whether we want to begin confrontation with the world and bring back the ominous shadow of war to the country or whether we want to continue engaging in honorable interaction with the world.

Rouhani said that if re-elected, he would be afraid of no one and no thing to make peoples wishes come true.

Reformists and moderates are arguing that the victory of a conservative candidate would return Iran to the period of former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-13), when Tehran was internationally isolated and faced heavy sanctions over its nuclear program.

In fact, Raisi is being flanked by former hard-line chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who withdrew from the presidential race. According to hard-line member of parliament Mohammad Javad Abtahi, Raisi is making use of Jalilis foreign policy views and might include Jalili in a future Cabinet if Raisi is elected.
April 25, 2017

With Iraqi forces close to achieving military victory against the Islamic State (IS) in its main Mosul strongholds, some heated disputes have arisen among Shiite factions bent on preserving their independence and large scope of involvement in security and political matters not only in Iraq but in the region. Several political parties have called for disbanding these forces and incorporating them into the official armed forces, because keeping the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) as a shadow force for the other Iraqi military forces would strengthen the PMUs national and regional systemic role. Will these disputes turn into a military clash pitting the Shiite factions against the Iraqi government?

In a recent development in the dispute between the Iraqi government and PMU factions, Al-Hayat newspaper reported April 21 that some PMU factions  in collaboration with Lebanons Hezbollah  concluded a deal with the Qatari government under which Qatari hunters were freed in return for a ransom and Qatars pledge to pressure the Syrian opposition to lift the siege imposed on Shiite villages in Syria. This is regarded as a flagrant infringement on Iraqs sovereignty. The hunters, some of whom are members of the Qatari ruling family, were abducted in southern Iraq by PMU-affiliated forces. Although some PMU-affiliated factions, such as Kata'ib Hezbollah and the Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade, were held responsible for the operation, the true affiliation of the kidnappers is yet to be confirmed.

In an angry response, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on April 18 slammed the hunters' abduction, describing it as "a violation against all Iraqis. He said, This is a crime and an offense against all Iraqi citizens since [the hunters] were Iraqs guests and obtained official entry permits from the [Iraqi] Interior Ministry.

Abadi has criticized on many occasions what he called outlaws, stressing that they reject the Iraqi governments authority. In his answer to a question about the future of the PMU, Abadi told the United States Institute of Peace on March 20, There are volunteers in the PMU offering their lives.  But of course, there are others motivated by something else, probably by their ambition to take control and gain power. I know some have committed crimes such as armed robberies and kidnapping, and we are confronting them. We have a law and we will apply military law and accountability on those [PMU] fighters. Whoever is outside that will be considered an outlaw.

However, the reality on the ground reveals the governments inability to control rogue factions at this stage. This has been proven by the Iraqi governments inability to release the Qatari hostages, knowing that the kidnappers can negotiate with several foreign countries and conclude deals with regional ones. Shiite armed factions have long been accused of crimes against civilians, especially in the areas recaptured from IS, with the Iraqi government failing to control them. This has reached the point where Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of an armed faction within the PMU, called those unruly factions insolent militias.

PMU fighters have themselves been the target of criminal operations on some occasions. On March 4, Ahmad al-Jayerli, the commander of the Special Forces Regiment within the PMUs 16th Turkmen Brigades, and four of his guards were kidnapped in Baghdad. The incident is one episode of the internal conflict between these factions. This led the residents from Tuz Khormato to block the Kirkuk-Baghdad road in protest March 4 and threaten the central government with a rebellion if their leaders were not released.

One of the protesters said, The man [Jayerli] kidnapped was wounded while guarding a barricade [fighting IS] and he has not yet been recovered. Is this how good is repaid? Is this how a man who wants to stay clean is repaid? As for the kidnappers, the protester implicitly blamed PMU factions for the kidnapping, saying, Our leaders know the kidnappers. The PMU northern front leader knows them, the leader of the Badr Organizations military wing knows them and Saraya al-Salams leader knows them. Jayerli was later released without any official comments from the Iraqi government or the PMU.

The post-IS era will be critical as Abadi is trying to steer PMU factions away from politics in order to impose government control on them. However, some powerful parties within the PMU have publicly rejected these attempts. For instance, the secretary-general of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Qais al-Khazali, in a clear challenge to the PMU law, has recently stepped up his political activities ahead of the upcoming elections. He has stressed the PMUs involvement in politics.

These actions, particularly criminal ones, increase the probability of military clashes between government forces and PMU factions defying the governments orders and laws. These clashes would likely erupt after ending IS military presence in all Iraqi cities and regions since, at this stage, Iraqi forces are engaged in fierce fights against IS. The Iraqi government has been through a similar experience during the period of occupation when open clashes broke out between government forces and Shiite factions who controlled vital areas and institutions in the country. Back then, the US military presence helped stifle these militias.

However, amid the ongoing fragmentation underlying the Iraqi government, the government seems unable to fully exert control over these forces in the foreseeable future, not to mention that it remains powerless to seize the tribes arms. That said, these armed groups Iranian affiliation and support will empower them to challenge the Iraqi government and advance their pro-Iran agenda.
April 25, 2017

On April 21, masked young men from a wildcat West Bank settlement calling itself the Baladim outpost pelted an Israeli army patrol with stones. Before that, the settlers used clubs and stones to attack Israeli peace activists who shielded Palestinian shepherds with their bodies. Several activists were wounded. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman issued a stern statement condemning the attack. He pledged zero tolerance for violence. The minister demanded that law enforcement authorities bring the thugs who attacked the military patrol to justice. This is a serious phenomenon that we cannot tolerate, the minister wrote on his Facebook page. Not a word about the violence against the Palestinian shepherds or any wishes for a speedy recovery to their wounded Israeli protectors. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who never misses an opportunity to lash out at leftists, didnt even condemn the attack on the soldiers.

Its safe to assume that just as in dozens of previous instances, the coming Jewish Sabbath will also be dedicated to attacking shepherds and Israeli volunteers. The soldiers who show up at the site (late, as always) in an armored vehicle will chase away the settlers until the next attack, or until the shepherds are once and for all uprooted from their land  whichever comes first. The criminals know that the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will always be there for them. The best and brightest of the democratic Jewish state have been carrying out this despicable task for 50 years. In kindergarten, they were already being taught that the IDF is the peoples army and the Palestinians are the peoples enemy. And their Education Minister, Naftali Bennett, of the right-wing, pro-settlement HaBayit HaYehudi party, says God only gave the land to us, and, therefore, we as a nation cannot be considered occupiers of our own land.

Forty-nine years ago, professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz wrote that a state ruling a hostile population of 1.5 to 2 million foreigners would necessarily become a secret-police state, with all that this implies for education, free speech and democratic institutions. Therefore, for the sake of saving the people, society and the state, the religious scientist and intellectual called on Israeli soldiers to disobey orders to serve in the occupied territories. Even if only several hundred refuse to serve, Leibowitz wrote, it could shake up the public and pave the way for a political, moral-spiritual upheaval.

Some 30,000 young Americans and Australians burned their draft notices in the 1960s and 1970s at mass rallies against their countries involvement in the Vietnam War. But in Israel, only a very few heeded Leibowitzs call. Organizations of conscientious objectors, such as the Jewish New Profile and Yesh Gvul and the Druse Urfod, are a drop in the ocean compared to the tens of thousands of young Israelis volunteering to serve in military policing units in the occupied territories. Even the use of the term occupation army has become heresy. Maj. Gen. (Res.) Gadi Shamni, who was head of the central command that includes jurisdiction over the West Bank, generated a slew of headlines and condemnations when he admitted last September that Israel was the world champions of occupation.

Now and again a small group of high school students gets together before their draft and issues a letter refusing to serve. The last one was issued in 2014. That same year, 43 reserve soldiers and officers from the elite military intelligence unit 8200 signed a letter announcing their refusal to take part in activity against the Palestinians and to continue serving as tools in deepening the military control over the occupied territories. The senior reserve officer among the signatories told Ynet news at the time that he believes many others support him and his friends and identify with them, but theyre afraid to speak out and risk their jobs.

On April 18, a young woman named Atalya Ben-Abba was sent to jail for the third time over her refusal to enlist. Her fellow conscientious objectors, Tamar Alon and Tamar Zeevi, had already done more than 100 days of military jail time. Last month, for the first time in 13 years, the IDF recognized refusal to serve the occupation as conscientious objection and exempted Zeevi from service. Nonetheless, the military panel refused to exempt Alon, claiming her refusal to serve is motivated by civil disobedience. The incitement by the Israeli right against Breaking the Silence, an organization dedicated to exposing Israeli soldiers abuse of Palestinians, succeeded in blurring the fact that its activists did not join the objectors and were themselves part of the occupation machine, as their members have served in the Israeli military.

The delegitimization of those refusing to serve in the territories has marginalized the debate on Israels compulsory military service. A 2014 report from the IDF's Center for Behavioral Sciences recommended that the army prepare itself for changes in enlisting models and cancel the obligatory draft. Two years ago, the Shaked Committee approved shortening the army service period for men from 36 to 32 months. Last December, the Foreign and Defense Knesset Committee approved shortening that period to 30 months. This decision should be enforced as of July 2020, depending on the Knesset plenums approval at a second and third reading. Ten years ago, the government adopted recommendations by a committee on the issue of shortening army service and tasked the defense minister with proposing a bill draft for the Knessets approval. Two committees have since repeated this recommendation, but in reality, nothing has happened.

In the proposed 2012 budget report, the finance ministry wrote, Conscripted soldiers are a very expensive resource given that they are part of the academic and workforce potential, and the meaning of their military service is a delay in realizing it [the potential]. According to data compiled by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the annual cost to the work market of potential workers enlisting in the army, in terms of gross domestic product loss, stands at 1.2%  this equals 9 billion shekels (approximately $2.25 billion) in 2009 figures.

But, the report added, as a result of the growing number of groups exempt from service  minorities, ultra-Orthodox Jews and those with medical problems  no more than 50% of those eligible for conscription actually complete their service. In other words, about half of the 18-year-old population does not enlist in the IDF.

On the other hand, absent compulsory service, how would Israeli politicians be able to incite against the left-wing objectors who refuse to serve in the occupied territories? How would they withhold the rights of veterans from the countrys exempted Arab citizens, and to turn secular Israelis against ultra-Orthodox ones, who refuse to enlist? Most of all, conscription is designed to keep alive the winning political ethos of a small state surrounded by enemies. And after all, without conscription, there wont be anybody left to protect the thugs in the illegal Jordan Valley outposts and chase children on the streets of the occupied Palestinian town of Hebron.
April 25, 2017

The Fatah movement has declared April 28 a Day of Rage, a series of rallies in support of the hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. For the first time since the outbreak of the second intifada almost 17 years ago, in 2000, the movements activists are openly calling on Palestinians to clash with Israeli forces at West Bank roadblocks.

The announcement issued by Fatah, the largest faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization and the party that controls the Palestinian Authority (PA), said the actions were intended to show Israel the support of the Palestinian people for their prisoners and to assert their right to struggle against its occupation of their land. We will clash with the occupier everywhere, the announcement said.

Israel views this clarion call as crossing a red line. From Israels viewpoint, if events on that day spin out of control and result in injuries or loss of life, the responsibility will lie with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A Palestinian defense source confirmed to Al-Monitor that Israel had conveyed a harsh protest to the security coordination mechanism between Israel and the Palestinians and warned that unless the Palestinian police stop the protesters, the Day of Rage could turn into a Bloody Friday.

This public and direct call encouraging young Palestinians to take on the occupation forces is an expression of the tremendous frustration simmering among Fatah leaders that the prisoner hunger strike, launched April 17, is not attracting as many participants as expected. Fatah leaders are also frustrated with Israels refusal so far to respond to any of the demands of the strikers, led by senior Fatah member Marwan Barghouti, or even to enter into negotiations with leaders of the protest.

In the past, large-scale protests by Palestinian inmates prompted the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to negotiate with the prisoners representatives, but this time, said Qadoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, there is absolutely no contact between the prisons and the strike leaders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan have instructed the prison service to reject the inmates demands, especially those relating to convenience, such as installing a public phone line in the prison wings and increasing the number of family visits. According to IPS data, since the start of the strike, 10% of those taking part  187 prisoners  have dropped out. Fatah activists considered Barghouti supporters in the West Bank are concerned that the strike will fizzle out, and Barghoutis standing as a challenger to Abbas leadership will be seriously undermined. As previously reported in Al-Monitor, both Israel and Abbas people saw the declaration of the strike as a desperate attempt by Barghouti to beef up his standing after failing to be chosen in the movements February convention as Fatah deputy leader.

Going over Abbas head and declaring a Day of Rage, which could generate an additional round of violence between the Palestinians and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), exposes a rare confrontation between Fatah seniors and their chief.

Abbas was outraged over the Day of Rage, the Palestinian source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor. The president opposes calls for violence, which blatantly contradict his views, especially ahead of the 'fateful' days for the future of his people.

As previously reported, Abbas is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on May 3. Immense Palestinian diplomatic efforts went into paving the way for this intriguing meeting. The last thing Abbas wants is to drive up to the White House while Israel and Palestinian demonstrators are clashing at roadblocks, and even more so, as his partys activists are spoiling for a fight.

As far as Abbas is concerned, the Fatah leadership should have understood his fears and concerns in light of the hurdles he faces in dealing with the Trump administration. Dangerous leadership games within the Fatah movement could spoil the moment for which he has long been preparing.

The call to violence was initiated and is mostly being led by activists from the Tanzim, Fatahs paramilitary wing. Senior PA officials, however, sleepless over the planned protests, suspect that Abbas new, handpicked deputy, Mahmoud al-Aloul, is the one pulling the strings and stirring trouble. Aloul has in the past fervently preached in favor of mass popular rallies against Israel, but now, the Palestinian source noted, He is wearing a different hat. He is Abbas deputy in the Fatah movement. That requires him to act responsibly and to understand the spirit of his commanders orders.

Aloul was responsible for the Tanzim, mainly concerning issues of financing, from 2009 until 2017. Within that circle, there is lots of support and admiration for Barghouti, who headed the Tanzim during the second intifada until he was arrested in 2002. Many Tanzim activists consider Aloul a counterweight to Abbas conciliatory ways, which they consider defeatist. If Aloul is indeed behind the call to violence, or if he pushed the initiative forward, then the choice of Aloul as Abbas deputy  propelled by his unwavering support of the president  has become a boomerang against Abbas, especially given that Abbas chose him to keep suspected would-be successors whom he fears at bay.

On April 28, Fatah will spur young Palestinians to confront IDF soldiers at roadblocks and other hotspots on the West Bank, while the Palestinian security forces will try to carry out their assigned task of blocking them. Which side will have the upper hand? Mass demonstrations on the Day of Rage are unlikely. Many young Palestinians no longer blindly follow those whom they regard as representing the old, corruption-riddled politics. Dozens or hundreds of thousands of protesters are not needed for things to spin out of control. All it takes are a few Palestinians hit by Israeli bullets to set off an all-consuming fire.
April 25, 2017

In his official speech at the Holocaust memorial museum Yad Vashem on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) on April 23, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin decided to challenge the idea that the Holocaust is "the lens through which we view the world." It was a refreshing and important approach.

Rivlin's speech made headlines and caused a buzz on social media, not least because of his bold statement that the very idea that "any criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitism  is fundamentally wrong, and is dangerous for us a nation and as a people. No less than this, it is dangerous for the memory of the Shoah."

Although his remarks challenged the approach suggested later in the same ceremony by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, any attempt to drag Rivlin's speech into the political arena would be doing it an injustice. Instead, this opportunity should be used to engage in an in-depth discussion about Israeli society's attitude toward the Holocaust, seven decades after the atrocities. Israelis must ask themselves whether they should change their perception of themselves from that of a persecuted victim, constantly threatened by a second Holocaust, to one rooted in strength and self-confidence.

Rivlin abandoned the established rhetoric of official speeches on Holocaust Remembrance Day, attempting to challenge the conventional discourse by an approach that was a bit more complex. He said, "The more time that passes, the fewer the surviving witnesses to the horrors, the older the State of Israel, so our need to deal with how we relate to the Holocaust and to Holocaust remembrance becomes ever more crucial."

He continued to present the two prevalent approaches today, both of which he considers dangerous. The first is the "universalist approach," which considers the Holocaust to be just one out of many cases of genocide that occurred throughout human history. The second regards the Holocaust as the main justification for the existence of the State of Israel and the prism through which it should assess the world.

According to the president, the universalist approach is a dangerous approach because it downplays the Shoah, distorts history and denies the German program of systematic extermination that was aimed specifically at the Jewish people. He then added, "It denies anti-Semitism, a malignant disease that is 2,000 years old.  [It] negates the uniqueness of the Holocaust as a historical event that has no parallel, that happened to us, the members of the Jewish people."

This second approach, identified with Netanyahu, was described by Rivlin as follows: "The justification for the existence of the State of Israel is the prevention of the next Holocaust. Every threat is a threat to survival, every Israel-hating leader is Hitler. According to this approach, the essence of our collective Jewish identity is escape from massacre by joint means. And the world is divided into two: the 'Righteous among the Nations' on the one hand, and anti-Semitic Nazis on the other. And in any case, any criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitism. This approach also is fundamentally wrong and is dangerous for us a nation and as a people. No less than this, it is dangerous for the memory of the Shoah."

Rivlin emphasized the severity of the threats faced by the State of Israel, but said that these should not be seen as some be-all and end-all. "There is no doubt that in the period since the Shoah we have stood at historic crossroads, moments when we have sensed the threat of 'the Destruction of the Third Temple/Homeland,' and of course, the State of Israel may find itself under threat to its very existence. However, we have a state, we have an army.  The Shoah is permanently branded in our flesh. Each of us has a number on our arm. Nevertheless, the Shoah is not the lens through which we should examine our past and our future."

Rivlin then proposed a third approach, which makes it possible to remember the Holocaust as an inconceivable human crime targeting the Jewish people with a methodical plan to exterminate them, while at the same time adopting a healthy and mature attitude toward what happened. "We shall always undertake our own defense  the State of Israel is not compensation for the Holocaust, but the Holocaust teaches us that we must take our fate in our own hands. The Jewish people have the right and the duty to maintain a defensive force, national independence, sovereignty, here in our historic homeland."

In his speech, Netanyahu expanded on the theme of hatred of the Jewish people and of the dangers still lurking for Israel today. He said, "The new-old anti-Semitism is widespread in certain circles in the West, and it is also common in UN institutions."

The palpable difference between Rivlins and Netanyahus speeches, particularly at an official ceremony that is supposed to present a cohesive message, had many listeners contrast the two men's messages. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote on Twitter that there were "Two speeches on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Rivlin's was an official speech showing leadership and self-confidence. Netanyahu's expressed anxiety and sowed fear, while raising historic threats."

Zionist Camp Knesset member Merav Michaeli also praised Rivlin for his remarks, tweeting, "Note the president's important comments: The idea that any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic is dangerous to the State of Israel and the memory of the Holocaust."

Rivlin is identified with the Likud. He is clearly a right-wing liberal, though that places him in a camp that has lost much of its strength over the past few years to the populist, nationalist right. That's why it is so easy to turn his Holocaust Remembrance Day speech into a political attack. On the other hand, Rivlin is consistent about his positions and his worldview. His remarks are not some heretical rejection of right-wing positions, even if they run counter to Netanyahu's own comments of the past few years, comparing the Iranian threat to the Holocaust.

In his speech, the president offered Israelis a contemporary perspective on the Holocaust, far removed from the Diaspora approach of former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who once described the 1982 war in Lebanon as an attempt "to prevent another Treblinka."

The day after his speech, Rivlin gave a concrete example of the approach he spoke of. At another speech, this one at Kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta'ot, established by ghetto resisters who immigrated to Israel, he criticized France's right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who shirks responsibility for her country's own role in the extermination of its Jewish population during World War II. "Some two weeks ago, a French presidential candidate denied Frances responsibility for the deportation of its Jewish citizens to the Nazi concentration and death camps," Rivlin said. "As a sovereign state that has gained national independence, we have a duty to demand from other nations and states not to evade responsibility.  We must wage a war against the current and dangerous wave of Holocaust denial. We must resist the renunciation of national responsibility in the name of alleged victimhood."

With these comments, the president showed that it is possible to foster awareness and even criticize contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism without resorting to pronouncements of rage and destruction.
April 24, 2017

BAGHDAD  The 26 members of a kidnapped hunting party that included numerous members of the Qatari royal family and two Saudi nationals have been released after being held for 16 months in Iraq, but questions remain about how that release was negotiated.

While the details of the deal haven't been revealed, the entire case raises serious concern among Iraqis that their government might be losing more control over its territory, as it appears regional deals are being concluded involving Iraqi territory under the auspices of other countries, without the governments full supervision.

However, Interior Ministry spokesman Wahab al-Tai told Al-Monitor that Iraq was "the only and exclusive authority handling this case with Qatar." Regarding the governments role in this operation, Tai said that the idea of a political deal in this case is not true at all."

"This was a blackmail plot by organized crime gangs seeking to obtain money. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of $700 million, but the official security services under the guidance of the government thwarted the attempt, he said.

But The Associated Press cited an undisclosed source involved in negotiations who said Qatar paid tens of millions of dollars to Shiite groups and the al-Qaeda-linked, Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham. The Guardian reported April 21 that the hostages' release also involved hundreds of prisoners being freed from Syrian jails.

A Qatari delegation in Baghdad conducted negotiations April 18 that included the exchange of Iranian fighters and members of Lebanon's Hezbollah in Syria, held by Sunni combat groups in Syria. The AP source also said Iran and Hezbollah were involved in the negotiations.

This is politically possible and accepted, Jasim Mohammed Jaafar, a leader of the State of Law Coalition in Iraq, told Al-Monitor. The impact of Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah on the Shiite factions in Iraq, and the relationship between Qatar and armed groups in Syria, paved the way for such a deal.

Jaafar also said that there was a major Qatari attempt through the influential political parties in force in Iraq, in coordination with Iran, to release these hunters.

Though he refused to name it, he asserted that the kidnapping party was an Iraqi armed faction, not a terrorist organization. He said the objective behind the kidnapping was purely political and came in response to Qatar's role in Iraq and Syria supporting armed groups. In a Feb. 2 article, Al-Monitor reported that Sunni parties accused militias of abducting the hunters for political purposes.

However, the deal would have even larger regional dimensions if, as claimed by a well-informed Lebanese source who spoke with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the deal involved an understanding between Iran and its supporting forces in Syria on the one hand, and on the other hand, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an extremist armed faction influenced by Qatar. Under this scenario, the source said, Qatar committed to open a channel of communication between Washington and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, which the United States considers a terrorist organization.

Syrian opposition member Samir Nashar mentioned involvement of an Iraqi paramilitary group. In a press statement to Asharq Al-Awsat  a statement removed a day after it was posted on the paper's website for unknown reasons  Nashar said, The Iraqi Hezbollah al-Nujaba movement, which has a number of fighters in Syria, agreed to release the kidnapped hunters under a deal to clear [the] four Syrian towns.

Abu Warith al-Musawi, a leading figure in Hezbollah al-Nujaba, denied any role by the movement in the kidnapping.

We are part of the military system and the information contained in the article by the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper is not true. We have nothing to do with any deal and we will sue the newspaper for publishing such false news, he told Al-Monitor.

The Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) also denied involvement. Ahmed al-Asadi, spokesman for the predominantly Shiite group, told Al-Monitor, The PMU has nothing to do with the kidnapping, especially as [the PMU] is part of the Iraqi security system. The mere mention of the PMUs name in relation to this case is an attempt to tarnish its reputation.

He added that the Iraqi Interior Ministry and its security institutions, along with the government, coordinated the Qatari hunters' release. Further, he said, the PMU rejects such operations and views them as harmful to Iraq's reputation.

The Qataris were legally hunting in the wilds of Iraq, which are known for ecological diversity and are home to various species of animals and birds, especially falcons, which attract hunters from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

These hunters kept visiting Iraq despite deteriorated security conditions and the presence of the Islamic State, which occupied the city of Mosul and areas in Salahuddin province north of Baghdad in June 2014, as well as the presence of several armed groups living off kidnapping operations.
April 24, 2017

Moscow will soon send a delegation to Turkey to discuss the steep tariffs Ankara recently imposed on certain Russian agricultural products, Russian Deputy Economy Minister Alexei Gruzdev told reporters April 24.

Russian businesses were surprised on March 15 when Turkey began collecting a 130% import tax on Russian products including wheat, corn and sunflower oil. In Russia, the tax is viewed as tantamount to a sanction on its goods.

With such prohibitive taxes, the deliveries could be stopped, said Dmitry Rylko, the head of the Moscow-based Institute for Agricultural Market Studies, in an interview with Russian news agency Interfax.

Russian Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev also expressed concern and surprise on the ministrys website March 22. He added that he was disappointed in his Turkish colleagues, as both countries had agreed on the necessity of normalizing bilateral trade ties. Tkachev also said that Ankaras actions call into question its intention to build strong relations with Russia. On the same day, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek by telephone that Ankara's action is hindering the restoration of ties.

Simsek and Turkish Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci traveled to Moscow on April 18. During the visit they met with Dvorkovich and Minister of Energy Alexander Novak. The tariffs were the main topic in their talks.

Zeybekci explained that the measures were taken on behalf of Turkish exporters, who suffer from the heavy sanctions Moscow hit Ankara with after Turkey downed a Russian jet in November 2015. Despite numerous discussions since then on normalizing bilateral ties, a number of Russian sanctions imposed on Turkish goods remain in force. During Putins visit Oct. 10 to the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Russia did lift sanctions on many Turkish fruits.

Turks had hoped that the remaining sanctions would be fully lifted when a Turkish delegation headed by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visited Russia in December, but no agreement was achieved. The Russian government did lift sanctions on Turkish cabbage, broccoli, onion and carnations. On March 10, Putin and Erdogan met in Moscow during the High-Level Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council, but tomatoes, cucumbers and apples are still banned.

Turkish tomato producers suffer most of all. Russia used to be Turkeys main export market for tomatoes. Turkey and Egypt are the main destinations for Russian wheat. From July until February, Turkey bought 2 million tons of Russian wheat. Unsurprisingly, many analysts both in Russia and Turkey view Ankaras recent wheat tax as a countermeasure.

Of course this is some sort of retaliation against Russia, Aydin Sezer, the head of the Turkey and Russia Center of Studies, an Ankara-based think tank, told Al-Monitor. We and everyone in Turkey admit that. Some Turkish products are still banned in Russia. These products are banned by a political decision, not by the decision of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance. This is retaliation, which has an adverse effect on bilateral relations.

The tomato situation is especially touchy. The main producers of tomatoes are in Antalya, where Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu comes from. He is under heavy pressure, Sezer said.

In Russia, wheat, corn and sunflower oil producers are very upset with Ankaras action. We will see more losses and price reductions, wrote director Andrey Sizov of SovEcon, a Russian company that does agriculture markets research and consulting, in a column for Russian business publication Prime. Redirecting deliveries [to new markets] does not work in practice.

According to a joint report provided by analysts from the Russian Foreign Trade Academy, the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, Russia could lose as much as $1.3-$1.5 billion if Turkey doesn't rescind the high tariffs on Russian wheat, corn and sunflower oil.

The wheat tax doesn't even benefit Turkish businesses. According to Zekeriya Mete, the head of Turkeys Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters Association, Ankaras decision may inflate food prices. Our profits depend on low shipping costs, and if [Turkey is] forced to buy wheat from markets farther away, our costs will inevitably increase, she said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg.

Dvorkovich has said Moscow will take retaliatory measures if Ankara maintains the tariffs, but he also expressed hope that the two sides will find common ground.

Neither side benefits from the politically motivated conflict, a resolution to which depends on a range of political compromises. How far it could reach depends largely on developments in Syria, where Russia and Turkey hold opposing positions on the regime and Syrian Kurds. The April 4 chemical attack in Idlib has made Russian-Turkish relations regarding Syria even more complicated.
April 25, 2017

ALEPPO, Syria  In a bid to make progress on the ground in the outskirts of Aleppo city that are controlled by the armed opposition, the Syrian regime has been mobilizing additional troops to the suburbs fronts since early April.

The regime launched several ground attacks backed by airstrikes by the regime's air force and Russia on towns and cities controlled by the opposition that are near the fighting lines in the north and west of Aleppo. The shelling caused civilian casualties and injuries, and on April 18, a family of five was killed in the town of Urum al-Kubra, where the civil defense forces worked around the clock to rescue those trapped under the rubble as the shelling destroyed many houses.

The regimes military escalation comes several months after it gained full control of the city of Aleppo following the opposition's loss of the eastern neighborhoods, which the rebels had seized in mid-2012. The loss came as part of a massive military operation launched on Sept. 22 by the regime on the eastern part of the city, which ended with an agreement between the regime and the opposition under the auspices of Russia and Turkey, stipulating the opposition's evacuation of the eastern part of Aleppo. The regime was in full control of Aleppo on Dec. 22, the day the last group of opposition fighters left the city for the Aleppo and Idlib countrysides.

Ahmed Osama Tenzry, spokesman for the armed oppositions Huriya Brigades, told Al-Monitor, The regime is seriously considering imposing its control over the northern and western Aleppo outskirts that pose a threat to its existence in the city. It is therefore primarily seeking to fend off the threat posed by revolutionaries to the city. Through its advance, the regime can deprive the rebels of any chance to attempt to launch an attack and enter the city of Aleppo again.

He said, The regime forces are now primarily working on disconnecting the rebel-controlled areas in the suburbs of Aleppo as they focus their attacks on the northern suburbs  the regimes weak flank  where rebels can pose a threat to the regime positions inside Aleppo and in its northern countryside.

Tanzari added, The area controlled by rebels in the northern suburbs of Aleppo contains cities and towns such as Haritan, Anadan, Hayyan, Bayanoun, Kafr Hamrah, Asia, Layramoun, al-Mallah and Nasibayn; this area is closed off except to the west."

These cities and towns are only inhabited by a small number of civilians due to the constant shelling. The towns of Anadan, Haritan and Kafr Hamrah are large compared with other towns. In general, however, only 30% of the population of these towns remain there while the other residents have been displaced either to Turkey or to the countryside of Idlib over the last three years.

Tanzari noted, The regime forces are working on besieging this area from the west in a bid to close off the area through two axes. The first axis is the regime bases in the towns of al-Nebel and al-Zahraa in the northern countryside of Aleppo toward the south, all the way through west Anadan, Kherbet Anadan and al-Tamura. The second axis starts from the northwestern angle of Aleppo in Jamiat al-Zahra and goes toward the north. The two axes should meet in the towns of Kafr Basin and Yakked al-Adas, through Maarat al-Artiq and the surrounding hills and the town of Babis and the nearby hills.

He added, The regime policy to besiege rebel areas allows it to focus on each area separately and target it with brutal bombardments of various types of artillery and missile shells as well as air bombardments. This will drain rebels and civilians in the area under siege and leave them with no other option but to flee.

Capt. Amin Malhis, the commander of al-Rashideen operations room of the armed opposition in western Aleppo, told Al-Monitor, Despite their repeated attacks, the regime forces have been trying in vain to advance since early April in the northern and western suburbs to break the rebel defense line. The latest attacks of the regime forces occurred on April 17-19, and the battles were concentrated in the axes of the Family House area, the Military Research Center, Shuwaihna, Jabal Adnan, Jazeera and al-Rashideen in the northwestern suburbs. The rebels responded to the attacks and inflicted heavy losses in the ranks of the regime forces.

The opposition said it killed 15 members of the regime and a general in the Syrian Republican Guard during the ongoing fighting. At dawn on April 22, the regime launched an attack on the opposition positions in the suburbs of northern and northwestern Aleppo, and there are ongoing attempts by the regime to advance on the northern and northwestern outskirts of Aleppo, where intermittent fighting is taking place. Meanwhile, air raids are carried out on opposition sites and opposition-controlled cities and towns in the suburbs and have pushed more than 500 civilians to flee the town of Kabtan al-Jabal as new regime military reinforcements reached the fronts of the outskirts of Aleppo.

Malhis said, The attack was preceded by more than 100 airstrikes carried out by Russian fighter jets against rebel positions in the northern and western suburbs of Aleppo, and the raids targeted more than 20 towns and areas controlled by the rebels. The regime forces preceded their ground attacks with artillery shelling. The attacks started in al-Zahraa, Shuwaihna, Jabal Adnan, Sheikh Aqeel and Khirbet Adnan. However, the regime failed to make any progress because of the rebels' response to the attack and their destruction of a T-72 tank.

The city of Derat Azza saw the lions share of the airstrikes. On April 22, it was targeted by 15 raids carried out by Russian fighter jets within an hour, killing three civilians and wounding several others.

The rebels have remained steadfast in their determination to defend their fronts, asserting that they are capable of responding to the regime's attacks.

Malhis noted, The regime will have to fight an uphill battle in the suburbs of Aleppo, where many factors hinder its progress. Chief among these is the fact that the rebel-controlled areas in the suburbs are rugged mountains that provide the necessary protection for the rebel fighters.

The military operation carried out by the regime in the suburbs of Aleppo comes at a time when the northern Hama countryside is witnessing fierce battles. The Syrian regime is trying to take advantage of the battles raging in the Hama countryside in a bid to achieve some gains in the suburbs of Aleppo and try to destabilize and disperse the opposition by opening several fronts.
April 25, 2017

Tensions between Turkey and the United States are poised to escalate after the Turkish air force carried out a series of pre-dawn strikes against Kurdish militants in Iraqs Sinjar region and northeastern Syria, killing foes and friends alike, with potentially disruptive effects on the war against the Islamic State.

Five peshmerga fighters attached to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Turkeys closest regional ally, perished in the airstrikes on Mount Sinjar. At least 20 fighters from the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), the US-led coalitions top ally in the fight against the jihadis in Syria, were killed when Turkish jets hit their headquarters in Mount Qarachok near the town of al-Malikiyah, known as Derik in Kurdish. A building housing a local radio station was also destroyed in the attack.

The strikes come at an especially critical moment, as the US-led coalition presses its offensive against IS in Raqqa.

Officials from the US-led coalition familiar with the details of the strikes said Turkish officials had informed the United States of its plans before they were executed. The officials told Al-Monitor on strict condition that they not be identified that Turkey had sought to coordinate the strikes with the Qatar-based Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC), which controls and commands the air campaigns in Syria and Iraq, among others, with US allies. According to one of the officials, CAOC turned them down. Turkey went ahead with the strikes anyway.

A Central Command spokesman responding to Al-Monitors queries via email said, The Coalition is aware of the Turkish airstrikes in northern Iraq and Syria. As we've said in the past, all of Iraqs neighbors need to respect Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity. We encourage all forces to remain focused on the greatest threat to regional and worldwide peace and security and concentrate their efforts on [IS] and not toward objectives that may cause the Coalition to divert energy and resources away from the defeat of [IS] in Iraq and Syria.

A Syrian Kurdish official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity an unspecified number of US special forces had been uncomfortably close to Qarachok when the Turkish jets struck.

A coalition official corroborated this version but declined to elaborate. This suggests that Turkey may have not properly implemented de-confliction measures agreed with the coalition designed to allow allied forces ample time to move out of harms way. The peshmerga casualties in Sinjar also point to flawed intelligence on the Turkish side.

A commander with the YPG-led Syrian Defense Forces blamed US President Donald Trump for the Turkish attacks. If Trump had not telephoned [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and congratulated him and then invited him to Washington, Turkey would have never felt emboldened to behave in a manner that hurts us and hurts the US fight against [IS], the SDF commander said in an interview via WhatsApp.

The commander was referring to the April 17 phone call Trump made to Turkeys president to congratulate him a day after he narrowly won a referendum giving him unprecedented powers that his critics say amount to one-man rule.

Many administration officials including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was in the room with Trump during the exchange, are said to have been opposed to giving the Turkish leader carte blanche, especially since international monitors said it was riddled with irregularities. The consensus among administration officials was that Erodgans burning desire for a US stamp of approval legitimizing this contested outcome could have been leveraged for pledges of greater cooperation, notably in Syria. The opportunity was squandered and Erdogan is due to be received by Trump in Washington on May 16.

After todays strikes the mood is even darker and there is strong pressure on the White House from the administration and Syrian Kurdish officials for a public denunciation of Turkeys actions. The United States must take a clear stand against Turkish aggression, said Ilham Ahmed, the co-chair of the Democratic Syrian Council. We are fighting against [IS] with the United States and Turkey is hitting us from behind, giving [IS] more oxygen, she fumed in a telephone interview with Al-Monitor. We demand that the United States establish a no-fly zone to protect us against further aggression.

In a show of solidarity, US forces based in northern Syria inspected the fallout in Qarachok. But it will not be enough to appease Kurdish worries over further Turkish attacks.

The Turkish General Staff justified its actions in a statement today, saying they were intended to prevent members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from funneling terrorists, arms, ammunition and explosives to Turkey. The PKK has been waging a bloody insurgency for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey since 1984 and is closely linked with the YPG, which reveres imprisoned PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan as its leader as well. Turkey sees no difference between the two groups, labeling both terrorists and demanding that the United States ditch its alliance with the YPG.

The United States has tried to maintain a precarious juggling act of humoring Turkey, a critical NATO ally and home to the Incirlik Air Base vital to US operations throughout the region, while maintaining its military partnership with the Syrian Kurds.

Washington justifies its position on the grounds that although the PKK is on its list of terrorist organizations, the YPG is not. The United States is thus able to continue to arm and train YPG fighters while providing Turkey with real-time intelligence on the PKK. Turkey says its had enough of US duplicity as it sees it and has been threatening to take matters into its own hands.

Nicholas A Heras, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, described Turkish thinking to Al-Monitor: "The Turkish military, like the Americans, has decided that it will aggressively target what it views to be the lines of supply and reinforcement for the PKK between eastern Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Derik in Syria has been long viewed by the Turkish military as a key refuge city for the PKK network, and Sinjar and its surrounding area a forward operating base for the PKK to target the Turkish forces deployed or soon to be deployed in northwest Iraq around Mosul.

Heras added, The Turkish military is sending the message that its war against the PKK does not stop at Turkey's borders, and that there will be no refuge for the PKK anywhere.

Turkey is also worried about Irans growing influence in Iraq and Syria and insists that the PKK and Shiite militias are acting in concert to cement this. These concerns are shared by the KRG and particularly by Massoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and were reflected in the KRGs statement on the airstrikes. It called the airstrikes painful and unacceptable but much of its ire was focused on the PKK, calling the attacks a result of its presence in Sinjar. The PKK has been problematic for the people of the Kurdistan Region and, despite broad calls to withdraw, refuses to leave Sinjar, the statement read. The PKK and its Yazidi affiliates have controlled parts of Sinjar ever since the PKK and YPG fighters intervened to rescue thousands of Yazidis facing imminent slaughter by IS in August 2014.

Barzani enjoys unusually warm ties with Erdogan and is said to have urged his supporters in Turkey to vote in favor of the referendum.

Turkeys strongman gave the KRGs moves toward independence one of its biggest boosts when he allowed the Iraqi Kurds to export their oil independently of Baghdad via a pipeline running to export terminals on Turkeys Mediterranean coast.

The move further soured relations between Turkey and the central government in Baghdad. These dipped to an all-time low when Turkey moved hundreds of its special forces to a base near the town of Bashiqa northwest of Mosul in December 2015.

Turkey insists that its men are there to train Sunni Arab fighters taking part in the battle for Mosul and to defend Sunni Turkmens in the IS-held town of Tal Afar from possible retaliatory attacks by Shiite militias. But the main reason for their presence, Turkish officials acknowledge, is to scuttle Iran and the PKKs alleged plans to establish a corridor running from the PKKs bases straddling the Iran-Iraq border via Sinjar and all the way onto Syrias Mediterranean coast.

None of this washes with Iraqs embattled Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is being accused of weakness in the face of Iraqs erstwhile Ottoman potentates.

Abbas Kadhim, a senior policy fellow at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, told Al-Monitor, Turkish-Iraq relations have witnessed great tension since the IS capture of Mosul. The Turkish troops in Bashiqa, the IS fighters' passage through Turkey, Turkey's hosting of several anti-Iraqi government events and the continued hostile statements by Turkish officials toward Iraq have pushed the bilateral relations to high levels of tension.

In the wake of todays strikes, Abadi will be in a very hard position and will have to show that he cannot tolerate this continued Turkish hostility, Kadhim noted. He tried several times to reconcile with Turkey, but every new hostility opens old and new cases and makes his task harder.
April 25, 2017

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were quick to congratulate Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over his recent referendum victory, which effectively makes him Turkeys sole ruler.

Putins call was expected, but Trumps reaching out to Erdogan in this manner caught many by surprise. Trumps call also came just as Erdogan was bracing for criticism from European leaders regarding the manner in which he is consolidating his authoritarian rule. In the end, Trump was the only Western leader to call and congratulate Erdogan.

Despite the noncommittal positions of White House and State Department spokesmen regarding the results of the referendum, Erdogan got what he wanted from Washington with Trump's call, including an invitation to the White House, where he is expected May 16-17.

Before that, Erdogan will meet Putin in Sochi, Russia, on May 3. The Turkish side is keen to underline that this invitation, like the one from Washington, also came from the other side. Erdogan no doubt feels vindicated given that the leaders of the two superpowers that really count are standing by him.

Trumps support will also provide an added boost for Erdogan when he meets European leaders in Brussels at the end of May during the NATO summit.

Erdogan, Trump and Putin share common traits, which undoubtedly feed their feelings of affinity toward one another. All three are diplomatically unorthodox populists who are outspoken in their views. All three are impulsive and equally disliked internationally.

This, however, doesnt portend a three-way match made in heaven.

Erdogan may empathize with Trump and Putin, but the United States and Russia have clashing interests that leave him caught in the middle of the regional and global rivalry between the two superpowers. If he veers too much to one side, he risks alienating the other.

In addition to this, Ankaras own regional agenda is not necessarily in line with either Washington's or Moscows. Nowhere is this dichotomy more apparent than in Syria.

Tellingly, the White House readout of Trumps call to Erdogan and Moscows statement regarding Erdogans upcoming meeting with Putin underlined Syria as the main topic of discussion between the sides.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillersons visit to Ankara at the end of March was said to have been unsuccessful because of this issue. The sides failed to bridge their differences over US support for the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military branch, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara says are both Kurdish terrorist organizations.

During his visit, Tillerson also reiterated that fighting the Islamic State (IS)  not taking out Assad  was the US priority. Ankara by that stage had toned down its call for Assad to be ousted. Nevertheless, Tillersons remarks combined with Washingtons determination to work with the PYD for the liberation of Raqqa grated on Turkish nerves.

Tillersons visit, however, took place before the US strike on Syrias Shayrat air base in response to the chemical attack on Idlib, which was blamed on Assad. Erdogan warmly welcomed the strike. Given the U-turn on the part of Trump that this represented, it also reignited Ankaras hopes that Washington may prioritize the toppling of Assad.

Turkeys hopes of convincing the United States to end its cooperation with the PYD/YPG also increased.

"The way President Trump is approaching these matters makes us happy. US and Turkey as allies ... we can resolve significant problems," Erdogan told CNN Internationals Becky Anderson in a post-referendum interview.

Other problems Erdogan is hoping to resolve with Trump include the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic preacher residing in Pennsylvania whom Erdogan blames for masterminding last years failed coup attempt against him.

Ankara also wants the release by the United States of Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, and Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a vice chairman of the state-owned Turkish Halkbank. Both are standing trial in the United States, accused of conspiring to violate US sanctions on Iran to the tune of billions of dollars.

But there are no signs to support Erdogans expectation from Washington, and his hopes could prove to be misplaced again.

Some argue, however, that Erdogan is not in as weak of a position as many assume he is in with regard to Trump.

Trump is accused of launching strikes against the Assad regime without a broad strategy as to what comes next. It is clear he will need to work with regional allies as he tries to unfold this strategy, said a Western diplomat speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity due to his sensitive position.

He has reached out to King Salman [of Saudi Arabia], [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] al-Sisi and King Abdullah [of Jordan]. He also needs to work with Erdogan, given Turkeys strategic position, he added.

Huseyin Bagci, who lectures in international relations at Ankaras Middle Eastern Technical University, also underlines the fact that Turkey has colossal geopolitical and economic importance.

This means that whoever is interested in this region cannot pursue these without Turkeys cooperation, regardless of who is leading the country, Bagci told Al-Monitor.

This applies to Russia, too, but Erdogan has to also tread cautiously not to alienate Putin, given Turkeys economic dependence on Russia. Ankara is also engaged in strategic energy deals with Russia and is also negotiating the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles.

These topics are expected to be on the agenda of the Erdogan-Putin meeting in Sochi.

Still, there are signs that some of the luster in Ankaras ties with Moscow may have been lost due to Turkeys support for Washingtons position in Syria after the gas attack on Idlib. Russias response to the way Turkey welcomed the US strike against the Shayrat base was low key, but Moscow was undoubtedly displeased.

Moscow also could not have been too happy over Turkeys reviving of its call for Assad to be removed. Nevertheless, Russia is unlikely to turn against Turkey for economic and geopolitical reasons that cut both ways.

A complicating factor for Erdogan as he tries to develop ties with Trump and Putin is the convergence of views between Washington and Moscow on issues that are anathema to Ankara.

Both the United States and Russia support the PYD, both have said the Kurds have to be represented in Syrian peace talks and neither power is averse to cultural autonomy for the Syrian Kurds.

The question is whether Erdogan can rely on his ties with Trump and Putin to serve Turkeys maximum interests.

Professor Ilter Turan of Istanbuls Bilgi University said all three may appear to be birds of a feather, but there are differences in their positions.

Putin inherited the institutional structure of the Soviet Union and is pushing for Russias interests according to this. Trump is also operating under the institutional setup in the US and is pushing for Americas interests accordingly, Turan told Al-Monitor.

Erdogan, however, is dismantling Turkeys established institutional structure and replacing it with his own institutions. With advice from advisers who are clearly not apprised of international realities, he is pushing his own interests, which he mistakes for Turkeys interests, Turan said.

The bottom line, according to Turan, is that although appearing to curry favor with Erdogan, neither Trump nor Putin have done what Erdogan wants. They are ultimately out to secure their countries' interests, not his, Turan said.

So can Erdogan juggle Trump and Putin to serve Turkeys best interests?

He can if he stops playing checkers and learns to play chess, the Western diplomat said.
Here are the top stories in business on AL.com for Monday, April 24, 2017. Follow all of Alabama's business news here anytime.

A new report says tourists spent $13 billion in Alabama last year. The top attraction? Baldwin County's beaches.

Need a job? The Hoover Metropolitan Complex is holding a job fair Friday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. inside the Hoover Metropolitan Complex.

Auburn's AIM group completed its largest investment to date, pumping $6.4 million as part of a group of investors into an Atlanta-based fiber optic company.

A 22-member business delegation is touring Germany and Denmark this week, promoting and networking on behalf of Alabama's bioscience industry.

GLO Airlines is seeking bankruptcy protection less than a year after offering nonstop service from Huntsville International Airport to New Orleans.

AT&T will close its Birmingham Collections Center this summer, affecting 130 employees starting in June. AT&T said the consolidation is a result of a reduction in call volumes.

The FDA has aimed some stern words at a Mobile-area seafood processor in a warning about possible contamination, but the president of the company said the problem boils down to paperwork.

The Financial Times is reporting that the Albertson's supermarket chain is eyeing organic grocery Whole Foods for acquisition.

Ben's Soft Pretzels, with locations in Clanton and Prattville, is offering free pretzels Wednesday with a minimum $1 donation to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
Yazmin Cavale thinks of the process of taking her freelance beauty business to become Glow, the beauty-on-demand app, as a series of goals.

Can I convince someone to book an at-home makeup appointment online? Check.

Can I get a booking through someone who doesn't know me? Check.

Can I get a whole market of people who don't know me to buy my product? Check.

Can I get investors? Glow just closed its first $250,000 round of fundraising.

Cavale launched her app in November before becoming one of the first companies to complete the Innovation Depot's Velocity Accelerator program. She just closed on her first round of funding, and the investors couldn't get much closer to home: The Innovation Depot; Scott McGlaun, chairman of the Depot's board and Chief Information Officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama; and Molly LaBorde, Chief Operating Officer at the Depot.

"This is the time I'll hold so dear to my heart, because it's been such a process, and every step has been so monumental," Cavale said. "Of course, there's downsides to everything, and it's definitely a roller coaster, but it's those steps moving forward that just push us."

The round will fund Glow's first expansion outside Birmingham: by the end of July, Glow plans to be up and running in Nashville. Cavale will be there this week interviewing make-up artists and hoping to find a full-time sales lead and full-time artist leader there.

"Nashville is going to be different. It's a different market and we'll market to different groups, and really find out what works with a touristy market," Cavale said. "Birmingham is more everyday women and weddings and things like that, where Nashville is a high tourist area. So we're going to see what works there, and that way we have two markets to base our next move on."

The app works similar to Uber or Lyft, but instead of GPS finding you the nearest cab, it uses GPS to find you the nearest makeup artist, hair stylist or spray tanning professional. After you input the service you want and your location or home address, you browse available beauty professionals sorted by how close they are to you. You can check each professional, read user reviews, and browse photos of his or her work without leaving the app.

You request an artist-an independent contractor-who can accept or reject the booking. Glow offers make-up, spray tan and hair styling and blowout services. Services range in price from $50 to $175, but the average booking is about $100.

Glow hopes to hit 200 bookings per month this month, and within a year of launching in Nashville, it aims to hit 1,000 bookings a month.

"We keep seeing bookings grow each month. We don't want to see it taper," said Jim Cavale, Yazmin's husband and an entrepreneur himself, a former President of Iron Tribe Fitness. He's not full-time with Glow, but he's helping with the launch and building the brand. "We think it's very possible, being just four months in and hitting 20 percent of that just in Birmingham."

Glow is partnering on the launch with New York City-based marketing firm VaynerMedia, the marketing firm of Gary Vaynerchuk, an investment fund owner who has invested in companies like Uber, Facebook and Birchbox, as well as an author and Internet personality.

Glow has also applied for up to $100,000 in grants to help grow the business without giving up any more equity.

"We could have raise money upfront, but we didn't. We self-funded it, and I was still leading Iron Tribe at that point. But we said, let's just tough it out, let's self fund it, let's make it work, because we would give up way too much if we raised money before we even had a client," Jim Cavale said.

"We want to, in Nashville, create a prototype that people see as scalable. If the Nashville launch is successful, the valuation of this company will increase, and the next round of capital could be significant but without giving up as much."
Medical device supplier STERIS/IMS is investing $1.6 million into its Birmingham headquarters that will support 22 additional jobs at the facility.

Integrated Medical Systems - bought by STERIS Corp. in 2014 - will employ about 150 people in Lakeview facility when the expansion is complete. The company has leased a building at 3301 First Ave. N., adjacent to its current campus, that will support manufacturing and repair of medical devices, sterile surgical packs, gowns, drapes and other accessories as well as distribution and other support.

Cleveland, Ohio-based STERIS located its global specialty services headquarters in Birmingham shortly after purchasing IMS for $175 million. In 2015, the company finished a $8 million renovation of the former U.S. Pipe headquarters in the Sloss business district.

"STERIS is a global health care company that has recognized Birmingham is key to its growth," Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington said in a press release. "We are happy to work with companies that see that potential and connect them with the trained workforce that will help realize that growth."

The company has received tax abatements for the expansion. The Birmingham Business Alliance did not immediately respond to a request for the amount of those incentives Tuesday afternoon.
For more than a century, The Bright Star has been serving fresh seafood and more to loyal customers from across the state of Alabama and the southeast.



With an eclectic menu full of standout steaks, desserts, seafood and more as well as a unique dining experience, it's no surprise that The Bright Star in Bessemer has earned its place as Alabama's oldest restaurant.



Of course, when a business has so much history, there's tons to know about the famous eatery. With that in mind, here's 14 things you might not know about The Bright Star.

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Haley Laurence | hlaurence@al.com

The Bright Star Fun Fact #1

The Bright Star was opened by Founder Tom Bonduris as a simple cafe with only a horseshoe-shaped bar



in 1907.

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(Birmingham News file/Hal Yeager)

The Bright Star Fun Fact #2

Bill and Pete Koikos immigrated from Greece and bought The Bright Star in 1923. Bill's sons, Jim and Nick Koikos, have ran the place since 1966.

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(Birmingham News file/Hal Yeager)

The Bright Star Fun Fact #3

The Bright Star started out as a 25 seat cafe. Today, it offers 330 seats for customers looking to dine in.

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(Birmingham News file)

The Bright Star Fun Fact #4

The Bright Star moved to its present location at 304 19th Street North in 1914 after outgrowing three other locations.

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(Birmingham News file)

The Bright Star Fun Fact #5

The Bright Star has various signature dishes, including Broiled Greek-style Snapper, Beef Tenderloin-Greek Style, Broiled Chicken Greek Style, Seafood Gumbo as well as lobster and Crabmeat Au-Gratin.

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(Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)

The Bright Star Fun Fact #6

The Bright Star is known as Alabama's oldest restaurant.

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(Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)

The Bright Star Fun Fact #7

The Bright Star's decor reflects the style of the early 1900s by featuring hand-laid tile flooring and other unique items.

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(Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)

The Bright Star Fun Fact #8

The inside of the Bright Star also features hand-painted murals created by an itinerant European artist.

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Birmingham News file

The Bright Star Fun Fact #9

The Bright Star brings in its fresh seafood transported from the Gulf coast daily.

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(Birmingham News file/Hal Yeager)

The Bright Star Fun Fact #10

The Bright Star became the first restaurant in Alabama to receive the James Beard Foundation's "America's Classic" award, known as the "Oscars of the food world," in 2010.

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Associated Press

The Bright Star Fun Fact #11

The Bright Star has plenty of celebrity fans. In addition to Alabama politicians and sports figures, actress Sandra Bullock is among them. She flew in to dine at the restaurant with her father on Father's Day in 2010.

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(Birmingham News file/Hal Yeager)

The Bright Star Fun Fact #12

One of Bright Star's signature items, the fried snapper throats, dates back to the 1930s, when Bill Koikos decided the tender, meaty upper part of the snapper would be a great addition to the lunch menu rather than being thrown out.

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Travel Channel

The Bright Star Fun Fact #13

The Bright Star was featured on an episode of "Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations" with Andrew Zimmern in October 2016.

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The Bright Star

The Bright Star Fun Fact #14

The Bright Star offers a free cup of its beloved seafood gumbo to first-time customers.

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More on Alabama restaurants

Want to read more fun facts about Alabama restaurants? Check out the restaurants that we have previously featured:

14 things you might not know about Chris' Hot Dogs

12 things you might not know about Chicken Salad Chick

12 things you might not know about Dreamland Bar-B-Que

12 things you might not know about Jack's

12 things you might not know about Jim N' Nick's Bar-B-Que

12 things you might not know about Sneaky Pete's
Alabama Week The Daily Show.jpg

"The Daily Show" kicked off its "Alabama Week" series with a segment on the state's Christian values called "Holy Roll Tide," which aired on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Comedy Central)

"The Daily Show"

kicked off their

"Alabama Week"

series Monday night, launching the four-part look at the state's history, politics, culture and last night's starter topic, religion.

The New York City-based show, which airs Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central, learned shortly after the 2016 presidential election that it was least popular in Alabama, according to

in the U.S.

"The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah, above, intros the opening segment of "Alabama Week" on April 24, 2017. (Comedy Central)

The show's host Trevor Noah opened the segment by explaining Alabamians' disinterest in "The Daily Show," he introduced correspondent Desi Lydic to kick off the series, which attempted to get more familiar with their state by exploring its Christian values in a segment called "Holy Roll Tide."

"Why doesn't Alabama like 'The Daily Show?'" Lydic asks. "Well maybe because in a state that Pew Research recently ranked the nation's number one most religious, they might feel we don't reflect their values.

"To me, it seemed clear. There was no better place to start understanding Alabama than in church."

After a quick montage of silly church signs throughout the state, Lydic stopped at Birmingham's New Era Baptist Church to speak with its pastor Michael Jordan. They discuss an anti-Donald Trump sign before quickly revealing the church also posted messages about God forbidding homosexuality and AIDS being a curse on the sexual orientation.

Lydic also asks Jordan to lead them in a quick prayer asking for God's help in impeaching Trump from office.

She then stops at Saw's Juke Joint to speak with Alabama Rep. Patricia Todd, the state's first openly gay elected official, about how much of an impact religious views have on life in the state.

"One hundred percent," Todd tells Lydic. "It is immersed through everything in Alabama."

"The Daily Show" correspondent Desi Lydic, left, speaks with Alabama Rep. Patricia Todd at Saw's Juke Joint during the "Holy Roll Tide" segment of the show's "Alabama Week" series, which aired April 24, 2017. (Comedy Central)

Todd tells her that her life has been threatened three times since her election, so the correspondent asks why she would choose to live in Alabama when she could live anywhere.

"I want to confront that bigotry," she says. "We are the only southern state that has not passed any anti-gay legislation since I've been in office. And I think it's harder to get up an argue anti-gay stuff when you have to look across the podium and argue with me."

Lydic next talks to Jim Mather, pastor at Friends of Internationals Ministry in Mobile, who frequently invites Iraqi and Syrian refugees now living in Alabama to his home for meals, "and not even tell them they're going to hell," she says.

They feature Salah Taher from Iraq and Mustafa Khamees, both of whom express warm feelings for their new home and the people in Mobile since they arrived.

While at the dinner table in Mobile, Lydic leads her own prayer.

"Please help me in my struggle to believe in Alabama. I had a lot of preconceived notions when I got here about the people. I thought they were real swamp people. But when I actually came here, I met some really wonderful people, like 75 percent of the people sitting at this very table. So thank you for opening my eyes to the nuance of Alabama. Amen. Roll Tide."

Her closing narration then suggests she begins to understand the state and its people a little better.

"In American, some people use religion to separate themselves, but in this corner of Alabama, it was doing the opposite, thanks to the work of people like Pastor Jim," Lydic says before asking Mather if he's "cool with gay people."

Mather responds, "I love everyone."

"The Daily Show" will continue "Alabama Week" on Tuesday night at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central. The show sent all four correspondents (including Birmingham native Roy Wood Jr.) and two crews to several cities this week to film multiple segments about Alabama history, politics, culture and more.

Watch the video below:
INDICT.jpg

Eulice Williams, left, and Quintarius Walker, right

(Jefferson County Jail)

Two men are now indicted on capital murder charges in unrelated 2016 Birmingham killings.

A Jefferson County grand jury on April 7 indicted Eulice Tyrone Williams, 38, and Quintarius Walker, 24. The indictments were made public Tuesday.

Williams is charged in the Sept. 15, 2016 slaying of 23-year-old George Arthur Crenshaw Jr. The shooting happened just after 4 a.m. in the 6200 block of Crest Green Drive outside of an apartment complex. Crenshaw was found in the parking lot, and pronounced dead on the scene at 4:25 a.m.

Williams is charged with capital murder because the slaying happened in the course of a robbery, police said. Money was taken in the holdup, but investigators have not yet disclosed an amount or any additional information.

Court records show Williams pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery in 2000 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was also charged with attempted murder but that charge was dropped at the time he entered the guilty plea in the robbery case.

He was initially arrested Sept. 21, 2016 and remains jailed without bond.

Walker is charged in the July 2 death of 40-year-old Flores Jose Castaneda. The victim's body was discovered about 4 a.m. that Saturday in the 100 block of Oporto-Madrid Boulevard. Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards said Castaneda had been shot several times in the head and body.

Investigators said Walker and Castaneda were acquaintances and had been at an adult bookstore together earlier that night. There was some kind of disagreement between the two, and Castaneda left the business with another man.

A short time later, the two men were walking along Oporto-Madrid when police say Walker spotted them and shot Castaneda. He also took money from Castaneda, which resulted in the capital murder charge. The man with Castaneda went to a nearby service station to report the shooting, but left before officers arrived.

Authorities have said Castaneda was a transient who had family in Kansas and San Francisco. Edwards said they were able to identify Walker as a suspect thanks to witnesses who came forward.

Walker has been jailed since his arrest on $500,000 bond.
emergency.jpg

Supplies that can be used to stop bleeding in mass shootings

(Amy Yurkanin|ayurkanin@al.com)

A surgeon who treats trauma victims in the emergency department at UAB wants to add tourniquets to public places that have been targeted by mass shooters.

Dr. Jeff Kerby, a professor in the UAB College of Medicine, said he wants to increase awareness of kits containing gauze and other supplies that can be installed in public places and used to treat bleeding victims. These kits would be similar to automated external defibrillators for cardiac arrest often found in schools, airports and workplaces. Those units, which are designed for use by non-medical bystanders, have been credited with saving thousands of lives, according to the American Red Cross.

Stop the Bleed bags contain gauze, protective gloves, compression bandages, tourniquets and instructions. They are designed for use by people without medical training.

Kerby is offering to provide training to groups that decide to add bleeding kits to their stock of emergency supplies. Schools, courthouses, government buildings and airports could all benefit from keeping bleeding bags on hand, he said. Kerby has already trained some school professionals who have purchased kits.

"First responders can't enter an area until it is secure," Kerby said. "We really are going to rely on bystanders to help victims who have been shot."

In Alabama, mass shootings have occurred at universities and workplaces, and in rural areas and cities. In 2010, a professor at the University of Huntsville, killed three colleagues and wounded three others in a shooting on campus. A 2014 shooting at a UPS facility in Birmingham left three dead, including the gunman. A shooter in Geneva County killed several members of his family in 2009 before setting out for former workplaces named in a letter, where he was stopped by law enforcement.

In the U.S., dozens have died in shootings at nightclubs, elementary schools, movie theaters, universities and restaurants. During last year's attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando - the deadliest in U.S. history - law enforcement officers couldn't enter the scene for several hours.

Kerby often treats gunshot victims at UAB and said the kits could also come in handy in neighborhood shootings that occur much more frequently. He said the number of gunshot wounds treated at UAB has doubled in the last four years.

Blood loss poses the greatest risk to victims, he said. Most victims shot in the leg or arm can be saved if they don't bleed out. Tourniquets can prevent excessive blood loss from a gunshot that hits major blood vessels if it is applied quickly.

Most tourniquets can be safely left in place for several hours until a patient receives medical attention, Kerby said.

"The benefits far outweigh the risks," he said.
Climate change is driving an acute water crisis in coastal Bangladesh in which women are bearing most of the strain.

Kochukhali, Bangladesh  When Khadija Rahman, then a newly married 14-year-old, moved to the Satkhira district on Bangladeshs southwest coast, she didnt realise just how much the scarcity of drinking water in the region would affect her.

Now, 10 years later, the cheerful young woman finds that the shortage plagues her daily life.

Her village, Kochukhali, lies near the Sundarbans, one of the largest mangrove forests in the world, at the edge of the Ganges delta, where water intrudes on the low-lying land and shallow ponds and rivulets proliferate across the landscape.

IN PHOTOS: Surviving climate change in Bangladesh

A combination of tidal flooding, inundation by storm surges and saltwater intrusion has led to a rise in salinity in the groundwater and the fresh-water ponds. As a result, in the coastal area of Satkhira, potable water is a scarce and precious commodity.

We cant drink the saline water, cant take a bath with it. If the utensils are washed with this water they get damaged, even for cooking we have to bring water from far, says Khadija. In the beginning, I couldnt adjust here, but now I am getting habituated with the salty water.

The impact of the acute drinking water crisis in Bangladesh is borne disproportionately by women who, like Khadija, are the family members traditionally responsible for collecting water.

Water crisis: a womens issue

During the monsoon season, the shortage of drinking water in the village somewhat abates, as Khadija, like many others in the region, collects rainwater in plastic buckets and drums. In the dry summer, the water level in the shallow pond near Khadijas house shrinks by nearly a metre and the little water that remains gives off a sharp odour.

In the scorching summer sun, Khadija is forced to walk about an hour to a community water pump in Jelekhali village and back again, the loose end of her threadbare sari covering her head, her blue rubber slippers slapping against the hot cement of the winding road.

She carries an aluminum pot, which are ubiquitous in every household in the area; so integral to the lives of the women that they are often presented as wedding gifts.

Most days, she faces a prolonged wait in a winding line by the pump. In the course of each day her family needs at least three or four aluminum pots filled with water, forcing her to make multiple trips  once at about 7am and then again at about 4pm when the sun begins to go down  and each time the process takes over an hour.

About 70 percent of people in the region depend on pond water for drinking and domestic use, as the groundwater is extremely saline, according to Golam Rabbani, a fellow at the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies.

The daily struggle is being exacerbated by climate change. Over the past 35 years, salinity intrusion in Bangladesh has increased by about 26 percent, with the affected area expanding each year.

According to a study by the World Bank, climate change is likely to further increase river and groundwater salinity dramatically by 2050 and exacerbate shortages of drinking water and irrigation in the southwest coastal areas of Bangladesh, adversely affecting the livelihoods of at least 2.9 million poor people in a region where 2.5 million people are already struggling with a lack of water.

As water sources dry up and demand increases, women like Khadija are forced to walk further and further to provide water for their families.





The increasing salinity of the soil in Bangladeshs coastal villages has not just made safe drinking water hard to come by; it has also made rice farming, the regions traditional occupation, nearly impossible, while the shrimp farms that thrive in the salt water and have become pervasive in the region do not need many day labourers.

The lack of work has driven large-scale migration to Dhaka. Many, such as Khadijas husband Habibur Rahman, end up in Bangladeshs congested capital city, trying to make a living as garment factory workers, rickshaw drivers and security guards  sending back money at infrequent intervals.

Habibur decided to move to Dhaka when he was 15, nearly two decades ago, because he found it hard to find work in Kochukhali. He now works long days making shirt collars in a garment factory and returns to the village every three months for about five days.

Many like Habibur migrate seasonally or for large portions of the year, leaving their families behind. Households in areas of coastal Bangladesh affected by salinity have a higher out-migration rate for working-age adults, according to a report by the World Bank.

GALLERY: Climate change in pictures

Landless labourers who are facing livelihood challenges and have large households with many dependents are most likely to migrate, Rabbani explains. About 90 percent of the people who migrate are men, leaving the female members of the household behind.

The World Bank estimates that 400,000 people from different parts of Bangladesh move to Dhaka each year. And according to a study carried out by the International Organization for Migration, that surveyed 160 migrant households in Dhaka, 66 percent said that they were forced to migrate because of changing climate conditions and environmental hazards, Rabbani says.

With her husband away in Dhaka most of the year, Khadija, who dropped out of school when she got married, now spends her days cleaning the house, cooking for the family, fetching water, washing dishes and caring for her son.

Every month, Habibur sends her about 4,000 Bangladeshi taka ($50) through bKash, a money remittance service in Bangladesh that allows money transfers through mobile phones.

But Khadija often finds that the money is spent before the end of the month, and sometimes Habibur is unable to send any.

Problems are unpredictable, says Khadija. Often we are empty handed.

She finds herself borrowing money from her neighbours or shopkeepers in town, which she tries to repay the following month if Habiburs wages come in.

Khadija has a small patch of earth near her mud-and-bamboo house, where she plants spinach, bitter gourd and ladyfingers during the rainy season. But this monsoon, she says, there hasnt been sufficient rain.

Clean water for a price

To add to Khadijas expenses, the lack of available drinking water has turned water into a commodity.

Everybody in the area who can afford it purchases water, says Ainun Nishat, professor emeritus at the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research at BRAC University in Bangladesh. About 10 percent of their income goes to buying water.

In recent years, many entrepreneurs have begun to filter water and sell it in the area.

Amirulla Gazi, a tall, reedy man with skin weathered by the elements, began to sell water in Kochukhali village 16 years ago. Each day, he buys 30 litres of water from the tube well at the bazaar and sells it to households in the village.

Since Cyclone Aila in 2009, the demand for water has increased  driving up the price. People who used to get water for free are getting more habituated to paying for water, Gazi explains. They dont take it for granted any more.

In the peak of summer, when even the pumps are dry, Khadijas family is forced to buy water in drums. Each blue plastic drum of water costs her 10 Bangladeshi taka (12 cents), and she needs a number of drums each week for the family, putting even more strain on her finances.





How can you make do without water? If you need it and it is not available you have to find a way to get it, says Khadija. We get drinkable water from wherever we can.

Khadijas woes are not uncommon. A study by United Nations Women and the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies found that food and water are the primary concerns among women on Bangladeshs southwest coast whose husbands had migrated due to climate change.

The study found that most women did not receive enough financial support from their husbands and some did not receive any. Some women also faced harassment in their communities and had an increased fear of theft in the absence of the male member of the household.

This pattern of temporary displacement has resulted in a shifting social contract in the region.

Despite not being widowed or divorced, the women in these areas are managing a female-headed household while the men are away, explains Dilruba Haider, a programme coordinator for Gender and Climate Change, at the Bangladesh country office of UN Women.

They are struggling to take care of their children and household chores. There is a feeling of insecurity when the men are not around, Haider adds.

Socio-cultural norms that restrict the movement of young women in male-dominated public spaces make it even harder for women to live on their own, buy groceries, earn a living or access medical care.

Community members often make disparaging comments about women who venture out to the village market, visit their childrens schools or go to the doctor in town by themselves.

When Khadijas husband visits home, he buys things such as oil and rice that she can store. But when he is not around, Khadija has to ask other people to do her shopping, or take her son to the doctor.

She does not work because her husband does not approve of it, but other women in the village pick up work as day labourers when they can find it, pitching in on shrimp farms or helping out with the harvest when crops are cultivated. However, almost no women from her village go to Dhaka for work.

READ MORE: Who is affected by climate change, and how?

For a brief period before they had a child, Khadija lived with her husband in Dhaka, and looks back at that time fondly. While her house in the village does not have electricity, in the city she had a pucca (cement) house. They bought gas cylinders so she did not need to cook on a wood-burning stove, and there was a near-constant water supply.

When her husband had a day off work, they visited the zoo or the childrens park, and watched Hindi movies. But the best part of the city was the freedom it afforded her.

In Dhaka, we could move about independently with no one to control, Khadija recalls. Here there are so many people watching, so there is less independence.

When Khadija was six months pregnant she moved back to her husbands village because he could not financially support both his wife and son in the city. But she soon found herself sick, frequently getting dysentery and scabies, and her hands and feet would swell up.

She was in a lot of discomfort, and decided to move to her parents home, more than 300 kilometres away in the Kaliganj district near Dhaka, until her child was three months old.

The saline water in the area has a particularly negative impact on maternal health.

If I fall sick, who will take care of him?

Aneire Khan, a researcher at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh, carried out a study with Imperial College London which surveyed about 1,500 women on the southwest coast of Bangladesh and found much higher rates of preeclampsia and hypertension during pregnancy in coastal areas, as compared with non-coastal districts. Women complained of swollen arms and legs, and complications during pregnancy.

The saltier the water they were drinking, the higher the association with high blood pressure and preeclampsia, Khan explains.





The study found that the salinity levels in coastal water sources were much higher than levels deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization.

Exposure to saline water  especially during the final months of pregnancy  leads to an increase in infant mortality and illness, according to a 2015 World Bank study in coastal Bangladesh.

Khadijas son, Muttakin Amir, who is now nearly five years old, often falls sick. Khadija and her son both regularly get severe bouts of diarrhoea and have to visit the doctor, and bathing in the pond water in the summer gives her scabies.

The rising salinity of the water on Bangladeshs southwest coast has caused several diseases to proliferate in the area. Many are tied to natural disasters or occur seasonally. Habibur Rahman Khan, the doctor in charge of the main government hospital in the district, says that he saw an increase in diarrhoea, dysentery, gastric illnesses, skin diseases and malnutrition after drinking water sources were contaminated by natural disasters such as cyclones.

It is hard but I have to take care of my son all alone, as his father is far away, says Khadija. If I fall sick, who will take care of him?

Bangladesh: on the front line of climate change

Bangladeshs reliance on agriculture, high population density and climatic conditions make it one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of climate change.

Now, as climate scientists worry about US leadership and participation in the Paris agreement under an administration that is sceptical of climate change, international cooperation on climate-induced migration is more important than ever.

As the World Bank notes, communities in coastal Bangladesh are on the front line of climate change, and understanding their adaptations are vital to understanding the futures of hundreds of millions of families worldwide who will face similar challenges by 2100.

While climate-induced migration on the southwest coast has been rising steadily, Bangladeshs government does not believe that abandoning the region is the answer.

These people are very resilient. They are born there, brought up there, they know how to live there, says Nurul Quadir, joint secretary at Bangladeshs Ministry of Environment and Forests. They dont want to migrate. Only when there is no way, only then people will move.





Quadir says the governments efforts are currently directed at helping people adapt and stay where they are. The government is trying to support the creation of alternative livelihoods by developing crops that can grow in salty water, such as saline-resistant rice.

The government is also providing deeper tube wells, building higher walls around ponds to prevent seawater from entering, supporting efforts to harvest rainwater, raising embankments along the coast, building drainage systems to remove saline water from ponds, and carrying out pilot projects at desalinisation plants, he explains.

However, climate change experts believe these adaptation strategies to help people stay where they are, are simply a palliative short-term cure.

You have to help the people with the problem they have today, says Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University, Bangladesh. But you also have to think of the problems tomorrow and [the] day after.

With sea levels expected to rise, Bangladeshs geography makes climate-change migration in the coming decades a certainty. About 13 percent of the countrys land is made of up low-lying coastal areas that account for about 18 percent of the population  close to 30 to 40 million people. This area would be inundated with a one-metre rise in sea levels  which is a certainty, says Huq. About 20 million people will be displaced in Bangladesh in the coming five years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In order to enable their migration, the government needs to work on helping people develop their skills so that they can thrive in cities, Huq believes. The key to doing that is education  so that their children do not have to be farmers, but can get jobs in cities and towns and facilitate migration for the whole family when the time is right.

It is also imperative to develop other urban centres, so that Dhaka, one of the fastest growing megacities in the world, with a population of well over 15 million people already, is not forced to bear the entire burden.

However, any policy that grapples with climate-induced migration must take into account the disproportionate impact the phenomenon has on women.

Policies are currently failing to understand the scale and impact of migration on women, stated a December 2016 report by ActionAid on climate-induced migration in South Asia.

Promotion of womens empowerment, as well as women-led planning and disaster response, must be part of the solution, the report said.

Some efforts are already under way. We are working to increase the skills of women, so when they are forced to migrate they will have some skills with them, says Dilruba Haider, of the UN.

So that wherever they go they can sell their skills, instead of just selling their bodies and ending up in brothels.

INTERACTIVE: The Lungs of the Earth

Back in the village of Kochukhali, Khadija sits on her porch  an extension of the raised mud platform on which her house is built. To avoid inundation from frequent flooding, most of the mud homes in the village are built just over a metre above the ground.

Her husband, Habibur, would like to return permanently to his village but is afraid he will not be able to make ends meet there.

Khadija has become despondent about her future. The little hope she has, she pins on a brighter life for her son.

Now I have to take care of him more than myself, she says, pulling him on to her lap and wiping his nose. Now I dont look at my happiness.

Reporting for this story was supported by the Overseas Press Club Foundation and The GroundTruth Project.
A brief history of how North and South Korea got to where they are today.

The Korean Peninsula, located between the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, has seen heightened tensions in recent months as US President Donald Trump has threatened to act against North Koreas continued missile tests.

After the defeat of the Japanese empire in World War II, Korea was split into two spheres. The Soviet Union controlled the territory in the north and the US controlled the south.

In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, starting the three-year-long Korean War. Since the signing of the armistice agreement in 1953, the north and south have been divided by a 4km wide demilitarised zone stretching 250km.

Both Koreas have steadily increased their military spending over the decades. Today, North Korea spends more than any other country on military spending relative to GDP. Nearly a quarter of its GDP goes towards the military.

As world leaders have come and gone, North Koreas Kim dynasty has remained in power. After withdrawing from the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty in 2003, North Korea has gone on to conduct several nuclear tests, most recently in September 2016.
Now that Brexit is a reality, UKIP has to find another windmill to fight to stay relevant.

The United Kingdom Independence Party, whose activism and electioneering just led Britain out of the European Union, is now lost without a cause. Close to four million Britons voted for UKIP at the last general election, for which the party returned only one Member of Parliament.

UKIP had two enormous boons for their cause: a hugely charismatic leader, probably the most capable and cynical politician of his generation, Nigel Farage; and a singular enemy, the European Union.





The party was therefore able to pull off the political coup of the century. UKIP brought the EU, an issue which was barely a priority to most UK households, to the fore. Then they up-ended the European status quo in place since the World War II, by leading Britain out of the Union.

Now, with their guru Farage busy photographing himself beside the crass Donald Trump, stubbornly low polling, and the EU already in the rear view mirror, UKIP is floating on the seas of political oblivion. It faces one question from the electorate  what is UKIP now for?

UKIP members were infamously derided by former Prime Minister David Cameron as fruitcakes, yet it was these fruitcakes that forced No 10 into holding a referendum on Europe. UKIPs logo was and still is an outdated yellow pound sign against a purple backdrop  as if the battle for whether Britain should join the eurozone, which was launched in the late 1990s, was still being fought today. As many a bored political reporter can attest to, UKIP party conferences are famously attended almost exclusively by old-age pensioners. It was always easy to laugh at UKIP.

Nevertheless, the party is clearly the most impactful in Britain since the World War II. What other party can claim to have pulled off such a significant national change, with such profound international ramifications, as Brexit?

A week ago, Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election for June. In response, UKIP delivered a weekend policy salvo of blistering religious prejudice.

Burqas and sharia

It has now become clear that UKIP is simply a party of rebels against any cause  so long as they regard it as foreign. They are now putting their heads together to vilify not just distant Eurocrats and a generalised conception of immigration, but a specific religious minority. In the 1930s, those kind of people would have targeted Jews. Now, they target Muslims.

UKIP wants to pass a law against the wearing of face veils, ignoring that only a tiny minority of British Muslim women wear these and that, albeit anecdotally, as no official statistics are collected, this number appears to be low.

What is happening here is clear. UKIP, the ultimate Brexit party of post-Brexit Britain, has lost its raison d'etre. Nobody knows what UKIP is for any more. by

UKIP members also wants to explicitly ban what they call sharia, which they have failed to define. Nevertheless the party claims sharia undermines womens rights. UKIP undermines womens rights, too  the right of Muslim women to use their own divorce courts, a right that UKIP wants to strip.

UKIP was asked over the weekend whether it wants to ban Jewish courts as well. The partys leader, Paul Nuttall, replied that The Orthodox Jewish population is falling, its about a quarter of a million now. The issue surrounding sharia is that the Muslim population is doubling decade on decade. He then said that this isnt an attack specifically on Muslims, claiming instead, its all about integration.

Nuttall also wants a moratorium on new Islamic faith schools until substantial progress has been demonstrated in integrating Muslims into mainstream British society. UKIP ignores the fact that nearly 20 percent of the top performing 50 schools in the UK are Islamic faith schools.

Only in January, two Islamic faith schools came first and third for the best examination results in the country. Curiously, UKIP had no problem with the 48 Jewish faith schools in Britain, nearly twice as many as Muslim faith schools, nor the 11 Sikh schools nor the five Hindu schools. It was just the Muslim schools UKIP cared about  even if those schools appear rather good at what they do.

The integration agenda

Yet still, the partys new leader denies they have an anti-Muslim policy. A paper copy of his manifesto, handed out to political journalists with UKIPs still dated pound-sign branding, came with an Orwellian title. They called their anti-Muslim manifesto The Integration Agenda.





What is happening here is clear. UKIP, the ultimate Brexit party of post-Brexit Britain, has lost its raison detre. Nobody knows what UKIP is for any more.

Now, UKIP does. Again, it is about populism  the potent mixture of popular but sometimes illogical policies.

Make no mistake  by a margin of two to one, the populace of Britain back a ban of the niqab, even if banning veils runs counter to the elected right-wing governments policy of mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

Likewise, nearly half of Britons support a Donald-Trump-style Muslim ban, another policy a UKIP patron expressed support for over the weekend.

Perhaps the public fear it because, the latest available official statistics suggest, more than half of those charged with terrorist offences in Britain are self-identified Muslims, and because the British media seem obsessed with Muslim above far-right or Northern Irish killings.

The question is whether UKIP-style policies  telling Muslim women what to wear, shutting down high-performing schools, or focusing party strategy on the other  will really help.

The partys manifesto is not one that will ride UKIP into power and government, or perhaps even return them a single MP. The pressure that UKIP is about to place on British Muslims from the sidelines  in much the way they crowed from the sidelines to force through Brexit  is still worth taking very seriously indeed.

Alastair Sloan covers international affairs, politics and human rights for a variety of British newspapers and magazines.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Despite the billions pledged, the majority of Nepalis affected by the earthquake still dont have proper housing.

On April 25, 2015, a powerful earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and destroyed more than 824,000 homes in Nepal. Shortly after, the countrys Reconstruction Authority published a vision for well-planned resilient settlements and a prosperous society. But it is clearly falling short of that goal because of poor coordination between government and donors, a lack of understanding of local concerns, and a dearth of civic engagement.

Two years after a series of earthquakes devastated Nepal, barely 5 percent of the destroyed houses have been rebuilt, according to the National Reconstruction Authority. That 800,000 families still do not have their houses rebuilt is simply a disaster.





Two winters without shelter

There is plenty of blame to go around for the slow reconstruction. The government bears responsibility for failing to work with ministries responsible for distributing reconstruction funds and some donors have been slow to pay out promised funds.

Immediately after the disaster, the international community came together to raise $4.1bn for Nepals reconstruction, which is less than half of the total cost of $9bn. Those funds, plus locally raised revenues, were meant to be disbursed in tranches to households needing to rebuild their homes.

READ MORE: Nepal  the Maoist dream

The process, however, is onerous. Only 12 percent of the money has been distributed. Only 544,996 families have received their first payment, which is only 17 percent of the total government grants for house building. Just 20,889 homes had been rebuilt as of April 6, according to the National Reconstruction Authority.

Progress has been painfully slow for families who have now spent two winters without proper shelter. Many live in makeshift huts and bamboo tents.

Further, problems on the ground have been ignored. Shortages of water and other raw materials mean that even families that receive payouts are unable to begin building. Some families have had to travel for several days to reach local government offices to sign up for the compensation they have been promised. Others struggle to find materials and skilled workers to build walls. Still others have waited months for inspectors to check the foundation work so that the next tranche of funding can be released.

Lack of information

International community can bring about more lasting change by directing their support towards citizens and local organisations committed to solving the root problems of corruption and lack of information. by

Part of the problem has been lack of transparency and information for the general public on how the process of reconstruction should proceed. Whether its making sure that people understand the timeline for compensation disbursements or knowing where to go for help, the government must be transparent and proactive in communication. The lack of information has been a major challenge for many Nepalis, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

Take Sunita Danuwar as an example. She is a single woman who was unable to access the rebuilding funds because she had no citizenship card. She had been married as a child and her husband left her for another woman. In Nepal, women obtain citizenship cards through their fathers or husbands. Having neither, Sunita was left unable to access government relief funds. It took more than a year and the assistance of a nonprofit organisation for Sunita to connect with a government official who helped her obtain a citizenship card.

Another man, Kabiraj Pariyar, waited for more than five months for an engineer to inspect his rebuilt foundation so that he could qualify for another government grant. It wasnt until he connected with an advocate that he was able to get past this first step in rebuilding.

At the Accountability Lab, my colleagues and I set up a resource called Citizen Helpdesks to gather and disseminate details to close information gaps between the government, the media, donor organisations and communities. This has grown into a platform for feedback from citizens on a range of issues such as migration, government services and education. Armed with feedback from the Helpdesks and other groups working in Nepal, government should be more responsive and citizens can better understand their role in recovery.

Local elections coming

While it is encouraging that Pariyar and Danuwar found resources to help in their efforts to rebuild, the process cant be this burdensome or slow. There is much more to be done and the biggest step forward may come in May, when Nepal will hold local elections for the first time in 20 years. These 34,203 directly elected representatives will give local communities a louder voice in national decisions. Their first priority should be completing the earthquake recovery.





These local elected officials have the independent authority to mobilise local resources to make faster decisions. They can monitor progress in reconstruction efforts, provide oversight on the quality of the work and guard against the misuse of funds. The local authority can solve problems raised by citizens by providing space to discuss issues within the village and municipal council. They are a strong connection between central government, citizens and donor agencies. They are the voices of citizen.

In times of crisis, international aid is essential to help alleviate suffering. But the international community can bring about more lasting change by directing their support towards citizens and local organisations committed to solving the root problems of corruption and lack of information.

My hope is that when the next earthquake anniversary rolls around in 2018, all Nepali citizens will have rebuilt both their homes and their hope as they strive towards a more prosperous, safe and inclusive future.

Narayan Adhikari leads Accountability Labs work in Nepal, including designing an incubator that trains young people to build innovative solutions for accountability. He is a 2017 Aspen New Voices Fellow.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
At least 11 people killed while fleeing fighting between US-backed forces and ISIL in Tabqa, witnesses and monitor say.

Air strikes have killed at least 11 people, seven of them children, as they tried to flee the fighting in Syrias northern Raqqa province, witnesses and a monitor said.

A family was killed in a suspected US-led coalition air strike that targeted their car while leaving the city of Tabqa, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Tuesday.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) have been locked in battle in the northern city and thousands have fled the area.

A citizen journalist group in Raqqa known as Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) said at least 17 civilians were killed in the strikes on the city.

The US-backed SDF are trying to retake Raqqa province, ISILs stronghold in Syria and are currently battling ISIL around Tabqa after they have captured the south of the city.

Raqqa province was taken by ISIL in January 2014 from the former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, and ISIL seized Tabqas airbase from the Syrian government in August 2014.

The SDF captured the strategic Tabqa airbase from ISIL last month. The airbase is 45km west of Raqqa.

SDF was founded in Syrias mainly Kurdish northeastern region in October 2015 and is made up of at least 15 armed factions, mostly fighters from the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units and the Free Syrian Army.

Air strike casualties

The Observatory said in a report on Tuesday that at least 1,264 civilians, including 280 children, have been killed in US-led coalition air strikes since September 2014.





On April 14, the US Central Command said it mistakenly killed at least 18 members of the SDF in Tabqa.

Elsewhere in Syria, government air strikes have hit the town of Houla in Homs province, and killed at least six civilians, the Observatory reported.

Suspected Russian air strikes killed at least 15 people in Jabal al-Dweileh in Idlib province, the Syrian Civil Defence said on Tuesday.

In its latest report, the Observatory said at least 10,915 civilians, including 2,393 children, were killed in government air strikes and barrel bombs dropped by helicopters.

In addition to that, 64,000 others were injured in these attacks.

The casualties were a result of 30 months of air strikes and helicopter strikes.

The UN said in a press release on Monday that at least 39,000 newly displaced people fled to the Jib Al-Shaair makeshift camp in Raqqa province, where four out of five people are staying in the open air without appropriate shelter.

The UN is deeply concerned for the safety and protection of over 400,000 people in Raqqa, in Syria. In past weeks, civilians have been exposed to daily fighting and air strikes which resulted in an escalating number of civilian deaths and injuries as well as damage to civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, markets and water infrastructure, the press release said.

As the Syrian conflict enters its seventh year, more than 465,000 people have been killed in the fighting, more than one million injured and over 12 million Syrians  half the countrys prewar population  have been displaced from their homes.
Jack Jones and Marcel Williams executed just days before expiry of one of US states lethal injection drugs.

Arkansas has executed two death row inmates on the same gurney in a single day, marking the first double execution in the United States since 2000.

On Monday, attempts by the inmates lawyers to halt their execution proved unsuccessful and both were put to death by lethal injection.





Marcel Williams was pronounced dead at 10:33pm Monday, 17 minutes after the procedure began at the Cummins Unit in southeast Arkansas. Inmate Jack Jones was executed earlier in the evening.

Williams legal team unsuccessfully tried to convince the court to halt his execution, claiming that the Jones execution was botched earlier in the day. The lawyers argued that Jones gulped for air and suffered during his lethal injection, while the Arkansas attorney generals office disputed that account.

US District Judge Kristine Baker temporarily stopped Arkansas from executing Marcel Williams on Monday, but lifted her stay after about an hour.

A spokesman for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Williams execution on Monday night could proceed after the order was lifted.

It was not clear if his lawyers were pursuing other options to delay the punishment, with his death warrant due to expire at midnight (05:00 GMT on Tuesday).

The unprecedented execution plan in Arkansas, where eight inmates were initially scheduled to die in 11 days, has been widely criticised by rights groups due to the use of the drug midazolam, which has been linked to previous botched executions.

Jones, 52, was sent to death row for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. He was also convicted of attempting to kill Phillips 11-year-old daughter and was convicted in another rape and killing in Florida.

Reporters witnessing his execution said he delivered a lengthy last statement, including an apology to the young girl who he left for dead after murdering her mother.

Williams, 46, was sentenced to death for the 1997 kidnapping, rape and murder of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson.

Arkansas authorities are in a rush to carry out the executions before the end of April, when its supply of midazolam expires.

One inmate was put to death last week, though the first three executions were cancelled because of court rulings.

A flurry of lawsuits and appeals have been filed on behalf of the inmates in Arkansas courts, as well as the US Supreme Court.

Midazolam was used in flawed executions in Oklahoma and Arizona, where witnesses said the inmates writhed in apparent pain on the gurney.

INFOGRAPHIC: Death penalty around the world in 2016

The US has put to death 1,450 people since 1976, according to the Washington, DC-based Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).

Another 2,900 people are currently on death row.

Thirty-two states, as well as the US federal government, use lethal injection as their primary method for execution.

With recurrent legal efforts to effectively ban lethal injection, many states have alternative methods, including firing squads.
Brazilian gang blamed for heist in which a police officer was killed in Ciudad del Este, Paraguays second city.

A gang of dozens of armed robbers have stolen several million dollars from a vault in Paraguay, in what local officials are dubbing the robbery of the century.

Initial estimates placed the cash haul at around $40m, but a spokesman for Prosegur, the private security company targeted in the raid, denied these reports. Authorities did not release any information on how much money was stolen.

The culprits, who police said were from Brazil, killed one police officer during the Monday raid in Ciudad del Este, the South American countrys second-largest city.

READ MORE: Brazils prisons  A battleground in the drug wars

Officials said three civilians were injured in a blaze of gunfire and torched vehicles during the three-hour attack.

Three robbers were killed hours later in an ensuing gun battle with Brazilian police across the border, the Paraguayan Interior Ministry said.

Five members of the gang were arrested in Itaipulandia, 50 kilometres north of Ciudad del Este, the ministry added.

The robbers, armed with assault rifles, used explosives to gain access to the vault at a cash-storage facility in the Paraguayan border city, which is known for its criminal gang activity.





Up to 80 people may have been involved in the attack, said Arsenio Correa, investigations chief in the city, told Associated Press.

The criminals used snipers to guarantee the escape and torched more than 10 vehicles to distract the police, he said.

Video footage showed burned armoured cars outside the crumbling remains of the companys building.

Ciudad del Este sits in the Triple Border region, where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet and where contraband electronics, drugs and arms flow across porous borders.

Primeiro Comando da Capital, or PCC, a major criminal organisation in Brazil, were suspected of being behind the attack police spokesman Augusto Lima said, according to a report by the German news agency. Armed with assault rifles, the culprits are thought to have made their escape to Brazil by motorboat via the Parana river.

Some of the stolen money was recovered, according to newspaper ABC Color.
Ex-security chief Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled wanted for war crimes and acts against humanity, four-year-old document says.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has unsealed an arrest warrant for Libyas former security chief, accusing him of carrying out war crimes in 2011 to stop opposition against the countrys former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The warrant, first issued in 2013 by the ICC, charged Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled with three charges of war crimes and four crimes against humanity.

The prosecutors office asked for the warrant to be made public as it may facilitate [his] arrest and surrender as all states will then be aware of its existence, the court said on Tuesday.

According to Libyan media, he was arrested in Cairo in April 2012, but was released as there was no warrant against him.

Born in Libyas Janzour area in 1942, Khaled was known by several aliases and had at least 10 different passports, some issued under other identities.

Although Libya is not a party to the Rome Statute which underpins the ICC, the UN Security Council unanimously mandated the tribunal to investigate abuses in the country in February 2011.

It was still under the rule of Gaddafi, who was killed months later by rebels in a NATO-backed uprising.

READ MORE: What is it like living in Libya these days?

Between February and August 2011, the military, intelligence and security agencies carried out attacks on the civilian population in furtherance of a policy designed by the Libyan state to quash the political opposition to the Gaddafi regime by any means, the warrant said.

That included lethal force and by arresting, detaining, torturing and abusing perceived political opponents.

Prisoners across Libya were subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including severe beatings, electrocution, acts of sexual violence and rape, solitary confinement as well as mock executions.

As head of the agency from February to August 2011, Khaled had the authority to implement Gaddafis orders, it said.
Raipur, India  Grenades and bullets were raining down on paramilitary policemen in a Maoist attack that killed 25 Indian personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), a surviving constable told Al Jazeera.

The policemen were guarding road workers in the Sukma district, nearly 400km from Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh state, when they came under fire on Monday.

Constable Sher Mohammed was part of the more than 100 personnel from the 74th battalion of CRPF deployed in the jungles.

About 300 Maoists  a large number of them women  attacked from all sides while the soldiers were on their lunchbreak.

Timeline: Maoist attacks May 2013: At least 30 people, including tribal leader Mahendra Karma, killed in Bastar

April 2010: At least 76 CRPF personnel killed in Sukma

May 2010: 36 security personnel killed near Dantewada

June 2010: 27 soldiers killed in Narayanpur district

March 2007: 55 security personnel killed in Bastar

July 2007: 23 policemen killed

We were sitting under the trees for lunch when we heard shots. Before we knew it, bullets were flying around us. Some of our companions were falling like trees crashing down, said Mohammed, who is recovering in a hospital in Raipur.

It seemed as if hand grenades and bullets were raining down on us.

The pain of losing his colleagues was clearly visible on his face as he lay on the hospital bed.

They used weapons like AK-47 and fired from all sides. That made it difficult for us but we kept firing back, Mohammed said.

The distance between us and the Maoists was hardly 100 metres. As I tried to rescue a fellow soldier, seven or eight bullets hit my chest but my bulletproof jacket saved me.

Mondays attack was the latest in a long-running conflict between Maoist fighters and Indian forces in the rural areas of mainly central and eastern India.

At least 76 CRPF personnel were killed in a Maoist attack in the same district in 2010.

Extrajudicial killings

Tens of thousands of Indian troops have been deployed in the Maoist-affected areas of the country, euphemistically characterised as the red corridor, to fight the rebels, who want mining in the mineral-rich region to stop.

More than 20,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians, have been killed since 1980. The violence intensified after the government launched an armed operation in 2009, dubbed Operation Green Hunt by the media.

Human rights activists and local journalists, who have accused government forces of abuse and extrajudicial killings, have been attacked and in many cases even jailed.

The Maoists, believed to be present in at least 13 Indian states, say they are fighting for the rights of the adivasi tribal people and the landless farmers against mining in the region.

In a recent statement in parliament, Rajnath Singh, home minister, said the Maoists were frustrated because of the success of recent security operations against them.

Last year, 135 Maoists were killed, 700 were arrested and another 1,198 surrendered to government forces, Singh said, citing figures from NDTV.

READ MORE: India making inroads in Maoist stronghold

Narendra Modi, Indias prime minister, sent his condolences to the families of the soldiers killed in the attack. Singh, for his part, dubbed it a cold-blooded murder.

Bhupesh Baghel, from the opposition Congress party, blamed the attack on the lack of coordination between the CRPF and state police.

However, Ramsewak Paikra, Chhattisgarh home minister, denied the claim, saying the development work done by the previous Congress government was the real reason behind the attack.

The Maoists know that development is limiting the space for them. Maoist use tribals as their shield to prevent development, Paikra told Al Jazeera.

Retaliation feared

Last month Maoist rebels killed 11 paramilitary policemen in the same state after ambushing their convoy.

Civil rights groups have criticised the attack but fear that security forces would retaliate by targeting ordinary civilians.

Consequent arrests, beatings and killings will only intensify the cycles of violence and counter-violence, said Dr Lakhan Singh, president of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties.

A situation of civil war still prevails in Bastar [district in Chhattisgarh state] but the Indian government refuses to declare this an internal armed conflict, perhaps to avoid monitoring by the UN.

The government has deployed more than 100,000 troops, one third of them paramilitary forces, to root out the five-decade-old armed rebellion. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the state since 1995.

About 35,000 central paramilitary forces and more than 20,000 state police are deployed in Bastar, which is considered a stronghold of the Maoist fighters.
Taking part in women-focused summit, Ivanka Trump says she is still rather unfamiliar with role of first daughter.

Ivanka Trump has faced tough questions over her fathers attitude towards women as well as scorn for his track record while making her first international outing as a White House adviser.

Ivanka Trump, 35, pledged to push for incremental, positive change for women in the US economy on Tuesday and told a Berlin conference on women that she is still rather unfamiliar with her role as first daughter and adviser to President Donald Trump.

Groans and hisses could be heard as she described her father as a tremendous champion of supporting families.

Ivanka Trumps one-day visit was at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.





Merkel and Ivanka Trump were part of a high-powered panel discussion at the W20 Summit, a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries, entitled Inspiring Women: Scaling up Womens Entrepreneurship.

They were joined by Chrystia Freeland, Canadas foreign minister; Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund chief; and the Netherlands Queen Maxima among others.

Ivanka Trump stepped away from running her fashion brand and from an executive role at the Trump Organization to become an unpaid White House adviser.

She said she is still finding her feet in her new role.

Im listening

Asked whether she represented the president, the American people or her business, Ivanka Trump replied: Well, certainly not the latter, and I am rather unfamiliar with this role as it is quite new to me, too. It has been a little under 100 days.

Im listening, Im learning, Im defining the ways in which I think that Ill be able to have impact in empowering women in the US economy and beyond.

Ivanka Trump said she plans to bring the advice, to bring the knowledge, back to the United States, back to both my father and the president  and hopefully, that will bring about incremental, positive change. And that is my goal.

Proud of @IvankaTrump for her leadership on these important issues. Looking forward to hearing her speak at the W20! https://t.co/e6Uajrm8zp  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

Merkel invited Ivanka Trump to Berlin in order to have a direct line to the White House, according to Christine Berzina from the German Marshall Fund.

It is remarkable that Merkel invited Ivanka to the summit to provide an American perspective, Berzina told Al Jazeera.

It is remarkable as an act of diplomacy because it is cunning in many ways. We know that when you have Ivanka in the room speaking to Merkel, you have the US president paying attention.

Ivanka Trump has been a vocal advocate for policies benefiting working women and vocational training. But she has faced a backlash in the US, particularly from liberals who think she has done little to temper her fathers conservative agenda.
New report finds half of female genital mutilation cases are in London, with 65,000 girls at risk across the country.

The London Assembly, an elected body, has called on the citys mayor Sadiq Khan to lead a campaign to end the hidden crime of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the capital.

An estimated 170,000 women and girls in Britain have undergone FGM and 65,000 preteen girls are thought to be at risk, it said in a report.

The London Assembly is a part of the Greater London Authority that scrutinises the activities of the mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayors annual budget and to reject the mayors draft statutory strategies.

Half of FGM cases recorded in the country are in London, where affected communities include Somalis, Sierra Leoneans, Eritreans and Sudanese.





The ritual, done for cultural, traditional or religious reasons, involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia. In some cases, the vaginal opening is also sewn up.

FGM remains a hidden crime  still taking place behind closed doors, with many girls still at risk, Jennette Arnold, deputy chairwoman of the elected assembly, said in a statement.

The report said many professionals, such as police, teachers health and social workers, were not confident about how to respond to cases of FGM, which can cause serious physical and emotional problems.

It called for the mayor to help improve coordination between front-line services and highlighted the need for better training.

We need to be bold, strong and ambitious, Arnold said.

I am more determined than ever that London becomes a zero cutting city.

National efforts to eradicate FGM have gained momentum in recent years with the once taboo subject making the headlines.

Health workers and teachers are now required to report cases of FGM in the under-18 population.

No successful prosecution

Britain has also strengthened the law on FGM, the act was originally outlawed in 1985, although there has never been a successful prosecution.

But the London Assembly report said many believed the emphasis should be on preventing FGM and supporting those at risk rather than pursuing prosecutions.

It also called for increased efforts to engage boys and men in combating the ancient ritual which some families believe prevents promiscuity.

READ MORE: SENEGAL  Breaking the cycle of FGM

Hibo Wardere, an FGM activist, said having Khan spearhead a London-wide campaign would make a massive difference.

Everybody should make it their business to end FGM  it doesnt matter what community youre from, added Wardere, who wrote about undergoing FGM as a child in Somalia in her recently published memoir Cut.

Khan did not comment on whether he would lead a campaign, but his deputy mayor for policing, Sophie Linden, said he was committed to tackling the appalling practice.

We need to  ensure that people who carry out such barbaric practices are brought to justice, she said.
Palestinian leader refuses medical treatment after joining hunger strike with 1,100 other prisoners in Israel, NGO says.

Marwan Barghoutis health has declined over the past week after the leading Palestinian political figure joined a hunger strike with 1,100 other prisoners in Israel, an NGO said.

Barghouti is refusing medical treatment causing his health to decline seriously, Amani Sarahneh, of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, told AFP news agency.

Barghouti is 57 and serving five life sentences over his role in the second Intifada,

The hunger strike began on April 17, with those taking part ingesting only water and salt. They have issued demands ranging from better medical care to phone access.

READ MORE: Palestinian prisoners launch mass hunger strike

An Israeli Prison Service spokesman denied that a decline in his health condition had been observed.

The Palestinian Committee of Prisoners Affairs released a statement on Monday saying that Israeli Prison Service officials had forcibly moved hunger-striking prisoners to different sections of Israeli jails, confiscated clothes and personal belongings and placed leading figures in solitary confinement.

According to the NGO, Israeli authorities at the Jalame prison, where Barghouti was transferred and placed in solitary confinement after the strike began, have pressured him to accept medical treatment and urged other prisoners to try to convince him.

Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently held by Israel for a range of offences and alleged crimes.

About 500 are being held under Israels system of administrative detention, which allows for imprisonment without charge.

Palestinian prisoners have mounted repeated hunger strikes, but rarely on such a scale.

Barghouti is popular among Palestinians, with polls suggesting that he could win the Palestinian presidency.

He was convicted of attacks during the second Intifada of 2000-2005 that killed five people, though he declined to defend himself and did not recognise the courts legitimacy.

Symbol of Israeli occupation

For Palestinians, the prisons have become a stark symbol of Israels occupation.

Some 850,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned since the start of Israels occupation 50 years ago, Palestinian leaders say.

Palestinian leaders have denounced Israels refusal to negotiate with the hunger strikers, warning of a new Intifada if any of them die.

Demonstrations have been held in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to support the prisoners, occasionally resulting in clashes with Israeli forces, though they have been limited in number.

A Palestinian former minister, Hamas member Wasfi Kabha, released on the fourth day of the hunger strike, said on Facebook that Barghouti had told him the strike aims to achieve more humane, fairer and more dignified prison conditions.
Prominent blogger Yameen Rasheed died after he was found at his Male apartment with multiple stab wounds.

The United Nations has called for an immediate investigation into the killing of a liberal blogger in the Maldives, calling on the government to ensure the safety of dissidents in the troubled honeymoon destination.

On Monday, the High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein condemned Sundays stabbing of Yameen Rasheed and urged a swift and thorough inquiry into the killing, meeting international standards.





Mr Rasheeds killing comes in the context of what appears to be an upsurge in arrests and prosecutions of the political opposition, Zeids spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

She noted that Rasheed, 29, had received death threats in December and lodged complaints with the police, yet had to push to get his concerns registered.

Rasheed, who poked fun at the nations politicians on his blog The Daily Panic, was found in the stairwell of his Male apartment with multiple stab wounds to his chest and neck. He died in hospital.

We remind the state that it has a duty to ensure that journalists, civil society actors and human rights defenders are able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and opinion without fear for their safety, Shamdasani said.

The government of President Abdulla Yameen has already faced censure from the UN rights body over the arrest and jailing of a former president and a former defence minister.

Rasheed is the third media figure to be targeted in the Maldives in the past five years.

Blogger Ismail Rasheed narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed by an unidentified attacker in 2012.

A journalist with the independent Minivan News, Ahmed Rilwan, was likely abducted in August 2014 and has been missing ever since.

The government has said it will investigate the killing and has called for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Actions of the government to avoid opportunity for unrest in the nation by keeping the youth from criminal acts and to build a peaceful society will continue, said Ibrahim Muaz Ali, spokesman for President Abdulla Yameen.

READ MORE: Prominent blogger stabbed to death in Maldives capital

Exiled opposition leader and ex-president Mohamed Nasheed has also demanded an international investigation.

In the wake of Rasheeds death, Nasheed, who is living in London, said on Twitter that a treasured soul has been stolen from us.

The killing comes as political tension mounts in the Maldives after last months failed opposition bid to impeach the parliamentary speaker.

A coalition of opposition parties, led by Nasheed, is trying to undermine Yameen before elections next year.

It faces an uphill struggle, with all opposition leaders now in exile or in jail after a years-long crackdown on dissent under Yameens leadership.

The clampdown has raised fears over the countrys stability and dented its image as a tourist paradise.
Flurry of diplomacy under way as North Korea reportedly marks military anniversary with large-scale artillery drill.

A US submarine has arrived in South Korean waters, while envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo to discuss rising tensions with North Korea.

Pyongyang reportedly marked the 85th anniversary of the founding of its military on Tuesday by conducting a large artillery drill.

South Koreas Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean government source, said there were signs that North Koreas military carried out the live-fire exercise in areas around the city of Wonsan on its east coast.

South Koreas defence ministry could not immediately confirm the report.

At a national meeting of thousands of senior military and civilian officials the day before, Pak Yong-sik, North Koreas defence minister, reiterated that the country is ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any other measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the US imperialists.





North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not attend. It was not known how he was marking Tuesdays anniversary.

North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying its military capability and has conducted five nuclear tests on such occasions in the past. Pyongyang launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim il-Sung on April 15.

Al Jazeeras Divya Gopalan, reporting from Seoul, said that Tuesdays reportedly large artillery test could be a way of North Korea saving face and managing tensions by taking action that is probably outside the UN sanctions remit and is at a less provocative level than a missile launch or nuclear test.

So this [artillery test] is not banned by the UN, yet it is some kind of provocation, Gopalan said.

North Koreas recent moves are testing the developing policies of US President Donald Trump, who has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasises increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, North Koreas only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Koreas government.

OPINION: Whats on Kim Jong-uns mind?

The nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at Busan in what was described as a routine port visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Commander Jang Wook, from the South Korean navy public affairs office, said there was no plan for any drill.





The submarines arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heads towards the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.

Al Jazeeras Gopalan said that the mood in Seoul was anxious and that, while there have often been tensions between South Korea and its neighbour over the past decades, there is a general sense that the level has been ratcheted up recently.

Due to the fact that the US is putting weight behind its words and maybe because the US seems to be almost as unpredictable North Korea at the moment; so people are finding it hard to gauge where this is going to go, Gopalan said.

She reported that presidential elections are due soon in South Korea and there are many important domestic issues that would normally be the focus of public debate.

Instead, North Korea is the main topic of conversation, said Gopalan.

Flurry of diplomacy

In Tokyo, US representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun, met on Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi and Kim Hong-kyun of South Korea.

Al Jazeeras Scott Heidler, reporting from Tokyo, said no policy change announcements are expected from the meeting, which is an opportunity for the three countries to plan and coordinate their response to any potential action by North Korea.

Its not unprecedented that they sit down like this, but obviously with this current situation, its much more important, he said.

A US ministerial meeting has been scheduled in Washington DC for Friday.

Meanwhile in an unusual event, the entire US Senate has been asked to attend a briefing on North Korea on Wednesday at the White House.

So obviously this has escalated to a higher level because the situation is is so tense, said Heidler.

OPINION: When Xi Jinping met Donald Trump

Japans foreign ministry also announced that Chinas envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, will visit Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi, which may take place later this week.

Trump spoke by phone with both the Japanese and Chinese leaders on Monday. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted President Xi Jinping as telling Trump that China strongly opposes North Koreas nuclear weapons programme and hopes all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation.

Trump met the 15 UN Security Council ambassadors, including the Chinese and Russian representatives, at the White House on Monday, and said the UN Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on North Korea.

The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, he said.

Recent US commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Koreas nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong-un has said the countrys preparation for an intercontinental ballistic missile launch is in its final stage.
US president says Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang.

US President Donald Trump has said the UN Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on North Korea.

Trump met the 15 UN Security Council ambassadors, including from China and Russia, at the White House on Monday.

The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, he said.

US officials have told Reuters tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, banning North Koreas airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks and other foreign doing business with Pyongyang.

Trump said North Korea is a real threat to the world.

North Korea is a big world problem and its a problem that we have to finally solve, he said. People put blindfolds on for decades and now its time to solve the problem.

READ MORE: Will China intervene in North Korea?

The comments came as Japan conducted exercises with a US aircraft carrier strike group headed for Korean waters.

Angered by the approach of the USS Carl Vinson carrier group, a defiant North Korea, which has carried out nuclear and missile tests in defiance of successive rounds of UN sanctions, said the deployment was an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade.

The United States should not run amok and should consider carefully any catastrophic consequence from its foolish military provocative act, Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Koreas ruling Workers Party, said in a commentary.

South Korean and US officials have feared for some time that a sixth North Korean nuclear test could be imminent and speculation has grown that this, or another missile test, could coincide with the 85th anniversary of the foundation of North Koreas army on Tuesday.

But South Korean defence officials said no suspicious moves by North Korea were detected on Tuesday morning.

Tokyo meeting

Trump has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile and has said all options are on the table, including a military strike, although officials say tougher sanctions are the preferred route.

Envoys on the North Korean nuclear issue from the United States, South Korea and Japan are meeting in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, on Tuesday.

Al Jazeeras Scott Heidler, reporting from Tokyo, said no policy change announcements are expected from the meeting, which is an opportunity for the three countries to plan and coordinate their response to any potential action by North Korea.

Its not unprecedented that they sit down like this, but obviously with this current situation, its much more important, he said.
At least 70 killed in Iraq and Syria, Turkish officials say, in blow against Kurdish forces battling ISIL in the region.

Turkish military jets have carried out air strikes against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in northern Iraq and northeast Syria, killing at least 70 people, according to a Turkish military statement.

A statement released by Turkeys air force said that it carried out the air strikes against PKK targets located in the Sinjar Mountains region in northern Iraq and in Karachok Mountains in northeastern Syria on Tuesday.

The targets were hit to prevent the PKK from sending terrorists, arms, ammunition and explosives to Turkey, the statement said, adding that the operation was conducted within the scope of the international law.





The PKK are Kurdish fighters operating in Turkey, while the Rojava Defence Units (YPG) are Kurdish fighters operating in northern Syria and the Peshmerga fighters are in charge of security in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The three groups are currently fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

At least six people were killed, five from the Peshmerga and a sixth from Asayish [Rojava], Lieutenant-General Jabbar Yawar, secretary-general of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs in Iraqs autonomous Kurdish government, told AFP news agency.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group which tracks the Syrian war, said that at least 18 YPG fighters were killed in the air strikes in Syrias Hasaka province.

The YPG in northern Syria said on its Twitter account that Turkish warplanes targeted the headquarters of the General Command of the YPG in Mount Karachok, near the city of Derik in Hasaka.

The YPG also reported that a media centre, a local radio station, communication headquarters and some military institutions were hit.

The group forms a key component of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and has been closing in on ISIL in Raqqa.

While Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the US and Russia were informed of the attacks, the US State Department said it was deeply concerned by the air strikes, which it said were not authorised by the US-led coalition fighting ISIL in Iraq and Syria.





We have expressed those concerns with the government of Turkey directly, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

These air strikes were not approved by the coalition and led to the unfortunate loss of life of our partner forces.

Earlier, Erdogan said Turkey was obliged to take measures that were shared with the US and Russia.

Following the attacks, the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs called upon the PKK to withdraw from Sinjar Mountain and surrounding areas.

This painful and unacceptable attack on Peshmerga forces by Turkish warplanes is a result of PKKs presence in and around Sinjar, the ministry said in a statement.

PKK has been problematic for the people of the Kurdistan Region and, despite broad calls to withdraw, refuses to leave Sinjar. PKK must stop destabilising and escalating tensions in the area to allow life to return to the people of the area.

Later on Tuesday, Turkish security officials said 13 PKK fighters and five Turkish soldiers were killed in operations in the largely Kurdish southeast of Turkey.

The PKK established a presence in Iraqs Sinjar after coming to help the regions Yazidi population when ISIL overran the area in the summer of 2014.

Al Jazeeras Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkey-Syria border, said the air strikes come at a moment of strained ties between Turkey and Iraq.

The Turkish ministry says the air strikes were precise and successful, he said.

The Turkish military tipped up its campaign against the PKK on the border area and said it killed a dozen PKK fighters in the past days.

Turkey sent tanks into the town of Bashiqa in northern Iraq in 2015, saying it was providing military assistance and training for the Peshmerga fighters battling ISIL, our correspondent said.

The Iraqi government, on the other hand, has been asking the Turkish government to pull out the tanks threatening more confrontations.

The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the European Union.
Opposition fails in bid to challenge electoral boards decision to accept referendum ballots without official stamps.

A Turkish court has declined to hear an appeal by the main opposition party challenging the acceptance of unstamped ballots in the referendum to expand the powers of the presidency.

The Council of State, Turkeys high judicial body handling complaints and appeals against state and public institutions, said it had no jurisdiction in the case, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday.

The court rejected the opposition Republican Peoples Partys (CHP) petition by majority vote, saying it could not rule on the decision by the High Electoral Board (YSK) to accept ballots without official stamps because it was not an administrative procedure, reported the agency.

The Council of State was not immediately available for comment.

OPINION: Post-referendum Turkey  Renewed conflicts, new allies

The opposition argues that the rule change  made on the day of the vote  opened the way for fraud. The CHP, which is led by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, had launched a failed bid to annul the referendum last week.

The results are due to be announced 11 to 12 days after the April 16 referendum, the YSK has said.

Preliminary results put the Yes vote at 51.4 percent.





Held under a state of emergency in place since a failed coup last July, the referendum was criticised by European election observers, who said the decision to allow unstamped ballot papers to be counted had removed a main safeguard against voting fraud.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and government ministers have rejected criticism of the vote as politically motivated, and the YSK last week dismissed challenges by the CHP and two other opposition parties.

Bekir Bozdag, Turkeys justice minister, said on Saturday that decisions made by the YSK could neither be challenged in the Constitutional Court nor the Council of State.

Levent Gok, CHPs parliamentary group leader, hit back, accusing Bozdag of giving instructions to the judges before they had made a decision.

Turkey will implement an executive presidency from November 2019, axing the role of prime minister and granting the presidency sweeping powers.
Country able to export excess food following good spells of rain and a concerted effort by the government.

A year after a state of emergency was declared in Zimbabwe, the country is now able to export excess food.

Last year, the Command Agriculture programme was launched in response to the shrinking agricultural output and drought.

This provided finance, seed, fertiliser and pesticides. The goal was to make Zimbabwe self-sufficient in maize and the move was a success.

I would say, frankly speaking, there may be elements of food insecurity, but there is no hunger, said Bishow Parajuli, the UN resident coordinator in Zimbabwe.

We were facing lots of challenges when the drought came in but the proactiveness of the government and strong partnership addressed all issues of famine and hunger.

Of course, theres food insecurity, malnutrition issues and that is what we are working on at the moment.

READ MORE: Zimbabwe floods killed 246, made thousands homeless

The 2016-17 rainfall season in Zimbabwe officially ended in the first week of April and this seasons rainfall was in excess.

This contributed greatly to an abundant crop in many areas of agriculture but, as is often the case, came in flash-flood amounts.

The countrys Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that for the first time in almost two decades, Zimbabwe will produce enough maize to be able to export the grain.

Now the problem is where to store saleable produce  for future use or export. Dry storage is surprisingly necessary as conditions even in late April have been wet, following a surprisingly humid and windy March.

The agricultural situation did not look so rosy during the heavy rains.

In January, the downpours were damaging crops and washing away topsoil and dirt roads. The tobacco cash crop was turning yellow through nutrient leaching and maize stems were flattened by storm gusts.

Damage to roads and bridges from fast-flowing floodwater cut off access to markets.

Zimbabwe last experienced such conditions in 1999.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says 259 journalists were imprisoned around the world last year.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says Egypt is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

Last year, Egypt jailed 25 reporters, including Al Jazeeras Mahmoud Hussein, who is awaiting trial on charges of spreading false news.

Al Jazeera denies the allegations and is demanding his immediate release.

OPINION: Zahra Mahmoud Hussein  100 Days without my father

The CPJ says technologies like social media and surveillance have led to a rise in killings and imprisonment of reporters around the world.

Is the use of new technology making censorship easier?

Presenter: Martine Dennis

Guests:

Mohamad Elmasry  Associate professor of media and cultural studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Courtney Radsch  Advocacy director of the CPJ

Martin Schibbye  Swedish journalist who was jailed for more than a year in Ethiopia
Deputies are actively searching for a man they say has information about a Friday night shooting that left one Hawthorne woman dead.

On Monday afternoon, the Alachua County Sheriffs Office announced in a press release their search for Blake Carrington Jackson, 21, as a person of interest in the shooting of Christin Marie Cassels, 23. Citing witness interviews and evidence from the crime, deputies say Jackson likely has specific knowledge about Cassels death or was nearby when the shooting happened, said ACSO Sgt. Chris Sims.

At about 11:25 p.m. Friday, deputies responding to reports of a shooting found Cassels inside an enclosed garage behind her home, at 7815 SE U.S. Route 301, according to the release.

Inside, deputies found Cassels dead from an apparent gunshot wound. It appeared that multiple rounds had been fired into the garage structure from outside, according to the release.

Immediately after deputies arrived at the scene, Sims said, they became concerned that any suspects had run into a large wooded area behind Cassels residence. They then searched the woods with ACSOs air unit, SWAT team and K-9 unit, according to the release.

Investigators have been working all weekend, Sims said. I mean around the clock.

Officers have suspended their search for a suspect in Cassels shooting until further leads develop, he said. Theyre hoping that Jackson can provide insight as to what happened Friday night.

We have no idea if they intended to shoot her, Sims said. They havent even uncovered a clear motive as to why the shooting occurred.

Jackson, a Gainesville resident, was arrested March 3 in Broward County, Florida, on a grand theft auto charge, according to county court records. The case is still pending, according to the records.

As of press time, Sims said deputies do not know the degree to which Jackson may or may not have been involved in Cassels death.

We cannot definitely confirm whether (he was) directly involved, he said.

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To celebrate the launch of the revised European Union (EU) Guidelines on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child, Plan International is partnering with the European External Action Service to organize a global youth takeover of EU Delegation social media accounts. Throughout April, young people across Africa, Asia and the Americas will []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
If I set out to accomplish a task, I have to start with the basics. What is the job? What steps are involved? The list goes on. The same concept applies to ObamaCare. It's broken. Whether we repeal it or fix it, we have to start with foundations. In other words, as Herman Cain notes, we have to ask the Right Questions.

Paul Ryan didn't ask any of the right questions. And the very first one is simple: "What is our objective? Do we want to make health insurance affordable, or do we want to make health care affordable?" Put differently, do we want to guarantee a subsidy for the health insurance companies, or will we put patients first?

Health insurance is a subsidy to health insurance companies, because it has preferred status in the tax code. Taxpayers get a tax break for supplying health insurance companies with profits. That means that insurance companies will spend breathtaking amounts of money to support legislators who protect their profits. Legislators will respond by creating bigger tax incentives to buy health insurance, and the cycle will continue. Health insurance is a classic example of the Law of Subsidy in action.

The Law of Subsidy: Every time you subsidize something, you get more of it, and it gets more expensive.

Nobody asked, "Does health insurance improve health?" Had they asked, they would have learned that for the general population, health insurance does not improve health. The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment showed that:

"Medicaid coverage resulted in significantly more outpatient visits, hospitalizations, prescription medications, and emergency department visits. Coverage significantly lowered medical debt, and virtually eliminated the likelihood of having a catastrophic medical expenditure. Medicaid substantially reduced the prevalence of depression, but had no statistically significant effects on blood pressure, cholesterol, or cardiovascular risk. Medicaid coverage also had no statistically significant effect on employment status or earnings."

Notice that there was essentially zero overall effect on health. Insurance did reduce individual financial risk, and that's what insurance is supposed to do. But because of a 20 percent increase in use of medical resources, it substantially increased overall cost, suggesting that there may be better ways to protect individual finances.

Where did that excess money go? Providers! Insurance is a subsidy to the health care industry. Since this was Medicaid, it took taxpayers' hard-earned money and gave it to insurance companies, doctors, and hospitals. We didn't get to decide whether to use (and pay for) their services. The money was taken from us and given to them. And it did no good for poor patients.

What about the handful who have potentially catastrophic medical problems? There's a different way to handle them called "high-risk pools." Thirty-five states already have them, and they deal with the worst situations, including pre-existing conditions, at far lower cost to the state than ordinary Medicaid. So, with this very narrow exception, health insurance simply does not answer our most foundational question. That makes it the wrong approach to improving health. But it an effective way to take tax money from productive taxpayers in order to give it to large corporations and their stockholders.

The next question did get asked, but never in a serious way. "How do we reduce health care costs?"

The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment showed financial benefits for the insured since they didn't have catastrophic losses. But that doesn't require "full coverage" insurance. It only requires catastrophic coverage, which is the original purpose of health insurance. You pay the initial costs, and if your expenses get really large, they are covered. That kind of policy was (and would be) much less expensive, but is illegal under ObamaCare.

Health Savings Accounts are another way to save money. Properly structured, there is a block of money in a savings account that pays for basic medical expenses through the year. Any costs over that amount are covered by a catastrophic policy. If money is left at the end of the year, it belongs to the individual. The Rand Corporation says that HSAs will probably cut health costs, because HSAs lead to cost sharing. The windfall at year's end for not using excess services is a strong incentive to save.

One reason that HSAs may not work as well as intended is that medical costs are not easy to determine up front. Insurance plans negotiate deals with providers that aren't public information. That $100 aspirin tablet on your hospital bill is just one example. But life doesn't have to be that complicated.

The Surgery Center of Oklahoma publishes up-front all-inclusive prices for its services. These are far lower than the typical hidden (and variable) prices at other centers and hospitals. Yet Surgery Center of Oklahoma makes money, and has made money for years. What they don't do is take insurance. Subsidies for comapnies who don't provide care is needless overhead they don't bother with.

This model is often repeated by plastic surgery and Lasik centers. Since their services are not covered by insurance, they compete on price to attract patients/customers. Many cosmetic procedures have gotten cheaper. Lasik, which started out at thousands of dollars per eye, is now available as low as $250.

Mandates that force people to buy insurance they don't need raise cost, and as we saw before, take money from workers and give it to insurers and health care providers. Of course, those mandates don't improve health, either.

Obviously, there are other areas that can be addressed. The FDA imposes immense costs on drug companies that try to bring new drugs to market. Much of this cost is scientifically and medically unnecessary, and could be eliminated. Medical device regulations also inflate costs.

With all these known facts, what questions did the Republican lawmakers ask? They asked how to maintain insurance coverage. This question leads down the rabbit hole of increased cost, with no benefit to patients. "Insurance" may sound good, but it is actually a transfer payment from workers to wealthy insurance companies and health care providers.

Seriously asking how to improve health care would have led Republicans to eliminate subsidies from the poor to the rich. Until that happens, we will see the Sheriff of Nottingham increasingly oppressing the taxpayers of Sherwood Forest. But subsidies can't be eliminated until legislators understand that dropping dollars from helicopters will only lead to demands for more helicopters.

This is politically difficult. It requires principled analysis and education. Concepts must be presented simply, so that a sound-bite audience can understand them. Conservative Republicans attempted to restore freedom, but the established order simply did not accept their arguments. Fortunately for us, they held the line. But now they have no choice but to stand by as people suffer in the death spiral of Obamacare. Perhaps when there is no other option there will be a more receptive audience.

Freedom works every time it's tried. Freedom in the medical marketplace will improve everyone's health. Ultimately, every insurance subsidy must be eliminated. The tax-preferred status of health insurance must go away. Safety net coverage must be limited to true safety net cases, typically in high-risk pools. Regulations of all types must be cut, and prices must become public. When all these things happen, care will become much cheaper, and it will be available to all.

In simple terms, these steps basically take government out of the health care marketplace, allowing the free market to reassert itself. When that happens, all sorts of good things are possible.
In the bonfire of the vanities that is the aftermath of Hillary Clintons campaign of 2016 one quote from Shattered, the book of the week, stands supreme.

[C]lueless Hillary Clinton... to a close friend, I dont understand whats happening in the country.

People like Hillary Clinton wont understand what is happening to the country until they carve out the cataracts in their eyes that prevent them from seeing what their politics hath wrought. And it is pretty obvious that the same applies to the rest of elite liberaldom.

The political movement that built the welfare state and the administrative state and the liberal cultural hegemony is going on the rocks, and liberals cant believe it.

The political movement that gave us Reagan and won the Cold War is also on the rocks. But we conservatives are not that shocked that good old gentlemanly libertarian conservatism is done. We conservatives went through our five stages of grief in the year between the Descent of Trump and the nomination of Trump, and now face the world without illusion.

Unlike liberals, still hysterically sobbing in their liberal safe space.

To see what is going on it helps to look at another country that may be in the middle of its own Brexit/Trump phenomenon, i.e., France.

Christopher Caldwell in City Journal has a long piece about The French, Coming Apart in which he writes that Charles Murrays book Coming Apart applies not just to the US but to the French. Only things are worse in France.

Caldwell is looking at France through the work of the French writer Christophe Guilluy. Guilluy argues that the old working class in France is never coming back, because even if it could reeducate and retrain it could never afford to live in the ideopolises where the new economy jobs are. The old cheap housing stock is now completely occupied by non-white immigrants and the new elite of TV anchors and patent attorneys where the white working class need not apply. So the guys that said they loooved the working class have effectively driven them into the economic wilderness.

Just as in the U.S., the French new class of liberal symbolic analysts that once taught the working class to hate their bosses has driven the working class to despair. And the cataracts in their eyes prevent them from seeing the chaos they have wrought.

But who will raise the alarm? Who will tell the ruling class to put its failed ideas and conceits where the sun dont shine?

The French ruling class has legislated speech codes, so that speaking and writing against the ruling class and its cultural Marxist conceits could get you in trouble. In France they have enacted a what Guilluy calls the criminalization of criticism of the dominant model.

Frances antiracist Pleven law, which can punish speech, passed in 1972. In 1990, the Gayssot law criminalized denial or minimization of the Holocaust and repealed parts of Frances Law of July 29, 1881, on Freedom of the Press Suits against novelists, philosophers, and historians have proliferated.

That is how you get a Hillary who doesnt know whats happening to the country. It is the consequence of a ruling class that makes it illegal for the rubes to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Today, in America at least for now, an Ann Coulter can tell University of California, Berkeley, that she is coming to speak there irregardless, because I have constitutional rights, and a Milo Yiannopoulos can announce that he is coming to Berkeley for his own Free Speech Week that might turn into Free Speech Month if the authorities dont cooperate. For now.

After reading Caldwell I think I understand more than before why our liberals friends have become utterly unmoored since Nov. 8, 2016. Nothing in their comfortable urban liberal bubble prepared them for Brexit and Trump and Le Pen. Of course not. Because liberals have forbidden anyone to disagree with them.

We conservatives are lucky: we have never been able to isolate ourselves in our special cultural bubble, so we know that the world can change against us in an instant.

But liberals from Hillary Clinton on down just dont understand whats happening in the country.

I am trying to think up a catch phrase to symbolize how the left first seduced, then used, abused, and finally abandoned the working class, averting its eyes from the wounded, mumbling I just dont understand. I have in mind something like The Great Betrayal, only sharper.

We need some sort of meme like this, because the demolition of the white working class is happening all over the western world, and attention must be paid.

And the way back starts with what the Chinese call the Rectification of Names. In Anglo-Saxon, this is termed calling a spade a spade.

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also see his American Manifesto and get his Road to the Middle Class.
The press is starting to pile on Hillary Clinton for losing to President Trump, but the real cause of the Democrats' defeat is never discussed. It is Obama himself.

According to Gallup, averaging his two terms, Obama was the most unpopular President since President Truman, save only for Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. Even Nixon was more popular. That poll will never be reported in the liberal press. But Democrats cant ignore this astounding precinct map, that shows how tiny the blue islands have become in a sea of red voters.

Obama thinks Democrats should continue to write off those red voters. They dont have long to wait for the demographics of immigration to turn America's majority non-white. Obama is unfazed because he dreams about this: we already have a non-white majority among Americans under age 5. Obama foresees a permanent Democratic government, based on minority immigration rates, coupled with ginning up racial and gender divisiveness.

Trump won the Democrat heartland? A short-term setback. Soon progressives can tell the heartland to get lost. As Obama told David Remnick, he believes in demographics.

The hyper-partisan media will never criticize Obama. This week, the DNCs number two guy, Keith Ellison, broke the rules and shocked everyone by blaming Saint Barack Obama for the partys diminished, sorry self.

Given we lost a lot of statehouse seats, governorships, secretary of states he cant say that he wasnt part of those losses. Who else, right?

Ellison understated the problem. There are fewer Democrats in Congress than since 1929, fewer Democrats in state and federal offices than since the Civil War. Democrats can beat up on Hillary Clinton all they want. It has nothing to do with Hillarys campaign and everything to do with Obamas radical agenda as President. Hillary is just the biggest Democrat politician of them all who followed Obamas polarizing priorities right off the cliff.

Mainstream America wanted jobs and racial healing, secure borders and safety from jihad. Obama gave them the opposite. Once elected, he went further and repeatedly dissed his white voters as bigots. Obamas radical millennial shock troops, financed and trained during his eight years in office, now pipe the tune to which the Democrats dance. (See my columns, Obamas Snowflakes and Obama Fundamentally Transformed America the Democrats.)

Americans have had enough progressive politics to see they dont like it. Voter flight from Democrats started with Obamacare and the corrupt stimulus. They were losing their jobs by the millions. It doesnt get worse than that. Except it did get worse, as Americans began to lose their lives to jihadis and cop killers and illegal criminal aliens. If you didnt like it, you were called a racist and Islamophobe. Progressives boasted that whites would soon be a minority in America. People could see the exploding Hispanic and Muslim population in their towns and cities, brought into this country for the good of the Democrat Party, not for Americas good. The culture war Obama launched against religious freedom was the coup de grace.

During Obamas two terms, ordinary Republicans and independents turned to Tea Party conservatives, at every level of government. They wanted leaders to fight Obamas re-do of America, and go-along Republicans. Trump was the first fighter they had a chance to vote for in a Presidential race, and the crowds flocked to him.

Hillarys failure is supposedly that she ignored the white working class. The entire Democrat party thought that calling Trump supporters names was the way to go  they still do.

Since her loss, the DNC and the Democratic leadership have doubled down. They are still not talking about jobs or national security or the immigration problem. Theyre too busy screaming that Trump is a Russian stooge, based on fake leaks apparently orchestrated by our exiting President. Theyre still yelling that businessman Donald Trump and his working class voters are white nationalists. Theyre blaming Hillary, because her identity politics flopped, all the while continuing it themselves.

Obamas polices didnt even work well for Obama, as the Gallup Poll shows, but they served the purpose of his radical takeover of the party. Eight years is a long time. Obama abused federal funding and threats of lawsuits to yank campus culture hard left. He forced the black community left by purposely inflaming racial grievances in Florida and Ferguson, Missouri, and from there across the country. It was Obama who awarded the Marxist Black Lives Matter power and legitimacy. Hillary was stuck with them. Obama even promoted pro-jihadi Islamists to positions of power and influence.

As president, Obama started a private foundation, which he calls Organizing for Action, which trained 30,000 millennial street activists, as many as half from immigrant families. He funneled his campaign experts and donors to this left-wing army, leaving normal liberal politicians on their own. Most of them went down to defeat, but Obama never changed course. He was not interested in building the Democrat Party, but in taking it over.

Thanks to Obamas community organizing from the White House, America now has a hardcore, violent, progressive vanguard, which the useful idiot Democratic Party leaders and media are applauding as the Resistance. This is Obamas lasting legacy.

With the help of a partisan, unethical press, the Democrats normalized Obamas every aberrant trait. But Obama is aberrant. He is a Democrat in name only  in reality, he is a hard left red diaper baby  as were Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod. Obama has had literally lifelong radical ties, starting with his grandfather and mother, as well as his Kenyan father, and Obamas beloved teenage mentor, child molester Frank Marshall Davis, a member of the Communist Party. (According to Paul Kengor, Frank Daviss political work for the Soviets got him placed on the FBIs Security Index, so he could be immediately arrested in a national emergency  the Cold War equivalent of our terrorist watchlist.)

In college Obama tells us, he only associated with radicals. After law school, he moved to Chicago and began radical left community organizing. He entered politics as the chosen successor to a socialist state senator.

Out of sight of the public, President Obamas actions continued those of the professional agitator he was in Chicago. He funneled half a billion dollars in federal fines to leftist groups, using a a shakedown system eerily reminiscent of the ACORN Muscle for Money program that he was a part of in Chicago. On campuses, he forced colleges to hire radical blacks and feminist thought police and start a rape witch-hunt against white men, using the threat of civil rights suits and loss of federal funds.

After his re-election, Obama flirted with what he called going Bulworth  that is, revealing that he is a socialist. How galling for him Sanders acclaim by millennials must be, but Sanders is a loser. By hiding his Marxism, Obama made it to the White House, twice.

Ominously, Obama says he will devote his post-presidency to funding, training and organizing more activists. That is not normal. Presidents in America retire from politics. They have since George Washington. It is crucial to our democracy.

Happily, the rest of us are not stuck in Obamas scenario. America is not as racist as he is. We have a unified vision of success for the whole country, based on our common American values. A renewal of freedom and personal responsibility has the potential to unleash enormous prosperity for every American citizen.

If Trump succeeds in doubling and tripling the GDP growth rate, easily within his grasp with sensible pro-growth policies and reining in the administrative state, he can blow Obamas race-based strategy to bits. Trump has sworn he will be the greatest job creator the world has ever seen  not just for white Americans, for all Americans. If he succeeds in bringing jobs to our unemployed white working class, minorities and millennials, it will be a game changer.

Racial demographics need not be destiny. We are all Americans and want the best for each other. America is better than Obamas dark radical vision of us.

What a wonderful thought: Democrats will play the race card, and no one will listen.
Today is the most solemn day of the year for our antipodean allies, Australia and New Zealand. In a binational holiday, the two nations commemorate an event that happened one hundred years ago today. The Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (The ANZACs) landed at Gallipoli, in a bold move to take Germany's ally Turkey out of World War I. The commander of the forces of the Ottoman Caliphate, the man who became Attaturk after the war, Mustafa Kemal, had other ideas, and the battle became horrendously bloody, with 8,709 dead from Australia and 2,721 from New Zealand.

My Australian correspondent John McMahon puts the toll in perspective:

It was a flaming, bloody waste; at this time, Australia's population was fewer than 5 million. Around 420,000 Australians enlisted for service in the First World War, representing 38.7 per cent of the male population aged between 18 and 44.

For king and empire, the young colonials ventured forth into the meat grinder.

Since the Second World War, ANZAC Day has become a memorial to all war dead of the two nations. Australia has fought next to American soldiers in every war we have conducted since the end of World War II, including Iraq and Afghanistan. You can't find a more faithful ally.

As John McMahon notes:

The birth of Australia came about as a direct consequence of the outcome of the American War of Independence. No longer able to send convicts to the 13 colonies in the Americas, Britain turned its attention to the Great Southern Land formerly known as New Holland. This land was claimed for Great Britain by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770; it was Lieutenant Cook who named the Sandwich Islands now known as Hawaii. Thus on 26th January 1788 Governor Phillip sailed into Port Jackson (Sydney) and established the convict colony that was to become the Nation of Australia.

On this day, we can think of our allies and their sacrifices in the name of democracy and the freedoms of Western civilization.
According to the ethos of black students at Pomona College, one of the nations most competitive (and expensive) small liberal arts colleges, white people cannot legitimately study and write about black criminals. Tony Airaksinen of Campus Reform writes:

Students at Pomona College have published a demand letter urging administrators to rescind their offer to hire Sociology Professor Alice Goffman because shes white. The Letter to the Pomona College Sociology Department, published last Friday argues that by hiring Goffman, the administration has neglected their commitment to promoting diversity and supporting women of color. This practice is detrimental to Pomonas goal of supporting students of color. The collective of Sociology students, alumni, and allies open their letter by expressing their anger and concern regarding Goffmans hire, calling it a failure to address the lack of professors of color on campus. Further, they argue that because the majority (56.7 percent) of students in the Sociology department are now people of color, it is problematic for the department to continue hiring white people.

Alice Goffman carries a name very famous among sociologists: her father was Erving Goffman, whose book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is among the most influential works sociology of the last century. She started her career with a bang, spending six years (!) in participant observation of black street gangs, resulting in a dissertation that was honored as the best of the year by the American Sociological Association, and which resulted in a book, On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City. While she was generally sympathetic to her subjects (and could not have gained access to them otherwise), Goffman ran into a firestorm of criticism, partly because she reported unflattering things about black people, and partly because she did what was necessary to gain access, including destroying some of her notes that could have implicated some of her subjects.

Now, as a liberal highly sympathetic to black people, she is under fire as racist and disqualified from writing about her chosen subject area, simply because of her race.

As someone who studied for and earned a PhD in Sociology from Harvard (and taught it there for a year), I have largely written off the field. It is not that the study of human societies is unproductive, but because the field has become completely dominated by angry leftists. Who, if anyone, will stand up to defend Alice Goffman? Will the American Sociological Association, utter a word in protest? If they do, it will be only after extensive discussion and dispute, I would guess. Colorblinf opportunity is now seens as controversial on the left.

Pomona is a sister college of Claremont McKenna College, where Heather Mac Donald was violently prevented from speaking, and Harvey Mudd College, the formerly highly-regarded engineering and sciences college, where black students caused classes to be cancelled by a sit-in protesting the workload they face and demanding money for pet campus race-based organizations.

Radicalism is overtaking the collection of 5 high-end campuses that comprise the Claremont Colleges. Once upon a time they were a West Coast bastion of academic excellence. The controversies cannot help persuade parents to lay out nearly $70 grand a year for a degree.

Academia is heading for its days of reckoning.
Are we talking panic button or preservation? I will let you be the judge, but we would be foolish to not consider more than a few of the thoughtful sentiments espoused by Rod Dreher, author of the modern-day religious manifesto The Benedict Option:

The idea is that serious Christian conservatives could no longer live business-as-usual lives in America, that we have to develop creative, communal solutions to help us hold on to our faith and our values in a world growing ever more hostile to them. We would have to choose to make a decisive leap into a truly countercultural way of living Christianity, or we would doom our children and our children's children to assimilation[.] ... I have written The Benedict Option to wake up the church, and to encourage it to act to strengthen itself, while there is still time.

CT magazine recently showcased Dreher's strategic vision:

In my 2006 book, Crunchy Cons, which explored a countercultural, traditionalist conservative sensibility, I brought up the work of philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who said that Western civilization had lost its moorings. MacIntyre said that the time is coming when men and women of virtue will understand that continued full participation in mainstream society was not possible for those who want to live a life of traditional virtue. These people would find new ways to live in community, he said, just as St. Benedict, the sixth-century father of Western monasticism, responded to the collapse of Roman civilization by founding a monastic order. I called the strategic withdrawal prophesied by MacIntyre 'the Benedict Option.'

In a time when "anti-Christian hostility infects powerful elite subculture," as studied and hypothesized by David Williamson and George Yancey in the book So Many Christians, So Few Lions: Is There Christianophobia in the United States?, the need to review and reassess our standing before God and man is due for a close evaluation. The proper starting point should come in the form of a re-evaluation of doctrinal affirmation and ministerial domain. (In other words, we need to put first things first.) It's quite probable that our failings in these areas, and related distractions, are what got us into this mess in the first place.

It's time to get truly serious in our confirmation and expression of what we believe, what we denounce, and what we view as flawed and suspect. We should branch out, in terms of our understanding, in all popular areas of study, but we should maintain our order of analysis and prioritize accordingly: 1. What do we believe? 2. What do we denounce? 3. What do we perceive as faulty or suspect?

This is vital because if future evangelism requires a watered down, sanitized, compromised gospel, what good is it? Of what value is it to gain the world and lose the heart and soul of the gospel?

Dreher seems to have truly sincere and noble motives, and his reasoning to make our own backyard the vital starting point is indisputable.

A spiritual resurgence cannot thrive in a world where faithful preaching is sold out to a new social order that seeks to redefine acceptable doctrine along secularized cultural and political lines. A one-world religion in which social justice and liberation theology meets naturalism, scientism, and gnosticism cannot suffer biblical, spirit-filled, soul-sustaining orthodoxy.

If we cannot coexist in the mainstream, can we remain a sanctuary on the fringes of society? Can we be a city on a hill for the lost and hurting souls of the greater community? This is the vision Dreher has in mind. In many ways, it plays into the secular agenda, but it may also be consistent with God's sovereign plan.

I'm not here to endorse  only to contemplate. What shall it be?
The left-wing media are engaged in attempted character assassination against Sean Hannity as part of their effort to destroy the Fox News Channel.

Let me speak unequivocally to this point: I stand with Sean Hannity 100%, and these terrible, awful accusations are completely malicious, reprehensible smears by the left-wing media to bring down a good and decent man.

I have known Sean for 18 years. In every situation, whether working with him or watching him with others, I have found him a decent, kind, honest, and professional person when dealing with everyone. That includes men, women, and even unhinged leftists.

The left has hoped and prayed that Fox News could somehow be stopped in the ratings, but given its failure to accomplish that task, leftists are now resorting to character assassination.

So desperate is the left to play the smear-and-destroy card on Sean Hannity that it had to resort to dredging up wild accusations from a woman whose career has consisted of one malicious attack after another. The woman attacking Sean Hannity has attacked Sarah Palin, Steven Crowder, and Free Republic, and she has repeatedly tried to attack Sean Hannity. Oh, and she went after me the last time I defended Sean from one of her attacks.

Seriously, folks  is this the best the left can come up with in its brazen effort to take out the conservatives at Fox News Channel, one by one?

Well, this is a bridge too far. It's one thing to try to destroy a television network (Fox News), but I will not sit back silently and let anyone destroy the reputation, career, and family life of a good and honorable man like Sean Hannity.

While hypocrites in the liberal media have been paying women less than men for the same equal work duties, Sean Hannity has been out there for years actively supporting the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces.

Sean Hannity has raised millions of dollars for pro-troop charities. He has invested personal time, heart, and energy into supporting the men and women who risk their lives to keep this great nation safe and free.

Sean has inspired millions of viewers and listeners to engage in the political process to help Make America Great Again.

And if you try to tear him down, you're going to have to go through his millions of viewers and listeners, and me, first. Because we have his back, we support Sean Hannity, and we're not going to let you smear and destroy this great man's reputation.

Update: With Hannity threatening litigation, Schlussel has backed away from media reports that she was sexually harrassed in an interview with Lawnewz:

While Schlussel stands by her description of the incident, Schlussel told us that she doesnt believe what happened between the two amounted to sexual harassment by any legal definition. I would never accuse him of that. Sexual harassment has a special meaning under the law, and I would never accuse him of that, Schlussel, an attorney herself, said. Schlussel said the interaction happened in the early 2000s when Hannity was in Detroit taping a show. He tried to get me to go back to the hotel after the show after he and his executive producer Bill Shine treated me horribly, she said on the radio program. Schlussel later clarified that it wasnt his hotel room, but rather his hotel. She told LawNewz.com that she did go on the show following the incident, but after that was banned from Fox News. I never thought I was sexually harassed by Sean Hannity, I thought he was weird and creepy not someone I liked, Schlussel said.

Melanie Morgan is a radio talk show host, journalist, and independent TV producer.
Liberals have been gradually watering down the criminal justice system. They have launched a campaign to eliminate bail, they want drug addicts and drug dealers released from jail, and they certainly don't want 16- and 17-year-olds accused of violent crimes to be charged as adults. Now, in a new campaign, liberals are calling for 18- and 19-year-olds and even people in their 20s to be charged as children, on the theory that their brains are not fully developed.

After attending a lecture at Harvard on brain development, George Gascon, the San Francisco district attorney, decided to tackle these questions head on. In 2015, he and Wendy Still, then the citys probation chief, established Young Adult Court, a hybrid of the adult and juvenile justice systems tailored to the biology and circumstances of offenders 18 to 24. Mr. Gascon and his colleagues argue that neurological immaturity may contribute to criminal behavior. Adult sentences constitute cruel and unusual punishment, they say, and undermine the possibility of rehabilitation. [According to studies] ... psychosocial maturity  measured by impulsivity, risk perception, thrill-seeking, resistance to peer influence  did not begin until age 18, gathering momentum through the early 20s.

You can read a lot more about this in the Times article, but the claim is that young people ages 18-24 are not mature enough to understand what they are doing when they commit crimes, therefore they should not be sent to prison.

By the same token, then, shouldn't the voting age be changed to reflect this new and important scientific research? If the research is good enough to guide criminal law policy, shouldn't it be applied across all areas? That is, if the brain is not mature enough to be responsible for crimes in the early 20s, how then can someone of the same age be responsible enough to vote?

The voting age used to be 21 until the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was passed lowering it to 18. If liberals feel so strongly about this, they should support raising the age again to 21 or 24 or even 25.

I know I support it.

When people in their late teens and early 20s vote, they are often in the process of being indoctrinated by left-wing education either in high school or in college (or both). They haven't gotten the chance to get out into the real world yet. They haven't had to support themselves. They haven't felt the first sting of taxes or of having money withheld from a paycheck. Until they have, they live in an artificial environment where all their needs are taken care of and simplistic slogans such as "equality for all" fill their minds without any consideration as to what that really means or what the consequences would be.

Of course, the whole liberal argument about brains is nonsense. Young people may be more rash and impulsive than older people, but somehow most young people manage to make it to their 30s without bashing someone's head in or robbing a bank. Young people are capable of making such basic decisions of right and wrong without having a "30-year-old brain." But liberals want to claim that young people are not capable of making such decisions, while still being fully capable of deciding which candidates are best for the economy, social matters, and national defense. "Science" is simply, like our Constitution, a malleable tool to be used as a label to support whatever social theory liberals want to support.

Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.
Within minutes, many in the media were comparing Emmanuel Macron of France to the late President Kennedy:

Meanwhile, a vice president of the European Parliament has described Macron as a "French John F Kennedy" and said his first-round victory is good news for Europe. Alexander Lambsdorff, a German liberal politician, said Sunday's result was a victory for two protest candidates. He described Le Pen as "a nationalist, a racist  I know the woman from the European Parliament, a very unpleasant person". Lambsdorff told German television on Monday that he hopes Macron, "this independent, fresh French John F Kennedy, if you like, succeeds in setting policy with his ideas".

Wonder how long before they call Miss Le Pen "Le Nixon"!

It goes beyond France. Back in 1994, a 40-something Mexican presidential candidate was assassinated during a campaign stop in a northern state. Later that evening, I tuned in to a TV station from Mexico, and it didn't take long for the panel to refer to him as "el Kennedy mejicano." I think the panel confused Bobby, shot during a campaign, and John, who was killed as president. Let's overlook that!

Of course, the late John F. Kennedy had very little in common with a left-of-center French politician in 2017. My guess is that the late President Kennedy would have agreed with Miss Le Pen that Mr. Macron is weak on fighting terror.

We will never know for sure, but it is amazing how every 40-something political figure of the left is now the new Kennedy. Of course, Kennedy was not really from the left, but we will leave that one to historians.

Let the French elect another leader who doesn't have the courage to deal with their structural problems: no babies, an unsustainable welfare state, and an immigration policy creating chaos within its boundaries.

If elected, Macron will be highly unpopular in months, and some French leftist will regret that he isn't more like Kennedy!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
In a speech in Chicago on August 24, 2017, Obama said he failed in his "aspirational" goal to unite Americans.

Obama neglected to say the reason he failed is because he did not try to unite, but acted to divide our country. For example, he told Republicans they had to sit in the back of the bus.

Throughout his public career, and especially his presidency, Obama has used inflammatory rhetoric to divide by race, income, and political affiliation.

To be fair to Obama, maybe he is starting an apology tour to apologize to Americans for his disastrous presidency. He started his presidency by apologizing to countries in the Middle East and bowing to dictators.

He can admit and apologize for:

1. Giving Iran $150 billion, plus more millions. Now Iran has money to further fund Islamist terrorism and develop its nuclear program.

2. Giving Iran a sweetheart agreement to develop a nuclear program.

3. Doing nothing about North Korea.

4. Doubling the national debt.

5. Spying on and surveilling the campaign of Donald Trump, then lying about it.

6. Allowing Hillary Clinton to use an unsecured email system that endangered our national security, then lying about it.

7. Allowing Fast and Furious, which resulted in the death of Americans and Mexicans, then lying about it.

8. Using the IRS to harass conservative groups, then lying about it.

9. Withdrawing from Iraq without a status of forces agreement, which led to the rise of ISIS, then lying about it.

10. Passing Obamacare by lying about its benefits.

11. Appointing Hillary and John Kerry as secretaries of state.

This list is only starting point. Readers can add to it.
I saw a tape of Ben Rhodes on Fox News this past weekend saying Iran is complying with the deal and that the U.S. should also.

Rhodes, last May, also gave an interview in which he admitted that the administration pushed a narrative (lied) to the media and others to get the deal done.

Basically, Rhodes knew that there were many puppet reporters (most of them) who would willingly say or write whatever the Obama administration fed them in order to get the Iran deal through.

It takes a truly dimwitted egotist to brag to the media that he manipulated them and he was a top adviser to Obama.

One of the puppets Rhodes easily manipulated was Andrea Mitchell who is a renowned NBC newswoman who spends almost all her present time trashing Trump and defending Obama. During the previous eight years, she essentially genuflected to Obama. NBC pretends that Andrea is a knowledgeable, unbiased news reporter as she lobbies for Democratic policies. This past week, she vouched for how excellent the Iran deal is. How would she know?

Iran continues to pledge death to America and death to Israel. The Iranians are a major sponsor of terrorism around the world, and along with Russia, they are protecting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. Why would anyone trust them?

Iran's economy had been collapsing under economic sanctions, so why did the Obama administration intentionally lift it up by giving it hundreds of billions of dollars? The Obama administration knew that some of the money would be used to sponsor terrorism and released the cash anyway. It seems that supposed legacy-building was more important than destroying terrorism.

Iran is using significant amounts of the newly available money to purchase weapons, including a large amount from Russia, which props up Iran when Russia's own economy is suffering. Russia can use that money to continue its attack on Crimea and Ukraine or to defend Assad. (Why would Putin have wanted Trump elected instead of continuing the policies of Obama?)

After the deal, Obama approved giving Iran 116 metric tons of uranium (obviously for "peaceful" purposes). What makes the deal especially great is that the uranium comes from Russia. Of course, Russia has access to more uranium today because the Obama administration, including Hillary Clinton, allowed Russia to get the American uranium in the first place. (The media and Democrats should explain why Russia would have wanted Trump instead of Hillary, since Putin had much more flexibility under Obama.)

It is too bad that Obama didn't learn from recent history. Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, broke up the Soviet Union, and brought down the Berlin Wall through strength, not capitulation. He did not give them money to build themselves up. He also did not cause a war to win an election or a re-election. He won without shooting a bullet. He scared them into complying.

The media claimed that Reagan was extremely dangerous and would cause a world war. They treated Reagan the same way they treat Trump today. They essentially believe that leading from behind (which isn't leading) is safer than leading through strength. They obviously haven't learned from history, either.

On Ben Rhodes, everyone should remember that he also was significantly involved in the fictional video "narrative" about Benghazi. Instead of telling the truth that the attack was a planned terrorist attack, the Obama administration concocted the video story to protect its political power prior to the election. Administration apparatchiks knew that the media, which was almost universally supporting Obama for president, would care more about electing Obama than what the truth was on why the four Americans died. For them, not all lives matter when there is an agenda to push.

In summary, here are four simple questions. Why would anyone believe that Iran wants to be a peaceful country? Why does anyone believe that Andrea Mitchell is an unbiased journalist? Why would anyone believe the fictional narrative-pusher Ben Rhodes on anything? And why would Putin have wanted Trump instead of continuing the policies of Obama and Hillary that allowed him to do whatever he wanted?

There are many stories about how, in the near future, so many fast food workers and other workers are in danger of losing their jobs to robots. I believe that it is reporters who should have the most to fear. It would take minimal programming to teach a robot to reprint Democrat talking points.
Perhaps it is not too much to say there is no other event in America today more polarizing than the standoff at Bunkerville. Liberty-minded folks who wish to dial back the reach and power of the federal government see Bunkerville as a touchstone. Others, however, see the case of the United States v. Cliven Bundy et al. as a bunch of vigilantes and a law-breaking cowboy out make their own rules and ignore those the rest must follow.

Yesterday, a jury in the first of several trials reached a partial verdict regarding six men who joined Mr. Bundy in his fight against the federal authorities in the 2014 standoff. Each defendant faced ten charges, including obstruction, extortion, weapon violations, threatening and assaulting a federal officer, and conspiracy.

Prosecuted in this case were Eric Parker, Scott Drexler, Todd Engel, and Steven Stewart, who are all from Idaho, while Richard Lovelein hails from Oklahoma. Greg Burleson, a defendant who was also named during the trial as a longtime government informant, is from Phoenix, Arizona.

Amid a heavy media and law enforcement presence outside the courtroom, the following verdicts were made public, according to reporter Jenny Wilson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Gregory Burleson, former FBI informant, is guilty of eight counts  but not of the conspiracy charge. Todd Engel was found guilty on two charges, obstruction of justice and interstate travel to aid extortion, and the jury is hung on the rest. Federal judge Gloria Navarro has reportedly sent the jury back to deliberate further on the other counts.

At its core, this story is about land rights, ownership, and power. It is a long, complicated, and winding tale that began back in 1989 over a desert tortoise. Designated as an "endangered species," the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) designated "hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land" for conservation, as reported by The Washington Post.

This did not sit well with Cliven Bundy, whose family homesteaded his ranch back in 1877 and called the move a government land grab. As well, others were upset and felt the heavy hand of the federal government on their backs. But it was Mr. Bundy who ultimately became the unmovable object that ignited a militia of freedom fighters out to stop the U.S. government.



Artist Micah McGuire* illustration used by permission

Thus, the existential question "What happens when an unstoppable object collides with an immovable object?" became a reality as an armed citizen resistance met up with armed federal officials in April of 2014, and the standoff at Bunkerville ensued. Observers of the event say it was nothing short of astonishing that no one was killed.

Though the standoff ended without fatalities, the legal battle had just begun. The U.S. government wields an enormous amount of power that is nothing with which to be trifled. Weapons may have been put down, but sides were drawn up, with the first of several controversial court cases coming to an end yesterday.

Freedom fighters who stand with Mr. Bundy are labeled fringe conspiracy theorists the likes of which critics say hearken back to places like Ruby Ridge and Waco. On the other side stand federal officials armed with the law and the sheer force and power of the U.S. government. Some see it as the classic David versus Goliath. Others see this as a case of a vigilante trying to get his way.

The complexity of the case came to a head in a Las Vegas courtroom, where witnesses to the proceedings cried foul, citing prosecutorial and judicial misconduct. One courtroom observer was removed from the proceedings crying, "Treason, treason!" Indeed, there do seem to be legitimate concerns of just how the trial was conducted and if lawyers for the accused were truly able to mount a reasonable defense on behalf of the six men involved in this first Bundy trial.

Author Kit Perez recently captured the spirit of the debate when she wrote:

The real story here isn't about grazing fees, taxes, ranches, or anything else. At this point, the story is that a vengeful federal government  forced to back down from their illegal, unconstitutional and immoral activities  decided to seek vengeance in a courtroom against the people who had the guts to stand and say no. If that's not a government out of control, what is?

Increasingly, many across this country view the authority, jurisdiction, and sovereignty of the government as oppressive. They do not plan to suffer it or surrender what they believe to be their God-given rights. Their defiance will continue to develop into confrontation. Their struggle and resistance will persist unabated. Today's verdict will do nothing to stop it and may indeed do much to propel it forward.

If this does amount to a metaphorical David and Goliath story, it seems Goliath has won the first battle. But the question remains: who will win the next campaign in a war that is not likely to end anytime soon?

Leesa K. Donner is editorial director of LibertyNation.com.

*McGuire is an upcoming defendant in the Bundy Trial
In an opening salvo against American trading partners who dump their products in the U.S. at unfairly subsidized prices, the Trump administration is considering slapping a 20% tariff on Canadian softwood.

Softwood like pine is a critical wood used in the construction of single-family homes. The administration alleges that Canadian provinces are cheating by allowing loggers to cut down trees at reduced rates and sell them at low prices.

Fox Business:

A spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is in charge of U.S.-Canada relations, wasn't immediately available for comment. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that, when it comes to trade irritants, from lumber to dairy, he would present the facts to Washington and aim to work constructively on making improvements to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Cameron Krauss, senior vice president of legal affairs at the U.S. Lumber Coalition said, "We appreciate today's actions by the Department of Commerce." The group represents large and small American lumber producers. The trade row between the U.S. and Canada over lumber dates back decades, although the countries struck a deal in 2006 that stopped the U.S. from imposing additional duties. Under that arrangement, which expired in late 2015, Canadian forest producers agreed to accept either a quota on U.S.-bound exports or pay a tax on goods shipped to the U.S. in exchange for no tariffs. The U.S. lumber industry filed a complaint last fall to the Commerce Department, alleging that Canadian lumber is unfairly dumped  or sold at less than market value  into the U.S. market. The complaint also alleges that Canada heavily subsidizes its timber industry by offering Pacific Coast producers access to wood from government-owned land at below-market prices. The prospect of U.S. duties on Canadian lumber imports has roiled prices so far this year. Lumber futures rose more than 25% in the early months of 2017, peaking at their highest point in over 12 years. President Donald Trump's heightened rhetoric over Canada's treatment of U.S. lumber and dairy producers in recent days marked a sharp pivot on America's northern neighbor and its second-largest two-way trading partner, after China, with nearly $545 billion in goods and services crossing the border in 2016. During the election campaign and in the weeks following, Mr. Trump focused much of his trade ire against Mexico, China and Germany. When Mr. Trudeau visited the White House in February, Mr. Trump spoke of the U.S.'s "outstanding" trade relationship with Canada and how only some tweaking would be required to Nafta when it came to Canada.

While Trump's major trade beef is with China and Mexico, our allies in Canada and Europe may be the most blatant dumpers of all our trading partners. The U.S. has long complained about E.U. agricultural products having an unfair advantage over U.S. producers, costing American farmers billions in exports. This latest broadside against Canada highlights the broad disagreement between the two countries about subsidies.

All nations subsidize their exports to one extent or another. It becomes unfair when the subsidies look to deliberately undercut producers in the U.S. On the campaign trail, President Trump's strong rhetoric gave hope to American producers in several industries that his administration would crack down on the worst offenders. The consideration of a hefty tariff on Canadian softwood is a good start.

Sometimes, just the threat of an increased tariff can moderate the behavior of another country. Given the huge amount of trade we have with Canada, let's hope that's the case here.
Facing bipartisan opposition to including funds to build a wall along the U.S. southern border in the spending bill to keep the government operating past this weekend, President Trump told a group of conservative media representatives that he may drop his insistence for the wall funding if it will help pass the legislation.

Bloomberg:

"On funding the border wall, Trump said he could get it this week or the administration could come back to it in September," Trey Yingst, a White House correspondent for One America News, reported in a tweet. A White House official who asked for anonymity confirmed what Trump said during the private meeting. Democrats, whose votes will be needed to help pass the spending plan, hope he'll blink to avoid an embarrassing milestone for a new president trying to prove he can govern. A partial shutdown would start on Saturday, Trump's 100th day in office. "The President's comments this evening are welcome news given the bipartisan opposition to the wall, and the obstacle it has been to the continuing bipartisan negotiations in the appropriations committees," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. "It's time for Congress to act to make it clear that government will remain open for the American people."

Democrats are united in their opposition to including any funding for a border wall in the bill. They are also opposing a measure that would cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. Republicans will need at least some Democrats to vote for the funding bill in order to avoid a government shutdown, since some House conservatives are balking at the price tag.

"I wouldn't risk a trillion-dollar funding bill for a $3 billion wall," Representative Tom Cole, the Oklahoma Republican who sits on the House appropriations and budget committees, told MSNBC Monday. "There's another way, another time to get this." Through it all, Trump has sounded upbeat, saying he thinks negotiations are in good shape to avert a shutdown. "We don't know yet" whether Trump would sign a spending bill that doesn't include money for the border wall, Mulvaney, a former House member from South Carolina and a founding member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said on "Fox News Sunday." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's spokesman, Matt House, complained that the White House in recent days brought a "heavy hand" into what he said were smooth-going talks between congressional Republicans and Democrats. "If the administration would drop their 11th-hour demand for a wall that Democrats, and a good number of Republicans, oppose, congressional leaders could quickly reach a deal," House said in a statement Friday. Schumer told MSNBC on Monday that Republican and Democratic leaders were on their way to a resolution when Trump intervened "and he throws a monkey wrench in it." One thing is certain: Any spending deal must be a bipartisan one. Even though Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan know they'll both need Democratic votes to pass a government funding measure. The Senate needs 60 votes to advance legislation, meaning the 52 Republicans will need help from at least eight Democrats. In the House, conservatives led by the Freedom Caucus and other fiscal hawks have regularly bolted on spending bills, and Democrats have provided enough votes for passage.

The president's goals are bumping against the reality of Washington politics. That he appears willing to be flexible signals an openness on other issues like health care and taxes.

The question is how far he will go to compromise. The White House has indicated it doesn't want a government shutdown, as has the GOP leadership in the House and Senate. Democrats will exert maximum leverage to get what they want in the spending bill, knowing that a shutdown would be portrayed in the media as a blow to the president's prestige.

It's a fact of life that no matter who is at fault, the media will blame the president if the government shuts its doors this weekend. That, too, is a reality of Washington politics, and almost 100 days into his presidency, Donald Trump appears to accept that reality and move forward.
The Magdeburg Water Bridge is a navigable aqueduct in Germany that connects the Elbe-Havel Canal to the Mittelland Canal, and allows ships to cross over the Elbe River. At 918 meters, it is the longest navigable aqueduct in the world.

The Elbe-Havel and Mittelland canals had previously met near Magdeburg but on opposite sides of the Elbe. Ships moving between the two had to make a 12-kilometer detour, descending from the Mittelland Canal through the Rothensee boat lift into the Elbe, then sailing downstream on the river, before entering the Elbe-Havel Canal through Niegripp lock. Low water levels in the Elbe often prevented fully laden canal barges from making this crossing, requiring time-consuming off-loading of cargo.

Construction of the water link was started as early as in the 1930s but due to the World War 2 and subsequent division of Germany the work remained suspended till 1997. The aqueduct was finally completed and opened to the public in 2003.

[via Wikipedia]
UKIPs sad plan to ban the burqa makes Muslim women societys punks

UKIP wants to ban the burqa. When you ban things, you become a bansturbator. Paul Nuttall, whod look good is a tweed burqa, tells the electorate via the Andrew Marr Show: [Firstly] we have a heightened security risk at the moment and for CCTV to be effective you need to see peoples faces. Secondly, theres the issue of integration. I dont believe you can integrate fully and enjoy the fruits of British society if you cant see peoples faces.

The spread of CCTV is an affront to human dignity an privacy. The Labour Partys architectural legacy is to have cameras on every street corner. Less of that, please. They talk of society and caring for one another and then pebbledash the streets with cameras to observe us all.

As for the British way. Well, wearing what you like is the British way. Telling someone what they cannot wear is not stretching their and our freedom. Making an outfit a criminal offence is the stuff of bigots, prudes and censors. Any punks out there looking to upset the olds and the stiffs with their clothing know what do: get a burqa and glam it up with a few studs, pins and outre symbols.

Ella Whelan notes:

In calling for a burqa ban, UKIP is actually disempowering the potential agents of change; namely, women. Banning women from making personal decisions about dress is never going to wash as a step towards gender equality because it assumes women are incapable of changing things for themselves.

UKIPs idea is that woman ought to be saved even against their will. UKIP will decide what is acceptable attire. And this from Nuttall, a man who in his bid to look like a member of the Establishment dresses in itchy tweeds, as Hugo Rifkind quipps, like a skinhead Rupert Bear.

As for freedom, well, Christopher Hitchens likened the burqa to a KKK hood. Although Ive not seen many burqa-clad women lynching people. He wrote:

Let me ask a simple question to the pseudoliberals who take a soft line on the veil and the burqa. What about the Ku Klux Klan? Notorious for its hooded style and its reactionary history, this gang is and always was dedicated to upholding Protestant and Anglo-Saxon purity. I do not deny the right of the KKK to take this faith-based view, which is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I might even go so far as to say that, at a rally protected by police, they could lawfully hide their nasty faces. But I am not going to have a hooded man or woman teach my children, or push their way into the bank ahead of me, or drive my taxi or bus, and there will never be a law that says I have to.

Shikha Dalmia responded:

Burqas are certainly a tool of female oppression in Islamic theocracies where sharia law sanctions violence against women who violate its strictures. But that is not true in liberal democracies where the reason government exists is to protect personal choices from physical violence. When women wear burqas despite such protection, it has to be assumed that they are doing so of their own free will. This doesnt mean that all Muslim women affirmatively embrace burqasalthough no doubt some do. But it does mean that their emotional ties with their communities and families are, on balance, stronger than their distaste for the burqa and hence theyd rather wear it than face rejection.  Despite years of sectarian bloodletting, if Indians still intuitively understand this and take a benign view of the burqa, it is hardly because they are inherently more rational. It is because their secularism has been shaped by Indias dominant religionHinduismwhose non-monotheistic ethos allows the space for multiple faiths. In this sense, Hinduism is perhaps more profoundly in sync with liberal tolerance than monotheistic faiths. More crucially, however, there is nothing in Hinduism that makes an individuals spiritual salvation anyones business except the individual herself. By contrast, Hitchens, et al, who have been raised in the cradle of a Christian civilization, have imbibed a certain comfort level with the crusading notion that people canand ought tobe saved even against their will. Hence, it does not matter if Muslim women dont regard the burqa as oppressive. They have to be given sartorial liberation in the same way that the heathens need to be given spiritual liberation.

Its not them. Its us. Confront your prejudices and carry on.

The last word is from Graeme Wood:

The students were fifteen females in full niqab. When I entered the classroom and saw fifteen students who looked identical in every way, I burst out laughing, and never totally regained composure. The utter neutrality of their aspect was disarming to say the least. After a few minutes, I started asking them questions in English about their lives and why they wanted to learn English. I am a pharmacist! chirped one of the bolder students, so I turned to look through her eyeslit and ask whether she thought Yemeni honey had medicinal properties. Instantly fourteen black-gloved hands shot out to point at one of the other women in the room: I was talking to the wrong student, six desks away. This drill happened about twenty more times in the next hour, and even though my sonar triangulation improved a little, even by the end I could narrow down blurted answers at best to a clump of five or so students. I ended up accidentally excusing women with no cars to check on their parking, and letting women with empty bladders go to the lavatory. In every case the errors lasted only seconds, but the experience was still totally bewildering. So the garments did seem to have some serious pedagogical drawbacks. On the other hand, every wearer of burqa and niqab I have asked has viewed the garment as a blessing: a liberation not so much from the stares of men as from the stares of anyone at all. It freed them from caring about their appearance. They didnt have to do their hair. (Of course, since fashion abhors a vacuum, and when womens clothes are made forcibly subdued, they find ways to mark style by decorating the fringes of their abayas, say, or by paying heavy attention to eye make-up.) They could count money in public. They didnt get covered with filth, as I did, standing around waiting for the bus, and they could check me out and stare at me without risking the awkwardness of my staring back. No doubt there are women whose burqas are compulsory, but I have not met them.

If UKIP has their way we wont meet them at all.

Anorak

Posted: 25th, April 2017 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
The king of northern lights

The professor whose face is emblazoned on the Norwegian 200-kroner banknote was forgotten for nearly 60 years. Today he is considered one of Norways greatest researchers ever.

NOMINATED: Professor Kristian Birkeland was nominated eight times for the Nobel Prize. Illustration: Hanne Utigard. Photo of Birkeland: Ludvig Forbech-MUV /UiO. Northern lights photo: Yngve Vogt

Norwegian professor Kristian Birkeland (18671917) was the very first scientist in the world to realize that the northern lights had something to do with the electromagnetic storms from the sun. He was also the man behind the fantastic invention that enabled the making of fertilizer by harvesting nitrogen from the air. The discovery was the basis for the foundation of Norsk Hydro and the industrial bonanza at Notodden and Rjukan. Last, but not least: Birkeland was responsible for 60 new patents for everything from margarine and caviar to an elctromagnetic cannon. But most important from our perspective today is perhaps that he laid the foundation for much of the modern research conducted in the field of space and solar physics.

Despite Birkelands trailblazing inventions, he was nevertheless almost relegated to oblivion. Unfortunately, he was unable to prove his spectacular theories pertaining to the northern lights. International scientists of stature protested vociferously against Birkelands theories. Forty years after his death, he was scarcely mentioned in the textbooks used at the University of Oslo (lUiO). It was only later, when it became possible to perform measurements from satellites in space, that his northern light- and disturbances in Earth magnetic field  theories, were confirmed.

For the past twenty years, his face has adorned the Norwegian 200-kroner banknote, although few people have paid much attention to the figure on the widely used banknote.

The UiO is now planning to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the professor and inventor with a number of events in both Norway and Japan.

Although Birkeland is beginning to be recognized and has become the subject of much writing, there are still many anecdotes from his life as a researcher that the general public has not yet heard.

A scientific goldmine

One person who knows very much about Birkeland is Professor Emeritus Alv Egeland (85) of the Depatment of Physics. Egeland was involved 50 years ago in arranging the centennial observance in honour of Birkeland, in 1967. He has also authored several books on Birkeland.

The Scottish and German physicists James Maxwell (18311879) and Heinrich Hertz (18571879).were two sources of inspiration for Birkeland. Both were leading authorities in the field of electromagnetism. Maxwell was the theoretician. He described how electromagnetic waves move and spread. Hertz was the experimenter. He managed to test Maxwells theories in practice.

 Electromagnetism became a new-found goldmine for young Birkeland. Already as a schoolboy he had bought his own magnet  with his own money. He used the magnet for many surprising experiments and practical jokes during school lessons. Not all of Birkelands teachers were impressed with his experiments. Later in life, Alv Egeland relates, Birkelands studies of electromagnetism and the Earths magnetic field would become the most important contributions of his research.

As soon as Birkeland had graduated from university, he began experimenting with electrical oscillations along a metal wire.

In 1895 he began pioneer studies of cathode rays, a stream of electrons in a vacuum tube that occurs through high voltage passing between negative and positive charged electrodes.

 Birkeland concluded that the cathode rays consist of electrically charged particles and can be controlled by a magnetic field. .

Created artificial northern lights

ARTIFICIAL NORTHERN LIGHTS: Professor Kristian Birkeland was the innovator behind the famous terrella experiments during his career. Using the models, he showed how electromagnetism is able to create the northern lights. Photo: MUV/UiO

During the next year, Birkeland became interested in the connection between sunspots and the northern lights. He used cathode rays to create artificial northern lights in a laboratory, and he concluded that the aurora borealis is caused by electrically charged particles from the sun that are guided into the polar atmosphere by the geomagnetic field around the Earth. He was also of the opinion that the atmosphere consisted of vast numbers of electric particles.

 Birkelands northern lights theory was based on electromagnetic forces in space, from the sun. How he came upon the idea is still a mystery. Birkelands hypotheses were not confirmed until the space age, some sixty years later. Even today, more than fifty years after the dawn of the space age, his visionary far-sightedness is impressive, Egeland says.

It was not until the 1970s, at a time when it was possible to carry out exact measurements via satellites, that Birkelands theories were proved to be correct. Particles from sun storms strike the Earth with violent force. The particles are slowed down by the ionosphere. This friction transfers so much energy to the particles in the atmosphere that they light up.

Before Birkeland arrived on the scene, many researchers thought that the Aurora Borealis was caused by a special northern lights gas, particles containing iron, local electrical currents in the atmosphere or meteor dust.

 Although Birkelands hypothesis was the first realistic theory pertaining to the northern lights, the explanation for the various shapes, colours, movements and altitudes of the northern lights had to be left to space-age researchers.

Birkeland experienced very little support during his lifetime, particularly from the foremost researchers in England. They were not convinced that the sun was the source of the northern lights. We will come back to this tremendous criticism below. This is a tale describing how renowned researchers kick the legs out from under innovative ideas that depart from generally accepted, mainstream notions. But first, let us enjoy some entertaining details based on his experiments.

Recreated the universe

Birkeland made reproductions of the solar system and the Earth in a vacuum chamber. These were called the Terrella experiments. The term terrella is Latin and means a small model of Earth.

 The experiments were time consuming. It took several days to create a vacuum in the chamber. He placed an electromagnet inside the terrella. With this, he was able to produce artificial northern lights. But there are some misconceptions in the anecdote about Birkeland. The first experiments involving artificial northern lights were conducted inside a discharge tube, Alv Egeland points out.

During the ensuing years, Birkeland made newer and better terellas.

 The experiments were brilliant, not least taking into account that science at the time had not defined electrons as separate particles, Professor Jran Moen in the Physics Department explains.

The mass of the universe in the largest terella model was approximately 1000 litres. Birkeland shot clouds of electrons at Earth with electrical current from a generator. The voltage was 25,000V. That is more than one hundred times the voltage in your household outlet.

 Birkeland gradually become increasingly interested in the sun, the comets, the rings of Saturn, outer space and the origin of the physical world, which he wrote much about in his 850 page major research contribution, Alv Egeland says.

His experiences were far from an inexpensive pastime. They were costly to conduct. This was a time when Norway was a poor country and the university had little money.

 His wages from the university were insufficient. He covered the major part of the costs himself, and he spent his personal earnings from Hydro to finance the laboratory and the wages for the six to eight assistants he employed. Oslo University Rector Sem Sland, presiding from 1928 to 1936, would say that no other employee had ever spent so much of his own salary on research he conducted himself.

Strenuous winter

One of Birkelands greatest wishes was to determine the altitude of the northern lights. There was during an era when the northern lights were thought to descend all the way down to treetop level in Lappland. We know today that the northern lights are created several hundred kilometres above ground level.

To discover this, Birkeland had a research station built on top of the Samis Sacred Mountain Haldde, at almost a thousand metres above sea level overlooking Kafjord in Alta.

The ascent was strenuous. At the time, the trek on foot took about four hours. When they were trying to find the most suitable summit for a new observatory, they came close to perishing in a blizzard.

Brikeland spent the winter on the summit of Haldde with two assistants. There were storms or hurricane gales every other day. Several of their scientific instruments were destroyed and had to be repaired. Smoke flow reversal from the coal stove would fill the dwelling with fumes. They moved from place to place on skis, snowshoes and crampons when conditions were icy. One of the assistants died in an avalanche in March.

Ten years later, Birkeland built a more comfortable and larger observatory at the top of Mount Haldde. During the period 19121919, seventeen persons lived on the mountaintop, seven of them children. Three of the these were born up there. During this period, the research stations were also used for meteorological observations. Although the northern lights never even grazed the summit of the mountain, Birkeland continued his research, tirelessly and with renewed perseverance.

Deafening noise

One of his great sources of pride was an electric cannon he made. It was meant to be fired, but using electricity instead of gunpowder. Ten kilo pieces of iron were propelled out of the cannons mouth at such velocity that they exited with the force of bullets.

COVER GOODIES: When Kristian Birkeland succeeded in creating artificial northern lights in his laboratory, he was featured on the front page of Aftenposten.

Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany hoped that the invention would revolutionize warfare. The French Ministry of War was very interested in Birkelands cannon.

The cannon was publicly tested in 1903 in the venerable banqueting hall, now known as the Old Banquet Hall in the Domus Academica building on Karl Johan gate. The test firing was a failure, but it marked the beginning of the largest industrial adventure in the history of Norway.

There were great expectations. The banquet hall was filled with guests. Two cabinet ministers and representatives of industry were present  along with agents from the international arms industry. Fridtjof Nansen observed the proceedings attentively from the first row.

The projectile to be fired from the cannon weighed ten kilogrammes Birkeland reassured the assembly: You can sit calmly, Ladies and Gentlemen. When I turn the switch on, you will neither see nor hear anything but the sound of the projectile striking the target. He then flipped the switch, Egeland relates in his book titled Natural Scientist and Industrial Researcher Kristian Birkeland.

There was a deafening, crackling and sputtering commotion.

The cannon had short-circuited. Flames spewed out of the mouth of the cannon. Some women shrieked and squealed out of fear, and for a moment there were signs of panic in the hall..

 It was the most dramatic incident in my life. With that single shot, my shares plummeted from 300 to zero, but the projectile struck the target, Birkeland commented afterwards.

When he had tested the cannon earlier the same day, everything had functioned as intended.

 The attention attracted by the event was predictably negative, but Birkeland got considerable enjoyment out of the uproar, says Alv Egeland.

The electric inferno that shot out of the cannon had a temperature of more than a thousand degrees and was later called Birkelands plasma arc.

The high temperature is due to electrically charged particles shooting back and forth at high speed.

 Electrons in motion result in intense electrical currents surrounded by a magnetic field. This resembles a solar wind plasma in the cosmos.

Birkeland soon observed the unanticipated. In the coils magnetic field, the electric arc from the short-circuiting spread out in a fantail shape  and herein lies Birkelands discovery.

 The fiasco was forgotten. From this point on, Birkeland was interested in the electric arc, Alv Egeland writes.

Founder of Norsk Hydro

The cannon experiment led to unanticipated consequences. Some years earlier, the British researcher Sir William Crookes had alerted the scientific community to the scarcity of calcium nitrate in the world, one of the main ingredients in the manufacture of fertilizer. Crookes idea was that a solution to producing fertilizer could be fond in retrieving nitrogen directly from the air. He thought that this would be one of the greatest inventions in the future and could save the world from impending famine.

The failed cannon firing in the venerable Old Banquet Hall became precisely the foundation for modern fertilizer production.

The shape of the light arc confirmed some of the theories that Birkeland had already conceived.

The light arc was able to break the triple bond in the nitrogen molecules. The torch-like flame produced nitrogen oxide, which is the basic compound in saltpetre and a key element in fertilizer.

Scientists and industrialists throughout the world had been on a quest to find a solution. Birkeland pipped them all at the post.

The discovery was a cornerstone in the founding of Norsk Hydro. Artificial production of saltpetre demanded enormous amounts of energy. Norway was richly endowed with waterfalls. Consequently, the price of electricity was low.

 This is a fantastic story. Norsk Hydro would perhaps never have seen the light of day without the accidental explosion in the Old Banquet Hall. Such is the world of research. Ideas suddenly simply occur, says solar researcher Pal Brekke, Senior Advisor at the Norwegian Space Centre.

Although the unsuccessful experiment in the Old Banquet Hall has gone down into the history books as precisely the day the idea occurred to Birkeland, Alv Egeland points out that Birkeland had possibly already thought of the idea prior to the failed demonstration.

Birkeland met industrial entrepreneur Sam Eyde at a dinner hosted by Cabinet Minister Gunnar Knudsen three weeks before the short-circuit accident in Domus Academica.

 Sam Eyde was a formidable driving force. He was already negotiating with the Germans to manufacture fertilizer from the atmosphere.

Sam Eyde and Birkeland took to one another immediately. Birkeland began at once conducting experiments at the university.

At the time, Eyde was one of Norways most famous men. The media pursued him closely.

 He was well aware of how to capitalize on an event.

The explosion in the Old Banquet Hall was alluring bait for the media.

At any rate, when the discovery began bearing fruit,

 Birkelands discovery and collaboration with Eyde marked the start of the industrial bonanza atNotodden and Rjukan. Eyde became royalty at Rjukan and was many times more famous than Birkeland, Alv Egeland underscores.

Sad fate

During the last five years of Birkelands life, he was fascinated by zodiacal light, a peculiar glimmering light at the equator that is only one millionth of the luminosity of the full moon. Birkeland was able to establish that the light was caused by cathode rays from the sun. He had a notion that the light varied in proportion with solar activity and with disturbances in the Earths magnetic field.

RIDICULED: The leading British researchers of the Royal Society viewed Birkelands northern lights theories almost with ridicule. They were of the opinion that he produced a mix of facts and errors. It was not until the space age that it became possible to prove that Birkeland was right all along. Photo: Carl Strmer, MUV /UiO

After a lengthy stay in Africa, he longed to return to Norway, but at this time the First World War was raging. Therefore, he made a detour via Tokyo, where he had close colleagues and friends.

Birkeland was mentally unbalanced and only fifty years old when he ended his life in the Japanese capital city. Following his death, he was almost totally forgotten, until modern space exploration towards the late 1960s made it possible to prove Birkelands theories on the northern lights.

 Birkeland represented the upper crust of the Norwegian scientific community. As an outspoken visionary, he met resistance, particularly among the mainstream British researchers. One disadvantage for Birkeland was that most of his scientific papers were written in French  not in English.

British ridicule

After Birkelands death, his theories bore the brunt of heavy criticism from the English academy of science, the Royal Society. The front-line critic was Professor Sydney Chapman, a brilliant mathematician and physicist, as well as the greatest space researcher of the 20th century.

The British disagreed with Birkelands theory on the northern lights and instead supported the notion that they were caused by a system of local electrical currents in the upper atmosphere.

 When researchers from the Royal Society spoke, there were few who dared to dispute what they said, according to Alv Egeland, who majored in physics himself at the end of the 1950s.

During this era, everyone referred to Chapman and the British school. Chapmans writings were on the syllabus at the University of Oslo. Birkelands auroral theory and the terrellas were scarcely mentioned. His theories were practically ridiculed.

 Chapman was a genius of a researcher and highly respected, but he refused to condone a theory that could not be proven. It was impossible to take test measurements in outer space before the advent of satellites. Birkelands genius consisted in simulation; whereas Chapman and all the others based their theories on less observations and statistical models, Birkeland simulated space in a laboratory. No one before him had done this.

In 1967, a century after Kristian Birkelands birth, the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) arranged the first Birkeland Symposium in Sandefjord.

A total of 170 researchers from the entire world discussed the latest achievements in the field in which Birkeland had been a pioneer.

It was proposed to designate the source of the northern lights as Birkeland currents.

 The keynote guest, Chapman, opened the symposium. We thought he would praise Birkeland, but he did not express himself in very diplomatic terms and he shocked many of the listeners. He was unable to say anything positive about Birkelands research. In his opinion, Birkeland had produced a mix of facts and errors.

The first observations from satellites were already being recorded, but the quality of the data was still insufficient.

It was not until the beginning of the 1970s that the British school accepted the proof that the electrical currents flowed in the manner Birkeland had theorized 60 years earlier.

 What did Chapman have to say then?

 It took a while, but he finally apologized for having been mistaken. His comments about Birkeland became less critical, and more and more researchers began to accept Birkelands explanation. A few years later, Chapman wrote that Birkeland had achieved important advances in explaining the northern lights and magnetic storms, Alv Egeland recounts.

A period of sixty years had passed from the time Birkeland advanced his northern lights theory until the theory was proven.

 It was not until then that researchers acknowledged the fact that Birkeland had been right all along, says Pal Brekke.

Nominated to receive the Nobel Prize

Kristian Birkeland was nominated for the Nobel Prize eight times, four times in chemistry and the other four times in physics. However, he was never awarded the prize. It was unfortunate for Birkeland that Sam Eyde insisted that Birkeland would have to share the Nobel Prize with him. This precluded any chance of getting the prize.

 Sam Eyde was not a scientist, but despite this, he was much more obsessed with getting the prize than Birkeland was. Eyde also felt that if he could not have the prize, it was best if Birkeland did not receive it either.

However, in 1994, Birkeland was deservedly honoured. His portrait was chosen for the front side of the Norwegian 200-kroner banknote.

Birkelands heritage

Professor Jran Moen, who currently holds Birkelands professorship , is one of Norways foremost researchers of the northern lights and the upper regions of the Earths atmosphere.

 Space research has demonstrated that Birkeland was incredibly visionary. His hypotheses about the sun and the universe were the object of much attention after satellites began to reveal many of the secrets of space, Jran Moen points out.

 I became fascinated by the solar-terrestial coupling, and by Birkelands personal history. He is the one who inspired Norwegian interest in solar research, Pal Brekke says.

Today, studies of the atmosphere are conducted at universities in Oslo and Troms, at the Birkeland Centre in Bergen and the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS). Andya Space Center on the outermost ocean shoreline in Vesteralen, is also an important contributor. Research rockets are launched and are used to measure how the sun affects the atmosphere on Earth.

 All this can be related back to Birkeland, Pal Brekke notes, adding that Norway  thanks to the countrys early efforts in the field of solar research  were contributors to NASAs SOHO satellite, which is still circling the sun after 22 years, the Japanese satellite Hinode and the American IRIS satellite. The Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at UiO is the keeper of the data from these satellites after the information has been retrieved from space via the enormous antennas at Svalsat in Svalbard.

The fact that Norway should become the leading nation in solar physics was not a predictable development, but Norway benefited from Birkelands heritage. We own the whole pot of honey, Pal Brekke muses.

Humankind uses increasingly more technology that is vulnerable to solar storms. When the northern lights are violently active, it has an impact on our navigation systems.

Our big dream is to design weather stations in space that can forecast times when navigation can be trusted.

 Birkeland has been very important in this connection. He established the very first space research in Norway. Because Norway has a particularly good location that enables us to cover the entire daily cycle of the northern lights, with the night aurora in Troms and the daytime aurora in Svalbard, we have had excellent conditions for continuing his work, Jran Moen states. He adds that Birkeland and his co-workers were the first scientists who saw the need to combine theory, experimentation and calculations. In our modern era, these things are now taken for granted in all natural science disciplines.

A still unresolved problem

Although it is now a century since Kristian Birkelands death, all the physical mechanisms in the atmosphere are still not yet fully understood.

One of the biggest challenges is how to explain the turbulence in plasma. Plasma is gas with charged atoms. The entire ionosphere, which is the outermost layer of the exosphere, consists of plasma. Plasma is affected by electromagnetic fields. When solar storms rain down on the Earth, they cause turbulence in the plasma. This in turn changes the direction of radio and GPS signals. To be able to predict how weather in space will be, one has to understand how the turbulence behaves.

EXPERT: Professor Emeritus Alv Egeland (85) is one of Norways foremost experts on Birkeland. He has written a number of books about Birkeland and was a member of the committee that arranged the centennial anniversary observances fifty years ago in honour of Birkeland. Egeland was also the initiator of the Birkeland lectures that have been organized annually since 1987 in the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Photo: Ola Sther

Solar storms contain large amounts of energy.

 Turbulence is one way by which to break down the energy. Energy never disappears, but changes form continually, such as into waves, instability or heat. Unfortunately this is a basic issue in classic physics, and we do not fully understand it, Jran Moen admits.

Turbulence is impossible to study from here on Earth. The satellites, in addition, are in orbit too high in space. The solution, therefore, is to measure turbulence using rockets. During recent years, Moen has launched a number of rockets.

A single rocket returns measurements along only one trajectory.

 We need three-dimensional measurements.

To solve this, Jran Moen  in cooperation with NASA  will now launch four parallel rockets at the same time. They will be launched at the turn of 2018-2019.

What would Birkeland do if he had been alive today?

 I have given that a lot of thought. Most likely, he would have continued to research electromagnetism, because it is a field that still has many puzzles left to solve.

 To understand the extosphere (Earths atmosphere), we need to understand more about its connection with the solar atmosphere. Our understanding of the sun is still lacking, and we still cannot forecast the weather in space. Once we have understood all this, we will also be able to understand the atmosphere on other planets, Jran Moen concludes.

P.S.

Although Birkeland was known mostly for the northern lights and fertilizer, he was also the source of a number of other discoveries.

* He took out patents on caviar, margarine and whale oil.

* He executed the first radio communication in 1906, many years before the radio was officially invented..

* He proposed the idea of nuclear energy and claimed that there was more energy in an atom of iron than in a thousand tonnes of coal. He asked for financial support from Swedish bank director Marcus Wallenberg, but Wallenberg declined, calling Birkelands idea Titanic.

* He understood that x-rays could be used for a worthwhile purpose.

* He was also the first to explain that the shape of a comets tail may have something to do with solar wind, and this intuition came 60 years before solar wind was proved to exist. He also sought after an explanation for Saturns rings.
The acquisition gives the Dubai lessor a significant boost almost trebling its aircraft fleet. The deal is believed to be financed by DAEs own resources and committed debt financing, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year once the necessary regulatory approvals are received..

The combined company will have an owned, managed and committed fleet of 394 aircraft with a total value of more than US$14 billion. It will serve over 110 airline customers in over 55 countries from offices in Dubai, Ireland, Singapore and the United States.

"This acquisition is strategically compelling and propels DAE into a top 10 aircraft leasing platform," said Khalifa Al Daboos, DAEs managing director.

AWAS has a fleet of 263 aircraft on its books including 23 new aircraft due to be delivered before the end of next year.




The MoUs were signed on the sideline of the regions largest travel trade event, Arabian Travel Market (ATM), by Orhan Abbas, Emirates Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for Africa, Kevin Ramkaloan, director of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, and Sherin Francis, Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board in presence of Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine in Seychelles.

"Our relationship with Mauritius and Seychelles is very important to us. Our success on the routes to these island destinations is the result of relentless efforts by all parties. Our joint activities have been fruitful and this can be demonstrated by the fact that we operate a double-daily service to both destinations; the Mauritius route being served by an Emirates A380, said Mr Abbas.

We are thankful for the support we receive from the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority and the Seychelles Tourism Board. We look forward to achieving even more together and strengthen our support to the destinations, he added.

Various joint activities will be developed under the agreement, such as attendance of tourism trade shows and fairs, trade familiarisation trips, product presentations and workshops.

We are delighted to renew our partnership with Emirates to create greater awareness of our beautiful destination through joint media and trade activities. The facilities extended by Emirates to the Mauritian trade through discounted tickets to MTPA-supported trade fairs and roadshows will certainly benefit the local industry. said Kevin Ramkaloan.

It is always a pleasure to be able to renew this relationship with one of our airline partners. Connectivity is key to the development of our destination and we are very grateful for all the marketing support given by Emirates throughout the year. I am looking forward to another fruitful year of collaboration, said Sherin Francis.
The $2.2 billion recapitalisation tied to the savings plan is effectively dead and Alitalia will start appropriate legal procedures as funds run out.

The Italian government has said it wont nationalise Alitalia and Etihad  which has been a major backer of Alitalia  has said it supports the management in starting procedures.

James Hogan, president and CEO of the Etihad Aviation Group, and vice chairman of Alitalia, said: We deeply regret the Alitalia staff vote outcome, which means that all parties will lose: Alitalias employees, its customers and its shareholders, and ultimately also Italy, for which Alitalia is an ambassador all over the world.

Alitalias shareholders, including Etihad Airways, have provided vast amounts of financial and commercial support during the past three years. Jointly with the Italian shareholders, Etihad had reaffirmed its strong commitment and principal willingness to support the airline with a package worth nearly 2 billion in aggregate to help fund Alitalias new five-year business plan. A key condition to this commitment was that an agreed and concerted effort would be made by all interested parties, including the unions.

The preliminary agreement with unions that was made possible and supported by the union leaders, Alitalia management, the Italian Prime Minister and three government ministers would have helped secure Alitalias future. The rejection of this agreement in the staff ballot is deeply disappointing.

As a minority shareholder in Alitalia we support the Boards decision today to convene a shareholders meeting on April 27, to start preparing the procedures provided by the law.




With the addition of the new flights, Pegasus will now fly to seven Russian destinations including its current Russian routes to Moscow, Krasnodar and Mineralnye Vody. Its Middle Eastern network will now extend to 5 destinations with the addition of Abu Dhabi to its current Gulf destinations of Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha and Dubai. The total Pegasus network now extends to 103 destinations in 40 countries



Pegasus new thrice-weekly routes from London Stansted via Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen include the launch of Grozny on the 12th April, as well as the new flights to Samara and Volgograd launching on the 19th June and flights to Nizhny Novgorod and Abu Dhabi launching on the 20th June.



Grozny flights via Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, which launched on the 12th April, will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays; Samara flights, launching on the 19th June, will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Also launching on the 19th June are flights to Volgograd, operating on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays. Nizhny Novgorod flights are launching on 20th June and will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Prices to the new Russian destinations start from just 130 one-way including taxes and charges.
Under the MoU, TAT and Qatar Airways will develop joint promotions to mutually increase tourism and visibility for Thailand to travellers in more than 150 destinations the airline flies to.

Thailand, one of Qatar Airways earliest destinations in the Far East, has grown from strength to strength in the last two decades. Effective 1 June, Qatar Airways will have five daily flights from Doha to Bangkok. The increased frequency, along with its double-daily Phuket flights and the five-month-old Krabi operations (4 flights a week), take the number of weekly Qatar Airways departures from Thailand to Doha to 53. Besides the existing three popular Thai destinations, Qatar Airways has also set its sights on Chiang Mai, the largest city in Northern Thailand.

Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker said: Our increased frequency to Bangkok and the enhanced collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand is testament to our commitment to the Thai market. Bangkok has long been a hugely popular destination for both business and leisure travellers. The partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand will enable us to jointly work together to attract more travellers from secondary cities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to experience the warm and gracious hospitality Thailand is renowned for, and power the growth of this iconic Far East route for Qatar Airways.
The new service will be the first regular direct long-haul flight linking Wales and South West England to a major global hub in the Gulf region. It will allow business and leisure travellers to fly directly from their local airport via Doha to a choice of over 150 destinations across the globe in Asia, Australasia, Africa and the Middle East.



The new service from Cardiff will be the latest addition to a growing network of destinations that Qatar Airways serves across the UK and Ireland. The airline currently flies from London Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh, and will commence services from Dublin on 12th June 2017.



Deb Barber, CEO at Cardiff Airport said: I am immensely proud that Qatar Airways has chosen Cardiff Airport to operate its new service to Doha. It is fantastic that we will now be able to offer our customers more choice of travel with a world-class airline providing easy connections to destinations across the world.



More than 1 million passengers per year from our region are travelling to destinations that are on the Qatar Airways network. Over 90% of these passengers are currently travelling via London and this new service will give them the opportunity to fly more conveniently from Cardiff, their local airport.



It has been a long journey to get to this stage, with discussions spanning a number of years. Over the coming months we will work with the team at Qatar Airways to confirm the details of the service and look forward to the flights being on sale in the near future.
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe degraded Turkeys status to under monitoring.

113 delegated of various countries of PACE voted in favor of the decision, 45 voted against and 12 abstained.

The monitoring status for Turkey was removed in 2004.

The PACE decision mentions for continuing cooperation with Turkey it is necessary that the country fulfils the proposals.

PACE rapporteurs Marianne Mikko and Ingebjrg Godskesen strictly criticized Turkeys decisions in the state of emergency conditions, which has been extended for three times already after the attempted coup. They mentioned it damages the democratic institutions of Turkey.

Samvel Farmanyan, Armenias delegate to PACE, commented on the voting result, saying: PACE, with an absolute majority of votes, decided to return Turkey to its previous status of under monitoring, regarding the worsening situation of democracy and human rights in the country. This is a very serious political decision. Turkey, prior to the voting, declared it would consider the appropriateness of suspending its membership to the EC in this case. Another round of sharp Turkey-Europe conflict is ensured.
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. Kotayk law enforcement agencies are investigating the death of a 31 year old man in Abovyan city, the investigative committee told ARMENPRESS.

Police received a call on April 24, at 17:20, that a body has been found dead in Abovyans old cemetery.

Officers were dispatched to the scene. The body was discovered in the Elari cemetery of the city, in the vicitniy of St. Stepanos Church, hanged from a tree with a metal wire. No traces of violence have been found upon initial search.

The body has been identified as a 32 year old man from Yerevan. The man was declared missing by law enforcement agencies.
Carrying a banner reading Satan, leave our city, about a dozen right-wing supporters Monday chanted extremist slogans and sang nationalist songs inside the theater in the coastal town of Split before police pushed them out. The local Catholic archdoicese had called for the play, Oliver Frljics Our Violence and Your Violence, to be banned due to some extreme imagery.
Department of Telecom has sought Trai's views on spectrum price for various frequencies.

The DoT has also sought Trai's views on 5G services.

New Delhi: Telecom regulator Trai expects to start the consultation process for the next round of spectrum auction in about a fortnight.

"We expect to issue it (consultation paper on spectrum price) in about 15 days," Trai Chairman R S Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of FTTH APAC Conference here.

He was responding to a query on when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will start the consultation process for the next round of spectrum auction.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has sought Trai's views on spectrum price for various frequencies, including premium airwaves in the 700 MHz band which remained unsold in the last auctions in October 2016.

The DoT has also sought Trai's views on 5G services. Sharma said the consultation process generally takes six months' time.

"Generally, it takes six months' time to complete the whole process. You can expect recommendation around the same time," Sharma said.
Shell be seen playing the character of Vidyas boss Maria, in the film.

Mumbai: Vidya Balan is essaying the role of a night radio jockey in her upcoming flick Tumhari Sulu.

The actress has already started shooting for the film since last week in the city.

Along with Vidya Balan and Manav Kaul, the gorgeous diva Neha Dhupia also joins the cast of 'Tumhari Sulu'.

Neha will play an assured head of a popular radio station, where she'll be seen bossing around Vidya.

Co-producer of the film, Atul Kasbekar posted a tweet stating his excitement about Nehas addition to the cast. He said, Say hello to the dazzling @NehaDhupia who plays @vidya_balan's boss Maria in our next film #TumhariSulu. Delighted to have her on board.





The former beauty queen had confirmed the news with a tabloid saying, Maria is a lot like me - independent, funny and strong. The look is chic and classy, and while she's not overbearing, she can be a bit overpowering. Suresh (director Suresh Triveni) comes from the ad world and he's clear about what he wants. I've always admired Vidya's work, we've met a couple of times socially, but never shared screen space before. I've done a couple of reading with Manav Kaul and her recently. There were times when we've burst out laughing in the middle of a serious scene and Suresh has sportingly wanted to incorporate a joke to make it fun.

On bagging this role, Neha continues, I was told it was because of the person I am. It's surreal to be playing a character that I've lived with for six months.

The director of the film, Suresh Triveni, also spoke about the actress saying, Maria is a beautiful, aggressive and successful entrepreneur. It's an interesting and important role which will bring Neha's unpredictability alive.

Neha will commence her shoot for this film from June.

Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Tanuj Garg, Atul Kasbekar and Shanti Sivaram, the film releases worldwide on Dec 01, 2017.
Saba wont be touring India for the films promotions, given the state of affairs between the two countries.

Pakistani actress Saba Qamar received much flak a while ago, after a video emerged of her mocking Bollywood actors like Salman Khan, Emraan Hashmi, Hrithik Roshan and Riteish Deshmukh. With her Bollywood debut opposite Irrfan Khan in Hindi Medium around the corner, the actress issued a clarification saying it was all in jest.

However, she wont be touring India for the films promotions, given the state of affairs between the two countries.

Saba wasnt always part of the plan though. Says director Saket Chaudhary, Once we cast Irrfan, we were looking for the female lead. It wasnt like that we jumped to Saba as a default option. We had considered other actresses here but there were issues. When I approached actresses for Shaadi Ke Side Effects, it was a struggle for us to find an actor who is willing to play a mother on screen. So I knew it that there was an issue already here. We tried to think of whom we could cast and thats when I saw Saba in a couple of Pakistani television shows. I knew she would fit the bill of a next-door Punjabi girl and decided to take her on board. The equation between the countries was much better back then.
Pragya Singh Thakur has been ordered to furnish a bail amount of Rs 5 lakhs and 2 sureties, and submit her passport to the NIA.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to 2008 Malegaon blasts accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.

Pragya Singh Thakur has been ordered to furnish a bail amount of Rs 5 lakhs and 2 sureties. She will also appear in the trial court whenever summoned and submit her passport to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), ANI said.

But the Bombay HC denied bail to Lt Col Prasad Purohit, a co-accused in the case.

Thakur was in jail for the last 9 years, though she was moved to a hospital due to a serious illness.

NIA had on January 19 told the Bombay High Court that it has no objection if the HC grants bail to Thakur.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for NIA, said the agency has already held that the provisions of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) are not applicable in the case.

A division bench of Justices R V More and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi was hearing an appeal filed by Sadhvi challenging a sessions court order rejecting her bail.

"The earlier probe agency, Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), had applied MCOCA on the ground that the accused persons were involved in other blasts also and hence were part of an organised crime syndicate. However, the NIA probe has revealed that the accused persons were only involved in Malegaon blast and hence MCOCA is not applicable," Singh said.

"Even before NIA took over the probe, several prime witnesses have retracted their statements and complained that they were forced by ATS to say false things in their statements. Considering all this, we (NIA) have no objection to the court granting bail to applicant (Sadhvi)," he said.

7 people were killed and over 100 injured when two bombs fitted on a motorcycle exploded in Malegaon on September 29, 2008.
CM Raman Singh cut short a visit to Delhi and rushed back to Raipur.

Injured CRPF being brought to Raipur for treatment on Monday follwing a Maoist attack at Burkapal near Chintagufa in Bastar. (Photo: AP)

Bhopal/New Delhi: Around 300 Maoist guerrillas, armed with sophisticated weapons, on Monday mounted a deadly attack on a CRPF patrol party guarding road workers in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district, leaving 25 jawans dead and eight others wounded.

This is the biggest strike on security forces by Maoists since April 6, 2010 when 76 CRPF personnel were massacred in Bastar  one of the worst-hit regions by Left-wing extremism in the country.

At least seven CRPF personnel, including a commander-ranked officer, were missing in Mondays attack that took place at Burkapal village in Dornapal block of the district at around 12.55 pm.

Bastar DIG P. Sunder Raj said, We are still awaiting detail reports (of the encounter). A CRPF spokesman at Raipur told this newspaper that the Maoists also looted some weapons of the slain jawans.

The 8 injured jawans  four of them critical  were evacuated from the encounter site by choppers to Raipur for treatment.

Reinforcements, including CoBRA commandos of the CRPF and its other units, have been rushed to the scene from the nearest camp of the paramilitary force, officials said.

The CRPF jawans of the 74th battalion were conducting an area domination operation to provide security to workers engaged in the construction of a seven-km road when the Maoists ambushed them.

Police sources said 99 CRPF jawans had been divided into two groups. The first group leading the area domination operation suffered the maximum casualties. The second group walked into the ambush when it tried to come to the rescue of those trapped.

We had left our camp at Burkapal in the morning. We noticed some villagers were tracking us all through the route. Later, around 300-350 Maoists, including women cadres, attacked us from all sides. We soon regrouped and returned the fire, injured CRPF constable S.K. Mohmmad said.

The guerrillas were armed with sophisticated weapons such as AK 47, SLR and Insas assault rifles, he said.

Police sources said that the Naxals even used under-barrel grenade launchers, looted from security forces earlier, in the attack.

Chief minister Raman Singh who was in Delhi to attend a Niti Aayog meeting cut short his visit and rushed back to the state.

I am extremely distressed. Naxals targeted security forces to stop road construction in Bastar, particularly in Sukma, Mr Singh told reporters at Raipur.

He convened an emergency meeting of senior home department and police officers later in the evening to review the situation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the attack cowardly and deplorable. We are monitoring the situation closely. We are proud of the valour of our CRPF personnel. The sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain, he tweeted.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he was saddened by the attack and was sending his deputy Hansraj Ahir to Chhattisgarh to take stock of the situation. Extremely pained to know about the killing of CRPF personnel in Sukma. My tributes to the martyrs and condolences to their families, he said.

Mr Singh said the government has taken the attack as a challenge. President Pranab Mukherjee also condemned the attack.
The AIMPLB has also decided to use social media to interact with community members and dispel doubts about Sharia.

The Board has already constituted a team of lawyers that is studying the various aspects of triple talaq. (Photo: PTI)

Lucknow: The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) warned the government against meddling with the Sharia law, saying that it would move the Supreme Court if there was any interference.

Talking to reporters in Kanpur, AIMPLB president Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadvi said that Muslims would not tolerate the interference of the government in their personal religious laws.

The Board has already constituted a team of lawyers that is studying the various aspects of triple talaq. In Islam, marriage is a contract between the girl and the boy and if differences develop between the two, separation through talaq talaq is an option. The Holy Quran allows marriage after talaq and there are no curbs on this, he explained.

The Maulana said that the AIMPLB had already issued a code of conduct on the triple talaq issue and had even called for a social boycott of those who violate the code of conduct. He also said that divorced Muslim women did not need government assistance because their families and community would take care of them. If the women lead life according to Sharia, they would not face any problem, he said.

The AIMPLB has also decided to use social media to interact with community members and dispel doubts about Sharia.

We will be setting up a cell to interact with people on the social media because the issue of triple talaq is now being used for political gains. Our group will deal with issues related to divorce, marriage, heirship rules, womens rights and halala and provide proper information to those who are being misled by others.

Talking to this correspondent, Maulana Yaseen Usmani,. a senior executive member of the board, said that Sharia was under attack on the social media and they will now use the same medium to explain and clarify issues.

The proposed committee is likely to have those who are individually active on social media and are also well versed with personal religious laws.

Some members also feel that the AIMPLB should have its own TV channel ad newspaper but there is a lack of resources at the moment for these ideas, he said.
The Centre, in its response, said it was widely accepted that the cattle that was smuggled was a byproduct of the dairy industry.

It said each animal would be tagged with a UIN, with proper records of identification details. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Monday that in order to tackle the illegal smuggling of cows and other cattle, it had accepted the recommendation of an expert group to provide a tamper-proof unique identification number (UIN) for each one, using polyurethane tags.

The Centre gave this response before a bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that was hearing a PIL filed by Akhil Bharat Krishi Goseva Sangh seeking appropriate steps to protect cows and to prevent smuggling of cattle into Bangladesh so that the cattle population was not depleted.

The petitioner sought a direction to the Railways to take steps to ensure there was no illegal transportation of cattle across states and to direct the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Odisha, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal to check illegal transportation of cattle and to check loopholes by which cattle was transported to West Bengal and then to Bangladesh.

The Centre, in its response, said it was widely accepted that the cattle that was smuggled was a byproduct of the dairy industry. Barren cows or bulls or low-yielding animals were sold to organised smugglers or abandoned on roads, from where they are captured and smuggled to the international borders.

It said each animal would be tagged with a UIN, with proper records of identification details (age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body colour, horn type, tail switch, etc). A state-level database may be uploaded on a website that would be linked with a national online database. State governments bordering Bangladesh may ban livestock markets within 20 km from the international border. Enforcement agencies working in areas near the India-Bangladesh border must lay emphasis on intelligence and information on smuggling of animals so effective steps could be taken to prevent cattle smuggling, the Centre added.

The petitioner claimed there was rampant smuggling of live cattle across the border to Bangladesh, which had led to depletion of this countrys cattle wealth. The petition said the export of live cattle and buffaloes was prohibited under Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act 1952 but due to various syndicates operating, the smuggling of cattle was unchecked and rampant on the porous border with Bangladesh.
Centre wants proactive role for J&K police; Unified Command review today.

New Delhi: The Centre wants the Jammu and Kashmir government to play a more proactive role in maintaining law and order across the Kashmir Valley, which has been seeing a spate of violent incidents, including stone-pelting by locals. The Centres concern was conveyed to chief minister Mehbooba Mufti during her separate meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Monday.

As a follow-up of her meetings with the PM and the home minister, Ms Mufti will now discuss the security issues with the Unified Command in Srinagar on Tuesday. This comprises senior officials from the Army, paramilitary forces and the intelligence agencies.

Speaking to the media after her 20-minute meeting with the PM, Ms Mufti said though Mr Modi was amenable to holding talks with all stakeholders in the Valley, this was possible only after the situation was normal. The CM again floated the idea of following former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayees strategy of holding talks with the separatists.

We cannot have a constant confrontation and talks are the only way out. But for this a favourable atmosphere has to be created. If talks could be held with the Hurriyat during the Vajpayee government, when L.K. Advani was deputy prime minister, we can take that process forward, Ms Mufti said. Talks cannot happen amid stone-pelting and firing of bullets, she said, adding that the Prime Minister has every intention of holding talks after the situation becomes normal.

Top government sources said, meanwhile, that the general assessment was that there was need for tougher action by the J&K police which was not able to handle the violent agitations as a professional force and relied too much on the Central forces deployed in the Valley. Though the Centre was categorical in its assurance that it would fully support the state government on all security matters, it specifically wants the state police to be more proactive in handling local law and order issues and to strengthen its local intelligence network, sources added.

The chief minister expressed the hope that the security scenario would show considerable improvement in the next few months, making the situation favourable for a dialogue, saying the decision on a dialogue would have to be taken at the highest level. Sources said the situation will have to improve considerably before talks could be initiated, adding the Centre would closely monitor developments over the next two to three months before taking a final call.

On the increasing incidents of stone-pelting, the CM said this was largely done by disillusioned youth who were instigated through social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. Even home minister Rajnath Singh had told Parliament earlier that Pakistan-based groups were provoking local people in the Valley to resort to stone-pelting against the security forces. This issue will also figure at Tuesdays Unified Command meeting, though the cyber cell of the state police had blocked a number of such suspicious accounts on the social media.

Earlier on Monday, the home minister reviewed the J&K situation with national security adviser Ajit Doval, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Intelligence Bureau director Rajiv Jain and other top security officials. The security agencies have been directed to remain on high alert all through the summer in the Valley amid reports that subversive elements would not only increase attacks on the security forces but also use local residents to further step up violent protests. The coming summer months in the Valley, MHA officials said, were extremely critical from the security point of view.

Among other issues that figured at the meetings were the largescale violence during the recent Srinagar bypolls, in which eight persons were killed, and the security of Kashmiri youth studying outside the Valley. The home minister told Ms Mufti his ministry had already issued a detailed advisory to all states to ensure adequate security for Kashmiri youth studying in institutions in their states.
Amarjeet Sinha said it was a myth that people were losing work for not having Aadhaar cards.

As of now, 84 per cent of workers have been given their Aadhaar cards.

New Delhi: The central government extended the cut off date for 100 per cent Aadhaar coverage in the MGNREGA to September 30, instead of the earlier deadline of March 31. The move comes after the Centre faced widespread criticism from civil society activists over making Aadhaar compulsory for getting work under the national employment guarantee programme.

The rural development ministry had earlier said that from April 1, it will be compulsory for all seeking work under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee scheme to have an Aadhaar number.

Civil society activists have alleged that the drive to link Aadhaar to the MGNREGA had led to many being excluded from the job security scheme.

We have clarified that Aadhaar is not compulsory for MGNREGA. However, the Centre will carry out a drive to enable all workers with an Aadhaar card and the new deadline is September 30, rural development secretary Amarjeet Sinha told this newspaper.

As of now, 84 per cent of workers have been given their Aadhaar cards. Mr Sinha said it was a myth that people were losing work for not having Aadhaar cards. Every day we are adding 500 new job cards. Disputing the contention that many workers have been dropped for not having Aadhaar cards, the senior official said that only those not active have been dropped. People who have not worked for at least a day in the last three years are the ones who are considered to be inactive workers and we are dropping their names so that new job cards can be made.

Contesting this, activist Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kishan Shakti Sangthan, said that cancelling anybodys job card was against the MGNREGA Act. Under the Act, you can cancel a job card only if the person is no more or you can prove that the person has migrated, Mr Dey said.

The activist pointed out that as per Section 4 of Schedule II of the MGNREGA act, a job card can only be deleted if it is found to be a duplicate, if it is found that the entire household has migrated permanently to another village or in case of death of the owner.

The MGNREGA, which was a flagship programme launched by the UPA government in 2006, is a law whereby any adult who applies for employment in rural areas has to be given work on local public works within 15 days. If employment is not given, an unemployment allowance has to be paid.
Drawing inspiration from mythology, CM says 1st moneyless deal was 5,000 years ago.

Lucknow: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday that the first cashless transaction took place about 5,000 years ago between lord Krishna and his friend Sudama while stressing that this was the only way to check corruption.

Speaking at a function to mark National Panchayat Day, the chief minister said that when Sudama, a poor man, went to meet lord Krishna, the latter did not give him any gift. Disheartened, Sudama returned home and was surprised to see that his dilapidated hut had been replaced by a grand house and his family was dressed in better clothes.

That was the first cashless transaction by lord Krishna and people must accept this in order to check corruption, he said, urging the panchayats to take to cashless payments. He said that this would check corruption at the lowest level and allow more funds for rural development.

This, incidentally, is the second time Mr Adityanath has linked mythology to present day issue. Last week, he had compared the plight of Draupadi in Mahabharata to that of triple talaq.

The CM also said that his government would first provide 18-hour electric supply to villages that check power theft. There is going to be an end to VIP culture and all villages and district will get equal treatment when it comes to sharing of resources. The PM has already done away with red beacon lights on VIP cars and we have followed in his footsteps, he said.

Promising to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modis dream of developing India, he said that development of Uttar Pradesh was crucial since it was the largest state.

The chief minister also underlined the need for cleanliness and said that he planned to stop open defecation completely by the end of 2018. He asked all panchayat representatives present at the function to work for this in their areas, saying this would be the best tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

The chief minister said that this will help maintain hygienic conditions and check the spread of diseases.

The village panchayat should utilise the funds given by the Centre to the maximum. The Prime Ministers focus is on the development of village and the 59,000 village panchayat should join him in his effort, he added.
The court asked him to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount.

Lucknow: Former UP minister Gayatri Prajapati and his two accomplices were on Tuesday granted bail by a POCSO court in Lucknow in connection with a rape case.

Special judge of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court Om Prakash Mishra granted the bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu.

The court asked him to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount.

The FIR was registered against Prajapati and six others on the directive of the Supreme Court.

Prajapati (49) was arrested here on March 15 and sent to jail for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter.
Congress lost Dholpur poll due to party state chiefs overconfidence, says ex-CM.

Jaipur: Taking a potshot at state Congress president Sachin Pilot, former Rajashan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has said that the party lost Dholpur byelection because of overconfidence. The former chief ministers view is in stark contrast of Mr Pilots assessment of the loss.

Mr Pilot has been saying that the Congress did not lose Dholpur seat to the BJP but to the state government. Mr Gehlot had also accused the ruling party of misusing government machinery and criticised chief minister Vasundhara Raje for staying in Dholpur till the result day, but suddenly he changed his views, which has set the tongues wagging about his intentions.

Mr Gehlot did not stop at that. He said that the party should not have any misunderstanding that the party is all poised to come to power because people change party in power in every election. Mr Gehlot said that the Congress should have won in Dholpur. The conditions were favourable yet we lost because we were over confident besides a few decision went wrong. The party must introspect and analyse it, he said in Ajmer, the parliamentary constituency of PCC chief Pilot,. It was Mr Gehlots fifth press conference in Ajmer in the last one month.

When asked about his reaction, Mr Pilot said that he always take Mr Gehlots suggestions seriously. He is a senior leader of the party and whatever he says I always take it very seriously, he told the media at the PCC headquarters in Jaipur on Monday.

However, the latest salvo by Mr Gehlot has indicated that he has not come to terms with Mr Pilots leadership. Mr Gehlots statement had come barely a few months after Mr Pilot was appointed PCC chief replacing former chief ministers loyalist Dr Chandrabhan following crushing defeat in the assembly elections. He reiterated this immediately after a meeting in which party leaders raised hands in support of Mr Pilots leadership and Mr Gehlot too was forced to raise his hands.
Among other recommendations of the Committee accepted by President are making announcements on board aircraft in Hindi and then in English.

New Delhi: The Centre clarified on Monday that it had no intention of imposing Hindi but only wanted to promote it as any other regional language.

Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, who also heads the department of official language, said that the Centre was not imposing Hindi on anyone but rather promoting it like a regional language.

The ministers response comes in the wake of protests faced by the Centre from some sections that claimed the Centre was imposing Hindi on non-Hindi states. Recently, DMK leader M.K. Stalin had accused Centre of projecting people who could dont speak Hindi as second class citizens and trying to convert the nation into Hindia.

The issue also got highlighted after President Pranab Mukherjee accepted the suggestion of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language that important dignitaries including the President and ministers, specially the ones who could speak and read Hindi, should be requested to give their speech in the same language.

Among other recommendations of the Committee accepted by President are making announcements on board aircraft in Hindi and then in English.
Madhav that the main priority of the government was to bring normalcy to the Valley in one or two months.

New Delhi: Amidst reports of growing tension between ruling alliance partners PDP and BJP over handling of Kashmirs security issue, BJPs Ram Madhav claimed there was no rift between the two allies. He blamed lack of communication for the reported differences between the two partners in the recent MLC elections.

There is no rift. There is some issue with regard to the MLC election. We noticed that there was some lack of communication between the two parties. Those things will be addressed, Mr Madhav told the media, adding that the main priority of the government was to bring normalcy to the Valley in one or two months.

Meanwhile, former J&K CM Omar Abdullah took a jibe at present incumbent Mufti after her meetings with the Prime Minister and home minister in New Delhi. While @Mehbooba Mufti goes door to door in Delhi to save her job the state teeters on the brink-student protests are the new worry, Mr Abdullah tweeted.

Responding to Ms Muftis assertion that the situation in the state would improve in two to three months after which dialogue could be held to seek amicable solution to the issues, the opposition National Conference (NC) working president tweeted, The CM has managed to get herself a reprieve from the PM & secured her job for 3 more months. Sadly nothing will improve with her in office.
Shah will spend today in Kolkata, where he will join a booth chalo drive at Bhowanipore  the home turf of Mamata Banerjee.

Kolkata: Kickstarting his three-day West Bengal tour, BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday predicted in Siliguri that the BJP would bag the majority of the states 42 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general election. He also sounded extremely upbeat about the BJP coming to power in the state.

The BJP will certainly get the most seats in 2019. It will also form the government here. For the next few days I will tour across the state. So you do not need to worry. Stay connected with the party strongly, he told a group of party workers at a meeting as he launched the booth chalo drive in Naxalbari.

Mr Shah also addressed a rally where he asserted the lotus was all set to bloom in the state. In Bengal, the BJPs victory is confirmed. The Trinamul Congress plans to halt Modijis chariot of development. Its government is not allowing Prime Minister Narendra Modis welfare schemes to reach the grassroots level here. The Ujala scheme is run successfully in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, he claimed.

Mr Shah alleged: But when it comes to West Bengal, challenges come in the way of reaching the benefits of the scheme to the poor. I want to tell Trinamul leaders the lotus will bloom in the dirt the more they spread the dirt of violence. He said the state had got poorer by the day due to the rise in violence.

But it is sure violence is defeated by development, the BJP president added. This is Naxalbari  where the violence once started. Now Modijis mantra  of sabka saath, sabka vikas  is felt here, he said, adding that the state would grow under Mr Modis leadership.

In another rally in Siliguri Tuesday evening, Mr Shah attacked the Trinamul Congress over the alleged role of a dozen of its leaders in the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada sting operation. He alleged that fake currencies spread to the country from Malda.

In the morning, Mr Shah arrived at Bagdogra airport and visited the house of BJP worker Raju Mahali from the tribal community at Dakkhin Katiajote village in Naxalbari. Sitting on the floor, he had lunch on a banana leaf there.

Mr Shah will spend Wed-nesday in Kolkata, where he will join a booth chalo drive at Bhowan-ipore, the stronghold of Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjees Assembly constituency. Trinamul general secretary Partha Chatterjee attacked Mr Shahs claims and said while the BJP was talking of coming to power in the state, Trinamul would target New Delhi.

We thought he will talk about the Centres partisan attitude towards our state. But he remained silent. Having lunch on a banana leaf, he has started dreaming too much. Some leaders from outside come here and talk big, Mr Chatterjee said.

He added: We advise them to talk less and work more because they do not even have the ability to bloom buds, which is required first.
Naxal commander identified as attack mastermind; failure of intelligence from state police evident; MHA says Armys role being ruled out.

Burkapal (Sukma): Mondays deadly Naxal attack in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district that claimed the lives of 25 CRPF personnel has forced the Centre to review its anti-Naxal strategy, with home minister Rajnath Singh convening a high-level meeting of all Maoist-infested states on May 8.

Sources said the attack by around 300 Naxals has rattled the government and the meeting was likely to discuss a tactical shift in future anti-Naxal operations, with a focus on greater involvement by state police forces.

Expressing concern over the role of the local police in tackling Naxal activities, the home minister, who visited Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, said the government has taken the incident as a challenge and that the sacrifice of the jawans will not go in vain. In Raipur, he said the Naxal strategy would be reviewed and, if required, it would be revisited. The minister has also directed senior officials, including acting CRPF chief Sudeep Lakhtakia and MHA security adviser K Vijay Kumar, to stay put in Chhattisgarh to monitor the situation and coordinate the targeted operations against the Naxals.

The sources claimed that in the Burkapal incident, there was no intelligence or assistance from the local police to the CRPF and no information was given to the force on the massive mobilisation of Naxal cadre in the region.

We never received any cooperation from local villagers despite the fact that I treat them regularly and saved many lives, said Manoj Kumar, a medical worker in the Burkapal CRPF camp, giving first-aid to injured jawans. Kumar recalled how a young woman in a red sari had surfaced near the camp in the morning just before jawans from the camp left for an operation to sanitise the nearby areas to pave way for resumption of construction of a road along with a bridge.

I have been posted in the camp for the past four years. I know people in the nearby villages since I provide them medical treatment. I got curious about the mysterious woman since I have never seen her before. I enquired about her when two other women appeared at the camp later. But they misled me, saying she was a newlyed woman of the village. Later, I found from other villagers that the mysterious woman didnt belong to the village.

As the backup team advanced, he spotted the two women counting mangoes on a tree, after which they created a sound by beating two sticks that they carried. This is a system of alerting Maoists about the presence of security forces by their informers, he said.

A senior security official said: One needs to look at the role of the local police as they are totally dependent on the CRPF without providing any support or backup to them. What states need to realise is that Central police forces are deployed from outside and have no knowledge or information about the local networks of informers or terrain which makes the task for them more difficult. This makes the role of the state police in providing local intelligence more important, which is not happening. In the Burkapal incident, the local police didnt accompany the CRPF team.

As many as 99 jawans of the CRPFs 74th battalion had left the Burkapal camp around 6 am Monday to sanitise the construction site. The Naxal attack came at about 12.55 pm, when the jawans were preparing for lunch.

The ambush site chosen was a very small area surrounded by dense forests from where Maoists launched the attack. The small open area did not give enough scope to the jawans to manoeuvre to undertake retaliation, said IGP (Bastar Range) Vivekanand Sinha, who visited the ambush site for the second day Tuesday.

The ambush site had shoes and torn clothes of slain jawans scattered around, water bottles hit by bullets, unused arrow bombs, empty cartridges of automatic weapons and mortars. There were reports that Naxals had also mutilated the bodies of some of those killed, but officials were tightlipped about it.

Twenty weapons, including 16 AK-47s, five fitted with under-barrel grenade launchers (UBGL), three Insas rifles and LMGs were looted from the slain jawans. About 2,800 rounds of AK-47 ammo, 600 rounds of Insas and 20 grenades, besides bulletproof jackets, wireless sets, and binoculars were also taken away.

An initial probe by the security agencies has revealed that besides lack of intelligence, another reason for the high casualty of CRPF personnel was that Naxals used tribal villagers as human shields, which restricted retaliatory action by the security forces, besides the fact that the Naxals occupied vantage positions and cornered the CRPF personnel from three sides, thus blocking any possible escape routes.

The security agencies have identified the mastermind behind the Burkapal incident as Hidma, a top Naxal commander, who heads the 1st battalion of the Naxal Peoples Libe-ration Guerrilla Army (PLGA). One of the most wanted Naxal commanders, Hidma is also reported to have been behind the attack on CRPF jawans last month, in which 12 of them were killed.

What is surprising is that the local intelligence unit of the state police had no information about the presence of a top Naxal commander like Hidma in the region. More so as Naxals carry out most major operations against the security forces in the summer, another official noted.

The home ministry has out the possibility of deploying the Army to tackle the Naxal menace, saying it was an internal security issue. This, incidentally, has been the Centres position even under the UPA government, even though Air Force helicopters were used for logistical aid like transporting injured personnel and airdropping food, medicines and other essential supplies for them.
Hyderabadi girl Anusha Reddy helps people from lower income groups get into top law schools.

At the age of 17, like many girls in the country, Anusha Reddy headed out of Hyderabad to pursue law from a university in Kolkata. Little did she think that life had other grand plans for her. Now 25, Anusha is the Director of the IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access) in Bengaluru. The primarily volunteer-driven organisation was founded by her professor, Shamnad Basheer. We talk to the young girl about her passion for helping students from non-English speaking backgrounds get educated in the countrys most prestigious law schools.

From a law student to director, and at such a young age! How did it all happen, is the first question that pops in anybodys mind. Prof. Basheer, who has been a great influence, realised that most students in our class came from privileged backgrounds and people from lower income groups had very little representation, as they didnt have training in the field, says the Hyderabadi girl.

So during my college break, a friend and I headed back to Hyderabad and decided to train the visually-impaired and trained around five students, out of which two managed to get into the top law schools, she adds excitedly.

And now, out of the 65 students who are looked after by the organisation, 13 are disabled. I worked at a law firm in Bengaluru for over two years and realised that my professor was right. There was absolutely no diversity and everybody came from privileged backgrounds. I wanted to do my bit and give back to the society. Since I am young and dont need to support my parents or anybody else, its something I can afford to do and something that Im passionate about as well, she says, confidently.

Anusha admits that it was her parents encouragement that egged her to follow her passion. My parents have been a constant support. My father is a doctor and has instilled empathy in me which has had a huge impact on what I do, she says.

But it wasnt all rainbows and butterflies for her or the organisation. There are currently nine directors and there is a lot of diversity at IDIA, and we aim to generate more scholars from low income groups so that there is equal representation. One of the visually impaired persons we trained is currently not being allowed to take up the position of the judge at the Andhra Pradesh high court just because of his disability! He is fighting the battle and we are supporting him. The bias people have against such people is the most challenging thing for us to fight, she says.

But when Anusha can, she likes to head back home to Hyderabad!
The stay was lifted once the HCC submitted its definition of modern heritage.

A bulldozer is seen near the demolished Hall of Nations at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on Monday. Authorities on Sunday night demolished the Hall of Industries and Hall of Nations buildings, constructed in 1972, for setting up of a world-class exhibition centre. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Delhis iconic Hall of Nations and Hall of Industries at Pragati Maidan, designed by architect Raj Rewal and engineer Mahendra Raj, were demolished on Sunday night to build a modern complex.

The demolition was carried after the Delhi high court dismissed a plea by the architect to preserve the structure on April 20. Earlier in November 2015, the government had announced its plans to turn the Pragati Maidan complex into a state-of-the-art exhibition ground. The first step of this process was the demolition of non air-conditioned buildings.

The courts recent verdict was based on the Heritage Conservation Committees (HCC) decision that only buildings aged 60 years or more will be considered for the heritage tag. The Hall of Nations, built to celebrate 25 years of Indian Independence, couldnt get the protection of being considered as a heritage structure as per the HCC guidelines. Ever since the government announced its plan to redo the Pragati Maidan complex, architectural associations and museums from across the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, have written to the government and Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman asking that the buildings be preserved because of their architectural importance. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) had included the demolished structure in its list of modern heritage sites.

Mr Rewal, who along with others moved court asking that a stay be put on the demolitions, has said that the ITPO rejected his redevelopment plan for the complex.

The stay was lifted once the HCC submitted its definition of modern heritage.

The ITPO, headquartered at Pragati Maidan, is the nodal agency under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for promoting the countrys external trade and hosts the famous annual trade fair on its premises.

Seven exhibition centres, spread over an area of nearly 1.5 lakh sqm, will come up at Pragati Maidan. Apart from a world-class iconic convention centre, with a capacity of 7,000 seats will also be built, an ITPO official said.
The accused, Ejaaz Anish Ahmed Ansari (19) had allegedly climbed the roof of a shanty with the intent of theft.

Mumbai: An alleged thiefs attempt to steal a few valuables from a residence at Ganesh Nagar, Wadala (E) caused a major fire that led to the gutting of 20 shanties in the area.

The accused, Ejaaz Anish Ahmed Ansari (19) had allegedly climbed the roof of a shanty with the intent of theft, but he lost his balance and tugged at a high-tension wire to regain balance. When he pulled the wire, it set ablaze 20 houses in the slum.

The accused sustained 70 per cent burns, while a family of three and their tenant who lived on the mezzanine floor sustained severe burn injuries. They were immediately rushed to the civic-run KEM Hospital along with Ansari. A few other residents sustained minor burn injuries due to the short circuit. The injured told the police and The Asian Age that the accused was a thief, but the police are still verifying if the accused was there to steal or meet an acquaintance as per his version.

Archana Madiye, a local resident said that she was about to sleep at 1.15 am when the roof fell on me and my family. I sustained an injury on my foot, while a brick from the wall hit my head, she said. Another resident, Sunil Shankar Thale (42) said , We heard a thief on the roof , and within seconds, refrigerator and the television caught fire. My wife has sustained injuries while my daughter is recovering as informed by the doctors.

When contacted, senior police inspector of Wadala police station, Parshuram Karyakarte said, We have registered a case against Ansari for negligent conduct with respect to fire and combustible matter under section 285 of the Indian Penal Code. We have recorded statements of the victims, and will soon record Ansaris statement too, following which we will make the arrests.

The police said five people were injured in the mishap.
The HC directed her to submit a surety of Rs 5 lakh and hand over her passport to the NIA court.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur (44)  an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case in which she was chargesheeted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in 2009  due to lack of evidence. While granting bail, the HC observed that prima facie there is no case made out against her on the grounds of which the court could deny bail.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the case from the ATS, had given Thakur  who is currently in judicial custody in Bhopal  a clean chit in 2016 on the grounds of weak evidence against her. The HC directed her to submit a surety of Rs 5 lakh and hand over her passport to the NIA court. The court also directed her not to damage any evidence or threaten any witness while out on bail. The court told her to remain present as and when NIA court required it.

It cannot be said that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations made against her are prima facie true. Once it is held so, then the benefit of bail cannot be withheld to the appellant, even if the offences alleged against her by ATS are grave and serious, the court said.

While granting bail to Thakur, the court considered that she has been suffering from breast cancer. The court also noted that she had been in custody for the last eight years and she could not even walk without the supports of others. Two witnesses, who have not yet retracted their statements recorded by the ATS, did not disclose any objectionable and incriminating material against the sadhvi, the judges said.

Welcoming the order, Thakurs brother-in-law, Bhagwan Jha, said, We are happy that sadhviji has got bail today. I would say that truth has won. The previous government had falsely implicated and tortured her. She is a nationalist and would never be engaged in anti-national activities.

The NIA, while giving Thakur a clean chit last year, had pointed out that the only material evidence against her in the case was the motorbike on which the explosive device was strapped. Though the vehicle was in her name, it was being used by the absconding alleged bomb planter, Ramchandra Kalsangra, for two years prior to the blast.

A division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi was hearing the bail appeal filed by Thakur after a special NIA court on June 2016 rejected her bail application. After the high court gave a long hearing to Thakur and the NIA, arguments concluded on February 20 and the matter was reserved. Thakur in her appeal stated that she had got a clean chit from NIA and the agency had removed the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA) charges against her. She also argued that there is no evidence to show her involvement in the blast.

The blast occurred opposite Shakil Goods Transport Company in Malegaon on September 28 2008 after an explosive that was concealed on an LML Freedom motorcycle went off. Six people were killed and a hundred people were injured in the blast. The Maharashtra ATS head Hemant Karkare and his team had arrested 14 people in this case. Thakur was arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and MCOCA, Unlawful Activity Prevention Act and Explosive Substance Act.
The sum was allegedly part of the illegal proceeds from irregularities linked to the award of an IPL media contract to a Singapore-based entity.

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached authorities in Mauritius to provide them with transaction details related to Rs 400 crore allegedly laundered by former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi. The sum was allegedly part of the illegal proceeds from irregularities linked to the award of an IPL media contract to a Singapore-based entity.

Mauritius is the only among those five countries which has responded to the Letter Rogatory (LR) issued by ED in 2016 with the agency seeking further details of the laundered money.

Sources in the ED said that Mauritius responded to the LR in November last year and shared details of the bank accounts of the individuals belonging to firm based in Mauritius. The money transactions, in the name of facilitation fees, took place between a Singapore-based private firm and a Mauritius-based private firm.

The investigators added that the details of the transactions shared by Mauritius needs to be studied in detail. Information on the bank transactions of the Mauritius based firm (after receiving funds from Singapore), their affiliates, and subsidiaries among others has been sought and second response is expected from them soon.

Mauritius has shared volumes of details pertaining to the alleged illegal transactions. We have now reverted to them asking about the ultimate usage of the amount that was received by the Mauritius based firm. Details of where the money went after the Mauritius-based firm receiving it, is sought, said an ED officer.

The ED has also offered to send a questionnaire to Mauritian authorities if they are willing to question the firm members. The questionnaire, focusing on the detailed roles and the information on receival and disbursal of funds, could be used as evidence and it would also help further the investigation in the case, officials said.

The ED had also sent LR to Singapore, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong, United Kingdom, however there has been no response from any of them. Multiple LR were sent to Singapore and Mauritius, from where the money was sent and received, which led to a breakthrough.

The ED also sent a status report to UAE (with translated copies) and Hong Kong in January 2017 however they are still awaiting a response.
Apple has hired Jeff Noris, a specialist in AR technology from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration,

Jeff Noris, a former specialist in AR technology from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (Photo: Norris Twitter account)

As Apple is betting high on augmented reality, the iPhone maker has reached out to NASA augmented reality expert to ramp up its efforts.

Apple has hired Jeff Noris, a specialist in AR technology from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, according to a report by Bloomberg technology.

According to a description on Norris website, he was the founder and director of Mission Operation Innovation Office of NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab where he lead multiple projects focused on human-system interaction with virtual reality and augmented reality.

Norriss projects at NASA included issuing headset to scientists to experience live views of Mars from the Earth and providing HoloLens headsets to astronauts living in International Space Station.

Earlier this year, Norris joined Apple as the senior manager of its augmented reality team under the leadership of former Dolby Labs executive Mike Rockwell.

The augmented reality team created by Apple is working on a pair of AR glasses and related features that can be infused in the future iPhones.

Although it is yet unknown how the AR headset would look like, past reports have claimed Apple could bring in the hardware to market by 2018.
As Congress calls for the dismissal of Kejriwal in Delhi it plays into the hands of the BJP.

The search has begun among Indias fractious opposition groups for a strategy to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two years from now. A dire situation should require an enlightened coming together of otherwise competing interests. Which means everyone must come with a large-hearted willingness for self-sacrifice.

The alternative is the familiar craving for power with the veneer of good intentions. The Janata Party experiment of 1977-79 is an example. That slot of power at any cost is gone to the BJP anyway. What the opposition can find is a useful space left for it  to unite and to rescue the country with steady, caring hands.

Activity in the opposition ranks indicates a sense of purpose. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, back from a long medical leave, met Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the CPI(M). She also held a rare face-to-face chat with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Elsewhere, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been calling for a united opposition, including the left. She feels the threat more palpably than others from the rise of the BJP, and in particular from the consolidation of power in the hands of Mr Modi. Ms Banerjee also met Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik who too is in trouble with Hindutva.

In Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP left the opposition in tatters last month, former chief ministers and arch-rivals Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati have expressed the need to bury the hatchet. They both feel the chill in their bones. Equally crucially, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, rumoured to face dismissal regardless of the outcome of this weeks municipal election in Delhi, met Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The southern leader is confronting a new challenge from right-wing storm troopers in his enviably secular state. People in Delhi are said to be waiting for a ruse to step in against Vijayans communist government. Kejriwal and Vijayan agreed it was time for good people to come together to save Indian democracy from Mr Modi.

How does one begin to break the gridlock of unwieldy egos or the contesting ideologies the opposition comes with? An even bigger problem  quite a few in the opposition share their source of funds (and corruption) from the businessmen who also support the ruling establishment. The Congress tried to address this influence of big business in politics. In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi did call for the eviction of moneybags who ride the backs of the Congress worker. He was smeared with the Bofors muck in retaliation. Manmohan Singh subsequently wooed the tycoons. They shepherded his policy and eventually left him holding a can of worms.

When Singhs government got blamed for corruption, the tycoons who benefited from the graft showed a clean pair of heels, and switched sides. The BJP welcomed them by creating new laws to make corporate funding opaque, even secretive. Having thus diagnosed the ailment, the Indian opposition needs to get down to the business at hand. The most outspoken critics of Modi include the chief ministers of West Bengal and Delhi. For being that, they could soon be in trouble, not because their names figure on the missing Indian list of Panamagate but because they are virulently anti-BJP. When the chips are down, even an Indira Gandhi could be dethroned.

When Mr Modi thunders, therefore, as he did during the Uttar Pradesh polls, that he has the goods on his critics, he could be referring to the big or small IOUs that every political party gets saddled with. Under the circumstances, if the big fish can get the small fish pre-emptively, the big fish can always flaunt itself as the incarnation of probity. Usually, the one who controls the federal investigation agencies and the raiding parties in India wins the day. The current governments spurious fight against corruption is also a ploy to take away the focus from far worse. Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar and cow-linked lynching are examples.

Dont blame the BJP for all the follies. As Congress calls for the dismissal of Kejriwal in Delhi it plays into the hands of the BJP. If the CPI(M) seeks the dismissal of Mamata Banerjee, as happens often, it objectively does the BJP a favour. Arundhati Roy described the quandary that democracies today face everywhere: The crisis of modern democracy is a profound one. Free elections, a free press and an independent judiciary mean little when the free market has reduced them to commodities available on sale to the highest bidder. Is Indias opposition ready to discard its links with two-timing big business and learn from Kejriwal and from the left about crowd funding?

Faiz must have had the Indian oppositions dilemma in mind when he echoed a Marxian exhortation  theres nothing to lose but your chains; theres a world to conquer. He said: Gar baazi ishq ki baazi hai, jo chaho laga do dar kaisa/Gar jeet gaye to kya kehna, haarey bhi to baazi maat nahi. (Should your battle be for true love, then fight with the courage of your convictions/If you win theres cause to exult, and if you lose you will still be the winner in your own esteem.)

By arrangement with Dawn
The operation was carried out from the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) in Singapore.

Cybercrime investigators from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam gathered together at the IGCI to exchange information on specific cybercrime situations in their respective countries.

Kaspersky Lab has announced its participation in a groundbreaking INTERPOL-led cybercrime operation involving public and private sectors across the ASEAN region. Nearly 9,000 botnet command and control (C2) servers and hundreds of compromised websites, including government portals were identified from the activity.

The operation was carried out from the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) in Singapore, the research and development facility of the worlds largest police organization.

Cybercrime investigators from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam gathered together at the IGCI to exchange information on specific cybercrime situations in their respective countries. An additional cyber intelligence report was contributed by China.

Experts from Kaspersky Lab cooperated with the INTERPOL to share fresh cyberthreat discoveries and to formulate recommended actions along with six other private companies, namely Cyber Defense Institute, Booz Allen Hamilton, British Telecom, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, and Trend Micro.

Being the only vendor able to detect the infection at the time, Kaspersky Lab provided the INTERPOL team with an exclusive report on a WordPress plugin vulnerability that has affected thousands of websites in the region, including those belonging to government agencies, universities, NGOs, and private businesses.

The vulnerability allowed perpetrators to inject malicious codes to over 5,000 legitimate webpages around the globe and redirect the users to advertising pages of counterfeit goods. The vulnerability also allowed other types of malicious activity such as potentially unwanted programs (PUP) downloads, password brute-forcing, and proxy among others.

Kaspersky Lab has also furnished the IGCI with an extensive list of 8,800 botnet C2 servers found to be active in ASEAN countries, as retrieved from the Kaspersky Security Network and Botnet C&C Threat Feed. Formed from the words robot and network, a botnet is a zombie network of thousands or millions of Internet-connected devices (such as PCs, smartphones, tablets, routers, smart toys, or other gadgets) that are hacked and infected with a special malware so that these could be controlled by a cybercriminal to deliver cyberattacks.

The botnets data shared by Kaspersky Lab covered various malware families, specifically those targeting financial organizations, spreading ransomware, launching distributed-denial- of-service (DDoS) attacks, distributing spam, and enabling other criminal activities. Investigations into the C2 servers are currently ongoing.

The operations findings also include the confirmation of nearly 270 websites infected with a malware code which exploited a vulnerability in the website design application. Among the victims of malware infection were several government websites which may have stored some personal data of its citizens.

A number of phishing website operators were also discovered such as one with links to Nigeria. One cybercriminal based in Indonesia selling phishing kits via the Darknet had been ascertained to have posted tutorial videos on YouTube showing customers how to use the illegal software.

According to IGCI Executive Director Noboru Nakatani, the operation was ideal as it demonstrated a highly effective and beneficial public-private partnership in the fight against cybercrime. Sharing intelligence was the basis of the success of this operation, and such cooperation is vital for long term effectiveness in managing cooperation networks for both future operations and day-to- day activity in combating cybercrime, said Nakatani.

Public-private sharing is a critical step in fighting cybercrime in the region, said Anton Shingarev, Vice-President Public Affairs of Kaspersky Lab. But for this operation, access to intelligence and technology has been as important as the experience of learning from each other throughout the process, resulting in better understanding and collaboration between private partners and law enforcement agencies. This makes the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovations a unique platform that transforms intelligence sharing into meaningful and impactful actions against cybercriminals both at the regional and national levels.
Dr Vivek Murthy is the second Indian-American to be fired by the Trump administration from a senior position.

Washington: A top body of Indian-American doctors has expressed shock and disappointment over the Trump administration's dismissal of physician Vivek Murthy as the US Surgeon General.

Murthy, 39, the first Indian-American appointed by the Obama regime as the Surgeon General, was dismissed last week to bring new leadership to the vital public health sector.

The American Association of Physicians of Indian-origin (AAPI) in a statement on Monday, said it is "shocked and saddened" by the departure of Murthy as the US Surgeon General, to which he was nominated by the previous Obama Administration and confirmed by the US Senate.

"On behalf of the AAPI, I want to applaud the many contributions and initiatives of Dr Vivek Murthy, our AAPI member, in the healthcare sector in very short span of about two years since he became US Surgeon General in 2014," said AAPI president Ajay Lodha.

Murthy played a key role in bringing to the forefront many crucial health issues confronting the nation. Murthy's report on addiction released in November, had said that dependency on opioids and other substances must not be looked on as a "character flaw", and was the first publication from a surgeon general that addressed drug and alcohol addiction, the statement by AAPI said.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley in a statement said Murthy has been a dynamic and outstanding surgeon general and is an inspiration, not only to the Indian-American community, but to the entire medical and healthcare community.

He said that from speaking out about the need for funding for public health crises to promoting physical fitness and walkable communities, Murthy worked tirelessly to improve the health of the American people.

"I've had the great pleasure of working closely with Murthy, including welcoming him to my district where we met with New York health leaders to discuss Zika, the opioid epidemic, and other key health priorities affecting my constituents," Crowley said.

Murthy is the second Indian-American to be fired by the Trump administration from a senior position. The first one was the US Attorney from New York Preet Bharara who was sacked after he refused to resign.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the Afghan defence minister and his army chief resigned in the wake of the attack.

Despite ongoing support from NATO troops, Afghan forces continue to struggle to contain a resurgent Taliban and the country's precarious security situation feels like it is dangling by a thread. (Photo: AP)

Washington: The US State Department on Monday described last week's Taliban attack in northern Afghanistan as "unconscionable," but stressed America has no intention of giving up on the country despite more than 15 years of brutal war.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said more than 100 Afghan soldiers were killed and more than 60 others were wounded in Friday's attack on an army base outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

"This was an attack on the soldiers as they were returning from prayer. It was barbaric, it was unconscionable, and we condemn it fully," Toner said.

Toner noted that the Afghan defence minister and his army chief had resigned Monday in the wake of the attack.

"This in no way should convey to the Taliban or anyone else in the region that the US has any intention of walking away from its commitment to the Afghan government and the Afghan people," Toner said.

The exact toll from Friday's assault in the northern province of Balkh remained unclear, with some local officials putting the number of dead alone as high as 130.

The raid, the deadliest-ever by the Taliban on a military base, underscores their growing strength more than 15 years after they were ousted from power.

America has spent approximately $1 trillion in warfighting and reconstruction in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in late 2001.

Despite ongoing support from NATO troops, Afghan forces continue to struggle to contain a resurgent Taliban and the country's precarious security situation feels like it is dangling by a thread.

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis warned of "another tough year" in Afghanistan as he arrived on an unannounced visit Monday, hours after his Afghan counterpart Defence Minister Abdullah Habibi and army chief Qadam Shah Shaheem resigned.
The men loitered in and around jewellery shops to obtain invoices and jewellery tags from customers not entitled to GST refunds.

However, only 5,434 Singaporean dollars worth of tax refunds made to the five men have been recovered. (Photo: Representational)

Singapore: Five Indians, who were part of a syndicate, were jailed and fined in Singapore on Monday for making fraudulent goods and services tax (GST) refund claims amounting to over USD 120,000.

They were jailed for making fraudulent GST refund claims amounting to Singaporean dollars 167,253 (USD 120,092) between January 2015 and May 2016.

Kothandaraman Gnanam, 29, Karunanidhi Rajesh, 32, Ramaiyan Karthikeyan, 44, and Waithiyalingam Karunanidhi, 61, were jailed for three years and three months.

Their accomplice, Karunanithi Saravanan, 37, was jailed for three years and two months, the Strait Times reported.

They were also fined between 14,000 Singaporean dollars (USD 10,052) and 70,000 Singaporean dollars (USD 50,262). Each man also had to fork out 51,952 Singaporean dollars (USD 37,303) as a penalty.

However, only 5,434 Singaporean dollars worth of tax refunds made to the five men have been recovered.

The court heard that the men loitered in and around jewellery shops in Little India area to obtain invoices and jewellery tags from customers, who were Singapore permanent residents and work pass holders, not entitled to GST refunds.

They would buy the invoices from the customers but no mention was made on the amount they paid for each invoice.

Tourists visiting Singapore can claim GST refunds on goods they have bought when they leave the country. They receive a receipt for goods purchased and an Electronic Tourist Refund Scheme (eTRS) ticket when they buy items from a GST-registered retailer.

They can then use the eTRS ticket to make GST refund claims at ports of departure such as the Changi airport.

They can also make similar transactions using the credit cards which they had used to buy their goods.

The five men used their passports and white embarkation cards to obtain eTRS tickets from the respective shops using the receipts they had obtained.

They then matched the invoices, jewellery tags and eTRS tickets with the jewellery they already had at hand.

Saravanan also provided jewellery from his own wholesale purchases to his accomplices to help them make false claims.

The men would then claim eTRS GST cash refunds at the airport before flying off.

When there were not enough valuables to go around, they would share among themselves the same piece of jewellery.

Investigators from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) arrested them on February 1, this year.

The men pleaded guilty last Friday to 14 GST-related charges involving 17,317 Singaporean dollars (USD 12,432) each. Each man also had between 198 and 235 similar charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

They also removed from Singapore a total of 112,924 Singaporean dollars (USD 80,630) which were ill-gotten gains from their criminal conduct. Each man pleaded guilty to between seven and 11 charges of removing money from the country.
Military courts were restored last month for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January.

Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday hanged four "hardcore" Taliban militants convicted of terrorism-related offenses by the controversial military courts. Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that they were hanged in a jail of northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

"Four hardcore terrorists tried by Military Courts were hanged today," he said. Ghafoor further stated that they were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including killing of innocent civilians, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies.

The four prisoners have been identified by army as Rehman ud Din, Mushtaq Khan, Ubaid ur Rehman and Zafar Iqbal. They were members of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The timing and place of trial were not known as military courts operate in secrecy due to fear of rebel backlash. Military courts were restored last month for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January.

The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment after a terror attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 killed more than 150 people, most of them students.

While Pakistani authorities maintain the military courts are an "effective deterrent" against terrorism, rights groups question transparency of the trials because of the secrecy surrounding the special tribunals. The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 160 militants.
A monitoring group said a first round of raids, which were likely carried out by Russian jets, targeted the village of Duwayleh in Idlib.

The World Health Organization has called Syria the world's most dangerous place for health workers. (Photo: AP)

Beirut: Air strikes on a rebel-held village in northwest Syria on Tuesday killed 12 people and put a nearby field clinic out of service, a monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said a first round of raids, which were likely carried out by Russian jets, targeted the village of Duwayleh in Idlib province.

"Twelve people were killed, including at least two rebel fighters and five civilians," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

"As they were bringing wounded people to the clinic in nearby Kafr Takharim, new air strikes hit near the facility," said Abdel Rahman.

"They put the hospital out of service because of damage to its structure and to the equipment," he said. It was the second medical facility in rebel-held Idlib province to be targeted in four days, after a warplane on Saturday severely damaged a makeshift hospital set up in a cave.

That bombardment, near the opposition-controlled village of Abdeen, wounded five medical staff, according to the Observatory.

The World Health Organization has called Syria the world's most dangerous place for health workers. Idlib province has been under the control of rebel and jihadist groups since spring 2015 and is regularly bombarded by both Syrian and allied Russian warplanes.

In early April, at least 88 civilians were killed in a suspected chemical attack on Khan Sheikhun, a town further south in Idlib province.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said last week that "incontrovertible" test results showed sarin gas or a similar substance had been used in Khan Sheikhun.
The deceased workers were in the Kingdom over 20 years but had no job for some time until their death.

Dubai: The bodies of two Indian workers have been lying in a morgue in Saudi Arabia for weeks as their former employers refused to bear the cost of their repatriation, according to a media report.

Jaswinder Singh, 56, native of Kapurthala district of Punjab, died on February 21 in Riyadh and Ponnam Satyanarayana, 48, a native of Jagtial district of Telangana, died on March 11, Saudi Gazette reported.

Since then mortal remains of these two workers, who worked at the same construction company which is now defunct, are lying in a mortuary in Riyadh, the report said. It is not clear how they died.

Repatriation of a dead body by making exit papers and bearing the cost, is the responsibility of the employer. The deceased workers were in the Kingdom over 20 years but had no job for some time until their death as their employer abandoned them along with scores of other workers, the paper said.

They were waiting to receive their end of service benefits and planning to leave the country. "Without salary for over a year and half, we are passing through extremely difficult times and the tragic death of our colleagues have saddened us," colleagues of the deceased workers were quoted in the report.
Children with banned names will not get a household registration, needed for accessing public school and other social services.

Beijing: China has banned dozens of Islamic names like 'Saddam' and 'Jihad' for babies belonging to the restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, in a move that would prevent children from getting access to education and government benefits, a leading rights group said on Tuesday.

Xinjiang authorities have recently banned dozens of names with religious connotations common to Muslims around the world on the basis that they could "exaggerate religious fervour," the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

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 was quoted as saying by Radio Free Asia.

Children with banned names will not be able to obtain a "hukou," or household registration, essential for accessing public school and other social services, it said.

The new measures are part of China's fight against terrorism in this troubled region, home to 10 million Muslim Uighur ethnic minority.

This is the latest in a slew of new regulations restricting religious freedom in the name of countering "religious extremism," the HRW said.

Conflicts between the Uighur and the Han, the majority ethnic group in China who also control the government, are common in Xinjiang.

A full list of names has not yet been published and it is unclear exactly what qualifies as a religious name, it said. On April 1, Xinjiang authorities imposed new rules prohibiting the wearing of "abnormal" beards or veils in public places, and imposing punishments for refusing to watch state TV or radio programmes.

These policies are blatant violations of domestic and international protections on the rights to freedom of belief and expression, the HRW said.

Punishments also appear to be increasing for officials in Xinjiang who are deemed to be too lenient. In January, the authorities imposed a "serious warning" on an official for complaining to his wife through a messaging app about government policies.
by Loula Lahham

Anba Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak describes his joy for Pope Franciss visit and his uneasiness towards his country, hit by terrorism. He talks about the fraternal relations with Tawadros II and those with Al Azhar and President el-Sisi, as well as the renewal of the Church with new bodies, social tasks, and enhanced role for the lay men and women.

Cairo (AsiaNews)  Anba Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak is the Catholic patriarch of Alexandria, the spiritual leader of some 300,000 Egyptian Catholics who are about to welcome Pope Francis in three-days time, on 28-29 April. The prelate was born 62 years ago in the village of Beni-Chokeir in Asyut. In 1980 he was ordained a priest and in 1988 he received his doctorate in theological sciences. After serving as the rector of the Coptic Catholic seminary, he was appointed bishop of the Minya diocese in 2002. He became the Coptic Catholic patriarch of Alexandria in 2013. Here is his interview with AsiaNews.

Your Beatitude, since the first announcement of Pope Franciss visit to Egypt, you appeared confident and not surprised. What happened at the Vatican?

For us, the announcement of the visit was not a surprise. Every time I met His Holiness in Rome, I invited him to visit Egypt. During our last meeting in February, I presented him with an official invitation. I later learnt that the President of the Republic el-Sisi, Pope Tawadros and Grand Imam el-Tayeb did the same thing. Thus, he will be among us three days from now. I think that, in addition to the favourable media and positive political and tourist results, the visit will generate a lot of joy, and will be a great blessing for Egypt and for the Church of Egypt in general.

The popes presence in our country will be a source of great encouragement and spark a great spiritual drive. It will also crown the dialogue with our Muslim brothers. For this reason, we have come up with a slogan and a logo for the visit, which includes the Pyramids, the Sphinx, a cross and a crescent, with well-chosen words. The pope of peace comes to the Egypt of peace.

With this historic visit, our people will be invited to undertake a spiritual journey inside the Catholic Church so that it can rediscover its pioneering role and its liveliness, like in the past. Coming after Easter, it also marks the long awaited renewal of the Egyptian Catholic Church.

What do you think of the latest acts of terrorism perpetrated against Egyptian Christians?

Truth be told, I am very worried. I'm actually worried about Egypt in general. How long will this wave of violence last in Egypt and the world? Here the law is not applied. When it is not applied once, or twice, violence becomes a habit. If we want to change things, we must first change mind-sets, not religious discourse. The latter can easily speak of love and tolerance, whilst maintaining a rancorous mind-set. It is imperative to change the way people think. It is the only solution that can lead to peace.

What is your relationship with Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II?

I have excellent relations with him. Pope Tawadros is like my brother. He is also a great spiritual friend. Every time I talk to him, I feel he is sincere and kind. He came to my ordination, accompanied by five of his bishops.

What about your relationship with al-Azhar's grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb, and President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi?

With al-Azhar's grand-imam (Islams highest Sunni authority), I only maintain official relations. On the other hand, I met with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi twice: the first at the presidential palace; the other when I offered my condolences following the death of his mother. I think I will meet him a third time on the occasion of the visit of Pope Francis. He is kind, respectful, and takes his responsibilities to heart.

What are the plans of the Catholic Coptic Patriarchate for 2017?

In the fifth year of my patriarchal consecration, I would like to work more on institution-building within the Coptic Catholic Church. This means setting up a new pastoral council, a special court for ecclesiastical affairs and the centralisation of accounting. We also plan to divide the bigger dioceses of the Church into smaller ones. To do this, I need to ordain new bishops.

What about the human side?

I would like to devote more energy to the education of young people, especially those in secondary level and those in the intermediate stage between preparatory and university levels, in whom we involuntarily lost interest.

Are you satisfied with the development work of your large NGOs?

Caritas and the Upper Egypt Association, together with social development actors, work independently of one another. I think we should create a body that covers all the social, humanitarian, and development work done in disadvantaged areas in Cairo and Upper Egypt. Much has to be done for this country and my priests cannot do everything.

What is the role of the laity in your Church?

I rely heavily on the participation of the laity. I expect not only to receive their financial support, but also and especially their ideas, time and effort. They must get down to nitty-gritty, like us and with us. It is the duty of the laity to present alternatives and not merely criticise. When I speak of the laity I speak of men and women. A well-trained woman will surely be chosen to direct an office over any half-trained man.
by Purushottam Nayak

The ceremony took place on April 23, Sunday of Divine Mercy. The catechism lasted five months during which the children learned the importance of the sacrament of the Eucharist. Sister catechist: "We planted seeds of faith and provided them with tools to help it grow."

Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar (AsiaNews) - About 3,000 faithful crowded the Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar Archdiocese parish in the Indian state of Orissa to attend the First Communion of 34 children. The ceremony was presided over by Msgr. John Barwa, the local archbishop, who emphasized how communion is "the most exceptional of all the sacraments. The other sacraments contain the gifts of God, but the Holy Eucharist contains God Himself." Then he added: "God loved the world so much to send his Son Jesus Christ and made sure that he always remained with us through the Holy Communion."

The celebration took place on April 23, Divine Mercy Sunday. In addition to relatives and friends of those who received the sacrament, there were 10 priests and 20 sisters. These included Sister Divya, Sr. Rebeka and Sr. Samuel, who together with Fr. Mrutunjay, prepared the children over five months. Sr Divya says, " We have planted the seed of faith and gave them the tools, information and experience to help the students to grow in faith, helping the children understand what it means to receive the body and blood of Christ. Our hope is that their knowledge and faith increases yearly and that they will understand in their hearts as adults, she added.

Catechists reported that lessons provided insights on the importance of the sacrament of the Eucharist. Then before the day set for the ceremony, the children carried out a final exam. Fr. Prasanna, parish priest of the church, states: "First Communion must be [a] beautiful and memorable moment. The true focal point of this holy and special day must remain the sacrament itself, since the little ones are welcomed to the Lord's table. "

Sunny John, father of Bimal John, one of the children who received the sacrament of the Eucharist, remembers "as Saint John Chrysostom said, that communion pours great inclination to virtue into our souls a and a promptness to put it into practice. And at the same time infuses into us a great peace, through which our path of perfection is made very sweet and easy. " He also concluded, "There is no sacrament as capable of triggering divine love in souls as the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which Jesus Christ gives himself to us so we can all join him through holy love".
Masses of Shias commemorate the martyrdom of the seventh imam at the Al-Kadhimiya shrine, bringing the Iraqi capital to a standstill. Despite fears, no attacks or serious accidents have taken place. For the Chaldean Patriarch, the government has ensured safe celebrations". The attempt to "national reconciliation" continues.

Baghdad (AsiaNews)  Religious celebrations in Iraq have been marred by attacks and terror in the recent past. The most recent event has seen the authorities do their utmost to protect believers and others.

"The government was keen to ensure security during the celebration. With this in mind, it cordoned off streets and roads in the capital, Card Louis Raphael Sako said.

Speaking to AsiaNews about the major Shia celebration, the Chaldean Patriarch noted that This shows that when there is the will, there is a way to prevent acts of violence. In fact, "Streets and roads have been blocked to ensure that celebrations go off in complete security.

At present, he explained, [Islamic State] militants are involved in the battles of Mosul and Anbar, where they have concentrated their efforts. It is more difficult for them to organise attacks elsewhere.

Still, although Fighting is raging over there, nothing is certain as to when and how it will end. The Islamic State still controls some territory."

Over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims visited Baghdads Al-Kadhimiya Mosque, which contains the tomb of seventh Twelver Shiah Imam Musa al-Kadhim, to mark his martyrdom.

The main ritual ceremony was held on Sunday in the week-long event with worshippers gathering at the shrine in Al-Kazimiyyah, a northern district of the Iraqi capital.

Masses of pilgrims travelled to Baghdad to take part in one the most important Shia celebrations in Iraq. Some estimate at least six million visitors during this period. Over the last few years, the event has grown in size, to the point that the Iraqi capital becomes paralysed.

Despite security threats, some pilgrims walked the streets beating their head and chest; others carried the symbolic coffin of the imam. Many tried to touch the latter until the end of the procession when it reached the shrine.

According to Shia tradition, Imam Musa was imprisoned in Baghdad and was killed by poisoning on orders of Abbasid Caliph Harun Ar-Rasid.

The government took huge security measures in the capital against possible attacks from the Islamic State group or lone wolves. For the radical Sunni group, Shias are heretical, a privileged target in recent years.

To reduce the possibility of attacks and allow people to reach the shrine, Baghdads main roads and intersections were closed. Vehicular traffic was banned for days.

Some pilgrims, especially from southern Iraq, reached the capital after walking for days.

An incident on Sunday morning illustrates the tensions and concerns. One elderly man was killed and 250 of Shia Muslim pilgrims were injured in a stampede when people panicked as a result of rumors that a suicide bomber was about to blow himself up.

According to witnesses, a visitor began to tear his clothes after losing his daughter in the crowd, making the pilgrims believe he was a bomber trying to detonate his explosive vest. Scores of people, including children and elders, were injured in the stampede.

"It is clear that the government was set on safe celebrations, Card Sako said. Government leaders want to show that they can ensure security ahead of upcoming elections (municipal in September and parliamentary in 2018).

Also, Politicians have learnt from 14 years of violence. There is now a greater commitment to national reconciliation. But much will depend on the outcome of the Mosul battle."
North Korea carried outs its largest military exercise near the eastern city of Wonsan. North Korean says, "we will stage the most brutal punishment of a pre-emptive attack. South Korea and the United States are monitoring a possible nuclear test or missile launch. A US Navy strike group is sailing to the Korean Peninsula this weekend.

Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies)  North Korea is displaying again its bellicose rhetoric against the United States on the occasion of the celebrations for the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army (KPA).

In a tense climate over its nuclear and missile programmes, Pyongyang showed its readiness to counteract any US preventive attack by saying that Washington will have to choose between political and military surrender.

"If the US and warmongers run amok with a reckless pre-emptive strike, we will stage the most brutal punishment of a pre-emptive attack in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice," said Rodong Sinmun, a spokesman for the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

Meanwhile, South Korea and the United States are continuing to monitor North Korea to see if it will mark the anniversary with a sixth nuclear test or the launch of a ballistic missile.

South Koreas Unification Ministry said that North Korea does not seem to have any major events planned for the anniversary despite its war rhetoric.

According to military sources in Seoul, rather than a high-profile provocation, Pyongyang carried out its biggest military exercise near the eastern city of Wonsan.

As tensions continue to run high, USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group is expected to reach the waters of the Korean peninsula this weekend.

According to South Korean sources, the US ships should take part in joint military drill with the South Korean Navy off the eastern coast of the country.

North Korean media warned that its military is ready to sink the carrier with a single if necessary.

China has repeatedly called for calm, with President Xi Jinping speaking yesterday on the phone with Donald Trump. (China) hopes that the relevant parties can maintain restraint and avoid actions that would increase tensions in the Korean peninsula, Xi said, according to the foreign ministry.
by Kamel Abderrahmani

After every terrorist attack, there is the tendency to say, "This is not Islam." Yet those criminal acts are justified and inspired by texts that are the reference point for Muslims and Islamic institutions worldwide. There is an urgent need to reform Islam from within, by the Muslims themselves. Coexistence with other religions is the way to remove Islam from sclerosis and stagnation.

Paris (AsiaNews) - After every terrorist attack, such as those in Egypt or Paris, voices are raised in the West as in the East, to blame or to defend Islam. These voices are divided and, at times, conflicting: a situation that does little more than better coalesce Islamist terrorism, hate and division among the nations.

In my contribution I want to talk about the boundaries between Islamism and Islam. Our questions multiply and torment our minds, exposing phenomena that need to be analyzed and resolved. I and many other Muslims think that it is unacceptable to delay discussion on the issue of Islamic terrorism in this critical stage on which depends not only the future of Islam and Muslims but the rest of humanity.

Islamism penetrated the political sphere in the twentieth century with the appearance of the "Muslim Brotherhood" in Egypt and the "Jamaat at-tabligh" in the Indian provinces, with the objective of re-Islamizing Muslims in India.

These two groups, originally apolitical, have opted for the political path and sometimes armed themselves to achieve their goals, especially the establishment of the caliphate, a fact which is considered a religious obligation. These two movements are the source of inspiration for all contemporary Islamic currents, violent, or peaceful. They are movements inspired by ancient interpretations of the Koran and Sharia, such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or Boko Haram in Nigera. We know: terror is sown in all those territories where Islamism, this devastating ideology, finds refuge. Those who disagree with Islam are being killed or pushed into exile. Faced with this plague, should we remain silent or should we speak without hypocrisy and without fleeing from reality?

Muslims reject the bond between Daesh and its henchmen on the one hand and Islam on the other. They maintain that those are groups do not represent Islam. Yet their criminal acts are justified and inspired by texts that are the reference of Muslims and Islamic institutions. For this reason, for a majority of non-Muslims, that diabolical state is considered to be a faithful representation of Islam.

For us, they are all right: it all depends on the chosen point of view, our theological, ideological, and political knowledge, given that within Islam these three elements are intimately bound.

Islamism, the illness of Islam, or its damned child, is the pure sense of nihilism and an alienation of culture and cult, the worst type of tragedy created by consecrated ignorance and the absence of a rational and critical spirit. It seeks a literal application and to be faithful to "Islamic Sharia". In other words, all of the arguments within the Islamic galaxy  those of Daesh, Boko Haram and other groups  throughout the four corners of the world are enrolled in the Islamic corpus and its culture as taught in Al Azhar, Islamic faculties, and in hundreds of thousands of mosques scattered east and west.

It is almost impossible to deny the existing link between Islamism on the one hand and the Islamic corpus, the ancient interpretations of the Koran and the hadith on the other: there is a passionate relationship between the two.

Moreover, today these teachings are the main source of the religious fanaticism of the new generations.

Daesh and the various Islamist terrorist and political groups have not invented anything new, they have not added a single word, idea or argument to what they have found in the reference books of Muslim theology. [These are] a true collection of dead, poisoned and poisonous ideas that emerged from the ancient interpretations of the Koran and the hadiths. What we are experiencing today is proof of this.

This situation primarily affects Islam which, blocked and transformed, has become the source of a nefarious doctrine; Then to all Muslims, who are likely to be excluded from other nations, to remain isolated and above all to corrupt coexistence with other members of the different religions in full respect, peace and fraternity.

This is why, today, we ask for the modernization, the reform of Islam from within, and above all to accept the contemporary interpretations of the Koran put forward by our contemporary exegetes who, Cartesian and rational, also have the capacity for critical thought.

Muslims must undoubtedly realize the danger inherent in this situation, because within Islam as it is presently conceived, seen and interpreted there is no boundary with Islamism: it is the incarnation of Islam itself. They must put an end to the usual chorus [which we hear] after every Islamist attack: "This is not Islam."

There is an urgent need to tackle this situation and begin to reflect on it and fully act upon it. It needs to be reworked in its entirety, from the ancient interpretations of the Koran to the methodologies of analysis, passing through the jurisprudence (figh) and the references of religious legislation.

This requires serious ground work that allows them to distinguish true from false and separate them. They must eradicate evil and uphold truth, develop it, make it a source of peace and coexistence first and foremost among themselves (Sunni and Shi'ite) and also with other nations and / or religions.

This is what we call the "barrier" (frontier) between them and Islamism. Otherwise, we will continue to live in fear and in the uncertainties of security, and Islam as a religion will continue to be exploited, sclerotic and stagnant.

We have so often said that consecrated ignorance and the failure of intra-Islamic reform do nothing more than favor Islamic machine guns, swords and suicide attacks.

In a saying that is attributed to the prophet, he had announced the coming of the reformers. But it would seem that, either Muslims are unable to find the real reformers, or they have been mistaken in their understanding of the meaning of reform. Today they urgently need to be incisive in this.

As for the Westerners, they are right to be afraid, to be Islamophobic and to accuse Islam, because we are the fruit of this tree called Islam and have presented them with a tired Islam, one burdened with history. They are right because Muslims have not dared to recognize the evil, extract it and eliminate it. It is [now] among them and if they do not try to make this division, the future will be crucial and the abyss between contemporary Muslims and other nations will widen and the misery of this religion deepen, and with it the coexistence between Muslims themselves and the rest of humanity.

Kamel Abderrahmani
Agents seized No-Formosa T-shirts. Police mistreatment sparks anger among locals. For parish priest Dan Huu Nam, "They have to apologise for their behavior and must return the shirts". One year after the disaster, compensation is slow.

Hanoi (AsiaNews/RFA)  Almost a thousand protesters surrounded the Quynh Luu police station in central Vietnams Nghe An province on Monday to demand an apology from police for seizing 200 T-shirts with protest slogans and beating two men transporting the shirts.

The shirts, which police promised later in the day to return, bore the slogan No-Formosa in a reference to the Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group, whose steel plant in coastal Ha Tinh province caused a toxic waste spill last year that killed an estimated 115 tonnes of fish and left fishermen jobless in four coastal provinces.

Outraged by police mistreatment of those transporting the shirts, Quynh Luu residents, including many Catholics, gathered outside district police headquarters on 24 April to demand the shirts return, said parish priest Dan Huu Nam told Radio Free Asias Vietnamese Service.

We and the police have agreed on a solution, the clergyman said. They have to apologize for their behaviour and must return the shirts to Song Ngoc Church so that we can give them back to the people.

I told the authorities in front of everyone that if they dont resolve this situation properly, we will continue to peacefully protest to demand our rights, he added.

The protest ended without clashes, and by 6:00 pm all protesters had returned to their homes.

The Formosa Company has voluntarily paid US$ 500 million to clean up and compensate coastal residents affected by the April 2016 spill, but slow and uneven payout of the funds by the Vietnamese government has prompted protests that continue to be held a year later.
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The legal community is celebrating the Turnbull governments reversal on its plan to cut millions of dollars from community legal centres.The federal government had planned to slash $35m from the sector in the upcoming budget, but in a last-minute decision committed an additional $55.7m over the next three years to legal aid. George Brandis told ABCs AM Monday morning that with the funding, the commonwealth will spend a record-setting $1.73bn over five years on access to justice.Todays announcement is a significant step to addressing the shortfalls of the current legal assistance budget, said Will Alstergren QC, Australian Bar Association president.The ABA, which has long been a vocal campaigner for increased funding and support to the legal assistance sector, sees the reconsideration of the issue, and significant injection of funds, as particularly positive, Altergren said.The legal profession, particularly the independent bars and the community legal centres, have provided an extraordinary amount of pro bono work, which has become unsustainable for many, he said. Todays announcement will be warmly welcomed by the profession and is an excellent first step to ensuring everyday Australians have proper access to justice.The ABA particularly welcomes increased funding to the indigenous legal services sector, he said.The number of Indigenous people coming before the justice system in Australia is a national disgrace and one that can only be addressed through a multi-faceted approach, that includes increased and intensive legal assistance funding, Alstergren said.The budget cuts would have devastated community legal centres and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS), said the Law Council of Australia . Under the newly-committed funding, $39m goes to community legal centres while $16.7m will go to ATSILS.This is a tremendous victory for access to justice in Australia, said Fiona McLeod SC, Law Council president.She said that the council knows tens of thousands of Australians experience legal problems every year and cannot access help due to inadequate legal aid funding.Without legal intervention, these problems often spiral out of control, creating enormous financial and social costs, she said. The scheduled budget cuts would have significantly deepened the funding crisis affecting the legal assistance sector, with enormous downstream costs to taxpayers. Those who work in the legal assistance sector are the unsung heroes of our community, working long hours in extremely challenging conditions to achieve justice for their clients.However, McLeod noted that in 2014, the Productivity Commission recommended an additional $200m in legal assistance funding.Clearly there is still a broader problem here that needs to be fixed if we want an Australia in which everyone can access justice, she said. Today marks a critically important victory, but the fight for proper legal assistance funding will continue.Community Legal Centres Queensland Director James Farrell said that the Turnbull government has heard and listened to the community  including lawyers, churches, unions, the Productivity Commission, community groups, universities, and concerned citizens  which has campaign for funding to be restored.He said that the funding ensures community legal centres will be able to continue helping women leaving violent relationships, parents struggling to care for their children, workers who arent paid or are unfairly sacked, tenants threatened with illegal evictions and older people whose financial assets are taken by their carers.Nonetheless, the uncertainty created by the previously looming funding cut has already impacted some services, he said.Queenslands community legal centres were forced to turn away half of the people who reached out for help last year, so the last thing that Queenslanders needed was a reduction in the services available to help them solve their legal problems, Farrell said.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) and the Migration Industry Association (MIA) are to hold roadshows across Australia to help people understand the changes being made to the 457 visa programme and citizenship.Although it had been suggested for some time that changes to the popular 457 visa programme were likely, the announcement last week that it is being abolished was a surprise.The MIA said it was not given any advance notice of the decision and it created confusion as agents were inundated with enquiries from people who were anxious about what it would mean for them.Under the change the 457 visa is being replaced by two new visa streams, a two-year and a four-year visa under the name of Temporary Skill Shortage visa (TSS) and it was also announced that becoming a citizen of Australia will now be tougher with applicants having to live in the country for a minimum of four years as a permanent resident, up from one year, and a harder English test.The information roadshows will be taking place across Australia in June to help answer questions with dates and locations still to be confirmed.'The MIA was not given prior notice of these changes and consequently was not able to prepare to handle the commotion and anxiety they have caused to Migration Agents and their clients. Whilst the MIA awaits the details of the amended legislation we will continue to provide updates and support on the changes,' said a MIA spokesperson.In addition, the Australian Government has amended the approved occupations list, following analysis of available statistics on Australian unemployment, to remove occupations that are believed to be able to be filled by Australian workers.The DIBP confirmed that existing 457 visa holders will not be affected by the abolition of the 457 visa scheme. It has also committed to refunding the application fee for applicants who are currently applying for 457 visas but the MIA said this does not take into consideration the potential fees these people have paid to migration agents to process their visa applications.Dutton said that the abolition of the 457 visa programme will see Australian workers get priority for Australian jobs. 'Every visa application in the new Temporary Skill Shortage Visa streams will be subject to mandatory labour market testing with limited exemptions,' he said.He added that applicants will also face a new non-discriminatory workforce test, mandatory criminal history checks, a market salary rate assessment and a new two year work experience requirement.'The Government is ensuring that Australian workers are given absolute priority for jobs while ensuring businesses will be able to temporarily access the critical skills they need to grow if skilled Australian workers are not available,' he added.
HI there,

I am asking on behalf of a friend.

How long is the processing time for a Prospective Partner Marriage visa. She has applied her in Australia but her partner is overseas. She applied in Jan/Feb 2017. Her migration agent has not given her much details.

I would like to ask if she is able to get access of a copy of her application from her migration agent and is she able to get back any documents of evidence that she supplied her agent. As her agent told her she cannot have access to any of these things as they are filed until the application outcome has been decided or if she withdraws. TIA
Hi everyone



Our PMV was granted for my fiance last Friday 21/04/17. It was just over 9 months as we applied for it offshore 19/07/16. My fiance Nui is Thai and after applying for the PMV we applied for a tourist visa and she was granted a 3 month single entry tourist visa with the NO FURTHER STAY condition imposed. She arrived in August 2016 and stayed until late November 2016. She went back to Thailand and was granted a new 3 month single entry tourist within 4 day, only this time the NO FURTHER STAY condition was not imposed. In December she arrived on the new tourist visa. We planned to holiday back to Thailand this year so in late January i re-applied online to renew her tourist visa and change it to a 6 months multi entry tourist visa. This was granted within 2 days.



We have just returned from our holiday and the PMV was granted while we were there which we are so happy about especially because it worked in our favour she was offshore while we were holidaying.



My BE CAREFUL part is in relation to communication with your case officer. Back in November 2016 our case officer requested a single status certificate and Thai police clearance certificate for my fiance. The police clearance we already had and sent straight away. My fiance was back in Thailand renewing her tourist visa at the the time and traveled to her hometown to get the single status certificate. I emailed this to my case officer 29/11/206. Last week i emailed my case officer to ask how the application was going knowing we were overseas and around the 9-10 month mark in waiting time. My case officer said she was still waiting for the single status certificate she requested back in November. As i said i sent this to her 29/11/2016. Luckily i went through my emails and forwarded her the initial email i sent it to her on plus a new email with it attached also. I also emailed immigration to ensure my case officer received it. Within a few hours the PMV was granted. However as many of you know these requests have deadlines and had I not had that initial email it could have changed the whole outcome of our visa. So if you have sent documents that have been requested try to ensure your case officer receives it. For all i know our PMV could have been granted back in November or December last year.



Thanks



Jarrod
Logo: Vincentric

Ford and Nissan vehicles appeared most prominently among the vehicles chosen as having the best fleet value by Vincentric for the 2017 model year, the firm that analyzes total cost of ownership announced.

Four Ford vehicles and four Nissan models were among those chosen by Vincentric for its 12th annual Best Fleet Value in America awards for the U.S. market. Vincentric recognized 38 vehicles.

Ford's F-150, F-250, Taurus and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid won their categories, while Nissan's NV full-size cargo van, Versa, Altima, and Leaf also topped their categories.

Other winners included General Motors with its heavy duty Express and Savana vans continuing to deliver value to the fleet industry, and Volvo with its S60, S90, and V60 luxury sedans. Toyota's three winners included the Tacoma, which took top honors for a record-setting 11th time. BMW, Hyundai, and Mercedes-Benz each earned three Vincentric awards.

"We saw significant consistency between prior year winners and the 2017 winning vehicles," said David Wurster, Vincentric's president. "This allows fleet organizations to choose not only from a wide-variety of vehicles with the lowest cost of ownership, but also from a number of winners that have demonstrated consistent success in their segments over the years."

For the awards, Vincentric performs a cost of ownership analysis measuring over 2,500 vehicle configurations based on typical fleet use and using eight different cost factors such as depreciation, fees, taxes, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, opportunity cost, and repairs. Winners were identified by determining which vehicles had the lowest fleet lifecycle cost in the most scenarios for its segment.

Read the full list of award winners here.
Armenias Constitutional Court opened on Tuesday hearings on an opposition appeal against the official results of this months parliamentary elections that gave victory to President Serzh Sarkisians Republican Party (HHK).

The Congress-HZhK alliance led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian has accused the ruling HHK of systematically bribing and intimidating voters and using its administrative resources otherwise. It presented the court with more than 40 pages of written documents as well as video and audio material purportedly proving fraud.

In his opening remarks at the hearing, Levon Zurabian, a senior Congress-HZhK representative, claimed that the April 2 ballot left most Armenians with a sense of deja vu.

Every time elections are rigged, every time the opposition appeals to the Constitutional Court, and every time the Constitutional Court concludes that the reported irregularities did not influence the election results or does not look into the presented arguments and evidence on false grounds, Zurabian told the panel of nine judges.

As a result, the people are constantly disappointed with state institutions and lose faith in electoral processes, he said.

Gagik Harutiunian, the Constitutional Court chairman, interrupted Zurabian, saying that he cannot make political statements and criticize past court rulings during the legal proceedings. Instead of delivering a political speech, try to substantiate the claims that you have presented to the Constitutional Court, he said.

Zurabian indicated on April 14 that he believes the court is unlikely to scrap the official results which showed Ter-Petrosians bloc garnering 1.65 percent of the vote. We have no illusions but its our duty to finish this work, he told RFE/RLs Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

Most Armenian opposition parties and blocs say that the outcome of the elections was primarily decided by large-scale vote buying by the HHK, a claim denied by the ruling party.

In an April 7 statement, the Congress-HZhK bloc also alleged numerous registered cases of multiple voting by government loyalists. It had said in the run-up to the polls that this type of fraud will be practically impossible because of opposition-backed amendments to the Electoral Code enacted by the authorities last fall.

Those changes led to the installation of electronic voter authentication devices in all polling stations. The authorities also agreed to publicize the signed lists of voters that cast ballots on April 2. This allowed opposition parties to verify whether somebody else voted in place of those Armenians who were absent from the country or simply boycotted the vote.

European election observers did not report significant instances of multiple voting in their preliminary findings released on April 3. They cited instead credible information about vote-buying, and pressure on civil servants and employees of private companies.

The documents submitted by the Congress-HZhK to the countrys highest court also include secretly recorded audio purportedly indicating that employees of a wealthy businessman affiliated with the HHK were told to campaign for his reelection to the parliament or lose their jobs. Armenias Special Investigative Service (SIS) launched last week a criminal investigation into the scandalous recording. It has not charged anyone yet.
25 April 2017 14:17 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Azerbaijani Embassy in the UAE and the Consulate General in Dubai have prevented an Armenian provocation at the Arabian Travel Market international tourism exhibition.

Representatives of Armenia attempted to demonstrate at their booth maps and other visual material promoting the unrecognized regime established in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend on April 24.

The Azerbaijani Embassy and Consulate General in Dubai have turned to the appropriate UAE authorities and organizers of the exhibition with a request to prevent the illegal promotion. After that, all materials promoting the illegal regime were removed from the booth.

Armenian diaspora often uses international exhibitions to distort the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and present this region of Azerbaijan as Armenian. However, Azerbaijan timely prevents such provocative attempts.

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.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2017 13:24 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

An export mission consisting of more than 20 Azerbaijani entrepreneurs engaged in producing of fruit juices, mineral waters, wine and cognac, fresh fruits and vegetables, therapeutic herbal teas are presenting their products in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The Azerbaijani businessmen met with representatives of Kazakh companies and discussed expansion of ties and the possibility of supplies of Azerbaijani products to Kazakhstan.

The main goal of the trade mission scheduled for April 23-26 is to strengthen and intensify the bilateral trade and economic cooperation of business circles, as well as review the commercial potential of Azerbaijan.

Besides, Azerbaijani companies Ayan and Ag Naftalan are negotiating the supply of lemonade, mineral waters and naphthalan ointment to Kazakhstan, the Azerbaijani Economy ministry reported.

Both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan attach great importance to the development of bilateral trade and economic ties. There is a successfully operating Intergovernmental Commission, and business forums are held regularly.

Today, 37 Kazakh companies involved in different sectors of economy are successfully doing their business in Azerbaijan. In a western region of Kazakhstan alone, a total of 46 companies with Azerbaijani capital are registered.

The two countries have already signed over 100 agreements, which constitute legal basis for negotiations between the countries. More than 20 of those are in the field of economy.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan amounted to almost $124.4 million in 2016, including more than $26 million that accounted for the export to Kazakhstan, according to Azerbaijans State Customs Committee.

Azerbaijan started organizing export missions to various countries since November 2016 in order to increase the export volume and promote the Made in Azerbaijan brand. As of today, Azerbaijani entrepreneurs have already visited Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, China, Pakistan and other countries.

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25 April 2017 12:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Russian Foreign Ministry consistently defends the legitimate interests of all Russian citizens regardless of their nationality, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry Artyom Kozhin said on April 24.

He was answering the question from the media about the Russian MFAs activity regarding the issue of Russian citizens arrested by Armenian occupation regime.

The area of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of those places, visiting of which is not recommended for Russian citizens. We are fundamentally opposed to the criminalization as a criminal offence of peaceful visits to certain territories of journalists or private citizens, he said.

As for Dilgam Asgarov specifically, it must be noted that he, like later Alexander Lapshin, neglected the above-mentioned recommendation of the Russian MFA, Kozhin noted.

Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev were detained by the Armenian armed forces in July 2014 while visiting their native places and graves of loved ones in the occupied Azerbaijani Kalbajar region. Moreover, Armenian forces killed the third Azerbaijani citizen Hasan Hasanov.

Later, Guliyev and Asgarov were judged illegally by the unrecognized courts of a separatist regime in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Following an expedited judicial process in December 2015, Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years. Attempts of Azerbaijan to provide justice and to free its citizens are still unsuccessful.

As for Alexander Lapshin, who has the Russian citizenship among others, the blogger illegally visited Azerbaijan`s Armenia-occupied lands and now is charged under the articles 281.2 (appeals directed against state) and 318.2 (illegal border crossing) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. He violated Azerbaijani laws on state border in April 2011 and October 2012.

Helped by his accomplices in the occupied territories, Lapshin paid a number of visits to Azerbaijan`s occupied lands, where he voiced support for "independence" of the illegal regime, and made public calls against Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territorial integrity on April 6 and June 29, 2016.

The blogger was arrested in Minsk in late 2016 and transferred to Baku in February 2017.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2017 11:38 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The 4th international scientific conference Acts of genocide against the Turkic-Muslim peoples in the 20th century was held in Lankaran on April 24.

Researchers from various countries participated in the conference.

Director of the Institute of History, MP Yagub Mahmudov, addressing the event, stressed that the false Armenian propaganda must be prevented.

Today, the Azerbaijani scientists are concerned that the world community doesnt want to see the truth, therefore, their main goal is to convey to future generations the real history of the people, prevent false Armenian propaganda and inform the world community about the objective realities, he noted.

Mahmudov reminded that today the world is face to face with an extremely complex and dangerous confrontation.

The whole region of the Near and Middle East, including the South Caucasus, is covered by mass killings, terror and armed confrontation. Fascism, racism and Islamophobia have again showed up in Europe, the Institute Director noted.

He added that under the pretext of principles of human rights, democracy, protection of international law and fight against terror the international centers of power are fighting to re-divide the world into spheres of influence.

Welcoming the participants of the international conference on behalf of the President and Presidium of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), academician-secretary of the Department of Social Sciences, corresponding member of ANAS Nargiz Akhundova noted that the international scientific conference held for the fourth time is an important step aimed at recognition of genocides against the Turkic-Muslim peoples.

Scientists from Turkey and Russia also delivered speeches at the plenary session.

Moreover, reports of about 60 foreign scientists were presented at the intermediate meetings, including those of researchers from Germany, Albania, Poland, Turkey, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Russia and other countries.

In addition, the atrocities of genocide committed by the Armenian-Dashnak executioners in Lankaran in 1918-1919 were widely discussed at a separate meeting.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2017 11:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and Lithuania seek to increase efforts to expand trade and economic cooperation according to an agreement reached during a meeting of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov with a delegation of Lithuanias parliament, the Seimas.

The delegation was headed by Seimas Deputy Speaker Gediminas Kirkilas, the Foreign Ministry reported on April 24.

The sides noted the importance of transport corridors. Speaking about the North-South project, they noted that the project will connect the Baltic region with the Indian Ocean via railways, and Lithuanian companies will get great benefit from that.

The importance of expanding the two countries inter-parliamentary ties was also noted during the meeting.

The Azerbaijani minister informed officials of Lithuania about the negotiations on the new strategic partnership agreement with the EU and highlighted Lithuanias support in development of relations with the EU.

Moreover, Mammadyarov gave information about the negotiation on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Mammadyarov, who is on an official visit in Lithuania, also met with his Lithuanian counterpart Linas Linkevicius.

The ministers discussed the current status of the bilateral relations and issues on the agenda of Azerbaijan and Lithuania. The positive development of the relations and steady growth of trade turnover between the two countries was praised.

The sides stated that the diplomatic relations between the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Lithuania was established back in 1918, and the Consulate of Lithuania was opened in ADR. In this context, it was gladly mentioned the countries will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year.

Mammadyarov further briefed his counterpart about the current status of negotiation process on the draft strategic partnership agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

Linkevicius noted that Lithuania supports the negotiations on the draft agreement and development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and EU. Touching upon the importance of twinning projects in cooperation with the EU, he added that his country stands ready to continue the projects, which remain interesting for Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, the ministers reviewed the expansion of the legal-treaty base and activity of Joint Intergovernmental Commission. They also noted successful cooperation in the field of education. It was noted that currently more than 200 students from Azerbaijan are enrolled by Lithuanian Universities.

Mammadyarov touched upon the negotiations process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stated the importance of expressing EU's commitment to the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence and inviolability of borders of states in a common and unambiguous manner in respect of all conflicts.

The minister discussed the regional energy and transport projects and informed about the energy and transport projects launched with Azerbaijans initiative and participation, as well as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railways, North-South corridor and TAP project.

After the meeting, the ministers held a joint press conference.

--



Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2017 12:41 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey will hold live-fire joint tactical exercises on May 1-5.

An exhibition of samples of weapons, military and special equipment, which will be used during the joint tactical exercises, was held on April 25.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that experienced experts informed the military personnel about the rules of operation, use, combat and other capabilities of the equipment.

The joint exercises will involve armored vehicles, artillery systems and mortars, military and transport helicopters, as well as air defense units and anti-aircraft missile units equipped with modern defensive systems to protect groups from the air.

The main aim of the upcoming exercises, to be held in line with the agreement on military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey, is to improve coordination through the exchange of experience between the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as to achieve the interoperability of the military units of the two countries through joint headquarters planning, improving the readiness and capabilities of the units to conduct operations.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2017 10:57 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijans Energy Minister Natig Aliyev will visit the U.S. on May 1-4 to participate in the international Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2017) in Houston.

The ministry reported that Natig Aliyev is expected to deliver a speech on Azerbaijans achievements in oil and gas industry, energy resources of the Caspian Sea, opportunities of the country as an energy center, as well as technologies used while developing the offshore oil fields, said the ministry.

The event, which will be attended by about 2,400 representatives from 120 countries, is an important platform, where energy experts will exchange views in order to improve scientific and technical knowledge on surveys of marine resources and environment, and is of global significance for the oil and gas industry.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2017 10:27 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Oil prices slipped nearly 1 percent on Monday, extending last week's decline, on lack of confirmation that OPEC will extend output cuts till the end of 2017 and as Russia indicated it can lift output if the deal on curbs lapses, Reuters reported.

Russian oil output could climb to its highest rate in 30 years if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers do not extend a six-month supply reduction deal beyond June 30, according to comments by Russian officials and details of investment plans released by oil firms.

"We think an extension is highly likely, with a growing OPEC consensus in support of that policy, but the market seems to be attributing last week's decline to the lack of a firm agreement," Tim Evans, Citi Futures' energy futures specialist, said in a note.

"In our view, the drop had more to do with correcting the prior excess optimism and speculative excess, than with any shift in the underlying fundamental scenario, but those requiring a fundamental explanation ... will focus on OPEC or U.S. production growth instead."

Last week, prices plummeted about 7 percent partly on signs that rising U.S. shale production offset efforts by OPEC and other producers to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of the year.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 34 cents by 2:11 p.m. EDT (1811 GMT) to $51.62 per barrel after hitting a session high of $52.57 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 dropped 39 cents to $49.23 a barrel, after reaching a high of $50.22 a barrel earlier in the day.

"From a technical perspective, the June WTI contract has now broken another key Fibonacci level, specifically the 61.8 percent retracement of the rally from March 22 to April 12," said David Thompson, executive vice-president at Powerhouse, an energy-specialized commodities broker in Washington.

"In addition we are close to breaking a long-term uptrend line that has been in force since early August of last year."

Traders and brokers also noted that crude markets were lower despite a relief rally over the French election, with the U.S. dollar .DXY noticeably weaker. [USD/] This reflects the prevailing bearish market sentiment, they said.

U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 fell about 1.2 percent, leading the energy complex lower, as refiners ramp up production after seasonal maintenance and on demand worries, traders said.

Rising U.S. drilling and production has dampened any oil price rally. Investors cut bullish bets on rising ICE Brent crude futures and options by 9,811 contracts to 427,433 lots in the week to April 18.

In the week to April 21, U.S. drillers added oil rigs for a 14th week in a row, to 688 rigs, extending an 11-month recovery that is expected to boost U.S. shale production in May by the biggest monthly increase in more than two years.

U.S. crude production is at 9.3 million bpd C-OUT-T-EIA, up almost 10 percent since mid-2016, approaching the level of OPEC's top exporter Saudi Arabia.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2017 10:08 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkmenistan and Belarus plan to hold a session of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation May 10-11 in Minsk, the Turkmen government reported on April 24.

The sessions agenda includes a wide range of issues of the Turkmen-Belarusian cooperation in priority areas: trade and economy, science and education, sports, tourism, culture and healthcare.

Members of the Turkmen delegation are also planned to have several meetings in ministries of Belarus.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2017 11:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Iran, Russia, and Turkey - the three countries that initiated a ceasefire plan to resolve a bloody crisis in Syria- will hold another meeting at the level of experts to coordinate efforts for preparations to the fourth round of diplomatic negotiations in Astana for peace in Syria.

The meeting at the expert level will be held in Astana on May 2, Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi told reporters on April 25, RIA Novosti reported.

"Yes, everything will be in Astana," he said, answering the question where the next expert-level meeting will take place.

The 4th round of the Astana talks scheduled for May 3- 4.

Previous meeting of the expert group of countries-guarantors of armistice in Syria - Russia, Iran and Turkey - with the participation of the UN as observer was held in Tehran on April 18-19. There the sides discussed draft documents on a ceasefire regime in Syria, as well as the exchange of prisoners and abductees between the Damascus government and the rebels.

Diplomatic efforts to end fighting in Syria have gained additional impulse in recent months with the announcement of a ceasefire in the Arab country in early January.

Earlier this year, Astana hosted three rounds of high-level talks to end the military confrontation in Syria as part of that has become known as the Astana process. It brought together representatives of the three guarantor states, as well as the Syrian government and armed opposition, along with representatives of the UN, the United States and Jordan.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), controlling parts of it.

According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the countrys pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

On April 4, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces claimed that 80 people were killed and 200 injured in a suspected chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, putting the blame on the Syrian government. Damascus vehemently rejected the accusations and said militants and their allies were responsible.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Syrian Air Force hit a warehouse where militants stored chemical weapons, which were sent to Iraq. The Russian Foreign Ministry reminded that the Syrian government doesn't possess chemical weapons since mid-2014. Chemical weapons have been taken out of the country.

In response to the Khan Sheikhoun incident the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Shairat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. Russia described the attack as an aggression against a sovereign state.

This attack was seen as an undermining factor for all international efforts aimed at finding political solution to the Syrian conflict.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2017 14:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Ashgabat is hosting the next meeting of authorized representatives of Caspian littoral states, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry reported on April 25.

The event is being attended by delegations of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan to agree on a draft agreement on trade and economic cooperation in the region.

As it was noted during the meeting, over the past period, great work has been done to implement the agreements of leaders of the Caspian regions countries, says the message.

Ashgabats initiative on creation of permanent Caspian Economic Forum will also be considered during the meeting.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

Overcast with showers at times. Low 46F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Overcast with showers at times. Low 46F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Fire officials in Pasco County are reporting that a brush fire which shut down State Road 54 earlier Tuesday is, as of 9 p.m., approximately 80 percent contained.

State Road 54 shut down at Old Country Road 54

Florida Forest Service assisting in firefighting operation

MORE: Recent brush fire coverage by Bay News 9



The fires started Tuesday afternoon in the area of State Road 54 and Old Country Road 54. Pasco Fire Rescue said several fires were set in the Seven Springs area, covering about 29 acres.

S.R. 54 was shut down in both directions, and events at Arthur Engle Memorial Park were canceled. Students at Seven Springs Elementary School had to be let out early due to the fire and smoke.

Fire fighters called the fire "suspicious," and as crews got the fires more contained, arson investigators arrived on the scene.

"It's impacting us greatly, to have to come out and fight an intentionally set fire," said Shawn Whited of Pasco Fire Rescue. "But when we get out here our goals are to protect people, protect their property and not get anybody hurt."



The Florida Forest Service also assisted in the effort to control the fires.

Both directions of State Road 54 were re-opened as of 8:43 p.m. Pasco Fire Rescue reminded residents to use care while driving in the area of Old 54 and State Road 54 in the area of the Anclote River bridge due to persisting smoke.


Thousands of immigrants come to America every year with the hope of making a life and giving their children a better future.

Graduating Palmetto High senior Rosmery Diaz, daughter of migrant workers, honored

Diaz, 18, graduating in top 10 percent of her class

Diaz studying nursing in college

One graduating high school senior in Manatee County is living that dream and giving a special thanks to her migrant parents.

Palmetto High School senior Rosmery Diaz said her parents are her constant motivation. Diaz said her parents have spent years traveling the states doing migrant work.

Now, she says, it's her turn to work hard to make them proud and help provide for them.

"(My goals are to) get a career, and get a job where I could provide for them," Diaz, 18, said of her parents. "Since they provided for me for all these years."

This week, more than 20 students from Manatee County (including Diaz) whose parents are migrant workers are being celebrated for their successes and achievements.

"I would really like to be really successful," Diaz said. "So that my future kids will look up to me and do better and anything that they can."

Diaz's parents came to the U.S. from Guatemala just after she was born.

Since then, Rosmery and her sister had to learn to deal with moving every few months as their parents worked.

"When you move in the middle of your first semester of Algebra in another state and then you miss an exam, the challenges are, are you on track for graduation," said Kate Bloomquist, migrant education program coordinator. "It's very tough."

Not only is Diaz on track for graduation, she is finishing high school in the top 10 percent of her class. After next month's graduation, Diaz plans to pursue a nursing degree at State College of Florida in Bradenton.

"It was tough," Diaz said. "I had friends who would actually help me sometimes but other than that I was always on my own."
Uncle Johns Pride, a Tampa company, is recalling approximately 139,909 pounds of ready-to-eat smoked meat and poultry sausage products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Tuesday.

Tampa company recalling 139,909 pounds of smoked meat and poultry sausage

Metal magnet was found in the beef trim

Ready-to-eat smoked meat and poultry sausage items produced from March 8, 2017 through April 8, 2017

USDA recalls

The following products are subject to recall:

 10-lb. bulk boxes containing 26-28 pieces of GARCIA BRAND SMOKED SAUSAGE, 9 with case code 0-54912-20040-9.

 10-lb. bulk boxes containing 36-40 pieces of GARCIA BRAND SMOKED SAUSAGE, 7 with case code 0-54912-17020-7.

 10-lb. bulk boxes containing 26-30 pieces of GARCIA BRAND BEEF SMOKED SAUSAGE, 9 with case code 0-54912-17050-4.

 1.75-lb. boxed packages of GARCIA BRAND SMOKED SAUSAGE with case code 0-54912-20010-2.

 1.75-lb. boxed packages of GARCIA BRAND SMOKED HOT SAUSAGE with case code 0-54912-20050-8.

 1.75-lb. boxed packages of GARCIA BRAND CHICKEN SMOKED SAUSAGE with case code 0-54912-15020-9.

 1.75-lb. boxed packages of GARCIA BRAND BEEF SMOKED HOT SAUSAGE with case code 0-54912-20030-0.

 1.75-lb. boxed packages of GARCIA BRAND BEEF SAUSAGE with case code 0-54912-20020-1.

 3-lb. boxed packages of GARCIA BRAND BEEF SMOKED SAUSAGE with case code 0-54912-21010-1.

 5-lb. boxed packages of GARCIA BRAND BEEF SMOKED SAUSAGE with case code 0-54912-18020-6.

 10-lb. bulk boxes of EMAS BEEF & CHICKEN BREAKFAST SAUSAGE Bulk, Manufactured By: Uncle Johns Pride, LLC with case code 0-41085-01536-7.

The products subject to recall bear establishment number EST. 9179 or P-9179 inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to foodservice and retail locations in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

The problem was discovered when a metal magnet was found in the beef trim source product of the processed sausage products.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers.

Consumers can go to www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls or call (813) 685-7745 for specific information.
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A Beaumont woman sentenced to 65 years in prison for seriously injuring her newborn daughter could serve only 20 years after an appeals court ruled last week to vacate that sentence in favor of a lesser charge.

Christine Johnson, 23, was sentenced in 2015 to 20 years in prison for recklessly causing injury to a child by pulling her baby from her bed and fracturing her neck. She was sentenced to 65 years for causing serious bodily injury to a child and not seeking medical treatment, a first-degree felony. Those sentences were to be served concurrently.

Texas's Thirteenth Court of Appeals last week affirmed the sentence for the first charge, but found there was insufficient evidence to support the second, and affirmed instead a "lesser included charge."

The three judges ruled that Johnson's lack of seeking medical treatment when she knew "Baby Faith's" arm was purple and green and likely broken did not cause an additional separate "serious bodily injury" from that identified in the first count, but did cause Faith Mason physical pain, supporting a third-degree felony charge instead.

"We did not think the initial conviction was a just result," said Johnson's attorney Jamie Matuska, who said she is "pleased" with the favorable ruling on the sentence.

Matuska said the state can appeal the ruling, or the case will return to district court for a punishment trial for the new sentence. The third-degree felony charge has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, which would be served at the same time as the 20-year sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Pat Knauth said at Johnson's 2015 sentencing that the state "wanted to make sure she was never able to get out and bear children." She would not have been eligible for parole until 2043, when she will be 50 years old.

Matuska said Johnson could now be eligible for parole, and "has at least a chance to have a life" after prison.

Johnson brought Faith to a hospital in August 2013 at her cousin's insistence. Doctors determined the baby was having a seizure, had multiple fractures, and was bleeding internally, according to court documents. The injuries were determined to have been caused over a two to three week period. Faith was just over one month old at the time.

According to Department of Family and Protective Services spokeswoman Shari Pulliam, 3-year-old Faith, who still suffers from the effects of her injuries, was adopted last month.

Faith's father, Darrell Mason, pleaded guilty to intentionally causing Faith's injuries by omission and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/LizTeitz
Texas has the twelfth-highest rate for sexually transmitted diseases in the country, and Jefferson County is near the top of the list where one is concerned, according to an annual report recently released from the Centers for Disease and Prevention.



For the second year in a row, the number of diagnosed cases in all three nationally-reported STDs  chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis  increased in 2015, the CDC report said. The most significant increase was a 13-percent raise in gonorrhea cases, for which Jefferson County ranked 11 out of the 254 counties in the state for most-registered new cases.

> > MORE: Gonorrhea and other STDs are becoming untreatable



Jefferson County diagnosed 574 cases in 2015. Galveston County, in comparison, reported 339.

Jefferson County ranked No. 17 in Texas counties with new chlamydia cases  reporting 1,529 in 2015. Galveston County was No. 18, with Harris County topping the list.



In primary and secondary syphilis (the first two of four stages), Jefferson County ranked No. 11. Galveston County was No. 26. State-wide, 86-percent were men, and the highest age group was those 20-24.

> > MORE: Official says Galveston County increase due to online dating



HIV is not reported as an STD as it can be transmitted through several other means. The Texas Department of State Health Services said there was an 18-percent increase of Texans living with HIV in 2015.

Unlike other increases, however, that one represents an increase in life-expectancy due to advances in medication. Of the 82,745 Texans living with HIV in 2015, only 4,846 were cases diagnosed that year.

> > MORE: See previous year's numbers by state
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The nation's highest court announced on Monday it will not hear a former Beaumont ISD contract electrician's double jeopardy claims, clearing the way for a criminal trial in Jefferson County.

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari to Calvin Walker, preventing the case from moving forward into oral arguments.

Walker petitioned the court in November to hear his case, in which he argued that he could not be tried by the state in district court on charges similar to those he was previously tried for in federal court in 2011.

Jefferson County District Attorney Bob Wortham said on Monday he was "glad that they're not going to hear it."

"It's very disappointing," said Walker's attorney, Dick DeGuerin. "It's just ludicrous that we have to present the exact same facts to another jury that have already been presented to a jury in federal court."

Walker was accused of money-laundering and fraud in federal grand jury indictments in 2011. After his first trial ended in a mistrial, he pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of failure to pay taxes in a timely manner. All other federal charges were dismissed.

In 2014, Walker was indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury on four counts of fraud and two counts of money-laundering.

Walker fought the charges, challenging the indictments in district court and the state appeals court before taking his case to the Supreme Court, arguing double jeopardy and violations of his Fifth Amendment right.

The state claimed the "dual-sovereignty" exception, arguing that the state and the federal government were "separate sovereigns," and could each try him for violations against their laws.

The state also argued in a response filed in March that the tax offense Walker pleaded guilty to is "a separate offense" from those the state is seeking to try him for, and that the dismissal of the federal charges was "not turning on factual guilt or innocence," which state prosecutors said should allow for the dual-sovereignty claim.

Walker's lawyers, DeGuerin and Stanford Law School's Jeffrey Fisher, argued in the petition that the court should at least put limits on dual-sovereignty, and accused state authorities of acting as "a sham and a cover" for the federal prosecutors.

"There's no merit to those allegations," Wortham said.

DeGuerin said he believed the Supreme Court would hear the case because they previously indicated an interest in reconsidering that precedent.

"A year ago, two of the Supreme Court justices, (Ruth Bader) Ginsburg and (Clarence) Thomas, on opposite ends of the spectrum, called for a reexamination of the double jeopardy dual-sovereignty rule. I believe this was the perfect case to take it up," he said.

"It's obvious they just want another bite of the apple," DeGuerin said, calling the state trial "a huge waste of taxpayers' time and money."

Wortham said District Court Judge John Stevens will schedule a pre-trial hearing for the case before setting a trial date.

Walker previously told The Enterprise he is innocent of all charges.

LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/LizTeitz
Austin-based Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced in a statement today that four employers in Jefferson County have been awarded the company's top honor for workplace safety.

Those honorees include DSF Advanced Staffing, Mason Construction, Metalforms, and Richard Construction.

To qualify for the honor, a company must demonstrate its commitment to workplace safety by implementing an exemplary safety program and controlling workers' compensation losses, the statement said.

Texas Mutual distributed 200 safety awards to policyholders throughout the state this year, according to the statement.

Texas Mutual, open since 1991, represents 66,000 companies, many of which are small businesses, the statement said.

Have an item for In the Boardroom? Email LocalNews@BeaumontEnterpirse.com
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The Texas Observer is reporting that "Whole Woman's Health will reopen its Austin clinic this week after more than three years."

The Austin clinic and others in Beaumont, Midland, Lubbock and College Station closed after Texas HB 2 passed in 2013.

The five clinics, which provided abortions among other services, were unable to fulfill requirements implemented by the law, which included meeting the facility standards of ambulatory surgical centers and ensuring all doctors had admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision in June gave Whole Woman's Health the ability to reopen its Beaumont abortion clinic, but Amy Hagstrom Miller, owner of Whole Woman's Health, told The Observer that isn't likely to happen.

"I don't think we're going to see clinics reopening in places like Lubbock, Midland, College Station, Beaumont, or other towns that lost clinics," she told an Observer reporter. "They're small, don't have many patients, and can be the hardest to get a doctor to travel to or to get qualified staff that are pro-choice and can stand up to a community where they may be ostracized."

Andrea Ferrigno, corporate vice president for Whole Woman's Health, told the Enterprise in September that in order to reopen, "we have to find space, we have to find staff, physicians, equipment," all of which would require a lengthy process and significant funds.

The Beaumont clinic closed in March 2014.

The Observer said the Austin facility is scheduled to reopen on Friday. It is the first clinic in Texas to reopen since the Supreme Court decision.
A 46-year-old man was in critical condition Monday after he was shot several times by hospital security Saturday in the parking lot of Franciscan Health in Michigan City, Ind., according to the South Bend Tribune.

Indiana State Police are investigating the case to avoid a conflict of interest since the shooting officer and the other security guard on the scene were off-duty Michigan City police officers.

According to preliminary findings from the Michigan City police, the security officers were called to the hospital parking lot by a family member of the victim, Thomas Walsh III. The family member was concerned about Mr. Walsh because he was refusing to get out of his vehicle to seek medical help.

Mr. Walsh was sitting on the passenger side of a Ford F-150 pick-up when the uniformed officers approached him, according to the report. Police said Mr. Walsh withdrew a handgun at one point during their interaction and pointed it at the officer standing by the driver's side door. The officer on the passenger side withdrew his own weapon and shot Mr. Walsh several times, police said, according to the report.

Mr. Walsh was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Ind. His brother, Shannon Walsh, posted on Facebook that Mr. Walsh's condition was slightly better but that he was still "bad off," having been shot four times in the stomach and twice in the arm. He wrote that his brother was on life support and heavily sedated to keep him stable, according to the report.

A friend of Mr. Walsh, Layla Lawson, said he had been struggling with depression. Ms. Lawson also said Mr. Walsh's family believes he was trying to hand the gun over to the officer before he was shot.

The investigation into whether the shooting was justified could take several weeks, according to ISP Sgt. Ann Wojas.

Note: Becker's has reached out to Franciscan Health Michigan City for a comment and will update this article accordingly. We are also awaiting a status update on Mr. Walsh's current condition.
Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation into law designed to help eliminate surprise medical bills, according to a report on azfamily.com.

Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, sponsored the legislation, known as Senate Bill 1441. Under the law, she said patients will have options when it comes to challenging a surprise medical bill from an out-of-network provider, according to the report.

"If a patient gets a surprise bill, under my legislation they'll be able to call the [state] department of insurance which will set up a telephone call between the doctor, the insurance company and the patient," Sen. Lesko said. "In most of the cases it will be settled right then and there but if for some reason, it's not settled over the telephone call then it will go to a private arbitrator which will settle the amount and the patient will be out no more expense."

The new Arizona law is set to take effect in 2019, according to the report.

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A 16-member task force will review Massachusetts' community benefits guidelines and devise updates to the program for nonprofit hospitals and health maintenance organizations.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey created the task force to examine the AG's Community Benefits Guidelines, which were established in 1994 and updated in 2009. The program formalizes the approach nonprofit hospitals and HMOs take when implementing community benefit initiatives.



Under the voluntary guidelines, hospitals and HMOs submit annual reports to Ms. Healey's office detailing their community benefit efforts.



"There have been significant developments around community benefits at the federal and state levels since the AG's guidelines were last updated in 2009," according to a press release from the AG office. "The work of this task force will help modernize the guidelines in light of those developments and advances in the evidence base, and will explore recommendations to better align resources and standards across common programs to build the long-term capacity of our communities to improve health outcomes and reduce disparities."



Ms. Healey said program participants reported more than $750 million in community benefit expenditures annually between 2010 and 2015.



The task force will evaluate the program and issue recommendations during the next seven months, according to 22 WPLP.



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Artificial intelligence and machine learning have captured the imagination of healthcare IT stakeholders in the last two years. Amid the excitement and interest, IT experts are debating AI's role in direct patient care.

This content is sponsored by Intel

Having a thoughtful vision about AI implementation in the hospital setting is integral to realizing many of AI's opportunities in patient care, said John Sotos, MD, CMO of Industry Sales Group at Intel Corp., during a workshop April 18 at Becker's Hospital Review's 8th Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Dr. Sotos was joined by a panel of three healthcare IT experts to discuss their perceptions of AI and what needs to happen for the healthcare industry to embrace AI systems. Panelists discussed the potential problem of physician resistance to AI in patient care and the opportunity for AI to serve physician's professional needs. They also considered how regulations could encourage providers to adopt AI.

Defining artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is a nebulous term that can mean different things depending on who you talk to, Mr. Sotos said. He breaks AI into two basic categories: Rules-based AI systems and AI that uses machine learning and deep learning.

The simplest form of artificial intelligence is the rules-based system created in the 1960s. This system consists of a series of if-then statements translated into code. Many physicians and healthcare professionals are already comfortable using this type of AI because it can show the step-by-step process of how it came to a certain conclusion, said Lyle Berkowitz, MD, director of innovation at Northwestern Memorial HealthCare in Chicago. In other words, physicians can corroborate the AI findings and trust the conclusions.

The other types of artificial intelligence are machine learning and deep learning, the latter of which has grown exponentially since 2015. In both cases, programmers must pass immense amounts of data through the system for it to "learn" how to identify patterns. Unlike their rules-based cousin, machine learning and deep learning systems cannot give a straightforward explanation for how they arrived at a conclusion.

"The new AI systems have one Achilles heel  they can't explain themselves [to end-users]," Dr. Berkowitz said. Physicians ultimately have to decide whether to put their faith and their trust in the system, "which many physicians are uncomfortable doing," he added.

Directing patient care according to "blind faith" runs contrary to physicians' training in evidence-based medicine, especially when the physician is fully accountable for the final patient outcome. Moreover, physicians' foundational promise to "first, do no harm," means patient safety is the highest priority. Handing over partial control over the outcome can make clinicians uncomfortable.

Christus St. Michael Health System in Texarkana, Texas, faced a similar ethical dilemma when it earned a CMS Innovation Grant to implement an AI-based nurse training program. Nurses were trained to recognize early warning signs of congestive heart failure and sepsis in Medicare beneficiaries in post-acute facilities, aiming to reduce hospital readmissions. The program included a computerized clinical decision support system that guided nurses through evidence-based protocols after nurses detected symptoms.

"[The program] has an opportunity to make a difference in community members' lives," said Chris Karam, president and CEO of Christus St. Michael Health System and CEO of Christus Health in Irving, Texas. "But the AI tool is purely educational and isn't used on the clinical floor."

The clinical decision support system only trained to nurses to recognize early warning signs. The AI was not deployed to help nurses actively recognize symptoms on the floor by calling their attention to certain vitals or evidence in the medical records. "There's just too much reluctance around using [AI] on patient care," Mr. Karam said.

Physician perceptions of AI will determine its usability

Physician perceptions of artificial intelligence could be one of the greatest obstacles to AI adoption, panelists agreed. As the end-users of clinical technology, physicians play a central role in driving innovation efforts. The panelists debated what needs to happen for physicians to trust AI technology and routinely use it in their daily workflow.

Mark Gridley, president and CEO of Family Health Network in Chicago, suggested AI adoption will occur gradually as physicians and caregivers become increasingly familiar with AI software. "Think about IV pumps and defibrillators; clinical processes that used to be manual. Automated IV pumps and defibrillators were met with the same skepticism and reluctance physicians today express about AI," he said. When it comes down to it, he added, providers will learn to trust AI by using AI systems.

However, AI platforms must feature certain characteristics for physicians to use them at all, Dr. Berkowitz said. The painful adoption of EHRs taught IT developers the importance of designing technology around clinicians' preferred workflow. Technologies that introduce additional administrative steps or interrupt a physician's routine are more likely to fail, Dr. Berkowitz said.

"I continue to stress the importance of thinking about user-centered design and workflow, and how that's going to determine your [AI system] adoption rates and physician response," Dr. Berkowitz said.

Physicians benefit from using AI as a clinical assistant

The importance of reducing administrative burdens and improving physician efficiency cannot be understated, especially as the Association of American Medical Colleges expects a physician shortage of between 34,600 and 88,000 by 2025. Deploying AI systems as "clinical assistants" to improve physician efficiency and productivity emerged as a key theme throughout the panel discussion.

Each panelist said they were excited by AI's potential to improve clinician workflow by relieving physicians of tedious, clerical or manual processes, such as data entry or reporting. AI systems can accomplish clinical processes faster and with better accuracy than humans, helping physicians to work more efficiently, Mr. Sotos said.

"How AI is going to play out in healthcare in the next few years will have a lot to do with serving physicians," Mr. Gridley added. "The initial AI systems will be used as physician servants, until physicians are comfortable with deep learning and more mature AI."

Get involved in lobbying regulatory bodies about AI early

Another factor influencing AI adoption rates in healthcare is the regulatory environment.

Healthcare moves at a slower regulatory pace compared to other industries. Current law does not explicitly define the FDA's powers to regulate medical devices that rely on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Although healthcare professionals generally regard federal regulations as burdensome, and therefore inhibitive of progress, they can also be necessary to support and encourage innovation, Mr. Gridley said.

Consider the passage of HIPAA in 1996. Scientists developing sophisticated algorithms in 1980 did not have access to medical data because health records were owned by the hospital, not the patient. HIPAA changed the ownership model: If the patient gives consent, the hospital is required to send the record to the patient or a designee. Regulations giving organizations legal means to exchange patient health information have spurred innovation, including the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

"Providers need to get involved and lobby political and governing bodies to adapt new parameters that allow us to embrace AI as an industry," Mr. Gridley said. "AI is coming, and if we don't stay involved in directing it, AI will happen to us rather than with us."
Albert Davis, the leader in a fraud scheme that established a fake company impersonating Cerner, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, according to a Kansas City Star report. Mr. Davis was also ordered to pay part of the restitution costs.

In October 2016, Mr. Davis pled guilty to his involvement in the scheme. His co-conspirators include Christina Bryant, Richard Bryant, David Hernon and David Tayce. The individuals created a fake company, calling it Cerner LLC. They opened a bank account, bought an internet domain as well as produced fake documents, agreements and invoices for Cerner LLC. Additionally, they created fictitious employees, even using names of real Cerner employees.

Before being discovered, the conspirators managed to sell an MRI to a Texas hospital, creating fake invoices and received more than $1 million from the hospital. When the hospital contacted Cerner for assistance with system installation, they found out that the real Cerner had not been involved at all.

Mr. Davis' lawyers argued that his "his fierce sense of purpose and drive caused him to fly far off the track and into the realm of fraudulent criminal conduct," according to the report. They even pointed to the fact that Mr. Davis is a West Point Military Academy graduate as a testament to his character. They asked for a lesser sentence of eight years.

Prosecuting attorneys, however, countered that Mr. Davis had leveraged his West Point degree to gain people's trust.

"Like his West Point degree, this defendant knew that Cerner Corporation's reputation in the medical community would open doors otherwise unavailable to him," prosecutors noted in a written memorandum, according to the report.
Forty-six percent of physicians across the globe have witnessed an EHR malfunction jeopardize patient safety, according to a SERMO survey.

SERMO, a global social network for physicians, asked 3,086 physicians from 26 countries to answer one question: Has an EMR/EHR outage or malfunction ever jeopardized the health or safety of a patient?

Here's how the United States stacks up against eight other countries with more than 50 physician respondents.

1. United States: 55 percent

2. Canada: 46 percent

3. United Kingdom: 46 percent

4. Global average: 46 percent

5. France: 39 percent

6. Mexico: 37 percent

7. Venezuela: 37 percent

8. Spain: 33 percent

9. Italy: 29 percent

10. Germany: 9 percent
While mobile apps that directly connect healthcare consumers with physicians via video consultation improve access to care, they've also created a whole new problem: flashing.

Here are four things to know.

1. As telehealth apps gain mainstream recognition, providers have seen an influx of male patients exposing their genitalia to physicians. Bob Kocher, an investor in Doctor on Demand, told CNBC: "There was a period where it was happening to some of our doctors once a week."

Other telehealth providers, like American Well and MDLive, have witnessed similar issues. "It's the internet," Jay Parkinson, MD, CEO of Sherpaa, told CNBC. When Dr. Parkinson launched a partnership with Vice, in which Vice visitors were able to anonymously text questions to a physician via phone number, more than 30 participants sent photos of men's genitals.

2. Mr. Kocher told CNBC this form of sexual harassment does not impact female physicians more heavily, since users don't know which Doctor on Demand provider they will match with prior to the virtual visit.

3. Ian Tong, MD, CMO at Doctor on Demand, said the company cancels the accounts of those who misuse the service. He also said Doctor on Demand tries to connect these users to mental health support, and that the company closed free trials, which "tended to attract this kind of behavior," according to CNBC.

Likewise, American Well closes the accounts of offenders and seeks to verify their ID through credit card authorization, so users cannot create a second login.

4. However, those who misuse the telehealth service will often sign up for accounts under an alias to mask their identity. To create an account, most apps ask for basic personal and health insurance information. A virtual visit also costs a user between $40 and $50.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story stated Sherpaa had received inappropriate messages. Becker's Hospital Review updated the article on April 24 to reflect that a physician associated with Dr. Parkinson's partnership with Vice received these messages, not physicians associated with Sherpaa.


Vivek Murthy, MD, was asked to resign Friday from his post as the 19th surgeon general of the U.S., after just two years and four months.

"While I had hoped to do more to help our nation tackle its biggest health challenges, I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have served," Dr. Murthy said on Facebook.

During his tenure and travels, from "a remote fishing village in Alaska, a church in Alabama, an American Indian reservation in Oklahoma, [to] a school in Virginia," Dr. Murthy picked up a few lessons he plans to carry beyond his service as surgeon general, he wrote in the Facebook post.

Those lessons included:

1. Kindness is a source of strength.

2. The key to addressing addiction is to recognize the humanity in others.

3. Healing requires good communication and listening with an open mind.

4. Choose love over fear. "It is the world's oldest medicine. It is what we need to build a nation that is safe and strong for us and our children," he wrote.

Dr. Murthy handed over the role Friday to his deputy, Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, PhD, RN. "[K]now that our nation is in capable and compassionate hands," he wrote.

Read the full post here.

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Rapid City, S.D.-based Regional Health's board unanimously gave CEO Brent Phillips a vote of "full confidence," according to a Rapid City Journal report. The vote comes three weeks after the CEO received a vote of "no confidence" from physicians at Rapid City Regional Hospital.

Nearly 100 physicians from Rapid City Regional Hospital formally cast a vote of "no confidence" in Mr. Phillips, citing a number of reasons including high turnover and a breakdown of relations between the administration and staff.

In an April 24 meeting, the health system's board voted in support of Mr. Phillips and the work he has done. A statement released by the board reads, "we fully endorse and support Brent for his leadership and ability, as well as his vision and plans to create a world-class, community-based, health care system that positively impacts a large portion of South Dakota," according to the report.

Board Chairwoman Lia Green told the Rapid City Journal that she and other board members have heard the concerns raised by the physicians who want the CEO removed; however, she said that the board has also received letters from physicians who support Mr. Phillips.
Trustees of the University of Utah voted Tuesday morning to reinstate Mary Beckerle, PhD, as CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, according to STAT. The vote came in response to outrage among faculty of the university and institute upon Dr. Beckerle's abrupt dismissal last week.

Dr. Beckerle, who had served as CEO of the institute since 2006, told The Salt Lake Tribune last week she was informed via email she was let go from her role April 17 with no explanation why. Many faculty vocally opposed Dr. Beckerle's termination and protested the decision. They also signed an online petition calling for her reinstatement. The petition had 1,600 signatures as of April 19.

After a trustees meeting this morning, David Pershing, PhD, president of the University of Utah, issued a statement saying Dr. Beckerle is reinstated, "effective immediately," according to STAT.

"This past week has been an extraordinary and challenging time for our university and community," read the statement, according to the report. "Members of our campus community spoke out and made their perspectives known. It is now time, I believe, to return to our mission of serving our students, caring for our patients and pursuing critical research."

The dispute over Dr. Beckerle's abrupt firing pitted Jon Huntsman Sr., a billionaire philanthropist who helped found the institute, against Dr. Pershing and Vivian Lee, MD, PhD, CEO of University of Utah Health Care. He threatened to file "many lawsuits" in response to what he called a "power grab" by the university leaders, and also called the decision "pathetic," according to STAT. Mr. Huntsman, whose family owns The Salt Lake City Tribune, took out a full-page ad in two local newspapers to protest her firing. The Tribune also published an editorial calling for Dr. Lee to be let go.

Dr. Lee reportedly left the meeting Tuesday morning without speaking to reporters.
A former lawyer spoke to Becker's Hospital Review about how President Donald Trump's declaration to maintain a "pro-business" stance may prove difficult in terms of hospital and health system mergers and acquisitions activity.

Joseph Lupica, chairman of Newpoint Healthcare Advisors, spoke with Becker's Hospital Review about how President Trump's "pro-business" platform may create conflicting ideals in the world of healthcare M&A. Mr. Lupica said the individuals President Trump plans to appoint to the Federal Trade Commission will have to make a choice, in certain situations, as to which business endeavor they support, potentially pitting certain subsections of the industry against one another.

"While the President's campaign promises and early appointees signaled a pro-business stance[,] I would ask, 'pro which business?' In healthcare, monopoly practices by hospital businesses could injure other businesses like health plans and employers buying coverage. Take the proposed PinnacleHealth/UPMC merger  the Sherman and Clayton Acts look for monopolies and combinations that restrain competition. Whether the Pinnacle combination restrains competition depends on multiple factors like the definition of market boundaries to determine market share and whether customers (here, payers and the premium-paying businesses) have alternatives for buying services from providers in that market.

[But] think about how provider-sponsored health plans affect markets. If we look beyond the pricing of hospital services alone and examine the combined cost of insurance premiums and provider rates, deals like UPMC/Pinnacle actually offer the potential to lower healthcare spending in a region overall ... The new UPMC/Pinnacle will be a provider, but UPMC also brings its own health plan into central Pennsylvania [which] will actually introduce more competition into the payer marketplace. To deal with the intense competition, the UPMC Health Plan will probably have to make money the old-fashioned way  by offering lower premiums to the employer/patient market, and they can only do that with affordable rates from a network of cost-effective providers, which includes UPMC/Pinnacle  their own provider. The FTC might even smile ... at the downward pressure on costs in the employer/patient marketplace of premium payers."

If you would like to contribute a quote for this series, please email Alyssa Rege at arege@beckershealthcare.com to be featured in "Quotes from the Front Line," a daily series that highlights the joys and the frustrations medical personnel face while on the job.
Boston-based Lahey Hospital & Medical Center claims a contract it had with Bermuda's former premier Ewart F. Brown, MD, was routine, but the island's attorney general disagrees, according to the Boston Business Journal.

Bermuda's attorney general filed a lawsuit against Lahey in February accusing the hospital group of bribing Dr. Brown in exchange for preferential treatment in winning government healthcare contracts. In an interview with The Boston Globe in February, Dr. Brown defended his 20-year relationship with Lahey, claiming the lawsuit is racially and politically motivated.

Lahey subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which contained copies of the contract between Lahey and Dr. Brown. In its motion to dismiss, Lahey calls the contract a "routine business arrangement." However, Bermuda's lawyers argue that Lahey violated the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for certain entities to pay foreign government officials to assist in obtaining business, when it entered into the agreement.

"Simply put, Lahey is free to hire consultants to help it develop business in Bermuda, but not if those consultants are foreign government officials retained to secure an improper advantage over its competitors," the court filing states, according to the Boston Business Journal.

Lahey spokesman Christopher Murphy told the Boston Business Journal the system's agreement with Dr. Brown is being misrepresented for political reasons. "Lahey Hospital & Medical Center professional relationships, consulting agreements and business practices are fully compliant with all applicable laws and regulations and beyond reproach," he said.

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While the United States saw a record high of 33,000 opioid-related deaths in 2015, new research from the CDC suggests this tally may be short of the actual cost of life associated with the most lethal drug epidemic in American history, according to new CDC research.

The new findings were presented Monday at the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference in Atlanta. For the study, a research team led by Victoria Hall, a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer based in Minnesota, examined data compiled in the Minnesota Department of Health's Unexplained Death surveillance system from 2006 to 2015. The surveillance system contains data on unexplained deaths that resulted from a possible infectious cause. Because opioid users are known to be at higher risk for contracting pneumonia, researchers sifted through the database to identify deaths possibly linked to pneumonia and other infectious diseases in which opioids may have also played a role.

"Opioids at therapeutic or higher than therapeutic levels can impact our immune system," said Ms. Hall, during the conference, according to a CNN report. "It actually impacts your macrophages  one of your main immune cells that's going to help fight off infections  and it kind of dampens them down. It also dampens down your antibody response."

Analysis of the database identified 1,676 deaths attributable to infections. Among them, 59 cases displayed evidence of opioid use. These 59 deaths were not listed among Minnesota's opioid death count. Among the 59 deaths, 22 individuals had toxic levels of opioids in their system. Pneumonia was detected in 32 of the 59 deaths.

"It's quite concerning, because it means that the [opioid] epidemic, which is already quite severe, could potentially be even worse," said Ms. Hall, according to the report. "While my data doesn't support a percent that we're underestimating, it puts out the question: Is there something we need to look into further?"

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In today's complex healthcare system, hospitals continuously strive to enhance operations through a number of tools.

One tool used by The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore is the Judy Reitz Capacity Command Center, which launched in February 2016. Designed and built with GE Healthcare Partners, the NASA-inspired command center is comprised of hospital workers from various departments who analyze capacity through real-time and predictive analytics.

"It's a very cool tool, but it's just a tool serving a larger purpose," James Scheulen, chief administrative officer of emergency medicine and capacity management at Johns Hopkins, said at the Becker's Hospital Review 8th Annual Meeting on April 19 in Chicago. "It's unique not only in that Johns Hopkins has the command center, but it also helps the hospital actively manage the minute-by-minute capacity issues of the institution. We're looking at the demand, we're looking at the supply" and making decisions accordingly.

The command center uses a systems engineering approach, which includes device modeling and system simulation, as well as platform product baseline comparison, among other principles. Mr. Scheulen said other industries, such as aerospace, use a similar method.

"Clinicians will tell me these other industries don't take care of patients ... But all other industries also have to think about quality and safety as well as being efficient. So the conclusion is we should be learning from how they do operations," he said.

In the command center, about 20 hospital workers join forces with the goal of using gathered information to avert or resolve instances of crowding, reduce patient wait time, coordinate services and reduce risk. Through this work, Johns Hopkins is able to address not only a string of individual processes, but also a collection of systems, according to Mr. Scheulen.

Overall, Mr. Scheulen suggested hospitals balance three factors to enhance operations  the time patients spend in a bed, the number of beds and patient volume. He said hospitals must also consider operational variability.

"As you increase capacity, that's the time variability can most impact your operations. That's why in a factory, when robots do tasks, you can have high utilization. Hospitals are very different  cycle time isn't measured in seconds, and variability is significant," Mr. Scheulen said.

Bree Theobald, vice president of GE Healthcare Camden Group, said these are the exact factors officials considered when creating the command center at Johns Hopkins.

"We wanted to re-engineer the system to be more efficient and use the command center to take us to the next level," she added. "We also wanted to shift our tipping point, by reducing variation, which allows us to feel less full at higher occupancies."

She added the command center is helping Johns Hopkins reach an overarching goal: to expand productivity while ensuring care is administered to the "right patient, [in the] right place and at the right time."
Here are seven contract impasses and agreements that took place between payers and providers in April so far.

1. Baptist Memorial replaces Methodist Le Bonheur in BCBS of Tennessee network

Memphis, Tenn.-based Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. will replace Memphis-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare as an in-network hospital in BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's Network S.

2. UnitedHealthcare, Premier still lack contract agreement ahead of deadline

Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health and Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare have yet to ink a provider agreement as of April 21.

3. Hartford HealthCare, UnitedHealthcare sign 2-year contract ahead of deadline

Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare and Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare signed a two-year provider network agreement.

4. RWJBarnabas, Aetna resolve contract dispute

West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health and Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna signed an agreement to continue in-network care for Aetna members at RWJBarnabas hospitals and physician facilities.

5. Indian River Medical Center, Aetna at impasse over contract

Vero Beach, Fla.-based Indian River Medical Center and Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna may end their contract if negotiations between the parties fail.

6. CHI St. Vincent, UnitedHealthcare ink contract

Little Rock, Ark.-based CHI St. Vincent, part of Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives, settled a contract dispute with Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare.

7. Independence Blue Cross, University of Pennsylvania Health System ink 5-year contract

Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross and Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania Health System contracted to share responsibility for quality and cost of care.
The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services moved to place Portland, Ore.-based Zoom Health Plan in receivership April 21.

Here are five things to know.



1. State regulators made the decision after they discovered an inconsistency in Zoom's financial reporting, according to a Portland Business Journal report.

2. DCBS spokeswoman Lisa Morawski told Portland Business Journal regulators have "been on site working with the company and became aware of a material difference between what was in their financial statement and their actual financial condition. The discrepancy raised enough questions to have us go into receivership. It's hard to say if we would have taken the step otherwise."

3. The state was supervising Zoom following its decision to exit the individual and small group markets next year. The health plan announced its exit April 5.

4. A judge signed a request for DCBS Director Patrick Allen to become the health plan's receiver, according to the report. Mr. Allen said the move aims to protect Zoom's less than 2,000 individual and small group health plan members and ensure claims are paid. Zoom said it has $9 million in reserves to pay for claims.

5. All policies will end Dec. 31. However, the health plan's ZoomCare health clinics will not be affected by the decision.
Salt Lake City-based Amedica has been granted marketing clearance for its Valeo interbody fusion device in Australia.

Here are four things to know:

1. The Valeo product line is made of Amedica's proprietary medical grade silicon nitride ceramic.

2. Ideal for fusion due to its nanostructured surface, osteoconductivity, osteoinductivity, anti-microbial properties and ease of radiographic imaging, Valeo's makeup is ideal for fusion.

3. Amedica develops and commercializes silicon nitride.

4. Amedica has published 45 papers in peer-reviewed journals, emphasizing the material's success in previous Australian-based trial runs.

Amedica CEO Sonny Bal said, "We look forward to working with Australian surgeons, and providing them with improved options for spinal fusion surgery."

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Many physicians hope HHS Sec. Tom Price, MD, will help small practices benefit from potential changes to MACRA, according to a report by The Hill.

Here are six things to know:

1. Physicians specifically hope the changes ease their reporting burden and help them adopt advanced alternative payment models.

2. Only 10 percent of physicians are expected to partake in APMs this year, with the rest presumably remaining in the lower-risk but less rewarding Merit-Based Incentive Payment System.

3. Physicians feel reporting requirements reduce the time they are able to spend with patients.

4. Sec. Price is expected to extend former CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt's flexible reporting requirements.

5. A recent Deloitte survey found half of physicians haven't ever heard of the new payment law, according to The Hill.

6. AMGA Vice President of Public Policy Chet Speed believes Sec. Price's career as a small practice physician will likely keep him from increasing participation requirements.

American Academy of Family Physicians President John Meigs Jr., said, "We need relief from the regulatory hassle and administrative burden of current regulationsThis burden is interfering with patient care and is a major contributor to the rise in physician burnout and lack of resiliency."

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Allied Physical Medicine and R3 Stem Cell partner to offer stem cell procedures  4 details



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5 countries prioritizing stem cell treatments
China has reportedly banned dozens of Muslim names like Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam and Saddam in Muslim-majority Xinjiang province. Human Rights Watch reportedly said the names were banned as they could exaggerate religious fervour. Reportedly, children with banned names will not be able to obtain a "hukou," or household registration, essential for accessing public school and other social services. The move is reportedly aimed at fighting terrorism in the region.
Amid high tensions and a military buildup in the region, North Korea's military conducted huge live-fire drills on Tuesday. Defense Minister Pak Yong Sik issued new warnings that North Korea would defend itself against the American imperialists. However, the United States and its South Korean and Japanese allies showed their muscle as well by conducting military exercises of their own.
Judith Totten and Colin Dundas of Upstream Ltd, last years winner of the Best Small/Medium Business of the Year

Flybes new Chief Executive Officer Christine Ourmieres-Widener celebrates International Womens Day in Belfast City Airport with an all female team including Board Member Liz McMeikin and NI General Manager Andrea Hayes

Christine Ourmieres-Widener is the chief executive officer of Flybe, sponsor of the Best Established Small/Medium Business in the 2017 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank.

The French native took on the role after previous posts including chief global sales officer at American Express Global Business Travel, and almost five years as chief executive of CityJet.

Q: You took on the role of chief executive in January - how is the new job?

A: I've just completed my first 100 days in post and am thoroughly enjoying being back in the airline industry.

Flybe is very different from the previous airline I was with - but in a good way. It's much bigger and, as the largest independent regional carrier in the UK domestic market, operate 53% of these flights. Regional connectivity is at our core and for passengers in Northern Ireland this is essential. I see tremendous opportunity for Flybe in Belfast which is a big base for us.

With eight aircraft based here and almost 200 staff employed, we have plans to improve our product which includes putting the focus on our customers. For example, we have just announced our winter schedule that, for our Belfast customers, features 13 routes with a choice of up to 522 flights per week. Within that schedule, we have amended timings and added extra rotations on existing services to better meet the needs of our passengers.

Q: Why are awards such as the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards important?

A: We have specifically chosen to sponsor the Best Established Small/Medium Business category as it reflects an integral part of Northern Ireland plc.

Whilst SMEs form the backbone of any local economy they so often get overlooked and remain in the shadows of the big corporates.

Awards like this help to recognise and reward the many achievements and successes of the SME sector.

They encourage aspiration and are not only a great morale booster for employee teams but also provide a shop window for potential customers.

By supporting this category, we aim to shine a light on companies which are already playing a significant role and making a positive contribution to Northern Ireland.

Q: What are the challenges facing Flybe?

A: As with every business, we have internal and external challenges.

Internally, the cost of doing business is a constant pressure and anywhere we can strip out costs and streamline operations without losing service or quality we will do it.

Externally there are all manner of things which are not within our control such as political uncertainty and global fuel prices.

However, we can seek to influence decisions which impact us such as air passenger duty (APD) and Brexit.

Flybe continues to fight hard for the abolition of APD which we see as a punitive tax and which has a direct effect on the local economy and of course our passengers.

Air travel must be affordable so that more people can be encouraged to fly.

APD is an additional burden on an already price-sensitive market.

Similarly, we will join our industry partners and be very vocal if the outworkings of Brexit seek to impose restrictions on air travel.

Q: What's next in the pipeline for Flybe?

A: I want Flybe to become the best regional airline in Europe. There is much still to do but I believe that most of the foundations are already there. We have excellent and well-trained people. Our aircraft fleet is now planned to be appropriate to our needs.

My main focus is now on optimising our network. It is not just a question of the choice of destinations, but also about flying at the right times to suit both our business and leisure passengers.

We are also working more closely with our trade partners such as travel management companies and leisure operators who can help to bring direct passengers growth and potentially new charter business.

Shortlist for Best Established Small/Medium Business sponsored by Flybe
The Belfast Telegraph has today announced it's partnering with Digital DNA as official media partner in Northern Ireland for Digital DNA 2017, taking place on June 6 and 7 in St George's Market, Belfast.

Digital experts from organisations including Google, Twitter, YouTube, Adobe, Motorola and Microsoft will give their insights into cutting-edge technology and digital trends this summer as Belfast plays host to over 2,000 delegates from over 25 countries.

Digital DNA brings together people from across the globe working in every industry and job role to share knowledge and build relationships.

The event will inform delegates across the five key themes of Marketing, Data, Security, FinTech and Innovation. As digital technology disrupts businesses and organisations from every sector, the event will help find the solutions and tactics to increase efficiency and grow your organisation.

Keynote speakers, interactive workshops, master classes and panel discussions will look at topics like spyware, data protection, content marketing, analytics, cloud storage, bitcoin, mobile payments, growth hacking and responding to consumer and market demands.

Joanne Hayden, marketing director of the Belfast Telegraph, said: "We are proud and excited to become media partner of Digital DNA 2017.

"It is the go-to technology event on the island of Ireland, and a vital showcase for everything Northern Ireland has achieved - and is striving for - in the digital space.

"We will use our own digital platforms, from belfasttelegraph.co.uk to jobfinder.co.uk, to boost Digital DNA in every way we can, and look forward to a thrilling event in June."

Gareth Quinn, Digital DNA founder and managing director, said he hoped the programme will give businesses the tools and support to get to the next level.

"Since Digital DNA was first delivered in 2013 we have sought to deliver an event which reflects the ambition and calibre of our local business and tech community," he said.

"Year-on-year, we have grown Digital DNA into the leading business and technology event on the island of Ireland. Although we bring together thousands of delegates, it is the impact that our events have - providing practical knowledge and creating effective, long lasting relationships - that has allowed us to grow so effectively.

"With a world-class partner in Deloitte Digital for the second year running, an amazing venue in St George's Market and speakers from some of the biggest brands on the planet, we're confident that Digital DNA will again be the must-attend business and technology event of 2017.

"Attracting a mix of traditional businesses and technology professionals, Digital DNA is an eclectic mix of individuals who wish to gain an understanding of the continually changing and insurmountable impact technology has.

"With the Belfast Telegraph as our official media partner for Northern Ireland, we're excited to be working with a partner that has the same passion and enthusiasm for business as we do. We look forward to sharing great insights into the event and world-class knowledge from our speakers and partners."

One notable keynote speaker is Ruth McEntee, head of sales in Ireland for YouTube. Ruth has been working at Google for over 11 years.

In her current role as head of sales for Ireland, she leads a team of digital consultants to top Irish companies in the travel, retail and CPG space and is also responsible for driving the YouTube strategy in the Irish market.

Previously Ruth worked in Google London in both the YouTube and Google search teams; developing search and video strategies for traditional UK retailers and online brands.

Over the coming weeks, Belfast Telegraph will bring you interviews from global leaders, share insights into the build of the venue and the team behind Ireland's leading business and technology event.

With a social programme covering some of Belfast's world renowned bars and night-life and an exclusive dinner and awards ceremony in St Anne's Cathedral, Digital DNA 2017 is an unmissable event this summer.
While it may be comforting to some to read that there have been 70 construction cranes visible over the centre of Dublin, one would hope that the figure set off alarm bells in government buildings.

With nearly every one of those cranes being used for the construction of new offices in anticipation of a post-Brexit exodus of bankers from London and in expectation of the more usual flow of FDI arrivals, the burning question is not one of 'do we have enough office space to meet demand?'

The real and more important issue at this point is: 'If they come, where are the workers going to live?'

The gravity of the situation, if it wasn't clear already to the Republic's Housing Minister Simon Coveney and his Cabinet colleagues, was certainly driven home with the publication by the CSO of the housing data from the 2016 census.

Leaving aside the shocking yet entirely unsurprising finding that Ireland's total housing stock increased by just 0.4% (8,800 units) since 2011 compared to the 12.7% increase recorded between 2006 and 2011, the CSO's analysis of the availability and profile of residential accommodation in the capital is very worrying.

In a note on the subject, agents Knight Frank drew attention to the fact that the vacancy rates in south Dublin and Fingal sit at an incredibly low 13 and 17 housing units per 1,000 respectively.

But if we're to deal with the specific accommodation problem a potential post-Brexit influx of financial services professionals or the continuing stream of FDI entrants poses for Dublin's CBD and docklands, it's clear that the government and Dublin City Council need to get over what Knight Frank refer to as the "ideological opposition" to building height, to allow for accommodation of sufficient scale to be built in the areas where it is needed most. Certainly, if opportunities to attract FDI and post-Brexit relocators haven't been lost or otherwise foregone, the deepening housing crisis that CBRE's head of research Marie Hunt has said is already being used by other European competitor cities to 'spin' against the Republic of Ireland will damage its prospects in the very near future.
Among the new routes is a direct flight from Belfast to Naples, in southern Italy.

Belfast International Airport is getting six new sun-spot routes with Jet2 next summer as it continues its fightback against Dublin, it can be revealed.

It's understood Jet2 will add six new destinations from the airport, and another two routes which are already serviced by other airlines. Among the new routes is a direct flight from Belfast to Naples, in southern Italy.

The announcement is set to be made tomorrow, as around 1,200 delegates are packing into Belfast's Waterfront Hall for the Routes Europe conference.

"There's a very positive announcement on Wednesday and a number of new routes will be announced, and a number of new jobs. We think upwards of 50," Belfast International managing director Graham Keddie said.

"We have upgraded our growth forecast from 5.4 million (passengers in 2017) to 5.6 million, and that's conservative. This conference has actually given us some good chatter. If you get people talking to you, you've always got a good chance of getting them over the line. Once you get them here, they discover what this place is. 95% of people at this event have never been to Northern Ireland."

It's believed the airport could also add at least one new route with another existing airline next year.

But Mr Keddie says that the number of people from Northern Ireland flying from Dublin Airport has slowed.

The flow of passengers to Dublin has slowed as our fightback shows results. Choice and price are crucial, but currency exchange rates also play a part.

We are seeing increased number of southern registrations in our car parks, and we believe that is up over 50%.

We are seeing substantial numbers of southern passport holders using us.

Its believed growth in the number of Northern Ireland passengers flying from Dublin dropped in 2016. The airport is yet to release a breakdown of official figures, but its understood it will do so in the next few weeks.

A year earlier, a record 1.2 million journeys were taken by Northern Ireland residents through Dublin Airport  an increase of 37% on the previous 12 months.

Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer of Ryanair, said part of the decrease in Northern Ireland passenger number growth could be down to the airlines huge expansion in Belfast.

It currently has around a dozen routes from Belfast International Airport.

Us going from zero to 1.3 million (passengers in Belfast) is a key part of that, he explained.

But its possible for Belfast and other airports to get more of that.

He said there remains a lot of scope for more expansion at Ryanair.

The moving parts are uncertainty on Brexit and unfortunately Northern Ireland is part of that.

Steven Small, Routes Europe brand director, said tomorrows Waterfront event was where air route deals get done.

And speaking about renewed calls to scrap air passenger duty (APD)  a 13 tax on most flights out of the UK  Belfast City Airport boss Brian Ambrose said it would deliver a step change for the tourism industry.

He said his airport lost a Madrid route last year to Cork, and was told the reason was the lack of APD in the Irish Republic.

The additional income to the economy will offset that loss (from the block grant), so its a net benefit, Mr Ambrose said.
He compared the events to todays refugee crisis.

Christian Bale is hopeful that his latest film will lead to more awareness of the mass killing of Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

The actor stars as a journalist in The Promise, which is set during the period Armenians say 1.5 million of their people were killed by the Ottomans, starting in April 1915  a figure modern-day Turkey disputes.

Christian told the Radio Times he was not aware of the events before reading the screenplay.

I am embarrassed to say  but I suspect that its the same for many people  that I had not heard of the Armenian genocide.

Its tragic that so many were killed and people dont know. I hope in some way this film will change that, he added.

The Batman star compared the events, which included forced deportation of Armenians, to todays refugee crisis.

We were seeing the so-called deportations, which were really death marches, on TV. Its terribly sad to say that the film couldnt be more relevant now with the refugee crisis.

Christian added the denial of genocide by Turkey was a bit like climate change argument the facts dont support the deniers and yet they refuse to accept it.

The dispute over whether the deaths caused by the Ottomans represented genocide centres on the degree to which the killings were orchestrated.

According to the UN, genocide involves acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay are among the countries which recognise the conflict as genocide.

This weeks Radio Times is out now.
Boots has just launched a new HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination service for boys and Jeff Brazier is fronting the campaign

Boots has just launched a new HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination service for boys and Jeff Brazier is fronting the campaign. "As a family, we know first-hand how heartbreaking the consequences of HPV can be," says the TV presenter, whose former partner Jade Goody died of HPV-related cervical cancer in 2009 aged 27, leaving their two young sons Bobby and Freddie, now aged 12 and 13, without a mother.

"Although awareness of female HPV-related diseases is relatively high, many parents don't realise how HPV-related conditions and cancers can affect boys as well as girls.

"It's essential that parents are educated on this and realise there are options for protecting their sons as well as daughters."

So why aren't boys currently included in the NHS HPV vaccination programme, and do they really need the jab?

Girls aged 12-13 have been vaccinated against HPV through the NHS programme since 2008 to protect them against cervical cancer.

According to Cancer Research UK, around 3,100 people are diagnosed with this type of cancer in the UK each year and almost all (99.7%) are related to HPV. However, HPV is very common and it's important to remember that catching HPV does not mean you are automatically going to get cancer. Boys aren't included in the NHS HPV vaccination programme as they can't get cervical cancer.

Emerging evidence, however, shows that as well as causing cervical cancer in women and genital warts in both sexes, HPV can also be responsible for penile (47%), anal (80-85%) and some head and neck (16%) cancers in men. In 2009, soon after the girls' HPV vaccination programme began, there were more than 6,500 cases of penile, anal and oropharyngeal cancers.

That's why gender-neutral HPV vaccination campaign group HPV Action, believes boys should be vaccinated too. "Not vaccinating boys, and thus protecting men, suggests we don't value the health of men very much," says Peter Baker, HPV Action campaign director. "HPV is an equal opportunity virus - it doesn't care who it infects, so you need an equal opportunity response."

Worldwide, HPV is the most widespread of all sexually-transmitted viruses, and four out of five (80%) people will contract some type of the virus at least once in their lifetime.

TV's Dr Christian Jessen explains the virus is spread by close skin-to-skin or sexual contact with a previously infected person. "Vaccinating against HPV is as important for males as it is for females," he stresses.

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Although vaccinating girls doesn't directly protect males, it does give them 'herd protection', meaning that while boys aren't immunised themselves, most of the females they're likely to have sex with would be, so they'd be less likely to catch HPV. This is one of the arguments against including boys in the NHS vaccine programme, particularly where cost-effectiveness is concerned. However, more is now known about the direct risks to males from the virus.

Also, while uptake rates among girls are generally very high, not all of them opt to have the vaccine. "Then there's men who have sex with men, who are completely unprotected by the vaccination programme aimed at girls," says Baker, who also points out that people may be at risk when having sex with somebody from a country that doesn't have a vaccination programme at all.

"An increasing list of countries are vaccinating both sexes, so this isn't some kind of weird idea," says Baker. "It's becoming a widespread global public health policy and the UK is in danger of being left behind."

Despite considering the matter since 2013, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert body which advises the government on vaccinations, has yet to make a decision on whether to extend the NHS HPV vaccination programme to boys. Progress will next be reviewed in June.

Although it's not clear exactly how much it would cost to include boys, HPV Action thinks it would be considerably cheaper than money currently spent treating genital warts caused by HPV (which affects 48,000 men a year) and HPV-related cancers in men.

Boots UK now offers a private HPV vaccination service, costing 300 for a course of two vaccinations for 12-14-year-olds, or 450 for people aged 15-plus who need a course of three. Visit boots.com/health-pharmacy-advice/ vaccinations/hpv
An election pledge by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to increase the number of UK holidays could damage the economy, according to the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Corbyn has announced that if Labour wins the General Election in June, it would seek to create four new UK-wide holidays on the patron saint's day of each of the home nations.

If the proposal came to fruition, it would mean that workers in Northern Ireland would be off on St David's Day on March 1, St George's Day on April 23 and St Andrew's Day on November 30.

Conversely, the English, Welsh and Scots would get a break on St Patrick's Day.

England and Wales have eight bank holidays a year, Scotland has nine and Northern Ireland has 10.

The Labour Party claims that the average number for other G20 countries is 12. While St Patrick's Day is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and St Andrew's Day means a break for the Scots, St George's Day and St David's Day are not recognised in the same way.

However, a spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce told the Belfast Telegraph that "another three days out of the office for Northern Ireland workers could potentially be very damaging to the local economy".

"The local economy already has the lowest productivity level in the United Kingdom," the business group said.

"It is currently at 19% and is continuing to widen despite the development of various economic plans."

Announcing his proposals Jeremy Corbyn said: "These holidays will be a chance for workers to spend time with their families in their communities with friends. But they will also be a chance to celebrate the national cultures of our proud nations."

The Labour leader said he would also seek the support of the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales before putting the plans into operation.

The spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce continued: "April and May already contain bank holidays so additional ones would place further strain on productivity rates."

Reacting to Mr Corbyn's proposal, a Conservative spokesman said: "The British economy would be on a permanent holiday if Mr Corbyn got near Downing Street."
Green Party leader in Northern Ireland Steven Agnew has said "no" to a pro-remain pact in the General Election.

The Green Party have said they won't enter into a pro-remain pact for the General Election.

Following discussions on Tuesday the party leader Steven Agnew said the SDLP's choice of Alasdair McDonnell as south Belfast candidate "effectively put to an end any chance of an agreed candidate in that constituency".

He said they cannot enter into a pact with parties and individual candidates who "fall short" of their "clear vision for a progressive society based on stability and sustainability".

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"The decision has followed discussion amongst party members and our party Executive. We also met with the SDLP, Sinn Fein and the UUP as parties who had previously take a pro-remain stance," he said.

The Green Party has a clear vision for a progressive society based on stability and sustainability. We cannot enter into a pact with parties and individual candidates that fall short of that.

The SDLPs choice of Alasdair McDonnell as a South Belfast candidate effectively put to an end any chance of an agreed candidate in that constituency. We believe that Clare Bailey is much better placed to unify the electorate.

The Green Party could not ask voters to support Alasdair McDonnell. Mr McDonnell doesnt trust women, as evidenced by his position at the forefront of the SDLP anti-choice policy.

We also met with Sinn Fein about a pro-remain pact. However, they failed to provide any indication that they would take their Westminster seats.

It is impossible to oppose hard Brexit at every turn without taking seats in parliament.

We did meet with the UUP but it is clear that they have abandoned their-pro remain principles."

Mr Agnew added: I requested a meeting with Alliance leader Naomi Long and she refused to engage with the Green Party on this issue. I am disappointed that Alliance chose to spurn further co-operation among pro-remain parties.

The irony is that it was Alliance who turned this into a sectarian issue.

My final message is to voters  weve been right to explore the possibility of a pro-remain pact. However it became clear that there was too much distance between the parties and too little time to bridge the gap.

Were committed to putting you first, to put people ahead of party politics. This means opposing Brexit, protecting our public services and opposing rampant austerity. After the election we co-operate with any party seeking to achieve these aims.

We will announce a strong team of Green candidates in due course.

Sinn Fein's Michelle ONeill said failure to agree to a pact "may gift seats to pro-Brexit, pro-Tory and anti-equality hardliners".

Ms ONeill said: I am disappointed that parties which are opposed to Brexit and Tory cuts and which are pro equality have not been able to agree a progressive alliance to contest the Westminster election.

This will almost certainly gift seats to some of the most pro Brexit hardliners.

I would urge those parties to reconsider.

Sinn Fein remains committed to maximising the anti-Brexit vote in this election.

In response the Alliance party said the Green Party was now "tainted from chasing a nationalist pact" and said it remained happy to talk to any party on matters of "common cause around policy matters".

A spokesman said: "The Green Party have belatedly recognised their own naivety in even considering pacts, and have become more desperate in doing in the past few days.

"To think Alasdair McDonnell, a socially conservative incumbent SDLP MP, would step aside in South Belfast or Sinn Fein would renounce their long-standing and counterproductive abstentionist policy was never realistic.

"The Green Party is now tainted from chasing a nationalist pact and their seeming desire to turn several constituencies into a sectarian headcount.

"Alliance has been clear from the outset in our rejection of pacts as a matter of principle and we have not been interested in giving any mixed message on that point from having any meetings on the matter.

"We remain happy to talk to any party on matters of common cause around policy matters, including on how we can avoid a hard Brexit and secure a special deal for Northern Ireland."
Over 800 members of the public attend a public meeting in the Canal Court Hotel in Newry about the closure of the 24-hour A&E department at Daisy Hill Hospital.

Almost 1,000 people attended a public meeting in Newry last night to take a stand against the feared closure of Daisy Hill Hospital's Accident and Emergency department.

There was standing room only at the Canal Court Hotel as hundreds voiced their support to retain full-time emergency services at the hospital.

It comes after concerns were raised that a 1m contingency plan for staff shortages could be the first step towards the closure of the A&E department.

Proposals were approved that the services should be suspended at night.

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Campaigners, however, say that patients will be forced to undertake a long trip to Craigavon Area Hospital during the night.

Sean McManus from the Newry Action Group spoke at last night's event.

"We had a tremendous meeting, the hall was packed with people," the Kilkeel man said.

"The message going forward is that the Southern Trust has to think again and think very seriously about their proposal to close the A&E.

"There was an empty seat for the Trust who didn't come to the meeting."

Medical representatives from the hospital also attended, as well as local politicians.

DUP Assembly member Jim Wells said: "This is not a debate about money but a debate about the fact that 10 consultants are required to run the A&E but they have two permanent staff and the rest are locums who will not be available during the summer.

"A solution to this problem that affects all hospitals in Northern Ireland needs to be found."

In a statement, the Southern Trust said: "Trust members will be updated on the ongoing efforts to secure a regional approach to safely maintaining the department on a 24/7 basis in light of the ongoing staffing challenges."
Police are appealing to Aoife or anyone who knows of her whereabouts to contact police

The family of missing Aoife O'Hare, from the Cookstown area, is becoming increasingly concerned for her welfare.

The 17-year-old was last seen in the Market Square area of Dungannon around 8.40am on Monday morning.

It is believed that she may have travelled to Republic of Ireland.

Aoife is described as 5ft 2" tall, with long light brown/blond hair and when last seen was wearing a blue jumper with pink writing, black trousers and carrying a cream coloured satchel with laptop.

Police are appealing to Aoife or anyone who knows of her whereabouts to contact police in Dungannon on 101 quoting reference 1012 of 24/04/17.
Prof Keith Mason, Centre for Air Transport Management at Cranfield University, left; Bernard Lavelle, Sales Director at London City Airport; and Gordon Dewar, CEO of Edinburgh Airport, right, during the Routes Europe live conference event (Routes Europe/PA)

Detaching European aviation regulations from the wider Brexit process would be a win-win for the UK and the EU, senior airport executives have said.

Continuing the current "open skies" arrangements that allow carriers to fly anywhere within the European Union would be of economic benefit to the whole continent, a major industry conference in Belfast was told.

Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, told the Routes Europe event that a precedent had been set by allowing Morocco, a non-EU nation, access to the open skies deal.

He said as the accord that created a free market for European air travel was not one of the core founding EU treaties it could theoretically be left alone, or deferred, without either the UK or EU losing face.

"One of the big strengths we have is that the Government, without compromising any position, or indeed the European countries, without compromising their position, could put aviation on the side and say 'we are not touching it, because it is not part of the EU agreements'," Mr Dewar told the final day of the three-day conference in the Waterfront Hall.

"Just saying 'we'll come to that later' might be the best thing for us and that could be ten years later, so we could actually run as we are without challenging any of the article 50 (process) or any of the legal structures at all, simply because it is not an EU (core) agreement to start with."

Bernard Lavelle, sales director at London City Airport, told the event that aviation was a vital "enabler of trade".

"Without aviation the whole of European trade is going to be affected," he said. "This is why I am quite passionate about recognising that this is a European issue and together we should be looking to try to continue some form of open skies element to aviation."

He said it was rare for airports and airlines to speak with such unanimity on one issue.

"Almost uniquely airlines and airports are looking for the same thing, which is the continuation of today's open skies," he said.

Mr Lavelle said he believed officials in the UK appreciated the significance of resolving the challenges Brexit presented to the aviation industry.

He urged counterparts at European airports and airlines to lobby their respective governments to ensure the EU also made it a priority.

"The industry needs Europe to come to play in this game, not just the UK," he said.
The DUP and Sinn Fein are at loggerheads over who to blame for public spending cuts in Northern Ireland.

Senior teachers have warned jobs could be lost after Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire published indicative figures for a budget he would pass if Stormont's warring parties do not reach a deal.

The Democratic Unionists accused republicans of collapsing devolved powersharing in January to avoid making unpopular decisions.

Sinn Fein's leader at Stormont Michelle O'Neill lambasted the Tories for "savage" spending reductions and accepted difficult choices lay ahead.

Outgoing East Antrim DUP MP Sammy Wilson said: "Sinn Fein brought down the Assembly, not over Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), but due to their desire to avoid making any unpopular decisions.

"That makes them not fit for government then, and if they continue that mind-set, not likely to want to be in government now."

He accused former Sinn Fein finance minister Mairtin O Muilleoir of dodging decisions last year and never presenting a draft budget to his Stormont counterparts.

Politicians will decide on Thursday whether to halt talks to restore powersharing until the General Election is over in June.

Mr Brokenshire said he had taken advice on his draft budget proposal from civil servants in Northern Ireland and sought to reflect the priorities of the local parties before the Assembly was dissolved in January.

It includes nearly 42 million of unallocated funding for day to day spending.

A proposed 2.5% cut would equate to a loss of 50 million for education.

Mrs O'Neill blamed "big difficult" decisions to come on the Tory government deciding to attack public services, including the NHS and education.

"We will be very up front about it, the cuts to public services as a result of the Tories are going to be extremely difficult, but there's a pie and whenever departments are allocated their funding it is up to individual ministers to take decisions."

She added: "The Tory cuts to public services have been ongoing, consistent and savage since 2010 when they came into power - so we had difficult decisions and will always have difficult decisions to contend with."

A trade union leader said a 2.5% cut to education would push the system closer to the tipping point.

Owen Reidy, assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said he would not accept "back of an envelope" figures from Mr Brokenshire.

He said: "A further cut of this magnitude will lead to additional redundancies in education across the board. Class sizes will increase.

"Choices will be curtailed. The horizons for our students will shrink."

He said a 3% increase in health spending amounts to a real terms cut of almost 3%.

"The Secretary of State James Brokenshire said he is attempting to reflect the priorities of the local parties.

"Those parties should mark his copy and point out that the people of Northern Ireland did not vote for austerity budgets from their Stormont parties."
A woman, aged in her 80s, stood up to a would-be thief who tried to snatch her handbag.

The man, described as slim and around 5'10 confronted the woman as she got out of a car on Kings Road Belfast on Monday lunchtime.

She refused and the man fled the scene.

Police said the woman was left with bruising to her arm and was badly shaken. They are appealing for anyone with information to contact investigating officers.
Michelle O'Neill said there was a willingness within the EU to continue to support peace projects in Northern Ireland

European Union funds should continue to support peace building work in Northern Ireland post-Brexit, Sinn Fein has said.

The maintenance of funding streams that have paid for reconciliation initiatives throughout the peace process is a key plank of the republican party's vision of special designated EU status for the region in the wake of the UK's exit.

The party's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill said the issue of whether Northern Ireland would make a financial contribution to EU institutions as part of any potential deal would have to be worked out in Brexit negotiations.

Sinn Fein has published a policy document outlining what special status might look like ahead of Saturday's special EU Council meeting in Brussels when the Union's negotiating position on Brexit will be agreed.

Mrs O'Neill said there was a willingness within the EU to continue to support peace projects in Northern Ireland going forward.

"Europe has very much been a friend of the north of Ireland, very much been a friend of Ireland," she said.

"If you look down through the peace process they have been very supportive in terms of peace funds and I think there is a recognition out there within Europe that they want to continue that support.

"What that looks like has all to be discussed as part of the negotiations but we will be arguing very strongly that we want to maintain that close friendship which we had."

Mrs O'Neill said that the EU negotiating position should include a declaration that Northern Ireland must retain special status.

"Brexit is bad for our economy, it undermines our peace process, and it denies the democratic wish of the people who voted to remain in the European Union (56% in Northern Ireland) and will create a hard border," she told an event in west Belfast.

As well as maintaining direct EU funding streams, Sinn Fein wants the region to continue to avail itself of financial support from the European Investment Bank.

Under the party's plan, Northern Ireland would also:

:: Have laws that reflected the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights.

:: Retain access to the single market and customs union, with full freedom of movement of goods, people and services.

:: Be subject to EU employment rights and the jurisdiction of the European Court.

:: Have a right to send Stormont ministers to certain Council of Ministers meetings.

:: Retain a form of political representation in Brussels, with EU citizens living in the region having the right to vote in European elections.

Mrs O'Neill called on the Irish government to formally adopt the call for special status as its position entering negotiations.

"There is widespread support for such a position north and south and the Irish government should now adopt it as its formal negotiating position and use their strength in the forthcoming European negotiations to make it happen," she said.
Mark Tipper, whose brother was one of the soldiers killed in the IRA bombing in Hyde Park in 1982, wipes his eye after speaking at the launch of a campaign to raise funds to bring a case against John Downey, at the Palace of Westminster in London

Families of soldiers killed in the IRA bombing in London's Hyde Park said they have been made victims "three times over" in the years since the atrocity.

Relatives of some of the members of the Royal Household Cavalry who died in the 1982 attack have launched a campaign as they try to raise funds to bring a legal case.

Mark Tipper, whose 19-year-old brother died in the blast, blamed former Labour prime minister Tony Blair for a "shameful and secret deal" which allowed convicted IRA member John Downey to walk free.

Under the controversial on the runs scheme (OTRs) - allegedly agreed by Mr Blair's Labour government and Sinn Fein - individuals were told they were not being sought by the authorities.

"The chief suspect walked free from the Old Bailey because of a shameful and secret deal by Tony Blair with the IRA," Mr Tipper said.

"Because of this we have been forced to take our own private legal action."

With the Legal Aid Agency refusing "again and again" to fund the case, Mr Tipper added: "We have been made victims three times over.

"First by the bomb, then by Blair and now by the bureaucrats of the Legal Aid Agency."

Downey, from Co Donegal, was charged four years ago over the Hyde Park bombing, which he denied, but the prosecution at his trial in the Old Bailey collapsed in 2014.

The case against him was ended because government officials mistakenly sent him a letter in 2007, as part of the OTRs scheme, telling him he was no longer a wanted man.

The Household Cavalrymen of the Blues and Royals were riding through Hyde Park on their way to the Changing of the Guard when a nail bomb cut through their ranks on July 20 1982.

The deadly blast in South Carriage Drive killed Squadron Quartermaster Corporal Roy Bright, 36, Lieutenant Anthony Daly, 23, Trooper Simon Tipper, 19, and Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young, 19.

Seven horses were also killed and many others injured.

The carnage was followed less than two hours later by a second explosion in a Regent's Park bandstand which killed seven Royal Green Jackets bandsmen.

Some of the families of those affected by the second blast attended the campaign press conference to show their support to the campaign which is looking to raise 650,000 to cover the private action bill.

Speaking at the event in Westminster, attended by cross party members of the Commons and Lords, Mr Tipper said the Government does not do enough to support victims of terrorism.

He said they have been "blocked at every turn" in their fight for justice and that all they are seeking is the "truth about who murdered our loved ones".

"The only way to do that is to bring the chief suspect to court, a man who has been linked by police files to six separate terrorist attacks," Mr Tipper said.

He also called on Prime Minister Theresa May to meet with the families, and to "step in" and "do the right thing".

He said: "It's in her power, not just to help us in our fight for justice, but to do better for all victims and veterans who served this country.

"We hope she will succeed where her predecessors have failed."

Alongside her mother Judith, Sarahjane Young - the daughter of L/Cpl Young - was also at the Hyde Park Justice Campaign launch.

She said there will "never be closure" for what happened.

"We need to raise 650,000, which is a hell of a lot of money, it is hard that we have got to ask the public to donate," she said.

Mr Tipper said "there is money there" which Mrs May could make available to them.

"We have suffered long enough, I have never begged in my life, I have worked for every penny I have got... it is not nice when you are a worker and you have to resort to begging," he added.

"Any help or penny that comes in is going to help us."

Backing the campaign, Ulster Unionist Party MP Danny Kinahan told the press conference that weeks before the deadly blast he had been the best man at the wedding of Lt Daly.

He said it is an "aberration of justice that the chief suspect has not been taken to court" and that raising the funds needed for a civil action will help the families "find a way forward".

Tory MP Crispin Blunt, Labour MP Kate Hoey, and Conservative MP Colonel Bob Stewart were among many from both Houses of Parliament who are backing the campaign.

Lord Norman Tebbit was injured in the 1984 IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton at the time of the Conservative Party conference in which five people were killed.

The Tory peer, whose wife Margaret was paralysed during the Brighton bombing, said he is with the campaigners "absolutely" in bringing their own prosecution.

:: More than 28,000 has already been pledged to the Hyde Park Justice Campaign. To make a donation, visit https://www.crowdjustice.org/case/hyde-park-justice/.
Steven Agnew says the UUP has abandoned its "pro-Remain principles"

Plans for a pro-Remain electoral pact in Northern Ireland have been left in disarray after parties failed to strike a deal.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the mooted alliance looked doomed after the Green Party announced it would not take part.

With the Alliance Party refusing to countenance such a deal from the outset, that left the SDLP and Sinn Fein as the only potential partners.

Having already said he would not be part of a pact that only involved two parties, Mr Eastwood said the chances of a breakthrough were " slim".

He suggested the only route left was if independent, non-aligned candidates emerged who could attract the backing of pro-Remain politicians.

"Following discussions with parties today, it now seems that there is little prospect of political unity against pro-Brexit MPs, despite our best efforts," he said.

He added: "The SDLP will continue to explore how we can maximise the mandate delivered by the referendum and return the strongest possible team of pro-Europe MPs."

Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill urged a rethink.

"I am disappointed that parties which are opposed to Brexit and Tory cuts and which are pro-equality have not been able to agree a progressive alliance to contest the Westminster election," she said.

"This will almost certainly gift seats to some of the most pro-Brexit hardliners.

"I would urge those parties to reconsider.

"Sinn Fein remains committed to maximising the anti-Brexit vote in this election."

Earlier, the Green Party said it would not enter a pact.

Leader Steven Agnew said: "The Green Party has a clear vision for a progressive society based on stability and sustainability. We cannot enter into a pact with parties and individual candidates that fall short of that."

The Greens also held talks with the Ulster Unionists, but the discussions were less likely to result in an electoral deal. While the UUP campaigned for Remain last year, if it was to strike a pact it would probably be with the Brexit-supporting Democratic Unionists - its rationale being the General Election is more about supporting the Union than re-fighting the EU referendum.

UUP leader Robin Swann and DUP chief Arlene Foster have held discussions about a potential link-up - following the parties' four-constituency deal in 2015 - but there has yet to be a meeting of minds over this year's snap poll.

Green votes could have proved pivotal in key battlegrounds such as east and south Belfast if a pact had been struck.

Mr Agnew said the SDLP decision to reselect sitting South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell as its candidate was a key factor in the party's decision.

He claimed Green Assembly member Claire Bailey would have been a better unity candidate for Remainers and made clear Mr McDonnell's pro-life stance on abortion meant the Greens could not support him.

Mr Agnew said Sinn Fein's insistence that it would continue its abstentionist policy at Westminster ruled out a deal with the republican party.

"It is impossible to oppose hard Brexit at every turn without taking seats in Parliament," he said.
Claims by British ex-soldiers that a Belfast man was shot dead as he threw an explosive have been dismissed by Northern Ireland's former state pathologist.

Professor Jack Crane told an inquest there was no evidence to support military claims that labourer Barney Watt was throwing a petrol bomb or incendiary device when soldiers opened fire almost 50 years ago.

Mr Watt, 28, died in hotly disputed circumstances during public disorder in nationalist Ardoyne in Belfast in February 1971. He was shot in the chest and the buttock.

"There is no evidence to support the contention Mr Watt was shot while throwing an explosive device at military personnel," Professor Crane told Belfast Coroner's Court.

The retired pathologist's evidence to the court on the second day of the inquest contradicts previous claims from soldiers that Mr Watt was throwing a device.

The Watt case is among the oldest outstanding inquests being re-examined following an order from Northern Ireland's Attorney General John Larkin QC.

After examining the evidence and original pathology reports, Professor Crane said he did not believe there were any injuries to indicate Mr Watt had been holding or throwing an explosive device or to suggest he had been propelled into the air by an explosive.

"Throughout the Troubles I have seen many injuries of people who had sustained injuries from throwing a pipe bomb or device.

"There's no evidence at all to suggest this man had been throwing something," he said.

Professor Crane added: " The soldiers' account is not credible."

Mr Watt's widow was in court to listen to proceedings.

A lawyer for the Watt family told the hearing that a witness had described seeing the victim with his hands in the air before he was shot.

On Monday, the inquest heard an account from a soldier known as Sergeant C who said: "He had something in his hand and I gained the impression this object was alight.

"My round struck him as he was turning with the throw.

"The man fell to the ground and as he did so the object he had in his hand exploded and blew him into Chatham Street so that only his upper body was visible."

The victim had been on a night out at a local pigeon club before he was killed.

An Army vehicle - part of an operation to make "snatch squad" arrests - had gone up in flames after it was hit with a nail bomb, but its occupants escaped by a back door.

The victim had a conviction for disorder from before the beginning of the Troubles.

His wife, Teresa Watt, previously told the court: "If there was rioting Barney would have taken part, although he was not involved in any paramilitaries."

She said everybody in the area rioted at that time.

On Tuesday afternoon a retired soldier, referred to as Soldier E, said he had been on patrol in the area that night but he only discovered a few months ago that a man had been killed.

Giving evidence via video link, he told the hearing he had received facial burns after the armoured vehicle he had been driving came under attack from a petrol bomb and a nail bomb.

The former soldier, who escaped from the burning vehicle moments before it was completely gutted, said he had not heard any gunfire.

He also said the first time he became aware of Mr Watt's death was a couple of months ago when he was contacted by the coroner's investigator.

Coroner Joe McCrisken is due to deliver his report into Mr Watt's death on Wednesday morning.
The boy was detained in October 2015 by police investigating a major hack into the phone and broadband provider's database.

A Co Antrim schoolboy arrested over the TalkTalk cyber attack is to appeal his failed High Court bid to secure legislative protection from media identification.

The 15-year-old is seeking to overturn a ruling that the Department of Justice cannot be compelled to implement a law banning the press from naming juveniles suspected of crimes before they are charged.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan, on Tuesday, agreed to list the renewed challenge for a hearing in September.

The boy was detained in October 2015 by police investigating a major hack into the phone and broadband provider's database.

He was interviewed as a cyber-crime suspect before being released on bail without charge.

Under the terms of the 1999 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act no-one under 18 allegedly involved in an offence can be named in press reports.

Although that law applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, lawyers for the teenager claimed Stormont's continued failure to commence the Act breached his right to privacy.

They argue it was irrational to be denied the same protection given to minors once they are charged with an offence.

The legal loophole enabled his details and photograph to feature amid widespread newspaper and online publicity, according to their case.

It is the second set of proceedings issued by the teenager. He is also suing three national newspapers for allegedly revealing his identity.

Although a ban on publishing the youth's identity has been imposed on the separate litigation, his legal team contend that is not enough.

In December last year a High Court judge dismissed the bid to judicially review the department.

He noted that the then Stormont Executive had decided legislation is currently not necessary.

Protection is provided through an independent press code of practice and the ability to sue for misuse of private information, the judge also pointed out.

However, the boy's barrister, Ronan Lavery QC, confirmed in the Court of Appeal his intention to challenge the ruling.

He told senior judges that legal aid is still to be secured.

Listing the case for hearing in September, Sir Declan added: "If there's a problem with legal aid you should let the office know, particularly if it's going to lead to the case not proceeding."
Two staff members at a Co Armagh residential care home were arrested by police on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent, it has been reported

Two staff members at a Co Armagh residential care home were arrested by police on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent, it has been reported.

The arrests followed claims of abuse at Lisnisky Care Home in Portadown.

An elderly male resident is in hospital after sustaining a number of injuries, BBC NI reported last night.

The staff members were released on police bail after being questioned.

Several staff members have been suspended, it is understood.

The PSNI said their investigation into the alleged incident on April 14 is at an early stage.

Lisnisky Care Home is owned by the Four Seasons Health Care Group.

The group said it would be wrong to comment on an ongoing investigation.

In a statement to the BBC, it added that they wanted to give an assurance that appropriate measures are being taken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of residents, which is always our first consideration.

It added: These include an increased level of monitoring and management oversight.
Catholics living in Northern Ireland have called for a return to direct rule to end the political chaos, a senior Conservative MP has said.

Laurence Robertson, chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, said it was "really unfortunate" that returning decision-making powers to Westminster is viewed as the best way to resolve difficulties here.

Mr Robertson told the Commons the suggestion was put to him during a recent visit to Northern Ireland, noting most people do not want such action, although they would prefer it if the choice is "between chaos and direct rule".

The DUP's North Antrim MP Ian Paisley also warned the Government's proposed law to allow Westminster to set and collect rates to fund local council services has "tipped the scales in favour" of direct rule.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire earlier denied the Northern Ireland (Ministerial Appointments and Regional Rates) Bill represents a return to direct rule. It also extends the time Stormont's rowing parties have to form a power-sharing agreement to June 29, three weeks after the General Election.

The legislation will enable the collection of household rates payments in Northern Ireland, funds that run local council services, as well as paving the way for future legislation for Westminster to set a budget in Northern Ireland if no Executive is formed after the latest round of talks.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Robertson said: "Just a couple of weeks ago I was in Northern Ireland on a social visit speaking to friends over there, actually Catholics if that's an important factor - it is an important factor because of what I'm about to say.

"And they said to me, 'For goodness sake Laurence, get on with it, bring direct rule back because that's the only way we're going to get any decisions taken'.

"Now, they don't particularly want to see that, most people probably don't want to see that, but if it's choice between chaos and direct rule, people will go for direct rule - they have to do, and it's really unfortunate that we've got to that position."

In a message aimed at Sinn Fein, Mr Robertson added: "Can I just say to those who are likely to bring about that situation - and it's not people who are present in this chamber here today, in my belief, it's people who refuse to take their seats in this chamber.

"It really would be rather paradoxical, rather strange that one party that says they don't want rule from this place are actually the party that brings it about. I mean, how odd would that be?"

Mr Robertson, a former shadow Northern Ireland minister, said direct rule does not mean the Commons as a whole decides everything but committees consisting of around 20 MPs - including very few from Northern Ireland.

He said: "That is the reality of direct rule and I'd say to those who are getting in the way of the institutions being set up again, is that how you want Northern Ireland to be governed?"

Earlier, Mr Brokenshire made clear that if no government is in place by the latest talks deadline of June 29, he will intervene to effectively set Stormont's budget for the rest of the financial year.

He published indicative figures for a budget he will impose if the Stormont's parties do not reach agreement in the ongoing talks. Stormont's finances have been under the control of a senior civil servant since the start of the financial year due to the absence of an Executive.

Figures published yesterday, include a 3% increase in cash for health spending but a 2.5% cut for education. The Department of Communities would also see a increase in its budget.

The proposed departmental budgetary allocations are based on financial assessments by senior civil servants, guided by the general policy directions of the last ministerial executive, before it imploded.

Funding would also be available for projects which were announced by the Executive as part of their 2016-17 budget.

These include the A5 and A6 road projects, the Belfast Transport Hub, and the Mother and Children's Hospital.
A Northern Ireland man who was missing in Benidorm has been found safe and well by his family who flew out to search for him.

Dean Currie, who is a father-of-two from Lurgan, arrived in the holiday resort on Sunday morning with his friend.

The 36-year-old left his hotel to buy alcohol that night and had not been seen since. He had his wallet with him containing around 600 euros - but left his mobile phone behind.

His brother Jamie thanked the public and explained that Dean got lost on the way home from buying drink. He checked every hotel but was not able to find his accommodation.

He's been to the police and gave his name and said he was lost.

"We found him walking up the beach front. He has been sleeping rough for a few days and looking at all the hotels. We just happened upon him.

"He went out for a drink and got lost on the way home. He's been sleeping in an abandoned hotel on the beach.

"It was great that we found him, it was a relief."
A paedophile turned pastor tried to kill himself when confronted with his abuse, a judge has heard.

Downpatrick Crown Court Judge Brian Sherard heard that, after the suicide bid in August 2015, 58-year-old Raymond Pulman also confessed to his psychiatrist what he had done.

Pulman, with an address at Marler House, Barnett Close, Erith in Kent, later pleaded guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting his teenage victim on dates between January 1, 1999 and July 8, 2001.

Prosecuting lawyer Laura Ievers said the offences amounted to Pulman touching the girls private parts over her clothing as well as her bare leg on a number of occasions when she was between 12 and 14.

When he confessed his behaviour to his psychiatrist, the consultant alerted police and, during police questioning, he said he felt considerable guilt but blamed the Army for exposing him to pornography.

Describing himself as a weak man, Pulman claimed the then teenager had flirted with him before he touched her inappropriately.

When the victim was told about her abusers confessions, she described how it had pulled the rug out from under her but then made a formal complaint and gave an account which generally accorded with Pulmans confessions.

The lawyer revealed that between two probation reports compiled on Pulman, he had admitted to seeking out indecent images of underage girls so, although he does not face charges in relation to that, the police were seeking a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Defence barrister Mark Barlow contended however that SOPOs could only be imposed when deemed to be necessary and proportional, labelling the prosecution application as draconian.

He said the former pastor had retired from the ministry in 2011, there had been no further offending and he did not have any contact with teenage girls.

Releasing Pulman on bail until May 8, Judge Sherard said he would hear further submissions before passing sentence.
The sister of a Londonderry-born nun who died a year ago in South America when the four-storey school she was teaching in collapsed during an earthquake say she is missed every day. Sister Clare Crockett (33) was a missionary worker with the Home of the Mother Order at Playa Prieta and was trying to evacuate children from the building when it collapsed on top of her.

A year on from the tragedy her younger sister Shauna Gill (32), remembers the bubbly Brandywell girl who loved life, acting and surprised the family by becoming a nun.

"Clare was just full of life," says Shauna. "She was really bubbly and took everything in her stride. We were so close, us sisters. There was me, our younger sister Megan and Clare and we were just like best friends growing up. We played together, we went everywhere together and were just inseparable.

"We were genuinely shocked when she said she wanted to become a nun. She had such a big personality. She had always wanted to be an actress and had been in a few things for TV, like the Bloody Sunday film, and was planning more work.

"The word nun never came into it at all. Everyone loved her and she was just out there and full of confidence. Then she came back from a trip to Spain and told us she wanted to become a nun and we were in total shock.

"She went to Spain for a week when she was 17. Someone had pulled out of a trip and she thought it was just a holiday and said she would go. When she went to catch the bus to go it was full of old people and she discovered it was actually a pilgrimage. But she went anyway - that was just her. When she was there she kissed the cross on Good Friday and she said she got a calling and that was it.

"She wasn't very religious when she was growing up. She didn't like Mass much. My mum and dad would have taken us as children, but when we got a bit older we would be sent up by ourselves and given money for the basket. We'd go into the church, check who was saying Mass so we could report back to mum, pick up a parish bulletin and head off to the shop to spend the money on sweets."

Shauna said her sister believed that she had found her calling. But it was a difficult decision for her family to accept particularly given that Clare was not permitted by the Order she joined to come home regularly and never by herself.

"Clare never got to come home," she says. "When she did come home there was always someone with her, another nun. The last time she was home there were 40 people with her.

"I don't know if that was part of her Order's rules. I wish now that I had taken more of an interest in the Order, because that was her life. We know what her life was really like now, hearing the stories and seeing videos, because she is dead. It is very sad and it was heartbreaking for my mother, because essentially she lost Clare twice".

After the earthquake in Ecuador, the family were devastated to find out Clare was missing via her religious Order's Facebook page.

"We saw on the news that there had been floods in the area where Clare was on the Thursday before the earthquake. I had a feeling something was wrong, I don't know what it was. My mother was the same, she phoned my sister and told her she was very concerned, she had a gut feeling something was wrong.

"We were very worried and we phoned the house where she was. They told us that there had been massive flooding where Clare was but that it had been cleared up and Clare was okay.

"A nun gave us a phone number to call Clare on and I must have called it hundreds of times morning, noon and night and no one picked up. Then on Saturday the earthquake hit. On Sunday morning I woke up and I got a message from one of Clare's friends saying she hoped that she was okay, that she had seen the Order's Facebook post saying that one of the nuns was missing. I logged on and read that it was my sister who was missing. I couldn't take it in, I was totally distraught."

Clare's family gathered in their Brandywell home to await news.

At midnight a nun rang to say that Clare's body had been found.

"Clare had been singing and teaching the children guitar on one of the upper floors when they felt the first tremors," says Shauna. "She had led the five young people to the exit and the earthquake hit just as they were all running down the stairs to get out. The stairwell collapsed and the entire building just came down on top of them.

"I had a gut feeling that she was gone. In the last photo she had sent to mum, she was really thin and tired looking. A four-storey building had fallen on top of her. Then flooding happen and the rest of the building had collapsed. I knew she wasn't going to be found alive."

The family then began the heartbreaking and costly process of bringing Clare home for burial. Shauna says she will be eternally grateful to 'angel' Colin Bell from the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust and the Irish Consulate, as well as local representatives for their help in their hour of darkness. But there was more heartbreak to follow.

"It was two weeks before we got Clare home," she says. "We had to have a closed coffin. We had to make a decision whether to open the coffin and see whatever sight was in there after all that had happened to her or never see her again. By not seeing her lying in her coffin there will never be closure. In my mum's mind she could be still living. It is so hard. But at least we have her home and we have a grave to visit."

Clare touched the lives of many. Carol, a retired Downpatrick school teacher, is now embarking on a walk along the Camino Way to raise 10,000 to help rebuild the school in Playa Prieta where Clare died. Shauna and her family will join Carol on the last days of her walk. Clare's former primary school have also donated money to the cause.

Shauna says that her family miss Clare every day, but it gives them great comfort to know people remember her and speak of her often.

"What Carol is doing is amazing," she says. "She was greatly inspired by Clare's story and has decided to raise money to rebuild the school in Playa Prieta. They have a temporary structure there now, which could fall down, so it's not secure. Carol is trying to get them a proper school rebuilt. Clare's primary school had a charity day and raised 900. It's lovely that people would do that in her name.

"There's a man who travels down from Toomebridge every day to visit Clare's grave and there are people who have pictures of Clare up in their homes. It's lovely for people to remember her and it's such a comfort to us that she was so very well thought of."

Shauna says the family just take each day as it comes as they try to cope without Clare.

"In the last conversation with my mum, Clare said 'I love you, mammy' as she hung up. Those are the final words she said to her. My mum just takes life day by day and I think the support she has had this last year has kept her going. The thought of burying her child, of losing her in such an awful situation is horrible. It is hard for me to think about it as a sister, but it must be 10 times more painful for her as a mother.

"Our Clare touched so many people's lives and left a beautiful legacy," says Shauna. "We miss her every day."

You can donate to Carol's Just Giving Page to raise money to rebuild the school on www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/carol-toner
Pollsters LucidTalk have once again grasped the nettle and laid out their predictions for the forthcoming General Election calling each of Northern Ireland's 18 seats.

LucidTalk - fronted by Bill White - has a pedigree in the result predicting game and in the snap Assembly Election at the beginning of March its work came out within 1% of the final outcome.

And for June's snap General Election the company will be running a series of tracker polls over the next six weeks to gauge public opinion to detect if voters will change their opinions or stick with who they know come polling day.

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Its results are based on its panel of almost 8,000 people who take part in surveys. When their results are collated they are boiled down to 2,580 responses to get a representative sample of Northern Ireland public opinion.

On top of this, the company will carry out "deep polling" in the key constituency areas of North Belfast, South Belfast, East Belfast, South Antrim, Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and Upper Bann.

"With these separate deep polls in each of these key marginal constituencies well be able to accurately track trends, whos winning, and make firm predictions," said Mr White.

LucidTalk's Westminster seat predictor model, last used in the 2015 election has proved successful. It uses the last three major election results combined with its opinion poll findings to generate predictions. Predictions for the June poll will be used as a starting point to gauge changes as campaigning intensifies over the coming weeks.

"This computer based predictor model is constantly being improved and enhanced, and were again confident that it will be able to closely predict this upcoming Westminster election in Northern Ireland," added Bill.

"This will enable tracking of trends up or down for each of the political parties in each of the 18 NI Westminster constituencies as the campaign progresses, and therefore the seat predictor model should also get more accurate, and up-to-date, as the campaign progresses, as it will be using and analysing the latest poll data."

Overall the predictions see Sinn Fein gaining one seat and the UUP losing one.

The predictions see Sinn Fein, narrowly taking Fermanagh & South Tyrone from the UUP's Tom Elliott. The computer predicts there is a 55% chance the seat will return to the republican party.

"Taking into account the Sinn Fein surge in recent Assembly election we were surprised the seat predictor model didnt predict Sinn Fein for Fermanagh and South Tyrone at 60% plus. However, this rating may change following our polls," Bill said.

East Belfast looks to return to the DUP's Gavin Robinson and the predictor suggests Alasdair McDonnell could retain his South Belfast seat for the SDLP.

"Yes, hes the current MP, but is vulnerable to a strong Unionist candidate," said Bill.

"Not surprisingly, nine of the 18 seats are showing win-probability scores of 100% for the incumbent. Unless something dramatic happens we dont see these scores changing."
An investigation by the Central Bank found that AIB failed to immediately report suspicious transactions

State-owned AIB has been slapped with a 2.3 million euro fine after it admitted breaching laws drawn up to thwart terrorists and criminals.

Banking watchdogs said the bailed-out lender was guilty of "significant failures" in its responsibilities to prevent money laundering and the financing of terror organisations.

It was found to have breached the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act on six different counts over a period of more than three years.

All six breaches have been admitted by AIB.

An investigation by the Central Bank, which oversees lenders, found that AIB failed to immediately report suspicious transactions to the Garda and the Revenue Commissioners.

It also failed to investigate customers who had accounts before May 1995, when the first Irish laws on antimoney laundering and terror financing came into effect.

The Central Bank said it identified more breaches by AIB in a number of other policies and procedures.

It handed down a fine of 2,275,000 euro for the failures.

Derville Rowland, director of enforcement at the Central Bank, said the AIB breaches were "particularly concerning" because adequate resources were not given over to speedily investigate a "substantial backlog" of alerts on potentially suspicious activity at the bank.

Banks are "gateways to the financial system" and need to have "rigorous and robust" defences when it came to suspicious dealings, said Ms Rowland.

"Crucially, those processes must ensure that information on suspicious activity is provided to An Garda Siochana and the Revenue Commissioners without delay to assist with the investigation of money laundering and terrorist financing," she added.

"This case emphasises the fundamental information-sharing role of the financial services industry in the fight against money laundering."
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (L) waits to be introduced during a rally against the Dakota Access Pipeline September 13, 2016 at Lafayette Square in Washington, DC. Activists held a rally calling on President Barack Obama to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Bernie Sanders is coming to Dublin for the first time next month, and will be in conversation with David McWilliams at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre.

In 'An Evening with Bernie Sanders', the longest-serving Independent in US congressional history, will explain his alternative vision for America as laid out in his best-selling book 'Our Revolution'.

His visit, on Sunday, June 4, is part of the Dalkey Book Festival 2017 and tickets for the event go on sale on Friday at 9am.

"It is an extraordinary privilege for the Dalkey Book Festival to host Bernie Sanders, we are truly delighted to bring him to Ireland for the first time," festival director Sian Smyth said.

"He is an iconic political figure of our time, a stunning orator and with such turmoil in the US and globally we are very much looking forward to hearing his thoughts and insights."

The festival's theme this year is 'empathy through storytelling' and top Irish and international names will speak and perform across four days from June 15 to 18.

Other highlights of the festival include Man Booker Prize winning author Marlon James, two-time Costa Award Winner Sebastian Barry, and Hyenoseo Lee who escaped from North Korea aged 17.

Colm Toibin will speak on his latest novel, while Billy Bragg will talk about the Political Power of Music.
Kate and her husband Gerry McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have always vowed to never give up hope of finding their daughter

Gerry and Kate McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared from a holiday flat in Portugal on May 3, 2007. Mrs McCann has described the tenth anniversary of her daughter's disappearance as a "horrible marker of time, stolen time".

Madeleine McCann's mother has described the tenth anniversary of her daughter's disappearance as a "horrible marker of time, stolen time".

In a message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, Kate McCann added: "We are bracing ourselves for the next couple of weeks.

"It's likely to be stressful and painful and more so given the rehashing of old 'stories', misinformation, half-truths and downright lies which will be doing the rounds in the newspapers, social media and 'special edition' TV programmes."

Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

Kate and her husband Gerry McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have always vowed to never give up hope of finding their daughter.

In the message Mrs McCann said they "couldn't even begin to consider anything in terms of years" when their daughter first disappeared.

She wrote: "Ten years - there's no easy way to say it, describe it, accept it. And now here we are... Madeleine, our Madeleine - ten years.

"Most days are similar to the rest - another day. May 3rd 2017 - another day. But ten years - a horrible marker of time, stolen time."

However, she insisted "there will always be hope".

Mrs McCann, 49, said the two themes that seem most appropriate as they reach the 10-year mark are perseverance and gratitude.

She said: "We will go on, try our hardest, never give up and make the best of the life we have.

"We consider ourselves immensely fortunate to have received the love, solidarity and support from so many kind and decent people over the last decade.

"There have been many challenges and low points along the way but the warmth, encouragement and positivity we have experienced from the 'quiet majority' has undoubtedly sustained us and maintained our faith in human goodness.

"And while that is there, there will always be hope."

The message, signed by both Mrs McCann and her 48-year-old husband, concluded: "Thank you so much from all of our family."

Mrs McCann described media appearances as "draining and on occasion, unhelpful to the only thing we want, finding Madeleine".

She continued: "They need to have a purpose. We could spend all our time and energy trying to defend ourselves by correcting inaccuracies and lies, but then we would have no strength left to look for Madeleine, look after our other children and to live our life."

Mrs McCann expressed hope that "those reporting on the 'story' over the next couple of weeks will have a conscience".

She said: "Even if little consideration for Gerry and me is shown, they will at least bear in mind the effect such unfounded and unwarranted negativity could have on our other children - and of course Madeleine."

There is an "active" police investigation to try to find Madeleine and bring her abductor to justice, her mother said.

She added: "There are no new appeals that the police wish to make at this moment in time and so we are keeping any media involvement marking this unwanted milestone to a minimum."

Madeleine's disappearance sparked one of the most high-profile police investigations of recent times.

Scotland Yard has been assisting with the inquiry since 2011.

Last month the Home Office confirmed it has granted officers 85,000 to carry on with the case for a further six months.

More than 11 million has been spent on the UK probe.
The US conducted around 200 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1962. Above: A still from YouTube video titled 'Operation Hardtack-1 - Nutmeg'

Britain would be "razed to the ground" in a nuclear war, a Russian MP has warned.

Franz Klintsevich, a retired colonel, was responding to comments from Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who said "in the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you cant rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike."

Mr Klintsevich said if Britain launched a preemptive strike, then "not having the biggest territory, it will literally be erased from the face of the earth."

Sir Michael's comments came in response to Labour divisions over retaining the Trident deterrent, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suggesting renewal might not be in the party's election manifesto  only to be corrected later by party colleagues.

Speaking to BBC Radio Four's Today Programme, Sir Michael said Labour had left voters "completely unsure as to what would actually happen to our nuclear deterrent."

He said Prime Minster Theresa May would be ready to use Trident as a "pre-emptive initial strike".

In the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you cant rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike, he said.

Asked in what circumstances, he replied: They are better not specified or described, which would only give comfort to our enemies and make the deterrent less credible.

The whole point about the deterrent is that you have got to leave uncertainty in the mind of anyone who might be thinking of using weapons against this country.

Mr Klintsevich, who is deputy chairman of the upper house of the Russian parliament's defence and security committee, called Sir Michael's comments "disgusting" and said it "deserves a tough response".

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The atomic bomb explodes in Hiroshima AFP/Getty Images Hiroshima following the dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6 1945 The city of Hiroshima in ruin AP An allied correspondent stands in the rubble in front of the shell of the Atomic Bomb Dome which was once an exhibition centre and government office in Hiroshima AP Utter destruction: the devastation caused by the atomic bomb on Hiroshima / Facebook

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He added: "In the best case this statement should be taken as an element of psychological war  which looks particularly disgusting in such a context.

"Otherwise, it sounds really bad, because a reasonable question arises: Against whom is Great Britain going to preemptively use nuclear weapons?"

If Britain intended to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state, he added, "then probably English people desperately want to share the laurels of the USA who threw nuclear bombs at defenceless [Japanese cities] Hiroshima and Nagasaki [in 1945]."

"But those times have gone for good, as has the era of the greatness of the British Empire."
1,182,954 three-day food supplies were provided to people "in crisis" in a year, The Trussell Trust said

A record number of almost 1.2 million emergency supplies were given out at food banks in the past year, new figures reveal.

The Trussell Trust said its network provided 1,182,954 three-day food supplies to people "in crisis" in the year to March, over 70,000 more than the previous 12 months.

The charity said almost 440,000 supplies went to children.

Food banks in areas where the new Universal Credit (UC) benefit was introduced saw an average increase in referrals for emergency food of almost 17%.

The trust said the effect of a six-week waiting period for a first UC payment could be serious, leading to debt and rent arrears. Benefit delays and changes remain the biggest cause of someone being referred to a foodbank by a doctor, social worker or jobcentre.

David McAuley, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said: "The move to simplify an often complex welfare system is a welcome one, but any large reform can have unforeseen consequences.

"Food banks see first-hand how changes to the welfare system affect people on the ground and so can offer an early warning to decision-makers.

"We are sharing our early observations with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure any adverse side-effects Universal Credit can have on people are addressed before full rollout is completed.

"We have been heartened by Secretary of State Damian Green's willingness to engage, his department's work to pilot improvements, and the recent changes to the Universal Credit taper rate which mean people moving into work will keep more of their earnings.

"We hope our insights can inform efforts to make sure the values on which Universal Credit is built are delivered in practice. To stop UK hunger, we must make sure the welfare system really does work for everyone."

An engineer who was made redundant after 37 years spoke of his experience of having to rely on a food bank.

Speaking anonymously, he said: "At the age of 52, I've struggled to get a new job. I applied for Universal Credit and was told I would have to wait for at least six to eight weeks before I received any money. Who can live on nothing for two months?

"It was only when I could no longer ask family and friends for money that I turned to Citizens Advice for help - they referred me to the food bank.

"Without the food bank, I honestly don't know where I'd be. I was living on nothing during that period. It's hard, especially when you're been working for so long, and I did get very depressed and distressed. The people at the food bank pulled me out of the mire."

The Trussell Trust has more than 420 food banks, with people having an average of two referrals in the past year.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "The reasons for food bank use are complex, so it's misleading to link them to any one issue.

"Under Universal Credit people are moving into work faster and staying in work longer than under the old system.

"Universal Credit is designed to mirror the world of work and give people control over their own finances.

"The majority of UC claimants are confident in managing their money and we work closely with local authorities to support those who need extra help. Budgeting support, benefit advances, and direct rent payments to landlords are available to those who need them."

Debbie Abrahams, shadow work and pensions secretary, said: "This is a damning condemnation of the Tories' economic failure.

"The direct result of the Tories failing to grow the economy so that all parts of the country benefit, average wages below 2007 levels and cuts to in-work support for families on low incomes; the rampant use of punitive sanctions has also had a devastating impact.

"Labour will implement a real living wage, reverse these damaging cuts to support for working people, scrap the punitive Tory sanction regime and invest to grow our economy so that we all benefit, not just the few."
MPs warned the rights of EU university staff to work and live in the UK must be guaranteed as soon as possible

Academics from the EU must be given guarantees over their future to prevent a "brain drain" of talent, MPs have warned.

Brexit has created "significant uncertainty" for university staff and students, and the international success of the UK's universities could be put at risk if government does not address concerns within the sector, according to the Commons education select committee.

In a new report analysing the impact of the UK leaving the EU on higher education, the committee warns that the rights of EU university staff to work and live in the UK must be guaranteed as soon as possible.

EU workers make up around 16% of the UK's university workforce, the report says, with the numbers growing by over 10,000 in the last six years.

But it notes that a recent survey showed that over three-quarters (76%) of European academics at UK universities said they are likelier to consider leaving UK higher education due to the referendum result.

Meanwhile, another poll of academics found that 53% of non-UK nationals were actively looking to leave the UK.

The Government must quickly resolve the issue of EU academics' rights to live in the UK, the committee warns.

It says: " The Government has rightly identified the agreement of the rights of EU nationals as its first priority in the negotiations.

"However, we caution that a delay in confirming these rights will only intensify the current uncertainty for universities, and likely lead to a significant 'brain drain' in talented staff."

The rights of EU nationals must be unilaterally guaranteed by government before the end of the year, if a reciprocal deal is not reached before then, it adds.

The committee also calls for a new "easier" visa route for academics worldwide, with less bureaucracy, to help attract workers to the UK.

In 2015/16, 5.6% of students at UK institutions were from the EU, and a further 13.6% were from non-EU countries, the report says.

EU students generated an estimated 3.7 billion for the UK economy in 2011/12.

It is important that universities are given enough notices of any changes to EU students' migration status and their access to fees and loans, the committee said, so that they can plan ahead.

Last week, the Government confirmed that EU students starting courses in autumn 2018 would still be eligible for the same loans and grants as UK students, and for the duration of their course.

In the future, the committee says, it believes that the best plan for EU students is to keep a "reciprocal open approach with light touch controls, such as visa-free access", to retain a system "closely resembling freedom of movement". This approach should be taken with all international students.

The Government should remove overseas students from the net migration target to make it clear it wants talent from across the world to come to the UK, it adds.

Committee chairman Neil Carmichael said: "Higher education in the UK is a world leader but Brexit risks damaging our international competitiveness and the long-term success of our universities.

"It's welcome that EU students have been given some guarantees on their funding and loan access but the Government must act urgently to address the uncertainty over EU staff and avert the risk of a damaging 'brain drain' of talent from our shores.

"As we leave the European Union we now have the opportunity to reform our immigration system to ensure we reap the full rewards of the ability of our universities to attract the brightest and best students and staff from across the world."

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said: "As well as removing international students from net migration figures, government must guarantee the rights of EU citizens currently working in the UK.

"Along with international students, overseas staff make a huge contribution to UK society and I call on the Government to end their uncertainty or risk damaging the UK's ability to attract staff and students from around the world."

Alistair Jarvis, deputy chief executive of Universities UK, said: "The committee is right to identify European staff, immigration policy and research collaboration as priorities for universities as Brexit negotiations start.

"The Government should seek to secure continued close collaboration with EU research partners and also provide certainty for EU staff currently working in UK universities in terms of work and residency rights.

"Changes to our immigration system are also needed to ensure that the UK remains a destination of choice for international talent and students."
A teenager is facing jail for setting up a global computer hacking business which caused chaos on the world wide web.

A young man has been jailed for two years for setting up an online computer hacking business which caused chaos all over the world.

Adam Mudd was just 16 when he created his Titanium Stresser programme, which was used to carry out more than 1.7 million attacks on websites including Minecraft, Xbox Live, and gamers' communications tool TeamSpeak.

He raked in more than 386,000 worth of US dollars and Bitcoins from selling the programme to cyber criminals across the world.

Mudd admitted his money-making scheme and was sentenced at the Old Bailey by Judge Michael Topolski QC.

The judge noted that Mudd came from a "perfectly respectable and caring family" but the effect of his crimes caused damage "from Greenland to New Zealand from Russia to Chile".

He said the sentence must have a "real element of deterrent" and refused to suspend the jail term.

"I'm entirely satisfied that you knew full well and understood completely this was not a game for fun," he told Mudd.

"It was a serious money-making business and your software was doing exactly what you created it to do".

Mudd showed no emotion as he was sent down to serve his sentence in a young offenders' institution.

During the two-day hearing, prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said the effect of his hacking programme was truly global, adding: "Where there are computers there are attacks, almost every major city in the world, with hot spots in France, Paris, around the UK."

The Old Bailey heard that Mudd, who lived at home with his parents, had previously undiagnosed Asperger syndrome and was more interested in "status" in the online gaming community than the money.

The court heard that the defendant, now aged 20, carried out 594 of the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks himself, against 181 IP addresses, between December 2013 and March 2015.

He has admitted security breaches against his college while he was studying computer science.

The attacks on West Herts College brought down the network and cost about 2,000 to investigate, but caused "incalculable" damage to productivity, the court heard.

On one occasion in 2014, the college hacking affected 70 other schools and colleges, including Cambridge University and the Universities of Essex and East Anglia as well as local councils.

Mudd's explanation for one of the attacks was that he reported being mugged to the college but claimed no action was taken.

Mr Polnay said there were more than 112,000 registered users of Mudd's programme who hacked some 666,000 IP addresses. Of those, nearly 53,000 were in the UK.

Among the targets was the fantasy game RuneScape, which had 25,000 attacks.

It cost its owner company 6 million to try to defend itself against DDoS attacks with a revenue loss of 184,000.

The court heard that Mudd created Titanium Stresser in September 2013 using a fake name and address in Manchester.

Mudd offered a variety of payment plans to his customers, who had to log in with a username and password.

He offered discounts for bulk purchases of up to 309.99 US dollars for 30,000 seconds over five years as well as a refer-a-friend scheme.

But Mr Polnay said: "This is a young man who lived at home. This is not a lavish lifestyle case.

"The motivation around this we tend to agree is about status. The money-making is by the by."

Mudd got round PayPal attempts to bar payments to Titanium Stresser by using 328 different accounts.

He withdrew nearly 19,000 US dollars from PayPal, which he later said was to "pay his tax and National Insurance and save some money for later", the court heard.

When he was arrested in March 2015, Mudd was in his bedroom on his computer which he refused to unlock before his father intervened.

In police interview, he admitted that Titanium Stresser was for DDoS and explained how he avoided PayPal scrutiny.

Mudd, from Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to one count of doing unauthorised acts with intent to impair the operation of computers, one count of making, supplying or offering to supply an article for use in an offence contrary to the Computer Misuse Act, and one count of concealing criminal property.

Mitigating, Ben Cooper appealed for his client to be given a suspended sentence.

He said Mudd had been "sucked into" the cyber world of online gaming and become "lost in an alternate reality" after withdrawing from school due to bullying.

Mudd, who was expelled from college and now works as a kitchen porter, had been offline for two years, which was a form of punishment for any computer-obsessed teenager, he added.

The "bright and high-functioning" defendant understands what he did was wrong but at the time he lacked empathy due to his autistic condition, the court heard.

Mr Cooper said: "This was an unhappy period for Mr Mudd, during which he suffered greatly.

"This is someone seeking friendship and status within the gaming community."

But Judge Topolksi warned: "I have a duty to the public who are worried about this, threatened by this, damaged by this all the time ... It's terrifying."

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Peters, of Bedfordshire Police, said: "It is important that this case sends out a clear message to others who may be tempted by committing cyber crime or who are already engaging in cyber scams from the comfort of their own bedrooms to consider what they are doing, and it is for parents to know and understand what your children are doing online."

Claire Pluckrose, from the National Crime Agency's National Cyber Crime Unit, said: "This investigation is a great example of the effective way national and regional teams work together to tackle cyber crime."

Outside court, Mudd's parents said in a statement they were "devastated" at the judge's decision not to suspend his sentence.

They said their son had been "let down by the health services' failure to diagnose his condition earlier".
Fourteen people have been killed after a roadside bomb targeted a minivan in Pakistan's north-western tribal region.

Local government officials said the blast ripped through the van as it travelled through a minority Shia region of the Kurram tribal area, which borders Afghanistan. The area has a long history of sectarian violence.

Five women and four children were among the 14 killed, while 10 people were wounded in the explosion.

With few adequate medical facilities in the area, a Pakistani army helicopter evacuated the wounded to a nearby military hospital.

Jamat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway Taliban faction, said it was behind the attack on the Shias.

Pakistani Taliban and other Sunni militant groups often target minority Shias whom they consider to be heretics. The Islamic State group has also claimed several recent attacks in the country.

For more than a decade, Pakistan has been fighting Islamic militants who have killed tens of thousands of people. Islamabad has also undertaken several large-scale offensives in the tribal regions in an effort to rout militants from the area.

Four convicted members of the Pakistani Taliban were executed in a prison, the army said.

In the southern port city of Karachi, paramilitary forces raided an apartment following a tip that militants were hiding there, police officer Aurangzeb Khattak said.

After a seven-hour siege, three militants, including a woman, blew themselves up inside the apartment. The explosion also killed a five-year-old, while a fourth militant was killed trying to flee the scene.

AP
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Media Advisory, April 25, 2017 Contact: Joe Shannon, Sierra Club, Plateau Conservation Committee, (928) 380-9537, j.shannon@gmail.com

Lori Staudinger, Together We Will N AZ, lori.staudinger@gmail

Ryan Beam, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 852-9929, rbeam@biologicaldiversity.org Flagstaff to Hold Peoples Climate March, 100 Days of Resistance FLAGSTAFF,Ariz. Thousands of people throughout Arizona and the country will be marching in the Peoples Climate March on Saturday to stand up for communities, climate justice and the world's future. Flagstaff's environmental and community groups have come together to organize Saturday's march, which begins at City Hall. We're marching because President Trump and his administration are a threat to the future of our planet, the safety of our communities and the health of our families, said Ryan Beam of the Center for Biological Diversity. Saturday is the 100th day of Trump's presidency, and marchers will be pledging 100 days of resistance to the administration's attacks on hard-won protections for the climate, health and communities, and the rights of people of color, workers, indigenous people, immigrants, women, LGBTQIA and young people.



What: Peoples Climate March and 100 Days of Resistance



When: 2 p.m. Saturday, April 29



Where: Flagstaff City Hall, 211 W. Aspen Ave. (gathering around the flagpole)



Media availability: March organizers will be available for interviews before and during the rally.



Partners for this event include: Together We Will N AZ, Sierra Club, Citizens Climate League, Youth Climate Initiative, the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Flagstaff's Future, Indigenous Circle, Youth Climate Initiative/FALA Environmental Club, Repeal Coalition, Fossil Free NAU, Our Climate/NAU and Strong, Prosperous, And Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC). Music for the event will be performed by Sambatuque, DJ Gretchen, the Sap Dabblers and Train City1.



Participants are encouraged to minimize waste by bringing a refillable water bottle. Participants are also encouraged to wear layers, a hat, sunscreen and comfortable shoes. All events will wrap up by 5 p.m. 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.
For Immediate Release, April 25, 2017 Contact: Michael Robinson, (575) 313-7017, michaelr@biologicaldiversity.org Appeals Court Green-lights Much-needed Wolf Releases in New Mexico Ruling Boosts Recovery of Mexican Gray Wolves DENVER The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals today struck down a district-court injunction that stopped releases of endangered Mexican gray wolves into the wild in New Mexico. The ruling, won by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservation groups, reinstates the federal agency's authority to release wolves from captivity into the wild despite state objections. The new animals will infuse the wild population with much-needed genetic diversity and help make it self-sustaining. The unanimous ruling stated that The [New Mexico Game] Department failed to present sufficient evidence to support a finding that it is likely to suffer irreparable harm absent a preliminary injunction. As a result, the district court abused its discretion in granting the Department's request for injunctive relief. We therefore REVERSE and VACATE the district court's order enjoining Federal Appellants from importing and releasing (1) any Mexican gray wolves into the State without first obtaining the requisite state permits, and (2) any Mexican gray wolf offspring into the State in violation of prior state permits, and REMAND to the district court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this Opinion. This ruling is a lifesaver for our beleaguered Mexican gray wolves, said Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. The decision makes clear that the Fish and Wildlife Service has the authority to do what's needed to save the Mexican gray wolf and other endangered species from extinction. Today's ruling overturned an injunction issued last June after the Fish and Wildlife Service cross-fostered two captive-born wolf pups into a wild pack's den on the Gila National Forest, defying a New Mexico ban on wolf releases. Release of newborn pups taken from their parents, though experimental, was thought to be less controversial than releasing family packs together, although the latter technique has been used with widespread success. In this instance the pups did not survive, though 3 out of 4 other new-born pups released almost simultaneously into Arizona wolf dens did survive. Gov. Susana Martinez's administration filed suit and quickly won an injunction on further releases, which was overturned today. The Center and other organizations, represented by Defenders of Wildlife, intervened in the case on the side of the federal government in support of wolf releases. The Center's 2004 petition for rulemaking, followed by 2006 and 2012 lawsuits, led to a 2015 federal rule providing the Fish and Wildlife Service with the authority to release captive-bred wolves in New Mexico. Previously, only wild-caught wolves could be released (translocated) into the state. This year the agency intends to release two family groups in the Gila National Forest and up to 10 pups to be cross-fostered into wild wolf dens in Arizona and New Mexico. The federal government should now quickly move wolves back into the vast wild areas of the Gila, America's first protected wilderness, said Robinson. In this elk-filled forest, new wolves could replenish the existing population's genetic diversity. They could also help maintain a natural balance in an era in which, all over the world, ecological processes such as predation are rapidly disappearing. Background

At last count in January, Arizona and New Mexico supported 113 wolves in the wild. Approximately 30 live in the wild in Mexico. In addition, 251 wolves are held in captivity among 51 zoos and specialized institutions, but most of those are too old or otherwise unsuitable for breeding or release. In the wild and in captivity, pups will be born toward the end of April and early May. All Mexican gray wolves in the world stem from just seven animals captured from the wild and successfully bred. These animals were the only survivors of a U.S. government trapping and poisoning program carried out from 1915 to 1972 on behalf of the livestock industry, including from 1950 onward in Mexico as a U.S. foreign-aid project. Those surviving wolves' descendants were reintroduced into Arizona and New Mexico beginning in 1998 and in Mexico beginning in 2011, but U.S. regulations forbade the release of captive-raised wolves  despite approving the release of wild-caught wolves  in New Mexico until promulgation of the 2015 rule. Scientists have linked faltering reproductive success  small litter sizes and few pups living to maturity  in the reintroduced U.S. population to the loss, including to federal trapping and shooting on behalf of the livestock industry, of genetically important wolves, compounded by the rarity of releases of captive wolves into the wild. Experts have recommended stronger wolf protections in the wild, which the Fish and Wildlife Service refuses, and the releases of genetically-diverse wolves into southwestern New Mexico where there is high-quality but unoccupied wolf habitat  for which today's ruling reinstates authority. 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.
For Immediate Release, April 24, 2017 Contact: Randi Spivak, (310) 779-4894, rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org Trump to Launch Unprecedented Attack on National Monuments 1 Billion Acres of Natural Wonders at Risk on Public Land, Oceans WASHINGTON President Trump is poised to threaten more than 1 billion acres of national monument protection in a devastating and unprecedented attack on America's public lands and oceans. Trump is expected to issue an executive order Wednesday, April 26 calling for a review of every national monument that's been protected by presidential proclamation since 1996. His goal is to turn these natural and cultural wonders over to special interests, including mining and logging industries. Trump reportedly has the stunning Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah at the top of his hit list. This is a frightening step toward dismantling the protection of some of America's most important and iconic places: our national parks and monuments, said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. Trump's tapping into the right-wing, anti-public-lands zealotry that will take us down a very dangerous path  a place where Americans no longer have control over public lands and corporations are left to mine, frack, clear-cut and bulldoze them into oblivion. It starts with Bears Ears and Grand Staircase and only gets worse from there. More than 50 national monuments are at risk, including vast marine areas in the Pacific and Caribbean. Congress gave the president the authority to designate national monuments on federally owned land under the Antiquities Act of 1906 for the express purpose of protecting important objects of historic and scientific importance. President Trump is clearly doing the bidding of the Utah congressional delegation, who are without question the most aggressive federal lawmakers seeking to seize, dismantle and privatize America's public lands, Suckling added. National monument designations have protected some of the most iconic places in the country. Dozens of the nation's most treasured national parks were first protected as monuments, including Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Acadia and Olympic national parks. With this review, Trump is declaring war on America's public lands, Suckling said. The president is satiating the greed of industry and blatantly dismissing the wishes of the vast majority of Americans, who overwhelmingly want to see these areas protected for future generations. The monuments under attack are cherished by Americans for their natural beauty as well as their huge cultural significance. Congress gave the president authority to designate national monuments on federally owned land under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to protect significant natural, cultural or scientific features. No president has ever attempted to withdraw a monument named by a predecessor. 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.
The best advertising is always based on a fundamental understanding of human nature - what the people in the marketing business call basic human truth. If you can tap into that, you don't have to waste any time explaining or repeating - everybody gets it first time around.

Thats the case with the latest TV ad for iWyze insurance. I know I have given them an Orchid previously for another execution in this campaign  which has the tagline: iWyze takes control when you cant  but I think another is merited.

This time, the ad references the old adage about the ostrich burying its head in the sand as a way to avoid dealing with reality.

So, we see a couple going through various stages in their life together  and avoiding crucial questions at crucial times by figuratively burying their heads. And when they do that, they suddenly morph into ostriches.

Screengrabs from the ad.

So; the questions  When are you two getting married; When are you having a baby; Honey, lets have another one; and, then the one all parents dread: Mommy, how did you put a baby in your tummy?  provoke avoiding action. That is, right up until the day the young kids ask mom: Whats going to happen to us when you die?

Then Mom remains Mom and doesnt become an ostrich, because she is with iWyze and knows that the insurance company will take control when she cant. So they will provide for the familys financial future when she or dad are no longer there.

Its simple, its effective and it speaks directly to the young families who should be taking out insurance. Weve always had life insurance  although if you take out something like an endowment policy you will be fleeced (ask me, I know)  but life insurance gives you the peace of mind of knowing that your kids will get the best shot at a future.

So, for tapping into that ostrich adage and the fear of leaving your family destitute, this ad works as marketing communication.

So another Orchid for iWyze and its agency, Joe Public.

I do sometimes wonder, though, given the heterogeneous nature of our society whether using phrases, sayings and experiences from a Eurocentric perspective is always such a good idea

Despite what some radical university students may say, science is not Eurocentric (throw away Isaac Newton at your peril, people) it is simply science. That fact may escape the revolutionaries but, generally speaking, science and maths escape many South Africans.

Logic, she is not big in this country  this is why you need fire pools (because it is well known people in rural areas need buckets to put out fires); why a former Eskom CEO can be offered R30 million after just 18 months in office; why Number One can fire a finance minister and be surprised by the consequences; why a financial adviser can advocate a policy of nationalising banks, insurance companies and mines, which has never worked anywhere else it has been tried  and why there are those who demand that ratings agencies from the Brics countries assess our prospects

It really galls me when I hear, or see, stupidity in an advertising context.

Latest example is for Surge Africa, a company which makes devices to protect your sensitive electronics from lightning strikes or power surges. When you look at the companys website, you cannot fail to be impressed with its products and its ability.

So, why did they get a moron to write the script for one of their latest radio ads?

This promises us that Surge Africas products will protect your equipment from thunder and lightning damage.

Seriously.

Basic Science 101 for the idiot copywriter who put that together: Lightning causes damage. Thunder, though it makes a big scary noise, is no threat to electronic equipment unless it goes off right next to a sensitive microphone.

Again  as so often in other cases where I have awarded an Onion  I have to ask: who the hell approved this?

If it was someone from Africa Surge, I would take my business to someone who understands science. If no-one from the company checked the script then I would worry about their attention to business detail.

So, Africa Surge, nothing you can do to protect yourself from this Onion.

BOOM!

*Note that Bizcommunity staff and management do not necessarily share the views of its contributors - the opinions and statements expressed herein are solely those of the author.*
Kansai Plascon, better known as Plascon to most, sponsored a duo for the Absa Cape Epic. Their corporate and digital communication specialist Zurita Moore explains why and how this ties into the brand's new positioning: designed for life'.

One way of making a splash about your brand positioning is through showcasing the product offering in action, as done with FirstPencil late last year:

Another way to do so is by sponsoring events that matter to a large number of people, as Plascon recently did in sponsoring a duo for the 2017 Absa Cape Epic.

Kansai Plascon's corporate and digital communication specialist, Zurita Moore.

This ties in with their recently revealed new brand positioning of designed for life. As corporate and digital communication specialist at Kansai Plascon, Moore looks after all digital and social media communication for Kansai Plascon. No two days are ever the same. One day I could be writing an article on design and colour trends, as editor of the Plascon trends blog, and the next I could be coming up with content for our sponsorship of Team Kansai Plascon, which is all about dirt and mountain biking, whilst analysing and reporting on sentiment across all of our digital platforms in between.

So, in addition to Plascons scientific expertise, their inspiration is derived from curiosity and ways to make all aspects of life better. This takes them beyond the realm of home makeovers to visible road signage and specialist, environmentally conscious paints designed for hospitals. Thats because Plascon is designed for life.

Proof of the importance of overall design and colour in their business? Moore says Plascon was the first South African company to launch a colour forecast in 2008, a prominent feature of Decorex over the years.

The language of design and colour

Plascons brands feature strongly across the decorative, retail, trade, automotive, industrial and protective coatings sectors, with colour and design the language that lets them speak to these markets. Moore says this comes back to being designed for life  they realise that different people need different advice, inspiration and products for various occasions and moments through their life journey, and that design and colour play a big part in that.

South African Max Knox. Colombian Leonardo Paez.

As a result, the Plascon team was personally engaged with supporting the athletes from day one without any third-party PR involvement, and shared it all to their own social media platforms and the teams blog. Its a win for all parties involved as for the athletes, the sponsorship funding let them focus on their training without stressing about ways to fund their dream.

Moore explains that the Absa Cape Epic duo of SAs own Max Knox and Colombias Leonardo Paez placed fourth  an impressive placing considering its the most televised mountain bike stage race in the world, little wonder as it incorporates 7,00km of beautiful scenery and 15,000m of accumulated climbing, over some of the countrys most magnificent mountain passes in South Africa over eight days.

Fitting as the Absa Cape Epic is about living life at 100%; its about being challenged and tested to breaking point, and drawing on sheer passion and determination to pull through the rough parts of the ride in the pursuit for excellence. This is exactly what Designed for Life is all about. It is about people, their journeys, and their lifes passion or quest for success.

More than just a paint brand

Explaining their new, recently revealed brand positioning of designed for life, Moore says, At Plascon we are only truly satisfied when we know that our products change people's lives for the better. While most people appreciate and revel in a new Plascon home makeover, how many truly realise the importance of visible road markings or the value of specialist and environmentally conscious paints designed for hospitals? New car owners would not be nearly as proud if their new chariots didnt shine and schools would be dull if not for our colourful yet protective touch.

Plascon designed for life. Plascon designed for life.

She adds that Plascon has evolved so much over the years that it is no longer seen as just a paint brand. The brand has become a part of everyday life for so many people, in so many different ways. We understand that completely. With that said, our aim is simple  to continue to make peoples lives better throughout their life journey; to continue to be there every step of the way. Our science and our success are founded in emotion and enhancement of lives. Simply put, if it doesnt improve peoples lives, it isnt Plascon as Plascon is designed for life.

Moore says to keep an eye out as there are a lot of exciting, new things happening over the next few months. Watch this space

You can also visit their Twitter feed and Instagram profile for how-to tips and design inspiration.
WGSN, a London trend forecasting company for fashion and creative industries, held a recent press event in Cape Town to unveil the four key trends that will be at the forefront of African design in 2017 and 2018.

WGSN press event in Cape Town

Hosted by the companys chief content officer, Carla Buzasi, and brought to life through series of experiential installations, it included contributions from photographers and creatives Trevor Stuurman, Ed Suter, Gabrielle Kannemeyer and Travys Owen and fashion designers Chu Suwannapha, Nicholas Coutts and Cleo Droomer.

The African retail value chain has been significantly disrupted over the past few years and retailers and suppliers need to have a clear point of differentiation and confidence in their design execution, says Hannari Slabbert, WGSN regional director for Africa.

Added to that is a complex consumer mix who are increasingly influenced by international media and expect a contemporary offering in-store. In 2017, we are significantly expanding our trend content across Africa, focusing on the important social and style movements coming from this continent to help customers make profitable creative decisions to stay ahead of these challenges.

Nocturne

Winter always brings with it a darker mood and sense of melancholy. WGSN calls the 2017 season one of bittersweet beauty, with a blurring of the boundaries between night and day, a trend that will extend into autumn/winter 2018.

To illustrate how this will play out in fashion, WGSN showed Cape Town label Droomer alongside H&Ms 2017 Conscious Exclusive collection. Droomers loungewear suit and oversized gold sports-inspired garments give a cold-weather sense of luxury. H&Ms black organic silk suit, showing that fashion can be sustainable as well as sensual.

Disruption and discomfort are central to this trend, which embraces the darkness that comes before light. The colours therefore are a palette of moody night tones and moonlit brights with inky blues, deep purple and berry tones at the fore.

The beauty of Xandre Kriels Samosa Table and Night Chair/Nagstoel for the Southern Guild translated this blurring of night and day into decor.

Slippery Spoons cocktail, Dragons Breath  Guinness, MCC, cocoa-nib ice and oak smoke  allowed guests to taste Nocturne. An artwork by photographer Krisjan Rossouw provided a backdrop as did a video loop of New York nights and the streets of Cape Town set to Max Richters music to bring home the juxtaposition.

Earthed Together

With an increasing tendency to turn to screens for everything, our instincts are kicking in and prompting an urge to reconnect with nature. This will play out in a variety of micro-and macroscopic designs and a preference for colours that can ground us. This trend encompasses the colours of the skies just before dawn or dusk as well as gold ochre, saffron, blue flame and dark berry.

Linking to the sustainable aspect of the trend, Slippery Spoon served truffled cauliflower soup made from the stems with cauliflower leaf crisps to demonstrate the focus on not wasting anything. Fermented porcini kimchi and aged parmesan powder further brought home the earthy palate with Ethiopian injera showing the trends African roots.

As the name Earthed suggests, there is a strong link to the farm-to-table movement that now extends to fitting rooms too, as fashion becomes increasingly home-grown and incorporates more and more local materials, says Buzasi. This mood was made tangible by an installation by Kraak that allowed guests to feel the soil beneath their feet, in addition to the natural bacteria and yeast used in Slippery Spoons laboratory installation.

Youth Tonic

Come summer and renewed youthful vigour always sets in; come summer 2018 and we will be reminded that youth is a state of mind. As the world population ages and Gen Z, Gen X and Boomers live longer than previous generations will, we will see eras blending in new ways. Different generations will break the rules of what applies to them and remix styles and lifestyles. It is about the random, about striking out and finding what fits you.

Guests were invited to pick up a paintbrush and participate in creating art with David Brits to the sound of a remix of 90s club hits. Electric colours and neon pops are matched and clashed but beneath the surface zing, there are complementary tones such as blues that work in harmony with their poppy counterparts. The fierce 90s feel was expressed in liquid form in Slippery Spoons shooters, a mix of Hope on Hopkins Esperanza (a tequila-like liquor made from agave), fresh lime juice and popping candy.

An installation of fake flowers and kitsch furnishings brought the trend into the home by embracing the unfinished and random to emphasise that art is the new fashion.

Kinship

Although this fourth big trend may appear to veer off in a different direction, the move to Kinship overlaps all three of the previous trends. It is characterised by an increased sense of community where art and design crosses borders around the globe.

Just like the disappearing generation gap, cultures and histories will meld, as people continue to move around the world, whether physically or virtually. Kinship is about cultures and collectives that forge an increased sense of community. The curves of the East will increasingly enhance the lines of the West.

Storytelling will play an ever more important role in connecting people around products and projects through vivid tales of places, histories and cultures.

The works of photographers Trevor Stuurman, Ed Suter, Travys Owen and Gabrielle Kannemeyer brought this concept home by placing traditional elements, such as Basotho blankets and ochre-covered Himba, in non-cultural settings.

Three fashion designers, known for spanning cultures, showed how they interpret this trend. Chu Suwannapha of Chulaapwho has been celebrating the prints and colours of Africa since the labels inception, mille collines who straddles Africa with contemporary, cosmopolitan fashions made in Africa for African women and Nicholas Coutts, who combines fabrics such as South African mohair and acid denim to take menswear in a new direction.

The result is an upbeat palette that goes easy on the darks. Earthy reds ranging from red mulberry and dark orchid to more traditional summery hues like baked coral and rose madder are a defining feature. Dark ginger and golden spice lend intensity to the palette, while blue sage, washed indigo and horizon blue offer a calming balance, says Buzasi.

Women from Du Noon Weavers took this trend into decor by using traditional weaving methods and materials to create homeware that meets the pared-down aesthetic of Habitat, as well as more sculptural pieces in collaboration with Binky Newman from Design Afrika.

Craft is a key influence in decor but it isnt about a folksy take on interiors. Instead, we will see a blending of textiles and design that shows an appreciation of global culture, concludes Buzasi.

WGSN will feature reports on African trends in womenswear, colour, materials, accessories and beauty. Specifically from South, East and Western Africa, it will focus on consumer insights, influencers, lifestyle & interiors, and menswear trends.
Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi will take part in a World Health Organisation-coordinated pilot programme that will make the world's first malaria vaccine available in selected areas, beginning in 2018.

The injectable vaccine, RTS,S, was developed to protect young children from the most deadly form of malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum. RTS,S will be assessed in the pilot programme as a complementary malaria control tool that could potentially be added to the core package of WHO-recommended measures for malaria prevention.

Malaria education in Malawi. Source: WHO/S Hollyman

The prospect of a malaria vaccine is great news. Information gathered in the pilot will help us make decisions on the wider use of this vaccine," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa. Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa, she added.

Africa bears the greatest burden of malaria worldwide. Global efforts in the last 15 years have led to a 62% reduction in malaria deaths between 2000 and 2015, yet approximately 429,000 people died of the disease in 2015, the majority of them young children in Africa.

The WHO pilot programme will assess whether the vaccines protective effect in children aged 5-17 months old during Phase III testing can be replicated in real-life. Specifically, the pilot programme will assess the feasibility of delivering the required four doses of RTS,S, the vaccines potential role in reducing childhood deaths, and its safety in the context of routine use.

WHO recommendations and RTS,S

RTS,S was developed by GSK and is the first malaria vaccine to have successfully completed a Phase III clinical trial. The trial was conducted between 2009 and 2014 through a partnership involving GSK, the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), and a network of African research sites in seven African countriesincluding Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.

RTS,S is also the first malaria vaccine to have obtained a positive scientific opinion from a stringent medicines regulatory authority, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which approved RTS,S in July 2015.

In October 2015, two independent WHO advisory groups, comprised of the worlds foremost experts on vaccines and malaria, recommended pilot implementation of RTS,S in three to five settings in sub-Saharan Africa. The recommendation came from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunisation and the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC), following a joint review of all available evidence on the vaccines safety and efficacy. The WHO formally adopted the recommendation in January 2016.

Pilot implementation

The three countries were selected to participate in the pilot based on the following criteria: high coverage of long-lasting insecticidal-treated nets (LLINs); well-functioning malaria and immunisation programmes, a high malaria burden even after scale-up of LLINs, and participation in the Phase III RTS,S malaria vaccine trial. Each of the three countries will decide on the districts and regions to be included in the pilots. High malaria burden areas will be prioritised, as this is where the benefit of the vaccine is predicted to be highest. Information garnered from the pilot will help to inform later decisions about potential wider use of the vaccine.

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They are the country's biggest-selling frozen beef patties but a close look at the packaging reveals that they are not very beefy at all - just 36% beef.

I&J "Beefers", which sell in packs of 10 and 16, are actually mostly non-meat, 64% of them being made up of "extenders" such as water, soya, flour, onions and seasoning.

"On the box, this food substance is referred to as 'beef patties'," said The Times's Dianne Hawker, who bought the product for the first time recently. "I would argue they are not, given that the beef content is only 36%."

But it's all perfectly legal.

The SA National Standard (SANS) 885 stipulates the minimum meat content of processed meats such as bacon, polony, nuggets and viennas but it excludes raw processed meat.

"Our Beefers product does not fall under SANS 885, as it has not undergone any of the listed processes (such as smoking and curing)," said I&J Group's quality assurance manager Donovan Brickles.

"Rather, it is classified as a 'raw processed meat', for which no minimum meat content requirements are legislated."

But the country's labelling regulations forces I&J to declare - on the front of the pack - the fact that the patties contain only 36% beef.

The regulation - known as Quid or Quantitative Ingredient Declaration - states that if a food manufacturer emphasises a key, usually expensive, ingredient in the name or description of a product, it has to declare the percentage of that ingredient in bold on the front of the pack.

"Our Beefers product complies with this requirement, with the beef and water contents clearly displayed," Brickles said.

Quid was intended to protect consumers from being misled by manufacturers about the content of a product.

But those consumers who base their buying choices solely on price are likely to overlook the fact that a well-priced burger pattie is not very beefy at all.

It's not misleading in terms of the labelling regulations, says consumer attorney Janusz Luterek of Hahn & Hahn Inc.

"But perhaps it could be considered misleading in terms of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) if there was a cheaper ingredient in greater quantity than the beef, such as chicken."

A food industry source, who asked not to be named, said the CPA prohibited the marketing of goods in a way that implied "a false, misleading or deceptive misrepresentation, concerning a material fact".

"So, if a consumer can argue that they find the label of a "beef pattie" misleading, as it contains only 36% beef, they could lodge a complaint with the National Consumer Commission," the source said.

Source: The Times
In a quest to enter the commercial agro-processing and meat production market, the Mount Frere-based Matyeni Agricultural Co-operative in the Alfred Nzo district of the Eastern Cape, launched a processing facility which produces livestock feed and maize meal with the backing of a R500,000 grant from development financier, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation's (ECDC) Imvaba Co-operatives Fund.

From left to right: ECDC Imvaba Co-operative Fund manager Simphiwe Ntshweni; Matyeni Agricultural Co-operative deputy chairperson Langa Zophondle; and Eastern Cape MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Sakhumzi Somyo at the launch of the Matyeni Agricultural Co-operative processing plant

Established in 2012, the cooperative has planted 300 hectares of maize with yield estimates at 4,5 tonnes a hectare when harvesting kicks off at the beginning of June. The cooperative has also planted cabbages, carrots, beans, pumpkins and spinach on a further eight hectares. It currently has 180 sheep, 53 cattle, and 223 chickens.

We are planning to increase maize production to 700 hectares and we are already in negotiation with the local Shoprite and Boxer stores to supply them with our processed maize meal and mealie bags. However, we need to increase supply in order to meet the demands of retailers. Currently, we are shelling the maize and selling it to local shops in 10kg up to 50kg bags.

The processing machine will allow us to process the rest of maize for livestock feed in order to improve the quality of our livestock that we sell as meat so that we can compete with commercial farmers, says cooperative chairperson Walaza Mazule.

Mazule says their plans will gain traction when the planned Mount Frere Fresh Produce Market becomes operational. We intend to supply the fresh produce market when it becomes operational. The existing Kei Fresh Produce in Mthatha is far which incurs transport costs, Mazule explains.

Speaking at the launch of the processing facility on Friday, the MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Sakhumzi Somyo says the Eastern Cape government will go the extra mile to fund communities which show initiative and drive. An example of this is the Matyeni Agricultural Co-operative. This is exciting and exemplary organic production by our own communities, something which we must encourage and spread across the province in order for communities to drive their own development, Somyo says.

Supporting primary production to improve rural incomes

ECDC Imvaba Co-operative Fund manager Simphiwe Ntshweni says ECDCs investment into the Matyeni Agricultural Co-operative is in line with the financiers strategy of supporting primary production activities with beneficiation and value addition resources to improve rural incomes in the informal economy.

He says in order to improve the quality of their livestock to compete with commercial farmers, the cooperative decided to process a portion of their locally produced maize into animal feed. This processing has resulted in greatly improved livestock over a period of two years. However, for them to do the processing they had to travel over 140km to Mbizana to the nearest processing plant.

With the assistance of the Umzimvubu Local Municipality Local Economic Development Unit, they approached ECDC for assistance to establish their own mini-processing plant. After careful consideration of their application, assessment and site visits, the Imvaba Funding Committee approved an amount of R500,000 to purchase a hammer mill, a sheller, and a three-phase generator in the absence of electricity in the area. Our view is informed by the knowledge that it is only beneficiation of primary produce that will lead to improved rural incomes. ECDCs role in this space is also a complementary one to the public and private sector partner who support primary production activities, Ntshweni says.

Investing in potato-producing cooperatives

Speaking at the launch of the livestock feed processing facility Ntshweni says the R500,000 is a fraction of the R80,7 million disbursed to 153 cooperatives since the Imvaba Co-operative Fund was established. Some R3,357 million went to seven potato producing cooperatives in the OR Tambo District Municipality last year alone.

Besides ECDCs support to the Matyeni Agricultural Cooperative, ECDC also provided funding to seven potato producing cooperatives in the OR Tambo district to the value of R3,357 million in the last year. The funds were used to buy agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, seeds and pesticides. The seven co-operatives have planted 26 hectares of potatoes in this their first season. Initial yield estimates indicate a yield of 1,500 10kg bags of potatoes per hectare at harvest at these co-operatives, Ntshweni adds.

We are also pleased with the partnership with Kei Fresh Produce Market which provides a market for the products of the potato producing co-operatives while linking them with distribution channels for their products. Industry association Potato South Africa and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) came on board to offer skills, training, mentoring and technical support to improve the competitiveness of the cooperatives so that they are able to compete with their commercial counterparts, says Ntshweni.
The Corporate Communications and Public Relations sector has seen rapid development over recent years, and the new world of Communications has amplified the need for industry leaders to have global expertise with local relevance. This holds true for the African Era of Communications' where customised communication approaches need to be rooted in dynamic cultures and demographics for different African countries.

Against this backdrop, Africa as we know it, is no longer playing catch-up with developed nations. The rise of Communications in Africa is showcasing the continent in a new light, proving that Africa has what it takes to produce innovative communications solutions in a world that is dominated by Western practices.

A South African PR agency that is pushing creative boundaries is Engage Joe Public.

Engage Joe Public, the PR and Communications offering of Joe Public United, entered the 2017 African Excellence Awards and succeeded in winning two awards this past week. With only three years in the game, they competed against some of the biggest industry heavyweights in Africa, scooping a Gold for the Campaign of the Year category for Sabrics #SKELM as well as another Gold in the Event & Experiential Marketing category for Clovers FutureLife Smart Drink Launch: #UFOSA.

The African Excellence Awards is an established international competition and has been in existence for the past ten years. The awards aim to celebrate remarkable accomplishments within the Communications and HR professions. The competition consisted of 26 specialised categories, received over 2500 global entries and were judged by a distinguished panel of jury members through a stringent judging process.

As an agency, we strive to produce work that delivers on greatness for our clients. Creative and relevant content is crucial to driving meaningful PR that changes behaviour and grows brand belief in an evolving communications industry. Seeking innovative ways to tell the brand story allows us to achieve success, said Keri-Ann Stanton, Managing Partner, Engage Joe Public.

Engage Joe Public had an additional two entries that were shortlisted as finalists. Clovers  Drought Relief Campaign in the Brand Relationships category and clothing retailer Jets  #JetLoveYourself Campaign in the Social Media category.






Aspen Pharmaceuticals' failure to disclose its 2016 5.2m Italian competition authorities fine for price gouging has backfired.

The story made headlines in the UK and on social media.

With speculation now mounting that British and European authorities will launch their own investigations into the price-gouging allegations, local shareholders are querying why the company has never issued a statement on the fine, which had been handed down in October 2016.

Asief Mohamed of Aeon Investment Management said that when he asked Aspen management why it had not issued a Sens statement, he was told it was because it was an insignificant amount.

"Even at that stage it was apparent the important issue was not the sum involved but the potential damage to Aspen's reputation," Mohamed said.

After a damning front-page report by The Times of London last week had been picked up by media outlets across the globe, Aspen finally issued a statement at the weekend saying that the contents of the report concerned matters that were sub judice.

"Out of respect for the integrity of ongoing legal processes with regulators as well as the court, in Italy and Spain, Aspen will not comment on these public allegations," the statement said.

"Instead, Aspen looks forward to the opportunity to demonstrate the integrity and legality of its practices in the context of these legal processes."

The Times report, which is part of an investigation into drug pricing, detailed how Aspen began a Europe-wide effort to drive up the price of five cancer medicines after buying the rights from GlaxoSmithKline.

"The price rises meant that the cost of busulfan, used by leukaemia patients, rose from 5.20 to 65.22 a pack in England and Wales during 2013, an increase of more than 1,100%. The price of chlorambucil, also used to treat blood cancer, rose from 8.36 to 40.51 a pack in the same year."

The paper reported Aspen had bought the marketing rights to the portfolio of oncology drugs from GlaxoSmithKline in 2009 as part of a 273m deal.

"GlaxoSmithKline received a 16% stake in the company in the agreement, which it has since sold for about $2.2bn," it said.

The price increases in England and Wales were possible because Aspen exploited a loophole that allowed companies to impose rises if an existing brand name was dropped.

"Branded medicines are subject to strict price controls, but the department of health does not limit the price of unbranded generics," The Times reported.

Aspen's aggressive pricing strategy began in 2012 and focused on increases in prices that health authorities across Europe paid for the drugs.

The Times reported that the Italian competition watchdog described how Aspen had taken an "aggressive" approach to negotiations, sometimes creating shortages of the medicines or threatening to stop supplying the drugs altogether to force health authorities to accept its demands. Aspen is appealing against the Italian fine. In February the Spanish markets and competition commission announced it had started disciplinary proceedings against Aspen, whose European headquarters are in tax-friendly Dublin, Ireland.

The Spanish authorities are investigating allegations that Aspen caused a deliberate drug shortage in an effort to charge excessive prices.

Aspen justified the price increases on the grounds that there had been no increases for years and that prices had been at very low and unsustainable levels. The Italian authorities argued Aspen was making good returns on the old prices.

Mohamed said that at the time of the GlaxoSmithKline deal Aspen must have known what prices it would need to get a reasonable return on its investment.

"Pushing for price increases is an acceptable strategy but this appears to be extortion," said Mohamed, adding he would definitely be engaging with Aspen management on the issue.

Mohamed drew comparisons between the Aspen case and the public backlash in the US after a 5,000% hike in the price of Daraprim by Turing Pharmaceuticals.

Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, became the most hated man in the US after he said he regretted not increasing the price of the drug by even more than he had.
Like it or not, we measure the success (or failure) of cities according to broad principles of urban culture inherited largely from the west. This includes quantitative data: infrastructure, transportation, access to health care, education, amenities and so on. Harder to measure, but no less important, are other factors like a sense of belonging, community, identity and history.

What makes a good city? Or what makes a city good, as opposed to bad? In the past 30 years or so, measuring urban success has become an industry in its own right. There are a host of companies willing to answer that question. They use a mixture of factors that include political stability, economic performance, environmental issues, safety and security, transportation and public services. Add to it more nuanced indices like inclusion, diversity, multiculturalism and choice.

Accra  Sura Nualpradid  123RF.com

Perhaps unsurprisingly, in 2017, European cities dominated the top 20, with Singapore, Tokyo, Melbourne and Auckland also in the mix. African cities are always in the bottom quartile of every survey, from Mercers Quality of Life Index (QoL) to the UNs World Cities Report. Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Louis and Durban are the continents highest-ranked cities. In Mercers 2016 QoL Index, Accra, the capital city of Ghana, Africas first independent nation, is at # 166, one slot ahead of Riyadh and one behind Cairo.

Partly because Accra and Johannesburg are the only two African cities I can claim to know in detail, and partly because they represent two very different versions of a contemporary African city, this article looks at their slow climb up the urban food chain.

Cities of the same generation

Accra and Johannesburg are roughly the same age. Gold was discovered just outside present day Johannesburg in 1884, triggering the rush that founded the city. The British declared Accra the colonial administrative capital of the Gold Coast in 1877, both events occurring within a decade of each other.

Today, metropolitan Johannesburgs population is around 5 million, whilst Accras is just over 2.5 million. Johannesburgs brand identity, prominently displayed in its media image, is of a world class African city. Accra makes fewer claims to world class status, but in 2016, was awarded the title of Africas most expensive city.

Companies like Mercer Consulting, Moodys, Fitch, Standard & Poors, CNNMoney.com and PricewaterhouseCoopers cover almost every conceivable inch and index of global urbanity. Its mostly according to the indices covered above. Yet the lived, daily life experience of millions of city-dwellers, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, is hardly, if ever, captured by this data. So who is this data actually for? Theres an important clue on Mercer Consultings website:



These rankings indicate differences in quality of living factors affecting expatriates in popular assignment destinations. These rankings shouldnt be used as the basis for determining hardship premiums, as many complex and dynamic factors must be taken into account.

Among the indicators used in determining the value of a given global city, the price of groceries, transport, utility bills, restaurants and rent are seen as benchmarks. But this says next-to-nothing about wages, recreation (other than restaurants), local class structures, social patterns, language and even local culture, most commonly described by expatriates as traditions.

Multinational expatriates may not be the sites only users, but theyre certainly its target market. Presumably, then, the true purpose of the index is to work out how much to pay the average Briton, European or American in far-flung exotic or dangerous locations.

Booming economies

Ghana is classified by the World Bank as a lower middle-income economy with a per capita GDP of $1,100.

In principle, citizens of Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi (Ghanas three largest cities) should be entitled to expect at least a reasonable quality of urban existence in line with their own aspirations and ambitions. One of the least talked-about issues in African city-making discourses, however, is precisely what these aspirations and ambitions are, should be  or even could be.

Johannesburg  Sudhir Misra  123RF.com

Expatriate expectations (and their salary scales) hardly ever take local realities into account. For your average Ghanaian, going to a funeral or visiting extended family relatives at the weekend may be infinitely more socially rewarding than sitting in an air-conditioned restaurant a deux, listening to piped musak.

Shopping for food in an open-air market where prices can be negotiated may be more convenient than going to an impersonal mall. Yet funerals and roadside markets dont feature anywhere on any urban index. Given Accras current position (# 166), alongside the vast majority of other African cities, whatever local aspirations and expectations may be, they are neither being articulated nor met.

At the other end of the scale is Johannesburg, an African city unlike any other. Narrowly within the worlds top 100, its a city undergoing enormous changes, although, like Accra, the pace of transformation is often perceived by its citizens to be too slow.

By and large, South African cities are closer in form, behaviour and appearance to their world-class counterparts  or at least those portions of the city that conform to the stereotype of ordered, well-organised and consensual urbanity. Informal settlements, squatter camps, inner cities, townships and rural landscapes are markedly different for complex historical, political and economic reasons.

Largely due to its demographic make-up, theres no real expatriate culture in South Africa (with the possible exception of Cape Town, which holds large numbers of non-resident Europeans and Americans). In marked contrast to Accra, expressed as a percentage of the total urban population, middle-class Jo'burgers enjoy relatively easy access to a comfortably bourgeois lifestyle without the input or demands of expatriates.

The gentrification of inner city Johannesburg has prompted much debate, including outcry. But the truth of the matter is that in a context where race and class have historically meant the same thing (youre poor because youre black and black because youre poor), its neither possible nor productive to talk about gentrification in the same way as its in London, New York or Paris.

Some of the up-and-coming inner city neighbourhoods on which architects and urbanists pour such scorn are the few  if not only  places where young South Africans of all races freely mix. Yes, they do so on the basis of bourgeois values and common class interests, but whats the alternative? Segregated cities? South Africans have had nearly two centuries of those: forgive a foreigners assumption, but Im guessing the answer is no.

Up the urban food chain

Both Accra and Johannesburg have some way to go before they make it onto anyones top 20. Both cities have considerable challenges to overcome, not least the dramatic and desperate gap between rich and poor, haves and have-nots (which, certainly in most African cities, includes the gap between locals and expatriates).

But inequality is not a uniquely African problem, neither is intolerance, immigration and displacement. As weve seen only too dramatically in the past year, these are issues that continue to confound and confront cities across the globe. Developing more nuanced tools and yardsticks to measure the health and wealth of African cities may be more useful to the rest of the world than we currently acknowledge.


President Jacob Zuma has conveyed in writing to political parties represented in the National Assembly his intention to appoint a Judge of the Constitutional Court, says the Presidency on Tuesday, 25 April 2017.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has earlier this month, interviewed candidates to fill a vacancy in the Constitutional Court.

Today, President Zumas office announced that in accordance with section 174 (4) of the Constitution of the Republic, 1996, he wrote to political leaders informing them of his intention to appoint a Judge of the Constitutional Court.

After due process, the JSC has submitted four names for the Presidents consideration and President Zuma is in the process of giving consideration to the candidates from the list with a view to appointing one of them as a Judge of the Constitutional Court.

The four candidates are Honourable Justice Narandandram Jody Kollapen; Honourable Justice Stevan Arnold Majiedt; Honourable Justice Leona Valerie Theron and Honourable Justice Malcolm John David Wallis.

In pursuant of section 174(4), the President as the Head of the National Executive, after consulting with the Chief Justice and the leaders of the parties represented in the National Assembly, appoints the Judges of the Constitutional Court, says the Presidency.
A former mayor of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCM), Zukiswa Ncitha, has appeared before the East London Magistrate for charges of alleged fraud.

The former mayor appeared on Monday, 24 April 2017, together with the Municipalitys Head of Department (HOD) Ncumisa Sidukwana.

The two had handed themselves over to the Hawks in East London the same day, accompanied by their lawyer.

Ncitha and Sidukwana are two additional suspects who have been arrested in connection with a case of fraud at the municipality, the Hawks said on Tuesday.

The other four suspects, who were arrested on 3 March are Municipalitys Financial Officer Visvanathan Vincent Pillay, Municipalitys former Speaker Luleka Ethel Simon-Ndzele, Municipalitys Supply Chain Manager Thembelani Prideaux Sali and local attorney Matthew Moodley.

The accused are facing two charges of fraud and contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

The suspects are alleged to have colluded with a certain company which submitted an invoice to Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality for unauthorised services and the money was paid out without following proper procurement processes, provincial Hawks spokesperson Captain Anelisa Feni said.

All six suspects have been each granted R2,500 bail. Their next court appearance will be on 7 June.
The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) welcomes the restoration of internet connectivity in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon after 94 days of network shutdown.

 icetray via 123RF

The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, on April 20, 2017, under the orders of the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, restored internet connection to the people of the two regions after three months of network disruption.

The government of Cameroon shut down internet access in the two regions following protests against the government's imposition of the use of French language in the two predominantly anglophone regions.

Since protests erupted in November 2016, freedom of expression and human rights have been repressed by the Cameroonian government, four protesters have been killed and several others have been arbitrarily arrested and detained.

While welcoming the restoration of internet access in the two regions, AFEX also calls on the Cameroonian government to commit to promoting and protecting digital rights as network disruptions adversely affect people socially, psychologically, economically, educationally and politically. For instance, the 94 days of internet shutdown has deprived about 7 million citizens access to information and has resulted in the loss of about U.S. $ 4.5 million in a country with a per capita income of about $1,200.

Human rights violations

The restoration of internet access should be the first step towards redressing all outstanding human rights violations in the two regions. AFEX therefore calls on the Cameroonian government to release all those who have been arrested and detained in connection with the protests and resort to dialogue.

AFEX takes this opportunity to commend all local, regional and international bodies and organisations, for being steadfast and actively engaged in the campaign for internet restoration in anglophone Cameroon. The solidarity with the Cameroonian people and commitment towards campaigning against any form of network disruption is laudable and must be sustained.

This statement was originally published on africafex.org on 21 April 2017.
ROME, Italy: Alitalia workers have rejected a restructuring deal from the company's management and unions to save the ailing carrier, Italian media reported Monday.

Almost 90% of its 12,500 employees had participated in a vote and more than half those taking part opposed the deal, with more than a third of ballots still to be counted.

They opposed a plan for 1,700 job losses and a 8% salary cut, despite the government saying over the weekend that there would be no alternative. The company's coffers are empty.

Request for possible takeover or liquidation

Italian press reports said Alitalia directors may as soon as Tuesday - a public holiday in Italy - ask the state to establish a "special administration" for a possible takeover or liquidation.

The company is de facto controlled by Etihad Airways, which acquired a 49% stake when it saved Alitalia from bankruptcy in 2014.

The pressure to find a solution has been intense, with Alitalia's liquidity expected to run out this month without emergency funding, leaving its fleet grounded. Etihad and the Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit have said they would only inject new funds if the unions agree to the new collective labour agreement and cuts.

The Italian government, which acted as a mediator in negotiations, warned on 18 April 2017 that a "no" victory would not only be costly but potentially fatal for the company. Alitalia has been hit hard by competition from low-cost companies and has been accumulating losses for years.
A test chamber for refrigerated vehicles has been built in Johannesburg and will be managed by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS).

The chamber is said to be the first of its kind in the country and offers manufacturers the option of sending their refrigerated vehicles for a thermal rating certified by the SABS.

Managing director of Serco, Clinton Holcroft, said the establishment of the chamber was good news for the marketplace. We will definitely send our units there for testing and make our ratings available for customers.

Official thermal ratings have been a mandatory requirement in the industry in Europe for a long time and are something long overdue in our country where the thermal capacity of refrigerated vehicles has not been certified before by a highly respected body such as the SABS, said Holcroft.
AutoTrader has announced that it is closing its print version of the magazine, after 25 years in production, and only producing a digital version.

AutoTrader CEO, George Mienie said, The magazine was the start of our business and was the heart of the business for 15 years before the transition to digital started in 2008. At one stage, it was so popular that our printers told us we had to hold off as the magazine size was going to break the binder and there were several instances when it was late to retail shelves because it did so. However, today we live in more exciting reality. Theres no doubt that its time to embrace the digital age.

The move to online only is the result of thinking and extensive research, a process that has been in operation for nearly ten years.

AutoTrader timeline

We launched our website in 1998 but it was in 2008 that we realised our magazine had a shelf-life. The internet was developing so fast and the possibilities of what could be done online were vast.

Tracking responses

Mienie and his team put the process in the consumers hands, monitoring changing consumer preference, as a guide to when it would be time to make the full digital jump.

We had to let our customers decide, as it is their platform. We created two unique sets of telephone response numbers, one printed in the magazine and the other on our website. We then knew whether our users were responding via the magazine or the website and, through tracking it month-by-month, we could see how quickly their preference was changing.

In 2008 it was 95% magazine; by 2013 we hit the midway point. At the beginning of 2016, we thought we had another six months. It was only in January 2017 that the low consumer demand for the magazine no longer made it viable, and we were able to make the call.

Having a finger on the digital versus print pulse allowed the company to transform itself in step with consumers changing habits. As user loyalty slowly shifted to digital, the company was able to train its staff for the eventual jump.

Larger numbers

To put the power of the internet into perspective, compare the 1.4 million magazines AutoTrader sold in 2006 with 2016, when the website had over 50 million visits and the company sent over 3 million leads connecting serious car buyers and sellers. One magazine could host 8 -10,000 cars. Today 68,000 cars are listed at any one time on the website.

The total online package has empowered buyers and sellers in a way the magazine never could. The website today offers financing, insurance, history checks, buyer and seller validation, geographic location services and a dedicated content hub, which houses motoring news, reviews & videos from our in-house experts to help car buyers make the best purchase decision. Strategic digital partnerships have further propelled the business into digital stardom, such as the companys motoring show #AutoCentral, hosted on CliffCentral.com.

Growth of online automotive industry

Effective Measure has observed AutoTraders contribution to the total growth of the online automotive industry.

Online searches for vehicles in South Africa have experienced tremendous growth in the last few years and AutoTrader has been at the forefront of this growth and innovation, said Greg Mason, Effective Measures Sub Saharan regional lead. From January 2015 to March 2017, AutoTrader experienced an 86% growth in page views and 48% growth in unique browsers to its site. This, together with the innovation and growth in its Apps, has added significantly to the growth of the website, as well as the overall online automotive sector.

Reaching new goals

For the company the move to digital is a new beginning, as it now feels it is able to set its sights on the ultimate goal.

We want to offer our buyers and sellers total efficiency, empowering all of them as much as possible, as we connect them with each other in even more creative ways. The ultimate goal is to be able to conduct an entire vehicle sale online, without administrative or physical barriers. Neither the country nor we are there yet but we are a step closer. We believe that the company is leading this charge and for us, it is just a matter of time, concludes Mienie.

For more information, click here.
The inaugural Property Buyer Show, held earlier this month at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, was a success, with over 3,000 property enthusiasts attend, with both the first-time Property Buyers' and first-time Property Investors' theatres full for each session held over the two days.

Following its success, Spintelligent, Clarion Events have announced they will be hosting a Property Buyer Show in October in Gauteng and have confirmed that they will have shows in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban next year.

It was encouraging to see intent to purchase and offers taking place on the exhibition floor over the weekend, says Richard Stubbs, event director at Spintelligent, Clarion Events. One of the highlights of the show for me was the launch and sell-out of Phase 1 sales of a new development in Paarl. This affirms that the event model works and is a win-win for buyers and sellers.

The show promoted the Western Cape Property market to local and intra-provincial buyer audiences, with locals and visitors from Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Visitors were able to interact with regional and local brands from Cape Town CBD, Atlantic Seaboard, Southern Suburbs, Northern Suburbs, West Coast, Cape Winelands and the Overberg, as well as having access to banks and bond originators, estate agents, developers, conveyancing lawyers and service providers, such as home inspection and insurance companies.

The theatre content was well received and provided much value for visitors. The Property Investor Theatre, in partnership with Pam Golding Properties, was particularly popular with only standing room available at times. First-time homebuyers were given practical guidance on how to navigate the home buying process in the Standard Banks First-Time Buyer Theatre. The seminar and workshop content will be an integral part of the event format for future planned shows.

Sponsors and exhibitors at the show added to the overall atmosphere to ensure visitors enjoyed their experience, with FNB serving coffee, Standard Bank ran an interactive unlock the door competition, Niche Communications provided visitors with 3D virtual show-houses and Private Property & Chas Everett set up selfie walls and props.

For more information, click here.
Algoa FM proved its results-driven creative ability, by scooping top honours at the Liberty Radio Awards for its launch campaign of the Algoa FM app at a gala banquet in Johannesburg on Saturday night. The station walked off with the Best Multi-Media Campaign as well as the Best Promotion, Stunt or Event Awards.

Dave Tiltmann, managing director of Algoa FM, said, "Being judged to be the best in South Africa for creating compelling campaigns is a massive honour for our business, and I am delighted with my staff.

Once again, we have proven that whether it be for our clients or ourselves, Algoa FM is the best when it comes to solution-driven creatives!"

Algoa FM designed the campaign to launch the app that allows its audience to engage with the station on relevant issues.

The campaign resulted in a 1000% increase in downloads. However, it was the way in which the campaign enticed listeners and social media followers to take action that impressed the judges.

Operations director, Alfie Jay, said: "I am so proud of my team right now.

From my digital and graphic design staff who designed the app, to my creative team who conceptualised the campaign, my on-air team for their flawless execution, and my awards team for their hard work and dedication.

This is a great result for our radio station and Algoa Country as a whole."

The Liberty Radio Awards Ceremony, which acknowledges the best of the best in the South African radio industry, was hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg.




What a difference a century makes. If we stepped back in time to a hundred years ago we'd find a primitive China; a Middle East that had yet to discover the riches of oil and most of Southeast Asia consisted of countries that were barely distinguishable from medieval societies. It was an entirely different world.

 Bruce Rolff via 123RF

Roll back 200 years and many European nations would be far removed from the modern countries they are today. It is an enduring myth that fools us to believe everything has always been like it is today; that the societies at the top of the pile have always been there. Technological and social revolutions have moulded the modern world and opportunity is out there for the taking.

When asked why I am so optimistic about Africa my answer is simple: look at how far we have come and look at how fast we are moving forward.

By 2050, it is estimated that Africa will boast a $29 trillion economy. It will have the largest youth labour market in the world and if guided and educated correctly, the same youth will be the workforce of that world.

Innovation hub

Even today, the future is starting to glow in Africa. Many projects and initiatives are delivering and being joined by new catalysts every day. According to Jake Bright, co-author of The Next Africa: An Emerging Continent Becomes a Global Powerhouse, there are already over 200 innovation hubs on the continent, 3,500 tech-related ventures and $1 billion in venture capital injected into local start-ups.

Africa is modernising at an unmatched rate. Its tremendous mobile device adoption proves this fact. African companies and people simply accept that new technologies will improve their lives and if what they need does not exist, they will create it. From new solar power systems to the much-celebrated M-PESA mobile banking, Africa innovates at the edge. While other countries wonder about delivering packages with quadcopters, we are already pioneering intelligent drone systems sophisticated enough to track poachers. It was an African student who developed a new rocket fuel - in his mothers rural kitchen!

This culture of innovation leapfrogging is one of Africas secret weapons, supported by a rising tide of SMEs.

This culture of innovation leapfrogging is one of Africas secret weapons, supported by a rising tide of SMEs. Though policy and leadership have been slow to respond, we hear new voices promoting SME and innovation cultures every day.

Rwanda, for example has reduced new business registrations from over 18 days to as little as six hours through a series of reforms that include technology and paperless processes. As a result, more companies were registered there in 2009 than the total five years before that - and it keeps growing.

Skills are central to Africas future and I see a lot of promise in the growing pool of related projects across the continent. Technology skills are being brought to schools everywhere with innovations including container classrooms and maker hubs. Tertiary skills are also being reinforced through partnerships with universities, as well as award-winning programmes such as SAP Africas Skills for Africa and Africa Code Week, the latter which trained over 86, 000 youngsters in basic coding skills last year.

Partnerships

But this is not a services revolution. Africas resources and agriculture remain important. They benefit acutely from innovation. One example is the partnership between SAP and GIZ, developing systems used by cashew farmers in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Mozambique to better manage their supply chain.

Thanks to the continents demand for hardy and meaningful technology, which is being driven by partnerships that reinforce Africas role in creating a better world, Africa is where others will look for the best in new innovation. The SAP Rural Sourcing Management solution is one direct result of this. Refined on African farms, it will serve as a blueprint to meet agriculture and food challenges across the world.

I believe that Africa will emerge to be the third centre of global power, settled in between the worlds of the East and West. The world needs Africa. It needs its resources, its people, its skills and its insights and Africa is rising to meet those expectations. Yes, it has not been a smooth ride, but the winds of change are blowing in the right direction. This will be Africas century.
The Right2Know Campaign has expressed concern regarding the recent burglary at the SABC's offices in Parliament. R2K is particularly concerned about the fact the SABC journalists' computers were the target of the burglary.

In light of this matter, R2K has called on the South African Police Service and the Parliamentary security to conduct a thorough investigation into the burglary to find the perpetrators. R2K has also asked that Parliament security ensure that the offices are a safe space for the journalists who work there.
The Civil Society Organisations launched a special publication titled the South African Civil Society and AIDS Response: Recognising the Past, Securing the Future at Ubuntu Kraal in Soweto.



The publication documents, critiques, and celebrates the role that the civil society plays with a focus on South Africa's turnaround strategy on HIV and Aids from 2007/2008 until now.
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The Southern England Town Crier's Competition will again be held in Wimborne Minster Town Square on Bank Holiday Monday 1st May.

This event was part of the Blandford Forum Georgian Fayre for many years but is now held every two years in Wimborne Minster.

There will be a fine spectacle of dandy costumes, beautiful frocks, healthy lungs and a true display of British eccentricity.

The Dorset Youth Marching Band will add to the colour and pageantry and also attending with be the Mayor of Wimborne Minster Mrs Sue Cook.

Sponsors include Wimborne Minster Town Council, Waitrose, The Wimborne BID and The Priest's House Museum.

The competition is over two rounds and each contestant will produce a cry that has to be between 100  125 words including the obligatory three "Oyez" to start and concluding with "God Save The Queen".

The judges will be drawn from local people.

The programme - all timings are approx - for the day is as follows:

11am - Town criers led by the Dorset Youth Marching Band parade to the town Square.

11.30am - First Round Of Cries "Home Town Cry".

12.30 -2pm lunch for town Criers

2pm - Town criers assemble on the town square for round 2

2.10pm - (till finish) second round cries

4pm approx - announcement of results on town square.

Chairs will arranged for spectators to enjoy the spectacle, refreshments for the public will be on sale in the local cafes and hostelries

Further information can be gained from the Tourist Information Centre:

Wimborne Tourist Information Centre in the High Street.
According to the Shan State Chief Minister, Dr Lin Htut, representatives from the self-administered regions and zones submitted a total of 70 papers  26 political papers, 23 papers on the economy and 21 papers on land issues, natural resources and environmental conservation.

The Shan State National Level Dialogue Management Committee will combine all the papers according to set frameworks and rules into three draft papers covering the three subjects.
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Why Do A Few Cows Have Giant Holes? Life oi-Syeda Farah

Farmers these days in the US and Switzerland have come up with some of the most weirdest concepts to improve their farming methods.

You May Also Like To Read: Scary Animals That Can Give You Goosebumps!

They are digging holes in the stomach of the cows, which is known as a fistula or a cannula. Though at first glance it looks life-threatening, it is claimed not to be.

Also Read: 5 Animals That Mate Themselves To Death

Check out on the reasons as to why the farmers are coming up with this unique concept of making holes that they monitor from time to time.

It Is Done To Check The Nutrition... According to the reports, the hole is put there on purpose, so that the scientists can study the digestive system of the cow. This is an invasive technique to check the cow's nutrition. The Cannulas Are Fixed In Their Sides There are 8-inch cannulas that are fixed on either of the sides of the cow and according to the reports, this new-age method for farming is said to be an amazing one! The Cannulas Reveal... The cannulas are said to end up in the digestive track of the cows and it allows the farmers to examine it in order to see how the animal is processing food. The fistulas come with rubber plugs at the end and these can be shut closed when the farmers are done with the examining. It Is Used As An Experiment According to research, there are different varieties of oats and other crops that are being tested in the digestive track of the cows. Research is done on how well the cow can process the crops, as this would help in better understanding of the digestive system of the cow. This Concept Was Tried Back In The 1920 As Well! Reports claim that this concept is not something new or out of the box. It was even tried back in the 1920 as well. The cannula is inserted surgically, after which the cow is given a rest period to recover from the procedure. Later, the cow can be put under examination for testing of various crops. This Technique Is Improving Cattle Raising The reports claim that there are healthier varieties of crops that can be beneficial for cows. This way, it helps to raise a better batch of cattle. These Cows Have A Longer Lifespan! It is said that the fistulated cows also have a longer lifespan. The cattle which have cannulas in them tend to live a longer life due to the care that is given to them. This practice of making giant holes in the cows is spreading across the globe after the research has been successful. All Image Source
Akshaya Tritiya 2021: The Story Of Kolhapur Maha Lakshmi Anecdotes oi-Lekhaka

Goddess Maha Lakshmi is one of the major deities worshipped on Akshaya Tritiya. Lord Ganesha, Lord Maha Vishnu and Lord Kubera are the other major deities that are worshipped on this day. Akshaya Tritiya is a very auspicious day when the members of the Hindu community come together and pray to the all mighty to bless them with prosperity and material wealth. This year the festival will be celebrated on 14 May.

As Goddess Maha Lakshmi is the deity of wealth and prosperity, it is only apt that she be remembered and worshipped on this golden day. As a rule, people visit temples to earn the blessings of their favourite deity. Akshaya Tritiya is a good day to visit a Maha Lakshmi Temple. With her grace and mercy, you shall be blessed with a fruitful and happy year ahead.

The temple that we shall be talking about today is arguably the most famous Maha Lakshmi temple of all. It is none other than the Maha Lakshmi temple of Kolhapur. Hundreds of devotees throng to the Kolhapur Maha Lakshmi temple to pay their respects to Goddess Maha Lakshmi. The crowd only grows on the day of Akshaya Tritiya.

The Story Of Kolhapur Maha Lakshmi

The temple has an interesting history and legend associated with it. Did you know that the Goddess Maha Lakshmi is fondly called 'Amba Bai' in the Kolhapur temple? The story of the Kolhapur Maha Laksmni starts with a doubt that arises in the mind of Sage Bhrigu.

He wanted to know who among the Trimoortis was the most superior. He first went to Brahma and acted badly towards the creator. Lord Brahma was very enraged, but Goddess Saraswati pacified him. Sage Bhrigu understood that Lord Brahma did not have anger under his control and cursed him that he would never have a temple.

Next, Sage Bhrigu went to Lord Shiva. But he couldn't even see the Lord as he was stopped by Nandi from entering. Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were having their private time then. Sage Bhrigu felt insulted and cursed Lord Shiva that he would forever be worshipped as a Linga.

The next stop was Lord Maha Vishnu. Lord Vishnu was asleep on his serpent and Goddess Maha Lakshmi was massaging his feet. Angry, Sage Bhrigu rushed in and kicked Lord Vishnu in his chest.

Contrary to what the Sage expected Lord Vishnu quickly arose and apologized to the sage for having been sleeping. He then enquired whether his hard chest had hurt the feet of the sage. Humbled, Sage Bhrigu left the place full of praises for Lord Vishnu.

While this should have been the end of the story, it does go on. Goddess Maha Laksmi felt insulted by the way the sage behaved with her beloved husband. She argued that Sage Bhrigu must have been punished. But Lord Maha Vishnu did not agree.

Furious at her husband's action, she left Vaikuntha and settled in the city of Kolhapur. It is said that she began a furious penance at Kolhapur that ended with Lord Maha Vishnu taking the avatar as Lord Venkatachalapati. He pacified and married Goddess Lakshmi in the form of Goddess Padmavati.

The Idol

The idol of Kolhapur Ambabai is made out of black stone. It is around 3-feet tall and has four arms. In each of her hands, she holds a Matulinga (a fruit similar to lemon), a mace called kaumodaka, a shield called Khetaka and a bowl called the panpatra. A lotus called the Padma-Ragini is present. A Shiva Ling and a cobra are also present around the idol. Behind the Goddess, stands a proud lion which is her vehicle.

One Of The Shakti Peethas

The Maha Lakshmi temple is also one of the Shakti peethas. It is said that after killing Daksha, Lord Shiva picked up the body of his burnt wife, Sati, and danced around in a ferocious tandava. The tandava endangered the whole creation. In order to pacify Lord Shiva, Lord Maha Vishnu cut the body of Sati Devi into many pieces with his Sudarshana Chakra.

The pieces of the body fell on to the earth and became the Shakti peethas. The Kolhapur Maha Lakshmi temple is the place where the three eyes of Sati Devi fell on to the ground. This fact makes the place all the more holy.

Mantras To Gain The Blessings Of Ambabai Of Kolhapur

1. || Om Sarvabaadhaa Vinirmukto, Dhan Dhaanyah Sutaanvitah Manushyo Matprasaaden Bhavishyati Na Sanshayah Om ||

2. || Om Shree Mahalakshmyai Cha Vidraahe Vishnu Patrayai Cha Dheemahi Tanno Lakshmi Prachodayat Om ||

3. || Om Shring Shriye Namah ||

4. || Om Hring Kling MahaLakshmyai Namah ||
PR Newswire

ARMONK, N.Y. and ALBANY, N.Y., April 24, 2017

ARMONK, N.Y. and ALBANY, N.Y., April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and AIM Photonics, The American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics, an institute of Manufacturing USA, today announced a patent and intellectual property licensing agreement and confirmed IBM has joined the AIM Photonics consortium, which seeks to advance integrated photonic circuit manufacturing and technology development.

The collaboration between IBM and AIM Photonics is expected to provide a path for the development of new technologies and products that will further solidify the consortium's position in the integrated photonics manufacturing ecosystem.

Additionally, the intellectual property licensing agreement with IBM will help AIM Photonics establish standard processes in the development of silicon photonics assemblies, such as couplings for communication signals and light sources. Industry and academic AIM Photonics members will access these technologies through a process design kit (PDK) and prototype development at the Rochester Test Assembly and Packaging (TAP) facility and the 300mm chip facility at SUNY Poly's Albany campus.

"Adding IBM as a member of AIM Photonics not only significantly strengthens this outstanding institute, but highlights the momentum the Finger Lakes region is experiencing in the high tech sector," said John Maggiore, New York State photonics board of officers chairman. "This announcement further validates the importance of this institute and the goals it has set out to achieve."

Through its membership, IBM will contribute to the development of AIM Photonics' advanced integrated silicon photonics technology, packaging services, and other future offerings to make advanced technology available to AIM Photonics members and the wider technical community. IBM, together with the other industry partners and the affiliated universities, will play a significant role to direct advanced research activities of AIM Photonics towards new products.

"Today's announcement furthers New York State's global leadership in developing next-generation integrated silicon photonics technologies," said Dr. Michael Liehr, AIM Photonics CEO and SUNY Poly Executive Vice President of Innovation and Technology and Vice President of Research. "Working side by side with IBM photonic PIC and packaging experts is a significant milestone for AIM Photonics as we continue to advance our capabilities and prepare the TAP facility."

IBM recently delivered a presentation at an AIM Photonics Technology summit during The Optical Networking and Communication Conference & Exhibition (OFC) in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Wilfried Haensch discussed "Advanced optical packaging for Integrated Silicon Photonics" to over 100 conference attendees.

AIM Photonics is part of the overall Finger Lakes Forward revitalization effortthe region's strategic plan for economic growth, which places an emphasis on the industry cluster of optics, photonics and imaging to realize the region's full potential and act as a core driver of jobs and output growth. One of AIM Photonics' primary goals is to make Rochester a technology hub for silicon photonics manufacturing and packaging, generating both growth and job opportunities for the city of Rochester, Monroe County, and the State as a whole.

Pictures are available for use in publication, courtesy of SUNY Poly. To download, please visit the following website and click on the icon in the upper right hand corner; captions are provided under the "info" icon: https://goo.gl/photos/aVBBdvSQV2286U6H9

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, a U.S. Presidential medal of Freedom, 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.

Media Contact:Chris Nay 512-286-7727 [email protected]

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ibm-and-aim-photonics-announce-ip-licensing-agreement-300444819.html

SOURCE IBM
Canada NewsWire

VANCOUVER, April 24, 2017

VANCOUVER, April 24, 2017 /CNW/ -

TSX VENTURE COMPANIES

ABE RESOURCES INC. ("ABE")BULLETIN TYPE: Resume TradingBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Further to TSX Venture Exchange's Bulletin dated November 15, 2016, trading in the securities of ABE Resources Inc. (the "Company") will resume at the opening on Tuesday, April 25, 2017.

The Exchange received the required documentation for the transaction disclosed by press releases dated November 15, 2016 and April 21, 2017.

RESSOURCES ABE INC. ( ABE )TYPE DE BULLETIN : Reprise de la negociationDATE DU BULLETIN : Le 24 avril 2017Societe du groupe 2 de TSX Croissance

Suite au bulletin de la Bourse de croissance TSX date du 15 novembre 2016, la negociation des titres de Ressources ABE Inc. sera reprise a l'ouverture des marches le mardi 25 avril 2017.

La Bourse a recu la documentation requise pour la transaction divulguee par communiques de presse dates les 15 novembre 2016 et 21 avril 2017.

_____________________________________

BEE VECTORING TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL INC. ("BEE")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced Mar 01, 2017:

Number of Shares:

5,714,000 shares

Purchase Price:

$0.25 per share

Warrants:

2,857,000 share purchase warrants to purchase 2,857,000 shares

Warrant Initial Exercise Price:

$0.40

Warrant Term to Expiry:

2 Years

Number of Placees:

45 Placees

Insider / Pro Group Participation:

Name

Insider=Y / Pro-Group=P

# of Shares

Ashish Malik

Y

400,000

Aggregate Pro-Group Involvement [7 Placees]

P

940,000

Finder's Fee:

Haywood Securities Inc.

$14,475.00 cash; 57,900 warrants

Canaccord Genuity Corp.

$28,680.00 cash; 114,720 warrants

PI Financial Corp.

$3,225.00 cash; 12,900 warrants

John Welsh

$9,000.00 cash; 36,000 warrants

0915034 BC Ltd. (Alana Branson)

$3,000.00 cash; 12,000 warrants

Chelmer Investments Corp. (Shannon Dawe)

$1,500.00 cash; 6,000 warrants

Finder Warrant Initial Exercise Price:

$0.40

Finder Warrant Term to Expiry:

$0.40 for two years (with accelerator)

The Company issued news releases on March 21, 2017 and April 21, 2017 confirming closing of the private placement. Note that in certain circumstances the Exchange may later extend the expiry date of the warrants, if they are less than the maximum permitted term.

The above information is a summary only. Neither TMX Group Limited nor any of its affiliated companies guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document. Readers should consult the issuer's continuous disclosure record for complete details of the transaction.

________________________________________

CARDIOCOMM SOLUTIONS, INC. ("EKG")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 10:16 a.m. PST, April 24, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

CARDIOCOMM SOLUTIONS, INC. ("EKG")BULLETIN TYPE: Resume TradingBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 12:00 p.m. PST, April 24, 2017, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made.

________________________________________

CASTLE PEAK MINING LTD. ("CAP")BULLETIN TYPE: Resume TradingBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 10:45 a.m. PST, April 24, 2017, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made.

________________________________________

ENGOLD MINES LTD. ("EGM")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced April 3, 2017:

Number of Shares:

4,000,000 shares

Purchase Price:

$0.50 per share

Warrants:

4,000,000 share purchase warrants to purchase 4,000,000 shares

Warrant Exercise Price:

$0.60 for a two year period

Number of Placees:

23 Placees

Insider / Pro Group Participation:

Name

Insider=Y / ProGroup=P

# of Shares

Anton Novak

Y

1,000,000

Finder's Fee:

280,000 warrants payable to Canaccord Genuity Corp.

Finder's fee warrants are exercisable at $0.60 per share for two years.

Pursuant to Corporate Finance Policy 4.1, Section 1.11(d), the Company must issue a news release announcing the closing of the private placement and setting out the expiry dates of the hold period(s). The Company must also issue a news release if the private placement does not close promptly. Note that in certain circumstances the Exchange may later extend the expiry date of the warrants, if they are less than the maximum permitted term.

________________________________________

FIVE STAR DIAMONDS LIMITED ("STAR")[formerly Turquoise Capital Corp. ("TQC.H")]BULLETIN TYPE: Qualifying Transaction-Completed/New Symbol, Private Placement- Non-Brokered, Name Change, Graduation from NEX to TSX Venture and Reinstatement for TradingBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

Qualifying Transaction-Completed

TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") has accepted for filing Turquoise Capital Corp.'s (the "Company") Qualifying Transaction described in its Filing Statement dated March 29, 2017. As a result, at the opening on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, the Company will no longer be considered a Capital Pool Company. The Qualifying Transaction includes the following:

The Company acquired all the issued and outstanding shares of Five Star Diamond Limited (BVI), ("Five Star") by way of a "three-cornered merger" (the "Transaction"), and issued 101,287,345 Common Shares to the securityholders of Five Star, not including those issued pursuant to the financing described below. On the closing of Transaction, the Company changed its name to "Five Star Diamonds Limited". Under the Transaction, all securityholders of Five Star exchanged their Ordinary Shares of Five Star for Common Shares in the capital of the Company on a 1:1 basis.

As a result of the Transaction, a total of 66,184,831 resulting issuer Common Shares are escrowed pursuant to an Exchange Tier 1 Surplus escrow and 1,777,442 resulting issuer Common Shares are subject to the CPC escrow agreement. In addition, 10,000,000 resulting issuer Common Shares are subject to Exchange Seed Share Resale Restrictions.

The resulting issuer is classified as a "Diamond Mining" issuer (NAICS Number: 212392).

For further information, please refer to the Company's Filing Statement dated March 29, 2017 available on SEDAR.

Reinstatement for Trading:

Further to TSX Venture Exchange's Bulletin dated June 26, 2015, trading in the securities of the Resulting Issuer will reinstated at the opening on Tuesday, April 25, 2017.

Effective at the opening on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, the trading symbol for the Company will change from "TQC.H" to "STAR".

Private Placement  Non-Brokered

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced on September 12, 2016 and March 3, 2017. The financing was comprised of Common Shares of the Company at $0.30 per Common Share.

Number of Common Shares:

17,815,480 resulting issuer Common Shares

Purchase Price:

$0.30 per Common Shares

Number of Placees:

148 Placees

Insider / Pro Group Participation:

Name

Insider = Y /

Pro Group = P

Number of Shares

Stewart Vorberg

P

100,000

Cary Pinkowski

P

300,000

Julia Rachev

P

30,000

Ian MacPherson

P

65,000

Jennifer MacKenzie

P

6,600

In connection with the Private Placement, the Company paid cash finder's fees of $403,185 and issued finder warrants to purchase 1,343,950 Common Shares exercisable at a price of $0.30 per Common Share for a period of 24 months from the date of closing of the Private Placement.

The Company has confirmed the closing of the Private Placement via a press release dated April 24, 2017.

Name Change

In connection with the Qualifying Transaction, the name of the Company has been changed from Turquoise Capital Corp. to Five Star Diamond Limited. The board of directors of the Company approved the Company's name change by resolution on April 13, 2017.

Graduation from NEX to TSX Venture

In conjunction with the above, the Company has met the requirements to be listed as a TSX Venture Tier 1 Company. Therefore, effective on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, the Company's listing will transfer from NEX to TSX Venture, the Company's Tier classification will change from NEX to Tier 1 and the Filing and Service Office will change from NEX to Toronto.

Capitalization:

Unlimited number of common shares with no par value of which 128,727,096 shares are issued and outstanding

Escrow:

77,962,273 common shares

Transfer Agent:

Computershare Trust Company of Canada (Vancouver office)

Trading Symbol:

STAR (new)

CUSIP Number:

338304108 (new)

Issuer Contact:

Matthew Wood, President and Chief Executive Officer

Issuer Address:

390 Bay St., Suite 806, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2Y2

Issuer Phone Number:

(647) 259-1782

Issuer email:

[email protected]

________________________________________

GOBIMIN INC. ("GMN")BULLETIN TYPE: Declaration of DividendBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

The Issuer has declared the following dividend(s):

Dividend per Share:

$0.01

Payable Date:

June 22, 2017

Record Date:

May 26, 2017

Ex-Dividend Date:

May 24, 2017

________________________________________

JAXON MINERALS INC. ("JAX")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017 TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced March 14, 2017 and March 30, 2017:

Number of Shares:

8,463,144 shares

Purchase Price:

$0.07 per share

Warrants:

8,463,144 share purchase warrants to purchase 8,463,144 shares

Warrant Exercise Price:

$0.12 for a two year period

Number of Placees:

27 Placees

Insider / Pro Group Participation:

Name

Insider=Y / ProGroup=P

# of Shares

Jason Cubitt

Y

1,000,000

Aggregate Pro Group Involvement

P

500,000

[2 Placees]

Finder's Fee:

$8,921.61 payable to Ascenta Finance Corp, with 127,452 options. Each option is exercisable into one unit at $0.07, each unit consisting of one share and one warrant. Each warrant is exercisable at $0.12 for two years

$18,760 payable to Quaestus Strategies Corp. (Emma Fairhurst), with 268,000 warrants exercisable at $0.12 for two years

The Company issued news releases on April 5, 2017 and April 21, 2017 confirming closing of the private placement. Note that in certain circumstances the Exchange may later extend the expiry date of the warrants, if they are less than the maximum permitted term.

________________________________________

KANE BIOTECH INC. ("KNE")BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for DebtBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposal to issue 80,251 shares to settle outstanding debt for $12,438.82.

Number of Creditors:

1 Creditor

Insider / Pro Group Participation:

Creditor

Insider=Y /Progroup=P

AmountOwing

Deemed Price per Share

# of Shares

Philip Renaud

Y

$12,438.82

$0.155

80,251

The Company shall issue a news release when the shares are issued and the debt extinguished.

________________________________________

MARCHING MOOSE CAPITAL CORP. ("MMC.P")BULLETIN TYPE: Consolidation, Remain SuspendedBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Pursuant to a special resolution passed by shareholders November 25, 2016, the Company has consolidated its capital on a Two (2) old for One (1) new basis. The name of the Company has not been changed.

Effective April 25, 2017, the common shares of Marching Moose Capital Corp. will be consolidated and remain suspended on TSX Venture Exchange. The Company is classified as a 'Capital Pool Company' company.

Post - Consolidation Capitalization:

unlimited

shares with no par value of which

1,820,002

shares are issued and outstanding

Escrow

820,002

shares are subject to escrow

Transfer Agent:

Computershare Investor Services Inc.

Trading Symbol:

MMC.P

UNCHANGED

CUSIP Number:

56624L200

NEW

________________________________________

MILLENNIAL ESPORTS CORP. ("GAME")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 6:08 a.m. PST, April 24, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

MILLENNIAL ESPORTS CORP. ("GAME")BULLETIN TYPE: Resume TradingBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 8:45 a.m. PST, April 24, 2017, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made.

________________________________________

MOVIT MEDIA CORP. ("MV")BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-BrokeredBULLETIN DATE: Apr 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced Nov 03, 2015 and closed December 13, 2016: Please Note: Subsequent to the financing closing the Company consolidated on a 50:1 basis.

Number of Shares:

7,500,000 shares (150,000 post consolidation)

Purchase Price

$0.05 per share ($2.50 post consolidation)

Warrants:

7,500,000 share purchase warrants (150,000 post consolidation) to purchase 7,500,000 shares (150,000 post consolidation)

Warrant Initial Exercise Price:

$0.10 ($5.00 post consolidation)

Warrant Term to Expiry:

2 Years

Number of Placees:

12 Placees

Note that in certain circumstances the Exchange may later extend the expiry date of the warrants, if they are less than the maximum permitted term.

The above information is a summary only. Neither TMX Group Limited nor any of its affiliated companies guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document. Readers should consult the issuer's continuous disclosure record for complete details of the transaction.

________________________________________

NEW WEST ENERGY SERVICES INC. ("NWE")BULLETIN TYPE: ConsolidationBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017April 11, 2012TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

Pursuant to a resolution passed by shareholders on October 24, 2016, the Company has consolidated its capital on a 5 old for 1 new basis.

Effective at the opening Thursday April 27, 2017, the common shares of the Company will commence trading on TSX Venture Exchange, on a consolidated basis. The Company is classified as an 'Investment Issuer' company.

Post - Consolidation Capitalization:

23,644,842 shares with no par value of which

23,644,842 shares are issued and outstanding

Escrow:

Nil Common Shares

Nil Performance Warrants

Transfer Agent:

Computershare Trust Company of Canada

Trading Symbol:

NWE

CUSIP Number:

649155207 (new)

________________________________________

NEXUS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ("NXR.UN")BULLETIN TYPE: Notice of DistributionBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

The Issuer has declared the following distribution(s):

Distribution per Unit:

$0.01333

Payable Date:

May 15, 2017

Record Date:

April 28, 2017

Ex-Distribution Date:

April 26, 2017

________________________________________

NEXUS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ("NXR.UN")BULLETIN TYPE: Notice of DistributionBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

The Issuer has declared the following distribution(s):

Distribution per Unit:

$0.01333

Payable Date:

June 15, 2017

Record Date:

May 31, 2017

Ex-Distribution Date:

May 29, 2017

________________________________________

NIAGARA VENTURES CORPORATION ("NIA")BULLETIN TYPE: Delist, Remain HaltedBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at the close of business April 24, 2017, the common shares will be delisted from TSX Venture Exchange as a result of a 2,934,911 to 1 consolidation, which has left the company with only 1 shareholder.

For more information, refer to the Company's news release dated April 19, 2017.

_______________________________________

NXGOLD LTD. ("NXN")BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Purchase AgreementBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing an Option Agreement dated April 12, 2017 between NXGold Ltd. (the Company) and Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (the Vendor) whereby the Company may acquire an up to 100% interest in the Chicobi Project located northeast of Amos, PQ. Consideration is $100,000 cash, 800,000 common shares and $2,000,000 in exploration expenditures on or before October 1, 2018 to earn an 80% interest. In order to earn the remaining 20% interest an additional $1,000,000 in exploration expenditures on or before the third anniversary date of the effective date, and a 2% NSR payable to the Vendor are required.

________________________________________

ONEROOF ENERGY GROUP, INC. ("ON.H")[formerly OneRoof Energy Group, Inc. ("ON")]BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Disposition Agreement, Transfer and New Addition to NEX, Symbol Change BULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Property-Asset or Share Disposition Agreement:

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation relating to a Purchase Agreement (the "Agreement") dated March 3, 2017 between an arm's length party (the "Purchaser) and OneRoof Energy Group, Inc. (the "Company"). Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company shall dispose of its direct and indirect interests in various solar project portfolios containing approximately 747 residential solar systems and related leases and power purchase agreements.

As consideration, the Company shall receive US$5,753,700.

For more information please refer to the Company's news release dated March 8, 2017 and the Company's Management Information Circular dated March 20, 2017 available under the Company's SEDAR profile.

Transfer and New Addition to NEX, Symbol Change:

In accordance with TSX Venture Policy 2.5, Continued Listing Requirements and Inter-Tier Movements, the Company does not meet Continued Listing Requirements. Therefore, effective at the opening on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 the Company's listing will transfer to NEX, the Company's Tier classification will change from Tier 2 to NEX, and the Filing and Service Office will change from Toronto to NEX. The trading symbol for the Company will change from ON to ON.H. There is no change in the Company's name, no change in its CUSIP number and no consolidation of capital. The symbol extension differentiates NEX symbols from Tier 1 or Tier 2 symbols within the TSX Venture market.

________________________________________

PRO REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ("PRV.UN")BULLETIN TYPE: Notice of DistributionBULLETIN DATE: April 21, 2017TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

The Issuer has declared the following distribution(s):

Distribution per Unit:

$0.0175

Payable Date:

May 15, 2017

Record Date:

April 28, 2017

Ex-Distribution Date:

April 26, 2017

________________________________________

PURE MULTI-FAMILY REIT LP ("RUF.U") ("RUF.UN")BULLETIN TYPE: Notice of DistributionBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

The Issuer has declared the following distribution(s):

Distribution per US Class Unit:

US$0.03125

Distribution per CDN Class Unit:

US$0.03125

Payable Date:

May 15, 2017

Record Date:

April 28, 2017

Ex-Distribution Date:

April 26, 2017

________________________________________

SILVER PREDATOR CORP. ("SPD")BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Disposition AgreementBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Property-Asset or Share Disposition Agreement

TSX Venture Exchange Inc. (the "Exchange") has accepted for filing an option agreement dated March 28, 2017 (the "Agreement") between Silver Predator Corp. (the "Company") and Montego Resources Inc. ("Montego") Pursuant to the Agreement, Montego has acquired the option earn a 100% interest in the Taylor property, Nevada (the "Property").

Consideration for the Property is as follows:

Closing: US$200,000 cash (paid) and 500,000 common shares of Montego (issued)

Six months: US$100,000 cash and 300,000 common shares of Montego

Twelve months: US$200,000 cash, 400,000 common shares of Montego and exploration expenditures of US$100,000

Twenty four months: US$300,000 cash, 500,000 common shares of Montego and additional exploration expenditures of US$250,000

Thirty six months: US$400,000 cash, 800,000 common shares of Montego and additional exploration expenditures of US$350,000

Insider / Pro Group Participation: N/A

Please refer to the Company's news releases dated April 3, 2017 and April 21, 2017 for further information.

_______________________________________

SIMBA ESSEL ENERGY INC. ("SMB")BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Disposition AgreementBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Property-Asset or Share Disposition AgreementTSX Venture Exchange Inc. (the "Exchange") has accepted for filing two agreements the Company has entered into with Essel Group Middle East DMCC ("EGME").

Pursuant to the first agreement, dated June 15, 2015, EGME was granted the right to earn a 60% interest in Simba's production sharing contracts (the "PSCs") in Kenya, Chad and Guinea by contributing 100% of the funding to carry out an exploration program on the PSC's, which funding would be provided by EGME.

In November 2015, the Company entered into a definitive farmout agreement with EGME on Block 2A in Kenya wherein EGME may earn a 60% participating interest in Block 2A by funding 100% of exploration expenses until the completion of 2 conventional wells on Block 2A.

The Exchange has been advised that shareholders of the Company approved the two agreements at the Annual General Meeting held on April 4, 2017.

Insider / Pro Group Participation: EGME and Mr. Gagan Goel together have an Insider share position in the Company. Mr. Goel is the Managing Director of EGME.

Please refer to the Company's news release dated June 8, 2015, December 3, 2015 and April 21, 2017 for further information.

_______________________________________

TARKU RESOURCES LTD. ("TKU")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 6:31 a.m. PST, April 24, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

TOWER RESOURCES LTD. ("TWR")BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for ServicesBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposal to issue 172,413 warrants exercisable at $0.22 for a five year period to Canaccord Capital Corp., in addition to $25,000, representing a referral fee in connection to the Sandstorm Transaction announced on March 15, 2017.

The Company shall issue a news release when the warrants are issued.

________________________________________

NEX COMPANIES

BITUMEN CAPITAL INC. ("BTM.H")BULLETIN TYPE: HaltBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017NEX Company

Effective at 6:02 a.m. PST, April 24, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at the request of the Company, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

SEBASTIANI VENTURES CORP. ("SBS.H")[formerly TRIDENT GOLD CORP. ("TTG.H")]BULLETIN TYPE: Name Change and ConsolidationBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017NEX Company

Pursuant to a resolution passed by shareholders March 22, 2017, the Company has consolidated its capital on a 4.75 old for 1 new basis. The name of the Company has also been changed as follows.

Effective at the opening Tuesday, April 25, 2017, the common shares of Sebastiani Ventures Corp. will commence trading on TSX Venture Exchange, and the common shares of Trident Gold Corp. will be delisted.

Post - Consolidation Capitalization:

unlimited

shares with no par value of which

7,072,670

shares are issued and outstanding

Escrow:

nil

Transfer Agent:

TSX Trust Company

Trading Symbol:

SBS.H

(new)

CUSIP Number:

81285L109

(new)

________________________________________

VIVIONE BIOSCIENCES INC. ("VBI.H")BULLETIN TYPE: Suspend-Failure to Maintain a Transfer AgentBULLETIN DATE: April 24, 2017NEX Company

Further to the TSX Venture Exchange Bulletin dated April 10, 2017, effective at the opening, Tuesday, April 25, 2017, trading in the shares of the Company will be suspended, the Company having failed to maintain the services of a transfer agent in accordance with Policy 3.1.

Members are prohibited from trading in the securities of the Company during the period of the suspension or until further notice.

________________________________________

SOURCE TSX Venture Exchange
Three of the five Court of Appeal judges who presided over a Constitutional case between Omphemetse Motumise and President Ian Khama have indicated that even though they agreed with the judgement delivered by Justice Isaac Lesetedi they differ with him on certain findings especially with interpretation of Section (96) 2 of the Constitution. The section states that the President shall appoint all other judges, in accordance with the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission.



Justice Gaongalelwe

He said the main issue in the appeal is whether in terms of Section 96 (2) of the Constitution judges of the High Court are practically to be appointed by the President or by Judicial Service Commission (JSC). The judge said the contentions revolve around the proper interpretation of the phrase shall be appointed by the President acting in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission.

He said the phrase falls to be interpreted within the context of the whole Constitution and the nature of the regime adopted at the time of acquiring independence.



My view is that there is no universally accepted meaning attributed to the Phrase acting in accordance with the advice. It all depends on the regime of a particular country and the context in light of other provisions of the Constitution. I am in agreement with the conclusion of the lower court that in this matter the phrase simply means the president is not to appoint a person who has not been recommended by JSC. The appeal on this claim must accordingly be dismissed as well.

Lord Hamilton

I am in complete agreement with the disposals proposed by Justice Lesetedi and with much of the reasoning which supports the disposals. However, there are some aspects of his reasoning on the interpretation of Section 96 (2) with which I disagree. It is accordingly, appropriate that I express these in a separate judgement.

Hamilton told the court that his first observation is that he agrees with Justice Lesetedis general approach to the interpretation of the Constitution, namely that it being a living and organic instrument, it should be interpreted broadly and generously and in a way which reflects the ideas, values and standards current at the time when it falls to be applied to a particular situation.

He agrees that the court should consider not only the terms of the particular provision under interpretation but also the other provisions of the Constitution which gives it context. Where he disagrees with his brother on this aspect is his (Lesetedi) discounting, as unhelpful to the task before the court, of the events which occurred immediately prior to this Constitution first coming into existence.

He said these events are helpful for the purposes of interpretation. The critical words for interpretation in Section 96 (2) of the present Constitution are shall be appointed by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the JSC. It is clear that the President has a role in such appointments but the question is what role? Is his role purely formal or does he have some determinative role in such an appointment.



Lord Abernethy

Lord Abernethy said he also disagrees with some reasoning on the interpretation of Section 96 (2). He explained that it is trite in the interpretation of statutes and other written documents the aim of the court is to identify the intention of the legislature in the case of a statute, of the author or authors in the case of other written documents.

He stated that he agrees with Lord Hamilton for the reason he gives that the events leading to the decision to use the particular words of the provision are helpful for the purpose of interpretation of the words used in the section. He told court that it is in his view that of particular significance that the original proposal from the Government of Bechuanaland at the Bechuanaland Independence Conference was that judges of the High Court should be appointed by JSC.

In my opinion, on a proper interpretation of Section 96 (2) the presidents power to appoint these judges is no more than a formal power and the substantive power lies with the JSC. The President accordingly acted unconstitutionally in my opinion in declining to appoint Motumise to the office of a Judge of the High Court, he stated.




The decision by President Ian Khama to refuse to appoint attorney Omphemetse Motumise as High Court Judge without reasons, has been set aside by the highest court in the country.

The controversial case which raised fundamental issues of Constitutional importance was presided over by a panel of five appeals court judges. Three justices - Justice Gaongalelwe, Lord Abernethy and Lord Hamilton - differed with some of the findings reached.



Justice Isaac Lesetedi and Justice Brand signed the main judgement to indicate total agreement with the ruling. The Court of Appeal this week upheld an appeal by Motumise and Law Society of Botswana challenging the decision by a panel of three High Court Judges to dismiss an application that wanted the decision by the president not to appoint Motumise reviewed and set aside.

The High Court refused to set aside the Presidents decision not to appoint Motumise as a judge of the High Court. The High Court also rejected the submission that the Presidents powers under Section 96 (2) were not subject to the powers of judicial review. It held that the Presidents power was subject to review on the ground of irrationality.







On the interpretation of Section 96 (2) of the Constitution, the High Court held that the advice of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was not binding on the President and that the President was entitled to refuse to follow the lawful advice of the JSC on the appointment of High Court Judges.

Section 96 (2) of the Constitution reads, the other judges of the High Court shall be appointed by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Service Commission.

In its judgement on Wednesday this week the Court of Appeal stated that the decision by Khama stands to be reviewed and set aside in the absence of an explanation. Delivering the judgement, Justice Lesetedi stated that it is apparent that both the president and JSC were not properly advised on the remit and powers of the JSC and those of the President in the implementation of Section 96 (2) of the Constitution.



The letter from the President refusing to act on the recommendation of the JSC did not provide any reason for such refusal. In his answering affidavit to review the application, the President, over and above relying on the legal advice upon which he acted in not providing any reason for refusing to act on the advice of the JSC, pointed out that he had sound reasons for not acting on the advice of the JSC but that on legal advice those reasons could not be disclosed.

In the circumstances, the President was not entitled to turn down the recommendation of the JSC as his role other than as set out by Section 96 (2) was to act in accordance with the JSC. It is the JSC which determines when to fill a vacancy. It initiates that process of filling up a vacancy by issuing advertisements for the position and setting out minimal qualification stipulated in the Constitution for appointment to that office, he said.



The court stated that other government policy considerations like gender parity, may entitle the president to bring these to the JSCs attention to ascertain if such considerations have been taken into account in the recommendation process and if those considerations have not, to call upon the JSC to do so without compromising on other qualities, which are important in judicial appointment.



Lesetedi pointed out that Motumises application for appointment as a judge of the High Court was considered by the JSC and he was found to be the most suitable candidate. He added that there is nothing in the document before the court showing that at any stage during deliberations of the JSC was there any input from the Attorney General, which may have reflected on the governments reservations on Motumises suitability to be appointed to the office of a Judge of the High Court.



It is as may be apparent from this judgement, sound that in considering whether a candidate is suitable for appointment, the JSC is entitled to make such enquiry as it considers relevant into the candidates background, character assessment and other relevant considerations, in its evaluation on an application.



There will obviously be cases where none of the candidates may meet the criteria set out for qualification in which event a re-advertisement may be called for. In this legal set up therefore the President has some, though limited discretion, to refuse to appoint a candidate recommended to him by the JSC for appointment.



His role in appointment of a judge under Section 96 (2) however, is not a formal one as he is in exceptional cases entitled through the input of the Attorney General to bring to the attention of the JSC factors which he considers relevant to the suitability of a candidate for appointment. But this input does not become the sole determinant factor, the court stated.
As the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) readies for the make or break National Congress in Tonota this coming July divisions are now deepening. This according to highly placed sources, has resulted in the BDP custodian Botsalo Ntuane, who is expected to defend his Secretary General post calling for a compromise. In fact Ntuane wants to broker a deal between the two warring factions for the chairmanship by giving up his seat and not defend it.



Fierce battle is expected for the position of Chairmanship between Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi and Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development Nonofo Molefhi. A close associate of Ntuane within the BDP has told Botswana Guardian that Ntuane has expressed willingness to give Molefhi the green light to be the party secretary general so that current chairman Masisi continues unchallenged.



Some observers believe the outcome of the congress will determine the future of the party as well as gauge its ability to face a combined opposition - Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC - in the 2019 polls. Party President Ian Khama at the party National Council last month in Gaborone raised the danger of a fractured BDP going into the general elections against a united opposition.







He appealed to his followers to close ranks and reach a compromise where possible. His message was however diluted by his declaration of support for Masisi. The presidents declaration did not sit well with the supporters of Molefhi whose supporters went on to demonstrate their show of strength by singing party songs and spotting campaign regalia for their preferred candidate.



Ntuane is said to hold the opinion that the current lobby groups could be a repeat of history which resulted in the historic BDP split in 2010 that saw the formation of Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD).

However, investigations by Botswana Guardian have revealed that operatives in the two opposing camps, Team Masisi and Team Molefhi known commonly as Basisibetsi and Banonofhi respectively have deployed foot soldiers all over the country in an attempt to dominate the various party structures by installing their activists.



But amidst the campaigning, reliable sources have indicated that Ntuane, worried by the looming divisions, has in accord with President Khamas proposal, started talking to some of his colleagues about coming up with compromise solution to address the divisions afflicting the party in the build-up to the congress.

He has indicated that he is willing to sacrifice and step aside so that the position of the secretary general can be used to broker

peace and unity between the two camps with Molefhi becoming secretary general, said Ntuanes close associate. Despite being the frontrunner to retain the post in Tonota it is alleged that Ntuane thinks Masisi must be given a free passage into chairmanship since he is the incumbent and also be supported to ascend to the state presidency on April 1st 2018.



So far, Ntuanes informal proposal is still circulating within various circles in the party and it is not yet known how it will be received especially by the much energised Banonofhi team which is raring for a show down in Tonota. Ntuane is also said to have indicated that in case his proposal fails to gain support, he will go ahead to defend his position.



Ntuane is to defend his seat against former cabinet minister and Botswana Ambassador to Japan Jacob Nkate, former Secretary General Mpho Balopi and Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness Phillip Makgalemele. Ntuane could not be reached for comment on his mobile phone and had not responded to an SMS sent to him at press time.
Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) has developed a three-year strategic plan in pursuit of high levels of corporate performance, Botswana Guardian has learnt. BIH which is currently constructing the iconic Science and Technology Park (STP) building in Gaborones Block 8, says the 2016/19 Strategy recognises that moving into STP will require a paradigm shift from managing mainly a large property development project towards establishing a creative and value added network.



This is with a physical connecting point being the residents and tenants of the Science Park who will represent the core. BIH Chief Executive, Alan Boshwaen explains that, this network will mobilise existing potential problem solvers, scientists, experts and entrepreneurs towards Vision 2036 and the ideals of developing a knowledge intensive, diversified, competitive and productive society that creates sustainable wealth for its people and the region.

Through this innovation community, BIH will attract concentration of selected anchor tenants, other businesses, support companies, and technology start-ups onto the Park.



The BIH Science and Technology Park presents opportunities for physical hi-tech investments. Guided by the BIH mixed use zone plan, Botswana Guardian can reveal that there has been an increase in leased land allocations of up to 31 percent. This includes hi-tech companies and support service infrastructure.







According to Boswaen and his Chairman Neo Moroka in the companys 2016 annual report, a total investment worth P1.5 Billion is expected in the next three years with other spin off benefits such as job creation and technology readiness. In order to meet the increasing demands for ICT infrastructure and services, BIH has noted that it continues to seek investors locally and internationally.



As part of BIHs strategic intent, Moroka says we strive to be an innovative and networked organisation that promotes technology, entrepreneurship and commercialisation on a purpose-built Science and Technology Park.

In pursuit of such a strategic intent, a number of initiatives were undertaken by BIH during the period under review. These included BIH co-hosting the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) 2016 together with the Ministry of Infrastructure Science and Technology, and Africa Innovation Foundation (AIF).



BIH is aimed to develop and operate a science and technology park to aid in diversifying the economy and help transform Botswana into a knowledge-based economy. It also intends to add value to existing companies, foster entrepreneurship and technology transfer, generate knowledge-based jobs and attract innovative companies and institutions to BIH.


Indian Navy ships at the Toulon port of France. An Indian Navy photo/Twitter

NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian Navy on Monday began a joint maritime exercise with the French Navy at the Mediterranean Sea to further deepen combat coordination between the two navies.



Guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai, stealth frigate INS Trishul and fleet tanker INS Aditya are taking part in the 'Varuna' exercise which will continue till April 30.



The ships are part of the Indian Navy's overseas deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and West Coast of Africa and they arrived at Toulon port on southern France's Mediterranean coast earlier on Monday.



The 'Varuna' series of exercises began in 2000 and have grown into an institutionalised form of interaction between the two navies.



"The current visit seeks to underscore India's peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly and like-minded countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain and to strengthen the existing bonds between India and France," navy spokesperson Capt. D K Sharma said.



Interestingly, the exercise coincides with the visit of Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command, to France.



Luthra is scheduled to visit the French frigate FNS Auvergne, a French nuclear submarine unit, as well as an underwater weapons facility.



He would also call on senior officials in France, including Vice Admiral Charles-Henri du Che, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Sea Area (CECMED).



The visiting ships are a part of the Indian Navy's Western Naval Command.



Defence cooperation between India and France has grown substantially in the recent past.



Bilateral exercises such as 'Garuda', 'Shakti' and 'Varuna' have been a regular feature between the two nations.


40 new jobs have been announced for Dublin by Web Summit today, and co-founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave praised the city as he confirmed the news.

The head of Web Summit is not ruling out the possibility of hosting an event in Dublin in the future.

"We launch new events and move our existing events around," said Paddy Cosgrave

"I think Dublin is an incredible city to host a conference. It was the birthplace of Web Summit and so many other great events, and we will definitely be considering it over the coming months."

The high-profile tech gathering was moved to Lisbon last year, after being held here in the seven previous years.

The new roles created by the Dublin-based firm will be in sales, engineering and policy.

Dublin is a very important part of the Web Summit DNA with our operations continuing to be based in our office in Tramway House," said Mr Cosgrave.

"As we continue to expand across the world and to improve the experience of our attendees across our events, we are looking for talented people across a range of disciplines.

We want to hear from people who are looking for a unique and interesting opportunity for the next chapter in our growth. Trinity degrees optional.
Update - 10.45pm: The Housing Minister Simon Coveney has come under fire over the latest homeless figures.

Mr Coveney says the figures are "stark" but significant resources are being applied to the problem.

Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy says the minister's plans are not actually being implemented, and is calling for a tax on vacant properties.

She said: "Where there have been incentives to encourage people to bring some of that housing stock back into use where it needs some remedial action, I think more needs to happen.

"Some of it has got to happen on the penalty side by virtue of the fact the accommodation is vacant at a time when there's a crisis."

Earlier: More than 5,000 people were homeless across the country last month and more than 200 were found sleeping rough in Dublin on one night this month.

Official figures from a headcount on April 4 found 138 people were forced to bed down on the streets of the capital, up a third on last April.

Another 57 were recorded in Merchant's Quay Ireland's Night Cafe and officials also found 23 Romanians sleeping outside after they had arrived in previous weeks seeking or having been promised employment.

More than half of them have been repatriated, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive said.

The monthly report on emergency accommodation also revealed that 3,299 adults and 2,134 children were homeless in March.

Roughan MacNamara of Focus Ireland said the increase in rough sleepers was expected but disappointing.

"We all need to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to end this terrible and unacceptable human crisis," he said.

The charity highlighted the need to force action from owners of empty houses, including looking at introducing a vacant home tax, while encouraging the building of new homes.

Focus Ireland said there is a target to source 300 permanent homes this year for rough sleepers and single adults in emergency accommodation under the Housing First Programme.

It aims to get people off the streets and into a home as quickly as possible and give them intensive support to keep the roof over their heads.

"This approach has had a high success rate worldwide, but requires access to homes to work," Focus Ireland said.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney recommitted to a deadline of the middle of this year to end the use of hotels, guest houses and B&Bs for emergency beds for families unless the circumstances are exceptional.

"I will continue to work with all the stakeholders to ensure that this ambitious target of Government is met and that a better way of life and the appropriate supports are provided for families, who need them most," he said.

"There are no quick-fix solutions here but I will continue to work with my colleagues in Government and all stakeholders to address the major challenge that is homelessness."

Detail on the spring rough sleeper count in Dublin showed 85 people had previously accessed homeless services and seven had never done so.

Thirteen were described as non-Irish nationals and the nationality of another 40 could not be established.

The vast majority of rough sleepers were found on the streets of the city and men outnumbered women by about four to one.

Winter 2014 was the worst on record for rough sleepers, when 168 people were counted on the streets.

Pat Doyle, chief executive of the Peter McVerry Trust, said it had been hoped the number would come down with new beds and homes being made available.

"We still see people falling through the cracks too easily," he said.

"We need better and stronger supports for vulnerable people, people who find it very difficult to comply with a one-size-fits-all approach.

"We are still asking for improved responses from Government departments like social protection, justice and health."

The trust noted that there are 33,000 empty homes in Dublin.

Mr Doyle said: "These buildings can and must play a critical role in providing exits from homelessness.

"We know there are over 33,000 empty homes in Dublin alone, yet we only need around 200 of these to all but eliminate rough sleeping in the city."
Update 1.40pm: The Department of Health has denied claims from Dr Peter Boylan that it was warned last year about a possible religious influence on the new National Maternity Hospital.

The former master of Holles Street says the Department was given the warning "some time ago" by the head of the Dublin-based hospital group.

However, the Department of Health says it has no record of any such letter being received.

Update 11.45m: A member of the National Maternity Hospital Board has said that they were not consulted about a request for Dr Peter Boylan to resign.

Dr Boylan, a former Master at Holles Street in Dublin, was asked to step down from his role on the board of the current National Maternity Hospital by deputy chairman Nicholas Kearns via text message on Sunday.

Dr Peter Boylan says he will not resign and says he feels a loyalty to the women of Ireland. pic.twitter.com/ylcRevFhad  RTE News (@rtenews) April 25, 2017

Dr Boylan had objected to plans to give ultimate ownership of a new taxpayer-funded 300m National Maternity Hospital build to the Sisters of Charity religious order.

Sinn Fein Councillor and Board member Micheal MacDonncha said that Dr Boylan should not be asked to resign for expressing an opinion, describing the decision as regrettable.

"We were not consulted, he said.

I received a phone call yesterday to say that this had happened, that Peter Boylan had been asked to resign.

And I said immediately, I said that my reaction to that is that that is wrong. That he has been asked to resign because he spoke out.

He's entitled to his opinion. He's a respected clinician and the idea that he'd be asked to resign because he expressed an opinion is totally wrong."

Micheal MacDonncha

Mr MacDonncha said he personally supported the proposal to co-locate the hospital at St Vincent's because, like the rest of the Board, he was very much guided by Dr Rhona Mahony and Nicholas Kearns (the master of Holles St and the deputy chairperson of the NMH board.)

He said there was no question that the hospital was needed, but that the question of governance and ownership needed to be re-examined.

Speaking on Today with Sean O'Rourke, he said that there needs to be good faith on all sides in any agreement and comments made by Bishop Doran over the weekend were very clear and extremely concerning.

He added that he was not sure he would vote the same way if the issue was put to a ballot of the board again.

Sinn Fein health spokesperson Louise O'Reilly said that religious orders should have no part to play in running our hospitals.

We shouldnt be having this conversation in 2017 about whether or not, [or] how much involvement the Catholic church has, she said.

The answer should be none  thats it, leave it at that. Thats a nice, round figure  zero, leave it at that.

We shouldnt be talking about how much and what degree, thats not acceptable, and the people of Ireland dont want that.

Earlier:

One of the country's leading obstetricians has rejected calls to resign over his opposition to nuns having ultimate ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital.

Dr Peter Boylan, a former Master at Holles Street in Dublin, was asked to step down from his role on the board of the current National Maternity Hospital after speaking out about involvement of the Sisters of Charity.

The order owns the land at St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin where the new 300m facility has been planned.

Dr Boylan says the new maternity hospital needs to be built but not unless the land is owned by the State or the National Maternity Hospital pic.twitter.com/kaIvxxTkbg  RTE News (@rtenews) April 25, 2017

Dr Boylan last week questioned whether clinical care, including abortions or IVF treatment, would be influenced by the nuns' religious beliefs and said it is inappropriate for a hospital to have a strong religious influence, particularly from the Catholic Church.

He said his fears were well founded after Bishop Kevin Doran said that the Sisters would have to obey church law as owners, regardless of how the facility is funded, and that governance rests with the Pope.

Dr Boylan was asked to resign over his intervention by the deputy chair of National Maternity Hospital Judge Nicholas Kearns.

"I don't feel I should resign," the consultant said.

"There's been questions about loyalty to the board - I feel a loyalty to the women of Ireland.

"The function of the National Maternity Hospital is to offer care to the women of Ireland. To believe that by granting ownership of the hospital to the Roman Catholic Church and the company that is tasked with running the hospital to the Roman Catholic Church, to construct a board which four out of nine members would have fundamental objections to a lot of activity going on in that hospital just is not a runner."

Dr Boylan abstained when a vote on the deal with the Sisters of Charity was put to the board of the National Maternity Hospital several months ago.

He said he had raised concerns and planned to raise them further when the arrangement was due to go before the 100 governors of the National Maternity Hospital.

Dr Boylan revealed that he sent a text message to Judge Kearns and the Master of the National Maternity Hospital Holles Street Dr Rhona Mahony urging them to drop the deal and aim for the same design on a site on the adjacent Elm Park Golf Club, to be linked to St Vincent's by tunnels and paths.

"This is 2017 in Ireland. I tried to say to the board many times, look when this gets to the public it's not going to fly and also it's not right that a maternity hospital of all h should be granted to the Catholic Church," Mr Boylan told RTE's Morning Ireland.

The consultant said maybe he should have voted against the deal at the board meeting, despite the deal being passed with overwhelming support.

He also said three previous masters expressed concerns.

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.

Tens of thousands of people have signed an online petition opposing any role or ownership for the nuns of the new facility.

90,593 people have signed this people powered petition already. Will you?

https://t.co/DBjoPrJ3GR pic.twitter.com/ZBgFuMOznz  Uplift (@UpliftIRL) April 24, 2017

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.

Earlier:

The National Maternity Hospital said in a statement this morning: "The deputy chairman of the National Maternity Hospital Mr Nicholas Kearns has asked Dr Peter Boylan to resign from the Hospital's Board.

"Dr Boylan was a member of the NMH Board at all times during the six-month period of mediation which resulted in the agreement of 21 November 2016 to co-locate the National Maternity Hospital with St Vincent's University Hospital.

"The board was kept fully briefed on all developments by the negotiating team during that period.

"The decisive final meeting of the board overwhelmingly supported the agreement with 25 in favour, two abstentions (including Dr Boylan) and one vote against.

"Thereafter the agreement was approved by Government and planning permission was lodged.

"Last week, some five months after the agreement was approved, Boylan, without warning, consultation with or notification to the board, its chair or the Master of the hospital, went public in attacking the agreement.

"Board members have a duty of loyalty to the board on which they serve and for this reason his resignation has been sought."

Earlier:

Former master of the National Maternity Hospital Dr Peter Boylan has been urged to stand down from the board of the hospital, it has been reported.

Dr Boylan was critical of the proposal to give the Sisters of Charity ownership of the 300m taxpayer-funded hospital, saying that the agreement had not been put to the 100 governors of the current National Maternity Hospital for a decision.

The structure with the board has not been addressed by the Minister, he added.

The board is inherently set up to generate conflict and that needs to be addressed. The hospital needs to be entirely independent.

Former master of #HollesStreet criticises role of nuns in new maternity hospital pic.twitter.com/eYqvMLWNu3  Morning Ireland (@morningireland) April 20, 2017

It is understood that the request for Dr Boylan to step down was made via text message by deputy chairman Nicholas Kearns last Sunday.

RTE has reported that Dr Boylan has not resigned and will attend a board meeting tomorrow night.
Gardai say a terrorist attack similar to what happened in Stockholm in recent weeks could happen here, and frontline gardai are not prepared for it.

GRA delegates will debate the need for counter-terrorism training at their annual conference in Galway.
Around 100 people have protested outside Government Buildings against Brexit.

The Border Communities Against Brexit group are calling for no return to the hard borders of the past and say Brexit could be a huge step backwards for their communities.

The group from all sectors have come together out of concern that the Norths remain vote will not be respected.

They fear Britain's exit from the European Union will have a devastating effect on the region for jobs, livelihoods and communities.

John Sheridan, a farmer from Fermanagh, is involved with the Border Communities Against Brexit group.

He says the Government needs to secure a clear deal for the north.

"We are here because we do not want to see any border of any make, kind or description, not even in the imagination, coming back in to divide this country," he said.

"We call it insulting and beneath contempt, to have to be dragged out of Europe on a referendum that was based on lies - pure and simple lies."

The group want to ensure their voices are heard when decisions are being made by both the Irish and British governments.

Fianna Fail TD Declan Breathnach and Junior Spokesperson voiced his support for the protest.

"I'll say this - Theresa May walked Wales and came up with the idea of an election," he said.

"It's my view that she should be walking the border to see the real impact it will have on communities."
An Irishman jailed in Egypt for four years without trial has written an impassioned plea to Taoiseach Enda Kenny for his release after seeing another inmate being freed.

Ibrahim Halawa, 21, was incarcerated after being detained during Muslim Brotherhood protests in Cairo in 2013.

A mass trial involving him and hundreds of other alleged conspirators has been adjourned more than 20 times while the Irish Government pursues diplomatic channels for his return to Dublin.

Mr Halawa, who has been tortured and gone on hunger strikes, said he feels abandoned after Egyptian-US citizen Aya Higazy was released from jail.

"I am currently writing this with the most pain in my life but a worst pain has just attacked me, a mental pain... How much I feel abandoned," he wrote to his family.

"Tell me without hiding behind your finger, how do I feel towards my own government? The one I have hanged the flag of above me in my cell over my 35cm sleeping space.

"I hanged it even though they have left me to die in one of the worst prisons in Egypt without trying to move me. They have left me as a kid beaten and tortured to sit and watch all the other nationalities leave to their home."

Mr Halawa, the son of a prominent Muslim cleric in Dublin, Sheikh Hussein Halawa, was imprisoned after being detained in a mosque near Ramses Square in Cairo as the Muslim Brotherhood protested over the removal of elected president Mohamed Morsi in August 2013.

He cited Ms Higazy's case and claimed her release happened after US President Donald Trump met Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in recent weeks.

She was a co-founder of the Belady Foundation for Street Children and was acquitted of a number of charges including inciting children to join protests.

"After nearly four years of imprisonment I still wonder what trust does the Irish Government have in the Egyptian judiciary system, proven people innocent after taking away three or more years of their lives," Mr Halawa wrote.

"I wonder when will Enda Kenny ever get on to a plane to save the Irish citizen? When will Enda Kenny make Irish citizens feel safe to fly abroad?

"Enda send your child to school and wait four years for them to return and see if they're going to call you dad again."

The letter, dated Sunday, also mentions the names of others arrested on the so-called Day of Rage who have since been released, including Peter Greste, the Australian journalist who was working for Al Jazeera covering the protests when he was detained.

The trial is due before the courts again on Wednesday.

The Taoiseach wrote a letter to Mr el-Sisi a month ago pleading for Mr Halawa's release on humanitarian grounds.
Update - 6.45pm: The deal to move Holles Street Hospital to St Vincent's in Dublin has been published.

The Health Minister Simon Harris says the deal can be seen on the Website of the new national maternity hospital, after calls for transparency.

Mr Harris has also welcomed a claim by the St Vincent's Healthcare Group that the new facility will carry out all legal medical procedures.

This comes after concerns were expressed about the ownership of the site by the Sisters of Charity.

The Boards of both hospitals are meeting this week and will no doubt review progress to date. The Minister and his officials will arrange meetings with the two hospitals shortly. The Minister repeated his request that some time be allowed for the detailed work that is necessary.

The Department of Health issued a statement on behalf of the Minister saying: "The project is at the very early stages with a planning decision on the hospital not expected until the Autumn. The Minister intends to report to Government on this project at the end of May. At that stage he expects to have further details on the legal and other arrangements envisaged and to make this information available publicly. This will allow for the necessary clarity to be publicly available well in advance of contractual or other commitments being entered into in respect of this project.

"The location of all maternity hospitals on the sites of adult teaching hospitals is a key objective of the National Maternity Strategy, in order to deliver the best outcomes for women and children. The relocation of the National Maternity Hospital to the St Vincents campus, Elm Park has been the subject of three separate mediation processes since 2015. This culminated in the agreement between the National Maternity Hospital and St Vincents which was successfully concluded last November under the mediation of Mr Kieran Mulvey. This agreement provides for the creation of a new company which would have 'clinical and operational independence in the provision of maternity, gynaecology, obstetrics and neonatal services (without religious, ethnic or other distinction)'.

"A legal process is necessary to establish this company and provide for the structure, objectives, role and powers. Separate to this process is the development of legal arrangements regarding the terms upon which public funds will be made available to support the construction of the hospital. Further work will now take place over the coming weeks to bring added clarity to these matters."

Earlier: The Board of St Vincent's Hospital, where the new national maternity hospital will be sited, has said that "any medical procedure which is in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Ireland will be carried out at the new hospital".

That is despite fears its owners The Sisters of Charity could prevent treatments that are contrary to their Catholic beliefs.

It also claims that the Sisters do not owe any money to the compensation scheme for abuse victims.

The board hit out at "misinformation and untruthful allegations" in response to former master of the National Maternity Hospital Dr Peter Boylan over his opposition to nuns having ultimate ownership of the new hospital.

Four out of the nine board members of the new maternity hospital will come from the St Vincents board.

Dr Boylan was asked to step down from his role on the board of the current National Maternity Hospital by deputy chairman Nicholas Kearns via text message on Sunday.

He last week questioned whether clinical care, including abortions or IVF treatment, would be influenced by the nuns' religious beliefs and said it is inappropriate for a hospital to have a strong religious influence, particularly from the Catholic Church.

He said his fears were well founded after Bishop Kevin Doran said that the Sisters would have to obey church law as owners, regardless of how the facility is funded, and that governance rests with the Pope.

Dr Boylan was asked to resign over his intervention by the deputy chair of National Maternity Hospital Judge Nicholas Kearns.

Dr Peter Boylan says he will not resign and says he feels a loyalty to the women of Ireland. pic.twitter.com/ylcRevFhad  RTE News (@rtenews) April 25, 2017

"I don't feel I should resign," the consultant said.

"There's been questions about loyalty to the board - I feel a loyalty to the women of Ireland."

The Board of St Vincent's said that the clinical independence of the hospital "will be enshrined in the Memorandum and Articles of the new hospital".

They said: "Continuing to suggest that procedures currently undertaken at NMH will not be available in the new maternity hospital is entirely false and without foundation. In line with current policy and procedures at SVHG, any medical procedure which is in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Ireland will be carried out at the new hospital.

"In conclusion the Board of SVHG noted recent media reports in which the Department of Education confirmed that their shareholders, the Religious Sisters of Charity, do not have any outstanding liabilities to the taxpayer relating to the Redress Scheme."

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.

The full statement from James Menton, Chairman of the Board, SVHG reads:

In the light of comments made by Dr Peter Boylan in an interview on Morning Ireland this morning, the Board of SVHG is compelled to respond to the continued misinformation and untruthful allegations being made by him concerning the medical care which will be available to women attending the new maternity hospital at Elm Park.

The primary concern of the Board of Directors of SVHG and of the Chartered Trust of the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) is the delivery of a modern maternity and neonatal service that is women and infant centred and which is safe and world class. The National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park, DAC, will deliver such a facility for the women of Ireland.

The clinical independence of the hospital will be enshrined in the Memorandum and Articles of the new hospital, as agreed by both SVHG and NMH in the agreement mediated by Kieran Mulvey.

The Memorandum and Articles of Association will state, in accordance with the agreement, that the Principal Objectives of the National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park DAC will be:

a) To provide a range of health services by the establishment and operation of a new maternity, obstetrics, gynaecology and neonatal hospital at Elm Park, Dublin, in succession to the objectives and services and heretofore provided by the current NMH establishment and operated by the Chartered Trust (1903).

b) to provide a range of health services in the community as heretofore, such operation and provision to be conducted in accordance with the newly agreed clinical governance arrangements for the National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park..by providing as far as possible, by whatever manner and means from time to time available, for the health, happiness and welfare of those accepted as patients, without religious or ethnic or other distinction and by supporting the work of all involved in the delivery of care to such patients and their families or guardians, including research or investigation which may further such work.

The autonomy of the Board of the National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park DAC in specific clinical and operational matters will be further enhanced with provisions in the Memorandum and Articles of Association for agreed exclusive Reserve Powers to be provided to the Board. These powers will ensure:

a) Clinical and operational independence in the provision of maternity, gynaecology, obstetrics and neonatal services (without religious, ethnic or other distinction) in the hospital at Elm Park, Dublin and the provision of medical, surgical, nursing, midwifery and other health services at Elm Park, Dublin, including strategic planning in relation to the development of such services in the future in accordance with best practice.

Continuing to suggest that procedures currently undertaken at NMH will not be available in the new maternity hospital is entirely false and without foundation. In line with current policy and procedures at SVHG, any medical procedure which is in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Ireland will be carried out at the new hospital.

In conclusion the Board of SVHG noted recent media reports in which the Department of Education confirmed that their shareholders, the Religious Sisters of Charity, do not have any outstanding liabilities to the taxpayer relating to the Redress Scheme.
Men's Voices Ireland are the latest group to call for pre-nuptial agreements to be made legal in Ireland.

It follows a survey which found that three-quarters of farmers are in favour of bringing in legislation over fears of land ownership.
Ministers will reportedly give the final go-ahead for the building of the new national children's hospital tomorrow.

BAM Ireland has the contract for the project, which has an estimated price tag of nearly 1bn.
The start of the trial of Solidarity TD Paul Murphy and six other men on charges of falsely imprisoning Joan Burton has been delayed due to an issue arising with one juror.

Mr Murphy (aged 34), together with South Dublin councillors Kieran Mahon (aged 39), Michael Murphy (aged 53) and four other men have entered not guilty pleas at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on charges of falsely imprisoning the then Tanaiste and her advisor Karen O'Connell by restricting their personal liberty without their consent at Fortunestown Road, Jobstown, Tallaght on November 15, 2014.
France's top officials have joined presidential candidates at a national ceremony held in honour of the police officer killed by an Islamic extremist on the Champs-Elysees.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, who will contest the May 7 presidential run-off, were present at the ceremony for Xavier Jugele at the Paris police headquarters.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and former president Nicolas Sarkozy also paid their respects to Mr Jugele.

French president Francois Hollande hailed the 37-year-old officer, who was killed last week when an assailant opened fire with an assault rifle on a police van parked on the most famous avenue in the French capital. Two other officers were wounded.

The attacker was subsequently shot and killed by officers. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mr Hollande said the French people must "support the police", adding: "They deserve our esteem, our solidarity, our admiration."

In a message to the presidential candidates, Mr Hollande also asked France's future government to "provide the necessary budget resources to recruit these indispensable people to protect our citizens and give them the means to act even more efficiently".

Mr Hollande recalled that France's police and military forces are deployed on French territory and abroad to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria and Africa's Sahel region.

He said this is "a combat that will last, a combat that will be fought until the threat is definitively over. That combat will be long, demanding, difficult - but, I am certain, victorious".

Mr Jugele was one of the officers who raced to the Bataclan concert hall the night three armed men with suicide bombs stormed a show and slaughtered 90 people on November 13 2015.

He returned to the concert venue a year later as a spectator when it reopened with a concert by Sting.

Mr Jugele told People magazine at the time how happy he was to be here "to celebrate life. To say no to terrorists".

The officer was also a member of a French association of LGBT police officers, and was in a civil union.

In a speech during the ceremony, his partner, Etienne Cardiles, said: "Let's stay dignified, let's take care of peace and preserve peace."

Mr Jugele had worked in the Paris area as a police officer since 2011. At the time of his death, he was a member of the Paris police department's public order and traffic division.

He had received praise from bosses earlier this year for his courage during the evacuation of a building after an accidental blast in the western suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt.

Mr Jugele has been promoted to police captain and awarded the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour posthumously.
UPDATE 12.30:: North Korea has held major live-fire drills as it marks the anniversary of the founding of its military.

The exercise took place in an area around the North's eastern coastal town of Wonsan, according to the South Korean military, as a US guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea amid rising tensions over Kim Jong Un's regime.

Experts thought North Korea might conduct a nuclear test or a ballistic missile launch to mark the anniversary, but as of Tuesday evening neither has occurred.

Crowds in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, laid flowers and paid respects at giant statues of the country's former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, one day after the minister of defence reiterated that the North was ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any measures it deems necessary to defend itself against "US imperialists".

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said they are closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where the drills are reportedly being held.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seoul's defence ministry could not confirm these details.

UPDATE: The entire US Senate have been summoned to the White House on Wednesday to be briefed by senior administration officials about the brewing confrontation with North Korea.

The Guardian are reporting that the unusual briefing indicates the urgency with which the Trump administration is treating Pyongyangs continued development of nuclear weapons.

The meeting follows a meeting the US President held with ambassadors from UN member states on the security council on Monday where he emphasised US resolve to stop North Koreas progress.

Earlier: A US guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea today as North Korea prepared to mark the anniversary of the founding of its military amid fears of a new nuclear test.

Envoys from the US, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo, with a senior Chinese official due to arrive later in the day.

North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying its military capability and has conducted five nuclear tests. Pyongyang launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

However the morning came and went without any nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches, and all that was publicly scheduled for the day were gatherings for mass dancing, a common celebration on major North Korean holidays.

A "national meeting" of thousands of senior military and civilian officials was held the day before, although North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not attend.

His minister of defence General Pak Yong Sik told the event that the country is ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any other measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the "US imperialists".

He said: "The situation prevailing on the Korean peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the US imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression."

Any missile test could test the North Korea policies of President Donald Trump, who has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasises increased pressure on Pyongyang with the help of China, the Norths only major ally.

He has reportedly rejected military options or trying to overthrow North Koreas government.

The nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at Busan in what was described as a routine port visit to rest the crew and load supplies.

The submarines arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heads toward the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.

In Tokyo, US representative for North Korea policy Joseph Yun was meeting his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi and Kim Hong-kyun of South Korea.

Japans foreign ministry announced that Chinas envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, will visit Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Mr Kanasugi.

Mr Trump spoke by phone with both the Japanese and Chinese leaders yesterday.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted President Xi Jinping as telling Mr Trump that China strongly opposes North Koreas nuclear weapons programme and hopes "all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation".

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and Mr Trump agreed to urge North Korea to refrain from what Mr Abe called provocative actions.

"The North Korean nuclear and missile problem is an extremely serious security threat to not only the international community but also our country," the Japanese leader told reporters in Tokyo afterwards.

Recent US commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Koreas nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Mr Kim has said the countrys preparation for an ICBM launch is in its "final stage".

Adding to the tensions, North Korea detained a US citizen on Saturday, bringing the number of Americans being held there to three.

The reasons for the detention of Tony Kim, who taught accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, were not immediately clear.

Under Kims leadership, North Korea has been aggressively pursuing a decades-long goal of putting a nuclear warhead on an ICBM capable of reaching the US mainland.

Last year, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests, which would have improved its knowledge in making nuclear weapons small enough to fit on long-range missiles.

It also launched a long-range rocket last year that delivered a satellite into orbit, which Washington, Seoul and others saw as a banned test of missile technology.

AP
Protesters sprawled in lawn chairs, worked on maths homework and played cards on main roads around Venezuela's cities, joining in sit-ins to disrupt traffic as the latest slap at the socialist government.

Thousands shut down the main road in Caracas to express their anger with the increasingly embattled administration of President Nicolas Maduro.

They turned the road into a kind of public plaza, with protesters settling in for picnics, reading books and reclining under umbrellas they brought to protect against the blazing Caribbean sun.

In the provinces, protests turned deadly.

The public prosecutor announced that 54-year-old Renzo Rodriguez was killed by a gunshot to the chest on Monday at a protest in the plains state of Barinas.

In the mountain town of Merida, state worker Jesus Sulbaran was fatally shot in the neck at a pro-government rally. In addition, five people were injured at the Merida protest, Venezuela ombudsman Tarek William Saab said.

The two killings raised to 23 the number of deaths linked to unrest that began almost a month ago over the Supreme Court's decision to gut the opposition-controlled congress of its powers.

The Caracas gathering was largely peaceful, though some protesters wrapped bandanas around their faces and threw stones at police, prompting state security forces to release a cloud of tear gas.

Juan Carlos Bautista passed the afternoon playing dominoes.

"We want to be free. I'm here fighting for my children and my children's children," he said.

The current wave of protests is the most intense the economically struggling country has seen since two months of anti-government protests in 2014 that left dozens dead.

But while those protests were led by young people who built flaming barricades in the street, this month's movement is attracting masses of older protesters, who say they are fighting not for themselves, but for the younger generations.

Protesters in at least a dozen other cities staged sit-ins, with some building barricades to stop traffic. In Caracas, protesters dragged concrete slabs, garbage and even a bathtub into the road.

Retired professor Lisbeth Colina said she decided to participate in the sit-in for her grandchildren.

"The side that gives up is the side that loses," she said. "We must remain in the streets. I'm not scared of the repression they're throwing at us," she said.

As the sit-ins disrupted traffic, Mr Maduro's administration announced that it had no plans to expropriate General Motors' Venezuelan subsidiary. A court last week ordered the seizure of a GM plant and the company responded by shuttering its operations in the country. Both the US State Department and the government said previously that the case involved a longstanding lawsuit against GM by a former dealership in Venezuela.

Mr Maduro said on Sunday that he would not give in to opponents and again urged them rejoin negotiations they broke off in December.

Former Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez came to Caracas on Monday to meet with Mr Maduro. He had backed last year's negotiations, which collapsed over the government's refusal to meet opposition demands for elections and the release of political prisoners.

But opposition leaders had no plans to meet with Mr Maduro. They are rejecting calls for dialogue and demanding the immediate scheduling of elections.

"The government wants to use negotiations as a ploy to divide us, demobilise us, and win itself time," congress vice president Freddy Guevara told reporters. "This protest is an exercise in resistance and a test of our conviction."

- AP
Families of soldiers killed in the IRA bombing in London's Hyde Park said they have been made victims "three times over" in the years since the atrocity.

Relatives of some of the members of the British army's Royal Household Cavalry who died in the 1982 attack have launched a campaign as they try to raise funds to bring a legal case.

Mark Tipper, whose 19-year-old brother died in the blast, blamed former UK Labour prime minister Tony Blair for a "shameful and secret deal" which allowed convicted IRA member John Downey to walk free.

Under the controversial on the runs scheme (OTRs) - allegedly agreed by Mr Blair's Labour government and Sinn Fein - individuals were told they were not being sought by the authorities.

"The chief suspect walked free from the Old Bailey because of a shameful and secret deal by Tony Blair with the IRA," Mr Tipper said.

"Because of this we have been forced to take our own private legal action."

With the Legal Aid Agency refusing "again and again" to fund the case, Mr Tipper added: "We have been made victims three times over.

"First by the bomb, then by Blair and now by the bureaucrats of the Legal Aid Agency."

Downey, from Co Donegal, was charged four years ago over the Hyde Park bombing, which he denied, but the prosecution at his trial in the Old Bailey collapsed in 2014.

The case against him was ended because British government officials mistakenly sent him a letter in 2007, as part of the OTRs scheme, telling him he was no longer a wanted man.

Mr Tipper said the Government does not do enough to support victims of terrorism.

He said they have been "blocked at every turn" in their fight for justice and that all they are seeking is the "truth about who murdered our loved ones".

"The only way to do that is to bring the chief suspect to court, a man who has been linked by police files to six separate terrorist attacks," Mr Tipper said.

He also called on Prime Minister Theresa May to meet with the families, and to "step in" and "do the right thing".

He said: "It's in her power, not just to help us in our fight for justice, but to do better for all victims and veterans who served this country.

"We hope she will succeed where her predecessors have failed."
Migrant centres in Greece and Italy meant to fast-track people seeking asylum in Europe are overwhelmed and urgently require more experts, particularly to help vulnerable children travelling alone, EU auditors have warned.

In a new report, the auditors said two more centres known as "hotspots" are needed to process migrants in Italy, and added that facilities on Greek islands where people arrive from Turkey must be improved.

In Greece, the auditors said: "There are still more migrants arriving at the hotspots than leaving, and they are seriously overcrowded."

Some children have been held in "restrictive conditions" there for more than three months.

Hans Gustaf Wessberg, an auditor responsible for the report, said: "This issue needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency."

While the hotspot system has helped manage the problem short-term, migrant arrivals are unlikely to ease soon. Mr Wessberg said: "I cannot see any end of this situation."

The hotspots in Greece and Italy are designed to process a total of about 8,000 people in a few days but are routinely dealing with 15,000-16,000 migrants.

The centres - four in Italy and five in Greece - are seen as a key part of the EU's response to the refugee emergency. They were set up in 2015 as tens of thousands of people entered Europe, many from Syria and Iraq.

The auditors note that the EU's agreement with Turkey to send migrants back there means that people are stuck on the Greek islands for longer periods while their cases are examined, turning the hotspots into de-facto camps.

The report urges the EU and its member countries to ensure that adequate shelter and protection is provided for children, including the deployment of child protection officers at every site.

More migration and asylum experts should also be deployed, and with longer contracts, so their expertise is not lost, the auditors added.

AP
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a meeting with the visiting German foreign minister over the latter's plans to hold a meeting with Israeli rights groups.

An official said Mr Netanyahu was upset that German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel is sitting down with Breaking the Silence, a whistleblowing group critical of Israeli military actions in the West Bank.

Earlier in the day, Mr Gabriel said it would be "regrettable" if the meeting was cancelled.

The cancellation marks a rare diplomatic feud between Israel and one of its closest and most important allies.

The last-minute decision cast a cloud over a visit that had been meant to draw attention to years of friendship between the two countries and coincided with Israel's annual Holocaust memorial day.

Asked about a possible cancellation earlier, Mr Gabriel said it would not be a "catastrophe". He said: "I have been in this country so often and have a lot of friends, and it wouldn't change my relationship with Israel.

"You can't get a proper and comprehensive picture in any country on Earth if you only meet in government offices," he added.

"I can't imagine that we would not do such things in the future just to get government appointments."

Mr Gabriel has been Germany's foreign minister since January and its vice chancellor since 2013. This is his first visit to Israel in the new job.

Breaking the Silence is a group of former Israeli combat soldiers opposed to Israel's nearly 50-year occupation of the West Bank. The group publishes testimony, often anonymous, about what former soldiers say is the dark underbelly of service in the Palestinian territories.

Israeli leaders oppose the group's work, citing the anonymity of the claims and its outreach efforts to foreign audiences. They say there are better, more legitimate ways to criticise the army.
The US has urged the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo and additional sanctions on South Sudan to pressure the parties to end the country's civil war - but Russia and China remain opposed.

Two counties in South Sudan are already in the throes of famine and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned the council that 5.5 million people - half the country's population - face "life-threatening hunger if nothing changes soon".

"We must not wait for more deaths, more displacement and more destruction before we have the courage to act," she said.

There were high hopes that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighbouring Sudan in 2011.

However, the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, his former vice president, who is a Nuer.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 has not stopped the fighting, and clashes last July between supporters of Mr Kiir and Mr Machar set off further violence.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and forced 3.5 million to flee their homes.

In March, a UN inquiry found the country is experiencing ethnic cleansing and the conditions for genocide are present.

Ms Haley said the beneficiary of the division in the Security Council is South Sudan's government.

"So if you want them to continue to harass the people of South Sudan, if you want to continue to see starvation in South Sudan, doing nothing is exactly what you need to keep doing," she told council members.

"But if we're going to stop it... that's not about dialogue. That's not about hope. That's not about wishes. That's about action."

However, Russia's deputy UN ambassador Petr Iliichev reiterated Moscow's opposition to ramping up sanctions, saying peace "will not be brought about by a Security Council arms embargo but rather by targeted measures to disarm civilians as well as to demobilise and reintegrate combatants".

"We also think there is a need to listen to the views of regional countries, that discussions on the levying of additional restrictions against Juba would be untimely," he said.

China's deputy UN ambassador Wu Haitao said "it is important for the Security Council to send out more positive and enthusiastic messages".

He stressed that a political settlement is the only way to end the conflict and expressed hope that the UN, the African Union (AU) and an eight-member regional group, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), can join forces to promote negotiations.

Ms Haley also urged all parties "to seriously engage" with the UN, AU and Igad to achieve a cease-fire and immediate humanitarian access.

"And we call on the AU and UN envoys to put forward an operational plan of active engagement for peace in South Sudan," she said.

UN envoy David Shearer told the council, however, that no party has shown interest in reviving the 2015 peace agreement.

"Despite what appears to be attempts by the parties to achieve victory through military means, a political solution is the only way forward for South Sudan," he said.

"Military offensives are fracturing groups and intensifying ethnic divisions to a degree that will hinder reconciliation."

He stressed that "to create political will for the parties to end hostilities and build peace, the international community must speak with one voice (and) the African Union, the Security Council and Igad must be united in dealing with the parties."

AP
Madeleine McCanns mother has described the tenth anniversary of her daughters disappearance as a "horrible marker of time, stolen time".

In a message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, Kate McCann added: "We are bracing ourselves for the next couple of weeks.

"Its likely to be stressful and painful and more so given the rehashing of old stories, misinformation, half-truths and downright lies which will be doing the rounds in the newspapers, social media and special edition TV programmes."

To see this post on Facebook, click here.

Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from the familys holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

Kate and her husband Gerry McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have always vowed to never give up hope of finding their daughter.

In the message Mrs McCann said they "couldnt even begin to consider anything in terms of years" when their daughter first disappeared.

She wrote: "Ten years - theres no easy way to say it, describe it, accept it. And now here we are... Madeleine, our Madeleine - ten years.

"Most days are similar to the rest - another day. May 3rd 2017 - another day. But ten years - a horrible marker of time, stolen time."

However, she insisted "there will always be hope".
Three men have been jailed in Sweden over a gang rape which was streamed live on a closed Facebook group.

The Uppsala District Court said one of the men was given a sentence of 27 months for rape and assistance to rape.
US president Donald Trump has condemned those who deny the Holocaust and pledged to confront anti-Semitism.

In a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mr Trump said those who would deny that six million Jews were killed by Germany's Nazi leadership during the Second World War "are an accomplice of this horrible evil".

The US president added: "We must never, ever shrink away from telling the truth in our time."

Mr Trump also pledged that as president of the United States, he will "always stand with the Jewish people".

The president spoke at a US Capitol ceremony hosted by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to mark the unveiling of its new conservation and research centre.

The centre houses a vast collection of artefacts by those who survived Adolf Hitler's massacre.

Members of Congress and Holocaust survivors - whose strength and courage Mr Trump said was an inspiration - attended the emotional event in the Rotunda, the centre of the Capitol.

Survivors lit candles at the end of the ceremony.

"Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil and we'll never be silent. We just won't," he said.

"We will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again."

Mr Trump said Holocaust denial is one form of "dangerous anti-Semitism that continues all around the world" and that can be seen on university campuses, in attacks on Jewish communities "or when aggressors threaten Israel with total and complete destruction".

"This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism," he added.

"We will stamp out prejudice, we will condemn hatred, we will bear witness and we will act.

"As President of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people and I will always stand with our great friend and partner, the state of Israel."

Mr Trump's commemoration of the Holocaust follows a recent blunder by his chief spokesman, Sean Spicer, on the issue.

Mr Spicer recently apologised for making what he later said was an "inappropriate and insensitive" statement earlier this month that compared Hitler to Syrian president Bashar Assad by suggesting that Hitler "didn't even sink to using chemical weapons".

The remark, which Mr Spicer had made days after a chemical attack in Syria killed scores of civilians, ignored Hitler's use of gas chambers to kill Jews.

The White House's commitment to fighting anti-Semitism was questioned earlier in the year after it released a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day that excluded any mention of the Jewish people, in contrast to similar statements from previous administrations.

Mr Trump's own relations with American Jews had become strained after a testy exchange during a news conference with a reporter for an Orthodox Jewish publication.

Some also thought Mr Trump had waited too long to come out forcefully against bomb threats against Jewish community centres nationwide.

Mr Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, converted to Judaism before marrying her husband, Jared Kushner, now a senior White House adviser.

On an official trip to Berlin on Tuesday, Ms Trump, now working at the White House as an assistant to the president, visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Addressing survivors in attendance at the Capitol, Mr Trump called each one a "beacon of light".

"It only takes one light to illuminate even the darkest space, just like it takes only truth to crush a thousand lies and one hero to change the course of history," he said.

"We know that in the end good will triumph over evil and that as long as we refuse to close our eyes or to silence our voices, we know that justice will ultimately prevail."

AP
Greater Western Sydney veteran Steve Johnson is a dangerous forward that can be just as lethal in the midfield, and Giants co-captain Callan Ward is rapt he is on his side.

Ward spent the best part of eight years playing against Johnson and looking up to see the 33-year-old on the lead last week was a welcome sight.

Johnson returned from a knee injury as the Giants dismantled the Sydney Swans - the perfect lead in to a clash with reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval.

Ward expects the Bulldogs to have a plan in place to limit Johnson - having seen how damaging he can be from both sides of the fence, he thinks any team would be mad not to.
A neighbourhood shopping centre in Melbourne's south-east anchored by a Woolworths supermarket has sold to Chinese interests for $48 million, the latest in series of retail acquisitions by Asian investors.

Over the past 15 months, Chinese investors have spent more than $380 million acquiring retail shopping assets across Victoria.

Arena Shopping Centre has sold to a Chinese buyer from Shenzhen.

The latest, the Arena Shopping Centre in Officer on the corner of Princes Highway and Cardinia Road, exchanged on an initial yield of 5.38 per cent, a price predicated on its larger than normal size compared to traditional neighbourhood shopping centres, CBRE's Mark Wizel said.

Mr Wizel, Justin Dowers and Kevin Tong negotiated the sale to a mainland Chinese buyer from Shenzhen.
More French may turn out on May 7 for the run-off election, and more may back Ms Le Pen now she has temporarily stepped down as National Front leader to appeal to more voters across the political spectrum, but that's a long shot.

In theory this was a shared victory for both newbie social democrat-centrist Emmanuel Macron, a mere 39 years old and leader of a party that didn't exist a year ago. He polled 23.9 per cent and long-time far right candidate Marine le Pen of the National Front. Aged 48, she attracted 21.4 per cent of ballots from the 69 per cent of eligible voters who turned out.

The French have rejected the "insider" ruling political class just as Americans did with Donald Trump in November; like the Britons did with Brexit last June and might do once more this June; and the way Australians did to a lesser extent with Pauline Hanson last July.

As the French like to say, you vote with your heart in the first round, but with your head in the second. Most of those who backed neither of the two candidates on Sunday can be expected to support Mr Macron to become president. But he will face an increasingly angry minority that want to remake France as a more isolationist, less welcoming nation.

It's ironic that at a time of exceptional uncertainty when the electorate is angry and pessimistic  troubled by decades of mass unemployment, rattled by the constant fear of terror attacks  people seem to be paying more attention to personalities than policies. Mainstreamers such as Francois Fillon on the traditional right and Benoit Hamon on the establishment left failed to get through largely through personality flaws, leaving inevitability that France will end up with an untested and unpredictable albeit charismatic president.

Ms Le Pen has done much to de-nastify her party since taking over after a bitter power struggle in 2011 but that's not to suggest her populist policies are less than hardline on her core platforms of security, immigration, Islam and national identity. She wants to end immigration, banish Islamism, crack down on crime and withdraw France from the European Union.

Should Ms Le Pen beat the odds and win, that would strengthen the hand of Theresa May in negotiating Britain's EU exit  she has already triggered article 50  and add impetus to her case at the snap election on June 8.

That the Prime Minister called the election was a surprise to many who took her at her word that she would not, because she needed to focus on preparations for the exit negotiations. Her announcement suggested she was calling for a stronger mandate to strengthen her hand in Brexit deal making. She even went so far as to suggest that it would be unBritish not to vote for her.
Malcolm Turnbull has flagged an Australian military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, saying training of local forces needs to be "a long-term commitment".

Speaking on Anzac Day after a meeting with US Defence Secretary James Mattis in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the Prime Minister also said Australia would consider further requests for help in fighting terrorist and insurgency groups in the Middle East.

"There is no doubt that in both theatres there is going to need to be a long-term commitment," Mr Turnbull said at Australia's main base in the Middle East, where he visited Australian troops.

"But it is one of supporting, above all of training, the Afghan and Iraqi security forces  both military and police  to ensure that they have the ability to defend their own country, to push back the terrorists where they've made gains and to secure the territory that the government is holding.
A Turnbull government MP has called for the addition of a new verse to the national anthem outlining Australian values.

Andrew Laming, the Liberal member for the Brisbane seat of Bowman, suggested the lyrics should reflect Australians' larrikinism, resilience and sense of reward for effort.

"I think that the only way national anthems can distinguish themselves is through their values, and I do feel our current second verse has pretty much the same message as the first verse," Mr Laming told Fairfax Media on Tuesday.

The first verse was primarily about the beauty of the land, while the second verse dealt with people coming from overseas and "how much space we have", he said.
Cory Bernardi's breakaway conservative party will join forces with Family First but the incoming Senator for the soon-to-be-defunct party will not join the Liberal defector, depriving him of a two-person voting bloc.

The merger is a significant coup for Senator Bernardi, whose Australian Conservatives will gain thousands of members, finances and two MPs - Robert Brokenshire and Dennis Hood in the South Australian parliament - along with grassroots campaigners around the country.

The merger has been approved by every state division and the federal body of Family First.

Fairfax Media has confirmed Senator Bernardi will announce the merger on Wednesday in South Australia.
But for Nerve Flossing devotee Linda Faust, the method has brought her much more  pain relief. "My arms fall asleep at night and the pain wakes me up regularly," she says. "I often experience numbness in my hands when riding my bicycle, and nerve pains in my left foot that strike at night."

"It is often used as a movement exercise alongside stretching exercises for greater freedom of movement and flexibility, so you'll see many Nerve Flossing positions and movements in yoga postures and asanas."

"Physiotherapist David Butler developed it in the early 1990s, and as the name suggests it is similar to the movement used when flossing teeth," says Trevor Chisman, of The Massage Specialist in Glasgow, Scotland.

It sounds grisly, but Nerve Flossing is emerging as an efficacious way to combat symptoms associated with nerve pain. Followers of the method say it is ideal for sciatic nerve pain, tight hamstrings, pins and needles, and tingling and numbness that are constant or brought on by activities or specific body positions. Its long-term benefits, including easier movement, flexibility and increased range of motion, mean that gym lovers are also embracing it, adding it to their exercise regimes as the ideal post-workout stretch session.

Faust says she slept without pain the first time she practised the method. "I watched the video on sciatic Nerve Flossing, because that nerve travels into the leg and foot. I tried flossing and it relieved the pain, and my arms and hands felt normal afterwards."

Chisman says the technique is simple to master. "Firstly, the body or the limb is held in a position that applies gentle tension to the nerve or area to be treated," he says. "Then, using flexion and extension of joints, tension is gentle applied to one end of the nerve whilst it is slackened at the other. This is then alternated to create a slow, gentle, flossing-like movement. It shouldn't be painful, but may be mildly uncomfortable."

While Nerve Flossing is a simple technique to learn and apply at home, Chisman says it should be practised with caution. "It could possibly cause symptoms to flare up if performed too vigorously in an area which is already irritated," he says. "It's advisable to work with a therapist, who will be able to guide you through the techniques and keep track of your progress. This will allow them to identify if nerve mobilisation techniques are appropriate for the pain, and if so, which ones."

While the method yields good results, it should not be considered a one-off therapy, and Chisman says pain relief may not be long term.

"The aim of Nerve Flossing is the reduction of pain and symptoms and a return to normal sensation and function," he says. "This can often take several weeks, or even longer, to achieve and there may be days when symptoms appear to increase before again easing. Regular, daily repetition is important to make progress."
An artificial womb has been invented that researchers say can support the growth of premature lambs for a month, as if they had still been growing inside their mother.

The hope is that one day this technology will be used to aid the development of severely premature babies.

Lambs have been reared in an artificial womb. Credit:Ben Birchall

At least two lambs were able to grow for up to 28 days inside the artificial womb, far outstripping previous attempts using similar models which could only support animals for 60 hours and lead to brain damage.

The lambs in the artificial womb longer showed normal breathing, swallowing, opened their eyes, grew wool, and had normal growth and neurological function, report researchers from the Centre for Fetal Research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Federal agencies are embracing digital records management and upgrading storage systems while helping to achieve significant overall savings, according to the National Archives of Australia.

But some concern has been expressed at the overall level of "information maturity" in a report prepared for Attorney-General George Brandis.

Anne Lyons, Assistant Director-General for Information Policy and Systems, at the National Archives of Australia. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

A survey of all agencies found that in 2014-15 electronic storage across government totalled 29,410 terabytes while there were almost 102 million physical files occupying 1492km of shelf space.

For records created digitally since 2015 and requiring lodgement with the NAA, only electronic formats will be accepted, which means the archive will go paperless for new documents in 2030.
A 13-year-old boy is among four teenagers accused of bashing a taxi driver, leaving him with serious head injuries and two broken teeth.

Police believe the two girls and two boys caught a taxi to Bridge Inn Road in Wollert, north of Melbourne, about 3am on Tuesday and told the driver that a relative was coming to pay the $45 fare.

As the teens went to walk away, the driver, Keilor Downs man Akbar Ali, attempted to restrain one of the boys.

The other three teenagers are then alleged to have unleashed a violent assault on the 25-year-old.
Taxpayers have spent more than $3 million on unreliable academic research, as science experts warn that research fraud and plagiarism in Australia is not being properly policed.

Twenty-one research projects largely funded by the federal government breached integrity standards in the past two years, figures from the Australian Research Council reveal.

David Vaux is critical of the new draft national code for researchers.

The federal government body, which provides tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded research grants, stopped funding three grants, recovered funding for one grant, and placed restrictions on funding for one researcher.

Misleading data, ethical breaches and other "minor errors" involving referencing were reported to the council. A total of more than $3,367,700 in government money was linked to six problematic projects in the past two years.
Pete Bland wrote: "Disrespectful is an understatement Yassmin." Yassmin Abdel-Magied on Q&A in February. Credit:ABC "There is no taking back what you originally wrote, I am disgusted. And people like you just can't help yourselves, hey guess what the whole world doesn't actually revolve around you! Today means a lot to true Australians, myself included and you over stepped the line, so disrespectful," Shana Bloomer said. Amid the online vitriol, some suggested she leave Australia. "I'm glad you've apologised, as you VERY well should! It's extremely inappropriate to cheapen the memory of their sacrifices, by mixing it with other issues. It's a despicable act to mix other issues on this day," David Metcalf wrote.

"While I don't expect you to go and buy a digger a beer today, I really do hope you'll go educate yourself and show some respect for the people who died to give you the privileges you enjoy today. If you can't learn and appreciate their sacrifices, please do find somewhere else to live." Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz also criticised Abdel-Magied's Facebook post. "Yassmin Abdel-Magied's unfortunate and disrespectful Facebook post today, of all days, is deeply reprehensible," he said in a statement. "Tens of thousands of Australians, from all walks of life, have gone to war and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Today, we pay tribute to them  not seek to use their sacrifice for cheap political point scoring as Ms Abdel-Magied has done. "The freedom she enjoys to make such disrespectful comments is what the people whom we commemorate today fought and died for. But that is where self-discipline, respect and decency need to be added into the equation, something Ms Abdel-Magied has displayed she lacks."

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Abdel-Magied's first Facebook comment was a "disgrace". "It is a disgrace that on our most significant national day to mark the passing of people who have defended this country, this advocate seeks to make political mileage," Mr Dutton said. Yet, some jumped to Abdel-Magied's defence. "Although I didn't appreciate your previous post, and am glad you changed it  your wish to remember the plight of many peoples shows your good heart. Thank you for being you, and for standing against the wave of Australian racism," Rebecca Koch wrote. "She was intending to remind us that not all of Australia or its citizens yet enjoy the freedom the ANZACs gained for us."

David Hoens said: "Today we remember the brave men and women of Australia who went to fight against the atrocities committed by others last century ... and today of all days we should remember Australia is committing similar atrocities today!" Former SBS sports reporter Scott McIntyre was sacked in 2015 after tweeting controversial opinions about the Anzac legacy. Deakin University historian Dr Carolyn Holbrook said Anzac Day functioned "as a kind of secular religion these days". "It has many features of a faith, and what happens is that the figure  the Anzac legend  is sacred," Dr Holbrook said. "Anzac is sacred for many Australians, and if someone dares to question it  then they cop the consequences of it."
An international fugitive who stole almost half a million dollars during an ATM cracking spree in NSW will face extradition to Europe over his role in a deadly people smuggling operation.

The dramatic and movie-script like life of Aniello Vinciguerra was revealed earlier this year as the 37-year-old was awaiting sentence for a string of sophisticated thefts.

Aniello Vinciguerra is walked through Darwin Airport by two police officers after his arrest in December, 2014.

Within days of arriving in Australia on a fake Italian passport in 2014, the father-of-three joined a group of Albanian men in breaking open ATMs.

The Albanians - Simon Sheu, George Nika and Marsel Boka - had already stolen thousands of dollars from ATMs in other states before Vinciguerra joined their spree in September, 2014.
It's the controversial sculpture that has been given its trotting orders.

The Origami Horses sculpture in the pedestrian mall adjoining West Ryde Plaza is set to be relocated after months of being barricaded.

The plan follows a handful of pedestrians being injured by walking into the sculpture.

"I was having a discussion with a number of businessmen at the plaza and they were expressing concerns about a number of things, including the horse sculptures," the mayor of Ryde, Bill Pickering, said.
A woman has been taken to hospital and her dog Shadow picked up by the RSPCA after an alleged home invasion in Ipswich overnight.

Police will allege three women and two men, all aged in their early 30s, broke into a Churchill home about 1am armed with poles.

Police will allege three women and two men invaded the Ipswich home and attacked an occupant. Credit:Glenn Hunt

The group allegedly assaulted a 35-year-old woman, known to the group, and her dog Shadow before stealing a mobile phone.

They then fled in a car and were arrested and charged by police a short time later.
Discrimination against an Israeli tourist allegedly turned away by a Cairns business is "extremely disturbing", Queensland's Multicultural Affairs Minister Grace Grace says.

Cold Steel Piercing in Cairns North has been under fire in recent days after allegedly turning a customer away because they were Israeli.

Mohr Wenger posted on Facebook about being reportedly turned away from a Cairns business for being Israeli. Credit:Facebook

Mohr Wenger posted on her Facebook page about the apparent incident, prompting a backlash of negative reviews against the business.

Ms Grace said she was concerned that an Israeli tourist was reportedly refused service.
It began with the roar of two RAAF F/A-18Fs flying overhead and the familiar chimes of Brisbane's City Hall clock tower.

It ended exactly two hours and 27 minutes later, when the members of the Military Jeep Club drove their superbly restored and maintained vehicles through the CBD streets.

Thousands marched in the Anzac Day parade in Brisbane on Tuesday. Credit:Glenn Hunt

In between, thousands marched and many more thousands cheered them on as they paid tribute to their sacrifices for their nation.

From peacekeeping missions to full-scale war, Australian and allied veterans received the thanks of a grateful city.
Intervention by Australia's consumer watchdog has failed to break a stand-off between NBN, Telstra and retailers leaving homes without broadband for months.

Despite direction from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Telstra Wholesale has failed to assist retailers such as TPG in restoring ADSL copper services to homes left without broadband after NBN activation failures, as revealed by Fairfax Media investigations.

NBN Co will pay Telstra about $1 billion a year to use its infrastructure until at least 2046. Credit:Katherine Fenech

"Cease Sale" regulations in the NBN migration agreement forbid Telstra Wholesale from offering new copper services in areas declared NBN Ready For Service. Both Telstra and the ACCC agree these regulations do not forbid reconnecting copper services inadvertently disconnected before an NBN service is active.

"The ACCC has advised Telstra that it has no objection to it reinstating the [affected] services," says an ACCC spokesperson.
Perth's rising sun formed a spectacular backdrop for the city's biggest Anzac Day dawn service at the State War Memorial at Kings Park on Tuesday morning.

About 40,000 people were estimated to have attended the event, which holds the nation's final dawn services due to a two-hour time zone difference.

This year holds special significance in WA as it is 75 years since Japan's air attack on Broome during World War Two.

More than 100 dawn services were held across Perth and regional WA with further commemorations planned throughout the day.
Chobani, a US yoghurt company, has filed a lawsuit against Alex Jones, the high-profile conspiracy theorist and the host of a popular right-wing radio show, for posting what it called false news reports about the company and its owner.

The suit, filed on Monday in district court in Twin Falls County, Idaho, named Jones and the media companies InfoWars and Free Speech Systems as defendants. It called "false" and "defamatory" several reports that appeared on InfoWars alleging that the company's factory in Idaho, which employs refugees, was connected to a 2016 child sexual assault and a rise in tuberculosis cases.

The reports were published April 11 on InfoWars.com and on "The Alex Jones Channel" on YouTube. They were promoted on Twitter under the headline "Idaho yoghurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists," and were spread widely online.

The founder of Chobani, Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant of Kurdish descent, has been the target of right wing threats by people who accuse him of employing too many refugees in his factories, which began as a yoghurt business in upstate New York and then expanded to Twin Falls, a city of about 46,500 south of Boise.
Washington: Former national security adviser Michael Flynn likely broke the law by failing to disclose foreign income he earned from Russia and Turkey, the heads of the House Oversight Committee said on Tuesday.

The Committee Chairman, Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, and ranking member Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, said they believe Mr Flynn neither received permission nor fully disclosed income he earned for a speaking engagement in Russia and lobbying activities on behalf of Turkey when he applied to reinstate his security clearance. They reached this conclusion after viewing two classified memos and a financial disclosure form in a private briefing Tuesday morning.

"Personally I see no evidence or no data to support the notion that General Flynn complied with the law," Mr Chaffetz told reporters following the briefing.

"He was supposed to get permission, he was supposed to report it, and he didn't," Mr Cummings said.
New York: The campaign of the French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has been targeted by what appears to be the same Russian operatives responsible for hacks of Democratic campaign officials before last year's US presidential election, a cyber security firm warns in a new report.

The report, to be released on Tuesday, has heightened concerns that Russia may turn its playbook on France in an effort to harm Macron's candidacy and bolster that of Macron's rival, the former National Front leader Marine Le Pen, in the final weeks of the French presidential campaign.

Security researchers at the cyber security firm, Trend Micro, said that on March 15 they spotted a hacking group they believe to be a Russian intelligence unit turn their weapons on Macron's campaign - sending emails to campaign officials and others with links to fake websites designed to bait them into turning over passwords.

The group began registering several decoy internet addresses last month and as recently as April 15, naming one 'onedrive-en-marche.fr' and another 'mail-en-marche.fr' to mimic the name of Macron's political party, En Marche.
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled talks with Germany's visiting foreign minister, snubbing Sigmar Gabriel over his decision to meet groups critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

The dispute threatened to widen a rift between Israel and Germany over the Palestinian issue. Berlin has been increasingly critical of the settlement policies of Mr Netanyahu's right-wing government in occupied territory Palestinians seek for a state.

"My policy is clear: Not to meet with diplomats who visit Israel and engage with organisations that slander Israeli soldiers and seek to have them put on trial as war criminals," Mr Netanyahu said in Jerusalem late on Tuesday.

He said he was leading Israel "through proud nationalist polices and not by bowing our heads and grovelling".
Bangkok: A Thai man killed his 11-month-old daughter and broadcast her death on Facebook before he took his own life, police said.

People could access two videos of the child's murder on his Facebook page for roughly 24 hours before they were taken down around 5pm on Tuesday.

Police at the scene where an 11-month-old girl and her father were found dead. Credit:Volunteer Rescue Thailand

Last week, Facebook said it was reviewing how it monitored violent footage and other objectionable material after an elderly man was fatally shot in Cleveland, Ohio. A video of his death was visible for two hours before being taken down.

The harrowing footage from Thailand was recorded at a deserted building in the Thai seaside town of Phuket.
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Get high  on money!

Thats the message of the new Cannabis Cultural Association, which his hosting its inaugural Entrepreneur Empowerment Workshop this weekend in Crown Heights  and is hoping to teach would-be pot-repreneurs how to get in on the ground floor of what they claim could become a $2-trillion business.

We will show people how to get into the industry, right now, even though it remains illegal in New York State, said Jake Plowden, co-founder of the group. Right now, those businesses are ancillary to actually growing the plant. But you need to get yourself into position because New York will legalize at some point.

Plowden said he created the association last year because there are not a lot of people of color in the pot industry.

There are not a lot of people of color on Wall Street or in most newsrooms, either, Brooklyn Paper Radio co-host Gersh Kuntzman, a Daily News columnist, pointed out.

But Plowden added white domination of the legal pot business  currently a $7-billion industry  was particularly ironic, given that the jails and summons courts are filled with people of color.

The War on Drugs primarily arrested people of color, he said, so theres naturally a lot of fear in the minority community about going into the cannabis industry. But we are creating a safe space for people to learn everything about it.

Saturdays all-day workshop at the Electropositive Center in Crown Heights will include such sessions as Building Your Cannabis Business  Legal and Accounting, and Promoting Your Cannabis Business, plus breakout sessions with existing business owners and, of course, a networking party that Plowden promised would not include any consumption of cannabis  though he could not swear that no marijuana would be consumed nearby.

Bottom line: This isnt about getting high  its about getting rich, Kuntzman said.

Exactly, added Leland Radovanovic, the association spokesman and its self-proclaimed token white guy. We want people to leave this event with a business plan to start their cannabis company, whether they learn how to become growers in a legal state or figure out an ancillary business, such as clothing or vape shops. Remember, all the same jobs that are required in any legal industry are required in the cannabis industry. You can do it in New York as long as touching the plant isnt your priority.

Kuntzman and co-host Vince DiMiceli  full disclosure: they only get high on whiskey after the show  definitely wanted to know more about touching the plant. Indeed, Kuntzman shared numerous stories of the few times when he was high, including a college toking experience that led to a brief sexual affair with an angora sweater and a more recent ingestion of marijuana that led Kuntzman to that most rarest of states: silence.

You know me, I always have a retort, but I was high on something and the words that so smartly formed in my brain simply would not come out, Kuntzman said.

Sounds like you were on a good strain of sativa, Plowden said.

Its obviously a good strain because it did the impossible  it shut up Gersh Kuntzman, said DiMiceli.

Also on Brooklyn Paper Radio this week, we returned to our weekly segment, Vince Talks About Some Crazy Stuff. In this weeks edition, DiMiceli regaled Kuntzman and listeners with a story of a dead bird that he discovered under the hood of his car.

It was just bones and a beak, DiMiceli said. Though a beak is technically bone.

If youre high, Kuntzman added.

Cannabis Cultural Association Entrepreneur Empowerment Workshop, Electropositive Center, 639 Classon Ave. between Pacific and Dean Sts., April 29, 1-8 p.m. Tickets are $50, but Brooklyn Paper Radio listeners can use the promo code 420 for half-priced entry. For info, visit www.weare canna biscu lture.com .
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Steve Harvey  His Wife, Kids & Height Steve Harvey is an American comedian, actor, radio and TV show host, producer and an author of different relationship advice books. Steve Harveys Early Life Born in Welch, West Virginia, on January 17, 1957, as Broderick Stephen Harvey, Steve was the last of five children. His family relocated to Cleveland when he was young and there, he attended Glenville High School from ...

Intriguing Things You Should Know About Danny Kokers Rise to Fame and Who His Wife Is Danny Koker is popular as the star of the History Channel reality TV series, Counting Cars. Prior to him appearing on the show, the TV personality was a musician who had embarked on a number of national tours with his rock group, Counts 77. He and his group have released quite a number of songs ...

Fun Facts You Didnt Know About Andy Cohens Rise to Prominence and His Partner Andy Cohen is one of Americas top media personalities who gained prominence after helping to bring the Bravo network back to life. He also hosted a couple of shows on the network, including the popular nightly series Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. After rising to the position of head of production and development at ...

Tracing Isha Sesays Career Until CNN, Her Worth And Why She Divorce Her Husband As far as journalists of African origin go, Isha Sesay is one of the most famous on the continent  and by extension, the world. The Sierra Leonean and British journalist has had a successful career since she joined the industry in 1998. In that time, she has worked for a host of major media ...

Open Secrets of How Joanna Gaines Balances Her Career With Being a Wife and Mother Joanna Gaines is the co-founder of Magnolia Homes, a business she runs with one goal: converting houses to homes. She doubles as the lead designer of the company which she co-owns with her husband, Chip Gaines. Lady Gaines gained massive popularity when she became a co-star with her husband on the HGTVs show, Fixer Upper. ...

Juicy Details of Ayesha Currys Love Story With Stephen, Her Family Members and Recent Pursuits When your husband is one of the greatest basketballers that the NBA has ever seen, then it bestows on you the status of a celebrity wife  and may not even demand that you do anything extra to maintain that status. However, Ayesha Curry, the wife of multiple NBA champion, Steph Curry, is not one ...

What Is Tarek el Moussas Ethnicity, Why Did He Divorce His Wife and Who Is He Dating? Tarek El Moussa has made himself one of the most recognizable men on reality television, especially to fans of HGTV. Thanks to his expertise in the world of real estate, Tarek has become a national star. But even to his hardcore followers, there are questions about Tarek El Moussa that remain unanswered, such as his ...

Fun Facts About Natalie Beckers Lonely Childhood and Eventual Career Success Natalie Becker is an actress of South African descent who became famous for her appearance in films like The World Unseen and The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. A multitalented individual, Natalie is also a television/radio presenter. She is also a co-founder of the Thought Leader Global Media which she runs together with ...

Top 3 Female CNN News Anchors You Didnt Know Were Africans CNN is one of the leading news agencies in the world. The satellite and cable news network was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner and has been one of the best sources of news for a number of years. It also boasts of the best journalists and presenters all around in media broadcasting. The company is a ...

Channels That Aided Katie Pavlichs Growth as a Journalist and All About Her Marriage To Friedson If you have ever come across any Fast and Furious featuring Barack Obama, it is the handiwork of Katie Pavlich. The book which claims to have exposed Obamas bloodiest scandal and the shameless cover-up thereof, has been earning Pavlich much praise and fame ever since it was published in 2012. Nonetheless, Pavlich is more famed ...

Is Oprah Winfrey Married? Husband, Children, Biography, House, Facts Oprah Winfrey is a billionaire philanthropist, talk show icon, producer, actress, and writer. The media icon famously dubbed The Queen Of All Media owns and hosts the highest-rated television program in the media circle. Read more about the powerful television star below. Oprah Winfrey Biography Oprah was born as Orpah Gail Winfrey on January 29, 1954, to a ...

Who Is Arsenio Hall, What Happened To His Talk Show and Why Do Fans Think He Is Gay? He is one of the funniest beings to have graced the comedy constituent of the American entertainment industry. Arsenio Hall has a reputation for the rib-cracking disposition always portrayed in his comedy roles. He is not just a comedian; he is also an actor and a former talk show host for his popular show, The ...

What Is Woah Vicky Famous For and Who Are Her Family Members? Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Woah Vicky is one of those stars that have utilized the internet as a powerful tool to propel themselves to instant fame. The social media space, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc., offers lots of people the right opportunities and potentials to become superstars overnight. Not everyone achieves ...

Where Is Michael Strahan Since His Retirement From The NFL and Who Is His Partner? Michael Strahan is a retired American football player turned media personality. He played the defensive lineman position and holds the record for most sacks in a single NFL season. He also only played for the New York Giants throughout the entire 15-year professional career that saw him win a Super Bowl ring. In February 2014, ...

How Wendy Williams Went From Being a College DJ to Having Her Own Talk Show and More About Her Divorce Wendy Williams is a former radio personality, now talk show host, who is known for her outspokenness and brash no-nonsense attitude. She gained fame and notoriety for her on-air clashes with celebrities before moving on to host her own talk show. Since 2008, Williams has hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show, The Wendy Williams Show. ...

Who is Sunny Hostin? Her Husband, Family & Net Worth Sunny Hostin is no ordinary Latina  American lawyer but also a successful columnist, multi-platform journalist, and social commentator. A happily married woman and mother of two, Hostin is the Senior Legal Correspondent and Analyst for ABC News and co-host of ABCs popular morning talk show, The View. She is a legal expert popularly known as a former ...

Who Is Robert Costa and Is He Married, Who Is His Wife? Robert Costa is a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC who is regarded as being part of Americas next generation of journalists. The University of Notre Dame graduate, who is of Italian/Portuguese descent, has been lauded for his fresh political perspectives in an industry full of old heads. In addition to his work listed above, Costa ...

Team Valor Pokemon Go  7 Key Facts You Need To Know Team Valor Pokemon Go  The craze of the new game Pokemon Go is one that took the gaming world by storm sending teenagers and adults alike into a frenzy and one of its teams Team Valor, has proven to be instrumental in making it so. Before the game was created, Pokemon was a cartoon ...

Sheryl Underwood  Husband, Family & Net Worth She is known for her trademark smile which can be described as the brightest and broadest smile ever seen on planet earth. She is none other than Sheryl Underwood the comedian, actress, and TV host whose funny wits has left America in great awe. Although Sheryl has risen to become an important personality in the industry, ...

Team Mystic Pokemon Go: 7 Facts You Need To Know And Signs You Are One Team Mystic of the break out game Pokemon Go is a team that is full of sass and chivalry. With an enchanting monicker, Team Mystic stands out from the rest of its counterparts and deserves to take the crown as champion in the Pokemon gaming-verse. To be a member of this exceptional team of Pokemon battle ...

Exploring Guy Beahms Dr Disrespect Persona, Wife and Why He was Banned Permanently From Twitch Guy Beahm who is popularly known by his online alias  Dr DisRespect, is an award-winning Twitch.tv streamer. He has leveraged on the Twitch platform to become an internet personality that is quite widely known. His online success is just more proof that anyone who is good at what they do can attain celebrity status ...

Critical Facts About Lee Ann McAdoo  The Infowars Anchor Lee Ann Mcadoo is a conservative journalist and television host whose interests in conspiracies and astrology has established her as a famous American reporter. Often referred to as Wonder Woman, McAdoo is a reporter who works for InfoWars.com, a controversial right-wing website run by radio show host, Alex Jones. Who Is Lee Ann McAdoo? Lee Ann McAdoo was born on 7 ...

Millie Weaver  Age, Husband & Infowars Career Millie Weaver is an American model, journalist, political activist, and social commentator. The young and beautiful journalist rose to fame working as a reporter for a controversial right-wing website InfoWars.com. Also known as Millennial Millie, Weaver is a social media influencer with over 100,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel and over 35,000 followers on Twitter. Who Is Millie Weaver and What Is ...

Is Jessica Tarlov Married? What Are Her Height & Weight? Jessica Tarlov is an American political consultant, strategist, and analyst whose influential and regular TV presence has made a popular figure. A good example of beauty with brains, Tarlov has appeared on various TV networks, mostly the FOX News Network where she is known for her liberal views on political analysis and insights. She is also the senior director ...

Who Is Kelly Rebecca Nichols  Alex Jones Ex-Wife? Kelly Rebecca Nichols is the ex-wife of controversial American radio show host, Alex Jones. She got nationwide attention following her divorce and subsequent custody battle with her estranged husband. Nichols, who worked with PETAs public relations department, was herself no stranger to controversies as she was involved in several publicity stunts of the non-profit animal rights ...

Who Is Bree Morgan  Cole Sprouse Ex-Girlfriend And What Is She Up To Now? Although Bree Morgan became famous through the Instagram, she also sapped some dose of popularity from Disneys sweetheart, Cole Sprouse of the Sprouse brothers. She is not only an Instagram star but also a YouTube vlogger whose popularity has long exceeded the ordinary level. Bree is conspicuously prominent on the internet and has her digital savviness ...

Does Vanna White Have Husband or Children, What Is Her Net Worth / Salary? For over three decades, Vanna White has been a household name, famous as the co-host and letter turner of the iconic NBC game show Wheel of Fortune. The talented and beautiful television personality is also an actress with several TV series and films to her credit. Since making her Wheel of Fortune debut in 1982, she has become one ...

Liz Wheeler  Biography, Husband & Net Worth Liz Wheeler is the kind of girl who sets the room on fire whenever she comes around. In this situation, however, she sets our screens on fire each time she appears as the host of One America News Tipping Point. She is, therefore, a presenter, publisher, consultant and a member of the Board of Zoning ...

Betty White  Net Worth, Children & Husband The entertainment industry will remain indebted to personalities like Betty White who brought something extra to the table and kept the world entertained for donkey years. The comedienne, actress, and writer graced the big screens in the early 50s as a show host and has been a delight since then. She is the queen of ...

Is Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Dead or Alive, What Are His Net Worth & Education? Everyone will always remember Bill Nye as the Science Guy. Besides his TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, he is well-known for his Netflix show Bill Nye Saves the World which started airing in 2017 as well as his appearances in many famous media projects as a science educator. The star studied mechanical engineering ...

Is Cesar Millan Dead, Who Is The Wife & What Is His Net Worth? Cesar Millan is the famous dog whisperer who often stirs up mixed emotions. The Mexican-American is precisely speaking, a dog behaviorist; he has been in the game for over 25 years. His Emmy-nominated television series, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan further pushed his method and tactics into the limelight. The series was produced from 2004 ...

Is Thomas Sanders Gay and Does He Have A Boyfriend? By the time Vine was shut down in January 2017, Thomas Sanders was already popular within and beyond the internet community for his heavy involvements on the online video hosting platform. After the tragic shutdown of Vine impacted on the growing career of the multi-talented personality, he immediately switched over to YouTube where he continued to upload ...

Is Shepard Smith Gay, Who Is The Boyfriend & What Is His Net Worth? There are only a few media personalities who are as bold and confident as Shepard Smith. Apart from his impressive stint at Fox News Channel which includes but not limited to his classic news delivery, upfront stance on virtually every issue and much more; he loves his job as much as he loves his personality. Smith ...

Is Milo Yiannopoulos Gay? His Husband and Net Worth Milo Yiannopoulos is a popular writer, journalist, polemicist, public speaker, and political commentator who is also known as the founder of The Kernel, an online blog. He has been said to be among the list of 100 weird and influential people in the United Kingdom. He appeared on this list as a result of personal beliefs and ...

Does Ryan Seacrest Have A Wife Or Girlfriend, What Is His Net Worth? From radio to television, Ryan Seacrest is a household name and a force to be reckoned with in showbiz. The radio personality, television host, and producer is best recognized as the host of the popular TV talent search contest American Idol. Heres how the media personality who always knew what his lifes ambition was and diligently pursued ...

Is Anderson Cooper Gay, Who is The Boyfriend or Husband? For many, the thought of becoming a millionaire by writing and talking about other people appears unachievable but this is the reality of the prominent American journalist Anderson Cooper who gathered millions of dollars for conducting accurate political analysis and other vital reports on TV. He is the main anchor of the CNN news show Anderson ...

Is David Muir Gay or Does He Have A Wife, What Is His Salary? David Muir is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works for the ABC broadcast-television network and anchors the ABC World News Tonight with David Muir program while also co-anchoring the magazine program 20/20. The Ithaca College graduate, whose show has become the most-watched newscast in America, has covered stories from all across America and the world; reporting ...

Joel Osteen  Divorce Rumors, Net Worth & Family Members Joel Osteen is an American Televangelist, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church based in Houston, Texas, a husband and a father of two. He is an author of many books, seven of which are New York Times Best Sellers and his televised sermons capture more than 7 million viewers per week and 20 million every month ...

Who Is Todd Chrisley? What To Know About His Children, Gay Rumors & Net Worth Premiered on the USA network in 2014, Chrisley Knows Best is one of the most watched family reality TV shows in the U.S. The series which is currently in its sixth season is centered around U.S real estate mogul Todd Chrisley and his family. The show reveals Todd the patriarch of the Chrisley family as a strict dad who rules ...

Who Is Shannon Bream Of Fox News? Her Husband, Children & Net Worth Shannon Bream who hosts the iconic primetime program started her journalism career in the late 1990s debuting as the evening and late-night news reporter for the CBS affiliate, WBTV. The beauty from America currently works for the Fox News Channel and she is best known for anchoring the primetime program. She also hosts Americas News ...

Is Troye Sivan Gay, Who Is His Boyfriend and What Is His Net Worth? Troye Sivan is an Australian singer and songwriter best known for songs like Happy Little Pill, Youth, Heaven (with Betty Who) and The Boyfriend Tag (with Tyler Oakley) which have all garnered him different awards and ranked on the Billboard Charts. Sivan, who was born in South Africa but now resides in the United States, is ...

Did iDubbbz Have Cancer, Is He Gay and Who Is His Girlfriend Now? iDubbbz is one YouTuber who has made a career out of courting controversy. Renowned for his absurdist channels and comedy video series, the Los Angeles based personality is the owner of two channels, iDubbzTV, and iDubbzTV2, as well as the brains behind comedy video series such as Content Cop, Kickstarter Crap, Gaming News Crap, and ...

Inside Greg Gutfelds Love Story With Wife Elena Moussa and Why Fans Thought He Was Gay Greg Gutfeld is a seasoned American television producer whose career in the media industry has spanned over a decade. He is a man of many talents who makes extra income through comedy, journalism, and editorial works. Gutfeld regularly appears on Fox News Channel as a panellist and co-host of the political talk show The Five ...

Works That Made Bo Burnham A Household Name and How Much He Is Worth Now One of YouTubes first viral stars and the worlds most exciting young comedian, Bo Burnham, has always amazed critics and comedy aficionados alike. Often regarded as the Justin Bieber of comedy, thanks to his fresh looks, floppy blond hair and hoodies, he has a multi-faceted career bigger than many comedians twice his age. It wouldnt ...

Is Louie Anderson Gay And What Is His Net Worth? Louie Anderson has one of the most abstract faces in the industry and equally knows how to use it to his advantage. He is not only a stand-up comedian but also an actor and television host who is known for his distinctive comic wits. Some of his notable projects include Family Feud, where he was ...

Is Don Lemon of CNN Gay, Who is His Partner and What Is His Salary? Don Lemon has risen to become one of the most recognizable faces on CNN over the past few years. The fiery journalist, who anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, is liked and somewhat disliked for his strong and candid opinions on a variety of matters that do not just include politics but also race, significantly, matters that ...

Is Rachel Maddow Gay, Who is the Wife and How Much Does She Earn in Salary? Rachel Maddow is an award-winning American journalist, political commentator, and television news anchor. She is best known for hosting the popular nightly TV show The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Prior to this, she hosted a talk radio program on Air America Radio from 2005 to 2010. As of now, the TV sensation co-anchors MSNBCs ...

Demystifying Pokimane  Her Real Name, Ethnicity & Boyfriend Like most social media celebrities in this digital era, Pokimane Thicc is one of those stars who took advantage of the internet to make a name for herself. Given the unlimited potentials which the social media space offers, many people have been instantly propelled to fame just by posting creative online contents. Not only has ...

A Breakdown of Kris Jenners Net Worth, Sources Of Income and Relationships Over The Years Standing outside and looking in, Kris Jenner looks like the oil that greases the wheels of the entire Kardashian/Jenner machine. She has been dubbed a momager and rightfully so because she seems to have had a part to play in the trajectory of each and every one of her daughters individually and the Kardashian brand ...

Pursuits That Brought Liza Koshys Fame To its Zenith and Her Love Life Since David Dobrik Liza Koshy is an American actress who has leveraged YouTube as a platform to promote her comedy while also serving as a television host on occasions. She is talented and funny and has gathered a lot of fans from around the world. Koshy started on Vine in high school and was able to get millions of ...

Alex Aiono Biography  Inside The Life Of The American Singer Not everyone who started from the streets has attained the heights where Alex Aiono is currently. His story could be referred to as the perfect definition of rising from Grass to Grace. He came into the limelight after he started out as a YouTuber, singer, and producer. One fascinating thing about the young YouTuber is ...

Virginia Vallejo Biography And Her Love Story With Pablo Escobar Virginia Vallejo can be referred to as one of the oldest whistleblowers in history after her involvement with Pablo Escobar which made her famous. Over the years, many questions have been raised about her relationship with the drug lord and why she endangered her life to be with him despite his notorious acts. The death ...

Princess Love Bio  Ethnicity, Real Name & Parents For many people, Princess Love is simply Ray Js wife but there is so much more to this feisty lady than meets the eye. She is a star in her own right and has many feathers on her cap. Princess Love is a reality TV star, a model, video vixen, and fashion designer. She and her ...

Who is Papa Franku Also Known As Filthy Frank or Joji, Where is He Now? The social media as we all know today has given people the opportunity to be creative and innovative and at the same time, make something of themselves. YouTube is one of the known social platforms we have today that makes it possible for people to express their God-given talents and post videos they created to ...

Who Is Molly Qerim, How Did She Become a Famous Sports Anchor and Who Is Her Husband? Molly Qerim is an American sports anchor popularly known for moderating First Take, a highly rated sports talk show, on ESPN. Prior to joining ESPN, Qerim hosted Fantasy Live and NFL AM on NFL Network. It is quite obvious that the widely acclaimed television personality is in a class of her own when it comes ...

Safiya Nygaard  Height, Parents & Net Worth Safiya Nygaard is an American YouTuber, writer, content producer, and director who is popular for posting makeup, beauty and fashion videos on YouTube. Her videos regularly top at least one million views, thanks to her lively character as well as her willingness to experiment with outrageous outfits and different beauty products. Here are the things to ...

The Rigors of Sunlen Serfatys Career Journey Until CNN and Fun Facts About Her Personal Life CNN correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty is an Emmy Award-winning journalist known for covering a broad range of breaking news stories, national news, and Washington politics. She has been able to garner widespread recognition for herself which even goes beyond the sphere of her work. Her profile also increased with the extensive work she did in covering ...

Demystifying Jazz Jennings Real Name, Boyfriend & Family Of One The Youngest Transgenders Jazz Jennings is an unusual personality who became famous as a transgender activist and was recorded as the youngest documented public figure to be seen as transgender. She is also a YouTube personality and spokesmodel for brands, her fans, and other transgenders. She fought for acceptance in her high school with her super supportive family for over ...

Inside Fred Armisens Life  Ethnicity, Romantic Relationships and Gay Rumors Fred Armisen is an award-winning American comedian, he is also a writer, an actor as well as a musician. He was a cast member of the legendary comedy show, Saturday Night Live for 13 years and also one of the brains behind the successful satirical show Portlandia. Find out more about this incredibly talented guy ...

Ed and Lorraine Warren Biography: Cases, Kids, and Family Life Have you ever woken up with fear you could not explain, or felt a strange presence that made the hair at your nape rise or even experienced strange occurrences around you? Well, these were some of the promptings that made the well-known paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren delve into trying to explain the ideas ...

Truth About Tony Romos Wife, Kids and Life Since His NFL Retirement Tony Romo grew from the field as a quarterback to the screens as an American Football Analyst. He was a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the richest football league in the world (NFL) before retiring. As a junior, he was honored as an All-Ohio Conference Member, an Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and ...

Who is Brittany Venti, The Controversial Game Streamer and YouTuber? In recent times, many people live stream themselves playing video games. This has become a popular pastime on the internet and many highly skilled gamers have become internet celebrities through this means. However, some of them rather than becoming renowned for their gaming skills and great commentary, have become controversial and infamous. A good example ...

Rob Dyrdeks Family: His Kids And Relationship With Wife Bryiana Noelle Flores A multi-talented star and an elite pro skateboarder, Rob Dyrdeks success story began at a remarkably young age. Yet another proof that schooling doesnt always correlate with success, Rob has established himself not just as a phenomenal sportsman but also as a successful entrepreneur. Besides perfecting his skill as a natural talent on the board, ...

xChocobars  Biography and Everything You Should Know About Her Having distinguished herself and recorded massive successes in an industry notably dominated by men, it is very safe to say that Xchocobars deserves all the attention and cash she makes from her career. A household name on Twitch (a smart live streaming video platform), the online-gamer is popularly known for streaming classic games such as Stardew ...

Everything To Know About Mary Padian, Her Boyfriend and Net Worth Mary Padian is a famous American television reality personality best known for her involvements on the Reality show Storage Wars. She also has her own shop called Mary finds where she displays her antique collections. Since her childhood, Padian has been a creative learner. At the time, she used to create new items out of reusable ones and ...

Betsy Woodruffs Family Life: Is She Married or Related To Bob Woodruff? An old name in the world of journalism, Betsy Woodruff has warmed her way into the hearts of many with her impressive talents. Through hard work, Woodruff has carved a niche for herself in a very competitive field. Betsy has strong family and work values and is also an advocate for equal opportunities for everyone ...

Matpat (Matthew Patrick)  Wife, Height & Net Worth As far as internet business is concerned, Matpat remains one of the most dynamic and seasoned figures. He boasts a wealth of experience that has helped him in growing his business from one level of greatness to another. Like most successful people, MatPat started out small but today, he makes millions of dollars from his ...

Facts About Ricegum  His Girlfriend, Real Name & Net Worth Ricegum is an online gamer and YouTube sensation who ditched college; took advantage of the digital era, and made a name for himself on the internet. Though he began as a gaming YouTuber, Ricegum soon gained recognition as a controversial internet star following his many diss tracks. Here is everything you need to know about the youngster ...

Joy Taylor Once Married MLBs Richard Giannotti  Inside Look At Her Love Life and Family The erosion of the sexist idea that women have no business in sports broadcasting created a host of women celebrities who attained fame outside of modeling and acting. One of them, Joy Taylor, a radio personality and TV host for Fox Sports 1, has been in the industry since 2009, becoming one of the most ...

What To Know About Conan OBriens Wife, Kids & Family Today The name Conan OBrien is one that jumps right at you almost immediately you start talking about the most popular television hosts in the USA and this is no surprise because the man behind that name has risen to become one of the most admired men in the business. Known for hosting the late-night talk ...

David Letterman  Net Worth, Wife & Son In all of American, one man whose face has been seen frequently by late night TV talk show lovers is none but David Letterman. The comedian and TV show veteran has been hosting late night talk shows for more than three decades. His Late Night with David Letterman show began on February 1st, 1982 aired ...

Demystifying Sssniperwolfs Family Background And The Boyfriends Shes Had Since she launched her eponymously named channel in 2013, Sssniperwolf has been on the rise when it comes to video game influencers. She is one of the biggest names in the online gaming subgenre of YouTube videos. Real name Lia Shelesh, she started with Call of Duty: Black Ops II but has diversified with other ...

Lester Holt  Wife, Family & Net Worth Lester Holt is a multiple award-winning journalist, newscaster, reporter, and actor who has worked for notable media houses like WCBS TV, CBS, MSNBC and among others. His remarkable feat in journalism has endeared him to the hearts of many and earned him some awards and recognitions. Read on to get acquainted with his biography, ethnicity, ...

What Is Louis C.K. Doing Now, Where Are His Family And How Much Is His Net Worth? It is not easy to make it in comedy. It takes more than a funny bone and the ability to elicit a few giggles from a listening audience. For all the complexities that go into making a successful career in comedy, Louis C.K, the Washington D.C-born comedian, did it. For years, he was at the ...

The Progression of Hoda Kotbs Career, Her Ancestry and Family Life Hoda Kotb gained fame as a television host and news anchor for NBC. She anchors the shows signature show Today, and it has been an excellent vehicle for her skills in front of a camera. Kotb has won several awards, including Daytime Emmys and Peabody Awards. Simply put, she is one of the most successful ...

Jerry Seinfelds Family: All About The Amazing Comedians Wife and Kids Apparently one of the highly important entertainers in America, Jerry Seinfeld is a man of many talents. A very funny man, he is considered to be one of the most successful comedians in the USA who has been in the business as a professional rib-cracker for more than 40 years. As an actor, he has ...

The Rigors Of Sarah Silvermans Rise To Prominence And Rundown Of The Men She Has Dated A comedian, writer, and actress, Sarah Silvermans art and craft is as unique as you would ever find. Her poignant use of comedy to discuss social issues such as race, sexism, politics, and religion has gained her an impressive following. As unorthodox as her style is, so is her life experiences. She previously suffered from epiglottitis ...

Who Is Hannibal Buress, Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend & Why Was He Arrested? Making people laugh when they are tense or not in the mood is a tough order and to ply the trade, it must indeed take some guts and expertise, this is what the humor maker, Hannibal Buress has been able to achieve and sustain after his inital teething process. The African-American is a screen writer, stand-up ...

The Success of John Mulaneys Career Efforts Since His Work On Saturday Night Live and Facts About His Wife John Mulaney had been working as a professional comedian for years before Saturday Night Live changed his status for life and like many who are now his fans, you probably did not know of him then. However, that changed when he joined the sketch comedy show in 2008. Since then, he has been one of ...

Jeff Dunham  Wife, Children and Net Worth Ventriloquism is a very subtle method of making an inanimate object (like a puppet, doll or dummy) appear to be saying words which are actually coming from the person (holding the inanimate object). In effect, the individual throws his/her voice to the puppet and can even appear to be having a conversation with it. Not ...

Ellen DeGeneres  Net Worth, Wife  Portia de Rossi & Parents Ellen DeGeneres is an American female standup comedian who has proven that whatever a man can do, a woman can also do. Since her journey as a standup comedian started in 1981, she has held swirl as one of the finest comedians America and the world at large has seen. She is often referred to ...

Revisiting Joan Rivers Death  The Daughter, Husband & Net Worth She Left Behind Joan Rivers was a renowned American comedian, TV host, writer, and actress. Her brand of comedy consisted of scathing one-liners and no individual or topic is spared. She hosted her own talk shows in the 80s and 90s and was a pioneer for women in stand up comedy. She was the first woman to host a late night ...

The Struggles of Margaret Chos Childhood, How It Influenced Her Career Growth and Love Life Margaret Cho is best described as a comic star who knows how to maneuver everything related to life into a rib-cracking joke. She is also known to criticize every social and political problem, especially those involving race and sexuality. Apart from her talents as a comic actress, she does amazingly well as a singer and ...

Where Is Eric Bolling Today? Who Is His Son & What Is His Net Worth? Eric Bolling who was once a notable figure on Fox News, is an American TV personality, an author, and versatile Journalist. As a political and financial analyst/commentator, he anchored discussions bothering on finance for Fox Business Channel. Here is everything there is to know about his career, family, and allegations that led to his exit ...

Who Is Chelsea Handler and Does She Have A Husband or Boyfriend? Chelsea Handler is one of Americas top female comedians. She is also an actress, writer, television host, producer, and activist. She is known to be very outspoken even with things that are very personal. In separate interviews with The New York Times, Handler revealed that she had an abortion twice when she was 16. She has authored five books ...

How Did Laura Lee Achieve Fame, How Much is She Worth and Who is Her Husband? Laura Lee is a popular American YouTuber, make-up artist and beauty blogger. From posting videos of her makeup routines on Instagram, Lee has transformed into a beauty influencer and a YouTube sensation. Today, her YouTube Channel has over 630 million views and 4.5 million subscribers. Asides having millions of followers across all social media platforms, ...

Madison Gesiotto Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Measurements Madison Gesiotto is no ordinary woman; although she excelled in quite a number of pageants and competitions while she was in school, it is her views on politics and issues in America that has made her name known to most people. She possesses beauty and intelligence in a seemingly equal measure and has been able ...

Who Is Lil Tay? Parents, Brother, Sister, Age, Net Worth, Ethnicity Child stardom is nothing new in the entertainment world. With the advent of social media, we have seen more stars made from the internet than ever before, and Lil Tay is one of them. Her uploaded rap videos trademark is cursing, swearing, cash-throwing, and use of obscene languages. Her fame went wild after she dropped ...

What To Know About Tig Notaros Wife, Kids and Family Today Tig Notaro is an American stand-up comic star, writer, actress, and radio analyst. Since she started her career in 2001, she has become one of Americas best comedians, particularly when it comes to observational comedy. One prominent aspect of her routine involves her family, which includes a wife and two children. Interestingly, Tig Notaro is part ...

Who Is Chantel Jeffries? What To Know About Her Age, Ethnicity & Net Worth Chantel Jeffries is a lady of many talents. Beyond being celebrated as a DJ, she has fared well as a model, an actress, musician, and as an artist. She first rose to fame on Instagram where she has a large following. However, in recent times, she has hit the spotlight for her rumored relationships with some ...

Is Ellen DeGeneres Married, Who Is The Brother  Vance DeGeneres and Family Members? Ellen DeGeneres is one of a kind celebrity in todays world as she has used her wealth for the greater good for many people. She has served a host of famous awards shows like the Grammy, Primetime Emmy and Academy Awards. Moreso, she is probably one of the most decorated entertainment personalities around the world and ...

Carli Bybel Bio  Height, Boyfriend & Net Worth Video blogging is now on the rise and YouTube is the place where most of it happens. If you are a lady who cares about her looks or a guy who likes to help his woman out with her looks, then one person whose name rings a bell when it comes to giving beauty tips ...

Who Is Lexy Panterra? What To Know About Her Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth Lexy Panterra is one of the YouTube personalities whose breakout came through the Twerk dance videos she posted on her social media handles and YouTube which has so far generated over 13 million views for her. From there on, she created her LexTwerkOut workout program in 2014. She is sure very talented as she as moved ...

Who Is AnneMunition? What Is Her Ethnicity & Does She Have A Girlfriend or Boyfriend? AnneMunition is a professional gamer and content creator of American origin. She is one of the most sought-after streamers on Twitch  a popular online platform for watching and streaming videos, especially video games. AnneMunition has almost half a million followers on Twitch and her channel has accumulated at least 13 million views. Her favorite games ...

Norm MacDonald  Former Wife, Son & Net Worth Recently, 59-year-old former Saturday Night Live stand-up comic Norm MacDonald caused a not-so-funny stir when he expressed his personal opinion about the #MeToo movement speaking in defense of Louis CK and Roseanne Barr. Following the backlash of his actions, he is diligently doing damage control for his questionable opinion by posting a public apology on ...

Inside Iliza Shlesingers Life With Husband and How Much She is Worth Now Witty, spontaneous, and truly humorous, Iliza Shlesinger is an American comedian who is clearly proving that the stereotypical claim that women are not really funny is not only incredibly wrong but completely outrageous. Having been in the game for more than 10 years, Shlesinger has grown bigger with each step, stunning fans with her incredible ...

Who Is Nessa Diab? Details of her Parents, Ethnicity & Relationship With Colin Kaepernick Nessa Diab has gained more fame as the girlfriend of different footballers than in her career. She is currently with the popular National Football League (NFL) player, Colin Kaepernick, and has stood by his side during his most trying times. Also known for her mononym, Nessa, she recently engaged in a tweet battle with the ...

Samantha Bee  Inside the Life of Full Frontal Comedian and Presenter We have over the decades seen various brands of humor and personalities who have walked the ropes. One of the formidable forces in the world of comedy is no other than the iconic Samantha Bee of the Daily Show who now runs her own television show on TBS channel. She is a Canadian-American political commentator, ...

What Happened To Jessica Williamss Boyfriend And Which Are Her Best Works? Jessica Williams is a woman who has a lot of feathers in her cap  and keeps acquiring more. The former senior political correspondent of the comic Daily Show, who is also a comedian and actress whose recent movie appearance include starring as a playwright just recovering from a recent split with her boyfriend, Damon, and ...

Who is Nicole Byer? Here are 5 Facts You Need To Know About The Comedian Nicole Byer, an American comedian, actress, and writer, made a name for herself after she played supporting roles on MTVs prank show Ladylike and the reality show Girl Code. The latter was a series that featured comedians who analyzed in minute details, all the issues that young women deal with daily, from period to dating, to weird friendship dynamics and questions about sex. Currently, ...

A Closer Look At Bart Kwans Ethnicity, Height & Personal Life Bart Kwan is one of few Asians who is known for being successful in the comic industry at an international level. His fame broke out after the YouTube channel which he created with his close pal Joe Jo garnered up massive followings. The talented duo has been running the channel since 2007 and their success ...

Heres How VanossGaming Achieved Fame Online, His Worth and Other Facts About The Gamer For many years, the decision to drop out of college to pursue an online career was considered to be foolish and self-destructive by conventional wisdom. It was no different when Evan Fong, popularly known as VanossGaming, dropped out of college to pursue a YouTube career. However, that radical move paid off, and he stands shoulder to ...

Desi Perkins  Ethnicity, Net Worth & Husband YouTube is littered with videos of makeup tutorials by different people but if you are interested in learning how to do your makeup like a pro, there is just one person on that platform who you must follow. She is none other than Desi Perkins! She is a popular make-up artist, Instagram star, and vlogger. Desi, ...

The Phases of Casey Neistats Pursuits and His Love Story With Candice Pool YouTuber, vlogger, filmmaker, and creator extraordinaire; these are just a few hats that Casey Neistat wears and the story of how he got here is incredible. A native of Connecticut, Neistat started out by making refreshingly-authentic short films and videos that featured content that was based on everyday life and called attention to serious issues. He ...

Connor Franta  Inside The Life of American YouTuber YouTube has produced a lot of young celebrities in modern times and Connor Franta happens to be one of them. Apart from being a YouTuber, the young American is also an entrepreneur, entertainer, and writer. His journey to fame began almost a decade ago when he started a self-named YouTube channel where he uploads content ranging ...

Rhett and Link  Bio, Who are Their Wives, Net Worth and Family Facts Rhett and Link refer to an American comedy duo who are very popular on YouTube. They are known for their comic songs, viral commercials, skits and the daily show, Good Mythical Morning. Good Mythical Morning is the most watched daily show online, averaging 100 million views in a month. The show has featured guests such ...

A Walk Through The Maze of Ryan Higas Career Pursuits And Relationship With Arden Cho Ryan Higa is not only celebrated as a YouTube star, but he is also famed for appearing on television screens as an actor and comedian. Nigahiga, his Youtube channel, has gathered over 20 million subscribers and billions of views with his different comic acts, short films, and music videos uploads. With the rise in his career, ...

What to Know About The Shows That Made Craig Ferguson a Star and His Family Ties Rising to the top of your profession can sometimes be a hard and difficult process. It requires days and nights of working consistently hard to be better than what you were yesterday. It requires not giving up when all of your experiences seem to be pushing you to quit. It is because of these challenges ...

David Dobrik Married Liza Koshy for One Month  Inside His Family and Relationships David Dobrik is a YouTube sensation who has garnered fame not just for his vlogs but his love life too. Given his career as a YouTuber, his channel is one place where he shares his romantic escapades. With a cute boyish look like his, this Slovakian young man is definitely a good catch, and not ...

Merrell Twins Bio  Ethnicity, Parents & Boyfriend One of the beautiful things about modern life is social media. As rudimentary as it might seem, it could turn out to be the greatest thing that would be invented in the next 50 years because of its impact on human life. Very few tools have revolutionized human behavior and culture as much as social ...

Who Is Bunny Meyer, Is She Married & What Is Her Net Worth? Bunny Meyer is a YouTube celebrity who has amassed over 8.8 million subscribers with 1.5 million viewers on her channel. She is popularly known as Grav3yardgirl and is one of the highest-paid YouTubers in the world. She initially started out as a fashion designer and later chose the path of a YouTuber. Grav3yardgirl has used her knowledge on fashion, makeup, ...

Ninja  Inside The Life of The American YouTuber and Internet Personality Ninja is a talented video game player known for his mastery of Fortnite and other seemingly difficult games he plays with ease. The video gamer made a career out of what is ordinarily the hobby of many people and has since then amassed a huge online following. Find out about him here, including the controversies that ...

What Is Eva Gutowskis True Sexuality and How Did She Rise So Fast As an Influencer? Ever since Eva Gutowski joined YouTube in 2011, it has been an interesting journey for her, moving from one milestone to the other. Backed by an army of young women and teenage girl fans known as Evanators, she has risen to become one of the most-talked-about personalities in the digital stratosphere. She has also leveraged ...

Emma Chamberlain Biography  Age, Height & Net Worth Before now, people in the entertainment industry could only achieve popularity after many years of dedication and hard work but since social media came into the scene, massive success and overnight popularity became possible. That is the story of Emma Chamberlain who encountered fame as a fifteen-year-old. Emma is one of the many young people who became ...

Anna Akana  Ethnicity, Boyfriend & Net Worth There is a new crop of YouTubers known by their different contents with a very strong uniqueness that stands every one of them out, some upload video games, some fashion while some others have comedy video contents to showcase on their channels. Anna Akana has used her platform to showcase her comedy contents to the ...

Revealing Truths About Lilly Singhs Ethnic Background, Family and Her Relationship With Yousef Erakat Lilly Singh is an Indian-Canadian YouTube personality, actress, and comedian also known as Superwoman. She kicked off her YouTube career in 2010 with the launch of her channel IISuperwomanII and followed it up with a vlog channel in 2011. This paved the way for her fame and success which led to a world tour. The ...

Who Is Andrea Constand, Is She Married and What Is Her Connection With Bill Cosby? Many people got sexually molested but could not voice out due to the stigma victims suffer and what will become of them thereafter. Very few of the victims danm every consequence to seek justice and bring the perpetrator to the book, like Andrea Constand. She never got any media buzz, not until her friend cum molester; ...

Who Is Lazarbeam (Lannan Eacott)? Here Are Facts You Need To Know Lannan Eacott became a person of interest after his YouTube channel, LazarBeam pulled him to the limelight. Initially, he started with uploads of Madden Challenge videos before deciding to build his own channel in January 2015. Within the space of three years, his YouTube channel had gathered over 7 million loyal subscribers. Today, he has not ...

Puzzling Facts About Wengies YouTube Success and More About Her Fiance Among the many YouTubers who have succeeded in winning the hearts of millions of people is Wengie. She is a Chinese-Australian YouTube personality, vlogger, singer, and voice actress. Wengie is famous for a lot of things, from her simple life hacks, DIYs, craft ideas to fun experiments, tricks and pranks. Her content portfolio also includes hair tutorials, diet & fitness tips, lookbooks, ...

Is Jeffree Star A Billionaire and How Much Does He Make On YouTube? If looks can be deceptive then theres no other person who proves this maxim better than Jeffree Star. A quick look at Stars pictures would likely leave you wondering whether or not to tag him a male or female. But who says being controversial has to be a curse? For Star, his looks have caught ...

The Place of Rosanna Pansinos Career Hats In Her Rise To Fame and Facts About Her Personal Life There are a few phrases that could summarize Rosanna Pansinos rise to fame. None of them can do it better than the famous axiom, no knowledge is lost. Her popularity YouTube comes out of her foray into other professions, specifically acting. Although acting now occupies one of the major professional hats in Rosannas resume, it was ...

Muselk (Elliott Watkins) Biography  Age, Girlfriend and Net Worth The new and best in-thing in terms of career is video gaming and we have over time seen young men and women make massive income from an activity that was purportedly designed to serve as a hobby or a relaxation activity. One of such individuals is the Australian-born YouTube Celebrity and Twitch streamer, Muselk, whose ...

PopularMMOs Biography: 5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know We have over the years seen social media millionaires, especially on the YouTube social platform. These celebrities cum millionaires have made names for themselves after carving out niches on the internet, and a typical example of one of such exciting media personality on the YouTube is American Minecraft gamer and YouTube star, PopularMMOs whose channel ...

Jason Nash Once Married Marney Hochman  What To Know About His Ex-Wife and Kids The now-defunct video-sharing app Vine was the path that led Jason Nash to fame. With it, he built an audience of over two million followers, which he parlayed into a significant YouTube career. That move has seen him become one of the most popular personalities on the internet, with the cash income to go with ...

Where Does Dantdm Live? What Do We Know About His Net Worth, Wife and Brother? Most parents buy video games for their kids to occupy their time leisure, while other parents frown at their kids when they play video games. Despite the disparity, every parent would be proud of their child if he/she eventually turns a celebrity or millionaire through playing video games like Dantdm. Biography of Dantdm Dantdm was born Daniel ...

LaurDIY  Biography: 5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTuber LaurDIY is the YouTube channel of Lauren Riihimaki which she created on December 1, 2011, when she was still a college undergrad with the sole aim of giving Do It Yourself (DIY) as well as practical fashion and beauty tips to her followers. She has used the channel to establish herself as a YouTube personality ...

Lachlan Ross Power  Bio And Family Life Of Australian The YouTube Star It is amazing the varied sources of income that the internet has made possible in this day and age. Internet fame can get its holder a whole lot of monetary and social benefits, but it must be noted that it does not come easy or cheap. For those who desire fame, content is the sacrifice ...

Alfie Deyes  Bio and Net Worth: Everything You Need To Know Alfie Deyes is one internet personality you definitely would like to know about. He boasts of over 10 million subscribers on three of his YouTube channels and has three bestseller books to his name. He is probably the most renowned young personality on YouTube today and his vlogging empire continues to grow by the day. ...

Colleen Ballingers Love Story With Husband Erik Stocklin and How Much She Is Worth Now Colleen Ballinger is an American comedian and YouTuber who is a very funny, adventurous, and highly talented woman. She is also an actress, singer, and writer. Collen is widely known for her work on YouTube where she posts content on her channel, Miranda Sings. The comedian has gained many subscribers over the years and has ...

Who Are The Dude Perfect Members and How Much Are They Worth? Entertainment in the 21st century can be digested in many forms and with platforms like YouTube, the creators and purveyors of entertainment have been democratized. Today, one of the most popular platforms to exhibit ones creative talents is YouTube, even though there are other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, who suffer in comparison to YouTube because ...

Who Is Rudy Mancuso, What Is His Earning Power and What Do We Know About His Girlfriend? Rudy Mancuso started his internet journey on Vine. He would later transition to YouTube where he solidified his place among the internets most beloved comedic creators. He is now regarded as one of the renowned internet personalities in the world, with a presence in mainstream TV and film projects like Comedy Centrals Drunk History and ...

Vsauce (Michael Stevens) Biography and Net Worth: All You Need To Know The advent of YouTube and the internet as a whole revolutionized how human beings consume information. With each passing year, the percentage of learning that is done in a traditional classroom decrease as a seismic shift to internet-based learning happens in our education industry. From open courses online to YouTube classes and videos, there are ...

How did Jake Paul Make His YouTube Big Break and Who is His Wife? One of the most interesting Social Media personalities of the 21st century is the young and popular Jake Paul whose elder brother is the famed Vine star, Logan Paul. Jake has utilized the power of the internet to bring himself to the limelight with a channel named JakePaulProductions that has amassed up to six billion ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About Reaction Time (Tal Fishman)  The American YouTuber Before 2015, the leading meaning of reaction time was the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, until Tal Fishman started his channel, Reaction Time on YouTube and the dominant meaning changed. Today, a google search of Reaction Time would deliver Tal Fishmans videos and YouTube channel link with a few physics ...

Grace Helbig  Net Worth, Boyfriend and Family Life of The YouTuber Grace Helbig is an American internet personality, comedian, actress, and writer. She became popular due to her daily vlog series, DailyGrace, which ran on My Damn Channel from 2008 to 2013. Helbig is also popular for her own indie series on YouTube, ItsGrace, which she launched in 2014. Her vlogs which feature random stuff such as ...

Mark Wiens Bio  Ethnicity, Wife and Parents Food is a great way to connect with people. We all love to eat, if not for the pleasure of food, the satisfaction of quenching hunger, and the very process of providing and sharing that food is part of the strongest bonds that bind humanity together. Maybe it is our historical connection to food, where ...

Is Filthy Frank Dead, What Happened To Him and How Much Is He Worth? As George Kusunoki Miller, he was a nobody. However, as Filthy Frank, George was one of the most famous internet personalities on the planet. The Filthy Frank Show, a sketch series on his YouTube channel, TVFilthyFrank, was one of the platforms most influential creations. He is the reason a crazy dance song, Harlem Shake, made it ...

CaptainSparklez Bio  Net Worth, House and Cars of The Famous YouTuber Sometimes, what society wants from its citizens is quite different from what the citizens want for themselves. This is evident in the life and career of video blogger and American YouTube personality, Jordan Maron famous for his YouTube channel CaptainSparklez. He dropped out of school after discovering his talent in playing an online game called Minecraft. ...

Who is Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg)? Here are Facts You Must Know Canadian Youtube personality, Simply Nailogical (Cristine Rotenberg) originally started out polishing and designing nails even before it became a trendy culture in the social media. Simply Nailogica started out her showbiz career in her early days as a child actress, acting in commercials for game and toy companies. Aside from acting, she is blogger, vlogger, specializing ...

5 Interesting Facts You Need To Know About Huda Beauty In the world of entrepreneurship, it is interesting when an individual has a mentor who he/she looks up to, this yield more productivity on the part of the individual. The iconic and rich American beautician and makeup artist Huda Kattan nicknamed Heida is the founder of the Huda Beauty blog which is number one Instagram beauty blog ...

Is Dino MasterChef Gay? Details About His Ethnicity, Girlfriend, Where He Is Now Food, for the better part of the early years of human life, was nothing more than what we needed for survival. There was no artistry or curation to the method of cooking. The scarcity of food left no room for artistic expression until we figured out agriculture and we could make as much as we ...

Who Is Gabbie Hanna And How Did She Become Famous? As the world shifts to digital media and depends more and more on streaming services for its news and entertainment content, YouTubers have become one of the leading creators in the new media world. Their understanding of the online audience: how to create, maintain, and increase followers, are all handy skills that have primed them ...

Jacksepticeye  Height, Girlfriend & Net Worth Jacksepticeye is a YouTuber and actor who gained popularity with a series of gaming videos he uploads on his channel to the delight of millions of his subscribers. He is Known primarily for his comic video game series titled Lets Play and his vlogs. His channel was formerly ranked 46th in the list of most subscribed ...

Chris Heria Personal Details: About His Wife, Height & Ethnicity Background In this generation, keeping fit has become one of the major criteria for being hale and hearty. In fact, most occupations these days are majorly concerned with ones body mass, weight and looks. Unlike the past where most people have to register in a gym to keep fit, social media has made it quite easy ...

Everything You Need To Know About Game Grumps Gaming is becoming incredibly popular on YouTube these days with game vloggers make millions of dollars out of them yearly. One of the most popular up-coming gaming YouTube channels is Game Grumps. The Lets Play series was created in 2012 and celebrated its fifth anniversary on July 18th, 2017. In six years of its existence, the ...

Daithi De Nogla Biography, Girlfriend and Net Worth YouTube has created an avenue for many to make wealth and become famous from the comfort of their homes while having fun. Many have built a career out of the platform, uploading numerous videos that have earned them the admiration of viewers across the globe. For Daithi De Nogla, he is loved for his humorous commentary on ...

Does Phoebe Robinson Have A Boyfriend or Husband and What Do We Know About Her Family? Phoebe Robinson is a New York-based comedian, writer, and actress. She is best known as the co-creator and co-host of the WNYC Studios podcast 2 Dope Queens. Just like some other female comedians, she never had any original plans of becoming a stand-up comedian even though, according to her, she took a class on a whim at Carolines on Broadway. After ...

Who Are Lex and Alana from Listed Sisters? What Is Their Ethnicity & Is the Show Cancelled? America is a country built on diversity. Everywhere you look all over the country, a countless number of immigrants or children of immigrants have become an integral part of the fabric of the country. From entertainment to business, immigrants are creating a niche for themselves and climbing to the summit of their respective professions. One ...

Riveting Facts About Danielle Lombard And What She Is Best Known For The American entertainment industry is one that provides many avenues for aspiring hopefuls to express their talents and become famous. From films to television shows and game shows, there is no shortage of ways for men and women who desire fame to pursue and earn it in the United States of America. Another tested medium ...

Unearthing New Details About The YouTube Success And Personal Life of Alex Burriss of Wassabi Productions Wildly hilarious and truly audacious, Alex Wassabi is an American YouTuber who has become a very popular face on the video-sharing platform after having garnered millions of subscribers over the years by keeping people glued to his channel with his witty parody video releases. If you have always loved parody videos, there is every chance ...

Everything You Need To Know About H2O Delirious H2O Delirious whose full birth name is reported to be Jonathan Gormon Dennis has successfully kept himself mystified by hiding his face behind the masks leaving his loyal fans speculating who he really is for many years. The American YouTube star is easily identified by the Jason Mask Style with make-up which he wears on his ...

Who Is HolaSoyGerman and What Happened To Him? German Garmendia has certainly seen it all when it comes to internet success. His channels, HolaSoyGerman and JuegaGerman are in the top twenty most subscribed channel on YouTube. The Chilean YouTuber found a way to tap into one of the worlds greatest inventions and make a living from it. He has been able to build ...

Who Are Glenn Becks Family, What Is His Net Worth And What Happened To Him? The American political commentary space is filled with different personalities. A few of them, through their rhetoric, charisma, and resources have been able to build a large following of men and women who listen to them for insight and direction for various political and social issues in the United States. For Conservatives, the story is ...

Following Charissa Thompsons Rise Through The Ranks Of Sports Casting and All About Her Boyfriend Superstar TV host and sportscaster, Charissa Thompson, has been hailed as one of the highest-profile women journalists in America, and the reason is there for all to see. She has worked for popular establishments such as Versus, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, GSN, and Big Ten Network. She currently hosts the popular pre-game show, Fox NFL Kickoff, ...

Is Chris Kattan Gay or Does He Have A Wife? What Is His Net Worth? Chris Kattan is a popular American comedian and actor. He has appeared in several comic movies and TV series such as The Middle, A Night at the Roxbury and Bunnicula. Kattan is, however, most popular for his six-year stint as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. During his time on the legendary show, he ...

Everything You Should Know About the Rise of Insta Star Claire Abbott and Why She Gave It All Up A lot of young Americans have shot into the limelight for uploading different kinds of videos on YouTube. Some of these young stars include Connor Franta, Desi Perkins, Emma Chamberlain, the Dolan Twins (Ethan and Grayson), and Claire Abbott. The latter became a social media celebrity for uploading sexy bikini pictures of herself on social media. Apart from ...

5 Facts You Need To Know About The YouTube Channel  h3h3Productions H3h3Productions is a YouTube channel that specializes on Comic responses or reactions of other contents or trendy stories. The celebrity couple that created the channel has over time racked up sizable views for their commentaries and contents. Even though they had their own fair share of copyright cases, thankfully they scored an unprecedented victory in all ...

Lilypichu Bio  Height, Brother and Love Story With Albert SleightlyMusical Chang Like most popular internet celebrities, Lilypichu is one of those Twitch streamers who spend their lives on camera. From daydreaming about the possibility of becoming a full-time professional streamer, she grew to live out her dreams on the popular live streaming platform where people play games, make crafts, and showcase their day-to-day activities. Given the rise of ...

KSI  What To Know About His Girlfriend, Brother  Deji Olatunji & Net Worth Assuredly, when Internet inventors Vint Cerf and Bob Khan created the technological masterpiece, they probably did not know how massive the creation will be harnessed by many for different purposes including as a platform for earning money through content creation. One of such person who smiles to the bank regularly today for spending time creating ...

The Interesting Progression and Highlights of Carrie Keagans Career as a Host and Actress Carrie Keagan has garnered huge fame through her various stints on television. She is not just your regular TV host but one with a difference. Keagan has hosted several high profile events and TV shows, including VH1s Big Morning Buzz Live and Fox News Channels Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. However, not many know she ...

The Gist On Elise Jordans Marriages And Her Rise To Prominence Political commentaries tend to be boring when it is handled by someone who does not have a knack for it. However, when you see the likes of Elise Jordan run the same commentary, you will have a lot of reasons to look forward to watching her again as the journalist is well-versed in the field ...

What Is Timmy Thick Best Known For and How Successful Is The Star? Thanks to the internet, many people whose talents would have ordinarily gone unnoticed have become famous. A very good example of this modern-day internet celebrity is Timmy Thick, an American social media star. He became popular on Instagram due to his penchant for posting raunchy pictures of himself. He also often posted videos of himself ...

What Does Heather Storm Do For a Living and Who Is She Dating? Reality Television is a great way to make a name for oneself as well as amass a fortune. Heather Storm can attest to this as she is one of those who have made a name and earned a lot from reality TV. She made her name appearing on shows like Car Fanatics, Awesome Autos, and, ...

Matt Carriker Biography  Net Worth, Wife & Height Unlike your regular veterinary doctor next door, Matt Carriker chose to spice up his noble profession with the unusual. Though he is known to many as a medical practitioner, Carriker is better renowned as a YouTube star and an animal lover. Having recorded huge successes on his various YouTube channels, the vet doctors name and ...

Jillian Mele of Fox News Career Achievements, Husband & Measurements There are quite a good number of presenters on radio and television who listeners and viewers may never wish to miss any of their shows because of their sensational golden voice, beauty or the special way or artistry they anchor their shows. Jillian Mele is one of such. She has been at the top of ...

Who is Gillian Turner of Fox News? Her Fiance or Husband and Net Worth Gillian Turner is well-known as a news correspondent for Fox News Channel but before she became a TV personality, she built an intimidating resume working for different institutions, including the American government. She served in different capacities at the White House National Security Council during the administration of former US Presidents  George W. Bush and Barack Obama. ...

Gloria Govan Bio  Age, Ethnicity & Height Even as Gloria Govan is famous as an American actress, author, a TV host, and reality television star, shes more popular as the wife of the former NBA player, Matt Barnes. She became known after appearing on the Florida version of the reality television series, Basketball Wives and later, Basketball Wives: LA  after Matt was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly, ...

Michael Fishmans Interesting Start as an Actor and Why He Divorced His Wife of Many Years When one door closes, another one opens. As silly as that axiom may seem, it is the story of the resurgence of Michael Fishman, who plays D.J Conner on the popular show, Roseanne. Having played the character for several years as a child actor into his teenage years; when the show originally ended, Michael did ...

Who Is October Gonzalez  Tony Gonzalezs Wife? All You Need To Know October Gonzalez is a popular American TV host and media personality. Additionally, she is also a model. Gonzalez has hosted several TV shows such as Beat Shazam, Entertainment Tonight, and Rachel Ray. She has also featured in several reality TV shows. Gonzalezs fame is not just due to her profession but also because of her ...

Who Is Tony Berlin  Harris Faulkners Husband: His Children and Family Facts Tony Berlin is a popular American media guru. He has variously worked as a reporter, anchor, and producer for some of the biggest TV networks in America. They include CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC (where he hosted the popular Good Morning America). Berlin has now diversified into public relations and owns his own PR firm. ...

The Progression of Gianna Tobonis Journalism Career and Details About Her Marriage to Kyle Buckley Gianna Toboni may not be your ideal newscaster but her unusual reporting is what made her a household name. The American journalist is renowned for her hard-hitting and authentic reportage. A motivator and activist for total press freedom, Gianna loves to explore pervasive cultural issues. Not only does this unique and ambitious journalist call for all ...

Dog The Bounty Hunters Family Including Details of His Late Wife and Kids Popularly known as Dog, a name which he got from the television series, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Duane Chapman, an American bounty hunter, and one-time bail bondsman, went from being convicted for a felony to being a reality TV star. He was brought to the limelight following the capture of the convicted criminal, Andrew Luster in 2003 and this eventually made ...

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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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What to Note About Dr Terry Dubrows Qualifications, TV Works and Marriage to Heather Kent In the realm of people that we expect to see regularly on our screens, medical doctors are closer to the bottom of the list. Aside from the fact that their work has little correlation with TV, they are presumably too busy to pursue life as TV personalities. Yet, a few of them have usurped this ...

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Now that the team knows who they are going after on Quantico, it doesnt take long for them to come up with a plan on how to divide and conquer the eight people who theyre convinced are behind the group that President Claire Haas wanted them to defeat.

This episode, titled MHORDER, follows the team as they use Claire and Maxs engagement party to get all of the suspects in one room with the hopes of gaining some type of hardcore evidence. Of course, things arent as easy as they hope, considering theyre dealing with what Clay describes as the most powerful people in the country. But its pretty hard to identify a challenge that the agents have not been able to master.

Quantico Showrunner on Why Romance isnt in the Future for Owen and Alex >>>





Is Shelby a Threat to Max?



Meanwhile, their personal lives continue to seep through even more considering Caleb Haas is on board. Of course, Shelbys history of dating him, only to sleep with his father, despite his marriage to Claire, is an issue in this episode. The family drama continues when Caleb accuses Shelby of being nice to his brother Clays fiance, Max, so Max wont be threatened when it comes to Clay. The crazy part is that this is a storyline to begin with. Theres no way Shelby should hook up with her third Haas boy. But it looks like thats the direction the show is taking this time around.

Once at the party, Shelby spots her target, but the other agents have a little bit more trouble. Ryan is dealing with the fallout of Sashas crazy death in the previous episode. She was getting just as close as the agents were to catching the elite eight when her car exploded. Interestingly enough, Ryans tension with Owen grows even deeper. It probably doesnt help that Alex and Owen are brewing up some type of romance. The awkwardness takes on a new level when Caleb takes the stage at the party to slam the Speaker of the House, Henry Roarke, Claires arch nemesis, who clearly wants to take her down sooner than later.

Shelby misses that moment considering shes too busy putting all of her cards on the table and tells her suspect that she can guarantee his name wont be included when the people behind the terrorist attacks are exposed. Still, she of course wants something in return, and apparently its too much to ask. So she loses out.

Ryan is on to Something Big



Ryan is a little bit more successful when he tells his suspect, Alice, of the teams plan to divide and conquer. But shes not impressed. Still, after his loss, Ryan is ready to do whatever it takes to protect the rest of the agents. Ironically enough, it could be a dangerous move. He knows Alice is behind Sashas death as well as Leons. It helps him out when she confesses it, and he finds that time convenient to reveal that shes on tape confessing to two murders. He tells her to sign an immunity agreement in exchange for all of the names of the people shes working with.

Alex Gets an Unexpected Offer



Alex finally sees her suspect, after doing a little flirting with Owen, but he knows shes been looking for him. Still, the two have quite the creepy dance as he hints at the danger the country is going to face. But he makes it sound like Alex would be a perfect fit with them considering her past victories.

Claire and Henry finally come face-to-face as Claire attempts to hash out their differences so they can prevent a civil war. She offers him the vice presidency, along with her resignation. She makes it clear that shes doing that as a test to see if he really cares about the country. He tells her he doesnt need her resignation for the presidency, but she has everything she needs as one of his own comrades turns against him and gives Claire enough to force him to resign.

Clay and Max have an honest conversation when he tempts her with the idea of eloping; after all, they had to use their engagement party for the grounds of their investigation, which Max considers Clays secret job. She turns down his idea and points out that his job is driving them apart, and running away to get married isnt the way to handle it.

Quiz: Which TV Sidekick Are You? >>>

Is Ryan Getting Played?

But despite their bad night, Ryan brings good news and says his suspect is ready to turn in the guys. Alex believes they are all getting played, but they try to convince her that theyre not all walking right into their trap. She and Ryan get into a screaming match, and he points out how Sasha ended up. Clay comes in and breaks the tie when he sides with Ryan. But he ends up asking Shelby to speak to her alone. He takes that time to emphasize that hes in love with Max.

Just a few minutes later, he admits he was terrified to work with her because of the past she has with his family. He pretty much confesses that hes in love with her. But he wont be following in his fathers or Calebs footsteps when it comes to cheating on Max. He makes Shelby promise that shell never cross the line. Shelby asks if she can quit, but Clay wont let her. What he does want her to do is make him hate her like he did in the beginning. She gets right on it and sleeps with Caleb  or at least makes him think that she did. Caleb goes along with letting Clay think that but thinks thats enough drama for him, so he goes back to school.

Alex vents to Owen about her back-and-forth with Ryan and asks why he wasnt there for her in that moment. He lets Alex know that its not too late and suggests that they turn one of the agents in to go undercover with the terrorists, asking if Alex trusts him. She not only says yes but adds that she doesnt trust anyone else more than him.

Alices Checkmate



Ryan goes to meet Alice but has a run-in with a reporter whos there recording the entire thing instead. As if right on cue, Alice sends him a text message letting him know that he lost the chess game, making it clear that she was not going to show up like she said.

The collaborators move fast and delete all of the intel and information from the agents home base. On top of that, the entire team is exposed and Claire Haas and her presidency are at risk. Ryan and Shelby are the ones named in the news report. As for Alex and Owen? They are nowhere to be found, while Clay tries to come to terms with his mothers possible impeachment.

The end of the episode shows Alex and Owen working on their own plan. Alex meets up with the man who is a part of the terrorist group and offered her a position with them.

Do you think Alex should have gone undercover with the terrorists? Do you think Shelby should just quit? What do you think about Ryans meeting with Alice? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Quantico season 2 airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC. Want more news? Like our Quantico Facebook page.

(Image courtesy of ABC)
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October 31, 2022

Buddy TV

In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options...
University at Buffalos student-run street medicine program wins one prestigious grant and seeks another

Thursdays United Way Next Generation event will be a crowd vote

We say we do house calls to those who dont have a home. 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  The street medicine program launched by students at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, called UB HEALS, has won a $9,000 grant from a prestigious medical honor society and is a finalist for a $5,000 grant from the United Way to be awarded on Thursday.

The program, in which medical students make twice-weekly sweeps of areas that homeless people are known to frequent, won a Medical Student Service Leadership Project Award from the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

The society is a professional medical organization that recognizes and advocates for excellence in scholarship and the highest ideals in the profession of medicine. The award includes three years of funding: $5,000 the first year, followed by $3,000 and then $1,000.

The UB medical students, accompanied by a UB faculty physician, talk to homeless people, inquire about their health and attempt to steer them to housing options and clinics, if necessary. They also provide basic care on the scene and simple gifts, like bus tickets. The mission is to improve the health of the homeless population and provide hands-on education for the students.

The executive director of Alpha Omega Alpha, Richard L. Byyny, MD, FACP, said the UB HEALS application was one of 14 submitted for the award, and one of two that won.

We identified the best student-run programs and leadership curricula, he said. The two winning schools and their Medical Student Service Leadership programs exemplify leadership, caring, and service in the medical profession and medical education  tenets that are integral to the mission of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

UB HEALS is also one of 10 finalists in the United Way Next Generation competition. The winner will receive $5,000, and the second and third place finishers will receive $2,500.

Winners will be chosen by a vote taken at the Pitch 10 event, Thursday, April 27, from 5-8 p.m. at Buffalo Riverworks, 359 Ganson St., Buffalo. Tickets to the event are $20, and that includes two votes in the competition, hors-doeuvres and two drinks.

Moudi Hubeishy, the medical student who started UB HEALS after seeing a similar program in his hometown, Rochester, New York, said the Alpha Omega Alpha grant will help equip and establish the program. He said that any winnings from the United Way competition would go toward buying and equipping a UB HEALS van that could make the program both more efficient and permanent.

We say we do house calls to those who dont have a home, he said.

Hubeishy credited the support he and his classmates received from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, particularly the mentorship of David Milling, MD, senior associate dean for student and academic affairs, and Dr. Christian DiFasio, MD, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine.

The whole program and everything weve been able to start is because of the amazing support we have received from the faculty, said Hubeishy, a second-year student.

And for Thursdays United Way event, are they trying to stack the crowd with supporters?

We hope so, he admitted. The more people we can get out the better.

Milling said UB HEALS has been such a huge benefit to the homeless people served and to the students, he expects it to be around for a long time.

The students learn a lot. They learn that there is such a thin line between one day being housed and a stable member of what we think of as regular business, and the next day being homeless, Milling said. They learn that there is still a lot of inefficiency and a lack of coordination in the medical system to take care of some of our must vulnerable community members.
Campus News

Kristina Johnson named SUNYs 13th chancellor

From left: Nancy Zimpher, Kristina Johnson and H. Carl McCall pose for photos in front of a SUNY backdrop at the announcement of Johnson's appointment. Photo: SUNY

UBNOW STAFF

The SUNY Board of Trustees today named Kristina M. Johnson as the 13th chancellor of SUNY.

Johnson is the founder and chief executive officer of Cube Hydro Partners LLC, which develops hydroelectric generation facilities that provide clean energy to communities and businesses throughout the country. She was appointed by President Barack Obama as U.S. undersecretary of energy, and served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University, as well as dean of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University.

Her appointment takes effect Sept. 5. Chancellor Nancy Zimpher will step down from the position in June 2017 after an eight-year term. SUNY trustees will appoint interim leadership for the period between June and September at their June 21 board meeting.

Throughout her distinguished career, Kristina Johnson has not only been a faculty member, administrator and visionary in higher education, but also a dedicated public servant, national energy czar, successful entrepreneur and an acclaimed inventor, said SUNY Chairman H. Carl McCall. We are thrilled to welcome her to SUNY, where her range of experience will enable her to leverage the incredible work of our 64 colleges and universities.

Zimpher called Johnson a proven leader and innovator whose cross-sector experience and strong belief in the power of education will be a great benefit to the State University of New York. In academia, she has brought stakeholder groups together to create and implement strategic vision crafted at the hands of many.

On the national forefront, she successfully managed and uplifted our countrys most advanced energy research, Zimpher said. And as a former faculty member turned entrepreneur, time and again she has bridged the gap between higher education and business to create programs that prepare students for in-demand careers. The future of SUNY is indeed bright under the leadership of Dr. Johnson.

President Satish Tripathi, a member of the committee that led the search for the new chancellor, noted that as a faculty member and scholar, dean, provost, business owner and undersecretary of energy, Johnson comes to SUNY with an incredible range of professional experiences that will position her well to lead SUNY as our next chancellor. I look forward to working with Dr. Johnson as we pursue SUNYs commitment to excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, research and creative work, and service to the many communities we serve, Tripathi said.



Throughout her career, Johnson has been an advocate for women in leadership, advanced STEM and STEAM education, pioneered the creation of jobs through higher education-industry partnerships, established intensive research opportunities for students and faculty, and positioned leading institutions of higher education for greater success through the development of innovative strategic plans.

She is an inventor and entrepreneur who holds 118 U.S. and international patents. She is a member of the National Academy of Inventors and the National Academy of Engineering, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame with Gary Sharp in 2015 for the development of polarization-control technologies that enabled high-quality 3D movies and TV.

She also is an NSF Presidential Young Investigator (1985) and a Fulbright Faculty Scholar (1991). Other awards include the Dennis Gabor Prize for creativity and innovation in modern optics (1993) and the John Fritz Medal (2008), which is widely considered the highest award in engineering. Previous recipients include Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and Orville Wright.

Johnson received a BS with distinction, MS and PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University. After a NATO post-doctoral fellowship at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, she joined the University of Colorado-Boulder faculty in 1985 as an assistant professor and later was promoted to full professor. From 1994-98, she directed the NSF/ERC for Optoelectronics Computing Systems Center at the University of Colorado and Colorado State University before joining Duke as dean of its engineering school.
A modern Industrial Strategy that showcases the construction industry, based on a clearly-defined, well-articulated mission to give it purpose, drive and direction, is the message to Ministers from the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF).

The BMF was responding to a consultation that closed the day before the General Election announcement. The Federation welcomed the governments enthusiasm for a proper Industry Strategy and wants it to be a long-term partnership between government and business.

But the government should be clearer in what it means by industrial strategy because often the word industry is used to loosely describe not just manufacturing. Politicians would do well to remember that industries like construction and housebuilding cannot function properly without the active support of the building materials supply chain that the BMF represents.

John Newcomb, managing director of the BMF, said: The Prime Ministers decision to establish a new department with the words Industrial Strategy in its name gives a clear signal as to her intentions. It confirms the approach is to carry on with the work done begun under the coalition government, and continued by the Conservatives, of a blend of horizontal policies, regional devolution and sector deals.

This is not without a degree of risk because it perpetuates the advantage that certain companies and industries have in access to Ministers. We believe it is better to pursue far-reaching action to support clearly-defined missions that affect many businesses, large and small, like merchants.

Mr Newcomb said the BMF wants parity of esteem between academic education and vocational training and skills. He said: Without proper, structured careers advice and guidance, the concern is that young people are channelled into higher education that may prove to be the wrong choice for them.

Contradictory funding announcements by ministers only serve to perpetuate this imbalance. The BMF has spotted that the new Institutes of Technology are due to receive 170m, which is less that the 240m earmarked for the expansion of grammar schools.

John Newcomb added that official figures show the West Midlands has a shortage of skilled workers. The proportion of highly-skilled people in the region is about 15% below the England average - and one in every eight people in the West Midlands have no qualifications, he concluded.
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The succession battle for the estate of late business tycoon Abhey Oswal has begun simmering again, with his eldest son Pankaj Oswal serving fresh legal notices to his mother Aruna Oswal and her associates.
Ben's father came from the village of Saguane on Kiwai Island near Daru in the Western District while his mother came from the Motuan village of Pari, 5km to the east of Port Moresby. Steven Benjamin Moide was born on 21 June 1924, the third of nine children. Ben's mixed cultural background was a marked feature of his Army and civilian life.

IT IS WITH GREAT SADNESS that I advise of the death of Sergeant Ben Moide CBE, a famous warrior of World War II. Ben, aged 88, was living with family at Waigani in Port Moresby.

Ben left the Catholic School at Badili to sign up for the Papuan Infantry Battalion at age 16 without telling his parents but telling the Australian Enlistment Officer that he was 19. Ben's Recruit Training Sergeant was the equally famous (former Police) Sergeant Katue MM from Kikori.

Lahui Ako's biography of Ben (Nameless Warriors) published in 2012 by the University of Papua New Guinea (www.pngbuai.com/buybooks) demonstrates that he learnt quickly and was promoted by his Australian taubadas into leadership roles.

Post-war society was difficult for Ben and other soldiers unless they re-enlisted in the Pacific Islands Regiment (from 1951). Ben persevered through the development problems of Port Moresby and found employment with the Australian Administrator, the UPNG Vice Chancellor and finally South Pacific Brewery. After the war also, Ben was very active as a leader in the RSL and in the developing PNG rugby league organisation.

Ben was honoured with an MBE then a CBE and he was chosen to represent all ex-servicemen at PNG Remembrance Day Services (23 July) in recent decades. In that capacity, Ben was an advocate and an icon for the PIB and NGIB in Papua New Guinea.

Ben was a frequent and welcome guest at Anzac Day and Kokoda Day services in Queensland where his presence reminded everyone of the critical role played by the PIB and NGIB in all the PNG campaigns (except Milne Bay) during World War II. Ben maintained a close relationship with Captain Alan Hooper (PIB, ANGAU) as they reminisced in Motu about their war experiences.

It is too soon to assess Ben's broad legacy but his cross-cultural work and his published perspective as a Papuan warrior would both rate highly among historians. Our Associationhas lost one of its heroes.

May he rest well satisfied with his contribution to his country.
Even as the Trump administration accuses Infosys and TCS of unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas, the two Indian information technology (IT) majors have been reducing their dependency on the visa system from before Trump took office.
In the light of suspension of Ayurveda's amla juice after it failed to clear a laboratory test, yoga guru Baba Ramdev has defended his product calling it medicinal and absolutely safe for human consumption.
(RIL) reported record annual profits for the last financial year (2016-17), riding high on refining and petrochemicals businesses. For the March quarter, its consolidated net profit rose 12.3 per cent to Rs 8,046 crore, against Rs 7,167 crore for the same period a year ago.
The income tax department has slapped a Rs 24,647 crore demand notice on Sahara's project for the assessment year 2012-13 after the department added Rs 48,000 crore to Aamby Valley's income, according to a report in Times of India.
As the government rolls out the regional connectivity scheme, SpiceJets Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh spoke to Anjuli Bhargava on how they chose the routes they have won, why small players in the sector find it hard to survive, and why he thinks the entry of players like Qatar will add to the challenges the industry is facing. Excerpts:

How did you decide on the routes to bid for?

The UDAN scheme, in my view, will help connect a lot of airports that have never been served. A lot of growth is in these Tier-II and Tier-III markets. We call them small towns but in most other countries these would be pretty large aviation markets.

We did a study of some of the cities and chose the ones we felt have commercial potential. We looked at the Delhi-Kanpur train traffic. We tried to do assess how many people fly from Kanpur to Lucknow and then to Delhi. We looked at the town demographics and population. Its one of the largest industrial towns in UP and has a large population with a high disposable income. Lucknow has dozens of flights every day and Kanpur has none. It doesnt make sense.

Jalandhar (Delhi-Jalandhar) is a rich town with a fairly large population. Why wouldnt they fly if there was an option? Kandla port has a lot of commercial activity but no flights. We have identified new routes that we will look at in the next round of bids.

We felt we could make money on these routes even without a viability gap funding. So we bid for these asking for no subsidy and naturally won the bids. We are only taking the other benefits of the scheme. The fact that one gets to fly exclusively helps matters.

We had 17 Bombardiers (Q400, 78-seaters) flying at present and we have taken three more on lease. Of those, two are just for UDAN routes.

Why do you think the other larger players like IndiGo, Go and Jet have stayed away?

IndiGo and Go probably dont want to add another aircraft to their fleet. Jet seems more focused on international now.

I inherited the Q400s but if I had been running the airline all through, I may not have bought and added the Q400 fleet. But now that I have inherited it, I have to see how best to make money from it. Had I not had the Q400s, I may not have bid, either.

Why too much effort for small change?

Yes, I suppose that sums it up.

What are the chances of some of the smaller players succeeding in this, given the past record of small players in Indias aviation sector so far?

There is a fundamental issue here; if you dont have economies of scale, it is very tough to do this business. Your costs are different in running a five-aircraft operation, vis-a-vis a 50-aircraft operation. Lease rentals will be higher, the cost of maintenance  everything adds up. If you send an engine for a C check, what rates can you get for a single plane?

The smaller the plane, the more expensive it is on a per-seat basis. The cost of the pilot, crew  everything remains the same. If you divide that over a lower number of seats, it becomes that much more expensive.

Even if there is no competition  as is the case with UDAN  the cost base has to be right.

I was looking at the numbers of some of players that have gone belly up. Their costs are too high. Their per-hour costs are unviable.

Whats your view on FDI in airlines and Qatar Airways coming in?

Qatar would be bad for the industry. Theres no country in the world that allows 100% foreign direct investment. We  the Federation of Indian Airlines  have taken this up.

The perception here is that there will be a large amount of investment coming in, but in the aviation sector when you allow foreign airlines, it isnt as if that much investment comes in per se. Planes are leased and they come and operate here. Whatever money comes in is spent on funding losses (this can be seen from the new airlines that have come in like Vistara and Air Asia India). This just depresses fares and yields further. And the industry suffers.

In some cases, these foreign airlines can use their state money, and come and depress our fares, affecting our market adversely. Why should we allow that? Most countries dont even easily allow you to set up a marketing office, let alone an airline. Nobody allows effective control and ownership to be with a foreign airline like we have.

We need to look after our own airline sector. These airlines are seeking to take India traffic to their hubs and carry it onwards and distribute it further. This means Indian airports will never become hubs. Why are we letting this happen? Why are we perpetuating this?
The clash between the government and multinational device manufacturers has intensified after some top decided to withdraw high-end stents from India market. With the Department of Pharmaceuticals citing its power to stop from pulling out stents, the has come out in the open with arguments to back its withdrawal move.
In another chilling reminder of the costs of festering Naxal insurgency, the guerrillas on Monday killed 25 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in one of the deadliest attacks in the recent past in Chhattisgarhs restive Sukma district. ( Read more)



Though the senior officials neither confirmed nor denied, a top intelligence official told Business Standard that a group of jawans were reportedly having lunch when the incident took place. Following the attack, the paramilitary force issued a statement that about 300 to 400 Naxals "ambushed" its patrol party. The statement added that a "considerable number of Maoists" were believed to have been eliminated in retaliatory actions.
Controversies and legal notices continue to dog best-selling author . This time, Bhagat's One Indian Girl, seems to be in legal trouble just six months after its release.

Anvita Bajpai, a Bengaluru-based author sued the writer, claiming that the characters, places and emotional flow of his book had been lifted from one of her stories 'Drawing Parallels' from the book 'Life, Odds & Ends'.

"I handed a copy of my book to at the Bangalore Literature Festival in 2014 for feedback, she alleged.

Bajpai handed Bhagat a legal notice on February 22 this year, asking him to withdraw the book from stores and cough up Rs 5 lakh as damages. Bhagat responded a month later denying all allegations, which prompted Bajpai to approach a civil court in Bengaluru.

Bhagat has been served a temporary injunction staying the sale of the book on charges of plagiarism.

The court granted temporary injunction till the next hearing, restraining Bhagat and Rupa Publications from selling the novel. The order was passed on April 19.

The banker-turned author categorically denied the allegations. In a Facebook post, he said, "This is deeply unfortunate. This is for one an absolute surprise for me as I have never read any of this author's works. My stories are always original - including One Indian Girl - and it is unthinkable for me to do anything like what is suggested. Surely, alleging anything like this in the current digital age is strange."

Interestingly, this comes at around the same time as the announcement that Bhagats debut work, Five Point Someone, will now be included in the Delhi University English Literature syllabus.

and plagiarism

The banker-turned-writer who shot to fame with his debut novel, 'Five Point Someone', is not new to charges of plagiarism. Astonishing other incidents are quite similar to this one.

In 2014, a Dr Birbal Jha, director of British Lingua, a spoken English institute in Patna, alleged that Bhagat had lifted the plot of his latest novel, Half Girlfriend, from his bilingual play, Englishia Boli.

Bhagat had visited my institute in Patna in January this year. "I had presented him a set of books which I have written for students seeking to improve their knowledge of spoken English," he said.

Birbal said that his gift of books to Bhagat included his play called Englishia Boli. "This is an educational social drama which was written in the drama form basically to educate the poor students of Bihar who had problems in speaking English with ease," he said.
Australian aid is conditional on certain governance or development outcomes, but Chinese diplomats present their aid as coming without any political strings attached, and this may fuel corruption and violence.

Author Joanne Wallis argues the influx of aid and investment from non-traditional external powers such as China runs the risk of destabilising recipient states.

That's the view of a new report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute released on Monday.

THE flow of no-strings-attached foreign aid from countries such as China to Pacific island nations could destabilise Australia's neighbourhood.

The report also questioned the sustainability of China's soft loans to some Pacific nations, pointing out that in 2009 Tonga's debt to China was $132.9 million, which was equivalent to one-third of its national income.

Australia can't afford to be complacent about the shifting geopolitical environment in the South Pacific, the report says.

Our attention to the region has peaked at moments when the region was perceived to pose an imminent potential threat, Wallis said.

Beyond those moments, our foreign and strategic policy in the region has been characterised by unclear, inconsistent and competing interests and intentions, which has reduced its effectiveness and undermined Australia's influence.

Wallis said Australia has a strategic interest in being the region's principal security partner in order to ensure that no power hostile to Western interests establishes a strategic foothold, from which it could launch attacks, or threaten allied access or our maritime approaches.

The report said instability in the Pacific raised two key challenges for Australia - rescue obligations and how to respond to other countries' interventions.

The Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) moved to restore law and order in 2003, when the country was at the mercy of warlords and the government had no control outside the Honiara capital.

It has cost an estimated $2.6 billion and has had questionable long term results.

The report said China deployed 4000 troops to Sudan to protect its investment in an oil pipeline with the Malaysian firm Petronas.

It's unclear whether, in the event of a serious threat to the Ramu (nickel) mine, China may similarly intervene in Papua New Guinea," the report said.

While China isn't overtly hostile to Australia, we would be likely to feel threatened by any such military deployment in our nearest neighbour.
may soon "officially" lose the tag of a major port, granted to it seven years ago, as the central government is of the view that executing a big-size port at that location is not feasible due to lack of container traffic.
Soon, cows will also have their own Aadhaar number. On Monday, Narendra Modi-led NDA government informed the Supreme Court of India a unique identification number for animals has been suggested by an expert panel to track cattle.
Twenty six Central Reserve Paramilitary Force jawans were killed in an ambush by Maoists in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district on April 24, 2017. Representational image.

With 72 security personnel killed in Maoist-related violence in 2017, it is already the deadliest year in the past seven years for security forces, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of data from South Asian Terrorism Portal (SATP).
Sweden is keen to collaborate with Maharashtra on waste management, smart cities, and .

"I exchanged views with both the governments at the centre and in the state on global climate change efforts, ongoing international negotiations and the potential for bilateral cooperation," visiting Swedish deputy minister on climate Eva Svedling said in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The minister met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the state environment minister Ramdas Kadam and discussed collaboration on climate change and sustainability solutions.

"Sweden and our business are ready to work with India on the important transformation taking place, when it comes to smart and healthy cities, and more," she told reporters here after addressing the students of the Welingkar Institute of Communication.

Swedish companies have advanced solutions for smart energy, urban transportation, waste management and air quality, she stressed. There are over a 100 Swedish companies operating in the state which could support the clean agenda. These companies employ over 1.8 lakh directly, and 1.3 million people indirectly, she said.

Her visit is a follow-up to the joint statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven during his state visit to India last year.

"I have learnt and seen first-hand the potential and opportunities as well as the challenges faced by India, Maharashtra and Mumbai, in relation to climate change and sustainability. Climate change is a top priority for our government," Svedling said.

She also visited the dumping grounds at Govandi earlier in the day and took a ride on the Volvo hybrid city bus which is operating in Navi-Mumbai, which saves fuel up to 40 per cent in real operating conditions.

Sweden has long-term goals of reducing emissions by 70 per cent by 2030 from the 2010 levels, as well as becoming the first fossil fuel-free country by 2040, with net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2045.
The government seeks custody of liquor baron from the UK, but Indias success rate at extradition has been no more than 36% over 15 years, according to this report by Factly.in, a data journalism portal. This means India managed one extradition of every three sought.
Bangladesh was the largest foreign user of India's health services exports in 2015-16. Of the 460,000 inbound patients to Indian hospitals, more than 165,000 were from the neighbouring nation.
Haribhai Bhensdadiya, a 54-year-old farmer in Moti Danudhar village in Jamnagar district of Gujarat, sold cumin seed a few days ago for Rs 50,000. If Bhensdadiya had his way, he would have sold the lot for cash. But the trader who bought his produce wanted at least a part of the payment be made by cheque.
The US has said that it greatly values investments by Indian companies and wants to see bilateral business ties remain strong, days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue of tightening of the H-1B visa regime with his American counterpart Steven Mnuchin.

"We want to see US-India business-to-business ties remain strong," State Department Acting Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily conference.

He was responding to questions on the ongoing review of H-1B visas by the Trump Administration and its impact on the Indian IT companies, who are heavily dependent on it.

"We greatly value Indian companies' continued investment in the US economy, which also, of course, supports thousands of US jobs," Toner said.

"With respect to any new requirements on visas, I'd have to check and see if that's been updated," he said, adding that under the current government, the US has been looking at ways to strengthen the processes like visa interview and admission processes.

Toner said that this had been the case from the beginning of the Trump administration and certainly with respect to immigration and with refugee flows.

"Those processes are ongoing," he said.

On being asked about the visa review process, Toner said, "It's important to remember that this is always a part of how our consular bureau works and our consular officers work overseas, and our embassies and missions work overseas, and that is we're always reviewing the processes that are in place to issue these visas and finding ways to strengthen them, because we want to ensure the security of the American people."



During his US visit, Jaitley on Saturday had raised the H-1B visa issue with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals were making to the US economy. He had also raised the issue with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross earlier.

President Donald Trump had signed an executive order earlier this month for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its 'abuse', a decision that would impact India's USD 150 billion IT industry.

The Indian IT industry had expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations.

The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry.

Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals.

India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive.

The US had earlier this month also accused top Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system.
Working with the Australian government and the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority (TPA) we consulted with key partners from both nations to develop an interpretive display that primarily presented the wartime experiences and cultural heritage of the Papuan and New Guinean people.

FROM November 2015 until May 2016 The Interpretive Design Company was contracted to provide a range of services for the Australian Government Kokoda Initiative Taskforce.

Australian-funded projects have removed mateship from the lexicon used in Papua New Guinea to describe the heroism of Diggers fighting the Japanese on the Kokoda Track, in what a prominent critic [Charlie Lynn] describes as politically correct revisionism to demilitarise the battlegrounds history in the lead up to its 75th anniversary  Ean Higgins, The Australian, 20 March 2017

The project involved workshops for stakeholder engagement, capacity building, story writing and design. The stakeholders included the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority the PNG National Museum and Art Gallery, the PNG Department of the Environment, Koari villagers (the traditional owners of the land at Owers Corner), local government representatives from Central and Northern (Oro) Province, The Department of Veteran Affairs and the Australian War Memorial. The Department of Foreign Affairs was not involved.

The interpretive themes and key messages were distilled from these workshops and the language of the content on the installation at Owers Corner comes directly from Papua New Guinean people. It is the language they wanted.

The fact that they chose not to use Australian vernacular to tell their stories is not intended to insult Australian veterans. They just wanted to tell their stories. Some of the content is drawn from Voices of the War, which is based on over 70 oral history interviews, including interviews with Papua New Guinean Kokoda veterans and descendants.

The collection of these oral histories was funded by the Australian and Papua New Guinea Governments.

We recognise the importance of keeping alive the stories that give the Track its historical value and significance. The stories about the involvement of Papua New Guineans have been misplaced over time and this project is the first of its kind to recover and preserve what can be captured before all is lost to history and to memory.

With specific reference to Mr Lynns comments, the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Australian War Memorial were stakeholders in the project and therefore privy to the content that appears on the installation at Owers Corner.

No Australian veterans were consulted in the process as the main focus of the project was to portray the Papuan and New Guinean experiences during WWII. These experiences have largely been eliminated from the written history which narrowly focuses on the Australian military heritage.

Mr Lynn and [The Australians] editorial staff appear blissfully ignorant of the fact that four nations fought and died in Papua and New Guinea during WWII  Papua, New Guinea, Australia and Japan.

In attempting to provide information about the Papuan and New Guinean experiences there was no deliberate attempt to play down the Australian experiences that have been so well documented and memorialised.

In fact the original text contained the word mateship but it was replaced with friendship by our Papua New Guinean stakeholders. Also, they did not want reference to Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, preferring a modern treatment and connotation of the phrase. The direct quote from the panel is: Friend I'll walk with you.

In his poem, 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels', Sapper Herbert Baros praised the care and dedication of the carriers along the track.

"My father says the hard work of Papuan carriers was recognised by Australian soldiers, and he gave the name, the fuzzy wuzzy angels. The Papuan carriers thank him for recognising their work" (Sarah Sau Hiari, Papaki village).

Today the local people have taken ownership of the term fuzzy wuzzy angel.' In the traditional language, Motu, Fasi means friend and wasi means leg.

"Friend, Ill take you and Ill walk you is what my father used to tell me. I remember that." (Inoa Bobogi Ovia, Nainumu 2 village).

Mr Lynns assertion that the phrase Friend Ill walk with you is linked or was purposely used to mimic the fake media campaign -Ill ride with you  is grossly inaccurate. I should know; I wrote the text.

Regarding mateship, the use of the word mate pre-dates Australian colonisation and probably dates from the 14th century. It comes from the word for "meat", and the original meaning - comrade - has the sense of people who eat together.

Therefore mate and mateship, while in general use in Australia for over 200 years , is not distinctly Australian nor derived from any military heritage.

Having said this I recognise the significance the use of mateship in Australian memorials but not in Papuan and New Guinean memorials.

This is the fundamental problem with Mr Lynns comments and those in [The Australians] editorial.

Neither you nor Mr Lynn attempted to research the facts and the fundamental goal of the project.

It is very lazy journalism and as far as Mr Lynn is concerned my advice is he should look over his shoulder at the future.

Further, those of us who live in privilege have no right to tell the stories of those who live in poverty. We should not determine which stories are told nor the language used.

Finally, with reference to gender equity, it is appalling that women and children are invisible in the post WWII stories of Papua and New Guinea.

When the men were pressed into service by the Australian and Japanese forces, women and children had to leave their villages and seek refuge in mountain caves. Many did not survive.

Why is their story so meaningless and the Australian story so revered? Why is the male story so important and the female experience to be ignored?

Papuan and New Guinean people, male and female, suffered in their thousands and they deserve to have their stories told. The PNG stakeholders knew this but it is apparent that Mr Lynn and journalists at The Australian are ignorant of the facts and dismissive of women and their experiences during World War II.

More information and images are available at http://interpretivedesign.com.au/portfolio/historical-heritage/kokoda-track-warhistory-signage/
Bangladesh was the largest foreign user of Indias health services exports in 2015-16. Of the 460,000 inbound patients to Indian hospitals, more than 165,000 were from the neighbouring nation.
The board will meet on Wednesday to discuss stricter norms to check any flow of black money into the stock market through controversy-ridden P-Notes as well as initiate steps to allow mutual fund investments via e-wallets.

The markets regulator will also consider new norms for allowing options trading in commodity derivatives market, sources said.

Besides, rules are likely to be relaxed for registration of foreign investors and for common license to brokers to deal in equities and commodities.

The board will be meeting in Mumbai tomorrow, its first meeting under the chairmanship of Ajay Tyagi who took charge of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on March 1.

Among a slew of reform measures, the board will also consider making it easier for banks and financial institutions to get shares of the companies they have exposure to by way of conversion of loan into equity -- a move seen as a major boost to the steps for handling the bad loan menace.

The Sebi board will also take stock of long-pending investigations and cases, involving some big corporates, and will consider putting in place an internal guidance note for dealing with quasi-judicial matters.

Besides, it would also discuss the implementation of graded surveillance measures by the stock exchanges to check any manipulation of share price.

The regulator is also looking to allow investors to buy mutual funds worth up to Rs 50,000 through digital wallets to make it easier for investors to purchase these instruments, especially the youth.

In the run up to his first meeting as Chairman, Tyagi has been meeting various groups of stakeholders in the capital markets and some of these interactions are scheduled even tomorrow, through which he is looking to get a first-hand understanding of the issues faced in the marketplace and the expectations from the regulator.

In one of the major areas of importance, Sebi will consider new guidelines for dealing with offshore derivative instruments, commonly known as participatory notes (P-Notes), which have been long seen as being possibly misused for routing of black money from abroad.

While Sebi has tightened its norms repeatedly over the recent years to check any loophole, the government now wants the regulator to explicitly impose restrictions on resident Indians and NRIs from being 'beneficiary owners' of these instruments.

While Sebi has already put in place a mechanism for such restrictions, there was a view that the existing restriction are only in form of 'FAQs' of the norms and therefore the Finance Ministry has asked the regulator to impose this restriction through an amendment to the FPI (Foreign Portfolio Investment) Regulations in order to give greater legal sanctity.

Following Sebi's measures to check any misuse of P-Notes, the notional value of these instruments has declined over the years from 55.7 per cent of overall FPI investments in June 2007 to just 6.7 per cent in December 2016.

In recent months, the P-Note investments have fallen further, though there was a surprise uptick in the month of March -- presumably due to it being the last month for availing of certain tax benefits for investments coming through some major offshore investment gateways.

There are also fears that P-Note investments may start coming from other jurisdictions like the US, France and the Netherlands after tightening of rules for inflows from countries like Mauritius, Singapore and Cyprus.
Cautioning against protectionism, Urjit Patel on Monday said where would giant American corporations like Apple, Cisco and IBM be if they had not sourced the best products and talent from across the world.
In May 2016, the Prime Ministers Office advised the NITI Aayog, its premier, independent think tank, to prepare a Fifteen Year Vision, Seven Year Strategy and Three Year Action Agenda. The Fifteen Year Vision and Seven Year Strategy document spanning 2017-18 to 2031-32 is in progress. The Action Agenda covers the period from 2017-18 to 2019-20, the last years of the Fourteenth Finance Commission.





How does the Vision, Strategy and Action Agenda exercise differ from the Five Year Plan process?





The 12th Five Year Plan was the last of the Five Year Plans. With an increasingly open and liberalized economy and given the new realities of the global economy, we needed to rethink the tools and approaches to conceptualizing the development process. The Vision, Strategy and Action Agenda framework will allow us to better align the development strategy with the changed reality of India.









An Overview of the Three Year Action Agenda





In preparing the Agenda, the NITI Aayog sought and received inputs from State Governments, Union Territories and Ministries of the Central Government. Extensive consultations were held with groups of scientists, economists, journalists, voluntary organizations, industry associations and experts in education, health, culture, transport and other fields. Numerous experts and institutions provided useful written inputs.





The Draft Agenda was circulated to NITI Aayogs Governing Council Members on April 23, 2016. It contains ambitious yet achievable proposals to achieve far-reaching changes in Indias economy. Where relevant, we have included possible actions by the states to complement the Centres efforts. The document has 7 parts with 24 chapters. The table of contents is attached.









Selected Key Action Agenda Items





Three Year Revenue and Expenditure Framework:

? A tentative medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) for the Centre is proposed. Based on forecasts of revenue, it proposes sector-wise expenditure allocation for three years.

? Proposes reduction of the fiscal deficit to 3% of the GDP by 2018-19, and the revenue deficit to 0.9% of the GDP by 2019-20.

? The roadmap consisting of shifting additional revenues towards high priority sectors: health, education, agriculture, rural development, defence, railways, roads and other categories of capital expenditure.









Agriculture: Doubling Farmers Incomes by 2022

? Reform the Agricultural Produce Marketing to ensure that farmers receive remunerative prices.

? Raise productivity through enhanced irrigation, faster seed replacement and precision agriculture.





? Shift to high value commodities: horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries.





? A separate detailed roadmap issued by Member, Professor Ramesh Chand









Industry and Services: Job Creation

? Overarching Action Points

? Create Coastal Employment Zones to boost exports and generate high-productivity jobs.

? Enhance labour-market flexibility through reforming key laws

? Address the high and rising share of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) in Indias banks through supporting the auction of larger assets to private asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), and strengthening the State Bank of India-led ARC.

? Action points for specific sectors

? Apparel

? Leather and footwear

? Electronics

? Food processing

? Gems and jewelry

? Tourism

? Finance

? Real estate.













Urban Development

? Need to bring down land prices to make housing affordable through increased supply of urban land

1. More flexible conversion rules from one use to another

2. Release of land held by sick units

3. Release of other urban land potentially available

4. More generous Floor Space Index.

? Reform the Rent Control Act along the lines of Model Tenancy Act;

? Initiate titles of urban property

? Promote dormitory housing

? Address issues related to city transportation infrastructure and waste management.









Regional strategies

? Actions targeted aimed at improving development outcomes in the (i) North Eastern Region, (ii) Coastal Areas & Islands, (iii) North Himalayan states and (iv) Desert and Drought prone states.









Transport and Digital Connectivity

? Strengthen infrastructure in roadways, railways, shipping & ports, inland waterways and civil aviation.

? Ensure last-mile digital connectivity, particularly for e-governance and financial inclusion, through developing infrastructure, simplifying the payments structure and improving literacy.

? Facilitate Public-Private Partnerships.by reorienting the role of the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. (IIFCL), introducing low cost debt instruments and operationalizing the National Investment Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).









Energy

? Adopt consumer friendly measures such as provision of electricity to all households by 2022, LPG connection to all BPL households, elimination of black carbon by 2022, and extension of the city gas distribution programme to 100 smart cities.

? Reduce the cross-subsidy in the power sector to ensure competitive supply of electricity to industry.

? Reform the coal sector by setting up a regulator, encouraging commercial mining and improving labour productivity.









Science & Technology

? Create comprehensive database of all government schemes and evaluate them for desirable changes

? Develop guidelines for PPPs in S&T to improve education and industry-academia linkages for demand-driven research

? Channel S&T to address development challenges such as access to education, improving agricultural productivity and wastewater management.

? Create a National Science, Technology & Innovation Foundation" to identify and deliberate national issues, recommend priority interventions in S&T and prepare frameworks for their implementation

? Streamline the administration of the patent regime









Governance

? Re-calibrate the role of the government by shrinking its involvement in activities that do not serve a public purpose and expanding its role in areas that necessarily require public provision

? Implement the roadmap on closing select loss-making PSEs and strategic disinvestment of 20 identified CPSEs.

? Expand the governments role in public health and quality education.





? Strengthen the civil services through better human resource management, e-governance, addressing anomalies in tenures of secretaries and increasing specialization and lateral entry.





Taxation and Regulation

? Tackle tax evasion, expand the tax base and simplify the tax system through reforms. For example, consolidate existing custom duty rates to a unified rate.

? Create an institutional mechanism for promoting competition through comprehensive review and reform of government regulations across all sectors.

? Strengthen public procurement









The Rule of Law

? Undertake significant judicial system reforms including increased ICT use, structured performance evaluation and reduced judicial workload.

? Legislative, administrative and operational reforms of police are suggested to the states.













Education and Skill Development

? Shift the emphasis on the quality of school education paying particular attention to foundational learning

? Move away from input-based to outcome-based assessments

? Rank outcomes across jurisdictions





? Use ICT judiciously to align teaching to the students level and pace





? Revisit the policy of automatic promotion up to eighth grade

? Create a tiered regulation of universities and college to provide greater autonomy to top universities under the current system.

? Focus on creating and funding public universities under the World Class Universities program.













Health

? Focus on public health through significantly increasing government expenditure on it, establishing a focal point and creating a dedicated cadre.

? Generate and disseminate periodic, district-level data as per uniform protocols.

? Formulate a model policy on human resources for health, implement a bridge course for nurses/AYUSH practitioners in primary care.

? Reform IMC Act and the acts governing homeopathy and Indian systems of medicine

? Launch the National Nutrition Mission; develop a comprehensive Nutrition Information System.













Building an Inclusive Society

? Enhance the welfare of women, children, youth, minorities, SC, ST, OBCs, differently abled persons and senior citizens.

? Develop a composite gender-based index to reflect the status of women in the country.

? Introduce skill-based education and extra-curricular activities as a mandatory part of school curricula; design innovative conditional cash transfer schemes to encourage girls education.









Environment and Water Resources

? Adopt sustainable practices and streamline regulatory structures to support high economic growth.

? Adopt measures to tackle city air pollution

? Revisit the policy towards felling of trees on private land and transport of trees





? Promote sustainable use of water resources by improving groundwater management, adopting smart water meters for specific industrial units and enhancing the regulatory environment in the sector.








The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM)in collaboration with the International Trademark Association (INTA) kicked off the IPR Awareness campaign for schools across the country in New Delhi at Kendriya Vidyalaya, RK Puram Sector 2. .

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The National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy, which was approved by the Union Cabinet on 12th May 2016, is a significant move forward to encourage creativity and stimulate innovation in the country. .

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Joint Secretary Rajiv Aggarwal from DIPP said IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion is the first and foremost objective of the National IPR Policy and is critical to shaping an IP environment that is conducive to fostering creativity & innovation in the country. He said that one of the key focus areas is children in schools, as it is essential to nurture creativity and the ability to innovate from a young age. Mr Aggarwal said a streamlined system is being worked out to conduct over 3500 awareness programmes in schools, universities and the industry across the country including Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 cities as well as rural areas along with translating the content to various regional languages for a wider reach. .

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The programme was an hour long interactive session with a presentation delivered by the INTA Working Group which included various games and activities to keep the kids engaged. Along with the presentation, colorful and vibrant posters on different IPs were put up and mementos including a brochure on IP designed for kids was given to all students in attendance of the session. .

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MJPS
Nepal Prime Minister speaks to the Prime Minister on telephone

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Prime Minister of Nepal Rt. Honble Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda made a telephone call to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today. .

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The two Prime Ministers discussed recent developments in India-Nepal relations, including the recently concluded highly successful State visit of President of Nepal Rt. Honble Bidya Devi Bhandari to India. .

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Prime Minister Prachanda spoke about the ongoing efforts of his government to take all stakeholders on board in the constitution implementation process. PM Prachanda also spoke about Nepal holding the first local elections in nearly twenty years and requested for Indias assistance in this connection. .

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PM Modi conveyed the good wishes of the people and government of India to the friendly people of Nepal in their national efforts to achieve peace, stability and socio-economic transformation, and assured PM Prachanda that India would extend all possible assistance for local elections. .

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The two Prime Ministers reiterated their commitment to advance multi-faceted India-Nepal cooperative ties for the benefit of the two peoples. .

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The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee graced the Annual Convocation of Goa University today (April 25, 2017) in Goa. The Goa University also conferred the Honorary D. Litt. degree on the President on the occasion. .

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Speaking on the occasion, the President said that to prepare graduates for a competitive global economy, we have to impart quality education in our institutions. This will call for adoption of global best practices for world-class academic management. Our institutions have to work relentlessly towards excellence. They have to provide the best of amenities to their academic community. Models of teaching have to be adaptive to the latest trends and also the changing learner profile. There has to be an alliance between the IT-enabled platforms like MOOCs and knowledge networks, and pedagogy. As concepts and understanding evolve, our faculty has to be better prepared with up-dated knowledge. A strong research eco-system has to be built on the plank of institutional collaborations, research parks, and talented researchers. There also have to be close link between Indian universities and industries. .

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The President said that recognizing that no institution can excel in isolation, they have to provide students and faculty international exposure, introduce industry relevant matter in course work, and share academic resources. A mechanism is needed in our higher education system that promotes competitiveness. NIRF is a valuable initiative and he was sure that with greater and more involved participation, this indicator will provide impetus to our institutions to do better in the coming years. .

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The President said that our centres of higher learning are social institutions too. They have to carry out their responsibilities as a social entity. A strong connection with the society will provide the edifice for value-oriented learning in them. This will instill in the students a sensitivity that will inspire them to search for solutions to vexed socio-economic problems in the environment in which they are living. The onus is on our institutions to produce men and women of substance and character, not merely competent professionals. .

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Four numbers illustrate just how divided France now is: 23, 22, 20, 19. Theyre the percentage of votes obtained by the four top finishers (Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen, Francois Fillon and Jean-Luc Melenchon respectively), in the first round of the 2017 French presidential election, held on April 23. Eliminated were the two major political parties that have alternated running the country since the foundation of the Fifth Republic in 1958  together, the left-wing Socialist Party and right-wing Les Republicains gathered just 26% of the votes cast.

Three of the four top candidates that stand out in this unprecedented contest have never been in power, and the political party of top vote-getter Emmanuel Macron didnt even exist a year ago.
As Syria began to descend into a bloody civil war, a cement plant in the embattled northeast run by one of Frances largest industrial was operating at full speed.
French billionaire Bernard Arnault will combine the fashion brand with his LVMH luxury goods group as part of a 12 billion euro ($13 billion) move to simplify his business interests, a restructuring long demanded by other investors.

Under a series of complex transactions, LVMH will buy the Couture brand from the holding company for 6.5 billion euros, including debt.

That will unite the 70 year old fashion label worn by film stars from Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor to Jennifer Lawrence and Natalie Portman with the Christian Dior perfume and beauty business already owned by LVMH.

The Arnault family, which holds a 47 per cent stake in LVMH, will also offer to buy the 25.9 per cent of the Christian Dior holding company it does not already own for about 260 euros per share, a premium of 15 per cent over Monday's closing price.

LVMH shares rose three per cent to a record high of 223 euros as investors and analysts welcomed the deals, which Arnault said would boost earnings at its fashion and leather goods division. Dior shares jumped 13 per cent to a new high of 256 euros.

"This is a good acquisition for LVMH in our view given the strong brand of Christian Dior, good use of its balance sheet and it reunites the Christian Dior brand with the very profitable perfume operation that LVMH operates," Barclays analysts wrote in a research note.

The Dior holding company owns 41 per cent of the LVMH group and 100 per cent of Christian Dior Couture, the home of the Lady Dior handbag.

Arnault's family company will offer 172 euros per share and 0.192 Hermes shares for each Dior holding company share. It will also offer all-cash and all-share alternatives.

Arnault has a stake of about eight per cent in luxury group Hermes, and its shares fell about five per cent on the prospect of more of the stock coming to the market.

The transactions "will allow the simplification of the structures, long requested by the market, and the strengthening of LVMH's Fashion and Leather Goods division," Arnault said in a statement.

LVMH said the overall deal would boost earnings per share within the first year of its completion, with the transactions expected to close during the second half of 2017.
In a numbers game, the courts were effectively sidelined and Peter ONeill stormed into the leadership.

At a time when the country was about to embrace the benefits of the largest liquefied natural gas project in the Pacific, the government was taken by force.

But six years ago things begin to change as corruption moved to a new level, spreading into every government office.

FOR most of the time since independence in 1975, Papua New Guinea enjoyed a vibrant democracy under the rule of law and with law-breakers dealt with as they should be.

The people  or those of them who understand such matters - were shocked by this defiance of the constitution. It was unprecedented and unbecoming behaviour at the countrys highest level and integrity, ethics and sensitivity to the rule of law were put to the sword.

In a Waigani courtroom on 29 March this year, a Supreme Court full bench ruled that the Ombudsman Commission has the power to investigate the office of the prime minister in respect of allegations relating to a K3 billion loan obtained from the Union Bank of Switzerland in 2014 to purchase 10% of the shares of Oil Search Limited.

ONeill may believe that the Ombudsman Commission is adversely derogatory of him but it was established by an Act of Parliament and is the statutory body instituted to ensure there are checks and balances on leaders, including the prime ministers office.

The K3 million loan is not the only offshore loan that needs scrutinising, there are a couple of others too. I would nominate the K6 billion from Exim Bank of China, the K83 million Ialibu-Pangia Highway loan, the K223 million World Bank loan and the K3.5 billion Okuk Highway rehabilitation.

There are allegations that most of these loans were obtained without proper vetting or procedural oversight.

And the Paraka matter is still alive. Last week Mal Varitimos QC, representing the prime minister, made a submission to quash ONeills arrest warrant in the Paraka saga. The decision of the court is due on Friday.

The 2012 Alotau Accord committed the government to establishing an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) but the last five years saw nothing but further promises. Certainly they did not see an ICAC and the new government after the election needs to get on with this.

Amongst the coalition partners in opposition, Pangus good governance policy is appealing. Pangu has said it wants constitutional office holders such as the chief justice, police commissioner and chief ombudsman to appoint ICAC officers.

Pangu Party leader Sam Basils declaration not to align with any MPs from Peoples National Congress or its coalition partners, those who have run down the economy, in forming the next government is a bold stand. This looks even better when considering the need to fight corruption.

We do need to curb corruption that is so deeply rooted in our system of government and Pangus good governance policy would give us a good chance of doing this.
Yahoo shareholders will vote June 8 on whether to sell the companys internet businesses to Verizon Communications for $4.48 billion. A yes vote, which is widely expected, would end Marissa Mayers largely unsuccessful five-year effort to restore the internet pioneer to greatness.
on Tuesday hanged four "hardcore" Taliban militants convicted of terrorism-related offences by the controversial military courts.

Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that they were hanged in a jail of northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

"Four hardcore terrorists tried by the Military Courts were hanged today (Tuesday)," he said.

Ghafoor further stated that they were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including the killing of innocent civilians, attacking Armed Forces of and Law Enforcement Agencies.

The four prisoners have been identified by the army as Rehman ud Din, Mushtaq Khan, Ubaid ur Rehman and Zafar Iqbal.

They were members of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban .

The timing and place of the trial were not known as military courts operate in secrecy due to fear of rebel backlash.

Military courts were restored last month for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January.

The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment after a terror attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 killed more than 150 people, most of them students.

While Pakistani authorities maintain that the military courts are an "effective deterrent" against terrorism, rights groups question rthe transparency of trials because of the secrecy surrounding the special tribunals.

The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 160 militants.
As the 11 candidates vying for the French presidency were making their last televised bids to the electorate on the evening of April 20, news broke that a policeman had been killed in an attack on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility, though this has not yet been confirmed, and an investigation was launched by French anti-terror police. Leading right-wing candidates Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen cancelled their last public campaign rallies ahead of the first round of voting on April 23.

The Conversation asked Eglantine Staunton, research fellow at the University of Leeds, to explain the role terrorism has played in the election campaign.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday did an assessment of the Anantnag by-poll via video conferencing, to make spot assessment later.

Earlier this day, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asked the Election Commission to postpone the Lok Sabha by-election in Anantnag indefinitely in the face of the current unrest in the Kashmir valley.

The plea was made by Tassaduq Mufti, brother of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during a video conference with the election commission.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission had organised a video conference with all the contesting candidates to ascertain their views about holding of elections to the constituency on May 25.

From the past few weeks, Kashmir has seen widespread violence during the election to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat that left eight people dead and scores injured on April 9.

The violence has now spread to schools and colleges as well.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vice President Hamid Ansari met Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan on Tuesday.

Vice President Ansari will also call on President Serzh Sargsyan on the second day of his visit to Armenia today.

He is also scheduled to meet Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian later in the day.

Earlier, Vice President Ansari arrived in Armenia on the first leg of his two nation trip.

He was received by Nalbandian at the airport.

Vice President Ansari is accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari, Union Minister of State Small, Medium and Micro Industry Giriraj Singh, MP Sitaram Yechuri, MP Vivek Tankha, MP D P Tripathi and MP Thustan Chhuwang.

The visit intends to further strengthen the cordial relations between the two countries and develop cooperation and partnership on a wide range of issues of shared common interest.

Ansari will also address students and faculty at the Yerevan University.

The Ambassador of India will host a reception in the honor of the Vice President where he is expected to meet the Indian community and friends of India in Poland.

His visit comes at a time when India and Armenia are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

Vice President Ansari, earlier, while addressing the media onboard Air India One Special Aircraft on his way to Armenia said that the objective of his visit to Armenia and Poland is to further the friendship and cooperation.

Vice President Ansari is on a five day two nation tour to Armenia and Poland.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Canada of making business for American dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult.

"Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!" Trump tweeted.

Trump's tweet comes a day after his administration said that it would impose a roughly 20 percent tariff on softwood lumber imported from the country.

Trump had last week in Wisconsin, promised to stand up for the state's dairy farmers, and singled out Canada for doing "some very unfair things.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hours after M.K. Stalin called for a one-day shutdown in Tamil Nadu for the drought-hit farmers, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) working president has asserted that the shutdown was a huge success.

"Today's shutdown was a huge success. We'll continue our efforts until farmers' demands are met," said Stalin.

Earlier this day, Stalin along with his senior party colleagues were detained when they tried to block traffic during the one-day shutdown in Tamil Nadu.

G. Ramakrishnan, Mutharasan, Thirumavalavan, and M. Subramanian were also detained by the Chennai Police.

The DMK had called on the shutdown to show solidarity with the state's drought-struck farmers.

The shutdown hit business in the state as several shops in Anna Nagar and Koyambedu market remained closed. The buses and autos, however, were moving as usual.

Along with the DMK, the Congress, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) also participated in the state-wide bandh.

The film fraternity also expressed its support by cancelling shoots. Cinema halls were also closed for the day.

Despite the opposition parties led by the DMK calling on to observe a state-wide shutdown, the E. Palanisamy-led state government, a day before, asserted that normalcy will not be affected.

The police said it had taken all adequate steps, including proper deployment of personnel in order to maintain law and order in the state.

Association of groceries, trade unions of auto drivers and local vegetable markets had also extended their support towards the bandh.

The DMK had called for shutdown in order to urge the Central and state government to fulfil the farmers' demands including adequate relief and setting up of a Cauvery management board.

However, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed the bandh call as being 'politically motivated'.

The Tamil Nadu farmers earlier this week suspended their protest till May 25 after Chief Minister Palanisamy's assurance.

"If our demands are not fulfilled we will start our protest again after 25th May. If we get train tickets, we will leave today," said Ayyakanu, an agitating farmer.

Palanisamy has said that he discussed the farmers' issue in the NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting and forwarded their demands to the Prime Minister.

The farmers have been grabbing headlines for their unique and sometimes bizarre methods of protest since they arrived in Delhi over 38 days ago.

Adorned with human skulls around their necks, the farmers attempted to grab the attention of authorities towards their condition and demands for drought relief package.

The farmers have been demanding Centre's intervention to write off their loans from nationalised banks, a revised drought relief package and resolve the alleged drying up of the Tamil Nadu leg of the Kaveri river.

The state government and the Madras High Court have already waived their loans from co-operative banks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Continuing his vociferous campaign for the GOP healthcare plan, President Donald Trump took another shot at ObamaCare while assuring that his plan will lead to cheaper premiums and "real healthcare".

This comes just days before the Democrats and Republicans must agree on a federal budget or face a government shutdown, reports local media.

Trump said that Mexico will eventually pay for his proposed border wall.

He added that democrats don't want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs

"The Democrats don't want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS 13 gang members.Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall, Trump said in a series of tweet.

Both Democrats and republicans are pushing for funding of their own priorities.

The White House is pushing for funds to build a wall along the Mexican border and enhance border security, while Democrats hope to make more inroads in healthcare coverage.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh on Tuesday urged the opposition not to politicise the gruesome attack by the Naxals on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district and assured strict action by the government.

"It is not right to comment on this issue now, especially without knowing any facts. It is not right to comment on judiciary and its decision, they know best and some action will be taken. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has taken 'suo moto' cognizance on this issue. I request the opposition not to add politics in this serious and grave matter," Singh told ANI.

As many as 25 CRPF personnel were killed and six others injured in the encounter with the Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Sukma yesterday.

The attack took place on personnel of the CRPF's 74th Battalion as they were assisting the local population in road building activity in the district.

The Centre, earlier in the day, assured action against the perpetrators of the 'cold-blooded murder' in Sukma.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Centre and state government would work together to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.

Singh, who paid homage to the jawans during a wreath laying ceremony in Raipur today along with his deputy Hansraj Ahir and Chief Minister Raman Singh, said this cowardly and unfortunate act exposes desperation and frustration.

"It is a cold blooded murder by the extremists. The Centre and state governments will work together and take action in this regard," Rajnath told a joint press briefing with the Chief Minister here.

Condemning the attack, the Home Minister said that the sacrifice of the jawans would not go in vain.

He further said that the Centre if needed would review and also revise the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) strategy, adding a meeting of officials of various state governments has been called on May 8.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maria Comella, a former aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and adviser to three Republican presidential candidates, has been appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to serve as his chief of staff.

Comella will fill the position vacated by Melissa DeRosa, who was named secretary to the governor last week.

Before joining the Cuomo administration, Comella served as Christie's deputy chief of staff for communications and strategic planning. She was his chief messaging officer when he challenged for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Prior to joining Christie's staff, Comella held a senior position on President George W. Bush's re-election campaign in 2004. She also worked for Rudy Giuliani's and John McCain's presidential campaigns in 2008.

A George Washington University graduate, Comella has experience outside of government and politics. She advised Human Rights First, the Ford Motor Company and worked on clean water campaigns, according to Cuomo's office.

Comella's appointment was one of six announced by Cuomo Tuesday. One of the other notable additions is Roger Parrino, who will serve as commissioner of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

Parrino, a retired New York City police officer, most recently served as senior counselor to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. He will succeed John Melville, who was appointed in January 2015.

"This administration has forged a bold progressive agenda, uplifting the middle class and providing greater opportunities for all New Yorkers," Cuomo said. "These new additions will strengthen our team and bring new ideas and talent to strengthen our team, and I look forward to working together to continue to move New York forward."

The other appointments announced by Cuomo:

 Robert Williams has been appointed deputy secretary for gaming. He previously served as executive director of the state Gaming Commission.

 Robert Samson will serve as chief information officer at the state Office of Information Technology Services. He's a former IBM employee and served as the company's vice president of the Worldwide Systems and Technology Group.

 Kelli Owens has been named director of women's affairs. She was the legislative affairs coordinator at the state Office of Children and Familie Services.

 Noah Rayman, a former speechwriter for Millennium Challenge Corporation's CEO and an international affairs reporter for Time Magazine, will serve as a speechwriter in the Cuomo administration.
Amid talks between the Centre and the state government over coming up with a solution to bring down the level of tensions in the Valley, defense experts have reckoned that Governor's rule must be imposed in Jammu Kashmir as the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti-led government had failed to provide leadership for various reasons.

Defence expert Qamar Agha told ANI, "The situation is deteriorating day by day and getting out of control of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. Time has come to impose Governor's rule for the time being and settle down the situation, bring normalcy and then restore the government and call for a re-election."

Agha further stated that talking to the militants will not solve the problem of the valley.

"Talking to them will not solve the problem in the long run because if you talk to them they will stop the movement for a while and then they will relaunch it with more vigour," he added.

On the other hand, Brigadier Amrit Kapoor (Retd.) said that conflict resolution with confrontation of the security forces and militants.

"The security forces in Jammu and Kashmir should create that type of secure environment in the valley so that dialogue can take place. We can use the force to bring the party to the negotiation table," Kapoor told ANI.

Asserting that we can't get the situation slip out from our hand, Kapoor suggested that government should get hold of these stone pelters.

"Government has to think for certain other options because options are there with the government. We can't get the situation slip out from our hand. This is the right time that such a thing must be arrested," he added.

Hours after urging the Centre to follow the footsteps of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in dealing with the Kashmir unrest, Mehbooba Mufti yesterday stated that a dialogue process would be initiated only after normalcy was restored.

The Chief Minister after meeting Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured that within two-three months the situation in the Valley would definitely improve.

"In a period of two-three months, you will see a changed Jammu and Kashmir. Next few months are really crucial for us. We will first restore the normalcy, than we will talk. This issue is as old as 70 years," Mufti said.

Mufit further appealed to the media to help in restoring peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

"We will also hold talks regarding the Whatsapp groups," Mufti stated.

Earlier yesterday, Mufti asserted that the ruling dispensation at the Centre must follow the footsteps of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and reach out to the disillusioned and angry youth so as to restore a peaceful atmosphere for governance.

Talking to the media after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mehbooba said a conducive atmosphere was required for talks and governance.

"We must start from where Vajpayee ji left... Modi ji has repeatedly said that he would follow the footsteps of Vajpayee ji, whose policy was of reconciliation, not confrontation. There is no option but to talk," she asserted.

The Chief Minister also said that she discussed the recent by-polls to Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, which witnessed large-scale violence and the lowest turnout ever.

"I discussed the issue of less voting percentage in the recent elections and security situation in Jammu and Kashmir with Prime Minister Modi," she said.

The meeting came in the wake of recent incidents of violence, including the clashes between security forces and civilians during the Srinagar by-elections.

Prime Minister Modi had earlier on Sunday urged all the Chief Ministers to take care of the students from Jammu and Kashmir in their respective states.

His assertion came after Mehbooba raised the issue following assault of six Kashmiri students of Mewar University in Rajasthan by some locals.

The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of several video clips surfacing in recent times, purportedly showing human rights abuses by the security forces.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Tuesday discussed about his government's ongoing efforts to take all stakeholders on board in implementation process of the Constitution during a telephonic conversation with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Both leaders discussed the recent developments in India-Nepal relations including the recently concluded highly successful state visit of Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari to India.

Prachanda also spoke about Nepal holding the first local elections in nearly twenty years and requested for India's assistance in this regard.

Prime Minister Modi conveyed the good wishes of the people and government of India to Nepal in their efforts to achieve peace, stability and socio-economic transformation. He also assured his Nepal counterpart that India would extend all possible assistance for the local elections.

The two Prime Ministers reiterated their commitment to advance multi-faceted India-Nepal cooperative ties for the benefit of both sides.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CFA Society India, one of the 147 CFA Institute member societies, jointly hosted its annual Putting Investors First event 'Rethinking Financial Services for Millennials' in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Putting Investors First is a global CFA Institute initiative and part of the Future of Finance program that aims to raise awareness and build support for aligning the interests of investors and their customers in a way that fosters trust and improves out comes for investors.

The event featured two power-packed panel discussions on the state of the investment profession and its preparedness in serving millennials.

Panelists included Navneet Munot, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, SBI Mutual Fund; Kalpen Parekh, Joint President, DSP BlackRock AMC; Ravi Subramanian, Author, If God Was A Banker; Mandar Mhatre, Entrepreneur and Investor; Partha Iyengar, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Life and Money; Amit Kumar, Partner and Director, The Boston Consulting Group; and Talvinder Singh, Product Head, Flagship, OYO Rooms.

What experts' say:

"What millennials are looking for is ease and convenience in investment. It's important for the industry to bring more simplicity in processes or documentation to attract them. Government should consider bringing a scheme for investment in equities called Jan Nivesh Yojana along the lines of the Jan Dhan Yojana to attract millennials," said Navneet Munot, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, SBI Mutual Fund.

"Most millennials' large investment decisions are emotionally driven; hence we need to understand and guide them on their investment requirements," said Partha Iyengar, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Life and Money.

"It is a welcome change to see millennials increasing interest insavings and investing at a younger age as compared to earlier generations. This trend is positive and further educating these potential investors about various investment options will be important," said Mandar Mhatre, Entrepreneur and Investor.

"We need to engage with millennials and make them aware about investments, especially when markets are high," said Kalpen Parekh, Joint President, DSP BlackRock AMC.

In its recently released the Future State of the Investment Profession study, CFA Institute describes an investment industry at an existential crossroads and warns that investment industry leaders who fail to transform their models may jeopardise the future of their firms.

"Nearly 30 percent of India's population was born between 1980 and 2000. Compared to earlier generations, millennials save, borrow and invest in ways that differ significantly from older consumers. Investment industry leaders need to make decisions over the next five years that will not only impact their firms but also the entire landscape of the investment profession as we know it. Ultimately, putting Investors First is about creating the right products and giving sound advice," said Jayesh Gandhi, CFA, President, CFA Society India.

Key Survey Findings

-The views of more than 1,000 investment management professionals, including CFA charter holders indicate that significant change on all fronts lies ahead over the next five to 10 years.

Changing Investment Trends

-73 percent expect environmental, social and governance factors will become more influential

-70 percent expect financial centers in the Asia-Pacific region will become more influential

- Models Facing Pressure

-84 percent expect industry consolidation

-70 percent expect to see more assets going into passive investment vehicles

-63 percent expect profit margins at asset management firms to remain flat or to contract

-57 percent expect institutional investors will look to reduce costs by in-sourcing more investment management activities

Opportunities on the Horizon

-55 percent expect globalization will offer new opportunities for investment professionals, while 18 percent perceive globalization as a threat

-49 percent expect technologies will present new opportunities for investment professionals, while 23 percent see new technologies as a threat

Among the megatrends identified are technological advances, redefined client preferences, new macroeconomic conditions, different regulatory regimes reflecting geopolitical changes and demographic shifts. The scenarios are not forecasts but include possibilities for the future state of the investment industry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In times gone by white doves or pigeons were often viewed as traditional symbols or messengers of peace and pacifism, but, in the new millennium, when technological advances are being made in minutes, days, months and years, one would not have expected a bird to come across from Pakistan with a message of sorts imprinted under one of its wings.

This is exactly what happened at the border out post (BOP) Babalianwala on the Rajasthan-Sindh border on Tuesday, when a white-colored pigeon landed from the Pakistan side at 7.55 a.m. and sat on a barrel of LMG for about five minutes before being caught by Border Security Force (BSF) border patrol personnel posted there.

Acting on the orders of commanding officer of the 135th Battalion of the BSF, B.K. Sharma, BSF personnel Sunil Pathania and Sarad Yadav examined the pigeon and found the serial number 03023633 written on its tail.

A similar incident was reported on January 13, 2017 at Samathewala. At that time too, a pigeon was nabbed and was found to have a metallic ring with the tag number 021JEET-KPK on its right leg.

The use of a dove or a pigeon and an olive branch as a symbol of peace originated with the early Christians. These birds often appear in political cartoons, on banners and signs at events promoting peace such as the Olympic Games, or at various anti-war or anti-violence protests, etc.), as also in pacifist literature.

A person who is a pacifist is sometimes referred to as a dove, while a person opposed to diplomacy can be referred to as a hawk, but when it comes to relations between India and Pakistan, a bird being regarded as a messenger of peace is a far-fetched notion, and can only be viewed with suspicion and distrust.

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Condemning the deadly attack on CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday tore into the West Bengal Government for not taking a firm hand in the rampant 'Maoist activities' prevalent in the Jadavpur Univeristy.

BJP secretary Rahul Sinha Rahul Singh told ANI, "- The government should take harsh measures to finish Naxalism in India. At the same, I appeal the West Bengal government to take strict action against the people who are involved in Maoists activities running at Jadavpur University."

Singh further stated he was "extremely pained" by the killing of twenty-six CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh on Monday, further assuring that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government will take strict action against the militants.

Hundreds of Maoists on Monday massacred at least 26 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district in the bloodiest attack in the state since 2010.

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack, while the latter described the attack as cowardly and deplorable.

He assured that the Centre is monitoring the situation closely and the sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain.

In a series of tweets, he expressed condolences to the CRPF families saying the country is proud of their valour.

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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti chaired the Unified High Command meeting in Srinagar on Tuesday to review the deteriorating security situation in the valley.

The meeting comprised of top brass of the army, police, paramilitary, state and central intelligence agencies.

The meeting was held after Mehbooba returned from New Delhi where she discussed the situation in the Kashmir Valley with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The meeting comes in the backdrop of the student unrest that has spilled over to the streets of Kashmir over the past week and the killing of a ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader in Pulwama on Monday.

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Samajwadi Party leader and former minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati was on Tuesday granted bail by a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in connection with a case of an alleged sexual assault of a minor girl.

Prajapati was arrested on March 15 from the Aashiyana area in Lucknow by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF).

The Samajwadi Party leader, who was also accused of allegedly raping the girl's mother, evaded his arrest for nearly a month before he was arrested.

In February, a police complaint had been filed against the former minister and six others in the case following the Supreme Court's order.

The Uttar Pradesh Police had also filed a non-bailable warrant against the former minister and six others for the same.

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The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Thakur, who will have to furnish a bail amount of Rs five lakh besides two sureties of the same amount, has also been directed to submit its passport to the Investigative Agency (NIA) court and appear on the dates in the trial court.

The NIA had informed the court that it had no objection to the court granting bail to Thakur.

"Five lakh rupees surety has been ordered by the court and she has been asked to deposit her passport with the NIA Court. The court has directed that she (Sadhvi Pragya) will have to be present before the NIA court whenever it issues summon. There is absolutely no evidence of her involvement," said Thakur's lawyer Shyam Devani.

"Truth prevails in the end. Sadhvi devoted her life for nationalist cause. She has given a message to the people that truth always wins," added Thakur's brother-in law Bhagwan Bhai Jha.

The High Court, however, rejected the bail of Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit.

The Malegaon blast case victims will now be moving the Supreme Court challenging Thakur's bail.

On September 2008, a blast at Malegaon killed six and injured 101 others.

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In a shocking incident, a senior citizen was allegedly thrashed by three traffic police personnel for breaking traffic rules in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district.

Radhesham Somani was repeatedly thrashed by traffic constable T.I. Ojha despite pleading the officer not to assault him more.

When his friend trying to capture the entire incident, Ojha snatched his phone and threw it away.

"I was coming towards Rajender Nagar when the traffic police stopped my vehicle and informed me that I had come on the wrong side of the road. I apologised for that and they said that I have to pay a fine to which I agreed. But when I pointed out to them that they are avoiding some people who are violating traffic rules, they got enraged and started thrashing me," he said.

Somani later approached Rajendra Police Station to register a complaint against Ojha. However, the station In-charge refused to file the complaint and instead threatened him to expunge the complaint.

Later, the matter was apprised to Deputy Inspector of General of Indore Harinarayanachari Mishra and he ordered an inquiry into the matter.

"I have ordered an inquiry into the matter and asked to complete the investigation within 24 hours," Mishra told ANI.

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Nepal's largest political party in the Parliament, the Nepali Congress on Tuesday unveiled its election manifesto with a focus on economic prosperity.

It has also become the first party to bring forward the manifesto for the local election scheduled for the next month.

Former Prime Minister of Nepal as well as President of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba unveiled the manifesto in a program organized at party head office in Sanepa.

The 52-page manifesto promises to make optimum use of water and human resource for the prosperity of the nation with the focus in development of agriculture and tourism sector.

The party has also promised to give right to the local levels for the creation of favorable environment for the investments.

The Nepali Congress also presented ambiguous plan of creating five lakh job opportunities in a year.

With 20 days remaining for the commencement of local polls, Nepali Congress solely has unveiled its manifesto.

Other political parties of Nepal have claimed to be preparing the manifesto but are yet to announce the date to unveil it.

The delay thus seen has ignited the fear that the polls will not be held in the speculated dates.

The cabinet meeting on Sunday gave a nod to the Election Commission to hold the elections in two phases which the government hopes agitating parties participate in the election.

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As two upstate New York members of Congress attribute flooding along Lake Ontario's southern shore to Plan 2014, the international panel that approved the water level management strategy late last year said the weather is to blame.

The dueling explanations for high water levels come as residents along the lake complain about flooding and damage to their properties.

U.S. Reps. Chris Collins and John Katko sent a letter to President Donald Trump Monday urging him to withdraw from Plan 2014.

Collins, R-Clarence, and Katko, R-Camillus, have long criticized Plan 2014. They opposed the plan before it was adopted by the International Joint Commission in December.

The commission, which consists of U.S. and Canadian representatives, is tasked with managing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River water levels.

Collins and Katko previously sent a letter to Trump before he was sworn in as president urging him to reverse the decision. Now, with high water levels affecting businesses and property owners along Lake Ontario, they want Trump to pull out of Plan 2014.

"We are urging your quick action to stop the implementation of this plan by withdrawing the United States from the agreement," Collins and Katko wrote. "Although ensuring that communities are not disproportionately impacted by any decision is a guiding principal of the IJC, they do not have a plan to compensate shoreline property owners who are harmed by the drastic changes in water levels.

"With this plan already causing millions of dollars in damage to our shores, it is imperative that the United States withdraws from this agreement immediately before further damage is caused."

The International Joint Commission, though, disputes the claim that Plan 2014 is to blame for high water levels and flooding.

In a news release Tuesday, the commission said extreme wet weather is the cause for the high water levels. Above average rainfall has been reported across the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River basin. Some areas, the commission said, have reported more than double the usual rainfall since the start of the month.

Among the areas reporting high amounts of rain: the western end of Lake Ontario.

The commission expects Lake Ontario will continue to rise in May and possibly June, depending on the weather conditions. They acknowledged that it's the highest levels reported on the lake since 1998, but that higher levels have occurred before and will occur again.

"The current high water levels have not been caused by Plan 2014," the commission said. "Lake and river levels would have been nearly identical this year under the previous regulation plan. Plan 2014 will continue to adjust the Lake Ontario outflows in order to minimize and balance flooding on Lake Ontario and along the St. Lawrence River in the Montreal area."

Katko, who visited Wayne County last week, said the high water levels have already caused property damage and shoreline erosion in Sodus Point. He said homeowners there are facing an "incredibly dire and costly situation."

The implementation of Plan 2014, he added, will continue to lead to drastic changes in water levels.

"Together with Rep. Collins, I've fought against Plan 2014 from the start and this week we've urged the administration to permanently withdraw from Plan 2014 to avoid further damage," he said.
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Tuesday talked to his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone about the ongoing efforts of his government to take all stakeholders on board in constitution implementation process.

The two Prime Ministers discussed recent developments in India-Nepal relations, including the recently concluded highly successful State visit of Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari to India.

Prachanda also spoke about Nepal holding the first local elections in nearly twenty years and requested for India's assistance in this connection.

Prime Minister Modi conveyed the good wishes of the people and government of India to the friendly people of Nepal in their efforts to achieve peace, stability and socio-economic transformation, and assured his Nepal counterpart that India would extend all possible assistance for local elections.

The two Prime Ministers reiterated their commitment to advance multi-faceted India-Nepal cooperative ties for the benefit of the two peoples.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed Dravida Munnetra Kazhaghan (DMK) leader M.K. Stalin for accusing the Centre of imposing Hindi on citizens, saying that the latter is cleverly playing an 'anti-Hindi' game in Tamil Nadu politics to be relevant.

BJP leader S. Prakash said that Stalin is trying to come back in Tamil Nadu politics by this emotive issue, which can spark public outrage in the state.

"He is cleverly playing an anti-Hindi game in Tamil Nadu politics to be relevant and to gain the confidence of people which is very unfortunate. Secondly, Parliamentary Committee recommends several measures on various issues. It need not be mandatorily accepted by the Government of India or the authorities which have to implement those measures. There recommendations are based on their discussions in the Parliamentary Committee," Prakash told ANI.

Prakash further clarified that the committee was formed in 2011 and not when the BJP came into power so, one should not link the committee's proceedings with the Modi Government.

"The government has already clarified there is no question of imposing Hindi on non-Hindi states. They have only advised if they know Hindi it is good. Beyond that, the Central Government has no intention to impose Hindi on the non-Hindi speaking people. These controversies are raised unnecessarily to divert their failures and to attack the Modi Government needlessly," he said.

Earlier yesterday, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said the recommendation made by the Committee of Parliament on Official Language advising union ministers and the President to give speeches in Hindi is only recommendatory and not mandatory.

He was reacting to Stalin's remarks alleging that the Centre is imposing Hindi on its citizens.

"I was pained to read in a section of the press today news reports wherein DMK leader M.K. Stalin has been quoted alleging imposition of Hindi by the Central Government," Naidu said.

"The suggestion of the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language was only recommendatory and not mandatory. It is totally false and mischievous to allege that an Ordinance was passed in this regard," he added.

Naidu further said the recommendation was made under the erstwhile UPA rule where the DMK was part of the government.

"I would like to clarify that the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language headed by the then home minister P. Chidambaram made a recommendation and the same was forwarded to President on June 2 2011," he said.

Naidu said the present government had notified this recommendation on March 31.

Earlier on Saturday, Stalin lashed at the Narendra Modi-led central government for its ' Hindi imposition', accusing them of violating the Constitution and rights of non-Hindi speaking citizens.

In a video posted on his Twitter account, Stalin said that right from the day of assuming office, the Modi-led BJP has been attempting to destroy and decimate the unity of the nation.

H said that the recent proposal on the parliamentary committee to make it mandatory for those MPs and Central Ministers who know Hindi to the use it as their official language, both in speech and writing, is a recent example of such efforts.

"The BJP government has also obtained permission from the President for usage of Hindi in Airport announcements, press news and advertisements and going one step further have made Hindi a compulsory subject for CBSE schools across the country," he said.

Stalin added that it is very concerning that it is not an exception but rather the rule.

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The opposition parties led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhaghan (DMK) on Tuesday will be observing a state-wide shutdown in support of drought-hit farmers.

The DMK, the Congress, multitude of trade unions, farmer bodies and even the film fraternity have pledged support to the shutdown.

However, the E. Palaniswamy-led state government asserted that normalcy will not be affected.

The police said it has taken all adequate steps, including proper deployment of personnel in order to maintain law and order in the state.

Association of groceries, trade unions of auto drivers and local vegetable markets have also extended their support towards the bandh.

DMK has called for shutdown in order to urge the Central and state government to fulfill the farmers' demands including adequate relief and setting up of a Cauvery management board.

However, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have termed the bandh call as being politically motivated.

Earlier yesterday, the Tamil Nadu farmers suspended their protest till May 25 after Chief Minister E. Palaniswamy's assurance.

"If our demands are not fulfilled we will start our protest again after 25th May. If we get train tickets, we will leave today," said Ayyakanu, an agitating farmer.

Palaniswamy yesterday said he discussed the farmers' issue in the NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting and forwarded their demands to the Prime Minister.

The farmers have been grabbing headlines for their unique and sometimes bizarre methods of protest since they arrived in Delhi over 38 days ago.

Adorned with human skulls around their necks, the farmers attempted to grab the attention of authorities towards their condition and demands for drought relief package.

The farmers have so far performed 'Angapradakshinam' - rolling prostrate on the street at Jantar Mantar - staged suicides, conducted mock funerals, shaved off half their moustaches and beards, stripped in front of the Prime Minister's office, eaten dal and rice off the road, stood with mice in their mouths and have hung skulls around their necks, which they claim belong to farmers in their state who committed suicide because of mounting debt.

The farmers have been demanding Centre's intervention to write off their loans from nationalised banks, a revised drought relief package and resolve the alleged drying up of the Tamil Nadu leg of the Kaveri river.

The state government and the Madras High Court have already waived their loans from co-operative banks.

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Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) working president M.K. Stalin, along with his senior party colleagues, was detained in Thiruvarur when he tried to block traffic during the one-day shutdown in Tamil Nadu.

G. Ramakrishnan, Mutharasan, Thirumavalavan, and M. Subramanian were also detained by the Chennai Police.

The DMK had called on the shutdown on Tuesday to show solidarity with the state's drought-struck farmers.

The shutdown hit business in the state as several shops in Anna Nagar and Koyambedu market remained closed. The buses and autos, however, were moving as usual.

Along with the DMK, the Congress, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) also participated in the state-wide bandh.

The film fraternity also expressed its support by cancelling shoots. Cinema halls were also closed for the day.

Despite the opposition parties led by the DMK calling on to observe a state-wide shutdown, the E. Palanisamy-led state government, a day before, asserted that normalcy will not be affected.

The police said it had taken all adequate steps, including proper deployment of personnel in order to maintain law and order in the state.

Association of groceries, trade unions of auto drivers and local vegetable markets had also extended their support towards the bandh.

The DMK had called for shutdown in order to urge the Central and state government to fulfill the farmers' demands including adequate relief and setting up of a Cauvery management board.

However, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed the bandh call as being politically motivated.

Earlier yesterday, the Tamil Nadu farmers suspended their protest till May 25 after Chief Minister Palanisamy's assurance.

"If our demands are not fulfilled we will start our protest again after 25th May. If we get train tickets, we will leave today," said Ayyakanu, an agitating farmer.

Palanisamy yesterday said he discussed the farmers' issue in the NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting and forwarded their demands to the Prime Minister.

The farmers have been grabbing headlines for their unique and sometimes bizarre methods of protest since they arrived in Delhi over 38 days ago.

Adorned with human skulls around their necks, the farmers attempted to grab the attention of authorities towards their condition and demands for drought relief package.

The farmers have so far performed 'Angapradakshinam' - rolling prostrate on the street at Jantar Mantar - staged suicides, conducted mock funerals, shaved off half their moustaches and beards, stripped in front of the Prime Minister's office, eaten dal and rice off the road, stood with mice in their mouths and have hung skulls around their necks, which they claim belong to farmers in their state who committed suicide because of mounting debt.

The farmers have been demanding Centre's intervention to write off their loans from nationalised banks, a revised drought relief package and resolve the alleged drying up of the Tamil Nadu leg of the Kaveri river.

The state government and the Madras High Court have already waived their loans from co-operative banks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States has declared to pursue anyone connected to the use of chemical weapons in Syria and also threatened to shut down their financial networks.

"We take Syria's disregard for innocent human life very seriously, and will relentlessly pursue and shut down the financial networks of all individuals involved with the production of chemical weapons used to commit these atrocities," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said commenting on the move.

Mnuchin further stated that the United States was sending a strong message to the Syrian government and President Bashar Assad over the April 4 reported chemical weapons attack on civilians in Khan Sheikhoun, for which the United States has blamed Damascus despite lack of proof, reports Sputnik.

"Today's action, less than three weeks after the attack on Khan Sheikhoun is one of the largest ever executed by OFAC. In a single action we are more than doubling the number of individuals and entities sanctioned since the start of the Syrian conflict pursuant to Syria-related executive orders," Mnuchin stated.

Mnuchin further added the United States will strongly pursue and shutdown financial networks of anyone involved in Syria's alleged use and production of chemical weapons.

On April 4, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces had claimed that 80 people were killed and 200 injured in a suspected chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, blaming the Syrian government.

However, Damascus rejected the accusations and said militants and their allies were responsible.

Early April 7, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield.

US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib.

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Outrage ensued after the US embassy in London publicised Donald Trump's country club at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, with the page on the embassy site devoted to the country club, describing it as "the winter White House".

The embassy web page links to a fuller description of the property by Share America, part of the Bureau of International Information Programmes, and the state department's "platform for sharing compelling stories and images that spark discussion and debate on important topics like democracy, freedom of expression, innovation, entrepreneurship, education, and the role of civil society", reports the Guardian.

The website also suggests that "Post's dream of a winter White House came true with Trump's election in 2016".

The estate was purchased by Trump in 1985, who has since Mar-a-Lago to entertain foreign dignitaries, including the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in February, and Chinese president, Xi Jinping, earlier this month.

However, the President's critics and government ethics experts have slammed the use of the state department website for such publicity.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden asked on Twitter: "Why are taxpayer [dollars] promoting the President's private country club?" and provided a link to the web page "in all its kleptocratic glory".

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The Government of India and the World Bank signed the US$ 175 million loan agreement for the National Hydrology Project. The project will strengthen the capacity of institutions to assess the water situation in their regions and reduce their vulnerability to recurring flood and droughts, saving hundreds of lives and livelihoods.

With rainfall in India being highly seasonal and 50 percent of precipitation falling in just 15 days and over 90 percent of river flows in just four months, the country continues to be water-stressed and is faced with the challenge of managing its water needs amidst recurring floods and drought.

"The project is expected to help forge an integrated approach to developing, managing, and regulating both surface and groundwater resources jointly at the basin and aquifer scale. It would also strengthen the institutional capacity for integrated water resources management at the center and in the states, said Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

The National Hydrology Project, will build on the success of the Hydrology Project-I and Hydrology Project-II, under which, for the first time, real-time flood forecast systems were integrated with weather forecasts in two large river systems (Krishna and Satluj-Beas), giving reservoir managers an accurate picture of the water situation in their region. As a result, the time available for early warnings on flood and preparation for flood management improved from hours to days, which led to saving hundreds of lives and avoided flood damages ranging from US$17 million to US$65 million in a year.

This project will now scale up the successes achieved under HP-I and HP-II to cover the entire country, including the states in the Ganga, and Brahmaputra-Barak basins. Apart from helping states that have already benefited from the earlier two projects to further upgrade and complete their monitoring networks, it will help new states to better manage water flows from the reservoirs.

Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs) have already been signed between the central government and the states to integrate and establish the National Water Informatics Center. National Flood Forecasting Systems with an advance warning system and reservoir operation systems as well as water resources accounting in river basins will be included under the project.

In the context of climate change, advanced flood management and enhanced river basin planning are essential for building livelihoods and sustaining economic growth, said Genevieve Connors, Program Leader and Acting Country Director, World Bank in India. This project has the potential to help communities plan in advance to build resilience against possible uncertainties of climate change.

It will also help the states monitor all the important aspects of the hydro-meteorological cycle and adopt the procedures laid out in the earlier projects such as how much rain or snow has fallen right in the catchments of rivers, how rapidly the snow will melt, the speed with which the water is flowing, how much silt has built up, how much water will reach the reservoir, and how soon it will do so. Sensors in the field will instantly transmit this information to data centers through satellite or mobile phone technology, enabling managers to form a clear picture of the water situation unfolding in their region.

Based on our experience over the last 20 years in establishing Hydrological Information Systems in southern India and in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, both national and state governments are now committed to an integrated river basin planning and management. This project responds to this demand by extending its reach to cover the entire country, said Anju Gaur, Senior Water Resources Specialist and World Bank's Task Team Leader for the project.

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Reliance Industries' (RIL) consolidated net profit excluding exceptional items rose 16.6% to Rs 8046 crore on 45.2% growth in turnover to Rs 92889 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 24 April 2017. The company's board of directors recommended a dividend of Rs 11 per share for the financial year ended 31 March 2017.

Increase in revenue is primarily on account of increase in prices of refining and petrochemical products on the back of higher oil prices. Turnover was also boosted by robust growth in retail business. Gross refining margin (GRM) rose to $11.5 per barrel in Q4 March 2017 from $10.8 per barrel each in Q3 December 2016 and in Q4 March 2016.

Reliance Jio Infocomm, a subsidiary of RIL crossed 50 million subscribers in just 83 days, and 100 million in 170 days, adding at an average rate of 6 lakh subscribers per day. Jio continues its rapid ramp-up of subscriber base and as of 31st March 2017, there were 108.9 million subscribers on the network.

Indiabulls Housing Finance's consolidated net profit rose 24.4% to Rs 841 crore on 21.8% rise in total revenue to Rs 3225 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 24 April 2017.

Wipro will announce Q4 results today, 25 April 2017.

IndusInd Bank announced that it inaugurated its third branch in Jamshedpur. Expanding presence across Jharkhand, IndusInd Bank recently inaugurated its third branch in Jamshedpur, the first planned industrial city of India. The branch is located at Mango, Jamshedpur.

With the inauguration of this branch, the bank now has 19 branches in the state of Jharkhand. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 24 April 2017.

Infosys announced it is strengthening its engineering footprint in Eastern Europe by opening its first office and delivery center (DC) in Karlovac, Croatia.

In line with the company's strategy to establish global competency centers, offering the best talent in the market and making it available to customers globally, this DC also marks expansion into Eastern Europe's established heavy engineering sector. The new facility will meet near-shoring requirements, support engineering clients worldwide, as well as offer R&D services.

The Karlovac facility in Croatia is the latest location across 16 regions in Europe which Infosys has opened as part of its ongoing commitment to client servicing and local job creation. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 24 April 2017.

Biocon said that the company's board of directors will consider issue of bonus shares at its meeting scheduled on Thursday, 27 April 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 24 April 2017.

Strides Shasun announced that its API manufacturing site at Cuddalore was recently inspected by the USFDA. This was a routine GMP inspection and the company has successfully completed the inspection with Zero 483 observations. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 24 April 2017.

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For exploring business opportunities in Defence and Paramilitary Logistics

Tiger Logistics (India) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 'P&G Associates', a leading advisory firm to explore the business opportunities in Defence and Paramilitary Logistics (Air force, Army, Naval & Paramilitary forces). Through this MoU, Cmde Gurpreet Singh Oberoi (Retd.), an ex-commodore, will render his service to be the Defence Advisor for Tiger Logistics (India).

This MoU aims to bring a sharper focus on the Defence Logistics segment which is a niche segment with high entry barriers. With this, management of the Company is expecting to increase the top line by 10%, based on the current market conditions.

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The World Bank will support India as it sustainably develops its first modern inland water transport fairway on a 1,360 km-stretch of the Ganga river between Varanasi and the seaport of Haldia, bringing thousands of jobs in cargo logistics and transportation to one of the most populous regions in the country.

The World Bank's Board approved a $375 million loan to help the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) put in place the state-of-the-art infrastructure and navigation services needed to develop the waterway -- known as National Waterway 1 -- as an efficient logistics artery for northern India, while adopting the least intrusive methods of making the river navigable. The Capacity Augmentation of National Waterway 1 (Jal Marg Vikas) Project will help save more than 150,000 tons of CO2 equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions annually by moving cargo away from fossil fuel-consuming road and rail networks.

Experience from other countries shows that carrying bulk cargo by water is cheaper and less polluting that transporting it by road and rail. Goods in India, however, mostly travel by congested road and rail networks, slowing cargo movement and increasing the costs of trade logistics, which are estimated to account for as much as 18 % of the country's GDP. The current logistics network is also insufficient to accommodate the threefold increase in freight movement expected over the coming decade.

Harnessing the mighty rivers of South Asia to build an effective multi-modal transport strategy will give the region a competitive edge on the global scene, says Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director for India. This project will allow India to move goods seamlessly between road, rail and water, and bring down logistics' costs. Importantly, this Project will help IWAI put in place environmentally-sustainable strategies for inland navigation that can be replicated on other waterways in India and other countries.

Multi-modal transport solutions

NW1 passes through one of India's most densely populated areas, and a sizeable 40 percent of the country's traded goods either originate from this resource-rich region or are destined for its teeming markets. While the region generates about 370 million tonnes of freight annually, only about 5 million tonnes currently travels by water.

Once operational, NW1 will form part of the larger multi-modal transport network being planned along the Ganga. It will link with the Eastern Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor, as well as with the area's existing network of highways, allowing the region's manufacturers and agricultural producers to use different modes of transport to reach markets in India and abroad.

State-of-the-art infrastructure and services

The Project will help build the infrastructure needed to develop water transportation in the area. It will finance the construction of six multi-modal terminals, 10 RORO jetties, ship-repair facilities as well as passenger jetties along the river.

It will also help modernize the ageing Farakka lock and add a new lock to allow for smoother passage of boats. The Project will also help IWAI acquire a state-of-the-art River Information System as well as navigation aids to make travel on the river safer and more reliable.

The Government of India has an ambitious plan to develop more than a 100 waterways that criss-cross the country, says Arnab Bandyopadhyay, Lead Transport specialist and the World Bank task team leader for the Project. This Project will also help IWAI strengthen its institutional capacities to steer the development of the sector in an efficient and environmentally sustainable manner.

Environment sustainability key

All project interventions have been planned keeping in mind the need to ensure the environmental sustainability of the river. There will be no abstraction or storage of water under the Project, nor will the navigation services planned affect the flow of the river. Cognizant of the impacts of dredging to establish a deep channel, IWAI has decided to accept the currently available natural depths of the river - ranging from 3 meters in the lower stretches to 2 meters further upstream - for its proposed navigation channel, thus minimizing the need for dredging.

Environment protocol for operations

'Zero discharge' standards for all terminals and vessels; waste from vessels to be emptied only at designated barge-maintenance stations for treatment.

All vessels to use cleaner fuels such as liquefied natural gas.

Vessels travelling through operating in critical aquatic habitats will restrict speed to 5km per hour; noise mufflers and propeller guards to be fitted; no dredging in protected habitat.

The Project will also support the design and development of a new fleet of low-draft barges capable of carrying up to 2000 tonnes of cargo in these shallower depths. Where needed, temporary structures (bandals) made of natural materials such as bamboo will be erected to provide additional sailing depth. In addition, the Project has introduced an innovative 'assured depth' contract framework to incentivize minimal dredging by agencies responsible for keeping the fairway open for navigation. These strategies have helped reduce the need for dredging in the navigation channel to only about 1.5 percent of the river's annual silt load. Even this limited dredging will only be done using modern, less intrusive technologies such as the water injection method which has the additional advantage of ensuring that sediments remain within the river's ecosystem.

The US$375 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 7-year grace period, and a maturity of 17 years.

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U.S. Rep. John Katko won't run for state attorney general in 2018, a spokesperson confirmed Monday.

Katko, R-Camillus, was floated as a possible Republican candidate to challenge state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, in next year's statewide election. The New York Daily News reported over the weekend that GOP officials asked Katko to run for the seat.

"Given his background as a federal prosecutor and record in Congress, Rep. Katko has been approached," said Erin O'Connor, Katko's spokeswoman. "He is honored to be considered but is focused on representing central New York in Congress and will seek re-election in NY-24 in 2018."

O'Connor confirmed in an email to The Citizen that Katko won't run for attorney general next year.

Katko is in his second term representing New York's 24th Congressional District, which includes all of Cayuga, Onondaga and Wayne counties, plus the western portion of Oswego County.

He was first elected in 2014. He defeated then-U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei, a Democrat, by 20 points. Last year, he won his re-election bid by 22 points over Democratic challenger Colleen Deacon.

Katko's ability to win by large margins in a district with a Democratic enrollment advantage is one likely factor that state GOP leaders considered when asking him to run for attorney general.

He also has an extensive legal background. He was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York. He's prosecuted organized crime cases and led a crackdown on gangs in the Syracuse area.

Running a statewide campaign is a challenge for anyone, but especially Republicans in New York. A GOP candidate hasn't won a statewide race since George Pataki was re-elected governor in 2002.

Schneiderman, a former state senator, was elected attorney general in 2010. He won the race with 56 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2014 by a nearly identical margin.

A Quinnipiac University poll released in March found Schneiderman had a 55 percent job approval rating. While he was boosted by strong Democratic support, even 42 percent of GOP voters approved of his work as attorney general.

A Siena College poll, which was also released last month, revealed that Schneiderman had a 39 percent favorable rating. Less than 20 percent of voters had a negative opinion of the Democratic incumbent.
The World Bank Board approved a US$116.20 million loan for the Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Project to strengthen the financial and administrative capacity of the Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Company (MPUDC). MPUDC will serve as a nodal implementing agency for the state and support Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to implement citywide infrastructure improvement projects.

Based on the World Bank's previous engagement with similar state municipal finance agencies in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as well as its international experience in developing and strengthening similar institutions, the Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP) has now sought World Bank support for the institutional development of the MPUDC to help improve key urban services provided by ULBs, mainly in the areas of water and sanitation. MPUDC will also support GoMP prepare a plan for developing the Bhopal Indore Super Corridor (BISCO) region.

The project will support urban policy reforms in the state as identified under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), a mission aimed at transforming 500 cities and towns into efficient urban living spaces. At least 51 ULBs have been selected to implement these reforms.

Over 850,000 urban residents, of which at least 45 percent will be women, are expected to benefit directly through access to improved urban services across a range of urban sectors, mostly water and sanitation. With the consolidation of MPUDC as a nodal implementing agency of the state, many more residents are expected to be benefited through a series of investments undertaken by other development agencies and central government schemes.

Over the years Madhya Pradesh has undertaken some key reform actions in the urban sector like the enactment of the Madhya Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Act to ensure timely delivery of essential municipal services from a single window; establishment of citizen facilitation centers; introduction of common tendering and integrated computerized standard schedule of rates; design of a municipal e-governance system for all ULBs in the state (e-Nagar Palika); and development of automated building plan permission systems among others.

However, the state continues to face relatively low levels of access to basic services such as water, sewerage, street lighting, refuse disposal, and lighting. Three in ten poor people in urban MP have no access to piped water; and over half have no sanitation.

The project will support six areas of urban policy reforms for 51 ULBs. They include reforms related to property tax, user charges, advertisement tax, accounting, budgeting, and credit improvement.

It will help improve the efficiency in property tax collection, develop a state-level policy for user charges, monitor reforms to ensure that all ULBs migrate completely to double entry accrual systems as part of its e-Nagar Palika initiative, and revamp the budgeting process in certain ULBs to enable them to clearly forecast their increased financial obligations to manage investments, among others. These reform areas have been selected from the list of reforms identified by the national AMRUT program.

Climate change co-benefits

Madhya Pradesh is considered to be vulnerable to climate change. It is highly susceptible to variations in distribution and patterns of rainfall, which, in turn, affects access to drinking water currently sourced largely (almost 95 percent) from underground sources. The 2014 MP State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) has identified water pollution as a critical area of concern, and treatment of municipal wastewater is a stated priority of the government. This project will address some of the climate vulnerabilities through its infrastructure investments. It is estimated that US$36.5 million or 31.4 percent of the loan will result in climate change co-benefits through investments in water supply and sewerage.

The objective of this project is to develop institutions to ensure that good-quality urban infrastructure projects are made sustainable at the local level. The focus of this project is to support the Government of Madhya Pradesh develop the right rules, procedures, human capital and technical capacity of the MPUDC so that it can strengthen the ULBs to perform efficiently, said Uri Raich and Abhijit Ray, World Bank's Senior Urban Specialists and co-Task Team Leaders for the project.

The loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 5-year grace period and a final maturity of 35 years.

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The World Bank extended its support to the Government of Jharkhand with a proposed assistance program of about US$ 600 million (approx. Rs 3,870 crore1]) for four new state-level projects over the next 2-3 years. *This was announced by the World Bank Country Director, Junaid Ahmad, following his meetings with the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Raghubar Das. This is the first state visit by the Country Director of the World Bank since taking over office.

The new state-level projects will help improve infrastructure and provide sustainable urban and rural services in the areas of water supply and sanitation for the people of Jharkhand; increase the power transmission capacity; and diversify household income through select farm and non-farm sectors.

Jharkhand is a key state in India's growth trajectory and in its fight against poverty. The Chief Minister has identified a series of important reforms to hasten the pace of development in the state and the World Bank has committed its full support to these efforts, said Junaid Ahmad World Bank Country Director in India, following his meeting with the Chief Minister. Our projects over the next few years will help the state strengthen the delivery of public services through investments in rural and urban infrastructure - enabling its people to gain access to better jobs and services, he added.

Among the upcoming projects, the US$ 300 million (approx. Rs 1,935 crore) Jharkhand Municipal Development Project aims to provide citizens with sustainable basic services such as water supply and sanitation by enhancing the capacity of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to undertake policy reforms and set up systems that will help them better manage their resources and increase accountability.

The US$ 150 million (approx.

Rs 967.50 crore) World Bank financing for Jharkhand Power System Improvement Project will support the state in increasing the transmission of power from Jharkhand to other states of the country; increase the power transmission capacity; streamline procurement and contract management practices in the transmission company, Jharkhand Urja Sancharan Nigam (JUSNL); and help the distribution company, Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam, (JBVNL) reduce its Aggregate Transmission and Commercial (AT&C) losses.

The US$ 100 million (approx. Rs 645 crore) World Bank financing for Jharkhand Opportunities for Harnessing Rural Growth Project (JOHAR) will enhance and diversify household income in select farm and non-farm sectors. The project will promote market access and private sector participation, foster skill development relevant to the value chains, and facilitate the development of a pro-poor agricultural system.

The Jharkhand Service Delivery Improvement Project, for which the World Bank is expected to provide US$ 50 million (approx. Rs 322.50 crore) will help the government provide services to its citizens through the Pragya Kendras. The project aims to increase the number of beneficiaries accessing real time gross settlement of funds (RTGS) services, especially in rural areas; improve the timelines and quality of services and increase the number of beneficiaries receiving direct benefit transfers through Integrated Financial Management Services (IFMIS) platform.

In addition to the existing pipeline of proposed projects, the World Bank will support the Government of Jharkhand's reform initiatives through technical and analytical work, and bring experience from other states and countries to address state specific challenges.

The World Bank Country Director travelled to villages in Block Angara in Ranchi district and interacted with rural households. He saw how women self-help groups had mobilized themselves to help increase their family income by undertaking farm and non-farm livelihood activities like animal husbandry, handicrafts and minor forestry activities.

World Bank in Jharkhand

Several World Bank supported national development programs, amounting to Rs 2,393 crores, are currently active in Jharkhand - covering irrigation, health, roads, livelihoods, rural water, sanitation and education sectors.

Recently, a US$ 63 million (approx. Rs 406.35 crore) Tejaswini Socioeconomic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Jharkhand was signed with the state on February 23, 2017. The aim of the project is to help improve market-driven skills training and secondary education for adolescent girls and young women in select districts of Jharkhand.

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At least 27 persons were killed on Tuesday in Kenya when an oil tanker collided with a bus on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, authorities said.

The bus was travelling to Nairobi when it hit the tanker near Makindu in Kibwezi, Xinhua news agency quoted police commander Leonard Kimaiyo as saying.

"We have lost many people and others are critically injured," he said, adding that the death toll was expected to rise.

According to him, the bus driver was trying to overtake other vehicles when it collided with the tanker.

Kenya ranks first in African countries with the highest toll of road accidents caused due to speeding and poor enforcement of traffic rules.

According to government statistics, Kenya loses over 3,000 people annually in road accidents.

--IANS

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BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that the West Bengal government was not letting the benefits of central developmental schemes percolate down to the grassroots.

"The Bengal government is not letting (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji's schemes to percolate down to the grass roots. The (Pradhan Mantri) Ujjawala Yojana is working well in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. But we are facing difficulties in Bengal in delivering its benefits to the poor," Shah said here.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that the Mamata Banerjee government thought it will be able to stop Modi ji's chariot in the eastern state.

"I want to tell Trinamool Congress leaders that the more they try to dominate, the more you carry out injustice, the lotus (BJP's poll symbol) will bloom," he told party workers in Naxalbari block in West Bengal's Darjeeling district.

He said Bengal is becoming poorer day by day and had plunged into chaos due to the prevailing unemployment, violence and appeasement .

Describing Naxalbari as one of the last frontier villages in India, sharing borders with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Shah asserted that the central government had been working to reach out to all such villages through its developmental programmes.

Shah on Tuesday kick-off his three-day political campaign in the state, holding booth-level public interactions and visiting some houses to interact with residents at Naxalbari, from where the Maoist movement in India was launched half a century back.

Shah is scheduled to visit Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's constituency Bhowanipore in south Kolkata on Wednesday.

--IANS

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Actor Chris Pine is in talks to star as Scottish King Robert the Bruce in period drama "Outlaw King" with Ben Foster.

The character Bruce was first profiled as the Scottish royal in actor-filmmaker Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" who after betraying William Wallace and allowing the British to capture the rebel leader would go on to fight the British for Scotland's freedom following Wallace's death.

In this version, Bruce will take center-stage and include not only his fight against the British, but also the Catholic Church over the idea of a free country, reports variety.com.

Pine's "Hell or High Water" helmer David Mackenzie is directing the film from a script he is writing.

--IANS

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Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Gayatri Prajapati was on Tuesday granted bail in a case pertaining to gang rape of a minor.

His two accomplices, Vikas and Pintoo, were also granted bail by the special court for Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (Pocso) cases.

Special Judge O.P. Mishra, hearing the application, granted the bail to the former Mining and Transport Minister on two personal bonds of Rs 1 lakh each. A case against the minister for alleged rape and on charges of violating Posco Act was filed in the Gautampalli police station here in February.

On Monday, the state government submitted a status report to the Supreme Court in this matter, apprising it that the former minister has been arrested along with all the other accused and that the matter is being investigated.

The Supreme Court was also told by the state government that with the progress registered in the case, it should now stop hearing the matter. The apex court, meanwhile, directed the state government to hand over a copy of the status report to the victim.

Prajapati was a powerful minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government, who despite being charged in many cases, could not be arrested and became a major embarrassment for the Samajwadi Party government during the assembly elections. The BJP used his case to hit out against "lawlessness" in the state under the Samajwadi Party rule.

--IANS

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The German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel urged Russia to seek a political solution to the Syrian conflict, media reports said.

In a joint news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, Gabriel stressed that Russia must work out a political solution for Syria, Efe news reported.

Gabriel added that Russia is the only state that can put pressure on the Syrian regime, while reiterating that there should be a democratic Syria in the future, without President Bashar al-Assad.

In the same vein, the Jordanian minister stated that there will be no military solution in Syria and a political solution is inevitable.

Safadi stressed that other parties must realize that there will be no solution without Russia and dialogue is essential.

--IANS

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Lashing out racial abuse faced by northeastern people in major Indian cities, Mizoram Chief Minister says he himself was a victim of such slurs in various corners of the country.

"Racial abuse is the worst thing in this country. I have faced it myself a lot of times. These are foolish people who do not know their own country," the 74-year-old Chief Minister told IANS in an interview .

"In a reception some 20-25 years ago, one gentleman said to me 'You don't look like an Indian' to which I replied?: 'Tell me in one sentence what does an Indian look like?' "

The five-time Chief Minister said it is not only the common people but politicians at the level  cutting across party lines  who do not have a basic idea of India.

"Even the leadership, be it the BJP or the Congress or any other political party, if you do not know your own country, how can you be a leader?"

"Many of these leaders do not know about their own country, which is very, very foolish. It speaks about the lack of education and patriotism. It also speaks about their feeling of having a superior mentality," he added.

The Congress veteran further said such abuses and step-motherly treatment towards the people of a particular region gives birth to regionalism and secessionism.

"They don't even know that India is populated by at least three major races of the world. Recently someone from Madhya Pradesh said the Dravidians (South Indian) people are very black, they don't realise that Northern India is populated by Aryans and in the North East it is the Mongoloid people. Besides, there are many aboriginal tribes in our country."

"That is why in the northeast, this regionalism is very high. (Feelings of) Secessionism (sic) is very high because we are not accepted outside the northeast. This is how so-called Indian people treat us," he added.

Despite various efforts of the central government, including steps like setting up of North East Cells, racial attacks on people from the region, especially students and women, just won't die down.

In 2014, Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, died in Delhi in a racial brawl, forcing the government to set up the M.P. Bezbaruah-led committee to gather information on issues raised by people from northeast India who are living elsewhere in India, especially in the metros.

Recently, a student from Arunachal Pradesh in Bengaluru, Higio Gungtey, faced a racial attack by his landlord. The landlord assaulted him for over 90 minutes and made racial remarks.
India and Armenia on Tuesday signed three agreements after Vice President Hamid Ansari held a bilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan in Yerevan.

"Vice President reviews entire gamut of bilateral relationship with Prime Minister of Armenia; #IndiaArmenia sign three agreements," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on peaceful uses of outer space, another MoU on cooperation in youth matters and a programme of cultural cooperation for the years 2017-2020.

Ansari reached the Armenian capital on Monday. On Wednesday he will leave for Poland on the second and last leg of his visit abroad.

--IANS

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Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was fined 50 percent of his match fees for disputing the umpire's decision during the Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Rising Pune Supergiant at the Wankhede Stadium here.

The incident occurred during the final over of Monday night's match which Mumbai lost by three runs. Needing 161 for the win, Mumbai could only manage 157/8 in their 20 overs.

"Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Indians captain, was fined 50 percent of his match fee for showing dissent at an umpire's decision during his team's VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 match against the Rising Pune Supergiant at the Wankhede Stadium," the IPL governing body announced in a statement on Tuesday.

"Sharma admitted to the Level 1 offence 2.1.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct for players and team officials. This is Sharma's second Level 1 offence this season.

"For Level 1 breaches of the IPL Code of Conduct, the match referee's decision is final and binding," the statement added.

Rohit, who was the highest scorer for Mumbai with 58 runs off 39 balls, got into an argument with umpire S. Ravi with the hosts needing 11 runs from four balls when Pune pacer Jaydev Unadkat bowled a slower delivery which was slightly outside the off-stump.

Probably judging that the delivery will be called a wide, Rohit decided not to offer a shot. But the umpire decided to adjudge it a legal delivery which prompted the Mumbai captain to protest the decision.

Rohit gesticulated animatedly and remonstrated with Ravi before square-leg umpire A. Nand Kishore stepped into to break up the argument.

This is the second time during this year's IPL that Rohit has shown dissent at an umpire's decision. He had earlier disagreed with the umpire's decision during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders a couple of weeks ago.

However, he was let off with a reprimand by the match referee on that occassion.

--IANS

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo will hold an event in Cayuga County Wednesday, according to email invitations obtained by The Citizen.

The email informs recipients of an event that will be held at noon Wednesday. The location of the event isn't disclosed.

The purpose of Cuomo's visit, according to the email, is to "discuss and celebrate some of the many great initiatives and accomplishments that are moving upstate New York forward."

There are several possible reasons for Cuomo's event. It could be to celebrate the formal establishment of the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, which has received increased interest from the state in recent years. He could tout the $2 million included in the 2017-18 state budget for Auburn and Owasco drinking water system improvements.

Another possible explanation for Cuomo's visit: The state is planning to construct a welcome center across from Memorial City Hall in Auburn. Exploratory drilling was conducted on the future site of the center last week.

More details about Cuomo's visit likely won't be known until late Tuesday, when the governor's public schedule for the following day is released.

Cuomo last visited Cayuga County in August 2014. He hosted the Governor's Bassmaster Challenge on Owasco Lake  an event that coincided with the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on nearby Cayuga Lake.

While in Cayuga County, he attended a luncheon at the Springside Inn in Fleming.

Cuomo also visited Cayuga County in 2010 when he campaigned for governor.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan met officials here on Tuesday, a day after the Supreme Court told his government to reinstate T.P. Senkumar as the police chief.

Vijayan met both legal experts and leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on what needs to be done.

According to informed sources, a final decision was expected at the weekly cabinet meeting to be held here on Wednesday.

While some wanted the state government to file a revision petition in the apex court, others advised that it would be counter productive.

The decision to remove Senkumar as Director General of Police was taken on the day Vijayan assumed office on May 25, 2016.

The government then claimed that he was moved out for poor performance over the manner he handled the Puttingal Devi temple cracker blast and the Jisha murder cases.

Senkumar is set to retire on June 30.

--IANS

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The Union government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that draft rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, for regulating upkeep of the animals, putting of load on them, their transpiration and other aspects are presently with the Union Law Ministry for vetting.

The bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud was told this as they sought to the progress in drafting and finalisation of the rules under the 1960 act.

The top court by its July 12, 2016 order had given the Environment & Forests Ministry three months time to finalise the Rules as it was then informed by it that the draft Rules have already been prepared, and are under process of finalisation.

The court had asked the ministry to frames the Rules while hearing a PIL by animal rights activists Gauri Maulekh who had sought curbs on the large number of cattle being illegally sent to Nepal for Gadhimai festival. The festival, which takes place once in five years, was last held in November 2014.

The court on Tuesday sought the status of the rules in the course of the hearing of a petition by the Akhil Bharat Krishi Goseva Sangh seeking curbs on the smuggling of unproductive cows to Bangladesh for beef processing units.

Seeking the latest position, the court told the government counsel Binu Tamta: "You have already done for Nepal, do it for Bangladesh."

"If (Rules are) finalised, we will give you a date to place them before us. If not we will give you some more time to do so."

The court also told the counsel for the Sangh that transportation of cattle from India to Nepal has already stopped and the paramilitary forces along with district administration will be involved in checking the illegal transpiration of cattle.

The top court was informed on Monday (April 25) that every cow and its progeny will be given a Unique Identification Number (UIN) and that would record their details like age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body colour, horn type, tail switch and special marks.

It was also told that rescued or abandoned cows would be kept at shelter homes that would be set-up by the state governments in every district.

The matter will be heard next on July 12.

--IANS

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French far-right Presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen on Tuesday visited a food market in Paris where she promoted a policy of protectionism with regards to the country's local produce and accused her rival of being in favour of market deregulation.

Le Pen, who temporarily stepped down as leader of the far-right National Front (FN) on Monday night ahead of the second and final round of the election, was on the campaign trail in Rungis, south of Paris, to meet workers in the food industry, Efe news reported.

During the visit, she tweeted: "Breeders, producers, butchers: the State must defend the French meat industry against unfair international competition!"

She said she believed the State should fix regulation while her rival, independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, was in favour of "total deregulation".

Le Pen, whose manifesto promotes a protectionist stance and rejects the principals of the European Union (EU) single market, said French school children should benefit from quality local produce in their canteens.

Late Monday, she attacked her pro-EU rival again, dubbing him a puppet of the outgoing Socialist Party President Francois Hollande.

Le Pen and Macron are due to go head-to-head in the second and final round of the Presidential election on May 7.

Macron led Sunday's first round, taking 24.01 per cent of the vote while Le Pen garnered 21.30 per cent.

Both candidates, considered outsider choices, beat the traditional centre-left and centre-right parties in France.

Macron currently led the polls ahead of the second vote, which has been welcomed by pro-EU politicians across Europe and even prompted European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to break protocol and offer his personal support.

Le Pen, backed by the Front National and other eurosceptic parties in Europe, said she would consider a referendum on France's membership of the bloc and its use of the single currency.

A victory for Macron would make him the youngest person ever to hold the French presidency while victory for Le Pen would see the country elect its first ever female head of state.

--IANS

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Six mobile caravans were launched here on Tuesday to sensitise people in the rural areas about issues of gender-based discrimination in Punjab.

The mobile caravans, launched by Punjab Additional Chief Secretary S.K. Sandhu, is the initiative of the Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (PSCPCR) and Punjab State Commission for Women (PSCW), along with NGO Save the Children.

The caravans, carrying the message 'Identity is different, but Rights are one', will reach out to 550 villages of Muktsar, Bathinda, Mansa and Fazilka districts of Punjab.

"The innovatively designed vans will use a mix of infotainment techniques to educate the community about the sensitive issue of gender-based discrimination. Each van is equipped to show a feature film highlighting methods to report female foeticide incidences and also has a 'Nukkad Natak' team which will initiate discussions about giving equal treatment to boys and girls," a spokesperson said.

"There was a need to get more innovative in sensitising people through different mediums and also to sensitise the legal fraternity and the law enforcing agencies. While government is making efforts, mindset of people needs to change to curb gender-based violence," Sandhu said.

Underlining the objective of the event, Michelle Bowman, Director of Programmes Operations, Save the Children, said: "We are confident that the campaign will provide children and adolescents of Punjab a platform to raise their concerns and suggestions about gender equality.

"Reducing gender based discrimination is a key sustainable development goal for India and through our programmes we not only ensure that community is sensitised on gender-based discrimination but also initiates action towards reducing it," Bowman added.

"Children's rights cannot be ensured unless we stop discriminating between different genders. While, the government is making efforts to ensure well-being of all the children, we need support from parents, teachers and community and leaders to ensure that we root out the practices of gender based discrimination," Sukesh Kalia, Chairperson, PSCPCR, said.

"The commission is proactively reaching out to women in the state to ensure support for dealing with the issues of discrimination and violence. Awareness on laws and legislations protecting women will play a key role in ensuring their rights. The focus should be on minor girls, especially beggars and those working as domestic helps who are victims of domestic violence," Paramjit Kaur Landran, Chairperson, PSCW said.

--IANS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday discussed India-Nepal ties with his Nepalese counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda over telephone.

"The Prime Ministers discussed recent developments in India-Nepal relations, including the recently concluded highly successful state visit of President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari to India," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Bhandari was in India from April 17 to 21 in what was her first foreign visit abroad after assuming office in October 2015.

"Prachanda spoke about the ongoing efforts of his government to take all stakeholders on board in the constitution implementation process," the PMO statement said.

"Prachanda also spoke about Nepal holding the first local elections in nearly 20 years and requested for India's assistance in this connection."

According to the statement, Modi conveyed the good wishes of the people and government of India to Nepal in its national efforts to achieve peace, stability and socio-economic transformation.

He assured Prachanda that India will extend all possible assistance for local elections.

"The two Prime Ministers reiterated their commitment to advance multi-faceted India-Nepal cooperative ties for the benefit of the two peoples," it said.

--IANS

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a meeting with Germany's Foreign Minister after he decided to meet with NGOs opposed to the occupation of Palestinian territories, an official said.

Netanyahu canceled his meeting with Sigmar Gabriel after the German statesman met with representatives of the Breaking the Silence NGO, an activist group composed of former Israeli soldiers critical of the government's actions in Palestinian territories, Efe news reported on Tuesday.

"I can confirm that the meeting has been cancelled," said spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister's office Ofir Gendelman.

Speaking to German TV earlier, Gabriel said that it would be lamentable if the Israeli head of government were to cancel a meeting in reaction to his decision to hold talks with the NGOs.

Further, he said it would be inconceivable that a German minister would ever cancel a meeting because an Israeli statesperson had decided to meet a group of people critical of the German government.

He added, however, that if Netanyahu did cancel the meeting, it would not be a catastrophe or change Israeli-German relations.

Israel's president Reuven Rivlin did meet with Gabriel, saying that "relations between Germany and Israel had never been easy, nor would they ever be".

According to Israeli TV, Netanyahu had warned Gabriel not to hold discussions with Breaking the Silence.

Gabriel did not heed the warning, and also met with activists from the NGO Betselem.

--IANS

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Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali on Tuesday said that he has no information about the reported presence of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Pakistan.

"I have no information in this regard," Abdali said in response to a question after delivering an address on "Strengthening India-Afghanistan Strategic Relations in an Uncertain World" organised by the think tank Brookings India.

Newsweek magazine reported that al-Zawahiri is living under the protection of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence in the port city of Karachi after surviving a drone strike at a remote area near the border with Afghanistan.

Al-Zawahiri, an Egypt-born and trained surgeon, has been protected by the ISI since US forces evicted Al Qaeda from Afghanistan in late 2001, the report quoted sources as saying.

--IANS

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A group of students from the northeast, along with some ABVP activists, were detained on Tuesday as they were going to protest outside the Chinese embassy here against the Chinese government's move to rename six towns in Arunachal Pradesh.

Starting from Arunachal Bhawan, the agitators headed towards the Chinese Embassy but were stopped midway by police.

The protesters of the Arun Chetna Manch also included a few members of RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) were continuously shouting slogans like 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'

"We joined these people because the leader of the demonstration (Romjir Rakshapa) is a Delhi University cultural secretary and we support India' s integrity " ABVP member Himang Verma told IANS.

Rakshapa said that he belongs to Arunachal Pradesh and lives in one of the renamed towns, and that he cannot allow it.

"Arunachal Pradesh is part of India... My district's name is changed to something which I cannot even pronounce. I am a proud soul of India, " he told media persons.

"The Chinese government is also misleading people through media that inhabitants of Arunachal Pradesh support China and want to be a part of it, which is a complete falsehood... I am an Arunachali and I belong to India, " he added.

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".

--IANS

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Actress Richa Chadha, now a producer, says that she always wanted to make a film which she would like to see as an audience.

She held the screening of her first production "Khoon Ali Chithi" on Monday here.

"Digital medium is giving a lot of opportunities to filmmakers to make content of their choice. People used to tell me to get into production, but I haven't thought about that as I was really busy. I always wanted to make content which I like to see as an audience and that's how I came on board to produce this film," Richa said at the screening.

"Khoon Ali Chithi", a Punjabi short film, is a love story set against the backdrop of turmoil in Punjab in the early 1990s.

The film's screening was attended by celebrities like Imtiaz Ali, Ali Fazal and Swara Bhaskar.

Ali, who has earlier worked in short films for digital platforms, feels that short films are a great platform for content creators. "It is very crisply made and gives a nice message," said Ali, who has teamed up with Richa for "Fukrey 2".

The actor also informed that the "Fukrey 2" shoot has been completed and it will release in September.

Director Imtiaz feels that in a short film, irrespective of the genre, the creator can tell a story of his choice. "As a filmmaker, I feel this medium is very amazing to express one's creativity. In short film, you can tell a story of your choice irrespective of genre. It gives you freedom when you are making short films."

Actress Swara believes that the audience's attention span is reducing day-by-day so short films are a great platform to express one's story. "A short film is very new and an exciting medium which is getting explored by almost all filmmakers. Our attention span is getting reduced so now people prefer watching short films over full length feature films. For every actor, any good story is an attraction whether it's in short film or a film."

Actress Akshara Haasan feels that the short format is a great platform to experiment, make mistakes and learn from them. "Short films are important. I have also directed a short film in which you get to experiment and make mistakes on small scale and get to learn out of it."

--IANS

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Israel's Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon on Tuesday called the coming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel as enormously significant.

"Its timing is so right. The fact that this visit happens after so many years, after being so hesitant, after not talking about it... things have evolved. It took an effort," Carmon said after delivering a special address on 'India-Israel: Enduring Partnership' at an event organised by Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library here.

"The (bilateral) relation is very deep," he said.

On the importance of the bilateral defence relationship, the envoy said, "The defence relationship is there. It is not the only facet of our relation. In order to reflect the depth of our relation, we should be doing more in other areas."

Although the dates have not been finalised, Modi is expected to visit Israel in July while returning from G-20 Summit in Hamburg (Germany) from July 7-8.

This will be the first prime ministerial visit from India to Israel.

On a query on terrorism, Carmon said: "Terrorism is one of the challenges that we face and India and Israel have suffered a lot due to terrorism."

"The challenge is how to unite the forces -- either bilaterally or through an international mechanism. The world lacks the mechanism; the world even lacks the definition of what terrorism is."

"This is a new battlefield and it is not between the armies anymore," he added.

Carmon also talked of the challenge of safeguarding human rights while fighting terrorism.

During his address, Carmon said his country's focus now is on cooperation in the field of water resources management, dairy farming and agricultural cooperation at the next level.

He also talked about promotion of better understanding between the people of the two countries about each other's culture and history.

Offering his condolences on the death of CRPF jawans in the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, Carmon said: "Very sad news from Chhattisgarh. We have sent out our condolences to the victims' families."

India and Israel are celebrating 25th year of their diplomatic relationship.

India established diplomatic relations with Israel on January 29, 1992. Since then, two Israeli Presidents -- Ezer Weizmann and Reuven Rivlin -- have visited India, in 1996 and 2016 respectively.

President Pranab Mukherjee visited Israel in October 2015.

Israel Aerospace Industries on April 6 announced the signing of contracts worth almost $2 billion for the supply of medium-range surface-to-air missiles and the missile defence systems to the Indian Army.

Israel is one of the largest and most reliable suppliers of military hardware to India.

--IANS

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A dozen men were talking to Luke and Sylvies father in the dooryard as they came out of the
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday termed the massacre of 25 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh "cold blooded murder" and said the government will review its anti-Maoist strategy.

Singh, who visited the state capital to pay tributes to the dead Central Reserve Police Force troopers at their camp, also said that Maoist outfits were against development.

He met Chief Minister Raman Singh and senior officials.

"The attack in Sukma is a cold blooded murder... It is an act of cowardice. The attack was out of desperation," Singh told reporters after paying homage to the dead men.

"We are working to root out the problem of LWE (Left Wing Extremism). The LWE groups are anti-development. They do not want development in the area. The Centre and state governments will work together," he added.

Rajnath Singh said he had convened a meeting of states affected by Maoism on May 8. "We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it."

The Minister accused the Maoists of using tribals as fodder.

On Monday, 300 to 400 Maoists, including women, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch in Chhattisgarh, killing the troopers and escaping with their AK-47 assault rifles.

Singh, who reached Raipur with Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir and CRPF Additional Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia, said the government won't not let the sacrifices by the soldiers go in vain.

"We have accepted it as a challenge. It will be answered appropriately.

"We have lost precious lives of our soldiers... Left Wing Extremists are trying to impede the progress (of the region)... They are the biggest enemy of the poor," added Singh.

Singh also visited a hospital and enquired about the health of the CRPF personnel injured in the Maoist ambush.

--IANS

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Traders in Ghaziabad on Tuesday protested against the collection at Dasna toll plaza and freed the passage of vehicles for over an hour.

They staged a sit-in at the toll plaza and suspended the collection of toll on National Highway 24.

There was heavy police deployment at the plaza but the police personnel merely watched as the traders warned the collectors to stop the collection of toll within a month.

In a memorandum submitted to National Highways Authority of India site engineer R.K. Pandey and addressed to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the traders demanded immediate suspension of toll collection.

According to them, the toll was being collected illegally as its term had expired three years ago. The contractor collected the toll with the help of goons, the traders said.

Samyukt Vyapar Mandal President Ashok Bhartiya said the traders would open the barrier free to all if the collection did not stop before August 15.

--IANS

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Kicking-off his 15-day "Vistaar Yatra" (party expansion tour) in West Bengal's Naxalbari, the birthplace of the Maoist movement in India, on Tuesday, BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday took on the ruling Trinamool Congress as being "even worse" than the state's erstwhile Left Front regime.

He asserted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development agenda is replacing the violence that was initiated by the Leftists in Naxalbari.

"I have started the tour from Naxalbari. This is not random. This is a huge indication. Communist Party and the Leftists had unleashed violence from Naxalbari. Today I am here to say, where there was beginning of violence, there in the same village, Modi's 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' mantra is echoing through," he said.

The Naxalbari block in northern West Bengal's Darjeeling district was the stage for an armed peasant uprising in 1967 led by the local tribals that inspired the Maoist movement which spread to various other states through the years. The Maoists are also called Naxalites, the name being derived from Naxalabari.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minced no words while slamming the Trinamool.

"Earlier we used to say Bengal is regressing because of Communist rule. Then there was expectation of development after Mamata government came in. But unfortunately, Trinamool government is even worse than the Left Front regime," he said.

Taking pot shots at the Trinamool over the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada video sting footage, Amit Shah said the state government has only indulged in corruption and vote bank of appeasement.

"Whether you talk of Sarada or Naradha, the state government has only indulged in corruption. It is promoting of appeasement in the name of development. We can see signs of this appeasement policy in their development work," he said.

Amit Shah attacked the Trinamool over fake currency, crude bomb manufacture and Bangladeshi infiltrators.

"They are opposing demonetisation but through Malda, the entire country's fake currency note industry is being run in Bengal. One after the other, manufacturing industries have shut down. There are no industries left... only bomb making factories are working... crude bombs are being manufactured.

"The entire state is reeling under the problem of Bangladeshi infiltrators. Jobs of youths of Bengal are being snatched away by the infiltrators. Do you think Bengal will progress like this? You have seen Communist, Congress and Trinamool, so now it's turn of the BJP," he said.

--IANS

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President Donald Trump accused Canada of hurting milk producers in Wisconsin and other US states, warning that he will not continue to put up with such behaviour.

"Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!" Trump tweeted on Teusday.

On Monday, the administration announced its decision to impose a 20 per cent tariff on lumber imports from Canada after claiming that it was unable to come to an agreement on the matter with the US northern neighbour, Efe news reported.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that Canada had been notified about Trump's decision and that the tariff will be applied retroactively.

The US lumber industry has complained for decades that Canada subsidizes its producers to be able to sell wood products at reduced prices in the US market.

The President's threat comes while the two nations are preparing to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement signed, along with Mexico, more than two decades ago.

NAFTA is a trade "disaster", Trump reiterated last week, returning to a theme that he pounded non-stop during the election campaign, namely that he will renegotiate a better deal for the US.

Up to now, Trump's harshest criticisms of NAFTA have focused on Mexico, but in the past few days the president has shifted his sights to accuse Canada of harming US farmers and milk producers.

Meanwhile, Trump is scheduled on Tuesday to sign an executive order instructing his team to review the policies and laws governing the agricultural sector with an eye toward doing away with rules that could "unnecessarily hinder economic growth in the agriculture sector".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) on Tuesday began an emergency campaign to immunise 30,000 children against measles in Baidoa, one of the hardest-hit areas in Somalia.

Steven Lauwerier, Unicef's Representative in Somalia, said the children have never been immunised before and come from remote areas. Health workers often cannot reach them because of decades-old conflict that has ravaged the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The only way to prevent sickness and death from measles is to make sure all children receive the vaccine," Lauwerier said.

"A child suffering from severe acute malnutrition is nine times more likely to die from a disease like measles than a healthy child. We have no time to lose," he said.

Conducted in partnership with the Health Ministry, WHO, and several non-governmental organisations, the campaign also includes a vitamin A supplement to boost immunity as well as de-worming tablets.

About 5,700 cases of suspected measles have so far this year been reported across the country, more than the total number of cases in 2016.

Measles, a viral respiratory infection that spreads through air and contact with infected mucus and saliva, thrives in congested, unsanitary displacement camps.

More than 100,000 people have come to Baidoa in search of assistance, including at least 70,000 in March alone.

"We know only too well from the 2011 famine that measles, combined with malnutrition and displacement, is an especially lethal combination for children," said Lauwerier.

The Baidoa campaign is part of an effort to vaccinate about 110,000 displaced children below five years old in hotspots across south central Somalia, plus 250,000 children in Somaliland, against the deadly contagious disease, by the end of May.

--IANS

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The Uttar Pradesh government has asked the administration to be extra vigilant and ensure that incidents based on trivial things do not blow up into major incidents that catch media attention.

In a missive to all district magistrates and district police chiefs, the state's Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar has said an intelligence system should be in place so that such happenings, crimes, mishaps and other incidents are reported immediately to the state government.

This, he said was in pursuance of the directives issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

According to the local intelligence units, Bhatnagar said officials should promptly go to such scenes of crimes or mishaps and take necessary action.

He said the police officials should be sympathetic towards the affected families and ensure rescue and relief at the earliest.

In case any such incident requires the intervention of the state government the matter should be brought to his notice immediately, the chief secretary said.

He warned officials of any laxity with regard to this directive and said stringent action will be taken against such officials.

--IANS

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The state of Arkansas executed two convicted criminals, a first of its kind in the US since 2000, the media reported.

Both the executions were carried out on Monday night, The New York Times reported.

Jack H. Jones Jr., 52, and Marcel Williams, 46, both died from the injection of a three-drug combination, after a flurry of failed, last-ditch appeals.

The executions in the death chamber at the Cummings Unit, a state prison southwest of Pine Bluff, came four days after the state put to death another convict, the state's first lethal injection in more than a decade, Ledell Lee.

Jones was sentenced to death in 1996 for raping and killing Mary Phillips, reports The Washington Post.

According to court records, Jones stalked and killed Phillips, a book-keeper, and before killing her, he beat her 11-year-old daughter so severely that police thought she was dead when they got to the scene.

Williams was sentenced to death in 1997 for abducting, robbing, raping and killing Stacy Errickson, who was 22 and was living at the Little Rock Air Force Base while her husband was serving overseas.

Monday's second execution was briefly delayed by a federal judge so she could consider claims that the first lethal injection may have been botched, but she lifted that stay shortly before 9.30 p.m.

A fourth man, Kenneth Williams, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, reports The Washington Post.

Arkansas hoped to resume executions this month by carrying out eight death sentences in 11 days because its supply of one of the drugs has an April 30 expiration date.

However, the unprecedented schedule has been thwarted by court orders blocking half of those lethal injections.

--IANS

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The White House has announced that it would host an unusual private briefing on North Korea for the entire Senate amid escalating tensions, a media report said.

Press secretary Sean Spicer told the media on Monday that the lawmakers would be briefed on Wednesday by several senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, The Washington Post reported.

He emphasised that the meeting plan had been convened by Senate leadership and that the White House was serving "as the location".

A senior administration official said the meeting with senators will take place in the auditorium at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the building next to the White House that houses most of the National Security Council.

The auditorium will be temporarily turned into a "sensitive compartmented information facility", which is the term for a room where sensitive national security information can be shared, the official said.

Such facilities are configured to withstand eavesdropping or other technical snooping.

David Popp, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said: "The President (Donald Trump) offered to host the meeting and the Majority Leader agreed."

Other Senate leadership staffers signalled that most, if not all, senators in both parties are expected to attend the White House briefing, The Washington Post reported.

However, the unusual location left many staffers confused.

During debates surrounding Syria's civil war, terrorist attacks in Europe and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's into Russian interference in US elections, Cabinet secretaries and senior law enforcement officials have travelled to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers.

A senior aide, said it was President Trump's idea to hold the meeting at the White House.

"I heard this came from Trump himself, that in a nutshell he said, 'Why don't we have them up here instead?'" he added.

--IANS

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Whats in a name? Ask Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He had plans to start canteens on the lines of Amma canteens to provide the urban poor affordable food. The chain was christened Anna canteen (Anna is brother in Kannada), but it was renamed Indira canteen to honour the former Prime Minister. Now, Twitterati is demanding that the chain be named Akka (sister) or Akka Mahadevi, the 12th century poet. Their argument: Honour a Kannadiga. But for all the names, the plan to open 200 canteens is stuck: There are no suppliers to deliver quality food at the price of Rs 10.
Along with the USA, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand are also tightening work visa requirements. The UK is also tightening up its visa regime and headed into Brexit as well. This will have a negative impact on Indian information technology (IT) services.
April 26, 1962

(No local pictures from April 25, 1962)

Expansion of Auburn Community College into a four year school, fallout shelters, the status of Auburn schools, school dropouts, open meetings, quality education, elementary school libraries, educational philosophies and school data.

These were some of the subjects of the 52 questions put before the Board of Education candidates at a forum last night at Central High School.

Replying to the questions were Theodore L. Cheche, James M. F. Cole, John J. Pettigrass, Walter J. Stopyra, Dr. William A. Kotwas, Bruce F. Failing and Robert B. Hole. Not present were candidates J. Raymond Greene and Phillip J. Conboy.

The question of ACC going four years was posed to Mr. Hole, who said that the college was started on a two-year basis and had proved its merit as an asset for the community as an educational institution and as a business. He said that he shared the view that through steps the college would eventually be four-year.

Divergent views on ACC were given by Mr. Stopyra who said that his son had done "so well during two years at ACC and the other two at another college" that he felt the college should remain two year, and Mr. Pettigrass said that the student explosion and rising costs meant that the college should go four-year.

Asked about the "adequacy of Auburn schools," Mr. Pettigrass said that old schools would have to be replaced and "we will need new curriculums. In the future we will have to give something extra."

Concerning the accelerated program of science, math and languages, Mr. Hole said that while there was a need for increasing education, the accelerated program in the elementary schools posed the problem of how early to begin the advanced courses. He said that the board was studying the courses and would make greater efforts in the advanced areas in stages based on experience.

Mr. Cole said that if the people wanted quality education, it was going to cost money. "We don't want to add things that don't raise the standards and we don't want to sacrifice quality in the hope of saving money," he said.

On fallout shelters in schools, Mr. Failing said that the board should "first build schools, then worry about shelters. If there are not shelters at home, why have them at school?" Mr. Hole said that the board now felt that "Go Home Drills" were adequate.

Concerning the use of school space, Mr. Hole predicted that ultimately schools would go on a year-round basis.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president will visit a polling booth in Kolkatas Bhawanipur on Wednesday. It is the assembly constituency of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the symbolism is self-evident. The BJP chief wants his party structure galvanised in the home turf of the Trinamool Congress chief.
West Bengal Chief Minister on asked the people of the state not to support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the saffron outfit "divides people in the name of religion."

"We do not believe in the BJP's Hindutva which divides people. They are not Hindus. They defame Hinduism. They create communal tension in the name of religion," she said at a public meeting here.

"I am a Hindu. I love and respect all religions. We will not tolerate communal flare-up in the name of religion," she said.

The chief minister was apparently responding to the BJP's accusation on Monday that her government was preventing Hindus from observing religious festivals like Ram Navami and pursuing of minority appeasement.

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya had stated that the party would oust the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government through people's movement if the latter continued with its minority appeasement policy.

Mamata mocked that the Centre was even talking about Aadhaar cards for cows.

Commenting on the Teesta water sharing dispute, she said, "We love Bangladesh. But if we give Teesta water, north Bengal will not get water. We have given an alternative proposal."

Talking about the development in Cooch Behar district, the TMC leader said, "We have set up Panchanan Barma University, 10 Krishak Bazars, ITIs, polytechnics and two medical colleges here."

The funds were also allotted for Cooch Behar stadium, she added.
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has ruled West Bengal for six years now. Her party had defeated the Communist Party of India (Marxist) -led Left parties in the 2011 Assembly polls, and decimated them in the 2016 polls. Overall, the democratic Left in India has seldom been this feeble since independence, both in terms of its legislative presence and strength on the ground. The radical left movement is a shadow of its glory years of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Twenty students of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) here will pursue Bachelors degree in China with assured jobs after graduation.

This is the first time such opportunity has come to the tribal students of KISS, Dr P K Routray, CEO of KISS told reporters here today.

The students' study and scholarship in China materialised following deliberations of KISS authorities with Prof Zhou Sheng, general secretary of Yangzhou Polytechnic College (YPC).

Prof Achyuta Samanta, Founder of KIIT & KISS had signed MoU with YPC and some other institutions during his visit to China in March, he said.

YPC agreed to provide scholarship to 20 students from KISS to pursue their graduation (+3) in their university, which will begin from the upcoming semester.

These students will be given a course in Mandarin in the initial year, after which they will be allowed to take up the course of their choice. The College shall ensure placement for these students in top Chinese Multinational Companies having offices in India.

Congratulating the selected students, Prof Samanta said efforts are on to arrange scholarship and study of KISS students in reputed educational institutions of other countries as well.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Twenty-one people died when a boat capsized in a Senegal delta region popular with tourists, firefighters told AFP today, adding that the vast majority who lost their lives were women.

The incident occurred last night, with the traditional flat-bottomed boat overturning off Bettenty, an island area just north of The Gambia, with 72 on board.

All except two present were women, said Commander Oumar Kane, a senior firefighting official, who gave an initial death toll of 20 people today morning.

"The body of one missing person has been found," Kane told AFP, bringing the toll to 21 dead. Another 51 people had been rescued, he added.

The boat capsized as the women were on their way to look for seafood, he said. The incident occurred in a coastal area well known for delicacies like oysters, where tourists flock in large numbers.

Bettenty is an island area in the Saloum delta where such boats, known as pirogues, are often used for travelling between the mangroves and from one islet to another.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, Kane said.

L'Observateur daily said the boat had capsized in high winds, while other newspapers said it had foundered because it was overloaded. Senegalese radio station RFM said some of the women were pregnant.

Meanwhile Senegal's official APS agency reported that Fisheries Minister Oumar Gueye was en route to the site of the tragedy to present the government's condolences.

Several papers recalled the Joola tragedy of 2002 when a ferry sank during a storm, killing more than 1,800 people in what was one of the world's worst-ever maritime disasters.

In that incident, the ferry was licensed to hold just 580 people, including crew, but investigators found it was carrying well over 2,000 when it went down while passing the Gambian coast.

Only 64 people were rescued.

The Bettenty sinking came 12 days after a deadly fire ripped through a Muslim retreat in southeastern Senegal killing around 30 people.

Police are still investigating the cause of the blaze which hit a site visited every year by hundreds and sometimes thousands of pilgrims from the country's powerful Tijaniyya Muslim brotherhood.

Initial reports suggested it may have been caused by a gas canister which exploded while pilgrims were making tea in a straw shelter. Police arrested four people.

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Three Taliban militants involved in a series of bomb attacks in Pakistan have been arrested by counter terrorism police in the country's Punjab province, police said.

According to the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police, they received an information about some militants belonging to Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, present in Galla Sarwar Maharwala near Alam Chowk in Gujranwala district, some 90 kilometres from Lahore.

The militants were planning to attack some sensitive installation and personnel of law enforcement agencies, the CTD said.

The CTD team along with police yesterday raided the hideout of terrorists and nabbed the militants before they could launch an attack.

"Three terrorists have been arrested. Some 2,395 grammes of explosives, 100 feet detonating cord and three detonators were recovered from them," the CTD said.

They have been shifted to undisclosed location for interrogation.

A case has been registered against the militants.

Last week, security forces had killed eight terrorists of Jammatul Ahrar in Sheikhupura.

Jammatul Ahrar has been involved in a series of bombing in Punjab especially in Lahore. It has also claimed the attack on policemen in Lahore that killed 15 people including six policemen in February.

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Two members of a women's collective of plantation workers today began an indefinite fast here demanding the resignation of Power Minister M M Mani over his offensive remarks against the outfit's activists.

Members of 'Pembila Orumai' have been protesting for the last two days here after the minister's allegedly questioned the character of the outfit's women workers at a public function.

They intensified their agitation today by launching an indefinite fast to press for their demand. Opposition Congress-led UDF, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party also lent support to their stir.

Environmentalist and AAP state leader C R Neelakantan also joined the women.

Gomathy, one of the two fasting women, said they would continue their stir until the minister apologises and resigns.

"Let them call us Maoists and extremists.. We will not stop our agitation", she said.

Meanwhile, CPI(M)'s Idukki district unit took out a march in support of Mani. They also organised a public meeting criticising the agitators.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Students Union and Youth Congress took out a march to the secretariat, demanding Mani's resignation. Police used water cannons to disperse them.

Some Youth Congress women workers, who tried to wave black flags at the minister while he was on his way to the Assembly, were taken into custody.

Pembila Orumai had successfully staged a protest for wage hike for plantation workers in 2015.

The one-and-half-month-long agitation by thousands of women plantation workers under the outfit's banner, keeping political parties and trade unions at bay, had grabbed headlines.

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Unidentified gunmen today shot dead an advocate inside his house under Qasim Bazar police station area in Munger district, police said.

The incident took place in Her Diara village when two men barged into the house of advocate Jaldhar Yadav (45) and and shot at him from close range.

An injured Yadav was brought to Sadar hospital where he died during treatment, police said adding that personal enmity was the motive behind the killing.

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A six-year-old girl, who fell into an abandoned 400-feet borewell at Jhunjarwad village in the district, was pulled out dead after a nearly 54-hour rescue operation.

The operation ended late last night with authorities recovering Kaveri's lifeless body. The last rites were performed soon after, a family member said.

"Let this not happen to any other child.. Let no mother face this ordeal," said Kaveri's mother Savita, who has been hospitalised for weakness.

The girl was stuck at a depth of around 30 feet in the 400-feet borewell and the rescue team had located the hands of Kaveri, last evening.

A hook was used to lock the girl's hands to prevent her from slipping deeper.

The National Disaster Response Force, experts from Hutti Gold Mines and Fire services personnel were engaged in the rescue operation since Saturday evening, when Kaveri slipped and fell into the borewell while playing with her friends.

"Our efforts did not pay off. Unfortunately we could only recover the girl's body," an official from the rescue team said.

A 30-feet pit parallel to the borewell in which the girl was trapped had been dug, but the operation had got delayed by hard and rocky soil.

Thousands of people from surrounding areas had flocked to the village to see the operation.

Athani MLALaxman Sangappa Savadi said, "Despite all efforts the girl could not be saved...I will discuss with the government about the compensation."



A case will be registered against the owner of the field Shankar Hippargi, police have said.

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The UK government has refined the systems behind a new aid fund aimed at reducing poverty and creating overseas business opportunitiesin middle income countries like to India after it came under some scrutiny for lack of transparency.

In a written statement to the House of Commons yesterday, David Gauke - chief secretary to the UK Treasury, said that the government had taken the criticism on board and improved processes for the 1.3-million-pound cross-party Prosperity Fund.

"Year one of the Prosperity Fund was designed as a transition year. The Ministerial Board allocated 55 million pounds of ODA [Official Development Assistance] to projects in a range of ODA eligible countries including China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa and in areas such as financial services, infrastructure, business environment, energy, and trade and regulation," he said.

"The Prosperity Fund has continued to refine its systems and processes throughout the first year in order to ensure that it succeeds. It has acted on positive feedback and helpful advice from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, the National Audit Office, and, most recently the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI)," he noted.

The fund was set up last year to reduce poverty and create overseas business opportunities in developing countries.

In a review earlier this year, ICAI had called on the UK government to look again at the planned rate of expenditure, including considering extending the 2016-2021 time period over which the 1.3 billion pounds is due to be spent.

It also called on thefundto improve its transparency, saying there was too little public information available about its work.

"We welcome this external scrutiny as an opportunity to test the portfolio and management systems with independent experts. As stated in our formal management response to the ICAI review, the Prosperity Fund accepts and is implementing their recommendations, many of which it had already identified through its own internal reviews," Gauke said.

The majority of the Prosperity Fund will be allocated to "large, high impact, multi-year" programmes in countries like India.

Already 18 such programmes in the eligible countries have been endorsed by the Ministerial Board in charge of managing the fund and are now being developed by UK government departments, including the Treasury, Department for International Development and Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The first of many programmes is set for launch this year, when more details will be unveiled.

The UK had concluded its conventional aid programme for India at the end of 2015, instead focusing on a project-led approach aimed at strengthening India-UK ties.

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The week of April 23-29 is officially recognized as National Volunteer Week. This is a time when we recognize those individuals who selflessly give their time, dedication and efforts in making the community a better place.

National Volunteer Week can be traced back to its inception in 1974 by President Richard Nixon. The week was created to not only recognize, but honor and highlight those individuals who give their time to volunteering in their communities.

The American Red Cross relies on its numerous volunteers to help educate, train and provide services to its many local communities in which it serves.

On a local level in 2016, volunteers in the Central New York Chapter of the American Red Cross installed over 900 smoke alarms as part of its Home Fire Campaign; assisted over 230 families in need of food, clothing and shelter due to fires and other disasters; provided case management services to over 760 members and their families who serve our armed forces; trained almost 12,000 individuals in health, safety and lifesaving skills; and collected nearly 40,000 units of blood in its blood services division.

In all, more than 730 individuals donated more than 45,000 hours of their time to help the American Red Cross provide these and a variety of other services to their local community. The Central New York Chapter of the American Red Cross would like to say a huge thank you to all of those who volunteered in 2016.

Are you interested in getting more involved in your local community, learning a new skill or just wanting to give back? Thinking of switching jobs or test-driving another occupation? Need hours for a high school or college requirement? Consider a volunteer opportunity with the American Red Cross.

The American Red Cross has many opportunities for those who are looking to consider a possible career change, log in hours for high school or college requirements, learn a new skill or just give back to their community. The wealth of opportunities is endless, but they include blood services, clerical and administrative, communications, Disaster Action Team membership (which also includes preparedness education and fiscal review), the Home Fire Campaign, events representation and service to the armed forces.

Do you want to learn more about the opportunities the Central New York Chapter of the American Red Cross has to offer? You can learn more about all of the volunteer opportunities that your local chapter has by logging onto redcross.org/wcny.

Dont have the time to give and or commit to volunteering? Consider the ultimate life-saving gift of giving blood. To schedule an appointment for giving blood, please visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS. Individuals can also download the Red Cross Blood Donor App to schedule and manage their donation appointments. To download the app, text BLOODAPP to 90999 or search American Red Cross."
The state-owned telecom firm BSNL today short-listed Vihaan Networks and Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited for installation of 2,817 mobile towers in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam with an outlay of about Rs 1,460 crore.

"The bids for 2,817 mobile towers installation were opened today. VNL has emerged as the lowest bidder and HFCL second-lowest. The project will be funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund. Total outlay for the project is about Rs 1,460 crore," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava told PTI.

The project is part of the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region (NER), which was approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2014 and entails an estimated expenditure of Rs 5,336.18 crore and envisages providing 2G mobile coverage in identified uncovered areas and seamless mobile coverage along National Highways in the North-East.

Under this plan, 8,621 villages out of the 9,190 unconnected ones are to be covered by 6,673 towers.

The project has been divided into two parts -- tough terrain that includes two districts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the job for which has been given to BSNL involving installation of about 2,817 mobile towers and the rest that is for private telecom operators.

"BSNL is executing this project on behalf of the government. We will now send the result to the USOF for its approval. We will place purchase orders after getting approval from the USOF," Shrivastava said.

As per the project condition, the lowest bidder, Vihaan Networks (VNL) in this case, will get to roll out 1,893 mobile towers in Arunachal Pradesh and HFCL will get a contract for installation of 924 mobile towers in two districts of Assam.

Shrivastava said he expects this project to be complete by December 2018, but the final timeline will depend on approval from the USOF.

The Bharat Broadband Network had also opened tender for installation of nearly 4,500 towers under the project, but received no bids.

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Global travel management firm Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) today launched a business travel solution 'CWT For You', targeting small and medium enterprises in India.

The company which already services over 180 corporate clients in India is betting big on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as the sector is quite large in the country.

"Today India has close to 50 million SMEs, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the gross domestic product. We felt that we can aggregate the demand for the SMEs and bring together a product for the sector", Carlson Wagonlit Travel, India CEO Geeta Jain told PTI.

'CWT For You' offers cost saving, convenience, control of spend to the SMEs. It provides essential components of managed travel without certain added services required by larger corporates, she added.

"This has allowed us to give these growing businesses unprecedented access to our global negotiating and buying power along with our products and services", Jain said.

The travel solution is available both as a mobile app and an online booking tool and there is no transaction fees except when human intervention is required, she added.

"As we do not plan to charge these clients, the money for us comes from the suppliers such as airlines and hotels", Jain said.

"India features in the top 10 markets globally for the company and is one of the most promising growth markets in the world", she added.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel services clients in nearly 150 countries globally. The company currently employs over 1,200 people in India.

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Chinese imports from North Korea fell 35 per cent month-on-month in March, according to official figures released today, after Beijing suspended coal purchases to punish its nuclear-armed neighbour for missile tests.

Total imports from the North by China -- Pyongyang's sole major diplomatic ally and chief trading partner -- stood at USD 114.56 million last month, down from 176.7 million in February, according to Chinese customs data.

Beijing on February 18 imposed a total halt on coal imports from the North until the end of 2017, hardening its stance after a new missile test by Pyongyang, in line with new sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council.

The halt in coal exports aims to cut off a crucial supply of hard currency for Kim Jong-Un's regime. In 2016 China imported coal worth some USD 1.19 billion from the North.

But Beijing has maintained exports to the Stalinist regime.

North Korea last month bought from its powerful neighbour some USD 29.1 million of electrical appliances and components, USD 21.5 million of plastics and manufactured components, and USD 23.9 million of synthetic fibers -- most of which go back across the border in the form of finished clothes.

For the United States, this trading relationship gives China the necessary economic clout over Pyongyang to bring the rogue regime to heel -- but Beijing staunchly denies this is the case.

Tensions have soared in recent months as North Korean missile tests have brought ever-more bellicose warnings from US President Donald Trump's administration.

The US has long pushed for China to make more efforts to curb Pyongyang's behaviour.

But Beijing has resisted, concerned that a regime collapse could trigger a flood of refugees across the border and leave the US military on its doorstep.

However, it has become increasingly concerned as tensions rise in the flashpoint region, with experts warning of the possibility of a sixth nuclear test by the North.

"The last thing China wants is to see war break out in the region... Given the geopolitical circumstances, (North Korea) must learn to be as flexible as they are determined," the state-run Global Times newspaper said today.

President Xi Jinping called Monday for "restraint" regarding North Korea in a telephone conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump.

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today rejected the demand for the resignation of M M Mani and said the power minister's alleged remarks against women had been "distorted and magnified" by the media.

The opposition Congress-led UDF disrupted proceedings on the first day of the state Assembly itself, demanding Mani's resignation, leading to early adjournment of the House for the day.

They said Mani's alleged offensive language was a "disgrace" to the state and was an offence under Section 294 of the IPC which attracts a sentence of 3 months imprisonment.

Vijayan said Mani, who hails from Idukki district, had used colloquial language while addressing a function which was "distorted and 'magnified" by the media.

Significantly, the chief minister had earlier denounced Mani's remarks.

Protests had erupted in various parts of Kerala, demanding the minister's resignation over his alleged remarks against 'Pembila Orumai' activists and IAS officers involved in the eviction drive from encroached lands in Munnar in Idukki.

"Mani himself had offered an explanation and expressed regret and so there is no need for a debate," the chief minister said, replying to a notice seeking adjournment motion by the United Democratic Front (UDF) on the controversy connected with the eviction drive in Munnar and Mani's remarks.

Mani in his reply maintained that he had not used any offencive language against women.

"I have not used the word woman even once in my 17 minute speech," which he claimed had been edited by the media, a section of which was against him.

When asked by the Opposition leader in the state Assembly Ramesh Chennithala why he had expressed regret, Mani, however, remained silent.

Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan took up other business scheduled for the day and adjourned the House as opposition MLAs protested, holding a black banner, demanding that Mani be ousted.

The Opposition also protested during the Question Hour on the same issue.

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The opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh today demanded that the state government convene an all party meet to discuss farmers' issues and drought conditions in the state.

The opposition parties -- Congress, YSR (Congress), CPI and CPI(M) jointly staged a protest here demanding minimum support price for chillies, turmeric and sought compensation for farmers who have incurred heavy losses due to the prevailing drought condition in the state.

City congress president Malladi Vishnu said, "The government should take both long term and short term measures to mitigate the drought conditions in the state."



The chilli farmers are unable to get minimum support price for their produce and so the government should purchase the commodity to relieve them of financial stress, he said.

Vishnu also demanded that the state government provide financial relief to the families of farmers who have committed suicide due to debt burden.

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President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades arrived here today on a four-day India visit.

Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao received Anastasiades at Raj Bhavan this evening, an official spokesperson said.

This is the first visit to India of President Anastasiades, who had substantive meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2015, he said.

India can help Cyprus in its quest for reunification as it has close ties with Turkey, Anastasiades had said ahead of his maiden India visit.

The Cyprus president is being accompanied by the ministers of finance, energy, transport and agriculture on his visit.

President Anastasiades will address a business forum in Mumbai tomorrow. He will then travel to Delhi, address a business forum and deliver a talk at Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in the national capital.

On Friday morning, he will be given a ceremonial guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan followed by wreath laying by him at Mahatma Gandhi's Samadhi, Raj Ghat.

His other engagements on that day include a meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee, who will host a banquet in his honour, and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Modi.

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Serum Institute of India, which today acquired a defunct injectable polio vaccine unit in the Czech Republic for 72 million euros, said it expects to shift 15-20 per cent of its production overseas over the next three years with this deal.

"Today we make 1.2 billion units/doses of vaccines annually. Only around 2 per cent of this is done overseas now. With the acquisition of the Florida-based Nanotherapeutics' Czech unit, we hope to take this to around 15-20 per cent over the next three years," Serum Institute chief executive Adar C Poonawalla told PTI from his Pune headquarters.

"This acquisition will add to our injectable polio capacity by four times to a total of 200 million doses by 2019, which is four-times the present capacity, and making us the largest injectable (not oral) polio vaccine manufacturer in the world by 2019 when we will be able to restart production," Poonawalla added.

"We will re-design and re-licence the company's 40- acre facility outside of Prague to produce injectable vaccines at a cost of euro 40 million," he said.

With this, Serum Institute's injectable polio vaccine manufacturing capacity will rise to 200 million dosages, while that of the closest competitor then will have a capacity of about 100 million dosages, he added.

Today's acquisition is the second overseas buyout for Serum Institute since June 2012 when it bought Bilthoven Biologicals in The Netherlands for euro 70 million. Bilthoven was government-owned bioengineering and pharmaceutical firm.

Serum Institute faced stiff competition from a number of MNCs to take over the business, it is learnt, he said but did not name of rival bidders.

The acquisition of the Bohumil plant of Florida-based Nanotherapeutics for 72 million euros is historic for the Rs 4,000-crore company, he said, adding this acquisition catapults his company to be the largest injectable polio vaccine maker in the world with over 200 million doses annually.

The Bohumil plant, spanning around 40 acres is an hour's drive from the Czech Republic capital of Prague, has been defunct for the past couple of years and employs around 50 people now. It was once owned by the flu vaccine maker Baxter, he added.

Poonawalla said Serum Institute will invest additional 30-40 million euros to make the plant functional, which on completion will make his company the largest injectable polio vaccine maker in the world.

Nanotherapeutics is a Florida-based biopharmaceutical maker producing single-use, multi-purpose-multi-product, biosafety containment level 3 capable drug and vaccines.

He said they have already paid 45 million for the plant and the rest will be paid in tranches over the next one year, taking the overall investment into the Czech plant at around 110 million euros.

Poonawalla said even in the Holland plant that they bought in 2012, the company has invested in 160 million additionally and hired close to 25 people more to take the total headcount to 400 now. Similarly, Serum Institute will hire around 150 more for the Czech plant as well, he added.

When asked about his revenue break-up, Poonawalla said of the Rs 4,000-crore annual revenue as much as 80 per cent come from exports to 147 countries.

To expand the domestic capacity, he will be investing Rs 50 crore into a new facility in Pune, Poonawalla added.

Serum Institute, set up in 1966, is the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines in terms of dosage and immunobiological drugs and currently employs over 5,000.

Serum Institute makes polio vaccine as well as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines. It is estimated that about 65 per cent of the children in the world receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute.

The company with a revenue of over Rs 4,000 crore has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of over 30 per cent in the last five years with a profit margins are over 25 per cent.

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A Dalit couple in Maana village here tied knot under police protection after some people from the upper caste warned them against a traditional 'baraat' in their marriage.

Teams of three police stations from Susner tehsil of the district were deployed at Maana, about 40 kms from here, to provide protection to the marriage procession on Sunday, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) G S Dabar told PTI today.

Chandar Meghwal had filed a police complaint that some villagers from the upper caste had warned him against taking out a procession on the marriage of his daughter, Mamta on April 23, Dabar said.

He also feared some untoward incident in the marriage ceremony.

"Acting on the complaint, we pressed police force and district administration into action to avoid any untoward incident," the SDM said, adding that Meghwal did not name any particular person in his complaint.

"We held discussions with the villagers (who belonged to the upper caste) soon after receiving the complaint. We warned them of strict action, if they resort to such actions," said Dabar, who also camped in village during the marriage.

The police team along with district administration officials also stayed in the village as a precautionary measure, he said.

Meghwal in his complaint said that Dalit families are not allowed to decorate their house or use musical bands during the marriage procession or ceremonies in the village since Independence.

There are about 50 Dalit families in the village of about 2,000 people.

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Advertisements issued by the Delhi government should not promote "political interests" of the ruling party, a new state directive has said, days after Lt Governor Anil Baijal ordered recovery of Rs 97 crore spent on publicity from the AAP.

A circular issued on April 13 by the Directorate of Information and Publicity of the Delhi government has directed all department heads to ensure that advertisements are presented in an "objective and fair" manner.

"Advertisements should be presented in an objective and fair manner and be designed to meet the objectives of the campaign. Besides, advertisements should be objective and not directed at promoting political interests of the ruling party," Sandeep Mishra, special director (I&P), said in the circular.

It has also asked the department heads to give break-up of cost of an advertisement campaign while seeking the final approval of the design or script from the competent authority.

The circular stated that in case of large volume of advertisement campaigns, the assessment of such campaigns will be "necessary" at a later stage.

Last month, Baijal had ordered the recovery from the AAP Rs 97 crore which was allegedly "splurged" by the city government on advertisements in violation of the Supreme Court's guidelines.

The LG had also ordered an inquiry into the spendings on advertisements promoting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party and asked the chief secretary to fix responsibility.

The circular also stated that in the selection of media outlets (print, electronic and outdoor), the factors including identification of targeted audience or the visibility of a media outlet for the effectiveness of the advertisement campaigns, should be taken care of by the department concerned.

In its report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had recently said that the AAP government had spent Rs 29 crore in releasing advertisements outside Delhi which was "beyond its responsibility".

The circular also said that Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) should be followed for releasing government's advertisements as per the the "laid down guidelines".

"Keeping in view of the budget allocation or funds availability, the concerned department should assess the expenditure involved in the proposed advertisement campaign.

"For this, the department should calculate the estimated total cost of the campaign with cost break up format wise while seeking the final approval of the design/script/media list from competent authority," Kumar also said in circular.

Kejriwal has said that the Lt Governor's order for recovering the amount from the AAP will be challenged, saying it is "totally wrong".

Three days after the LG's order, the AAP government had on March 31 ordered an inquiry, including examining call details of suspected staff, who might have "leaked" copies of the Lt Governor's order on recovery of Rs 97 crore from the AAP for ads spendings.

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A joint team of Director General of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India will visit Karipur airport in north Kerala tomorrow. They will inspect the feasibility of the airport runway for the landing of large aircrafts, according to a government release here.

J S Rawat, Joint Director, DGCA and J P Alex and S K Biswas of AAI would be among the official team visiting the airport, it said.

The Centre has decided to send the expert team based on the request of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who met Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathiraju on April 18 at New Delhi.

Chief Minister has given directions to speed up the land acquisition process for the expansion of runway of Karipur airport, the release said.

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The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion would shortly launch a portal connecting all the eco-systems across the country for the benefit of the start-ups, an official said.

"The soft launch of the portal has already been made to get views from all the stakeholders. The hard launch will be done shortly," Aastha Grover, advisor (start-up), DIPP said.

Speaking at a seminar of start-ups organised by StartFed and BCCI here, she said the objective of the portal was to bring all the stakeholders together ranging from collaborators, innovators and funding agencies under the same platform.

With Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi being the start-up hubs of the country with 65 per cent of them getting concentrated in the three cities, places like Jaipur, Hyderabad and Kochi were the new upcoming cities in this space, she said.

Nearly 843 start-ups had been already registered with the DIPP following which they would get certain benefits, Grover said adding these would necessarily have to be either private limited liability or public limited liability parnership companies.

"There was a valuation bubble in the past. But now the market is corrected," she said.

State-owned SIDBI had already floated a Fund of Funds for start-ups of an amount of Rs 10,000 crore from which Rs 643 crore had been already disbursed through the VCs, the official said.

Asked about the success rates of start-ups in India as the country ranked number two in the world in terms of their formation, she said it was too early to judge.

Twelve states had been identified for easy compliance norms where West Bengal did not figure in the list, she added.

Chief advisor of StartFed Kallol Datta said that start-up eco-system in the east was less developed than other parts of the country.

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One of the doctors treating Egyptian woman for obesity at Saifee Hospital here refused her sister's allegation on Tuesday that the doctors have made "false claims" about her weight loss of 262 kg from 500 kg.

In an online video, Eman's sister Shaimaa Selim had said recently that Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, the bariatric surgeon who is leading the team of doctors treating Eman, has made "false claims" about her complete recovery and weight loss.

Lakdawala had on April 11 said Eman so far has lost 262 kgs during the treatment.

Refuting Shaimaa's allegations, Chief Operating Officer Huzaifa Shehabi of Saifee Hospital today hinted that the Egyptian woman's weight has now come down to less than 200 kg.

Addressing a press conference at the hospital today, Dr Aparna Bhaskar, who is part of the specialists' team treating Eman, said Eman's sister may be criticising doctors to extend her stay at the hospital.

"I believe Eman's family does not want to take the responsibility of her further treatment. And they probably do not want to take her back for a long time. I do not think they have confidence that Eman will get good care in Egypt.

"Obviously, the treatment here is good. By hook or crook, they (family) want to keep her here," she said.

Eman is being treated by a team of around 15 doctors led by Lakdawala since she was flown in here from Alexandria on February 11 this year.

Stung by Shaimaa's claims, Bhaskar had said yesterday she was withdrawing from the team treating the Egyptian woman.

Asked about Shaimaa's claims that Eman has not yet fully recovered, Bhaskar said, "I am her doctor and I am saying it on record that she is 75% better than what she was.

"She will never be able to walk because she has deformed legs. Otherwise, her kidney and liver parameters are fine. Her heart beats are fine. In fact, she is an example for obese people in the world who are scared to undergo such treatment.

"She was a high-risk patient, but she has recovered and she could be an inspiration to obese people in the world. We do not have any issue with Eman, but we do have an issue with her sister because of what she has done to us," added Bhaskar.

Saifee Hospital COO Shehabi said, "There must be some over-expectations (by Eman's family). There is a language and culture barrier while communicating with Eman's family. Her health is good and the decision to discharge her in a period less than six months was unanimously taken by the team of doctors treating her."



Responding to a query if Eman is being released prematurely, Shehabi said, "A doctor knows whether patient has recovered or not. Her recovery has been miraculous. Why would a team of doctors hold her back here when she has recovered?"



Eman underwent CT scan at the hospital on Tuesday.

The procedure was pending for long as the scan machine can take the maximum weight up to 204 kg.

When asked about the exact weight of Eman, the COO evaded a direct reply.

"If we can perform her CT scan it means her weight is less than 204 kg. It also means that her sister's claim that Eman's current weight is more than 200 kg is misleading," the COO said.

According to sources, the doctors had told Eman's family that they would let them know about the future course of treatment after getting her CT scan report.

It is, however, not known whether they had specified the exact date for Eman's discharge from the hospital.

In March, Eman underwent her first bariatric surgery in which doctors reduced her stomach size by two-third. Her genetic tests show she has a rare gene mutation that cannot be cured through surgery.
A special court today grilled Delhi Police asking it why no action has been taken against AIADMK faction leader T T V Dhinakaran when all allegations in the Election Commission bribery case were "against him".

"What is the position of the main accused... What action has been taken against Dhinakaran. Why are you not taking action against him? The whole allegations are against him. Show me the call details where it shows Sukesh Chandrashekar (arrested accused) talked to Dhinakaran," Special Judge Poonam Chaudhry asked the police.

Holding that the entire allegations in the FIR in the case was against Dhinakaran, he asked the police to show the call details records showing that alleged middleman Chandrashekar, arrested in the case, was in touch with the politician.

The court extended by three days the police custody of Chandrashekar, who was arrested on April 16 for allegedly striking a deal of Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK (Amma) faction keep the 'two leaves' poll symbol.

The court allowed Delhi Police Crime Branch to quiz Chandrashekar till April 28 observing that the allegations against him were of a grave nature and there was a conspiracy to "undermine the sanctity of the electoral process through corrupt means".

"In my view, the intention was to commit the crime at a high place and the investigating officer may require more time to collect evidence.

"There exist adequate grounds for extending the police custody as the allegations are of grave nature as the conspiracy was to undermine the sanctity of electoral process through corrupt means," the judge said.

The police, which produced Chandrashekar before the court on expiry of his eight-day custody, sought extension of his custody by five days saying they have to unearth the money trail and to confront him with some 'hawala' operators.

Advocates Maheen Pradhan and Ashwini Kumar, appearing for Chandrashekar, opposed police's plea to extend the custody, saying the allegation in the FIR was that Chandrashekar had conspired with Dhinakaran, who has not yet been arrested.

The defence counsel said there cannot be a different criterion for the accused in the same case, as while Chandrashekar has been under arrest for nine days, police has not taken any action against Dhinakaran.

To this, the court asked the police what action they have taken against Dhinakaran and where are the call details of the accused as the investigators are relying on them.

Prosecutor Balbir Singh said Dhinakaran was joining the investigation and was being questioned for the last four days and he was being questioned today also.

"Dhinakaran has equal role and when he will be arrested, we will bring him before this court. It is a sensitive case and several stakeholders are involved. Chandrashekar collected money through hawala channels, posing as a member of Parliament, from one Shah Faizal. He has identified the accused," prosecutor told the court.

He said three 'hawala' operators have been brought in the picture and they were being questioned. The allegations were "well-founded" against the accused that corrupt means were adopted to influence public servants.

The prosecutor said the circumtances at the time of arrest of Chandrashekar were different as he was arrested a day before the by-poll scheduled to take place on April 17. The poll was later cancelled by the Election Commission.

Dhinakaran, who was yesterday grilled by the police for almost seven hours, has reportedly confessed to meeting Chandrasekhar, but said he did not pay any money to him for retaining the symbol.

The case pertains to an alleged attempt to bribe an Election Commission (EC) official by AIADMK (Amma) leader Dhinakaran to try to get the party's poll symbol of 'two leaves' for a by-election to the R K Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu. The polling was later cancelled by the EC.

Chandrashekar was arrested on April 16 after which an FIR was lodged. According to the police, his links with EC officials was being probed.

Chandrashekar had allegedly struck a deal for Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK faction to keep the symbol, the police alleged, adding that Rs 1.3 crore and two luxury cars, a BMW and a Mercedes, were recovered from him.

The EC had frozen AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol after two factions led by Sasikala and former chief minister O Panneerselvam staked claim to it.

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A 72-year-old retired bank officer was allegedly stabbed to death by three unidentified persons here, police said today.

The incident took place last night in Ashoknagar Bank Colony when the assailants reached the victim's two-storeyed house under the pretext of taking a portion on rent on the ground floor, they said.

When the elderly man, Balusu Surayya was busy showing the premises, he was stabbed by the trio, police said.

As his wife upstairs raised an alarm on hearing her husband's cries for help, the accused fled the spot with a laptop and cell phone.

The victim died on the spot and the body was taken to the Government General Hospital here for postmortem.

According to police, the old couple stayed in the house alone as their sons are abroad and a daughter is at Hyderabad.

A case has been registered against the absconding accused and further investigations are underway.

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: A former Customs and Central Excise official and his wife were sentenced here today to one year in jail and imposed a fine of Rs five lakh by a CBI court for possessing assets disproportionate to their income.

Customs and Central Excise Superintendent A C Thomas of the Customs Preventive Division and his wife Thressia were convicted and sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment each and were imposed a total fine of Rs five lakh for the offence punishable under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The verdict was given by CBI Special Judge B Kalam Pasha.

According to the prosecution, Thomas while functioning as Customs and Central Excise inspector between 1997 and 2001, had acquired disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 8.85 lakh.

The anti-corruption wing of the CBI, which investigated the case, alleged Thressia abetted her husband Thomas in acquisition of assets by purchasing properties in her name.

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The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) has directed the Censor Board to grant an 'A' certificate to the film "Lipstick Under My Burkha", which was earlier refused certification by the Board.

The FCAT has directed that the film be granted certification with "voluntary and some additional cuts and deletions" while observing that the cuss words and intimate scenes shown in the film were integral to the storyline.

It, however, directed the makers of the film to mute a couple of Hindi words, including those referring to prostitutes, from a couple of scenes.

The Central Board of Film Certification's (CBFC) Examining and Revising Committee had refused certification to the film saying "women in the film are shown in bad light, particularly targeting women of certain community which might hurt sentiments."



Following the CBFC's decision, the film's director Alankrita Srivastava and producer Prakash Jha had filed an appeal in the FCAT.

The makers have maintained that the film revolves around the lives of four women seeking freedom for their desires, dreams and aspirations through small acts of courage and stealthy rebellion against patriarchy.

The FCAT, headed by former Delhi Lokayukta Justice Manmohan Sarin, observed that the CBFC "misdirected themselves in denying certification" to the women-oriented film.

"The Examining and Revising Committee of the CBFC have misdirected themselves in denying certification on the ground that the story of the film is women-oriented.

"There cannot be any embargo on a women-oriented film or one containing sexual fantasies and expression of the inner desires of women," observed the Tribunal.

The makers of the film had offered to make some cuts in th film.

However, the FCAT suggested a few deletions in the intimate scenes "without affecting in any manner the projection and substance of the scene or in any manner affecting the basic film."



"Lipstick Under My Burkha" has won the Spirit of Asia Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality at the Mumbai Film Festival. It features Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur.

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The first session of the newly- constituted Uttar Pradesh Assembly will commence on May 15, the state government today said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here.

"The week-long session of the state Assembly will commence on May 15," Cabinet Minister Srikant Sharma said.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna and Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit met Governor Ram Naik to discuss about the session.

This will be the first session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly after the BJP stormed to power in the recent elections with three-fourth majority in the 403-member House.

As per parliamentary practice, the governor addresses the year's first joint sitting of the state legislature and the first session of a new government.

Uttar Pradesh has a bicameral legislature--the Assembly and the Council.

Talks of an impending session of both the Assembly and the Council had gained momentum after the chief minister called on the governor here on April 22 and discussed about the first session of the state legislature.

The then Akhilesh Yadav government had tabled a vote-on- account of Rs 1.34 lakh crore to meet expenses of initial five months of the next fiscal (April-August 2017). It had also tabled an interim budget of Rs 3.63 lakh crore and a supplementary grant of Rs 1,683 crore in December last year ahead of the Assembly elections.

A vote-on-account is a special provision by which the government obtains the vote of the lower house for a sum sufficient to incur expenditure on various items for a part of the year.

This enables the government to fund its expenses for a short period of time or until a full budget is passed.

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The Philippine military said today it had killed almost 40 militants loyal to the Islamic State group, including three Indonesians and a Malaysian, in a major land and air assault in the south.

The foreigners were part of more than 160 fighters of the Maute group of militants who came under attack last weekend in Mindanao island, said national military chief General Eduardo Ano.

"We inflicted about 37 enemy killed, 14 have been identified and 23 still unidentified, with three Indonesians and one Malaysian," he told reporters in Manila.

It was unclear how he arrived at the death toll.

Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman for the brigade which led the assault in the town of Piagapo in Lanao del Sur province, said soldiers had recovered only three bodies but informants and local residents had reported a far higher death toll among the extremists.

He said soldiers had found foreign passports belonging to some of the dead but declined to give details.

Ano said the foreigners were former members of the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, which carried out the 2002 bombings in the Indonesian holiday island of Bali.

Jemaah Islamiyah has long had a presence in the southern Philippines and has trained locals in such skills as bomb- making.

The military, using FA-50 jets, helicopter gunships, bomber planes and artillery, attacked and eventually captured the Maute camp which covered three to four hectares (seven to 10 acres).

The Maute group has "IS aspirations" and was seeking to be recognised by the jihadist movement which has conquered swathes of Iraq and Syria, Herrera said.

Soldiers found black IS flags at the camp along with improvised explosive devices, grenades, a laptop computer, cellphones and a camera used to create videos for recruitment, he said.

Troops are still hunting for more than 100 members who fled to the hills, he added.

The Maute group is just one of several Muslim armed bands in the strife-torn southern Philippines whose leaders have pledged allegiance to IS.

The group has been linked to bombings and kidnappings and has launched several large-scale assaults on local communities.

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German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel says it would be "regrettable" if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancels their meeting in Jerusalem because of his appointment with groups critical of Israel's actions in the West Bank. Gabriel describes that encounter as "completely normal."



Netanyahu is threatening to scrap Tuesday's meeting with Gabriel if he meets members of Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem. Gabriel told Germany's ZDF television he heard about that from Israeli media.

Gabriel said it would be "unthinkable" to cancel meetings if Netanyahu met government critics in Germany. But he says a cancellation of today's meeting wouldn't be a "catastrophe," and wouldn't change his relationship with Israel.

Gabriel said: "You can't get a proper and comprehensive picture in any country on Earth if you only meet in government offices.

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Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) today said it will continue to make investments to expand in Madhya Pradesh the reach of its project that seeks to curb spread of vector-borne diseases.

On the occasion of World Malaria Day today, the health care company said it is committed to work towards creating a malaria-free India by 2030.

"In April 2016, GCPL commissioned a project on the elimination of mosquito-borne endemic diseases (EMBED), which aims to reduce morbidity and mortality caused by vector-borne diseases. We are committed to create malaria free India by 2030," Managing Director Vivek Gambhir Managing Director told reporters here.

The project focuses on improving the knowledge and awareness of communities through behaviour change campaigns, thus empowering communities at the bottom of the pyramid to take charge of their own protection, he said.

In its first phase, EMBED covered Mandla and Dindori districts in Madhya Pradesh, a state with one of the highest burdens of malaria in India. Currently, in its second phase the project has reached 3,000 villages, 7 lakh households and 35,00,000 people across 9 districts in Madhya Pradesh, Gambhir said.

The project is in line with the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030, which outlines India's agenda for elimination of the disease by 2030, he said.

"We are optimistic about the progress made by EMBED in Madhya Pradesh. We will continue to invest in expanding its reach.

"In the second phase, we have targeted 7 additional districts (Jhabua, Sheopur, Shivpuri, Sidhi, Singrauli, Alirajpur and Balaghat) with high malaria burdens, and aim to cover over 3,000 villages across these areas," he added.

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H-Energy, arm of Hiranandani Group, has hired a floating LNG terminal from French group Engie and hopes to start operations at the Jaigarh port in Maharashtra from end 2018.

The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) has been chartered by H-Energy for a period of 5 years and will arrive at the LNG jetty at Jaigarh port by the third quarter of next year, a company statement said.

Once operational, this will be the fifth LNG import terminal on the west coast. The west coast already has four LNG import terminals including: Dahej and Hazira in Gujarat; Dabhol in Maharashtra and Kochi in Kerala. Jaigarh also houses the 5 million tones Dabhol LNG terminal operated by gas utility Gail India.

"Achieving two major milestones for its LNG re- gasification project at Jaigarh port in Maharashtra on the west coast of India, H-Energy Gateway Pvt Ltd signed an agreement with Engie for chartering its FSRU GDF SUEZ Cape Ann," it said.

The FSRU has a storage capacity of 145,000 cubic meters and is equipped with re-gasification capacity to operate the project at approximately 4 million tons per annum. The FSRU is also capable of reloading LNG onto other LNG vessels.

The companies have an option to extend the charter party agreement beyond the initial term on mutual agreement.

All necessary studies for port operation have been carried out to ensure safe mooring of the LNG FSRU at the new jetty, bringing LNG carriers alongside the FSRU to allow ship-to- ship transfer, the statement said.

H-Energy has also awarded the EPCM contract for constructing its 60 km pipeline from Jaigarh port to Dabhol.

The contract was awarded to Engineers India Ltd (EIL) which is one of the leading Consultancy and EPC companies in India. The pipeline construction is expected to be completed by the third quarter of next year.

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Scientists of Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) here have developed a new variety of Fababean, commonly called Bakla.

The new variety HFB-1 is high yielding and also has high nutritional quality.

Stating this here today, HAU vice chancellor K P Singh said that the Central Plant Variety Release Committee has released and notified this variety for cultivation in plain zone comprising Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

According to Singh, the variety HFB-1 has been found superior to National Check variety Vikrant in seed yield.

At Hisar, HFB-1 recorded mean seed yield of 43.50 q/ha compared to 35.60 q/ha of Vikrant, whereas at the national level, the mean seed yield of HFB-1 was found to be 22.87 q/ha as against 20.70 q/ha of Vikrant.

He said that as far as nutritional quality of HFB-1 variety is concerned, it is rich in protein (25.3 per cent) fibre content and plant nutrients.

It also contains levo-dopa, a precursor of neuro- chemicals in brain such as dopamine, epinephrine.

Besides, it is also a good source of vitamins and minerals, he said, adding it enriches soil by fixing atmospheric nitrogen.

He said it can be consumed by human beings as dal and vegetable and fed to animals as fodder and concentrate.

Enumerating other characteristics of HFB-1 variety, he said that it is resistant to major diseases and insect-pests and tolerant to lodging, pod shattering and climatic stresses.

This variety of Fababean has been developed by J S Hooda and I S Yadav in collaboration with M K Deen -- all scientists in Medicinal, Aromotic and Potential Crops Section of the university.

Meanwhile, Dr S K Sethi, Director of Research, said that HFB-1 is a mid maturing variety suitable for irrigated and timely sown conditions.

The best period of its sowing is the first fortnight of October and it would require 100 kg of seed per hectare for sowing, he said.

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Dozens of suspected Brazilian gangsters blasted into a secure vault containing millions of dollars in southeastern Paraguay, leaving a policeman dead in what officials called the "robbery of the century."



Some 50 gunmen with explosives and military-grade weaponry left the city of Ciudad del Este looking like a war zone after a two-hour overnight assault on a security firm and police headquarters, authorities and witnesses said on Monday.

A joint Paraguayan-Brazilian police operation against the fleeing assailants on the country's porous border - near the famous Iguazu waterfalls - killed three suspects and resulted in "at least four arrests," Paraguay's interior ministry tweeted.

The tweet showed a photograph of a policeman standing over the body of a man in bloodied camouflage clothing. Other pictures on the ministry's Twitter page showed what were apparently the getaway cars snared by police and a collection of captured ammunition and flak jackets.

Brazilian authorities confirmed there had been a deadly clash but would not give more details.

"There was an exchange of fire," a federal police source for the state of Parana told AFP. "There were dead and wounded but we are not giving more information for now. We're still looking for people."



Brazilian President Michel Temer promised to support Paraguayan police "with all necessary resources."



"The Brazilian government expresses solidarity with the victims of this criminal act and, especially, with the relatives of the dead Paraguayan policeman," he said.

Shocked Paraguayan officials said it was an unprecedented attack for Ciudad del Este, a key trading hub near the borders of Brazil and Argentina in an area linked to drug gangs.

The target of the raid was Prosegur, a firm specialising in safely transporting cash. Far from simply overwhelming security at the facility, the raiders caused multiple diversions around the city, setting vehicles on fire to block roads and detonating explosives near police headquarters.

"The noise rang out around the city like bombs in a war," one man who witnessed the attack, Antonio del Puerto, told AFP.

Television images from the scene showed the Prosegur building was virtually destroyed, with rocket casings lying around and burned-out vehicles in the streets.

Police reports said the attackers included members of First Capital Command, one of Brazil's most powerful drug gangs, which is based in Sao Paulo and has fought turf battles in Rio de Janeiro and across the country's prison system.

Public prosecutor Denise Duarte said the men wore masks and spoke Portuguese, the language of Brazil.

It remained unclear just how much the assailants made off with.

Duarte said the Prosegur vault "was full" at the time of the robbery. Police said the vault can hold up to $40 million in cash but authorities had yet to verify the amount.

The attackers abandoned several vehicles at the site, including armoured trucks, one of them mounted with what was described as an anti-aircraft gun.

"The security firm's premises has been destroyed and the attack caused chaos and terror in the city," the governor of surrounding Alto Parana state, Justo Zacarias, told reporters.

"Nothing like this has ever happened in Paraguay."



Paraguay's police chief Luis Rojas said it was "very feasible" that the attackers had help from within the police force.
The Haryana government has instructed farmers not to burn crop residue with an aim to curb the environmental pollution in the state, neighbouring Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

Strict action would be taken against those found engaging in the activity, Additional Director General Police (Law and Order) Mohd Akil said here today.

"Taking cognisance of the increase in pollution, the National Green Tribunal, the Supreme Court and the government found that it was caused by burning of crop residue," he said.

Police personnel have instructed farmers not to burn crop residue which not only causes harm to the environment but adversely affects human health as well, Akil said.

"Farmers would be educated about the adverse effects of burning crop residue. Deputy commissioners of all districts have also been asked to take strict action against violators," he added.

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The Income Tax department has issued a Rs 24,646 crore tax demand notice to Sahara Group's Aamby Valley Limited (AVL) after conducting a special audit of the company.

The department, as part of a special investigation and audit into the account books of AVL, found that an income of over Rs 48,000 crore for a particular assessment year was allegedly not reflected in the record books of the firm and hence it raised a fresh tax demand and penalty amount on it.

A Sahara Group spokesperson confirmed the development to PTI.

"Yes, the Income Tax Department has raised Rs 48,085.79 crores to the income of the Aamby Valley Limited with a total demand of income tax of Rs 24,646.96 crores on the Aamby Valley Limited," the spokesperson said in a brief statement.

Officials said the notice was issued by the taxman in January this year after the special audit of AVL's income for the Assessment Year 2012-13 found that the parent firm had allegedly floated a clutch of Special Purpose Vehicles whose incomes were later accounted on the account of AVL as they were merged with the former in due course of time.

The AVL, in its income return filed for AY 2012-13, had reflected a loss of few crores but the special I-T audit brought up the added income, a senior official said.

The Supreme Court, last week, had asked the Bombay High Court's official liquidator to sell the Rs 34,000 crore worth of properties of Aamby Valley owned by the Sahara Group and directed its chief Subrata Roy to personally appear before it on April 28.

"Enough is enough. You cannot say something today and resile tomorrow," a bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoi and A K Sikri, had said, taking strong note of non-submission of over Rs 5,000 crore by the Sahara Group.

The bench also cautioned Roy from playing with the court's order and said non-compliance of its order would invite the wrath of the law and ultimately he will be at his own peril.

The bench asked the official liquidator, attached with the Bombay High Court, to auction the Aamby Valley properties, estimated to be worth Rs 34,000 crore, and directly report to it.

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A day after 25 CRPF personnel were killed in a Naxal ambush, the Congress today launched a frontal attack on the BJP government in Chhattisgarh, saying its inability to fight the guerrillas stems from the lack of willingness on the part of Chief Minister Raman Singh.

The "inability" of the state government in fighting Naxalism lies in the "lack of will" of the chief minister, chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

He also took a swipe at BJP president Amit Shah over his party's expansion plan, launched from Naxalbari in West Bengal today, and said he should instead confer with the prime minister on how to stop Naxalism.

"...Don't put Party before nation," Surjewala said on Twitter.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh accused the Chhattisgarh chief minister and other BJP leaders, who win elections from Naxalism-affected areas, of striking a "deal" with the guerrillas.

"I have said this before and am repeating, that Raman Singh and all those BJP leaders who have won from Naxalism-hit areas have struck a deal with Naxals and there is some exchange between them," he said.

Surjewala also questioned the central government for its failure to appoint a full-time director general (DG) of the paramilitary force. The post of the CRPF DG has been lying vacant since February.

"No CRPF DG post Feb2017.NIA Chief on 2nd extension.Lack of policy,plan & direction to fight Naxals confounds BJPGovt. Has BJPGovt framed a congruous & comprehensive policy in 3years to deal with Naxalism or was it's resolution babble? (sic)" he said in a series of tweets.

Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said the BJP had made strong claims of wiping out terrorism, but in reality the number of casualties of CRPF jawans in the state has been the highest during its tenure.

She claimed that the intelligence failure and the lack of coordination between the Centre and the state were the main reasons for the deadly Naxal attack.

"If we are serious of wiping terrorism from across the border, we should be serious about defeating terrorists from within the nation.

"The Congress made full attempts to defeat the scourge of these terrorists. We wiped out terrorists in Andhra Pradesh. We lost our senior leadership in Chhattisgarh to Naxal violence. This was during the BJP tenure. We have seen no action," she said.

Digvijaya Singh said Naxalism cannot be wiped out till the state government takes the tribals and those living in these areas into confidence and talks to them.

"You cannot end Naxalism till the time you talk to all. You have to first take the people living in Naxal-affected areas into confidence," he said.

The Congress on its Twitter handle hit back at Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who asked whether the families of security men killed in the Naxal attack have any human rights, saying, "Of course they have Human Rights! But, aren't you the government? You have clearly failed in defending these Rights!"



At least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and seven wounded in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district yesterday, in the deadliest ambush by Naxalites of security forces this year.

The nearly 100-strong CRPF patrol providing security for road construction work came under fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions at around 12:25 PM in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country.

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India will help Armenia to build satellite and remote sensing data matters and train Armenian scientists as both the countries today signed three agreements to boost bilateral cooperation.

The agreements were signed after Vice President Hamid Ansari held talks with the top leadership of Armenia including President Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian.

The two sides stressed that there cannot be double speak on the issue of terrorism.

During the talks, Ansari stressed that there cannot be bad or good terrorism. The two sides acknowledged that there cannot be double standard on terrorism and the international community should speak in one voice against the menace.

Armenia stressed that how it had voluntarily supported India in international forums including the United Nations.

Briefing about the meetings, MEA Secretary (East) Preeti Saran said that the two countries are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic ties and the Vice President's visit starts a new chapter in their relationship.

During the talks, the two sides identified connectivity as an important aspect of their relationship and agreed that there is need to enhance cooperation as far as direct flights between the two countries are concerned, Saran said.

They also agreed to liberalise the visa regime issue to improve people-to-people contact, she added.

Both the sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in the agricultural sector and a joint working group will meet soon to finalise the broader outline, she said.

They also agreed to enhance space cooperation in which satellite, remote sensing data matters, training of scientists are important aspects. India will help Armenia in this sector, she said.

The two countries also agreed to enhance cooperation in the broadcasting and film sector especially Bollywood.

"Armenia has invited Indian film industry to shoot films in their country. A team from Bollywood is expected to come Armenia to explore the possibility," Saran said.

Armenian president told Ansari that Bollywood films are popular in his country and his grand daughter was fond of Bollywood music.

India had helped Armenia in many fields including establishing a centre of excellence, Param super computer besides setting up a number of computer labs in schools. IT and machine making is an important area of thrust for both the sides and a possibility of a joint venture will be worked out, she said.

Ansari handed over an invitation from President Pranab Mukherjee to Armenian President Sargsyan to visit India. Sargsyan accepted the invitation. Armenian Foreign Minister also invited his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj.

The Armenian President hosted a lunch in honour of Ansari.

Earlier, Ansari visited the Armenian genocide memorial and paid tribute to the victims with a minute of silence.

He visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI), watched the displays and left a note in the guest book. He later planted a fir tree in the memory Alley.

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Describing India as the "biggest strategic opportunity" for the US, a former top Pentagon official today said the two countries now need to demonstrate "mutual flexibility" as well as ambition to reach a new level of cooperation.

"I would say the biggest strategic opportunity is India," Kelly Magsamen, the former US principal deputy assistant secretary of defence for Asian and pacific security affairs told members of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on Asia Pacific region.

"The US and India increasingly share a common strategic outlook on the Asia Pacific, especially a mutual concern over Chinese military modernisation and adventurism, but the question here is, can we reach a new level of cooperation to place limits on Chinese ambition?



"I believe it is possible, but only if the United States and India together persist in overcoming the suspicions of the past and build stronger habits of actual cooperation. And this is going to require the US and Indian systems, which are not naturally compatible, to demonstrate mutual flexibility as well as ambition," Magsamen said.

The strategic logic behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Act East' policy is highly compatible with that of the US rebalance.

"But more importantly, we share common values as the world's two largest democracies and as well as a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. In many ways, we are natural partners," she said.

Last year, then defence secretary Ashton Carter designated India a "Major Defence Partner" of the US, a status unique to India that allows the two countries to cooperate more closely in defence, trade and technology sharing.

"I was pleased to see National Security Adviser LTG HR McMaster recently reaffirm the US-India Strategic Partnership and specifically our defence cooperation with India. It is essential that we sustain the momentum," Magsamen said.

For that to happen, leaderships have to drive it from the top lest both bureaucracies smother the chance of progress.

"I found that we often stand in our own way. But India also has to demonstrate that it is prepared to let go of its old fears. The US does not seek an actual alliance, nor should we, but we do seek a meaningful partnership that benefits us too," she said.

"Our strategic partnership will reach its value limits in the defence realm, if we cannot build practical habits of cooperation. For example, we need to operate and exercise more together and with others, facilitate more exchanges of our military personnel, and regularise our defence dialogues at every level," Magsamen added.

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An Indian-American student from the prestigious Harvard University has been invited for a talk at the TEDx in Paris next month on an innovative hand held device for diagnosis of malaria, a disease which in 2014 accounted for 438,000 deaths globally.

Aimed at diagnosis and treatment of this dreaded disease, two Indian-American undergraduate students at the Harvard University -- Neil Davey and Miraj Shah -- spent months working with two undergraduate students in Peru, Marco Malaga and Fabricio Espinoza, to design and develop a hand-held point-of-care diagnostic for malaria.

The microfluidic device, named UniDx (short for Universal Diagnostics), which was field tested in the Peruvian Amazon where costly lab equipment and expertise are lacking, involves a simple, but sensitive process.

DNA from a small amount of blood is isolated and subsequently injected into the device, which encapsulates the DNA into individual microfluidic drops; subsequently, if present in an encapsulated drop, malaria-specific DNA will be targeted and amplified, thereby causing that drop to fluoresce.

Based on the findings and research so far, TEDx has invited Dave for a talk in Paris on May 20, a media release said.

After the talk, Dave and his team is headed to India to transfer the technology of UniDx for malaria and potentially other pathogenic blood samples, with the hope that his device can truly become the universal diagnostic of infectious diseases.

The WHEELS Global Foundation this week announced to fund Dave and his team USD 15,000 for this purpose which is being done in collaboration with Prof. Debjani Paul of the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.

WHEELS Global Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving health outcomes in India.

"An infectious disease-free world can only exist if our medical approach moves from curative to preventative, and the first step to making that happen is early diagnosis. UniDx can accomplish that with just a few drops of blood, Dave said.

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A US lawmaker has honoured an Indian-American woman posthumously by hoisting the American flag over the Capitol in her honour.

Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, honoured Vimala Padmanabhan Kolappa on February 28, two days after she died.

Her son Vimal Kolappa, a North Carolina-based hotelier and philanthropist who received the flag, today said "It was a total surprise to me. I was very touched and surprised which make me to serve more for this greatest country and the people".

"It is a great honour. It is one of the greatest honours to the Indian community," said Kolappa who owns and operates 16 franchise hotels, employing more than 300 people.

Kolappa, who is constructing eight more hotels, has been holding fundraisers in support of local leaders including Holding.

"Holding has been very instrumental in helping the Indian community and making inroads with doing business with India. He has always been very helpful not only to the Indian community, but for all of his constituents," Kolappa said.

He said this is reflective of Holding's caring nature of all his constituents including Indian-Americans.

"The flag is not only a symbol of America, but of remembrance of mother Vimala (who died on February 26). Two days later, it was flying over the US Capitol at the request of Congressman Holding. It is a great honour," Kolappa added.

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There is a dangerous game of chicken going on right now in regard to North Korea. On one side there is a pudgy, man-child megalomaniac and on the other side there is Kim Jong-un.

Both are ramping up the rhetoric by making bellicose statements of impending war. Since other presidents have failed to solve this issue with diplomacy, Trump stated he has no interest in even trying that approach. Didn't he sell himself to voters as the best negotiator in history? Short of that what happened to the concept of "deterrence"? If a twerp like Kim can scare the U.S. with fewer than 15 nukes and no way of delivering them, why have we armed ourselves to the teeth with an estimated 6,800 nuclear tipped missiles, and why do we spend more each year on our military than the next eight nations combined?

Were we all sold a bill of goods in order to provide welfare for the military/industrial complex? Please don't respond "But Kim Jong-un is crazy!" They all are  including our not-so-fearless leader who dodged the draft five times and is now repeatedly threatening to attack North Korea, thereby placing the lives of millions of others in South Korea in danger.

So, since Trump apparently doesn't like living in the White House perhaps he should reside in Seoul until this is all settled. Watch Trump tamp down HIS rhetoric when HE's the one in harm's way.

Thomas Hanley

Fulton
Jihadist militants from the Islamic State group posing as liberating security forces killed at least 15 civilians who welcomed them in central Mosul, officials said today.

Wearing police uniforms, they entered parts of the Old City yesterday to trick residents into showing their support for the federal forces, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) and a local official said.

"Daesh (IS) terrorist gangs committed a brutal crime yesterday morning in an area of Mosul's Old City," the JOC said in a statement.

It said the jihadists, who are defending their last Mosul bastions against a huge six-month-old offensive by the security forces, wanted to "confound civilians who expressed joy and welcomed them with chanting".

They killed women and children, the JOC said, "to make it clear the area was still under enemy control".

The statement did not specify how many were killed in that manner but Hossameddin al-Abbar, a member of Nineveh provincial council, told AFP at least 15 civilians were shot dead.

"Daesh members, some of them wearing federal police uniforms, entered the Al-Maidan and Corniche areas of the Old City," he said.

"They were driving black vehicles and posing as liberators from the Iraqi forces," Abbar added.

"When some families welcomed them, they arrested several of them. They executed at least 15 other people," he said.

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The Islamic State terrorist group launched an attack on Israeli soldiers in the Golan Heights and later "apologised" for targeting them, Israel's former defence minister Moshe Ya'alon has said.

"There was one case recently where Daesh (the ISIS terror group's Arabic nickname) opened fire and apologised," Ya'alon said speaking at an event in the northern city of Alufa.

He was apparently referring to a clash that took place near the Syrian border last November, in which Israeli troops exchanged fire with members of the Islamic State affiliate, the Times of Israel reported.

After a brief gun battle, the Israeli military attacked the terrorist group with airstrikes and tank fire, killing four fighters, it said.

This was the first direct encounter between Israeli forces and ISIS militants after the terror group opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side, a military spokesman said at the time.

Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, which affiliated itself with ISIS in May 2016, seized territory including a large town and several villages on the Syrian border with Israel in February.

Israel and much of the Western world considers the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, to be a terrorist group. Communication with them is technically illegal under Israeli law, constituting contact with an enemy agent, the paper said.

A spokesperson for Ya'alon refused to elaborate on how ISIS expressed its apology to Israel after the attack. The Israel Defense Forces also refused to comment on the issue, the report said.

Syrian officials have accused Israel of directly aiding the ISIS and other militant groups, a claim Jerusalem denies.

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In the backdrop of the Naxalite attack on security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma, Israel today emphasised on deepening cooperation with India to combat "terrorism", as it conveyed condolences to the government.

Daniel Carmon, Israel's envoy to India, said there is a "new battlefield, an asymmetric warfare" which the security forces have to face.

"Terrorism is one of the challenges India and Israel face. It is an opportunity to reconvene our condolences to what happened in Chhattisgarh, but there are different facets to this.

"Every life lost due to the terrible attacks by terrorists is really very, very sad and also brings us to be more engaged in fighting terrorism," Carmon said, adding that the two countries signed an agreement on Homeland Security and Anti-Terrorism agreement in 2014.

He was delivering a lecture on 'India-Israel- Enduring Partnership' at the Nehru Memorial Museum here.

Twenty-five CRPF personnel were killed in a Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district yesterday.

"Very saddened and concerned. We have conveyed our condolences to the Indian government," Carmon later told reporters.

He rued that there is no unanimity on the definition of the word 'terrorism'.

He said security forces have to maintain a balance between human rights and the government's obligation towards ensuring its peoples' security.

"There is a fine line between how do we as governments, armies, paramilitaries, police forces or security forces maintain the very high important values of human rights which are predominant in the policies of democracies and how do we safeguard our citizens, which is the most important obligation of government and security forces," Carmon said.

He also attacked Iran for "encouraging terrorism".

The Israeli envoy said the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Jewish nation has "enormous" significance.

He said earlier there were problems of "visibility" in the ties between the two countries, but with the new dispensation in New Delhi there has been a change.

"Things have evolved. It took an effort and now we are at a stage where an Indian President visits Israel and an Israeli President (Reuven Rivlin) visits India for eight consecutive days," Carmon said.

Rivlin visited India in February last year while Indian President Pranab Mukherjee visited Israel in October 2015.

Carmon said also Israel is looking for a "strategic partnership" in the field of water during Modi's visit.

The Israeli envoy said the Jewish community has never suffered from any persecution or racism in India.

India has a very small population of Jews, with a majority of them residing in Mumbai and Pune.

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The AAP government was today told by the Delhi High Court to "lead by example" to prevent rise in vector-borne diseases so that dengue and chikungunya outbreaks do not recur this year.

"Let this year be not a repeat of what has happened in the past," a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra said and asked the AAP government to "lead by example".

"One expression comes to mind - lead by example and others will follow," the bench told the Delhi government lawyer after he said that all the authorities need to sit together to solve this problem.

"We can be at loggerheads over anything else but not on public health," it added.

The submission by the lawyer came after the court said that increase in vector-borne diseases, like dengue, malaria and chikungunya, in the national capital, "requires extremely serious action" by all authorities.

The bench said it was a "worrisome" issue as several lives were lost due to the ailments and asked Delhi government and other authorities to show what they have done so far.

It also suggested to the Delhi government to use its 'mohalla clinics' and ensure that sewers are cleaned to prevent spread of the vector-borne diseases.

The bench gave the directions as it had come across a article which said that as per a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the Delhi Legislative Assembly nothing much has been done regarding outbreaks of such diseases since 1967.

The report of March 10 this year also said that due to inaction by the authorities, the cases of chikungunya and malaria have risen exponentially.

The CAG report stated that the municipal bodies spent Rs 109.43 crore between 2013 and 2015 on domestic breeding- checkers without any supervision of the work done or any assessment.

The CAG also criticised the Delhi government for spending Rs 10.04 crore during 2013-15 on dengue awareness campaigns after its outbreak.

The court also directed the Delhi government to "examine and address" the issues raised in the report and include the results in its action taken report to be filed as per the court's April 21 order.

In its April 21 order the high court had directed the AAP government and civic bodies to ensure that no dengue or chikungunya cases occur this year in Delhi.

The court had also asked the agencies to inform it about the preventive steps they have taken, in comparison to last year, with regard to breeding of dengue mosquitoes.

The court's direction had come on two pleas accusing the AAP government and MCDs of not acting vigilantly and responsibly to control dengue and chikungunya outbreaks.

Four dengue deaths and as many as 1158 dengue and 1057 chikungunya cases have been reported in the national capital till September 10 last year.

Out of two petitions, one was filed by law student Gauri Grover who has sought lodging of FIR against directors of hospitals which had denied treatment to a seven-year-old boy, who died of dengue and whose parents subsequently committed suicide in September 2015. She had alleged that the boy had died due to the callous attitude of the hospitals.

The court had earlier asked the Centre and AAP government on the second PIL, filed by advocate Arpit Bhargava, to explain the steps taken by them to contain the disease while voicing concern over the rise of dengue cases.

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A special one-day session of the Maharashtra legislature has been convened on May 17 to pass the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and other related legislations.

The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis here today.

Parliament has passed the central GST and Integrated GST Bill and the President has already given his assent the Bill in September last year.

The GST is expected to come into force from July 1.

States can also levy GST in accordance of the powers vested with them. The special session of both houses of the state legislature will be held on May 17 to pass the state specific GST Bill.

The Maharashtra legislature had in a special sitting in August last year ratified the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill passed by the Parliament.

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The Maharashtra government will organise a festival on Mumbai that will promote the metropolis and its various facets, Tourism Minister Jaykumar Rawal today said.

'Mumbai Festival' will be held between December 21, 2017 and January 6, 2018 and it has been conceptualised on the lines of Dubai Festival, he said.

Rawal said the government intends to involve other sectors and services to be part of the festival like private taxi services, bus services, airlines, hotel industry and shopping malls, among others.

"This will be an integrated attempt to promote Mumbai which will help boost the state's economy and generate employment for people," said Rawal.

Meanwhile, in a bid to promote Maharashtra's culture and attract foreign tourists, the government has signed an MoU with Etihad and Jet Airways, which will help in promoting the state on international flights.

The MoU was signed by the tourism department here today in presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Rawal and other officials.

"Through these airlines, the government intends to reach out to international passengers and promote Maharashtra's culture, tradition and tourist spots," Rawal said.

"Both airlines have agreed to display Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) booklets as in-flight magazine," he added.

An official from the tourism department said that through this MoU, information related to Maharashtra will reach up to 4 lakh passengers a year.

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US-based Mattel Toys has tied up with e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart to sell its products online as part of its efforts to deepen market penetration in India.

The company, which also relies on traditional trade, expects to expand its market reach by over 20 per cent within Metro, Tier I and Tier II towns.

Mattel has formed strategic alliances with Amazon and Flipkart to have exclusive stores for its brands Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher Price, the company said in a statement.

"The Indian market is ever evolving and the increasing spending power coupled with the convenience of e-commerce has fuelled our decision to create exclusive stores on leading platforms," Mattel Inc Country Manager - India Ishmeet Singh said.

The company is eyeing a double digit growth in India. Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru are its its top markets followed by Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.

The focus on strengthening e-commerce will ensure expansion to other urban clusters across the country as well, the firm said.

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The World Trade Organization today gave Mexico the green light to impose USD 160 million in annual tariffs against the United States in retaliation for Washington's discriminating against Mexican tuna imports.

The long-running tuna trade feud between the North American neighbours centres on the controversial "dolphin safe" label.

For more than two decades the United States has required all tuna imports to be certified "dolphin safe", part of a campaign to save a species that had been decimated by fishing nets.

But Mexico argues that the US applies stricter standards to its exporters to acquire the "dolphin safe" certification than to those from other countries.

A 2015 WTO ruling agreed that the US had inaccurately evaluated the risks to dolphins posed by Mexican tuna fleets.

The Geneva-based WTO, which aims to ensure a level playing field in global trade, cannot force countries to change their trade policies.

But it can authorise retaliatory measures against countries that do not comply with its rulings.

Today's decision follows the US refusal to adjust its labelling of Mexican tuna.

A WTO arbitrator authorised Mexico to hit US exports with USD 163 million (149 million euros) in annual tariffs in response.

But the dispute looks set to carry on.

Last year, Washington amended its tuna labelling guidelines, applying the tougher standards applied to Mexico to all importers.

If the WTO ultimately decides that the US is now treating all nations equally, its previous 2015 decision would be quashed.

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US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who met his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley last week, has expressed confidence in increased economic collaboration between the two countries, the US Department of Treasury said today.

"Secretary Mnuchin underscored the strong US-India bilateral economic relationship," the Treasury said in a readout of the meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

"The Secretary expressed confidence in increased economic collaboration between the two nations," Treasury said.

Mnuchin relayed that he looks forward to working with Jaitley on India's successful economic policy objectives and reforms, said the Department of Treasury.

On the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings, Mnuchin also met his counterparts from Egypt, Qatar, Japan, Indonesia, and Pakistan among others.

"The Secretary welcomed Minister Dar and looked forward to increasing the bilateral relationship between the US and Pakistan, including countering the financing of terrorism," the Treasury said in a readout of the meeting between Mnuchin and Dar.

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Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today applauded public sector HUDCO for constructing 16 million residential units across the country with over 90 per cent of them benefiting the economically weaker sections.

Addressing the 47th Foundation Day of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO), the minister said the firm is playing an important role in financial inclusion by taking care of the housing finance needs of the poor people.

"In the last 47 years, HUDCO had constructed 16 million residential units across the country and over 92 per cent of these dwelling units have benefited the economically weaker sections and low income groups," he said.

During the occasion, the minister released various publications, namely 'Shelter', 'HUDCO Darpan', 'HUDCO Design Awards 2016', 'Sankalp' and 'Urban India'.

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SYRACUSE  A conference held last week at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse brought together scientists studying autism from different aspects and emphases of the disorder in a way that will benefit one another's research.

That is what Dr. Brian Howell, a Skaneateles resident who researches autism as it relates to brain development at Upstate, observed following the two-day "Autism Symposium 2017: Where We Are, Where We Are Going" that he organized through Upstate's Department of Neuroscience & Physiology.

Calling the symposium a success, Howell said it was the first such event that tried to include the public along with the scientists. The first day  which featured "Nightline" correspondent John Donvan speaking about changing attitudes about autism  was geared toward the general public.

But, Howell said, some people returned for the second day when scientists from a variety of institutions and backgrounds came together to share their research in a series of presentations.

Those presentations included "a good mix of people that probably don't even necessarily go to the same meetings," Howell said, because of the differences in their disciplines.

"We got people talking across sub-fields in this area, so a lot of scientists said to me that they really appreciated this in terms of not only the science that they heard but also the interpersonal connections that they made," he said.

That goes for him and his department as well, he added. He and his team work with mouse genetics in their research but follow the research in human genetics. There is so much data out there, though, that one needs to be a computer specialist in order to use the data.

"For us, to meet some really good data miners, I think, will help drive our research in that we now can set up some collaborations and look more closely at the human data and see how that might inform our work in mice," Howell said. "For me, probably the most benefit I got out of all this work is being able to call up people in different specialties and get their point of view on things."

Along with Donvan, the first day of talks included Dr. Stephan Sanders, from University of California San Francisco, discussing his work sequencing the genomes of thousands of families with autism spectrum disorder to look for gene mutations that might be able to predict autism in children.

Following Sanders, Dr. Arthur Beaudet, from Baylor College of Medicine, talked about a new technology he is developing  a blood test for pregnant mothers to isolate fetal cells in the bloodstream, sequence those cells and look for mutations known to be predictors for autism.

On the second day of presentations:

 Dr. Steven Hicks, of Penn State College of Medicine, talked about a start-up company, Motion Intelligence, that is developing a noninvasive oral swab to test children's saliva for signs of autism and determine a treatment program when early intervention is most effective.

 Dr. Gahan Pandina, of Janssen Research & Development, a branch of Johnson & Johnson, presented on the Autism Anchor app that allows parents to document the behavior of their children with autism in order to provide clinicians with more information during appointments.

 Dr. Joseph Dougherty, of Washington University in St. Louis, spoke about computer programs he is using to determine what brain regions and cell types are being impacted by autism and the databases that can put together mutations, cell types and brain regions involved in autism.

 Dr. Janine LaSalle, of University of California Davis, highlighted the environmental factors that lead to autism, citing a study that found that prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls may cause a particular chromosome duplication that leads a child to develop autism.

 Dr. Weirui Guo, from University of Texas Southwestern, shared his research about a sub-class of autism found in those with fragile X syndrome, a male-specific disorder caused by a defect in the X chromosome that results in the overproduction of a certain protein.

 Howell gave a presentation about the developmental genes with which he and his team work in mice and how mutations in those genes might contribute to autism in both mice and people when autism, unlike intellectual disability, does not present obvious brain defects.

As far as where the research in autism goes from here following the symposium, both personally and in the wider community, Howell said he and his team hope to take a closer look at human genetics to complement their studies using mice but need partners to be able to do that.

"The human genetic data now, there's so much of it. It's in these massive databases that you basically need a computer degree to be able to access," he said. "We hope to reach out to the computer experts that we've met and mine the genetic data to see if we can develop networks of genes that are involved in autism."

He noted that there is no single mutation that causes autism, but a collection of mutations in an individual adds up to the disorder. Using human genetic data and testing that data in mice, his team might be able to figure out what series of mutations in people lead to autism.

"There are hundreds of genes that might make you at risk for autism, but no one mutation on its own is sufficient," Howell said.
The brazen Maoist ambush, which left 25 CRPF personnel dead and seven wounded, was likely planned by a wanted naxalite commander who was camping in a village barely 7-8 km from the scene of the attack, a senior police officer said today.

Maoist commander Situ was camping in Tadmetla village, the place where 75 CRPF personnel and one of the state police were massacred in April 2010, for the last few days, he said.

"We got regular inputs on April 22 that dreaded Maoist commander Situ was camping at Tadmetla village, around 7-8 km from Burkapal, where the ambush took place yesterday," the officer involved in anti-naxal operations told PTI.

"We suspect that the attack was planned by Situ and his group with the support of local lower-rung cadres and militia members," he said.

The 99-strong CRPF contingent came under heavy gunfire and grenade attack from three sides by the guerrillas, who had taken cover behind rocks and trees on the treacherous terrain.

The Maoist rebels also used locally made arrows tipped with explosives, he said.

As the personnel lay sprawled, slain and wounded, the naxalites looted 22 sophisticated weapons, including grenade launchers, AK rifles, light machine guns, besides wireless sets, binoculars and ammunition of different calibre.

The first 'military battalion' of Maoist rebels, suspected to be involved in yesterday's carnage, is headed by Hidma. It has been active in the Bastar region, particularly Sukma, and launched several attacks on security forces. The battalion has two companies--one headed by Situ and another helmed by Nagesh, the officer said.

The CRPF personnel were providing security for laying of a 58-km road linking Dornapal to Jargunda. The hilly, forested area is a haven for naxalites.

The summer months are when they prefer to target security forces as the bushes and other vegetation wilt, providing them a clear view of the movement of the troops from hills, the officer said.

On March 11 this year, 12 CRPF personnel of the 219 battalion were killed and three others wounded in a similar attack in Bheji area of Sukma.

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A US guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea today and envoys from the US, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo, as North Korea prepared to mark the anniversary of the founding of its military.

Although a major event around the anniversary was viewed as possible, the morning came and went without any nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches. All that was publicly scheduled for the day were gatherings for mass dancing, a common celebration on major North Korean holidays.

At a "national meeting" of thousands of senior military and civilian officials the day before, North Korea's Minister of Defense Gen Pak Yong Sik reiterated that the country is ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any other measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the "US imperialists."



"The situation prevailing on the Korean peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the US imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression," he told the gathering.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not attend. It was not known how he was marking Tuesday's anniversary.

North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying its military capability and has conducted five nuclear tests.

Pyongyang launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Such a move could test the developing North Korea policies of President Donald Trump, who has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Korea's government.

The nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine arrived at Busan in what was described as a routine port visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Commander Jang Wook from the South Korean navy public affairs office said there is no plan for any drill.

The submarine's arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heads toward the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.

In Tokyo, US representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun was meeting Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi and Kim Hong-kyun of South Korea. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the three envoys were to deepen cooperation and stay on the same page amid growing tension.

Japan's Foreign Ministry also announced that China's envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, will visit Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi, which may take place later this week. Trump spoke by phone with both the Japanese and Chinese leaders yesterday.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted President Xi Jinping as telling Trump that China strongly opposes North Korea's nuclear weapons program and hopes "all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation.

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A new congressional estimate could upend President Donald Trump's tax plan even before he releases it.

Trump is scheduled to unveil the broad outlines of a tax overhaul tomorrow that includes a massive cut in the corporate income tax, reducing the top rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent.

The official scorekeeper for Congress said today that a big cut in corporate taxes - even if it is temporary - would add to long-term budget deficits. This is a problem for Republicans because it means they would need Democratic support in the Senate to pass a tax overhaul.

Democrats mused that Republican lawmakers who slammed the growing national debt under President Barack Obama are now being asked to embrace a tax plan that could add trillions of government red ink over the next decade. Democrats say they smell hypocrisy.

"I'm particularly struck by how some of this seems to be turning on its head Republican economic theory," said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

Senator Bob Casey, D-Pa, said, "On a lot of fronts, both the administration and Republicans have been contradictory, to say the least."



"There's no question we should try to reduce (the corporate tax rate), but I don't see how you pay for getting it down that low," Casey said. "Fifteen per cent, that's a huge hole if you can't make the math work."



Last week, House Speaker Paul Ryan asked the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation to analyze the budget effects of a temporary cut in the corporate tax rate, to 20 per cent, that would expire after three years.

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Pakistan army today said that it has contacted Indian army officials to inform them about the movement of census workers near the Line of Control (LoC).

The second phase of countrywide census started on April 25 and would continue for a month.

During this phase, the population in districts near LoC in Kashmir is also being enumerated.

In a statement, the Pakistan army said that Indian army has been approached to inform about the movement of civil and military enumerators to civil populated areas lying close to LOC.

"The step is aimed at ensuring safety and security of civil and military personnel in wake of unprovoked targeting and persistent ceasefire violations by the Indian Army," it said.

The first phase of census started on March 15 and was completed on April 15. More than 118,000 civilian enumerators accompanied by 175,000 army personnel are undertaking the exercise to record the number of houses and total population.

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Pakistan-born liberal author Tarek Fatah, a Shia worship place in Uttar Pradesh and a crowded area in Haridwar in Uttarakhand were among the targets of the four terror suspects held in a multi-state operation last week, police said here today.

The terrorists wanted to target Fateh, a Canadian national who often visits India, to create a sensation across the world, SSP of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Umesh Kumar Srivastava said.

He was the target as he is seen as opposing the Shariat law and advocates liberal and progressive form of Islam, Srivastava said.

"However, the self-radicalised terror suspects eventually realised that it was not easy to target the author, so they went ahead with an alternative plan to target other places and persons in order to make their presence felt," he added.

The four terror suspects are Umar alias Nazim (arrested from Mumbai), Mufti alias Faizan (arrested from Bijnor in UP), Zaqwan alias Ehtesham (arrested from Narkatiaganj in Bihar) and Ghazi Baba (arrested from Jalandhar in Punjab).

"The terror suspects had even planned to target a Shia worship place in Amroha (in UP)," a senior UP ATS officer said.

Police said an alert has been sounded in Amroha, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar after "revelations" made by Mufti and Zaqwan.

The suspects had also planned a bomb attack at a crowded place in Haridwar, a popular pilgrim town in Uttarakhand.

"Plans were also made to eliminate a poice officer in Mumbai and set afire a sugar mill in Narkatiyaganj," he said.

Mufti and Zaqwan were on Saturday taken on eight-day remand by ATS for quizzing.

Umar and Ghazi Baba were produced in the court of special chief judicial magistrate here yesterday after they were brought to Lucknow on transit remand.

The court sent them to judicial custody till May 4, police said.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said his country attaches great importance to SAARC and wishes to see it as a vibrant regional organisation.

Sharif made the remarks during his meeting with Foreign Minister of Maldives Dr Mohamed Asim here.

According to the Prime Minister Office, Sharif said that Pakistan attaches great importance to SAARC and wishes to see it as a vibrant regional organization and is committed to the principles and objectives of the SAARC Charter.

"It was Pakistan's ardent desire to promote peace and cooperation in South Asia for which security and stability are pre-requisites," he said.

SAARC is an eight-member regional grouping that comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Sharif said Pakistan attaches high importance to its ties with Maldives and both countries are bound in fraternal ties of common faith, mutual understanding and respect.

"We need to work for enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries," he stressed.

Sharif said that it was encouraging to note the growing Parliamentary cooperation between Maldives and Pakistan. The visit of Pakistan's Senate Chairman to Maldives last year is a testimony of strengthened parliamentary ties, he added.

Asim thanked the Prime Minister for warmly welcoming him and delegation members to Pakistan and expressed the hope to further strengthen ties between the two countries.

The Maldives Foreign Minister, who is on official visit to Pakistan, also held talks with Advisor to PM Sartaj Aziz.

The two sides agreed to enhance their cooperation in different fields.

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Former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati and two of his alleged accomplices were today granted bail by a special court here in connection with a rape case.

Special judge of a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court Om Prakash Mishra granted bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu.

The court asked Prajapati to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount.

It held that the complainant had given her implied consent in the incident.

The court observed that since she did not complain to the police or the competent court despite claiming that they had been committing rape on her for last three years, it was an indication that she had given implied consent.

An FIR was registered against Prajapati and six others on February 17 on a Supreme Court directive.

Prajapati (49) was then a minister in the Akhilesh Yadav- led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.

When asked about the bail granted to his former cabinet colleague, Akhilesh said, "It's good that he got bail. Please tell me if there is anything wrong in it."



After being on the run for nearly a month, Prajapati (49) was arrested from the Aashiyana area here on March 15 and was sent to jail for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter in 2014.

The six others had been arrested earlier.

Prajapati had approached the Supreme Court to get a stay on his arrest.

But the apex court asked him to approach the court concerned.

At the time of his arrest, Prajapati had claimed that he was innocent and the charges were a conspiracy to malign him.

The former minister had said that he was prepared for a narco test to bring out the truth and also demanded a similar test on the minor victim.

The allegations against Prajapati were raked by the BJP during the state assembly elections to attack the then Akhilesh government.

The Supreme Court order to file a police complaint against Prajapati had come just two days before the third phase of polling in the seven-phase state elections which saw Samajwadi Party winning only 47 of the 403 assembly seats while the BJP and its allies bagged 325 seats.

The BJP had accused Akhilesh of shielding his tainted minister, a charge refuted by the Samajwadi Party.

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A local court has acquitted two persons, accused of murdering a police officer, due to lack of evidence.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Ombir Singh yesterday acquitted Amit and Pankaj due to lack of evidence in police inspector Uday Pratap Singh's murder case here.

According to the prosecution, the SHO of Khatoli police station was shot dead when he tried to arrest the accused on the Delhi Dehradun National Highway near Mansurpur in the district on March 6, 2006.

Later, one of the accused was killed in an encounter while Amit and Pankaj were arrested in connection with the incident.

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Friends of priest-turned-activist Fr Bismarque Dias, who was found dead in 2015, have demanded a proper investigation into the case by the Goa crime branch, including interrogation of the five witnesses.

Fr Dias, who went missing on November 6 2015 was found dead near the sluice gate of Mandovi river at St Estevam village in North Goa the next day.

The death of Fr Dias is being probed by the crime branch after his family and friends suspected foul play.

The family also refused to take possession of the body till the mystery surrounding the death of Dias is unravelled by the investigators.

Investigating officers had claimed that Dias had died 'due to drowning' and had ruled out any foul play.

Recently, the Goa bench of Bombay high court while hearing a joint petition filed by Dias's family and friends, asked the crime branch to file an FIR in the case.

"The five key witnesses who had seen Fr Dias at a location different from the one mentioned by two boys who were with him, needs to be properly examined for the truth to come out," deceased's friends -- Sudeep Dalvi, Kennedy Afonso and Samir Kelekar -- who were the petitioners, told reporters here today.

They claimed that in a video released by Fr Dias few days prior to his death, he spoke about threat to his life.

"All the people mentioned as a threat to his life in the video that he made prior to his death, which include members of St Estevam gram panchayat and certain builders and representatives of mega construction companies, must be thoroughly interrogated," they demanded.

Afonso claimed that "grievous injuries on Dias's forehead and neck during the first panchanama conducted on November 7, 2015 do not reflect in the two subsequent postmortem reports.

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In the first reporting period of the year for political donations, the group behind the ballot measure seeking to essentially repeal Flagstaff's new higher minimum wage act has reported most of its contributions coming from outside the city.

In all, Elevate Flagstaff reported raising $26,135 from January 1 through March 31. Its November 2018 ballot measure seeks to revert Flagstaff's minimum wage, which will reach $15.50 in 2022, to the state minimum, which reaches $12 in 2020, and transfer enforcement from the city to the state.

Of that money, $17,812 was reported as an in-kind donation from a group called American Encore, a group operating with a Phoenix post office box address. The same amount was also listed as given to a group called Axiom Public Affairs, a Phoenix-based company that Elevate reported as giving political consulting to the group.

American Encore, which is the successor to a group called the Center to Protect Patient Rights, is run by Phoenix political consultant Sean Noble, a partner in Axiom. Noble has been connected with so-called dark money in previous elections, and Noble has acknowledged in previous interviews with other news media that his group is connected to conservative billionaires and political donors Charles and David Koch.

According to the American Encore website, the group is dedicated to helping our nation and its leaders rise to the test and to confront these challenges. American Encore will defend freedom, promote free markets, work to expand economic opportunity and make the case for the American ideals of liberty and democracy, both at home and abroad.

In California, Nobles group, the Center to Protect Patient Rights, which was renamed American Encore in 2014, paid a $1 million fine after being accused of laundering money to campaigns in 2013 so that donors could not be identified.

Noble, Axiom Public Affairs and American Encore did not respond to requests for comment from The Daily Sun.

Rob Wilson, a spokesman for Elevate Flagstaff, said the group was faced with the challenge of raising money and support on a very short deadline, and it accepted help from a variety of sources, both local and from outside the city.

Elevate Flagstaff recognized that a crisis was about to occur in (Flagstaff) and we had very little time to implement a legal and binding fix, Wilson said in an email. A large number of locally owned small businesses and Flagstaff citizens agreed with us and made the contributions that they could. Unfortunately, that wasnt enough, considering the time crunch we faced.

However, Wilson said Elevates mission and strategy have not been influenced by outside contributions.

We try not to judge others past history, nor did we do an extensive background check into folks that wanted to support us, Wilson said. Bottom line, they contributed with no strings attached and we used the resources we had to get the work we needed done.

Wilson pointed out that both Elevate Flagstaff and Flagstaff Needs a Raise, which was the group behind the successful ballot measure that raised the city minimum wage, accepted money from sources outside of the city. Flagstaff Needs a Raises finance reports from before the election show a $5,000 contribution from the Arizona Democratic Party, a $5,000 contribution from the Restaurant Opportunities Center, which is based in New York, and a $5,000 contribution from the United Food and Commercial Workers local PAC based in Phoenix.

However, Paul Deasy, the president of Bridging Flagstaff, another campaign committee working to get a minimum wage initiative on the future ballot, said the outside influence is inappropriate in a city election.

This is a small town, its a tight-knit community, Deasy said. We dont need the influence of outside billionaires here.

Contributions to solely local elections should be left to people who can vote in them, Deasy said.

Dark money is coming from people outside Flagstaff who dont understand Flagstaff, Deasy said.

Deasy said the California money-laundering settlement that involved Noble and his group shows that Elevate Flagstaff is willing to accept aid from groups that are known to engage in alleged criminal activity.

I believe campaign donations should primarily come from those that live in the district, but regardless if the funds are local or from outside, the main issue is transparency, Deasy said in an email. All those associated with campaign donations should be disclosed. Where that money is inevitably spent should also be disclosed, especially when there exists a record of illegal activities by the organizations involved. The public has a right to know where the money behind The Sustainable Wages Act came from and where it inevitably went.

Bridging Flagstaff reported no financial contributions or expenditures during the campaign period, and Deasy said he is still working with local groups, especially nonprofit service providers, to craft an initiative before gathering signatures, which he said he expects to be a daunting task.

Recent bills passed in the Legislature have made it more difficult to place citizen initiatives on the ballot by limiting how signature collectors are allowed to be paid, which creates more work for people managing the campaign, Deasy said.

While some city councilmembers indicated they might be willing to support an election before November 2018 if there were two competing initiatives on the ballot, Deasy said it might not be feasible to get an initiative together before the next general election. He said he is trying to work with community members to create a solution, not just a Band-Aid, and said once the language is crafted, then the group will engage in fundraising.

Flagstaff Needs a Raise reported receiving $805 during this campaign period, with the groups largest expenses for the period going to the city of Flagstaff for an information request and to Facebook and Instagram for social media promotion.

As for Elevate, Wilson said the group plans to continue working on community outreach, including with nonprofit organizations, Flagstaff Unified School District and tipped employees.

Were working to build consensus on a new minimum wage law that treats everyone fairly and is fact-based on the Flagstaff economy, Wilson said.

Capitol Media Services contributed to this article.
Twelve organisations of teaching and non-teaching staff, today protested against the passage of the West Bengal Universities and Colleges (Administration and Regulation) Bill 2017.

The Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA), All Bengal University Teachers' Association (ABUTA), Calcutta University Teachers' Association (CUTA) and nine other organisations staged a sit-in at Jadavpur University (JU) to protest against the bill.

Stating that the passage of the bill will curb the autonomy of universities like JU and put them in same bracket with varsities in lower rung, JUTA Assistant Secretary Partha Roy said, "The act will bring crisis in the education sector and harm research work in places like JU."



"All the agitating organisations will march to Nabanna later this month to press for immediate scrapping of the said bill which is draconian in nature," he said.

The convener of ABUTA, JU, Gautam Maity said, from evaluation of answer sheets to code of conduct for teaching and non-teaching staff of the universities - everything will now be controlled by the state instead of the authorities of the universities.

It was an alarming sign, he said.

The sit-in was held between 1 AM and 4 PM at the Jadavpur University campus.

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Queen Elizabeth II has removed an antique gong framed with ivory from an Indian artifacts exhibition held on her Sandringham Estate to avoid angering conservationists.

The 91-year-old monarch's estate in the East Anglia region of England houses the museum which holds a special exhibition annually.

This year the theme of the exhibition is India to mark the 'UK-India Year of Culture 2017' and 70 years of Indian independence.

Among the exhibits on display are items presented to the Queen and the British royal family over the years, many of them by Indian royalty during the Raj.

The gong was presented to the Queen's great grandfather George V during a state visit to India in 1911.

However, under modern day laws the display of ivory has come under strict scrutiny, requiring special exemption in many cases.

The Control of Trade in Endangered Species Act bans the display of "unworked ivory" for commercial gain and the offence carries a sentence of up to two years in jail and an unlimited fine.

Additionally, the Queen's grandson and second in line to the throne Prince William is among the most vocal campaigners against ivory trade in the UK to protect endangered elephants around the world.

Last year, the Duke of Cambridge called for a complete ban on ivory trade in the UK.

"We know now what previous generations did not - ivory treated as a commodity is the fuel of extinction. Ivory is not something to be desired and when removed from an elephant it is not beautiful.

"So, the question is: why are we still trading it? We need governments to send a clear signal that trading in ivory is abhorrent," he had said at an international wildlife convention in November 2016.

The Museum at Sandringham holds a vast Royal Collection, including tiny Indian doll dancers in its Curio Cupboard and gifts in pearl and exotic hardwoods given to the Queen and members of the royal family on State Visits abroad.

"The exhibition of Indian artefact's in the Museum is proving popular with visitors," a Sandringham Estate statement said.

"It is our understanding that items on display at the Sandringham Estate comply with all existing regulation. However, in any case where there is a genuine doubt, the relevant specimen will be removed from display," it said.

The royal family's collection is believed to have around 1,200 historic ivory items and there is a growing effort to avoid them coming up on public display.

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The Supreme Court today granted bail to a former Aligarh Muslim University scholar Gulzar Ahmed Wani, an alleged Hijbul Mujahideen operative lodged in jail since 2001 for orchestrating a blast in the Sabarmati Express train in 2000.

The blast in the train was carried out on the eve of the Independence Day when it was on its way from Muzaffarpur to Ahmedabad and was close to Kanpur, claiming ten lives.

A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud observed that Wani has suffered incarceration for over 16 years and has been acquitted in nine out of 11 cases lodged against him.

The bench, noted that out of 96 prosecution witnesses, only 20 witnesses have been examined so far and directed the trial court to examine all material witnesses by October 31.

"The trial court is directed to complete the exercise of examining the material witnesses by October 31, 2017. Whether the exercise is completed or not, the petitioner (Wani) shall be released on bail from November 1, 2017, on set terms and conditions of the trial court," the bench said.

The apex court noted that the co-accused of petitioner Wani have been released on bail in 2001.

Wani, who was arrested by Delhi Police in 2001 with explosives and incriminating materials, is a resident of Peeparkari area of Srinagar and is currently lodged in Lucknow.

He was pursuing PhD in Arabic from AMU when he was arrested from the national capital on July 30, 2001. The arrest was made in connection with explosives recovered in Delhi.

Son of retired government employee Ghulam Mohammad, Wani after completing his studies at Baramullah in Kashmir and come to Uttar Pradesh where he completed his graduation and post- graduation from AMU.

The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on August 26, 2015 had denied bail to Wani saying "release of such persons would adversely affect the interest of the society".

Wani had challenged the High Court order before the apex court which had last year directed the trial court to expeditiously examine the material witnesses of the case in six months.

After the blast, Wani was booked under various sections of Railway Act, Indian Penal Code and Explosives Act in the case lodged at GRP police station, Barabanki.

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The Supreme Court today slapped a fine of Rs 70 lakh each on two doctors, holding them guilty of allowing a former Haryana legislator, against whom non- bailable warrants had been issued in a murder case, to remain in the hospital for 527 days without any justifiable reason.

A bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra, A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar, refused the contention of petitioner to cancel the licence of the Gurugram-based private hospital but agreed to impose a cost of Rs 1.40 crore on the two doctors.

It asked the doctors to deposit the amount with the apex court registry within two months.

The court had said the two doctors were responsible for "such prolonged admission" of former INLD MLA Balbir Singh, against whom repeated non-bailable warrants were issued by the courts in connection with a murder case.

The hospital's Medical Director Munish Prabhakar and Managing Director K S Sachdev were held guilty of contempt by the Supreme Court which had said they had "obstructed" in the administration of justice.

The apex court's order had come on a plea filed by Sita Ram, who was the informant in the FIR lodged in May 2011 in Rohtak district of Haryana, in which he had sought initiation of contempt of court against Balbir for "willful and deliberate violation" of apex court's October 24, 2013 order.

The apex court had then set aside the order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court granting bail to Balbir and directed him to surrender forthwith.

However, he did not surrender after the apex court order, following which a trial court had issued non-bailable warrants against him.

When the court was informed that Balbir was hospitalised, it had asked the police to verify it and during the enquiry, it was found that he was admitted in the hospital for 527 days.

During the adjudication of the matter, both the doctors had told the court that they were not aware that there was any direction to Balbir to surrender to custody.

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A Senate panel today unanimously approved President Donald Trump's pick to represent the US in trade negotiations, a position that will place Robert Lighthizer in the center of the administration's efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and other pacts Trump has criticized as detrimental to the nation's economy.

The 26-0 vote by the Senate Finance Committee now moves Lighthizer's nomination to the full Senate.

Lighthizer served as deputy US trade representative under President Ronald Reagan. He has also worked on trade issues as a lawyer representing various manufacturers and high-tech companies.

Lighthizer will take his cues from a president who has broken with most Republicans in his criticism of free trade agreements. Lighthizer, who has assailed some Republicans for being too pro-free trade, told the Senate panel earlier this year that the US should have an "America-first trade policy."



Some of Lighthizer's most vocal supporters came from the Democratic members of the Finance Committee. Sen Ron Wyden, D-Ore, said the next UStrade representative has to step up on trade enforcement to pry open markets for US-made goods. He said he's confident that Lighthizer can meet that challenge. The committee also voted to grant Lighthizer a waiver from a law that prohibits anyone who has represented a foreign entity in trade negotiations from being the nation's top trade representative. Democrats agreed to the waiver after earning commitments from Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to work with them to protect coal miners' health care benefits as part of a spending bill to keep the government running.

The vote in support of Lighthizer comes just one day after the administration followed through on some of the president's tough talk on trade by announcing it would seek to impose a 20 percent tariff on softwood lumber entering the United States from Canada, a move that pleased some members of the committee.

"What's the president team did yesterday was send the message that help was on the way," Wyden said.

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A senior Republican senator says he emerged from a dinner meeting with Donald Trump confident the president will not allow North Korea to build a nuclear- tipped missile capable of striking the United States.

"If I were North Korea, I would not underestimate President Trump's resolve to stop them from getting a missile to hit our homeland," Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters today.

Graham joined Senator John McCain of Arizona for the dinner at the White House last evening. Graham and McCain are defense hawks and have been two of Trump's sharpest GOP critics on foreign policy matters. But both senators are backing Trump's approach on North Korea, which has threatened to use pre-emptive strikes or any other measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the "US imperialists."



The Trump administration has warned that all options, including a military strike, are on the table to block North Korea from developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the US mainland. But a pre-emptive strike against North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities isn't likely. The Trump administration is instead seeking to put pressure on North Korea with the help of China.

Graham said it's uncertain whether North Korea may actually launch a weapon of mass destruction at the U.S. But, he said, Trump "is not going to allow this problem to get any worse than it is today." The key, Graham added, is to make North Korea realize there's a "new sheriff in town."



McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, declined to discuss the specifics of the meeting with the president. But he said the Trump administration's tough talk of defusing North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs is justified.

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BJP chief Amit Shah will visit all states by September end as part of his campaign to strengthen the party as it readies for another round of assembly polls and the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

He will spend 95 days, as announced by him in the recent national executive in Bhubaneswar, during the drive, which starts from Jammu and Kashmir. He will spend two to three days in each of the states and union territories.

This programme is different from his 15-day tour of five states, which started today with a three-day stay in West Bengal, as the BJP aims at toning up the organisational structure and will not involve much public contact.

"This is for the first time that the president of a party as big as the BJP will be touring all states of the country to strengthen the organisation. We want to make the birth centenary year of Deen Dayal Upadhyay a memorable period in our history," party general secretary Arun Singh said.

Upadhyay is one of the two ideological stalwarts, another being Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, of the saffron party and it has launched a series of nation-wide activities from September 25, 1916 to observe his birth centenary year.

The entire exercise underlines Shah's ambitious plans to increase the party's footprints across the country, especially in electorally important states where it has always been a fringe player, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

He is especially focusing on Odisha, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and Telangana, which together send 141 MPs to the Lok Sabha of 543 members, excluding two nominated members.

Despite notching up an unprecedented majority in 2014 Lok Sabha polls by winning 282 seats, the BJP could win only five seats in these states.

As it will likely find it a difficult task to repeat its massive sweep of the west India and states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Shah wants it to win more seats in these six states to make up for any fall in its tally in other states.

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Spanish police today arrested four men with alleged links to suspects held in Belgium over their involvement in the Brussels airport and metro attacks last year, officials said.

The four were among nine men arrested in a vast operation targeting suspected Islamic extremists that was carried out in the northeastern region of Catalonia in conjunction with Belgian police, Catalan police said in a statement.

The men -- a Spanish national and eight Moroccans living in Catalonia, all 30 to 40 years old -- are believed to belong to a terrorist organisation, the statement added.

"Four of those who were detained have links with people arrested for the attacks carried out at Brussels airport and metro," a spokesman for Catalonia's regional police force told AFP.

It is not clear if the four were directly involved in carrying out the Brussels attacks, the spokesman added.

Belgium has been on high alert since March 22 last year when suicide bombers attacked Zaventem airport and the Maalbeek metro station, killing 32 people and leaving more than 320 wounded.

The attacks were led by an Islamic State cell that was also responsible for the carnage in Paris in November 2015.

"The Belgian judge leading the investigation into the Brussels airport attack found ties between the suspected authors of the attack and the Moroccans who live in Catalonia," a spokesman for Spain's National Court, which handles terrorism investigations, told AFP.

The men arrested in Catalonia "may have participated or cooperated in past actions" and may have travelled to Belgium, Catalonia's regional interior minister Jordi Jane told radio Rac1.

There were no "clear indications" that the suspects arrested Tuesday intended to carry out an attack in Spain, he added.

The authorities said the suspects were also being investigated for drug trafficking, robbery and other crimes.

Most of the nine men arrested have criminal records related to petty or organised crime, police said.

Police raided 12 properties in six Catalan cities, including the regional capital Barcelona, as part of the operation which followed an eight-month investigation.

Officers seized three firearms, drugs, cash and electronics during the dawn raids.

At the same time, police in Morocco searched several homes of family members of the suspects arrested in Spain. They were accompanied by Spanish police.

Between 2012 and October 2016, Spain detained 186 people with suspected links to Islamic jihadism, including 63 in Catalonia, according to the interior ministry.

Spain, the world's third most visited country, increased its terror alert to category four on a five-point scale in 2015 after attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait.

The country has been mentioned on extremist websites as a possible target for historical reasons, since much of its territory was under Muslim rule from 711 to 1492.

But it has been spared major jihadist violence since March 2004, when bombs exploded on commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people in an attack claimed by Qaeda-inspired militants.

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The initial public offer of Sterlite Power Grid Ventures infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) is likely to hit the markets in the second week of May to raise Rs 2,650 crore.

The India Grid Trust sponsored by Sterlite Power Grid Ventures and Sterlite Infraventures is expected to file its final IPO papers with the market regulator Sebi today, official sources told PTI here.

"The trust is likely to launch its initial public offer (IPO) in the second week of May and is targeting to raise Rs 2,650 crore," they added.

If all goes well, India Grid Trust would become the second trust after IRB InvIT Fund, which will launch its IPO on May 3, to hit the markets in less than a month.

India Grid Trust (IndiGrid) will house two power transmission projects, namely, Bhopal Dhule Transmission Company (BDTCL) and Jabalpur Transmission Company (JTCL).

The trust plans to utilise the proceeds raised through this IPO for providing loans to BDTCL and JTCL for repayment or pre-payment of debt of banks, financial institutions, Sterlite Grid 1, Sterlite Grid 2 and repayment of any other long term and short term liabilities and general purposes.

IndiGrid has proposed to utilise an estimated amount of Rs 2,580 crore from the net proceeds to provide loans to BDTCL and JTCL, by entering into facility agreements.

Further, BDTCL and JTCL, will utilise the funds raised through such loan towards partial repayment or pre-payment of debt.

The move will help reduce outstanding indebtedness of IndiGrid, on a consolidated basis, assist it in maintaining a favourable debt-equity ratio, which will enable the trust to raise further resources in the future to fund potential business development opportunities and plans to grow and expand its business in the future, the draft red herring prospectus of India Grid Trust said.

In case the issue is over subscribed, the proceeds from such over-subscription may be utilised for repayment of debt from the sponsor, it added.

The issue is being managed by Morgan Stanley India Company, Citigroup Global Markets India and Edelweiss Financial Services. The units of IndiGrid are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE.

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Three persons including two children were killed and four others injured when a wall of a primary government school in Tapi district of Gujarat collapsed today, officials said.

"Two children and one woman staffer of a primary government school died when a wall of a classroom collapsed on them this morning," district officials said.

The incident took place in Mirkot village of Ucchal taluka of Tapi district in South Gujarat, around 325 kms from here.

Four other children injured in the incident have been admitted to the local hospital, they said adding further details are awaited.

Soon after the collapse, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered an inquiry into the incident and also announced financial aid for the kin of the deceased.

"An inquiry has been ordered into the incident and action will be taken on those found guilty," a statement quoting Rupani said.

The state government has declared Rs 4 lakh assistance to the kin of those killed in the incident and has also directed Tapi district administration to provide free treatment to the injured.

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PHOENIX -- Arizona is on the verge of requiring schools to do more to identify students with dyslexia and giving them the guidelines for how to deal with them.

The Senate on Monday gave final unanimous approval to legislation allowing the state Board of Education to create a handbook for for schools. That already appears to be accomplished, with Rep. Jill Norgaard, R-Phoenix, telling board members earlier in the day one has been prepared and is ready for adoption.

But the potentially more significant part of HB 2202, which now goes to the governor is redefining dyslexia in a way Norgaard said more accurately reflects the condition. She said that by itself should help students get identified earlier and get them the help they need before they fall behind.

Norgaard said Arizona will be the 15th state in the nation to create such a handbook.

What makes that all the more remarkable, she said, is until October 2015 federal education guidelines "you weren't even able to mention the D-word in schools,'' she said.

Whether that was a specific prohibition is less clear.

In that 2015 letter to schools from the U.S. Department of Education said it found that schools are "reluctant to reference or use dyslexia'' in evaluating students or developing individualized education program. Assistant Education Secretary Michael Yudin said he wanted to "clarify'' that's not the case.

Whatever the situation, Norgaard said it freed parents, educators and other volunteers to start working to ensure that schools were finding dyslexic students and providing needed help.

The problem, she explained, is that students who have problems in word recognition and decoding are often simply considered to be slow readers, especially when there is no other disability found.

"Dyslexia students are typically very bright,'' Norgaard said. "They memorize a lot of things,'' she said, starting as early as age 3.

It isn't until they get into second and third grade where there's a noticeable drop in reading comprehension, especially when problems are presented in story form.

"It's been identified that 17 percent of students have some form of dyslexia,'' she said.

Part of the problem, Norgaard said, is students sometimes get identified as disabled and are put into programs where they have individualized education plans or put into special education programs. She said the change in law, coupled with the handbook, will lead to "focused intervention'' which eventually will put the student "back into the mainstream.''

And there's a financial benefit to the state, said Norgaard.

"If you start spending money more on early intervention you're not going to see kids fall off in third and fourth grade where they hate school, they don't want to go to school any more,'' she said. Norgaard said what's in the handbook follows successful models in other states.

Education board members getting updated on the handbook and Norgaard's legislation got the benefit of hearing from Charlie LeVinus, a fourth grader who has been diagnosed with dyslexia.

LeVinus explained how he scored in the 96th percentile or higher among all students in a first-grade test in math, reading and other skills.

"Because we were in first grade, it was read to us in class,'' he told board members.

"However, I knew I was still having reading problems,'' LeVinus continued. "I was afraid of being called on in class.''

It took efforts by two specialists to get the diagnosis of double deficit dyslexia. He attended a summer program of five days a week, seven hours a day for six weeks to "reprogram'' his brain.

The result, LeVinus said, is he now reads above grade level.

Bernadette Coggins, a governing board member in the Kyrene School District, said the guidelines are important.

"It's a starting point for schools where they have to start identifying students so I don't have to go in and say, 'I think my kid's dyslexic,' and have them say, `No, he's ADHD'' or some other diagnosis,' '' she said. "At the same time we're going to provide some resources and tools for school districts to tap into.''

Coggins said she knows from personal experience with her son, Zane, that, until now, schools have had no tools to identify students with dyslexia or even know what to do with them.

"We knew in about third grade that something wasn't right,'' Coggins said, with his skills two years behind grade level.

She said her district provided "every intervention we have.'' But nothing the district did was able to figure out what was wrong.

It was only after taking action on her own, Coggins said, that she got a diagnosis. She said, though, that there needs to be something built in to the education system to find those students before it's too late.

"What we've noticed with dyslexia is if kids aren't diagnosed and given tthe right tools, then they go on into middle school and high school,'' Coggins said. She said they have a high drop-out rate and believes they are more likely to end up in prison.
Three members of a family were allegedly hacked to death by a gang of unidentified people, suspected to be dacoits, in Badhane village in the district in the wee hours today, the police said.

Two members of the family, including a woman and her six-year-old daughter, were injured in the attack.

The deceased are identified as Nathu Phale (65), his wife Chababai (60) and their son Atrinandan (30).

The injured are identified as Tejashree (25), wife of Atrinandan, and their daughter Ishwari (6), a police official said.

"The incident took place between 1 am and 4 am, when Nathu, Chababai, and Atrinandan were sleeping in one room and Tejashri and her three daughters were sleeping in another room," said a station duty officer of Talegaon MIDC police station.

He said that Nathu, Chababai, Atrinandan were attacked with sharp weapons on their heads.

The dacoits also attacked Tejashree, the officer said, adding that Ishwari sustained injuries as she was pushed.

"After the attack, the dacoits decamped with gold ornaments and cash," he said.

Tejashree, who fell unconscious after she was attacked, regained consciousness after some time and found her husband and in-laws lying in a pool of blood. She also found her daughter unconscious, following which she alerted the police with the help of her neighbours.

A case has been registered under sections 396 (dacoity with murder) and 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the dacoits.

"A manhunt has been launched to trace them," the officer said.

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US President Donald Trump will meet Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull next week, the White House said today.

"The president will hold a bilateral meeting with Malcolm Turnbull of Australia," the president's spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters. The meeting will take place on May 4 at the USS Intrepid museum in New York, where Trump is set to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II.

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International donors have pledged USD 1.1 billion for war-torn Yemen, the UN secretary-general said today, appealing to the fighting sides to grant access to humanitarians and revive diplomatic efforts to end a conflict that has killed over 10,000 civilians.

Antonio Guterres ended a daylong Yemen aid conference by hailing the "clear generosity and solidarity" of governments and civil society after two years of intensified conflict in the Arab world's poorest country.

The conference, co-sponsored by the United Nations, Switzerland and Sweden, raised pledges for over half of the USD 2.1 billion sought by the UN this year in an appeal that was only 15 percent funded previously.

After years of shortfall in funding for Yemen, Guterres praised a "very encouraging signal" that the target could be met this year. He said the pledges must now be "translated into effective support" for Yemenis.

"We basically need now three things: Access, access, access," for humanitarian actors to reach all Yemenis in need, he said.

The war has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, obliterated the health system, led to broad human rights violations and impeded imports of crucial food, resources and medicines. Aid groups want improved access to civilians, a halt to deadly airstrikes by a Saudi-led, U.S.-supported coalition that has been fighting Shiite rebels known as Houthis, and more respect for international law.

UN officials say the world's largest humanitarian crisis is in Yemen, where 17 million people are classified as food insecure, with 7 million of those facing critical food shortages.

The war pits the coalition of mostly Sunni Arab countries against the Iran-backed Houthis and allied army units loyal to a former president. The Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and other areas in 2014, forcing the internationally-recognized government to flee.

Unlike the Syria war, Yemen's conflict has not produced a flood of refugees - making it a relatively contained crisis that has made fewer international headlines. Violence and administrative blockages have impeded the flow of aid and resources into the country.

Epitomizing the daily struggle for Yemenis, dozens of hospital patients in the contested city of Taiz protested today against alleged seizures of medical supplies by rebels who control the area, said Fahmi al-Hamami, a physician at the Thawra Hospital.

UN officials did not immediately provide a full breakdown of the pledges - or specify how much was new. The United States said it was committing nearly USD 94 million in additional assistance, bringing its total to USD 526 million since the 2016 fiscal year.

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The UN today demanded an immediate investigation into the murder of a liberal blogger in the Maldives, calling on the government to ensure the safety of dissidents in the troubled honeymoon destination.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein condemned Sunday's stabbing of Yameen Rasheed and urged a swift and thorough inquiry into the killing, meeting international standards.

"Mr. Rasheed's killing comes in the context of what appears to be an upsurge in arrests and prosecutions of the political opposition," Zeid's spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

She noted that Rasheed, 29, had received death threats in December and lodged complaints with the police, yet had to push to get his concerns registered.

Rasheed, who poked fun at the nation's politicians on his blog The Daily Panic, was found in the stairwell of his Male apartment with multiple stab wounds to his chest and neck. He died in hospital.

"We remind the state that it has a duty to ensure that journalists, civil society actors and human rights defenders are able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and opinion without fear for their safety," Shamdasani said.

The government of President Abdulla Yameen has already faced censure from the UN rights body over the arrest and jailing of a former president and a former defence minister.

Rasheed is the third media figure to be targeted in the Maldives in the past five years.

Blogger Ismail Rasheed narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed by an unidentified attacker in 2012.

A journalist with the independent Minivan News, Ahmed Rilwan, was likely abducted in August 2014 and has been missing ever since.

The government has said it will investigate the killing and has called for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Exiled opposition leader and ex-president Mohamed Nasheed has also demanded an international investigation.

In the wake of Rasheed's death Nasheed, who is living in London, said on Twitter that "a treasured soul has been stolen from us".

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The Uttar Pradesh government today cancelled 15 public holidays in marking the birth or death anniversary of eminent personalities.

Most of the holidays had been declared by the previous Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) governments apparently to keep certain sections of the society in good humour, often with an eye on the vote bank.

Howevee, the state Cabinet at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today decided to cancel 15 such public holidays in educational institutions.

"Instead, students in schools and colleges would now be taught about the great personalities on these days," Cabinet minister Shrikant Sharma said while briefing mediapersons on the decisions of the government.

An official release later clarified that government employees were free to avail restricted holidays on these days.

Adityanath had in his address on the occasion of Dr BR Ambedkar's 126th birth anniversary here expressed concern over the shrinking academic session due to increased holidays.

"There should be no holidays in schools on birth anniversaries of great personalities. Instead, a special two- hour programme should be held to teach students about them. The 220-day academic session has been reduced to only 120 days due to such holidays and if this tradition continues, there will be no day left for teaching in schools," he had said.

In Uttar Pradesh, there are 42 public holidays of which at least 17 are related to the birth anniversaries of eminent personalities.

The previous Samajwadi Party government had declared holidays on the birth anniversaries of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar (April 17), Maharishi Kashyap and Maharshi Nishadraj Jayanti (April 5), Hazrat Ajmeri Garib Nawaj Urs (April 26), Maharana Pratap Jayanti (May 9) besides on the death anniversary of Ambedkar (December 6).

Sharma said the revised list of holidays will soon be made available.

Public holidays that have been scrapped by the government include Jan Nayak Karpori Thakur birth anniversary (Jan 24), Maharshi Kashyap and Maharaj Guha birth anniversary (Apr 5), Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Ajmeri Gareeb Nawaz Urs on (Apr 14), Chandrashekhar birth anniversary (Apr 17), Parashu Ram Jayanti (Apr 28), Maharana Pratap Jayanti (May 9), Jamat Ul Vida on June 23 (last Friday of Ramzan), Chhat Puja (Oct 26), Eid Milad Un Nabi (Dec 2), Chaudhary Charan Singh Jayanti (Dec 23).

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The Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government today approved the setting up of an anti- land mafia task force to check rampant land grabbing in the state, fulfilling a key poll promise.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here.

"The cabinet has approved the setting up of anti-land mafia task force in the state. It will identify land grabbers in two months and strict action will be initiated against them," the state power minister Shrikant Sharma told reporters.

No grabbing of public land will be allowed in the name of religion, the minister added.

"The construction of religious places on encroached public land will not be allowed irrespective of the religion," he said.

The task force will work under the overall supervision of the state Chief Secretary while various officials ranging from the Divisional Commissioners, District Magistrates and Sub Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) and will look into the complaints, he said.

A portal has also been launched in which land grabbing complaints can be registered, he said.

"Police has been asked to immediately act on land grabbing complaints and if there is laxity, action will be initiated against the concerned SHO," he said.

The cabinet in its meeting also condemned the Sukma attack and expressed condolences for the jawans, who laid down their lives.

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In an oblique reference to Pakistan backing various terror groups, Afghanistan today said time has come to send a strong message to states sponsoring terrorism.

Afghan Ambassador Shaida Abdali said terror has been used as a tool against both Afghanistan and India and that concerted efforts must be initiated to combat terrorism in the region. He said those supporting terror is known to everyone now.

Abdali's comments during a lecture at a leading think- tank came days after over 140 people were killed in a Taliban attack in an army base in the Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

He said that time has come to revive the India- Afghanistan-US trilateral dialogue to ensure a well- coordinated strategy against terrorism.

"State sponsorship of terrorism has become an old fact. We are hoping and waiting for this ground reality to change," he said.

He said India will continue to hold a strategic place in all areas of cooperation.

"Afghanistan's effort to address its immediate security and development priorities, while dealing with its immediate neighborhood and beyond will in no way affect the country's strategic relationship with India," he said.

Abdali said India's support on accomplishment of Afghan military "wish list" is an ongoing process, but that he would not like to talk about it in public



The envoy said there should not be any "duplicity and selectivity" in defining terrorism.

"Using one terror outfit against the other is nothing but a disaster, not a solution - the recent Taliban attack on Afghan Army in Mazar-e-sharif is a case in point," he said.

Abdali also condemned the Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district yesterday in which 25 CRPF personnel were killed.

He said that the states sponsoring terrorism must be delivered a strong message not to indulge in such acts, adding



"If we continue to use one terrorist group against another, the future is very dark," he said, adding, "Terrorism is the biggest challenge which is hampering our vision and progress."



He also pitched for a regional consensus for long-term stability in Afghanistan and support to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process



"India and Afghanistan need to conduct a strategic review of our bilateral, regional and international partnerships to deal with the evolving uncertain world," he said.

Abdali said the future of Afghanistan's security environment will depend on a holistic and sincere fight against terrorism both at the regional and global level.

He also complimented India for its contribution in reconstruction of Afghanistan.

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The United States is "deeply concerned" by Turkish air strikes that reportedly killed more than two dozen Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria, the State Department said today.

The strikes underscore the delicate political tightrope the United States is treading in Syria -- and to a lesser extent in Iraq -- where it is relying heavily on Kurdish forces to conduct the ground fight against the Islamic State group.

"We are very concerned, deeply concerned that Turkey conducted air strikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper coordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat" IS, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"We have expressed those concerns to the government of Turkey directly."



Turkey is a key US ally and a NATO member, so America must be careful not to alienate its partner and risk losing Ankara's support for the anti-IS fight and access to Turkey's vital Incirlik airbase.

Turkey said it had carried out the strikes in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq against "terrorist havens" and vowed to continue action against groups it links to the outlawed Kurdistan's Workers' Party (PKK).

US commandos are working with local Kurds on the ground, much to the fury of Turkey, which sees the Kurdish YPG forces as a terrorist offshoot of the PKK that has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

"This is a very complex battle space. We're cognizant of that," Toner said.

"We are also cognizant of the threat that the PKK poses to Turkey... But these kinds of actions frankly harm the coalition's efforts to go after ISIS."



The Pentagon offered a more muted response.

"We don't want our partners hitting other partners," a senior US defense official told AFP.

"We've got to figure out exactly who got hit. We don't know yet. We do know where the strikes were, but we don't know exactly who is dead."



The United States is counting on the SDF, a Syrian Arab- Kurdish alliance, to push into the IS bastion of Raqa in Syria, and is currently weighing whether to provide the Kurdish faction with heavy weaponry and other materiel.

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IT firm Wipro today said it will offer bonus shares to its shareholders and will also consider buyback of equity shares around July this year.

The Bengaluru-based company will offer one bonus share for every one share held by shareholders (including to ADS holders) and expects the bonus shares to be awarded within two months, i.E, June 24, 2017.

It said the step was taken to encourage participation of small investors, increase liquidity and expand retail shareholder base. Interestingly, the issuance of bonus shares was not part of the agenda papers for the Board meeting.

The process, timelines and other requisite details with regard to the postal ballot will be communicated in due course.

"The Board of Directors will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares around July 2017," Wipro CFO Jatin Dalal said.

In September last year, Wipro had concluded the buyback of 40 million equity shares that resulted in a total cash outflow of Rs 2,500 crore.

Share buyback typically improves earnings per share and is a mechanism to return surplus cash to shareholders besides supporting share price during periods of sluggish market condition.

Indian IT companies are under pressure to return excess cash on their books to shareholders through generous dividends and buybacks.

Last week, shareholders of India's largest software company TCS approved a Rs 16,000-crore buyback plan, the biggest in the Indian capital market.

Infosys, too, has outlined its capital allocation policy recently to return up to Rs 13,000 crore this financial year through dividend and/or buyback, and while its smaller peer HCL Technologies has approved a buyback of up to 3.50 crore shares worth Rs 3,500 crore.

Earlier this year, bowing to pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp, IT company Cognizant announced a USD 3.4 billion share buyback.

Wipro Board has also approved re-appointment of Azim Premji as Chairman and Managing Director for a period of two years from July 31, 2017.

It also approved increase in authorised share capital of the company from Rs 610 crore to Rs 1,126.5 crore by creation of additional 258.25 crore equity shares.

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By Marcy Nicholson and Zandi Shabalala

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices fell to a two-week low on Tuesday as markets became less concerned that far-right leader Marine Le Pen would win the French presidential election, increasing investor appetite for risky assets such as stocks while denting bullion.

Spot gold was down 0.9 percent at $1,264.25 an ounce by 2:53 p.m. EDT (1853 GMT), on track for its weakest one-day performance since March 2. It fell earlier to $1,261.41, the lowest since April 11.

U.S. gold futures settled down 0.8 percent at $1,267.20.

A gauge of world stocks notched a record for a second straight session, spurred by speculation about U.S. tax reform and relief at French election results, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rallied to a two-week high.

Business-friendly centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French vote on Sunday and opinion polls indicated less support for Le Pen.

"We've moved from having multiple numbers of positive drivers for gold last week when yields were on the defensive and we had multiple geopolitical risks," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

"But now with the French election (first round) behind us, there is a bit of a surge of risk-on coming back to the market. The main worry was a strong performance by Le Pen."

Gold is often seen as an alternative investment during times of political and financial uncertainty.

Heightened security risks provided some support. North Korea conducted a live-fire exercise on Tuesday as a U.S. submarine docked in South Korea in a show of force.

Hansen said gold would trade cautiously this week before a Friday deadline for the U.S. Congress to pass a spending bill funding the government through September or risk a government shutdown.

Holdings of SPDR Gold, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose six tonnes in the past two sessions.

Silver dipped 1.7 percent at $17.59 an ounce after touching a one-month low at $17.51.

"Silver's fundamentals look to be price supportive, but overextended investor positioning poses downside risk near-term," said Standard Chartered in a note.

"Investor and industrial demand tend to drive silver prices but the supply side has now started to turn. We estimate supply fell by just under 1 percent last year, and will decline at a similar pace this year."

Palladium was up 0.2 percent at $796.55 while platinum inched down 0.4 percent to $955.30 an ounce.

Asset manager ETF Securities said in a note it expects "modest upside" for platinum given "expectations for continued global recovery in growth and manufacturing, and a record discount to the gold price."

(Additional reporting by Swati Verma and Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; editing by David Evans and Chizu Nomiyama)

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India's digital warriors have crippled 30 Pakistan government websites in virtual surgical strikes as protest against the neighbouring country's announcement of the death penalty to former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.

A Pakistani military court this month ordered the punishment for Jadhav, after he was accused of espionage and sabotage activities in Karachi and Balochistan. "All the hacking in Pakistan was part of our operation 'Justice for Kulbhushan Jadhav'," one of the hackers told Mail Today.

Indian and Pakistani hackers also fought pitched battles in cyber space after last September's terrorist attack on a military camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector.

A message on a hacked Pakistani website read, "Charges against Kulbhushan Jadhav are fictitious, fake and farcical. There is no evidence of wrong doing by him. This is an act of "premeditated murder'. Earlier it was Sarabjeet, now it's Jadhav."

Responsibility of hitting the websites was taken by "lulzsec India", comprising 11 hackers. Experts say many nations are deploying cyber warriors to attack vital organisations in enemy countries. Pakistan, China, Iran and North Korea have deployed hackers by granting them immunity from consequences.

Another hackers' group, Telangana Cyber Warrior, claims it has infected the network of a government hospital in Karachi. "We have their entire computer network under our control. We can modify patients' records and monitor their health condition," said a member of the group.

The Kerala Cyber Warriors hacked the website of Pakistan Academy for Rural Development. The website's main page is warped in a way that it displays a message demanding "justice for Kulbhushan Jadhav Ji".

The message reads that the "Indian spy", in custody of Pakistani authorities, "lives for India" and all the cases filed against him are completely fake. Observers say Pakistani hackers will try to respond in kind and attempt to hack prominent and sensitive Indian websites. They have in the past carried out mass defacement and are focused on targeting government portals.

State police websites were defaced by Pakistani hackers where they posted anti-India comments with an image of the Pakistan flag. Experts say the intelligencegathering process has intensified as hackers are not only defacing the sites but are silently spying into critical networks.

Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested reportedly from Balochistan after he entered Pakistan from Iran. He was accused by Pakistan of being a "RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent" and planning "subversive activities" in the country. The Indian government, on the other hand, believed that he was picked up from Iran. India has acknowledged Jadhav as a retired Indian Navy officer, but denied that he was in any way connected to the government.

"Charges against Kulbhushan Jadhav are fictitious,fake and farcical.There is no evidence of wrongdoing by him.This is an act of premeditated murder. Earlier it was Sarabjeet,no it's Jadhav - Message on one of the hacked websites

"We have their entire computer network under our control.We can modify patients'records and monitor their health condition. - A hacker of Telangana cyber warrior group


Vodafone is offering its customers as a 'token of appreciation' 9GB free data after reaching 200 million subscribers. According to a report by NDTV, the new offer is available to select users of Vodafone users.

This new offer will only be available for new 4G handsets and will also be a part of the first data recharge. The total of 9GB cannot be availed together. The data will be distributed over a span of three months.

Considering the on-going tariff war between Indian telecom firms, these new offers seem to target new customers as well as retain the current user base.



Also read: Reliance Jio tops chart in 4G download speed in March: Trai report

The Jio-induced tariff war started in September and is believed to be one of the major reasons behind the merger between two of the biggest telecom brands in India.

Vodafone and Idea Cellular are in the process to merge with each other and form the biggest telecom entity in the nation.

Vodafone has agreed to sell 9.5 per cent additional stake to Aditya Birla Group for Rs 130 per share after they merge their telecom operations to create the country's largest operator worth more than $23 billion.



Aditya Birla Group has filed with the BSE the composite scheme of amalgamation between Vodafone and Idea Cellular, which stated that the merged entity shall be under the joint control of the two firms and will be governed by the shareholders' agreement.

Also read: Vodafone to sell 9% additional stake to Aditya Birla Group post merger








A day after the reports emerged that the Ministry of Defence's canteen stores department suspended the sale of Patanjali Ayurved's amla juice after receiving an adverse state-laboratory report, Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved said its amla juice is a medicinal product and is safe for consumption.

It was reported that the CSD's decision to remove amla juice from all its depots was based on the report given by the Central Food Lab in Kolkata that found it to be 'unfit for consumption'.

However, Patanjali Ayurveda has now clarified that its amla juice is an ayurvedic medicine and test on it should be conducted as per the norms of the AYUSH ministry. The Ayurved firm said norms prescribed by the country's food regulator - Food Safety and Standards Authority of India - were not applicable to the juice.

Speaking to the Mint on the issue, Patanjali Ayurved spokesperson said: "It comes under the purview of the Ministry of AYUSH. The test conducted by the Central Food Laboratory in Kolkata was done following the standards set by FSSAI. Our amla juice is a medicinal product and is safe for consumption."



The spokesperson further said: "We have also written to the CSD explaining this. Patanjali amla juice will be back to CSD shelves soon."

Earlier on Monday, the Economic Times reported that after the lab report was declared, the CSD asked all its depots to make debit notes for their existing stock so that the product can be returned.

Another report by PTI said that the CSD had sent a show cause notice to the company to examine the 'deviations' and explain about them. The CSD had sent samples of Amla Juice having index number 85417 and batch number GH1502 to the laboratory in Kolkata.

The latest development could hurt the Patanjali's image as its amla juice was the product that helped it strengthen its foothold in the Indian consumer market. This is the second time when a Patanjali product has come under scanner.

Last year in December, a local court in Haridwar slapped Patanjali Ayurved's five production units with a fine of Rs 11 lakh for "misbranding and putting up misleading advertisements" of their products.

Patanjali Ayurved was found guilty of misbranding as the products being shown by the company as produced at its own units were in fact manufactured somewhere else.

A case had been filed in the court against the company in 2012 by the District Food Safety Department after samples of mustard oil, salt, pineapple jam, besan and honey produced by Patanjali had failed quality tests at Rudrapur laboratory.
Any "serious actions" taken by the TrumpAdministration on the H-1B visa programme would be a cause of "worry"as a majority of Indian exports in the services sector go to the US, ChiefEconomic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has said.

"If there are serious actions taken it's something thatis going to kind of worry us a lot because, remember that our exports ofservices are about 40 to 45 per cent of the total exports," Subramaniantold an audience here last week.

"Something like 50 to 60 per cent of all our exports ofservices goes to the United States. So it would worry us quite a bit,?" hesaid while responding to a question on the H1-B visa during his visit at thePeterson Institute, a top American economic think-tank.

Subramanian said that India would be "okay" aslong as the visa reforms are manageable and it's keeping a close watch on it.

ARUN JAITLEY ON H-1B VISA ISSUE IN US

"Anything that is going to interfere with export growthcreates anxiety (in India). In the context of the United States, we're allwatching very carefully the H1-B visa situation,?" the Chief EconomicAdviser said.

"On the visa side, I don't know but as long as you knowwe can keep this thing manageable. You know it should be okay,?" he said.

During his US visit, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had alsotaken up the the H-1B issue with the American side and highlighted thecontribution Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy.

President Donald Trump had earlier this month signed anexecutive 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-skilledor highest paid" petitioners, a decision that would impact India's USD 150billion IT industry.

The Indian IT industry expressed serious concerns over thisas these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-termwork in America.

US MARKET ACCOUNTS FOR 60% REVENUE OF INDIAN IT INDUSTRY

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies toemploy foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical ortechnical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies dependon it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations.

The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenueof the Indian IT industry.

Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major electionpromises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visasevery year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals.

India accounts for the highest pool of qualified ITprofessionals, whose services go a long way in making American companiesglobally competitive.
Speaking at the Petrotech conference held in the national capital last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined his government's commitment to combating climate change and curbing emissions, thus highlighting the need for sustainability and reaffirming that energy efficiency and energy sustainability remained critical pillars of his vision.

Surely, cleaner and greener biofuels have witnessed a paradigm shift in the recent years. Also, the fast-deteriorating air quality of the Indian cities is pushing the government to move swiftly. And of course, the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal keeping a close watch is helping as well.

But as always, the gap between the cup and the lip is still very wide. While the government continues to push all clean technologies with a sense of purpose, an ecosystem, required to promote large-scale adoption of clean fuels, is sorely missing.

The state of automotive LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) in India is a case in point. The third most used fuel globally after petrol and diesel, auto LPG is low cost, much cleaner and can provide a smart energy solution. But even after 17 years of being notified by the government, the use of this fuel is still at a nascent level. This is despite the fact that auto LPG is one of the cleanest fuels available today and extremely affordable.

In fact, India is at the 19th spot globally as an adopter of this green fuel. More than 26 million vehicles consume 26 million tonnes of auto LPG globally while India consumes a paltry 0.35 million tonnes. Countries like South Korea use close to 4 million tonnes of auto LPG. Closer home, Turkey consumes more than 3 million tonnes and runs almost 40 per cent of all private vehicles on auto LPG.

The plus



LPG is clean: Auto LPG is a winner, especially when you look at the two most harmful pollutants -- nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons (HC). NOx emissions from auto LPG are 90 per cent lower than that of diesel and about half of compressed natural gas (CNG) emissions. Also, HC emission from an auto LPG vehicle is significantly lower than a CNG vehicle. What's more, NOx automotive emissions are largely responsible for the lung ailments seen across urban areas. On the other hand, low HC emissions, compared to CNG vehicles, should be of key importance especially when we consider that CNG is methane, a greenhouse gas. Finally, particulate matter emission in case of almost all gaseous fuels is negligible.



It's economical: Auto LPG costs 50 per cent less than the petrol price today. This makes its running costs even lower than diesel and comparable to CNG. In a few cities, where CNG may not be enjoying tax exemptions, auto LPG costs can be cheaper. For example, the running cost of an auto LPG vehicle in Delhi comes to about Rs 2.77 per km, cheaper than diesel at about Rs 3.20 per km and comparable to CNG while petrol costs close to Rs 5 per km.

What's hindering adoption of cleaner fuels

While most countries actively promote adoption of cleaner fuels through fiscal and non-fiscal incentives and measures, the regulatory framework in India is exactly the opposite -- it is very hostile. Consider the fact that the LPG, as an automotive fuel, was notified by the government in 2000. But in spite of 500-plus cities covered by auto LPG, the RO level throughputs are appalling. Undoubtedly, there are several key regulatory impediments plaguing this clean fuel sector. Here is a quick look.

The taxation web

First, the maze of taxation for the same product -- LPG. There are some confusingly high and different tax rates for LPG, depending on product usage. There is one customs rate for propane and butane (constituting the LPG mix in India) and another for the mixed product, LPG. Then there is one excise slab for LPG for domestic use and yet another for LPG for other applications. The value-added tax (VAT) is no different either -- we just have a huge maze of taxes for the same product. This, in the past, encouraged undesirable leakages in the system, rewarding the unscrupulous and deterring those who play by the book.

Interestingly, on September 14, 2012, when the government limited the availability of subsidised LPG cylinders to six per year, there was a 21 per cent increase in sales at the auto LPG stations for a 16-day period. Sales fell back to previous levels in January 2013, when this limit was increased to nine cylinders a year. This explains the systemic leakages that I referred to. What the government can do is simply tax all types of LPG at the same rate. This will ensure no systemic leakages and make it simpler for those who play by the book.

As an industry body, we have been highlighting these leakages and asking the government to bring commercial and domestic LPG under equivalent tax rates in the upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. GST is an opportunity to make a difference and the government must not lose it.

Having said this about the current taxation web, it is also important to mention here that the government has indicated that LPG will be a part of the GST and that all LPG grades shall be taxed at a singular rate. If this happens, it will provide a huge impetus to the growth of cleaner fuels like the LPG, both in commercial and automotive sectors. Undoubtedly, it will be a huge reform to be undertaken after the huge success of Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh (Pahal) that involves direct cash subsidy transfer to beneficiary.

Incidentally, governments across the globe promote alternative fuels such as auto LPG by offering a bouquet of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. These include sales tax and excise duty exemptions, road or registration tax exemptions, vehicle sales tax exemption or income/profit tax credit for purchasers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). In countries such as South Korea, Japan and Australia, auto LPG gets VAT and excise duty exemptions. Similarly, some governments give tax credits to companies for investing in distribution infrastructure for auto LPG. In a nutshell, governments across the world incentivise auto LPG stakeholders.

Rules discouraging conversion of vehicles to cleaner fuels

In India, there are hugely deterring laws, not in line with the global norms, when it comes to conversion of a vehicle to gaseous fuels. The system is so skewed that it actively discourages conversion from a polluting liquid fuel to gaseous fuel. For instance, all conversion kit suppliers need approval for the kit from one of the listed agencies, either the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) or the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT). This has to be supplemented with model approvals for each vehicle type on which the kit has to be installed.

The process followed in the US and Europe is that similar kit approvals need to be taken as a onetime perpetual approval until there is any component change.

What kills the industry in India is that, this same approval is required to be renewed every three years even if there is absolutely no change in any component used. The cost for each applicant desiring to get the product approved for key LPG and CNG variants, runs into more than Rs 4 crore every three years. No wonder that the number of players in the kit conversion industry, which had been close to 40 a few years ago, is now reduced to just five-six credible players, owing to this hostile regulatory impediment.

While this issue has been repeatedly brought to the notice of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the fact remains that India is perhaps the only country supporting this regulation. Not just LPG, but the CNG conversion industry is almost dead on account of this.



Delay in NHAI and local permissions

While installing and commissioning an LPG outlet barely takes 30-45 days, obtaining the permission to set it up, especially if it is located on a national highway, can take more than a year. In fact, several companies abandoned their plans to set up auto LPG stations as they ran into huge cost overruns on account of the despicable red tape. Again, the local no-objection certificate (NOC) from the concerned District Magistrate or the District Collector takes a long time to materialise. Approvals, be it from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) or from the district administration, should not take so long. Both central and state governments need to mandate that grant/refusal of such permissions should not take more than 30 days.

Other alternative fuels still not functional

While electric vehicle is an option, the well-to-wheel emissions need to be considered, particularly for a nation like India that generates most of its power from coal. CNG is another option, but the focus on the same needs to be reviewed in the context of high capital investments and high conversion costs, not to mention the high NOx and HC emissions.

Finally, LPG is a low-hanging fruit

Auto LPG is a low-hanging fruit and the Indian government can leverage it immediately to improve air quality. It can cheaply and quickly replace diesel and petrol across the country as the fuel can be transported by tankers and sold through existing filling stations, unlike the CNG that requires laying of pipelines, which is a time-consuming and capital-intensive process.

To further promote the use of gaseous cleaner fuels like the auto LPG, the government can adopt it for its own use. Once mandated by the central government to be used for all its vehicles, alternative fuel vehicles will see an immediate rise in demand, thus triggering OEM interest and kick-starting the alternative fuel industry.



Finally, the government needs to play the role of a key enabler here. The deteriorating air quality in the Indian cities may soon become a national emergency, killing more people annually than any military conflict ever would!

Suyash Gupta is Director General, Indian Auto LPG Coalition


FILE - In this April 11, 2015, file photo, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy speaks with supporters at an event in Bunkerville, Nev. Prosecutors want a federal judge in Nevada to schedule three group trials for the 17 defendants facing charges in an armed confrontation with U.S. officials over grazing rights near cattleman Bundy's ranch. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

LAS VEGAS (AP)  Government prosecutors stumbled again Monday in a bid to gain convictions of armed protesters in a case arising from skirmishes in a decades-old battle over control of public lands in the western United States.

A federal jury in Las Vegas found two gunmen guilty of some charges in a 2014 armed standoff that stopped federal agents from enforcing court orders and confiscating cows belonging to Cliven Bundy from public rangeland near his Nevada ranch and melon farm.

But the same jury deadlocked on charges against four other defendants, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial and schedule a new trial June 26  the same day 70-year-old Cliven Bundy, sons Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and two other alleged conspiracy leaders are set to be tried.

They split our way, anywhere from 10-2 to 7-5, not guilty, Jess Marchese, attorney for defendant Eric Parker, said after prosecutors and defense lawyers met behind closed doors with the judge and several jurors to talk about the case.

Acting Nevada U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre and three other prosecutors in the case didnt immediately respond to messages.

Intent. They said the government did not prove intent, Todd Leventhal, attorney for Scott Drexler, said of the jurors. They felt there was a lot of evidence that didnt go anywhere.

The jury also failed to agree on guilt or innocence for Richard Lovelien of Oklahoma and Montana, and Steven Stewart of Idaho.

Gregory Burleson of Phoenix was found guilty of eight counts, including assault and threats against federal agents and extortion  crimes of violence carrying the possibility of 57 years of mandatory prison time at sentencing July 26. His attorney, Terrence Jackson, said Burleson will appeal.

Todd Engel of Idaho was convicted of obstruction and traveling across state lines in aid of extortion. He could face up to 30 years in prison at sentencing July 27.

It wasnt immediately clear whether the trial for Cliven Bundy and his sons will be pushed back. Defense attorneys and family members complain that they have already been in federal custody and away from their families for more than a year.

The split verdict was a setback for the government in a case where evidence clearly showed the six men brought assault-style rifles to the standoff near Bunkerville.

When government agents backed down and states rights advocates declared victory, it reverberated in areas where Bundy is admired for declaring that property belongs to the people, not the government in Washington, D.C.

Myhre had characterized the six as the least culpable of the 17 to be tried in the case, and their trial was seen as a test-run of a key conspiracy charge alleging that Bundy and his two eldest sons headed a conspiracy to wage a range war against the government.

The outcome echoed an Oregon case, where a federal jury last year acquitted Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five other defendants of all charges related to a 41-day occupation of a U.S. wildlife refuge  including that they conspired to impede federal officers from doing their work.

In Las Vegas, one conspiracy count alleges a plan was made to commit an offense against the United States, and that defendants then took part in it. A second count alleges that conspirators agreed to impede and injure a federal law enforcement officer.

The only thing more powerful than the U.S. government is a fair and impartial jury, Cliven Bundys attorney, Bret Whipple, declared Monday. This gives us confidence that the primary witnesses against him are of limited value.

Whipple noted that it took two years to bring charges in the Bunkerville case and three years to bring it to trial, which took two months. The government presented 35 witnesses, including police officers and federal agents who sometimes became emotional describing fears that they wouldnt make it home from the standoff alive.

The six defense teams provided four witnesses, including Parker. He was the only defendant to testify. He was famously photographed lying on a freeway overpass during the standoff, looking with his AK-47-style rifle through a seam in a concrete barrier toward heavily armed federal agents guarding a cattle corral below.

The agents had been enforcing court orders to get Bundy cattle off public lands for his refusal to pay grazing fees.

But Parker testified he came to Nevada from Idaho with friends and co-defendants Drexler and Stewart after seeing accounts of Bundy family members met with police dogs, knocked down, stun-gunned and arrested in earlier scuffles with federal agents.

He was asked by prosecutor Nicholas Dickinson about comments he made on the overpass about needing to keep matching the show of force against federal authorities.

Just like Cliven Bundy told you to do, correct? Dickinson asked.

Nobody told us to do anything, sir, Parker answered.
LOGAN  A 42-year-old Logan business owner, arrested repeatedly for threatening his ex-wife, was sentenced to up to five-years in prison.

Jared Martindale appeared in 1st District Court Monday afternoon after previously pleading guilty to one count of violating a protective order, a third-degree felony and eight similar misdemeanors.

Judge Kevin Allen said Martindale had violated the courts trust after being given multiple opportunities to change his life. He ordered him to serve the maximum sentence for each charge but allowed the sentences to run concurrent.

Martindales ex-wife pleaded for the defendant to be sent prison explaining how he abused her, physically and emotionally, during their 20-years of marriage. She described how he had threatened to kill her, cut her into little pieces and put her in a suitcase, so no one would find her. I have had to move repeatedly to stay away from him, she said. Im asking for my right to live in peace.

Defense attorney Bryan Galloway said Martindale had fallen in life due to alcohol abuse, anger issues and the termination of his marriage. He explained how the defendants actions had scared a lot of people, who had seen the defendant at his worst.

Martindale acknowledged his alcohol addiction and asked not to be sent to prison so that he could save his business, Top of Utah Spas. I would like to support my kids, said the defendant.

State attorney Spencer Walsh said the court had been more than fair, giving Martindale multiple chances to change his life.


will@cvradio.com
There was a large turnout at last weeks Cache Business Summit, held April 20, at the Riverwoods Conference Center in Logan. Cache Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sandy Emile said the event provided a great deal of helpful information, especially from keynote speaker Derek Miller, president and CEO of World Trade Center Utah.

Emile said Miller told those attending that Utahs economy is the fastest growing in the U.S., with the sixth fastest growing export economy. In addition to speaking, Miller provided two awards to local businesses that have done an excellent job in exporting globally.

The first award Vanguard Award went to Liz Butcher and her family with Butchers Bunches, Emile said, for the outstanding job she has done growing her jams and presenting them all over the world for people to enjoy, and then the second award went to Workforce Services.

Emile said the Department of Workforce Services is the best resource the Chamber has when it comes to helping organizations obtain the tools and resources they need to expand their businesses to the international marketplace. More information about the Vanguard Awards is available at http://wtcutah.com/call-for-nominations/.
Hundreds of spectators gathered in Cache Junction on April 25, welcoming Union Pacific's "Living Legend" Number 844 steam locomotive as it traveled through Cache Valley en route to Ogden's Union Station.

Hundreds of spectators lined the railroad tracks at Cache Junction Tuesday morning to get a glimpse of history. For the first time in two decades, the last steam locomotive built for Union PacificNumber 844made a stop in Cache Valley, traveling from Southern Idaho en route to Ogdens Union Station.

Listen to the children, said Eric Coombs, who lives in Young Ward, as the engine came into sight. Thats the neat thing about being here is the children and how excited they are about hearing the train coming. You can hear it in their voices!

The 454-ton, 114-foot long Living Legend was built in 1944 and has the pulling strength of 30 tractor trailers. What Mark Ainsworth likes most is the engines whistle, first heard from miles away as the train rumbled toward its Cache Junction crossing. Ainsworth, a retired train engineer, spent 22 years with Union Pacific and traveled to Cache Valley from West Jordan to see Number 844 in action.

Its the king of locomotives, he said, the largest and the grandest, and it actually has a whistle. Basically, all the trains even when I started back in 1988 had an amplified truck horn, just a honk.

Having been spruced up in a Union Pacific machine shop, Number 844 has spent the past week in Idaho, part of a 1,600-mile, 11-day round trip to celebrate the 92nd anniversary of the Boise Depot train station.

Departing from its base in Cheyenne, Wyoming on April 18, the steam engine has also made stops in Montpelier, Soda Springs and Pocatello. Pulling away from Cache Junction, this morning, the train headed to a stop in Brigham City on its way to Ogden. It will be on display at the Union Station tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Jack Dixon, a fourth-grader at Wellsville Elementary School, has visited the Union Station many times.

Thats usually where they have model train shows, and I get to buy trains, he said.

Dixon said he has a collection of more than 200 toy and model trains in his bedroom and couldnt wait to see Number 844 in person.

I just really love trains, he said. Its like my life to be a train driver and work on them.

As he waited for the Living Legend to arrive, Dixon met Ainsworth, whose employment with Union Pacific was his own childhood dream come true. Showing the boy his Union Pacific train operator license, Ainsworth couldnt hide his excitement about seeing the 844.

The whistle and seeing the steam, you know, its quite romantic, just from yesteryear, he said, and I never got to see that, even in my career.

More information about Number 844, including the itinerary for its current excursion, is available at www.up.com. The 844 will leave the Union Station Thursday morning, returning to Cheyenne late Friday. The engine will also take two summer tours this year, stopping at the 2017 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska in June and visiting Cheyenne Frontier Days in July.




jennifer@cvradio.com
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Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 2:10PM

Apple Stores will host dozens of new educational sessions next month in all 495 Apple Stores ranging in topics from photo and video to music, coding, art and design, and more. The hands-on sessions, collectively called Today at Apple, will be led by highly-trained team members, and in select cities world-class artists, photographers and musicians, teaching sessions from basics and how-to lessons to professional-level programs.



At the heart of every Apple Store is the desire to educate and inspire the communities we serve, said Angela Ahrendts, Apples senior vice president of Retail. Today at Apple is one of the ways were evolving our experience to better serve local customers and entrepreneurs. Were creating a modern-day town square, where everyone is welcome in a space where the best of Apple comes together to connect with one another, discover a new passion, or take their skill to the next level. We think it will be a fun and enlightening experience for everyone who joins."



The free programs focus on the features of Apple products customers love most, across all skill levels and ages. For example, an iPhone user interested in photography can start with six How To sessions that cover shooting, organizing, editing, and more. More advanced photographers can join experiential Photo Walks that leave the store to dive into techniques including light and shadow, portraits and storytelling. Going further, a Photo Lab features accomplished photographers on topics such as capturing candids, building a brand on social media or simply sharing their perspective.*



Apple will also offer special programs for families and educators. Teachers can come together for Teacher Tuesday to learn new ways to incorporate technology into their classrooms, or aspiring coders of all ages can learn how to code in Swift, Apples programming language for iOS and Mac apps.** Families can join weekend Kids Hour sessions ranging from music making to coding with robots. Small business owners can engage with global and local entrepreneurs in the new Business Circuits program.*



Many sessions will be taught by new Creative Pros, the liberal arts equivalent to Apples technical Geniuses. Each Creative Pro is an expert in one or more areas of the arts, and highly trained to pass along their knowledge to Apple users of all levels.



Today at Apple Programming

Today at Apple offers programs with more than 60 different sessions in creative skills, including:



- Studio Hours are Apples version of a professors office hours. Creative Pros host 90-minute sessions on topics from art and design to documents and presentations. Anyone is welcome to bring in a personal project for advice from experts, or to use the space to work alongside others.



- Photo or Sketch Walks help attendees go beyond capturing moments by exploring new techniques hands on as they interact in their local community. Photo Walks include sessions such as framing architecture or capturing action on video, while Sketch Walks explore observational drawings, watercolour and brush techniques, and more.



- Kids Hour is designed to spark imagination and creativity through fun, hands-on projects. Sessions include coding with Sphero robots, Creating Music with GarageBand, and Making Movies Together with iMovie.



- Coding sessions are meant to introduce anyone to coding through Swift Playgrounds, an iPad app designed to make coding interactive and fun for beginners. These sessions will explore coding concepts with the same code professional developers use every day.**



- Photo Labs bring in talented photographers to experiment with new techniques and styles or uncover a new point of view in hands-on sessions. Similarly, Music Labs explore different genres and beats to introduce new tools to musicians of all levels.*



- Pro Series take advanced users on a deep dive into Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X with sessions on colour correction and grading to post production, or audio mixing to editing for emotion, and more.*



- Perspectives and Performances, offered at select stores, feature influential artists and musicians talking about their creative process or sharing their talents live.



To deliver the new programs, each store will receive new Forum Displays, mobile screens created by Apples design team specifically for Today at Apple sessions, and updated seating and sound.



Today at Apple will launch worldwide in May, with sessions in every store.


"At this hour, on this day, 102 years ago, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, at Gallipoli, made immortal the name of Anzac and established an imperishable tradition of selfless service, of devotion to duty, and of fighting for all that is best in human relationships," he read.
Your digital subscription includes access to content from all our websites in your region. Access unlimited news content and The Canberra Times app. Premium subscribers also enjoy interactive puzzles and access to the digital version of our print edition - Today's Paper.
Mrs Jenke said the best questions to put to a jury did not have yes-no answers. In the pet desexing case, people were asked how to reduce the number of unwanted pets - so as well as desexing they called for pets to be allowed in rented properties to reduce the number of abandoned pets when people had to move home through a relationship breakdown or losing a job.
"Our focus is how to provide the best learning environment for students and what we know is quality teaching is the most important thing in that so we want to work with our teachers to ensure the best quality learning environment," he said.
"I'd like to welcome you all here. We'd like to especially acknowledge those who have travelled, our Ngunnawal elders, and the veterans, serving and non-serving, who have made the effort to be here.
Two of the pieces were purchased from Art of the Past - a New York art gallery owned by dealer Subhash Kapoor, who is accused of smuggling more than $100 million of looted or stolen art from India. Mr Kapoor is currently in prison in India.
Fairfax revealed in February that planning was underway for the meeting. The meeting is scheduled to be held just a week before the government hands down its budget, and there were early concerns among some Australian government advisers that the trip was too close to the timing of the federal budget.
The federal bureaucracy employed fewer people in June 2015 than in the last months of the Howard government in 2007. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows a 15.8 per cent rise in the population since June 2007, while public service job numbers have fallen by 0.2 per cent in the same period.
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.
Maybe you havent heard, but the 1997 animated movie Anastasia has finally been adapted for Broadway! Ever since I broke my VHS tape of it after playing the movie on repeat, I have been waiting for this story to take center stage. I was completely entranced by the grand duchess and her beautiful, tragic Russian childhood, despite the grim reality of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which led to Anastasias entire family being murdered in an extrajudicial killing by members of the secret police. If you, too, are obsessed with all things Russian Empire and need something to hold you over until you see the play on Broadway, pick up one of these books about Anastasia, the Romanov family, or other royal Russians.

READ MORE
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.
It rained the whole way to Elizabeth City, on Friday. By the time, I arrived the rain had "set in". Showers came in intervals all afternoon. Once, a heavy shower fell and made quite a racket. Lyla and I were looking out the window when. abruptly, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Quickly, I rushed to the porch with her, looking for a rainbow-and there it was!-a very faint arch of color over the laughing river. It did not compare in brilliance with the one I had seen a week ago, at the rabbit patch, but it was Lylas' first rainbow, and that will make it memorable for me. Lyla stared in awe and said "wow" in a hushed voice.After a nice evening dinner, I went out to see the twilight. The rain had been stopped for hours, but the distant sky was full of flashing. The air cooled off considerably. At last, we heard thunder foretelling of an impending storm. Will, Lylas' dad, took her to the front porch. There was wind, which delighted Lyla-and the sky was flashing lightening in all sorts of arrangements. Lyla was delighted. Moments later, we heard the familiar sound of hail . It only hailed a few moments, thankfully. When we went in, I wondered what Lyla thought about the sky, with its' rainbow and flashing lights- and then the hail.Saturday dawned bright and fair and seemed to call my name. It was going to be a good day for wandering. I saw a robin in the yard when I went out. He had a mouth full of nesting materials and so I wished him well. The dogwood, just outside of Jennys' kitchen window is in full bloom. It is supposed to wait for Easter, but shows no sign of regret about that. It is full of "April snow" and just lovely.After breakfast, I did take to wandering. I took my sweet, little companion, Lyla with me. The streets are lined with all varieties of flowering trees. I especially love the weeping cherry trees with their flowery tendrils. Friendly people were out in many yards tending the soil in various fashions. We saw some young children chasing bubbles in the gentle breeze. Spring is a fine time for such things. Chimes tinkled from porches and seemed the perfect music when teamed with the songbirds, for the first day of April. It sounded like an "out-of season" rendition of Joy to the World.In the, afternoon, after Lylas' nap, Jenny and I took Lyla out again. The sky was as bright as October with only a few friendly clouds and so we watched them a while. We walked to a park with swings and slides-and seagulls. We had a good time beneath the sky with friendly clouds and supper was late because of that.Breakfast was served and cleared away. Fresh strawberries were cut and sugared for a strawberry short cake- and a pound cake was baking-all by ten am. The day was every bit as lovely as the day before it. April has made a grand entry this year, I thought.Sunday dinner was served at twelve-thirty. Wills' mom, Miss Claudia came and so we ate in good company. Lyla was especially happy about the cake. She has only recently tasted cake and has decided there should always be a cake in the kitchen. She has put forth great effort to say "cake" and does so perfectly, with emphasis on the 'k" sound.Early Monday morning, I saw some young "lady cardinals" fussing in the oak trees. Meanwhile, a robin was having breakfast, where Will had removed a small and dead peach tree. I don't remember ever seeing robins quarrel. Squirrels were racing about and seemed very preoccupied with squirrel business.There is a ladybanks rose in full bloom, in the neighbors' yard that ought to be in a magazine. It runs up the side of a shed and then grows upright several feet. Plumes of yellow blossoms cascade like a floral fountain, making a spectacular "splash".An hour later, as I carried my bags to the car, I thought what a lovely occasion, the weekend had been. I went past, the stroller and noticed yesterdays' gathered flowers strewn in the seat-like souvenirs . . . Dear Diary, I love April!
Lexus has officially made its debut in India, entering the worlds fastest-growing major economy with an initial range of two hybrids and one diesel model.



Lexus opted for the RX 450h, the ES 300h and LX 450d to introduce itself to Indian customers while the all-new LS 500h flagship was also previewed during the brands introductory event before being launched there in 2018.

The premium Japanese brand will offer its models through its guest experience centers located in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore with after sales service centers also available in Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi.

How India experiences luxury is evolving with its affluence, said Lexus India Senior Vice President, Akitoshi Takemura. Lexus will be providing the Indian consumer with an amazing experience through our vehicles, our service and through any interaction with our brand.

We are excited about what we can bring to the luxury market in India, where we see opportunities mapped to the remarkable growth the country is experiencing.

PHOTO GALLERY
PSA Groups boss Carlos Tavares says the brands presence in China will be key for it to become a successful global automaker.



Following the debut of the Citroen C5 Aircross at the ongoing Shanghai Auto Show, Tavares told Autocar that the company hasnt been going in the right direction in China and needs to refocus.

China is the biggest market in the world. We want to become a global car maker, so it is important for us to be successful in China. Being successful in China shows we are capable of being a global car maker. Thats why its strategic for us to be here, he said.

Tavares believes that as its three key brands  Peugeot, Citroen and DS  all have new SUVs coming to China (the 3008, C5 Aircross and DS 7 Crossback), PSA is in the position to fight back in the Chinese market after its sales fell by around 16 per cent in the nation and broader south-east Asian region in 2016.

According to the companys boss, the main problem in China is a lack of awareness about the French brand and that itll take time to cement roots in the country.

Alongside its refocus on China, PSA plans to re-enter the North American market.

PHOTO GALLERY
The United States Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by General Motors which sought to shield it from lawsuits regarding the companys massive ignition switch recall.



As The Detroit News reports, the Supreme Court refused to overturn a lower court ruling which determined the companys bankruptcy didnt protect it from lawsuits involving deaths and injuries caused by faulty ignition switches in millions of vehicles. The decision could have huge repercussions as lawyers for the plaintiffs are seeking as much as $10 billion.

The Supreme Court declined to say why it wouldnt hear the case but the lower court ruling determined the company was liable for injuries, deaths, and lower vehicle resale values because the automaker knew about the problem for more than a decade and didnt inform lawyers during the bankruptcy process.

In a statement, GM spokesman Jim Cain said The Supreme Courts decision was not a decision on the merits, and its likely that the issues we raised will have to be addressed in the future in other venues because the Second Circuits decision departed substantially from well-settled bankruptcy law.

GM has already paid approximately $2.5 billion in fines and compensation but those numbers will likely climb.

Photo Gallery
By the end of 2017, no less than four versions of the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo will be available in the U.S. but local dealers are still calling for a five-seat sedan.



The Sport Turismo is the first Panamera offered with five seats and despite its increased cabin space, wagon body styles arent all that popular in the United States compared to sedans.

While speaking with Automotive News at the New York Auto Show, chief operating officer of Porsche Cars North America Joe Lawrence said that the reception to the latest generation Panamera has been positive but some dealers are still clamouring for a more spacious sedan variant.

Its really taking off, and weve got a great order intake on it.

Its fair to say that dealers would like to see [five seats] also available in the sedan. Thats something were discussing, and well see what the future holds, he said.

Rather than offering the sedan with five seats, the German automaker instead decided to extend the transmission tunnel through the length of the cabin. While this allows for comfortable and spacious rear seats to be fitted, it limits occupancy to just four people.

PHOTO GALLERY
1. 125 animator-painters worked on the film

That was never the plan though. It took longer than expected to get the funding sorted out, while the films release date stayed the same. The filmmakers ultimately had no choice but to hire more people for a shorter amount of time. Luckily the Loving Vincent recruitment teaser went viral with over 200 million views, resulting in around 5,000 applications from painters and animators all over the world.

An intense three-day audition in Gdansk, Poland followed. While travel expenses couldnt be covered, people still got on planes from places like Australia, Canada, and the U.S., just to potentially be a part of the unique production.

Almost none of the films animators had a background in animation, but were rather classically trained oil painters. There was no way we were ever going to find enough painting animators, said Welchman. And also the thing with painting animators is, very often they have personalized styles, and its not necessarily the case that theyre classically trained paintersWe needed people who were very pure oil painters.

2. The film was completely built up from original van Gogh paintings

In all stages of pre-production, the directors stayed as close as possible to van Goghs view on the world. Kobiela explained that this was possible due to the fact that more than any other painter, Vincent painted what was physically around him and shared his reality with the viewer: His paintings represent such a big range of subjects; his room, his objects, his shoes, his best friends, his favorite bar. Together, they kind of naturally created the storyboard.

While 94 original van Gogh paintings could be used pretty much as-is, another 40 had to be reimagined for the screen. Many of Van Goghs canvases were 1.33:1, but some were long and thin, so they had to be adapted to work for film. Sometimes, like in the case of Marguerite Gachet at the Piano (1890), research would be done to add the left and right parts to the original painting. Other times a camera movement within the painting would be used, like with Cafe Terrace at Night (1888), which received a vertical pan in the movie.

In special cases paintings had to be changed from day into night, and sometimes seasons or weather needed to be altered. Welchman emphasized that while the films frames stayed close to the original paintings, they are not faithful copies. They cant be, he said. Theres a difference between a static single image and a dynamic art form told over time. We spent one year reimagining his paintings for the medium of film, trying to be as faithful as possible, but also adapting them so that they could move.

3. Rotoscope was used for most of the animation

Sixty minutes of live-action reference material was shot over 12 days. Thats even faster than soap opera, Welchman joked. Coming from an animation background, the advantage is that youre pretty used to a 1:1 ratio. Youre used to planning everything very, very meticulously. You cant afford not to.

For each shot the original painting served as a sort of mask on top of the live-action material. Finding the right balance between those was quite the challenge. Van Gogh had a very interesting way of capturing things, said Kobiela. It looks like he used a long and wide lens at the same time. Perhaps it was like that because he used to paint in one position, and then walk around and change [his position]. This way hed capture the essence of the thing with a very bizarre perspective.

4. Throughout production, the movie was updated with the latest scholarship on van Gogh

Kobiela and Welchman read pretty much all there is to read about the painter. A new discovery in the book Van Goghs Ear (2016) pretty much conclusively proved that he cut off all of his ear, rather than part of it, Welchman said, and they ended up repainting around 3,000 frames of the film, in line with the latest scholarship.

5. The films budget is $5.5 million

That figure is a pretty average sum for a European feature-length animation, but its rather amazing when you consider the laborious technique used in this case. Funding was made up from 40% pre-sales, 40% private equity, 15% government funding (Polish Film Institute, U.K. Tax Credit, Media, City of Wroclaw), and 5% from production house Break Thru itself.

6. Out of 65,000 painted frames, just 1,000 survived

After finishing the painting of each frame, animators had to remove the full painting with a spatula. Consequently, just a fraction of the hand-painted frames survived. An exhibition of 200 paintings is currently being put together, to go with the release of the film. The other 800 paintings are being sold online.

Loving Vincent will be released in Europe and Asia starting in late 2017. No North American distributor or release date has been announced yet. For more information about the film, visit LovingVincent.com.
Photo: Google Street View

A prominent building that has for years been decaying on the outskirts of Peachland is finally getting a facelift.

The building's new tenant, Peachland's Dragon Lotus Restaurant, is moving in this October.

The owners plan to make some major changes.

For more on what the upgrade will look like, as well as what will happen to the famous Dragon Lotus ice cream stall, check out the full story on Castanet's business news website, Okanagan Edge.
Photo: Contributed

The second draft of the City of Pentictons parks and recreation plan is now public.

The document, containing over 150 recommendations, is available online or at city hall, the community centre or the library. An open house is scheduled for May 1 between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Trade and Convention Centre.

This will be the citys first Parks and Recreation Master Plan since 1993, says Lori Mullin, recreation and culture manager and co-lead on the development of the plan with Jeff Lynka, parks supervisor.

It will provide some much needed guidance to the city on the direction to take with parks and recreation services over the next 10 years.

The development of the plan was marked by a minor protest near the start of April, organized by Nelson Meikle, who is currently suing the city over the Skaha Park waterslide fiasco.

Residents will be able to offer feedback on the plan at the open house of online until May 15. Input gathered by the city will be put towards the creation of the final draft, which will be presented to council at the end of June.
Photo: Google Maps

At one time, the City of Vernon had a vision for attainable housing on 69 acres of city-owned land in Okanagan Landing.

But 19 acres from the Hesperia lands off Okanagan Avenue are about to be subdivided and put up for sale.

We will try to sell it off, rezone it and a developer will come in and develop it, said Mayor Akbal Mund.

Coun. Brian Quiring said there could be a wide range of housing types put on the land "just like we all want to see."

"It's a great, great asset for the city to liquidate," Quiring said.

The land was purchased years ago by the city with a plan to encourage the building of attainable housing on the site.

Plans for the property included up to one thousand residential units mixed with commercial space.

However, a land corporation that was created in 2007 to prepare the land was disbanded six years later by a different council.

Mund rejected the idea that the vision of attainable housing is now gone.

The vision has not changed, Mund insisted. What we said in council today was the money from the sale of that land would be kept to go to buy land and then work with BC Housing (to develop housing closer to the city centre).

The money is still there to use for affordable housing, Mund said.

Meanwhile, Quiring believes the land will still be used for attainable housing rather than more luxurious homes with a view of Okanagan Lake.

"It's a planned community," reassured Quiring. "It's more along the lines of affordable housing. There might be some tweaks to it but the concept stays the same."

The mayor said there was concern from some quarters that Vernon did not have enough housing.

He said five projects were in the pipeline currently, with BX Crossing expected to open this summer.

We get a lot of people here saying there is no housing in Vernon. We're waiting for some, we have five other projects that are coming on board.

Mund said the other 50 acres of Hesperia land would likely be dealt with by a new council.
Photo: RCMP

Vernon RCMP are seeking an older male suspect after a robbery at the Cash Stop at 4300 27th St. Monday morning.

Officers, including a dog team, responded to a call around 8:30 a.m. after a lone suspect had entered the business, produced a weapon and took off with some cash. Police will not disclose the amount.

The male fled on a bicycle that was recovered in the 4000 block of 27A Street, police said.

The suspect is described as a Caucasian male between 45-60 years of age, with blue eyes and shorter greying hair.

He is said to be approximately five-feet-ten-inches tall with a slim build and was wearing a beige fleece jacket with a dark shirt or jacket underneath it, dark pants and dark shoes.

Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Vernon RCMP or CrimeStoppers.
A look at some key developments from Day 14 of the B.C. election campaign for each of the parties:

LIBERALS

Liberal Leader Christy Clark campaigned in Delta at a company that relies on B.C. wood products. Clark said the province's forest industry has "the potential to change the world" by supplying the materials and expertise to create iconic new structures and public spaces.

Facing questions about donations to her party from forestry company Weyerhaeuser, Clark said she isn't compromised because she doesn't defend American demands for tariffs on Canadian softwood. The Liberal leader said she would never defend American interests that "want to kill Canadian jobs."

Clark accused NDP Leader John Horgan of "cozying up" to the United Steelworkers Union, saying the group pays the salaries for the New Democrats' senior campaign director and deputy director.

NDP

The NDP accused the Liberals of accepting millions of dollars in donations from forestry companies while jobs in the industry disappeared.

NDP Leader John Horgan is also promising to stand up for forest workers, saying in a statement he will "fight every day to get people working."

GREENS
Photo: Colin Dacre Patrick "Redbeard" Vrolyk winning "Longest Beard"

The second annual Okanagan Beard Festival came to a close Monday night, capping off a total of six nights of judging over 14 weeks.

Fifty-six competitors took part, vying for awards in 13 categories including best, longest, thickest and most original beards and mustaches.

Started small, grass roots, but it's been pretty strong, next year from all accounts we are looking at maybe doubling in size next year, said organizer Timothy Tweed.

Tweed said measurements were taken at each event, with a panel of judges weighing in on things like shape and overall manliness.

Events were held at breweries and restaurants around Penticton, with the finals on Monday being hosted by the Barking Parrot.

Its always on a Monday night, so who doesnt want 150 big burly bearded buys eating and drinking in their venue, Tweed said with a laugh.
Photo: The Canadian Press

British Columbia's lumber industry is likely to dominate the election campaign today, following an announcement by the Trump administration that it will impose a tariff of about 20 per cent on Canadian softwood imports.

The B.C. Lumber Trade Council says the industry is a major contributor to the provincial economy, with about 145,000 direct and indirect jobs tied to forestry.

Liberal Leader Christy Clark issued a statement late Monday saying she will fight the softwood lumber duties and work to reach a fair deal with the U.S.

Clark said she will meet with her team to determine what needs to be done in order to "stand up for B.C. workers" and the forest industry.

NDP Leader John Horgan also issued a statement on the U.S.-imposed duties, saying that Clark's government has put thousands of jobs at risk by failing to secure a new softwood lumber agreement.

He said British Columbians deserve a premier who will fight the "unfair" tariffs with everything they've got.
Photo: The Canadian Press

It's show time in British Columbia's election campaign, with Wednesday's debate between the three party leaders offering a high-stakes chance to leave a mark on the campaign with about two weeks to the finish line.

The debate is one of the few opportunities the leaders have to directly challenge each other, all the while under the intense glare of live TV cameras, where body language counts as much as scoring verbal points.

It's a pressure-cooker audition where solid performances and unscripted moments can inspire voters and shift campaigns.

Christy Clark's Liberals have mounted a largely stay-the-course campaign so far, highlighting their stewardship of Canada's top-performing economy and posting five consecutive balanced budgets.

The New Democrats under John Horgan are trying to persuade voters that after 16 years of Liberal governments, British Columbia needs a change, running on the slogan that the NDP will run a government that's on the side of the little guy and not beholden to corporations and wealthy individual donors.

Horgan's promises to drop tolls on two Vancouver-area bridges, freeze hydro rates and eliminate medical services premiums drew dire warnings from the Liberals about higher taxes and deficits.

Green Leader Andrew Weaver said he plans to stick to the issues and stay away from the acrimonious exchanges between Horgan and Clark that were featured in last week's radio debate.

"I'm looking forward to that clash," said Weaver, a climate scientist and university professor. "But I will not degrade the debate to the level of personal insults."
Photo: Contributed

The Penticton RCMP is announcing charges against a man accused of car theft.

On April 12 at about 1:20 a.m. police received a report of a 1986 Mazda 626 stolen from a driveway on Stuart Place. The car had been previously stolen, and could be started with a screwdriver, according to Cpl. Don Wrigglessworth.

Later that same day, the vehicle was spotted travelling along Commercial Way and the targeted enforcement unit was able to identify the driver. Officers blocked in the vehicle, and arrested two male occupants for possession of stolen property.

Travis James Overton, 33, is facing charges of theft of motor vehicle and possession of stolen property. He appeared in court on April 13 and was released on bail, with conditions including a curfew.

Overtons next court appearance is Wednesday, to consult counsel.
Photo: Contributed

A Penticton man is facing a slew of charges after allegedly fleeing from police last week.

Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth said on April 19, police attempted to stop a prohibited driver on an unlicensed motorcycle.

When police activated their lights and sirens the motorcycle took off at a high rate of speed towards Summerland, he said, noting the driver was not pursued.

The suspect was arrested at a gas station in Summerland, in possession of a prohibited weapon and drugs.

Devon Forsyth, 28, has been charged with obstruction, assaulting, and flight from of a police officer, as well as possession of a controlled substance and weapon. Four counts of driving while prohibited are also included.

Forsyth has a number of previous convictions for driving while prohibited over the past few years, according B.C. Court Services Online.
Photo: Contributed

A Princeton mushroom farm has been handed a $60,000 fine from WorkSafeBC over an incident involving an active machine with no safety guard.

While WorkSafe inspected the work site at the All Seasons Mushrooms Inc. mushroom substrate composting facility, the inspector found that there was no guard on a bale breaker's output end, "giving workers access to a toothed drum at the machine's point of operation."

That machine had not been locked out, nor turned off, which was a point of concern for WorkSafe officials.

A WorkSafe report also noted give open electrical control boxes with exposed, uninsulated and energized electrical equipment in areas with regular staff traffic.

Both of those issues, according to the WorkSafe report were "repeated and high risk."

The $62,129.28 fine was imposed on All Seasons on Mar. 13.

Castanet has reached out to All Season Mushroom Inc. for comment and will update upon response.
Photo: Contributed The proposed site for the project

The developer behind a controversial 380-unit seniors development in Summerland says they remain committed to addressing the local hatcherys concerns, despite frustration from the hatchery, which pulled out of the development process earlier this month.

In a letter to mayor and council on Monday, project lead Malek Tawashy stated they are working towards resolving the three outstanding issues currently crippling the development.

First and foremost, a contingency water source for the hatchery, should construction or operation of the $125M facility impact Shaughnessy Springs.

The Lark Group says it has retained a fisheries specialist, that has been working on the hatcherys concerns, and will continue to provide recommendations and industry standards for the new water source, writes Tawashy.

Erosion control plans have already been submitted to the District of Summerland, with the applicant receiving conceptual approval on Monday, according to Tawashys letter.

Water quality monitoring for construction and post-construction is also promised.

While there are a number of other developmental challenges to be addressed, mayor and council have committed to dealing with the hatcherys concerns before anything else moves forward.

A petition of those opposed to the project has now reached 1,119 written signatures from Summerland addresses.
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Margaret Louise Branchaud died on April 23, 2017, from complications of Parkinson's disease.She was 82. Margaret had called Washington, North Carolina, home since retiring from a New York advertising firm in the 1990s. The sixth of seven children, Margaret was born August 17, 1934, to Louis Hector and Frances Whelan Branchaud in Cavalier, North Dakota.She attended boarding school in Manitoba, Canada, returning to Cavalier for high school. While she was at St. Scholastica College in Duluth, Minnesota, she served as art editor of the yearbook and was graduated in 1956 with a degree in education. After teaching in the Iron Range of northern Minnesota, she ventured to New York City in 1958 to pursue advertising.Starting her career with Grey Advertising, Margaret became an advertising executive who worked with clients including Borden, IBM, Xerox and Panasonic. When her mother Frances retired as Cavalier's optometrist, the two of them spent Margaret's vacations visiting relatives and sightseeing throughout the United States. They also became globe-trotters whose destinations included Ireland, Greece, Bermuda, Australia and New Zealand.After working 40 years on Madison Avenue, Margaret retired from J. Walter Thompson as a senior advertising executive. Leaving her office in the Chrysler building and her condo on Long Island, she bought a house in historic downtown Washington so that she could live near her sister, Sheila Lueck.Margaret quickly adopted Washington as her home, where she continued to pursue life-long community service such as rescuing abandoned animals - especially cats. Margaret enjoyed sharing her hobby of doll collecting with the A-Z Doll Club, volunteering at the Blind Center, and working with her church, Mother of Mercy. Although she did not achieve her vision of opening a bookstore in her retirement, she remained an avid reader.She was preceded in death by her father, Louis Hector Branchaud; mother Frances Whelan Branchaud; brothers John (Lia) and James Branchaud; sisters Patricia (John) Basaraba, Beverly Branchaud, and Catherine Ann Branchaud.Margaret is survived by her sister Sheila and husband Charles Lueck; sister-in-law Lia Branchaud in California; 15 beloved nieces and nephews, their children and grandchildren.The family would like to thank the staff of Community Home Care & Hospice for their kindness and expert care of Margaret as her Parkinson's advanced. Sincere appreciation is also extended to the staff of Golden Way Home Care for the attention to Margaret's daily needs that allowed her to live out her time at her own home.After cremation has taken place with Paul Funeral Home, Ms. Margaret Branchaud will be remembered at 10 A.M. Friday with a Mass of Intention at Mother of Mercy Catholic Church, with a luncheon to follow. Later in the year, Margaret will be remembered with a Mass at St. Brigid's Catholic Church, Cavalier, and her ashes will be buried there in the Hector Branchaud family plot of the church cemetery.Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.paulfuneralhome.com Paul Funeral Home & Crematory in Washington is honored to serve the Branchaud family.
Mbeya signs cooperation agreement Kibo Mining

25 April 2017

Tanzania-based Mbeya Cement Co, a LafargeHolcim subsidiary, has signed a cooperation agreement with coal development company Kibo Mining which covers a range of potential areas of collaboration including the supply of coal and flyash to Mbeya.



Kibo Mining holds a thermal coal deposit at Mbeya and is developing a 250-350MW mine mouth thermal power station, the Mbeya Coal to Power Project, previously called the Rukwa Coal to Power Project.

In a statement, Kibo Mining said that together with Mbeya Cement it has identified various areas in which the two parties can collaborate towards the socio-economic benefit of the Mbeya and Songwe regions, as well as for their own personal objectives. To this end, Kibo and Mbeya Cement have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with collaboration, commercial arrangements and agreements to be pursued in relation to:



 discussions with regional development partners including government agencies, NGOs, community stakeholders and the private sector regarding an optimal roadmap to give effect to policies in respect of regional socio-economic and related development programs and projects

 exclusive coal supply agreement for the Mbeya Coal Mine to supply coal to Mbeya Cement, subject to guaranteeing specified quality and quantity specifications from Mbeya Cement

 definitive supply or collaboration or contract mining or similar agreement in respect of limestone to meet lime requirements of both the Mbeya power station and Mbeya Cement

 definitive agreement to supply fly ash produced from the Mbeya Power Plant to Mbeya Cement

 definitive agreement to supply electricity to Mbeya Cement with electricity produced from the Mbeya Power Plant

 definitive supply agreement either directly with Mbeya Coal or with its contractors in respect of cement produced by Mbeya Cement for use in the construction of the Mbeya Coal Mine and Mbeya Power Plant.

We are very excited with the partnership that we have with Kibo and this gives us mutual benefits in leveraging our key strengths, whilst supporting the government and communities as large, said Ilse Boshoff, CEO of Lafarge Tanzania.

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Civics class teaches us that each member of a legislative chamber has an equal vote. Crossover week at the N.C. General Assembly reminds us that some of those votes are more equal than others.Crossover week takes place once every two years . It leads up to a self-imposed deadline for most legislation to clear either the state House or the state Senate. Fail to meet the deadline, and your idea lies dormant for the next two years.At least in theory.The crossover deadline does have a practical impact for most lawmakers. Thursday marks this year's finish line for hundreds of bills. As of this writing, House members have filed 871 bills and resolutions this year. That's more than seven bills per representative. The House had approved 195 (roughly 22 percent) of those items heading into the week.Senators have filed 675 bills and resolutions, an average of more than 13 per member. The Senate has been less active in addressing its own members' ideas. It has approved 40 items. That's less than 6 percent of the bills filed.This means that both chambers have more than 600 pieces of legislation that could head to the proverbial scrap heap if they don't secure a vote by the end of the legislative week. That's why lawmakers expect long sessions this week. Each legislative calendar will feature dozens of bills. It's fairly safe to say that few lawmakers will have time to read - let alone study - all of the ideas that they will be expected to approve or reject.While the scenario outlined above offers an accurate picture of the hectic nature of crossover week, it's overly simplistic. Not every piece of legislation filed to date must meet Thursday's deadline. In addition, it's certain that some of this year's major legislation will emerge for the first time after the deadline.For instance, we've not yet seen a state budget plan. The Senate will produce its proposal first, and that's likely to happen in May. Crossover rules will not block that major piece of legislation.Nor does the deadline apply to other bills with budget implications. Veteran legislative watchers are likely to remember cases in which bill sponsors have scrambled during crossover week to add small fees to their proposals. That small change frees a bill from a crossover requirement. Other budget-related amendments can play the same role in saving a straggling bill from oblivion.There are other legislative maneuvers in play as well. Take, for example, the tool used to repeal controversial House Bill 2 at the end of March. House Bill 142 started its life as a measure to increase oversight of North Carolina's occupational licensing boards. The House approved that measure, 115-1, on March 6. Little more than three weeks later, the Senate stripped all of the language related to occupational licensing and replaced it with unrelated provisions addressing bathroom access and other H.B. 2 topics. Senators approved the measure and returned it to the House, which accepted the changes.This action took place before the crossover deadline, of course. But there's nothing stopping legislative leaders from employing the same strategy to move favored legislation in the future. Leading lawmakers could "gut and replace" any bill that's already cleared the other chamber.As crossover week started, the Senate had approved just nine of the nearly 200 measures that had cleared the House. (That includes H.B. 142.) The House had endorsed just three of the 40 Senate-approved bills. Many of these measures could end up as "vehicles" for other ideas as the legislative session rolls on. Some could even sit unaddressed until 2018.This is where we return to the notion, paraphrased from George Orwell's, that some votes become more equal than others.The "gut and replace" option represents just the most obvious way in which House and Senate leaders can avoid their own deadline. Favored legislation also can end up as a budget provision, an amendment to another previously approved bill, or a "technical correction" approved during the closing hours of the year's final legislative days.The key to each of these options is that they are available only to legislative leaders. Democrats, who employed these tactics during their own days of legislative power, cannot use them now. Nor can members of the Republican caucus whose ideas differ from those within the leadership team.Crossover week is important. It's most important for those who lack other tools to move their ideas forward.
A bill to permanently halt mining on federal land surrounding Montanas Paradise Valley will be introduced to the U.S. Senate this session, Sen. Jon Tester announced Tuesday.

The Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act permanently withdraws federal mineral rights on 30,000 acres of public land in the Custer Gallatin National Forest adjacent to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and Yellowstone National Park, and it eliminates the ability for proposed mines to expand on to unclaimed public land.

A two-year prohibition on mining on public lands was enacted in November by former Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell. Her decision came after locals and area businesses lobbied against the two gold mining companies that have been seeking state mining permits.

Tester said with more people visiting national parks each year, and the reliance of area businesses on the health of the environment to generate income, the legislation is needed to ensure protection for current and future generations.

The Senator said he had forwarded the information about his proposal to U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, who has never taken a stance on the mining issue.

If we can talk about this from an economic standpoint I think hell come along, Tester said.

To that end, Tester stressed Yellowstone National Park visitors spent an average of $196 million in Park County in 2014 that helped create and sustain nearly 3,000 jobs. Statewide the outdoor economy supports 64,000 jobs and generates nearly $6 billion for the economy, he said.

"I grew up fly fishing the Yellowstone and my kids shot their first elk in Paradise Valley," Daines said in an email after being contacted for comment. "We need to protect this Montana treasure while also respecting property rights, and that's what's missing if we want to see this bill signed into law."

The Montana Department of Environment Quality recommended in December that Lucky Minerals be given an exploration license to obtain core samples from up to 46 drill holes on private land in the Absaroka Mountains in Park County, about 12 miles southeast of Emigrant. The total project disturbance area would be just less than 5 acres. The company wants to gauge the area's copper, gold, silver and molybdenum deposits.

A second company, Crevice Mining Group, is seeking permission to explore for gold on 14 acres of private property near Jardine, just north of Yellowstone Park. The Crevice project has been on hold since the DEQ issued a letter of deficiency last summer asking for more information on the request to drill.

The fact that the mining companies can still mine private lands does not distract from the legislation, Tester said. Big mining projects would need a lot of land to expand since the private parcels are relatively small and surrounded by federal lands. The legislation will take away the incentive to mine in the region, he added, in effect stopping large mining close to the Paradise Valley.

The proposed legislation drew a flurry of praise from conservation groups and local business owners who had lobbied for federal protection. Colin Davis, owner of Chico Hot Springs Resort  which would have mining traffic through its parking lot if Lucky Minerals moves ahead  thanked Tester for taking action.

We are so thankful for this move, Davis said, adding that his 170 employees and their families were excited about the announcement.

We are advocates of property rights, said Tracy Raich, owner of Raich Montana Properties in Livingston. We are not anti-mining. We understand that there are places to mine, but the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park isnt one of them. The spectacular public lands, agricultural heritage, clean rivers and streams surrounding this area give the region a competitive advantage. The lifeblood of our economy is tied to these high-quality natural resources.

When asked what chance the legislation might have with the Trump administration, Tester said he thought the hurdle would be getting Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinkes approval and possibly the newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture.

If they support it I think Trump will sign it, Tester said.

As a Montana Congressman, Zinke endorsed a mining ban. The two candidates for his seat, Republican Greg Gianforte and Democrat Rob Quist, have both indicated they oppose mining in the region, as well. Whichever candidate is elected, Tester said he will approach him to carry companion legislation in the U.S. House.
HELENA  Montana residents may not need to use passports to board domestic flights next year, after all.

The state House and Senate on Tuesday passed a measure to give residents the option to buy a driver's license or identification card that complies with the federal Real ID Act.

Federal officials notified the state it would not be granted any more delays to comply with the 2005 anti-terrorism law.

That means state-issued driver's licenses would not be accepted at federal facilities and, starting in 2018, as identification to board flights.

The legislation authorizes the state Department of Justice to borrow up to $4.6 million to issue Real ID-compliant cards to those who want them.

Residents could choose to keep their regular licenses and use passports to board flights.

The bill now goes to Gov. Steve Bullock.
Interstate 25 in Wyoming is closed from Kaycee, Wyoming to Sheridan due to winter road conditions.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation first closed the section of road from Kaycee to Buffalo at around 7:30 a.m., and said it is expected to be closed for seven hours -- likely until the middle of the afternoon.

The department is also reporting I-25 north of Casper to be very slick with snow and does not advise travel until conditions improve.

Interstate 90 was also closed between the Johnson/Campbell County line and Gillette due to snowy conditions. As of 9:30 a.m. Wyoming Department of Transportation expected the interstate to be closed for about 15 hours.

A winter weather advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service south of Billings. The service cautions that there will be wet or slushy roads with poor visibility and possibly blowing snow.
David Mark Davis, a health care executive with 35 years of experience, has been named vice president of Eastern Operations for Life Care Centers of America.

That announcement is made by Forrest L. Preston, Life Care chairman and CEO, who said Davis leadership in various aspects of service to seniors and others will have a positive impact on the lives of our patients and residents, as well as the associates who provide their care.

The appointment is effective immediately.

Marks career is distinguished by his formal education and his on-the-job bedside training, in which he has always sought to place the needs of the residents first and foremost, Preston continued. He is driven by a strong compassion for people, and that is always a critical component in health care.

Areas of responsibility for Davis will include 133 skilled nursing and rehab facilities  eight in the Gulf States (Texas) Region; 35 in the Central Division (Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska); 41 in the Eastern Division (Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia); 26 in the Northeast Division (Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island); and 23 in the Southeast Division (Florida).

For as long as I have been serving in the long-term care profession, Ive had the utmost respect and admiration for Life Care Centers of America, Davis said. I look forward to doing my part to continue to advance Life Cares mission and great tradition of providing the highest quality of care possible for our elders and those in need of superior rehabilitative services.

Receiving a bachelors degree in business administration and health care administration/accounting in 1982 from the University of Tennessee at Martin, Davis furthered his formal education at Harvard Universitys Graduate School of Business Administration.

His professional career has included oversight for Tennessee Health Managements skilled nursing facilities, behavioral health-care hospitals, home health/hospice, home medical equipment, institutional pharmacy and an in-house and outpatient therapy company.

Davis has developed and helped design multiple skilled nursing facilities and behavioral health hospitals. He established working relationships with hospitals and managed-care organizations to develop protocols to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and improve quality outcomes. These have included HCA, Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, Vanderbilt, Baptist of Memphis, as well as Amerigroup and BlueCross BlueShield.

In other professional activities, Davis has served a two-year term as president of the Tennessee Health Care Association and 10 years as the governors appointee to the Tennessee Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators.

Davis and his wife, Lisa, will be moving to Cleveland from their hometown of Parsons, Tennessee. They have four children.
Educators and others interested in education from around the Tennessee Valley are invited to attend the third annual EdCamp Gig City at Baylor School on Saturday, May 13 from 9 a.m.  2 p.m.

The event, which is free to all participants, uses an unconference format created by the attendees at the beginning of the event to target their specific interests, passions, and questions. This leads to timely and relevant smaller group discussions that enhance the overall professional development experience, said Michael Stone, STEM director of Innovative Learning at the Public Education Foundation. All K-12 teachers, administrators, district leaders, public and private school staff, post-secondary educators, and community education advocates will benefit from the collaboration and exchange of ideas.



According to the EdCamp website, Edcamps are organic, participant-driven professional learning experiences for educators across the country and worldwide. The idea of EdCamps was created in 2010 by a group of teachers and has evolved into a grassroots movement that allows educators to learn based on their passions.



Locally, the EdCamp Gig City event was created by Allison Fuller-Mulloy, who taught with the Hamilton County Department of Education. Now in its fourth year, it is supported and planned by individuals in public and private education that desire to see opportunities for collaboration and professional development in a more personalized way, said Julie Davis, a committee member and instructional technologist with Chattanooga Christian School.



In addition to Ms. Davis, the committee includes educators Karen Adsit, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; Greg Bagby, Barger Academy of Fine Arts; Jim David, Chattanooga STEM School; Julie King, Baylor School; Daniel Millbanks, Girls Preparatory School; Amy Myhan, Brown Middle School; Kimberly Perry-Elbakidze, Red Bank Middle School; and Michael Stone, Public Education Foundation.


Chicago's top venture capitalists are well-known leaders whose identities often define their firms. But what about those who aren't on the marquee? Behind the big names, there are principals and associates finding deals, mentoring startups and figuring out how to improve the industry they work and play in. Blue Sky introduces you to some of the folks helping Chicago firms figure out where to invest their millions.

Samara Mejia Hernandez, senior associate, MATH Venture Partners

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Age: 32

Role: Helps support entrepreneurs from mentoring to investing

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Signature deal: LiveOak Technologies

Mentor: Troy Henikoff 

Education: Bachelor's degree in industrial and operations engineering from University of Michigan; MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

Social media: @SamaraMejia on Twitter

Samara Mejia Hernandez thinks often about how to make the company she's working at  or the industry she's working in  run better.

She spent more than seven years at Goldman Sachs, where she drew on her industrial engineering background to inject efficiency into some processes on the trading room floor. That led to a role in sales, where she said she continued to apply ideas related to automation.

As an investor, she's interested in fintech, an industry in which even small innovations can have a big market. She sits on the board of LiveOak Technologies, based in Austin, Texas, which provides an online platform for financial services companies to onboard customers.

"When I think about the types of businesses we're investing in, they're not necessarily the sexiest businesses  they're businesses that take a current problem and make it more efficient," Hernandez said.

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But Hernandez is also concerned with improving matters in her own industry, particularly a lack of senior employees from diverse backgrounds. The diversity and inclusion advocate laid out her concerns and tips in a viral blog post in December called "Why your boss is still a white guy."

She said teaching venture capitalists how to better approach these issues could lead to change throughout the tech industry.

"The good news is everyone agrees we need to do more of it," she said. "The bad news is nobody knows how to do it in a way that can benefit not just the world but actually the bottom line."

Hernandez said change must come from the limited partners who put their capital into VC funds. She wants those folks to not only ask about the makeup of the companies VCs are investing in, but also to challenge the companies to have diverse groups of decision makers and leaders.

That's a goal she has for herself, too. Hernandez said she already sees herself as a decision-maker and influencer in her firm, but she is still working toward the partner position.

"I will be a partner, whether it's tomorrow or in five years," she said. "My dream and my goal is to be able to provide capital to entrepreneurs and specifically entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups."

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Coming Wednesday: Eric Ong of Lightbank talks about why he left San Francisco to be a part of Midwestern venture capital.

aelahi@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @aminamania
The bad news for United Airlines: The Chicago-based carrier had the lowest customer satisfaction level of any legacy airline in a newly released annual survey.

The worse news: The survey was completed in March  before the viral video of a passenger being violently dragged off a United Express flight to make room for late-arriving employees sent the airline's reputation into a nosedive.

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Overall passenger satisfaction for airlines  including United  was up, but the industry remains in the bottom third of those tracked by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, or ACSI. The results, published Tuesday, are based on thousands of airline passenger interviews conducted over 12 months.

"Customer satisfaction has never appeared to be a goal for airlines," Claes Fornell, chairman and founder of Michigan-based ACSI, said in a news release. "Compared to other industries, the financial return on passenger satisfaction is not much of an incentive. The exception is in the few airports where airlines actually compete with one another  or when they treat passengers spectacularly badly in public."

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This video posted on social media shows Dr. David Dao being dragged from a United Airlines flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Louisville, Ky., on April 9, 2017. (Jayse D. Anspach) (Jayse D. Anspach)

The airline industry scored 75 out of 100 on the annual customer satisfaction survey, up 4.2 percent over last year. Discount carrier JetBlue Airways led the way with a score of 82, followed by Southwest and Alaska airlines.

JetBlue's low-cost business model and cabin upgrades contributed to its high score, according to the survey, while Southwest policies such as no charges for flight changes and no hidden extra fees proved passenger-pleasing. Both airlines have a better track record of compensating passengers on overbooked flights, an issue that took center stage in the recent United incident.

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines were the top legacy carriers, tied for fourth with scores of 76. Discount carrier Spirit had the lowest customer satisfaction among all airlines with a 61.

It is unclear what impact the passenger-dragging incident, caught on video earlier this month at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, will have on United's customer satisfaction level going forward, but there has already been significant fallout for the airline.

A Senate inquiry into the forcible removal by Chicago aviation security officers of Dr. David Dao from the Louisville, Ky.-bound flight is ongoing United announced last week that CEO Oscar Munoz would not be elevated to board chairman next year as planned and that its executive compensation program would be tied more closely to customer satisfaction.

Meanwhile, American is scrambling to recover from its own public relations nightmare. A male flight attendant was captured on video last week arguing with passengers after violently yanking a stroller from a mother holding her baby, according to reports. American issued an apology and placed the flight attendant on leave while conducting an internal investigation.

Chicago attorney Thomas Demetrio is representing both passengers and is expected to file a lawsuit in the United incident.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @RobertChannick
In just 10 months at the head of Germany's Fresenius, Chief Executive Officer Stephan Sturm has now inked the health-care provider's two biggest-ever deals.

With the $4.3 billion acquisition of Lake Forest-based generic drugmaker Akorn, announced late Monday, Fresenius will get a stronger foothold in the U.S., with access to a network of retail pharmacies and outpatient clinics as well as the hospitals where it has traditionally marketed its products. Akorn will complement Fresenius' Kabi medicines unit, which specializes in intravenous drugs.

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Fresenius, Europe's biggest publicly traded health-care provider, also made a smaller purchase Monday to gain Merck KGaA's portfolio of biosimilars, which are copycat versions of complex biotechnology drugs. It agreed to pay Merck 170 million euros ($184.7 million), plus licensing fees and as much as 500 million euros in milestones.

With the two transactions, Sturm is further expanding the global reach of its Bad Homburg-based group, bolstering the medicines unit that's key to profit growth -- and making a long-term bet on biosimilars. The CEO had already agreed to spend more than $6 billion on the Spanish hospital group IDC Salud Holding SLU, known as Quironsalud, last year in the company's largest acquisition.

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The Akorn and biosimilar deals make even more sense together than individually, Sturm said Monday.

"Akorn brings us additional U.S. market access to small- and mid-sized clinics and retail pharmacies," he said. "And that access will be important for our biosimilars."

Including debt, the Akorn deal has an enterprise value of $4.75 billion. Akorn's shares had jumped 30 percent since April 6, the day before Bloomberg News reported that Fresenius was considering a deal. They were little changed at $32.80 following the announcement Monday, after the U.S. markets closed.

Akorn's biggest shareholder, John Kapoor, who owns a quarter of the stock, has agreed to support the deal, Fresenius said. Integrating the businesses will save about $100 million each year, the companies predicted.

The payoff for biosimilars may take longer. Fresenius said it expects to invest as much as 1.4 billion euros in patient trials and other development costs for biosimilars before the unit breaks even in 2022. The first sales are targeted for the end of 2019, with revenue expected to reach high triple-digit millions of euros by 2023. Fresenius agreed to single-digit percentage royalties for Merck KGaA -- which is a German company unrelated to Merck & Co. in the U.S. -- based on sales.

Merck KGaA is working on copies of complex biologic drugs for cancer and inflammatory diseases and had a treatment in late-stage tests for chronic plaque psoriasis that's similar to AbbVie's Humira, one of the world's best-selling medicines.

Bloomberg's Jared S. Hopkins contributed to this article.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois has not decided whether it will continue to offer plans on the Obamacare exchange next year, but if it does, exchange plan prices could rise "significantly" depending on political leaders' actions, according to the company.

Jill Wolowitz, the insurer's vice president of government and community relations, said Tuesday the insurer hopes to continue to offer plans on the exchange next year, but several proposed changes "would have an impact on rates and also our decision."

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Insurers have until June 21 to file proposed rates if they plan to stay on the Illinois exchange in 2018.

Some insurers already have bowed out of exchanges in other parts of the country, amid uncertainty over the future of the Affordable Care Act. If Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois were to pull out, it would be a big deal: The insurer is the only one that offers individual PPO plans, not just HMO plans, on the exchange this year.

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield is also the only insurer offering individual exchange plans in Lake County. It's one of three insurers offering such plans in Cook and DuPage counties.

Attempts to reach Celtic were unsuccessful Tuesday. A Cigna spokesman declined to comment. Both insurers also offer exchange plans in Cook County.

This year, more than 356,000 Illinois residents are covered by plans bought on the exchange.

Wolowitz said Blue Cross is particularly concerned with at least two potential changes, as it decides whether to stay on the exchange and how much to charge for its plans.

Republicans have proposed doing away with Obamacare's requirement that everyone have health insurance or pay a penalty. It's unclear, even without legislation, whether the Trump administration plans to enforce that requirement. If that mandate vanishes, it could lead fewer healthy people to purchase health insurance. Insurers rely on healthy members to help balance out the costs of paying for sicker members.

Insurers also are concerned that cost-sharing reduction payments might disappear  that's money companies get from the federal government to help offset the expense of reducing deductible and copayment costs for lower-income members.

When Barack Obama was still president, House Republicans challenged those payments in federal court, and the court ruled in House Republicans' favor. The Obama administration appealed that ruling.

But now that the Obama administration is out, President Donald Trump could drop the administration's appeal  and stop the payments. The White House has said that Obamacare is "collapsing on its own" and must be repealed and replaced.

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Stopping those payments, along with no longer enforcing the rule that everyone get health insurance or pay a penalty, could "raise premiums a significant amount," Wolowitz said.

Blue Cross already raised premiums for individual exchange plans in Illinois this year by 43 to 60 percent.

Wolowitz said she expects Blue Cross will file proposed rates by June, and said she expects insurers will make final decisions about whether to participate over the summer.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation has estimated that erasing cost-sharing reduction payments would lead to a 15 percent increase in the premiums of silver exchange plans in states that expanded Medicaid, like Illinois.

Consumer tax credits would also rise to help offset higher premiums, meaning many consumers wouldn't be affected by those higher premiums, according to Kaiser. But the roughly 25 percent of Illinois exchange members who don't get tax credits might have to pay the full, higher amounts, said Cynthia Cox, Kaiser associate director of health reform and private insurance.

Kaiser also estimates that cutting cost-sharing reduction payments wouldn't actually save the government money. The federal government would end up paying an additional $2.3 billion in 2018 for the higher tax credits, according to Kaiser.

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Cox said it's difficult for insurers to make choices about what to offer next year while the law and many of its elements remain in flux. Republicans are again talking about voting on health care legislation, but it's uncertain when that might happen.

"They can work with a certain amount of uncertainty over who is signing up for their plans," Cox said of insurers. "What they are not equipped for is not knowing what the basic rules are going to be."

lschencker@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lschencker
Credit and debit cards are popular, and electronc payments from apps and online are growing in importance. But there may always be a place for cash. (Bobby Yip / Reuters )

Some years ago, there was a Chicago neighborhood store that featured this sign over its only register: "Credit makes enemies. Let's be friends."

The owner of this Avondale storefront was making a not-very-subtle point: Cold hard cash rules.

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In recent times, however, many enterprises have warmed to the idea of not taking cash in favor of electronic payment systems including credit, debit, smartphone or computer apps and other high-tech wizardry for the most run-of-the mill purchases.

Buying a cup of tea or traveling down an area highway are just two examples.

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Chicago-based Argo Tea is no longer taking cash at some of its stores and there's a stretch of the Illinois Tollway System, Route 390, which touts "cashless tolling," meaning no coin baskets and you either pay with an I-Pass device or later online.

The trend is emboldening some futurists to forecast that hard U.S. currency will soon become extinct, reduced to a memory or museum oddity like the rotary phone. But predictions of the greenback's imminent demise are overblown.

Despite all the available options, we aren't ready to completely drop our legal tender and maybe never will.

"As the payments landscape evolves, cash remains a unique, resilient, and heavily used consumer payment instrument," states a 2016 study of payment options for the Federal Reserve Bank System.

Unlike my grouchy neighborhood store owner, many proprietors welcome new and creative ways of collecting money for their goods and services.

In 2015, an estimated 69 percent of payment transactions were conducted through noncash means, compared with 60 percent in 2012, according to the Federal Reserve study.

Peeling back that onion, you find credit and debit cards, which have been around for decades, comprised 34 percent of payments in 2015 while electronic payments using smartphones, apps and online, which haven't been around as long, racked up 35 percent that year.

What's more, the study determined that the more you spend on something, the less likely you'll be flashing a wad of cash.

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According to the survey, about 70 percent of purchases over $100 were made via credit, debit or some other electronic transaction system.

When you look at those numbers, it's little wonder why some experts predict we're on our way to a cashless society. Indeed, supporters of that view like to point to Sweden, which has embraced using plastic and mobile apps, as being well on its way to becoming a cash-free society.

So what's stopping us from taking that leap?

Heading the list is the fact that cash still comes in handy, especially for small purchases.

An estimated 50 percent of transactions under $25 are made with cash, according to the Fed.

While that's a small amount of money on its face, it piles up into billions of dollars coursing annually through the U.S. economy.

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Cash is also the preferred payment method at myriad midsized and small businesses  community groceries, auto repair shops, hair stylists and barbers or other providers of goods and services.

There's also, shall we say, an intimacy to using cash. It's favored when giving gifts, paying personal loans or even dividing a restaurant check or a bill. Such popularity defies the advent of personal peer-to-peer money transfer apps that could be used to handle such interactions.

There's also an abundance of small businesses offering a discount for money on the barrel versus credit cards. Typically, merchants use this tact to avoid paying a credit card transaction fee to a bank or third-party provider.

Speaking of intimacy, people also use cash because they don't want a digital record of everything they buy.

Putting aside illegal and criminal activities that involve hoarding and laundering cash, there are legitimate concerns about privacy and questions about whether everything someone purchases should be tracked.

I'd also argue that going cashless can be operationally tougher than it may appear, especially when it comes to traditional bricks-and-mortar outlets.

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As the Tribune reported, Argo Tea faced that realization last week when it curtailed its initial plan to go cashless at six cafes, including three at O'Hare International Airport.

For reasons still not totally clear, O'Hare officials chafed at the cashless idea and asked Argo to hold off. This week, three cashless Argos are up and running, accepting credit and debit, and the O'Hare trio is expected to come on line later.

Perhaps some major international player, let's say McDonald's or Starbucks, will take a flier and go cashless.

But for now, most businesses prefer to offer an array of payment options and the general public seems to prefer it that way.

As that Chicago store owner's sign pointed out: There's always a place for cold hard cash.

roreed@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @reedtribbiz
Workers at a factory in China used by the company that makes clothing for Ivanka Trump's fashion line and other brands worked nearly 60 hours a week to earn wages of little more than $62 a week, according to a factory audit released Monday.

The factory's 80 workers knit clothes for the contractor, G-III Apparel Group, which has held the exclusive license to make the Ivanka Trump brand's $158 dresses, $79 blouses and other clothes since 2012. The company also makes clothes for Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and other brands.

Trump has no leadership role in G-III, and the report did not give the factory's name or location, or say whether it was working on Ivanka-brand products at the time of the inspection.

Inspectors with the Fair Labor Association, an industry monitoring group whose members include Apple and Nike, found two dozen violations of international labor standards during a two-day tour of the factory in October, saying in a report that workers faced daunting hours, high turnover, and pay near or below China's minimum wage.

The inspection offers a rare look at the working conditions of the global manufacturing machine that helped make Trump's fashion brand a multimillion-dollar business.

Its release also comes as the president's daughter has sought to cast herself as both a champion of workplace issues and a defender of her father's "buy American, hire American" agenda. Trump, whose book "Women Who Work" debuts next week, was in Germany on Tuesday for public discussions about global entrepreneurship and empowerment.

"We can add billions to the global economy by creating an enabling environment, increasing women's labour force participation and business ownership, and improving the productivity of their work," Trump wrote in a Financial Times essay Monday.

Trump's company declined to comment on the factory inspection. Messages left with G-III were not returned.

Now an official adviser to her father's White House, Trump stepped down from her management role but retains an ownership interest in her name-brand company. Its assets were moved into a trust that is now overseen by her husband's siblings. Trump is the sole beneficiary of the trust, which is valued at more than $50 million.

Chinese factories are by far the dominant suppliers for Ivanka clothes, though G-III also works with manufacturers across Vietnam, Bangladesh and South America. G-III factories overseas have shipped more than 110 tons of Ivanka-brand blouses, skirts, dresses and other garments to the United States since October, shipping data shows.

The clothing line licensed by President Donald Trump's private business is also almost entirely made in foreign factories. Trump last week signed an executive order that he said would push the government to "aggressively promote and use American-made goods and to ensure that American labor is hired to do the job."

Workers at the G-III factory in China were required to work 57 hours a week "on a regular basis" to hit production targets, inspectors found. Though Chinese law sets the limit for overtime at 36 hours per month, workers in all of the factory's departments exceeded that limit, working up to 82 hours of overtime a month between September 2015 and August 2016.

The factory's workers made between 1,879 and 2,088 yuan a month, or roughly $255 to $283, which would be below minimum wage in some parts of China. The average manufacturing employee in urban China made twice as much money as the factory's workers, or roughly 4,280 yuan a month, according to national data from 2014.

Fewer than a third of the factory's workers were offered legally mandated coverage under China's "social insurance" benefits, including a pension and medical, maternity, unemployment and work-related injury insurance, inspectors found. The factory also did not contribute, as legally required, to a fund designed to help workers afford housing, inspectors said.

Workers earned five days of leave a year, though a small fraction of experienced employees were eligible for more. The factory did not have a union, inspectors said, and the workers' lone representative was a factory appointee.

Inspectors also cited the factory for a number of workplace safety concerns. It did not train loading workers on safety techniques or provide employees with equipment that could reduce injury, including lifting belts or seats with backrests.

The factory, which began operating in 1992, had also never sought an assessment of occupational disease hazards like those common among workers dealing with repetitive tasks and harsh chemicals.

Two inspectors from SMT-Global, a third-party monitoring group, inspected the factory one month before President Trump's election victory. The Fair Labor Association then alerted G-III to the problems it had discovered - including 24 violations of standards set by the United Nations' International Labor Organization - and asked what steps it would take in response.

The factory pledged to make some progress to improve training, assess hazards, hire more workers and reduce overtime demands. But it did not commit to increasing worker pay and at times pushed back against recommendations that could improve workplace safety.

Of occupational hazards, inspectors wrote that the "factory thinks the worker's health is covered by social welfare and insurance policy, and working conditions such as chair and loading staff safety are not as important."

The Washington-based Fair Labor Association was founded in 1999 by a group of nonprofits, universities and clothing companies after a series of scandals over sweatshop labor and other abuses.

The group has inspected more than 1,500 factories used by its affiliate companies, including G-III, whose contract factories in China, India and Pakistan have been inspected seven times since 2007. Factories are chosen at random for inspection, though company leaders are alerted of the audits beforehand, a Fair Labor Association spokesman said.

Other G-III factories in China have been cited for similar issues. In a 2015 Fair Labor Association audit, inspectors found that 15 percent of one factory's workers made below minimum wage, or as little as $3.30 a day. The factory was also cited for weak safety protections, including running most of its sewing machines without needle guards and stocking its first-aid kits with only cotton swabs and Band-Aids.

Since partnering with Ivanka Trump's company in 2012, G-III has been the sole licensor of Ivanka-brand clothing, though other firms hold contracts to make the brand's shoes, handbags and jewelry. Trump has championed the company, saying in a 2012 statement that "G-III has distinguished itself as a trusted partner for some of the world's finest and most visible brands."

Global sales of Trump's brand have boomed in the months since her father began his pursuit of the White House. Net sales for her clothing collection soared by $17.9 million in the year that ended Jan. 31, G-III data shows.

An Ivanka company executive said the brand saw some of its "best performance ever" in February, the same month President Trump's senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News viewers to "go buy Ivanka's stuff." Conway was counseled by White House officials after the statement, which appeared to violate a federal rule banning public officials from endorsing private products.

Ivanka Trump sat next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month during a White House roundtable discussion on workforce development. She also spoke Tuesday in Berlin as part of a panel, alongside Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, devoted to women's entrepreneurship.
Jeff Gillis looks through documents he has collected in support of his wife in Houston on Oct. 4, 2016. A Chinese court on April 25, 2017, sentenced Phan "Sandy" Phan-Gillis to three and a half years in prison for spying in a case that has drawn criticism from the United Nations. (David J. Phillip / AP)

Houston  An American woman detained during a business trip to China and charged with spying was sentenced Tuesday to three and a half years in prison, raising the possibility that she may be allowed to return home soon.

Phan Phan-Gillis has faced an uncertain fate since March 2015, when she disappeared from her group traveling in southern China. She was later accused of espionage, which carries a possible death sentence. A United Nations panel has said her detention violated international norms, and the U.S. has long pressed China to resolve the case fairly.

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The U.S. State Department confirmed that she had been sentenced Tuesday. While Phan-Gillis' trial was closed to the public, a representative from the American consulate in Guangzhou, China, was allowed to attend the public announcement of the verdict against her, the State Department said.

Under Chinese law, Phan-Gillis could be eligible now for parole and deportation, said John Kamm, founder of the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, which monitors human rights and legal issues in China. Kamm said he expects China to parole Phan-Gillis "fairly soon."

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The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to a message about her case.

Phan-Gillis is of Chinese descent, but was born in Vietnam and is an American citizen who lived in Houston and worked as a business consultant. Known by friends as "Sandy," she made numerous trips to China for business and as a volunteer to promote cultural and business exchanges.

She disappeared from the rest of her group during a trip in March 2015 to promote business opportunities in Houston. It took her husband, Jeff Gillis, almost two weeks to confirm through American consular officials that she had been detained by Chinese state security.

China's opaque legal system often provides little or no explanation for why someone is detained or punished. Her Chinese lawyer, Shang Baojun, told The Associated Press last year that Phan-Gillis was charged with spying, but he could not discuss the case further because it involved state secrets. Jeff Gillis, who did not return a message Tuesday, said last year that he was told his wife was accused of conducting a spy mission in 1996, then trying to recruit new spies the following two years  allegations he called "beyond ridiculous."

"I have the passport that shows that she didn't even have a visa in '96, no entries or exits," he said. "I have her pay stubs that show that she was not off on extended leave."

The Dui Hua Foundation said Phan-Gillis was the first American citizen to be convicted of spying in a Chinese court since 1973. But Phan-Gillis' prison term is on the low end of sentences for espionage charges, according to Dui Hua's research.

China sometimes releases foreigners as an apparent sign of goodwill. Last year it allowed Kevin Garratt, a Canadian citizen held for two years and accused of spying, to return home after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned Garratt to top officials in Beijing.

In Phan-Gillis' case, Kamm credited the Trump administration and particularly Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who visited Beijing last month. Kamm said he was told by "people who were in the room" that Tillerson pressed Phan-Gillis' case in private meetings.

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"If U.S.-China relations were not going as well as they are right now, I think this outcome would have been different," Kamm said.
Pint of Space, a beer on draft only available at the Half Acre brewery. (Bill Hogan / Chicago Tribune)

You might want to sit down for this, beer lover: We could have shared Half Acre Beer Co. with Pennsylvania.

When considering his brewery's expansion plans, Half Acre founder Gabriel Magliaro looked at land in rural Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, as a potential home, which would have taken a good chunk of the brewery's innovation and beer out east.

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"We looked at the East Coast because we're from that way," said Magliaro, who grew up in Lambertville, N.J. "Doing a brewery that far would have brought a level of diversity, culture and experience to what we're doing."

But in the end, Chicago was home.

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"We decided that most important is holding tightly to the culture we've created on Lincoln (Avenue)," Magliaro said.

Half Acre's new brewery will therefore be a shorter walk than rural Pennsylvania  2050 W. Balmoral Ave., a mile and a half north of the Lincoln Avenue location where Half Acre launched nearly six years ago.

Magliaro said the plan is to make beer in the new Half Acre by October, with a restaurant and taproom to follow. Half Acre will continue to brew at its original location, but with the majority of the brewing heading north, the Lincoln Avenue taproom will likely be expanded.

The Balmoral brewery, which is about 60,000 square feet (compared to 13,000 square feet on Lincoln), will likely take on production of Half Acre's biggest-selling beers  year-round offerings like Daisy Cutter and Pony Pils  in a new 30-barrel brew house. The brewery's offices will also be moved there.

The Lincoln Avenue facility will be home to more experimental and smaller batch brews, Magliaro said.

"There won't be a ton of duplication" between the breweries, Magliaro said. "We'll allow each place to go through its exploratory process."

So what will happen with all that additional Half Acre beer? There will be more releases and they will be more widely available.

Sold primarily in Cook County, Half Acre plans to blanket the suburban counties, Magliaro said. The beer will also no longer be sold on allocation. Because there has been demand for virtually every drop of beer that Half Acre makes, accounts are limited to buying restricted amounts. That will end.

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We can also expect to see more seasonal releases in cans, like Heyoka and Akari Shogun.

"We don't have exact ambitions on how much beer we're going to make," Magliaro said. "We're going to take off the allocation from the places where we do business and get the lay of the land."

And then?

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

"We'll see how we feel about things."

Expansion on the East Coast is likely because it is "natural for us to sell beer in places we know," Magliaro said.

In addition to rural Pennsylvania (which "didn't get that serious," though Magliaro did look at land), the search for a new brewery included several Chicago neighborhoods, including areas closer to downtown. Ultimately, keeping things cozy made the most sense.

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"We didn't rush into this choice," Magliaro said. "We explored many scenarios, and slowly started to figure out that having a brewery within arm's reach of the current brewery lets the two buildings impact one another."

Read Half Acre's blog post about the new brewery here.

jbnoel@tribune.com

Twitter @traveljosh
Many popular Mexican street foods  tortillas, esquites, pozole  are based on corn, a crop originally cultivated by ancient peoples around what is now Oaxaca, Mexico.

Pierde Almas Ancestral Corn Whiskey is distilled from native corn grown in that Mexican state. Thirty-five of the approximately 60 distinct varieties of native corn still thrive in Oaxaca, and Pierde Almas has a goal of promoting biological and cultural diversity by ensuring the survival of these indigenous species.

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Pierde Almas whiskey is unaged hooch, exhibiting greener, more herbaceous flavors than the analogous moonshine of the rural U.S., and you can taste the corn. Jonathan Barbieri, an artist and owner of Pierde Almas, says that when Mexicans try his whiskey, they ask 'What's that aroma? It's so familiar!' I say, 'It's your childhood, the smell of tortillas ballooning up over a wood fire on a hot comal.'"

Sierra Norte Single Barrel Whiskey, made with native black corn from Oaxaca, is another brand to look for. Aged in wood, this whiskey is dark with buttery, caramel-like vanilla flavors. Both brands have been introduced within the past year in the U.S.

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Ancestral corns used by Pierde Almas and Sierra Norte are very different from the corn grown in the U.S. Jay Schroeder, who previously managed the bar at Logan Square's Mezcaleria Las Flores, explains, "In the U.S., when we think of corn, we think of sweet corn. In Mexico, the vast majority of corn is field corn, closely related to the ancient plants from which all corn came. Over hundreds of years of human domestication, several different varieties emerged. Many of these are different colors, such as deep purple or rusty red."

Schroeder has mixed emotions about the cultivation of these native types of corn for whiskey. "The idea behind both Pierde Almas and Sierra Norte is coming from a good place," he said. "The idea is to promote the growth of ancestral corn varietals," but he added, "Selling corn for whiskey production is replacing growing corn for subsistence."

Barbieri explains that his whiskey company "was founded on the premise that if we could create a demand for native corn grown by small farmers, we might  fortify and defend the rich biodiversity and heritage in the face of mono-cropping and  the wind-driven pollen of genetically modified strains that threaten to destroy this great, 6,500-year-old patrimony."

Neither of the whiskey brands has the distribution in the U.S. of the agave-based spirits tequila and mezcal riding a popularity wave. But if you find them, and after you've tasted them alone, go for a cocktail next. Jeff Walters, spirits director for Lena Brava and other Rick Bayless restaurants, makes what he calls "a kind of Mexican Old Fashioned" with two parts Pierde Almas, one part Ancho Reyes Verde, a recently released chile liqueur from the Mexican state of Puebla, and a dash of orange bitters. Each spirit mellows the other, so you taste corn and chile: They grow together; they go together.

David Hammond is a freelance writer.






Mike Reed didnt plan it, but the jazz bandleaders upcoming release Flesh & Bone has become quite timely in America. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago drummer-bandleader Mike Reed wasn't sure if he'd live or die.

After stepping off a train in the Czech town of Prerov on April 4, 2009, Reed and his band were startled to see police in riot gear, weapons drawn, dogs at their side.

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Reed and friends instinctively headed into the train station, then noticed skinheads amassing outside, many bearing gas masks, clubs and homemade explosives. A right-wing, anti-Gypsy rally was just getting underway.

Considering that Reed's People, Places & Things band was staffed by two African-Americans (himself and saxophonist Greg Ward) and two white musicians (tenor saxophonist Tim Haldeman and bassist Jason Roebke), they clearly were in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

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Suddenly the rioters  who were gathering for a long-planned neo-Nazi rally  poured into the station, prompting Reed and friends to race outside, jump the tracks and hope to arrive somewhere safe. A plainclothes officer intervened, directing them to take temporary shelter in a 12-by-12 room in a nearby building.

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"There was a level of tension that I haven't really experienced on that level before," recalls Reed.

"There was nowhere to hide from it  there wasn't some space where we could get out of it. Intensity kept on climbing, the feeling of (being) anxious.  You're seeing smoke bombs and Molotov cocktail kind of things coming from all over the place."

For hours they waited, with no friends nearby, no Internet access, no news, nothing.

"More than any other day, my body was both the threat to this place and in threat of being extinguished," writes Reed in the liner notes to "Flesh & Bone," a forthcoming album that reflects on these events.

"The idea that black and brown bodies could cause and undergo such reactions was no revelation," he writes, "but today I had not expected to be dropped into a life or death situation."

Eventually, the riot was crushed. But even as Reed and colleagues fled town, they were in danger.

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"As we boarded the train and attempted to find our seats, we see a group of about 25 skinheads coming down the hallway toward us," writes Ward in an extensive blog post.

"While attempting to pass, we are met with shoves and shouts saying, 'Go back to your country. This is our country.' Sadly, this group was comprised of mostly young adults and even a woman who happened to be holding a baby. All of them were dressed the same and were united in some sort of hatred that was unknown to us at that time."

Police officers protected them, but, in retrospect, Reed was dismayed to realize that the train conductor who earlier who had told the band to get off at the Prerov stop in the first place may have done so intentionally. For there was no train connecting that little town to their ultimate destination of Krakow, Poland.

"We would find out weeks later," writes Reed in the album's liner notes, "that the neo-Nazi rally planned for that afternoon of April 4, 2009, had been well publicized and surely something this conductor would have been aware of, possibly even to the point of wanting to deliver four Americans, two African-American, into the waiting arms of hundreds of nationalist demonstrators."

Today, says Reed, "It seems very obvious that we were kind of duped into entering into a place that was unsafe for us."

Ultimately, Reed decided to transform these traumas into art, something he realized he had to do.

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Though the street date for "Flesh & Bone" won't be until summer, Reed has convened People, Places & Things to perform the jazz suite with text Thursday and Friday evenings at Constellation, the arts center he founded on North Western Avenue.

He hastens to note, however, that the work is not a description of what happened but rather a contemplation on what this incident  and uncounted others like it  tells us about racism, bigotry and hate.

Hence the title, which references a quote from James Baldwin, who wrote: "That great Western house I come from is one house, and I am one of the children of that house. Simply I am the most despised child of that house. And it is because the American people are unable to face the fact that I am, in fact, the flesh of their flesh, bone of their bone, created by them. My blood, my father's blood, is in that soil." (Baldwin's prose itself echoes phraseology from W.E.B. DuBois in "The Souls of Black Folk".)

On purely musical terms, Reed's "Flesh & Bone" stands as some of the most tautly muscular work he has created. Having expanded the front line to feature four horns (with the addition of Chicagoans Ben Lamar Gay on cornet and Jason Stein on bass clarinet), Reed has conceived music that builds upon precedents of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Sun Ra, among others.

But "Flesh & Bone" also rumbles with the sound and fury of Marvin Tate's explosive poetry, the man breathing fire in the select moments when Reed turns the microphone toward him.

Reed and colleagues began developing this music in 2015, playing an early version in November of that year at the Art Institute of Chicago and recording it in February 2016.

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"I kind of feel that if you're not creating out of your experience, or something that's touching you in your experience," says Reed, "I don't understand what the creating is for."

And though Reed didn't plan it this way, he can't help feeling that, alas, his "Flesh & Bone" has become quite timely in America.

"The sentiments of the people that were there (in Prerov) are now more out in the open," said Reed, founding director of the Pitchfork Music Festival.

"That's also something we saw out of this (recent) election, where people could really wear their nationalistic, racist, homophobic attitudes on their sleeves, and it's OK again.

"It was like a call for these people to come out of their shadows, and for some people to grow into it."

"Flesh & Bone" stands as a ferocious protest against intolerance, delivered by musicians who experienced it in terrifying form  and lived to tell the tale.

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Mike Reed and colleagues perform "Flesh & Bone" at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave.; $10; www.constellation-chicago.com.

Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.

hreich@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @howardreich

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
NEW YORK  Alas for imperial Russia and the family of Czar Nicholas II, the 17-year-old Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna was murdered in 1918 by the Cheka, Vladimir Lenin's secret police. But since princesses have a unique ability to skate above republican sentiment and the harsh realities of forensic science, the legend of a surviving Anastasia has lived on in popular culture, most famously as a 1997 animated musical film, scored by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and wherein Anastasia was voiced by Meg Ryan, she whom no Bolshevik could ever suppress. Now Anastasia has reappeared on Broadway, the centerpiece of a new musical that works quite delightfully when the star is center stage, and struggles mightily when she is off in the wings, where the charming Christy Altomare spends far too long.

"Anastasia" is a family-oriented and romantically scored piece  it opened Monday night at the Broadhurst Theatre  that pleases when it explores the interesting and relatable notion of a young woman who must reconcile the loss of her own privilege with the changes in an entire community's fortunes. That's especially acute here since the former royal, presented in the musical as an impoverished amnesiac whom the Bolsheviks somehow missed, spends time sweeping the streets of Leningrad and takes up with a young member of the proletariat (we're in a similar world to "Newsies" there, albeit on the other side of the world).

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Alas, "Anastasia" also feels the need to spend a hefty opening chunk in the ill-advised staging of the entire fall of the czar  replete with reductive recitatif, swirling, panicked royals and even the cliched image of blood red slowly filling the digitized windows of the palace. That results in a clunky start to the show that at first feels very much like it won't lose the grasp of the animated cartoon, compromising the dignity of all sides of the revolution. It's clearly not where Altomare, whose emotional presence and honesty is both moving and refreshing, wants to take the show, nor the director, Darko Tresnjak, who forges some potent later scenes, especially those involving Anastasia and her surviving grandmother, richly played by Mary Beth Peil.

The other decision that seems curious here was to go with such a video-heavy setting (by Alexander Dodge) when the musical is trying to strike out from its animated heritage. Designed with eye-poppingly high definition, all of these screens often make it feel like you are watching human beings performing in front of an Imax travelogue. You're swept off across the bridges and train tracks of the refugee's Europe alongside Anastasia (or Anya) and her love interest Dmitry (Derek Klena), traveling with the fusty, paternalistic Vlad (John Bolton), himself a former count engaged in an act of reinvention. Once the trio gets to Paris  not easy, that  Vlad eventually has some emigre fun with the comic interest Countess Lily, very dryly played by Caroline O'Connor.

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Klena and Altomare don't feel especially connected on the lovin' front, in part because the show doesn't spend enough time on their characters' romance, in part because they often get overwhelmed by these hefty digital settings, in part because they don't have enough fun.

Their characters' problems are multiplied by a Bolshevik antagonist (played by Ramin Karimloo), who doesn't quite know whether he should kill Anastasia or fall in love with her charms. This Javert-like pursuer adds tension, for sure, although he always operates with the broadest of strokes.

Weirdly, it's never quite clear who knows what and when about Anastasia, who discovers her identity by playing the part in a play conceived by Dmitry and Vlad. You never quite intuit when the Bolsheviks know who she is, or even if they ever quite do, and the same goes for a lot of the other characters. There was a desire for an air of mystery, and so achieved, and Anastasia understandably has been retooled for a modern political sensibility that means an imperialist princess cannot fully embrace her own past privilege or identity while remaining a sympathetic figure. As a result, the end of "Anastasia" is not unlike the end of "Mamma Mia!," old institutions kicked into touch as self-actualizing young people walk off into a whole new egalitarian world.

Good luck with that, your highness.

There is a lot more music in the show than in the film some 19 new songs, some quite charming  and the show benefits inestimably from Altomare's rich characterization and her empathetic presence. This is not a musical that wants to start a revolution. To say the least. But once Terrence McNally's book finds its feet, and the physical production gets out of the way of the several gorgeous, old-school ballads therein (including, of course, "Journey to the Past," superbly rendered by Altomare), "Anastasia" has its moments of credible emancipation.

"Anastasia" is at the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 44th St., New York; www.anastasiabroadway.com

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

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An indefatigable, unstinting and intellectually voracious artistic director who reinvented Chicago's most audacious and aggressive theater for a new era, Martha Lavey wrestled the Steppenwolf Theatre Company  kicking and screaming  into the 21st century. And in her cajoling, bullying, flattering, outwitting and otherwise leading its hugely talented but famously passionate and opinionated ensemble of tightknit actors toward reinvention and expansion for changed times, this artistic director of more than 20 years became one of the most important figures in the illustrious history of the Chicago theater.



Lavey, 60, died Tuesday at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Steppenwolf announced, after a second stroke last week; her first occurred in May 2015, shortly after she stepped down from her position at the celebrated Midwestern theater. Steppenwolf had become her life's work, even though Lavey also was the rare artistic director interested in nurturing and supporting her competitors in Chicago theater as much as the company to which she so fervently and passionately belonged.



"What she did for Steppenwolf? It's impossible to count the ways," said actress, director and Steppenwolf ensemble member Amy Morton. "Steppenwolf was her life. She always, always had this company on her mind."





On the other hand, said Lavey's close friend and former colleague Erica Daniels, Lavey also was fiercely loyal to her close circle of confidantes. "Martha may have been this icon of the American theater," Daniels said. "But she could also be silly. And she would suddenly ask these really personal questions, like whether you had freckles on your chest. You'd be shocked. But you'd answer them because she had asked them. Over the last couple of years, she sometimes had to search for the right word. But she still was the smartest person in the room."



Most artistic directors of nonprofit theaters are directors by trade. Lavey, though, primarily was an actress, a formidably potent performer whose striking onstage appearances and restless creative energy were familiar to audiences from the early days of Steppenwolf. After joining the ensemble in 1993, Lavey performed often on its stages, from "Lost Land" to "Talking Heads" and "I Never Sang For My Father" to "Aunt Dan and Lemon." She was ever bruising for an interesting confrontation, that being the Steppenwolf way, and one tradition she had no intention ever of changing.

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Her acting career at Steppenwolf began inauspiciously, if wigged, bronzed and almost naked, in one of Steppenwolf's most famous disasters, a 1981 production of Christopher Hampton's "Savages." Like many of her fellow students at Northwestern University who appeared in the show, Lavey was playing a Brazilian Indian, a piece of casting that would be inconceivable today. The role was hardly indicative of what lay ahead for Lavey  her work as an actress demonstrated extraordinary range across decades of formidable, unforgettable work. She could play eccentrics like the woman she essayed (opposite John Malkovich) in Stephen Jeffreys' "Lost Land" in 2005. She could play a mother (in "Good Boys and True" in 2008). She could embody a terrifying recluse (in "Aunt Dan and Lemon"). And few actresses in America could nail a cameo quite like Lavey, as more than a few star names discovered on Halsted Street when some director gave Lavey a scene, and a chance to steal home base.



On the stage, she was funny, intimidating, breathtakingly smart and deeply if elusively vulnerable, all adjectives not inapplicable to the woman herself.

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Lavey took over the top artistic position in 1995 during a lull in Steppenwolf's fortunes (she was the first woman to get the job), when its founders were looking for a new way forward.



"When she first came to her artistic directorship from years of freelance acting and scholarship," said Steppenwolf co-founder Jeff Perry, "I don't think Martha had ever run anything, or ever been asked to make leadership decisions taking a multitude of other stakeholders into account. She had never been asked to be so pervasively accountable to a flock of gifted, undeniably needy artists. Taking stock of her own estimation or instincts regarding a tough situation or decision was always a great strength of Martha's. But the artistic-emotional care and feeding of the institution and of the people who comprise Steppenwolf was, I think it fair to say, more fundamentally challenging for her. She felt the depth of that challenge and her response was quintessential Martha  she grew to meet it."



Indeed, Lavey would prove to be an indispensable and singularly long-serving artistic leader committed to new plays and fresh writers, especially women. Acting was just one of the talents of a woman who held a doctorate in performance studies from Northwestern and could (and usually did) write program notes that deserved to grace scholarly journals. In arguments private or public, over a telephone or in front of an audience with some poor interlocutor, she was singularly formidable.

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Born in 1957 in Lawrence, Kan., as one of seven children, but educated mostly at the all-girls Immaculata High School in Detroit, Lavey was the daughter of a man who worked for the CIA. Those who knew her often speculated that although Lavey had entered a seemingly different field, she had absorbed much useful advice around her family breakfast table in Michigan. Especially when it came to never fully showing your hand.



The premieres that took place at Steppenwolf under Lavey's stewardship form a formidable list, not the least of which was Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning "August: Osage County," a show that brought Steppenwolf hurtling back to New York attention as, still, the brand name in intense American acting, and "Superior Donuts," which spawned a TV series. Similarly, the theater created many famous productions during the Lavey era, some of which moved to Broadway, and that cleaned up at awards time. Alongside new work like Austin Pendleton's remarkable "Orson's Shadow," directed by David Cromer, such shows included the Steppenwolf revivals of Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (2000) and Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (2010), both featuring Morton, in whose career Lavey took an intense interest.



"Martha was directly responsible for my directing career," Morton said. "Martha pushed people to do uncomfortable things, just because she thought they could do them."



But Lavey, who avoided the acquisition of spouse or offspring, saw the entire Chicago theater landscape, including its nascent storefront companies and more than a few Steppenwolf wannabes, as very much within her maternal purview.



"I have known her for 35 years and I loved her very much," said Robert Falls, artistic director of the Goodman Theatre. "There was a privacy to Martha. She was always more interested in talking about you. She had the greatest curiosity of any theater person I have ever known. For her friends and for her community, for all of us who loved her so much, this is a loss beyond the tragic."



As Falls also noted, Lavey could constantly be seen at opening nights all over the city, a habit that afforded her a unique place of respect among the young artists of the city who typically throw stones at the larger institutions (they never were aimed in Lavey's direction). And she persuaded her own famous but notoriously insular institution to open its spaces to other companies who needed help  from Redmoon Theater to The Hypocrites to The Inconvenience.



She also advocated for the Chicago theater on an almost daily, sometimes hourly, basis, picking up the phone (to the chagrin of her staffers) to argue with a critic over a negative review, or, far more often, to point out a talented writer or company that she felt was in danger of being overlooked, or putting her name to someone else's grand cultural plan that was in need of her respected imprimatur. When she found herself in front of a microphone in New York, a not-infrequent occurrence, she typically avoided waxing lyrical on her own accomplishments at Steppenwolf  despite all the Tony Awards and Broadway transfers and the New York love of brands  but spoke instead of the excellence of Chicago theater and its crucial commitment to creative community. And she rarely failed to express her astonishment at her own good fortune.



Over her tenure, which ended when she graciously and discreetly stepped aside in 2015 for Anna D. Shapiro to take the helm, Lavey greatly expanded and diversified the Steppenwolf ensemble. That was perhaps her most crucial professional achievement, for it long has been the fountainhead from which Steppenwolf work has sprung, and surely will continue to spring.



"It was Martha who reached out to us," said the African-American playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney, who became an ensemble member at Steppenwolf on Lavey's watch and whose career exploded thereafter, as did so many of the younger Steppenwolf artists and new ensemble members nurtured by Lavey. "It was Martha who did what Steppenwolf had not done before."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office released a statement late Tuesday, saying in part: "Chicago owes a debt of gratitude to Martha Lavey. ... She helped put Chicago theater  and the gritty, gutsy Chicago-style theater for which we're known  on the map."

Survivors include Lavey's parents, Robert and Patricia Lavey, and her siblings: Michele Dragisity of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; Kevin Lavey of Baltimore; Matt Lavey of West Babylon, N.Y.; John Lavey of St. Louis; Patrick Lavey of Newton, Mass.; and Jim Lavey of Oakton, Va.

An informal gathering will be held Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Front Bar, 1700 N. Halsted St.

Services will be in Vienna, Virginia, according to Steppenwolf's announcement signed by Shapiro and executive director David Schmitz, with a memorial to be held at the theater on a date to be announced. Steppenwolf is asking for those with "a memory or a thought about Martha" to contribute them here.



Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.



cjones5@tribpub.com



Twitter @ChrisJonesTrib

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The rights holders of the sitcom "Three's Company," which aired on ABC from 1977 through 1984 and starred the late John Ritter as a man who lived with two single women and pretended to be gay to appease their itchy landlord, were so pleased to see David Adjmi's "3C," a satiric takedown of their lucrative syndicated enterprise, that they slapped the scribe and his original producers, the Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre in New York, with a cease-and-desist order on opening night.

That was 2012. The show went on, but Adjmi was unable to publish or license the play until 2014, when he successfully argued in court that "3C" was a parody and therefore a fair use of the show's premise. And thus A Red Orchid Theatre could open the Chicago premiere of "3C" in Old Town on Monday night under Shade Murray's direction, with nary a bailiff in sight.

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Whatever you might think of Adjmi's play  and more on that in just a moment  the lawsuit was patently ridiculous. "3C" is a full-on parody all right  a hard-edged, unstinting and rather nasty little satire that is in another universe from anything Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers, you'll recall) and Janet Wood (that was Joyce DeWitt) could ever have conceived in their Santa Monica singles pad.

Aside from profiting from the fame of the property, and our love-hate relationship with the television of our youth, Adjmi's apparent purpose here is to contrast the cheery, cheesy antics of the stranger-in-a-strange-land sitcom with the undercurrents of sexism, homophobia, objectification, racism and ritualized, faux-humorous abuse (born of repressed desire) that girded this now-questionable era.

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Thus you get some bits of dialogue and business that could have been heard on "Three's Company," and a whole lot that would have had the network censors choking on their lead pencils.

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This is one of those shows that you'll either buy as so daringly subversive and critical (of the material and the appeal to an audience) that forcing us to listen to a whole series of homophobic gags (or to listen to Chrissy discussing her abuse at the hands of men) is justifiable on satiric grounds, or you'll find the whole enterprise bankrupt and quite possibly offensive. Either way, what you are not getting here is some kind of gentle, fun night out, basking in the memory of "Three's Company" and poking at its assumptions.

You are getting, though, some very gutsy comic performances, especially from Christina Gorman, who plays the role based on Janet (Adjmi wisely changed the names) and who is, throughout this 85 minutes, exceptionally funny and grounded in just the right level of reality. She's well matched by Sigrid Sutter, who plays the un-Chrissy. And Jennifer Engstrom, who plays the wacky landlady, also tickled me at times. If you take the former view described above, you'll enjoy what they are doing, although this is not a piece that necessarily benefits from intimacy.

The guys struggle more  especially Nick Mikula, who does his level best with what he has to do, but does not capture the essential cheery guilelessness of the character that made the comic machinery of the sitcom (and this satire) work. And both Steve Haggard and Lawrence Grimm (playing the real sleazeball of this crowd) have their moments.

I have to report I didn't laugh so much. You might. Many did on opening night. I also have to confess a resistance to a smug show that wants it both ways  to exploit and undermine all at once  although I also recognize you could lay that charge on any piece of self-confident satire.

My main issue, though, with Adjmi's play  his considerable comedic talents not withstanding  is that nothing really goes anywhere. There is an efficiently fearless takedown of the sitcom's assumptions on a moment-by-moment basis, but not an alternate arc that carries you through the end of the show. Murray's production, staged right on top of your face and not with the few extra feet of distance that this kind of physical comedy ideally needs, can't alter that. And thus you might find, as did I, that you have had enough before the end.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

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cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ChrisJonesTrib

"3C" - 2 Stars

When: Through June 4

Where: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St.

Running time: 85 minutes

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Tickets: $30-$35 at 312-943-8722 or www.aredtheatre.org

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Warning: Spoilers ahead

Retired Cubs catcher David Ross is down, but not out.

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Ross and partner Lindsay Arnold received another low score Monday on "Dancing with the Stars" after dancing the Argentine tango to "I Want You Back" by 'NSync in honor of the night's boy band and girl group theme.

"This show's harder than I ever imagined," Ross was shown saying in rehearsal as he suffered aches and pains while struggling to learn the routine.

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Ross' frustration was evident as he nearly dropped Arnold while lifting her on the dance floor. The judges noticed the mistakes and gave him 29 out of 40 points, the second lowest pair score of the night.

"What's going on?" judge Carrie Ann Inaba asked. "You feel like you gave up halfway through."

Guest judge Nick Carter, who rose to fame as a member of the Backstreet Boys, was kinder in his assessment.

"I was more than impressed. I thought it was your best work, period," Carter said.

Ross, 40, said he tried to be sexy and sensual, but he seemed to come off as grumpy. Show host Tom Bergeron suggested he has hit a wall, since he and Arnold earned the lowest score last week.

Meanwhile, former Chicago resident Nick Viall and partner Peta Murgatroyd earned the lowest pair scores for their jive to "Fun, Fun, Fun" by the Beach Boys. The judges said "The Bachelor" star lacked finesse as they gave him and Murgatroyd 28 out of 40 points.

Viall and Ross also participated in a group dance to a medley of boy band music. The gimmicky performance brought judge Bruno Tonioli to tears as he proclaimed it a fabulous mess.

Actress Heather Morris and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy were eliminated from the ABC competition Monday, based on judges scores and viewer votes.

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Seven pairs remain on Season 24 of "Dancing with the Stars," which airs at 7 p.m. Mondays.

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Joseph Boudreaux says taking Johnson & Johnson's blood-thinning drug Xarelto was one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

While Xarelto was supposed to help cut his stroke risk, Boudreaux says it instead caused internal bleeding that required a week-long hospital stay in the intensive-care unit, several blood transfusions and multiple heart procedures. "I don't want anybody else to suffer like I have from that drug," the part-time security guard says.

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Starting Monday, Boudreaux will get a chance to have jurors hold J&J and Bayer, which jointly developed Xarelto, responsible for the treatment's potentially fatal side effects as his case in New Orleans becomes the first lawsuit targeting the medicine to go to trial.

The companies are facing more than 18,000 U.S. patient suits blaming the blood thinner for internal bleeding. The medicine also has been linked to at least 370 deaths, according to Food and Drug Administration reports.

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The drug is Bayer's top-selling product, generating $3.24 billion in sales (3 billion euros) last year and $2.5 billion (2.3 billion euros) in 2015 for the Leverkusen, Germany based pharmaceutical company. Xarelto is J&J's third-largest seller, bringing in $2.29 billion in 2016 as the New Brunswick, New Jersey, company seeks to replace revenue from its Remicade arthritis treatment, which lost patent protection a year ago.

Boudreaux's case is the first of four suits overseen by U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon in New Orleans slated for trial over the next three months.

"The allegations made in the Xarelto lawsuits contradict years of data on the medicine and the FDA's determination of its safety and efficacy," said William Foster, a spokesman for J&J's Janssen unit that sells the drug in the U.S.

Bayer officials contend that despite some patient complaints, Xarelto's bleeding risks are fully outlined on the medicine's warning label and well known by prescribing doctors. "Bayer stands behind the safety and efficacy of Xarelto, and will vigorously defend it," spokeswoman Astrid Kranz said in an emailed statement.

U.S. regulators approved Xarelto in 2011 to prevent blood clots in users undergoing knee and hip surgeries. The drug's use has been extended to patients, such as Boudreaux, who suffer from irregular heartbeats and are at high risk of stroke.

Xarelto belongs to a new class of drugs aimed at replacing Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s Coumadin, which has thinned patients' blood since the 1960s. Other new thinners include Pradaxa made by Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, a German company that paid $650 million in 2014 to settle thousands of suits claiming it hid the medicine's bleeding risks.

J&J and Bayer are accused of falsely marketing Xarelto as more effective at preventing strokes than Coumadin and easier to use, because Xarelto patients didn't need frequent tests to monitor blood-plasma levels.

Lawyers for Boudreaux and other former Xarelto patients stress the drug has no antidote, so it puts some users at high risk for bleeding out if they suffer an injury. Coumadin's blood-thinning effects can be stemmed.

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"This trial is an important first step in gaining broader awareness of one of the most high-risk drug treatments in medicine today," Andy Birchfield, one of Boudreaux's lawyers, said in an email.

J&J and Bayer officials should have warned consumers they could be tested to gauge their Xarelto bleed-out risk, patients' attorneys claim. The companies "concealed their knowledge of Xarelto's defects from physicians, the FDA, the public and the medical community," Boudreaux's lawyers said in the filing.

J&J and Bayer point to the FDA's finding that Xarelto is "safe and effective" for patients seeking to avoid stroke-causing clots to buttress claims the drug doesn't pose undue risks, according to court papers.

The pharmaceutical makers also argue Boudreaux and other patients can't prove doctors would have avoided prescribing the drug even if they'd had the kind of bleeding warnings sought by the plaintiffs, according to court filings. "Xarelto's label is adequate as a matter of law," the companies' attorneys said.

Boudreaux's case serves as a bellwether to help decide the Xarelto claims' strength, said David Logan, a mass-tort law professor at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. Fallon will allow a number of such trials to see if jurors rule for patients and award damages, Williams said. "Once the results are in, the parties may feel more confident about whether to settle the remaining claims," he said.

Xarelto cases filed in federal courts around the U.S. have been consolidated before Fallon while other suits are awaiting trials in state courts in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Fallon previously oversaw suits against Merck & Co. targeting its Vioxx painkiller that resulted in a $4.85 billion settlement.

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"Judge Fallon has been through the process several times," said Carl Tobias, who teaches product-liability law at the University of Richmond in Virginia. "He knows how to get suits to trial that will give the companies and plaintiffs a good feel for what these cases are worth."

Bloomberg's Della Hasselle contributed.






I'm hoping you can help me. Last November, my husband and I purchased round-trip tickets on Air Canada from Washington, D.C., to Tel Aviv, Israel, to visit our family for this Passover holiday.

Unfortunately, my daughter  who lives in Israel  was hit by a car, and I have to fly there immediately to take care of her when she gets out of the hospital. After spending more than two hours on hold with Air Canada, the airline told me that it would cost me over $2,000 to change my ticket, so I hung up and purchased a one-way ticket to leave the next week. It happens to be on Air Canada, since that was the best ticket I could find.

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Now friends and colleagues are telling me that if I don't show up for my originally scheduled flight, I won't be able to return from Tel Aviv. I'm asking for your help in trying to find the best way to make sure I have a smooth flight over without having to worry about returning. Needless to say, I'm tremendously stressed about my daughter and her injuries, and would rather not have to worry about the greedy airlines.

 Reena Roshgadol, Pikesville, Md.

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A: Your friends are right. If you don't show up for your flight to Tel Aviv, Air Canada will cancel your entire itinerary.

Air Canada is both right and wrong to do this. It's right in the sense that this is a standard airline practice and that it makes sense on one level. If you miss your outbound flight, canceling the rest of your itinerary frees up a seat for another passenger.

But it's wrong to charge a $2,000 change fee, given your circumstances. Why does Air Canada do this? Because it figures that ticket changes such as this are likely to be made by business travelers, who are on an expense account. And also, because it can.

You were trying to get around Air Canada's change fee by buying a new ticket, which makes sense until you understand how the system works. The airline really wants you to pay a change fee.

When you explained your circumstances to Air Canada, it should have waived some or all of its fees as a goodwill gesture. The airline shouldn't want to collect a hefty change fee from someone who is just trying to take care of an injured daughter. You even sent pictures of your child in the emergency room, which were pretty compelling. I have no idea why the airline didn't help you.

You also could have contacted one of the airline's executives. I list the names, numbers and emails of Air Canada's customer-service managers on my consumer-advocacy site: http://elliott.org/company-contacts/air-canada/.

I contacted Air Canada on your behalf, and it agreed to refund your one-way ticket, and charged a modest $460 to change your return flight  a resolution with which you are happy.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and the author of "How to Be the World's Smartest Traveler." You can read more travel tips on his blog, www.elliott.org, or email him at chris@elliott.org.

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Two artists have a dispute over a mural on a South Shore neighborhood apartment building depicting Michelle Obama in an Egyptian headdress. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Gelila Mesfin, an Ethiopian art student in New York, had long admired Michelle Obama - her grace, her stoicism, and perhaps more than anything, her influence as a role model for black women.

So last year, as a tribute to the first lady, Mesfin drew a digital portrait depicting Obama in a gold and green Egyptian headdress. She uploaded the image to her Instagram account with the caption, "Forever Queen."

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That was in November, just before the 2016 election.

On Friday, more than five months later, an almost identical version of Mesfin's work showed up as a mural on a building on Chicago's South Side, just blocks from where Obama grew up.

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No one had contacted Mesfin about the mural. Nor had anyone credited her.

That might not have been a problem for the 24-year-old, who said she said she was initially flattered that a stranger hundreds of miles away had turned her image into a piece of public art.

But the person who painted the mural, artist and urban planner Chris Devins, appeared to have profited from the project, raising nearly $12,000 on a GoFundMe page. He also suggested to local media the depiction of Obama was his idea.

"I wanted to present her as what I think she is, so she's clothed as an Egyptian queen," Devins told DNAinfo on Friday. "I thought that was appropriate."

Devins's mural had only been up for a matter of hours when word got back to Mesfin. She objected to the use of her work without permission in a widely circulated Instagram post that triggered a wave of outrage online, saying she felt like Devins stole her piece.

"I was very disheartened when he did that," Mesfin told The Washington Post. "There's a common code among all artists that you can get inspired by someone's work but you have to pay homage and you have to give credit for it."

Now, Mesfin and Devins said they're negotiating a resolution to the dispute. The details are confidential, they said, but Mesfin told The Post she has sought help from an attorney.

Devins said he never intended to take credit for Mesfin's creation, which itself was based off a portrait in the New York Times by photographer Collier Schorr. Mesfin credited Schorr's work on her Instagram post.

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In an interview with The Washington Post, Devins said he has been painting murals around Chicago for more than two years. Most of them depict well known black figures who are connected to the city in some way, among them Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole. For the most part, he said, he bases the murals on "found" images and public domain pictures he finds in the Library of Congress or Wikimedia Commons.

Devins said he makes little to no money off the installations, which he said he paints to "reaffirm the identity" of the surrounding community.

"This is a free service that I do as a benefit for Chicago youth as a counter to the 'if it bleeds it leads' portrayal of Chicago's South Side," he said.

In November, Devins started a GoFundMe seeking to raise at least $5,000 to paint a mural of the first lady on Bouchet Elementary, which Obama attended as a youth.

The fundraising page showed a black-and-white portrait of Obama with folded arms, nothing like Mesfin's rendering.

But after raising $11,785, it was Mesfin's work that wound up on a wall - not on the school, but a beige brick apartment building nearby.

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Devins said he came across Mesfin's drawing on the sharing site Pinterest and was unable to track down the artist. He explained his decision to use the image without permission in an analogy, saying he was creating a "remix" of a piece of art in the way that a DJ remixes songs.

All of the money, he said, went to the cost of painting the mural.

"I didn't find out until she complained online that it was her image," Devins said. "That's why I didn't give her any credit."

After receiving backlash on social media, Devins apologized to Mesfin and issued multiple statements saying the work was hers. It did little to quell the anger among some users, who accused Devins, who is black, of racism, sexism and outright theft for using a young black woman's art for his own purposes.

Though he was apologetic, Devins said he resented that he was "accused of being mannish."

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"I moved ahead. I consider it to be collaboration after the fact," he told The Post. He speculated that Mesfin may have "gotten hundreds of thousands of dollars of free publicity" from the attention generated by the dispute.

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Mesfin had a different take. For one, she told The Post, she makes no money off her art, nor does she seek to. Her Instagram feed is full of images like the Obama portrait, showing black female icons - Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Beyonce - in brightly colored African garb that Mesfin has drawn onto existing photographs. They are not for sale.

Her depiction of Obama was inspired in part by her love of Egyptian culture. The idea of first lady in a headdress popped into her head as soon as she came across the Collier Schorr portrait, which ran in the New York Times in October, she said. Collier's studio didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Mesfin said the goal of much of her art is to show the "rich heritage" of black women by portraying them in a "beautiful light." When she uses another photographer's work, she said, she goes out of her way to give credit.

"It's just showing appreciation," she said. "If you're going to do something like this, it's a common courtesy."

Mesfin has called on her followers not to insult Devins while the two of them work out a resolution.

"I understand why he did it. At the same time, I was just surprised," she said. "It would have been fine if he had just said that he got it from me."
Any tardy tax filer who sits in the Illinois House or Senate would be subjected to public shaming under a newly filed bill that would require the state to reveal the names of lawmakers who do not file state returns.

The proposal follows the Tribune's disclosure, published online April 14, that two Illinois lawmakers have yet to file their 2014 state tax returns, which were due two years ago.

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Because of confidentiality laws, the Illinois Department of Revenue would not identify the two statehouse stragglers. But a spokesman for the agency, part of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration, said it supports the bill.

The proposal, sponsored by Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, is aimed at pressuring state lawmakers to file returns before their tardiness drags from months to years.

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"When Democrats and Republicans are talking about raising taxes, it's extremely important that all members be in compliance with Illinois tax law," said McSweeney, who has staked out a staunch anti-tax stance and says he files his returns on time.

Under the measure, lawmaker names would be made public six months after they receive notices that they are delinquent in filing state tax returns. They could avoid the public disclosure if they file before the six months passes.

McSweeney said he would prefer that names be posted on a state website, though the bill he filed Monday also would allow the names to be made available for public inspection at the Department of Revenue.

The two lawmakers are among 312 people getting state checks who have been slapped with a $250 penalty for tax delinquency. Another roughly 300 people who used to work for the state and haven't filed their 2014 state returns also have been dunned $250.

All could pay additional penalties worth 10 percent of any money owed. A Department of Revenue spokesman said the agency assumes the lawmakers owe taxes but doesn't know for sure because the returns have not been filed.

Three additional lawmakers who were notified last summer that they were tardy have either paid, collected a refund or settled up their issues, according to state officials.

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Rep. Mike Zalewski, the Riverside Democrat who chairs the Revenue and Finance Committee, said he would support expanding the legislation to make public the name of any state employee who fails to file his or her state income tax returns.

Zalewski said he wanted to discuss the legislation with McSweeney and the state's revenue director, Connie Beard, who orchestrated the review that matched the state payroll against W-2s to find which workers had not filed.

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"Everybody should be treated on an equal playing field," Zalewski said.

In all, the Department of Revenue identified and sent first-round notices to 5,497 people who were getting state checks two years ago but didn't file returns. Officials have resolved most of the cases through tax payments, refunds or in other ways, such as determining that a person lived in another state or owed too little to pursue collection.

The vast majority of tardy filers are in the biggest state agencies under the governor, including the Departments of Human Services, Corrections, Children and Family Services, and Transportation. No one in the governor's office or any of his Cabinet directors is on the list of late filers, a revenue spokesman said.

rlong@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RayLong
A Lodge Grass man on Monday denied federal charges that he had sexual contact with a minor.

Loyal Jude Hogan, 32, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with abusive sexual contact with a minor, alleged to have happened in June 2014 in Lodge Grass.

The indictment alleges that Hogan knowingly engaged in sexual contact with a person who was between the ages of 12 and 16.

If convicted, Hogan faces a maximum of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Cavan ordered Hogan to remain in custody. The case will be heard by U.S. District Judge Susan Watters.
Kelly Johnson and Dillon Novak hold signs during a protest of the inauguration of Donald Trump as president on Jan. 20, 2017, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

A revolving door of local protest groups and activists  some that have never worked together before  have banded together to keep their anti-President Donald Trump message alive for his first 100 days in office, hoping it stalls his agenda and builds momentum for the midterm elections.

What became "Resist Trump Tuesdays" in Chicago and across the nation gained steam thanks to social media. Almost every Tuesday since late January, scores of left-center activists from groups all across the city have waged their battles against Trump's federal government on the gray granite tiles of the normally staid Federal Plaza. Outside the steel-towered federal office building and other skyscrapers, dozens loudly have pledged to "Resist Trump" at every turn for the first 100 days of his term, which will be marked on Saturday.

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Some observers say those first months in office are when new presidents have their strongest influence, while others reject the milestone, saying modern presidents and Congresses have been far less productive since Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal era.

Deflated by Trump's upset win last November, national and local activists who focused narrowly on their own agendas say they now work together to channel widespread voter disappointment into quick response protest teams able to swiftly respond to any emerging moves by the new president and his surrogates. The best examples of these are the raucous town hall meetings taking part in Republican districts and protest marches against Trump's court-rejected travel ban on people from Muslim-majority countries.

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Whether the protests effect change is a matter of opinion.

When asked, the White House didn't offer a statement. Local Republicans minimized the effect of the protests. Chris Cleveland, chairman of the Chicago Republican Party, lumped Trump protesters with those who demonstrate at GOP fundraisers or disrupt town hall meetings.

"These are people who believe in diversity in all things, except talk," Cleveland said. "It's fundamentally undemocratic."

Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and former Chicago alderman, sees the Resist Trump and other early anti-Trump factions as a precursor to much bigger protests if Trump's first proposed budget passes later this year.

That budget, which early on proposed massive cuts to social programs while boosting billions in spending on defense, the Mexican border wall and tax cuts, will bring activists and nonpolitical groups together that could swing midterm elections, he said.

"What will begin to happen is the groups that are nonpolitical  501(c)(3)s and the not-for-profits  will begin to join the political groups in a variety of different methods, leading eventually to elections," Simpson said. "Right now there are protests and maybe they're blocking the street, being in front of Trump Tower, those will continue and swell just like they did with the women's march. But they're going to be minor in comparison to the total effort of rolling back the Trump policies."

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 14 Demonstrators march from a Department of Homeland Security office over the Chicago River at Jackson Boulevard on Feb. 1, 2017, against President Donald Trump's immigrant and refugee order. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

The Trump Resisters

Each week, at the foot of the Kluczynski Federal Building, different local organizations have taken the reins to lead the Loop protest, almost exclusively saying Trump's agenda does nothing to solve long-standing local issues. One Tuesday, The People's Lobby, a local organization that fights for education and health care, staged a sit-in, while the following week North Side activists led a march regarding the state budget stalemate, tying Illinois' Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to Trump. The following week, clergy from the South Side led a march and sit-in regarding the judicial system. Another week, Black Lives Matter Chicago led the charge.

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At a rally in late February, a crew of about 200 protesters  black, white and Hispanic, clergymen and atheists, yarmulke-wearing or dreadlocked  streamed along Dearborn Street toward Daley Plaza in a crowd so massive that volunteers in fluorescent jackets had to keep the pulsing mass together.

Like other marchers the Rev. Dwayne L. Grant, a pastor who runs a ministry out of Englewood, said he supported outreach to communities of color, adding that many young minorities on the South and West sides were beyond eager to join the fight against Trump.

"With Trump in office, it's got everybody kind of in an activist mode," said Grant, who spoke at the late February rally, decrying Cook County court's cash bond system that has meant poor people must await trial in minor cases behind bars because they can't scrounge the money to get out of jail while their case is pending. "I think God has placed Trump in office to bring out that unity that we've missed. We haven't been unified, but now everybody has a common enemy, if you will, and we can all come together," he said.

Fragmented during the bitter 2016 Democratic primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, various activist groups have found some momentum to lock arms over anything from civil rights to climate change and environmental issues. In some cases they're showing up at the same protests  or at least coordinating to give each other the space on the plaza to proclaim their cause.

One expert says the marches alone won't effect change, but the resulting coordination could serve as a springboard for change  by motivating people to get out and vote or lawmakers to think long and hard about policy changes.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 11 About200 people, including some Chicagoland clergy members, protest against the policies of President Donald Trump at Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago on Feb. 21, 2017. Protesters calledfor resources instead of the National Guard to help quell Chicago violence. Activists also calledfor Chief Judge Timothy Evans to end the use of money bonds in Cook County courts. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

"There seems to be an understanding nationwide almost among those that are opposing Trump that they need to do more than just march," said Erica Chenoweth, a noted author, expert on civil disobedience and professor with the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies. "They need to be meeting with one another, talking across communities, building coalitions with people that they may disagree with or they may have not cooperated with in the past."

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Mobilizing dissent has invigorated the movement with young, enthusiastic people eager to show their zeal.

At a late January rally, seven current and recent college students were arrested at a sit-in inside the lobby of the Kluczynski Building. Outside, Maddie Tallman, a seminary student at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in Hyde Park, watched about 300 people cheer the students and loudly protest Trump's then-nominee and now Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as Tallman's schoolmate Samantha Nichols took a bullhorn and accused local elected officials of cozying up with special interests rather than improving public education.

"I grew up in the public education system. I had great teachers, but I also saw disparities of resources  some of my classmates had great textbooks and some of us didn't," Tallman said. "I'm a seminarian, so for me personally my faith is what brings me here the most. I feel called to speak out against this and to keep our representatives accountable."

The Rev. Tom Gaulke, pastor of First Lutheran Church of the Trinity of Bridgeport and the president of People's Lobby Education Institute, said in February that organizers were amazed by the number of strangers drawn each week solely by the group's Facebook page. He could still recall his shock on seeing the faces of hundreds of strangers gathered for Facebook-advertised "agonize and organize" events two weeks after Trump's stunning win.

"When we had those events, they were swelled over with hundreds of people just by making a Facebook event (posting)," he said. "We had to ask some of our regulars not to come so there would be room for the new people."

No matter the grievance, Gaulke said he was excited that so many were joining protests. "People are angry, and they are angry because of real and perceived fears. But I think now that these fears are real, things are actually getting cut and people's lives are at risk," Gaulke said.

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"Thank God people are actually responding."

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 8 Rap artist San Diego Bars, left, and John Packard chant along with other protesters during a rally at Federal Plaza to decry Chicago police brutality on March 7, 2017, in the Loop. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune)

First 100 days

One of the most compelling hooks in the "Resist Trump" campaign in Chicago and, according to organizers, another 400-plus cities is activists pledging to show their resistance to Trump for the first 100 days of his administration, a time Trump campaigned would bring sweeping changes to the country. He said on the campaign trail that his first three months would see sweeping changes, from dumping and replacing the Affordable Care Act, a move that continues to be negotiated in Congress, to threatening federal spending cuts in sanctuary cities such as Chicago.

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This age-old benchmark of presidential achievement is often attributed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who signed an unprecedented 75 bills into law designed to end the Great Depression and put millions to work. But despite promises of swift action by Trump on the campaign trail, some political scientists are saying the first 100 days of any new president is overblown.

In January, the polling website FiveThirtyEight cited a 2001 study that pointed out that presidential productivity in the first 100 days has fallen sharply since Roosevelt's time, adding that Congressional action has declined since the 1950s because of changes in how Congress works. Activists say the first 100 days is largely symbolic, adding that the point for them is to take their grievances public and build a coalition with people of all political stripes who also oppose Trump.

"We're building a movement, and it's growing," said Amir Weg, a member of ONE Northside, one of the local groups participating in "Resist Trump Tuesdays."

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"The reason we're committed to coming out every Tuesday is we want a sustained resistance," Weg said. "Trump's going to be in office for the next four years  and we're going to have to resist him for four years, and that's going to mean people in the streets throughout that whole term."

But after this week, "Resist Trump Tuesdays" will be no more, but the protests will continue at various times. On the 100th day  Saturday  activists will hold local protests on climate change to coincide with a larger rally in Washington, D.C.

wlee@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @MidNoirCowboy
Audio and video files, provided by the city of Chicago, each depict officers and emergency workers responding to United Flight 3411 at O'Hare International Airport on April 9, 2017. They record the moments before and after the dragging of passenger David Dao, who was hurt when Department of Aviation police officers removed him from the plane. (City Of Chicago/Chicago Tribune)

A Chicago aviation police officer said "minimal but necessary force" was employed to remove Dr. David Dao from a United Airlines flight after he reacted aggressively when asked to get off the plane, according to records released Monday by the city.

The incident reports provide additional detail into the April 9 incident at O'Hare International Airport, which gained international attention after video shot by other passengers of Dao being dragged off the flight went viral.

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Officer Mauricio Rodriguez Jr. said in his report that after being called to the United flight, he and fellow officers tried to persuade Dao to get off the plane, but he stated: "I'm not leaving this flight that I paid money for. I don't care if I get arrested."

Two other officers arrived and "repeatedly asked the subject to remove himself from the aircraft." When Officer James Long tried to get Dao out of his seat, Dao "started swinging his arms up and down fast and violently."

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A flailing Dao knocked one of Long's hands off, causing Dao to fall and hit his mouth on the armrest, the report said. Rodriguez said in a report that Long "assisted the subject by using minimal but necessary force" to get him off the plane.

After they finally got Dao off the plane, he lay down and "claimed to be a diabetic." Dao then ran back onto the aircraft and got to the rear section, where he told officers: "I'm not getting off the plane. Just kill me. I want to go home," according to the report.

Rodriguez, Long and another officer, Stephen Smith, along with Sgt. John Moore, were all placed on leave following the incident.

On April 17, Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Redding sent a memo to all aviation security personnel on the department's use of force policy. Redding ordered them all to "thoroughly review the policy and procedures" for use of force. It's not clear how they would've applied in this specific case.

Dao, 69, of Elizabethtown, Ky., and his wife were flying home to Louisville, Ky., through O'Hare after a vacation in California. Dao was one of four passengers told to leave a full flight to make room for four airline employees.

According to his attorney, Dao suffered a significant concussion, a broken nose and a sinus injury, and lost two front teeth in the incident.

Video of the dramatic scene sparked international outrage, and United Continental Holdings lost more than $500 million of its stock value in the immediate aftermath as the company became a punchline in social media. United's CEO Oscar Munoz apologized, and the airline said it would review its policies for overbooked flights.

Also released by the city on Monday were personnel files of the officers involved and emails sent among city aviation officials on how to handle the fallout from the incident.

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Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans expressed frustration that her agency's police were put in the position of dealing with what some viewed as a customer service issue.

"I'm unhappy that we were asked to remove a passenger due to an overbooking," she wrote. "Removing an unruly passenger is a legitimate law enforcement action."

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Munoz has promised that United won't ask law enforcement to remove customers from flights unless it is a matter of safety and security.

The city also released angry emails from the public about the dragging incident. In one, a "mother of two" named Beth wrote: "You have a MAJOR public perception problem on your hand. Good luck!!!!!!!!!! I am horrified!!!!"

That email was forwarded to Evans by an aviation official.

Evans responded to the official: "She is correct."

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Chicago Tribune's Lauren Zumbach contributed.

gpratt@tronc.com

Twitter @royalpratt
Chicago police investigagte the Far North Side alley in the1400 block of West Jonquil Terrace in Rogers Parkwhere a man was fatally shot around 7 a.m. on April 25, 2017. (Kristen Norman / Chicago Tribune)

One man was killed in Rogers Park, and five other people were wounded in shootings since Tuesday morning, Chicago police said.

On the Southwest Side, a man's body was found in a Little Village alley, according to police.

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On the Far North Side, a 20-year-old man was fatally shot about 7 a.m. in the Rogers Park neighborhood, police said.

Officers found the man in the 1400 block of West Jonquil Terrace. He had been shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.

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In the most recent shooting, officers responding to a call of a person shot on the West Side about 10:05 p.m. found an 18-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the groin, police said. The shooting happened in the 5500 block of West Potomac Avenue in the North Austin neighborhood. His condition was stabilized at Mount Sinai Hospital.

On the Northwest Side, a 22-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man were shot about 8 p.m. in the 2100 block of North Menard Avenue, in the Belmont Central neighborhood, according to police. Both were taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood in serious to critical condition, according to a Chicago Fire Department spokesman. Earlier, the spokesman said the woman was 34.

About 2 p.m., a 16-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man were shot in the legs in the West Side's Lawndale neighborhood. The shooting happened in the 1900 block of South Harding Avenue, and the two got themselves to Mount Sinai Hospital, where they were in good condition, police said.

About 7:30 a.m. on the Southwest Side, police found a man between the ages of 30 and 40 lying dead in an alley in the 2600 block of South Ridgeway Avenue, authorities said. The man did not have any visible injuries and it is possible he died of natural causes, officials said. As of 9 a.m., his death was not labeled suspicious.

Authorities investigate a homicide in the Rogers Park neighborhood early Tuesday morning, April 25, 2017. (WGN)

"We don't know the cause yet, he was just found unresponsive," said Officer Ana Pacheco, a police spokeswoman. "It is a death investigation at this point, and obviously if there's something criminal it could change to a homicide investigation."
Alberto Zapien was shot April 18, 2017, as he was walking in West Lawn. A bullet tore through his leg, and he is regaining his mobility. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

After getting shot by a stranger and having to use a walker to learn to walk again, Alberto Zapien, 18, has plenty of reasons to be angry.

The high school student chose instead to focus on what  or rather who  he can be grateful for: Namely Sgt. Cathlene Hillman, a Chicago Police officer who knew exactly what to do when a bullet tore through an artery above his knee April 18.

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"I'm glad (she) was around to do something because I mean, who knows. I could've bled out, I could've died, I could've lost way more blood," Zapien said from his hospital room, days after the bullet pierced his thigh, through and through. "I'm pretty sure (she) was an angel sent down from heaven, sent to save me, because I don't think it was my time to go."

Zapien said he was also grateful to his buddy who was instrumental in helping him pull through.

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Zapien was walking through West Lawn about 9:30 p.m. on his way to meet childhood friend Nadaniel Villegas, 17.

The pair had just ended a phone conversation when two boys walking behind Zapien started asking him which gang he represented, even though Zapien said he had never been in one.

"They yelled out, 'Hey, what's up King?'" Zapien said, thinking the two boys following him were asking if he was a Latin King. "And I turned back, but I ignored them. I kept on walking and minding my business, but for some reason I just wanted to turn around because I didn't feel safe, you know, and as I turned around one of them was taking off their backpack and had a gun in his hand and he said 'Hey, King,' again."

That's when the shooting started.

"Well, he shot once and then twice and the second one hit the back of my left knee, the thigh. And it was just gushing out blood," Zapien said.

Villegas, who was nearby, said he knew his friend should have been coming into view when four gunshots rang out.

"I hear these gunshots, and I see people running away," Villegas said. "So I started running to the gunshots, but you're still surprised when it's your friend on the ground. You don't really think it would be a reality, but I guess the violence in Chicago is just getting that hectic."

He said he couldn't believe that a kid who has never been in trouble for anything but bad grades was suddenly on the ground, going in and out of consciousness as he lost massive amounts of blood.

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"It was really scary. He was getting pretty pale," Villegas said. "He'd wake up, and then he'd pass out again."

Villegas said he tried to act fast. He called the police, and he tried to keep Zapien calm.

"I felt this adrenaline rush. It is suddenly a life or death situation, with your friend," he said. "My instincts came into play, and I just started thinking, you put pressure on a wound, and the bleeding will eventually stop."

Hillman credited the teenager with taking off his sweatshirt and applying it to the wound, though when she arrived about a minute after being dispatched  she was only three blocks away, she said  the sweatshirt was already saturated.

Hillman has been on the force 25 years, and she said she has taken special medical training three times, including a recent refresher course when she made sergeant. Because of her certification, she has a special nylon tourniquet on her belt as part of her uniform, she explained.

Seeing the bullet hole above Zapien's knee, Hillman said she tightened the tourniquet about four inches above the injury. Almost immediately, the uncontrollable stream of blood stopped flowing.

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Zapien said that after he was stabilized at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, nurses told him he was lucky to be alive and to still have his leg after losing so much blood.

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"I'm not a medical expert, but it was certainly a lot of blood, and it was bright red. And he was losing a lot of blood, a lot," said Hillman, who has only had to use her tourniquet on one other occasion, with the same result.

Although the bullet wasn't lodged, the blood gathering in Zapien's leg caused dangerous swelling; he needed surgery to release the pressure. A doctor cut a narrow line into Zapien's leg spanning the majority of his calf and a good portion of his thigh. He has dozens of staples in the leg.

Before Zapien's release from the hospital Monday, a physical therapist visited him daily. Seeing a wheelchair, and the walker he'd learn to use, Zapien said it was hard to accept what had happened to him. Restrictions and hurdles lie ahead this summer as he works toward high school graduation, and then, maybe community college. He said he'd like to be a special education teacher someday.

Despite being randomly targeted by two kids about his age, he said it could have been worse.

"I'm glad it was only four (shots) and not many. I'm glad it was me who got shot and not somebody else. A little kid could have been hit," Zapien said.

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kdouglas@chicagotribune.com

twitter @312BreakingNews
A fire in a four-story building inthe 400 block of West St. James Place in the Lincoln Park neighborhood spread to two buildings April 25, 2017. (WGN-TV)

A firefighter was hospitalized for exhaustion early Tuesday after working an extra-alarm fire at a four-story building on the North Side, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

The firefighter was taken in good condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the department. She was expected to return to work later.

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The fire began at 425 W. St. James Place in the Lincoln Park area, and it spread to two buildings before it was put out about 2:30 a.m., according to the department.

By 4:20 a.m., firefighters had left. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Chicago auto mechanic Fidel Urbina, a suspect in the slaying of a customer, was captured by Mexican authorities after 17 years on the run, according to the FBI. Urbina was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2012. (FBI)

A former Southwest Side auto mechanic who was among the FBI's most wanted is on his way back to Chicago to face kidnapping, rape and murder charges, authorities said.

Fidel Urbina was flying in from Mexico and was expected to land Tuesday at O'Hare International Airport, according to the FBI.

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In September, after 17 years on the lam, Urbina was arrested by Mexican authorities in a tiny village called El Polvo in a remote part of the border state of Chihuahua.

Urbina was scheduled to appear in state court Wednesday, according to the FBI.

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Urbina, a former auto mechanic, is a suspect in the brutal 1998 kidnapping and rape of a waitress and the subsequent alleged sexual assault and strangulation of 22-year-old Gabriela Torres, who'd brought her car into his Southwest Side shop for service.

Authorities found Torres' body stuffed in the trunk of a car, which had been pushed into the alley in the 2300 block of West 50th Street and set ablaze. By the time police went to question Urbina, he'd vanished.

Urbina, who was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2012 and whose case was profiled on the TV program "America's Most Wanted," was taken to a federal prison in Mexico City, where he had awaited extradition to the U.S. on federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, authorities said.

Urbina, who is in his early 40s, faces pending criminal charges in Cook County in both the 1998 kidnapping case as well as in the rape and slaying of Torres, records show.

Urbina, a native of Durango, Mexico, last lived in the 2100 block of South Fairfield Avenue in the city's Little Village neighborhood.
Audio and video files, provided by the city of Chicago, each depict officers and emergency workers responding to United Flight 3411 at O'Hare International Airport on April 9, 2017. They record the moments before and after the dragging of passenger David Dao, who was hurt when Department of Aviation police officers removed him from the plane. (City Of Chicago/Chicago Tribune)

The city's top watchdog is investigating the notorious passenger-dragging incident aboard a United Airlines plane at O'Hare International Airport , Inspector General Joseph Ferguson's office acknowledged Tuesday.

The confirmation is the latest sign of growing scrutiny of the Department of Aviation's security force. On Friday, the Chicago Tribune first reported that the inspector general's office had subpoenaed the Illinois Tollway regarding a top aviation official fired from the state agency amid sexual harassment allegations.

The subpoena focused on Jeffrey Redding, deputy aviation commissioner and a point person in the department's look into the United Airlines passenger-dragging debacle. Redding was terminated in 2015 for what tollway officials called "multiple violations of Illinois Tollway personnel policy and procedures." Redding told the Tribune he had a relationship with a woman, a toll collector, but it was consensual and not the reason he was dismissed.

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Two weeks ago, Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans said Ferguson's office had been notified of the United case, in which aviation police dragged a bloodied David Dao of Kentucky from a plane, and video of the incident triggered worldwide criticism of the airline and city.

Evans mentioned the inspector general's office during a City Council hearing in which she said her department was conducting a review focused in part on whether aviation police had the right to forcibly remove a passenger to make room for an airline employee.

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Tuesday's confirmation by a Ferguson spokeswoman made it clear the inspector general is doing a broader investigation of the case that doesn't just focus on Redding's former job at the tollway. Ferguson has the authority to recommend disciplining or firing city employees, although the final decision will be up to Evans  who reports to Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Four aviation police officers were suspended in the wake of the United case. On Monday, the city released documents that showed one aviation officer said "minimal but necessary force" was used to remove Dao from the flight.

On Tuesday, the mayor referred to both the Aviation Department review and the watchdog probe while speaking generally about the United case.

"It's in the middle of an inquiry," Emanuel said. "Look, everybody knows what happened is totally unacceptable, and Ginger and the IG are making an investigation, conducting an investigation to get to the bottom of it and with any recommendation to change anything."

hdardick@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ReporterHal
The Illinois Women's March on Springfield was held at the state Capitol on April 25, 2017, to raise awareness of women's rights. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

SPRINGFIELD  House Democrats on Tuesday approved a controversial bill that would expand the availability of taxpayer-funded abortions in Illinois, putting Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in the politically difficult spot of following through on his pledge to veto it.

The 62-55 vote came amid the fanfare of a women's march and rally at the Capitol that had all the markings of the annual Democrat Day celebration at the State Fair, complete with the requisite sign-waving and Republican-bashing by legislative leaders and candidates seeking to defeat Rauner in next year's election.

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Hundreds gathered in front of the Capitol, many wearing pink or sporting the pink hats made famous during the national women's marches in January. Protesters wrote "Gov, do your job" on the street facing Rauner's office, and marchers waved colorful signs saying "Her body, her choice" and "If uteri shot bullets, they wouldn't get regulated!"

Inside the House, lawmakers spent more than two hours debating the measure, which would allow women to use Medicaid coverage and state employee health insurance for abortions. Democrats said the plan also would help ensure abortion remains legal in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court by removing a so-called "trigger provision" in current law.

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Democratic Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago recounted her fight with infertility, joyous when she found out she was pregnant, only to be told the fetus didn't have a heartbeat. Cassidy said her doctor recommended an abortion. Cassidy, a Cook County employee at the time, said she didn't have to worry whether she could have the procedure because insurance covered it.

"I was able to utilize the method that allowed me to become pregnant within six weeks with my beloved eldest son and go on and have the other two boys," Cassidy said. "Without access to safe, legal abortion that preserved my fertility, preserved my life, they wouldn't be here."

The Rauner-funded Illinois Republican Party questioned the bill's cost, and many GOP legislators expressed general opposition to abortion, citing everything from religious text to scientific studies about when life starts in the womb.

Republican Rep. Tom Morrison of Palatine suggested the bill would force to the state to pay for abortions that may occur because parents don't approve of the sex of the fetus. He also drew a line between abortion and racial issues.

"But no, we're not going to recognize that right to those who can't speak today. They're too small, they're too weak," Morrison said. "And besides, seven U.S. Supreme Court judges said it was legal, so that must make it OK. Just like they said in 1857 when they declared that former slave Dred Scott was not a legal person either."

Rep. Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago, called Morrison's comments "the most ignorant and possibly racist thing I've heard in this General Assembly." Mitchell also said they don't reflect the voting record of Morrison and other Republicans.

"You want to make a comparison between slavery and segregation and the Supreme Court and all of the things that your party has historically stood against, but today, on this bill, suddenly you're a liberal," Mitchell said. "You must be outside of your mind."

The measure now heads to the Senate, where President John Cullerton has said his more liberal-leaning members are prepared to pass it. If Rauner follows through on his veto pledge, the House is unlikely to override him. It takes 71 votes to do so, but there are 67 Democrats.

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All but one Republican voted against the bill, and that lawmaker was listed as an excused absence. Five Downstate Democrats, including three from the Metro East area near St. Louis, voted against the bill. Each of them may be targeted for defeat by the GOP next year, and socially conservative votes may help them in their races.

The abortion bill has emerged as an early flashpoint in the 2018 race for governor, following Rauner's promise this month to Republican lawmakers that he would veto the bill if it reached his desk.

Rauner's stance won praise from socially conservative groups who have been angered by some of his other actions, including his approval last year of a law that requires doctors who oppose abortion to refer patients to providers who will perform the procedure. But the position could hurt Rauner next year with a key election voting demographic: suburban women who lean Republican but have socially moderate views.

Indeed, abortion rights groups were quick to deem Rauner's opposition a betrayal of voters who previously supported Rauner, noting he frequently declared he had "no social agenda" while on the campaign trail in 2014. Political action group Personal PAC took the rare step of releasing a previously confidential candidate questionnaire from that race in which Rauner expressed support for the ideas contained in the legislation he now opposes.

Rauner, who was away from the Capitol to tour a Beer Nuts plant in Bloomington, has declined to explain his shifting position, saying that expanding taxpayer funding for abortions is a "very divisive issue."

Democrats, sensing a political opportunity, seized on the wave of opposition to President Donald Trump, whose Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch took the bench this month, sparking fears among abortion-rights supporters that the court could overturn the landmark 1973 case that established a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

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Before Tuesday's vote, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan addressed the crowd of mostly women gathered outside the Capitol, saying the outcome "will be a clear litmus test as to who supports reproductive rights and who does not."

For its part, the governor's office put together a web video featuring eight of his top aides, including seven women. The aides, whose salaries are paid by taxpayers, talked up the governor's record on issues on family planning, women's rights and diversity.

A second video featured Felicia Norwood, Rauner's director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, offering the administration's view on the legislation. Norwood said Rauner would sign a bill that contained just the trigger provision, but "that request went unanswered."

"Because expanding taxpayer funding of abortion is an extremely divisive issue, Gov. Rauner says he will veto House Bill 40," said Norwood, who did not address Rauner's earlier position during the three-minute video. "The administration does not support expanding taxpayer funding for elective procedures."

Sponsoring Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, said a day earlier that she would not alter the legislation and leave women who are insured by the state "in the dust."

Feigenholtz and Cassidy are featured in a web ad from Personal PAC in which they hold up rolls of duct tape and say Rauner needs to stick to his word on abortion. Rauner has been on the air for weeks in an early re-election ad in which he uses duct tape as a prop as part of his message that state government needs permanent fixes, not temporary ones.

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The video closes with an image of Rauner with duct tape over his mouth. That's a callback to last month's flap in which WGN radio host Steve Cochran was interviewing Rauner and suggested that the governor "take some of that duct tape you are working with and put it over" the mouth of Democratic Comptroller Susana Mendoza, a Rauner critic.

Days later, Mendoza called on Rauner and Cochran to apologize "for the millions of women who've been victims of violence or sexual abuse." Rauner's political team pushed back. Cochran apologized, saying he "chose his words poorly," then later took to the air to accuse Mendoza of blowing the issue out of proportion by staging a news conference "for potential political gain."

Protesters doubled up on the rallies. Following the outdoor one, the five announced Democratic candidates for governor lined up in the Capitol rotunda to bash Rauner, comparing him to Trump and saying it was time to fight against the unraveling of the progressive agenda. The would-be Rauner challengers said they were fighting in solidarity with their wives, mothers and daughters, calling for passage of the abortion bill that was being debated several floors above.

"The thing about Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump is they like to turn us against each other," said Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th. "We have to fight, we have to unite, and we have to resist."

Businessman Chris Kennedy said Rauner was waging a "war against women," saying his refusal to strike a budget deal with Democrats has hit women the hardest, saying they rely on child care, social services and education programs. Other candidates who spoke included billionaire investor J.B. Pritzker, Evanston state Sen. Daniel Biss and Downstate school superintendent Bob Daiber.

Illustrating that Tuesday's vote was about politics as much as policy, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel questioned whether Rauner can be trusted to keep his word on a wide range of issues.

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"When it comes to the issue of choice and health for everybody, the governor when he was a candidate took a position ... that was clear and defined, and he's now flipped on that," Emanuel said after an event to announce the construction of a new grocery store in West Woodlawn.

Emanuel also contended that Rauner went back on his word to provide Chicago Public Schools with $215 million in additional pension funding  although Rauner has said it was Democrats who didn't come through on a broader deal to reform the state's pension system  and initially balked at a bill that would have helped the renewable energy industry that the governor said he supported.

"I think it goes to an issue of trust and veracity of somebody's word when they give it to you," Emanuel said.

Chicago Tribune's Hal Dardick contributed from Chicago.

mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com

hbemiller@chicagotribune.com
State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, shownin 2013, is sponsoring an abortion bill that Gov. Bruce Rauner has threatened to veto. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune )

Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Subscribe here.

Topspin

House lawmakers could vote Tuesday on a controversial bill that would expand the availability of taxpayer-funded abortions in Illinois -- the same day as the Illinois Women's March on Springfield.



The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, would allow women to use Medicaid coverage and state employee health insurance for abortions. Supporters say the bill also would help ensure abortion remains legal in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court by removing a so-called trigger provision in current law.



Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has vowed to veto the bill, despite pledging in 2014 to work for legislation that would lift restrictions on Medicaid- and state employee insurance-covered abortions. The governor's office told Feigenholtz he could support the bill if she removes that portion, but she declined.



"I am not leaving women who are insured by the state of Illinois, whether you're an employee or Medicaid is your insurer, I am not leaving them in the dust," Feigenholtz said. "I'll let Gov. Rauner do that. That's what it looks like he's doing."

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Last week, Rauner said that "expanding taxpayer funding is a very divisive issue" and that lawmakers should focus on jobs, reducing property taxes and education funding, among other things.



The planned vote comes as advocates prepare to descend on the state Capitol to push for policies that tackle women's rights, labor issues, immigration and more.



Tuesday's Illinois Women March on Springfield aims to echo similar marches that occurred around the world in January following the election of President Donald Trump. Co-chair Tracy Baim said the march is a dual response to the state's budget impasse and perceived efforts at the federal level to roll back certain rights.



The event kicks off with a noon rally featuring Comptroller Susana Mendoza, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and a slate of Democratic lawmakers. Democratic candidates for governor J.B. Pritzker, state Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston and Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar will appear at a second rally inside the Capitol following the march and lobbying by advocates.

Meanwhile, House lawmakers are also set to consider a bill backed by women's rights advocates that would prohibit employers from requiring job applicants to disclose their wage or salary history, among other provisions. (Haley BeMiller)

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What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel will appear in Woodlawn to announce Jewel-Osco is building a store at 61st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. Deputy Mayor Andrea Zopp will be out at the intersection at 6 a.m. to talk about the announcement with the morning TV news, per the mayor's press shop.

*Gov. Rauner's schedule wasn't available.

*The Illinois House and Senate meet.

*U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is set to give her first floor speech about 1:30 p.m.

From the notebook

*A Ferris Bueller moment for Kennedy ... Kennedy ... Kennedy: DuPage County Democrats held their annual gala Sunday night in Lombard, the largest fundraiser of the year for the organization.

The keynote speaker was Minnesota U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a backer of Bernie Sanders' unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and an unsuccessful candidate to chair the Democratic National Committee.

While several hundred people attended, there was one Ferris Bueller moment when the Democratic candidates for governor were invited to speak. When Chicago businessman Chris Kennedy's name was called -- repeatedly -- the candidate was nowhere to be found.

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Kennedy aides said the candidate attended the DuPage event earlier but had to leave before the speaking portion. Kennedy posted pictures from the Sunday event on his campaign's Facebook page but was campaigning Monday in southwestern Illinois' Metro East area near St. Louis.

From Kennedy's Facebook post: "I had to leave earlier than I expected -- I promise to come back so we can meet again!" (Rick Pearson)

*Blago flashback: Federally appointed monitor Noelle Brennan's lengthy final report on Illinois Department of Transportation staff assistant patronage hiring under then-Gov. Pat Quinn also contained a flashback to ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The report cited two major state inspector general investigations that the Tribune revealed years ago, one of which ended up being used against Blagojevich in the Illinois House impeachment proceedings.

A September 2004 report by Zaldwaynaka "Z." Scott, then the state's executive inspector general, issued a searing confidential rebuke that called Blagojevich's patronage office "the real machine driving hiring" in the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The investigation concluded that the "governor's office improperly exercised a great deal, if not all, control over the hiring" at that agency since shortly after Blagojevich took office in early 2003.

Scott maintained the Blagojevich administration subverted state laws that gave veterans a preference in hiring and a ban on political considerations for most state jobs. She said the Blagojevich administration's effort reflected "not merely an ignorance of the law, but complete and utter contempt for the law." That came up during Blagojevich's January 2009 impeachment.

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A second 2004 inspector general investigation that was cited in Brennan's Monday report and first reported by the Tribune revealed how House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, directly called a Department of Corrections official. Madigan urged that former Democratic state Rep. James Phelan be hired, according to the inspector general investigation. There was no indication in the IG report that Madigan did anything improper.

The report noted that Phelan had left a business card reflecting his connection to then-U.S. Rep. Bill Lipiniski, a Southwest Side powerhouse and Madigan ally.

If prison officials had checked with City Hall, they would have found Phelan had been fired from a job as a ward superintendent for the Chicago Department of Streets & Sanitation. According to court documents, Phelan's superiors said he wasn't managing his ward correctly.

A second person cited in the inspector general report was Manuel Acevedo, the brother of then-Rep. Eddie Acevedo, D-Chicago.

Both Phelan and Manuel Acevedo scored well on their state exams, but neither was a military veteran. The IG report said neither was technically eligible for the Chicago area jobs they sought because of a state law that gives absolute hiring preference to veterans.

Both Phelan and Acevedo applied for jobs during the waning days of the tenure of then-Republican Gov. George Ryan, who is now out of prison for unrelated corruption.

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But Blaogjevich's then-chief of staff, Alonzo Monk, who also served prison time as part of the Blagojevich scandal, and the governor's top patronage chief, Joe Cini, eventually helped both with jobs. They gave final approval to a job transfer for Phelan and signed off on the promotion of Manuel Acevedo.

Reached on Monday, former Rep. Acevedo said he had no idea what the Blagojevich administration was doing with job categories.

"I had nothing to do with that," the former lawmaker said. "Not even close."

He noted his brother "had 30-some years in the (Chicago) police department."

"However he got hired, he did it on his own," Acevedo said. (Ray Long)

*Six-figure war chests: Former U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who was vastly outspent in his failed re-election bid last year, started April with just over $195,000 still in the bank, a new report to the Federal Election Committee shows.

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Sen. Duckworth, who replaced Kirk on Jan. 3, began the month with nearly $275,000 in her war chest, an FEC report shows.

Duckworth spent $16.7 million to Kirk's nearly $10.4 million in the 2016 Senate race, according to the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute in Washington.

Some $3.6 million in outside money was dropped on the contest, with Kirk capturing the bulk, $2.1 million, the institute said.

Duckworth had receipts of nearly $288,000 in the first quarter, her FEC report said.

Kirk did little fundraising during the first three months of the year and refunded nearly $76,000 in contributions in the period, his report said.

While he left office, he hasn't completely left politics. Kirk cut a $10,000 check on March 15 to the Illinois Republican Party. (Katherine Skiba)

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*End of the ride: The Chicago taxi industry's legal challenge to ride-sharing came to a final end Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take the case. That left standing an earlier appellate court rejection of claims that Mayor Emanuel's City Hall had stacked the regulatory deck in favor of app-based operations like Uber and Lyft. (Hal Dardick)

*How they voted: Illinois' two U.S. senators both voted to confirm former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be secretary of agriculture.

U.S. Sens. Duckworth and Dick Durbin have often voted the same way on President Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees. Perdue cleared the confirmation by a comfortable margin, via a 87-11 vote.

What we're writing

*Court watchdog details how top Democrats got friends, relatives hired at Quinn's IDOT.

*Obama lifts lid on post-presidency career with civic engagement forum at U. of C.

*Aviation cop: "minimal but necessary force" used to remove passenger from United flight.

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*Chicago envisions 911 system that could receive texts, photos, videos during emergencies.

*Illinois Tollway unveils $4B plan to widen Tri-State from Balmoral (Rosemont) to 95th Street (Bridgeview).

*Chicago's Trump Tower has a 'glut' of condos for sale.

*New leaders start at Chicago State University.

*CPS proposes school year dates for 2017-18.

*CTA, city plan renovation of Cottage Grove Green Line station.

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What we're reading

*'Remix' or plagiarism? Artists battle over South Side mural of Michelle Obama.

*From AP: Rauner tech chief's memberships cost $208K.

*Lucas Museum president takes a loss on Lincoln Park mansion's sale. It was not the house he was looking for.

Follow the money

*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.

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Beyond Chicago

*Border wall, health care jeopardize spending bill days from shutdown.

*Trump seeks 15 percent corporate tax rate.

*Prosecutors: Inmate's water cut off for 7 days before his death in the Milwaukee County Jail.

*The French presidential candidates move toward the runoff.
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, speaks during a news conference on March 1, 2017, at the state Capitol in Springfield, Ill. Cullerton said Tuesday that his chamber will vote this week on a proposal to send more than $815 million to universities and social service providers that have gone months without funding, despite objections from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. (Rich Saal / AP)

SPRINGFIELD  Democratic Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said Tuesday that his chamber will vote this week on a proposal to send more than $815 million to universities and social service providers that have gone months without funding, despite objections from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

The House approved the legislation before leaving town for spring break, though it's possible the Senate may put its own stamp on the proposal instead of sending it directly to Rauner's desk.

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Under the measure, two specialized state accounts set aside for higher education and social service programs would be tapped to help ease the financial pressure facing schools and those who care for the vulnerable. Those funds are separate from the state's main checking account, with the money coming from a small portion of income tax revenues.

Of the money, $258 million would be split among social service agencies and $559 million would go to community colleges, scholarships for low-income students and day-to-day operations at state universities.

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Rauner has argued that such one-time spending plans do little to address the state's long-term funding issues, saying lawmakers should instead focus on a long-term deal to end the state's historic budget impasse.

Cullerton countered that the money was just sitting there unable to be used on anything else, which he called "ridiculous" given the difficulties facing higher education and social service providers during the impasse. "Those moneys are trapped in those funds," Cullerton said.

Cullerton also rejected the idea that freeing up that cash would remove the pressure for a larger deal, noting that he and Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno have been negotiating an agreement. Cullerton has blamed Rauner for derailing those talks, saying an agreement is not near despite recent suggestions from the governor to the contrary.

"We still have the pressure of owing $13 billion, and spending $8 billion more than we have coming in, that's enough pressure," Cullerton said.

"We had those bills ready to go, and of course, what happens? The governor pulled the plug on it. So now we have to hope that the governor comes back to Springfield from campaigning, stop campaigning for about six weeks, govern, and then he can campaign on some successes."

Meanwhile, after weeks of letting the idea linger, Cullerton put to rest the notion that he would not seek re-election, saying he planned to file his petitions to run again next year.

"I want to serve under a Democratic governor again," said Cullerton, who declined to endorse a candidate in the March 2018 primary election.

mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @moniquegarcia
SPRINGFIELD  A new report issued Monday by a court-appointed watchdog charged with looking into patronage hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation details how top Democrats clouted relatives and friends into positions under former Gov. Pat Quinn, even as many of those hired had little or no experience.

House Speaker Mike Madigan's office successfully pushed a former bricklayer for a job that included "maintaining relationships" with minority road contractors, though the man eventually resigned after being arrested for allegedly "physically assaulting" a then-state lawmaker. Cicero Rep. Lisa Hernandez sent in the resume of a bank manager who was put on the state payroll to inspect roads. And a daughter of 30th Ward Chicago Ald. Ariel Reboyras ended up in another state job after complaints at a different agency.

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The final findings are the result of an inquiry that began in 2014 after a federal judge assigned a lawyer to dig into hiring at the agency  an order that came just two weeks before Election Day, as Quinn went on to lose to Republican Bruce Rauner. The judge's move followed an earlier report that year by then-state Executive Inspector General Ricardo Meza, which found improper hiring began under ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich but accelerated under Quinn.

At issue were hundreds of people hired into "staff assistant" positions after administration officials bypassed strict personnel rules aimed at preventing politics from influencing state hiring. Meza stopped short of placing the blame on Quinn's office, saying his investigation was "unable to conclude" that top officials in the administration knew of the illegal hiring. Chicago attorney Michael Shakman, who has battled patronage hiring in court for decades, said the state investigation wasn't enough, and pushed for court oversight.

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On Monday, court monitor Noelle Brennan was more definitive, saying Quinn's office "played a key role in the staff assistant abuse at IDOT."

Brennan described a system in which Quinn officials routinely sent resumes of "low-level and often unqualified candidates sponsored by the governor's office and/or other elected officials" to employees in charge of hiring at IDOT and other state agencies. Quinn's office then pressured agencies to hire those people, aggressively following up on requests and at times specifically ordering an agency to "find a position" for a particular candidate, the watchdog concluded.

The investigation found that politically connected candidates were pushed through the hiring process with "little or no regard" for actual hiring need, or whether the candidate was qualified for the job. Many of the sponsored hires ended up performing duties that had nothing to do with the position for which they were hired. As a result, qualified candidates who were not suggested by Quinn's office were "sometimes denied employment, despite the requesting department's request to hire them."

The report does not address whether Quinn had direct knowledge of the hiring practices, but it said that several of his top aides were involved in tracking resumes and sending large batches to agencies that included suggestions to "flag" and "prioritize" certain people.

Then-deputy chief of staff Ryan Croke created a resume database that could be accessed by others, including a candidate's background, such as "intern," "election judge" and "waiter/valet." Meanwhile, IDOT kept internal documents known as "Lavin Lists," at the request of chief of staff Jack Lavin, which detailed proposed hires and "were generally updated and circulated multiple times per month."

The court monitor wrote that during their interviews, Croke and Lavin said names were merely sent along for consideration and that agencies had the discretion to reject candidates. They said they never applied pressure or forced a specific candidate on an agency.

Brennan said that considering the evidence, it was "not credible" that Quinn's office did not know about the improper hiring.

She cited numerous examples of Quinn's office directing agencies to conduct interviews and expressing frustration when interviews were not quickly scheduled. The court monitor said transportation employees testified that it was "difficult to refuse" candidates sent by Quinn's office. Her report also noted the "cryptic" way Quinn aides communicated when sending resumes via email. Messages often included no accompanying text beyond "as discussed" or "see attached," according to the report.

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One exchange between Croke and other Quinn aides had the subject line "Desperately seeking employment." One participant asked, "do you know who/where this person came from?" Croke responded: "Yes  call for details."

Quinn did not respond to requests for comment. Contacted Monday by the Chicago Tribune, Croke, who later became chief of staff, said he had to "respectfully disagree" with the report's conclusions.

"Gov. Quinn took his oath of office seriously," Croke said. "He wanted for everybody working for him to do the right thing all the time. And that's what I tried to do every day as chief of staff. When you are managing a government the size of the state of Illinois, it is inevitable that people will make mistakes. And those mistakes have to be corrected. And they were."

Among the examples of questionable hiring described in the report is a candidate hired after Madigan's office contacted IDOT directly about a position. The former bricklayer was hired in 2009 for a job in which he would monitor complaints about minority hiring and was responsible for "maintaining relationships" with minority and underserved road builders. In 2014, the man was "allowed to resign" after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a lawmaker, the report states, but the now-former legislator said Monday that the assault allegation was not true.

A Madigan spokesman said he could not offer a detailed response on Monday, citing the need to review the report and related documents. Spokesman Steve Brown instead sent a memo that was distributed to House lawmakers in 2014 regarding rules about lawmakers making employment recommendations to government agencies. It notes that "elected officials, like any other citizens, have a First Amendment right to make recommendations in support of candidates seeking government employment."

In December 2010, Rep. Hernandez sent a resume to Quinn's office on behalf of a bank teller, the report states. The next month, Quinn's office forwarded that resume to IDOT hiring personnel. Quinn's office followed up on the hire at least twice before the man was hired on as a temporary "emergency" hire for 60 days. His duties included inspecting roads. The governor's office successfully pushed for his temporary hire to be extended three more times before he was hired full time to help develop agency policies. The report concluded that "his work as a temporary IDOT employee did not qualify him" for that position.

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Hernandez, who worked for Quinn when he was lieutenant governor, said she frequently made hiring recommendations to the governor's office in an effort to increase the number of Latino workers in state government.

"Where they go, that's up to the governor's office," Hernandez said. "I hand over good, qualified people. And that's really the bottom line."

Also hired by Quinn's administration was the daughter of Ald. Reboyras. The Associated Press reported in 2011 that Allyson Reboyras was hired for a $37,570 post at the Liquor Control Commission under Quinn.

According to Brennan's report, Quinn's office twice sent a letter to IDOT asking if Reboyras' daughter had been interviewed for a job there. It also states that "after complaints from her superiors" at liquor control, the administration tried to find her another job. She landed at the Illinois Racing Board.

Ald. Reboyras said he never reached out to Quinn for any help getting a job for his daughter and that he doesn't recall ever recommending his daughter for a state job with anyone else in the Quinn administration.

Another high-ranking official whose name appeared in the report was Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino, who is under federal scrutiny for his campaign fund expenses.

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In one case cited, the report said Mautino, a former state lawmaker, helped secure a staff assistant position at IDOT for a person who once worked as a warehouse supervisor for Mautino Distributing Co., a beer distributor in Mautino's family that focuses on regional brands. The state lawmaker had severed his own ties from the company in 1993.

On Monday, Mautino said the man was an Iraq War veteran and had known the family for years.

"Very rarely did I give recommendations to anyone unless I knew them or their families personally," Mautino told the Tribune. "I was very selective in allowing my name to be used or giving a letter of reference for them. They had to fit the job."

Patronage hiring has a long and rich history in Illinois. The watchdog's report cited two major state inspector general investigations the Tribune revealed years ago, one of which ended up being used against the now-imprisoned Blagojevich during his Illinois House impeachment proceedings.

A September 2004 report by Zaldwaynaka "Z" Scott, then the state's executive inspector general, issued a searing confidential rebuke that called Blagojevich's patronage office "the real machine driving hiring" in the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The investigation concluded that the "governor's office improperly exercised a great deal, if not all, control over the hiring" at that agency since shortly after Blagojevich took office in early 2003.

Scott maintained the Blagojevich administration subverted state laws that gave veterans a preference in hiring and a ban on political considerations for most state jobs. She said the Blagojevich administration's effort reflected "not merely an ignorance of the law, but complete and utter contempt for the law."

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Though Quinn crafted a persona as a political outsider, he was long involved in patronage.

After serving as an organizer for Democrat Dan Walker's successful 1972 campaign for governor, Quinn joined Walker's staff, where his duties included dishing out patronage as a liaison to state lawmakers.

Later, Quinn left the Illinois Industrial Commission after lawmakers launched an investigation into whether Walker had been hiding the payroll costs of governor's office workers on state boards and commissions to make it look like the governor's payroll had dropped.

Although Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner sought to fire most of the patronage workers hired under Quinn, including eliminating the "staff assistant" position, 42 of the employees cited in the report remain on the state payroll. Many cannot be fired under union rules, but a Rauner spokesman said Monday that the administration plans to go to court this week in an effort to prevent the collective bargaining contract from protecting workers who are hired improperly.

While Brennan commended Rauner for taking steps to root out patronage, she said more must be done to put in place permanent changes. Brennan will continue to oversee hiring at IDOT until otherwise instructed by the court.

Ray Long and Hal Dardick reported from Chicago.

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mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com

rlong@chicagotribune.com

hdardick@chicagotribune.com
WASHINGTON  In her first speech from the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth criticized President Donald Trump on Tuesday, assailing leaders who believe it is "better to hide behind walls than to help lead with strength."

Duckworth, a Democrat from Hoffman Estates, said the calls for "bigger walls and closed doors" ran counter to U.S. values of "inclusion over exclusion."

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"Falling victim to fear and demagoguery" will ensure a weaker America, she said. Never mentioning Trump by name, she cautioned that too many people forget their immigrant roots, and she made a veiled reference to Trump's bid to ban refugees from several majority-Muslim nations, a move that has stalled in court.

"If we had rejected immigrants years ago, Apple computers might never have been founded by the son of a Syrian man," she said. It was a reference to the late co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, whose biological father was a Syrian migrant.

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Duckworth's comments echo many Democrats' criticisms of Trump's border wall proposal. At the White House on Tuesday, Trump renewed his pledge to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, saying, "The wall gets built, 100 percent" and that it would be "soon." He declined to say if he would sign a measure to keep the U.S. government funded after this week if it did not include money for the wall.

Duckworth, a former pilot, lost her legs in the Iraq war when her helicopter was shot down in 2004. After defeating GOP Sen. Mark Kirk last fall, she entered the Senate on Jan. 3 after two terms in the House.

She said when the "drums of war" were beating she would ask tough questions of Washington leaders, especially those who have never served in uniform  a descriptor that applies to Trump. But Duckworth found some common ground with the GOP president, urging investment in infrastructure and saying too many U.S. steel mills were idle amid foreign dumping and currency manipulation.

She swept through milestones of U.S. history in the 22-minute speech  from the Revolutionary War to the 9/11 attacksand noted she was at a desk occupied by former President Barack Obama during his Senate tenure.

kskiba@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @KatherineSkiba
A German crowd booed Ivanka Trump on Tuesday after she called her father "a tremendous champion of supporting families."

Trump was taking her first crack at diplomacy abroad in her new role as assistant to the president, vowing at an economic conference in Berlin to create "positive change" for women in the United States.

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"He encouraged me and enabled me to thrive," she said on a panel with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I grew up in a house where there was no barrier to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity."

Miriam Meckel, editor of the German magazine Wirtschaftswoche, noted the audience's response of groaning and hissing and asked Ivanka Trump whether her father is actually an "empowerer" of women.

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"I've certainly heard the criticism from the media and that's been perpetuated," Ivanka Trump said on the panel, "but I know from personal experience, and I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades when he was in the private sector are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women."

President Trump was caught on tape in 2005 talking about grabbing women's genitals without their permission and, in a 2004 interview, called pregnancy an "inconvenience" to employers.

Ivanka Trump, who moved into her own West Wing office last month, advocated for gender equality during the campaign and is now working to overhaul the nation's child-care system. Her Germany appearance comes a week before the release of her advice book, "Women Who Work."

Her father has called her the mastermind behind his paid maternity leave proposal, unveiled last September, but the White House has made no moves on the family leave front since Trump took office.

The U.S. position on paid maternity leave stands in sharp contrast with Germany, where mothers are entitled to take six weeks of paid time-off before the birth of a child and eight weeks after an infant arrives. The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not offer any paid leave to new parents.

Ivanka Trump had hoped to use her appearance in Berlin to talk about boosting women entrepreneurs. But some female entrepreneurs in the United States, however, say the White House is making their jobs even harder.

Businesses owned by women tend to face a disadvantage when it comes to expanding into foreign markets - and experts say Trump's talk on trade and immigration has made it harder for them to pursue international opportunities.

The president has threatened, for example, to slap steep tariffs on goods from China and Mexico. He has asked for a review of the high-skilled worker visa, which tech companies rely on for talent. His travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim nations risked straining relations with Middle Eastern countries and America's democratic allies.

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Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of President Donald Trump; International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde; and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, from left, attend a panel at the W20 Summit in Berlin on April 25, 2017. The conference aims at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs. (Markus Schreiber / AP)

All of this can impede an entrepreneur's step into internationalization, or the act of growing beyond the American border, said Nathalie Molina Nino, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Brava, a holding company that bankrolls start-ups that benefit women.

"Women are at a particular disadvantage," Molina Nino said, "because unlike large, well-funded companies, women-owned businesses are less equipped to throw money at issues like this."

Advancing into foreign markets is expensive, she said. Entrepreneurs need cash for shipping, research, travel and hiring more employees. Consulting experts to keep up with today's unpredictable business climate adds to the cost. And female entrepreneurs, Molina Nino noted, generally have less spending power.

Venture capitalists poured $58.2 billion into companies with male founders last year, while women received a comparatively measly $1.46 billion, according to data from the venture capital database PitchBook. (Less than 10 percent of VC-funded start-ups are run by women, according to the Harvard Business Review, and firms owned by women make up 38 percent of the business population.)

Still, female entrepreneurs in the United States are better off than those in most other countries, studies find.

This year, Mastercard's Index of Women Entrepreneurs put the United States in third place for female entrepreneurs, behind New Zealand and Canada.

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The authors, however, highlighted a persistent challenge: "In the United States where the underlying entrepreneurial conditions and women's advancement outcomes are among the best in the world," they wrote, "women's entrepreneurial advancement is held back by the lack of internationalization opportunities."

Fiona Murray, the associate dean of innovation at MIT's Sloan School of Management, said the uncertainty clouding international relations, driven by Trump's "America first" rhetoric, could exacerbate the problem. She pointed to Trump's executive order last week calling for a review of the H1-B visas for highly skilled workers.

"That makes it difficult for any entrepreneur to think about an appropriate internationalization strategy," Murray said. "Can you hire the people you need to hire? They need highly specialized talent, and that talent comes from all over the world."
San Francisco  A federal judge on Tuesday blocked any attempt by the Trump administration to withhold funding from "sanctuary cities" that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration officials, saying the president has no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued the preliminary injunction in two lawsuits  one brought by the city of San Francisco, the other by Santa Clara County  against an executive order targeting communities that protect immigrants from deportation.

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The injunction will stay in place while the lawsuits work their way through court.

The judge rejected the administration's argument that the executive order applies only to a relatively small pot of money and said President Donald Trump cannot set new conditions on spending approved by Congress.

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Even if the president could do so, those conditions would have to be clearly related to the funds at issue and not coercive, as the executive order appears to be, Orrick said.

"Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the president disapproves," the judge said.

It was the third major setback for the administration on immigration policy.

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus described the ruling as another example of the "9th Circuit going bananas."



The administration has often criticized the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Orrick does not sit on that court, but his district is in the territory of the appeals court, which has ruled against one version of Trump's travel ban.

"The idea that an agency can't put in some reasonable restriction on how some of these moneys are spent is something that will be overturned eventually, and we will win at the Supreme Court level at some point," Priebus said.

Both city and county officials in Chicago said the judges ruling supports their position of backing sanctuary city policies.

We filed briefs in support of both cases and will continue to work with our governmental partners throughout the U.S. to ensure that we are not illegally penalized due to our status as a sanctuary county, said Frank Shuftan, a spokesman for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued a statement noting that Chicago, too, joined in a brief in the case and welcomed the ruling.

The Trump administrations attempt to coerce cities to choose between our most basic values and federal funding was not only bad public policy, we now have further proof that it was unconstitutional, Emanuel said.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said the president was "forced to back down."

"This is why we have courts  to halt the overreach of a president and an attorney general who either don't understand the Constitution or chose to ignore it," he said in a statement.

A Justice Department attorney, Chad Readler, had defended the president's executive order as an attempt to use his "bully pulpit" to "encourage communities and states to comply with the law."

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And he said the order applied to only three Justice Department and Homeland Security grants that would affect less than $1 million for Santa Clara County and possibly no money for San Francisco.

But the judge disagreed, saying the order was written broadly to "reach all federal grants" and potentially jeopardizes hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to San Francisco and Santa Clara.

He cited comments by the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions as evidence that the order was intended to target a wide array of federal funding. And he said the president himself had called it a "weapon" to use against recalcitrant cities.

The government hasn't cut off any money yet or declared any communities to be sanctuary cities. But the Justice Department sent letters last week warning communities to prove they are in compliance. California was informed it could lose $18.2 million.

"Sanctuary cities" is a loosely defined term for jurisdictions that don't comply with immigration authorities.

The Trump administration argued that the executive order applied narrowly to cities that forbid officials to report people's immigration status to federal authorities. Orrick said it could also be construed to apply to cities that refuse to hold jail inmates for immigration authorities.

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The Trump administration says that sanctuary cities allow dangerous criminals back on the street and that the order is needed to keep the country safe. San Francisco and other sanctuary cities say turning local police into immigration officers erodes the trust that is needed to get people to report crime.

The order has also led to lawsuits by Seattle; two Massachusetts cities, Lawrence and Chelsea; and a third San Francisco Bay Area government, the city of Richmond. The San Francisco and Santa Clara County lawsuits were the first to get a hearing before a judge.

On Tuesday, mayors from several cities threatened with the loss of federal grants emerged from a meeting with Sessions saying they remain confused about how to prove their police are in compliance with immigration policies.

The sanctuary city order was among a flurry of immigration measures Trump has signed since taking office in January, including a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries and a directive calling for a wall on the Mexican border.

A federal appeals court blocked the travel ban. The administration then revised it, but the new version also is stalled in court.
PYONGYANG, North Korea  South Korea's military said Tuesday that North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military.

The exercise took place as a U.S. guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea and envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo to discuss the growing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles program.

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Experts thought North Korea might conduct a nuclear test or a ballistic missile launch to mark the anniversary, but as of Tuesday evening neither had occurred.

Crowds in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, laid flowers and paid respects at giant statues of the country's former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, one day after the minister of defense reiterated that the North was ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any measures it deems necessary to defend itself against "U.S. imperialists."

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"The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression," Gen. Pak Yong Sik told a meeting of thousands of senior military and civilian officials.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where it said the drills were being held. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seoul's Defense Ministry couldn't confirm such details.

The streets of Pyongyang were quiet. Flower-laying and bowing at statues and portraits of the leaders is a regular routine on major anniversaries. People also gathered in open spaces to take part in organized dancing, another common way to mark holidays.

"Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day," said Choe Un Byol, who came with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders.

North Korea often also marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea's nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the country's preparation for an ICBM launch is in its "final stage."

The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Cmdr. Jang Wook from South Korean navy public affairs said there was no plan for a drill.

The submarine's arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier headed toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea. The U.S. 7th Fleet said two American destroyers were conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.

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Despite the buildup, U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Korea's government.

Trump told ambassadors from U.N. Security Council member countries that they must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea.

"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not," Trump said at a White House meeting Monday. "North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it's time to solve the problem."

Nikki Haley, Trump's U.N. ambassador, said the United States is not looking for a fight with Kim and would not attack North Korea "unless he gives us reason to do something." She praised China's increased pressure on North Korea.

Asked about the threshold for U.S. action, Haley told American broadcaster NBC that "if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously we're going to do that."

But asked what if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, she said, "I think then the president steps in and decides what's going to happen."

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The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed Tuesday to put maximum pressure on North Korea, the South's envoy for North Korea said after meeting his American and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo.

"We agreed to warn North Korea to stop any additional strategic provocation and take intolerably strong punitive measures against Pyongyang if it goes ahead with such provocations," Kim Hong-kyun told reporters following his meeting with Joseph Yun of the U.S. and Japan's Kenji Kanasugi.

Kim said they discussed ways to get more cooperation from China and Russia, which they agreed is crucial to applying effective pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. He said they also recognized China's recent steps toward that goal.

Japan's Foreign Ministry announced that China's envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, was arriving in Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi that may take place later this week.

Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi and Ken Moritsugu in Tokyo and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.
A committee of journalists who oversee news media access to Congress decided Tuesday to table indefinitely a Breitbart News Network request for press accreditation. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

Breitbart News Network, a conservative media organization once headed by Stephen K. Bannon, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, isn't qualified to hold a congressional press pass.

A committee of journalists who oversee news media access to Congress decided Tuesday to table indefinitely a Breitbart request for press accreditation. Breitbart had formally applied several months ago for passes that enable reporters to freely move about the heavily guarded Capitol.

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The rejection wasn't a judgment on Breitbart's news coverage but a reflection on its technical qualifications, members of the committee said. News organizations must show the volunteer credential panel that they aren't owned or controlled by an organization that lobbies Congress, a step designed to prevent political operatives from acting as journalists.

The White House applies less scrutiny to applications for media credentials and has accredited a wide variety of news organizations, including Breitbart.

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Breitbart's profile soared during the presidential campaign when it backed Trump and promoted many of his anti-immigrant, pro-nationalist policies. Its best-known writer was the provocateur Milo Yiannopouls, who resigned from the site in February after videos of him praising pedophilia emerged.

Breitbart's application for permanent congressional credentials has long been complicated by potential conflicts of interest, including its connection to Bannon, who was its executive chairman before becoming Trump's campaign chairman in August.

Bannon - who once boasted that Breitbart was "the platform for the alt-right" - is now Trump's chief strategist; he formally resigned from Breitbart last fall. (The term alt-right typically refers to a far-right movement whose followers hold racist, anti-Semitic and sexist beliefs and who desire a whites-only state. But in a later interview with the Wall Street Journal, Bannon sought to define the term differently, saying the alt-right is composed of "younger people who are anti-globalists, very nationalist, terribly anti-establishment.")

Congressional press gallery rules state that applicants "must not be engaged in any lobbying or paid advocacy, advertising, publicity or promotion work for any individual, political party, corporation, organization, or agency of the U.S. Government."

Breitbart has faced questions from the five-member committee about its owners and investors and its Washington headquarters, a Capitol Hill townhouse it calls "the embassy."

Although Breitbart presented documentation of Bannon's resignation from the company, it was unable to resolve the ownership question to the committee's satisfaction.

Specifically, the panel expressed concerns about the connections between Breitbart and the Government Accountability Institute, a Florida-based research organization focused on investigating money and politics. GAI was co-founded by Bannon and is funded by Robert Mercer, a billionaire hedge-fund manager and conservative political donor who is also an investor in Breitbart. Mercer's daughter, Rebekah Mercer, is chairman of the GAI board.

In addition, some of the editors listed on the Breitbart masthead continue to hold leadership roles with GAI, whose president, Peter Schweizer, is the author of "Clinton Cash," a best-selling book that detailed financial connections among foreign governments and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

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The committee said that Breitbart hadn't fully satisfied its concerns about its Washington headquarters. The townhouse Breitbart lists as its office is owned by Moustafa el-Gindy, an Egyptian businessman and politician; Breitbart rents the building from him.

Breitbart has given favorable coverage to el-Gindy, a former member of the Egyptian parliament who is affiliated with the political party backed by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, according to the Daily Beast. One Breitbart story labeled el-Gindy a "senior Egyptian statesman" who "has played a pivotal role in the revolutions against former President Hosni Mubarak and the Muslim Brotherhood."

El-Gindy and Breitbart are the subject of a complaint filed with the Justice Department in 2016. The complaint, whose source is unidentified, alleged that el-Gindy rented his townhouse to Breitbart at below-market rates while Breitbart promoted his political career, all without disclosing their financial relationship, in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the Daily Beast reported.

Breitbart did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The committee's vote to table Breitbart's application means that it won't grant its reporters any more temporary credentials when the current ones expire at the end of May. The committee said that it would reconsider Breitbart for credentials if it remedies the masthead and office issues.

Without temporary or permanent press passes, Breitbart journalists can still enter congressional facilities, but they would have to do so through public access, an inconvenient step.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, appeared to violate federal law when he failed to seek permission or inform the U.S. government about accepting tens of thousands of dollars from Russian organizations after a trip there in 2015, leaders of a House oversight committee say.

The congressmen also raised new questions about fees Flynn received as part of $530,000 in consulting work his company performed for a businessman tied to Turkey's government.

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The bipartisan accusations that Flynn may have broken the law come as his foreign contacts are being examined by other congressional committees as part of investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential ties between Trump associates and the Kremlin. Congress returned earlier this week from its spring recess, and Tuesday's announcements reflected renewed interest on Capitol Hill.

Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said they saw no evidence that Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, properly disclosed foreign payments he received to military officials or on his security clearance paperwork. Flynn, who headed the military's top intelligence agency, was Trump's national security adviser until he was fired in February.

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Among the payments in question was more than $33,000 that Flynn received in 2015 from the Russia Today television network, which has been described by U.S. intelligence officials as a propaganda front for Russia's government.

"That money needs to be recovered," said Chaffetz, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Chaffetz said Flynn was obligated as a retired Army officer to request permission from both the Defense and State departments about prospective foreign government payments before he received them. "There was nothing in the data to show that Gen. Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said.

Cummings said Flynn's failure to formally report the Russian payments on his security clearance paperwork amounted to concealment of the money, which could be prosecuted as a felony.

Flynn's attorney, Robert Kelner, said Flynn reported his plans to travel to Russia to his former agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and he briefed officials there after he returned. Kelner declined to answer questions about whether Flynn properly disclosed the payments.

The congressmen spoke after reviewing classified documents regarding Flynn that were provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency. They were also briefed by agency officials. The congressmen declined to describe in detail the materials they reviewed. But Cummings said the documents were "extremely troubling" and he urged the administration to declassify them.

Chaffetz and Cummings said they planned to write to the comptroller of the Army and the Defense Department's inspector general for a final determination as to whether Flynn broke the law and whether the government needs to pursue criminal charges and seek to recover the payments Flynn received.

Cummings also criticized the White House for refusing to turn over documents the committee requested about Flynn's foreign contacts during his three-week stint as national security adviser. In response to a letter to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, an administration official told the committee that documents relating to those contacts likely contained classified and other sensitive information, weren't relevant to the committee's investigation and could not be turned over.

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"That is simply unacceptable," Cummings said.

At the White House, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the committee's request for Flynn's security clearance information was referred to the Defense Department, which turned over documents. He said the White House did not release a detailed list of Flynn's contacts with foreign officials, a request he dismissed as "outlandish."

Spicer said that the president was confident in his decision to fire Flynn in February on grounds that Flynn had misled the vice president about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the transition. Spicer declined to say whether the White House believed Flynn had violated the law. He said the conduct occurred before Flynn was appointed national security adviser in January.

Flynn had led the DIA until 2014, when he was forced to retire by the Obama administration.

During his briefings, Flynn "answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip," said Kelner, his lawyer.

A spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency, Jim Kudla, has said that Flynn briefed the agency in advance about his trip to Moscow "in accordance with standard security clearance procedures." A spokesman for Flynn has said that Flynn also disclosed the RT trip when he last came up for a security clearance review in January 2016.

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Chaffetz and Cummings said the documents they reviewed showed no evidence Flynn asked permission for the payments or later detailed the amounts he received to military authorities. Chaffetz added that while "it would be a bit strong to say that Flynn flat-out lied," he should have sought and received permission before accepting any foreign government payments.

Both Cummings and Chaffetz said the committee's investigation into Flynn's foreign payments includes examining consulting work he did for a Turkish businessman last year.

Flynn's firm last month registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department for the consulting work and acknowledged that it may have principally benefited the government of Turkey. Flynn's client, Inovo BV, is owned by a Turkish businessman who is also a member of a committee overseen by Turkey's finance ministry. In government filings, Flynn disclosed that he personally received between $50,000 and $100,000 as part of his stake in Flynn Intel Group, the company that performed the foreign agent work.

Earlier Tuesday, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee announced a public meeting May 8 to hear testimony for the first time from the former acting attorney general, Sally Yates, who played a role in Flynn's firing.

Yates was supposed to testify publicly before the House intelligence committee in March, but that was canceled and has yet to be rescheduled. Some Democrats believe the White House wants to limit what Yates says publicly, but the White House has denied this. Former National Intelligence Director James Clapper is also to testify at the May 8 hearing.

Also Tuesday, there were complaints that the Senate investigation was not moving quickly enough. Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein of California said they believed the committee needed to move at a faster pace.

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Preliminary interviews now have been completed with about 27 individuals from multiple intelligence agencies. And there are nine staffers working full-time on the investigation, according to one Senate aide, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity. By contrast, the House Select Committee on Benghazi employed more than 50 congressional staffers.

The aide said the committee has gained access to additional materials at intelligence agencies, including categories and types of intelligence documents that have never been provided to Congress before.

Committee members and staff are reviewing thousands of pages of materials at CIA headquarters and the National Security Agency.

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Eileen Sullivan and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump speaks during a working lunch with ambassadors on the U.N. Security Council on Monday, April 24, 2017 in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C. (Molly Riley/Polaris / TNS)

WASHINGTON  It's an open secret on Capitol Hill: President Trump wants a "big, beautiful" border wall, but few in Congress are willing to pay for it.

The standoff, between the White House and lawmakers  Republicans and Democrats -- has escalated tensions toward a possible government shutdown at midnight Friday as Congress races to meet a deadline to fund federal offices and operations.

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Cooler heads will likely prevail. Talks are underway for a stopgap measure to keep the government running for another week or so while negotiations continue.

But the stalemate over Trump's signature campaign promise  that he would build a wall along the border to deter illegal immigration and that Mexico would pay for it  remains a political divide.

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It's not that Trump's Republican allies in Congress, who are the majority, don't support the notions underpinning a border wall. Most of them do.

They just disagree with Trump's approach for a physical barrier when other deterrents may prove more effective at stopping illegal crossings. And they don't view the huge expenditure  as much as $70 billion by the latest estimate  a top priority right now.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, has called the wall a "metaphor" for border security  saying it's one tool, among many, to protect the nearly 2,000-mile frontier.

Border state Republican Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) recently asked the Department of Homeland Security for more information about the wall project, saying they have "a number of questions."

"Building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border," Hurd, a former CIA officer whose district includes 800 miles along the border, more than any other lawmaker, said earlier this year. "There is no question that we must secure our border, but we need an intelligence-led approach."

And the most conservative Republicans in the House and Senate  namely deficit hawks  oppose any new federal spending, even on national security, which has long been a GOP priority, unless it is offset with budget cuts elsewhere.

"People are pretty clear-eyed," said one Republican aide on Capitol Hill, granted anonymity to discuss the situation. "It's an all-of-the-above solution, not necessarily a bricks-and-mortar wall from Brownsville [Texas] to San Diego."

For Democrats, the wall is a nonstarter in budget talks, and an expenditure they would largely support in a broader immigration overhaul to provide deportation relief for up to 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.

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That leaves Trump issuing an ultimatum for the wall that Congress may simply choose to ignore as talks continue toward a deal.

"Instead of risking government shutdown by shoving this wall down Congress' and American peoples' throats, the president ought to just let us come to an agreement," Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on a conference call Monday with Democratic leaders.

"We're happy to debate this wall in regular order down the road once he has a plan," Schumer said, referring to Trump. "There's no plan now, [he] just says build it."

Congress had been heading toward Friday's deadline hoping to bypass the kind of shutdown drama that has bedeviled Republicans since they took the majority in the House and Senate.

Republicans have been trying to accomplish other priorities  healthcare overhaul, tax reform  and don't want to get mired in a budget battle.

Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) believe they have leverage over Republicans in budget talks because of the dissent within the GOP over how much to spend on government operations. Republicans almost always need to rely on Democratic votes to pass funding bills and avert shutdowns, and talks were underway to achieve a deal.

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Trump had made a request last month for supplemental spending  $34 billion extra for the military, plus $5 billion for the border wall and officers. But it largely landed with a thud on Capitol Hill.

Democrats panned beefing up defense expenditures without funding for other domestic needs, and the most conservative Republicans largely opposed any extra spending that wasn't offset by cuts elsewhere.

Instead, bipartisan leaders were aiming for a deal that would give both defense and nondefense accounts a smaller, but equal, boost for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

On a weekend conference call with lawmakers, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) told them the priority would be dispatching with the funding bill, according to someone familiar with the remarks.

Trump, however, apparently sensed his own leverage and started demanding that Congress agree to tack on $5 billion for the border wall.

"The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)!" the president tweeted Monday morning as lawmakers returned to Washington after a two-week break. "Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall."

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The administration is approaching its 100-day mark on Saturday, and showing progress on the border wall  perhaps Trump's most heavily repeated campaign promise -- would be a notable accomplishment for an otherwise slim record of legislative success.

To sweeten the deal for Democrats, the White House has proposed a $1-for-$1 swap for healthcare funds to ensure lower-income Americans don't lose their subsidies to help pay for insurance costs through the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

But that offer put the president's Republican allies in the uncomfortable position of fighting for the border wall they only mildly want  and they doubt Mexico will ever pay for  while agreeing to prop up the Affordable Care Act that is a priority for Democrats.

For Democrats, it provides an easy argument that Trump is willing to gamble away Americans' healthcare for what Pelosi calls the "rhetorical monstrosity" of the wall.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tamped down shutdown fears Monday, insisting that talks would produce a workable solution.

"We feel very confident they understand the president's priorities and will come to agreement by Friday," he said.

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But asked if he could guarantee the shutdown threat was off the table, Spicer said he could not.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

@LisaMascaro
Jane Bockman danced as the grandmother in the Chicago Tribune Charities holiday performances of The Nutcracker from 1966 through 1997. Bockman died April 12, 2017, at age 96. (Family Photo / HANDOUT)

Before landing her decadeslong role as the grandmother in the Chicago Tribune Charities' holiday performances of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker," Jane Bockman danced with the Chicago Ballet Guild and Lyric Opera of Chicago Ballet and toured the country as a member of Ruth Page's Chicago Opera Ballet company.

As a Ruth Page dancer, the Aurora native performed on Broadway and on a barge anchored off Navy Pier in a production of "The Merry Widow" during the International Trade Fair in 1960.

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"She was a lyrical dancer, wonderfully expressive and very graceful and petite," said longtime friend Dolores Long, a fellow Ruth Page dancer during the 1950s. "Janey was one of the older dancers, so she'd get the parts requiring a certain amount of maturity, even though she always looked so young."

Bockman, 96, who also ran a Hyde Park dance school with her late husband, died April 12 at Community Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Naperville from complications related to a fall she suffered two weeks ago.

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"There are generations of Chicagoans that will always remember her as the grandmother in the 'Nutcracker,'" said Long, who with her late husband, Larry, choreographed the long-running ballet. "And she so looked the part. If she wasn't knitting on stage, she was dancing."

Born Jane Stevenson in Aurora, Bockman graduated from West Aurora High School in 1938. She worked at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, and took an interest in ballet in her 20s after seeing a performance of "The Waltz King."

She immediately took to dancing," said her son, Jeff. "She was the kind of person that worked really hard to be the best at it."

Bockman started taking lessons, eventually studying at the Hyde Park dance studio of her future husband, Charles Bockman, a dancer whose performance career was cut short after he developed an illness later diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.

The couple got off to a rocky start.

"It was the usual thing," Bockman told the Tribune in a 1949 story. "We met and fought and he picked my dancing technique apart. My pride was hurt, and then suddenly we were friends."

The couple was married in 1948. While her husband ran the studio, Bockman danced with several dance troupes in the Chicago area and toured the country with Ruth Page's Chicago Opera Ballet.

At age 41, she injured her knee while dancing with a male counterpart. "She had her leg up against his chest and was doing a back bend, when she heard her knee pop," her son said. "Despite the pain, she kept dancing and finished the performance."

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 86 Dick Orkin, an award-winning radio advertising creator for close to a half-century who was perhaps best known for his syndicated Chickenman spoof, which aired on Chicago stations, died on Dec. 24 in California. He was 84. Read more. (Handout)

After the injury, Bockman stayed home to care for her husband, who by then was in a wheelchair. After he became bedridden, she took over teaching and ran the studio herself for the next 12 years, until after he died in 1983.

"Jane was a great teacher, enthusiastic and totally nonjudgmental," said her friend Carlynn Ricks, who took lessons from Bockman in the 1970s. "She loved dance so much, she made you love it, too."

In 1966, Bockman joined the cast of "Nutcracker," although she initially felt too young to be playing the grandmother in her mid-40s.

"It's amazing what a little makeup will do," her son said with a laugh.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 100 Actress/singer Rose Marie is gleeful as director Carl Reiner, right, and Honorary Mayor of Hollywood Johnny Grant, present her with 2,184th star on the famed Hollywood Walk of Fame Oct. 3, 2001, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Marie died Dec. 28, 2017, at age 94. Read more. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

Bockman continued in that role for 30 years, performing at both the Arie Crown Theater and the Civic Opera House, until the show's final curtain call in 1997.

"She never missed a single performance," her son said.

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Other survivors include three grandsons and two great-granddaughters.

A private gathering will be held.

Joan Giangrasse Kates is a freelance reporter.
North Dakota Supreme Court Justice Carol Ronning Kapsner says shell miss the environment at the states highest court when she steps down this summer, calling it a stimulating experience.

Kapsner, 69, submitted her resignation notice Tuesday, effective July 31.

Ive done the job for 18 years, and its time to move on, said Kapsner, who was appointed in October 1998 by then-Gov. Ed Schafer then elected to 10-year terms in 2000 and 2010.

"Appellate court is very collegial, said Kapsner, adding that the intellectual discussions and debates between members on various topics can make working together a bit like a marriage.

She said shell miss that experience, but her intent was always to step down prior to the end of her current term.

The reason is she believes the process that brought her to office was a good one in which applicants for the high court can be screened by legal experts and ensure the top candidate is appointed.

With her stepping down, Gov. Doug Burgum will need to convene a judicial nominating committee to interview candidates for the job. Burgum would then make the appointment to serve out the remainder of Kapsners term.

In the North Dakota Constitution, judicial appointees must serve for at least two years. For Kapsners successor, she believes that person would be in office for around that period of time and could then run for a full 10-year term in 2020.

Burgum praised her time in office, calling her career record impeccable.

In addition to being a brilliant attorney and jurist, she established herself as a leader in the local and state bar associations and a wonderful mentor to attorneys growing in their careers. We are deeply grateful for her significant contributions to our states legal system, Burgum said.

Kapsner is a Bismarck native, who grew up in the city as well as spending part of her childhood in Underwood.

She earned her bachelors degree in English literature from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, later earning a masters degree in English literature from Indiana University.

Kapsner later earned her law degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

In 1977, she began a law firm with her husband, John Kapsner, and remained in private practice until her appointment to the high court.

When appointed, Kapsner was the third woman in North Dakota Supreme Court history to take a seat on the court.

I think women do the job in the same way that men do the job, said Kapsner, adding that she hopes the court maintains an equitable gender balance in the years to come.

Shes one of two women on the five-member court; Justice Lisa Fair McEvers is the other.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is not usually considered a moderating force within the Democratic Party, but at the moment he is playing that role on abortion policy.

It's not that he has any pro-life sympathies: He has been co-sponsoring the Freedom of Choice Act as a senator for more than two decades. But he has been willing to support Democrats who are not in lockstep with abortion-rights advocates, and some of those advocates have been fuming as a result.

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While on a "unity tour" for the Democratic National Committee with its chairman, Tom Perez, Sanders rallied with Heath Mello, a candidate for mayor of Omaha, Nebraska. Mello has said that he would not restrict abortion as mayor. But as a state senator he co-sponsored legislation banning abortion 20 weeks after fertilization and requiring women to be notified that they can see an ultrasound before having an abortion. He also says that he is personally opposed to abortion on religious grounds.

Naral Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue blasted Perez and Sanders for supporting "candidates who substitute their own judgement and ideology for that of their female constituents." In a statement, Perez retreated under fire:

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"I fundamentally disagree with Heath Mello's personal beliefs about women's reproductive health. It is a promising step that Mello now shares the Democratic Party's position on women's fundamental rights. Every candidate who runs as a Democrat should do the same because every woman should be able to make her own health choices. Period. "

Every Democrat? That's bad news for Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, a Democrat at the top of Republican target lists for next year who has generally opposed abortion. It would have been bad news for a lot of other Democrats over the years, too. Such leading Democrats as Jesse Jackson, Ted Kennedy and Dick Gephardt were at one point anti-abortion. Many others, such as Bill Clinton, broke with the pro-choice lobby on taxpayer funding of abortion.

Even last year, a Pew poll found that 28 percent of Democrats believe that abortion should be illegal in most or all cases.

Sanders, so far, has not joined Perez in backing down. It's left-wing economics that truly motivates Sanders, and he wants the largest possible coalition for those views. He does not want to drive away people who agree with him that the federal government should monopolize health insurance and set a $15 minimum wage, but disagree with him on abortion. The logic of his position would make the Democrats into an economically progressive party with a socially conservative wing  or, rather, make it back into one.

Hogue and like-minded activists, on the other hand, want it to be a socially liberal party. And they have been winning for a very long time. First they drove the anti-abortion Democrats out of the party, or made them recant their views. Then they changed the Democratic platform, dropping the goal of making abortion "rare" and adding full-throated support for government subsidies for it. Perez's comments on Friday were another step on this path.

Other Democrats echoed his views. Dick Durbin, the party's Senate whip, told CNN that people who oppose abortion personally could be in his party so long as they favored legal abortion. Durbin knows the weather in his party as well as anyone. When he was a member of the House in the 1980s, he bragged about having been master of ceremonies at five annual anti-abortion rallies in Illinois. By the time he ran for Senate in 1996, he had switched to voting to keep even partial-birth abortion legal.

Republicans have become more uniformly opposed to abortion over time, too, although party officials have not said that to run for mayor anywhere in the country a Republican must agree with their platform.

These changes seem to be working out better for the Republicans than for the Democrats. Exit polls have shown that in most presidential elections, voters for whom abortion is a top concern have favored the Republicans. And socially conservative constituencies seem to have noticed that they aren't welcome in the Democratic Party.

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Giving up on these constituencies seems to have weakened the Democrats. White evangelical voters overwhelmingly rejected a socially liberal Democratic Party in the 2012 election. They rejected a more militantly socially liberal Democratic Party even more overwhelmingly in 2016. If Hillary Clinton had kept Obama's share of those voters in Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin, she would be president today.

But perhaps attacking Bernie Sanders for insufficient commitment to abortion will turn things around for the Democrats.

Bloomberg View

Ramesh Ponnuru is a Bloomberg View columnist. He is a senior editor of National Review and the author of "The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life."

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The Democrats' Clinton problem
The discussion over who is to blame for Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss to Donald Trump has suddenly flared up again. A New York Times report over the weekend revealed new details about FBI director James Comey's decision to reveal newly discovered emails that ultimately proved irrelevant  yet had a large impact on the election's outcome.

The Times report makes Comey's intervention look even more suspect, particularly in light of his refusal to divulge anything about the ongoing investigation into possible Trump campaign collusion with Russian efforts to tip the election to Trump. The chatter about the Clinton campaign's failures has also escalated with the publication of "Shattered," a new book about the election.

I tried to parse out some of what happened, and who is to blame for it, in a piece I wrote for a new collection of essays about Campaign 2016. A slightly-edited excerpt from the essay is below:

What happened?

Most people agree on one thing about the 2016 election: That the simplest way to describe what happened is that demographics did not deliver for Democrats. The party and the Clinton campaign had good reason to be confident that the vaunted "Obama coalition"  the nonwhites, young voters, single women and college-educated whites who powered majority victories in the two previous national elections  would come through one more time, as Republicans had shown no signs of even trying to evolve culturally in sync with the preoccupations of those groups. But demographic destiny fell short of swamping Trump's margins among blue-collar and middle-income whites.

Some critics now argue that this was the result of a crucial mistake on Clinton's part. Clinton, goes this argument, failed to connect with the economic anxieties of these white voters precisely because overconfidence in her demographic advantage led her campaign to get lost amid micro-targeted cultural appeals to various groups in the Obama coalition, thus neglecting a broader economic and reform message. The oft heard refrain is that Clinton's initial economic push  for shared prosperity and an economy that works for all  got overtaken by "identity politics," which is to say, by the Clinton team's decision to spend a great deal of time and resources on attacking Trump's racially charged campaign, rather than on beating him in the argument over the economy and the need for political reform.

There may be some truth to the notion that Clinton de-emphasized her economic message in a damaging way. Although Clinton's convention speech was heavily laden with a programmatic economic agenda, political scientist Lynn Vavreck conducted a post-election analysis of the TV advertising by both campaigns and concluded that more than three-quarters of the appeals in Clinton's ads were about character traits. Only 9 percent were about jobs or the economy. In contrast, more than one-third of the appeals in Trump's ads were focused on economic issues, such as jobs, taxes and trade. And some Democratic operatives have groused that the Clinton camp was overly confident of victory in reliably Democratic Rust Belt states like Wisconsin and Michigan  meaning, perhaps, that Trump's economic message had even more resonance in them than the Clinton team had anticipated.

But Comey did matter.

Yes, Comey mattered  a lot

It's strange that people are even debating this point. After all, just after the election, it was widely established that top officials in both the Clinton and Trump campaigns saw Comey's announcement of newly-discovered emails as a "game changer." For instance, see the Dec. 9 piece from Politico's Glenn Thrush, which reported that to be the case. Thrush noted that Clinton's chief data analytics guru saw her numbers tank among a crucial demographic: educated white voters who had been alienated by Trump's videotaped boasts of lewd groping and subsequent allegations of unwanted advances.

Meanwhile, elections analyst Nate Silver concluded that without Comey and the Russia hacking, states like Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania  which Trump won by excruciatingly tight margins  might have tipped to Clinton. "Comey had a large, measurable impact on the race," Silver said.

In other words, if Comey had never taken that step, we might currently be discussing the staying power of the Obama coalition and the success of the Clinton strategy  in particular, the emphasis on attacking Trump's dangerously unhinged temperament, and his campaign of racism, hate and abuse directed at Mexican immigrants and women  in driving college-educated whites into the Democratic camp.

It is often argued that Comey is not responsible for Clinton's loss, because he did not force her to set up a private server, or de-emphasize her economic message, or neglect the Rust Belt. But this argument is weak. It can be true that Clinton was a very flawed candidate who made mistakes, even as it is also true that Comey's letter had a major impact on the outcome  and potentially a decisive one  without which the Clinton strategy might have prevailed. Given that the Comey revelations ended up amounting to nothing in substantive terms, the fact that his decision did have such a large impact reveals his handling of the whole mess to be indefensible and reflects terribly on our political process. Clinton's real failings should not be permitted to minimize the significance of that.

It was not unreasonable for the Clinton team to conclude that the strategy of casting Trump as temperamentally unfit to handle national security  and too hateful and divisive to lead our diverse country  was going to succeed. Polls indicated for months that Clinton was on track to become the first Democrat to win a majority of college-educated whites in over half a century. Many analysts across the spectrum had concluded that such an outcome would probably cripple Trump's ability to prevail by running up enormous margins among white voters.

And whatever the Clinton team's motives in making a big issue out of Trump's race-tinged campaign, it was the right thing to do. For all the talk about Clinton playing "identity politics," the candidate who played "identity politics" to a far greater extent was Trump. His campaign  which fused the relentless scapegoating of Muslims and undocumented immigrants with revanchist appeals to "Make America Great Again"  was all about encouraging and playing to a sense that white identity and white America were under siege. It was important for the country that Clinton call out Trump's white nationalist appeals for what they were  and that she defend the minority groups that he had targeted for vilification. Not doing so would have been an abdication.

None of this, however, should absolve the Clinton campaign and the Democratic establishment figures who rallied to her side from facing a reckoning over the ways in which they are responsible for the outcome.

Here's where Clinton, her campaign and Democratic officials failed

One of the Clinton campaign's official public explanations for her loss is that she ultimately came to be seen as a creature of the establishment at a moment when the electorate craved change. Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook has described this as a "head wind" that could not be overcome.

Of course, if that is true, then Clinton herself  and Democratic establishment figures  are partially complicit in creating that perception. In retrospect, the early decision to limit the number of debates  a decision, as I reported at the time, that the Democratic National Committee made in part out of deference to the Clinton campaign, which apparently wanted to limit her exposure  may have been an early signal of an unhealthy establishment faith in Clinton's chances. So too was the lack of more primary challengers, which appeared premised on the sense that she could not be beaten precisely because she was the pick of so many party leaders.

To be sure, it was reasonable for many leading Democrats to suspect that Clinton  with her deep knowledge and experience  gave the party a very good shot at winning the White House. Whether this assumption was subjected to rigorous enough scrutiny  and whether a failure in that regard represented a more systemic problem with the party establishment, such as overconfidence in its ability to win national elections  should be topics of debate in coming months.

Another question that must be settled is whether the Clinton campaign  and establishment Democrats  reckoned seriously enough with polling that revealed abysmal public perceptions of her on trust and honesty, and widespread concern with her handling of her emails and the Clinton Foundation. Taken together, all of this amounted to a red flag  a warning that Clinton might not be seen as a credible messenger if the campaign became a battle over who would shake up our corrupt political system, as Trump sought to turn it into. Clinton rolled out a detailed political reform agenda, but it's not clear whether she conveyed a gut sense that she really wanted to shake things up. As one Democrat sighed to me in August: I wish Clinton would show more discomfort with our political system and with how business is done in Washington.

This possibility  that Clinton did not show a gut level of discomfort with our current arrangements  is worth mulling. Trump's numbers were even worse than Clinton's on honesty, and his promises to bust up the system were crude and laughably absurd  he actually argued that he was well qualified to reform our corrupt system because he had milked it himself from the inside to great effect. But it's worth asking whether he somehow conveyed a visceral disdain for the way business is done in Washington that Clinton simply did not.

Of course, even if one accepts that Clinton failed to marshal effective enough messages on the economy and political reform, it's hard to know how much that mattered. The polling evidence is mixed on whether Clinton's economic message even failed  exit polls showed she won among voters most concerned about the economy in many swing states. Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes, and her extremely close losses in multiple states might not have happened if turnout had shaped up differently even on the margins.

Some of the post-election debate has been framed around a false choice

Beyond this, if the party is going to work to sharpen up its economic and reform message  to working-class white voters in particular - the crucial challenge is how to do this without backing off of its commitment to being the party that fully embraces cultural and demographic change. Much of the post-election debate is on some basic level framed around a false choice  one pitting the need to minister to the Obama coalition versus the need for economic appeals to working-class whites. But these things needn't be in conflict with one another. The challenges faced by the nonwhites, young voters and women who make up the Obama coalition are also in many respects economic ones. Debates over systemic racism, over how to create more opportunity and mobility for minorities and young people, over how to integrate undocumented immigrants who have been contributing to American life for years but remain consigned to the shadows, and over how to foster economic equality for women  all of these are, at bottom, about the need for reforms that make the economy fairer and render prosperity more inclusive, for everyone.

Most early indications are that senior Democrats are not falling into the trap that this false choice debate presents. Most of the chatter among Democrats is how to refocus the party's message on economic fairness in ways that have appeal across diverse constituencies. That will likely continue.

The Democratic Party is a diverse party. It should not weaken its commitment to defending minority rights, particularly in an age of resurgent Trump-era white backlash. The party must not back off of its defense of undocumented immigrants  both for substantive and strategic reasons. If Trump makes good on his promises, the plight of undocumented immigrants could worsen into a genuine humanitarian crisis, one that Democrats must resist. The GOP will continue alienating the fast growing demographic of Latino voters, potentially hastening Democratic gains in Sun Belt states, which, over time, could reconfigure the map in advantageous ways in future national elections.

This time around, demographic destiny did not materialize for Democrats. But demographic change marches on. While that is by no means alone a guarantee of future success, the party's big challenge going forward will be to work to maintain its position on the right side of it - while also speaking more effectively to the anxieties of those who feel it is leaving them behind.

Washington Post

Excerpted from "Trumped: The Election that Broke All the Rules" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or printed without further permission in writing from the publisher.

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Kellyanne Conway hasn't cited any imaginary massacres lately or coined another phrase as clumsy as "alternative facts," but her television appearances remain plagued by a persistent problem: She seems out of the White House loop.

On "Fox & Friends" Tuesday, Conway, whose title is counselor to the president, was unable to provide insight into President Donald Trump's thinking on tax reform, border security and the federal budget. Here's one exchange with Brian Kilmeade:

---

KILMEADE: Now, Kellyanne, it seems like you're doing immigration reform little by little. Let's bolster the border. Let's get rid of the criminals. Next thing you know, you could end up at comprehensive, only did it phase by phase. Could that same approach be with taxes, when  when most Democrats and Republicans agree the corporate rate should be lower and find out different things that can be done that they agree on and then build up? Or are you looking to do everything at once?

CONWAY: Well, the president has promised this will be the most dramatic tax reform relief package in decades  literally since President Reagan, and some say even bolder than that. And so, as you know, secretaries Mnuchin and Ross, and Gary Cohn, and the president, of course, are working very hard on this. And that's - and all options are on the table, but these meetings are happening this week, as well. Um, also today, Gov. Christie is in town; he's the head of the president's commission on opioid and drug addiction.

---

This is a classic example of Conway's three-step process for deflecting a question she doesn't know the answer to.

1. Paraphrase something the president already said.

2. Borrow a phrase from the banality bank. "Working very hard" and "all options are on the table" will do nicely.

3. Change the subject.

At the end of Conway's 72-second answer (which was longer than the excerpt above), viewers still had no idea whether Trump's strategy is to reform the tax code piece by piece or in one fell swoop.

Later, Ainsley Earhardt asked about the wall Trump has vowed to erect along the United States's border with Mexico:

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EARHARDT: Kellyanne, the president said he's going to delay the funding for the wall so that the government doesn't shut down. Why did he come to this conclusion? 'Cause he's being more flexible by doing this so that government doesn't shut down, but he's not going to get that $1.1 billion to build the wall, necessarily  at least not this week.

CONWAY: Not this week, but the president made clear just yesterday, Ainsley, building the wall remains a very important priority to him. He also reminded people that there's the flow of illegal immigrants over the border, but there's also the flow of drugs, and I don't really hear a lot of Democrats talk about that. The president's made very clear that drugs are poisoning our youth and others; he said it again just yesterday.

---

Again, Conway repeated Trump's remarks and pivoted to the scourge of drugs. She seemed to have no knowledge of how Trump arrived at his decision not to dig in on funding the border wall this week. If she was part of those deliberations, she certainly said nothing to indicate her involvement.

Finally, Steve Doocy asked about a major sticking point in budget negotiations:

---

DOOCY: So, Kellyanne, one of the things about the budget that's unresolved is whether or not Republicans want to include payments to health insurers to keep Obamacare afloat. Is that money going in there?

CONWAY: Well, that's being discussed this week. Again, all options are on the table, obviously, and the president and Director (Mick) Mulvaney and others have expressed confidence that the government will not be shut down, that they'll be able to avoid a shutdown, and that's a huge priority. But all of these  you know, the Democrats have made their demands, and the Republicans control the White House, the House and the Senate and understand how important it is to have this budget and the shutdown averted.

---

Aaand we're back to "all options are on the table."

Recall what Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on Bloomberg TV Friday: "We'd offer $1 of payments for $1 of wall payments right now. That is the offer we have given to our Democratic colleagues."

Clearly all options are not on the table because that deal is off the table. Because Trump on Monday withdrew his demand for wall payments. Do Republicans have a new proposal? Conway didn't seem to know the status of negotiations.

When MSNBC's "Morning Joe," a "Fox & Friends" competitor, said in February that it would no longer book Conway as a guest, co-host Joe Scarborough said "she's in none of the key meetings. ... She's just saying things, just to get in front of the TV set and prove her relevance because behind the scenes  behind the scenes, she's not in these meetings."

Two months later, Conway does not appear any more plugged in than she did then.

Washington Post
President Donald Trump, who likes to talk big, promises to unveil a tax reform plan that will include a "massive tax cut" for businesses and individuals. "It will be bigger, I believe, than any tax cut ever," he told the Associated Press in an April 21 interview.

Boasts like that, which helped Trump get elected, are exciting  and dangerous. They have allure because the U.S. tax system is a mess. It's overly complex, riddled with loopholes and inconsistencies, and bad for business. Devising a fairer, simpler system that fans economic growth would give the president a big win.

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But here's the thing: Trump, who used the word "massive" 12 times in that AP interview, forgot to mention a huuuuge caveat about tax reform efforts: They are devilishly difficult to pull off. Cutting taxes without adding trillions to the federal debt is especially hard to do.

The last major tax overhaul came in 1986 under President Ronald Reagan. Republicans and Democrats worked together on that bill. It took them two years, and for much of that period there was an expectation the deal would collapse as competing interests fought to protect their respective benefits and stick it to the other guy. No wonder Steven Mnuchin, Trump's treasury secretary, backed off a goal of getting tax reform passed by this August. He's hoping to hit an end-of-year deadline. White House officials seemed stunned by Trump's declaration that he'd start in on tax reform as soon as Wednesday. Most likely that's when he starts the official cheerleading. The devilish details will come later.

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The case for tax reform starts on the business side because that's where an overhaul could make a direct contribution to economic growth: the creation of more jobs. The lower the tax burden, the more competitive American businesses will become, the more likely they will invest at home. U.S. corporations are on the hook for a 39.1 percent tax rate, one of the world's highest, according to a Tax Foundation report. Savvy companies probably don't pay that rate, but the ways they reduce their tax liabilities can come at the cost of America's prosperity. Some multinationals move their headquarters overseas, while others keep their foreign-generated profits abroad. U.S. companies now hold more than $2 trillion in profits overseas.

Cutting the corporate rate to, say, 20 percent would make a big difference in how businesses manage worldwide earnings. They'd be more likely to stay headquartered in the U.S. and bring home earnings generated abroad. To recapture some of the $2 trillion out there now, one sensible proposal is to offer companies a repatriation discount: Bring your money home and pay just 10 percent or 15 percent. That tax revenue bonanza could be used by the federal government to repair roads and bridges. Another smart proposal: Allow businesses to deduct the full cost of investment at once rather than spread over years, also to encourage growth.

For individual taxpayers, the idea touted by Trump and by House Republicans is to reduce taxes for most people, including the wealthy, and streamline the system by reducing the number of tax brackets, simplifying deductions and closing loopholes. Bear in mind that about 45 percent of U.S. households pay no federal income tax whatsoever, either because they don't have sufficient income or because their mortgage interest and other tax breaks eliminate their tax liability.

So while we understand the temptation to lower individual tax rates, we need to see a realistic plan to pay for cuts. The White House argues tax reform will pay for itself. But we're talking about reducing revenue to a nation whose reckless presidents and Congresses have accumulated just under $20 trillion in taxpayer debts. We hope that administration claim of no-net-cost is backed up by real accounting that involves appropriate revenue to offset expenditure. We hope it doesn't mean dreaming up a future economic growth rate to match the expense of an immediate binge. That would be like polishing off three hot fudge sundaes today with a promise to run, oh, 30 miles tomorrow.

The tax system should be fairer to individuals, and businesses should get a break to be competitive with the rest of the world. There is a way to get this done. But it's got to improve U.S. prosperity in the short-term without stealing even more from America's future.

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President Donald Trump speaks before signing the Executive Order Promoting Agriculture and Rural Prosperity in America during a roundtable with farmers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on April 25, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Pool / Getty Images)

"You know, I said we were going to build a wall and Mexico was gonna pay for it. But it turns out, the bad hombres heard about Trump, and they stopped coming. They gave up. So we don't even need a wall. We just needed to let everybody know they're not going to take advantage of us anymore. And believe me, they know it. And why would I make Mexico pay for a wall when they're helping us out like they never did before? You wouldn't believe the cooperation we're getting now. The Mexicans have been tremendous!"

It sounds like Donald Trump, but it's not something he said. It's something he could say, if he wants a lasting way out of a self-created problem.

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Until he changed direction this week, the biggest hang-up on a measure to keep the government operating after Friday was his demand that Congress appropriate billions to start construction of that "big, beautiful wall" he promised last year. But he hadn't been getting many takers on Capitol Hill. Democrats are united against paying for the barrier, and plenty of Republicans don't think it's feasible or affordable. Nor is the public convinced: A new Washington Post-ABC News poll has 60 percent of Americans against the idea, which would include some people who voted for him.

So on Monday night, Trump began to climb down from the wall, explaining that he's content to have this fight later. If he again changes tack, another government shutdown could occur  to the exasperation of voters who hoped last year's election would end the partisan gridlock. For the moment, though, Trump has flummoxed critics who hoped his demand for wall funding would lead to a shutdown and a widespread verdict of incompetence.

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And here's more good news for Trump: Illegal crossings from Mexico have dropped like a rock  a reaction, presumably, to the "Unwelcome" mat he put out Jan. 20. The number of people apprehended trying to sneak in was down 64 percent in March compared with March 2016, bringing the number to the lowest in 17 years. "The perception of stricter enforcement can change behavior," concludes conservative writer David Frum in The Atlantic.

The case against Trump's favorite idea is familiar. It would be a logistical nightmare to construct a wall across 2,000 miles of terrain, some of it rugged desert and some of it liquid, in the form of the Rio Grande. Land would be expropriated. The project would take years. And the cost would be high. The Department of Homeland Security prices it at $21.6 billion, but a report by the Democratic staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee says the tab would be more than triple that figure. And, let's not forget, the Mexican government has unequivocally rejected ever providing a peso for this structure.

The president may also have noted that a growing share of foreigners living here illegally came here legally as tourists or students and simply didn't leave when their time was up. For this cohort, a wall would be irrelevant. Stemming this flow requires putting more resources into tracking such visitors to assure that they depart on schedule. Money that goes to the wall, alas, can't be spent on this and other types of immigration enforcement that hold greater promise.

But spending for other types of enforcement would appeal to more members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle. Trump may not have trouble getting funds for better technology and other border impediments  anything other than a wall. Maybe that's been his gambit as the budget deadline approaches: Talk about a wall, but win appropriations for other security improvements. His supporters aren't likely to object much: The new Post/ABC poll puts his overall approval rating at a weak 42 percent, but among Trump voters, it's 94 percent. Only 2 percent of those who voted for Trump regret doing so.

If this switcheroo is his strategy, it could let him achieve progress on the basic issue without abandoning his campaign pledge. And if he never gets around to fulfilling that pledge, we're confident Trump will find a way to portray that as a victory.

Related articles:

Ivanka Trump is successful. Get over it.

At 100 days, Donald Trump's no Russian puppet or fascist

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Sorry, Trump voters, you got scammed. You're never getting your wall.

I voted for Donald Trump. Now I feel betrayed.

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On Friday, at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, we will know how long Barbara Byrd-Bennett will spend in federal prison  anywhere from 3 1/2 years to 7 1/2 years.

Why is Byrd-Bennett, the former chief executive of Chicago Public Schools, going to spend so much time incarcerated? Because in 2015, she pleaded guilty to a multi-million-dollar bribery scheme in which she steered over $20 million in no-bid contracts to friends in exchange for more than $2 million in bribes.

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How, in 2017, does Chicago not have a no-bid contract system?

How, in 2017, has Chicago not set up enough checks and balances to prevent people like Byrd-Bennett from getting away with steering contracts to friends?

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Chicagoans are well-versed in corrupt public servants. Google "Chicago bribery elected official" and review the hundreds of thousands of results. Replace Byrd-Bennett's name with Blagojevich, Cochran, Medrano, Beavers, Bloom, Thompson, Laski, Troutman, Carothers, Ryan  similar crimes, different faces.

This isn't about Byrd-Bennett. It's about The Chicago Way and the culture of corruption that is so ingrained in the city and state. The Chicago Way style of governance always starts with power and privilege  and always ends in corruption and prosecution. Yet it's allowed to continue, day after day, year after year, and decade after decade.

The solution to prevent crimes such as Byrd-Bennett's is installing a truly open and blind bidding process for city contracts, as many other cities have. There are flaws with every process, but the city should be awarding contracts based on a company's value and performance, not political connections.

Until Chicagoans force elected officials to instill the reforms and systematic changes to prevent these crimes of elected officials, get ready to read about the sentencing of "insert politician name here" for years to come.

 Faisal Khan, CEO, Project Six
President Donald Trump's Justice Department has ramped up its crusade against so-called sanctuary cities in a way that looks about as doomed as his Muslim travel ban fiasco.

As the president says he realized with his move to repeal and replace Obamacare, immigration enforcement is a lot more "complicated" than he initially thought.

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That point rang out Tuesday afternoon when a federal judge in San Francisco blocked enforcement of the president's executive order to cut off federal funds from municipalities that refuse to comply with federal authorities to enforce immigration laws.

The ruling hands a victory to San Francisco and Santa Clara County, which won preliminary injunctions to block Trump's January order. The Justice Department can still withhold grants from places that don't comply with the law, according to U.S. District Judge William Orrick's order, but not "in a way that violates the Constitution."

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The ruling follows others now moving through the courts that have cast serious doubt on Trump's order. In September, for example, federal Judge John Lee of the Northern District of Illinois invalidated the practice of issuing detainers  formal requests from federal authorities for a local jail to hold noncitizen inmates  on constitutional grounds.

If federal authorities want to hold an immigrant in local custody, the judge ruled, they must get a warrant.

The first complication about sanctuary cities is that there is no legal definition for the term under federal law. To former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and other known conservative influencers of our cable TV-loving president, sanctuary cities are local governments that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities regarding the status of prisoners in their custody.

But the level of cooperation can vary drastically from one locality to the next. The Justice Department sent warning letters Friday to New York City, Chicago, Cook County, Miami, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Milwaukee and Sacramento, Calif.

The department threatened to yank federal funding if state or local governments fail to cooperate with immigration enforcement, as required by federal law.

DHS on Monday released its first weekly list of local jails and jurisdictions that the Trump administration wants to shame for failing to honor immigrant "detainer" requests. Those requests ask local law enforcement to hold inmates who are in the country illegally and have been arrested or charged with a crime for an additional 48 hours after their release date so federal officials can decide whether to pick them up and deport them.

Some mayors and other local leaders have argued that cooperating actually can hurt local law enforcement by undermining trust in the police. Immigrants are less likely to report a crime  even when they're the victims  if they fear it could lead to their deportation. As a case in point, Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck said last month that reports of sexual assault and domestic violence by the city's Latino residents plummeted this year (by 25 percent and 10 percent respectively), apparently in response to fears of deportation if they interact with police or testify in court.

One leading immigration reform advocate, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., denounced the DOJ's actions, noting, "The reality is that in most cities, the police have found that acting as deportation police makes it harder to keep their cities safe."

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Indeed, the sanctuary cities issue, like the larger immigration debate, is inflamed by fears that are not backed up by facts. A study by the libertarian Cato Institute, for instance, found immigrants in the country illegally to be incarcerated at about half the rate of native-born Americans.

Candidate Trump turned sanctuary cities into a central theme of his presidential campaign, right along with his promise to build a wall along our southern border with Mexico  and have Mexico pay for it. The proposed wall and form of payment now face pitfalls in Washington's world of legislative sausage-making. His plan to stop sanctuary cities is headed for trouble too.

As Chicago immigration attorney Chirag G. Badlani pointed out to me, U.S. Supreme Court decisions prohibit states or cities from being coerced into action by the federal government with a financial "gun to the head." That's the language of Chief Justice John Roberts in the 2012 Affordable Care Act case.

Federal officials also can't "commandeer" state officials to do their work for them under a 1997 decision involving gun purchases under the Brady Act.

Ultimately, the best way to deal with the complicated issue of immigration is through comprehensive immigration reform. But that would require the thoughtful and rigorous debate and compromise that can't seem to climb over the wall dividing both political parties these days.

Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage.

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cpage@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @cptime
Summer hasn't even started, but we already have details about "summer's last stand." North Coast Music Festival has released the lineup for its 2017 event, happening Sept. 1-3 in Union Park.

Friday will feature deadmau5 and Eric Prydz joining forces to headline the mainstage alongside rapper Gucci Mane, who just released his tenth studio album, "The Release of East Atlanta Santa." Elsewhere on Friday, Bonobo, Little Dicky and Badbadnotgood perform around the park.

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Saturday will see headliners like reggae artist Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley, instrumental electronic rock group STS9 and a set from DJ Carnagewho will probably be eating Chipotle while he's at it. Rising hip-hop artist Post Malone will also perform on Saturday, as well as half of the legendary group Outkast, Big Boi.

If you didn't get enough Ween at Riot Fest last summer, catch 'em again as Sunday's headliners, joined by electronic composer Tipper and a third and yet unannounced artist. Skepta and Hippie Sabotage will also perform on Sunday to close out the weekend.

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Five more surprise guests will be announced ahead of the fest in September. General admission tickets are on sale now starting at $59 for a single day and $149 for a three-day pass. VIP passes start at $89 for a single day and $199 for all three days. Layaway options are also available for $45 down on general admission and $55 down for VIP packages.

For more information, head to northcoastfestival.com.

@shelbielbostedt | sbostedt@redeyechicago.com
West Aurora School District 129's Greenman Elementary, like other district schools, included a message on its marquee urging a resolution to the state's budget iimpasse. (Sarah Freishtat / The Beacon-News)

Aurora-area school districts are among hundreds statewide that have signed on to a campaign calling for a state budget.

Superintendents in nearly 400 school districts across the state are calling for an end to the state's historic budget impasse, changes in the way the state funds schools, and payments on bills that are past due. As part of the effort, driven by leaders of four districts in Aurora, Naperville, Elgin and downstate Sandoval, marquees at many schools are set to include messages calling for a state budget and a social media campaign is seeking to draw attention to the topic.

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"You have to put the horse in front of the cart, and that's our state budget," said West Aurora Superintendent Jeff Craig, one of the school leaders driving the effort. "And it's coming to a point that if our state doesn't pass a state budget, we will have to make some dire decisions."

Though school districts are receiving all of their state aid this year and several said payments have been on time, some districts highlighted millions of dollars they are owed by the state this year for separate quarterly payments for services such as transportation, special education, free and reduced lunch, language services and others. At the same time, the legislature is considering changes to the way the state funds schools.

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Without a budget, a new school funding formula won't happen and the missed payments won't come, Craig said.

Statements on District 308's website indicate the district has been told this year's first quarterly payments for services  which districts typically would have received months ago  will be sent out this week.

Among school leaders who have signed onto the budget effort  who represent less than half of the state's more-than-800 districts but, according to West Aurora, represent 65 percent of public school students  are East Aurora School District 131, Oswego-based Community Unit School District 308, West Aurora and Indian Prairie School District 204, one of the four spearheading the effort. The campaign also includes leaders of wealthier districts such as Naperville School District 203, districts from northern to southern Illinois and the state's largest school district, Chicago Public Schools. Several other educators have signed on as well.

Monday, message boards outside East and West Aurora high schools urged the state to pass a budget.

State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora), who is co-sponsoring a school funding bill, said money has been set aside for the districts, but they haven't received their quarterly payments for services because of the backlog of bills in Springfield.

"It's a general budget issue, bigger than education," she said in a text message. "Gov. (Bruce) Rauner has caused the budget crisis ... post secondary education is in crisis too."

State Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) said it will take a bipartisan effort to get a budget passed, and lawmakers "somehow need to get the governor to work with us and listen."

She said at an April 18 town hall in West Aurora there can be no changes in the way the state funds schools without a budget, and laid the blame for the budget impasse at the feet of state Republicans.

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Monday, she described state debt piling up without a budget.

"I would never tell somebody not to try everything at their disposal, so, no, I think it's probably to (the school districts') benefit to stand together and make a concerted effort," she said.

Rauner, a Republican, reportedly laid the blame on Democratic House leadership during a radio interview earlier in April.

In West Aurora, Craig said without a state budget, other funding pieces for education, social services and higher education cannot fall into place.

District officials said in a statement the state owes the district $10 million in quarterly payments for services so far this year. Districts received one of last year's quarterly payments this school year, but have not yet received any of this year's payments.

If the state makes none of this year's payments, the district will miss out on $14 million, Craig said. West Aurora accounted for that money in its planning this year, he said.

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"If we pull out all the stops and exhaust all possibilities, then the next (possibility) is that maybe we don't open up our doors and continue to incur costs," he said.

The district had already been predicting a $3.4 million budget shortfall, though Craig said it has filled nearly $2.5 million of that so far.

Cutting $4 million, $8 million or $15 million would negatively affect students, he said.

"Don't tell us we're going to receive these payments and then all of a sudden pull that away from the table at the eleventh hour," he said. "That's impossible to plan for."

District 308 officials said in a statement they have missed $11 million in quarterly payments for services so far this year, and would be out $15 million if no payments are made this year. Superintendent John Sparlin sent a message to the state comptroller earlier in April calling for the payments to be sent out.

District officials did not return requests for comment Monday.

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Karen Sullivan, superintendent of Aurora and Naperville's Indian Prairie School District 204, said some superintendents feel like students are being used as leverage.

"That is not OK," she said. "There are school districts in Illinois that won't be able to open in the fall if this cannot be resolved."

Elgin's School District U46 CEO Tony Sanders said the district, Illinois' second-largest, will not be able to keep classrooms open beyond Thanksgiving without a state budget, and could possibly fail to open in August depending on state payments.

"If they don't pay (before the start of the school year), and if there's still no budget, I don't see how we could open," he said. "It's going to be really tough next school year."

Elgin Courier-News reporter Rafael Guerrero and Naperville Sun reporter Suzanne Baker contributed.

sfreishtat@tribpub.com

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Twitter @srfreish
An Aurora Fire Department vehicle sits outside the abandoned former Copley Hospital building on Lincoln Avenue in Aurora Tuesday. (Steve Lord / The Beacon-News)

All six teenagers charged with trespassing at the old Copley Hospital building in Aurora denied starting the fire that alerted authorities to their presence, officials said Tuesday.

At about 6:45 p.m. Friday, firefighters responded to the dilapidated former hospital for a fire which several people had called 911 about, according to a news release from the fire department. Several people also reported seeing young people fleeing from the building after the fire started.

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First responders saw smoke showing from the roof of the seven-story building and located the fire in an enclosed room on the roof, according to the fire department. Within a half hour, 19 firefighters had the flames extinguished, officials said.

Meanwhile, Aurora police officers apprehended six teenagers running from within the fenced area near the building's courtyard, said police spokesman Dan Ferrelli. Two 15-year-old boys, three 16-year-old boys and a 16-year-old girl were each charged with criminal trespass to land and released to their parents after denying starting the fire, according to the news release.

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"Even though they admitted they knew they weren't supposed to be in the building, they said they were exploring it," Ferrelli said.

At 8 a.m. the day of the fire, the Aurora Police Department published a Facebook post warning readers about the dangers of "urban exploration" in vacant building, noting the hazards of unstable floors, missing staircases and empty elevator shafts, broken glass, mold and other environmental hazards, rodents and more.

"It may be the last building you ever enter," police cautioned in the post.

And for those who get caught, there's the threat of criminal charges, attorney's fees, fines and jail time, police said.

"We're aware of a couple of the structures in Aurora that have become popular for urban exploring (or for chasing myths and rumors)," police wrote. "They can tax our resources for people who are actually in need of emergency help and put our officers and the community in danger. When we catch trespassers we arrest them."

No injuries were reported in connection with Friday's fire, and because the building has been vacant for many years, fire officials said they did not determine the monetary value of the fire damage.

A bigger fire at the old hospital building, already a major concern of the fire department, is something of a worst nightmare scenario, said fire department spokesman Capt. Jim Rhodes.

Vacant since Rush-Copley Medical Center moved in the 1990s to its new facility on Ogden Avenue on the city's far southwest side, the old hospital building has decayed structurally and attracted a variety of crime, as reported over the years in the Beacon-News.

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The city has a repair demolition action in court against the owner, Ferrelli said.

In a January forum between Aurora's mayoral candidates, Ald. Richard Irvin  now mayor-elect  said he was past considering redevelopment an option for the Copley building, and that it needs to be knocked down.

When Rhodes heard there was a fire at the Copley building, his first thoughts were concerns for the firefighters' safety, given the poor condition of the structure they were responding to, he said. They're lucky the fire was small and quickly reported, because bigger flames could have required a more extensive search of the unstable building, putting firefighters at a greater risk as they checked for people inside, Rhodes said.

While some firefighters made it to the roof by entering the hospital on the ground floor and taking the stairs up, the rest, including Rhodes, ascended a ladder to get there, he said.

"Until we know no one is inside, we assume someone could be," Rhodes said. "Had (the fire) got going, it would have been very dangerous for us to fight."

Officials aren't sure what all was used to start the fire, Rhodes said. Ferrelli said it's likely other trespassers got away before police arrived, and while they believe the fire was purposely set, because of the condition of the building, police are not conducting an active investigation.

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hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
Joe Neveril, owner of the Chicago Gun Club, talks about the benefits of his proposed "gun-try club," an upscale firing range that would have two private lounges, one with a bar. (Kevin Beese / Pioneer Press)

Matt and Megan DiCianni spent a year building their dream home in Willowbrook. They saw it as a place to start a family.

Now, they worry about the safety of the children they hope to have someday because of a proposed gun range across the street that would serve alcohol.

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"If I had known that a gun range could go in there, no way would we ever have built here," Megan said.

The DiCiannis were two of more than 50 people who spoke at the Willowbrook Village Board meeting Monday, when a special use permit was discussed to allow an indoor firing range that would have two membership lounges, including one with a bar.

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The meeting was moved to the Ashton Place banquet hall because of the expected large crowd.

After hearing more than three hours of testimony, the Village Board tabled the issue until its May 22 meeting. The time and location of the meeting are still to be determined as Ashton Place is booked for an event that evening. Village officials said information about the next meeting would be posted at www.willowbrookil.org.

Mayor Frank Trilla felt it best to give board members an opportunity to digest all the input they had received.

And there was plenty of input on the proposal. The overwhelmingly majority of people who spoke were against the plan. Many were concerned about the combination of firearms and alcohol. More were simply opposed to more weapons being in the community.

"Willowbrook's brand is families, value and education. We want to maintain that brand," said Robert Blackburn, who said he and his wife bought her parents' home because they saw the community as a place for families. "You are making us the nexus of guns, ammunition and alcohol in the area. We do not want this business. It would change the branding of Willowbrook."

The Chicago Gun Club is looking to establish a 31,000-square-foot "gun-try club," an upscale gun club facility that would include a 32-bay firing range, firearm and Jeep retail space, classrooms, the two membership lounges, offices and other accessory uses. The club would be on the northeast corner of Frontage Road and 79th Street, just south of the Willowbrook Inn and west of the Econolodge.

Anna Franco, a village planning consultant, said the parcel has been vacant since at least 1956. Willowbrook, she noted, was incorporated in 1960.

Joe Neveril, owner of the Chicago Gun Club, said the facility is expected to generate $6.5 million in operational revenue it its first full year of operation. The village would see sales tax and recreation tax revenue from the facility, Neveril said.

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He said the need is there for another training facility in the area.

"The need has never been greater," Neveril said. "There are a record number of gun owners. Both law enforcement and the general public need to have facilities to train at that are inviting, comfortable and entertaining. That makes them attractive places to spend time. When people spend time at places that teach them how to use weapons and firearms, we have a safer community."

Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press
Paul McCartney is coming to Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park for a July 25 show. (AP Photo/Rainer Klostermeier) (RAINER KLOSTERMEIER / Associated Press)

Sirs Paul McCartney and Rod Stewart will join country chart-toppers and plenty of nostalgic acts this season at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.

The 28th season begins May 13 with Jason Aldean and rolls out more country with Sam Hunt July 8, Dierks Bentley July 28, Lady Antebellum Aug. 19, Luke Bryan Sept. 16 and Brad Paisley Sept. 23.

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McCartney's One on One tour arrives July 25, venue owner and operator Live Nation announced early Tuesday. Tickets go on sale Saturday.

"97.1 FM The Drive is very excited to welcome Paul McCartney to Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. Chicago's classic rock fans have anxiously awaited McCartney's return," said Rob Cressman, program director of WDRV, which will be giving away McCartney tickets to listeners every weekday. "This show  and this venue -- will provide a unique opportunity to enjoy the music of one of classic rock's most iconic performers."

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McCartney, 75, last performed in the area as a headliner at Lollapalooza 2015. In 2014, he played United Center while Wrigley Field was his tour stop of choice in 2011.

While there's nothing quite like having a Beatle in town, McCartney's appearance isn't the only big deal at the 28,000-capacity outdoor venue.

The upcoming lineup also brings Rammstein, Future, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Stabbing Westward, Depeche Mode and John Mayer.

Stewart, taking a break from his Las Vegas residency, plans a few duets onstage with opening act Cyndi Lauper on Aug. 5.

Germany's Rammstein, the Grammy-nominated industrial metal sextet who headlined night one of the inaugural Chicago Open Air festival last summer at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, will make its only Midwest appearance June 27 at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre.

Future, the American rapper who has made five consecutive No. 1 albums and toured arenas with Drake in 2016, brings his Nobody Safe tour to Tinley Park on June 2.

Stabbing Westward, the '90s rockers from Macomb, IL, who reunited in 2016 with a sold-out show at Chicago's Double Door, returns to the area for the WKQX Piqniq on May 20. The station is raffling tickets through May 19 at www.101wkqx.com for the annual soiree also featuring The 1975, Bleachers, Sum 41 and Joywave.

This season, two acts will do double time at the amphitheater. Jimmy Eat World plays the WKQX Piqniq and in July opens for Incubus, whose album "8" produced by Skrillex and Dave Sardy dropped this month. Warpaint, female indie rockers from Los Angeles, goes from the Piqniq bill to support for Depeche Mode, whose 14th album "Spirit" was released in March, with appearances at Lollapalooza in between.

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Deep Purple, who earlier this month released "inFinite," its 20th studio album and fifth with the current lineup of Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Steve Morse and Don Airey, will headline in September with Alice Cooper and Edgar Winter Band as part of a monthlong stateside tour on its Long Goodbye route.

Iron Maiden's Book of Souls world tour, which hit United Center in early 2016 in support of their last studio album in 2015, arrives June 15 in Tinley Park amid a dozen albums from 1990 to 2015 being released on black vinyl in May, June and July.

In July, Styx returns with REO Speedwagon and Don Felder on their United We Rock tour while Boston pairs up with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

In September, John Mayer will do triple duty for fans who just can't get enough of him, performing three sets  solo acoustic and with a full band and a trio  in support of his new album "The Search for Everything."

Kings of Leon, the Grammy-winning rock quartet of brothers and a cousin whose last album "Walls" debuted at No. 1, arrive Aug. 12. The show goes on sale this weekend along with Show of the Summer, a pop music festival playing only Tinley Park and Hershey, PA, with Camila Cabello, Sabrina Carpenter, Alex Aiono, Jacob Sartorius, AJR and Forever In Your Mind on Aug. 13.

Other acts this season include Train, Matchbox Twenty with Counting Crows and Def Leppard with Poison and Tesla.

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"There's a lot of talent coming through for all ages and interests," Live Nation's Midwest marketing director Jon Reens said.

Bookings depend on who's touring and the size of those tours, with big names like McCartney or robust country tours an especially good match for the amphitheater. McCartney's tour features large screens, lasers and fireworks while Rammstein is known for its heavy use of pyrotechnics.

Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre "is a good size to hold a lot of production on stage and backstage," Reens said. "It's also just a great central location and easily accessible for Midwest country fans to fans of all genres from Chicago, the suburbs and Indiana."

2017 Season at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre:

May 13  Jason Aldean, Chris Young, Kane Brown and Deejay Silver

May 20  WKQX Piqniq featuring The 1975, Bleachers, Stabbing Westward, Jimmy Eat World, Sum 41, Highly Suspect, Joywave, K. Flay and Warpaint

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June 2  Future, Migos, Tory Lanez, Kodak Black and Zoey Dollaz

June 15  Iron Maiden and Ghost

June 24  Def Leppard, Poison and Tesla

June 27  Rammstein

June 30  Train, O.A.R. and Natasha Bedingfield

July 1  Styx, REO Speedwagon and Don Felder United We Rock Tour

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July 7  Boston with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

July 8  Sam Hunt, Maren Morris, Chris Janson and Ryan Follese

July 22  Vans Warped Tour featuring Attila, CKY, Futuristic, Hawthorne Heights, I Prevail, Jule Vera, New Years Day, American Authors, Save Ferris, Hatebreed, Gwar, the Acacia Strain and many more

July 25  Paul McCartney; on sale at noon April 29

July 28  Dierks Bentley, Cole Swindell and Jon Pardi

July 29  Incubus, Jimmy Eat World and Judah & the Lion

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Aug. 5  Rod Stewart and Cyndi Lauper

Aug. 12  Kings of Leon with Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats; on sale at 10 a.m. April 28

Aug. 13  Show of the Summer with Camila Cabello, Sabrina Carpenter, Alex Aiono, Jacob Sartorius, AJR and Forever In Your Mind; on sale at noon Friday, April 28.

Aug. 19  Lady Antebellum, Kelsea Ballerini and Brett Young

Aug. 30  Depeche Mode and Warpaint

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Sept. 2  John Mayer

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Sept. 6  Deep Purple and Alice Cooper

Sept. 16  Luke Bryan and Brett Eldredge; on sale mid-May

Sept. 17  Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows

Sept. 23  Brad Paisley

The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre is located at 19100 S. Ridgeland Ave. in Tinley Park. Call 708-614-1616 or go to www.livenation.com.

Vickie Jurkowski is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
The Rev. Dan Willis led hundreds of his congregation in a protest march against alleged racial discrimination by the Village of Alsip. (Matt McCall / Daily Southtown)

Pastor Dan Willis wants an apology.

He claims that for 16 years, the Village of Alsip and the Alsip Fire Department have racially discriminated against his Lighthouse Church of All Nations, 4501 W. 127th Street, because 75 percent of his 6,000 congregants are minorities.

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On Sunday, hundreds of parishioners marched in protest for about a mile from the church to the village hall at 4500 W. 123rd St.

Willis said he could no longer keep silent after a Dec. 9, 2016, incident in which a village fire official allegedly threatened to shut down the church's food pantry during a surprise inspection, and his appearance at an April 17 village board meeting in which Mayor Patrick E. Kitching told him to sit down when he asked for an apology for the alleged discrimination. The mayor allegedly said he could have Willis removed when Willis continued speaking.

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Willis also claimed that the Fire Department has targeted the church for nonexistent violations for years. The department refutes Willis' version of events.

Fire Chief Tom Styczynski said Willis distorts the truth.

"It would be nice if [Willis] got his facts straight," Styczynski said.

According to Styczynski, the building of a second church structure in 2014 began an escalating confrontation between Willis and the city over fire safety. The department does about 1,500 inspections of businesses and multi-unit housing per year, which amounts to about seven to 15 inspections each day, he said. He denies targeting the church with inspections and said the church has never received a citation fee from the department.

"We don't have that kind of time," he said.

At the conclusion of the march, Willis, surrounded by other Lighthouse pastors, demanded an apology and compensation for the more than $38,000 in permit fees the village charged the Lighthouse when it built the second church building in 2014. A list of the two demands taped to the village hall door at the end of the march was removed by Monday morning.

"Let it be known I did not choose this battle," Willis said during a speech in front of his church. "I was taken by surprise in the meeting Monday night. I did not know I was stepping up to a battle. However, I serve you notice Mr. Mayor, you have chosen the right man for the battle."

In 2014, the church opened a new building and before planning its grand opening was inspected by the fire department. Styczynski said the building did not have a working automatic sprinkler and fire alarm system in place, requirements under life safety codes. Styczynski said he and Willis had several face-to-face and phone conversations before coming to a solution, which was either to delay opening day until the systems were in place or pay for a four-person fire team during services. The sprinklers and fire alarms were eventually installed after months of conversations, Styczynski said.

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"They felt they didn't need to heed the codes and village ordinances," he said.

A second issue arose with an elevator without sprinklers and smoke detectors. Willis claimed the fire prevention officer was belligerent during these inspections, but a city official and an elevator inspector said the officer's behavior was professional, Styczynski said.

Willis said that in December 2016, the fire prevention officer came to the church unannounced and told a black food pantry worker that he would "shut [them] down" for fire violations, as a line of people stretched around the building. He was then brought to Willis' office, where he allegedly became "rude, belligerent and hostile" and said nothing had been done on the church campus. Willis said he asked him to leave. During his speech, he said the officer has harassed the church and threatened shutdown "more times than he can recall."

Styczynski, the officer and Willis had a phone conversation 30 minutes later. Willis claimed Styczynski was hostile toward him during a conversation his staff overheard.

"He refused to listen. The Alsip fire chief, Tom Styczynski, said to me, rudely, belligerently, loudly and with hostility 'I'm just sorry that my people are smarter than your people over there.'"

As Styczynski tells it, a greeter welcomed the fire prevention officer into the building, who proceeded to go about his inspection unescorted for that reason. When he came across a food pantry worker, he listed a few issues with the building and said, "Because of the violations, we've shut down businesses for stuff like this."

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The fire prevention officer never finished his annual inspection of the property because he left when Willis became angry, Styczynski said. Styczynski denies saying that his employees are smarter than Willis.

Village officials apparently are split over Willis and his story.

Trustees Lynn Dwyer and Kevin Michaels came to support the protesters, and Police Chief Christopher Radz, who Willis called a personal friend, sprinted from his squad car to hand out free water as they rounded the corner of a blocked-off 123rd Street as Willis proclaimed from his megaphone that Radz was the best police chief in Chicagoland.

Dwyer said she disapproved of Willis' treatment but cannot speak to claims of racial discrimination.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know the truth," she said.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Trustee and the apparent incoming Mayor John Ryan said he called and emailed Willis multiple times in the week after the meeting to learn more about his concerns and set up a time to meet. Ryan said Willis thanked him and then invited him to support their cause and come march.

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"Well, you never told me what the cause is, so I don't know what I'd be marching for," he said.

It wasn't just Ryan who was unaware of the allegations of racial discrimination  so was the majority of the congregation, Willis said. More than 10 longtime church members interviewed by the Daily Southtown said they were totally unaware of the alleged discrimination.

Willis said he wanted to protect them. The congregants learned what they were marching for after the speech. They wore shirts in support of Willis and several carried "God Bless America" signs.

"We don't know the behind-the-scenes," church member Andrew Coughlin said. "But I'm glad he finally put his foot down."

mmccall@tribpub.com

@MatthewMcCall_
A Tinley Park man was arrested following an alleged fight during a Bremen High School District 228 board meeting last week, according to police.

Michael E. Szydelko, 55, was charged with battery April 19 after he allegedly made physical contact "of an insulting and provoking nature" with board member Larry Canning during the April 18 meeting, according to a news release from Oak Forest Police.

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Police said they responded to calls of a fight in progress at about 7:30 p.m. at Oak Forest High School.

Canning told police he had been shoved by Szydelko, who was identified by police after obtaining a video of the meeting from the school district, the press release stated.

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Szydelko has a May 25 court date in Bridgeview.

The ruckus began after board member Mark Johnson made remarks that were critical of Canning and political in nature, Canning told the Daily Southtown.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Canning said he told board president Debi Stearns that it was "inappropriate" but she allowed Johnson to continue.

At that point, men in the audience began yelling and rushed to the table where board members were seated, Canning said.

Stearns told the Southtown that she attempted to maintain order but Johnson felt he had a "right to let constituents know what kind of person Larry is."

"I think the whole thing could have been avoided if Mr. Canning let Mr. Johnson speak," she said.

Canning was the top vote-getter in the April 4 election in which nine people ran for three open seats in a contentious election. Stearns and Evelyn Gleason also were re-elected.

slafferty@tribpub.com

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Twitter @SusanLaff
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.
Flossmoor

Infant Jesus of Prague: 1131 Douglas Ave.  A Mass and Healing Service will be at 7:30 p.m. May 1. Mass and Healing Services are held at 7:30 p.m. the first Monday of the month. Mass and Prayer Meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. all other Mondays of the month.

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Hometown

Hometown Christian Church: 4340 W. 87th St.  The annual Spring Salad Luncheon, featuring a large selection of salads and desserts, will be at noon April 26. Tickets are $7 for adults and $3 for children 6 to 12 years old. Tickets will be for sale at the door. Proceeds benefit mission projects.

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Homewood

St. Andrew United Methodist Church: 18550 Riegel Road  The annual Salad Luncheon and Fashion Show will be at noon May 6. The event will feature homemade salads and cookies, fashions by Dress Barn of Homewood and door prizes. Reservations are required. Tickets are $16. For reservations and tickets, call 708-798-8904.

Oak Lawn

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Trinity Covenant Church: 9230 S. Pulaski Road  The Pryme Tymers fellowship will meet at 11 a.m. April 27. Members of the Musichorale will perform, including songs from their spring concert. A catered beef stew luncheon will be served at noon. The cost is $7. Reservations are required by Friday. The public is invited. A canned good donation will be collected for the Blue Island Salvation Army food pantry. For reservations, call 708-422-5111 or Tom Panush at 708-636-7548.

Orland Park

The Presbyterian Church in Orland Park: 13401 S. Wolf Road  An evening of song, including opera, musical theater and jazz, will be performed by Jonathan Beyer, Amanda Crider and Sarah Gartshore at 7:30 p.m. April 28. Tickets are $20. Information: 708-448-8142.

Palos Park

The Center: 12700 Southwest Highway  Spirituality 101: If God Is Love: Rediscovering Grace in an Ungracious World will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and 10 to 11:30 a.m. Thursdays. Discussions will be from the book by the same name written by Quaker pastors Philip Gulley and James Mulholland. The book is available through Amazon and other booksellers. Registration is requested. Each class is $7. Information: 708-361-3650.

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 Staff report

What's going on at your church? Let us know at least a week in advance by sending an email to southtownreligion@tribpub.com.
An apparent need for a back brace has landed a long sought-after fugitive in jail, officials said.

Police in Evergreen Park said they arrested Orville Jerome Cochran after he tried to leave the Meijer store in that suburb without paying for a back brace he allegedly concealed in his pants.

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A run of his fingerprints showed he was wanted on a warrant issued almost 16 years ago by authorities in Wisconsin for allegedly having, as a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, been involved in the deaths of two men more than two decades ago, officials said.

Store security at Meijer, 9200 S. Western Ave., contacted Evergreen Park police just before 5 p.m. Sunday to assist with a suspected shoplifter, Evergreen Park Police Capt. Peter Donovan said Tuesday.

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He said Cochran wasn't cooperative in giving police any information about who he was, but after being booked and fingerprinted the information about the outstanding warrant popped up. Cochran was held by Evergreen Park until Monday, when the U.S. Marshal picked him up, Donovan said.

The June 2001 indictments against Cochran and five other members of the Outlaws alleged they were involved in a conspiracy that involved killings, bombings and drug trafficking, according to an Associated Press report at the time. The AP reported that Cochran was living in Worth at the time of the indictment.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Donovan said that Evergreen Park police and the U.S. Marshal were not giving the location of where Cochran was living.

The warrant for Cochran was issued in May 2001 according to the U.S. Marshal.

Cochran and two other members of the group were alleged to have been involved in the events leading up to the September 1994 shooting death of Michael Quale, a member of the Hell's Angels, and authorities also said that Cochran took part in the 1995 slaying of a man in Chicago.

Cochran was being held at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, and federal department of corrections records showed his age as 67.

He had a brief hearing Tuesday before federal Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez, where the allegations contained in the indictment were laid out, according to Joseph Fitzpatrick, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago. A bond hearing for Cochran is scheduled for Friday and prosecutors will ask that he be held without bond, Fitzpatrick said.

mnolan@tribpub.com

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Greetings fellow Oak Lawnians!

I hope you all enjoyed a splendid Easter with your family and friends. Speaking of Easter, St. Gerald Church, 9349 Central Ave. in Oak Lawn, hosted a healing Mass on March 30. The mass, which took place during the fourth week of Lent, was celebrated by the Rev. Ubald Rugirangoga, a Roman Catholic priest from the Cyangugu Diocese located in southeastern Rwanda.

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As Mass got underway, Father Ubald was greeted by a full congregation. In fact, there was barely any standing room left once the mass started.

Father Ubald spoke on many points, but clearly the most important of which was forgiveness. He acknowledged how difficult forgiveness is for many of us and shared his journey on his own path to forgiveness, which eventually lead him to find reconciliation and peace.

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He shared his story about surviving the 1994 genocide in Rwanda by escaping on foot under cover of night through the Congo. Over 45,000 people were exterminated, including his mother and 80 members of his family. He spoke of his difficult journey, even as a priest, to find forgiveness for those responsible for the genocide, the loss of his mother, family and so many of his people.

In time, he found the power to forgive those who had brought such pain on him, his people and his country. When that happened, he said he felt such a release. Father Ubald's mission is to help others heal, whether it be physical, spiritual or emotional wounds. "Extreme horror requires extreme forgiveness," he said.

The Mass lasted over an hour and was followed by the benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. Holding the Blessed Sacrament with raised arms, Father Ubald proceeded slowly up and down every aisle of the church, including the balcony and vestibule. He made a point to stop and spend a few extra seconds with churchgoers in wheelchairs, on crutches or who had some type of physical handicap.

After the benediction concluded, members of the congregation were invited to approach the podium on the altar to give testimony on how Father Ubald has healed either them or a family member. There were about 10 people who came up and shared their personal story and experience of Father Ubald's healing. Many of them were from other parishes where they had already experienced his healing powers.

Kate Zagata has been a member of the parish for 25 years and also works in the parish office. Zagata attended the healing mass with her husband, Frank, and estimates the number of attendees was a little over 800. "I was amazed at the turnout," said Zagata. She had never heard of Father Ubald before his visit to St. Gerald and had no idea of how big a following he had. Zagata was working in the parish office the day before his visit and said "the phone never stopped ringing. People were calling from Michigan, Wisconsin, Highland Park, Crystal Lake and other towns to confirm his appearance. Some people heard about him coming by word of mouth. Others had seen him and believed in him. It was very enlightening."

Zagata had the opportunity to meet him during his visit and said "he was very friendly, very outgoing. It was amazing to see he's that outgoing." Zagata said when he left that night, "he was headed for New York."

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Father Ubald's healing Mass and story was uplifting and inspiring, Zagata said. "We would love to have him come back," she said.

To learn more about Father Ubald and his message of forgiveness, visit his website at www.frubald.com.

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Here's our celebrity announcements: Happy 38th birthday to Vanessa Ciametti, from her family and Sit n'Pretty pals. Loving birthday wishes go out to Sarah Petzel, from her family, Juan Hernandez and Sunny Petzel. Congratulations also go out to Sarah and Juan who got engaged on her birthday. Birthday wishes go out to Debbie Zwartz, from her husband, Dan, their children, and family. Birthday wishes go out to Betty Seidler, from her husband, Dan. Happy birthday to Diane Massey, from her children and grandchildren. Birthday wishes go out to Mike Hoy, from his mother-in-law, Aggie Mark.

Wedding anniversary wishes go out to Tim and Pam Fleming on their 18th anniversary, from Polly Fleming and their family. Congratulations to Joe and Dee Harr on their 60th wedding anniversary, with love, from their children.

Keep your fellow Oak Lawnians informed about birthdays, special events or special "stuff" going on with your family or within the community at 708- 899-9544 or e-mail cjpetzel@sbcglobal.net.

Until next time...

Cheryl Petzel is a freelance columnist.
Any homeowner in the south suburbs will tell you property taxes are too high.

Most property owners know local schools account for the biggest share of their real estate tax bills.

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It shouldn't be that way. The Illinois Constitution says the state should be the primary source of funding for public schools, but it isn't. Local taxes are. That's why there's great disparity  some say the worst in the nation  between resources for schools in areas with higher property values and school districts in places where the tax base is less strong.

The nearly two-year-long budget impasse is making matters worse, as the state is behind in making payments to local districts. Illinois has a huge backlog of unpaid bills about $13 billion  so school districts have to get in line and wait their turn to get paid like so many others.

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By now, you'd have to be living under a pretty big rock to be unaware the state lacks a full budget. But I have to admit I was unaware public schools were waiting for state money. Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislators approved funding K-12 education for the full year, I thought.

Not so, I learned on Monday when superintendents of nearly 400 school districts serving about 1.3 million children signed on to an initiative urging state leaders to pass a full state budget.

"While Illinois public schools have benefited from a partially funded state budget, our schools, students, families and communities will continue to suffer without a full state budget," reads a letter signed by 390 superintendents.

Inaction by the governor and legislature means the state has not delivered some types of school funding promised for this year, the superintendents said. The so-called "mandated categorical" payments support special education, bilingual education, transportation and other services.

In the letter, superintendents called on the governor and members of the Illinois General Assembly to immediately end the budget impasse, improve the state's education funding formula and pay school districts what they are owed this year.

Superintendents also appealed to residents and taxpayers to join the effort by contacting legislators and sharing the message with friends and on social media using the hashtag #PassILBudget.

The unified message from local school leaders throughout the state is a new development in the prolonged budget stalemate. The move could signal growing grassroots support for a resolution and intensify pressure on lawmakers and the governor to strike a deal.

Superintendents from at least 10 south suburban school districts were among those who signed the letter. Signers include superintendents of districts serving Chicago Ridge, Country Club Hills, Frankfort, Homewood, Mokena, New Lenox, Orland Park, Palos Heights, Sauk Village, South Holland and other communities.

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"We've been discussing funding issues for years. Everybody has been talking within their own communities," Dale Mitchell, superintendent of Homewood School District 153 and one of the letter signers told me by phone Tuesday.

It's encouraging to see superintendents from around the state talking with each other about the shared need to resolve the state budget crisis, Mitchell said. The budget impasse highlights inequity in the state's school-funding formula, he said.

"It's a serious problem," Mitchell told me. The Homewood district receives just 69 percent of the state funding it should, he said.

"We're expected to do 100 percent of the mandates at only 69 percent of the funding," he said. "(The impasse) is hurting the districts that need (funding) the most."

Voters in the Homewood district have twice approved requests in recent years to issue working cash bonds so the district can borrow enough money to pay its bills, he said.

"That works for a short time," Mitchell said. "We have a very supportive community. We run big deficits and that helps us close the gaps."

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Borrowing, however, does not address the underlying, structural problems with the way Illinois funds schools. Much is made about how Illinois has either the highest or second-highest  behind New Jersey  property taxes in the nation.

Homeowners in neighboring states pay lower real estate taxes but most of our neighbors also have higher income tax rates. You don't hear a lot about that, because so much attention is paid to the burdensome property taxes in Illinois.

At 3.75 percent, the flat income-tax rate in Illinois is relatively low. In Wisconsin, they have higher income taxes overall plus the rates are progressive, meaning people with more income pay higher rates. A Wisconsin resident earning less than $29,640 a year pays an income tax rate of 5.84 percent, while someone earning more than $326,330 pays a rate of 7.65 percent.

Iowa also a progressive income tax. The lowest rate starts at 6.8 percent and the highest rate  for those earning $69,930 or more  tops out at 8.98 percent.

Indiana has a flat income-tax rate of just 3.23 percent, though many counties also charge an income tax.

For years, advocates like Ralph Martire, of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, have urged state lawmakers and governors to "swap" income and property taxes. Generally speaking, this is regarded as the most fair solution to the school funding problem.

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Income taxes, especially progressive ones that increase for those with the most means to pay, could account for a greater share of total revenue that would then be distributed more equitably to local schools.

Property taxes could then be lowered. Those changes would fundamentally address a couple of major complaints about Illinois: high property taxes and school-funding inequity.

Despite the benefits, state leaders have resisted making these changes for political reasons. Some people in wealthier parts of the state  parts of Chicago and some northern and western suburbs  dislike the notion of their tax dollars being spent on schools in poor communities in the south suburbs or downstate.

These folks will complain about their high property taxes, like everyone else around the state. But, they figure, at least the biggest share of their taxes is being spent on local schools, which helps sustain their property values and ensures their children receive a good education and have nice facilities.

But that's how "rich" districts end up with ever-nicer amenities and opportunities and "poor" districts increasingly struggle to make ends meet. The way Illinois relies on property taxes to fund schools is inherently unfair to lower-income residents.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Chicago Public Schools alleges in a lawsuit against the state that school-funding inequity is not only unfair, it's discriminatory and violates civil rights. A Cook County judge is expected to rule this week in the case, in which CPS argues the state discriminates against impoverished and minority students by contributing more money to teacher pensions in the suburbs and downstate than Chicago.

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CPS's nearly 300,000 students account for nearly 20 percent of the state's total enrollment yet Chicago schools receive just 15 percent of state funding  a $500 million annual discrepancy, CEO Forrest Claypool has said.

Rauner has proposed a property tax freeze, but offers no alternative funding source for schools and other tax bodies that rely on real estate taxes out of necessity.

I wish state leaders would propose a tax swap to address school funding inequity and allow plenty of opportunity for public debate about the plan. The problem has persisted for decades, so it would make sense to gather input and give people time to negotiate a fair compromise.

I think this week's campaign by school superintendents is an encouraging sign. Educators are raising awareness about state funding issues and encouraging members of the public to pressure state lawmakers and the governor to resolve the budget impasse and address school-funding inequality.

tslowik@tribpub.com

Twitter @tedslowik
Given the opportunity to question Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield), a group of seventh graders at Caruso Middle School peppered the congressman with many of the same queries he gets at meetings with adults.

Schneider spoke briefly and answered a string of questions before a crowd of more than 200 seventh grade students on April 11 at the school in Deerfield.

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"They asked questions like people would ask at a town hall," Schneider said after the talk. "Every question was a quality question. They were adult questions and they deserved adult answers."

One of those questioners wanted to know Schneider's opinion of the April 6 bombing of a Syrian airfield in response to that country's use of chemical weapons.

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Telling the students what he said after learning of the missile strike, he said he agreed with Trump's move but a comprehensive strategy approved by Congress is necessary. He went on to let them know he believes there are some things that are wrong even when people are at war.

"Chemical weapons, biological weapons and nuclear weapons should never be used," Schneider said.

Aidan Culver, a Caruso seventh grader, said he appreciated Schneider's willingness to talk openly to the students about subjects like Syria. He also liked the direct response.

"I was very impressed by his ability and knowledge," Culver said. "He said he was important to say what weapons should not be used."

During a telephone interview after the Caruso gathering, Schneider talked more about his views on the Syrian civil war. He said that country's president, Bashar al-Assad, cannot be part of a comprehensive resolution.

"I've said for a long time there is no military solution to the crisis in Syria," Schneider said. "There has to be a diplomatic solution. ISIL cannot be part of it. Al-Qaeda cannot be part of it and Assad cannot be part of it. We are dealing with issues that have been going on for centuries and I'm not sure the administration fully appreciates that."

Lior Tomer, a Caruso social studies teacher who organized the event, said he felt the students got adult treatment from Schneider when he answered their questions.

"He didn't dumb it down at all," Tomer said. "He gave adult level responses to their questions."

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One student asked Schneider about his feelings toward Trump. He said he was not for or against people. He said he was willing to work with anyone who supports ideas he thinks will help the American people.

"When the president says he wants to protect Social Security, Medicare and education I support that," Schneider said. "Every kid should have the opportunity for a quality education, not just here in Deerfield but everywhere."

Schneider also dispensed some advice to students who asked him the appropriate age for student political involvement. He said they should start emailing him, writing letters or calling his office now. He said they should communicate with him, their senators and Trump to let their views be known.

"It was really cool to hear him say that," Sam Gordon, another seventh grader, said. "He wants to listen to us."

Caruso was the first of four schools Schneider visited April 11. He also spoke to students at the Lake County High Schools Technology Campus in Grayslake about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, Gemini Jr. High School in Niles and the Israel Club at Deerfield High School.

Steve Sadin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Participating in a forum on education at Deerfields Christ United Methodist Church are (from left) Solomon Lieberman, the Better Government Associations director of digital strategy, Judy Miller of the League of Women Voters of Highland Park/Highwood, Janie Seiden representing the Greater Deerfield League of Women Voters and state Rep. Scott Drury (D-Highwood). (Steve Sadin / Pioneer Press)

Public education and how it is currently funded in Illinois was the central theme of an April 18 community forum in Deerfield.

The presentation was part of the We the People discussions sponsored by Christ United Methodist Church about how to become active and how to make your voice heard by decision makers, according to Pastor Brian Roots.

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Solomon Lieberman, the BGA's director of digital strategy, joined state Rep. Scott Drury (D-Highwood) and Donald Feinstein, the executive director of the Academy for Urban School Leadership, for a discussion about the need to properly fund public education, particularly in schools attended by under-resourced students.

During Drury's presentation he said the state has a constitutional mandate to fund public education but provides only 25 percent, with 10 percent coming from the federal government and the rest from local property taxes. The national average is 43 percent. He said distribution is also inequitable between wealthier and poorer school districts.

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"The districts with the greatest amount of poverty get the least amount of money," Drury said. "On average, the state's school districts with the greatest number of low-income students receive 20 percent less funding than wealthier districts. That's really crazy."

Lieberman said rural, downstate Beardstown spends approximately $7,800 per student while Lake Bluff School District 65 spends around $19,000. He said the formula needs revising.

After the panel discussion, Emily Watts, a Lake Forest resident who moved to the North Shore from Kentucky, said that state had a constitutional mandate to fund education just like Illinois. She said Kentucky got "comprehensive education reform" after a court ordered it. Lieberman said that approach can work.

"Change is possible through legal action," Lieberman said. "If the legislative branch (of government) is not working there is a judicial branch."

Though Drury did not comment on the suggestion of litigation, he said the funding issue can be solved if legislators will talk to each other to find common ground and forget about party labels. He said there is agreement on the value of education.

"If you educate a kid you give them opportunities to succeed," Drury said. "The (General) Assembly is a diverse group but they have all benefited from education. They come from all walks of life. There is no need to argue about that. We need to find the funding to educate our kids."

Drury said the problem comes when they start talking about other programs that must be cut to fund education or raising revenue through taxes or fees. He said the cost of not funding education is real too.

"With a good education the students get jobs, pay taxes to generate revenue (for the state) and spend money in their community," Drury said. "Without that, they can end up in jail. It costs between $36,000 and $37,000 a year to keep a person in jail. We can keep paying for that or we can find the money for early childhood education and for English language learners."

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During his presentation, Feinstein said education of all children whether they live in poverty laden areas or the wealthiest must go beyond high school to give young people a chance at a middle class lifestyle. Though he admitted public education is working on the North Shore, he said that is not the case in Chicago and other parts of the state.

"Public education is broken," Feinstein said. "Education is the path to the middle class and with (only) a high school education you're not going to get to the middle class."

He said a person with no education beyond high school can expect an annual income of $35,000 while someone with a degree has a potential income of $65,000.

Feinstein said strong leadership, skilled teachers, a good educational culture and climate, high academic standards and partnerships with groups outside the schools can improve public education.

"You need partnerships with community organizations, science, math, with everyone," Feinstein said.

Steve Sadin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
A proposed gun range and shop geared toward women that was shot down by the Elgin City Council is set for another discussion Wednesday.

The City Council plans to revisit the vote it took two weeks ago against measures that would have made way for the business to open at 780 S. McLean Blvd. in Elgin.

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City Council member Toby Shaw made a procedural move at the April 12 meeting to make it possible to reconsider the vote that blocked The Fox Valley Shooting Club. Shaw voted against the gun club so he voted with the majority, which allows him to ask for a reconsideration of the Council's action.

Carol Rauschenberger, John Prigge, Tish Powell and Mayor Dave Kaptain also voted against conditional use zoning, a text amendment and a map amendment for using 20,000-square-feet in the McLean Boulevard strip mall for The Fox Valley Shooting Club. The Council also was asked to modify city code so it would allow discharge of a weapon within city limits.

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Mark Glavin has plans to open The Fox Valley Shooting Club in a strip mall at the northwest corner of McLean Boulevard and College Green in Elgin. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)

Prigge, Rauschenberger, Powell and Kaptain said they voted against the measures because of the club's location.

Terry Gavin, Rose Martinez and John Steffen supported it. They said they felt the gun club was a suitable, legal use for the space and were impressed with Wayne resident Mark Glavin's plans for his business. Rich Dunne was absent from the meeting.

Shaw said he plans to vote for the measures on Wednesday.

"It's a valid business for the zoning. It's a conditional use," Shaw said Monday. "And it should provide a strong sales tax stream."

Dunne said he had heard from about 10 people, mostly through email, about the shooting club, with those messages evenly divided between those who favor and those who oppose the project.

"I'm listening to the discussion and am gathering all the facts for making my decision," Dunne said.

Prigge lost his bid for reelection earlier this month. Newcomer Dixon will be sworn into office Wednesday.

Dixon said he met with Glavin Friday to tour the building off the northwest corner of McLean and College Green where Glavin is planning to spend $4 million to $5 million to convert the space into the range and shop.

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"I am really impressed by the time and effort put into the project," Dixon said. "The plan is a good one."

Dixon said he studied the full breadth of the issues before deciding how he would vote Wednesday.

Dixon and the rest of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended in March that the council approve the moves needed for Glavin's business to open.

The City Council heard comments for and against the gun range from nearly 20 people during the audience comment portion of its previous meeting.

Those in favor of Glavin's plans welcomed a business that would teach gun safety and would help fill a retail area that holds quite a few vacancies. Nella's Beef owners John and Krista Meehan said the area could use some new businesses that would help their restaurant.

Those opposed included School District U46 officials and Jayne Shover Easter Seals staff and supporters who had issue with the proximity to a preschool and the Easter Seals facilities on the east side on McLean Boulevard.

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Some residents of a nearby subdivision spoke of possible noise, pollution and traffic issues. Glavin has promised to install equipment to address the noise and environmental concerns.

On April 12, Kaptain was unsuccessful in trying to table matters related to Glavin's business until state legislators acted on the pending Gun Dealer Licensing Act. Among the Act's provisions would be prohibiting any new gun shop or range within 500 feet of a school.

Based on a recent ruling, there are questions about whether the distance regulations would stand.

Chicago is in the midst of putting together its own regulations for where gun ranges could operate. In January, the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found key portions of Chicago rules regulating where gun ranges could be were unconstitutional. Among those were a provision ranges had to be more than 500 feet away from residences, schools, places of worship and a host of other places.

The main sponsor of the Illinois legislation is State Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park). Harmon said the distance requirement has not been a main point of discussion about the Act.

Harmon said the Act is not intended to impede the rights of gun owners, but to offer basic regulation of gun dealers in line with regulations already in place and required of other businesses.

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Glavin has said his plans for an indoor gun range and shop with a firearms training center were inspired by his wife and mother. From talking and shooting with them, Glavin thought a gun range where women felt comfortable would be a marketable idea.

After the measure was rejected and amid the uncertainty of what will happen, Glavin said he was still weighing his options for the business.

mdanahey@tribpub.com
Incensed about license plates: This is regarding the new license plates. I agree that they are hard to read. They should have left Abraham Lincoln in the center of the license plate instead of moving him to the left side. You can only see half of his face. That doesn't look too hot. They didn't have to put the Capitol building on the right side and the Sears Tower on the left side. Illinois is the Land of Lincoln. That's our logo. Put Honest Abe's picture in the center like it was before.

Take down those signs: Hey, candidates, the election is over. It's time to take your yard signs down.

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Advice for new mayor: Congratulations to Mr. Irvin on winning the election for mayor of Aurora. Here are a couple of things he might want to think about. First, quit buying all the old, empty buildings in downtown Aurora. Second, think about getting vehicle stickers. At $10 a pop, we'd make millions.

Too many details: In your paper the other day about the motorcycle accident, the reporter said the man was riding a 2017 Harley Davidson FLHTK Ultra Limited motorcycle. Since when do you describe the vehicle in detail like that? I don't understand. Why did the exact model have to be stated? Seems mighty strange to me.

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Town hall meeting misconceptions: Erin Hegarty of the Naperville Sun wrote an article about Bill Foster having a town hall meeting. The article referenced the fact that Republican Congress members refused to have a town hall meeting or would only meet with small groups at a time. I attended a Bill Foster town hall meeting four or five years ago. We were ushered into a hallway and given a card to write down three questions for Foster. We would be brought into the hall one at a time into another room for our town hall meeting. What goes around comes around.

New owner for eatery: Wow, here's a surprise for East Dundee. The winning bid for the caboose food business goes to a former village president of East Dundee. Isn't that amazing?

Election results: If Pat Hudgens is wondering why the Elgin Township Republicans lost, he should look into a mirror.

No excuses allowed: When an ordinary citizen is shot dead, the usual excuses are made for the shooter. He had an abusive childhood. He suffers from post-traumatic stress from his military service in Afghanistan. They also say there might have been a mistake in his arrest, and he gets off altogether. None of this will happen for the shooter of the Cook County judge. No excuses, no bail, no hope for ever being released under any circumstance.

No trust: I don't trust Trump to be cool in regards to North Korea.

Rumor has it: This is a question for the city of Elgin. There is a lot of talk around town from some businessmen on North Grove Avenue. Tell me if I'm wrong. They want to take that old, burned-down gas station across from the library on Grove and Kimball, and the state housing authority wants to build buildings from Kimball up to Cherry Street on that side of the street. It would be a disaster. We don't need any more of this stuff in Elgin. If the City Council wants it, you can kiss this town goodbye. They say it's only a rumor, but sometimes rumors become true.

Look in the book: All you evangelicals who hate immigrants should read Leviticus 19:34.

Lambasting Trump about bomb blast: People are complaining about the large bomb that was dropped in Afghanistan. They are saying that President Trump probably made money off it. It's a lot easier to drop a bomb than to send 1,000 troops in there to kill rebels. You would lose a lot of American lives. It's better to drop a bomb. Do the math.

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Perplexed about park district police: I'm agreeing with the caller about the unnecessary park district police. In addition to their salaries and pensions, how much of our tax money is going toward their vehicles, gasoline, insurance and vehicle maintenance? How much is being spent for all of the other support staff at park districts? The service needs to be privatized for far less cost.

Kudos to grocery store: I want to compliment Cermak Fresh Market on Lake and Indian Trails in Aurora. We had to run over there to get some stuff for our Easter dinner. The people were very kind. The manager took the time to give Easter baskets to children and senior citizens. How appreciative is that to customers who patronized their store. That's the way customers should be treated. They have delicious produce and delicious food.

Ruminating about referendum: I read The Courier-News editorial about the Kane County land purchase referendum. You pointed out that if the average person had a choice between a new grocery store and beauty shop over nice, pretty land, he or she would probably pick the land. Here's how that works. Everyone wants it until they get their house. If they get their house in the woods, then it's OK. But they don't want anyone else to have one. That's the way it works. You can't complain that expansion is happening when you're looking for a house but then turn around and say nobody else needs one. Give me a break.

Tax returns: I pay my taxes. What is Trump hiding?

Do the crime and serve the time: I see our former Gov. Blagojevich wants his sentence commuted because he has been good in prison. Fellow prisoners wrote letters to the judge asking for Blagojevich's early release. Isn't that nice, prisoners writing letters for the former governor? I hope he serves his whole time and doesn't get out until 2024.

Editor's note

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Speak Out is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you see something you disagree with or think is incorrect, call us at 312-222-2460 or email couriernews@tribpub.com. Please include "speak out" in the subject line.
Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation amending the states voter identification laws Monday, despite warnings it doesnt comply with a federal judges ruling.

Burgum signed House Bill 1369, his spokesman Mike Nowatzki said. It comes amid a federal lawsuit challenging changes made by the Republican-led Legislature in the past two sessions.

The bill allows those who dont bring a valid ID to the polls to cast a ballot thats set aside until they produce an ID. If an ID doesnt include required information or is out of date, a voter could use a current utility bill, bank statement, government-issued check, paycheck or government document to supplement the ID.

The right to vote is a powerful underpinning of American democracy, and this legislation protects that right while offering eligible citizens multiple and straightforward opportunities to legally cast their ballot, Burgum said in a statement. House Bill 1369 strengthens the integrity of our elections by ensuring all voters have proper identification while allowing those without current or complete forms of ID to provide supplemental documents to verify their eligibility.

Valid forms of ID under the bill are a drivers license or non-drivers ID card issued by the Department of Transportation or a tribal government-issued ID. It includes several options for those living in special circumstances, such as a long-term care facility.

Last year, a federal judge ruled previous changes to the states voter ID laws have placed an undue burden on Native Americans and others, adding that a safety net is needed for those voters who cannot obtain a qualifying ID with reasonable effort.

Tom Dickson, an attorney representing the tribal members in that case, previously said House Bill 1369 doesnt comply with the judges ruling.
Alderman Delores Holmes was honored April 21-23, 2017 as supporters wished her happy birthday and celebrated her upcoming retirement. She's pictured Sunday, April 23 at the retirement celebration held at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Communoity Center in Evanston. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)

Family, friends, constituents and more turned out this past weekend to give birthday greetings and retirement well-wishes to out-going 5th Ward Ald. Delores Holmes.

The festivities kicked off Friday with "An Unforgettable Night Birthday Celebration" held at the Gibbs-Morrison Cultural Center in the north suburb.

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In addition to celebrating her birthday that night, there was a dedication ceremony held where the newly-donated music studio was named in her honor. Northwestern University provided the recording studio to the city earlier this year.

The honors concluded Sunday with the "Holmes Is Where the Heart Is Retirement Celebration" at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center.

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"I'm overwhelmed, to be honest with you," Holmes said Sunday. "They made this weekend so special for me."

A group of 13 supporters, called the Yellow Ribbon Committee, organized the events. Planning for the parties started in February, committee members said.

The committee name, one organizer said, pays homage to the alderman's favorite color.

"It's great, we feel like she's served her community well," said Kim Holmes-Ross, the alderman's daughter and co-chair of the committee.

Brandy Mims-Baptiste was also co-chair.

"I've watched Alderman Holmes dedicate her life to Evanston, just making it a better place for everybody," Mims-Baptiste said. "She's (Holmes) very smart, she's very honest and she tries to help everybody."

Holmes decided not to seek reelection this year, after serving on the Evanston City Council since 2005.

She previously told the Evanston Review that she didn't have specific retirement plans, and was "open to where this new journey is going."

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She's stepping down from leadership of the ward in which she said she was born and raised.

Holmes wore a bright yellow spring suit Sunday that she accented with a yellow corsage. Her outfit matched with the decor at the retirement party.

"I'll tell you something really funny," Holmes said. "My daughter would not tell me who the 'Yellow Ribbon Committee' was so I didn't discover who they were until Friday night.

Holmes worked the room Sunday, greeting guests with hugs and laughter.

"To see cousins, women that I went to school with, people that have been in my lifeand here they all are doing this for me" made her feel loved, she said.

"And I love them back," the alderman said.

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Among the attendees Sunday was Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, who is also retiring. Like Holmes, she did not seek reelection this year.

"Delores is a brilliant alderman," said Tisdahl, who will join Holmes in leaving elected office in May.

"She understands public policy. She understands the ward and the city," said Tisdahl. "She has worked for 12 years to make all of our lives better and she has been successful."

Evanston police Chief Richard Eddington was also at the Sunday retirement party.

"She (Holmes) has been a stalwart supporter of the police department and at the same time, insisted on professional police service for the residents of her ward," Eddington said.

In addition to serving as alderman, Holmes said she was executive director of Family Focus of Evanston starting in 1976 and retired from there in 2002.

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She said she earned her bachelor's degree from Northeastern Illinois University and a master's degree from National Louis University (when it was located in Evanston).

Dino Robinson, founder of Shorefront, an Evanston organization that its website says "collects, preserves and educates people about Black history on Chicago's suburban north shore," announced that Holmes was selected to be honored in the organization's legacy exhibit.

"Shorefront is proud to add Delores Holmes to this collection," Robinson said.

Robin Rue Simmons will be sworn-in next month to succeed Holmes. She was at the retirement party and addressed the crowd.

"I plan to build on the great work that Alderman Holmes has done already, continuing to expand affordable housing and help empower families and make the 5th Ward as livable as the rest of Evanston," she said.

Holmes praised the alderman-elect and encouraged her to blaze her own ward leadership path.

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"I don't believe in replacing people so I don't think you have to come in to replace me," Holmes said. "You come in and do it the way that is best for you."

Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer.
Rev. Michael Nabors, right, of the Second Baptist Church in Evanston and President of the NAACP Evanston Branch, along with others, rallied in support of Evanston Public Library Adult Services librarian Lesley Williams at the Civic Center in Evanston, Thursday April 20, 2017. She is facing workplace disciplinary action. (Kevin Tanaka / Pioneer Press)

Dozens of supporters lined the hall outside the room where Evanston librarian Lesley Williams had a disciplinary hearing last Thursday, rallying on her behalf and decrying the workplace allegations she's facing.

"I'm thrilled so many people are interested," said Williams, 55, who has worked at Evanston Public Library for 21 years. "People who work with me, who are familiar with my work, are shocked that something that sounds like normal work stuff would be subject to this level of scrutiny."

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Williams, head of Adult Services at the library, said she is on paid administrative leave, ordered by library administrators as they consider disciplinary action in response to what has been called a "personnel matter."

While she said she could not go into specific details about the issue, Williams said she is accused of "gross incompetence, insubordination and not contributing to a healthy work environment."

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"There's disagreement on how I handled problems with two programs," Williams said, and some issues with "interpersonal communication."

Library Director Karen Danczak-Lyons did not respond to requests for comment.

Evanston City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said city staff, including library workers, could not talk about the allegations because they are considered a confidential personnel matter.

The disciplinary hearing was held at the Civic Center in Evanston and Williams supporters were there carrying signs, hugging her and offering her reassurances that they stood by her.

"We stand with Lesley," several of the placards read.

Williams said the community support is born out of, in part, the fact that she is the only African American librarian in a city where African American residents make up 20 percent of the population.

The library employs 23 librarians  18 full-time and five part-time  and serves an estimated over 600,000 patrons annually among its three branches, according to the EPL website.

"A lot of African Americans have felt they are not represented at the library," Williams said. "They have adopted me as one of their own who really represents them."

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Williams said her work as a librarian includes making sure children's books represent readers of color and recommending programs that might interest a more diverse audience, among other efforts.

The librarian said she expects a decision from the disciplinary hearing some time this week.

Possible actions against her could range from a verbal reprimand to a multi-day suspension, she said.

A diverse swath of supporters turned out Thursday for Williams' sake, including members of several church organizations, people from various racial and ethnic groups and participants and leaders of community organizations, including the local chapter of the NAACP.

Members of the Evanston group OPAL, the Organization for Positive Action and Leadership, wrote a letter to library board President Michael Tannen asking that Williams' allegations be dismissed.

"Ms. Williams has consistently provided programming that counters the traditional mainstream library offerings and intentionally includes most diverse subsets of the community. Her work has made a positive academic, social, and cultural impact upon the City of Evanston," the letter read.

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"Over the years, Ms. Williams has fought to increase the minimal listings of offerings among both the African American and Latino collections. We have supported her past efforts, because it decreases the marginalization of our community and promotes a better Evanston," the letter read.

It was signed by OPAL President Roger Williams (no relation to Lesley Williams).

Other supporters praised Williams' "leadership," her "representation for the black community" and for being "a fierce advocate for equitable distribution of library resources," according to a collective community organization statement.

The supporters included Michael Nabors, senior pastor at Second Baptist Church of Evanston and president of the Evanston/North Shore NAACP, and Dilnaz Waraich, board member at Open Communities at the Muslim Community Center of Morton Grove, among other friends and allies, according to the statement.

"Second Baptist Church Evanston and the Evanston/North Shore NAACP, along with many other groups, support Lesley Williams as a tireless advocate for social justice, human rights and civil rights," Nabors said, in the statement. "We stand with her because she is a member of the Evanston family. Justice demands that people of goodwill stand for justice."

gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com

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Twitter @GenevieveBook
Advanced Placement has traditionally offered a fast road for some students looking to get a jump taking the exams to gain college credit and placement in college courses.

But some others, a sizable number, have never considered that option  something a new program in Leyden schools is showing promise of reversing.

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At the April 13 Leyden High School District 212 Board meeting, assistant principals Jason Cummins and Karen Ritter presented efforts the district is making to reach out to students who traditionally have not taken AP courses.

The district has teamed with Equal Opportunity Schools on the program. Nonprofit group EOS has joined with schools throughout the country, seeking to close the race and income gap for students who are qualified for advanced courses but are not enrolled in them every year.

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"For many years and in many schools, still, those who get to take AP classes are ones who meet certain criteria, have certain test scores, have certain GPAs," said Ritter, the assistant principal for teaching and learning at East Leyden, addressing the board. "We've always had an open door policy here, but in order to achieve real equity and access we've noticed there some areas and some missed opportunities for some of our kids."

As a first step, working with EOS, the program looked at the makeup of students currently taking AP. At East Leyden, for instance, the report showed 74 "missing students" from the 378 total students enrolled in the program. Students in that category "may have comparable test scores," and other attributes but were for some reason missing from AP classes, Ritter said.

The report also showed gaps between medium- and high-income and low-income students, as well between white and Asian and Hispanic/Latino and Black/African-American students.

Based on the data, EOS provided a target number of students at each campus for the program to reach out and encourage to take AP for the following year, when students decide what courses they're going to select, said Cummins, the assistant principal for teaching and learning at West Leyden.

Many of the students in that group aren't taking the courses because of "not knowing" that they're able to take those type of courses, "they don't have an adult to encourage them to take those type of courses," Cummins said.

Some of the barriers students identified in "insight cards" they were asked to fill out identified additional reasons, including "no student support at home, no teacher support at school, I didn't know I was qualified to take an AP course."

To reverse those attitudes, the program employs on each campus "what we call an equity team that is comprised of administrators, teachers and counselors," Cummins said.

The group meets frequently, looking at the insight cards EOS supplies to make recommendations to the students in January when it's time for them to select courses.

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Through the process, "we've learned a lot just about the way we do things  our policies and procedures and what we can do to change things to make it more accessible for kids," said Ritter.

For example, they learned that "the message about AP was only pretty much being given to kids in honor classes," she said. "So kids in other classes didn't know that AP was an option for them; they hadn't heard it from anybody. Now with our counselors and the framework that they're using, they're making sure that all kids get the same message, no matter what class they're in."

The thrust of the program is not to push everybody into AP, Ritter stressed. Rather, she said, the program just wants to make students aware of the opportunity.

Recent survey information indicates the effort is having an effect. For instance, in the first survey, Hispanics made up 78 percent of West Leyden but only 47 percent were represented in the AP program.

Based on enrollment this year, Hispanics make up 81 percent of West Leyden, but now the AP program consists of 75 percent Hispanic students.

"So that's just one example of a gap that is closing," Cummins said.

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Leyden's teaming up with EOS has prompted calls from superintendents, said District 212 Superintendent Nick Polyak. Polyak said EOS's goal to change students trajectories is on the mark in this case.

"Younger brothers and sisters will see their older brother or sister taking AP courses," he said. "That changes the expectations in the household, and it's going to have a generational impact, " just by the nature of the work.
Officials from Franklin Park and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning will present a comprehensive plan for the village to residents April 27 at the Franklin Park Police Station, 9451 West Belmont Ave.

The 100-plus-page document spells out a vision for Franklin Park's future and identifies strategies for achieving long-term goals. The meeting will give community members an opportunity to offer feedback and ask questions and is the latest step in a years-long process to draft a holistic development plan for the village.

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"We're thinking through this process. It is not just dreams but things that can actually happen," John Schneider, Franklin Park's Director of Community Development, said April 21. "This is a good tool for us."

The document emphasizes continued infrastructure development, including street surfaces, bike lanes and sewers. The document calls a local bike network a "key objective." There are also recommendations for streamlining village zoning ordinances and improving intergovernmental and interagency collaboration.

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"The village cannot be the sole implementer of plan recommendations," the document reads. "Therefore, collaborating and communicating with regional and state agencies, not-for-profit groups, other municipalities and private-sector organizations is integral to implementation."

John Carlisle, a CMAP project manager, concurred and mentioned that CMAP can help Franklin Park navigate those complex relationships and secure permission for projects that require outside authorization.

"That is always true in local planning," Carlisle said, referring to securing approval from outside agencies and governments, like the Illinois Department of Transportation. "That is one headwind to doing local planning efforts. We have relationships with those agencies."

Franklin Park is one of dozens of communities participating in CMAP's Local Technical Assistance program. If a community is accepted, the program, first started in 2010 and funded by several federal and state agencies, offers towns a low-cost way to plan for future projects.

Franklin Park's previous comprehensive plan is more than a decade old, Schneider said. For this new plan, Schneider said village officials challenged CMAP to produce a document that goes beyond planning and is really an "implementation vehicle."

Carlisle, the CMAP planner, said he has been satisfied with the community's involvement so far.

The project first began in 2015 and the process has included public meetings and focus groups with seniors, high school students and local businesses. Franklin Park, Carlisle said, has several distinct advantages, including its geographic location, local industries and closeness to transportation hubs.

"The community has a lot of pride, actually, in a small-town feel while being right next to a big city and a world-class airport," Carlisle said. "They want to figure out how to leverage all that."

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But Carlisle did add Franklin Park has challenges, too, including flood control. The Des Plaines River abuts the community's eastern border.

"That's not unique to Franklin Park. There's a lot of communities dealing with that threat," Carlisle said April 21. "They are definitely on board, first and foremost, with educating their community on what things they can do."

Indeed, flood mitigation is mentioned several times in the document and includes recommendations for more green infrastructure and public outreach and education initiatives.

Carlisle said he does not expect the document to change significantly before it heads to village's board of trustees for final approval later this year.

Still Schneider and Carlisle both encouraged residents to attend the April 27 meeting,

"People are seeing there's a lot of exciting and new things happening in Franklin Park," Schneider said. "This is a road map for the kind of things the village is looking at doing. They can learn what's taking place, what's going in their town. They can offer recommendations."

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Thomas Vogel is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Julie and Mark Filler couldn't find a program that was able to change the course of their son's heroin addiction.

Jordan Filler died three years ago at the age of 23 of a heroin overdose in Utah shortly after his release from a six-month residential treatment program. Neither the best psychiatrists and psychologists, nor a succession of out-of-state recovery programs could change his path.

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The Fillers are hoping to address shortcomings in treatment options with a $1 million gift to the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The donation from the Jordan Michael Filler Foundation will be used to create the region's first substance abuse program for teens and youth embedded within a medical setting, according to the hospital.

"We tried absolutely everything, and Jordan would say the model they're using doesn't work with me," Julie Filler of Highland Park recalled. "He'd say, 'You can put me in a box and I'm clean, and the minute I come home I am going to be in trouble.'"

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Jordan showed signs of emotional trouble for years before he started using drugs, and an earlier diagnosis may have headed off his heroin addiction, family members say.

"We had a kid who was struggling inside," his mother recalled. "I brought him to a child psychiatrist but he missed it. He saw it more as kids will be kids, he'll grow out of it, and he put him on an anti-depressant."

Dr. Robert Garofalo, head of Lurie Children's Division of Adolescent Medicine, said substance abuse treatment for adolescents often occurs in a residential or inpatient program.

"At that point, the horse has already left the barn," Garofalo said. "Our hope is that by providing services within a primary care model that we can hopefully attack this at earlier stages of substance use, or identify young people who are at risk of alcohol or substance use."

Garofalo said the program will bring together mental health clinicians and pediatricians with expertise in adolescent medicine.

"The Fillers, to put it mildly, have been through hell and back," the physician said. "I think they really have a vision for the type of services that might have helped their son or children like him. The million-dollar gift really allows us to take a step back with the Fillers and think through what a comprehensive program looks like that is going to help kids that traditionally fall through the cracks."

Garofalo said they plan to hire a physician with specialized training in substance abuse who will start in September, and a psychologist who will do both clinical work and academic research. The program, which is expected to open in 2018, will include parent support groups and peer-led groups.

"Ten to 20 years from now, hopefully, these types of programs will be fairly commonplace," Garofalo said. "I think it has the capacity to be a game changer for families whose adolescent children might otherwise fall through the cracks."

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The Fillers believe the new Lurie model might have made a difference in Jordan's case.

"At Lurie there will not be this disconnect," said Julie Filler. "For Jordan, we would find out who is the best psychologist, who is the best psychiatrist, but they didn't talk to each other so we didn't have a team."

Once he turned 18, the family wouldn't know if he was keeping appointments because of privacy laws. "So we had absolutely no idea what was going on," she said.

Mark Filler said the rehab centers did not use medication-assisted therapy to reduce cravings and block opiate receptors in the brain to reduce the effects of getting high.

"To me, this is a disease and you need to deal with the medical part of it," Mark Filler said. "I am a firm believer in some of these medication-assisted treatments like buprenorphine, Suboxone or Vivitrol."

The latter drug is a long-lasting injection that eliminates the day-to-day decisions of whether to use or stay clean. "If you are not going to feel the high anyway, why get high?" he asked.

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Julie Filler believes Jordan was born without the ability to "self-soothe" or feel better on his own after the slightest hurts, disappointments or setbacks.

"Sending a child away doesn't fix the problem," she said.

The programs would teach Jordan new coping strategies and communication skills but did not teach the family new skills for dealing with Jordan.

"I never really realized that until Jordan died," she said. "I would have liked to have taken tremendous amounts of pressure off of him. Would that have worked? I don't know. I truly believe he was born different."

Jordan's death in January of 2014 came when his family least expected it. The fatal overdose occurred a few weeks after his release from a residential treatment center in Utah, where family members thought he'd been a model patient during his six-month stay. They later learned he'd been discharged early after being caught using illegal steroids.

The family also would later learn that Jordan also had overdosed just 34 hours after his release. But that time, a friend called 911 and paramedics were able to administer the reversal drug Naloxone in time to save his life. Shortly before leaving home in July of 2013 for rehab, Jordan had remarked that he did not think he would live to see 30, his family said.

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The Filler Foundation has funded the purchase of Naloxone, an overdose reversal drug, for Lake County police departments so all first responders are equipped with the life-saving drug.

kberkowitz@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @KarenABerkowitz
Tossing around questions such as how hard is it to fast during Ramadan, what is the hijab and what is the Holy Trinity, students from the Muslim and Catholic faiths had the chance to get to know each other and gain a better understanding of their religions and cultures.

Students from Aqsa, an all girls Islamic school in Bridgeview, traveled to Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park Tuesdayto engage in conversation.

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"We believe open dialogue leads to understanding and that's more important than ever," said Jeanne Paliatka, chairman of the English department at Nazareth, explaining one reason the two schools have held the gathering for the last seven years.

Tammie Ismail, principal of Aqsa, greeted the students with an Arabic phrase that she explained translates to "Peace be on you."

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Students from Aqsa School in Bridgeview met with students from Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park to discuss and learn about their different religions. (Annemarie Mannion / Pioneer Press)

She then went on to outline basic tenants of the Islamic religion.

"The very core of our belief is in the oneness of God. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth and is worthy of our worship," she said.

She also cleared up some common misconceptions that many may have about the religion, including that most followers are from the Middle East. In fact, she said, only 20 percent of Muslims are from the Middle East. She also said there are about 3.3 million Muslims in the United States.

Following the introductory remarks, the students broke into small groups scattered across the gymnasium floor.

"I was a little bit iffy about coming here. I was a little bit scared," said Lanyan Abdelhal, 16, of the Aqsa school.

Students met in small groups at Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park to discuss the Catholic and Muslim religions. (Annemarie Mannion / Pioneer Press)

The reason, she said, wasn't about meeting students of a different religion, but about being sure to convey accurate information about her culture and religion.

The group she was with wanted to know about the challenge of fasting during Ramadan and about dating.

Abdelhal and another Aqsa student, Malaak Yehya, 16, told the group that dating within their faith has more of an intent of possibly leading to marriage. That doesn't mean it always does.

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"A lot of people get engaged, but if they think it isn't right they break it off," Abdelhal said.

Responding to a question from Yehya about the Holy Trinity, Fallon Corcoran, 17, a Nazareth senior from Hinsdale, explained that all parts of the Trinity are separate, but part of the whole.

"She kind of explained to me that it's like pizza," said Yehya with a laugh. "That you have the bread, the sauce and the meat and they are all separate, but they are all really one."

Students Nada Abdallah (left) and Sarah Salaneh discuss their Muslim faith. (Annemarie Mannion / Pioneer Press)

Corcoran enjoyed meeting the Aqsa students and the discussion.

"It was very open," she said. "I wasn't expecting it to be so relatable. These girls are our age. I was able to connect with them."

Jon Paul Jurasas, a teacher at Nazareth, said the exchange is about opening students' minds.

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"They get to learn about other people  people who live very near to the communities where they live," he said. "We believe it's an opportunity to expand their boundaries and understanding of other people and how they live."

For the first time in the years that the two schools have held the exchange, Ismail said this year she felt it necessary to add a warning to her opening remarks.

"Islamaphobia is a real term and the effects of it are real," she said.

Muslim students visit Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park. (Annemarie Mannion / Pioneer Press)

She urged students "to be aware of hate speech. Even in its subtle forms, it can be devastating," she said.

Dania Odeh, a senior at Aqsa from Palos Park, was happy to be part of the exchange.

"I'm honored to share the beautiful parts of our religion and to learn about theirs too," she said.

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Principal Tammie Ismail of Aqsa School, explains points of the Muslim religion. (Annemarie Mannion / Pioneer Press)

amannion@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @triblocalam
Big Hollow Middle School in Ingleside has improved its finances and has been given the go to hire a few new faculty members to help create a smaller population of students in classrooms. (Mark Kodiak Ukena / Lake County News-Sun)

After years of hunting for cuts and cost savings, Big Hollow District 38 is planning to hire five new teachers next year, with the goal of lowering class sizes and bringing it closer in line with area averages, its superintendent said.

Last school year was the first year in a while that the 1,800-student elementary school district in Ingleside had a balanced budget, something that helped push the district out of financial watch status, according to Superintendent Bob Gold.

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The Illinois State Board of Education assigned every school district in the state a financial profile based on debt level, cash reverses and spending compared with a district's revenues from the previous budget year.

Big Hollow's budget improvement was the result of cuts to staff, including teaching positions, the business manager and a maintenance supervisor, as well as going after as much state and federal money as possible, said Gold, who took over the district's leadership in August 2015.

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A boost in state funding  the result of property values falling while enrollment increased  also helped, he said.

With Big Hollow's bump up to the second-lowest financial category, Lake County has only one school district remaining in its lowest category: Millburn District 24.

On the whole, Lake County's 45 school districts were in good shape, with nearly 96 percent of districts in the top two categories, up from 93 percent the year before. Statewide, 92 percent of school districts fell into the top two categories.

However, several Lake County school district officials raised concerns last week about whether they can continue to hold their districts' finances together.

While the State of Illinois has been paying districts their general state aid on a regular schedule this school year, districts have not received any of the other payments they're supposed to get to help cover special education, transportation and other specific costs, officials said.

The financial rankings are hiding "the lost opportunity, the suffering, the extraordinary heartache" of less state funding, state Superintendent Tony Smith told the Illinois State Board of Education when the financial profiles were released earlier this month.

"It is very simple to balance a budget in a school district," said Robert Wolfe, ISBE's chief financial officer. "It is very difficult to have a balanced budget and provide services for the children that they require and need to be career ready, successful in life and college ready."

A rising amount of debt taken on by school districts  a total of $453 million, about $145 million more than districts took out the previous year  is also a potential concern, Wolfe said. Borrowing for specific reasons with a plan isn't a bad thing, but borrowing to maintain programming is an issue, he said.

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Waukegan District 60 is one of those districts where a good financial profile can hide financial stress. The district's ranking, when adjusted for late state payments, rose to the highest level this year from the second-lowest category the year before.

Part of the reason for the big jump was a $7 million federally subsidized loan that is padding the district's reserves, said Gwendolyn Polk, the district's associate superintendent of business and financial services. Once those dollars are spent on their intended capital-improvement projects, the district could see its financial ranking return to a slightly lower level.

The 16,800-student district will still be in a good state, the result of new budget tactics, Polk said. Instead of basing department budgets on the previous year's level, everything is zeroed out and priorities are discussed.

The district also has been cutting off unapproved spending around the spring, she said. The idea is to make sure spending is "really thought out and supported" by requiring employees to talk to the superintendent and get the spending approved.

But Polk's assessment of the district's finances doesn't mean she thinks state funding is adequate or equitable.

Whenever district officials get the opportunity to testify to the Illinois General Assembly about education funding, they talk about the disparity between school districts, how poverty is calculated and the high cost of educating students who don't speak English at home and those who require special education services, she said.

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Polk said she'd like to see other factors considered when the state calculates how much school districts get in general state aid.

Gurnee District 56 and Warren Township High School District 121 were the only two school districts in Lake County to see their financial rankings fall this year, both from the highest ranking to the second-highest.

Missing state payments are a big part of the problem, Gurnee Superintendent John Hutton said.

The 2,100-student district has been able to dip into its healthy reserves to weather the storm and cover its expenses, which are mostly tied up in salaries and benefits, Hutton said, adding that the district has "never been extravagant about spending."

"But when you're promised X numbers of dollars, but you don't receive it, it's hard to make your budget work," he said.

Some planned retirements for the next school year will help district officials lower costs an estimated $300,000 to $400,000, but in the meantime, they'll "keep our finger in the hole in the dam for another year" and plan even more conservative budgets, Hutton said.

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While Millburn District 24 remained in the lowest financial ranking category for its 10th straight year, it's on track to move up by 2020 when its bonds start to be paid off, Superintendent Jason Lind said.

The district "is in a very fragile position financially," relying heavily on residential property taxpayers and general state aid, he said.

Lind worries that the missing state payments could continue or that Gov. Bruce Rauner could get his wish for a property tax freeze, both of which could prevent the district from keeping its financial recovery going.

"I understand the nice, political, warm feeling that the tax-freeze will provide for any politicians who support it, but I don't see how that solves any of the state's financial woes," he said. "A local freeze does not add any stability to state finances. It does, however, further jeopardize the stability of local finances for schools, police, fire and other local services. "

Gurnee's Hutton questioned whether it made sense to shift to a system that was less reliant on local taxes and more reliant on state funding when the legislature hasn't managed to pass a budget in nearly two full years.

The only way a change to the funding formula would work is if the state came up with more money, he said. Asking districts like Gurnee to give up money when they don't have extra doesn't make sense, he said.

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"My goal is predictability, stability," Lind said. "I know there's talk of changing the funding formula, but I don't think it will make a difference if you don't fully fund it."

That's what Big Hollow's Gold wants too: "I just want them to be consistent, so we know what we're going to get as we're doing the budgeting. We're just guessing a lot of the time."

emcoleman@tribpub.com

Twitter @mekcoleman
The Illinois Economic Policy Institute has released the results of a poll taken in February that found 66 percent of Lake County registered voters supporting the construction of Route 53 along what is now mostly a vacant corridor of land. (Dan Moran / Lake County News-Sun)

Stick with me on this for a minute  I'm about to make an observation on the Route 53 controversy using a quote from "Smokey and the Bandit."

Don't roll your eyes too high. You know you've enjoyed watching Burt Reynolds and Sally Field cracking wise while roaring across the South in a big-boss 1977 Trans Am at least once in your lifetime, if not for 20 minutes or so every other week on AMC or CMT. And don't pretend that "Eastbound and Down" by Jerry Reed isn't one of the greatest road-trip songs of all time.

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Anyway, there's a quiet scene in that loud movie where Burt and Sally try to bond despite having almost nothing in common. She asks if he knows "A Chorus Line" or Elton John. He counters with Richard Petty and Waylon Jennings.

When they realize they're from opposite ends of Americana, Burt says, "When you tell somebody something, it depends on what part of the United States you're standing in as to just how dumb you are."

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So here's my observation, and it's not a daring one: How a Lake County resident feels about the proposed Route 53/120 extension from Lake Cook Road to Grayslake and beyond depends on what part of Lake County they're standing in. Or, more precisely, what part they're driving in.

My observation over a quarter-century of following this half-century-old issue is that, generally speaking, the farther away people live from the roadway's would-be corridor, the more in favor they are of having it built. These are people who have to navigate Route 60/83 and/or Midlothian Road and/or Route 12 if they need to work or recreate in or past the Woodfield metropolitan area.

Conversely, the closer someone's home or community is to what is now a corridor of unmowed grass, the more opposed they are to having thousands of salt-spraying cars passing through on a new roadway.

There are, obviously, exceptions to both scenarios. I've met advocates that include gridlocked commuters from Mundelein, which is directly bisected by the proposed path, and I've spoken with opponents that include fans of the environment who hail from Waukegan, which arguably would benefit in some ways from improved Route 120 access to western Lake County.

As with the polarization of American politics, it can be hard to get a read on exactly what people believe outside of those trapped in their bubbles  but, when it comes to Route 53, the debate gained new fuel for the fire last week with the release of a poll conducted on behalf of the Illinois Economic Policy Institute.

According to the published results of the survey  which, according to the institute, was conducted via cell phone and landline from Feb. 15-21 by the Washington, D.C.-based polling firm Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, and involved around 330 Lake County registered voters  66 percent of respondents expressed support for the project, with 18 percent opposed.

Additional findings included 76 percent of respondents agreeing that "extending Route 53 will alleviate traffic congestion in Lake County"; 60 percent saying they would use the roadway monthly; and, of 39 percent that reported they might use the roadway daily, 87 percent were in favor of its construction, which reflects my aforementioned observation.

It is important to note that the Illinois Economic Policy Institute does not appear to be a disinterested player. Along with having a mission statement that highlights a focus on "major subjects affecting the economies of Illinois and the Midwest, specializing in the construction industry," the nonprofit institute released the results with an analysis titled "In Support of Route 53/120."

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"The proposed Route 53/120 extension project will bring jobs to Lake County and improve overall transportation movements for residents by alleviating traffic congestion," reads a passage from the executive summary. "While the project has been surrounded by the controversy of dividing existing communities and imposing added costs onto Lake County residents, construction of the Route 53/120 extension will actually provide a net benefit to the local economy and improve the quality of life for Lake County residents."

It was observed in this space last week that opponents of the Route 53/120 proposal had filled something of a lull in the debate. This new volley from the advocate side of the divide demonstrates that the argument isn't over, but don't expect this 66-percent polling figure to settle anything.

You might recall that Lake County voters were once asked to answer the following via a non-binding referendum: "Shall the State of Illinois construct the extension of Illinois Route 53 from Lake Cook Road northerly to the existing Illinois Route 120?" Nearly 76 percent of 84,200 voters said yes.

That was eight suddenly long years ago this month. Not much, if anything, has been settled since.

Speaking of time sneaking up on us, "Smokey and The Bandit" was released in theaters 40 years ago this spring. Not quite as long ago as people started arguing about Route 53, but still.

danmoran@tribpub.com

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The Lake Forest City Council approved bids on April 17 to engineer and construct a new filter system for the city's water plant.

JJ Henderson and Son will handle construction at a cost of $8.8 million over the next two years, with completion expected by the second quarter of 2019, according to documents on the city website.

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Strand Associates will do construction engineering, at a cost of $570,000, according to city documents. The total cost of the project, which includes a contingency fee of $441,000, is $9.8 million, according to city documents.

The project has its roots in a May 2014 letter from a filter manufacturer in France named Aquasource, according to city documents. The letter said Aquasource would no longer manufacture the 18-inch diameter water filters it had supplied to Lake Forest since April 2004, said Mike Thomas, director of Public Works.

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"They were the only ones with 18-inch filters," Thomas said. "Today the standard is 10-inch."

City staff considered buying water from neighboring communities and privatizing its water plant before deciding that refitting its water plant was the best option, according to city documents.

The new 10-inch filters will allow the city to filter and pump up to 14 million gallons a day, Thomas said. The plant can currently filter and process up to 6 million gallons per day, he said. That increase could be useful, Thomas said.

"We might go from two to three million gallons a day in February to  if you take us to a drought situation in July or August  11 million gallons per day or more," Thomas said.

The city will issue $9.45 million in bonds, with the remainder of the project being paid from the water capital fund, said Elizabeth Holleb, director of finance. The city will go out for bid on bonds on May 15, she said.

Holleb said the city will have paid off an existing bond in fiscal 2024 and the upcoming bond issue for the water plant would take its place. Until 2024, the city will pay only interest on the upcoming bond issue, Holleb said, and begin paying principal in 2024.

"We think the impact will be minimal," said Holleb.

The water plant was privately built in 1891 and purchased by the city in 1921, Thomas said.

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mlawton@pioneerlocal.com

@reporterdude
One of the farm families featured in the new Naper Settlement exhibit on the area's agricultural roots is the Gregory family, which owned a 400-acre farm that is now the Fox Valley Mall. (Handout / Naper Settlement)

At one time cows outnumbered residents in Naperville, a bucolic bygone era explored in a new exhibit at the Naper Settlement.

Community Roots: Agriculture in Naperville, on view through Oct. 8 in the gallery of the Pre-Emption House, explores how the agrarian lifestyle shaped everything from the city's landscape to its local economy.

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"Agriculture is a very important part of the community's story," said Jennifer Bridge, Naper Settlement's curator of exhibits and interpretation. "Although Naperville isn't a heavily agricultural producing area any more, it doesn't mean that the city doesn't have connections to agriculture."

Bridge said exhibit will give visitors a better understanding of how significant farming was in the area  there were just 12,933 residents in Naperville in 1040  how it helped to create what is now Naperville and how the business of farming still has its roots here today.

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One of the farm families featured in the exhibit is the Gregory family, which owned a 400-acre farm that is now the Fox Valley Mall on Route 59.

On view are Larry Gregory's 4-H electricity projects from 1947 and 1948, where he laid out the plans for wiring farm houses after World War II.

"After Larry graduated from college, his father told him to make up his mind: Either become a farmer or an electrician," said Char Gregory, Larry Gregory's wife. "Let me tell you, you can take the boy out of the farm, but never the farm out of the boy. He was dedicated to farms, and he would do anything to help a farmer work more efficiently."

Larry Gregory became the founder and chairman of Gregory Electric Inc. in Naperville and made it a priority to help farmers power labor-saving devices, such as electric milking machines, or wiring many of their houses and barns.

Eventually the exhibition move into Naper Settlement's Agricultural Interpretive Center, which is still in the planning stages. The proposed 5,000-square-foot center will feature virtual technology, hands-on programming and interactive exhibits to share stories of area farming families and teach the business and science of modern-day farming.

The exhibit is free with daily museum admission, which is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors ages 62 and older, and $8 for ages 4 to 12. Naperville residents (with proof of residency) and members receive free admission.

For more information, visit www.napersettlement.org or call 630-420-6010.
The marquee outside Longwood Elementary School in Naperville urges parents to lobby their legislators to pass a state budget. (Suzanne Baker / Naperville Sun)

Fearing the ramifications if Illinois continues with no budget, Naperville school districts are urging parents to lobby their legislators to take action immediately.

More than 400 Illinois school superintendents and educators, including Dan Bridges of Naperville School District 203 and Karen Sullivan of Indian Prairie District 204, signed onto a statewide grassroots campaign  "Pass Illinois' Budget"  aimed at getting schools equitably and adequately funded.

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"We stand in solidarity with school districts across the state in support of a budget that values our public school system and enables us to continue to provide quality education to all students," Bridges said.

Spearheaded by Indian Prairie, Elgin District U46, West Aurora District 129 and downstate Sandoval District 501, "Pass Illinois' Budget" calls on legislators and the governor to end the state budget impasse, pay school districts what they are owed this year, and improve the education-funding formula.

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Indian Prairie's superintendent spread the word of her intentions through an email burst as well as social media outlets like Twitter, where the hashtags #PassILBudget and #PassIllinoisBudget were trending throughout Monday. Similar messages were heralded on marquees outside schools like Longwood Elementary in Naperville to alert residents who might not have children in the school system.

Sullivan said she's surprised how the coalition united school districts from all ends of the funding spectrum, including wealthy, middle-class and poor districts.

"We're all feeling fairly frustrated about the budget impasse. All we're asking is for our legislators to do your job and figure it out," she said.

Sullivan said many superintendents believe students are being used as leverage.

"That is not OK. There are school districts in Illinois that won't be able to open in the fall if this cannot be resolved," she said.

School districts have been able to operate this year, relying on local property taxes and general state aid, which the state has been paying on time. But it has not funded any mandates for special education, bilingual education, transportation, and breakfast and lunch programs, with the exception of one late quarter payment from last fiscal year.

District 203 and District 204 are owed more than $24 million.

State officials have indicated one categorical payment, typically administered quarterly, could come by the end of this month, though many superintendents aren't holding their breath.

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"While Illinois public schools have benefited from a partially-funded state budget, our schools, students, families, and communities will continue to suffer without a full state budget," said Sullivan in her letter to parents. "To date, the state owes District 204 $15.7 million in those mandated categoricals, and there is no state budget on the table for approval."

Sullivan said the state likely won't act until people rise up and make their voices heard.

"Apparently people aren't mad enough yet," she said.

Democratic Sen. Linda Holmes, who represents portions of District 204, said the lobbying effort was worthwhile. During a town hall in Aurora last week, Holmes said there can be no changes in the way schools are funded without a state budget, and blamed Republicans for the impasse.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has said the Democratic House leadership is behind the lack of progress.

Holmes said Monday she was "upset" and "concerned" about the budget, citing debt piling up. She said it would take a bipartisan effort to pass a budget.

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"We somehow need to get the governor willing to work with us and listen and willing to pass anything," she said.

subaker@tribpub.com

Twitter @SBakerSun1
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Samantha Petkofski of Niles, from left, Jaelah Hicks of Roselle, Kiasee Ray of Chicago, Hannah Gard of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Ashlynn Hill of Lake in the Hills, all of Dominican's 2017 Apparel Class, during the March 31 dress rehearsal (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
Wearing an apron, Ed Yakush of Leyden Township, chef, is thanked by, from left, Carol Valentino-Barry, Ridgewood High School's director of communications and community outreach, James Bollman of St. Charles and Carol Bollman of Schaumburg. On far right is Brian Joseph of Chicago. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)

An estimated $3,500 was generated April 23 at a Franklin Park pancake breakfast fundraiser to help rebuild a shattered memorial located in the interior open-air west courtyard at Ridgewood High School in Norridge.

Less than a year after the Killed in Action memorial was installed, the glass section broke. The dark base is still in place with names inscribed with three deceased Ridgewood High School students.

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"Rebuilding the Killed in Action memorial is an opportunity to bring this back to the forefront of our consciousness," said Carol Valentino-Barry, Ridgewood High School's director of communications and community outreach.

The memorial was created in honor of Donald Warren Bollman (Class of 1964), Neil Joseph Cacciottolo (Class of 1965) and James Chris Shukas (Class of 1966), who were killed in action during the Vietnam War.

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From left Anthony J. Siciliano, American Legion Post No. 974 post agent, Myron Petrakis of Hoffman Estates, formerly of Norridge and far right, Carl Cassata, Ridgewood High School Class of 1966 graduate, do their part at the raffle cage. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)

"We're rebuilding it," Valentino-Barry said, estimating $5,000 to $10,000 is needed, using plans by an architect, metal and glass experts plus artist James Hribar of the Ridgewood High School class of 1966. "This is round two, and hopefully it gets a higher profile for understanding what these young boys did for our school, for our nation and for our world."

The four-hour breakfast event took place at the American Legion Post No. 974.

"This is what we do," said Anthony J. Siciliano of Chicago, senior vice commander of the first division of the American Legion Cook County Council and building manager/post agent for the American Legion Post 974.

"We help our fellow veterans," said Siciliano, who offered the idea of pancake breakfast fundraisers, one when the memorial was launched and now for the repair.

Siciliano said fellow veterans were crushed when they learned the memorial's glass, which was illuminated at night, had cracked.

From left, Eugene Gort of Schiller Park and Keith Radnitzer of Des Plaines staff the kitchen. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)

"Everything broke our heart about it," he said. "No matter what the damage was, what caused it, what created it, it just took this whole thing down. We feel such an active part of it because the good 90 percent plus of us are Vietnam veterans and to do this in honor of three of our brothers  it was indeed heartbreaking and heart-wrenching."

Myron Petrakis, a former Norridge resident of nearly 60 years and a retired mechanical engineer, served on the KIA Memorial steering committee.

"I'm happy that we got this far. I'm sad to see it happening, complicating our efforts, but it'll get fixed," said Petrakis, of Hoffman Estates.

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The breakfast, which cost $10, included a chance to win Chicago Cubs tickets.

Ed Yakush of Leyden Township, a cook, estimated that 40 dozen eggs, 300 pancakes, 30 pounds of sausage and 30 pounds of bacon were prepared.

"Hey, they gave their life," he said, of why he volunteered over a hot cooktop.

Attending the breakfast were members of the Donald Warren Bollman family. The Bollman family resided in Norridge on Osceola Avenue between Belle Plaine and Berteau Avenues. Max and Harriet Bollman were the parents of Harold, Richard, Jo-ann, Norman, Donald, James and Carol.

Carol Bollman remembers when her family learned that Donald was killed.

"I'm going to start crying," Carol Bollman said. "It was a car that came to the house, a dark, gray car. I remember them ringing the doorbell. They told [her mother] that my brother Donald was killed," she said. "I remember my mother kind of went down on her knees."

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Carol Bollman was 16 and attended Ridgewood High School.

Of the KIA Memorial breakage, Carol Bollman said, "We're saddened by that, but I'm glad that it wasn't something somebody did [like vandalism instead of structural issues]. It makes us feel very proud that our brother is honored."

Donald Warren Bollman will receive his Ridgewood High School diploma posthumously at the school's graduation ceremony on May 22.

"If you're remembered or thought of, you're never forgotten," Carol Bollman said.

KIA Memorial fund donations are being accepted. Contact cbarry@ridgenet.org.

The memorial features the image of an American flag inside a piece of transparent glass. It sat on top of a dark base. The glass portion has shattered, and that part of the memorial was removed before school began last month. The memorial is in the interior open-air west courtyard of the school at 7500 W. Montrose Ave.

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The memorial project began in 2012 with the offering of brick pavers. Support included the American Legion Post No. 974 of Franklin Park and the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 311. The KIA Memorial was dedicated Nov. 16, 2015, with approximately 80 attendees. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White was among speakers.

Karie Angell Luc is a freelance photographer and reporter for Pioneer Press.
Amy Rosenthal, a program officer in the conservation and sustainable development program at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, speaks during an Earth Day presentation April 21 at Oak Park Temple. (Caitlin Mullen / Pioneer Press)

Although Amy Rosenthal and Jason Funk talk shop at home often, their Earth Day presentation April 21 at Oak Park Temple was a first for the Oak Park couple.

"Earth Day is every day for us," said Rosenthal, who works in environmental conservation; Funk deals in climate change.

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The two spoke at the temple, 1235 Harlem Ave., sharing with the more than 70 attendees information about climate change and steps that can be taken to address it.

Rosenthal, a program officer in the conservation and sustainable development program at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, joked that her husband offered the "doom and gloom" portion of the event, in presenting startling information about the impending climate crisis.

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"We flipped a coin. She got the good part," said Funk, an associate director at the Center for Carbon Removal. He brought up global temperature changes and how natural ecosystems have responded over time. In a handful of decades, he said, Chicago's climate could resemble that of Atlanta or New Orleans.

Once climate changes become evident, "it's very hard to stop them and reverse," Funk said.

Rosenthal mentioned the average annual household carbon footprint is lower in Oak Park than in other suburbs like Naperville or St. Charles, and that's due to transportation methods and home size. She urged attendees to consider their vehicle usage, meat consumption and heating and cooling levels, among other things, in having an effect on their carbon consumption.

"Those things really do make a difference," she encouraged, adding that planting trees, growing food and growing perennials help, too.

Rosenthal also noted that it's critical to vote for those whose commitment to action on climate change is serious. She said faith communities have an important role in spreading the word, by sharing their knowledge with others in their congregations.

Judy Klem, who introduced Rosenthal and Funk, noted that the cups, plates and napkins used for the event's meal were compostable, in keeping with the green theme. Finding a couple like Rosenthal and Funk to share their knowledge and plan of action was amazing, Klem said.

Many with the Interfaith Green Network, which has members at 16 area congregations collaborate on green efforts, attended the presentation. Klem credited the organization's involvement with making the event what it was.

"The luminaries of green are in this room right now," Klem said.

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Jim Babcock, co-leader of IGN, appreciated that the temple would host an event that celebrates Earth Day.

"In this day and age, I think more people are doing something and wanting to participate, rather than just watching," Babcock said of efforts to go green.

Sandra Sokol, an Oak Parker who belongs to the temple, found the presentation interesting and said the village is lucky to have access to public transportation.

"That, to me, was shocking," she said of the information on the carbon footprint of other suburbs. "We're proud of 60302."

Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
An Oak Park woman who emigrated from Iraq is hosting a fundraising bazaar at a local cafe to help those trying to become U.S. citizens.

From 5-7 p.m. April 30 at L!VE Cafe, 163 S. Oak Park Ave. in Oak Park, handmade goods like candles, cards, jewelry and more will be for sale, with profits going to the Iraqi Mutual Aid Society in Chicago.

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The organizer of the event, Dima Ali, lives in Oak Park with her husband, Abdul Mazin, and their two children. The couple legally immigrated to the U.S. almost 15 years ago, when they were desperate to leave Iraq.

"I've never felt I am not included," Ali said.

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Last year, as the presidential election drew closer  when Ali said "things started to get ugly" with regard to anti-immigrant rhetoric  she felt the need to pursue citizenship. Ali's children were born in America, and she said she didn't want to risk her family being broken up in any way.

"I just was terrified," she said. "I busted my behind to build my life in this country."

The process took almost 10 months, and she became a citizen in early April. Ali noted she was able to pay the more than $600 in citizenship fees, but it can be tough for some who might have to choose between feeding their family or securing citizenship.

Currently, the system is backlogged as "many people in my situation are thinking the same," Ali noted.

Ali said she's a crafty person who loves to paint and color, so she decided to organize a bazaar. Many of the items for sale are handmade by Ali herself. A friend of Ali's will play the violin at the event, and cafe baristas will be available to make drinks.

Items will be priced modestly to raise money for IMAS, Ali said, with the funds going to help a family in need.

Laura Youngberg, executive director of IMAS, said a core part of the organization's mission is to help those who've come to the U.S. as refugees. It's common that many immigrants have put off obtaining citizenship due to the cost, and now they want to have their papers in order, she said. One of the services IMAS provides is assistance in applying for fee waivers.

"We're really excited about it," Youngberg said of the fundraiser. "It's especially critical right now. There's a lot of fear, and a lot of concern, and a lot of uncertainty."

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Youngberg said Ali's story is worth sharing, showing it's possible to be successful and "it's also possible to support your community and help the ones who come after you." Beyond that, Ali's education and inspiration will go far, Youngberg added.

"I really want to highlight [Ali] as a model for what's possible," Youngberg said. "We're incredibly grateful to people like this who see the need and understand the importance."

In addition to the funds she hopes to raise, Ali also hopes to spread the word on what immigrants go through to become citizens. The community embraced Ali, and she's hoping to pay it forward.

"It's more like a community effort," she said. "This is my big family."

For more information on the event, visit www.facebook.com/events/199088640588752/.

Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
GRAND FORKS  Former Grand Forks Central High School teacher James Patrick Whalen was sentenced Monday by Grand Forks District Judge John Thelen to spend almost two years in jail for having sex with one of his students, but not before the defense said the victim was a precocious teenager who induced and facilitated the relationship.

The statutes are intended to protect minors from being preyed upon by adults, but there are no protections for the adult pursued by a precocious and sexually experienced 17 year old, Whalens attorney, Robert Hoy, argued in court documents as he asked that Whalen serve only one year in jail.

I agree ... that he is the adult and she is incapable of consent by statute, and he is at fault for that, Hoy argued in court. The law does not say that she is incapable of facilitating it or encouraging it or asking for it.

Whalen could have faced up to 25 years in prison, but because he pleaded guilty to three Class C felonies -- two corruption or solicitation of a minor charges and one sexual assault charge -- he was given a lighter sentence -- four years at the Grand Forks County Correctional Center with two years suspended. A Class B felony charge of corruption solicitation of a minor was dismissed.

He will need to register as a sex offender and will be placed on five years of probation.

Whalen was accused in Grand Forks District Court of having sex with a student on multiple occasions, including at Central High School. He also faced a sex crime charge in Polk County, Minn., but that case was dismissed after he pleaded guilty in Grand Forks County.

Its illegal in North Dakota for an adult to have sex with a minor under the age of 15, and that law extends to minors older than 15 years old if the adult is at least 22 years old.

The victim was 16 years old when the sexual acts began in the winter of 2015-16. The Forum News Service does not identify victims of sex crimes unless they wish to make their name public.

A 21-page sentencing memorandum written by Hoy attempted to explain Whalens actions. Hoy explained Whalen did not cause or threaten serious harm and that the defendant wanted the best for the victim.

Jim should have been more forceful in rejecting a physical relationship with (the victim), but that is certainly not the whole story, Hoy wrote, adding the victim encouraged Whalen into sexual acts.

During the nearly 90-minute hearing, prosecutor Haley Wamstad said it was completely unacceptable that the defense placed blame on the victim, stating Whalen was a teacher responsible for mentoring and protecting children. She asked that Whalen serve three years in prison, saying others who faced sex crimes but were not teachers faced much harsher sentences.

There is something wrong with our culture that defense counsel would even think it is acceptable to blame a child for a crime in which she was the victim, she said.

Her sexual experience, or lack thereof, shouldnt even be permitted to be discussed in the public record or a public courtroom, Wamstad added.

Wamstad said Whalen caused the victim serious psychological harm and continues to cause her anguish. The victim said in an impact statement she had to deal with online victim-blaming, adding she felt exposed and abandoned.

Shes an A student, but needed a tutor to keep her up to speed as a result of this incident, Wamstad said. She has experienced being outcast by her friends at school and harsh comments by others on social media.

Hoy noted Whalen was an upstanding teacher who doesnt have a criminal history, arguing other teachers in similar situations were given less time. Hoy pointed to one of his past clients, former Bottineau teacher Marissa Deslauriers, who was ordered to serve seven weeks in jail and was not required to register as a sex offender after she was accused in 2015 of having sex with high school students.

The defense argued a harsh sentence would bring undue hardship if Whalen wasnt able to provide for his family, adding he has already suffered by losing his teaching license, his reputation and the ability to financially support his children.

But Wamstad said the court should send a message that these types of offenses will not be tolerated.

He places the blame for the repercussions of his conduct on the victim, the media and the overly harsh plea agreement entered between the state and the defendant, Wamstad said.

Whalen apologized to his family as well as the victim and her family, adding he cant fix what he had done, but that he hopes they find peace and happiness. He said he has embarrassed the school at which he taught, calling his former job his life.

I put them in such a bad place, he said. I wish it were known that, while I may be a black mark with that institution, the school itself  you will not find a better quality place of education.

While I deserve the just consequences for all of this, I ask that the punishment can somehow be set up or structured so I can still support my family, he said as he wiped away tears.
The front sign of the former Tasty Dog restaurant, 708 Lake St., is currently being auctioned off by the Village of Oak Park. (Village of Oak Park / Handout)

Those who miss having a hot dog or a shake at the now-closed Tasty Dog in Oak Park can still take home a piece of the iconic restaurant.

The Village of Oak Park, which took control of the restaurant after evicting Tasty Dog in 2015, is attempting to sell the former building's sign through an online auction.

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The listing, currently uploaded on the Public Surplus website as auction number 1830504, has a starting bid of $750. It ends at 7 p.m. April 27.

According to the listing, the sign measures 19 feet by 7 feet in size and is currently stored at the Oak Park Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd. Any successful bidder would be required to pick up the sign from that location within 10 days of winning the auction.

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According to village spokesman David Powers, the sign was the only thing left behind when the village took control of the property.

"The furnishings belonged to the operators," Powers said. "Much of the equipment was leased and reclaimed by the suppliers."

Though the listing has zero bids as of the afternoon of April 25, Powers said the village may extend the bidding should the auction end without a winner.

Tasty Dog was evicted from its location at 708 Lake St. in September 2015 after the village alleged the business owed approximately $40,000 in past-due rent and approximately $600 in penalties.

In January 2016, the village approved an agreement with Ranquist Development Group to become the preferred redeveloper of the former Tasty Dog site at the northwest corner of Lake Street and Euclid Avenue.

At the site, Ranquist is currently building a five-story condominium complex called District House, which is expected to have 28 residential units, 37 parking spaces and 4,450 square feet of ground-level retail space.

sschering@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @steveschering
A Park Ridge's man's series of ethics complaints against three city employees and one elected official will not be pursued by the City Council.

Aldermen on April 17 voted not to send the complaints, filed by resident Eugene Plaza against city building inspector John Sclafani, Zoning Coordinator Howard Coppari, Director of Community Preservation and Development Jim Brown, and acting Mayor Marty Maloney, on to an independent legal reviewer for investigation.

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The council's action came after City Attorney Julie Tappendorf said it was her opinion that none of the accusations in the complaint, which center around the construction of a backyard shed by Plaza's neighbor, constitute a violation of the city's ethics ordinance.

"There were no allegations within any of the four complaints that related to the city's ethics regulations, [such as] conflicts of interest, which require some personal or financial interest; prohibitive political activity; [or] violation of the gift ban act or other ethics rules," Tappendorf said.

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She added that she did not find a violation of state ethics laws either, based on what was contained in Plaza's allegations.

Maloney recused himself from voting on the matter in which he was named.

Plaza's complaints against the city involve a neighbor's shed, which he alleges was built illegally two years ago and resulted in problems for him over his ComEd service line, which was reportedly touching the top of the new shed. Documents Plaza submitted to the city with his ethics complaint indicate that ComEd was proposing to charge him more than $3,500 in order to install a new electric pole on his property because his power supply line crossed the property of his neighbors with the shed and they had asked that ComEd move the line from their property.

In one of his complaints, Plaza alleged that Maloney "and the city of Park Ridge authorities ignored the safety of children and adults" by allowing the shed to be constructed and that employees failed to enforce zoning laws "in fair and impartial manner," among other claims.

In filing his hand-written ethics complaints, Plaza included hundreds of pages of documents, including email correspondence with city and ComEd officials; handwritten comments about the correspondence he received; copies of photographs; and even a report of police being called by Plaza's neighbor, who accused him of taking photographs and video of her backyard.

Jim Brown said the shed was, in fact, built without the city's knowledge and without a permit. When city officials learned of the shed  Plaza says he was the person who reported it  they noted that it did not comply with city zoning laws, but it was ultimately moved so that it would comply, Brown said.

There is currently no violation, he said, and the power line issue has been addressed.

In her written response to Plaza's ethics complaint, Tappendorf wrote that "even if the building code or permitting issues were still pending and not yet resolved, these issues are not the proper subject of, or within the jurisdiction of, an ethics complaint."

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"Although the documentation makes an allegation of a conflict of interest on the part of the city or staff, the documentation contains no factual allegations in support of that claim," Tappendorf's memo says.

Building code complaints, she continued, are within the jurisdiction of the department of community preservation and development. There are also "civil remedies" that a resident can take against neighboring property owners, she added.

Plaza would not say whether is considering any legal action, but he did have a response to the council's decision not to pursue his ethics complaints.

"The officials should watch the movie 'Mississippi Burning' with Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe," Plaza said. "They should bring the buttered popcorn, and I'll supply the salt. The movie parallels what is happening here. Park Ridge is a throwback to the 1950s, 1960s southern town mentality. I hope they enjoy their power trip."

jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
Radiant costumes and a dazzling set highlight the talented cast of Disney's "Aladdin," launching a new North American tour in Chicago playing through Sept. 10 at Cadillac Palace Theatre. (Deen van Meer )

Although I know I've seen the animated 1992 Disney film "Aladdin" previously, it's been decades since my last encounter with a blue genie and therefore, I admit my knowledge of the characters and the storyline rates as hazy at best.

Until last week, for example, the names of the animal character friends and sidekicks to Aladdin (the monkey perched on his shoulder), Princess Jasmine (her tiger) and bad guy Jafar (a parrot informant) had left me long ago.

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Disney Theatrical Productions and Broadway In Chicago are giving new life to all of the favorite characters  sans the monkey, tiger and parrot  from this classic tale of magic lamps, hidden treasures and flying carpets, with the Chicago unveiling run of the North American tour launch of "Aladdin" at the Cadillac Palace Theatre for a limited premiere engagement through Sept. 10.

It ranks as one of the more glorious and stunning stage spectacles with the power to seduce audiences to take a carpet ride to the Windy City. In fact, I'm still trying to figure out how the show's producers and designers manage to make the genie's magic carpet float miraculously around the stage.

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Adam Jacobs, who originated the title role in "Aladdin" on Broadway, plays the role of the likeable young man eager to win the hand of royalty, as teamed with a genie who seems capable of anything. Jacobs is able to have fun throughout the adventure, which is just under three hours of dazzling delight.

While the late Robin Williams inhabited the likeness and voice of the original Disney genie, Anthony Murphy has successfully crafted his own sparkling identity and he connects with audiences as soon as his curled toe shoes step on stage to lead the opening opulent musical number "Arabian Nights," which has lyrics reminding us that the fake city in the story boasts a population "with zero percent body fat" and "even the poor people are fabulous."

Isabelle McCalla is warm and inviting as Princess Jasmine and the perfect counter to Chicago native Jonathan Weir, who is diabolical dynamite as Jafar, assisted with plenty of comic relief by talented Reggie De Leon as the human incarnation of parrot Iago. The best of the rest are Mike Longo as Kassim, Philippe Arroyo as Omar and Zachary Bencal as Babkak, who are entertaining every sandal step of the way as Aladdin's streetwise pals.

"Aladdin" originally opened to critical acclaim on Broadway in March 2014 as the latest Disney blockbuster, and rating second only to the smash musical "Wicked" when adding up what has been seen by the most people on Broadway. Since its opening, "Aladdin" has set 12 New Amsterdam Theatre house records and welcomed more than four million people worldwide. In global outreach, there are also productions in Tokyo, Hamburg, London and Sydney in addition to Chicago and Broadway's two U.S. productions. It all adds up to why this production is a rare audience opportunity to enjoy an iconic ticket which has been given Chicago roots (at least until September).

It features music by Tony Award and eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken, the man who gave audiences "Beauty and the Beast," "Newsies" and "Sister Act," and a team of lyricists that includes the late Howard Ashman, a two-time Oscar winner for "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Little Mermaid;" Tim Rice, who has three Tony Awards and three Oscars; and four-time Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin.

With the bonus of a few story changes here and there, the tale holds true to the Academy Award-winning animated Disney film as based on the centuries-old folk tales such as "One Thousand and One Nights," woven with excitement, romance, comedy and generous musical numbers. It features the five legendary songs from the Academy Award-winning soundtrack, including "A Whole New World" and "Friend Like Me," as well as other great works written especially for the stage.

"Aladdin" is designed by seven-time Tony-winning scenic designer Bob Crowley, six-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, two-time Tony-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes and sound designer Ken Travis. This team transports audiences to an imaginative stage landscape unlike any I've witnessed before. From the marketplace and Jasmine's bedroom in the palace to Jafar's lair and the treasure-filled cave (which I'm told glows because it uses the same "golden finish" that is used on C-3PO for the "Star Wars" films), audiences are immersed in a wonderland highlighted by a kaleidoscope of costumes.

Consider this:

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There are 2,039 different fabrics and trims used in the show's costumes. Fabrics are from Morocco, Turkey, India, Uzbekistan, China, Tahiti, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico, France, Italy, England and Germany.

There are 337 costumes in the show, based on 134 individual designs. This is 100 more costumes than any Disney on Broadway show in history.

There are 161 custom made shoes in the show.

102 costume changes take place in less than 1 minute and 52 costume changes take place in less than 30 seconds.

There are 8,644 Swarovski rhinestones on each man's gold finale costume in the musical number "Friend Like Me."

Jasmine's wedding dress weighs 12 pounds because of all the crystal beading.

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There are 38 tons of suspended scenery, lighting and automated effects for this new production heading out after Chicago for the North American tour.

Many more than three wishes are granted with this "Aladdin." Tickets are $44 to $153 at 800-775-2000 or www.AladdinTheMusical.com or www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center.

pmpotempa@comhs.org
Christopher Mark Dillard, left, has been charged in the stabbing death of Nicole Gland. (Porter County Sheriff's Office, Handout provided by Edmonds and Evans)

Police continue to investigate several aspects of Nicole Gland's homicide, including locating the knife that was used to stab her to death, police said.

Christopher Mark Dillard, 50, of the 200 block of Delaware Street in Hobart, pleaded not guilty Monday in Gland's death. Gland, 23, of Portage, was a bartender at the Upper Deck in downtown Chesterton and Dillard was a bouncer there. A Chesterton Tribune employee going to work discovered her body in her sport utility vehicle the morning of April 18 on Lois Lane behind the bar, authorities said.

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"It's still under investigation," Chesterton Police Chief David Cincoski said Tuesday. "At this point there are no new identified suspects other than Mr. Dillard and nothing has developed that would lead to additional charges."

Police are still searching for the knife used to stab Gland, which officials said last week might have come from the kitchen of the residence Dillard shared with his longtime girlfriend.

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Police are also still looking for Gland's purse and cellphone, Cincoski said. The Northwest Indiana Major Crimes Task Force is assisting Chesterton police with the investigation.

Also "still under investigation" is surveillance video from the 100 block of Lois Lane, which backs South Calumet Avenue, Cincoski said.

Police have not released a motive.

While Dillard did not confess to police about the alleged crime, he reportedly told his girlfriend while he was being recorded in an interview room at the Chesterton Police Department, "I killed that girl, I didn't mean to," and added that the drugs he had been using had a hold on him, according to charging documents.

Cincoski said during a news conference Friday that Dillard told police he was "partying rough" in the days leading up to Gland's death, and said he left cocaine and marijuana for her in her car in the hours before she was killed.

Gland's friends who attended the news conference disputed the notion that Gland, a 2012 graduate of Portage High School, was allegedly getting drugs from Dillard.

A memorial service for Gland will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Edmonds and Evans Funeral Home, 6941 Central Ave., Portage. Visitation will take place from 4 p.m. until the time of the service at the funeral home.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
The 1878 covered bridge at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point, shown April 21, 2017, is included in the proposed $12 million bond issue for facilities improvements. (Joe Puchek / Post-Tribune)

If "John & Charlene '65" are still together, they might want to visit the historic Milroy Covered Bridge at the Lake County Fairgrounds this year at the county fair.

When they're there, they can take a last look at the 52-year-old graffiti proclaiming their love on a beam inside the structure. It might be a last time they can do that as a bridge restoration project is expected to begin after the annual fair in August.

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The same thing goes for "Greg loves Andrea, 1969" and "Mike-N-Debbie '96' Forever Love" and others.

If those couples don't make it one longtime Lake County Fairgrounds' employee said she is looking forward to the project for another reason: motorists will again be able to drive across the bridge.

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Claudia Carlson, administrative assistant, said the bridge, which has been located at the fairgrounds for more than eight decades, is a place of memories for many Lake County families who visited the bridge as children, have taken their own children and even grandchildren back through the years.

"I just think it will be a very exciting. A little historic moment for the fairgrounds itself and for the county," Carlson said.

The Milroy Covered Bridge is 137 years old and was moved to Lake County via the Works Progress Administration in 1933 after it was purchased for $25 by then Crown Point Mayor Col. John Wheeler.

The structure is original, including the double-hitch carved support beams that can be traced back to the Michigan forest where they were originally cut. Pressboard has been used to cover some of the lower portions of the bridge to prevent vandals from damaging it, officials said.

Graffiti marks wood inside the covered bridge. The 1878 covered bridge at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point, shown April 21, 2017, is included in the proposed $12 million bond issue for facilities improvements. (Joe Puchek / Post-Tribune)

County officials are planning to begin a major restoration of the bridge after the close of the annual Lake County Fair in August. Duane Alverson, engineer for the highway department, said the work, once complete, should make the bridge passenger vehicle-friendly once again.

"It's a rehab of the entire bridge," Alverson said. Work on the stringers and floor beams, part of the superstructure that supports the drive area, is planned along with repairs to the deck planking, in order to increase the bridge's weight load capacity.

The roof will be replaced, along with the siding. The bridge will be repainted and minor asphalt and concrete work will be completed to the decking as well. Alverson said workers will attempt to reuse as much of the original wood as possible during the restoration.

"Our goal is to have it open for vehicular traffic," Alverson said, adding the bridge should be rated to support vehicles like Crown Point's Molly the Trolley. The project is expected to take three to four months to complete.

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Work on the bridge has been long awaited. County commissioners in 2015 put funding for the project on a project wish list for a $12 million bond measure that year. Commission President Michael Repay, D-Hammond, said the project once again is on the list for the capital bond officials are seeking this year after having been bumped by more pressing work in years' prior.

This time around, Carlson and the fairgrounds have successfully applied for and received a Lake Michigan Coastal Grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The $100,000 matching grant was part of the DNR's 2015 grant cycle. Carlson said release of the grant was delayed by the state until 2016.

According to the DNR's project list, the covered bridge is the only one in Northwest Indiana and one of only 90 remaining in the state. The goal of the project is to restore the bridge to its original appearance and functionality as a bridge.

To help pay for the work, the fairgrounds has been stashing away its annual bridge disbursement from the state, about $1,850 a year, for "forever," Carlson said, accumulating $28,000 that was used for the engineering and design of the project and will count as part of the county's matching portion of the grant.

Michael Repay, D-Hammond, chair of the Lake County Board of Commissioners, said the project is on the list of capital projects county officials have slowly been chipping away at over the years. The covered bridge was first tagged by the county for funding during a $12 million capital improvement bond issued in 2015.

Officials again have earmarked $340,000 in funding for the project, which includes the $100,000 in grant funding, Repay said.

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Carlson, who was married in the shadow of the bridge 12 years ago, said she will be happy to see people be able to drive through the bridge again.

"It'll just mean a lot, historically and just emotionally, to drive over it again," Carlson said. "Walking through it is one thing and that's great. A little drive through it is more exciting."

Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
A 39-year-old Portage man fatally shot by police near his home early Saturday, just hours after he was released from jail, suffered "multiple gunshot injuries to the torso and head," according to the Porter County coroner's office.

William D. Spates had been released from the County Jail after posting bond just before 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to a news release. He was shot and killed just a little more than three hours later during a traffic stop in the 5200 block of Royal Avenue, authorities said.

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Spates had been arrested Wednesday after an incident at his home and charged with strangulation and domestic battery, both felonies, and two misdemeanor counts of battery, according to the release. A no-contact order had been issued against him, prohibiting him from going to his house for 10 days, according to County Jail records.

The officer involved in the shooting, who authorities identified as Grant Crizer, 34, was put on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol for officers involved in shootings, Chief Troy Williams said. Crizer, who had been with the department since Aug. 17, 2014, had no disciplinary incidents during his time with the Portage police department, according to the release.

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It was unclear why Crizer stopped the 2004 Jeep Liberty that Spates was driving just before 1:50 a.m. Saturday.

Portage police said the vehicle's registration was expired but did not cite that as the reason for the stop. The sheriff's office said late Monday that detectives had not yet interviewed Crizer.

"The reason for the traffic stop cannot be determined until they speak with the officer that initiated that traffic stop," said Sgt. Jamie Erow, a sheriff's office spokeswoman. "I do not know one way or another if the plates were expired."

Spate's vehicle pulled into a driveway on Royal Avenue, according to a release Monday from Portage police. At some point, Spates put his vehicle in reverse, "accelerated rapidly" and "rammed our officer's fully marked squad car," according to releases from Portage police and the sheriff's office.

The sheriff's office declined to elaborate Monday whether Spates and Crizer exchanged words before the shooting.

"This is still an ongoing investigation and can take weeks to complete," the sheriff's office said in a release.

Nevertheless, Erow said there was evidence that a stun gun had been deployed.

"Witnesses initially reported hearing the officer yelling commands to the driver and an engine revving, followed by six to seven shots fired," according to the sheriff's office release.

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Crizer "radioed that shots had been fired, he needed another unit and that the suspect tried to run him over," according to a release. Crizer also requested medics and told EMS to "step up their response," according to the sheriff's office.

Another officer arrived and performed first aid, but Spates was pronounced dead shortly after Portage EMS arrived, the release states. Williams was informed and asked the sheriff's office about 2:05 a.m. to conduct an investigation into the officer-involved shooting, and Indiana State Police also were called to investigate, according to the releases.

Additionally, police determined that at the time of the traffic stop, Spates had a suspended license, according to police.

Portage police do not have body cams or dashboard cameras, Williams said.

Monday afternoon, neighbors on Royal were out mowing their yards and coming and going from their homes. Any presence of police or crime scene tape was gone from the street, which is a block long and dead-ends where the shooting occurred.

A neighbor on a perpendicular street a handful of houses away, Alma Rempis, said she saw the police lights from her window the night of the shooting. When she took her dog for a walk hours after the shooting, she said the smell of sulfur from the gunshots was still in the air.

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Spates' home is just around the corner from the scene on Brown Street, about four houses away. Rempis, who has lived across the street for four years, said Spates had lived there for a handful of months before the incident.

Spates' wife did not comment Monday when reached by the Post-Tribune.

County Coroner Chuck Harris said in a news release that William Spates' toxicology reports are still pending.

Before joining the Portage department, Crizer worked at the the Lake Station Police Department since January 2008, according to a release from Portage police.

Portage police noted in a release that in Crizer's time in working for the department, he was selected to serve on the department's SWAT team, had one chief's letter of commendation and received a service award for his part in the apprehension without incident of an intoxicated driver in 2015, "in which the suspect pointed his hand in the shape of a gun at Officer Crizer and another officer and yelled 'gun.' "

"Despite any rush of adrenaline he might have been experiencing at the time, Officer Crizer was able to recognize the driver did not in fact have a gun in his hands," instead using a stun gun, according to the letter attached to the release from police.

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Lake Station Police Chief David Johnson said in an email that Crizer did not have any disciplinary incidents while working for the department and "he was a good officer in his time here."

rejacobs@post-trib.com

Twitter @ruthyjacobs
The Indiana Supreme Court turned down the request of a Gary man accused in the slayings of seven women to look at the constitutionality of the state's death penalty statute before he goes to trial.

Last year, the attorneys for Darren Deon Vann, 46, argued before a Lake County judge that Indiana's death penalty statute was unconstitutional. The judge denied that claim, following suit with rulings in previous challenges in other Indiana cases.

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In January, Vann's attorneys returned before the judge, asking to be able to appeal his ruling to the Indiana Supreme Court, and the judge granted that request.

Vann has based his argument before Lake County and the higher court on a few key points: how a jury is supposed to weigh factors that could influence a death sentence, allowing a judge to determine a defendant's death sentence when the jury can't and that the statute possibly violates the 8th Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

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Vann's attorneys argued that this should be addressed before a trial is set, saying that, "Vann should not have to wait until the jury is unable to recommend a penalty before he may challenge a statute that he believes to be unconstitutional and deprives him of his constitutional rights," according to a motion in the appeal case.

The decision impacts not only Vann, but "affects every other pending death penalty case in Indiana" and given how expensive a death penalty trial and direct appeal is, "deciding these questions now has the potential to save the taxpayers of Indiana a great sum of money," the defense argued in the motion.

In trying to get the Supreme Court to look at the case, the defense called in a Louisiana attorney with The Promise of Justice Initiative, a nonprofit in New Orleans, to provide some outside, expert opinion on the matter.

Drawing on other state and federal court cases, many of which Vann's attorneys also cited, the nonprofit's attorney argued that "addressing this issue sooner rather than later could potentially avoid years of litigation and prevent the needless reversal of death sentences imposed through unconstitutional procedures." Since 1977, 97 people have been sentenced to death in Indiana as of Nov. 7, 2016, and 11 people are currently on the state's death row, the nonprofit's attorney cited in a brief.

The state responded by arguing that other criminal defendants have repeatedly made similar claims in the past, and like those, Vann's claims are "without merit." Furthermore, the outside perspective from the nonprofit "does not add any compelling arguments in support" of going forward with Vann's request, the state said in a response.

If any doubts linger following Vann's trial, "he can raise it on direct appeal so that this Court can decide it within an actual  and not hypothetical  set of facts," according to the response. But Vann's current appeal request "has already delayed this case going to trial" and "if this Court grants the request, the trial will be delayed many more months to years," the response states.

Last Thursday, in an order signed by Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush, the court decided to deny Vann's request to look at the constitutionality of the statute.

Lake County prosecutors previously requested the death penalty for Vann, as he faces charges in connection with the deaths of Anith Jones, 35, of Merrillville; Afrikka Hardy, 19, of Chicago; Teaira Batey, 28, of Gary; Tracy Martin, 41, of Gary; Kristine Williams, 36, of Gary; Sonya Billingsley, 52, of Gary; and Tanya Gatlin, 27, of Highland.

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The request for the death penalty "alleges as aggravating circumstances that Vann has committed other murders," according to a state response filed in Vann's request for an appeal.

Vann was joined by attorneys for Carl Blount, 28, of Gary, in arguing that the death penalty statute is unconstitutional last year. Blount previously faced the death penalty on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of Gary police Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield. A Lake County judge denied both of their requests.

Rather than going to trial, Blount accepted a deal and pleaded guilty in January. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole the following month.

Vann has a status hearing at 10 a.m. on Friday in Lake County to discuss pending matters in his case. In recent weeks, his attorneys have filed motions to preserve evidence and for discovery. Aside from hearings and filed documents, a gag order in the case prohibits those involved from commenting outside of court.

rejacobs@post-trib.com

Twitter @ruthyjacobs
MINOT  Ward County taxpayers have paid more than $322,821 in jail and legal costs stemming from a state report more than two years ago that found major deficiencies in jail operations.

The costs include a full-time jail monitor who has been in place since January 2015, legal costs of a special prosecutor and additional pay for an acting sheriff to fill in for former Sheriff Steve Kukowski, who had been suspended in June 2016 and resigned last April 15.

If viewed as a direct expense to property taxpayers, $322,821 amounts to about .94 of a mill, or about $8.43 cents for the owner of a $200,000 home.

The state Department of Corrections investigated the Ward County Jail after Dustin Irwin, who had been an inmate in the jail, died Oct. 6, 2014. The Ward County Sheriff's Department transferred Irwin to the Burleigh County Sheriff's Department. A Burleigh County deputy took Irwin to a hospital, where he died soon after. A state investigation of the Ward County jail found overcrowding, inadequately trained staff and deficiencies in operations that led to an order for improvements and the assignment of a jail monitor for up to 18 months.

The Ward County Sheriff's Department reported spending $202,618 from January 2015 through March 2017 on salary and expenses for state jail monitor Robert Werlinger. Sheriff Bob Barnard said the state Department of Corrections has given no indication when it plans to discontinue the monitoring. He estimated monitoring costs are running about $7,500 a month.

The 18-month monitoring period ended last June 30, but the Department of Corrections elected to continue the monitoring indefinitely to see the jail remain in compliance for an extended period. Barnard told the commission at the time that the department indicated the monitor may be in place until June 30, 2017.

Ward County had conducted its own investigation into what happened at the jail. The county paid $10,800 to James Vukelic, a former South Central District judge who initially served as special prosecutor in looking into jail issues, starting in June 2015. He was replaced by Divide County State's Attorney Seymour Jordan in January 2016. Jordan only charged the county for actual expenses, which amounted to $1,173 for mileage, according to the Ward County Auditor's Office.

State's Attorney Rozanna Larson said Jordan declined to charge a fee for his legal services. She said that generally is the case when prosecutors agree to review a matter for another prosecutor who may have a conflict. Typically, the Attorney General's office will handle or assist counties when conflicts exist, but the Attorney General's office also had a conflict in this case, Larson said. The Attorney General's office helped Ward County find Vukelic, but when he resigned for conflict of time and other reasons upon determining charges were appropriate, her office had to find another replacement, she said. Jordan then was appointed. He also investigated and brought a misdemeanor charge of public servant failing to perform duty and two misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment against Kukowski.

In early 2016, then-Gov. Jack Dalrymple initiated a removal proceeding against Kukowski at the request of Jordan and advice of the Attorney General's office. In June 2016, Dalrymple suspended Kukowski, and the Ward County Commission voted to continue his pay. Kukowski was paid $95,203 from June 2016 until resigning April 15. The county commission named then chief deputy, Bob Barnard, as acting sheriff and boosted his pay to equal that of the sheriff. Barnard's additional pay from June 2016 to April 15 has amounted to $33,230.

The chief deputy position was left vacant so the additional $33,230 was the only extra expense incurred by the county in salary costs due to the jail issue.

With Kukowski's resignation, Barnard was appointed sheriff until the next election in November 2018. The removal proceeding was dismissed, and Jordan has asked the court for dismissal of the criminal proceeding. As part of Kukowski's resignation agreement, the county incurred another cost. It will pay the former sheriff a settlement of $75,000 in exchange for his agreement not to sue the county.

In December 2015, a court settlement against Ward and Burleigh counties' sheriff departments was reached with the Irwin family for $230,000. This was not a direct expense to the counties because the settlement was paid by the departments' insurance carrier, the state Insurance Reserve Fund.
What's Quickly? It's where readers sound off on the issues of the day. Have a quote, question or quip? Call Quickly at 312-222-2426 or email quickly@post-trib.com.

Ignorance is the lack of knowledge. Education cures it. Stupidity is behavior that shows a lack of good sense or judgment.

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Do people really think they can pinpoint when lead became a big problem in the drinking water in East Chicago by blaming the politician they like the least? The person that approved the building of that housing project on top of a smelting plant is the one to blame. Grease the right pocket and you can achieve amazing things.

Strack & Van Til, the neighborhood grocer, that bought out all of the other smaller grocery stores, didn't feel the need to tell their employees they were selling their stores and closing some. They also didn't abide by their contract. Nice Christian values.

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You talk about obstructionists slowing the President's progress. Are you sure you aren't talking about when Obama was president? The GOP stole the Supreme Court nomination from the previous President. Trump appointed all his billionaire buddies to his cabinet. How exactly is this making America great again? I think you write to Quickly to stir things up. How could anyone think this man is doing a good job?

Can't these elected officials in D.C. come up with some good bills that are great for America and not pass laws that just give them bragging rights that we did this in 100 days?

Do women face inequality? The two men at Fox News who harassed the women were paid $65 million to go away. The five women who were harassed were paid $20 million to go away. Nothing else to say.

How can Trump pass tax cuts that would be beneficial to himself, without releasing his tax returns?

Can someone please point out to President Trump that he wouldn't be in office if all the world's problems were solved by previous administrations?

Florida State Senator Frank Artiles recently resigned because of his vulgar racial slurs. I am often shocked at the childish behavior of our elected officials. I know that they are only human, but, everything is recorded and they are on public display. If they can't handle their alcohol, they need to abstain.

Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Bad hombres are already here. Most of them are in D.C.

Gullible: Believing that a man who lost $915,729,293 in a single year is a genius businessman.

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The amount of treason committed by so many to beat one woman is mind-boggling. And she still got three million more votes.

A Hammond woman has been charged with felony murder and was released on a electronic home monitor. Since this release, she had 51 reports of violations. The judge allowed her to remain released on this monitor. Judge Vasquez, who do you put in jail?

Trump's inflated claims and taunting will end up causing an international crisis.

It's interesting, since the election I have not heard a single person try to defend the dope in chief in person, only anonymously via text. Is that because you're embarrassed to have been taken by a (not very good) fraud and taken for fools?

Read more at www.post-trib.com/quickly.
A few weeks after election day when voters overwhelmingly approved a tax hike for Evanston/Skokie School District 65, nearly 200 union employees continue to work without a new contract as negations continue.

According to School Dist. 65 officials, about 104 members of the school district's Educational Secretarial and Clerical Association and 51 members of the Evanston Association of Child Care Professionals, have been working without a new contract since the start of the 2016-2017 school year.

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The employees are still working under terms of their last contracts that expired months ago, officials said.

"In both cases, they're being compensated and have their health insurance and the rest," said School Dist. 65 Supt. Paul Goren.

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Goren said the district entered into negotiations this year with its five bargaining units and has either settled or is just finalizing contracts for three of them.

At the time negotiations began, officials said, it was uncertain the outcome of a $14.5 million tax hike referendum that was on the April 4 ballot.

The district had outlined cuts that would have to be made should the tax hike not have been approved including possible unspecified personnel cuts.

But Goren said regardless of the outcome of the referendum, the district has had to keep fiscal responsibility in mind during bargaining.

"What the referendum does is that it provides us with financial sustainability for the next eight years," Goren said. "But we have to focus on being fiscally prudent. The referendum in many ways does not have an impact on these negotiations because we were still going to be fiscally prudent no matter what."

Goren said the district and the Educational Secretarial and Clerical Association have called in a federal mediator to try to help reach a settlement.

"That's working well, and we're exchanging offers as is part of the negotiation process," he said.

It is unclear what the issues may be that have led to no agreement so far.

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Union representatives could not be reached for comment.

The superintendent said he could not elaborate "out of respect to the process."

School district officials said the district has met with the Educational Secretarial and Clerical Association about 13 times and the Evanston Association of Child Care Professional some nine times.

According to the last contract, which was effective the last four school years starting with 2012-2013, the Educational Secretarial and Clerical Association covers regular and part-time secretaries, clerical employees, health clerks, food service employees and technology assistants.

The Evanston Association of Child Care Professional covers child care regular site coordinators and group leaders who work for the school district at least 15 hours per week.

Goren said the district and the unions continue to engage in "good faith bargaining," remaining at the table and exchanging proposals.

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"What we want to do is reach a fair agreement, but we must pay attention to financial parameters  even with successful passage of the referendum," he said. "Our community has expressed confidence and a commitment in investing in its public schools and we have a responsibility to the community  to our taxpayers  to be fiscally responsible. We're committed to do that while we work together with our colleagues to find a fair agreement."

misaacs@pioneerlocal.com

@SKReview_Mike
People at a meeting at the Hinsdale Oasis wrote comments about the Illinois Tollway's plan to expand the central portion of Interstate 294 and attached the notes to an overhead photograph of the tollway. (Kimberly Fornek / Pioneer Press)

More than 100 people attended a meeting Monday at the Hinsdale Oasis to hear and share input about the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority plan to reconstruct the central portion of the Tri-State tollway.

They included residents of Burr Ridge, Hinsdale and Western Springs concerned about the impact widening Interstate 294 would have on their quality of life and their property, and members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, eager for the jobs and the income that the construction would bring.

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"It's a parking lot in the morning. It's a parking lot in the evening," said Ed Maher, spokesman for Local 150, which has its headquarters in Countryside.

He supports the recommended alternative because it will make the roads safer, and help commerce and the economy by giving jobs to those in the construction industry.

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"Let's put them to work and get these roads built," Maher said.

Mark Johnson, who lives on Harding Road in Hinsdale, said a 45-foot wide right of way separates his property from the tollway. If lanes are added and the tollway expands to the west, he predicts his property values would fall by 10 to 20 percent. He opposes the project because of the "unsightliness, the noise, the air pollution."

The meeting was one of three open houses the tollway is holding this week before the tollway board of directors votes Thursday on a more extensive plan to expand the 22 miles of I-294 between Balmoral Avenue on the north and 95th Street on the south.

The second open house will take place from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Lipinski Community Center, 7256 Skyline Drive, Justice. The third meeting, at the O'Hare Oasis on the tollway, is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Wednesday.

The tollway's customer service and planning committee recommended Monday more than doubling the budget to rebuild the central section of the tollway from $1.9 billion to about $4 billion for additional lanes, including a flexible lane on the inside shoulder that could be adjusted based on the current traffic flow, and improving the interchanges for the Eisenhower and the Stevenson expressways.

The tollway said no toll increases would be required to fund the improvements.

Some advance work could begin as early as 2018, said Aimee Lee, senior manager of strategic planning for the tollway, said.

Diane O'Keefe of Chicago urged tollway officials to proceed with the expansion, because she thinks drivers spend too much time sitting in congested traffic and lose time with their families. She is confident officials can balance the needs of motorists with the concerns of residents nearby.

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"I feel for those communities," O'Keefe said. "The tollway can take care of the residents, but take care of the road users as well."

Hinsdale Village President Thomas Cauley, Jr. is concerned about the temporary track the BNSF Railway would build near Veeck Park on 47th Street during construction. The existing railroad bridge over the tollway would be removed while the highway is being widened. Cauley said he does not want the temporary bridge to remain after the project is completed and be used by BNSF to park trains.

Hinsdale officials also fear adding lanes would eliminate the oasis. The restaurants and the gas stations at the oasis are the village's number one source of sales tax revenue, Cauley said.

He questions whether the tollway needs to be widened. Hinsdale officials have requested evidence showing the need for the project, but have yet to see those documents, Cauley said.

Jackie Grazulis of Western Springs shared that skepticism saying she questioned the toll authority's use of data and demographics. Illinois' population is declining, she said, so traffic would not be increasing.

Grazulis disputed tollway officials' remark that if the tollway is not expanded, drivers would use arterial roads to avoid the backups. That is not happening in Hinsdale, Oak Brook or Western Springs, she said.

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"There's no truck traffic on stretches of York Road. There's no truck traffic on stretches of Ogden," she said. "You can't have good outcomes if you don't have good data, so I am questioning your data."

Western Springs resident Mike Vespa, who lives in the Ridgewood neighborhood south of 55th Street and east of the tollway, asked when tollway officials were going to come to neighbors to take questions and explain how their concerns would be addressed.

Belinda Gargano, who lives on the southwest corner of 55th and the tollway in Burr Ridge, is resigned to the expansion happening.

"We believe this is a done deal," Gargano said. "They don't hold meetings like this if they are not going to do the project. The question is how many lanes are they going to add."

That decision may not have been made yet, she said.

Her and her husband's most important issue is replacing the sound wall along the tollway. They want a higher wall with the latest design for buffering noise.

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They were writing their comments on notes which they then stuck to a photographic map of the tollway set up tables at the oasis meeting.

Notes, some with general comments about traffic, others more specific, were clustered around the section between Ogden Avenue and the Stevenson Expressway.

"What happens to Flagg Creek?" one person wrote.

kfornek@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @kfdoings
Live updates: Election Day 2022 in Pueblo, Colorado

Follow the Chieftain's coverages of Colorado's 2022 election with live updates from before and after the polls close.
FARGO -- A Fargo man accused of sexually assaulting a Mapleton store clerk in December 2015 agreed on Monday to waive his right to a jury trial.

In addition, prosecutors and Stormy Vickers, the attorney for Abdulrahman I. Ali, have discussed the possibility Ali will stipulate to the alleged facts in the case.

If that happens, the main decision Judge Tom Olson would have to make is whether Ali was mentally competent enough to be criminally responsible for his actions.

Ali faces charges of gross sexual assault, kidnapping, aggravated assault and terrorizing in connection with an assault that occurred on the morning of Dec. 2, 2015.

According to court documents and statements made earlier in court by an investigator:

Ali entered Gordys Travel Plaza in Mapleton shortly after it opened and moments later pulled a female store clerk into the womans bathroom. He then forced the woman to remove her clothes and took his own clothes off before attempting to have sex with the victim, according to court documents.

Ali has pleaded not guilty.

Assistant Cass County States Attorney Cherie Clark said if Ali does not stipulate to the facts in the case, Olson will need to decide the issue of guilt as well as whether Ali is criminally responsible based on mental health.

Clark told the judge Monday that the victim is still emotionally suffering from the attack and has been worried about the possibility of having to provide testimony at trial.

Before Ali waived his right to a jury trial, his trial had been set for May 9.
The Tax, Accounting, and Audit in China 2017 is now available for download in the Asia Briefing Publication Store. The guide offers a comprehensive overview of the major taxes that foreign investors are likely to encounter when establishing or operating a business in China, as well as other tax-relevant obligations. This concise, detailed, and pragmatic guide is ideal for business leaders who must navigate the complex tax and accounting landscape in China in order to effectively manage and strategically plan their China operations.

Given Chinas idiosyncratic legal system, which is quite different to those in Western countries, a strong understanding of Chinas tax liabilities enables foreign investors to maximize the tax efficiency of their overseas investments while ensuring full compliance with the countrys tax laws and regulations.

In this guide, we discuss Chinas tax laws and administration, corporate income tax, value-added tax, and individual income tax calculation methods and applicability. We also cover annual compliance requirements, profits/dividends repatriation and financial due diligence. In the international taxation context, we address such topics as transfer pricing and double taxation treaties. We note this guide contains the latest information, including six corporate tax cuts announced last week

This practical and easy-to-understand guidebook will be of invaluable use to all executives involved in handling company finances concerning China, including:

Chief Executive Officers

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It is currently used by the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University as course reference material.



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

Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure

Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide.

An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017

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.

Dezan Shira & Associates
The first China-themed library in Mexico was inaugurated on Monday in a bid to promote cultural exchange.

Books on Chinese history, art, culture, traditional medicine and music, among other topics, as well as digital and video archives, can be found at the new Chinese Library at Mexico City's Anahuac University.

Officials from China and the prestigious private university were on hand to inaugurate the 14th library of its kind worldwide, as part of celebrations marking 45 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The Chinese Library serves as "a window that will allow Mexico's different social circles to better know our country, and it will also be a new platform for deepening educational, academic and cultural exchange," Cui Yuying, deputy director of China's State Council Information Office, told those gathered.

Cui said she hoped China and Mexico "can work together and continuously invest in the construction, administration and use of the Chinese Library, with the goal of turning it into a true cultural bridge that connects the two countries and a window that fosters bilateral friendship."

The library boasts 6,000 books and 80,000 digital archives with information on China's politics, economy, culture, science and technology, education and history.

The 120-square-meter facility is equipped with large-screen monitors for viewing some 100 hours of video and virtual reality featuring China's different regions, their ethnic groups, and lifestyls.

Students of Chinese will find special software, in both Spanish and English, for learning Mandarin.

Cipriano Sanchez Garcia, rector of Anahuac University, said the library was made possible thanks to an initiative between China's State Council and the center for higher learning.

"This collaboration proves we human beings have the potential to approach one another, to learn from one another, to build bridges and to weave networks of cultural understanding," said Sanchez.

In a moving ceremony, a group of young students enrolled in the university's Chinese-language program sang a song they were taught by professor Li Yueyin, from Anahuac's school of languages.

The two countries share key traits, said Cui.

"China and Mexico are civilizations and countries with a very rich cultural heritage, both are world renowned for their uniqueness, and both have remained strong through constant innovation. Throughout history, we have seen how both civilizations have progressed and learned from one another," said Cui.

The library is bound to draw many visitors, professor Li told Xinhua, as "there is much interest" in China's past and present.

The project, she said, would not have been possible without the support of the State Council, which "helped immensely to make the library, which is full of knowledge and full of love, a reality."

More material is set to arrive at the library to "make classes more interactive," said Li.

Since 2012, Chinese Libraries have opened in Japan, Tanzania, Congo, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Australia, Belgium, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia, Russia, Peru and Turkey.
The first Ancient Civilization Forum kicked off in Athens on Monday as countries representing early civilizations across the world aim to pool their wisdom together to address today's problems and challenges with stronger cultural and economic ties.

Photo taken on April 24, 2017 shows a scene of the Ancient Civilizations Forum in Athens, Greece. The first Ancient Civilizations Forum kicked off on Monday as countries representing early human civilizations across the world aim to pool their wisdom together to address today's problems and challenges. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos )

The forum, a Greek initiative with China as co-organizer, is attended by delegations from 10 countries representing major ancient civilizations. Other participants include Bolivia, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Mexico and Peru.

Beneath the towering Acropolis of Athens, delegations headed by foreign ministers of the 10 countries attended the two-day forum, which is "in a bid to promote cultural heritage and cooperation," according to the Greek government.

The forum took place at the magnificent Zappeion Megaron, a building of historic significance and an active part of Greece's history over the last 130 years.

CONTINUITY, STABILITY

The 10 countries represent more than 40 percent of the world population and are at the center of international political developments in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

In his welcoming address to the inauguration of the forum, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said that dialogue and coordination of civilizations could help tackle today's challenges of war and terrorism, urging the crisis-hit Europe to retrieve its lost root of civilization -- peace and solidarity.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said in his opening speech that at a time of instability, ancient civilizations offer continuity and stability.

He said that the culture of compromise and consensus, ability to fight for justice should be needed.

The achievements of the past gain increasingly more value, not when one rests on one's laurels, but when they are utilized to form a better present and a more hopeful tomorrow and this is the aim of the forum, Kotzias said in his invitation to the participants.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari told the forum that the cultural diversity of the world should be respected and treasured, since "if all flowers were of the same color, they will have not been attractive."

The minister condemned the Islamic State (IS) for devastating the cultural heritages in his country.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry said that the forum revives values that should be universal and a source of inspiration.

"At this time when the world is suffering from extremism of all kinds at the global level, we need the lessons we can draw from old civilizations," said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "We can contribute by promoting dialogue and understanding."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told press at the end of Monday's forum that three consensus including peace, inclusiveness and cooperation have been achieved by the ministers.
A window into France, the annual Croisements ("crossing") festival has grown into one of the biggest foreign cultural events in China since its launch in 2006.

This year's Croisements festival will be held from May to July. Highlights include the exhibition From Monet to Soulages: Paths of Modern Western Painting (1805-1975), the dance production Seeds, the theater play 2666 and the recital performances by French actress Isabelle Huppert. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Every spring, music, dance, theater, movie, art and literature activities are held in some 30 cities across the country. The festival also boosts Sino-French relations. This year, the festival's 12th edition will be held from May 8 to July 9, featuring many more performances, exhibitions, film screenings and discussions as compared to last year.

The Croisements program attracted more than 4 million people last year, and some events were live-streamed as well, according to the French embassy in Beijing. This year's festival will highlight a lineup of performers and artists demonstrating the fine quality of French and European art.

Works dating to the 19th century as well as by contemporary artists will be on show at two exhibitions.
In 1945, The White-Haired Girl premiered in Yan'an, a revolutionary base in Northwest China, as an original Chinese opera, causing a sensation.

Japan's Matsuyama Ballet Troupe will tour China with its signature work, The White-Haired Girl. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Since then it has been staged many times as one of the country's most successful operas and has been adapted for the stage, cinema and TV. But it's little known that Japan's Matsuyama Ballet Troupe is perhaps the world's first ballet company to adapt the Chinese story. Its ballet The White-Haired Girl premiered in Tokyo in 1955 and was staged in China in 1958.

During the past decades, the troupe has visited and performed in China. In May, it will perform the ballet in Beijing and Shanghai, which will be the troupe's 15th tour in China.

According to Yin Jianping, director of China International Culture & Arts Company, co-organizer of the Matsuyama Ballet Troupe's China tour this year, the performances will also mark 45 years of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Besides The White-Haired Girl, the troupe has staged other classic ballets in China, such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.

Japanese ballerina Mikiko Matsuyama and her husband, Masao Shimizu, founded the troupe in 1948. Shimizu died in 2008.

The couple watched the Chinese film The White-Haired Girl in Japan in 1952, and choreographed a ballet based on it, taking inspiration from the film's portrayal of poor people's fight against oppressive landlords. The ballet premiered in Japan in 1955.

Three years later, the ballet was presented at Beijing's Tianqiao Theater, in a first for the company in China.

Set in the 1940s, the film tells the story of a poor young woman, Xi'er, whose father is beaten to death by a local landlord because he is unable to repay his debt. She is forced to work in the landlord's home but escapes to a mountain where she lives in hiding for years. Her long black hair turns white as she is unable to endure all the suffering. Eventually, she is saved by the Communist soldiers and reunited with her lover, Wang Dachun, who is a Communist fighter.
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China will make unwavering efforts in upgrading its manufacturing industry as the nation transitions to an economy that relies more on innovation and high value-added products.

"China's manufacturing sector is tasked with challenges including a downshift in growth, structural adjustment and a shift in growth engines," said Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology.

He made the remarks when delivering a report submitted to Chinese lawmakers for deliberation at a four-day bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, which opened Monday.

China is determined to roll out more policies to optimize the investment environment and tap investment potential of businesses in a bid to support the development of advanced manufacturing, according to the report.

The manufacturing sector will also be bolstered by lowered operation costs by standardizing fee systems, optimizing land supply and streamlining the tax structure, Miao told lawmakers.

In the report, Miao also stressed expanding financing channels for the manufacturing sector and reducing market entry restrictions to make the manufacturing industry more open to foreign investment.

China will aim to improve its innovation system with focus on the research and development of new materials, intelligent manufacturing and robots.
Construction began on Monday on China's first commercial space industry center in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.

The Wuhan National Space Industry Base aims to attract at least 100 enterprises involved in the space industry before 2020 and generate 30 billion yuan ($4.36 billion) in annual gross product by then, according to China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the main investor. The center will occupy 68.8 square kilometers in Xinzhou district.

Expace Technology, a subsidiary of CASIC that provides commercial launch services, will invest 1.7 billion yuan to build production and assembly plants for solid-fuel carrier rockets for commercial launches. The company plans to make about 20 rockets at the center each year, it said in a statement.

In China, a commercial launch usually means a space launch financed by an entity other than a Chinese government or military agency.

The CASIC Second Academy will invest 300 million yuan to construct a research, development and manufacturing complex at the center to make small satellites. CASIC has said it will launch 156 small communications satellites into low Earth orbit, at an altitude of 160 to 2,000 km, before the end of 2025. They would form a network capable of global coverage.

Monday was the second China Space Day. On April 24, 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dongfanghong 1.

Also Monday, Expace Technology said it signed a contract with an unnamed domestic client to conduct four commercial launch missions in a week early in 2018.

The missions will employ Kuaizhou 1A, a solid-fuel carrier rocket developed by the CASIC Fourth Academy in Wuhan. The rocket has a liftoff weight of 30 metric tons and is capable of sending a 200 kg payload into a sun-synchronous orbit, or a 300 kg payload into a low-Earth orbit. Unlike most Chinese carrier rockets, it uses a transporter-erector-launcher vehicle rather than a fixed launch pad.

The first flight of Kuaizhou 1A, to launch three small satellites, was in January at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.

CASIC Fourth Academy began to develop Kuaizhou solid-fuel rockets in 2009 as a low-cost, quick-response rocket family for the commercial launch market. It has launched three of the rockets.

Zhang Di, deputy director of the academy and chairman of Expace, said a new-generation Kuaizhou 11 is under development and will make its first flight before year's end.

He said Kuaizhou 11 will have a liftoff weight of 78 tons and will be capable of placing a 1-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km, or a 1.5-ton payload into a low Earth orbit at an altitude of 400 km.
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China's banking regulator has instructed banks to control credit growth to the country's booming real estate sector, intensifying caution against an over-heated market.

Banks should ward off concentration risk in property sector, while stemming illegal financing channels, according to a quarterly statement briefed by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).

The regulator will streamline sales procedure of asset management products, stressing information disclosure and authenticity check, and regulate cross-financing to ensure risk penetration and sufficient provision, Guo Shuqing, chairman of the CBRC, was quoted as saying.

The directive comes as China is putting a "higher priority on risk prevention" to strengthen financial stability.

Banks are also asked to enhance liquidity risk management, conduct stress test on a regular basis and tame maturity mismatch.

Credit structure has shown positive change, the statement noted. Outstanding loans to small and micro businesses jumped 14.4 percent year-on-year to 27.8 trillion yuan ($4 trillion) in the first quarter, while agriculture related loans rose 8.9 percent to 29.2 trillion yuan.

In all, Chinese financial institutions recorded an outstanding loan of 116.6 trillion yuan by the end of March, increasing 102.6 billion yuan from the same period last year, according to statistics from the CBRC.
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Suspected serial killer Gao Chengyong, detained in Baiyin, Gansu province last year, was prosecuted on four crimes, including intentional killing, raping, robbery and insulting the corpse, on Monday, April 24, 2017.

Police detain Gao Chengyong in Baiyin, Gansu Province, on Aug. 26, 2016. [File photo]



Gao Chengyong, 53 years old, was accused of the rape and murders of 11 victims, including an 8-year-old girl, in northern China.

Gao Chengyong was caught in a grocery store by police in Baiyin on August 26, 2016. Nine murders linked to the suspect occurred in the city in Gansu province.

The Ministry of Public Security has said the suspect confessed to 11 murders in Gansu and Inner Mongolia autonomous region between 1988 and 2002.

Gao targeted young women dressed in red and would follow them home, where he would rape and kill them, often by cutting their throats.

The killer also mutilated the victims' bodies, which resulted in the Chinese media dubbing him China's Jack the Ripper.
Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi walks to deliver a lecture entitled "Myanmar, ASEAN and the World: The Way Forward" at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, Thailand, June 24, 2016. [Xinhua file photo]

On April 8, Myanmar's National League for Democracy government under the charismatic leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi completed its first year in office. Given an unprecedented mandate the NLD received in 2015 elections, all eyes were on her government's performance in meeting high public expectations.

It must be recalled that, after 60 years of successive military dictatorships, ethnic conflicts and mismanagement of the economy, the military junta surprised everyone by announcing democratic elections in 2015. The NLD party won with promises to accelerate economic growth, create millions of jobs, resolve the ethnic conflicts and push for inclusive development.

Of course, Suu Kyi's government has no magic wand to wield to deliver on many promises, some being very daunting. It was totally inexperienced, barring a handful of ministers (especially ones drawn from the military); in fact, most officials were former political activists with little experience in running day-to-day government that requires practical experience and complex skills.

Therefore, any evaluation of NLD's performance must take these liabilities into account along with the challenges the new government inherited.

On critical issues of economic growth, peace and reconciliation, the NLD government's record has been rather uninspiring. While the new government maintained a decent GDP growth rate of 6.4 percent in 2016, it was 7.3 percent under the junta in 2015.

While the government has been able to attract new investment in critical infrastructural sectors and healthcare, the figures have been disappointing for the job-oriented extractive industries and the service sector. Given weak capacity and fragile economic institutions, the NLD is still struggling to provide a clear direction to the economy.

Further, while economic acceleration is very important for the country with millions of poor, Suu Kyi's biggest challenge has been managing the peace process involving various ethnic groups. Whereas the previous government under the leadership of President Thein Sein had managed to sign a peace agreement with eight major groups, the NLD government is yet to break any fresh ground on ethnic reconciliation.

While it replaced the junta-backed Myanmar Peace Centre with the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) in 2016 to reset the negotiation process under a modernized framework of the 1947 Panglong Conference that first defined a unified Burma (Myanmar), precious little has been achieved.

In fact, the first meeting held in late summer 2016 had no participation from the armed groups and the planned second meeting has been postponed a number of times. As a result, fighting between the Burmese Army and ethnic groups, particularly the Arakan Army, and the Kokang and Kachin Independent Army continues unabated.

While it would be unfair to expect any immediate major breakthroughs after six decades of ethnic conflicts, one was surely expecting some credible direction on reconciliation. The only major visible turnaround in this, however, is the representation of key minorities in the new government.

For instance, both the speakers and deputy speakers of lower and upper houses are from ethnic minorities. Similarly, Henry Van Thio, a member representing the Chin ethnic group, was appointed as second vice president of the country. Yet, beyond these symbolic moves, the NLD has not really addressed the issues that continue to threaten peace and stability of this very diverse country.

Finally, the handling of Buddhist-Muslim religious conflict involving more than a million Rohingyas has attracted global condemnation. The militant uprising by some members of Rohingyas that led to the deaths of nine policemen in the Kachin province late last year invited massive reprisals from Burmese army involving killings, rape, destruction of homes and denial of critical aids to the displaced population from the community.

The NLD and particularly Suu Kyi have been blamed for not standing up to the army over what international observers have dubbed "silent ethnic cleansing" of the Muslim Rohingyas. In short, the continued plight of Rohingyas is heavily weighing on the performance of Suu Kyi's government.

While the government under Suu Kyi is still very popular and enjoys mass support (it won the majority of seats in recent by-elections), time is running out. With its inability to create a workable blueprint for ethnic reconciliation and lack of strong resolve to address the issues concerning the future of "stateless" Rohingyas, the NLD government is fast losing its credibility and good faith.

How quickly Suu Kyi turns the tides of pessimism against her party and government will determine the future of Myanmar and its democracy.

Niranjan Sahoo is a Senior Fellow of the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (2nd, R) examines a weapon during the 9th International Defense Exhibition and Seminar 2016 (IDEAS-2016) in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, Nov. 22, 2016. IDEAS-2016 commenced at Karachi Expo Center on Tuesday. [Xinhua file photo]

The latest verdict by the Pakistan Supreme Court in a case involving Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has created more confusion than resolving anything. The judgment came at a crucial juncture when the country was slowly recovering from the senseless violence by militants and its economy was showing signs of health.

The judgement was in a case filed by opposition political leaders last year, asking the court to probe allegations of corruption against Mr. Sharif and his family. Pakistan has its own share of misfortune when it comes to tackling malpractice by powerful elites, accused of making money by misusing their authority.

The publication of the Panama Papers was instrumental in showing the involvement of hundreds of wealthy Pakistanis in offshore companies and assets avoiding taxes. Sharif's two sons and a daughter were mentioned as the owners of companies operating properties in a wealthy part of London.

These properties are at the heart of the controversy. Sharif's opponents allege he used authority as prime minister in the 1990s to illegally transfer money abroad to buy these assets. He has denied this, saying his late father had set up businesses in the Gulf region long before he became prime minister, and the proceeds from the sale of these ventures were used to purchase the London properties.

The Supreme Court intervened to take up the case when opposition leader Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party threatened a major protest last year against the Sharif government. Hearings were held from November 3 last year to February 23, and the judgment was delivered on April 20.

The five-member panel of judges issued a split decision: Two judges said Sharif should be disqualified as there was ample proof of financial wrongdoing; three judges said more investigation was needed to reach at a final verdict and they ordered the establishment of a new panel to complete the investigation of Sharif and his two sons within 60 days.

Sharif and his Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz party are celebrating it as a victory; however, the opposition is still demanding his resignation on moral grounds. They argue that this is the first time two Supreme Court justices have declared Sharif not honest enough to lead the country.

Legally speaking, Sharif cannot be removed as the majority ruling is in his favor. However, the enraged opposition has called for new wave of protests from next week that could be disastrous for Pakistan.

It is just recovering from more than a decade of economic stagnation. Projections by international agencies show economic growth could touch 5.2 percent this year. Now, that progress could be derailed. The tragedy is that it is happening when hardly one year is left before the next election is due in mid-2018.

China as a strategic partner and main investor in Pakistan certainly should be worried at such developments. It has been pumping billions of dollars into the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, part of the Belt and Road Initiative and to link Western China through networks of roads and railways with the warm water port of Gwadar, located at the mouth of the Arabian Sea in southern Pakistan. The CPEC provides the shortest route for China to reach the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The CPEC was announced when President Xi Jinping visited Pakistan in 2015. The project was supposed to have been launched in 2014, but was delayed as the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was protesting in the heart of capital Islamabad. The protest at that time was for alleged fraud in elections. The issue now has changed to financial corruption, but the tactics are the same.

Mr. Sharif has alleged that the 2014 protest caused massive economic losses by delaying the start of CPEC. The damage could be more substantial now if the protests were prolonged. It could delay completion of some of the CPEC projects due for completion by 2018 under the early harvest system.

The next 60 days are crucial as the opposition wants Sharif to step aside for this period to let the probe take place without any potential government intervention. It looks unlikely as Sharif and his party assert that though they would allow and even facilitate the probe, resignation is out of question.

Hence, China might well be wise to view options as to how the potential dangerous political instability could be avoided without getting dragged into the messy local politics.

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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China and Egypt on Monday voiced their willingness to enhance cooperation under the framework of the Road and Belt Initiative.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R, front) shakes hands with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry (L, front) during their meeting on the sidelines of the Ancient Civilization Forum in Athens, Greece, on April 24, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The latest development came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on the sidelines of the Ancient Civilization Forum held in the Greek capital.

Wang said bilateral relations have maintained a sound momentum. Egypt, he said, is an important partner of China in the construction of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang said the two sides could further dovetail their development and achieve mutual benefits and win-win.

He noted that China stands ready to maintain close coordination and communication with the Egyptian side in international affairs.

Shoukry, on his part, said his country's relationship with China is one of its priorities in the foreign policy. The two countries have close stances and good coordination in international affairs.

He said Egypt is willing to discuss new cooperation channels with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
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China on Monday urged all related parties to stay calm and exercise restraint and not to take any moves that may further escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the remarks at a daily press briefing, saying that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is complicated, sensitive and extremely tense.

Geng added that the United Nations Security Council has clearly prohibited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear and missile activities.

China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors and the two sides have maintained friendly exchanges, he said when asked whether China will send representatives to attend DPRK activities marking the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army on Tuesday.
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Wang Weiguang, the president of CASS and honorary president of the China-CEE Institute, attends the ceremony and delivers a keynote speech. [Photo/Xinhua]

The China-CEE Institute was launched on April 24 in Hungary. Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the launching ceremony. .

The launching ceremony was held in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and 16+1 Think Tank Cooperation and Exchange Network. Wang Weiguang, the president of CASS and honorary president of the China-CEE Institute, also attended the ceremony and delivered a keynote speech.

The institute is the first Chinese think tank independently registered in Europe. CASS President Wang Weiguang said during his speech that academic exchanges and think tank cooperation is an important dimension of people-to-people exchange between China and CEE countries. The institute would promote exchanges through field study, joint research, conferences, seminars and lectures. An academic committee will be set up, and leading scholars from China and CEE countries will be members of the committee, he added.

Huang Ping, director of the Institute of European Studies of CASS, serves as the president of the China-CEE Institute.

After the launching ceremony, a symposium titled China-CEEC Cooperation: Joint Efforts to Address Common Challenges was held. Experts and scholars from China and CEE countries discussed the common challenges and solutions of China-CEEC cooperation.
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China stands ready to work with South Africa to enhance people-to-people exchange and cooperation so as to boost the mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong said on Monday.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong (L) meets with South African Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa in Pretoria, South Africa, on April 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)



Liu made the remarks in a meeting with South African Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa here before she attended the first meeting of the China-South Africa High Level People to People Exchange Mechanism (PPEM).

Sino-South African relationship is now in its best time ever, with deepening mutual political trust and fruitful achievements in bilateral pragmatic cooperation, said Liu.

In their top-level design for comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, the heads of state of China and South Africa have charted the course for the growth of bilateral relations and ushered in an unprecedented historic opportunity for people-to-peole exchange and cooperation, she said.

As the first high-level people-to-people change mechanism established by China with an African country, the China-South Africa PPEM is part of follow-up actions to implement the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Johannesburg, said the vice premier.

It will not only facilitate the understanding and friendship between the two peoples of China and South Africa, but also play an exemplary role in stronger Sino-African people-to-people exchange, she noted.

China and South Africa should encourage broad public participation so as to turn Sino-South African people-to-people exchange into a fine example for the people-to-people exchange between China and Africa as a whole, she said.

To this end, Liu added, China and South Afirca should maintain close contact, innovate ideas and approaches and focus on active implementation and practical results.

For his part, Mthethwa said the founding of the South Africa-China PPEM reflects the vision and wisdom of the heads of state of the two countries.

The South Africa-China PPEM will boost the friendship between the two peoples and facilitate bilateral exchanges and cooperation in science and technology, education, culture and tourism, said Mthethwa, expressing belief that the PPEM will play an important role in further developing the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
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Senior officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan met in Tokyo on Tuesday amid rising tensions with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The meeting was attended by U.S. special envoy Joseph Yun, South Korean special representative Kim Hong-kyun and Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian affairs chief Kenji Kanasugi.

Kim told reporters that the three countries would continue to exert pressure on the DPRK, adding that punitive measures were also discussed in case Pyongyang should carry out future acts of provocation.

Kanasugi said the three countries agreed to strengthen their deterrence power and urged the DPRK to exercise restraint.

The United States has maintained its stance that all options, including military action, are on the table regarding the DPRK's missile and nuclear programs.

A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine on Tuesday arrived at the South Korea port of Busan. The USS Michigan guided-missile submarine is not supposed to participate in any drills or military operations, but its call would send a meaningful message to the DPRK, said South Korea's YTN television.

At a national meeting held Monday, the DPRK again warned the United States that it would stage preemptive nuclear strikes against American forces.
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China Tuesday called on Indonesia to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel on a vessel recently seized by Indonesia.

"The Chinese Embassy in Indonesia has contacted the Indonesian side in this regard," said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang at a daily press briefing.

He said the Chuan Hong 68, a Chinese vessel hired by a Malaysian marine-engineering company, was undertaking engineering operations in areas designated by the Malaysian company when it was seized by an Indonesian maritime patrol ship on April 20 in sea off Tarempa, Indonesia.

"We hope Indonesia will consult with the Malaysian company to solve any issues," said Geng.

Geng said that China hopes Indonesia will ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese personnel onboard.
Chinese officials raid a house church.

(Photo: ChinaAid)

ChinaAid

(Changji, XinjiangApril 25, 2017) In a move that a defense attorney termed harsh, five Christians in Chinas northwestern Xinjiang were jailed for 3-5 years on April 18 for participating in the planning of a Bible study.

On April 18, a court in Changji, Xinjiang, sentenced Christians Yang Zhaocun and Wang Lulu to five years in prison, Cheng Yajie to four years, and Liu Yan and Zheng Lan to three years. Officials tried the defendants last October on charges of illegal assembly and gathering a crowd to disturb public order, after they held a private Christian event at Zheng Lans home. The court did not notify the defense lawyers of the courts verdict.

One defense attorney said, The judges wrongfully determined the nature of the case, and the sentences were unreasonably harsh. How can private gatherings disrupt public order? The public security bureau exceeded its authority and crossed a line.

During the trial, Wang and Cheng admitted that they participated in an illegal assembly, and Zheng confessed to hosting so-called illegal religious activities.

Their supposed crimes stem from a gathering of more than 50 Christians at Zhengs home on March 5, 2016, where the congregants studied the Bible and listened to sermons. According to a government document, Yang and Liu were responsible for researching potential meeting places and transporting the meetings attendees, activities which make them accessories to crime, while the others were labeled primary criminals. When authorities raided the gathering, Yang, Zheng, Cheng, and Wang were taken into custody, while Liu was seized at her home.

All of the defendants plead innocent, and all are planning to appeal.

ChinaAid exposes abuses such as those experienced by Yang Zhaocun, Liu Yan, Wang Lulu, Zheng Lan, and Cheng Yajie in order to stand in solidarity with persecuted Christians and promote religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law.

ChinaAid Media Team

Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985

Email: [email protected]

For more information, click here
By Maggie, China Aviation Daily | Apr. 25, 2017

Lucky Air would respectively launch Kunming - Manila and Kunming - Cebu routes on May 26 and June 1 to provide more capacity support for routes from Yunnan to the Philippines. Kunming - Manila route is the first nonstop routes from Kunming to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, which is of great significance to improving communication and cooperation between China and the Philippines and assisting "The Belt and Road".

B737-800 will fly these two routes. The flight information is as follows:

Flight no. Route City Depature time Arrival time City Frequency 8L9583 Kunming-Manila Kunming 00:25 03:40 Manila Every Monday and Friday 8L9584 Manila 04:40 08:00 Kunming 8L9747 Kunming-Cebu Kunming 14:10 18:15 Cebu Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 8L9748 Cebu 19:15 23:20 Kunming

The Philippines is in the economic zone on Maritime Silk Road and is an important partner for China's "The Belt and Road" initiative. In 2017, Lucky Air actively responds to the nation's development needs and will launch Kunming - Manila and Kunming - Cebu routes.
At a forum held in New York on Monday, China's Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai invited Washington to join the Beijing-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

In his words, the initiative, aimed at building infrastructure connectivity, and thus boosting free trade and people-to-people exchanges across Asia, Africa and Europe, is not China's "solo show". Rather, it will be a "symphony" performed by all participating countries, the US included if it chooses to join.

The initiative offers a platform for countries to join hands to cultivate fresh impetus for global growth and explore a more sustainable development path together.

However, the US has been suspicious of the initiative, if not openly antagonistic toward it, since President Xi Jinping first proposed reinvigorating the ancient Silk Road trade routes in 2013. With some in the US claiming it is an attempt by China to challenge the US' global leadership, that is why Washington has refused to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which has been established to finance Belt and Road projects.

But such concerns stem from an outdated Cold War view of the world, which tends to pit great powers against each other in a zero-sum game, rather than recognize the plentiful opportunities that exist for win-win cooperation.

The initiative embraces the principles of wide consultation, joint construction and shared benefits, and aims to promote the construction of a fairer global economic governance system. It is open and inclusive, and complements, rather than replaces, the existing international governance mechanisms orchestrated by the US. There is really nothing for the US to take exception to.

Indeed, the US has nothing to lose by joining the initiative. By doing so, it will be able to secure investment to improve its own outdated infrastructure and reap the benefits of the huge business opportunities that the initiative promises to create.

Meantime, the world faces tremendous challenges such as poverty, terrorism and energy security that cannot be adequately addressed without a China-US partnership that ensures better functioning of the existing international order. The US participation in the Belt and Road Initiative would enable China and the US to work more closely together to better fulfill their international responsibilities.

Despite their differences, the two countries have already built a resilient relationship featuring extensive cooperation in many areas. If reason prevails, the US should realize that it would in its own interest to be part of the network of global partnerships that are being formed by the Belt and Road Initiative.
More than 500 coins from olden-day China and about 100 statues from places along the ancient Silk Road are displayed at a Beijing museum. Photos Provided To China Daily

Empires along the ancient Silk Road may have faded into obscurity over time, but a coin exhibition shows how trade thrived on the legendary Eurasian route. Wang Kaihao reports.

The exhibits are small and eroded, not only by sand, but by time. As the ancient empires along the Silk Road faded into obscurity, these surviving coins are remaining witnesses of the booming communication on that legendary Eurasian trade route.

The event, Coins Have Two Sides, West and East: Exhibition of Currencies on Ancient Silk Road was launched on Thursday at Network of International Cultural Exchange Gallery, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Culture.

At the show, more than 500 coins from ancient China and about 100 ancient statues from places along the land and sea routes, respectively, are displayed.

The exhibits range from copper coins with square holes from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD220) to gold coins from the Byzantine Empire besides items from today's Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and India.

The exhibition hall is like a microcosm of economic history in the ancient world.

The coins are on loan from Jin Jiadong, 67, who is based in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province.

Jin, who has been collecting coins for at least the past 30 years, owns more 10,000 items, which are displayed at a private museum in Nanchang.

"Some coins lack high economic value but contain very important historical information," says Jin.

"When you set out to systematically look for certain types of coins, you find many voids in your collection. That encouraged me to communicate more with overseas collectors," he says.

According to him, more than 200 exhibits are from ancient China's central kingdoms, and about 60 are from Xiyu (the western regions), a term used to describe the numerous regimes, which existed from the third century BC to the eighth century AD in today's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and Central Asia.

Two coins, which were found in Hotan, Xinjiang, called "Hotan horse money", are his favorites and among the exhibits. They are from between the first and third century AD, and Jin says there are only about 200 such coins in existence.

"These coins are a good example of communication between East and West," he says.

On one side of the coin, there is an image of a sacred horse, which is rooted in Bactrian culture (from Afghanistan), plus a Kharosthi script (a distinct language once used in Pakistan and Afghanistan) and it was made using a Greek molding method.

On the other side of the coin, there are Chinese characters, and the weight of the copper coin is defined by zhu, a measurement unit from the Han Dynasty.

Pei Manyi, curator of the exhibition, says: "We often find three or four languages on one coin. This proves that the currency was used by several countries."

Pei adds that the coins also provide crucial evidence when studying myths, religions, craftsmanship and linguistics along the ancient Silk Road.

The exhibition is a part of a series of displays on the Silk Road at the gallery.

In March, an exhibition on the Mogao Caves, a crossroads on the Silk Road in Dunhuang, Gansu province, was staged there, at the start of its tour around the world.

The coin event is also scheduled to be taken to countries along the Silk Road, as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

He Ruzhen, who launched the program, says: "In ancient times, Chinese people used porcelain and tea to trade in goods along the Silk Road before using money. Today, we'd like to use these cultural linkages to stir emotional resonance among people in countries along the Belt and Road. More cultural exhibitions will help."

Contact the writer at wangkaihao@chinadaily.com.cn

If you go

Coins Have Two Sides, West and East: Exhibition of Currencies on Ancient Silk Road

10 am to 5 pm, through May 21, Mondays closed. Network of International Cultural Exchange Gallery, 83 Beiheyan Dajie (Avenue), Dongcheng district, Beijing.
Emmanuel Macron may have won the first round of the French presidential elections on Sunday, but Marine Le Pen won a political victory of her own. The statist undercurrent running through her nationalist and populist policies successfully bridged the gap between Frances far-Right and socialist Left, according to Marco Respinti in a new essay for Religion & Liberty Transatlantic.

Mainstream French politicians have sought to combine disparate ideological strands since at least Charles de Gaulle, who presented his foreign policy as a via media between les deux hegemonies  the two Cold War superpowers of the U.S. and USSR. Modern neo-fascist organizations worldwide have (rightly) distanced themselves from the term conservative, since it implies a colorblind meritocracy and economic policies that allow minorities to advance in society. They have instead sought to present themselves as a third position, whose desire to harness state power for the volk overlap with socialists desire to do so for the proletariat. Respinti writes:

Marines new strategy bears the old name of breaching into the Left, a classical feature of the European nationalist (so-called) Right  and a highly revealing one. In the second half of the twentieth century, European neo-fascist movements and groups have grown steadily dissatisfied with being labelled rightist by media and political opponents because of the association of the term Right with capitalism, Atlanticism, and a generally warm embrace of the United States and even Israel. (In Italy, the term also indicates monarchism.) Over the years, these groups branded themselves a third force. During the Cold War, they assured voters they were neither with the Soviets, nor with America. Such far-Right economic nationalist and populist movements  which were by no means less statist than their fascist forebears  struggled to gain credibility as differently leftist. Of the many attempts to transform quasi-fascist parties into a brand of nationalism that spans the entire political spectrum, the French FN is the most successful. Winning its bet, it has enlarged its electoral base and appeal. It has gained national momentum. It has made immigration its defining political theme. And it has successfully breached into the Left.

That blending of Left and Right, Respinti says, is embodied in National Front vice president Florian Philippot. Raised in a family that voted for Socialist President Francois Mitterand, he worked for ex-socialist Jean-Pierre Chevenement who founded the Republican and Citizen Movement:

In French, this is part of what is known as la Gauche souvraniste, or the Sovereignist Left. In France souvranisme is the self-selected label by which all varieties of nationalists have banded together for years. It started as an opposition to the European Unions internationalism and developed into a philosophy of neither Left, nor Right. It proposes both nationalist and socialist policies that would further ensnare Frances democratic institutions in its long political tradition of nationalization and statism. Those proposals are necessary, as there is no other way to possibly keep together such different political pedigrees and ideological sentiments as one can find in the National Front of France, or the separatist Lega Nord of Italy, or Italys Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle). Souvranisme lures the masses by promising change, and its only strength is the critique of the status quo. As long as people like Marine Le Pen can blame all societal problems on the euro, immigration, and, yes, the free market, votes will come.

During the campaign, Le Pen promised to maintain the 35-hour work week, lower the retirement age to 60, and not reduce the nations tax on wealth (N.B.: not merely income). She would increase some welfare benefits. While Le Pens second tier of support is likely to be drawn from Fillons supporters, her policies are more closely aligned with Jean-Luc Melenchon, the Communist-supported admirer of Venezuelan socialism who regards the EU as intolerably laissez-faire.

Sundays voting ended in a virtual four-way tie. (Macron won 24 percent of the vote, compared to 21 for Le Pen, and roughly 20 percent each for conservative Francois Fillon and leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon). Polls show Macron crushing Le Pen, but her campaign is reaching out for the far-Left. Immediately following the election Le Pens economic adviser, Philippe Murer, said, There are people who voted Melenchon and can now vote for us. The New Stateman notes that a spokesperson for the FN [has] pointed out there are remarkable congruities between their respective platforms, which can be categorised as a populism of the left and a populism of the right.

The phenomenon of allegedly far-Right organizations trying to is not unknown in the United States. Conversely Lyndon LaRouche, a onetime Marxist (of French heritage, no less), breached into the Right by aligning his movement with Liberty Lobby and anti-Semitic organizations in the 1970s and 80s. Plus ca change, plus cest la meme chose.

Perhaps the undertaking is less an example of politically opportunism than a recognition of ideological kinship.

You may read Marco Respintis full essay here.

(Photo credit: Guillaume Destomes/Shutterstock.)
NEW YORK - It is beneficial for the United States to support China's Belt and Road Initiative, a transnational network of trade, long-term investment and economic development, said a leading US expert.

"I think it would be beneficial for the Trump administration to say that the United States is supportive of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Michael Swaine, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

The Belt and Road Initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was first proposed by China in 2013. It is expected to include more than 60 percent of the world's population and more than one third of global economic output.

"The United States is not in the position, as I understand, to be able to invest huge amounts of money in the Belt and Road Initiative. It could invest expertise, it could invest a certain amount of services and things like that, that would be useful for One Belt and (One) Road Initiative. I think these sorts of things should be discussed," Swaine said.

Calling himself a "big supporter" of the initiative, Swaine said the United States government has been in recent years taken "a kind of wait-and-see attitude."

"It is not so much hostile as much as it's been...the United States is sort of 'it's a little too early to know here how viable this concept really is' and that's really led people to be cautious," he said.

"I'm very positive, I'm a big supporter of the Belt and Road. I think it's not threatening American interests. I think it could be very beneficial for the countries involved and it could be very beneficial for China," he said.

"I think it could reinforce incentives for cooperation in critical areas of the world, it can serve as a bridge for involvement by Western European countries and also by the United States. I think in concept, it is a very positive thing," Swaine said.

"This event next month is going to be the first really major event as I understand it for the Belt and Road Initiative," Swaine said when talking about the upcoming Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in mid-May, the highest level of its kind since the initiative proposed.

"So we have to see here exactly what China is prepared to do and what other countries are prepared to do in trying to support this, but I think the United States should without question support the Belt and Road (initiative)," he said.

"The United States has to be able to position itself in the global order which is not going to go away," Swaine said. "It's gonna become more globalized over time, it should not be supporting nationalist movements in Europe or elsewhere, much less in this country, that simply creates more barriers and they create more suspicion, they create more tension both domestically and internationally."
Dave Jones, president of SPD Silicon Valley Bank.

SPD Silicon Valley Bank plans to open a branch in Shenzhen in the summer of 2018, another big step in its robust expansion in China.

The Shanghai-headquartered bank opened its Beijing branch in February and signed a memorandum with the Shenzhen government on Thursday on the establishment of a branch in the city, a technology and innovation hub.

SSVB will invest 100 million yuan ($14.52 million) as the startup capital for its Shenzhen branch and support its "solid growth" with additional capital, according to Dave Jones, the bank's president.

"Our target customers are venture capital-backed innovation companies," Jones said during the 2017 China (Guangdong)-US Investment Cooperation Conference in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, on Thursday.

Jones emphasized that right now the Chinese mainland has its "almost 100 percent concentration", although the Silicon Valley Bank seeks Singapore as a potential second location in Asia.

SSVB is a joint venture between Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co Ltd and US-based Silicon Valley Bank. It was founded in 2012 as China's first commercial bank dedicated to technology and innovation startups.

It introduced renminbi business to its Chinese customers in September 2015 and was selected in April last year as one of the three pilots in Shanghai for trials of an investment-loan linkage mechanism to help small and medium-sized technology companies.

"We go where venture capitals goes," Jones said. "If you look at the historical venture capital investments, 40 percent of them went to Beijing, 20 percent to Shanghai and 20 percent to Shenzhen. Clearly we have to have a Shenzhen branch."

The bank president pointed to e-commerce, life sciences and all things mobilefrom drones to electric vehiclesas some of the hottest areas where venture capital is going today.

Shenzhen, the headquarters of telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and internet major Tencent Holdings Ltd, is also home to numerous tech startups, which have huge demand for funding.

The city also takes the core role in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, an area that Pony Ma, chairman and CEO of Tencent, described as "the cradle of the Chinese Silicon Valley".

"I think it (the Greater Bay Area) is definitely possible to become the cradle of a Chinese Silicon Valley," Jones said. "What is required is the willingness to think differently from both companies and the government."

"The vision will be realized if the government maintains a dialogue with the entrepreneurial and innovation community and is willing to be innovative about taxes and offer better financial rewards to attract talent from other cities," he said.
A young visitor interacts with a robot at the China Telecom Corp stand during an international expo in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. [Photo by Wang Luxian/For China Daily]

China Telecommunications Corp said on Monday that it will invest more than $1 billion over the next three to five years to expand its presence in economies along the Belt and Road Initiative.

Deng Xiaofeng, CEO of its international unit China Telecom Global Ltd, said it will also raise more money from State-owned financing institutions and private investors, in a move to build land cables, internet data centers and other infrastructure in Southeast Asia, Europe and other regions.

"State-owned and private capital are now keen to be part of our efforts. We also need their expertise to help us evaluate whether the plans are plausible," Deng added.

Deng said the company did not exclude the possibility of investing in foreign telecom carriers to help other developing countries accelerate the development of 4G. But Deng did not disclose more details.

As of 2016, China Telecom has more than 4,700 overseas employees, with branches and offices in 30 countries and regions, most of which are along the Belt and Road. It has already built 13 internet data centers in six of them.

Deng said it would step up resources to complete four cross-border telecom infrastructure initiatives, including the China-Pakistan information corridor, the China-Laos-Thailand and the China-Bangladesh-Myanmar-India projects.

"Cross-border telecommunication infrastructure is one of the first steps for international cooperation," he said.

"Our experience in deploying one of the world's largest information networks in China can help narrow the digital gap."

According to data from the International Telecommunication Union, the Asia-Pacific region scored 4.58 in informatization level in 2016, lower than the global average of 4.94.

Xiang Ligang, a telecom analyst and founder of the telecom industry website cctime.com, said China Telecom was one of the first Chinese telecom carriers to go global, with the push starting in the 1990s.

"Its expansion plans will also help more Chinese telecom equipment makers venture into overseas markets," Xiang said.

China Telecom expects that China's plan to help economies along the Belt and Road improve telecom services will create a market worth $10 billion to $20 billion for the telecom industry over the next five years.

China Telecom's plan came shortly after its bigger rival China Mobile Communications Corp said last week it would build two telecom systems to facilitate China's ties with Laos and Myanmar.

China Mobile on Monday, however, denied a report that it was considering buying shares of Singapore telecoms company M1 Ltd.
China will play a key role in Adient's strategy of expanding its non-automotive revenue to $1 billion per annum by 2021, thanks to the country's ongoing transportation infrastructure development, said a senior executive of the company.

Adient, the world's largest automotive seating supplier based in the United States, spun off from Johnson Controls, is aiming to expand its revenue beyond its traditional automotive business, according to Darlene Knight, Adient vice-president and head of China operations, and she added that "part of that revenue will be from China.

"There are many opportunities for Adient in China's development of transportation, including railway and aviation," said Knight.

China operates the world's longest high-speed railway lines. In 2016 alone, the total distance of the nation's high-speed railway lines reached 22,000 kilometers, up 15.79 percent year-on-year, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Transport.

In addition, 28 out of the 218 airports across the nation serve more than 10 million passenger trips per year, and 50 of the airports handle more than 10,000 metric tons of cargo, official statistics showed.

Adient signed an agreement with Boeing on aircraft seating in March in an effort to diversify its business.

Knight said she was aware of China's first self-made passenger jet airliner C919, which is about to take its maiden flight soon, and she sees possibilities for similar cooperation between Adient and the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China.

"China is a key market for us globally. China is a great story for Adient. Our unconsolidated seating revenue, driven primarily through our strategic JV network in China, grew about 13 percent year-on-year, excluding the impact of foreign exchange," said Knight.

Adient has unveiled several products and concepts at Auto Shanghai 2017, including many that were designed and engineered in China for the local, regional and global automotive industries.

In addition, through its joint venture Adient Yanfeng Seating Mechanism Co Ltd, Adient announced plans to expand its metals and mechanisms plant into a new 90,000 square meters plant located in Changshu, Jiangsu province.

"As automated driving technology advances, the interior will become the focus for consumers. The seating system will influence and enable experiences and interaction that deliver more emotional and physical enjoyment. That is why many of our products and concepts on display here in Shanghai are driving toward the future of autonomous driving," said Richard Chung, Adient's vice-president of global innovation.

Adient was spun off from Johnson Controls' automotive seating business as an independent company in 2016. Globally, it supplies one out of every three automotive seats, and produces 25 million seat systems annually. Last year, it generated $7.5 billion revenue in China, with a 45 percent share of the passenger vehicle seating business.
TCL Corp Chairman Li Dongsheng said the Chinese electronics giant is in the final stages of making an investment in a US technology company that would be worth as much as $300 million and urged President Donald Trump's administration to allow him to seal the deal.

Li said in a Bloomberg Television interview that he expected approval for a separate US deal in November, but since then it has dragged on, without specifying the target company.

"I can't say what it was because until now the US government still has not approved it, there has been no formal response," Li said. "This is unreasonable."

TCL, which makes and sells BlackBerrys around the world, is seeking to transform itself from a big player in China's devices market to a global technology powerhouse by building and buying makers of key device parts such as touch screens and computing chips. Li said he wants TCL to be the world's biggest television producer within five to 10 years and to make advanced organic LED screens for Apple Inc iPhones.

"Next month I'm sending a team to Israel and we hope to finalize some investments there," Li said at a conference in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou. He said TCL has invested almost 150 billion yuan ($22 billion) in building display manufacturing facilities.

Li said the smartphone and television performance has been flat or weaker over the past year amid heavy competition from domestic smartphone brands like oppo and vivo. The company won't spin off the smartphone unit because it's a core part of the business, but it will likely go through a major restructuring this year, he said. TCL's smartphone shipments fell 39 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to the unit responsible for phone sales. The same subsidiary also builds BlackBerry and Alcatel phones, two brands hit by fading appeal.

Li said TCL wants to supply Apple with smartphone components including OLED screens but hasn't had talks with the company.

"Apple likes to use suppliers who have been successfully operating for two or three years before they bring them on board," Li said. "At the moment we're mostly supplying Huawei and we're also supplying oppo."

BLOOMBERG
Dutch global dairy giant Royal FrieslandCampina is bullish on the growth potential of the market in China and plans to expand its investments and develop more Chinese-catered dairy products.

Last year, its China unit reported its performance independently for the first time in the company's earnings report. In 2016, Royal FrieslandCampina saw its sales revenues in China reach 5 billion yuan ($726 million), jumping 30 percent year-on-year, and it expects a similar growth rate this year.

"The China market is huge and it changes rapidly," said Rahul Colaco, China president of Royal FrieslandCampina.

"Chinese consumers have an increasing higher requirement on values and a stronger desire of healthy products."

Colaco said the group would continue to expand its product categories in China.

"This year, our Frico butter will officially land in China and the Chocomel chocolate milk that is popular in the Netherlands will enter the China market through cross-border e-commerce sites," he said.

"We are also planning to introduce adult milk powder products to China through cross-border e-commerce sites."

Last year, the output value of China's food industry reached 11.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.9 percent year-on-year.

Meng Suhe, president of the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, said food safety was the priority for the growth of China's food industry.

"Our ultimate goal is to pursue healthy and nutritious food products," Meng said.

"China's food industry is now undergoing a comprehensive transformation period."

Royal FrieslandCampina, meanwhile, said it also aims to make more contributions to the Belt and Road Initiative.

Its first batch of goods arrived in China through the direct railway from Rotterdam to the city of Chongqing in Southeast China.

The dairy producer said it hopes to cooperate with more Chinese e-commerce websites, such as JD.com and Tmall.com, two of China's leading e-commerce shopping portals, to cover more consumers in the third- to six-tier Chinese cities, as well as rural areas.

In addition, the company is strengthening its research and development efforts in China, and its innovation center in the Netherlands has already allocated more resources for the development of products in the mainland.
Jin Liqun, president of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

The World Bank Group and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank signed an agreement on Sunday to strengthen cooperation and knowledge sharing between the two multilateral financial institutions.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and AIIB President Jin Liqun signed the memorandum of understanding during the 2017 IMF/World Bank annual spring meeting in Washington.

The deal provides an overall framework for cooperation between the World Bank and the AIIB in a wide range of areas, including development financing, staff exchanges and analytical and sector work. It paves the way for the two institutions to further enhance coordination at the regional and country levels, according to a World Bank news release.

"The World Bank Group has worked closely with our partners at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank since its inception," Kim said.

"We're already financing projects together from Azerbaijan to Indonesia, and I'm delighted to further strengthen our partnership. Collaboration between development institutions is essential to make the best use of scarce resources, bring in the private sector, and meet the rising aspirations of the people we serve," Kim added.

The two institutions signed a co-financing framework agreement for investment projects a year ago. Since then, the AIIB and the World Bank have co-financed five projects: supporting power generation in Pakistan, a natural gas pipeline in Azerbaijan, and slum upgrading, dam safety and regional infrastructure development in Indonesia. The two institutions are discussing more projects to be co-financed in 2017 and 2018.

The AIIB and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, have co-invested in a power sector project in Myanmar and are discussing additional potential projects.

"Signing this memorandum of understanding fits into our vision of a new kind of internationalism," Jin said.

"It deepens our relationship with the World Bank Group and sets up the mechanisms through which we can more easily collaborate and share information. We place a high value on our partnerships because by working together, we greatly increase our potential for positive outcomes in Asia," Jin said.

Unlike the less than supportive attitude expressed by former US president Barack Obama's administration, World Bank President Kim and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde have expressed their support for the AIIB since the very beginning.

The Beijing-based AIIB opened for business in January 2016 with the aim of supporting infrastructure construction in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to statistics published at the end of March, it had 52 members and another 18 prospective members.

James Woolsey Jr, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and former adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign, indicated earlier that the Trump administration might be interested in joining the AIIB, but no senior Trump administration official has given any clear signal on the issue so far.
Researchers of Chengdu University of Information Technology in Southwest China test self-driving vehicle. [Photo/ Chinanews.com]

China will increase its annual per capita spending on research and development (R&D) to 500,000 yuan ($72,800) by 2020 from 370,000 yuan in 2014, the Ministry of Science and Technology said Monday.

According to the 13th five-year plan for national science and technology talent development (2016-2020) released by the ministry, China had 5.35 million people working in R&D by the end of 2015, the world's largest pool of R&D talent.

More than 1.1 million overseas Chinese skilled workers returned to China from 2011 to 2015, three times the number of the previous three decades combined, it said.

However, the country is still facing problems, including a lack of researchers in cutting-edge, high-end fields and insufficient expenditure on R&D talent.
Hesteel Serbia employees discuss production techniques with a member of the Chinese management team. [Photo by Fu Jing/China Daily]

For 20 years, Svetlana Radosavljevic has monitored the manufacture of steel and iron from a glass-walled control room in an old production center at Zelezara Smederevo, Serbia's biggest mill.

For many years, the mill, less than a 60-minute drive from Belgrade, could only run one of its two production lines, and it lost about $10 million a month. Moreover, many of the 5,000 workers were unproductive. These factors resulted in a prolonged period of low productivity that almost forced the company into bankruptcy.

Last year, the 105-year-old mill was given a new lease on life, when Hesteel Group, from Hebei province, purchased it for 46 million euros ($49.6 million).

Now, both production lines are running at full capacity at Hesteel Serbia, the mill's new name, which will see production of 2 million metric tons this year, the maximum of a quota agreed between the European Union and Serbia. The acquisition ended seven years of losses, and by the end of last year, the mill was profitable again.

The workers are now more confident because their jobs are secure, and wages have risen by an average of 8 percent, compared with the pre-takeover level.

"Now it is safer, production is higher, and I am more focused on my job because I don't need to worry about becoming unemployed," Radosavljevic said.

Her control room is about 50 meters from the end of a line that produces steel plate. During a visit in June, President Xi Jinping spoke with the workers and management in the control room, which helped to inject the confidence needed to make the most of the lifeline offered by the acquisition.

In addition to the frontline workers, even Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who is also president-elect, is excited about the performance.

Song Sihai, an executive board member of Hesteel Serbia who oversees management of the mill, described his meeting with Vucic. "The prime minister and I discussed the revenue target for this year, which will be about $800 million, and he asked his assistant to calculate the amount it would contribute to the country's economic output," he said.

Sitting in his office, Song, an executive with the parent company, quoted Vucic's conclusion, that the company's revenues will account for more than 2 percent of GDP this year.

"Surely, this will provide great help to Serbia's economic development," he said.
BEIJING  China will make unwavering efforts in upgrading its manufacturing industry as the nation transitions to an economy that relies more on innovation and high value-added products.

"China's manufacturing sector is tasked with challenges including a downshift in growth, structural adjustment and a shift in growth engines," said Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology.

He made the remarks when delivering a report submitted to Chinese lawmakers for deliberation at a four-day bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, which opened Monday.

China is determined to roll out more policies to optimize the investment environment and tap investment potential of businesses in a bid to support the development of advanced manufacturing, according to the report.

The manufacturing sector will also be bolstered by lowered operation costs by standardizing fee systems, optimizing land supply and streamlining the tax structure, Miao told lawmakers.

In the report, Miao also stressed expanding financing channels for the manufacturing sector and reducing market entry restrictions to make the manufacturing industry more open to foreign investment.

China will aim to improve its innovation system with focus on the research and development of new materials, intelligent manufacturing and robots.
With the first round of the French election results in, and no major candidates even managing to get a quarter of the total votes, two candidates remain: Marine Le Pen of the National Front, a populist and nationalist party, and Emmanuel Macron, the center-Left candidate of the En Marche! (On Our Way) political party. Samuel Gregg covers the current politically disjointed state of France in a new article for First Things. He maintains an attitude of skepticism and uncertainty towards Frances future, lamenting its fall from grace and conceding that it is a broken country. On the election results, Gregg says:

The results of the first round of Frances 2017 presidential election have predictably been portrayed as embodying a struggle between globalists and nationalists that is replicated across the world. This division will be further underscored by the elections second round, between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, insofar as they are regarded as symbolizing this split. But the deeperand more troublingreality is that Frances election illustrates the degree to which a nation once considered the epitome of European civilization has entered, like much of the rest of the West, a state of advanced decline and political paralysis.

Gregg, although disheartened by the current political crises in France, acknowledges two interesting developments: the rejection of establishment politics and increased Euroskepticism on the left and the right:

Despite the fragmentation, some general trends were highlighted by the elections first round. One is dissatisfaction with the establishment political parties. This year marks the first time since the beginning of the Fifth Republic that a Gaullist candidate did not reach the second round. Perhaps even more significant is the collapse of the Socialist Party, the electorally successful center-left and left alliance painstakingly assembled by the late Francois Mitterrand. The Socialists fielded Benoit Hamon, one of the most inept mainstream candidates in a very long time. The party that won the presidency just five years ago received barely 6 percent of the vote.

A second development worth noting: By my calculation, almost 50 percent of French voters supported parties, of the right or left, that are committed to hard or soft Euroskepticism. Its unlikely that a majority of French voters will choose Frexit in the near future. They know just how much Frances stagnant and overregulated economy is propped up by its closeness to the more dynamic Germany. But Macrons Europhilia shouldnt blind us to the reality that one-half of the Paris-Berlin axis, which has been core to the European integration project (even more so in the wake of Brexit), is increasingly unenthusiastic about the European Union. In other words, whatever one thinks of supranational projects, views of European integration now constitute yet another deep fissure in the already fractured French body politic, which once was a driving force for integration.

In conclusion, Gregg affirms that although Frances future looks bleak, we should not read into its politics too deeply and, in the least, the current dissolution of France is a warning to the rest of the West:

It gives me no pleasure to be so pessimistic about France. Like many others in the Anglo-American world, I have long been fascinated by French history, love the language of Moliere and Chateaubriand, admire the political thought of Montesquieu and Tocqueville, and treasure the example of great saints like Therese of Lisieux and Louis de Montfort. Great contemporary intellectuals such as Remi Brague, Pierre Manent, and Philippe Beneton are among the first points of reference for many of us as we seek to understand the thought of the ancient, medieval, and post-Enlightenment worlds. To the extent, however, that Frances brokenness mirrors the social, political, and economic crumbling of the West, we should all be worried. Elections are about many things, and we should be wary of reading too much into them. Sometimes, however, they provide insight into the collective state of mind of societies. And what this election is telling us about France bodes ill for all of us.

To read the original article by Gregg, click here.

Images are CCO.
RIO DE JANEIRO  China is Brazil's biggest foreign investor so far this year, according to consulting firm Dealogic on Monday.

In the first four and half months of 2017, Chinese investors spent $5.67 billion on mergers and acquisitions, representing 37.5 percent of total investment in the country.

Chinese investment in Brazil up to mid-April amounts to nearly half of the $11.92 billion China spent in 2016.

Trailing China were Argentina and Netherlands, with $1.6 billion and $1.1 billion respectively.

The rise in Chinese investment comes at a time when Brazil is improving its trade balance with China, thanks to increased iron and petroleum exports.

Brazil's positive trade balance went from $1 billion in the first quarter of last year to $5.5 billion in the same period of this year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade.
BEIJING  A senior figure in the Chinese steel industry has called for further cuts to steel capacity, saying the sector remains saturated, despite increased profits and production of steel mills in the first quarter.

"The whole industry needs to press ahead with cutting capacity and de-leveraging," said Gu Jianguo, executive vice chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).

He warned against steel price volatility and falling exports in an article published Monday on the CISA website.

Gu's remarks came after unexpectedly strong performance in the steel sector this year.

Thanks to recovery in the broader economy, CISA's members posted combined profits of 23.3 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) during the January-March period, in contrast with a 8.75 billion yuan of losses a year ago.

China's total crude steel output in the same time rose 4.6 percent year-on-year, with daily production in March hitting a record high.

Encouraged by the the unexpected good news, unfounded optimism is blooming in the oversupplied sector, which Gu describes as "near-sighted."

Highlighting lingering problems, Gu said "more observation is necessary" to forecast the full-year economic outlook, and steel demand and consumption.

Plant managers should be clear-headed, Gu said, asking them not to "blindly increase production."

Officials in a high-level meeting last month agreed steel capacity has not changed fundamentally and the recent price rally could result in vulnerabilities. Capacity cuts are still necessary this year.

Steel production capacity should be cut by around 50 million metric tons and coal by at least 150 million tons this year, a key part of supply-side structural reform.

Gu called on steel plants to cooperate with government to eliminate inferior steel products, shut down "zombie enterprises" and curb new capacity.
Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in a counting machine while a clerk counts them at a branch of a commercial bank in Beijing, March 30, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

China's banking regulator has instructed banks to control credit growth to the country's booming real estate sector, intensifying caution against an over-heated market.

Banks should ward off concentration risk in property sector, while stemming illegal financing channels, according to a quarterly statement briefed by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).

The regulator will streamline sales procedure of asset management products, stressing information disclosure and authenticity check, and regulate cross-financing to ensure risk penetration and sufficient provision, Guo Shuqing, chairman of the CBRC, was quoted as saying.

The directive comes as China is putting a "higher priority on risk prevention" to strengthen financial stability.

Banks are also asked to enhance liquidity risk management, conduct stress test on a regular basis and tame maturity mismatch.

Credit structure has shown positive change, the statement noted. Outstanding loans to small and micro businesses jumped 14.4 percent year-on-year to 27.8 trillion yuan ($4 trillion) in the first quarter, while agriculture related loans rose 8.9 percent to 29.2 trillion yuan.

In all, Chinese financial institutions recorded an outstanding loan of 116.6 trillion yuan by the end of March, increasing 102.6 billion yuan from the same period last year, according to statistics from the CBRC.
ZHENGZHOU  Luoyang, China's "city of peonies," will export 1 million cut flowers to Australia, as part of a flower trade cooperation.

Shenzhou Peony Co, a major flower growing enterprise in Luoyang of central China's Henan province, has signed a deal with several Australian distributors to sell 1 million peonies and Chinese herbaceous peonies to Australian customers in 2017.

"In order to pass the quarantine inspection of Australia, we have translated Australian standards and import regulations on cut flowers, and offered training to flower farmers since last year," said Guo Xueliang, head of the city's entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau.

"It is estimated that each cut flower will cost three Australian dollars, more than five times the price in China," said a deputy general manager with the company surnamed Cao.

Cao added that the company would expand its flower planting scale next year to meet the growing demand of cut flowers in foreign markets.

Statistics show that Luoyang exports fewer than 100,000 peonies and Chinese herbaceous peonies to foreign countries and regions each year. It is expected to export 20 million such flowers in the following two to three years.

The city has been growing peonies for more than 1,500 years. The flower was preferred by royal families for its luxuriant blossom, which symbolizes prosperity and wealth.
GUIYANG  China's top alcohol brand Kweichow Moutai reported a net profit rise of 25.2 percent year-on-year from January to March.

Moutai's net profits in the first quarter rose to 6.1 billion yuan (around $886 million). Its sales revenues during the period reached 13.3 billion yuan, up 33.24 percent year-on-year, according to Kweichow Moutai on Tuesday.

In 2016, Moutai saw its output reach around 60,000 metric tons, with sales revenues surpassing 38.8 billion yuan and net profits reaching 16.7 billion yuan, up 18.99 percent and 7.84 percent, respectively, year-on-year.

Distilled in the town of Maotai in southwest China's Guizhou province, Moutai is considered the country's national liquor and often served on official occasions and at state banquets.
Visitors look at a Matrice 600 PRO drone at the booth of Chinese company DJI Innovation Technology Co at CeBit, the world's biggest computer and software fair, in Hannover, Germany. [Photo/Agencies]

Drone manufacturer DJI Innovation Technology Co and Qianxun Spatial Intelligence Inc, a company that uses China's homegrown BeiDou Navigation Satellite System for location and data analysis services, have announced a strategic partnership to promote the application of the navigation system in the drone industry.

The partners are bullish about the prospects for drones, especially agricultural models, used to spray pesticide, and say that BeiDou's highly accurate positioning service is one of its major advantages, especially in agriculture.

Cao Nan, vice-president of DJI, said: "There is still a lot of room for the two sides to cooperate in more fields, including inspection, public safety and mapping."

Cao added the cooperation will make agricultural drone users enjoy a stable, reliable and high-accuracy service. Moreover, the two companies will work together to explore the standard operating mode of agricultural drones.

Qianxun is a joint venture established by China North Industries Group Corp, the largest defense equipment manufacturer in the country and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd in 2015, with registered capital of 2 billion yuan ($290 million), to help develop BeiDou.

Chen Jinpei, CEO of Qianxun, said it will continue to promote the construction of the BeiDou ground base enhancement network, and provide a commercial high-accuracy location and data analysis service in the fields of automobiles, bike sharing, mobile phones and drones.

Shenzhen-based DJI launched the RTK (real-time kinematic) version of the agricultural drone MG-1S, which can perform the high-accuracy positioning of farmland and pesticide spraying through access to the service provided by Qianxun.

The RTK service network covers 18 provinces and municipalities, and will expand to the whole country in the future. Priced at 23,000 yuan, the RTK version of MG-1S is expected to start shipping in the second quarter of this year.

DJI, claiming to account for 70 percent of the global consumer drone market, is devoting a great deal of attention to industry-level drones.

In November, it launched an upgraded agricultural drone, the MG-1S, which is equipped with an advanced flight control system, radar and sensors.

"Industry-level drones have a higher demand for technologies, and in turn, the applications in industries encourage drone manufacturers to improve their technological levels," said Pan Xuefei, a senior analyst at market research firm International Data Corp.

Pan said high-accuracy positioning is an important function for drones, and there are broad prospects for its application.
A man takes a photo of Gionee M6S Plus at the launch ceremony in Beijing on April 24, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Shenzhen-based smartphone maker Gionee unveiled a six-inch screen handset in Beijing on Monday, reinforcing its edge in security functions.

Dubbed the M6S Plus, the handset is equipped with built-in security encryption chips and EAL4 + security certification. The fingerprint sensor, which is able to record the user's heart rate, guarantees security of users' privacy and personal data.

Another feature of the new product is the large battery with a capacity of 6020mAh, with support from Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 standard.

Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 653 octa-core processor, Gionee M6S Plus has 6GB RAM and dual shooters, a 12-megapixel rear camera and an eight-megapixel camera in the front.

The Gionee M6S Plus 64GB model is priced at 3,499 yuan and the 256 GB model at 4,299 yuan.

The new product will be available on May 2.

A report from US telecom research company Strategy Analytics said that Gionee is among the top smartphone brands in China and is ranked in the top 10 worldwide, with 30 million handsets sold last year.

Gionee saw solid growth in 2016 due to its expansion in the offline channel in the lower tier cities, according a report from market research company IDC.

"To differentiate itself from OPPO and vivo, who predominantly target a younger audience, Gionee has been targeting professionals and executives, and hence found a niche market for itself to stand out against its two competitors," the IDC report said.
China's human-like robot, named Jia Jia, did a live "interview" with Kevin Kelly, a famous US journalist and technology observer, on Monday. [Photo/Xinhua]

HEFEI - China's human-like robot, named Jia Jia, did a live "interview" with Kevin Kelly, a famous US journalist and technology observer, on Monday.

The interview was hailed by scientific experts as "having symbolic significance" as it is the world's first interactive conversation between an "artificial intelligence (AI) reporter" and a human being.

First AI reporter

"Jia Jia, can you sing or play me some music?" Kelly, co-founder of the tech magazine Wired, asked in a one-on-one conversation with the AI robot.

"You can get them yourself," Jia Jia answered wittily.

Wearing a traditional Chinese women's fashion, the eye-catching robot looked astonishingly realistic, and was even blinking and smiling during the entire interview.

"Do you like me?" Jia Jia asked.

"Yes," Kelly replied.

"I think so," said Jia Jia.

These conversations were conducted via Skype from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei in east China's Anhui province. Its content was not pre-arranged or designed in any way.

Kelly has been following the development of AI for years, and one of his conditions to receive Jia Jia's interview is not to control the content of their dialogue.

"It's good for Jia Jia to take up such a challenge," said Professor Chen Xiaoping, director of the Robotics Laboratory at the USTC.

"I would give her 70 points (out of a hundred) for her performance," said Chen, Jia Jia's head developer.

Chen believed Jia Jia's "interview" with Kelly had great significance for the research and development of AI robots.

"There were some delays and confusions due to the (Skype) network. Apart from that, I think the conversation was successful," Chen said, adding Jia Jia's response to some questions are quick and satisfactory.

Besides Kelly, Jia Jia had also made interactive conversations on Monday with several computer experts and media representatives, including Bart Selman, Professor of Computer Science Department of Cornell University.

"How old are you?" Selman questioned the humanoid robot, who responded in a joking tone that "Girl's age is a secret." While asked about what she is looking forward to as a robot, Jia Jia replied, "I am looking forward to Friday, my paycheck (day)."

Selman said that Jia Jia, the first AI reporter as far as he knows, could help people peek into the future of the fast growing artificial intelligence.

Robot goddess

Dubbed "robot goddess," Jia Jia has a beautiful face, long flowing locks and rosy red cheeks, looking very much like a real woman.

The human-like robot from China is designed with natural eye movement and speech, which is in synchronization with its lip movement.

The life-like robot was first trotted out in 2016 by Chen and his research and development team at the USTC, which also developed the model service robot "Kejia."

According to Chen, it took the team three years to develop on the basis of research this new-generation interactive robot, which can speak, show micro-expressions, move its lips and move its body.

The AI robot is programmed to learn skills, recognize human faces and interaction and is equipped with a cloud-based system for memory storage.

She was able to accurately answer a query about the day's weather, hold basic conversations and recognize the gender of her questioners.

The interview on Jia Jia, initiated and live streamed by Xinhua, could have some symbolic significance for the future news-gathering and interview, said Jin Jianbin, a professor with the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University.

Though rapid advancements have been made in artificial intelligence over recent years, Chen and Jin believe, AI robots could not replace human journalists in the short term as they still lack the ability of planning and creativity.

However, both of the experts saw a bright future for AI development.

Just as Kelly has said, as for AI development, "we are at the beginning of the beginning -- the first hour of day one. The greatest products of the next 25 years have not been invented yet."
Two visitors walk along the Tonglihou Street in Beijing's Sanlitun area as urban management workers dismantle illegal buildings along the street on Monday.[Feng Yongbing/China Daily]

Illegal extensions of buildings ripped down; result is a matter of opinion

The face-lift of a section of the Sanlitun area of Beijing has begun, with demolitions raising mixed feelings among foreigners and locals as a decades-old bar street will likely disappear.

Heavy equipment was busy on Monday knocking down dozens of illegal building additions that stretched from residential buildings on Tonglihou Street between the well-known Taikoo Li shopping malls.

Beijing has been targeting illegal constructions since the beginning of this year. Illegally constructed extensions associated with 1,800 units in Chaoyang district, 5,000 in Fengtai district and 2,300 in Dongcheng district will be removed, and missing walls, windows and other elements will be restored according to their original designs.

Tonglihou Street, home to a variety of nail salons, foot massage parlors, bars and restaurants of many varieties, has become increasingly popular in recent decades because of an influx of foreigners and diplomatic personnel.

Frank Hansen from Denmark said he felt the special charm of Sanlitun will be gone when all the extended rooms have been removed. He used to have weekend gatherings with his friends on the bar street and said they would probably not come here after the demolition.

Gao Ziheng, a student at Sanlitun No 1 Middle School, said: "Fewer places will be available to have something to eat after school." However, he added, it is good to see a cleaner environment after all the illegal additions have been torn down.

Tian Hengsen, a security guard who works at the Taikoo Li shopping mall, said the street is packed with people on weekend nights, which he thought disturbs local residents.

A staff member of the Sanlitun Street Management Office, which oversees construction in the area, said the demolition began on Monday morning. He did not want to be identified because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

An urban patrol officer at the scene said the demolitions were expected to finish on Monday.

The rent is high in the area50,000 yuan ($7,260) per square meter annually, according to the owner of a nearby restaurant that serves meat and vegetables stewed on sticks in a hot and spicy soup, a popular street food in Beijing.

The owner, surnamed Zhang, said businesses on the street have been hugely successful, and the impact on business is hard to predict. She said other shops may lose clients when some of the popular businesses are gone.

The demolitions come amid a string of similar operations across Beijing, which the city government says is aimed at removing safety risks, as many homeowners have knocked out walls to add rental space for shopkeepers.

On April 17, the same management office demolished illegally built additions on the ground floor of the Taipingzhuang Nanli residential area.

The ground floors of apartment blocks in Sanlitun are often rented out to stores, bars and restaurants, as the area is a popular destination for tourists, expats and locals.

Illegal structural work, such as removing interior walls, creating unauthorized rooftop areas or extending buildings, is common in the area, authorities said.

Zhang Yue contributed to this story.
This Earth Day weekend, the Earth Optimism Summit in Washington, D.C. will shift the environmental conversation from one of doom and gloom to one of optimism and solutions. The Summit will celebrate conservation success stories and fuel discussions about how to expand conservation impact.

Organized by the Smithsonian Institution, the three-day event (21-23 April) will bring together representatives from a wide array of fields (including science, journalism, the arts, public policy, and more!) for a series of presentations relaying over 100 conservation success stories.

The Summit will also include a public Innovation Commons event featuring exhibits showcasing the ways that a variety of organizations and projects support conservation and help protect biodiversity.



The Biodiversity Heritage Library is participating in the Innovation Commons with a booth highlighting the many ways that BHL helps save biodiversity by supporting research around the world.

Click here to learn more about how BHL supports science and conservation.

The Innovation Commons is open to the public. If youre in the Washington, D.C. area, we invite you to stop by our booth to learn more about BHL and join us in celebrating conservation success stories!

WHERE?

Atrium of The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004.

WHEN?

Friday, April 21st: 7:30 AM  5:00 PM

Saturday, April 22nd: 7:30 AM  5:00 PM

Sunday, April 23rd: 7:30 AM  2:00 PM

Learn more on the Earth Optimism website.
Move expected to raise enrollment ratio, support children in less developed areas

The country is to extend the current nine-year compulsory education to encompass high school students nationwide by 2020, according to a guideline recently released by the Ministry of Education and other three ministries.

The Guideline for Popularizing High School Education (2017-20), released early this month, aims to raise the gross enrolment ratio for high schools to above 90 percent on average nationwide with rates in central and western China substantially improved.

Last year, China's overall gross enrollment ratio was 87.5 percent for high schools, meaning a rise of 2.5 percentage points in the next four years, according to the guideline.

The ratio is a statistical measurement to show the number of enrolled students to those who qualify for certain grades, ranging from primary school to middle and high school periods. Over the past few decades, China required children to attend primary and middle schools, while high school was not obligatory.

Meanwhile, the document said the country is set to achieve a more reasonable structure between high school and secondary occupational education while enrolling a larger number of children into both schools. In addition, these schools will enjoy more funds and better facilities to significantly improve the quality of education.

High school is a special and important stage for most Chinese students, which links the nine-year compulsory education and college time they will spend before getting a job. That's why high school has been considered a key period to improve quality of the nation's human resources.

The guideline was in line with China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), which pledges to popularize high school education by the end of this period. The new document is also to bridge regional disparity of high school education as the central and western regions lag far behind the east.

For example, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region still has an insufficient number of high school teachers, demanding 13,000 more to reach the national average ratio of teachers to students. What's worse is that the region's high schools have debts worth 2 billion yuan ($290 million).

Currently, most provinces and regions have reached a gross enrollment ratio of more than 90 percent for high school education, with only nine provinces below the ratio in less developed western regions and areas inhabited by ethnic groups, according to Lyu Yugang, director of the ministry's basic education department.

The gap was part of the reason for the new guideline that lays emphasis on less developed regions. Therefore, the guideline is to prop up high school education for poverty-stricken, ethnic and border areas in central and western China, Lyu said.

Ma Dacai, principal of Pianma High School in Yunnan province's Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture, said the new guideline is expected to boost development of high schools in far-flung regions, which are still catching up with coastal areas such as Shanghai and Guangdong province.

"Take my school as an example. Our computers, library and teachers are not as good as those in Shanghai. What's worsening the situation is that some students cannot afford the charges for schooling because their parents have financial difficulties under long-term poverty," Ma said.

Therefore, Ma said, further government help is needed to provide more funds and talent for these students and schools similar to his.

Du Xiaoli, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Educational Sciences, suggested the country carry out a slew of major projects that endow more resources and improve quality of education in some regions, in particular the central and western regions. More support is needed to improve facilities such as dormitories, libraries, teaching facilities and stadiums, she said.

"Students from poor families should be exempt from tuition fees when they go to high school or occupational school, while subsidies for occupational schools should be raised to ensure all students proceed with their studies," Du added.

Moreover, teachers in urban schools should be encouraged to work in rural areas to provide better education and bridge the regional disparity, said Wu Zhihui, president of the Institute for China Rural Education at Northeast Normal University.

"Like doctors being encouraged to work for community clinics, teachers at prestigious schools should be encouraged to aid those in less-developed regions," Wu added.
Departments and ministries under the State Council, China's Cabinet, have responded to a series of public concerns in the past week, including rental housing, social relief and aid, social insurance, industrial heritage lists and teacher information management systems.

Public housing

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has made public rental housing a key task of 2017. The ministry required local authorities to accelerate implementation of this task, in order to increase allocation of public rental housing for 2 million people this year.

According to Lu Kehua, vice-minister of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, allocation of public rental housing will be included in the assessment of local authorities. The ministry has signed agreements of responsibility with provincial governments on this issue. The ministry has required local authorities to take active measures to accelerate allocation of public rental housing.

Social relief

Huang Shuxian, minister of civil affairs, said at a national meeting of social relief and aid held in Beijing on April 17 that related work should be strengthened through departmental collaboration.

The meeting requires local authorities to establish a collaborative mechanism at county level to guarantee the basic livelihood of residents encountering difficulties. Earlier this year, Vice-Minister of Civil Affairs Gong Puguang said the population living in impoverished circumstances that enjoy urban and rural basic living allowances reached 60.5 million by November 2016, which accounted for 4.5 percent of China's population.

Social security reform

You Jun, vice-minister of human resources and social security, said that China has deepened reform of the social security system and further expanded coverage of social insurance. According to You, the number of people that benefit from the pension program has reached 890 million, and the number that has medical insurance has exceeded 1.3 billion, which has basically achieved universal coverage of all the citizens.

Industrial heritage

Wang Qianli, an official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Industry Policy Department, said in an industrial culture development meeting held in Luzhou, Sichuan province, on April 21 that China is actively promoting the development of industrial culture, and the first pilot list of industrial heritage will be released this year.

Industrial heritage refers to industrial architecture and construction sites, including workshops and plants, as well as the industrial culture they generate.

The ministry stresses the significance of protection and utilization of industrial heritage. Wang also said that China will promote the upgrading of industrial design, development of industrial arts and industrial tourism.

Teachers' information system

The Ministry of Education said that a national teacher information management system was launched on April 20. The system has completed collection of information on teachers at all levels nationwide for the first time in China, and has established e-records for more than 15 million teachers nationwide.

The building of the national teacher information system started in 2014, and consists of national and provincial teacher systems. The new system could deal with core tasks, including teacher training management, transfers and job rotation.

The Ministry of Education issued a document on comprehensively promoting teacher information management recently. According to officials of the ministry, the teacher information management system will be further connected with relevant educational management service platforms, in order to collect and analyze the big data of teachers nationwide and enhance the effectiveness of teachers' decision-making.
China launched another round of monthlong environmental inspections in seven provincial regions on Monday to push the provincial and city governments to reduce pollution, according to the nation's top environmental authority.

National inspection teams have begun work in Fujian and Hunan provinces, and will soon move to Tianjin municipality and the provinces of Shanxi, Liaoning, Anhui and Guizhou, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said on Monday.

Also on Monday, the ministry submitted two reports on environmental protection results from 2016 to the National People's Congress Standing Committee. The reports said central-level inspections - regarded as a powerful tool to monitor provincial governments in environmental protection-had been completed in 16 provincial regions, including Beijing and Shanghai.

More than 33,000 reports of pollution were received from the public, of which 8,500 led to punishments and total fines reaching 440 million yuan ($64 million), the reports said.

"We clarified the environmental responsibilities of governments in the regions while conducting the inspection," said Chen Jining, the environmental minister, adding that 6,454 officials had been held accountable for poor performance in environmental protection.

The central government plans to inspect all of China's 31 provincial regions by the end of 2017, the ministry said.

In addition, environmental departments at all levels have been ordered to strengthen their law enforcement efforts, the reports said. The lower-level departments handed down 124,000 administrative punishments to polluting companies and told them to pay 6.63 billion yuan in fines, the reports said.

"But we know there is still a gap between public expectations on environmental protection and reality," Chen said, adding that the conflict between economic development and environmental protection in some regions is still serious. In addition to the fight against air pollution, environmental departments will continue to push forward the protection of water and soil across the country, the reports said.

"We'll further study and revise a series of laws this year, such as the ones on prevention of water pollution and nuclear safety," he said.

Chen Haisong, professor of environment at Zhongnan University, applauded the reports but said some problems, such as a lack of standards on the content of environmental reports, still exist.

"It's necessary to regulate how reports are made and what should be reported in a timely manner, as well as improving the transparency of reports," he said.
The Chinese government will actively seek to share, promote and apply its first set of national mapping information data through institutions and companies to better serve the public, Kurex Mexsut, deputy head of the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, said on Monday.

He made the statement during a State Council news conference in which the results of China's first geographical census were released.

"With the coming of the smart age, survey and mapping results are increasingly used in many areas, not just in the government's crucial development strategy but in the daily lives of the public," he said.

"When we get up in the morning, we can use various apps on our cellphones to find good places to eat or interesting places to have fun, and we can use a navigation app to drive to the destination," Mexsut said.

"As a person who has been in the surveying and mapping industry for decades, I can say that when I was young I never expected it to develop to this stage."

He said the administration will establish a data sharing mechanism and an information services platform to maximize the openness and use of their data. Meanwhile, it will actively cooperate with different departments to provide public data products and customized data services to companies and institutions.

"We would like to regularly publish the monitoring report on national geographical conditions to the public and the market, aiming to better serve economic growth and scientific decision-making," he said.

Ye Xin, deputy general manager of wearable business devices for Beijing Watchdata Co, said the company welcomes the mapping data.

"We used to cooperate with other companies to gain urban data for our business use," Ye said. "If the government can share it, we would love to cooperate with the government. However, we are not clear about where and how to get the data. I hope the government can provide a detailed description of the process."

During the news conference, Mexsut, who is also director of the State Council's Office of the Leading Group for the First China Geography Census, released the results of the census, which took three years to compile.

The results include overall information about China, as well as precise information on geographical conditions, he said.

At present, such data are used in many ways, with applications extending to poverty alleviation, unified real estate registration, urban water treatment and the campaign against illegal land use.
The Government Work Report for 2017 drew upon the wisdom of the public offered in more than 2,000 suggestions selected from hundreds of thousands of messages submitted in an annual online poll.

The poll, called Share Your Thoughts with Premier Li (Keqiang), was conducted from Dec 20 to March 16 through the State Council's website and 28 other websites. It was the third time that such a poll had been carried out.

Netizens left more than 400,000 messages as part of the poll, exceeding the numbers left in the two previous polls, conducted in 2015 and January 2016, according to an analysis report released on Monday by the State Council website's operational center.

A majority of the messages were left in Chinese, but some 2,165 messages were left in foreign languages, according to the report.

During this year's two sessions, 2,071 messages were selected and reported to the State Council team that drafted the Government Work Report, Wang Yao, deputy editor-in-chief of the operational center of the State Council's website, said on Monday.

The top three topics for the Chinese messages were livelihood and social insurance, housing, and education. The top three topics for the messages left in foreign languages were the environment, education and diplomacy.

Liu Yingjie, head of the information department under the State Council's Research Office, said that the team has "adopted a wide range of netizens' suggestions" during the process of drafting and revising the Government Work Report for 2017.

The suggestions adopted in the report are on issues that have drawn wide attention from the public, according to Liu. They include cutting excessive fees imposed on companies, preventing housing prices from rising too quickly in some cities and action on environmental pollution such as smog.

This year's Government Work Report, Liu said, has been called practical by many because it has taken advice from people from across the country, including from a large number of netizens, and has answered the public's concerns.

Chinadaily.com.cn was among the websites that helped gather the public's suggestions online for the poll, and was among the three websites that received the largest number of messages in foreign languages.

Zhang Yue contributed to this story.
Zhang Qingzhao, who featured on an Interpol list of China's 100 most-wanted fugitives was repatriated from the Caribbean state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Feb 6, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Forty suspects on Interpol's "red notice" list of China's 100 most-wanted fugitives have returned from abroad over the past two years, either by force or of their own volition, reported people.cn, the People's Daily online platform.

On April 17, Li Shiqiao, former general manager of a real estate company in Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province, returned from Canada and turned himself in. Li was ranked 75th on the list released by Interpol in April 2015 and was the 40th to return.

Among the returnees, 19 are suspected of embezzlement and seven are accused of taking bribes. Many of the suspects were on the run for a long time. Zhu Haiping, who worked for the Civil Aviation Administration of China and was suspected of fraud, stayed in the United States for 18 years before turning himself in 2016.

The main destinations for the 40 fugitives include the US and Canada, followed by Asian countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea. Some fugitives chose less familiar countries like Guinea-Bissau, Ghana and even countries that have no diplomatic relations with China, such as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Twenty-five of the 40 fugitives turned themselves in. Seven were repatriated, six arrested and two are dead.

"I was surprised by the Chinese government's capacity to uncover fugitives hiding overseas. I hid in countries that don't have diplomatic relations with China. I was smuggled into those places and thought I would be safe at the other end of the earth," said Zhang Qingzhao, who ranked 41st on the list, said in her confession. She was captured by police in a mountainous area in the suburbs of the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2016.
A two-year pilot program to increase public participation in legal proceedings and improve the standing of court rulings is expected to be extended by a year to May 2018, according to a draft submitted to China's top legislature on Monday.

The draft is to be discussed at the bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, which lasts until Thursday.

The Supreme People's Court launched the pilot program in 10 provincial regions, including Beijing, Chongqing, and the provinces of Hebei and Shandong, in April 2015.

Unlike the jury system in the United States, where jurors are randomly selected, jurors in China are chosen from candidates recommended by local communities or authorities.

"But the pilot program aims to increase the random selection, as well as allow more people from different walks of life to participate in legal proceedings," said Shen Deyong, executive vice-president of the SPC.

So far, 13,322 people have been selected as jurors in the 50 courts under the pilot program. They participated in 81,772 case hearings last year, including 11,642 criminal trials, Shen said.

"But some legal experts suggest maintaining juror recommendations from communities and authorities because some cases require common people with professional backgrounds, including medicine and architecture," he said.
A Tibetan farmer is seen on his way home after work in Nyantok village of Menba township of Nyalam county, Tibet autonomous region. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]

Reconstruction work in the Tibetan villages damaged by a 2015 earthquake in Nepal should be completed this year, according to the Xigaze city government.

Eighteen counties in the Tibet autonomous region were affected when a magnitude-8.1 earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, with Nyalam, Gyirong, Dingri and Dinggye the worst hit.

"More than 300,000 people (in Tibet) were affected, and more than 11.1 billion yuan ($1.61 billion) has been invested in reconstruction projects," said Basang, vice-mayor of Xigaze, which borders Nepal.

The projects include residential building reconstruction and infrastructure projects related to energy, water conservation, transportation, education, healthcare, cultural heritage and religious sites.

"The reconstruction of 163 villages and 32 special towns is in progress. All villages will have access to basic infrastructure and public services," Basang said.

He said the government also has invited industries to be based in the villages to help provide jobs for residents.

Lhakpa, 73, lives in Gyirong county's Ta village, where most houses either collapsed or were damaged in the 2015 quake. The government agreed to build new homes for all families, and most have now moved into their new homes.

"I never dreamed I would live in such a new house. The old house was uncomfortable in comparison, but it was all I knew," Lhakpa said.

In her old home, the family kept sheep and cows in the yard. It was untidy and smelly, especially in the summer, she said, adding that the animals are kept further away at the new house.

"I want to thank the government. The new house is big and bright, and each family member has their own bedroom," she added.

Nyalam was one of the most severely affected counties, with more than 3,500 collapsed or damaged houses, and a direct economic loss of about 2.8 billion yuan.

Nyima Gyalpo, 40, whose house in Nyantok village was damaged in the quake, said his family moved into a new home built by the government in October.

"We're pleased to live in the new house. We have also asked the local government to add a yard," Nyima Gyalpo said.

"In addition to the new houses, the government is building roads to our village, and all families will soon have running tap water. I want to thank to the government for providing us with a new life."
The designation of a newly established corps unit of People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been revealed for the first time since the country launched steps to reform its military system to build a stronger army.

A major general from the 76th Group Army has recently visited a memorial hall of Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army to pay tribute to the revolutionary martyrs in Gaotai county, Gansu province, the county's website reported on April 18.

It is the first time that the designation - 76th Group Army, has been reported publicly. The PLA did not have such corps designation in the past, and no designation went above 70, according to reports.

President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, met with commanders of 84 newly adjusted or established corps-level units and issued instructions for them on April 18.

Xi asked commanders to focus on strengthening their unit's combat capability following the establishment of 84 large units. He said they should concentrate on improving their joint operation capabilities and technology level.

All 84 of the new units are at combined corps level, which means their commanders have or soon will be promoted to a rank of either major general in the Ground Force, Air Force and Rocket Force or rear admiral in the Navy.

Though the PLA has not disclosed how these units were set up, it is likely that they were created through the regrouping of existing forces rather than recruiting new personnel, because the military is still engaged in cutting its troops by 300,000.

The PLA started the unprecedented massive reform in November 2015, when the Central Military Commission unveiled a blueprint for the PLA's development. The establishment of the units is the latest move of the undergoing reform.

China Central Television reported on Jan 15, 2013, that the corps designations of the PLA army could be revealed in public. In the past, designations could not be used publicly.
Tveit reports that Steinbergs allegation of political warfare is based on the WCCs opposition to attempts to redefine anti-Semitism to encompass any criticism directed toward the government of Israel.? He then invokes a statement from Jewish Voice for Peace, which declares definitions of anti-Semitism that treat criticism of Israel or of Zionism as inherently anti-Semitic are inaccurate and harmful.?

Tveits argument needs some unpacking. In order to do that we must look at what Steinberg actually wrote:

Ironically, the church body deserves much of the credit for inspiring the entry ban through its campaign to isolate and demonize Israel internationally. For years, the WCC has played a leading role in this harsh political warfare. The organizations top officials participated in the virulently anti-Semitic NGO Forum of the 2001 U.N. Durban Conference, at which Israel was labeled as an apartheid state. WCC leaders were instrumental in removing a paragraph in the NGO final declaration that condemned the prevalence of antizionism and attempts to delegitimize the State of Israel through wildly inaccurate charges of genocide, war crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and apartheid, as a virulent contemporary form of anti-Semitism.?

Here, Steinberg is on solid footing. At the 2001 UN Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, a WCC delegation did exactly what Steinberg said it did  it moved for the elimination of a paragraph that condemned anti-Zionism and attempts to de-legitimize Israel with wildly inaccurate charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing an apartheid.

The deleted paragraph described these wildly inaccurate charges against Israel as a contemporary form of antisemitism leading to firebombing of synagogues, armed assaults against Jews, incitements to killing, and the murder of innocent Jews, for their support for the existence of the State of Israel?

How do we know this? Because the WCC said so in a report it published soon after the Durban conference. The report, which is no longer displayed on the WCCs website (but can be seen here), stated that the Ecumenical Caucus (i.e., delegates from the World Council of Churches), called for its deletion. Here is a screenshot of the text in question.

When we see what Steinberg actually wrote and compare it with what the WCC published in 2001, we can discern Tveits deceptiveness when he writes the following:

Steinberg accuses the World Council of Churches, where I serve as general secretary, of political warfare? because it has in the past opposed attempts to redefine anti-Semitism to encompass any criticism directed towards the government of Israel. (Emphasis added.)

What Tveit wrote is simply not true. Steinberg did not complain about the WCCs opposition to attempts redefine antisemitism to include any criticism? of the Israeli government.

The paragraph that WCC delegates called to be removed from the Durban resolution was quite specific in its condemnation of wildly inaccurate charges of genocide, war crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.?

Such charges cannot be characterized as what the JVP calls criticism of Israel or of Zionism? as Tveit would have his readers believe. The paragraph was talking about inaccurate and defamatory charges against the Jewish state that lead to violence against Jews throughout the world.

The upshot is that Tveit mischaracterized Steinbergs allegation and then defended himself and the WCC from this straw man accusation.

Tveit engages in a similar deception in another paragraph:

Steinberg also criticizes the WCC for encouraging its members to read and respond to the Kairos Palestine document, written by a group of Christian Palestinians, which advocates nonviolent resistance to occupation. Since it contains language that also looks at root causes of violence and analyzes the conditions under which violence has been seen as legitimate in other contexts, Steinberg treats promotion of the document as an aggressive act  even though the document actually rejects violence. (Emphasis added.)

Again, it is necessary to read exactly what Steinberg wrote:

More recently, the Geneva-based WCC is a central promoter of the notorious Kairos Palestine Document, which characterizes terrorist acts of armed resistance? as Palestinian legal resistance,? denies the Jewish historical connection to Israel in theological terms, calls to mobilize churches worldwide in the call for BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) of Israel and compares Israel with the South African apartheid regime.

Steinberg was quite explicit, precise and accurate in his complaints about the Kairos Palestine Document.

For example, in paragraph 1.5 the text portrays Palestinian armed resistance against Israel as legal resistance,? just as Steinberg reported.

Palestinian suicide bombers have, among other things, targeted Israeli civilians in hotels and restaurants. For the authors of the Kairos Document to suggest such attacks are legal? is outrageous, and Steinberg is right to express his outrage over this aspect of the Kairos Document.

Steinberg also complains that the Kairos Document denies the Jewish connection to the land in theological terms. Again, he is on pretty solid footing.

In paragraph 2.2 the text declares that the Old Testament by itself, without the New Testament is a dead letter? used to deprive the Palestinians of their rights. And in paragraph 2.3, the text declares that the land has a universal mission and that the promise of the land has never been a political program, but rather the prelude to complete universal salvation.?

These and other passages in the Kairos Document prompted the Central Conference of American Rabbis to conclude that while the text, opposes and negates the applicability of scriptural texts, historical presence, and theological discourse to justify the existence of a Jewish state,? it does exactly that in making its case for a Palestinian State.?

Steinberg levels two more charges about the Kairos Document. It mobilizes churches worldwide in the call for BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) of Israel and compares Israel with the South African apartheid regime.?

Again, Steinberg is on solid footing. The texts title (Kairos Palestine?) is borrowed from a document published in 1985 by anti-Apartheid protesters in South Africa. The whole point of the document was to portray Israel as an apartheid regime just like South Africa.

And as far as BDS is concerned, paragraph seven of the Kairos Palestine Document calls for the beginning of a system of economic sanctions and boycott to be applied against Israel.? (This call for a system of economic sanctions undermines Tveits assertion that the WCC does not call for a general or cultural boycott of Israel  written elsewhere in his op-ed  for if the WCC does not support a general boycott, then why is it promoting the Kairos Document, which does?)

Rather than admit that everything Steinberg wrote about the Kairos Palestine is accurate, Tveit evades the issues raised. He writes that Steinberg treats promotion of the document as an aggressive act  even though the document actually rejects violence.?

The WCCs General Secretary is partially correct on this score. The document in question does reject violence, but at the same time, it uses theology to delegitimize Israels claims to the land, portrays illegal attacks against Israeli civilians as legal resistance,? compares Israel to South Africa and calls for economic warfare against Israel.

In sum, the Kairos Document promotes contempt for Jewish presence and sovereignty in the Holy Land, downplays the horror of Palestinian terrorism and encourages people to engage in economic warfare against the Jewish state in a manner that is clearly reminiscent of historical Arab boycotts of Israel. All this lends substance and credence to Steinbergs assertion that the WCC has engaged in campaigns to isolate and demonize Israel internationally.?

Tveit simply cannot bring himself to admit that Steinbergs concerns about the Kairos Palestine Document and the WCCs promotion of this text are entirely legitimate.

Tveit must know that Steinberg is not alone in his concerns about the Kairos Document. Rabbi David Sandmel, Interfaith Director for the ADL spoke to the WCCs Central Committee in 2016. During his talk, Rabbi Sandmel declared explicitly that the Kairos Document was marred by theological antisemitism.? He also declared that the documents

treatment of the universal mission of the land is built on the supersessionist idea that the Jews particular connection to the land was abrogated by the coming of Christ. The WCCs silence on this is disturbing.

Was Tveit not present during this talk? Or did he just forget what Sandmel said when it came time to respond to Steinbergs commentary?

In his defense of the WCC Tveit writes that it is our Christian principles and teachings that compel us to insist on an equal measure of justice and dignity for all people, for Israelis and Palestinians alike.?

If the WCC is truly committed to insisting on an equal measure of justice and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians, then why does the organization tolerate the ugly images and polemics put forth by Yusef Daher, the General Secretary of the Jerusalem Interchurch Center (JICC)? Daher, as many Snapshots readers will know has lamentably posted troublesome cartoons and commentaries on his Facebook page. Such images, detailed here and here, do not offer a message of dignity, but legitimate contempt and hostility toward Israeli Jews and the very existence of the Jewish state.

Despite repeated complaints about Dahers Facebook postings, which clearly contradict Tveits assurances that the WCC is committed to promoting a message of dignity for Israelis, the WCC has yet to issue a public statement distancing itself from these postings.

Whether Tveit wants to admit it or not, the WCC has a problem with Israel, the Jewish state, and has been an intimate bystander to increasingly virulent expressions of contempt toward the Jewish people world wide. Steinberg is not alone in drawing attention to this problem.

For proof, watch this video. It's worth your time.

As the above video demonstrates, the previously mentioned Rabbi David Sandmel from the ADL made it perfectly clear that there was a problem with the WCC's approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict. He offered this message when he spoke to the WCC's Central Committee in 2016. His remarks, which included the following, were met with applause:

I have to wonder to what extent the persistence of antisemitism predetermines and distorts the WCCs approach to this conflict. I wonder how much the presence of antisemitism in the WCC contributes to global antisemitism, which has real world implications for me and my people.

Rather than write evasive and deceptive editorials like the one just published by RNS, Rev. Olav Fyske Tveit should exercise some leadership and confront the problems of antisemitism and anti-Zionism in the organization he leads.
IPR infringements against Chinese companies on the rise

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-04-25 15:48

BEIJING - Chinese companies have been facing an increasing number of intellectual property right (IPR) infringement cases, a customs official said Tuesday.



Zou Zhiwu, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), said customs seized 7.58 million units of goods suspected of infringing the IPRs of Chinese companies in 2016, up 13.2 percent from the previous year.



Last year, GAC took measures on 12 IPR protection cases in which foreign infringement violated the rights of Chinese companies, up from 4 cases in 2015.



GAC will continue its focus on IPR infringement and fake products attempting to cross the border to maintain trade order, he said.



Chinese companies are becoming more aware of IPR protection and had filed 27,873 IPRs with GAC by the end of last year, Zou said.



In 2015, GAC started a three-year campaign to protect the image of "made-in-China" products internationally, with a focus on products exported to Africa, Arab countries, Latin America and countries along the Belt and Road.



Zou said the country had seized 43,300 shipments of goods suspected of IPR infringement during the campaign.
BEIJING -- Chinese police have held 204 suspects in a crackdown on fraud under the guise of "unfreezing national assets," the Ministry of Public Security said Tuesday.

The ministry said in a statement that 14 groups had been busted in the special crackdown since October last year, and the cases involved at least 730 million yuan ($106 million).

The fraudsters falsely claimed that they have been entrusted by the government to unfreeze "national assets overseas" and conned the victims into paying "start-up capital" or "membership fees" for deceptive investment programs.

The suspects also forged official documents and misinterpreted government polices to mislead victims.

In some cases, brainwashing was also used, according to the statement.

The ministry said it has set up a special team for the crackdown and directed operations in 14 major regions.

The statement said that such fraud schemes violated people's property rights and harmed the government's credibility. It pledged to continue with "high pressure" against violations.
This year's Croisements festival will be held from May to July. Highlights include the exhibition From Monet to Soulages: Paths of Modern Western Painting (1805-1975), the dance production Seeds, the theater play 2666 and the recital performances by French actress Isabelle Huppert. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A window into France, the annual Croisements ("crossing") festival has grown into one of the biggest foreign cultural events in China since its launch in 2006.

Every spring, music, dance, theater, movie, art and literature activities are held in some 30 cities across the country. The festival also boosts Sino-French relations. This year, the festival's 12th edition will be held from May 8 to July 9, featuring many more performances, exhibitions, film screenings and discussions as compared to last year.

The Croisements program attracted more than 4 million people last year, and some events were live-streamed as well, according to the French embassy in Beijing. This year's festival will highlight a lineup of performers and artists demonstrating the fine quality of French and European art.

Works dating to the 19th century as well as by contemporary artists will be on show at two exhibitions.
People visit an exhibition featuring Chinese historical relics preserved in Beijing's Palace Museum, in Tampere, Finland. [Photo provided to China Daily]

An exhibition, The Forbidden CityLife in the Court of Chinese Emperors, opened on Friday in Tampere, in southwestern Finland.

This is the first time that Chinese historical relics from the Palace Museum in Beijing are being exhibited in the Nordic region.

The Chinese red is the predominant color at the exhibition venues, which are decorated with Chinese elements such as lanterns, wood carvings and columns.

The relics on show include Emperor Qianlong's throne and robe, Emperor Kangxi's helmet and cotton amour, as well as incense burner tables and screens.

Marjo-Riitta Saloniemi, the exhibition manager at the Museum Center Vapriikki in Tampere, says in addition to local residents, visitors from Sweden, Estonia and neighboring countries are also expected to visit the exhibition.

The vice-president of the Palace Museum, Song Jirong, says even though the exhibition is not as large as previous ones held in other European countries, the exhibits are exquisite objects, with some being displayed abroad for the first time.
Japan's Matsuyama Ballet Troupe will tour China with its signature work, The White-Haired Girl. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In 1945, The White-Haired Girl premiered in Yan'an, a revolutionary base in Northwest China, as an original Chinese opera, causing a sensation.

Since then it has been staged many times as one of the country's most successful operas and has been adapted for the stage, cinema and TV. But it's little known that Japan's Matsuyama Ballet Troupe is perhaps the world's first ballet company to adapt the Chinese story. Its ballet The White-Haired Girl premiered in Tokyo in 1955 and was staged in China in 1958.

During the past decades, the troupe has visited and performed in China. In May, it will perform the ballet in Beijing and Shanghai, which will be the troupe's 15th tour in China.

According to Yin Jianping, director of China International Culture & Arts Company, co-organizer of the Matsuyama Ballet Troupe's China tour this year, the performances will also mark 45 years of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Besides The White-Haired Girl, the troupe has staged other classic ballets in China, such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.

Japanese ballerina Mikiko Matsuyama and her husband, Masao Shimizu, founded the troupe in 1948. Shimizu died in 2008.

The couple watched the Chinese film The White-Haired Girl in Japan in 1952, and choreographed a ballet based on it, taking inspiration from the film's portrayal of poor people's fight against oppressive landlords. The ballet premiered in Japan in 1955.

Three years later, the ballet was presented at Beijing's Tianqiao Theater, in a first for the company in China.

Set in the 1940s, the film tells the story of a poor young woman, Xi'er, whose father is beaten to death by a local landlord because he is unable to repay his debt. She is forced to work in the landlord's home but escapes to a mountain where she lives in hiding for years. Her long black hair turns white as she is unable to endure all the suffering. Eventually, she is saved by the Communist soldiers and reunited with her lover, Wang Dachun, who is a Communist fighter.
Violinist Lyu Siqing, artistic director of May Festival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

May Festival, an annual event to promote chamber music in China, will be held from May 6 to 27 at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

Initiated by the NCPA in 2009, the festival will honor Ludwig van Beethoven with 17 recitals, marking the 190th anniversary of the German composer's death this year.

The opening recital will be performed by the NCPA's own orchestra, Shanghai Quartet and French Ensemble of Eight Cellos, with musicians such as violinist Lyu Siqing, pianist Chen Sa and percussionist Li Biao.

The audience can expect to enjoy a two-hour recital featuring music pieces including Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor, Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No 1 in D minor, Verdi's excerpt from La Traviata and Franz Schubert's String Quartet No 14 in D minor, Death and the Maiden, D810.

Other highlights of the festival will be German pianist Lars Vogt performing Beethoven's five piano concertos along with the Royal Northern Sinfonia of Britain over May 17-18.

Norwegian string ensemble Trondheim Soloist will adapt Beethoven's String Quartet Op 95, Serioso, into a version for string orchestra in a recital on May 19.

Russia's Borodin String Quartet, an early music ensemble, which has recorded a collection of string quartet of Beethoven, will perform the String Quartet No 6 in B-flat major, Op 18 on May 24.

The festival will end with a recital by Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, featuring pieces by Debussy, Ravel and Beethoven.

"We want to have as much variety as possible on the program list for May Festival. Every year, we have something new for the audience," says Lyu, an award-winning violinist who is the festival's artistic director this year.

"When we first presented May Festival in 2009, chamber music was not a mainstream culture among Chinese classical fans and we didn't have a clear idea about what to introduce to them," says Wang Luli, deputy director of the programming department of the NCPA.

But he adds that the festival sold 93 percent of the tickets last year, which proves that more Chinese are embracing chamber music.

The festival also aspires to introduce recitals to an audience that has limited exposure to classical music. This year, it will host around 20 outdoor recitals at the NCPA.

"We want to bring these musicians outside the venue so they can get close to the audience," Wang says.
Head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Liu Qibao (left) and Balog Zoltan (second from left), Hungary's human resources minister, jointly inaugurated this year's Chinese Film Festival in Hungary, which kicked off in Budapest on Sunday. [Photo/China News Service]

Moviegoers in Hungary can watch five Chinese films starring renowned actors this week during the 2017 Chinese Film Festival, which kicked off in Budapest on Sunday.

Jackie Chan, the Hong Kong action movie star, brought his latest film to the festival, which runs through Thursday. The film, the comedic adventure Kung-Fu Yoga, is a Chinese-Indian coproduction.

Chan, a festival ambassador, said the five films featured are among the best titles from China. The other movies are the dramas Operation Mekong, Mountains May Depart, Xuan Zang and the romance film Book of Love.

"I also found that Hungary is a nice place to produce films as well because this country has such a long history and has enjoyed a richness of cultures," Chan said. "And I found that the cost is relatively low and affordable if we produce films here."

Chan met fans before the launch ceremony and sang a song with students from the Sino-Hungarian School in Budapest.

Gabor Cserkesz, president of Budapest-based Chinese Art Center, wore a black T-shirt with Chan's name on it when he met him.

"I think this ambassador can effectively promote Chinese culture and help Hungarians to understand China better," Cserkesz said of Chan. "And movies are a good medium for us to know each other."

Liu Qibao, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Balog Zoltan, Hungary's human resources minister, jointly inaugurated the festival.

Liu was to meet Hungarian leaders and attend other cultural and academic exchanges on Monday before heading to Greece. The trip follows a visit to Morocco to increase cultural cooperation.

Zoltan spoke about the role movies play in bridging understanding. "Our economy has started to pick up," he said. "In the same way that China is keen to develop a friendship with our small country, so we also hope to deepen the relationship with China."

He praised China's Belt and Road Initiative, saying: "We need to rebuild the Silk Road, linking the world from East to West and also from West to East."

Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, is among 28 state leaders who have confirmed their attendance at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14 and 15.

China, Hungary and Serbia have also agreed to build a high-speed railway link between Budapest and Belgrade. They plan to start work on the project after the European Commission gives its approval.
As China's consumer spending on culture grows, the country's bookstores are reinventing themselves. Redefining themselves as "knowledge centers" or "cultural hubs," physical bookstores are reviving an industry in a downturn.[Photo by Su Yang/Asianewsphoto]

For Gao Hengrui, 20, going to a bookstore is no longer only about buying books, rather, it is a "culture hunt."

Wine tasting, photo exhibitions, themed lectures -- cultural events like these have made bookstores a "must-go" for young Chinese.

"Bookstores today are not just stores, but public spaces where people can relax," Gao said.

As China's consumer spending on culture grows, the country's bookstores are reinventing themselves. Redefining themselves as "knowledge centers" or "cultural hubs," physical bookstores are reviving an industry in a downturn.

CITIC Books, the book chain owned by Chinese conglomerate CITIC Group, for example, offers value-added services to meet the demand of a niche market.

CITIC Books targets a group of customers it calls "the rising class," offering them new products in its bookstores, such as drones and 3D-enabled phones.

To diversify its income streams, CITIC Books also offers customized services to corporate executives, selecting the "right" books to cater to the demand of individuals based on their personal characteristics such as age and interest.

"Bookstores are not just selling products now. In fact, they are selling lifestyle," Fang Xi, general manager of CITIC Books, told Xinhua.

In 2016, CITIC Books' parent company, CITIC Press, generated a net profit of 128 million yuan (about $18.6 million), 28 percent more than the previous year, according to the company's annual report.

Revenue growth will accelerate as the book chain opens more stores this year, according to Fang. Confident in the company's growth potential, Fang said that CITIC Books plans to open another 60 stores in 2017.
The exhibition "Shakespeare to Sherlock: Treasures of the British Library" opened to the public in Beijing on April 21. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

The exhibition "Shakespeare to Sherlock: Treasures of the British Library" opened to the public in Beijing on April 21.

The exhibition featured nine manuscripts and two early editions from 10 iconic British writers. Chinese translations and adaptations of classic British literature and related books were also showcased at the event.

Luo Shugang, minister of the Ministry of Culture, Xie Jinying, director-general of the Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture, Han Yongjin, director of the National Library of China, and officials from the British Library and the British Embassy in China attended the opening ceremony.

Luo said the Chinese and British libraries' cooperation boosts cultural exchanges and communications between the two nations, which should continue to deepen relations.

Organized by the National Library of China and the British Library, a series of lectures and talks will go along with the exhibition until June 21.
Readers at the Zhaoqing Temple library. Photos by Zhu Genrong / For China Daily

The 22nd annual World Book Day fell on Sunday. Although, on average, Chinese adults read 7.86 books in 2016, 0.02 more than in 2015, the number still lags far behind countries such as Japan or Germany.

And although Chinese are spending more time reading paper books in recent years, the increase has been far outpaced by the surge of reading on mobile devices. In 2016, an adult Chinese read paper books for an average of about 20 minutes. They read up to about 74 minutes on mobile devices, 3.7 times higher than paper book-reading time.

We now have more information at our fingertips than ever before. So, why should we value reading? An important reason is that, compared with knowledge that is fragmented or acquired through passive reception, reading provides systematic knowledge and encourages holistic thinking.

Officials should read more. The information explosion has made it all the more important for leading officials to read and improve themselves. But the current reading situation among leading officials is not very promising. Some officials don't do a good job of reading and they give a variety of excuses. Some blame their failure to read on their tight schedules or lack of time. But reading and study should be taken as a "life attitude, responsibility, and spiritual pursuit."

The low-level of reading nowadays is worrisome. People are bending their heads down a lot, but mostly for on-screen "shallow" reading; and while libraries are getting better and better, good books are more and more difficult to find. We need to put our minds together and figure out how to improve the supply of book resources, so that people's quality of reading is improved. More important, we must beat the addiction that some people have to their mobile devices and the internet, so that reading enriches our spirit and our lives.

For the question, "Where'd all the time go?" President Xi Jinping has a simple answer: Make time outside of work to study. When he worked in rural Shaanxi province, he walked 15 kilometers to borrow a book, he would read while eating, and he frequently recommends books to officials. Reading is a habit. It's a way of life. "Reading keeps the mind alive, gives people wisdom and inspiration, and cultivates a noble spirit."

The article first appeared on the website of People's Daily.
Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning returns to Qingdao, China after Pacific drill, January 13th, 2017. Comprised of aircraft carrier Liaoning, a number of destroyers, some J-15 carrier-based fighter jets and helicopters, the fleet sailed through the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China sea. [Photo/CRI]

Ever since its first aircraft carrier, the CNS Liaoning, was commissioned in 2012 China has been trying to build such vessels using domestic technology. Yet recent media reports saying China may soon launch its first domestically built aircraft carrier have drawn wide national and international attention.

A domestically built aircraft carrier indeed marks a very important step for China toward boosting its naval combat capability and helping safeguard its national interests across the oceans. Aircraft carriers are an important, and in these times a necessary, component of a country's navy.

Despite that can China transform its navy into an ocean-going maritime force without developing aircraft carriers? The answer is definitely "no".

Due to the limitations of their functions, both submarines and destroyers or frigates cannot be used as substitutes for aircraft carriers in modern warfare. An aircraft carrier and the formation, given its strong and continuous navigation capability and aircraft mobility, can sail deeper into the oceans and thus can control a wider maritime area.

With its aircraft carriers and their vessel formations, China's navy can patrol the Pacific and Indian oceans to safeguard its national economic as well as scientific and technological interests.

By forming a complete combat system with an aircraft carrier and its formation, a country can not only develop a strong offensive military ability, but also build a solid defensive system that can help it conduct multiple traditional and non-traditional military missions.

Judging by the experiences of other countries, compared with remote shore-based air forces, versatile air forces usually have a much better combat effect in sea battles. And since no new maritime force is likely to replace an aircraft carrier-based formation in the next couple of decades, China has no choice but to develop its capability to build aircraft carriers if it wants to develop a navy with a wider reach.

Over the past decades, China has been endeavoring to develop its navy into a maritime force with greater fighting ability. But compared with the high standards of some other countries' navies, China's general naval strength is not that satisfactory, because its aircraft, submarine and other vessels are not yet a cohesive force. And aircraft carriers, with the support of submarines, frigates and destroyers, can provide that cohesion to the navy.

A country that possesses aircraft carriers can establish an integrated strategic system through unifying the organizational and command mechanism and adding the cohesive edge to its combat ability by fortifying its defense system.

Some observers have expressed concerns that, to build more aircraft carriers, China might have to divert its financial resources that otherwise could be used for improving people's livelihoods. Such concerns are exaggerated, because without safeguarding national security a country cannot improve its citizens' lives. Without the guarantee of security, there would be no talk of development for a country or its people.

We should realize that China still faces maritime threats such as contradictions, frictions, even the threat of war because of the disputes over sovereignty and jurisdiction of islands and reefs, marine resources and strategic sea lanes. Some non-traditional maritime threats such as the growing pirate activities and threats to China's overseas assets and Chinese citizens working abroad are also of great concern. All these mean China must have a powerful navy to maintain national security and protect Chinese citizens' interests.

China's military budget is only 1.28 percent of its GDP, of which only 10 percent is spent on the navy, which is low compared with that of the United States, Russia and India. China is developing aircraft carriers for defense purposes; it has no intention of challenging other countries. A country poses a threat to other countries because of its national defense policy and strategy, not its military power. And China has always followed a defensive military policy and vowed not to seek hegemony. More important, China will not abandon its defensive military and national defense strategy even if it builds more aircraft carriers.

The author is an expert on military issues.
The newly built "Silk Road Golden Bridge" in Beijing Olympic Park gets its lights tested on April 18, 2017, in preparation for the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that will be held from May 14 to 15. [Photo/VCG]

As the highly-anticipated Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing approaches, many Europe-based China observers are thinking of using the May 14-15 forum to deepen dialogue and exchanges, and institutionalize the Belt and Road Initiative (the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) proposed by President Xi Jinping more than three years ago.

Out of the 28 state leaders who have confirmed their participation in the forum, which is aimed at improving connectivity among Asia, Europe and Africa, more than 10 will be from Europe. Due to domestic elections, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany will not be able to attend the forum but they will send high-level officials to join the discussions.

Recent talks with China experts in Europe show they understand the significance of the forum. Some Europeans have even compared it with the annual G20 summit, a platform set up in 2008 to mainly facilitate global macroeconomic policy coordination among the world's 20 largest economies.

Luigi Gambardella, president of ChinaEU, a business-led international association in Brussels, said the Belt and Road Initiative reminds him of the connection between the ancient Silk Road and his own country, Italy. He is ready to organize a Silk Road seminar in Rome next week before leaving for Beijing to attend the forum.

He also plans to propose that next year's Belt and Road forum be organized in Venice, Italy. Historically, he said, Venice was closely linked to China's ancient Silk Road. Explorer Marco Polo (1254-1324), an Italian who "introduced" China to Europe, was from Venice. And Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni will attend the Beijing forum.

Among those Europeans who have closely observed China's development, Gambardella said European countries should pay attention and offer political goodwill to Chinese initiatives, which aim to boost the flows of capital, technology, human resources and even tourists. Italy should shoulder the responsibility because of its historical links with China through the old Silk Road.

Jan Kohout, adviser to Czech Republic President Milos Zeman, who himself will attend the May forum, has a different view. Kohout, former Czech foreign minister and founder of the Prague-based New Silk Road Institute, said his country has already built a "political highway" with China, and the most important thing is to identify partners and implement the various deals.

Kohout suggested that the high-level political forum be organized every two or three years but it is important that every country of the dozens which have agreed to join the Belt and Road Initiative assign a dedicated coordinator for the purpose. And a meeting of all the coordinators should be organized every year.

Raising another important point, Kohout said the initiative should eventually become a two-way platform to link China and the rest of the world. Taking his country as example, he said many investors from the Czech Republic are also keen on exploring opportunities in China.

Dimitris Bourantonis, deputy rector of Athens University of Economics and Business, echoed Gambardella's view, saying the Belt and Road forum should be institutionalized and the presidency rotated every year. Greece is an active supporter of the initiative, and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will be among the state leaders present at the Beijing forum.

As a new event in global governance, Bourantonis said there is need to establish a permanent secretariat for the Belt and Road forum to coordinate regional development, which is the essence of the initiative.

China has always said that, although the initiative is its proposal, it is for all participants. So it is therefore important to listen to suggestions and ideas of every country that has joined the initiative, in order to facilitate efficient dialogue and exchange platforms.

European opinion leaders have already started their brain-storming. And their contribution is essential for the success of the Beijing forum.

The author is deputy chief of China Daily European Bureau. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
A submarine-launched ballistic missile is displayed during a military parade in central Pyongyang, April 15, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

If the risks surrounding the Korean Peninsula were perceived to be dangerously high, it was because of the fear that anything could happen at any time in the tense standoff that had developed between Washington and Pyongyang.

But now that the Donald Trump administration has demonstrated impressive patience for diplomacydespite its announcement of the end to an "era of strategic patience"and it is seeking closer engagement with peace-minded China on the matter, the risks would appear to have abated considerably.

However, the situation is still inflammable.

For as the sanctions imposed by the United Nations begin to bite deeper, the possibility that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea might become reckless out of desperation has never been higher.

Not just the immediate stakeholders, but the whole world is holding its breath on Tuesday, the 85th Anniversary of the Korean People's Army, waiting to see whether Pyongyang will conduct another nuclear test, or major missile launch.

Of course a nuclear test, or missile launch, would not constitute the "full-out war" Pyongyang has threatened. And, despite its constant threats, Pyongyang would not embark on such a suicidal course unless it was left with no choice.

In contrast to Pyongyang's war rhetoric, Washington appears very much in line with Beijing on pursuing a peaceful resolution, at least for now.

Beijing has remained constant in advocating no-war, no-chaos on the Korean Peninsula. In his latest phone conversation with Trump on Monday, President Xi Jinping once again stated that position, appealing for restraint at this crucial juncture.

Judging from their recent words and deeds, policymakers in Pyongyang have seriously misread the UN sanctions, which are aimed at its nuclear/missile provocations, not its system or leadership. They have unfairly misrepresented Beijing's role in the process, disregarding its preoccupation with peace, humanitarian concerns and non-interference in the DPRK's domestic affairs. And they have greatly underestimated the international community'snot just any individual stakeholder'spolitical will to denuclearize the peninsula.

They are at once perilously overestimating their own strength and underestimating the hazards they are brewing for themselves.

They need to reassess the situation so they do not make any misjudgments.

Likewise Washington should continue to exercise restraint and pursue a peaceful resolution to the issue.

There have already been enough shows of force and confrontation, it is time for Pyongyang and Washington to take a step back from their previous rhetoric and instead heed the voices of reason calling for peaceful denuclearization of the peninsula.
Screenshot of actor Lu Yi (left) and actress Hu Jingwho portrayed Gao Xiaoqin, an official's mistressin the anti-corruption-themed TV drama In the Name of the People.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The popularity of the anti-corruption-themed drama In the Name of People can be attributed, to a large extent, to its echoing people's anger at corrupt officials, and those officials who have no motivation to work for the people or do bad things under the pretext of serving the people, and their admiration for those that have the courage to fight corruption.

The drama features two types of officials; those who wholeheartedly serve the people and those who are preoccupied with pursuing their own interests by embezzling money and lining their own pockets. For example, such negative characters as Zhao Dehan, Ding Yizhen, Zhao Lichun and others, always talk about the people, but what they are obsessed with is pursuing their own interests in the name of the people.

The stories in the TV series are based on real people and incidents, so that they reflect the experiences of ordinary people. Most people have encountered corrupt officials like those in the show. For many corrupt officials, "serving the people" is a phrase to be used when needed. Hu Changqing, the former vice governor of Jiangxi province, who received the death penalty for his crimes, begged the court for a suspended death penalty so he could serve the people with his calligraphy. Song Wenqi, a former health official in a county of Chongqing, also expressed his desire to continuously serve the people when appealing for exemption from criminal responsibility for accepting bribes.

An official intent on serving the people does not talk of "people's interests" but instead takes action in their interests. People's judgment of officials is also based on what they do not what they say.

On the journey to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, all officials at various levels should bear in mind they serve the people and their interests.

-XINHUA DAILY TELEGRAPH
A Chinese doctor talks with family members of a young patient as he examines him with a Type-b Ultrasonic Diagnostic Instrument at a hospital in Beijing, China, 11 September 2013. [Photo/IC]

GERMAN PUBLISHER SPRINGER announced on Thursday it was retracting 107 articles that were published between 2012 and 2016 in its medical journal Tumor Biology, due to irregularities in the peer-review process for the articles, most of which were by Chinese researchers. Southern Metropolis Daily commented on Monday:

Albeit Springer's mass retraction of questionable papers is not new to Chinese authors, it sets a precedent regarding the number of simultaneously retracted papers, and is likely to deal a heavy blow to the image of China's medical researchers.

Springer said that the email addresses of the peer reviewers, normally distinguished experts in the same field, were fabricated, which put the peer reviews in doubt. A subsequent investigation discovered that the reviewers did not conduct any peer reviews, and it is possible that their names were used by some third-party agencies without their consent.

It is common that many Chinese authors entrust their manuscripts to third-party agencies for language polishing. These agencies feast on the supervisory gray area not reached by regulatory authorities such as the China Association for Science and Technology.

Springer has proposed requiring more information about the reviewers and developing software to better scrutinize articles. But such efforts are not necessarily a root cure for the problem, as the third-party agencies, if not dealt with seriously, will always find a way to bypass supervision and charge for their "publication assistance".

To acquire higher professional ranks and titles, Chinese doctors hired by public hospitals, be they researchers or surgeons, have to publish their works in reputable scientific journals. The more they do the easier it is for them to get research funds and professional titles, which of course mean better pay.

In stark contrast, only 7 or 9 percent of the about 1.6 million US doctors can apply to be an associate professor or professor, and the rest are all practitioners that bear no research or academic responsibilities. It is hardly convincing that Chinese public hospitals need more research doctors.
The Trump administration believes that the climate change mantra is a "hoax" peddled by some countries, including China. It also argues that it is a waste of money and threatens US jobs.

Non-adherence to the Paris Agreement on climate change may not affect the already-rich countries but China, as a developing country, has to undertake peaceful development and ensure a safe and prosperous future for Chinese citizens together with taking the strategic opportunity to develop alternative clean technologies.

President Xi Jinping said at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos that the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was hard won and therefore all signatories should stick by it.

A report released by the Ohio-based Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said China  given its domestic investment in renewable energy sectors  is now a world leader. The report also said China is going global: last year (2016) it invested US$32 billion in large overseas deals involving renewal energy.

China has chalked out a plan for a greenhouse gas cap and trade program, calling for the government to tax domestic companies that generate large amounts of carbon dioxide.

Domestic issues as well as a sense of global responsibility  such as acute pollution problems, particularly in the air and water, together with health hazards posed by increased carbon emissions, pollution and rising temperatures  are shaping Chinas response to the global climate change challenge.

Additionally, scientific advances have afforded economic opportunities to curtail carbon emissions in lieu of clean and renewable technologies.

Solar and wind energy are now major policy priorities. Already, China has started limiting coal consumption in three largest cities  following adverse effects on the environment. Given these commitments, China may be able to control level of carbon emissions by 2025  five years ahead of its stated goals of 2030.

US President Donald Trump labels climate change a hoax  ignoring the world population will hit 8.5 billion by 2030 from 7.5 billion now, increasing pressure on ever-more-stressed clean water, energy and air resources.

Timely choice

That China has taken the initiative on acquiring clean technologies is quite timely. Its new industries are manufacturing electric cars, batteries, nuclear power and wind, solar and geo-thermal technologies. As an illustration, nearly 200 million electric vehicles have been sold in China already and this trend may be catching up in other countries soon.

Already, coal is difficult to exploit as fracking technology is expensive, albeit involving low labor. Even in coal-rich US states such as West Virginia the proportion of the workforce employed in coal mining is as low as 5 per cent.

Trumps appeal and promise to coal miners and the coal industry played an important role in his election. But clean energy consciousness is growing in progressive states such as New York and California as they make plans for clean and efficient use of energy.

In fact, the Obama administration had already taken some steps to reduce the C02 emissions by 2025, to one quarter below 2005 levels. Should this happen, many European, Middle Eastern and South Asian countries could follow suit.

Thus, China could become a global leader in low-carbon technologies by taking a major role in building renewable and eco-friendly energy technologies, such as solar and wind, should the US and other rich countries renege on Paris.

The writer is Visiting Professor of International Relations at Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, former president of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute and a former adviser at the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.
Australia has pledged to accelerate the approval of an extradition treaty with China as part of a joint declaration released after the first China-Australia high-level security dialogue on Saturday.

The countries have decided to enhance judicial cooperation and boost mutual understanding and address each other's concerns through the high-level security dialogue.

The United States and Australia have become the most popular destinations for Chinese corrupt officials to flee due to a lack of extradition treaties and legal differences.

A number of Chinese corrupt officials from State-owned companies also have sent large amounts of illegal funds to their foreign accounts using money laundering and underground banks.

The treaty between China and Australia, initially signed in 2007, has not been approved by Parliament of Australia, said Hong Daode, law professor from China University of Political Science and Law. "If the treaty takes effect, it will provide a legal basis for judicial authorities in both countries to extradite more fugitives to their own country to face trial and help to confiscate and return a large amount of illicit assets sent overseas," he said.

In Sydney on Friday, the first China-Australia high-level security dialogue took place. The declaration said, "We will strengthen practical cooperation to combat illegal immigration and money laundering and boost efforts to investigate cross-border corruption and freeze and confiscate ill-gotten assets."

China and Australia have many common interests and prospects for cooperation are promising, said Meng Jianzhu, head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Meng said they will broaden law enforcement cooperation in the areas like fighting transnational crimes, drugs, terrorism and cybercrime, and strengthening dialogue and communications in legal and judicial fields to safeguard security and serve the well-being of the two peoples.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said ties between the two countries have developed smoothly.

He said Australia attaches great importance to strengthening cooperation with China in security and law enforcement, hoping that the two sides will further deepen cooperation and safeguard security and the interests of the two countries through the China-Australia high-level security dialogue.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn
Cui Tiankai, ambassador to the US (center), Walt Disney Studios Vice-President Paul Baribault (left) and Chinese documentary director Lu Chuan (second from the left) display a poster for Born in China, a Chinese-American coproduction that takes viewers on an epic journey into the wilds of the country. The film was released in the United States over the weekend.Zhao Huanxin / China Daily

Wildlife movie coproduction shows angle not known to many

Born in China, a Chinese-American wildlife documentary coproduction, has been offering US moviegoers a feast for the eyes and food for thought since opening in US theaters a day before Earth Day, April 22.

The film's stunning imagery was captured over three years, largely in Qinghai and Sichuan provinces, and it follows the lives of pandas, golden monkeys and snow leopards, with additional footage of red-crowned cranes and chiru, or Tibetan antelopes. It was coproduced by Disneynature and Shanghai Media Group.

"The film serves to increase humans' awareness of the importance and urgency of protecting wildlife," Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said at a reception at China's embassy in Washington on Friday.

"Besides, we can learn much from animals, such as pandas, on how to coexist peacefully and harmoniously," Cui told a group of US guests before the showing of the film.

Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of the US State Department, told China Daily, "It would be good for American audiences to see Chinese people caring about the planet, and conserving wildlife and natural spaces."

Roy Conli, producer of Born in China, said he had been "totally unaware" of the wilderness of China, including what was happening on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and in the mountains of Sichuan, before the making of the film.

"It just shows you how wondrous this planet is," said Conli, the Oscar-winning producer of Big Hero 6. "We need to protect animal populations ... in order to protect ourselves."

For Lu Chuan, an accomplished Chinese director, directing the film allowed him to share the beauty of China, and Chinese people's attitude toward life.

"This is a film that will tell our audience that besides Beijing and Shanghai, and besides heavy industries and pollution, China has incredibly beautiful sides that many are hardly aware of - the crystal clear skies, the stunning sceneries and wildlife habitats," Lu said.

In addition to appearing at US theaters, Born in China will be rendered into a dozen languages and later released in over 100 countries and regions, according to Cui Yuying, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office.

Cui said the China-US coproduction is emblematic of the decision at the April Mar-a-Lago meeting of President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump to ratchet up bilateral exchanges, including cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

"The State Council Information Office welcomes and will continue to support international organizations to tell China stories ... to ramp up understanding and friendship between Chinese and people in the US and the rest of the world," she said.

The film's Chinese version was released in August. A trailer is available at nature.disney.com.

Deng Leshuo in Washington contributed to this story.

huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com
Protesters take part in the March for Science in Washington, US, on Saturday. Similar events were held in other US cities and across the world.Yin Bogu / Xinhua

Protesters bemoan US funding cuts and call for action on climate change

WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of scientists and their supporters took to the streets in Washington and around the world on Saturday to protest against what organizers described as an "alarming" anti-science trend.

The main March for Science event was held in the United States capital, where thousands of scientists, engineers, teachers, students, parents and children defied pouring rain to gather at the National Mall to hear high-profile speakers who declared science under attack and called on politicians to respect facts.

"We are marching today to remind people everywhere our lawmakers especially of the significance of science for our health and prosperity," said Bill Nye, a popular US science educator and CEO of the Planetary Society who served as honorary co-chair of the event.

"Today, we have a great many lawmakers, not just here but around the world, deliberately ignoring and actively suppressing science," Nye added. "Their inclination is misguided and in no one's best interest."

Out in the crowd, worries were expressed in the signs and banners that read: "Science, not silence," "Oceans are rising, and so are we," "Fund Science = Fun Future," "Policy without science is a Biohazard," "Science is not a partisan issue, it is the foundation of our society," "Science is NOT an opinion."

"I'm here because I want to make sure climate change is a major focus of policy in the near history of our government," said Emily Wiggans, who came with her family.

"I think we really need to focus on a present danger as a national security threat and do more with climate scientists and put more funding into climate scientists and science."

While the events were non-partisan according to organizers, many marchers were in effect protesting US President Donald Trump's proposal to sharply cut federal science and research budgets and his administration's skepticism about climate change and the need to slow global warming.

The marches put a new twist on the traditional Earth Day activities, the aim of which was to reaffirm "the vital role science plays in our democracy," according to the march's website.

Festivities at one of the largest events on Washington's National Mall included scientific "teach-ins" and musical performances.

"It's important to show this administration that we care about facts," said Chris Taylor, 24, who was part of an early crowd of about 15,000 who gathered on Washington's Mall for teach-ins on topics like climate change, water quality and sustainable food.

In an earlier statement, Trump insisted that his administration is committed to protecting the environment "without harming America's working families."

"That is why my administration is reducing unnecessary burdens on American workers and American companies," he said. "Rigorous science is critical to my administration's efforts to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection ... (but) we should remember that rigorous science depends not on ideology, but on a spirit of honest inquiry and robust debate."

In the past, Trump has said climate change was a hoax that was stifling policies to foster economic growth.

His administration is considering withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, a global accord aimed at reducing global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Trump's proposed 2018 budget calls for deep spending cuts by government science agencies, including a 31 percent reduction for the Environmental Protection Agency.
China will not be misled by comments of various kinds and will not give up fulfilling its duties regarding the Korean Peninsula situation, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday.

"In the recent period of time, there have been enough words and actions of protest or confrontation, and we now need voices of peace and reason," Wang said at a joint news conference with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias in Athens.

Beijing will continue dialogue and consultation with all parties involved and play a constructive role in tackling the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Wang said.

Wang noted that although China is neither the focus of the current dispute nor does it hold the key to resolving the issue, Beijing "has taken a dutiful attitude toward the Korean Peninsula's peace and the region's stability, and it has always been working to resume peaceful talks on the issue".

The minister referred to the recent proposals on the issue made by the Chinese side, which are "winning understanding and support from a growing number of countries".

"If the rest of the parties still remain sincere about peace, please offer your solutions as well," Wang said.

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers started a joint drill with the US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its escort vessels in the western Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Japan's Defense Ministry said.

The Carl Vinson will head to waters off the Korean Peninsula after the joint drill.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK - American Airlines has suspended an employee caught on a video clip in a confrontation with a female passenger.

The airline said in a statement it was investigating the confrontation that began shortly after noon on Friday when the woman's baby stroller was removed from a jetliner during boarding at San Francisco International Airport .

Posted on the same day on Facebook by fellow passenger Surain Adyanthaya, the video shows a female passenger crying at the front of the plane as she is holding her baby.

Adyanthaya said in the caption that a flight attendant "violently took a stroller from a lady with her baby ... hitting her and just missing the baby".

A male passenger is seen in the clip getting up and demanding the name of the flight attendant who removed the stroller.

The male passenger stands up and yells at the flight attendant: "You do that to me and I'll knock you flat."

"You stay out of this!" the attendant responds, pointing at the male passenger and challenging the passenger to hit him. The video shows the man eventually returning to his seat.

American Airlines said in a statement it was investigating the incident, which took place before the plane took off on a flight from San Francisco to Dallas.

"We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident," the airline said in a statement released early on Saturday.

The woman elected to take another flight and was upgraded to first class, said American.

The treatment of passengers by the airline industry returned as a national issue after a video appeared online two weeks ago showing a 69-year-old passenger being dragged off a United Airlines flight to make room for a crew member. The fracas sparked international outrage and policy changes by the airline.

A passenger who posted a description of the latest incident on the website Reddit wrote that the flight attendant early on called for security to intervene in his dispute with the woman.

Bob Ross, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants union, which represents American Airlines workers, said in a statement that tight schedules, overcrowded planes, shrinking seats and limited overhead bin space have made it difficult for flight attendants to board passengers.

"All of these factors are related to corporate decisions beyond the control of passengers and flight attendants," Ross said.
Far-right Le Pen, centrist Macron favorites for second round

PARIS - France voted on Sunday under heavy security in the first round of the most unpredictable presidential election in decades, with the outcome seen as vital for the future of the beleaguered European Union.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron are the favorites to progress to a runoff on May 7 but the result is too close to call in a deeply divided country.

Le Pen, the 48-year-old leader of the National Front, hopes to capitalize on security fears that were catapulted to the fore of the campaign after the fatal shooting of a policeman on Paris's Champs Elysees avenue claimed by the Islamic State group.

Aiming to ride a wave of populism that carried Donald Trump to the White House and led Britain to vote for Brexit, Le Pen wants France to abandon the euro and intends to call a referendum on withdrawing from the EU as well.

Observers predict that a Le Pen victory could be a fatal blow for the EU, already weakened by Britain's vote to leave.

Macron, 39, is seeking to become France's youngest ever president and has campaigned on a strongly pro-EU and pro-business platform.

Seeking to benefit from a worldwide move away from established political parties, the former banker and economy minister formed his own movement, "En Marche" ("On the Move"), that he says is "neither to the left nor to the right".

But polls show scandal-tainted conservative candidate Francois Fillon, a former prime minister, and leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon are also in with a fighting chance of finishing among the top two candidates and reaching the all-important second round.

Four hours after voting stations opened, turnout was up slightly on the figure at the same stage in 2012, suggesting it could beat the final figure of 79.48 percent in that election.

Nearly 47 million people were eligible to vote.

In the wake of the policeman's killing on Thursday, 50,000 police and 7,000 soldiers have been deployed around France to protect voters.

The terror attack was the latest in a bloody series have cost more than 230 lives since 2015.

Guy Belkechout, a 79-year-old pensioner who was voting in the working-class Parisian suburb of Trappes, said he was concerned.

"Security issues have influenced me after the attacks. Candidates who want fewer security measures, who want to reduce the police's powers, have not got my vote," he said.
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The Balkan country sees China's 'new Silk Road' as a means of achieving growth via greater involvement in its home region and across the globe.

Editor's Note: This is the sixth in a series of reports focusing on the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, China's proposed extensive trading route linking Asia, Europe and Africa.

With a population of 7 million, roughly the same as a number of Chinese cities, Serbia will enjoy rapid economic growth, climbing from last year's 2.8 percent to 3.5 percent in 2019, according to the World Bank.

The bank's latest updates suggest the Balkan country's prospects are even rosier than those of the European Union economies, which will average about 2 percent a year.

The promising outlook is partly a result of the country's plan to become a regional transportation hub, which has seen Serbia deepen investment in roads, rails, the expansion of urban infrastructure and even construction of high-tech business parks - similar to the growth engines used in a number of cities in China.

Chinese investors have contributed to the rising level of investment.

"The scale of China's investment in ongoing projects and in the pipeline totals about $10 billion," Li Manchang, China's ambassador to Serbia, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily in Belgrade, the capital.

Li said the developments are mainly the result of the Serbian leadership's recognition of the significance of the Belt and Road Initiative. The two sides signed a memorandum of cooperation in 2015.

Citing Serbia's President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who is also president-elect, Li said they have repeatedly emphasized that the initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, will help the world economy emerge from stagnation after the 2008 global financial crisis.

"So, Serbia's top leaders urged their country to grasp the opportunity to find synergies with the initiative," he said.

Ivica Dacic, Serbia's first deputy prime minister and foreign minister, confirmed that Vucic will head the country's delegation at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing next month.

"This speaks volumes about the importance Serbia attaches to this significant initiative of global character," he said.

Nikolic paid a state visit to China earlier this year, following President Xi's visit to the Balkan country in June. He also attended a ceremony in Beijing in 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

Dacic is looking forward to the start of direct flights between Serbia and China, which are currently under discussion, while special prominence has been given to the construction of a high-speed rail link between Belgrade and Budapest, the Hungarian capital, which will form a pioneering transportation network along the land-sea link between China and Europe.

"This is an opportunity for regional development, the greater sale of goods and the flow of goods and people," he said.

He added that Serbia aspires to have the closest possible connections with the world: "In that context, we want to see even stronger cooperation momentum with China in infrastructure investment to make Serbia the regional transportation hub."

In response, Li referred to several "firsts" in bilateral cooperation. He noted that the first bridge built by the Chinese in Europe is located on the Serbian stretch of the River Danube, and the high-speed railway linking Belgrade and Budapest will be the first on the continent to be built by the Chinese. The project is expected to be started within the year, once the European Commission completes supervision of loan agreements. Moreover, Serbia was the first country to grant Chinese passport holders visa-free entry for stays of up to 30 days.

According to Li, Chinese companies are currently building highways and electricity generation plants in Serbia, and Chinese investors have already signed a contract with Belgrade's municipal government for construction of a ring road in the city.

Chinese companies are also working to improve Belgrade's wastewater treatment facilities and heating network. Meanwhile, a number of Chinese businesses are vying to win a contract to construct an electricity generation project, which has total investment of $900 million.

China will also help to construct an industrial park covering 300 hectares in its first phase, Li said, adding that having signed the memorandum of cooperation, both sides are hoping to sign an agreement by the end of the year to pave the way for ground to be broken next year.

"Some other Balkan countries have shown 'envy' towards Serbia, which has taken the opportunity of enhancing cooperation with China," he said. "I think Serbia has taken the lead in that regard, and other European countries may follow suit."

According to Branislav Djordjevic, director of the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, given the current political and economic situation in the Balkans, it is easy to see how important participation in the Belt and the Road Initiative is, not only for Serbia but for all countries in the region.

He said the institute has long been interested in China, but interest really surged after the conclusion of a strategic partnership between the two countries in 2009. Now, great attention is being focused on the Belt and Road Initiative, which consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

"It is an old truth that prosperity brings peace and stability," he said, adding that the initiative has helped Serbia become more qualified as an EU member. "Since many countries are looking for EU membership, it would be easier for them to be absorbed as economically and politically stable entities. With certain necessary adjustments, combined with the synergies of the Belt and Road Initiative, Serbia could be an engine of progress."

Radosav Pusic, dean of the Confucius Institute in Belgrade, was in full agreement with that view. He said Serbia is a small Balkan country and at critical moments in history, it has been a hostage to fortune.

"When great powers play games, small countries suffer. Belgrade has been destroyed more than 40 times, and we even suffered wars in the 1990s," he said.

The country's economy stagnated for several years after NATO's military action against Serbia ended in the late 1990s, and the 2008 global financial crisis made things even harder. Those difficulties resulted in many young people leaving the country.

Pusic said this is a "historic moment" for Serbia because the country's economic and investment activities with China have become more frequent than ever, thanks to the cooperation framework for the Belt and Road Initiative.

"This is the result of a firmer political and strategic partnership between the countries, which has laid solid foundations for other encounters," said Pusic, a renowned scholar who has written or translated 30 books about classic Chinese literature, poetry and philosophy. He is currently writing a book about the history of ancient Chinese philosophy.

"Against this background, many people in Serbia have shown an interest in the Belt and Road Initiative," he said. "But if it had been raised 10 years ago, recognition would not have been that easy."

Greater efforts will be required, especially on the cultural and publicity fronts, he said.

"The initiative is a concept with tremendous significance, and it offers another perspective to learn more about China. I will do more to help Serbians understand China's traditional culture."

Zheng Jinqiang in Brussels contributed to this story

Contact the writer at fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
Hesteel Serbia employees discuss production techniques with a member of the Chinese management team. Fu Jing / China Daily

For 20 years, Svetlana Radosavljevic has monitored the manufacture of steel and iron from a glass-walled control room in an old production center at Zelezara Smederevo, Serbia's biggest mill.

For many years, the mill, less than a 60-minute drive from Belgrade, could only run one of its two production lines, and it lost about $10 million a month. Moreover, many of the 5,000 workers were unproductive. These factors resulted in a prolonged period of low productivity that almost forced the company into bankruptcy.

Last year, the 105-year-old mill was given a new lease on life, when Hesteel Group, from Hebei province, purchased it for 46 million euros ($49.6 million).

Now, both production lines are running at full capacity at Hesteel Serbia, the mill's new name, which will see production of 2 million metric tons this year, the maximum of a quota agreed between the European Union and Serbia. The acquisition ended seven years of losses, and by the end of last year, the mill was profitable again.

The workers are now more confident because their jobs are secure, and wages have risen by an average of 8 percent, compared with the pre-takeover level.

"Now it is safer, production is higher, and I am more focused on my job because I don't need to worry about becoming unemployed," Radosavljevic said.

Her control room is about 50 meters from the end of a line that produces steel plate. During a visit in June, President Xi Jinping spoke with the workers and management in the control room, which helped to inject the confidence needed to make the most of the lifeline offered by the acquisition.

In addition to the frontline workers, even Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who is also president-elect, is excited about the performance.

Song Sihai, an executive board member of Hesteel Serbia who oversees management of the mill, described his meeting with Vucic. "The prime minister and I discussed the revenue target for this year, which will be about $800 million, and he asked his assistant to calculate the amount it would contribute to the country's economic output," he said.

Sitting in his office, Song, an executive with the parent company, quoted Vucic's conclusion, that the company's revenues will account for more than 2 percent of GDP this year.

"Surely, this will provide great help to Serbia's economic development," he said.
Many Chinese can still clearly remember the plots of movies made in the former Yugoslavia, such as Walter defends Sarajevo and The Bridge.

When he met Tomislav Nikolic, and his delegation in Beijing recently, President Xi Jinping told the Serbian president that he can still whistle the theme from The Bridge.

In June, before he arrived in Serbia on a visit, an article Xi wrote for a local newspaper said the movies had kindled patriotic passion among the people of the two countries for many years.

"Both the Chinese president and premier know those movies well," said Vladan Vukosavljevic, Serbia's culture minister. The two countries have agreed to strengthen cooperation on films and will produce a commercial movie soon.

"We have the idea of refreshing people's memories. Basically, it will be commercial movie that will attract moviegoers worldwide," he said, adding that China has already offered to provide TV and film studios in Beijing.

He said the movie should be shot in both Serbia and in China to help Serbian people to learn more about its Asian partner: "I was impressed by the huge economic development I saw last year during my first visit, and this year. People in Serbia should see this."

He suggested those developments should be wrapped in a modern story about young people, depicting their lives, thoughts, loves and how they view the world.

"But inside that story, we should also show the deep roots of our cultural cooperation and connections. Some music from those old films could be used in the new movie," he said. "The story should be contemporary, and I would like the movie to be seen by audiences in China and across the world."

He said it would be an excellent opportunity to make a movie that will not just show culture, traditions and tourist spots: "We will try to make a really good movie that will be shown at international film festivals."

He believes Chinese directors and actors have great potential, saying many are now gaining global recognition in the fields of movies, visual arts and contemporary art.

"The country's excellent film directors have won many prizes worldwide. So China is not only jumping into the future economically, it is also taking big steps in the world of contemporary culture. It has a lot of things to show the world."
ADDIS ABABA - Selam Fantahun, an Ethiopian high school dropout, feels that her prospects have brightened since she landed a job at a Chinese shoe factory in Addis Ababa four months ago.

"I wouldn't say I've learned 100 percent of what I aspired to but I'm getting there, learning new skills everyday," she said.

Fantahun attaches soles to slipper shoes at the new partially finished plant of Huajian, a major Chinese shoe manufacturer. Encouraged by the salary increases and training, she plans to stay a bit longer before planning to start a business.

Fantahun is among the latest crop of Ethiopians learning skills in Huajian's second plant, which covers 138 hectares, and is expected to be totally completed by 2020.

The new park expects to earn $2 billion in annual export revenue and employ up to 50,000 Ethiopians.

That may seem ambitious, but is perfectly attainable in the eyes of Zemdeneh Negatu, former managing partner of the consulting firm Ernest and Young (Ethiopia).

"Ethiopia has 100 million people, adds 2.5 million people annually. It has a young, dynamic, educated and affordable labor force only matched in Africa by Nigeria," said Negatu.

He also cites Ethiopia's cheap electricity rates at 4 cents per kilowatt hour and the country's 4,200 megawatts of installed electricity capacity, second in Africa to South Africa.

Labor force of 45 million

Arkebe Oqubay, board chairman of Industrial Park Development Corp, sees the benefit of firms like Huajian not just in terms of export revenues and employment opportunities.

"With China rebalancing its economy, its firms are eyeing Ethiopia's young labor force of 45 million, while also being attracted by the relative affordability of wage in Ethiopia," he said.

According to him, with the annual manufacturing growth standing at 25 percent in the coming 10 years the government hopes the share of manufacturing in exports will increase to 50 percent.

"In 10 years time, Ethiopia will be among the top 10 populous nations in the world, with manufacturing creating two indirect jobs for every direct job," said Oqubay, highlighting another rationale for the country's strong focus on manufacturing.

The country has inaugurated three industrial parks and Oqubay says nine more are planned or currently under construction by the Ethiopian government with an ability to employ more than 200,000 people when finished.

With Ethiopian economy still dominated by agricultural commodities subjected to international price volatility and an ever-increasing urban population, the government counts on these projects to help create enough employment and improve people's livelihoods.

(China Daily 04/25/2017 page10)
CANBERRA - Australian electronics and homeware retailers are preparing for the invasion of US online giant Amazon, with some vowing to take the fight to the store.

Last week, Amazon confirmed its rapid Australian expansion by announcing that it was searching for a site to build its "fulfillment center" - a large warehouse for storing and shipping goods purchased online - but local retailers, including Harvey Norman's founder Gerry Harvey, has said he will make it hard for Amazon to succeed Down Under.

Harvey Norman sells electronics, furniture and bedding - all markets in which Amazon hopes to hold a stake, but Harvey has said that he will happily go toe-to-toe with the giant to maintain his share in the Australian market.

"In America and other parts of the world, they have just demolished other retailers, no question about that, and they send a lot of retailers broke," Harvey told News Corp on Monday.

"There is no question they have one ambition, and like Attila the Hun, or Alexander the Great, they just want to demolish everything in front of them and then at the end of day claim to be victorious and make their own rules.

"So this is a company that is extraordinary by any measure and defies every rule that has ever been written about a business."

Some analysts have said that Amazon could take in as much as $3 billion in sales in its first 5 years in Australia (around 1 percent of the total $225 billion market), but Harvey has refuted those claims, saying that local retailers would be putting up "one hell of a fight" when Amazon launches its main retail services in Australia.

"We will be out there fighting them like no US citizen retailer has ever fought them," he said. "Any price that they put we will beat or equal."

Meanwhile, Harvey's thoughts were backed up by those of former CEO of supermarket chain Woolworths, Roger Corbett, who said Amazon would struggle to replicate its lower wages and claims of lightning-fast delivery to rural parts when it opens in Australia.

"Amazon will have an impact on the market place, but they are coming into an already very competitive market," he told News Corp.

(China Daily 04/25/2017 page10)
Marine Le Pen, French National Front party leader, delivers a speech after the first round of 2017 French presidential election, in Henin-Beaumont, France, on Sunday.Charles Platiau / Reuters

Pro-European centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron addresses his supporters at his election day headquarters on Sunday in Paris. The French vote was being closely watched as a bellwether for populist sentiment following the Brexit vote.Christophe Ena / Associated Press

Almost all other main contenders urge supporters to back Macron

The French stock market and the euro surged after voters selected centrist newcomer Emanuel Macron and the Front National's Marine Le Pen to fight for the French presidency when the second round of voting is held next month.

It was the first time that neither the Socialist nor Republican parties had made it to the second round since 1958. While that represents a major change in the political landscape, European leaders and markets were reassured by the performance of Macron, who is almost certain to defeat Le Pen on May 7.

Macron polled 23.8 percent to Le Pen's 21.5 percent, Francois Fillon, an early favorite, had 19.9 percent, followed by the left-winger Jean-Luc Melenchon with 19.6 percent and the Socialist Party's Benoit Haman with 6.4 percent. There were also six other candidates.

As the results emerged, all the main contenders, except Melenchon, urged their supporters to back Macron. Opinion polls gave Macron at least a 24-point lead over Le Pen.

Macron could be the youngest president in the 59-year history of the French Fifth Republic. The 39-year old formed the En Marche party one year ago and it has no deputies in French parliament. If Macron becomes president, his next battle will be to get enough deputies elected to parliament in June to help him govern, although his party is well-placed to lead a coalition.

"The challenge is to break completely with the system which has been unable to find solutions to the problems of our country for more than 30 years," Macron said on Sunday.

Quite clear choice

The choice for French voters is quite clear. Le Pen seeks to leave international alliances, such as the European Union and NATO, and looks for domestic solutions to terrorism and unemployment, such as restricting migration and protecting French industry from competition.

Macron is an internationalist who sees strength in alliances and wants French borders kept open to trade and migration.

But most voters appeared to have taken the threat in their stride. The euro was up on Monday to hit a 5-month high at $1.086, as fears of France pulling out of the single currency and the EU receded. The CAC 40 index of France's leading companies rose by 4 percent on Monday morning.

"Most likely, the French election can mark a turning point for France and Europe," said analyst Holger Schmieding from Berenberg Bank.

Le Pen's result is a qualified victory for the Front National. She did much better than in the 2012 presidential elections and far better than her father when he came second in 2002.

If the presidency is beyond her, Le Pen and her party will aim to increase their representation in parliament. The Front National has only two deputies out of 577 in parliament.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this story.

conal@mail.chinadailyuk.com
SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted large-scale live-fire artillery drills on Tuesday to mark its army anniversary, said South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement.

The DPRK staged the large-scale exercises of firepower on Tuesday afternoon around the city of Wonsan on the east coast, it said.

The South Korean military was closely monitoring the DPRK's moves as it maintains firm combat readiness, said the statement.

Tuesday's drills, believed to be the largest-ever live-fire exercises carried out by the DPRK, reportedly involved between 300 and 400 long-range artilleries. The drills were observed by top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

The DPRK in the past tended to mark significant dates by displaying its military capabilities. On April 15, the country conducted a massive military parade in Pyongyang to mark the birthday of its founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong Un.

The live-fire drills in the DPRK on Tuesday came amid ongoing joint military exercises of South Korea and the United States.

The US-South Korea war games, code-named Foal Eagle, kicked off on April 13 and would last till the end of the month. It was denounced by the DPRK as a rehearsal for northward invasion.
SEOUL - A US nuclear-powered submarine on Tuesday arrived at the southern port of Busan, South Korea, amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula, YTN television reported.

The USS Michigan guided-missile submarine has already arrived at Busan, the South Korean military was quoted as saying. The broadcaster did not elaborate on the exact time of its arrival.

Although the nuclear submarine is not supposed to participate in any drills or military operations, its call would send a meaningful message to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said the YTN.

At a national meeting held Monday, the DPRK again warned the United States that it would stage preemptive nuclear strikes against American forces.

The USS Michigan is one of four Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines loaded with nuclear missiles. The 170-meter-long, 18,000-ton submarine can carry as many as 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of some 1,600 km.

The Michigan's call on South Korea came amid mounting tensions on the peninsula. The USS Carl Vinson nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is sailing toward the peninsula.

The rare re-routing of the super-carrier to the peninsula had raised concerns about possible airstrikes on the DPRK's nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, the DPRK Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the Korean Peninsula is on the verge of war due to "reckless action" by the United States using both economic sanctions and increasing military threats.

According to South Korea's military, the DPRK conducted large-scale live-fire artillery exercises on Tuesday to mark its army anniversary.

The DPRK's artillery drills came amid ongoing joint military exercises of South Korea and the United States.

The US-South Korea joint war games, which were denounced by the DPRK as a rehearsal for northward invasion, would last till the end of this month.
After the first round of voting, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, have begun campaigning to be elected French president in earnest. There were 11 candidates in the first round but only two in the second round. One of these candidates will be voted the President of France for the next five years on May 7.

Name: Emmanuel Macron

Age: 39

Family: He was born in Amiens to a paediatrician mother and a neurologist father. His younger brother and sister became a cardiologist and a nephrologist respectively. He is the only member of his family not to study medicine.

Partner: In 2007, Macron married Brigitte Trogneux. The couple met when Macron was 15 and Trogneux was his 39-year old teacher but they only officially became a couple when he turned 18. Trogneux was previously married with three children, the eldest of whom is two years older than Macron.

Education: Philosophy at the University of Paris, Masters in Public Affairs in the Institute of Political Studies and civil service training at the National School of Administration, where almost all senior civil servants and politicians are educated.

Professional Experience: Inspector of finances at the ministry of the economy and then an investment banker at Rothschilds

Political Experience: He was a deputy secretary general in the office of President Francois Hollande before being appointed minister of economy and finance in 2016.

Party: Macron left the Socialist Party in 2015 and set up the En Marche! party in 2016. En Marche was founded to break Frances reliance on either the Gaullist/Republican or the Socialist party. It has no elected officials.

Policies: Macron wants to reduce the size of the French state and its spending, make the economy more competitive and is strongly in favour of Frances role in the EU and NATO. He is pro-American and was the only one of the four leading candidate who did not call for a rapprochement with Vladimir Putin and Russia.

On the economy he wants to reduce government spending by 60 million euros and increase investment by 50 million euros.

Odds on victory: 88 per cent

Name: Marine Le Pen

Age: 48

Family: Born to Jean-Marie Le Pen, a former paratrooper and politician from Brittany who formed the Front National in 1972 and Pierrette Lalanne, in Paris. She has two older sisters. The family survived a 1976 bomb attack aimed at their father.

Partner: She is in a relationship with Louis Aliot, a senior member of the Front National, who is Jewishthe party is often accused of being anti-semitic. Le Pen was previously married to two other party members and she has three children from her first marriage.

Education: She studied law at the University of Paris and also obtained a masters in criminal law.

Professional experience: Worked as a lawyer for six years, as a public defender.

Party: Le Pen took over the leadership of the Front National in 2011 with a view to running for president the next year. She is seen by some as having de-toxified and modernized the party by agreeing with gay marriage and keeping her distance from her fathers alleged anti-semitism. She has since fallen out with her father and forced him out of his position as honorary party chairman in 2015. Le Pen has been elected as a regional and municipal councillor and member of the European Parliament.

Policies: Le Pen wants to transform Frances membership of the EU or leave it and leave NATO. She will make it harder for foreign companies to compete for business in France and tax French employers who use foreign workers. She wants to reduce immigration and restrict services to the non-French. Le Pen also says she will reduce the retirement age from 62 to 60, as well as cut taxes and increase spending, while cutting national debt and increasing economic growth.

Le Pen said she admires Vladimir Putin and she visited Moscow during her presidential campaign.

Odds on victory: 12 per cent
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea soldiers salute bronze statues (not pictured) of DPRK's late founder Kim Il-sung and late leader Kim Jong Il at Mansudae in Pyongyang, in this photo released by Kyodo April 25, 2017, to mark the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army. [Photo/Kyodo via REUTERS]

Pyongyang marked a key military anniversary on Tuesday with a major artillery drill after Seoul announced joint naval exercises with a US aircraft carrier group this weekend.

Speculation has been mounting that Pyongyang would carry out a sixth nuclear test or another missile launch on Tuesday to mark 85 years since the founding of its army.

The Republic of Korea's Yonhap News Agency cited an unnamed government source as saying the Democratic People's Republic of Korea marked the anniversary with its "largest ever live artillery drill", carried out in the eastern port city of Wonsan and presumed to have been overseen by leader Kim Jong-un.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United Nations Security Council must be ready to impose tougher sanctions on the DPRK over its nuclear and missile programs, calling the status quo "unacceptable".

"This is a real threat to the world," Trump said while hosting UN Security Council ambassadors at the White House.

On Friday, the Security Council will have a special ministerial meeting on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Washington has sent the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its carrier group to the Korean Peninsula, where it is expected to arrive later this week.

The vessel will take part in ongoing joint naval drills with ROK forces, the ROK Navy said in a statement.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday that those who are disappointed that a sixth nuclear test was not carried out in the DPRK "are anxious to see the world in disorder".

"We urge all related parties to keep calm and restrained, and not to take actions that intensify the tension," he said at a daily news conference in Beijing.

According to Geng, China and the DPRK are in contact and the diplomatic channels between the two countries are "very smooth".

He also said China has been making efforts to solve the peninsula's nuclear issue in an appropriate and effective way, as both a regional country and a responsible member of the international community.

Wu Dawei, China's special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, arrived in Japan on Tuesday to exchange views over the current Korean Peninsula issue.

"We hope related parties, including Japan, can work with China to push for an early and peaceful resolution of the issue, make due efforts, play its due role and shoulder due responsibilities," he added.

AFP contributed to this story.
BEIJING - Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen will visit China from May 2 to May 5 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang announced Tuesday.

Geng said Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li and top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang will meet or hold talks with Rasmussen, and will exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of common concern.

Geng said Denmark was one of the first western countries to establish diplomatic ties with China, as well as the first Nordic country to set up a comprehensive strategic partnership with China.

"We believe that Rasmussen's visit will enhance political mutual trust, expand bilateral practical cooperation, and lift the China-Denmark comprehensive strategic partnership to a new high," he said, adding that it will promote the cooperation between China and Northern Europe as well.
mississippi-flag-32a73f495d2c2272.jpg

Biloxi became the latest Mississippi city to remove the state flag from public buildings after Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich ordered them taken down.

(Rogelio V. Solis/AP File Photo)

JACKSON, Mississippi -- A city that relies heavily on tourism is joining several other local governments in abandoning the Mississippi flag because it contains the Confederate battle emblem.

Biloxi Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gillich has ordered the state flag pulled from display at all municipal buildings.

City spokesman Vincent Creel said Monday that Gillich believes removing the flag will help the city's 5.7 million visitors a year feel welcome.

"We don't think we should give them any reason to reconsider their decision to visit our community," Creel said. "We don't think we should have anything that's controversial."

Gillich won a special election in 2015, and decided upon taking office that only the U.S. flag should be flown on city property, Creel said. However, the state flag was still flying at some buildings. Gillich is now up for re-election and faces an opponent in the May 2 Republican primary. He was asked about the state flag Saturday during a forum sponsored by the NAACP.

Creel said it's a coincidence that the Mississippi flag was being removed Monday as the state marked Confederate Memorial Day. Although state government offices and some county offices were closed for the holiday, those in Biloxi remained open.

Mississippi is the last state with a flag that includes the Confederate battle emblem -- a red field topped by a blue tilted cross with 13 white stars. The state has used the same flag since 1894. Voters chose to keep it in a 2001 election, but it remains a topic of debate in a state with a nearly 38 percent black population.

The flag and other Confederate symbols have come under increased scrutiny since the June 2015 massacre of nine black worshippers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The man convicted in the case, an avowed white supremacist, had previously posed with a Confederate battle flag in photos published online.

All eight of Mississippi's public universities and several counties and cities, including the capital city of Jackson, have stopped flying the state flag because of the rebel symbol.
(Photo : Russian Navy) Belgorod under constrction.

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The Russian Navy is upgrading one of its Oscar II cruise missile submarines, the RFS Belgorod (K-139), into a one-off submarine that might one day be capable of launching one of Russia's newest weapons -- a huge nuclear torpedo with a 100 megaton warhead.



Belgorod will carry six of these nuclear torpedoes, which the Russians identify as the "Kanyon (Status-6) strategic weapon." The nuclear warhead deployed by a Kanyon is said to be in the 100 megaton range.



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Kanyon will be used to destroy U.S. Navy submarine bases and ports frequented by American submarines. Among these juicy targets is Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, home port for United States Atlantic Fleet's ballistic missile nuclear submarines armed with Trident nuclear missiles.



This torpedo is massive and will be the world's largest. Kanyon is estimated by some sources to be 24 meters long and 1.6 meters in diameter.



By comparison, the U.S. Navy's Mark 48 heavyweight submarine-launched torpedo is only 5.8 meters long and 53 cm in diameter.



Refitting the Belgorod should be accomplished by 2018, said the Russian Navy. Development of Kanyon, however, will not be completed in 2018 and this weapon is years away from a prototype and testing, said a ranking Navy official quoted by American media.



This weapon might even be a "paper weapon" leaked to Western media as part of a Russian disinformation campaign.



What is certain is that Belgorod is being refitted to carry Project 18511 PALTUS manned midget submarines or the top secret Project 10831 LOSHARIK autonomous deep-sea station also designed for special operations. Being able to carry these UUVs also means Belgorod will be able to deploy Kanyon, if and when this weapon becomes available.



Refitting Belgorod into a "special purpose research and rescue submarine" designated Project 09852 began in December 2012. Belgorod is an incomplete Project 949A (Oscar II class) submarine.



Russian state-controlled media is making a lot of noise about the civilian and scientific nature of these improvements to Belgorod.



It claims Belgorod will be the world's largest submarine when completed. Belgorod's length of 184 meters will be 11 meters longer than Russia's largest nuclear submarine belonging to the Akula-class (or Typhoon-class) nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, of which only one is in active service with the Russian Navy.



Russian media claims Belgorod "is designed to carry out research missions. It will carry uninhabited deep-sea vehicles and bathyscaphes, as well as special scientific equipment. It will be engaged in studying the bottom of the Russian Arctic shelf, searching for minerals at great depths, and also laying underwater communications."



Russian experts quoted by media said Belgorod will carry "LOSHARIK," which was described as an "autonomous deepwater station ... that "will transport and install autonomous nuclear submarine modules designed to charge uninhabited submarines on the seabed."



LOSHARIK will ensure the deployment of a global underwater monitoring system, which the military is building on the bottom of the Arctic waters.



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TagsRussian Navy, Oscar II cruise missile submarine, RFS Belgorod (K-139), nuclear torpedo, Kanyon (Status-6) strategic weapon, Project 18511 PALTUS, Project 10831 LOSHARIK
(Photo : IAF) Sukhoi-30MKIs of the Indian Air Force.

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The first Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter squadron to open fire on Pakistan during the 1999 Kargil War now operates the Sukhoi Su-30MKI heavy, all-weather, twin-engine, long-range fighter well-suited to taking the fight to the enemy.



The famous No. 221 Squadron (Valiants) stationed at the Halwara Air Force Station close to the India-Pakistan border, received the Russian-made fighter equipped to IAF specifications at impressive ceremonies whose guest of honor was Air Marshal C Hari Kumar AVSM VM VSM ADC, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command.



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Air Marshal Kumar formally handed over the official documents of the squadron to Wing Commander HS Luthra, Commanding Officer, No. 221 Squadron. The squadron, which was organized in 1963, formerly flew Mikoyan MiG-23 variable geometry fighters/interceptors.



The Air Marshal congratulated the squadron's pilots on the timely induction of the Su 30 MKI, and expressed his appreciation at the tireless efforts put in by all the personnel of the base.



Indian military analysts noted the presence of another IAF squadron equipped with the Su-30MKI will boost the offensive capabilities of the IAF in this sector. Sharing the air station with 221 Squadron is No. 220 Squadron (Desert Tigers) also equipped with the Su-30MKI.



Both fighter squadrons are part of No. 34 Wing. An IAF fighter squadron operates from 16 to 18 combat aircraft.



Halwara Air Force Station is situated near the town of Halwara in Punjab. The air base was established in 1950.



The Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) was developed by the Sukhoi Company and built under license by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for the IAF.



The first Russian-made Su-30MKI was accepted into the IAF in 2002, while the first indigenously assembled Su-30MKI entered service in 2004. The IAF had 230 Su-30MKIs in service as of February 2017.



The Su-30MKI will remain the backbone of the IAF's fighter fleet well beyond 2020.



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TagsIndian Air Force, India, Pakistan, No. 221 Squadron (Valiants), Halwara Air Force Station, Sukhoi Su-30MKI, Air Marshal C Hari Kumar
Things are ever changing at the La Pointe Krebs House and Museum in Pascagoula with the addition of a new artifact, a historic desk that belonged to Charles Rene Krebs (1790-1851), the grandson of Hugo Ernestus Krebs and son of Joseph Simon Krebs.

This image of Charles Rene Krebs (1790-1851), grandson of Hugo Ernestus Krebs, was taken from an early tintype portrait.

Because of the desk's strong connection to the LPK House in Pascagoula, Margaret Davidson of Charleston, S.C., a descendant of the Krebs-Sarrazin families, has made a gift of it to the LPK Foundation. For now, it may be viewed in the LPK House Museum located on the grounds of the historical house built in 1757.

Davidson has made it a habit of visiting Pascagoula in the summers to clean the Krebs family cemetery that adjoins the property. In fact, Charles Rene Krebs and his entire family are buried in this cemetery.

The donation is a great "get" for the museum. Marks Sokolosky-Wixon, executive director of the LPK Foundation, hopes when the LPK House is completely restored, the desk can go back to its probable original home. (Work is scheduled to resume this fall with attention to the roof.)

"Joseph Simon Krebs helped his father Hugo build the house," Wixon said.

The Krebs desk was made by Leonard Lourance Sarrazin of Bordeaux, France, around 1796. By descent it went to an owner in the Krebs-Sarrazin family, Mrs. Davidson. (Three of Charles Rene's daughters had married into the Sarrazin family.)

Made of cherry wood, it has three drawers above the paneled and mitered slant lid opening to reveal drawers and partitions, all above three graduated drawers with (replaced) knob pulls, and paneled sides.

The 1796 handmade desk of Charles Rene Krebs is the newest artifact now on display at the La Pointe Krebs House Museum in Pascagoula.

According to Wixon, the entire piece is of original materials except for the knob pulls. It measured 50.5 inches in height, 42.25 inches wide and 27.5" in depth. It is in near mint condition.

Davidson has also donated to the LPKF a portrait of Charles Rene Krebs that will also be hung in the LPK House when restored.

Hugo Ernestus Krebs, the first Krebs to come to Pascagoula, stated in his will written in Spanish in New Orleans in 1776 that he was from Neumagen on the Moselle, Germany. He married Marie Josephine de la Pointe, who was the daughter of Joseph Simon de la Pointe who was reportedly an admiral in the French navy.

La Pointe was granted his land (all of modern day Pascagoula) to use as a plantation (originally indigo for purple dye; later La Pointe used it for growing wax myrtle for making candles.

Local historians will quickly tell you the house was never a fort and it was not Spanish. All agree it is "old."

Museum hours are: Tuesday-Friday: 10 a.m. to 5 pm; Saturday: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is adults, $5; ages 65+ and military, $4, and ages 5-15, $3. It is located at 4602 Fort St., Pascagoula, Miss., 39567. Phone is 228-471-5126; email, lpkhouse1720@gmail.com.

Columnist Joanne Anderson may be reached at joandy42@yahoo.com.
(Photo : Indian Army) Russian-made Indian Army T-90S tanks on parade.

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Saving Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and making money from the sale of its weapons to other countries are the two major aims of Russia's armed intervention in Syria, said Russian president Vladimir Putin.



Putin said Russia's weapons exports are growing, largely due to their effective use by the Russian Aerospace Forces against al-Assad's opponents in Syria. He also said interest in Russian weapons has been growing around the world, which can be proven by the increase in the volume of contracts.



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"This is largely a result of the more effective use of our weapons in real combat conditions, including the anti-terrorist operation in Syria," said Putin.



"This opportunity for gaining a firmer foothold on the world market of armaments should not to be missed."



He revealed that Russian defense companies are almost completely loaded with orders from the Ministry of Defense so they have been facing difficulties in fulfilling orders related to military cooperation with other countries,



Putin said if Russia rejects foreign orders, Russia might lose prospective partners, as well as its place on the market.



Putin, however, failed to mention that Russia's arms exports sales are growing at an insignificant rate.



Russian arms exports amounted to some $15 billion in 2016, exceeding 2015's figures, which stood at $14.5 billion, said Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in a report addressed to the State Duma (lower house of parliament).



"We're the second-biggest player on the global arms market. Last year exports of products for military purposes exceeded $15 billion," said Medvedev.



He noted that "the new contracts signed (in the reporting period) amounted to $9.5 billion, while the stock of orders in end-2016 was worth around $50 billion."



Russian arms exports have remained flat since 2014. Before this year, however, arms exports rose rapidly from $6.12 billion in 2005 to $15.7 billion in 2013, according to data from the the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C.



Those figures dropped to $14.5 billion in 2015 and then inched slightly upwards to $15 billion in 2016.



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TagsBashar al-Assad, Vladimir Putin, arms exports, Russia, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up.
The man who brought belief in God back into the study of philosophy, Alvin Plantinga, has received the 2017 Templeton Prize.

The 84-year-old Christian philosopher is the latest in a line of dozens of laureates honored for their spiritual contributions to the world, including Billy Graham, Chuck Colson, Bill Bright, and Mother Teresa.

Plantinga made a name for himself as a philosophy professor at Calvin College and the University of Notre Dame. He reshaped the spiritual side of his discipline by insisting that Christian philosophers allow their convictions to drive their academic work.

Plantinga recognized that not only did religious belief not conflict with serious philosophical work, but that it could make crucial contributions to addressing perennial problems in philosophy, said Heather Templeton Dill, president of the John Templeton Foundation, which awarded the $1.4 million prize that has helped expand the evangelical mind.

Starting in the late 1950s, Plantinga countered ...

1
home World Catholic church seeks ban on Croatian play depicting Jesus 'raping' Muslim woman

The Catholic Church in Croatia is calling for a ban on a controversial theater play that depicts Jesus Christ raping a Muslim woman, saying it "offends God, man and nation."

The Archdiocese of Split-Makarska has called on Croatia's Ministry of Culture to ban the play titled "Our Violence and Your Violence," which features a scene in which Jesus rapes a woman wearing a hijab after pulling a national flag from her genitals.

The play, directed by a Croatian playwright Oliver Frljic, is part of the 27th "Days of Marulic" festival, which began on Friday evening and runs through April 28. The festival was named after Croatian national poet and Renaissance humanist, Marko Marulic, whose work was heavily influenced by the Bible.

"We urge all those responsible... to make the necessary steps to activities, which are not worthy of the name of Marko Marulic and the city of Split, that [the play] does not insult people and humiliate culture," the Archdiocese said in a statement, according to Russia Today, citing a local newspaper.

The Archdiocese noted that it had received numerous complaints from its parishioners about the play. It also argued that the performance is an insult to the memory of Marulic, who is a native of Split.

Local politicians also urged residents to protest the theater play, noting that the explicit naked and violent scenes included in the performance "offended in the most brutal way the religious and moral feelings of Christians, Muslims and other Croatian citizens."

The controversial play, which was written as a critique of European attitudes towards the refugee crisis, has already been staged in Croatia and other European countries.

In 2016, Poland's conservative Law and Justice party denounced the Polish production of the performance, saying it contained "pornography and blasphemy." Frljic's work also generated controversy when it was staged in Bosnia and Herzegovina that same year.

Frljic's other play, "The Curse," also drew the ire of Catholics in the Polish city of Warsaw on Friday. The show reportedly features scenes in which oral sex is being performed on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II. The protesters tried to block the entrance to the theater, but they were dispersed by the police.

The Polish Powszechny theater stated that the play "gives the floor to various ideological positions and must be analyzed as an integral artistic work and not a set of scenes apart, unrelated."
Merlo Station High School will host a community Blood Drive sponsored by Bloodworks NW on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 from 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. (closed 10:00 - 10:45 a.m.) at Merlo Station High School, 1841 SW Merlo Dr., Beaverton.

Appointments are recommended, but walk-ins are welcome. Please remember to bring a photo I.D. If 75 or more people register to donate, Bloodworks NW will donate $750 toward a Community Education for Young Parents (CEYP) scholarship.

Bloodworks NW is a local, non-profit organization that differs from other blood services in that we exclusively collect blood in the communities we serve. We are the sole supplier of blood to all Providence and Legacy hospitals in Oregon, as well as to all Clark, Cowlitz, and Lewis County hospitals in Washington. We've been serving the Northwest for over 70 years, including over 22 years in the Portland/Vancouver area. Bloodworks is a world renowned international leader in the field of blood research.

For a donation appointment, please call 1-800-398-7888 or register online.

For questions, please call Morgan Quimby at 503-356-3650.
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and the redemptive power of art

Curator Carol S. Eliel illuminates the life of the peripatetic Hungarian-born artist and hero of design from Berlin to London and Chicago  illustrated with exhibition works and others offered in our sales

Writer, theorist, teacher, painter, philosopher, photographer, sculptor and curator, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (18951946) was one of 20th-century arts great innovators. Openness to exploration, to experimentation, is very much part of his aesthetic, affirms Carol Eliel, who curated Moholy-Nagy: Future Present at LACMA, the first American retrospective of the artist since 1969. The early days in Hungary Moholy-Nagys story begins in Borsod (now Bacsborsod), Hungary, in 1895. Born Laszlo Weisz, he adopted the surname of his maternal uncle, Nagy, who supported the family when his father left; Moholy was added later, and derives from Mohol (in present-day Serbia), the name of the town where he grew up. The young Moholy-Nagy did not originally intend to become an artist. While studying law, he enlisted in the Austro-Hungarian army during the First World War, was injured and received a medical discharge, says Eliel. It was during his convalescence that he decided he wanted to become a visual artist.

Open a larger version of this image Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, F in Field, 1920. Gouache and collage on paper, 8 11/16  6 15/16 in. Private collection, courtesy of Kunsthandel Wolfgang Werner, Bremen/Berlin.  2017 Hattula Moholy-Nagy/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

After the First World War, Moholy-Nagy began contributing to the experimental Hungarian arts journals Jelenkor and Ma, but left Budapest after the defeat of Hungarys Communist regime in August 1919. He went briefly through Vienna and wound up settling for a number of years in Berlin, a major avant-garde arts centre at the time, says Eliel. Berlin and the new aesthetic of experimentation Moholy-Nagy became active in the Berlin scene, enthusiastically absorbing Europes new art movements. He did a number of drawings and paintings in Hungary which were really influenced by Cubism, before Dada seeped into his consciousness, the curator explains. The Dada aesthetic of experimentation and radicalism particularly appealed to Moholy-Nagy, as did Constructivist abstraction.

Open a larger version of this image Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Red Cross and White Balls, 1921. Collage, ink, graphite, and watercolour on paper. 8 716  11 716 in. Museum Kunstpalast Dusseldorf, K 1956-11  2017 Hattula Moholy-Nagy/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photo  Museum Konstpalast-Horst Kolberg  ARTOTHEK

The next significant development in Moholy-Nagys practice came when he met his first wife, the photographer Lucia Schulz (18941989). Throughout their marriage, Lucia Moholys abilities in photography greatly influenced her husbands work and the two frequently collaborated artistically.









Open a larger version of this image Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Photogram, 1925/26. Gelatin silver photogram. 7 316 x 9 in. Museum Folkwang, Essen, 58/95  2017 Hattula Moholy-Nagy/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Photo  Museum Folkwang Essen  ARTOTHEK



According to Eliel, Moholy-Nagy believed that photography was the essential visual vocabulary of the day, and that a lack of familiarity with photography made one, on an artistic level, illiterate. The notion of experimentation was critical to his practice, continues Eliel, describing how he went on to invent the photogram  a photograph made without a camera. To create a photogram, Moholy-Nagy laid objects on light-sensitive paper and exposed them to light, with a longer exposure creating a brighter image.

The Bauhaus, a career-defining opportunity and experiments in new mediums Moholy-Nagys artistic reputation grew, bringing with it a career-defining opportunity at the Bauhaus in 1923. Walter Gropius, the head of the Bauhaus at the time, invited him to teach there. Moholy-Nagy was interested in the connections between art, industry and technology, and Gropius wanted to strengthen that aspect of training, Eliel explains. Moholy-Nagy taught the foundation course as well as in the metal workshop, but his role went considerably beyond that of teacher, says the curator. Moholy-Nagy was very influential in creating  with others  the graphic look of the Bauhaus. He became a pillar of Bauhaus aesthetics.

Moholy-Nagy left the Bauhaus in 1928 to work on his own in Berlin, where he experimented with new materials and light. Here he built the Lichtrequisit einer elektrischen Buhne [Light Prop for an Electric Stage], also known as the Light Space Modulator, first presented at the 1930 Deutscher Werkbund exhibition in Paris. The Lichtrequisit einer elektrischen Buhne is a kinetic object composed of moving parts through which light is projected to create patterns and shadows. Often described as the first kinetic sculpture, and also the first light sculpture, it reflects Moholy-Nagys love of motion, technology and non-traditional materials.

In Berlin, Moholy-Nagy was commissioned to design the set for Jacques Offenbachs fantastical opera Tales of Hoffmann. The artists audacious constructions involved stainless steel scaffolding, beams of light, mirrors and film-projection. Moholy-Nagys vision and design for the project  captured in a rare mounted, gelatin silver print diptych by Lucia Moholy (above)  led to several subsequent others, including designs for Madame Butterfly and The Merchant of Berlin.



The 1930s, a move to England and commercial work In the early 1930s Moholy-Nagy was working prolifically as an artist, designer and writer. However, life was about to take another turn. The Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933 and Moholy-Nagy moved briefly to the Netherlands in 1934 before settling in England the following year. Moholy-Nagy formed part of a circle of emigre artists and intellectuals based in London's Hampstead neighbourhood. He did a lot of commercial work in England because thats how he kept body and soul together, paid the rent and supported his family, says Eliel, adding that this wasnt something he resented. Commercial work was always very much part of his practice and he didnt think of it as lesser than painting or sculpture or photography. Typically diverse, his work in the UK included creating advertising campaigns for the London Underground and Imperial Airways (later British Airways), and designing the curved Plexiglas windows at what is now Waterstones book shop on Piccadilly, which can still be seen today. He took photographs for the Architectural Review, where the assistant editor was the poet John Betjeman (19061984). Betjeman would commission Moholy-Nagy to take documentary photographs for his book An Oxford University Chest.

Open a larger version of this image Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (18951946), Composition, 1940. Oil, pen and India ink and pencil on card. 28 x 21 in (71.2 x 55.6 cm). Sold for $118,750 on 16 May 2017 at Christies in New York

A new life in the USA  and the marriage of art and industry In 1937, two years before the outbreak of the Second World War, Moholy-Nagy was invited to the USA. Gropius at that point was teaching at Harvard and, says Eliel, knew of a group of industrialists in the Midwest who wanted to start an art school that would foster connections between art training and industry. Gropius said, "I have just the man for you". Moholy-Nagy moved to Chicago to become the funding director of the New Bauhaus. The school lost funding and closed a year later. Unperturbed, he continued to fundraise, and in 1939 opened the School of Design, based on Bauhaus principles. The point of the school, says Eliel, was to create artists who could propagate ideas of good design widely, so that everyone would benefit from their education.

In 1944 it became the Institute of Design, which in 1949 became a part of Illinois Institute of Technology  the first American institution to offer a PhD in design. Moholy-Nagys contribution to art education in the US cannot be overstated, Eliel asserts. Final experimentations Moholy-Nagys artistic experimentations continued alongside his role as an educator. He had played with light throughout his career, and was by now investigating its properties through transparent sculpture, abandoning the geometric forms of his earlier work in favour of biomorphic curves.

Open a larger version of this image Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Vertical Black, Red, Blue, 1945. Oil and incised lines on Plexiglas, on original base. 18  14  6 in. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Alice and Nahum Lainer, the Ducommun and Gross Acquisition Fund, the Fannie and Alan Leslie Bequest, and the Modern and Contemporary Art Council (M.2012.135a-b)  2017 Hattula Moholy-Nagy/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photo  2016 Museum Associates/LACMA

Moholy-Nagy died in 1946, at the age of 51. Had he lived to see the computer age, believes Eliel, he would have been thrilled. He would be all over digital media, computer art and the internet, she says. Those are exactly the kind of intellectual ideas that would have completely fascinated and inspired him  the notion of the endlessly reproducible image that can go out into the world on a multitude of platforms is something he would have loved. Piecing together a legacy The artists varied and sprawling body of work made curating the LACMA retrospective a significant challenge. There is not one repository you can go to, there is no comprehensive catalogue, Eliel explains. The estate owns some work, but generally it is very scattered.

Open a larger version of this image Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Room of the Present, Constructed 2009 from plans and other documentation dated 1930. Mixed media. Inner dimensions: 137 x 218 x 318 in. Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 2953,  2017 Hattula Moholy-Nagy/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photography by Peter Cox, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
No one escapes the spell cast by Tomas Sanchez

As three of his paintings head for Christies Latin American Art sales on 22-23 May, the Cuban exile talks to Alastair Smart about his preoccupation with the natural world, meeting Fidel Castro  and having his paintings burned by the authorities

One of Cubas leading contemporary artists, Tomas Sanchez (b. 1948) is known above all for his lush and timeless tropical landscapes. Having made his name as part of the Volumen Uno movement, which is credited with transforming Cuban art, Sanchez won numerous prizes in his homeland, including the Amelia Pelaez Award for painting at the inaugural Havana Biennial in 1984, and was given a retrospective at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana while still in his thirties. One of his biggest fans, the novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, said no one escapes the spell cast by Tomas Sanchez: the more we know his work, the more certain we are that if the world deserves to be made again, it is because, as much as it can, it resembles his painting. In 1990, however, Sanchez left Cuba indefinitely, after the last of many fall-outs with the Castro regime. He moved to Miami and became a hit with US critics, Hilton Kramer in the New York Observer hailing the discovery of a master talent who brings epic vision to the depiction of landscape. In 2012, his painting Buscador de Paisajes achieved $626,500 at auction, an artist record. Aged 68, Sanchez now lives in Costa Rica.

The landscapes you depict almost look too good to be true. Are they real places? Tomas Sanchez: Theyre inspired by different elements of real places  in Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico and Central America. But they arent pictures of specific places, no. Theyre not postcards, theyre idealised mixes of different landscapes. In creating them, how aware were you of the European tradition of landscape painting? TS: Very aware. Theyre my local spin on that tradition really. I always liked 19th-century artists such as Turner, Monet, Van Gogh  and especially Caspar David Friedrich. His works are so much more than just visual records of [Germanys] Black Forest. Theyre full of the personal awe he added. I like artists who find a way of expressing themselves through landscape  of offering an interiorised vision in an exterior scene. How much of your 'self' is in your paintings? TS: I believe theres one supreme force that created the universe and everything in it. Man and nature are really one  which is something Ive experienced walking through various forests and mountains over the years, and something I try to express with the small human figures in many of my landscapes. In that sense, Im in every picture I paint.

Talking of those figures, is it true that their size got you into trouble with the Cuban authorities? TS: Yes, I was accused of misanthropy and a lack of patriotism because of the small scale of my humans in relation to the rest of the landscape [in works such as Oir las Aguas and Pescador ]. I was criticised for a belittling representation of the Cuban people. And on another occasion you had some of your paintings burned? TS: Yes, some burned and others given to students at the National Art School to paint over. It was the mid-1970s and I was a teacher there. At the time I was very interested in yoga, Vedanta and Indian philosophies, but that was in conflict with official ideas of the communist state. So I was dismissed from the school and had a number of paintings destroyed. Your relationship with the Castro regime was always tense. Did you ever meet Fidel? TS: Yes, a few times. Though only once did we have a proper conversation. His brother Raul [now Cubas president] had bought him one of my paintings as a birthday present. It was a rare occasion that Id painted directly from nature  [it was] a spot in Cubas Sierra Maestra mountain range. It turned out it was the exact same view that Fidel had had from his cabin in 1959, when he and his men were hiding out in the Sierra before launching the Revolution. He told me he was impressed by the texture Id given one particular tree, as he remembered it well  from using it for shooting practice.

The Volumen Uno movement, of which you were a founding member, is hailed for opening new horizons for Cuban art. How important was it? TS: Id say very important. It started out as an exhibition [in 1981] by 11 artists who wanted to move beyond political motifs and pieces championing the revolution. We were all very different  with work ranging from performance to Pop  but united by a support for each other and standing against what had come before. Why, a decade later, did you leave Cuba for good? TS: I wanted to set up an ecological foundation. By the late Eighties, the value of my work was on the rise  though the government only allowed artists to collect a small fraction of any money they made (a maximum of 20 US dollars per month). I came up with the idea of the foundation as a way of redirecting the money I was earning but wasnt allowed to keep. When the government refused permission for even that, I felt I had no option but to leave.
Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a cruise ship crew member who went missing Monday off the coast of Galveston.

The 39-year-old Filipino was last seen at 1:30 a.m. on the closed-circuit television on the Galveston-based cruise ship Liberty of the Seas.
Binswanger has been hired to sell or lease the massive Randalls distribution center in northwest Houston.

Last month, Randalls and its parent company Albertsons said the facility at 10700 Telge Rd. would close and operations would be consolidated to an existing property near Dallas/Fort Worth.
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The longest-running business in the state of Texas won't be a surprise to those residing on Houston's southwest side.

A new infographic from website Visual Capitalist maps out the oldest businesses in each state still in operation. Imperial Sugar, in Sugar Land, has been in business since 1843, predating even Texas entrance into the union and Fort Bend County itself.

SUGAR LAND EXPRESS: Imperial Sugar and the town it helped create

In 2001 the company filed for bankruptcy and closed its last refining operations in Sugar Land, keeping only its headquarters. In 2012, the company was purchased by Louis Dreyfus Commodities, a Dutch processor and merchant of agricultural goods. The area is being redeveloped from the bones of what was once one of the biggest sugar refineries in the country. Its still a landmark site in Sugar Land and a source of area pride.

Imperial Sugar is one of just a few of the longest-running businesses across the country that isnt a bar or restaurant.

MORNING RITUAL: Give thanks for the sacred kolache, a key part of the daily Texas diet

In Louisiana the longest-running extant business, according to Visual Capitalist, is Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. It's been serving drinks to thirsty patrons since the late 1700s. It's housed in one of New Orleans' oldest buildings and one of the oldest structures to be used as a bar. Locals and tourists alike know it best for strong pours, refreshing daiquiris, and live piano music.

Before you ask, the oldest bar in Texas appears to be Austins Scholz Garten which opened for business in 1866. Its also the oldest restaurant in the Lone Star State.

Salt Lake Citys Deseret News is the only media outlet on the map, founded in 1850 and still active in the state of Utah. Its gone through ups and downs like most of the countrys newspapers and has managed to hang on tight to deliver the news to Utah residents.

Click through the slideshow above to learn how some your favorite brands in Texas got started...
Houston police are searching for two men who were responsible for three northeast Houston restaurant robberies Monday night.

The men broke into the first restaurant - a Denny's at TC Jester and Loop 610 - around 10:30 p.m., said Lt. Larry Crowson with the Houston Police Department. Then, the men headed about 5 miles northeast to an IHOP at Hollister Street and Highway 290. Finally, they went to a Denny's at Pinemont Drive and Highway 290.
The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization which assigns A, B, C, D and F letter grades to hospitals nationwide, recently released new Leapfrog Hospital Safety grades.

Houston Methodist West is one of 823 hospitals to receive an "A" for its commitment to reducing errors, infections and accidents that can harm patients, ranking among the safest hospitals in the United States.
The Katy Bar Association announces that Jun-Yong Kim, a student at Seven Lake High School, placed first in the State Bar of Texas Law Day writing contest.

The competition theme is "The 14th Amendment: Transforming American Democracy. Why is it important that all people receive equal protection of the laws." The essay is the student's original work.




1. Musk's first company was Zip2 Corporation  the web's first Yellow Pages  in 1995.

2. He founded online payment company X.com in 1999, which eventually merged with PayPal.

3. In 1998, Musk invested in IT company Everdream Corporation, which was eventually sold to Dell.

4. In 2002, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies, also called SpaceX.

5. Musk also began the Musk Foundation in 2002 with his younger brother Kimbal.

6. In 2004, Musk invested in Tesla Motors to change the world of electric cars.

7. Musk also owns a stake in small-satellite company Surrey Satellite Technology.

8. He has invested in fixing our power-grid problems with a solar-power utility called SolarCity.

9. Musk has invested in the question-and-answer site Mahalo.com.

10. Musk invested in online-payment company Stripe, which launched in 2010.

11. DNA-sequencing company Halcyon Molecular Inc. is one of Musk's few failures. It shut its doors in 2012.

12. Musk's personal love of science led him to give money to the Tesla Science Center in New York in 2014.

13. Despite his notorious fear of artificial intelligence, Musk has invested in a startup called Vicarious.

14. Another of Musk's AI investments, called DeepMind Technologies, has already been sold to Google.

15. Musk also gave money to the Future of Life Institute.

16. He's a board member of the X Prize Foundation, a nonprofit that awards prizes for humanity-benefiting inventions.

17. Musk has invested in the startup NeuroVigil, which develops products that analyze brain signals.

18. Musk is not officially building his own high-speed travel system concept, the Hyperloop, but he's mentally invested in the idea.

19. In line with his fear of AI, Musk recently invested in a non-profit called OpenAI.

Tesla and SpaceX aren't the only things Elon Musk has invested in

3Neuralink 



https://www.crunchbase.com/person/elon-musk/investments



https://techcrunch.com/
Hope for Three

Brian Wilson, principal at Velasquez Elementary, presented Hope For Three with a donation in support of April, Autism Awareness Month. The Wildcat Kids held several fundraisers selling tattoos and T-shirts as a way of spreading autism awareness in the community. The month-long project, led by school counselor Beth Yockey, who chose Hope For Three as the charity of choice to reap the rewards of their efforts. Autism awareness and acceptance is an important issue. With the prevalence of autism increasing 289% in the last decade, families need us now more than ever, said Darla Farmer, Hope For Three executive director. Call 281-245-0640 or visit: www.hopeforthree.org to learn more on how your school, group or organization can support local families living with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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Harris County commissioners voted Tuesday to name the courthouse annex where Chief Deputy Constable Clint Greenwood was killed in an ambush earlier this month after the longtime lawman.

County Judge Ed Emmett said he expected new signs to be up on the annex at 701 W. Baker Road in Baytown within weeks.

Greenwood was shot to death early in the morning of April 3, moments after pulling into the parking lot of the annex where he worked for the Precinct 3 constable's office.

DEPUTY HONORED: Memorial service drew mourners from around the country

The man identified as Greenwood's killer, William Kenny, 64, fatally shot himself the next day, though a week passed before investigators were able to positively identify him as the gunman.

Commissioners voted to rename the annex as Greenwood's family watched at the meeting Tuesday.

"We're still reading the cards and letters," said Greenwood's widow, Leatha Greenwood, fighting back tears. "It's our intention to thank everyone, one by one, to thank the investigators, some who worked 24-hour-plus shifts to Harris County officials who vowed to seek justice, to the officers that guarded our home and Clint's body around-the-clock and to the Commissioners Court. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for honoring Clinton Francis Greenwood."

MURDER-SUICIDE: Police confirm gun that killed deputy also killed shooter

Greenwood, 57, spent decades working as a defense attorney, prosecutor and peace officer in Harris County, earning the respect of a wide swath of the local criminal justice community. Before joining the constable's office, he worked as a major in the Harris County Sheriff's Office overseeing internal affairs and other offices.

He also worked as a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney's Office overseeing the Police Integrity Unit and as a reserve deputy for 20 years.

Scroll through the gallery above to see things to know about slain Deputy Clint Greenwood
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One spring morning nearly 41 years ago, the nude body of a New Orleans native was found around 6 a.m. by an oil field worker.

The dead man, identified as 28-year-old Rene Anthony Guillotte, had been stabbed several times and had lacerations on his torso, head and neck, according to Harris County sheriffs deputies.

COLD CASES: Texas sheriff turning to retired detectives to solve cold cases

Now, a 61-year-old Humble man has been charged in the May 11, 1976 slaying of Guillotte, whose body was found near the 3000 block of Atascoita.

According to the criminal complaint against him filed last week, David Lee Edds name was linked to the slaying from the beginning. His drivers license was found at the spot where Guillottes body was discovered. It was apparently not enough evidence to file charges against him at the time.

Now, the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitives Task Force is leading the effort to track down Edds. Authorities say he has denied any involvement with the case.

CASH FOR SLEUTHS: $16,000 reward offered in 2007 Fredcksburg murder cold case

At the time of his death, Guillotte had been living in Houston with friends for several months. He was unemployed but had worked as a hotel bell man and clothing store clerk.

Harris County sheriffs detectives determined he was last seen about 1 a.m. at a bar along Westheimer and Peckham in Montrose. Detectives canvassed the Montrose area and conducted several interviews with possible witnesses.

At the time, they believed robbery might have been a motive. But, the case eventually grew cold after what Harris County Sheriffs officials said was exhaustive work on the part of homicide investigators.

It lay dormant until 2014 when detectives with the sheriffs Cold Case Unit reviewed the files and were able to link evidence found at the scene directly to Edds, authorities said Monday.

Edds had an extensive criminal record in the years after Guillottes murder. In 1978, he was sentenced to 20 years in the Texas Department of Corrections for manslaughter after stabbing a man with a knife outside a bar in Montrose. Edds served about half the time and continued on with further convictions in Harris County for crimes ranging from resisting arrest to drug possession, according to court records.

Harris County medical examiners took oral, anal and penile smears of Guillotte during the autopsy.

Following the cases reopening, the Cold Case Unit detectives entered the biological evidence into the Combined DNA Index System - or CODIS. CODIS had a match for a person named David Edds, the same David Edds whose drivers license was found near the body, the criminal complaint stated.

Edds last known residence in Humble was about five miles from where the body was discovered.

He was interviewed earlier this year by the Cold Case Unit detectives. He denied any involvement in the slaying, authorities said.

He had no explanation for how his DNA was at the scene, said Sheriffs deputy Thomas Gilliland, a HCSO spokesman.

Edds, who remains at large, has bail already set at $100,000 in the case. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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A Houston businesswoman who was detained in China as she accompanied city officials on a routine business trip in 2015 was sentenced to prison for three and a half years on espionage charges Tuesday and ordered deported.

The judge presiding over the closed-door trial in Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi region in southern China, didn't specify when Sandy Phan-Gillis would be deported. That suggests that she could be credited with having already served more than half of her sentence, making her eligible for parole, according to her lawyer, David Zhang, and other people familiar with the case.

The decision, seen by some as a reflection of improving relations between Beijing and Washington, could mean that Phan-Gillis might be returned home in the coming weeks.

"I think she will be released and she will be back in the U.S. fairly soon," said John Kamm, a human rights activist in China who has worked on the case and heads the Dui Hua Foundation in San Francisco.

'MENTAL TORTURE:' Husband says Chinese subjected detained businesswoman given cruel abuse

Phan-Gillis was detained in March 2015 while leading a trade delegation including Houston's former mayor pro-tem Ed Gonzalez. The group were passing through an immigration control connecting mainland China with Macau, when she suddenly disappeared.

The Chinese Consulate in Houston didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A State Department official confirmed the sentencing, but said consular officers were not permitted to view the trial and that the agency remained concerned about her welfare.

"We are in favor of any result that allows her to return home to her family soon," the official said in a statement.

Kamm attributed the sudden movement in the case, after two years of near paralysis, to a renewed push by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who reportedly raised the issue with his counterparts during a visit to Beijing in March.

It comes as the two countries are wrestling with North Korea's nuclear ambitions and after what was viewed as a successful visit between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping earlier this month.

It may indicate a greater focus by Washington on American citizens detained in China, Kamm said, rather than on the fate of Chinese political dissidents and religious activists, a thorn in the communist country's side and in its relationship with the U.S. Some 100 Americans are currently imprisoned in some form in China.

"We have seen a major shift in the relationship between these two countries in the last month," Kamm said. "I see this particular case as reflective of a Trump administration human rights policy that puts American citizens first."

Phan-Gillis pleaded guilty in court to the espionage charges and is being held in a police detention center, instead of prison, during the 10-day window for filing an appeal. It is unlikely Chinese prosecutors will challenge the sentence given that it was likely approved at the top level of government, Kamm said.

Her return to Houston would mark an end to a saga that has not only pressured the two countries, but puzzled those who know the woman once billed as the poster child of good U.S.-China relations.

The 57-year-old Vietnamese refugee of Chinese descent spent decades forging strong partnerships with the communist country, leading dozens of delegations to China and hosting Chinese groups in Houston. She founded the city's Chinese New Year festival, and headed the Houston Shenzhen Sister City Association.

But to Chinese authorities, Phan-Gillis was a spy, going to Nanning in 1996 to conduct an espionage mission, according to an indictment her lawyers saw last year. Beijing accused her of recruiting Chinese citizens to spy for foreign agencies and spying herself in 1997 and 1998, though more detailed allegations were never made public.

Lawyers in China are generally forbidden to publicly discuss national security cases without approval.

Phan-Gillis' husband, Jeff Gillis, has repeatedly maintained his wife's innocence. He declined to comment Tuesday.

But he has previously said that his wife's passport shows that she did not visit China at all in 1996.

He has also said that she told him after she was arrested that her detention was related to people she knew two decades ago who were from the province of Guangxi but whom "she knew in the United States, not in China."

In a 16-minute phone call in September 2015, their only verbal communication since her arrest, she told him that, according to Chinese authorities, these acquaintances "have been violating their law, and the law is catching up to them," Gillis said last year.

A United Nations human rights panel last year demanded her release after finding that she had been arbitrarily detained and was denied access to lawyers.

Later last year, Phan-Gillis told her lawyers that she felt forced to admit to the espionage mission but that the confession was "faked" because she was threatened with life imprisonment during daily interrogations. She even fainted and had a heart attack, causing her to be hospitalized twice, according to her lawyer and consular officials.

American experts in such cases and those who knew Phan-Gillis in Houston have been confounded about what raised Beijing's ire.

The judgement Tuesday does little to explain why the government pursued charges against her in the first place on allegations that were two decades old, or whether there was any truth to them.

"This case has put a lot of outside pressure on the Chinese," said Jerome Cohen, an expert on the Chinese legal system and professor at New York University. "They don't want this clogging up their agenda, with South China Sea and North Korea questions to cooperate on and climate change going badly. These cases are annoyances and should be dismissed ... but it's been a curious case from the beginning."

Phan-Gillis was initially held for six months under residential surveillance, allowing police to detain her without charges while they investigate national security breaches.

But her plight wasn't publicly revealed until her husband launched a brief media campaign to coincide with Xi's visit to Washington in September 2015. That same month Phan-Gillis was moved to a formal detention center and last July she was charged with spying in the Nanning Intermediate People's Court.

Securing her release garnered bipartisan support, including letters from Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn to the Chinese ambassador.

Some in Congress even suggested issuing a travel advisory for China warning about possible risks for Americans doing business there.

Under Xi, at least nine foreigners have been arrested on allegations of spying and the government approved a sweeping national security law in 2015 that grants authorities broad discretion about what constitutes espionage.

That year, China released a Houston geologist who had been imprisoned on charges of stealing state secrets. Phan-Gillis is currently the only American in China accused of being a spy for the U.S.
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The Dominican Republic judges overseeing the trial of a businessman from The Woodlands postponed the case on Tuesday for another month, the third last-minute delay in a trial that was originally scheduled for March 7.

Larry Davis, a 44-year-old father of two, faces charges of drug trafficking after his family leased a fuel transport boat to a trader who apparently used it for smuggling. His family, attorneys and representatives of the U.S. government have said Dominican prosecutors lack any evidence showing that Davis had any knowledge of the trafficking.

READ THE FULL STORY: Woodlands man charged with drug trafficking in Dominican Republic; wife prays 'nightmare' will end with exoneration

The judges were about to announce whether they would split Davis' case from that of eight co-defendants when one of the other men fell violently ill and required long-term medical attention, said Davis' attorney, Sean Buckley, adding that the co-defendant was "wrenching over, clearly in pain" and seemed to be suffering a genuine medical crisis.

The announcement and the trial were then postponed because Dominican criminal procedures require all co-defendants and their attorneys to be present for any hearing in their case, Buckley said.

In general, that protects the rights of the accused, he said, "But in Larry's case we are all confident in his innocence and eager to get this case tried, which is why these delays are so discouraging for us. With (all the) defendants together, there are so many moving parts that have to work together under the Dominican procedural rules, or the trial cannot move forward."

Davis seemed "devastated," his attorney said. "Each time his case is rescheduled, for the weeks and days and hours coming up to each trial date, he becomes hopeful and focused that this is going to be the opportunity to demonstrate his innocence. So when he hears that it's being postponed, it's like a punch in the stomach."

A local business leader joined Buckley and plans to bring up Davis' case when he meets Tuesday with the Dominican foreign ministry's vice minister for economic development and international cooperation.

There are "great opportunities for foreign investment and exporting" in the Dominican Republic, said Reggie Gray, president of the Houston Intercontinental Chamber of Commerce. But that investment depends on "the ability for members and companies to expect fair and ethical business transactions and the environment to do so."
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos seems to be indicating that, as far as shes concerned, the Common Core State Standards arent really a big point of discussion in education any longer. But how did she express that idea, and does it hold up to scrutiny?

During a Fox News interview Monday , anchor Bill Hemmer asked DeVos whether the U.S. Department of Education would withhold federal money from states that use the standards.

The Every Students Succeeds Act ... essentially does away with the whole argument about common core, DeVos responded, adding that the law gives states more flexibility in education policy decisions. She added that she hoped all states in their ESSA plans would include high expectations for students.

But Hemmer pressed her again on the question about withholding federal funds over the common core. DeVos replied, There isnt really any common core any more. Each state is able to set the standards for their state. They may elect to adopt very high standards for their students to aspire to and to work toward. And that will be up to each state.

You can watch the full clip of DeVos interview with Hemmer below; her remarks about the common core begin at about the 2-minute, 12-second mark:

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

In the first part of her answer about the standards, DeVos appeared to be saying that the common-core debate has died down because ESSA leaves decisions about standards up to states. This was true even before ESSA, which was passed in late 2015. However, ESSAs language made it clear that the education secretary cant try to influence states decisions about which standards to use. This part of ESSA was a reaction to her predecessor, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who incentivized (but did not require) states to adopt the common core during the Obama administration. So some common-core watchers might agree with DeVos that ESSA has helped defuse arguments about the standards.

Her response to Hemmers follow-up question, that there isnt really any common core any more, doesnt match information we published late last year showing that at least 37 states used the common core at the time others might put that number a little lower or higher. While the number of states officially using the standards has dropped over the past half-dozen years, and many states have abandoned aligned tests developed by state consortia, the standards are still used in many states.

President Donald Trump has said repeatedly he wants to end the common core. But that would require a change in federal law. And by our calculation, what Hemmer asked DeVos about would involve withholding money from the majority of states, something that ESSA would seem to prohibit.

In her interview with Hemmer, DeVos praised the schools she recently visisted in Van Wert, Ohio, saying, Theyre meeting the needs of those students very well. Devos also said many students are doing well in the countrys educational system and are prepared for a changing economy, but that others are struggling. And addressing past comments about the need for innovation in education, DeVos said she would continue to support empowering parents to make the decisions that are best for their children.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
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Without directly saying so, Energy Secretary Rick Perry has apparently called out solar power and wind energy as destabilizing influences on the nation's electrical grid, according to published reports.

In a memo to his chief of staff, Perry called for a 60-day review of federal policies that are "central to protecting the long-term reliability of the electric grid...."

The memo didn't include the words "solar" or "wind," but its mention of "significant changes within the electrical system" seemed to be a reference to the big increase in renewable energy in recent years, Ars Technica reported.

The former Texas governor was confirmed as energy secretary in January and sent the memo April 14. He requested that a plan be in place by April 19 to complete the 60-day study.

WHITE HOUSE SHAKEUP: Rick Perry lands a seat on National Security Council

As a reason for the study, Perry cited the most recent G7 Energy Ministerial April 9-10 in Rome, in which Perry and his counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union met to discuss the U.N. Paris Agreement of 2015.

The U.S. is still reviewing its position on the agreement, which seeks to limit the increase in global temperature, according to the G7 Information Center.

In Perry's memo, he said concern was raised at the Rome meeting about how certain government policies are potentially putting energy security and reliability at risk.

"This has resulted in part from regulatory burdens introduced by previous administrations that were designed to decrease coal-fired power generation," he said. "Such policies have destroyed jobs and economic growth, and they threaten to undercut the performance of the grid well into the future."

SCIENCE MARCH: Thousands march in Houston to protest perceived attacks on science

Although the memo doesn't specify the policies that have destroyed jobs and threatened the grid, it does cite "coal, natural gas, nuclear and hydroelectric" as sources of "affordable baseload power (that) contribute to a stable, reliable and resilient grid."

According to pv magazine, it is unclear whether Perry asked for input from the solar power and wind energy industries.

As a presidential candidate in 2012, Perry pledged to eliminate the Energy Department, and in a 2011 candidates' debate, he forgot the department's name.
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.
As more teachers are using both the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, they will increasingly be confronted with a challenge: The standards in literacy and scienceand the research literature in the two fieldsdisagree about when and how students learn to form arguments.

In a new article for Educational Researcher , Okhee Lee, a professor of education at New York University, suggests that standards writers and researchers need to consider the confusing and mostly unexamined situation teachers are in and figure out how to change it.

The standards writers meant to help by making connections between science, ELA, and math, but the bodies of literature arent saying the same thing about how students learn to form arguments, she said in an interview. The foundational work hasnt been done ... Teachers, especially in K-5, must be very confused.

Teachers in the middle

Lee was clued into the discrepancy as she watched an experienced 2nd grade teacher demonstrate a lesson to a group of expert observers.

After a well-thought-out lesson on states of matter, the teachers sample writing assignment began with the following prompt: Write your opinion on ... .

In Lees experience in teaching science, it seemed clear that a scientific writing assignment shouldnt involve opinion, even in early elementary school. Opinions, she said, dont require any evidence, and in a science class, students should be making arguments and backing them up with evidence. Thats the language used in the Next Generation Science Standards, which were in use in this teachers state.

But it turns out that the teachers writing assignment was perfectly in tune with the common core, which guides teachers to instruct their students in writing about opinionsbut not argumentsin elementary school. In the common cores standards for English/language arts, students arent asked to form arguments until middle school.

Lee writes that the two disciplines generally agree on the structure of argument. But, she writes, that scholars across disciplines have yet to arrive at a common understanding of how ELA/literacy and science functionally interrelate with respect to argument.

The NGSS specifically says that the standards should be interpreted so that they dont misalign with or outpace the core. That leads to situations like the one Lee observed, where an elementary teacher asked students to write opinions, rather than arguments, about content in science class

Differences in the Research

A literature review revealed to Lee a consensus among science educators that even very young students can form arguments based on facts and data if given effective instruction.

The Next Generation Science Standards, or NGSS, reflect this approach: The standards say that young students can begin by constructing an argument or their own interpretation of the phenomena they observe and of any data they collect. Young students are also expected to learn to distinguish evidence from opinion. Standards for students as young as kindergarten involve constructing arguments based on evidence.

From the NGSS:

A review of literacy research, on the other hand, revealed a general agreement that young children initially cant form arguments from evidence and gradually develop the ability over time. But there is much less research on the subject of argument in literacy than in science, partly because literacy instruction before the common core was much more likely to focus on narrative writing than on arguments in the younger grades, Lee said. Some newer research bucks that trend and indicates that young students can form arguments with the support of effective instruction.

The common core lines up with the older consensus: In an appendix , the standards authors write that young children are not able to produce fully developed logical arguments. The standards dont ask students to form arguments until 6th grade. And they use the word opinion in elementary writing standards that are preparing students to learn to construct arguments, without explaining why this is so. The appendix simply states: In grades K-5, the term opinion is used to refer to this developing form of argument.

Lee writes that although the reading standards are said to be research-based, they provide no studies or research literature to support developmental progressions of argument in ELA/literacy (i.e., no references are provided in the CCSS Appendix A). Further, no research is called on to justify specific grade-level decisions (e.g., withholding the expectation of argument until Grade 6).

In the common core, words like evidence, claim, and reason are also used throughout the writing and English/language arts standards but are not clearly defined. Lee is concerned about that lack of clarity. Id love the standards to unpack those key terms and constructs, she said.

Silos With Consequences

Lee said that in her research, it became apparent that many science education experts were relatively unfamiliar with literacy research and standards and that literacy educators were equally unfamiliar with science education literature.

Lee writes that that lack of familiarity results in a challenge for classrooms, and that teachers need informed guidance about how to go about resolving these discrepancies.

Lee suggests that there may be a need for a forum or other research effort on the topic aimed at uncovering and resolving convergences and divergences in how educators think about argument, and for further research on how evidence-based argument can be promoted in elementary literacy and science classes. Her hope is that the standards can be seen as a living document, able to be updated when evidence from the field suggests that its necessary.

Writers Respond

Susan Pimentel, the lead writer of the common core literacy standards, said she thought Lee made an important point.

When we wrote the common core, we were basing it on the best evidence we could find, Pimentel said. But, she said, there simply wasnt a lot of research in the literacy field on young children and argument writing.

Our desire to write about literacy in the disciplines was never meant to supplant a specific set of content standards in any discipline. She said that she would defer to research in science indicating that young children could form arguments.

As states are revising standards, they should take into consideration new research thats out there, Pimentel said. She said this was an important point.

Michael Cohen, the president of Achieve, which helped develop the common core and consults with individual states on their academic standards, said he was less concerned about the language difference in the standards. He pointed out that the anchor standard from which the elementary writing standards are derived uses the word argument and that the basic ideausing evidence to bolster a claimis similar. In science, he said, for a 1st grader, youre not talking to someone whos finished completing a randomized controlled experiment, youre talking to someone who observes something and can point to something about why theyve come to a certain conclusion...thats pretty much what the common core asks a 1st grader to do.

Cohen said that his first takeaway from the teacher anecdote in Lees paper was that science was being taught in elementary schoolsomething he said is too rare.

He supported Lees suggestions that researchers and practitioners probe the differences in language and approach to argument. There seems to be a solid research base in science about how kids learn this than there is about ELA, so when confronting the tension between the two Id go with the stronger research base, he said. Maybe in the early grades in ELA, theyre aiming a bit too low, though, if you listen to the debate about common core, I dont think they say were aiming too low.

He said that at this point, no one organization would revise the common core itself and share that as a directive with states. He said individual states revise and review standards on their own.

Making it work

In practice, the difference in what the standards expect of elementary schoolers has been noted by practitioners, but they seem to be navigating the differences. Joanna Hawkins, an education consultant with the Vermont Writing Collective, said that everything [Lee] said in here, in terms of differences in the term argument in science and English language arts, jumped out immediately when we first started working with the science standards.

She said in her work in literacy, it is clear that young students can form and write arguments, especially if they know the content they are writing about. She said she thinks that teachers would benefit most from concrete examples of student work and assignments that show what argument writing looks like.

Allison Hintz, an assistant professor of mathematics education at the University of Washington Bothell, said that she, too, had noticed the discrepancy in the language used to talk about argument in the standards. She said that in practice, she and the teachers she works with focus on finding the connections between the standards  even keeping track of differences and similarities using a Venn diagram .

Related stories:
Having a bachelors degree, a top-notch grade point average, and a relatively high level of work experience actually reduces the chance that a job applicant will be called in for an interview with a child-care provider, according to new research that used thousands of fictional resumes to gauge child-care hiring practices in 14 large cities.

Fictional applicants with six months of experience were called in for interviews more often than those with two years of experience. Having a bachelors degree was no more likely to garner a call-back than having an associates degree. And while having a GPA of 3.3 gets more attention than a GPA of 2.8, an applicant with a GPA of 3.8 is slightly less likely to get called in for a job interview than that 3.3-GPA applicant.

The researchers also found evidence of racial bias in hiring: Applicants who had names commonly associated with African-Americans and Hispanics were less likely to be called back for interviews. This finding was surprising, they said, considering that the early-childhood workforce is 40 percent nonwhite.

Hiring directors may be shying away from job candidates with high levels of education and experience because they expect those employees will want to be paid more and may leave quickly for better opportunities, said Casey Boyd-Swan, an assistant professor of political science at Kent State University. She co-authored the paper with Chris Herbst, an associate professor in the school of public affairs at Arizona State University.

Surveys of early-care providers show that lead teachers with bachelors degrees earn close to $20 an hour on average, while lead teachers with associates degrees earn not quite $14 an hour.

We came to the conclusion early on that providers are really facing some barriers and limitations when theyre making hiring decisions. They do want to provide high-quality care, but they also want to stay in business, Boyd-Swan said.

Screening Out Most-Qualified Child-Care Applicants

Most of the policy discussion about child-care quality has focused on parentsfor example, getting parents to understand what high quality care is, and encouraging parents to demand it. But nobodys really taken a look at the provider side of the market and particularly the hiring practices, Herbst said.

For their report, The Demand for Teacher Characteristics in the Market for Child Care: Evidence from a Field Experiment , which was published Monday by IZA-Institute of Labor Economics, Boyd-Swan and Herbst created nearly 11,000 resumes with a variety of random elements. They changed candidate names to signal the potential employees race.They also created resumes with one of three elements of educational attainment (a high school diploma, an associates degree, or a bachelors degree), different grade point averages, various levels of previous work experience, and more.

Here are examples of two of the fictional resumes they created, Lakisha Robinson  and Meredith Larson . A technical appendix to the study goes into greater detail on exactly how the resumes were created and distributed.

The resumes were then sent to child-care job postings in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Most centers responded within 24 to 48 hours, either asking the candidate in for an interview or turning them down.

Based on their data, Boyd-Swan and Herbst found hiring directors did prefer applicants with some experience over none, as well as applicants who had some education beyond high school.

But there appeared to be little connection between the quality of work experience and the likelihood of being asked in for an interview. Experience watching children for brief periods at a YMCA seemed to rate about the same to hiring managers as experience working at The Goddard School, an early-childhood provider with franchises nationwide.

Hiring managers also seemed indifferent to whether applicants for preschool-level positions had an associates or bachelors degreeanother interesting finding, considering that preschool teachers are often asked to implement programs to prepare children for kindergarten.

Racial Bias in Child-Care Provider Hiring Practices

Unlike the other findings, the racial disparities dont appear to be tied to any particular economic concernthe resumes were randomized, so the black and Hispanic candidates had a range of experience and educational levels.

Relative to job applicants with white-sounding names, the interview rate for black candidates was 32 percent lower, and for Hispanic candidates it was 13 percent lower. To get an better idea of the magnitude of the effect, the researchers compared it educational attainment: applicants with an associates or bachelors degree were 50 percent more likely to get a call-back than candidates with a high school diploma. Thus, the negative impact of being black was comparable to the positive impact of having educational experience beyond high school.

We were both struck at how big the African-American effect was, Herbst said. Similar studies in other fields have come to the same conclusions, suggesting that child-care hiring directors are not immune to the biases that affect other fields, he said.

In addition to the money concerns driving hiring decisions, Boyd-Swan and Herbst offer another potential explanation: Hiring directors just dont believe that high GPAs and bachelors degree correspond with better care.

Center directors in this study are telling us what they want. Maybe child-care providers are telling us, considering how much extra I have to pay for the BA-level teacher, I dont see a justifiable increase in quality, Herbst said.

The push for high-quality care may circle around once again to parents, Boyd-Swan and Herbst conclude. If parents are educated about the importance of high-quality care, they might be willing to pay more for it. And mitigating these parent-side information problems would in turn allow child-care providers to hire more qualified teachers, the paper says.
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Mumbai, April 25 (IANS) Actress Gul Panag, who has been lauded for being vocal and expressing her views, says it is important for an individual to speak up."It's important to be so (vocal)...I think it's important to speak up for what's right...What you believe is right," Gul, who was here to launch the multi-services Matrix Travel Companion App, told IANS.



Gul says she has to be true herself and "have to speak up for myself in what I believe is right, specially when other people, who believe the same thing is right but choosing to be quite.""I know a lot of people who think like me but for negativity and criticism...is fine...You should also have the humility to open to the other sides of the same opinion. Which is a problem in our society...I think it's important to do that (be vocal)," she added.
The San Diego Unified school districts plans to acknowledge Islamic holidays, teach students about the religion in social studies classes, and create safe places on school grounds for Muslim students has made the district the latest epicenter in the debate over Islam in the United Statesand the nations classrooms.

The plan, which the district hopes to have in place by the start of the 2017-18 school year, has drawn praise from Muslim advocates and civil rights groups, but sharp criticism from conservative websites and some community members.

As a first step, leaders in the 132,000-student district will send a letter addressing prejudice against Muslims to staff and parents before Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, which begins in late May, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports .

Schools will review and vet materials related to Muslim culture and history in media centers and provide resources and material for teachers. Social studies lessons may include more information on prominent Muslims and their impact on history and other steps to promote a more positive image of Islam.

The plan also calls for a different approach in how it will handle discipline for students who bully their Muslim peers. Rather than detention, school officials will work to establish a relationship between students who are bullied and those who do the bullying, the Union-Tribune reports.



During the presidential campaign, now-President Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslim immigrants. Teaching Tolerance, an education project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, and other groups reported a rise in anti-Muslim harassment and spiking anxiety and fear among nonwhite students, which they tied to Trumps rhetoric on race, religion, and immigration.

Some residents in San Diego are concerned that including the history of Islam in social studies classes would result in teaching Islam. Some also thought including Muslim holidays on calendars meant schools would celebrate those holidays, the Union-Tribune reports.

While there are no firm estimates showing how many students in U.S. schools are Muslim, the numbers are growing. Arabic and Somali, languages commonly spoken by Muslim students in the United States, are among the top three languages for English-learners in the nations schools.

The Associated Press reports that other urban districts, including Kansas City, Mo., and Oakland, Calif., have passed resolutions in support of Muslim students .

Some school systems have grappled with issues surrounding the treatment of Muslim students for decades. Education Week visited St. Cloud, Minn., in 2016 to explore the challenges that school district faced in adjusting to its growing Somali population.

In San Diego, the results of a 2015 survey conducted by Council for American-Islamic Relations, the nations largest American Muslim civil rights advocacy group, sparked the effort to create a welcoming environment for all students.

The survey results revealed that 55 percent of American Muslim students California reported that they were bullied because of their religion. In light of the findings, the districts school board directed the staff to partner with CAIR to address the issue.

For Further Reading

As Trump Weighs Fate of Immigrant Students, Schools Ponder Their Roles

Educators and Advocates Brace for Harsher Stance on Immigration Under Trump

Elections Intolerant Tone Stokes Fears for Latino Students

Immigrant Influxes Put U.S. Schools to the Test

Schools Adapting to Muslim Holy Month
Fundatia de Binefacere Caritas Moldova solicita oferte de pret de la companii cu privire la productia de materiale de vizibilitate
Dozens of global clothing companies are not complying with a plan to ensure better safety in Bangladesh garment factories following the deadly collapse of a building four years ago, a rights group said Monday.

Only 29 out of 72 recently contacted companies are releasing information about how they source their products in Bangladesh, and many brands have held out completely, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report.

That makes it impossible to hold them accountable for ensuring safe conditions at factories they work with, the group said.

Bangladeshs garment industry has invested more than $1 billion in safety improvements since April 24, 2013, when the Rana Plaza garment factory complex collapsed outside Dhaka, killing more than 1,130 workers and injuring 2,500.

The collapse highlighted grim conditions in the countrys garment industry, the second largest in the world with about 4,000 factories employing about 4 million workers and earning $25 billion a year from exports, mainly to the United States and Europe.

Only 17 companies are now meeting the minimum disclosure standard, while some others are starting to move in the right direction, the report said.

But the industry still has a long way to go, the group said in a statement. It said the 72 clothing and footwear companies were contacted in the past year by a coalition of labor and human rights organizations that endorsed a Transparency Pledge, which urged the companies to adhere to a minimum standard for publishing supply chain information. They said the minimum standard reflects corporate disclosure practices and aims to foster a level playing field in the industry.

Following the 2013 disaster, global clothing companies joined U.N. agencies and the Bangladesh government in promising to improve safety standards.

Representatives from North American and European brands have visited the countrys garment factories to suggest improvements or sever ties with factories that failed to improve.

The government has also hired more than 350 new factory inspectors and passed legislation setting up a workers welfare fund and allowing stronger union representation.

The companies say the efforts are paying off.

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a group of 29 North American brands, lauded the industrys progress over the last four years. The group has 775 factories in its network.

Our comprehensive programs have begun to transform an industry once repeatedly touched by tragedy, it said in a statement Monday.

Most importantly, our efforts have directly translated into lives saved: Not a single garment worker has perished in an Alliance factory since our remediation work began, it said.

Low wages in the South Asian country have attracted global apparel brands and retailers.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Hours after video showing a womans wallet being stolen at a store was posted on YouTube, the suspect came forward and was identified, Lexington police said.

The video taken in February showed the woman leaving her wallet on the counter after paying for merchandise. The next person in line was seen placing the wallet in her purse.

Police in Kentuckys second-largest city point to the case as an example of how using video on social media and the web can help solve crimes.

In 2016, the police department produced 28 videos, including three surveillance recordings for its website and YouTube channel and for social media, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. In the first four months of 2017, 19 videos, including eight surveillance videos, have been uploaded.

Brenna Angel, a public information officer for the department, said that of the 11 surveillance videos posted since she joined the department in January 2016, seven have led to charges filed.

Property was recovered in three of those cases, Angel said. Some suspects have turned themselves in once the material was posted.

Angel has edited and posted all the police departments videos using a Nikon D5300, a shotgun microphone, and editing software.

The videos, which are primarily located on Facebook and YouTube, range from recruitment commercials to the surveillance footage released when detectives have exhausted all leads.

That was the case earlier this month when Angel released a surveillance video of man entering a store in March, asking for the price of a guitar and then running out of the store with the instrument without paying.

Less than a week later, the man turned himself in to police to the relief of Sgt. Todd Johnson, whose team was handling the case.

The turnaround has been really good since we started doing video, said Johnson, who has been with the department for 23 years. We generally only ask Brenna to get involved when we need some assistance from the community. Shes taken it to another level and hopefully it will continue.
A United States District Court, applying South Carolina law, found that an automobile liability insurer had no obligation to defend or indemnify a driver who was operating an insured vehicle without the named insureds permission, even though the operator allegedly received consent to drive it from an insured driver, who was expressly so named in the policy. The decision, titled Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. Van Sickle and Rush was filed April 14, 2017 and is reported at 2017 U. S. Dist. LEXIS 57262.

The facts alleged were that a vehicle driven negligently by Appolonia Rush injured the Van Sickles in a collision with their vehicle in April 2015. The Van Sickles sued Rush and Lois Prince, the owner of the vehicle driven by Rush and insured by Nationwide. Nationwide sued the Van Sickles and Rush in federal court seeking a declaratory judgment that it had no obligation to provide liability coverage to Rush for the Van Sickless injury claims, filed in South Carolina state court.

The Van Sickles alleged that Prince was liable for Rushs negligent driving because she entrusted the vehicle to Rush, authorizing her to drive the vehicle. Starting in 2009 Prince had authorized her son, one Broderick Goodwin, to use her vehicle. At that time, Goodman did not reside with his mother, Prince, and she acquired another car for her use. Goodwin and Prince both testified at deposition that Prince told Goodwin that only he could drive Princes vehicle, and no one else was allowed to use it.

The Nationwide policy insured the vehicle owned by Prince and operated at the time of the accident by Rush. It provided coverage for damages for which you are legally liable as a result of an accident arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of your auto. The policy said that a relative also had this protection, as did any person or organization liable for the use of your auto while used with your permission.

The definition section of the Nationwide policy provided that the term Policyholder was the person named in the policy declarations and was the named insured under the policy. The same section states, also, that the words you and your mean the policyholder when the policyholder is a person, as in this case. The term relative was defined as one who regularly lives in your household and is related to you by blood, marriage or adoption. Finally, the term insured was defined as one who is described as entitled to protection under each coverage.

Nationwide moved for summary judgment in the insurance coverage case, contending that the driver, Rush, was not covered under the policy. Nationwide argued that Rush was not a named insured or resident relative under the policy, and was not a permissive user of the vehicle because Prince, the named insured under the policy, specifically instructed Goodwin not to allow anyone else to operate her vehicle. Nationwide contended that Prince did not know Rush was driving her vehicle so she gave no implied permission for him to do so.

Most importantly, Nationwide argued that Goodwins alleged permission to Rush to use the Prince vehicle, although disputed, did not satisfy the policy requirement for permissive user coverage, because Rush was not a named insured  a you  under the policy. The court concluded that the plain language of the policy clearly shows there is only one named insured, and that is Prince.

For their part, the Van Sickles argued that Goodwin, who was listed by name in the policy declarations as an insured driver, was therefore a named insured under the policy and, as such, gave Rush permission to operate Princes vehicle. They contended that Goodwin allowed Rush to drive the vehicle regularly, with and without Goodwin as a passenger, and that Goodwin gave Rush implied consent to use the vehicle on the night of the accident.

Knitting the parties arguments together, the court in the coverage case articulated the issue it needed to decide as being whether Goodwin was a named insured under the Nationwide policy, and therefore able to grant Rush insurance coverage while she used the Prince vehicle.

In ruling on the summary judgment motion in the coverage case, the court invoked the general principle that words in insurance contracts are to be given their plain, ordinary and popular meaning, and that courts should not torture the meaning of policy language in order to extend or defeat coverage that was never intended by the parties. The policy language in this case, limiting permissive user coverage status to those granted driving permission by the named insured, would fulfill the auto insurance statutory policy requirement of at least one populous state, California. (Cal. Ins. Code, Section 11580.1(b)(4).)

The key to the case, the court held, was that Goodwin, who allegedly gave Rush permission to use the Prince vehicle, although expressly listed by the policy as an Insured Driver, did not thereby qualify as a named insured under the plain language of the policy, so Goodwins permission, if granted in favor of Rush, was ineffective to confer on Rush liability protection under the policy. The court relied on cases holding that an individual listed in auto policies as operator, driver, or even as an insured driver did not mean that any of them was a named insured for purposes of stacking uninsured motorist (UM) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage limits for a policys multiple vehicles. In brief, the court rejected the defendants contention that the term driver is synonymous with phase named insured.

The court observed that, since Prince was the only named insured under the policy, she alone could extend Nationwides coverage to Rush by granting him permission to drive her vehicle. Also, it was undisputed that Rush, herself, was neither a named insured nor a relative of the single named insured, Prince.

Additionally, the deposition testimony of Prince and Goodwin established that Prince expressly told Goodwin no one besides him was to drive her vehicle. There was no evidence Prince ever changed her instruction or gave permission for others to drive the car. Accordingly, Rush did not have Princes permission to drive the vehicle, and Rush did not have her implied consent, either. Consequently, Rush was not a permissive user of the vehicle under the terms of the policy, and the policy did not cover claims arising from the accident that occurred while Rush was driving.

Nationwides motion for summary judgment was granted.
Last fiscal year, more than half of the states overestimated how much tax revenue theyd pull in, resulting in midyear K-12 cuts in some states and forcing some to reexamine their education spending, according to an analysis by the National Association of State Budget Officers.

Despite that fact, said John Hicks, the executive director of NASBO, education spending in most states remained flat, with the vast majority of states contributing toward their K-12 budgets at least the minimum amount required by their state law .

Theres a surprisingly high number of states that had to revise downward their revenue estimates, Hicks said. That so many states have missed their revenue projections is notable. But even with these very muted fiscal conditions, states will still prioritize K-12 education spending.

Read NASBOs entire state-by-state summary of governors proposed budgets this year.

States are at least eight years out of the recession, and unemployment is at historic lows nationally. So, last year, when passing their budgets, legislators had rosy outlooks on fiscal conditions, estimating that theyd be able to boost spending back to pre-recession levels, Hicks said.

But income tax and sales tax revenuetwo areas on which states and their public school systems are heavily dependentflattened and, in some instances, dipped, causing 29 states to completely miss their revenue forecasts. Thats confused economists, who typically predict that incomes rise and people spend more post-recession.

Weve got revenue growth on the order of 2 percent at best, Hicks said, pointing out that many states for their 2018 fiscal year are either spending much more conservatively or looking for new revenue sources.

In some instances, revenue dips were more dramatic and school spending was inevitably hit. Connecticut faces a $1.4 billion deficit this year, and Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy proposed several cuts to its wealthiest school districts. Delaware faced a $395 million budget deficit, which dampened hopes for an update to that states funding formula,which many have described as insufficient to help the states neediest students.

And states heavily dependent on oil and commodity prices, such as Alaska, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Wyoming had to make particularly dramatic cuts to their budgets. Alaskas Senate, for example, has proposed reducing that states education spending by 5.7 percent, leading to increased class sizes and teacher layoffs.

Many governors and legislators have proposed new sources of revenue that would result in more education spending.

In January, New Mexicos Republican Gov. Susana Martinez pulled from that states reserves to spare the states schools midyear cuts. Last month, she vetoed a proposal by legislators to raise several taxes to bring in more revenue. In an unusual move, the legislature responded by suing Martinez, saying that her veto violated the states balance of powers.

West Virginias recently elected Democratic Gov. Jim Justice summed up his legislatures proposed budget that included no new taxes and dramatic cuts to its public education system as bull-you-know-what before revealing a plattered piece of actual bull excrement. He has instead pushed for $224 million in new taxes.

After Texas supreme court justices said it wasnt their role to dictate to the legislature how to spend their education funds, the Texas House this week passed a bill that would allow wealthy school districts to keep a larger portion of their locally-generated funds and inject $1.6 billion new money into public schools over the next two years. The Texas senate is considering a similar bill.

And, as I pointed out Monday , Washington and Kansas legislators are at odds over how to address those states supreme court rulings that demanded more money for public schools.

There were a handful of bright spots this year, Hicks said. Idahos legislature, which has seen a manufacturing and agriculture boom in recent years, forked over $100 million in new education spending this year. And Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, with several pending school funding lawsuits, proposed in his budget to give teachers 4 percent raises and spend $22 million more on the states growing English-language learner population. The legislature has yet to approve a budget.

K-12 education spending has long taken up the majority of states spending but theres fresh competition, Hicks pointed out. States are spending an increasing amount on Medicaid and, in some states, health-care spending could soon match or surpass K-12 spending, Hicks said.

Some states now are chosing to either not spend as much on health care, reducing services, or elbowing or crowding out other parts of the budget, Hicks said. The size and scale of such a change would be a brand-new feature.

At least 14 states have completed their legislative session as of this week and most plan to end their sessions by the end of this month or the beginning of May.

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.
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An Akron woman was pistol-whipped during a home invasion robbery in the city's North Hill neighborhood.

(File photo)

AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron woman was pistol-whipped during a home invasion robbery in the city's North Hill neighborhood, police said.

Eight residents, including a 3-year-old child, were inside an East Mildred Avenue home when five men burst in early Sunday, according to a police report.

One of the men pistol-whipped a 57-year-old woman in the head, the report says. The woman suffered minor injuries.

Investigators did not say how the five men entered the house just after 2 a.m. They took three cellphones, a Microsoft Xbox video game system and $20 in cash, the report says.

The residents described the men as being in their late teens or early 20s but did not offer any additional details, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Akron Police Department's detective bureau at 330-375-2490.

f you would like to comment on this story, please visit Monday's crime and courts comments section.

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
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Summit Artspace will display photographs by army veteran Ben Miller beginning May 5. The photographs document Miller's journey rehabilitating an injured knee by hiking through Summit Metro Parks.

(Ben Miller)

AKRON, Ohio -- Summit Artspace will host an exhibition of photographs called "Rehabilitation Beauty," which documents Miller's physical rehabilitation experience through Summit Metro Parks.

The photos were taken by Ben Miller, a 13-year Army veteran, who injured his knee while serving at Fort Bliss in Texas. He was honorably discharged because of the injury.

Returning to civilian life allowed Miller to work toward rehabilitating his knee, which he has accomplished by hiking through Summit Metro Parks.

"Within this past year, I have started my rehabilitation over. I started hiking again to strengthen my knee. My hikes take me to the Summit County metro parks, and I carry my camera with me," Miller said in a news release.

Miller's photographs capture the natural beauty of rocks, creek beds, stone formations and construction of plants that he was able to observe as he built up his physical strength through hiking.

"I want to show others the beauty I see while I rehab my knee. Many people have gone blind to the world around us. The concrete jungle and the asphalt roads captivate more people each day. My camera gives me a way to show how the metro park is preserving nature from man's destruction," Miller said in a news release.

The exhibit will include 20 of Miller's photographs in frames he built. Miller operates a business as a photographer and has been showing his photos at solo and group exhibitions at the University of Akron's Myers School of Art.

Miller will earn a bachelor of fine arts in photography with a minor in printmaking from the University of Akron in May. He also has an undergraduate degree from UA in microbiology and military history.

He is published author, Army Service Medal recipient and is active in military veteran organizations.

The artwork will be on display May 5 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the East Market Street venue's Transition Gallery.

Akron Artwalk attendees can view Miller's photographs May 6 from noon to 8 p.m. at Summit Artspace, located at 140 E. Market St. in Akron. His work will be on display through May 13.
BRUNSWICK HILLS --- Assault, Slate Road: A woman reported being cut off by another driver at the intersection of Stonehurst and Slate roads at 10:33 p.m. April 3, then assaulted by the other driver. The woman said the man, described as being "tall, white, skinny and wearing a grey hoodie and dark pants," opened her car door and pulled her from the car before leaving the scene. The woman told police that she believes the suspect, whom she does not know, has been following her since October and has "sent multiple photos of himself to her social media sites." The woman has also reported burglaries at her home that she suspects the man of to the Garfield Heights Police Department. Brunswick Hills Police contacted Garfield Heights detectives who said the department received two suspicious person incidents at the victim's address in March, but no burglaries were reported. Both departments are continuing to investigate.

Obstructing official business, Marks Road: A man who had reportedly escaped from Oriana House in Akron was found in possession of bath salts and an unidentified pill after police responded to a trespassing call at 12:39 p.m. April 8. Oriana House staff was contacted and the man was taken to Medina County Jail after refusing an offer to be taken to Southwest General Hospital. He was additionally charged with tampering with evidence.

Drug/paraphernalia possession, Bringham Drive: Police were called to the area of Autumnwood Lane at 12:14 a.m. on a report of juveniles "driving around, running around, ringing doorbells and hanging out of car windows." Police located the teens' silver Toyota at Denton Circle and Bringham Drive and found the 18-year-old driver and his 19-year-old passenger in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Police contacted the mother of a third passenger, who arrived at the scene and picked up her 18-year-old daughter.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.
New Arizona ADA Access Lawsuit Law Creates New Barriers for Disabled Plaintiffs

The Americans with Disabilities Act is perhaps the civil rights law that businesses fear the most. Stories abound of businesses that were sued out of existence for violating state disability access laws that mirror the federal law, and most of these stories focus on how a small business was "extorted" out of business by allegedly unscrupulous ADA plaintiffs and lawyers. Rarely do these stories explain that the ADA plaintiffs face discrimination when businesses fail to comply with the law and put in the legally required accessible features.

These attitudes contribute greatly to the continued discrimination, and to make matters worse, over the past few years, businesses have been successful in limiting the rights of access discrimination plaintiffs to bring legal actions under various state laws. Most recently, new legislation signed by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey will make it more difficult for Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs to file lawsuits against businesses with architectural barriers in that state. While many businesses are rejoicing in the new legislation, disability advocacy groups are anything but pleased with the new rules.

Discrimination in the Details

The new Arizona law requires individuals who have suffered illegal discrimination in the form of architectural barriers to not only provide businesses with a written notice of non-compliance, but also to wait 90 days after sending the notice before filing a lawsuit. The grace period is designed to allow businesses to come into compliance and prevent a lawsuit from being filed.

Although this policy appears to be good for businesses, the end result does not prevent discrimination as the ADA was intended to do. It further potentially removes the penalty (of getting sued and paying legal fees and damages) a business faces when it discriminates against the disabled.

A cited motivation for the law was attorneys taking advantage of the legal framework, however, it is important to note that there is little to no federal funding for enforcement actions. Enforcement of the ADA, under the law, was specifically delegated to private individuals and attorneys, rather than a government agency. Rather than taxing the public, violators of the ADA are meant to bear the financial burden of enforcement.

No Excuse for Non-Compliance

The ADA, which was passed in 1991, explicitly states that businesses with architectural barriers discriminate against individuals with disabilities. Because disability discrimination is so misunderstood, congress actually explained in detail in the text of the ADA how disabled individuals are often discriminated against, severely disadvantaged, and considered to hold inferior status in society. Businesses that unashamedly play the role of victim when they are sued for ADA violations are severely misunderstanding the law, and their legal obligation to not discriminate against the disabled.

While federal and state laws provide mechanisms for aggrieved individuals to sue businesses and other entities for discrimination, the state and federal tax laws also provide for tax credits and other incentives that can make the net costs of ADA compliance next to nothing for businesses small and large.

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Judge Awards $42M to Parents in Traumatic Birth Injury Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Last week, a federal court judge in Pennsylvania awarded a massive $42 million verdict to the parents of a child severely injured during birth in 2012. The multi-million dollar verdict is meant to provide for the child who suffers permanent injuries that will require a lifetime of specialized medical care. Additionally, the award, which is being described as the largest ever medical malpractice verdict out of that judicial district, will be paid out by the federal government as the injury occurred at a federally funded facility.

The bulk of the award, $33 million, is to be set aside for future medical care, which could involve full-time institutionalization as an adult. The rest of the award is meant to compensate for pain and suffering, lost earning capacity, as well as past medical expenses.

What Happened?

The lawsuit alleged that the doctor attending the birth prematurely used forceps multiple times on the infant's head to pull the infant from the mother's womb. When the infant was finally out, forceps marks were present on the infant's face. The pressure from the forceps allegedly caused internal bleeding in the infant's head, resulting in permanent injuries. Since his birth, he has had to undergo numerous risky surgeries to his brain and spine, and will likely have to undergo more in the future.

The child, who is now five years old, suffers from multiple cognitive issues, including an inability to express himself, though it is reported that he can understand language just fine. Unfortunately though, it is not anticipated that he will ever be able to read or write, and is likely to be confined to an electric wheelchair for life. What's worse is that behavioral issues may render him too difficult for his parents to care for him into adulthood.

Traumatic Birth Injuries

When an infant is injured during the birthing process due to the negligence of medical staff, both parents and infant may have legal claims for medical malpractice. Medical malpractice claims can be pursued against hospitals, and doctors and other medical personnel individually.

However, medical malpractice claims are rather nuanced and are subject to various state law requirements, such as providing notice to the doctors or entities a victim wants to sue. Victims really should seek out a legal consultation with an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible after an injury to ensure that legal deadlines, which can be as short as a few months in some instances, are not missed.

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Clashes frequently break out between the Burma Army and the Northern Alliance in the northern Shan State.

Around 50 military vehicles left for Namkham at the Kachin States border via Muse and over 40 military vehicles were headed towards Mong Ko in the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) Regiment 6 territory via 105 Mile Trade Zone, local residents told K.N.G.

The military vehicles still had not arrived in Mongkoe up to the afternoon of 24 April.

According to local residents, seven military vehicles and soldiers have also arrived in Hpawng Seng on 24 April, which is located in the east of Mong Ko.

It is unclear whether the Burma Army is marching to replace the soldiers or to prepare for battle.

In a statement released by Pangkham Conference on 19 April, seven ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) from Upper Burma that still have not signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government have established the Union Political Dialogue Committee to discuss politics with the Burmese government under a new approach.

The seven EAOs are the Kachin Independence Organisation/Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA), which is currently leading the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), the Palaung State Liberation Front/Taang National Liberation Army (PSLF/TNLA), the Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party/Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the National Democratic Alliance Army (MNTJP/MNDAA), the Peace and Solidarity Committee/National Democratic Alliance Army (PSC/NDAA), and the Arakan Army (AA).

Hundreds of Burmese soldiers started marching to the northern Shan State five days after the statement was released.

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by Laignee Barron
Health care activists lift signage promoting the Affordable Care Act during a rally as part of the national 'March for Health' movement in front of Trump Tower on April 1, 2017 in New York City.

Acting billions-wise could turn out to be billions-foolish.

A new analysis finds that the government could be hit with $12.3 billion in extra Obamacare-related costs in 2018 alone if it stops spending $10 billion in one type of financial aid for Obamacare customers. That means the government would see net spending rise by $2.3 billion more next year.

And over the next decade, the government would be on the hook for an extra $31 billion if the aid for low-income customers' out-of-pocket health expenses is ended, the Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds.

The study comes days before the fate of the so-called cost-sharing reduction subsidies could be decided by Congress.

More than 7 million Obamacare customers get cost-sharing reduction aid, which Republican congressional leaders have said they would like to eliminate as part of their Obamacare replacement bill.

Kaiser's findings reflect the fact that changing one part of Obamacare's financial formula tends to affect other parts of that formula.

Kaiser found that insurers would have to raise premiums for individual "silver" health plans nationally by an average of 19 percent next year in order to offset their costs from issuing the cost-sharing reduction subsidies without being reimbursed by the federal government.

Because those premiums would rise, so would the government's costs from subsidizing those premiums for Obamacare customers, Kaiser noted.

And those extra costs would more than eat up the savings that the government would see from ending subsidies for out-of-pocket expenses, the health policy research group noted.

During a Commonwealth Fund briefing for reporters on Monday, Deep Banerjee, director and sector lead at S&P Global, said that uncertainty about the fate of the CSRs could lead more insurers to decide to drop out of the Obamacare markets altogether next year.

And that, Banerjee said, could increase the number of counties with just one insurer selling Obamacare plans, or lead to some counties having no insurer at all selling such plans.

Last week, a group of leading insurers and health-care providers wrote President Donald Trump and urged him to work with Congress to continue funding for the CSRs, which they said would "help stabilize the individual" insurance market this year and next.

The Affordable Care Act currently offers two often-generous types of financial aid to people who buy individual health plans on government-run Obamacare marketplaces, such as HealthCare.gov.

The first type is subsidies for premiums. People who earn between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for those subsidies, which lower how much they have to pay to maintain their insurance coverage from month to month.

The value of the premium subsidies increases with the price of the premiums. In other words, the more insurers charge customers for premiums, as a rule, the more the government pays out in subsidies. And the less a persons' income, the higher their subsidies.

The second type of aid is the cost-sharing subsidies. That aid reduces the amount of money that customers have to spend personally, in deductibles, copayments and coinsurance and out-of-pocket limits, when they visit the doctor, fill a prescription, or get other health services.

Cost-sharing subsidies are only available to people who earn between 100 and 250 percent of the federal poverty level, and who buy so-called silver Obamacare plans. Silver plans cover, on average, 70 percent of their customers' health costs. Customers who do not receive cost-sharing aid being responsible for the cost of services beyond that.

CSRs can sharply reduce the actual health costs borne by lower-income Obamacare customers.

Sara Collins, a vice president at the Commonwealth Fund, during a presentation on Monday noted that for customers who earn between 100 and 150 percent of the poverty level, the CSRs can result in those customers having to personally pay just 6 percent of their health services' costs.

Qualified customers who earn more than 150 percent of the poverty level get less in CSRs, but still end up paying less out-of-pocket health costs than do silver plan customers without CSRs.

The CSRs currently are at risk for several reasons.

Last year, a federal judge ruled in favor of the House of Representatives, which had sued the Obama administration over funding of the CSRs.

The House argued that money on the subsidies could not be spent, because Congress never authorized their appropriation.

The Obama administration had appealed that ruling. But the election of Obamacare opponent Trump as president created the possibility that Tump could choose to drop that appeal, and effectively end the CSRs.

And, "The Trump administration could stop making payments at any time," said Timothy Jost, a professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law, and an Obamacare expert, on Monday.

However, even if government spending on the CSRs ended, insurers selling Obamacare plans would still have to offer the cost-sharing discounts to qualified customers. That would mean insurers would have to eat their costs unless they raised their premiums to offset them.

Trump hasn't dropped the appeal, despite threatening to use continued funding of the CSRs as a bargaining chip to get Democrats in Congress to approve funding for a border wall with Mexico. No wall funding could mean no funding for CSRs, Trump has suggested.

There has been no evidence that the bargaining position by Trump is working, even as the threat of a government shutdown looms at the end of this week if Republicans cannot reach a spending deal with Democrats.
The U.S. dollar was fetching 1.3552 Canadian dollars at 8:47 a.m. HK/SIN, compared with around C$1.3408 just before the announcement.

Canada's dollar, known as the loonie, dropped to its lowest since December after the U.S. announced plans to impose tariffs on its Northern neighbors' exports of softwood lumber.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday that anti-subsidy tariffs averaging around 20 percent would be imposed, affecting $5 billion worth of imports of softwood lumber imports from Canada, Reuters reported.

In total, Canada exported around C$8.6 billion (around $6.37 billion) worth of softwood lumber in 2015, according to Canadian government data, which indicated the country was the world's fourth-largest forest product exporter.

In 2015, the U.S. imported a total of $325.4 billion in goods and services from Canada.

Khoon Goh, senior foreign-exchange strategist at ANZ, said there could be scope for more weakness in the loonie, particularly if it fell below C$1.36 against the dollar.

"It's not just the lumber," he said, noting the U.S. administration had also been rumbling about potential tariffs on dairy products. "Any further escalation of this situation between the U.S. and Canada could well see the Canadian dollar weaken further."

In 2016, Canada exported around C$112.6 million (around $83 million) worth of dairy products to the U.S., while it imported around C$557.3 million worth of dairy products from its Southern neighbor, according to Canadian government data.

Goh noted that the news appeared to have also depressed the . The U.S. dollar was trading under 18.48 pesos before the news broke, but rose as high as 18.8410 pesos afterward.

"It's really the sentiment around it," Goh said, noting that trade concerns had eased after the U.S. declined to label China a currency manipulator earlier this month.

"It appeared the U.S. administration was backing down on earlier trade threats. Suddenly, it's announced [tariffs] on Canadian products. Concerns were raised once again on the potential for trade frictions," he said.

During the presidential campaign, Trump also threatened trade tariffs on Mexico.

By CNBC.Com's Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1
Legere attributed T-Mobile's handy earnings beat on Monday mainly to its customer growth  1.1 million total net additions  and boosted service revenues, something not seen in the wireless industry in several years.

"I've always told you that both dumb and dumber have been big contributors to the success of T-Mobile," he said to " Mad Money " host Jim Cramer on Monday.

T-Mobile President and CEO John Legere says he has always felt like his mobile communications company was leaps and bounds ahead of its competitors.

The outspoken CEO told Cramer that competitors like Verizon have been stuck in a perpetual game of catch-up with his company, which he said took an estimated 250 percent of all of the industry's post-paid phone growth in the first quarter.

"We have had consistent growth, and, you know, whether it's an up quarter or a down quarter, whether it's highly competitive or not, our growth continues and I'm very, very pleased that we now have over 73 million customers," Legere said.

T-Mobile also upped its wireless presence in the first quarter, winning 600 mega-Hertz sold in an auction and expanding its wireless coverage to every inch of the United States, Legere said.

As the telecommunication sector evolves, Legere said he would not discount the possibility of a merger, which he said could increase both customer and shareholder value despite T-Mobile being able to do so on its own.

"We will look at the opportunities to even further accelerate that growth or create much more shareholder value, so coming at this exactly the way I dreamt we would at this period, from a position of strength and willing to talk, but not needing to, which is really a difference," he said.

But for the time being, Legere's young customer base is a promising sign that the company could have loyal consumers in store for years to come.

"The millennials skew to us," Legere told Cramer. "But it's not just the millennials, it's all customers that want us to solve the pain points of a stupid, broken, arrogant industry that they need to be part of but they hate, and I think we've got a long way to go and we're doing it on behalf of the customers, which is most important."

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An entrepreneur dreams of building a successful company. If everything goes right, perhaps even one worth millions.

Serial entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky has founded eight businesses, including two garnering valuations north of $1 billion. Many have been funded by big-name firms, such as Google Ventures, Microsoft and Sequoia Capital.

Varsavsky, who currently teaches entrepreneurship at Columbia University, credits a specific management practice for moving from one venture to the next. "I think that I would destroy my companies if I tried to do everything myself," he tells CNBC Make It at New York's Millennial 20/20 Summit. "I really think that delegating is crucial."

That's a skill the Argentine entrepreneur learned from his first venture in 1985, a New York real estate development company he founded with a personal investment of $25,000. The returns that he and his team earned positioned him to retire at 27.

"I could have not worked again, but I don't work to make money," he says. "Money is a byproduct of my work."
The NMSPs Central Committee has 33 regular members and four substitutes, who were called upon for this meeting to fill in for four absences.

The political situation that we now find ourselves in is very complicated. The Northern Alliance has certain positions, the UNFC [United Nationalities Federal Council] has certain positions and the Government has its own positions. So it is very hard to negotiate and create agreements with so many active parties, NMSP Chairman Nai Htaw Mon said at the meeting, referring to two coalitions of armed groups.

The aim of this weeks meeting, he said, was to parse the political situation and determine what position NMSP will take regarding negotiations. NMSP, as with many armed groups, already has a unilateral cease-fire with the central government. But the government has made participation in the upcoming second round of national peace talks contingent on groups signing a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

The NMSPs Central Committee will vote at this weeks meeting on whether it will join the NCA. It will also discuss efforts to unify the two Mon ethnic parties -- All Mon Regions Democracy Party and Mon National Party -- and the current political climate in the state.
Gold prices fell on Tuesday as markets grew less concerned that far-right leader Marine Le Pen would win the French presidential election, increasing investor appetite for risky assets such as stocks while denting bullion. Spot gold was down 0.86 percent to $1,264.22 per ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery were down $10.30 to settle at $1,267.20. Business-friendly centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French vote on Sunday and opinion polls indicated less support for Le Pen. The news had sent bullion prices to their lowest since April 11 in the previous session, at $1,265.90.

Stockbyte

"We've moved from having multiple numbers of positive drivers for gold last week when yields were on the defensive and we had multiple geopolitical risks," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. "But now with the French election (first round) behind us, there is a bit of a surge of risk-on coming back to the market. The main worry was a strong performance by Le Pen." Gold is often seen as an alternative investment during times of political and financial uncertainty. Heightened security risks provided some support. North Korea conducted a live-fire exercise on Tuesday as a U.S. submarine docked in South Korea in a show of force amid concern over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. Hansen said gold would trade cautiously this week before a Friday deadline for the U.S. Congress to pass a spending bill funding the government through September or risk a government shutdown.

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Famous for its shoe box apartments and microflats, Hong Kong's property market isn't known for being cheap, taking the crown on multiple occasions for being the most expensive globally. For those living in or considering a move to the city, an interactive map now shows the amount of time needed before buying a home makes sense over renting.

Residential houses stand along the Redhill Peninsula in the Tai Tam district of Hong Kong, China. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Developed by real estate platform Spacious, the tool assigns various neighborhoods in Hong Kong a "tipping point," referring to the number of years before rental costs exceed the cost of buying property. Tipping points will be high when rents are lower than the level they should be or when property prices are above what is expected based on rental yields.

Neighborhoods with high tipping points are highly desirable among buyers, who often overpay in terms of property sale price, said Asif Ghafoor, chief executive of Spacious Hong Kong. This premium could be due to expectations of capital appreciation or buyers' intentions to live in the property themselves, he added. The average tipping point stands at 5 years for Hong Kong permanent residents (PRs) and is three times higher for non-PRs at 15 years. The difference in prices levels for PRs and non-PRs is due to stamp taxes imposed by the government to cool interest in the property markets from abroad  including from mainland China. Non-PRs pay a 30 percent stamp duty when purchasing property in Hong Kong. In prestigious neighborhoods, such as The Peak, Shouson Hill, Jardines Lookout and Kowloon Tong, tipping points for Hong Kong PRs stood at 25 years. For non-PRs, the tipping point for the same neighborhoods is "never"  rental costs will never exceed the cost of buying property.

Residential buildings stand in the Peak district of Hong Kong, China, on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Xaume Olleros | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A collective sigh of relief was being felt by global markets in the aftermath of the first round of the French presidential election. As widely expected, centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen qualified for the second round of the elections, which had been described as historic and highly unpredictable.



The euro rallied across the board, equity markets jumped and French-German bond spread narrowed. Voila, this was the anti-climax that risk-averse investors had been hoping for. According to the latest IPSOS polls, Emmanuel Macron is seen beating Marine Le Pen in the second round on May 7 with two-thirds of the votes.

But before we keep the champagne (presumably a French bottle) flowing, here is a gentle nudge as to what could go wrong and why it may not all be smooth sailing in what are very choppy waters for Macron if he is elected into the Elysee on May 7.

First of all, Macron is not yet backed by any political party and may find it difficult to govern.
Saudi Arabia took steps to reverse some cutbacks on worker benefits and ministers' salaries  a move that could make the kingdom even more reliant on getting a higher price for oil, analysts said.

The move comes as oil flounders around $50 per barrel, and supplies have stubbornly held at high levels. It also suggests the kingdom may be even more eager to sign on to a new OPEC production deal to stabilize oil prices, analysts say.

Saudi Arabia over the weekend also announced some shifts in high-level positions. King Salman promoted two of his sons. Prince Khaled bin Salman was named ambassador to the U.S., and Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was named state minister for energy affairs.

"It makes them want to have a [production] deal, and it certainly helps King Salman and the leadership ensure stability of policymaking going forward," said Michael Cohen, head of energy commodities research at Barclays. OPEC's technical committee recommended extending the deal to cut 1.8 million barrels a day at the cartel's next meeting in May, and Saudi Arabia last week indicated there is preliminary support for a deal.

Saudi Arabia said it made the decision to end the pay cuts and bring back bonuses because the government's financial position improved. But some analysts said it may have instead been to placate an unhappy public after measures that rolled back financial benefits and removed energy and utilities subsidies.

"They adjusted things; they claim they are adjusting things because the economy is in a better position, but that's nonsense," said Simon Henderson, Baker fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Institute's Gulf and Energy Policy Program. "It sounds as though they felt it politically necessary to do something, which is economically risky.  They certainly need to adjust their budget."

Henderson said the moves also are another sign of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's rising influence. Bin Salman, 31, is behind Saudi's Vision 2030 plan to diversify the kingdom away from oil, in part through the sale of a public stake in Saudi Aramco. Known as MBS, he is also second in line, after his cousin, Crown Prince Muhammed bin Nayef. But he is the king's favorite son and he has been upstaging bin Nayef, known as MBN.

"The essence of the main headline changes is it's MBS strengthening his power base and if not directly undermining certainly sidelining MBN," said Henderson. The new U.S. ambassador is bin Salman's younger brother. The new minister for energy affairs is his older half-brother.
"We have a very legalistic system," Metzger said. "A lot of what the government does can be challenged in court."

The federal court system "has the capacity to be pretty powerful," said Gillian Metzger, a professor at Columbia Law School.

That's particularly true now since the other branch of government, Congress, is currently controlled by the president's fellow Republicans.

And going forward, legal experts say, the judicial branch could become a primary counterweight, if not the primary counterweight, to Trump and his proposed policies.

Since then, the judiciary has remained a thorn in Trump's side on that issue as he approaches the end of his first 100 days in office.

The federal judiciary quickly emerged as a stumbling block to the implementation of one of Trump's initial policy decisions during his first weeks in office: the imposition of a travel ban on visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

If the Attorney General of the United States is "amazed" at what just one federal judge can do, President Donald Trump may find himself being even more surprised during the rest of his time in office.

Since then, Trump has seen the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reject his bid to reinstate the ban and seen another federal judge, in Hawaii, block a new version of the travel ban that the president issued in the hopes of avoiding legal challenges that stymied the first ban. The Hawaiian judge's decision applied nationwide.

Trump quickly lashed out at the judge, James Robart, on Twitter for that ruling.

On Feb. 3, a federal judge in Seattle  who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the Senate  issued a decision that blocked Trump's ban nationwide.

A day later, mass protests objecting to the order began nationwide. Later that night a federal judge in New York blocked the deportation of travelers from those countries who had already landed in the U.S. before the order took effect.

Trump learned that to his displeasure, and sparked scores of lawsuits naming him as a defendant, soon after Jan. 27, the day he issued an executive order imposing a 90-day travel ban on citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen trying to enter the United States.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions joins White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer for the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 27, 2017.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week sparked a firestorm of criticism when he expressed his own frustration over the Hawaiian judge's actions and seemed to denigrate the Aloha State in the process.

"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.

Sessions should not have been surprised.

Like Congress, where Sessions served for decades as a senator from Alabama, the federal judiciary is one of the three branches of government, with the third being the executive branch, or presidency .

Since 1803, with the Supreme Court's decision in the case known as Marbury v. Madison, the federal judiciary has been understood to have the power of reviewing laws, treaties and regulations to determine if they conflict with previous laws or the U.S. or state constitutions.

Metzger, referring to the federal judge in Hawaii, noted, "This was certainly not the first time that a federal court, seeing unconstitutionally motivated action, enjoined it across the board."

Metzger said the Trump administration's suggestions that federal judges don't or shouldn't have the power to block his actions has raised "some concern"  as it has "when President Trump seems to question [judges'] integrity."

Trump did that in 2016 when he accused U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel of being biased against the then-presidential candidate, who was being sued in connection with Trump University, because of Curiel's Mexican heritage.

Trump learned last week that Curiel has been assigned to hear the case of a 23-year-old who was deported to Mexico despite supposedly having protected status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy implemented by President Barack Obama.

In their criticisms of judges who rule against them, or who could rule against them, Trump and his surrogates may be harming their chances not only in current cases but also in future cases.

"Attacking judges is not a wise or prudential thing to do, and is likely to reinforce the judiciary's sense of responsibility [to ensure] he is abiding by the constitutional limits," said David Cole, the national legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, which has filed a slew of suits challenging the travel ban.

Cole said judges are also likely to look more closely at cases that challenge Trump because of his suggestions that his actions are not reviewable.

"When he says to the courts, 'You can't review my actions,' he's basically writing them out of their scheme in the constitutional order," Cole said. "Courts don't take that lightly."

"It stiffens their spines."

Trump's mouth and that of his surrogates played a role in the travel-ban case, where lawyers who challenged the ban pointed to statements by then-candidate Trump calling for a total ban on Muslims entering the United States temporarily. And Rudy Giuliani, a former mayor of New York and friend of Trump, earlier this year said that Trump asked him to craft a ban that would be legal after stating his intention was to enact a ban on Muslims.

Metzger, the Columbia Law professor, said that if federal judges had not been aware of those statements, "I'm not sure you'd get the results" that have occurred in the courts.

In other words, Trump's travel ban might have been allowed to go forward without his history of planning a ban based on religion, and he might have crippled his ability to get any such ban approved by the courts going forward because they will be aware of the statements.

Metzger noted that the Hawaii judge and one in Maryland "concluded that the travel ban was still unconstitutionally motivated."

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Kentucky allowed a suit to proceed against Trump filed by three people who were attacked at a campaign rally last year. The judge said the trio might have a legitimate claim that Trump incited a riot by telling audience members, "Get 'em out of here," after protesters disrupted the event.

Last month, a lawyer for Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier charged in military court with deserting his post in Afghanistan, appealed a decision allowing that case to proceed.

Bergdahl's lawyers argue that Trump's statements that Bergdahl is a traitor who should be executed mean that the case should be dismissed because the comments have destroyed his ability to get a fair trial.

Trump could avoid hurting his chances in court if he is more careful about what he says  and tweets  in the future, limiting evidence that his opponents can raise in arguments against his policies.

"I think the question going forward is: Is Donald Trump going to learn from his mistakes, or is he going to repeat them?" Cole said.

"I'm not overly confident that he's a big learner, or even one likely to recognize his mistakes, much less admit his mistakes," Cole said.

Metzger said, "I expect his lawyers and his staff to learn from what is happening" in the courts.

"I don't know that President Trump either has great control over his tweets or would not think that maybe the benefit of it outweighs the cost," Metzger said.

Metzger expects more challenges to Trump in the court as executive branch agencies seek to implement changes in policies by altering administrative rules, as opposed to laws. Like the law, changes in rules are reviewable by courts.

"If the agencies don't take the time to build up the record and think about what they're doing instead of just doing it, politically they may be at risk of being reversed by the courts," she said.

Metzger said Trump has had one big victory in the courts so far in his young presidency: the approval of his nomination of Neil Gorsuch as a justice on the United States Supreme Court.

"That's an important one," she said.
One thing has become abundantly clear after watching President Donald Trump abandon some long-held positions on foreign commitments: he's unpredictable.

"He's a bit more unpredictable than people thought," said Ed Turzanski, an international policy and national security expert at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a think tank in Philadelphia. "It may not be a bad thing for us relative to our adversaries because strategic ambiguity is valuable."

Some have described Trump's "America First" campaign for president as one of a global isolationist, partly because he pushed for reducing America's commitments abroad and even criticized NATO, an alliance he once called "obsolete."

Moreover, as a candidate Trump suggested the U.S. shouldn't be the world's cop. Some suggest he's done just that, however, by ordering the airstrike this month against a Syrian government base as punishment for the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"No campaign vision of what you're going to do ever completely survives the encounter with a world which has a mind of its own," said Walter Russell Mead, a Hudson Institute fellow and foreign policy scholar at Bard College in New York.

The Syrian action was a switch from the nonintervention rhetoric that Trump had touted before he became president. In the past, Trump's twitter messages had strongly advised President Barack Obama against bombing Syria, and even during the campaign Trump said a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for action in Syria.

"We should not be focusing on Syria," Trump told Reuters in October. "You're going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton."

But on Monday, as Trump met at the White House with members of the United Nations Security Council, his message was different.

"Our nation faces serious and growing threats  and many of them stem from problems that have been unaddressed for far too long," he said.

Trump went on to criticize the council for "failing again this month to respond to Syria's use of chemical weapons." He added that the U.N. group "must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs. This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. People put blindfolds on decades  and now it's time to solve the problem."

On China policy, Trump has backed off his tougher talk against Beijing after seeing the growing threat from a nuclear-armed North Korea. He met earlier this month with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida and there was discussion about having a trade deal linked to cooperation on the North Korea issue.

A year ago Trump slammed China for "its economic assault on American jobs and wealth." And as recently as February, Trump called out Beijing for being "grand champions at manipulation of currency," a charge he also made frequently on the campaign trail.

Trump explained his reversal on China as a currency manipulator in a tweet on April 16: "Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem."

"I think what Trump has decided is that, yes I'm concerned about China and its economic impact but I'm going to put those on the back burner," said David Davenport, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, a California-based public policy think tank at Stanford University. "At the moment, it's China's ability to help us isolate North Korea that is more important."

Davenport also believes labeling Trump's switch on some policies a "flip-flop" as some have done is unfair. "It's a little strong and inaccurate. Any president has to deal with some subtleties of timing and playing one priority off against another, and I think that's what we see Trump doing."

As a candidate, Trump expressed scorn for the U.S. engaging in nation building while also pledging to rebuild the U.S. military. Analysts say there's no doubt Trump is moving forward on his plans to increase defense spending and military readiness and will find more support due to the North Korea situation.

Of course there's also the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, which Trump blasted during the campaign but has yet to pull out of. That said, the administration has become more critical of Tehran and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson just last week said the pact "only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state."

As for foreign commitments, Trump asserted during the campaign that U.S. taxpayers are paying more than they should for protecting the defense of other nations and called for burden-sharing among allies, including NATO countries.

Indeed, Trump suggested in a speech last spring there should be conditions on allies getting U.S. defense: "The countries we are defending must pay for the cost of this defense  and, if not, the U.S. must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves."

Yet Trump changed his tune on NATO earlier this month after meeting with the alliance's secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg. Speaking after the meeting, Trump said NATO was now "taking care of terror" so it was "no longer obsolete."

"It's just reality setting in," said James Dobbins, who has served in diplomatic or special envoy roles for four presidents (including ambassador to the European Community) and now directs the International Security and Defense Policy Center at Rand, a Washington think tank

Dobbins said he never really believed Trump would withdraw from NATO. "He's affirmed something close to the American position on this more quickly than I would have expected and more unequivocally actually," he said.

At the same time, Trump and his Defense secretary, James Mattis, also are still pressing members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to chip in more money for their own defense. The U.S. wants NATO members to devote at least 2 percent of gross domestic product to defense spending, although only a handful of alliance members currently meet the target.

Meantime, Trump is no longer praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose deployment of nuke-ready missiles is raising alarm within NATO. Back in December, Trump had complimented Putin as "very smart" for not rushing to retaliate after the Obama administration issued new sanctions against Russia.

"It's fine to have foreign policy objectives but sometimes national security events just come up unexpectedly and are sort of beyond our control and end up overriding your long-term foreign policy strategies," said Davenport.

As for Trump's dislike for nation building, it could still be tested during his administration as the situation in Afghanistan is still fluid. The administration introduced a new element into the fight in Afghanistan this month when the U.S. military dropped the "mother of all bombs," or MOAB  a massive bomb weighing nearly 22,000 pounds  on a cave complex to eliminate Islamic State fighters.

Experts say the use of the MOAB as well as the U.S. Tomahawk missile firing on a Syrian government air base as punishment for the regime's alleged use of chemical weapons are both examples of how the current president is more willing to use military operations and with less micromanagement. Trump has increased the number of U.S. troops in Syria and made fighting ISIS a top priority.

"He's clearly authorized the military to initiate actions with a little less day-to-day oversight," said Dobbins. "This hasn't changed the rules of engagement. But it has meant they don't have to check with Washington quite as often as commanders previously did [under Obama]."

Then again, Trump was criticized last week when it was learned the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson wasn't heading toward the Korean Peninsula as had been previously indicated. He said in an interview April 12, "We are sending an armada. Very powerful." Then The New York Times reported Tuesday the carrier was actually still far away.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency on Thursday ran a story with a headline, "Trump's 'armada' gaffe stains his commitment to alliance." It said the disclosure of the carrier heading to the region "added fuel to military tensions on the divided peninsula."

Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman, was asked about it last week and insisted there was no intent to mislead. Some reports chalked up the Vinson matter to miscommunication between the military and the White House.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures at a news conference near the U.S.-Mexico border (background) outside of Laredo, Texas, July 23, 2015.

U.S. President Donald Trump indicated an openness on Monday to delaying his push to secure funds for his promised border wall with Mexico, potentially eliminating a sticking point as lawmakers worked to avoid a looming shutdown of the federal government.

Trump, in a private meeting with conservative media outlets, said he may wait until Republicans begin drafting the budget blueprint for the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1 to seek government funds for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the White House confirmed.

Trump, whose approval ratings have slid since he took office, is facing a Friday deadline for Congress to pass a spending bill funding the government through September or risk marking his 100th day in office on Saturday with a government shutdown.

"Now the bipartisan and bicameral negotiators can continue working on the outstanding issues," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement on Monday night.

Earlier on Monday, Schumer reiterated an assertion made last week that bipartisan negotiations in Congress were going well until the White House began demanding money for the wall as a condition for accepting a funding bill.

Although Republicans control both chambers of Congress, a funding bill will need 60 votes to clear the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 52 seats, meaning at least some Democrats will have to get behind it.

If no spending measure covering April 29 to Sept. 30 is in place before 12:01 a.m. (0401 GMT) on Saturday, government funds will halt and hundreds of thousands of the country's several million federal employees will be temporarily laid off.

Those in jobs deemed essential such as law enforcement are expected to keep working in the hope they will receive back pay.

Non-essential sectors such as national parks are liable to be closed and programs such as federally funded medical research will grind to a halt.

Failure to approve a government funding bill could also throw new doubts over Republicans' ability to fashion a budget blueprint for the next fiscal year or to succeed in a major effort to cut corporate and individual taxes that Trump has touted.

Congressional leaders will likely have to decide by late on Tuesday whether negotiations are progressing enough to try to pass a spending bill funding the government through September, Senator Roy Blunt, a member of the Republican leadership and Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters on Monday.

If negotiations have slowed or stalled, Congress could pursue a short-term extension of existing spending levels to avoid a government shutdown, giving lawmakers more time to reach a deal. Leading Democrats have said they would support such a measure only if talks are progressing.

Short-term funding measures, known as continuing resolutions that cover periods of days, have been used to avert government shutdowns in the past. But in 2013, conservative Republicans forced a 17-day shutdown in a failed attempt to repeal former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

A Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare imploded in Congress last month and the White House said on Monday that another vote could not come for weeks.

But Trump has dangled the prospect of funding some elements of the law, which enabled millions more Americans to secure healthcare coverage, in exchange for Democrats' support in the spending talks.

The White House had offered to include $7 billion in Obamacare subsidies that allow low-income people to pay for healthcare insurance in exchange for Democratic backing of $1.5 billion in funding to begin construction of a barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border.

It was unclear on Monday whether delaying wall funding until later spending negotiations would invalidate the White House pledge to include Obamacare subsidy funding for low-income people in the current proposal funding the government through September.

Trump has argued that a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is needed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States. In a Twitter message on Monday, Trump wrote: "If... the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be!"

Earlier on Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump's demand that Congress include funds for the construction of the wall remained a White House priority.

"The president has made very clear that he's got two priorities in this continuing resolution: No. 1, the increase in funding for the military and No. 2, for our homeland security and the wall," Spicer told reporters.

The White House is confident in the direction of the talks and an announcement is expected soon, Spicer said, although he declined to say specifically whether Trump would sign a bill that did not contain money for border security and the wall.

Trump has said Mexico will repay the United States for the wall if Congress funds it first. But the Mexican government is adamant it will not provide any financing and Trump has not laid out a plan to compel Mexico to pay. Department of Homeland Security internal estimates have placed the total cost of a border barrier at about $21.6 billion.

Aside from inflaming relations with a major trading partner, the planned wall has angered Democrats. They showed no sign of softening their opposition on Monday and sought to place responsibility for any shutdown squarely on Trump and congressional Republicans.

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If the 2013 shutdown is any indication, jobs that could be safe from furlough would be those deemed as performing activities critical to national security and the protection of life and property. The last shutdown lasted about 2.5 weeks, although some workers furloughed were allowed to return to their jobs early.

But there's no guarantee Congress will pass such bills this time around if there's a government shutdown.

During the 2013 shutdown, Congress passed a bill allowing some appropriations so that uniformed members of the services could be paid. They also included a separate bill to pay for Guard and Reserve members.

She said a shutdown would mean military personnel on active duty wouldn't get paid, civilians wouldn't get paid, and pay for the National Guard and reservists who perform training and drilling functions would be impacted too. Even so, the roughly 1.4 million active-duty U.S. military members still would be required to perform their roles.

"If there were to be a government shutdown, the most immediate impact is that the DoD can't spend any money," said Katherine Blakeley, a research fellow at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, D.C.

Without a deal, however, there could be federal workers immediately furloughed, including around 400,000 civilian defense employees as was the case when the last shutdown happened in 2013.

Now almost seven months through the current fiscal year, the federal government is operating under a continuing resolution passed in December, which is set to expire Friday.

A federal government shutdown could result in major furloughs at the Department of Defense and even disrupt the production of weapon systems, according to experts.

Still, that could mean defense acquisition workers might be furloughed as well as civilian workers at maintenance depots around the nation. Moreover, a former Pentagon official told CNBC it could potentially impact the ability of the Pentagon's leadership to obtain advice at a time when the U.S. military is facing growing hostilities overseas and new threats from North Korea and Russia.

"Although I'm not in a position to predict whether it will occur this time, I can say that when this sort of thing occurs it has an effect on morale and has an effect on the ability of the Secretary of Defense to obtain the relevant advice on policy and operations that he needs," said David Simon, a Washington, D.C.-based partner in Mayer Brown's cybersecurity and national security practice groups and a former special counsel at the Pentagon.

Having gone through the shutdown and cuts mandated through sequestration in 2013, Simon said he was "surprised" by the small number of individuals then who were deemed "essential" and excluded from the original furlough order.

Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Badger, a Pentagon spokesman, said the DoD was "taking appropriate steps to prepare for the unlikely event of a lapse in appropriations," and working in "close coordination" with the Office of Management and Budget. Beyond that, he wouldn't speculate on potential impacts in terms of furloughs to the department.

"There is enough time for Congress to prevent a lapse in appropriations, and we expect Congress will work with the administration to fund much of our additional FY 2017 budget request," said Badger. "The Secretary and the Service Chiefs highlighted the readiness needs of the armed forces in their recent testimony. That has not changed."

The budget battle comes as congressional Democrats are raising concerns about President Donald Trump's plan to spend billions to build a border wall and criticizing his threats to cut funding from so-called sanctuary cities. Any new spending bill to fund the government will need to get at least a two-thirds vote in the 100-member Senate, and the GOP has 52 seats so it will need at least eight more votes to reach the goal.

The Trump administration has proposed raising the defense discretionary caps for the current fiscal year through Sept. 30 and for next fiscal year to accommodate his increased military spending plans. The administration wants to pay for the higher defense spending with cuts to domestic programs but so far the Democrats have resisted the plan.

It's unclear if bipartisan negotiations will result in a budget deal in time before current funds for the government expire Friday.

"There's a lot of uncertainty in the business community," said Blakeley.

Major U.S.-based defense contractors rely on the Pentagon for the bulk of their revenue and any prolonged slowdown in federal government spending or a halt in key reimbursements could force them to announce furloughs of their own. There's also exposure for subcontractors and suppliers, including small or medium-sized businesses more sensitive to the disruption in cash flow than some of the larger primes.

"A shutdown of the federal government generally impacts government contractors and of course we're speaking of federal contractors in one of two ways," said Joseph Martinez, a Denver-based attorney specializing in defense and government contracts with the Dentons law firm.

First, he said when there's a shutdown the funding is gone and "government essentially doesn't have legal authority to spend any more money. So contractors who are waiting the award of a new contract, that new award cannot be issued" in most instances.

Additionally, Martinez said if the defense contracting officers or other technical personnel are furloughed as part of the shutdown there's a possibility government weapons programs could be delayed for "technical direction" or inspections.

Martinez recalls having a client back during the 2013 shutdown wait for inspection and key approvals so it went into a "a cold shutdown  where the contractor had to stop the manufacturing and put things into a standby mode."

In fact, if contractors do have to go into a standby mode on programs they might look to recoup the cost of the impacts later from the federal government. As a result, the shutdown could end up costing American taxpayers even more money on certain defense programs.

According to Martinez, when the government reopened after the 2013 shutdown there were "costs of shutting and restarting the [production] line so the contractor did seek compensation."

That said, in the case of big ticket programs such as Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, experts say it would be unlikely for there to be any shutdown of the production given a brief government shutdown of a few days or weeks. They note most of the fighter program has funding secured several years out based on the previous two batches of contracts.

Lockheed is scheduled to report its first-quarter financial results on Tuesday and is likely to get asked about potential impacts on the company as a result of any government shutdown. Other defense primes are reporting results this week, including Boeing , General Dynamics , Northrop Grumman as well as Raytheon .
Tim Cook with Apple employees Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Apple 's new store in Dubai is one of the first of a complete retail overhaul  one that will make the tech giant the new Starbucks , Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of retail, told "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday. Tweet: We're getting ready for our newest store in UAE by celebrating local artists and entrepreneurs. Excited for Apple Dubai Mall! The new store format will have spaces for classes and meetings, new screens and hardware, and "Genius groves," a tree-lined area where the " Genuis Bar" once was. In addition to traditional IT services, creative professionals like photographers will also be on-site, Ahrendts said. It comes as Apple's services business  including the app store, Apple Music and Apple Care  have become a faster-growing source of money than the flagship iPhone. Ahrendts said that critics of CEO Tim Cook who fixate on whether iPhone sales are slowing

"probably don't really know the company that well." "Tim talks a lot on the earnings calls about the services business, and how rapidly that's growing," Ahrendts said. "And that's the part we haven't been able to unlock in store yet."

Angela Ahrendts Peter Foley | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The new educational programming at the stores will be called "Today at Apple," and is designed to put Apple Stores on the map as a meeting place for the next generation, akin to the coffee shops that have become de facto offices for many of today's creative professionals, Ahrendts said. While the idea of hanging out in a store may seem like supercharged capitalism, Ahrendts said Apple has always bridged the gap between selling products and creating communities. "I think we've always been this energy hub, if you will," Ahrendts said. "We are just empowering teams to take it further." "Today at Apple" will launch worldwide in May, with sessions in every store. Some stores, like the iconic "glass cube" location on Fifth Avenue in New York City, are set to make renovations that are by now well-documented. But others may change overnight, CBS said, a transformation Ahrendts compared with the leap between the iPod Nano and the iPhone 6. "The way we talk about it inside, is this is the largest product that Apple produces," Ahrendts said.

watch now

Late co-founder Steve Jobs, who closely supervised the original Apple Store design, still has an influence in the new vision, Ahrendts said. "I think that anything you do at Apple you feel a tremendous onus. You want to carry on the legacy of what it meant ... the main objective. Our soul is our people, and our job is to enrich their lives  to change the world," she said. Ahrendts, who joined Apple in 2014 after serving as CEO of Burberry, said that while she told Cook she's "not a techie," she thinks that she was chosen for the post thanks to her leadership skills. "My dad used to say, 'I can teach you anything, but I can't teach you to feel and to care,'" Ahrendts said. "There's 7 billion people, it's not about you. ... When they open up and you're both open, you can dream and come up with incredible things together." The full interview is at CBSNews.com.

WATCH: CNBC puts the first-generation iPhone to the test
Photo SHAN- over 400 representatives from political parties, the government, the Burmese armed forces, civil society, and ceasefire signatory groups attended the Shan State regional dialogue between April 23-25, 2017.

Some 400 representatives from political parties, the government, the Burmese armed forces, civil society, and ceasefire signatory groups are attending the talks, which kicked off in state capital Taunggyi yesterday. Ethnic armed groups that have not signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) were not invited to the conference.

The regional-level dialogue is a pre-runner to Union-level dialogue, unofficially dubbed the 21st Century Panglong Conference, which is slated to be held sometime in May. The Taunggyi conference was held up as an opportunity for stakeholders in Shan State to share and recommend opinions in order to form a consensus ahead of the Union peace talks.

According to Dr Myo Htun, the regional minister of social affairs, the Office of the State Counsellor on April 19 authorized the Taunggyi meeting, after which logistics were rushed in order to hold the forum in time.

We set up a conference committee and tried to do the best we could with such limited time to prepare, he said. We wanted to make sure everyone was involved, but some may have been left out. Please understand; this was purely down to the time restriction.

Nang Mya Oo, the secretary of the Taunggyi branch of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), said that they could not submit a paper to the committee because they did not have enough time to prepare.

We were not able to submit our paper this time because they only asked us two days before the event, she said. However, we will present it [when we can].

Yan Kyaw, a leading committee member of the Wa Self-Administered Division, echoed the sentiment that there was not enough time to prepare statements and paperwork.

We had to discuss, prepare, write and submit our paper the night before we left to travel to the meeting, he said.

Im not satisfied with this conference, he added. They need to give us at least five days or one week to prepare. This regional-level meeting is very important. In the future, I hope they inform everyone well ahead of time.

Khun Myint Htun, the chairman of the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO), which was invited to Taunggyis conference, said, As this event is led by the Shan State government, it stands to reason that every armed group in the state should be invited to participate as observers.

Reached for comment by Shan Herald, Lt-Col Sai Oo of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), a signatory to the NCA, but which was blocked from convening a conference in February, said that dialogue should proceed step by step.

This event is organized by the government, and it is good to have this meeting, he said. However it is very urgent, and it should be organized to proceed on a step-by-step basis.

According to Shan State Chief Minister Dr. Linn Htut, to date some 70 papers have been submitted to the conference, including 26 related to political issues, 23 papers related to economy, and 21 involving land and resources issues.

The conference is scheduled to be held in the state capital from April 23 to 25.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Apple has hired former NASA employees, robotics experts and ex-Tesla staffers to form part of its driverless car teams, according to official documents released to two media outlets.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal and Business Insider obtained a permit that was issued to Apple by Californian authorities on March 14 which granted the tech giant permission to test autonomous vehicles. The permit contained names of six Apple employees that are designated as "driver/operators" of the driverless cars.

The names were supposed to be redacted, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Business Insider said, but both it and the WSJ published the names on Monday.

Searches online revealed that these current Apple employees have had previous experience at space agency NASA, electric car firm Tesla and in the robotics industry, something that Apple is hoping will boost its efforts in the driverless vehicle space.

Apple has been tight-lipped on its driverless car efforts. At one point there were reports that the project had been scaled back. But recent developments show the U.S. firm is still focusing on the technology as it looks to challenge existing auto makers, as well as rival technology companies like Google who has its own autonomous vehicle program via its spin-off company Waymo.

Firstly, Apple's name was added to a list of companies that have secured a permit to test self-driving cars in California. And the permit shows Apple's key hires.

One person on the list is Shilpa Gulati whose LinkedIn profile describes her as an "experienced roboticist" who is working on "special projects at a Silicon Valley company". Apple is not named on her LinkedIn page. In the job description for this role, Gulati describes how she built an organization of "30 world class researchers and engineers" and has been working on this since March 2015.

Gulati's previous jobs include being a senior research engineer at Bosch where she developed "motion planning algorithms for self-driving cars" and a NASA-backed project to create a vehicle to be deployed on one of Jupiter's moons.

Another staffer called Jeremy Ma is a software engineer at Apple's special projects group and has been working there since March 2015. Prior to that, Ma was at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Victor Hwang and Paul Herbert, two more named on the DMV permit, were also both ex-NASA employees. Another name on the list is Christopher Gadda, an ex-Tesla staffer.
The battle between Buffalo Wild Wings and activist investors at Marcato Capital Management continued to rage on Tuesday after the hedge fund accused the chicken wing chain of making an "astronomical error" in a SEC filing.

In a statement Monday, Marcato said that B-Dubs had falsely stated in a chart that the company's shares had outperformed the S&P 600 Restaurant Index over a five-year period ending Dec 25, 2016. According to Marcato, the shares had actually underperformed the index by more than 60 percent during the period.

Buffalo Wild Wings stands by the claim it made in the proxy statement according to methodology used by Research Data Group, the third party it hired to run the numbers.

"The [Total Return Comparison Graph] included in the Proxy Statement was provided by [Research Data Group] based on methodologies that we understand RDG has used throughout its history."

A chart from the Buffalo Wild Wings 2017 proxy statement as seen by CNBC.

"This kind of sloppy, self-serving 'analysis,' which has gone uncorrected for three full days, including a trading day, is emblematic of what we believe is management's careless approach to assessment of shareholder value. This is an astronomical error and the fact that we need to point it out should make all shareholders question many arguments management has put forth," said Mick McGuire, managing partner of Marcato, on Monday.

An image published by Marcato alongside its statement on Buffalo Wild Wings.

Marcato, which owns 6.1 percent of the restaurant chain's outstanding stock, has been pushing since July for Buffalo Wild Wings to franchise more of its restaurants and last week called for Buffalo Wild Wings CEO Sally Smith to resign. Buffalo Wild Wings defended Smith's performance, saying she has helped generate huge returns for shareholders.

Here's the full statement from Buffalo Wild Wings about why it stands by its third-party performance claims:

"The [Total Return Comparison Graph] included in the Proxy Statement was provided by [Research Data Group] based on methodologies that we understand RDG has used throughout its history. RDG's methodology for sub-indexes like the S&P 600 Restaurant Index is to use the constituents of the sub-index as of the last day of the subject company's fiscal year. Consistent with SEC rules, RDG then calculates the total return of those companies over the preceding five-year period, rebalancing the portfolio once per year (based on market capitalization at December 31) and including newly public companies as of the first day of the year following their IPO. We understand that this methodology has been consistently employed across RDG's client base for any industry sub-index or peer- or custom-index."

"We stand by the accuracy of the Chart in the Buffalo Wild Wings proxy statement, which was prepared in accordance with our usual practice and in a manner compliant with SEC rules," RDG said in a statement. The firm declined to comment further.
Caterpillar reported first-quarter earnings and revenue on Tuesday that smashed Wall Street's expectations, sending shares sharply higher.

Here's what the construction machinery maker reported versus what the Street was expecting:

EPS: $1.28 versus 62 cents, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

Revenue: $9.822 versus $9.271 billion, expected by Thomson Reuters.

Caterpillar's stock was up more than 6 percent in premarket trading following the news. If the 6 percent gain holds, Caterpillar alone will add 40 points to the Dow Jones industrial index for the day.

"Our team delivered outstanding operational performance and, for the first time in more than two years, same quarter sales and revenues increased," CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement. "We're also benefiting from our significant cost reduction and restructuring actions, which have improved cash flow and further strengthened an already healthy balance sheet."

Caterpillar also raised its guidance for full-year earnings to $3.75 per share from $2.90 per share. The Street expected $3.26 per share. The company also revised its full-year revenue outlook to $38 billion to $41 billion versus the Street's expectation of $38.27 billion.

Caterpillar is expecting modest growth in its construction business for 2017. The company is expecting to benefit from a recovery in the Chinese market for construction equipment.

This is also Caterpillar's first earnings release since three of the company's facilities were raided by federal law enforcement. The Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation unit, the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s Office of Inspector General are investigating CSARL, a Swiss subsidiary of Caterpillar, for what Caterpillar believes are questions about the company's export filings.

During Caterpillar's earnings call Tuesday, Umpleby said the company is complying fully and remains committed to the "highest ethical standard" in its practices.

Wall Street is also closely watching President Donald Trump's policies to determine their impact on the company. While a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan would likely boost companies involved in construction, Caterpillar's international business is vulnerable to any trade-restricting policies.

Shares of Caterpillar have rallied more than 17 percent since November, when Trump won the election. Almost 100 days into his presidency, Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have yet to introduce a major infrastructure initiative. Caterpillar has said that even if such legislation were introduced, the company does not expect to see a material benefit until at least next year.

Caterpillar announced recently that it will be relocating from its home in Peoria, Illinois, to a new headquarters in the Chicago area, as it looks to tap more talent. Most of the 12,000 manufacturing jobs in Peoria will remain, the company said.
A Chinese worker stands near trucks carrying goods during the opening of a trade project in Gwadar port, some 700 kms west of the Pakistani city of Karachi on November 13, 2016.

China has deepened its economic pull over its neighbour Pakistan over the past year, providing over $1bn in loans to help the South Asian country stave off a potential currency crisis.

State-backed Chinese banks have come to the nuclear-armed state's rescue on two separate occasions, officials have told the Financial Times, with $900m coming in 2016, followed by another $300m in the first three months of this year.

The loans demonstrate the perilous fragility of Pakistan's stocks of foreign currency, which have been depleted in the past few months as imports have risen while both exports and inbound remittances from Pakistanis abroad have fallen.

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Beijing's financial help also underlines the increasingly close relationship between the two Asian neighbours amid strains between Pakistan and the US.

Beijing is preparing to invest at least $52bn in Pakistan to build a highway, energy pipelines, power generation and industrial parks from the western port of Gwadar on the Gulf to the Chinese border 3,000km to the north.

But despite its expected impact on Pakistan's competitiveness, the infrastructure project  named the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor  is set to further deplete the country's stocks of foreign currency, needed to pay the contractors and suppliers.

Figures from the State Bank of Pakistan show the country had $17.1bn of net reserves at the end of February, down from $18.9bn at the end of October and a peak of $25bn several years ago.

This has forced the country to seek emergency loans from outside sources to repay older loans made in foreign currencies.

Of the $1.2bn from the Chinese institutions, $600m came from the government-run China Development Bank and another $600m from the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the only mainland bank to have a branch in Pakistan. Policy banks such as CDB often act on behalf of the central bank.

One Pakistani official said: "China keeps a very close eye on our economic trends and they're happy to come to our help wherever needed."

But experts are also warning that Pakistan is likely to have to return to international institutions such as the IMF, to which it sought recourse in 2013, for further support.

"Technically speaking we should have gone back to the IMF in January, but ministers are likely to try and wait until after the election [for parliament planned for 2018]," said Vaqar Ahmed, deputy executive director of the Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

One member of the ruling PML-N party confirmed to the Financial Times that ministers were loath to return to the IMF until after the election in an effort to limit the political fallout."

The IMF is a politically volatile issue in our country. If we go to the IMF to deal with our needs, that will send a very negative political signal and the opposition [parties] will use that against the government," the person said.

It was only last year that the country completed repaying the IMF debt incurred in 2013, a repayment that led policymakers in Pakistan and abroad to express optimism that the country was finally on the path to economic stability.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, called it a "moment of opportunity" for the country.
Chipotle Mexican Grill shares rose Tuesday as the company reported better-than-expected earnings, as more customers headed to its restaurants and spent more while they were there.

EPS: $1.60, versus $1.27 expected by Thomson Reuters estimates

Revenue: $1.07 billion, versus $1.05 billion expected by analysts

Sames-store sales grew 17.8 percent, versus expected growth of 14.9 percent, according to Street Account.

Shares of the company rose as much as 6.8 percent after the earnings release, but the gains were erased when the company revealed it had experienced a data breach.

The company posted earnings of $1.60 per share on $1.07 billion in revenue. The burrito chain was expected to earn $1.27 per share on $1.05 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.

The company's same-store sales grew 17.8 percent in the first quarter, up from the expected 14.9 percent that analysts had forecasted, according to Street Account.

"This is an indication that Chipotle should be through the worst of the fallout from its food safety issues and can now refocus on expansion," Simon Negri, partner in the Consumer Products & Retail Practice at A.T. Kearney, told CNBC.

The company said that sales were boosted by improved consumer traffic, reduced promotional activity and an increase in average check.

"2017 is off to a strong start, as our restaurant managers and teams are energized by our renewed focus on the customer," Steve Ells, CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement Tuesday. "By simplifying the focus in our restaurants to only those elements that lead to a great guest experience, our operations have improved every single month, which gives us confidence that we are on our way to achieve our mission to ensure that great food made with whole unprocessed ingredients is accessible to everyone."

Brian Bittner, an analyst at Oppenheimer, wrote in a research note Monday that the first quarter "represents peak comps," as same-store sales were down almost 30 percent in the same quarter of 2016.

Chipotle reiterated its full-year 2017 outlook for same-store sales to grow in the high-single digits.

However, these gains were overshadowed by the company telling investors that it had detected "unauthorized activity" on a network that supports payment processing for purchases made at Chipotle restaurants. The company said that it believes it has taken the proper steps to stop the activity.

Chipotle said that it is focused on transactions that occurred between March 24, 2017 and April 18, 2017.

Although the stock pulled back slightly from its post-earnings gains, Bret Kenwell, an analyst at InvestorPlace.com, said that "long-term investors have little reason to bail on the stock."

Chipotle's business should gain momentum throughout 2017, which will boost the stock's price, Kenwell said.

"Short-term investors need to be more nimble," he said. "If momentum continues, the 2016 high near $540 could be in play in the near future."
Following is the transcript of a CNBC interview with John Fitzgerald, CEO, APAC of Urban Land Institute. The interview was broadcast on CNBC on 25 April 2017 at 06:45AM SG/HK Time, during CNBC's "Hong Kong versus Singapore" theme week.

All references must be sourced to a "CNBC Interview".

Interviewed by Akiko Fujita, Correspondent, CNBC and Dan Murphy, Correspondent, CNBC.

Akiko Fujita: Great to have you on this morning so let's put the question to you. What is the better investment, Singapore or Hong Kong?

John Fitzgerald: Well, you know it could go 'good morning and thanks for having me'. I mean you know in the greater context it's reallythis is really a remarkable moment in time for cities around the world, the time where factors such as globalization, the shared economy, changing demographics and technology are really all sort of changing demographics and technology are really all sort of converging to really redefine the competition between cities and that competition is global. And that competition is for talent.

In the past, it's always been that cities, that the people have moved to where the jobs are. But we're now seeing a trend that the jobs are moving to where the talent is, to where the talent wants to be and I think within that context, we're seeing that cities that cater to peoplethe cities that are better for that, cater to people are the cities that are best positioned for the future.

So this is the context in which you know you sort of see the lens of Hong Kong and Singapore. And when it comes to the property markets and the residential property market in Hong Kong and Singapore. It's really, really not comparing apples to apples. The markets are both very different and a lot of that is as you can see from those figures and say home ownership, for instance, Singapore is a market with 90 percent of home ownership as opposed to 50 percent in Hong Kong.

So when you're comparing the figures, it's again, it's not apples to apples. In Singapore you're seeing people upgrade or buy, rather in Hong Kong, people are trying to get in on the property the property ladder. So really when it comes to the

Akiko: Let me ask you this because Dan (Murphy) pointed to the cooling measure that have been put in place here in Singapore. But we've seen similar measure in Hong Kong as well. Why do you think they've had success here in Singapore as opposed to where you are in Hong Kong right now?

Fitzgerald: Right, again part of it is again not comparing apples to apples but really I think it's really... supply and demand. It's market forces. So the cooling measures can have some limited impact but when it comes down to it, it's a supply and demand question when you have a limited supply and the demand is there. You know there's only limited impact that the cooling measures can have.

Dan Murphy: Hi John, Dan here. I just wanted to weigh in on the conversation and ask you, you know that analysts that I've been speaking to this week and the major property developers say they are seeing some revived interest in the market here in Singapore. But we still have a huge pipeline of assets, a huge pipeline of projects set to come online. That one project that we just previewed in that story is one of many still to hit the market. So do you think here in Singapore in particular, the fundamentals are still looking a little negative, we have excessive supply still set to dampen prices in the future perhaps?

Fitzgerald: Well, you know as far as in Singapore with the government managing supply, we have long term confidence in really in both markets. We're talking about two great cities with where investors want to be. Annually, you align PwC collaborate on a report called Emerging Trends in Real Estate. Consistently in this report over the last 10 years, you know Hong Kong and Singapore are both markets where real estate investors want to be, where global investment wants to be because they're transparent. They have high quality legal systems, core assets, gateway cities. So again, the fundamentals in these markets for the long term, I think everybody believes in.

Dan: And one of the other interesting aspects of this is that we've seen a lot of big money from mainland Chines moving into Hong Kong and that's also been supporting asset prices there. I wanted to ask you about the fundamentals and the specifics for the real estate market when it comes to rentals as well. What's the outlook for yields in Hong Kong and in Singapore? And do you think that we'll see the rising supply and perhaps reduced demand also impacting yields more broadly?

Fitzgerald: Well, you there's a searchthe capital is a search for yield globally, is a global capital search for yield and the Chinese investors are obviously the pool of capital that is contributing to the compressed co-operates in the yield equations in Hong Kong and Singapore and again fundamentally in the rental markets we see again long term strong fundamentals.



Akiko: John, I know we frame this in the context of Singapore versus Hong Kong but I wonder if there are other markets you're looking at in the region, whether that's Sydney or Bangkok or Jakarta. Any other opportunities you're seeing right now in terms of investments?

Fitzgerald: Well again, we're seeing as far as in terms of investment, our members through our collaboration with PwC in Emerging Trends Report, you know, this year really India is on the radar screen much more for global investors, So Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore have reallyhave really come up on the radar screen for global investors. There's increase confidence in the markets, there's the belief that there's an opportunity for scale and there's a need through urbanization for a high quality development assets.

Dan: So John, final question. If you were to buy tomorrow, where would it be?

Fitzgerald: Well I live in Hong Kong so you know it would be right here in Hong Kong. But no we're at a we're talking about two, again, two great cities with a real top high quality of life, great infrastructure, connectivity. You know, again global gateway cities, so again we're talking about two great markets that all global investors really want to... would really want to be.
Following is the transcript of a CNBC interview with Stuart Brown, CEO of BlackWall. The interview was broadcast on CNBC on 25 April 2017 at 12:40PM SG/HK Time, during CNBC's "Hong Kong versus Singapore" theme week.

All references must be sourced to a "CNBC Interview".

Interviewed by Dan Murphy, Correspondent, CNBC.

Dan Murphy: Stuart Brown the CEO of the Australian-listed BlackWall, which is the parent company of WOTSO, joins us live now. WOTSO is Australia's largest provider of collaboration workspaces. Stuart, great to get you on the program. Welcome to CNBC. Now, first and foremost, you're no stranger to Singapore the business does have a presence already but you're in town because you want to try and grow that presence is that right?

Stuart Brown: Yeah we took a position in an existing collaborative workspace business in a beautiful iconic building in Cecil Street known as the Quadrant, there's an existing big business we rebranded WOTSO and took an equity position in that business. It's us dipping our toe in the water before looking at more opportunities which is what I'm up here to do it this week.

Dan: And what is the opportunity here and why have you chosen Singapore specifically?

Brown: Well, Singapore and Australia, there's a long history of collaboration. Sorry to use the buzz word between Australia and Singapore businesses of a number of tech companies are listening on the ASX at the moment. But for us the legal structure is here. The manner of business is far more familiar to us and it was a natural first stop for us and in moving up into the Asian market.

Dan: And of course WOTSO isn't the only operator in town either. I think over the past two years we've seen some 20 different operators moving into Singapore hoping to catch a slice of that pie. How do you differentiate your offering?

Brown: In Australia and what we've done in Singapore. We like to differentiate the physical asset, we see collaborative workspace as a real estate business so, people are making a choice on the physical asset first and foremost; both geography and how it's configured. So again in Cecil Street we're in a beautiful historic building where we're creating a pointed difference to large, what we would say is commodified office space. Again, once the customers come to us, I think it's that real estate decision they're making first, but then it's services, our staff, our fitout, our design that attracts and retains them, hopefully.

Dan: Speaking of attracting tenants, what does the tenancy mix look like and how do you get it right to ensure that you have a stable income generating asset. Who are the types of people that you're attracting into these buildings?

Brown: WOTSO is very clear in its business model to be agnostic to sector. So we're not just attracting startups, although startups are certainly a part of what we do. We're a provider of flexible workspace for small to medium enterprises so that's right across the board. So in terms of creating a collaborative atmosphere we feel that you're going to get a better cross-section of society if all industries are represented. Now for the startups that are testing products or designing tech products, we see a collaboration between some of the legal services we might have in the space or accounting services so that collaboration right across the spectrum is the key to what we're trying to foster.

Dan: So the problem halved is a problem shared, so to speak when it comes to getting the tenant mix right.

Brown: Sure, I think from a business proposition we specifically don't want to limit the market. The market is to have all this office space in the manner that we provided.

Dan: Who's your biggest competitor?

Brown: I think our biggest competitor is the person that's working at home. In Australia, less, less in Singapore because we're a CBD office but in Australia we don't have. We're on the fringe of the CBD, we're in suburban. So in various places it differs but in some cases we draw from two kilometers around us. So I made up a term that I've heard a lot in Singapore of how people want to live, work and play is really what WATSO in Australia and for new sites in Singapore will be providing. You're working where you want to live to cut down on commute times and all those things. Mobile technology has allowed us to do that. And really that mobile technology as it is really, really what's driven the growth in collaborative workspace.

Dan: So an Australian property business making a play into Singapore and the Asian region. How aggressive do you want to be in this space? Very quickly.

Brown: We'll be as great as we need to be. We're an opportunistic business. As I said we see it as a real estate business that we're going to get the real estate fundamentals right and the collaborative workspace flows on from that. So, we've got an eye on a few things and we're having some discussions in other other regions as well. I'll tell you what when we do our next deal, I'll come back and talk to you about it.

Dan: All right looking forward to it. Stuart, great to get you on CNBC. Thanks again for coming in, Pauline back over to you. That's Stuart Brown from BlackWall.
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Capitol Hill is pushing back against a report that the White House is seeking to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, raising concerns that it would add trillions of dollars to the national debt. President Donald Trump is scheduled to unveil his broad principles for tax reform on Wednesday. According to The Wall Street Journal, the announcement is expected to include the 15 percent corporate rate that Trump proposed during the campaign. The Tax Policy Center estimates the move would reduce federal revenues by more than $2.4 trillion. "I don't know if he can get away with it," Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the powerful Finance Committee, told reporters Monday. Republicans have been planning to use a parliamentary process known as reconciliation to pass a tax reform bill without support from Democrats. However, they cannot use the maneuver if the bill adds to the deficit after 10 years.

Not only can that not pass Congress, it cannot even begin to move through Congress. This is something that actually cannot be done. George Callas tax counsel to Paul Ryan, on a temporary business tax cut

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has repeatedly pledged that the administration's tax plan will pay for itself. He has not indicated support for any ways to raise revenue, such as the controversial border adjustment tax. Instead, Mnuchin has emphasized that the White House proposal will generate economic growth, which he argues should in turn lead to higher tax revenue from rising wages, higher employment and strong business sales. "You could have as high as a $2 trillion difference in revenues depending on what you think is going to be the growth function," Mnuchin said at a speech in Washington last week. "The plan will pay for itself with growth." The administration has said it hopes to spur economic growth of 3 percent, though Trump floated figures as high as 6 percent. The Congressional Budget Office estimates over the next decade range between 3 and 4 percent  a strong showing, but unlikely to be enough to offset such a dramatic reduction in the corporate rate, analysts say.

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As the market surges higher and earnings reports continue to top expectations, Jim Cramer turned to one technician's charts to find out whether the upward move is sustainable.

The "Mad Money" host looked to Mark Sebastian, the founder of OptionPit and Cramer's colleague at RealMoney.com, for charts that could prove the rally's authenticity.

Being an expert on the CBOE Volatility Index  VIX for short  Sebastian compared the near term volatility tracker to the to show the strength of the market's trajectory.

When the major average soar, the VIX goes down because there is less fear in the market. Conversely, when the market dips, the VIX spikes.

"Sebastian says that sometimes the best way to measure the strength of an up move is by looking at the severity of the decline in the Volatility Index," Cramer said. "In other words, when the VIX really gets pounded, you know you're looking for a terrific run."

First, Cramer looked at the moves of the S&P 500 and the VIX over the last two years. The S&P's rallies mirrored the VIX's declines, and after each big advance, the market kept rising.

Before the most recent upswing, which occurred just after the U.S. election in early November, Cramer noticed that the market faltered. Wall Street was fairly certain Hillary Clinton would win, but FBI Director James Comey reopening the email investigation threw a wrench in the market.

The S&P 500 slid down about 3 percent, but the VIX jumped from 13 to 22, much too large a spike compared to the S&P's mild sell-off.

"Sebastian would've expected a 5 to 7 percent decline given the action in the VIX," Cramer said. "He says we tend to see this kind of behavior when the market's worried about what might happen, not what is happening."

A similar disconnect happened after President Donald Trump was elected and incited panic on the Street because so many money managers were banking on Clinton.

The VIX had already gone down from when the Comey investigation was dropped for a second time, but it went lower still after Trump's victory as the S&P saw the beginnings of a months-long rally.

"This was a great example of the VIX forecasting a terrific move," Cramer said. "Immediately after the election results, [...] if you took your cue from the volatility index, you knew it was time to do some buying and you caught the beginning of November's phenomenal Trump rally."

Ahead of Sunday's French elections, traders and investors alike were worried about the possibility of a runoff between the far-right and far-left candidates, pushing the VIX higher.

When centrist Emmanuel Macron came in first place, the S&P took off, rallying 1.6 percent since Friday's close. But the VIX saw an even bigger drop, cratering at the unusually low level of 10.5.

"Looking at this moment through the prism of the big rally we got last November when the VIX plummeted, Sebastian thinks this is showing that we have got a lot more room to run," Cramer said. "Based on the action in the VIX, he easily sees the S&P traveling to 2,450 before it runs out of steam."

While this is a promising sign, Cramer urged investors not to go off chasing stocks, a very high-risk practice. But if you're already invested, he recommends staying the course.

Watch the full segment here:
Mobile telecom equipment maker Ericsson reported a slightly bigger than expected first-quarter operating loss on Tuesday and said industry trends and business mix in mobile broadband from 2016 were expected to prevail in 2017.

Sweden's Ericsson posted an operating loss of 12.3 billion Swedish crowns ($1.4 billion) as previously announced provisions, writedowns and restructuring costs pushed it deep into the red.

That compared with a 3.5 billion profit in the year-ago quarter and was just below a mean forecast for a 12.0 billion crown loss seen in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Sales at Ericsson, one of the top global mobile networks equipment makers, were 46.4 billion crowns, below a consensus forecast of 47.3 billion, while the gross margin came in at 13.9 percent compared to the 17.9 percent seen by analysts. ($1 = 8.8666 Swedish crowns)
Intelligence officials from the so-called "Five Eyes" network, which includes the United States' FBI, CIA and National Security Agency, are gathering for an annual intelligence-sharing exchange today in New Zealand. Reuters confirmed the get-together, at which spy agency reps from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand will also gather.

"Six U.S. and allied government sources told Reuters" the event is an annual thing, not convened to respond to current instability in the Asia-Pacific region as U.S./North Korea tensions escalate.

From the Reuters report:

The confirmation of the meetings indicates that "Five Eyes" countries hold regular intelligence conferences, a fact not widely known outside intelligence circles until now, according to analysts. The officials and English declined to discuss what topics would be on the agenda, although English said he would use the meetings as an opportunity to stress New Zealand's dedication to the intelligence-sharing network. "It's becoming increasingly obvious, I think, that as you consider these supra-national threats like ISIS that you work together with other countries," English said, using a common acronym for the Islamic State militant group. A source at one of the agencies confirmed that the New Zealand conference was an "annual get-together  a regular meeting of all of the seniors". Activities by Russia's government and counter-proliferation of nuclear arms in North Korea would likely be discussed, alongside more mundane topics like managing diversity in the workplace and how to prevent whistleblowers, according to Massey University security and defense analyst Rhys Ball, who formerly worked for New Zealand's intelligence service.

PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English during news conference at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
"If we're going to be serious about this, we're probably going to have to go down that road," Aaron Friedberg, professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, testified.

Meantime, experts said more could be done to apply economic pressure on North Korea but it would involve sanctioning Chinese entities, including banks.

The hearing came as tensions remained high on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea conducted artillery drills Tuesday, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. It reported the Pyongyang regime "staged what appears to be the largest firing drill," which it said was to mark the 85th founding anniversary of communist state's military.

Tellis added, "The challenges emanating from China are long term , enduring and aimed fundamentally at decoupling the United States from its Asian partners."

"The challenges emanating from North Korea are obviously real, dangerous and in the near term," Ashley Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace testified to at full Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about policy and strategy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Also, a U.S. military strike on Pyongyang would pose huge risks for the U.S., South Korea and other allies in the region, and the outlook for regime change is grim even if economic incentives were offered.

North Korea will continue its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and the U.S. cannot count on China to apply sufficient pressure to deter the growing threat, experts told a Senate panel Tuesday.

China's economic ties with its neighbor North Korea are important to the secretive regime's survival but even with pressure, Pyongyang is unlikely to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

"Denuclearization is unlikely at this point  at least in the near term and at least under this regime," testified Kelly Magsamen, former principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs.

The 33-year-old Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, is also trying to elevate himself in the hermit state so he probably won't back off plans to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the United States, experts testified.

"We essentially have to prepare for a North Korean capability that will ultimately reach the United States," said Victor Cha, senior adviser and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said deterrence offers hope but "is dangerous because of the unpredictability of this regime."

At the same time, senators were told the U.S. needs to consider diplomacy as a solution to limit the North Korean threat but also must accelerate defensive options, including its regional missile defense systems with allies such as Japan and South Korea as well as the U.S. homeland itself. They indicated that more focus on defensive systems was a prudent strategy in case diplomacy fails with Pyongyang.

Yet the military option should remain on the table too, experts said. They said the U.S. could target missile launch facilities in North Korea or other key military installations but the possibility of eliminating all the nuclear locations is challenging at best.

"The nuclear targets themselves have become more numerous," said Princeton's Friedberg, who previously served as a deputy assistant for national security affairs in the office of Vice President Dick Cheney. "North Koreans are starting to develop mobile ballistic missiles. The problem with pre-empting or attacking in a preventative way and destroying the North Korean nuclear capabilities is only getting worse."

That said, experts also testified there's a very high risk with U.S. military action against North Korea because it could result in the Pyongyang regime launching a retaliatory strike with conventional weapons against South Korea and Japan as well as lead to Chinese military intervention on the Korean Peninsula.

"We should not kid ourselves here," said Magsamen. "A conflict on the peninsula would be unlike anything we have seen in decades. North Korea is not a Syria. It's not an Iraq. The consequences could be extremely high."

Furthermore, she added, "We are going to face a very stark choice at some point in the future  probably in the next five years about an ICBM reaching the United States."

Yonhap reported Tuesday that the firing drills involve as many as 400 long-range artillery pieces and added that they can reach Seoul and other nearby areas. The North's drills also come as the carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson is expected to arrive in the region later this week and as a U.S. nuclear submarine docked in South Korea.

A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet Command told CNBC on Tuesday afternoon that the Vinson carrier strike group completed drills with Japan self-defense forces Monday and is currently conducting what he termed "routine strike group and air wing training in the Philippine Sea in waters south of Japan."

On Wednesday, there will be a White House briefing for all 100 senators regarding the North Korean situation by key Trump administration officials, including the secretaries of Defense and State as well as the director of national intelligence and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Correction: The carrier strike group is being led by the USS Carl Vinson. An earlier version misstated the name of the ship.
When a cadre of manufacturing executives came to the White House in February, a repeat visit for the group, they said one of their highest hopes was for less regulation  and not just for big companies.

Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson said in February that the executives sought relief for small and medium businesses "impacted by burdensome regulations." "That's where we want to develop jobs and growth," she said. "The president listened intently and wanted to take action."

The following day, Trump, flanked by those executives, responded by signing an executive order on that very topic. Among the directives outlined: Each agency  unless it receives a waiver  was to appoint a "regulatory reform officer" to build a task force to target rules deemed costly, burdensome or redundant. The White House order stipulated the appointment be made within 60 days from the date of signing, a date that falls this week.

CNBC reached out to 20 government agencies to inquire about the status of the regulatory reform appointment and the progress of the corresponding task force. Just a handful of agencies responded with the names of their appointees.

Brian Callanan has been designated as Treasury's regulatory reform officer. In March, Callanan was named deputy general counsel of the Treasury Department and currently serves as acting general counsel. Previously, he was staff director and general counsel of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Sen. Rob Portman.

Elaine Duke, confirmed as deputy Homeland Security secretary, will be adding regulatory reform to her portfolio, the agency told CNBC. Holly Turner, who joined the Small Business Administration as assistant administrator in March, will take on the role for SBA.

The Environmental Protection Agency, whose administrator has been vocal about the volume of regulations he plans to roll back, has devoted a landing page to the issue, which included the appointment Samantha Dravis as regulatory reform officer.

James Uthmeier, senior counsel to the Department of Commerce and former private sector attorney, will chair the department's regulatory task force, a spokesperson said.

The Department of Education declined to comment, as did the Department of Health and Human Services. The Department of Veterans Affairs directed inquiries to the White House. The White House directed the question to the Office of Management and Budget. A spokesperson for the OMB told CNBC: "We are working with agencies and compiling information as we speak."

The other agencies CNBC contacted did not respond.
Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump talks during a panel at the W20 Summit in Berlin on April 25, 2017.

While visiting Germany in her first visit overseas as a member of the presidential staff, Ivanka Trump downplayed front-page headlines there calling her a "loyal accomplice" to her father.

"I don't like the word 'accomplice' because in this context, I don't know that that's productive," she said in an exclusive interview with NBC News' White House correspondent Hallie Jackson.

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"One of the things that I value about my father, as first a businessman and now as the leader of our country, is that he curates ideas and he likes to hear from people with divergent viewpoints. And that's not always true in politics. It's actually seldom true."
"It's clear to me people hate their banks but don't leave until something goes wrong," said Denise Kingsmill, the chair of the board at U.K. challenger bank Monzo, on Tuesday. "I want to create something that people don't hate; that they trust," said Kingsmill during the opening panel at the 2017 SWIFT Business Forum in London. Monzo started two years ago and "have just got our banking license". The mobile-only new digital bank, which wants to displace established U.K. retail banks, uses big data analytics and financial technology (FinTech) to try to serve ordinary customers better. "We've raised 35 million ($44.9 million) in capital via long-term investors and 1 million on the CrowdCube crowdfunding website in 96 seconds, largely as a marketing exercise and to get customer buy-in. They were limited to 500 each," explained Kingsmill. Speaking to CNBC.com exclusively afterwards, Kingsmill revealed there are 170,000 customers on Monzo's waiting list, "who are being on-boarded now in 10,000 person groups prior to our imminent go live."

Getty Images

Monzo has only one product at the moment: Its current account and they don't pay interest on it because they expect customers to opt for its promised better 24x7 customer service, or go for a savings account elsewhere. "I'm not a banker, I am a lawyer," added Kingsmill during the panel session at the event entitled "Building Tomorrow, Today". She is a former U.K. regulator, but she believes "too many bankers have never done anything but banking," and are consequently unaware of how other sectors work or the human aspects of providing a good service, particularly to millennial customers that live on their mobile phone. However, the U.K. retail banking industry has experienced non-banking heads before, most notably when ex-retailer Andy Hornby was chief executive at HBOS prior to its rescue in 2008 by Lloyds Bank, so some of the banking audience questioned her reasoning. "There might be a danger in non-banking people leading organizations," cautioned attendee Bob Lyddon of Lyddon Consulting.

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Kingsmill was frank in her assessment of the challenges when launching a new retail bank in the U.K., admitting "the journey has had its ups and downs" and there have been "the usual issues with people coming and going." She also called for a two-track regulatory procedure in the U.K. to approve new challenger banks that was less paper-based and onerous on smaller newcomers. "We are seeing more banks come through in the U.K., but it's not easy." Some challenger banks, such as Tandem Bank have fallen after House of Fraser, the Chinese-owned U.K. department-store chain, rescinded most of its 35 million investment. But lots of others such as Atom, Starling and so forth remain. How many will thrive in future years remains to be seen. "We anticipate growing our current account customers into a financial hub for the business," said Kingsmill, citing WeChat in China which has taken the opposite path turning their community into WeBank. "We've talked with them."

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Democrats could rally behind President Donald Trump on a tax reform plan that includes infrastructure spending, the Obama administration's top economic aide told CNBC on Tuesday.

"It makes sense to do both together," Jason Furman said on "Squawk Box." "You have something better than just one good idea. A lot of Democrats like infrastructure spending, and these two have been paired in a number tax bills over the last couple of years."

Late last month, the news site Axios reported that Trump will try to pass tax reform and an infrastructure spending package at the same time this year after the House Republicans' failure to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, however, that Trump has told his White House team to make cutting the corporate tax rate to 15 percent a centerpiece of his tax plan. There was no mention of infrastructure spending in the Journal's report.

The Journal said Trump told aides it was less important that the plan could add to the federal budget deficit. Trump is expected to announce his tax plan on Wednesday.

The promise of a major tax overhaul and looser regulations by the president partly fueled stock market gains in the months after Trump's election.

Furman, who was chairman of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, told CNBC the report on reducing the corporate tax rate is a sign that the White House is not learning from its mistakes. Furman said he had heard previously the Trump administration was supposed to work across the aisle on its next plan.

"This latest leak suggests that they're coming in with an opening bid that's to the right of where the House Republicans are starting," he said.
A model walks the runway during the Christian Dior show at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week at the Musee Rodin on July 7, 2014 in Paris, France. Rindoff | Dufour | French Select | Getty Images

Luxury goods group LVMH and billionaire businessman Bernard Arnault announced on Tuesday a deal to simplify their relationship with Christian Dior by buying out its minority shareholders, a transaction aimed at boosting LVMH's earnings. Arnault's family company said the deal was also aimed at reinforcing its fashion and leather goods division. It would offer 172 euros in cash and 0.192 shares in Hermes , in which Arnault also has a stake, to buy each remaining Christian Dior share it does not currently hold.

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LVMH will also buy the Christian Dior couture brand from the Christian Dior holding company for an enterprise value of 6.5 billion euros ($7.1 billion). Arnault has controlling stakes in both the current Dior structure and LVMH. "The corresponding transactions will allow the simplification of the structures, long requested by the market, and the strengthening of LVMH's Fashion and Leather Goods division thanks to the acquisition of Christian Dior Couture, one of the most iconic brands worldwide," Bernard Arnault said in a statement. The initial cash-and-Hermes-shares offer for Christian Dior would be followed by another secondary offer, valuing each Dior share at 260 euros - a premium of 14.7 percent compared to Dior's closing price of 226.85 euros on April 24.

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French presidential finalists Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen should put labor reforms front and center of their election campaigns if they are to win economic appeal, the chief financial officer of the world's second-largest recruitment company has said.

"Reforms are absolutely necessary to give France back any economic power," Randstad 's Robert Jan van der Kraats told CNBC Thursday as the company reported a boost to its French business in its first-quarter results.

Randstad saw revenue rise 6.4 percent to 5.56 billion euros ($5.98 billion) in Q1 2017, while adjusted net income rose 21 percent to 148 million euros. France was one of the business's strongest performers, delivering growth of 9 percent, slightly down from the 10 percent seen in Q4 2016.

"The French market has a great supply of people due to the unemployment," Van der Kraats said.

"We are very much dependent on the strength of the French economy overall and it is clear that France needs some improvements and some reforms."

Van der Kraats said that he was "not unhappy" with the result of the first round of the French election, which saw Macron, who has already pledged major labor reforms, steal 23.9 percent of votes.

France's unemployment level currently stands at a notable 10 percent.

Macron has pledged to cut unemployment by three percent, bringing it closer in line with the strong employment levels seen in neighbouring countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, his opponent Le Pen, who yesterday distanced herself from her National Front party in a bid to gain more votes ahead of the second round runoff on May 7, has said she aims to tax employers who hire foreign workers.

With French workers among the most expensive in the EU, the reform policies of candidates will need to focus heavily on improving competitiveness, Van der Kraats noted.

According to Randstad's 'hamburger' metric, flexible workers in France can cost employers up to 20 euros per hour ($21) versus approximately 4 euros in Poland.

"Competitiveness in Europe plays a big, big role. If you're the most expensive one, being France, and you have Poland nearby, or even Portugal at just north of 8 euros, the competitiveness plays a big role," said Van der Kraats.

He also noted the need for less protectionism and greater flexibility in employment policies if they are to provide a boost to the country's economy.

Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
French presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron has qualified for next month's runoff election, but a Russian government-linked group seems eager to slow down the campaign's progress.

According to research from cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, members of the hacking team known as Fancy Bear  called Pawn Storm by the report's author  created phishing domains related to the Macron campaign, such as "onedrive-en-marche.fr," plausibly similar to En Marche!, Macron's political party. The domains were spotted by the researchers as they were created by the group, which likely used them in an attempt to steal credentials and hack the Macron campaign.

"Pawn Storm is known to prepare their credential phishing attacks well," the report's researcher, Feike Hacquebord, wrote in an email to The Verge.
Yahoo shareholders will vote June 8 on whether to sell the company's internet businesses to Verizon Communications for $4.48 billion. A yes vote, which is widely expected, would end Marissa Mayer's largely unsuccessful five-year effort to restore the internet pioneer to greatness.

Marissa Mayer Getty Images

But Ms. Mayer, the company's chief executive, will be well compensated for her failure. Her Yahoo stock, stock options and restricted stock units are worth a total of $186 million, based on Monday's stock price of $48.15, according to data filed on Monday in the documents sent to shareholders about the Verizon deal. More from the New York Times:

Uber's C.E.O. Plays With Fire

No Longer a Dream: Silicon Valley Takes On the Flying Car

Is It Time to Break Up Google? That compensation, which will be fully vested at the time of the shareholder vote, does not include her salary and bonuses over the past five years, or the value of other stock that Ms. Mayer has already sold. All told, her time at Yahoo will have netted her well over $200 million, according to calculations based on company filings.

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Ms. Mayer did give up additional equity compensation that she would have received in 2017 as a penalty for her management team's failure to act on a 2014 breach of the company's systems that led to the theft of data on 500 million users. Last month, the federal government indicted four people, including two Russian intelligence officials, in that crime. Yahoo declined to comment on Ms. Mayer's compensation, apart from the information included in its legal filings. Most of Ms. Mayer's payout is based on the 208 percent increase in Yahoo's stock price since she left Google for Yahoo in 2012. Although Yahoo's core businesses of email, news and search continued to tread water under Ms. Mayer's leadership, long-held investments in Alibaba , China's leading e-commerce company, and Yahoo Japan , an affiliated company controlled by SoftBank , increased in value, driving up Yahoo's stock price. The sale to Verizon will leave those two investments, along with other assorted assets like a patent portfolio, in a new company called Altaba. The management of that company will seek to unlock the value of its $44 billion stake in Alibaba and its $9.5 billion stake in Yahoo Japan while minimizing a $15 billion tax bill that Yahoo estimates would be due on an outright sale.

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Yahoo! President and CEO Marissa Mayer delivers a keynote during the Yahoo Mobile Developers Conference on February 18, 2016 at The Masonic in San Francisco, California.

Word that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer could pocket up to $186 million from the company's sale to Verizon Communications cements the charmed nature of her five-year tenure at the company's helm.

That amount eclipses slightly the $179 million that AOL's Tim Armstrong garnered when Verizon bought his company in 2015.

Unlike Armstrong, who has continued to lead AOL after that transaction, Mayer will have no executive role in the company after the Verizon-Yahoo deal is finalized.

Getting paid more for leaving than Armstrong got for staying is just the latest example of how well Mayer has done since she took over Yahoo -- even though her multiple turnaround attempts failed to jumpstart sales growth. Revenue from 2011 to 2016 only increased 4 percent.

Even two high-profile data breaches that occurred under Mayer's watch weren't enough to scuttle the deal.

Still, Mayer's tenure in the corner office coincided with substantial returns for shareholders. The company's share price almost tripled from when she took over in July 2012.
As a U.S. nuclear-powered missile submarine docked in South Korea today, North Korea put on a huge live-fire artillery drill to commemorate the foundation of its militaryand, presumably, show the world who's boss.

Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs are the subject of renewed concerns in recent weeks, as the blundering Donald J. Trump administration 'forgets' where its armadas are. Pretty much the entire world is freaked out today over the possibility of future nuclear tests (or worse) by 'that gentleman' in Pyongyang, as forgetful Donald likes to call him.

A U.S. aircraft carrier strike group is heading for Korean waters, and leading nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan, and the United States are meeting in Tokyo.

The USS Michigan, which made a port call in South Korea today, is the second Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided missile submarine in the United States Navy.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that the North appeared to have deployed a large number of long-range artillery units in the region of Wonsan on its east coast on Tuesday, conducting a large-scale, live-fire drill. The report, citing an unidentified government source, said the live-fire exercise was possibly supervised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. While South Korea's Defence Ministry could not immediately confirm the report, the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: "Our military is closely monitoring the North Korean military's movement in Wonsan areas and we are firmly maintaining readiness." North Korea defiantly said in a state media commentary marking the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean People's Army's that its military was prepared "to bring to closure the history of U.S. scheming and nuclear blackmail". "There is no limit to the strike power of the People's Army armed with our style of cutting-edge military equipment including various precision and miniaturized nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles," the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a front-page editorial. South Korea's Navy said it was conducting a live-fire exercise with U.S. Navy destroyers on Tuesday in waters west of the Korean peninsula and would soon join the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group approaching the region. The carrier group was sent to the region as a warning to North Korea and a show of solidarity with U.S. allies.

From Reuters:



And in related bizarre North Korea news, all 100 U.S. senators are to show up for an unprecedented briefing at the White House for a briefing on the topic Wednesday.

Evidently they're converting a big auditorium into a SCIF for the day.

From Reuters:

Top Trump administration officials will hold a rare briefing on Wednesday at the White House for the entire U.S. Senate on the situation in North Korea. All 100 senators have been asked to the White House for the briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Monday. While administration officials routinely travel to Capitol Hill to address members of Congress on foreign policy matters, it is unusual for the entire Senate to go to the White House, and for all four of those officials to be involved. Wednesday's briefing was originally scheduled for a secure room at the Capitol, but President Donald Trump suggested a shift to the White House, congressional aides said.

North Korea: We are ready to sink American aircraft carrier with a single strike https://t.co/0LGTSulVnP pic.twitter.com/goVTjZkC5O  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 25, 2017

As North Korea speeds its nuclear program, U.S. fears time will run out https://t.co/Xb8X9qza50  The New York Times (@nytimes) April 25, 2017

PHOTO, TOP: The USS Michigan, an Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine, arrives at a naval base in Busan, South Korea, April 25, 2017. Cho Jueong-ho/Yonhap via REUTERS


As the world looks to diversify its energy mix one source, natural gas, is becoming increasingly important.



The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that natural gas is viewed "as a good source of electricity supply" for a range of reasons.

According to the IEA, natural gas is seen as "lower carbon" relative to other fossil fuels. In addition, it takes around two years to build gas plants, which is seen as being relatively quick, while its share of the global energy mix is increasing at two percent annually until 2020.



For its part, the U.S. Department of Energy has described natural gas as playing a "vital role" in the U.S. energy supply. The DOE says that natural gas consumption is set to hit 26.6 trillion cubic feet by 2035, up from 24.3 trillion cubic feet in 2011.



Downsizing

One way to transport natural gas is by cooling it and turning it into liquefied natural gas, or LNG.



The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that, in its liquid state, the volume of natural gas is "about 600 times smaller than its volume in its gaseous state."

The U.S. gets most of its LNG imports from Trinidad and Tobago, which accounted for 78 percent of imports in 2015.



Building bridges

Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is seen by some as a bridging fuel, but what does that mean?



"It's all about really moving away from dirty fossil fuels and into clean renewable energy," Chong Zhi Xin, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie, told CNBC's Sustainable Energy.



"So if we look in the past, a lot of base load power really came from coal as well as oil, and we're looking at a future where you're looking at zero carbon emissions from solar, from wind," Xin added.



"But in order to get there it is difficult today, you can't completely switch your industries to using renewables. And that's where gas really comes in as a bridging fuel: it is clean, and it can provide base load power."

A range of uses



Wood Mackenzie's Chong Zhi Xin went on to tell Sustainable Energy that natural gas had a range of uses.



"Natural gas can be used in the power sector, it can also be used in industries for heat generation, it can be used in the fertilizer sector to create ammonia, and lastly it can also be used in the transport sector, as CNG (compressed natural gas), or in LNG for long haul trucks."

The transport sector was another avenue of interest.



"I think a lot of economies around the world (are) really looking at EVs (electric vehicles) as the way forward for transport, but more importantly I think natural gas can really work to support these EVs," Zhi Xin said.



"EVs really require power from the grid, and that's where natural gas being used in the power generation sector could support the development of all these electric vehicles," he added.
As Panera Bread prepares to be acquired, the company turned in what it called its "best quarter in four years," with earnings that were in line with Wall Street estimates and revenue that bested those views.

EPS: $1.83, versus $1.83 expected by Thomson Reuters estimates

Revenue: $728 million, versus $717.1 million expected by analysts

The Missouri-based company posted first-quarter earnings of $1.83 a share, excluding items, on revenue of $728 million. In the year-ago period, Panera earned a $1.56 a share on $685.2 million in revenue. A consensus of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.83 per share on revenue of $717.1 million.

Same-store sales rose 5.3 percent at company-owned bakery cafes.

"The themes we have bet on  digital, clean food, loyalty, delivery, and new formats for growth  are shaping the restaurant industry today. Outside the big three pizza players, Panera is leading the industry in digital, with 26% of sales now digital," CEO and chairman Ron Shaich said in a press release on Tuesday.

The sandwich shop recently announced that it plans to hire 10,000 new employees as part of its delivery service expansion. Delivery is now available in 24 percent of system-wide bakery cafes.

Tuesday's earnings release is one of its last as a public company, and Panera doesn't plan on updating its outlook for fiscal 2017.

The chain of bakery cafes is being acquired in a deal valued at about $7.5 billion by privately-held JAB Holding, which also owns brands like Keurig Green Mountain and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. On Monday, JAB said it is looking for buyers for its luxury brands including Jimmy Choo, as it shifts its focus to its food and beverage operations.

Shaich used the earnings release as an opportunity to thank shareholders for their support over the last two decades. JAB's acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter.

Shares of Panera rose about 45 percent over the past 12 months, as of Tuesday's close.
Last December, anyone who searched Google for "did the Holocaust happen? would see a white supremacist website at the top of the results. To counteract these kinds of problems, Google updated its Search Quality Rater Guidelines to devalue "misleading information, unexpected offensive results, hoaxes and unsupported conspiracy theories," says Google vice president of engineering Ben Gomes.

In addition to changing its algorithm to reduce "offensive or clearly misleading content," Google is also giving users the ability to rate and flag Autocomplete offerings and Featured Snippets results:

When you visit Google, we aim to speed up your experience with features like Autocomplete, which helps predict the searches you might be typing to quickly get to the info you need, and Featured Snippets, which shows a highlight of the information relevant to what you're looking for at the top of your search results. The content that appears in these features is generated algorithmically and is a reflection of what people are searching for and what's available on the web. This can sometimes lead to results that are unexpected, inaccurate or offensive. Starting today, we're making it much easier for people to directly flag content that appears in both Autocomplete predictions and Featured Snippets. These new feedback mechanisms include clearly labeled categories so you can inform us directly if you find sensitive or unhelpful content. We plan to use this feedback to help improve our algorithms.

[via]
Departures from Singapore's sole stock exchange  which made headlines last year when several prominent companies exited  have continued into 2017, and it remains to be seen whether new listings could catch up. So far this year, 10 companies have delisted from the Singapore Exchange (SGX), according to data that CNBC compiled from SGX filings. That figure could more than double by year end given that at least 10 other companies have announced acquisition offers or are being asked by the exchange to exit for failing to meet listing rules. In comparison, there have only been four initial public offerings this year.

Suhaimi Abdullah - Getty Images

Companies leaving stock exchanges are common occurrences worldwide, but the spate of departures in Singapore coincided with a dearth of IPOs, low confidence in the local equities market and a decline in trading volume. As a result, the exits strengthened the perception that the city state is losing its appeal as a listing destination. Loh Boon Chye, chief executive of SGX, said the situation is less severe if one compares the total funds raised versus the value of companies that left. Last year, the exchange raised 13.2 billion Singapore dollars ($9.5 billion) through IPOs, reverse takeovers, secondary listings, rights issues and placements; while it lost 13.4 billion Singapore dollars ($9.6 billion) from delistings. "One can focus purely on the number of listings versus the number of delistings... I think it's important to look at funds raised as an additional parameter," Loh said at the exchange's earnings briefing last Thursday evening. Prominent Singapore businesses were among the 30 companies that left the SGX last year, including shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines and public transport operator SMRT Corp , according to data compiled by CNBC. That outnumbered the 16 IPOs in the same year. Reasons cited by the companies were wide-ranging: from wanting greater management control to high costs of staying public and poor financial performance. For those who chose to turn private, Barry Lee, KPMG Singapore's head of capital markets group, said the lackluster economy played a part. "Major considerations include the ability to attract the optimal valuation by being listed due to the generally subdued economic climate of recent years and the increased regulatory compliance burden and associated costs from a listing, such as listing fees and compliance requirements, director fees, professional fees," Lee told CNBC. "Staying private also provides more flexibility for the management team to manage the growth of their business," he added. But things could be looking up for SGX this year. Aside from the exchange's various efforts to boost confidence and trading liquidity bearing fruit, global IPO activity has also picked up, experts said.

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In particular, those workers who operate heavy machinery or who drive trucks or cars will be replaced by improved technology, he says. "You are not going to be an Uber driver in five or six, seven years from now," says John.

"Robots are going to take it over. By 2030, robots are going to be able to teach us everything 10 times faster, absolutely," says John. "This is a challenge that is going to come in the next 10 years."

"Shark Tank" investor and founder of the $6 billion clothing brand Fubu Daymond John says the biggest threat to jobs in America are Google and robots.

Similarly, receptionists and executive assistants are being replaced by automated services.

"Immigration is not taking our jobs. Last time I called the operator, it was Google that took her job."

John's viewpoint is backed up by an often-cited 2013 study by Oxford University's Carl Frey and Michael Osborne which estimates that 47 percent of U.S. jobs will be replaced by robots and automated technology in the next 10 to twenty years. Yet Americans remain mostly optimistic, at least when it comes to their own jobs: They tend to think that robots are going to take over for everybody else  just not them.

The way to deal with the new reality, John says, is to train workers in technical skills. Often, retraining doesn't require a four-year college degree, either.

"Please go to college if you are going to be a doctor because I need you to have some kind of skill before you cut me open," says John. "But other than that, if you are going to be automating cars, you are going to be converting social media or you are going to be operating cameras and drones such as that, you better learn that.

"And you can probably learn that skill gap in a year."
"Trump has plenty of time to right the ship, but if he doesn't, he has something serious to be concerned about."

The primary challenge to a sitting president goes back to William Howard Taft's fight with Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. Taft was able to retain the Republican nomination, but he was fatally compromised in the general election, winning only two small states and coming in third in the popular vote.

In 1952, Senator Estes Kefauver ran in the New Hampshire primary and defeated the slate which was scheduled to support Harry Truman. Truman soon announced that he wouldn't run for reelection. A similar, though more dramatic, event happened to Lyndon Johnson in 1968. Johnson's slate nearly lost to Senator Gene McCarthy in New Hampshire and was thought to be badly trailing in Wisconsin when Johnson publicly pulled out of his reelection attempt.

While these three examples happened in the days before the primary system was fully established, presidents faced even greater challenges later on. Gerald Ford barely beat back a Ronald Reagan campaign in 1976 and Jimmy Carter faced down Senator Ted Kennedy's primary race in 1980. Both of the candidates went on to lose in November. So did George H.W. Bush in 1992, as political commentator Patrick Buchanan's populist run, which many see as a precursor to Trump's own campaign, revealed great weaknesses in Bush's campaign strategy.

If any president doesn't have a unified party behind him, that is seen as a major precursor to defeat. Presidents require strong support from the party faithful to win reelection. If what we saw in November holds, Trump can expect that the vast majority of Republicans will have his back in 2020. But if only a small percentage switch or fail to turnout, he can be facing doom. Sitting presidents have to spend their reelection race justifying their decisions to the undecided electorate.

To spend the primary campaign shoring up the base  and making political compromises to the more extreme wings of the party rather than to the independent center  provides more opportunities for an opponent to appeal to the center voters. A strong primary challenge also seems to help engender third party candidates  in 1992, Bush was hurt by Ross Perot's run, and the 1980 race was thrown off by an independent John B. Anderson.

There has already been Republican chattering about possible primary challenges to Trump, with former California Governor and Trump Celebrity Apprentice replacement Arnold Schwarzenegger talking up Kasich in recent weeks.

Trump may not be that worried about Kasich, who he badly defeated in the 2016 primaries, or the other prominent Republicans who went down to defeat in the crowded primary field. But if he continues to stumble, other candidates are likely to start cropping up. The never-Trumpers, such as Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse or Mitt Romney who Trump could have co-opted as Secretary of State but failed to do so, may once again find their voice and may even see an opportunity.

One hundred days into his term, Trump has not managed to stabilize his administration with a string of noteworthy victories. He has plenty of time to right the ship, but if he doesn't, he has something serious to be concerned about. The possibility of a primary challenge is an ever-present threat to any presidential administration.

Commentary by Joshua Spivak, a senior fellow at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College in New York. He blogs at The Recall Elections Blog. Follow him on Twitter @recallelections.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
As the White House prepares to release its tax reform plan on Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC he believes President Donald Trump would be willing allow a higher budget deficit in the near term in hopes of spurring a more robust economy down the road.

"The president seems to be making it clear that if he needs a little higher near-term deficit out of which we can grow ... it sounds as though he's up for that," Ross said on "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.

Asked about whether the polarizing border adjustment import tax has a chance of becoming part of the process to cut corporate taxes, Ross said, "I don't know that it's dead because the budget that's being put in will be an opening salvo in the whole tax negotiation. So we'll have to see what comes out the other end."

The border tax is a provision of the House Republican plan to help pay for an overall reduction in the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent.

While noncommittal on the border tax, Trump reportedly wants to a deeper corporate tax rate cut. The president has instructed his advisors to make reducing the business rate to 15 percent a centerpiece of his tax-cut blueprint, according to The New York Times.
The U.S. is considering extending its ban on laptops in aircraft cabins to include Europe and Britain, the Times of London reported Tuesday citing "several informed sources".

President Donald Trump's administration introduced rules last month to place devices larger than a mobile phone in the hold of a plane. The restrictions were aimed at mainly U.S.-bound flights from the Middle East. The U.K. has put similar restrictions in place.

According to The Times, the new rules were introduced after al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based Islamist group allied to al-Qaeda, developed a laptop bomb.

Middle East airlines Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways are offering passengers flying to the U.S. free laptops and Apple iPads to use on flights.

Doha in Qatar, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were among 10 airports in Muslim-majority countries to be affected by the ban.

Read the full report on The Times' website here.
In a video to be posted Tuesday, Alibaba founder Jack Ma said: "As incomes rise, Chinese consumers are increasingly looking for high quality products from around the world, especially the United States."

Jack Ma (R), founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, and at the time President-elect Donald Trump pose for the media after their meeting at Trump Tower on January 9, 2017.

Ma noted that nearly half a billion people shop on Alibaba's marketplaces and that by using the platform, American small businesses have the chance to "grow globally  like the big guys."

Now, Alibaba is announcing that it will host its first small business event in the U.S. this summer to try to convince American entrepreneurs that the company is on their side  and can help them reach millions of Chinese consumers.

The inaugural conference, "Gateway '17" will be held in Detroit, Michigan in June and the company is expecting more than 1,000 businesses from across the nation.

While touting China's growing opportunities, Alibaba will also have to convince attendees that their original businesses and ideas are safe from counterfeiters.

Alibaba has an American PR problem: Last December, it landed back on the U.S. government's "notorious markets" list for fakes  a designation that hurts its image among American businesses. That's especially important for small businesses that sell original creations on e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Etsy .

Alibaba has said it was disappointed by the decision and called for harsher penalties for counterfeiters. Ma even made a personal visit to Trump Tower shortly after the election and vowed to create a million new jobs in the U.S. in the next five years.
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It takes a lot of lumber to build a house, and the price of that wood is going way up.



A new duty imposed by the U.S. Commerce Department on Canadian softwood lumber is designed to level the playing field between Canadian and U.S. lumber producers, and just the anticipation of it has pushed lumber prices higher by about 22 percent since the start of this year. The Trump administration argues that government subsidies for Canadian lumber are unfair. It's great for U.S. lumber producers, not so great for U.S. homebuilders, who inevitably pay the price. "NAHB is deeply disappointed in this short-sighted action by the U.S. Department of Commerce that will ultimately do nothing to resolve issues causing the U.S.-Canadian lumber trade dispute but will negatively harm American consumers and housing affordability," said NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald, a homebuilder and developer from Kerrville, Texas. The cost of this new duty will increase Canadian lumber costs for U.S. customers by 6.4 percent, according to the National Association of Home Builders, and that will be passed on to homebuyers. The NAHB estimates it will increase the price of an average new single-family home by $1,236.

An employee transports cut lumber at the West Fraser Timber Co. sawmill in Quesnel, British Columbia. Ben Nelms | Bloomberg | Getty Images

"Lumber is about 10-15 percent of the sticks and bricks cost of a house," said Buck Horne, vice president of equity research in housing and real estate at Raymond James. Horne notes, however, that a lot of the tariff's impact was already baked into market expectations over the past few months, so lumber costs should not go up much more. That said, builders are already facing big cost challenges. "The materials prices are adding another layer to the surge in the replacement costs of housing. Labor shortages continue. Finished lot prices are inflating in high single digits. Lumber is one component, but we're also seeing gypsum drywall higher and concrete and cement," added Horne, who estimates that the cost to build a single-family home is rising at up to 9 percent. Builders are going to have to offset that with higher prices, perhaps raising them 3 to 5 percent. The median sale price of a newly built home in March rose just 1 percent compared with a year ago. This is likely because builders are still leery of a spike in mortgage rates. They were hit hard in 2013, when rates rose on the so-called taper tantrum, and buyers pulled back.

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Pulte , an Atlanta-based homebuilder that reported quarterly earnings Tuesday, noted a drop in demand for its entry-level homes. That is likely due to weakening affordability amid a severe shortage of homes for sale, both new and existing. The shortage is exacerbated by higher construction costs. Gene Myers, a homebuilder in Denver, said he could be constructing twice as many homes if the costs for land and labor were not so high. "Most of the materials that we use are global commodities, so anything that affects the free flow of those commodities across borders will have a price effect," said Myers, who is concerned that the labor issue also will get worse under President Donald Trump's immigration policies. Even though demand for housing is high, the short supply has pushed prices to new peaks; that is sidelining buyers, especially first-time buyers, who are usually a huge driver of home sales. Watch: Wilbur Ross on lumber tariffs
A Iranian woman walks past a wall painting in the shape of Iranian flag in Tehran, Iran on the first anniversary of nuclear deal between Iran and world powers on January 16, 2017. Fatemeh Bahrami | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

As it approaches its first 100 days in the White House, the Trump administration has put Iran "on notice" and imposed new sanctions  and now it is launching a review of a historic accord with Tehran that limits its nuclear program. That review marks the most strident step toward President Donald Trump's campaign trail threats to pull out of the deal. It will assess whether doing so is in the national interest of the United States in light of a range of American grievances with Iran. However, those grievances were never meant to be addressed by the nuclear negotiations. Any attempt to scuttle the deal for reasons not spelled out in the accord would likely be viewed as illegitimate by the nations that hammered it out and could potentially spark diplomatic and trade disputes with some of America's closest partners.

How did we get here?

The United States has long taken a tougher stance on Tehran than most countries, implementing a series of sanctions going back to the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. European Union leaders balked at attempts by the State Department to strong-arm European companies into cutting ties with Iran 20 years ago. The EU and other nations only got on board after evidence of a covert Iranian nuclear program came to light. Beginning in 2006, the United Nations imposed a series of sanctions that instructed Iran to stop enriching uranium and followed up with additional economic measures that pressured Tehran to comply.

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These efforts culminated in talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1  China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and the United States. In 2015, the parties agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal that lifted U.N. sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran accepting limits on its nuclear activity and oversight of atomic facilities. Since the JCPOA was implemented in 2016, Iran has been able to sell its oil more freely, lay the groundwork for much-needed energy sector investment and purchase planes for its aging commercial fleet. However, U.S. influence over the international financial system has made banks skittish about resuming ties with Iran because the United States maintains robust unilateral sanctions against Iran.

What are the Trump administration intentions?

The Trump administration appears to be trying to remedy what it sees as a fundamental flaw in the nuclear negotiations: They limited Iran's nuclear program, but did not address Tehran's human rights record, its support for U.S.-designated terror groups and its role in regional military conflicts. "I think this was one of the mistakes in how that agreement was put together, is that it completely ignored all of the other serious threats that Iran poses," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last week.

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However, the narrow focus on Iran's nuclear program is what paved the way for the historic deal. Had the United States insisted on solving all of its grievances with Iran, it's unlikely its European partners, let alone Russia and China, would have agreed to the crippling EU and United Nations sanctions that eventually brought Tehran to the negotiating table. As a result, the negotiations achieved only a narrow result: limiting Iran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon. While that was a major achievement for most of the parties, it left many American politicians, Republicans especially, bristling at the prospect of sanctions relief for Iran, which would fill its regime's coffers and fund its campaigns in regional conflicts.

How does the United States pull out of the deal?

If Trump decides to withdraw from the deal unilaterally, the accord gives him a path forward. It begins with the United States alleging that Iran is not complying with the terms of the deal, and ends with the country using its veto power as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to kill any continued sanctions relief. But that course of action could have serious ramifications for the United States if other nations believe Washington is trying to scuttle the deal absent cheating on Iran's part. The Trump administration risks provoking its European partners, China and Russia by threatening to pull out of the deal based on Iranian actions that were never on the agenda during nearly two years of nuclear negotiations that produced the accord. European, Russian and Chinese companies are also vying for major roles in Iran's oil and gas industry, so their governments are unlikely to reimpose sanctions except in response to clear violations. It's worth noting that on the day Tillerson announced the review of America's Iran policy, the State Department also certified that Iran was compliant with the nuclear deal.

What about Iran's ballistic missile tests?

The Trump administration has already launched additional U.S. sanctions on Iran over a recent ballistic missile test, but Tehran's weapons development likely doesn't provide the State Department with grounds to snap sanctions back into place. Iran is not expressly prohibited from testing ballistic missiles. However, a United Nations resolution passed when the organization implemented the nuclear deal "calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons." Reva Goujon, vice president of global analysis at Stratfor, said in a video briefing that the language of the resolution "is squishy by design because the nuclear negotiators knew that Iran would be violating it anyway and wanted to keep that distinct from" the nuclear deal.

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Trump: Do not fear a trade war with Canada 3:52 PM ET Tue, 25 April 2017 | 02:11

Trump has called the move "a disgrace" that's hurting U.S. producers in dairy states like Wisconsin.

"It has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations," said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a statement. "This is not our idea of a properly functioning free trade agreement."

Canadian officials rejected the White House's assertions that its lumber industry is unfairly subsidized and urged the Trump administration to negotiate a settlement.

"You need our lumber to build your homes," Canada's minister of foreign affairs, Chrystia Freeland, told CNBC on Tuesday, noting that lumber prices have been rising. "If the market was being flooded by cheap Canadian lumber, you wouldn't see that happening right now."

The U.S. runs a trade deficit in lumber with Canada, importing more wood than it sends across the northern border. U.S. producers complain that their Canadian competitors enjoy an unfair advantage by harvesting timber more cheaply on federally owned land, while American timber is largely grown on private land.
Share prices of Uber's private stock have dropped about 15 percent to the mid-to-high $30s range amid a slew of bad press, The Information reported Tuesday.

The leg downward would value the privately held company at around $50 billion, down from close to $60 billion at the beginning of this year, an unnamed broker told The Information. Then, shares were in the $40 per share range, the broker said, according to the website.

Because Uber is not traded on public exchanges, it is difficult to gauge how many shares are changing hands, though another broker told The Information that transaction volumes are on the rise. Equidate, an online trading platform for large private technology companies, lists Uber's valuation at nearly $70 billion as of February. ( Equidate was not cited in The Information's report.)

Uber declined to comment to CNBC .

Uber has been notoriously protective of its shares  even big investors aren't supposed to sell them, investor Bill Maris told TechCrunch last year. Short of selling their shares back to the company itself, many start-ups offer few ways for employees to cash out. That system creates what venture capitalist Scott Kupor calls a "Faustian bargain" for many start-up employees, and it could conceivably tempt cash-poor workers to skirt the rules and sell cheap.

Still, Uber has suffered a litany of negative headlines that would have arguably dinged a publicly traded company  including an investigation into sexism allegations, a lawsuit over allegedly stolen intellectual property, and accusations of evading authorities and dodging Apple's rules.

For more on Uber's stock, see the report in The Information.
The bipartisan leaders of the House Oversight Committee said Tuesday there is "no evidence" former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn complied with the law when accepting payments from the governments of Russia and Turkey.

"As a former military officer, you simply cannot take money from Russia, Turkey or anybody else. And it appears as if he did take that money. It was inappropriate, and there are repercussions for the violation of law," Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chair of the committee, told reporters.

More from NBC News:

Guess who came to dinner with Flynn and Putin

North Korea holds drill with live fire to mark military anniversary: Seoul

Oversight Chiefs Explain 'Extremely Troubling' Flynn Documents

Flynn received $45,000 in December 2015 to speak at an gala celebrating Russian TV, a state-run news channel deemed by U.S. intelligence officials as an arm of the Russian government. He also received more than $500,000 for lobbying work on behalf of the Turkish government.

Chaffetz and Rep. Elijah Cummings, the highest ranking Democrat on the panel, addressed reporters shortly after releasing a letter from the White House declining their request for more information about the payments.

"The White House has refused to provide this Committee with a single piece of paper in response to our bipartisan request, and that is unacceptable," Cummings said.

Chaffetz, however, told NBC News he does not believe the White House is being uncooperative. He simply thinks they don't have any information to share.

"The reality is I just don't think there are any documents because Gen. Flynn was required to proactively ask permission prior to engaging with Russia and Turkey. Not only was he supposed to ask for permission, he was supposed to get permission, and he didn't," he said.

A White House official told NBC News that most of the documents the committee asked for would be in the possession of other agencies, while other inquiries were too expansive.

"We can't be accused of declining to share things we do not have or not filling requests that are too broad to fill," a White House official said.

Cummings and Chaffetz spoke to reporters after viewing classified memos and the lieutenant general's disclosure form. It appears Flynn did not report the payments when applying to renew his security clearance. Cummings said the potential crime is punishable with up to five years in prison.

"I see no information or no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said.

Flynn served as a national security during President Donald Trump's campaign and was chosen as his national security advisor. Flynn resigned in February after misleading Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States.
Kimberly Gerhart is compiling spreadsheets and tending to clients via email, but this is no ordinary work trip. Just in front of her sits a margarita; a little farther away, the Pacific Ocean shimmers. Gerhart's employer, back in Indianapolis, has footed the bill for her "work" abroad trip in Malibu  not that there's a client, prospect or branch office there.

By now, much of the professional world has dispensed with the 9-to-5 workday, and while death by overwork is rife in Japan and China, the always-on culture has spread around the world. Our vacation policies have not kept pace.

The International Labor Organization reports that Americans who rack up 50 or more work hours per week are less likely than ever to take their piddling 10-day vacation. Clearly, it's time our corporate overlords mandated a downshifting: Bosses should pay for an all-expense-paid "work" trip to an exotic locale of your choice.

More from Ozy:

The Muslim politician fighting for a new Italy

The changing face of America's classic diners

The feud that left a mark on presidential history

We're not talking about tedious conferences in Scottsdale or presentations in Akron. Rather, we're imagining a yearly stipend to take a week-long, non-meeting trip anywhere in the world, one that allows for a major change of scenery and an opportunity to answer those emails on some beach far, far away from your drab desk. Ahhhh.

Employees are handed $1,500 to jet off to wherever they please for one whole week. The only caveat: You still must work during that time, but in a place that will "inspire" you.

Fizziology, a social media research firm in Indianapolis, already treats their workers to this sweet perk through what the company calls the "Find Your Inspiration Trip." Toronto, Mexico and New Orleans are just a few destination examples from the program's first year; meanwhile, trips to Poland and Iceland are currently in the works for this year.

Employees use this "solo exploration trip" to "break out of their daily routine," says Fizziology co-founder Jen Handley. "They come back with so much gratitude and goodwill." For Handley, the biggest benefit is loyalty: Over the past two years, the team has experienced zero turnover inside the 20-person company.

A small size, for sure, but significant results.

Flexible work is definitely on the rise, as a growing crop of companies continues to experiment with unlimited vacation policies and work-from-anywhere benefits. However, in recent years many of these employee wellness schemes have all but flopped, with few taking advantage of them. For one, not all companies can remain productive with an entirely remote workforce; face-to-face time is often critical for ease of communication and, for lack of a better term, getting shit done. Moreover, "endless summer" vacation policies like Netflix's and Virgin America's have been met with flak for their unstructured, ambiguous nature. In fact, employees end up taking off fewer days than they would have with a more formal two-week vacation policy. (Both companies declined to comment, but a Virgin America rep did point us to his CEO's company-wide letter.)


The Trump administration's new duties on Canadian softwood lumber will lead to a "small increase" in lumber prices in the United States, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Ross said he does not expect costs to go up "anything like the 20 percent" average tariffs on the softwood lumber imports. He added that those duties will be collected starting Tuesday and retroactively going back 90 days.

The U.S. took the action Monday, arguing that Canada's subsidies for its own lumber industry are unfair. The Trump administration has sharpened its trade rhetoric against Canada recently, after President Donald Trump spent most of his campaign directing his ire at Mexico instead.

Canada has denounced the action, calling it unwarranted, according to Reuters.

Ross said Canada is "generally a good neighbor," but it has to "play by the rules."

The action will increase the cost of Canadian lumber by 6.4 percent for U.S. customers, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The NAHB estimates it will increase the price of an average new single-family home by $1,236.

Ross said that he does not know of any more "immediate actions" planned against Canada. He added that he is not concerned about potential Canadian retaliation or the start of trade war, saying "We don't think that's going to happen."

 CNBC's Diana Olick contributed to this report.

Watch: Ross doesn't think tariff will start a trade war with Canada
James F. Ruddy authored Photograde and was a coin dealer/auction house owner for nearly three decades.

James F. Ruddy, one half of one of the most famous coin auction houses of the 20th century, died April 12 after a brief illness.

Mr. Ruddy in 1971 was a co-founder of Bowers and Ruddy Galleries with Q. David Bowers, after the two had worked together for more than a decade in various coin businesses.

Mr. Ruddy was also the author of Photograde, the revolutionary 1970 book that provided images of coins at various circulated grades.

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Mr. Ruddy was born March 31, 1933, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

A graduate of the State University of New York, he was married to Marge (Zucha) from 1953 to 1966 and Nancy (Conklin) from 1967 to 1981. Sue Harper, whom he married in 1986, survives in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He is also survived by two daughters, Janet and Linda.

Mr. Ruddy began collecting in 1953 and placed his first ad in Numismatic News in July 1954. He also joined the American Numismatic Association during this period, and became life member No. 337.

Originally employed by Ansco, a division of General Aniline and Film Co. of Binghamton, N.Y., from 1953 to 1956, Mr. Ruddy began coin dealing in 1953 before opening Triple Cities Coin Exchange in Johnson City, N.Y., from 1954 to 1958.

Raised lines spark collector interest: Inside Coin World: Raised lines and die gouges can create curious effects on coins. This week's Inside Coin World has plenty on the topic.

The partnership of Ruddy and Bowers held two auctions in 1956 and 1957, under two different company names, before dissolving the joint effort, Empire Coin Co., in 1960, with Ruddy continuing to operate it individually.

By July 1961, Bowers and Mr. Ruddy were back together doing business as Empire Coin Co. Inc. Mr. Ruddy also served as vice president and treasurer of Paramount International Coin Corp. from June 30, 1964, to Aug. 15, 1967.

In 1966, Empire merged with Paramount, and from 1968 to 1970 Mr. Ruddy headed to Hollywood to lead Ruddy Investments, publisher of Ruddys Review, a fixed-price list with hobby information. Four editions were issued in 1969 and 1970.

A new firm, Bowers and Ruddy Galleries, paired the two friends again, and the firm operated in Hollywood, from 1971 until April 1977, during which time the firm conducted 63 auctions.

The firm was acquired by General Mills in 1974.

In 1983, Mr. Ruddy developed Ruddys 1930s General Store Museum in Palm Springs, Calif.

The museum building was donated to the city in 1987. He also served on the board of The Manuscript Society and as its vice president from 1988 to 1992.

His collection of encased postage stamps was sold at auction by Bowers and Merena June 19 to 21, 1984.

Mr. Ruddy served as secretary of the Professional Numismatists Guild from 1960 to 1964 and received that organizations Distinguished Service Award. In 1990 he received the PNG Founders Award.

There will be no funeral or memorial service, as per his wishes.

Much of the information in this article was provided by Pete Smiths American Numismatic Biographies.
With a (symbolic) (but it's a potent symbol) election looming in Iran, the global Persian diaspora is not lacking for news organs that are producing the kind of unfiltered political news that would get you jailed or killed in Iran.



Iran's "Halal Internet" practices extensive censorship that segregates this kind of news from Iranians themselves, but the Halal Internet has an app-shaped hole in it  the network surveillance and censorship appliances used by the Iranian government are not smart enough to block apps.

Maziar Bahari is a dissident, exiled Iranian journalist who was imprisoned and tortured by the regime for 118 days in 2009. Now he runs Iranwire, a leading Persian politics site. They've just launched Sandoogh96 (Vote 2017), an app that publishes independent political news. Word of the app is spreading in Iran, and it's challenging the dominant narrative.

If you have Persian-speaking friends and you'd like to send them some political reading, there's always this edition of Little Brother, which is a high-quality, free translation created by Iranian expats.



Bahari, who now lives in London and directs the online news organization IranWire, hopes to make the process of picking a candidate in such an environment a little easier with new app called Sandoogh96, or Vote2017 in English. It strips away the government spin and helps Iranians figure out which candidates' views align most closely with their own. It utilizes a Tinder-like interface, in which users swipe left or right depending on whether they agree or disagree with a given policy proposal, until they find their perfect match. The app includes information on where candidates stand on women's rights, foreign policy, economics, and a range of other issues, as well as local news from IranWire's network of citizen journalists.

This App Lets Iranians Swipe Past Political Propaganda [Issie Lapowskie/Wired]
Starting in 1938, San Francisco's Westin St. Francis Hotel began washing all of the change that flowed through the business. Hotelier Dan London initiated the process to prevent grimy coins from dirtying the fancy white gloves worn by women visiting the establishment. These days, the responsibility belongs to one Rob Holsen. From a 2010 SFGATE article:

The process begins when the general cashier sends racks of rolled coins to Holsen, who empties the change into a repurposed silver burnisher.



Along with the coins, the burnisher is filled with water, bird shot to knock the dirt off, and a healthy pour of 20 Mule Team Borax soap. After three hours of swishing the coins around, Holsen uses a metal ice scoop to pour the loot into a perforated roast pan that sifts out the bird shot.



The wet coins are then spread out on a table beneath heat lamps.



This is where once-rusted copper pennies turn into shimmering bronze coins. Quarters look like sparkling silver bits. It's also where Holsen gives the money a quick quality inspection



Once he's satisfied, he feeds the polished money into a counter, which shoots the change into paper rolls to be distributed to the hotel's cash registers.
President of Cyprus arrives in Mumbai for four-day visit today

Nicos Anastasiades, the President of Republic of Cyprus will be in India on a state visit from today. This is the first visit of the President of Cyprus to India. Earlier, he had substantive meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2015.

Cyprus President nicos Anastasiades (left) with indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo courtesy: Sarkaritel

India can help Cyprus in its quest for reunification as it has close ties with Turkey, President Nicos Anastasiades has said ahead of his maiden visit to the country during which he will reaffirm the island nations close and time-tested ties with New Delhi.

Of course, we shall ask Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi if any kind of possibility to intervene on the Cyprus question, he said. His remarks assume significance as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit India on April 30. At the same time Anastasiades insisted that Cyprus wont do things that may put friends at unease. If they are not able to intervene, we will not ask them. We are not going to ask something that may harm Indias interest, he said.

He will be accompanied by the ministers of finance, energy, transport and agriculture. The main aim of the visit is to reaffirm Cyprus ties with India which has supported the countrys unification efforts.

President Anastasiades will have a meeting with Governor of Maharashtra today after arriving in Mumbai and will address a business forum tomorrow. He is set to travel to Delhi, address a business forum and deliver a talk at Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in the capital. On Friday morning, he will be given a ceremonial guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan followed by wreath laying by him at Mahatma Gandhi's Samadhi, Raj Ghat. His other engagements on that day include a meeting with the president of India Pranab Mukherjee, who will host a banquet in the honour of President Anastasiades, and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Modi. Additionally, External Affairs Minister Susma Swaraj will call on President Anastasiades.

Nicos Anastasiades at the European People's Parliament. Photo courtesy: EPP

Cyprus is a major investor in India. With cumulative Foreign Direct Investment of above USD9 billion, Cyprus is the eighth largest foreign investor in India and has invested in areas such as financial leasing, stock exchange, auto manufacture, manufacturing industries, real estate, cargo handling, construction, shipping and logistics. There is also scope for cooperation in sectors like pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, tourism and film production. India and Cyprus enjoy close, friendly and time-tested ties. On many global issues, both countries share similar views. Almost all Cypriot Presidents have come to India on state visits.
Today, Open Britain  the rebranded Remain campaign  launched a tactical voting campaign aimed at unseat MPs, Conservative and Labour, who supported Leave in last years referendum. At the same time, Tony Blair urges aggrieved Remainers to elevate the campaign above the status of a conventional partisan election  neither the floridity of that language nor his denials that he supports tactical voting manage to conceal what he means.

Obviously, that puts those Conservative MPs who support Open Britain in an awkward position. They might share the organisations views, but they cannot go into an election supporting a campaign which seeks to unseat any of their Conservative colleagues.

I put that question to Nicky Morgan this morning, and she has responded with the news that she, Anna Soubry and Dominic Grieve  the most high profile Tory supporters of Open Britain  are withdrawing their support:

As long standing Conservative Party members and MPs it is untenable for us to play any further role in an organisation, such as Open Britain, which is advocating campaigning against Conservative MPs or candidates. I and we will not be doing so. Nicky Morgan, Anna Soubry & Dominic Grieve

**UPDATE**

By contrast, Change Britain  the Leave group set up after the referendum by Michael Gove and Gisela Stuart  is remaining neutral in the election:
A logistically competent turnout operation will only take the Party so far. Voter targeting has been a Conservative strength in recent times. Since 2005, its been working well (given the Party didnt properly campaign in the EU referendum it would be harsh to say it failed last summer). However, while there are many options for local communications campaigns  based on the reality of the economy and life in different parts of the country  ultimately turnout will depend on the power of the national message.

The Party needs some high-profile dividing lines  rows with Corbyn and others that will motivate potential voters to actually show up. When she called the election, May chose the implementation of Brexit as her primary dividing line. This was the right decision: while it might irritate pro-European ultras in the South  voters that might go Liberal Democrat  polls suggest these voters are dwarfed by the number of people that want democracy respected. In short, it makes complete sense for the Party to take a calculated risk giving the Lib Dems a powerful campaigning message in the South, in the expectation people across the country will show up on the day to get the right approach to Brexit.

There arent that many other dividing lines the Party can choose  ones where there are obvious differences in policy, which the public care about (particularly the mass of just about managing C1/C2 voters) and where the Conservatives have competitive advantage. One of them, however, is tax  or, rather, one was tax. The Party could easily have made the case that a broad coalition of left-leaning parties was a threat to their living standards, and that the Conservatives would never raise their tax. Given incomes have been so static for so long  and given Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems all feel like high-tax parties  it would have been a powerful message.

Instead, the Conservatives have let this opportunity pass by. When people hear politicians evading specific promises not to raise tax  as they have from senior Conservatives in the last few days  they hear their taxes are going up. The defensive Conservative line that taxes will always be lower than under Corbyn is irrelevant when the Party is positioning Corbyn as a hardlline socialist. Of course taxes will be lower than under Corbyn. The question is whether theyll be higher than they are now (already high).

Political junkies are well-acquainted with former New York Governor Mario Cuomos line: You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose. The Conservatives seem to want to campaign in prose too  refusing to make promises that will restrict their movement in Government. At one level, this is to be applauded: they dont like promises they cant keep or will struggle to keep. But surely the point of calling this election was to win a landslide? There hasnt been such an opportunity in years.

Apathy is a formidable foe in politics and it could be so in this election. Against Corbyn, the Conservatives need anything they can that will cut through to the public and make them feel a sense of urgency. Without such issues, they could find themselves with a perfectly respectable majority but not the one they could secure.
It is too early to say whether the Liberal Democrats will recapture Eastbourne from the Conservatives at the general election, but not too soon to realise they have a serious chance of doing so.

For in several hours of conversation in this seaside town yesterday, it was impossible to avoid noticing that their candidate, Stephen Lloyd, who lost by only 733 votes to the Conservative, Caroline Ansell, in 2015, enjoys exceptional levels of recognition and approval.

Lloyd was first adopted as the Liberal Democrat candidate in Eastbourne in 2002, lost to the sitting Conservative MP, Nigel Waterson, by 1,124 votes in 2005, and defeated him by 3,435 votes in 2010. Five years later, the national Lib Dem vote collapsed by 15.2 percentage points to a mere 7.9 per cent, which was a deep enough slump to unseat Lloyd.

In the intervening two years, Eastbourne has not forgotten him. As a woman in her forties in the Dew Drop Inn put it: I do love Stephen, hes such a lovely guy, he really, really cares. He hasnt taken me out for a drink though, has he.

Oddly enough, this woman, who runs two businesses, does not actually expect the Lib Dem candidate to win: I think Stephen Lloyds extremely popular. The amount of people who say if he was blue Id vote for him all day long!

He was an extremely good MP. You couldnt ask for a better MP. But I think because of national politics Caroline Ansell will win again. I think Caroline has actually done a good job. I think shes come into her own and proved herself a good MP.

I like Jeremy Corbyn, but Im not terribly party political. Theres things I like and dislike about each party. I really like Jeremy Corbyn. Unfortunately these days people want a television presenter, someone who looks smart.

Down the road, in the Eagle pub (one should enjoy the sight of the tower of St Saviours Church, a Gothic revival masterpiece by G.E.Street, as one walks between the two), a Labour-supporting social entrepreneur said: I will be voting tactically for Stephen Lloyd in the general election, so hopefully ridding us of this dreadful government that have no interest of any sort in harmonious relations with anyone but just seem to be hellbent on taking us into conflict with just about everybody.

This speaker, who was 45, predicted that the result in Eastbourne will be extremely close, and went on: I dont think any of the parties are fit for purpose to be honest. I would like to think the Labour Party had reworked itself by now.

Ive never heard a bad word said about Stephen Lloyd. Ive never met Caroline Ansell, but my wife has, and was disappointed. I think her overarching impression was of someone whos a bit of an opportunist.

Eastbourne does, however, contain a strong contingent of convinced Conservatives. A 50-year-old painter and decorator explained why he is a Conservative: Basically, you just remember 35 to 40 years ago, the Conservatives allowed people to buy their own council houses, which impressed me no end.

Thats the biggest redistribution of wealth in the West ever. His parents, who are in their eighties, still live in the house they bought.

The painter and decorator said of Lloyd: I believe hes a very nice man but not necessarily what you need in an MP. He was elected to represent us in London, not to go to every fair and fete.

A man aged 57 who had recently retired with his wife from London to Eastbourne said: We will be voting Conservative. Ive been a Labour voter all my life. My father was a Labour man all his life.

Ive become more and more disillusioned with the Labour Party and Corbyn is the straw that broke the camels back.

I think Cameron was very inventive, very modernising, and did with the Tory Party what Blair did with the Labour Party.

I think Theresa Mays doing a fantastic job and thats why I couldnt continue to vote Labour.

His wife said: We were shocked when we came here and found we were voting Tory. We have to change with the mood of the times, I suppose.

A number of young voters said with deep sincerity that they could not bring themselves to vote for anyone. No, because its a lie, a 22-year-old health care assistant said when asked if there was anyone she could support. I dont lie in any other area of my life. Why should I lie? To me it feels dishonest and as if Im just playing a game.

When it was put to her that she was an idealist, she replied: I dont think Im an idealist. But if I dont trust someone I wont support them. Ill only support someone I feel passionate about. To feel at the age of 22 you cant trust a single person in government is almost unidealist. Theres a lot of petitions Ive signed.

Another young woman said she would be voting Green: Ill never back down. Ill always be Green. But if Green suddenly vanished from the face of the earth, Id stick by Stephen Lloyd.

In the Il Gusto cafe in Grove Road, the proprietor, Brian Blaney, said: I think what will happen in Eastbourne is Stephen Lloyd will win the seat easily. You could see him walking along this road to the town hall and ten minutes later hed only got as far as the corner because everyone was talking to him.

But across the road in Camillas Bookshop, which has a wonderful stock of second-hand books, the proprietor, Stuart Broad, who described himself as Blaneys sparring partner, said he was delighted the election has been called: I hope the Conservatives get in with a big majority so they can properly execute the detachment from Europe.

In the EU Referendum in Eastbourne, 30,700 people voted Leave (including Ansell) and 22,845 voted Remain (including Lloyd), so if that is the determining issue in the election, Ansell can expect to hold the seat.

But yesterday many more people mentioned, with approbation, Lloyd, than referred to the EU. So if the Lib Dems at national level can recover some of their lost support from 2010, they have a good chance of recovering Eastbourne, which is second only to Cambridge on their list of target seats.
Combatting Islamist extremism requires, first and foremost, Michael Gove-style focus. It was the former Education Secretary who, in government, led the drive to tackle it. Islamist ideology was specifically identified as a key problem. Islamist groups were deprived of government patronage, money and platforms. Extremist speakers were barred from Britain  such as Zakir Naik, banned by Theresa May after a struggle with officials. Peter Clarke was appointed to probe the Trojan Horse plot in Birmingham. Over 250,000 pieces of extremist and terrorist material were removed from the net. Over at the Charities Commission, William Shawcross fought the good fight, succeeding in ensuring, for example, that the Roddick Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust stopped funding Cage. Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza were extradited.

There is always more to do  for example, over incitement videos on social media. And as James Frayne has said on this site, the Prime Minister ought to make freedom of speech in Universities a personal cause, in much the same way that she has done with human trafficking.

Which takes us to the integration agenda that UKIP released yesterday. It can truly be said that the good bits of it are not original (such as the proposal to crack down on postal vote abuse, which Peter Golds and this site have been arguing for over five years), and the original bits are not good. Indeed, they are not only bad but dishonest. The party wants annual school-based medical checks on girls from groups at high risk of suffering FGM? Why doesnt it just say Muslims, and have done with it?

It is true that prosecutions for FGM are needed; the lack of them is indeed a national scandal. But there must be surer means of finding them than requiring medical staff to enter schools once a year in order to inspect the vagina of every Muslim schoolgirl in the country  on compulsion if necessary.

This takes us to the heart of the matter. What UKIP is proposing is not an integration agenda, but a desperation agenda. Nigel Farage is not standing in this election. Arron Banks said that he would stand, and is now not standing, at least in Clacton. Douglas Carswell has rejoined the Conservatives. The partys finances are in dire straits  which explains why it is floating not standing candidates against MPs who backed Brexit: UKIP simply cant afford to run a fully-fledged campaign. Last years referendum result has meant it losing an empire and not finding a role. And leaving the EU means that its main tranche of elected representatives  its MEPs  will disappear. No wonder it needs a way of making its manifesto stand out. By deliberately blurring the difference between Islam, a diverse religion, and Islamism, the political ideology, it has duly found it. It is a classic illustration of Vice Signalling.

In the meantime, Paul Nuttall seeks to dodge questions about whether or not he will stand in this election, and where. He would be helped in doing so by some form of clothing that would shield his identity from pesky journalists and voters. We offer our suggestion to the right of this article.
The City of Cornwall has retained a structural engineering firm to undertake an assessment of the culvert at the intersection of Cumberland Street and Emma Avenue following the flooding and washout earlier this month.

The engineering firm has examined the situation on site and confirmed that the culvert needs to be replaced.

To that end, the Citys Engineering and Municipal Works team is finalizing design plans to replace the culvert. The work is expected to carry into the mid-summer period.

At the same time, staff and the engineering firm have reviewed preliminary options for reopening the roadway to traffic in the short term. A temporary structural cover is being explored with a goal of accommodating cars, light trucks and Cornwall Transit buses (but not large trucks) while the work is completed to replace the culvert.

Its anticipated this arrangement will be finalized in the coming weeks and additional details will be provided once the plans are finalized.

The City of Cornwall would like to once again thank motorists and residents for their patience and cooperation in following the detours in place.
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The state of Maryland's opioid problem seems to be getting worse. This is the reason why, state officials are saying that it has already reached crisis levels as another three people have died due to drug overdose.

Maryland Overdose Cases

The Maryland health officials have confirmed that two have died in Anne Arundel County and one from Frederick County in opioid overdoses. The state believes that the problem has reached crisis levels.

There was the Anne Arundel County incident, where the county police registered 16 calls of opioid overdoses where three were fatal in just 24 hours last Mar. Now, there is also the fact that the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has confirmed that there were 1,973 opioid-related deaths in 2016 which was almost double the death toll of 2015, Fox 45 News reported.

New Bills Enacted

With these statistics, the Maryland General Assembly enacted several bills to combat the crisis in its borders. They passed the Start Talking Maryland Act (HB1082) which requires schools to have a program that discusses drug addiction and the HOPE Act (HB1329), which would increase access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, establish a crisis treatment center, and require health care providers to create a new protocol when discharging a patient from opioid-related overdoses, WMUR reported.

Citizens of Maryland are also taking action by creating advocacy groups focusing on saving the children from the opioid epidemic. State officials are blaming the ease of access to the street drug fentanyl for the increase in the number of overdoses.

Officials believe that the dealers are mixing the drug that originates from China into regular heroin. The low street price also compounds to the problem because it makes it easier for people to buy, even those at the lower income bracket.

The state has received support from the federal government in the form of a $10 million grant from the 21st Century Cures Act, which aims to accelerate the discovery, development and delivery of 21st century cures. Stay tuned for more details.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
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The World Health Organization (WHO) will pilot the world's first malaria vaccine in three sub-Saharan African countries to determine its effectiveness against the disease in 2018. Get to know more details, here.

What Is This Vaccine?

The malaria vaccine is called RTS,S and will be tested whether it will perform well in "real-life" conditions in Malawi, Ghana, and Kenya. These countries were chosen to conduct the large-scale clinical trials because they have massive health programs versus malaria but remain with the highest number of cases accounting for almost 90% of the world's cases in 2015, ABC News reported.

The malaria vaccine will be given in four doses to more than 750,000 children between five and 17 months old. The WHO will test the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine which will be given once a month for three months then the fourth dose after 18 months. The malaria vaccine does not give total protection against the disease but scientists believe it still has the potential of saving lives if used with current ways to mitigate the spread of the disease, BBC reported.



Malaria-Free By 2040?

The WHO envisions that malaria will be eradicated by 2040 but all over the world, there are still over 400,000 deaths resulting from it. The situation on malaria is aggravated because of resistance of the mosquitoes the insecticides used against them. The virus is also showing some resistance against the anti-malarial drugs.

While the malaria vaccine is not yet available in the US, the Center for Disease Control describes several ways that malaria could be transmitted so the public may be aware. The disease is spread by mosquitoes when they suck blood from an infected individual and inadvertently transfer the virus to a healthy person when it tries to feed again.

Congenital malaria occurs when the infection is passed on by a pregnant mother to her unborn child. Transfusion malaria rarely occurs but is possible because there are no screenings in the US for donated blood against malaria.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
250417POLICE ON ELECTION OFFENCES

By Aloysius Laukai



Buin Police has again called on the people of South Bougainville to vote for credible leaders in the coming PNG General elections and watch for electoral offences that voters can be jailed on.

Sergeant ALEX KONUKUNG made these calls on New Dawn FM yesterday.

MR. KONUKUNG said that the people must listen to the campaign by candidates and decide on who they can vote to represent the people of South Bougainville in the PNG General Elections.

He said candidates trying to bribe voters must not be entertained this election.

The Police Officer outlined offences like double voting, voting on some one elses name and pretending to be some one else and voting.

He said Police can arrest people reported and charged for Electoral Offences.

Bougainville Police are currently carrying out awareness throughout Bougainville

New Dawn FM is also assisting by airing Awareness by the Ombudsman Commission, Police, Transparency International and the Electoral Commission.



Ends


News / Local

by Alice Dube

Zanu PF Secretary for Administration Ignatius Chombo has been branded as the most dangerous person within the ruling party.Briefing the media today (Tuesday) former Zanu PF provincial chairman Temba Mliswa said Chombo was a "dark horse in Zanu PF"."The dark horse in Zanu PF is Chombo. He is the most dangerous person" said the North legislator.He added "Chombo is inviting white farmers in Mashonaland West. All the charges that have been leveled against Chombo have not been investigated."Instead of being demoted, Chombo continues to be promoted".
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When Willy became tired of his underwhelming nepotism, he and his famous last name started shopping around for more lucrative work. He was quickly offered a job at a film company and the Opel car company. But when he threatened to strike out on his own, Ol' Adolf forbade it, wishing to keep the most incompetent Hitler close by his side where he could keep an eye on him. He offered his nephew a simple choice: renounce his British citizenship in return for a high-paying government job or GTFO. It's clear which one he would have preferred, but Adolf forgot that a Hitler never fucks off when people want him to.

Adam Jones, Ph.D./Wiki Commons

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The First-Ever Subtweet

William's counteroffer was simple. Either the fuhrer would give him whatever he goddamn well wanted, or he'd reveal the dark secret of the Hitler family: that ol' Adolf might have a Jewish grandfather. He may have been such an entitled douchebag that he could have guest starred on Entourage, but we'll say this: Willy had balls.

Hitler countered by suggesting that maybe, just maybe, it was time for Willy to go back home before he was accidentally tied to a post and executed by the Gestapo. Willy obliged. But if Willy thought being a Hitler in Britain was bad in 1933, by 1939, having that last name was outright dangerous. But that was nothing a press tour couldn't change, right?
News / National

by Staff reporter

FORMER Councillor for Ward 21 in Bulawayo who was fired following recommendations by an independent tribunal, has taken the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Saviour Kasukuwere to court challenging his dismissal.Mr Reuben Matengu was fired in February this year together with Deputy Mayor Gift Banda after the two appeared before the independent tribunal for gross misconduct and mismanagement following their suspension in September 2016.Mr Banda's application for dismissal of the charges and the tribunal's verdict is pending in the courts.In papers before the court, Mr Matengu cited Minister Kasukuwere, Bulawayo City Council, the independent tribunal and its members Advocate Hilda Makusha Moyo, Mr Midard Khumalo and Ms Lucy Manhokwe as respondents.Mr Matengu, who is being represented by lawyers TJ Mabhikwa and Partners, seeks an order nullifying the decision of the independent tribunal and clearing him of misconduct.The axed councillor wants the court to reinstate him without loss of allowances and benefits.Minister Kasukuwere relieved Mr Matengu of his duties following recommendations made by the tribunal. He was found guilty of selling a residential stand in Southwold suburb, which he had bought under a special facility which gave him a 40 percent discount on the purchase price.He was not supposed to resell it according to the agreement of sale.In his founding affidavit, Mr Matengu said the tribunal erred when it found him guilty of gross misconduct, arguing that its decision was premised on irregular and unreasonable findings.He argued that he paid for the stand in full and sought authority from the council's director of housing and community services to dispose it."The basis of this application is that the decision of the first respondent (independent tribunal ) finding me guilty of an act of gross misconduct in the acquisition of stand number 18784 in Southwold, paying for it in full and having sought authority and permission to dispose it is grossly irregular and unreasonable," said Mr Matengu.He said there was enough evidence placed before the tribunal proving that he had been granted permission by relevant council authorities to sell the stand."The tribunal proved beyond reasonable doubt that I had been granted permission by the director of housing and community services to dispose the stand before signing the agreement of sale. I wrote a letter to the director of housing and community services informing him of my intention to dispose of the stand as per his advice," said Mr Matengu.He said there was no evidence suggesting that he took advantage of his position as a councillor to acquire the stand."Of note is that I even specified that I was applying for the stand as a benefit for councillors. It therefore follows that the acquisition of the stand was motivated by the needs and wants to advance myself and upgrade my social standing," said Mr Matengu."I therefore seek a review of the first respondent's decision, and that it accordingly is set aside and substituted with an order finding me not guilty of any act of misconduct, and reinstating me as Councillor for Ward 21 in Bulawayo with no loss of allowances and benefits."
Applications & OS News

Crossover Acquires Ruby Development Service Provider Engine Yard

Rick Whiting

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Engine Yard, the Ruby on Rails cloud platform and support service provider, has been acquired by Crossover, an Austin, Texas-based company that assembles and manages teams of Ruby developers, the two companies said Tuesday.

The acquisition will make Crossover, which describes itself as a "cloud talent marketplace," a one-stop shop for organizations looking for development tools and talent for their Ruby application DevOps efforts, the companies said.

"Engine Yard has a decade of deep Ruby experience at the platform and support level and Crossover is the largest provider of Ruby developer cloud teams," said Andy Tryba, CEO of Crossover, in a statement. "By combining these two, we can now move up the stack and create a full stack Ruby on Rails experience to be a one-stop shop for the 1 million-plus Ruby applications out there."

[Related: 8 Products And Features Unveiled At AWS Summit 2017]

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Engine Yard, based in San Francisco, provides its Ruby on Rails Platform-as-a-Service tools running on Amazon Web Services. The company also offers tools for PHP and node.js application development and deployment.

Ruby is an open-source, object-oriented programming language that emphasizes simplicity and developer productivity, according to the www/ruby-lang.org website. Ruby on Rails is a web application framework for building server-side applications using Ruby.

The acquisition comes just two weeks after Engine Yard sold Deis, a provider of tools for building and managing Kubernetes containers, to Microsoft.
Networking News

Partners Predict 'Bidding War' For Straight Path As Unnamed Company Tops AT&T's $1.6B Offer

Gina Narcisi

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A new suitor for Straight Path Communications has thrown its hat in the ring, topping AT&T's bid by $200 million on Tuesday morning.

As carriers double down on their 5G development plans, solution providers are expecting an all-out bidding war for Straight Path, which owns valuable millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum licenses that cover the entire United States, including the top 40 markets.

"The race is on," said Max Silber, vice president of mobility for MetTel, a New York City-based solution provider, and AT&T partner. "The more wireless spectrum you have, the more high-end, up-and-coming services you can deploy."

[Related: Partners Cheer AT&T's Deal For Straight Path As Telecom Giant Pushes Toward 5G ]

The unnamed bidder, which Straight Path referred to as a "multinational telecommunications company," entered a "superior" and unsolicited bid to acquire Straight Path for $104.64 per share in an all-stock deal worth $1.8B, according to the company. That's compared to AT&T's offer of $1.6 billion, or $95.63 per share.

News of the second bidder sent Straight Path Communications' stock soaring up nearly 13 percent to $124.74 a share, well above even the second bid, by Tuesday afternoon.

Straight Path, based in Glen Allen, Va., would owe AT&T a termination fee of $38 million should they take the new bidder's offer. However, the new bidder has agreed to pay that fee on Straight Path's behalf. This demonstrates how important mmWave spectrum is to carriers right now, Silber said.

Millimeter wave spectrum allows carriers to deploy high-bandwidth mobile data services in a concentrated service area. Having access to a high-speed, high quality network will also let service providers deliver new IoT services, Silber said.

For partners, having access to a high-speed network that can deliver and support emerging IoT services is a big benefit, said Rickie Richey, CEO of Fairhope, Ala.-based Altaworx, an AT&T and Verizon partner that focuses on wireless solutions.

"You need more spectrum because you can't cover as much ground with 5G  this technology could really make a difference in how we can deliver services to our larger customers," Richey said.

There are not many companies left that buy and hold spectrum licenses, and Straight Path owns a large share of this highly sought-after wireless spectrum.

"[Carriers] are all trying to buy up as much spectrum as they can  it's a big race," Richey added.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Verizon was the second bidder for Straight Path. Both AT&T and Verizon are hungry for more spectrum, and whichever companies are involved in the bidding war for Straight Path, neither are likely to give up easily, said Rob Chamberlin, co-founder and chief revenue officer of DataXoom, a Walnut Creek, Calif.-based solution provider and wireless carrier partner.

"The fact that this bidding war is going on and this asset being highly valued is evidence that both companies have the intention of being the best 5G provider out there. That's the future of mobility, and that's very relevant to the channel," Chamberlin said.

Under the terms of Verizon's XO acquisition that closed in February, the Basking Ridge, N.J.-based carrier gained wireless spectrum in addition to XO's fiber-optic network business. The deal gave Verizon 102 Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) spectrum licenses in the 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands, which the carrier said it could use for 5G testing.

AT&T, for its part, acquired FiberTower in January, a privately held provider of spectrum and fixed wireless services. The Dallas-based carrier said that FiberTower's spectrum in the 24 GHz and 39 GHz bands added to its holdings of mmWave spectrum that can be used for 5G.

"I think you see the level of importance of this deal just based on how much more [the second bidder] is willing to pay, compared to Straight Path's stock price," MetTel's Silber said. "I think there will be some back and forth, and I don't see AT&T walking away so quickly."
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) accredited global religious freedom advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) on April 19 after a UN committee deferred the groups application for eight years and denied it in February.



The consultative status will give the Britain-based nonprofit access to attend open meetings and present at the UN. Human rights advocates described the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations repeated denial as a political game by member countries with a bias against human rights groups.



ECOSOCs 54-member council voted 28-9 with 12 abstentions.



Kiri Kankhwende, the CSWs senior press officer, said the status will allow the group to bring in people from the ground to give testimony to UN groups. CSW will also have access to hold side events when the Human Rights Council and General Assembly have their meetings. The groups ongoing advocacy includes seeking the release of a pastor and an activist both wrongly jailed in Sudan.



Kankhwende said the NGO committee often blocks nonprofits that work on controversial issues such as human and minority rights. We know that the right to religion or belief is one of the underrepresented rights within the UN system, she said, noting that their new accreditation allows us to provide this right more.



Some of the member countries that voted against the application in February, including Pakistan, Vietnam, Turkey, India, and Burkina Faso, argued ECOSOC should not override its decision since CSW failed to respond to all the committees questions. But Britains UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said CSW met all the requirements for accreditation and responded to more than 80 questions the committee leveled against it.



The conclusion we draw is that the NGO Committees decisions have not been based on the merits of CSWs application, Rycroft said in his opening remarks to ECOSOC.



The NGO committee similarly rejected the application of the Committee to Protect Journalists last year, but ECOSOC overturned that decision as well.



In a letter signed by the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief and other global dignitaries, including South Africas Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the leaders said that the committees ruling undermines the promotion of religious rights at a time when religious narratives are increasingly influencing political and social order.



In a move to provide more transparency, ECOSOC also voted to webcast all public meetings of the NGO committee.



This change will bring to light those countries that seek to block United Nations 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, said the United States mission to the UN, which co-sponsored the resolution.

Courtesy: WORLD News Service

Publication date: April 24, 2017
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial executive was yesterday attacked by members who accused them of fanning factionalism and creating confusion in the party during a stormy constituency meeting in Nkulumane suburb.The party members, in the no-holds-barred meeting at Pasika Church, told the provincial leadership that the misconduct and disloyalty by some in the party was a direct result of disharmony within the top ranks.The meeting was attended by provincial chairman Dennis Ndlovu, Central Committee members Cdes Violet Zikhali and Ataliya Mangoye, Politburo member Absolom Sikhosana and national executive members.Nkulumane and Pumula MPs, Cdes Killian Sibanda and Godfrey Malaba also attended the meeting.Masiyephambili District chairlady, Marian Ndlovu, said the leaders should practice what they preach if the party was to grow stronger and be united."We are tired of being told to uphold the values of the party yet our own leaders can't do that. What is happening in the structures is being inherited from the provincial leaders. Some leaders are in the habit of personalising the party and running it like their own. The party will not go anywhere if we behave like this."Our leaders should justify why we elected them and lead by example. You can't come here and encourage us to be united yet you don't demonstrate it. We'll not accept people who come from the provincial structures to the districts just to divide people and create confusion. Instead of concentrating on campaigning for elections, people are busy trying to own party members," said Ndlovu.Builder Mahlangu, the Ward 23 chairman, pleaded with the provincial chairman Ndlovu to sit down with the provincial executive and remind one another the principles of the party."There is a lot of infighting and this starts with the leaders. It's the party leaders who are inciting factionalism in the province. We don't want provincial issues to spill to districts because this creates hatred among the party members."The love that our leaders are preaching should start with them. That's the only way we can have a party that moves forward. Party structures are in shambles because people don't want to listen to each other. The women's league or youth league can now hold meetings without telling their chairpersons because someone in power is telling them not to do so," said Mahlangu.Mafela B chairman Tedius Pombi said it was important for party leaders to control people and tell them when they are wrong."The reason why we have people being voted into power today and kicked out in a short space of time is because there's no unity at provincial level. We're appealing to the provincial leadership to put its house in order."Let's learn to support one another and protect each other for the sake of the party. We're now chasing positions instead of the protecting the party," said Pombi.Ndlovu acknowledged the leadership was lacking and called on party members not to correct the situation through violence but by voting them out when election time comes."I was listening carefully and what has been said is true. It's unfortunate that some influential positions were taken by the wrong people and this was a mistake on our part."Let's not be violent. All we have to do is to vote them out when the time comes. There are people who don't value the party. They use money to sway our members and cause a lot of problems for us," said Ndlovu, adding that party members should concentrate on winning the 2018 elections.Malaba reminded party members that there was one centre of power in the party."We have one President, one party and one centre of power. Let's therefore work together and stay focused. We don't want to see our leaders being sold out."Right now opposition parties are uniting yet there are people within the Zanu-PF party making frantic efforts to divide people. This is not what our Father, the late Joshua Nkomo taught us. We want to win the elections but this can only happen if we unite and work hard," said Malaba.Sikhosana urged party members to shun tribalism and desist from fighting for positions. He said politics should not be about power but about development.
Online gaming company Reality Squared Games (R2Games) has been compromised for the second time in two years, according to records obtained by the for-profit notification service LeakBase. The hacker who shared the data with LeakBase says the attack happened earlier this month.

Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, R2Games operates a number of free-to-play, micropayment-driven games on iOS and Android, as well as modern browsers. The company currently supports 19 online games, and claims over 52 million players.

In December of 2015, stretching into July of 2016, more than 22 million R2Games accounts were compromised, exposing IP addresses, easily cracked passwords, email addresses, and usernames.

The company denied the breach reports, telling one customer that "R2Games is safe and secured, and far from being hacked."

How the data involved with this most recent breach was compromised isn't exactly clear. The forums impacted (including the U.S., France, German, and Russian variants) are all operating on different versions of vBulletin. Some of these older versions contain known vulnerabilities, based on a passive search of Exploit Database.

The hacker claims all forums were compromised, in addition to the Russian version of r2games.com.

The latest record set includes usernames, passwords, email addresses, IP addresses, and other optional record fields, such as instant messenger IDs, birthday, and Facebook related details (ID, name, access token).

LeakBase shared the most recent records with Troy Hunt, a security researcher and owner of the non-profit breach notification website "Have I Been Pwned?" (HIBP).

Hunt checked the data by testing a small sample of email addresses and usernames against the password reset function on R2Games. Every address checked was confirmed as an existing account. From there, Hunt did some number crunching.

There were 5,191,898 unique email addresses in the data shared by LeakBase. However, 3,379,071 of those email addresses were using mail.ar.r2games.com or mail.r2games.com; and another 789,361 looked generated, as they were all [number]@vk.com addresses.

LeakBase speculates that the r2games.com addresses are the result of registrations from third-party services.

After stripping the questionable addresses Hunt was left with 1,023,466 unique email addresses to load into HIBP. Of this set, 482,074 have been seen before in other breaches, leaving 541,392 new entries for his index  and new notifications for 1,105 subscribers.

When asked about the passwords, Hunt told Salted Hash many of them are MD5 with no salt, but a large number of them have a hash corresponding to the password "admin" and a few hundred thousand others are using the plain text word "sync".

"The observation I'd make here is that clearly, they don't seem to be learning from previous failures. The prior incident should really have been a wake-up call and to see a subsequent breach not that long after is worrying. Perhaps the prior denials are evidence that they just don't see the seriousness in security," Hunt said, when asked his opinion about the latest R2Games data breach.

Salted Hash reached out to R2Games, but the company didn't respond to questions. Emails were sent to support, as well as recruiting and sales, on the off chance someone could direct them to the proper resources.

For their part, LeakBase said since this data breach isn't in the public domain, they will not add the records to their service and it will not be searchable. However, they do plan to email impacted users and inform them of the incident.

HIBP has been updated, and those changes are live now.

If you're an R2Games player, it might be wise to change your password and make sure the old password isn't used on any other websites.

Also, keep an eye out for gaming related offers and emails, as well as "notifications" from domains that aren't related to R2Games itself - as those could be scammers looking to cash-in on the breach. While the hacked data isn't public yet, there's nothing preventing the person who shared it with LeakBase from selling it or trading it.

Send your comments to our Facebook page, you won't be compromised.
The deadline has passed and all taxes should have been filed by now, so it's time to see how much money people will get back.

To find out which states get back the highest average individual income tax refund, CNBC looked at the total number of refunds issued in every state and the total sum of refund dollars issued in every state.
BRIDGEPORT - A local man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to sending three pounds of PCP to the Fairfield headquarters of Save the Children.

Giraud Dickson, 33, of Remington Street, pleaded not guilty before Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin to the illegal distribution of narcotics, conspiracy to distribute narcotics and possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school.

He asked for a jury trial.

The judge continued the case to May 15.

Neither Dickson, who is free after posting $50,000 bond, nor his lawyer, Charles Kurmay, would comment as they left the Main Street courtroom.

Dickson had been working for a courier service used by Save the Children.

Police said in February they were called to Save the Childrens world headquarters on Kings Highway for a suspicious package. Employees told police they had received a parcel in the mail addressed to the organization. When mail room employees opened the package they found a large quantity of white powder in a vacuum sealed container.

The Fire Department dispatched its hazardous materials unit which tested the powder and determined it to be three pounds of Phencyclidine, also known as PCP or angel dust, a powerful hallucinogen.

Police said they traced the return address on the package to a consignment shop in San Diego.

Mailroom employees told officers that Dickson had stopped into the mailroom several times over the past few days apparently looking for something. But they said when questioned he would quickly leave.

Police said they set up a sting operation, planting an empty box identical to the one that was delivered in the mailroom. They then waited.

They said a short time later they saw Dickson walk into the mailroom, and after looking around, grab the planted box and leave with it hidden under his clothing. He was then taken into custody.

Police said Dickson denied knowing what was in the box and claimed he had picked it up accidentally.
News / National

by Staff reporter

POLICE have been called to restore order at the recently re-opened Sabi Gold Mine in Zvishavane as artisanal gold miners (amakorokoza), who had thrived on the 24-month-long closure of the mine, have refused to leave.Reports of armed clashes between mine security personnel and the artisanal miners are said to be continuing, with indications that casualties from both parties have been recorded.Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC)-owned gold producer, Sabi Gold Mine, resumed operations last month after two years and expects to produce about 25kg of gold this month.However, the mine may fail to meet the target due to the Amakorokoza menace. Mines and Mining Development deputy minister Fred Moyo confirmed the development.Moyo said he was going to lead a special delegation to the mine to bring order."There are reports of artisanal miners who are refusing to move out of the mine. They are said to be looting gold ore even after the mine resumed operations after a two year closure. This is very sad considering that we found an investor and these artisanal or informal miners are disrupting operations. I hear that the police have been called in to bring order," he said.Moyo said he had engaged chiefs, political party representatives and the warring parties for a round table to bring an end to the negative development."After having access to the mine for the past two years, they are now being ordered off and I will be going there with the hope of bringing the two parties together for a lasting solution. It is my hope that the artisanal miners group themselves and we find them somewhere to mine so that they do not disturb operations," he said.Sources at the mine said the artisanal miners were allegedly throwing explosives at security details from the mine with the latter retaliating with gunfire in mining shafts."The police are now doing constant checks at this mine which got about $13million injection from the government and a private partner," said the source.Meanwhile, Moyo said the mine is expected to produce 25kg of gold this month. Sabi ceased operations in 2011 due to shortage of working capital and has been under judicial management since 2014.The mine got a new lease of life after government injected $7 million worth of equipment with a consortium of local investors injecting $6 million.Baldwin Holdings, a South African company recently completed refurbishment of the mine.Artisanal miners invaded the mine and have destroyed key infrastructure.Sabi Gold Mine, the fourth largest mine in Zvishavane after Mimosa, Shabanie and Murowa Diamond mines, used to produce about 50 kilogrammes of gold per month with a total workforce of 420.
STORY LINK Can USD JPY Exchange Rate Maintain Bullish Trend on Trump Tax Cut Push?

While the 2013 episode did not significantly dent risk assets, a government shutdown this time around could be more impactful. A shutdown would serve to remind markets of the level of contention on Capitol Hill and highlight the lack of unity within the Republican Party. We suspect that a government shutdown could prove more negative for risk assets than the 2013 episode suggests, with markets likely further lowering the odds of tax reform being completed in 2017.

Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues:

News that Donald Trump is aiming to cut corporate tax from 35% to 15% in his much-anticipated tax reform package prompted the US Dollar Japanese Yen (USD JPY) exchange rate to strengthen.Markets were encouraged by the prospect of hard plans, even though such a cut would leave a significant hole in the US budget and could face opposition in Congress.Although Aprils consumer confidence index weakened further than forecast this failed to dampen the mood towards the Greenback, with the measure still at a relatively high level.The latest new home sales and house price index figures, meanwhile, bettered expectations to offer some cause for confidence in the strength of the domestic housing market.Demand for the Yen, on the other hand, remained weak thanks to the ongoing relief rally that followed the results of the first round of the French presidential election.With worries over the shifting global political landscape temporarily easing investors saw little reason to favour the safe-haven Yen at this juncture.As the appeal of higher-yielding assets improved the USD JPY exchange rate was encouraged to make strong gains, with the Yen unlikely to find any particular cause for confidence in the near term.Further volatility is expected for the US Dollar once the full details of the Trump administrations tax plans are made public.Even so, if there are signs of a greater push back from Congress over the proposals then the Greenback may struggle to hold onto its recent bullishness.Ongoing worries over the possibility of another US government shutdown could also put downside pressure on USD exchange rates.As researchers at TDS noted:Downside pressure for the Greenback could also come on the back of Marchs advance goods trade balance and durable goods orders data, with both expected to show a weakening on the month.While investors remain largely optimistic at this juncture the outlook of the US economy is still not entirely positive, particularly as an element of political uncertainty continues to hang over investors.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

TAGS: Daily Currency Updates Japanese Yen Forecasts
News / National

by Staff reporter

The family of Chief Chirau yesterday came out guns blazing against Zanu-PF political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere's claim that the late traditional leader was a "sellout," branding it a "false and unprofessional attack" and threatened to sue the embattled Local Government minister for libel.The angry family, fronted by Mostaff Chirau - a son to Chief Chirau - also slammed Kasukuwere's accusations that flamboyant businessman Philip Chiyangwa was the late Senator's driver, and branded the "rant" as riddled with "lies, and misrepresentations"."He has tarnished our image, tiri madzimambo (we are chiefs) and we will be filing a $5 million lawsuit over his false and unprofessional attack on Chief Chirau which is disgusting and revolting," he told the Daily News on the sidelines of a protest held at Chiyangwa's Harare office yesterday.Efforts to get Kasukuwere to respond to the threats were futile yesterday.Kasukuwere made the claims last week following his stunning fallout with his longtime friend, Chiyangwa.The alleged bribe demand was to "help facilitate" the government's compensation to Chiyangwa after the Zifa president lost his 587-hectare Stoneridge farm in Harare to the State just over a decade ago.Kasukuwere then claimed in a retort carried in a local daily that Chiyangwa was Chief Chirau's former driver and he should stop insulting drivers."The Rhodesian policeman is crazy," Kasukuwere thundered in his apparent jibe at Chiyangwa - who is said to have been a member of the police before Zimbabwe's independence."What about him, who was the driver of Chief Chirau? Zupo (Zimbabwe United People's Organisation)," he said.An angry Mostaff disputed this yesterday."Chiyangwa has never been a driver of Chief Chirau. Jeremiah Chirau died a long time ago. The president respects him, war veterans respect him. He was honoured by the president. Kasukuwere must deal with his no-confidence vote injuries without maligning our father. Why malign Chiyangwa because of our father, why?""For your own information, the president stayed in his home for three to four months. He is a sell-out where?" he fumed, adding his father facilitated talks between Zanu and Zapu and persuaded the now late Vice President Joshua Nkomo to return home from exile to engage Mugabe and enter the Lancaster House conference which led to the resignation of Ian Smith."It was Chief Chirau who went and spoke to Nkomo to go to Lancaster House," Chirau said, adding he was also instrumental in talks between Mugabe and Nkomo to sign a unity accord in 1987, leading to the integration of-PF-Zapu and Zanu-PF."In 1987, Chirau was the mediator and he helped us to get the freedom that has enabled Kasukuwere to amass all the wealth he now has. Anodherera. (He is disrespectful.)"We want him to qualify his claims in court," he said.The current push to oust Kasukuwere over a slew of charges which include plotting to topple Mugabe from power - is likely to escalate amid reports the Chirau family wants to take the issue to their neighbour Mugabe when he visits his rural home.Kasukuwere has reportedly been frantically trying to apologise to the Chirau family through Tsanangurai Chirau.Tsanangurai confirmed yesterday that Kasukuwere phoned her over the weekend apologising profusely over his remarks."I told him I'm not the only Chirau," she told the Daily News yesterday, amid reports the allegations have riled the entire Chirau clan, including those in the Diaspora.
Opinion / Columnist

"According to the Africa 2016 Wealth Report, Zimbabwe has been ranked as the country with the poorest people on the continent, with average wealth of $200 per person," reported Bulawayo24.com."In the report, AfrAsia - a Mauritius-domiciled financial institution which once operated in Zimbabwe after acquiring the now-defunct Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited - noted that back in 2000, Zimbabwe was one of the wealthiest countries in sub-Saharan Africa on a wealth per capita basis."It listed Mauritius as the country with the wealthiest people, with an average wealth of $25 700 per person."How the mighty have fallen!Only last week VP Emerson Mnangagwa was boasting about Zimbabwe having one of the highest literacy rates in Africa; that must be a long time ago, when the country was rich. Now that we are one of the poorest nation on the poorest continent; many of our people cannot afford one decent meal a day, our literacy has gone to the dogs!The tragedy of Zimbabwe is that we should, by right, be one of the wealthiest countries on the continent if we solved our man-made problems.Over a year ago; when Mugabe admitted that $15 billions in diamond revenue was "swindled", very few people showed any concern. It was all water off a duck's back. But with all this evidence of growing poverty the nation will now be forced to pay attention.We now know that Mugabe's admission of $15 billions being swindled was a true story because media houses like BBC and Spotlight Zimbabwe have uncovered the evidence of serious looting and plunder in Zimbabwe. Mai Mujuru and her late husband swindled over $15.8 billions in diamonds. Read more about it on the following site, http://spotlight-z.com/news/diamonds-mujuru-tried-sell/a longIt is over year ago since Mugabe admitted the swindling but still not even one person has been arrested and not a single dollar recovered. Why? How can the regime investigate the $15 billion without risking more stories of looting coming out; it was not the Mujurus alone who have been looting.But to stay with the $15 billion for now. The money could have been used to finance the building of Batoka Gorge Hydro Power Project, $1.5 billion (Zambia paying its own share or else forfeit its share of the 800 MW). There would have been enough cash left over to build a double lane dual carriage way motorways from Chirundu in the North to Beitbridge in the South and from Mutare in the East to Plumtree in the West and all connecting feeder roads. The positive effects of these projects alone on the nation would have been immeasurable!If the Murujus realised $150 million, 1% of the loot, then they have done well. As for what they have today to show for the loot, that is a tall order because most of it was squandered of luxuries and pleasure.The Zanu PF regime has been using some of the looted diamond wealth from Marange and Chiadzwa to bankroll its party activities and vote rigging schemes. For the 2013 elections Mugabe must have spend at least $4 billions and in the coming elections the figure will very easily shoot up to $12 billions.Whilst the ordinary Zimbabwean's income has fallen to a misery $200 per year, country's few ruling elite are some of the richest individuals in the whole world. It is this chasm between the rich and the poor that is the reason why the idea of losing power for the ruling elite is now unthinkable. Whilst the diamond wealth should have been the ticket to national prosperity it has now become our greatest curse in that the ruling elite are using the diamond wealth to finance their vote rigging schemes.For Zimbabweans to start clawing their way up the economic ladder, we need to implement the reforms and thus ensure free, fair and credible elections. We need political transformation first and foremost before we can have economic transformation. And the political transformation must start with the demands to have all the democratic reforms implemented BEFORE the next elections.
Stealthing Is The New Sex Trend Where Men Secretly Remove Their Condom During Sex

Trending News: This Terrible New Sex Trend Is Spreading (And It's Awful)

Long Story Short

A new dating trend called 'stealthing' involves taking your condom off during or before sex without consent.

Long Story

Dating and sex are evolving with the times. We've seen various new trends pop up in recent years including ghosting, haunting, benching, breadcrumbing and cushioning  but this might be the worst of all.

A new study published in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law has given a name to the dubious practice of secretly slipping off your condom before or during sex  stealthing.

Study author Alexandra Brodsky investigated the practice and found Rebecca, a woman who has herself been stealthed. She has since worked at a sexual violence crisis hotline and says stealthing is extremely common.

Their stories often start the same way, said in the study, according to The Huffington Post. Im not sure if this is rape, but...

Stealthing has popped up online, where guys in forums brag and promote "barebacking" during sex.

RELATED: Your Go-To Guide for Having Safe Sex

Brodsky wrote in the study the online communities defend stealthing as a male right" and that every guy has a right to spread his seed." Oh brother...

She also wrote that it's part of male supremacy where guys (ludicrously) think sexual violence is a man's right.

No, I think it's clear where I stand and where AskMen stands on this  it's awful, it's terrible, and it might even be against the law. A man in Switzerland was convicted of rape for this very practice.

Illegal or not, doing anything sexually-related without consent is wrong, especially if it could mean you're spreading STIs or risking pregnancy.

Yes, we get it that wearing condoms usually kind of sucks  but it doesn't have to! There are all kinds of condoms out there, including super thin ones that feel like barely anything  here's a list of great options to get you started.

It's truly a shame that men out there act this way in 2017, but all we can do as men is denounce it  and never, ever, do anything similar.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Could someone be convicted of rape if they stealth someone in America?

Drop This Fact

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been accused in Sweden of stealthing, or something similar, although he denies the charges and says it's a conspiracy to get him extradited to the United States.
Tony Blair called on Labour voters to forget party allegiances and consider, instead, backing pro-EU candidate

This weekend we witnessed one of the biggest acts of political treachery in recent memory.

Tony Blair, with a shamelessness that defied belief, called on Labour voters to forget party allegiances and consider, instead, backing pro-EU candidates  even if they are Conservative or Liberal Democrat.

What this amounts to is a naked demand for them to vote for candidates committed to reversing the result of a democratic decision by the British people to opt for Brexit, while at the same time potentially condemning members of his own party to defeat at the General Election.

Blairs call could not be better designed to inflict maximum damage on the party he once led, as it goes into an election arguably even weaker than in 1983 under Michael Foot, when it was trounced by the Tories (and how ironic that 1983 was the year Blair was first elected as an MP  on a manifesto committing Labour to leaving what was then the European Economic Community.

With breathtaking sophistry, Blair claimed he was not calling for tactical voting but, instead, that people should vote on an informed basis on Brexit. What patronising nonsense from a man who has clearly decided the 17 million who voted to leave the EU last year were too stupid to know what they were doing.

Let us be clear. Blair feels so passionately about wanting to thwart Brexit that it matters more to him than the trifling matter of loyalty to the party that enabled him to become Prime Minister  and, subsequently, wealthier than the dreams of avarice.

To add insult to injury, Blair hinted that he was considering a parliamentary comeback. Well, bring it on, Tony. Have the courage of your Euro-convictions. And as you would clearly have to hold your nose to support Labour, stand as an independent and be trounced.

The Iraq War, overseen during Blair's premiership, was the biggest foreign policy disaster of modern times

Unlike President George W. Bush  Blairs partner in the Iraq War, the biggest foreign policy disaster of modern times  Tony Blair has not gone quietly into retirement.

Signally refusing to atone for his sins in Iraq, he has spent much of the past two years berating his successor Jeremy Corbyn, who, whatever you think of him, was one of the few brave enough to stand up to Blairs warmongering at the time of the 2003 invasion.

Any normal human being would have taken one long look at the devastating findings of the Chilcot report  which delivered a withering verdict on Blairs duplicity and dissembling in the run-up to the invasion and failure to plan for its aftermath  and headed for the hills.

Instead, Blair says he almost feels motivated to get right back into politics because of Brexit. Personally, I have little doubt he is trying to build a new pro-EU party behind the scenes with his friends Nick Clegg, Peter Mandelson and George Osborne.

As a member of the Labour Party for 40 years, I am beyond appalled at Blairs conduct and do not believe he can remain a party member.

Back in 2005, Reg Keys, the father of a British serviceman killed in Iraq, bravely decided to stand against Tony Blair in his Sedgefield constituency as an independent anti-war candidate.

As a member of the Labour Party for 40 years, I am beyond appalled at Blairs conduct and do not believe he can remain a party member

I was then a member of Labours ruling National Executive Committee and I wrote to Mr Keys, praising him for his stance and wishing him well in the future. For doing so I was hauled in front of the Labour Chief Whip.

Even though I had not called for people to vote for Reg Keys, it was made very clear to me that as far as the Labour Party was concerned, this level of disloyalty was almost enough to have me drummed out of the party.

What Blair is now calling for is of a different order of magnitude. He says every election candidate should be asked the following deeply loaded and frankly fatuous question: Will you back Brexit at any cost, or are you prepared to say this deal is not in the interests of the country?

Depending on the answer, Labour voters should then vote, according to Blair, for the candidate from any party who gives the right answer.

Advocating a vote for another party is an expellable offence under Labours rules and constitution. Any ordinary member committing a similar offence would by now have been marched off to appear before the partys National Constitutional Committee and probably expelled.

Why Blair should be treated any differently is beyond me. If anything, his position as former Labour leader and Prime Minister makes his pronouncements far more consequential, as he has such experience and influence.

I was then a member of Labours ruling National Executive Committee and I wrote to Mr Keys, praising him for his stance and wishing him well in the future after he stood against Labour as an independent anti-War candidate

Bizarrely, much of the political and media establishment in Britain still takes the pronouncements of Tony Blair as seriously as he does himself.

It seems of little consequence that his messianic attitude towards the EU is invariably glossed over.

Blair, remember, was adamant that Britain should join the Single Currency, arguing that it would be crazy not to do so and that MPs who were against it were foolish and backward.

As we know, the euro has been a calamity. Last year the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said large parts of Europe had endured a lost decade as a result of the fatal decision to adopt a single currency.

And it is only thanks to Gordon Brown, who as Chancellor realised how damaging the single currency could be to our economy, that we did not sign up as well.

Tony Blair could not have been more wrong then. So why should anyone listen to him now? Yet this master of self-delusion  along with others such as Mandelson and John Major who are furious the referendum should have been allowed  still believes the people cannot be trusted to decide on matters of national importance.

And it is only thanks to Gordon Brown, who as Chancellor realised how damaging the single currency could be to our economy, that we did not sign up to that

Indeed, Major said Brexit should not be dictated by the tyranny of the majority.

This is the behaviour of an arrogant British elite at its very worst. Is it any surprise voters are so disenchanted with the political class?

If we are to avoid the far-Right and far-Left extremists who wield increasing influence on the Continent, politicians here must not allow themselves to get so out of touch.

Tony Blair used to represent Sedgefield in County Durham, a former mining community which is loyally Labour. In common with much of the traditional Labour-voting North East, most people there voted to leave the EU.

Whether they were right or wrong will be discovered in time. But what is clear is that many Labour voters in such post-industrial areas believe the European Union is part of this countrys problem and not the solution to its ills.

These Labour voters had the temerity to go against the advice of Tony Blair and others who once held high political office. Now Blair  who not so long ago was touting himself as a future EU President  is not only telling them they got it wrong, but urging them to vote Tory or Liberal Democrat if necessary to atone for their sins.

There is no doubt in my mind that Tony Blair is, in fact, the one who has got it wrong. And for his treachery he should be expelled from the Labour Party.
The police are always complaining about public spending cuts, which they say are having a serious impact on their ability to combat everything from burglary to terrorism.

Only last week, we learned that up to a third of all domestic abuse cases are being screened out because there is insufficient manpower to investigate every complaint.

Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary also warned that emergency calls were being downgraded because of a shortage of officers. The total number of coppers in Britain has fallen by 19,000 since 2010.

The police are always complaining about public spending cuts, but PC Steve Hutton has managed to catch criminals by barking in an age when forces are cutting canine units

Chief constables are under increasing pressure to save money. One way they are trying to make ends meet is by reducing the number and size of canine divisions. In Essex, the dog unit has been cut in half, to just a dozen animals and their handlers. Greater Manchester has fallen from 130 seven years ago to just 36 today.

Other forces are having to merge their K-9 units. In the West Country, there are only ever two dogs available at any one time to cover millions of people in three counties.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. One officer, in particular, believes multi-tasking is the answer.

Last year, I brought you the story of PC Steve Hutton, from Swindon, who used his initiative to capture a fugitive from a high-speed police chase along the M4.

PC Hutton ran after one of four men who fled from a stolen car. With the suspect getting away, he shouted out that he was a dog handler and ordered him to stop. In case chummy was in any doubt, PC Hutton started barking. The man gave himself up immediately.

It wasnt the first time he had resorted to this ingenious ruse. He said at the time: Ive done it before when I was based in Salisbury and we were trying to get a man at a school.

He ran across the school field and I knew we were never going to catch him, so I let out a couple of barks.

Dogged: Off camera PC Hutton then chased one of the lads but quickly lost sight of him in the dark - and decided to bark like a dog

Now hes done it again. PC Hutton recently spotted a man wanted for breaching a restraining order. He told the suspect to freeze or hed set the dog on him  even though there was no dog.

For effect, though, he repeatedly shouted sit, stay and lie down to the imaginary K-9 lurking behind his police car.

It did the trick and the bewildered man surrendered. PC Hutton said: Luckily, I didnt have to bark this time. Thats a relief. But full marks for initiative.

Clearly the threat of being seized by a police dog is a more effective deterrent even than being Tasered. Lets hope senior officers take note. With dog numbers declining, perhaps its time they started training all coppers in the art of barking.

Islamist terrorists, for instance, are terrified of dogs, which they consider unclean. Never mind going to the expense of training more marksmen, just tell officers to start barking in the direction of suspected jihadis and theyll throw down their weapons and come running out with their hands up before you can say Allahu Akbar.

This could tackle crime and keep costs down in one fell swoop. And it could also be extended to the mounted division.

With increasing numbers of police horses being sent to the glue factory, coppers could achieve the same effect by galloping along the road banging two empty coconut shell halves together  like the knights in Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

PC Hutton missed out on last years Mind How You Go Awards, but he did make the annual Makes You Proud To Be British Quiz.

He also deserves to be immortalised in song, with an update of the old Charles Penrose music hall classic, The Laughing Policeman, which will be familiar to all those of us who grew up listening to Childrens Favourites on the BBC.

As always, it helps if you sing along . . . I know a barking policeman, He comes from down our street, His name is PC Hutton, Hes always on the beat. And when he nicks a villain, He gets down on all fours, Starts barking like a police dog, Pretends that hes got paws. Oh . . . Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof. Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof. Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof. Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof. He barks when hes on duty, He barks when hes at home. He barks at everybody, He barks when hes alone. He simply cant stop barking, Even when there is no need, He said: Im sorry sergeant, But I think Ive got a lead. Oh . . . Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof. (repeat) One night he tailed a burglar Whod had it on his toes. But Hutton knew just what to do, He followed his wet nose. He tracked chummy to a groundsmans hut, In the local park. Come out, or Ill set the dog on you, And then began to bark. Oh . . . Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof. (repeat) So if you come across him, When walking down the street, Give him half a Bonio, Or a tin of Kennomeat. And if you want to stroke him Hell gurgle with delight, Dont worry if he growls at you, His barks worse than his bite. Oh . . . Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof, woof, Woof, woof. (repeat)

The only way is Eric

Eric Pickles is standing down as MP for TOWIE. Hes represented Brentwood  spiritual home of The Only Way Is Essex  since 1992, when he moved south after serving as leader of Bradford Council, in his native Yorkshire.

Ive always rather liked Eric, a roly-poly character with a streak of common sense in a sea of identikit, I-speak-your-weight-machine politicians.

He also has the distinction of being one of only two Fat Erics to capture the publics imagination  both of them from Ooop North.

The other was Fat Eric, the crooked hairdresser played by the late Ken Parry, in a 1975 edition of The Sweeney, back when we used to have proper television programmes  not so-called reality dross like TOWIE.

The other was Fat Eric, the crooked hairdresser played by the late Ken Parry, in a 1975 edition of The Sweeney (left), and Fat Eric Pickles (right), MP for Brentwood, who is standing down

So-called millennials, mostly born in the late Eighties and Nineties, say they dont feel properly grown-up until they reach the grand old age of 27.

Call me old-fashioned, but when I was 27, I was married with two kids, on to my fourth mortgage and was trying to hold down a high-pressure job on a busy Fleet Street newspaper. Pitt the Younger was 24 when he became Prime Minister, for heavens sake.

Yet at that age, it would appear, most millennials havent even worked out if they are male, female or gender fluid.

No wonder they are the first generation who can expect to be worse off than their parents.

Brigitte Trogneux, glamorous 64-year-old wife of presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron, put the phwoar-factor in the election

Brigitte's French lessons

Brigitte Trogneux, glamorous 64-year-old wife of presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron, has put the Phwoar-factor in the French election.

Shes what we call in the Anglosphere a cougar  a woman of a certain age who feasts on younger men.

Macron is 25 years her junior and Brigitte used to teach him when he was 15 years old. Two years later, he said he was going to marry her.

In France, shes celebrated as a liberated, female role model. Theres nothing frigid about Brigitte, nest pas?

Donnez-la un pour moi!

But what if La Trogneux was a 64-year-old male teacher, who was now hooked up with a female pupil he taught when she was only 15?

In Britain, it would be a job for the Jimmy Savile squad.

My friend Colin Dunne, an occasional contributor to this parish, wonders why Marine Le Pen isnt known as Marine La Plume in French?
You could almost hear the popping of champagne corks from the White Cliffs of Dover.

In Brussels yesterday the elation was unbounded after the pro-EU candidate, slick former banker Emmanuel Macron, won the first round of the French presidential election, pushing Marine Le Pen into second place.

Senior officials, aware of the catastrophic impact of a Le Pen presidency on the EU (and their own jobs) even breached the convention of not interfering in national elections by supporting Mr Macron.

Slick former banker Emmanuel Macron, won the first round of the French presidential election, pushing Marine Le Pen into second place

But with nearly half of French voters backing anti-EU candidates, what actually are they celebrating?

In fact, the result  which puts the far-Right uncomfortably close to the Elysee Palace  should be a huge wake-up call for ruling elites across the continent.

In an emphatic rejection of Frances political establishment, for the first time in nearly 60 years no candidate from either of the main parties made the final round.

Miss Le Pen won 7.6million votes  the highest ever total for a far-Right candidate. Polls suggest she could win up to 40 per cent in the head-to-head on May 7.

Miss Le Pen won 7.6million votes  the highest ever total for a far-Right candidate. Polls suggest she could win up to 40 per cent in the head-to-head on May 7

This newspaper holds no torch for Miss Le Pen and there are deeply ugly elements within the National Front party, which she distanced herself from last night. But Mr Macron and his allies in Brussels are wrong to dismiss those millions of French voters who demand tougher border and immigration controls.

Indeed, assuming he triumphs over Miss Le Pen, he would be well advised to focus on fixing the sclerotic French economy, cutting unemployment and tackling extremism, instead of issuing hollow threats to punish this country over Brexit. Before the taste of flat champagne sours

Andrew Fisher wants to abolish the monarchy, disband MI5, scrap Trident, slash defence and disarm police

Labour in la-la land

Abolish the monarchy Disband MI5 Scrap Trident Slash defence Disarm police Mail readers might assume these are the loony policies of the Communist Party of Britain, which coincidentally endorsed Jeremy Corbyn yesterday.

But in fact they are ideas advocated by the man drawing up Labours election manifesto, its policy chief Andrew Fisher.

It is with some reluctance that the Mail returns again to the subject of the leader of Her Majestys Opposition who, barely a week into campaigning, has proved beyond doubt his unfitness to run a residents association, let alone the country.

But it would be a dereliction of duty not to point out that, in the unlikely event Mr Corbyn found himself in No10, people like Mr Fisher would be by his side.

Indeed, arent voters entitled to conclude that just as Mr Corbyn shares his advisors views on Trident, he sympathises with many others? After all, why else would he appoint him?

In yet another example of the deadly consequences of driving while using a mobile phone, a woman wishing a friend happy birthday on Facebook ploughed into a stationary car, instantly killing the 84-year-old driver and seriously injuring his wife.

Following a Mail campaign there are now tougher penalties for drivers flouting the ban on phone use. But with one in six motorists admitting they still do  including for Twitter and to check work emails  police must keep up uncompromising pressure on this mobile menace. Lives, literally, are at stake.

Last week this newspaper revealed the chilling development that some GPs are being offered financial rewards not to refer patients for cancer tests.

Now, we report that tens of thousands of cancer patients are not being correctly diagnosed by their GPs despite three or more visits. With survival rates among the worst in Europe, surely the case for better diagnosis  and the end of these perverse incentives  could not be clearer.
I am a huge sneaker fan - and will opt for a good pair of lace-up workout shoes over the fanciest pair of designer heels any day.

But having built up what I consider to be a fairly impressive collection of sneakers, I have become somewhat of a snob when it comes to picking out the perfect pair.

I've tried options from a variety of big-name brands, including Adidas, Nike, Asics, APL, Reebok - the list goes on - and only a few select pairs have actually managed to secure a spot in my list of favorites.

So when I read about a relatively new-to-the market brand called Allbirds and their sole sneaker design, the Wool Runner, which had been hailed by dozens of people and publications - including Refinery29, Men's Fitness, and Business Insider - as the 'most comfortable shoe in the world', I knew I had to give it a go.

Testing, testing: Femail Editor Charlie Lankston put the Allbirds Wool Runner and the Wool Lounger to the test for a week

A shoe for every occasion: Hailed as 'the world's most comfortable shoes', the Allbirds Wool Runner (left) has just been joined by the brand's second design, the Wool Lounger (right)

At first glance, the shoe looks like a fairly standard lace-up sneaker with a very simple-yet-chic design.

However upon further inspection, I came to realize that the shoe offered a lot more than initially meets the eye - not least the fact that it is made out of merino wool from New Zealand - and is intended to be work without socks, a concept which shudder.

Surely, I thought, no brand would actually encourage people to don their sneakers without socks, given that they are - above all other shoe designs - most prone to picking up a horrendous stink after just a few wears in the gym.

But according to the brains behind the brand, the merino wool material actually helps to minimize odor, regulate temperature and wick moisture, meaning that they won't end up smelling disgusting, even if you are brave enough to wear them without socks.

While reading through all of these claims, I was convinced that, if they all proved to be true, then I would have actually found my dream shoe. Something that is minimal enough to be worn day-to-day, but comfortable enough to be worn while working out? Sign me up.

And I have to say, when I first slipped my feet into the shoes, I was really surprised by how comfortable they were - more so than any other shoes I've ever worn, and that includes my beloved Uggs and unicorn slippers.

But eager to ensure that I wasn't being sold on nothing more than false promises and a blissful first impression, I ventured out to put the lace-up Wool Runners to the test, pushing them (and myself) to the most extreme levels of discomfort in order to make sure that they would stand up to even the most painful of situations.

First up? A crowded commute home on the subway which, although seemingly easy to tackle, can prove to be one of the most disturbing scenarios a New Yorker will face during their time living in the city.

Whether you're being pushed around by other subway riders, slipping over on a stream of urine left by a drunken party-goer, or being trodden on by every other person you come across, riding the subway is no easy feat for the feet.

City slicker: The Wool Runner held up in a variety of different situations, from workout classes to busy subway rides

Strolling and sweating: Charlie wore the Wool Loungers while walking around the city (left), but she found the Wool Runners suitable for all kinds of situations, including the gym (right)

Indeed, on this particular journey, I was stomped on by several high heel-wearing women, and then my left foot was run over with a stroller.

And while the Wool Runners didn't offer a huge amount of protection as far as saving my feet from the pain of a stiletto heel being driven into them, they managed to hold up incredibly well against the trampling, and my sock-less feet remained pretty darn comfortable during my entire commute.

So far, so good.

But next up was a scenario far more challenging than a simple subway ride; a dance-based workout class with celebrity trainer JJ Dancer at Bandier's Studio B. Described as 'an energetic, high-intensity workout that focuses on building long, lean muscles and torching away the fat', I knew that this class was not going to be easy - for me or my shoes.

And I was right - within minutes of starting the workout, I was a sweating, flailing mess, making a total fool of myself while attempting to twerk in a circle (a twerkle).

Despite my feelings of personal discomfort however, I was thoroughly satisfied with the Allbirds' performance, which was a darn sight more impressive than my dancing, it has to said.

Although I was warned by the lovely people at Allbirds that the Wool Runners are not specifically designed to be a performance shoe, they held up incredibly well throughout the class, even though I was bouncing, spinning and hopping around like a total loon the entire time - while sock-less, I might add.

Further more, they continued to wow during the three other workout classes I wore them to during the week, all of which were high cardio and required a lot of movement.

I will say that when my feet reached maximum levels of heat - particularly during an NW Method class with trainer Emily Diers, where the room was heated to a balmy 85 degrees - the shoes did start to rub slightly and I experienced a minor amount of discomfort as a result.

Comfortable? Even during the toughest of workout classes at Bandier's Studio B in New York City, Charlie found the shoes to be incredibly comfortable

Awkward: The light grey options did get slightly stained while Charlie was walking around Central Park, but that didn't make them any less comfortable

But even still, at the end of the hour-long sweat session, I was completely blister-free and - what's even more impressive - the shoes had remained odor-free. A miracle, as far as I'm concerned.

All in all I don't think I could have been more impressed with the Wool Runners; in fact my only complaint about the brand in general was that there weren't more design options for me to choose from. When I first happened upon the lace-up wool sneakers, they were the only option on offer, albeit available in a variety of colors.

And then, as if by magic, Allbirds announced the launch of their second design - the Wool Lounger. Intended to offer wearers a slightly different - and less sporty - option, the Lounger is a slip-on shoe that comes in a variety of fun shades, from light grey to vibrant yellow.

I have to admit I wasn't overly sold on the actual design of this shoe at first glance; I much preferred the overall aesthetic of the lace-up version. But eager to see whether the brand's second offering would live up to the comfort levels of its lace-up predecessor, I willingly gave it a go - and was thrilled to find that, when it came to comfort, they were just as impressive.

Even after several hours of walking around the American Museum of Natural History, following by a lengthy stroll around Central Park, my feet felt incredibly sweet - and not once did I miss my trusty socks.

In fact, the only downsides that I found when it came to the Wool Lounger were that my rather large big toe protruded slightly as a result of the oh-so-soft woolen fabric, and I ended up with a slight grass stain on the pale grey design thanks entirely to my determination to clamber over several large boulders in order to get the 'perfect' shot of the Central Park boating lake.

Other than that, however, they were just as wonderful as the Wool Runner - and both pairs have remained in my regular rotation of sneakers ever since, prompting several of my higher-priced 'performance' shoes to be shoved to one side in favor of the 'world's most comfortable shoe'...
Less than a week ago, she was snapped in a camouflage green military uniform while participating in land and water exercises with the Home Guard in Vordingborg.

But it was back to stilettos for Crown Princess Mary on Monday, when she attended the official opening of Danish Science Day 2017 in Copenhagen.

The 45-year-old Australian-born Royal presented the Research Communication Prize 2017 to a quantum physicist from Aarhus University called Jacob Sherson.

She also later showed off her strength by getting involved and lifting a car during proceedings.

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Crown Princess Mary attended the official opening of Danish Science Day 2017 in Copenhagen on Monday (pictured greeting people)

While there, the Princess showed she wasn't afraid to get involved - at one stage lifting a Renault car in stilettos (pictured)

The Danish Royal also got involved with the festival by making soap bubbles in several sizes (pictured)

As patron of the Danish Research Festival, the hands-on mother was very involved involved with events on the day.

As well as meeting and greeting people, she made soap bubbles in several sizes.

Princess Mary even lifted a Renault car on the day, demonstrating she was not afraid to get her hands dirty - even while wearing her python-print stiletto shoes.

The 45-year-old Australian-born Royal presented the Research Communication Prize 2017 to a quantum physicist from Aarhus University called Jacob Sherson

The Science Day is part of the overall research festival, which is hugely popular and sees over 75,000 participants

The Princess also got involved with other events on the day (pictured)

The hands-on mother and Royal is the patron of the Danish Research Festival (pictured lifting the car)

The Science Day is part of the overall research festival, which is hugely popular and sees over 75,000 participants.

For the illustrious occasion, Princess Mary sported a double cashmere coat she has worn on previous occasions by one of her favourite labels, Joseph.

She paired this with a silk blouse by Elise Gug, a maroon pencil skirt and python pumps by Gianvito Rossi.

For the illustrious occasion, Princess Mary sported a double cashmere coat she has worn on previous occasions by one of her favourite labels, Joseph

She paired this with a silk blouse by Elise Gug, a maroon pencil skirt and python pumps by Gianvito Rossi (pictured)

The Princess accessorised her look with her trademark pearl drop earrings and a red clutch bag (pictured)

It appeared to be a blustery day in Copenhagen, as the Princess's hair blew around her face (pictured)

The Princess accessorised her look with her trademark pearl drop earrings and a red clutch bag.

Last week, the 45-year-old Danish Royal had a busy week.

Between working with the Home Guard, celebrating the tenth birthday of her daughter, Princess Isabella, and visiting the Svanevig Hospice in Bandholm, she took part in several Royal duties.


For many women, waiting for their boyfriend to propose can be a lengthy, will he, won't he - and when - kind of business.

Which is precisely why one woman decided to take the matter into her own hands.

Katie Hendry, 34, from Lake Macquarie, proposed to her now-husband during last year's leap year and the Festival of Love.

She did so by recreating a scene from his favourite film, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and giving her partner, Cameron, the idea he was set to receive an elaborate meal before producing burgers and fast food.

The bride-to-be even sourced a burger engagement ring.

Katie Hendry, 34, from Lake Macquarie, proposed to her now-husband during last year's leap year and Sydney's Vivid festival (pictured)

She did so by recreating a scene from his favourite film, Kingsman: The Secret Service

The 34-year-old gave her partner the idea he was set to receive an elaborate meal before producing burgers and fast food (pictured)

She even sourced a burger engagement ring (pictured)

According to Ms Hendry, who runs a dog rescue group called Forgotten Souls Dog Rescue, while she hadn't always assumed she would be the one to propose, she thought she might do so when she got sick of waiting:

'I'd showed Cameron rings and the sort of style I liked, and I thought we'd been together for a while but still I was waiting,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'And so I joked that I might propose to him but I don't think he believed me.'

The 34-year-old then started talking to her colleagues at work about biting the bullet and proposing, and lots of people said: 'Why not? It's the 21st century.

'And so that was that,' Ms Hendry explained.

According to Ms Hendry, while she hadn't always assumed she would be the one to propose, she thought she might do so when she got sick of waiting

'I'd showed Cameron rings and the sort of style I liked, and I thought we'd been together for a while but still I was waiting,' she told Daily Mail Australia

The 34-year-old then started talking to her colleagues at work about biting the bullet and proposing, and lots of people said: 'Why not? It's the 21st century' - and so, she did

The couple tied the knot several weeks ago in a beach ceremony at Lake Macquarie (pictured)

'We did our own vows, it wasn't stuffy and for the ceremony I made 1,000 paper cranes like the Japanese wedding tradition - it's the symbol of a good marriage,' Ms Hendry explained

Ms Hendry then started to think about how she would pop the question, eventually landing on Cameron's favourite film, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and his favourite scene - 'the burger scene':

'I wanted to do something personal and also quite funny,' Ms Hendry explained.

'I found a burger ring because he had always joked that if he got me a ring, it would be a burger ring.

'Then, I set up this fancy dinner with elaborate decor and organised for some waiters to come and serve him with silver trays filled with McDonald's.'

With regards to advice for other women who might want to propose, Ms Hendry said: 'Know the guy you're dealing with'

She explained that some men still have old-fashioned ideals and wouldn't respond well to a woman proposing

The 34-year-old put her plan into place with the help of a proposal planner from Buy The Cow, and the rest is history.

'The planners helped to organise a few musicians to play Bon Jovi - his favourite artist - and we hired a photographer.

'Cameron said "yes" straight away as soon as I proposed - and he did love the whole idea. I think he was in shock at first as I don't think he even realised I had recreated a scene from Kingsman: The Secret Service.'

The couple posed for a wedding shoot shot by Ms Hendry's brother (pictured)

Ms Hendry said she has no regrets from proposing to Cameron (pictured in her wedding dress)

The couple tied the knot several weeks ago in a beach ceremony at Lake Macquarie.

'We did our own vows, it wasn't stuffy and for the ceremony I made 1,000 paper cranes like the Japanese wedding tradition - it's the symbol of a good marriage,' Ms Hendry said.

With regards to advice for other women who might want to propose, Ms Hendry advised: 'Know the guy you're dealing with.

'While some might like it, others still hold old-fashioned ideals and might say no. I did it and really enjoyed it. I hadn't thought I would, but I have no regrets.'
Viewers tuning in to the latest round of MasterChef have blasted the show as 'pretentious b*******' - after the judges used the word 'brambles' to describe blackberries.

The fruit-themed rage was sparked after contestant Brody served up a game dish featuring blackberries, only for judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace to refer to them as brambles throughout.

Angry fans of the quintessentially British fruit quickly took to social media to vent, suggesting that the show was using the 'fashionable' term rather than the correct one.

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Fruit fool? Masterchef judge Gregg Wallace repeatedly called blackberries brambles on last night's episode of the cookery show, evoking the wrath of some viewers

Definitely not a bramble: Viewers took to social media to rant about the way the summer fruit was being described

BLACKBERRY OR BRAMBLE - WHO'S RIGHT? The correct term for the deep purple berry, often foraged for between June and early autumn, is blackberry, according to the Oxford Dictionary According to the Oxford Dictionary, viewers of last night's episode have a point. The correct definition describes the bramble as the bush, not the fruit, saying: 'A prickly scrambling shrub of the rose family, especially a blackberry.' Advertisement

Budding chef Brody, bidding for a place in the show's knockout stages, presented Wallace and Torode with a roast partridge breast served with parsnip, sweet potato and beetroot chips, a haggis scotch egg, pickled brambles and a bramble and port sauce.

The dish, inspired by his childhood, was generally a hit although Torode blasted Brody's 'brambles' for not being pickled enough, saying they were 'too sweet'.

On Twitter, one viewer, @deutschmikey declared: 'So we are not to call them blackberries any more people - remember, the fashionable call them brambles...brambles! #Masterchef.'

Meanwhile on Facebook, Jean Holland raged: 'Why are they calling blackberries 'brambles' on Masterchef? What a load of pretentious b*******'

Some claimed geography rather than pretension was to blame, suggesting that some parts of the country had always called blackberries brambles.

@Bob_TheBaldie 11h11 suggested: 'I think it's a north/south thing. Brambles in the North, and the correctly named blackberries down here in the south.'

So, who's right? According to the Oxford Dictionary, viewers of last night's episode have a point.

The correct definition describes the bramble as the bush, not the fruit, saying: 'A prickly scrambling shrub of the rose family, especially a blackberry.'

What a pickle! John Torode derided Brody for not pickling his brambles enough

The summer fruits were served both pickled and in a sauce for Brody's roast partridge dish

Is it a bramble, is it a blackberry? Masterchef was accused of going for the more 'fashionable' terminology to describe the summer fruit

This week sees the latest series of MasterChef reach its crescendo, with shows every night at 7:30pm and again at 8:30pm on BBC1.

Wednesday and Thursday sees hour-long shows at 8pm and a final Friday 30-minute episode at 8:30pm.
Prince Harry won widespread praise last week by breaking royal protocol to make a series of deeply personal revelations about coping with the death of his mother.

But according to insiders, he may never have spoken out about his mental health if it wasn't for his girlfriend Meghan Markle.

Friends have suggested it was the American actress who urged the royal to speak publicly about his experience of coping with grief at a young age.

Harry, 32, revealed last week that he had sought counselling after two years of 'chaos' following the death of his mother Princess Diana, who died in 1997 when he was just 12 years old.

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Suits star Meghan, 35, has been dating Prince Harry for just less than a year and is believed to be responsible for his recent revelations around his mental health after Diana's death

And a royal source has suggested Meghan, 35, is responsible. 'Harry feel for Meghan partly because she's so open, and has that American attitude of saying, "Let's talk about our feelings,"' they told Closer magazine.

'He comes from such a stiff-upper-lip culture, but Meghan helped him open up.'

Meghan's mother Doria Ragland is a yoga therapist, and until recently the actress ran a glossy lifestyle blog called The Tig, packed with 'inspirational' memes and messages of support for her followers.

The source added: 'Meghan encouraged Harry to see that, by speaking publicly about his difficult experience, he would really help others, and how being honest might even be a relief.

'No other woman has helped Harry so much emotionally.'

Brave: Harry hit headlines in a poignant interview where he admitted to ignoring his grief over Diana, only addressing it when he was 'on the verge of punching someone in later life'

The source hinted that Suits star Meghan, who has been tipped in with the Prince at his London home this year, has also helped Harry feel at ease in front of cameras for the first time and made him 'a different person'.

Harry hit headlines with a poignant interview with the Telegraph last week when he admitted to ignoring his grief over Diana during his teenage years, only addressing it when he was 'on the verge of punching someone in later life'.

A royal wedding? The actress has reportedly booked time off filming hit legal drama Suits next month to fly to England for the wedding of Pippa Middleton, Kate's younger sister

He joined the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in encouraging people to talk about mental health as part of their Heads Together campaign.

Meanwhile, insiders have hinted that the pair, who have been an item for just less than a year, are expected to announce their engagement with Meghan having been accepted into the royal family.

The actress has reportedly booked time off filming hit legal drama Suits next month to fly to England for the wedding of Pippa Middleton.
Quizmaster Bamber Gascogine has complained the property he inherited from an elderly relative has left him 'rushed off his feet'.

The former University Challenge host, now 82, was stunned to learn he had been left the 50-room West Horsley Place in Surrey in July 2014 and set about restoring it to its former glory.

But the sprawling Tudor mansion, near Guildford, had already fallen into a state of severe disrepair by the time it fell into their hands.

And in an interview with the Times, Gascoigne has revealed the extent of the task before him - including crumbling brickwork, cracked gutters and leaky ceilings.

Bamber Gascoigne inherited the stately home from his late aunt after her death in 2014. Many of the rooms had been shut up for years until Bamber came into possession of the property

The late Duchess of Roxburghe, a goddaughter of George Vs wife Queen Mary, bequeathed Grade I listed West Horsley Place and its 400 acres of grounds to Gascoigne in her will when she died childless at the age of 99.

And Mr Gascoigne, who hosted the BBC quiz show for 25 years, had no inkling that he was to inherit the country pile once frequented by the likes off Henry VIII - who reportedly enjoyed a lavish 35-course banquet in one of its many halls.

It appeared the Duchess of Roxburghe, who was also his godmother, had expected him to put the 15th-century property on the market.

But instead the broadcaster and his wife Christina have embarked on a mission to restore the crumbling estate to its former glory and eventually hope to leave it open to the public.

However they soon learned the project was no mean feat, with a 2015 survey putting the cost of restoring the building alone at an eye-watering 7.3million.

The former University Challenge host was stunned to learn he had been left the 50-room West Horsley Place and set about restoring it to its former glory with the help of wife Christina

The Geraldine Room at West Horsley Place with its many books. The Duchess of Roxburghe, Gascoigne's great-aunt, had expected him to put the 15th-century property on the market

Mr Gascoigne, who hosted the BBC quiz show for 25 years, had no inkling that he was to inherit the country pile which was once frequented by the likes off Henry VIII

That year they put jewels, paintings, furniture and artefacts found in the house up for auction at Sotheby's in a bid to raise enough cash to fund its renovation.

The late Duchess' engagement ring alone fetched 130,000, with the haul bringing in a total of 8.8million in a series of auctions in London and Geneva.

But before long the extent of the task before them became overwhelming.

Gascoigne told the Daily Mail's Robert Hardman: I was told [the Duchess of Roxburghe] knew the scale of the problem and that she thought I would sell. So it was nice to know that the option was there to fall back on.

But it was such a special place for Mary and it is a place with a remarkable history. We thought it would be better to try to make it habitable again for future generations.

Fundraising: Mr and Mrs Gascoigne have put jewels, paintings, furniture and artefacts found in the house up for auction at Sotheby's in a bid to raise enough money for its renovation

The historic property has raised cash by playing host to commercial projects including a local opera festival, a TV shoot for Netflix series The Crown and a recent Mulberry advert

Challenge accepted: Gascoigne and his wife Christina have embarked on a mission to restore the estate to its former glory

In an interview this week, the unexpected heir told The Times: 'I had never done a renovation before.

'We began to feel we couldnt cope with it  it was absolutely impossible.'

But he admits the burden has lessened since handing the property and finances over to his newly-founded charity, The Mary Roxburghe Trust.

Since then the historic property has raised cash by playing host to commercial projects including a local opera festival, a TV shoot for Netflix series The Crown and a recent Mulberry advert - although Gascoigne suspects its late owner would have been 'appalled' by the prospect.

Of his ongoing project, he told the newspaper's Audrey Ward: 'I've never been so rushed off my feet.'
It was a decade of spiky haircuts, oversized blazers and edgy-looking make-up. And thanks to the arrival of MTV in 1981, it was also the decade of the video star.

Eighties girl band phenomenon Bananarama announced that they're reforming earlier this week, sending music fans hurtling down memory lane.

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Flash back: Siobhan Fahey (top right) - who left the girl group in 1988 - will join fellow bandmates Sarah Dallin (left) and Keren Woodward (centre) for the reunion

Blast from the past! Eighties pop band Bananarama to make massive comeback after almost 30 years break - pictured at the BBC Radio Two studios on Monday (Pictured from left: Sarah Dallin, Keren Woodward and Siobhan Fahey)

Siobhan Fahey, 58 - who original left the girl group in 1988 - will reunite with bandmates Sarah Dallin, 55, and Keren, 56, for a string of gigs that promise to rediscover hits including Nathan Jones, Cruel Summer and Venus.

On Sunday, the band's official page tweeted: 'Miss Fahey is BACK! We're so excited to be going on tour this Nov/Dec.'

While the ladies follow hot on the heels of other Eighties stars who've hit the road again, including Tears for Fears, Rick Astley and Spandau Ballet, there are plenty eighties chart-toppers that aren't quite so present. Here, we run down what happened to some of the most recognisable faces...

DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS

Too-Rye-Ay! Dexy's Midnight Runners's Come on Eileen was an instant dancefloor classic...but the band had many a different line up

Now 63, the man whose curls wooed a generation, Kevin Rowland, reformed his beloved band as Dexys and released an album in 2016. Rowland also works as a DJ, travelling across Europe for gigs

They carved out a dancefloor classic with Come on Eileen in 1982, which followed the band's first major hit, Geno, in 1980 and the first incarnation of the band split in 1986.

Despite a slew of line-up changes since, frontman Kevin Rowland has re-formed the group on several occasions.

Rowland's own solo career faltered in the late Eighties and he stuck to keeping the Dexys dream alive, by shortening the name, touring and releasing albums including last year's Let The Record Show: Dexys Do Irish And Country Soul.

Now also a DJ, 63-year-old Rowland is a regular on the European club scene.

HOWARD JONES

Howard Jones, now 62, racked up ten top 40 singles between 1983 and 1986. Now based in Somerset, the vegetarian still tours playing his old hits and new music

With his through-a-hedge-backwards peroxide blonde hair and mohair jumpers, Howard Jones won over teenage girls, if not the music critics.

He scored ten top 40 hit singles in the UK in just three years between 1983 and 1986, with Like To Get To Know You Well, Things Can Only Get Better and New Song.

Now 62, Jones still has the spiky white locks, although down to age more than hair dye.

The musician - real name John Howard Jones - lives in Somerset and is a vegetarian. He's still singing, and supported US act Barenaked Ladies on tour in the States last year.

ALISON MOYET

Alison Moyet shot to fame as a teenager with synth-pop band Yazoo before going solo and winning the charts with hits including Is This Love? and Whispering Your Name. More recent years have seen Moyet continue to perform and offering snapshots of her life - and opinions - on social media

As one half of synth-pop band Yazoo, Moyet racked up the hits - including Only You and Don't Go - in the first years of the 80s with her deep, wispy vocals.

When the band parted ways in 1983 - Vince Clarke went on to form Erasure with Andy Bell - stardom beckoned for Moyet and the hits rolled in - Weak in the Presence of Beauty, Is This Love? and Whispering Your Name cemented her status as a household name.

Anxiety plagued the star though and she was house-bound with agoraphobia for a period.

Now 55, and a mother-of-three, including a son from her first marriage to hairdresser Malcom Lee, Moyet, significantly slimmer these days, is still singing and pretty prolific on social media too, much to the joy of her steadfast fanbase.

THOMPSON TWINS

The Thompson Twins...were neither twins or even a duo. The band scored hits including In the Name of Love but had an ever-changing line up. The two most constant members were Alannah Currie, centre, and John Bailey, right, who had two children together before going their separate ways

Currie continued to make music before becoming a militant feminist in 2010, working with the Sisters of Perpetual Resistance in London

Perhaps the most confusingly-named pop stars, Thompson Twins were actually originally a quartet named after the detectives in the Tintin series.

The foursome comprised Tom Bailey, Pete Dodd, John Roog and Jon Podgorski...but not for long.

By the middle of the decade the band had hit the big time - and changed the line-up multiple times including the addition of fiesty-looking New Zealand musician Alannah Currie. Their biggest chart success came with In the Name of Love, which the US loved as much as the UK.

In 1993, they changed the band's name to Babble as they experimented with a new, more chilled music style. Currie and Bailey became a couple, wed and had two children together.

Now divorced, while Bailey continues to tour as a solo artist performing the Twins' music, Currie, now 59, is a feminist activist who goes by the name of Miss Pokeno - describing herself on Twitter as an 'armchair destructivist, dissenter, Sister of Perpetual Resistance and pop star drop-out'.

KAJAGOOGOO

Limahl gave the world the mullet and enjoyed the big time as Kajagoogoo's frontman. He was fired though in 1983 and embarked upon a solo career including singing the theme tune to The Neverending Story in 1984

A firm fixture on the 80s revival scene, Limahl, who lives with his partner in the UK, briefly made it to the jungle in 2012 on I'm a Celebrity

Wannabe pop star Chris Hamill advertised for a band via Melody Maker magazine in the early eighties.

Hamill mixed up his surname to become Limahl and the group (whose name was an adaptation of baby-talk: ga-ga-goo-goo) were spotted by Duran Duran keyboard player Nick Rhodes.

Rhodes produced their first and biggest hit, Too Shy - remember 'too shy-shy, hush-hush, eye-to-eye' - in 1983 and saw it whizz to Number 1. However, Limahl was fired from the band in the same year.

He resurfaced to record The Neverending Story in 1984.

More recently, the 58-year-old peroxide blonde frontman appeared on jungle reality show I'm a Celebrity in 2012, although he was voted off early in proceedings. The star now tours frequently as Limahl at eighties reunion gigs.

NIK KERSHAW

Nik Kershaw may only stand at 5ft 4in but he's a giant when it comes to writing pop songs. Alongside his own hits, he also penned for others and can count I Won't Let The Sun Go Down on Me and Chesney Hawkes' The One and Only among his handiwork

The diminutive hitmaker, now 59, won hearts with a string of hits for himself - and some pretty weighty efforts for others too.

Indeed, Elton John described Kershaw as 'the best songwriter of his generation' after he penned hits including Wouldn't It Be Good, I Won't Let The Sun Go Down on Me and Chesney Hawkes' The One and Only.

More than a little grey around the temples, Kershaw hasn't let his guitar sit idle and celebrates his 60th birthday next year.

He continues to tour small venues and recently popped up to perform one of his hits while Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox danced for Comic Relief after a reader requested it.
Europe's most stylish royals are famous for their love of a carefully co-ordinated outfit.

But Queen Maxima of the Netherlands took matchy-matchy to a whole new level as she stepped out in Berlin today.

The radiant Queen was presented with a colourful bouquet that blended perfectly with her floral dress as she arrived at the W20 Summit in the German capital today.

The red and white flowers in her bouquet coordinated perfectly with the print on her dress

The Dutch Queen teamed her floral dress with a pair of red slingback stilettos with white trim

The Dutch Queen is in Germany in her role as the UN Secretary General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.

She was seen chatting with Ivanka Trump, daughter of the US President, as well as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the summit, which is being held with the aim of boosting the economic empowerment of women.

The Dutch Queen attended the summit in her role as the UN Secretary General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance Development

Queen Maxima looked in high spirits as she chatted to other guests in Berlin today

She smiled as she walked alongside the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the US President's daughter Ivanka Trump

Maxima's statement stilettos and eye-catching earrings complimented her dress perfectly - as did her bouquet

Maxima was impeccable as ever as she arrived at the event, in a knee-length fitted dress with a vibrant floral print.

Her red slingback stilettos echoed the red blooms on her statement dress - as, conveniently, did the bouquet of flowers she was snapped carrying.

She wore her hair loose and added a pair of bold red earrings and a chunky, colourful bracelet.
Cara Delevingne and her co-star Dane DeHaan model cozy white sweaters as they cuddle up together on the '60s-inspired cover of V magazine.

Cara, 24, stars alongside Dane, 31, in the upcoming sci-fi film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and the two make a cozy pair in their photo shoot together for the publication's upcoming summer issue.

The model-turned-actress has traded her long golden locks for a platinum blonde bob with bangs, and her bright blue eyes are accentuated by layers of thick black mascara on her mod-inspired eyelashes.

Perfect pair: Cara Delevingne and her co-star Dane DeHaan star on the cover of V magazine's spage age-inspired summer issue

Cara debuted her new 'do back in March, and while her hair is bleached, her famously bushy brows are still naturally dark, creating a striking contrast.

She and Dane are pictured lying their forearms on a bubblegum pink fur blanket, and the two give the camera a searing gaze as they pose cheek to cheek.

Aside from their piercing blue eyes and Dane's tousled brown locks, everything on the cover is either white or pink, including Cara's hair.

Keeping with space age theme of the cover, Dane is sporting a silver collar necklace, while Cara has a few rings on her fingers.

Strike a pose: Cara, 24, and Dane, 31, were photographed by designer Karl Lagerfeld for the shoot

Another image from inside the magazine sees Cara modeling a mop of electric blue feathers on top of her platinum locks and a bright green dress.

And while the two keep the same pose, Dane is donning a brown corduroy jacket and thin stone bracelets on his wrists.

In Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Cara and Dane play Laureline and Valerian, two special operatives working together to maintain order throughout the human territories in the 28th century.

According Cara her audition for the role was unlike anything she has ever done before, but she still had to show the film's director Luc Besson that she could take on the role.

Co-stars: The two play special operatives working to maintain order throughout the human territories in the 28th century in the upcoming film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Futuristic stars: Cara and Dane are pictured promoting the film at Comic-Con last July

'I had to prove myself, but not in a typical audition setting,' she said.

'Luc would say stuff like, "Make up a story in your head and describe it to me using no real words, just physicality and random sounds you make up." Or, "Think of an animal and act it out and I have to guess what animal it is."

And while Cara is used to holding a pose as a model, she was eager to do her own stunt work.

'When I hear that theres an option that I can do it instead of a stunt person, Im always like, "Please let me do it! Throw me off the building, I like that!"' she said.

Cara and Dane's shoot was photographed by famed designer Karl Lagerfeld, and inside the issue is a special edition shot by supermodel Gigi Hadid.

New look: Cara traded her honey-blonde locks for a platinum 'do in March

The model also starred in the the film Suicide Squad and new footage has fans claiming her body was edited to look slimmer. She is pictured before (L) and after (R) the alleged editing

V magazine also has second cover featuring the duo for fans to check out on its website.

Cara recently played the evil Enchantress in the 2016 blockbuster, Suicide Squad, and fans of the film are now claiming that her body was edited to look slimmer in the film, citing newly released footage as evidence.

The footage shows how the actress' appearance changed after digital effects were added and reveals that she shot her scenes as the evil Enchantress in the 2016 blockbuster wearing a flesh-colored outfit.

The video was then modified to add Cara's full costume - complete with a headdress - but her clothes aren't the only elements that appear different in the edited video.

In the images, Cara's waist does appear more defined after the computer-generated effects were added.

Cara's Enchantress' outfit could have played a part as well. The bottom part of the outfit, in particular, hikes up higher on Cara's hips than her flesh-colored bottoms - which might have made her body look thinner.
Her boots are a firm favourite with the Duchess of Cambridge who has been wearing the same pair for more than a decade.

And now footwear designer Penelope Chilvers has extended her royal links by casting Lady Amelia Windsor, who is 36th in line to the throne, for her latest campaign.

Stunning footage shows the royal, 21, wandering through boutiques in a silver cropped vest and jeans before being dressed in traditional floral gown for El Rocio, the most famous religious pilgrimage in Andalucia.

Lady Amelia, who is the granddaughter of the Duke of Kent, the Queen's first cousin, is a family friend of Penelope and has known her since childhood.

'I invited her to join us at El Rocio because I knew she would genuinely enjoy the experience,' she told The Telegraph. 'Amelia takes an international approach to travel, immersing herself in the local culture.'

'Her inquisitiveness and appreciation of other cultures and languages is something I love about her, and share.'

Amelia has previously spoken of her appreciation for the designer, claiming to Vogue that her Penelope Chilvers Safari and Oscar Boots are the only shoes she wears.

And she's certainly not the only royal fan with Kate being spotted in her 475 tassel boots all the way back in August 2004 at the Game Fair at Blenheim Palace.

The then Kate Middleton had just been thrust into the spotlight as the public got wind of her relationship with Prince William who she met when they were both studying at St Andrew's University.

Lady Amelia Windsor, 21, stars in a new campaign for footwear designer Penelope Chilvers

The 36th in line to the throne has been a family friend of Penelope's since childhood

The footage sees Amelia floating through the streets of El Rocio in ripped jeans and a cropped silver dress

The boots made another appearance exactly a year later as Kate attended the Gatcombe Festival of Eventing in Gloucestershire.

She then gave them another outing on the tough three-hour hike to the Tiger's Nest monastery on her visit to Bhutan last April.

Lady Amelia, 21, shot to global fame last year when she appeared on the cover of Tatler magazine, who hailed her 'the world's most beautiful royal', and instantly became the darling of high society.

Kate wearing her favourite 475 Penelope Chilvers tassel boots in Bhutan last April

Her fashion credentials are already impeccable, having completed an internship with Chanel in Paris.

She said of her time with the fashion house: 'It was one of the best experiences Ive ever had. To see how much goes into making a fashion business is quite exciting.'

But Lady Amelia is no mere vacuous socialite in the making. On the contrary. She is vocal about her love for Latin, saying she is 'crazy' about it after studying it for A-level and is rather bookish in nature.

Lady Amelia ditches her jeans and is dressed in a traditional flamenco style outfit

The student has impeccable fashion credentials but is combining her modelling career with her university studies

She's currently reading French and Italian at Edinburgh University. Indeed, a friend of hers insists that, despite appearances, she's 'quite quiet'.

Amelia studied art history, French and Latin for A-level. But that Windsor love for glamour kicked in at an early age.

As a teenager at St Mary's Ascot  the Berkshire boarding school that educated Princess Caroline of Monaco and Lady Antonia Fraser  Amelia had already announced her fervour for fashion. She now looks set for a career in the industry, with a bit of modelling thrown in, and she's happy to earn her keep along the way.
It is rare to see Queen Mathilde put a sartorial foot wrong but it seems that even royalty have to occasionally favour practicality over style.

The Queen of Belgium today swapped her highly tailored signature style for a pair of white overalls and a blue hairnet.

The 44-year-old monarch even added a pair of rubber gloves to her ensemble as she and her husband King Philippe visited a factory in East Flanders.

Queen Mathilde swapped her tiara for a hairnet on Tuesday as she visited a factory in Temse

The couple were treated to a tour of the inner-workings of the Wase Werkplats factory where the hazelnut spread Nutella is produced.

The royal couple clearly have a sweet tooth as they seemed fascinated by the production of the sweet spread.

The pair chatted with workers in the factory who explained the production process and despite their unusual get up they managed to still appear regal.

She and husband King Philippe took a tour of the Wase Werkplats factory where the hazelnut spread Nutella is produced

The royal couple clearly have a sweet tooth as they seemed fascinated by the production of the sweet spread

Earlier today the couple could be seen sporting far smarter attire with Queen Mathilde opting for an unusual houndstooth dress.

The royals met with young asylum seekers at a reception in Dendermonde.

The Queen chose a striking yellow checked dress for the occasion, which she wore underneath a camel, cape-style coat.

The Queen also had the opportunity to meet some of the workers at the factory

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde appeared to be in high spirits during their tour of the factory

The 44-year-old mother-of-four, who brought along a lemon coloured shawl to drape around her shoulders, completed her understated look with low-heeled shoes and a pair of gold drop earrings.

The royal couple spent time mingling with crowds of well wishers who had gathered to see them, before greeting the young asylum seekers at the reception.

Queen Mathilde (above right) offers bread to a young asylum seeker as she visits the federal agency for the reception of asylum seekers

Queen Mathilde of Belgium and King Philippe (above) also visited the Wissekerke Castle in Bazel

Queen Mathilde was snapped sharing a dish of bread rolls with one young man as the pair chatted today.

Later, Mathilde and Philippe went on to visit the Wissekerke Castle, in the village of Bazel in East Flanders.

They were shown around the attraction by Kruibeke's mayor, Jos Stassen

Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde smile as they visit the Federal agency for the reception of asylum seekers

The royals looked delighted to be visiting the facility in Dendermonde, Belgium
Racegoers at Punchestown in Naas County Kildare were faced with a downpour as the five-day festival got underway this afternoon.

But luckily it did nothing to dampen spirits, with many revellers handily protected by elaborate accessories such as frilly parasols.

Two friends looked like they could give Eliza Doolittle a run for her money with their pastel umbrellas, which perfectly matched their outfits.

Others had to make do with pulling their coats over their heads and hoping for the best.

These friends could give Audrey Hepburn's Eliza Doolittle a run for her money with their pretty parasols at Punchestown Racecourse in Naas, County Kildare

These friends looked slightly chilly as they battled the elements on day one of the Punchestown racing festival

These friends went for the monochrome look, festooned in fur, feathers and ornamental flowers

The Punchestown Festival is one of the highlights of the jump racing calendar and attracts top class horses, trainers and jockeys from both sides of the Irish sea.

Competition for the title of Best Dressed Lady will be stiff, as a daily winner will be selected on each day before the overall winner is announced on Friday.

Each finalist receives a flight voucher, Bollinger champagne and a goody bag, while the daily winner also get a custom made Montgomery Millinery Hat worth 250.

The overall winner will be presented with a trip to France with business class flights, gourmet dinners and a night in Paris with luxury accommodation and Michelin dining - plus a year's supply of Bollinger Special Cuvee.

Sometimes the only thing for it is to a pull a coat over your head and battle on through

Floral fantasy! This woman ensured she was going to stand out from the crowd in a very elaborate headpiece

Not quite the hat you were planning on? On woman managed to cover her head with a shawl to keep off the rain
Students ask UGC if NET examination will be held

IANS, New Delhi | Published : 24th April, 2017

Fearing cancellation of the biannual National Eligibility Test (NET) examination, the All India Students Association (AISA) demonstrated outside the University Grant Commission (UGC) office here on Monday and sought its clarification on the issue.



The students group moved into action on the basis of news in the media a couple of days back, which talked about the "inability" of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to conduct the NET examination.

The examination is conducted by the central board twice a year -- around July and December.

"Certain media outlets had reported that CBSE will not be conducting NET in July, as it is already overburdened with other examinations it conducts on behalf of UGC... We have demanded a clarification on this from them (UGC) within this week," AISA leader Neeraj told IANS.

The examination is conducted by the central board twice a year -- around July and December.

"Certain media outlets had reported that CBSE will not be conducting NET in July, as it is already overburdened with other examinations it conducts on behalf of UGC... We have demanded a clarification on this from them (UGC) within this week," AISA leader Neeraj told IANS.

He said that the suspension of the examination would "simply mean that they want to deny students higher education", and insisted that the test "must take place".

"After causing a massive seat-cut in JNU, they are now denying students higher education. Why do people go for MA... it's because they have interest in a certain area which they want to probe further, and to do that they need financial assistance," he said.

The officials from the UGC met the students and assured them that the issue would be taken up with the Human Resource Development Ministry.

The CBSE, however, has not officially announced whether it would be conducting the examination.

Previous NET examination was held in January this year by the CBSE. One is required to clear this exam to be able to apply for lectureship in colleges.

Top rankers in NET are also eligible for Junior Research Fellowship.

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The Queen is never short of luxury cars to take her to get her from A to B, however, today's transport was a little less swish.

The 91-year-old Monarch could today been inspecting a rather battered looking three-wheeler in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

While the classic car was not intended for the Queen's use the royal showed plenty of fascination in the vehicle that differed greatly from the Bentley she is normally seen travelling in.

Is their room for One? The Queen is seen inspecting a classic Invacar from the 1960s and 70s during the 40th anniversary of Motability at Windsor Castle

The little blue car was on show at the Queen's home in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Motability.

The vehicles called Invacars, also known as blue trikes in the 1960s and 70s, were provided as a subsidised, low-cost vehicle to aid the mobility of people who were had disabilities.

Today celebrates the progress of mobility in Britain giving special thanks to Motability.

One IS amused: The vehicles also known as blue trikes in the 1960s and 70s, were provided as a subsidised, low-cost vehicle to aid the mobility of people who were had disabilities

Pleased to meet you: A charming seven year old Dina Rayburn presents Her Majesty with a spring posy during the afternoon's celebrations at Windsor Castle

Very grateful: The Queen seemed especially thrilled with her her bouquet and could be seen carrying it around

The charity enables disabled people, their families and carers to lease a new car, scooter or powered wheelchair using their mobility allowance.

The Queen welcomed members of the charity and those who had benefited from it to the castle.

Her Majesty looked charming in a fuchsia coloured dress coat with a matching hat which displayed black accents.

After taking a look at the vintage cars the Queen was delighted to meet the acquaintance of seven year old Dina Rayburn.

I hope you like it: The royal was seen chatting with Edward Todino (pictured) before presenting him with his state of the art car in the Quadrangle at Windsor Castle

Is it comfy? Former Royal Marine, Paul Barrett, who was injured in action was also presented with his very own mobility car during this afternoon's celebrations

Fast friends: Her Majesty seemed thrilled to make the acquaintance of Paul before presenting him with his car

The charming school girl curtseyed as she presented the great-grandmother with a posy yellow spring flowers.

As well as receiving gifts of her own the monarch found time to present new mobility vehicles to her guests today.

She was seen chatting with Edward Todino with his state of the art car in the Quadrangle at Windsor Castle.

Former Royal Marine, Paul Barrett, who was injured in action was also presented with his very own mobility car during this afternoon's celebrations.

Always a pleasure: The Queen was sure to make plenty of time to greet guests at her home in Windsor today

One is very popular: Guests included members of the charity Motability as well as those with disabilities and their families
For ladies who just want to go out in public nude  but know that's a major no-no  Topshop now has a way to meet public decency laws halfway.

The brand is now selling clear, plastic jeans for women that are sure to get any man looking hot and bothered  while likely making the wearer hot and sweaty.

Made entirely of Polyurethane, the 'jeans', if they can be called that, are totally see-through and earning quite a lot of attention on social media.

Oh dear! Topshop is currently selling a pair of clear plastic 'jeans'

For that price? Made entirely of Polyurethane, they retail for $100 (55)

Just noticed... They have been earning quite a lot of attention online, with Topshop even describing them as a 'trending product, and several of the sizes are currently unavailable

Hygenic? Some Twitter users have noted that a person is likely to sweat quite a lot in these

'Think outside the box with these out-of-the-ordinary clear plastic jeans  guaranteed to get people talking,' Topshop writes on its website. 'In a straight leg cut, they feature classic pockets detailing and are cropped at the ankle bone.

'Ideal as a statement piece for a festival or costume party, take the look to the extreme with a bikini and sequin jacket or dress down, layered under an oversized jumper or asymmetric hem dress.'

Unlike some other sheer items which are sold with some sort of lining, these jeans have nothing built in to function as a cover-up. The model on the site, however, is seen wearing them with a pair of dark booty shorts.

Needless to say, much of the Twitterverse is unimpressed. Several have voiced disbelief over the item, which sells for $100 (55).

'Go home Topshop you're drunk,' wrote one. Another added: 'Sweatsville population: anyone wearing this abomination.'

Layer, please! The jeans aren't actually sold with any sort of lining, despite the model wearing a pair of black shorts, and the brand says they are great for festivals

Not fans: Many people have ridiculed the item on social media

Ew: Besides being odd to look at, some said they seem seriously impractical

Over it: Many want the plastic trend to go away already

Inspired: Loewe shoeed clear plastic pants in 2015 for its Spring/Summer 2016 collection

It happened! After seeing the show, Vogue predicted that clear pants would become a trend

Ahead of the game: Kim Kardashian has been seen wearing clear plastic boots with a similar look

'People asking "why are Topshop selling transparent jeans?",' chimed in one man, sagely. 'The answer is: So that people ask "why are Topshop selling transparent jeans?"'

'When you see clothes like the Topshop clear jeans you must ask yourself "how would Carrie Bradshaw wear these"? But even she wouldn't...' another woman said.

While much of the internet is aiming its feelings of outrage at the high street store, though, Topshop is not actually the first brand to come up with the idea.

In October of 2015, Loewe debuted its Spring/Summer 2016 collection on the runway, including several pairs of plastic pants on models.

'I thought, What else could be like a second skin?' designer Jonathan Anderson said backstage at the show.

Vogue's Steff Yotka was so intrigued that she even mused that 'it seems possible that we might be wearing plastic pants in the years to come'.

Seriously? Earlier this year, Topshop was selling similar jeans with clear panels on the knees

Odd: The 'Clear Knee Mom Jeans' came in a baggy light wash with raw, cropped hems

Is this the style!? The worst part, though, is the the jeans had clear plastic inserts over the knees

Topshop seems to have fully committed to the dubious trend, which they eased into earlier this season with a pair of 'Clear Knee Mom Jeans'.

No longer available online  either because they sold out or were removed due to ridicule  the jeans actually were made mostly of denim.

However, the $95 item also had clear panels, or 'plastic windows' over the knees, inspiring jokes on social media.

'Off-duty styling never looked so good,' the caption for them reads on Topshop's website. 'Crafted from pure cotton, our MOTO mom jeans come in authentic mid blue rigid-look denim.

'Cut with a high-waist and a tapered leg, they are finished with multiple pockets, classic trims and cool clear knee panel detail. Wear them folded at the cuffs to keep them looking cool.'

Not into it: Social media users have been ripping the two brands apart for the jeans

Pricey: Each pair went for $95 before the item was removed from websites

Signs: One person said we are in the 'bad timeline' from Back to the Future II

Nordstrom, meanwhile, writes: 'Slick plastic panels bare your knees for a futuristic feel in tapered and cropped high-waist jeans.'

While this style of denim is already not everyone's favorite, the clear plastic knee panels might have even more experimental fashion fans scratching their heads.

'Topshop's Clear Knee Mom Jeans are the surest sign yet of impending Armageddon,' Christopher Sprigman wrote, while Holly Bell added: 'Ladies, forget everything you blame on the patriarchy, Nordstrom is trying to sell you "Clear Knee Mom Jeans".'

'Topshop's Clear Knee Mom Jeans are a sign that we are moving backwards tbf,' wrote another non-fan. One even came up with new term for the style, writing: 'Knee windows are now a thing.'

'Please add floral upholstery under the clear plastic patches and call it "Grandma's Sofa Jeans",' joked yet another Twitter user.

One man chimed in: 'Good news everyone! @Nordstrom just confirmed that we're in the bad timeline form Back to the Future II,' as another person had a more concise review: 'These are STUPID.'

But while many criticized and mocked Topshop and joked that the jeans are a sign of the apocalypse, a few actually seem to want to purchase the style for themselves.

'Can someone buy these for me please,' asked an Arizona College student. Another, who might have been speaking facetiously, added: 'Im having a problem finding any good reason to argue not owning at least one pair of these jeans.'
She touched back down on Swedish soil from her trip to Japan just three days ago but it seems that jetlag is not a problem for Crown Princess Victoria.

The 39-year-old royal looked as radiant as ever as she arrived at the Royal Patriotic Society's annual event at Riddarhuset.

While the event requires everyone to dress formally Victoria made sure that all eyes were on her as she arrived on Tuesday evening.

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden stunned in a floor length royal blue gown as she arrived at the Royal Patriotic Society's annual event at Riddarhuset

Dressed in a floor-length navy blue gown Victoria stole the show as she entered the Swedish house of nobility.

Always a stickler for detail Victoria was sure to keep all of her accessories in tone with her statement dress opting for a sapphire necklace and matching earrings.

The Swedish royal did add a flash of colour in the form of hot pink nails which could be seen as she greeted guests this evening.

As today is a ceremonial event Victoria could be seen wearing her royal sash the insignia of the Order of the Seraphim

The princess opted for classic navy accessories to complement her blue ball gown but added a flash of colour in the form of hot pink nails

As today is a ceremonial event Victoria could be seen wearing her royal sash and stars that are given to nobility.

Victoria received the insignia of the Order of the Seraphim when she turned 18 which represented by the sash she can be seen wearing today.

It is rare to see the Crown Princess wear her hair down and today was no different with Victoria opting for a low chignon for this evening's events.

Victoria was greeted by dignitaries before she congratulated the winners of Royal Patriotic Society's annual prize

Victoria took time to pose for a photo with those who had won and their commemorative certificates

Victoria attended tonight's ceremony in order to present the winners of Royal Patriotic Society's annual prize with their certificates.

The Enterprise Medal which was presented today is the Royal Patriotic Society's honor for outstanding entrepreneurship.

After congratulating this year's winners Victoria took time to pose for a photo with those who had won and their commemorative certificates.
Ivanka Trump looked elegant in a white A-line dress and green statement earrings while attending a gala dinner at Deutsche Bank in Berlin on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old daughter of President Trump is visiting Germany during her first international trip as an official adviser to her father.

Despite her jam-packed morning, Ivanka stepped out looking well-wrested in a simple long sleeve frock and classic black heels.

Ivanka Trump donned an elegant white dress while attending a gala dinner at Deutsche Bank in Berlin on Tuesday night

The 35-year-old paired her long sleeve dress with classic black pumps and green statement earrings

Ivanka was welcomed by the President and Chairwoman of Trump Ltd, Nicola Leibinger-Kammueller, the President of the Association of German Women Entrepreneurs, Stephanie Bschorr, and the President National Council of German Women's Organizations, Mona Kueppers (from left to right)

Ivanka struck a pose with Kent Logsdon, the Charge d'Affaires ad interim of the U.S. embassy

Ivanka accessorized her outfit with dazzling green earrings, which she accentuated by wearing her long blond hair up in a loose bun.

Prior to the gala dinner, Ivanka was welcomed by the President and Chairwoman of Trump Ltd, Nicola Leibinger-Kammueller, the President of the Association of German Women Entrepreneurs, Stephanie Bschorr, and the President National Council of German Women's Organizations, Mona Kueppers.

Inside the event, Ivanka sat next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and they happily posed for photos together while chatting at their table.

Protesters held a peaceful demonstration against the adviser to the president outside the Deautsche Bank building where she was attending the dinner.

Dozens of demonstrators staged a protest party against Trump's politics and what they called the one per cent feminism of empowered women.

Ivanka, who is pictured talking to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is on her first international trip as an official adviser to her father

The First Daughter was all smiles as she sat next to Merkel during the gala dinner at Deutsche Bank

The two look like they were deep in conversation after meeting early in the day

One of Ivanka's statement earrings featured an ornate flower made out of gemstones while the other had a silver ball dangling from a green stone

The trip to Berlin is her first trip abroad since deciding to work in the White House

Ivanka looked focused as she listened to Merkel speak during the gala dinner with the Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, to her right

It was handy her right earring was so much smaller under the earphone for translation

She wore her hair in a low, perfectly mussed chignon

The protesters carried signs featuring illustrations of her image along with the word 'complicit'.

Earlier in the day, Ivanka visited Berlin's Holocaust as her father condemned Holocaust deniers and anti-Semitism while delivering remarks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual Days of Remembrance event Tuesday.

Ivanka, who converted to Judaism herself ahead of her 2009 marriage to Jared Kushner, met with the director at the information center before walking slowly through the downtown Berlin monument.

She was photographed wearing dark sunglasses while walking among stellae at the memorial where she was flanked by Secret Service agents keeping tourists and others at a distance.

The mother-of-three eventually took her sunglasses off before gently touching a concrete slab, which are meant to symbolize the chaos of the Holocaust.

A group of demonstrates gathered outside the bank to protest Ivanka during her visit

Dozens of demonstrators staged a protest party against Trump's politics and what they called the one per cent feminism of empowered women

People carried signs featuring illustrations of Ivanka that said 'No Ivanka' and 'Complicit'

A musical group performed for the crowd that gathered outside the bank for the peaceful protest

Her visit to the German capital's memorial to the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis comes on the heels of Press Secretary Sean Spicer's Holocaust gaffe.

During Passover earlier this month, Spicer favorably compared Adolf Hitler to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, causing international outcry.

'We didn't use chemical weapons in World War II,' Spicer said.

'You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons.'

Spicer apologized multiple times, but the gaffe didn't do the Trump administration any favors as acts of anti-Semitism have increased since President Trump has taken power.

CNN reported Monday that anti-Semitic incidents are up 86 percent compared to the same period of time last year.

Ivanka'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.

Ivanka also visited Berlin's Holocaust memorial (above) during her first international trip as an official adviser to her father, who also delivered remarks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual Days of Remembrance event Tuesday

Ivanka, who converted to Judaism herself ahead of her 2009 marriage to Jared Kushner, was photographed touching a slab while visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

While at the Holocaust memorial, Ivanka was flanked by both Secret Service agents and German police officers

She appeared to be in a somber mood while at the memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis

The First Daughter dressed in a warm dark colored jacket while at the Holocaust memorial on Tuesday after she visited the Siemens mechantronic factory

Ivanka walked slowly through the undulating grounds filled with concrete slabs, along with U.S. Embassy personnel

She paused occasionally to look at the slabs, meant to symbolize the chaos of the Holocaust, before emerging on the other side of the monument to a crush of cameras and onlookers

Upon entering the Holocaust memorial, people gathered to take photos of the First Daughter who was surrounded by Secret Services agents and police officers. Some yelled out 'Hi, how are you?' as she entered the center

Crowds of people snapped cellphone photos and yelled out 'Hi, how are you?' as she entered the center to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe for a short visit earlier in the day.

The First Daughter walked slowly through the undulating grounds filled with concrete slabs, along with U.S. Embassy personnel.

She paused occasionally to look at the slabs, meant to symbolize the chaos of the Holocaust, before emerging on the other side of the monument to a crush of cameras and onlookers.

Her visit to the Holocaust memorial comes on the heels of Press Secretary Sean Spicer's Holocaust gaffe where he favorably compared Adolf Hitler to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, causing international outcry

Ivanka'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

The mother-of-three is on a jam-packed one-day tour of Berlin after being invited last month by Merkel

On Monday, Ivanka tweeted: 'Today, we honor the six million Jews whose lives were taken during the Holocaust and pledge - never again.'

Early last month, she paid a private visit to the Holocaust museum in Washington with her husband, Jared, a senior adviser to the president.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., her father spoke at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's National Days of Remembrance at the Capitol.

His speech is part of the museum's unveiling of its new conservation and research center, home to a vast collection of artifacts donated by those who survived Hitler's massacre of Jews during World War II.

Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the nation's annual commemoration of the Holocaust.

Reading from prepared remarks, the president vowed to snuff out anti-Semitism at home and take action when the Jewish people are threatened abroad as he honored victims of the Holocaust on Tuesday.

'Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil, and we'll never be silent. We just won't. We will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again,' he declared.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., her father spoke at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's National Days of Remembrance at the Capitol (above)

His speech is part of the museum's unveiling of its new conservation and research center, home to a vast collection of artifacts donated by those who survived Hitler's massacre of Jews during World War II.

Trump said to the veterans, Holocaust survivors and legislators attending the event, 'We will stamp out prejudice. We will condemn hatred. We will bear witness, and we will act.

'As president of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people, and I will always stand with our great friend, and partner, the state of Israel.'

Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis 'without mercy,' he said. 'Without even a sign of mercy.'

Attacks on the Jewish people continue, he noted, bringing up the terror calls that were sweeping across Jewish community centers in America when he took office.

'The Jewish people have endured oppression, persecution,' he said, 'yet through the suffering they have persevered. They have thrived, and they have enlightened the world.

'We stand in awe,' the president said. 'I am deeply moved to stand beside people who survived history's darkest hour. Your cherished presence transforms this place into a sacred gathering.'

Vice President Mike Pence (left), White House senior adviser Jared Kushner (center) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (right) joined the president at the event on Tuesday

Kushner (center) proudly applauded his father-in-law after his speech on Tuesday while standing alongside Pence (left) and Mnuchin (right)

He added, 'The state of Israel is an eternal monument to the undying strength of the Jewish people.

'The fervent dream that burned in the hearts of the oppressed is now filled with the breath of life, and the Star of David waves atop a great nation arisen from the desert.'

His speech is to honor victims of the Holocaust comes months after his White House failed to mention International Holocaust Remembrance Day didn't mention Jews or anti-Semitism.

Vice President Mike Pence, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin joined the president at the event on Tuesday.

The president's remarks provide him with a chance to write over the missteps, which upset Jewish groups, including the museum that will host the Trump speech.

All smiles: During her first international trip as an official adviser to her father, Ivanka shared a warm handshake with Merkel (above) one month after the president awkwardly snubbed the German Chancellor

But Ivanka (above) was also booed after being put on the spot about his attitude towards women while speaking during a women's summit in Germany

After arriving Tuesday morning, Ivanka (second left) spoke at the Women's 20 Summit alongside Merkel (right), Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland (left) and IMF chief Christine Lagarde (second right)

In addition, on Sunday evening, he delivered a video message to the World Jewish Congress plenary assembly in New York in which he declared, 'On Yom Hashoah, we look at the darkest chapter of human history. We mourn, we remember, we pray and we pledge: Never again.'

Earlier in the day during Ivanka's visit to Berlin, she participated at the Women's 20 Summit where she was booed when she mentioned the president's name before sharing a warm handshake with Angela Merkel one month after he awkwardly snubbed the German Chancellor.

While Merkel visited the U.S. in March, the president seemingly ignored requests from the press to shake Merkel's hand while the pair were meeting in the Oval Office. He was heavily criticized for not doing so and mocked by man on social media.

However, Ivanka did not follow in her father's footsteps and shared a friendly handshake with Merkel after participating in the panel discussion on women's entrepreneurship alongside Merkel, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland and IMF chief Christine Lagarde.

While trying to defend her father, the mother-of-three was booed and hissed at by the majority-female audience when she told the room, 'I'm very proud of my father's advocacy' before she said that he's a 'tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive.'
Sophie Hall received a call at work from her sister to say that their elderly father had fallen in the bath and been taken to hospital, she broke the news to her bosses  then dashed to his bedside.

It never crossed her mind, then, that fulfilling her daughterly duties would lead, just over two months later, to her feeling that she had no option but to give up her 38-year career in banking.

Her father had always been fiercely independent, but, at age 80, with an injured shoulder, was suddenly fearful and vulnerable  and the only people who could reassure him were his two daughters.

Suzi Clark is seen with her father, before he died. In 2012, aged 91 and struck by the triple whammy of dementia, skin cancer and an aortic aneurysm, Suzis father needed considerable care and, as an only child, the responsibility fell entirely to her

Id worked for almost four decades with barely a day off sick, and dont have children, so I imagined that my bosses would be more understanding about me needing some time off to care for my dad, says Sophie.

I booked any days off I needed to spend with him as emergency holiday, rather than ringing in sick, but my duties werent all covered when I was away, meaning I had to work much longer days when I was in  and that wasnt sustainable.

Sophie is one of the 6.5 million people in the UK with caring responsibilities, two million of whom have, like her, given up work to perform their role. (Three-fifths of us will have loved ones to look after at some point in our lives.)

According to Family Resources Survey figures, 43 per cent of these carers are looking after an elderly or sick parent, and many require some form of what has become known as gran-ternity leave from work.

Indeed, in recognition of our ageing population, the right to request flexible working was extended to all employees, not just parents of young children, back in 2014.

However, just because all staff have a right to ask, it does not mean that employers have a duty to honour their requests. All bosses need to do to avoid it is prove that providing flexibility would, in some way, be detrimental to their business.

Desperate to find a solution that would enable her to keep her job and be a good daughter, Sophie came up with various suggestions, including that she go part time, work flexible hours or move to a less busy department  but to no avail.

I understand that they have a department to run, but when a woman has a baby, they have to find ways to accommodate her having up to a year off, says Sophie, 54, from Croydon, Surrey. Meanwhile, I felt I was causing big problems booking a day off here and there to accompany Dad to hospital appointments.

Parents take time off because their child is unwell, or even to go to school assemblies, so why should it be so different for those of us who need time to care for elderly parents? It felt as if there was one rule for them and another for people like me.

I tried arguing my case with the human resources department, but any concessions made would be at the companys discretion as there is no protection in law.

Eventually, I felt I had no choice but to give up my job.

Sophie left her 35,000-a-year post, which shed held for five years, just a few weeks later, on February 24.

Two months down the line, her father is on the mend and is less reliant on his daughter.

Sophie, however, is struggling to find a new job. Having applied but failed even to get an interview for several, she believes that her age, and the fact she is unemployed, are both major barriers.

In 2014, the charity she worked for restructured, splitting her job in two and inviting her to apply for both roles, but she got neither

Thankfully, her husband, also a banking officer in the City, is able to support them financially, but she misses her independence. And, with just one income, they will no longer be able to afford to travel  a shared passion which has taken them to 75 countries over the years.

Despite having paid taxes for almost 40 years, and never having claimed a penny, Sophies prudence in saving for a rainy day also means she isnt entitled to carers allowance, or benefits of any kind.

However, while she is angry about feeling forced into this position, she has no regrets. We could perhaps have employed someone to care for Dad after he was released from hospital, but they wouldnt have done it with the love of my sister or me.

I honestly believe thats the reason hes making such a good recovery, and I dont begrudge it for a minute. Hes a wonderful father, so Id never want him to feel like a burden.

Emily Holzhausen, director of policy for Carers UK, says Britain is lagging behind many other countries in addressing the ticking time bomb of how  and who  will care for our ever-growing ageing population.

Long gone are the days when most women stayed at home, caring first for children, then for their mothers and fathers. And with so many women now in paid work, it inevitably creates issues, both for staff and their employers, when elderly parents need supporting.

When we canvass carers who are also holding down jobs, the top two things they tell us they need is paid care leave and understanding from managers, says Emily.

Both are given equal weight. Feeling supported by your employer is as significant as not having to worry about a reduced income.

The charity would like to see legislation entitling employees to between five and ten official days of paid leave to accompany dependants to hospital appointments, or to make care arrangements.

Suzi Clark, 64, knows all about the struggles that can result from taking unofficial gran-ternity leave.

In 2012, aged 91 and struck by the triple whammy of dementia, skin cancer and an aortic aneurysm, Suzis father needed considerable care and, as an only child, the responsibility fell entirely to her.

Hed been living, albeit independently, in Suzis house in St Albans, Hertfordshire, since her mothers death ten years previously.

Suzi, herself a widow with three grown-up daughters, worked as head of fundraising and marketing for a charity in Central London and felt she had little choice but to take days off when her father was particularly unwell or to accompany him to hospital appointments.

As shed always worked way beyond her contracted hours, Suzi believed she was owed this time in lieu.

However, in 2014, when the charity restructured, splitting her job in two and inviting her to apply for both roles, she got neither.

I dont think my taking emergency leave from work had gone down well. I was given a pay-off and, as my father still needed me, I felt I had little choice but to go.

Sadly, and inevitably, women who find themselves caring for elderly parents are themselves likely to be older, without the luxury of being able to embark on a new, long career and make up for their lost earnings.

Although Suzis father died in 2015, aged 94, she has been unable to secure a similarly well-paid job and is now forced to rent out rooms in her house, through Airbnb, to make ends meet.

I was with Dad around the clock during his final weeks, says Suzi. I even slept on the floor beside his bed on the nights we didnt have a Macmillan cancer nurse.

I held his hand as he was given the Last Rites  and there is nowhere in the world Id rather have been at that moment. A tear rolled down his cheek but he told me he was ready to go.

There will be other jobs but Ill only ever have one Dad  and Ill always know I was there when he needed me most.

Although Suzis father died in 2015, aged 94, she has been unable to secure a similarly well-paid job and is now forced to rent out rooms in her house, through Airbnb, to make ends meet

Still, it really is a terrible thing to have to make a choice between your parents and your career.

All employees are legally entitled to reasonable amounts of unpaid leave to deal with emergencies involving a dependant, whether that be a child, parent, spouse or anyone else for whom they have caring responsibilities.

According to employment lawyer Emma OLeary from Manchester-based Employment Law Advisory Services (ELAS), issues can arise in interpreting what is meant by emergencies. A child being too sick for school is considered an emergency, but taking a relative to a hospital appointment is not.

And as the reasonable amounts of time are not quantified in terms of days, or weeks, or even months, its left to managers to come up with their own interpretations.

We have lots of inquiries from employers faced with staff asking for time off because they have caring responsibilities for a parent, says Emma.

They want to know how to handle it. What is reasonable is a question always asked. And that depends on the individuals circumstances. For example, does all responsibility fall to them, or can they share it with siblings?

When it involves children, theres more of a risk of an employee claiming sex discrimination because, in practice, women tend to have more responsibilities for children then men. However, theres no such official recognition that women also have caring responsibilities for elderly parents.

In reality we know that this too tends to fall to daughters more than sons, but the law doesnt recognise that yet.

This has certainly been true for Teresa Evans, whose elder brother lives in New Zealand. Shes been caring for their mother, Joan, since she had a stroke ten years ago.

Teresa, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, does freelance work in marketing and is also a professional photographer, but her job has been greatly affected because she frequently has to drop everything to care for her mum, who lives two hours away in Sussex.

Her mother, whos 96, has poor vision and walks with the aid of a frame. Last summer, Teresa moved in with her for three months while she recovered from a nasty fall.

Mum is adamant she doesnt want to go into a home, so I do whatever I can to enable her to stay in her own house, says Teresa. But this has caused disruption to my own life and work, and has also had a significant impact on my finances.

According to Family Resources Survey figures, 43 per cent of these carers are looking after an elderly or sick parent, and many require some form of what has become known as gran-ternity leave from work

And as a self-employed, single woman, taking gran-ternity leave has been nothing short of disastrous.

I still have a mortgage on my flat, and bills to pay, but when Im not working Im not earning, she says. If it wasnt for a very close friend helping financially, I dont know where Id be.

Im constantly weighing up whether I should move in with Mum full-time, but she lives in the middle of nowhere so that would make it even harder for me to work. And if I sold my flat and then we end up having to sell her house to pay for specialist care, I could end up homeless.

Aged 58, and with health issues of her own, Teresa is also acutely aware that as she does not have any children, there will be no one to help care for her in old age.

Im part of an organisation called Ageing Without Children  as so many of us are these days  and we often wonder what will happen to us, says Teresa.

Our income and pensions are affected because were looking after our elderly relatives now. But, as were saving local authorities a fair bit of money, will the Government make sure were taken care of when were older?

Between 2015 and 2020, the UK population is predicted to rise by just three per cent, while the number of us who are over 65 is expected to rocket by 12 per cent, those over 85 by 18 per cent, and the number of centenarians by a staggering 40 per cent.

This will place a greater burden on all aspects of state support, from pensions to healthcare.

Bearing this in mind, isnt it high time that the knock-on effects on families caring for their elderly moved up the political agenda?

Sophie, Suzi and Teresa certainly believe so.
Junior doctors have been filmed making potentially life-threatening errors during patient assessments - which they made while under pressure to free up hospital beds.

A revealing TV documentary will this week expose the impact that the A+E crisis is having on Britains youngest doctors, as they make a series of errors when their hospital in Northampton reaches full capacity and becomes completely stretched.

Amid terrible scenes of corridors lined with trolleys, a 24-year-old junior doctor mistakenly moved a baby with sepsis off the resuscitation ward having incorrectly scored the symptoms.

The second episode of Channel 4s fly-on-the-wall series Confessions of a Junior Doctor is likely to reignite debates surrounding the state of Britains A+E departments

The second-year doctor, Morgan Sykes, also sent home an elderly patient, named Terrence, who was readmitted days later and blue-lighted to Leicester Hospital with a compressed nerve in his spine.

The 24-year-old doctor told the cameras: You really, really feel the pressure on you, but you dont want to rush your clinical assessment of someone because thats when you can make mistakes and thats when it can be dangerous.

It is really there in the back of your mind: Do I really need to send this person to hospital or can they go home?

You are really aware of the need for beds and the fact that the hospital is full.

Another junior doctor at Northampton General Hospital, third-year Dan Weston, 26, also appeared to incorrectly diagnose a baby with bronchiolitis, when the infant had an infection more likely to be pneumonia.

The second episode of Channel 4s fly-on-the-wall series Confessions of a Junior Doctor is likely to reignite debates surrounding the state of Britains A+E departments and the pressure on junior doctors.

The new show comes just a few months after shocking photos taken by the BBC inside Blackburn Hospital showed mothers and children on the floor and pensioners being treated on their trolleys by corridor nurses

Tomorrow nights episode of Confessions of a Junior Doctor, which was filmed at the end of last year

It comes just a few months after shocking photos taken by the BBC inside Blackburn Hospital showed mothers and children on the floor and pensioners being treated on their trolleys by corridor nurses.

At the time doctors said they were taking too many risks by sending patients home early, and nurses described the conditions as frightening and dangerous.

Tomorrow nights episode of Confessions of a Junior Doctor, which was filmed at the end of last year, followed Morgan Sykes as she completed a four-month rotation in the A+E department.

At one point in the hour-long documentary, she was forced to do assessments in the corridor when there were no beds available for incoming patients.

The hospital was then put on black alert, and Dr Sykes - who was the youngest doctor in the department - said: You feel completely stretched beyond any limit that is acceptable. It is a horrible, horrible feeling, just feeling you are losing the battle.

Junior doctors, such as the ones featured in the show, held six one-day strikes in the first four months of last year in protest against plans for a new contract

Shortly before she began her assessment of Terrence, the narrator explained that the doctor was under pressure to see patients quickly and not admit them unless they are acutely unwell.

Having heard Terrence was suffering from back pain, she attempted to find the source of the pain but concluded that she could not see anything obvious and would send him home with painkillers.

ROW OVER THEIR HOURS Last year junior doctors staged a series of unprecedented strikes over their weekend pay and overall working conditions. Their union, the British Medical Association, claimed some were being pushed to the point of exhaustion, making them much more likely to make serious errors, especially if they lack experience. The dispute has been resolved and the Government has promised to review working hours. Concerns have also been raised over junior doctors training. In the past there was far more opportunity for them to shadow or be supervised by consultants. But consultants in understaffed departments are now just too busy. In addition, in 2004 EU laws stated that most junior doctors should work no more than 48 hours a week. This resulted in gaps in rotas and junior doctors working fewer shifts with consultants, meaning they gained less experience from them. Advertisement

However, he was readmitted a few days later after his health had deteriorated. He was found to have a compressed nerve in his spine, and was rushed to Leicester Hospital for treatment.

In another scene that exemplifies the intense pressure that junior doctors are under, Dr Sykes was called to the paediatric resuscitation ward to see a baby with sepsis.

The narrator explained that she and her registrar had decided together to move the baby to the paediatric unit for observation, before a nurse insisted the baby was too sick to leave resuscitation.

It later emerged that Dr Sykes had made an error when scoring the babys symptoms, and she said she felt humiliated at the mistake.

Footage also showed paramedics queueing up as ambulances were kept outside, and Dr Sykes said she was physically and emotionally exhausted by the job.

Junior doctors held six one-day strikes in the first four months of last year in protest against plans for a new contract.

There were further walk-outs planned at the end of last year, but these were called off over fears for patient safety.

New terms and conditions in the junior doctors contracts were introduced last October.
Government researchers warn we may have grossly underestimated the scale of the opioid epidemic.

Until now, official data suggested 91 people a day are being killed by prescription painkillers as America grapples to control a widespread addiction crisis.

However, a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention questions that figure - warning it could be far greater, with most deaths listed under another cause.

More than half of opioid-related deaths in Minnesota between 2006 and 2015 are not listed in the state's official database, researchers found.

A new report by the CDC found half of Minnesota's drug deaths since 2006 have not been listed as opioid-related - suggesting the same could be true for others states

The finding emerged on Monday as a side note during the annual conference on infectious diseases, which this year is being held in Atlanta, Georgia.

The report warned a spate of drug deaths in Minnesota flew under the radar, listed instead as being 'unexplained' or caused by an infectious disease.

Minnesota is the only state in the country which still operates an 'unexplained death' surveillance system - something the CDC tried to implement nationwide in 1995, but was slowly abandoned.

CDC researcher Dr Victoria Hall, based in the northern state, was trawling through the database, which was designed to spot emerging diseases.

She saw that out of 1,676 deaths, 59 of them (3.5 percent) involved prescription drugs. Of those, 22 had overdosed.

But none were listed in the state's official data.

'In early spring, the Minnesota Department of Health was notified of an unexplained death: a middle-aged man who died suddenly at home,' Dr Hall told the conference, according to CNN.

The man, she said, had been taking painkillers for back pain for years, to the extent that his family was concerned.

After his death, the family mentioned his drug use, prompting the medical examiner to test for both pneumonia and opioids in the autopsy.

'However, on the death certificate, it only listed the pneumonia and made no mention of opioids,' Dr Hall explained.

It does seem like it is almost an iceberg of an epidemic Dr Victoria Hall, CDC field officer

She added: 'While my research cannot speak to what percent we are underestimating, we know we are missing cases. It does seem like it is almost an iceberg of an epidemic.'

Drug users are more susceptible to infectious diseases, often making it difficult to determine a cause of death.

However, Dr Hall urges data collectors and medical examiners to be alive to the crossovers, and warned that drugs 'do not discriminate'. Indeed, the average age of drug death victims in the new report were 43 years old, and most (53 percent) were female.

'The contributions of opioid toxicity, infectious disease, or their interactions to death are challenging to disentangle; understanding these interactions might inform future opioid-related mortality prevention efforts,' Dr Hall said.
Don't watch this while you're eating.

This gruesome footage shows the disgusting moment a loving woman popped her husband's spot for him.

Squeezing the angry zit in the middle of his cheek, Khristina Powell should be a contender for the unofficial 'wife of the year' award.

Wade, 28, who had the spot for four years, winces in pain as the pimple suddenly erupts into a yellow stream of pus under her brute force.

During the three-minute battle, Mrs Powell digs her pink nails into each side of the lump to get a firm grip.

Pushing harder and harder, the fluid then flies out of his face, prompting her in a strong American accent to warn him that it may smell.

Closing his eyes to try and dampen the pain, Wade can be heard groaning during the stomach-churning ordeal.

This gruesome footage shows the disgusting moment Khristina Powell popped her husband's spot for him. Wade, 28, who had the spot for four years, winces in pain as the pimple suddenly erupts into a yellow stream of pus under her brute force

WHY YOU SHOULDN'T SQUEEZE SPOTS By Michelle Rodrigues for The Conversation A pimple is like a little bag under the skin that contains oil, bacteria and inflammation. Squeezing it can result in these contents being pushed into surrounding skin, making the problem worse. It can also lead to infection and temporary darkening of the skin in that area. On top of this, the inflammation can become so bad that scarring is left behind when the pimple finally settles down. And scarring (unlike the pimple) can be permanent. If you resist the urge to squeeze, pimples will usually resolve over a week or so without scarring. The 'white' contents will also settle down or spontaneously pop when ready. Advertisement

But like a lion with its eyes on an injured gazelle, she goes in for the kill once more, determined to rid him of all his pus.

Eventually most of the cream cheese-like liquid streams out of his cheek, leaving her with his blood on the end of her fingernails.

But thankfully, despite the pain he was put through, Mr Powell was happy with the outcome. He said: 'It was an instant relief when it was over.'

British Skin Foundation spokesperson Lisa Bickerstaffe said: 'It's always worth seeking help from a doctor or dermatologist when dealing with spots like this to avoid scarring and possible infection.'

However, this isn't the only disturbing footage that MailOnline has reported on this month.

Just last week, a Thai woman had pus squeezed out of her forehead after a cosmetic procedure led to an infection.

Nong Guang, 41, was given dermal filler injections to reduce the effects of her wrinkles two years ago.
'Risky' school playgrounds increase children's happiness.

Youngsters who spend their lunch break in areas with a bit of 'rough and tumble' are more likely to play with other children and less likely to complain of being bullied.

Yet, from a teachers perspective, more adventurous playgrounds are linked with students being picked on.

Adventurous playgrounds make children feel happier and more likely toplay with their peers

JUST 10 MINUTES OF PLAY REDUCES A CHILD'S RISK OF DISEASE Just 10 minutes of playing every day can reduce a child's risk of developing heart disease or suffering a stroke in later life. Researchers from Wake Forest University, North Carolina, found replacing light-intensity physical activity with brief periods of vigorous exercise may provide significant health benefits in children. Children with large waist measurements and elevated insulin levels could benefit most. Advertisement

Researchers from the University of Otago, New Zealand, asked eight schools not to change their playgrounds, while another eight increased the element of 'risk' in their outdoor areas.

Risks included having more physically vigorous activities, less rules and increasing the number of 'loose parts' in the area, such as tires.

After one and two years, 840 children, 635 parents and 90 teachers completed bullying questionnaires.

Children in more risky environments reported being happier at school and playing with more children.

While those with a more adventurous lunch break were found to pushed more, they were less likely to tell a teacher.

Reports of bullying from parents and children were the same across both playground environments.

Yet, teachers at schools with more risky playgrounds noted greater bullying.

The researchers said: 'Few negative outcomes were reported by children or parents, except for greater pushing in intervention schools.

'Whether this indicates increased resilience as indicated by lower reporting of bullying to teachers may be an unanticipated benefit.'
Babies conceived through IVF have triple the risk of developing cancer in their early years, a large new study claims.

Researchers monitored more than 200,000 babies born between 1991 and 2013, with a follow-up to the age of 18.

They found the rate of tumors was three times higher among children conceived using fertility treatment (1.5 per 1,000) compared to spontaneously-conceived kids (0.59 per 1,000).

This link stayed true after accounting for important factors, such as premature births or low birth weight.

The Israeli study, published in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, is not the first to investigate IVF and pediatric cancer risk. But this is the first to monitor children until they reach adulthood, the authors claim.

However, its timing is controversial, coming just days after a British study claimed IVF has no detrimental impact on babies, aside from increasing the risk of premature births.

The Israeli study found the rate of tumors was far higher among children conceived using IVF (1.5 per 1,000) compared to spontaneously-conceived kids (0.59 per 1,000)

HOW DOES IVF WORK? The menstrual cycle is first suppressed with medication before other drugs are used to encourage the ovaries to produce more eggs than usual. An ultrasound scan is carried out to check the development of the eggs, and medication is used to help them mature. The eggs are then collected by a needle inserted into the ovaries, via the vagina, before the eggs are fertilized with sperm. Finally the fertilized embryo is transferred into the womb to grow and develop. Advertisement

According to the American Cancer Society, the most common pediatric neoplasms are leukemia, brain and spinal cord tumors, neuroblastomas, Wilms tumors, and lymphoma, including both Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin.

The study at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) analyzed the rates of these cancers in children over the course of 22 years.

Of the 242,187 newborn infants in the study, 237,863 (98.3 percent) were conceived spontaneously; 2,603 (1.1 percent) were conceived after in vitro fertilization, and 1,721 (0.7 percent) were conceived after ovulation induction treatments.

During the follow-up period of approximately 10.6 years, 1,498 neoplasms (0.6 percent) were diagnosed.

The incidence rate for neoplasms was highest among children either after IVF (1.5/1000) and somewhat lower for OI births (1.0/1000) as compared to that of naturally conceived children (.59/1000).

Lead author Professor Eyal Sheiner concedes that there were some limitations: their data does not include the reason for infertility that led to the parents using IVF, and it did not look at environmental exposures.

However, Prof Sheiner insists the study has a clear advantage in that IVF is covered by Israel's public health system, meaning their database covers a broad range of socioeconomic groups.

'The research concludes that the association between IVF and total pediatric neoplasms and malignancies is significant,' Prof. Sheiner concluded.

'With increasing numbers of offspring conceived after fertility treatments, it is important to follow up on their health.'
Pregnant women should get their blood pressure checked at each prenatal visit to screen for preeclampsia, a potentially fatal complication that can damage the kidneys, liver, eyes and brain, new U.S. guidelines say.

Many doctors already monitor blood pressure throughout pregnancy.

However, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force updated its guidelines for the first time since 1996 to stress that screening at every visit can help doctors catch and treat preeclampsia before it escalates from a mild to life-threatening.

'Preeclampsia is one of the most serious health problems affecting pregnant women,' task force member Dr. Maureen Phipps, a women's health researcher at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, said.

Preeclampsia is one of the most serious health problems affecting pregnant women. It can start mild but can become life-threatening without check-ups (file image)

'Because this condition is common and critical, the Task Force offers two separate recommendations to help women lower the risk associated with preeclampsia,' she said.

'Screening for preeclampsia is recommended for all pregnant women, and women at high risk of developing the condition can take low-dose aspirin to help prevent it,' Phipps added.

The screening recommendations, published on Tuesday in JAMA, apply to women without a history of preeclampsia or high blood pressure.

Separate guidelines advise low-dose aspirin after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy for women with a history of elevated blood pressure.

Preeclampsia can progress quickly, and typically develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

WHAT IS PREECLAMPSIA? Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication. It causes high blood pressure and signs of damage to other organs, usually the liver and kidneys. In most women, preeclampsia begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Even a slight rise in blood pressure may be a sign of the condition. Left untreated, preeclampsia can lead to serious or fatal complications for the mother and her baby. The only cure is delivery of the baby. Those diagnosed with preeclampsia before the third trimester face a challenging task. The baby needs more time to mature, but the doctor needs to avoid putting the mother or baby at risk of serious complications. Advertisement

Blood pressure screening earlier in pregnancy can show normal results for women who go on to develop preeclampsia.

In addition to elevated blood pressure, women with preeclampsia may also have excess amounts of protein in their urine, as well as swelling in the feet, legs and hands.

Women may suffer from stroke, seizures, organ failure and in rare cases, death. For babies, complications include slower growth inside the uterus, low birth weight and death.

Risks for preeclampsia include a history of obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, as well as a mother or sister who has experienced the condition.

Because the risks of preeclampsia increase with age, women may be able to lower their chances of developing this complication by having babies sooner, said Dr. Dana Gossett, an obstetrics and gynecology researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, and co-author of an accompanying editorial in JAMA.

'Beyond that, it is also important to ensure that all health problems are well managed prior to pregnancy,' Gossett said.

'High blood pressure should be under good control, other diseases like kidney disease or lupus should be well controlled, and women should try to be close to their ideal body weight prior to conception.'

Checking blood pressure at every prenatal visit can help prevent complications for mothers and babies alike, said Dr. Martha Gulati, chief of cardiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix and author of a separate editorial in JAMA Cardiology.

'This is something that should be provided to every woman as part of preventive care,' Gulati said. 'We will save lives and prevent complications and death in pregnant women with this simple, cost-effective' test that doesn't take much time.
Millions of cows across India could be issued with unique identification numbers in a bid to curb cattle smuggling.

Government plans to fit the sacred animals with a tamper-proof plastic tag linked to a national database come amid a spike in violence by Hindu vigilantes against farmers accused of cattle smuggling.

'Each animal will have a unique number that will have details like age, breed, sex, height, colour, horn type and special marks,' a senior officer from India's home ministry that prepared the recommendations told news agency AFP.

India could issue millions of cows with unique identification numbers, the latest effort to protect the sacred animals amid a spike in violence by Hindu vigilantes against farmers accused of cattle smuggling

Activists and members of Dhyan Foundation and People for Animals (PFA) shouting slogans outside Haryana Bhawan to urge the government to take action against the illegal slaughtering and smuggling of animals earlier this month in New Delhi

Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India, and their slaughter is a punishable offence in many states.

A panel from the home ministry was tasked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing government to propose measures against cross-border smuggling after a petition was filed by an animal rights group in the Supreme Court.

Nearly 175,000 cattle are seized annually on the largely porous borders with Bangladesh and Nepal, according to home ministry figures, with unofficial estimates of the illegal cow trade pegged at nearly two million animals.

Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India, and their slaughter is a punishable offence in many states

But the proposal comes amid a spike in violence by Hindu mobs against farmers transporting livestock, and a broader crackdown on butchers in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh.

Vigilante squads roaming highways checking livestock trucks for the sacred animals have proliferated since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.

These so-called 'cow protection squads' beat a Muslim man to death on a highway in Rajasthan this month, accusing him of secretly taking cattle to an abattoir for illegal slaughter. The man was a dairy farmer transporting milk cows.

The government has told the Supreme Court that millions of cows will be tagged with a tamper-proof plastic tag linked to a national database in a bid to curb smuggling within India and beyond its borders

Three men transporting buffaloes in their truck were beaten this week in the capital New Delhi.

At least 10 Muslim men have been killed in similar incidents across the country by Hindu mobs on suspicion of eating beef or smuggling cows in the last two years.

Most Indian states have banned cow slaughter and imposed heavy penalties and jail terms on offenders, while the transportation of cattle across state lines is also barred in several jurisdictions.
The Mumbai High Court has granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused of plotting the September 2008 Malegaon blasts, in which seven people were killed.

Pragya, the once touted face of 'saffron terror' is set to be released after eight years behind bars.

However her sister Upama Singh is seething with rage and wants to sue senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh along with a number of Indian news channels for 'assassinating Pragya's character and ruining their lives'.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur leaving for Simhastha in Ujjain under heavy police protection

Blast

Seven innocent people died when two bombs fitted to a motorcycle went off in the Muslim-dominated Maharashtra town on September 29, 2008.

The saffron-clad Sadhvi received bail from the Bombay High Court after spending eight years behind bars though she was moved to a Madhya Pradesh hospital recently for cancer treatment.

Co-accused Lt Colonel Shrikant Purohit, however, did not get relief. The two moved the HC after a trial court rejected their bail applications last year.

'Look at the number of lives these people have destroyed on the altar of their anti-national politics,' Upama told Mail Today.

'My sister was called [everything] from a terrorist to someone who feigned sainthood as she wanted to marry someone that she had an affair [with].

'For us who have known this devout soul from when she was a child, these words fell as molten iron in the ears.

'While she is a religious mind and she has forgiven her tormentors, we are common people and we have been pained so much that we want to sue Digvijaya Singh and those news channels that assassinated her character.

Seven innocent people died when two bombs fitted to motorcycle went off in the Muslim-dominated Maharashtra town on September 29, 2008

'I want to teach them a life lesson so that they cannot do this to anyone else in future.'

Hardline Hindu groups had rallied behind Pragya and Purohit even as detractors accused the duo of fomenting and participating in so-called saffron terror.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) welcomed the family's wish to file a lawsuit.

'The Congress had launched the bogey of saffron terrorism to appease the Muslims. They arrested many holy figures to attest to their construct. For the first time in world history a woman saint was put through three narco tests. Nothing came out of it. This conspiracy has been exposed. They must sue these people for defamation,' said VHP's international joint general secretary Surendra Jain.

'The people have already spoken: they have been obliterated by people who have spoken through the ballot. We will welcome if the family fights for their dignity and for their lost years.'

Malegaon Bomb Blast - Yunus Khan shows his wounds while being treated in Malegaon's Farhan Hospital

Pragya and Purohit were arrested in 2008 and charged with plotting the blasts as part of a pro-Hindu group, Abhinav Bharat.

The court granted her bail, while observing 'there is no material on record to prove prime facie case against her', as one of the victim's lawyers opposed the plea.

'We take turns to attend to my ailing sister. She can't do much by herself by now. Her cancer has just eaten her up,' Upama said.

'My son was with her this morning when the news broke.'

Upama told Mail Today that Pragya was in prayer when the news broke.

Her nephew, who was attending to her at the time, waited for her meditation to end.

Finally, when she was told about the bail, her first words were: 'All is well that ends well. Truth has triumphed.'

'Digvijaya Singh has a history of always being proven right on every issue,' said Maharashtra Congress secretary Shehzad Poonawalla.

Holy men shout anti-government slogans during a protest march in New Delhi on November 26, 2008 against the arrest of holy woman, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in connection with the Malegaon blasts

'If somebody is aggrieved, they have a right to approach the courts. Even today, Pragya is out on bail and the whole world knows the manner in which the Modi government has forced NIA to do a U-turn and save Sangh Parivar-affiliated terrorists.

'This allegation has been made by (former) special public prosecutor Rohini Salian too.'

The Malegaon blasts case was first investigated by Maharashtra's anti-terror squad led by its chief Hemant Karkare.

However, the top cop was killed battling terrorists during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.

'These anti-national politicians created a bogey and churned Pragya in it,' said Upama.

'Singh made comments on her, saying our father's and her family's assets needed to be investigated.

'Our father became sick, bed-ridden due to paralysis and then died a broken man. Our mother too could take no more; she is sick and confined to bed now. My family, son and daughter, is completely in her attendance.

'Our brother-in-law could not even come to know family life: he shuttles between Mumbai, Bhopal and Delhi; between jail and hospital.'

Pragya and Purohit were arrested in 2008 and charged with plotting the blasts as part of a pro-Hindu group, Abhinav Bharat

Upama has alleged that Pragya was put through unspeakable torture after she was arrested and since then her health has been deteriorating.

'Due to the excruciating torture, she has developed complications in her spine, which is a cause of grave concern for us.

'While Pragya kept enduring the torture, she also developed breast cancer,' said Upama. 'She needs surgery, but she has refused it so far as undergoing a procedure when post-surgery care would be none inside the jail is pointless.'
Wounded Indian security personnel being treated in an army helicopter as they are airlifted to a hospital following an attack by Maoist rebels

The response to Monday's carnage in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, where Maoists killed at least 25 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force, has been predictable.

The government has condemned the violence and promised that the 'sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain'.

The media has feigned outrage and condemned both the Maoists and the government.

The know-all experts, the usual gaggle of retired Army, police and Intelligence Bureau officials, have once again reminded the gullible masses that had they been in charge of the nation's affairs, they would have purged India clean of its malcontent from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

Violence

At a more substantive level, Union home minister Rajnath Singh has called a meeting of the chief ministers of states affected by Maoist violence on May 8.

But it won't be a first-of-its-kind deliberation on how to deal with the murderous menace.

If meetings could solve seemingly intractable problems, then India would not have been in such a mess on the internal security front.

There has been a resurgence of separatism in the Kashmir Valley.

While it is not unusual for separatists to make a return after hibernating during winter, there is something particularly sinister about the recrudescence of violence this time.

The fig leaf of 'azadi' has been dropped and naked, aggressive Islamism is on display.

It's no longer about 'disaffection' with the Indian state, it is now about rejecting the secular Indian state, or what passes for it.

Meanwhile in the forests of central India, after taking some hits from the security forces, the Maoists have begun to strike back with increasing ferocity.

On March 11, they killed 12 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh. On Monday, it was a bloodbath with CRPF personnel besieged from all sides and virtually rendered sitting ducks.

Worse attacks have happened in the past. Maoists killed 75 CRPF personnel in Chhat- tisgarh in April 2010.

Earlier that year they ran through an Eastern Frontier Rifles camp in West Bengal, killing 24 personnel in their sleep.

In May 2013 almost the entire top leadership of the Congress in Chhattisgarh was wiped out in a Maoist attack.

Among the dead was Mahendra Karma who had heroically stood up to Red Terror and launched the Salwa Judum movement.

There have been several other attacks in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand, the hotbed of Maoist insurgency.

Between 2005 and 2017, at least 2,010 security forces personnel have been killed by Maoists who, despite losing a large number of cadre, continue to strike fear among tribals.

Available data suggests Maoist and civilian deaths have been equally high in these 12 years. At least 2,571 Maoists have been killed in counter-operations; 2,994 civilians have died at their hands.

LJP activists take part in a candle light vigil to pray for CRPF jawans lost their lives in a Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, in Patna

Menace

Arguably the NDA government can claim to have been more firm in dealing with the menace.

There has been a steady and perceptible decline in Maoist attacks since 2014.

In its reply to a question in Parliament, the government gloatingly pointed out that the 'number of Left Wing Extremists killed in 2016 as compared to 2015 has increased by 150 per cent from 89 in 2015 to 222 in 2016.

'The number is the highest in the last six years.' It is also true that there has been a stream of desertions from the Maoist ranks, especially by women who have fled horrific sexual exploitation in the name of revolution.

Others have laid down arms to seek normal lives under the protective watch of the police.

Taking roads and infrastructure deep into the Maoist heartland has helped counter their propaganda that tribals are a neglected lot and excluded from tasting the fruits India's development.

Yet all this does not mean that the Maoist insurgency is either hobbled or debilitated. Monday's attack underscores this point.

How much of the success of the previous three years is by design and how much by coincidence is yet to be figured out.

In counter-insurgency operations, essentially fighting an asymmetrical war by another name, there are ebbs and flows.

To read too much into a period of success in curbing an insurgency can prove to be costly. Multiple attacks on security forces by Maoists (and Islamists in the Kashmir Valley) this year serve to highlight this fact.

Insurgencies

Offering vacuous condolences to the families of security personnel killed by insurgents is, frankly, meaningless.

And so are mawkish statements and maudlin sentiments.

They do not take us anywhere near a resolution. To the contrary, such expressions run the danger of portraying the Indian state as helpless and sapped of determination.

There is no single weapon to fight Maoist terrorism. Deploying additional troops may at best have a temporary deterrent effect.

Hidma is believed to be the mastermind behind the Maoist attack

Nor can the Indian state be seen as blowing both hot and cold, bravely talking all-out war one day and limply offering talks the next day.

There has to be a steely consistency. The enemy is identified, what remains to be done is identifying the best means of neutralising the enemy.

To win this war the state needs both moral and ideological clarity. Sadly, both have been lacking.

Also lacking is the third crucial requirement: Political determination. Until and unless the state is clear of its objective and determined to achieve it, irrespective of the price to be paid, India's internal security situation will continue to worsen, eating away at the innards of the nation even as on the surface the country's economy makes huge strides.

There is no percentage in pretending that all is fine and insurgencies are under control, almost defeated. It does not work that way.

Insurgencies need to be crushed ruthlessly without any concern for the criticism that is bound to follow.

The state is responsible to a billion plus Indians for their safety and security, not a handful of useful idiots who believe, and want us to believe, that Maoists are 'Gandhians with guns'.
Britain's economy will 'grind to a halt' if politicians press ahead with punitive plans to 'demonise diesels' and drive them off the road, transport chiefs warned at the start of the UK's biggest commercial vehicle show.

Supermarket shelves will be left empty, factories will run short of key supplies and face production bottlenecks, vital store and online deliveries to homes and businesses will cease, and emergency services could be hit, if diesel drivers and white van men and women continue to be unfairly targeted with toxicity taxes, they claimed.

Millions of jobs among small businesses, sole-traders and haulage firms are also being put at risk by politicians using the diesel row as a blunt instrument and revenue raiser to swell council and government coffers, they added.

Grind to a halt: Transport chiefs have hit back at the government's plans to target diesel vehicles saying the country is dependent on them

Bosses said 1.8 million sole traders in 'the front-line of the UK economy' depend on their vans for their livelihoods and that the UK's commercial vehicles contribute 27.5 billion delivering freight.

Britain's 4.7million goods and service vehicles  and the people who drive them  play 'a vital role keeping the country running', they added.

The UK's delivery infrastructure is almost totally dependent on diesel to keep the economy running with 96 per cent of commercial vehicles using the fuel, which was once incentivised and encouraged by Labour ministers keen to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the so-called 'greenhouse gas' blamed for global warming.

The warning came at the Tuesday opening of the Commercial Vehicle Show at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre, organised by the Road Haulage Association, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, and the Institute of Road Transport Engineers.

Nearly 500 exhibitors are showing new vans and trucks powered by the latest and cleanest generation of Euro 6 diesel engines which bosses say will reduce pollution.

Van-maker LDV is using the event to unveil a new electric mini-bus to complement the electric van it already has in its fleet.

The SMMT said diesel is being unfairly demonised, noting that the latest new Euro-6 diesel trucks and vans are 'the cleanest in history' and have 'virtually eliminated' harmful particulates.

From left to right: Richard Burnett, Road Haulage Association chief executive, Ian Chisholm, Society of Operations Engineers chief executive and Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive

Experts issued the warning at the opening of the Commercial Vehicle Show at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre on Tuesday

On-road real-world tests of commercial diesels show a 95 per cent reduction in nitrogen oxides or NOx  blamed for thousands of breathing problems and premature deaths and the focal point of the VW emissions scandal - over their older Euro V counterparts.

Diesel vans also use around 50 per cent less fuel than petrols, meaning lower fuel bills for operators and affordable costs for consumers and taxpayers, said the SMMT.

The warning comes as ministers face potential legal action after seeking to delay until after the election on June 8 their plans to improve air quality blamed on diesel emissions following a High Court ruling.

Some 85 per cent of everything used or consumed spends part of its journey to the end user on the back of a commercial vehicle.

More than 30 councils are considering imposing 'toxin taxes' against the highest polluting vehicles, while there are also calls for a scrappage scheme.

The SMMT noted: 'Utility and delivery vans and trucks together move three times more goods than water and rail combined  contributing some 27.5billion to the UK economy.

'Thousands of emergency response vehicles look after our health and safety, buses keep millions of people across the country mobile.'

The UK is also now the EU's biggest online retail sector with consumers here buying some 67.4billion worth of goods and services online in 2016.

Commercial vehicles transported 1.52billion tonnes of goods across the UK in 2015  including medicines, clothing and groceries.

Commercials vans and trucks together move three times more goods than water and rail combined  contributing some 27.5billion to the UK economy, the SMMT said

Will emergency services be exempt from new toxicity charges? Much of the nation's fleet currently uses diesel vehicles

Road Haulage Association chief executive Richard Burnett, representing 7,000 members with 100,000 commercial vehicles said: 'Some 85 per cent of everything used or consumed spends part of its journey to the end user on the back of a commercial vehicle.

'Yet despite its importance to the entire economy, its speed and efficiency is taken granted.

'Without it, nothing would move and the entire economy would grind to a halt.'

Utility and delivery vans and trucks together move three times more goods than water and rail combined  contributing some 27.5billion to the UK economy.

Bosses at Vauxhall which last year built 73,612 vans at its Luton plant, also warned of the dire consequences of politicians attacking diesel with punitive 'toxin taxes', or hiking road-tax and fuel duty before a credible alternative is available.

Vauxhall spokesman Denis Chick said: 'if you demonise diesel, businesses close down.

'If diesel is driven off the road then the whole country will grind to a halt.

'You'll suddenly find the shelves at Sainsburys and all the other supermarkets are empty. There'll be no-one to make the delivery.

'Vehicles are easy targets because they are easy to tax. It's all about raising revenue. But there is no alternative to a diesel engine right now.'

He said measures by Mayor of Sadiq Khan to impose toxin taxes were ill-advised and all about raising cash.

Vauxhall recently opened a new police car factory at its Luton plant converting 2,500 vehicles per year for police fire and ambulance services and supplying 70 per cent of police fleets.

Last year 13,513 ambulances carried almost five million people to A&E; 9,155 fire service vehicles attended 496,000 incidents; and 7,877 police commercial vehicles helped keep order. Some 45,000 postal vehicles delivered an estimated 19 billion letters to people and businesses across the UK, too.

Vauxhall's emergency vehicle factory in Luton which opened last year. This is where police cars are prepared for duty and also decommissioned once their service period is over

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes, said commercial vehicles played 'an essential role' in keeping Britain's goods and services flowing.

'This sector has never been so important to the UK economy  and to British jobs  and diesel's role in powering these vital vehicles should not be downplayed.

'The latest Euro-6 commercial vehicles on our roads today are the cleanest and safest ever.'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan plans to introduce the world's first Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in central London in 2019, which would apply 24 hours per day for older vehicles and those judged to be the most polluting. A consultation is in place to extend it as far out as the North and South Circulars

From October this year, vehicles in central London will need to meet minimum exhaust emission standards, or pay a daily 10 Emissions Surcharge - also known as the T-Charge- but swiftly dubbed a toxicity tax.

It will take the total paid for the most polluting cars to 21.50 per day  comprising 11.50 for the congestion charge and 10 for the T charge.

As an added blow, motorists in Westminster face a 50 per cent diesel surcharge for on-street parking and cities like Liverpool are looking to ban diesel cars altogether.

in 2015, Islington Council introduced a flat 96 per year diesel surcharge on top of the existing cost of all diesel car residents parking permits, despite the underlying permit costs being based on CO2 emissions, which tends to favour diesels.

Life is unlikely to get any better for diesel owners, with Chancellor Phillip Hammond set to 'explore the appropriate tax treatment for diesel vehicles' ahead of his next Autumn 2017 Budget.

One glimmer of hope is that the government will introduce a diesel scrappage scheme to offer deals to vehicle owners to tempt them to do away with their polluting cars.

Prime Minister Theresa May said before calling the election: 'I'm very conscious of the fact that past Governments have encouraged people to buy diesel cars and we need to take that into account.'
FTSE 100 listed wealth management firm St James's Place has added 2billion of client money to its books in just three months.

Total inflows jumped to 3.23billion from 2.45billion in the same quarter last year. The net figure once money going out of the business is factored in was a rise of 1.99billion, up from 1.36billion a year earlier.

With the company retaining 95 per cent of client money, the new inflows brought SJP's funds under management to a whopping 79.84billion, up from 62.02billion at the same time in 2016.

Net inflows for SJP in the first quarter of 2017 were 1.99bn, up from 1.36bn a year earlier.

Much of that uplift will have come from increases in the value of investments as markets rose however, rather than being new money.

Shares in the company were flat in morning trading at 1114 pence.

Back in February the company said chief executive David Bellamy would be stepping down at the end of 2017 after more than ten years at the helm.

He was unsurprisingly upbeat in commenting on his company's fortunes this year so far.

Outgoing SJP chief executive David Bellamy.

'At the beginning of the year I said we were better placed for the opportunities that lie ahead than ever before and these gross and net inflow figures reinforce that confidence.'

'Looking ahead, whilst political and macro uncertainties persist, the more immediate concern for many people relates to personal financial matters, particularly in relation to long term savings, protecting and preserving wealth, tax and intergenerational planning,' he said.

'In this regard, the scale and quality of our relationship-based and advice-led approach to the management of our clients' financial affairs, together with our investment management proposition, means we are increasingly well placed to meet this growing need for trusted advice.'
Fashion statement: Bernard Arnault has bought Christian Dior for 10bn

France's richest man is taking full control of Christian Dior in a deal worth 10billion.

Billionaire Bernard Arnault, whose family owns fashion giant LVMH, has announced he was buying the 26 per cent of the high-end fashion house he did not already own.

The 69-year-old will sell Christian Dior Couture to LVMH for 5.5billion, re-uniting the 70-year-old fashion label  where Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent once worked  with Dior perfumes, which LVMH has owned since the 1960s.

Arnault is chief executive of LVMH, which was formed from the 1987 merger of Louis Vuitton with Champagne and cognac producer Moet Hennessy.
There has been a flood of negative reviews from staff members working at the Financial Ombudsman Service, This is Money has unearthed, indicating growing dissatisfaction at the final stop for complaints about financial firms.

On job website Glassdoor, which allows staff of any organisation to leave anonymous reviews about their employment - past or present - the FOS has received a staggering 34 one star ratings since the start of 2017, alongside eight two star ratings.

This compares to none giving it a five star rating  and just seven giving it either a three or four star rating.

Of the 50 reviews since the start of the year, three in five are from employees who still work at the organisation.

Caroline Wayman: According to job rating website Glassdoor, the FOS chief executive has an approval rating among staff of just 9%

One, who claims to still work there as an investigator, wrote on the 16 April: 'This service has well and truly lost its way.

'Either through poor change management or by blindly following PwC "improvements", or both, the organisation has forgotten one of the most important principles of running a successful and efficient business: staff are at the heart of the organisation.

'The happier your staff, the better they will be. The organisation is blindly chasing productivity gains while treating employees badly.'

One employee says they are 'ashamed' to now work for the FOS. They said on 14 April: 'Everything being written on here [Glassdoor website] by the staff is true.

'The investigators don't know how to handle the majority of the complaints that they pick up. They are under severe pressure to hit targets.

'Please can someone outside look at what's going on and stop this awful decline before it's to [sic] late. We, the employees care if the CEO and her team don't.'

Another said on 6 April that the FOS was previously the best in the world, but not now.

They added: 'Senior management are in cloud cuckoo land. They say that you can resolve complaints with just a few phone calls. Easy as that.

'Try getting an IFA who has invested someone's entire pension provision in an unregulated investment, which has gone bust, to compensate his victim with a 'quick phone call.'

WORK AT FOS? Get in touch anonymously to tell your story. Has the FOS lost its way? Or have their been positive changes? lee.boyce@thisismoney.co.uk

'Investigators are put under pressure to resolve complaints about which they have no knowledge, experience or training. The only way they can do that is by turning the consumer down.'

One staff member who claims to have worked at FOS for more than three years labelled it a 'shambles' on 29 March.

They added: 'I used to love working here.

'I'm now an investigator and I'm stressed, micro managed, asked to deal with cases I have no knowledge of, and asked to churn out numbers at the cost of quality.

'Dealing with a case from start to finish is a good idea and works for straightforward complaints. But what about everything else? You may as well put something in front of me in a different language and I'd understand it more than a pensions complaint.

'I feel so sorry for the consumers who think I have the knowledge to deal with their problem. It's so scary that it's come to this.

'It's ignorent [sic] of Caroline Wayman to think this will last in its current form. We need specialist areas.'

One staff member, who says they have worked there for more than a decade, says: 'When I joined FOS Walter Merricks was in charge running an organisation that valued knowledge and experience. We were treated as adults trusted to do our jobs professionally.

'Now for all intents and purposes FOS is being run by PWC micro managing processes taken from their one size fits all group thinking.

'There is no respect for knowledge and no understanding of the complexities that may arise dealing with complaints in different financial products.

'Myself and my colleagues have used this site as one of the few options we have to speak out about what's happening to the FOS but in reality who's listening.'

The FOS, which was founded in 2001 and is based in London, currently has 294 reviews on Glassdoor with an overall rating of just 1.8 out of five for staff satisfaction.

WHAT IS GLASSDOOR? Glassdoor is the 'TripAdvisor' of employment, with staff able to 'rate' past and current jobs out of five stars, along with adding comments about what to expect. It serves as a guide to job hunters who may be considering a role at a certain employer. You can read the Financial Ombusman reviews here. Glassdoor says it requires each person to certify their employee relationship to the company when they post any content and that its content moderation process is designed to prevent systematic abuse. It uses technology filters and algorithms to detect fraud while employers can respond to reviews and always have the last word.

A spokesman told This is Money: 'Over the last few years, we've been radically changing  so that ombudsman can be on the phone sorting out complaints in days rather than sending out long documents that could take months.

'This is based on the feedback we get from consumers and businesses about what they want from the ombudsman  and currently over 80 per cent of customers are rating our new approach positively.

'Of course, this is a major shift for our own people, involving lots of practical operational changes, which is why we've been using PWC who have lots of experience with major projects like this.

'We keep a close eye on Glassdoor as well as running focus groups and our own monthly staff surveys which help us keep in touch with how our staff are feeling.

'Over the last year 75 per cent of staff say they understand why we're changing.'

Meanwhile, just nine per cent approve of current chief executive officer Caroline Wayman, who has been at the helm since July 2014, according to Glassdoor ratings.

Her remuneration for the year ending 31 March 2016, the latest set of data available, was 282,573, up from 261,258 the year previous.

This figure is 7.22 times the median remuneration of the workforce, which was 34,913 in the same period.

The FOS is funded by the financial services sector through a combination of statutory levies and case fees.

In the year ending March 2016, it operated on a cost base of 259.9million with 3,676 employees.

Complicated: Many of the gripes which reach the FOS are complicated matters regarding pensions and investments

In the annual report last year, Caroline Wayman said: 'This year we've continued to support our people to gain, collectively, hundreds of industry-recognised qualifications.

'And to make sure we're able to respond flexibly to changes in demand on our service, we've focused on developing our capability and capacity to handle a greater breadth of problems.

'I know that our stakeholders  and particularly the financial businesses who fund us  expect a service that's value for money, as well as having expertise.

'Our focus on efficiency means that, over the course of 2015/2016, we've provided our service at a lower cost than budgeted, at the same time as resolving more complaints than we'd planned.'

A spokesman at Glassdoor, said: 'The average company rating on Glassdoor is 3.3 out of 5, so a 1.8 for the FOS is well below most other employers.

'What must be concerning for FOS is that just seven per cent of employees have a positive outlook for the organisation.

'This is going to seriously affect their ability to recruit and retain top talent, which then of course impacts their ability to deliver a good service to consumers.

'There are hundreds of reviews from mostly current employees rather than people who have already left, and those reviews show a clear trend for unhappiness at, among other things, senior management and the switch away from specialism among adjudicators.'
Former Republican Senate candidate Christine ODonnell and her campaign committee have been fined for using campaign funds to pay her rent, a federal judge has ruled.

The Federal Election Commission first filed a lawsuit against O'Donnell last September, claiming that she improperly used at least $20,000 in campaign contributions to pay bills at a Delaware townhouse that also served as her 2010 campaign headquarters.

At the time, Judge Leonard Stark concluded that O'Donnell had in fact violated the Federal Election Campaign Act. Now, on April 19, she has officially been ordered to pay several thousand dollars in penalties.

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Former Republican Senate candidate Christine ODonnell and her campaign committee have been fined for using campaign funds to pay her rent and utilities, a federal judge has ruled

The court has mandated that O'Donnell will disgorge $5,701.85, an estimate of the benefit she received from her violations plus prejudgment interest, and pay a penalty of $25,000, which is jointly payable by ODonnell and her committee.

She also must enter a permanent injunction prohibiting her and her committee members from converting campaign funds for personal use.

Since 2010, O'Donnell has attracted her fair share of negative media attention. As her bid for Senate began to pick up speed, a 1999 video resurfaced of O'Donnell saying she had 'dabbled into witchcraft.'

'I never joined a coven, I hung around people who were doing these things. I'm not making this stuff up. One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn't know it,' she said in the video.

In an attempt to draw attention away from the strange revelation, and perhaps reconnect with part of her religious fan base, O'Donnell famously released a campaign ad declaring: 'I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you.'

The video even made the rounds at Saturday Night Live; Kristen Wiig played O'Donnell in a skit while standing in front of a skeleton playing the piano and wearing a witch costume.

In an unfortunate choice of words, O'Donnell later denounced the FEC lawsuit against her, calling it a 'witch hunt.'

O'Donnell had said in a deposition that she pretended to live at the Delaware townhouse because it was in a secure complex and she had received previous threats and feared for her safety.

A campaign video of O'Donnell saying 'I'm not a witch' even made the rounds at Saturday Night Live; Kristen Wiig played the Senate hopeful in a skit while standing in front of a skeleton playing the piano and wearing a witch costume

'I wasn't like hanging out there having dinner parties, Netflix and chill, all that kind of stuff,' she testified. 'If I was there, I was there working on the campaign.'

According to original court records, the committee paid $1,410 a month rent for the townhouse, while O'Donnell made five quarterly rent payments of $770, or about $257 a month, starting several weeks after she started living there.

'The difference between the amount the committee paid for the townhouse and the amount O'Donnell paid the committee constitutes an unlawful conversion of campaign funds to personal use,' Stark wrote in his first judgement.

The judge also noted that utility costs during O'Donnell's 15-month sublease amounted to $4,264, but that O'Donnell 'effectively paid nothing for the utilities.'

And in the most recent court documents, Judge Stark expanded on the punishment for her violation.

'The uncontested facts still establish that ODonnells payments to the Committee were insufficient.

'Disgorgement is not meant to be punitive or compensatory; rather, the primary purpose of disgorgement is...to deprive the wrongdoer of his ill-gotten gain.'

In terms of the civil penalty portion of the fine, the documents state that hopefully others will see this judgement and not be tempted to also misuse campaign funds.

'"Deterrence is critical because personal use of campaign funds injures those who contributed to the Committee and undermines the publics confidence in the government and campaign finance system."

'Civil penalties play a crucial role in protecting the public interest, and remedying the injury to the public, as there is always harm to the public when FECA is violated.'

O'Donnell has not stated whether or not she plans to run for federal office again, but continues to operate ChristinePAC, which paid for her townhouse until 2015.
A woman who was the love child of her mother and a U.S. Marine is attempting to track down her father who visited New Zealand over 70 years ago during the Second World War.

Cherrie McGlashan, a retired school teacher, said she was optimistic she could uncover details about her real father despite the limited information she knew about her birth parent.

Aided with only his name but no photos, the Blenheim woman understands she may not be successful in her quest to find him.

Cherrie McGlashan is trying to locate her birth father who was a visiting WWII solider

If the mystery man is alive, he would be in his 90s - which makes the search hard she said.

Over 15,000 American soldiers were posted north of Wellington between 1942 and 1944, as well as another 5,000 US Marines who were based across three camps along the Kapiti Coast.

Executive secretary of the Kapiti US Marines Trust, Allison Webber, told Daily Mail Australia they were likely receive 12 - 15 enquiries a year related to the marines who served during WWII.

'We have done a lot of work on this area in history,' she said.

Her father was a US marine at the time stationed in Paekakariki near Wellington (pictured marines on Whareroa farm)

'The main problem is just a lack of facts, they can't give us enough clues, where the person came from in the States, what battalion they were in, whether they arrived in Wellington and Auckland - that info helps.'

'There's so much time gone by and many veterans have died, we're coming up to 75th anniversary of the marines being in camp, they will all be in 90's by now and are frequently passing on and also the instances were the mother or grandmother who could have helped has died and the vital link is missing,' she said.

Although the chances are sometimes slim stories of success do sometimes emerge.

Over 15,000 American soldiers were posted north of Wellington between 1942 and 1944 (pictured marines marching from Paekakariki Station to the Marines Camps 1942)

'We had a really nice one a man came to look at one of the marine sites and he met his old girlfriend and they got together again after he had been widowed.'

Another man had a lovely reunion with a woman he dated but they just remained friends.

'Sometimes you can have cute and happy outcomes and sometimes they don't,' Ms Webber said.

Her mother met the marine, who is suspected to be in his early 20's, and she had their child at 18-years-old (pictured a marine with a rifle)

If the man is alive he would be in his 90's (pictured marine scouts at Paekakariki)

For Cherrie McGlashan a lucky encounter with an American woman on spurred a renewed interest to investigate into her father's history.

During a cruise she was approached by an older woman who told her she possessed a very strong resemblance to her family.

'We got talking and I told her my background but told her we couldn't be related because I was from New Zealand. Then she said her grandfather had been a US Marine based in Wellington during the war,' she told Fairfax.

Although chances are slim, stories of success do emerge where soldiers have reunited with loved ones they met while visiting said Allison Webber of Kapiti US Marines Trust

Ms McGlashan said she was born in 1945 at the Karitane hospital in Wellington however her birth father had already left New Zealand.

She had been told by her birth mother, who she found due to the name being present on the birth certificate, that she was the outcome of a romance between her mother and a US marine.

She was told the marines name was 'Snowy' Anderson.

Ms McGlashan was adopted out at 6 months old to her new 'wonderful parents' but has always wanted to know where she is from

Because he is not present on the birth certificate there is a lack of additional information.

She was adopted out at six months old to a family who changed her name and it was a private adoption.

She says she is lucky to have been adopted by wonderful people who bought her up to know that she had been adopted.

The former teacher considers them as her parents but she said: 'Everyone wants to know where they are from'.
The Prince of Wales drove a steam train his donation helped restore after it was badly damaged by vandals.

Charles, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, wore a kilt and a specially-monogrammed overall to drive the steam engine on a line in Aberdeenshire he used to travel on as a child.

The prince stepped in with a 'significant' donation through his charitable foundation after hearing vandals had smashed windows on a 1965 railway carriage.

Charles, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, wore a kilt and a specially-monogrammed overall to drive the steam engine on a line in Aberdeenshire he used to travel on as a child

The thugs also ruined a locomotive engine at the historic Deeside line at Milton of Crathes, Banchory, in August 2015.

His donation helped carry out a 15,000 refurbishment and he visited the station on Monday, meeting Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society volunteers and local schoolchildren before climbing aboard the engine.

Volunteer driver James West showed him the controls and said he was a 'very good' driver on the short journey on a reconstructed section of the historic line towards Banchory and back.

Mr West said: 'I never thought I'd teach the future King to drive a stream train. He's driven similar trains before, so kind of understood how they work.

The prince stepped in with a 'significant' donation through his charitable foundation after hearing vandals had smashed windows on a 1965 railway carriage

The historic railway line was in use from 1853 to 1966 and was used by the royal family on trips to the Aberdeenshire estate

'We chatted on the way down the line about how he'd travelled on the line as a child and he never believed he would travel on it again.

'He took the controls and did all the driving. I did the braking as we approached the platform. His driving was very good.'

Charles unveiled a plaque naming the restored carriage Birkhall after his residence at Balmoral.

The historic railway line was in use from 1853 to 1966 and was used by the royal family on trips to the Aberdeenshire estate.

Restoration project leader Bill Halliday said the prince's donation had given the impetus to kickstart the renovation and helped draw in more public contributions, and said the royal visit was 'absolutely fantastic'.

Volunteer driver James West showed him the controls and said he was a 'very good' driver on the short journey on a reconstructed section of the historic line towards Banchory and back

The Prince chatted with locals as he arrived at the Royal Deeside Railway in Banchory. Charles unveiled a plaque naming the restored carriage Birkhall after his residence at Balmoral

The Prince of Wales views a carriage with restoration project leader Bill Halliday, who said the royal visit was 'absolutely fantastic'

He said: 'It was a great end to what started off as a devastating incident with the vandalism. This was the perfect completion for us.

'He used to travel on the line as a child, it brought back great memories for him. Driving the train just made his day, he was absolutely delighted and he really enjoyed it.'

He said Charles urged the society to persevere with their goal of restoring the line between Ballater and Crathes.
A black man who was hurled to the ground and punched repeatedly in the face by a police officer after he was caught jaywalking has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and county of Sacramento.

Nandi Cain claimed Monday he was targeted because of his race and was abused in jail after his arrest earlier this month.

The lawsuit seeking unspecified monetary damages for Cain also named the officer as a plaintiff and identified him as Anthony Figueroa.

Cain told reporters that his memory of the event is blurry because he suffered a concussion and could barely see because of a black eye and that his nose was broken.

Burris said Cain was guilty mainly of 'walking while black' and that the incident reminded him of the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King in Los Angeles.

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Nandi Cain, pictured, discussed the beating he received from a Sacramento Police officer two weeks ago during a news conference on April 24. He is filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and county

Cain said he was targeted because of his race and said he was abused in jail after his arrest

Shocking video taken by Cain's friend Naomie Montaie shows a police officer identified as Anthony Figueroa beating him on April 10

Four white police officers were acquitted in King's beating 25 years ago, sparking days of deadly rioting.

Police who had criticized the officer's actions during the widely publicized April 10 event captured on video had not identified him, saying only that the officer was a two-year member of the force placed on unpaid administrative leave.

Sacramento police on Monday did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.

Figueroa also did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment about the lawsuit or the April 10 incident.

Officials have said the incident happened when Cain was told by the officer to stop because he had jaywalked on a residential street in California's state capital.

Cain's attorneys said they did not know the race or ethnicity of the arresting officer.

Cain, pictured at the news conference, allegedly jaywalked on a residential street and was pulled over by the officer

Officials said that Cain did not stop, which Figueroa asked him to do, and proceeded to challenge Figueroa to a fight

Cain, 24, refused and challenged the officer to a fight, officials have said.

Video taken by a police cruiser dash camera and bystanders captured Cain complaining the officer was stopping him 'for nothing.'

His friend Naomi Montaie shot video of their interaction and told Fox 40: 'I never witnessed anything like that. He just kept hitting him, and kept hitting him, and I was like, "Oh my God...why you hitting him like that? Why you hitting him like that?"'

Video shows Cain saying: 'If you were a real man you would take your gun away and fight me like a real man.'

The officer then lunged at Cain and tackled him, punching him repeatedly, according to the video released by the police department.

Dashcam video shows Cain getting arrested after he was beaten. He had an outstanding misdemeanor arrest warrant, police said

Cain, pictured kicking the interior of a patrol car, said he was mocked and beaten as he was stripped naked upon reaching a Sacramento jail

Video of the confrontation filmed by a bystander went viral and generated outrage across the U.S.

Cain was handcuffed for suspicion of resisting arrest and an outstanding misdemeanor arrest warrant, authorities have said.

Police said he continued resisting by kicking the interior of a patrol car and was restrained with a leg hobble.

After being brought to a jail, Cain was repeatedly kneed in the ribs by corrections officers who also used their knees to pin him down while stripping off his clothes, said the federal lawsuit filed Sunday in Sacramento.

'I've been embarrassed and discriminated against when all I've been trying to do is go home from work,' Cain told reporters.

Cain cried out in pain while he was naked on the floor of the jail and was mocked by the corrections officers, the lawsuit said.

It said he was left alone in a cell without medical attention, food or the ability to make a phone call.

He was released after nine hours and no charges were filed against him.

Montaie said: 'I never witnessed anything like that. He just kept hitting him, and kept hitting him, and I was like, "Oh my God...why you hitting him like that? Why you hitting him like that"'

Since then, Cain said he has been depressed with nightmares and cold sweats and unable to sleep or eat regularly. He said he is still receiving medical treatment for the concussion.

Cain speculated that he might still be in jail if a bystander had not initially posted video of the confrontation.

'Racism is still alive, and you would think, it's 2017 that it would die, but it still exists,' Cain said.

He added that he had been racially targeted before but that this event marked the first time it was captured in images.

He added: 'Now that we brought it to surface, justice will be served and we will make sure that this doesn't happen to anybody else.'

The police department and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg have previously called the officer's behavior disturbing and unreasonable.

Burris contested the allegation that his client was jaywalking.

'But jaywalking in and of itself does not and should not ever result in a person being beaten about his face and head without a justification for it,' he said.
Dozens of attackers armed with assault rifles used explosives to blast open the vault of an armored car company in Paraguay early Monday morning and apparently escaped by boat into Brazil with a haul of cash, authorities said.

At least one police officer was killed and three civilians were injured in a blaze of gunfire and torched vehicles during the three-hour attack on the private security company Prosegur in the border city of Ciudad del Este, officials said.

The vault, which can hold up to $40million in cash, 'was full' at the time of the robbery said public prosecutor Denise Duarte.

Guards and police inspect a vault that the assailants blew up early morning in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, on Monday

Dozens of attackers armed with assault rifles used explosives to blast open the vault of an armored car company early Monday and apparently escaped by boat into Brazil with a haul of cash, authorities said

At least one police officer was killed and three civilians were injured in a blaze of gunfire and torched vehicles during the three-hour attack

The attack was on the private security company Prosegur (pictured above being inspected by policement) in the border city of Ciudad del Este, officials said

It is believed that the thieves took all $40million, but police have not released information to verify the exact amount.

Up to 80 people may have been involved in the attack, said Arsenio Correa, investigations chief in the city.

'The criminals used snipers to guarantee the escape and torched more than 10 vehicles to distract the police,' he said.

Witnesses claimed to hear Portuguese being spoken during the heist, which rose suspicions that the thieves had come across the border from neighboring Brazil, according to The Telegraph.

Up to 80 people may have been involved in the attack, which saw gunfire and cars set on fire for hours

Police said that the robbers set at least ten cars on fire to distract police from the heist on the vault

Video footage showed burned armored cars outside the crumbling remains of the company's building

Along with the burning cars, thieves also used snipers to 'guarantee their escape', police said

Video footage showed burned armored cars outside the crumbling remains of the company's building.

A joint Paraguayan-Brazilian police operation against the fleeing assailants led to three suspects being killed and 'at least four arrests', Paraguay's interior ministry said in a statement.

Officials also seized vans, automobiles, bulletproof vests, life jackets, machine guns, heavy ammunition, explosives and other items from suspects.

A tweet from the ministry showed a photograph of a policeman standing over a body of a man in bloodied camouflage clothing.

A joint Paraguayan-Brazilian police operation against the fleeing assailants led to three suspects being killed and 'at least four arrests'. Pictured above, a bulletproof vest seized by police sitting in a bloodied police vehicle

Witnesses claimed to hear Portuguese being spoken during the heist, which rose suspicions that the thieves had come across the border from neighboring Brazil

Officials also seized vans, automobiles, bulletproof vests, life jackets, machine guns, heavy ammunition, explosives and other items from suspects

Officials from Brazil and Paraguay are still searching for more suspects following the heist. Pictured above, guns and a flak jacket seized by police

Regional police spokesman Anibal Lima said Brazilian police found AK-47 assault rifles inside two abandoned boats in the area's Itaipu lake

Other photos showed the apparent getaway cars, ammunition and flak jackets.

Regional police spokesman Anibal Lima said Brazilian police found AK-47 assault rifles inside two abandoned boats in the area's Itaipu lake.

Authorities said Brazilian gangsters were suspected of being behind the attack on the armed car company.

Ciudad del Este sits in the 'Triple Border' region, where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet and where contraband electronics, drugs and arms flow across porous borders.

The city has gained a reputation for violence linked to drug trafficking.
President Donald Trump insisted Tuesday that his proposed wall between the U.S. and Mexico will ultimately be built, just hours after his chief counselor Kellyanne Conway suggested it wasn't a major funding priority for the White House.

'Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc.,' he tweeted.

Conway had said that Trump was no longer insisting that Congress pay for the start of his border wall immediately, telling a TV audience that the administration could make its peace with 'funding and building the wall later on.'

'Building that wall and having it funded remains an important priority to him,' Conway said on the 'Fox & Friends' program, 'but we also know that that can happen later this year and into next year.'

Trump has reportedly stepped back from demanding a down payment for his border wall in must-pass spending legislation, potentially removing a major obstacle to a bipartisan deal just days ahead of a government shutdown deadline.

Kellyanne Conway, senior counselor to the president, said Tuesday morning that Donald Trump's border wall might be funded 'later on' in order to sidestep a showdown over the federal budget this week

With a budget deadline looming, Trump plans a whirlwind of activities seeking to highlight accomplishments while putting fresh pressure on congressional Democrats to pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, even if that pressure risks a possible government shutdown

The president tweeted on Tuesday that even if the timetable changes, he's not changing his position on building the wall between the U.S. and Mexico

The president told a gathering of around 20 conservative media reporters Monday evening that he would be willing to return to the wall funding issue in September, according to two people who were in the room.

They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the get-together, which was not originally intended to be on the record.

Conway said on Tuesday that until the wall is built the White House will rely on 'other smart technology and other resources and tools being used toward border security.'

'Just since President Trump took office, illegal border crossings are down to a 17-year low,' she added. 'So it's his resolve plus the tools and resources.'

Conway said that 'over 350 firms from 41 states so far have submitted proposals toward building the wall.'

But without a check from Congress, the project is at a standstill.

The funding project is fiercely opposed by Democrats, whose votes are needed to pass the government-wide spending legislation that comes due Friday at midnight.

The idea of a border wall hasn't been popular with large segments of the population and the idea that the US will have to pay for it is making the idea unpopular in Congress as well

Immigrant-rights advocates protest near the U.S.-Mexico border wall over a visit to the border by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Cost estimates range past $20 billion and the White House had been seeking $1.4 billion as a first step in the spending bill.

The wall is also unpopular with many Republicans, and GOP negotiators on Capitol Hill were uneasy about the clash over the wall potentially sparking a government shutdown.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who has a key role providing Democratic votes to pass the legislation, welcomed Trump's reported shift on the wall.

'It's good for the country that President Trump is taking the wall off the table in these negotiations,' Schumer said late Monday. 'Now the bipartisan and bicameral negotiators can continue working on the outstanding issues.'

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said, 'The president's comments this evening are welcome news given the bipartisan opposition to the wall, and the obstacle it has been to the continuing bipartisan negotiations in the appropriations committees.'

The wall was the most pressing issue confronting lawmakers as they returned from a two-week spring recess to face a critical deadline.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has a key role providing Democratic votes to pass the legislation involving a down payment for the proposed border wall

Congress must pass a $1 trillion catch-all spending bill to pay for all agencies of government or trigger a partial shutdown Saturday, which happens to coincide with the 100th day of Trump's presidency.

'I'm optimistic. I don't think anybody wants a shutdown,' Senator Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said as he exited a meeting of GOP leadership. 'The White House and basically the minority leaders of the House and Senate have to have some level of agreement on the things that you're adding.'

The negotiations over the spending bill took center stage Monday despite a separate White House push for fast action to revive health care legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

After signaling last week that they hoped for a vote as soon as this week on a rewritten health bill, White House officials softened their stance Monday.

Illegal crossings from Mexico to the US have plummeted for the month of March, making some question whether a wall is needed - it is expected to cost about $20billion and even some GOP members are doubting whether Mexico will ever pay for it

Echoing the views of House GOP leaders, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said there would be a vote on health care legislation when House leaders count the 216 votes needed to pass it.

'I think we want to make sure that we've got the votes and we're headed in the right direction before putting some artificial deadline,' Spicer said.

Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan were embarrassed last month when they had to pull their 'Obamacare' replacement bill off the floor without a vote as it became clear it would fail.

Since then leaders of conservative and moderate factions in the House have been negotiating on a compromise allowing states to opt out of certain 'Obamacare' requirements, and they appear to be making progress, although legislative text had not been finalized as of Monday.

The original GOP bill eliminated many of the 'Obamacare' mandates, offered skimpier subsidies for consumers to buy care and rolled back a Medicaid expansion. Conservatives balked, saying it didn't go far enough.

With Democrats unanimously opposed, it remains to be seen whether the health care deal will come together and attract the needed support.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said, 'The president's comments this evening are welcome news given the bipartisan opposition to the wall'

Trump talked it up on Twitter, writing Monday: 'If our healthcare plan is approved, you will see real healthcare and premiums will start tumbling down. ObamaCare is in a death spiral!'

Trump also pushed for his border wall, a central campaign pledge that he still insists Mexico will pay for in the end, though Democrats and even most Republicans doubt that will ever come to pass.

Trump turned again to Twitter: 'The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! If the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be! #BuildTheWall.'

But some of the conservative journalists who met Monday evening with Trump reported he said wall funding could wait until the fall.

Prior to the White House demand late last week for border wall money, it had largely been assumed on Capitol Hill that the spending measure would include funding for additional security steps along the border, but that there wouldn't be any money explicitly dedicated for new wall construction. That approach now appears likely to prevail.

The other major stumbling block on the spending bill involves a demand by Democratic negotiators that the measure fund cost-sharing payments to insurance companies that help low-income people afford health policies under Obama's health law, or that Trump back off a threat to use the payments as a bargaining chip.
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Hundreds of emotional Australians gathered at Gallipoli to attend the Anzac Day dawn service after undergoing stringent security checks amid fears terrorists could target the commemorations.

Those who made the pilgrimage to Turkey spent the night huddled in sleeping bags out in the open before the annual service marking the 102nd anniversary of the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign during the First World War.

They had already undergone stringent security measures, including patdowns and having bags searched, before making their way to Anzac Cove, where thousands of troops landed in 1915.

The threat of a terror attack appears to have put Australians off making the trip, with only 700 registering to attend the service compared to 10,000 in previous years.

But many of the Australians and New Zealanders who did make the journey held back tears as Foreign Minister Julie led tributes to the Anzacs during the service on Gallipoli's shores.

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Some people were unable to hold back tears as they listened to the moving service at Anzac Cove in the Gallipoli peninsula

People wrapped upw arm as they attended the dawn service marking Anzac Day in Gallipoli to mark the 102st anniversary of the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign

A woman draped in a New Zealand flag stands as she watches the dawn service early on Tuesday morning

She told the touching story of 16-year-old Len Hall, who spotted a girl in the crowds gathered to farewell soldiers bound for Egypt in 1915.

He plucked an emu plume from his slouch hat and gave it to her.

Not long after, he was firing a machine gun on the Gallipoli peninsula alongside his fellow Anzacs before going on to serve in the Battle of Beersheba in Palestine and in the assault on Damascus alongside Lawrence of Arabia.

When he returned to Western Australia after the war ended in 1918, a woman approached Len among the crowd of diggers taking part in a welcome home march.

'Excuse me, sir, would you like your plume back,' she asked.

The simple exchange sparked a romance, with Len later marrying Eunice and raising a family.

A bagpiper plays as the morning service begins in Gallipoli, 102 years on from the Anzacs landing at the shore

A bagpiper plays during the dawn service ceremony at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey

Anzac soldiers arrive for the dawn service marking Anzac Day in Gallipoli to mark the 102st anniversary of the ill-fated campaign

Ms Bishop said soldiers like Len, a West Australian who was one of the last Anzacs when he died aged 101 in 1999, had inspired generations.

'As we gather here this morning we each pay tribute to the men and women of our armed forces who have carried on the Anzac tradition for the past century and more - that spirit of courage, mateship, endurance and sacrifice that has forged our national character and identity,' she said.

'25 April is etched into our calendar as a most sacred national day, not by a government edict or decree, but through the deep understanding of generations of Australians that this horrendous sacrifice was made in our name and for our nation, our freedoms, our democratic values and our way of life.'

Ms Bishop also thanked the people of Turkey for allowing Australians to commemorate the 11,400 Anzacs who died and 24,100 wounded during the disastrous eight-month Gallipoli campaign.

Australian Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett said the Anzacs who landed at Gallipoli 102 years ago had 'made a name for themselves that shines forever'.

Hundreds of emotional Australians have gathered at Gallipoli to attend the Anzac Day dawn service after undergoing stringent security checks amid fears terrorists could target the commemorations

A couple huddle together to keep warm during the annual dawn service commemorating the fallen ANZAC soldiers

The security alert appears to have put Australians off making the trip, with just 700 people attending compared to 10,000 previous years

Hundreds of people wrapped up warm as they watched the ceremony early on Tuesday as Anzac Day began in Turkey

People huddled up to stay warm as they watched the moving service in Gallipoli, Turkey, on Tuesday morning

However, he said recollections of their bravery tell nothing of the fear and inner turmoil each soldier must have endured.

'Here the reality of war was shown to us. Here these men created a legend. But it was one created at great cost and great loss.'

New Zealand Justice Minister Amy Adams paid tribute to bravery shown by the Aussies and Kiwis, which she said helped forged a bond between both nations.

'From that day, till now, we're proud to call them our closest friends,' she said.

Ms Bishop will also speak at a memorial service due to be held at Lone Pine before taking part in the New Zealand memorial service at Chunuk Bair.

Security was tight for the dawn service after intelligence suggesting terrorists may try to target the commemorations after a string of attacks targeting tourists in Turkey.

The security alert appears to have put Australians off making the trip to Turkey, with just 700 people attending compared to 10,000 in previous years

People making the pilgrimage to Turkey had their bags searched and faced pat-downs as they headed to Anzac Cove

Australians attending the annual dawn service in Gallipoli faced stringent security checks as they commemorate Anzac Day

Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop speaks with fellow Australians following the dawn service ceremony

New Zealand Justice Minister Amy Adams delivers a speech during the Dawn Service ceremony at the Anzac Cove beach

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop speaks to the media following the dawn ceremony at Anzac Cove

As well as being searched, officials were seen checking people's identification as they got off buses near the memorial site.

Meanwhile, Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson told 2GB radio that he was disappointed in the low turnout.

'So few people feel it's safe enough to travel, I think is extraordinarily disappointing but that is the world we are living in,' he said earlier.

'I just don't want to live in a world where these lunatics that have hijacked the name of Islam are going to stop us from exercising the freedom and rights so many people fought and died for.

'But we have to remember, and this is part of what Anzac Day is about, we have to remember we are Australian. They're certainly not going to stop me from doing what I think we need to do.'

People wait in the open overnight, as they wait for the Dawn Service ceremony at the Anzac Cove beach in Gallipoli peninsula

Hundreds of people who travelled to Gallipoli for the annual dawn service are picture getting some rest in sleeping bags ahead of the service

People huddle up in sleeping bags before the annual dawn service marking Anzac Day in Gallipoli on April 25

A woman was up early for the commemorations on Tuesday morning after a night spent in under the stars in Gallipoli

While some people were able to get some sleep before the dawn service, others chose to stay up and see the night out

As well as being searched, officials were seen checking people's identification as they got off buses near the memorial site

HOW THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN UNFOLDED November 1, 1914 - First convoy of Australian and New Zealand troops departs for Europe from Albany, Western Australia November 5 - The United Kingdom declares war on Turkey January 13, 1915 - British War Council approves naval operation to the Dardanelles March 18 - French and British naval operation fails March 22 - Britain decides to launch land campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula April 25 - Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) land at Anzac Cove, more than 1700 casualties evacuated in first 24 hours April 26 - Australian submarine HMAS AE2 is first Allied vessel to sneak through the Dardanelles April 27-29 - Anzac troops survive Turkish attempts to drive them into the sea May 5 - Turkish shell Anzac Cove in what's known as "Beachy Bill", resulting in more than 1000 casualties May 8 - Anzac troops join British attack at Helles, losing 1000 men out of 2000. May 15 - Major General WT Bridge, commander of the Australian 1st Division is mortally wounded, later dies on May 18, 1915. May 19 - Australian legend John Simpson Kirkpatrick, famed for rescuing fallen troops with his donkey, is killed May 24 - Armistice declared for nine hours to bury dead soldiers in no man's land August 6 - The major battle of the Gallipoli campaign, the August Offensive begins and the six-day Lone Pine diversion starts August 7 - Four waves of men in Australia's 3rd Light Horse Brigade wiped out at the Battle of the Nek August 8 - New Zealand and English forces gain foothold at vital outpost Chunuk Bair August 10 - Turkish troops force Allied servicemen off Chunuk Bair August 21-29 - The Battle for Hill 60 ends with major casualties, August Offensive fails November 22 - English Secretary of State for War Horatio Kitchener recommends evacuation of Anzac Cove and Suvla November 27 - Blizzard hits Gallipoli peninsula, reinforcing the need to evacuate December 9-18 - More than 16,000 troops evacuated from Anzac Cove mostly at night December 18-20 - Remaining 20,000 Australia and New Zealand soldiers withdrawn December 20 - Evacuation of Anzac Cove and Suvla completed before dawn. (Source: AAP) Advertisement

Dr Nelson said just 700 people had registered to attend the service and other ceremonies.

When he addressed the service in 2007, there had been 10,000 people in attendance.

He ran the commemoration from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on Tuesday, but said he would have been in Gallipoli 'as a matter of principle' otherwise.

On April 6, Ms Bishop and Federal Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan issued a statement saying advice to Australian travellers had been amended following information suggesting terrorists may target Anzac Day events at Gallipoli.

The Turkish military and police have in recent years provided heavy security on the day, with soldiers armed with sub-machine guns posted in the scrub surrounding the memorial sites, helicopters patrolling overhead and checkpoints on the road leading in.

The Australian government's Smartraveller advice is for Australians to 'exercise a high degree of caution' at Gallipoli and Turkey overall, saying 'there is a high threat of terrorism'.

'Major events attract threats of varying degrees of credibility. Regrettably Anzac Day is not immune,' the ministers' statement said.

As dawn will break Tuesday, families of soldiers, leaders and visitors will gather near former battlefields, honouring thousands of Australians and New Zealanders who fought in the Gallipoli campaign

It was a long night in the cold for some Australians who made the pilgrimage to Turkey for the Anzac Day service
The Chicago aviation officer who dragged United passenger Dr David Dao off of a plane in Chicago this month claims that he was verbally and physically abusive, and that he fell and struck his mouth on an armrest.

The city's Department of Aviation released the officer's report of the incident Monday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press.

The report reveals for the first time the officer's version of what happened aboard the plane at O'Hare International Airport on April 9.

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The incident - which was videotaped by other passengers and widely shared online - became an international embarrassment for both the airlines and the city's aviation department

Long said he approached Dr. David Dao (pictured) to ask the 69-year-old physician to get off the plane. He also claimed that Dao flung himself into the armrest, and that he had to be dragged off because he would not move

The incident - which was videotaped by other passengers and widely shared online - became an international embarrassment for both the airlines and the city's aviation department.

The report also includes the name of the officer, James Long, who authorities initially declined to identify.

In the report, Long said he boarded the United Express flight after being called in response to a disturbance involving two people regarding a refusal to leave the aircraft.

United has said four passengers had been ordered off the airplane to make room for four employees to fly to Louisville, Kentucky.

Long said he approached Dr. David Dao to ask the 69-year-old physician to get off the plane.

Long said Dao refused and 'folded his arms tightly.' Long said he reached out to 'hold' Dao and was able to pull him away from his window seat on the aircraft and move toward the aisle.

'But suddenly the subject started flailing and fighting,' Long wrote.

Dao then knocked Long's hand off his arm, causing the struggling Dao to fall and strike his mouth on an arm rest on the other side of the aisle, according to the report. He claims that he then dragged Dao because due to the Doctor's refusal to stand up.

Long has said he wrote the report and gave his version of events only because he faced losing his job.

The video taken by a passenger shows lots of screaming coming from behind the seats, then Dao being dragged by his arms down the aisle of the plane as the other passengers react in horror.

In a separate report released Monday, labeled a 'Hospitalization Case Report,' the Chicago Police Department said Dao was observed striking his face against an armrest as aviation officers 'attempted to escort' him from the flight.

Neither report details Dao's injuries, but at a news conference days after the incident, Dao's attorney said the doctor suffered a broken nose and a concussion, and lost two front teeth.

Neither report details Dao's injuries, but at a news conference days after the incident, Dao's attorney said the doctor suffered a broken nose and a concussion, and lost two front teeth

Long said he was able to remove Dao from the airplane, and that once off the plane and in the walkway back to the gate, Dao said he was a diabetic, but then got up off the floor and ran back onto the aircraft

Long said he was able to remove Dao from the airplane, and that once off the plane and in the walkway back to the gate, Dao said he was a diabetic, but then got up off the floor and ran back onto the aircraft.

Long alleges Dao, while running back to the plane, said that they'd have to kill him.

He was one of three aviation officers who were subsequently placed on leave by the department.

The report jibes with comments that United CEO Oscar Munoz made in the aftermath of the incident, in which he called Dao belligerent.

Munoz later offered a more emphatic mea culpa, saying: 'No one should ever be mistreated this way.' The aviation department has also profusely apologized and vowed an investigation

United CEO Oscar Munoz (pictured in 2016) initially said that Dao was belligerent, but later offered a more empathetic mea culpa saying: 'No one should ever be mistreated this way'

Dao's attorney, Thomas Demetrio, told NBC's 'Today' show on Monday that he intended to file a lawsuit.

The aviation department also released its use of force policy, which was sent to all officers after the incident.

It says aviation security personnel should use force only when 'reasonably necessary to defend a human life, effect an arrest or control a person,' and that the force used 'shall only be that which is necessary to overcome the resistance being offered by an offender and to effect lawful objectives.'
A hair care company with mostly black clients has apologized after releasing a 'hurtful' commercial that features a majority of white women.

Shea Moisture admitted they had 'f***** up' with the advert, which shows three white women and one black woman talking about 'hair hate' while promoting sale products.

Social media was flooded with outraged black women, who felt the company was sidelining its core customer base in an effort to include white women.

Shea Moisture, a hair care companywith mostly black clients, has apologized after releasing a 'hurtful' commercial that features a majority of white women

They admitted they had 'f***** up' with the advert, which shows three white women talking about 'hair hate' while promoting sale products

The online advert centers on a message of 'break free from hair hate' and opens with a black woman talking about the struggles of growing up with naturally coily hair.

The camera then switches to a blonde woman with straight hair.

She admits there are many days when she looks in the mirror and doesn't 'know what to do' with her hair.

Another white woman with red hair complains about feeling pressured to dye her hair blonde.

Family owned business Shea Moisture, founded in Harlem in 1992, was inspired by a grandmother who sold shea butter across the Sierra Leone nearly a century ago.

The clip was shared on Monday and quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.

'Black women have supported and gave free press to Shea Moisture for YEARS. And then they have a 'hair hate' commercial with white women?' one user wrote.

Another added: 'Does shea moisture know who buys shea moisture?'

A third customer penned: 'Shea Moisture centred white women in a black woman space and that is so hurtful.'

The online commercial sparked backlash after featuring just one black woman despite its mainly black customer base

Social media was flooded with outraged black women, who felt the company was sidelining its core customer base in an effort to include white women

'Waiting for Shea Moisture to drop a video of a white girl using their black castor oil treatment,' wrote yet another user.

The company apologized on social media and pulled the advert after the backlash.

They wrote on Facebook: 'Wow, okay - so guys, listen, we really f****d this one up.

'Please know that our intention was not - and would never be - to disrespect our community, and as such, we are pulling this piece immediately because it does not represent what we intended to communicate.

'You guys know that we have always stood for inclusion in beauty and have always fought for our community and given them credit for not just building our business but for shifting the beauty landscape.'

The clip was shared on Monday and quickly became a trending topic on Twitter

The company apologized on social media and pulled the advert after the backlash

Richelieu Dennis, founder and CEO and founder of Sundial Brands which owns the company, said the firm is not attempting to 'abandon' black women for a different type of customer.

'Their sentiment - of wanting to make sure that the brand is no longer focused on them and is leaving them behind - is simply not correct and accurate,' Dennis told The Washington Post.

'We continue to stand for women of color. We continue to service them. We are not changing anything. We're overwhelmingly innovating for them.'

In the last 18 months, Sundial Brands has developed more than 30 products specific to thick, curly natural hair.

The controversial video was released as part of the broader #BreakTheWalls campaign announced earlier this month, which rails against stores that sideline its products to designated 'ethnic' sections of beauty aisles.

The company had kept its products out of shops for 16 years because of that sort of discrimination, according to a spokesperson.
First daughter Ivanka Trump is en route to Berlin, Germany for her first solo trip as an official adviser to her dad.

The Germans are immensely curious about the Trump daughter, wondering if she'll be the moderating force she portrays herself to be, or simply a 'loyal accomplice' as German newspaper Berliner Zeitung mused, nicknaming Trump 'First Flusterin' or 'the first whisperer.'

The president's eldest daughter will visit Berlin 'at the direct invitation' of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House said, as the two met in Washington in March.

And as she's set to participate in the Women's 20 Summit, Politico reported she's spent weeks preparing, diving into McKinsey & Company reports on women in the workforce, as she'll highlight the role of women in the global economy and talk about the importance of their access to capital.

Details about Ivanka Trump's trip were firmed up by the White House last week, as a release referred to her as 'First Daughter and Assistant to the President.'

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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Hours before leaving for Germany, Ivanka Trump (right) sat next to her father, President Donald Trump (left), as he talked to astronauts at the International Space Station

President Donald Trump (left) will stay state-side while his daughter Ivanka Trump (right) makes her first solo trip, to Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday as a member of his administration

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.

During Passover earlier this month, 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.

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

CNN reported Monday that anti-Semitic incidents are up 86 percent compared to the same period of time last year.

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, last week playing host at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday.

She also accompanied her husband to Walter Reed over the weekend, to award a veteran the Purple Heart.

Ivanka Trump will travel to Berlin with three staffers, according to Politico, Dina Powell, the deputy national security adviser and senior economic counselor, Hope Hicks, a communications adviser who was her father's campaign press secretary and her new chief of staff Julie Radford.
A police officer was struck in the head with a bottle while trying to break up a brawl of more than 50 people on Sydney's eastern beaches.

Three young men - aged 14, 16 and 21 - were arrested after a violent crowd surrounded police as they tried to break up a fight between two girls near Sydney's Coogee Beach just hours before the Anzac Day dawn service.

Police were called to the scene about 11pm and as they attempted to break up the scuffle between the two women, they were surrounded by a large group of teens.

A police officer was struck in the head with a bottle while trying to break up a brawl of more than 50 people on Sydney's eastern beaches

Three young men - aged 14, 16 and 21 - were arrested after a violent crowd surrounded police as they tried to break up a fight between two girls

One witness Justin Taunton tweeted he had seen 'lots of drunk teenagers earlier wondering [sic] the streets', prior to the arrests.

The Burwood councillor posted footage on Twitter of police cars surrounding the park about 12.30am on Tuesday.

Police from neighbouring commands were called for urgent assistance after one officer from Eastern Beaches Local Area Command was struck in the head by a bottle while attempting to disperse the crowd.

A man lays into a fallen combatant, repeatedly punching him as he lay defenceless

Teenagers get into it while dozens of others brawl around them on Anzac Day

It started as a fight between a few teenagers and spread into a brawl of 50 people

The crowd was eventually moved on with officers arresting three males aged 14, 16 and 21 who were taken to Maroubra Police Station.

The 14-year-old boy was charged with malicious damage and breach of bail. He was refused bail to appear at a Childrens Court on Tuesday.

The 16-year-old male was charged with resisting arrest, offensive behaviour and failing to comply with police direction.

A man repeatedly kicks and punches another while he lay on the ground

Some of the damage from the wild night on Coogee beach where drunks ran riot

The remains of a phone box smashed by unruly crowds on Coogee beach

He was refused bail and will also appear at a Childrens Court on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old man was charged with resist officer in execution of duty and assault police in execution of duty.

The man was granted conditional bail to appear at Waverley Local Court on Wednesday.

A number of cars parked in Arden Street sustained damage during the incident.

One officer from Eastern Beaches Local Area Command was struck in the head by a bottle while attempting to disperse the crowd

Police were called to the scene by Coogee Beach (pictured) about 11pm and as they attempted to break up the scuffle between the two women, they were surrounded by a large group
A violent and hot explosion took both of Sapper Curtis McGrath's legs as he prepared for a patrol in Afghanistan.

The ground rose up beneath Sapper McGrath when he was caught unaware on what he thought was safe and familiar ground ahead of a patrol in the Uruzgan province.

The army combat engineer, whose job it was to clear the day's path of explosive devices, fell victim to one himself.

Sapper McGrath, 29, had his left leg amputated below the knee, his right leg above the knee joint, and his wrist was shattered in the blast, planted by the Taliban

But somehow despite the physical wreckage and bewilderment, he experienced a bizarre moment of clarity in August 2012.

'I found myself trying to do my own first aid and instructing the men on how to administer the morphine,' he told 38,000 people gathered in temperamental rain outside the Australian War Memorial for the Anzac Day dawn service in Canberra.

Meanwhile his mates were wrestling with five tourniquets on what was left of his legs, swallowing their own tears and terror.

Sapper McGrath, 29, had his left leg amputated below the knee, his right leg above the knee joint, and his wrist was shattered in the blast, planted by the Taliban.

Sapper Curtis McGrath delivered an emotional address on Tuesday about losing both his legs in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2012

Sapper McGrath was a trained combat first-aider when the explosive device went off underneath him - he helped fellow soldiers as they treated him

It was through their efforts and those who evacuated him out and operated that he received an unforgettable 'DUSTOFF'.

The call sign stands for 'dedicated unhesitating service to our fighting forces', he explained.

Delivering the commemorative address, former Sapper McGrath - now a Paralympian gold medallist - reflected on those men and women who return home from conflict to a silent, private suffering.

'It has taken a terrible toll and for some it's far from over,' he said.

Delivering the commemorative address, former Sapper McGrath - now a Paralympian gold medallist - reflected on those men and women who return home from conflict to a silent, private suffering

Soldiers and peacekeepers learn an ethic of service to the nation and in return the country is learning an ethic of care for wounded veterans.

'May we, as a nation, continue to provide those men and women who have served us with the care they need, dedicated, unhesitating service to our fighting forces, a mighty Australian DUSTOFF,' he said.

Memorial director Brendan Nelson said Australia was free in no small way because of the service and courage of defence personnel, including people like Curtis McGrath.

'Despite the weather, 38,000 Australians paused here with ... humility, abiding reverence infused with overwhelming pride,' he later told reporters.

The former sapper said it was an honour to address the gathering.
Fifteen traffickers have been indicted for selling more than 100 protected eagles and their body parts in a cruel crime ring.

The number of the birds of prey could yet double as the case is brought against those involved in operations described as chop-shops for eagles.

Traffickers are accused of killing the birds before hacking them to pieces, throwing them into garbage bags and selling them to enthusiasts.

It is thought the sellers would receive up to $1,200 for a whole carcass and around $250 for a golden eagle head.

South Dakota US Attorney Randy Seiler discusses the details of indictments in an eagle trafficking case in Rapid City, South Dakota

Federal officials in South Dakota said Monday 15 people have been indicted after a two-year undercover operation potentially involving hundreds of birds.

US Attorney Randy Seiler said officials expect significant additional federal charges in the case, which focused on trafficking of eagles and eagle parts and feathers for profit.

Authorities said the case involves more than 100 eagles, a number that could climb as high as 250.

Seiler described one operation as basically a 'chop-shop for eagles' in which birds were stuffed into garbage bags.

He said it was clear that it was a moneymaking operation and that the feathers and eagle parts such as talons and beaks were treated as merchandise.

'There was no cultural sensitivity. There was no spirituality,' Seiler said.

'There was no tradition in the manner in which these defendants handled these birds.'

He said the investigation involved confidential informants, a multi-state area and the purchase of regalia items such as ceremonial fans.

It is thought the head of a golden eagle (pictured) would fetch up to $250 for traffickers while a whole carcass would see them pocket $1,200

A spokeswoman for the US attorney's office said in an email that there are a variety of reasons why people buy eagle parts, and a collectors market plays a role.

Dan Rolince, US Fish and Wildlife Service assistant special agent in charge of law enforcement for the region, said that some of those accused used code words to avoid detection by describing the eagle and other bird parts for sale using the names of animals or even car parts.

He said the eagles were primarily shot.

'At the end of this process, I have full confidence that it will be one of the largest cases of this nature we've ever worked,' he said.

Three Rapid City men charged in the case are involved with Buffalo Dreamers, which performs Native American dance programs.

Owner Troy Fairbanks has been charged with conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking and violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Lacey Act.

A spokeswoman for US attorney's office said in an email there are a variety of reasons why people buy the parts of an eagle (pictured), and a collectors market plays a role

Fairbanks, 54, allegedly sold or traded eagle parts to an informant including a golden eagle head for $250, a trade involving about $5,400 of legal merchandise for eagle parts and selling two sets of eagle wings for $900.

Rolince said that a whole eagle carcass would generally sell for between $1,000 and $1,200.

The indictment says Fairbanks in 2015 claimed he could acquire between 30 and 40 eagles by February 2016.

Fairbanks also said in 2015 that he had 19 people in the Los Angeles area who wanted to buy 'eagle feathers or parts' from him, according to the document.

It wasn't immediately clear if Fairbanks has an attorney, and he didn't immediately return an email.

A telephone number for Buffalo Dreamers went directly to voicemail.

According to another indictment, Juan Mesteth sold fans and eagle feathers to an informant.

The document says Mesteth in 2015 discussed having connections in Wyoming who could get whole carcass eagles and would take the informant hunting for eagles.

It wasn't immediately clear if the 39-year-old Mesteth, of Pine Ridge, had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Those accused in the case include people from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Authorities didn't immediately disclose how much the defendants are thought to have profited in the case, and Seiler said some of the 15 defendants are unconnected to each other.
A major beer company has come under fire after supporting a social media video of a man drinking a beer through the mouth of a dead deer.

Graphic footage showing the man drinks a beer from the severed head of a dead deer was posted to the Facebook page of New Zealand brewer Speight's on Friday.

Video shows the man's friends tipping a stubby of beer into the upside-down head of the deer, with the ale flowing through its throat and out of its mouth - where the man sits waiting to drink the brew, 1 News reports.

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A major New Zealand beer company has come under fire after supporting a social media video of a man drinking a beer through the mouth of a dead deer (pictured)

Forced to hold its stiff mouth open with his hands, the beer eventually begins to flow quickly through the deer, as bystanders can be heard laughing in the background.

Captioned 'first deer', the video was seemingly shot following a group hunting trip.

However not only has the footage sparked outrage among animal rights groups, but the response of beer maker Speight's to the incident has also been slammed.

In response to the video - which has since been taken down from Facebook - a social media representative for Speight's commented: 'Good on ya mate'.

Video shows the man's friends tipping beer into the upside-down head of the deer, with the ale flowing through its throat and out of its mouth - where the man sits waiting to drink the brew

Forced to backpedal in the wake of widespread anger to the video, Speight's issued a statement to New Zealand TV station 1 News.

'At Speight's, we believe that hunters should treat animals ethically and with respect,' the statement read.

'The post by one of our Speight's consumers was extremely ill-judged, and our initial response was unwise and regrettable.

'We apologise unreservedly for the comment and for any offence it has caused.'
Channel Nine reporter Simon Bouda broke down in tears on air as he described visiting his veteran grandfather's grave.

Reporting live from the Isurava memorial site in Papua New Guinea on the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda Track Campaign, Bouda told viewers of The Today Show he visited his grandfather's grave at the Bomona War Cemetery in Port Morseby on Sunday.

Bouda said his grandfather George Heads was a pilot in the RAAF, who was 33 when he crashed his plane in Milne Bay during a Second World War campaign in Papua New Guinea on June 7, 1944.

Describing the experience of visiting his grave, Bouda told Karl Stefanovic: 'Mate, it was heartbreaking.'

Bouda said his grandfather George Heads (left) was a pilot in the RAAF, who crashed his plane in Papua New Guinea on June 7, 1944

After choking up, he added through tears: 'Yeah. I'm sorry. I said I wouldn't do this.

'It's hard. It's hard. You just think about those guys. They gave so much.'

Bouda said he had gone to visit his grandfather's grave when he was given the assignment.

Bomana War Cemetery, where George Heads is buried, is the largest war cemetery in the Pacific with close to 4,000 graves, mostly Australian.

'I took the opportunity when assigned this particular job to go and visit his grave site,' Bouda said.

'I took his medals, I took the telegram that his wife, my grandmother, received to notify her that he had died.

Channel Nine reporter Simon Bouda broke down in tears on air after visiting his veteran grandfather's grave

Bouda (right) choked up as he shared his personal story with Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkison

'I guess I'm just - there's so many people like me on this track today, descendants in exactly the same boat, who lost loved ones along this track and the rest of Papua New Guinea.'

He added: 'When you think about the campaign, there was about 3,700 Australian diggers, soldiers, who died during that campaign.

'It is such a significant battle when you consider its proximity to Australia.

Millions of Australians have fallen silent as they pay tribute at Anzac Day services across the nation, including thousands at North Bondi RSL

'It was all about stopping the Japanese getting to Port Morseby. If they got to Port Morseby, it was a great staging post for further attacks on Australia.

'That is what all the Australians here were fighting for.

'They managed to hold them back otherwise I think Australia today would be a very different place, Karl.'

Stefanovic thanked Bouda for sharing his story and said that paying tribute to Australia's fallen soldiers is what Anzac Day is all about.

'You have given us a great tribute to your grandfather as well and you have paid tribute to him,' he said.

'Well done for you making the journey, my man. It's a special, special day for a lot of people, especially for you, Simon Bouda. Thank you, summing it up for a lot of people.'

Stefanovic added: 'What Simon just went through there on TV, is what Anzac Day is all about, it's a connection to the past and acknowledgement of the past and respect for giving the ultimate sacrifice.'

THE KOKODA CAMPAIGN This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign and the Battle of Milne Bay, which formed part of the New Guinea campaign in the Second World War. The Kokoda campaign is considered one of the most significant moments in Australia's war history. Australian troops played a pivotal role in PNG halting the Japanese advance, after Singapore fell and northern Australia was bombed. More than 600 Australians died and over 1,000 were wounded during the four-month Battle of Kokoda. It began after Japanese soldiers landed in Papua in July 1942 with the aim of taking Port Moresby. An estimated 625 Australians were killed on the track and more than 1600 were wounded. Casualties from sickness exceeded 4,000. Bomana is the largest war cemetery in the Pacific with close to 4,000 graves, mostly Australian. Advertisement

A girl is seen looking at the roll of honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra

The stone of remembrance in front of the Australian War Memorial during Anzac Day dawn service in Canberra

The dawn service on Currumbin Beach, Gold Coast, was attended by thousands as Anzac Day commemorations got underway




A key figure behind Labours election manifesto is a hardline socialist previously suspended from the party for urging voters to back anarchist group Class War instead.

Andrew Fisher, 36, claimed that was a misunderstood joke.

But he has more trouble disassociating himself from his recent calls for Trident to be scrapped, for MI5 to be disbanded, for police to be stripped of weapons, and for 50 per cent tax on pay over 60,000 a year.

Andrew Fisher is now a key figure behind Labours election manifesto, but was once suspended from the party

The policy chief for Jeremy Corbyn has also spoken out against using drone strikes to kill terrorists.

He described Tony Blair as a scumbag for hire to scumbags, former home secretary Jack Straw as a vile git, the partys previous shadow Cabinet as the most abject collection of absolute s****, and celebrated the downfall of former shadow chancellor Ed Balls.

Mr Fisher, who has worked as an activist and campaigner since leaving education, was never shy with his radical views during his long-term association with Marxists and communists, which led to him writing a series of columns in the Communist Partys Morning Star newspaper.

Now he has been named as the central man in the production of the manifesto which Labour optimists hope can sweep Mr Corbyn to victory  in spite of all opinion polls suggesting the party leader is seen as an ineffectual socialist with pie-in-the-sky ideals.

The political background of adviser Mr Fisher, who is on a salary of at least 56,000, suggests he is unlikely to produce a manifesto that will appeal to the centre ground. Originally from Worthing, West Sussex, the father of one lives with his partner in Croydon, south London.

'Abolish the monarchy and scrap Trident' Signed Socialist Campaign For A Labour Victorys demands in April 2015, including plans to create federal republic of Britain, abolish the monarchy and House of Lords disband MI5, disarm the police In a 2014 book on the financial crash, said Government must stop being obsessed with economic growth and nationalise banks. Asked why three-day week should not be the norm When he was a key figure of Labour Representation Committee in 2013 it wanted to scrap Trident, divert defence spending into public services and international aid and withdraw from joint military projects In May 2016, used position in Corbyn office to remove a reference to tackling Russian aggression from a briefing for Labour MPs on benefits of EU, saying: We want a positive line. Advertisement

He worked as a parliamentary researcher for six years, becoming close to John McDonnell, the avowedly socialist future shadow chancellor, and in 2006 co-founded the Marx-influenced Left Economics Advisory Panel.

Mr Fisher has also worked as a political officer for the Public and Commercial Services union, was a leading fig-ure on the Labour Representation Committee, and two years ago was a signatory to the radical demands of the ill-fated Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory.

Thanks to his Morning Star columns, a book he has written about the financial crash from a socialist perspective, and a series of tweets he sent, before later deleting, his far-Left views became well known to Labour activists.

Mr Fisher described Tony Blair as a scumbag for hire to scumbags and former home secretary Jack Straw as a vile git'

Eyebrows were raised when Mr Corbyn appointed him as an adviser in October 2015.

Within weeks he was suspended for a tweet during that years General Election in which he seemed to call on Labour supporters in Croydon to vote not for the partys Emily Benn, granddaughter of Tony Benn, but for Class Wars Jon Bigger.

The seat was won by the Tories. Mr Fisher was later returned to his role at the heart of Corbyns Labour, insisting the tweet was a satirical joke. He said he did not support Class War in any way, let alone in an election.

Last night Tory MP James Cleverly said: All you need to know about the man writing Labours manifesto is that he wants to make our country less safe.
Labour will today pledge to tear up Theresa Mays reckless Brexit strategy and rule out leaving the EU without a deal.

Sir Keir Starmer will say his priority will be to retain the benefits of the single market and the customs union  opening the way to continued immigration.

In a major speech, Labours Brexit spokesman will promise to scrap the white paper that the Prime Minister unveiled in February, replacing it with a weaker set of negotiating priorities.

He will rule out walking away without a deal  potentially handing all the negotiating power to Brussels.

Sir Keir Starmer will say in a major speech tomorrow that his priority will be to retain the benefits of the single market and the customs union  opening the way to continued immigration

Sir Keir will promise to retain hundreds of EU directives even after we leave the bloc, saying they are essential to preserve workers rights and the environment.

And he will say that on day one, a Labour government would unilaterally guarantee existing rights for all EU nationals in Britain  before Brussels does the same for UK nationals on the continent.

Tory MPs said Labour was rejecting its own voters and seeking to overturn the referendum result.

The soft Brexit position will be seen as an attempt to win pro-Remain voters from the Liberal Democrats.

There is no mention in the speech extracts of free movement, raising the prospect that Labour would submit to high immigration levels in return for single market access.

Speaking yesterday in Scotland, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Conservatives of trying to use Brexit to turn Britain into a low-wage tax haven run in the interests of the powerful.

He insisted: Labour will negotiate a Brexit that will build on the gains won for workers, consumers and the environment in the European Union. We will put jobs, living standards and human rights first.

In his speech, Sir Keir will say he would negotiate with Brussels to avoid a cliff-edge for the economy and would not accept no deal as a viable option.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused the Conservatives of trying to use Brexit to turn Britain into a low-wage tax haven run in the interests of the powerful

A Labour government will set out a new Brexit strategy, he will say. We will scrap the Governments Brexit white paper and replace it with fresh negotiating priorities that reflect Labour values and our six tests.

The white paper will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the single market and the customs union as Labour know that is vital to protecting jobs.

Sir Keir will commit Labour to negotiating for the many, not the few.

Where Theresa May wants to shut down scrutiny and challenge, Labour will welcome it, he will say. We will work with parliament, not against it.

Because on an issue of this importance the Government cant hide from the public or parliament. A Labour approach to Brexit means legislating to guarantee that parliament has a truly meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal.

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said: Labour are not the party of business, so it is not surprising they do not know that without a walk-away position you will never get a deal done.

Fellow Tory Philip Davies said: Labour clearly has no idea about how to negotiate.
Burkas hide a persons face and make it hard to gauge their intentions, said Ukip yesterday.

That being the case, Ukip leader Paul Nuttall should possibly have worn one to help him dodge a howling Press pack which chased him down a London hotel corridor, yelping questions about whether or not he would contest a seat in the General Election.

The policies presented by Ukip yesterday were bracingly serious. They were part of an integration agenda to combat Islamist ideology. This included a ban on burkas and other veils, a ban on Sharia law and a moratorium on new Islamic schools.

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The policies presented by Ukip yesterday, in the Marriott Hotels wood-panelled Herbert Morrison room, bracingly serious. Above is the leader of Ukip, Paul Nuttall

The Kippers also wanted the introduction of medical checks to make sure high-risk girls are not subjected to genital mutilation (a horrible practice followed in certain parts of Africa).

It is rare to hear such forthright ideas raised in an election campaign. Some in the media crowd reacted sharply. At the end of the event an otherwise placid journalist next to me swore. He can hardly have been shocked by the proposal to make officials print documents only in English, or to crack down on postal-voting fraud. Perhaps it was simply an old Pavlovian habit of baulking at any politician who criticises multiculturalism.

A man from Sky News wanted to know if the policies were a desperate response to the threat Ukip faces from the Conservatives.

Some people in the media crowd reacted sharply to the policies, including the introduction of medical checks to make sure high-risk girls are not subjected to genital mutilation

A reporter from the Daily Telegraph  where else?  was concerned about beekeepers. Would their face-nets survive Ukip rules? A woman from one of the la-di-dah broadsheets was worried about the effect Ukips ban might have on white-wedding veils. An earnest lad from LBC radio fretted about Roman Catholic nuns and their headgear. Would they be kippered?

Margot Parker, Ukips women and equalities spokesman (yes, they have one), explained that nuns do not hide their faces and would therefore be unaffected. The good news for apiarists was that they, too, would not be stung. You could sense the Ukip team thinking, Oh, for heavens sake, grow up as they listened to these journalists questions.

The mid-morning event was held in the Marriott Hotels wood-panelled Herbert Morrison room, named after Peter Mandelsons grandfather.

Once again Ukip is leading the debate and we are ten years ahead of our time, claimed Mr Nuttall. Something has to be done, he said, to accelerate the integration of Islamic people into British society. Some European countries were far tougher on extreme Islamic culture.

Ukips education spokesman, David Kurten, mentioned places such as Luton, Rotherham and east London where there is little or no integration.

The Ukip Deputy Leader, Peter Whittle (left), Mr Nuttall (second left), Women and Equalities Spokesman, Margot Parker (second right) and Education Spokesman, David Kurten (right) all spoke at the event

Islamism is a poisonous strain of ideology, said Mr Kurten, who, irritatingly for liberals, is black, and therefore harder to smear as a racist. He quoted extreme Islamic teachings about the evils of the West. Britain needed strong action, not political correctness to fight such people, said the sturdy Kurten.

Mrs Parker (a sometime lingerie saleswoman) spoke in a civilised, restrained manner, not only arguing against burkas and genital mutilation from the feminist angle but also pointing out that modern Western culture had plenty wrong with its coarse lad culture and its celebrity magazines that sometimes promote women as sex objects.

It is important to bolster the views of liberal Muslims, she said. Ukip was a positive and progressive force in society.

The Lefties in the audience were by now doing a fair amount of twitching and fist-gnawing. They had come to laugh at Ukip, not to hear it promote feminism and liberalism. Not fair, ref! Mr Nuttall remained well out of the picture, staying in his seat while deputy leader Peter Whittle batted away racism accusations and said these issues are of existential importance to Britain. As far as Ukips electoral survival goes, Mr Whittle attacked the money-is-everything Tories and the Britain haters in Labour.

Not much time was permitted for questions. As the meeting broke up, Mr Nuttall strode off down the corridor, pursued by scribes waving notebooks like impis with spears.
Children should not be given tablets or smartphones to play with until the age of two, a leading psychologist has warned.

And then they should have their daily screen time limited to an hour a day until they are at least five.

Dr Aric Sigman, a psychologist and lecturer in child health education, warned that staring at gadgets early in childhood can lead to screen dependency disorders  an addiction to electronic devices that may last a lifetime.

Writing in the Journal of the International Child Neurology Association, he cited evidence showing that high exposure to computers very early in life alters the structure of the brain.

Children under the age of two are developing a screen dependency disorders as they are staring too much at their gadgets. Dr Aric Sigman said it could lead to a lifetime addiction

Although for most children this is harmless, for those who are genetically predisposed to developing dependent habits it can create patterns that will stay with them for the rest of their life.

Scientists are not sure how many people are at risk, but Dr Sigman said parents and doctors should follow a principle of precaution and limit exposure.

People with screen dependency disorders become preoccupied, withdrawn, lie about how much time they spend on devices and even display withdrawal symptoms if they are unable to use them, he said.

Most children will look at screens and will not become addicted, like most people who have a drink wont become alcoholic, Dr Sigman said last night. But for those who are genetically predisposed, early and high exposure over a number of years can set them up for dependency.

Dr Sigman said screen dependency is becoming a rapidly emerging neurological public health issue  but claimed it is unfashionable to talk about because people do not want to admit the dangers.

A milestone report published by Ofcom in November reported that average British three and four-year-olds use gadgets like tablet computers two hours a day  on top of watching television for another two hours. Older children aged five to 15 spend four hours using similar devices, and also watch TV for two hours.

Damage caused by the screens could last into their 20s. Average British three and four-year-olds use gadgets like tablet computers two hours a day, as well as watching TV for two hours (file photo)

Dr Sigman, who has taught NHS doctors and medical students, said: We are setting up a generation in which a high number of people will have a problem. He said babies and toddlers are most at risk, but the chance of damage lasts into the late teens and even early 20s.

His review cites a 2016 study of 248 children aged five to 17, whose brains were repeatedly scanned over three years, which found significant changes to brain tissue density among children who played video games for long periods.

Dr Sigman said: People are unaware of this huge body of evidence about this  screen behaviour is not a social issue, it is not a cultural issue, it is a medical issue.

He advised parents to follow the guidance set by the Australian government which says those below the age of two should not be exposed to screens at all.

Britain does not have guidelines on the issue, although Dame Sally Davies, Englands chief medical officer, urged parents to set their own age-specific maximum times to reduce potential damage.

Dr Ben Carter, a scientist at Kings College London, advises everyone put their phones down an hour and a half before bedtime. He found that children and teenagers who use an electronic device within 90 minutes of going to bed are twice as likely to get insufficient sleep, and nearly three times as likely to feel tired during the following day.
Comic Relief has escaped an Ofcom investigation despite receiving 345 complaints over the course of its controversial telethon last month.

The BBC One charity programme came under fire after it outraged viewers with content deemed inappropriate before the 9pm watershed.

This included a large fake penis being flashed by comedians Reeves and Mortimer and several instances of swearing by the likes of Russell Brand.

Comic Relief has escaped an Ofcom investigation despite receiving 345 complaints over content deemed inappropriate before 9pm, including swearing from the likes of Russell Brand

There were also complaints about violence and religious belief discrimination featuring in the show.

But Ofcom said it decided not to pursue the barrage of complaints about the 24 March programme because it felt they did not raise issues warranting investigation.

The majority of complaints centred around one of the programmes comedy sketches which featured double act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer in roles as their characters The Stotts.

In the clip, which received 117 complaints, Reeves and Mortimer flashed a fake penis while interviewing ITVs Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid.

They then asked 46-year-old presenter crass questions such as whether she had seen Kong and continued with a string of innuendos which included saying: its quite long its quite hairy at the beginning.

After the programme, Miss Reid Tweeted: Well. That was an experience  accompanied by an angry face.

The provocative sketch was also heavily criticised on social media with one viewer writing: So Reeves and Mortimer exposing a fake penis to Susanna Reid, talking weird and making her uncomfortable is supposed to be funny?

Reeves and Mortimer also flashed a fake penis during the show while interviewing ITVs Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid

Commenting on their decision not to investigate the show, Ofcom said: We carefully considered a number of complaints about some scenes in Comic Relief. We recognise that some of the comedy sketches were not to everyones taste, but found they were inexplicit and consistent with the live, unpredictable format of this established charity programme.

The programme, which raised a total of 73million for charity and had an average of 6.2million viewers, also received 49 complaints for showing pictures of a child suffering with malaria.

But Ofcom said that while the they accepted the images were potentially distressing they felt they were suitably limited and likely to have been within most viewers expectations of a fundraising programme.

In terms of offensive language, Russell Brand received five complaints after he was heard shouting f****** hell during the live broadcast and 10 other viewers complained about swearing during a Mrs Browns Boys sketch starring Brendan OCarroll and former JLS star Aston Merrygold.

Last year, the media watchdog decided not to investigate when Britains Got Talent viewers complained about the revealing outfits worn by judges Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon. Their skimpy semi-final attire prompted 19 complaints, but Ofcom said they decided not to investigate because: The dresses worn by the judges did not raise issues under our rules on nudity, and the judges were not portrayed in a sexualised way.
A woman's body has been pulled from a backyard pool in Sydney's north.

New South Wales police arrived to find the 41-year-old woman unresponsive in the backyard pool about 7.15am on Tuesday.

Emergency services were called to the home on Yallambee Road, about 38km north of the city's centre, following reports of concern for the woman's welfare.

Police officers arrived within three minutes to find the woman lifeless in the bakyard pool

Police arrived to find the woman unresponsive in a backyard pool in Berowra, in Sydney's north on Tuesday morning

Police officers arrived within three minutes to find the woman lifeless in the pool.

Officers performed CPR until NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived and took over, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

NSW police told Daily Mail Australia they were investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.

They said it was still too early to know how the woman died.

Emergency services were called to the home on Yallambee Road, about 38km north of the city's centre, following reports of concern for the woman's welfare

Emergency services were called to the Berowra home on Tuesday following reports of concern for the woman's welfare

Pictured: The home where the woman's lifeless body was found in a backyard pool
The attorney representing the doctor who was dragged off an 'overbooked' United Airlines flight has announced he's taken on an American Airlines customer's case.

Thomas Demetrio will now represent a woman from Argentina who was allegedly hit with a stroller by an American Airlines flight attendant on Friday, he announced Monday on CNBC's Squawk Box.

The woman was traveling from San Francisco to Dallas-Fort Worth with her two young children when the situation escalated, was caught on video, and later went viral.

The video of the school teacher's encounter with a male flight attendant started just after the man supposedly took her stroller from her in an aggressive manner.

The footage shows the woman crying hysterically and asking for her stroller back, as the captain of the flight and people other American Airlines employees appear to be visibly troubled by whatever just transpired.

Several other passengers boarded the flight while the woman was overcome with tears and offered words of support to the woman.

'That's not OK,' one woman said.

Thomas Demetrio will now represent a woman from Argentina who was allegedly hit with a stroller by an American Airlines flight attendant on Friday; Demetrio represents Dr. David Dao, the doctor who was dragged violently by Chicago cops from a United flight on April 9; the Argentinian woman is show here in a video taken immediately after her encounter

'Her tale is compelling. The video is a microcosm of what's wrong with the airline industry today,' Demetrio said on CNBC's Squawk Box.

'In that video you capture a haggard mother with a backpack, a stroller, two children - 16 months old - twins. You've got an out of control flight attendant. You've got a passenger who wants to protect this woman and protect, presumably, everybody on that plane from this guy.'

At one point in the video a man got up from his seat and demanded to know the name of the flight attendant that upset the woman.

At one point in the video a man got up from his seat and demanded to know the name of the flight attendant that upset the woman

'I'm not gonna sit here and watch this,' he said. 'What's the guy's name that did that with the stroller? Is he an American Airlines employee? I want to know his name, personally. This is ridiculous.'

He then sat back down, but stood up where he sat when the male flight attendant who apparently had the interaction with the Argentinian woman came aboard the plane to talk to the captain.

'Hey bud, you do that to me and I'll knock you flat,' the passenger told the flight attendant from his seat.

'You stay out of this,' the flight attendant said to the man, lunging toward him with arm outstretched and finger pointed. 'You don't know what the story is.'

He then sat back down, but stood up where he sat when the male flight attendant who apparently had the interaction with the Argentinian woman came aboard the plane

The male passenger got out of his seat and two exchanged heated words in the aisle; 'Hit me. C'mon, hit me,' the flight attendant said to the man, as they stood face to face

The male passenger then got out of his seat and two exchanged heated words in the aisle.

'Hit me. C'mon, hit me,' the flight attendant said to the man, as they stood face to face.

I can see exactly what you did. Maybe you'll get videotaped too and be all over the news,' the passenger said.

Demetrio went on to describe his take on the video.

'You've got a captain who we can see in this video, who's very concerned and he's pacing and he's dealing with the passenger, he's dealing with the flight attendant, and at this point on the flight we want a captain who's up in the cockpit doing what he's supposed to be doing, to have a safe and secure flight for all the passengers. And then in the background, finally, you've got other passengers who are upset,' he said.

That's where Demetrio draws the parallel to his other case, involving Dr. David Dao who was dragged from a United Airlines flight and suffered injuries in early April.

'[It's] the same in Dr. Dao's video. You've got other passengers who are upset. We don't need any more stress in our daily flying lives. These airlines, I think, have to work on customer negotiations. They have to treat their passengers with respect, with dignity, with fairness, and not the conduct that we saw from this flight attendant. So that's why I got involved with this case, because it's compelling and it sums up the entire problem,' Demetrio said.

The American Airlines flight attendant who is the subject of this video has been suspended at this time while the airline looks into his actions, according to CNBC.

Demetrio said there has not been a settlement discussed between United Airlines and his other client, Dr. Dao, who was dragged off a Chicago-to-Louisville United Express flight on April 9, leaving him with a broken nose and a concussion.
Adverts that address individual viewers by name are set to be broadcast by Channel 4.

Users signed up to the channels All 4 catch-up service will soon see and hear adverts that talk to them directly. For example, a planned commercial for Fosters Lager will say: [Name], this ones for you.

The adverts will be broadcast to the services 15million users watching on laptops, iPads and smart TVs.

Channel 4 is set to launch the world's first audio personalised ads. The adverts will talk to viewers, who have signed up to use All 4, directly during commercial breaks

Businesses have expressed concerns that viewers skip through commercial breaks, and are now turning to technology to communicate with audiences.

David Amodio, digital creative leader at Channel 4, said: The most attention-grabbing word for anyone to hear is without doubt ones own name.

So to be able to offer advertisers the chance to speak directly to our millions of viewers is not just unique, but an immensely powerful marketing tool.

US firms have already experimented with technology that tailors adverts to individual homes.

So-called addressable ads use data gathered from voting histories and demographics to identify their target audience.
The heckler who disrupted the minute's silence at Sydney's Anzac Day dawn service is a self-styled 'revolutionary' DJ who thinks cannabis cures cancer.

'Smokin'' Joe Mekhael, 32, was arrested in Martin Place shortly after 5.20am after allegedly shouting anti-war slogans as 20,000 people paid their respects to Australia's fallen soldiers.

'The courageous will never be silent as long as these wars continue,' he shouted.

'Senseless violence. Stop the wars. Bring peace to the world.'

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'Smokin'' Joe Mekhael, 32, was arrested in Martin Place shortly after 5.20am after allegedly shouting anti-war slogans as 20,000 people paid their respects to Australia's fallen soldiers/ This photo was uploaded to his Facebook page later on Tuesday morning

A message was uplaoded on Mekhael's Facebook following his release on Tuesday morning

Mekhael, who calls himself a 'revolutionary warrior', posted a picture of himself giving a thumbs up after he was released from Surry Hills Police Station.

He wrote on Facebook: 'I just got out of jail after disrupting the celebration of war that is Anzac Day and being assaulted by some of Sydney's weakest pencil-necked police puppets!

'We must have the courage to stand up against those who are enslaving the human race!

'We know we shall win! We are confident in the victory of good over evil!

'We will beat the illuminati! We will break the new world order! We will #bringdownthegovernment! And we will save the world!'

Mekhael, who was at the George Street end of Martin Place, was arrested by officers at the scene.

He has been charged with behaving in an offensive manner and resisting an officer in the execution of duty. He has been bailed ahead of a court appearance on May 18.

RSL NSW president John Haines told the Daily Telegraph that the dawn service was the 'wrong time and the wrong place' for a political protest.

'He should have recognised that,' Mr Haines added.

A heckler has been arrested after interrupting the minute's silence during the Anzac Day dawn service (pictured) in Sydney's Martin Place by shouting anti-war slogans

The demonstrator (not pictured), 32, allegedly started shouting shortly after the 20,000 gathered people fell silent in a mark of respect to servicemen and women killed in service

Commander of the Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, gave the Anzac address in Martin Place.

He noted that Australia has lost 102,825 men in war since 1861.

'This morning we don't boast about triumphs or victories,' he said.

'We remember the sacrifice of those who were prepared to stand up for someone else, for people that believed that there was something bigger, more important than just their own interests and were prepared to put others ahead of themselves and put their lives at risk of because of those beliefs.'

He said the dawn service ceremony was a commitment to always remember those who gave their lives in war.

'It is a promise that adds to the dignity of our nation and that the nation's people would annually recommit to the promise to remember those who have stood in harm's way.'
Passengers flying to the US from British airports face being banned from taking laptops and iPads in their hand luggage.

President Trumps administration is considering extending its ban on large electronic devices being carried in aircraft cabins to flights from Europe, The Times reported.

Last month both the US and British governments barred passengers from bringing large electronic devices on board incoming flights from six Middle Eastern countries.

President Trumps administration is considering extending its ban on large electronic devices being carried in aircraft cabins to flights from Europe

The ban, which followed concerns terrorists had perfected a new type of airline bomb, means travellers have to stow gadgets larger than a mobile phone  including laptops, tablets and kindles - in the hold.

British security chiefs have now been warned that the US is planning to extend these security restrictions to incoming flights from some parts of Europe and have been put on alert that Britain could be one of those affected.

The newspaper reported that the move could be implemented within weeks but that no final decision had yet been taken as to whether Britain would be included in the ban.

One Whitehall source is reported as saying: As with everything from Trumps America, there are conflicting reports about where, when and what.

Last month both the US and British governments barred passengers from bringing large electronic devices on board incoming flights from six Middle Eastern countries. Above, the airports and countries targeted by the new American and British policies

A US official confirmed to The Times that Britain was on the list of countries being examined for extended security restrictions.

A UK government spokesman said: The safety and security of the travelling public is our highest priority. We keep aviation security under constant review.

The US Department of Homeland Security said: We will continue to evaluate the threat environment and make determinations based on that assessment but we have not made any decisions on expanding the current restrictions against large electronic devices in aircraft cabins from selected airports.
The Chinese have earned a reputation for producing cheap copies of well-known and upmarket products from iPhones to Bentleys.

Now, the nation is developing its own full bodied reds in a move that will send a shiver down the spine of the French.

Tesco is to start selling red wine from China, which is actually second only to Spain in terms of the area of land covered by its vineyards.

Tesco has begun selling Chinese wine - in particular, the Chateau Changyu Moser XV Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 (left). Sainsburys has been selling Changyu Noble Dragon (right)

The first oriental wine to reach Tescos British supermarkets is Chateau Changyu Moser XV Cabernet Sauvignon 2015.

And this is no cheap copy, for the wine, which sells for 7 a bottle, is described as a smooth, full-bodied wine that is cross between a classic French bordeaux and a fruity Australian wine.

Sainsburys has also been selling Changyu Noble Dragon, which is described as a fruity and floral red for 8, and plans to add more, including a German-style reisling.

The idea of importing wine from China may appear a little hard to swallow, however 30 years ago it would have been odd to buy wine from South America.

Changyu, the Chinese company behind the wine sold in Tesco, is deadly serious about putting wine from the Far East on tables across the world.

Tescos master of wine James Davis forecast China would soon be a powerful player in the wine world and said this launch could represent its first major push in the UK

The Chinese have not entered the international wine market without any knowledge or expertise. In fact, Changyu has been producing wine since 1892.

The company has embarked of a massive expansion plan which has involved spending more than 700million on a vast wine city with its own picture postcard re-creations of French chateaux, which were built with the help of designers from Disney.

The Chateau Changyu Moser XV estate claims to be one of the worlds biggest wine producers as home to 100 winemakers who make 150 million bottles a year.

The wine sold by Tesco is produced in the region of Ningxia in northern China, which has a warm and dry climate and boasts an average of 3,000 hours of sunshine hours a year  800 hours more than Bordeaux.

Tescos master of wine James Davis forecast China would soon be a powerful player in the wine world and said this launch could represent its first major push in the UK.

China is one of the worlds biggest consumers of wine, drinking almost two billion bottles of red wine each year. And now they are one of the largest wineproducing countries in the world, ahead of the more traditional regions of Chile and New Zealand, he told The Grocer.

The Chinese have not entered the international wine market without any knowledge or expertise. In fact, Changyu has been producing wine since 1892

At a great introductory offer of 7, this wine offers customers an opportunity to discover a unique but quality wine at an affordable price.

This Chinese wine is very foodfriendly and works well with a variety of dishes  they are also a great talking point at the dinner table. .

At the companys Wine City, tourists will soon be able to dine in the two gothic chateaux and will be able to inspect a production line with a daily capacity of 2.1m bottles.

At the same time as boosting wine production in China, its wine companies are spending millions buying up vineyards around the world.

Changyu is in the process of purchasing vineyards in Australia and Chile. Chinas third-biggest winemaker, Weilong, purchased three vineyards in Australia last year.
French presidential favourite Emmanuel Macron has been dubbed the countrys answer to John F Kennedy by a leading European politician.

Polls predict Mr Macron will breeze into the top position, securing up to 64 per cent of the vote compared to Marine Le Pens 36 per cent.

And current president Francois Hollande has also urged the public to vote for the 39-year-old centrist candidate.

French presidential favourite Emmanuel Macron has been dubbed the countrys answer to John F Kennedy by a leading European politician

Mr Macron (left) received plaudits in Germany where the vice president of the European Parliament likened him to American Democrat President Kennedy (right)

Mr Macron received plaudits in Germany where the vice president of the European Parliament likened him to American Democrat President Kennedy. Alexander Lambsdorff said Sundays result was a victory for two protest candidates. He described Miss Le Pen as a racist and a very unpleasant person.

Showering praise on Mr Macron, he added: This independent, fresh French John F Kennedy, if you like, succeeds in setting policy with his ideas.

Far-Right National Front leader Miss Le Pen, 48, was quick to take a swipe at her rival telling reporters he had no programme on counter-terrorism issues.

She called him weak in a desperate bid to gain ground as polls predicted that the man regarded as presidential favourite would win a 28 per cent lead in the election.

Polls predict that Mr Macron will breeze into the top position, securing up to 64 per cent of the vote compared to Miss Le Pens 36 per cent.

The topic is one of the most important issues weighing on voters minds as the country goes to the polls again only weeks after a radicalist gunned down a policeman on the Champs Elysees.

HOW MAN WHO CALLED BREXIT CRIME COULD SCUPPER DEAL A positive Brexit trade deal for Britain could be scuppered by Emmanuel Macrons likely victory in the French presidential elections, it was feared last night. The independent centrist, who topped Sundays poll, has called the UKs decision to leave the EU a crime and previously said he would ensure Britain was given no undue advantages in deals. Mr Macron said: Brexit cannot lead to a kind of optimisation of Britains relationship with the rest of Europe. An exit is an exit. He has also pledged to lure business and banking talent away from the UK after Brexit. French MP Herve Mariton said yesterday he believed Mr Macrons election will actually make Brexit a little more difficult for Britain. But Mr Macrons spokesman, Benjamin Griveaux, said the presidential hopeful would not punish Britain. Senior Brussels figures yesterday queued up to offer support to the pro-EU candidate, drawing accusations of political meddling. Advertisement

Repeating her campaign mantra, Miss Le Pen, who has said she will put Frexit on the table if elected, told locals in the farmers market town of Rouvroy, in the Pas-de-Calais, that she wanted to put France back in order.

The Front National (FN) leader told the media: I'm on the ground to meet the French people to draw their attention to important subjects, including Islamist terrorism  an issue Mr Macron is weak on to say the least.

Mr Macron has no project to protect the French people in the face of Islamist dangers, she added.

The comments come despite Mr Macrons pledge to put 10,000 more police officers on Frances streets as well as making 15,000 new prison places.

Miss Le Pens aides were also quick to make a dig at arrogant Mr Macron. Deputy FN leader Florian Philippot told BFMTV that Mr Macron had indulged in a bling bling party  after securing 24 per cent of the vote on Sunday night compared to Miss Le Pens 21.3 per cent.

Mr Philippot told the French broadcaster: Emmanuel is not a patriot. He sold off national companies. He criticised French culture.

He added: Yesterday he (Macron) was Sarkozys doubleHe did this the night of a first round, as if he had already won, as if the vote of the French people had no importance, as if, in any event it was writing on the wall. I find that arrogant, I find that contemptuous.

It came as socialist Mr Hollande, who will leave the Elysee Palace after five years at the helm, slammed the Front National candidate.

Speaking yesterday, he said a Le Pen win would devastate the countrys economy and threaten national liberty. He added it would deeply divide France at a time when solidarity and cohesion was crucial.

Far-Right National Front leader Miss Le Pen, 48, was quick to take a swipe at her rival telling reporters he had no programme on counter-terrorism issues

He said: The presence of the extreme right in the second round is a risk for the country. What is at stake is France's make-up, its unity, its membership of Europe and its place in the world.

Faced with such a risk, mobilisation and clarity of choice is mustFor my part, I will be voting for Emmanuel Macron, he added.

SHARES SOAR AS EX-BANKER FORECAST TO BEAT EXTREMIST European markets posted record highs as banks rallied after Emmanuel Macron beat Marine Le Pen in the first round of the French presidential vote. With markets now expecting former investment banker Macron to beat Le Pen in the final round of voting, Frances banking stocks hit a nine-year high. This pushed the countrys CAC 40 index up 4.1 per cent to its best day since last July, while Germanys Dax hit a new record high, jumping 3.4 per cent. In the UK, the FTSE 100 shot up 2.1 per cent, its biggest one day jump in seven months. Michelle McGrade, chief investment officer at TD Direct Investing, said: The markets and banks rallied on the promise that normality might be restored with a Macron win. Having been out of favour in recent times, banking stocks are big beneficiaries of normal circumstances. The price of gold, typically used as a safe investment in times of political uncertainty, plummeted. Advertisement

Mr Macron was President Hollandes top adviser on economic issues between 2012 to 2014 before going on to take the role as economy minister until creating his own party En Marche! in 2016.

Rallying calls across Frances Muslim and Jewish communities were also made for Miss Le Pen to be kept out of the top job.

Dalil Boubakeur, rector of Paris Grand Mosque, urged the countrys nearly five million Muslims to take to the ballot boxes to ensure Mr Macron becomes leader.

Mr Boubakeur said that May 7 was a decisive date for the destiny of France and its religious minorities and called on his followers to vote massively for Mr Macron.

He also warned of the threat embodied by xenophobic ideas, dangerous to our cohesion

The president of the European Jewish Congress meanwhile described Le Pen as dangerous adding that it was extremely regrettable that more than one in five French voters had chosen her.

The comments urging unity came after protestors took to the streets on Sunday night after Miss Le Pen came out second in the first round of the elections.

Scores of riot police charged through the Place de la Republique in central Paris brandishing shields and shooting tear gas after rioters threw flares, bottles and scribbled F*** the FN on the statue in the citys symbolic square. In other parts of Paris, protestors burned cars and lit fires in the citys streets.

As a result of the protests, six officers and three demonstrators were left injured with 29 people still in custody following the unrest while 143 had originally been taken in for questioning by police.
A nuclear-powered US submarine arrived in a South Korean port on Tuesday in a show of force amid concerns that North Korea may attempt another missile launch or nuclear test on Tuesday.

The port call in Busan by the USS Michigan came as an American aircraft carrier strike group continued steaming towards Korean waters.

And as tensions in the area continued to rise, the top nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan, and the US met in Tokyo to discuss North Korea's refusal to give up its nuclear program.

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The USS Michigan arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Monday as a show of strength in the area as tensions rose about a possible nuclear test by North Korea

The submarine - which carries up to 154 non-nuclear Tomahawk missiles - was sent the day before the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the North's Korean People's Army

Donald Trump has warned that the US will strike back if North Korea challenges them, but there are concerns that Kim Jong Un will try to make a statement on the anniversary

On Monday, US President Donald Trump called for tougher new UN sanctions on Pyongyang, saying the North was a global threat and 'a problem that we have to finally solve'.

The USS Michigan's armament comprises four torpedo tubes and 154 BGM-109 Tomahawks. It was modified to remove its nuclear armaments in the mid-2000s.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshide Suga, told a media briefing that China's nuclear envoy, Wu Dawei, would also hold talks with Japanese Foreign Ministry officials on Tuesday.

A ministry source said Wu was likely to meet his Japanese nuclear counterpart on Wednesday.

Matching the flurry of activity in North Asia, the State Department in Washington said on Monday US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would chair a special ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea on Friday.

Tillerson, along with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford, would also hold a rare briefing for the entire US Senate on North Korea on Wednesday, Senate aides said.

'The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable,' Trump told a meeting with the 15 UN Security Council ambassadors, including China and Russia, at the White House.

'The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs.'

South Korean and US officials have feared for some time that a sixth North Korean nuclear test could be imminent.

Speculation has grown that such a test, or another long-range missile launch, could coincide with the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the North's Korean People's Army on Tuesday.

North Korea's refusal to end its nuclear weapons program has caused massive concern. On Tuesday representatives of the US, Japan and South Korea will meet in Tokyo to discuss NK

The arrival of the Michigan further ratchets up tensions. Trump is calling a meeting of the entire Senate at the White House to discuss the North Korea threat on Wednesday

The official China Daily said on Tuesday it was time for Pyongyang and Washington to take a step back from harsh rhetoric and heed the voices of reason calling for a peaceful resolution.

'Judging from their recent words and deeds, policymakers in Pyongyang have seriously misread the UN sanctions, which are aimed at its nuclear/missile provocations, not its system or leadership,' the newspaper said in an editorial.

'They are at once perilously overestimating their own strength and underestimating the hazards they are brewing for themselves,' it said.

In a phone conversation with Trump on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all sides to exercise restraint.

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga (pictured) has said that Japan will also meet with China, which is a reluctant ally of North Korea

Two Japanese destroyers conducted exercises on Monday with the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group that is headed for waters off the Korean peninsula, sent by Trump as a warning to the North.

The South Korean military is also planning to conduct joint drills with the carrier group.

As those drills continued, the USS Michigan arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday, the US Navy said. The nuclear-powered submarine is built to carry and launch ballistic missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

As well as his military show of force, Trump has also sought to pressure China to do more to rein in its nuclear-armed neighbor.

China, North Korea's sole major ally, has in turn been angered by Pyongyang's belligerence, as well as its nuclear and missile programs.

Regardless, North Korea has carried out nuclear and missile tests in defiance of successive rounds of United Nations sanctions.

Angered by the approach of the carrier group, which could arrive within days, North Korea said the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson was 'an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade'.

'The United States should not run amok and should consider carefully any catastrophic consequence from its foolish military provocative act,' Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, said in a commentary.
With their big hair and fun, up-tempo pop songs about love (and Robert de Niro), they helped to define the Eighties.

Now theyre back. Girl band Bananarama have announced they are to make a comeback tour, almost 30 years after they last performed.

Keren Woodward, Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey havent played together since the Brit Awards in 1988. Shortly afterwards, they broke up amid squabbles and infighting.

Girl band Bananarama have announced they are to make a comeback tour, almost 30 years after they last performed

UK Bananarama seen promoting their comeback tour at BBC Radio Two studios

But Fahey says: It felt like something I needed to revisit, to go back to my roots and that time with my best friends. Were going to celebrate that extraordinary life we led together in our 20s.

For those of us who led happy, if less extraordinary, lives in our 20s, this reunion is similarly good news. We all enjoy being whisked back to our youths and suddenly, Eighties music is everywhere.

As they hit the road again, Bananarama, whose hits included Cruel Summer, Love In The First Degree and Robert de Niros Waiting, will be in reassuringly familiar company. Other Eighties acts already out there include Adam Ant, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Heaven 17, Human League, Altered Images, TPau and Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet.

Phil Collins and Depeche Mode are going on major tours, too. If George Michael hadnt died, he might even have got back together with his old Wham! mucker Andrew Ridgeley  partner of Bananaramas Keren Woodward.

But its much more than a collective rush of nostalgic bliss.

After a decade of penny-pinching since the great financial crisis, Britain is ready for another dose of sassy, over-the-top Eighties exuberance.

And just as that great decade followed the strikes and struggles of the Seventies, the next big boom time may come about as a result of the bright promise engendered by Brexit.

For its not only Eighties music bouncing back. The High Street is embracing the decade in which upbeat consumerism replaced the grim austerity of the Seventies.

Dont you forget about me, sang the Scottish band Simple Minds in 1985. Evidently we havent. Last November, when fashion designer Marc Jacobs threw a glitzy party in New York, his theme was Eighties chic. And Jacobs knows a trend when he sees one. Ruffle shirts are back and make-up colours are bright and bold again.

The outrageous spirit of Grace Jones and Boy George lives on, as beauty product manufacturers acknowledge the era as a highly creative, experimental decade.

This phenomenon straddles the Atlantic. In London last September, Topshop Unique  the High Street chains more upmarket line  held a show that celebrated iconic Eighties New Wave music, and the companys global design director Jacqui Markham enthused that its such a great era to look back on for inspiration, as it championed individualism, expression and exhibitionism. No one championed individualism more than Margaret Thatcher, and sure enough, the Eighties revival extends even to politics.

The outrageous spirit of Grace Jones and Boy George lives on, as beauty product manufacturers acknowledge the era as a highly creative, experimental decade

Britain has a female, Conservative Prime Minister just as it did 30 years ago, while the U.S. has once more elected an ageing celebrity as its Republican commander-in-chief.

Could we eventually look back on Donald Trumps presidency as affectionately as we do now on that of Ronald Reagan? That may be stretching the analogy too far.

Here in Britain we are approaching a General Election where a hopelessly divided Labour Party is led, ineptly, by a dinosaur of the Left. For Michael Foot in a donkey jacket in 1983, read Jeremy Corbyn in a shellsuit now. Britain stood on the edge of an economic precipice as the Seventies, so blighted by power cuts and strikes, gave way to the prosperous, go-getting Eighties.

The 1978/79 Winter of Discontent, which effectively marked the death throes of Jim Callaghans Labour government, had yielded the grotesque spectacle of even gravediggers striking.

It is hard to think of two adjacent decades so different as the Seventies and the Eighties, when Britains recovery of its self-confidence was reflected in popular culture.

Time will tell if that process is unfolding again as we adjust to a future outside the EU. Certainly, there are other parallels between then and now. At the start of the Eighties, there had for decades been few advances in technology that really changed how we lived.

In 1980, the Sony Walkman was unveiled, letting us, for the first time, listen to music anywhere

Few of us owned anything digital, except possibly a watch.

In 1980, the Sony Walkman was unveiled, letting us, for the first time, listen to music anywhere.

It was followed by mass production, affordable TV video-recording machines, camcorders, and mobile phones. And the CD.

This was almost as influential then in altering our leisure time as the internet is today, though its also worth noting that sales of old-fashioned vinyl records recently reached a 30-year high.

It touches on the very foundation of this Eighties revival, being fashioned by men and women who came of age at that seismic time and now seek echoes of that era in what they create and buy.

Eighties US drama, Dynasty, will be making a comeback soon

A few years ago, the same thing happened with the Seventies. Much-derided food favourites of the decade, such as Black Forest gateau and butterscotch Angel Delight, were recreated.

It wasnt always a good idea.

In TVs corridors of power, the decision-makers were people who yearned to revisit their own formative years, hence ill-advised remakes of shows such as Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased), with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

Now, teenagers of the Eighties are the movers, shakers and high-earners. In the U.S., thats why one of the decades defining TV dramas, Dynasty, is making a comeback (albeit with a far more racially diverse cast).

And it helps to explain fashion and music throwbacks, too, though there is another dimension: the children of those of us who came of age in the Eighties grew up looking at our old photos and listening to our albums.

Now they have spending power, they want a taste of it, too.

Hardly a week goes by in which my three children, aged 23, 22 and 18, dont add a much-prized vinyl record to their collection.

But this Eighties revival is not just a retro movement. It doesnt just reflect a world we used to live in; they are trends for now.

And it makes it worth pondering why we are ready to embrace brighter make-up, bigger hair and more exclamatory clothes  and listen to Bananarama again.

Surely, more than anything else, its because were ready to have some fun.
Right-wing radio host Alex Jones says that by 16 years old, he'd slept with 150 women - and that's a 'conservative' number.

The InfoWars host, who is in the midst of a contentious child custody battle with his ex-wife, Kelly Jones, over their three children, released a show over the weekend that tallied his 'conquests' as a teen.

'When I was 16, I didnt want to party any more. I didnt want to play games any more,' he says in the video. 'I grew up. Id already been in the fights, all the big rituals. Id already had probably  I hate to brag, but Im not bragging, its actually shameful  probably 150 women, or more, thats conservative. Id already had over 150 women.'

Conservative radio host Alex Jones said in a recent video that he'd slept with more than 150 women by the time he was 16 and that it was 'shameful'

'I hate to brag' he said of his supposedly quite numerous conquests in his teen years

Alex Jones has stripped down to his boxers for his radio show - in the above case, to demonstrate a 'body building' supplement

He also claims he'd been in fights with 'full grown men' and was dating college girls by 15.

'I was already a MAN!' he says in the video.

He also gave himself kudos for having children earlier than most men, saying he'd had a son by 24. However, his son is 14, and if he'd had him by 24, the son, Rex, would be 18 or 19, said the Austin-American Statesman.

'So, if Jones had a son when he was 24, that was another son. Thats completely possible. And, he is, of course, under no obligation to tell writers when they are doing profiles of him that he has another son. Its just that its not something thats been mentioned in anything Ive read about Jones,' wrote Jonathan Tilove in his Austin-American Statesman blog.

Jones drew male stick figures to show the trajectory of the 'typical man' - including how he himself had supposedly become a 'man' by 16

'You're supposed to have children by 16 in every culture biologically,' Jones said in the video. 'You're not having them 16, there's something wrong with you.'

Yet despite this apparently quite vigorous sex life, in a 2010 interview, he had described himself as 'socially oblivious,' said the outlet.

The weekend video purported to offer 'new' evidence about the Sandy Hook elementary school mass murder, but the outlet said it provides none.

In the past, Jones has claimed the Sandy Hook murders of 20 children and six adult staff members was fabricated.

Despite this apparent active teenage sex life, Jones testified last week during his trial that he couldn't remember if he'd ever cheated on his fiancee, Erika, now his eight months pregnant wife.

Jones smoked pot on Joe Rogan's podcast, but since it was in California it was legal

Attorney Bobby Newman grilled him about a sexual relationship he had with a woman even after his then-fiancee Erika moved into his house in 2015.

In an affadavit, Jones had acknowledged having sex with the other woman until March 2016.

However, on stand he said he would 'have to see a calendar' to know if he'd strayed. Besides, he said, Erika had known about the other woman.

The conspiracy theorist also testified that he smoked marijuana, breaking the law in Texas, but only did it to 'test out its strength.'

He said he only tried out the drug when he toked up in Texas to test to see how strong it was and concluded it was too strong to be legal

The InfoWars host admitted during cross-examination to smoking the drug during the last two-and-a-half years, but compared himself to a law enforcement officer testing out the strength of the drug, according to the Austin-American Statesman.

'Thats what police do. They smoke it once a year too,' he said.

Contested: Kelly Jones (pictured) is demanding custody saying that his on air persona is no different from how he behaves around their three children

He added that his smoking it led him to believe it was too strong to be legalized and he talked about the experiment on his show.

Jones is in the midst of a child custody battle with his ex-wife, Kelly Jones, over their three children ages nine to 14. They have lived with their father in Austin, Texas since the couple's divorce in 2015.

Kelly has contended that Jones, who is brusque and combative on air, has the same demeanor around his children. He claims it is just an on air persona and he leaves that personality in the studio.

He said 'none of the bombasity, none of the rage' was ever on display with his children.

Jones also said he didn't remember cheating on his now-wife, Erika, when they were engaged but said even if he did, she knew about the other woman

Like father, like son: Jones currently has custody of son Rex (left), 14, and two daughters. But his ex-wife says she thinks he's turned them against her, and wants them back

Jones has used the defense that his threatening and loud-mouthed personality isn't at all what he's like around his children, but his ex says that's not true

Hot memories: Alex Jones has made a series of bombastic claims in court, including that he smoked marijuana to 'test its strength' as a police officer would

In a pretrial hearing, one of Alex Jones' lawyers, Randall Wilhite, said that his client is a 'performance artist' who is just 'playing a character' on Infowars.

'He's playing a character,' he said, according to myStatesman . 'He is a performance artist.'

However, Jones walked back those claims in an Infowars broadcast, in which he said he '110 per cent' believed the things he said in his show, according to The Daily Beast.

'Unstable': Jones is 'unstable,' claims his wife, who is fighting him for custody of their three kids

'Performance': Alex Jones' lawyer said his appearances on his Infowars show are 'performance art' and that he is 'playing a character' in his vitriolic, conspiracy-themed broadcasts

They've got articles out today that I say I'm a fake... total bull! ... I 110 per cent believe what I stand for. They've got articles out today that I say I'm a fake, all of this other c**p. Total bull!' he said.

'The media is deceiving everywhere. I 110 per cent believe what I stand for. Were changing the world with you.'
The top U.S. general in Afghanistan asserted that Russia might be supplying the Taliban with weapons, amid Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's unannounced visit to Kabul, Afghanistan.

General John Nicholson was asked by a reporter: 'So you are not refuting that [Russia is] sending weapons?'

Nicholson replied: 'Oh, no, I am not refuting that,' CBS News reported.

Mattis, meanwhile, said: 'Were going to have to confront Russia where what theyre doing is contrary to international law.'

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U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (right) arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday for an unannounced visit to meet military leaders about the country's security situation. At left is General John Nicholson, the top U.S. military official in Afghanistan

Nicholson said he would not refute that Russia might be supplying weapons to the Taliban

Mattis, pictured to the right of Nicholson, also said: 'Were going to have to confront Russia where what theyre doing is contrary to international law'

'Mad Dog' Mattis made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan this morning to meet military leaders about the country's perilous security situation.

He is currently on a week-long six nation tour concerning the ongoing war against terror.

President Donald Trump has been urged to send more troops to Afghanistan to help support local forces in their battle against the Taliban.

Mattis, left, arrived in Kabul this morning on board a helicopter and wearing business attire

The former general received a briefing on the ground about the current security situation

Mattis, right, received a salute from the tail gunner of the helicopter after it touched down

He is the first member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet to visit Afghanistan.

The Trump administration only confirmed the visit after Mattis' helicopter landed - unlike Jared Kushner's recent trip to Iraq.

A White House official briefed the media while his aircraft was still en-route to Baghdad, which was regarded as a major security breach.

General John Nicholson, the top American commander in Kabul, recently told Congress that he needs a few thousand more troops to keep Afghan security forces on track to eventually handling the Taliban insurgency on their own.

As part of the administration's review of Afghan policy, Trump's national security adviser, Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, visited Kabul last week to consult with Nicholson and with Afghan officials.

McMaster said in a TV interview after returning to Washington that the US in recent years has scaled back its military effort against the Taliban. 'Our enemy sensed that and they have redoubled their efforts, and it's time for us, alongside our Afghan partners, to respond.'

Among the questions facing the administration is how to maintain pressure on a resilient Taliban and keep up counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan without prolonging a stalemate that is costing US taxpayers billions of dollars a year.

The war began in October 2001.

Mattis was on a week-long tour of countries involved in the War on Terror, including a meeting with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, right, on Saturday afternoon

The US has about 9,800 troops in Afghanistan. They ended their combat mission against the Taliban in 2014 but are increasingly involved in backing up Afghan forces on the battlefield.

Mattis was visiting just days after a bloody Taliban attack that killed more than 100 Afghans on a base in the country's north. The Taliban also controls key parts of Helmand province in the south.

Officials say nearly a dozen of the attackers wore army uniforms and rode in military vehicles, raising concerns of help from inside the compound.

Afghan officials said earlier that the country's army chief and the defense minister resigned following the weekend Taliban attack.

The officials said that President Ashraf Ghani accepted the resignations on Monday.

It was not immediately clear who would replace Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim.

Two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The president's official Twitter account also confirmed the resignations.

In addition to the Taliban insurgency, Afghanistan also is fighting to extinguish a small but troublesome presence in Nangarhar province of militants affiliated with ISIS.

Two weeks ago, Nicholson created a stir by ordering an attack on an ISIS stronghold in Nangarhar using the military's most powerful non-nuclear bomb, the so-called 'mother of all bombs'.

Mattis has declined to disclose details of damage done by that bombing, which former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called an 'atrocity'.
From cities and towns across the country, to Gallipoli and Kokoda, war memorials around the world were packed with Australians as the sun rose on Tuesday.

But far away from the nation's capital cities and key international war posts, a group of Australians came together in the freezing cold to remember the Anzacs.

Scientists at four research stations in Antarctica braved sub-zero temperatures to hold dawn services to commemorate the soldiers who fought in World War I.

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Scientists at four research stations in Antarctica braved sub-zero temperatures to hold dawn services to commemorate the Australian soldiers who fought in World War I

The Anzac Day services saw the expeditioners raise flags and hold a memorial in the freezing temperatures

At Casey, Davis, Mawson and Macquarie Island bases, expeditioners raised a flag and saluted the Anzacs in similar fashion to services on the mainland.

Video footage captured of the memorial shows the scientists braving the weather, as they stood in the gusting wind and read wartime poem 'In Flanders Fields'.

Research station expeditioner and former army veteran Clint Chilcott led the Anzac Day service at Casey base.

'It was brisk -16C at Casey this morning as the expeditioners gathered around the flagpole for our dawn service,' Mr Chilcott told AAP in a statement.

At Casey, Davis, Mawson and Macquarie Island bases, the Anzacs were commemorated in similar fashion to services on the mainland

Video footage captured of the memorial shows the scientists braving the weather, as they stood in the gusting wind and read wartime poem 'In Flanders Fields'

Research station expeditioner and former army veteran Clint Chilcott (pictured) led the service at Casey base

'We lowered the Australian flag, listened to several readings and held the traditional two minutes of silence,' he said.

The service was followed by brunch, games of two-up and an eight ball competition.

The Australian Antarctic Program has had close links with the ADF since founded in 1947.
Lee Universitys Department of Language & Literature hosted its sixth annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Latin American and Iberian Studies.

The purpose of the conference is to promote academic excellence among undergraduate students and to bring together students and professors from a wide variety of disciplines including languages, humanities, and history. This year, attendance reached over 250 people among international teachers and high school students. Eleven colleges and universities from around the nation were represented along with high school students from Colombia and Cleveland.

This has been the sixth successful undergraduate conference in a row, said Dr. Alexander Steffanell, director of the Latin American Studies program at Lee. For the first time we had 20 international high school students and teachers from Colombia presenting and plan to expand the countries represented at the conference in the future. Not only has the conference been a place to exchange intellectual knowledge, but also a place to raise awareness of Latin American and Iberian issues.

Represented at the conference were 25-30 professors and undergraduate students from Lee University, along with delegates from the University of Kentucky, Gettysburg College, Tennessee Wesleyan University, Young Harris College, Georgia College, Georgia State University, Harding University, Covenant College, Universidad Minuto de Dios, and Universidad Santo Tomas. The poster presentation session featured work from Gimnasio Jireh (Cota, Colombia), Colegio Americano de Ibague (Ibague, Colombia), and Cleveland High School.

Students and faculty from all fields and disciplines related to Latin America and Spain were asked to present on literature, humanities, language, and other topics in relation to the culture of Latin America and Iberia.

The Lee students presenting for the conference were Easton Bevel, Audra Chaney, Jude Clarke, William Gardner, Julius Garrod, Victoria Lentz, Micaela Lucas, Barbara Quintard, Joanna Van Pelt, and William Wheeler.

Students presented on a variety of topics such as bilingualism, families, education, social issues, government, and Colombian culture.

This annual conference always aims to explore critical thinking on culture and enhance research on controversial but up-to-date topics, said Steffanell.

The main panel included presentations with Lee alum Robert Bennett and Emily Bricker. Their presentations discussed how Lee University helped them succeed in their current professions. They also explored the relationship between culture and foreign language and how such knowledge will help them move forward in their careers.

Attention to diversity and culture is important in all sectors and across all levels of education, so I decided to share my experience as an international educator with culturally responsive pedagogy, said Bennet. I based my presentation less on the theoretical underpinnings of this method, and more on practical aspects, answering the question: how can a culturally responsive life help us improve situations of injustice and inequality.

Bennett earned his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Lee University and his Master of Arts in education from the University of West Florida with a focus on TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). He is currently a primary teacher in Norway.

Bricker earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish with minors in intercultural studies and TESOL from Lee University. She currently serves as an immigrant advocate and will soon begin her Master of Arts in international studies at Fuller Seminary.

The presentation panel moderators were all from Lee University and included Evan Humphreys, Rachel Leidemann, Dr. Sara Ortega-Higgs, Barbara Quintard, Guilherme Silva Von Streber, Hannah White, and Dr. James Wilkins.

For more information on the conference, contact Steffanell at asteffanell@leeuniversity.edu or call (423) 614-8216.

For more information on Lees Department of Language & Literature, call (423) 614-8210.
A 13-year-old boy has been charged after police allegedly found a black 'cap' gun stashed down the front of his pants.

The teenager and his friend were arrested in Guilford on Monday afternoon when officers stopped and searched the pair.

A 'concerned member of the public' called authorities after it appeared one of the boys had black firearm tucked down his trousers.

A 13-year-old boy has been charged after police allegedly found a black 'cap' gun stashed down the front of his pants (stock image)

The boy and his friend were arrested in Guilford on Monday afternoon when officers stopped and searched the pair after they were alerted by a concerned member of the public

The two teenage boys were still walking along the Woodville Road when they were stopped by police.

Authorities searched the pair when they allegedly found a small black cap gun concealed down the front of one of the boys' pants.

Both boys were arrested and taken to Parramatta Police Station where the 13-year-old was charged with possessing an unauthorised firearm.

He was given conditional bail and will appear in Parramatta Children's Court on Monday 15 May 2017.

The second boy was released without charge.

The 13-year-old was given conditional bail and will appear in Parramatta Children's Court (pictured) on Monday 15 May 2017

The second boy was released without charge (stock image)




Before her trip to Berlin, Germany, Ivanka Trump took some time to compose a letter commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day.

She proceeded to upload a photo of the letter to Twitter on Monday afternoon.

The First Daughter tweeted: 'Today, we honor the six million Jews whose lives were taken during the Holocaust and pledge #NeverAgain.'

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Ivanka Trump wrote a letter commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah, before her trip to Berlin, Germany, where she will meet with the country's chancellor, Angela Merkel. Pictured are Trump and Merkel during the latter's March visit to Washington DC

Ivanka wrote: 'I want my children to live in a world where every country and its leaders pledge to ensure a genocide like the Holocaust will never happen again. I want them to group up in a world where people are tolerant, inclusive and loving toward one another'

In her letter, she said: 'My family and I today observe Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and recognize the Days of Remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.

'We honor the six million Jews and the many other victims of persecution who were taken from this world by the Nazis, a regime of heinous killers.

'I want my children to live in a world where every country and its leaders pledge to ensure a genocide like the Holocaust will never happen again.

'I want them to group up in a world where people are tolerant, inclusive and loving toward one another.

'I will be in Berlin this week and will visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

'As we reflect on the Holocaust and its horrors, we must remember that we bear the responsibility to prevent such a tragedy from ever occurring again.

'We must live and lead by example , today and always.'

Hours before leaving for Germany, Ivanka Trump (right) sat next to her father, President Donald Trump (left), as he talked to astronauts at the International Space Station

President Donald Trump (left) will stay state-side while his daughter Ivanka Trump (right) makes her first solo trip, to Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday as a member of his administration

Yom HaShoah began the evening of Sunday, April 23 and ended the evening of Monday, April 24.

Ivanka is travelling to Berlin for her first solo trip as an official adviser to her father, Donald.

The president's eldest daughter will visit Berlin 'at the direct invitation' of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House said, as the two met in Washington in March.

And as she's set to participate in the Women's 20 Summit, Politico reported she's spent weeks preparing, diving into McKinsey & Company reports on women in the workforce, as she'll highlight the role of women in the global economy and talk about the importance of their access to capital.

Details about Ivanka Trump's trip were firmed up by the White House last week, as a release referred to her as 'First Daughter and Assistant to the President.'

Ivanka 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 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, who is Jewish, will head to the Holocaust memorial.
President Trump is considering banning allowing laptops in airplane cabins between US and some European airports in addition to the several Muslim majority countries already restricted.

Passengers flying to the US from some European airports face being banned from taking laptops and iPads in their hand luggage. In late March, the ban was imposed on 10 airports in the Middle East.

Western countries may join the list that includes Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

President Trumps administration is considering extending its ban on large electronic devices being carried in aircraft cabins to flights from Europe

Last month both the US and British governments barred passengers from bringing large electronic devices on board incoming flights from six Middle Eastern countries. Above, the airports and countries targeted by the new American and British policies

Airports with strict laptop travel restrictions for flying to the USA 1. Abu Dhabi International, United Arab Emirates 2. Cairo International Airport, Egypt 3. Dubai International, United Arab Emirates 4. Mohammed V International, Casablanca, Morocco 5. Ataturk Airport, Istanbul, Turkey 6. Queen Alia International, Amman, Jordan 7. King Abdulaziz International, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 8. King Khalid International, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 9. Kuwait International Airport 10. Hamad International, Doha, Qatar Advertisement

President Trumps administration is considering extending its ban on large electronic devices being carried in aircraft cabins to flights from Europe, according to The Times.

Last month both the US and British governments barred passengers from bringing large electronic devices on board incoming flights from eight Middle Eastern countries.

The ban, which followed concerns terrorists had perfected a new type of airline bomb, means travelers have to stow gadgets larger than a mobile phone  including laptops, tablets and kindles - in the hold.

The US may be planning to extend these security restrictions to incoming flights from some parts of Europe and have been put on alert that Britain could be one of those affected.

The newspaper reported that the move could be implemented within weeks but that no final decision had yet been taken as to whether Britain would be included in the ban.

One Whitehall source is reported as saying: As with everything from Trumps America, there are conflicting reports about where, when and what.

A US official confirmed to The Times that Britain was on the list of countries being examined for extended security restrictions.

The US Department of Homeland Security said: We will continue to evaluate the threat environment and make determinations based on that assessment but we have not made any decisions on expanding the current restrictions against large electronic devices in aircraft cabins from selected airports.
Peta Credlin insists she has no current plans for a parliamentary career, again dismissing claims she contemplated a challenge to senior federal government minister Kelly O'Dwyer.

'The thought of going back into politics at the moment is about as appealing as chewing glass,' Tony Abbott's former chief of staff wrote in The Australian on Tuesday, adding she'd 'often' been approached to run.

She said suggestions she was part of a plot by disgruntled locals to challenge Ms O'Dwyer for preselection in the Victorian seat of Higgins were 'complete, utter fake news'.

Peta Credlin (pictured at the 2017 Logie Awards) denied she was planning a political comeback, saying 'the thought... is about as appealing as chewing glass'

Ms Credlin is currently employed as a political commentator on Sky News

Ms Credlin quashed rumours she planned to return to a career in parliament despite the fact she was often approached to run.

She said she had a particular opposition to challenging sitting members.

The political commentator said she supported Ms O'Dwyer, and always had.

Ms Credlin said she mentored Ms O'Dwyer when she was chief of staff to the former prime minister.

Ms Credlin said she mentored Ms O'Dwyer (pictured) when she was chief of staff to the former prime minister

In her column published in the Australian on Tuesday, Ms Credlin said it was time Liberal hardheads admitted internal politics were 'killing them' and urged the party to 'put an end to the factional games'.

'Knifing games are part of the reason the Coalition is struggling,' she said.

Ms Credlin said Liberal infighting advantaged no one other than Bill Shorten.
A woman who was found shot dead in Oregon woods arrived in the United States last month from Russia and was in a relationship with the man arrested in connection with her slaying, authorities said Monday.

Anna Alekseyevna Repkina, 27, whose name was released on Monday, was found on a remote logging road near Alsea, a Benton County town about 110 miles southwest of Portland on April 17.

Repkina, who was from Moscow, is believed to have moved to Corvallis, Oregon in March.

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Anna Alekseyevna Repkina, 27, was found shot in the back of the head 'execution style' in the Oregon woods

Her body was found on a remote logging road near Alsea, a Benton County town about 110 miles southwest of Portland on April 17

Prosecutors believe that William Chase Hargrove shot her 'execution style' in the back of the head in an abandoned Oregon wood.

They also say that she was in a 'problematic love-triangle relationship' with Hargrove and another woman, Senior Deputy District Attorney Amie Matusko said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

Hargrove, 27, is being held without bail in Benton County on a murder charge.

Repkina and the other woman, who is not named but was in a long-term relationship with Hargrove, were living at separate locations.

Hargrove spent time living with both of them, Matusko said.

The other woman 'gave him an ultimatum: It was either her or the other, and he made a decision,' Matusko said.

Prosecutors believe that William Chase Hargrove (L) shot her after another woman gave him an ultimatum after the three were in a 'problematic love triangle'

'He took the victim out on a rather desolate logging road, and she was found shot in the back of the head, execution-style.'

Hargrove's attorney, Mike Flinn, declined to comment to The AP on Monday.

Repkina entered the United States through Los Angeles International Airport using Russian travel documents on March 1, Benton County Undersheriff Gregory Ridler said. Since then she has been living in Corvallis and did not appear to have a job, he said.

Authorities said they believe Repkina came to Oregon 'for the relationship,' but they are seeking more details in the unusual case, Matusko said.

A probable cause affidavit in the case was sealed, and authorities have so far declined to release further information.

The next court hearing in the case is set for June 26, and the sheriff's office has notified the woman's family of her death with the help of Russian authorities.
'Hot felon' Jeremy Meeks has been deported from the UK, DailyMail.com has exclusively learned  less than eight hours after he arrived at London's Heathrow Airport.

Meeks, 32, of Stockton, California, was set to spend this week in the British capital where he had been due to shoot a series of magazine covers, according to his manager Jim Jordan.

But on arriving in London on Monday, Meeks was detained by UK border officials and banned from entering the country, despite claiming to have the correct paperwork and a letter from his parole officer.

Photos exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com show a dejected Meeks sitting in a Border Force holding area shortly before being bundled onto a US-bound plane.

Photos exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com show a dejected Jeremy Meeks sitting in a Border Force holding area shortly before being bundled onto a US-bound plane. The 'hot felon' was deported just eight hours after landing in London

Meeks, 32, of Stockton, California, was set to spend this week in the British capital where he had been due to shoot a series of magazine covers, according to his manager Jim Jordan

He was flown back to the US, and landed in New York on Monday night.

Meeks' wife and manager Jim Jordan, who were traveling with him, holed up in a hotel in London.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Jordan said: 'We went into the UK and we went through immigration and they detained Jeremy.

'He wasn't arrested but they deported him out of the country. They wouldn't let him come into the country. He is really upset. He was police-escorted onto the plane.'

UK VISA GUIDELINES Home Office rules state that all passengers trying to enter the UK must meet standard entry requirements. Paragraph 320(2) of the Immigration Rules (HC395) says border agents are required to deny passengers entry if they are: (a) currently subject to a deportation order; or (b) have been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 4 years; or (c) has been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months but less than 4 years, unless a period of 10 years has passed since the end of the sentence; or (d) has been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of less than 12 months, unless a period of 5 years has passed since the end of the sentence. Meeks was sentenced to two years in prison in 2015 for gun possession, so would fall under section (c) of the above rules. His previous sentences for grand theft of a person in 2002, theft in 2005, and forgery in 2007 would all have been 'spent' under these rules Advertisement

A video shot by Meeks at the airport, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, shows the felon being escorted onto the flight accompanied by officials.

It shows Meeks pointing to his 'escort', and saying: 'I'm sick of this s***. I've been denied. London don't want me here having served my time. S*** is crazy.'

Meeks shot to fame in 2014 when the Stockton Police Department posted his mugshot on their website, following his arrest for street terrorism [gang activity] and a misdemeanor charge of resisting/obstructing justice.

The photo promptly went viral, with internet users dubbing him 'the hottest convict ever'.

Since being released from jail in March 2016, Meeks has embarked on a career as a model and appeared on the catwalk at Phillip Plein during New York Fashion Week in February.

Meeks has also completed his first cover shoot  for British magazine Man About Town, with the issue featuring the felon due to launch this Thursday.

Jordan, who was with Meeks and his wife Melissa when they were stopped, said the trio had been flown to London to attend the launch party.

According to LA-based model agent, he and Meeks had approached the same immigration official but while his passport was stamped, his charge was ordered to one side.

Over the next eight hours, Meeks was interviewed, fingerprinted and searched before being told he could not enter the UK and escorted onto a New York bound American Airlines flight.

Jordan, who founded White Cross Talent Management, says Meeks had the correct paperwork, had obtained a work visa for the trip and was carrying a letter supplied by his parole officer.

Meeks shot to fame in 2014 when the Stockton Police Department posted his mugshot on their website, following his arrest for street terrorism [gang activity] and a misdemeanor charge of resisting/obstructing justice

Since being released from jail in March 2016, Meeks has embarked on a career as a model and appeared on the catwalk at Phillip Plein during New York Fashion Week in February. He is seen here rehearsing for a runway show at New York Fashion Week in February

Jordan said: 'We flew to London from Los Angeles this morning. We got there, and Jeremy and I walked up to the customs office together.

'They stamped my passport. They looked at Jeremy's passport and they said, could you guys go sit over there. So they put us in this sectioned off section and we were sitting there for an over an hour.

'Then they came to me and asked if I could go through customs without Jeremy.'

According to Jordan, he and Meeks' wife Melissa spent the next five hours in an airport restaurant waiting for the felon but were eventually told that he was being deported.

Jordan said: 'I started getting calls from Jeremy, saying hey, they're putting me in this room and there's another guy in here and the guy has been here for about eight hours.

Meeks was supposed to be traveling with his wife Melissa (left) and his agent, who are still holed up in a hotel in London (pictured enjoying Christmas with family in 2016)

Meeks married Melissa back in 2004 between stints in prison, and has praised her since his release. He captioned this shot of the pair 'through thick and thin'

Meeks has one son with Melissa, Jeremy Meeks Jr (left). The other boy, Robert, is Melissa's son from a previous relationship

'He said they were interviewing me, they're going to do a search and they're doing all these things.'

Jordan says he did not hear again from Meeks until 10.30pm EST when he landed in New York. The 33-year-old is now hoping to catch a flight to Los Angeles.

He told DailyMail.com: 'Jeremy said customs officers [border officials] did a four-hour interrogation, they took a s*** ton of pictures of him.

'They strip-searched him, they fingerprinted him. They locked him in a small room for hours. They took his passport from him, they didn't give him his passport back.

'They basically said, you cannot come into the UK with no explanation. Jeremy is really sad, he's just really sad.'

Jordan says he will visit the US Embassy in London to seek assistance and will also make sure Meeks' wife can continue her trip to the UK.

He added: '[This was] the very first thing that Jeremy has done. It was his first time in London and he was all excited. It was his big debut.

'He was on the right track for what we feel was going to be his new life. Now he's very sad. Hopefully this is just a setback and he will be able to come back from this.'

Meeks is seen left at this year's New York Fashion Week and right during a court appearance in Stockton, California, in June 2014

Since emerging from prison in 2015 Meeks' life has been transformed. Here he poses with a $125,000 Maserati in front of his new mansion
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The long hike with heavy climbing gear has paid off for one photographer who has captured stunning images of the Aurora Australis from a cave.

The rugged location, about 95km south east of Melbourne, was found by photographer Steven Sander - a substitute teacher with a passion for photography, science and nature.

The photograph was taken as a double exposure to highlight details in the pitch black cave in the outline of Australia and shows off the stunning streaks of pink across the starry sky.

The long hike with heavy climbing gear has paid off for photographer Steven Sander, who has captured stunning images of the Aurora Australis from a cave shaped like Australia

From the cave, streaks of green can be seen near the horizon - slightly hidden in the clouds.

But it gives away to and intensely bright pinks, with other colours like blues and yellows appearing upon closer inspection.

Mr Sander has gone to amazing lengths not only to capture the incredible views from cave, but also shots of iconic Autralia locations bathed in the light of the Aurora Australis.

The talented photographer also captured similarly stunning images of the Three Sisters rock formation in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, in NSW.

Another pink-hued sky was seen over the dunes of Cape Le Grand National Park, Western Australia.

Now the photographer has set his sights on other natural wonders, looking for large bio-luminescent fungi and algae to capture.

He says getting into the wild and discovering new things is what he enjoys most in life.

The talented photographer also captured similarly stunning images of the Three Sisters rock formation in the Blue Mountains, NSW

Another pink-hued sky seen over the dunes of Cape Le Grand National Park, Western Australia

Photographer Steven Sander is a substitute teacher with a passion for photography, science and nature

The photographer has set his sights on capturing other natural wonders, looking for large bio-luminescent fungi and algae to photograph
Jacob Harris was arrested Friday for stealing a car and possessing crystal meth

The former star of Deadliest Catch was arrested Friday for stealing a woman's car in broad daylight.

Jacob Harris, 31, was arrested when the victim found him at a Phoenix, Arizona Circle K in her allegedly stolen car 12 hours after the theft.

According to court documents, Harris traveled from Washington state to Arizona with a female companion and was staying at a Phoenix hotel.

The unidentified woman called police Saturday to say Harris took her vehicle without her permission while she slept.

Harris was found at a gas station and told police he was getting breakfast for himself and the woman.

The woman approached them and a fight broke out according to AZ Central.

At 5pm police arrested Harris, who insisted the woman gave him permission to drive her car.

Jacob Harris (left) told police the female companion who reported the car stolen gave him permission to drive the car

Police reportedly found Xanax pills and crystal meth in Harris's possession.

He was arrested with possession of dangerous drugs, illegal possession of prescription drugs and felony theft. His court date is set for May 5.

Harris's father Paul died in 2010 of a stoke. He was a staple on the Deadliest Catch, the show Jacob and his brother Josh were also featured.

In January, Jacob Harris was brutally beaten and robbed. He was left with a cracked skull and brain trauma according to KIRO7.
A woman has been taken to hospital and her dog has been taken to a vet after they were attacked during an overnight home invasion in Queensland.

Police have charged five people with animal cruelty and stealing charges after they broke into a house in Churchill about 1.30am on Tuesday morning.

Police allege five people forced the door open of a house in Sheeham Place before attacking the woman, 35, and her kelpie dog named Shadow.

A 35-year-old woman has been taken to hospital and her dog has being cared for by the RSPCA after they were attacked during an overnight home invasion on Sheeham Place, Ipswich in Queensland (pictured)

The three women and two men were armed with poles, the Brisbane Times reported.

The group also stole a mobile phone during the home invasion and fled the scene in a vehicle before being arrested by police a short time later.

Police said the victim was known to the group of people.

She was taken to Ipswich General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police allege five people broke into the house and attacked the woman and her kelpie Shadow with poles. Police said the victim knew the offenders. Pictured is a dog similar to Shadow

The woman was taken to Ipswich General Hospital (pictured) with non-life threatening injuries and the dog was taken to the RSPCA Animal Hospital at Wacol with head injuries

The kelpie dog Shadow was taken to the RSPCA Animal Hospital at Wacol with head injuries and will be released back to his owner shortly.

A 31-year-old Redbank Plains woman, 34-year-old Durack man, 32-year-old Raceview man, 33-year-old Redbank Plains woman and 32- year-old Redbank Plains woman have been charged with one count each of entering a dwelling at night, assault occasioning bodily harm in company, wilful damage, stealing and animal cruelty.

They are expected to appear at the Ipswich Magistrates Court on April 26.
A judge has told the wife of a prominent Chicago attorney that she has to ride the elevator to her penthouse apartment with dogss, after she tried to get the pets banned because she is scared.

Holly Geraci filed a housing discrimination lawsuit in March 2015 against the Union Square Condominium Association, where she lives in the penthouse at 333 West Hubbard Street with her husband.

Geraci had claimed that her intense fear of dogs, triggered by a German shepherd attack when she was a child, amounted to a disability, reported the Chicago Tribune.

Peter Francis Geraci told the outlet in 2015 that his wife suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome over the childhood attack.

Not woman's best friend: Holly Geraci, wife of bankruptcy attorney Peter Francis Geraci (left) sued her condo so she wouldn't have to ride the elevator with dogs

The prominent couple owned the penthouse at 333 West Hubbard, above

Under the Fair Housing Act, she argued that she shouldn't be subject to riding her building's elevators with the furry creatures.

But on Thursday, a jury in the US District Court disagreed.

'They didn't believe that Holly Geraci actually suffered from a disability as it's defined by the Fair Housing Act,' the condo's attorney Graham Miller told the outlet.

Dogs were not allowed in the building when the couple bought their apartment in 2000, except for one small dog that was grandfathered in.

But in 2004, the swanky complex opened its doors to canines.

Geraci said a dog attack when she was young resulted in a crippling fear of dogs

The Union Square Condominium Association, which oversees the condo at 333 West Hubbard Street (above), won the litigation

Meanwhile, Geraci had already been ordered to pay $275,000 in damages after she sued Robin DiBuono, a dog walker with whom Geraci got into an altercation in the elevator.

The jury found in favor of DiBuono, even though Geraci said she was 'beaten up.'

The couple had had two other lawsuits against the condo, neither having to do with dogs, which were dismissed.

Geraci and her husband bought a penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton Residences - after another legal battle

But Geraci should be free of the canines fairly soon.

The couple have bought a $8.63million, 6,000-square-foot penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, which they have taken possession of two years after a legal battle with a Mexican billionaire who also wanted the property.

The penthouse will have a private elevator that can whisk Geraci home without risk of seeing any dogs.

'There's no 'if' about it. I'm gone!' Peter told the Chicago Tribune in 2015 about his impending move.

But because the 40th floor penthouse is unfinished, it could take a couple of years for the couple to move in, and in the meantime, there are plenty of dogs on the West Hubbard Street building elevator.

'I don't know what they'll do with this case,' Miller said speculating as to whether they would appeal the verdict. 'They certainly take litigation to its extreme.'
Spring City native Rebecca Hilleary is a 2014 graduate of the Early College program at ChattState and has gone on to major in clinical research at Campbell University in North Carolina. She hasnt slowed down since graduating with her associate degree in pre-health from ChattState and plans to graduate with her doctorate in pharmacy in 2020. Rebecca graduated with her associate degree while still in high school and started college with 85 credits making her a junior.

While in college, she has been a part of a wide variety of groups including Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, CPHS Alumni Association, Graduate Clinical Research Organization, and the dance team. Dance has been a great escape from the rigorous coursework and it has provided me with many lifelong friendships and campus connections, she says. Rebecca currently works as a Graduate Assistant for the Department of Clinical Research at her school where she works with adjunct professors on course development and training. She also is the president of the Graduate Clinical Research Organization and National Chapter Liaison for the Student Society of Health Systems.

Similar to her time at ChattState, Rebecca took advantage of courses offered at Campbell and organized a plan that will allow her to graduate with both a bachelors and masters degree in May of 2017. She says, The ChattState dual enrollment degree program taught me valuable skills that I attribute to my success today, such as work ethic, time management, study skills, and fundamental science-based knowledge used for pharmacy school. She also started taking classes toward her degree from pharmacy school. With all of these classes, she takes 20-plus hours each semester and admits that even with all of the success in her life, she still faces challenges and makes sacrifices. A typical day in the life consists of waking up around 6:30 a.m. and working hard until about midnight, she says.

Rebecca developed a love for pharmacy at a very young age from her aunt who is a doctor of pharmacy and pharmacy professor in West Virginia. Rebecca hopes to pursue a two-year residency after she graduates that will allow her to become a clinical pharmacist that works with the physicians in hospitals.

Rebecca will be able to finish her bachelors, a masters, and a doctorate of pharmacy school degree in six years versus the usual 10 years. Each part of my educational plan has been a stepping stone and ChattState laid a solid foundation, she says.

If all goes to plan, she will have completed school with a doctorate in pharmacy at 24 years of age. She says she is excited about the extra time the dual programs have given her to start work sooner and have the means to support a future family. Her boyfriend, Brandon Heath, also took dual enrollment classes through ChattState and is in the medical field working on his medical degree at Lincoln Memorial University.

For more information about Early College opportunities call 423- 697-
China has warned North Korea will 'cross the point of no return' if it carries out a sixth nuclear test amid fears the secretive state can create a nuke every six weeks.

Kim Jong-Un is believed to have personally overseen the country's largest ever firing drill in the port city of Wonsan today.

But fears he was due to conduct another nuclear test or another missile launch to mark 85 years since the founding of its army proved unfounded.

It comes as the state-controlled Chinese Global Times newspaper wrote that North Korea risks serious consequences if it carries out further trials.

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Kim Jong-Un (pictured earlier this month) is believed to have personally overseen the country's largest ever firing drill in the port city of Wonsan today

China has warned North Korea will 'cross the point of no return' if it carries out a sixth nuclear test amid fears the secretive state can create a nuke every six weeks

The editorial warned that 'if North Korea carries out a sixth nuclear test as expected, it is more likely than ever that the situation will cross the point of no return."

This would mean 'all parties would bear the consequences, with Pyongyang sure to suffer the greatest losses,' the paper said.

It comes amid claims Pyongyang is capable of creating as many as eight new nuclear weapons a year.

According to the New York Times there is a 'growing body of expert studies and classified intelligence reports' that believes the North is now able to make a new nuclear bomb every six or seven weeks.

Last night North Korea stepped up the tensions with yet more sabre-rattling.

State newspaper Minju Joson wrote: 'The army of North Korea already declared it will deal merciless destructive blows at the enemies so that they would not come back to life again should they make reckless provocation.

'If our Juche weapons with potentials unimaginable by the US open fire, they will destroy the US forces and their stooges to the last man so that there would not be left even a single man who will sign the surrender document.'

the state-controlled Chinese Global Times newspaper wrote that North Korea risks serious consequences if it carries out further nuclear tests

This morning, the South announced joint naval exercises with a US aircraft carrier in the flashpoint region.

The Yonhap news agency cited an unnamed government source saying Pyongyang marked the anniversary with its 'largest ever firing drill', carried out in the eastern port city of Wonsan and presumed to have been overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un.

North Korea has ambitions to build a missile capable of reaching the US mainland and tensions have soared in recent months as it carried out a string of missile tests that sparked tit-for-tat sabre-rattling between it and Washington.

Pyongyang's rhetoric always intensifies in the spring, when Seoul and Washington hold joint military drills it sees as rehearsals for an invasion.

The North's Rodong Sinmun - the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea - warned Tuesday of dire consequences in the event of a US-led pre-emptive strike.

It promised 'the most brutal punishment... in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice'.

North Korea launched two missile tests this month while US President Donald Trump and his senior aides have warned that 'all options are on the table' against Pyongyang, including military action.

Trump on Monday urged the UN Security Council to consider stronger sanctions against Pyongyang, and US senators will be briefed on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday.

Washington has sent the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula, where it is expected to arrive - after a derision-provoking delay - later this week.

North Korea launched two missile tests this month while US President Donald Trump (pictured) and his senior aides have warned that 'all options are on the table' against Pyongyang, including military action

The vessel will take part in joint naval drills with the South's forces to 'demonstrate Seoul and Washington's strong determination to punish North Korean provocations', the South Korean Navy said in a statement.

They will take place in the East Sea, the South's name for the Sea of Japan, it said, and the two allies will also begin joint naval exercises in the West Sea on Tuesday 'in relation to the current security situation'.

The nuclear-powered US submarine USS Michigan also made a port call to the South's Busan on Tuesday in another show of force.

Trump has said the US was sending an 'armada' to the Korean peninsula, including submarines.

The USS Michigan is built to carry submarine-launched ballistic missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of making precision strikes against the North's nuclear facilities, Yonhap said.

But the South Korean Navy called the vessel's visit 'routine', adding it would not take part in any joint exercises.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull enjoyed a snag with Australian troops during a surprise visit to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Turnbull, who was in the Middle East to commemorate Anzac Day, joined servicemen for a bite to eat at Mess following a ceremony at Camp Baird on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister was pictured digging in to a buffet-style serving of sausages, tomato and baked beans before sitting down to enjoy it between two soldiers.

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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull enjoyed a snag with Australian troops during a surprise visit to Iraq and Afghanistan

Mr Turnbull joined troops at the Australian domestic compound at the Al Minhad Air Base, about 20km south of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

The air base, known as Camp Baird, was named in memory of Corporal Cameron Baird, who was killed in action in Uruzgan province on June 22 in 2013.

During his surprise trip, Mr Turnbull offered Iraq an extra $110 million in humanitarian assistance.

Mr Turnbull said Islamic State had lost 60 per cent of territory once held in Iraq, with more than two million people liberated from its grasp in 2016, and the funding would help combat the terrorist group.

Mr Turnbull, who was in the Middle East to commemorate Anzac Day, joined servicemen for a bite to eat at Mess following a ceremony at Camp Baird on Tuesday

Mr Turnbull stands with troops as they commemorate Anzac Day away from home

'As the coalition military effort forces ISIS out of major population centres, it is important to increase humanitarian and stabilisation assistance to help the Iraqi government lock in security gains,' he and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The funding includes an immediate injection of $10 million for urgent needs arising from an operation to liberate Mosul, and a three-year $100 million assistance package to be included in the upcoming budget.

This package will address humanitarian needs including food, medical assistance and clean water.

'It will focus on protecting the most vulnerable, with a particular emphasis on women and girls,' Mr Turnbull and Ms Bishop said.

The funding brings Australia's humanitarian assistance to Iraq and Syria to more than $530 million since 2014.

The Prime Minister pays his respects as the memorial in Camp Baird as a soldier stands guard

During his trip, Mr Turnbull was seen meeting with leaders from both Iraq and Afghanistan, including Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi in Baghdad and Afghan Ashraf President Ghani in Kabul.

Australia has 270 defence personnel deployed mostly in Kabul, where they provide support and security along with some mentoring recruits at the Afghan National Military Academy.

Since 2002, 42 Australian troops have been killed in Afghanistan and two in Iraq.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined Australian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as he paid his respects ahead of Anzac Day

The Prime Minister paid tribute to their sacrifice on Sunday and Monday.

'This trip was not just an occasion to celebrate Anzac day with Australians (and New Zealanders) who are serving on the front lines, it was an invaluable opportunity to assess the progress of the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan,' the prime minister said in a statement.

'By confronting and defeating the terrorists on the battlefield, we are helping make the world - and Australia - a safer place.'

In an unannounced visit, Mr Turnbull (pictured on Monday) met with servicemen and women in the two countries, while also meeting the two countries' leaders

The prime minister stopped to take a selfie with Australian troops at Camp Taji in Iraq on Sunday

Snap happy: Mr Turnbull looked to be enjoying himself as he stopped for a photo with soldiers at Camp Qargha near Kabul in Afghanistan on Monday

Mr Turnbull was pictured wearing a helmet and body armour during his visit to the Middle East on Sunday and Monday

Mr Turnbull disembarks from a CH-47 Chinook in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday

Mr Turnbull was flown over Kabul in a CH-47 Chinook helicopter by Australian forces on Monday

The prime minister met with scores of troops during the visit to the Middle East on Monday

He also held a meeting with US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, where he reiterated Australia's commitment to defeating terrorism and working alongside US, NATO and Afghan partners to build Afghanistan's security institutions.

The prime minister had earlier paid tribute to the sacrifices of Australian soldiers past and present in his Anzac Day message.

The prime minister said Anzac Day was not an occasion to glorify war but to remember and honour the high cost of the country's freedom and liberty - a price paid in young lives lost far from home.

The day also commemorates the triumph of the human spirit and the patriotism, sacrifice, endurance, courage and mateship of Australian servicemen and women, he said.

'We pay tribute to those who've faced the horrors of war and we reflect on the heavy burden of war still felt by many Australians,' he said in a video posted on Facebook.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets with Australian troops at Camp Taji during a visit to Iraq on Sunday

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets with US Secretary of Defence General (Ret) James Mattis during a visit to Kabul, Afghanistan with Australian Chief of Defence Force Air Marshall Mark Binskin and ISAF Commander General Mick Nicholson on Monday

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets with Afghani President Dr Mohammed Ashraf Ghani at Dilkusha in the grounds of the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday

More than 100,000 Australian men and women have died in service of the nation and many more have been left wounded in body or spirit, Mr Turnbull said.

'Their sacrifice has protected our liberty and our values, and their legacy continues in the work of those who serve today,' he said.

Mr Turnbull said the best way to honour the Anzacs of a century ago was to support the servicemen and women of today as well as veterans and their families.

'On behalf of all Australians, thank you to all those at home and abroad today as your ancestors did before you, in our uniform, under our flag, put their lives on the line to keep us free,' he said.

'In quiet and solemn reflection, with thanks we say, lest we forget.'
Lynn Dorsey was fired after accidentally streaming a nude video to her work account

The tourism director who accidentally livestreamed a nude video on her work Instagram account wants her job back.

Lynn Dorsey, 61, was fired from her post as the Webster Parish, Louisiana tourism director after the 30-minute broadcast was posted on the public Instagram account on December 19.

The sultry video was intended for her husband while she was away on business in Baton Rouge, according to Fox 8 Live.

She filmed the striptease on her company iPhone7.

She told the Minden Press-Herald: 'I am a new Instagram user and, unfortunately, I pressed the wrong button.'

She was placed on leave mid-January and fired in February.

Now, Dorsey is suing to get her job back and seeking paid damages, civil penalties, attorney's fees.

Whoops: Lynn Dorsey streamed the sexy video on her work Instagram for 30 minutes

The video was intended to be sent to her husband Billy (pictured) while she was away

Her suit claims the way she was fired was not fair because the decision to fire her was made in private. She was the executive director for more than 10 years.

The night of the livestream, she said: 'I am mortified. I would never send that type of content out intentionally.'

The suit says the Webster Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau's Tourism Commission board did not 'comply with the requirements of the Louisiana open meetings law,' when they made the executive decision to fire her.

Instagram Live video was a fairly new feature at the time of the broadcast. It was rolled out to iPhone users on December 12.

The Visit Webster Parish Instagram account is now a private Instagram account.
North Korea claims Darwin will be the site of a nuclear war, accusing the U.S. of using Australia to prepare for an attack on its territory.

The accusations were published in Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper of the ruling Worker's Party of North Korea that publishes state propaganda.

Last week, 1,250 U.S. Marines arrived in Darwin for military training exercises with Australian and visiting Chinese forces.

North Korea (leader Kim Jong-Un pictured) claims Darwin will be the site of a nuclear war, accusing the United States of using Australian territory to prepare for war

Last week, 1,250 U.S. Marines arrived in Darwin, along with the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier (pictured), for military training exercises with Australian and visiting Chinese forces

The newspaper claimed the U.S. was 'fanatically, crazily trying to optimise its nuclear war readiness' using the port city.

'This is the largest scale U.S. military presence in Australia after the Second World War,' the newspaper wrote on Monday.

The state mouthpiece also slammed comments by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop advocating sanctions on the totalitarian regime and calling on it abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Rodong Sinmun said Ms Bishop was 'blindly and zealously toeing the U.S. line' as she 'spouted a string of rubbish against the DPRK over its entirely just steps for self-defence'.

Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper of the ruling Worker's Party of North Korea claimed the U.S. was 'fanatically, crazily trying to optimise its nuclear war readiness' using the port city

The state mouthpiece also slammed comments by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop advocating sanctions on the totalitarian regime and calling on it abandon its nuclear weapons program

Rodong Sinmun said Ms Bishop was 'blindly and zealously toeing the U.S. line' as she 'spouted a string of rubbish against the DPRK over its entirely just steps for self-defence'

'It is entirely attributable to the nuclear threat escalated by the US and its anachronistic policy hostile to the DPRK that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to the brink of war in an evil cycle of increasing tensions,' it wrote.

'If Australia persists in following the US moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK and remains a shock brigade of the US master, this will be a suicidal act of coming within the range of the nuclear strike of the strategic force of the DPRK.'

The report referred to U.S. warning to North Korea as 'extreme hostiple policy' that amounted to 'nuclear threats and blackmail', and to Ms Bishop's words as a 'reckless tongue-lashing'

It was in response to the Foreign Minister saying sanctions would send 'the clearest possible message' to the regime that its behaviour would not be tolerated.

The USS Chafee docked in Darwin, one of many American vessels that frequently stops by the port city

Rodong Sinmun in another report claimed the U.S. was using 'gangster-like logic' in its military intervention in Syria and accused it of seeking to apply it to North Korea

She said its threats of nuclear strikes against other nations further underlined the need for it to abandon its illegal nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

'These present a grave threat to its neighbours and, if left unchecked, to the broader region including Australia,' she said.

'The North Korean government should invest in the welfare of its long-suffering citizens, rather than weapons of mass destruction.'

The Korean Central News Agency earlier claimed five million of North Koreas youth 'are hardening their will to wipe out the enemies with the surging rages at them' and were 'waiting for the final order'.

Rodong Sinmun in another report claimed the U.S. was using 'gangster-like logic' in its military intervention in Syria and accused it of seeking to apply it to North Korea.

It said moving American warships to the region was 'pushing the situation to the brink of war' that could break out 'at any moment'.

'The U.S. connives at whatever is launched by its allies, whether it is a missle or a spy satelite but it slings mud at those launched by independent countries,' it wrote.

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has laughed off North Korea's claim that Darwin was being used as a staging post for nuclear war

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has laughed off North Korea's claim that Darwin was being used as a staging post for nuclear war.

'It's not in any way a preparation for a conflagration on the Korean Peninsula,' he told ABC Radio, adding that the base was longstanding Australian Government policy.

'Obviously, we want to avoid any such military action and we want the North Koreans to behave as well as they can, like reasonable, international citizens.

'That means ending their missile testing and not preparing for a nuclear war with either the United States, Japan, South Korea or anyone else for that matter.'

Mr Pyne insisted North Korea didn't yet have the capability to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile that would reach Australia.
ABC presenter and Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied has been slammed for publishing a 'disrespectful' Anzac Day post to Facebook.

'Lest we forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine),' she said on Tuesday afternoon, according to The Australian.

Ms Abdel-Magied quickly deleted the post and said: 'It was brought to my attention that my last post was disrespectful, and for that, I apologise unreservedly.'

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'Lest we forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine),' Yassmin Abdel-Magied (pictured) said

She replaced the controversial post with, 'Lest we forget', but it failed to deter people's outrage.

'No sh** it was disrespectful don't try and hide behind your words. You clearly said it with malicious intent,' one person said.

Ms Abdel-Magied, who hosts the ABC's Australia Wide program, was accused of disrespecting Anzac Day in favour of her own religious agenda.

'Do you know anything about the history of the Anzacs? Do you even care? Because if you did, you would have known better than to make today about your agenda,' she said.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a 25-year-old Sudanese-born writer and founder of Youth Without Borders

'My granddad fought in Second World War for the freedom you now enjoy, shame on you,' another said.

Followers of the 25-year-old warned her original post would not be forgiven nor forgotten.

'Yasmin, I saw your first post. How dare you hijack an Australian special day for your personal agenda,' one woman said.

'You have just proved to everyone what your true colours are,' another woman said.

'Very disrespectful, designed to stir controversy on our national day of remembrance for your own self interests... says a lot about you,' a third person said.

Others were more forgiving.

'I forgive your ignorance. I pity your lack of understanding of what today means. I hope time will make you wiser,' one man said.

Ms Abdel-Magied was accused of disrespecting Anzac Day in favour of her own religious agenda

The 25-year-old is a Sudanese-born writer and the founder of Youth Without Borders

The 25-year-old Sudanese-born writer and founder of Youth Without Borders stirred controversy in February when she told the national broadcaster's Q&A program she observed Sharia as a 'feminist' Muslim woman.

'Do you know what Sharia law is? Do you know what it is? Me praying five times a day is Sharia,' Ms Abdel-Magied said during a fiery exchange with Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie.

It's also been revealed she reached out to global hardline Islamist political group Hizb ut-Tahrir after her polarising television appearance, where she declared Islam to be 'the most feminist religion'.

The 25-year-old founder of Youth Without Borders stirred controversy in February when she told the ABC's Q&A program she observed Sharia as a 'feminist' Muslim woman

Sharia is practised as a legal system imposed by faith courts across much of the Muslim world, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, Yemen and the Indonesian province of Aceh.

The Sharia system is controversial because it includes harsh punishments, known as 'hudud, where thieves have had their hands amputated in Saudi Arabia, Somalia and in Islamic State-controlled areas of northern Iraq and Syria.

A right-wing group called AltCon News posted achange.org petition calling on the ABC to 'publicly condemn and fire Yassmin Abdel-Magied over pro-Sharia law comments'.

She is a Sudanese-born writer who also hosts the ABC's Australia Wide

The group argued that while she did not call for a new legal system in Australia, her support for Sharia means she advocated for Islamic faith courts.

'As Yassmin Abdel-Magied made these comments on the taxpayer-funded Q&A program, and as she is a regularly paid commentator on the taxpayer-funded network, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, needs to reassure the taxpaying public that they condemn her rhetoric and that Australians obey one set of laws, that no religious law is higher than the law of the land and that her blatant lies about this law will not be tolerated or funded by the Australian taxpayers,' the petition said.

The petition attracted 10,613 signatures within a week.
The family of a Vietnam War veteran who died on the eve of Anzac Day have been pictured sitting poignantly beside his casket at a dawn service.

Francis Toko passed away on Monday, the eve of Anzac Day, but his family ensured he would still make it to the Auckland War Memorial Museum for one final service.

The 77-year-old's casket was front and centre for the early morning service, with his family sitting alongside Mr Toko in a moving reminder of the meaning of Anzac Day.

The family of a Vietnam War veteran who died on the eve of Anzac Day have been pictured sitting poignantly beside his casket at a dawn service in Auckland

Although unable to take part in the parade, a favour from a friend of the family at the local funeral home ensured Mr Toko still attended the service.

An officer in the Royal Regiment of the New Zealand Artillery in the 161 Battery, he was stationed at Buckingham Palace prior to joining the Vietnam War.

Mr Toko's oldest son Manu told the New Zealand Herald their family would continue an Anzac Day tradition that meant a lot to their father.

'As soon as the dawn parade finished he would go upstairs for a catch-up with everybody,' Manu said.

Francis Toko passed away on Monday, the eve of Anzac Day, but his family ensure he would still make it to the Auckland War Memorial Museum for the service and the RSA (RSL) afterwards

'Sometimes he would head straight for the RSA in Parnell and from there he would do an RSA crawl, catching up with different members and different ex-members of the military that he knew.'

After missing the previous two services, Mr Toko's family ensured he didn't miss out this year.

Taking their father to the local RSA (RSL), they enjoyed a rum and coke in the carpark before taking the casket to be laid to rest.
A female tourist has been slammed by her own husband after a bizarre video emerged of her racially abusing a group of Fijians in a dispute about property rights.

Footage posted to Facebook allegedly shows the New Zealand woman slapping a man and pushing the group, who she repeatedly swears at and accuses of being on a resort she inherited from her father.

The video, titled 'Foreigner creates trouble in Fijian paradise', ends with the woman screaming after a man, who appeared to be her husband, asked her why she was carrying on.

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Video footage shows the women repeatedly swearing and abusing a group of Fijians

Near the end of the nine-minute video, the woman refers to the Fijians as 'monkeys'

'I want these f***wits to go,' she replied.

'Because they're monkeys. They're f***ing f***wits.'

Her husband reprimanded her: 'You've got no right to say that.'

The woman overlooked her husband's suggestion that her property dispute had nothing to to with the group of Fijian people at the resort.

'Could you leave me alone, Warren. This is my money,' she said.

The heated exchange began nine minutes earlier when the woman confronted the group, repeatedly asking whether a man had been 'arrested.'

A man appearing to be the woman's husband told her off for her behaviour in Fiji

'Stop touching me. This is my property. This is my money,' she said before allegedly hitting one of the men.

One of the Fijian men replies, 'Don't you dare. You're very stupid, you know that?.'

The woman replies that she is going to the police before a loud shriek is heard.

'Stop touching me. Get him off my premises,' she said.

She later asks them: 'I own this property. Who the f*** are you?'

A man tells her to pack her stuff so she can return to New Zealand the next day.

At another point, the woman told a Fijian man he was 'disgusting' after she was told to 'shut up'

'You are not a Fijian,' he said. 'Shut up.'

The woman replied: 'You are disgusting.'

She then claimed her father left her the property after he died in Cyclone Bola in 1988.

'This is my property. It is my property,' she wailed.

'I'm your boss. I own this property. My daddy died, he was a school principal.'

A Fijian man had taunted the woman to punch her after he had told her to pack her bags

The situation became tense when the Fijian man sarcastically asked the woman if she wanted him to attend the funeral.

The woman replied it was 20 years ago.

'That's really horrible. My dad died,' she said before being told to 'shut up.'

The men then became aggressive, challenging her to punch them and threatening to force her off the island.

'You'll be arrested. Tomorrow you'll pack your stuff and go back to New Zealand. You wait, I'll do it,' he said.

The Fijian's man wife told the New Zealander she needed psychiatric help and was a drama queen.

She claimed they also took a video of the woman allegedly throwing a punch at her.
Shocking footage of a reckless mother who was filmed proudly driving with her baby on her lap has sparked outrage online.

A passenger with a smartphone filmed the woman and her child in a Hyundai car in the city of Saratov in south west Russia.

The one-year-old child, who is not wearing a seatbelt, is seen looking through a notebook as the unidentified woman drives through busy streets.

At one point, as the car waits for a gap in the traffic to turn right, the mother grabs the child's hand to make it wave to the camera.

Online commentators reacted angrily after the footage was posted on video-sharing websites.

They urged police to track down and prosecute the woman for negligence and for endangering a minor.

Commenter Zinaida Konovalova said: 'I hope someone from the local police sees this video and takes an interest.

Shocking footage of a reckless mother who was filmed proudly driving with her baby on her lap has sparked outrage online

'This woman should be punished, she has no freaking brain, and she also endangers other people.'

Alexander Nazarov commented: 'Such an idiotic woman. There are so many accidents involving kids simply because of people like her.'

An anonymous user of a local internet forum added: 'And how can the number of accidents on our roads go down when people do stuff like that?

'If you don't care about your own life, you can at least think about your baby!'
Three senior Tories dramatically quit a pro-EU pressure group today after it issued a 'blatantly partisan' hit list of MPs for ousting in the snap election.

The tactic, which has been backed by Tony Blair, will see Europhile activists flood 20 constituencies where sitting MPs were said to favour 'Brexit at all costs'.

Politicians in the cross-hairs include senior Tory Iain Duncan Smith and Labour's Kate Hoey.

But the plan unravelled as senior Conservatives Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan and Dominic Grieve have resigned from the Open Britain group in protest - complaining that the campaign is little more than an attempt to get Blairites elected.

Former minister Ms Soubry pointed out that her Tory colleague Nicola Blackwood was on the list despite having supported Remain in the referendum battle.

'I am leaving Open Britain, who have chosen to campaign against excellent One Nation Conservatives like Nicola Blackwood. This sort of blatant partisanship further divides our country when we must all come together,' she wrote on Twitter.

Former minister Anna Soubry resigned from the Open Britain group today in protest at the 'blatantly partisan' hit list

Former Cabinet ministers Dominic Grieve and Nicky Morgan also said they could no longer support the group

Tony Blair has said he 'fully supports' efforts to make sure voters know where their MPs stand on Brexit, and has urged Opposition parties to focus the election campaign on the subject

A joint statement released by Ms Soubry with ex-Cabinet ministers Mrs Morgan and Mr Grieve said: 'As long standing Conservative Party members and MPs it is untenable for us to play any further role in an organisation, such as Open Britain, which is advocating campaigning against Conservative MPs or candidates.'

The anti-Brexit push is being organised by the Open Britain, European Movement and Britain for Europe groups. It comes amid desperate efforts to limit Theresa May's negotiating position in divorce talks with the EU.

The Prime Minister has urged voters to give her a strong mandate so she can drive a hard bargain with Brussels.

The pro-European groups will draw on their database of 600,000 activists to target Brexiteers and support Europhile MPs like Labour's Mary Creagh, Conservative Neil Carmichael and Green MP Caroline Lucas.

Labour former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson, an Open Britain board member, said: 'As a former European trade commissioner, I have seen such negotiations from the inside.

'For Britain to get the best possible trade deal, it is totally counter-productive for Theresa May to go into them with a rigid set of red lines.'

Mr Blair, who has already hinted that he could make a return to frontline politics despite dire ratings with the public, urged Opposition parties to paint the election as about Brexit.

'The purpose of the various interventions in the election by European campaigns, which I fully support, is.. to make sure that voters know where candidates stand on the Brexit issue before they cast their vote, whether Tory, Lib Dem or Labour.

THE MPs WHO ARE BEING TARGETED BY PRO-EU ACTIVISTS Kate Hoey (Labour, Vauxhall) Lady Victoria Borwick (Conservative, Kensington) David Burrowes (Conservative, Enfield Southgate) Nicola Blackwood (Conservative, Oxford West and Abingdon) Charlotte Leslie (Conservative, Bristol North West) Theresa Villiers (Conservative, Chipping Barnet) James Berry (Conservative, Kingston and Surbiton) Matthew Offord (Conservative, Hendon) Maria Caulfield (Conservative, Lewes) Steve Baker (Conservative, Wycombe) Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative, Chingford and Woodford Green) Byron Davies (Conservative, Gower) Paul Scully (Conservative, Sutton and Cheam) Gavin Robinson (DUP, Belfast East) Christopher Davies (Conservative, Brecon and Radnorshire) William Wragg (Conservative, Hazel Grove) Luke Hall (Conservative, Thornbury and Yate) James Heappey (Conservative, Wells) Derek Thomas (Conservative, St Ives) Caroline Ansell (Conservative, Eastbourne) Advertisement

'This campaign against Brexit at any cost is cross-party, as it should be, and, indeed, some people may, on the back of this, support tactical voting. But that is not my objective.'

A spokesman for Open Britain said: It is understandable that during an election campaign, political differences between members of different parties become magnified.

Open Britain represents activists from all political persuasions who want to campaign against a hard Brexit and for a continued close relationship with Europe.

As a grassroots organisation, weve had thousands of emails from our supporters asking how and where they should campaign during the General Election and we are trying to direct them to where they can make the biggest difference in the fight against hard Brexit.

The Government have made this into a Brexit election, so it would be surprising if Open Britains volunteers did want to get involved.

There is no way of getting involved in an election like this, without campaigning for or against members of one party or another, so it was always going to disappoint some within a cross-party organisation.

Our key seats list will continue to include support for those willing to campaign against hard Brexit from across the political spectrum.'

Meanwhile, Labour has attempted to clear up its muddled position on Brexit today - pledging to make retaining the benefits of the single market and customs union a top priority if it wins on June 8.

The party would guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK on day one of taking power without protections in place for Britons in Europe.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer called for the Government's existing negotiating plans to be scrapped.

A Bill to transfer relevant EU laws to Britain would also be replaced with legislation that would protect employment and consumer rights as well as environmental protections when powers are repatriated.

The party insisted that failing to reach a deal with Brussels is not an option and will promise to give Parliament a meaningful vote on the final agreement.

But Sir Kier did admit that freedom of movement cannot be kept in place after we leave the EU.

Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith, left, and Labour's Kate Hoey are among the Brexiteers being targeted by the pro-EU groups

Ms Soubry made clear her fury at the Open Britain campaign in posts on Twitter

Former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson, a board member of Open Britain, said he was determined to stop the government adopting 'rigid negotiating positions'
Malcolm Turnbull said Tuesday he was looking forward to meeting face-to-face soon with President Donald Trump - three months after their heated telephone conversation over an Obama-era refugee deal.

The Prime Minister was speaking to reporters at the al-Minhad air base in the United Arab Emirates after meeting in Afghanistan with Defense Secretary James Mattis and greeting Australian troops in the Middle East ahead of Veterans' Day commemorations.

Mr Turnbull met with Vice President Mike Pence in Sydney over the weekend.

Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) said on Tuesday he is looking forward to soon meeting face-to-face with U.S. President Donald Trump - three months after their heated telephone conversation

Mr Turnbull said this week he will announce his visit with Mr Trump (pictured during his argument with Mr Turnbull) 'very shortly'

Mr Pence's visit was intended to smooth over any lingering hard feelings after Mr Turnbull's contentious phone call to Mr Trump on January 28 over a refugee resettlement deal struck by the previous Obama administration.

Mr Turnbull said this week he will announce his visit with Mr Trump 'very shortly.'

The meeting will reportedly take place in New York.

'We've had very good meetings with Vice President Pence and the Defense Secretary James Mattis just in the last few days. I look forward to continuing those discussions with President Trump and will do so at an early opportunity,' Mr Turnbull said.

Australia is unhappy with Mr Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Under the refugee resettlement agreement, the U.S. will take up to 1,250 refugees that Australia houses in detention camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Mr Turnbull visited Australian troops in the Middle East this week ahead of Veteran's Day commemorations (pictured)

The Prime Minister met with Vice President Mike Pence (pictured with his wife and two daughters) in Sydney over the weekend

Mr Trump, who campaigned on tough-on-immigration policies, was enraged by the agreement, prompting a tense phone call with Mr Turnbull and an angry tweet in which the president dubbed the deal 'dumb.'

White House spokesman Sean Spicer's subsequent mispronunciation of Mr Turnbull's name as 'Trumbull' did not help matters.

The fallout has left relations between the U.S. and Australia at their lowest point since the Vietnam War, when Australia's then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam criticized a series of bombings authorized by then-President Richard Nixon.

Mr Turnbull on Tuesday left open the possibility of Australia increasing its military contribution in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

He also announced an additional $110 million [AUD] over three years in humanitarian and stabilization assistance for Iraq.
Del Taco Restaurants, Inc., a Mexican quick service restaurant, signed a multi-unit franchise development agreement that will extend the brands presence into Tennessee. Led by restaurateur Tom Getz, development efforts include plans to open the first of seven units in the broader Chattanooga area by 2019. Initial locations are slated to open throughout Hamilton and Bradley Counties in Tennessee, as well as expansion into Whitfield, Catoosa and Gordon Counties in Georgia.Operating under Jetz Foods LLC, Mr.Getz and his partner Billy Jensen have over 31 years of experience in the industry, including owning and operating 21 Little Caesars restaurants in Georgia and Tennessee."We are extremely impressed with Del Taco, from the food and operations to marketing and leadership, and we wanted to be a part of this exciting brand as it expands across the country, said Mr. Getz. No other quick-service concept in the greater Chattanooga area offers the same level of freshness and quality of food with the value and convenience of a drive-thru, and were confident new guests will love having Del Taco close by.Currently operating over 550 locations across 15 states, and with a focus on growth in the southeastern and western regions of the United States, Del Taco continues to build a stronger national presence by entering new territories while infilling existing markets through both corporate and franchise development.Del Taco has been strategically expanding its presence in the Southeast, and were excited to keep the momentum going by adding a new state and a great franchisee to our roster while expanding our presence in Georgia, now up to 11 units open or under construction, said Laura Tanaka, director of franchise development. As excitement for the Del Taco brand continues to build, weve prioritized our Southeastern growth efforts, with planned developments in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, and are committed to bringing our delicious Mexican and American favorites to even more guests in the region in the coming years.
A 54-year-old Japanese man has been arrested after he was found living in the roof space above a public toilet.

Takashi Yamanouchi lived in the confined space for three years, police were told, and officers found him surrounded by bottles of his own urine.

Also found in Mr Yamanouchi's unusual home was a gas stove, heater, clothes and a magazine.

Takashi Yamanouchi lived in the confined space above these public toilets for three years, police were told

Authorities in Usuki, in the east of Japan, were called after an electrician, who had been called to service the restroom to install a light, spotted a man's shadow.

Stunned workers accessed the space through a 50-square-centimetre service hatch, and had to crawl in order to get into Mr Yamanouchi's makeshift home.

Among the possessions discovered in the home were 300 bottles, both two litre and 500ml, filled with his urine. It is not clear why he was collecting it, The Mainichi reports.

The man was taken into custody, where police learned he had been homeless for 10 years. He now faces trespassing charges.

He discovered the space above the toilets when someone else climbed through the hole, and for a period Mr Yamanouchi shared his space with him.
Hilarious footage of an intoxicated holidaying couple struggling to get back to their hotel room has gone viral.

The elderly pair had enjoyed a night in the bar during a trip to Turkey and footage of them helplessly trying to negotiate the stairs was posted online.

The video shows the intoxicated couple desperately clinging on to each other as they made their way down a set of stairs by the pool.

Hilarious footage shows a holidaying couple (left and right) who appear to have enjoyed one too many drinks at the hotel bar struggling to get back to their room

Struggling to maintain their balance they slowly moved down the steps, as amused holidaymakers looked on.

When they finally reached the lower level the man raised his hands in triumph.

But it appeared that his celebrations were premature as his wife went to grab her husband's arm, the pair lost balance and tumbled into a parked car.

The video shows the intoxicated couple desperately clinging on to each other as they made their way down a set of stairs by the pool and towards a car park. When they finally reached the lower level the man raised his hands in triumph (left)

They laid the ground until a passer-by came over to help.

It is not known whether the pair made it back to their or how horrendous their hangover was the next day.

The clip has now gone viral with more than 110,000 views on LiveLeak.com.

One viewer said: ' Both of them were having such a good time!'

Another added: 'They're going to regret that in the morning.'
Historian Jeff Chandler was booked to give talks during a round-the-world cruise trip

A respected British historian has been banned from giving military lectures on board a cruise ship after dozens of German passengers complained.

Jeff Chandler, 83, was booked to give talks during a round-the-world trip run by Cruise & Maritime Voyages, with his first being on the Dunkirk evacuation.

But dozens of passengers took offence to the Swindon-based speaker's opening lecture and complained, before he gave his second talk on Crimea.

Mr Chandler said his next talk would be on Winston Churchill, but 30 of the 88 German passengers on board complained, reported The Sun.

The historian's talks were then axed by CMV  including one on Anzac Day on the Gallipoli campaign, which left Australian passengers disappointed.

Fellow passenger Ted Keogh, who is a former Metropolitan Police officer, told Sun reporter Dan Sales that the ban was 'appalling'.

The historian's talks were axed by Cruise & Maritime Voyages, which said it was an 'informed decision' based on allegations 'as to the overall conduct of the particular lecturer on board'

He said: 'Jeff is a great speaker and simply tells it like it was without any bias. If some guests found the subject matter uncomfortable, surely they could just stay away?'

And George Woollons added: 'Maybe they are getting their own back [after Brexit]. Either way it's a terrible decision. Cow towing to a few Germans is pretty pathetic.'

Mr Chandler has not yet commented because he is still under contract with CMV, which has existed for eight years and is based in Purfleet, Essex.

He is still on the boat which is due to arrive back in Britain on Friday next week  but his lecture slots have been taken by a German professor, according to the Sun.

Troops are pictured being evacuated from Dunkirk aboard the paddle steamer Oriole in 1940. Mr Chandler's first talk on the CMV round-the-world cruise ship was on the evacuation

The Evacuation of Dunkirk, as painted by Charles Cundall. The British evacuated more than 350,000 British, Belgian, French, and Polish troops from northern France in June 1940

Mr Chandler has been speaking on cruise ships since 2009 and has made over 275 presentations worldwide.

Popular speaker who served in the RAF Mr Chandler is as a chartered engineer and served in the Royal Air Force, before teaching at the Royal Military College of Science, which is now known as the Defence Academy. It was here that he developed a passion for the Second World War and upon retirement he became a battlefield tour guide. He has taken groups to France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Malaya and Singapore and has visited most of the major battlefield sites worldwide. Advertisement

The CMV website says that his 'very popular talks are praised for being well informed and well balanced and are enjoyed by the whole family'.

It adds that he is 'accompanied on board with his wife Cynthia and they enjoy meeting the passengers especially if they have any anecdotes relating to WWII'.

But a CMV spokesman told MailOnline: 'We are very sorry to hear that some passengers were not satisfied with the cancellation of a series of History lectures covering the 19th and 20th century.

'This was an informed decision based not on the quality and standard of the lectures themselves, but rather certain allegations by passengers as to the overall conduct of the particular lecturer on board and we apologise for any inconvenience caused due to the regrettable cancellation of these lectures.'
A conman who posed as a priest, doctor and charity founder even managed to fool his wife during a four-decade campaign of deception.

Convicted fraudster Kenner Jones, originally of Wales, has been on the run for the past 14 years after fleeing ahead of a trial in East Sussex.

He has previously been jailed three times for theft, fraud, forgery and obtaining money by deception and has around 60 convictions in total.

Now ex-wife Lee Mackenzie has written a book about life with the conman which she hopes will help track him down.

Lee Mackenzie, left, has written a book about her conman ex-husband Kenner Jones, revealing what life was like married to a serial fraudster. The couple are pictured on their wedding day in 1982

Ms Mackenzie, pictured, originally from Canada, met Jones while on holiday in north Wales in 1979 and they married three years later. They split after she discovered he was using her bank account to write fake cheques and taking money from her family after claiming she was 'dying'

Ms Mackenzie, 63, from Canada, met Jones while on holiday in north Wales in 1979 and the couple exchanged love letters over the next few years, with Jones writing he had been in prison for inadvertent fraud while helping a friend.

She told the Times: The man who presented himself to me in those letters was charming, intelligent, funny, well-versed on world affairs. I fell in love with him through the mail.

They married in 1982 and moved to Buckinghamshire, but Ms Mackenzie eventually discovered their savings had disappeared and that Jones had been using her empty bank account in Canada to write fake cheques, leading to her learning about his criminal past.

Despite briefly reconciling, their relationship ended after she discovered he had taken money from her extended family by claiming she was dying.

Ms Mackenzie told the Times: I have been told he is a psychopath, a narcissist, has imposter syndrome. I believe he is missing something inside: a conscience. When he lies he does not give off the usual signs which would alert you.

She added he had plausible explanations for everything and she found it difficult to prove he was lying.

Jones has been on the run for 14 years since absconding the night before a trial in 2003. He has 60 previous convictions and has posed as a priest and a doctor, pictured right, in Africa in recent years

Jones, pictured in Africa, was also found to have set up a charity in Africa

Ms Mackenzie, pictured on her wedding day with Jones, said she hoped the book would help track him down

Ms Mackenzie said she is not looking for an apology from Jones but wants to meet him again to understand his reasons for the deceptions and warn others against being conned.

Writing on her blog, she said: Perhaps this is the right time [to write a book] for a number of reasons. For me, finally able to face the story without looking away.

For Kenner, I have no idea. I hold no pre-conceived hope of healing, resolution, or change for him. His life choices are his responsibility.

For everyone else, I hope its entertaining. If it serves as any sort of a cautionary tale, all the better.

The Charming Predator also reveals how Jones wooed Ms Mackenzie with love letters while they were living in separate countries

She added: Almost 35 years after my close encounter with Kenner Elias Jones I have made good progress in forgiving myself and facing my responsibility for what happened to me.

In recent years former choirboy Jones has been traced to Portugal and Africa, posing as a doctor in Kenya for seven years without any qualifications and even setting up a charity called Lukes Fund.

He also claimed to be a priest and lived among a Christian community in Kenya, according to the BBC Wales.

The broadcaster also tracked him down in Lisbon on its Week In Week Out programme in 2011, claiming he had swindled a travel agent out of tickets from Uganda to Lisbon worth 2,160 and had also been targeting local businesses.

His previous convictions include being jailed at the Old Bailey in 1975 for theft and forgery. In 1980 he also received a 15-month jail sentence for obtaining money by deception at Coventry Crown Court.

Then in 1996 he received an 18-month prison sentence for deception and fraud.

He was due to stand trial over fraud at Lewes Crown Court in 2003 but fled the night before and has not been caught in the UK since.

The Charming Predator is published by Doubleday and is available online and in paperback.
Nicola Sturgeon admitted today her plan to press ahead with a new independence referendum would have to be postponed until after the election.

The SNP leader had vowed to outline the 'next steps' to force a re-run of the 2014 poll when Theresa May rejected official pleas to call one.

The threat was widely seen as signalling SNP plans to hold an unofficial referendum in defiance of Westminster.

But today Ms Sturgeon admitted her plot would have to wait, prompting scorn from Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson.

The concession came after a bombshell poll showed support for independence has slumped to 40 per cent.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon clashed with Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson in the Scottish Parliament today as the battle for power continued

The Kantar poll found that, once don't knows are removed, 60 per cent would vote No to independence while only 40 per cent would vote Yes

A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon said she initially proposed doing it after the Scottish local authority elections on May 4, but that was before Prime Minister Theresa May decided to hold a snap General Election on June 8.

He stated: 'Initial thinking had been to do it after the local elections, we now obviously have another election to factor in, so it would be reasonable to expect it to be some time after the UK election.'

It comes after Ms Sturgeon was attacked by her rivals after she said the General Election was not about independence

She told STV: 'This election is not deciding whether or not Scotland is independent.'

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the SNP leader risked becoming a 'laughing stock', saying: 'For the last few months, everyone in Scotland has seen her do nothing else but campaign for an unwanted second independence referendum.

'Yet now there's an election on, she suddenly tells people independence isn't the issue for her and orders her troops - don't mention the 'i' word.

'After the last few months of talking about nothing else, who does she think she's kidding?'

According to a poll out today, backing for Ms Sturgeon's demand for a new vote on tearing up the UK has sunk to just 26 per cent.

It is the latest sign that the SNP leader is out of step with public opinion as the snap election called by Theresa May looms.

The findings are a blow for Nicola Sturgeon, pictured on a visit to a women's aid centre in Edinburgh today

Miss Sturgeon met Nosim Mwiki, aged 4, during a visit to the Shakti Women's Aid centre in Edinburgh today

Miss Sturgeon and the Prime Minister have been trading blows over the prospects for a second referendum - with Mrs May flatly refusing to hold a vote before the Brexit process is complete.

The SNP is desperately trying to staunch the flow of pro-Union voters to the Tories, who could claim as many as 12 seats north of the border on June 8.

The poll of 1,060 Scots published today by Kantar shows that just 26 per cent of Scots support Miss Sturgeon's timetable for another referendum potentially as early as autumn next year.

Some 46 per cent said there should never be another vote on Scotland's future.

The research also found that, when don't knows are removed, 60 per cent would vote No.

Only 40 per cent said they would vote Yes  indicating support has fallen back considerably since the 2014 vote.

Crucially, the poll also indicated that one in five of those who voted SNP last year are against another referendum.

Speaking at a union conference in Aviemore yesterday, Miss Sturgeon sought to portray the referendum as about Brexit rather than independence.

'People who want to make sure Scotland has got strong voices against the Conservatives at this election need to vote for the SNP, because that is what this election above all else is about,' she said.

'The election won't decide whether or not Scotland will become independent - we got a mandate for a referendum in the election last year.

'This is about whether Scotland's voice is heard and Scotland's interests protected.

Theresa May is hoping to bolster her majority at Westminster with the snap election

Mrs Sturgeon, pictured on a visit in Edinburgh today, has demanded a fresh independence vote as early as autumn next year

Nicola Sturgeon, pictured at a union conference in Aviemore yesterday, and the Prime Minister have been trading blows over the prospects for a second referendum

'There is a clear choice and a vote for the Tories is not some pain-free tactical vote  it has consequences. It will do what Theresa May has asked for, it will strengthen her hand.'

Polls published over the weekend showed that the Conservatives, led in Scotland by Ruth Davidson, are on course to win up to 12 seats in Scotland.

The SNP is currently facing losing up to 11 of the 56 seats it won in 2015.

It suggests that growing numbers of pro-Union voters who backed the SNP two years ago because they were told the party would be 'stronger for Scotland' and would not use their vote to demand a second independence referendum are now switching to the Tories.

Miss Sturgeon dismissed the chances of Jeremy Corbyn forming a government.

Scottish Conservative MSP Miles Briggs said: 'There is one cast-iron rule about the SNP: whenever it says something has got nothing to do with independence, it's a sure fire way of knowing it has everything to do with independence.

'Just like she did in the after the Brexit vote last year, Nicola Sturgeon wants to try to use this election to boost her flagging case for a referendum. Everybody knows that.'

Tony Blair backs Remoaner 'hit list' of key Brexiteers to be targeted for ousting

Tony Blair has backed a Remoaner 'hit list' of key Brexiteers to be targeted for ousting in the snap election.

Pro-EU activists are set to flood 20 constituencies where sitting MPs favour 'Brexit at all costs'.

Those in the cross-hairs of the campaign include senior Tory Iain Duncan Smith and Labour's Kate Hoey.

The bid - being organised is being organised by the Open Britain, European Movement and Britain for Europe groups with the 'full support' of Mr Blair - comes amid desperate efforts to limit Theresa May's negotiating position in Brexit talks.

Tony Blair has said he 'fully supports' efforts to make sure voters know where their MPs stand on Brexit, and has urged Opposition parties to focus the election campaign on the subject

Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith, left, and Labour's Kate Hoey are among the Brexiteers being targeted by the pro-EU groups

The Prime Minister has urged voters to give her a strong mandate so she can drive a hard bargain with Brussels.

The pro-European groups will draw on their database of 600,000 activists to target Brexiteers and support Europhile MPs like Labour's Mary Creagh, Conservative Neil Carmichael and Green MP Caroline Lucas.

Labour former Cabinet minister Lord Mandelson, an Open Britain board member, said: 'As a former European trade commissioner, I have seen such negotiations from the inside.

'For Britain to get the best possible trade deal, it is totally counter-productive for Theresa May to go into them with a rigid set of red lines.'

Mr Blair, who has already hinted that he could make a return to frontline politics despite dire ratings with the public, urged Opposition parties to paint the election as about Brexit.
A technical glitch has been blamed after first class train tickets between two towns 64 miles apart were reportedly being sold for 10,000.

The price is said to have been quoted for a ticket between Taunton, Somerset, and Trowbridge, Wiltshire, to travel on June 20 - 9,987.30 more expensive than the standard class fare.

The journey would cost around 156 a minute for the trip which includes a change at Westbury.

Passengers were quoted a staggering 10,000 for a rail journey of less than 65 miles

Passengers seeking to travel between Taunton and Trowbridge were astounded to discover Great Western Railway were quoting 10,000 for a First Class Single for the 64-mile journey

Passengers making the trip could have saved more than 9,000 by opting for a standard ticket

Screenshots of the error have been shared widely on social media - with one Twitter user saying the sky-high price would be considered normal in the capital.

User Daravel-Fox said: '10,000 first class railway ticket. Sounds like standard prices for via London trains.'

While Ryan Laird tweeted: 'I knew UK train prices were bad at times but 10,000 for a train ticket?'

Another user, SomersetSunshin, said: '10,000.00 for a 1st class return ticket from Taunton to Trowbridge on your website, is that a joke glitch?'

A Great Western Railway spokesman told the Wiltshire Times: 'We are aware of an IT glitch which has published fares for a first class journey that does not exist.

'We are working to remedy this as soon as possible.

'Anytime single fares between Taunton and Trowbridge are available from 12.70.'
A stray puppy that got its head stuck while trying to pass through a narrow hole in a wall was rescued after an hour-long operation at a university campus in Hyderabad, India.

The five-month-old pup was heard wailing with its head stuck in the wall of the School of Life Sciences building at the University of Hyderabad.

The canine was rescued by the members of Animal Warriors India, an animal activist group, on March 28.

Students living in nearby hostels noticed the puppy in distress and informed the rescuers.

Pradeep Nair, founder of Animal Warriors India, said: 'The wall had a lot of holes and the puppy was trying to pass through one of them when it got stuck.

'As her skin was soft it was easy for her to get into the hole, but then her head got stuck.

'At first, we thought of breaking the wall, but we changed our mind thinking the wall was old and it might collapse.

A stray puppy that got its head stuck while trying to pass through a narrow hole in a wall was rescued after an hour-long operation at a university campus in Hyderabad, India

The five-month-old pup was heard wailing with its head stuck in the wall of the School of Life Sciences building at the University of Hyderabad

'So we poured coconut oil around the neck of the puppy that enabled us to push its stuck head out of the hole.'

Commenters online were very impressed with the animal rescue effort.

Naa Nii said: 'Super great job.'

Sita Kavalipurapu added: 'Great job!'
Pamela Anderson has boasted about her 'special relationship' with exiled WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and advised the US, UK and France to have a 'threesome'.

The ex-Baywatch star is rumoured to be dating Assange, who has been hiding at London's Ecuadorian Embassy for five years to avoid a rape allegation in Sweden.

In her latest bizarre poem, Anderson declared that Assange - who she has visited at least nine times in six months - was just 'trying to help' and should not be 'illegally detained'.

The former Playboy model also compared the US to a 'freakish lover or stalker' who spied on the UK and inexplicably concluded that she wanted to 'bring sexy back'.

Pamela Anderson has boasted about her 'special relationship' with exiled WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (right) and advised the US, UK and France to have a 'threesome'

Pamela shared the poem - entitled 'I Like How You Resist Me' - on her blog, the Pamela Anderson Foundation on Monday.

She started by offering advice to Donald Trump and Theresa May on 'special relationships' - based on her 'own special relationship with Julian Assange'.

Pamela said that the tense political climate caused by the upcoming UK election and rising security threats in the US made it the right time to 'discuss politics romantically'.

'It is a romantic struggle,' she said.

'Things that the USA and UK bring to the relationship are Bad secrecy laws. Keeping Julian illegally detained. Hating transparency and Bombing countries.'

The glamour model referred to the US as a 'dysfunctional lover' who 'spied on' the UK by reading emails and listening to calls.

Pamela also advised creating a 'bilateral extradition treaty' so that the UK and US seemed less like a lord and a vassal' - or a 'dominant and submissive partner'.

In her latest bizarre poem, Anderson declared that the 45-year-old was just 'trying to help' and should not be 'illegally detained'. Pictured visiting him at the Ecuadorian embassy last year laden with vegan snacks

Pamela shared the poem (pictured), titled 'I Like How You Resist Me' on her blog, the Pamela Anderson Foundation on Monday. She started by offering advice to Donald Trump and Theresa May on 'special relationships' - based on her 'own special relationship with Julian Assange'

The mother-of-two also voiced her opinions on political tensions in the Middle East.

'Agree with other countries to stop arming and destabilising the Middle East. War is a racket.

'Subordinating safety and human rights to the profit motives of arms exporters is not strong, or sexy,' she penned.

Anderson added that 'openness and honesty' were crucial to any relationship.

'Other relationship issues to work on jointly: Openness and honesty are a must in any relationship. So, need to get rid of approaching everything with secrecy and cover up.

'Stop abusing espionage and secrecy laws. Can't stop? Then get rid of them - and replace them with laws that can't be abused.

'Stop shouting and punishing people who offer them help (as if a couple would turn against a relationship counsellor?) - Julian is trying to help,' she wrote.

The model concluded by writing: 'I can't help but think romantically. That is where my compass lays. In love and compassion.

Anderson and Assange, who fears he will be extradited to the US for questioning over the activities of whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks if he leaves the building, met through fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood

Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden over a rape allegation from 2010, and has avoided extradition by living in the embassy since June 2012

'To apply common sense relationship advice might be the key. We must not forget how to make love... But, war.

'No more war! And no walls! (around countries or embassies). I will stay relentlessly engaged. Like it or not.'

Anderson and Assange, who fears he will be extradited to the US for questioning over the activities of whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks if he leaves the building, met through fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.

Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden over a rape allegation from 2010, and has avoided extradition by living in the embassy since June 2012.

In February Anderson was seen bringing vegan cheeseburgers from the Mildreds chain to Assange. She was first spotted at hiss residence in September 2014.

The actress has previously referred to Assange as her 'dear friend', saying she would not be surprised if people reduced their connection to 'just a sexual relationship'.

In a poem earlier this month, she wrote: 'My relationship with Julian - it's no secret. He is one of my favourite people and he might be the most famous, most politicised refugee of our time.

In a post from March, Pamela penned: 'Julian Assange is the most intelligent, interesting, and informed man in existence. Yes- I think he's quite sexy'. Pictured, in her Baywatch years

'Famous for being persecuted is not a position of power but a position of vulnerability. I am concerned.

'Julian is a human being who is extremely empathetic and cares deeply about the world. And because of his work he has made some powerful enemies in a few countries, America especially, by exposing them.'

She added: 'Julian is trying to free the world by educating it. It is a romantic struggle. I love him for this.'

In yet another post from March, she penned: 'Julian Assange is the most intelligent, interesting, and informed man in existence. Yes- I think he's quite sexy. He has tremendous strength and stamina- though vulnerable.'

She also wrote that his intentions were good and that the 2010 rape allegations are untrue. The 45-year-old Australian national has been living in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition since June 2012.

Anderson said she is now advocating for men who were falsely accused of rape.

She ended the note on her blog praising the work of whistle blowers, saying they make the world a safer place.
The boss of torture claims lawyers Leigh Day emailed Phil Shiner to raise concerns that Iraqi cases against British troops had been 'concocted'.

Leigh Day pursued false allegations that British troops tortured and executed innocent Iraqis in cold blood despite holding strong evidence that the accusers were murderous, lying militia fighters, it is alleged.

Senior solicitors turned a blind eye and continued to hound Army personnel as part of a lucrative business that raked in 9.5million, a Solicitors Disciplinary tribunal heard.

Pictures emerged (from left) of Anna Crowther, acting senior partner Russell Levy, Martyn Day, Sapna Malik and managing partner Frances Swaine arriving at the tribunal

(Left to right) Anna Crowther, Martyn Day and Sapna Malik arrive at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in London

Leigh Day lawyers are also accused of failing to disclose some of its Iraqi clients were members of the Mahdi Army militia group.

The solicitors cooperated with BBC Panorama to publicise their claims.

They also failed to examine discrepancies in their claimants' accounts, including one who said his nephew had been strangled - although the death certificate made no mention of it.

Partner Martin Day, Sapna Malik and the law firm face 19 misconduct charges, while fellow solicitor Anna Crowther faces one allegation. If found guilty, they could be struck off. All deny any wrongdoing.

Mr Day held a joint press conference with Mr Shiner, of disgraced firm Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), making multiple allegations of misconduct by the army during the Iraq War.

During the the conference the pair revealed the allegations made by their clients that British Army personnel had 'killed, tortured and mistreated' Iraqi prisoners, including the execution of 20 and the torture of nine others.

Representing the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Timothy Dutton QC, told the panel the press conference was a 'joint enterprise between the two solicitors'.

During the press conference Mr Day said: 'We believe our clients allegations are likely to be true.'

Mr Day held a joint press conference with Phil Shiner, of disgraced firm Public Interest Lawyers, making multiple allegations of misconduct by the army during the Iraq War, the tribunal heard

Mr Dutton said: 'They aligned themselves with the claims of their clients and added their professional weight to them.'

PIL has since closed down and its lead lawyer, Phil Shiner, was struck off for misconduct but the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The tribunal was also shown several emails between Mr Day and Mr Shiner ahead of the press conference to coordinate the script.

In one Mr Day wrote: 'This is going to be a big deal. We want this to be seen as a joint initiative.'

In another he said: 'It could of course be argued they were Mahdi Army who have concocted this story.'

Mr Dutton QC said: 'He was alive to the prospect that his clients might have been members of the Mahdi Army and concocted these allegations to embarrass the British Army.'

A key document showed the Iraqis were actually members of a 'murderous' armed militia group and not innocent farmers, the disciplinary hearing was told.

In one internal email, Mr Day raised concerns about the quality of the Iraqis' evidence, dismissing it as 'total b*******'.

Anna Crowther, Sapna Malik and Frances Swaine of solicitors Leigh Day arriving at the hearing

Martyn Day previously brought a case for Kenyans who accused British colonial authorities of abuse. The case was supported by Jeremy Corbyn, now Labour leader

It could have stopped the yearlong Al-Sweady Inquiry into claims that soldiers murdered, mutilated and abused detainees - saving the taxpayer 31million.

The allegations were among the most serious crimes ever faced by British forces.

But the case fell apart when relatives admitted in March 2014 that there was no hard evidence the insurgents were unlawfully killed in UK custody, the tribunal heard.

Leigh Day is accused of paying $1million (780,000) in expenses or cash payments to intermediaries to generate and support the claims.

It is claimed the firm continued to pay Basra agent Abu Jamal more than 25,000 in banned referral fees.

Mr Dutton QC said: 'Over a period of more than seven years, Martyn Day, Sapna Malik and Leigh Day made and maintained allegations that soldiers in the British Army had murdered, tortured and mutilated innocent Iraqi civilians.'

Colonel James Coote, who commanded UK forces in Iraq, will give evidence to a tribunal involving law firm Leigh Day, which is accused of hounding British troops

He added: 'The allegations were false, and should never have been advanced in public.

'If the respondents had discharged their duties, British soldiers and their families would not have had to endure torment and years of worry arising from false allegations endorsed by solicitors and members of the profession, made not just in claims but to the world's media.'

The claims followed a ferocious firefight, known as the Battle of Danny Boy, near Basra in 2004.

The Iraqis alleged UK troops executed 20 or more prisoners and mistreated nine others after the battle in revenge for the massacre of six Royal Military Policemen in 2003.

The firm's boss, Martyn Day, face being struck off if found guilty. Leigh Day faces 19 charges, which will be discussed during a seven-week disciplinary hearin

But Mr Dutton said that as early as 2004 the firm had a document that proved the nine detainees were insurgents  and failed to pass it on to anyone else for nearly a decade.

He said the paperwork made clear that the men were supporters of militia loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

This 'undermined their clients' claims they were innocent bystanders. It demonstrated that they were members of a murderous militia who had ambushed British soldiers'.

The document was given to Leigh Day by Khuder Al-Sweady, the uncle of a 19-year-old Iraqi fighter who died in the clash.

The firm also ignored evidence that Al-Sweady was himself a senior militant commander who was intimidating and blackmailing detainees to bring the case, the tribunal heard.

The 'significant' document was finally made public in 2013. Then, remarkably, a hand-written English translation was destroyed by Miss Crowther the day before it was due to be handed to inquiry officials.

Among the charges is an allegation of improper conduct at a 2008 press conference involving Mr Shiner, where 'extreme' claims were made that British soldiers had abused Iraqis.

The Leigh Day lawyers have suggested they are victims of a politically motivated campaign by the MoD, in reprisal for trying to hold British forces to account. The tribunal continues.
Theresa May urged voters not to be 'complacent' about the threat Jeremy Corbyn poses to Britain today as she mounted an audacious raid on Labour's Welsh heartlands.

The Prime Minister warned about the dangers of believing polls showing the Tories are on track for a thumping majority, saying the consequences for the country if Mr Corbyn did win would be dreadful.

She said it was vital people turned out to give her a 'mandate' so she can get the best possible deal from the EU in Brexit negotiations. The PM also hinted that the party's manifesto could include a commitment to cut taxes.

The comments came as Mrs May held her latest campaign rally in Bridgend.

She is wooing Welsh voters after a poll yesterday suggested the Tories are on the brink of winning a majority of seats in Wales for the first times since the 1850s.

Despite the desperate poll ratings for Labour, the party announced tonight Jeremy Corbyn had held talks with Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood to begin preparations for the possibility he will form a Government.

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Theresa May repeated her mantra about the need for 'strong and stable' government today as she held a rally in Bridgend today

The PM, pictured on a visit to the Liberty steel works in Newport earlier today, has warned that Jeremy Corbyn could be put at the helm of a 'coalition of chaos'

Mrs May, pictured today, is wooing Welsh voters with polls showing the Tories could end up winning the majority of seats in Wales for the first time since the 1850s

Meanwhile, the PM this morning discussed election strategy with her Cabinet colleagues at a meeting at Number 10 as the Tories seek to massively increase their majority by taking on once rock solid seats in Labour heartlands.

During the hour-long discussion she reminded ministers that polls - currently showing a massive Tory lead over Labour - had been 'wrong repeatedly'.

Speaking at the rally, Mrs May said: 'What we've seen today from Labour is, I think, their seventh Brexit plan. It's yet another nonsensical Jeremy Corbyn plan for the future in terms of Brexit.

She added: 'What you need is a government which has a clear plan for those negotiations. That's what the Conservative Government has. It's what the Conservative Party has.

Mrs May claimed that other parties were 'actually talking about being willing to prop up a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn', adding: 'That would damage this country's future, it would risk uncertainty for the future'.

A Labour spokesman tonight insisted preparations were being made for an election.

They said: 'The Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, today met the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, to discuss the transition to government if Labour wins the General Election.

'The meeting, with the support of staff and colleagues, was detailed and productive, and will now be followed by departmental discussions.

'Jeremy would like to put on record his appreciation of the professionalism and commitment of the Cabinet Secretary and his civil service colleagues.'

Jeremy Corbyn announced tonight he has held talks with the senior Civil Service about preparations to form a Government after the election

The PM again refused to confirm that the Tories will not repeat their 2015 pledge of no rises to income tax or national insurance.

Senior ministers have indicated that the commitment will not feature in the blueprint this time around to avoid tying the hands of the Chancellor.

However, the party is expected to reduce the burden on the lowest earners by increasing the tax-free personal allowance.

Asked whether the tax lock would survive in the manifesto, Mrs May replied: 'There's a choice between a Conservative Party which always has been, is and will always be a party that believes in lower taxes.'

Theresa May deploys her secret weapon in the election battle - her husband Philip Philip May hits the telephones to drum up support for the Conservatives

Theresa May has deployed her secret weapon in the election battle - her husband Philip. Mr May has been hitting the phones for Tory candidates as the party gears up for polls that could determine the fate of the nation. The businessman is the Prime Minister's closest confidante, and although he prefers to stay out of the limelight he has long been a Conservative activist in his own right. Mr May once chaired the constituency association in Wimbledon, and is known to enjoy canvassing with his wife in her Maidenhead seat. He appears to have been hard at work on behalf of the Conservative mayoral candidate in the West Midlands, Andy Street, this week. Local councillor Alex Yip posted a photograph of himself with Mr May last night. 'Doing phone canvassing for @andy4wm with #philipmay! making a difference for the #WestMidlands,' he wrote. While Tory activist Christian Vinante Giovannini shared a photograph of himself hitting the phones alongside the PMs husband. Mr May, 59, has his own successful career in the City of London, and still works full time. But he attends events and business dinners with Mrs May at No10, and has been credited with acting as her 'translator' on financial issues. Advertisement

She added: 'The choice is between that and a Labour Party whose natural instinct is always to put up taxes.'

Earlier, she used an article in the Western Mail to highlight the potential triple whammy of higher taxes, fewer jobs and spiralling debt if Labour was electedon June 8.

She hit out at Plaid Cymru's decision to 'prop up' the Labour government in Wales, warning they could join forces with Nicola Sturgeon's SNP to create a 'coalition of chaos' with Labour.

Writing in the newspaper, the PM said the June 8 vote is a 'choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest, or Mr Corbyn in Downing Street at the head of a coalition of chaos'.

She wrote: 'This election is not about the kind of tribal politics that has held sway in Wales and elsewhere for many years.

'It is not about calling in old favours or relying on past allegiance. It is about the future.

'It is an opportunity to provide this United Kingdom with the strong and stable leadership it needs to see us through Brexit and beyond.'

Mrs May told activists in Bridgend today that other parties were 'actually talking about being willing to prop up a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn'

Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom, pictured outside No 10 this morning, where she attended a Political Cabinet meeting with other senior Conservatives

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Justine Greening at No 10 today, where they attended Political Cabinet. The Tories are predicted to make sweeping electoral gains when Britons go to the polls in the General Election on June 8

But she warned that opposition MPs are already trying to derail the Brexit negotiations.

She wrote: 'Yet our Labour, LibDem and nationalist opponents  Plaid Cymru here in Wales and Nicola Sturgeon's SNP in Scotland  are already seeking to disrupt our negotiations, even as 27 other European countries line up to oppose us.

'That approach can only mean one thing  uncertainty and instability, bringing grave risk to our growing economy with higher taxes, fewer jobs, more waste and more debt.'

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, pictured on their way to No 10 their morning

Justice Secretary Liz Truss, photographed in Downing Street today where she attended a Political Cabinet meeting. Senior Tories talked election strategy at the meeting

She pointed out that the Labour Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said he backs Mr Corbyn's proposals to borrow another 500 billion  saddling Britons with yet more debt.

And she appealed to voters to give her a bigger mandate to strengthen her negotiating hand in Brussels.

She said: 'Every vote I receive will help me secure the best deal to strengthen our economy.

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured yesterday giving a campaign speech in Scotland, would raise taxes and saddle Britain with more debt, the PM has warned as she makes a bid to woo Welsh voters

'Every vote I receive will be a vote to give me the mandate to deliver for Britain.

'Ten months after voters across Wales helped to start this journey, Labour in Wales  and their partners in Plaid Cymru  remain determined to disrupt the result.'

According to a Tory spokesman, the PM used the political Cabinet meeting at No10 this morning to 'remind her colleagues that publicly available opinion polling has been proved wrong repeatedly, in the EU referendum, in the most recent US presidential election, and in Conservatives' successful campaign in the 2015 general election'.

Labour in a shambles over Brexit after admitting some free movement could continue - and leaving the door open for a second EU referendum Labour's Keir Starmer has admitted some free movement could continue after Brexit just hours after using a speech to insist it must end. The shadow Brexit secretary had appeared to make ending free movement a red line in Labour's negotiations but came under fire for leaving issues such as the EU court, the right to strike trade deals and EU red tape up for negotiation. But in a BBC interview after his speech, Sir Keir also left room for European workers to continue freely moving to Britain after Brexit. Sir Keir's deputy Paul Blomfield compounded the party's woes on Brexit this afternoon by suggesting Labour could accept demands for a second referendum. The Tories dismissed the speech and warned Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was 'too weak and floundering' to get a good Brexit deal. In his speech today, Sir Keir said freedom of movement 'will have to end' when the UK leaves the single market after Brexit. 'As it currently stands, membership of the single market is incompatible with our clarity about the fact that freedom of movement rules have to change,' he said. But asked by the BBC if 'people from Europe could carry on coming here if they have a job to come to', he replied: 'Yes. 'Freedom of movement has to go and therefore it will have to change but we must have immigration that works for our communities and for our economy. 'And that means that there has to movement of people to come and work in this country. How that's managed will have to be resolved but the last thing we want is for our businesses to go bankrupt.' Advertisement

She also noted that when Jeremy Corbyn first announced his intention to run for Labour leader his odds were put at 200/1.

In her speech this afternoon the PM will say that the Brexit vote should have been a 'wake up call' for politicians who have 'taken the people for granted for too long'.

She will add: 'But instead those same politicians have closed ranks, with Plaid Cymru propping up Labour in a direct example of the kind of collaboration we should expect in Westminster if Jeremy Corbyn and Leanne Wood get their way.'

A YouGov/ITV survey of Welsh voters suggests Tory support has rocketed by 12 per cent to since January to a record breaking 40-points, with most of the increase coming from a collapsing Ukip vote.

It means the Tories stand 10 points clear of Labour on 30 per cent - enough to win 21 of Wales' 40 seats.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, pictured visiting a Women's Aid centre in Edinburgh today. Theresa May has warned the SNP leader would lead the UK into a 'coalition of chaos'

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, pictured together at the SNP's conference in Aberdeen, could help get the Labour leader to No 10, the PM has warned
Girls Preparatory School honored recipients of the 2017 Distinguished Alumna Award and the Margaret Rawlings Lupton Award of Excellence on Saturday during Alumnae Weekend festivities. Nine other alumnae were recognized as Notables and Rising Stars during a Saturday luncheon.

Kay Kendall 62 is the schools 2017 Distinguished Alumna. For four decades, she has been a force in the arts and philanthropy in Washington, D.C. The current chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, she serves on the boards of CityDance and The Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus, a home away from home for underserved children and adults. As a board member, she has produced five fundraising galas in the past six years that have raised more than $5 million for the institution. The founder of Kendall+Associates, she is a consultant on fundraising and non-profit board governance, helping community groups build leadership and organizational structure.

Virginia Anne Summitt Sharber 77 was honored with the Margaret Rawlings Lupton Award of Excellence. Sharber is the Executive Director of the Hunter Museum of American Art, the first woman to serve in that capacity. A longtime commercial real estate attorney with Miller and Martin, she has been actively involved with Chattanooga arts organizations, including chairing the ArtsBuild (then Allied Arts) board, the Holmberg Arts Leadership Institute, and the Chattanooga Public Art Committee during the development of the 21st Century Waterfront. A member of the Chattanooga Rotary Club, she has chaired the boards of the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Memorial Health Care Foundation, Chattanooga Womens Leadership Institute, and the Womens Fund of Greater Chattanooga.

Alumnae Notables honored at the luncheon included Dr. Martha McCravey 67, a pediatric intensive care specialist; Patricia Ochs 72, a former international journalist and current conflict resolution psychotherapist and counselor; Ann Dickerson Zack 82, an entrepreneur and co-owner of Tennessee Moonshine Cakes; Molly Bishop Shadel 87, author, University of Virginia Law School faculty member, and a Senior Fellow for the Center for National Security Law; Brooke Good Bowles 92, Founder and Executive Director of Triumph Services, Inc., a nationally-recognized non-profit serving individuals with developmental disabilities; Caroline Puri Mitchell 97, co-founder of Fitsi Health and Fitsi, an antimicrobial caddy that brings preventative care, access to personal items, and hygiene to hospital patients bedsides; and Maithilee Kunda 02, assistant professor of computer science and computer engineering at Vanderbilt University, where she directs the laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Visual Analogical Systems.

Rising Stars recognized for their achievements were Katherine Cherry 07, manager of International Government Relations and Public Affairs at the Coca-Cola Company and leader of the companys partnership with the World Economic Forums Global Shapers Community; and Raewyn Duvall 12, a Pathways Student Engineer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) SwampWorks and who is pursuing dual masters degrees, one in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and another in robotics at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom.
A Muslim father spat in a community centre manager's face and called her an 'ignorant Muslim' after he became offended over a Christian sign that had been put up in the building.

Said Ahmed Latif, 36, admitted the assault inside the multi-cultural Salaam Community Centre in Hartlepool.

He had become angry after a Christian Gospel group had started using the building. They had also put up a sign that said the words Church of God.

Prosecutor Holly Common told Teesside Magistrates' Court Latif had approached the victim outside the building telling her, 'I need to speak to you'.

Said Ahmed Latif called a community centre manager an 'ignorant Muslim' before spitting in her face

She said: 'He crossed the road and said he could speak inside thecentre.'

Ms Common added: 'When inside the office, Latif began shouting "Why are you letting them use the centre?"

'He said, "You are an ignorant Muslim, you aren't listening to me".'

He continued with a tirade of abuse before adding: 'You shouldn't be here, you're upsetting us young Muslims'.'

At this point, Miss Common said Latif, who works as a taxi driver, raised his hand as if he was about to hit the manager but instead spat in her face.

Reading from the victim's statement Miss Common said the victim and a colleague had to push Latif out of the office.

She said: 'I was really upset about what happened.

'In 15 years I've never had anything like this happen to me.

'He tried to bully me and certain members of staff to only let in certain members of the community.'

Miss Common said Latif, a father-of-three, had originally denied the allegation of assault during a police interview.

She added that he had a previous conviction for actual bodily harm dating back to 2007.

Latif, representing himself, told District Judge Helen Cousins that he had only become angry after the victim called him 'an extremist'.

He said: 'Her version of events is incorrect.

'We are a small ethnic community, they've put a church group sign up saying "Church of God" right next to the door to the mosque.

The Salaam Community Centre in Hartlepool where the assault took place

'I said "can you move the sign to the other side?"

'It's a shame CCTV didn't show who was shouting at who. She started shouting at me - she called me an extremist.

'I plead guilty, I did spit at her - I lost my temper.'

Judge Cousins said: 'Is there anything else you want to say?'

'I apologise to her,' said Latif, adding: 'I should pay compensation.'

A probation officer said Latif had previously done charity work raising money for Syria and ran youth groups at the centre where his victim was manager.

Sentencing Latif, Judge Cousins said: 'I regard this as very serious. Spitting at someone is very serious.

'I give you some credit as there was some conflict with the mosque and community centre.'

Latif, of Clifton Avenue, Hartlepool was given a community order with 60 hours unpaid work after admitting assault.

He was ordered to pay 50 compensation to the victim as well as costs and charges.
Britain would be 'literally wiped out' if it entered a nuclear war with Vladimir Putin, a Russian senator has warned.

Retired colonel Frants Klintsevich was responding to comments from Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon that 'in the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you can't rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike'.

The senior Russian senator said that were Britain to launch a preemptive attack on a hostile nuclear foe then 'not having the biggest territory, it is likely to be literally wiped out by the counter strike'.

Britain would be 'literally wiped out' if it entered a nuclear war with Vladimir Putin, according to Russian senator Frants Klintsevich (pictured)

Frants Klintsevich (right with Vladimir Putin) said that were Britain to launch a preemptive attack on a hostile nuclear foe then 'not having the biggest territory, it is likely to be literally wiped out by the counter strike'

Another translation of his words - used by news agency TASS - means Britain would be 'razed to the ground' in a retaliatory strike.

Putin loyalist Klintsevich, a 59-year-old former paratrooper who served for Soviet forces in Afghanistan, declared that Sir Michael's comment was 'disgusting' and deserved a 'tough response'.

The Defence Secretary's comments came in the context of an election war or words with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn over nuclear defence.

But the Russian senator, deputy chairman of the upper house of parliament's defence and security committee, said: 'I think that the statement made by UK defence minister Michael Fallon deserves a tough response and I am not afraid to overdo it.

'In the best case this statement should be taken as an element of psychological war - which looks particularly disgusting in such a context.

'Otherwise, it sounds really bad, because a reasonable question arises: Against whom is Great Britain going to preemptively use nuclear weapons?'

Retired colonel Frants Klintsevich was responding to comments from Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon (pictured) that 'in the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you can't rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike'

Military expert Konstantin Sivkov (pictured) said Britain 'has quite vague reasons' for what would justify a first strike

If Britain intended to use atomic weapons against a non nuclear state 'then probably English people desperately want to share the laurels of the USA who threw nuclear bombs at defenseless Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

'But those times have gone for good, as has the era of the greatness of the British Empire.

'As we say, cut your coat according to your cloth.'

Military expert Konstantin Sivkov said: 'The UK's readiness to stage a nuclear attack in 'the most extreme circumstances' means only one thing.

'That it is ready to do it in any circumstances, unlike Russia.'

Criticising Sir Michael's statement, he said Britain 'has quite vague reasons' for what would justify a first strike.

'This can be used by military adventurers who will perform preemptive nuclear attack,' he said.

'If this is so, it means that the world is standing on the edge of the nuclear war.'
A marketing graduate has become an internet sensation - and earns 30,000-a-year in advertising - by teaching the world the quirks of English on YouTube.

Lucy Earl, from Bedfordshire, turned down a number of job offers when she graduated from the University of Westminster and decided to continue with her YouTube channel, which teaches English language and culture - including swear words.

English With Lucy now has more than 350,000 subscribers from all over world, who ask her questions about life in Britain, how to pronounce words and popular sayings and phrases.

Ms Earl, 22, set up the business with a 500 loan from her father. She bought a tripod and camera, taught herself how to shoot and about lighting and now earns more than the average teacher through advertising.

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Lucy Earl, from Bedfordshire, turned down a number of job offers when she graduated from the University of Westminster and decided to continue with her YouTube channel, which teaches English language and culture - including swear words

English With Lucy now has more than 350,000 subscribers from all over world, who ask her questions about life in Britain, how to pronounce words and popular sayings and phrases

She said: 'It's a business that I started completely from scratch with a 500 business loan from my dad, paid back with interest, of course, and has now a pretty significant turnover.

'It was a huge step for me to say no to the grad schemes and yes to going at it alone, but it was the best thing I ever did.

'Every day I get to work with everything I'm passionate about with total creative control, marketing, social media and the English language.'

With more than 12 million views, Ms Earl, who has recently moved to Cambridgeshire, has one of the fastest growing language tutorial channels - along with Seoul-based Korean Billy, who teaches British dialects and accents.

Her videos include: Easily Speak Like a Native!, How to Swear In English and How To Annoy British Girls In 3 Simple Steps.

One thing she has noticed is that there are various trends of questions she is asked from followers in different parts of the world.

Ms Earl, 22, set up the business with a 500 loan from her father. She bought a tripod and camera, taught herself how to shoot and about lighting

When inevitable cultural differences surface it provides source material for further lessons

She told The Times: 'People from India are really trying to work out why British people have tea at four o'clock. In Spain and Italy, they focus on pronunciation, because English isn't phonetic like their language, so they struggle.

'And in the Far East Asian countries  China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia  they're really fascinated with British culture. They want to learn the vocabulary but their questions are things like: "Do you drink alcohol? You're getting old. Why are you not married?"'

When inevitable cultural differences surface it provides source material for further lessons.

Ms Earl added: 'People were saying, "You have put on weight, Lucy!" At first I thought they were hate comments but I realised it was a cultural thing. It's not offensive in some, mainly Asian, countries.

'So I did a lesson on three things not to say to British girls: not to comment on them drinking alcohol, not to pressure them for not replying to messages straight away and not talking about people's weight.'

Ms Earl believes social media is having a huge impact on the way people learn.

Publishers Association figures show exports of English-language teaching ebooks have almost doubled since 2013 from 8million to 15m last year.

Meanwhile, physical teaching books dropped from 260m in 2013 to 229m in 2016.

Exports of physical English-language teaching books are in decline. In 2013 exports were 260 million, dropping to 229 million last year.

Ms Earl told the BBC: 'Anyone can access anything - we don't need a teacher, we can educate ourselves.

'Ninety-nine per cent of what you need to learn is already there somewhere for you, you just need to find it.'
A judge accused of 'victim-blaming' after she warned young women could be targeted by rapists when drunk has stood by her statement in a TV interview.

Judge Lindsey Kushner said her comments were similar to warning people about locking their doors to protect themselves from burglars.

In her last case before retiring earlier this year, Judge Kushner angered campaigners by suggesting that women's 'disinhibited behaviour' could put them at risk.

Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain today alongside rape victim Megan Clark, she agreed that the only person responsible for rape was the rapist.

Judge Lindsey Kushner (right) appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain alongside rape victim Megan Clark (left)

However insisted her intention was to 'stop [women] getting raped in the first place'.

'We don't like burglars and they shouldn't burgle,' she added. 'But we do lock our doors at night and anybody who leaves them open, they're not protecting themselves and their belongings.'

Among those who criticised her at the time was Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Dame Vera Baird, who said the comments were 'victim-blaming' and would stop victims coming forward.

Responding to Dame Vera's 'victim-blaming' criticism, Judge Kushner said: 'First I wondered whether she'd been given the whole quote.

'But I didn't worry about it too much, because I'm sure, whatever a judge says, there are people waiting to criticise what they're saying.'

Judge Kushner's sentencing remarks came as she jailed rapist Ricardo Rodrigues-Fortes-Gomes for six years at Manchester Crown Court for two counts of rape.

She begged girls and women to keep in mind that people who are 'potential defendants to rape' target girls who have been drinking.

Megan Clark, 19, (left) came out in defence of Judge Kushner at the time, saying she took the comments positively and did not believe she was victim-blaming

Lindsey Kushner (shown today, left, and in her career as a judge, right) said her comments were similar to warning people about locking their doors to protect themselves from burglars

She said that while there was 'absolutely no excuse' for sex attacks and women were entitled to 'drink themselves into the ground', such behaviour could make them 'less likely to be believed' than a sober victim.

Victim Megan Clark, 19, who waived her right to anonymity, came out in defence of Judge Kushner at the time, saying she took the comments positively and did not believe she was victim-blaming.

Appearing alongside the judge on the breakfast show, she said: 'I know the fact that I was drunk did put me in more danger; not that that was my fault that anything happened, but the risk was higher because I was drunk.'

Judge Kushner made the warning at Manchester Crown Court as she jailed rapist Ricardo Rodrigues-Gomes, 19, for six years

Asked whether she thought the judge's comments might deter women who were drunk from reporting sexual assault for fear of being blamed, Ms Clark said: 'Maybe, but because that's an attitude that a lot of people have, that the way you behave makes it your fault.

'That's not to say that it was your fault, but that the risk is higher - you need to look after yourself.'

Judge Kushner also said she gave the 19-year-old rapist, who was 18 at the time, a lesser sentence because he was 'fairly young', and asked the presenters: 'Would you regard [18-year-olds] as fully formed? Actually, they're not ... you take that into account.'

Ms Clark said she would have liked a longer sentence and 'refused help' because she thought she could deal with the difficulty of the trial.

This comes weeks after Crown Prosecution Service head Alison Saunders condemned another judge for feeding into 'victim-blaming' culture after he wrote in a newspaper that in most trials the alleged rapist was 'unsurprisingly' acquitted because both people involved had been drinking or taking drugs.

Saunders said: 'It is always disappointing to hear views expressed that lean in favour of the 'victim-blaming' culture that allowed sexual predators to offend with assumed impunity in days gone by.'
Only 2.65 percent of those migrants who arrived in Italy were granted asylum as genuine refugees, according to the United Nations.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said 181,436 migrants arrived in Italy last year, most of them crossing the Mediterranean from north Africa in flimsy boats.

UNHCR said only 4,808 were granted asylum in Italy and 40% of the arrivals were found to be in need of international protection.

A dinghy overcrowded by African migrants and heading for Italy is seen drifting off the Libyan coast in August last year FILE PHOTO

Italy's anti-migrant Lega Nord (Northern League) party is planning to sue senior figures for allowing illegal immigration.

Breitbart reported Lega Nord leader Matteo Salvini, said: 'It is now clear that illegal immigration is organised and financed and for this reason we have decided to bring a case against the government, the President of the Council, the ministers and the commanders of the Navy and the Coast Guard.'

The UNHCR report said 90,334 of the migrants did not request asylum but disappeared into the black market economy.

Of the 91,902 who applied for asylum, 54,252 had their requests rejected unconditionally.

Another 18,979 were given 'humanitarian protection' status and 12,873 were given 'subsidiary protection'.
Sometimes, enough is enough. A panda cub which has had to pose for photos with many people just couldn't take it anymore.

Hui Shao, a boy bear in China, threw a tantrum as a keeper took out her mobile phone and tried to snap yet another selfie with him.

The eight-month-old panda nibbled the woman's head before tugging her hair with his mouth. The amusing moment was captured in a new video.

Hui Shao (pictured) was resting on the tree before the keeper approached for selfies

The video clip was posted by iPanda to its social media platform on April 24.

It was filmed in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan Province, south-west China.

The beginning of the footage shows the male cub resting on a tree.

Then a young woman, said to be a keeper of the centre, walked towards the bear and tried to take a selfie with the panda.

The woman tried to take some selfies with Hui Shao, but the bear appeared to be annoyed as it played mischief with her

Hui Shao, apparently annoyed by her actions, bit her head and pulled her hair with his mouth.

He refused to let go of her hair until another staff member stepped in and separated the two.

Chinese visitors have always been keen to take pictures with their national treasure.

Hui Shao, which was born in mid-August last year, has probably been featured in one too many selfies that it got annoyed with posing for pictures.

Hui Shao pulled the keeper's hair with his mouth and refused to let go of her hair

Upon seeing this, another female worker (centre) separated the two and petted the bear

However, some of Hui Shao's peers are still eager to strike the perfect poses on camera.

Pictures of a panda with an exceptional sense of photography went viral across social media platforms in January.

The cute creature even adopted a professional pose, putting its right paw under its chin, as a female tourist took a photo with it.

Say cheese! This panda became a social media star in January for its great sense of selfies
A suspected robber in China who tried to rob a woman at a cash point was wrestled to the ground by a nearby customer who turned out to be an off-duty police officer.

Surveillance camera footage shows the moment of the attack when a man approached the victim from her back and attempted to steal 10,000 yuan (1,134) cash from her hand.

The assailant, however, didn't expect that the man using a nearby cash machine happened to be a policeman.

The suspect was spotted ready to mug the woman, who was using the cash machine in China

He attacked the victim and pushed her to the ground as she was withdrawing 1,134

According to a news report on Hunan Metropolitan Channel, the incident took place at a cash point in the scenic Zhangjiajie city of Hunan Province on the night of April 23.

CCTV footage shows a woman in pink outfit, surnamed Chen, taking cash out as a man stood behind her.

It is reported that Ms Chen had withdrawn 10,000 yuan (1,134).

As soon as the machine dispensed the cash, the man approached from Ms Chen's back and pushed her to the ground.

The suspect took the cash from the slot. Ms Chen grabbed his arms and screamed for help.

A customer who was using a cash machine nearby came to offer help and stopped the attack

It was later revealed that the good samaritan was an off-duty policeman working in the area

He took down the robber within seconds and reported the incident to his colleague

Soon after, one customer approached and managed to brought the suspected robber under control. In seconds, the helper covered the suspect's eyes and pushed him to the ground.

The customer then told Ms Chen that he is an off-duty policeman. The man also reported the incident to his colleague.

'I didn't think much of my safety when this happened.' Liu Sunbo, the off-duty policeman, explained to Hunan Metropolitan Channel.

He added: 'I guess this is one of the instincts of a policeman. I noticed the man was stealing from the woman, so I helped out.'

Liu Sunbo explained that having been a policeman for 30 years, it was his instinct to help

The man was brought to the local police station after being brought under control

Mr Liu has been a policeman for 30 years. He is now working in the law-enforcement team at the police bureau of Yong Ding district.

His colleague arrived at scene and took the suspected robber to the police station.

Ms Chen reported to the police she had no cash loss after the count.
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For petty crimes such as stealing daily necessities such as food and clothing, they have faced hard labour and jail.

And these haunting photographs show the stern and haggard faces of Victorian criminal children who were sentenced to tough punishments in the 1870s, with many looking remarkably older than their actual ages.

The eye-opening images show the children who were sentenced to different types of punishments in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, from ten days of hard labour to two months in prison.

Henry Leonard Stephenson (left), 12, and his fresh-faced accomplice Michael Clement Fisher (right), 13, were choir boys from good stock but were jailed for two months for breaking into three houses in 1873. The media at the time blamed the boys' crime on their penchant for the 'wrong sort of books' on characters like notorious 18th-century highwayman Jack Sheppard

Henry Miller (left), 14, received two weeks of hard labour for stealing clothing, while James Scullion (right), 13, was told to complete 14 days of hard labour for stealing clothes

Mary Hinnigan (left) and Rosanne Watson (right) were both 13 - and both received a week of hard labour for stealing iron

Jane Farrell (left), 12, stole two boots and was sentenced to ten days of hard labour, while Robert Charlton, 16 (right) was imprisoned for four months for stealing two pairs of boots

The children are of poor backgrounds, and their convictions were often for stealing food, but their sentences of hard labour and even time in jail seem harsh and extreme by modern standards.

The photographs were colourised by expert colouriser Tom Marshall and provided by the Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.

Rachel Gill, archivist at the museums, said: 'The pictures show that the subjects look much older compared to people of the same physical age now.

'When you look at the crimes and the sentences the children were given, a lot of them were quite clearly in desperate circumstances, stealing just to survive. From a modern perspective, these children needed help - not hard labour.'

John Reed (left), 15, was given two weeks of hard labour and five years of reformation for stealing money in 1873. Ellen Woodman (left) was only 11 when she was given a week of hard labour for stealing iron.

Mary Catherine Docherty (left) and Stephen Monoghan (right) are among the other offenders pictured in the gallery

James Donneley, 16, was jailed for two months for stealing shirts, and his picture has been colourised for this startling image

The 19th century saw a rapid growth in the population of Britain, and with that came child labour because children were expected to help towards their family's earnings.

These colourised pictures paint a picture into how society treated children of poor backgrounds during the Victorian era.

Mr Marshall said: 'I colourise photos to bring faces, like that of these convicted children, to life and hopefully allow people to imagine their circumstances and how they must have felt at the time.

'This period shows the real people behind 'official' histories  people that are from the lowest levels of society, those really struggling to survive. The pictures were found when Newcastle jail in Carliol Square was demolished.'
Madeleine McCann's mother has described the tenth anniversary of her daughter's disappearance as a 'horrible marker of stolen time'.

Kate and Gerry McCann backed a current police investigation to find their daughter, who vanished aged three from the family's holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

In a message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, they thanked the 'quiet majority' of people who have backed their campaign to find their daughter, and hit out at the 'misinformation, half-truths and downright lies' around the case.

Kate and Gerry McCann have published a statement online ahead of the 10th anniversary of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance

Madeleine (left) went missing nearly 10 years ago - a picture was released in 2012 of how she might have looked, aged nine (right)

The couple wrote: 'The two themes that seem most appropriate to me as we reach this ten year mark are perseverance and gratitude: We will go on, try our hardest, never give up and make the best of the life we have.

'We consider ourselves immensely fortunate to have received the love, solidarity and support from so many kind and decent people over the last decade.

'There have been many challenges and low points along the way but the warmth, encouragement and positivity we have experienced from the "quiet majority" has undoubtedly sustained us and maintained our faith in human goodness. And while that is there, there will always be hope.'

The couple, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have always vowed to never give up on finding their daughter.

In the message Mrs McCann said they 'couldn't even begin to consider anything in terms of years' when their daughter first disappeared.

The McCanns released the statement on their Official Find Madeleine Campaign pahge

The McCanns were staying at this apartment block in Praia De Luz, Portugal when Madeleine went missing while the couple dined nearby

She wrote: 'Ten years - there's no easy way to say it, describe it, accept it. And now here we are... Madeleine, our Madeleine - ten years.

'Most days are similar to the rest - another day. May 3rd 2017 - another day. But ten years - a horrible marker of time, stolen time.'

There is an 'active' police investigation to try to find Madeleine and bring her abductor to justice, the couple said.

They added: 'There are no new appeals that the police wish to make at this moment in time and so we are keeping any media involvement marking this unwanted milestone to a minimum.'

The couple said they were braced for half-truths and downright lies on social media

Madeleine's disappearance sparked one of the most high-profile police investigations of recent times.

Scotland Yard has been assisting with the inquiry since 2011.

Last month the Home Office confirmed it has granted officers 85,000 to carry on with the case for a further six months. More than 11 million has been spent on the UK probe.
Housing officers were horrified to discover up to 40 people living in squalid and cramped conditions in a three-bedroom house in London.

The property in Edgware had just one toilet for all 40 residents, and most were forced to sleep on one of the dozens of mattresses packed on to the floor.

The majority of those living in the 'unsafe and unsanitary' conditions were Eastern European.

The property in Edgware had just one toilet for all 40 residents, and most were forced to sleep on one of the dozens of mattresses packed on to the floor

Housing officers who were sent to inspect the property found it was so overcrowded they could barely see the floor as it was so covered with mattresses.

Now a letting agent could face prosecution following the raid on the home.

The grim discovery was made when housing enforcement officers searched the home in Edgware last month on suspicions of overcrowding and that it was being let without an HMO (House of Multiple Occupancy) licence.

They found 17 people living in the three-bedroom home, all sharing one toilet and bathroom, but it is believed that up to 40 people could have been living in the property before the raid.

The majority of those living in the 'unsafe and unsanitary' conditions were Eastern European

The homeowner lives abroad and the property is managed by a letting agent who the council have had previous issues with, after finding they were letting other overcrowded properties.

Councillor Graham Henson, cabinet member for environment, crime and community safety, told Get West London: 'It's troubling to see yet another case of overcrowding in Harrow.

'It's not safe, it's not sanitary, and it exploits people who deserve somewhere decent to live, just like everyone else.

'While the majority of landlords and agents operate properly and safety, there are a few who think they can flout the rules.'

The council is now seeking to prosecute the agent for operating without an HMO licence.
Governor Nathan Deal held a signing ceremony for House Bill 208 at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Regional Headquarters in Brunswick on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

House Bill 208 makes changes in Georgia law to simplify the hunting and fishing license structure while also adjusting fees for resident hunting and fishing licenses for the first time since 1992. More than 5,000 Georgia residents provided feedback about the content of House Bill 208 through a series of 8 public meetings held around the state. Over 85% supported the proposed changes. Leading sportsmens groups such as the Georgia Wildlife Federation, Coastal Conservation Association, National Wild Turkey Federation, and Ducks Unlimited was also supportive of the changes.



With the additional revenue, DNR will improve wildlife and fish habitat and management on public and private lands and waters; create more shooting ranges; improve boating access in fresh and salt waters; add youth education opportunities; increase fish stocking; and add approximately 40 conservation rangers.

The legislation, which becomes effective July 1, will rank Georgia in the middle of its Southeastern neighbors for resident hunting and fishing license fees.
The two candidates vying to be France's next president have today joined a ceremony to remember the policeman murdered last week by an ISIS sympathiser.

Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen attended the event at the Paris police headquarters this morning.

It is being held to remember 37-year-old Xavier Jugele, who was shot in the head on the Champs-Elysees on Thursday.

Mr Jugele's civil partner, Etienne Cardlels, was among the mourners at the event to honour the murdered officer.

In a speech during the ceremony, Mr Cardiles said: 'Let's stay dignified, let's take care of peace and preserve peace.'

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Macron shakes hands with Etienne Cardlels, the partner of murdered police officer Xavier Jugele, at this morning's ceremony

French police officers carry the flag-draped casket during a ceremony honouring the policeman

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen at the ceremony this morning in Paris

Emmanuel Macron (fourth from right) is pictured at this morning's ceremony to honour Paris police officer Xavier Jugele

Current president Francois Hollande paid tribute to the murdered officer.

He said that French people must 'support the police. They deserve our esteem, our solidarity, our admiration'.

In a message to the presidential candidates, Hollande also asked France's future government to "provide the necessary budget resources to recruit the indispensable people to protect our citizens and give them means to act even more efficiently."

Hollande recalled that France's police and military forces are deployed on French territory and abroad to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria and in Africa's Sahel region.

Jugele will today be awarded with the Legion d'Honneur - one of France's highest honours - and be posthumously given the rank of captain

Police officers stand at attention before a national homage to salin police officer Xavier Jugele, in the courtyard of the Paris Police headquarters today

This is 'a combat that will last, a combat that will be fought until the threat is definitively over. That combat will be long, demanding, difficult but, I am certain, victorious,' he said.

Jugele will today be awarded with the Legion d'Honneur - one of France's highest honours - and be posthumously given the rank of captain.

Also in attendance were former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

The Paris police officer was shot dead last week when Karim Cheurfi opened fire with an assault rifle on a police van parked on the most famous avenue in the French capital. Two other officers were wounded.

French-born Cheurfi, 39, was subsequently shot and killed by officers.

The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.

French President Francois Hollande spoke at this morning's ceremony at the national police headquarters in Paris

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) and former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin (right) at today's ceremony

Le Pen has called for France to take back control of its borders from the European Union and deport all foreigners on a terror watchlist, accusing Macron of being soft on terrorism.

Macron, who at 39 is favourite to become France's youngest-ever president, has urged voters not to 'give in to fear' and vowed to step up security cooperation with EU partners.

Polls suggest that Macron, who won Sunday's first round of the presidential election with 24 percent of the vote, will comfortably triumph in the May 7 runoff against Le Pen.

French soldiers paid their respects to Jugele at the Paris prefecture building this morning

Presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron was among the dignitaries at the service this morning
Airstrikes have killed at least 11 people - seven of them children - as they fled fighting between US-allied Syrian forces and Islamic State militants in Syria's northern Raqqa province, witnesses and local activists said.

The strike appeared to have been launched by a US-led coalition, according to local activists.

Al-Qaida's leader meanwhile urged his followers and other militants in Syria to unite and prepare for protracted jihad, or holy war, against what he called an 'international satanic alliance,' apparently referring to the Syrian government, its ally Russia, and the US, all of which are targeting the group.

Among the dead is a family of eight who were fleeing fighting in the northern Syrian town of Tabqa when their vehicle was struck, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said the five children were between six months and 15 years old.

Among the dead is a family of eight who were fleeing fighting in the northern Syrian town of Tabqa when their vehicle was struck. Pictured above, people fleeing from areas surrounding Euphrates River dam, east of Raqqa city

The activist-run Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently also reported the airstrike, saying a family was killed and that airstrikes had killed at least 17 civilians in the city, according to Al Jazeera.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which also include Arab fighters, are trying to expel IS from Tabqa before moving on to Raqqa, the de facto capital of the jihadi group. Tabqa is 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Raqqa.

The US and its allies are believed to be the only forces flying missions over Tabqa. The Observatory said the US-backed fighters entered Tabqa on Monday but the town remains largely under IS control.

The Islamic State group and al-Qaida have been bitter rivals since they split apart in 2013, with the former claiming to represent the world's Muslims in an apocalyptic showdown with the West and the latter fighting alongside the Syrian opposition.

Al-Qaida won allies among the opposition early in the civil war because of its military prowess. Al-Qaida's official branch, the Nusra Front, changed its name to the Fatah al-Sham Front and formally cut ties with al-Qaida last year, but is still widely seen as being linked to the global terror network.

In a recording released late Sunday, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Syria's various jihadi factions to unite in order to wage guerrilla war.

He cast the Syrian conflict as part of a wider struggle aimed at imposing Islamic rule on the region and beyond. The local leaders of the Fatah al-Sham Front have tended to portray its struggle as being confined to Syria.

The Fatah al-Sham Front is perhaps the most powerful rebel-aligned faction, but dozens of other factions - both hard-line Islamists and more mainstream groups - are also battling Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces. Fatah al-Sham Front is the commanding faction in Idlib, the rebel-held province in northwestern Syria.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which also include Arab fighters, are trying to expel IS from Tabqa before moving on to Raqqa. Pictured above, people fleeing clashes in Tweila'a village and Haydarat area ride a vehicle, north of Raqqa city

Zawahri, who became the global leader of al-Qaida after Osama bin Laden was killed in a US raid in 2011, made his last public broadcast in May 2016, when he issued an audio message calling for unity among fighters in Syria.

Meanwhile, authorities began a sixth round of evacuations on Monday for civilians and fighters from the opposition-held neighborhood of al-Waer in Homs, Syria's third largest city, activists and Syrian state media reported.

Government forces have besieged the neighborhood since 2013, according to the Washington-based monitoring group Siege Watch. Rebels, opposition activists and their families agreed to vacate the district in an agreement signed in March in exchange for the end of hostilities. The government will retake control of the neighborhood after the last of twelve rounds of evacuations are complete, in an expected three to four weeks, according to local media activist Osama Abou Zeid.

He said about 16,000 people are expected to leave the neighborhood, instead of reconciling themselves with the government's notorious security services. Siege Watch estimates there have been 60,000 people trapped under the siege.

An estimated 1,800 people, including some 500 fighters, left on Monday, said Abou Zeid. They are being taken to Jarablus, a town on the Turkish border that is under the control of Turkish troops and Syrian opposition forces.

Tens of thousands of people living in besieged areas around Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo - Syria's largest city - have surrendered after prolonged sieges in exchange for safe relocation to opposition-held areas elsewhere in the country. Another 8,000 people have left two pro-government towns in northern Syria, which were besieged by rebels.

Critics say the population transfers are redrawing Syria's map along sectarian and political lines.

In northern Syria, warplanes struck the town where a chemical attack that was widely blamed on government forces killed nearly 90 people earlier this month. The government has denied using chemical weapons.

The airstrikes in the opposition-held northern town of Khan Sheikhoun killed at least four people and wounded ten others, according to the activist-run Thiqa News Agency and Edlib Media Center. It was not immediately clear who carried out the strike.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least five people, including a child, were killed in the attack on a vegetable market.
Brussels is set to demand Britain settles a 1.7billion fraud case before a post-Brexit trade deal can be agreed, it emerged today.

EU officials have accused HM Revenue and Customs of not stopping crime gangs from systematically undervaluing goods that pass through Dover and Felixstowe.

The technique allows fraudsters to avoid billions of pounds owed in customs duties and VAT. HMRC disputes the analysis of Olaf, the EU's anti-fraud office.

Officials could demand the long-running case is settled before trade talks on the future arrangements can begin.

EU officials have accused HM Revenue and Customs of not stopping crime gangs from systematically undervaluing goods that pass through Dover and Felixstowe (file picture)

But statistics obtained by The Times, which revealed the hold up to UK-EU trade talks today, suggest crime gangs have doubled the amount of fraudulent freight passing through UK ports in three years.

One EU Commission source told the paper: 'This fraud is still going on and Britain knows.

'It will come up in trade discussions and it will have an impact on the future customs relationship between the EU and Britain.'

Olaf says the average value declared at the UK border for women's cotton trousers was 77pence per kg, compared with an EU average of 22.

Customs duty is charged at 12 per cent of the declared value so the fraudsters make huge savings by declaring in Britain.

Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Commons public accounts committee, has asked for a National Audit Office probe

Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Commons public accounts committee, told The Times she had asked for a National Audit Office probe.

She said: 'HMRC needs to get on top of this because Britain is now seen by these crime gangs as the soft underbelly of Europe.

'Water finds the easiest route and fraudsters also look for the easy way. They will find every loophole Britain has come to be a soft touch.

'We have been concerned that HMRC have been slow to act. These criminals are very clever and move very swiftly but there is also a competency issue and we have to ask if HMRC can keep pace.'

Ms Hillier said failure to tackle the fraudsters hurt British businesses. 'The major loss may be to the EU budget, but British businesses are being affected by this because they are being undercut by people who are not paying duties and taxes.

'It creates an unlevel playing field and that hits British jobs.'

Officials at the EU Commission in Brussels could stop a Brexit trade deal going ahead if the fraud case has not been settled

Olaf spokesman said Britain had cooperated for a 'short time' in the past but added: 'Then they stopped. We are concerned more than disappointed because we've seen that, over time, as the other 27 countries were applying this in a systematic way traffic seems to have diverted to the UK.'

An HMRC spokesman said: 'HMRC is handling more than 550 cases relating to potential import fraud, and will not hesitate to engage the relevant prosecuting authorities.'
An illegal immigrant, who tried to rape a teenager as she walked home on a deserted footpath at 2am, has been jailed after she filmed him during the assault.

Bangladesh-born Ashraf Miah, 34, was so desperate to rip off his 18-year-old victim's clothes, he didn't realise she was filming him during the attack in Thanet, Kent.

The film was handed to police who managed to track his face.

Ashraf Miah was filmed by his victim as he attempted to rape her in Thanet, Kent

They traced Miah, who has been living in Britain illegally for ten years, to London and arrested him.

Judge James O'Mahony said he would be recommending the defendant for deportation at the end of his sentence, telling him 'You are highly dangerous...you have no business being here.'

The brave victim sat in the public gallery, protected by specially trained police officers, as prosecutor Peter Alcock told how the teenager had been attacked as she walked home from a pub in the early hours of September 30th last year.

Miah stalked his victim for 200 yards before asking her where she was going.

As she answered, he grabbed her and sexually assaulted her as she desperately fought back.

He threw her to the ground and it was only when her screams were heard by people living in nearby flats that merciless Miah halted his attack and ran away.

The victim managed to capture just one image of her vile attacker during a 90-second clip played to Canterbury Crown Court.

In the video, the victim's sobbing pleas 'Get off me...get the f*** off me, get off me. Help!' were played to the court.

As the terrible screams echoed through the hushed room, Miah repeatedly looked up at the public gallery where his victim sat out of sight.

Miah was jailed for nine-and-a-half years at Canterbury Crown Court

Judge O'Mahoney said: 'In 13 years on the bench I have seldom ever heard a more harrowing incident of the brave victim screaming in terror and pleading for it to stop and the awful suffering she endured.

'That will live with me for a very long time. If anyone needed a wake up call as to just how horrific the offence of attempted rape is, then this was it.'

He then gave Bangladeshi restaurant worker Miah, 34, of no fixed address, an extended 13-and-a-half year jail sentence.

Mr Alcock said Miah, who had been working in restaurants in Ramsgate, Kent, had come to the UK in 2006 and had been given permission to work for a year but remained in the country after this expired.

The defendant admitted attempted rape and two sexual assaults.

Simon Taylor, defending, said Miah had behaved in a 'disgraceful way in committing a disgusting criminal offence'.

He then praised the victim for her 'great fortitude, courage and great sense in recording it'.

Mr Taylor said Miah had 'very little contact with females, which it seems was the trigger to him committing this deplorable act'.

He was jailed for nine and a half years on Monday - and won't be eligible for parole until 2024 at the earliest - and then must serve another four years on licence when he is released.
Toni Chippendale is currently serving a six-year jail term for fleecing pensioner Geoffrey Cooke

A thieving carer who built up a property empire with money stolen from a frail pensioner has been ordered to pay back nearly 500,000.

Toni Chippendale, 56, of Ingol, Preston, is currently serving a six-year jail term for fleecing Geoffrey Cooke, 86, and splashing the cash on houses and lavish holidays to the Caribbean.

She siphoned off nearly 100,000, including a 25,000 over-payment in care fees, from her victim, who passed away before she was jailed.

Chippendale bought four properties and a luxury vehicle with her ill-gotten gains and enjoyed holidays to Barbados - and even jetted out there while awaiting sentence.

Now she has been ordered to pay back 362,995 and 99,000 compensation to the family of Mr Cooke.

His daughter Cath Bermingham, 55, said: 'The compensation seems like lot of money but it is less than half of what we suspect she stole.

'This has been a 10 year journey of heartache and trauma for us.'

Chippendale came into their lives when widower Mr Cooke needed help to care for his son John, who had Downs Syndrome and lived with him.

She had worked for a care agency that assisted them, but later decided to work for herself, and Mr Cooke kept her on.

Chippendale was paid to give John personal care and take him out on a weekend, and after a while she would also accompany them on holiday.

Geoffrey Cooke, right, had taken on the role of carer for his son John, left, who had Down's syndrome, after his wife's death. But when the pensioner suffered a stroke Chippendale became his carer

But alarm bells started ringing when the great-grandfather paid 5,000 to buy her car.

She had also 'sold him' a three piece suite and various other items, and their holidays were getting increasingly extravagant.

Chippendale then persuaded the pensioner to sell the home he shared with his disabled son and move into a bungalow she bought in Ingol.

She charged him an upfront rent payment of 50,000 - as well as a secret 650 a month direct debit into a relative's bank account.

Mr Cooke, a retired BAE worker, died before justice was done, virtually penniless and homeless.

has been ordered to pay back 362,995 and 99,000 compensation to the family of Mr Cooke

But his surviving family were to face a series of further devastating blows.

Chippendale was also accused of stealing from his son John, 57, who suffered Downs syndrome, but the charge was ordered to lie on file by the judge.

John died from a heart attack last March before Chippendale entered her guilty pleas at Preston Crown Court in May 2016.

And in a further tragedy, Mr Cooke's other son Peter, who had just become a grandad, died unexpectedly a few days before the court hearing last week to seize her assets.

The distraught family were holding his funeral when they received the news Judge Graham Knowles had ordered her to pay back 362,995 and 99,000 compensation to the family.

Ms Bermingham said: 'The other 362,000 was money she couldn't claim she had legally earned or been entitled to so it will go back to the community through the POCA scheme.

'We would have liked to have seen her face in court when he made his decision.

'We have seen the property she made my dad rent is already up for sale which is good - nobody should profit from that property.

'It's gone on so long I can't bring myself to believe it until the money is in the bank. But we are relieved it is all over.

'It has been hard because Peter had a new grandchild, and was only supposed to be going in for a stent in his heart to be repaired. It has been awful.

'It was a bittersweet occasion at the funeral when we found out what had happened at court, but we like to think Peter was watching what was going on.'

The order means Chippendale has three months to give back the money or she will face 42 months in prison on top of her existing six-year jail term.
Former prison officer Safak Bozkurt, pictured, smuggled in cannabis, mobile phones, sim cards and charger cables into a young offenders' institution for 1,000 in cash

A prison officer who smuggled cannabis, mobile phones and sim cards into a young offender's institution in her bra to earn extra cash to fund a master's degree in criminology

Safak Bozkurt from Islington, north London was caught by a sniffer dog as she went through security at HM YOI Isis in Thamesmead in London.

When strip searched on July 12 last year, staff found four ounces of cannabis stashed in her bra, along with four mobile phones, 18 SIM cards and charging cables stuck in her waistband.

Officers became suspicious about Bozkurt when they observed the way she was interacting with certain prisoners.

Bozkurt became a prison officer in January 2015.

Southwark Crown Court heard the 28-year-old mother-of-two was paid up to 1,000 each time she smuggled contraband into the inmates.

She used the cash to pay off 32,000 in credit card debts and fund a master's degree in criminology.

The court heard Bozkurt was paid cash by a former inmate, Luke Powell, to bring the contraband in to Joshua Ogwal.

Jane Carpenter, prosecuting, said: 'Between March and July 2016, prison officers working at HM YOI Isis began to suspect that Ms Bozkurt was behaving inappropriately towards prisoners while on duty.

'Staff then decided to conduct a staff search on Tuesday July 12. On that day, the police received a phone call from the prison informing them that they had detained Ms Bozkurt in the staff entrance.

'A prison drug detection dog had indicated her and officers found a quantity of secreted items in her bra.

'She had on her three mobile phones, 18 SIM cards, a USB stick and five charging wires. She also admitted that she had [the cannabis] in her waistband.

Bozkurt joined HM YOI Isis, pictured, in January 2015 but agreed several months later to begin smuggling contraband into the jail by former prisoner Luke Powell, who is sill on the run

'When asked who it was for she provided them with the name of Joshua Ogwal. When she was asked how much was she paid, she said 1,000.'

Ms Carpenter said that Bozkurt also told police that a former prisoner, Luke Powell, had paid her 1,000 cash to smuggle the goods in and was still at large, adding: 'If he is arrested, he will be taken straight back.'

'Ms Bozkurt's own mobile phone showed messages had been made between herself and people in D Wing in the prison. Details within the messages were about the size of packages and the fact that she did not want them to be too big.'

Ms Carpenter said Bozkurt had admitted she 'had been dealing in the prison for several months and had been paid several thousands of pounds in cash.

'Whilst in prison, she had been approached by a prisoner who offered her cash.

Southwark Crown Court heard Bozkurt was trying to pay off 32,000 in credit card debts as well as funding a master's in Criminology when she decided to take the cash

'She further said she had no excuses and no pressure had been put on her. She saw it as an opportunity to make extra money and pay her debts off.

She is doing an MSc in criminology, studying why people commit crimes. She could probably teach the class! Judge Martin Griffith

'The potential prison value going on the amount of drugs that were found located in the prison in July 2016 was between 5,850 and 11,700 for the 117 grams of cannabis.'

Ms Carpenter added that the phones were worth between 500 and 1,000, while SIM cards could be rented to prisoners for as much as 50 a night.

Graeme Wilson, defending, said: 'This defendant fully understands the seriousness of the offences which she faces.'

But Judge Martin Griffith interjected: 'I am not surprised! She is doing an MSc in criminology, studying why people commit crimes. She could probably teach the class!'

Mr Wilson continued: 'Her first concern is not so much herself, but her two children aged seven and four.

'She had been approached by a prisoner at the time she had been going through a very difficult break-up with her partner and father of her children.

Judge Martin Griffith's scathing comments 'People who work for the prison service must know, just as all those of us who do not, that drugs inside prisons and phones inside prison are entirely illegal. 'They give rise to all sorts of problems for prisons and officers who come under pressure to bring them in, such that the last thing you should have done was give way and take those items into that prison for money. 'That is even before I come to the fact that you are doing an MSc in criminology. 'You must have been burning with embarrassment every time they talked about crime and the causes of crime, thinking: "Good grief, that's me, isn't it?" 'Your barrister has said quite rightly I should think about the children. But it seems to me that those are matters that you should have had in mind, rather than coming to court telling me I should have them in mind.' Advertisement

'They had noticed she was no longer wearing a ring and they were also aware she was in massive financial debt.

'At one stage, she broke down during the course of her employment and that is when she was approached by a prisoner.'

Mr Wilson said Bozkurt's ex-partner had racked up 32,000 in credit card debts in her name because 'he had a poor credit history'.

He added that, if she was imprisoned, 'there is no body to take care of [the children].

The likelihood is they would go into care. Not only would they likely end up in social services' care, they might be separated.'

Judge Griffith said: 'All of which should have been at the forefront of her mind the first time she said, 'you give me 1,000 and I will take contraband into my place of work'.

Mr Wilson said: 'The temptation was overwhelming. The reason it recurred once it happened is those prisoners had her over a barrel.

'She was extremely vulnerable at that time, financially and mentally, because of the burdens of debt and the children as well with no support. She is extremely remorseful and she is ashamed.

Judge Griffith interrupted: 'Funnily enough, I was listening to Radio 4 this morning and the MP for Shipley was having the leader of the Women's Equality Party against him for the temerity for saying men and women should be treated equally before the law.

'If this was a man, what would you be saying? 'Nice mitigation, thank you very much, off you go.'

Mr Wilson responded: 'If it was not for the children, I would not have a leg to stand on in terms of arguing for a suspended sentence.'

Sparing Bozkurt immediate custody, Judge Griffith said: 'People who work for the prison service must know, just as all those of us who do not, that drugs inside prisons and phones inside prison are entirely illegal.

'They give rise to all sorts of problems for prisons and officers who come under pressure to bring them in, such that the last thing you should have done was give way and take those items into that prison for money.

'That is even before I come to the fact that you are doing an MSc in criminology.

'You must have been burning with embarrassment every time they talked about crime and the causes of crime, thinking: "Good grief, that's me, isn't it?"

'Your barrister has said quite rightly I should think about the children. But it seems to me that those are matters that you should have had in mind, rather than coming to court telling me I should have them in mind.'

Bozkurt admitted one count of conveying List A articles into a prison and one count of conveying List B articles into a prison.

She was sentenced to two years, suspended for 24 months, and ordered to undertake 300 hours of unpaid work.
Labour's Keir Starmer has admitted some free movement could continue after Brexit just hours after using a speech to insist it must end.

The shadow Brexit secretary had appeared to make ending free movement a red line in Labour's negotiations but came under fire for leaving issues such as the EU court, the right to strike trade deals and EU red tape up for negotiation.

But in a BBC interview after his speech, Sir Keir also left room for European workers to continue freely moving to Britain after Brexit.

Sir Keir's deputy Paul Blomfield compounded the party's woes on Brexit this afternoon by suggesting Labour could accept demands for a second referendum.

The Tories dismissed the speech and warned Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was 'too weak and floundering' to get a good Brexit deal.

MPs said Labour wanted to 'surrender' to Brussels over Brexit and reject the people who voted for it.

Labour will demand an end to free movement after Brexit but will negotiate over everything else, Sir Keir Starmer has revealed (pictured today at his speech in London)

In his first major speech of the election campaign (pictured), Sir Keir failed to mention the Labour leader by name as he set out Labour's Brexit priorities

In his speech today, Sir Keir said freedom of movement 'will have to end' when the UK leaves the single market after Brexit.

'As it currently stands, membership of the single market is incompatible with our clarity about the fact that freedom of movement rules have to change,' he said.

But asked by the BBC if 'people from Europe could carry on coming here if they have a job to come to', he replied: 'Yes.

'Freedom of movement has to go and therefore it will have to change but we must have immigration that works for our communities and for our economy.

'And that means that there has to movement of people to come and work in this country. How that's managed will have to be resolved but the last thing we want is for our businesses to go bankrupt.'

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg told MailOnline: 'Starmer's speech is an admission the Labour Party has rejected Brexit and with it many of its non metropolitan voters.'

LABOUR'S BREXIT PLAN: KEY POINTS Unilateral granting of rights to EU nationals in Britain, before British expats are given the same

Scrap and replace Theresa May's Brexit white paper setting out her 12 point Plan for Britain

End free movement rules

Prioritise a free trade deal with the EU over everything else, including ending the rule of European judges, deleting red tape and regaining the ability to strike trade deals Advertisement

Former Tory vice chair Michael Fabricant said: 'Like Labour's defence policy of ''surrender'', Keir Starmer's negotiation with the EU seems to be formulated on giving away all our bargaining chips.'

Tory MP James Cleverly added: 'Voters will still ask ''is Labour for or against Brexit'' and they won't be able to answer.'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will be challenged to repeat the claim freedom of movement must end after repeated interventions in favour of high immigration.

Answering questions after his speech, Sir Keir said: 'We need to leave options on the table to get the right deal with the EU.

'We need to be smart and flexible.'

The shadow Brexit Secretary said he would seek reforms of the single market to see if Britain could stay in without abiding by free movement rules.

And he said membership of the customs union should not be ruled out.

The shadow Brexit secretary accused Theresa May of pursuing Brexit at any cost and recklessly closing off negotiating positions

Speaking in the grand surroundings of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Sir Keir said his priority will be to retain the benefits of the single market and the customs union  opening the way to continued immigration

Both policies would see Britain still subject to rulings from EU judges and mean independent trade deals were illegal.

DON'T MENTION THE LEADER! LABOUR SCRIPT AVOIDS HARD ANSWERS ON CORBYN Labour's script for the general election campaign was revealed today Labour's 'script' for the election was revealed today. It urges candidates and campaigners to focus on talking about promises on schools and hospitals. They are urged to move conversation on from talk of Brexit and war, while the notes includes almost no mention of leader Jeremy Corbyn. The headline messages are that Labour - not Mr Corbyn - want to 'build a Britain for the man' while the Tories 'stand only for the few'. Such scripts are common tools for politicians during election campaigns. But the documents are supposed to stay secret to avoid embarrassing revelations about enforced lines to take. Advertisement

But Sir Keir insisted a trade deal with the EU was the most important objective because it represented 44 per cent of UK exports.

Sir Keir promised to retain hundreds of EU directives even after we leave the bloc, saying they are essential to preserve workers' rights and the environment.

Shadow Brexit minister Mr Blomfield was challenged on Sky News about whether Britain was 'definitely leaving' the EU under all circumstances.

He said: Obviously if there were significant reforms that came out of these negotiations which addressed the concerns that led people to vote in the way they did last year thats a whole new ball game isnt it?.

But in the scenario that were facing were respecting the outcome of the referendum.

Asked if Labour could ever accept a second referendum, Mr Blomfield said: It may be that some way down the road there is popular demand for a second referendum and as democrats we would accede to that.

Brexit Secretary David Davis MP dismissed Sir Keir.

He said: 'Jeremy Corbyn is too weak and floundering to get a good deal in the Brexit negotiations.

'A divided Labour party, propped up by a Liberal Democrat SNP coalition of chaos, can't even agree amongst themselves on Brexit.

'Putting this chaotic team in charge of negotiating with the EU would be a dangerous risk to Britain's future.

'The choice is clear  only a vote for the strong and stable leadership of Theresa May on June 8th will deliver a Brexit deal in Britain's national interest.'

Brexit Secretary David Davis (pictured yesterday with Dutch Minister Bert Koenders at The Hague) said Labour were too 'weak and floundering' to get a Brexit deal

Theresa May is campaigning on a platform of winning a strong Brexit mandate and claims Labour would lead to a weak and chaotic deal

And he said that 'on day one', a Labour government would unilaterally guarantee existing rights for all EU nationals in Britain  before Brussels does the same for UK nationals on the continent.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will be challenged to repeat Sir Keir's claim free movement must end

Tory MPs said Labour was rejecting its own voters and seeking to overturn the referendum result.

The soft Brexit position will be seen as an attempt to win pro-Remain voters from the Liberal Democrats.

Speaking yesterday in Scotland, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Conservatives of 'trying to use Brexit to turn Britain into a low-wage tax haven run in the interests of the powerful'.

He insisted: 'Labour will negotiate a Brexit that will build on the gains won for workers, consumers and the environment in the European Union. We will put jobs, living standards and human rights first.'

In his speech, Sir Keir said he would negotiate with Brussels to avoid a cliff-edge for the economy and would not accept 'no deal' as a viable option.

'A Labour government will set out a new Brexit strategy,' he said.

'We will scrap the Government's Brexit white paper and replace it with fresh negotiating priorities that reflect Labour values and our six tests.

The white paper will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the single market and the customs union as Labour know that is vital to protecting jobs.'

Sir Keir said Labour would unilaterally agree the rights of EU nationals living in Britain after Brexit

Sir Keir promised to retain hundreds of EU directives even after we leave the bloc, saying they are essential to preserve workers' rights and the environment

Sir Keir committed Labour to negotiating 'for the many, not the few'.

'Where Theresa May wants to shut down scrutiny and challenge, Labour will welcome it,' he said.

'We will work with parliament, not against it.

'Because on an issue of this importance the Government can't hide from the public or parliament. A Labour approach to Brexit means legislating to guarantee that parliament has a truly meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal.'

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said: 'Labour are not the party of business, so it is not surprising they do not know that without a 'walk-away' position you will never get a deal done.'

Fellow Tory Philip Davies said: 'Labour clearly has no idea about how to negotiate.'
Scott Baio has apologized for blaming the death of Happy Days co-star Erin Moran on drugs after it emerged she died from cancer.

The actor claimed he was responding to media reports when he suggested the death of the 56-year-old may have been due to substance abuse problems.

Authorities in Indiana said Monday that Moran likely died from cancer at her home in New Salisbury on Saturday at the age of 56.

Scott Baio speaks during the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland

Erin Moran arrives at the Fox Reality Channel Really Awards in Los Angeles back in 2008

Erin Moran of the television show Happy Days in Los Angeles. Moran, the former child star who played Joanie Cunningham in the sitcoms Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi died Saturday, April 22, 2017, at the age of 56

But earlier in the day, Baio told New York's WABC radio about Moran's death that 'if you do drugs or drink, you're going to die,'.

He added that he didn't know if drugs or alcohol were the cause and explaining his position after the interview, he said he went to bed hearing reports Moran had died of a heroin overdose and made his comments based on the speculation.

Baio's comments drew a backlash on social media.

He clarified in a Facebook post that he had heard reports that Moran died of a heroin overdose and the radio interview took place before authorities mentioned her cancer.

Baio says he's 'heartbroken' over Moran's death.

Seen for the first time these pictures obtained by DailyMail.com show Erin Morans body being taken from her trailer park home in Indiana Saturday

Pictures obtained by DailyMail.com show Erin Morans body being taken from her trailer park home by Harris County Coroner moments after the actress had been pronounced dead on Saturday afternoon.

Police and paramedics responded to the 911 call believed to have been made by her husband Steve Fleischmann around 4pm on Saturday but it was too late for the 56-year-old actress made famous by her role as Joanie in Happy Days.

Twenty-four year old Kimberly Combs witnessed the scenes.

She told DailyMail.com: Saturday me and my kids loaded up in the car we went to go to my moms for a cookout and we seen the coroner van in her driveway and they were there.

Erin Moran and Scott Baio in a promotional shoot

We didnt know who it was at the time. My son and I noticed that there was somebody walking out with a body bag on a stretcher to put them in the coroners van.

It was really frightening.

Kimberly who has lived in Berkshire Pointe trailer park where Erin and Steve lived with his mother, Donna Woods, recalled Erin as a really nice woman who gave out candy to the kids at Halloween.

Erins death was likely due to complications linked to the stage 4 cancer from which few seem to have known she was suffering.

Toxicology results are pending though no illegal drugs or paraphenalia were found in the small trailer home.

But Erins struggle with alcohol and substance abuse has been well documented and Kimberly admitted that drugs are a problem in the otherwise quiet community.

She said: 'Theres two houses on this street weve seen a lot of activity as a matter of fact.

'Im not 100% sure but weve got an idea that past Ms Morans home down a ways theres been speculation that there might be drugs.'

Henry Winkler, Tom Bosley, Anson Williams, Marion Ross, Donny Most, Erin Moran and Ron Howard of Happy Days

The Harrison County Sheriff's Office announced her death in a statement that read: 'On Saturday the 22nd day of April, 2017, Erin Marie Moran-Fleischmann passed away at her residence located in New Salisbury, Indiana.'

'A joint investigation into Mrs Moran's death was conducted by the Harrison County Sheriff's Department and the Harrison County Coroner's Office.

It was previously believed that she might have died of a drug overdose, and the sheriff's statement was released after a worker at the trailer park Moran was living detailed how the star had tried to turn her life around.
A pair of death-defying teenagers were ordered off the top of a 116ft tower after taking pictures of each other dangling off sky-high ledges.

George Edwards, 18, and Omar Jackson, 21, were seen scaling a disused water tower in Colchester, Essex, on Wednesday night without any safety equipment.

They were finally brought down by firefighters after terrified onlookers called 999.

But the pair have claimed they did not need help and have vowed to carry on climbing tall buildings.

George, a student, said: 'We never want to get caught by police or anyone, it's just hassle we don't need but when someone spots you and calls police it's just unfortunate.

'We take everything with extreme care.

'We will do it as often as we can, every few weeks we travel to London at night and just climb.'

A pair of death-defying teenagers were ordered off the top of a 116ft tower after taking pictures of each other dangling off sky-high ledges

George Edwards, 18, and Omar Jackson, 21, were seen scaling a disused water tower (pictured) in Colchester, Essex, on Wednesday night without any safety equipment

Police cars, a van and four fire engines were called to the Jumbo Water Tower where the friends claim they were taking pictures of the sunset.

George shrugged off the drama after posting the photos the snaps captured on his Sony camera.

He said: 'We have done it before at night time, however, we decided to do it in the day because we wanted to get some really good photos of the sunset.

George (pictured), a student, said: 'We never want to get caught by police or anyone, it's just hassle we don't need'

'It was incredible, the opportunities were amazing. A bunch of police cars turned up and a van and two fire engines.

'We were happy to climb down but they insisted they got the ladder up and they got us down. It drew quite a crowd.'

The student at The Colchester Institute said he and Omar spent about 20 minutes using hand-holds on the challenging 'Jumbo Climb'.

'It was quite overwhelming, it was a bit crazy,' he said. 'We were confronted by a bunch of officers who were interested in what we were doing up there.

'They were really nice officers and were chatting to us for a bit and made sure we weren't known criminals.

'They said they would pass our details onto the land owner and said it was up to him to take any action.

'I told my mum afterwards - she said "Not again" but is used to it.'

George and Omar, 21, who works at a trampolining centre in the town, have been scaling dizzy heights for photographic thrills for about a year.

George added: 'We often go to London and do places like in the Olympic park in Stratford.

Police cars, a van and four fire engines were called to the Jumbo Water Tower. Pictured, George dangling off a building ledge in London at an earlier date

'The orbit - we climbed that one that was a good one and we've done buildings in London about 40 storeys tall.

'I've been training in parkour for about two years now and then I started doing climbing for over a year now and the parkour helped with that because it taught me how to control my body when I'm up in places.'

A spokesman for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: 'We don't have a statement around our views on the incident itself.

'On April 19 at 8pm two fire engines from Colchester, including one aerial ladder platform (APL), were called to Balkerne Gate, Colchester.

'Firefighters used the ALP to reach two young adults from the top of the water tower and brought them back down ground level by 8.30pm.'
Residents of a Siberian town have complained of choking from the smoke of wildfires as fumes spread inside flats and houses.

Photos of Zheleznogorsk, a town of 84,800 people that is closed to outsiders, show flames close to residential buildings.

The town, 39 miles from major city Krasnoyarsk, retains nuclear facilities for storage although the production of weapons-grade plutonium was reported as having stopped in 2010.

Wildfires have hit Siberia's Zheleznogorsk, which retains nuclear facilities for storage although the production of weapons-grade plutonium was reported as having stopped in 2010

Photos of Zheleznogorsk, a town of 84,800 people that is closed to outsiders, show flames close to residential buildings

Residents of the south-central Siberian town have complained of 'choking' due to smoke from the fires

It is believed, however, that there is no immediate threat to the nuclear facilities, which are built within caverns excavated in the granite mountain on the northern edge of the city.

Local journalists said they could not get details of the fire from the local emergencies ministry, because they town's administration is run from Moscow, 2,100 miles and five time zones to the west, according to the Siberian Times.

Meanwhile, fire brigades had to make more than 30 trips to the area in attempts to stop the flames spreading further.

The cause of the wildfire is believed to have been grass which ignited after a period of dry weather following the melting of the winter snow.

Officials have reported that the situation in the area was now 'normal' but smoke from the stricken nuclear town was still spreading Krabnsnoyark, a city with a population of 1.03million.

Local journalists said they could not get details of the fire from the local emergencies ministry, because they town's administration is run from Moscow, 2,100 miles and five time zones to the west

The cause of the wildfire is believed to have been grass which ignited after a period of dry weather following the melting of the winter snow

Fire brigades had to make more than 30 trips to the area in attempts to stop the flames spreading further

Zheleznogorsk, formerly known as Krasnoyarsk-26, was founded by Joseph Stalin in 1950.

The town, in the southern part of central Siberia, sits on the banks of the Yenisei River.

Before 1992, when Soviet Union until President Boris Yeltsin decreed in 1992 that towns could use their historical names, Zheleznogorsk had not appeared on official maps.

Until then, it had only been known as Krasnoyarsk-26.

The town is closed, which means travel and residency restrictions require authorisation for overnight stays.

Zheleznogorsk, formerly known as Krasnoyarsk-26, was founded by Joseph Stalin in 1950. The town, in the southern part of central Siberia, sits on the banks of the Yenisei River
Pete McDonald, president of Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC), has named Kerri Hosmer the vice president of Adult Education. Ms. Hosmer brings several years of educational experience in a wide variety of post-secondary and K-12 settings to her new role.

Ms. Hosmer has served as the acting vice president of Adult Education at Georgia Northwestern for the past seven months. Prior positions in Adult Education at GNTC include director of instruction, Georgia Adult Learner Information System (GALIS) data software manager and supervisor of Pearson VUE testing, adjunct instructor, program administrative assistant, and volunteer for the Language and Literacy Center at the Rome-Floyd Public Library.



Ms. Hosmer has served as a Language Arts teacher for Floyd County Schools, Ware County Schools, Pierce County Schools, and Nassau County Schools. She also was an adjunct English instructor, Okefenokee (now Coastal Pines) Technical College; Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) resource teacher, Nassau County Schools; and an operations analyst and systems coordinator and administrative assistant, BancBoston Mortgage Corporation.



Ms. Hosmer holds a bachelors degree in Theatre Arts from Jacksonville University and a masters degree in Higher Education Administration from The University of Alabama. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration from UVA. Hosmer studied American Sign Language (ASL) I at Florida State College in Jacksonville and ASL II at Georgia Perimeter College (now known as Perimeter College at Georgia State University).



As vice president of Adult Education at GNTC, Ms. Hosmer is responsible for the management of all Adult Education programs and instructional services at GNTC. Her responsibilities include the oversight of assessment and student placement tests for Adult Education students, maintenance of student records, hiring and supervising all Adult Education employees, managing the departmental budget, managing state and federal grants, and promotion of the Adult Education program to public and private organizations throughout GNTC's nine county service area.


The United States rekindled an old trade conflict with Canada when it announced Monday that it was slapping new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports.

The move came after President Donald Trump lashed out at Ottawa for taxing ultra-filtered milk coming across the border from the U.S.

'What theyve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace. Its a disgrace,' he said last week in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

By Tuesday he was shaking a first to the north, tweeting that 'Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult.'

'We will not stand for this. Watch!' he added.

President Donald Trump is shaking a first northward, warning Canada that the U.S. will retaliate if Ottawa continues to slap import tariffs on U.S. goods

'We will not stand for this,' Trump tweeted, referring to a tariff on U.S. ultra-filtered milk  used for making cheese  that crosses the border into Canada

The U.S. Commerce Department has reached a 'preliminary determination' that Canada is improperly subsidizing softwood lumber exports to the United States. Softwood lumber is used mainly for home building.

The Commerce Department said that, after talks failed to reach an agreement, it would impose 'countervailing duties' of between three and 24 percent.

The department 'will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits based on these preliminary rates.'

Furthermore, 'certain companies will be subject to the retroactive collection of cash deposits' for up to 90 days.

Officials in Canada, the second most important U.S. trade partner, rejected claims of subsidies.

The U.S. Commerce Department said that in 2016 softwood lumber imports from Canada were valued at $5.66 billion.

'Canada disagrees strongly with the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to impose an unfair and punitive duty. The accusations are baseless and unfounded,' a statement signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr read.

The softwood lumber dispute between the United States and Canada has seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years, and now Trump is putting a tariff on imports

'This decision will negatively affect workers on both sides of the border, and will ultimately increase costs for American families who want to build or renovate homes.'

Canada 'will vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood lumber industry, including through litigation,' it said, adding that it has prevailed in international tribunals on the issue since 1983.

The softwood lumber dispute between Washington and Ottawa has seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years, with U.S. producers accusing their Canadian counterparts of exporting lumber at subsidized prices.

Canada, the United States and Mexico are part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, Canadian softwood exports are regulated under a bilateral agreement reached in 2006, which expired in 2015.

President Donald Trump, who took office in January, spent much of his campaign blasting the NAFTA agreement and stating that he would renegotiate it to get a better deal.

Trump's campaign attacks focused mainly on Mexico, but recently he has focused on Canada, especially over dairy imports.

'It has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations,' Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.

On April 17 'it became apparent that Canada intends to effectively cut off the last dairy products being exported from the United States. Today (Monday), in a different matter, the Department of Commerce determined a need to impose countervailing duties of roughly $1 billion on Canadian softwood lumber exports to us.

'This is not our idea of a properly functioning Free Trade Agreement,' Ross said.

Following these emergency measures, the Commerce Department said it will conduct a thorough investigation and confirm its position by September 27.

If confirmed, the tariffs would then have to be approved by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).

Ross said that he and the Canadian ministers 'tried to negotiate a settlement but we were unable.'

Canada 'has put forward a number of reasonable proposals to the current U.S. administration that is responsive to views expressed by U.S. industry,' the statement from Canada's Freeland and Carr read.

'We remain confident that a negotiated settlement is not only possible but in the best interests of both countries.'

Trump has said he believes too many U.S. industrial jobs have gone abroad, especially to Mexico, and that the United States is the victim of unfair trade practices by both of its NAFTA neighbors.

Last week Trump suggested possible sanctions in the steel sector, stating that he believes the decline in domestic steel production due to cheaper imports is a national security issue.
A United Airlines flight from Costa Rica to Texas was forced to make a 'terrifying' emergency landing after one of the engines failed.

United Flight 1516 from Liberia airport to Houston was forced to make the landing after one of the engines overheated and stopped working on Monday.

Jody Genessy, from Utah, said he was on the plane with his wife when the captain announced around 30 minutes into the journey that they would be turning back.

United Airlines Flight 1516 from Liberia airport, Costa Rica, to Houston was forced to turn back on Monday after an engine overheated and stopped working

Genessy, a radio DJ and father-of-four, said passengers were not told of the engine problem until after the plane had landed, but could tell something was wrong.

Recounting the experience on Facebook, he said: 'We had to fly around in circles over the ocean for about an hour to burn off fuel and [the pilot] was only using one engine this whole time, I guess.

'When we were flying in for the landing, the plane felt really wobbly. I fly a lot and something felt weird and wrong and I was already tense and everyone was nervous.

'Right as we were about to land, apparently a wind sheer hit us and with only one engine the pilot couldn't stabilize [the plane].

Passenger Jody Genessy said the plane nearly crashed as it was hit with a gust of wind on landing, but the pilot saved it

'It tipped one way and people on that side said the wing almost hit [the ground] and we were going hundreds of miles per hour at that point.

'The pilot corrected and the plane wobbled the other way and he just yanked it up and we went back up in the air.

'We all thought we were going to crash. We all thought we were going to die.

'You just think about kids being left without parents and your life ending way too early and it was really frightening.'

Speaking two hours after the plane landed, Genessy said he was was still 'shaken' and 'skittish', though thankful to be alive.

Recalling the moment the plane landed safely, he said: 'Everybody was just clapping and screaming and shouts of joy. People were praying out loud, we were just so grateful to be on solid ground.

'I fly a lot and I'm quite sacred to get back in the plane honestly. That was a horrifying experience, it makes you really appreciate life,' he added, choking back tears.

'I'm just really grateful I'm still here. Honestly I was scared to death.'

Genessy said United Airlines offered all passengers a free night in a hotel in Costa Rica, and a $10 dinner voucher.

Another flight from Costa Rica to Houston is scheduled to depart on Tuesday at 12.25pm, and it is thought these passengers will be on that plane.

Genessy said it was 'sobering' to see all the emergency vehicles on the runway after the plane landed, adding: 'They were preparing for us to crash'

In a statement, United Airlines said: 'Flight 1516, traveling from Liberia, Costa Rica to Houston, returned to Liberia due to a maintenance issue.

'The plane landed safely and a new aircraft is being sent to take customers to Houston tomorrow.

'We apologize to all customers on board for their experience and will be providing compensation for the inconvenience.'

The incident comes two weeks after David Dao, a doctor on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, was filmed being dragged from his seat and badly injured by police.

Officers tried to remove Dao from the flight after a booking issue meant the aircraft was over-occupied.

After nobody volunteered to leave, several people were chosen at random. Dao refused to go, saying he had patients to see and had to take the flight.

Dao was then videotaped struggling with Chicago Airport Police officers, during which he was left with blood streaming down his face.

The video footage, along with a subsequent statement by United's CEO Oscar Munoz in which he stood by the actions of staff and police, led to public condemnation of the airline and saw millions of dollars wiped off its stock market value.

Dao now plans to sue United, though no papers have yet been filed as his lawyers say they are gathering evidence.
A businessman is facing jail after grooming a 14-year-old schoolgirl who befriended him on Facebook after he pressurised her into having sex in a hotel and in his car.

Craig Evans of Tylorstown, Rhondda, was living with his partner and their two young daughters when he started meeting the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Merthyr Tydfl Crown Court heard that 25-year-old Evans had chosen an engagement ring for the girl and planned to propose marriage on her 16th birthday during a trip to the London Eye.

Father-of-two Craig Evans, right, groomed the 14-year-old girl and pestered her for sex

The 25-year-old businessman planned to propose to the girl on the London Eye once she turned 16 having already chosen a ring

The court heard that Evans met the girl after she befriended him on Facebook, file photo

The girl's family became concerned about the nature of their relationship and contacted police.

The court heard Evans and the girl even discussed having a child and had chosen the name 'Jack', as it was the name of Leonardo DiCaprio's character in Titanic, which was her favourite film.

Evans, who ran his own newspaper distribution company, was served with a child abduction notice preventing him contacting the girl.

But a court heard he continued seeing her for sex and was arrested when police spotted her in his car.

Evans told police the girl was 'obsessed' with him and would not leave him alone.

But prosecutor Jonathan Rees said Evans had 'pestered her for sex' and used his credit card to book rooms at a Premier Inn and a Travelodge.

He told the jury: 'As the relationship developed they would flirt - he pestered her for sex but she refused saying she wasn't ready.

'But he booked a room at the Premier Inn and lied to her mother that she was having a sleepover with a friend.'

Merthyr Tydfl Crown Court heard Evans gave the girl lager but she was 'never drunk' and readily agreed to have sex with him in his car or at hotels.

Evans and the girl discussed having a child together and naming him Jack after Leonardo Di Caprio's character in the 1997 film Titanic which was described as her favourite movie

Evans will reappear at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court next month for sentencing, file photograph

Evans lived with his partner and their daughters aged two and three while grooming the teenager.

Mr Rees said: 'They had unprotected sex and she had a few scares but didn't fall pregnant.

'They would talk about having a baby together and used the name Jack after the Leonardo diCaprio character in her favourite film Titanic.'

The court heard police were able to retrieve explicit sexual text messages sent between the pair which Evans had deleted.

Evans claimed he was 'set up' by the girl and her older sisters.

But a jury found him guilty of two charges of sexual activity with a child and two of abduction by removing the girl from her mother's care.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced next month.
Lib Dem candidate Ashuk Ahmed has been suspended today after Facebook posts attacking Jews came to light

The Liberal Democrat running to become MP for Luton South has been dramatically suspended by the party after a MailOnline investigation revealed that he made a series of disturbing anti-Semitic posts on social media.

Ashuk Ahmed, 51  who was given an award at the House of Lords for 'inspirational role models for British Muslims'  will no longer contest the seat, a Liberal Democrat spokesman confirmed.

Mr Ahmed posted a series of posts comparing Jews to Nazis, suggesting that Zionists controlled 'half the world' and claiming that Labour and the Conservatives were controlled by 'Zionist paymasters'.

Among the offensive posts and shares, which were made in 2014, were images of the Israeli prime minister eating children and the slogan, 'blood sucking leech'.

On one occasion, he wrote: 'Zionists control half the world, we are the other half. So let's make a lot more noise.' He also suggested that the Labour and Conservative parties are controlled by 'Zionist paymasters'.

Mr Ahmed also shared a video made by an extreme anti-Semitic group AshkeNazi, which claims to 'expose the current takeover of the United States by the Jewish Ashkenazi tribe'.

Mr Ahmed, a community worker who was awarded an MBE in the 2009 Queen's birthday honours in recognition of his services to young people, also spread the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that ISIS was created by 'Jewish media and their gentile pawns' in order to 'justify more slaughter'.

Ashuk Ahmed, 51  who was given an award at the House of Lords for 'inspirational role models for British Muslims'  will no longer contest the seat after a series of anti-Semitic posts were discovered, a Liberal Democrat spokesman confirmed

Mr Ahmed shared posts comparing Jews to Nazis, suggesting that Zionists controlled 'half the world' and claiming that Labour and the Conservatives were controlled by 'Zionist paymasters'

Among the offensive posts, which were made in 2014, were images of the Israeli prime minister under the slogan, 'blood sucking leech'

When asked by MailOnline whether he stood by his anti-Semitic posts and if he wished to apologise, Mr Ahmed declined to comment. Instead he forwarded a police letter which confirmed he had been investigated.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: 'You sent us the email with the screenshots at 11:55 and we suspended Mr Ahmed at 11:56.

'Mr Ahmed's utterances have no place in the party. We believe in a politics that is open, tolerant and united.'

The former parliamentary candidate was interviewed under caution by Bedfordshire police in 2014 following a complaint about the anti-Semitic posts, which were made before that date.

Ashuk Ahmed praised the 'strong words' of the Lib Dems unlike - he claimed - others who will not comment for fear of upsetting 'zionist paymasters'

Ashuk Ahmed was suspended as a candidate for the Lib Dems today after a series of Facebook posts came to light, one of which attacked 'zionist Tesco'

Mr Ahmed also shared a video comparing the Israeli secret service to Isis

He resigned from his position on the Bedfordshire Police Independent Advisory Group (IAG) shortly afterwards. No charges were brought, however, and he was re-appointed as the group's Vice Chair last year.

Chief Superintendent David Boyle from Bedfordshire Police said: 'A police investigation was launched into reports of the sharing of anti-Semitic posts on Mr Ahmed's Facebook page, but no criminal offences were found to have been committed.'

He also claimed that no 'issues' had come up since Mr Ahmed was reappointed.

In 2010, Mr Ahmed was given a British Community Honours Award at the House of Lords naming him as an 'inspirational role model for British Muslims as part of mainstream society' who improved 'social cohesion'.

He was also named on the Independent on Sunday 'Happy List 2009' which recognised 100 people who make Britain a 'better, more caring and contented nation'.

According to Mr Ahmed's official website, he is also a school governor and a trustee for Crime Stoppers UK Eastern Region.

Ashuk Ahmed has been suspended today after a series of posts emerged suggesting he is anti-Semitic

Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: 'Ashuk Ahmed has posted repugnant, anti-Semitic material online, for which he was interviewed by police. Yet he has been made an MBE, has been appointed to a powerful police advisory group, and has been selected to stand as the Liberal Democrat candidate.

'His anti-Semitic posts are no secret. It beggars belief that we have to ask a political party and a police force not to appoint people like Mr Ahmed to positions of power.'

This is not the first time Liberal Democrat politicians have been accused of anti-Semitism. Jenny Tongue, a former peer, was forced to quit the party after she was suspended over alleged anti-Semitic comments.

Among a series of posts, Mr Ahmed claimed 'zionists control half the world, we are the other half'

And councillor and former MP David Ward said on Twitter that 'Zionists' were 'winning despite the appalling racism of the state of Israel and its supporters'.

It comes as Tim Farron attempts to position his party as a 'warm home' for Jews alienated by the anti-Semitism scandal in Labour.

'I want to make a bold pitch to progressive voters in the Jewish community and say, we are for you,' Mr Farron said last year.

'As somebody who considers himself to be a friend of the Jewish community here, supports the right of Israel to exist, supports a two-state solution and thinks antisemitism should be called out at every single opportunity it rears its ugly head, I hope people would find that we are progressive, going places and a warm home.'

Sam Westrop, director of Islamist Watch, a project of the U.S.-based Middle East Forum, said: 'At a time when the Labour Party's failure to tackle anti-Semitism seriously has lost them the trust of the Jewish community, the Liberal Democrats have made a wise decision to reject this extremist.

'When Ashuk Ahmed was selected as a political candidate, given an MBE, or praised by politicians as a 'community leader', he was legitimised as a representative of the Muslim community.

'That is an insult to moderate Muslims everywhere, who would be embarrassed and outraged by Ahmed's hateful Islamist views.'
The widow of a world renowned scientist who was stabbed to death by a violent schizophrenic has told of how she is having 'relive her husband's death'.

Nadja Ensink-Tiech was refused legal aid after her husband Jeroen, a lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, was killed outside their Islington home just 11 days after his daughter Fleur was born.

His attacker, paranoid schizophrenic Femi Nandap, had knife crime charges against him dropped six days before the killing on December 29, 2015.

Nadja is convinced the CPS and police have questions to answer as to why he was released before killing her husband as he delivered cards to their friends and family, announcing their daughter's birth.

'They're making me live out his death again and again and again,' said Mrs Ensink-Tiech who was inside the house with Fleur, unaware the attack was taking place. 'It's really very difficult.'

Nadja Ensink-Tiech was refused legal aid after her husband Jeroen (pictured together) was killed outside their Islington home just 11 days after his daughter Fleur was born

'Sitting in the coroner's court, it really hits you that the CPS and the police are there with representation, paid for by the taxpayer, and they expect me to pay for my own.'

'By denying me legal representation, I won't be able to effectively participate in the investigation into the death of my husband and the father of my daughter. Consequently our interests won't be adequately presented.'

'As if I'm not going through enough already, I always thought legal aid would be granted and I have no idea what it hasn't been. We haven't had any answers.

'The whole point was to find out what went wrong, what missed opportunities there were and how do we hold someone accountable.

'I want answers and I want justice. I don't want this to be my only mission in life, my one and only thing is our daughter Fleur, and she always will be. I don't want to get bitter about all of this.'

Her husband's killer was sectioned indefinitely under the Mental Health Act last October, after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Despite the bitter disappointment in having to fund her own legal representation Nadja says she is overwhelmed by the support of hundreds who have donated money to help her online.

Dr Ensink's attacker, paranoid schizophrenic Femi Nandap, had knife crime charges against him dropped six days before the killing in Islington, north London

'I haven't had time to fully digest everything or to read all the comments people have left [on crowdfunding page] but what I have seen proves that other people are disgusted as well.

'I think they are absolutely shocked that it's had to come this far. It's appalling.'

In a blog post announcing the launch of a scholarship in his name, Nadja described her husband as a 'doting father', a 'brilliant researcher' and a 'committed teacher who inspired a new generation of public health professionals'.

She went on to describe how the couple were once full of hope for the future of their family.

How life has changed since then, but what stays with us is the love we shared, and love goes on,' she wrote on the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene website.

'Fleur looks very much like her daddy and has his personality with a little bit of mine mixed into it.

'Fleur has just turned one and however much I'd like her to, I don't think that she will have any lasting memories from the eleven days that Jeroen was with us. But I am convinced that deep down she knows how loved she was by her father.'

Nadja (left) is convinced the CPS and police have questions to answer as to why he was released before killing her husband (right)

Less than a week before the killing 23-year-old Nandap had charges of possession of a bladed article dropped despite being arrested in May 2015 with two kitchen knives after assaulting a police officer, who he punched and bit on the thumb.

After Nandap was released on bail by Highbury Corner Magistrates Court the CPS dropped the charges on December 23 claiming there was not have enough evidence to prosecute.

At a pre-inquest review yesterday, Mary Hassell, senior Inner London Coroner, demanded explanations from the CPS and Scotland Yard about the decisions.

She said: 'This inquest with look briefly at the stabbing of Mr Ensink as criminal proceedings have already taken place.

'I would like to look at the events leading up to Mr Nandap being in the place he was at that time with a knife. 'We would need to look at the who makes the decision around bail.

'It seems to me there are issues to be explained regarding police actions. I don't prejudge this but there does need to be an exploration.

Alison Gerry representing the family said: 'The familiar have concerns about the actions or inactions of police and how Mr Nandap was presenting at that time and the actions taken.

Femi Nandap, was sectioned indefinitely last October under the Mental Health Ac

'There are a number of agencies involved and various people at different times, likely to show what powers were available.

'Given this it may not be clear for a jury to follow and the family would welcome findings of fact and there are limitations on what a jury can find on. 'Information from Mr Nandap's sister who spoke to a mental health nurse in Nigeria would be useful.

'There were some strange things said by Mr Nandap during his police interview but the CPS said they were not aware of any mental health concerns at the time of his arrest.'

The coroner asked for a copy of a note from the Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court hearing on October 12, 2015, as well as the police detention log of May 23 when Nandap was released on bail.

The court heard Nandap did not see a doctor when he was arrested in October.

The CPS decided to drop the case on December 23. Nandap claimed he was the 'black Messiah' after he was arrested for Jeroen' murder.

He told officers: 'The voices were demanding a sacrifice because as the messiah I was supposed to kill someone.' Nandap had gone to visit his sister the day of the killing and was seen walking barefoot before he and Dr Ensink were seen to be in a physical altercation. An off duty officer stepped in and Nandap told him to leave him 'he's dead now'.

After being released on police bail in May, Nandap went to Nigeria where he was treated with anti-psychotic drugs which he stopped taking by the time of his return to the UK.

On August 25, his sister handed a letter to police saying he was not fit to travel back to the UK earlier because he was suffering 'depression and psychosis'.

But he returned to Britain on October 10 and was arrested at Heathrow airport as he entered the country. He then appeared before magistrates but was again released on bail by the court and knifed Dr Ensink two months later.

There was also a second magistrates court hearing on November 26 when his bail conditions were changed so he could attend college.
The Fritzl house of horrors - built above the subterranean lair where the Austrian pervert imprisoned his own daughter and raped her repeatedly for 24 years - is open for business once more to tenants seeking a new home.

Renovations at the building in Amstetten have eliminated all trace of Josef Fritzl and his diabolical crimes.

Herbert and Ingrid Houska bought the tumbledown 25-room property at the knockdown price of 120,000 euros and spent at least that much again over the last three years transforming it from a ghoulish crime scene to a modern des res.

Erasing the past: Josef Fritzl lived in this building until his arrest in 2008. It has now been completely refurbished and redesigned by its new orders

The building was sold by the Fritzl family after Josef Fritzl (pictured, left) went to prison. He had built a dungeon (right), for his daughter, which has now been filled in

Ten apartments with laminate floors and modern kitchens have replaced the drab and dull flats that Fritzl, now 82, was the landlord of during his reign of terror upon his own daughter.

But unlike most Austrian living complexes, there is no basement: that was filled in on the orders of Amstetten authorities to prevent it ever becoming a shrine to the dark side.

It was beneath the boarding house that convicted rapist and engineer Fritzl carved a secret cellar hidden away by eight locked doors.

The first tenants have already moved into the furnished apartments which feature one and two bedrooms

The flats have been decorated in a sparse and modernist way and are available for 500 euros

Josef Fritzl held his daughter Elisabeth captive between 1984 and 2008

In April 2008 the building became the focus of international media attention after Fritzl was arrested and his daughter Elisabeth rescued from her underground hell

One day in 1984 he used ether to knock out his daughter Elisabeth and dragged her to the lair for her martyrdom to begin.

Over the next 24 years she was raped over 3,000 times, beating him seven incest children.

Three of them were brought up in the rat-infested dungeon, three more he lied to police were dumped as newborns upon his doorstep - he lived at the top of the house - by Elisabeth who, he claimed, had run off to join a cult.

In all the years of her imprisonment, none of the tenants cottoned on to the tragedy that was playing out beneath them.

They could not know that Fritzl was stealing their electricity to power the cellar jail, nor know that the heating from the solid fuel boiler was boosted on one occasion with the addition of the corpse of one of Elisabeth's children who died because he refused to allow a doctor to attend to it.

Fritzl is serving life for murder and rape at Austria's most secure psychiatric prison. His health is deteriorating, he has been divorced by his wife, he has no contact to Elisabeth and the children he fathered by her.

No trace remains from the bizarre life Fritzl lived and the basement has now been filled in

All mod cons: New bathrooms and showers have been put in each apartment

The nightmare ended in 2008 when Kerstin, her eldest daughter, then 19, slipped into a coma in the cellar and was close to death.

He allowed her to go to hospital where doctors were appalled at the horrific state of the girl with rotting teeth, sallow skin and numerous nutritional problems.

He also allowed Elisabeth out of the cellar to visit her - and she was promptly arrested by police who were alerted by doctors that she was responsible for her daughter's grotesque condition.

But once in an interview room she was able to tell detectives the real story of what happened and her two remaining cellar children were released and her father never breathed the air of a free man again.

The first tenants have already moved into the flats.

Mr Houska, who runs a red light club in Amstetten, said: 'Most of the apartments have gone. No one feels there is a stigma in living here.

'We wanted to bury the terrible past and usher in a new era here.'

The flats in the house at 40 Ybbstrasse are around 38 square metres and cost 500 euros a month to rent.
A speed boat crashed into jagged rocks and flipped upside down forcing its passengers to abandon ship in this terrifying video.

Powering through the choppy waters on the Salmon River, Idaho, two sailors approached a large whirl of rapids.

Their vessel, named Maniac 313, careened its way across the swirl of water to find the smoothest route through.

A speed boat crashed into jagged rocks and flipped upside down forcing its passengers to abandon ship in this terrifying video

However, the pair were instead sent hurtling towards the rocks, knocking them up on their side, into the air and crashing down onto another formation, before flipping upside down in the water.

Looking on in horror with her family, Jenni Stout, from Greenacres, Washington, said: 'Everyone was in complete shock, we were all just hoping neither of them were injured.

'My heart completely stopped, I just kept thinking, "Please be okay, please be okay", waiting to see them emerge at the surface of the water.

Powering through the choppy waters on the Salmon River, Idaho, two sailors approached a large whirl of rapids

Their vessel, named Maniac 313, careened its way across the swirl of water to find the smoothest route through

'When they didn't everyone was screaming for the rescue boats to come and save them.

'Thankfully, after a few seconds both appeared from underneath the boat and we were all relieved.'

Luckily, both racers on board the boat escaped without injury, living to race another day.

However, the pair were instead sent hurtling towards the rocks, knocking them up on their side, into the air and crashing down onto another formation, before flipping upside down in the water

Looking on in horror with her family, Jenni Stout, from Greenacres, Washington, said: 'Everyone was in complete shock, we were all just hoping neither of them were injured'

Ms Stout said: 'I attend the Riggins race ever year and I have never seen anything quite like that before.

'To be honest I could quite happily live my life without ever seeing so again.

'I'm very much relieved they were both okay.'

She added: 'My heart completely stopped, I just kept thinking, "Please be okay, please be okay", waiting to see them emerge at the surface of the water'
A Yorkshire mother-of-two is furious after she was charged for an Uber journey in Russia - nearly 2,000 miles away.

Lorah Burrell, 27, from Leeds, received an email showing someone had been using her account with the taxi firm to order transport in Moscow.

The council worker was shocked to see she had been charged 2,785.35 rubles, which is around 38, for the 30-mile journey on April 22.

Lorah Borrell was shocked to find she had been charged for an Uber journey in Moscow

She said: 'I was disgusted at how easy it is to do.

'It's not about the money just the fact they could have done it more and it could have been really expensive.

'They should give people the option to pay on your card but not have to store your card details.

The receipt Laura was sent for the 30-mile cab journey from the centre of the city to the village of Kopnino

'I had no idea how easy an Uber account could be used by someone else, wherever they are in the world.

'I use Uber about three or four times a week, basically every time I go out.

'I would have thought they would have definitely had some sort of security seeing as the Uber was ordered in a completely different country.'

The person who took the journey was picked up in the centre of Moscow and taken to the village of Kopnino. The trip lasted over an hour and a half.

Miss Burrell immediately contacted her bank to see if the transaction had gone through to be told it was pending.

She now has to wait to find out whether the amount will be taken from her account, though Uber have said they will be refunding her.

Her bank also advised her to cancel her bankcard to ensure no further charges can be made.

Miss Burrell posted a screengrab of the bizarre charge on Facebook to warn people about how easy it was for her account to be accessed and used by someone in a different country.

She added: 'Uber contacted me saying that it wasn't anything to do with them as to how my account was used in Russia so they are taking no responsibility. They said they will be refunding me.

The mother-of-two has been told the fare will be refunded by Uber

Lorah posted the fare on Facebook to warn people about how easy it was for her account to be accessed

'I have been with Uber for over a year now but I definitely will not be using them again. I posted on Facebook to warn people about how Uber accounts can be used unchallenged in another country.

'My bank said the transaction is pending and may still come out but if it does they will refund me. The fraud squad are looking into it further too. I hope Uber look into this and make it harder for people to use an account abroad.'

An Uber spokesperson said: 'Cybercrime is a growing issue and when people use the same password on more than one site and one of those accounts is compromised, then anywhere else with the same log-in details can also be accessed.

'While there has been no breach of Uber's systems, we will always refund a trip that the account holder didn't book or take. We would like to remind people to always use a unique password for their online accounts.'
She is known for being Hillary Clinton's closest aide and the estranged wife of disgraced politician congressman Anthony Weiner.

But Huma Abedin cut a defiant solo figure on Monday night as she attended the Chanel Artists Dinner at Balthazar restaurant during the 12th Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

The 40-year-old looked typically elegant in the monochrome outfit, wearing a black tailored jumpsuit with cross-strap heels.

Hillary Clinton's closest aide Huma Abedin cut a defiant solo figure on Monday night at Balthazar restaurant during the 12th Annual Tribeca Film Festival

Abedin - who has worked with Clinton for two decades - looked confident as she posed alone at the festival.

The dinner was also attended by Christina Ricci, Katie Holmes and Girls star Jemima Kirke.

Huma's outing comes amid reports that she is meeting with publishers to discuss a tell-all book project.

Abedin is seeking as much as $2million for the tome, which has Hillary Clinton's blessing.

The book, writes the Hollywood Reporter's Tatiana Siegel, is to be 'a reflection of how her personal and professional lives collided during the campaign.'

On the professional side of things, Abedin's boss was riding high in the presidential polls until FBI Director James Comey wrote a letter to Congress alerting them that more of the former secretary of state's emails were found.

That Friday afternoon announcement came 11 days before the presidential election.

Abedin - who worked with Clinton for two decades - looked confident as she posed alone at the festival

The 40-year-old looked typically elegant in the monochrome outfit, wearing a black tailored jumpsuit with cross-strap heels

While Clinton was cleared by the FBI, again, the emails becoming front and center, again, put a dent in her numbers, allowing for Donald Trump to win.

Abedins husband Anthony Weiner was the reason the FBI re-opened their investigation into Clintons emails less than two weeks before the election.

Clinton's emails were found on a computer that Weiner - who was exposed for sexting with a minor by Dailymail.com - shared with his wife and turned over to the feds as part of the new investigation.

Abedin has never publicly talked about these incidents  whether it's her time on the presidential campaign trail or the dissolution of her marriage with the perverted ex-congressman.

Huma separated from disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner after he was exposed for sexting underage minors (pictured together)

Abedins husband Anthony Weiner was the reason the FBI re-opened their investigation into Clintons emails less than two weeks before the election

Abedin was seen in the documentary Weiner, which detailed her husband's 2013 New York City mayoral run, which was derailed thanks to his rabid sexting habits.

While the aide worked for both the Clinton White House and Hillary Clinton in the Senate, she became a political curiosity 10 years ago during the run-up to the 2008 presidential campaign.

Back then, Vogue labeled Abedin Hillary's Secret Weapon.

Marrying Weiner in 2010 made her a member of one of Washington's ultimate power couples.

But then, starting with Weiner's first sexting scandal in 2011, things started crashing down. From there, Weiner had his unsuccessful and scandal-tainted mayoral run in 2013.

Abedin and Weiner separated in August 2016, after she discovered he was again being unfaithful, messaging women on the internet while their son lay beside him in bed.

And then, three months later, Hillary Clinton lost her second shot at the White House, and could assign Weiner some of the blame.
A boating trip turned to tragedy after two elderly fishing buddies drowned when their dinghy capsized in rough waters.

Jack McGlynn, 89, and his long-time church friend Mavis Simons, 90, were found dead near Bundaberg, Queensland, after they didn't return from a fishing trip on Monday.

The pair set out from Baffle Creek in a tinnie at 5.30am but windy conditions appeared to have overturned their small boat.

Jack McGlynn (pictured), 89, and long-time church friend Mavis Simons, 90, were found dead near Bundaberg, Queensland, after they didn't return from a regular fishing trip

The pair set out from Baffle Creek in a tinnie at 5.30am but windy conditions appeared to have overturned their small boat (pictured)

Mr McGlynn's body was found on Monday afternoon by another angler and Ms Simons' remains washed ashore at nearby Rules Beach.

Their disappearance sparked a large search and the overturned boat was spotted by helicopter at 7am on Monday.

'Its extremely sad and distressing, theyve gone out fishing for the day and its turned into tragedy,' Bundaberg Police Inspector Pat Swindells said.

'It was quite windy and from what I understand they did cross Baffle Creek. There wouldve been a chop in Baffle Creek.'

Mr McGlynn and his wife are pictured at their local pub years earlier

'My legend, my mate and most of all my Pop,' McGlynn's granddaughter Shannyn West said, accompanied by this picture of him

Family and friends paid tribute to Mr McGlynn on Monday, saying his death left them devastated and heartbroken.

'My legend, my mate and most of all my Pop,' his granddaughter Shannyn West said.

'My uncle, a true gentleman and so dearly love by all of the family. This world is so much poorer for his loss. See you round the traps mate,' his niece Maree Whitney said.

Mr McGlynn and his wife are pictured in their younger days

Father John Daley, priest at the Bundaberg Catholic Parish, said the pair who attended St Mary's Catholic Church and would be sorely missed.

'Jack would hand out all of the bulletins. He was very friendly, well liked and a very a spiritual man,' he told the Bundaberg News Mail.

'Mavis was a lovely lady and her and Jack were good family friends.'
Why Aren't There More Gender-Neutral, Trans-Friendly Restaurant Restrooms In Chicago?

By Anthony Todd in Food on Apr 25, 2017 4:20PM



The new gender-neutral bathroom sign at Floriole Bakery. Photo via Instagram.

As states like North Carolina fight over whether or not to restrict transgender individuals access to bathrooms of their choice, some businesses in Chicago are considering whether to make their restroom facilities gender-neutral. Especially if a restaurant or bar has single-occupancy restrooms, this seems like a potential no-brainer, right? Makes everything more flexible, inclusive and safe. Except . . . it might be illegal.

I first encountered this issue after a dinner at The Publican. The restaurant has a very fashionable restroom setup with individual, single-occupancy restrooms surrounding a central handwashing station, but the individual restrooms are marked male and female. I asked a representative from the Publican why they felt the need to mark them that way, and after some time, I got back the following response: "The Publican communal but labeled bathrooms came from building codes/regs during the construction process."

Building codes? I was skeptical, what with many restaurants and bars already switching to gender-neutral facilities already, and Chicago's progressive LGBT stances. Was the Publican just trying to avoid paying to change signs? Surely the expensive flight of hams I ordered alone would cover the cost of the labeling change.

Once I started looking into this further, variations on this theme came up more than once. "When we did our dining room renovation 15 years ago or so, we made our two washrooms gender neutral," explained Cafe Selmarie owner Jeanne Uzdawinis. Unfortunately, after a visit, a liquor inspector informed her that this was against city code, and so their restrooms have been labeled male and female ever since.

Turns out, the inspectors are arguably correct. A portion of the city's liquor sales ordinance does require bathrooms to be gender-labeled:

4-60-100 Health, sanitation and inspection requirements. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, every person licensed or required to be licensed hereunder who shall sell any alcoholic liquor for consumption on the premises of such licensee shall keep and maintain the licensed premises equipped with running hot and cold water and adequate sanitary washing facilities for the cleansing of glasses and service utensils, shall provide separate and adequate toilet facilities for both males and females meeting the applicable requirements of Sections 18-29-403.1 through 18-29-403.6 and Section 18-29-404 of this Code and shall comply with all the health, sanitary and inspection requirements of Chapter 4-8 of this Code.

If you reference those other sections, the code lays out exactly how many male and female restroom facilities, by type and by floor, that a bar or restaurant must maintain based on capacity and layout.

Now, it could be argued that a business might have "separate and adequate toilet facilities for both males and females" by having separate, private, single-occupancy restrooms, but that may not satisfy the other referenced code sections. In any event, that has not been the way that the city's liquor inspectors have, at least in some instances, interpreted this rule. As a result, some restaurants (who are understandably wary of being cited) have played it safe.

Floriole Cafe & Bakery in Lincoln Park recently bucked this trend and made their restrooms gender-neutral. The motivation was part practical, part political. "Theres always a line for the women's bathroom. Im thinking this is just silly, why cant they be for everyone?" said owner Sandra Holl. "Theres also the political aspectoh my gosh, what is happening in so many states?"

Holl knows about the code requirements, and Floriole serves liquor, but she's hoping she won't get cited. Her customers, however, have responded well, including the customers who originally requested that she make the change. The Instagram post with the bathroom's new sign has gotten nearly 600 likes, with a ton of positive comments.

Pub Royale, owned by Heisler Hospitality, switched their restrooms to gender-neutral in mid-2016. General Manager Jenn Fink explained the change to us: "It felt like a no brainer to make the switch to gender-neutral, especially considering the societal changes regarding gender fluidity. We definitely aim to be as inclusive and welcoming as possible," he said. Customers reacted positively, but Heisler didn't say whether he were worried about violating city code.

The city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection did not give a substantive response to our inquiries about the policy-specifically, what exactly the city is instructing its inspectors to do when restaurants and bars change their restroom facilities to gender-neutral. The City of Chicago affirmed its commitment to trans-friendly bathroom access last year, but exactly how that stance interacts with the liquor laws is unclear.

Historically, these types of laws were often enacted to ensure that women had equal access to adequate facilities, especially in traditionally male spaces like bars and taverns. If a bar owner wanted to keep a bar gender-segregated, one way to do so was to refuse to install facilities for women. Not a lot of women would come to such a bar, and the men got to keep their boys club. Hence the requirements for equal facilities.

However, these days, when more and more bars and restaurants are building single-occupancy restrooms (and want to take the needs of their trans customers into account), the law as written may have outlived its usefulness. Plus, even for customers who aren't trans, waiting outside a perfectly fine single-occupancy restroom because the sign has a different gender on it always seems a little comical.
Terrill Thomas (above), 38, was mentally unstable and unable to ask for help before he died in his cell at Milwaukee County Jail in April 2016, prosecutors said on Monday

Prosecutors say officers at a jail run by controversial sheriff David Clarke cut off an inmate's water for seven consecutive days before the man died of dehydration.

Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley told jurors at an inquest Monday that Terrill Thomas, 38, was mentally unstable and unable to ask for help before he died in his cell at Milwaukee County Jail in April 2016, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Thomas had been placed in solitary confinement after he used a mattress to flood his cell in another jail unit.

The jury will issue a verdict on whether criminal charges are warranted in Thomas' death.

The jury's recommendation is advisory and a prosecutor may choose to either accept or reject its verdict.

Separately, Thomas' children have filed a federal civil suit, saying their father's treatment by Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and his staff amounts to torture.

'This order to shut off Mr. Thomas' water was highly irregular and contrary to standard operating procedure in the jail,' Benkley told jurors.

Jail policy requires that inmates be given access to running water through the sinks in their cells.

Decorie Smith (far right), a corrections officer at Milwaukee County Jail, testifies in the inquest in Milwaukee on Monday

Thomas had been placed in solitary confinement after he used a mattress to flood his cell in another jail unit. The inside of the county jail is seen in the above stock image

Wisconsin authorities arrested Thomas on April 14 of last year after he allegedly shot a man in front of his parent's house and then drove to a nearby casino and fired two rounds inside the complex. Thomas is seen above being wheeled out of the jail on a gurney

The assistant district attorney said Thomas also suffered from bipolar disorder, which prevented him from communicating his needs coherently to the guards.

Thomas 'was unable to tell people about his basic needs,' according to Benkley.

Wisconsin authorities arrested Thomas on April 14 of last year after he allegedly shot a man in front of his parent's house and then drove to a nearby casino and fired two rounds inside the complex.

Thomas' family has said that he was having a mental breakdown at the time of the shootings.

Inmates have said that they made jail staff aware of Thomas' plight and his need for water.

The Journal Sentinel reported that at least 20 inmates worked in the solitary confinement wing where Thomas was held during the week he eventually died.

Legal experts say prosecutors will need to weigh the evidence as to whether jail staff willingly and knowingly withheld water from Thomas, causing his death.

That will likely be the determining factor that decides whether criminal charges will be filed.

It is likely that corrections officers will testify under oath that they were not aware that Thomas' water was turned off.

'If someone requests, "Can I get my water turned on?" and I find out their water is off, I turn it on,' Decorie Smith, a staffer who worked three overnight shifts during Thomas' incarceration in solitary confinement, testified at the inquest.

Thomas was the fourth person to die inside the jail in a span of six months, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Separately, Thomas' children have filed a federal civil suit, saying their father's treatment by Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke (above) and his staff amounts to torture

In August, another inmate at the jail, Kristina A. Fiebrink (left), 38, was found unresponsive in her cell. In October, Michael J. Madden (center), 29, also died in his cell. In July, another inmate, Shade Swayzer, gave birth inside the jail, but her baby would die

In July 2016, inmate Shade Swayzer, 30, gave birth to a baby inside the jail, though she claims that officers and staffers laughed at her when she informed them that she was going into labor.

The baby died a short time after it was born. Swayzer has sued the jail, saying that its staff failed to provide adequate medical attention once she went into labor.

The jail denies Swayzer's allegations, saying in its defense that the baby was stillborn.

In August, another inmate, Kristina A. Fiebrink, 38, was found unresponsive in her cell.

She reportedly died after medical staff at the jail failed to put her on preventative detoxification protocol.

Fiebrink was a known heroin addict who had done previous stints in jail.

In October, another inmate, Michael J. Madden, 29, also died in his cell.

No information about his death has been released by authorities.

The bizarre rash of deaths has led to calls from local politicians for Clarke to resign.
Chinese authority has reportedly banned the nation's Muslim parents from giving radical names to their children.

A list of 29 names - including Jihad, Imam and Saddam - are said to bear 'separatist and religious tendencies', and have been prohibited by the authority of Muslim-dominant Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, according to media.

Muslims in Xinjiang have already been banned from keeping 'abnormal' beards or wearing veils in public places as China hardens its rhetoric on Islam.

The flyer, provided by the World Uighur Congress, is said to be the list of the 29 Muslim names that are banned by the Xinjiang police

The children of those who break the new rule would be denied their legal identity by their local police station, reported Radio Free Asia.

An officer from a police station in Urumqi, the provincial capital of Xinjiang, is said to have confirmed the rule to a reporter from Radio Free Asia.

The officer said any babies with a banned name would not be able to obtain their Hukou, the birth registration in China. Officers at the Hukou registration counters would receive relevant training to identify what names are allowed.

Xinjiang is home to ethnic Uighur people, who follow Islam.

The new ban, known as 'Naming Rules For Ethnic Minorities', has been introduced to the residents of Xinjiang in the form of flyers, claimed the World Uyghur Congress.

The organisation, based in Germany, also claimed that this is not the first time certain names have been banned in Xinjiang.

A spokesman told MailOnline that in September, 2015, the authority blacklisted 12 Islamic names in Hotan Prefecture.

The new naming policy is thought to have derived from the 'Regulations on Extremisation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,' which was rolled out at the end of March.

Under the eighth clause in the second chapter, the document prohibited residents from 'spreading religious fanaticism through irregular beards or name selection'.

Residents in Muslim-dominant Xinjiang Province have already been banned from wearing veils in public. In the file photo (above) taken in 2002, Muslim Uighur women and a boy waited with food for the men to exit a mosque in Kashgar

The same document has placed a number of other bans on 'extremist behaviour' in Xinjiang, which is home to about 10 million Chinese Muslims.

For example, veils are not allowed to be worn in public places, and all residents must watch or listen to state media.

Just a month earlier, authority at Xinjiang's Bayingol Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture ordered all vehicles to be equipped with GPS-like tracking software in a bid to 'maintain stability'.

The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, situated in far western China, is home to about 10 million Muslim residents

China claims that the legal, cultural and religious rights of Muslims in Xinjiang are fully protected.

However, the nation is also hardening its rhetoric on Islam, with top officials making repeated warnings about the spectre of global religious extremism seeping into the country.

IS released a video in late February purportedly showing Uighur fighters training in Iraq and vowing to strike China, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

Last month, a top Communist party official from Xinjiang warned political leaders gathered in Beijing that China is becoming destabilised by the 'international anti-terror situation'.

The authority has also prohibited Uighur people in China from keeping 'abnormal' beards

Over the past year, regional leaders in Xinjiang have ramped up surveillance measures, police patrols and demonstrations amid an uptick in violence blamed on Islamic separatists.

Some scholars question whether global jihadi networks have indeed penetrated the country.

However, top Chinese officials, including those overseeing areas outside Xinjiang, are increasingly echoing certain strands of international discourse to back up claims that Islamic extremism is growing worldwide and needs to be rolled back.
Nestle is planning to cut almost 300 British jobs and move production of the Blue Riband chocolate biscuit to Poland.

The Swiss confectionery giant is making redundancies at factories in York, Newcastle, Halifax and Girvan in Scotland to make them more 'efficient and competitive in a rapidly changing external environment'.

Nestle denied the decision was due to Brexit saying the move of Blue Riband production to Poland only aimed to simplify the factory where the biscuits are now made.

Nestle is planning to cut almost 300 British jobs by moving production of the Blue Riband chocolate biscuit to Poland

An industry source told MailOnline: 'They have made the move because the import cost of their ingredients has risen by 15 per cent due to the devaluation of the pound in the wake of the EU referendum.'

But a Nestle spokesman said: 'This move would be necessary irrespective of the decision to leave the EU.'

POTENTIAL JOB CUTS The potential job cuts are as follows: York, Yorkshire  143 jobs Fawdon, North East  110 jobs Halifax, Yorkshire  15 jobs Girvan, Scotland  7 jobs Advertisement

Blue Riband has been made in Britain since 1936 and is primarily consumed by the UK market - meaning it will have to be exported back into this country if production moves to Eastern Europe.

As some consumers say they will boycott the company, GMB and Unite unions have called the cuts 'savage' and demanded government intervention.

Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary, said: 'To shift the production of an iconic British brand like Blue Riband to Poland is completely unacceptable.

'Nestle are throwing people's lives, and those of their families, into turmoil for the sake of increasing profit margins.

'These factories should be exporting chocolate  not people's jobs.

'The Government needs to step in before it's too late  and reassure millions of workers across the country this is not just the tip of the Brexit iceberg.'

Blue Riband has been made in Britain since 1936 and is primarily consumed by the UK market

Lynn Brook, GMB Officer for Yorkshire and North Derbyshire region, added: 'Once again Yorkshire is bearing the brunt of the cuts. These jobs belong in York and Halifax. This Government needs to give confectionery workers in York - home of the Kit Kat - 'a break' and back them before it's too late.

But economists disagree with the unions, saying they should not interfere.

Jamie Whyte, Research Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs told MailOnline: 'Like any profit-seeking firm, Nestle aims to improve its efficiency, in this case by shifting production of Blue Riband from the UK to Poland. Efficiency gains, whether they come from trade or technology, usually result in job losses.

'But the workers soon find new jobs  ones that can't be done better elsewhere - and productivity and incomes thereby increase. Neither the government nor the unions should interfere with this process.'

Nestle said in a statement: 'These proposals span four different sites: York, Fawdon, Halifax and Girvan and may result in a reduction of 298 roles, predominantly at York and Fawdon, through 2017 and 2018. It is expected that these would be achieved through voluntary redundancies.

WHY POLAND? Poland is Europe's sixth-biggest economy and is growing fast. Bordering Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania, companies there can access 250million EU consumers within a 600-mile radius. Workers are dedicated, hard-working, and often have a good command of foreign languages, especially English. The Polish government is in favour of foreign investments and has introduced business-friendly reforms to lower taxes. Advertisement

'The proposed changes include amended and standardised shift patterns at each factory and, at Fawdon, the most complex of Nestle's UK confectionery sites, the transfer of Blue Riband production to a Nestle factory in Poland. This would mean being able to simplify and focus Fawdon's operation.

'These proposals are being made by Nestle UK to ensure that these sites operate more efficiently and remain competitive in a rapidly changing external environment.

'A 45 day consultation on these proposals will commence as soon as possible with trade unions and employee representatives. Nestle UK appreciates that this is an uncertain time for employees and will work hard to ensure all are supported through this difficult period.'

Nestle will not be the first food company to move jobs out of the UK to cut costs, nor will it be the last, say experts.

Mark Jones, a food and drink solicitor at Gordons law firm, told MailOnline: 'Mondelez is already producing some of its chocolate products in Poland, including Dairy Milk bars, and the failed takeover of Unilever by Kraft-Heinz reflects acknowledgment that costs need to be reduced if food companies are to preserve profitability in the coming years.

'Nestle and Mondelez's moves are a sign of things to come, expect more businesses to follow suit.'
Ukip's foreign affairs spokesman James Carver quit his post today in protest at Paul Nuttall's burka ban policy in a new day of chaos in the party's election campaign.

Mr Carver said Ukip's 'integration agenda' was misguided and illiberal.

Ukip leader Mr Nuttall launched the policy at a disastrous press conference yesterday which ended with him hiding from journalists in a hotel room.

The policy manifesto also includes mandatory medical exams for girls at risk of female genital mutilation and a ban on sharia law.

It was condemned as a 'war on Muslims' by Arron Banks, one of the party's most high profile supporters yesterday but still defended by party chiefs this morning.

Ukip's foreign affairs spokesman James Carver has quit his post in protest at Paul Nuttall's burka ban policy in a new day of chaos in the party's election campaign (file picture)

Paul Nuttall (pictured during his campaign event yesterday) barricaded himself in a room to hide from questions about his election campaign after a disastrous press conference on his burka ban

Mr Carver said: 'I would be one of the first to condemn a ban on wearing a crucifix as an infringement of liberty. No-one has the right to dictate what people should wear.

'When facial identification is necessary, such as at passport controls, or in a bank, then it is perfectly reasonable to order the removal of veils, as is the practice, but in a free and liberal society, people have a right to their religious beliefs, and to dress as they see fit.'

He added: 'I have consistently spoken of my desire for a truly global perspective for the United Kingdom, outside of the European Union, and I see this policy as being incompatible with that aim.'

The integration agenda was slammed yesterday by former Ukip donor and current Nigel Farage ally Mr Banks, who said the party was going in 'entirely the wrong direction'.

'I don't approve of the war on Muslim religion,' he said.

Defending the measures in Ukip's integration strategy today, deputy leader Peter Whittle said: 'The burka is not something in the Koran, it's not specified by the Koran, it's a cultural practice, FGM is a cultural practice.'

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We have talked about these issues in Ukip for many years - 2010 we actually had this in our manifesto, that we should ban face coverings - not, for example the headscarf, not those sorts of things at all, just purely the face covering, because we believe that is a literal barrier to integration in our society.

'We are actually in this country rather behind the curve on this, because even the biggest party in the EU has called for an EU-wide ban on this.'

The Ukip leader was surrounded by a huge press pack as he was left his press conference and headed to his hiding place without giving an answer on his own plans (pictured)

Mr Nuttall was mocked at the launch as he struggled to explain why an outright ban on face coverings would not capture bridal veils and beekeepers.

And he was unable to confirm he would run for a seat the general election - potentially leaving Ukip with no high profile names on the ballot paper anywhere in the country.

Emerging from the locked room after hiding for 10 minutes yesterday, Mr Nuttall insisted Ukip leaders in the past had 'have done quite well not being in Parliament haven't they' and said it was up to the party's national executive committee to agree selections later this week.

Mr Nuttall headed into the Queen Mary room pursued by reporters as he refused their questions about whether he would run on June 8

Emerging from the locked room around 10 minutes later, he insisted Ukip leaders in the past had 'have done quite well not being in Parliament haven't they'

Mr Nuttall refused to answer a volley of questions on whether he would contest a seat. He has until May 11 to get on a ballot.

Mr Nuttall stood in the Stoke by-election in February but endured a disastrous losing campaign.

He pleaded with reporters to focus on the subject of the press conference, the ban on Muslim veils and sharia law placed at the heart of its 'integration agenda'.

On Sunday Mr Nuttall told the BBC's Andrew Marr the ban was in line with others on the continent and was fuelled both by security concerns and a desire to boost integration.

Deputy leader Peter Whittle dismissed claims the Ukip policy was racist, accusing reporters of 'straw man' arguments about bridal veils and beekeepers.

Mr Nuttall said the plans - which also include a moratorium on the creation of new Islamic faith schools - will 'promote integration'.

Mr Nuttall saw his policy ideas mocked at a press conference before he was unable to say whether he would contest a seat on June 8

Mr Nuttall pleaded with reporters to focus on the subject of the press conference, the ban on Muslim veils and sharia law placed at the heart of its 'integration agenda'

Mr Nuttall will be hoping the policy push is enough to boost Ukip's ailing poll rating which have spent the first week of the campaign locked in single digits and fourth place

He said he believed Ukip was '10 years ahead of our time' on these issues, predicting the Tories, Labour and Liberal Democrats will be 'where we are today at some point in the 2020s'.

Mr Nuttall said the veil was bad for security and damaged integration

Opening the launch of Ukip's integration policy in Westminster, Mr Nuttall said: 'Today's message will be a message of positivity, it will not be about negativity.

'What we will say today is not designed to sow the seeds of division.

'It is about promoting integration in British society.'

Ukip education spokeswoman Margot Parker said girls thought to be at risk of female genital mutilation should undergo annual medical exams.

Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, said: 'UKIP's 'integration agenda' is an assault on multiculturalism and an attack on Muslims.

'It's full throttled Islamaphobia.'

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr yesterday, Mr Nuttall also failed to confirm whether or not he would personally stand for election at the snap poll on June 8.

But he suggested Ukip could stand down in contests against 'good Brexiteers' such as Kate Hoey in Vauxhall and David Nuttall in Bury North.

Ukip would ban the burka and end sharia law, leader Paul Nuttall has said as he launched the party's general election campaign in London today (pictured)

Making his pitch to Ukip's core vote, Mr Nuttall told Marr: 'We have more CCTV per head than anywhere else on the planet. For that to be effective you need to see people's faces.

'Secondly there is integration. I don't believe you can integrate fully and enjoy the fruits of British society if you can't see people's faces.

'58 per cent of Muslim women are economically inactive. 22 per cent don't speak English to any great level.

'What we need to do is we need to ensure these people are fully integrated into British society. You can't do that hidden by the veil.'

Mr Nuttall said the ban would be enforced via fines and would be in line with other European countries such as Belgium and Bulgaria.

Asked why his view had changed, he said: 'I think there is a bigger security threat we face now but you look at Trevor Phillips report last year into Muslims into the UK, look at the work Dame Louise Casey has done on this issue.

'Integration is getting worse in Britain not better. This will help.

'I can't walk into a bank with a balaclava or a crash helmet on. If I can't do and other people can't do it, I don't see why we have a special interest.'

Mr Nuttall said Sharia courts should be banned to ensure there is not a 'parallel' legal system in Britain.

The Ukip leader said he would make a decision next week on whether to personally seek a seat at the election.

Ukip has no MPs after the resignation of Douglas Carswell and had collapsed in the polls, falling behind the Liberal Democrats in most surveys to fourth place.

Mr Nuttall insisted the face veils were bad for security and stopped Muslim women integrating into British society

Jeremy Corbyn is a security risk to Britain because he would refuse to use the nuclear deterrent, Sir Michael Fallon warned today.

The Defence Secretary said Mr Corbyn was 'irresponsible' to campaign for power on a platform that undermines Britain's commitment to nuclear weapons.

The Labour leader is underfire after he used his first major TV interview of the election campaign to make clear he would never use Trident and could even scrap it.

Mr Corbyn's claims are in defiance of official Labour policy and the party has scrambled to insist its position is unchanged.

A Labour source told MailOnline today 'there won't be any change on trident policy, whatever Jeremy Corbyn may or may not say'.

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured campaigning in Scotland today) is a security risk to Britain and he must not win the election, Sir Michael Fallon warned today

Mr Corbyn also told the BBC's Andrew Marr he would halt air strikes on ISIS and suggested he would not authorise a drone strike against the group's leader.

Sir Michael told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I think you saw Jeremy Corbyn yesterday questioning strikes against terrorists, refusing to back the nuclear deterrent, he's been querying our Nato deployment and he seems to have fallen out with his own party over the nuclear deterrent.

'That's chaos, but it's very dangerous chaos that would put the security of our country at risk.'

Sir Michael Fallon moved the Tories closer to axing their pledge to hike taxes today with a warning the manifesto would not contain 'prescriptive' promises.

The intervention will further raise fears the Conservative Party will hike taxes if as expected they win the snap election.

In 2015 the party campaigned on a promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT - branded a tax lock by David Cameron.

Theresa May has refused to repeat the promise since calling the election seven days ago, insisting only that the Conservatives are a party of low taxes.

The Defence Secretary's intervention will further raise fears the Conservative Party will hike taxes if as expected they win the snap election

Sir Michael told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I think what (Chancellor Philip Hammond) said is he doesn't want too many targets inside the manifesto that are too prescriptive, that don't allow you, as the situation develops over the lifetime of the Parliament, that don't allow you the flexibility.'

Asked if the Tories would rule out rises in income tax, VAT or national insurance, Sir Michael said: 'The manifesto will certainly make clear which side of this argument we're on  it's Labour governments that increase tax, it's Conservative governments that take the lower paid, in particular, out of tax.'
Megan McKnight, 15, was removed from her class after teachers at Folkestone Academy in Kent saw her piercing

A schoolgirl has been banned from lessons, just weeks before sitting her GCSEs, after getting a tongue piercing.

Megan McKnight, 15, was removed from her class after teachers at Folkestone Academy in Kent saw her piercing.

She was banished to isolation last Thursday morning, until the tongue bar was taken out.

Her mother Miki, 48, claims she met with head teacher Warren Smith, who agreed that she could wear a clear retainer in the piercing, and she ordered one online.

But when the bar hadn't arrived on Friday, Megan, who is predicted mostly As in her exams, was sent home.

Miki said she was disgusted that the school would prevent her teen's education before the crucial exam period.

The fuming mum said: 'I could understand it if it was a piercing through her nose but even other students have their noses pierced.

'Megan is so stressed about it and it has thrown her off her revision. She missed core lessons on Friday, it was so petty.

'She has been in floods of tears, it is proper affecting her and she could well fail her exams.'

Megan's first exam is French which takes place on Tuesday, May 16.

Megan said: 'They are affecting my grades by taking me out of school - but the piercing isn't affecting the students or my teachers.

'My options were to remove it or go into isolation and if I refuse I get sent home.

'I said it was ridiculous and tried to go to my lessons because I was missing out.'

The Folkestone Academy Year 11 dress code booklet details exactly what students are not allowed to wear.

She was banished to isolation last Thursday morning, until the tongue bar was taken out

It says: 'All forms of jewellery including piercing retainers, facial piercings, tongue and other bodily piercings are not permitted.

'The Academy reserves the right to decide what is considered appropriate.'

It added that pupil's 'manner of dress should not draw attention or cause offence.'

Head teacher Warren Smith said: 'As with every school, the dress code or uniform policy is generally unrelated to learning.

'It is much more about adhering to the expectations of your community, and teaching children the importance of meeting these expectations.

'Our Year 11 dress code is based on expectations for a professional environment - for example, all boys wear a suit with a shirt and tie.

When the bar hadn't arrived on Friday, Megan, who is predicted mostly As in her exams, was sent home

'Tongue bars and visible piercings are not acceptable as part of our dress code, as is the case in many business organisations nationwide.

'In this situation a student was given a clear choice - to remove the tongue bar and return to lessons, or keep it in and be isolated from her peer group.

'Seven weeks out from GCSE exams, she chose to prioritise the retention of the tongue bar over her studies.'

Megan returned to school on Monday with a clear bar in place, but online commenters blasted Miki for her parenting skills.

Alison Offen said: 'Mrs McKnight, you are a poor mum for allowing a 15-year-old to have a tongue piercing, then moaning to the papers when the school follow the rules. Want your five minutes of fame.

Mandy Friend added: 'Just another typical example of self righteous, ignorant people who don't want to follow the rules by which the rest of us will abide.

'Who in their right mind allows their child to get a tongue piercing just before her GCSEs anyway?

Megan returned to school on Monday with a clear bar in place, but online commenters blasted Miki for her parenting skills

'Apart from the obvious ramifications at school, what if it had become infected?

'I would never condone my kids getting such a piercing, but if you're into that kind of thing make her wait until after the exams and then there's an incentive to do well and something to look forward to.'

But many defended Miki, and labelled the school's rule 'stupid'.

Sophie Summers said: 'I understand rules are rules, but technically you can't see a tongue piercing unless she is sat there sticking her tongue out constantly, which I doubt she is.

'And it hardly effects her ability to read and write. May be a rule, but it's a stupid rule.'

Colin Chamberlain added: 'Such ignorance, what a person does to their body is up to them.

'Referring to her mother as a bad mother just because the kid has a piercing is one of the most narrow minded things I've heard.

'Since when does a girl having a piercing constitute news?

'And to those of you slating her for it, ask yourself this: how does it affect you? It doesn't therefore your opinion is as worthless as you are.'
With no legislative accomplishments of any significance to tout, the White House is hinging it's 100-day success story on the shear volume of executive orders President Trump has signed.

A 100-day webpage on the White House site plays up the 'historic pace' with which Trump has signed directives laying out his priorities and unraveling Barack Obama's.

'The President is keeping his promises to the American people,' it declares, pointing to the rebuilding of the military, the ending of illegal immigration and the restoration of confidence in the economy as examples.

Trump has only accomplished one of those tasks - economic confidence - and many of the pledges he made in a campaign blueprint for his first three months in office have not been met.

With no legislative accomplishments of any significance to tout, the White House is hinging it's 100-day success story on the shear volume of executive orders President Trump has signed

WHAT 'HUNDRED DAYS'? Donald Trump has tried to downplay the significance of the 'First 100 Days' performance metric usually applied to new presidents, but his administration already has a 14-page-long list of accomplishments

He did not, for instance, put forward a proposal to fully fund his border. His administration has not offered a Constitutional amendment to enact term limits, and it has not demanded a five-year ban on lobbying for congressional officials, in order to 'drain the swamp.'

Not only did Trump fail to name China a currency manipulator, he's reversed course. The president now says Beijing is playing by the rules.

Most notable of Trump's unfulfilled promises from his 'Contract with the American Voter' is Obamacare repeal and replacement. He explicitly promised a full dismantling of 2010 law in his first 100 days, and it still hasn't happened.

The White House admitted on Monday that Obamacare repeal is the only legislation Trump promised that he's even tried to pass.

Nine other laws he said he'd get through haven't been introduced by the Republican-run Congress.

'Right. And I think we're going to continue to work with Congress -- as he says in that document, I will work with Congress to achieve these things; we are going to continue to work with Congress to achieve those,' White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

Changing the focus of the argument, Spicer said, 'I think when you look at what he has done in terms of the Supreme Court justice, the executive orders, the number of legislation, there's a lot that has gotten done.

'I remember very clearly the first few weeks and still, to some extent, the comments that got made about the pace that we were keeping and we have kept. The President has been extremely busy,' Spicer said.

The Trump spokesman said his questioner, ABC's Jon Karl, had zeroed in on a few unkept promises and decided to 'nitpick a couple of them.'

'I dont think there's any question that the President has done a significant amount for the American people on the issues that he has put forward during the campaign,' Spicer said.

Trump's 100-day website lists among his accomplishments his administration's approval of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines, his appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, a 17-year drop in illegal border crossings, his 'decisive action' after the chemical attack in Syria and sanctions on Iran.

President Trump's negotiations with Lockheed Martin to get the prices of the F-35 fighter jets down is listed, too. So is a five-year lobbying ban on and lifetime foreign lobbying ban for White House officials.

Trump's 100-day website lists among his accomplishments his administration's approval of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines, his appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and a 17-year drop in illegal border crossings, to name a few

A claim that he's is 'boosting' the military's strength and 'empowering' soldiers to fight links to a speech he delivered in at the USS Gerald Ford as it was about to be commissioned.

In it Trump said he was calling on Congress to appropriate more money to the military - but that's already listed on the site in a separate section.

That line says Trump 'advocated increasing the national security budget by $54 billion.' He did ask for the money, but it was in next year's budget. Congress will not debate it until the fall.

Trump has berated the 100th-day mark as arbitrary, but his administration has been taking a victory lap, anyhow.

'When you look at the number of pieces of legislation, the executive orders, business confidence, the place  the U.S.'s role in the world, there's a lot that we feel, accomplishments that have occurred,' Spicer said Monday

'And we feel very good about what we've done as we head up to this first 100 days. But I think you're going to continue to see a lot of action and a lot of results going into the second 100 days, the third 100 days, all the way through.'

NOT SO MUCH: The document includes examples of accomplishments like the Syria airstrikes, but also the travel ban that has been held up in federal courts

WHO WROTE IT? The White House memo is formatted like opposition research papers produced at the Republican Party's headquarters

A 14-page draft of the actions it intends to highlight titled '100 Days Of Accomplishments' leaked Monday and included items not on the website that observers hit as suspect.

The document, first published by CNN, reads like the opposition research memos produced by the Republican National Committee's research department, with each item followed by a citation in parentheses  and a link to an online document backing it up.

But instead of being a hit-piece meant to tear an opponent down, the list is intended to give administration officials a list of talking points to emphasize in Trump's defense.

It ran the gamut from trade and job creation to immigration and national security, and ended with a reference to the confirmation of Gorsuch.

Also included was 'Travel Restrictions On Select Countries,' the president's travel-ban order that was quickly put on hold in federal court.

Of the 37 items overall, 23 of them were the result of executive orders or memoranda, directing federal agencies to take the kinds of action that don't require buy-in from Congress.

'RIDICULOUS': On Friday Trump used that word to describe the idea of measuring his performance based on less than 15 weeks of work

White House press secretary Sean Spicer pooh-poohed the 'first 100 days' standard on Monday, but then rattled off a list of the president's 'unbelievable' accomplishments

President Trump was openly critical of President Barack Obama during his campaign for relying on unilateral executive orders to accomplish his agenda, instead of going through the legislative process.

And yet, another paper statement that came out Tuesday boasted that Trump had signed 30 executive orders to Obama's 19.

'In office, President Trump has accomplished more in his first 100 days than any other President since Franklin Roosevelt,' it said.

In addition to the orders Trump has also signed 28 laws to Obama's 11, it declared.
Two crew members are dead after an explosion on a coal cargo ship in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The captain of the Tamar, a 623-foot Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, reported an explosion in the forward storeroom Monday morning, the US Coast Guard said in a statement.

The captain reported that one crew member was killed and three suffered massive burns. A second crew member later died.

The fire is extinguished, but the cause of the explosion is unknown.

The captain of the Tamar (pictured), a 623-foot Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, reported an explosion in the forward storeroom Monday morning

A map from the website of the Tamar's owner shows the ship's approximate position Monday

The Tamar was tied at a coal terminal in Baltimore from April 14 until it sailed back down the Chesapeak Bay on Easter Sunday, John Colgan, vice president of the Association of Maryland [Ship] Pilots, told the Baltimore Sun.

The cargo ship is owned by the Slovenian shipping firm Splosna Plovba.

Its most recent ports of call were Baltimore, Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Virginia, Gibralter, and Bejaia in Algeria, according to VesselFinder.

The Coast Guard says New York Air National Guard para-rescuers arrived Monday night and will stay with the ship until a higher medical authority takes over.

The Portuguese Coast Guard is set to pick up the injured.

The explosion occurred when the ship was about 1,300 miles east of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, headed to the Azores, Portugal, from Baltimore.

Two crew members on the Tamar (pictured) are dead and least two seriously injured after the explosion
The parents of two New York children who were stabbed to death by their nanny have reflected on their deaths four years after finding them slain in their bathtub.

Marina and Kevin Krim have both written touching pieces about their grief for Option B, Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg's new book about resilience and coping with loss.

The Krims' six-year-old daughter Lucia, affectionately known as Lulu by her family, and two-year-old son Leo were murdered by babysitter Yoselyn Ortega on October 25, 2012.

Ortega, 54, stabbed the children then herself in a botched suicide attempt. She is still awaiting trial for their killings, claiming she does not remember them.

Marina, 41, found them all in the bathroom of their Upper West Side home after picking the pair's other daughter, Nessie, up from swimming practice. Lulu suffered defensive wounds while trying to fight the woman off.

Kevin and Marina Krim have both written chapters for Sheryl Sandberg's new book, Option B, about coping with the loss of their two children. Their six-year-old daughter Lulu (above) and two-year-old son Leo were murdered by their nanny in the family's home in 2012

In her chapter for Option B this week, the grieving mother told how she found moments of 'magic' which made her feel connected to the children in the weeks after the murders.

'In the weeks following Lulu and Leos death, some magical things happened. I noticed a piece of street art on a construction sitea stencil of a young boy holding a sign filled with colorful hearts. I instantly connected him to Leo.

Leo (above) and Lulu were found by their mother in the bathtub of the family's Upper West Side home

'I felt that maybe the universe was trying to tell me something, that it was helping me to realize that there was a beautiful new relationship waiting to be developed with Lulu and Leo,' she wrote.

She spent Mother's Day, a 'really tough' milestone, hanging sand dollars that she had collected with Lulu on a family vacation in their new apartment.

Casting her mind back to the horrifying days immediately after the murders, she wrote: 'There were terrifying flashbacks, police inquiries, and psychiatrist appointments.

'There was media attention, an apartment we could never return to, and a memorial service. All of this coupled with the overwhelming grief that always ended in the questions How did this happen? Why did this happen?.

Kevin, a 42-year-old digital media executive, said he was driven through his grief by his duty to care for Marina and their other daughter Nessie who was three at the time.

'We woke up in a hotel room the morning after two of our three kids, Lulu and Leo, had been murdered by their babysitter.

'The night of their deaths had been a nightmare, the kind you want desperately to wake up from, but it keeps hitting you that you cant and you never will.

The children's nanny, 54-year-old Yoselyn Ortega, (left in January this year) slashed her wrists and throat after stabbing them in a botched attempt to kill herself. Six-year-old Lulu suffered defensive wounds trying to fight the her off

In her chapter, Marina described 'magical' moments which made her feel connected to her children in the weeks after their death

Marina said she felt particularly connected to Leo after seeing a stencil mural of a little boy at a construction site

'I didnt feel like Id ever want to do anything ever again. But then little Nessie, our surviving child who was not yet four years old, looked at me and said, Daddy, Im hungry. And I knew I had to take care of her and Marina,' he wrote.

The Krims were bundled by the NYPD to Trump International Hotel at Columbus Circle after the tragedy.

In Facebook posts, he described how they survived their under a pseudonym which they now invoke on birthdays as a reminder of how their loved ones helped them through their darkest days.

Their entries for Option B can be read in full on the organization's website. Sandberg opened up on the grief she suffered after her husband's death earlier this week.

Her husband David Goldberg died of a heart attack during a family vacation in Mexico in 2015.

The Krims, who have had two sons since the tragedy, also launched a charity in memory of their late children to help them cope with their grief.

The children's father said he felt as though he wouldn't want to do anything ever again after their deaths

Kevin, pictured with the pair's seven-year-old daughter Nessie and the two sons they have had since Lulu and Leo's murders, said his duty to care for his remaining family pulled him through his grief

The Lulu and Leo Fund supports art and science programs for children. It was established in honor of the children's love of both.

Ortega, a Dominican citizen, is still awaiting trial. She passed a psychiatric evaluation which deemed her fit to participate.

She has pleaded not guilty to both killings, claiming through her attorney that she has no memory of committing them.

The woman rejected a plea deal last year which would have seen her jailed for 30 years. She now faces life imprisonment without parole if convicted of both murders.

The Krims both plan to testify against her.
A black gunman who admitted he was behind the downtown Fresno shooting that killed three white men said he went on a rampage because he wanted to end white supremacy.

Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, fired 17 rounds while he was walking in Fresno, California, last Tuesday and allegedly killed three white men in what is now being investigated as a racially motivated hate crime.

Muhammad is also accused of shooting dead a white security guard at a motel five days before.

In an interview from jail, Muhammad admitted to the killings and told KGPE: 'Someone has to fight for all the people who died at the hands of racist white men.

'I wasn't thinking like... I'm going to kill, kill, kill. All I knew was white supremacy has to die and the people who benefit from white supremacy... are white men.'

The 39-year-old, who said he's been a victim of racial discrimination his entire life, added: 'I gave my life for the freedom of my people, the ultimate freedom of my people.'

Kori Ali Muhammad (left and right), 39, fired 17 rounds while he was walking in Fresno, California, last Tuesday and allegedly killed three white men

Police say Muhammad gave rare and unusual details about his movements and the killings over several hours of questioning following his arrest, even returning with officers to the crimes scenes and demonstrating his actions.

'As he spoke about the shooting and shooting individuals, he did so in a very callous manner,' Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

Muhammad revealed that he killed his first victim Carl Williams, a 25-year-old Motel 6 security guard, because he felt he had insulted him when he visited a woman at the hotel.

Muhammad shot Williams multiple times at close range shortly after 11pm, police said - an act that would set off a chain of events leading to Tuesday's mass shooting.

After the original shooting, Muhammad ran behind the motel and climbed onto the roof of a nearby 7-Eleven, where he hid through Thursday night.

Friday morning, he watched police officers investigate the crime scene and by evening he was in a ravine, where he told police he conducted voodoo rituals for three days.

Muhammad, 39, told investigators he is Muslim but prays to seven different gods.

After emerging from the ravine Sunday, he cut his braided hair and burned it, altering his appearance from the 'wanted' photos police would release while searching for him in the death of the security guard.

Muhammad said he killed 25-year-old Motel 6 security guard Carl Williams (left), because he 'disrespected' him. He then went into hiding for several days before shooting Zackary Randalls, 34 (right) Tuesday morning just before 11am

Muhammad then ran down the street and killed Mark Gassett, 37 (left), and David Jackson, 58 (right), near a Catholic Charities

Muhammad spent Monday moving west within the city between different hiding places.

On Tuesday, Muhammad headed over to a store called The Brass Unicorn in search of crystals to use for more rituals. But it was closed, so he stopped at a Starbucks where he got on the internet for the first time since Thursday night and learned he was a suspect in the guard's murder.

After he saw that he was wanted for murder, Muhammad told officers 'he was not going to go down for shooting a security guard for disrespecting him but that he was going to kill as many white males as possible,' Dyer said.

Speaking from jail on Saturday, Muhammad told KGPE: 'I was actually going to turn myself in, then I started thinking about the missing black women, and children...

'I started thinking about Flint, Michigan. I started thinking about [the] crack cocaine epidemic, started thinking about the injustices and atrocities my people go through. That's why I snapped,' he said.

Shortly before 11am, he approached two men sitting in a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. truck on a tree-lined street in downtown Fresno. He told police he noticed the driver was Latino and the passenger was white so he shot four rounds into the passenger side. He killed Zackary Randalls, 34, a father of two preschoolers who had just started work as a customer-service representative for the utility and was doing a ride-along.

In an interview from jail, Muhammad admitted to the killings and told KGPE : 'Someone has to fight for all the people who died at the hands of racist white men'

Police say Muhammad (center) provided them with stunning detail about the crimes, even returning to the crime scene to demonstrate how he killed the men

In the next three minutes, police say Muhammad killed two more people and shot at several others, firing 17 rounds.

Muhammad shot at another white man who had just walked out of a house, but he missed. He fired one round into a car that drove by, but then realized the people in the car were Latina and stopped shooting.

Mark Gassett, 37, had just picked up groceries at a Catholic Charities building when Muhammad shot him in the chest, and fired twice more after he fell to make sure he was dead.

Gassett's ex-wife Lisa Gassett told The Fresno Bee that he had faced hard times but had been working to improve his life. The couple has two children.

'He would give his shirt off his back for anybody,' she told the newspaper. 'That is the kind of guy he was.'

Muhammad then set his sights on three white men standing at a bus stop. He shot and the men scattered. Muhammad said he selected the one who looked older and heavier, chasing David Jackson, 58, to the parking lot of a Catholic Charities building, where he shot him twice, killing him.

Jackson and his roommate, Mark Greer, had only stopped at the building to use the bathroom.

Randalls was shot dead in his PG&E van on Tuesday. His partner drove them to a police station but it was too late to save Randalls' life

The body of one of the victims is seen covered on the street on Tuesday

Vickie Farr places a candle for Tuesday's shooting victims at a memorial of candles and flowers outside Catholic Charities on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 in Fresno, California

Greer said Jackson tripped over a curb in the parking lot, falling down when he was shot. Greer was able to get away.

'I was too fast for him, but David couldn't run that good,' he said.

Muhammad then ran from the parking lot, wrapped his gun in clothing and set it on the ground. He encountered a man carrying a box of food. They spoke. The man then picked up the gun and fled.

Police are pleading for the man to turn the weapon in.

Muhammad starting running until he saw a police car, which had arrived within minutes of the initial shots. Dyer said he dropped two necklaces he had been holding that he said were charms to ward off evil and gave himself up to police.

'I did it. I shot them,' Muhammad told officers as they arrested him, according to the chief.

Muhammad shouted 'Allahu Akhbar,' meaning 'God is great,' in Arabic. But police say there are no apparent links to terrorism and are investigating the shooting as a hate crime

Muhammad shouted 'Allahu Akhbar,' meaning 'God is great,' in Arabic while he was apprehended shortly after the shootings.

He later told police that he hates white people. His victims were all Caucasian males apparently chosen at random.

Dyer called the acts 'unprovoked' and said: 'We do not believe...that this is a terrorist-related crime. This is solely based on race.'

The 39-year-old faces four counts of murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

His only regret, he said on Saturday, was unknowingly shooting at a car with a woman and children inside.

Muhammad told KGPE: 'I am glad none of them got hit. I probably couldn't live with myself if I hit the woman and child. I had no intentions of hurting women and children.'

His arraignment, scheduled on Monday, was suspended pending a mental competency evaluation.
Lorenzo McCullough, 25, was arrested and charged with abuse after he allegedly locked his two children inside a trash bin container

An Alabama man was arrested and charged with abuse after he allegedly locked his two young children inside a trash bin container.

Dothan police said in a statement on Monday that they are holding 25-year-old Lorenzo McCullough without bond.

McCullough's two-year-old and four-year-old were found early Sunday inside a brick structure that contained trash bins.

The children were covered by ants, and both were taken to a hospital for their any bites and scratches.

Authorities had received a call earlier from someone saying McCullough was suicidal and had threatened to harm the children.

Police began their desperate search for the children on Saturday night around 11pm.

Dothan Police Lt. Will Glover told WIAT that his department 'called out seven investigators, we had Dothan Fire Dept. personnel on scene, and some deputies from Houston County to include one of their bloodhounds'.

McCullough was reportedly spotted by a patrol unit, but fled on foot when they tried to speak to him, according to the station. Officers found him hiding in a closet and located the children later.

'McCullough at that time was not cooperative and would not tell us where the children were, so we continued our search,' Glover said.

Authorities said the children are being cared for by relatives.
Aviation Officer: 'Minimal But Necessary Force' Wielded On Dragged United Passenger

By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 25, 2017 3:20PM

One of the aviation officers involved in the infamous, violent removal of United airlines passenger Dr. David Dao characterized the force applied as "minimal but necessary" in an incident report that was made public on Monday by the city of Chicago, following a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the AP.

Dao, a 69-year-old Kentucky doctor, refused to give up his seat on the fully booked Flight 3411 for airline staff, saying that he had patients to treat the next day. Triggering an international public-relations fiasco (and highly likely litigation), Dao was then violently dragged down the aisle and removed from the plane. In addition to victim-blaming character attacks following the ordeal, Dao suffered a broken nose and concussion and lost two front teeth, according to his lawyer, Thomas Demetrio. United at first compounded the flap with an initial quasi-apology and a letter to employees that called Dao "disruptive and belligerent." Three officers were placed on leave by the Chicago Department of Aviation pending a review.

In the recently released report, published by the Tribune, aviation officers draw a not-dissimilar characterization. Officer Mauricio Rodriguez said he and other responding officers asked Dao to leave the plane. They "tried to persuade Mr. Dao to leave in a calm manner," they said. According to the report, Dao said, "I'm not leaving this flight that I paid money for. I don't care if I get arrested."

In aviation officers' version of events, Dao then "started swinging his arms up and down fast and violently" after an officer, identified as James Long, attempted to pull Dao from his seat. Long's grip failed as Dao swungwhich is when Dao's face plunged into the armrest, Rodriguez said in the report. That's when the "minimal but necessary force" was applied to pull Dao down the aisle. He then ran back onto the plane, the report states, which is when he repeated the infamous "just kill me" lines.

Not surprisingly, Dao's attorney wasn't buying it. A Demetrio spokesperson said that the aviation officers' rendering of the events was "utter nonsense." "Consider the source," she added. In an appearance on The Today Show on Monday morning, Demetrio said that Dao plans to sue, although it's not confirmed whether the lawsuit(s) will target both United and the City of Chicago.
Five men appeared in court today over a nationwide solar panel racket which allegedly defrauded customers out of a total of 13million.

The suspects - two from Cheshire and three from Scotland - were charged after a two year probe by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations mainly elderly householders across the UK were missold rooftop solar panels.

Investigations took place into three firms - Solar Energy Savings, PV Solar Direct and Ultra Energy Global.

The 27-month investigation ended with Solar Energy Savings accused of selling panels to customers under a '360 Returns' scheme that promised the return of 100 per cent of what they spent on maturity of the scheme.

Gary McVey, pictured with a waxwork of Donald Trump, a former director of Solar Energy Savings, is accused of being part of a 'solar panel racket' that defrauded customers of 13million

The two other companies were then used to generate further sales.

The SFO anticipated that 'many victims' had been created by the fraud, the majority of which were older people, with total losses estimated at more than 13 million.

Solar Energy Savings Limited was ordered to close in July 2012 after it was found by the High Court to have missold systems to customers using 'high pressure tactics' and illegal sales practice.

It was claimed the firm falsely led customers to believe that the company was government backed and that it was providing discounts of up to 30 per cent.

Salesmen were also said to have 'overstated the performance of panels and returns on investments' - with some customers subjected to two hour sales pitches.

Customers were also allegedly told that systems would be reinstalled free of charge if they moved home.

The firm, based in Manchester, started trading in early 2011 and was reported to have an annual turnover of more than 50million.

Robert Ross, left, and Niall Hastie, right, are also accused of being part of a scheme that allegedly 'overstated the performance of the panels and returns on investments'

Today Gary McVey, 45, of Northwich, Stephen Wilson, 54, of Widnes, and Robert Ross, 51, of Ayr - all of whom were directors of Solar Energy Savings, appeared before magistrates in Manchester accused of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation between July 2011 and October 2013.

Two other men - Niall Hastie, 52, and Kenneth Reid, 58, both of Glasgow - faced the same allegations.

The men spoke only to confirm their names and addresses and were all dressed in smart suites and ties.

Prosecutors said the case could could only be dealt with by a judge and jury and warned the offence can carry a maximum of 10 years in prison.

No pleas were entered and the suspects were all bailed on conditions they surrender their passports and not knowingly contact staff, witnesses or customers of the company.

They will next appear at Manchester Crown Court on May 23 for a preliminary hearing.

Ludovic Black, left, and David Diaz, right, are still being sought by the Serious Fraud Office after failing to attend police stations for questioning over the allegations

Two other men, Ludovic Black, 26, from Great Sankey, Warrington and 33-year old David Diaz, of Kilsyth, Stirlingshireare, are still being sought by the SFO after they failed to attend police stations for questioning.

The brothers, who were last known to be living in Manchester, are also wanted in connection with alleged fraud and conspiracy offences between July 1, 2011 and January 18, 2013.

Black, who also goes by the name of Victor Black, and Diaz failed to attend Blacon and Runcorn police stations in Cheshire on February 28 this year.

The pair were former directors of Solar Energy Savings Ltd and have addresses in Manchester, as well as Cheshire. Greater Manchester Police provided information to the SFO, which prompted an investigation in December 2014.

The brothers were initially arrested in 2014, and then released on bail

A spokesman for the SFO said: 'The nationwide suspected fraud is believed to have created many victims, the majority of whom are older people, estimated to have together lost over 13m.'
A ram which has been dubbed 'unicorn' because it has a giant horn sprouting out of the top of its head is creating something of a stir in Iceland.

The beast, christened Einhyrningur (Unicorn), was born in the mountains of Iceland last year and when the sheep were rounded up in the autumn he was left behind by a farmer who mistook him for a goat.

Farmer Erla orey Olafsdottir told the Iceland Monitor: 'It was funny, the shepherds saw him through binoculars, and had no idea what this thing was.

'They thought at first it was a billy goat with this high horn. Then when they got closer they saw it to be a sheep, with such a peculiar horn. Both horns grow together like one, and split at the end.'

Einhyrningur (pictured) only has one horn sprouting from the middle of his forehead, unlike most Icelandic rams that have two horns

Most Icelandic sheep, whether they are male or female, have two horns.

Ms Olafsdottir said: 'This seems special, and he has a peculiar look because of this. The horns stretch his face, particularly around the eyes so he always seems to be a bit surprised. He kind of looks like people that have had a facelift.'

Despite his look of perpetual surprise Einhyrningur is a calm and good-natured creature.
A veteran teacher and mother-of-two from Texas has been arrested for allegedly having sex with four high school students, including a threesome with two of the boys.

Heather Lee Robertson, 38, of Lufkin, was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with four counts of improper relationship between educator and student.

According to an arrest warrant, the investigation into the Hudson Independent School District teacher got under way on April 20 when police got a tip about Robertsons alleged involvement with several of her students.

Very bad teacher: Heather Lee Robertson (pictured in her mugshot, left), 38, has been arrested for allegedly having sex with four high school students after sexting with them on Snapchat (pictured right)

One teenage boy told detectives that he and Robertson, formerly a kindergarten teacher in the district, started talking and exchanging sexually explicit messages on Snapchat, and sometime after spring break, she invited him over for sex.

The teen asked whether he could bring along a friend, and Roberson agreed, according to the document cited by the Lufkin Daily News.

When the two juveniles arrived at the woman's apartment, they found her lying on the couch and smoking an e-Cigarette. After a few minutes of conversation, Robertson invited her underage guests into the bedroom, where she proceeded to strip naked before having a threesome with the high schoolers, according to the arrest document.

Two other high school students later admitted to meeting Robertson for sex on multiple occasions, bringing the total number of victims to four.

Mom: The 38-year-old veteran educator has two daughters of her own, the eldest pictured in the photo above, with her face obscured to protect her privacy

One of the boys recounted for the police how he would sneak out of his home and Robertson would pick him up and take him to her apartment to have sex.

When investigators confronted the 38-year-old educator, who has two daughters of her own, Robertson admitted to the allegations, confessing that she had sex with one of the students four times between late 2016 and April 14.

Robertson said she recently became a heavy drinker and would sometimes forget the details of the sexual trysts. She also revealed that she did not force the teens to wear condoms because she can no longer get pregnant.

The 38-year-old said she instructed her underage lovers to keep quiet about their sex sessions, lest she get in trouble.

Hudson ISD Superintendent Mary Ann Whiteker said in a statement that Robertson resigned on Thursday afternoon, just after the allegations against her came to light. She had been with the district since 2000, spending the first 13 years of her teaching career at Burley Primary in Lufkin.

Confession: Robertson (pictured with her eldest daughter) admitted to the allegations, confessing that she had sex with one of the students four times between late 2016 and April 14

Robertson was pulled over by police while driving in Lufkin at around noon on Saturday and was arrested on the improper relationship charges. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

The teacher's past criminal record includes a single arrest on a driving while intoxicated count last month.
Marissa Mayer will leave Yahoo with about $186million in stock when its sold to Verizon in June

Marissa Mayer's five years as CEO of Yahoo were marred with failure, but she'll still leave the company with hundreds of millions of dollars when it's sold to Verizon in June.

Mayer's stock will be fully vested when shareholders vote on June 8 on whether to sell the company's internet business to Verizon, a vote that is widely expected to pass and will end Mayer's leadership of the company.

According to documents on the deal given to shareholders on Monday, Mayer will leave the company with about $186million in stock (based on the Monday closing price of $48.15), the New York Times reports.

That's not counting the salary and bonuses she's received in the past five years, or the $3million severance she'll get when the company sells, CNN reports.

In total, Mayer will have netted more than $200million, the Times reported, using information from company filings.

Mayer's lavish payout will likely have some investors seething, since Mayer failed to revitalize the company's internet brand.

Under her leadership, Yahoo fell victim to two massive hacks and an ill-advised investment in the blogging site Tumblr.

Mayer actually had to give up her bonus last year because of the 2014 hack.

While Mayer's leadership of the company was heavily criticized, Yahoo's stock did soar 208 per cent during her tenure.

That's mostly thanks to investments in Chinese retailer Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.
A 12-year-old boy has angrily reprimanded a small group of anti-war protesters who unfurled a banner at an Anzac Day dawn service in New Zealand.

James Broome-Isa was so incensed at Peace Action Wellington activists for making a political point at the wreath laying to remember slain soldiers and war veterans.

'Do it tomorrow. It is the day before. Do it any day but today,' he said on a video captured by Newshub.

'It's wrong, wrong, wrong.'

Peace Action Wellington protesters unfurled a banner at a dawn service to make a point

James was with his father David Broome, a political staffer with the nationalist New Zealand First party, when he took offence the silent protesters holding a banner at the Wellington Cenotaph which read: 'Lest We Remember: No NZ support for war.'

David Broome told anti-war activists Ellie Clayton and Laura Drew the timing of their protest was 'just inappropriate', accusing them of making a political point.

James interjected: 'You are just so inappropriate. I cannot believe it.'

The activists laid at the cenotaph a wreath and photographs of civilians allegedly killed in Afghanistan by a botched New Zealand Special Air Service raid in 2010.

James Broome-Isa (centre) remonstrates with an anti-war protester on Anzac Day

The 12-year-old boy and his dad David Broome said the protesters had chosen the wrong day

This included a picture of a deceased girl called Fatima.

James told the activists he hadn't seen them at previous Anzac Day dawn services.

'You're here to say it's free publicity. Let's go and make the most of it,' the boy said.

Laura Drew asked the boy if he thought about the civilians who had died in Afghanistan, drawing more reaction from James.

'It's Anzacs. Not civilians,' the boy said.
Terrifying reports are emerging from Chechnya about plans to eliminate the gay community by the end of next month, Parliament has been told.

Britain's deputy foreign secretary said he has been made aware of a threat by the head of the Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, following reports that LGBT people were being rounded up and killed.

Sir Alan Duncan told MPs that the treatment of homosexuals in the Russian Chechen Republic is 'utterly barbaric', with Kadyrov accused of rounding up LGBT people and executing them.

And he said that the fundamentalist leader had threatened to eliminate the homosexual community by the start of Ramadan on May 26.

Sir Alan Duncan told MPs that the treatment of homosexuals in the Russian Chechen Republic is 'utterly barbaric'

Ramzan Kadyrov is claimed to have threatened to eliminate the LGBT population in Chechnya, following reports that gay men were being rounded up and killed

Speaking about the recent round of arrests in Chechnya, Mr Duncan told Parliament: 'The actions in these reports are utterly barbaric. One of the most disgusting things I have seen is a Chechen security source stating that these arrests are part of what he called a preventative clean-up.'

And he continued: 'Human rights groups report that these anti-gay campaigns and killings are orchestrated by the head of the Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov.

'He has carried out other violent campaigns in the past, and this time he is directing his efforts at the LGBT community.

'Sources have said that he wants the community eliminated by the start of Ramadan. Such comments, attitudes and actions are absolutely beyond contemptible.'

The British Foreign Office said the threat had been made in Russian media. Kadyrov has previously described homosexuality as 'poison'.

Earlier this month it was revealed police in the predominantly Muslim republic rounded up more than 100 men suspected of homosexuality and that at least three of them had been killed.

At least six secret prisons are holding gay men in Russia's Chechen Republic, with prisoners tortured until families pay police large bribes, it has been claimed. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (pictured) has denied rounding up and murdering homosexuals in his predominately Muslim republic

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov last week denied rounding up and murdering homosexuals and insisted one man declared dead was 'in good health and at home'

Reports had initially centred on two jails in the villages of Argun and Tsotsi-Yurt. But Novaya Gazeta, the respected Russian newspaper that made the initial claims, now says there are a further four prisons illegally holding men for their sexual orientation.

The newspaper also claims that the men, who face torture in jail, are only released once their families offer bribes to police.

Kadyrov last week denied rounding up and murdering homosexuals and insisted one man declared dead was 'in good health and at home'.

But his denial was then dismissed by many gay men forced to flee the country, one of whom told the AFP news agency: 'I had to lie or die.'

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.

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

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.

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.'

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

Today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was concerned about human rights violations but had no reason to believe reports about the persecution of gay men in Chechnya.

President Vladimir Putin last week met Kadyrov, who dismissed the 'provocative' reports.

The reports, however, have been taken seriously by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and prominent international organisations, which have urged the Russian government to investigate.

Lavrov told reporters Monday that Russian officials haven't seen any information confirming the reports but added that Moscow is concerned about 'any human rights violations.'
The Tories have turned the screw on Jeremy Corbyn by releasing an attack ad which lays into his views on Trident, Nato and shoot-to-kill.

The brutal video, which has been posted online, brands the Labour leader a security risk to the UK.

It comes just days after Mr Corbyn enraged military chiefs by suggesting he might scrap Britains Trident nuclear deterrent  directly contradicting his own party policy.

He has also questioned Britains role in Nato  widely regarded as the cornerstone of Britains international defence and security.

And he has questioned the polices shoot to kill policy, saying it could be counterproductive.

The 23-second clip opens with the warning that whoever wins this election will need to keep our country safe.

It then closes with the warning: Our security and Jeremy Corbyn  too big a risk.

The video cuts to a series of clips of Mr Corbyn and his close ally and shadow chancellor John McDonnell attacking the fundamental tenets of Britains police and security system.

It shows him delivering a tud-thumping speech at a rally saying he wants to close down Nato, before showing him at another event saying I am against the replacement of Trident and the nuclear missile system that goes with it.

It then cuts to another interview showing the Labour leader saying Im not happy with the shoot-to-kill policy.

Jeremy Corbyn has been savaged for his view on Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent and the security alliance Nato in an attack ad released by the Conservative Party

The attack ad seeks to capitalise on Mr Corbyn's weakness on defence. The Labour leader has enraged military chiefs and his own party by his soft stance

While Mr McDonnell is shown at a rally calling for the abolition of the Army.

It closes with the warning: Our security and Jeremy Corbyn  too big a risk.

Mr Corbyn has been widely condemned by military chiefs for his soft stance on Britains defence.

Mr Corbyn, pictured yesterday delivering a speech on the campaign trail, would be a risk to national security if he is elected Prime Minister, the Conservative Party has claimed

Lord Richards, who served as Chief of the Defence Staff and served in Afghanistan, yesterday said the Labour leader cannot be trusted on defence because of his views on Trident.

A Labour spokesman hit back at the attack ad.

He said: We wont take lessons on national security from a government whose spending cuts and broken promises on defence are putting Britains security at risk.

Under them the Army has shrunk to its smallest size since the Napoleonic Wars and they have broken a manifesto commitment to keep it at 82,000.
Labour is set for a 'kicking' in Wales and a 'disaster' in Scotland on the biggest day in politics before the general election, analysts concluded today.

Jeremy Corbyn's party should be braced for devastating losses at the local elections next Thursday, just a month before the snap national poll on June 8.

Election experts Rallings and Thrasher said the Conservatives and the SNP could look forward to big town hall gains next week.

The local election results will set the tone for the final weeks of the national campaign and heavy defeat for Mr Corbyn will be seized on by the Tories as proof he is a loser.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigned in Scotland yesterday (pictured) in a bid to stem heavy losses suggested by polls and analysts

Theresa May (pictured at a Newport steel works today) took her campaign to Wales today amid claims the party is on the brink of unprecedented gains

Opinion polls ahead of the general election show record breaking leads for the Tories across the country.

Opinion polls ahead of the general election show record breaking leads for the Tories across the country.

Theresa May appears poised to make unprecedented gains in Wales and potentially even make a best in three decade performance in Scotland.

Analysis by Plymouth University professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher put Conservatives on track for likely gains of around 115 councillors in the English county, unitary and metropolitan seats up for grabs next month.

Liberal Democrats, who were at a low point when the bulk of the English seats were last contested in 2013, stand to gain around 85 and have hopes of gaining control of Cornwall.

But Ukip is facing near wipeout, with the prospect of losing 105 out of the total of 145 seats they won last time round, many of which they have already forfeited due to defections.

In Wales, Conservatives could gain 50 or more seats from a low base, but Labour looks set for a 'broader retreat', with councillors picked off not only by the Tories but also by Plaid Cymru, Lib Dems and independents, said Professor Roger Scully of Cardiff University.

Mrs May (pictured today) appears poised to make unprecedented gains in Wales and potentially even make a best in three decade performance in Scotland

The Prime Minister denied she was being complacent today as she took her campaign into Labour's Welsh heartlands

A YouGov poll for ITV showed the Tories are ahead in Wales six weeks ahead of the general election. The party is poised to make gains in next week's council elections and could win as many as 21 seats on June 8

Having performed 'exceptionally' the last time the Welsh seats were contested in 2012, Mr Corbyn's party is likely to see losses in three figures in Wales and to lose majority control of its three major cities, Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, said Prof Scully.

COUNCILS TO WATCH NEXT THURSDAY Councils to watch, according to the academics: Derbyshire - The only county held by Labour; vulnerable to a Tory surge. Lancashire - Minority Labour administration; Tories need seven gains to take control. Norfolk - Ukip retreat could see Tories take back overall control which it lost in 2013. Somerset - A 2 per cent swing in favour of Lib Dems could deprive Tories of overall control. Warwickshire - A long shot for Tories to seize overall control. Cardiff - Labour rule under pressure from both Tories and Lib Dems. Glasgow - The Scottish National Party upsurge since the seats were last contested in 2012 suggests 'a changing of the guard' at City Hall, held by Labour since 1995. Advertisement

'It's very likely we will see Labour lose more council seats in Wales than in the whole of England,' he told a briefing hosted by the Political Studies Association in London.

'Labour are likely to get another kicking in the local elections in Wales.'

Strathclyde University's Professor John Curtice said it was difficult to predict numbers of councillors because of the complicated proportional voting system north of the border.

But he said Labour was likely to lose its role as the dominant force in Scottish local government to the Scottish National Party, with Conservatives also making gains.

'The Labour vote has been collapsing, and if you look at some of the by-elections in Glasgow it's been horrendous,' Prof Curtice said.

'It looks as though Labour is heading for disaster north of the border. And therefore, it will be very, very surprising indeed if Labour retains control of any council in Scotland.'

The party was certain to lose control in South Lanarkshire, as it was fighting fewer than half of the seats, and needs every one of its candidates to be victorious to retain control in Glasgow, Renfrewshire and West Dunbarton, he said.

A further signal of Labour woes would come if the party fails to secure the new elected mayorship in the West Midlands, with any defeats in the Liverpool, Manchester or Tees Valley mayoralties representing even deeper setbacks, said Prof Rallings, who predicted turnout in the mayoral polls could be as low as 20%.
Japanese civilians have been told to expect a mere ten-minute warning if North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un launches a nuclear attack.

Tokyo officials are advising people to seek shelter underground or in a strong concrete building in the event of a North Korean missile strike.

A national system of safety drills may also be rolled out while there has been a spike in demand for home nuclear bunkers.

North Korean missile tests have fired with increasing frequency. Last month, three fell into waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone, some 185 miles off the coast of northern Akita prefecture.

Japanese civilians have been told they will have just a ten minute warning if North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (pictured) launches a nuclear attack

But the mayor of Osaka, Hirofumi Yoshimura, the Japan Times: 'A missile may not be detected as soon as it leaves the launch pad ... and that could take several minutes.

'The warnings and alarms might only sound four or five minutes before a missile arrives.'

Yesterday, it emerged that the sales of nuclear shelters and radiation-blocking air purifiers have surged in Japan in recent weeks as North Korea has pressed ahead with missile tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

A small company that specialises in building nuclear shelters, generally under people's houses, has received eight orders in April alone compared with six orders during a typical year.

The company, Oribe Seiki Seisakusho, based in Kobe, western Japan, also has sold out of 50 Swiss-made air purifiers, which are said to keep out radiation and poisonous gas, and is trying to get more, said Nobuko Oribe, the company's director.

Sales of nuclear shelters and radiation-blocking air purifiers have surged in Japan in recent weeks as North Korea continues testing its missile programme

A purifier designed for six people sells for 620,000 yen (4,396) and one designed for 13 people and usually installed in a family-use shelter costs 1.7 million yen (12,073).

Concerns about a possible gas attack have grown in Japan after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliament session this month that North Korea may have the capacity to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas.

'It takes time and money to build a shelter. But all we hear these days, in this tense atmosphere, is that they want one now,' Oribe said. 'They ask us to come right away and give them an estimate.'

Another small company, Earth Shift, based in Shizuoka prefecture, has seen a tenfold increase in inquiries and quotes for its underground shelters, Akira Shiga, a sales manager at the company said. The inquiries began gradually increasing in February and have come from all over Japan, he said.

North Korean missiles have fired with increasing frequency. Last month, three fell into waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone, some 300-350 kilometers off the coast of northern Akita prefecture.

The Japanese government on Friday urged local governments to hold evacuation drills in case of a possible missile attack, heightening a sense of urgency among the public.

North Korea's display of military strength as seen another small company, Earth Shift, based in Shizuoka prefecture, see a tenfold increase in inquiries and quotes for its underground bunkers

A nuclear shelter for up to 13 people costs about 25 million yen (177,546) and takes about four months to build, although Oribe Seiki Seisakusho do not advertise their shelters online (the USS Carl Vinson in the Sea of Japan gearing up for military exercises)

Some orders for the shelters were placed by owners of small-sized companies for their employees, and others by families, Oribe said. A nuclear shelter for up to 13 people costs about 25 million yen (177,546) and takes about four months to build, he said.

The shelter his company offers is a reinforced, air-tight basement with an air purifier that can block radiation as well as poisonous gas. The room is designed to withstand a blast even when a Hiroshima-class nuclear bomb exploded just 660 meters away, Oribe said.

North Korea said on Sunday it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might, in the latest sign of rising tension in the region.

The United States ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail to waters off the Korean peninsula in response to mounting concern over the reclusive state's nuclear and missile programmes.

In Japan's previous experience with sarin gas in 1995, members of a doomsday cult killed 12 people and made thousands ill in attacks on Tokyo subways.
Kidnapped schoolgirl Elizabeth Thomas is suffering crippling panic attacks after going missing with her teacher for five weeks, her family has revealed.

Danielle Thomas, Elizabeth's sister-in-law, said the 15-year-old appears OK 'at times' but 'there are times where she's curled up in the middle of the floor crying and shaking and having panic attacks.'

Anthony Thomas, Elizabeth's father, added that she is 'very thin and very jittery' after vanishing for 39 days with former teacher Tad Cummins, 50.

Danielle Thomas (left and right), the sister-in-law of kidnap teen Elizabeth, has said the girl is suffering panic attacks that leave her curled up on the floor in tears since being found

Anthony Thomas, Elizabeth's father (pictured right, alongside eldest daughter Kat Bozeman), said the teen is 'thin and jittery' after her ordeal, and is apprehensive around people

Mr Thomas told HLN's Ashleigh Banfield that his daughter was 'the extrovert in a family of introverts', but she is now withdrawn and apprehensive around people.

He said the family regularly visit her at the safe house where she is recovering, but they try to keep the conversation light and want to avoid bombarding her with questions about her ordeal.

Mr Thomas said it is important that she is given time to heal.

Elizabeth, who is from Tennessee, was discovered in a cabin in a remote part of northern California with Cummins on Thursday last week. The pair went missing on March 13.

Cummins has since been charged with transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of criminal sexual intercourse. He is facing a maximum of life if convicted.

Daphne Quinn, Cummins' sister, said she spoke with her brother at the weekend and he told her that he only went with the teen because she was planning to run away and he wanted to keep her safe.

Reacting to that news, Mr Thomas said: 'If that's his idea of guidance, then he's a very poor excuse for a teacher and authority figure, a father... In fact he's a poor excuse for a human being.'

Tad Cummins, 50, Elizabeth's former teacher, is in jail charged with sex crimes and is facing life in jail. His high school freshman victim (right) is recovering in a safe house

Cummins and Elizabeth were pictured in a Walmart in Oklahoma City two days after they went missing. They were found five weeks later in California

Danielle told CNN that she does not believe Elizabeth knew she was running away for a long time, saying she did not take many clothes with her.

The high school freshman also left her dog behind, Danielle said, and was very close to her younger sister Rebecca - to the point where the girl would call her 'mommy'.

'In my heart I don't think she would have left Rebecca for a very long time,' she said.

Quinn did not say whether she believes her brother or not, but added: 'He's done this horrible thing, that he has to pay for. But he's still my brother and I love him.

'He's repentant-sounding and I think he would like to get his family back, but I think it just hasn't hit him yet that that's not going to happen.

Prosecutors say Cummins was planning to take Elizabeth in a boat to Mexico, and possibly flee further into South America

'He's going to have to learn a new normal. He's got a very long, tedious route ahead of him in a place that he's never been and he's just going to have to deal with it.'

At Cummins' arraignment on Monday, prosecutors in Sacramento said he planned to take the girl to Mexico in a boat, and possibly further into South America.

To prepare for the trip, the teacher test-drove a boat from San Diego to Mexico with the intention of later taking Elizabeth on the same route to evade police.

In documents filed in federal court ahead of the hearing, lawyers said he admitted to switching license plates on his car several times and disabling its GPS system to avoid being caught.

He paid for essentials - including chocolate for the teenager - with cash and only took back roads to avoid roadside surveillance, the documents say.

Prosecutors said when Cummins and the teen were discovered, there were two guns in his vehicle and at least seven pills of erectile dysfunction drug Cialis.

Cummins spoke only briefly in court to confirm his identity, and agreed to be returned to Tennessee to face trial there.

Cummins and Thomas were found last Thursday after a nationwide manhunt.

Police were pointed to them by the caretaker of the cabin. A SWAT team broke in on them in a 4am raid, arresting Cummins and taking Elizabeth to safety.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an Amber Alert for the schoolgirl in March when she failed to come home after being dropped off at a restaurant.

Cummins took Elizabeth from their hometown of Columbia, Tennessee, to a remote cabin in California over the course of five weeks before they were arrested

As their hunt for the pair intensified, sickening details of her relationship with the teacher, a grandfather and self-described 'Jesus freak', emerged.

The pair left emails for one another on his classroom computer and were seen by other students at the school where he taught kissing in front of his grandson.

Bosses suspended Cummins after police launched an investigation into the claims.

The day before they vanished, he was seen on surveillance footage buying women's hair dye.

Once on the run, they were spotted again in store surveillance footage in Alabama and then in Oklahoma having both changed their hair and clothes.

Numerous reported sightings of the pair were made across the country for weeks as police hunted them.

They included reports that the duo were in Corpus Christi, a border town on Texas's south east coast.

Police eventually tracked them down on April 20 in a cabin in Siskiyou County, a rural area north of the city of Redding, in California.
More Than 1000 People Have Been Shot In Chicago In 2017. Can The Violence Be Curbed?

By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 25, 2017 9:24PM



Getty Images / Photo: Scott Olson

Chicago transitioned into 2017 over a violent New Year's weekend. Recently, gun violence spiked again over a bloody Easter weekend, which saw 45 shot. Between those poles, there were many high-profile deadly assaults, like the devastating mass shooting in South Shore last month. With all the victims added together, Chicago recently passed a dark benchmark: More than 1,000 people have been shot in the city so far in 2017, according to the Tribune.

At least 1,008 had been shot as of early Tuesday morning, the Tribune reports. That figure climbed further still through the afternoon. At least three more people were shot, one fatally, between 6:20 a.m. and 3:27 p.m. on Tuesday. The city reached the ignominious marker even sooner than it did last year, when the city's highly publicized (and often improperly contextualized) violence took national stagea trend that stubbornly persists. (See the Justice Department's latest misguided slam on the city, as it seeks to draw parallels, but not proof, between immigration and violence.)

But despite the often ham-fisted framing, Chicago's violence crisis is real. And with more 1,000 people already victims this year, it seems appropriate to remember some of the most convincing proposed counter-measures.

For one, gun violence needs to be considered from a public-health perspective, researchers have argued. Gun violence killed about as many individuals as sepsis," according to a Journal of the American Medical Association study released in January. "However, funding for gun violence research was about 0.7 percent of that for sepsis and publication volume about 4 percent. In relation to mortality rates, gun violence research was the least-researched cause of death and the second-least funded cause of death after falls."

And the trauma caused by violence self-perpetuates into more violence, experts have concluded. Training for front-line educators on how to work with children who have been left unable to properly regulate emotion due to trauma exposure is vital, health experts argue.

And more than tougher sentencing or beefed-up law enforcement, reinvestment into the most affected, underserved communitieswhich have seen hopelessness fueled as schools close and job opportunities diminishis key, according to some criminologists. Lax gun laws in neighboring states and diminished resources for anti-violence programs don't help either.

It would be beyond pollyannaish to pretend any easy solutions exist. The crux of a study by the University of Chicagos Crime Lab was essentially there's nothing close to a silver bullet. But as the number of victims outpaces last year's decades-high total (and parachuting media and politicians will no doubt be all too happy to mischaracterize) it's important to bear in mind that many of the most promising potential fixes still are still waiting on the table.
President Barack Obama has inked a deal that will bank him $400,000 to speak to a Wall Street firm, placing him on the money train that caused his would-be successor Hillary Clinton problems in her presidential campaign.

The speaking fee, for a health care conference being run by Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald LP, equals the salary Obama earned for an entire year as president.

It also puts him on the payroll of an industry he previously derided as being comprised of 'fat cats,' after stressing elements of his own biography like his time as a community organizer in Chicago.

The former president will be the keynote speaker at a luncheon at a health care conference in September, Fox Business reported, citing sources at the firm.

President Barack Obama will deliver a $400,000 speech to Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, Fox Business reported

The network reported that Obama has signed the contract, but some details were still being worked out.

"I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street, Obama said in 2009, while the country was still in the grip of a financial crisis that many blame in part on Wall Street's own freewheeling practices.

Obama is following in the path of several other recent presidents who found they were able to easily monetize the experiences they gained in the world's most powerful elected position.

Politico reported two years ago that George W. Bush commands up to $175,000 a speech, delivering in excess of 200 paid speeches.

Hillary Clinton took heat throughout her primary battle against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for her own paid speeches, which included talks to Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms.

As former secretary of state and a possible future candidate, Hillary Clinton commanded about the same amount for speeches to business and association groups.

President Obama said he didn't run for office to help a bunch of 'fat cat bankers'

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gives an acceptance speech after accepting the Trailblazer Award during the LGBT Community Center Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street on Thursday, April 20, 2017, in New York

President Bill Clinton gives a farewell address at the 2016 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting at Sheraton New York Times Square on September 21, 2016 in New York City

Sanders repeatedly demanded that Clinton release the remarks she made to the firm.

Clinton delivered final paid speech before her campaign to the American Camp Association in March of 2015, banking $260,000.

Word of Obama's speech comes just after he made his return to public life with an event at the University of Chicago Monday.

The event was billed as a 'conversation on community organizing and civic engagement,' and Obama was able to draw attentino with out even mentioning Donald Trump's name at the event.
Three men - including two Afghan migrants - were sentenced to prison in Sweden for participating in a gang rape that was live streamed in a closed Facebook group.

The three men, aged 18 to 24, were arrested in January in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, after police received tips about the rape streaming in the group of 60,000 members and interrupted the broadcast.

Two of the men are Afghan citizens and the third is a Swedish citizen of Afghan descent.

The three men, aged 18 to 24, were arrested in January in Uppsala, north of Stockholm, after police received tips about the rape streaming in a closed Facebook group of 60,000 members.

The 18-year-old man from Afghanistan was to one year in jail on account of rape, while the other man from Afghanistan was sentenced to 27 months.

The third man, a 24-year-old Swedish citizen who was filming the incident, was sentenced to six months in prison for gross defamation as well as for failing to report rape.

The men also were sentenced to pay total damages of 300,000 kronor ($33,890) to the victim.

Judge Nils Palbrandt said the victim, a woman in her 30s, was under influence of narcotics and alcohol was not able to give her consent to the sexual act, as was claimed by the men.

The men had denied the charges, saying the woman had given consent to having sex with them. However, the court said the woman had been heavily intoxicated by alcohol and drugs and was in a very vulnerable situation.

The 18-year-old man from Afghanistan was to one year in jail on account of rape, while the other Afghanistan man was sentenced to 27 months. The third man, a 24-year-old Swedish citizen who was filming the incident, was sentenced to six months in prison

The men, who are not identified under Swedish law, were influenced by alcohol during the act.

'Even if she, in the way the defendants claim, had agreed to intercourse, it is not possible for a person in such a vulnerable situation to consent,' Palbrandt said. 'They shall therefore be held liable for rape,'

The court said the film had received a lot of attention both in Sweden and internationally.

Swedish media have published excerpts of the footage, showing at least one of the suspects holding a revolver.

During the four-day trial, the video was aired behind closed doors, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Eight people who saw the livestream were as witnesses in the case.

The three men were arrested in Uppsala (pictured above) in Sweden after the incident in January

The rape lasted for several minutes, while the 24-year-old was urged by several Facebook watchers to stop it but did not, prosecutors said.

In an email to AFP earlier this year, a press spokesman for Facebook in the Nordic countries denounced 'a hideous crime'.

He said: 'Our teams work around the clock to review content that is being reported by users' and Facebook cooperates systematically with police in criminal investigations.'

The broadcast is the latest graphic video to bring into focus the complex ethical and policy issues faced by Facebook Live and others.

Facebook Live allows anyone to broadcast a video directly from their smartphone. But while traditional TV broadcasters are subject to regulations, Internet streaming services do not face the same restrictions and enforce their own terms of service.
A former bikie enforcer and convicted criminal has described how he turned his life around for the sake of his children.

Brent Simpson, from Sydney, now dedicates his life to helping others through his Heavy Hiterz foundation which he started while in prison.

Mr Simpson opened up about his past life on the SBS Insight show on Tuesday night and told how he never wanted to return to his criminal ways.

He was a sergeant-at-arms for an outlaw bikie gang and was sentenced to six years in jail after being convicted of importing drugs.

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Brent Simpson (pictured) has told how he was a serjeant-at-arms for an outlaw bikie gang and was sentenced to six years in jail after being convicted of importing drugs

Mr Simpson has now told how he turned his life around for the sake of his children on the SBS Insight program

Mr Simpson's turning point came with a forceful demand from his then teenage son after his conviction.

When he was just 13, son Braiden told his father: 'You better clean up your act or I don't want to have anything to do with you'.

'I was gutted, absolutely destroyed,' Mr Simpson said.

'At that stage, you know, my pride and joy was my first son. I had a daughter also, but... this is my boy looking at me saying, "Dad, this is how it is."

'And I was like, "Ah, righto," and I didn't know how to take it because I had years of jail ahead.'

Mr Simpson said he became determined to be a good role model and father.

'I made a choice that I either needed to be a man and step up and come out and be a father to Braiden and my daughter at the time, or I was going to lose my son,' he said.

Mr Simpson's son Braiden (pictured) had demanded that his father clean up his act or he didn't want anything to do with him

Mr Simpson's criminal activity began when he was a teenager after he was molested.

He started with 'jumping counters and robbing tills' and 'kicking in doors and taking people's drug money'.

He never made it past grade 8 at school and was placed into foster care after coming from a broken home.

Mr Simpson, who has bipolar, now devotes his life to helping others and raising awareness of mental illness.

'I came out of jail with a vision that I wanted to do something great. I'm a survivor of three suicide attempts,' Mr Simpson said.

'Today I work as a charitable man who delivers workshops and supports people living with mental illness and people who are survivors of suicide attempts.'

Mr Simpson became the first person to cycle 4560km from the Gold Coast Snapper Rocks in 45 days to Cottesloe Beach in Perth

Mr Simpson has now dedicated his life to helping others through his Heavy Hiterz foundation

He said he never wanted to return to his criminal past.

'I just had my very first family holiday. I had never had a family holiday,' he said.

'To do that, I had to sell the last of my past life which was some fine time pieces and some jewellery that I had hung onto for many, many, many years that, you know, when I was making plenty of money.'

Last year he also became the first person to cycle 4560km from the Gold Coast Snapper Rocks in 45 days to Cottesloe Beach in Perth.

For confidential support call the 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14.
A defrocked priest on the run for allegedly sexually abusing a young girl in 2014 was tracked down in Guatemala and extradited back to the US, where he will finally face abuse charges in Long Island, NY.

Interpol, working with US Marshals, found ex-priest Augusto Cortez, 53, in Guatamala and put him on a flight to New York over the weekend, according to authorities.

Upon landing at JFK Airport on Saturday, Cortez  a former Catholic priest of the Vincentian Congregation  was arrested and sent to jail without bail.

Fugitive ex-priest Augusto Cortez, 53, was found in Guatemala and extradited to the US, where he will face felony charges from a 2014 accusation that he sexually abused a six-year-old girl

Cortez pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child on Monday, according to WABC.

The charges all stemmed from a June 2014 incident in which he is accused of molesting a six-year-old girl at a family party in Southampton, Long Island.

Cortez had been on the run since June 2014, when he was questioned by police after the little girl's family  long-time friends of Cortez  called police to report that they suspected he had been sexually abusing their youngest daughter.

Although police questioned him at the time of the initial complaint, they had to release Cortez because they lacked enough hard evidence to charge him with any crimes. Days later, when cops had found the evidence they needed to charge him, they discovered that he had vanished.

Before he fled, police questioned Cortez about accusations he molested this six-year-old girl

Cortez was defrocked after pleading guilty to a charge of molesting a girl, 12, in 2008

Two months after he fled, the unnamed six-year-old told PIX11 news that Cortez abused her frequently, more times than she was able to count. Later the same year, she was diagnosed with genital herpes, according to 27.east.

Cortez fled to South America once he realized that he was under investigation, Southampton police said, adding that he had traveled to several countries on the continent before he was tracked down in Guatemala.

Cortez is a registered sex offender, who was defrocked by his order after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of forcibly touching a 12-year-old student's breasts at a Brooklyn, New York parish school in 2008. He was sentenced to probation in 2009.

He was categorized as a Level 1  or low risk of repeat offense  sex offender by the state.

Cortez is due back in court on May 15.
Tiffany Trump is heading back to school.

A spokesperson for the First Daughter confirms to DailyMail.com that Tiffany is planning to attend law school in the fall, making her the first of the academically accomplished Trump children to pursue a juris doctor.

Tiffany graduated just last May from the University of Pennsylvania, the same Ivy league institution that her dad Donald, big sister Ivanka and older brother Don Jr. received their degrees.

She is keeping her choice of school private for the time being however, with her spokesperson stating that Tiffany will be 'sharing more details in the coming weeks.'

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Another first: A spokesperson for Tiffany Trump revealed that the First Daughter is planning to attend law school in the fall (Tiffany above this past July at the Republican National Convention)

Hitting the books: Tiffany publicly announced her legal ambitions by posting a photo of herself taking an LSAT prep test on Instagram last August (above)

Alma maters: Tiffany graduated from the University of Pennsylvania like her dad Donald, Ivanka and Don Jr. (Ivanka, President Trump, Tiffany and Barron at Penn graduation last May)

There has been much speculation about Tiffany's legal ambitions ever since she was spotted on visits to Harvard and Columbia in December, the same month she took her LSAT.

Students also caught her sitting in a class at her brother-in-law Jared Kushner's alma mater New York University in February.

Above the Law revealed at the time that soon after word spread that Tiffany was on campus, signs were posted in the hallway outside the classroom the read: 'Save us Tiffany, youre our only hope,'

Tiffany first revealed she was considering law school in the same way most members of her generation share big news, on social media.

The sporadic Instagram poster shared a photo back in late August of an LSAT prep book along with a drop-in of her Bitmoji avatar and the words 'I Got This' splashed across her open study guide.

She appears to have taken her prep very seriously too, with the youngest Trump daughter seldom spotted out and about in the Big Apple over the past year.

Her big moment in her father's campaign came the month before her LSAT prep pic, when the 22-year-old daughter of President Trump and second wife Marla Maples delivered an assured and humanizing speech about her father.

While appearing at the Republican National Convention, Tiffany spoke not of her father's accomplishments in the business world or political rhetoric, but instead of his empathy for her and other close to him in their times of need.

'I always looked forward to introducing him to my friends, especially the ones with preconceived notions, because they meet a man with natural charm and no facade,' said Tiffany, describing a side of the man members of the public never get to see.

Top of the line: The 22-year-old has been spotted on visits to Harvard (above in December), Columbia and Kushner's alma mater New York University

Sister, sister: No announcement has been made as to what school Tiffany will attend, though more details will be shared in the coming weeks according to her spokesperson (Tiffany and Ivanka above at Penn graduation)

Proud mom: Tiffany is he only daughter of President Trump and his second wife Marla Maples (above with Tiffany at her graduation)

Tiffany's debut on the international stage went so well that she began making campaign stops with Ivanka over the next few months ahead of her father's eventual win.

She is now the first Trump child to not immediately go into the family business, though Ivanka did spend a year at a real estate development firm after her graduation from Penn before hopping over to the Trump organization in 2005.

Tiffany's professional interest appear to lie elsewhere however, something she realized while still at school as she skipped the Wharton Business School path her brother and sister went down at Penn, and instead pursued a double major in sociology and urban studies.

Tiffany's boyfriend Ross Mechanic (above) will graduate from Penn next month

That does not mean she will not ultimately join the Trump organization however in a legal capacity.

Tiffany's dad also has some pretty impressive contacts at the Supreme Court these days as well however, in case Tiffany wants to follow in the footsteps of another family member.

In addition to Kushner, Tiffany's aunt Maryanne Trump Barry also attended law school, graduating from Hofstra.

It is not known if that institution, located just outside New York City in the Long Island town of Hempstead, is on Tiffany's list of potential schools.

And while Kushner has never formally used his law degree, President Trump's big sister had a very impressive career as an attorney and later a judge.

President Trump's Oval-Office idol Ronald Reagan appointed Barry to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in 1983, where she served for 16 years.

She then got a promotion in 1999 from her brother's forever frenemy Bill Clinton, who placed her on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit where she served until 2011.

Barry is now an inactive member of that court.
President Donald Trump's tax plan will include a childcare tax credit endorsed by his daughter Ivanka and a bipartisan proposal to pay for infrastructure spending.

A preview of his tax priorities provided to Politico did not appear to mention Trump's border wall or the border adjustment tax that House Republicans have been pushing.

The inclusion of the Democratic-favored proposals and the exclusion of the conservative ones is part of a White House strategy to get votes from the other side.

Trump's proposal to cut the corporate tax rate by more than half is likely to have liberals howling, however.

President Donald Trump will propose to cut the corporate tax rate by more than half when he formally unveils his objectives for reform on Wednesday

Trump will ask lawmakers to lower the corporate rate from 35 percent down to 15 percent, the Washington Post says, outdoing his own party and blowing a potential $2.4 trillion hole in the deficit over the next 10 years.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin issued an assurance Monday that whatever cuts the president proposes, government revenues would be protected.

'The tax plan will pay for itself with economic growth,' he proclaimed from the White House.

The United States must achieve a 3 percent target for growth for that to happen.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Tuesday that it shouldn't be a problem.

'I would hope that the growth could over time get to be better than that,' he told reporters attending the White House's daily briefing.

Ross claimed, 'President Obama's the only president in many, many, many, many that didn't have one year of at least 3 percent growth.

'And with all of the initiatives that we're doing, regulatory reform, trade reform, the tax reform hopefully, and unleashing energy, there is no reason we can't get at least that if not beat it,' he said.

Experts are skeptical of the administration's claims, though.

'The problem for the Trumpians is that we've had eight years of recovery,' Lee Branstetter, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told Business Insider at the end of February. 'It's essentially mathematically impossible to get the growth they're talking about.'

The tax slash is consistent with a proposal Trump floated in March, but it is likely to be met with resistance from conservatives who have argued for years that reducing the federal deficit should be a top priority of government.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Kevin Brady, the chairman of the House's tax committee, have already developed a plan that would cut rates and raise $1 trillion for the government.

Known as the border-adjustment or border-adjusted tax, BAT, their plan would pay for cuts with a matching 20 percent tax on imported goods.

The White House has not taken a position on border adjustment, although Trump said he doesn't like the phrase. Mnuchin said last week it wasn't off the table, but Politico reported today that it wasn't likely to appear in the proposal Trump will put forward tomorrow.

'There are certain things we like [about it],' Mnuchin said during a conference in Washington. 'There are certain things we dont.'

He seemed to suggest on Monday that Trump's proposal does not rely on it when he said the cuts would be countered by economic growth.

Trump's tax plan will include a childcare tax credit endorsed by his daughter Ivanka and a bipartisan proposal to pay for infrastructure spending

Politico said Tuesday that Trump will support a one-time corporate repatriation that came up in the Senate in 2015 to fund infrastructure rebuilding.

The money the government gleaned would be directed to the Highway Trust Fund.

Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, and Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, put forward the proposal that was supported by Barack Obama.

Trump is hoping to combine his infrastructure proposal with a tax package to make it more attractive to Democrats.

The childcare tax credit that Ivanka put her weight behind is also being included. It would apply to single parents making $250,000 a year and married couples making less than $500,000 annually.

That measure has a projected cost of $500 billion over the next decade, according to the Tax Foundation, and it wasn't immediately clear how it would be offset.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer wouldn't say how Trump's plan pays for itself on Monday - and whether that information will even be in the document that's coming out Wednesday.

Responding to a question about conservative concern that Trump's tax proposal will contribute to the massive federal deficit, Spicer said, 'I'm not going to get ahead of the Presidents rollout.

'The level of specificity in terms of the pay-fors and the cost, we'll have to see how comfortable the President is,' he stated.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin issued an assurance Monday that whatever cuts the president proposes, government revenues would not fall short. 'The tax plan will pay for itself with economic growth,' he proclaimed from the White House

Trump told the Associated Press last Friday in a surprise revelation that his tax plan would be ready this week, when his first 100 days in office come to an end.

'It will be bigger, I believe, than any tax cut ever. Maybe the biggest tax cut we've ever had,' he said.

Officials soon clarified that the announcement was really a set of 'broad principles and priorities,' rather than a full-fledged plan, as he had suggested.

Mnuchin said Monday 'there will be details that will come out.' But he did not reject the reporter's suggestion that the document would essentially serve as a blueprint.

A senior administration official told Politico later that the 20 percent reduction in the corporate tax rate Trump is proposing is just a starting point.

'I think what youre going to see on Wednesday is some specific governing principles, some guidance,' Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told Fox. 'I dont think anybody expects us to rollout bill language on Wednesday.'

Mulvaney said the document would focus on 'principles' and 'ideas that we like, some of the ideas we don't like' and talk about tax rates. He doesn't expect a meatier package to come out until June.

Trump told AP in the Friday interview that his administration would be 'announcing, probably on Wednesday, tax reform.' He repeated the declaration in remarks at the Treasury Department.

He said in a Saturday tweet, 'Big TAX REFORM AND TAX REDUCTION will be announced next Wednesday.'

The president's remarks were taken to mean that comprehensive tax reform was on the way, even though he'd said earlier in the week, 'We have the concept of the plan.'

'We're going to be announcing it very soon,' he added during a speech in Wisconsin, apparently referring to an announcement about a tax structure concept, not a finished package.

Spicer affirmed on Monday that the president would 'outline' his tax plan in two days. The White House official would not offer any additional details, reminding reporters that Trump and his tax team still have 48 hours to finish their discussions.

'Will we have a generally better idea of where his thinking is?' one reporter asked.

Trump's spokesman said in response, 'I think you will have a better idea of where the President stands on tax reform and what he wants to accomplish. Yes.'

House Speaker Paul Ryan (pictured) and Rep. Kevin Brady, the chairman of the House's tax committee, have already developed a plan that would cut rates - it would als raise $1 trillion for the government

Mnuchin told reporters from the podium just before Spicer briefed that the president's 'objectives' have been clear all along.

'Middle income tax cut - a priority of the Presidents. Simplification - the average American should be able to do their taxes on a large postcard. Business tax reform - we need to make business taxes competitive, and we expect, with doing that, we will bring back trillions of dollars from offshore,' he said.

To that a reporter said, 'It doesnt sound like were going to get the finer details of what this tax reform package will entail. Is it a good idea to start talking about tax reform -- something that you say cant be accomplished by August -- when you dont have all the details?'

Mnuchin carefully replied, 'There will be details that will come out. And yes, I think it is important that were talking about it and we are going to move forward.'

He notably did promise the reporter the fine points of the plan would be released Wednesday.

The details of Trump's plan could make the difference when it comes to Republican support.

Ryan, a former chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, spent the last year helping to develop the border-adjustment package that cuts into the federal deficit.

If Trump's tax plan is similar to what he proposed on the campaign, he's looking at a $7.2 trillion revenue shortfall, according to a non-partisan tax organization run by the Brookings Institution.

In March, Trump told Fox News' Jesse Watters, 'We're going to get a big reduction, we're going to bring business down from 15 percent to 20 percent from 36 percent and 38 percent and higher in some instances.

'We are the highest taxed nation in the world. And we are going to bring taxes way down,' Trump said. 'And for middle income, we're also getting rid of brackets. We are going from 7 to 4 or 3 brackets. And that will be such a pleasure.'

At that time, Trump said Americans with limited income could see their tax burden go down to zero, however, he's not indicated since that remains the case.

'I would like to see zero if you dont make much. Like zero, and that's what it's going to be, it's going to be zero up to a level,' he said. 'Then it's going be 12.5 percent, 15 percent. It's going to be 10 percent.'

Trump promised then that his tax cut would rival the one Ronald Reagan passed his first year in office, 1981. It is regarded as the largest tax cut in American history.

'It will be the biggest tax cut since Reagan and probably bigger than Reagan,' Trump said.
Two self-styled paedophile hunters have been arrested for impersonating a police officer as concerns grow over vigilante groups.

Officers arrested the men aged 34 and 43 just a week after senior police in Kent issued a stark warning over the activities of paedophile hunters.

On Easter Sunday an undercover sting of an alleged offender was broadcast live on Facebook - but a group of men then appeared to attack the suspect.

A group of paedophile hunters confronted a man outside Bluewater in Kent on Easter Sunday

'The Hunted One', which targets suspected offenders, vowed not to livestream its confrontations again after the incident at Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.

But much of its online presence was shut down last night as its Facebook page, email and website disappeared - although its Twitter and Instagram were still active.

Yesterday a Kent Police spokesman said: 'Kent Police has arrested two men on suspicion of impersonating a police officer and false imprisonment.

'One man, 43, from Blackheath in London, was arrested at around 11am on April 21. The second man, aged 34, from Maidstone, was arrested at midday the same day.

A brawl broke out in front of the shopping centre after the man was accused of being a 'nonce'

The video shows a man confronting someone before asking: 'What are you doing here today?'

'The man from Blackheath was also arrested on suspicion of possessing cannabis with intent to supply. Both were subsequently bailed.'

It was today unclear whether the men are part of The Hunted One, or if their arrests were linked to the incident at Bluewater.

Typically volunteers start chatting with online predators after setting up fake online profiles pretending to be underage children.

The Hunted One would then stream live footage of members pouncing on suspected sexual predators.

The footage shows men grappling with him, shouting 'f***ing nonce' and jumping on top of him

Punches and kicks were directed at the man and security had to step in to contain the situation

The law on vigilante paedophile groups gathering evidence Anyone can gather evidence of alleged criminal wrongdoing as long as they don't break any laws, but officers have 'significant concerns' about people taking the law into their own hands. Following the rise of vigilante paedophile groups it is feared that poor evidence could lead to case against a suspect collapsing in court. And there are worries that the groups could alert suspects to the fact that they are being watched, and prevent police gathering their own evidence. However, the groups claim they have put hundreds of paedophiles in jail. Earlier this month they praised a ruling at Newcastle Crown Court that will allow them to carry on posing online as children to catch predators. It came after lawyers acting for two men caught by the Dark Justice organisation argued that the use of this kind of evidence 'diminished the integrity of the court process'. They also said the groups should be regulated, but a judge ruled there was no legal requirement for controls to be imposed on the groups' activities. Police use covert techniques to identify paedophiles and urge people to tell them if they have information or evidence of online grooming. And officers have warned against the public entrapping those suspected of intending to commit offences. Advertisement

But one of its undercover stings at Bluewater descended into violence, and two people were arrested for affray.

Onlookers joined in and tried to attack a man who had allegedly turned up to meet a child, while the group live-streamed the sting operation.

Subsequent confrontations are often videoed before officers arrive and arrest the suspect.

Despite criticism by the police, the group claim more than 250 offenders across the country have been jailed as a result of such stings.

But, following the Bluewater incident, Chief Superintendent Thomas Richards, Head of Kent Police's Public Protection Unit, said: 'Evidence-gathering is a very specialist job and can take considerable time and skill to ensure it is of sufficient quality to bring a high risk offender to justice.

'I would therefore urge anyone who believes they have information or evidence of online grooming, or knows that a suspect is planning to meet a potential victim, to contact Kent Police at the earliest opportunity so that police officers can deal with these meetings and capture the best possible evidence.

'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.'
President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, is looking into legal action against Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy behind the controversial 'dirty dossier.'

Cohen may also seek litigation against BuzzFeed, the news outlet that published the 35-page unverified dossier, according to reporting from the Washington Times.

Steele's dossier alleged that Cohen had traveled to Prague during the last week of August to meet with Russian agents to devise a plan to cover up the Russian-and-Trump link to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee's email servers.

'I believe the entire dossier to be inaccurate, and worse, completely fabricated,' Cohen, who has been the lawyer for the Trump Organization for 10 years, told the Washington Times.

President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen (left) says he wants to seek legal action against British ex-spy Christopher Steele (right), the man who wrote the 'dirty dossier'

Once the dossier was made public by BuzzFeed, Cohen proved that the allegations against him were untrue by showing his passport, which didn't have a stamp for the Czech Republic, to President Trump, top Trump aides and reporters.

To further make his point, Cohen produced an itinerary for a trip he took to Southern California, which took place at the same time the dossier said he was in Prague.

If Cohen does decide to pursue litigation, he'll be following in the footsteps of Aleksej Gubarev, who is suing Steele and BuzzFeed for defamation.

The dossier accused Gubarev, a tech entrepreneur, and two of his companies of 'using botnets and porn traffic to transmit viruses, plant bugs, steal data and conduct "altering operations" against the Democratic Party leadership.'

Gubarev called the charges 'one of the most reckless and irresponsible moments in modern "journalism."'

President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen (center) is photographed in the lobby of Trump Tower with now former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn (left) and Energy Secretary Rick Perry (right)

The 'dirty dossier' produced by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele (pictured) alleged that President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen traveled to Prague to discuss with the Russians how to cover-up the Democratic National Committee hack

The suit against BuzzFeed was filed in Florida in the same jurisdiction where the court awarded wrestler Hulk Hogan a huge payout from the website Gawker, eventually forcing it to shut down.

A suit against Steele was filed in London.

The lawsuit alleges that the claims found in the dossier ''caused [Gubarev] serious financial loss and is likely to do so in the future.'

'I applaud Aleksej Gubarev in bringing legal action against both Christopher Steele and BuzzFeed for creating and disseminating this fake dossier/information without a scintilla of fact checking,' Cohen told the Times.

'I am currently in discussions with foreign and domestic counsel to file similar actions,' Cohen confirmed.




Former acting attorney general Sally Yates is scheduled to appear at a congressional hearing next month on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a Senate committee announced Tuesday.

Yates is to appear May 8 along with James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, at an open hearing of the crime and terrorism subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

It will mark her first appearance on Capitol Hill since she was fired in late January after refusing to defend President Donald Trump's travel ban.

Yates had been scheduled to testify weeks ago before the House Intelligence Committee, but that hearing was canceled.

Sally Yates, a former acting U.S. attorney general, will testify in a May 8 Senate hearing about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election

Also testifying will be former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper

The hearing will be the first opportunity for the public to hear Yates' account of her role in the firing of Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

She alerted the White House in January that Flynn had been misleading in his account of a December phone call with the Russian ambassador to the United States in which economic sanctions against Russia were discussed.

Flynn was ousted after those discrepancies were made public.

The White House said last month that it had never tried to prevent Yates from testifying. The assertion followed the publication of a series of letters in which her attorney pushed back against what he suggested was Justice Department guidance on what Yates could say about conversations she had with the White House.

Four congressional committees in all launched investigations after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered hacking of Democratic political groups to try to sway the election toward Republican Donald Trump.

Moscow has denied any such meddling.

Yates was involved with providing transcripts of intercepted phone calls to the White House, which documented former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn's (at right) calls with a Russian diplomat before Inauguration Day

Clapper and Yates, along with former CIA Director James Brennan, had been scheduled to testify separately before the House Intelligence Committee in March, but that public hearing was canceled by the panel's chairman, Republican Devin Nunes.

Nunes, a Trump ally and transition adviser, recused himself from the Russia investigation on April 6 after receiving information at the White House about intelligence agency surveillance of foreign nationals that swept up some information about members of Trump's transition team.

His decision to hold a news conference about the information and discuss it with Trump before disclosing it to Democrats raised questions about whether he could lead a credible investigation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled talks on Tuesday with Germany's visiting foreign minister after he rejected the Israeli leader's demand not to meet left-wing groups critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians under occupation.

The dispute threatened to widen a rift between Israel and Germany over the Palestinian issue.

Berlin has been increasingly critical of the settlement policies of Netanyahu's right-wing government in territory Palestinians seek for a state.

'The meeting is cancelled,' said David Keyes, a Netanyahu spokesman.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled his meeting with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel

On Monday, an Israeli official had said Netanyahu would not see German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel if he decided to meet the Israeli group 'Breaking the Silence'.

The organisation, a frequent target of criticism by the Israeli government, collects testimony from Israeli veterans about the military's treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and the influence it says Israeli settlers have on the army's actions.

Gabriel said before the cancellation was announced that it would be 'a remarkable event, to put it mildly', if Netanyahu called off their meeting.

Speaking later during a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Gabriel said: 'You can absolutely be sure we are committed to the friendship, the partnership and the special relationship with Israel and nothing will change this.'

Germany sees itself as one of Israel's closest allies and the cooperation and trade links are extensive, but the legacy of the Nazi-era Holocaust, in which six million Jews were killed during World War II, means their ties are highly charged.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said before the cancellation was announced that it would be 'a remarkable event, to put it mildly', if Netanyahu called off their meeting

Gabriel said it was normal to talk to civil society representatives in Israel, a view that drew expressions of support from Israeli opposition leaders.

'Imagine if the Israeli prime minister... came to Germany and wanted to meet people critical of the government and we said that is not possible ... That would be unthinkable,' Gabriel told Germany's ZDF television.

But Israeli Environment Minister Zeev Elkin, a confidant of Netanyahu, told Israel radio it was 'unthinkable' for a minister to meet groups working against the country he was visiting.

A spokesman for Breaking the Silence declined to comment on Netanyahu's decision to snub Gabriel, or on the details of their planned meeting, which the Peace Now movement said it would also attend along with the B'Tselem rights group.

Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker from German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party, criticised Netanyahu, telling Die Welt newspaper that the Israeli leader 'made a mistake' in shunning Gabriel, 'a good friend of Israel'.

In February, Netanyahu ordered the reprimand of the Belgian ambassador after Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel met with representatives of Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem during his visit to the region.

During his trip to Israel, Gabriel still met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. Berlin has been increasingly critical of the settlement policies of Netanyahu's right-wing government in territory Palestinians seek for a state

Right-wing Israeli politicians accuse the groups of damaging Israel's reputation abroad and putting Israeli soldiers and officials at risk of prosecution.

They also dislike the fact that several of the NGOs receive funds from EU countries.

Gabriel, a Social Democrat who has spoken publicly about a rift with his late father, a convinced Nazi, is visiting the Middle East to press for a two-state solution to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Germany in March cancelled an annual meeting of German and Israeli leaders that was to take place in May amid rising frustration in Berlin with settlement activity in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

In 2016, Israel passed a law requiring non-government organizations that receive more than half their funding from foreign governments or bodies to provide details of their donations.

The legislation was largely seen as targeting left-wing organisations such as Breaking the Silence and B'tselem, and it drew international criticism.
A worshipper prays for good fortune during a grand memorial ritual for the 13th-century great conqueror Genghis Khan at the mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ordos, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, April 17, 2017. The annual spring ceremony for Genghis Khan has been practiced for nearly 800 years. Worshippers stepped into the shrine, offering hada, a ceremonial silk scarf, and tea bricks, among other offerings. Genghis Khan's relics are enshrined at the site. [Photo/Xinhua]
A serial killer whose murder spree inspired TV drama The Missing has gone on trial for the murder of two eight-year-old boys.

Cyril Beining and Alexandre Beckrich were both brutally killed with stones in September 1986.

Francis Heaulme, France's most notorious living serial killer, was led from his cell in a high-security prison into the dock at the Moselle Assizes in Metz, in the east of the country.

Serial killer Francis Heaulme on trial in Metz, eastern France, today for the murder of two eight-year-old boys

Francis Heaulme, pictured in 2000, has already been convicted of nine murders, and is on trial for the killings of two eight-year-old boys

The 58-year-old is known as the Man from Nowhere and is suspected of killing up to 50 men, women and children.

Infamous for hardly ever leaving any forensic evidence and working out ingenious alibis, Heaulme was finally brought to justice by a detective called Jean-Francois Abgrall, who inspired the Julien Baptiste detective character in the hit BBC drama The Missing.

Heaulme, who is 6ft 3ins tall, has already been sentenced to life in prison for nine killings across northern France.

Heaulme is currently serving a life term with no prospect of early release

Prosecutors now believe they can link him with the deaths of the schoolboys. Their bodies were found with their skulls shattered, lying by a disused railway station and lake in Montigny-les-Metz, just south of Metz, on a Sunday afternoon.

Two other suspects were tried and eventually cleared of the double-murder over the years, leaving Heaulme the current prime suspect.

No DNA was found that could incriminate Heaulme, but he was provably close to the scene of the murders and two fishermen said they saw him with his face covered in blood.

Prosecutors believe he attacked the children because they had thrown stones at him  an allegation he denies.

Liliane Glock, Heaulmes defence barrister, said: Francis Heaulme's personality and career have thrown dust into the eyes of many.

His name did not appear on this file until 1997. People have been trying to prove his guilt for twenty years. It's good that its not that simple.

The creators of The Missing have revealed the inspiration behind the character Julien Baptiste, right, is real-life police officer Jean-Francois Abgrall

Much like Baptiste, pictured, Abgrall also favoured a gentle approach to interrogation and always found a way to connect to even the most dangerous criminals

Surviving family of the two dead boys have discussed the case with Heaulmes lawyers, and are by no means certain he was the killer, said Ms Glock.

Chantal Beining, the mother of Cyril, said: Today were talking about Heaulme, but I dont know what to think, especially since he never confessed. He has always denied the facts.

Abgralls psychological battle with Heaulme played out over three years, and was immortalised in a book by Abgrall, now 58, called Inside a Killers Head.

It tells how Abgrall worked tirelessly to catch Heaulme - even when his colleagues had given up on the case of the murder of nurse Aline Peres, 49, in May 1989.

She had been attacked from behind and stabbed in the heart and throat before her body was dumped.

Abgrall was able to identify clues that his colleagues overlooked - a trait inherited by his on-screen counterpart in The Missing.

Abgrall, 57, worked tirelessly to catch murderer Francis Heaulme, who has killed at least 40 people

In January 1992, Heaulme was finally arrested for Ms Peres murder. He was also convicted of many other killings including that of another eight-year-old boy, and a 14-year-old girl who was raped.

Abgrall has since left the police service and set up a private detective agency specialising in psychological profiles.

Heaulmes crimes usually had a sexual motive, and all involved extreme violence - in one case his victim was stabbed 84 times.

Many were committed when he had no criminal record, and was hiding way in psychiatric hospitals.

At times he admitted particular murders, but the confessions were covered by medical secrecy.

Abgrall said the secret of getting Heaulme to incriminate himself was to talk negatively. Abgrall said: It's when you ask him nothing that he says the most.

Heaulme eventually described murder scenes with incredible precision, with Abgrall saying: He doesn't lie. He never makes anything up. But he deliberately covers his tracks by mixing the crimes, dates and locations.

The latest Heaulme trial continues. It is due to last until mid-May, with a verdict scheduled for the 18th.

Abgrall was the inspiration for character Julien Baptiste, played by actor Tcheky Karyo, in The Missing.

Heaulme, known as the 'Man from Nowhere is suspected of killing up to 50 men, women and children, He is pictured in 2002

Heaulmes crimes usually had a sexual motive, and all involved extreme violence - in one case his victim was stabbed 84 times

Writers Jack and Harry Williams revealed they were inspired by Abgrall, who pursued the Heaulme case even after his colleagues had given up.

In a blog post from October last year, Harry Williams explained how the writers, who are brothers, learned about Abgrall after their father, Nigel, a writer and director for the BBC, made a 2008 documentary about the detective called Dance With A Serial Killer.

He said: '[Abgrall] was a very impressive fellow and he spent a lot of time with us when they were making it. We were struck by his humanity and that he was this regular, charming, lovely man that everybody completely fell in love with.

'He would tell us these stories about impressive cases he had solved. He was clearly just a genius detective, so he was the inspiration for Julien.'

Abgrall spent four years trying to bring Heaulme to justice after being first brought into investigate the murder of nurse Aline Peres, 49, in May 1989.

She had been attacked from behind and stabbed in the heart before her body was dumped after she had her throat slit.

Her body was discovered on a beach in Brest close to a local Emmaus centre - the French equivalent of a Salvation Army hostel.

Abgrall and his team were assigned to the case, but there seemed to be no motives and nobody had actually witnessed the crime.

However, in his memoir, Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer, Abgrall revealed how he was able to identify clues that his colleagues overlooked - a trait inherited by his on-screen counterpart.
The White House distanced itself on Tuesday from allegations of illegal conduct against the president's ex-national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Senior members of Congress on the House Oversight Committee say classified military documents show Flynn did not ask permission for or inform the U.S. government about payments he received for appearances before Russian organizations in 2015 and for lobbying that helped Turkey's government.

Flynn's failure to obtain permission from military authorities for the payments raises concern whether the retired general violated a constitutional ban on foreign payments to retired military officers.

That's according to Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings.

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In the crosshairs: Michael Flynn was sacked by Trump in February and now faces the disclosure he may have broken federal law over his dinner attended by Vladimir Putin in 2015

Handshake: Flynn was paid $45,000 for the speech at this dinner which saw him shake hands with Russian president Vladimir Putin

Verdict: Democrat Elijah Cummings (left) and Republican Jason Chaffetz (right), the leaders of the oversight committee, said there was no evidence Flynn complied with federal law

The two leaders of the oversight committee said there was no evidence Flynn complied with federal law.

They said Flynn could be criminally prosecuted, and they said Flynn should surrender the money he was paid.

The Kremlin TV channel RT paid Flynn $45,000 to give a speech in Moscow at a dinner celebrating its tenth anniversary.

He sat beside Vladimir Putin for the dinner, and was photographed shaking the Russian strongman's hand.

The White House has been accused of refusing to provide lawmakers with information and documents related to Flynn's security clearance and payments from organizations tied to the Russian and Turkish governments.

The committee made six requests, and the White House cited reasons it could not comply with each of them.

Trump's spokesman said 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue had complied with Congress to the best of its ability at a Tuesday briefing.

'The documents in question the Department of Defense possessed and sent over to them. The documents that occurred before he worked here, it will be up to him to turn over,' Sean Spicer said.

Of their requests for White House records, he contended, 'Every document that they asked for, my understanding is that they've gotten.'

The only ask they made that the White House did not cooperate with was a request for 'every call and contact that he made - which is an extraordinary number.'

'That's a very unwieldy request,' he contended.

The White House press secretary was pummeled with questions about the allegations at his Tuesday briefing that one reporter jested he was trying to avoid by bringing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross with him.

Spicer said the accusations against Flynn are 'not germane' to the White House, considering that activity in question came before Trump took office. He would not say whether the West Wing believes that former adviser to the president broke the law.

'There is nothing that is being asked for, with respect to his service here at the White House,' the White House official said, putting as much distance between the scandal-plagued, ex-employee as possible.

Trump's spokesman said he doesn't know what Flynn may have said on the forms that lawmakers are reviewing and he doesn't know if his conduct was illegal.

'That would be a question for him and a law enforcement agency,' he stated.

Trump has said he fired Flynn because of misleading comments he made to the vice president about his discussions with the Russian ambassador during the transition.

Flynn is among the Trump associates being investigated by Congress and the FBI for possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Former acting attorney general Sally Yates is scheduled to appear at a congressional hearing next month on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Yates is to appear May 8 along with James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence.

The hearing before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee was announced Tuesday morning.

It will mark her first appearance on Capitol Hill since she was fired in late January after refusing to defend President Donald Trump's travel ban.

The hearings are part of an overlapping series of investigations being held by the House and Senate.

Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress refused Democrats' calls for a special prosecutor or select committee to investigate possible Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including possible links between Trump's campaign and Moscow, saying investigations by congressional committees are sufficient.

Inner sanctum: Flynn was a key member of Trump's team in his first days in office as National Security Advisor until he was sacked for lying

Question time: James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, is to given evidence to the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday about questions over Putin's interference in the election

U.S. intelligence agencies said in January that Putin had ordered hacking of the computers of the Democratic National Committee as well as the chairman of Hillary Clinton's campaign in order to influence the election on Trump's behalf.

Russia has denied this. Clinton has claimed it was part of the reason she lost.

The Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department all launched investigations into the matter under President Barack Obama.

The following are some of the ways congressional committees, whose investigations are expected to last for many months, are looking into the matter:

The House Oversight Committee made six requests for documents on Michael Flynn and the White House cited reasons it could not comply with each of them

Marc Short responded to the requests saying Flynn's activities and payments in question 'predate' the former national security adviser's service at the White House, therefore they could not accommodate the requests

HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence began its investigation of potential Russian influence on the 2016 presidential race before Trump took office on Jan. 20.

The panel's chairman, Republican Representative Devin Nunes, a close Trump ally, recused himself from the investigation last month.

Before he stepped aside, Democrats had questioned whether the committee could conduct a credible investigation after Nunes received information at the White House about surveillance and discussed it with Trump before briefing Democrats on the committee.

Nunes was replaced as leader of the House investigation by Republican Representative Mike Conaway, an intelligence panel member. The committee held a high-profile public hearing on March 20 with testimony by FBI Director James Comey and NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers.

But Nunes canceled another planned public hearing, with former Obama administration officials James Clapper, who was director of national intelligence, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and ex-CIA Director James Brennan, causing committee Democrats to accuse him of political motivations.

The two parties reached a solution last week, announcing a closed hearing with Comey and Rogers for May 2, and a public one with the Obama administration officials for an as-yet-to-be-determined date.

SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE

The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is conducting its own investigation, which also started before Trump took office.

Staffers have begun interviewing intelligence analysts involved in the report announced in January that charged Russia with seeking to influence the election on Trump's behalf.

Its chairman, Senator Richard Burr, was re-elected in November in the Republican sweep that carried Trump into office and preserved Republican control of Congress.

He and Senator Mark Warner, the committee's Democratic vice chairman, have pledged that their investigation would be bipartisan despite questions over Burr's close ties to the White House.

But far fewer staff members have been assigned to the panel's investigation than previous high-profile intelligence probes in Congress, according to sources and a Reuters review of public records.

Witness: Sally Yates, ousted deputy attorney general, will testify to the judiciary committee on Wednesday

SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the panel's subcommittee on crime and terrorism, and Sheldon Whitehouse, the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, are looking into Russian attempts to influence the election.

The subcommittee announced on Tuesday that it would hold a public hearing on May 8 with testimony by Yates and Clapper.

Its chairman of the full Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, and top Democrat Dianne Feinstein also have had officials brief panel members.

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

The Appropriations subcommittee that oversees U.S. government spending for the State Department and Foreign Operations, which is also chaired by Senator Graham, has also held hearings on Russian attempts to influence elections.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE

Representative Jason Chaffetz, the committee's Republican chairman, has resisted calls to investigate the Trump administration.

After Flynn resigned as Trump's national security adviser because of his calls to Russia's ambassador, Chaffetz said his panel would not look into the issue.

Chaffetz announced last week that he would not run for re-election in 2018, and said he might leave office even before the end of his term.
President Donald Trump continued to insist on Tuesday afternoon that an impenetrable wall will 'soon' separate Mexico from the United States, even though he has chosen not to go to the mat to secure funding for the project during this week's high-stakes congressional budget battle.

'The wall's going to get built, folks,' Trump told White House pool reporters after he signed an executive order related to agriculture. 'In case anybody has any question, the wall's going to get built.'

He said his administration is busily laying the bureaucratic groundwork for the project, even if actual spade work won't commence in the near future.

'We're already preparing. We're doing plans, we're doing specifications, we're doing a lot of work on the wall, and the wall gets built,' he declared.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he's '100 per cent' committed to building a wall on America's southern border

Kellyanne Conway, senior counselor to the president, said Tuesday morning that the wall might be funded 'later on' in order to sidestep a showdown over the federal budget this week

The president said the 'very important' wall will go up 'soon,' and then paused before answering a question about whether it will be completed before the end of his first term in office.

'Well, it's certainly going to  yeah. Yeah. Sure,' Trump replied. 'We have plenty of time. We've got a lot of time.'

Trump and his chief counselor Kellyanne Conway seemed Tuesday to be intent on shredding doubts that the president was serious about making one of his boldest campaign pledges a genuine policy centerpiece.

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh fretted that 'it looks like Trump is caving' over 'a measly $1 billion'

'Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc.,' the president tweeted.

That came after Conway said Trump was no longer insisting Congress must pay for the start of his border wall immediately. She told a Fox News Channel audience that the administration could make its peace with 'funding and building the wall later on.'

'Building that wall and having it funded remains an important priority to him,' Conway said on the 'Fox & Friends' program, 'but we also know that that can happen later this year and into next year.'

Stepping back from demanding a down payment for his wall this week will make it easier for Republicans to grease a must-pass spending bill through Congress, and remove a major obstacle to a bipartisan deal just days ahead of a government shutdown deadline.

The potential for such a move was received in right-wing circles as less appealing than an abortion on tax-filing day.

With Democrats cheering the news that Trump appeared to have blinked before their stare-off began, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh warned that 'it looks like, from here, right here, right now, it looks like President Trump is caving on his demand for a measly $1 billion in the budget for his wall on the border with Mexico.'

'The Democrats seem to have successfully used this stupid, silly threat of a government shutdown to get their way,' the tradio talker claimed.

With a budget deadline looming, Trump has let up on pressuring congressional Democrats to pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border

The president tweeted on Tuesday that even if the timetable changes, he's not changing his position on building the wall between the U.S. and Mexico

'What Trump is saying is if we need to get this done, then I'll delay the spending on the wall until September. And it's just a measly billion dollars.'

The president, though, was in salesman mode as shutters snapped and reporters shouted questions during the afternoon photo-op.

'The wall is going to stop drugs, and it's going to stop a lot of people from coming in that shouldn't be here,' he boomed. 'And it's going to have a huge effect on human trafficking.'

He said Homeland Security Sectary John Kelly told him that 'we definitely, desperately need the wall.'

'And we're going to have the wall built. ... The wall gets built, 100 per cent,' Trump vowed.

The media feeding frenzy began after the president told a gathering of around 20 conservative journalists on Monday night that he would be willing to return to the wall funding issue in September.

The idea of a border wall hasn't been popular with large segments of the population and the idea that the US will have to pay for it is making the idea unpopular in Congress as well

Immigrant-rights advocates protest near the U.S.-Mexico border wall over a visit to the border by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions

Conway said on Tuesday that until the wall is built the White House will rely on 'other smart technology and other resources and tools being used toward border security.'

'Just since President Trump took office, illegal border crossings are down to a 17-year low,' she added. 'So it's his resolve plus the tools and resources.'

Conway said that 'over 350 firms from 41 states so far have submitted proposals toward building the wall.'

But without a check from Congress, the project is at a practical standstill.

The funding project is fiercely opposed by Democrats, whose votes are needed to pass the government-wide spending legislation that comes due Friday at midnight.

Cost estimates range past $20 billion and the White House had been seeking $1.4 billion as a first step in the spending bill.

The wall is also unpopular with many Republicans, and GOP negotiators on Capitol Hill were uneasy about the clash over the wall potentially sparking a government shutdown.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has a key role providing Democratic votes to pass the legislation involving a down payment for the proposed border wall

Illegal crossings from Mexico to the US have plummeted for the month of March, making some question whether a wall is needed - it is expected to cost about $20billion and even some GOP members are doubting whether Mexico will ever pay for it

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who has a key role providing Democratic votes to pass the legislation, welcomed Trump's reported shift on the wall.

'It's good for the country that President Trump is taking the wall off the table in these negotiations,' Schumer said late Monday. 'Now the bipartisan and bicameral negotiators can continue working on the outstanding issues.'

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said, 'The president's comments this evening are welcome news given the bipartisan opposition to the wall, and the obstacle it has been to the continuing bipartisan negotiations in the appropriations committees.'

The wall was the most pressing issue confronting lawmakers as they returned from a two-week spring recess to face a critical deadline.

Congress must pass a $1 trillion catch-all spending bill to pay for all agencies of government or trigger a partial shutdown Saturday, which happens to coincide with the 100th day of Trump's presidency.

'I'm optimistic. I don't think anybody wants a shutdown,' Senator Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said as he exited a meeting of GOP leadership. 'The White House and basically the minority leaders of the House and Senate have to have some level of agreement on the things that you're adding.'

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said, 'The president's comments this evening are welcome news given the bipartisan opposition to the wall'

The negotiations over the spending bill took center stage Monday despite a separate White House push for fast action to revive health care legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

After signaling last week that they hoped for a vote as soon as this week on a rewritten health bill, White House officials softened their stance Monday.

Echoing the views of House GOP leaders, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said there would be a vote on health care legislation when House leaders count the 216 votes needed to pass it.

'I think we want to make sure that we've got the votes and we're headed in the right direction before putting some artificial deadline,' Spicer said.

Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan were embarrassed last month when they had to pull their 'Obamacare' replacement bill off the floor without a vote as it became clear it would fail.

Since then leaders of conservative and moderate factions in the House have been negotiating on a compromise allowing states to opt out of certain 'Obamacare' requirements, and they appear to be making progress, although legislative text had not been finalized as of Monday.

The original GOP bill eliminated many of the 'Obamacare' mandates, offered skimpier subsidies for consumers to buy care and rolled back a Medicaid expansion. Conservatives balked, saying it didn't go far enough.

With Democrats unanimously opposed, it remains to be seen whether the health care deal will come together and attract the needed support.

Trump talked it up on Twitter, writing Monday: 'If our healthcare plan is approved, you will see real healthcare and premiums will start tumbling down. ObamaCare is in a death spiral!'

Trump also pushed for his border wall, a central campaign pledge that he still insists Mexico will pay for in the end, though Democrats and even most Republicans doubt that will ever come to pass.

Trump turned again to Twitter: 'The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! If the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be! #BuildTheWall.'

But some of the conservative journalists who met Monday evening with Trump reported he said wall funding could wait until the fall.

Prior to the White House demand late last week for border wall money, it had largely been assumed on Capitol Hill that the spending measure would include funding for additional security steps along the border, but that there wouldn't be any money explicitly dedicated for new wall construction. That approach now appears likely to prevail.

The other major stumbling block on the spending bill involves a demand by Democratic negotiators that the measure fund cost-sharing payments to insurance companies that help low-income people afford health policies under Obama's health law, or that Trump back off a threat to use the payments as a bargaining chip.
Santiago Martinez-Flores was deported in 2001

A Mexican illegal immigrant who was deported 16 years ago is said to have snuck back into the US where he raped a nine-year-old girl as she was sleeping.

Santiago Martinez-Flores, 48, is accused of breaking in through a window in Clackamas and sexually assaulting the child in a bedroom she shared with her five-year-old sister.

He had been sent to Mexico in 2001 after serving two years in the Oregon Department of Corrections for crimes dating back as far as 1994.

The young victim was fast asleep when the suspect broke into her room.

After being pinned down and abused, the girl managed to wriggle free and run to her parents' room.

Her father grabbed his gun and went into his daughter's bedroom, but the attacker had already escaped through the window through which he broke in.

The county sheriff's office were able to obtain the suspect's fingerprints from the break-in and are now hunting the fugitive, according to KATU News.

Officers say Martinez-Flores has also been known to use the aliases Felipe Coeto and Isidro Ramos Flores.

The sexual assault happened during the early morning hours of Sunday, February 26.

Video courtesy of KATU

Officers say the suspect (pictured) could be using the aliases Felipe Coeto and Isidro Ramos Flores

In a statement, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department said: 'Martinez-Flores has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 1994.

'Martinez-Flores has used several different aliases in the past and could very well be using an alias at this time.

'Several photos of Santiago Martinez-Flores are attached, as well as the original Sheriff's Office suspect sketch.'
Two workmen fell to their deaths while renovating a multimillion pound luxury flat in Knightsbridge in an entirely preventable accident, a court heard.

Polish workers Tomasz Procko, 22, and Karol Szymanski, 29, died outside a 3million flat in Cadogan Square, central London, in November 2014.

The firm engaged in the project, originally budgeted for 600,000, and its managing director are on trial at the Old Bailey over their deaths.

Polish workers Tomasz Procko, 22 (pictured, with Chelsea footballer Cesc Fabregas), and Karol Szymanski, 29, died outside a 3million flat in Cadogan Square, central London, in November 2014

The court heard the firm had a 'long and unhappy history of neglect of health and safety'.

Martinisation (London) Limited denies health and safety breaches and two counts of corporate manslaughter.

Boss Martin Gutaj, 43, from Brentford, is accused of breaching health and safety, which he also denies.

Prosecutor Adrian Darbishire QC told jurors how work was being carried out on the flat at Cadogan Square in Belgravia, central London, which is located between Harrods and Sloane Square.

As part of that, a sofa needed to be taken up to the first floor apartment.

It was too large to be taken up the stairs and instead five workers stood on balcony to haul it up from the pavement.

The firm engaged in the project, originally budgeted for 600,000, and its managing director are on trial at the Old Bailey over their deaths

Mr Darbishire said: 'As they hauled the sofa up about 20 feet to the level of the balcony, the workers were hauling against, and leaning over, the balustrade.

'The 130-year-old Victorian cast iron balustrade gave way and two of the men fell to their deaths on the pavement below.

'A third was saved only by being grabbed by his colleagues as he began to fall.

'The prosecution case is that the deaths of those two men, Tomasz Procko and Karol Symanski, were not simply an accident.

'That is not to suggest anybody wanted or intended anybody to come to harm.

The court heard the firm had a 'long and unhappy history of neglect of health and safety'

'The fact that the men were hauling the sofa up in the dangerous way that they were was the result of a long and unhappy history of neglect of health and safety at the company which employed them.

'It was an accident but it was an entirely foreseeable and preventable one.'

The prosecutor said it was not a case of 'health and safety gone mad' like 'goggles for conkers' or banning firemen's poles.

He told jurors that falling from height was the single greatest cause of workplace deaths in Britain, with 40 people losing their lives every year.

Jurors heard that on the day of the accident there was a basic failure in identifying who was in charge on site.

The company and Gutaj had been warned 'more than once' of the importance of having trained, competent and effective supervisors before November 2014, the court was told.

Jurors also heard that the company had a duty to provide training in health and safety. But the training allegedly did not include instructions on lifting operations and what should be done if an item was too large or heavy to take through the common area of the property.

The court was told the entire workforce spoke Polish as their first language, yet the firm's policy documents and risk assessment were only available in English.

Jurors heard that on the day of the accident there was a basic failure in identifying who was in charge on site

The prosecutor said the fact none of the health and safety documents were in Polish suggested they 'were effectively for show and nothing more'.

Teodora Howell, who worked in Cadogan Square, became so worried about practices at the site that she would cross to the other side of the road when walking past, the court heard.

She described the deaths of the two workers as 'an accident waiting to happen', jurors heard.

Jurors were told that by the autumn of 2014 work on the flat was behind schedule and the budget had soared to 920,000.

Of the furniture still to be delivered was the sofa which was 11ft-long and weighed 18st.




This is the heartwarming moment rescue workers saved a dog who had a plastic jar stuck on his head for three days.

Animal control workers were called to a neighborhood in Forth Worth, Texas, after concerned residents noticed the poor animal - which was later named Pickle.

The callers said it appeared as if the dog had been stuck for some time, which rescuers later estimated to be around three days.

Concerned residents in Forth Worth, Texas, called animal workers to say there was a dog wandering the streets with a jar on its head that looked like it had been stuck for a while

Rescuers were filmed sneaking up on the dog, now named Pickle, before pinning him down and yanking the jar off

Dramatic video shows the moment animal control officers sneaked up on Pickle because the terrified canine was too scared to let anyone go near him.

After waiting until he was settled, the officers were able to come up behind Pickle and pin him to the floor while a control noose was put around his neck.

Once the noose was in place, the workers were able to pull the jar away.

Video shows the confused and terrified Pickle lashing out at them, before he was taken to a shelter where he is now recovering.

The plastic jar was the kind used to hold cheese balls, so Pickle had probably gotten stuck while trying to lick up the remains of the tasty snack, rescuers said.

Pickle was extremely dehydrated and had a few lesions, but otherwise he was in good condition.

Carers said it appears as if the jar was stuck for three days and that it got stuck while Pickle was trying to eat food out of the bottom

Pickle is now being cared for by rescue workers while they decide if he is suitable for adoption

A spokesman for Fort Worth animal control said: 'He's not aggressive and we can tell he loves people.

'Staff are taking it one day at a time with him as everyone has said he was traumatized by the incident.

'He's getting spoiled though, as staff at the shelter are even hand-feeding him with canned dog food.

'Pickle still needs some time to heal and gain back his confidence, but after that, he will be more than ready to find his loving forever home.'
A Jack Russell terrier has undergone a sex change operation after vets discovered she was born with both male and female genitalia.

Molly was found to be 'overly-excited' due to the fact she had two sets of sex organs.

Vets said that despite appearing to be completely female to those that met her, she was in a significant amount of discomfort because of her external genitalia.

Molly the Jack Russell, pictured, was found to have both male and female sex organs

Left, Molly as a puppy before her life-changing treatment and right, after her gender reassignment operation

Molly's pain meant that she underwent a gender reassignment operation at the Pets'n'Vets Family's Roundhouse Hospital in the Pollokshaws area of Glasgow.

As Molly underwent surgery, it was found that the dog had male internal sexual organs as she had testicles in place of ovaries within her abdomen.

Veterinary surgeon Ross Allan said that if Molly was left untreated then she risked developing a long-term debilitating condition.

He said: 'Molly was what is defined medically as a male pseudo-hermaphrodite or more commonly "intersex".

'Her particular anatomy meant that whilst Molly appeared to be a female, closer examination revealed elements of both male and female external genitalia and unfortunately this was leading to significant genital discomfort.

'If left untreated, this risked her developing a long-term and debilitating condition.

Pictured: Molly with her owner Frank Finlay who says that despite her op - the terrier is back to her old self

'We decided that the very best solution for Molly was to proceed with definitive surgery to create an anatomical situation which would avoid ongoing issues or discomfort.

'The surgery was a great success and Molly is much more comfortable and happier as a result.

'Intersexism is rare, and some cases will not require any treatment at all.

'In Molly's case it was a painful condition which was causing problems and surgery was an important step to ensure she is able to go on to live a pain-free life.'

Molly was first thought to be a female dog but underwent a sex change operation after her owners noticed she lifting her leg to pee.

The dog's gender reassignment is only the second time in 10 years that such a procedure has taken place in Scotland.

Molly is 18 months old and underwent the surgery last June and is now well following recovery and a number of follow-up checks.

Her owners Mary, 56, and Frank Finlay, 63, from Glasgow, said despite the surgery, Molly is the same little dog they adopted 18 months ago.

He said: 'We noticed something wasn't quite right when Molly kept lifting her leg to pee, which girl dogs don't do.

Owners Mary, 56, and Frank Finlay, 63, (right) said they noticed something was wrong with Molly when she kept lifting her leg to urinate

Vet Ross Allan, pictured with another dog, performed the life-changing surgery on Molly

The surgery was performed at the Pets n Vets surgery in Roundhouse Hospital in Glasgow

'I asked the vet and they decided to investigate and they noticed that she had a small appendice and had testicles, as well as an ovary.

'The surgery took place and she has been fine ever since.'

With the known sex of the puppy changing, Mr Finlay said they almost considered renaming it.

Mr Finlay added: 'There was talk about changing the name from Molly to Olly, but we decided that she was always going to be Molly to us.'

Vet Ross Allan says that he has not seen anything like this in his time on the job.

He said: 'I've never seen anything like this in my 15 years as a vet and may never see it again.

'When she was going through puberty, she was behaving more like a male dog when climbing on top of sofas.'
Computer hacker Adam Mudd has been jailed for two years

A teenage computer hacker who made nearly 400,000 by creating a programme which was used in 1.7 million attacks from 'Greenland to New Zealand' was jailed for two years today.

Adam Mudd, now 20, sold access to the Titanium Stresser tool which let users crash websites and computers by flooding them with data.

He developed the distributed denial of service, or DDoS, software from his bedroom, and started selling it to criminals when he was at school aged 16.

The 1.7million attacks were carried out against more than 650,000 victims - of which just over 52,000 were in the UK.

Victims included Xbox Live users, and players of the computer games Runescape and Minecraft.

Runescape was targeted 25,000 times, 1.4 per cent of the total attacks, and in the last four years the company spent nearly 6million attempting to protect themselves from hackers.

Mudd raked in a total of $307,298.35 and 259.81 bitcoins - worth an overall 386,079 - by the time he was 18.

Using the username 'themuddfamily', he also carried out nearly 600 attacks himself against 181 victims from his bedroom in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire.

One 2014 attack on West Hertfordshire College, where he studied, was so large it may have hit 70 nearby schools and universities, including the University of Cambridge.

He attacked his college four times that year, later claiming it was because he had been mugged but no action was taken, the Old Bailey heard.

This map shows the geographical locations of the 1.7million attacks carried out by hackers using Mudd's programme across the world. The key shows the number of attacks carried out in certain nations

Mudd admitted computer hacking and money laundering last October.

Today he was sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institution.

The defendant showed no emotion as his sentence was passed, while his parents sat in the well of the court.

The judge rejected a plea to suspend sentence by the defence, who said Mudd had been offered two weeks of paid work in cyber security.

What is a DDoS attack? A Distributed Denial of Service attack attempts to make an online service unavailable by overwhelming its servers (stock image) A Distributed Denial of Service attack aims to make an online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources. Hackers do this by building a network of hacked computers through the distribution of malicious software. The computers in unison can then be used without the owners knowledge to overload any target. These computer armies are known as 'botnets'. The barrage of hits from botnets can overload servers and cause websites to crash. A variety of important resources are targeted by these attacks including banks and news sources. There are several reasons for why people are motivated to carry out these assaults including revenge, blackmail and activism. Research has shown that it can cost as little as 120 to buy a week-long DDoS attack on a server on the black market. More than 2,000 occur every day with around a third of all downtime on websites attributed to DDoS attacks. Advertisement

Sentencing him, Judge Michael Topolski QC said: 'The map of the world showing the geographical spread of these attacks which went on for 18 months is revealing, showing the truly worldwide nature.

'IP addresses from Greenland to New Zealand, from Russia to Chile, were attacked.

'The capacity for harm in this case was, in my judgment, very great.

'There is clear evidence before me not only of actual damage, but also of significant financial benefit to the defendant.

'It is now impossible to imagine a world without the internet. There is no part of life that is not touched by it.

Victims included Xbox Live users, and players of the computer games Runescape and Minecraft

'In some way, these offences may be relatively easy to commit. But they are increasingly prevalent, and the public is entitled to be protected from them.

'I am satisfied that financial gain was not the main motivating factor.'

He added: 'I am satisfied that notwithstanding the defendant's condition, he knew full well he was committing serious crime and, in doing so, was taking a risk with his Liberty. Yet he continued with his illegal activities for some time.

'I am entirely satisfied that you knew full well and understood completely this was not just a game, a game for fun.

'It was a serious money making business, and that your programme software was doing exactly what you had created it to do.

The court heard Mudd did not live a lavish lifestyle and instead carried out his crimes to achieve 'status'

'I am unable to suspend this sentence in the light of the time span of your offending, the high level of your culpability, and the harm caused.'

Referring to the job offer he added: 'I have little doubt that similar opportunities will present themselves in the future.'

Mudd did not have a 'lavish lifestyle', and carried out his crimes to achieve 'status', prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said.

But a total of $18,770 came out of the PayPal accounts into Mudd's father's bank account.

Ben Cooper, defending, said this was to pay tax and National Insurance contributions on initial legitimate earnings from the programme.

But the judge said: 'The use of some of the funds to pay tax and insurance is concerning to say the very least of it.'

The defence also passed Judge Topolski letters from the Howard League for Penal Reform, Mudd and his parents.

Describing the job offer, Mr Cooper said: 'Working with cyber security. That is, helping companies avoid attacks and potential losses, and putting all of his skills to use to really reverse the wrong he acknowledges having done in the past.'

Mudd received 24 months for doing unauthorised acts with intent to impair the operation of a computer, nine months to run concurrent for making, supplying or offering to supply the programme, and 24 months concurrent for concealing criminal property.

Outside court, Mudd's parents said in a statement they were 'devastated' at the judge's decision not to suspend his sentence.

They said their son had been 'let down by the health services' failure to diagnose his condition earlier'.
President Donald Trump vowed to snuff out anti-Semitism at home and take action when the Jewish people are threatened abroad as he honored victims of the Holocaust on Tuesday.

'Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil, and we'll never be silent. We just won't. We will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again,' he declared at a remembrance ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump said to the veterans, Holocaust survivors and legislators attending the event, 'We will stamp out prejudice. We will condemn hatred. We will bear witness, and we will act.

'As president of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people, and I will always stand with our great friend, and partner, the state of Israel.'

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President Donald Trump vowed to snuff out anti-Semitism at home and take action when the Jewish people are threatened abroad as he honored victims of the Holocaust on Tuesday

Trump's administration has had to go into damage control twice in its first three months over statements that were criticized as insufficiently sensitive to Jews who died in the Holocaust.

The Republican president fiercely denounced anti-Semitism on Tuesday, though, as he recalled the unspeakable horrors that the Jewish people were forced to endure under Adolf Hitler.

'You witnessed evil, and what you saw is beyond description, beyond any description,' he said.

Jewish people were put in ghettos and death camps, slaughtered and tortured. Six million Jews were mass murdered by he Nazis and 'millions more' were executed 'without mercy,' the president said.

'Yet, even today there are those who want to forget the past. Worse still there are even those filled with such hate, total hate, that they want to erase the Holocaust from history,' he said. 'Denying the holocaust is only one of many forms of dangerous anti-semitism that continues all around the world.

Attacks on the Jewish people continue, he noted, bringing up the terror calls that were sweeping Jewish community centers in America as he took office and threats against Israel from its enemies.

'The Jewish people have endured oppression, persecution, and those who have sought and planned their destruction,' he said, 'yet through the suffering they have persevered. They have thrived, and they have enlightened the world.

'We stand in awe of the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people,' the president said.

'Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil, and we'll never be silent. We just won't. We will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again,' he declared at a remembrance ceremony at the U.S. Capitol

Trump's daughter Ivanka, a White House aide, is presently in Germany. She released this statement

Ivanka visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe 'Holocaust Memorial' today in Berlin

Speaking before Trump at the morning event that brought legislators of both political parties together for a brief detente before an afternoon of haggling over Trump's border wall was Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, who Trump fondly referred to as 'a friend of mine [who] has done a great job.'

'The state of Israel is an eternal monument to the undying strength of the Jewish people. The fervent dream that burned in the hearts of the oppressed is now filled with the breath of life and the Star of David waves atop a great nation, arisen from the desert,' Trump proclaimed.

Trump's daughter Ivanka, a White House aide, is presently in Germany, where she's participating in a summit for women with Chancellor Angela Merkel. She visited Berlin's Holocaust Memorial while she was there.

'Today, we honor the six million Jews whose lives were taken during the Holocaust and pledge #NeverAgain,' she tweeted this morning.

Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner, is Jewish, and she converted to the religion when she married him.

'As we reflect on the Holocaust and its horrors, we must remember that we bear the responsibility to prevent such a tragedy from ever occurring again,' she said in a White House statement. 'We must live and lead by example , today and always.'

Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner, right, is Jewish, and she converted to the religion when she married him.

In Washington, Kushner was attending the Holocaust Memorial Museums National Days of Remembrance ceremony with his father-in-law, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (right) and Vice President Mike Pence

In Washington, Kushner was attending the Holocaust Memorial Museums National Days of Remembrance ceremony in the rotunda of the United States Capitol with his father-in-law, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Vice President Mike Pence.

'It's an honor to join you on this very, very solemn occasion,' Trump told an assembly of lawmakers and Holocaust survivors. 'I am deeply moved to stand before those who survived history's darkest hour. Your cherished presence transforms this place into a sacred gathering.'

To the veterans of World War II in the audience who helped liberate the survivors of Hitler's crimes, Trump said, 'Your sacrifice helped save freedom for the world, for the entire world.'

Trump also paid tribute to Elie Wiesel, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and author who helped establish the Holocaust Memorial Museum. A Holocaust survivor, Wiesel died in July at the age of 82.

'His absence leaves an empty space in our hearts, but his spirit fills this room. It is the kind of gentle spirit of an angel who lived through hell and whose courage still lights the path from darkness,' Trump said.

'He lived through an endless nightmare of murder and death, and he inscribed on our collective conscience the duty we have to remember that long, dark night so as never to again repeat it.'
Shirlena Charley, 23, was arrested after she was caught drunk driving with her kids in the car earlier this month in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Newly released police lapel video shows the aftermath of a drunk-driving arrest in Albuquerque, New Mexico earlier this month, involving a 23-year-old woman who had her two small children in the car.

Police say they received a 911 call about a possibly drunk driver just before midnight on April 5.

When they responded to the scene, the driver of the black SUV sped off and led police on a freeway chase.

At one point, the officers were ordered to stop the chase, but then more calls started coming in about the SUV being involved in a car accident.

Cops tracked down the vehicle to a neighborhood where the driver, identified as Shirlena Charley, had hit several cars.

Charley was already outside of her car when police arrived at the scene.

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Charley led police on a chase until she blew out her tires and crashed in a neighborhood. She then failed a field sobriety test (above)

The 23-year-old mother got testy when police told her she needed to have a relative come to pick up her kids so she could be taken to jail

'F*** you, bald head!' she yelled at the arresting officer as he took her into custody

She continued to berate officers when she got to the police station and was told her license was being revoked

At first, she claimed that a man had been driving and that he had fled the scene on foot.

That led police to briefly detain a man matching the description Charley provided.

But she eventually copped to driving, and said she had drank two beers that night.

The lapel video, obtained by KRQE, also shows officers speaking with her two young children, ages four and five, who were in the car the whole time.

'We're not hurt,' the older girl tells cops. Later, she points at the blown out tire and says 'Yikes!'

Officers had Charley perform a field sobriety test and she failed, leading police to arrest her.

Charley's two small children, ages four and five, were in the car at the time. the kids' faces are obscured in the above still from police lapel video

The five-year-old daughter pointed at the blown out tires and exclaimed 'Yikes!'

Charley said she didn't 'give a s***' when officers scolded her for driving on a suspended license

Charley (right) was booked on two felony counts of child abuse and was released on her own recognizance. Her license was also revoked

In one clip from the video, Charley gets testy as officers ask her to call someone to pick her kids up so they can take her to the police station.

'F*** you, bald head,' she tells the officer.

Her attitude only worsens whens he gets to the station and asks to tie her shoe. The officer asks 'can you?' and she tells him 'don't disrespect me like that'.

At the time of the incident, Charley's license was already suspended and cops reprimanded her at the station for continuing to drive.

'I don't give a s***, I know that,' she said.

Charley was booked on two felony counts of child abuse and was released on her own recognizance. Her license was also revoked.
A pilot program for jurors in Chinese courtrooms may continue for an additional year.

Shen Deyong, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, applauded the achievements of the pilot program, launched in 50 courts in 10 provincial regions, including Beijing, Hebei and Chongqing, in April 2015, but he also said that some problems need more time to be solved.

Jurors are sworn in as they face the Chinese national emblem in Hefei, Anhui province. [Photo by Xie Chen/China Daily]



Last year, 81,772 cases in the 50 courts relied on jurors, of which 64,917 were civil disputes and 11,642 were criminal matters, a draft proposal to extend the pilot program said.

Courts were encouraged to hear jurors' opinions on cases involving the public interest or that might influence society, the draft said. It was submitted to the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Monday.

"In the pilot program, we hoped jurors would share their opinions on the facts of the case instead of legal issues, but so far we have no system to clarify the difference between the two," he said.

"Meanwhile, we hoped that jurors would be selected randomly instead of chosen from a group of candidates recommended by local communities and authorities, but in reality we found it harder to find those with professional backgrounds, such as medicine or architecture, through a random selection."

"That's why some legal experts and NPC deputies suggested that we continue to use recommended candidates," he said.

Extending the pilot also aims to increase public participation in legal proceedings and improve the credibility of court rulings, Shen added.

In 2015, the top court decided to rethink the selection procedure and allow more people from different walks of life to take part in court hearings. It increased the minimum age for jurors from 23 to 28 but lowered educational requirements for the pilot program.

Before the pilot, jurors in China were mainly chosen through recommendations, unlike the jury system in the United States, for example, which randomly creates a large jury pool that lawyers whittle down to a smaller number of acceptable jurors to hear a case.
British detectives have a 'significant' line of inquiry in the Madeleine McCann case, ten years after the youngster went missing.

Scotland Yard chief Mark Rowley said there are still 'critical' leads that are of 'great interest' in the investigation into the three-year-old's disappearance from a holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

He also ruled out that Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann were involved in her abduction and said she could still be alive.

But described the possibility of a 'burglary gone wrong' as a 'sensible hypothesis' which has not been 'entirely ruled out'.

Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley (left) has said there is a 'significant line of inquiry' in the investigation into the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann (right)

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann said in a statement today that they would never give up hope of finding out what happened

The comments came after the McCanns released a statement saying they still hold out hope of finding out what happened to their daughter.

In an interview nearly a decade on from her disappearance, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Rowley ruled out Madeleine's parents as possible suspects.

He said: The parents involvement: that was dealt with at the time by the original investigation by the Portuguese.

'Were happy thats completely dealt with and there is no reason whatsoever to re-open that or start rumours thats a line of investigation.

'The McCanns are the parents of a missing girl and were trying to get to the bottom of what happened.

Mr Rowley said there was no 'definitive evidence' as to whether Madeleine is alive or dead.

He added: 'That's why we describe it as a missing person inquiry. We understand why, after this many years, people will be pessimistic, but it's important we keep an open mind.'

The officer added that however Madeleine left the apartment, she was abducted.

'She wasn't old enough to make a decision to set off and start her own life,' he said.

The McCanns released the statement on their Official Find Madeleine Campaign page today

Madeleine (left) went missing nearly 10 years ago - a picture was released in 2012 of how she might have looked, aged nine (right)

Mr Rowley also revealed that detectives were pursuing new information regarding the youngster's disappearance.

He said: 'I know we have a significant line of inquiry which is worth pursuing, and because it's worth pursuing it could provide an answer, but until we've gone through it I won't know whether we are going to get there or not.

'Ourselves and the Portuguese are doing a critical piece of work and we don't want to spoil it by putting titbits of information out publicly.'

He declined to expand on the nature of the working theories or reveal whether any suspects were currently being considered, saying that disclosing further detail would not help the investigation.

Mr Rowley said: 'We've got some critical lines of inquiry, those link to particular hypotheses, but I'm not going to discuss those because those are very much live investigation.

'We've got some thoughts on what we think the most likely explanations might be and we are pursuing those.'

British police officers searched a area of land in the resort in 2014 but failed to find any leads

The continued investigation has caused a backlash from locals, with this graffiti scrawled on walls in the resort in 2014

The senior officer was asked about the theory of a sex predator being responsible for Madeleine's disappearance.

Mr Rowley said: 'That's been one key line of inquiry. The reality is in the modern world in any urban area... you will find sex offenders who live nearby. And those coincidences need to be sifted out, what's a coincidence and what may be linked to the investigation that you are currently doing.

'Offences which may be linked have to be looked at and either ruled in or ruled out.'

Mr Rowley said there was still a 'lot unknown' in the case, adding: 'All the different hypotheses have to remain open.'

Police have looked at more than 600 individuals who were identified as being potentially significant to Madeleine's disappearance.

Madeleine vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3 2007 when she was three years old.

Her parents, from Rothley in Leicestershire, have vowed to 'never give up' hope of finding their daughter.

The McCanns were staying at this apartment block in Praia De Luz, Portugal when Madeleine went missing while the couple dined nearby

The parents have said they are braced for half-truths and downright lies on social media

British officers have sifted through some 40,000 documents and looked at more than 600 individuals since 2011.

In 2013, the Met Police team identified four people as suspects in the case. Interviews and searches were carried out but no evidence was found to implicate the four in the disappearance.

Mr Rowley said they are no longer the subject of further investigation and have been ruled out of the inquiry.

Meanwhile, police working on the case continue to receive information on a daily basis.

Mr Rowley said: 'Thousands of pieces of information have come forward, some useful, some not, but amongst that have been some nuggets that have thrown some extra light on the original material that came from the time.

'That's one of the things that's helped us make progress and have some critical lines of inquiry we want to pursue today.'

The assistant commissioner pledged that the investigation team will do all they can to provide an answer for Madeleine's parents.

British detectives in Praia da Luz in 2014. Met chief Mark Rowley has admitted they may never find out what happened to her

He said: 'I so wish I could say we will definitely solve it but a small number of cases sadly don't get solved.

'What I've always said on this case, and I've said it to Kate and Gerry as well, we will do everything reasonably possible to try and find an answer.

'I just can't quite guarantee it. It always hurts that you can't guarantee success but we will do everything we reasonably can do to try and get there.'

Around 30 detectives were working on the UK probe, Operation Grange, when it was established in 2011. The team has now been scaled back to four detectives.

Last month the Home Office confirmed 85,000 was being given to the inquiry to cover operational costs from April to September. More than 11 million has been spent on the inquiry so far.

Mr Rowley insisted the investigation has achieved 'an awful lot'.

He said: 'I think people get seduced perhaps by what they see in TV dramas where the most complex cases are solved in 30 minutes or 60 minutes. What we started with here was something extraordinary.

'We've achieved a complete understanding of it all. We've sifted out many of the potential suspects, many of the people of interest and where we are today is with a much smaller team focused on a small number of remaining critical lines of inquiry that we think are significant.'

Asked about the cost of the investigation, he said: 'Big cases can take a lot of resources and a lot of time.

'We've tried to be careful about public money and as we've started with that massive sifting we've reduced the number of resources and the funding's reduced accordingly.

'But we will stick with it as long as the funding's available and as long as there are sensible lines of inquiry to pursue.'
A husband tied the knot with his Peruvian wife to secure her a UK visa before tying the knot with another woman, a court heard.

Iain Theyers 'wed' Marian Belahonia in the front room of her parents' home in South America, just three days after her divorce from a previous marriage was finalised, Hull Crown Court heard.

The 41-year-old is accused of illegally marring Louse Martin in Bridlington Town Hall on December 30 2011 while still being married to Ms Belahonia, with whom he had separated after four years.

At the time of their marriage Ms Belahonia, 38, was pregnant with his child but could not stay in the UK to get married as she had illegally overstayed a visa and due to complications with her first marriage.

This is the photo of suspected bigamist Iain Theyers and Louise Martin that his estranged wife found before reporting him to police

Theyers tied the knot with Louise Martin while still allegedly married to wife of five years Marian Belahonia (pictured), a court heard

Nine days after the ceremony in Ate Birate, near capital Lima, Ms Belahonia then applied at the British embassy for a UK spouse visa giving her permission to return and live in Britain.

The couple returned to set up home, and having a son called Kyle Theyers, five months later.

However, after four years the marriage ended and Theyers moved out - cutting ties with Ms Belahonia leaving her to hire a private detective to find him when she decided to file for divorce.

After the detective failed, she only found out on Facebook that he had married again, when she saw a picture of Theyers and Martin on his profile page.

Theyers, 45, of Balloch, Inverness, has gone on trial at Hull Crown Court denying a charge of bigamy.

Theyers, a father of four, denies his marriage with Ms Belahonia was ever legal claiming he was in emotional turmoil in the relationship soon after the end of his first marriage.

Ms Belahonia told the jury: 'It was 18 months before we got married. Before my visa expired he supported me. After a month he proposed marriage to me.

'I said it was too soon - and that I had to go back to Peru as my visa had run out. I wanted to go back, but he convinced me to stay. After 15 months I said yes. We agreed to go back to Peru and get married - as it was illegal for me to marry here.

'There was planning, a ring and a dress. We invited people, but unfortunately people could not come from the UK as it was too expensive.'

Iain Theyers, 45, is accused of being a bigamist who secretly married another woman behind his wife's back

She said they married at her parents family home in Ate Birate, with the registrar being the Mayor of the neighbouring municipality of Hurochiri - who was a friend of her father - eating in his restaurant.

The jury were shown wedding pictures of Theyers and Ms Belahonia with flowers in her wedding dress he had bought for her in Peru.

The couple were pictured with her aunt and uncle and Ms Belahonia's two sisters.

She said the couple had to provide evidence of passports and divorce papers as well as a local address.

Ms Belahonia said after the birth of their son Kyle Theyers in June 2007 the relationship faltered.

She said: 'The relationship came to an end in October 2010 and she was left alone with two children - while Theyers has weekend contact every week.

She said: 'The contact stopped when he started making excuses. He would say: I am coming to see Kyle, and then not come. There was a time when I said: 'Don't bother coming again.' I did not hear from him again. His mum and dad sent cards for Kyle for Christmas and birthdays. Just before the last time he saw my son in December 2011 I said I wanted a divorce.'

He said: 'Don't bother I have searched for that and the marriage is not valid in this country.'

Theyers is accused of lying to the registrar at Bridlington Town Hall on December 30 2011 by not declaring his second marriage to Ms Belahonia because he had not told his new wife of the relationship. Ms Belahonia was granted full UK citizenship in August 2013.

Under cross-examination, defence barrister Glenn Parsons accused Ms Belahonia of pressuring Mr Theyers into marriage asking him because she needed to stay in the UK.

He said: 'I suggest by October 2006 it was urgent for you to get married and sort out your visa difficulties. You were pregnant and Peru is a Catholic Country. Would there not be shame of having a child outside marriage.'

Ms Belahonia replied: 'No.'

The 45-year-old, of Balloch, Inverness, has gone on trial at Hull Crown Court denying a charge of bigamy

Mr Parsons said she had obtained the money for her return fare to Peru from a man she had originally been caring for and had returned without money until Iain Theyers arrived to buy her dress.

He said she had not followed correct procedures which said witnesses should have known Mr Theyers for three years and three days after the ceremonycollected her marriage certificate from a man in the street with a brown envelope paying $50.

He said; 'It is true your parents knew the Mayor and encourage him to arrange a quickie marriage in your living room and all formalities were ignored?'

Ms Belahonia replied: 'No!'

Mr Parsons continued: 'This whole marriage was a sham - from start to finish - cooked up, by you and your family, who knew the local mayor. You knew all along it was not legally binding. You knew because you had been married before you were not going along with the legal requirement required by Peruvian law.'

The trial continues.
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First Daughter Ivanka Trump visited Berlin's Holocaust memorial during her first international trip as an official adviser to her father as he condemned Holocaust deniers and anti-Semitism while delivering remarks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual Days of Remembrance event Tuesday.

Ivanka, who converted to Judaism herself ahead of her 2009 marriage to Jared Kushner, met with the director at the information center before walking slowly through the downtown Berlin monument.

She was photographed wearing dark sunglasses while walking among stellae at the memorial where she was flanked by Secret Service agents keeping tourists and others at a distance.

The 35-year-old eventually took her sunglasses off before gently touching a slab, which are meant to symbolize the chaos of the Holocaust.

Her visit to the German capital's memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis comes on the heels of Press Secretary Sean Spicer's Holocaust gaffe.

First Daughter Ivanka Trump visited Berlin's Holocaust memorial (above) during her first international trip as an official adviser to her father, who also delivered remarks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual Days of Remembrance event Tuesday.

Ivanka, who converted to Judaism herself ahead of her 2009 marriage to Jared Kushner, was photographed touching a slab while visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

While at the Holocaust memorial, Ivanka was flanked by both Secret Service agents and German police officers

She appeared to be in a somber mood while at the memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis

The First Daughter dressed in a warm dark colored jacket while at the Holocaust memorial on Tuesday after she visited the Siemens mechantronic factory

Ivanka walked slowly through the undulating grounds filled with concrete slabs, along with U.S. Embassy personnel

She paused occasionally to look at the slabs, meant to symbolize the chaos of the Holocaust, before emerging on the other side of the monument to a crush of cameras and onlookers

Upon entering the Holocaust memorial, people gathered to take photos of the First Daughter who was surrounded by Secret Services agents and police officers. Some yelled out 'Hi, how are you?' as she entered the center

During Passover earlier this month, Spicer favorably compared Adolf Hitler to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, causing international outcry.

'We didn't use chemical weapons in World War II,' Spicer said.

'You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons.'

Spicer apologized multiple times, but the gaffe didn't do the Trump administration any favors as acts of anti-Semitism have increased since President Trump has taken power.

CNN reported Monday that anti-Semitic incidents are up 86 percent compared to the same period of time last year.

Ivanka'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.

Crowds of people snapped cellphone photos and yelled out 'Hi, how are you?' as she entered the center to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe for a short visit Tuesday.

The First Daughter walked slowly through the undulating grounds filled with concrete slabs, along with U.S. Embassy personnel.

She paused occasionally to look at the slabs, meant to symbolize the chaos of the Holocaust, before emerging on the other side of the monument to a crush of cameras and onlookers.

Her visit to the Holocaust memorial comes on the heels of Press Secretary Sean Spicer's Holocaust gaffe where he favorably compared Adolf Hitler to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, causing international outcry

Ivanka'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

The mother-of-three is on a jam-packed one-day tour of Berlin after being invited last month by German Chancellor Angela Merkel

On Monday, Ivanka tweeted: 'Today, we honor the six million Jews whose lives were taken during the Holocaust and pledge - never again.'

Early last month, she paid a private visit to the Holocaust museum in Washington with her husband, Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to the president.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., her father spoke at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's National Days of Remembrance at the Capitol.

His speech is part of the museum's unveiling of its new conservation and research center, home to a vast collection of artifacts donated by those who survived Hitler's massacre of Jews during World War II.

Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the nation's annual commemoration of the Holocaust.

Reading from prepared remarks, the president vowed to snuff out anti-Semitism at home and take action when the Jewish people are threatened abroad as he honored victims of the Holocaust on Tuesday.

'Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil, and we'll never be silent. We just won't. We will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again,' he declared.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., her father spoke at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's National Days of Remembrance at the Capitol (above)

His speech is part of the museum's unveiling of its new conservation and research center, home to a vast collection of artifacts donated by those who survived Hitler's massacre of Jews during World War II.

Trump said to the veterans, Holocaust survivors and legislators attending the event, 'We will stamp out prejudice. We will condemn hatred. We will bear witness, and we will act.

'As president of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people, and I will always stand with our great friend, and partner, the state of Israel.'

Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis 'without mercy,' he said. 'Without even a sign of mercy.'

Attacks on the Jewish people continue, he noted, bringing up the terror calls that were sweeping across Jewish community centers in America when he took office.

'The Jewish people have endured oppression, persecution,' he said, 'yet through the suffering they have persevered. They have thrived, and they have enlightened the world.

'We stand in awe,' the president said. 'I am deeply moved to stand beside people who survived history's darkest hour. Your cherished presence transforms this place into a sacred gathering.'

Vice President Mike Pence (left), White House senior adviser Jared Kushner (center) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (right) joined the president at the event on Tuesday.

Kushner (center) proudly applauded his father-in-law after his speech on Tuesday while standing alongside Pence (left) and Mnuchin (right)

He added, 'The state of Israel is an eternal monument to the undying strength of the Jewish people.

'The fervent dream that burned in the hearts of the oppressed is now filled with the breath of life, and the Star of David waves atop a great nation arisen from the desert.'

His speech is to honor victims of the Holocaust comes months after his White House failed to mention International Holocaust Remembrance Day didn't mention Jews or anti-Semitism.

Vice President Mike Pence, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin joined the president at the event on Tuesday.

The president's remarks provide him with a chance to write over the missteps, which upset Jewish groups, including the museum that will host the Trump speech.

All smiles: During her first international trip as an official adviser to her father, Ivanka Trump shared a warm handshake with Angela Merkel (above) one month after the president awkwardly snubbed the German Chancellor

But Ivanka (above) was also booed after being put on the spot about his attitude towards women while speaking during a women's summit in Germany

President Donald Trump's eldest daughter is visiting Berlin for a jam-packed one-day tour after being 'directly invited' by Chancellor Angela Merkel. After arriving Tuesday morning, Ivanka (second left) spoke at the Women's 20 Summit alongside Merkel (right), Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland (left) and IMF chief Christine Lagarde (second right)

In addition, on Sunday evening, he delivered a video message to the World Jewish Congress plenary assembly in New York in which he declared, 'On Yom Hashoah, we look at the darkest chapter of human history. We mourn, we remember, we pray and we pledge: Never again.'

Earlier in the day during Ivanka's visit to Berlin, she participated at the Women's 20 Summit where she was booed when she mentioned the president's name before sharing a warm handshake with Angela Merkel one month after he awkwardly snubbed the German Chancellor.

While Merkel visited the U.S. in March, the president seemingly ignored requests from the press to shake Merkel's hand while the pair were meeting in the Oval Office. He was heavily criticized for not doing so and mocked by man on social media.

However, Ivanka did not follow in her father's footsteps and shared a friendly handshake with Merkel after participating in the panel discussion on women's entrepreneurship alongside Merkel, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland and IMF chief Christine Lagarde.

While trying to defend her father, the mother-of-three was booed and hissed at by the majority-female audience when she told the room, 'I'm very proud of my father's advocacy' before she said that he's a 'tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive.'
A Texas state lawmaker whose father entered the country illegally is going on a hunger strike to protest a bill banning sanctuary cities in the state.

State Rep. Victoria Neave, a 35-year-old Democrat, began her four-day fast after Mass on Sunday, to draw attention to a bill scheduled for debate in the Texas House on Wednesday.

The bill would require cities and universities to allow local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, and charge local police with a misdemeanor if they refuse to comply with the feds.

Neave, whose father entered the country illegally but is now a US citizen, takes the proposal personally.

'I feel like this is an attack on my dad and millions of other families across our state,' Neave told the Washington Post.

Texas state Rep. Victoria Neave, a Democrat, began her four-day fast after Mass on Sunday, to draw attention to a bill that would ban sanctuary cities (file)

A first-term lawmaker representing parts of Dallas and its suburbs, Neave said her fast was inspired by the hunger strikes of labor activist Cesar Chavez.

Critics of the proposed law believe it will create fear and distrust of the police in Hispanic communities.

Other Texans have joined Neave's fast in protest of the bill, she said.

'This bill will undermine community policing efforts and will affect our neighbors, our workforce, kids in our schools, and the relationship between police and our communities,' organizers wrote on a Facebook page promoting the fast.

'This doesn't just affect the immigrant community, it impacts everyone who will need to prove he or she is a citizen.'

President Trump on Friday intensified threats to crack down on sanctuary cities, warning nine jurisdictions that they may lose coveted law enforcement grant money unless they document cooperation with federal authorities.

The bill Neave is protesting has passed the Texas Senate, and appears likely to pass in the Republican-dominated House.

'What else can I do to defeat this bill?' she said of her hunger strike. 'The last alternative I thought I could turn to was prayer.'
The EU toughened its line on Brexit talks today ahead of a key summit - beefing up demands on immigration and the divorce bill.

Draft negotiating guidelines set to be agreed by the 27 member states at the weekend insist the UK must keep paying for at least a year after formally leaving the bloc in 2019.

They also say Britain must give all EU citizens permanent residency after they have lived here for five years.

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Draft Brexit demands were agreed by Eurocrats at a meeting with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier this week

Theresa May, pictured at an election rally in Bridgend today, is seeking a mandate to push through a Brexit deal with the EU

The demands were apparently agreed by Eurocrats at a meeting with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier this week.

The draft document is due to be endorsed at a summit in Brussels on Saturday - effectively setting 'red lines' for two years of tough negotiations.

The EU's language has notably toughened since the initial response from EU council president Donald Tusk, which came two days after Theresa May triggered the divorce process at the end of March.

The harsher approach comes as Mrs May prepares to hold talks with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and Mr Barnier in Downing Street tomorrow.

The EU has suggested that it could present the UK with a 50billion bill for leaving. But the section in the guidelines indicate that the figure could be even higher, including 'issues resulting from' the club's seven-year budget that runs up to 2020.

Previously it had been thought the UK would only be hit with costs up to withdrawal in 2019, and the new claim is likely to be unacceptable to Mrs May.

The draft makes clear the City of London will not necessarily be included in any future trade deal with the EU.

Instead the prized financial district must 'respect (the EU's) regulatory and supervisory regime and standards and their application' if it wants to do business in Europe.

The UK and the EU have both said they will prioritise protecting the rights of three million European citizens living in Britain, and one million Britons living in Europe.

But the latest draft insists EU citizens must have 'the right to acquire permanent residence after a continuous period of five years of legal residence' - a move that is likely to be opposed by London.
A woman was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison in the death of her disabled boyfriend, whose foot wounds became severely infected and filled with maggots.

Stacey Ann Cunnius, 43, of Reading, Pennsylvania, pleaded no contest Tuesday in Berks County court to third-degree murder and neglect of care for a dependent person, according to The Reading Eagle.

Under such a plea, a defendant doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors can prove the charges.

Stacey Ann Cunnius, 43, pleaded no content to charges of third-degree murder and neglect of care for a dependent person in the 2015 death of her boyfriend who suffered from spina bifida

Cunnius' boyfriend, Jessie McCrimmon, had spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal cord doesn't develop properly. Cunnius was supposed to be acting as his caregiver.

Prosecutors said the 43-year-old McCrimmon died in July 2015 because he didn't receive proper care and 'endured considerable pain,' according to ABC 11.

Investigators said McCrimmon arrived at an emergency room the previous month in septic shock. He had severe injuries to his feet, which had maggots in them. He was missing toes on his right foot and also had bone exposed. His left foot was being held on by necrotic flesh.

The extent of the wounds meant that McCrimmon required emergency below-the-knee amputation on both legs, Penn Live reported.

The Reading, Pennsylvania home where Jessie McCrimmon, 43, lived before dying in 2015

Unable to care for himself in his home, McCrimmon relied on Cunnius to look after his needs

After the surgery, he went into acute respiratory distress syndrome, severe hypoxia, septic shock and multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, before it was decided to cease his medical treatment, according to court records.

The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. The coroner noted that Cunnius, 'failed to provide necessary medical intervention' and that McCrimmon's infection resulted from 'extreme neglect' of his wounds.

Judge James Bucci said it was clear that Cunnius, who has physical and mental health issues, should never have taken on the responsibility of being McCrimmon's caregiver. He noted that she was barely able to care for herself.

'She is not guilty for what she did, but for what she did not do,' the judge said.

Judge Bucci sentenced Cunnius to up to 10 years in prison, in addition to a 10 year probation sentence, as stipulated by her plea deal.
A Florida man who killed his pregnant ex-girlfriend last December sent her chilling text messages after the fatal shooting saying that he hoped she died.

Markeith Loyd, 41, was arrested and charged with the December 13 murder of Sade Dixon and their unborn child.

On January 9, he allegedly shot dead an Orlando police officer, Lt. Debra Clayton, who was trying to arrest him.

That set off a weeklong manhunt which ended with Loyds arrest on January 17.

Court documents released on Monday say that 20 minutes after Loyd shot dead Dixon, he texted her: Dont know if you go make it hope you dont.

Markeith Loyd (right), 41, was arrested and charged with the December 13 murder of Sade Dixon (left) and their unborn child

Court documents released on Monday say that 20 minutes after Loyd shot dead Dixon, he texted her: Dont know if you go make it hope you don't

Hours later he texted, you caused this, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Loyd also blamed Dixons brother, who was also shot, for intervening.

After the Clayton shooting, Loyd evaded arrest for a week.

He was found hiding in a home on January 17.

Police searched the home and discovered a 10-page letter signed by Loyd.

The letter included a detailed account of why he shot Dixon, according to the Sentinel.

He allegedly shot dead an Orlando police officer, Lt. Debra Clayton (above), on January 9

Loyd wrote that the killing of their unborn child was an unintended consequence.

The letter and the text messages are part of a trove of evidence filed by prosecutors in the Orange-Osceola State Attorneys Office.

According to the texts, the relationship between Loyd and Dixon was deteriorating in the days leading up to the shooting.

Loyd was unhappy that Dixon was smoking during her pregnancy, while Dixon accused Loyd of cheating on her.

Loyd wrote that Dixon was unresponsive to his phone calls.

'All you had to do was answer my calls but you was doing you,' he texted her on December 13.

Twenty minutes after sending the text, Loyd drove up to her home and shot her dead, prosecutors say.

Dixons brother, Ronald Stewart, was critically wounded in the shooting.

Court documents also allege that Loyd shot at Dixons mother and another brother, but they were not injured.

On January 9, Loyd had been a fugitive for almost a month when he pulled into a local Wal-Mart.

Loyd wrote that the killing of their unborn child was an unintended consequence. The letter and the text messages are part of a trove of evidence filed by prosecutors in the Orange-Osceola State Attorneys Office

As he lined up to buy groceries just before 7am, a woman nearby recognized him.

She then went outside and alerted a police officer who was standing nearby, Clayton.

When Clayton confronted Loyd, he shot her nine times with a .40-caliber handgun, prosecutors say.

According to records, the gunshot that killed Clayton was fired at her neck from three feet away as the officer lay wounded on the ground.

In the exchange of gunfire, Clayton managed to shoot Loyd eight times, but he was wearing a bulletproof vest, according to documents.

Loyd drove away from the scene and noticed that he was being pursued by an Orange County deputy.

Loyd (seen above after his arrest on January 17) was said to be angry with his ex-girlfriend because she was smoking during her pregnancy

Loyd is currently being held at Orange County Jail without bail. He will be tried on two counts of first-degree murder and the killing of an unborn child, among other charges

Thats when Loyd fired at him.

Loyd then ditched his car, changed clothing, and carjacked a vehicle, according to prosecutors.

As police were in pursuit of Loyd, another deputy, Norman Lewis, was killed when his motorcycle crashed into a van.

Prosecutors will not charge Loyd in Lewis death after investigators determined that the crash was an accident.

Loyd was eventually tracked to a home on January 17. Airborne video surveillance shows Loyd crawling toward police before he is then surrounded and beaten.

Investigators found two guns inside the home.

Loyd is currently being held at Orange County Jail without bail.

He will be tried on two counts of first-degree murder and the killing of an unborn child.
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A blast of late winter weather has brought sub-zero temperatures and snow flurries to parts of the UK.

People living as far south as Somerset awoke to a smattering of snow this morning, with areas including Norwich, Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the North East also reporting wintry showers.

Sub-zero temperatures made Britain colder than Finland as an Arctic blast swept across the country.

The mercury plunged to 24.6F (-4.1C) in Northumberland, with Helsinki only managing -3C overnight.

And although things are eventually set to warm up, Britons should brace themselves for a wash out Bank Holiday, the Met Office has warned.

Hikers awoke to a dusting of snow on the North Yorkshire moors as the blast of Arctic weather brought snow to northern Scotland then moved south

A snow shower hit Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, where temperatures are set to plummet to a chilly 3C this evening

The picturesque scene overlooking Martindale, Cumbria which is bracing itself for another cold snap, with temperatures falling to 1C

Monstrous waves battered the North Sea coastline - as seen here at the Seaham Lighthouse in County Durham

The Met Office said people should plan outdoor activities for Saturday because Monday will be soaked with showers.

Spring snow blew into parts of Scotland overnight and hail showers pelted Devon and Cornwall this morning.

Eastern Scotland was lashed with thunder and lightning storms that the Met Office expect could roll into the North of England.

The coldest temperature of -4.1C was recorded in Redesdale Camp in Northumberland last night.

Met Office spokeswoman Emma Sharples said: 'If people have outdoor plans, they should do them on Saturday.

'We expect clouds and showers throughout Monday. The present cold weather is all coming in from the Arctic.

'The northerly air flow is bringing cold air and the further north you go there is frost. We are in a crisp snap. There have been some showers around this morning, particularly in Devon and West Cornwall.

'You could see a little bit of hail and sleet, especially in the higher ground of the South West.'

Despite the freeze, the weather did not quite match the coldest ever night temperature for the month which was a bitter -15C recorded in Cumbria on April 1, 1917 at Newton Rigg weather station.

This interactive module, which is continuously updated, represents the picture across the UK. It shows snow sweeping across the country as an Arctic blast hits. It also shows the wind speed, precipitation and air pressure.

Deer roam through bluebells in Micheldever Wood in Hampshire where conditions were rather more suited to the time of year

The RSPB Scotland released this image of an osprey braving wintry conditions to incubate her three eggs while sitting in a 'snow doughnut' in the Highlands

Bluebells are lit by the rising sun in Micheldever Wood in Hampshire, which saw highs of 6C today, and lows of 3C

Ms Sharples said the cold snap has come as a shock because the first half of April was above average in terms of rising temperatures.

She said: 'The cold that we are experiencing at the moment is more of a shock as we had higher temperatures than usual.

'People may have packed away their winter woollies and are now having to retrieve them.'

But warmer weather is on the way with clouds rolling in, stamping out the frost.

Tomorrow morning is expected to be misty with showery rain spells throughout the afternoon.

On Saturday, temperatures in London should be in the mid teens, 14 or 15C, and could rise to 16C on Sunday.

Ms Sharples said the Met Office did not expect a great contrast in the country with Glasgow and Aberdeen set to hit 11, 12 or 13C.

But she added that the country will be overcast and showery on Monday.

She continued: 'The first part of the weekend looks dry but Sunday and Monday look more cloudy with more rainy weather.'

Despite the prospect of a damp Bank Holiday Monday, we should take cheer that temperatures are due to rise.

She added: 'The good news is that it should become warmer. It was -0.4C at Exeter Airport last night.

'The next couple of days are going to be around the double figures. Exeter and Plymouth will be 12 and 13. We expect 14 and 15 at the weekend.

'We may get sleet and hail in Exmouth and Dartmoor but I don't think we will see any snow. The sun is so strong at this time of year.'

This graphic shows the arctic blast sweeping across the UK. Generated by a super computer and updated every three hours by the National Weather Service, the graph shows winds sweeping across the Atlantic and the Channel. Gales of more than 50mph can be seen directly over coastal areas.

County Durham was cold with heavy wintry showers, and a strong northerly wind battering the coastline

A view of an Oast House across a rapeseed field during a bright and sunny afternoon near Ashford in Kent

The sun rises over rapeseed fields in Bingham, Nottinghamshire depicting a sunny picture - in stark contrast to other parts of the UK

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill added: 'We are going to see plenty of showers. They could be intense at times and, as a result, that will bring the risk of something wintry, even though temperatures are set to climb a little bit as we go through the day.'

He added: 'The further north you are, the better chance you've got of catching a shower and a greater chance of any shower turning wintry. But you can't rule it out further south.'

Mr Burkill said Wednesday will be the last day of the cold snap, with temperatures rising towards the end of the week.

And he said snow at the end of April is unusual but not really that rare, with showers on April 26 as recently as last year.

He said: 'It is fairly uncommon but we have seen events like this before. You only have to go back as far as last year - we had snow as late as this time.'
South Korea's military said Tuesday that North Korea held massive live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military.

The exercise took place as a US guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea and envoys from the US, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo to discuss the growing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles program.

Speculation had mounted that the North could carry out a sixth nuclear test or another missile launch to mark 85 years since the founding of its army.

But no such event - which usually happens in the morning - had taken place by the evening, and instead Seoul's defense ministry said Pyongyang was conducting a 'massive fire drill' in the eastern port city of Wonsan.

The South's Yonhap news agency cited a government source as saying the exercise was the North's 'largest ever' and was presumed to have been overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un.

Meanwhile, a senior analyst warned that the back-and-forth threats between the US and North Korea could cause a needless stumble into war.

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The USS Michigan (pictured), a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Cmdr Jang Wook from South Korean navy public affairs said there was no plan for a drill

South Korea's military said Tuesday North Korea held live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military. The exercise may have been the North's 'largest ever' and leader Kim Jong-Un oversaw it (left)

On Monday, President Donald Trump said dictator Jong-Un isn't as strong as he claims to be, and he blamed the international community for not doing more to rein him in.

The 'status quo' on North Korea is 'unacceptable,' Trump told members of the United Nations Security Council at the White House.

'The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions,' Trump said.

Senior analyst, Jonathan Pollack, at the Brookings Institution says the back-and-forth threats between the US and North Korea 'raises the stakes', according to CBS.

'We could stumble needlessly into what would be the biggest crisis in East Asia since the United States intervened in the Korean War in 1950,' Pollack warned.

'The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the US imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression,' Gen Pak Yong Sik told a meeting of thousands of senior military and civilian officials.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where it said the drills were being held.

The exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seoul's Defense Ministry couldn't confirm the details.

Flower-laying and bowing at statues and portraits of the leaders is a regular routine on major anniversaries. People also gathered in open spaces to take part in organized dancing, another common way to mark holidays.

'Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong-Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day,' said Choe Un Byol, who came with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders.

Meanwhile, senior Koreas analyst, Jonathan Pollack, says the back-and-forth threats between the US and North Korea could cause the US to 'stumble needlessly' into war. A young girl celebrates the 85th anniversary of North Korea's military

North Korea often also marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15. People gathered in open spaces to take part in organized dancing (pictured)

North Korea often also marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Recent US commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea's nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Jong-Un has said the country's preparation for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch is in its 'final stage'.

The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies.

Cmdr Jang Wook from South Korean navy public affairs said there was no plan for a drill.

The submarine's arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier headed toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea. The US 7th Fleet said two American destroyers were conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.

Nikki Haley, Trump's UN ambassador, said the US is not looking for a fight with Kim Jong-Un and would not attack the country 'unless he gives us reason to do something'. She also praised China's increased pressure on North Korea

North Korea launched two missile tests this month while Trump and his senior aides have warned that 'all options are on the table' against Pyongyang, including military action

Despite the buildup, Trump has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Korea's government.

Trump told the UN Security Council that they must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea.

'This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not,' Trump said Monday.

'North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it's time to solve the problem.'

Nikki Haley, Trump's UN ambassador, said the US is not looking for a fight with Kim and would not attack North Korea 'unless he gives us reason to do something'. She praised China's increased pressure on North Korea.

When asked about the threshold for US action, Haley told NBC that 'if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously we're going to do that'.

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier (pictured) headed toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea

South Korean protesters staged a rally against US deployment of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to the Korean Peninsula

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But asked what if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, she said: 'I think then the president steps in and decides what's going to happen.'

The US, Japan and South Korea agreed Tuesday to put maximum pressure on North Korea, the South's envoy for North Korea said after meeting his American and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo.

'We agreed to warn North Korea to stop any additional strategic provocation and take intolerably strong punitive measures against Pyongyang if it goes ahead with such provocations,' Kim Hong-kyun told reporters following his meeting with Joseph Yun of the US and Japan's Kenji Kanasugi.

Kim said they discussed ways to get more cooperation from China and Russia, which they agreed is crucial to applying effective pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. He said they also recognized China's recent steps toward that goal.

Japan's Foreign Ministry announced that China's envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, was arriving in Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi that may take place later this week.
President Donald Trump is once again turning to a military leader head an important agency  this time turning to a retired Marine general to run the Secret Service, the agency charged with protecting him.

The White House on Wednesday announced that Trump is appointing retired Marine Major Gen. Randolph Alles to take over the troubled agency.

Politico reported Monday that the appointment was expected.

Alles is currently serving as the acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In his military career, he rose to the rank of Major General in the Marine Corps, retiring after 35 years.

A brief statement from the White House made no mention of the challenges facing the agency. It noted Alles' service in the Marine Corps, and his degrees from Texas A&M and the Naval War College

President Donald Trump is expected to name retired Marine Major Gen. Randolph Alles to take over the troubled Secret Service agency

His appointment comes just a month after the latest White House security lapse, when a fence-jumper made it onto White House grounds and was able to roam around for 17 minutes before being apprehended.

Other lapses date to the Obama administration, and include the 2012 Cartagena prostitution scandal, where agents were found to have hired prostitutes on a trip in connection to a visit to the Colombian capital by the president for the Summit of the Americas.

Eight employees ultimately got ousted over the incident.

Other mishaps over the years have included the gate-crashing incident of Michaele and Tareq Salahi at a 2009 state dinner.

In another serious incident, a fence-jumper armed with a knife made it all the way into the East Wing of the White House. It ultimately was revealed that the front door wasn't locked.

Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy testifies before House Appropriations Subcommittee to defend the agencies proposed 2017 fiscal year budget in March 2016. He announced his retiremenet earlier this year, and came out of retirement to help steady the agency

General view of the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena, Colombia on April 19, 2012, where Secret Service agents stayed earlier this month and would have taken hired prostitutes

Retired Maj. Gen. Randolph Alles spent 35 years in the Marines

A member of the United States Secret Service, with his dog, stand guard near the fence on the North Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, April 17, 2017

Omar J. Gonzalez was able to sprint across the White House lawn on a Friday night and make it inside the building with a knife before being detained. The breach occurred shortly after President Obama and his family had departed for Camp David.

Joe Clancy, who headed the agency's Presidential Protection Division, got called out of retirement by President Obama to try to right the agency.

He replaced former director Julia Pierson, the agency's first female director, who was brought in in part to try to fix the agency's partying culture after the Cartagena scandal.

An outside panel had recommended the head come from outside the troubled agency.

Alles joins a number of generals Trump has tapped to fill key posts. Among them are Pentagon chief Gen. James 'Mad Dog' Mattis, Homeland Security head retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, and ousted National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn.

The agency has been strained by the obligation to protect President Trump at his multiple residences while also protecting his large family. This has included guarding Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. on overseas trips where they visited Trump properties.

'They are flat-out worn out,' Rep. Jason Chaffetz of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee said, the New York Times reported.
China will build a long-term mechanism to control the use of "gutter oil," underscoring the importance of food safety.

The general office of the State Council, China's cabinet, has published a guideline on measures of monitoring and controlling the use of "gutter oil," which refers to recycled oil made from kitchen waste dredged from gutters behind restaurants as well as inedible animal oil.

The guideline states that catering businesses will not be allowed to dump or discard kitchen garbage, adding that used oil should be handled using professional facilities. Catering businesses are encouraged to install cameras in kitchens, processing workshops and disposal workshops so that kitchen garbage can be traced.

Companies featuring disposal technologies should be nurtured and given favorable tax policies, according to the guideline.
Even Supreme Court justices forget to turn off their cellphones.

An argument in the Washington, DC high court on Tuesday was interrupted by the familiar sound of a ring chime, and Justice Stephen Breyer seemed to be the culprit.

A mildly embarrassed Breyer quickly appeared to reach down to turn it off as a majority of his colleagues on the bench broke into smiles.

Justice Samuel Alito struggled to suppress a laugh as the august dignity of the high court was briefly interrupted.

Oops: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is seen in a file photo. Breyer's cellphone rang in the middle of court on Tuesday

Cellphones and other electronic devices are strictly forbidden in the ornate courtroom - a rule that includes observers and lawyers arguing before the court, but apparently not the justices themselves.

Breyer and seatmate Justice Clarence Thomas shared a quick laugh about the incident.

But it didn't fluster lawyer Neal Katyal, who was in the middle of answering a question.

Katyal was scheduled to appear on behalf of drug-maker Bristol-Meyers Squibb, which has challenged a California court ruling that made it easier for residents of other states to join class-action suits.

Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg later called the incident an 'oversight' and said Breyer doesn't usually take his phone in to the courtroom.
Conservative journalists who were invited to a private meeting with President Trump and top White House aides Monday night left with a bad taste in their mouths.

The Hill's Jonathan Easley talked to a handful of the some-30 reporters from outlets like Breitbart, Townhall, Newsmax and the Daily Caller who attended what was described as an 'on background' gathering, stripped of their phones, and then told the quotes were on the record.

Reporters, generally, capture interviews using their cell phones  and thus nothing Trump, or his top aides said, was recorded.

'They packed us in a room and made us right for scraps,' one attendee told the Hill. 'It's not exclusive if you give it to 40 journalists and then make us fight over it.'

President Trump met with journalists from conservative news organizations for an 'on background' briefing, which White House staff said later was on the record, meaning reporters could have captured his remarks

The event was held in the Roosevelt Room and reporters phones were taken away because staff said it was a sensitive compartmented information facility. However reporters are often let in the room with cameras, like when Trump met with the Fraternal Order of Police in March

Conservative radio show host Laura Ingraham (left) and Daily Caller reporter Kaitlan Collins (right) asked questions that the president reportedly dodged - but there's no transcript of President Trump's replies

Beyond Trump, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer attended, along with Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and other members of the White House communications team.

The meeting was supposed to show appreciation toward conservative media outlets, who were often ignored during President Obama's eight years in office.

But journalists at those publications pointed to the fact that Trump will often call up more traditional outlets, like the Washington Post or the New York Times, and give those reporters scoops.

'Did Maggie Haberman or Glenn Thrush have to surrender their cellphones for their interview,' the Hill's source said, referencing two New York Times reporters who the president has spoken with. 'The White House would be better served if they called on us one by one like he does with them.'

The reason for the cell phone blackout however, one attendee told DailyMail.com, was that the Roosevelt Room, where the meeting was held, is a SCIF, a sensitive compartmented information facility, where government officials look over classified material.

It was White House director of media affairs Helen Aguirre Ferre who told reporters that their phones must be kept outside the Roosevelt Room, as it's a SCIF, a Hill newspaper source said.

'This is what happens when Never Trump, low-energy Jeb Bush staffers infiltrate Donald Trump's White House,' one attendee told the Hill, pointing a finger at Ferre, who had worked to elect the former Florida governor. 'The incompetence by the White House press staff does not serve the president's interests well.'

The Hill pointed out that while the Roosevelt Room is equipped to be a SCIF, the doors were kept open during the meeting.

Additionally, pool reporters, toting large cameras, are generally let into the room to capture similar meetings of this kind.

Adding to the frustration is the fact that Trump dodged two important questions, but no reporter in the room captured the exact statements he said.

The Daily Caller's Kaitlan Collins asked Trump a question about Dreamers, and why Trump supports amnesty for them, and radio host Laura Ingraham wanted to hear Trump explain why he no longer labels China as a currency manipulator.

'There's no tape, no transcript  I guess some people will be able to write what they remember or scribbled down notes, but you can't really do it without a transcript or quotes from a recording,' one source to the Hill.
The Bulgarian man accused of kicking a woman down a flight of stairs in Berlin has also been accused of masturbating in front of two girls in a park, local media reported.

Svetoslav Stoykov, 27, was arrested in December after he returned to Berlin from France, where he had reportedly been hiding.

The attack at the U-Bahn station last October had caused international outrage.

Svetoslav Stoykov (pictured), who was arrested in December for the U-Bahn station attack last October, has also been accused of masturbating in front of two girls in a park

CCTV footage showed the attacker, holding a cigarette and a beer, waltz up behind a woman at Hermannstrae U-Bahn station in southern Berlin, and kick her in the back.

The 26-year-old woman was sent flying down the stairs head first and landed on her face on the floor several steps down, with the contents of her handbag scattering across the floor.

She broke her arm in the fall, injured her head, and had to be treated in hospital.

Stoykov and his three accomplices were then seen wandering off with one stopping briefly to retrieve a dropped beer bottle.

The man believed to be Stoykov, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, aimed a targeted kick at the woman's back, sending her flying down the stairs

Prosecutors today said Stoykov will face charges of causing serious bodily harm to the woman, as well as two separate counts of sexual harassment.

Tagesspiegel reported that prosecutors said the man had exposed himself to two girls in a park during the day and proceeded to masturbate, in one of two incidents in October.

The next day, he performed a similar act in front of another woman in a parking area.

Berliner Kurier reported similar incidents, but said the park incident had involved one woman.

CCTV showED the young woman walking through the metro station in Berlin last October when the man came up behind her, holding a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other

Stoykov is a married father-of-three children, from Varna, a resort on the Black Sea coast, in Bulgaria.

Police there have said he has a criminal record for robbery, theft and hooliganism.

In Berlin he had jobs in a restaurant and on a building site.

He was arrested after returning to Berlin from Nice, where he had reportedly been hiding with relatives.
Jessica Jane Bennett, 28 (pictured), was arrested on Saturday for having sex with her neighbor's teen son

A mother-of-two has been arrested for allegedly having sex with her neighbor's teen son for the second time in less than a year.

Jessica Jane Bennett, 28, was arrested on Saturday, after police in Cottage Grove, Oregon received a call at 10.46am reporting a sexual assault.

Police investigated the call and found enough evidence to book Bennett on seven counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor.

However, prosecutors only filed one count when Bennett was arraigned on Monday. She pleaded not guilty.

Bennett's arrest comes just six months after she was convicted for the same crime, with the same underage boy.

The boy's father told police in July 2016 that he walked into his son's bedroom and found the boy getting dressed while Bennett lay naked on his bed.

The two then rushed out of the house and the boy's father found three used condoms on the mattress.

According to Facebook, it appears that Bennett was married with two children before she first was caught having sex with the teen in July. Lucas, the man appears to be her children's father, says he is now separated on his Facebook profile

Bennett appears to have been married before the tryst, with two children, according to Facebook. But her husband, Lucas, now says he is separated on Facebook.

Bennett was interrogated by police and admitted that she and the teen had sex multiple times the day before she was caught sleeping in the boy's bed.

She allegedly said that she knew the boy was underage and that she made a bad decision. She claimed that they had only had sex once.

In October, she was convicted of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor after pleading guilty.

Bennett (right) and her ex (left), Lucas, are pictured above in happier times

Public records show that the couple most recently lived in a home on this stretch of rural road

She was sentenced to 10 days in jail and two years of probation, during which she was ordered not to have any contact with the teen.

She was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and to register as a sex offender.

Bennett is expected back in court on May 30.
After 69 years of marriage, one couple's bond was so strong they died minutes apart Saturday at a hospital in a Chicago suburb.

Teresa and Isaac Vatkin passed away in the same hospital room holding hands only 40 minutes apart.

As the couple laid unresponsive in Highland Park Hospital in Skokie, Illinois, their beds were wheeled into the same room by staff and family members positioned their hands so they touched.

Isaac and Teresa Vatkin were married for 69 years before dying minutes apart Saturday

This photo shows the couple while they were dating. They met in their native Argentina

'I didn't want them to be scared,' their granddaughter Debbie Handler told the Daily Herald. 'I thought maybe if they knew the other was there, it would help.'

Teresa, 89, died first. Forty minutes after the couple's hands were separated and she was removed from the room, 91-year-old Isaac passed.

'Their love for each other was so strong, they simply could not live without each other,' said their daughter Clara Gesklin during the couple's joint funeral service Monday at Shalom Memorial Funeral Home in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Their son Leo Vatkin took this photo of his parents several years ago in New York City

The Vatkins' daughter, Clara, is pictured here with her parents, who had three children

The Vatkins met in their native Argentina. They eventually married and moved to Skokie, where they raised three children: Clara, Daniel and Leonardo.

Isaac opened a kosher meat distribution business and Teresa was a homemaker and manicurist.

'They were always in love, literally to the end. To the last second,' said Rabbi Barry Schechter, who led the service.

When Teresa developed Alzheimer's, Isaac, who was in his 80s, used a computer for the first time to research possible cures for the disease.

After Teresa was hospitalized years ago, Isaac would visit her daily, not wanting to leave her side. He was later hospitalized for an unidentified ailment.

Family members remembered the couple's legendary love and took comfort in knowing that they died together.

'You didn't want to see them go,' said grandson William Vatkin, 'but you couldn't ask for anything more.'
'Hot felon' Jeremy Meeks has arrived back in Los Angeles after being deported from the UK on Monday night.

Meeks, 33, who was traveling with his wife Melissa and manager Jim Jordan, was stopped by Border Force officials on arrival at London's Heathrow Airport.

Eight hours later, he was bundled onto an American Airlines flight bound for New York's JFK Airport from where he caught a connecting flight to California and landed Tuesday morning.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com about the experience, he said: 'I'm very, very saddened and confused. I went down there [London] with high hopes for the experience and the UK.

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He's back: 'I'm very, very saddened and confused. I went down there [London] with high hopes for the experience and the UK,' Meeks told DailyMail.com

Photos exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com show a dejected Jeremy Meeks sitting in a Border Force holding area shortly before being bundled onto a US-bound plane. The 'hot felon' was deported just eight hours after landing in London. He landed in Los Angeles Tuesday

Back in the U.S.: Meeks, 33, wore Nike boots, combat trousers and a low-cut black top for his flight, and accessorized with a stylish hat and gold reflective aviator style glasses

Support: A representative of Meeks' modelling agency was waiting for him as he landed and took the burden by assisting him with his luggage

Even a felon needs protection: His modelling agency had sent Meeks a security guard to greet him on arrival at LAX

'I really wanted to go there. I still don't understand quite what happened but I know there's no ill will. They're [Border Force] doing their job.'

Asked what had happened to him, Meeks, who described the incident as 'a little mix up', said: 'They just detained me and interrogated me and searched me.'

But he also said he doesn't believe the episode will put an end to his fledgling modeling career, telling DailyMail.com he planned to travel again: 'Oh of course [I'll come back from this]. Of course. God is good.'

Meeks, of Stockton, California, had been set to spend this week in the British capital where he was due to take part in a series of photo shoots, according to his manager.

He and his wife had also been due to attend a launch party on Thursday night to celebrate his first cover shoot for British magazine, Man About Town.

But the visit came to an early end after he was stopped by Border Force officers on arrival in London and barred from the UK.

Photos exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com show a dejected Meeks sitting in a Border Force holding area shortly before he was escorted onto a US-bound plane.

Meeks, 32, of Stockton, California, was set to spend this week in the British capital where he had been due to shoot a series of magazine covers, according to his manager Jim Jordan

Meeks shot to fame in 2014 when the Stockton Police Department posted his mugshot on their website, following his arrest for street terrorism [gang activity] and a misdemeanor charge of resisting/obstructing justice

Since being released from jail in March 2016, Meeks has embarked on a career as a model and appeared on the catwalk at Phillip Plein during New York Fashion Week in February. He is seen here rehearsing for a runway show at New York Fashion Week in February

Meeks was supposed to be traveling with his wife Melissa (left) and his agent, who are still holed up in a hotel in London (pictured enjoying Christmas with family in 2016)

Meeks is seen left at this year's New York Fashion Week and right during a court appearance in Stockton, California, in June 2014

A video shot by Meeks shows the moment the California native was taken to the aircraft, accompanied by officials.

In it, an angry Meeks says: 'I'm sick of this s***. I've been denied. London don't want me here having served my time. S*** is crazy.'

His wife Melissa and manager Jordan spent five hours waiting for the felon in an airport restaurant before holing up in a London hotel last night. Both are now en route back to the US.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com on Monday night, Jordan said: 'We went into the UK and we went through customs [immigration] and they detained Jeremy.

UK VISA GUIDELINES Home Office rules state that all passengers trying to enter the UK must meet standard entry requirements. Paragraph 320(2) of the Immigration Rules (HC395) says border agents are required to deny passengers entry if they are: (a) currently subject to a deportation order; or (b) have been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 4 years; or (c) has been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months but less than 4 years, unless a period of 10 years has passed since the end of the sentence; or (d) has been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of less than 12 months, unless a period of 5 years has passed since the end of the sentence. Meeks was sentenced to two years in prison in 2015 for gun possession, so would fall under section (c) of the above rules. His previous sentences for grand theft of a person in 2002, theft in 2005, and forgery in 2007 would all have been 'spent' under these rules Advertisement

'He wasn't arrested but they deported him out of the country. They wouldn't let him come into the country. He was really upset. He was police-escorted onto the plane.'

According to Jordan, he and Meeks had approached the same immigration official but while his passport was stamped, his charge was ordered to one side.

Over the next eight hours, Meeks was interviewed, fingerprinted and searched before being told he could not enter the UK and escorted onto a New York bound American Airlines flight.

Jordan claims Meeks had the correct paperwork, had obtained a work visa for the trip and was carrying a letter supplied by his parole officer.

Jordan said: 'We flew to London from Los Angeles this morning. We got there, and Jeremy and I walked up to the customs officer together.

'They stamped my passport. They looked at Jeremy's passport and they said, could you guys go sit over there. So they put us in this sectioned off section and we were sitting there for an over an hour.

'Then they came to me and asked if I could go through customs without Jeremy.'

Meeks shot to fame in 2014 when the Stockton Police Department posted his mugshot on their website, following his arrest for street terrorism [gang activity] and a misdemeanor charge of resisting/obstructing justice.

The photo promptly went viral, with internet users dubbing him 'the hottest convict ever'.

Since being released from jail in March 2016, Meeks has embarked on a career as a model and appeared on the catwalk at Phillip Plein during New York Fashion Week in February.

Since emerging from prison in 2015 Meeks' life has been transformed. Here he poses with a $125,000 Maserati in front of his new mansion
Michelin starred chef Heston Blumenthal will finally be divorced by his wife tomorrow - six years after they split up.

Blumenthal, 50, had been married to Zanna - real name Susanna - for 28 years and has previously credited her support for his success.

She in turn once described him as her soul mate.

They met as teenagers when he was a credit controller and she was a nurse, and married in 1989.

They split up in 2011 as Blumenthal went through a self-confessed crisis and began to question everything about his life.

Now, with their joint finances and business arrangements sorted out, Mrs Blumenthal, 52, is seeking a decree nisi on the grounds that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

Heston Blumenthal is divorcing from his wife, Zanna, after 28 years of marriage

Michelin star chef Heston Blumenthal is being divorced tomorrow by his wife Zanna after 28 years of marriage

The couple split up in 2011, as Blumenthal went through a self-confessed crisis and began to question everything about his life

Mrs Blumenthal's divorce petition appears in a list of 14 cases to be heard at the Central Family Court in London today before District Judge Anne Hudd.

After they broke up, the 50-year-old celebrity chef spent five years with the American actress turned cookery writer Suzanne Pirret, 51, who described her two favourite things as being 'food and sex'.

She said: 'Food and sex. Two of my favourite things, and the most powerful of all human drives. Best one after the other in either order, I'm not picky.'

He has most recently been spotted with glamorous French real-estate broker Stephanie Gouveia.

The chef has three teenage children with Zanna, and had previously paid tribute to for the sacrifices she made while he worked on building his multi-million pound restaurant business.

They sold their house to pay for the pub that became The Fat Duck in 1995, and he paid tribute to her as it collected three Michelin stars and was named best restaurant in the world a decade later, saying: 'Zanna is the biggest reason for the success of the restaurant. She has been the one doing the sacrificing in order to support what I wanted to do.'

In a separate interview he said: 'We've had our rocky patches, but the thought of splitting up has never crossed my mind.

'When I took my marriage vows, I meant them with all my heart.'

Blumenthal also owns Dinner - a critically acclaimed restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge, West London.

Mrs Blumenthal was raising their three children Jack, Jessie and Joy, who are now 24, 21 and 19, as well as being involved in the business, while he was working 120-hour weeks in the kitchen and his development lab, or selling his brand around the world.

After splitting from his wife in 2011, the chef moved out of the family home in Buckinghamshire and began dating food writer Suzanne Pirret (pictured together)

In a recent interview with Event magazine he said he was driven by guilt at not having spent more time with his children growing up.

He said: 'I remember I had a back operation over Christmas when we were closed at The Fat Duck. I was on crutches, putting up decorations with my son Jack, and he said, 'This is the first time we've done this, Dad.' He was 13 or 14. For some reason I thought, 'Isn't that cute?'

'But then it struck me, 'Oh my God, this really is not right.' I carried that regret for a while, along with other regrets.

However Blumenthal said his relationship with his children was now better than it had ever been.

In an interview with Woman & Home, Zanna previously referred to her husband as her 'soul mate' but lamented that she 'pretty much became a single parent because Heston was in the restaurant all the time.'

However in an interview last month Blumenthal said he and his wife had settled their differences.

Speaking to Event Magazine, he said: 'We've done it. It's only when it gets resolved that you realise the tension. I feel quite different now. I've been trying to free myself up.

'It's a bit like when you're making a stew, you keep adding extra things in but it's still not quite right. In fact, some of the ingredients shouldn't be there in the first place.'

Blumenthal has lately been seen on the town with French real-estate broker Stephanie Gouveia (pictured together)
A 48-year-old mother-of-seven who got married a month ago has been identified as the victim of a murder-suicide in Dallas.

Lana Canada, a supervisor at the health care company Dignity Team Health, was shot dead by her employee Matthew Kempf, 60, in an office building on Monday, according to Assistant Chief Randy Blankenbaker.

Kempf then turned the gun on himself in a meeting room, Blankebaker said. There were witnesses to the shooting, but no one else was hurt.

Matthew Kempf, 60, walked into a Dallas, Texas, office building on Monday morning and killed Lana Canada, his 48-year-old boss (pictured left, and right with her husband)

Police have not indicated why Kempf, who was employed at the time, targeted his supervisor at the health care company, although CBS11 reported the 60-year-old knew he was going to be fired that day.

Court records don't indicate Kempf had any apparent criminal history.

Police and firefighters arrived at the scene at around 10.45am on Monday and evacuated the multi-story building.

Authorities fired a single shot to open the doors to the office, and one police officer suffered a minor injury from the broken glass, Blankenbaker said.

Kempf and Canada were found inside after the 60-year-old opened fire in a meeting room, police said.

Kempf then shot himself in a meeting room, Blankebaker said. There were witnesses to the shooting, but no one else was hurt

Police have not indicated why Kempf, who was employed at the time, targeted his supervisor at the health care company Dignity Team Health. Pictured, the scene outside the building

But CBS11 reported the 60-year-old knew he was going to be fired that day

SWAT officers then searched each floor of the building before calling off the active shooter situation at 12.49pm, police said.

Erin Green, who works on the 10th floor of the building, told NBC she heard the shooting and assumed someone opened fire in her office.

Amanda Moore, who was told to exit the building with her arms up in the air, told NBC: 'That was terrifying... The thoughts going through my mind were, "What if he comes into the stairwell, then what are we going to do? Were going to be trapped."'

Canada, who was also known by her maiden name Lana McAree, listed herself as married on her Facebook profile on March 18, 2017.

Pictured, a bullet hole near a broken window at the office building on Monday
A pit bull apparently broke away from a chain and mauled a man to death early Tuesday as he screamed for help, police said.

Dayton police responded to a report of a man yelling, 'Jesus, help me, help me!' at around 4.40am in an alley in the 300 block of Middle St.

The 911 caller said the man was yelling at 'the top of his lungs' amid the sounds of dogs barking loudly. He said the man was also crying.

A pit bull apparently broke away from a chain and mauled a man to death early Tuesday as he screamed for help, police said. Dayton police responded to a report of a man yelling, 'Jesus, help me, help me!' at around 4.40am in an alley in the 300 block of Middle St (pictured)

Lt Mark Ponichtera said police found the severely injured man being attacked in an alley.

They were able to get the dog to back off, and the man was taken to Miami Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities said they believe the man was an innocent victim.

Once police found the dog, they fatally shot it and confirmed that it was a tan pit bull.

Authorities are still trying to determine who owns the dog.

They said the current homeowners are in a nursing home, but they have people there taking care of the dogs and feeding them.

Three other dogs from the home were turned over to animal control.

Authorities are still trying to determine who owns the dog. They said the current homeowners are in a nursing home, but they have people there taking care of the dogs and feeding them. This map shows the alleyway and home where the dogs lived and where the attack happened

Lt Mark Ponichtera said police found the man being attacked in an alley. They were able to get the dog to back off, and the man was taken to Miami Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police (pictured) then searched for the tan pit bull and killed it

Police didn't immediately have the victim's identity, but they described him as middle-aged.

The Montgomery County Animal Resource Center has been called to the same address in the past, according to News 2. Police said the investigation is ongoing.

In the past three years, there were two high-profile dog mauling deaths that came out of the area.

A 7-month-old boy and a 57-year-old woman were both killed by dogs in separate incidents in 2014.
Erin Morans bereaved husband has spoken out publicly for the first time since the actresss death on Saturday afternoon to pay tribute to his wife and reveal that she died peacefully, by his side, in her sleep. She was holding his hand when she passed.

In a moving and fulsome statement, Steve Fleischmann who met Erin on April 22, 1992 and married the following year, told of how his wife was diagnosed with throat cancer around their anniversary last year.

He said: She was feeling fine on our anniversary 11-23-2016. Maybe four or five days after we got back Erin woke up and had about a dime size blood stain on her pillowcase.

She said I think I bit my tongue.

But the blood stains continued ominously until the couple assumed she was suffering from tonsillitis.

A visit to an ENT specialist and a biopsy revealed the awful truth.

According to Mr Fleischmann Erin received chemotherapy on Thursdays and radiation five days a week.

Erin's widow: Steve Fleischmann, pictured with Erin Moran in 2009, revealed the Happy Days star had been suffering from aggressive throat cancer at the time of her death and that the disease had spread to her brain and spleen

The actress's devastated husband broke his silence on Tuesday and released a moving statement revealing the 56-year-old died by his side on April 22 - on the 25th anniversary of when the couple met

But he wrote: It got so bad so fast. By the middle of February, Erin could no longer speak or eat or drink. She had a feeding tube implant and I feed [sic] her 6 to 8 times a day.

Remarkably he said: She was still happy, she was active, she texted people on her phone all day.

But on the 21st, the day before her death at the age of 56, she started having difficulty breathing. She woke up the following day feeling unwell. Her husband drove to the store to fetch her Kleenex she had asked for and when he came back they lay on the bed together watching TV.

He wrote: I laid down next to her held her right hand in my left. I feel [sic] asleep woke up about a hour later still holding her hand and she was gone, she was just gone.

Fleischmann said the cancer treatment facility 'never' mentioned how aggressive Erin's condition was, but said the coroner revealed to him that it was 'really really bad.'

He was told the cancer had spread to Erin's spleen and brain, and that she had fluid in her lungs.

ERIN'S HUSBAND BREAKS SILENCE This might be long but keep reading if you want to know about Erin. Ok here we go. Erin and I met 4/22/1992 and parted ways 4/22/2017. We were planning to go to Thunder Over Louisville to celebrate. She was feeling fine on our anniversary 11/23/2016. Maybe four or five days after we got back Erin woke up and had about a [dime-sized] blood stain on her pillowcase. She said ["I think I bit my tongue"] A couple days go by and there's a bigger spot of blood. We get like four days into December, there's more blood. I get a flashlight and say 'let me look.' It was not her tongue it was her tonsil on the left tongue. I thought it was tonsillitis. So we went to an ENT who said they wanted to biopsy it. It came back- squamous cell carcinoma. She started radiation and chemo. Five days a week radiation and chemo only on Thursdays. We did that the whole time. It got so bad so fast. By the middle of February, Erin could no longer speak or eat or drink. She had a feeding tube implant and I feed her six to eight times a day. She was still happy, she was active, she texted people on her phone all day. On the 21st she was having trouble breathing. She woke up on the 22nd, she was not 100%. She needed Kleenex, so I went to the store and came back. She was there watching T.V. in bed. I laid down next to her, held her right hand in my left. I [fell] asleep woke up about a half hour later still holding her hand and she was gone, she was just gone... Norton Cancer Institute never said how bad it was..The coroner told me it was really really bad. It had spread to her spleen, she had a lot of fluid in her lungs and part of her brain was infected. The coroner said even if she was in the hospital being pumped full of antibiotics she still would not [have] made it. He said it was the best she was with me and went in her sleep. So that's it. Advertisement

Earlier friends of Erin expressed their shock at her rapid decline with those who had seen her most recently saying that she had appeared happy. Though many in the Berkshire Pointe trailer park which she lived with her husband and mother-in-law Donna Woods admitted to DailyMail.com that they had not seen her out and about recently.

Former Happy Days co-star and longtime friend Anson Williams, who played Potsie Weber on the show, told People.com: Its hard to wrap your arms around. She was having treatment for throat cancer, so I was contacting her husband and her and she seemed to be fighting it, really doing well. I was just shocked when I got the call she had passed.

I had no idea it was so bad. She kept very quiet. We all kept quiet too out of respect for Erin. She couldnt speak, but her texts were very [positive].

Another who knew Erin said that despite being a heavy smoker with a history of alcohol and substance abuse she had got sober and had been, in a good place.

Seen for the first time these pictures obtained by DailyMail.com show Erin Morans body being taken from her trailer park home Saturday

Harris County Coroner took the body moments after the actress had been pronounced dead on Saturday afternoon

Moran (pictured left and right) was with her husband, Steve Fleischmann, when she died on Saturday

Seen for the first time these pictures obtained by DailyMail.com show Erin Morans body being taken from her trailer park home by Harris County Coroner moments after the actress had been pronounced dead on Saturday afternoon.

Police and paramedics responded to the 911 call believed to have been made by her husband Steve Fleischmann around 4pm on Saturday but it was too late for the 56-year-old actress made famous by her role as Joanie in Happy Days.

Twenty-four year old Kimberly Combs witnessed the scenes. She told DailyMail.com: Saturday me and my kids loaded up in the car we went to go to my moms for a cookout and we seen the coroner van in her driveway and they were there.

We didnt know who it was at the time. My son and I noticed that there was somebody walking out with a body bag on a stretcher to put them in the coroners van.

It was really frightening.

Kimberly who has lived in Berkshire Pointe trailer park where Erin and Steve lived with his mother, Donna Woods, recalled Erin as a really nice woman who gave out candy to the kids at Halloween.

Twenty-four year old Kimberly Combs witnessed the scenes, and said that watching the vody being taken out of the home was 'really frightening'

The autopsy findings released earlier today showed that Erins death was likely due to complications linked to the stage 4 cancer from which few seem to have known she was suffering.

Toxicology results are pending though no illegal drugs or paraphenalia were found in the small trailer home.

But Erins struggle with alcohol and substance abuse has been well documented and Kimberly admitted that drugs are a problem in the otherwise quiet community.

She said: 'Theres two houses on this street weve seen a lot of activity as a matter of fact. Im not 100% sure but weve got an idea that past Ms Morans home down a ways theres been speculation that there might be drugs.'

The Harrison County Sheriff's Office announced her death in a statement that read: 'On Saturday the 22nd day of April, 2017, Erin Marie Moran-Fleischmann passed away at her residence located in New Salisbury, Indiana.'

'A joint investigation into Mrs Moran's death was conducted by the Harrison County Sheriff's Department and the Harrison County Coroner's Office.

Moran was just 14 when she signed on to play Joanie, the feisty little sister of Richie Cunningham on the popular sitcom, Happy Days

It was previously believed that she might have died of a drug overdose, and the sheriff's statement was released after a worker at the trailer park Moran was living detailed how the star had tried to turn her life around. Pictured: Moran living in a trailer park in New Salisbury, Indiana, in 2012

'A subsequent autopsy revealed that Mrs Moran likely succumbed to complications of stage 4 cancer.

'Standard toxicology tests were performed and the results are pending however no illegal narcotics were found at the residence.'

It was previously believed that she might have died of a drug overdose, and the sheriff's statement was released after a worker at the trailer park Moran was living detailed how the star had tried to turn her life around.
The China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA), a subsidiary of the NASA-like China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, put forward the concept of future UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) warfare on April 24, the second national Space Day.

A CH-5 (Rainbow-5) unmanned aerial vehicle, armed with its weapons, is on stationary display at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China 2016) held in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province. [File Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]



The CAAA's principal mission is to test the aerodynamic performance of China's aerial and aerospace vehicles, but it has also started to develop the "Caihong" (rainbow in English) series fixed-wing UAV.

The CAAA held the view that in future battlefields, UAVs would be taking on increasingly more aerial missions currently limited to manned aircraft. The conclusion was based on the success of Rainbow UAVs, especially CH-3 and CH-4, in anti-terrorism combat zones in both the Middle East and Africa.

"Highly intelligent and unmanned, UAVs can automatically perform many maneuvers, and get in and out of a hostile airspace without risking the life of a pilot," said Shi Wen, CAAA's chief UAV engineer. He added that UAVs still need pilots, although they control the drones hundreds of miles away.

In this way, many who are "smart but physically unfit" to fly regular military aircraft could prove their worth in piloting UAVs.

Shi revealed that of all the international operators of Rainbow UAV, only a few were established pilots of regular aircraft. "Training a UAV pilot is far easier and takes far less time [than training a regular pilot]," he added.

Its advantages of being risk-free, having long endurance and a high altitude range also make UAVs a game changer in future warfare. For example, CH-4 and CH-5 can both stay airborne for up to 40 hours. Both of them can reach an altitude higher than 7,200 meters and have a cruise altitude between 3,000 and 5,000 meters above sea level.

That would mean pilots on the ground take shifts but drones hover continuously above a hostile region. "It means higher efficiency and lower lost. One sortie of the UAV is equal to several completed by manned aircraft," said Shi.

He explained that although UAVs fly much slower than a manned jet plane, they have higher survivability because UAVs feature a higher cruise altitude (3,000-5,000 meters) whereas manned planes have to descend to a lower airspace to conduct reconnaissance or attack.

"Our calculations showed that in the same hostile airspace, the third-generation jet planes will be shot down more easily than UAVs," said the chief engineer.

The Rainbow drone's research team revealed that stealth technology is ready for UAV, but there has not been a demand yet for stealth drones, mostly because in the current anti-terrorism warfare, UAVs already amount to a risk-free solution.

Although aerial  rather than aerospace vehicles  Rainbow drones were the center of the CAAA's observance of the annual Space Day for the linkage between their superb aerodynamic performance and the academy's mission.
Poundworld could face a 500,000 fine after shoppers were allegedly sold food covered in mouse urine and droppings, a court heard.

The budget store in the Centrale Shopping Centre, Croydon, is accused of selling food 'unfit for human consumption' covered with mouse excrement.

Poundworld is charged with failing to comply with 11 food safety and health and safety regulations after inspectors raided the unit on 22 February last year, Croydon Magistrates' Court heard.

The budget store in the Centrale Shopping Centre, Croydon, is accused of selling food 'unfit for human consumption' covered with mouse excrement

Prosecutor Simon Kiely, for Croydon Council, said: 'The way the prosecution put the case fines upwards of half a million pounds would be the likely consequences.'

It is said the bargain store did not protect food products from contamination knowing it would render the food unfit for human consumption.

Food was allegedly 'injurious to health or contaminated in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect it to be consumed in that state'.

Poundworld is also accused of failing to put adequate procedures to control pests in place.

Mice were allegedly swarming throughout the shop and basement when inspectors visited.

They were running wild after bosses failed to ensure the building was pest proofed, it is claimed.

It is also claimed Poundworld failed to keep the premises clean and did not maintain Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles.

Poundworld is charged with failing to comply with 11 food safety and health and safety regulations at Croydon Magistrates' Court heard

The company is further accused of failing in their duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees.

It is said that they did not carry out a sufficient risk assessments regarding the health and safety of employees.

When inspectors assessed the shop they say they found there was no clean hot running water for staff to wash their hands.

It is alleged there was poor lighting and no thermometers to regulate the temperature.

'In those circumstances it must go to the crown court,' said Mr Kiely.

Founded in 1974 Poundworld sells most items for 1 and over 320 stores in the UK employing more than 6,000 staff.

After selling a majority stake in the company to US private equity firm TPG for 150m in May 2015 they announced they planned to open 200 new stores.

It had a turnover of 462.7m last year and increase of 40.4m year on year.

Poundworld Retail Limited, based in Normanton, West Yorkshire, is charged with six violations of the Food Safety and Hygiene Regulation and five violations of the Health and Safety at Work Act at their Croydon unit.

Deputy district judge Irena Ray-Crosby sent the case to be heard at Croydon Crown Court on 23 May.
Christine Hoffman sent an email to staff asking them to keep the white students in each grade in the same class

A principal sent an email to teachers asking them to keep white students in the same classes at a predominantly black elementary school to ensure they felt 'comfortable'.

Christine Hoffman, 46, has apologized since sending the email around staff at Campbell Park Elementary in St Petersburg, Florida, last week.

In it, she said white students, who are all aged between five and ten, should 'be in the same class'.

She later clarified that she meant for the white children in each grade to be put in classes together so that none were ever alone in a class of black students.

Hoffman has since vacated her role temporarily while the issue is investigated by the school district.

She apologized to parents for the remark, admitting she had exercised 'poor judgement'.

Of Campbell Park Elementary's 606 students, 49 are white. Hoffman said she was merely trying to make those students

At a meeting with parents on Monday, she tried to defend the remark, telling families: 'I was not asking that all white students in each grade be clustered, as that is not our practice in creating class lists.

Of the 606 students at Campbell Park Elementary School in St Petersburg, Florida, 557 are black and 49 are white

'I understand how racially insensitive the guideline was.'

Parents however said they would not be satisfied until Hoffman was fired.

'The parents said that as black people we are used to being the only black person in the classroom and no one is making sure we are comfortable,' Denise Ford told The Tampa Bay Times after the meeting.

'The parents were not accepting of any excuse. We accept your apology, but you have to go,' she added.

Hoffman will work in the school district's headquarters until it completes its investigation.

The school board plans to meet on Tuesday night to discuss the case.
Ivanka Trump firmly rejected the use of the word 'accomplice' to describe her role counseling her father as the influential advisor to the president took a trip to Germany.

'I don't like the intonation of that,' Ivanka said, asked about a headline in the Berliner Zeitung that referred to her as 'First Flusterin,' which translates as 'first whisperer' and a 'loyal accomplice' to her father.

'I don't like the word 'accomplice' because in this context, I don't know that that's productive,' she told NBC's 'Today' show, when asked about it.

She spoke from Berlin, where she attended a panel discussion at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Ivanka Trump rejected use of the world 'accomplice' to describe her role advising her father's administration

'I don't like the intonation of that,' Ivanka Trump replied when asked about headlines that she was an 'accomplice' to her father's administration

She was seated next to Merkel when the chancellor attended a White House meeting on workforce development during the chancellor's visit in March.

'One of the things that I value about my father, as first a businessman and now as the leader of our country, is that he curates ideas and he likes to hear from people with divergent viewpoints,' Ivanka Trump explained in the 'Today' interview. 'And that's not always true in politics. It's actually seldom true,' she said.

In comments to reporters after a panel event, the president's daughter  who now has an official White House position as an unpaid advisor  pushed back on the idea that she steered her father into his decision to launch U.S. strikes on Syria.

Her brother, Eric Trump, had told Britain's Daily Telegraph about her role. 'Ivanka is a mother of three kids and she has influence. I'm sure she said: 'Listen, this is horrible stuff,' Eric Trump said, in reference to descriptions and images of the chemical weapons attack there.

The Berliner Zeitung newspaper called Ivanka Trump the 'First Flusterin' or the 'first whisperer' in a headline

'That would be a flawed interpretation,' Ivanka Trump pushed back in comments to reporters in Berlin.

'It would be very hard as a human being to see the images that we saw and not to be very shaken to the core,' she said, Politico reported.

'That said  you can't make decisions based on emotion alone,' she continued. 'His decision was incredibly well informed and advised. I'm proud of the action he took, how decisive it was.'

Describing her father's decision to launch the strikes, which was finalized at Mar-a-Lago while Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting, she said: 'It was informed at the highest levels of military and state. I, of course, shared my perspective and opinion. It aligned with his own.'

The First Daughter (second left) did not give a definition as to what her job title entails, but did state that she cared 'very much about empowering women in the workplace'.

Ivanka (second left), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center) and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands (right) arrive at the Women's 20 summit ahead of Christine Lagarde

The president's daughter was booed when she mentioned the president's name before sharing a warm handshake with Merkel during a panel discussion at the Women's 20 Summit in Berlin at the start of a jam-packed one-day tour after being 'directly invited' by Merkel last month.

While trying to defend her father, the mother-of-three was booed and hissed at by the majority-female audience when she told the room, 'I'm very proud of my father's advocacy' before she said that he's a 'tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive.'

The moderator, WirtschaftsWoche editor-in-chief Miriam Meckel, interrupted Ivanka and said, 'You hear the reaction from the audience, so I need to address one more point. Some attitudes towards women, your father has publicly displayed in former times might leave one questioning whether he's such an empower-er for women. How do you relate to that or are things changing? What's your comment on that?'

All smiles: During her first international trip as an official adviser to her father, Ivanka Trump shared a warm handshake with Angela Merkel (above) one month after the president awkwardly snubbed the German Chancellor

'I've certainly heard the criticism from the media and that's been perpetuated,' Ivanka replied.

The moderator grilled Ivanka about what exactly her role is her father's administration.

'You're the First Daughter of the United States, and you're also an assistant to the president,' Meckel said.

'The German audience is not that familiar with the concept of a First Daughter. I'd like to ask you, what is your role, and who are you representing, your father as president of the United States, the American people, or your business?'

Ivanka Trump responded: 'Certainly not the latter. I'm rather unfamiliar with this role as well ... It has been a little under 100 days and it has just been a remarkable and incredible journey.'

The First Daughter did not give a definition as to what her job title entails, but did state that she cared 'very much about empowering women in the workplace'.




Idaho Fish and Game officers, who stumbled on skeletal remains protruding from a badger hole earlier this month, have determined that they belong to two unidentified children.

Authorities thought one body was found on April 15 near Hot Creek Road south of Mountain Home, Idaho.

But a forensic anthropologist determined the bones are from two children buried atop another, reports the Idaho Statesman.

Idaho Fish and Game officers determined that the bones they found here belong to 2 children

One child was believed to be three to five years old at the time of death and the other child around four to nine years old, the Elmore County Sheriff's Office was told unofficially. The sex of the children has not been determined.

Elmore County Undersheriff Greg Berry said Tuesday that carbon dating results expected in several weeks should determine when the children died.

'It is clear by the condition of the remains that they have been buried for a considerable amount of time,' deputies said in a statement.

Officials stumbled on skeletal remains protruding from a badger hole near a rural road in Idaho

Boise State University and investigators are trying to figure out how the remains got there

That should help Boise State University personnel and investigators decide whether the site was an Oregon Trail grave or a possible dumping spot for homicide victims.

Officials do not believe the site is a Native American burial.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game workers stumbled across the bones sticking out of the badger hole on US-owned land.
A jury convicted Eric Frein of capital murder on Wednesday in the ambush slaying of a state police trooper he targeted in 2014

A man who killed a state police trooper in a cold-blooded sniper ambush that he hoped would spark a revolution will not testify at his sentencing, even as his mother and sister plead for jurors to spare him the death penalty.

Eric Frein's defense team on Tuesday declined to call him to the stand in the sentencing phase of his trial for the September 12, 2014, attack at the Blooming Grove state police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania.

His lawyers said outside court they did not want to expose Frein to cross-examination, fearing he might try to 'rationalize' the deadly ambush.

Frein, 33, was found guilty last week of murdering Cpl. Bryon Dickson II, a married father-of-two, and critically wounding a second trooper whom he shot through the hips.

The prosecution has already proved the aggravating circumstances that would point toward a death sentence: Frein killed a law enforcement officer, and the jury concluded it was a terrorist act.

Frein's decision to avoid the witness stand seemed to come as a relief to one of his lawyers, Bill Ruzzo.

Cpl. Bryon Dickson II (left) died in the September 12, 2014 attack, as Trooper Alex Douglass (right) was left critically injured. Frein targeted the troopers at random in hopes of sparking a revolution

Tiffany Dickson, widow of slain Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Cpl. Bryon Dickson, is escorted by a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper in this file photo

'Defendants typically rationalize and we were afraid that might happen,' he told reporters.

Another defense attorney, Michael Weinstein, protested Frein's treatment in jail, saying he has been forced since the guilty verdict to wear a heavy 'suicide smock' that prevents inmates from hanging themselves, and he is kept in a cell with the lights on around the clock.

The defense hopes to spare Frein execution in part by suggesting he had issues with his father, whom he tried desperately to emulate but could never measure up to.

Eric Frein was a college dropout who spent most of his time in his bedroom in his parents' house, where he lived into his 30s.

'I failed Eric as a father,' Eugene Michael 'Mike' Frein testified Monday. He apologized to his son and added: 'I do love him or I wouldn't be here.'

Mike Frein told jurors he had spent 28 years in the military - retiring as an Army major - but lied to Eric by claiming he'd been wounded in Vietnam, when in reality he never went to Vietnam or saw combat. He said he also falsely claimed to have been a sniper.

The late-night attack happened outside the Blooming Grove barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania in 2014. Eric Frein, who is pictured above center in 2015, then led authorities on a 48-day manhunt through the rugged Pocono Mountains

Eric Frein grew up hearing 'false stories of a hero,' in a household that glorified war and combat, and sought to follow in his father's footsteps, defense attorney Weinstein said.

Mike Frein told the jury he thought his son would join the military. Instead, Eric Frein became a military re-enactor. The gunman - one of three children - lied and told his parents he had graduated from college.

'I failed him by not pushing him harder,' said Mike Frein, who has a doctorate in microbiology and worked in the pharmaceutical industry producing vaccines. 'I lied to him, so I failed there too.'

Mike Frein added he shared his political views with his son, telling Eric that 'government's too big' and citing a number of cases in which police had shot and killed suspects as 'bad police work.'

But he said he never encouraged Eric Frein to target police.

'If he had a plan to shoot or kill anybody I would've stopped him,' Mike Frein said.

Before the defense rested in the sentencing phase on Tuesday, Eric Frein's adoptive 20-year-old Tiffany Frein cast him as a protective older brother in an often dysfunctional household. Eric Frein's half-sister and mother also testified on his behalf at sentencing.

Mother Deborah Frein told jurors her son has been made out to be a monster, 'and that's not who he is at all.'

'I don't know what happened, but no sane person would do what he did,' she sobbed.

U.S. marshals caught Frein (above in 2014) at an abandoned airplane hangar more than 20 miles from the barracks

Eric Frein was 'literally hunting humans' when he peered at his targets through a scope during a late-night shift change and squeezed the trigger four times, Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin told jurors in his closing argument in the guilt phase of the trial.

Tonkin called Frein 'a terrorist with murder in his heart, a plan in his mind and a rifle in his hand.'

The gunman led authorities on a 48-day manhunt through the rugged Pocono Mountains before U.S. marshals caught him at an abandoned airplane hangar more than 20 miles from the barracks.

After a two-week trial that presented uncontested evidence of Frein's guilt, the jury convicted him on all 12 charges, including murder of a law enforcement officer, terrorism and two weapons of mass destruction counts related to small explosive devices he left in the woods while eluding capture.

Frein showed no emotion as the verdict was read, and he avoided looking at his parents as he was led from the courtroom.

The verdict was expected after prosecutors presented more than 500 pieces of evidence tying Frein to the ambush.

His DNA was found on the trigger of the murder weapon, and police recovered several handwritten notebook pages at his campsite in which he described the attack and his subsequent escape into the woods in chilling detail, writing how he shot Dickson twice and watched him fall 'still and quiet.'

The same jury that found him guilty will decide whether he deserves the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Pennsylvania State Police found camping equipment and two pipe bombs at the site pictured above in 2014 where Frein was hiding out

Frein shot Dickson in the chest and through the shoulders and spine from a distance of 87 yards, waited nearly 90 seconds until Trooper Alex Douglass came to Dickson's aid and then shot him, too, prosecutors said.

The defense offered no evidence or testimony and conceded the government's overwhelming case for conviction.

Police linked Frein to the ambush after a man walking his dog discovered his partly submerged SUV three days later in a swamp a few miles from the shooting scene.

Inside, investigators found shell casings matching those found at the barracks and Frein's driver's license.

The discovery sparked a manhunt that involved 1,000 law enforcement officials and spanned more than 300 square miles.

The dragnet shut down schools and roads and hurt businesses in the mountainous region, which leans heavily on tourism.

At times, police ordered residents to stay inside or prevented them from returning home as they pursued tips and supposed sightings. Trick or treating was canceled.

Frein, (above) 33, showed no emotion as the verdict was read, and he avoided looking at his parents as he was led from the courtroom. The trial moves into a penalty phase Thursday, with the same jury deciding whether he deserves the death penalty or life in prison without parole

Frein spent more than a month hiding out at the hangar, using a laptop and pilfered Wi-Fi to follow news of the search.

He also worked on a letter to his parents, writing that 'only passing through the crucible of another revolution can get us back the liberties we once had.'

Frein added: 'Tension is high at the moment and the time seems right for a spark to ignite a fire in the hearts of men. What I have done has not been done before and it felt like it was worth a try.'

A death sentence would send Frein to death row, but Pennsylvania has a moratorium on executions under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

The state's last execution was in 1999, and it has executed only three people since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976.
A pet dog was found abandoned in a field just days after its owner's neighbour agreed to look after it.

Elderly terrier Tess was found with an apologetic note slung around her neck which read: 'I don't need a dog' and a bag of food, a bowl and blanket nearby.

The note added that the dog had been dumped 'reluctantly' and claimed that the owner 'did know I will not keep Tess'.

The abandoned pooch was found by the volunteers from South Yorkshire Pet Ambulance animal rescue who were in the field for a car boot sale at Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

Elderly terrier Tess was found with an apologetic note slung around her neck after her owner's neighbour had agreed to take her in

However, last night the elderly neighbour - who was not named - was blasted by the son of Tess's owner Yvonne Radcliffe, 76, who lived 18 miles away in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

Paul Edwardson, 38, had discovered that Tess had been abandoned after the pet ambulance service posted an appeal for information about her on Facebook.

He explained how his mother had asked her neighbour to look after the dog ahead of moving to the US to start a new life with man she had met.

Paul claimed the neighbour agreed to take the dog last Wednesday [April 19] and his mum jetted off to Virginia safe in the knowledge that her dog was being looked after.

Paul, a vehicle technician, said: 'I am upset but I'm more angry if I'm being honest.

'Tess was twelve and my mother feared that she may not survive the flight.

'She came back to the UK for six weeks to sort out her possessions but primarily to re-home Tess.

'Mum was worried where Tess would go and didn't want her to go to a stranger.

'She had known the neighbour for over nine years and he told her that he had always wanted a dog.

The full note left by the neighbour after dumping Tess in a field

'Tess stayed with mum to keep her company in the last five weeks before the neighbour took responsibility for her last Wednesday.

'The neighbour had told my mum that he was 'building a run for her' and was 'so happy to have her'

Paul couldn't believe his eyes when he logged in to Facebook and saw Tess.

He added: 'I was sat at home after work and saw the picture on Facebook.

'I recognised the blanket that she slept with and her diamante collar. I got in touch with the service to find out what was going on, I couldn't believe it.

'I explained the situation and gave them our side of the story.

'After I had seen the post yesterday evening I went round to his house and confronted him.

'I had to explain to him just how angry I was.

'He has tried to paint a picture of mum as if she has dumped the dog on someone and that isn't true at all.

'He couldn't see anything wrong with what he had done.'

Paul rang his mother late last night to break the news and said that she was distraught.

He added: 'I rang her and told her and she immediately started crying her eyes out.

'She kept repeating 'what has happened to my dog?'

'There has been no remorse from the neighbour at all.

'There has to be much tougher punishments for this kind of offence.'

Alan Webster, who runs the South Yorkshire Pet Ambulance service, was fundraising at the car boot that morning and said that he was lucky that they were there.

Alan said: 'We were there at 5am that morning and found the elderly dog tied up with just a bag of food and a note.

'We have a little cooker and we made her some rice pudding which really warmed her up - I was going to have it from my breakfast!

The elderly terrier was left with a bag of food and a bowl of water, in an abandonment that has been slammed by local animal welfare groups

'We have done research and located the dogs owner - who went abroad after believing that the dog was being looked after by a neighbour.

'He has just dumped it at the car boot, it is wrong.

Alan, who started the service 21 years ago, added: 'What if we hadn't have been there for whatever reason that morning? He used us an excuse.

'The neighbour said he had only dumped the dog an hour before but that can't be true, its blanket was wet through and it was soaked.

'If he wanted it to be re-homed it could have been passed to us or anybody else.

'What if it was a rainy day? What would have happened then?

'He took the dog so that his neighbour could move abroad knowing it was safe and then he went and dumped it.

'He is a callous old man.'

South Yorkshire Pet Ambulance are a voluntary service that was founded 21 years ago. They save and transport animals and assist the RSPCA.

Tess is currently being cared for by volunteers at Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
Jeremy Corbyn today met with Britain's most senior civil servant Sir Jeremy Heywood to discuss Labour's transition into Government ahead of the June election.

But it seems not everyone shared the Labour leader's optimism, with the meeting sparking mockery from many who have discounted Corbyn.

After his Corbyn confirmed the meeting, one user, MW1, tweeted: '15mins of Sir Jeremy Heywood's life never to be got back.'

Jeremy Corbyn (left) today met with Britain's most senior civil servant Sir Jeremy Heywood (right) to discuss Labour's transition into Government ahead of the June election

Not everyone shared the Labour leader's optimism, with the meeting sparking mockery from many who have discounted Corbyn

Some suggested that Heywood deserves an official honour if he sat through the entire meeting without laughing out loud

Numerous videos were posted on Twitter accompanying the news, including this famous footage of Theresa May laughing in the Commons

Others suggested that Heywood deserves an official honour if he sat through the entire meeting without laughing out loud.

Matt Brannigan wrote: 'If Jeremy Heywood kept a straight face, he deserves a Victoria Cross.'

Richard Northey wrote: 'Sir Jeremy Heywood must be one of the most polite civil servants to even agree to that meeting.'

Max Sefton said: 'Corbyn meeting with Jeremy Heywood to discuss his transition into government shows he has a hitherto unsuspected sense of humour.'

The Labour leader praised the 'professionalism and commitment' of Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood after their 'detailed and productive' meeting.

Labour has already been given access to the Civil Service for factual information about the organisation of Whitehall departments.

Richard Northey wrote: 'Sir Jeremy Heywood must be one of the most polite civil servants to even agree to that meeting.'

Jim Bond shared the sentiments of many other users, finding the meeting about what seems such an unlikely event hilarious

Max Sefton said: 'Corbyn meeting with Jeremy Heywood to discuss his transition into government shows he has a hitherto unsuspected sense of humour'

The party will also be informing officials of any likely policy changes if it succeeds in ousting the Conservatives on June 8.

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: 'The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, today met the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, to discuss the transition to government if Labour wins the General Election.

'The meeting, with the support of staff and colleagues, was detailed and productive, and will now be followed by departmental discussions.

'Jeremy would like to put on record his appreciation of the professionalism and commitment of the Cabinet Secretary and his Civil Service colleagues.'
A school bus driver and 14 child passengers were injured in Kentucky after the bus swerved off the road and struck a tree, officials said.

The 61-year-old driver was traveling on Highway 28 about 100 miles southeast of Lexington at about 9am Monday when she lost control after trying to avoid a deer, authorities said.

The bus smashed into a tree and landed in a ditch - but most students suffered just minor injuries, reported WYMT.

The bus swerved off the road and smashed into a tree, but students suffered just minor injuries

The crash could have been 'a lot worse' had the tree not broken the bus's fall, said Chief Deputy Tony Eversole of the Perry County Sheriff's Office.

Two nearby Good Samaritans helped remove the injured students and driver from the wreckage, according to reports.

Local officials say the damage could have been worse had the tree not broken the bus' fall

VIDEO: School bus pulled from ditch after crash in Perry County. @WYMT @WKYT pic.twitter.com/iLLzQ9eBKD  Angela Reighard (@AngelaWYMT) April 24, 2017

Of the 14 injured students, 12 were rushed to the hospital and two left with their parents, officials said. None of the injuries were life-threatening,

The students were being taken from Buckhorn School to a vocational school at the time of the crash.
President Trump brushed off worries that his escalating rhetoric toward Canada might start a trade war.

'They have a tremendous surplus with the United States, whenever they have a surplus I have no fear,' Trump said Tuesday at a White House meeting with farmers. 'We have massive trade deficits, so when we're the country with trade deficits, we have no fear.'

Trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada ramped up Tuesday as Trump threatened to retaliate against the country's Northern neighbor for imposing additional restrictions on American dairy products. This came after the Trump White House resumed a trade tiff over Canadian softwood lumber, by slapping on a new tariff.

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President Donald Trump is shaking a first northward, warning Canada that the U.S. will retaliate if Ottawa continues to slap import tariffs on U.S. goods

'We will not stand for this,' Trump tweeted, referring to a tariff on U.S. ultra-filtered milk  used for making cheese  that crosses the border into Canada

At the same meeting Trump told attendees, 'We learned that yesterday, frankly, with Canada, where the dairy farmers up in Wisconsin, Upstate New York, different places  a lot of border states in particular  are not able to sell their dairy products into Canada.'

'And this has been going on for a while, and we're not going to put up with it,' the president said, escalating the rhetoric surrounding the issue.

'People don't realize Canada has been very rough on the United States. Everyone thinks of Canada as being wonderful, and so do I. I love Canada,' Trump said. 'But they've outsmarted our politicians for many years, and you people understand that.'

Trump first spoke about the issue last week in Kenosha, Wisconsin, telling an audience, 'What they've done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace. It's a disgrace.'

By Tuesday he was shaking a first to the north, tweeting that 'Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult.'

'We will not stand for this. Watch!' he added.

The U.S. Commerce Department has reached a 'preliminary determination' that Canada is improperly subsidizing softwood lumber exports to the United States. Softwood lumber is used mainly for home building.

The Commerce Department said that, after talks failed to reach an agreement, it would impose 'countervailing duties' of between three and 24 percent.

The department 'will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits based on these preliminary rates.'

Furthermore, 'certain companies will be subject to the retroactive collection of cash deposits' for up to 90 days.

Officials in Canada, the second most important U.S. trade partner, rejected claims of subsidies.

The U.S. Commerce Department said that in 2016 softwood lumber imports from Canada were valued at $5.66 billion.

'Canada disagrees strongly with the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to impose an unfair and punitive duty. The accusations are baseless and unfounded,' a statement signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr read.

The softwood lumber dispute between the United States and Canada has seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years, and now Trump is putting a tariff on imports

'This decision will negatively affect workers on both sides of the border, and will ultimately increase costs for American families who want to build or renovate homes.'

Canada 'will vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood lumber industry, including through litigation,' it said, adding that it has prevailed in international tribunals on the issue since 1983.

The softwood lumber dispute between Washington and Ottawa has seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years, with U.S. producers accusing their Canadian counterparts of exporting lumber at subsidized prices.

Canada, the United States and Mexico are part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, Canadian softwood exports are regulated under a bilateral agreement reached in 2006, which expired in 2015.

President Donald Trump, who took office in January, spent much of his campaign blasting the NAFTA agreement and stating that he would renegotiate it to get a better deal.

Trump's campaign attacks focused mainly on Mexico, but recently he has focused on Canada, especially over dairy imports.

'It has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations,' Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.

On April 17 'it became apparent that Canada intends to effectively cut off the last dairy products being exported from the United States. Today (Monday), in a different matter, the Department of Commerce determined a need to impose countervailing duties of roughly $1 billion on Canadian softwood lumber exports to us.

'This is not our idea of a properly functioning Free Trade Agreement,' Ross said.

Following these emergency measures, the Commerce Department said it will conduct a thorough investigation and confirm its position by September 27.

If confirmed, the tariffs would then have to be approved by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).

Ross said that he and the Canadian ministers 'tried to negotiate a settlement but we were unable.'

Canada 'has put forward a number of reasonable proposals to the current U.S. administration that is responsive to views expressed by U.S. industry,' the statement from Canada's Freeland and Carr read.

'We remain confident that a negotiated settlement is not only possible but in the best interests of both countries.'

Trump has said he believes too many U.S. industrial jobs have gone abroad, especially to Mexico, and that the United States is the victim of unfair trade practices by both of its NAFTA neighbors.

Last week Trump suggested possible sanctions in the steel sector, stating that he believes the decline in domestic steel production due to cheaper imports is a national security issue.
Narinder Kaulder, 48, allegedly supplied bogus Altuzan to American doctors during a 'large scale' smuggling operation between 2009 and 2012

A British pharmaceutical boss is battling extradition over a plot to smuggle vast amounts of fake cancer drugs into the US, a court heard today.

Narinder Kaulder, 48, allegedly supplied bogus Altuzan to American doctors during a 'large scale' smuggling operation between 2009 and 2012.

Kaulder's UK drugs company River East Supplies is said to have sold cheap counterfeit drugs on behalf of discount online pharmacy CanadaDrugs, the Winnipeg-based firm at the centre of the scandal.

A court heard US customs forms were 'systematically falsified' during the alleged scam so unapproved drugs could be shipped into the country.

Patients were said to be 'unaware that the drugs being dispensed to them were unapproved'.

American prosecutors are now seeking Kaulder's extradition to face charges for conspiracy to smuggle goods, smuggling goods, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Together the offences carry a maximum sentence of 30 years.

Kaulder appeared in a tailored dark blue suit as District Judge Margot Coleman heard final submissions about the case at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

She is expected to adjourn the case for a ruling.

Kaulder's barrister Clare Montgomery QC, of Matrix Chambers, said: 'Nowhere is it reliably stated that anyone would make false statements to the physicians or the drop shippers there when the drugs were being shipped.

'And even if one got in the realm of inferring there must have been some false statement made, where is it suggested that it was with an intent to gain within the meaning of The Fraud Act?'

Ms Montgomery told the court the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has cleared him of any wrongdoing.

'It might be a case where you wish to have further explanations from the U.S. government, given the poverty of explanations they have provided thus far,' she added.

American prosecutors are now seeking Kaulder's extradition to face charges for conspiracy to smuggle goods, smuggling goods, and conspiracy to commit money laundering

Ben Lloyd, on behalf of US authorities, said they 'are not able to provide further information for reasons of sensitivity'.

He continued: 'The conduct in our submission does give rise to the offence of fraud by false representation.

'A point made against us in terms of the fraud misrepresentation offences is that there's no suggestion of attempt to gain so far as the customs conduct is concerned.

'What is the purpose in this case of a representation made to customs of the value?

'It's to facilitate the scheme, to ensure that the items entered the U.S. when if they had been described correctly the wouldn't have done.

'Plainly the purpose was to make money out of the enterprise.'

Kaulder was arrested on August 15 after US prosecutors filed an indictment on July 17, 2015.

It claims he was involved in the sale of 'a counterfeit version of the cancer drug known as Altuzan', which was not approved by the US's Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

CanadaDrugs is said to have used River East Supplies, in Leicester, and Rockley Ventures, based in Barbados, to conduct the sale of cheap counterfeit versions of drugs including Altuzan, Aloxi, Avastin, and Botox.

According to charges, 'many of the drugs sold were used in conjunction with the treatment of cancer'.

CanadaDrugs were also accused of forging customs documents to conceal shipments of drugs when US prosecutors laid charges against the company in August 2015.

Kaulder, from Chellaston, in Derby, has been on bail throughout the case.

The hearing continues.
Ma Li (R) does prenatal examination for a Tibetan woman Wu Sanmi at the village clinic. [Photo by Pan Songgang/China.org.cn]



There is a small clinic in Luoju Village, Mianning County of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. Ma Li, 35, has worked in quiet obscurity here as a doctor for 16 years.

After graduating from a local medical school in 2001, Ma volunteered to work in this small village, subsequently forging an indissoluble bond with the local people.

Luoju Village is located in a remote mountainous area, impoverished, and backward, where a dearth of doctors and medicines is still common.

Ma Li tirelessly gives medical treatment to the villagers whenever they fall ill. She begins to attend patients visiting her clinic early in the morning and finishes late at night. She usually receives 10-40 patients a day. She also visits the patients at their homes. As the only doctor in the village, she is always on call.

For the patients from extremely poor families, Ma offers them free diagnosis, treatment and medicines. Zhao Huansheng, a 68-year-old living alone is one of them. He has suffered from severe hypertension for many years. Ma often visits him at home to give him free medicines for his condition.

Ma's clinic is a two-story shabby shack built on a cliff. She keeps the rooms clean and tidy, with medicines and medical devices placed in very orderly fashion. The sound of rushing streams in the mountains and a cold, howling wind can be heard clearly, particularly in the still of night.

The clinic was built 16 years ago by Ma Li and local villagers with stones, slates, wood and mud. Now, it has become quite well known by local people, and Ma is a symbol of hope for them when falling ill.

Ma said the poverty in the area was far beyond her expectation when she first arrived. "Some pregnant woman simply laid a straw mat on the ground and gave birth. The scene was just too horrifying to look at," she said.

Learning that every year one or two women died in delivery, Ma made up her mind to rely on her knowledge and strength to avoid or reduce the tragedy and help rid the locality of its backwardness.

She treats her patients with sympathy. She has gathered a wealth of experience by working in this small clinic and in seeking to heal various challenging diseases. For serious cases, she will take the patients to a nearby town hospital immediately to receive better treatment.

She is experienced in midwifery and has safely delivered 476 babies in the past 16 years. Unfortunately, however, she couldn't keep her own child. Once, on her way to visit a patient at night, the three-month pregnant Ma accidentally fell down a cliff and suffered a miscarriage. The fall severely damaged her uterus, so preventing her becoming pregnant again.

The miscarriage was a heavy blow. She was so grief-stricken that she couldn't wait to get out of a place now so filled with sadness. And then, on the second day when she was about to leave, the news spread like wildfire, and soon everyone in the village knew it and came to see her off.

The villagers were reluctant to let her leave. Among the crowd, a child cried bitterly and begged her to stay by clutching her leg. Ma recognized the child was one delivered by herself. They clung to each other, weeping bitterly; at that moment Ma gave up the idea of leaving.

She now happily shares the comforts and hardships of the villagers. Because of her enthusiasm and sincerity, Ma has become the most trusted person to the villagers and their best friend. They can find her whenever they need her. They like to vent their pent-up grievances to her and ask her for advice.

Once a month, Ma Li travels to downtown Mianning to purchase medicines and medical instruments, and each time it takes her 20 hours to complete the journey on rugged mountain paths. It is gratifying that a river bridge has recently been opened, bringing great convenience to local people.

Ma's husband works in another town. The couple meets and parts with each other hurriedly, so Ma has to take care of herself and do the housework alone.

Recalling the old days, when she had just arrived, the villagers were skeptical about her ability to stay long in such a poor area. Now, she has proved with her actual deeds that she is a person true to her promise. "Since I am here, I may as well stay, make the best of it and never give up."
Gustavo Falcon (pictured) appeared in Miami court on Tuesday, where his lawyer said he will plead not guilty to drug smuggling charges that carry a potential life sentence

The last of Miami's infamous 'Cocaine Cowboys' is planning to plead not guilty to drug charges when he goes on trial next month after almost three decades on the run.

Gustavo Falcon, 55, made a brief appearance in a Miami court on Tuesday, where his lawyer announced they will challenge the drug smuggling charges that carry a potential life sentence.

The 55-year-old has a court date scheduled for May 11. He did not speak during his brief appearance on Tuesday, but had grown a moustache and goatee. His hands and ankles were shackled and he wore the standard-issue tan jail jumpsuit.

Defense attorney Howard Srebnick announced his client will plead not guilty, but agreed with prosecutors that Falcon will remain jailed without bail.

'We'll be back in court on May 11 to enter a plea of not guilty and demand a trial by jury,' Srebnick told reporters outside the courthouse. 'Between now and then, we'll have an opportunity to review the charges. I have no feel for the case right now.'

Falcon vanished in 1991 when he, his older brother Augusto 'Willie' Falcon, Salvador 'Sal' Magluta and seven others were charged in a major federal grand jury indictment.

The gang was accused of smuggling at least 75 tons of cocaine into the US and making some $2 billion in the hyperviolent 1980s 'Miami Vice' era.

Falcon vanished in 1991 when he, his older brother Augusto 'Willie' Falcon, Salvador 'Sal' Magluta and seven others were charged in a major federal grand jury indictment

During all those years as a fugitive, investigators figured Falcon had fled overseas.

Then US Marshals caught a break: Records from a 2013 car accident in Kissimmee, Florida, included a driver's license issued to someone named Luis Reiss. That name traced back to a house in Hialeah, Florida, linked to Falcon.

Investigators were able to locate Falcon, living as Reiss, in the Kissimmee rental house, where they arrested him April 12 while on a bike ride with his wife. Falcon was then transferred to Miami to face the original 1991 indictment. His wife was not arrested.

His attorney said Falcon seemed in good spirits and ready for whatever comes next, with Srebnick telling reporters his client was 'OK'.

Back in 1991, Falcon was indicted for trafficking cocaine from Colombia to South Florida along with his drug kingpin brother, Willy Falcon (right), and co-defendant Sal Magluta (left).

Willy and Magluta (pictured in 1991) were acquitted in 1996 of the charges after it was discovered they bought off witnesses and at least one jury member

Falcon's brother and Magluta were acquitted of all charges at their first trial in 1996.

Later, it emerged that the pair had bought off witnesses and bribed the jury foreman.

Magluta, now 62, was tried a second time, convicted of drug-related money laundering in 2002 and sentenced to 205 years in prison. That was reduced to 195 years in 2006.

Augusto Falcon, now 61, then accepted a plea deal in 2003 on similar charges. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and is scheduled for release on June 17.
Boris Johnson has been assured he will be given a role in the election campaign, despite Cabinet rivals calling for him to be sidelined

Boris Johnson has been assured he will be given a role in the election campaign, despite Cabinet rivals calling for him to be sidelined.

The Foreign Secretary will make his first foray into the election tonight with a speech in which he will warn that Britain cannot risk putting Jeremy Corbyn into No 10 at a time of international crisis.

He will also undertake a major round of broadcast interviews tomorrow. And allies say he has been told to 'clear his diary' over the next few weeks for a series of visits to target seats.

However the role is likely to be much reduced from last year's referendum when he was on the nation's screens every night making the case for Brexit.

'The Prime Minister will be playing the lead role in the election to highlight the contrast between her strong leadership and the chaos of Corbyn,' one source said.

LIB DEM KNIGHTS TELL THE VOTERS: DON'T CALL ME SIR Three Lib Dem knights were accused of being 'disrespectful' to the Queen after dropping their titles as they hit the campaign trail. Sir Vince Cable, Sir Simon Hughes and Sir Edward Davey were honoured after losing their seats in 2015. But despite making use of their titles since then, the trio have reverted to more humble forms of address now they are standing for election again, preferring to style themselves as ordinary people. Labour MP Neil Coyle, who is defending a majority of 4,489 in Sir Simon's former seat of Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said it was an insult to the Queen. 'Knights of the realm should be proud of their awards,' he said. 'It is disrespectful not to use the title.' But Sir Simon told the London Evening Standard: 'I can't imagine that Her Majesty, whom I respect greatly, will be troubled by this issue. 'I've had the same name for every election I've stood in  people know me here as Simon or Simon Hughes.' Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, also makes no mention of his title on his website. A Labour spokesman declined to comment. Advertisement

'The Cabinet will be playing a supporting role behind her. But within that Boris has been told he will be in the top team alongside the likes of Amber Rudd, Michael Fallon, Philip Hammond and Priti Patel.'

Some ministers have urged Mrs May to banish Mr Johnson from the campaign altogether, saying he has become 'toxic' to some Remain-supporting Tories following his leading role in last year's referendum campaign. 'What would we put on the side of his bus this time? And who would believe it?' said one.

Aides to the Prime Minister are also keen to eliminate any risk that Mr Johnson could distract attention away from Mrs May, whose leadership will be the central plank of the Tory election campaign. But Mrs May has decided she cannot afford to ignore Mr Johnson's campaigning skills.

He will also be deployed to reassure Brexit voters that a big Tory victory is essential in ensuring that diehard Remainers are unable to block Britain's departure from the EU.

But he is likely to have a lower profile, focusing on cheering up activists in key seats rather than engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Labour on the airwaves.

The role is similar to the one he played in the 2015 election when David Cameron was concerned he risked being overshadowed by his long-time rival.

Boris will be deployed to reassure Brexit voters that a big Tory victory is essential in ensuring that diehard Remainers are unable to block Britain's departure from the EU

Unlike the Brexit campaign where he played a major role, Boris is likely to have a lower profile, focusing on cheering up activists in key seats rather than engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Labour on the airwaves

MAY HINTS AT BOOST FOR SOCIAL CARE Theresa May hinted at a boost for social care in her manifesto yesterday, as she said the issue could not be 'ducked' any longer. On a visit to Wales, the Prime Minister said her policy team had been working on a 'long-term solution' to the growing crisis in care for the elderly. She told supporters: 'That's what we need in this country. We need to stop ducking the issue.' The comments will lead to hopes that the Conservatives will plough in more money to prevent dangerous cuts in the provision of meals on wheels, home helps and other services. The Cabinet Office has been working on a social care green paper, and it is likely some of this could make its way into the Tory manifesto. It comes amid concerns that the Tories could scrap their 2015 pledge to bring in a cap on the cost of social care. This promise was dropped by David Cameron just weeks after the last election, and Mrs May did not say yesterday if it will remain Tory policy. Advertisement

One Tory colleague joked yesterday that Mr Johnson would find himself 'doing a lot of foreign trips in the next few weeks', despite the assurances he would play a significant role in the campaign.

Chancellor Mr Hammond is said to be privately scathing about Mr Johnson's lack of interest in policy detail.

Home Secretary Miss Rudd, another close ally of the Prime Minister, famously clashed with Mr Johnson during last year's televised referendum debates, suggesting he backed only Brexit to further his ambition of becoming Prime Minister. The Tory election campaign will focus heavily on Mrs May's leadership qualities and the failure of Mr Corbyn to persuade even his own MPs that he is the right man to lead the country.

Tory leaflets will highlight criticism of Mr Corbyn's shambolic leadership made by his Labour MPs during the attempted leadership coup last year. Mr Corbyn's weak stance on defence and his dithering over Brexit will both feature heavily.

And, as in 2015, the Conservatives will point out that Labour's only realistic prospect of power is in a coalition in which Mr Corbyn could be held to ransom by the demands of the SNP and Liberal Democrats.

Mrs May has decided she cannot afford to ignore Boris's (often unique) campaigning skills
Missing: Aramazd Andressian Jr, age five

Dive teams and bloodhounds are combing a California lake for evidence, as the desperate search for a missing five-year-old boy moves 120 miles north of the park where his father was found unconscious and arrested three days ago.

Investigators began searching Lake Cachuma Tuesday morning for any evidence that might lead to Aramazd Andressian Jr, the missing boy last seen with his father one week ago.

Paramedics discovered father Aramazd Andressian Sr passed out in South Pasadena's Arroyo Park at 6.30am on Saturday, after his estranged wife reported their son missing. Andressian Sr has been charged with child endangerment and child abduction and is being held pending $10million bail.

Andressian Sr spent Friday at Lake Cachuma, about a 120-mile drive from the park where he was found unconscious the following morning, investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said.

The department's homicide bureau detectives are leading the investigation at the lake.

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Police in Southern California are searching for Aramazd Andressian Jr, 5, (left), after his father, Aramazd Andressian Sr (right), was found passed out over the weekend

Los Angeles Sheriff Department homicide detectives at Lake Cachuma. The search on Tuesday turned to the lake 120 miles north of the park where Andressian Sr was found passed out

Investigators said Andressian Sr spent Friday at Lake Cachuma, about a 120-mile drive from Arroyo Park, where he was found on Saturday

Police divers search Lake Cachuma for any evidence in the boy's disappearance

South Pasadena Police Chief Art Miller said during a weekend press conference that investigators have had a difficult time getting answers from Andressian Sr.

Investigators don't know why the man was unconscious, Miller said, adding that there is no evidence he was attacked by anyone.

Andressian Sr was taken to a hospital for treatment and then released before being arrested. His statements have been 'convoluted and contradictory,' Los Angeles County Sheriff's Captain Chris Bergner said. The department is helping with the investigation.

The mother of Aramazd Jr reported the boy missing at 9am on Saturday, telling police that her estranged husband had failed to drop the boy off at a pre-arranged meeting place. The parents are in the process of getting a divorce and share custody of the young boy.

Authorities have released a photo of the man's car, this silver four-door 2004 BMW

Aramazd Andressian Jr has not been seen by his mother in person since the morning of April 15. The woman last spoke to the 5-year-old remotely via Skype on Tuesday

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Captain Chris Bergner said the father's statements have been 'convoluted and contradictory'

The 5-year-old was last seen remotely by his mother on April 18 when the two spoke through a Skype video call.

He was supposed to speak to his mother via video call again on Thursday but that did not happen, officials said.

Miller asked the public to report if they had recently spotted the father's car, described as a silver four-door 2004 BMW. The car was last seen early Friday morning in Orange County.

'There's got to be someone out there that knows the whereabouts of Aramazd Andressian,' Miller said. 'I'm asking you as a law enforcement official and as a parent, if you know anything, please contact us.'

NBC Los Angeles reported that bloodhounds have scoured Arroyo Seco Park at least twice in search of the missing child.

Andressian Sr was arrested Saturday on child endangerment and child abduction after paramedics found him passed out in South Pasadena's Arroyo Park

Sierra Madre Search and Rescue and the San Gabriel and San Marino police departments have also joined the search, with police helicopters looking for Aramazd Jr from the air, reported South Pasadena Review.

Andressian Sr's bail was initially set at $100,000, but detectives later went back to a judge to explain the boy is still missing and provide additional information about the circumstances. The judge then upped Andressian Sr's bail to $10million, Miller said.

Aramazd Jr was described as 4-foot-1, weighing 55lbs, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray-and-white striped shirt, gray sweatpants and tan shoes, or a teal shirt and plaid shorts.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Aramazd Arndressian Jr is urged to call South Pasadena police anonymously at (626) 403-7297.
A Florida man has pleaded guilty to charges that he raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl in 1977 while he was a building manager in Utah.

Patrick Michael McCabe, 59, of Bell, Florida, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated burglary in Utah's 3rd District Court on Monday, reports The Salt Lake City Tribune.

In the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop the charge of aggravated sexual assault and took the death sentence off the table.

Patrick Michael McCabe, 59, pleaded guilty in court on Monday to first-degree murder and aggravated burglary in the 1977 rape and murder of 16-year-old Sharon Schollmeyer

McCabe will face a sentence of up to life in prison for the murder charge, to be followed by additional time for the burglary. A judge will issue the sentence on June 12.

His plea comes just a month after he was arrested in Florida, after new DNA evidence linked to the 1977 cold case murder of Sharon Schollmeyer pointed authorities in his direction.

Schollmeyer's naked body was found in a bathtub in her apartment in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 5, 1977 by her mother, Sally Kadleck.

When Schollmeyer failed to report to work that day, Kadleck had gone to her daughter's apartment building and asked then building manager McCabe, then just 20 years old, to let her inside the apartment.

Schollmeyer's body was found naked, blindfolded and gagged in a bathtub in her apartment in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 5, 1977. The case went cold due to lack of evidence

This past December, the halter top was run through a national database and results matched McCabe's DNA. He was already in the system for a 1999 sex offense involving a minor

That's when Kadleck found her daughter, naked and dead in the bathtub that was filled with six inches of water. Court documents stated that a scarf had been used to blindfold Schollmeyer and that she was gagged with a halter top.

In 1977, police were unable to make any arrests due to lack of evidence and the case went cold.

But, this past December, court records show that the halter top was run through a national database and a match was found to McCabe's DNA  he was already in the system for a 1999 sex offense involving a minor.

Following the DNA match results, Salt Lake City Police Department investigators went to see the now Florida resident McCabe in March.

When speaking with the investigators, McCabe allegedly confessed to having raped and killed the teen in 1977. Authorities then arrested him and brought him to Utah where he was booked and held on a $2 million cash-only bail.

After court ended, Schollmeyer's mother, Sally Kadleck, expressed relief at finally having an answer to who killed her daughter and hearing that person confess to the crime

In the plea deal, McCabe admitted that he had used a spare key  the same one he would later use to show Kadleck into the apartment  to get into Schollmeyer's apartment in 1977. When he found her in bed, sleeping, he raped her and then strangled her in the bathroom, reports the Tribune.

In court on Monday, a wheelchair-bound McCabe said he had 'intended to rape her' when he entered Schollmeyer's apartment that night almost 40 years ago,Good4Utah reported.

Kadleck expressed relief at finally having the answer to the question of who killed her daughter.

'Not knowing is really a terrible thing,' Kadleck told Fox 13. 'For 40 years, I never thought I'd live long enough.'

After court ended, Kadleck told Good4Utah, 'I'm really glad we're reaching this point,' adding that 'I've waited a long time to hear that this man has finally committed, confessed to what he did.'

Kadleck's granddaughter, Brigett Love, told the Tribune that she and her family were thankful that the case had wrapped up quickly due to McCabe pleading guilty.

'He doesn't want to make us suffer any longer than we already have,' Love said.
Cash seized from notorious Mexican drug lords, such as El Chapo, could be used to cover the cost of Donald Trump's border wall.

The radical new proposal was put forward Tuesday by Senator Ted Cruz as part of the Texas Republican's EL CHAPO bill.

The bill's title, in addition to being the nickname of the infamous and recently extradited Joaquin Guzman, stands for Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order.

Cruz's proposal calls for the US government to seek $14billion from Guzman specifically, while also trying to get its hands on funds from other drug lords to cover the cost of building the wall and securing the border.

Cash seized from notorious Mexican drug lords, such as El Chapo (pictured during his arrest in February 2014), could be used to cover the cost of Donald Trump's border wall

'Fourteen billion dollars will go a long way toward building a wall that will keep Americans safe and hinder the illegal flow of drugs, weapons, and individuals across our southern border,' Cruz said in a statement.

'Ensuring the safety and security of Texans is one of my top priorities. We must also be mindful of the impact on the federal budget.

'By leveraging any criminally forfeited assets of El Chapo and his ilk, we can offset the walls cost and make meaningful progress toward achieving President Trumps stated border security objectives.'

Cruz's proposal comes about three months after Guzman was arrested and extradited to the US to face charges related to running a massive drug trafficking operation that laundered billions of dollars and oversaw murders and kidnappings.

Cruz's proposal calls for the US government to seek $14billion from Guzman as part of the 'EL CHAPO' bill. Guzman is pictured during his extradition to the US in January this year

'Fourteen billion dollars will go a long way toward building a wall that will keep Americans safe and hinder the illegal flow of drugs, weapons, and individuals across our southern border,' Cruz said in a statement

Cruz released this image of a mock dollar bill showing Guzman's face on it, along with the caption: 'El Chapo will pay for it'

The drug lord is being held at a high-security federal jail in Manhattan, with US officials mindful of how he twice escaped from prison in Mexico, the second time via a mile-long tunnel dug to the shower in his cell.

During a hearing in February, Guzman's legal team complained about the strict conditions he is being held under.

His lawyers claimed 'El Chapo' is on 23-hour lockdown, unable to visit with his 27-year-old beauty queen wife or Mexican lawyer, and has even been denied water by his jailers on occasion.

The defense team also complained the conditions have hampered their ability to meet with their client and figure out how they are going to fight the charges against him.

More than $15million seized from El Chapo's drug cartel is seen following a drug bust in Mexico City in 2011

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are pictured together in September 2015. Cruz's proposal could help Trump with one of his signature promises

Drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is escorted by the authorities to a Mexican Army helicopter in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, on January 8, 2016

US District Judge Brian Cogan dismissed the protestations at the time, saying: 'there are grounds for extra security measures'.

Guzman is due to appear in court on May 5.

Donald Trump promised repeatedly during the campaign Mexico would pay for his border wall, which an internal Homeland Security review found in February could cost almost $22billion.

Trump, who claimed it would cost $12billion, has seemingly backed away from the promise since taking office, and this week tweeted Mexico would pay 'in some form' at a later date.
Roman Polanski's victim slammed prosecutors in court on Tuesday, siding with the disgraced director who raped her 40 years ago as he pleaded with a judge to finally let go of the case.

Samantha Geimer, who has long forgiven Polanski for the 1977 attack, sent a letter to Los Angeles prosecutors demanding they grant his request to unseal vital testimony which could secure his return to the US.

In an unusual court moment on Tuesday, Deputy Los Angeles District Attorney Michele Hanisee was forced to read her scathing words aloud in court after being compelled by a judge.

'You and those who have come before you have never protected me, you have treated me with contempt using a crime committed against me to further your own careers,' Geimer said in her letter.

Roman Polanski's rape victim Samantha Geimer (right during an appearance on French television in 2013) joined his fight to return to the US a free man on Tuesday. The film director is pictured (left) in Warsaw, Poland, in 2014

Polanski has been on the run in Europe since 1978. He fled the US the night before he was due to be sentenced for the rape after discovering Laurence J. Rittenbrand, the judge presiding over the case, planned to renege on a deal he'd made with prosecutors that would spare him additional jail time.

He had already served 42 days behind bars but was due to be given a probation sentence. Rittenbrand wanted to send him back to jail and the film director, after learning of his plans, fled.

He now believes he has served the sentence he was promised back in 1978 and should be allowed to return to the US and travel freely.

Judges in Los Angeles are refusing to tell him if he they will send him back to jail if he returns to the country.

An international warrant for his arrest has existed for years and the case has been dragged through courts in California, Poland and Switzerland.

Now 83, Polanski lives in Paris with his family and is appealing to a Los Angeles judge to rule on the case from afar before he can return to the US.

His lawyers say he will not return to America unless they vow not to jail him again.

Polanski (above in 1965, left, and at his wedding to Sharon Tate in 1968) raped the 13-year-old girl in 1977. Tate was murdered 1969 by followers of Charles Manson

Harland Braun, who has represented him for several years, told DailyMail.com the recent appeal from his victim echoed his claims the case should have been dropped years ago.

'Here you have the victim saying "please put a stop to it, I'm through," and they're saying "no". There's something sick going on here.'

Braun touched on the relationship between Geimer and Polanski, acknowledging that she had forgiven him and wanted to 'move on with her life'.

'She's satisfied. It happened, he has served prison time. It's been four decades. He's 83. What more do they want? How much more taxpayer money are we going to spend on this case?'

Braun said while Polanski was living happily in Paris with his family, he was unable to travel to see some of his children due to the outstanding arrest warrant.

'His daughter is in London but he's unable to get to her.'

Polanski fled to France, which does not extradite foreign citizens, in the 1970s.

He was eventually arrested in Switzerland in 2009 but was released when American officials refused to hand over crucial documents to the Swiss court handling the case.

Here you have the victim saying "I'm through with this". What more do they want? Polanski's lawyer Harland Braun

His argument that he was dishonestly promised a probation sentence by Judge Rittenbrand hangs on the testimony of a former DA who testified in 2010 in Los Angeles.

L.A. judges are refusing to unseal the testimony which Polanski's lawyers say proves he was about to be set-up when he fled.

Poland also rejected requests from American courts to extradite the filmmaker.

His attorney said on Tuesday that all it would take to settle the case was an admission from the current judge that there was wrongdoing on the part of previous judges but that he was 'protecting his own'.

Judge Scott Gordon, the current presiding judge, has deferred the matter until June.

Geimer, who was Samantha Gailey in 1977 when Polanski attacked her, wrote a book about the incident and the media storm which ensued in 2012.

She published it using a photograph taken by Polanski on the day in question as the book's cover.

The rape occurred at Jack Nicholson's Mulholland Drive home. Polanski had picked the schoolgirl up, plied her with champagne and drugs after photographing her and forced himself on her.

Polanski has been on the run in Europe for 40 years. He is seen above in Krakow, Poland, in 2015 after a Polish court rejected the US's request to extradite him

Polanski smokes a cigar while dining with Sharon Tate in 1965

He makes no denial of it, accepting it was 'morally and legally wrong', according to his lawyer.

In 1978, he was convicted of unlawful intercourse which at the time carried a maximum sentence of 24 months.

Geimer recalled in harrowing detail how Polanski forced himself on her in Nicholson's outdoor hot tub after taking her photograph.

He then took her to a bedroom in the home where he raped and sodomized her before driving her home.

Despite the horrifying attack, she forgave him and the pair reached a settlement in 1998. He awarded her $500,000 in damages and gave her the copyright to the photographs he took of her.

She believes, like his lawyer, that he was mistreated by the courts in 1978 and that the matter should be finally put to an end.

Her lawyer could not be reached on Tuesday afternoon.
This is the chilling moment a self-styled 'revolutionary warrior' interrupted an Anzac Day dawn service in Sydney by shouting anti-war slogans.

'Smokin'' Joe Mekhael, 32, was filmed by an accomplice as he disrespectfully yelled 'stop the war' while 20,000 people held a solemn minute's silence.

In the video, which he posted online as he gloated about his protest, he hollered: 'The courageous will never be silenced as long as these wars continue.

'Senseless violence, stop the wars. Bring peace to the world.'

Then, as police officers are seen arresting him, Mekhael shouts: 'Freedom! Stop the war. Freedom! Stop the war. Freedom!'

This is the chilling moment self-styled 'revolutionary warrior' Joe Mekhael interrupted an Anzac Day dawn service in Sydney by shouting anti-war slogans

'Smokin'' Joe Mekhael, 32, was filmed by an accomplice as he disrespectfully yelled 'stop the war' while 20,000 people held a solemn minute's silence

Mekhael was charged with behaving in an offensive manner and resisting an officer and will appear in court in May.

It comes as New South Wales Police launch a new counter-terror unit to investigate mentally ill 'lone wolves' who are vulnerable to radicalisation.

According to The Australian, 10 people who could fall for ISIS-style propaganda have already been identified by the new Fixated Persons Investigation Unit.

It is hoped that the unit, reportedly comprised of 15 detectives and mental health experts, will identify 'lone actors' like Lindt Cafe gunman Man Haron Monis before they launch attacks.

Police want the unit to track troubled individuals who would not usually be investigated by counter-terror detectives but are still considered a risk to the public.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller told the newspaper it was 'unreasonable to think a local area command can assess every individual because these people move around'.

A new police unit will target mentally ill 'lone wolves', such as Lindt Cafe gunman Man Haron Monis (left)

Lindt Cafe gunman Monis was probed by counter-terror officers before his attack, which left two women dead. Pictured, a hostage flees the cafe

'I'm not saying I can stop every lone wolf; what I'm saying is there's a big group of people out there who are potentially dangerous and potentially slipping through the net,' he said.

Sydney siege gunman Monis was investigated by the counter-terror unit before his attack, which led to the deaths of cafe manager Tori Johnson and barrister Katrina Dawson.

He was diagnosed as schizophrenic before his attack and the new unit hopes to help people with mental health issues if they are at risk of being radicalised.

Lone wolf attacks are notoriously hard to stop as the perpetrators have often had no contact with the terror group they are inspired by and may not communicate their intention to launch a strike.

Suspected ISIS supporter Khalid Masood killed five people, including a police officer, in the London terror attack on Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament last month.

ISIS-inspired terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel killed 85 innocent people in Nice, France, last year after plowing a 19-tonne truck into revellers celebrating Bastille Day.
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A Siberian tiger breeding centre in China debuted more than 50 newborn cubs yesterday.

Pictures taken at the centre, in north-east China's Heilongjiang Province, show the rare tiger cubs curiously staring at people, with some being bottle-fed by breeders.

Cute as they are, the tiny tigers are expected to boost the population of the endangered animal species in China.

Baby steps: A Siberian tiger cub was seen at the Hengdaohezi Feline Breeding Center in China's Heilongjiang yesterday

Best friends: The centre debuted more than 50 baby Siberian tigers that were born in April and above are three of them

All of the cute cubs were born at the Hengdaohezi Feline Breeding Centre in April, reported the People's Daily Online.

The centre is located in the city of Harbin and is billed as the world's largest Siberian tiger breeding centre.

Pictures show the tiny felines hugging and cuddling each other like inseparable siblings.

Wang Zhangjun, a breeder at the centre, explained to the reporter that most of the mother tigers hadn't got have much experience in giving birth or breastfeeding. Therefore, the breeding centre decided to bottle-feed the cubs with goat milk and egg yolks.

Hengdaohezi Feline Breeding Centre said the mother tigers are mainly from Hengdaohezi Siberia Tiger Park and the Harbin Siberian Tiger Park, a famous park that's home to over 1,000 Siberian tigers.

Purr-fect family! Over 50 cubs joined the family of 1,000 Siberian tigers at the Siberian Tiger Park in Heilongjiang

Wang ZhangJun, a breeder at Hengdaohezi Feline Breeding Centre, demonstrated how to bottle-feed a cub with goat milk

The centre has bred over 1,000 Siberian tigers in the past 31 years since they started the breeding programme in 1986

The newborn Siberian tigers are expected to boost the population of the animal species.

Hengdaohezi Feline Breeding Centre started a breeding programme in 1986 with only eight Siberian tigers. By now, the number of Siberian tigers has gone up to over 1,000 in the park.

Last year, Siberian Tiger Park released footage of two four-day-old Siberian cubs playing with each other.

Siberian tigers, also called as Amur Tigers, are recorded as the world's largest cats, stated the National Geographic.

Poaching and habitat loss due to urban development are among the causes leading to the extinct of the animals.

They are also listed as an endangered species - between critically endangered and vulnerable - on the red list of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

World Wildlife Fund had a record of 3,890 Siberian tigers remaining in the wild as of 2017.
A Telsa owner is demanding $1million after the Falcon Wing doors of her Model X 'wouldn't open' during a crash.

Owner Lee Tada claimed she and her boyfriend were sitting in the back and had to escape out of the front doors moments before the car burst into flames.

But representatives of Tesla in China said the company won't pay out and the couple's lives were not in danger.

A Telsa owner is demanding $1million after the Falcon Wing doors of her Model X (pictured) 'wouldn't open' after a fiery crash

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In an open letter posted to WeChat, a popular social media site in China, Ms Tada said she was left with a broken nose and a cut to her lip that needed several stitches.

'After the accident, and still today, I often have nightmares about being burned to death inside the Tesla Model X,' she said, according to Electrek.

Her driver was hospitalised for more than 40 days with fractures and internal injuries.

Ms Tada claims her driver was travelling at 45mph (72km/h) on a motorway in Guangzhou, China before the vehicle crashed into a concrete siderail.

The car then flipped over and crashed into a Ford Focus.

She claims that she and her boyfriend tried to open the Falcon Wing doors at the back of the vehicle but they were jammed shut.

Owner Lee Tada claimed she and her boyfriend were sitting in the back and had to escape out of the front doors moments before the car burst into flames

Pictured is the vehicle after the fiery crash. The car's Falcon Wing doors normally swing upward to open and are controlled by sensors

The car's Falcon Wing doors normally swing upward to open and are controlled by sensors.

The vehicle features an emergency latch to open the doors, which is hidden behind the car's speaker covers.

But details of the emergency latch are not in the online owner's manual, according to Electrek.

Ms Tada demanded that Tesla pay her eight million Chinese yuan (around $1million, 900,000) in compensation

Ms Tada said she had to escape through the car's front doors instead and was free just moments before the car burst into flames.

She has demanded that Tesla pay her eight million Chinese yuan (around $1million, 900,000) in compensation.

But in a statement, Tesla China said: 'First of all, the lives of the owner and passengers were not threatened. We are working closely with the department concerned.

Pictured is the car before the crash. Representatives of Tesla in China said the company won't pay out and the couple's lives were not in danger

'The distribution of the debris at the site and the damage all indicate that this was a high-speed crash  in this case, not just electric cars, but any vehicle can catch on fire.

'In fact, another car involved in the accident (a fuel-powered vehicle) also caught on fire. Fuel tank fire incidents happen much more often than the electric car fires.

'In addition, Tesla has consistently insisted on the disclosure and transparency of information, including other information about the incident, such as the owner is asking us for 8 million yuan, and we will not accept.'
An incredible mural showing Jesus ascending to heaven has been uncovered in a Coventry church - after nearly 50 years hidden behind a brick wall.

The 35ft (11 metre) painting by Jewish artist Hans Feibusch fills the entire wall behind the altar at St Mark's Church in Coventry.

The artwork was covered in 1973 to protect it when the Grade II listed church was turned into the outpatients department for the hospital across the road.

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The 35ft (11 metre) painting by Jewish artist Hans Feibusch fills the entire wall behind the altar at St Mark's Church in Coventry

THE HIDDEN MURAL The 35ft (11 metre) mural was done by Jewish artist Hans Feibusch. It fills the entire wall behind the altar at St Mark's Church in Coventry. The artwork was covered in 1973 to protect it when the Grade II listed church was turned into the outpatients department for the hospital across the road. It was discovered when the wall was knocked down as part of plans to turn the building back into a community church later this year. Advertisement

The previously hidden mural, called Ascension, shows Jesus with wounds from the crucifixion ascending to heaven.

It was discovered when the wall was knocked down as part of plans to turn the building back into a community church later this year.

St Mark's was built in the Gothic Revival style in 1868 by architects Paul and Robinson.

It escaped the worst of the bombing during World War Two but the west window was shattered in one of the raids.

A brick wall was built to cover the gap because the parish couldn't afford to replace the window, and in 1963 the mural was painted by Feibusch to decorate the wall.

The artwork was covered in 1973 to protect it when the Grade II listed church was turned into the outpatients department for the hospital across the road

St Mark's was built in the Gothic Revival style in 1868 by architects Paul and Robinson. It escaped the worst of the bombing during World War Two but the west window was shattered in one of the raids

Feibusch himself had left Germany in 1930s to escape the Holocaust.

He settled in Britain and became known for his public art including murals in churches.

He was the last surviving artist included on Goebbels' infamous list of 'degenerate artists' before his death in 1998 aged 99.

St Mark's, which is in Foleshill in the north of Coventry, is set to become a 'city centre resource church' with a particular focus on people aged 18 to 30.

Hans Feibusch (pictured) painting his mural at St Mark's Church, Coventry in 1963. The artist had left Germany in 1930s to escape the Holocaust

The artwork (pictured) was discovered when the wall was knocked down as part of plans to turn the building back into a community church later this year

Hans Feibusch was the last surviving artist included on Goebbels' infamous list of 'degenerate artists' before his death in 1998 aged 99

'We were asked by the Bishop of Coventry to reopen the church', said Rev Phil Atkinson, who has moved from Oxford to Coventry to take charge.

'We are going to reach out to young people and students.'

The Coventry Society said: 'Feibusch's work is now recognised as being of national importance.

'In 2011 the Coventry Society noted that the listing particulars for the building did not include the mural.

St Mark's, which is in Foleshill in the north of Coventry, is set to become a 'city centre resource church' with a particular focus on people aged 18 to 30

Feibusch settled in Britain and became known for his public art including murals in churches

In 2011 the Coventry Society noted that the listing particulars for the building did not include the mural

'We therefore put in a formal request to English Heritage to amend the listing to include the mural and revise other details of the listing.'

It was approved by the Secretary of State for Culture, Leisure and Sport in January 2013.

'In March 2017 it was announced that the building is to be re-opened as a City Centre Resource Church in September 2017', the Coventry society said.

'We are delighted to learn that the future of the building is now safe and that it is going to be restored.'

The incredible mural shows Jesus ascending to heaven. It has been uncovered in a Coventry church after 40 years hidden behind a brick wall

The conversion was approved by the Secretary of State for Culture, Leisure and Sport in January 2013

'In March 2017 it was announced that the building is to be re-opened as a City Centre Resource Church in September 2017', the Coventry society said

'We are delighted to learn that the future of the building is now safe and that it is going to be restored', the society said

A brick wall was built to cover the gap because the parish couldn't afford to replace the window
Wang Baoan, former head of the National Bureau of Statistics, and Li Chengyun, former vice governor of southwest China's Sichuan Province, have been indicted on suspicion of accepting bribes, the Supreme People's Procuratorate announced Tuesday.

Wang was indicted by prosecutors in Zhangjiakou city, Hebei Province.

According to the indictment, Wang is accused of taking advantage of his posts of assistant and vice finance minister as well as head of the NBS to seek benefits for others, and illegally accepting a huge amount of money and property either by himself or through "specially related persons."

Li was indicted by prosecutors in Liupanshui city, Guizhou Province.

He is accused of taking advantage of his posts when he worked as Party chief of Deyang city and as Sichuan's vice governor to seek benefits for others and illegally accepting a huge amount of money and property either by himself or through "specially related persons," according to the indictment.
History books describing how life on Earth developed may need to be rewritten, thanks to the accidental discovery of fossilised remains of ancient fungi.

Researchers were examining samples taken from drill-holes of rocks buried deep underground, when they found the 2.4 billion-year-old microscopic creatures.

They say they could be the first fossil traces of the branch of life which humans belong to ever unearthed.

Geologists studying lava samples taken from a drill site in South Africa have discovered fossilised gas bubbles, which contain what could be the first fossil traces (pictured) of the branch of life to which humans belong ever unearthed

THE FINDINGS Geologists studying lava samples taken from a drill site in South Africa discovered fossilised gas bubbles 800 metres (2,600 feet) underground. They are believed to contain the oldest fungi ever found and could be the earliest evidence of eukaryotes - the 'superkingdom' of life that includes plants, animals and fungi, but not bacteria. It was believed that fungi first emerged on land, but the newly-found organisms lived and thrived under an ancient ocean seabed. And the dating of the find suggests that not only did these fungus-like creatures live in a dark and cavernous world devoid of light, but they also lacked oxygen. Advertisement

Dr Birger Rasmussen, a geology professor at Curtin University in Bentley, Australia was examining lava samples to determine their age when he made the discovery.

The ancient fungus-like life forms were found in fossilised gas bubbles 800 metres (2,600 feet) underground, taken from the Ongeluk Formation in South Africa's Northern Cape Province.

They are believed to be the oldest fungi ever found by around 1.2 billion years and could change our understanding of the timeline of the evolution of early life on the planet.

Earth itself is about 4.6 billion years old and the previous earliest examples of eukaryotes - the 'superkingdom' of life that includes plants, animals and fungi, but not bacteria - dates to 1.9 billion years ago.

That makes this sample 500 million years older and, if verified as both fungal and multicellular, the earliest ever discovered.

It had long been assumed that fungi first emerged on land, but the newly-found organisms lived and thrived under an ancient ocean seabed - tucked in the crevices of volcanic rock.

Dr Rasmussen said: 'My attention was drawn to a series of petrified gas bubbles, and when I increased the magnification of the microscope, I was startled.

'(The bubbles) were filled with hundreds of exquisitely preserved filaments that just screamed 'life'.

Earth itself is about 4.6 billion years old and the previous earliest examples of eukaryotes - the 'superkingdom' of life that includes plants, animals and fungi, but not bacteria - dates to 1.9 billion years ago. The fossils have slender filaments bundled together like brooms (pictured)

FUNGUS For many years, fungi were grouped with, or mistaken for plants. Not until 1969 were they officially granted their own 'kingdom', alongside animals and plants, though their distinct characteristics had been recognised long before that. Yeast, mildew and molds are all fungi, as are many forms of large, mushroom-looking organisms that grow in moist forest environments and absorb nutrients from dead or living organic matter. Unlike plants, fungi do not photosynthesise, and their cell walls are devoid of cellulose. Advertisement

In his analysis Dr Rasmussen also realised that the surrounding lava was not 2.2 billion years old, as previously thought, but 2.4 billion years old.

That extra 200 million years was significant because it straddles a critical threshold in Earth's geological history called the Great Oxidation Event - a rapid and massive outpouring of oxygen into the atmosphere.

The new dating meant that not only had these fungus-like creatures lived in a dark and cavernous world devoid of light, but they also lacked oxygen.

For many years, fungi were grouped with, or mistaken for plants.

Not until 1969 were they officially granted their own 'kingdom', alongside animals and plants, though their distinct characteristics had been recognised long before that.

The sample, if verified as both fungal and multicellular, would be 500 million years older and the earliest ever discovered. A closeup under polarised light reveals more detail of the structure of the fungus-like life (pictured)

Yeast, mildew and molds are all fungi, as are many forms of large, mushroom-looking organisms that grow in moist forest environments and absorb nutrients from dead or living organic matter.

Unlike plants, fungi do not photosynthesise, and their cell walls are devoid of cellulose.

The creatures unveiled in the new study existed in what is called the deep biosphere, beneath land and sea.

The gas bubbles were found preserved 800 metres (2,600 feet) underground, in the Griquatown Formation layer (pictured), an ancient ocean seabed

The samples were taken from the Ongeluk Formation where the Agouron drill hole (labelled GTF01) was made

Earlier research has turned up evidence that gas bubbles in lava below the bottom of the sea provided living space for fungi as far back as 50 million years.

Fungi in this environment most probably live in symbiosis with microbes, using chemically stored energy for their metabolism, added co-author Magnus Ivarsson, an expert on these hidden worlds.

The full results of the study were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
By 2050 levels of carbon dioxide might be the highest for 50 million years

Experts believe this increase is largely driven by humans burning fossil fuels

The Earth currently has more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than it has for millions of years, according to new data.

Scientists today announced that levels have reached record highs of 410 parts per million which could snowball over the coming years causing global catastrophe.

If the trend continues experts say by 2050 we will have levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that have not been seen for 50 million years.

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The Mauna Loa Observatory found levels of carbon dioxide have now reached a record high of 410 ppm which they believe is largely driven by humans burning fossil fuels (stock)

WHAT DID THEY FIND? The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii found that levels of carbon dioxide have set a record high each year since measurements began. After passing 400 ppm in 2013 it has now climbed to more than 410 ppm. As levels of carbon dioxide increase this in turn traps more heat and further causes the climate to change at a quickening rate. If the trend continues by 2050 we will have levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that have not been seen for 50 million years, experts say. Advertisement

The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii found that levels of carbon dioxide have set a record high each year since measurements began - and after passing 400 ppm in 2013 levels have now climbed to more than 410 ppm.

Experts believe that the rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has skyrocketed in the last two years due to natural factors like El Nino but is largely driven by humans burning fossil fuels.

As levels of carbon dioxide increase this in turn traps more heat and further causes the climate to change at a quickening rate.

'Its pretty depressing that it's only a couple of years since the 400 ppm milestone was toppled,' Gavin Foster, a paleoclimate researcher at the University of Southampton told Climate Central.

'These milestones are just numbers, but they give us an opportunity to pause and take stock and act as useful yard sticks for comparisons to the geological record.'

In September 2016 carbon dioxide levels stayed at 400 ppm for the duration for the month - the level at which they normally drop.

As levels of carbon dioxide increase (pictured) this in turn traps more heat and further causes the climate to change at a quickening rate

Climate scientists warned that it's 'almost impossible' that these numbers will fall and and likely won't dip below 400 ppm in the foreseeable future.

This value is considered to be a grim tipping point for atmospheric carbon dioxide, with heavy implications for future climate conditions.

While the annual low point in the Mauna Loa carbon dioxide curve typically occurs around the last week of September, records from 2016 show the levels have not dipped back down into the 300s.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide reached a historic threshold as levels remain above 400 parts per million through the end of September 2016  the point in which values typically drop to their lowest. Global monthly mean C02 since 2012 is shown above

CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALREADY CAUSING DEATHS A 2016 study revealed the dangers of climate change are already affecting humanity and led to the death of hundreds of people across Europe sixteen years ago. A heatwave in 2003 killed 506 people in Paris and 315 in London, experts have said in a new study. A fifth of those deaths can be blamed on man-made pollution. The study led by University of Oxford scientists said there were 315 heat-related deaths in London as Europe experienced its hottest summer on record, out of which 64 were caused by climate change. Advertisement

This low point isn't consistent each year, and slight variations mean October can occasionally see smaller amounts than September  but, this has only happened four times in the past two decades.

'The low point reflects the transition between summer and fall, when the uptake of CO2 by vegetation weakens and is overtaken by the release of CO2 from soils,' explains Ralph Keeling, head of the Scripps Institute for Oceanography's CO2 Program, in a blog post.

August 2016 tied July as the hottest month ever recorded, making it the eleventh consecutive month of record-breaking temperatures.

It was also hotter than the previous warmest August, in 2014, by .16C according to Nasa  and it's passed the mean temperatures from 1951-1980 by nearly a full degree.
There's just one male northern white rhino left in the world, and he's now on the Tinder dating app as wildlife experts try to keep his species alive.

The rhino, named Sudan, will appear as an ad on Tinder as youre swiping through potential suitors  and despite the burden of having to save his species from extinction, he has no problems performing under pressure.

It's hoped that the 'Most Eligible Bachelor in the World' campaign launched by Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Tinder will help raise $9 million towards breeding methods before it's too late.

The rhino, named Sudan, will appear as an ad on Tinder as youre swiping through potential suitors  and despite the burden of having to save his species from extinction, he has no problems performing under pressure

HOW IT WORKS While swiping through Tinder, Sudan will eventually appear. If you swipe right on his profile, it will be a 'match.' Then, you'll be directed to a link in the message section where you can make a donation. It's hoped that the campaign will help raise $9 million towards breeding methods, including in-vitro fertilization, as Sudan and his last two female companions can no longer breed naturally. Advertisement

This represents the last option to save the species after all previous breeding attempts proved futile, said Richard Vigne, the conservancy's chief executive officer.

Sudan's profile tells a bit of background information about the rhino, explaining that he's the last male white rhino on Earth.

And, when users swipe right and 'Match' with the animal, they'll be directed toward a page where they can make a donation.

'I don't mean to be too forward, but the fate of the species literally depends on me,' the Tinder profile says.

'I perform well under pressure.'

The 43-year-old and his last two female companions are unable to breed naturally because of issues that include old age.

Sudan's profile tells a bit of background information about the rhino, explaining that he's the last male white rhino on Earth. And, when users swipe right and 'Match' with the animal, they'll be directed toward a page where they can make a donation

Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the app aim to raise $9 million for research into breeding methods, including in-vitro fertilization, in an effort to save the species from extinction.

'We partnered with Ol Pejeta conservancy to give the most eligible bachelor in the world a chance to meet his match,' said Matt David, head of communications and marketing at Tinder.

'We are optimistic given Sudan's profile will be seen on Tinder in 190 countries and over 40 languages.'

The 43-year-old and his last two female companions are unable to breed naturally because of issues that include old age. It's hoped that the 'Most Eligible Bachelor in the World' campaign will help raise $9 million towards breeding methods before it's too late

There's just one male northern white rhino left in the world, and he's getting some help from the Tinder dating app. A Kenyan wildlife conservancy is teaming up with Tinder for a campaign called 'The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World,' focusing on the rhino named Sudan

Sudan lives at the conservancy, protected by guards around the clock, with the two females, Najin and Fatu.

'The plight that currently faces the northern white rhinos is a signal to the impact that humankind is having on many thousands of other species across the planet,' said Vigne.

'Ultimately, the aim will be to reintroduce a viable population of northern white rhino back into the wild, which is where their true value will be realized.'
An overzealous anti-virus program has been causing a headache for its users by incorrectly identifying harmless software and websites as malicious.

Webroot, which is used by millions of homes and businesses to protect their computers, brought systems to a standstill around the world.

And disgruntled customers sent Twitter into a frenzy as the fallout from the fracas went global.

Millions of Windows based machines went into meltdown after Webroot, whose tagline is 'Smarter Cybersecurity' (pictured), sent out an update which caused the software to mark genuine Microsoft files as malware

WHAT HAPPENED? Webroot sent out an automatic update to systems, designed to allow them to combat the latest threats. But something caused the anti-virus software to incorrectly label Microsoft Windows operating system files as trojan malware. These files were then moved into a quarantine area, to be inspected manually by users. But many were vital to keep Windows running and moving them caused machines to go into melt-down. Advertisement

The glitch occurred after an update caused the software to mark genuine Microsoft files used in Windows operating systems as malware.

These files, which were misidentified as Trojans, were then moved into a quarantine area, to be inspected manually by users.

But many were vital to keep Windows running and moving them caused machines to go into melt-down.

A number of major websites were also affected by the malfunction, including Facebook which was incorrectly labelled as a phishing scam site.

The update at fault is believed to have only been live for just 13 minutes yesterday, before Webroot realised the error.

But this was long enough to cause widespread chaos and the company's servers were overloaded when customers attempted to contact them to report the fault.

The Broomfield, Colorado firm, whose tagline is 'Smarter Cybersecurity', claims to have 30 million customers worldwide.

A temporary fix was issued on Monday evening for home and small business users, but a more permanent solution is yet to emerge.

And larger businesses that use Webroot's managed services provider (MSP) package are still particularly hard hit.

WEBROOT'S ADVICE - Customers should ensure that endpoints like routers are on and connected to the internet to receive the solution - Users should not uninstall the product or delete quarantine - Businesses who would like to address the issue immediately can follow instructions posted on Webroot Support. -Consumers who would like to address the issue immediately can follow instructions posted on the Webroot Community Advertisement

Speaking to MailOnline, a spokesman for the company said: 'On April 24, Webroot experienced a technical issue affecting some business and consumer customers.

'A folder that is a known target for malware was incorrectly classified as bad.

'Webroot was not breached. Legitimate malicious files are being identified and blocked as normal.

'Webroot is making progress on a complete resolution. We are rolling back the false positives.

'The entire Webroot organisation is dedicated to addressing this issue.

A large number of users took to Twitter and to the company's forum to vent their frustrations, reporting that the issue is still affecting them today.

The Broomfield, Colorado firm, claims to have 30 million customers worldwide. Many of them took to Twitter and to the company's forum to vent their frustrations

A temporary fix was issued on Monday evening for home and small business users, but a more permanent solution is yet to emerge

Among them was Jordan Hall, who Tweeted: 'Webroot has gone bonkers, flagging signed system executables as malicious, and marking legitimate sites as phishing.'

Kyle Reynolds added: 'Nothing but silence from Webroot this morning, still no fix.'

A customer service representative replied: 'Our team is in the process of creating a comprehensive fix for the false positive issue.'
It has been one of the biggest unanswered questions for decades  is there, or was there ever, life elsewhere in the solar system?

Now, a US space scientist believes he may have the answer.

Professor Jason Wright claims that 'technological' aliens may have once lived on one of the planets in our solar system, before disappearing without a trace.

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It has been one of the biggest unanswered questions for decades  is there, or was there ever, life elsewhere in the solar system? Now, a US space scientist believes he may have the answer

EVIDENCE COULD BE LOST ALREADY Professor Wright suggests that a prior indigenous technological species might have arisen on ancient Earth or another body, such as a pre-greenhouse Venus or a wet Mars. But most evidence of these aliens would probably be lost by now. In the case of Venus, the arrival of its global greenhouse and potential resurfacing might have erased all evidence of its existence on the Venusian surface. And on Earth, erosion and plate tectonics may have erased most such evidence if the species lived here billions of ago. Advertisement

Professor Wright is an associate professor in astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University.

In a new paper, titled 'Prior Indigenous Technological Species', Professor Wright suggests that ancient aliens could have lived on either Mars, Venus or even Earth.

And Professor Wright claims that there's a chance we could soon discover 'technosignatures' left behind by the aliens.

In his paper, published in arXiv, he writes: 'A prior indigenous technological species might have arisen on ancient Earth or another body, such as a pre-greenhouse Venus or a wet Mars.'

But most evidence of these aliens would probably be lost by now.

In the case of Venus, the arrival of its global greenhouse and potential resurfacing might have erased all evidence of its existence on the Venusian surface.

And on Earth, erosion and plate tectonics may have erased most such evidence if the species lived here billions of ago.

This leaves just a few places for scientists to look for traces.

Professor Wright wrote: 'Remaining indigenous technosignatures might be expected to be extremely old, limiting the places they might still be found to beneath the surfaces of Mars and the Moon, or in the outer Solar System.'

He believes that the traces are most likely to lie beneath the ground.

Professor Wright is an associate professor in astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University. In a new paper, titled 'Prior Indigenous Technological Species', Professor Wright suggests that ancient aliens could have lived on either Mars, Venus or even Earth

CONTACT WITH ALIENS 'COULD END LIFE ON EARTH' Lucianne Walkowicz, an astrophysicist at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, warned in February that making contact with aliens could be catastrophic for the human race. 'There's a possibility that if we actively message, with the intention of getting the attention of an intelligent civilization, that the civilization we contact would not necessarily have our best interests in mind,' she said.. 'On the other hand, there might be great benefits. 'It could be something that ends life on Earth, and it might be something that accelerates the ability to live quality lives on Earth. 'We have no way of knowing.' Advertisement

He wrote: 'Structures buried beneath surfaces might survive and be discoverable as long as they do not suffer a collision so severe that their artificial nature is obliterated.

'Merely destroying them would render them nonfunctional, but they might still be recognisably technological.

'We might conjecture that settlements or bases on these objects would have been built beneath the surface for a variety of reasons, and so still be discoverable today.'

Professor Wright believes that the growing field of space archaeology could help to reveal clues of the ancient aliens.

He wrote: 'Such discoveries might occur using the tools of the burgeoning field of the archeology of space which includes searching for, finding, and interpreting human artifacts in space.

'Perhaps more likely, imagery and subsurface radar used to study the geology of planetary surfaces might reveal traces of buried structures or other artifacts.'
Lockheed Martin is giving industrial workers a hand with an Iron Man inspired tool.

Called FORTIS Tool Arm, the exoskeleton is capable of supporting up to 50 pounds in order to relieve fatigue for those who work with heavy machinery.

Users reported two-thirds less fatigue after using the tool, which resulted in higher quality work, greater productivity and fewer musculoskeletal injuries.

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FORTIS Tool Arm is capable of supporting up to 50 pounds in order to relieve fatigue for those who work with heavy machinery. Users reported two-thirds less fatigue after using the tool, which resulted in higher quality work, greater productivity and fewer musculoskeletal injuries

FORTIS TOOL ARM The idea of the FORTIS Tool arm stems from technology developed for the US armed forces in order to help soldiers carry heavy loads long distances in the field. 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. Those working with heavy machinery have to take extra measures to support the weight of the tools  especially when working overhead or on vertical surfaces. Advertisement

Lockheed Martin, an American global aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies firm, designed the FORTIS Tool Arm tool to relive the stress many industrial workers face on a daily basis.

And it is part of a full-body exoskeleton series that was designed to assists the US armed forces in carrying heavy loads for long distances.

The complete exoskeleton 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.

'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.'

Those working with heavy machinery have to take extra measures to support the weight of the tools  especially when working overhead or on vertical surfaces.

And that is where Lockheed's new innovation comes in.

FORTIS Arm Tool is part of a full-body exoskeleton (pictured) that was designed to assists the US armed forces in carrying heavy loads for long distances. Those working with heavy machinery have to take extra measures to support the weight of the tools - that's where Lockheed's technology comes into play

The FORTIS Tool Arm supports this load and isolates much of the vibration and torque kick from the tool  relieving the fatigue workers will face.

It stemmed from Lockheed Martin's exoskeleton research to assist soldiers in carrying heavy equipment over long distances.

Lockheed Martin is giving industrial workers a hand with an Iron Man (pictured) inspired tool

The firm began testing the full-body exoskeleton with the US Navy in 2014.

The objective of this effort is to mature and transition exoskeleton technology to the Department of Defense industrial base and perform testing and evaluation for industrial hand-tool applications at Navy shipyards.

The FORTIS exoskeleton augments the strength and endurance of maintenance personnel in the physically demanding shipyard environment.

Because the FORTIS is designed to move naturally with the body, it allows operators to maintain flexibility, operators are not hindered by the exoskeleton.

This means operators can work longer and more effectively with reduced fatigue from overuse.

Lockheed Martin has been investing in exoskeleton research and development for more than five years, most recently through the NCMS Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) program.

These investments have led to advancements in powered and unpowered exoskeleton systems for applications ranging from military to industrial.

The FORTIS exoskeleton augments the strength and endurance of maintenance personnel in the physically demanding shipyard environment. The FORTIS Tool Arm supports this load and isolates much of the vibration and torque kick from the tool

'We are pleased that once again a technology advanced through our highly successful CTMA program will be put into commercialization,' said Rick Jarman, president and chief executive officer of NCMS.

'The Lockheed Martin FORTIS exoskeleton contract is just another example of how collaboration around research and development speeds the time to market for these important innovations.

'We applaud Lockheed Martin for seeing the value in our CTMA program.'
Scientists have revealed the latest images of a huge new crack in one of Greenland's largest glaciers.

The rift was first spotted while researchers were examining satellite data from the Petermann glacier.

The crack is raising concerns that part of the floating ice shelf could break off into the ocean,a fear confirmed by the latest images.

The new crack, or 'rift,' is visible in these images acquired on April 15, 2017, with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. Experts fear it could lead to a massive iceberg, or ice island breaking off.

The images were captured by on April 15, 2017, with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.

The Petermann glacier moves toward the sea along the northwestern coast of Greenland, terminating in a huge floating ice tongue.

Like other glaciers that end in the ocean, it periodically calves icebergs.

A massive iceberg, or ice island, broke off of the Petermann Glacier in 2010.

Nearly two years later, another chunk of ice broke free.

Researchers are keeping a close eye on it as they believe it holds back a foot of potential sea level rise from the Greenland ice sheet.

'Rifting and calving are normal,' said Kelly Brunt, a glaciologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Most cracks start along a glacier's edge, where a huge amount of strain is produced as the glacier slides along the walls of a fjord.

Researchers are keeping a close eye on it as they believe it holds back a foot of potential sea level rise from the Greenland ice sheet.

'However, if this new rift crosses Petermann and calves a good chunk of ice, it would be the third such relatively large iceberg from this system in about seven years.'

The rift currently appears to end at a feature running down the center of the glacier. 'That's pretty typical,' she said, citing similar occurrences on ice shelves in Antarctica.

This new rift could eventually work its way through the feature in the center of the glacier.

Or, the new rift could be met by an old riftvisible in the upper-right part of the detailed imageas it works its way from the northeast side of the glacier fjord.

'But there is really no telling at this point,' Brunt said.

'What's interesting here is that the crack originated in the center of the glacier, not along the edges,' Kelly Brunt, a glaciologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said.

This image shows a wide view of the glacier, including its frontwhere the glaciers floating tongue meets the fjords ice-covered sea water.

'When John Sonntag and I were looking for the new crack during the flight, we were looking for something substantial emanating from the edge.

'This totally surprised me!'

Most cracks start along a glacier's edge, where a huge amount of strain is produced as the glacier slides along the walls of a fjord.

That is especially true for Petermanna narrow glacier that has previously rifted along the edges of its floating shelf.

Pictured is part of the new rift on Petermann Glacier's floating ice shelf (shown near the bottom center). The older rift appears near top center. The shaded feature, near the bottom center, is the 'medial flowline' which may help slow the rift's growth

Pictured is the Petermann Glacier's east wall near the end of the floating ice shelf. If the crack continues to grow, it could join up with the initial crack and cross the entire ice shelf

Earlier this month, Stef Lhermitte, a researcher at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, said a second new crack is appearing in the middle of the ice shelf.

'As far as I understand, the island might not break off until later this summer or even next summer,' he told MailOnline.

NASA field campaign Operation IceBridge has captured the first photographs of the growing crack. Researchers are keeping a close eye on it they believe it holds back a foot of potential sea level rise from the Greenland ice sheet

'As this part of the ice shelf is already floating the break-off of the island will not affect sea level rise (i.e.floating ice and water have exactly the same volume).

'But understanding the glacier response on the longer term is important as it holds back a large amount of ice from the Greenland ice sheet.'

If it continues to grow, it could join up with the initial crack and cross the entire ice shelf.

There may be still be hope for the shelf, according to Nasa.

A 'medial flowline' in the ice could have a 'stagnating effect' on the newer rift, helping to slow its advance, scientists with Operation IceBridge said on Facebook.

Lhermitte said a possible cause for the crack might be 'ocean forcing,' a phenomenon that happens when warm ocean waters melt the ice from underneath.

In its in-depth report, the Washington Post asked several researchers if the crack could cause a larger break in the ice shelf.

Andreas Muenchow, a University of Delaware oceanographer who studies Petermann, told the Post: 'This could be a big deal that may lead to a third break-up, but it probably will not happen until later this summer.'

.@Petermann_Ice @AndreasMuenchow @glacier_doc @CopernicusEU @ESA_EO Sentinel-2 satellite time series show this new crack for the first time in July 2016. It has been growing since then. 2/5 pic.twitter.com/5dIiLs8kX9  Stef Lhermitte (@StefLhermitte) April 12, 2017

Jason Box, a professor with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland said it could lead to an ice island around 50 to 70 miles in size.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Greenland's glaciers and ice caps have passed a 'tipping point' and are no longer able to regrow lost ice.

The proverbial 'tipping point' was passed in 1997, when coastal meltwater was filled to its capacity.

Researchers predict that the subsequent melting of Greenland's coastal ice will raise global sea levels by about 1.5 inches by 2100.

 Slide me  Greenland's glaciers and ice caps have passed a 'tipping point' and are no longer able to regrow lost ice, experts have warned in a new study. The proverbial 'tipping point' was passed in 1997, when coastal melt water was filled to its capacity

WHY ARE THE GLACIERS 'DOOMED'? The problem lies in a layer of snow called the firn, which lies between fresh surface snow and the ice. Normally, meltwater drains through gaps in the firn down to the ice surface. But when the firn became saturated in 1997, it froze through. Since then, there haven't been any gaps to capture meltwater, and the ice hasn't been able to grow. They found that, for the last 20 years, mass loss has been exactly equal to the amount of meltwater runoff lost to sea, with a frozen firn the most likely cause. Advertisement

The study was conducted by researchers at Ohio State University, who looked at the glaciers and ice caps that dot the edges of the Greenland coast.

Twenty years ago, the island passed a tipping point, meaning the smallest glaciers and ice caps on the coast are no longer able to regrow lost ice.

The findings reveal exactly why the most vulnerable parts of Greenland ice are melting so quickly  the deep snow layer that normally captures coastal melt-water was filled to capacity in 1997.

That layer of snow and melt-water has since frozen solid, meaning all new melt-water flows over it and out to sea.

Fortunately, the findings only apply to a fairly small amount of ice along the coast, and not the Greenland Ice Sheet  the second biggest ice cache in the world.

Dr Ian Howat, who lead the study, said: 'These peripheral glaciers and ice caps can be thought of as colonies of ice that are in rapid decline, many of which will likely disappear in the near future.

'In that sense, you could say that they're 'doomed.'

'However, the ice sheet itself is still not 'doomed' in the same way. The vast interior ice sheet is more climatologically isolated than the surrounding glaciers and ice caps.

'Also, since this 'tipping point' was reached in the late 90's before warming really took off, it indicates that these peripheral glaciers are very sensitive and, potentially, ephemeral relative to the timescales of response of the ice sheet.'

If Greenland's coastal ice melted at once, global sea levels would rise a few inches.

In comparison, if the whole Greenland Ice Sheet melted at once, sea levels would rise by seven metres.

The problem lies in a layer of snow called the firn, which lies between fresh surface snow and the ice.

Normally, meltwater drains through gaps in the firn down to the ice surface.

But when the firn became saturated in 1997, it froze through.

Since then, there haven't been any gaps to capture meltwater, and the ice hasn't been able to grow.

They found that, for the last 20 years, mass loss has been exactly equal to the amount of meltwater runoff lost to sea, with a frozen firn the most likely cause.

The researchers have warned that the Greenland Ice Sheet is subject to the same danger, though to a lesser degree that the edge ice.
The bright red waterfall that flows from the white expanse of Antarctica has baffled scientists for more than a century.

Now, a team of American researchers have discovered new evidence that links Blood Falls to a large source of salty water that may have been trapped under Taylor Glacier for more than one million years.

Using radio-echo sounding, the brine's 300-foot path from beneath the glacier to the waterfall - a unique feature that has gone unnoticed since the waterfall was discovered in 1911.

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The bright red waterfall that flows from the white expanse of Antarctica has baffled scientists for more than a century - until now

WHAT DID THEY FIND? The American researchers tracked the brine with radio-echo sounding, a radar method that uses two antennaone to transmit electrical pulses and one to receive the signals. While analyze the scans, the team had seen something that until now was deemed impossible  liquid water was able to keep its form inside of the extremely cold glacier that flowed through a 300-foot long path. But, University of Alaska Fairbanks glaciologist Erin Pettit said the freezing process explains how water can flow in a cold glacier. 'While it sounds counterintuitive, water releases heat as it freezes, and that heat warms the surrounding colder ice,' she said. 'The heat and the lower freezing temperature of salty water make liquid movement possible.' 'Taylor Glacier is now the coldest known glacier to have persistently flowing water.' Advertisement

The red waterfall stands about five stories high in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica, which is known as being one of the coldest and least habitable places in the world.

Blood Falls was first discovered in 1911 by the by the Australian geologist Griffith Taylor, who first explored the valley  the glacier was also named after him.

And since being found, many experts have suggested a cause of the red color.

Some believed it was a result of red algae and down the road others suggested it was due to iron oxides.

The aptly named Blood Falls is an intermittent outflow of iron-rich brine that hosts an active microbial community; the brine discharges at the surface on the northern side of Taylor Glacier staining the ice red and depositing a red-orange apron of frozen brine, which aggrades with each brine outflow event and partially degrades in the summer warm period, reads the study published in the Journal of Glaciology by a team led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Colorado College.

The red color results from iron oxides precipitating when the iron-bearing suboxic brine comes in contact with oxygen in the atmosphere.

The brine source, inferred from thermal and flow modeling, is a putative subglacial reservoir several kilometers upstream that connects with a pervasive brine groundwater system detected from geophysical measurements.

But a lack of evidence for active flow of englacial brine from the subglacial source to Blood Falls left this connection as speculation - until now.

Now, a team of American researchers have discovered new evidence that links Blood Falls to a large source of salty water that may have been trapped under Taylor Glacier for more than one million years. The team found there is a 300ft path path brine flows to feed the waterfall

Blood Falls is famous for its sporadic releases of iron-rich salty water and it is the brine that turns red when the iron contacts air.

The American researchers tracked the brine with radio-echo sounding, a radar method that uses two antennaone to transmit electrical pulses and one to receive the signals.

'We moved the antennae around the glacier in grid-like patterns so that we could 'see' what was underneath us inside the ice, kind of like a bat uses echolocation to 'see' things around it,' said co-author Christina Carr, a doctoral student at UAF.

The red waterfall stands about five stories high in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica, which is known as being one of the coldest and least habitable places in the world

The American researchers tracked the brine with radio-echo sounding, a radar method that uses two antennaone to transmit electrical pulses and one to receive the signals. While analyze the scans, the team had seen something that until now was deemed impossible  liquid water was able to keep its form inside of the extremely cold glacier

While analyze the scans, the team had seen something that until now was deemed impossible  liquid water was able to keep its form inside of the extremely cold glacier.

But, University of Alaska Fairbanks glaciologist Erin Pettit said the freezing process explains how water can flow in a cold glacier.

'While it sounds counterintuitive, water releases heat as it freezes, and that heat warms the surrounding colder ice,' she said.

'The heat and the lower freezing temperature of salty water make liquid movement possible.'

'Taylor Glacier is now the coldest known glacier to have persistently flowing water.'
NASA and ESA are planning a joint mission to look for life on Earupa, it has been revealed.

Called the Joint Europa Mission, the plan was unveiled on 24 April in Vienna, Austria, at the annual European Geosciences Union meeting.

The mission would have three parts - a lander that spends 35 days on the moon's surface looking for signs of life, an orbiter that would spend three months taking atmospheric measurements, and a final phase that sees the orbiter crash into the moon taking measurements as it does.

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Called the Joint Europa Mission, the plan was unveiled on 24 April in Vienna, Austria, at the annual European Geosciences Union meeting. The mission would have three parts - a lander that spends 35 days on the moon's surface looking for signs of life, an orbiter that would spend three months taking atmospheric measurements, and a final phase that sees the orbiter crash into the moon taking measurements as it does.

It is hoped the mission could launch in the mid-2020s, and researchers say its goal is to: 'Understand Europa as a complex system responding to Jupiter system forcing, characterize the habitability of its potential biosphere, and search for life in its surface, sub-surface and exosphere.'

'The whole idea is that if we think exploring Europa for life is important, it should be an international adventure,' Michel Blanc at France's Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology in Toulouse told New Scientist.

'The ultimate goal is to get to the surface and look for biosignatures of life.'

Europa is our best shot of finding biological life in the solar system, researchers say.

It is thought to have an iron core, a rocky mantle and a surface ocean of salty water, like Earth.

Unlike on Earth, however, this ocean is deep enough to cover the whole surface of Europa, and being far from the sun, the ocean surface is globally frozen over.

This ocean is between 80-170km (50-105 miles) deep and contains more water than all of Earth's oceans put together.

HOW THE MISSION WOULD WORK The key to the mission would be putting a lander on the moon's surface for 35 days to sample and screen material for traces of life, such as biomolecules and metabolites. Meanwhile an orbiter craft would spend three months taking laser, magnetic and seismic measurements to find out more about the basic structure of the moon. It would focus on the composition and thickness of the ocean, already reckoned to be briny and rich in magnesium salts following previous observations of seeps to the surface by other space probes flying nearby. The orbiter would then crash into the moon, and gather and transmit data on the composition of Europa's tenuous atmosphere on the way down, identifying any life-related gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen. Advertisement

Many experts believe the hidden ocean surrounding Europa, warmed by powerful tidal forces caused by Jupiter's gravity, may have conditions favourable for life.

And this ocean can be accessed through huge cracks in Europa's icy surface, visible as large, dark streaks in satellite images of the moon.

'There is a consensus in the planetary community that Europa is the closest and probably the most promising target to search for extant life in our solar system,' the researchers said in the paper presented.

'The Galileo discovery of a sub-surface ocean likely in direct contact with a silicate floor that could be a source of the key chemical species needed for the build-up of biomolecules, the many indications that the ice shell is active and may be partly permeable to transfer materials, including elementary forms of life, and the identification of candidate thermal and chemical energy sources necessary to drive a metabolic activity, have raised great hopes that Europa is likely habitable, and strongly support a scientific plan to go there and see if it is indeed inhabited.'

A system of ridges and cracks on the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa is shown in this NASA photo released March 10. Many experts believe the hidden ocean surrounding Europa, warmed by powerful tidal forces caused by Jupiter's gravity, may have conditions favourable for life.

The lander would be designed by NASA, and the two agencies would combine forces to build other components.

'We propose that ESA works with NASA, which presently leads the way towards in situ exploration of Europa, to design and fly jointly an ambitious and exciting planetary mission to reach this objective.'

'There's great enthusiasm for this on both sides,' said Jakob van Zyl, director for solar system exploration at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who attended the session in Vienna, told New Scientist.

'The budget request is now with the president,' he said.

The researchers say the mission could help spot the signs of life.

'We aim at characterizing biosignatures in the environment of Europa (surface, subsurface and exosphere), while we also want to address a more general question: how does life develop in a specific habitable environment, and what are the evolutional properties of a habitable planet or satellite and of its host planetary/satellite system which make the development of life possible.'

JUPITER'S ICY MOON EUROPA Jupiter's icy moon Europa is slightly smaller than Earth's moon. Europa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is tidally locked - just like Earth's Moon - so that the same side of Europa faces Jupiter at all times. It is thought to have an iron core, a rocky mantle and a surface ocean of salty water, like Earth. This is an artist's concept of a plume of water vapour thought to be ejected off the frigid, icy surface of the Jovian moon Europa, about 500 million miles (800 million km) from the sun Unlike on Earth, however, this ocean is deep enough to cover the whole surface of Europa, and being far from the sun, the ocean surface is globally frozen over. Many experts believe the hidden ocean surrounding Europa, warmed by powerful tidal forces caused by Jupiter's gravity, may have conditions favourable for life. Advertisement

NASA already has a mission to Europa under development  officially dubbed Europa Clipper  but the orbiter won't land.

ESA is also planning a mission to Ganymede, another of Jupiter's moons.

The first mission is a 'Flyby' called Europa Clipper that will launch in 2022.

The second is a lander mission that will follow Clipper a few years later.

Nasa has said it will send two probes to Europa, a moon orbiting Jupiter, in the next decade. After an initial flyby probe mission in 2022, a second probe (pictured) will land on the moon's surface and take readings of its icy oceans to search for signs of alien life

WHAT MAKES EUROPA SPECIAL? Europa has a water ocean underneath its icy surface - one of the key components for life. The moon's orbital path takes it deep into Jupiter's magnetic field which rapidly speeds up particles and traps them on the moon's surface. The resulting radiation drives chemical reactions that lead to an abundance of chemicals known as oxidants on the surface. On Earth these oxidants react with compounds known as reductants to form the energy needed for life. Advertisement

Nasa discussed the probes at the 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in Houston this week.

Dr Robert Pappalardo, from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is Clipper's project scientist.

'We're really trying to get at Europa's potential habitability, the ingredients for life: Water, and whether there's chemical energy for life,' he told BBC News.

'We do that by trying to understand the ocean and the ice shell, the composition and the geology. And mixed into those is the level of current activity at Europa.'

The Clipper probe will house nine different instruments for measuring the distant moon's surface and ocean.

These high-tech gadgets include a camera to take detailed images of Europa's surface and spectrometers to measure its composition.

The first of Nasa's missions is a 'flyby' called Europa Clipper (pictured). The Clipper probe will house nine instruments for measuring the distant moon's surface and ocean, including a camera to take images of Europa's surface and spectrometers to measure its composition

An ice-penetrating radar will take analyse all three layers of the moon's surface and a magnetometer to research the ocean beneath.

Jupiter's icy moon Europa is slightly smaller than Earth's moon.

Europa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is tidally locked - just like Earth's Moon - so that the same side of Europa faces Jupiter at all times.

It is thought to have an iron core, a rocky mantle and a surface ocean of salty water, like Earth.

Jupiter's sixth-closest moon Europa (pictured) is one of the most interesting bodies in our solar system when it comes to the hunt for alien life. As well as a huge ocean of water, one of the key components to life, the moon's surface likely produces chemicals known as 'oxidants'

An artist's impression of the composition of Europa's interior. Underneath the moon's thick, icy surface lies a deep ocean. Within this ocean hydrothermal vents pump heat into the water, circulating its interior and creating ideal conditions for the growth of life

'The fact that there's liquid water underneath the surface which we know from previous missions, in particular from the magnetometer observations made by the Galileo spacecraft as it flew past [in the 1990s], makes it one of the most exciting potential targets to look for life,' said Professor Andrew Coates of UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey, UK.

Europa is a geological wonderland, with a wide variety of surface features. While much was learned from the Galileo satellite observations shown, taken in the 1990s, it is still not understood how most of these features form, or their implications for Europa's evolution

WHAT IS TIDAL DISSIPATION? Tidal dissipation describes the forces of gravity at work when a satellite orbits a planet, like our moon orbiting Earth or Europa orbiting Jupiter. The gravity from both bodies exerts a force on the other. Tidal dissipation describes the forces of gravity at work when a satellite orbits a planet, like our moon orbiting Earth or Europa (pictured right) orbiting Jupiter (pictured left). But the exact details of the process in ice are not very well understood The effect is a bit like what happens when someone repeatedly bends a metal coat hanger, said Christine McCarthy, an astronomer at Columbia University. 'If you bend it back and forth, you can feel it making heat at the junction,' she said. 'The way it does that is that internal defects within that metal are rubbing past each other, and it's a similar process to how energy would be dissipated in ice.' But the exact details of the process in ice are not well understood. Advertisement

But thanks to Galileo's flyby scientists already know that Europa is not one of a kind.

'One of the most amazing and significant discoveries of the past decade or so in planetary exploration is that you can't swing a dead cat in the outer Solar System without hitting an ocean world,' says Clipper's programme scientist Dr Curt Niebur, from Nasa's headquarters in Washington DC.

One of Saturn's moons, known as Enceladus, has an icy ocean that shoots jets of frost into space through cracks at its southern pole.

But Dr Niebur still believes Europa stands out: 'Europa is much larger than Enceladus and has more of everything: More geological activity, more water, more space for that water, more heat, more raw ingredients and more stability in its environment.'

Europa's orbital path takes it deep into Jupiter's magnetic field which rapidly speeds up particles and traps them on the moon's surface.

Europa's surface (pictured) is streaked with cracks and crevices caused by the tidal forces beneath. It is hoped that Nasa's probes can explore between these cracks to discover the surface and ocean's chemical compositions

Since early 2016 NASA's Planetary Science Division began a study to assess the scientific value and engineering design of a future Europa lander mission

The resulting radiation drives chemical reactions that lead to an abundance of chemicals known as oxidants on the surface.

On Earth these oxidants react with compounds known as reductants to form the energy needed for life.

For any microbes to form on Europa's surface the oxidants at its surface need to pushed down to the ocean below.

But convection processes driven by heat - which force blobs of ice to the moon's surface - may drive surface material down into the ocean.

Here the oxidants can react with reductants formed as sea water contacts the ocean floor to produce energy for alien lifeforms.

'You need both poles of the battery,' explains Nasa researcher Dr Robert Pappalardo.
After upending the taxi market with its ride-hailing service, Uber is now looking to the skies for its next venture - flying taxis.

The firm has announced that it plans to deploy its flying taxis in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and Dubai by 2020.

Uber's flying taxis will be small, electric aircraft that take off and land vertically (VTOL) with zero emissions and quiet enough to operate in cities.

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Uber has announced that its zero-emissions take off and land vertically flying taxis will hit be deployed in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and Dubai by 2020 - a year ahead of schedule

UBER'S FLYING TAXIS Uber revealed its plans to deploy its flying taxis in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and Dubai by 2020. Uber's flying taxis will be small, electric aircraft that take off and land vertically (VTOL) with zero emissions and quiet enough to operate in cities. It has also partnered with U.S. electric vehicle charging station maker ChargePoint Inc to develop an exclusive charger for its network. Uber expects to conduct passenger flights as part of the World Expo 2020 in Dubai. Advertisement

Flying taxis would cut down travel time between San Francisco's Marina to downtown San Jose to 15 minutes, compared with the more than two hours it takes by road, Uber has estimated.

In an early scale operation, the firm is able to get to $1.32 per passenger mile, a little higher than taking an UberX for a similar distance, Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden said at the Uber Elevate Summit in Dallas.

In the longer term, Uber expects the cost of taking flying taxis to fall below car ownership.

The company is working with Hillwood Properties to make four vertiports - VTOL hubs with multiple takeoff and landing pads, and charging infrastructure - in Dallas starting next year, Holden said.

Uber, valued at $68 billion, has also teamed up with companies such as Bell Helicopter, Aurora, Pipistrel, Mooney and Embraer to make the flying taxis.

It has also partnered with U.S. electric vehicle charging station maker ChargePoint Inc.

Uber is working on developing an exclusive charger for its network.

Uber, which is working with the Dubai government on this project, expects to conduct passenger flights as part of the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.

Uber, which is working with the Dubai government on this project, expects to conduct passenger flights as part of the World Expo 2020 in Dubai. Uber's flying taxis will be small, electric aircraft that VTOLwith zero emissions and quiet enough to operate in cities

The ride-hailing service first released a 98-page plan for its flying taxi service last October, which it hoped to utilize electric aircraft being developed by several different manufacturers for its service, which will be called Uber elevate.

It claims the flying taxis could revolutionize commuting - completing a two hour and 12 minute car ride will only be 15 minutes in the air.

The firm called the plan Uber Elevate and had set 2021 as the ready date  but the latest news has suggested that Uber is ahead of schedule.

THE AURORA FLYING TAXI Aurora's eVTOL concept is derived from its XV-24A X-plane program currently underway for the U.S. Department of Defense and other autonomous aircraft the company has developed over the years It looks like a futuristic biplane, takes off like a helicopter and could be deployed as soon as 2018. Uber announced today that it has selected Aurora Flight Sciences as a partner to develop electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for its Uber Elevate Network. 'Uber is taking a big step forward toward making the world's first VTOL network a reality and our partnership with Aurora Flight Sciences will help get us off the ground,' said Mark Moore, Director of Engineering for Uber. Aurora's eVTOL concept is derived from its XV-24A X-plane program currently underway for the U.S. Department of Defense and other autonomous aircraft the company has developed over the years. Aurora has adapted and combined the autonomous flight guidance system from its Centaur optionallypiloted aircraft, the perception and collision avoidance system from the AACUS program, and the battery electric propulsion system from the XV-24A demonstrator to create the innovative eVTOL design. Earlier this year Darpa announced the latest winner of its vertical take-off and landing experimental aircraft project called VTOL X-plane. Now, the first prototype of the Lightning Strike has taken has completed its military tests, paving the way for a full sized version to begin construction. The Auroraengine would drive 24 ducted fans, nine integrated into each wing and three inside each canard Officially known as the XV-24A LightningStrike Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) XPlane, the 20% scale craft completed its planned flight test program in early March at Webster Outlying Field in Southern Maryland. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the SVD successfully demonstrated key technical features the full-scale XV-24A will perform, including outbound and inbound transition flight. The SVD aircraft is a 325 pound, Lithium battery powered scale model of the 12,000 pound, 61 foot wingspan XV-24A. It will remain in flight status to supplement the full-scale XV-24A flight test program, currently scheduled to begin in late 2018. Advertisement

These VTOL flying cars would include fixed wings with tilt prop-rotors, which also makes for a much quieter ride.

Uber says its design will be 15 decibels quieter than traditional helicopters.

And the firm sees using pre-existing urban heliports and skyscrapers as launch and landing pads.

Unlike some of the designs on the market, Uber's has enough room for a pilot and multiple passengers.

These VTOL flying cars would include fixed wings with tilt prop-rotors, which also makes for a much quieter ride

FIRM UNVEILS ITS FLYING TAXI SET TO TRANSPORT PEOPLE IN DUBAI The fully ready-to-fly 184 is a manned drone capable of automatically carrying a passenger through the air, simply by entering a destination into its accompanying smartphone app. The 184 uses multiple independent flight control systems to automatically navigate passengers from point A to point B. These systems combine real-time data collected from sensors throughout the flight and automatically plot the fastest and safest route to carry passengers to their destinations. The EHang 184 has built in reinforcements for all flight systems, so that in the unlikely event that a component does fail, multiple backups are already in place to seamlessly take over. EHang's independently developed Fail-Safe System ensures that if any components malfunction, or if there's damage while the AAV is in-flight (i.e. from a bird), the aircraft will immediately begin taking the necessary precautions to ensure safety. The 184's Fail-Safe System automatically evaluates the damage and determines whether the AAV will need to land to ensure its passenger's safety. The EHang 184 AAV flight control systems have multiple sets of sensors that provide the drone a constant stream of real-time data. The 184's communication system was also designed with a safety guarantee: every system is encrypted, and each AAV comes with an independent key. In the event of an emergency, passengers can elect to halt flight and simply hover in the air with just one click. Advertisement

However, this idea is much different than what the firm sees with its self-driving ground cars - Uber co-founder and chief executive officer Travis Kalanick has said that the company's goal is to replace human drivers with driverless vehicles as 'quickly as possible'.

'Over time it's highly likely that VTOLs will become autonomous, though we expect that initial operations will require pilots,' the paper reads.

'Utilizing pilots in the initial period permits a strategy of building up statistical proof for FAA certification while slowly increasing the level of automation.'

The firm also included what it believes these crafts will cost  a low production rate of 12 units per year, each unit will run about $1.2 million.
Scientists listening to extraterrestrial signals in the universe for evidence of alien life have released their initial results from the first year of observations.

After combing through petabytes of data, the Breakthrough Listen team has ranked 11 events considered to be most significant  but so far, theyve found no convincing signs of intelligent life.

The team has also submitted a paper analyzing nearly 700 stars across all spectral types, which they say acts as a launch pad for deeper investigations to come.

After combing through petabytes of data, the Breakthrough Listen team has ranked 11 events considered to be most significant  but so far, theyve found no convincing signs of intelligent life. The massive Green Bank Radio Telescope is pictured

THE BREAKTHROUGH LISTEN MISSION Breakthrough Listen is a search for intelligent life using two of the world's most powerful telescopes. It was launched in January with the aim of scouring one million of the closest stars to Earth for faint signals thrown out into space by intelligent life beyond our own world. Scientists taking part in the $100 million are also scanning the very centre of our galaxy along with 100 of the closest galaxies for low power radio transmissions. Breakthrough Listen will collect data over a 10-year period. Search capacity will be 50 times more sensitive, cover 10 times more of the sky, 5 times more of the radio spectrum, and at speeds 100 times faster. Advertisement

The initiative, backed by Stephen Hawking and billionaire Yuri Milner, has been gathering data with the Green Bank Radio Telescope in West Virginia, Lick Observatorys Automated Planet Finder on Mt Hamilton in California, and the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia.

With an analysis pipeline built by researchers at the University of California, Berkeleys SETI Research Center (BSRC), the project scans billions of radio channels to search for signals that might be coming from an intelligent source outside of our solar system.

Theyve now made the initial data public, and will present the findings this Thursday during a Facebook Live presentation at the Breakthrough Discuss conference.

The scientists analyzed three five-minute observations of each of the 692 stars, alnong with five-minute observations of a set of secondary targets.

While there were millions of hits for the entire sample  or, radio emissions seen in the target  the researchers say this is almost certainly the result of interference from human technology.

And, while eleven events were distinguished as significant, further investigation suggests they are not coming from artificial alien sources.

Still, the researchers say these preliminary results are an important step in the search for alien life.

With the submission of this paper, the first scientific results from Breakthrough Listen are now available for the world to review, said Dr Andrew Siemion of BSRC.

Although the search has not yet detected a convincing signal from extraterrestrial intelligence, these are early days.

The work that has been completed so far provides a launch pad for deeper and more comprehensive analysis to come.

And, while eleven events were distinguished as significant, further investigation suggests they are not coming from artificial alien sources. Data from one such event shown above

Breakthrough Listen will collect data over a 10-year period from a network of the world's most powerful radio and optical telescopes to yield vast, full-sky signal monitoring.

It will collect more data in one day than previously had been collected in one year.

Search capacity will be 50 times more sensitive, cover 10 times more of the sky, 5 times more of the radio spectrum, and at speeds 100 times faster.

Overall, the researchers have selected 1709 stars to study.

Stephen Hawking (left) and billionaire Yuri Milner (right) have their sights set on finding alien life. Now, the first results from a $100 million 'Breakthrough Listen' mission to uncover signals from ET have been released

Another project, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, will rely on tiny so-called 'nanocraft' flying on sails, similar to the one illustrated, pushed by beams of light. Each of these tiny craft will carry cameras and a built in GPS

These are divided into two categories: those within 16 light years of the sun, and a group including branch stars no more than 163 light years away.

Last year, Hawking, Milner and Mark Zuckerberg launched another initiative in the Breakthrough program  the Breakthrough Starshot project.

The $100m project will rely on tiny so-called 'nanocraft' flying on sails pushed by beams of light through the universe.

They will travel to the Alpha Centauri star system 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away on a twenty year mission to look for alien life.




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For hundreds of years, a Renaissance secret lay hidden beneath the Medici Chapels in Florence.

Behind a trapdoor discovered under a wardrobe, a museum director and colleagues found a room with charcoal and chalk drawings lining the walls  and, theyre thought to be the works of Michelangelo.

Now, more than thirty years after their discovery, these rarely seen drawings have been revealed in breathtaking photos captured by National Geographic photographer Paolo Woods.

Behind a trapdoor discovered under a wardrobe, a museum director and colleagues found a room with charcoal and chalk drawings lining the walls  and, theyre thought to be the works of Michelangelo

OPPOSING THEORIES ON THE DRAWINGS Dal Poggetto and other experts have suggested that Michelangelo hid in the oblong room for roughly two months in 1530 after betraying the Medici family. But, the pieces are not signed, and some are considered too amateurish to really be of the famed artists hand. Some think the drawings were done at an earlier time, likely in the 1520s, and may have been drawn by Michelangelo and assistants during breaks from their work on the New Sacristy above. Advertisement

The room was found in 1975 by then museum director Paolo Dal Poggetto and colleagues while looking for a new way for tourists to exit, according to a National Geographic Exclusive report.

After the initial discovery of the room, which was filled with coal, experts undertook the careful job of removing layers of plaster from the walls to reveal what could be hidden beneath, given the citys history.

And, this revealed dozens of drawings that appeared similar to some of Michelangelos famous works.

Among the drawings was an image that resembles a sculpture in the New Sacristy chamber of the chapel above, which was designed by Michelangelo, according to National Geographic.

The experts also noted parallels between a particular sketch and the artists chalk drawing of the Resurrection of Christ, as well as a sketch reminiscent of Michelangelos depiction of Leda and the swan.

The room remains closed off to the public, in efforts to preserve the artwork inside. This drawing (left) has been said to resemble the statue of Apollo-David (right)

The experts also noted parallels between a sketch and the artists chalk drawing of the Resurrection of Christ, as well as a sketch reminiscent of his depiction of Leda and the swan. A bearded face was seen, too, resembling a face from the sculpture Laocoon and His Sons

Others appear to show humans flying across the walls, or falling from the sky.

And, one of the charcoal drawings is thought to be a version of one of the figures in the artists paintings at the Sistine Chapel.

Dal Poggetto and other experts have suggested that Michelangelo hid in the oblong room for roughly two months in 1530.

The artist had previously been commissioned by the Medici family, but betrayed them during their exile in 1527 by aligning himself with others against their rule - a move which later put him at risk, according to National Geographic.

Dozens of drawings appeared similar to some of Michelangelos most famous works, the experts say. The drawing of the back of a human figure in the image above is thought to resemble a figure in one of the artist's paintings at the Sistine Chapel, shown below

The room was found in 1975 by then museum director Paolo Dal Poggetto and colleagues while looking for a new way for tourists to exit, National Geographic reports. Part of the series a the Sistine Chapel is pictured

Its thought that the artwork in the room is a collection of works hed already completed, and of those he had yet to finish.

But, not all are convinced of this explanation.

The pieces are not signed, and some are considered too amateurish to really have been done by the famed artist.

And, Michelangelo was too prominent a figure to have hidden in such a place, William Wallace, a Michelangelo scholar at Washington University in St Louis, told National Geographic.

Its thought that the artwork in the room is a collection of masterpieces hed already completed, and of those he had yet to finish. But, not all are convinced of this explanation

For hundreds of years, a Renaissance secret lay hidden beneath the Medici Chapels in Florence. Now, more than thirty years after their discovery, these rarely seen drawings have been revealed in photos captured by National Geographic photographer Paolo Woods

The expert thinks the drawings were instead done at an earlier time, likely in the 1520s, during work on the New Sacristy above.

So, while some may have been done by Michelangelo himself, the expert says others were likely done by some of his many assistants during their breaks.

The room remains closed off to the public, in efforts to preserve the artwork inside.

After the initial discovery of the room, which was filled with coal, experts undertook the meticulous job of removing layers of plaster from the walls to reveal what could be hidden beneath, given the citys history
Each room has been individually furnished with unique pieces by well-respected international artists

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Mykonos.

It's an island that the celebs just can't get enough of - and I think I've just found their new favourite hotel there.

The likes of Alessandra Ambrosio, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Gerard Butler, Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey are all big fans of the Greek paradise and I think they'd also be big fans of the stunning Kensho Boutique Hotel & Suites, in the trendy Ornos beach area. If they're not already.

So PA's to the stars, notebooks at the ready because this place has 'this is the new place to be seen' written all over it.

Kensho Resort and Spa in Mykonos, Greece, boasts an Instagram-worthy outdoor infinity pool - and at night it's quite something to behold

The spa at the Kensho Boutique Hotel & Suites looks a little like a set from Star Trek

Wetting your appetite: Most of the 35 suites at Kensho feature either a hot tub or plunge pool

Most of its 35 suites feature either a hot tub or a plunge pool, and each has been individually furnished with unique pieces by well-respected international artists.

This chic boutique lodge is the ultimate in luxury.

With its name meaning 'enlightenment', Kensho promises to offer a 'unique journey' that will leave visitors with 'memorable experiences of relaxation and rejuvenation'.

I certainly left feeling relaxed and rejuvenated after spending four days sleeping on the plush poolside loungers, sipping cocktails in the sunshine and enjoying indulgent meals underneath the stars in the outdoor restaurant every evening.

Each of the bedrooms features furniture that has been designed by an internationally renowned artist

Branching out: MailOnline Travel was very taken with the block-of-wood seats

Bathrooms in the suites are ridiculously stylish, left, while the restaurant oozes designer chic, right

The plush five-star hotel is decorated beautifully with chic and rustic designer interiors

The hotel's bedrooms are magnetically luxurious - they are extremely difficult to extricate oneself from

The rooms are supremely plush, with all the mod cons, and have soothing hues

That's the thing about Kensho, it is so far removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life that I didn't feel the need to venture far out of the hotel  instead opting to really kickback and relax in the gloriously lavish surroundings.

The one day I did venture out was super easy  the sprawling white-sand Ornos beach is literally at the bottom of the hill and the centre of Mykonos (which is certainly recommended) is just a short bus-ride away.

I highly recommend taking a trip to both  if only to experience the laid-back but upmarket village beach-vibe at Ornos and to explore the winding traditionally Greek streets of Mykonos.

Back at Kensho, the modern boutique hotel is - in my opinion - one of the top places to stay on the island  and certainly won't disappoint.

At Kensho you're never far away from an eye-catching view of boats bobbing on the Med

Kensho has been nominated for a World Luxury Restaurant Awards 2017 gong - and this image shows why

And here we're back at the pool - and why not? It's a magical place to be, especially at night

Guests at Kensho can gaze out across crystal clear waters as they relax in their plunge pool

The suites are elegant and plush, but also give a humble nod to their Greek heritage.

With exposed white-washed walls and arched ceilings, the suites feel authentic. Light, bright and airy but with beautiful decor, they offer the perfect balance for those wanting to switch off from reality and unwind in luxury.

Each room features furniture and objects created by internationally renowned leading designers, with each one a key feature of the room.

This aerial shot of the swimming pool shows how the designers have incorporated the rocky surrounds into the look of the hotel

The resort perches just above the beach of Ornos, Mykonos, and offers a lovely nighttime view

The hotel is just a short bus ride from the centre of Mykonos, which is well worth a visit, says Naomi

A Zen room at Kensho Boutique Hotel & Suites starts from 401 per room per night inclusive of breakfast

The suites also come with 40-inch LCD Satellite TVs, free Wi-Fi and individually controlled air conditioning.

But perhaps the best things about each suite is the gigantic king-sized bed - finished with the most glorious duck-feather pillows and duvet - and the heated outdoor Jacuzzi where you can kick back with a bottle of bubbly while watching the sunset.

It was certainly romantic, but also the ideal place to enjoy a slice of paradise.
Winding canals, clusters of knotted trees and rolling fields of golden wheat.

These magnificent photos offer a glimpse into what it would be like to soar over Britain like a bird.

Shot 200ft above ground using a drone by David Hopley, a 45-year-old architectural technician from York, they mostly capture landscapes from the North of England.

Mr Hopley, also a self-taught photographer, remarks: 'Quite often it is impossible to visualise a top down shot until I am flying above it. But a great deal of exploration can be undertaken over a wide area during a 15-minute flight.

'There are uncountable hidden textures and patterns in the landscape which could never be seen at ground level.'

Only one of the images was taken without a drone: an incredibly well-timed shot taken by hand from London Tower Bridge's glass walkway, which managed to capture a tourist bus and a speed boat in the same frame.
As summer nears, travellers to Barcelona should be aware that they might not be welcomed with open arms.

The historic spot was flooded by 32million visitors last year according to local authorities, vastly outnumbering the 1.6million residents.

And in a bid to curb tourism, the city's mayor Ada Colau has set out a new policy following on from a ban to stop any new hotels from opening.

Hotspot: In a bid to curb tourism in Barcelona, the city's mayor Ada Colau has set out a new policy following a ban to stop any new hotels from opening

Her Strategic Plan For Tourism 2020, presented in February, lays out a number of measurements aimed at deterring the masses.

Charges for day-trippers will be ramped up, parking rates will increase and there are plans to limit the number of Segways and electric scooters in the more touristic parts of the city.

Vacation apartments will also be slapped with the highest property tax rates and the city will not provide licenses for new tourist accommodation.

Many locals, tired of being outnumbered by cruise-goers and day-trippers, have given Colau's new measures the thumbs up.

Janet Sanz, a deputy mayor in charge of urban planning and a close aide of Colau's, told the Associated Press: 'We have to stop this free-flow that operates without any control in the city.'

However, there are some who are not so happy with the new action plan.

Hotel and retail business groups issued a joint statement criticizing what they consider to be the latest move by the mayor to 'demonize' tourism.

Attracting the masses: The number of visitors to Barcelona has more than tripled since it hosted the Olympics in 1992

The industry says tourism accounts for 14 per cent of Barcelona's GDP and employs over 100,000 people.

Nuria Paricio, director of Barcelona Oberta, an association of more than 6,700 shops and businesses, said tourism was being turned into 'a scourge'.

'This plan is not going to stop the illegal apartments that are appearing like mushrooms in Airbnb and other platforms and that are responsible for pushing the prices of rentals in apartments,' Paricio said.

Colau's government has initiated legal battles against online platforms that allow homeowners to rent out their properties without paying occupancy taxes.

It also has pledged to increase the number of inspectors combing the city for unlicensed apartments from 20 to 110 in 2018.

A study conducted by Barcelona city hall in 2015 found 5.3 per cent of respondents thought tourism was the biggest problem facing the city, ahead of poverty at 5.1 per cent.

The number of visitors to Barcelona has more than tripled since it hosted the Olympics in 1992.

A 2013 study by MasterCard found that Barcelona is Europe's third most visited city, after London and Paris.
This is the moment foodies tucked into a fine dining experience - a trendy pop-up restaurant serving only airline food.

The temporary eaterie in London's Soho opened on Monday after it was revealed a quarter of Brits think airplane food is worse than school dinners and hospital food.

A fifth of people believe bad cuisine is the worst thing about flying long-haul and over half don't like the food served on planes.

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This is the moment foodies tucked into a fine dining experience - a trendy pop-up restaurant serving only airline food. The temporary eaterie in London's Soho opened on Monday after it was revealed a quarter of Brits think airplane food is worse than school dinners and hospital food

A fifth of people believe bad cuisine is the worst thing about flying long-haul and over half don't like the food served on planes

The menu on offer at the pop-up, This Is How We Fly, was devised by kiwi chef and restaurateur Peter Gordon to show off the freshness of Air New Zealand's on-board fare

The menu on offer at the pop-up, This Is How We Fly, was devised by kiwi chef and restaurateur Peter Gordon to show off Air New Zealand's on-board fare.

The airline opened the temporary restaurant and also commissioned the research of 1,000 UK adults who have flown long haul.

Peter Gordon said: 'When you're sitting on an airplane you want food with fresh ingredients and great texture that's going to awaken your taste buds and really excite you.

'The food served on board Air New Zealand uses the finest, fresh ingredients that are simply bursting with flavour.'

Nearly half of British flyers said they would enjoy airline food if it was made from fresh ingredients, while almost a quarter would like to see a range of cuisines offered.

And around a fifth said that a menu put together by a top chef would make airplane food more appealing.

Almost half of respondents believe airline food cannot better restaurant quality.

The biggest gripes people have about airplane food are its unappetising look, the freshness of the food and the portion sizes.

In an Air New Zealand survey, a fifth of those polled said that a menu put together by a top chef would make airplane food more appealing

Jo Copestake, Air New Zealand General Manager UK and Europe, said, 'At Air New Zealand we make a virtue of flying long-haul so serving great food is just one element of the in-flight experience.

'The research findings are interesting but I suspect they just haven't travelled with us - flying should be enjoyed, not endured!'

When asked for their views on the food, one member of the public said: 'I couldn't believe it - the food was delicious and probably on par with what I would pay for in a restaurant.

Air New Zealand's This Is How We Fly runs from Tuesday 25 April to Wednesday 26 April at Unit London Gallery, 147 Wardour Street, London, W1F 8WD

TOP 10 LONG-HAUL BUGBEARS 1. Uncomfortable seating 2. Lack of space 3. Annoying passengers 4. Not enough leg room 5. Not being able to sleep 6. Boredom 7. = Crying children = The duration of the flight 8. Sitting next to someone you don't want to 9. Queues for toilets 10. Bad food Advertisement

'I had the lamb with minted peas, braised lettuce with bacon lardons and salt roasted crushed new potatoes with mint jelly - it was really good.'

Another said: 'I'm always interested in trying new foods and Soho is really good for that.

'In all honesty I never thought airplane food could be so nice.'

Air New Zealand's This Is How We Fly runs from Tuesday 25 April to Wednesday 26 April at Unit London Gallery, 147 Wardour Street, London, W1F 8WD.

To try out the menu and register your interest in the pop-up visit: www.airnewzealand.co.uk/howwefly.

Jo Copestake, Air New Zealand General Manager UK and Europe, said: 'People will have a chance to sample Air New Zealand canapes, created with the finest, freshest ingredients.

'They'll also be able to sample some of the best wines from New Zealand courtesy of winery Villa Maria and discover Auckland via LA in an immersive 4D experience.'
On this Sunday's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Scott Disick finds himself on the receiving end of harsh words from the famous family while in Dubai.

The father of three appears to have returned to his partying ways during the overseas trip, after finding out ex Kourtney Kardashian 'was with somebody else.'

Kim Kardashian, who was on the Dubai trip with Scott, is not happy with his actions.

In a preview clip, Kim is seen screaming 'Do you think we should go bang down the bathroom door and see what the f**k is in there?!'

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Trouble: On this Sunday's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Scott Disick finds himself on the receiving end of harsh words while in Dubai

The 15-second video ends after Kim bursts the hotel room open and yells 'Tramp!'

Prior to the incident, Scott tells the camera 'I'm here in Dubai. And I found out that Kourtney was with somebody else.'

Scott and Kim were in Dubai in January for her appearance at masterclass with her makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic; that same month, Kourtney was spotted stepping out with Justin Bieber.

Following Scott's admission, Kim texts sister Kourtney to tell her that he's back to his partying ways.

She's got her sister's back: Kim, 36, is seen texting Kourtney Kardashian about Scott and his return to his partying ways while overseas in Dubai

What does she see? Kim Kardashian, who was on the Dubai trip with Scott, screams 'Do you think we should go bang down the bathroom door and see what the f**k is in there'

In Los Angeles, Kourtney, 38, reveals to Khloe Kardashian about Scott; she said: 'Kim texted me. He's still drunk and it's noon.'

Kourtney lounges on the couch back home in Los Angeles as Khloe gives a puzzled expression.

Kourtney and Scott are parents to three children together: Mason, seven; Penelope, four; and Reign, two.

Not happy: In Los Angeles, Kourtney, 38, reveals to Khloe Kardashian about Scott; she said: 'Kim texted me. He's still drunk and it's noon'

Not impressed: Kourtney lounges on the couch back home in Los Angeles as Khloe gives a puzzled expression

She and Scott split in July of 2015, nine years after they began dating.

Since they ended things, Scott has been snapped partying and cuddling with a bevy of models; he was seen in late January packing on the PDA with several different women while on holiday in Miami.

In a recent episode, Scott revealed to Kim and Khloe that Kourtney is 'the love of my life' and that he 'would never be over here.'

Keeping Up With The Kardashians airs Sundays at 9pm on E!

In hot water: Kourtney and Scott are parents to three children together: Mason, seven; Penelope, four; and Reign, two
Brad Pitt was spotted looking rather lean and drawn this past Saturday as he clambered onto a BMW motorcycle in Los Angeles.

The Shawnee-born 53-year-old - sporting $275 Etnia Barcelona 'Soder Sun BR' sunglasses - zipped himself into a pale grey bomber jacket, emphasizing his slender legs in a pair of fitted jeans.

His apparent weight loss comes months ahead of shooting on Ad Astra, directed by James Gray, whose latest film The Lost City Of Z Brad helped produce.

Is that him? Brad Pitt - sporting Etnia Barcelona sunglasses - looked rather lean and drawn this past Saturday as he stepped out in Los Angeles

Brad will star as an autistic Army Corps engineer scouring the solar system for his father, who years previously had ventured from Earth in search of life on Neptune.

James - who'd also directed The Immigrant, starring Brad's Allied co-lead Marion Cotillard - has told Collider: 'It starts shooting July 17th, so not too far away.'

Last September saw the feverishly-discussed end of Brad's 11-year relationship with Angelina Jolie, whom he'd married in 2014 at their chateau in the South of France.

On the move! The Shawnee-born 53-year-old had zipped himself into a pale grey bomber jacket, clambering aboard a BMW motorcycle

A source confided in People last week that Brad 'has been dating a bit,' though 'Its not anything serious. He doesnt have a girlfriend.'

Apparently, 'Its more of a way to get out and be social,' and 'He seems more comfortable double-dating,' to which end 'friends are helping out.'

It was Angelina who'd filed for divorce, enlisting lawyer Laura Wasser, who'd previously represented Johnny Depp during his divorce from Amber Heard.

Incoming! His apparent weight loss comes months ahead of shooting on Ad Astra, directed by James Gray, whose latest film The Lost City Of Z Brad helped produce

The ghastly aftermath of Brangelina's split included an FBI investigation into allegations Brad had abused Maddox, the eldest of the couple's six children - though in November it emerged the investigation had closed and Brad been cleared.

Brad and Angelina issued a joint statement in January indicating they'd decided to conduct the rest of their divorce proceedings away from the public eye.

'The parties and their counsel have signed agreements to preserve the privacy rights of their children and family by keeping all court documents confidential and engaging a private judge to make any necessary legal decisions and to facilitate the expeditious resolution of any remaining issues,' said the statement, per People.

Notice the change! Brad's current appearance is a far cry from the way he looked last summer; he is pictured last July in New York City

'The parents are committed to act as a united front to effectuate recovery and reunification,' offered the statement from Brad and Angelina, who'd become an item after he'd infamously left his first wife Jennifer Aniston for her.

Brad's lately taken to sculpture, learning from Leeds-born contemporary artist Thomas Houseago at his studio in the Frogtown area of Los Angeles.

DailyMail.com reported last month that he was working away in studio for up to 15 hours a day and putting on melancholy songs as he set about his project.
Rose Byrne has opened up about her dear friend, the late Heath Ledger and says she remembers the actor as 'shy' and 'goofy.'

Speaking to People, the 37-year-old says, 'He was a goof. He was such a goofy, funny, you know, adorable guy.'

She added, 'He was incredibly generous. He had a huge heart. He was kind of, actually, really shy'.

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Close pals: Rose Byrne has opened up about her dear friend, the late Heath Ledger and says she remembers the actor as 'shy' and 'goofy'

The Damages star also discussed their friendship, forged on the set of the 1999 Australian indie film, Two Hands.

'We met each other when we were 18. We were kids. (He had a) kinetic energy. He was nonstop. I adored spending time with him,' she told the magazine.

Rose added that their friendship was, 'a really seminal part of my life'.

The comments come after Heath's sisters Kate Ledger and Ashleigh Bell attended the first screening of I Am Heath Ledger, a documentary about the late actor's life, at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

On the set of Two Hands in 1999: 'We met each other when we were 18. We were kids. (He had a) kinetic energy. He was nonstop. I adored spending time with him,' she told People

The pair insisted the gossip surrounding the Australian actor's sudden overdose death is not justified.

'He wasn't depressed about The Joker,' Kate Ledger said during a Q&A at the screening, as reported by The Daily Beast.

'Honestly it was the absolute opposite. He had an amazing sense of humor, and I guess only his close family and friends really knew that. But he was having fun,' Kate said.

Movie opening: The comments come after Heath's sisters Kate Ledger and Ashleigh Bell attended the first screening of I Am Heath Ledger, a documentary about the late actor's life, at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York

Proud to take the role: 'He wasn't depressed about The Joker,' Kate Ledger said during a Q&A at the screening, as reported by The Daily Beast

The sisters gave their blessing to the project directed by Derik Murray and Adrian Buitenhuis in part because they wanted to show the world 'what they didn't know about him.'

The beloved Australian actor died aged 28 in 2008 after an accidental overdose of prescription medication.

Tragic death: The beloved Australian actor died aged 28 in 2008 after an accidental overdose of prescription medication

The world premiere of I Am Heath Ledger took place at the Tribecca Film Festival in New York on April 23, and the Ledger family will attend the Australian premiere on May 9 at Luna Cinemas in Perth.

According to News.com.au, I Am Heath Ledger will open in select Australian cinemas for one week only from May 11.
He's about to celebrate his ten year wedding anniversary with his wife Nichola.

And ahead of their big day, Andy Whyment has revealed the moment he knew his stunning other half Nichola was 'the one', the secrets behind their romance and how they would like to renew their vows one day.

Speaking to OK! magazine, the Coronation Street star, 36, gushed: Ive been punching above my weight for years - shes gorgeous! Im a very lucky bloke. Weve been together 14 years and we just dont argue. We get on so well.

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Love story: Andy Whyment, 36, has revealed the moment he knew his stunning other half Nichola, 32, was 'the one', the secrets behind their romance and how they would like to renew their vows one day

And the pair certainly looked in love as they shone on the cover of the magazine shoot, with their two kids Thomas and Hollie.

Speaking of their early days, Andy confessed: I fancied Nic for some time but nothing happened. Then we copped off one night and it wasnt too long before I realised she was the one I wanted to be with.

'I said in my wedding speech you just know when you meet the one, and thats true.

Nichola, 32, also gave her insight: It was a good few months for me because he was a bit of an idiot when I first met him.'

'She's gorgeous!' The Coronation Street star couldn't help but gush about how lucky he was with Nichola

Slow burner: Speaking of their early days, Andy confessed: I fancied Nic for some time but nothing happened

'He was single and sharing a place with Al (Alan Halsall, who plays Tyrone Dobbs). He was just giving it big time and not doing what I wanted him to do.

And everything seemed to have worked well with talk turning to wedding vows renewal.

Andy, who married Nichola in 2007, revealed: 'Do you know whats weird? If we got married again wed probably have a different group of people there.

'She's the one': The pair wed in 2010 and will soon be celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary

'When we got married we were going out every weekend and now we just stay at home...I would like to wait, but Nic would renew our vows tomorrow as she feels like she was a very young bride.

Given his gushing statements, it comes as a surprise that the couple aren't the most romantic, as Andy spoke of his most loving gesture:

Probably when I proposed and that wasnt really very romantic. We were in Monte Carlo having a meal and then we walked out onto the beach.

'Im not a big fan of the beach either! Im not a romantic person but neither is Nic. Thats probably one of the reasons why our relationship works so well.

On-screen portrayal: Andy plays Kirk Sutherland in Coronation Street and revealed, Ill stay there for as long as theyll have me. I love the job'

And while romance isn't a priority, their children are - as Nichola stated: They are number one. Wherever we go, the kids come too. I dont really like using babysitters. The kids are my best mates as well.

However Andy was quick to shun the possibility of more kids in the future: Theres no chance of that as I had the snip a few years ago.

Read the full interview in OK! magazine, out now.

Proving happy in his professional life as well as his personal life, Andy revealed: Ill stay there (Coronation Street) for as long as theyll have me. I love the job.

'Ive been fortunate that Ive been able to see my kids grow up. Ive seen them take their first steps and not many dads can say that.

And with the possibility of future TV appearances, he stated: Ive always said I would love to do Im A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here!, just to challenge myself.

'I think it would be a great experience. As I love my food and sleep, it would be a challenge.

Read the full interview in OK! magazine, out now.
She has been in a relationship with boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio for nine months, but now, there's a new man on her arm.

On Sunday, Nina Agdal went for a drink at Cosme in NYC with the new Dos Equis` Most Interesting Man.

Last September, Frenchman Augustin Legrand was introduced as the alcohol brand's new face, replacing actor Jonathan Goldsmith.

Going out! On Sunday, Nina Agdal, 25, went for a drink at Cosme in NYC with the new Dos Equis` Most Interesting Man, Frenchman Augustin Legrand, 41,

Nina tucked in sheer, ruffle blouse into a flare black mini skirt.

The 25-year-old hid her long, bronzed legs behind a pair of over-the-knee boots.

The stunning blonde wore her longs down and in waves. The supermodel kept her make-up fresh, choosing a natural glam look.

Evening style: Nina tucked in sheer, ruffle blouse into a flare black mini skirt

Keeping warm: The 25-year-old hid her long, bronzed legs behind a pair of over-the-knee boots

What a beauty! The stunning blonde wore her longs down and in waves. The supermodel kept her make-up fresh, choosing a natural glam look

Not present was the Danish beauty's boyfriend of nine months, Leonardo DiCaprio.

The couple still appear to be going strong, as they were recently seen out on a dinner date last Wednesday.

Nina's Sunday outing looked to a be a professional business date in honor of the alcoholic brand and its new ambassador.

Introducing him: The outing looked to a be a professional business date in honor of the alcoholic brand and it's new ambassador

Taking over: Last September, Frenchman Augustin was introduced as Dos Equis' new face

Last September, Augustin replaced actor Jonathan Goldstein, 78, who had been the face of the beer for eight years. The brand's popularity grew after he signed on, even elevating him to meme status.

The brand is trying to target millennials, as well as play to its 'multicultural' fanbase, according to USA Today. Augustin is fluent in Spanish.

'We're trying to reach a new audience. The reality of the drinker base is it's much more multicultural than ever. And Spanish-dominant consumers are increasingly important,' said VP of Marketing Andrew Katz.

The original: Jonathan Goldstein, 78, was previously the face of the beer for eight years. He was very popular, and even elevated to meme status
He's had a long and established military career, being a retired Major General.

And Erin Molan's father Jim has sent a powerful message out on social media for Anzac Day, which The Footy Show's Erin shared on her Instagram account on Tuesday.

In the short clip, retired Jim, 67, told people to enjoy the day while asking if Australians would be ready again to head to war if it arose, before calling North Korea's Kim Jong-un a 'nutcase.'

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Powerful: The Footy Show's Erin Molan shared to Instagram a video of her father, Jim Molan (centre, pictured during his military career) who sent a message on Anzac Day

'In the short clip, he revealed he went to a dawn service in Queanbeyan for this year's Anzac Day, and heard interesting statistics.

'During the first world war, the population of Queanbeyan was 1600, yet 500 of them volunteered for service.'

'I wonder if we could do it again? I think to myself. Is there evil in the world still that would require us to make such a sacrifice? We've just been threatened with nuclear destruction by some nutcase in North Korea, so maybe there is still evil in the world.'

His opinions: In the short clip, retired Jim, 67, told people to enjoy the day while asking if Australians would be ready again to head to war if it arose

Family: Erin is pictured with her father recently

'I guess the question that we should ask ourselves on Anzac Day is, could we as a society, as a nation, as the west, still make that sacrifice for what we believe in again?'

He added: 'Hey have a great Anzac Day all of you, those that made the sacrifice in the past, they made it so we could have great days like Anzac Day.'

In the caption of the post, Erin said she preferred to share the video rather than her usual tributes to her father and servicemen and women.

'He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for this country from the age of 17. He has bravely fought in many countries around the world for our freedom back home. He retired a Major General. He and all those who marched before him and will after him deserve our ultimate respect,' part of her post read.

'Maybe there is still evil in the world': He also called North Korea's Kim Jong-un a 'nutcase'

Jim is a former senior member of the army and in 2004, was deployed to Iraq.

He retired from the Australian Defence Force in 2008, after decades of service and starting his military career in his late teens.

Last year, Erin opened up about her father's career and said she and her family were always lucky that he came home.

She told Daily Mail Australia: 'We were just so lucky because dad always came home and that wasn't the case for a lot of people,' she said.

Erin went on to explain that she first became aware of her father's sacrifice during her early teenage years.

Opening up: Last year, Erin opened up about her father's career and said she and her family were always lucky that he came home

'The first time I really clicked to what he was doing was when he was in East Timor [1998]. The war had broken out over there and he was one of the first people on the ground,' she said.

'I remember seeing on the news the area where people were running out and being shot at. Seeing those images and knowing dad was over there and part of it was horrible.'

The Channel Nine journalist went on to add that the Iraq-based war in 2004 also made her more wary of the circumstances as Jim took on the position as the Chief of Operations who led and controlled the troops on the ground.

Struggles: The Channel Nine journalist went on to add that the Iraq-based war in 2004 also made her more wary of the circumstances

'Iraq was also a big one because I was 15-16 when he went over for a year. You watch the news every night and you see the death toll rising and it was hard,'Erin said.

'We also couldnt communicate, so we would go weeks and weeks without speaking to him on the phone to make sure he was okay and it was hard watching mum [Anne] go through that as well.'

While claiming to be a 'proud Australian' watching on as her father served the country, Erin admitted she feared the worse would come one day.

'Dad's just the most impressive man. I always knew he was noble and brave and that is the type of man he is, so that was always my fear,' she said.
She made a triumphant return to The One Show on Monday after a three and a half month maternity leave.

And Alex Jones couldn't have looked more pleased about her comeback, as she exited the BBC studios following her appearance.

The 40-year-old host absolutely glowed as she flaunted her slender post-baby body in a clingy black jumper and matching skinny jeans.

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Stylish exit: Alex Jones, 40, couldn't have looked more pleased about her The One Show comeback, as she exited the BBC studios following her appearance on Monday

Alex's figure-hugging jumper showed off her incredibly slimmed down figure after giving birth at the start of the year.

Her black jeans moulded her lean legs and she kept it comfortable in a pair of white trainers.

Despite being a mum to a newborn, the glowing beauty looked well-rested and sported a healthy dose of blusher and a sweep of mascara on her eyes.

She proved to be in good spirits as she flirtatiously played with her locks, which fell in bouncy waves.

All eyes on her: The TV host absolutely glowed as she flaunted her slender post-baby body in a clingy black jumper and matching skinny jeans

Wow: Alex's figure-hugging jumper showed off her incredibly slimmed down figure after giving birth at the start of the year

Trendy: Her black jeans moulded her lean legs and she kept it comfortable in a pair of white trainers

Pulling in the look was a chic tasselled hand which was draped across her body, while she also carried a shiny red bag.

Earlier on in the day, Alex looked at ease and thrilled as she joined her co-host Matt Baker on the BBC show for her first day back after giving birth to son Edward Alun Burrell Thomson.

She looked incredibly chic as she was greeted by her co-host, 39, in a warm embrace after her three and a half months break.

Despite being a mum to a newborn, the glowing beauty looked well-rested and sported a healthy dose of blusher and a sweep of mascara on her eyes

Back on TV! Alex looked thrilled as she joined her co-host Matt Baker on the BBC show for her first day back after giving birth to son Edward Alun Burrell Thomson

'Look whos back! Its Alex! Hooray, hooray, hooray. You look beautiful,' Matt announced excitedly - to which Alex responded: 'Its lovely to be back. Its so strange!'

Ever the glowing mother, Alex responded to compliments about her looks with: 'There's a lot of dark colours that will be going on for the next few months. All mothers will understand that.'

And despite having her hands full with her little one, Alex confessed that it didn't feel like she'd taken much time off.

'It's been strange. In a way, today, after being in for half an hour it felt like I'd never been away,' she revealed, before joking that being at work was easier that being a mum.

Exciting times: The TV host looked incredibly chic as she was greeted by her co-host, 39, in a warm embrace after her three and a half months break

'Look whos back!' Matt couldn't help but be excited over the Alex's return

'Its lovely to be back. Its so strange!' Alex looked sensational as she spoke of how she was feeling during her return post maternity leave

'Its been much easier! I've had a cup of tea with two hands!,' she joked.

Last week, Alex revealed that despite being excited to slip back to her role on screen, she will no doubt be a bit nervous'.

On Friday, the Welsh native looked fresh faced as she appeared in a video link carrying little Teddy.

Announcing her return, Alex said: 'I'm coming back to The One Show on Monday.

'Matt, hopefully you'll look after me because I'll be feeling a bit nervous. Excited to see everybody, the whole team.'

'I've had a cup of tea with two hands!' She joked that being at work was easier that being a mum

'I'm nervous': On Friday, the Welsh native looked fresh faced as she appeared in a video link carrying little Teddy where she spoke of her nerves ahead of returning to The One Show

In her personal life, she has been enjoying every minute of being a mother and has shared a number of cosy family snaps.

The new mum admitted while she was excited to make her return, she will miss her little boy.

She added: 'It will be hard leaving little Ted, as every parent, I'm sure, understands.

'So yeah, I'll be back on Monday - two days to begin with. We'll see how we go!'

Emotional goodbye: The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant made her last TV appearance on January 6, 2017 ahead of giving birth to her little boy

Family time: Alex posted the cosy snap of her heading home with her husband Charlie Thomson, mother in law and little Ted after a day out at the an art fair

The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant made her last TV appearance on January 6, 2017 ahead of giving birth to her little boy.

In heart-warming scenes, the new mum couldn't contain her excitement when she announced Teddy had been born on a live telephone call to the show on January 26.

Alex tied the knot with the love of her life New Zealand insurance broker Charlie Thomson at Cardiff Castle in December 2015.
Sir Michael Caine seems to have a memory lapse after calling himself a socialist who wouldnt live in a country that didnt pay income tax

He spent a decade as a tax exile and was embroiled in a tax avoidance scandal.

But Sir Michael Caine seems to have a memory lapse after calling himself a socialist who wouldnt live in a country that didnt pay income tax.

Discussing the vast sums paid to Hollywood stars, the Oscar-winning actor, who is worth 58million, added [But tax] is half of it, or even a little bit more  and then what you do is watch the government to see if they spend it correctly.

And they never do. And then they actually increase taxes. Im a socialist, basically. I want as much money as possible for poor people, to help whoevers in trouble. I wouldnt live in a country that didnt pay income tax. He added: What you have to do is keep emotion out of it. You cant say, We hate these rich people, were going to tax them to smithereens.

Youve got to have them stay in your country and pay the tax.

Sir Michael, 84, made his comments in an interview with Catholic newspaper The Universe to promote his new movie Going In Style.

However, in 2014 he was caught up in an embarrassing tax scandal alongside several other celebrities including Gary Barlow, Katie Melua, Anne Robinson and George Michael.

They were among more than 1,600 who allegedly tried to shelter 1.2billion in an investment scheme called Liberty to avoid paying 40 per cent income tax.

Sir Michael reportedly attempted to shelter at least 600,000, and two years ago was forced to pay the tax back to HMRC.

In the 1970s, the London-born actor moved to the US after the top rate of UK income tax soared to 83 per cent under a Labour government. He returned to England eight years later after taxes had been lowered under Margaret Thatchers Conservative government.

George Michael (left) and Gary Barlow (right) were caught in the same tax scandal as Sir Michael Caine

And while calling himself a socialist, Sir Michael  who was born Maurice Micklewhite  has admitted voting for the Tories under Mrs Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron. He also voted for Brexit.

In the same interview the twice-married father of two said he would never do adverts less than four years after he was paid a six-figure fee to film a Sky commercial.

Explaining that he continued to work in order to do something good, he added: I dont just do work which is no good. I dont do commercials. On being reminded of his advert for Sky, he backtracked, saying: They paid me a fortune for doing that, thats why I did that, and bought my daughter a house with it.
She's a supporter of the Entre Cien Mil Foundation, Spain's non-governmental organization that raises awareness and funds for research into childhood leukemia.

And on Monday, Penelope Cruz was in the country's capital, Madrid, to present a 100,000 euros ($108,642) research grant to the charity at La Casa Encendida cultural center.

The 42-year-old actress looked chic in an ankle-length suede coat that she wore over a cream T-shirt with a deep round neck, jeans and peep-toe shoes.

That's a big check: Penelope Cruz presented a check for 100,000 euros ($108,642) to Uno Entre Cien Mil president Jose Carnero and Dr. Maria Luisa Toribio Garcia for research into childhood leukemia in Madrid on Monday

The beautiful brunette's hair was styled to brush her shoulders.

And her face was perfectly made up to accentuate her olive skin with plenty of liner and mascara around her brown eyes and her lips painted a dark pink.

Penelope accessorised with sparkly hoop earrings.

The foundation is dear to the actress's heart.

Simply stylish: The 42-year-old actress looked chic in an ankle-length suede coat that she wore over a cream T-shirt with a deep round neck, jeans and peep-toe shoes

Last year she wrote and directed the documentary Soy Uno Entre Cien Mil  which means I Am One Among One Hundred Thousand in English  in collaboration with the organisation to publicize its work.

She was joined by her lookalike younger sister Monica Cruz at the premiere in Madrid in September.

Meanwhile, Penelope has been married to Spanish actor Javier Bardem. 48, for seven years.

She approves: The beautiful brunette clapped during the ceremony. The foundation is dear to Penelope's heart and last she wrote and directed a documentary about its work

Not so sure: Penelope appeared to be thinking hard about something as she held a mike

They started dating while filming the 2008 Woody Allen movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, after meeting 10 years earlier on the set of Live Flesh.

'What we have is the most important thing: a past,' Javier said in his cover interview for the told the May issue of Esquire magazine.

'We knew each other back at the very beginning of it all, and that is important because when we saw each other again, I saw her and she saw me.'
She is known for her chic sense of style as one of the glamorous leading ladies on TOWIE.

And Chloe Lewis put on yet another sartorial display on Monday night, as she made a show-stopping arrival at the Urban Decay VIP Dinner in London.

The reality star, 26, paid homage to the 70s in a cool pair of white flares and a matching shirt, as she arrived at Selfridges with her handsome beau Danny Flasher.

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A bit of all-white: Chloe Lewis put on yet another sartorial display on Monday night, as she made a show-stopping arrival at the Urban Decay VIP Dinner in London

Throwback: The reality star, 26, paid homage to the 70s in a cool pair of white flares and a matching shirt, as she arrived at Selfridges with her handsome beau Danny Flasher (L)

The brunette beauty looked truly stunning in her all-white ensemble, which involved contrasting old-school flares and a traditional shirt.

The strides clung to her svelte legs at the top, before elongating her already leggy figure by expanding into a statement bell bottom.

Keeping all eyes on her standout trousers, the beauty then sported a simple white shirt on top - which shrouded her slim frame with its silk material.

Trendy: The brunette beauty looked truly stunning in her all-white ensemble, which involved contrasting old-school flares and a traditional shirt

Jazzing it up: The TOWIE star accessorised with quirky orange drop earrings, for a vibrant splash of colour

Keeping co-ordinated from head to toe, she slung a quilted cream handbag across one shoulder, and tied her look together with barely-there nude heels.

The TOWIE star accessorised with quirky orange drop earrings, for a vibrant splash of colour, and styled her hair into classic big, bouncy waves, to keep all attention on her naturally striking facial features.

Chloe headed to the beauty event with her boyfriend Danny, who looked incredibly handsome in a simple but slick black suit jacket and jeans, to ensure his girlfriend stole the show.

Minimal: Keeping co-ordinated from head to toe, she slung a quilted cream handbag across one shoulder, and tied her look together with barely-there nude heels

Beauty queen: She styled her hair into classic big, bouncy waves, to keep all attention on her naturally striking facial features

Suave: Chloe headed to the beauty event with her boyfriend Danny, who looked incredibly handsome in a simple but slick black suit jacket and jeans

Sipping on a glass of champagne at the bash, the brunette beauty soon coerced her new man into a few photos - before they left hand-in-hand, to prove they were as loved-up as ever.

Chloe has remained relatively quiet on her new romance, ever since she confirmed it on Valentine's Day with an intimate Instagram snap.

She had shared a selfie with the dashing hunk, with the caption: 'So bloody handsome... to this one making me feel so special everyday', although did not specify the identity of her new beau.

Besotted: Sipping on a glass of champagne at the bash, the brunette beauty soon coerced her new man into a few photos - before they left hand-in-hand (above)

Enjoying their company: Chloe has remained relatively quiet on her new romance, ever since she confirmed it on Valentine's Day with an intimate Instagram snap

The hunk has since been identified as Danny Flasher - an emerging markets broker from her native Essex.

An insider revealed to The Sun at the time: 'They've been dating for a few months and Chloe is very happy.'

The pair were then spotted packing on the PDA outside a nightclub last month, indicating their relationship is only going from strength to strength.
Jason Momoa spent Anzac Day having a casual pedal around the sunny streets of the Gold Coast, and the actor took time out to wish Aussies a 'safe Anzac Day.'

The 37-year-old Game of Thrones star looked very relaxed and wore headphones as he rode on the footpath upon an orange bike.

In town filming for Aquaman, the hunky actor chose an edgy Slayer shirt for the outing, paired with black and grey shorts with a swirl pattern.

Local: Jason Momoa spent Anzac Day having a casual pedal around the sunny streets of the Gold Coast, and took time out to wish Aussies a 'safe Anzac Day' in the process

His massive arm muscles and prominent tattoos were on display during the trip, and the actor carried a skateboard on his handlebars.

The statuesque 6 '4 star opted not to wear a helmet, and larked about lifting one leg in the air as he rode down a street with what appeared to be a female friend in tow.

Jason later hopped off the bike and put the skateboard to good use, posting a video to Instagram in which he was riding it through the streets.

He wished Aussies a happy national holiday, captioning the image, 'Aloha kakahiaka have a great safe Anzac Day today.'

Chilling: The 37-year-old Game of Thrones star looked very relaxed and wore headphones as he rode on the footpath upon an orange bike

Skate head: Jason later hopped off the bike and put the skateboard to good use, posting a video to Instagram in which he was riding it through the streets

He wished Aussies a happy national holiday, captioning the image: 'Aloha kakahiaka have a great safe Anzac Day today.

Jason has been enjoying his visit to Australia, attending Byron Bays Bluesfest earlier this month.

The Hawaiian native travelled to the NSW festival with his Aquaman co-star Patrick Wilson, who is also on the Gold Coast ahead of filming next month.

Jason has made a big impression since arriving Down Under to film Aquaman, which is slated for a 2018 release.

Enjoying the local sights: Jason travelled to the Byron Bays Bluesfest with his Aquaman co-star Patrick Wilson

Production staff working on the film, which also boasts Nicole Kidman among its cast, praised the actor for his professionalism.

'He's made such a good impression on everyone. Everyone can't praise him enough - especially the action guys. He already has so much respect,' a crew member told News Corp.
Katie Holmes donned doily-style pants for the Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner hosted by Chanel in Manhattan on Monday.

The 38-year-old actress paired her sheer white-lace wide-leg trousers featuring a scalloped hem with a Chanel short-sleeved navy cardigan and copper pumps.

The Kennedys: After Camelot stunner sported minimal make-up and a high-volume wavy bob for the fashionable festivities.

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See through: Katie Holmes donned doily-style pants for the Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner hosted by Chanel in Manhattan on Monday

Dainty: The 38-year-old actress paired her sheer white-lace wide-leg trousers featuring a scalloped hem with a Chanel short-sleeved navy cardigan and copper pumps

Brunette ambition: The Kennedys: After Camelot stunner sported minimal make-up and a high-volume wavy bob for the fashionable festivities

On Sunday, Katie - who boasts 836K Instagram followers - gushed: 'Love this place so much! #nyc #tribecafilmfestival.'

Last Tuesday, the Ohio-born beauty celebrated her daughter Suri's 11th birthday with balloons and three homemade cakes.

Holmes' privileged princess reportedly hasn't seen her father Tom Cruise (who's filming Mission Impossible 6 in Paris) for three years - according to Life & Style.

The All We Had director replaced Katherine Heigl as Bobbie Jo Logan Chapman in the heist comedy Logan Lucky, which hits US theaters August 18 and UK theaters August 25.

Single mom: The actress has been raising daughter Suri as a single mom since splitting from Tom Cruise

Sheer looks good! The star's lacy trousers gave glimpse of her skin beneath

'A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweetie!' Last Tuesday, Katie celebrated her daughter Suri's 11th birthday with balloons and three homemade cakes

Pictured Monday: Holmes' privileged princess reportedly hasn't seen her father Tom Cruise (who's filming Mission Impossible 6 in Paris) for three years - according to Life & Style

Hitting US theaters August 18! The All We Had director replaced Katherine Heigl as Bobbie Jo Logan Chapman in the heist comedy Logan Lucky, which hits UK theaters August 25

Steven Soderbergh's NASCAR-set flick also features Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Channing Tatum, Katherine Waterston, and Hilary Swank.

As for the five-year-long romance rumours between Katie and Jamie Foxx, Gossip Cop called Us Weekly's latest report 'fake news' on Monday.

The Dawson's Creek alum later took a seat inside the eatery and rested her head against the shoulder of Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal.

Zosia Mamet and Jemima Kirke (turning 32 on Wednesday) played onscreen cousins Shoshanna and Jessa on HBO's Girls until its April 16 finale.

Supper: The Dawson's Creek alum later took a seat inside the eatery and rested her head against the shoulder of Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal (M)

Reunion: Zosia Mamet and Jemima Kirke (turning 32 on Wednesday) played onscreen cousins Shoshanna and Jessa on HBO's Girls until its April 16 finale

Nepotistically-privileged: The 29-year-old daughter of David Mamet wore white leg white pants with a pixelated camo cardigan selected by stylist Jen Rade

The 29-year-old daughter of David Mamet wore white leg white pants with a pixelated camo cardigan selected by stylist Jen Rade.

Eighties rocker Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea Hurley will impressively celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary on April 29.

Cooking School's Martha Stewart easily defied her 75 years in a brown coat, matching trousers, and gold stilettos.

Z: The Beginning of Everything's Christina Ricci dressed her petite 5ft1in frame in a grey long-sleeved pencil dress and white pumps.

High school sweethearts: Eighties rocker Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea Hurley will impressively celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary on April 29

HBIC: Cooking School's Martha Stewart easily defied her 75 years in a brown coat, matching trousers, and gold stilettos

Glammed up - Z: The Beginning of Everything's Christina Ricci dressed her petite 5ft1in frame in a grey long-sleeved pencil dress and white pumps

Solo mission: The 37-year-old Golden Globe nominee was partying without her elusive husband, dolly grip James Heerdegen, and two- year-old son Freddie

The 37-year-old Golden Globe nominee was partying without her elusive husband, dolly grip James Heerdegen, and two-year-old son Freddie.

The Affair's Ruth Wilson - who relies on stylist Erin Walsh - sported a chic black jacket over an embellished maxi-skirt and matching mules.

Both Love After Love's Andie MacDowell and Batman v Superman's Diane Lane opted for sophisticated menswear-inspired ensembles.

English rose: The Affair's Ruth Wilson - who relies on stylist Erin Walsh - sported a chic black jacket over an embellished maxi-skirt and matching mules

Fierce after 50! Both Love After Love's Andie MacDowell and Batman v Superman's Diane Lane opted for sophisticated menswear- inspired ensembles

Evergreen: The 59-year-old Golden Globe nominee suited up in a black double-breasted creation with wide-leg pants and strappy heels

Waistcoat: And the 52-year-old Oscar nominee donned a silk vest over a white top, pencil skirt, and matching heels selected by stylist Samantha McMillen

The 59-year-old Golden Globe nominee suited up in a black double-breasted creation with wide-leg pants and strappy heels.

And the 52-year-old Oscar nominee donned a silk vest over a white top, pencil skirt, and matching heels selected by stylist Samantha McMillen.

Rocking a colorful twist on Chanel's iconic tweed were Australian model Jessica Hart and The Crash's Dianna Agron, who's on the jury for Tribeca's Nora Ephron prize.

Classic: Rocking a colorful twist on Chanel's iconic tweed were Australian model Jessica Hart and The Crash's Dianna Agron, who's on the jury for Tribeca's Nora Ephron prize

Mingling: The SAG Award winner - turning 31 on Sunday - shared a laugh at the bash with Teen Vogue Style Director Andrew Bevan (M)

Ginny Weasley! Harry Potter alum Bonnie Wright - whose film Phone Calls premiered at Tribeca - opted for not-so-basic LBD and matching pumps

Patterned duo: And while Good Girls Revolt actress Joy Bryant went for a paint-splattered camouflage coat, accessories designer Tory Burch doubled down on a floral frock

The SAG Award winner - turning 31 on Sunday - shared a laugh at the bash with Teen Vogue Style Director Andrew Bevan.

Harry Potter alum Bonnie Wright - whose film Phone Calls premiered at Tribeca - opted for not-so-basic LBD and matching pumps.

And while Good Girls Revolt actress Joy Bryant went for a paint-splattered camouflage coat, accessories designer Tory Burch doubled down on a floral frock.

Black and white: Alice Eve teamed a white top with black skirt for the dinner

Reality star: Lala Anthony wore white with orange trim for the event at Balthazar

Floral print: Julia Restoin-Roitfeld donned a floral print dress with spaghetti straps
Chloe Sevigny showed up for the North American premiere of her new movie The Dinner in an unmissable lime green patterned dress.

The brightly colored eye-catching number made the 42-year-old actress a standout on the red carpet for the event held as part of the Tribeca Film Festival.

Sevigny's frock had a turtle neck and long sleeves and was cinched at the waist with a black belt and statement heart-shaped buckle.

Eye-catching: Chloe Sevigny showed up for the North American premiere of her new movie The Dinner at the Tribeca Film Festival in an unmissable lime green patterned dress

The Big Love actress showcased her curves in the figure-hugging number.

She added peep-toe black sandal heels and carried a black and gold bag.

Her hair was styled in loose waves with a center parting and she contrasted the green of her dress with bright red lip color.

Stylish: The Big Love actress showcased her curves in the figure-hugging number that was cinched at the waist with a black belt and statement heart-shaped buckle

Strike a pose: The Big Love actress added peep-toe black sandal heels and carried a black and gold bag. She also contrasted the green of her dress with bright red lip color

Sevigny joined her co-stars Richard Gere, Laura Linney and Rebecca Hall for the screening.

Gere, 67, was ever the consummate gentleman in a tailored black suit with open-necked white shirt.

The silver fox wore a pair of rimless spectacles and added black suede shoes.

Dapper: Richard Gere, 67, arrived for the screening in a tailored black suit with open-necked white shirt. The silver fox wore a pair of rimless spectacles and added black suede shoes

Delightful: Laura Linney, 53, looked gorgeous in a dark blue floaty dress with asymmetrical hem. The sleeveless frock was decorated with white, yellow and blue floral motifs

Linney, who play's Gere's wife in the drama, looked gorgeous in a dark blue floaty dress with asymmetrical hem.

The sleeveless frock was decorated with white, yellow and blue floral motifs.

The actress, 53, who is currently starring in The Little Foxes on Broadway, added matching colored peep-toe heels and wore her honey blonde hair loose around her shoulders.

Quirky look: Rebecca Hall, 34, opted for an off-white velvet smock over a thin white turtleneck. She wore chunky black shoes and accessorized with a couple of gold pendant chains

Hall, 34, opted for an off-white velvet smock over a thin white turtleneck.

She wore chunky black shoes and accessorized with a couple of gold pendant chains.

Meanwhile, Game Of Thrones star Peter Dinklage was among those who showed up to see the movie.

The actor rocked a black padded vest over a gray hoodie paired with black pants and brown boots.

Game Of Thrones star Peter Dinklage was among those who showed up to see the movie. The actor rocked a black padded vest over a gray hoodie paired with black pants and brown boots
She's a former Miss universe Australia, who recently starred on I'm A Celebrity... get Me Out Of Here.

And model Elyse Knowles is lending her star power to back a charity campaign aimed at protecting Great Barrier Reef.

The 24-year-old environmentalist will join forces with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, lifestyle retailer YOOX and label We Are Handsome to raise money for the charity.

Model with a mission: Model Elyse Knowles is lending her star power to back a charity campaign aimed at protecting Great Barrier Reef

'Growing up l was very much an outdoors kid, camping every summer, motorbike riding and skating,' she told The Daily Telegraph this week.

'I take pride in my country and want to do everything l can help sustain it.'

The gig comes as Elyse recently travelled to the Victorian border town Torrumbarry over Easter.

A good cause: The 24-year-old environmentalist will join forces with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, lifestyle retailer YOOX and label We Are Handsome to raise money for the charity

Environmentalist: 'Growing up l was very much an outdoors kid, camping every summer, motorbike riding and skating,' she told The Daily Telegraph this week

'I take pride in my country and want to do everything l can help sustain it'

The Australian beauty shared a bikini snap on Instagram during her fun-filled camping trip.

Showing off her slender figure, Elyse looked flawless in a bright orange two-piece.

She captioned the post: 'Easter up the River! Can't get much better than that'.

Elyse recently modelled the new looks of Emu Australia's spring range.

She offered a glimpse of the photo shoot on Instagram, posing in a revealing green number and some fancy footwear.

Model life: Elyse recently modelled the new looks of Emu Australia's spring range, sharing a glimpse of the photo shoot on Instagram

Elyse showed off her toned and tanned physique in the one-piece, smiling for the camera next to a make-up artist.

The Billabong model recently enjoyed a beach holiday, living it up at White Haven Beach and snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef.

Meanwhile, Elyse stepped out at Glamour on the Grid in Melbourne last month, wearing an edgy metallic number.

Holiday vibes! The Billabong model recently enjoyed a beach getaway, living it up at White Haven Beach and snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef

Showing off her fabulous figure, she accessorised with a small crystal-studded clutch and silver-strapped shoes.

She styled her hair loosely and finished off her daring style with a dusty pink lipstick, thick eyeliner and silver highlights.
Located 30 kilometers northwest of Yinchuan, China West Film Studio boasts to be the best place for shooting the outdoor scenes of Western China and Ancient China theme movies. Many smash Chinese movies march toward the world from here, including 'Red Sorghum' and 'Big Words of Western Tour'. [China.org.cn]

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Seven Year Switch's experimental partners Kaitlyn and Michael take their relationship to a new level of intimacy in a preview for next week's episode.

After recovering from their fight last week, the pair continued bonding during Tuesday's episode with a personal training and twerking session in their yard.

Things get hotter in a preview for an upcoming episode, where Michael is seen stripping naked before diving off a waterfall into the pool of water below, holding his trunks in one hand and his crown jewels in the other.

Stripped down: Seven Year Switch's experimental partners Kaitlyn and Michael take their relationship to a new level of intimacy in a preview for next week's episode

Waiting in the water, Kaitlyn whipped off her blue bikini top and swung it in the air.

The skinny dipping comes after Kaitlyn and Michael shared a sexy swim in a backyard pool last week, with Kaitlyn bouncing her breasts, tweaking Michael's nipples and grazing his crotch as they swam.

Earlier on Tuesday night's episode, Stacey Louise and her experimental partner Johnny woke up next to each other after spending the night in bed, but they did erect a pillow wall between them.

'I think we were playing footsies at one stage,' Stacey joked after admitting many of the pillows fell away during the night.

Sarge and his experimental partner Tracey went swimming and Sarge was impressed with what he saw.

Nude dip: Michael is seen stripping naked before diving off a waterfall into the pool of water below,holding his trunks in one hand and his crown jewels in the other

Naked? Waiting in the water, Kaitlyn whipped off her blue bikini top and swung it in the air

'I'm going to have to say Tracey looks freaking amazing in a bathing suit,' he admits.

The pair flirted and Sarge threw Tracey in the water, before admitting that he feels he can be himself around her.

Psychologist Peter showed up to present Stacey Louise with a video of herself arguing with her partner Sarge, and she realised that she bottles her emotions.

Nice! Sarge and his experimental partner Tracey went swimming and Sarge was impressed with what he saw

Swimming partners: 'I'm going to have to say Tracey looks freaking amazing in a bathing suit,' he admits

Sarge was also shown a video and is told he is lowering his partner Stacey Louise's self esteem, but he struggled to accept that.

Tracey had her turn watching a video of her own behaviour with her partner Johnny, and realised she needs to lead more in the relationship.

When Felicity was shown a video of her fights with partner Michael, she burst into tears and ran from the room.

Upset: When Felicity watched a video of her fights with partner Michael, she burst into tears and ran from the room

Worries: 'It makes me think there's something wrong with me,' she said. 'I just saw me nagging and setting him off. And I don't want to make him angry. Sometimes I just need to shut up, because I just kept going'

'It makes me think there's something wrong with me,' she said. 'I just saw me nagging and setting him off. And I don't want to make him angry. Sometimes I just need to shut up, because I just kept going'.

Mark watched a video of his interactions with Kaitlyn and admitted he lies to her to spare her feelings.

Kaitlyn and her experimental partner Michael did some twerking in the backyard before they faced some counselling.

Fun: Kaitlyn and her experimental partner Michael did some twerking in the backyard before they faced some counselling

Not nice: Michael watched a video of himself yelling at his fiance Felicty and was upset, saying, 'When I look at myself act like that, it's disgusting, it's disgusting behaviour. That needs to stop. That's terrible. It makes me question me'

Michael watched a video of himself yelling at his fiance Felicty and was upset, saying, 'When I look at myself act like that, it's disgusting, it's disgusting behaviour. That needs to stop. That's terrible. It makes me question me'.

Sarge worried that Johnny may 'take advantage' of Stacey Louise and discussed his concerns with Tracey.

She assured him that Johnny and Stacey may be flirting, but Sarge flips out and says he would 'f*****g leave the house single' if he finds out Stacey even 'had thoughts of having sex with another man'.

Lusting? Sarge worried that Johnny may 'take advantage' of Stacey Louise and discussed his concerns with Tracey

Don't dare suggest it: She assured him that Johnny and Stacey may be flirting, but Sarge flips out and says he would 'f*****g leave the house single' if he finds out Stacey even 'had thoughts of having sex with another man'

He then demanded of Tracey, 'Is that what you do? Do you look at me like that?'

Back at her house with Johnny, Stacey Louise says that if Sarge so much as 'has fun' with another woman she will leave him.

Michael and Kaitlyn decide to share a bed, but they both build a pillow wall and sleep head to toe.

As the lights went out, Kaitlyn cried out, 'I love you!' to Michael.

Holiday: The couples then are sent on a surprise holiday, with Felicity and Mark heading to Thailand while Kaitlyn and Michael go to Kakadu

Not taking it: Felicty left her engagement ring at home because she believes that Michael is not sincere in his offer to marry her

The couples then are sent on a surprise holiday, with Felicity and Mark heading to Thailand while Kaitlyn and Michael go to Kakadu.

Felicity left her engagement ring at home because she believes that Michael is not sincere in his offer to marry her.

Sarge and Tracey go camping in the Blue Mountains, something Sarge wishes he could do with Stacey, while Stacey and Johnny head to the Whitsundays.

Not happy: Felicity and Mark arrive in their hotel room in Thailand and Felicity broke down when she realised there is only one bed and no privacy

Awkward! Mark stares at the single bed and cannot offer a solution

Felicity and Mark arrive in their hotel room in Thailand and Felicity broke down when she realised there is only one bed and no privacy.

'This is f*****g disgusting, I'm leaving,' she snapped, and stormed out.
She was footloose and fancy free at the Logies and on Anzac Day Sam Frost was having a more low-key outing with a gaggle of gal pals.

In a snap shared to her Instagram Story on Tuesday, the former Bachelorette was flanked by two female friends, Natalie Kelly and Laura J French.

All three women had drinks in their hands, with a straw poking from 28-year-old reality star's cup.

Party on: She was footloose and fancy free at the Logies and on Anzac Day Sam Frost was having a more low-key outing with a gaggle of gal pals

Sam looked fresh faced despite her busy weekend, sporting a simple white shirt and sunglasses as she made a peace sign for the camera.

The outing comes after Today Extra's Sonia Kruger claims to have seen Sam Frost walking through her hotel foyer at 6.41am on Monday morning, still in her Logies dress from the night before.

While discussing the metallic dress Sam wore on the red carpet, Sonia dropped the bombshell that she had seen the reality star on the tail end of her night out.

'Can I just say, I was walking through the foyer of the Crown hotel and I saw Sam Frost still wearing this dress,' the TV host quipped.

Letting slip! Sonia Kruger (second from left) claimed on Today Extra on Monday that she saw the blonde sneaking around her Melbourne hotel after 6.30am

Out late? Today Extra co-host David Campbell suggested that Sam might have been doing a 'walk of shame'

When asked by her co-hosts at what time she made this discovery, Sonia revealed the very precise time of, '6.41 am'.

Today Extra co-host David Campbell joined in, suggesting that Sam might have been doing a 'walk of shame'.

Then on Monday Sam was spotted at Melbourne Airport, presumably on her way back to Sydney where she is based.

Mates? On Monday Sam was spotted at Melbourne Airport accompanied by Home And Away star Orpheus Pledger, who wheeled a small suitcase

Sam was accompanied by Home And Away star Orpheus Pledger, who wheeled a small suitcase.

The beauty had earlier laughed off reports that she had been romantic with John Caldwell, a KIIS FM and Channel 10 reporter, during a Logies after party.

'Yo media, the guy I'm pecking on the lips that you're trying to sell as a hot Logies hookup is the fabulous @johnmcaldwell_,' she wrote.

Not her man: The beauty had earlier laughed off reports that she had been romantic with John Caldwell, a KIIS FM and Channel 10 reporter (centre) during a Logies after party

'Safe to say, I'm not his type,' she continued, hinting at her companion's sexual preference and adding a variety of emojis.

Sam split from boyfriend Sasha Mielczarek, in December, after 18 months together, citing distance as one of the reasons for the break-up.
She went on a slimming mission after reaching her peak weight of 15 stone.

And Katie McGlynn was really demonstrating the results on Monday night, as she stepped out in just a denim jacket as a dress for a night at the theatre.

The Size 8 Coronation Street actress displayed her lean pins outside The Palace Theatre in Manchester where she was a guest at the Wonderland Press night.

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Night at the theatre: Coronation Street actress Katie McGlynn showed off her recent weight loss at the Wonderland Press night at The Palace Theatre in Manchester on Monday

Katie's slim legs peeped beneath what would have been the waistband of her jacket, were it not for the oversized design.

She paired the look with ankle boots and a roll neck sweatshirt that seemed better suited to autumnal weather.

The cute blonde softened her rocky image with a half-up/half-down 'do that put a playful ponytail on the top of her head.

Jacket dress: Her outfit choice was an unusual one, as she was wearing just a denim jacket for a dress

Having worried about her weight on-screen, Katie called in the help of former super-slimmer Catherine Tyldesley, who once dropped from a Size 22 to a Size 10.

'Katie was really unsure about how to train and what foods to eat,' a source told The Sun in 2016.

'Cath has really sorted her out with some sound advice coupled with some evil work outs. It has taken a while but she has lost a stone and looks super-fit now.

'Kate is really pleased with the results but she loves her nights with food and drink so she still makes sure she has a blow-out now and again.'

Hanging out: At the event, the pretty blonde hung out with one of her co-stars

Thumbs up: Strictly Come Dancing's Robert Rinder was spotted at the event

The night served as a bit of a blast from the past for Coronation Street fans, as Molly Compton actress Vicky Binns was also spotted.

Attendees were there to support TV and West End star Wendi Peters, who is best known for her portrayal of Cilla Battersby-Brown in the ITV soap.

She is taking Wonderland on a tour of the UK as Queen of Hearts alongside musical theatre favourite Dave Willetts.

Leading lady Kerry Ellis will guest star as Alice in the British version of America's sell-out show.

Wonderland is an enchanting musical adaptation of Lewis Carrolls books Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass.

Blast from the past: Former Coronation Street star Vicky Binns was in attendance
He was readmitted to hospital on Friday due to complications following his hernia operation last week.

And Professor Green has revealed the full extent of his health woes in a series of dramatic Instagram posts, complete with graphic images.

The 33-year-old rapper shared a lengthy statement, bringing his followers up to date about his medical ailments, which have stemmed from an extremely rare allergic reaction to the mesh used to fix my hernia.

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Terrifying: Professor Green has revealed the full extent of his health woes in a series of dramatic Instagram posts, complete with graphic images

Professor Green wrote: 'Right I'm on the mend. Turns out I'm only the second person in the world to have an allergic reaction to the mesh used to fix my hernia.

'I've had a giggle on instagram but here's the reality. I didn't wanna worry anyone, least of all my nan.

'I came back to hospital with pneumonia, a partially collapsed lung, distension, fluid build up and ileus (my guts had shut down). I'm getting better.

'Everything is starting to work again, all my bloods are looking better and I finally got some sleep last night.'

The star, who was inundated with well-wishes from his fans, explained that he had been suffering from terrible pain and anxiety during his hospital stay, likening the last week to 'torture'.

Professor Green wrote: 'Right I'm on the mend. Turns out I'm only the second person in the world to have an allergic reaction to the mesh used to fix my hernia'

Ouch: The star, who was inundated with well-wishes from his fans, explained that he had been suffering from terrible pain and anxiety during his hospital stay, likening the last week to 'torture'

Pro continued: 'If I seemed a bit emotional at times it's been because I've been awake most hours of each day and it becomes quite a lot like torture when you have your entire life taken away from you and you're stuck in a room in the most uncomfortable and painful situation you've ever been in (I've only been taking paracetamol as opioids make the problem even worse), not to mention the anxiety that comes with not knowing why any of this is happening.

'Anyway. Here's some graphic images to show you exactly how f**key this should-be simple procedure has been due to me being so uniquely f**ked up genetically. For anyone who thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill..: I don't even wish this upon you. I wish worse: LOVE '.

Pro Green also took aim as some comments calling him a 'sap' and saying he should man up.

Speaking out: Pro Green also took aim as some comments calling him a 'sap' and saying he should man up

He shared:'PS: I've been nil by mouth for a week. It isn't hard to piss me off right now. I NEED A F**KING NANDOS

'PPS: SAP? I've dealt with more f**kry than most and I still make light of it. I'm about to drop a BELTER for summer and got three new docs coming which I've filmed or filmed partially while I was sick as a dog.

'They're still f**king brilliant. Life is great and if I can't salute my hard bastard of a woman without being called a sap or you thinking I've gone 'soft' then you man must be verrrrry insecure, I feel sorry for the ladies in your lives.

Lengthy post: The rapper didn't hold back with an extensive post about his dramatic week

'Love is for grown ups and those comfortable enough in their skins to express it. LOVE X100000000'.

The Be Good To Green star took to Instagram on Monday to update his legions of fans on his progress.

And the rapper posted a touching thank you message to his girlfriend, Fae Williams, for stopping him 'disappearing into a very deep and dark depression' during his difficult, painful time.

Love: The rapper has credited his girlfriend Fae Williams with keeping him from 'disappearing into depression' during painful hernia operation complications

The supportive pair, who have been dating for around six months, appear to be even stronger as a result of facing suffering together.

The rapper, who was previously married to Made In Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh, penned a heartfelt, grateful message to his new love.

He wrote: 'The respect I have for this lady is unparalleled. All jokes aside I'm having the worst time of my life and she's doing all she can to stop me disappearing into a deep and very dark depression. Thank you.'

Difficult times: The tough rapper admitted he 'did not even feel slightly human' due to his body being so medicated and looking so different to normal

Posting a snap of himself at the same time, in which he, unsurprisingly, looked less glamorous than his gorgeous girlfriend, the star un-self-consciously detailed how bad he was feeling.

The tough rapper admitted he 'did not even feel slightly human' due to his body being so medicated and looking so different to normal.

He wrote: 'Looking angelic, I know.. Just had my willy tube out - still don't feel even slightly human - not even post shower but hey ho, maybe that's something to do with looking like I'm 9 months pregnant with twins due to distension?'

Fashion relief: Two days earlier the rapper proved as good as his word as he shared a fashion-focused, semi-ironic snap from a hospital lift, clad in a jarring combination of NHS hospital gown and Stella McCartney knitwear

Pictured in a hospital gown, the British rapper earlier uploaded several snaps from inside the clinic.

The star detailed a variety of medical complications resulting from the complex operation, followed by an apologetic and grateful message for his 735,000 followers.

He wrote: 'Big up you lot for all the love and apologies for the lack of variety - I'm limited as to what I can wear but I'm gonna try and keep fashion alive as my body starts working again, tubes are removed and there's more I can wear.'

Readmitted: The star has taken to Instagram to share several graphic pictures from the

Two days earlier the rapper proved as good as his word as he shared a fashion-focused, semi-ironic snap from a hospital lift, clad in a jarring combination of NHS hospital gown and Stella McCartney knitwear.

The witty musician wrote: 'I'm telling you, when it comes to fashion - NO TIME OFF. @stellamccartney knitted comfy jumper with NHS gown, compression socks and @reebokclassicsuk workouts.'

He then added, humorously: 'Edit: let's not forget the NHS road-man bag/piss bag and the fact the jumper is colour blocked with the stocking.'

Back again: Professor Green was readmitted to hospital on Friday after suffering post-surgery bloating - and didn't look very happy about it

Professor Green - who's real name is Stephen Manderson - appears to be using fashion focus as a means to distract himself from health woes.

The star, who had revealed it had taken five and a half hours for doctors to fix three hernias during his initial operation, told fans he was heading back into hospital for necessary treatment earlier this week.

Writing in a poignant message, he said: 'Living it up. Discharged only to be readmitted'.

'I'm back b****es': Pro initially revealed to fans he had undergone surgery for an incisional hernia on Tuesday by sharing a selfie to Instagram from his hospital bed

He then added: 'After ending up back in the hospital (due to bloating post surgery) I've now got one of these in my stomach draining it.

'The joys. When people say 'Health is wealth' it really is, isn't it.'

The star had been left with an annoying after effects from his initial operation, including hiccups.

Not impressed: The rapper revealed that after waking up from his five and a half hour op he was left with hiccups

Venting his frustration, he wrote: 'The face you make when you've had three hernia's fixed, a 14cm scar revised and you wake up to hiccups.

'F**king hiccups.'

The star was inundated with well wishes from fans, wishing him a speedy recovery, with some even offering him their own advice having gone through a similar experience themselves.

One claimed: 'I've had two hernia ops and all I can say is don't sneeze!!! No pain like it!!!'

'Don't sneeze - no pain like it': The Read All About It star (pictured in March) was inundated with well wishes from fans, with some even offering him their own advice having gone through a similar experience themselves

According to the The British Hernia Centre, an incisional hernia is a 'hernia that occurs through a previously made incision in the abdominal wall' - such as the scar left from a previous surgery.

It's not the first time Professor Green has been hospitalised due to hernia issues, as he first underwent surgery for the same thing in May last year.

Shortly after his divorce had been finalised from his ex-wife Millie Mackintosh, the Lip Sync Battle UK co-host took to Twitter to admit his fears over having surgery.

In a series of tweets, he revealed: 'The thought of surgery fills me with such joy (fear).

'It's quite complicated gonna be very open.

'I have 10cm incisional hernia. The piece of mesh they're going to add to my abdominal wall is nearly the size of an a4.'

Been there before: It's not the first time Professor Green has been hospitalised for a hernia - he first had surgery in May last year for a similar issue

Sparking engagement rumours: Professor Green had fans thinking he was set to wed girlfriend Fae Williams after presenting her with a huge ring on Valentine's Day

Professor Green's recent hospital admission comes two months after he had sparked engagement rumours with girlfriend Fae Williams.

He and the blonde beauty have been dating since October last year and the duo had fans talking after the chart topper shared a photo of his girlfriend sporting a huge ring on her finger on Valentine's Day.

Professor Green had captioned the Instagram shot: 'Fingers crossed this time ay.'

His followers were led to believe that he would be heading down the aisle again, but clearing up the rumours, Professor Green posed with the ring on his own finger and joked: 'Engaged to myself. Wait a minute, wrong finger.'

Setting the record straight: He later laughed off speculation by sporting the ring himself and joking: 'Engaged to myself. Wait a minute, wrong finger'
The youthful street style she rocked when launching her career a decade ago has since been swapped for chic yet sexy sartorial statements.

And Tulisa proved just that on Monday evening as she headed out to The Botanist Bar and Restaurant in Sloane Square, where she appeared the picture of elegance in a chic ensemble which flashed just a hint of her taut abs.

The 28-year-old songstress looked stunning in a white bandeau crop top paired with high-waisted culottes and a stylish dusky pink duster coat, all rounded out with elegant yet muted nude accessories.

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Elegant: Tulisa headed out to The Botanist Bar and Restaurant in Sloane Square, where she appeared the picture of elegance in a chic ensemble which flashed just a hint of her taut abs

Tulisa showed off her incredible figure from beneath her white look, which boasted a skimpy white crop top with elastic worked through which helped to nip in at her perky bust while also highlighting her tiny waist.

Although she only displayed a glimpse of her taut stomach it was clear to see she spends hours in the gym perfecting her abs while working on her lithe frame.

Ensuring the look was not overly form-fitting she opted for wide leg culottes with a tie at the waist, which again acted to make the most of her tanned abs.

Nailing the summer chic ensemble was her duster coat complete with a waterfall neckline and floor-skimming hem while adding to her light colour scheme.

Strutting her stuff: The 28-year-old songstress looked stunning in a white bandeau crop top paired with high-waisted culottes and a stylish dusky pink duster coat, all rounded out with elegant yet muted nude accessories

Way back when: Her youthful street style of her launch to fame a decade ago has since evolved into chic yet sexy sartorial statements

Far from her outfit being the only flawless element, her hair and make-up were also perfectly styled with her raven tresses cascading over her shoulder in a straight style falling from a tight ponytail with a side-parting.

Her make-up was stunning and perfectly applied with lashings of foundation and highlighter showing off her dazzling complexion while her eyes were adorned with fluttering false eyelashes to best bring out her almond shaped peepers.

Tulisa's outing comes after she vowed to make a 'fresh start' following her legal woes. The songstress had been accused of arranging for journalist Mazher Mahmood to be sold 800 of cocaine by one of her contacts following an elaborate sting for The Sun on Sunday in May 2013.

Changes: The songstress had been accused of arranging for journalist Mazher Mahmood to be sold 800 of cocaine by one of her contacts following an elaborate sting for The Sun on Sunday in May 2013

Fresh start: Tulisa's style has evolved over the years as she made many transitions

However, the News UK journalist, dubbed the 'Fake Sheikh', was last year sentenced to 15 months in jail for perverting the course of justice during her drugs trial in 2014.

Since the controversy, the former X Factor judge branded Mahmood's jail sentence 'karma'.

Speaking after the experience on BBC Radio One recently, the former N-Dubz star said: 'You can't do the self pity party. You just have to crack on and take the positives. I can take it, I'm strong enough. I'm here.'

In July 2014, she was fined for assaulting TOWIE star Vas Morgan at the V Festival in Essex the year before - a conviction she unsuccessfully attempted to have overturned.
She recently returned from a romantic getaway in the Maldives with husband James.

And Ola Jordan wowed as she slipped into yet another bikini as she took a dip in the pool on her final day on the island.

The 34-year-old put on a busty display in a plunging white halterneck bikini as she posed in front of the setting sun on Saturday.

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Sizzling: Ola Jordan wowed as she slipped into yet another bikini as she took a dip in the pool on her final day in the Maldives on Saturday

Wearing her hair slicked back off her face, the former Strictly Come Dancing dancer wore minimal make-up, showing off her sun-kissed complexion.

Clearly missing the bliss of the Maldives, her husband James, 39, posted the throwback snap on Tuesday, writing: 'This was our last day @kandima_maldives

'I think I should become a photographer. Little @olajordan at sunset'.

Loved up: James also shared a cute couple selfie showing him and Ola in their swimwear while posing on the beach during the romantic getaway

Red hot! She showed off her tan in a sizzling scarlet bikini

The couple have been filling their Instagram pages with envy-inducing snaps while soaking up the rays on the island.

James previously shared a cute couple selfie showing him and Ola in their swimwear while posing on the beach.

He showed off his hunky physique in the snap, while she showed off her incredible figure in a patterned bikini.

Ola also posted a selfie in which she put her ample assets on full display as she topped up her tan on the beach on her final day on the island, captioning the Snapchat-filtered picture 'Last day in paradise'.

'Last day in paradise': Ola also posted a Snapchat-filtered selfie in which she put her ample assets on full display as she topped up her tan on the beach

Soaking up the sun: She shared yet another scintillating selfie from her sun-soaked getaway to the Maldives on Wednesday

She posed for a series of scintillating selfies during her trip to the Maldives last week, including one in which she wore a taupe halterneck bikini as she relaxed on a sun lounger.

Wearing oversized mirrored aviator sunglasses, she tied her brown tresses into a messy bun, while a gold circular pendant lit up her bronzed decolletage.

And amid her efforts to send temperatures rocketing with her tantalising display, the star appeared keen on keeping herself cool during her Indian Ocean break, as she posed for another shot while sipping on a refreshing green cocktail.

'Loving the cocktails here,' she wrote next to the image, which showed her wearing a black flowing chiffon sarong.

So cool: She also took to the image-sharing site to show a snap of herself enjoying a cockail

A day before, she snapped a selfie while reclining on her sun-lounger and sporting a plunging turquoise blue bikini that flaunted her more than ample assets.

Ola had cut a glamorous figure in the photo and sported her blonde locks in tight braids while donning a huge pair of blue-tinted aviator shades.

She decided to showcase her natural beauty in the snap and ditched her war paint while on the beach, but her fresh-faced appearance was somewhat overshadowed thanks to her cleavage.

Busty display: A day before, the 34-year-old sizzled in another holiday selfie that flaunted her more than ample assets in a turquoise blue halter-neck bikini

Angling the camera so her bust was undeniably on show, Ola teased her 169k followers on Instagram with the racy shot - simply captioning it with a smiling emoji.

She won a slew of compliments from fans, with one penning: 'Gorgeous as always.'

Another joked: 'Looks so hot! Can I get in your suitcase next time?'

While one fan pointed out that her mirrored sunglasses had actually caught a reflection of Ola's enviable frame in one lense and commented: 'I can see your reflection in your sunglasses wow stunning body Ola.'

Enviable frame: The dancer showed off her womanly curves in her vibrant swimwear as she hit the beach during her romantic getaway with husband James Jordan

'Gorgeous': She won a slew of compliments from fans after sharing her bikini pictures to social media

Showing off her tan: Ola sported sun-kissed skin in another shot as she showed off her idyllic beach setting, along with her stylish gold jewellery

The former I'm A Celebrity star had also uploaded a snap of herself cutting a content figure on the beach.

Taking in her idyllic surroundings, she captioned her photo: 'Enjoying the beach #mykindofplace #holiday #beach #sun #sea.'

Tucking in: When she wasn't sunbathing, Ola made sure to cool off from the soaring temperatures with an ice cream

Strike a pose: The former I'm A Celebrity star has treated fans to a number of revealing photos of herself in her swimwear

Soaking up the sun: Her holiday snaps have been turning her Instagram followers green with envy, thanks to its dreamy setting

The couple made the trip to the Maldives to mark James' birthday and have been making sure to document their holiday on social media for their fans to see.

James joked that he had only just caught up on the selfie stick craze while sharing a photo he had taken of himself and Ola on the beach.

He said: 'Selfie stick!!! Im only about 5 years behind the times @kandima_maldives #kandimamaldives #mykindofplace #justplay #anythingbutordinary 32 [degrees] in the [sun] @olajordan is loving life.'

James turned 39 years old on Thursday and to mark her beau's special day, Ola delighted fans by posting a jaw-dropping throwback of the couple.

And action: James joked that he has jumped on the selfie stick craze late, after playing around with his new toy on the beach

Throwback: He and wife Ola look strikingly different in an old photo she shared online to wish James a happy birthday

While Ola is sporting brunette tresses in the image, James looks strikingly different with much longer locks of his own.

Alongside the treasured snap, his wife penned: 'Happy Birthday to my gorgeous boy @jamesjordan1978 I love you more than anything in the world.'

Ola and James had married in 2003 and both went on to star on Strictly Come Dancing, partnering the celebrities as they took part in the show.
Actress Amber Heard seemingly confirmed her relationship with billionaire Elon Musk, 45, on Instagram on Sunday by posting a very cheeky picture of the pair.

And it seems love is well and truly in the air for her new beau, as he took to Instagram on Tuesday to reflect on a zip-lining date he had with Johnny Depp's ex in Australia on Sunday.

The 31-year-old American star was spotted packing on the PDA with Elon at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast on the day.

Looking sharp! Billionaire Elon Musk posts throwback to his zip-lining date with actress Amber Heard while wearing a tailored Tom Ford suit, writing: 'Tom Ford vs Ziplining harness'

'Cheeky': Amber Heard has seemingly confirmed her relationship with Elon Musk on Instagram Sunday, as the 35-year-old star's dark red lipstick could be seen on the billionaire's cheek

Elon posted two photos in a collage, writing: 'Tom Ford vs Ziplining harness' which appeared to refer to the outfit he wore after the activity.

The pair were seen walking around the sanctuary arm-in-arm, and appeared in high spirits as they completed a ropes course among the trees.

Wearing tight black jeans and a white T-shirt, Amber teamed her casual look with shiny leather brogues and a black studded belt.

Elon, 45, who is the co-founder of Tesla, wore a black T-shirt and blue jeans, and appeared to have a red mark on his right eye.

Elon's two sons also joined the pair during the outdoor outing.

Cute date! The pair were spotted putting on a loved up display at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday as they zip-lined together on a high ropes course among the trees

Later on Sunday, Amber appeared to confirm their romance on Instagram, sharing a sweet snap of herself with her man at dinner.

Amber Heard has seemingly confirmed her relationship with billionaire Elon Musk with a fun Instagram picture of them at dinner in Australia with her lipstick on his cheek.

She drew attention to the lip-marking in the photo by captioning it: 'Cheeky.'

It seemed to be an intimate affair as they sat at a dinner table alongside each other while Amber placed her hand on the shoulder of the 45-year-old Tesla inventor and entrepreneur.

Getting serious: The 45-year-old Tesla billionaire also posted a similar snap

She rocked a clinging white strapless dress and accessorized with plenty of jewelry including multiple bracelets, rings, and large dangling earrings.

Her blonde locks were worn down into waves flowing over her shoulders as she posed with her mouth agape to show off the dark red lipstick which was also on Elon's face.

The SpaceX founder and CEO was dressed comfortably in a black T-shirt as his hair was elegantly disheveled.

Elon shared a similar photo with the caption: 'Having moo moo at Moo Moo Gold Coast with @AmberHeard, @CreepyPuppet and @CowanFilms.'

Musk is worth a reported $14.9 billion according to Forbes.

Amber was first linked to the entrepreneur last summer, after the pair were spotted together on several occasions both in London and Miami.

Musk reportedly 'became infatuated' with Amber after the two appeared in the 2013 film Machete Kills, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Although the pair did not get a chance to meet on set, he is said to have emailed director Robert Rodriguez repeatedly in the hope that he could set up a meeting between himself and the actress - despite the fact that she was still with Johnny Depp at the time.

Last month it was reported that Amber would be headed back to Australia for the first time since causing an uproar after illegally bringing her pet dogs in with ex-husband Depp in 2015.

She's back! It was Heard's first time back in the country since her and Johnny, who was filming Pirates Of The Caribbean, smuggled their terriers Pistol and Boo into the state via private jet

As Musk was planning a business visit, Amber was set to join him The Daily Telegraph reported last month.

Amber and Johnny, who was filming Pirates Of The Caribbean, smuggled their terriers Pistol and Boo into the state via their private jet in 2015.

No doubt the Magic Mike XXL star is undoubtedly hoping for a smoother trip with Elon this time, who she's been rumoured to have been dating since separating from Johnny.

Tough: Australia has strict quarantine regulations to prevent diseases such as rabies from spreading to its shores

Amber's last visit was when she accompanied Johnny in April last year to appear in a Gold Coast court over the dog smuggling charges.

A video of the duo saying they are 'truly sorry' for sneaking their Yorkshire terriers into Australia was presented before a magistrate gave Heard with a one-month good behavior bond and a $1,000 fine over the incident.

In May last year, news emerged Johnny and Amber had called time on their relationship after 15 months of marriage.

The actress was granted a restraining order after accusing him of domestic abuse.

Apologising: A video of the duo saying they are 'truly sorry' for sneaking their Yorkshire terriers into Australia was then presented

Amber alleged Johnny threw a phone at her during an argument and insisted there were other occasions where he had been violent towards her, which the Pirates Of The Caribbean star had denied at the time.

Heard later filed court papers to dismiss her domestic violence case against him once they agreed on a reported $7 million divorce settlement.

Amber publicly pledged to donate her settlement to charity.

The former couple, who met on the set of The Rum Diary in 2011, were married in 2014 and separated in 2016.

Former flame: Elon is also recently out of a relationship as he was granted his second divorce from Talulah Riley in November of last year, the two are pictured together at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in March 2014

Elon is also recently out of a relationship as he was granted his second divorce from Talulah Riley in November of last year.

It was their second split: they were married for two years before divorcing in 2012.

They remarried in 2013 and were together for a year before Musk, the founder of Tesla and Space Exploration Corp., filed divorce papers.

He retracted them six months later but Riley refiled in March, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.

Musk has six sons with his first wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson, as they were married from 2000 to 2008.
The former Victoria's Secret model has been with Greek shipping heir partner Stavros Niarchos III for six years.

But speculation has sparked that Jessica Hart may have 'pressed pause' on impending nuptials.

Reports in New Weekly suggested their engagement may be off as Jess has been spotted on numerous occasions without her diamond ring.

Where's the ring? Jessica Hart spotted with a mystery man in New York WITHOUT engagement ring from fiance Stavros Niarchos

It is understood the two met while Jess was dating long-term boyfriend Nicolas Potts, who she broke up with in 2010.

Jess and Stavros confirmed their couple status in 2011.

Speculation of a potential wedding woes reignited when the 31-year-old model was spotted relaxing with a mystery man in New York earlier this month without a ring on her finger.

Engagement off? The publication insisted the move was a potentially clue that she had 'pressed pause' on her impending nuptials to Stavros (pictured)

Bye-bye bling? It's not the first time Jessica has been spotted without an engagement ring on her finger, as she has attended numerous events this year without any bling

The publication insisted the move was a potentially clue that she had 'pressed pause' on her impending nuptials to Stavros.

However, it's not the first time Jessica has been spotted without an engagement ring on her finger.

There's also never been any official word as to whether a wedding date has ever been set for the couple.

Setting a date: There's also never been any official word as to whether a wedding date has ever been set for a wedding by the couple

Rumours surfaced as early as 2014 that the genetically blessed couple were set to get married in the near future.

The couple seem content living a relatively low-key life with each of their busy schedules.

Stavros previously dated former Hollywood 'it' girls Mary-Kate Olsen and Paris Hilton.

The Greek hunk has been dating Ballarat-born Jessica since 2011.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Jess for comment.
She set tongues wagging, on Easter Sunday, after sharing a photo to Instagram in which she cuddled up to a buff lifesaver.

Now, Married At First Sight's Nadia Stamp has set hearts racing with another sexy social media shot.

The photo, shared with Nadia's 78,000 followers, saw the reality star drawing attention to her slender and well-toned back.

Back in action: MAFS star Nadia Stamp has set hearts racing again with another sexy social media photo

Captioning the photo with a simple 'Hola' Nadia wore a sexy navy blue and white striped backless and sleeveless dress that ended just below the knee, giving a glimpse of her bronzed and shapely pins.

Her luscious brunette locks cascaded down her shapely back while she chose to finish the ensemble with a pair of cork heels and a pair of mirrored sunglasses.

Striking a playful pose, Nadia had her back to the camera with the reality star looking over her shoulder, giving a cheeky smile.

Who's the hottie? Nadia set tongues wagging by sharing a photo to Instagram is which she was snuggled next to a very handsome and very buff bloke on Easter Sunday

Nadia set tongues wagging by sharing a photo to Instagram in which she cuddled up to buff lifesaver Sam Robinson on Easter Sunday.

The pair were at Dalgety Public House in Queensland, a hip pub and eatery, and seemed flirty as they sat with their bodies pressed close together.

The brunette's good-looking friend Sam gazed at a beaming Nadia with affection as the pair snuggled together at a window seat.

Nadia captioned the image, 'Making my Easter. Home away from home' and added the hashtags #bffl and and #besties.

Busting out! Nadia showed off ample cleavage in a flirty frock

Ripped: Sam shows off his buff frame on Instagram

While she explained the man was her 'best friend for life' via her hashtags, the pair were also very close in a video shot on the same day, in which Nadia was seen beaming as appeared to sit on the man's lap.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nadia Stamp for comment.

The 36-year-old also shared a cryptic video to Instagram on Saturday, hinting she was enjoying a day at the beach with a male companion.

Laying on a striped towel, the part-time model was soaking up the sun in a strapless black number during her day at Cabarita Beach on the New South Wales coastline.

New boyfriend alert? Nadia teased the 'mystery man' she is rumoured to be dating an Instagram Story video on Saturday

Enjoying someone's company? Laying on a striped towel, she panned the camera from her face to the sand next to her and revealed what appeared to be a glimpse of a man's leg

Panning the camera away from her face to the sand next to her, she revealed what appeared to be a glimpse of a man's leg.

Nadia appeared to mouth the word 'Who?' perhaps asking her followers to guess the identity of her beau.

Who could it be? Nadia appeared to mouth the word 'Who?' asking her social media followers to guess the identity of the 'mystery man'

Life's a beach! The part-time model and flight attendant looked relaxed and happy during her day at Cabarita Beach on the New South Wales coastline

Nadia told The Herald Sun last month that information about her boyfriend would come at a cost, after the pair reportedly jetted off to New Zealand and Fiji together.

'It is my personal life, so you need to think about what that might be worth,' she said.

'I've heard it could be around $4000. My personal life is my personal life so it's not just me I have to consider'.

Price tag: Nadia told The Herald Sun last month that information about her boyfriend would come at a cost, after the pair reportedly jetted off to New Zealand and Fiji together

Found love? However, friends recently told Woman's Day that the aspiring starlet is dating a 'blonde hipster' and 'couldn't be happier'

However, friends recently told Woman's Day that the aspiring starlet is dating a 'blonde hipster' and 'couldn't be happier'.

Nadia rose to prominence after appearing on the fourth season of Married At First Sight, where she was paired with Anthony Manton.

The two suffered a rocky relationship and despite deciding to stay together in the final episode, parted ways less than 24 hours after filming wrapped.
Chris Soules of The Bachelor fame was arraigned this morning in connection with a fatal collision with a tractor that left his elderly neighbor dead in Iowa Monday night.

The reality TV star appeared in court Tuesday and was charged with leaving the scene of the crash. Court documents also indicate Soules was in possession of alcoholic beverage containers at the time of the incident, which took place at around 8.20pm in Buchanan County.

Soules, 35, was accused of 'slamming into a tractor and then fleeing the scene'. The driver, 66-year-old Kenneth Mosher, died after being rushed to the hospital.

Neighbors: Chris Soules (left), of The Bachelor fame, is accused of slamming into his neighbor Kenneth Mosher's (right) tractor, then fleeing the scene. Mosher, 66, died after being rushed to the hospital

First appearance: Soules appeared in Iowa court Tuesday morning (pictured) for his arraignment in connection to the deadly crash

Dressed in a lime-green jail garb, orange slippers and gray socks, Soules appeared before a judge in a Buchanan County courtroom Tuesday morning and was ordered held on $10,000 bond, reported the station KWWL.

Soules was released from jail at around midday after his mother, Linda, posted bond on his behalf, reported Des Moines Register. He will be required to surrender his passport and wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet until his trial, jail officials said.

Soules is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on May 2.

According to the Buchanan County Sheriffs Office, Soules has been charged with 'leaving the scene of a fatal car accident that left one individual dead.'

The 35-year-old was driving a Chevy pickup at the time of the accident. He has posed with a grey Chevy Silverado on Instagram and has also recently posted a photo of a white Chevy.

According to the sheriff's office, Soules rear-ended a John Deere tractor driven by Kenneth Mosher, his fellow farmer from Aurora, sending it into a ditch.

Family man: Mosher, 66, is pictured in this undated Facebook photo with his wife, Nancy, and their three grandchildren

Mosher, who reportedly was acquainted with Soules, died after he was taken to Mercy Hospital in Oelwein.

Soules left the scene of the accident, but kept his car at the site. It is not known if he left by foot or with the help of another driver.

Authorities said someone called 911 to report the crash, but they didn't release the identity of the caller or audio of the call. Investigators spoke to multiple witnesses and determined that Soules caused the crash, according to a complaint.

He was arrested five hours later in Aurora. Buchanan County Attorney said Soules has not been cooperative with law enforcement.

Soules' spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, issued a statement saying the Bachelor alum 'was devastated' to learn that Mosher died.

'His thoughts and prayers and with Mr. Mosher's family,' said Rosenfield, who declined to comment further.

A relative of the victim, Richard Roepke, told RadarOnline he feels bad for Soules and his family.

'It was huge mistake,' he told the site. 'That will haunt him for the rest of his life.'

The relative said Mosher, a husband, father and grandfather, will be remembered as a hardworking farmer whose passion was planting corn.

Mosher is survived by wife Nancy, their two sons and three grandchildren - two boys and a girl.

After the crash: Here a sheriff's car from Buchanan County is seen near the scene of the crash with an ambulance in the background

The deadly crash took place on this roadway near Aurora, where Mosher lived with his family

The wheels: The pickup truck on the left may have been the car Chris was driving at the time of the accident. He has also posted a photo of a white Chevy (right) in recent days

He was 'on top of the world' four days ago': Soules was last seen on top of the Empire State Building in NYC on Friday

Soules wore a blue Soules T-shirt in his mugshot and appeared as if he had just been crying.

Just four days earlier, the Bachelor alum looked to be in good spirits in New York City in an Instagram photo.

He said he was 'on top of the world' as he posed atop the Empire State building.

A week ago, he posed in Nashville at the 16th Annual Waiting for Wishes Celebrity Dinner Hosted by Kevin Carter & Jay DeMarcus.

Rose man: He appeared on the 10th season of The Bachelorette with Andi Dorfman and was cast on the 19th season of ABC's The Bachelor

This was not Soules' first brush with the law: Iowa court records show that he was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2006 and fined more than $500. His sentence also included a year of probation.

Besides that conviction, Soules' history of run-ins with the law stretches back to at least 1998 and includes more than a dozen guilty pleas on a slew of charges running the gamut from registration violations to brawling.

Nearly two decades ago, Soules, then a teenager, was convicted of speeding six to 10 miles over the speed limit and was sentenced to a fine.

In 2001, Soules was found guilty of underage drinking and failure to maintain control of a vehicle in two unrelated incidents. Both cases saw the future reality star get off with fines.

In May and August of that year, Soules was convicted twice of possession of alcohols under age. In the latter incident, he was also found guilty of driving with an open container of alcohol, running a stop sign and speeding. Those cases also resulted in fines.

In February 2002, Soules was convicted of fighting, and in March he was back in court on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, which was later reduced to a count of defective brakes.

Soules stayed out of trouble for four years until his 2006 DUI conviction. A year later, he was found guilty of speeding, and the same charge brought him back to court in 2009.

In 2010, Soules was convicted and fined for a registration violation. Between that incident and his arrest on Monday, the celebrity farmer had no additional brushes with the law.

The Iowa native appeared on the 10th season of The Bachelorette with Andi Dorfman, where he placed third.

Soules was then cast on the 19th season of ABC's The Bachelor.

He proposed to finalist Whitney Bischoff but they ended their engagement in May 2015.

He also competed on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

Teen drinking, speeding and DUI: Chris Soules' rap sheet revealed Soules' criminal record has more than a dozen convictions from the time he was 16 years old Chris Soules, the dashing all-American gentleman farmer from Iowa who charmed his way into TV viewers' hearts on The Bachelor, had spent his late teens and 20s going in and out of courtrooms on more than a dozen charges, most of them related to driving violations and alcohol consumption. Records available on Iowa Courts' website detail Soules' vast history of run-ins with the law, which goes back 1998 and includes 13 guilty pleas on a slew of counts, ranging from registration violations to underage drinking and fighting. In 1998, Soules, then aged 16, was convicted for the first time of speeding six to 10 miles over a 55mph speed limit and was sentenced to a fine. In 2001, Soules was found guilty of underage drinking and failure to maintain control of a vehicle in two separate incidents. Both cases saw the future reality star get off with fines. In May and August of that year, Soules was convicted twice of possession of alcohols under age. In the latter incident, he was also found guilty of driving with an open container of alcohol, running a stop sign and speeding. Those cases also resulted in fines. In February 2002, Soules was convicted of fighting, and in March he was back in court on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, which was later reduced to a count of defective brakes. Soules stayed out of trouble for four years until in 2006 he was convicted of his most serious charge - driving while intoxicated - and fined more than $500. His sentence also included a year of probation. In 2007, Soules was found guilty of speeding, and the same charge brought him back to court in 2009. Soules' final brush with the law before Monday's arrest occurred in 2010, when he was convicted and fined for a registration violation. Advertisement

Better days: Here the blonde Bachelor star is seen with his fiance Whitney Bischoff after his on-air proposal; they have since split
 Flash

Russia has been accused of having hacked the Danish Ministry of Defense and gained access to its employees' emails in 2015 and 2016, local media reported on Sunday.

Defense Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen was quoted by Danish news agency Ritzau as saying that the group behind the hacking is linked to the Russian intelligence services.

"It is linked to the intelligence services or core elements of the Russian government, and it is an eternal struggle to keep them away," Frederiksen said.

According to a report by the Center for Cyber Security in the Military Intelligence Service, the hackers have gained access to so-called "non-classified information", but the attack can still harm Danish security.

The report explained that the information can be used to hire agents in the Danish military.

The group behind the attack was hacker group APT28, also called Fancy Bear, according to local newspaper Berlingske.
The Irwin family have been in the public eye since the late Steve Irwin began operating Australia Zoo in the 90s.

But Bindi, Robert and mother Terri's style has reportedly gone under a transformation by a stylist to compliment their signature khaki-clad look.

An inside source told The Daily Telegraph: 'It wasn't only Bindi, the whole family were stuck back in the '90s, they had to be brought into the 21st century.'

'The whole family were stuck back in the '90s': Australia Zoo's Irwin family had a stylist overhaul their khaki-covered wardrobes to refresh their public image, reports in The Daily Telegraph suggested on Tuesday

Style intervention: The move apparently occurred while Bindi appeared on US Dancing With The Stars in 2015

The move apparently occurred while Bindi appeared on US Dancing With The Stars in 2015.

The source apparently disclosed that a professional styling team was used to update the Wildlife Warriors' styles, while maintaining the brand ethos created by Steve.

'People told Bindi she had to have a more mature look, she was 18 and dressing like a little girl, she was pretty receptive from the get go,' the mystery informant said.

'She was 18 and dressing like a little girl': The inside source claimed the stylist helped revamp Bindi's look to be more 'mature', with the Wildlife Warrior being 'pretty receptive'

Bye-bye bowl cut! According to the publication, Robert ditched his blonde bowl cut soon after the Irwin's enlisting the help of stylists

According to the publication, Robert ditched his blonde bowl cut soon after enlisting the help of stylists.

The youngest Irwin debuted his shorter hair recently when he appeared on Jimmy Fallon's talk show in February.

While the Irwin children appeared 'receptive' to the changes, the source claims Terri found it difficult.

'It was potentially about holding on to Steve's memory': The inside information told the publication 'For Terri it was the toughest' to transform and update their khaki style

New look: The youngest Irwin debuted his shorter hair recently when he appeared on Jimmy Fallon's talk show in February

'For Terri it was the toughest... It was potentially about holding on to Steve's memory. Holding on to the glory days you could say,' they claimed.

Daily Mail Australia have reached out to Australia Zoo for comment.

Terri has never remarried since Steve died after being attacked by a stingray waters off Port Douglas in Far North Queensland at the age of 44 in 2006.

Daughter Bindi was just eight years old when Steve was killed filming for the new series Ocean's Deadliest, while her brother, Robert, was two.

Last year the children spoke to Channel Nine ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Crocodile Hunter's death.

'We can still feel him around us, and we hope he would be proud of us,' Bindi said, while Robert, now 12, added: 'It is incredible that we get to carry on where he left off.'
She is best known for her role as Lady Rose Aldridge in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey and the title role in the 2015 Disney film Cinderella.

And Lily James looked every inch the pro as she filmed scenes for the book adaptation of Guernsey in Bristol on Monday.

The English actress, 28, was seen getting into character as she filmed scenes for the war drama with co-star Glen Powell.

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Seasoned: Lily James looked every inch the pro as she filmed scenes for the book adaptation of Guernsey in Bristol on Monday

Dressed in a cute grey beret and long overcoat, she embodied post-war fashion in a high neck blouse and tweed skirt.

With powdered make-up and a bold red lip, she laughed cheerily as she explored a ship for scenes.

And filming upcoming snippets, the lucky lady was soon pictured giving her co-star a smooch on the lips as bystanders looked on.

Pucker up: The English actress, 28, was seen getting into character as she filmed scenes for the war drama with co-star Glen Powell

Kate who? The duo reenacted Titanic scenes, as she clambered to the front of the boat with her arms stretched out, while he took shots of her pose

The duo reenacted Titanic scenes, as she clambered to the front of the boat with her arms stretched out, while he took shots of her pose.

The story, set after World War II, follows the story of journalist Juliet Ashton - played by Lily James.

Juliet decides to document the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book club formed on Guernsey Island in the English Channel during the wartime.

She then receives a letter from a farmer Dawsey, and after becoming pen pals, travels to the island to meet the members and write a book about the group.

Coordinated: Dressed in a cute grey beret and long overcoat, she embodied post-war fashion in a high neck blouse and tweed skirt

Classic: With powdered make-up and a bold red lip, she laughed cheerily as she explored a ship for scenes

Titanic 2: Filming upcoming snippets, the lucky lady was soon pictured giving her co-star a smooch on the lips as bystanders looked on

The film is based on the 2008 best-selling book of the same name by Annie Barros and Mary Ann Shaffer, which d reached the No. 1 position on the New York Times best-seller list for paperbacks.

'Guernsey has been a project of tremendous passion for us, and we are thrilled to be bringing it to screen with filmmaker Mike Newell attached and Lily James, our consummate Juliet,' producer Paula Mazur said of the project last year.

Lily notably garnered praise for her turn as Natasha Rostova in the acclaimed BBC adaptation of Tolstoy's War and Peace.

War drama: The story, set after World War II, follows the story of journalist Juliet Ashton - played by Lily James

Horsing around: Both Glen and Lily reenacted the classic Titanic pose

Throwback: Juliet decides to document the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book club formed on Guernsey Island in the English Channel during the wartime

She has also admitted that she would like to reprise her role as Lady Rose Aldridge (MacClare) in a big screen adaptation of Downton Abbey.

Describing her time playing Lady Rose as 'incredible', she revealed that she missed her costume - in particular the accessories.

The actress is set to star in action thriller Baby Driver later this year, as well as the Winston Churchill movie Darkest Hour.

Plot: She then receives a letter from a farmer Dawsey, and after becoming pen pals, travels to the island to meet the members and write a book about the group

Adaptation: The film is based on the 2008 best-selling book of the same name by Annie Barros and Mary Ann Shaffer, which d reached the No. 1 position on the New York Times best-seller list for paperbacks

'Guernsey has been a project of tremendous passion for us, and we are thrilled to be bringing it to screen with filmmaker Mike Newell attached and Lily James, our consummate Juliet,' producer Paula Mazur said of the project last year

Meanwhile Lily has been dating fellow Dr Who star Matt Smith for three years.

The 34-year-old BAFTA winner has been in the spotlight for longer than his girlfriend, so is more accustomed to fame.

He first became a household name in January 2009 when he replaced David Tennant to become the 11th Doctor Who.

And since he left the series in 2013 he has only hit further heights, as he is now being appreciated around the world for his depiction of Prince Philip in Netflix series The Crown.

Beaming: The duo are seen smiling lovingly at each other for the romantic scenes

Suave: Glen looked dapper in a navy coat and matching tie
Rachael Taylor stars as the mistress-turned wife of Alan Bond, Diana Bliss in Channel Nine's wildly popular biopic, House Of Bond.

And on Tuesday, the 32-year-old Australian beauty did what her character tragically couldn't do.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the blonde bombshell paid tribute to Alan Bond's first wife Eileen 'Red' Bond for making up with the woman who 'broke up her marriage.'

Tribute: On Tuesday, Rachael Taylor paid tribute to Alan Bond's first wife Eileen 'Red' Bond for making up with the woman who 'broke up her marriage'

'We didnt get to the very lovely ending of these two adversarial women making peace,' the star lamented to the publication.

She then mentioned the fact that the character she played on the show - Alan's mistress and second wife Diana - was reportedly invited by his first wife Eileen to have dinner with the pair in jail.

This comes despite the fact that Diana effectively broke up her marriage via an affair with Alan.

Praise: She lauded the fact that the character she played on the show - Alan's mistress and second wife Diana - was reportedly invited by his first wife Eileen to have dinner with the pair in jail

Great example! Of Eileen's (L) attempted reconciliation, Rachael said: 'What a great example of women rising above stuff, acting with such grace,'

'What a great example of women rising above stuff, acting with such grace,' she said.

'I just wish very much that that had been in the story.

Tragically, the end of the story involved Diana succumbing to depression and taking her own life in 2012.

More Praise: She also praised her co-star Ben Mingay, for his portrayal of Alan, saying: 'He could completely be Australias next Russell Crowe if thats what he wants to go and do,'

And while she was on the compliment train, Netflix's Jessica Jones star Rachael heaped praise on her co-star Ben Mingay, who played Alan on the show.

'He could completely be Australias next Russell Crowe if thats what he wants to go and do,' she said of the star.

And although she was full of praise for her the actor, she was hardly happy with the man he portrayed when speaking to news.com.au earlier in the week.

'I dont think I could have stood by a man like Alan Bond': Previously, she revealed that she couldn't have stood by Alan like Diana did

'I dont think I could have stood by a man like Alan Bondbut I think [Diana] really loved him,' she announced.

'Its an interesting thing to do as a human, to stuff things back down and try and hold things in and to be able to live in a way, certainly in [Dianas] relationship, that was sort of clandestinethat must have been really difficult,' she told the publication.

Meanwhile, Rachael has had her own fair share of relationship controversies.

In 2010, she split from her partner Matthew Newton after suffering two violent and unprovoked attacks in Rome- which prompted her to take out an AVO.

Past struggles: In 2010, she split from her partner Matthew Newton after suffering two violent and unprovoked attacks in Rome- which prompted her to take out an AVO

Court documents revealed at the time that Taylor was allegedly left with injuries consistent with having her head 'bashed against the floor and walls'.

Since then, the actress has since enjoyed success, having nabbed a leading role in Netflix's Jessica Jones.
Kelly Osbourne did not hold back in her new memoir.

The daughter of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne released her book, There Is No F***ing Secret: Letters From A Badass B***h.

And on Tuesday the 32-year-old stopped by Good Morning America in New York City to talk about some of the harrowing stories involving her parents and her alcohol and drug addiction.

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Drama, drama: Kelly Osbourne stopped by Good Morning America in New York City to talk about her book, There Is No F***ing Secret: Letters From A Badass B***h

Kelly rocked up to the studios in two different outfits. For one look she wore a skirt, blue belt and high neck top.

For another look she went for capri pants, a sweater and chunky heels.

She will also visit Washington, Naperville, San Francisco and West Hollywood on her US book tour.

In her book she admitted that she was locked away in a mental institution for three days for her drug and alcohol addiction.

Touring the US: She is currently on her book tour right now and will visit New York, Washington, Naperville, San Francisco and West Hollywood

The TV host said her mother Sharon took the drastic measure to send her to the facility in a desperate bid to get her clean.

Kelly, who has battled drug and alcohol abuse issues and sex addiction, wrote: 'Mum once locked me in a mental institution for three days and it scared the hell out of me.

'I had to wear paper shoes, since I could potentially kill myself with a shoelace and wasn't allowed to have anything metal not even a spoon.

'I was suicidal by medical standards but I heard mum's message loud and clear: stop using drugs before I was gone for good.'

Lifelong struggle: In the tell-all book the 32-year-old reveals some harrowing stories involving her parents and her alcohol and drug addiction

In 2009, Kelly revealed she first found drugs when she was 13-years-old after getting liquid Vicodin when her tonsils were removed but her substance use got heavier when her mother had cancer and her father almost died in 2003.

She said: 'The only way I could even face my life was by opening that pill bottle, shaking out a few pills - or a handful - into my palm and throwing them down my throat.'

Kelly battled for her sobriety for six years, a journey that included four visits to rehab and the trip to the mental institution.

Tough times: She admitted that she was locked away in a mental institution for three days for her drug and alcohol addiction

Bad cycle: The TV personality said: 'For me drugs were a coping mechanism that also fuelled my self-destruction'

Book signing: Kelly later signed copies of her book at Barnes & Noble Union Square

Lady in black: The daughter of Ozzy changed into a black dress for the book signing session

Now she has been sober for years and Kelly is adamant that she does not blame her father Ozzy for her own addiction issues.

The TV personality said: 'For me drugs were a coping mechanism that also fuelled my self-destruction.'

Kelly also opened up about one of the more touching moments in life that involved the late Robin Williams.

Way back when: Kelly pictured with her father Ozzy and mother Sharon

She claims the beloved comedian helped save her mother's life.

Her mum was refusing a second round of chemotherapy for her cancer but Williams paid her a visit, lay with her in bed, and made her laugh.

'I tear up when I think about this,' Kelly said.

'Because Robin Williams helped save Mum's life and I don't think there are words in the world to describe how much what he did meant to my family. He was a beautiful, generous man.'
He has been recovering at home over the last few months, after being left 'fighting for his life' by a serious heart attack in August.

But Richard Wilson, 80, seemed back to his best self on Tuesday, as he made his return to the stage for the first time since his illness.

The One Foot In The Grave star, who was last seen with a walking stick, appeared to be in tip-top shape as he made a confident debut in Alan Bennett's Forty Years On, at the Chichester Festival Theatre.

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When there's a Will-son there's a way! Richard Wilson, 80, seemed back to his best self on Tuesday, as he made his return to the stage for the first time since his illness

Better than ever: The star, who was last seen with a walking stick, appeared to be in tip-top shape as he made his debut in Alan Bennett's Forty Years On, at the Chichester Festival Theatre

The famous thespian seemed the picture of health as he returned to performing, after suffering a heart attack which left him on life support in intensive care.

Clad in traditional school robes and a mortarboard, the actor looked worlds away from his recovering self, seen with a walking stick last month, as he instead immersed himself in his Headmaster character.

Embarking on a number of playful scenes with school students and a matron in the show, Richard was met with a rave reception from the audience as he returned to acting with a smile on his face.

Unrecognisable: The famous thespian seemed the picture of health as he returned to performing, after suffering a heart attack which left him on life support in intensive care

Having a ball: Embarking on a number of playful scenes with students and a matron, Richard was met with a rave reception from the audience as he returned to acting with a smile

Richard has chosen Alan Bennett's Forty Years On for his much-anticipated return - having never performed at the famous Chichester venue before.

The play, which was Bennett's first West End production, follows students at a British public school who are putting on a show for parents about the Great War, and the loss of a generation of young men.

Wilson stars as The Headmaster in the show - which has also been played by Welsh dramatist Emlyn Williams and John Gielgud in the past.

Lying low after his illness, Richard had last been seen with a walking stick in March, as she enjoyed an easy stroll around London.

Back at it: Clad in traditional school robes and a mortarboard, the actor looked worlds away from his recovering self as he instead immersed himself in his Headmaster character

Road to recovery: Lying low after his illness, Richard had last been seen with a walking stick in March, as she enjoyed an easy stroll around London (above)

The TV favourite was spotted out and about in North London with the help of a walking stick.

Wrapped up in a bright red padded jacket, the veteran comedic performer was seen with a scarf around his neck, and sported a purple jumper underneath.

He kept things comfy in a pair of loose slacks and trainers, and donned a pair of shades to avoid squinting his way through the sunny London spring weather.

He looked wonderfully healthy and smiled to himself has he crossed the street.

Back on his feet: The Victor Meldrew actor was spotted out and about in North London with the help of a walking stick

The accident occurred right before he was due to bring Victor Meldrew back for a one man show at the Edinburgh Festival.

Fans were eagerly anticipating the one man show, given the fact that they never thought they'd see Victor alive again thanks to his One Foot In The Grave death.

But the sad turn of events saw the show cancelled, with Richard instead rushed to hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Veteran Scottish actor Richard Wilson, who was born in Greenock, Renfrewshire, is believed to be in a stable condition in hospital after suffering cardiac arrest

At the time, a source told The Sun: 'Richard had a really nasty fall and hit his head.

'He was on life support in the hospital in the intensive care unit. Hes stable but very ill and in a serious condition. Its been a very difficult time for his friends and family.'

His 86-year-old sister Moira told the Mirror: 'I am praying hes OK. We havent seen each other. I cant travel.'

Richard, who was born in Greenock, Renfrewshire, had recently revealed he originally turned down his most famous role, playing Victor Meldrew in One Foot In The Grave.

The Scottish actor made his name playing the cantankerous protagonist but said he had to be talked into it because he thought he was too young for the part.

He told Radio Times: 'I was in my early 50s and Victor was 60. I turned it down.

'I think Les Dawson was being considered. A very funny man but I don't know if he could have played Victor.'

Producer/director Susan Belbin continued to pursue Wilson and, after reading more scripts, he was convinced.

He went on to play the pensioner at war with middle-class suburbia for five series from 1990 to 1995, before returning for a final run in 2000.

His 12-night run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival was due to start on a matter of days before the heart attack took place.

But concerns about his health were raised when it emerged he had pulled out of the run of shows, with his agent then confirming he had been taken ill.

Wilson had planned to re-create writer David Renwick's script for a 1993 episode called The Trial, which sees Victor waiting in the house, on a rainy day, on call for jury duty.

Half an hour with Victor would have been followed by half an hour with Wilson himself, answering questions from the audience.

The actor promised fans that the OAP - known for the catchphrase 'I don't believe it!' - would not have mellowed with age.

He said: 'I think Victor is around 80 now. But I am playing him roughly 74.

'He has not changed one bit. In fact, it's quite hard to get back to my normal, affable, lovable self after being him, even for half an hour.'
Jeremiah Raber, who found fame on TLC's Breaking Amish series, has been arrested in Florida.

The 37-year-old was handcuffed and taken into custody for assaulting his wife Carmela following a verbal dispute, RadarOnline reported Tuesday.

She told police officers who responded to the scene that her husband had made 'several threats' to harm her and had 'struck her with a closed fist,' the website said.

Legal trouble: Jeremiah Raber, from TLC's Breaking Amish series, has been arrested in Florida for allegedly assaulting his wife Carmela, pictured together in a photo shared via social media

According to law enforcement, Carmela had 'several large bruises on her arms and legs' and told cops Jeremiah beat her 'on a daily basis.'

The couple who met via Facebook married last year.

Jeremiah, however, told Radar that there was another side to the story.

'As of now I have nothing really to say other then the real truth will come out in the end,' the reality star said.

'This is not a one-way street. It goes both ways and I have the evidence to prove it and it will be released soon enough,' he added.

Arrested: Jeremiah, 37, pictured in a Facebook photo, insisted he has evidence to prove his innocence

It's not his first brush with the law.

Back in May 2015, Jeremiah was arrested and charged with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct after an early morning run in with cops in Pennsylvania.

Local news outlets in Pittsburgh reported that his arrest stemmed from a traffic stop in Indiana County at about 2:40 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

Jeremiah will be seen on TV again when Return To Amish premieres a new season this coming Sunday on TLC.
Starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants pitches during the 1st inning of their game against the Kansas City Royals, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 19, 2017

San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, who injured his pitching shoulder in a dirt bike accident, admitted on Monday his off-day recreation was perhaps "not the most responsible" choice.

"It's terrible," Bumgarner said in his first public comments on the accident that could see him out of the Giants lineup for up to eight weeks with a sprained shoulder and bruised ribs.

He had the accident on Thursday in Colorado, on the team's day off in Denver.

"Obviously, it was not my intentions when we set out to enjoy the off day," he said. "I realize that's definitely not the most responsible decision I've made. It sucks not being able to be out here with my guys."

Bumgarner's left arm was in a sling as he spoke with reporters. he was scheduled for a second MRI exam on Monday night.

The 2014 World Series hero had never previously been on the disabled list in his eight major league seasons.

The 27-year-old is 0-3 with a 3.00 earned-run-average this season.

Earlier this season he became the first pitcher in major league history to hit two home runs on Opening Day.
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix's first-quarter net profit surged 324 percent on-year to 1.89 trillion won while operating profit jumped 339 percent to 2.4 trillion won -- also a record

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix on Tuesday said profit in the first three months of the year boomed more than 300 percent to a record high as strong demand for memory chips used in mobile phones boosted prices.

First-quarter net profit surged 324 percent on-year to 1.89 trillion won ($1.66 billion) while operating profit jumped 339 percent to 2.4 trillion won -- also a record.

Strong demand for NAND flash memory chips used in smartphones and other mobile gadgets, coupled with industry-wide supply shortages, pushed up prices and boosted the firm's margins, SK Hynix said.

Prices for DRAM chips -- widely used in PCs and computer servers, and a key component of the firm's sales -- also rose, it said, adding demand would remain strong thanks to the popularity of cloud computing services and high-end PCs for gamers.

The firm's overall sales grew 72 percent on-year to 6.28 trillion won, another quarterly record.

Shares in SK Hynix closed unchanged at 52,400 won in Seoul Tuesday after rising as much as 1.5 percent in morning trade.

The company is the world's second-biggest maker of DRAM chips after Samsung, which earlier this month flagged a 48 percent jump in the first-quarter operating profit owing to strong sales of memory chips.

SK Hynix is in the midst of an attempt to take over the semiconductor unit of troubled Japanese tech giant Toshiba, with a consortium led by the firm reportedly offering to pay more than $9 billion.

If the deal goes through, it would make SK Hynix the global number two maker of NAND memory chips. It is currently fifth.
A Gentoo penguin waddling around Orne Harbour in the western Antarctic peninsula, one of a number of species that makes its home on the frozen continent

The world needs to do more to protect the Antarctic wilderness and its wildlife, scientists warned Tuesday, as they marked World Penguin Day.

The flightless seabirds -- a favourite with children for their clumsy, waddling gait -- offer a useful yardstick for researchers to judge the health of their habitat.

"Penguins are great ambassadors for understanding the need to conserve Southern Ocean resources," Christian Reiss, an Antarctic fisheries biologist at the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told AFP.

"They are the iconic species of this ecosystem and the fate of their populations will depend on effective ecosystem-based management, including understanding the role of climate change and human impacts."

A Pew study in 2015 showed two thirds of the world's 18 penguin species, which range from the volcanic Galapagos Islands on the equator to the frozen sea ice of Antarctica, were in decline.

Know your penguins - nine of the world's 18 species of penguins

Antarctic penguins in particular are vulnerable to climate change, with shifting ice reducing habitat while warming seas affect their prey.

Scientists blame intense fishing pressure on forage species such as krill, as well as pollution, degradation of breeding grounds, and climate change.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, only two types of penguin -- Adelie and King -- are increasing in numbers.

- Struggling to adapt -

Climate change is a particular threat to penguins, with melting and shifting sea ice reducing habitats and warming seas affecting their prey

Penguins live most of their lives at sea but return to land to breed and molt, making them important gauges of marine health that are easily accessible to researchers, who can then develop realistic and effective conservation ocean strategies.

Stanford University marine scientist Cassandra Brooks, who specialises in the Antarctic, said penguin populations on the frozen continent were both increasing (Adelies in the Ross Sea) and decreasing (Chinstraps in the Antarctic Peninsula area).

"In short, we know climate change is dramatically changing the Antarctic environment and that the animals that comprise the Southern Ocean ecosystem are struggling to adapt," she told AFP.

Chinstrap penguins are one of the species whose populations are decreasing

"Scientists need to continue working to untangle the complex interactions between climate change and penguin populations."

A deal sealed last year by the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) -- an international grouping tasked with overseeing conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Antarctic Ocean -- will see a massive US and New Zealand-backed marine protected area established in the Ross Sea.

The sea is one of the last intact marine ecosystems in the world, home to penguins, seals, Antarctic toothfish, whales and huge numbers of krill, a staple food for many species.

It is considered critical for scientists to study how such ecosystems function and to understand the impact of climate change on the ocean.

But two other proposals -- the Australia and France-led East Antarctica sanctuary and a German plan to protect huge tracts of the Weddell Sea -- are still under negotiation.

Scientists say sanctuaries are vital to protect penguins and other Antarctic animals from the effects of over-fishing, pollution and climate change

The East Antarctica sanctuary proposal spans one million square kilometres (386,000 square miles) while the Weddell Sea plan would extend from the southeast of South America over an area of some 2.8 million square kilometres.

"A network of Southern Ocean MPAs (marine protected areas), which include no-take zones in areas important to penguin life history, may help ensure their survival in an uncertain future," said Brooks.

The CCAMLR holds its annual meeting in Hobart, Australia, in October.
Defence spending typically surges under coup-installed regimes in Thailand, which has seen more than a dozen putsches in the past 80 years

The Thai junta on Tuesday defended $393 million earmarked for a Chinese submarine, batting back criticism of the secrecy of the deal, its cost and the questionable utility of the warship.

The submarine sale is the latest defence deal between Beijing and Bangkok, who have grown ever closer since Thailand's 2014 coup.

Historically the Southeast Asian kingdom has been a major purchaser of western arms, especially from its traditional Cold War ally the United States.

But since the coup, which strained ties with the West, there has been a run of windfalls for China with Thailand scooping up several dozen Beijing-built tanks and inking plans to buy three submarines in total -- a purchase that will amount to $1 billion.

Talks are also underway for China to construct a multi-million dollar armaments and military hardware repair facility in Thailand.

The military-led cabinet approved the funds for the first submarine purchase last week -- a decision that was not made public until Monday, triggering concern about a lack of transparency.

The proposed sale has long fuelled controversy with critics saying submarines are of little strategic value in a country with shallow surrounding waters and no stake in the South China Sea disputes that have embroiled its neighbours.

The huge cost of the vessel has also raised eyebrows in Thailand, where ordinary people are feeling the pinch from years of lacklustre growth.

- 'Toys for the boys' -

On Tuesday the junta deputy leader General Prawit Wongsuwon insisted the deal was "transparent" and a good bargain for the Thai navy.

"The reason we choose Chinese-built submarines is because they are the cheapest when compared to other countries' offers," he told reporters.

The submarines are needed to "protect our natural resources in the Andaman Sea," he added, stressing that neighbouring countries "all have submarines."

Prawit said the first submarine will be delivered within the next six years, with two more expected over the next decade.

Others are less convinced by the deal. A retired admiral recently told AFP that money for the submarines would be better spent on desperately needed navy patrol vessels and helicopters.

"No real navy man would push for these submarines," he said.

Defence spending has tripled in Thailand over the last decade, a period where the military has seized power twice.

"As the military has the final say on budgeting, there should be no surprise that we should see the junta seeking more 'toys for the boys'," said Paul Chambers, a expert on the Thai military.

"This is a contributing factor to Thailand's current economic morass," he told AFP, adding that the junta tried to keep the deal quiet because of its unpopularity.

The army, navy and air force tussle over the spoils of budget hikes, reflecting the balance of power among the military.

Thailand's military famously purchased a small Spanish aircraft carrier in the 1990s that now languishes in a port and has no aircraft.
Jack Jones, left, and Marcel Williams, both sentenced to death in the 1990s, were executed by lethal injection in Arkansas

The southern state of Arkansas, rushing to execute several inmates before a lethal drug expires next week, put to death two inmates late Monday, the first double execution in the United States in 17 years.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said that Jack Jones and Marcel Williams, both sentenced to death in the 1990s, were executed by lethal injection after higher courts rejected their final legal appeals.

Arkansas had planned to put eight convicted murderers to death in 11 days -- a record, had it been carried out -- but four have won reprieves.

Jones, 52, was executed after the US Supreme Court rejected an 11th-hour request from his attorneys asking justices to reconsider a procedural issue from his trial.

Williams, 46, died hours later after his appeals were exhausted. His lawyers had filed a flurry of last-minute challenges, including accusations that the state had improperly carried out Jones' execution just minutes earlier.

"Mr. Jones was moving his lips and gulping for air" after the midazolam was administered, evidence that the drug did not properly sedate him, the lawyers said in a legal filing.

But attorneys for Arkansas said the accusation was not supported by media or witness accounts, and charges that the execution "appeared to be tortuous and inhumane are utterly baseless."

Williams' legal team had earlier argued that his extreme obesity -- Williams weighed 400 pounds (180 kilograms) -- would make it difficult to find a proper vein for the lethal injection.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has said the accelerated execution timetable was necessary as the state's stock of a sedative used in lethal injections will expire at the end of the month.

Rutledge said in separate statements that the family and friends of the victims had "seen justice carried out." In each case, Rutledge described the crimes they committed in gruesome detail.

- Legal clashes -

The execution process began at 7:06 pm (0006 GMT Tuesday) and Jones was pronounced dead at 7:20 pm, Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper.

Executions in the United States

Jones was calm as he made a rambling final statement while strapped to the gurney, saying he tried to become a better person and apologizing to Lacey, a daughter of his victim, 34-year-old Mary Phillips, the paper said, citing media witnesses in the death chamber.

Three hours later the lethal injection process began on Williams, who according to the newspaper refused to make a final statement. He was pronounced dead at 10:33 pm (0333 GMT).

Last-minute appeals had delayed the execution, which had been scheduled for one hour after that of Jones.

Last Thursday, Ledell Lee was put to death in the state's first execution in more than a decade.

Many of the legal clashes over Arkansas' plan focus on use of the drug midazolam, a sedative meant to render a condemned person unconscious before other drugs induce death.

Critics say it does not always adequately sedate prisoners, potentially causing undue suffering.

And McKesson Medical-Surgical, a distributor for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, had asked courts to ban the use of a paralytic it sells, vecuronium bromide, in the chemical cocktail used to kill prisoners.

Arkansas has scheduled another execution for April 27.

The last US state to execute two convicts in one night was Texas in August 2000.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a tightening of controls on civil society since assuming power in 2012

A Chinese court indefinitely postponed the trial of a prominent human rights lawyer on Tuesday, his supporters said, in a case that has sparked international concern after allegations he was tortured.

Xie Yang, who had worked on numerous cases considered politically sensitive by the ruling Communist Party, was among hundreds of legal staff and activists detained in a crackdown in the summer of 2015.

Dozens of supporters and several diplomats gathered at the court in the central city of Changsha for the start of Xie's trial -- believed to be on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" -- were told the case would not be heard on Tuesday.

Last-minute delays in sensitive trials are not uncommon even though Chinese law requires courts to give a defendant's family and lawyers three days notice of any changes, said Amnesty International China researcher Patrick Poon.

A new date was not provided.

Xie, who was arrested in the so-called "709 crackdown", claims police have used "sleep deprivation, long interrogations, beatings, death threats, humiliations" on him, and the EU has voiced concern over his case.

"Our country is always emphasising the rule of law, so through Xie Yang's case we can tell whether or not there is any kind of reality in that," a supporter at the courthouse told AFP, requesting anonymity.

Eleven countries, including Canada, Australia and Switzerland, also cited Xie's case in a letter to Beijing criticising China's detention practices.

"We are following this case very closely and our human rights counsellor is in Changsha today," a Beijing-based EU spokesman told AFP.

-- State power --

Xie is being represented by a court-designated advocate after he was denied the right to pick his own defence, his former attorney Chen Jiangang said.

The new lawyer, He Xiaodian, could not be reached for comment and the courtroom also did not answer calls on Tuesday.

Chen said He had contacted Xie's family on Monday night to advise them not to go to the courtroom. "But they did not get any clear information saying the trial date was different," he said.

Court officials had confirmed to Xie's wife, Chen Guiqiu, that the trial would start Tuesday, she said in a statement last week.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a tightening of controls on civil society since assuming power in 2012, closing avenues for legal activism that had opened up in recent years.

While the government initially targeted political activists and human rights campaigners, it has increasingly turned its attention to the legal professionals who represent them.

"The lawyers are seen as threatening because what they do in the ordinary course is use courts to attack government policies," Karla Simon of the New York University School of Law told AFP.

Among Xie's clients were Chinese activists who supported Hong Kong democracy.

In December, he was indicted on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" and "disrupting court order", according to US-based charity Chinese Human Rights Defenders.

An AFP reporter at the court Tuesday was taken into police custody for about an hour, with officials saying they wanted to verify his credentials.
Iran's historic agreement with world powers ended a 13-year standoff over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme

Iran and major powers met Tuesday in Vienna to review adherence to their 2015 nuclear deal as uncertainty grows about the landmark accord's future under US President Donald Trump.

The regular quarterly meeting heard, as Washington confirmed last week, that Iran is sticking to its side of the deal with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, diplomats said.

The accord saw Tehran drastically curb its nuclear activities in order to ease concerns that Iran wanted to build an atomic bomb. In return nuclear-related Western and UN sanctions were lifted.

However, Trump has ordered a review, saying last Thursday that Iran was "not living up to the spirit" of the "terrible" deal because of its actions in other areas.

This refers to Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rebels in Yemen, and militias in Iraq and in Lebanon as well as Tehran's ballistic missile programme.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday the review would examine the nuclear accord "in the larger context of Iran's role in the region and in the world, and then adjust accordingly."

The Iranian nuclear agreement

Trump's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last Wednesday expressed misgivings about the nuclear deal itself, in particular the time limits in key areas.

Iran cut the number of centrifuges that "enrich" uranium -- making it suitable for power generation and at high purities for a bomb -- from about 19,000 to 5,000.

Together with other restrictions and ultra-tight UN inspections, Iran pledged to stay at this level for 10 years and not to enrich uranium above low purities for 15 years.

Its uranium stockpile will also stay below 300 kilos (660 pounds) -- well short of what would be needed for an atomic bomb -- for 15 years.

Tillerson said the accord "fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran" and had been a way of "buying off" Tehran "for a short period of time".

- Tehran not satisfied -

Iran is not happy either, with critics of President Hassan Rouhani -- facing a tough battle for re-election next month -- charging that the nuclear deal has failed to provide all the promised economic benefits.

Critics of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani charge that the 2015 nuclear deal has failed to bring anticipated economic benefits

While nuclear-related sanctions were lifted, those related to human rights or missiles remained or have been expanded, frustrating Iran's efforts to boost trade.

Last week Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to Trump's comments by saying that Washington was failing to live up not just to the spirit of the nuclear deal, but its wording as well.

"So far, it has defied both," Zarif said on Twitter.

Tuesday's "Joint Commission" meeting among senior diplomats was held behind closed doors -- in the same plush Vienna hotel where the deal was hammered out.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, said he had raised in the talks with US negotiators the "negative atmosphere that they have created by different public statements and their reviewing policy as they call it."

A European diplomat said after the talks that the meeting had been constructive. "Everyone is in waiting mode, waiting to hear more from Washington and the outcome of the Iranian election," he said.

Meanwhile a lawyer for a US-Iranian father and son jailed in Iran in 2016 said the US officials had told him they would raise the issue in the talks.

It was unclear whether they did so. Siamak Namazi and his father Baquer, who is 80, were sentenced in October to 10 years for espionage.

Trump, then running for president, tweeted at the time: "Iran has done it again ... This doesn't happen if I'm president!
The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan approaches the southeastern port city of Busan on April 25, 2017

Nuclear-armed North Korea on Tuesday marked a military anniversary with a massive conventional firing drill, Seoul said, as a US guided-missile submarine docked in South Korea amid tensions over Pyongyang's weapons ambitions.

Speculation had mounted that the North could carry out a sixth nuclear test or another missile launch to mark 85 years since the founding of its army.

But no such event -- which usually happens in the morning -- had taken place by the evening, and instead Seoul's defence ministry said Pyongyang was conducting a "massive fire drill" in the eastern port city of Wonsan.

The South's Yonhap news agency cited a government source as saying the exercise was the North's "largest ever" and was presumed to have been overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un.

Washington has sent the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula, where it is expected to arrive -- after a derision-provoking delay -- later this week.

Confusion had clouded the carrier's whereabouts earlier this month after US officials indicated it was sailing towards North Korea when in fact it was heading south.

The vessel will take part in joint naval drills with the South's forces to "demonstrate Seoul and Washington's strong determination to punish North Korean provocations", the South Korean Navy said in a statement.

It is assumed that North Korea's conventional firing drill on Tuesday to mark the 85th anniversary of its army was overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un

They will take place in the East Sea, the South's name for the Sea of Japan, it said, and the two allies will also begin joint naval exercises in the West Sea -- what it calls the Yellow Sea -- on Tuesday "in relation to the current security situation".

The nuclear-powered US submarine USS Michigan also made a port call at Busan in the South on Tuesday in another show of force, while US navy destroyers carried out separate joint exercises with Japanese and South Korean vessels.

President Donald Trump has said the US was sending an "armada" to the Korean peninsula, including submarines.

According to the US Navy's Submarine Force Pacific website, the USS Michigan carries more than 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

They are capable of precision strikes against the North's nuclear facilities, but the South Korean Navy called the visit "routine" and said the submarine would not take part in any joint exercises.

- 'Brutal punishment' -

North Korea has ambitions to build a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the US mainland. Tensions have soared in recent months as it carried out a string of missile tests that sparked tit-for-tat sabre-rattling between it and Washington.

Pyongyang's rhetoric always intensifies in the spring, when Seoul and Washington hold joint military drills which it sees as rehearsals for an invasion.

North Korean missiles

The North's Rodong Sinmun -- the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea -- warned Tuesday of dire consequences in the event of a US-led pre-emptive strike.

It promised "the most brutal punishment... in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice".

North Korea launched two missile tests this month while Trump and his senior aides have warned that "all options are on the table" against Pyongyang, including military action.

Trump on Monday urged UN Security Council ambassadors to consider stronger sanctions against Pyongyang, and US senators will be briefed on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is to chair a ministerial-level Security Council meeting on the North on Friday.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against invasion. A spokesman for its foreign ministry on Tuesday claimed the meetings -- coupled with Trump's fresh policy of "maximum pressure and engagement" on Pyongyang -- showed the threat it faced from the US.

"They are explicitly advocating pressure on us, which is as dangerous as lighting the fuse on an all-out war," he said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency.

Top nuclear envoys from Japan, South Korea and the United States met Tuesday in Tokyo and vowed "stern action" against any fresh North Korean provocations.

US special representative Joseph Yun said he discussed American policy to "enhance pressure" on Pyongyang "because we really do not believe that North Korea is ready to engage us towards denuclearisation".

The trio also agreed that China and Russia should play a bigger role in reining in the North, said Kim Hong-Kyun, South Korea's chief envoy on the issue.

"Cooperation with China and Russia is the most important for effective pressure on North Korea," he said.
A Pakistani army soldier stands guard at a checkpoint in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on December 5, 2009

Pakistan on Tuesday hanged four militants involved in attacks on civilians, police and troops after they were convicted by the country's controversial military courts, an army statement said.

It said the four, who were hanged at a prison in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, all belonged to the umbrella militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Pakistan's powerful army chief last week confirmed death sentences passed by military courts on 30 militants, some of whom were involved in the country's worst-ever extremist attack.

The assault on a school in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saw Taliban gunmen slaughter more than 150 people, the majority of them children.

The military courts -- in which the army can try civilians on terror charges in secret, despite strong criticism from rights groups -- were established in the wake of the 2014 attack, which traumatised a country already grimly accustomed to atrocities.

They were seen as an "exceptional" short-term measure to give the government time to reform the criminal justice system as the military targeted militants in the tribal areas of the northwest.

Security has dramatically improved since then. The law expired in January with the controversial tribunals having hanged 12 people and ordered the executions of 149 more.

But in February a fresh wave of militant violence killed 130 people across the country. Shortly afterwards, parliament voted to extend the courts for another two years.

Figures earlier this month showed 161 executions have been ordered by the courts since they were created and 24 of them have been carried out -- not including Tuesday's hangings.
Turkish air strikes targeting local armed groups in northern Iraq killed six members of Kurdish security forces in an apparent accident

Turkish air strikes targeting local armed groups in northern Iraq killed six members of Kurdish security forces in an apparent accident on Tuesday, a senior official said.

"Six people were martyred, five from the peshmerga and the sixth from asayish," Lieutenant General Jabbar Yawar, secretary general of the peshmerga ministry in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government, told AFP.

"Nine others were also wounded by the air strike on the Sinjar mountain," he said, in reference to a northwestern region of Iraq which is the main hub of the Yazidi minority.

The peshmerga are the Kurdish Regional Government's armed forces and the asayish its intelligence service.

Yawar and other officials said the overnight strike apparently targeted a Yazidi militia allied with Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which Ankara, a key ally of the Iraqi Kurdish government, considers a terrorist organisation.

The air strike was carried out at 2:25 am (2315 GMT), said Yawar, who added that forces from the Yazidi Protection Units (YBS) were present at the targeted positions.

Zardasht Shingali, a spokesman for the YBS, said the strikes lasted three hours and hit five of his group's positions in the area.

He told AFP that the targets included a radio station, a position in the strategic Shilo Valley west of the mountain and another in the town of Sinuni, which lies at the foot of the mountain's northern flank.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on matters of state

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Tuesday on candidates for next month's presidential election not to look to other countries as examples for progress.

The May 19 election will see incumbent moderate Hassan Rouhani face off against two highly-touted conservative rivals.

Speaking at a meeting of ambassadors from Muslim nations in Tehran, Khamenei encouraged candidates "not to look abroad (but) to pin hope on the capabilities of the nation for progress".

Under Rouhani, Iran in 2015 signed a landmark deal with world powers to lift economic sanctions on the Islamic republic in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

A number of Western corporations have since announced deals with Iran.

The nuclear accord alleviated some of the international isolation Iran experienced under Rouhani's predecessor, the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was last week barred from competing in next month's election.

But disappointment with Rouhani's handling of the economy is palpable and analysts say his re-election bid will be far from straightforward.

Khamenei, who as supreme leader has the final say on matters of state, discouraged candidates on Tuesday from reaching out to other nations.

"They fight against the Islamic Republic of Iran... as (Islam) blocks their interests," he was quoted as saying.

With conservatives buoyant over the sluggish economy, hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who is seen as a close Khamenei ally, is Rouhani's most likely challenger on May 19.

Another hopeful, Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has support from powerful backroom hardliners and presents himself as a pragmatic problem-solver.
A wounded Indian security personnel is treated at a hospital in Raipur on April 24, 2017, following an attack by suspected Maoist rebels in central India's Chhattisgarh state

Maoist rebels who killed 25 paramilitary troops in an ambush in central India used local villagers as human shields, a survivor said Tuesday.

Sher Mohammed, a paramilitary soldier injured in Monday's attack in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh state, said around 300 fighters attacked the troops as they provided security for the construction of a new road opposed by the Maoists.

"The Naxalites (Maoists) first sent villagers to track our location. Then we saw 100-150 villagers approaching us. They were not armed. How could we fire at them?" said Mohammed, who was part of the 99-member commando team.

"There must have been 300 Naxalites, all in black uniform. They started firing indiscriminately at us. They had rocket launchers, AK-47s," he told reporters from his hospital bed.

India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh called the attack an "act of desperation" by the Maoists, who have long dominated thousands of square miles of central and eastern India.

However conflict expert Ajit Kumar Singh said the attack, which came just a month after a deadly ambush in the same location, was the result of a military intelligence failure.

"How come the movement of some 300 heavily armed people in a densely forested area went unnoticed? What are your intelligence operatives doing?" said Singh, a research fellow with the Delhi-based Institute of Conflict Management.

"Everyone knows there is danger all the time but the specific input was missing."

India's Maoists claim to be fighting for the land rights of marginalised tribal communities.

Their insurgency has claimed around 10,000 lives since it started in the 1960s, and is considered India's most serious internal security threat.

While operating from their jungle bases, the Maoists often descend on villages to demand protection money and recruit young men and women to their ranks.

They also oppose efforts to build new roads and infrastructure in remote areas because it undermines their long-running campaign against India's security forces.

Since his election in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been seeking to stem the insurgency by earmarking development funds for revolt-hit areas and improving policing.

Singh said the movement had been weakened considerably by the government's initiatives.

"They have been feeling cornered," he said.

"When any militant outfit is in a desperate situation, they try to stage spectacular attacks to gain back prominence. And this is exactly what the Maoists have done this time."
Vladimir Putin and Shinzo Abe are hoping to turn the page on a decades-old territorial dispute

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Russia this week for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin and Tokyo said Tuesday, as the two sides look to make headway on a decades-old territorial dispute.

The Kremlin said talks, set for Thursday, would focus on "the state and prospects for development of Russo-Japanese cooperation in the political, trade and economic, and humanitarian spheres."

The meeting follows on from Putin's first visit to Japan in 11 years last December, when the two leaders failed to resolve a disagreement over an island chain that has prevented their nations signing a peace treaty to formally end World War II.

The Soviet Union seized islands off Japan's northern coast in 1945 in the closing days of the war.

Known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, they have been a thorn in relations ever since.

In Tokyo, Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga confirmed Abe's visit to Russia.

North Korea is also likely to be on the agenda of the talks "given the current situation," he said, referring to soaring tensions surrounding the hermit state's nuclear and missile programmes.

Both Russia and Japan have been part of more than a decade of multilateral efforts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme.

On Friday, Abe will visit Britain for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May at her country residence of Chequers, her office said.

It will be his first visit since May took office in July after the Brexit vote, and comes as she campaigns for an increased parliamentary majority for her Conservatives in a snap election on June 8.

May's Downing Street office said the meeting was a long-standing engagement with a "close ally and key trading partner", with discussions expected "on a range of bilateral and global issues".

Suga said the two leaders would "exchange views over Britain's exit from the EU as well as confirm close cooperation with Britain ahead of the G7 summit in late May".
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A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine on Tuesday arrived at the southern port of Busan, South Korea, amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula, YTN television reported.

The USS Michigan nuclear-powered submarine arrives at port of Busan, South Korea, April 25, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The USS Michigan guided-missile submarine has already arrived at Busan, the South Korean military was quoted as saying. The broadcaster did not elaborate on the exact time of its arrival.

Although the nuclear submarine is not supposed to participate in any drills or military operations, its call would send a meaningful message to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said the YTN.

At a national meeting held Monday, the DPRK again warned the United States that it would stage preemptive nuclear strikes against American forces.

The USS Michigan is one of four Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines loaded with nuclear missiles. The 170-meter-long, 18,000-ton submarine can carry as many as 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of some 1,600 km.

The Michigan's call on South Korea came amid mounting tensions on the peninsula. The USS Carl Vinson nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is sailing toward the peninsula.

The rare re-routing of the super-carrier to the peninsula had raised concerns about possible airstrikes on the DPRK's nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, the DPRK Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the Korean Peninsula is on the verge of war due to "reckless action" by the United States using both economic sanctions and increasing military threats.

According to South Korea's military, the DPRK conducted large-scale live-fire artillery exercises on Tuesday to mark its army anniversary.

The DPRK's artillery drills came amid ongoing joint military exercises of South Korea and the United States.

The U.S.-South Korea joint war games, which were denounced by the DPRK as a rehearsal for northward invasion, would last till the end of this month.
Fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) visit the site of Turkish air strikes near the northeastern Syrian Kurdish town al-Malikiyah on April 25, 2017

Turkish warplanes killed more than two dozen Kurdish fighters Tuesday in strikes in Syria and Iraq, where the Kurds are key players in the battle against the Islamic State group.

Turkey said it had carried out the strikes against "terrorist havens", vowing to continue acting against groups it links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

In northeast Syria, strikes targeting the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) -- who are leading the offensive against IS stronghold Raqa -- were reported to have killed 20 fighters.

In northern Iraq they killed six peshmerga fighters from the autonomous Kurdish government, usually allied with Ankara, in an apparent accident.

Baghdad condemned a "violation of international law and Iraqi sovereignty".

"The Iraqi government condemns and rejects the strikes carried out by Turkish aircraft on Iraqi territory," said government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi.

The United States said it was "deeply concerned".

"We are very concerned, deeply concerned that Turkey conducted air strikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper coordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat ISIS," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, using another acronym for the jihadist group.

The strikes underlined the complexities of the battlefields in Iraq and Syria, where twin US-backed offensives are seeking to dislodge IS from its last major urban strongholds.

Tabqa Dam

They could also exacerbate tensions between Ankara and its NATO ally Washington, which leads an anti-IS coalition carrying out air strikes in Syria and Iraq and sees the Kurds as instrumental in the fight against IS.

- Turkish vow -

Turkey said its strikes aimed "to destroy terrorist havens targeting our country" and vowed to press the offensive "until the very last terrorist is neutralised".

An army statement said the strikes "destroyed" shelter areas, ammunition warehouses and PKK communications facilities.

It said 40 PKK fighters were "neutralised" in Iraq and around 30 in Syria.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said if the PKK threatens border securtity, Turkey "will take steps to remove this threat regardless of whether it comes from country A or country B".

Kurds wave flags as a medevac helicopter from the US-led coalition flies over the site of Turkish air strikes near Al-Malikiyah on April 25, 2017

"Dozens of simultaneous air strikes" targeted YPG positions near the Syrian city of Al-Malikiyah, including a media centre, a monitoring group said.

The strikes killed three media officers and 15 YPG fighters, one of the highest death tolls from Turkish air raids on Kurdish militia, said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman.

YPG spokesman Redur Khalil said 20 YPG fighters were killed and 18 wounded, three critically. Two civilians were also injured.

An AFP journalist saw collapsed buildings and rescuers searching through the rubble.

A US officer speaks with a fighter from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) at the site of Turkish air strikes in northeastern Syria on April 25, 2017

Representatives of the US-led coalition visited the site of the air strikes, the YPG's political arm, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), said on Twitter.

An officer wearing a patch bearing a US flag was seen at the site with YPG fighters.

- 'Problems and tensions' -

Ankara has bombed the YPG in northern Syria for months, calling it a "terrorist" group because of its ties to the PKK, which has been waging a deadly insurgency against Turkey since 1984.

While the air raids on Syria appeared to hit their intended targets, the bombardment in Iraq instead killed members of Kurdish security forces typically allied with Ankara.

The peshmerga ministry in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government said the raids killed five of its fighters and one intelligence officer.

Turkey appeared to have been targeting a minority Yazidi militia allied with the PKK and based in the northwestern region of Sinjar.

The peshmerga denounced the strike as "unacceptable" but focused blame on PKK-affiliated groups.

"These problems and tensions are all because of the PKK's presence," it said, accusing the PKK and its affiliates of refusing to withdraw from the Sinjar area.

- Multiple offensives -

The peshmerga have been instrumental in the battle against IS in northern Iraq though have stepped back in recent weeks as Iraqi forces advance against IS in Mosul.

Iraqi forces on Tuesday said they had retaken full control of Tenek, one of west Mosul's largest neighbourhoods.

Eastern Mosul was recaptured in January and a push on the western half launched the following month has made steady progress despite fierce resistance.

IS is facing multiple offensives across Syria and Iraq -- often led by governments or forces that otherwise bitterly oppose each other.

Turkey launched an unprecedented cross-border operation into Syria in August to fight IS and to keep the YPG in check.

The YPG makes up the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters taking on IS in Syria.

An Iraqi forces helicopter flies in front of black smoke rising from the horizon in west Mosul on April 25, 2017

After chipping away at IS territory across the north, the SDF is now locked fighting the jihadists inside Tabqa, a town on the Euphrates River.

Clashes continued inside south and west Tabqa after heavy US-led air strikes overnight, the Observatory said.

The SDF entered the town on Monday as part of its offensive on Raqa, Syrian heart of the jihadists' self-styled "caliphate" since 2014.

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Hissene Habre ruled Chad from 1982-1990

Chad's former president Hissene Habre will Thursday hear the final decision on an appeal against a life sentence for war crimes, crimes against humanity and rape, following his landmark conviction last year.

The Extraordinary African Chambers, a body created by Senegal and the African Union (AU), sentenced Habre last May to life behind bars, an unprecedented ruling seen as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers.

In July, the court further ruled that Habre should give up to 30,000 euros ($33,000) to each victim of abuses committed during his 1982-1990 rule, as well as to their relatives.

Expected to begin at 1000 GMT on Thursday, the appeal verdict will be "definitive and irrevocable," the special court's spokesman Marcel Mendy told AFP.

As of Tuesday it was unclear if Habre would appear, a decision that Mendy said rested with the president of the appeal court, Wafi Ougadeye.

Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre leaves a Dakar courthouse in June 2015

Habre, 74, refuses to recognise the court's authority and his appeal was therefore brought on his behalf by court-appointed lawyers. He refused to speak or defend himself throughout his trial.

Habre's conviction brought closure for relatives of up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his time as president.

One of his lawyers, who asked not to be named, said he was "confident" of his team's chances, lashing out at what he termed "Western sponsors" of the trial.

If his conviction is upheld, Habre will serve his sentence in Senegal or in another AU country.

Assane Dioma Ndiaye, who defended the civil cases leading to the demand for reparations from Habre, said anything less than upholding the sentences handed down would be a huge blow.

Given the gravity of the accusations against Habre and the long fight for justice by the victims, "a sentence which is not in line with the facts would be a massive disappointment," Ndiaye said.

Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby, and for more than 20 years lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children.

Reed Brody, an American lawyer who has worked with the victims since 1999, said the evidence presented at court was "overwhelming".

Brody described "handwritten instructions for the mistreatment of prisoners, the testimony of a woman he raped, witnesses who received his orders and others whom he personally sent to prison, a jail on the grounds of his palace," as examples.

The trial also set a global precedent as the first time a country had prosecuted the former leader of another nation for rights abuses.
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A high-rise condominium dubbed "the national photobomber" will continue to loom over a historic Philippine monument after the Supreme Court struck down a bid by conservationists to have it torn down.

The partially-built 49-storey Torre de Manila, which protrudes over the skyline of the capital, has risen to overshadow the tomb of national hero Jose Rizal -- one of the country's most photographed monuments.

Building work has remained stalled for years after conservationists brought a lawsuit in 2014 complaining that the tower breached city building codes, leading the Supreme Court to issue an injunction preventing its completion while it reviewed the case.

But in a statement Tuesday it said it had no jurisdiction over the issue.

"The Court also found that there is no law that prohibits the construction of the challenged Torre de Manila," the court added.

DMCI, the developer of the condominium, said it "welcomes the fair and just decision of the Supreme Court" and announced plans to resume work immediately.

Professor Ian Morley, a historian of the Chinese University of Hong Kong who has studied the case called the verdict "disappointing", but said it was unsurprising given that the law gives little weight to heritage arguments.

A high-rise condominium dubbed "the national photobomber" will continue to loom over a historic Philippine monument after the Supreme Court struck down a bid by conservationists to have it torn down

"The decision today is a legal precedent: it sets a marker where heritage is on the context of Philippine national development," he told AFP.

The decision was met with anger and derision on social media.

"Sucks that the Philippine Supreme Court favours corporate interests over respect for national heritage," one critic posted on Twitter.

"It's a sad day for Jose Rizal, Manila and proper urban planning," popular tourist guide Carlos Celdran tweeted.

Rizal campaigned for reforms under Spanish colonial rule and was jailed and later executed in 1896 by firing squad at the park that now holds his tomb and monument.
Only a few hundred IS fighters are believed to remain in west Mosul, most of them hunkering down in the Old City amidst several hundred thousand trapped civilians

Iraqi forces retook full control of one the largest neighbourhoods of west Mosul Tuesday from the Islamic State group after a week of intense fighting, a top commander said.

"This morning, the heroes of the Counter-Terrorism Service on the western axis succeeded in fully clearing Tenek neighbourhood," Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi told AFP in Mosul.

The elite forces have been spearheading a massive offensive launched in mid-October 2016 to retake Mosul, the country's second city and the last major Iraqi bastion of the jihadists' now crumbling "caliphate".

The eastern side of the city, which is divided by the Tigris river, was recaptured in January, and a push on the west bank of Mosul launched the following month has made steady progress despite fierce resistance.

Tenek, on the western edge of the city, "is one of the largest neighbourhoods on the western side of Mosul," said Saadi, one of the top CTS commanders in Iraq.

"It used to be one of the main strongholds for terrorist groups," he said.

Saadi said the fighting in Tenek was fierce and lasted a full week.

"More than 20 car bombs were destroyed, dozens of terrorist militants were killed. Their bodies are still on the streets and inside houses," he said.

Only a few hundred IS fighters are believed to remain in west Mosul, most of them hunkering down in the Old City amidst several hundred thousand trapped civilians.

Iraqi forces have retaken neighbourhoods to the south, west and north of the Old City, tightening the noose around IS before a high-risk final assault.

The narrow streets of the Old City and its population density will force the Iraqi forces to conduct perilous dismounted operations which observers fear could yet allow holdout jihadists to stage a protracted last stand.
Ugandan soldiers have been fighting the Lord's Resistance Army, which has terrorised parts of central Africa for 30 years

US special forces on Wednesday begin pulling out of Central African Republic where they deployed in 2011 to help hunt the brutal LRA warlord Joseph Kony.

The move, which was announced last month, will see US troops pulling out of the country's east where they have been helping Ugandan forces track down rebels from the feared Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

"The time has come to move forward because the organisation itself is really in a survival mode," General Thomas Waldhauser, head of the US military's Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a telephone briefing last week.

One of Africa's longest-surviving rebel groups, the LRA has terrorised parts of central Africa for 30 years.

Several years ago it counted several thousand fighters but today has fewer than 100, with the rebels dispersed across parts of CAR, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and South Sudan.

Since it was set up by Kony in 1987, the LRA has slaughtered more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children who were forced to become sex slaves and soldiers, UN figures show.

Lord's Resistance Army

In 2011, Washington sent in around 100 US troops to eastern CAR to help regional forces hunt down Kony, adding another 150 special forces airmen three years later.

But last month, AFRICOM said it would be wrapping up the operation, which has cost between $600 and $800 million, even though Kony remains at large.

- 'Significant success' -

"This operation was a significant success," Jeffrey Hawkins, the US envoy to CAR, told France's RFI radio in early April.

Ugandan troops, who have been in eastern CAR since 2009, are also withdrawing from the area.

Last week, the army said the mission to neutralise the LRA had been "successfully achieved" and that Kony "no longer poses any significant threat" to Uganda's national security.

Although his power is much diminished, Kony -- who combines religious mysticism with guerrilla tactics and a grim reputation for kidnapping and mutilation -- remains at large.

Rebel chief Joseph Kony has evaded US and Ugandan troops but his power is diminished

According to Paul Ronan of the US-based advocacy group Invisible Children, which was behind an explosive 2012 video highlighting Kony's atrocities and calling for his capture, the warlord is believed to be either in Sudan or CAR.

A self-styled prophet, Kony launched his bloody rebellion in a bid to overthrow the Ugandan government and impose a regime based on his own version of the Ten Commandments.

He is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity, where one of his commanders, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial.

- 'Why do we care?' -

Earlier this year, questions appeared to arise over the level of US commitment to its various operations in Africa in the form of a set of questions posed by the transition team of incoming president Donald Trump to the State Department.

"The LRA has never attacked US interests, why do we care? Is it worth the huge cash outlays? I hear that even the Ugandans are looking to stop searching for him, since they no longer view him as a threat, so why do we?" said the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

And last month, AFRICOM's Waldhauser confirmed the operations were drawing to a close, saying there were only about 100 LRA rebels and that the mission had "essentially taken that group off the battlefield."

- Fears in the east -

"Everywhere, in cafes, people are talking about the departure of the Ugandan and American troops," a resident of Obo, a town in CAR's southwest, told AFP by phone.

On April 17, around 6,000 people in the town took to the streets to demand that both sets of troops stay in place until they can be replaced by Central African forces.

Although there are UN peacekeeping forces from its MINUSCA mission in Central Africa, very few of them are present in the east of the country.

"This withdrawal will lead to a renewal of LRA attacks in the southeast," warned Thierry Vircoulon, a specialist on central Africa at IFRI, the French institute for international relations.

"Nobody is under any illusion that the Central African troops which are to be sent there to avoid a security vacuum will be able to neutralise the LRA."

As well as the threat from Kony's militia, the eastern region is also struggling with attacks by other "armed groups", regional police chief Ghislain Dieu-Benit Kolengo told AFP.

He was referring to rebels from the mainly Muslim ex-Seleka militia and from the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC), a splinter group from a rebel force in neighbouring Chad which rights groups say executed 32 civilians and captive fighters late last year.

"Even though we are officially ending the so-called counter-LRA mission, we are certainly aware of the fact that we don't want to leave a void there," said Waldhauser.

And he said Washington would continue to offer support to African troops in the form of both "training" and "intelligence".
In Israel, family law falls under the jurisdiction of religious courts

Israel appointed its first female judge in its Muslim sharia court system on Tuesday, officials said, a move hailed as historic.

Hana Khatib, an attorney from the northern town of Tamra, was selected by an Israeli justice committee alongside three men to become a religious judge, or qadi, in the courts ruling on personal law for Muslims inside Israel.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, from the far-right Jewish Home party and head of the committee that selected Khatib, said the appointment of a female religious judge "should have happened a long time ago."

"This is great news for Arab women and the Arab society," she said in a statement.

"I'm excited over the choice, and hope this is the bellwether for further appointments of women."

Aida Touma-Sliman, a female Arab lawmaker from the Joint List coalition, called Khatib's appointment "a historic move" that was the result of a long legal struggle, adding it would benefit all Arabs in Israel.

"It's time to believe in the power of Arab women in filling any role, making decisions and being in positions of influence in society and state, and removing the obstacles from the way," she said in a statement.

In Israel, family law -- divorce, marriage, endowments -- falls under the jurisdiction of religious courts, and separate systems exist for the country's different creeds.

Khatib is the first woman not only for the Muslim sharia courts but for all the religious courts in Israel, as no women serve as judges in the Jewish or Druze courts.

There are not many women qadis around the world. Two women serve as sharia judges in the neighbouring Palestinian Authority.

Khatib will be sworn in by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in a few weeks.

There are nine regional sharia courts in Israel as well as an appeal courts, with today's appointments bringing the number of qadis in the Muslim system to 18.
Philippine soldiers hoist a national flag on April 25, 2017 after clashes with militants in the Piagapo area of Mindanao island

The Philippine military said Tuesday it had killed almost 40 militants loyal to the Islamic State group, including three Indonesians and a Malaysian, in a major land and air assault in the south.

The foreigners were part of more than 160 fighters of the Maute group of militants who came under attack last weekend in Mindanao island, said national military chief General Eduardo Ano.

"We inflicted about 37 enemy killed, 14 have been identified and 23 still unidentified, with three Indonesians and one Malaysian," he told reporters in Manila.

It was unclear how he arrived at the death toll.

Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman for the brigade which led the assault in the town of Piagapo in Lanao del Sur province, said soldiers had recovered only three bodies but informants and local residents had reported a far higher death toll among the extremists.

He said soldiers had found foreign passports belonging to some of the dead but declined to give details.

Ano said the foreigners were former members of the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, which carried out the 2002 bombings in the Indonesian holiday island of Bali.

Jemaah Islamiyah has long had a presence in the southern Philippines and has trained locals in such skills as bomb-making.

The military, using FA-50 jets, helicopter gunships, bomber planes and artillery, attacked and eventually captured the Maute camp which covered three to four hectares (seven to 10 acres).

The Maute group has "IS aspirations" and was seeking to be recognised by the jihadist movement which has conquered swathes of Iraq and Syria, Herrera said.

Soldiers found black IS flags at the camp along with improvised explosive devices, grenades, a laptop computer, cellphones and a camera used to create videos for recruitment, he said.

Troops are still hunting for more than 100 members who fled to the hills, he added.

The Maute group is just one of several Muslim armed bands in the strife-torn southern Philippines whose leaders have pledged allegiance to IS.

The group has been linked to bombings and kidnappings and has launched several large-scale assaults on local communities.
A file photo from 2003 shows sheep grazing in front of the ancient UN-listed World Heritage site of Hatra in Iraq

Iraqi forces on Tuesday launched a fresh push southwest of Mosul to retake the Hatra area, which includes a UN-listed World Heritage site, a statement said.

The operation marks the latest phase of an offensive launched by the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary forces in parallel to the main assault on Mosul begun six months ago.

The Hashed forces, dominated by Iran-backed militias, have focused their efforts on a front southwest of Mosul which aims at retaking the town of Tal Afar as well as desert areas stretching to the border with Syria.

"Hashed al-Shaabi forces launched Operation Mohammed Rasool Allah aimed at liberating Hatra and neighbouring areas," the organisation said in a statement.

It said that five villages had already been retaken from the Islamic State group on Tuesday and that Hashed engineering units were clearing the road to Hatra of explosive devices.

Hatra, known as Al-Hadhr in Arabic, was established in the 3rd or 2nd century BC and became a religious and trading centre under the Parthian empire.

Its imposing fortifications helped it withstand sieges by the forces of two Roman emperors: Trajan in 166 AD and Septimus Severus in 198.

Hatra finally succumbed to Ardashir I, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty, a few decades later, but the city remained well-preserved over the centuries that followed.

Hatra left its mark on pop culture as the location for the opening of horror film "The Exorcist", which was shot there in 1973.

The jihadists damaged parts of Hatra after taking over a third of Iraq in 2014, as part of a heritage destruction campaign that also saw them vandalise Mosul museum, blow up shrines and damage the ruins of the ancient city of Nimrud.

The jihadists see such destruction as a religiously mandated elimination of idols -- but they also have no qualms about selling smaller artefacts to fund their operations.

The full extent of the harm to Hatra remains unclear, but the site risks further damage during the military operation to retake it.
Joseph Kony, seen here talking to a journalist in 2006, is a ruthless and bloodthirsty rebel chief one of the world's most-wanted war crimes suspects

Brutal rebel commander Joseph Kony has sowed terror across four African nations for three decades, even evading capture by US and Ugandan soldiers who have now given up the chase.

The former Catholic altar boy became one of Africa's most notorious rebels at the head of his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), combining religious mysticism with an astute guerilla mind and bloodthirsty ruthlessness.

The US passed a law in 2010 to deploy around 100 special forces to work with regional armies in hunting down Kony but is now withdrawing while the rebel leader remains at large, though his power is much diminished.

Kony's marauding insurgency claimed to be fighting to overthrow the Ugandan government and impose a regime based on the Bible's Ten Commandments. It has killed more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children who were forced to become sex slaves, soldiers and porters.

While battling the Ugandan government Kony and his dwindling band of bush fighters have earned a grim reputation for kidnapping and mutilation.

The leader's whereabouts are not known and his forces have been hit by a constant stream of defections, deaths and surrenders of both foot-soldiers and commanders.

Small LRA groups continue to carry out attacks, mostly on civilians in villages, in the border regions of Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sudan.

- Self-proclaimed prophet -

In 2005, the self-proclaimed prophet -- along with four of his deputies -- were the first people indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

One commander, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial while the three others are believed to have been killed.

A member of Uganda's northern Acholi ethnic group, Kony attended primary school before taking up arms in around 1987, following in the footsteps of another messianic rebel, Alice Auma Lakwena, a former prostitute who is believed to have been either his cousin or aunt.

Lakwena, who died in exile in Kenya in early 2007, believed she could channel the spirits of the dead, and also told her followers that holy oil she gave them could stop bullets.

Kony claims the Holy Spirit issues orders to him on everything from military tactics to personal hygiene, terrifying his subordinates into obedience.

A young Acholi boy walks past abandoned huts in Amuru in northern Uganda. The LRA first emerged in the mid-1980s when it took up arms, claiming to defend the Acholi people

The rebellion claimed to be defending the Acholi people against President Yoweri Museveni, who seized power from northern military rulers at the head of a rebel army in 1986.

Despite widespread northern resentment against Museveni, Kony's policy of abductions soon lost him the support of local groups, who suffered in the government's brutal war against the LRA.

At the height of the conflict, the government had forced some 2 million people into camps.

- Evading capture, justice -

Kony, who is thought to be in his 50s, speaks broken English and Acholi and has only rarely met outsiders, but in an interview with a western journalist in 2006 he insisted that he was "not a terrorist" and had not committed atrocities.

"We want the people of Uganda to be free. We are fighting for democracy," he claimed.

Nevertheless, ex-LRA abductees say they were forced to maim and kill friends, neighbours and relatives, and participate in gruesome rites such as drinking their victims' blood.

In the 1990s, the LRA conflict spilt into neighbouring countries after the Sudanese government in Khartoum began backing the group in retaliation for Uganda's support of southern Sudanese rebels battling for independence.

When Sudan signed a peace deal with the southern rebels in 2005, support for the LRA dried up and, after being forced into neighbouring DR Congo by the Ugandan army, Kony agreed to peace talks.

But negotiations dragged on and, amid mutual distrust and anxiety over the ICC warrant, Kony repeatedly failed to turn up to sign a deal.

In late 2011, following pressure from US campaigners, President Barack Obama deployed US special forces troops to help regional armies track down Kony.

Kony surged to unexpected worldwide prominence in March 2012 on the back of a hugely popular internet video that called for his capture.

Made by US-based advocacy group Invisible Children, the Kony2012 film became one of the fastest-spreading internet videos in history after more than 100 million users across the globe watched it in just a few days.

But popular interest quickly waned and despite the increased pressure, after more than 30 years in the bush Kony remains a master of evasion, ditching satellite telephones in favour of runners to communicate, and living off wild roots and animals.

The US and Ugandan militaries claim the LRA is all but defeated and rendered irrelevant, yet Kony remains free, outsmarting and outlasting all who have sought him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on April 23, 2017

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled talks on Tuesday with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel after the visiting diplomat declined to call off meetings with rights groups critical of Israel's government, an official said.

The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the meeting was cancelled after Gabriel decided to go ahead with talks with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem.

Breaking The Silence seeks to document alleged Israeli military abuses in the Palestinian territories, while B'Tselem has worked on a range of issues and has strongly opposed Israeli settlement building.

Cancelling the meeting between Netanyahu and Gabriel was a rare step, but in line with the current right-wing Israeli government's stance against groups it accuses of having political agendas.

Gabriel earlier told journalists in Ramallah, where he held talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, that he had still hoped to meet Netanyahu and the rights groups.

He had also told German public television station ZDF that a decision to cancel the meeting would be "extremely regrettable".

"It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad," he said.

Gabriel added that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met critics of the German government during a visit to Germany.

The two NGOs are due to hold a joint meeting with Gabriel on Tuesday evening, a source from one of them said.

Such disputes have arisen in the past between visiting foreign officials and Israel's government.

In February, Israel reprimanded the Belgian ambassador after the country's prime minister, Charles Michel, met with B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence during a visit to Israel.

However, there was no public rebuke from the government when British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson met with anti-settlement NGO Peace Now during a visit in March.

Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years and Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian territory has drawn intense international criticism.

Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Germany has been among critics of Israeli settlement policy.

A German government spokesman said in February that a summit with Israel planned for May had been delayed, with Israeli media reporting it was due to the Jewish state's controversial new settlements law.

Israel passed a law in February that legalises thousands of settler homes built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.
Pirogues are traditional wooden boats with a flat bottom which are often used for travelling through mangroves or between islets in delta areas

Twenty-one people died when a boat capsized in a Senegal delta region popular with tourists, firefighters told AFP on Tuesday, adding that the vast majority who lost their lives were women.

The incident occurred on Monday night, with the traditional flat-bottomed boat overturning off Bettenty, an island area just north of The Gambia, with 72 on board.

All except two present were women, said Commander Oumar Kane, a senior firefighting official, who gave an initial death toll of 20 people on Tuesday morning.

"The body of one missing person has been found," Kane told AFP, bringing the toll to 21 dead. Another 51 people had been rescued, he added.

The boat capsized as the women were on their way to look for seafood, he said. The incident occurred in a coastal area well known for delicacies like oysters, where tourists flock in large numbers.

Bettenty is an island area in the Saloum delta where such boats, known as pirogues, are often used for travelling between the mangroves and from one islet to another.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, Kane said.

L'Observateur daily said the boat had capsized in high winds, while other newspapers said it had foundered because it was overloaded. Senegalese radio station RFM said some of the women were pregnant.

Meanwhile Senegal's official APS news agency reported that Fisheries Minister Oumar Gueye was en route to the site of the tragedy to present the government's condolences.

- Echos of Joola -

Several papers recalled the Joola tragedy of 2002 when a ferry sank during a storm, killing more than 1,800 people in what was one of the world's worst-ever maritime disasters.

In that incident, the ferry was licensed to hold just 580 people, including crew, but investigators found it was carrying well over 2,000 when it went down while passing the Gambian coast.

Only 64 people were rescued.

The Bettenty sinking came 12 days after a deadly fire ripped through a Muslim retreat in southeastern Senegal killing around 30 people.

Police are still investigating the cause of the blaze which hit a site visited every year by hundreds and sometimes thousands of pilgrims from the country's powerful Tijaniyya Muslim brotherhood.

Initial reports suggested it may have been caused by a gas canister which exploded while pilgrims were making tea in a straw shelter. Police arrested four people.
Cambodia's premier Hun Sen has become noticeably more critical of Washington in recent years, a period in which he has also grown much closer to China

Cambodia on Tuesday said it will renegotiate a deal with Washington where convicted criminals with Cambodian heritage are deported to the Southeast Asian nation, retracting an earlier statement that the deportations had been suspended.

For the last 15 years, the two nations have had a repatriation agreement allowing them to forcibly deport criminals with ties to the other country.

More than 500 felons with Cambodian heritage have been deported from the US, many with few ties to their ethnic homeland or even the ability to speak Khmer.

Earlier in the day Chum Sounry, a spokesman for Cambodia's foreign ministry, said news of the suspended agreement was delivered to W. Patrick Murphy, one of the State Department's most senior Asia diplomats who is currently visiting.

The deal, Chum Sounry said, had been "criticised by both Cambodians here and Cambodian communities in the US" as a form of "double punishment".

But in a later statement he clarified that the deal was still in place and that Phnom Penh wanted it "amended".

Earlier in the day he said any new deal should contain provisions ensuring repatriations are only voluntary and that deportees should have the right to visit family in the US.

The US embassy in Phnom Penh told AFP it had been informed of Cambodia's desire to renegotiate certain aspects of the agreement.

Relations between the United States and Cambodia have grown increasingly frosty in recent years.

Washington secretly bombed Cambodia during the Indochina wars but went on to be a major donor as the country emerged from the ashes of the Khmer Rouge genocide, pouring billions in aid into the country.

It also took in tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees over the decades.

But Cambodia's premier Hun Sen has become noticeably more critical of Washington in recent years, a period in which he has grown much closer to China.

China has lavished poverty-stricken Cambodia with billions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans over the past few decades.

Unlike aid from the US, Beijing's support comes without pressure on strongman Hun Sen to clean up his government's dismal human rights record.

Hun Sen's speeches routinely lambast Washington and earlier this year Cambodia cancelled annual military drills with the US military.

Officials at the time denied the decision was an effort to appease rival superpower China, with whom Cambodia had recently held drills.
American homebuyers snatched up newly built single-family homes in March at an annual rate of 621,000, seasonally adjusted, the highest in eight months

Sales of new homes in the United States forged higher for the third straight month in March, hitting the fastest pace since July, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The acceleration came as the volume of new houses for sale reached its highest level in nearly eight years, pointing to homebuilders' efforts to meet consistently strong demand in a tight market.

Housing analysts say the recovery has produced an exceptionally tight market, with supply failing to keep pace with a rebound in demand driven by steady job creation and rising wages.

American homebuyers snatched up newly built single-family homes in March at an annual rate of 621,000, seasonally adjusted, the highest in eight months and a sharp 5.8 percent above February's already-strong result, according to the report.

The unusually warm weather in January and February unpinned sales over the winter and analysts only expected a very modest increase last month.

But sales for March were a stunning 15.6 percent higher than the same month of 2016.

The Commerce Department estimated the stock of homes for sale at 268,000, the highest since July 2009, in the depths of the Great Recession.

However, the brisk sales pace meant supply was actually falling and was estimated at only 5.2 months, down 3.7 percent over February.

In a further sign of the tight market, the average home price rose 7.5 percent for the month to $315,100 but this was up only 1.2 percent from March 2016.

The rising prices was in line with the Case-Shiller home price index, released earlier Tuesday, showing the 20-city composite index rose 0.7 percent from February.

Analysts, however, cautioned that the Commerce Department's monthly sales numbers were volatile and often subject to large revisions.

Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said the increase of 34,000 home sales was "dwarfed" by a margin of error that was greater than 90,000.

"Moreover, the mortgage applications numbers, which tend to lead new home sales by about three months, suggest that we should expect lower sales over the next three months."
Tunisia's parliament voted to ease the country's harsh drug law to allow first-time offenders, mostly users of cannabis, to avoid jail

Tunisia's parliament voted on Tuesday to ease the country's harsh law on drugs, in a move that could see offenders like youths caught smoking marijuana escape jail terms.

The North African country has faced mounting calls from rights groups and civil society to reform the law.

Tuesday's vote comes after the National Security Council headed by President Beji Caid Essebsi announced in March measures to limit the number of drug-users sent to prison.

Law 52, dating back to the rule of toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, imposes a mandatory one-year jail sentence for narcotics use, ruling out any mitigating circumstances.

Judges were obliged to apply the law, with offenders facing sentences of up to five years in jail.

On Tuesday 133 legislators out of 144 parliamentarians present in the national assembly voted to amend the law, granting judges the power to use their own discretion and take into account mitigating circumstances.

This could mean that some first-time offenders will avoid prison.

Justice Minister Ghazi Jeribi told lawmakers the vote was a "temporary" measure until broader reform of Law 52.

"A considerable step has been taken," lawyer Ghazi Mrabet, who has long campaigned against the harsh terms of the law, said on Facebook.

"Civil society has won the first battle but the fight will continue."

Before Tunisia's 2011 revolution, Law 52 was used to suppress criticism of the Ben Ali regime.

Its application has since become widespread, with thousands of young Tunisians locked up each year, mostly for cannabis-related offences.

Between 2011 and 2016, the number of trials under the law shot up from 732 to 5,744, official figures show.

At the end of December, the government presented a draft amendment to parliament.

The text, which initially provided for the abolition of prison sentences for the first two convictions, is still blocked in the legislature.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel talks to reporters in Jerusalem on April 25, 2017

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled talks on Tuesday with Germany's foreign minister in a rare move after the visiting diplomat declined to call off meetings with rights groups critical of Israel's government.

Netanyahu's meeting with Sigmar Gabriel was cancelled after the German diplomat decided to go ahead with talks with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem.

Gabriel held a joint meeting with the rights groups in the evening, a spokesman for B'Tselem told AFP, without giving further details.

Breaking The Silence seeks to document alleged Israeli military abuses in the Palestinian territories, while B'Tselem has worked on a range of issues and has strongly opposed Israeli settlement building.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel speaks with his staff before giving a press conference in Jerusalem on April 25, 2017

Cancelling the meeting was a rare step, but in line with the current right-wing government's stance against groups it accuses of having political agendas and of unfairly tarnishing Israel.

Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying, in a reference to Breaking The Silence, "imagine if foreign diplomats visiting the United States or Britain met with NGOs that call American or British soldiers war criminals".

"Diplomats are welcome to meet with representatives of civil society but Prime Minister Netanyahu will not meet with those who lend legitimacy to organisations that call for the criminalisation of Israeli soldiers."

It added, however, that "our relations with Germany are very important and they will not be affected by this".

Gabriel told journalists in Jerusalem that he regretted Netanyahu's decision, but also said that he did not think it would badly impact relations between the two countries.

He and Netanyahu, who also serves as Israel's foreign minister, "will find an opportunity to speak with each other on the phone or to meet in an upcoming visit", he said.

"This does not mean the breaking of diplomatic relations. We need to keep this a little bit in perspective."

Gabriel earlier told German public television station ZDF that a decision to cancel the meeting would be "extremely regrettable".

"It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad," he said.

Gabriel added that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met critics of the German government during a visit to Germany.

- Delayed summit -

Such disputes have arisen in the past between visiting foreign officials and Israel's government.

In February, Israel reprimanded the Belgian ambassador after his country's premier, Charles Michel, met both B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence during a visit to Israel.

However, there was no public rebuke when British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson met with anti-settlement NGO Peace Now during a visit in March.

Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years, and Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian territory has drawn intense international criticism.

Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Germany has been among critics of Israeli settlement policy.

A German government spokesman said in February that a summit with Israel planned for May had been delayed, with Israeli media reporting it was because of the Jewish state's controversial new settlements law.

Israel passed a law in February that legalises thousands of settler homes built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.

The current government, seen as the most right-wing in Israeli history, has frequently criticised NGOs it accuses of unfairly tarnishing the country's image.

- 'A red line' -

Last year, Israel's parliament adopted a law seen as targeting left-wing groups critical of the government by forcing NGOs that receive most of their funding from foreign states to declare it.

The law was criticised by the European Union, which said it risked "undermining" values that the EU and Israel shared.

Both B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence are among groups that have received European support.

Israeli deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely said Tuesday that her ministry for the past couple years was waging a battle against "anti-Israel organisations that are massively funded by European states".

"Weve decided to draw a red line," she told army radio.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin meet at the presidential compound in Jerusalem on April 25, 2017

Gabriel, however, still met President Reuven Rivlin, whose role is mainly ceremonial, on Tuesday afternoon.

After the two men gave speeches, they held a heated meeting lasting more than an hour, a source in the president's office told AFP.

Rivlin repeatedly called Israel's army the "most moral in the world", the source said.

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The softwood lumber dispute between the United States and Canada has seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years

Trade tensions spiked between Washington and Ottawa on Tuesday as President Donald Trump accused Canada of being "very rough" on America and threatened to retaliate against restrictions on US dairy products.

Trump also touted his administration's surprise decision late Monday to rekindle an old trade conflict with America's second-largest trading partner by slapping new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.

"People don't realize, Canada has been very rough on the United States. Everyone thinks of Canada of being nice but they've outsmarted our politicians for many years," Trump told a group of farmers at the White House.

He said Canada was hurting American dairy farmers near the border, from Wisconsin to New York, by blocking dairy exports "and we're not going to put up with it."

Trump's aggressive comments echoed a tweet he sent earlier in the day, just hours after the Commerce Department announced it was imposing tariffs of up to 24 percent on Canadian softwood lumber, which it says is improperly subsidized.

- Trump-Trudeau call -

Addressing reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the twin disputes underline the problems with the North American Free Trade Agreement linking the United States with Canada and Mexico, which Trump has vowed to renegotiate.

"If NAFTA were functioning properly, you wouldn't be having these kinds of very prickly and unfortunate events back to back," Ross said. "They are generally a good neighbor. That doesn't mean they don't have to play by the rules."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the unexpected burst of tough rhetoric by vowing his government would be "very firm in defending Canada's interests."

But Trudeau also said his officials "will work constructively together" with the United States to find a solution.

The prime minister telephoned Trump late Tuesday to underscore that the US take on softwood lumber was "baseless."

Trudeau "refuted the baseless allegations by the US Department of Commerce and the decision to impose unfair duties," his office said.

Trump's White House acknowledged the two leaders discussed Canadian lumber and the dairy trade in the US state of Wisconsin. "It was a very amicable call," a statement said.

The softwood lumber dispute between Washington and Ottawa has also seen many twists and turns for nearly 35 years, with US producers accusing their Canadian counterparts of exporting lumber at subsidized prices, harming American businesses.

The wood is a major part of the massive US construction and home-building industry -- an economic bellwether. Most US homes are made with wood framing and some entirely of wood.

In the long-standing dispute, the Commerce Department announced late Monday that after talks with Ottawa failed to yield an agreement, it would impose duties of between three and 24 percent on softwood lumber, used for flooring, siding and other building products.

Ross justified the duties by saying Canadian firms "charge a subsidized low price when the products hit the US border."

The US Commerce Department said it will conduct a thorough investigation and confirm its position on the lumber tariffs by September 27. If confirmed, the tariffs would then have to be approved by the US International Trade Commission.

- Dairy dilemma -

Canada's dairy sector is protected by tariffs on imports and controls on domestic production as a way to support prices for the country's farmers.

The latest row was triggered when Canada extended those policies to apply to ultrafiltered milk, a product used in cheese production and at the center of a thriving US export business.

The US Dairy Export Council said the extension "blatantly blocks American dairy exports" and urged Trump to "take immediate action" to protect dozens of US farmers.

While no other immediate retaliation was planned against Ottawa, Ross said Washington was looking into measures to "correct" what it says is an effective block on a new class of US dairy exports.

"The problem with dairy isn't that they're dumping dairy products in the US. The problem is worse. They are prohibiting US dairy producers from selling their products in Canada," Ross said.

Trudeau told Trump -- whose country is favored in bilateral dairy trade -- "that Canada upholds its international trade obligations, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which the US continues to have duty-free and quota-free access for milk protein substances, including diafiltered milk, and that Canada would continue to defend its interests."

Canada imports over $550 million of US dairy products annually. It exports $110 million to the US market, Canadian data show.
Thousands of those displaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo have no access to food, clean water or health care, according to the UN's humanitarian affairs coordinator

UN officials launched a bid Tuesday to raise $65.4 million (59.75 million euros) in emergency funds for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violence in Democratic Republic of Congo's Kasai region.

Fighting between government troops and tribal militias has forced more than a million people from their homes over the past eight months.

The UN's humanitarian affairs coordinator Mamadou Diallo said the funds would help "respond to the urgent and multiple needs of 731,000 people during the next six months" in the Kasai area.

The vast majority of people in need of help are women and children, he added.

Thousands of those displaced have no access to food, clean water or health care, he said.

Fighting flared in the diamond-rich region 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.

Last week the United Nations said it had registered 1.09 million internally displaced people in the region as of April 1.

The UN has accused the Nsapu rebellion of using child soldiers and committing several atrocities, while also denouncing the disproportionate use of force by the military.

The UN has reported finding 40 mass graves, while two UN researchers investigating the violence have been abducted and killed.

On Monday the Congolese authorities released a video showing the grisly murders of the pair, and blamed Nsapu's men for the act.

It showed Michael Sharp, an American, and Zaida Catalan, a dual Swedish-Chilean national, surrounded by seven people speaking Tshiluba, the main language of Kasai, armed with machetes, sticks and one with an old gun.

The two foreigners are quickly forced to sit on the ground before orders are barked out and they are shot. One of the victims is then beheaded.
US President Donald Trump vows to fight anti-Semitism during a Holocaust Remembrance ceremony at the US Capitol

US President Donald Trump promised to fight anti-Semitism on Tuesday, seeking to put behind him a series of missteps over the issue that have dogged his presidency.

His forcefully worded pledge comes after a string of threats against Jewish community centers across the country this year that raised concerns about rising anti-Semitism during last year's election and the first months of Trump's administration.

"This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism," Trump said during a speech on Capitol Hill as part of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's National Days of Remembrance.

"We will stamp out prejudice. We will condemn hatred. We will bear witness and we will act."

"As president of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people," he added.

Critics and political opponents say Trump's rise to the White House has emboldened extreme-right, neo-Nazi groups.

During the campaign, Trump prompted widespread criticism for refusing to repudiate support from white supremacists including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

The White House raised eyebrows on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January by issuing a statement that made no mention of the six million Jews killed in the Nazi genocide.

Trump also drew fire in February for remaining silent for several days over anti-Semitic threats against Jewish community centers, before condemning them as "horrible" and "painful."

And earlier this month, White House spokesman Sean Spicer prompted outrage around the world by seeming to downplay Adolf Hitler's atrocities in comments about Syria.

In his defense, Trump sometimes mentions that his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner practices Orthodox Judaism and that his daughter Ivanka converted before marrying him.

"Today, we remember the six million Jewish men, women and children whose lives and dreams were stolen from this earth," Trump said on Tuesday. "We remember the millions of other innocent victims, the Nazis so brutally targeted and so brutally killed."

"Denying the Holocaust is only one of many forms of dangerous anti-Semitism that continues around the world."

He also paid tribute to writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who died last year.

Some Jewish groups opposed the president's appearance at the Holocaust Memorial Museum's event.

But Fred Zeidman, former chairman of the museum's governing board, called Trump's remarks "very, very important."

"It shows that it's on their mind," he said. "He connected some dots that seriously needed to be connected. There had been several issues that members of our community have raised, and I hope he closed all that today."
A member of Iraq's elite Rapid Response Division walks down a street during their advance in western Mosul on April 19, 2017

Iraqi forces advanced in west Mosul Tuesday, closing in on the Old City where jihadists executed civilians in a desperate bid to prevent an exodus and hold on to their stronghold.

The elite Counter-Terrorism Service retook full control of Tenek -- one of the largest neighbourhoods in west Mosul -- further tightening the noose on the Islamic State group.

"It used to be one of the main strongholds for terrorist groups," Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, a top CTS commander, told AFP in Mosul.

Women and children queue up at a mobile clinic in West Mosul on April 25, 2017

The elite forces have been spearheading a massive offensive launched in mid-October 2016 to retake Mosul, the country's second city and the last major Iraqi bastion of the jihadists' now crumbling "caliphate".

The eastern side of the city, which is divided by the Tigris river, was recaptured in January, and a push on the west bank of Mosul launched the following month has made steady progress despite fierce resistance.

"More than 20 car bombs were destroyed, dozens of terrorist militants were killed. Their bodies are still on the streets and inside houses," said Saadi.

Only a few hundred IS fighters are believed to remain in west Mosul, most of them hunkering down in the Old City among several hundred thousand trapped civilians.

Iraqi forces have retaken neighbourhoods to the south, west and north of the Old City, tightening the noose around IS before a high-risk final assault.

The narrow streets of the Old City and its population density will force the Iraqi forces to conduct perilous dismounted operations which observers fear could yet allow holdout jihadists to stage a protracted last stand.

- Civilians executed -

The use of "human shields" is a key part of the jihadists' defence and on Monday they executed several civilians, in an apparent bid to deter any of them from fleeing or rising up

The use of "human shields" is a key part of the jihadists' defence and on Monday they executed several civilians, in an apparent bid to deter any of them from fleeing or rising up.

IS militants wearing federal police uniforms pretended to be security forces entering an area of the Old City to "liberate" it.

They executed some of the civilians who gave them a hero's welcome, the Joint Operations Command coordinating the war on IS and a local official said.

"Daesh (IS) terrorist gangs committed a brutal crime yesterday," the JOC said, explaining that the jihadists wanted to "confound civilians who expressed joy and welcomed them with chanting".

The JOC statement did not specify how many were killed in that manner but Hossameddin al-Abbar, a member of Nineveh provincial council, told AFP at least 15 civilians were shot dead.

"Daesh members, some of them wearing federal police uniforms, entered the Al-Maidan and Corniche areas of the Old City," he said.

"They were driving black vehicles and posing as liberators from the Iraqi forces," Abbar added. "When some families welcomed them, they arrested several of them. They executed at least 15 other people."

Piling further pressure on the jihadists, Iraqi forces resumed an operation on a separate front southwest of Mosul.

Early on Tuesday, forces from the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary forces pushed towards the Hatra area, which includes a UN-listed World Heritage site.

- UNESCO site at risk -

The Hashed forces, dominated by Iran-backed militias, have focused their efforts on a front southwest of Mosul which aims at retaking the town of Tal Afar as well as desert areas stretching to the border with Syria.

Iraqi forces in west Mosul on April 25, 2017

"Hashed al-Shaabi forces launched Operation Mohammed Rasool Allah aimed at liberating Hatra and neighbouring areas," the organisation said in a statement.

It said five villages had already been retaken from IS on Tuesday and that Hashed engineering units were clearing the road to Hatra of explosive devices.

Hatra, known as Al-Hadhr in Arabic, was established in the 3rd or 2nd century BC and became a religious and trading centre under the Parthian empire.

Its imposing fortifications helped it withstand sieges by the forces of two Roman emperors. Hatra finally succumbed to Ardashir I, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty but the city remained well-preserved over the centuries that followed.

The jihadists damaged parts of Hatra after taking over a third of Iraq in 2014, as part of a heritage destruction campaign that also saw them vandalise Mosul museum, blow up shrines and damage the ruins of the ancient city of Nimrud.

The jihadists see such destruction as a religiously mandated elimination of idols -- but they also have no qualms about selling smaller artefacts to fund their operations.

The full extent of the harm to Hatra remains unclear, but the site risks further damage during the military operation to retake it.
Pirogues are traditional wooden boats with a flat bottom which are often used for travelling through mangroves or between islets in delta areas

Almost 30 people have died in two boat accidents in Senegal and The Gambia, neighbouring west African nations with poor maritime safety records.

Twenty-one people, most of them women, were killed on Monday night when a traditional flat-bottomed boat overturned off Bettenty, a central Senegal island area, with 72 on board, said Commander Oumar Kane, a senior Senegalese firefighting official.

All except two present were women, and another 51 people had been rescued, he added.

Bettenty lies in the Saloum delta where such boats, known as pirogues, are often used for travelling between the mangroves and from one islet to another.

The boat capsized as the women were on their way to look for seafood, and the incident occurred in a coastal area well known for delicacies like oysters, where tourists flock in large numbers.

The second incident took place on Monday night in the River Gambia, the waterway which splices tiny Gambia almost into two, said police spokesman Foday Conta in Banjul.

"Eight fishermen died yesterday night after their boat capsized," he told AFP.

"Their boat capsized in the river between the villages of Diabugu and Tabajang in the Upper River Region of the country. They were on board a fishing canoe," Conta added.

The Gambia is a sliver of a nation that sits entirely surrounded by its larger neighbour, Senegal.

Reporting on the incident in Senegal, L'Observateur daily said the boat had capsized in high winds, while other newspapers said it had foundered because it was overloaded. Senegalese radio station RFM said some of the women were pregnant.

Meanwhile Senegal's official APS news agency reported that Fisheries Minister Oumar Gueye was en route to the site of the tragedy to present the government's condolences.

- Echos of Joola -

Several Senegalese papers recalled the Joola tragedy of 2002 when a ferry sank during a storm, killing more than 1,800 people in what was one of the world's worst-ever maritime disasters.

In that incident, the ferry was licensed to hold just 580 people, including crew, but investigators found it was carrying well over 2,000 when it went down while passing the Gambian coast.

Only 64 people were rescued.

Boat accidents in both nations are often deadly as fishermen and ordinary citizens use canoes or makeshift boats to travel but often lack lifejackets, while many cannot swim.
Last summer and fall, I had the privilege to serve as vice chair of the Legislative Council Study Committee on Rural Broadband, a bipartisan committee made up of four legislators and nine members of the public. Representing our 93rd Assembly District, I have been diligently working toward the goal of increasing access to broadband to help improve rural business, education, telemedicine, and quality of life.

Our committee worked for over four months to write Senate Bill 49, which was introduced by the committees chair, Senator Marklien. The legislation makes changes to current law relating to the state Broadband Expansion Grant program. The bill clarifies how priority criteria should be applied in determining whether to award a grant, reserves $1.5 million annually for continued funded for the grant program, and creates a requirement that certain impacts of proposed broadband projects be considered before awarding a grant.

This bill directly helps rural areas as it clearly defines that grant priority be given to areas that do not have Internet service and underserved areas that have service with speeds of 5 Mbps download/600 Kbps upload. This definition was specifically put into place as although areas may have some internet service, if its 20 percent or less of what the FCC defines as broadband, they will still be considered as underserved and looked at as high priority in eligibility for a grant.

I want to thank Senator Vinehout for her support voting in favor of the bill, which passed unanimously in the Senate Committee on Revenue, Financial Institutions and Rural Issues. The bill has passed the Senate with an amendment and the Assembly version should hopefully be making its way into law within the upcoming weeks.

These grants are only part of the investment that goes into broadband expansion projects. Companies investing in these project will still need to provide fast enough speeds to entice customers to purchase their services and that will be indicated on their application, giving the states Public Service Commission (PSC) who administers the grant program final determination for approval.

The goal of this legislation, per discussion of the study committee, was to give the PSC as much flexibility as possible to respond quickly since technology changes frequently. With that in mind, we also wanted to provide some guidance on the grant application, providing legislative intent so these grants will be awarded specifically to rural communities by filling the need for broadband expansion from the bottom up.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a news conference that Qatari negotiators had come to Baghdad prior to the release with what he said was hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom money

Iraq is holding hundreds of millions of dollars Qatari negotiators had brought to Baghdad as ransom money for the release of kidnapped hunters, the prime minister said Tuesday.

A hunting party consisting of 24 Qataris and two Saudis kidnapped in southern Iraq in December 2015 was released last week and flew back home from Baghdad on Friday, according to officials in the three countries.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a news conference that Qatari negotiators had come to Baghdad prior to the release with what he said was hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom money.

"The Qatari government sent its envoy to Iraq and asked to bring a private plane," Abadi said.

"We were surprised that there were big bags, so we seized them and they contained hundreds of millions of dollars," he said.

"This money was brought in without the approval of the Iraqi government. We have a central bank and a judiciary," he said, explaining he would insist due process be followed.

"Hundreds of millions to armed groups? Is this acceptable," Abadi asked, without specifying to which groups he was referring.

The hunting party was released without word from the Iraqi interior ministry or any other official on who had kidnapped them in the first place nor what the terms of their release were.

Sources close to the negotiations however told AFP that their release was part of a broad regional deal between Iran and Qatar involving the evacuation of residents from government-controlled villages in northern Syria.

Qatar has long been thought to have sway on some Sunni rebel groups in Syria, including the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front that besieged the villages.

The same sources said ransom money and prisoner exchanges were also part of the deal.
Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will travel to the US to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II

Donald Trump will meet Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in New York next week, rebooting a relationship that got off to a rocky start shortly after the US president's inauguration.

The White House announced Tuesday that the meeting will take place May 4 at the USS Intrepid museum in New York, where Trump is set to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II.

It will be their first encounter since a surly introductory phone call last January rattled the long-standing alliance between the two nations.

"The president will hold a bilateral meeting with Malcolm Turnbull of Australia," the president's spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.

Turnbull said he was "delighted" at the invitation, for which his government had pushed, according to Australian media.

"Australia and the United States are enduring allies," the prime minister said in a statement.

"Our alliance has been forged over many decades, through times of war and times of peace, securing our nations' freedom and peace and security in the world."

During his introductory phone chat with Turnbull, Trump reportedly exploded, cutting short the call when he learned about a previously agreed deal for the United States to take refugees from Pacific island detention centers.

Trump later tweeted his disapproval of the "dumb deal" signed by his predecessor Barack Obama.

That left some in Australia questioning the mercurial US president's commitment to the decades-old relationship.

During a visit to Australia last week that partly aimed to smooth ruffled feathers, US Vice President Mike Pence reaffirmed US plans to take the refugees.

Nevertheless, friction between Washington and Canberra has increased during Trump's presidency over several stumbling blocks, including the US withdrawal from a trans-Pacific trade deal that would have given Australian firms more access to markets in the United States and several key regional markets.

Next week's meeting will be held on the hangar deck of the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier.

The Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 -- a major naval engagement in the Pacific Ocean during World War II -- pitted the Japanese navy against US and Australian naval and air forces.

A strategic victory for the Allies, it marked the first time they checked a major Japanese advance since the start of the war.
US President Donald Trump says the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is up to the Syrian people to decide

US President Donald Trump told UN Security Council ambassadors that the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was "not a deal breaker" in negotiations on ending the war, Russia's envoy said Tuesday.

Trump, who has branded Assad "a butcher", said it was up to the Syrian people to decide, during a White House luncheon meeting on Monday with the 15 ambassadors, said Russian charge d'affaires Petr Iliichev.

"He said that the future of Assad is not a deal breaker," Iliichev told AFP.

"He said that whether he stays or he leaves is not important. What is important is the political process, the cessation of bloodletting, of hostilities."

"And then the people will decide."

Iliichev insisted that Trump specifically used the words "not a deal breaker" in reference to the future of the Syrian leader.

UN-brokered talks on ending the six-year war in Syria have hit a wall over opposition demands that Assad step down as part of any settlement.

Russia, Assad's top ally in the war, has long insisted that Assad's fate would be settled through elections to be held as part of a transition.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said his understanding of Trump's policy on Syria was to "end this conflict as swiftly as possible" and that this entailed "political talks that will lead to a transition, after which Assad will no longer be in power."

Following a suspected chemical attack that prompted the United States to fire missile strikes, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said that peace in Syria would be impossible with Assad in power.

"There's not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime," she said.

"If you look at his actions, if you look at the situation, it's going to be hard to see a government that's peaceful and stable with Assad."

The United States toughened its tone toward Assad following the suspected chemical attack in Khan Sheikhun that Washington blamed on his forces.

Trump, who had floated the idea during his campaign of cooperation with Damascus to fight Islamic State, said Assad had "crossed a lot of lines" with the alleged use of chemical weapons and that his attitude towards him had changed "very much."

Syria and North Korea were the main topics at the meeting between Trump and the Security Council, but the ambassadors also raised concerns about proposed cuts to US funding to the United Nations.
A Saharawi man holds up a Polisario Front flag in the Al-Mahbes area near Moroccan soldiers guarding the wall separating the Polisario controlled Western Sahara from Morocco on February 3, 2017

The UN Security Council is expected to vote Thursday on a draft resolution backing a UN bid to re-start talks on settling the decades-old Western Sahara conflict, diplomats said.

The draft resolution would also put pressure on the Polisario Front independence movement to immediately withdraw fighters from a tense buffer zone after Morocco pulled back its forces in February, according to the text seen by AFP.

The United States circulated the proposed resolution to the Security Council on Monday after consulting with France, Russia and Britain on the measure that would also extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara for a year.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the council in a report this month that he planned to re-start negotiations "with a new spirit" to try to end one of the world's most intractable conflicts.

"It is indeed time to look ahead and to re-launch negotiations, that is what we want," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters as the council met Tuesday to discuss the draft text.

Morocco and the Polisario fought for control of Western Sahara from 1974 to 1991, with Rabat taking over the desert territory before a UN-brokered ceasefire in the former Spanish colony.

Rabat considers Western Sahara an integral part of Morocco and proposes autonomy for the resource-rich territory, but the Algerian-backed Polisario Front insists on a UN referendum on independence.

- Pressure on the Polisario -

Welcoming what he described as a "new momentum" for talks, Delattre said the issue of the Polisario's withdrawal from the Guerguerat post near the Mauritanian border had to be addressed first.

"There is one issue we need to solve and that is Guerguerat," he said.

Uruguay and Russia however said the draft resolution lacked balance.

"It's very unbalanced in the way it handles the Polisario," said Uruguay's Ambassador Elbio Rosselli, adding that the text failed to mention the broader context of "how we go to where we are".

Last month, long-serving UN envoy Christopher Ross resigned following tensions with Morocco, which accused him of bias in favor of the Polisario.

Former German president Horst Kohler has been tipped to replace him.

The draft resolution calls on Morocco and the Polisario Front to "resume negotiations" with a view to achieving a "just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution."

The council "affirms its full support for the commitment of the secretary-general and his personal envoy towards a solution to the question of Western Sahara," according to the draft.

The United Nations opened negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front in 2007 and there have been several rounds since, with the latest held outside of New York in 2012.

There has been little progress however over resolving the future status of Western Sahara.
BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union's head office has thrown its weight behind Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential runoff against Marine Le Pen, arguing it is a choice between the defense of the EU or those seeking its destruction.

And even beyond the exceptional show of voting advice when it usually is scrupulously neutral, the European Commission also said it would vet campaign arguments and counter them if they told lies about the EU.

"We have tools in Brussels and also in Paris that allow us to clarify things and dispel untruths and Euro-myths if necessary," said Margaritis Schinas, the spokesman for EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The EU has had a team for years to dispel lies and untruths about the EU in the British popular press. He insisted the Commission would not take part in the campaign itself.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pauses during the "Financing For Peace: Innovations to Tackle Fragility" session during the G20 at the 2017 World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, Friday, April 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Schinas said circumstances forced Juncker's hand in going public with his preference. "The choice was a fundamental one," he said, adding Macron represents the pro-European values while Le Pen "seeks its destruction."

Independent candidate Macron led the first round of the presidential elections on Sunday and will face Le Pen of the extreme-right National Front in the May 7 runoff.

Even during the Brexit referendum campaign last year, the Commission kept a low profile, realizing that any perception of meddling would be punished by anti-EU media in Britain. It didn't help, since Britain voted to leave the EU.

The Brexit vote caused an existential jolt to the EU, but since Britain has always been a halfhearted member, people were always convinced the EU could survive without the British.

With France, which stood at the cradle of the EU and staunchly defended it over the past 60 years, it is different.

"France is a key EU member. It is a founding nation. It is one of nations that incarnates and symbolizes the values of European integration," said Schinas.

Le Pen has said she wants to leave the euro currency and hold a referendum on EU membership. Many would see a Frexit as the death knell of the EU.

"There only was one choice: the defense of what Europe incarnates and the option that seeks its destruction," Schinas said.

Germany, another founding member, also backed Macron. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabried said Macron would offer the chance of a "new beginning" for Europe while Le Pen's program "could cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs in France and all over Europe."

Macron also received the backing of another French neighbor, Spain, with Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis saying Macron would mark a break in the rise of extremist populist parties in Europe.

French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron thumbs up as he addresses his supporters at his election day headquarters in Paris , Sunday April 23, 2017. Macron and far-right populist Marine Le Pen advanced Sunday to a runoff in France's presidential election, remaking the country's political system and setting up a showdown over its participation in the European Union. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Far-right leader and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election Marine Le Pen exits a polling booth before voting for the first-round of the presidential election in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, Sunday, April 23, 2017. French voters are casting ballots for their next president in an unusually close first-round election Sunday, after a campaign dominated by concerns about jobs and immigration and clouded by security fears following a recent attack on police guarding the Champs-Elysees in Paris. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Far-right leader and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election, Marine Le Pen, surrounded by bodyguards, celebrates with supporters while holding a bunch of flowers after exit poll results of the first round of the presidential election were announced at her election day headquarters in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, Sunday, April 23, 2017. Polling agency projections show far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron leading in the first-round French presidential election. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
Willie Nelson, "God's Problem Child" (Legacy Recordings)

Willie's back, thank goodness. "God's Problem Child " is Willie Nelson's first CD of completely new material in three years, and his advanced age (Don't look now, he turns 84 on April 29) hasn't dulled his pen, his voice, or his simple, eloquent guitar.

Strip away the mythology, the rivalries, the battles with the IRS and the fondness for marijuana, and you're left with the music, its powerful mood set by a soft, direct voice that seems to have grown more expressive over the years. This is a warm, mellow work, with few surprises but many moments to savor. It's taken decades for Nelson to sound this comfortable and relaxed.

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2017, file photo, Willie Nelson performs in Nashville, Tenn. Nelson's latest album, "God's Problem Child," will be released on Friday, April 28. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Seven of the songs are co-written with longtime producer Buddy Cannon. They include Nelson's amused rebuttal of the frequent internet postings announcing his death - "Don't bury me, I've got a show to play" - and his succinct analysis of America's choice of Donald Trump: "We had a chance to be brilliant and we blew it again."

There is a tang of mortality. The late Leon Russell, a close friend, is heard on the title cut in what is thought to be his last recording, and the final song on the CD is a heartfelt homage to the late Merle Haggard, who recorded with Nelson. Many of the greats from his era have fallen but Nelson's incredible run is still going strong.
CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on former President Barack Obama's first public event since leaving office (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

Former President Barack Obama addressed civic engagement for young people during his first public appearance since leaving office, but he didn't mention his successor or detail his thoughts on current events.

Former President Barack Obama hosts a conversation on civic engagement and community organizing, Monday, April 24, 2017, at the University of Chicago in Chicago. It's the former president's first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Obama gave advice on leadership, dealing with failure and even social media as he talked with youth during a University of Chicago panel event. He spoke briefly about his experiences as a community organizer before asking the panel of young people for their views.

His first public engagement comes as President Donald Trump nears his 100-day mark in office.

Obama's presidential library is planned near the edge of the Chicago campus. He says he hopes it'll also serve as a place for young people to become more civically engaged. Obama says young people are critical to resolving the nation's most daunting problems.

___

11:30 a.m.

Former President Barack Obama is using his first public appearance since leaving office to talk with students about his experiences as a community organizer in Chicago and how that laid the foundation for his political career.

Obama led a student panel Monday at the University of Chicago, where his presidential library is planned.

He says young people are the key to solving the nation's most daunting problems and his plan after holding the nation's highest office is to work with them. He delivered brief remarks at the event before asking students on the panel about what influenced them.

Roughly 500 people, mostly college students, attended the invitation-only event that was also televised.

On Sunday, Obama met privately with young men on the city's South Side to talk about gang violence and employment.

___

10 a.m.

Former President Barack Obama will lead a panel discussion with students as the first public event of his post-presidential life.

The discussion is scheduled for Monday at the University of Chicago, where Obama's presidential library is planned.

Students from area colleges and at least one high school are attending the discussion, with Obama expected to appear on stage with some of them. The invitation-only event is being billed as part of his post-presidency goal to "encourage and support the next generation of leaders."

Obama delivered his presidential farewell speech in Chicago in January.

His first public engagement since then comes as President Donald Trump nears his 100-day mark in office.

___

6:15 a.m.

Former President Barack Obama is set to hold the first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career.

Obama will speak Monday at the University of Chicago, where his presidential library is planned.

College students from around the Chicago area are expected to attend. The invitation-only event is being billed as part of his post-presidency goal to "encourage and support the next generation of leaders."

Obama delivered his presidential farewell speech in Chicago in January.

His first public engagement since then comes as President Donald Trump nears his 100-day mark in office.

Former President Barack Obama, center, hosts a conversation on civic engagement and community organizing, Monday, April 24, 2017, at the University of Chicago in Chicago. From left are, Kelsey McClear, Loyola University; Ramuel Figueroa, Roosevelt University; Tiffany Brown a pharmacist; Obama, Max Freedman, University of Chicago; Ayanna Watkins, Kenwood High School; and Harish Patel, New America. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Former President Barack Obama pauses as he hosts a conversation on civic engagement and community organizing, Monday, April 24, 2017, at the University of Chicago in Chicago. It's the former president's first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Former President Barack Obama smiles as he hosts a conversation on civic engagement and community organizing, Monday, April 24, 2017, at the University of Chicago in Chicago. It's the former president's first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Former President Barack Obama hosts a conversation on civic engagement and community organizing, Monday, April 24, 2017, at the University of Chicago in Chicago. It's the former president's first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Former President Barack Obama waves as he arrives to host a conversation on civic engagement and community organizing, Monday, April 24, 2017, at the University of Chicago in Chicago. It's the former president's first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Former President Barack Obama and Max Freedman, center, listen to Harish Patel speaks during a conversation on civic engagement and community organizing, Monday, April 24, 2017, at the University of Chicago in Chicago. It's the former president's first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Former President Barack Obama hosts a conversation on civic engagement and community organizing, Monday, April 24, 2017, at the University of Chicago in Chicago. It's the former president's first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
PARIS (AP) - When France last put a Le Pen onto the threshold of the presidential Elysee Palace, one step from power, it could write off the 2002 election shock as a mere accident.

Jean-Marie Le Pen squeezed into the winner-takes-all runoff against Jacques Chirac with just 17 percent of the vote, a record low. Ashamed and stunned by the ultra-right leader's breakthrough, French voters of all political persuasions regrouped for round two, filling the streets in protest and rallying at the ballot box to hand Le Pen a humiliating defeat from which his sulfurous political career never recovered.

This time, the presidential election success of another Le Pen, Jean-Marie's daughter, Marine, was anything but accidental.

French far-right leader and candidate for the 2017 presidential election Marine Le Pen leaves her campaign headquarters in Paris, Monday, April 24, 2017. France's political mainstream, shut out of the presidency by an angry electorate, united on Monday to call on voters to back centrist Emmanuel Macron and reject Marine Le Pen's populist nationalism. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Voters propelled her Sunday into the decisive May 7 duel against Emmanuel Macron with their eyes wide open. The entire political establishment and every poll had forewarned and foretold of Le Pen's first-round breakthrough.

That voters pulled the trigger anyway - giving her 1.2 million more votes than in 2012 and, with 21.5 percent of the total, the best score in a presidential race for a Le Pen - showed how ingrained her brand of anti-establishment "French-first" nationalism has become in areas most bruised by and fearful of globalization's blows.

A less divisive and more polished politician than her father, the mother of three has made voting for the National Front party that Jean-Marie founded in 1972 more socially acceptable than ever. Many of his voters kept their far-right political sympathies to themselves, afraid of being labelled racists and anti-Semites by association with the ex-Foreign Legionnaire convicted for describing Nazi gas chambers as a "detail of history."

Marine Le Pen's backers are far less inhibited. Although older voters on the left still sniff that the National Front remains a redoubt of "fachos" - or fascists - she has partially punctured that argument by sidelining much of the party's old guard, including her father in 2015.

By consistently hammering on her populist themes that the European Union is straightjacketing and impoverishing France, that open borders are open doors for job-taking migrants and murderous Islamic extremism, and that the French political elite is guilty in all this and more, Marine Le Pen is more on-message than her father.

Sharp-tongued like him, she also jumps the tracks of respectability from time to time - for instance, with her denial earlier this month that France was responsible for rounding up more than 13,000 Jews at a Paris cycle track to be sent to Nazi death camps during the Holocaust. Overall, however, she is better packaged and more media- savvy than the cantankerous Jean-Marie ever was.

Macron quickly agreed to share the stage with Le Pen in the traditional televised debate between rounds one and two. That showed how she and her expanding electorate are becoming an increasingly unavoidable force and feature on the landscape, however unsavory that reality is to mainstream politicians who immediately appealed for a repeat of the "all against Le Pen" second-round unity of 2002.

By refusing to debate Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002, Chirac cast his opponent as a pariah and himself as a champion of French democracy. That Macron couldn't do likewise without looking undemocratic is another measure of how Marine Le Pen is fighting her way into France's political inner circle. By stopping both the mainstream right and left from reaching the second round - a first for modern France - Le Pen and the centrist, pro-EU Macron are redrawing the contours of that circle and taking the country into unchartered territory.

Fifteen years ago, Jean-Marie Le Pen's qualification to the runoff provoked massive street protests - voters' way of making amends for not turning out in sufficient numbers to keep him out in round one. There were scattered protests in Paris on Sunday night, with police reporting 29 arrests. But it appears less likely this time that more than 1 million people will take to streets across France on Monday's May Day holiday as they did against Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002.

With slow but sure gains at the ballot box since she assumed leadership of the National Front in 2011, Le Pen is planting ever-deeper roots into a broader spectrum of voters - including 18- to 24-year-olds hit hardest by chronic unemployment and, despite her plans to roll back some of their rights, among gays. Those groups largely wouldn't have been seen dead voting for her father.

Sunday's outcome shows a France split almost down the middle. Le Pen outperformed Macron in National Front strongholds along the Mediterranean coast, on the front lines of Europe's efforts to control migration from Africa and the Middle East that she rails against, and in the east and northeast, with rust-belt pockets of despairing working-class voters who see succor in "French first" economic and social protectionism. Le Pen is their whip to sanction the French and EU political establishment - even among some voters who don't otherwise share her politics.

As in 2002, voters probably will come together in sufficient numbers to keep a Le Pen from power. After election setbacks for right-wing populists in the Netherlands and Austria, a Le Pen defeat will signal a halting - at least for now - of the populist wave that crashed over the EU with Britain's Brexit vote last year to leave the bloc and, across the Atlantic, helped put Donald Trump in the White House.

But polls suggest Le Pen won't suffer a beating as severe as that endured by her father. At 48, she still has time and, with each passing vote, perhaps a little bit more of France on her side.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: John Leicester has reported from France for The Associated Press since 2002.

A montage of French national newspaper front pages reporting on the winners of the first round of the French presidential election, centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, are displayed in Paris, France, Monday, April 24, 2017. French voters shut out the country's political mainstream from the presidency for the first time in the country's modern history, and on Monday found themselves being courted across the spectrum for the runoff election. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours)

A demonstrator runs away from tear gas during clashes with police in Paris, Sunday, April 23, 2017. Protesters angry that far-right leader Marine Le Pen is advancing the French presidential runoff are scuffling with police in Paris. Crowds of young people, some from anarchist and "anti-fascist" groups, gathered on the Place de la Bastille in eastern Paris as results were coming in from Sunday's first-round vote. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Anti riot police officers push a group of demonstrators during scufflings in Paris, Sunday, April 23, 2017. Protesters angry that far-right leader Marine Le Pen is advancing the French presidential runoff are scuffling with police in Paris. Crowds of young people, some from anarchist and "anti-fascist" groups, gathered on the Place de la Bastille in eastern Paris as results were coming in from Sunday's first-round vote. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Four inmates overdosed in two days at the same Ohio prison earlier this year, requiring the use of CPR and doses of an anti-overdose drug as guards scrambled to revive the men, according to state prison records.

The "inmate was unresponsive, blue in the face and lips and did not have a pulse nor was he breathing," according to a report on an overdose late in the evening of Feb. 18 at Pickaway Correctional Institution. The next night, an inmate was found "laying on the floor of bathroom with eyes closed, covered in vomit," another report said.

The documents, obtained by The Associated Press through an open records request, don't name the drugs the inmates used, but say guards administered the anti-overdose drug naloxone to revive them. Naloxone is typically used to revive people overdosing on opioids like prescription painkillers and heroin.

Ohio prison officials say multiple overdoses in such a short period at the same prison is unusual, but say the state's opiate epidemic is also inside prison walls, which is why they keep the anti-overdose drug stocked.

"Contraband does filter in. That's why we have these tools," said Stuart Hudson, the prison agency's health care and fiscal managing director.

Overdoses behind bars have become an issue as the country's painkiller and heroin epidemic has worsened, though the problem is more closely associated with jails. Earlier this month, seven female inmates overdosed at the Fayette County Jail in southwestern Ohio.

In New Hampshire, on a single weekend in January three inmates overdosed in the state prison for men in Concord and a fourth overdosed and died at a New Hampshire prison halfway house in Manchester. Officials used naloxone on two of the three inmates in the men's prison.

Drug overdoses are among the leading causes of deaths in California state prisons, killing an average of 17 inmates each year, according to a 2016 report by a federal court-appointed receiver who oversees the system as a result of a long-running lawsuit over inmate health care.

An investigation is underway to figure out where the drugs came from that led to the overdoses at the Ohio prison 15 miles southwest of Columbus, said prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith. The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction takes the prevention and seizure of contraband seriously, she added.

Hudson said most offenders enter with some kind of substance abuse problem that follows them during their time behind bars. Illegal drugs enter the prisons via visitors and staff and other ways, such as being thrown over fences, he said.

The agency continues to boost treatment programs to address the issue. The state is also getting ready to test a system injecting inmates about to be released with a drug that blocks the craving for opiates.

___

Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/andrew-welsh-huggins
CAMPBELLTON, Ga. (AP) - Police in Georgia say four teenage boys died and a teenage girl was injured when their SUV collided with a tractor-trailer.

Fulton County police say the big rig's driver suffered minor injuries in the wreck Monday afternoon in the southern part of the county.

News media report that one boy was thrown from the Lincoln Navigator and three had to be extricated.

Police tell WXIA-TV (http://on.11alive.com/2pXw3Tk ) the girl's injuries were not life-threatening. She was taken from a back seat.

Fulton County schools spokeswoman Susan Hale told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://on-ajc.com/2oZ9C1K ) that most of the students attended Langston Hughes High School, and one was either a current or a former student there.

Authorities are still investigating what caused the accident.
Judicial Watch Receives New Records on United Passenger David Dao Removal Incident -- Police Reports, New Video, Audio Files Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5172



WASHINGTON, April 25, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch today received documents today from the City of Chicago in response to a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request for records about the removal of United Airlines passenger David Dao on April 9. The records are available here.



Judicial Watch filed a FOIA on April 11, 2017 for: copies of all records related to the involuntary removal of passenger David Dao from United Flight 3411 (operated by Republic Airlines) on April 9, 2017, including, but not limited to, incident reports, justification memos, communications with United Airlines and Republic Airlines, communications with the Chicago Mayor's office, communications with the press, and communications with any other third parties. The City of Chicago provided responsive records through a letter dated today: CDA Accident/Incident Report: this documentation consists of the CDA's completed Accident/Incident Report, statements from the officers that were involved in the incident, an April 9, 2017 O'Hare Communications Center Display Event printout and the Incident/Passenger(s) Complaint of David Dao.

Supplemental Report of Aviation Security Officer James Long dated April 10, 2017

Supplementary Report dated April 11, 2017 correcting the date of the Accident/Incident Report from March 9, 2017 to April 9, 2017

O'Hare Communications Center Display Event printout from April 10, 2017

Event Chronology for ORD Event Number #P170401il 17, 2017 regarding the Use of Force Policy

Personnel files for the four Aviation Security personnel that were placed on administrative leave as a result of the incident on the airplane (in four PDF files)725

Policy and Procedures Field Manual dated May 2002: Section 1/4.2 on page I-8 addresses the use of force by Aviation Security personnel (in two PDF files)

Safety & Security Division Direction 13-03 (Use of Force Policy) dated March 1, 2013

Memo from Aviation Security Deputy Commissioner dated Apr

Four video files regarding the incident and the response thereafter

Two audio files regarding the incident and the response thereafter The City also released a hospitalization case report concerning Mr. Dao.



"Judicial Watch recognizes the broad public interest in the removal of Mr. Dao from the United Airlines flight," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "These records provide a dramatically different account of the incident than seen on the infamous video."



Editor's Note: The full production of documents from the Chicago Department of Aviation can be found using the link/password below:



www.dropbox.com/sh/pxvqchijd4cqatz/AADHbmPkOIiioRts4cC7u1Pxa?dl=0



Password: April92017c0c



MORE: www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-receives-new-records-united-passenger-david-dao-removal-incident-police-reports-new-video-audio-files

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PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - The Latest on tensions on the Korean Peninsula (all times local):

1:05 p.m.

A ruling Chinese Communist Party newspaper is warning North Korea against conducting another nuclear test, saying that would likely propel events past the "point of no return."

Chief nuclear negotiators from left to right, Joseph Yun, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, Kenji Kanasugi, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the South Korean Foreign Ministry, join hands before their meeting about North Korean issues at the Iikura Guesthouse in Tokyo Tuesday, April 25, 2017. North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. (Toru Yamanaka/Pool Photo via AP)

In an editorial Tuesday, the Global Times says the previous day's phone conversation between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China showed the two countries were in close communication over the tensions.

It says China hopes for a peaceful outcome, but that Beijing has "very limited influence on the entire situation."

It says: "The game of chicken between Washington and Pyongyang has come to a breaking point." The paper is known for its often stridently nationalistic views.

It says if North Korea carries out a sixth nuclear test as expected, "it is more likely than ever that the situation will cross the point of no return. All stakeholders will bear the consequences, with Pyongyang sure to suffer the greatest losses."

As a traditional ally and North Korea's chief source of trade, food and fuel aid, China has come under intense pressure to use its influence to dissuade Pyongyang from additional nuclear tests and missile launches.

However, Beijing is intensely wary of any measures that might cause the collapse of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's hard-line communist regime, fearing that could lead to a wave of refugees and a Pyongyang government beholden to Washington and Seoul.

___

1 p.m.

U.S. envoy for North Korea Joseph Yun says he and his counterparts from Japan and South Korea agreed to coordinate "all actions" on North Korea.

The three envoys also agreed that China has a key role in pressuring North Korea to abandon its missile and nuclear programs.

Yun told reporters after a meeting in Tokyo that all diplomatic, military and economic actions on North Korea will be coordinated among the allies.

Yun says China especially has "a very, very important role" to play. He says U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions on Pyongyang must be fully implemented.

He says: "There are a number of countries who could be more proactive" in implementing the sanctions. He did not identify the countries.

___

12:40 p.m.

South Korean newspapers are questioning whether President Donald Trump is tuning out South Korea as he shapes his North Korea strategy.

Trump skipped calling Seoul during his phone conversations with his counterparts in Beijing and Tokyo on Sunday over the growing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles program.

The Maeil Business Daily said Tuesday that Trump not calling South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country's acting leader, showed that the relations between the allies are "not normal."

The newspaper also mentioned that Washington has yet to name its new ambassador to Seoul three months after the departure of Mark Lippert and questioned whether Trump has "entirely left out South Korea in his picture for the Korean Peninsula."

The JoongAng Ilbo daily said in an editorial that South Korea shouldn't be excluded from critical discussions surrounding North Korea, because "the destiny of our nation could be at stake."

Seoul has long worried about losing its voice in international efforts to deal with North Korea's nuclear threat - something local media have termed "Korea Passing."

Maeil Business wrote: "When a military clash happens in the Korean Peninsula, South Korea will be the first target of North Korea and its military will hold joint operations with U.S. troops to fight back. ... If there is a partner Trump needs to discuss with foremost over the North Korea problem, it's not Xi Jinping or Shinzo Abe, but the leader of South Korea."

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11:55 a.m.

South Korea says a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine has docked in the southern port of Busan, but it isn't expected to participate in joint naval exercises with South Korea.

An official from South Korea's navy said Tuesday the USS Michigan is making a routine stop to rest its crews and reload supplies. The submarine arrived on the same day North Korea celebrates the anniversary of the founding of its military.

North Korea often marks significant dates with show of military capability, and South Korean officials have said the North could be preparing another round of nuclear or missile tests around the anniversary.

President Donald Trump has dispatched to the region what he called an "armada" of ships, including an aircraft carrier, in a show of force. South Korea's navy is planning to hold joint naval drills with U.S. aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson battle group, which has trained with Japanese destroyers in recent days, around the weekend.

___

11:15 a.m.

Envoys from Japan, the U.S. and South Korea have gathered in Tokyo to discuss North Korea amid concern it may carry out another nuclear or missile test.

Japanese officials say U.S. representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun met Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi and Kim Hong-kyun of South Korea to share their latest analyses and discuss cooperation.

There is speculation that North Korea may carry out another nuclear or missile test to mark the anniversary of its armed forces Tuesday. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the three envoys were to deepen cooperation and stay on the same page amid growing tension.

Japan's Foreign Ministry also announced that China's envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, will visit Tokyo later Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi.

___

11:10 a.m.

North Korea's capital is quiet on Tuesday amid expectations of some sort of a big event to mark the anniversary of the founding of the country's military.

The morning came and went without any nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches and all that is publicly scheduled for the day are gatherings for mass dancing, a common celebratory feature of major North Korean holidays.

The main political event to mark the anniversary apparently was a "national meeting" held the day before, when thousands of senior military and civilian officials gathered at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un did not attend. It was not known how he is marking Tuesday's anniversary.

At the meeting, army Gen. Pak Yong Sik, North Korea's minister of defense, reiterated Pyongyang's claim that the country is ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any other measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the "U.S. imperialists."

He told the gathering: "The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression."

Chief nuclear negotiators, Joseph Yun, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, left, Kenji Kanasugi, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, right, and Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the South Korean Foreign Ministry, rear, arrive fir their meeting about North Korean issues at the Iikura Guesthouse in Tokyo Tuesday, April 25, 2017. North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. (Toru Yamanaka/Pool Photo via AP)

Chief nuclear negotiators from left to right, Joseph Yun, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, Kenji Kanasugi, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the South Korean Foreign Ministry, pose for photographers before their meeting about North Korean issues at the Iikura Guesthouse in Tokyo Tuesday, April 25, 2017. North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. (Toru Yamanaka/Pool Photo via AP)

Chief nuclear negotiators from left to right, Joseph Yun, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, Kenji Kanasugi, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the South Korean Foreign Ministry, join hands before their meeting about North Korean issues at the Iikura Guesthouse in Tokyo Tuesday, April 25, 2017. North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. (Toru Yamanaka/Pool Photo via AP)

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan approaches to join the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in drills near the Korean Peninsula, at Busan port in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. (Jo Jung-ho/Yonhap via AP)

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan approaches to join the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in drills near the Korean Peninsula, at Busan port in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. (Jo Jung-ho/Yonhap via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ivanka Trump's advocacy for women and girls will take her to a conference in Berlin Tuesday, an attention-getting first international outing aimed at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs.

Back home, the first daughter's plan to push for policies that benefit working mothers is getting less of the spotlight.

Trump, an unpaid White House adviser, has not yet offered specific legislation or publicly revealed how she plans to move forward with the child care and family leave policies she promoted during her father's campaign. But a senior administration official says she and others have been working quietly behind the scenes to revise her campaign proposals and build momentum.

Ivanka Trump, listens as her father President Donald Trump, talks via a video conference to astronauts on the International Space Station, Monday, April 24, 2017, from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal policy talks, stressed that child care is a part of the White House tax policy conversation. The president is set to roll out tax reform priorities Wednesday, but the official declined to discuss those plans in advance of the announcement.

President Donald Trump has noted his support for his daughter's efforts. In his joint address to Congress, he said he wants to work with lawmakers "to make child care accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents have paid family leave."

Some advocates said they would like to see a proposal. Patricia Cole, senior director of federal policy for Zero to Three, a nonpartisan organization that focuses on early childhood, said, "We would really welcome a conversation."

Ivanka Trump, who stepped away from running her fashion brand to take on a White House role, will spend Tuesday in Berlin at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. There she will attend a panel discussion as part of the W20 Summit, a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries. She will also take in a technical school, visit the United States embassy and go to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

In advance of the summit, Ivanka Trump co-authored an op-ed in the Financial Times, calling for more global efforts to invest in women's economic empowerment.

"The evidence is overwhelming that supporting women's economic participation has enormous dividends for families, communities and whole economies," Trump wrote with Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank.

Trump has spent the first three months of her father's presidency talking about women's empowerment, often at White House forums and roundtables. On Monday, she joined her father for a conversation with astronauts on the International Space Station and touted a bill the president signed that asks the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to encourage girls to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

"Encouraging women and girls to pursue STEM careers is a major priority for this administration," said Trump.

Her moves toward policy have been far less public. She has met privately with lawmakers, including a sit-down with Republican women in February.

Trump's challenge is persuading a Republican-led Congress with a plate full of other priorities. Lawmakers are focused on repealing President Barack Obama's health care law and overhauling the tax code, and less eager to take on a proposal more likely to pique the interest of Democrats.

At Ivanka Trump's urging, Trump's campaign proposed six weeks of leave for mothers - although not fathers - with the government paying wages equivalent to unemployment benefits. The proposal also included new income tax deductions for child care expenses and a new rebate or tax credit for low-income families.

But the official said the draft child care plan has shifted away from a tax deduction -which critics say would benefit wealthier families. A plan currently under discussion would expand the child and dependent tax credit, boosting the amount, permitting it to cover up to four children and making it refundable to help low-income families with no tax burden. Higher-income households would not be eligible.

The thinking on leave policies has evolved from maternity leave to a more inclusive family leave, the official said, adding that they are also looking at other funding options beyond the savings in unemployment insurance that were originally targeted.

Ivanka Trump's prospects have some feeling optimistic.

"I do think they're going to try and I think they might get something done," said Kris Perry, executive director of the First Five Years Fund, a nonpartisan advocacy group for young children. She added that "there's also huge value in people like Ivanka speaking out on the public relations side."
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration moved Monday to impose a 20 percent tariff on softwood lumber entering the United States from Canada, escalating an intensifying trade dispute between the two countries.

The president announced the decision during a gathering with conservative media outlets at the White House Monday evening. Trump's initial comments were relayed by four people who were in the room and confirmed by an administration official.

On Twitter, Breitbart News White House correspondent Charlie Spiering quoted Trump as saying, "We're going to be putting a 20% tax on softwood lumber coming in - tariff on softwood coming into the United States from Canada."

The Commerce Department later announced it had reached a preliminary determination and would impose countervailing duties ranging from 3 percent to 24 percent on imported softwood lumber, with an average of about 20 percent.

One person in the room said Trump threatened that dairy could be next.

The U.S. and Canada typically enjoy a friendly trading relationship, but things have soured in recent months.

Trump has been railing against Canada's decision to change its policy on pricing domestic milk to cover more dairy ingredients, leading to lower prices for products, including ultra-filtered milk. Trump has called the move "a disgrace" that's hurting U.S. producers in dairy states like Wisconsin.

"It has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations," said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a statement. "This is not our idea of a properly functioning Free Trade Agreement."

The Canadian government, meanwhile, rejected the assessment, calling the duty "unfair and punitive."

"The Government of Canada disagrees strongly with the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to impose an unfair and punitive duty," said Jim Carr, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, and Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a joint statement. "The accusations are baseless and unfounded."

They warned the action would have a negative impact on American families who will have to pay more to build or renovate homes. And they said they would sue, if necessary.

According to the U.S. Commerce Department, imports of softwood lumber from Canada were valued at an estimated $5.66 billion in 2016.

___

Follow Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - In a defiant bit of timing, South Korea announced Wednesday that key parts of a contentious U.S. missile defense system had been installed a day after rival North Korea showed off its military power.

The South's trumpeting of progress on setting up the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, comes as high-powered U.S. military assets converge on the Korean Peninsula and as a combative North Korea signals possible nuclear and missile testing.

North Korea conducted live-fire artillery drills on Tuesday, the 85th anniversary of the founding of its million-person strong Korean People's Army. On the same day, a U.S. guided-missile submarine docked in South Korea. And the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier is also headed toward the peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea.

U.S. military vehicle moves past banners opposing a plan to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, as South Korean police officers stand guard in Seongju, South Korea, Wednesday, April 26, 2017. South Korea says key parts of a contentious U.S. missile defense system have been installed a day after rival North Korea showed off its military power. (Kim Jun-hum/Yonhap via AP)

The moves to set up THAAD within this year have angered not only North Korea, but also China, the country that the Trump administration hopes to work with to rid the North of nuclear weapons. China, which has grown increasingly frustrated with its ally Pyongyang, and Russia see the system's powerful radars as a security threat.

South Korea said in a statement Wednesday that unspecified parts of THAAD were installed. The statement said that Seoul and Washington have been pushing to get THAAD quickly working to cope with North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats. According to Yonhap news agency, the parts include two or three launchers, intercept missiles and a radar.

About 8,000 police officers were mobilized, and the main road leading up to the site in the country's southeast was blocked earlier Wednesday, Yonhap reported. About 200 residents and protesters rallied against THAAD in front of a local community center, some hurling plastic water bottles.

On Tuesday, North Korea conducted what it called its largest ever combined live-fire drills, near the east coast port city of Wonsan.

North Korea's official media reported Wednesday that leader Kim Jong Un personally observed the exercises, which involved the firing of more than 300 large-caliber artillery pieces and included submarine torpedo-attacks on mock enemy warships.

Along with sending U.S. military assets to the region in a show of force, President Donald Trump is leaning on China to exert economic pressure on its wayward ally. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who spoke to Trump on Monday, is urging restraint from both Pyongyang and Washington.

In Washington, top Trump administration officials are due to brief the entire U.S. Senate on Wednesday. A rapid tempo of North Korean weapons testing in the past year has pushed Kim Jong Un's authoritarian nation closer to developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham voiced confidence that Trump won't allow North Korea to reach that point. Graham, a defense hawk who dined with Trump on Monday night, said the North should not underestimate the president's resolve.

The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived Tuesday at the South Korean port of Busan for what was described as a routine visit to rest crew and load supplies. The U.S. 7th Fleet said two American destroyers were conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.

North Korea routinely accuses the United States of readying for an invasion, and threatens pre-emptive strikes to stop it. An unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the U.S. administration's policy to maximize pressure on North Korea was "little short of lighting the fuse of total war," the state news agency reported Tuesday.

The streets of Pyongyang, however, were quiet for Tuesday's anniversary, which was overshadowed by April 15 celebrations for the birthday of the nation's late founder Kim Il Sung, and were marked by a missile test the following day.

The Trump administration is also upping the ante diplomatically.

On Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will chair a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

Tillerson will be "very vocal" about nations enforcing sanctions on North Korea, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. Trump said Monday the council must be prepared to impose stronger sanctions.

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Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung in Seoul, South Korea, and Eric Talmadge in Pyongyang, North Korea, contributed to this report.

U.S. military vehicle moves as South Korean police officers try to block residents and protesters who oppose a plan to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, in Seongju, South Korea, Wednesday, April 26, 2017. In a defiant bit of timing, South Korea announced Wednesday that key parts of a contentious U.S. missile defense system had been installed a day after rival North Korea showed off its military power. (Kim Jun-hum/Yonhap via AP)

In this Monday, April 24, 2017 photo released by the U.S. Navy, the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan is greeted as it arrives in Busan, South Korea, for a scheduled port visit while conducting routine patrols throughout the western Pacific. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jermaine Ralliford/U.S. Navy via AP)

In this Monday, April 24, 2017 photo released by the U.S. Navy, the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan arrives in Busan, South Korea, for a scheduled port visit while conducting routine patrols throughout the western Pacific. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jermaine Ralliford/U.S. Navy via AP)

In this April 23, 2017 photo released by the U.S. Navy, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson transits the Philippine Sea while conducting a bilateral exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The aircraft carrier will be heading toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Z.A. Landers/U.S. Navy via AP)

A U.S. Air Force U-2 spy plane prepares to land at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. South Korea's military said Tuesday that North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military. (Hong Hae-in/Yonhap via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional negotiators on Tuesday inched toward a potential agreement on a catchall spending bill that would deny President Donald Trump's request for immediate funding to construct a wall along the Mexico border. The emerging measure would increase the defense budget and eliminate the threat of a government shutdown on Trump's 100th day in office this Saturday.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said Republican negotiators were following the lead of Trump, who signaled Monday evening that he would not insist on $1 billion worth of wall funding now as an addition to the $1 trillion-plus spending bill. Trump told a gathering of conservative media reporters that he might be willing to wait until September for the funding.

Other stumbling blocks remain, but the decision by Trump and his GOP allies to back down on the wall steered the talks on the spending measure in a positive direction.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., accompanied by, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, speaks during a media availability following a policy luncheon, Tuesday, April 25, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he was optimistic the talks would produce "an agreement in the next few days."

An existing temporary funding bill expires Friday at midnight and all sides anticipated that another stopgap measure would be required to buy time for the House and Senate to process the massive spending bill, which would wrap together 11 unfinished agency spending bills through September.

Trump campaigned throughout the country last year promising a wall across the entire 2,200 mile southern border, promising that Mexico would pay for it. But while the idea is a priority of Trump's most fervent supporters, it is resolutely opposed by Democrats and even many Republicans, who see it as wasteful and who prefer other steps like new technologies and additional border agents to curb illegal immigration.

"I support additional border security funding," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a GOP critic of Trump who dined with the president Monday at the White House. "But a 2,200-mile wall, I don't think there's a whole lot of support for it."

Trump vowed to fight for the wall.

"The wall is going to get built," he said at the White House Tuesday. Asked when, he said, "Soon."

Democrats vowed not to give up, either, and look forward to the fight.

"It's not a negotiation," Schumer said. "No wall."

Meanwhile, Trump appeared poised to procure about $15 billion to boost the military. Democrats said they were satisfied with the emerging outlines of the measure, which stick closely to versions of the legislation that were being negotiated late last year.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., observed that GOP negotiators "have simply ignored" a roster of "$18 billion in extreme cuts" offered by White House budget director Mick Mulvaney to lower the measure's cost. The measure would also maintain foreign aid accounts that Trump has targeted, along with a series of grant programs popular with lawmakers in both parties, such as community development block grants.

Several issues remain unresolved. Democrats, with McConnell's help, were pushing to extend health benefits for 22,000 retired Appalachian coal miners and their families whose medical coverage is set to expire at the end of April. Democrats faced White House opposition in an uphill battle to give Puerto Rico help with its Medicaid commitment, while Republicans are pressing policy "riders" to undo new Obama-era financial regulations.

Another potential stumbling block involved a recent threat by Trump to scuttle a portion of former President Barack Obama's health law that helps low-income people afford insurance policies.

Democratic votes are invariably needed to pass catchall spending bills, which typically are resented by many tea party Republicans. That gave Democratic leaders like Schumer and Pelosi significant leverage, and the top Democrats had earlier this month taken a hard line in response to Trump's threats to deny the Obamacare payments for out-of-pocket costs for the poor, injecting the issue into the spending bill talks. Schumer, however, backpedaled on Tuesday and would no longer insist that the issue be addressed in the catchall bill and the White House sent conciliatory signals as well.

Meanwhile, House lawmakers returned to Washington Tuesday evening and faced a renewed push from the White House to revive their beleaguered health care bill in hopes of attracting enough votes to finally push it through the House.

Leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus met to consider a proposal to change the GOP legislation to let states get federal waivers to ignore coverage requirements imposed by President Barack Obama's health care law. These include a prohibition against insurers charging higher premiums for seriously ill customers.

The plan "has real merits worthy of consideration for all the Freedom Caucus folks," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., leader of that group. He helped craft the idea with Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., a leader of a group of GOP moderates.

Meadows and numerous conservatives and moderates opposed an initial version of the bill, forcing House leaders to withdraw the measure before a planned vote last month. GOP leaders are trying to determine if the proposed changes can gain enough votes to pass, but that remains uncertain.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of N.Y., accompanied by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., points to a reporter during a media availability after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., left, accompanied by, from second from left, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 25, 2017, to discuss President Donald Trump's first 100 days. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - In this April 4, 2017, file photo, the Capitol is seen at dawn in Washington. Bipartisan bargainers are making progress toward a budget deal to prevent a partial federal shutdown this weekend, a major hurdle overcome when President Donald Trump signaled he would put off his demand that the measure include money to build his border wall with Mexico. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

President Donald Trump, sitting next to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, speaks during a working lunch with ambassadors of countries on the United Nations Security Council and their spouses, Monday, April 24, 2017, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE - In this March 30, 2017 file photo, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump could avert the risk of a government shutdown next weekend by stepping back from his demand that lawmakers fund his promised border wall with Mexico in a must-pass spending bill, Congress' two top Democrats said Monday, April 24, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Three Indonesians and a Malaysian were among 37 militants killed in a Philippine military assault that captured the southern jungle camp of an extremist band allied with the Islamic State group, the country's military chief of staff said Tuesday.

Gen. Eduardo Ano said 14 of the dead from a series of clashes in southern Lanao del Sur province have been identified so far.

Officials said an army general raised the Philippine flag in the camp belonging to the Maute armed band allied with the Islamic State group a few hours after troops seized it on Monday.

Ano said mopping-up operations are ongoing and troops are trying to locate Filipino militant leader Isnilon Hapilon to determine if he is still alive.

He said the killed foreigners were formerly with the Southeast Asian regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah but have since allied themselves with the IS group. Their deaths were confirmed through intelligence and through witness accounts, Ano added.

Maute is among less than a dozen new armed Muslim groups that have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and formed a loose alliance in the south in recent years.

The latest operation was a "deliberate military offensive, purely designed to degrade the capability of the Maute," Ano said.
MIAMI (AP) - A man investigators call the last of Miami's "cocaine cowboys" appeared in federal court Tuesday after 26 years as a fugitive and will plead not guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy next month, his attorney said.

Gustavo Falcon, 55, said nothing at a brief hearing but appeared to have grown a moustache and goatee. His hands and ankles were shackled and he wore the standard-issue tan jail jumpsuit. Falcon was arrested earlier this month in a quiet suburb of Orlando, where he had been living under a phony name with his wife.

Defense attorney Howard Srebnick said Falcon will plead not guilty May 11 to the drug smuggling charge, which carries a potential life sentence. Srebnick agreed with prosecutors that Falcon will remain jailed without bail.

FILE - This undated file photo provided by Orange County Corrections shows Gustavo Falcon, the last of South Florida's "Cocaine Cowboys". Falcon was arrested Wednesday, April 12, 2017, some 26 years after he went on the lam, while on a 40-mile bike ride with his wife near the Orlando suburb where they apparently lived under assumed names. Falcon makes his first court appearance in Miami, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Orange County Corrections via AP, File)

"We'll be back in court on May 11 to enter a plea of not guilty and demand a trial by jury," Srebnick told reporters outside the courthouse. "Between now and then, we'll have an opportunity to review the charges. I have no feel for the case right now."

Falcon vanished in 1991 when he, his older brother Augusto "Willie" Falcon, Salvador "Sal" Magluta and seven others were charged in a major federal grand jury indictment. The gang was accused of smuggling at least 75 tons of cocaine into the U.S. and making some $2 billion in the hyperviolent 1980s "Miami Vice" era.

During all those years as a fugitive, investigators figured Falcon had fled overseas. Then U.S. Marshals caught a break: Records from a 2013 car accident in Kissimmee, Florida, included a driver's license issued to someone named Luis Reiss. That name traced back to a house in Hialeah, Florida, linked to Falcon.

Investigators were able to locate Falcon, living as Reiss, in the Kissimmee rental house, where they arrested him April 12 while on a bike ride with his wife. Falcon was then transferred to Miami to face the original 1991 indictment. His wife was not arrested.

His attorney said Falcon seemed in good spirits and ready for whatever comes next.

"He was OK," Srebnick said.

Falcon's brother and Magluta were acquitted of all charges at their first trial in 1996. Later, it emerged that the pair had bought off witnesses and bribed the jury foreman.

Magluta, now 62, was tried a second time, convicted of drug-related money laundering in 2002 and sentenced to 205 years in prison. That was reduced to 195 years in 2006.

Augusto Falcon, now 61, then accepted a plea deal in 2003 on similar charges. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and is scheduled for release on June 17.

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Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/miamicurt
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi troops on Tuesday drove out Islamic State militants from the largest neighborhood in the western half of the city of Mosul, a senior military commander said, a major development in the months-long fight to recapture the country's second-largest city.

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" in January, after officially launching the operation to retake the city in October.

In February, the troops started a new push to clear Mosul's western side of IS militants, but weeks later their push stalled mainly due to stiff resistance by the Sunni militant group.

Mosul residents flee their homes as Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State group in a street to street fight in west Mosul, Monday, April 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)

On Tuesday, special forces Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi told The Associated Press that the sprawling al-Tanek neighborhood was now "fully liberated and under full control" of the security forces. Al-Saadi did not provide more details.

To the east of al-Tanek, Iraqi forces have been facing tough resistance from IS in Mosul's Old City, an area that stretches along the Tigris River, which divides Mosul into its eastern and western half. The Old City's narrow alleys and densely populated areas have made it hard for troops to move forward.

Also Tuesday, the government-sanctioned paramilitary troops, made up mainly of Shiite militiamen, launched a new push to retake the town of Hatra to the south of Mosul. The force's spokesman, Ahmed al-Asadi, said the operation is being conducted from three directions with aerial support from the Iraqi Air Force. Al-Asadi did not elaborate.

Hatra is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site of the same name that was destroyed by IS as part of the militant's efforts to demolish archaeological sites in and around Mosul. The extremists consider the priceless archaeological treasures - some dating back as far as 3,000 B.C. - as idolatry but have at the same time smuggled and sold many looted artifacts to fund their war.

Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014, along with large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

Mosul residents flee their homes as Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State group in a street to street fight in west Mosul, Monday, April 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)

Mosul residents flee their homes as Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State group in a street to street fight in west Mosul, Monday, April 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)
PARIS (AP) - French far-right presidential contender Marine Le Pen has called for more food to be produced and consumed in the country known as the gastronomic center of the Western world.

Le Pen, visiting the Rungis wholesale market outside Paris on Tuesday, said the French government must promote meat from France.

"Let's promote the 'eating French' especially in (school) canteens where our children must take advantage of healthy, quality products," she said.

Marine Le Pen, National Front political party candidate for French 2017 presidential election, visits the meat pavilion at the Rungis international food market, near Paris, France, during her campaign, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Charles Platiau/Pool Photo via AP)

Le Pen was booed by some workers in the fruits and vegetables section.

The National Front leader is facing pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron in France's May 7 presidential runoff.

But even presidential candidates sometimes have to face criticism from the family.

Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, told France Inter radio Tuesday that he thinks his daughter has produced a "too laid-back" campaign. He said in her position, he would have done a "Trump-style" campaign that would have been "very aggressive against those who are responsible for the country's decadency."

He still supports her candidacy in the presidential runoff.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, who repeatedly has been convicted of crimes based on anti-Semitism and racism, founded the National Front party that his daughter now leads but the two have had strong political disagreements at times.

In 2015, his daughter pushed him out of the party because he had refused to desist from anti-Semitic provocations that were undermining both her bid to become French president and her bid to make the National Front an acceptable political alternative.

Marine Le Pen, National Front political party candidate for French 2017 presidential election, visits the meat pavilion at the Rungis international food market, near Paris, France, during her campaign, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Charles Platiau/Pool Photo via AP)

Marine Le Pen, National Front political party candidate for French 2017 presidential election, visits the meat pavilion at the Rungis international food market, near Paris, France, during her campaign, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Charles Platiau/Pool Photo via AP)

Marine Le Pen, left, French National Front political party candidate for French 2017 presidential election, speaks with employees as she visits the meat pavilion at the Rungis international food market, near Paris, during her campaign, France, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Charles Platiau/Pool Photo via AP)

Marine Le Pen, National Front political party candidate for French 2017 presidential election, visits the meat pavilion at the Rungis international food market, near Paris, during her campaign, France, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Charles Platiau/Pool Photo via AP)

French far right leader and presidential candidate Marine le Pen, right, attends a ceremony for slain police officer Xavier Jugele, in the courtyard of the Paris Police headquarters, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. France's top officials and presidential candidates are attending a national ceremony to honor the police officer killed by an Islamic extremist on the Champs-Elysees. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine le Pen arrives for a national homage to killed police officer Xavier Jugele, in the courtyard of the Paris Police headquarters, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. A gunman shot and killed Jugele last Thursday on the famed Champs-Elysees just days before the first round of the French presidential vote. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine le Pen waits before a national homage to slain police officer Xavier Jugele, in the courtyard of the Paris Police headquarters, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. A gunman shot and killed Jugele last Thursday on the famed Champs-Elysees just days before the first round of the French presidential vote. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine le Pen arrives for a national homage to killed police officer Xavier Jugele, in the courtyard of the Paris Police headquarters, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. A gunman shot and killed Jugele last Thursday on the famed Champs-Elysees just days before the first round of the French presidential vote. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine le Pen arrives for a national homage to killed police officer Xavier Jugele, in the courtyard of the Paris Police headquarters, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. A gunman shot and killed Jugele last Thursday on the famed Champs-Elysees just days before the first round of the French presidential vote. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, center, next to Mourad Franck Papazian, left, co-president of France's Armenian Organizations Coordination Council (CCAF), prepares to lay a wreath during a ceremony marking 102nd anniversary of the slaying of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in a brief ceremony, Monday April 24, 2017 in Paris. Macron, a centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff of the presidential election. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, center, enters his car after a ceremony marking 102nd anniversary of the slaying of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in a brief ceremony, Monday April 24, 2017 in Paris. Macron, a centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff of the presidential election. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, center, next to Mourad Franck Papazian, left, co-president of France's Armenian Organizations Coordination Council (CCAF), right, pay respect during a ceremony marking 102nd anniversary of the slaying of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in a brief ceremony, Monday April 24, 2017 in Paris. Macron, a centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff of the presidential election. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

In this photo combination, French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron waves before he addresses his supporters at his election day headquarters in Paris, Sunday April 23, 2017, left, and far-right candidate for the presidential election Marine Le Pen waves at supporters after she delivers a speech during a meeting in Bordeaux, southwestern France, Sunday, April 2, 2017, right. (AP Photo/ Christophe Ena/ Bob Edme)

FILE - In this Monday, April 17, 2017 file photo, far-right candidate for the presidential election Marine Le Pen speaks during a campaign meeting in Paris. They could hardly be more different: Pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron is facing anti-immigration, anti-EU Marine Le Pen in France's presidential runoff May 7. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, file)

FILE - In this Sunday April 23, 2017 file photo, French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron waves before addressing his supporters at his election day headquarters in Paris. They could hardly be more different: Pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron is facing anti-immigration, anti-EU Marine Le Pen in France's presidential runoff May 7. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, file)

French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron pays repect during a ceremony marking 102nd anniversary of the slaying of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in a brief ceremony, Monday April 24, 2017 in Paris. Macron, a centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff of the presidential election. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron pays respect during a ceremony marking 102nd anniversary of the slaying of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in a brief ceremony, Monday April 24, 2017 in Paris. Macron, a centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff of the presidential election. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron pays respect during a ceremony marking 102nd anniversary of the slaying of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in a brief ceremony, Monday April 24, 2017 in Paris. Macron, a centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff of the presidential election. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, center, next to Mourad Franck Papazian, left, co-president of France's Armenian Organizations Coordination Council (CCAF), right, arrives for a ceremony marking 102nd anniversary of the slaying of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in a brief ceremony, Monday April 24, 2017 in Paris. Macron, a centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff of the presidential election. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Marine Le Pen, National Front political party candidate for French 2017 presidential election, poses for a selfie with employees as she visits the Rungis international food market, near Paris, France, during her campaign, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Charles Platiau/Pool Photo via AP)

French far right leader and presidential candidate Marine le Pen, right, adjusts her hair during a ceremony for slain police officer Xavier Jugele, in the courtyard of the Paris Police headquarters, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. France's top officials and presidential candidates are attending a national ceremony to honor the police officer killed by an Islamic extremist on the Champs-Elysees. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union's competition watchdog says investigators have launched surprise inspections at a number of Swedish mobile telecoms companies amid concerns over a possible cartel.

The European Commission said that Tuesday's inspections are a first step in the investigation of anti-competitive practices. It did not name any of the companies targeted.

The inspections are helping to establish whether "Swedish mobile network operators may have engaged in anti-competitive conduct preventing entry into the consumer segment of the Swedish mobile telecommunications market, in breach of EU antitrust rules."

The Commission noted that the surprise inspections do not mean the companies are guilty of any misconduct. No deadline has been set to end the probe.
BERLIN (AP) - The Latest on Ivanka Trump's trip to Berlin (all times local):

6:10 p.m.

Ivanka Trump has visited the Holocaust memorial in the German capital, meeting with the director at the information center before walking slowly through the downtown Berlin monument.

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, touches a stllee when visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe after she participated in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool)

Crowds of people snapped cellphone photos and yelled out "Hi, how are you?" as Trump entered the center to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe for a short visit Tuesday.

President Donald Trump's daughter walked slowly through the undulating grounds filled with concrete slabs, along with U.S. Embassy personnel. She was flanked by a strong police guard keeping tourists and others at a distance.

She paused occasionally to look at the slabs, meant to symbolize the chaos of the Holocaust, and donned sunglasses before emerging on the other side of the monument to a crush of cameras and onlookers.

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4:30 p.m.

Ivanka Trump is visiting a training center in Berlin run by German industrial conglomerate Siemens.

Trump was greeted at the facility Tuesday by Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser- one of three German business leaders who took part in a discussion event organized by Trump in Washington in March on how companies can better train workers. That event was also attended by President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Trump has been a vocal advocate for policies benefiting working women and vocational training.

Germany is proud of its vocational training system. Siemens says it currently has some 12,000 young people worldwide, including 9,000 in Germany, in "two-track" programs that combine study with practical training.

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2:35 p.m.

Ivanka Trump says she's still "rather unfamiliar" with the role of first daughter and is stressing that, as a White House adviser, she doesn't represent her business.

Trump stepped away from running her fashion brand to take the unpaid White House role. At a panel discussion in Berlin on Tuesday, the moderator asked whether she represents President Donald Trump, the American people or her business.

Ivanka Trump replied: "Certainly not the latter, and I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, as it is quite new to me." She added that "it has been a little under 100 days but it has just been a remarkable, incredible journey."

Trump said of her relationship with the president that "we're very aligned in many, many areas and that's why he's encouraged me to fully lean into this opportunity and come into the White House."

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2:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump has tweeted that he's proud of his daughter's leadership on improving women's place in the economy.

Ivanka Trump, who is a White House adviser, was speaking Tuesday in Berlin at the W20 Summit, a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries. Ahead of the trip, she co-authored an opinion piece in the Financial Times calling for more global efforts to invest in women's economic empowerment.

President Trump tweeted that article Tuesday, adding: "Proud of @IvankaTrump for her leadership on these important issues. Looking forward to hearing her speak at the W20!"

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2 p.m.

Ivanka Trump says she is "listening and learning" to define how she can help advance women's economic empowerment in the U.S. and beyond.

Trump, the first daughter and a White House adviser, said during an appearance alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others at a panel discussion in Berlin on Tuesday that she was "humbled to be here with so many formidable leaders."

Trump says she plans "to bring the advice, to bring the knowledge, back to the United States, back to both my father and the president - and hopefully that will bring about incremental, positive change. And that is my goal."

Trump is speaking at the W20 Summit, a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries.

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1:55 p.m.

Ivanka Trump is defending her father's stance toward women and calling him "a tremendous champion of supporting families."

Asked about President Donald Trump's past attitudes toward women, the White House adviser told a conference in Berlin: "I've certainly heard the criticism from the media, and that's been perpetuated."

But she added that her own personal experience and that of the women who have worked with and for Trump for decades "are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man."

She said her father "encouraged me and enabled me to thrive. I grew up in a house where there was no barrier to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity."

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9:30 a.m.

Ivanka Trump is in Berlin on her first international outing as a White House adviser, where she will join German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss ways to encourage women's economic empowerment.

Trump and Merkel are on a panel discussion Tuesday as part of the W20 Summit, a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries, entitled "Inspiring women: Scaling up women's entrepreneurship."

Trump will also visit a technology college run by the Siemens company and go to the German capital's memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis.

Trump stepped away from running her fashion brand to take a role as an unpaid White House adviser in her father's administration. She has spent time talking about women's empowerment, often at White House forums and roundtables.

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, talks to a trainee when visiting the Siemens Technik Akademie after she participated in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, looks at a device when visiting the Siemens Technik Akademie after she participated in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for the W20 summit in Berlin, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, from left, discuss during a panel of the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The conference aims at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs.before participating in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, from left, talk during a panel at the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The conference aims at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, left, arrives with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, right, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, at the Woman 20 Dialogue summit for the empowerment of women in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)

Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, from left, jokingly raise their hands to support that they consider German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, being a feminist during a panel at the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The conference aims at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives to participate in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The conference aims at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a panel of the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The conference aims at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs.before participating in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a panel of the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. The conference aims at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs.before participating in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, center, is surrounded by police and security when visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Trump has brushed aside groans and hisses over her father's track record with women as she made her first international outing as a White House adviser at a high-profile meeting in Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, center, is surrounded by police and security as she visits the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Trump has brushed aside groans and hisses over her father's track record with women as she made her first international outing as a White House adviser at a high-profile meeting in Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, center, is surrounded by police and security as she visits the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Trump has brushed aside groans and hisses over her father's track record with women as she made her first international outing as a White House adviser at a high-profile meeting in Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump walks through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, at the Holocaust Memorial during a visit in Berlin, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Trump has brushed aside groans and hisses over her father's track record with women as she made her first international outing as a White House adviser at a high-profile meeting in Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, center left, is surrounded by police, media and spectators as she visits the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Tuesday, April 25, 2017 Trump has brushed aside groans and hisses over her father's track record with women as she made her first international outing as a White House adviser at a high-profile meeting in Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, center left, is surrounded by police, media and spectators as she visits the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Trump has brushed aside groans and hisses over her father's track record with women as she made her first international outing as a White House adviser at a high-profile meeting in Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, center is surround by police and spectators as she leaves the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, at the Holocaust Memorial during a visit in Berlin, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Trump has brushed aside groans and hisses over her father's track record with women as she made her first international outing as a White House adviser at a high-profile meeting in Berlin. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, walks between stellees when visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe after she participated in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, walks between stellees when visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe after she participated in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, walks between stellees when visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe after she participated in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, walks between stellees when visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe after she participated in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool)

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of U.S. President Donald Trump, walks between stellees when visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe after she participated in the W20 Summit in Berlin Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool)
VARNER, Ark. (AP) - After going nearly 12 years without executing an inmate, Arkansas now has executed three in a few days - including two in one night.

Jack Jones and Marcel Williams received lethal injections on the same gurney Monday night, just about three hours apart. It was the first double execution in the United States since 2000.

While Jones, 52, was executed on schedule, shortly after 7 p.m., attorneys for Williams, 46, convinced a federal judge minutes later to briefly delay his execution over concerns about how the earlier one was carried out. They claimed Jones "was moving his lips and gulping for air," an account the state's attorney general denied, but the judge lifted her stay about an hour later and Williams was pronounced dead at 10:33 p.m.

FILE - This combination of undated file photos provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmates Jack Jones, left, and Marcel Williams. The two Arkansas inmates scheduled to be put to death Monday, April 24, 2017, in what could be the nation's first double execution in more than 16 years have asked an appeals court to halt their lethal injections because of poor health. (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP, File)

In the emergency filing, Williams' attorneys wrote that officials spent 45 minutes trying to place an IV line in Jones' neck before placing it elsewhere. It argued that Williams, who weighs 400 pounds, could have faced a "torturous" death because of his weight.

Intravenous lines are placed before witnesses are allowed access to the death chamber.

An Associated Press reporter who witnessed the execution said Jones moved his lips briefly after the midazolam was administered, and officials put a tongue depressor in his mouth intermittently for the first few minutes. His chest stopped moving two minutes after they checked for consciousness, and he was pronounced dead at 7:20 p.m.

Asked why Jones' lips moved, Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves said he understood that the inmate was apologizing to the department director, Wendy Kelley, and thanking her for the way she treated him.

Williams was already in the death chamber when the temporary stay was issued. He was escorted out of the chamber and used the restroom, then was brought back in after the stay was lifted.

Initially, Gov. Asa Hutchinson scheduled four double executions over an 11-day period in April. The eight executions would have been the most by a state in such a compressed period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The state said the executions needed to be carried out before its supply of one lethal injection drug expires on April 30.

Besides the two executions Monday, Arkansas put to death one other inmate last week and has a final one scheduled for Thursday. Four others have been blocked.

Before last week, Arkansas hadn't had an execution since 2005 or a double execution since 1999.

Jones, who'd argued that his health conditions could lead to a painful death, gave a lengthy last statement. His final words were: "I'm sorry."

"I hope over time you can learn who I really am and I am not a monster," he said in the roughly 2-minute statement.

Williams declined to make a final statement.

Jones was sent to death row for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. He strangled her with the cord to a coffee pot.

He was also convicted of attempting to kill Phillips' 11-year-old daughter and was convicted in another rape and killing in Florida.

Jones said earlier this month that he was ready for execution. He used a wheelchair and he'd had a leg amputated in prison because of diabetes.

Williams' "morbid obesity makes it likely that either the IV line cannot be placed or that it will be placed in error, thus causing substantial damage (like a collapsed lung)," his attorneys wrote in an earlier court filing asking justices to block the execution.

Both men were served last meals on Monday afternoon, according to Graves, the corrections department spokesman. Jones had fried chicken, potato logs with tartar sauce, beef jerky bites, three candy bars, a chocolate milkshake and fruit punch. Williams had fried chicken, banana pudding, nachos, two sodas and potato logs with ketchup, Graves said.

In recent pleadings before state and federal courts, the inmates said the three drugs Arkansas uses to execute prisoners - midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride - could be ineffective because of their poor health.

Williams weighed 400 pounds, was diabetic and had concerns that the execution team might not be able to find a suitable vein to support an intravenous line.

The poor health of both men, their lawyers claimed, could make it difficult for them to respond during a consciousness check following a megadose of midazolam. The state shouldn't risk giving them drugs to stop their lungs and hearts if they aren't unconscious, they have told courts.

The last state to put more than one inmate to death on the same day was Texas, which executed two killers in August 2000. Oklahoma planned a double execution in 2014 but scrapped plans for the second one after the execution of Clayton Lockett went awry.

Arkansas executed four men in an eight-day period in 1960. The only quicker pace included quadruple executions in 1926 and 1930.

Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas.

Authorities said Williams abducted and raped two other women in the days before he was arrested in Errickson's death. Williams admitted responsibility to the state Parole Board last month.

"I wish I could take it back, but I can't," Williams told the board.

In a letter earlier this month, Jones said he was ready to be killed by the state. The letter, which his attorney read aloud at his clemency hearing, went on to say: "I shall not ask to be forgiven, for I haven't the right."

Including Jones and Williams, nine people have been executed in the United States this year, four in Texas, three in Arkansas and one each in Missouri and Virginia. Last year, 20 people were executed, down from 98 in 1999 and the lowest number since 14 in 1991, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

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Associated Press writers Jill Bleed contributed to this report from Little Rock.

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Follow Andrew DeMillo at www.twitter.com/ademillo and Kelly P. Kissel at www.twitter.com/kisselap

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmate Marcel Williams who is one of two Arkansas killers set to die Monday, April 24, 2017, in the nation's first double execution in more than 16 years. Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas. (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) - Former U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power is writing a memoir about her transition from writing a Pulitzer Prize-winning condemnation of foreign policy to becoming a leading public advocate for the government.

Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that it had acquired Power's "The Education of an Idealist." A release date has not yet been determined.

Before serving in the Obama administration, Power was known for the 2003 book, "A Problem from Hell," a Pulitzer winner that had condemned the United States for failing to prevent human rights abuses in Bosnia, Rwanda and other parts of the world. In her new work, she will write about her efforts to live up to her own ideals as the country's United Nations representative from 2013-2017 and a national security and human rights official during President Barack Obama's first term, 2009-2013.

FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 19, 2016, file photo, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speaks to reporters after a Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters. Power is writing a memoir about her transition from Pulitzer Prize-winning critic of foreign policy to a leading government official. Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing, told The Associated Press on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, that it had acquired Power's "The Education of an Idealist." (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

"Making the transition from critic of U.S. foreign policy to U.S. government official was not easy, but public service proved the most gratifying experience of my life," Power, now a professor at Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School, said in a statement. "I am looking forward to stepping back to explore the highs and lows, and to share ideas for how, even in troubled times, we can each do our part to shape a more humane future."

A former journalist for U.S. News & World Report and other publications, Power was an Obama adviser during the 2008 campaign who made news for calling Obama's leading primary opponent, Hillary Clinton, a "monster." The two soon became colleagues. Clinton would become secretary of state under Obama and she and Power would support intervention in Libya, while as UN ambassador Power clashed with Russia over its military actions in Syria and Ukraine. But she and the Obama administration were criticized for not calling the Turkish slaughter of Armenians a century ago an act of genocide, which Turkey has refused to acknowledge. On Monday, Power apologized in a pair of tweets.

"Almost every Armenian-American family was touched in some way by the genocide. Ongoing Turkish denial makes the genocide an open wound," she wrote. "I am very sorry that, during our time in office, we in the Obama administration did not recognize the #Armenian Genocide."

Power is the latest Obama official to reach a book deal since the administration ended in January. Others workings on memoirs include Barack and Michelle Obama; former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden; and former Secretary of State John Kerry.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - Firefighters are still dousing hot spots after a massive fire at a seven-story apartment building under construction near the University of Maryland.

News outlets report that firefighters are working Tuesday to keep the fire that consumed the roof of the College Park building the size of a city block from flaring up again.

Prince George's County Fire/EMS officials estimate the loss at $39 million and say the cause is under investigation. They say it's the largest loss estimate in the department's history.

A view of Route 1 south as smoke fills the air while firefighters from several jurisdictions battle a five-alarm fire at the Fuse 47 apartment and commercial building which was under construction at the time on Monday, April 24, 2017 in College Park, Md. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via AP)

More than 200 firefighters and medics were called to the scene after the blaze broke out Monday morning and it wasn't considered under control until mid-afternoon.

Thick smoke closed the nearby campus early and residents of a neighboring apartment building were relocated until evening.
ELLINGTON, Conn. (AP) - Police in Connecticut have cited Fitbit records in an arrest warrant for a 40-year-old man charged with killing his wife in 2015.

Richard Dabate (DAH-bayt) faces murder, tampering with evidence and making a false statement charges in the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Connie Dabate on Dec. 23, 2015.

Authorities say the 40-year-old Dabate told them a masked man had entered their home, shot his wife and tied him up before he burned the intruder with a torch. But the New York Daily News reports (http://nydn.us/2oHT1Nj ) Connecticut State Police wrote in an arrest warrant that Connie Dabate's Fitbit was logging steps after the time Richard Dabate told them she was killed.

FILE - In this Monday, April 17, 2017, file photo, Richard Dabate, center, appears with attorneys Hubie Santos, left, and Trent LaLima, right, while being arraigned, in Rockville Superior Court in Vernon, Conn. Authorities said Dabate told them a masked man had entered their home Dec. 23, 2015, shot his wife and tied him up before he burned the intruder with a torch. But the New York Daily News reported the Connecticut State Police wrote in an arrest warrant that his wife's Fitbit was logging steps after the time Dabate told them she was killed. (Mark Mirko/Hartford Courant via AP, Pool, File)

Dabate's bail was set at $1 million last week. His lawyer told the Hartford Courant that his client maintains his innocence.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google has sprinkled some new ingredients into its search engine in an effort to prevent bogus information and offensive suggestions from souring its results.

The changes have been in the works for four months, but Google hadn't publicly discussed most of them until now. The announcement in a blog post Tuesday reflects Google's confidence in a new screening system designed to reduce the chances that its influential search engine will highlight untrue stories about people and events, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "fake news."

"It's not a problem that is going to go all the way to zero, but we now think we can stay a step ahead of things," said Ben Gomes, Google's vice president of engineering for search.

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 23, 2010, file photo, the Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Brussels. Google has sprinkled some new ingredients into its search engine in an effort to prevent bogus information and offensive suggestions from souring its results. Most of the changes announced Tuesday, April 25, 2017, are designed to reduce the chances that its influential search engine will highlight untrue stories about people and events, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "fake news." Besides trying to block fake news, Google has reprogrammed a popular feature to omit derogatory search suggestions. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

CORRECTING AUTOCOMPLETE

Besides taking steps to block fake news from appearing in its search results, Google also has reprogrammed a popular feature that automatically tries to predict what a person is looking for as a search request as being typed. The tool, called "autocomplete," has been overhauled to omit derogatory suggestions, such as "are women evil," or recommendations that promote violence.

Google also adding a feedback option that will enable users to complain about objectionable autocomplete suggestions so a human can review the wording.

Facebook, where fake news stories and other hoaxes have widely circulated on its social network, also has been trying to stem the tide of misleading information by working with The Associated Press and other news organizations to review suspect stories and set the record straight when warranted. Facebook also has provided its nearly 2 billion users ways to identify posts believed to contain false information, something that Google is now allowing users of its search engine to do for some of the news snippets featured in its results.

WHY GOOGLE CARES

Google began attacking fake news in late December after several embarrassing examples of misleading information appeared near the top of its search engine. Among other things, Google's search engine pointed to a website that incorrectly reported then President-elect Donald Trump had won the popular vote in the U.S. election , that President Barack Obama was planning a coup and that the Holocaust never occurred during World War II.

Only about 0.25 percent of Google's search results were being polluted with falsehoods, Gomes said. But that was still enough to threaten the integrity of a search engine that processes billions of search requests per day largely because it is widely regarded as the internet's most authoritative source of information.

"They have a lot riding on this, reputation wise," said Lucy Dalglish, who has been tracking the flow of false information as dean of the University of Maryland's journalism department. "If your whole business model is based turning up the best search results, but those results turn up stuff that is total crap, where does that get you?"

To address the problem, Google began revising the closely guarded algorithms that generate its search with the help of 10,000 people who rate the quality and reliability of the recommendations during tests. Google also rewrote its 140-page book of rating guidelines that help the quality-control evaluators make their assessments.

GOOGLE AS REFEREE

Fighting fake news can be tricky because in some cases what is viewed as being blatantly misleading by one person might be interpreted as being mostly true by another. If Google, Facebook or other companies trying to block false information err in their judgment calls, they risk being accused of censorship or playing favorites.

But doing nothing to combat fake news would probably have caused even bigger headaches.

If too much misleading information appears in Google's search results, the damage could go beyond harm to its reputation for reliability. It could also spook risk-averse advertisers, who don't want their brands tied to content that can't be trusted, said Larry Chiagouris, a marketing professor at Pace University in New York.

"Fake news is careening out of control in some people's eyes, so advertisers are getting very skittish about it," Chiagouris said. "Anything Google can do to show it is trying to put a lid on it and prevent it from getting out of hand, it will be seen as a good thing."

Although it also sells ads on its other services and independently owned websites, Google still makes most of its money from the marketing links posted alongside its search results. Google says its new approach isn't meant to placate advertisers.
BRUSSELS (AP) - The head of a Hungary-based university founded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros appealed Tuesday for European Union support to fight a new law he says is aimed at shutting the school down.

"My institution has a gun pointed to its head," Central European University President Michael Ignatieff told lawmakers, academics and reporters at the European Parliament, a day before Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses the assembly in Brussels.

Hungary's new higher education law was approved earlier this month and is set to enter force in October. Ignatieff said it means that his campus in Budapest might not be able to accept new students after Jan. 1.

"This would be the first time since 1945 in Europe that a member state of the European Union sought to close down a free university," he said, alongside representatives of the five biggest political groups in the parliament.

Orban says the CEU is "cheating" because it issues diplomas accepted both in the United States and in Hungary, where it has been operating since 1993. The university is accredited in New York state but has no campus there.

Orban says this gives CEU an unfair advantage over other Hungarian universities, but has denied that he wants to shut it down. Ignatieff says around 30 U.S. universities abroad do not have campuses at home, including in Cairo, Beirut and Central Asia.

The Hungarian leader will face his critics in the assembly on Wednesday as EU lawmakers debate concerns about his country, including a "Let's Stop Brussels" campaign aimed at highlighting what he says is an EU power grab aimed at limiting the rights of member countries.

The university dispute is part of a wider government campaign against Soros. Orban claims Soros is undermining Hungarian interests because of his support for migrants. Tens of thousands of people have crossed into and through Hungary, and Orban is determined to stop more coming.

Top European Commission officials will meet with Soros in Brussels later this week. Soros will be received by EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and First Vice-President Frans Timmermans. Timmermans also will address the lawmakers Wednesday just before Orban speaks.

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Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary contributed to this report.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A white principal of a predominantly black elementary school who told her staff to put white students in the same classrooms is no longer at the Florida school.

Christine Hoffman requested a transfer off the Campbell Park Elementary School campus in St. Petersburg on Monday while district officials review her tenure.

The Tampa Bay Times (http://bit.ly/2qaiO0W ) reports that Hoffman's email included detailed instructions for deciding classroom rosters.

The instructions required classrooms to have students of mixed reading levels to be together, an equal number of boys and girls, no more than two students who are known to misbehave per class and said "white students should be in the same class."

Hoffman later apologized in writing for what she called "poor judgment."

In a letter to parents, Hoffman wrote that she had intended that there not be a class with only one white student. Of the school's 606 students, 49 are white.

"I was not asking that all white students in each grade be clustered, as that is not our practice in creating class lists," she wrote. "I understand how racially insensitive the guideline was."

Asked by parents during a meeting Monday why she wanted students grouped by skin color, she said she wanted students to feel more comfortable, according to community member Denise Ford.

Parents are responding by calling for her resignation.

"The parents said that as black people we are used to being the only black person in the classroom and no one is making sure we are comfortable," said Ford, who attended the meeting and recounted Hoffman's conversation with parents. "The parents were not accepting of any excuse. We accept your apology, but you have to go."

The Pinellas County School District currently is being investigated by the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Education, which is examining whether the district disproportionately disciplines black students and doesn't give them equal access to teachers, curriculum and other resources.

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Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com.
APOPKA, Fla. (AP) - Wildlife officials are warning residents of a Florida suburb to stay away from wild monkeys that have been spotted in the neighborhood.

A rhesus monkey was spotted last weekend in the Orlando suburb of Apopka.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials are asking residents to stay away from the monkey and to call a hotline if the animal if spotted again.

The Orlando Sentinel (http://bit.ly/2q0PYRs ) reports that the monkeys are natives of central and South Asia and are spotted from time to time in central Florida.

The monkeys predecessors were thought to have been brought to Silver Springs State Park in the 1930s to bolster the river-cruise tourist attraction.

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Information from: Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
NEW YORK (AP) - Tyson Foods will pay $3.2 billion to add packaged sandwich maker AdvancePierre to its stable of processed food brands.

Tyson will pay $40.25 per share, a 9.8 percent premium to AdvancePierre's closing share price Monday.

Tyson Foods Inc. will also assume about $1.1 billion in debt from the Blue Ash, Ohio, company.

FILE - This Nov. 18, 2011, file photo, shows a Tyson food product, in Montpelier, Vt. Tyson Foods Inc. will pay $3.2 billion to add packaged sandwich maker AdvancePierre to its portfolio of processed and prepared food units. The move to buy AdvancePierre comes as Tyson focuses more on "protein-packed brands". On Monday, April 24, 2017, it announced that it's considering selling the Sara Lee frozen bakery business, its Kettle brand and Van's. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Tyson is shifting its portfolio to incorporate a heavier emphasis on proteins. On Monday, Tyson said that it might sell its Sara Lee frozen bakery business, its Kettle brand and Van's.

Tyson, based in Springdale, Arkansas, owns the Jimmy Dean and Ball Park brands,
LONDON (AP) - A British man has been sentenced to two years in prison for creating and selling a program used in online attacks around the world.

Adam Mudd was 16 when he created Titanium Stresser, a program that carried out more than 1.7 million "denial of service" attacks on websites including gaming platforms Minecraft and Xbox Live.

Mudd, now 20, admitted creating and selling the program, earning 386,000 pounds ($495,000) in U.S. dollars and bitcoins. He also acknowledged carrying out 594 attacks himself.

Defense lawyer Ben Cooper said Mudd, who has Asperger's syndrome, had become "lost in an alternate reality."

Judge Michael Topolski told Mudd that his activities had caused damage "from Greenland to New Zealand, from Russia to Chile." He handed down the sentence Tuesday at London's Central Criminal Court.
AMARI AIR BASE, Estonia (AP) - Two U.S. F-35 fighter jets have arrived in NATO member Estonia to take part in NATO drills as the aircraft see their first operational deployment in continental Europe.

The planes with stealth technology to avoid detection by radar landed Tuesday at the Amari air base from the Royal Air Force base in Britain.

Air Marshal Stuart Evans of NATO's Allied Air Command said the F-35s will be "the fundamentals" in the military alliance's capabilities to defend the air sovereignty of its members.

The planes are part of the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, estimated to cost around $400 billion.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Air Force deployed a fleet of F-35s, its newest and most powerful fighters, to Britain to reassure U.S. allies in the face of Russian aggression.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - White extremists, almost by nature, are seldom good at working together.

Creating consensus among white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen and the like is akin to herding rattlesnakes, given the caustic personalities often involved. Members typically get mad at each other and split, sometimes within days, resulting in the near-constant creation of new groups and a churning of both leaders and followers.

That's why it's something of a surprise that an alliance of white-power groups born in a KKK bar in Georgia is marking its first birthday. Composed of multiple extremist groups, the Nationalist Front had its anniversary Saturday.

FILE - In this April 23, 2016 file photo, a man walks during a protest at Stone Mountain Park, in Stone Mountain, Ga. Extremist groups are joining together with a shared goal for whites. A new Ku Klux Klan alliance formed in March 2017 has united chapters from around the country, and a consortium of organizations composed of white nationalists and white separatists is marking its first anniversary. Watchdog groups say white extremists typically can't work together because of jealousy and infighting. But leaders say they're united as never before. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Similarly, six Klan organizations from around the country announced a consolidation last month.

The common goal, as these alliances see it, is protecting the white race at a time when the Census Bureau projects whites will be a minority within three decades.

Watchdog groups that track hate organizations aren't impressed. They say the Nationalist Front now lists 11 member groups, about half the number it had when it was formed.

"These things never last," said Heidi Beirich, director of the hate-monitoring Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Beirich said that while white supremacists have been emboldened by President Donald Trump's election, such groups have been trying on and off for decades to merge, generally to appear larger than they really are.

But leaders say there's a difference this time: A spokesman for the Nationalist Front, Matthew Heimbach, said U.S. nationalists are trying to follow the example of far-right European groups that have learned to work together rather than bicker over ideology, theology and organizational structure.

U.S. nationalist groups have cooperated on projects such as video presentations and propaganda strategies over the last year, Heimbach said, and they worked together to support white nationalist Richard Spencer when he spoke at Auburn University earlier this month.

Originally called the Aryan National Alliance, the Nationalist Front renamed itself and dropped its use of the swastika in an attempt to broaden its appeal.

Some robe-wearing KKK members who were initially part of the Nationalist Front dropped out, and some Klan groups are now consolidating to build membership and power.

The American Alliance of Klans formed during a meeting in rural Florida in March. More Klan groups have joined since, leaders say.

Tom Larson of Delaware, imperial wizard of the East Coast Knights of the KKK, a part of the new alliance, said: "We want to see people stand up and make this country great again, like Trump is saying. We're tired of seeing white people lose everything."

None of these groups will provide membership numbers, but it's safe to say none is huge. About 100 people have registered to attend a Nationalist Front gathering this weekend in Pikeville, Kentucky, Heimbach said.

Photos from the meeting where the Klan alliance was formed showed about two dozen people in KKK robes and black uniforms giving the Nazi salute, but organizers said that was only leaders and does not represent total membership.

Both the Nationalist Front and the Alliance of Klans are but shadow of the United Klans of America, an Alabama-based group that claimed membership in the thousands in the 1960s and was blamed for the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four black girls. It was disbanded in 1987 after the Klan murder of a black man resulted in criminal convictions and a lawsuit that bankrupted the group.

The SPLC's Beirich said she is less worried about new supremacist alliances than free-standing extremist entities like The Daily Stormer, which she describes as an anti-Semitic, misogynistic, racist website that entered the real world last year by forming "book clubs" that hold local meetings.

Beirich said a single hate-based website can reach millions.

FILE -In this Feb. 3, 1948 file photo, members of the Ku Klux Klan, wearing traditional white hoods and robes, march in single file around the town square in Swainsboro, Ga., headed for a cross burning. Extremist groups are joining together with a shared goal for whites. A new Ku Klux Klan alliance formed in March 2017 has united chapters from around the country, and a consortium of organizations composed of white nationalists and white separatists is marking its first anniversary. Watchdog groups say white extremists typically can't work together because of jealousy and infighting. But leaders say they're united as never before. (AP Photo, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The driver of a stolen car who led police on a high-speed pursuit across southeast Los Angeles County on Tuesday morning was fatally shot by police after turning down a road that led to a closed gate and trying to drive toward officers.

Long Beach police officers had tried to stop the green Honda Accord shortly before 6 a.m. after receiving an indication from the Lo-Jack system that the vehicle was possibly stolen. The driver of the car refused to pull over and led officers on a high-speed chase through several cities.

Television news helicopters followed the pursuit as the car raced at extreme speeds on streets, boulevards and freeways, narrowly missing collisions with other vehicles.

At one point during the pursuit, a handgun was thrown out a window of the car. Investigators later recovered that weapon, police said.

The pursuit came to an end about an hour later in Bellflower when the car turned down a road that led to a closed gate and the driver turned back toward officers.

Police opened fire, striking the male driver, a Long Beach police spokeswoman said. The officers tried to revive the man, but he died at the scene. A male passenger in the car was uninjured and was taken into custody, she said.

Los Angeles police officers were also involved in a pursuit Tuesday morning of a stolen moving truck that drove erratically through rush-hour traffic on several freeways, narrowly missing other vehicles and at times driving in reverse along the crowded roadways.

Police had initially responded to a report of a "possible suicidal person." When police attempted to speak to the man, he stole the moving truck and led them on a pursuit, said Officer Aareon Jefferson, a Los Angeles police spokesman.

The driver was taken into custody about 40 minutes after the pursuit began when he pulled up next to another truck in the Van Nuys neighborhood and tried to hop into it.

Controversy has surrounded high-speed police pursuits in recent years with some law enforcement experts saying the benefits of potentially apprehending a fleeing suspect don't outweigh the risk of endangering police officers and the public.

The Los Angeles Times reported in November that 78 people were hurt during Los Angeles Police Department chases they had nothing to do with in 2015.

___

Associated Press writer John Antczak contributed to this report.
DALLAS (AP) - The number of police officers serving Dallas has fallen to its lowest level in about a decade while the department also is falling short of its goal for new hires, the interim police chief told a city council committee.

Chief David Pughes said Monday that the number of officers on the force is 3,077. That's down from nearly 3,700 officers some six years ago.

He said the department will be short-staffed as the summer approaches and crime generally increases.

Concerns over the failing Dallas Police and Fire Pension System have led many officers to retire at a rate faster than the department can hire and train new ones, The Dallas Morning News reports (http://bit.ly/2pe6wpf ).

Dallas so far this year has lost 244 officers, many of whom had more than 20 years of experience. Officials believe another 120 will leave by the end of September.

Pughes said he's considering hiring many of those retired officers to temporarily bolster patrol numbers.

"I'm actually excited about the possibility of bringing retirees back in whatever capacity they can work," Pughes said.

The move could be a short-term remedy in the face of fewer new hires than hoped. The department so far this year has hired just 80 officers and expects to add about 200 by year's end, far below a target of around 450, the newspaper reported.

The hiring rate is surprising in light of a surfeit of applications in the wake of the July sniper shootings during a downtown protest where five officers were killed and nine others wounded. The department said job applications more than quadrupled in the two weeks following the shootings.

David Brown, who was police chief before retiring in October, at the time had urged those protesting police actions to help change law enforcement from within by applying to become a cop.

Despite the rise in applications, a rigorous hiring and training process results in many applicants being dropped from consideration.

___

Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump's tax plan (all times local):

2 p.m.

A new congressional estimate could upend President Donald Trump's tax plan even before he releases it.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin points to a member of the media as he answers questions during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Trump is scheduled to unveil the broad outlines of a tax overhaul Wednesday. As part of the plan, he would propose a massive cut in the corporate income tax, reducing the top rate of 35 percent to 15 percent.

The official budget scorekeeper for Congress said Tuesday that even a more modest rate cut, to 20 percent, would add to long-term budget deficits - even if the tax cut is temporary.

That's a problem for Republicans because the Senate cannot pass legislation that would add to long-term budget deficits without a 60-vote majority. That means Democrats would have to support it, and Republicans and Democrats have major differences when it comes to tax reform.

___

3:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump plans to stick with his campaign pledge to slash the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, but the dramatic cut raises a problematic question for the White House: How can the president deliver the "massive" tax cut he promised without also blowing a massive hole in the budget?

A senior administration official confirmed the planned reduction to corporate rates, speaking on condition of anonymity in order discuss details of the plan the president is expected to unveil Wednesday.

Most outside economic analyses say the type of tax cuts being promoted by Trump would likely fuel even larger deficits for a federal government already projected to see its debt steadily rise.
reuters

Republicans pick up U.S. House seats from Democrats, Edison Research projects, less than half of races still not called

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Republicans have picked up a net five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives that had previously been held by Democrats with 185 of...
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - U.S. District Court Judge Max O. Cogburn didn't mince his words in describing the 2014 shooting deaths of a South Carolina couple who had been scheduled to testify in a criminal case.

"It's probably not the most brutal there ever was," Cogburn said, "but it was brutal. They were essentially executed."

He was describing the deaths of Debbie and Doug London, co-owners of a mattress store who were set to testify against the three men charged with trying to rob them. Federal prosecutors accused Jamell Cureton of orchestrating their shooting deaths and Malcolm Hartley of carrying them out.

In Cogburn's courtroom Tuesday, Cureton and Hartley received life sentences after they pleaded guilty last September to avoid a death penalty trial.

Prosecutors say Cureton and two other members of the United Blood Nation gang robbed the mattress store the Londons ran in the town of Pineville, just outside of Charlotte. At the time, police said the men fired shots at Doug London, but missed. London returned fire and hit one of the three men, against whom federal charges were filed.

In the months that followed, Cureton talked to Hartley and other gang members to plan the Londons' murders, specifically the death of Doug London because he was going to testify against Cureton in court, the U.S. Attorney's Office says.

According to court documents, Cureton described Debbie London as "collateral damage."

On Oct 23, 2014, prosecutors say one gang member drove Hartley to the Londons' home in Lake Wylie, South Carolina. They answered a knock at the door and were shot dead.

Cureton was also accused along with two others in the death of a teenager who had been lured to a local park. Cureton admitted in court that Kwamme Donqurius Clyburn was killed because they thought he was falsely claiming that he was a member of the Bloods.

Last September, Cureton and Hartley pleaded guilty to 15 federal charges between them, including murder, racketeering and assault.

Cureton took Cogburn's offer for him to address the court. He apologized to the London family and referred to his mother.

"She didn't raise me like that," he said.

"I have to deal with the consequences . . . (The Londons) didn't deserve it."

When his hearing concluded, members of Cureton's family said, "We love you, Jamell," to which he replied, "Love you, too." The family wouldn't comment to reporters after they left the courtroom, and didn't address TV reporters as they exited the courthouse under gray skies.

The attorneys for Hartley used their time in court to extol their client as "an articulate young man." His hearing was less argumentative, but more emotional than Cureton's. Hartley's mother, Leslie Chambers made a plea on her son's behalf.

"He's not a monster," said a tearful Chambers, clutching a handkerchief in her right hand. "My son, he's a wonderful guy. He loves everybody.

"I don't want my child to be in prison for the rest of my life . . . I just want him to have a chance."

By the time she finished, Chambers could barely contain her emotions, and as she returned to her seat sobbing, she said, "I don't even know what I said."

After the sentencing, Hartley only spoke to his attorneys before leaving the courtroom. His mother remained seated for a few minutes, crying as she greeted family members and friends with hugs. When the contingent left the courthouse, Chambers put a gray and white shawl over her head and refused to speak to reporters.

No one from the London family spoke at the hearings, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Greene spoke for them.

"The family is supportive of the resolution," Greene said. "They want to move on."
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia's prime minister said on Wednesday he is looking forward to meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump next week when they attend Battle of the Coral Sea commemorations in New York more than three months after their heated telephone conversation over an Obama-era refugee deal.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the May 4 visit in a statement after meeting in Afghanistan with Defense Secretary James Mattis and greeting Australian troops in the Middle East ahead of Veterans' Day commemorations on Tuesday.

"I'm delighted to travel to the United States next month to meet with President Donald J. Trump," Turnbull said.

FILE - In this Saturday, April 22, 2017, file photo, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, shakes hands with Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at Admiralty House in Sydney. Australia's prime minister said Tuesday he was looking forward to meeting face-to-face soon with President Donald Trump, three months after their heated telephone conversation over an Obama-era refugee deal. (Jason Reed/Pool Photo via AP)

Turnbull met in Sydney over the weekend with Vice President Mike Pence, whose visit was intended to smooth over any lingering hard feelings after the prime minister's contentious phone call with Trump on Jan. 28 over a refugee resettlement deal struck by the previous Obama administration.

Trump and Turnbull will mark the 75th anniversary of a World War II naval battle by visiting the USS Intrepid, a floating museum in New York.

U.S. and Australian naval and air forces fought the Japanese during the Battle of the Coral Sea, fought May 4-8, 1942.

"Australia and the United States are enduring allies. Our alliance has been forged over many decades, through times of war and times of peace, securing our nations' freedom and peace and security in the world," Turnbull said in a statement.

"My meeting with President Trump will provide an opportunity to reaffirm our alliance and the United States' engagement with the Asia-Pacific," he added.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the leaders will hold a bilateral meeting on the same day as they visit the aircraft carrier on the Hudson River. "The president looks forward to meeting the prime minister and to showcasing the enduring bonds, deep friendship and close alliance the United States has with Australia," Spicer told reporters in Washington.

John Berry, former U.S. ambassador to Australia and president of the American Australian Association, which organized the visit, said it was important that Turnbull meet Trump early in the president's term.

"Right now, Australia is side by side with the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria taking on ISIL and terrorists," Berry told Sky News television, referring to the Islamic State movement.

"The president and vice president are now keenly aware just how deep and broad this relationship is," Berry added.

Australia is unhappy with Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Under the refugee resettlement agreement, the United States will take up to 1,250 refugees that Australia houses in detention camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Trump, who campaigned on tough-on-immigration policies, was enraged by the agreement, prompting a tense phone call with Turnbull and an angry tweet in which the president dubbed the deal "dumb."

Spicer's subsequent mispronunciation of Turnbull's name as "Trumbull" did not help matters.

The fallout has left relations between the U.S. and Australia at their lowest point since the Vietnam War, when Australia's then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam criticized a series of bombings authorized by then-President Richard Nixon.

Turnbull on Tuesday left open the possibility of Australia increasing its military contribution in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. He also announced an additional 110 million Australian dollars ($83 million) over three years in humanitarian and stabilization assistance for Iraq.
Police estimate that 700,000 people showed up to the National Day of Prayer event organized by Angus Buchan in South Africa. On April 22, 2017, thousands of people flooded to a farm in Bloemfontein, located in the nations Free State, to pray for South Africa.

According to Buchan, the call to prayer came as the result of being tired of people taking the law into their own hands. We are going to call upon The Lord to bring justice, peace and hope to our beloved South Africa.

Buchan is a farmer-turned-minister who wrote a book about his life and journey to faith, titled Faith Like Potatoes. His Shalom Ministries is concerned with fulfilling the Great Commission, caring for orphans and widows, and equipping the saints for the work of ministry, according to the website.

Organizers for the massive event pulled it together in just six short weeks and estimate that 1 million people were in attendance. Aerial shots of the crowd are certainly impressive. The theme of the event was Its Time, and advertisements for the gathering featured the latter half of James 5:16: The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Bloemfontein is located in the central part of South Africa, but the event drew people from all over the country. According to an article on enca.com, the theme of Buchans message was not necessarily a feel-good message. The charismatic preacher challenged attendees to think about bettering their own nation, communities and families before they seek to save the whole world.

Sir, I have a very stern word for you word from God: Put your own house in order before you try and help somebody else. Sir, if youve got nothing good to say about South Africa, then with due respect shut up! Lets see this country change in a day, Buchan said. Although the emphasis was on prayer and interceding for the nation, enca.com says the current shaky political climate and the nations growing problem with crime were also discussed.

Several photos have emerged on social media that show the scope of the crowd.

This is a Christian country! Buchan bellowed from the stage. Jesus is Lord!
Jeremy Corbyn has pleaded with Scots to reject the vicious Tories in the forthcoming general election  which he said was a choice between the people and the powerful.

The Labour leader insisted he was fighting to win the June 8 election, pledging his party would offer an economic and political alternative to Theresa Mays Conservatives.

While the stakes were high for Britain, he said the choice facing the country could not be clearer.

Scotland: how the polls have changed.

Mr Corbyn used a visit to Scotland to make clear only his party or the Tories could form a government, with his speech in Aviemore in the Highlands focused on attacking Mrs Mays party.

Addressing the Scottish Trades Union Congress on his first visit of the campaign north of the border, he stressed Labour are standing for the many and not the few.

As a result of that, he pledged: One of the very first things we will do when forming our Labour government will be to repeal the Tory Trade Union Act, giving working people the rights to collectively organise and make their lives better, safer and more content.

Among other measures, the controversial legislation introduced by David Camerons government brought in a threshold for workers voting in strike ballots for action to be legal.

Mr Corbyn went on: While the timing of the election is unexpected, the choice is very, very clear and the stakes are very, very high. Let no-one be in any doubt: we are in this election to win it and we will fight for every seat in every corner of this islands.

The dividing lines in this election could not be clearer from the outset  it is the Conservative Party, the party of privilege and the richest, versus the Labour Party, the party that is standing up for working people to improve the lives of all. That is the real choice.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses the STUC in Aviemore (Jane Barlow/PA)

Only us or the Tories can form a government and I implore people in Scotland to fight for the party of progress and not the vicious Tory party, who alongside their previous coalition partners the Lib Dems unleashed an unprecedented attack on the working people in this country.

Mr Corbyn said Scots are facing a crucial choice in this election, adding the Tories are trying to use Brexit to turn Britain into a low-wage tax haven run in the interests of the powerful.

He insisted: Friends, this is a general election, its not a referendum, and only Labour can form a government and offer an alternative that will transform the lives of people in Scotland.

His speech came just after an opinion poll in Scotland put support for Labour at 13%, compared to 33% for the Tories and 44% for Nicola Sturgeons SNP. Labour currently has just one MP in Scotland following the 2015 general election when an SNP tsunami saw the party win all but three of the 59 seats up for grabs.
North Korea has held major live-fire drills as it marks the anniversary of the founding of its military.

The exercise took place in an area around the Norths eastern coastal town of Wonsan, according to the South Korean military, as a US guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea amid rising tensions over Kim Jong Uns regime.

Envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea have also met in Tokyo to discuss the growing threat posed by North Koreas nuclear weapons and missiles programme.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Wong Maye-E/AP)

Experts thought North Korea might conduct a nuclear test or a ballistic missile launch to mark the anniversary, but as of Tuesday evening neither has occurred.

Crowds in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, laid flowers and paid respects at giant statues of the countrys former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, one day after the minister of defence reiterated that the North was ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any measures it deems necessary to defend itself against US imperialists.

Gen Pak Yong Sik told a meeting of thousands of senior military and civilian officials: The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the US imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression.

Soldiers carrying rockets march across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade (Wong Maye-E/AP)

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said they are closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where the drills are reportedly being held.

South Koreas Yonhap news agency said the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seouls defence ministry could not confirm these details.

The streets of Pyongyang were quiet. Floral tributes and bowing at statues and portraits of the leaders is a regular routine on major anniversaries.

People also gathered in open spaces to take part in organised dancing, another common way to mark holidays.

North Korean men and women take part in a mass dance (Eric Talmadge/AP)

Choe Un Byol, who came with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders, said: Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day.

North Korea often also marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Recent US commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Koreas nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the countrys preparation for an ICBM launch is in its final stage.

The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Cmdr Jang Wook from South Korean navy public affairs said there is no plan for a drill.

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan (Jo Jung-ho/Yonhap via AP)

The submarines arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier headed toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea.

The US 7th Fleet said two American destroyers are conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.
The UK could relinquish its right to cut post-Brexit international trade deals if it gets a good withdrawal agreement with the EU, Labour has suggested.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the option of remaining in a reformed EU customs union should be part of divorce negotiations.

What we should do is make sure we have got options on the table, not take options off the table. And the customs union is a classic example. There is anxiety across the manufacturing sector about the impact of simply walking away from the customs union.

If we leave it on the table, it may be in a year, or two years, that doesnt work  but why take options off the table before you have even started negotiations?

Pressed on whether this could mean abandoning Britains ability to cut non-EU trade deals, Sir Keir said: We have to get the right deal with the EU. We need to recognise that we have 44% of our trade with the EU. That is the number one consideration.

We are talking about the opening stance, not where we will end up. Sensible negotiations start by leaving the maximum number of options on the table.

Sir Keir said that in seeking a reformed relationship with the single market, or customs union, Labour accepted that rules on free movement of workers could not continue as immigration had been such a major factor in the Leave referendum victory.

In a speech in central London, he said he would like Parliament to have a meaningful vote on any withdrawal deal late next year, adding that a Labour government would then have time to renegotiate an agreement if MPs rejected what was on offer.

Sir Keir said there would need to be an end-date for such renegotiations, and Britain would switch to emergency transitional arrangements once it exited the EU in order to avoid an economic cliff edge if no deal was in place.

He insisted that leaving the EU without a deal would be reckless and represent the worst outcome for the UK.

EU nationals would have their right to remain in the UK guaranteed on day one of Jeremy Corbyn taking power, and the Labour leader would then seek reciprocal measures for Britons living in the rest of the bloc.

The Great Repeal Bill White Paper sets out how we will be taking control of our own laws  read more here https://t.co/cd31d9XioY pic.twitter.com/wRDoZSpf4L  Department for Exiting the EU (@DExEUgov) March 30, 2017

Sir Keir said: I am absolutely convinced that that gesture would unlock this impasse and guarantee for our citizens across the EU, exactly the same rights.

Cutting immigration will not be the main priority of a Labour governments plans for Britains future outside the European Union, he said.

We recognise that immigration rules will have to change as we exit the EU, but we do not believe that immigration should be the overarching priority.

When asked if Labour completely ruled out a second Brexit referendum, Sir Keir said he would expect transitional arrangements to lead to a final deal in five or six years time, adding: At that stage we will have left the EU three or four years earlier, and therefore the second referendum argument simply doesnt hold water.

Sir Keir Starmer makes a speech outlining Labour's approach to Brexit

Labour intends to ditch the Governments Great Repeal Bill, which Sir Keir claimed would harm protections for workers as well as environmental safeguards.

We do not believe that leaving the EU means severing our ties with Europe. We do not believe that Brexit means weakening workers rights and environmental protections or slashing corporate tax rates.

Responding to Sir Keirs speech, Brexit Secretary David Davis said: Jeremy Corbyn is too weak and floundering to get a good deal in the Brexit negotiations. A divided Labour Party, propped up by a Liberal Democrat/SNP coalition of chaos, cant even agree amongst themselves on Brexit. Putting this chaotic team in charge of negotiating with the EU would be a dangerous risk to Britains future.

Answering questions during a campaign visit to Bridgend in South Wales, Theresa May dismissed Labours Brexit proposals as nonsensical.

Theresa May speaks at the Brackla community centre in Bridgend

What weve seen today from Labour is, I think, their seventh Brexit plan. Its yet another nonsensical Jeremy Corbyn plan for the future in terms of Brexit, said Mrs May.
The Conservatives are hampering police by withholding the contents of an internal bullying inquiry, the father of a young party activist who took his own life has said.

An inquiry was launched after the death of Elliott Johnson, who campaigned for the Tories in the 2015 general election.

The party said it has released as much information without jeopardising the anonymity of witnesses, but British Transport Police, which is investigating the 21-year-olds death on a railway in Bedfordshire, said it had requested the report but had not yet received it.

And Ray Johnson said the party is not prepared to divulge what really happened during the period leading up to his sons death.

Speaking to the Press Association, the 59-year-old said: They (the Conservatives) feel they are the guardians of the truth in this matter and they are not prepared to divulge what really happened to my son, to us, or even to the police.

They are hiding behind the very scant guarantee of anonymity to the witnesses.

A law firm commissioned by the party to investigate allegations of bullying and the handling of several complaints about a key activist in the youth campaign returned its report in August.

The Conservative Party said it had released as much of the report as was possible, without publishing information that would lead to the identification of witnesses who gave evidence on condition of anonymity.

Mark Clarke (front row, left) and Elliot Johnson (second row, right) sitting on the stage during a speech at the Conservative Party annual conference (Joe Giddens/PA)

But Mr Johnson said he is not calling for names to be made public and that it is the police who are best situated to protect the anonymity of the witnesses. He said in withholding the findings, the Tories are only protecting themselves.

The police want to continue their investigation into my sons death and they are being hampered by the Conservative party and the question is why? Mr Johnson said.

I believe the Conservatives have things to hide, things which affect senior members of the Conservatives office.

Mr Johnson said a letter sent by Tory party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin last year contained assurances that Sir Patrick would assist the police in their investigation. But he later discovered the police had made several requests for the report and that these had not been complied with.

Mr Johnson was hit by a train and killed at Sandy station in Bedfordshire on September 15 2015, just weeks after making allegations about his treatment within the Tory party. Prior to the general election, he worked on a campaign to take young activists around the country in support of Conservative candidates.

Mark Clarke sitting on the stage during a speech at the Conservative Party annual conference (Joe Giddens/PA)

The Clifford Chance investigation found party activist Mark Clarke, the so-called Tatler Tory, was appointed to lead the RoadTrip campaign despite warnings of his past record of aggressive conduct.

The probe found that complaints were made about the conduct of Mr Clarke on seven occasions before the party finally mounted an investigation into his behaviour.

The report said the partys then co-chairmen Lord Feldman and Grant Shapps had not been made aware of the allegations until August 2015 when an internal party inquiry was launched.

Mr Clarke, who has always denied the allegations against him, refused to be interviewed by Clifford Chance, although his solicitors told the inquiry he was continuing to cooperate with the police and coroner investigating Mr Johnsons death.
The campaign of French presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron has been targeted by Russia-linked hackers, researchers said.

Staff with the Japanese anti-virus firm Trend Micro have added more details to previous suggestions that the centrist politician was being singled out for electronic eavesdropping by the Kremlin.

The campaigns digital chief, Mounir Mahjoubi, confirmed the attempted intrusions but said they had all been thwarted. He said: Its serious, but nothing was compromised.

Marine Le Pen speaks during a campaign meeting in Paris

Mr Macron faces far-right rival Marine Le Pen in Frances presidential run-off on May 7. Mr Macron favours a strong European Union, while Ms Le Pen wants to pull France out of the bloc, weakening it.

Trend Micro said it discovered the campaign by monitoring the creation of rogue, lookalike websites often used by hackers to trick victims into giving up their passwords. The Tokyo-based firm recently detected four Macron-themed fake domains being set up on digital infrastructure used by a group it calls Pawn Storm, according to Trend Micro researcher Feike Hacquebord.

Mr Mahjoubi confirmed that at least one of the sites had recently been used as part of an attempt to steal campaign staffers online credentials. Unmasking which group is behind spying campaigns is one of the most challenging aspects of cybersecurity, but Mr Hacquebord said he was confident Trend Micros conclusions are correct.

Emmanuel Macron celebrates as he addresses his supporters

Mr Hacquebord said: This is not a 100% confirmation, but its very, very likely. He added that the political nature of the targeting was really in line with what theyve been doing in the last two years.

Trend Micro has stopped short of accusing any country of pulling Pawn Storms strings, but American spy agencies and a variety of threat intelligence firms say that Pawn Storm, an extraordinarily prolific group also known as Fancy Bear or APT28, is an arm of Russias intelligence apparatus.

French officials have also tended to be more circumspect than their American counterparts, repeatedly declining to tie Pawn Storm to any specific body. Russian government officials have long denied claims of state-sanctioned hacking. On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying that the notion that Russian hackers were targeting the French election was completely incorrect.

French newspaper front pages reporting on the election (Laurent Rebours/AP)

Mr Mahjoubi said the attempts to penetrate the Macron campaign date back to December. In February, the campaign complained publicly of being targeted by Russia-linked electronic spying operations, although it offered no proof at the time.

Trend Micros report, which was produced independently of the Macron campaign and lists 160 electronic espionage operations across a series of targets, adds a measure of evidence to the notion, even if the fact that the rogue websites were registered in March and April does not line up with the campaigns timeline.

The French election, the first round of which Mr Macron won Sunday with just over 24% of the vote, has been closely watched for signs of digital interference of any kind. Many observers feared a repeat of the US electoral contest in 2016, when hackers allegedly backed by Moscow broke into the email inboxes of the Democratic National Committee and other political operatives.
Labour is heading for a battering at local polls just weeks before the General Election, academics have forecast.

Experts said Jeremy Corbyns party was facing a kicking in Wales in the May 4 council elections and is heading for disaster in Scotland, where it could lose control of all the local authorities it holds, as the Scottish National Party and Conservatives reap the benefits.

Meanwhile, new analysis suggested Labour could shed 75 seats in English councils after boundary changes are taken into account.

A voter makes his choice at the ballot box

Analysis by Plymouth University professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher put Conservatives on track for likely gains of around 115 councillors in the English county, unitary and metropolitan seats up for grabs next month.

Liberal Democrats, who were at a low point when the bulk of the English seats were last contested in 2013, stand to gain around 85 and have hopes of gaining control of Cornwall. But Ukip is facing near wipeout.

In Wales, Conservatives could gain 50 or more seats from a low base, but Labour looks set for a broader retreat, with councillors picked off not only by the Tories but also by Plaid Cymru, Lib Dems and independents, said Professor Roger Scully of Cardiff University.

Welsh councils to watch in the May local elections.

Having performed exceptionally the last time the Welsh seats were contested in 2012, Mr Corbyns party is likely to see losses in three figures in Wales and to lose majority control of its three major cities, Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, said Prof Scully.

Its very likely we will see Labour lose more council seats in Wales than in the whole of England, he told a briefing hosted by the Political Studies Association in London.

Labour are likely to get another kicking in the local elections in Wales.

Strathclyde Universitys Professor John Curtice said it was difficult to predict numbers of councillors because of the complicated proportional voting system north of the border.

The Labour vote has been collapsing, and if you look at some of the by-elections in Glasgow its been horrendous, Prof Curtice said.

Next weeks council elections: The Conservative / Labour battlegrounds  Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire https://t.co/gAk39om57d  ConservativeHome (@ConHome) April 25, 2017

Councils to watch, according to the academics:

 The only county held by Labour; vulnerable to a Tory surge.

 Minority Labour administration; Tories need seven gains to take control.

 Ukip retreat could see Tories take back overall control which it lost in 2013.

 A 2% swing in favour of Lib Dems could deprive Tories of overall control.

 A long shot for Tories to seize overall control.

 Labour rule under pressure from both Tories and Lib Dems.

 The Scottish National Party upsurge since the seats were last contested in 2012 suggests a changing of the guard at City Hall, held by Labour since 1995.
Ukips foreign affairs spokesman has quit his post in protest at leader Paul Nuttalls plans to ban the burka.

Mr Nuttall has sparked widespread controversy with his proposal to outlaw the full-face veil worn by some Muslim women, as well as banning sharia law and forcing girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) to face regular medical checks.

Announcing that he was resigning as the partys foreign and Commonwealth affairs spokesman, West Midlands MEP James Carver described the policy as incompatible with his desire to represent all of his constituents and to seek a global perspective for the United Kingdom.

It is with regret that I announce my resignation as @UKIP's Foreign & Commonwealth affairs spokesman.https://t.co/IngCFkghkZ  James Carver (@JamesJimCarver) April 25, 2017

Mr Nuttalls so-called integration strategy had already been panned by former Ukip donor Arron Banks, who accused him of going to war with Muslim communities.

But deputy leader Peter Whittle defended the strategy, saying: The burka is not something in the Koran, its not specified by the Koran, its a cultural practice, FGM is a cultural practice.

Mr Carver said he strongly disagreed with a policy he regarded as misguided.

James Carver (Peter Byrne/PA)

I would be one of the first to condemn a ban on wearing a crucifix as an infringement of liberty, said Mr Carver. No-one has the right to dictate what people should wear.

When facial identification is necessary, such as at passport controls, or in a bank, then it is perfectly reasonable to order the removal of veils  as is the practice  but in a free and liberal society, people have a right to their religious beliefs, and to dress as they see fit.

Mr Carver said he stepped down as party spokesman with deep regret, but added: I feel this policy undermines my desire to represent all communities within the West Midlands, including the many British Muslims who, I know from first-hand experience, voted to leave the EU in last years referendum.

Burka (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

I have consistently spoken of my desire for a truly global perspective for the United Kingdom, outside of the European Union, and I see this policy as being incompatible with that aim.

Earlier, Mr Whittle had told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: We have talked about these issues in Ukip for many years  2010 we actually had this in our manifesto, that we should ban face coverings  not, for example the headscarf, not those sorts of things at all, just purely the face covering, because we believe that is a literal barrier to integration in our society.

We are actually in this country rather behind the curve on this, because even the biggest party in the EU has called for an EU-wide ban on this.

But Ukip was strongly condemned by the Muslim Council of Britains secretary general Harun Khan.

Peter Whittle (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

In a speech to a Muslim leadership dinner, Mr Khan was due to say: It is deeply regrettable that the UK Independence Party is singling out Muslims in the most negative terms.

This is not leadership. And it is certainly not becoming of a party seeking to represent British people.

Together with fellow Britons, Muslims will be looking for true leadership that unites our country during this time of uncertain transition and seek to represent all British people, and certainly not scapegoat some.

Bigots must not be allowed to set the terms of the debate.
Ivanka Trump drew groans and hisses from an audience in Berlin as she defended her fathers attitude towards women.

However, she brushed it aside as politics during her first overseas trip as a White House adviser.

Appearing on a high-powered panel at a conference to push for more support for women in business, Ms Trump also said she was still trying to define her place in her fathers administration.

Such a warm welcome from some of the great men, women and families serving at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. Thank you! pic.twitter.com/jbpV8XBnXg  Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 25, 2017

I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, as it is quite new to me, its been a little under 100 days, she said.

Ms Trump has been a vocal advocate for policies benefiting working women and vocational training.

However, she also has faced criticism in the United States, particularly from those who think she has done little to temper her fathers conservative agenda.

Sharing a stage with German chancellor Angela Merkel, International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde, Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland and others, Ms Trump was asked by the host whom she was representing  President Donald Trump, the American people, or her own business interests.

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of US President Donald Trump, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, from left, attend a panel at the W20 Summit in Berlin (Markus Schreiber/AP)

Certainly not the latter, Ms Trump said.

As she described her father as a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive, she drew scattered groans and hisses from the audience, prompting host Miriam Meckel to press her for a response.

You hear the reaction from the audience, so I need to address one more point: Some attitudes towards women your father has publicly displayed in former times might leave someone questioning whether he is such an empowerer for women, said Ms Meckel, the editor of a business magazine and a professor of corporate communications at a Swiss university.

Are things changing?

Ms Trump replied: Ive certainly heard the criticism from the media, and thats been perpetuated.

She added that her own personal experience and the fact that thousands of women have worked with and for Mr Trump for decades in the private sector are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man.

He encouraged me and enabled me to thrive, Ms Trump said.

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of US President Donald Trump waves when she arrives to participate in the W20 Summit in Berlin (Michael Sohn/AP)

I grew up in a house where there was no barrier to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity.

Talking later to a small group of reporters, Ms Trump said she was unfazed by Ms Meckels direct questions in a public forum.

Im used to it. Its fine, she said, and also shrugged off the audiences reaction.

Politics is politics, as Im learning, and there are many different viewpoints and people with different options and perspectives, she said.

Ms Trump, who promoted child care and family leave policies during her fathers campaign, also told reporters that child care is going to be part of comprehensive tax reform.
Voters will go to the polls on June 8 in the most important general election Britain has faced in 60 years, Theresa May insisted as she took the campaign fight to Labours Welsh heartlands.

The Prime Minister insisted she was not complacent about the outcome of the poll as she told supporters every single vote will count.

She left the door open to tax breaks for workers that would be viewed as a direct pitch to win over Labour voters in areas such as Wales.

(PA Graphics/PA)

During a visit to Bridgend, Mrs May said the General Election was the most important election this country has faced in my lifetime.

An election in which every single vote will count. A really important election for the future of this country, she said.

A vote for any other party would be a vote for a weak and failing Jeremy Corbyn propped up by a coalition of chaos which would risk our national future.

Prime Minister Theresa May

Tories have so far refused to repeat the partys 2015 manifesto pledge not to put up income tax, VAT or national insurance and Chancellor Philip Hammond has hinted it could be ditched. But the party is reportedly considering a tax sweetener for working people.

Asked about the claims, Mrs May replied: Theres a choice between a Conservative Party which always has been, is and will always be a party that believes in lower taxes.

Key announcements during the election campaign graphic

She added: The choice is between that and a Labour Party whose natural instinct is always to put up taxes.

Mrs May insisted she was not complacent about the result of the June 8 poll and warned that Mr Corbyn could defy the odds.

Jeremy Corbyn

She added: Make no mistake, it could happen. Remember the opinion polls were wrong in the 2015 general election, they were wrong in the referendum last year. Jeremy Corbyn himself has said he was a 200-1 outsider for the Labour leadership in 2015 and look where that one went. So we must not be complacent and Im not complacent.

Mrs May insisted the Conservatives would be fighting a positive campaign over the next 44 days and insisted Brexit is an opportunity to change the country for the better.

The visit to Wales comes after polling suggested the Labour Party faces a General Election meltdown there while the Tories are on course to win the majority of parliamentary seats for the first time in modern history. YouGov polling in Wales for ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff Universitys Wales Governance Centre found the Conservatives had a 10% lead on Labour and were predicted to finish with 21 seats.

Mrs May accused nationalists of propping up Labour in Wales in a deal that shows how collaboration between smaller parties could put Mr Corbyn into power.
Alleged computer hacker Lauri Love has been given the go-ahead to challenge his extradition to the US.

Authorities in America have been fighting for Mr Love, who has Asperger syndrome, to face trial on charges of cyber-hacking, which his lawyers say could mean a sentence of up to 99 years in prison if he is found guilty.

The 32-year-old, who lives with his parents near Newmarket in Suffolk, is alleged to have stolen huge amounts of data from US agencies, including the Federal Reserve, the US Army, the Department of Defence, Nasa and the FBI in a spate of online attacks in 2012 and 2013.

Lauri Love (Yui Mok/PA)

His solicitors, Kaim Todner, announced in a statement on Tuesday that they had obtained permission for Mr Love to appeal against extradition.

No date has yet been set for the challenge, which will be heard at the High Court in London.

His lawyer, Karen Todner, said in the statement: The reason permission has been granted is that the High Court acknowledge that the grounds raised some issues of great importance.

We are delighted for this news for Lauri and will continue to do everything we can to ensure prevention of his extradition to the United States of America.

Lauri Love: "Every day you wake up to some good news is a blessing" https://t.co/qRJ0dP8miZ  Courage Foundation (@couragefound) April 25, 2017

Home Secretary Amber Rudd authorised his extradition to the US last year.

The Home Office said Ms Rudd had carefully considered all relevant matters before signing an order for Mr Loves extradition.

The Home Office added that Mr Love had the right to apply to the High Court for permission to appeal against the decision of a district judge at Westminster Magistrates Court that he could be extradited to the US, and also against the subsequent decision of the Home Secretary.

It said Mr Loves forthcoming appeal was against the ruling of the district judge, and he no longer has the opportunity to appeal against the Home Secretarys decision.
The Rancho Luna Maduro is a cigar produced by JRE Tobacco Company, the vertically integrated tobacco and premium cigar operation founded by Julio R. Eiroa and his son Justo M. Eiroa. Both Julio and Justo are the father and brother of Christian Eiroa, who is best known for running Camacho Cigars before founding CLE Cigar Company. JRE Tobacco Company is a company that grows and cures its own tobacco, produces its cigars at Julio Eiroas Las Lomas factory, and handles its own distribution. The company currently produces three brands, Aladino, Tatascan, and Rancho Luna. With Rancho Luna, the brand has two offerings  a Habano and a Maduro. Today, we take a closer look at the Rancho Luna Maduro in the Robusto size. In my opinion, JRE is delivering some of the best products in the cigar industry and the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto definitely among them.

Rancho Luna originally made its debut in 2015 as a brand showcased by CLE Cigar Company. Early in 2016, Julio and Justo Eiroa formed JRE Tobacco Company and the Rancho Luna, Tatascan, and Aladino brands would follow them there. Since the sale of Camacho, Julio Eiroa has continued to own and operate the Eiroa Tobacco Farm in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras. With the launch of JRE Tobacco, Julio would once again add the hat of brand owner back to his many roles. He would also bring in his son Justo to help him run the Eiroa Tobacco Farm and JRE Tobacco.

As mentioned, Rancho Luna was originally unveiled by CLE Cigar Company. It was originally positioned as a one blend offering sold in bundle packs. Once it came under JRE Tobaccos umbrella, the brand was revamped into two new blends  a Habano and Maduro. In addition, the packaging was upgraded to boxes and new bands were introduced.

The two blends for Rancho Luna were developed by Justo and Julio Eiroa. The name pays homage to the Eiroa Tobacco Farm and in particular those evenings where there is a full moon and one can hear the howling in the wild.

Without further ado, lets break down the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The wrapper for the Rancho Luna Maduro is a San Andres Mexican maduro. The remainder of the blend consisted of tobaccos grown and cured at the Eiroa Tobacco farm. Included in the blend is Authentic Corojo  a staple tobacco of the Eiroa family.

Corojo tobacco traces its origins to Cuba and eventually made its way outside the island nation. The Corojo plant is one that has been susceptable to fungus and blue mold and as a result, it has often has had lower yields. This led to the Corojo seed falling out of favor with many growers. Many other growers have worked with hybrid versions of the Corojo plant to mitigate this fungal and mold problem  most notably Corojo 99. In 1997, former Julio R. Eiroa (who at the time owned Camacho) began to work with the Authentic Corojo seed at his Honduran farm and by the year 2000 he reintroduced the tobacco into the U.S. market with Camacho.

Wrapper: San Andres Maduro

Binder: Authentic Corojo

Filler: Habano, Authentic Corojo

Country of Origin: Honduras (Las Lomas)

Production of the cigar (including the boxes) occurs at the Eiroas Las Lomas factory located adjacent to the Eiroa Family farm.

Vitolas Available

The Rancho Luna Maduro offered in three sizes  each packaged in 20 count boxes.

Robusto: 50 x 5

Toro: 50 x 6

Gordo: 60 x 6 1/2

Appearance

The San Andres wrapper of the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto had a classic roasted coffee-bean color to it. There was a light coating of oil on the surface of the wrapper. The wrapper itself was smooth  especially for a San Andres wrapper. It had some thin visible veins and thin visible wrapper seams.

The majority of the color scheme of the band to the Rancho Luna Maduro has a black background with silver font. On the center of the band is a silver-colored wild coyote image. Just below the image is a black ribbon with the text RANCHO LUNA in silver font. There are small silver nameplates on the left and right side of the band. The left nameplate has the text HAND MADE in thin black font while the right one has the text LONG FILLER in thin black font. The remainder of the band has several silver design elements. There is also a bright red stripe on the bottom of the band.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap of the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto. Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw experience. The cold draw delivered a mix of mocha, earth and cream. I consider mocha to be a cross of chocolate and coffee notes and thats exactly what the Rancho Luna Maduro produced. Overall this cigar produced an excellent pre-light draw. At this point I was ready to light up the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The mocha notes that I detected on the pre-light draw were present at the start of the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto. In addition I also detected some generic wood notes. In the background I also picked up a subtle maduro sweetness (a cross between dried fruit and natural tobacco), and a slight black pepper note. Meanwhile I also picked up an additional layer of black pepper on the retro-hale.

Throughout the first third, the complexity from the mocha notes shined. At times it was a rich chocolate note and at other times it was a black coffee note. By the second third, the mocha and generic wood notes continued to be the dominant notes. During this part of the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto, the maduro sweetness diminished while there was a slight increase in the pepper.

By the final third, I found the black pepper on par with the mocha and wood notes. I still picked up some hints of the maduro sweetness. This is the way the smoking experience of the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto remained until the end. The resulting nub was cool in temperature and slightly soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

The Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto was a well-constructed cigar and this was reflected in both the burn and draw. The burn line, there was a slight curvature to it. This didnt prove to be problem-some as I did not find the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto to be a cigar to require excessive touch-ups. The resulting ash was silver-gray in color. This was also a cigar with a firm ash that came off the cigar in clean chunks. Meanwhile the burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

The draw to this cigar was also excellent. It had just the right amount of resistance and it was a draw that was never too loose nor too tight. This made the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

The Rancho Luna Maduro is positioned as a medium offering in the JRE Tobacco portfolio and pretty much this is where I found the Robusto size to land. This is a cigar that is medium strength from start to finish. Along the way, there was a slight increase in strength; however by the close of the cigar, I still found it to be medium.

Meanwhile the body of the Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto also started out medium. By the last third, there was a slight uptick in the body and I found the Robusto had just enough depth to fall into medium to full-bodied territory.

In terms of strength versus body, I gave a slight edge to the body.

Final Thoughts

The Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto is an outstanding cigar. Im someone who typically is underwhelmed by San Andres Maduro blends, but the Rancho Luna Maduro is one that comes through with flying colors. This is not a case where the San Andres wrapper overpowers the blend. Instead, this is a cigar that delivers a nice balance of sweetness and spice from start to finish. This is a cigar that can be enjoyed anytime of the day from a morning smoke to a nice after dinner smoke. Finally at around the $7.00 price point, you cant go wrong in terms of value.

The Rancho Luna Maduro Robusto is a cigar Id recommend to any cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I would easily smoke again.

Summary

Key Flavors: Mocha, Generic Wood, Black Pepper, Maduro Sweetness

Burn: Excellent

Draw: Excellent

Complexity: Medium

Strength: Medium

Body: Medium (1st 2/3), Medium to Full (Last Third)

Finish: Very Good

Rating

Assessment: 4.0-Box Worthy

Score: 92

References

News: JRE Tobacco Showcases Rancho Luna at 2016 IPCPR

Price: $7.00

Source: Purchased

Brand Reference: JRE Tobacco Co

Note: JRE Tobacco is a sponsor of Cigar Coop
Madeleine McCanns mother has described the 10th anniversary of her daughters disappearance as a horrible marker of time, stolen time.

In a message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, Kate McCann added: We are bracing ourselves for the next couple of weeks.

Its likely to be stressful and painful and more so given the rehashing of old stories, misinformation, half-truths and downright lies which will be doing the rounds in the newspapers, social media and special edition TV programmes.

Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from the familys holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

Kate and her husband Gerry McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have always vowed to never give up hope of finding their daughter.

In the message Mrs McCann said they couldnt even begin to consider anything in terms of years when their daughter first disappeared.

She wrote: Ten years  theres no easy way to say it, describe it, accept it. And now here we are Madeleine, our Madeleine  ten years. Most days are similar to the rest  another day. May 3rd 2017  another day. But ten years  a horrible marker of time, stolen time. However, she insisted there will always be hope.

Madeleine was last seen in 2007 (Family handout/PA)

Mrs McCann, 49, said the two themes that seem most appropriate as they reach the 10-year mark are perseverance and gratitude.

She said: We consider ourselves immensely fortunate to have received the love, solidarity and support from so many kind and decent people over the last decade.

There have been many challenges and low points along the way but the warmth, encouragement and positivity we have experienced from the quiet majority has undoubtedly sustained us and maintained our faith in human goodness. And while that is there, there will always be hope.

The post was signed by Kate and Gerry McCann (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Mrs McCann described media appearances as draining and on occasion, unhelpful to the only thing we want, finding Madeleine.

She continued: They need to have a purpose. We could spend all our time and energy trying to defend ourselves by correcting inaccuracies and lies, but then we would have no strength left to look for Madeleine, look after our other children and to live our life.

Mrs McCann expressed hope that those reporting on the story over the next couple of weeks will have a conscience.

The apartment block in Praia Da Luz, Portugal where Madeleine went missing (Steve Parsons/PA)

She said: Even if little consideration for Gerry and me is shown, they will at least bear in mind the effect such unfounded and unwarranted negativity could have on our other children  and of course Madeleine.

There is an active police investigation to try to find Madeleine and bring her abductor to justice, her mother said.

Madeleines disappearance sparked one of the most high-profile police investigations of recent times.

Scotland Yard has been assisting with the inquiry since 2011. Last month the Home Office confirmed it has granted officers 85,000 to carry on with the case for a further six months. More than 11 million has been spent on the UK probe.
The Tour of Britain will race between the capitals of Scotland and Wales in 2017, with organisers unveiling a new-look route linking Edinburgh and Cardiff on Tuesday.

There will be first ever stages in north Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire as the race heads down the east coast of the country before heading towards Wales.

Five-time national time trial champion and Essex native Alex Dowsett will no doubt be attracted by a race against the clock in his home county, with Tendring to host a 16km time trial  the classic British 10-mile distance  on stage five.

Alex Dowsett (Scott Heppell/PA)

*ROUTE ANNOUNCEMENT*



Scottish and Welsh capitals linked by 2017 @OVOEnergy Tour of Britain route!



Full route here: https://t.co/hI6jmZXHnO pic.twitter.com/xd85dstMj0  AJ Bell Tour of Britain  (@TourofBritain) April 25, 2017

With organisers Sweetspot taking the Womens Tour to London for the first time this summer, the capital has been left off the mens route this time, but that has allowed the race to head in new directions.

This years OVO Energy Tour of Britain route is a race of firsts, with nine new venues welcoming the race plus our first overall start in the city of Edinburgh, said race director Mick Bennett.

We will be bringing Britains biggest professional cycle race to new areas this September and look forward to our first finish in Wales and the chance to race in Cardiff.

After an opening stage from Edinburgh to Kelso in the Scottish borders, the race will head to Northumberland, with the 211km stage from Kielder Water & Forest Park to Blyth the longest of the eight-day race.

Great to have @AndreGreipel & @PetrVakoc joining us at the #OVOToB launch this evening  pic.twitter.com/mW2MZ1Wcrr  AJ Bell Tour of Britain  (@TourofBritain) April 25, 2017

North Lincolnshire will host its first stage on day three when the peloton tackle a 172km route from Normanby Hall to Scunthorpe before heading to Nottinghamshire a day later to go between Mansfield and Newark-on-Trent.

A day later is the Essex time trial before stage six links Newmarket and Aldeburgh. The race then heads west with stage seven going between Hemel Hempstead and Cheltenham, before the race concludes with a final 180km stage from Worcester to Cardiff.

Team Dimension Datas Steve Cummings took overall victory in 2016, but the profile this time around is expected to suit a different sort of rider.

Good to see the @TourofBritain finally came to its senses and put a 10mile tt in Essex, up and down the a12 right?  Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) April 25, 2017

Although far from flat in many places, the 1,310km route takes the emphasis off climbing  there is not a single summit finish along the way  to offer plenty of chances for the sprinters.

We introduced summit finishes for the first time in 2013, Bennett added. This year we are giving a chance to the sprinters and rouleurs. Following the success of the Tatton Park finish last year, we have introduced several finishing circuits. This will add a new dimension for both the sprinters teams, who will get to see the finish beforehand, and the fans as a whole who will enjoy the spectacle of the race twice.

The addition of an individual time trial over a classic British 10-mile distance will be a great contest between our national time trial champion Alex Dowsett, on his home roads of Essex, and the worlds best time trialists.

The 2017 Tour will start on Sunday September 3 and finish eight days later on September 10.
British number three Dan Evans beat Germanys Mischa Zverev 6-4 6-4 at the Barcelona Open to secure a last-16 showdown against Dominic Thiem, who earlier knocked out Kyle Edmund.

Evans, the world number 43, had on Monday produced a first ATP Tour win on clay when he came through against Thiago Monteiro after a final-set tie-break.

The 26-year-old backed that up with a notable second-round triumph over Zverev, who posted an unexpected win against world number one Andy Murray at the Australian Open.

Dan Evans (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Evans took his first set-point opportunity against Zverevs serve and then rallied to level the second set at 3-3 having been broken by the 14th seed.

Another good win on the clay for @Evo151216 beating No.14 seed Zverev 6-4, 6-4 in Barcelona! #BackTheBrits  pic.twitter.com/POpG7x9BYy  LTA (@the_LTA) April 25, 2017

After seeing more break chances missed in game eight, Evans managed to fend off a recovery by the world number 35 as he held to then break Zverev again to love and seal victory in one hour and 23 minutes.

British number two Edmund had confidently defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in round one, but could not get the better of Thiem on Tuesday as the Austrian world number nine won 6-1 6-4.

Thiem, who is seeded fourth, twice broke Edmund in the first set and then secured another crucial break to lead 3-2 in the second.

Edmund, the world number 42, could not then force two break chances of his own in the next game as Thiem went on to close out victory in one hour and 21 minutes to clinch his place in the third round.

Murray, meanwhile, is set to continue his comeback from an elbow injury on Wednesday when he takes on Bernard Tomic following the Australians first-round win over German Dustin Brown.

At the Hungarian Open in Budapest, British number four Aljaz Bedene beat lucky loser Marius Copil 7-5 6-2 to move into the second round.

Copil took his place in the main draw following injury to Argentinas Federico Delbonis.

Bedene will next play Dutchman Robin Haase, the world number 46.
US president Donald Trump has condemned those who deny the Holocaust and pledged to confront anti-Semitism.

In a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mr Trump said those who would deny that six million Jews were killed by Germanys Nazi leadership during the Second World War are an accomplice of this horrible evil.

The US president added: We must never, ever shrink away from telling the truth in our time.

President Donald Trump pauses while speaking on Capitol Hill in Washington (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Remarks at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's National Days of Remembrance.

Full remarks: https://t.co/XZuPlwCMIl pic.twitter.com/5nRqkZh9fs  President Trump 45 Archived (@POTUS45) April 25, 2017

Mr Trump also pledged that as president of the United States, he will always stand with the Jewish people.

The president spoke at a US Capitol ceremony hosted by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to mark the unveiling of its new conservation and research centre.

The centre houses a vast collection of artefacts by those who survived Adolf Hitlers massacre.

Members of Congress and Holocaust survivors  whose strength and courage Mr Trump said was an inspiration  attended the emotional event in the Rotunda, the centre of the Capitol.

Survivors lit candles at the end of the ceremony.

Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil and well never be silent. We just wont, he said.

We will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again.

Mr Trump said Holocaust denial is one form of dangerous anti-Semitism that continues all around the world and that can be seen on university campuses, in attacks on Jewish communities or when aggressors threaten Israel with total and complete destruction.

This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism. We will stamp out prejudice, we will condemn hatred, we will bear witness and we will act.

Today, I signed the Holocaust Remembrance Proclamation. #HolocaustRemembranceDay

Read the proclamation here: https://t.co/vBopzyIqHj pic.twitter.com/tE6r71zIUx  President Trump 45 Archived (@POTUS45) April 24, 2017

As President of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people and I will always stand with our great friend and partner, the state of Israel.

Mr Trumps commemoration of the Holocaust follows a recent blunder by his chief spokesman, Sean Spicer, on the issue.

Mr Spicer recently apologised for making what he later said was an inappropriate and insensitive statement earlier this month that compared Hitler to Syrian president Bashar Assad by suggesting that Hitler didnt even sink to using chemical weapons.

The remark, which Mr Spicer had made days after a chemical attack in Syria killed scores of civilians, ignored Hitlers use of gas chambers to kill Jews.

The White Houses commitment to fighting anti-Semitism was questioned earlier in the year after it released a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day that excluded any mention of the Jewish people, in contrast to similar statements from previous administrations. Mr Trumps own relations with American Jews had become strained after a testy exchange during a news conference with a reporter for an Orthodox Jewish publication.

Some also thought Mr Trump had waited too long to come out forcefully against bomb threats against Jewish community centres nationwide.
WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's zeal to unveil a tax plan before his 100th day in office is raising questions about just how thorough his "tax reform" plans will be, amid signals that his focus for now is on slashing tax rates.

Trump has directed aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, a Trump administration official said on Monday.

With his 100th day nearing on April 29, Trump has been ordering studies and signing executive orders. But he has yet to introduce a major bill to the Republican-controlled Congress on any topic or win passage of someone else's that he supports.

He has promised a "big tax reform and tax reduction" announcement on Wednesday. Some analysts said this may consist of a proposal to cut the corporate rate to 15 percent, cap the individual tax rate at 33 percent, repeal the estate and alternative minimum taxes and cut taxes for the middle class.

In earlier days, Trump vowed to oversee the biggest "tax reform" since President Ronald Reagan's in 1986, a legislative feat that has since defied every president.

Wall Street analysts say Trump may instead offer a package of rate reductions, like those backed by Reagan in 1981 and President George W. Bush in 2001, which left the tax system intact.

If that is the case, it "is not tax reform. It is a tax cut," Chris Krueger, analyst at financial firm Cowen & Co, said in a research note.

On Wednesday, Krueger said, "We will get some vague benchmarks about rate levels... with likely no detail on how to finance those reductions except for the assurance that the growth projections will take care of it."

The announcement could also show whether Trump is turning away from a Republican plan backed by House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan that would pay for tax cuts with an import tax and by killing a business interest deduction.

Ryan and other Republicans will get a preview of Trump's plan on Tuesday at a Capitol Hill meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, director of Trump's National Economic Council, aides said.

Trump's announcement, however, could be a disappointment for investors seeking clarity.

"I don't know that it will shed a great deal of light beyond what the administration has already said," noted Peter Cohn, analyst at financial firm Height Securities. (Reporting by David Morgan and Steve Holland; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Dan Grebler)
By Yeganeh Torbati

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - A U.S. State Department website published an article this month about President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, stoking criticism from prominent ethics experts.

The article was posted on April 4 on the "Share America" website, overseen by the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs. It was also shared on the websites and social media pages of several U.S. embassies, including those in the United Kingdom and Albania, as well as the State Department's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.

It describes the history of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and its size, status as a registered historic site, interior decoration and oceanfront location.

"By visiting this 'winter White House,' Trump is belatedly fulfilling the dream of Mar-a-Lago's original owner and designer," socialite and cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, the article says. "Post's dream of a winter White House came true with Trump's election in 2016."

Though posted weeks ago, the article surfaced on Monday when it was shared widely on social media.

Democratic U.S. Senator Ron Wyden criticized the "Share America" article on Twitter as "kleptocratic," and Norman Eisen, ethics chief under Trump's predecessor, Democratic President Barack Obama, said on Twitter that the article violated a federal statute barring the use of public office for private gain.

Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer for Republican President George W. Bush, said on Twitter that the post constituted "use of public office for private gain pure and simple."

The State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The "Share America" article says that in 1973, Post willed the estate to the U.S. government, intending it to be used as a winter White House for the president to entertain foreign dignitaries.

But Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter never used the property, and in 1981 the government returned the estate to the Post Foundation because it was costing too much to maintain, according to the article.

Trump, a businessman turned politician, bought the property in 1985, and turned it into a club open to dues-paying members 10 years later, it says. (For the article, see: http://bit.ly/2ophVoV)

The club has a $200,000 membership fee, and Trump has hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the resort. Trump's frequent visits there have come under scrutiny due to their expense and questions of how he has handled sensitive national security information while there.

Trump maintains ownership of his global business empire, though he has handed off control to his two oldest sons, an arrangement that ethics watchdogs said would not prevent conflicts of interest.

(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
ISTANBUL, April 25 (Reuters) - Here are news, reports and events that may affect Turkish financial markets on Tuesday.

The lira stood at 3.5800 against the U.S. dollar at 0553 GMT, firming from Monday's close at 3.5839.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond was at 10.55 percent in spot trade on Monday.

The main BIST 100 share index firmed by 1.49 percent and closed at a record high of 93,802.81 points.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian equities advanced on Tuesday as the return of risk appetite following a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election lifted several regional markets to multi-year highs, while the euro retained most of its overnight gains.

AIR STRIKES ON PKK IN IRAQ, SYRIA

The Turkish military has carried out air strikes against Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) militants near Iraq's Sinjar mountains and northeastern Syria to prevent the group from sending weapons and explosives for attacks inside Turkey, it said on Tuesday.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition CHP will all be attending a ceremony to mark the 55th anniversary of the Constitutional Court. Erdogan is expected to speak at the event.

TREASURY

The Turkish Treasury will tap fixed-rate coupon bond with March 2022 maturity.

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Istanbul National-100 stock index, interbank lira trading, lira bond trading (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk)
By Clyde Russell

SINGAPORE, April 25 (Reuters) - Is it yet time to call the crude oil output cuts by OPEC and its allies a failure?

Certainly there is an increasing disconnect between the rhetoric of OPEC and other producers cutting output on the one hand and the reality of a well-supplied crude oil market and mixed signals on the level of global inventories on the other.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia, have been touting the high compliance with the agreement to reduce output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) from January to June.

It now appears that OPEC and its allies are moving to prolong the deal for another six months, with consensus building for an extension, which is likely to be announced at a meeting scheduled for May 25.

If the success of the deal is to be judged purely by prices, then an argument could be made that it has at least led to crude finding a floor above $50 a barrel.

Global benchmark Brent crude spent the second half of last year mainly between $40 and $50 a barrel, before being lifted after the OPEC and allies agreement was announced at the end of November.

When the deal took effect from Jan. 1, Brent traded in a narrow range for two months, before falling sharply in early March, but the support level of $50 held, with only a brief foray to an intraday low of $49.71 on March 22.

But Brent is once again testing the bottom of the post-agreement range, dropping to as low as $51.42 a barrel on Monday, as scepticism mounts over the ultimate effectiveness of the OPEC measures.

Perhaps more important for determining the longer-term price outlook is to look at the amount of oil available and the levels of inventories.

For OPEC and its allies to achieve their aim of sustainable higher prices, both global supplies and inventories have to be reduced, the so-called market re-balancing.

RECORD CRUDE BEING SHIPPED

It's here that the main evidence of the failure of the OPEC agreement is to be found.

Global oil shipments by tanker are at a record high in April, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain and Commodity forecasts.

As of Tuesday, the data shows that an average 50.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude is being shipped in April, up from the previous record 46.1 million bpd in January.

The data excludes crude moved by pipelines, but it's extremely unlikely that pipeline supplies have been cut by more than seaborne cargoes have increased.

The data also show that Saudi Arabia, which undertook to make the largest output cut among those producers party to the November deal, is actually increasing tanker shipments in recent months, to levels well above those that prevailed late last year.

The kingdom is expected to ship 8.29 million bpd in April, up from 7.94 million bpd in March, 7.73 million bpd in February and 7.83 million bpd in January.

Chinese customs data released on Tuesday showed that the world's biggest crude importer received higher supplies from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Angola, Iran and Iraq in March than it did the previous month.

The Chinese numbers don't exactly fit in with the narrative of successful output cuts, rather they show the opposite.

The picture that emerges shows there is a big difference between reducing output and actually cutting supplies.

It's quite likely the case that OPEC and its allies have been in high compliance with their agreed output cuts, but this hasn't necessarily translated into significantly lower shipments of crude oil.

An additional problem is that producers outside the agreement, such as the United States and Brazil, have been increasing production and shipments.

The plentiful supply of oil can be seen in global inventories, with the International Energy Agency saying recently that inventories in industrialised countries were still 10 percent above their five-year average.

To be sure, barrels stored in less visible places, such as in developing nations and in floating storage, do appear to be drawing down, but there is a question mark over whether this is happening fast enough to provide a basis for higher oil prices in future months.

But for OPEC and its allies to achieve lasting success, they will actually have to reduce the amount of crude being shipped.

It doesn't matter how much you talk about reducing output or drawing down producer inventories, what ultimately matters for the price is the amount of crude that buyers can access.

Right now, it's probably too early to say OPEC and its allies have failed, but the data on crude flows indicates that they are heading that way.

(Editing by Richard Pullin)
By Isabel Coles and John Davison

ISTANBUL/BEIRUT, April 25 (Reuters) - Turkish planes bombed Kurdish fighters in Iraq's Sinjar region and northeast Syria on Tuesday, killing at least 20 in a widening campaign against groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.

A Turkish military statement said around 70 militants were killed in the operations inside the two neighbouring states.

The air strikes in Syria targeted the YPG, a key component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are backed by the United States and have been closing in on the Islamic State bastion of Raqqa.

The Turkish raids showed the challenges facing U.S.-led attempts to defeat Islamic State in Syria and risk increasing tension between NATO allies Washington and Ankara over Kurdish combatants who have been crucial in driving back the jihadists.

In Washington, the State Department said it was deeply concerned by the air strikes, which were not authorized by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Turkey is part of the coalition of more than 60 countries.

"We have expressed those concerns with the government of Turkey directly," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on a conference call. "These air strikes were not approved by the coalition and led to the unfortunate loss of life of our partner forces," he added.

Toner said the strikes hurt the coalition's efforts to go after the militants. "We recognize their concerns about the PKK, but these kinds of actions frankly harm the coalition's efforts to go after ISIS and frankly harm our partners on the ground who are conducting that fight."

A U.S. military officer accompanied YPG commanders on a tour of the sites hit near Syria's frontier with Turkey later on Tuesday, a Reuters witness said, demonstrating the close partnership.

The YPG said in a statement its headquarters in Mount Karachok near Syria's frontier with Turkey had been hit, including a media centre, a radio station, communications facilities and military institutions.

"As a result of the barbaric strikes by the Turkish warplanes at dawn today against the YPG centre ... 20 fighters were martyred and 18 others wounded, three of them critically," said spokesman Redur Xelil.

Ilham Ahmed, a senior Kurdish politician who co-chairs the political wing of the SDF, said they wanted the United States to provide aerial protection against Turkey.

The Turkish military said the two regions it struck around 2 a.m. (2300 GMT) had become "terror hubs" and the aim of the bombardment was to prevent the PKK sending weapons and explosives for attacks inside Turkey.

Designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state for Kurdish autonomy. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, most of them Kurds.

Turkish security sources said 13 PKK militants had been killed on Tuesday in operations backed by the air force in the largely Kurdish southeast of Turkey. Two Turkish soldiers were also killed when a roadside bomb planted by the PKK blew up in Sirnak province.

"NEW QANDIL"

Turkey has regularly bombed the mountainous border area between Iraq and Turkey where PKK militants are based since a ceasefire broke down in July 2015. But Tuesday's raid was the first time Turkish forces have targeted its affiliate in the northwestern Sinjar area.

The PKK established a presence in Sinjar, bordering Syria, after coming to the aid of its Yazidi population when Islamic State militants overran the area in the summer of 2014 and killed and captured thousands of members of the minority faith.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said he will not allow Sinjar, around 115 km (70 miles) from the Turkish border, to become a "new Qandil", referring to a PKK stronghold in Iraq near the borders with Turkey and Iran.

The presence of a PKK affiliate in Sinjar is also rejected by Kurdish authorities who run their own autonomous region in northern Iraq and enjoy good relations with Turkey.

Five members of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces, which are also deployed in Sinjar, were killed, and nine wounded in one of the Turkish air strikes, according to the peshmerga ministry, apparently by accident.

It called the attack "unacceptable" but blamed the PKK for being there and demanded the group withdraw from Sinjar. (Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Rodi Said, Ellen Francis, and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk and Isabel Coles; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and James Dalgleish)
BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities vowed on Tuesday to step up a crackdown on illegal funding scams, after reporting 5,197 new criminal cases last year involving 251.1 billion yuan ($36.5 billion), state-run Shanghai Securities News reported.

More than 30 percent of illegal fundraising cases were related to private investment and financial intermediaries, including unlicensed investment advisers and providers of third-party wealth management products, the report said.

The cases severely destroyed the order of financial markets, Yang Yuzhu, director of the joint-meeting for anti-illegal fundraising was quoted as saying, threatening China's financial and social stability.

Authorities are now weighing a ban on organizations and individuals, except financial institutions, from publishing investment-related advertisements, the report said.

Although the number of new cases and the total amount of funds involved edged down from 2015, the government is facing heightened pressure due to the complexity of the new cases, which is slowing down their resolution, according to the report.

Moreover, financial fraud spread last year from China's east to rural areas, where funds approached unsophisticated Chinese farmers, the office of the joint meeting said.

Last year China approved the arrest of 9,441 people on suspicion of illegal soliciting public deposits and prosecuted 14,745, according to a separate Shanghai Securities News report on Tuesday.

While regulators embarked on a campaign against online finance fraud last year, focusing on peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, the rampant growth of the sector has created risks that will take time to resolve, the office said.

Ezubao, once China's biggest P2P lending platform, folded last year after it turned out to be a "Ponzi scheme" that solicited 50 billion yuan in less than two years from more than 900,000 retail investors through savvy marketing.

Another case where illegal fundraising took place was at the Fanya Metals Exchange in southwestern Yunnan province, where hundreds of angry investors hit the street and complained of government inaction after losing more than 40 billion yuan in investment products that had promised an annual return of up to 14 percent.

"The total number of cases is still at a historic high level," the anti-illegal fundraising office said, according to the report.

The office also said it will ask provincial governments to examine potential illegal funding activities from May to July.

Targets for checks will include a variety of companies such as investment and financing intermediaries, P2P platforms, third-party payment services, crowd-funding platforms, private schools and rural organizations. ($1 = 6.8863 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting By Shu Zhang and Matthew Miller; Editing by Kim Coghill)
ZAGREB, April 25 (Reuters) - Croatia sold 876 million kuna ($127.83 million) of one-year bills at an auction on Tuesday, beating the target of 650 million kuna, while the yield stayed unchanged at 0.45 percent, finance ministry data showed. In the first auction in four weeks demand amounted to 976 million kuna, while 672 million kuna worth of bills mature later this week. After the auction Croatia's short-term debt rose to 17.68 billion kuna from 17.48 billion. The next T-bill auction is planned for May 2, when the ministry tentatively plans to raise 600 million kuna against 575 million kuna worth of maturing bills. Croatia sometimes also offers T-bills of three- and six-month maturity as well as those denominated in euros. Below are the auction details: Auction date Previous auction 25/04/17 28/03/17 1-year maturity Yield 0.45 0.45 Assigned price 99.558 99.553 Offered 650 mln HRK 500 mln Total bids 976 mln 658 bln Assigned 876 mln 558 mln ($1 = 6.8529 kuna) (Reporting by Igor Ilic, editing by Larry King)
ZURICH, April 25 (Reuters) - A Dutch appeals court ruled on Tuesday that Swatch Group deserved compensation in a $400 million row with U.S. luxury goods maker Tiffany over a failed watch venture.

Tiffany said it was considering an appeal.

An arbitration panel in the Netherlands had ordered Tiffany in December 2013 to pay Swatch 402 million Swiss francs ($404.5 million) in damages over the aborted project to produce and market watches.

Swatch had booked the money as one-off income in 2013, before a lower Dutch court overturned the panel's ruling in 2015.

Swatch appealed against that decision and has now won the appeal, a spokesman for the court in Amsterdam said.

"Swatch Group was convinced that the arbitration award of December 21, 2013 was issued correctly and contained no formal error. This was confirmed by the judgement of the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam today," the Swiss group said in a statement.

But Tiffany said the case might still go to another round.

"We have the right to appeal the Appellate Court's decision to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands and are evaluating that option," a company spokesman said by email in response to a query.

Swatch shares rose 1.9 percent by 1225 GMT, while Tiffany shares had not started trading.

($1 = 0.9939 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Zurich newsroom; Editing by Adrian Croft)
By Susan Taylor

TORONTO, April 25 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Inc missed earnings expectations, cut its outlook and warned on Tuesday it would be difficult to secure a long-term Indonesian mining permit, but investors sent its stock soaring on relief over a temporary export resumption.

Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport said a months-long export ban by the Indonesian government at its massive Grasberg mine in the country had been costly, clipping production and sales, with more challenges ahead.

Still, shares of the world's biggest publicly listed copper miner gained as much as 9 percent, before edging back to $12.98, a 6 percent gain.

Freeport is ramping up output and copper concentrate shipments from Grasberg, the world's second biggest copper mine, after gaining a six-month export permit Friday that coincided with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's state visit.

"The market is used to bad news on the Indonesian front, so anything that can be construed as optimistic is what the market is focusing on," said Clarksons Platou analyst Jeremy Sussman of the temporary permit.

New rules in Indonesia require miners to divest a 51 percent stake, relinquish arbitration rights and pay new taxes and royalties. Freeport says it will only agree to a new permit with the fiscal and legal protection in its current contract.

Chief Executive Richard Adkerson said the cost of failure would be high for Freeport and its Grasberg joint venture partner Rio Tinto. Speaking on a conference call with analysts, he said Indonesia would also be hurt, noting the government lost almost $500 million in taxes and royalties from the export ban starting Jan. 12.

Separately in an SEC filing on Tuesday, Freeport said Adkerson's total compensation for 2016 was about $16 million versus $8.6 million in 2015.

Freeport has cut about 10 percent of its 32,000 Grasberg workforce and spending on underground expansion by one-third.

It will "significantly" cut Indonesian spending, planned at about $1 billion annually for the next five years, if it does not gain a permit. Some $700 million of its $1.6 billion 2017 capital budget is earmarked for Grasberg's underground expansion.

In the first quarter, consolidated sales of 809 million pounds of copper and 182,000 ounces of gold lagged Freeport's January forecast of 1 billion pounds of copper and 460,000 ounces of gold.

Freeport said it deferred sales of 190 million pounds of copper and 280,000 ounces of gold under the ban.

It also cut its 2017 sales forecast to 3.9 billion pounds of copper and 1.9 million ounces of gold, from 4.1 billion pounds of copper and 2.2 million ounces of gold.

Freeport's adjusted profit of 15 cents a share and revenue of $3.34 billion trailed analyst estimates of 16 cents and $3.46 billion. (Reporting by Susan Taylor; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Diane Craft)
By Abdul Matin

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, April 25 (Reuters) - Samad always worried that something might happen to his brother, Shah Mohammad, a three-year veteran of the Afghan army, even though his job was to train soldiers, not to fight.

"He used to tell us that since he doesn't go to the battlefield, he was fine inside the base," Samad said.

On Friday, the base in northern Afghanistan became a death trap for Mohammad and scores more, when suspected Taliban fighters killed more than 140 soldiers in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on Afghan forces since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Photographs and video footage from the dining hall where Mohammad died, as well as the nearby mosque, reveal the fury of the attack at the base in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

Buildings are pockmarked with hundreds of bullet holes and windows have been shattered, while charred copies of the Koran lay scattered on the floor. Five days after the attack, blood still stains some walls.

Shah Mohammad's body was so badly burned that Samad, who travelled from the brothers' home in Takhar province, at first had trouble identifying him.

As of Tuesday, more than 40 similarly burned bodies remained unidentified, officials said.

The security failure and scale of casualties has led to questions over the government's ability to stabilise the country, and prompted the resignation of the Afghan defence minister and army chief of staff on Monday.

General Momand Katawazi, commander of the 209th Corps which is headquartered at the base, has been reassigned to Kabul.

Only last month, gunmen dressed as medics infiltrated Afghanistan's largest military hospital and killed dozens of patients, guards and medical staff in Kabul.

Officials are investigating exactly how the Mazar-i-Sharif attackers gained access to the base, after witnesses said they talked their way past the first checkpoint and cleared several others, including a set of metal doors that can only be opened from inside.

DEAD AND WOUNDED

There is still no official death toll, although several officials have put it at around 140.

Privately, some officials say the number killed is likely to be significantly higher, but fear that releasing the real figure could sap the morale of Western-backed security forces already struggling to battle a resurgent Taliban and other militant groups.

What is known is that at least 10 militants in fatigues drove up to the base's gates on Friday in two trucks, waving identification cards and claiming to have a wounded soldier in need of urgent medical care.

One truck was mounted with a machine gun, which the attackers used to gun down worshippers at the mosque, many of whom were new recruits attending Friday prayers.

At the base's dining hall, witnesses said one attacker set down his weapon and pretended to guide soldiers to safety, only to lock the door behind him and set off a suicide vest in their midst.

As Afghan commandos arrived, remaining militants took up position in a small room in the mosque, where they resisted for five hours before being killed.

American military advisers were present elsewhere on the base during the attack, but were not actively involved in responding, U.S. officials said.

INSIDER ATTACK?

At least four soldiers are suspected of having helped the Taliban, but officials say they remain at large. Two others are in custody, an official said, but did not describe what they were suspected of.

The Mazar-i-Sharif attack was probably made worse by one of the measures brought in to prevent such bloodshed.

Some military bases in Afghanistan have limited the number of troops carrying weapons, in order to guard against insider attacks by militant sympathizers or disgruntled recruits.

Between January and November, 2016, more than 150 Afghan soldiers and police died at the hands of fellow security forces, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a U.S. government watchdog.

"Our soldiers inside the base do not carry weapons with them and there are only armed guards outside key buildings and checkpoints," said Nasratullah Jamshidi, an army spokesman.

As the attack unfolded, officers radioed security guards, ordering them not to return fire as they thought it was a misunderstanding or dispute between soldiers, said Ahmad Saboor, a guard at the base. (Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
BAGHDAD, April 25 (Reuters) - Kuwait has approved a $100 million grant for Iraq to support humanitarian and reconstruction projects in areas retaken from Islamic State militants, an Iraqi official said on Tuesday.

The grant is the first Kuwaiti financial assistance to Iraq since Baghdad's occupation of the emirate from August 1990 to February 1991, ordered by then-President Saddam Hussein.

Officials from the two countries signed the grant agreement in Kuwait on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Iraq's Reconstruction Fund for Areas Affected by Terrorist Operations said.

"The grant agreement signed today is an encouraging start for further future cooperation between Iraq and Kuwait," the reconstruction fund chief, Mustafa al-Hiti, said in a statement.

The fund aims to rebuild cities and territories recaptured from Islamic State, the ultra-hardline jihadist group which declared a "caliphate" over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The war with Islamic State escalated as crude prices tumbled, curtailing the Iraqi government budget as it relies almost exclusively on oil sales.

Saddam was toppled by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Iraq and Kuwait are now close allies against militant Islam. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Ed Upright

LONDON, April 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The struggle against modern-day slavery in the fashion industry is being hampered by public relations spin and companies that still put profit not people at the heart of their business models, said a leading ethical fashion campaigner.

But Simone Cipriani, head of the Ethical Fashion Initiative, sees huge potential for change as long as everyone - from brands to consumers - takes responsibility to address the exploitation of workers in global supply chains.

"People have to be part of the business model and then profit is the happy outcome of doing good business," Cipriani told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

As well as changing mindsets, the proper enforcement of anti-slavery laws is crucial to protecting vulnerable workers, he said.

The fashion industry has come under pressure to change since more than 1,100 garment workers were killed in the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh four years ago.

Big brands have been criticised for failing to improve working conditions in their supply chains - from cotton fields to spinning mills and garment factories.

Fashion firms have been accused of allowing or turning a blind eye to abuses from dangerous conditions and long working hours to child labour and bans on forming trade unions.

Cipriani, who will be on a supply chain transparency panel at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit next month, founded the Ethical Fashion Initiative in 2009. He previously worked around the world in both development and fashion, and ran a large U.N. project in the Ethiopian leather industry.

He said that since then both consumers and businesses have increasingly asked questions about the working conditions of the people who make their clothes, demanding ethical manufacturing.

The initiative, supported by the United Nations and World Trade Organization, connects artisans in Africa, Haiti and Afghanistan with high-end fashion designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney.

Cipriani said the sustainability movement has grown out of consumer engagement and younger generations will no longer accept untrustworthy corporate marketing on social issues.

He said consumers want honest information on who makes their clothes and the conditions in which they are made.

"The only way is to engage emotionally. If you don't engage emotionally you don't engage at all. The days of political and social engagement for the sake of it are finished," he said.

Cipriani said that while some fashion companies have made huge strides in addressing issues of labour abuses and sustainability, others need to fundamentally restructure.

Strict enforcement of labour laws and corporate commitment to social issues is key for workers at every level of the supply chain to be fairly paid and lead dignified lives, he said.

"Effective legislation everywhere is the only way to have the big push we need to see this agenda of sustainability and human dignity really enforced in this industry," he added.

Britain's Modern Slavery Act and France's new corporate vigilance law have been praised by anti-slavery campaigners for raising awareness and starting to bring offenders to justice.

But existing labour and human rights legislation in many countries is completely ignored, Cipriani said.

"Let's tell the truth. This is a global problem of corruption and a lack of the rule of law," he said. (Reporting by Ed Upright, Editing by Ros Russell.; Please credit Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
BUCHAREST, April 25 (Reuters) - Three youths overturned and broke a number of headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Bucharest, police said on Tuesday, in an incident that drew condemnation from Romania's small Jewish community.

The police said in a statement to state news agency Agerpres they had identified the youths, who were aged from 13 to 16, but had made no arrests pending a criminal investigation.

The Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania said 10 tombstones had been damaged in the incident, which occurred on the night of April 23/24, adding that "this act of grave vandalism and anti-Semitism saddened and revolted the whole Jewish community in Romania".

The president of the foundation, Aurel Vainer, said the timing of the incident was no coincidence as Israel marked Holocaust Remembrance Day this year from sunset on April 23 to sunset on April 24.

Romania was an ally of Nazi Germany during World War Two until it changed sides in August 1944. An international commission in a 2004 report put the total number of Romanian and Ukrainian Jews who perished in territories under Romanian administration at 280,000 to 380,000.

The country used to have a pre-war Jewish population of about 800,000 but now fewer than 11,000 Jews live in Romania, a European Union member state with a total population of around 20 million people.

After the collapse of communist rule in 1989, Romania passed laws to return property to the original owners but the process has been hampered by red tape. (Reporting by Radu Marinas; Editing by Gareth Jones)
By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, April 25 (Reuters) - United Nations and Russian officials warned on Tuesday against any attack by Saudi-led coalition forces on the Houthi-held Yemeni port of Hodeidah, the aid lifeline for a country where millions of people are in desperate need of food.

The warring factions must ensure deliveries of food and medical aid to starving people, senior U.N. officials said at a donor conference in Geneva.

Nearly $1.1 billion has now been pledged towards a United Nations appeal of $2.1 billion for Yemen this year, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced, calling it a "remarkable success".

"Across Yemen, hunger and malnutrition have reached unprecedented levels and the threat of famine looms large. The country is on the brink of catastrophe," said David Beasley, executive director of the U.N.'s World Food Programme.

The government, backed by Saudi Arabia and the West, have been fighting the Houthi movement aligned with Iran for over two years in a war that has killed at least 10,000 people.

A Saudi-led military coalition is preparing an assault on Hodeidah, which lies on the Red Sea and is the point of entry for nearly 80 percent of Yemen's food imports.

"The Hodeidah port is a critical lifeline," Beasley told the conference. "Any disruption to the port would gravely hamper efforts to prevent famine."

Yemeni officials said earlier this month the government and its allies had positioned two brigades for a possible attack, one of them 230 km (140 miles) north of Hodeidah and the other 130 km (80 miles) to the south.

"NEW AID CORRIDORS"

But Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid Bin Daghr, whose government is based in the southern port of Aden and controls only part of the country, said it would allow access for aid supplies and was "ready to open new corridors for this aid".

Saudi-led air strikes have hampered humanitarian operations to import food and fuel supplies, the United Nations says. Five cranes in Hodeidah port have been destroyed, forcing dozens of ships to wait offshore for their turn to dock.

Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, said that mobile cranes brought to the port had a "quite small" capacity although some vessels had on-board cranes.

"We continue to advocate Hodeidah as the only sensible option because it's expensive everywhere else. (Hodeidah is)effective and efficient," he told Reuters.

The coalition has accused the Houthis of using the port to smuggle weapons and has tried to block ships from entering.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the conference Moscow could not accept what he called a blockade.

"There are also worrying rumours about an assault on Hodeidah and then a move on (the capital) Sanaa; this is something we cannot allow to happen," he said.

Guterres said nearly 19 million people, or two-thirds of Yemen's population, needed emergency aid. One child under the age of five dies of preventable hunger and disease every 10 minutes, he said.

He renewed a call for peace talks and urged all parties to allow the unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid by air, sea and land. "All infrastructure must remain open and operational," Guterres said.

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore

CARACAS, April 25 (Reuters) - Two Venezuelan men died on Tuesday from gunshots at political demonstrations, bringing to 26 the number of fatalities around this month's protests against President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government.

The state prosecutor's office said Orlando Medina, 23, was gunned down on a street in western Lara state during a protest local media identified as anti-Maduro.

Luis Marquez, 52, died in the Andean state of Merida in the early morning after being shot on Monday at a pro-Maduro rally, state ombudsman Tarek Saab said.

In more than three weeks of chaos since Venezuela's opposition launched street protests, 15 people have died in violence around demonstrations and 11 others in night-time lootings, the state prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.

Political activists and Venezuelan media have reported more deaths, but those have not been confirmed.

The ruling Socialist Party accuses foes of seeking a violent coup with U.S. connivance, while the opposition says Maduro is a dictator repressing peaceful protest.

With near-daily demonstrations by both opponents and supporters of Maduro, there have been fatalities on both sides, as well as one National Guard sergeant killed during a protest.

"Any death hurts, government or opposition," chief state prosecutor Luisa Ortega said in a speech. Four fatalities were adolescents and 437 people had also been injured.

ELECTIONS SOUGHT

The opposition's main demands are for elections, the release of jailed activists and autonomy for the opposition-led legislature. But protests are also fueled by a crippling economic crisis in the oil-exporting nation of some 30 million people.

The unrest is Venezuela's worst since 2014, when 43 people died in months of mayhem sparked by protests against Maduro, the 54-year-old successor to late leader Hugo Chavez.

Nearly 1,500 people have been arrested, with 801 still detained as of Tuesday, rights group Penal Forum said.

Trying to keep the pressure on Maduro, the opposition Democratic Unity coalition is planning a march on Wednesday toward downtown Caracas. Past attempts to reach that area have been blocked by security forces using teargas and rubber bullets against masked youths hurling stones and Molotov cocktails.

"The Venezuelan people will stay in the street until there is an election timetable, a humanitarian aid channel, freedom for political prisoners and independence for public institutions, especially the National Assembly," said Ismael Garcia, a legislator with opposition party Justice First.

Thousands of red-shirted Maduro supporters marched in the state of Falcon on Tuesday, chanting pro-government slogans and denouncing the opposition for violence.

"They call themselves defenders of human rights but then they murder people. They're the same as 2002," Socialist Party No. 2 Diosdado Cabello told the crowd, referring to a short-lived coup against Chavez that year. (Additional reporting by Andreina Aponte and Corina Pons; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Grant McCool and Andrew Hay)
When former MP D.E.W. Gunasekara was testifying at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) yesterday, Counsel Chanaka de Silva appearing for the former governor of the Central Bank queried the relevancy of obtaining the views of a former COPE chairman.

He was of the view that Mr. Gunasekara's evidence was of little or no relevance because the PCoI was on a fact-finding mission and that the witness was not an expert on this subject and as such it would be unfair to the other parties involved.

The commissioners said if the evidence was found unfair by the others, the evidence would not be recorded.

Mr. Gunasekara's evidence was led by Additional Solicitor General Dappulada Livera PC. It was revealed that statements were recorded from 42 witnesses with regard to the sale of bonds.

The Commission of Inquiry comprises Supreme Court Judges K. T. Chitrasiri and Prasanna Sujeewa Jayawardena and former Deputy Auditor General Kandasamy Velupillai. (Shehan Chamika Silva)
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!
The Foreign Exchange Bill which presented in Parliament by the government is similar to what former Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim envisaged, the joint opposition said today.

It said the Bill would enable the Tamil Diaspora which was a repository of LTTE funds to invest in Sri Lanka without any control or monitoring by the Central Bank (CB).

Solheim mentioned this at an interview with The Hindu soon after the election victory of President Maithripala Sirisena. He said the government should reach out to the Tamil Diaspora and get them to invest in Sri Lanka, MP Bandula Gunawardane told the JOs weekly news conference. (Lahiru Pothmulla)

Video by Sanjeewa
National Freedom Front (NFF) Media Spokesperson Mohammed Muzammil claimed today that they are in doubt whether the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to hand over the China Bay Oil Tank Farm in Trincomalee to India would be signed during the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to India or not, despite PM's assurance that he would not sign.

A secret arrangement is underway to hand over the Trincomalee China Bay Oil Tank Farm to India by the Ranil Wickremesinghes government after signing the MoU. We are not sure whether the MoU will be signed during his visit to India or during the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Sri Lanka in the midst of Wesak celebrations, Muzammil said.

We have revealed some important facts so far regarding the signing of agreements, he said.

In 2003 Ranil Wickremesinghe had handed over number of oil tanks to India. India is in the process of acquiring the remaining oil tanks. Several rounds of discussions have been held to hand over ownership of several plots of land near the Trincomalee harbour to India for a minimum period of 50 years, Muzammil said.

Energy was one of the main elements which gives equal prominence as national security of a country, he said.

India is trying to interfere in Sri Lankas energy sector and trying to control the country's destiny through the Wickremesinghes government, Muzammil said. (Chaturanga Pradeep)

Video by Sanjeewa
Frances centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron is set to face off against far right candidate Marine Le Pen on May 7, with the majority of ballots counted in Sundays first-round presidential vote.



With 97 per cent of votes tallied at 7:30 am (0530 GMT) Monday, Macron had won 23.9 per cent of the vote, to Le Pens 21.4 per cent, according to statistics provided by the French Interior Ministry.

The partial results showed both candidates ahead of conservative Francois Fillon (19.9 per cent) and leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon (19.6 per cent). France now appears set for a face-off between two polar opposites: the liberal, pro-European Macron, a 39-year-old former economy minister, and Le Pen, 48, who rails against immigration and promises a referendum on pulling out of the EU.



On Sunday, Macron won the backing of his defeated socialist and conservative rivals, but radical leftist Melenchon said he would poll his followers about what stance to take.



With ballots not yet completely counted, Le Pen has already won the highest number of votes ever cast for her National Front party, at 7.7 million, ahead of the partys previous high of 6.8 million votes in 2015.



Voter participation was at 78 per cent in Sundays election, authorities said.

Paris, (dpa),

Apr 24, 2017

Scores arrested in violent Paris election night protests

PARIS AFP April24, 2017 - Police said Monday they arrested more than 100 people after election night unrest in Paris, with protesters hurling bottles at security forces, torching cars and smashing shop windows. Six police officers and three protesters were slightly injured in the violence in central Paris, police said, adding that 143 people were arrested, with 29 held overnight. Hundreds of youths gathered to protest against far-right leader Marine Le Pen and former banker Emmanuel Macron, who both qualified Sunday for the May 7 run-off in Frances two-stage presidential election.
Historian, art historian and academic

Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda is indeed one of the few non-combatants allowed into the war zone during the final stages of the Eelam War. On his own initiative, he made an application to visit the operational areas and was granted permission to do so by the Defence Ministry. He toured these areas on three occasions between March and April 2009. His work has been published in international media and military journals, and presented to audiences in the U.K., India and Canada. Dr. Tammita-Delgoda has never been an employee of the Sri Lankan Government nor the Defence Ministry. These impressions and supporting photographs are original and based on firsthand experience in 2009 when the war was still raging and had

entered its final stages.

Outside the sprawling Army base at Vavuniya in Northern Sri Lanka stands a great Nuga (Banyan) tree. Its branches tower over the road, casting a spreading shadow over the line of vehicles parked beside. Underneath the tree is a small stone Kovil, a shrine to the Hindu deity, Lord Ganesha. Every vehicle heading North towards the war zone stops here and every soldier, Buddhist and Christian alike, gets down. Piling out of their trucks, lorries and jeeps, they make their offering to the Elephant God, seeking his blessing and protection. Sometimes, the Pusari (Hindu priest) himself comes out to bless them, daubing the flaming vermilion paste on

their foreheads.



Religion is still a vital part of life in Sri Lanka and Buddhist temples, Hindu Kovils and Christian churches are found everywhere on the island. Despite the heavy fighting which has raged throughout the North, most of the Hindu shrines in the region remain intact. Although empty and abandoned, they lie untouched amidst the debris of war. Almost as numerous are temples of another kind. Modern, colourful, drawing on a blend of influences, they propagate a new religion.

Outside the ruins of Pudukuduirippu Hospital is another shrine. Although the surrounding area is littered with bricks and shells, with its bright psychedelic colours, it is a cheerful sight. At its heart is a smiling young man with a halo around his head. He has large, round glasses, a moustache and a beatnik hairstyle. Although he looks more like a hippy poet, this smiling youngster was one of the very first martyrs to the LTTE cause. His name was Thileepan, a medical student from Jaffna. Suffering from blood cancer, he had gone to India for treatment. However, treatment had failed and Thileepan returned to his home town, weak and ailing. At the time, Jaffna was occupied by the Sri Lanka armed forces and to protest at their presence, Thileepan began a fast

unto death.



At Pudukuduirippu, Thileepans likeness is surrounded by shades of heavenly blue. A parasol above his head confers special status on his portrait. Painted below is a lotus, the sacred flower of Buddhism and Hinduism. On the wall on either side are larger pictures of Thileepan, with a burning candle, several feet long. To one side a young woman in the garb of a temple maiden, kneels at his feet. Gazing at Thileepan in adoration, she offers flowers in her cupped hands. Shrines like this are found all over Tamil Eelam. Thileepan Day was declared a special day and every year on the anniversary of his death, lamps were lit and offerings made. The air is alive with the rattle of machine guns and bursts of rifle fire. Now and again, there is a heavy thud and Thileepans smiles widen slightly as his image seems to dance from side to side. Over the last few months, the once-invincible Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been driven from stronghold after stronghold. Pudukuduirippu is the last town under their control and here the LTTE are putting up desperate resistance, standing and fighting to the death. Despite the daily losses, there is an endless stream of reinforcements.



We are killing and wounding them everyday, yet there are still people coming forward to fight. Even now, they are willing to fight and die: General Kamal Gunaratne, Commander, Division 53, Pudukuduirippu.



This relentless determination in the face of impossible odds has very deep roots. Its origins lie in the way in which the guerillas were able to mobilise the population in areas under their control.

In every corner of the globe, the exercise books given to children are adorned with pictures, cartoon characters, animals and all kinds

of machinery.



In Sri Lanka, however, they have a particular fascination for children who love the bright, shiny pictures. Remaining with their owners from day-to-day, they are hoarded and treasured, carried everywhere and tended with loving care.



The schoolbooks of Tamil Eelam are slightly different in character. One depicts a beaming young cadre in his Tiger stripes. This is Lt. Colonel Deva Rasiah Kannan from Vavuniya. Born on December 25, 1971, he died a hero on March 29, 2007.On the back cover is a parody of one of the most famous scenes in World War II -- The raising of the flag at Iwo Jima. Standing on a mound of helmets, a group of cadres raise the flag in jubilation. One shoots his T-56 off into the air, another brandishes a rocket launcher. Sprawled at their feet is the body of a Sri Lankan soldier.

It is a special souvenir edition. Inside a series of entries lists the injuries which Rasiah sustained in the course of his duties. Beginning at Neriyakulam in Vavuniya in 1988, it goes down the page, chronicling the story of his wounds. All told, he was injured some 56 times.

The back cover carries two more portraits which appear above the Raising of the Flag.

One is of Rasiah and facing him is a girl in uniform, his cousin Rasiah Tamilchelvi, who also died in battle.



Both man and woman are given an equal place in the afterlife. Tamilchelvi, however, appears to have sprouted whiskers and been given bags under her eyes. Boys, even would be cadres it seems, will be boys.



The Tiger creed dictated that every family must give at least one child to the struggle and every family who lost a child in battle were known as Mahaveeras, the great heroes of the Liberation struggle. Idolised in death, their flesh and blood were also looked after in life, treated with great honour and given special privileges. Government Agents in areas under the control of the LTTE were ordered to give them special consideration, channelling food, money and clothing to the surviving members. Exalting them in the eyes of their peers, the Tigers tied these families ever more closely to the cause, creating a group within the community which formed the backbone of their support.

Once they lost Pudukuduirippu, the LTTE fell back to Pudumathalan on the seashore. At Pudumathalan, the most imposing permanent structure is a low squat building on the sands. Even in the glittering glare, it makes a splash of lurid colour. At first sight, it resembles a little church, reminiscent of the brightly-coloured buildings scattered up and down the islands coasts. Like a village chapel, a little iron gate leads into a space lined by flowerpots. The flower pots form a circle around a podium in gaudy red and yellow. Behind the podium is a pavilion in ocean blue. Above the threshold is a Tiger, his face a snarling mask of white and orange. Framed against a ships wheel, he claps an anchor between his paws. The lines of the anchor behind him form a cross and there is the suggestion of a crucifix. It is not a church but a memorial hall, a monument to the Sea Tigers, the naval wing of the LTTE. Drawing on the people of the seashore, the Sea Tigers operated from bases dotted up and down the coast. Using small, very fast lightweight boats as suicide vessels, they posed a serious threat to the larger, heavier vessels of the Sri Lanka Navy.



This hall was dedicated to Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Anthony, one of the first military leaders to lay down his life in the early days of the Tamil Tigers. In order to procure weapons for the movement, Charles led an attack on a police station in Jaffna. However, he was badly injured during the attack and his men wanted to carry him back to base. Deeming that the struggle was more important than his life, Charles ordered his cadres to shoot him so that they could complete their mission and return with the captured weapons. Moved by his sacrifice, Prabhakaran named his first son Charles Anthony. He also gave his name to the first attack unit formed by the LTTE. Known as the Charles Anthony Brigade, it was to become one of LTTEs elite regiments.



This perhaps explains the two life size Kalashnikovs painted on either side of the doorway. Camouflage caps rest on their barrels and they are preceded by tall, burning candles. Inside there are no icons, no paintings and no candles, just a cavernous emptiness. A long low space, it was dark and empty, like the innermost sanctum of a Hindu shrine. In the Hindu temple however, the inner sanctum was the womb of fertility, the sacred, mysterious centre of all creation. Here it was the centre of extinction, a place of worship dedicated to the cult of death.



Like so many other coastal villages, Pudumathalan was a fishing settlement. Seagoing by nature, its inhabitants were all converts to Catholicism. Prabhakaran himself, many of his lieutenants and numbers of the rank and file were not in fact Hindus but Catholics. Taught from an early age by Catholic padres, they were firm believers of death, crucifixion, martyrdom and resurrection. Appropriating the forms and symbols of Catholicism and fusing them with the Hindu tradition, the Tamil Tigers created a new religion.



Emerging once more into the brilliant glare, one is struck by the empty flowerpots, vivid in luminescent green. Each pot has several figures painted on the side. Largest of all is a woman with a rifle across her shoulder, her hair cropped short in the fashion of female cadres. On either side, holding her hand, are a boy and a girl. The woman is leading the

children to war.



In South Asia, the sight of a farmer taking his children to work is common and all over Sri Lanka, both boys and girls help their parents in the fields. In Tamil society, women had traditionally been very subservient. It was the man who was seen as the breadwinner and head of the household.

Reversing the position of the woman in Tamil culture, the LTTE liberated them from their customary role. Not only were they given an equal place in afterlife, they were respected, honoured and treated as equals in this life too. The woman was not only the wife and the mother, she was also the warrior. It was she, the mother, who led the way, mobilising not only her fellow women but also the

next generation.



The source of all fertility, she was the lifeblood of the Tamil revolution. As the mother of its cadres, it was she who would inspire the children to give their blood for the cause.
Schools should limit assigning students for outdoor activities in the severe mid-day heat that is currently prevailing in the country, Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam told school principals today when addressing a meeting at the Education Ministry.

He said the they should pay attention to the students health and should instruct them to drink more water to remain hydrated and added that students should be asked to wear caps and use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun.

Government and Government-approved private schools will begin their second term today.

Principals should see that the school water tanks are cleaned regularly so as to provide safe drinking water to students and make the school environment pleasing and safe, the minister said.

On an earlier occasion the Education Ministry instructed school principals to clean their school premises by eradicating dengue mosquito breeding sites.

It had authorised school principals to obtain assistance from parents, past students' unions and school development committee members to keep school premises safe. (Chaturanga Pradeep)
Oman Air has recently published its annual report for 2016 that reflects the accomplishments achieved by the company, in addition to the outstanding efforts and the successful approach towards the development of all aspects of its operations in order to continue the company's growth and successes. Oman Air's business operations have witnessed remarkable growth during 2016.

Reviewing the annual report on behalf of the Board of Directors of Oman Air during The Extraordinary General Meeting and the 35th Ordinary General meeting in Muscat, His Excellency Darwish Bin Ismail Bin Ali Al Balushi, Chairman of Oman Air's Board of Directors, highlighted some of the achievements of 2016, which are as follows:

 Fleetexpanded to 47 aircraft.

 Increase in the seat factor up to 20%

 Increase in the number of passengers to 7.7 million, or 21%

 Launch of Oman Air Flight Training Centre (OAFTC)

 Freight operations increased to 159,618 tonnes

 One million extra meals produced by Oman Air Catering Services

Further fleet expansion

His Excellency Darwish Bin Ismail Al Balushi said, "2016 was a year of both change and consolidation for Oman Air. Oman Air has continued its ambitious programme of expansion in 2016 with the introduction of four brand new Boeing 737-800s joining the Oman Air fleet. The carrier has operated B737s for many years and the aircraft provide the backbone of the airlines long and medium haul fleet. We have continued to upgrade our Airbus fleet. The first Airbus 330 to benefit from a comprehensive retrofit landed at Muscat International Airport from Paris in October 2016. This reflects our commitment to continue to invest in our award winning on board experience.

He added that the previous A330 interiors attracted enormous international acclaim when they were first unveiled in 2009 and the new A330 interiors surpass those high standards and customers are already delighted with the results.With the addition of the new Boeing 737  800, Oman Airs fleet stands at 47. Currently Oman Airs fleet consists of four Boeing 787 Dreamliners, six Airbus 330-300s, four Airbus 330-200s, five Boeing 737-900s, 23 Boeing 737-800, one Boeing 737-700 and four Embraer 175s. Three more Boeing 737  800s are scheduled to join the fleet and this year, Oman Air will be unveiling new B787-9 Dreamliners and revamping the existing Airbus fleet.

Significant operational results

The results speak for themselves. The number of available seat kilometres grew to 24.8 billion, an increase of 20%. Oman Airs capacity has increased significantly over the last year recording an increase in flight movements by more than 4000 flights to nearly 51,952 flights, an increase of 9% compared with 2015. The number of round trips Oman Air offered in 2016 rose to 30,978 trips from the previous years 28,270 trips.

As a result of the increased capacity, Oman Air experienced a huge 21% increase in passenger numbers with over 7.7 million passengers travelling with the airline in 2016, compared to 6.4 million passengers in 2015. While the fluctuating oil prices continue to affect the global economic outlook in general negatively, Oman Airs revenues have increased during 2016 to OMR 472 million, an increase of 1% on 2015, His Excellency Darwish Bin Ismail Al Balushi said.

He also said that among the developments in 2016 are: the introduction of a double daily service to London Heathrow; from five times a week, to daily flights to Paris and increased frequencies on other European routes. The other recent additions to our network include, Manila, Jakarta, Singapore, Goa, Dhaka and Mashhad. The introduction of Guangzhou, China and Najaf, Iraq were the other major milestones of 2016. We also announced the start of our second destination in the UK with the new Muscat to Manchester daily service in May 2017.

Priority to man-power development

Oman Air is continuing with its broad human resources strategy of appreciating the skills, abilities, commitment and contributions of all staff, regardless of their backgrounds. The company has worked hard to increase the employment of Omani nationals and now over two thirds of the workforce originates from Oman.

2016 also saw a move to put Oman Air at the forefront of pilot and cabin crew training with the launch of the Oman Air Flight Training Centre (OAFTC) in October. It is a state-of-the-art facility that is the first of its kind in the Sultanate of Oman, His Excellency Darwish Bin Ismail Al Balushi said.

Other sectors, sustainedgrowth

His Excellency Darwish Bin Ismail Al Balushinoted that Oman Air continues to excel in other areas of the business. The amount of cargo that Oman Air handled in 2016 increased from 138,972 tonnes to approaching 159,618 tonnes.Our Catering Services Division has won several new contracts including a three and a half year contract with British Airways. In the past year Oman Air Catering Services produced an extra one million meals than were originally budgeted for, increasing productivity without compromising on quality.Extensive work continues to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of every area of the business. Oman Airs engineering division is preparing to move to a much bigger facility, productivity can only increase.

Contribution to the National economy

As a national carrier, one of our mandates is to contribute to the economic growth of the Sultanate by creating air bridges with brotherly and friendly countriesto bring tourists from abroad, which is supporting tourism, and creating business opportunities between national businessmen in Oman and abroad. The infrastructure to do this is now practically fully available; Muscats new airport is nearing completion after the opening of the new passenger terminal in Muscat, meaning that the home base for Oman Air will be state of the art, His Excellency Darwish Bin Ismail Al Balushi said.

He added that the contribution from Oman Air, as national airline, to the economy of the Sultanate of Oman is estimated at about RO 600 Million.

On behalf of myself, the Board of directors and the Executive Management, I would like to thank His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and his Government for their invaluable advice, timely encouragement and wise guidance. My colleagues on the Board and within Oman Airs management would once again like to join me in expressing our gratitude to His Majesty for his vision, his kind benevolence and his support, His Excellency Darwish Bin Ismail Al Balushiconcluded.
New Silk Road or New Great Game? India Developing New Sri Lanka Port to Combat China (Wayne Shepard, Forbes, April 21, 2017)



Will they leave? was the urgent question President Premadasa posed to me after having kept me behind as Varadarajah Perumal and the others left the meeting at Sucharitha in January 1989 when the new Chief Minister and Cabinet of the North-East Provincial Council met the newly elected President, Ranasinghe Premadasa for the first time. I knew he was asking about the Indians and replied: From what I gather, they hope to keep back two brigades in Trincomalee.

Trincomalee was always the greatest prize but only Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and this Government are ready to give it to our neighbour, India. President Premadasas question remains relevant: Will they leave? With the solid commercial agreement that the PM is about to commit our country to, they probably will not, and it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to get them to leave.

I am appalled that the JVP and FSP, which needlessly spilled Southern blood allegedly against Indian expansionism, including the FSP leader, who sincerely and bravely fought against foreign troops in Trincomalee, are not spearheading a nationwide mobilisation against this historic geopolitical and economic treachery.



The Realist school of thought is basically geopolitical. It holds that geography ultimately determines history. Where you are and what you are determines what happens to you. If you understand geopolitics you can protect yourself.



The ancient Indian sage and strategist Kautilya (aka Chanakya), one of the founding fathers of the school of Realism in politics and interstate relations, unambiguously stated that the main threat to any State inevitably arises from its neighbours, because it is with neighbours that there are contentious borders and constant temptations.



He argued that States should therefore cultivate as a matter of strategic priority, excellent relations not so much with their neighbours but precisely with the neighbours of their neighbours, so as to counterbalance the inevitable attempts at hegemony, intervention, conquest and annexation on the part of ones immediate neighbours.



The Sri Lankan Government or one part of it, is just about to violate the advice of that great Indian sage, ironically enough with relation to India.



Sri Lanka PM to Visit India says the report, interestingly enough, by A Special Correspondent in The Hindu, with a strap that reads To Set Agenda for Modis Trip.

So whats that agenda?



Officials said an MoU to develop Trincomalee ports prospects through operating a major oil-storage facility, LNG plant and piped-gas projects and developing it as a key transit point with major expressways and industrial zones in the region was in the final stages of negotiations. The two sides will also hold discussions on the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), a version of the free trade agreement, and will be taken forward during Mr. Modis visit for International Vesak Day, the annual Buddhist festival on May 12, officials told The Hindu. (April 20, 2017)

It seems like the PM is arranging a Vesak dansala for the visiting Indian PM, in which he will be served up Trincomalee.



Writing in Forbes magazine, Wayne Shepard confirms that India, a country that sorely needs to revive its own aging infrastructure is investing in Trincomalee so as to enhance its influence on the island as well as to counter China.



International infrastructure investment and development is no longer merely about profitability: its become a way of obtaining influence in a country, a way of countering the position of competing geopolitical forces. (India Developing New Sri Lanka Port To Combat ChinaForbes, April 21, 2017)

Why should Sri Lanka facilitate India enhancing its influence on our island, when that would automatically mean enhancing the influence of Tamil Nadu over us? Why should we enable India to countervail the factor of China which has been a reliable, powerful friend and ally of Sri Lanka for decades?



Are Sri Lankas ports the next Great Game for China, India and Japan? asks Jeremy Luedi, Senior editor and analyst of Global Risks Insight, in its edition of April 17, 2017.The GRI intro/summary cautions that By developing its strategic location midway between the Middle East and the Straits of Malacca Sri Lanka faces both opportunities, and growing risks.



Having been through a Thirty-year war and an episode of coercive intervention with 70,000 troops from our neighbour stationed on our soiland episode initially propelled by political opinion in Tamil Nadu-do we really need those growing risks?



Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, Director General of the think tank of the Defence Ministry warns that Sri Lanka should also think of national security clearance when deciding on large-scale strategic foreign projects.



The non-foreignisation and non-privatisation of strategic national assets such as ports and airports was emphasised as a fundamental feature of the highly successful East Asian economic model, by a Sri Lankan-born professor of economics at the University of Rotterdam, to my mind the sharpest Sri Lankan economic minds in global academia at the moment, Prof Howard Nicholas, at Sri Lanka Inc.s Economic Forum 2017 at the Galle Face Hotel on March 30. Those strategic national assets remained state monopolies. He defined the East Asian economic miracle as one of national capitalism, and it must be admitted that there is absolutely nothing national about Ranil Wickremesinghes model of capitalism.



So, why is Prime Minister Wickremesinghe about to give away Trincomalee to India? How does he expect to win any election, when his opponents can portray him and his party the UNP as the ones who gave Trinco to the Indians, with all the consequences for the North and East and the destiny of the island? Is it that he expects that with such a stake in Trincomalee, India and its strategic ally the USA will feel it is in their joint interest to maintain Prime Minister Wickremesinghe in office by whatever means necessary, including coercive intervention?



It appears that Sri Lanka and its strategic assets are mere commodities to be sold or traded on the international markets, for the first time in at least a century, for a Sri Lankan leaderin this case, the PM-as I ventured to suggest in my public presentation by invitation to the admirable Public Commission on a National Policy on International Trade.



Our island was invaded from the North (Tamil Nadu) and the West (Europe) due to its location. Instead of maximising our autonomy and self-determination, the Prime Minister is using the same factor as bait.



One may call his strategy Colonisation by Invitation.

Of the two locations, Hambantota and Trincomalee, the former is the less dangerous because China is not our neighbour, we have no history of invasion and occupation with China, and China has no Tamil Nadu within it anyway. The opposite is the case with the Trincomalee giveaway, which is strategically tantamount to swallowing a cyanide capsule. What is retarding resistance to Ranils Great Game is the Game of Thrones going on behind the scenes at the interface of the SLFP and Oppositional spaces. It is a game of positioning or pre-positioning for succession. At one level the struggle is over which family owns the SLFPthe Bandaranaikes or the Rajapaksaswith ex-President CBK fancying herself the local Sonia Gandhi with President Sirisena the local Manmohan Singh.



At another level the struggle is within the Rajapaksas, with the most manipulative sibling, who is also the long-preferred option of the West, situating himself as a proxy or shadow Presidential candidate until generational succession is possible, and pre-empting his non-partisan, technocratic, heroic, stronger sibling from being the candidate and national saviour that much of Sri Lankan society is hoping and waiting for, to restore this countrys dignity and sovereignty.
A Sri Lankan Navy sailor had died while undergoing diving training at a Naval base in Kochi, India yesterday, Navy Spokesman Lieutenant Commander Chandima Walakuluge said today.

He said the 39-year-old Petty Officer (Diving) YPNR Weerasinghe, resident of Kurunegala was among three naval personnel had left for the training in India early this month.

According to the Press Trust of India, the Petty Officer, while carrying out a practise dive in the Ernakulam Channel as part of routine training procedure, failed to surface.

The sailor was located after an immediate search was carried out by the attendant supervisory training staff.

"The sailor was administered prompt first aid, and evacuated to the Naval Hospital. All attempts at reviving the sailor proved unsuccessful and he was declared dead at around 3 pm," the PTI reported quoting Indian Navy.

He had been undergoing training in Kochi since April 3, it said.

The Sri Lankan authorities have been informed about the incident.

A Board of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the incident, according to the Indian Navy.

Lieutenant Commander Chandima Walakulugehere said the body of the deceased is scheduled to brought to the Sri Lanka tomorrow.(DS)
In the Bandaranaike assassination, what is most astonishing was the lack of planning and plotting to shelter the conspirators

The gratitude owed by Bandaranaike to Buddharakkhitha for the formers electoral landslide was too great to be disregarded

J R in 1977 changed the course of the countrys economy for good.

Mark this well, you proud men of action! You are, after all, nothing but unconscious instruments of the men of thought.

~Georg Wilhelm

Friedrich Hegel

S W R D Bandaranaike, the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon, was assassinated by a Buddhist monk. A cruel conspiracy was hatched and executed to almost perfect precision. But that was only as far as the assassination was done and completed. But behind every murder there is a conspiracy. History tells us that in most assassinations, rarely had a lone gunman executed the job without any accomplices supporting him or her. In the Bandaranaike assassination, what is most astonishing was the lack of planning and plotting to shelter the conspirators so that they could remain at large after the assassination. Therein lay the fatal flaw of those who killed S W R D Bandaranaike, the man who ushered in an era of the common man in Ceylon.



At the top of this conspiracy-pyramid stood another Buddhist monk, a young megalomaniac by the name of Mapitigama Buddharakkhitha, who was primarily responsible for garnering the support of the Sinhalese-Buddhist vote for Bandaranaike in the election victory in 1956. However, there was nothing venerable, as all Buddhist monks are held in, in Mapitigama Buddharakkhitha, the chief conspirator of the assassination plot. At the time he was the Chief Monk at the Kelaniya Temple. He was no more venerable than a village-bandit-killer, consumed by his own self-importance. Bandaranaike was very much aware of the dishonorable lifestyle of the infamous head of the Kelaniya Temple.

Buddharakkhithas depraved association with a member of the fairer sex in his own Cabinet was public knowledge and Bandaranaike, instead of taking any action against the Cabinet Minister, chose to ignore it, probably at his own peril.There was no room for a sense of accountability in the exalted mind of Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike. The gratitude owed by Bandaranaike to Buddharakkhitha for the formers electoral landslide was too great to be disregarded. Ironically, both the killer and the chief conspirator were men of the saffron robe.



An exquisite product of the decadent Ceylonese low country-aristocracy (Govigama, Radala) at the time, Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, SWRDs father, was the Gate Mudaliyar of the Governor. As per James Manors, Expedient Utopian, Bandaranaikes biography, SWRD was not sent to school for his elementary education. He was tutored at home by an Oxonian. When he reached the age for secondary education, he was sent to St. Thomas College Mt. Lavinia and was boarded, not at the hostel where all non-day-scholars stayed during the school sessions, but at the Wardens residence. Rev. William Arthur Stone was the Warden at the time. Such was the aura of power that enveloped the Ceylonese aristocracy at the time. Adolescent SWRD was sheltered from the ordinary realities of the commoners for whom he later ushered in a new era as Prime Minister of Ceylon.

Later, after a distinguished phase at Oxford, England, SWRD arrived back in Ceylon and found his expected place among the elite of her political life. The formation of the Sinhala Maha Sabha (Greater Sinhalese Forum), being among the public speakers much sought after, joining Ceylon National Congress, entering the State Council and later becoming a powerful Minister in the first Cabinet in Ceylon, holding the prestigious post of Leader of the House, leaving D S Senanayakes government in 1951 and forming the SLFP are among major occurrences in Bandaranaikes life, well chronicled by history.



Bandaranaike showed his craftiness in politics by identifying, much earlier than almost all politicians at the time, the crying need of the time- a place in the sun for the common man. To launch his campaign for power in 1956 he invented the five-pillar platform- Sanga (Buddhist clergy), Veda (indigenous physician), Guru (school teacher), Govi (farmer/peasant) and Kamkaru (labourer). His powerful and emotive appeal was aimed at the heart of the Sinhalese Buddhist. In a most ironical twist of fate, it was the first of the five-pillar-platform that chose to kill the master they deified; for a flimsy excuse like non-granting of approval for a shipping contract to a company sponsored by Buddharakkhitha, the chief conspirator.



In so far as leadership is concerned, there are two kinds of them: consequential leaders and non-consequential leaders. Consequential leaders are those whose leadership has caused certain events which produced consequences 1. That couldnt be reversed and 2. Without that particular leader in place at that time, the same event could not have occurred. In terms of being consequential, post-Independence Ceylon has produced only two leaders. One is S W R D Bandaranaike and the other is J R Jayewardene.



J R in 1977 changed the course of the countrys economy for good. Opening and unshackling of the economy is one single event that J R alone was responsible for conceptualizing and execution. What flowed subsequent to the opening of the economy cannot be reversed and with it the countrys economic and cultural dynamic took another journey. Secondly, had there been another leader at the time in 1977, given the same context and circumstances, that journey would not have even been attempted.

What SWRD did in 1956 was even more momentous. He was responsible for two significant and epoch-making changes in Ceylons society. On the one hand, unleashing of the vernacular-educated forces in the country and pledging a place in the sun for them, transformed this country which was being ruled by English-educated, big city elite, into a one that is ruled and dominated by the Sinhala-speaking commoners. The transformation from the elite to the commoner is irreversible and its effects are historic. On the other hand, SWRD was also singularly responsible for the Sinhala-only policy that engendered a chain of events whose good and ill-effects are being felt even today. Both these measures could and would not have been executed if not for Bandaranaikes leadership. Nor could the resultant cascade of history have been reversed.



SWRDs leadership was unique in the sense, despite him being personally a hands-off leader, unlike J R Jayewardene the quintessential hands-on forerunner, the subsequent propaganda carried out by the Bandaranaike family and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) made him out to be a god-like figure whose influence on the basic needs of the country was pre-ordained. Bandaranaikes politics was essentially based on his own rhetoric. He was a speaker par-excellence and was not matched in his day, especially in the House of Parliament and in English language. When one assesses his real contribution to the countrys socio-political-economic character and movement, one inarguably finds a combination of good and some exceedingly bad. After sixty one years, scholars as well as ordinary men and women argue that the Sinhala - only policy generated more malevolent results than good ones. Sri Lankan society began its forbidding journey of polarization along ethnic lineage. While Sinhalese Buddhists were engaged in their infamous argument of reverse discrimination and historical injustice done unto them by the colonial powers, Tamils clung on to their demands for a separate homeland-state within the borders of Sri Lanka.



Bandaranaike did not create these battle-lines, yet his policy of Sinhala-only gave rise to a series of consequential episodes that caused these battle-lines. His defenses fell when Tamil-Sinhalese riots scarred the streets in Colombo, Jaffna, Ampara and other urban centres in 1958. Sir Oliver Goonatilleke, Governor General of the time had to intervene, while Bandaranaike, the hero of the common man was playing billiards at the elite Orient Club, some historians say. Bandaranaikes actions did not match his rhetoric. While the rhetoric created the myth, his actions condemned him to the brutal reality of sedentary, hands-off-Prime Minister.



He governed the country only for three short years. No more trade union sabotage was heaped upon the country than when Bandaranaikes government was in place. In fact, it is recorded history that Sirimavo, Bandaranaikes widow openly uttered on political platforms that it was N. M. Perera who killed Bandaranaike without killing him in deed. The expedient utopian, which S W R D Bandaranaike was in every sense of the word, as described by his biographer, James Manor, would ultimately be judged by history. In another two years, 2019, it will be sixty years since his tragic demise. A man, whose liberal principles in the early part of the twentieth century embraced the idea of Federalism for the resolution of the Tamil Question, turned one hundred and eighty degrees and caved into a path of narrow nationalism propagated by the very forces he unleashed. Instead of leading his men and women from the front, Bandaranaike chose to be led by his followers, the very opposite of J. R. Jayewardene.



S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and J. R. Jayewardene were two quintessential politicians who hailed from the elite that dominated the last years of the British Rule. Their decorum and courtesies extended beyond the confining walls of power; their education and scholarship was not limited to formal education and degrees they obtained from educational institutions; their commitment to the country they were born in was no second to any other leaders. Both were men of deep thought. Yet, I am afraid; history will judge their respective political careers very harshly.

The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com
Eleven days have passed since a massive heap of garbage of the Meethotamulla garbage dump collapsed killing 32 people and destroying stretches of houses in its wake. Currently out of the 98 families listed to receive houses, 30 have been offered flats. The rest of the displaced have been requested to leave the premises of the Terrence Maha Vidyalaya, so that activities in the school can recommence unhindered. However, the displaced claim that no viable option has been offered to them.

On April 14, all within thirty seconds, a stretch of houses was lifted up due to the force exerted by the collapse. This stretch collapsed on another stretch of houses previously unaffected by the dump, destroying them. Over and over again inhabitants in the vicinity of the Meethotamulla garbage dump have voiced concern about an impending disaster. Though they did not foresee a tragedy with such a magnitude that would devour 32 lives, they knew things were not turning out well. Protesters were brutally dispersed. Some affected by last years floods are yet to be compensated.

Most people have opposed proposals to move to the paddy storage complex temporarily, as the school had to be emptied. Thusitha Sudathkumara, the Kolonnawa Divisional Secretary, told Daily Mirror yesterday that they planned to clear the school to reopen today. However school authoritative sources told yesterday that though the number of displaced people housed had lowered, there did not seem to be an environment conducive to reopen the school.



In an announcement issued by Sunil Kannangara, the Colombo District Secretary, it is stated that those whose houses are completely destroyed, damaged or those asked to evacuate, could obtain a house worth Rs 4,000,000 from the housing scheme of the Urban Development Authority. Those unwilling to accept these houses will be given Rs. 50,000 for three months or until compensation is provided.



In addition, those whose houses have been completely destroyed would be given an allowance of Rs. 250,000 to purchase furniture and other goods. Those who have been asked to evacuate in the danger zone would be given Rs. 10,000 to transport their goods and belongings. However the affected people temporarily residing at the Terrence N. De Silva School, raised practical concerns regarding the options available. For instance, residents point out that no landlord would rent out a house for a month or three, when the norm is to pay a key money worth the rent for the whole year.

The Convener of the Movement against the Meethotamulla garbage dump Keerthi Ratna Perera said that officials were planning on assessing the damage and providing compensation within a month. In the meantime residents have to find a house for rent on their own. But you cant get a house in this manner as you need to pay the rent for a year in advance. Then people thought that they should get the Rs. 250,000 provided to purchase goods, and the rent allowance to get a house, he said.

We dont believe anything politicians say until we are given whatever they have promised, he added.Ninety eight families have been promised houses. Thirty accepted them, and the rest were not willing to.They will be given Rs. 50,000 (rent) and Rs. 250,000 (to purchase goods etc). Some cheques were handed over on Monday, he said.



According to Nuwan Bopage, lawyer and organizer of the Movement against the Meethotamulla garbage dump, 135 families are displaced, and seven people thought to be buried in the rubble are missing.

The history of the unrelenting struggle

Until 2009 garbage was dumped at Bloemendhal. However a case was filed by the people of Bloemendhal against the dumping of garbage. Then the Chief Justice at the time, ordered that the garbage be dumped temporarily in a 2-acre plot of land in pothuwilkumbura. In addition, if someone protested it was ordered that they can be arrested. At that time 800 tonnes of garbage was dumped daily. By the time tragedy struck 1200 tonnes was dumped daily, said Bopage. Reminiscing his childhood, he said that the garbage dump had been a bare extent of land with lush trees where children used to fly kites.



A series of events compelled the residents to organize themselves as a movement and seek justice. In 2011 the area of the garbage dump extended to cover 19 acres. By then the garbage dump was 200 feet high. The Meethotamulla Sri Rahula Vidyalaya was closed in October 2011. At the same time walls and floors of 100 houses in the vicinity of the garbage dump cracked. People wanted to seek judicial redress, but then agreed for a compensation, said Bopage.



Thereafter we organized ourselves as a movement and in 2012 we held our first protest. The government promised to give us a solution within three months. But there was no such solution after three months. In April we blocked garbage trucks entering for two days by constructing a temporary hut, he recalled.



In the meantime the police filed a case against me and a few others at the Colombo Magistrate Courts. While we were at courts a battalion dispersed the protesters brutally. Women were assaulted. Then we protested, petitioned, put up posters everywhere, but to no avail, he added.

In March 2014 after a protest we were invited to a discussion with Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who promised to solve the problem within six months, and we were contented. But the issue wasnt solved within six months and we protested once again, he sighed.



In February 2015 the police sprayed water when we protested. Then we were invited to a discussion with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe who appointed a committee with the UDA chairman as the head, he said. The committee had promised to intervene and find a solution within six months. They had advertised calling for project proposals. There were around 60 projects and some were very viable. When these projects were not approved we realized that there was a mafia going on, Bopage stressed.



According to Bopage there have been alleged discrepancies amounting to almost a whopping Rs. 200 million in the estimated value of a tender of solid waste management services, and the value at which it was given. The Chairman, Deputy Chairman and the opposition member of the Kolonnawa Municipal Council have 14 trucks which are sent outstation to collect garbage from companies, to be dumped here. Then they get all the money, he charged implying that the garbage dump has been a pot of gold for those in power. In December 2015 the movement protested once again, and Bopage said that protesters were beaten. No one listened to us and now people have died, he lamented.

Bopage pointed out that the environment created, surrounding the garbage dump, was not very pleasant and was conducive to alcoholism and drug abuse. He said that 101watte, 23watte and Nagahamulla were drug hubs and he alleged politicians were responsible for this sad plight.
India's most "nationalist" government in history has done quite badly on the actual security scenario on the ground. So, while the keyboard warriors battle it out, handing out "faux nationalism certificates" perpetually citing the soldier at the borders, the real soldiers are being given a short shrift.

The death toll of the CRPF battling the Maoists in India's heartland has shown a shocking spiral in the past three years. On Monday, 25 CRPF men were killed in a Chhattisgarh jungle ambush, yet the ministry of home affairs has not found time to appoint a full-time Director General for the force for the past two months after K Durga Prasad retired.

During the same period, the CRPF has lost 38 men in two major ambushes, including Monday's which was the worst in the past seven years.

The terror spiral in the Valley where even an election cannot be held has put a huge question mark over the legitimacy of the inept Mehbooba Mufti government in alliance with the BJP.

Periodic outbreaks in Kashmir, such as the blinding of nearly 100 young people with pellet guns after the death of militant Burhan Wani last summer, are a symptom of the malaise that is plaguing the security establishment  also the fact that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is completely out of his depth and unable to formulate a response to the ever increasing problem and the constant meddling by the powerful Ram Madhav, the RSS pracharak on secondment to the BJP who is credited with the BJP-PDP alliance.

The Doval-Madhav duo have also meddled in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) with disastrous effect. For those with short memories, remember the Modi-Doval road show around the world with much fanfare last year to secure the Nuclear Security Group waiver and how after a mega publicity blitz, even Mexico and Switzerland voted against us.

While the publicity machine is awash with unconvincing tales of his daring do and acts of valour in Punjab and Pakistan, the reality is somewhat different.

In Pakistan, during his tenure, he was in charge of the security detail of the mission which in itself is quite a taxing job in the hostile environs. People close to him tell me he was identified as an Intelligence Bureau man from day one of his tenure and did not undertake any missions, contrary to the "Desi Bond" myth.

Doval as NSA has ensured that Pakistan and China run rings around India and even friendly Nepal has turned hostile.

After mismanaging the Pathankot siege, which lasted an incredible four days in January 2016, Doval incredibly gave Pakistan access to the Indian Air Force base - the first time ever in our history. Pakistan did not reciprocate and later called the entire siege a "false flag operation" by India.

Doval as NSA has ensured that Pakistan and China run rings around India and even friendly Nepal has turned hostile. Photo: India Today

Consider the case of Myanmar, where India had for years been carrying out secret anti-terror operations. Even this was grist to Doval's publicity machine and one such operation was made public, with junior minister Raghuvendra Rathore tweeting a juvenile hashtag "56 inch rocks".

The result: A red-faced, embarrassed Myanmar refuted reports that India had entered their territory and said no such operations would be allowed in the future.

The so called "historic Naga accord" is yet another example of Doval's insatiable hunger for publicity. The accord signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg on August 15, 2015, is still a "secret" - its contents known to no one, neither the chief ministers of the affected states such as Manipur, nor Parliament.

Yet Doval, who was heading the RSS-funded Vivekanand Foundation post-retirement where he used to give talks on Pakistan trying to "bleed India by a thousand cuts", is not held to account.

Despite going along with then foreign minister Jaswant Singh in the worst security surrender of the IC-814 hijack on December 24, 1999, Doval emerged as BJP leader LK Advani's key IB point-man.

As Doval's power increased, his family has also benefitted. His son Shaurya who earlier used to run the Saudi-funded Zeus caps now heads the India Foundation along with Ram Madhav. The foundation is key for foreign heavy-hitters looking to connect with the Indian establishment. It has several cabinet ministers such as Nirmala Sitharaman, Suresh Prabhu and Jayant Sinha as directors.

Even Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her visit this month attended a reception thrown by Madhav via the India Foundation.

Ram Madhav enjoys power without any accountability is evident in the case of the Valley.

His constant espousal of the hard RSS line has ensured that the Valley careens from crisis to crisis with no attempt at any kind of political outreach.

A carpet weaver who had gone out to vote in the recent bypoll, which saw a dismal 7 per cent turnout, was tied by the Army to a jeep and paraded around as a human shield, violating the Geneva convention and the Army's own code; the incident brought India international opprobrium.

But Doval and Madhav's hard line continues, so while India holds on grimly to Kashmir, questions which were considered settled decades ago are being asked again.

In an interview to DailyO, former J&K CM Omar Abdullah confessed candidly that parties like his did not represent the mainstream anymore in the Valley. He also blamed Modi's "tourism versus terrorism" binary laced comment, which is an article of faith with Madhav.

The list of security failures and omissions is stunning. Equally stunning is the fact that the Centre is never held to account for the claims they make.

Remember Modi saying that demonetisation had broken the back of terror and Maoist funding?
China is planning to hold an international conference on President Xi Jinpings One Belt One Road project (OBOR) in May where the presence of world leaders it is lobbying hard for would boost its leadership ambitions in Asia and well beyond. Xi has the dream to make China a global power and wants others to share it, kindled by the prospect of benefiting from Beijings investment plans across Asia and the Indian Ocean.

Dreams are by nature disconnected and incoherent, which is why the Chinese have not been able to define the project clearly, referring to it as an evolving concept that would incorporate the ideas of participating countries as it develops. It is presented as a cooperative project in a bid to delink it from Chinas geopolitical ambitions, but it was launched without consultation with anyone, including India. It remains a Chinese-controlled project as they hold the purse strings.

Ambitions

China has launched this idea to serve its global ambitions and the needs of its economy and expect others to make it implementable. To artificially amplify its scope, projects already implemented by China to serve its resource and connectivity needs and which were never intended to be public goods have been included in OBOR.

Chinas oil and gas pipelines from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to East Turkestan, and the development of the Gwadar port pre-date OBOR. Just four days ago, Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi has also falsely included the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) project under OBORs rubric.

Some in India echo Chinas line that it is in Indias interest to participate in OBOR as all our neighbours have supported it and our staying out will isolate us.

Others suggest that we skirt the issue of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) violating our sovereignty by traversing Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) with a formula that satisfies our formal position on the territory with a view to allowing our participation in OBOR.

The stakes for us are apparently too high, as we are in desperate need for Chinese investments in ports and manufacturing. The argument is also being made that Chinas deep involvement in Pakistans political success and economic development creates a congruence of interest with India, as it would help stabilise Indias neighbourhood and wean Pakistan away from terrorism. We are being exhorted to move out of ossified positions and avoid painting ourselves into a corner by opposing OBOR.

Chinas global power status is being cited as a reason for India not to be fixated on one or two issues such as NSG membership as that is not an issue of core interest for India. No wonder Wang Yi has noted in his recent statement that many Indian friends support OBOR.

All these arguments are highly questionable. If NSG is not a core issue for us, why is it one for China, which considers our membership as being against its national interest? China already dominates Central Asia at Russias cost. Our neighbours have long played the China card against us and OBOR will be one more, presuming that Sri Lankas lesson from opening doors to costly Chinese investments goes unheeded by others.

Hegemony

Our neighbours are not worried about Chinas hegemonic ambitions in Asia; they would be more wary of Indias hegemony.

If all the aid showered by the West on Pakistan for decades has not stabilised Pakistan and ended its terrorist affiliations, it is unclear how CPEC  which is a project sponsored by the Pakistani military  will serve Indias needs.

Chinese diplomats in Delhi warn that India will pay a price for not participating in OBOR. What will be that price? China will continue to oppose us on NSG membership and Masood Azhars designation as a terrorist? It will make one more statement on Tawang? It will give Tibetan names to more counties in Arunachal Pradesh? It will do more military exercise with Nepal and squeeze debt-ridden Sri Lanka more? It will send more submarines into the Indian Ocean?

It will continue to deny us opportunities in its economy and increase our bilateral trade deficit even more? Presumably if we embraced OBOR we will be rewarded by a reversal of Chinese policies on all these issues. China will begin investing in India in a big way and build us up an economic power that will compete with them tomorrow in Asia and beyond and challenge them, replaying the naivety of the Americans of empowering China that now seeks to oust them from Asia.

Expansion

We should just ignore OBOR, except opposing the CPEC, as it represents the vital connectivity between Chinese expansion on the Asian landmass and its plans in the Indian Ocean. We need to implement our own connectivity projects with much greater speed.

If these projects get connected in the normal course with the Chinese connectivity projects on the Asian landmass, so be it. Why should we laud OBOR as transformative (for whom  us?) and praise it. Simply because our companies could get a contract or two here and there is no reason to mortgage our foreign policy to Chinas dream.

We need not become petulant and raise our fists at Chinas initiative. We should study OBOR to assess its geopolitical implications for our security and our role in Asia. At the Beijing OBOR show, our representation should be low level, only to keep an eye on the proceedings and prepare a report.
Bangladesh watchers were euphoric after the much hyped and publicised India visit (April 7-10) of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, raising perhaps misplaced hopes that she would strengthen her secular bona fides after return from India.

Secular forces in Bangladesh were, however, deeply disappointed by Hasina's recent statements which can easily be seen as gestures by her as warming up to Islamic hardliners, clearly departing from her secular stance.

The whole issue emanated from a statue of a Greek goddess, Themis (goddess of justice), installed inside the Supreme Court in Dhaka becoming an eyesore for Islamic hardliners, who went on a campaign spree demanding removal of the idol as it wore a saree, which is considered opposed to the tenets of Islam.

Such a vitriolic campaign was spearheaded by none other than Hefazat-e-Islam, an Islamic hardline outfit, which has registered robust growth, contributing to reinforcing of fundamentalism in the country.

Hasina's body language suggested she was warming up to the zealots, and it is more than a coincidence that the gestures became apparent within 48 hours of her return from India.

The progressives in Bangladesh had earlier thought that other than inking numerous bilateral treaties, the Indian polity must have subtly put across to Hasina the need to be more firm in dealing with extremists constantly perpetrating excesses on the nation's minorities, foreigners and liberals.

On April 11, while addressing Supreme Court judges in Dhaka, Hasina, contrary to her secular stand, said: "I don't like it myself and how did a Greek statue reach here?"

The statement shocked many and the secular and forward-thinking lobbies in Bangladesh are crestfallen by her words. The seculars apprehend that, emboldened by her "pro-Islamic" rhetoric, anti-liberation forces may start demanding removal of statues and memorials erected in the memory of the 1971 liberation war.

Protest against a Greek statue in Dhaka. Photo: Reuters

Prominent crusader of secularism in Bangladesh Shahriar Kabir has already criticised Hasina for what he described as a U-turn. Elaborating on the development, noted liberal litterateur Taslima Nasreen questioned the hardliners that "it's Greece and only Greece which has given civilisation and the statue is a symbol of Greek culture and civilisation, reminding us to remain cultured, but any move to remove the statue would be a regressive step".

Hasina does not stop here. On a different occasion, but in the same vein, she stated that her government would soon start recognising degrees obtained from hardline madrasas, thus paving the way for millions of religious scholars to qualify for jobs in the public and private sector.

If implemented (it looks very likely) in the not so distant future, Bangladesh may have theocratic elements embedded in all walks of life. And precisely because of this, seculars appear alarmed and apprehend that Hasina is trying to reach out to the hardliners to befriend them and keep them on her right side, as the dates of the next general elections draw to a close.

Even if we assume such gestures are for electoral reasons, Hasina should keep an exit route open. The radicals won't let her escape without fulfilling her promises. Jamat-e-Islami is banned but its cadres are around following the party ideology in letter and in spirit.

Both Jamat and Hefazat-e-Islam may have different names but they remain steadfastly united in pursuit of their goals to make Bangladesh an Islamic state. Politically and diplomatically, therefore, Hasina should be astute enough to wean one away from the other, lest her own political existence is not imperilled.

Hasina will play with fire if she continues to come closer to Hefazat-e-Islam. The latter has shown tremendous rise within seven years. Its cadres have increased manifold. Its agenda is loud and clear. It wants enactment of blasphemy laws, including banning of Ahmediyas as an Islamic sect. Its 13-point charter still holds good and it had already demonstrated its scheme of things in 2013 through a long march exposing its strength in drawing more popular support.

One should not forget that such outfits are linked to terror and Bangladesh is already under the ISIS scanner and witnessed a series of terror attacks full of devastation. Many youth stand radicalised and we don't know how many are fighting with the ISIS rank and file.

After the collapse of the ISIS, the cadres will be back in Bangladesh, adding muscle to the ultras. The most dreaded home-grown terror outfit JMB took off with cadres who had participated in the Taliban-led war in Afghanistan. That's a lesson to be borne in mind.
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.
National Retail Properties is a REIT focused on retail-oriented properties across the United States. The company invests in high-quality retail properties subject to long-term leases that generate stable, consistent, predictable income. The company laid claim to 3,305 properties enclosing 33.8 million square feet of space in 48 states leased to 380 tenants engaged in 37 trades as of October 2022.

National Retail Properties was formed in 1984 as Golden Corral Realty Corporation. The company was intended as a means for employees to invest in Golden Corral but it soon took on a life of its own. The company split from its parent in 1993 and then became a REIT in 1998. Since then a number of mergers and acquisitions resulted in the company that is traded today.

National Retail Properties seeks to generate returns for shareholders through capital appreciation and dividends and is one of the most stable dividend payers in the REIT universe. The company made its 33rd consecutive distribution increase in 2022 ranking it 3rd on the list of REITs with sustained annual dividend increases. In regard to all publicly listed companies, there are less than 90 which have increased their payout for as many years or more as National Retail Properties. The compound annual growth rate runs in the range of 4% to 5%.

National Retail Properties is not limited in scope to the type of business it will lease to. The top four sectors occupying its space, however, are convenience stores, automotive-related, full-service, and limited-service restaurants which command a lions share of retail dollars. These segments made up nearly 49% of the portfolio in 2022 with no tenant making up more than 5% of the total income.

The top three tenants at the time are 7-11, Mister Car Wash, and Camping World followed by L.A. Fitness, GPM Investments (convenience), and Dave & Busters. The firm's average lease runs in the range of 10.6 years and occupancy runs high and above 99%. Properties are all single-occupier and leased on a net basis. Most properties are leased on a triple-net basis which means National Retail Properties is insulated from taxes, maintenance, and insurance costs. Other notable tenants include Yum! Brands and Wendys.

National Retail Properties uses leverage to enhance its returns. The companys debt ratio is low however and its debt carries an investment-grade rating from Standard & Poors and Moodys.
The following companies are subsidiares of WPP: 24/7 Real Media UK Ltd., 41?29! Media Internet, AD Venture Worldwide Inc, AKQA, AKQA Denmark A/S, AKQA GmbH, AKQA Inc., AKQA Limited, AQuest, Acceleration, Acceleration eMarketing Inc, All Global, Always (Shanghai) Marketing Services Co Ltd, Arctouch LLC, BCW LLC, BWR PR, Beijing Benpao Century Technology Development Co. Ltd., Benenson Strategy Group LLC, Black and Deen, Blast Radius, Blast Radius Inc., Bomtempo Anahory e Ralha, Bottle Rocket, Bottle Rocket LLC, Brindfors Design AB, CB Associes S.A., CMI Media, CMI Media LLC, CONEXANCE MD, CT Finances SA, Catalyst Online LLC, Cavendish Square Holding BV, Center Partners, Cerebra, Cockpit Holdings Limited, Cognifide, Commarco, Commarco GmbH 120274, Cordiant Communications Group Limited, Dawson Integrated Marketing Communications, DeepLocal Inc., Design Bridge, Design Bridge Limited, Dewey Square Group, Ecommera, EffectiveUI, Enduring Organisation, Entreprise de Communications Tank Inc., Essence, Essence Global Group Limited, Essence Global LLC, Eurosem Belgium SA/NV, F.biz, FAST - Financial Administration Solutions & Technologies Srl, Finecast Limited, Finsbury LLC, Forward Limited, GREY Dusseldorf GmbH, GTB Agency LLC, GTB Shanghai Advertising Co. Ltd, GTB Stat LLC, GWE LLC, Geometry Global Japan GK, Geometry Global LLC, Geometry Global Limited, Glendinning Management Consultants, Go Direct Marketing Inc., Gorilla LLC, Grey, Grey Advertising Limited, Grey Global Group LLC, Group M France SAS, Group M Worldwide LLC, Group SJR LLC, GroupM (Shanghai) Advertising Co. Ltd, GroupM Argentina Trading S.A., GroupM B.V., GroupM Chile SAC, GroupM Competence Center GmbH, GroupM Denmark A/S, GroupM Japan KK, GroupM Limited, GroupM Market Advertising Co. Ltd., GroupM Media India Pvt Ltd, GroupM Pakistan (Private) Ltd, GroupM Singapore Pte Ltd, GroupM Srl, GroupM UK Digital Limited, Guangzhou Dawson Marketing Communication Co. Ltd, H-ART, HERING SCHUPPENER Consulting Strategieberatung fur Kommunikation GmbH, HeathWallace, Hill & Knowlton Limited, Hill and Knowlton Strategies LLC, Hirschen Group GmbH, Hogarth California LLC, Hogarth Worldwide Inc., Hogarth Worldwide Limited, Icon Brand Navigation Group, IntelliQuest Information Group Inc, International Meetings & Science LLC, J Walter Thompson Middle East and North Africa E.C., J Walter Thompson Publicidade Ltda, J.Walter Thompson Bridge Advertising Co. Ltd., John Street Inc., KBM Group LLC, KR Media UK Limited, KR Wavemaker SAS, Kantar TNS, Kinetic Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Kinetic Worldwide Limited, LLC GroupM, LLC Wavemaker, Landor LLC, M Media Group Pty Ltd, M2 Digital Inc., Marketeers Vietnam, Marketing Direct LLC, Marketing Perspectives Limited, Mather Direct GmbH, Maxus Communications (UK) Limited, Media Club SpA, Media Insight SNC, MediaCom - Warszawa Sp.z.o.o., MediaCom AS (Norway), MediaCom Agentur fur Media-Beratung GmbH, MediaCom Communications Pvt Ltd, MediaCom Danmark A/S, MediaCom Group Limited, MediaCom Istanbul Medya Hizmetleri A.S., MediaCom TWENTYFIVE GmbH, Mediacom AG, Mediacom Australia Pty Limited, Mediacom Canada, Mediacom Iberia SA, Mediacom Italia Srl, Mediacom LLC, Mediacom Middle East & North Africa Holding W.L.L., Mediacom North Limited, Mediacom Paris SA, Mediacom Worldwide LLC, Mediaedge:CIA Worldwide Limited, Mediaedge:cia India Pvt Ltd, Medialets, Memac Ogilvy & Mather Holding Inc, Mind Share Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., MindShare Canada, MindShare GmbH, MindShare Hong Kong Limited, MindShare Polska Sp. z.o.o., Mindshare Media UK Limited, Mindshare SA, Mindshare South Africa (Gauteng) (Proprietary) Limited, Mindshare SpA, Mindshare Spain SA, Mindshare USA LLC, Mirum LLC, Mirum S.A. de C.V., Motion Content Group Limited, OPR AGENCY PTY LIMITED, Ogilvy & Mather Brasil Comunicacao Ltda, Ogilvy & Mather Group (Holdings) Limited, Ogilvy & Mather Pvt Ltd, Ogilvy & Mather S.A.S, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide LLC, Ogilvy Australia Pty Ltd, Ogilvy Commonhealth Worldwide LLC, Ogilvy Public Relations GmbH, Ogilvy Singapore Pte. Ltd., Ootworld, OpenMindWorld LLC, P Four Consultancy, PTR Comunicacoes Ltda, Penn Schoen & Berland Associates LLC, Penn Schoen Berland, Pep LLC, Plano.Trio Comunicacao, Potato London Ltd, Premiere Group Holdings Limited, Prism Sport + Entertainment, Promotion Execution Partners LLC, Public Strategies Inc., Quasar Media Private, Quinn Gillespie & Associates, Quirk, RLM Finsbury, Rasor Holdings LLC, Ray + Keshavan Design Associates, Real Media, Red Fuse New York LLC, Regional Management Group SAS, Russell Square Holding BV, Salmon Limited, Salmon Ltd, Sandtable, Scangroup, Set Management LLC, Shanghai Easycom Advertising Co. Ltd., Shanghai Linjie Marketing Services Co. Ltd., Shanghai Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Ltd, Shire Hall Group, Spafax Airline Network Limited, Spafax Networks LLC, Stickleback Limited, Sudler & Hennessey LLC, Superunion Limited, Swift + POSSIBLE LLC, Syzygy AG, TMARC, Taxi, Taxi Inc., Team Garage LLC, The Brand Union, The Cocktail Global S.L., The Finsbury Group Limited, The Glover Park Group, The Glover Park Group LLC, The GroupM ESP Clever Company S.R.L. de C.V., The Lacek Group LLC, The Marketing & Communication Agency, The Ogilvy Group LLC, The Performers Group, The Young & Rubicam Group of Companies ULC, Triad Digital Media LLC, Twist Image, Two Circles, VML LLC, VMLY&R, WPP (Thailand) Ltd, WPP 2005 Limited, WPP AMC Holdings, WPP AUNZ, WPP Beans Limited, WPP Brands (UK) Limited, WPP Brands Development Holdings (UK) Limited, WPP Brands Holdings (UK) Limited, WPP Deutschland Holding GmbH & Co. KG, WPP Finance 2013, WPP Finance 2015 Limited, WPP Finance Co. Limited, WPP Finance SA, WPP Group (UK) Ltd, WPP Group Canada Finance Inc., WPP Group U.S. Finance LLC, WPP Group USA Inc., WPP Health Limited, WPP Holdings Spain S.L., WPP Jubilee Limited, WPP Luxembourg Gamma Three Sarl, WPP Luxembourg Sarl, WPP Luxembourg Turris S.a r.l., WPP Marketing Communications (Hong Kong) Limited, WPP Marketing Communications Germany GmbH, WPP Media Ltd, WPP Montagu Square LLC, WPP Mexico S.R.L. de C.V., WPP Ottawa Ltd, WPP Samson Limited, WPP Sigma Limited, WPP Sphinx Limited, WPP Square one B.V, WPP UK Germany Holdings, WPP Unicorn Limited, WPPIH 2001 Inc., Warwicks, Wavemaker A/S, Wavemaker Australia Pty Ltd, Wavemaker BV, Wavemaker Canada ULC, Wavemaker Czech s.r.o., Wavemaker Global LLC, Wavemaker Global Limited, Wavemaker GmbH, Wavemaker Hong Kong Limited, Wavemaker Hungary Kft, Wavemaker Italia S.r.l., Wavemaker Limited, Wavemaker MENA FZ LLC, Wavemaker Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Wavemaker Publicidad Spain S.L., Wavemaker Sp.z.o.o, Wavemaker Taiwan Ltd, Wavemaker  Servicos Publicitarios Ltda, Who Digital, Witgoud Investments B.V., Worldwide Mediacom Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Wunderman A/S, Wunderman Thompson (UK) Limited, Wunderman Thompson LLC, XMKT Group, Xaxis LLC, Xaxis US LLC, Y&R Propaganda Ltda, Young & Rubicam, Young & Rubicam LLC, clarus digital, dBOD, groupm Germany GmbH & Co. KG, mPlatform LLC, plista GmbH, thjnk, and thjnk AG.

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Since October 2007, the Blue Mountain Brewery has become a household name for beer connoisseurs in Central Virginia. Overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains, owners Mandi and Taylor Smack knew exactly what they wanted when they took their first steps as brewers in 2006. Eleven years later, their business has grown. So has their family and customer base.

Weve asked all business people featured in this publication to explain how they deal with both a professional life and a family life. Hows this for an answer: Our kids really dont know what life is like without the brewery, Mandi said. Theyve grown up in a Babybjorn behind the bar and in the grain room. Weve named some of our beers after our kids. Mac Haydens Wee Heavy Scotch Ale was named after our son Hayden. And Evan Almighty was named after our son, Evan.

We say cheers to that, but make no mistake. When their kids need attention, the business comes second. Family comes first, Mandi continued. Weve learned to say no, and we strive to have a family dinner every evening. We think thats important.
 Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP holds a public forum with the candidates seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party for Charlottesville commonwealths attorney, Jeff Fogel and Joe Platania, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in City Council Chambers in City Hall. (434) 220-1493.

 Allen & Allen Law Firm accepts nominations through May 5 for its Hometown Heroes Awards. Details and nomination forms are available at allenandallen.com/hometownheroes. (434) 295-4961.

 Charlottesville Community Job Fair, with more than 80 exhibitors, will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 4 at John Paul Jones Arena. Details and advance registration are available at charlottesville.org/jobfair. (434) 970-3117.

 Fluvanna County Habitat for Humanity hosts an Interest Meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday and a Homeowner Orientation Meeting at 7 p.m. May 10 at Fluvanna County Library in Palmyra. (434) 589-3752.

 Madison County seeks responses through May 23 from citizens and businesses to a county-wide broadband survey. The survey is available at madcova.org. (540) 948-4455.

 Monticello Area Community Action Agency seeks feedback from citizens through May 31 to its Community Needs survey. The survey is available online at macaa.org, and on paper at the Department of Social Services, MACAAs Rural Outreach centers and MACAAs main office at 1025 Park St. (434) 295-3171.

 Monticello Visitor Center holds a Volunteer Open House from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Friday. volunteer@monticello.org or (434) 984-9869.

 Narconon offers help to individuals and their families in overcoming addiction. narcononnewliferetreat.org. (800) 431-1754.

 Piedmont Virginia Community College accepts registration for the KidsCollege at CATEC, PVCCs summer STEM technical academies, which will be held in June. Details are available at pvcc.edu/kidscollege. (434) 961-5354.

 Piedmont Virginia Community College holds a Getting Started information session for prospective students from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Buckingham County High School. Additional sessions will be added later. pvcc.edu/outreach. (434) 961-5275.

 Piedmont Virginia Community College offers information sessions for veterans and service members interested in attending PVCC and registering for summer and fall semester classes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday and on May 11, 18 and 25 at 501 College Drive. pvcc.edu/veterans. (434) 961-5282.

 Rivanna Solid Waste Authority holds Household Hazardous Waste Amnesty Days from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Bulky Waste Amnesty Days for furniture and mattresses will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 6; for appliances, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 13; and for tires, from 8:30 to 4 p.m. May 20 at Ivy Materials Utilization Center at 4576 Dick Woods Road. HHW collections are free to residents of Albemarle County, Charlottesville and Scottsville and residents of Nelson County who obtain vouchers from Nelson County government. (434) 295-3306.

 Scottsville seeks applicants to serve on the Town Council, Planning Commission and Architectural Review Board. Submit a letter of interest by email to towncouncil@scottsville.org or by mail to 401 Valley St. 24590. (434) 286-9267.

 Senior Center hosts a shredding truck from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday. $5 for up to five paper grocery bags; additional bags are $1 each. 1180 Pepsi Place. (434) 974-7756.

 Sen. Mark Warner holds Virginia Service Academy Day, offering students, parents and school counselors information on the U.S. service academies and their admission processes, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Paramount Theater on the Downtown Mall. warner.senate.gov or (703) 442-0670.
The getaway driver in a botched robbery that killed a Charlottesville man will wait a few more months to find out his prison sentence.

Bryan Page, of Gordonsville, will not be sentenced on the 10 charges against him until Aug. 1, at the behest of city prosecutors. Last November, Page testified against 27-year-old Jordan Jerome Eaddy, the man convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Floyd Alston Jr., as part of a plea deal.

The 31-year-old father of two was killed in a struggle with one of two men who broke into his South First Street home in November 2015. Eaddy and another man, Pierre Gerard Augustine, each were charged with attempted robbery, armed burglary and two counts of murder in the commission of a felony.

Augustine faces a two-day jury trial starting on July 13. After his three-day trial in November, Eaddy was convicted on one murder charge and the attempted robbery charge. While a jury recommended a 25-year prison sentence, a judge officially will sentence him June 14.

Page was one of the prosecutions star witnesses at Eaddys trial. He testified that he waited outside of Alstons home in a getaway car on the night of the murder. While fleeing the scene, the trio was spotted driving erratically by an Albemarle County patrolman, which led to a chase. Page eventually crashed the car, and all three suspects attempted to flee on foot; only Augustine got away, although he was arrested in October.

Page was hit with a slew of charges, including hit-and-run, eluding police, destruction of property and accessory to murder. While his testimony in Eaddys case was part of the plea agreement, prosecutors have said the agreement does not stipulate just how much time Page will have to serve.

In a hearing on Tuesday afternoon in Charlottesville Circuit Court, Judge Rick Moore pushed Pages sentencing until Aug. 1. A pre-sentence report has not yet been prepared for Pages case, and he still faces a felony weapons charge in Orange County. A review hearing for that charge is scheduled for Friday.

Prosecutors noted that the delay will allow for Augustines trial to run its course before Page is sentenced. It is unclear if Page will testify in that trial.
CULPEPER  A Reva man convicted in a major drug distribution ring has been sentenced to 88 months in federal prison.

Robert B. Apperson, 35, was arrested Aug. 24 at his home on Cottonwood Trail in the town of Culpeper and pleaded guilty to January in federal court in Washington to a charge of conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine.

He is among 14 people charged with federal crimes following an investigation of a narcotics trafficking ring that operated out of New York, Washington and Virginia, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The entire investigation led to the seizure of 2.8 kilograms of powder cocaine, 248 grams of crack cocaine, 700 grams of heroin, more than $100,000 cash and a gun.

Upon completion of his prison term, Apperson will be on supervised release for four years. He was ordered to pay $130,000 in a forfeiture money judgment.

In June and July, confidential sources for the Blue Ridge Narcotics and Gang Task Force made three controlled buys of heroin in this area. Appersons arrest soon followed.

According to court records, Apperson and another Culpeper man were dealing in large quantities. When he was arrested, Apperson had $40,000 in cash on him, according to a search warrant.

According to court records, Apperson and the other man pooled their money to purchase bulk quantities of cocaine and heroin for distribution in the Culpeper area.
Meadowbrook Pharmacy, one of two independent pharmacies in Charlottesville, will close next month after 60 years in business.

William L. Lamar, co-owner and president of the drug store, broke the news to customers in a letter dated April 21 and received by most customers on Monday. He noted in the letter that the stores lease is ending and that CVS Pharmacies plans to build a free-standing store in the Meadowbrook Shopping Center, directly in front of his stores location.

Part of the agreement with CVS was that the lease for this store could not be renewed, Lamar said Tuesday night after closing up shop. Weve been aware of that for some time and have worked with our landlord and CVS. I had hoped to relocate, but that didnt work out.

Lamar said May 8 will be the last day for customers to receive prescriptions from Meadowbrook Pharmacy. Existing prescriptions and customer records will be transferred to the Barracks Road Shopping Centers CVS Pharmacy at the close of the business day.

The last day Meadowbrook Pharmacy will be open will be May 11.

Customers who want to do business with a pharmacy other than CVS may have their preferred pharmacy call CVS to transfer scripts and records before or after the switch, Lamar said.

Much of Meadowbrook Pharmacys medical stock also will transfer to CVS, and non-pharmacy items will be distributed among four small pharmacies with which Lamar is involved. Those are in Greene, Madison and Orange counties and in Elkton.

We have had absolutely the best support from this community, more support that anyone could possibly imagine, Lamar said. We were well received from Day One.

Day One was July 1, 1983, when he took ownership of the store from Billy J. Bray.

There are people who still come in here that have been coming here longer than Ive owned the place, Lamar said. Its difficult. Its so hard to say goodbye.

Commentators on social media and customers who hurried in and out of the pharmacy in Tuesdays rain agreed, bemoaning the pharmacys demise. They noted the lengths that some employees went to take care of elderly and homebound customers, from free delivery to careful packaging of medications.

Jonathan Rice, of Charlottesville, said he will miss the pharmacys ancillary offerings and personal service.

Among other things, they always had a great selection of kids books and toys, and the people who worked there were very helpful and attentive, he said.

Rice also questioned why there are seven CVS stores in Charlottesville and Albemarle County and another CVS located inside the Target store on U.S. 29 near Forest Lakes.

In 2016, CVS was the biggest pharmacy chain in the country with 9,105 stores. Walgreens was second with 7,713, Rite Aid was third with 4,515 stores, Walmart was fourth with 4,403 stores and Kroger was the fifth largest with 1,911 outlets.

CVS was ranked as the top-selling pharmacy in 2016 with $61.1 billion in prescription sales, about 15 percent of all sales. Its mail prescription service sold another $35.3 billion to give CVS more than 23 percent of the market.

How many CVS outlets do we need? Rice asked. CVS is like an invasive species in the retail world, taking spots that were long held by unique, locally owned businesses and giving these structures the same dreary, over-lit, shabby, homogenous look.

The new CVS, which is working its way through the city of Charlottesvilles zoning approval process, will be built on the corner of Emmet Street and Barracks Road. Under the site plan, buildings currently housing ALC Copies, the former Tavern Restaurant and the former Andersons Seafood Market will be knocked down to make room for the CVS. The existing CVS in Barracks Road Shopping Center will then be closed, officials have said.

There are no plans to demolish the row of shops at Meadowbrook Shopping Center that include Meadowbrook Pharmacy, according to land owner Clara Belle Wheeler.

There has never been any intention to do that and there will never be any intention to do that, Wheeler said. The people who own those businesses are good people, they have good businesses and they have leases, and thats how it will remain.

The CVS approval has been delayed by city officials over concerns about the buildings windows, facade, lighting and signs. The new store will be part of a new retail center on the corner that will be called Barracks Row.

Wheeler said she told CVS officials to keep Lamar informed of the progress and to work with the businessman.

I was not a part of any negotiations, but I wanted to make sure that they would work with Mr. Lamar, Wheeler said. I told them that, if they didnt, the deal would be off.

With Meadowbrook Pharmacys demise, Timberlakes Drug Store, a downtown Charlottesville fixture since 1890, is the last remaining independent pharmacy in the urban area.

There are independent pharmacies located in other parts of Central Virginia, such as Parkway Pharmacy in Crozet, Jefferson Pharmacy in Fluvanna County and Stoney Creek Pharmacy in Nellysford.

Other independent pharmacies are located in Scottsville, Fork Union, Greene County, Orange County and Madison County.
A Northern Virginia man has been arrested in last weeks reported bank robbery in Fairfax County.

Kevin George Costello, 57, of Annandale has been charged in the alleged incident that occurred April 18 at the Wells Fargo Bank on John Marr Drive in Annandale, according to the Fairfax County Police Dept.

The suspect allegedly walked into the bank about a mile from his residence on Crossman Street around 1:30 p.m., implied that he had a weapon and announced a robbery, police said.

A bank employee handed over an undisclosed amount of money. There were no injuries.

Detectives found Costello during the late evening hours of April 21 at hotel in the City of Alexandria. He is being held in custody.
Harrison Marion Cox Lightfoot, 97, of Culpeper died on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at his residence. He was born on December 29, 1919, in Culpeper to the late J.E.R. and Martha Childs Lightfoot. Mr. Lightfoot attended Dunbar High School in Washington, Howard University and received his graduate degree from NYU School of Social Work in New York City. He was a caseworker for and eventually the Director of NYC Youth Board and later became the Director of Community Mental Health at the Center for Comprehensive Health Practice at New York Medical College where he worked until his retirement. His great love in life was music but he chose a professional career in social services to give back to others some of the educational and professional opportunities he himself had been given. He is survived by his two daughters, Martha and Sarah Lightfoot. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Landonia Greenwood and Russell Franklin. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers the family asks that remembrances be given in his name to The Southern Poverty Law Center atwww.splcenter.org
As many as 20 million people around the world currently face starvation or the risk of it, because of the first United Nations- declared famine since 2011in South Sudanplus the prospect for other famines later this year in northern Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen. This preventable tragedy challenges the United States to act according to its proudest humanitarian traditions, not the selfish slogan of America First. And its an occasion to reconsider the governments long- standing approach to international food aid, which caters to domestic special-interest groups at the expense of hungry people abroad and taxpayers at home.

Title II of the Food for Peace Act, the main source of emergency food aid, requires the United States to supply international famine-relief programs with American-grown products and to ship at least half of the materiel on U.S.-flagged vessels. Meanwhile, at least 15 percent of the goods must be monetized once they arrive at their destinationthat is, resold on local markets by nongovernmental organizations, to fund development projects. Obviously, this is good for American farmers, food processors, maritime unions, ship-owning companies and ports. Equally obviously, it makes the program less efficient than it might be: The set-aside for U.S.-flagged vessels inflates transportation costs; the buy-American rule for commodities prevents purchases from cheaper producers closer to the famine zones, whose productive efforts are additionally undercut by monetization.

Food-aid reform has been a bipartisan cause backed by each of the past two presidents and many members of Congress. However, the powerful lobbies that benefit from the status quo have prevented it. Despite a strong push by the Obama administration four years ago, the 2014 Farm Bill barely tweaked the system. In 2015, Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Christopher Coons, D-Del., introduced a bill; they cited studies suggesting that the government could save $80 million just from allowing greater freedom in shipping and eliminating monetization. In a program that has spent roughly $2 billion per year in recent times, thats significant. On a recent trip to Africa, the senators visited a camp in Uganda for refugees from South Sudan and reiterated their commitment to reform.

As President Barack Obamas experience shows, it would take a major push from the White House to achieve even incremental change. If hes really interested in improving the cost-effectiveness of aid, as opposed to slashing it as an expression of ideology, President Donald Trump would spend some of his political capital on the cause. Of course, that would also require him to depart from the simplistic buy American mind-set he has repeatedly expressedand whose counterproductive effects the U.S. food-aid program epitomizes.
New Delhi: Telecom regulator Trai expects to start the consultation process for the next round of spectrum auction in about a fortnight.

"We expect to issue it (consultation paper on spectrum price) in about 15 days," Trai Chairman R S Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of FTTH APAC Conference here.

He was responding to a query on when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will start the consultation process for the next round of spectrum auction.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has sought Trai's views on spectrum price for various frequencies, including premium airwaves in the 700 MHz band which remained unsold in the last auctions in October 2016.

The DoT has also sought Trai's views on 5G services. Sharma said the consultation process generally takes six months' time.

"Generally, it takes six months' time to complete the whole process. You can expect recommendation around the same time," Sharma said.
New Delhi: Home-grown FMCG firm Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) is focusing on rural areas and out-of-home category to drive growth of the home insecticides (HI) business in the domestic market.

GCPL's Good Knight brand is focusing on the rural market with innovation led products such as Fast Cards, while Hit brand is targeting the urban customers with its aerosol based products.

"Rural and 'out-of-home' would continue to be our focus areas. 'In house' is our main forte and we would continue to get share from it. But in all the area, rural would be our big focus," said GCPL Business Head-India and SAARC Sunil Kataria told PTI.

He further added: "The whole focus of Good Knight is in creating new products, new initiatives to help in penetration of the category". GCPL is promoting the use of HI in the rural areas through product innovations and by participating in the programmes run by the state governments against fight against mosquito borne endemic diseases.

"Overall Good Knight continues to be a strong market leader in India and now being a market leader in the segment, we are looking for growth of the category. That's a big focus now," he added.

Presently, HI is estimated to be around Rs 3,800 crore market and GCPL is a leading player in that. Other players include RB India, Jyothy Laboratories and SC Johnson. The company is also taking range of mosquito repellent products to the African markets through its brand Good Knight.

Over use of HI outside home, he said that the difference between India and rest of the world is that use of 'HI outside home' is very strong, and despite having high incidence ofdengue and Malaria, people in the country are not taking prevention when they are outside home.

"We hope to build outside home category now," Kataria said, adding that GCPL is tapping the out of home category with its brand Good Knight. The company has launched Good knight Fabric Roll-On Personal Mosquito Repellent six months before in the outside home category.

"Hit is for aerosol products and is largely an urban brand. It is a high range product but Good Knight has a large contribution coming from rural (area) as well," he said. On World Malaria Day, GCPL today announced its commitment to create a malaria free India by 2030. Last year, GCPL had commissioned a project on the elimination of mosquito borne endemic diseases (EMBED) to reduce morbidity and mortality caused by vector borne diseases.

In its first phase, EMBED covered the Mandla and Dindori districts in Madhya Pradesh. Now, in its second phase the project has reached 3,000 villages and 35,00,000 people across 9 districts of the state.
On asset front, the mortgage lender's gross NPAs stood stable at 0.85 per cent as against 0.84 per cent a year ago.

Mumbai: Indiabulls Housing Finance, which today reported a healthy 24.4 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 841 crore for the March quarter, has set a target of clocking 30 per cent topline growth in fiscal 2018.

"Helped by strong demand from the affordable housing segment we could report a strong quarter, clocking a 24.4 per cent uptick in bottomline over Rs 676 crore we reported in the year-ago period," Gagan Banga, vice-chairman and managing director, told PTI over phone.

The second largest pure play mortgage lender expects to grow the topline by 30 per cent this financial year as the demand for affordable housing under the PM's housing for all scheme was notified only mid last month, he said.

"The macros for mid-income affordable housing have never been better. Factoring in subsidies under the PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) and tax deductions against home loan repayments, EMIs for mid-income affordable housing is now considerably lower than the rent cheque, making home ownership very affordable and much cheaper than renting.

"We are focused on home loans and our home loan book is expanding at a pace faster than other mortgage loans. Supported by very favourable macros for mid-income affordable we are on target to get to a balance sheet size of Rs 2 trillion by fiscal 2020," Banga said.

Banga said the company, which crossed the Rs 1.03 trillion mark of balancesheet growth by the March quarter, is eyeing 20-25 per cent bottomline growth this year. He said there is a tremendous boost from mid-income affordable housing under PMAY which offers heavy subsidy and tax benefits for those with an annual income of Rs 18 lakh.

Total revenues stood at Rs 3,225 crore in the March quarter, up 21.8 per cent from Rs 2,647 crore a year ago. Urban housing requirement is seen at about 4.5 crore units by 2022 and the demand continues to increase due to rapid urbanisation, which is expected to rise by 40 per cent by 2030, and growing trend of nuclear families, Banga said.

On asset front, the mortgage lender's gross NPAs stood stable at 0.85 per cent as against 0.84 per cent a year ago. Net NPAs also remained stable at 0.49 per cent. NPAs have been under target range for the the last 23 quarters.

On fund raising, Banga said they will be raising around Rs 250 million under the ECB scheme in Q1 and the rest through the remainder of the year. Banga said the company had refinanced USD 350 million of ECBs in the December quarter.

On domestic fund raising, Indiabulls has a target of mopping up Rs 45,000 crore, mostly through bonds to the tune of 70-75 per cent. Last year, the company had met almost 80 per cent of its funding requirements from the debt market, helping it bring down cost of fund by over 150 bps.

During the year, it opened 43 new branches in tier-II towns and cities for Smart City home loans, which contributed 7 per cent of incremental disbursals. Banga said the target is to take this to 10 per cent this year and 25 per cent by 2020 when it has set a target of crossing it topline to Rs 2 trillion from the present Rs 1 trillion.

Total revenue grew 21 .8 per cent to Rs 3,225 crore in the quarter, while the net interest income rose at a similar pace to Rs 1,360 crore. For the full year (FY17), net rose 24 per cent to Rs 2,906.4 and balancesheet rose to 1,03,705 core.

The stock of Indiabulls Housing Finance closed 1.7 per cent higher at Rs 1,006.60 on the BSE, whose benchmark gained 1 per cent up.
The Karlovac facility in Croatia is the latest location across 16 regions in Europe.

New Delhi: India's second largest software services firm Infosys today said it has set up its first office and delivery centre in Karlovac, Croatia.

The new centre will strengthen Infosys' engineering footprint in Eastern Europe. It will meet near-shoring requirements, support engineering clients worldwide, as well as offer R&D services.

"As part of our strategy to increase geo capabilities, the Karlovac delivery centre will deliver value to our global clients, specifically in the Nordics," Infosys President and Deputy COO Ravi Kumar S said in a statement.

The statement did not divulge details on the investment made or number of jobs that will be created. He added that the focus will be on consolidating consulting, IT and engineering skills in the areas of power generation, design and development of large gas and steam turbines among others.

The Karlovac facility in Croatia is the latest location across 16 regions in Europe.
Crude production at 3.09 million tonnes was 0.9 per cent higher than 3.06 mt in March 2016.

New Delhi: India's crude oil production went up marginally by 0.9 per cent in March on the back of higher output by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

Crude production at 3.09 million tonnes was 0.9 per cent higher than 3.06 mt in March 2016, an official statement said.

ONGC saw output rise to 1.93 mt in March, from 1.86 mt a year ago. However, at 36 mt, oil production for the all of 2016-17 is 2.5 per cent lower than 36.94 mt a year earlier.

Natural gas production rose 8.92 per cent to 2.75 billion cubic metres while refinery output slipped 0.33 per cent to 21.3 mt.
New Delhi: The Canteen Stores Department, the retailing entity selling consumer goods to armed forces, has suspended sale of a batch of Patanjali Ayurveda's amla juice after it "failed" to clear a laboratory test.

When contacted, the company, promoted by yoga guru Ramdev, said the amla juice is a medicinal product unlike other juices sold in the market and that it is absolutely safe for human consumption.

Defence ministry sources said a show cause notice has been served on the company after the juice "failed" the test.

The test was carried out at West Bengal Public Health Laboratory, Kolkata.

The sources said as per procedure, CSD has immediately suspended the sale of the particular batch of the item and sent a show cause notice to the company to examine the deviations and explain about them.

They said "further action" will be taken on receipt of reply from the firm.

The CSD had sent samples of 'Amla Juice' having index no.85417 and batch No. GH1502 to the laboratory in Kolkata, they said.

The Patanjali Ayurveda said its amla juice is an ayurvedic medicine and test on it should be conducted as per the norms of the AYUSH ministry. The firm said norms prescribed by the country's food regulator--Food Safety and Standards Authority of India-- were not applicable to the juice.

The CSD regularly sends items from its inventory for testing at various government-run laboratories across the country.
Mumbai: Reliance Industries plans to spend a further $2.8 billion on its Jio telecoms business in the current quarter, it said on Monday, taking its investment in the venture to more than $30 billion.

Reliance derives the bulk of its revenue from its core refining and petrochemicals operations, but the group has bet big on Reliance Jio Infocomm. The project backed by Reliance owner Mukesh Ambani launched in September in a flurry of cheap phones, free voice and cut-price data plans that have forced rivals to respond.

Announcing record profit for the 2016/17 financial year, Reliance said the additional investment is required for its fibre network as it expands Jio's 4G reach.

Analysts and investors have expressed concern over the time it will take Jio to recover its heavy outlay, but its head of strategy, Anshuman Thakur, said there would be a "drastic drop" in investment after the current quarter.

Jio racked up 108.9 million subscribers by the end of March, Reliance said. It started charging for internet data this month, after more than seven months of free services, but has kept prices low.

"Jio is witnessing the largest migration from free to paid services in history," said Reliance Chairman Ambani.

Ambani's aggressive strategy to capture market share has led to rivals consolidating. His younger brother Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications merged with smaller rival Aircel and in February India's biggest telecoms company Bharti Airtel bought out the Indian operations of Norway's Telenor.

That was followed by Britain's Vodafone announcing a merger with Idea to create the biggest telecoms company in India.

Jio, however, controls the highest chunk of 4G airwaves across India and has introduced a range of features to woo consumers in one of the world's most competitive telecoms markets, from mobile phone apps to its own handset brand.

Reliance earlier reported a 12.8 percent rise in the group's fourth-quarter standalone net profit, topping analyst estimates, citing higher margins at its refining and petrochemicals business.

The gross refining margin per barrel of crude -- a key profitability gauge for refiners -- was $11.50 for the quarter, against $10.80 a year earlier.

Net profit on a standalone basis, which takes into account only the refining, petrochemicals, oil and gas exploration businesses, rose to 81.51 billion rupees ($1.26 billion) for the three months to March 31, beating analysts' expectations of 80.10 billion rupees.

On a consolidated basis, including newer businesses such as telecoms, retail and US shale gas operations, Reliance's net profit rose 16.6 percent to 80.5 billion rupees.
Mumbai: State Bank of India has said it will no more release loans to Ola drivers as it has a large number of loans default cases to deal with.

"With nearly a fifth of its loan book in Bengaluru defaulting, State Bank of India has stopped vehicle loans to drivers plying cars for Ola in the city," a report in The Economic Times said.

Bengaluru is the hub for app-based taxi aggregators as the metropolis in southern India is home to many multinational companies and India's big IT companies.

Gopal Krishan Kansal, chief general manager, small and medium enterprise, at SBI in Mumbai says that total default stands at Rs 60 crore in the city. Kansal adds the bank still gives loans to Ola drivers in Hyderabad and Chennai where default rate is 7 per cent, the report said.

Other big finance houses that give loan to Ola drivers include ICICI Bank, Mahindra Finance, Tata Motors Finance, according to the report these lending institutions did not give a response when asked for their comments.
SoftBank, Kalaari and Nexus did not respond to e-mails sent to them.

New Delhi: Japan's SoftBank is hopeful of getting a nod soon from co-investor Nexus Venture Partners to sell Snapdeal to India's largest e-commerce firm Flipkart.

According to sources, Softbank -- the largest shareholder in Snapdeal-- has been successful in getting Kalaari to agree to the deal but is yet to get Nexus Venture Partners on board for the same.

This should come through in the next one or two weeks and the deal may get announced next month, they added. SoftBank, Kalaari and Nexus did not respond to e-mails sent to them.

Jasper Infotech's (which operates Snapdeal) seven-member board includes representation from investors SoftBank, Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners, as well as co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.

The deal, if completed, would mark the biggest acquisition in the Indian e-commerce space and change the landscape of the sector that is witnessing intense competition among players.

Nexus and Kalaari were early stage investors in Snapdeal. Sources had highlighted valuation as one of the hurdles in the deal, as Kalaari Capital and Nexus were not in agreement with the valuation given by Snapdeal's largest shareholder, SoftBank.

With Kalaari in tow now, SoftBank needs Nexus' approval to take the deal through. Snapdeal was valued at USD 6.5 billion in its last funding round in February 2016.

The valuation, however, has shrunk since then and the potential deal could be struck at a discounted rate. Indian e-commerce companies have seen funding dry up over the last few months as investors are focussing extensively on profitability and rationalisation of expenses.

With intense competition from deep-pocketed global rivals like Amazon, companies like Flipkart and Snapdeal could face more heat in the coming days.

According to reports, the deal may see Snapdeal's mobile wallet service, Freecharge being sold separately and players like Paytm, Flipkart and MobiKwik are in the fray.
Mumbai: Kangana Ranaut is one of the most frank actress in todays times. She claims that she doesnt need a Khan or a Kapoor to be relying upon for a films success.

However, if the film tanks at the box-office, the talented actress feels her confidence takes a step-down.

The actress was asked by Mid-day, how did she feel after Rangoon did not perform well at the box-office.

To which Kangana gave an honest reply stating, I, for one, thought the film had all the ingredients to be a profitable business proposition. It [film's failure] was heartbreaking. Before this film, every time people asked me if failure throws me back, I knew the answer was no. Do I go into a low zone? Well, this time around I was affected. Maybe when you are bigger and grow more, both success and failure become more of your responsibility. I felt Rangoon's failure was targeted at me. Various people used that time of my life to direct their anger at me (presumably referring to Karan Johar's reaction to her nepotism comment). I felt it was unnecessary that when I was dealing with a vulnerable phase in my career; they were hitting out at me. 'Rangoon' was mounted on a humungous budget and publicised around my character. When something like that doesn't fare well, you do feel like sh*t.

Kangana was even asked if she had done enough introspection to fetch where the film lacked.

The brave-hearted soul replied, The last few minutes didn't come together. We missed our shot at creating a glorious film by a small margin. It was indeed a difficult time dealing with that phase, but not as much as it might have been for a few other people involved with the project.

She also spoke about being targeted at the time when she was going through a meltdown after Rangoon tanked at the Box-office.

I am not outspoken because I feel I command a certain opening for films and enjoy a great deal of success at the movies. Even when my films don't do as well, I don't stop feeling strongly about issues. But I don't use opportunities of professional hallmark to lash out at people. I will speak regardless. I notice how people start talking irrationally if your film hasn't worked. Something tells me that if it had [worked], they would have stayed quiet, added the 30-year old actress.

She is known for falling and rising back with pride. Therefore, she is currently working hard and focussing on her upcoming projects.

I have just wrapped up Simran. We will release the first poster in mid-May. I begin shooting for Manikarnika in June. My director, Krish, is in Jhansi for a recce. And the film I will direct is on the last leg of scripting, concluded the queen.
While Salman Khan has hosted other TV shows as well, 'Bigg Boss' is set to be Kamal Haasan's first TV show.

Mumbai: We had exclusively reported few days back that Kamal Haasan was all set to make his television debut with the Tamil version of Bigg Boss.

The superstar has now confirmed that he will be hosting the reality show.

Kamal told The Quint, "Yes, I am doing Bigg Boss in Tamil. Ive tried many different roles in various capacities as an entertainer but never as a host on a television show. Reality television is so far not a reality in my career. I want to see what it feels like."

Salman Khan is one of the reasons for the immense popularity of the Hindi version of the show.

The superstar has redefined hosting on television with his witty one-liners and even for pulling up contestants for some of their actions and Haasan was also praises for the Bollywood stars hosting style.

Haasan said, Salman genuinely bonds with the contestants on Bigg Boss. There is no pretension or patronising in his attitude. Being friendly comes naturally to him. And he gives advice as a friend, not as a mentor."

He added, "There is none of the I-know-better superiority in his attitude. Id also like to bond genuinely with the contestants, though how it goes will depend entirely on how they perceive me, as a friend or as a mentor."

Talking about his other projects, Haasan, said, "I am running behind schedule because for eight months I wasnt running at all, thanks to my fractured foot. I am now working simultaneously on completing the comedy Shabash Naidu and the post-production of Vishwaroop 2. The Bigg Boss schedules have been worked into my other commitments. Lets see how it goes."

Fans of Kamal Haasan would definitely be excited to see him in his fresh avatar.
Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon enact the iconic scene from 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' in 'Raabta'.

Mumbai: The legendary romantic film in Bollywood Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge continues to inspire films even after 22 years.

In Dinesh Vijans 'Raabta', theres a scene where the lead pair Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon are at a railway station.

On the day of the shoot, Kriti suggested that they should re-enact the famous DDLJ train scene.

Kriti convinced the director and they actually shot a DDLJ optional scene for a laugh.

Kriti was shot running in slow motion as Sushant was aboard a train that started leaving the station.





What's interesting is that this optional shot that was done just for fun, has made it to the final cut of the film.

Kriti says, Raabta being a young love story and doing a little tribute to the most loved love story of Bollywood just seemed so apt. We did it for our own mad enjoyment and I cant believe it has made its way into the film!

Director Dinesh Vijan laughs, "We just did it as an impromptu thing. The scene needed to underline Kritis character, which is dying to get one last glimpse of her lover who is leaving her. Looking back, Im glad we shot an option of the train pulling out and Kriti running alongside in DDLJ style. I guess it could be a humble little bow to one of our most epic love stories.

Rumoured couple Sushant and Kriti have been paired opposite each other for the very first time and the film releases on June 07.
Mumbai: Legendary Iranian auteur, Majid Majidi has been travelling across multiple locations in India, to shoot his next most anticipated film Beyond The Clouds.

On Monday, the legendary filmmaker Majid was snapped shooting a special film sequence at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Station in Mumbai.







Beyond The Clouds features Shahid Kapoors brother Ishaan Khatter and Malayalam actress Malavika Mohannan in pivotal roles.

It was after Deepika Padukone's look-test being rejected by the filmmaker, that they got Malavika on board.

The film becomes an anticipated one because its the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Majid Majidis first-ever film in India and also marks Ishaans debut in Bollywood.

The films poster was recently revealed at the Berlin Film Festival.

Beyond The Clouds is a romantic musical drama produced by Zee Studios and Eyecandy Films.

Based on human relationships, the film is centered on an adorable brother-sister story.

Majidi is best known for world cinema classics like 'The Song of Sparrows', 'Baran', 'The Color of Paradise' and 'Children of Heaven'.
Hyderabad: Born on February 19, 1930, at Gudivada in Andhra Pradesh, K. Viswanath was awarded the Padmasri in 1992 and has won five National Awards, 20 Nandi Awards and 10 Filmfare Awards, including one for Lifetime Achievement.

Asked whether he wants to continue as an actor or he is thinking about returning to direction, he said, I am not thinking anything at present as I want to be just K. Viswanath.

Congratulations flowed in thick and fast from the Telugu film industry after the Phalke Award was announced.

Chiranjeevi, Kamal Haasan, Jr NTR and many other actors and directors wished him for an honour that hails Telugu cinema as well.

Rare honour for Kalatapasvi K Viswanath and its a proud moment for Telugu cinema, Jr NTR tweeted.

A deserving accolade for a brilliant filmmaker & an honour for Telugu Cinema, said Nandamuri Kalyan-ram.

We feel happy that the Dada Saheb Phalke Award has been given to K. Viswanath. He is a proud personality for the Telugu film industry, Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan.

My K. Viswanath gaaru is a Dada Saheb Phalke award winner. In his humility he would say I am lucky. Truth is, Indians are lucky. So am I. Thank u with glistening eyes Viswanath gaaru for Sagara sangamam. Like Balu of SS I initiate more applause. Your fame is mine vice versa, Kamal Haasan.
According to World Health Organization in 2015, malaria prevailed in 91 countries. (Photo: Pixabay)

New Delhi: The theme for World Malaria Day this year is "End Malaria for Good".

Malaria is caused due to the Plasmodium parasites which are carried by the Female - Anopheles mosquito. Out of five, two species of the parasite, P. falciparum and P. vivax, pose the greatest threat to human beings. Once the mosquito bites the person, the parasite enters the liver infecting the red blood cells.

These begin to grow and reproduce in red blood cells until they swell and burst, releasing new parasites that infect more red blood cells. Once the parasites have infected the blood, the symptoms of malaria begin to appear.

According to World Health Organization in 2015, malaria prevailed in 91 countries. There were 212 million cases recorded and 429000 deaths. The statistics reveal that one child dies of malaria every two minutes. Between 2010 and 2015, the incidence of malaria fell by 21 percent globally; malaria mortality rates fell by 29% and by 35% among children under the age of 5. In 2015, there were 212 million new cases of malaria and 429,000 deaths.

Dr RVS Bhalla, Director, Internal Medicine, Fortis Escorts Hospital Faridabad and Dr Ajay Aggarwal, Director, Internal Medicine, Fortis Noida share some essential steps to recognize the early symptoms and ways to tackle malaria:

Early Symptoms:

 High fever (up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit) with shaking chills

 Profuse sweating when the fever suddenly drops

 Fatigue

 Headache

 Muscle aches

 Abdominal discomfort

 Nausea, vomiting

 Feeling faint while standing or sitting up quickly

 Confusion, drowsiness, seizure, coma

 Low blood sugar

 Jaundice

 Decreased urine or Coca Cola coloured urine

Diagnosis:

Blood tests can be conducted to affirm:

 Levels of red blood cells

 Platelets

 Ability of your blood to clot

 Blood chemistry

 Liver function

 Kidney function

People at a higher risk of contracting Malaria:

 Infants (children under 5 years of age)

 Pregnant women

 Patients with HIV/AIDS

 Non-immune migrants

 Mobile populations

 Populations who reside in tropical humid environments

 People who reside in unhygienic conditions i.e. near stale dirty water bodies

Prevention:

 Use of mosquito coils

 Mosquito repellents sprayed on skin

 Screening windows and doors

 Mosquito proof bed nets

 Closed windows during late evenings and early mornings

 Wearing protective clothing, such as long sleeve shirts

 Avoiding dark coloured clothes

 Using Insecticide-treated mosquito nets

 Indoor residual spraying

 Removal of all sources of stagnant water

Malaria is a public health problem in several parts of the country. About 95% population in the country resides in malaria endemic areas and 80% of malaria reported in the country is confined to tribal, hilly, difficult and inaccessible areas.

Directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) under the Ministry of Health has framed technical guidelines/ policies and provides most of the resources for the programme.

Indicators have been developed at national level for monitoring of the programme so that there is uniformity in collection, compilation and onward submissions of data which would be helpful in combating malaria at a larger level.
Children get the pressure of not wanting to wait combined with less-mature abilities and that is what makes it a risky situation. (Photo: Pixabay)

New York: Children below 14 years of age lack the skills needed to safely cross a road, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of Iowa in the US placed children aged 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 as well as a group of adults in a simulated environment and asked them to cross a lane of a busy road multiple times.

Each participant faced a string of approaching virtual vehicles travelling about 40 kilometres per hour (considered a benchmark speed for a residential neighbourhood) and then crossed a single lane of traffic, about nine feet wide. Younger children, the study found, had more difficulty making consistently accurate decisions.

They were incapable of timing their first step as precisely as adults, which in effect gave them less time to cross the street before the next car arrived, the researchers said. The study found that six-year-olds were struck by vehicles eight per cent of the time and eight-year-olds, six per cent of the time.

About five per cent of the 10-year-olds and two per cent of the 12-year-olds were also struck by vehicles. Those who were 14 or older had no accidents, the researchers said. "Children get the pressure of not wanting to wait combined with less-mature abilities and that is what makes it a risky situation," said Jodie Plumert of University of Iowa.

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. Children contend with two main variables when deciding whether it is safe to cross a street , the study said. The first involves their perceptual ability, or how they judge the gap between a passing car and an oncoming vehicle, taking into account the oncoming car's speed and distance from the crossing.

The second variable was their motor skills - How quickly to time their step from the pavement to the street after a car just passed. "Most kids choose similar size gaps (between the passing car and oncoming vehicle) as adults, but they are not able to time their movement into traffic as well as adults can," said Elizabeth O'Neal of the University of Iowa.

The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.
A Kenyan wildlife conservancy is teaming up with Tinder for a campaign called "The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World," focusing on the rhino named Sudan. (Representational Photo: Pixabay)

Nairobi, Kenya: There's just one male northern white rhino left in the world, and he's getting some help from the Tinder dating app.

A Kenyan wildlife conservancy is teaming up with Tinder for a campaign called "The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World," focusing on the rhino named Sudan.

They are raising money for research to save the species from extinction. The 43-year-old Sudan and his last two female companions are unable to breed naturally because of issues that include old age.

The campaign by the Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Tinder aims to raise $9 million. The money will be used for ongoing research into methods, including in-vitro fertilization, to assist the rhinos in breeding.
The victim died on the spot and the body was taken to the Government General Hospital here for postmortem. (Photo: Representational/File)

Kakinada (AP): A 72-year-old retired bank officer was allegedly stabbed to death by three unidentified persons here, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place last night in Ashoknagar Bank Colony when the assailants reached the victim's two-storeyed house under the pretext of taking a portion on rent on the ground floor, they said.

When the elderly man, Balusu Surayya was busy showing the premises, he was stabbed by the trio, police said.

As his wife upstairs raised an alarm on hearing her husband's cries for help, the accused fled the spot with a laptop and cell phone.

The victim died on the spot and the body was taken to the Government General Hospital here for postmortem.

According to police, the old couple stayed in the house alone as their sons are abroad and a daughter is at Hyderabad.

A case has been registered against the absconding accused and further investigations are underway.
Bengaluru: A sessions court has adjourned the hearing of former corporator and rowdy Bomb Nagas anticipatory bail petition till April 27. Bomb Naga had applied for anticipatory bail before the 21st City Civil and Sessions Court after he went absconding following a police raid on his house that led to seizure of Rs 14.8 crore cash in demonetised currency.

The prosecution argued that Naga should not be granted bail as there are more than 40 cases against him and he himself has admitted that people were approaching him to get their black money converted into white. Also, the prosecution told the court that he had furnished wrong information to the high court to get the rowdy sheet against him removed.

Nagas counsel Srirama Reddy argued that though Naga had 28 cases against him, he was not pronounced guilty in any of them and requested the court to grant him bail. The judge adjourned the hearing to April 27.

Fugitive in Tamil Nadu?

The police, who are on the hunt for Naga, suspect that he is Tamil Nadu, but are unable to nab him as he is reportedly changing places and using multiple SIM cards. We are trying to track him through the mobile phone network. But he makes only one call from one SIM and never uses it again. It has become a difficult to trace and nab him. However, there is information that he

is in Tamil Nadu and we are working on it, an official said.
Supreme Court order FIR against UP minister Gayatri Prajapati in rape case. (Photo: File)

Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati and his two accomplices were today granted bail by a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Lucknow in connection with a rape case.

Special judge of POCSO court Om Prakash Mishra granted the bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu.

The court asked him to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount.

The FIR was registered against Prajapati and six others on the directive of the Supreme Court.

Prajapati (49) was arrested here on March 15 and sent to jail for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter.
Qader was set ablaze on March 30 and was undergoing treatment in a hospital. (Photo: ANI/Twitter)

Hyderabad: In a brutal incident, a man hailing from Hyderabad succumbed to burn injuries in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh after being allegedly set ablaze.

Abdul Qader, who was working in Riyadh, was allegedly set on fire following dispute with a family member of his employer.

Qader was set ablaze on March 30 and was undergoing treatment in a hospital.

Shabana Begum, the sister of the deceased, said that Qader, who went to Riyadh in November 2015, was not happy with his job and was also planning to return.

"Last on March 28, my elder brother spoke to Qader he said he was not receiving any salary from his employer. He also said that he is not happy there and wants to return to India as soon as possible. Few days back we got to know that my brother has been set on fire on March 30, 2017, and he had been shifted to the hospital with 75 percent burn injuries. Today we got to know that he has died undergoing treatment," Begum said.

She further sought the Central Government's intervention and requested for necessary action in the matter.

Meanwhile, Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) spokesperson Amjadullah Khan said that the Indian embassy has not been informed about the incident.

"Few days back I tweeted the Indian embassy in Riyadh... Today they tweeted me that the person died on March 18 and was admitted in the Abdul Aziz Hospital with 75 percent burn injuries after an altercation with some male members of his lady employer," Khan said.

Demanding the Centre's intervention, Khan said the matter is still under investigation.
Injured CRPF being brought to Raipur for treatment on Monday follwing a Maoist attack at Burkapal near Chintagufa in Bastar. The attack occurred at two places at a place called Burkapal. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: A considerable number of Maoists are believed to have been killed in retaliatory action by Central Reserve Police Force men after an attack on them in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, the force on Monday claimed though no body has been recovered yet.

The paramilitary force in a statement said about 300 to 400 Naxals "ambushed" its patrol party killing 25 personnel and injuring six others in Sukma district.

It said two companies of the 74th battalion were out on operation to provide security to people engaged in constructing a road to connect Burkapal to Chintagufa in the area.

There were 99 personnel out on the operation. A CRPF company has a strength of about 100 personnel.

It said the ensuing gun battle was "fierce". The CRPF troops replied in a befitting manner but taking advantage of their geographical position, Maoists succeeded in inflicting loss on the force.

"Twenty-four brave soldiers were martyred and one succumbed to his injuries while being evacuated to a hospital in Raipur," the statement read.

The party was ambushed by a group of about "300-400 Maoist cadres at 12:30 PM at Kalapattar near Burkapal.

"A considerable number of Maoists are believed to have been eliminated (in retaliatory action by CRPF men) as the tell-tale sign indicate from the ground," it added.

The bodies of all jawans, it said, have been airlifted to Raipur, while the 6 injured have been admitted to a hospital in the state capital.

CRPF Director General (acting) Sudeep Lakhtakia and senior officials of the operations directorate of the force are expected to visit the site tomorrow to "take stock of the situation."

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his junior colleague in the ministry Hansraj G Ahir are also expected to travel to Raipur on Tuesday and pay tributes to the dead and hold a meeting with the top security brass of the state and paramilitary forces deployed there.
Injured CRPF jawans being airlifted to Raipur by an IAF chopper for treatment on Monday follwing a Maoist attack in Sukma district. (Photo: PTI)

Bhopal: In the wake of the Maoist attack in which 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed, the Madhya Pradesh police has issued a high alert in the Naxal-affected Balaghat district, a senior official said on Tuesday.

"The areas under Balaghat police range are bordering with the Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. So, we have put the security forces on high alert," Inspector General (Balaghat Range) G Janadan told PTI on Tuesday.

He said the patrolling along the borders has been intensified to check the activities of Naxals.

"This area has also been Naxal-affected and the police has intensified patrolling at the borders of Kawardha and Rajnandgaon districts of Chhattisgarh and Gondia district of Maharashtra," Janardan added.

In the fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions, at least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and seven wounded on Monday.

The Naxalites mounted the assault in the Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, where Left-Wing extremism is rampant.

This was the deadliest guerrilla attack on security forces in the state so far this year.
Chennai: A "good ambience" is evolving for holding merger talks between the two factions of the AIADMK, O Panneerselvam, who heads one of the camps, said on Tuesday.

Panneerselvam's remark came a day after the two factions were squabbling and blaming each other for the delay in the talks that was getting off the ground.

"A good ambience is evolving in both the factions for talks," Panneerselvam, whose camp has put stiff conditions for the talks to begin, including expulsion of AIADMK (Amma) general secretary V K Sasikala and her nephew and deputy T T V Dhinakaran from the party, and a CBI probe into the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death, said.

The thrice former chief minister, however, did not elaborate.

Coming hours after his close aide E Madusudanan demanded removal of Sasikala's portraits from the party headquarters here "to uphold its sanctity", Panneerselvam's comments indicated a softening of stand, possibly after back channel talks between the two factions. Formal negotiations for merger have not started yet.

"The portraits of Sasikala should be immediately removed from the party headquarters to uphold its sanctity," said Madusudanan, the chairman of the presidium of the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) faction led by Panneerselvam.

Panneerselvam, who held parleys with his supporters, however, did not give any timeline for the commencement of talks which hit a roadblock with his side refusing to abandon its two key demands.

Playing down the demands, Forest Minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan of the camp led by Chief Minister E K Palaniswami said, "We cannot respond to what Madusudanan says." There has been a buzz about the merger ever since senior ministers led by Palaniswami revolted against Sasikala and Dhinakaran.

However, despite formation of committees by the two factions on April 21, the talks have been a non-starter.

Panneerselvam faction had yesterday claimed that the rival camp was in a state of "confusion," a charge rejected by the latter.

The Palaniswami faction has maintained since a case has already been filed in court for a CBI probe into the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's death, the Panneerselvam camp should wait for the verdict.

On the demand for expulsion of Sasikala and her family members from the party, it has said related proceedings are pending before the Election Commission challenging her appointment as general secretary.

The Panneerselvam camp has moved the EC challenging the appointment of Sasikala, contending it was done in violation of the party bylaws.

After the revolt, Dhinakaran had said he was "stepping aside" but cannot resign as AIADMK deputy general secretary without the approval of Sasikala, who is serving jail term in a disproportionate assets case in which Jayalalithaa was the main accused. Neither of them have been expelled by the Palaniswami faction yet.

Dhinakaran is being grilled by the Delhi police in connection with allegations that he tried to bribe an Election Commission official to secure the AIADMK's 'two-leaves' election symbol which has been frozen.
BJP President Amit Shah eating lunch at the house of a tribal family in Naxalbari, West Bengal. (Photo: ANI/Twitter)

Siliguri: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Tuesday launched the partys Mission Bengal from Naxalbari, where the radical left movement began in the late 19960s.

He had lunch at the house of a tribal at Dakkhin Katiajote village in Naxalbari area. Shah sat on the floor of Raju Mahali's house and had rice, moong dal, 'potol' fry, squash curry, salad and 'papad', served on a banana leaf.

BJP West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh accompanied Shah, who is on a three-day tour of West Bengal.

According to a report in NDTV, Shah will conduct a door-to-door campaign in Naxalbari. His next destination would be Bhabanipur, the assembly constituency of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Bengal tour is aimed at gaining hold in the state ahead of the local body elections in 2018 and also the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

The ruling Trinamool Congress party sees Shahs visit as an attempt to make a dent in Bengal. "They are welcome to come and visit and we hope they have a good trip. But the lives of people in Bengal are entwined with Mamata Banerjee's, said Firhad Hakim, West Bengal's urban development minister.

Besides Bengal, Shah will visit four other states  Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. With the tour to Bengal and four other states, Shah is attempting to expand BJPs footprint in the regions where its presence has been weak.
New Delhi: While author Chetan Bhagat's one book has made its way in Delhi University curriculum, his another bestseller has run into trouble with a Bengaluru based author accusing him of plagiarism, a charge denied by him.

Anvita Bajpai, an IIT and IIM graduate, said that she has filed a lawsuit in a Bengaluru court which granted temporary injunction restraining sales of the book "One Indian Girl".

Bajpai took to social media claiming that "characters, places and emotional flow" of Bhagat's book have been lifted from one of her books "Life, Odds and Ends", a copy of which she had gifted to the author during Bengaluru Literature Festival in 2014.

"I had filed an original suit seeking a permanent injunction restraining Chetan Bhagat and the publisher from selling One Indian Girl and also sought damages worth Rs 1 lakh. The court has granted a temporary injunction restricting the sales," Bajpai said in her Facebook post.

Bhagat rubbished the allegations as unfounded and said his book was not based on Bajpai's works in any way.

"This is deeply unfortunate. This is for one an absolute surprise for me as I have never read any of this author's works. My stories are always original--including One Indian Girl--and it is unthinkable for me to do anything like what is suggested," he said.

"Surely, alleging anything like this in the current digital age is strange. I write universal stories about everyday issues. This could be a misunderstanding and I'm sure will be clarified as what is being suggested is baseless. My publisher's legal team will be taking appropriate steps," he added.

Rupa Publications, which had published the book, six months back, refused to comment on the issue.

"One Indian Girl" is Bhagat's seventh novel and is about an investment banker, Radhika Mehta, who is stuck with making a choice between the three men in her life, while trying to keep up a distinctly different image for the sake of her family.

His novel "Five Point Someone" was yesterday announced to have been included in the English literature curriculum for undergraduate students at Delhi University.
On Monday, the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), which is the custodian of the water body, said that deweeding has begun at the lake.

Bengaluru: Civic bodies have been shaken out of their slumber after a scathing order from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), and have swung into action to save the dying Bellandur Lake. On Monday, the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), which is the custodian of the water body, said that deweeding has begun at the lake.

P.N. Nayak, engineer member, Bengaluru Development Authority, told Deccan Chronicle, "We had invited tenders to deweed the entire lake. Harvesting Engineers Pvt Ltd has been awarded the contract for Rs 3.35 crore."

On the timeframe to complete the work, he said, "It is not an easy task to weed out the entire lake. It takes 6-7 months to complete the task, but we have asked the contractor to get the work done in at least four months." While this was the official claim, Elangovan, a resident of Bellandur, said that deweeding did not begin on Monday.

KSPCB yet to receive NGT order copy

Six days after the National Green Tribunal ordered civic bodies to shut industries polluting Bellandur Lake, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board on Monday said that it is yet to receive the NGT order copy.

On the action taken by the pollution board after the NGT order, Mr Shantakumar, member secretary, KSPCB, said, "We are yet to receive the order copy. We will take the needed action."

He, however, maintained that 11 highly polluting industries on Bellandur Valley were served notices prior to the National Green Tribunal order.

KSPCB sources said that the joint inspection committee, which has government and KSPCB officials as members, will be formed to inspect the polluting industries after receiving the NGT order copy.

NBF exposes encroachment

Members of the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), a petitioner in the case before NGT, on Monday visited Bellandur Amanikere and were surprised at the extent of encroachment at the primary Rajakaluve (stormwater drain).

"Rajakaluve has not been clearly demarcated despite an order by the NGT on May 4, 2016. Dumping of mud and construction debris is continuing for the last 10 days. On Saturday night alone, about 40 loads of mud and debris were dumped illegally," said NBF chief Sridhar Pabbisetty.

"It is sad that debris is being dumped at Bellandur Amanikere and NBF is deeply anguished by the approach of the state agencies, in spite of the NGT order," he said.

"The fundamental questions remain. Why Bellandur and Varthur lakes have not been fenced? Why is the Rajakaluve not identified? Why the buffer zones of 75 metre for lakes and 50 metre for primary Rajkaluve not established? How long will it take for the agencies to implement these simple protective measures? Authorities should immediately implement the NGT order and take strict action against the encroachers," he said. Mr Nayak said that 70 percent of the lake has been fenced, but passed the buck to BBMP, saying it was the duty of BBMP to fence it.
Malegaon blast case accused Pragya Singh Thakur being taken to a sessions court in Mumbai. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused in the September 29, 2008 blasts in Malegaon.

Pragya Singh Thakur has been ordered to furnish a bail amount of Rs 5 lakhs and 2 sureties. She will also appear in the trial court whenever summoned and submit her passport to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), ANI said.

But the Bombay HC denied bail to Lt Col Prasad Purohit, a co-accused in the case.

Thakur was in jail for the last 9 years, though she was moved to a hospital due to a serious illness.

NIA had on January 19 told the Bombay High Court that it has no objection if the HC grants bail to Thakur.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for NIA, said the agency has already held that the provisions of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) are not applicable in the case.

A division bench of Justices R V More and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi was hearing an appeal filed by Sadhvi challenging a sessions court order rejecting her bail.

"The earlier probe agency, Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), had applied MCOCA on the ground that the accused persons were involved in other blasts also and hence were part of an organised crime syndicate. However, the NIA probe has revealed that the accused persons were only involved in Malegaon blast and hence MCOCA is not applicable," Singh said.

"Even before NIA took over the probe, several prime witnesses have retracted their statements and complained that they were forced by ATS to say false things in their statements. Considering all this, we (NIA) have no objection to the court granting bail to applicant (Sadhvi)," he said.

7 people were killed and over 100 injured when two bombs fitted on a motorcycle exploded in Malegaon on September 29, 2008.
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday filed an FIR against its former director Ranjit Sinha to probe the allegations that he scuttled the coal scam probe when he was chief of the agency.

The CBI registered the case three months after the Supreme Court ordered a probe against Sinha for his alleged involvement in the scam.

The Supreme Court had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), to be headed by the CBI Director, to look into the prima facie allegations against Sinha. A bench headed by Justice MB Lokur had said the CBI Director can take assistance of two officers of his choice after duly intimating the apex court.

The scam took place when the Congress was in power and Manmohan Singh was the prime minister.

The apex court had on July 12 last year reserved the order on the issue after Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi told the Bench that the panel headed by former CBI Special Director M.L. Sharma has held that Mr. Sinhas meetings with some high-profile accused in the scam, prima facie indicated that there was an attempt to influence the investigation.

Rohtagi, who had only received an initial report of the panel for perusal on condition of confidentiality, had said he had gone through the report which has found that the visitors diary at Mr. Sinhas residence was genuine.

However, he had said the correctness of entries in that diary could only be ascertained in the court through evidence.

The apex court-appointed panel was probing the alleged scuttling of probe into coal block allocation scam cases by Mr. Sinha, whose meetings with the accused persons were held as completely inappropriate.

On December 7, 2015, the court had ordered handing over the original visitors diary of the official residence of the former CBI Director to the Sharma-led panel.
New Delhi: AIADMK (Amma) deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran has confessed to meeting Sukesh Chandrsekar, the arrested middleman in the EC bribery case, assuming he was a high court judge, as Delhi Police, which quizzed him for the third day in a row, grilled him for almost seven hours today.

Dhinakaran, who is accused of trying to bribe an Election Commission official in a bid to retain the 'two-leaves' symbol of AIADMK, however, maintained that he did not pay any money to Sukesh in this regard, police said.

Dhinakaran reached the Crime Branch Inter State Cell office in Chanakyapuri around 3.30 PM, even as the police started by interrogating his personal assistant Janardhan.

They also quizzed his longtime friend Mallikarjuna, who has been accompanying him everywhere ever since Sukesh was arrested, police said.

It was only around 6 PM that Dhinakaran's questioning began and came to an end around an hour post midnight, they said.

On sustained quizzing, Dhinakaran said he had met Sukesh, who had posed as a high court judge and sought to help him in the matter, police sources said.

However, he denied paying money to the middleman, the sources said, adding the Crime Branch officers also confronted Dhinakaran and Sukesh. Dhinakaran has been called for questioning tomorrow at 5 PM.

B Kumar, late Jayalalithaa's lawyer and her key aide, also came to the Crime Branch office in Chanakyapuri late in the evening. He is likely to be questioned tomorrow in connection with the case, they said.

The leader had come under scanner after the arrest of the alleged middleman Sukesh and had since maintained having no idea about him. Yesterday he was grilled by the police for 11 hours.

The controversial leader was earlier summoned by Delhi Police at his Chennai residence in the case.

Having been appointed as deputy general secretary by jailed AIADMK chief V S Sasikala, Dhinakaran has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.

A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK (Amma) recently revolted against Sasikala-Dhinakaran leadership. The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded ouster of Sasikala and Dhinakaran as a condition for the merger.

Dhinakaran later announced he would stay away from party affairs and that he could be removed only by Sasikala.

Sasikala is at present serving a four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a disproportionate assets case.
Chennai: Stepping up its attack on VK Sasikala, the AIADMK faction led by O Panneerselvam on Tuesday demanded that her portraits be removed from the party headquarters in Chennai.

"The portraits of Sasikala should be immediately removed from the party headquarters to uphold its sanctity," said E Madusudanan, the 'Presidium Chairman' of the faction in a statement.

The senior leader's demand came a day after his camp sought removal of Sasikala, her nephew and deputy TTV Dhinakaran and their family members from the AIADMK prior to merger talks with the other faction led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

The Panneerselvam camp had on Monday once again raised its demand for a CBI probe into the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Hyderabad: AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said that if the Union government does not stop gau-rakshaks soon, anarchy will rule due to the acts of terrorism committed by the so-called cow vigilantes against innocent people.

Interacting with the media at the party headquarters, the MP asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop appealing for security of every student in Kashmir and start implementing the law instead.

He said that so far, gau-rakshaks have murdered nine people and raped two Muslim women in Mewat of Haryana on August 24, 2016 after killing the uncle and aunt of the victims. Despite this, the government does not want to use full force of the law against them, Mr Owaisi said.

Referring to the PMs appeal on Sunday to all Chief Ministers to take care of students from Jammu and Kashmir in their respective states, he said Prime Ministers appeal remains on paper. Kashmiri students have been beaten up by gau-rakshaks many times.

The MP alleged that the BJP and the Central government does not want to stop gau rakshaks as they have a soft corner for them since they are from the RSS.

He said If the BJP is practicing Hindutva, let it do so and see what will be the impact on the country.Voicing concern over attacks on Kashmiri youth in different parts of the country, Mr Owaisi reminded that many Kashmiri youth were studying in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana under the Prime Ministers scholarships.

Reacting to the Centres move to provide Unique Identification Code for each cow in the country, he said that priorities of government were completely misplaced as it was neither bothered about 15 per cent of pregnant women nor about 27 per cent children with stunted growth.
Washington/New Delhi: Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has said that serious actions by the Donald Trump government against the H-1B visa programme could worry India, as a majority of Indian exports in the service sector go to the US.

According to a report in NDTV, speaking at the Peterson Institute, a top economic think tank in Washington, Subramanian said 40 to 45 per cent of Indias exports are service exports, and 50 to 60 per cent of these go to the US.

India is keeping a close watch on the US visa reforms and the government will be "okay" as long as the visa reforms are manageable, Subramanian said according to the report.

The US has accused top Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system.

At a White House briefing last week, an official in the Trump administration said a small number of giant outsourcing firms flood the system with applications which naturally ups their chances of success in the lottery draw.

"You may know their names well, but like the top recipients of the H-1B visa are companies like Tata, Infosys, Cognizant -- they will apply for a very large number of visas, more than they get, by putting extra tickets in the lottery raffle, if you will, and then they'll get the lion's share of visas," the senior official said, according to transcript of the briefing posted on White House website.

Responding to a follow up on why Indian companies were singled out for a mention, the White House response said Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Cognizant were the top three recipients of H-1B visas.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already raised the issue of restrictions on H-1B visa twice with the US.

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.

The Indian IT industry has expressed serious concerns over this as these visas are mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations.

The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry.

Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals.

India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive.
The woman tried to contact her husbands family many times in an attempt to settle things but that was in vain. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: A Hyderabadi woman was given talaq as a birthday gift after she refused to have sex with her father-in-law. The woman, a resident of Lallaguda, married Owais Talib of Begumpet in 2015.

After the marriage, she came to know that her husbands guardian, Himmat Kha-tun alias Siraj, 55, (Amma Jaan) who conducted their marriage, does black magic. A month later she went to Dubai with her husband and returned. Her husband left her at her in-laws house and went back to Dubai.

After we returned they made me work like a servant and did not even give me adequate food. After a few days she asked me to have sexual intercourse with her second husband and become a surrogate mother by giving birth to his child, the woman said.

When I refused and informed my husband about this, he asked me to do as Amma Jaan says. I refused again and they started torturing me and kept me locked in a room for six days. My father came to Amma Jaan's place and took me home when they expelled me from their residence, added the victim.

The woman tried to contact her husbands family many times in an attempt to settle things but that was in vain.

After a few days, she got a WhatsApp message from her husband saying talaq, talaq talaq in November 2016. Talaq, talaq, talaq. This is my verdict!. Kisko laati, jisko batati, sabko bolna hai bolde, Kiska baap kya karta, main bhi ab meri baat nahi badaltu!! Yahi chahri na tu! Awari!!. Le dediya tereko tera birthday gift! (Bring whomever you want. Tell whomever you want. I will see whose father will come and I will also not change my decision. This is what you wanted. Take it, I have given you your birthday gift) the message said.

The woman claimed that her husband who is now in Dubai have confined her sister also.

I am worried about my sister who is in their confinement since months now. We have not heard from her ever since. I request the authorities to bring my sister back safely.

In March, we lodged a complaint against Himmat Khatoon, her husband, in-laws and other relatives. Based on the complaint the Sanathnagar police booked a case under Sections 420, 406, 506 of IPC on March 16. Police found that she had filed a harassment case which is now pending with Hyderabad CCS. Police said that she had lodged a complaint stating that the accused cheated her.

The case is now being investigated, they said.
Bengaluru: A TDP MPs son and four of his supporters were arrested by the Chikkaballapura police after they allegedly vandalised a toll plaza and assaulted the toll staff at Bagepalli toll plaza on Anantapur-Bengaluru highway on Monday morning.

The arrested Ambarish is the son of Telugu Desam Party MP from Hindupur, Kristappa Nimmalam. The police have also arrested seven people working at the plaza for the incident.

Sources said that Ambarish and his supporters were coming in two cars towards Bengaluru on Monday morning. MPs are given toll-exemption passes for two vehicles. At the Bagepalli toll plaza, which is just 2 km away from the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border, the staff let one vehicle pass, but brought down the barricade as the other vehicle was passing. The cars bumper was damaged and this led to an altercation between Ambarishs supporters and the toll plaza staff. Within a few minutes, around 15-20 supporters of Ambarish were at the plaza. The MPs son and four of his supporters broke the windowpanes of the toll booth and smashed a computer. The entire incident was recorded by the CCTV cameras at the toll plaza. Some employees of the plaza were also allegedly assaulted and intimidated, an official said.

Ambarish

The Bagepalli police, who were alerted about the incident, rushed to the spot and immediately detained those who vandalised the booth. Based on the complaint filed by the toll plaza staff, five people, including the TDP MPs son, were arrested. Seven employees of the toll plaza too were arrested based on a counter-complaint filed by the supporters of MPs son. Chikkaballapura SP Karthik Reddy told this newspaper that 12 people, including the MPs son, were arrested in connection with the incident.
Chennai: A dawn-to-dusk shutdown called in support of drought-hit farmers is being observed in Tamil Nadu today, with DMK working president MK Stalin courting arrest in the Cauvery delta region of Tiruvaur.

14 lakh shops across Tamil Nadu shut down in response to a bandh called by Opposition parties to press for waiving loans of farmers.

Stalin, along with cadres of the DMK and other parties, came in a procession in Tiruvarur and was detained in a marriage hall, police said, adding they will be let off later.

Senior DMK leader and former Union Minister T R Baalu was among those who took part in the agitation in Tiruvarur.

In Chennai, farmers leader P Ayyakannu, who staged protest in the national capital for 41 days, and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Su Thirunavukkarasu took part in a demonstration held at Egmore.

Bank employees staged a protest on the arterial Anna Salai here, led by All India Bank Employees Association C H Venkatachalam and CITU leader A Soundararajan.

The state secretaries of CPI (M) and CPI, G Ramakrishnan, and R Mutharasan respectively, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan, and Congress leader KV Thangabalu went in a procession in Saidapet here.

A series of protests, including 'rail roko', were held in some parts of the state including Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore, Madurai and Kanchipuram.

Shops, local vegetable markets and a section of private establishments were shut down, partially affecting normal life in response to the bandh call.

While auto-rickshaws and a section of private taxi services kept off the roads, state government-run transport corporations operated their services as usual.

Thousands of police personnel have been deployed in the state to maintain law and order.

Opposition parties including DMK, Congress, CPI(M), CPI, VCK and IUML apart from trade unions affiliated to them, farmers bodies and the film fraternity have pledged support to the shutdown.

However, both factions of AIADMK, BJP, MDMK and TMC(M) are not participating in it.

On April 16, a meeting of the opposition parties chaired by Stalin gave the bandh call.

According to the DMK, the bandh is to urge the central and state governments to fulfil the demands of farmers and farm labourers which includes adequate relief and setting up of Cauvery Management Board.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday asked the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia to rescue and repatriate a woman from Hyderabad who has been allegedly facing mental and physical harassment by her sponsor there.

Swaraj's direction to the Indian embassy officials in Riyadh came after a media report said the woman was deceived by her agents and was now physically harassed by her sponsor.

In a series tweets, she said, "I have asked Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia to rescue and repatriate her to India at the earliest. I have asked @ProtectorGenGOI to proceed against the agent who sent her to Saudi Arabia."
Bengaluru: While most of the ministers have already removed the red beacon atop their vehicles following the Centre's ruling, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that he would remove the beacon when the order comes into force on May 1.

"Why should I remove red beacon now? It is to be removed from May 1. I will remove it when the order comes into effect," Siddaramaiah told the media here.

Echoing the same, Karnataka Law Minister TB Jayachandra said that the media should not make a hue and cry over the issue.

"It is true that cabinet has taken a decision and in pursuance of the decision, an act is to be amended or execution order is to be done. It is a matter left to the Central Government. Except that cabinet decision has been taken, nothing has been heard from the Central Government. So, unless the order is issued, they should not make an issue of the whole thing. May 1 is the deadline for removing the red beacon. The Press is making a hue and cry. Only after the issue of order this should be insisted, not now," Jayachandra told ANI.

In what could be seen as a major step towards ending the VIP culture, the Central Government, earlier this month, announced that a ban will be imposed on use of red beacon on vehicles attached to dignitaries, including the central and state ministers and other VVIPs.

The decision taken by the Union Cabinet will 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.

Following the announcement, chief ministers of various states had removed the red beacons from their cars.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis , Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani were among the ones, who removed the flash light from their vehicles after the cabinet's decision.

Uttar Pradesh minister Shrikant Sharma also got the red beacon removed from his car.
New Delhi: After four days of questioning,AIADMK (Amma) leader T T V Dhinakaran was tonight arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly attempting to bribe an Election Commission official to get the undivided AIADMK's 'two leaves' election symbol for his faction.

Dhinakaran reached the Crime Branch Inter State Cell office in Chanakyapuri at 5 PM. He was arrested after being questioned for close to six hours, Praveer Ranjan, joint commissioner of police (crime), said.

His longtime friend Mallikarjuna was also arrested for allegedly facilitating the deal between the leader and Sukesh Chandrasekar, the middleman in the EC bribery case, after being quizzed for the second day on the trot, he said. Mallikarjuna had been accompanying Dhinakaran everywhere ever since Chandrasekar was arrested on April 16 for allegedly striking a deal of Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK (Amma) faction keep the poll symbol.

Dhinakaran, Mallikarjuna and Chandrasekar will be questioned together to establish the money trail, details of the deal and whether more people were involved in it. Sources said that Dhinakaran's PA Janardhana has agreed to be a witness in the case.

Dhinakaran had yesterday confessed to meeting Chandrasekar, assuming he was a high court judge. He had, however, denied that he paid money to the middleman for retaining the party's poll symbol.

The controversial AIADMK leader, who had come under the scanner after the arrest of Chandrasekar, had maintained that he never met him. He was earlier summoned by Delhi Police at his Chennai residence in the case.

Earlier in the day, the police produced Chandrasekar before a special court, which extended his custody till April 28. The court was told that Chandrasekar had been paid through hawala channels. "A person named Shah Faisal told that he had collected a parcel from Chennai and gave it to Chandrasekar, who had posed as a member of Parliament," the police said. It is suspected that the parcel contained Rs 10 crore. The police said three Chandni Chowk-based hawala operators will also be questioned in connection with the case. The AIADMK leader and his friend will be produced before a city court tomorrow.

Dhinakaran, who was appointed deputy general secretary by AIADMK chief V S Sasikala, has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EK Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam. A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK (Amma) recently revolted against the Sasikala-Dhinakaran leadership. The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded ouster of Sasikala and Dhinakaran as a condition for merger talks.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur (44)  an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case in which she was chargesheeted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in 2009  due to lack of evidence.

While granting bail, the HC observed that prima facie there is no case made out against her on the grounds of which the court could deny bail.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the case from the ATS, had given Thakur, currently in judicial custody in Bhopal, a clean chit in 2016 on the grounds of weak evidence against her.

The HC directed her to submit a surety of `5 lakh and hand over her passport to the NIA court.

It cannot be said there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations made against her are prima facie true. Once it is held so, then the benefit of bail cannot be withheld to the appellant, even if the offences alleged against her by ATS are grave and serious, the court said. While granting bail to Thakur, the court considered that she has been suffering from breast cancer. The court also noted that she had been in custody for the last eight years and she could not even walk without the supports of others. Two witnesses, who have not yet retracted their statements recorded by the ATS, did not disclose any objectionable and incriminating material against the sadhvi, the judges said.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday slammed the Opposition, accusing it of indulging in cheap and wretched politics on every issue.

He also did some plain-speak to agriculture officials, telling them how to interact with farmers in simple Telangana dialect that they understand and avoid complex jargon and English which is incomprehensible for many.

Dismissing the demand for extending the Rs 4,000 per farmer fertiliser sop immediately, Mr Rao said that the Opposition should stop such wretched politics and linking everything to elections.

Agriculture is a way of life. We promised Rs 4,000 towards fertilisers to farmers from next year. They (Opposition) want immediate release. How is it possible? We have to plan, make Budgetary allocation and then release (the money). If not, pairavikars will enter the scene. Its like children demanding chocolates, Mr Rao said.

He added, Everything is linked to elections. I am 64 now and during my lifetime, I want to see green Telangana.
Hyderabad: Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Mohd. Ali Shabbir on Tuesday said that the alleged fallout of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Muslim quota was part of match fixing between the TRS and the BJP.

He said, Leaked reports about Mondays PM-CM meetings in Delhi have once again exposed the lack of sincerity and clarity on various issues like bifurcation of the High Court, national status to Kaleswaram project, increase of seats in Telangana Assembly etc and also the demand for Parade Grounds for building new Secretariat buildings.

Mr Shabbir Ali said that it would be disastrous if States and Assemblies are allowed to meddle with minority issues. Parliament and Constitution alone should be rested with the safeguarding the rights and privileges of minorities. What if a BJP government in the state tramples Muslim rights in future? he asked.

Whatever the outcome of yesterdays meeting, KCR should make it public instead of leaking selected bits, the Congress leader added. He said it appeared like a BJP and TRS drama and exposed the lack of sincerity and commitment of the TRS on all issues, including Muslim quota. Why keep the outcome of the meeting between Modi and KCR a secret? he asked.
New Delhi: As the Opposition continues to look for a presidential candidate to counter the Modi-Shah juggernaut, the Left parties are reportedly in favour of President Pranab Mukherjee getting a second term. Sources said that the CPM top brass has conveyed their views to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Mr Mukherjee has, however, indicated that he was not willing to throw his hat in the ring unless there was a consensus on his name, sources added.

A similar situation had arisen in 2012 when Trinamul and other parties wanted Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam to run for a second term as President.

However, in a statement then, Kalam had said, I have considered the totality of the matter and the present political situation, and decided not to contest the presidential election 2012.

Kalam was President from 2002-2007. The presidential polls have brought Mrs Gandhi back to the centrestage of political activities, with the Congress president holding discussions with like-minded and secular parties to field a common presidential candidate. Mrs Gandhi has already held discussions with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and Left leaders, including CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D. Raja.

As of now, both the NDA and the Opposition conglomerate seem to be evenly poised as far as the contest to Raisina Hills is concerned.

The AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, YSR Congress Party, AAP and INLD hold the key.

BJD, may go with JD(U), Trinamul

The Shiv Sena is also a deciding factor as in the last two presidential polls it has voted in favour of a Congress candidate and this time also might jump to other side as they are quiet miffed with their alliance partner BJP.

While AIADMK is in the throes of a merger talk, the Biju Janata Dal has already shown its intentions of joining the Opposition after meetings with Mr Nitish Kumar and Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee. Mr Kumar has also held talks with INLD.

Sources said that Left leaders have reportedly conveyed to the Congress president that they were ready to support Mr Mukherjee for a second term. Officially though, the CPM has said that the party should try and support a common candidate preferably not belonging to any political party.
Hyderabad: The transition of employment from the agriculture sector to the industrial sector in Telangana has put pressure on the state government to create more jobs in the industrial sector. There has been a significant increase in the number of factories registered in Telangana, but most of them are small factories, which provide low emplo-yment opportunities.

About 61 per cent of the factories in the state employ less than 50 people each, and only 5.34 per cent of factories employ over 500 people each. As per the Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey (2015-16) of the Labour Bureau, agriculture and its allied sectors are the source of employment for a majority of the people in Telangana; this is followed by the services sector, and then the industrial sector.

An analysis of rural and urban employment patterns, however, reveal-ed a major change in both rural as well as urban areas of Telangana. The number of workers em-ployed in the agriculture sector in rural areas came down by 1.8 per cent in 2015-16, as compared to 2013-14; and there was a corresponding increase in employment in the industrial and services sectors. In urban areas, there was a reduction in employment in the industrial and agriculture sectors, accompanied by a corresponding increase in employment in the services sector.

Though the contribution of the agriculture sector to the GSDP was only 14.7 per cent in 2015-16, about 54 per cent of the workers in the state were dependant on the sector for jobs and 28 per cent of workers were employed in the services sector, which contributes 62 per cent of the GSDP.

Dependency on agriculture is higher in rural areas, with 73 per cent of rural workers being en-gaged in the sector. The services sector is emerging as a major provider of employment in urban areas.
Lucknow: About 40 days after he was arrested, former UP minister and Samajwadi Party leader Gayatri Prajapati was granted bail by the POCSO court in Lucknow on Tuesday.

Two of the former ministers aides, Vikas Varma and Pintu Singh, were also granted bail.

The court has directed the UP government to provide police protection to the victim and female members of her family.

Gayatri Prajapati has been charged with the gangrape of a woman and the molestation of her minor daughter in 2014.

The SC, on February 17, had ordered Prajapatis arrest but he was arrested on March 14 after he lost the assembly polls.
Burkapal (Sukma): A day after 25 CRPF jawans were killed by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh, it has emerged that a mysterious woman in a red sari tipped off the outlaws about the soldiers movement.

In fact, Manoj Kumar, who serves as a medical staff in the Burkapal CRPF camp, barely two km from the site where the jawans were massacred in south Bastar district of Sukma said on Tuesday that he spotted three women in total.

Appearance of a woman in a red sari near our camp made me uncomfortable. Some unusual events had then followed. My worst fears came true when ear splitting sounds of firing rattled our camp later. We sensed our Delta company was ambushed by the Maoists. We then geared up to back them up, he said.

Manoj Kumar recalled how a young woman in a red sari surfaced near the camp in the morning barely after jawans from the camp left for an operation to sanitise the nearby area to pave way for resumption of construction of a road and a bridge. I have been posted in the camp for the past four years. I know everyone in the nearby villages as I treat them.

I got curious about the mysterious woman since I had never seen her before. I enquired about her when two other women appeared near the camp later. But, these villagers misguided me saying that she was a newly married woman from the village, he said.

Maoists were alerted by women making sounds

Later, I found out from other villagers that the mysterious woman did not belong to their village, he said.

As the backup team advanced, he spotted two women counting mangoes on a tree. The two women created a sound by beating two sticks they carried.

This is a system of alerting the Maoists about presence of security forces by their informers, he said.

As the back up team was closing in on the ambush site to rescue their colleagues trapped by Naxals, bullets fired by the Maoists from houses and tree tops in the nearby village greeted them. They could manage to evacuate some of the injured jawans and bring them to the camp.

Our tragedy is that we never received any cooperation from local villagers despite the fact that I treat them regularly and saved many lives," said Manoj, who first gave first aid treatment to the injured jawans.

As many as 99 jawans of 74 battalion of CRPF had left Burkapal camp at around six in the morning on the fateful day to sanitise the construction site. They were attacked by Maoists at around 12.55 pm.
To mark his 88th birthday, the Google Doodle shows a young Rajkumar in a movie theatre with a silhouette of several people watcting his movie.

Bengaluru: Its the ultimate tribute to all his abhimani devarugalu with Google doodling the all too familiar face of Karnataka's favourite son, Dr Rajkumar, as the state marked his 88th birthday - if he had been alive.

On Monday, the popular search engine honoured the legendary actor by featuring him on its homepage in India, sending his fans, or abhimani devarugalu, as he referred to them, into raptures.

Within moments of it being unveiled, the doodle started trending on various social media platforms and fans thanked Google for making this year's birthday special. "When I took out my phone in the morning to search what was trending on the internet, I was pleasantly surprised to see Rajanna on the Google homepage. It was even more special as Sachin Tendulkar's too celebrates his birthday today. It made my day," said Harish, a fan of Annavaru.

Kannada film stars wasted no time in posting the image on their personal social media accounts. Many tweeted their photos and memories with Rajanna.
KOLLAM: In a reformative step emphasising the need for environmental conservation, Muslim religious institutions including mosques in the district have decided to abide by green protocol norms. The decision has been taken by the leaders of various Muslim organisations at a meeting convened by the Suchitwa Mission in Kollam. The green protocol will be implemented in all mosques and in religious festivals, in accordance with the directives of Jamath committees. These organisations will take the initiative to introduce green protocol norms to the believers under respective jamaaths in the district. The mosques, educational institutions, and even ceremonies that are conducted will strictly follow green protocol.

The organisations have decided to avoid disposable glasses and to use reusable steel, clay, and glass vessels for programmes including annual public meetings, iftar feasts, food donations, and other religious celebrations. The jamaath committees will also be asked to ensure implementation of the green protocol in private functions including marriage functions of believers. As part of going green, the use of flex hoardings and plastic decorations will also be avoided in associated private and public functions under these jamaaths.

We have planned to implement this prior to the upcoming holy month of Ramzan. Religious leaders have taken up the issue even as the holy book of Quran itself urges not to throw waste in the open or in water bodies and to always keep the pathways clean. They have agreed to completely cooperate in realising the Swachh Bharat - Harita Keralam Missions, G. Krishnakumar, District Coordinator, Suchitwa Mission Kollam, told DC.

Representatives of various Muslim organisations including Dakshina Kerala Jamaath Federation, All India Imams Council, SYS, Kerala Muslim Jamaath, Jamaath e Islami, National Muslim Council, and KMCC took part in the meeting convened by the Mission seeking support for its operation under the Harita Keralam Mission. The district administration has also implemented the plastic ban in accordance with the centres Plastic waste (management and handling) rules of 2016. The implementation of the ban has been entrusted to respective LSGDs.
Hyderabad: Decks have been cleared for the construction of Asias biggest Inter-City Bus Terminal (ICBT) at Miyapur, following a Supreme Court ruling in favour of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) in a land dispute. The State government had proposed setting up the bus terminal at Miyapur at a cost of Rs 100 crore in Public Private Partnership mode. Accordingly, HMDA identified 55 acres of its own land, but the ICBT proposal could not move forward following a dispute over land ownership.

HMDA chief engineer B.L.N. Reddy told this newspaper on Monday that the land dispute has been settled, with the SC passing orders in favour of the HMDA. With the land dispute out of the way, work on the ICBT is expected to pick pace as the HMDA has decided to expedite the process. The latest available technology will be used to construct the ICBT. The terminal will provide world-class infrastructure facilities for both bus operators and passengers. The project is expected to be completed within three years; the HMDA wants at least 60 per cent of the works completed within two years.

In PPP mode, private developers will earn revenue by charging bus operators and from other amenities provided to passengers. The HMDA will give the project on 33-year lease basis. The Authority will get annual lease rental from the private developer during the 33 year lease period and in the years 31 33, it will get approximately Rs 4 crore as rental from the bidder. The ICBT will provide one stop integrated facilities to passengers, public and private bus operators and their staff under one roof. The ICBT is proposed 2 km from Miyapur junction on NH-9.
Bengaluru: He may be a former CM and the strongest leader of the dominant Lingayat community in Karnataka but B.S. Yeddyurappa may not have a free run in candidate selection for the 2018 Assembly polls after a section of leaders raised the banner of revolt against him.

Sources said BJP national president Amit Shah is ' very upset' over the happenings in the Karnataka unit with the rebels going to the extent of convening a BJP Bachao' meeting at Bengaluru Palace grounds on April 27 to work out their future course of action. A group of senior BJP leaders including a few Lok Sabha members, in a bid to retrieve the situation, have decided to submit a detailed report about the developments taking place in the state unit to Mr Shah next week.

According to the sources, the BJP national president had decided to visit the state and finalise the list of candidates for the coming general elections. Though, Mr Yeddyurappa would not be removed from the post of BJP state president, he may be denied the chance to dominate the candidate selection process, said sources, adding this would virtually amount to sidelining Mr Yeddyurappa, who was being projected as the BJPs CM face for the 2018 polls. Mr Shah has taken serious note of the rebellious activities especially after Mr Yeddyurappa became state president. All is not well in the state unit, a top BJP leader told DC. There are complaints that the 'unilateral decisions' taken by Yeddyurappa without consulting other leaders, resulted in the embarrassing defeat of the party in the recent byelections. Many leaders have a problem in working with the former CM as he has reportedly formed his own coterie and is unwilling to agree to suggestions made by others. The high command will make its entry at the right time to put everything in right place, the source added.

The leader claimed a majority of state BJP leaders are indirectly supporting the 24 sitting and former legislators who have called the April 27 meeting, which is a serious cause of concern for the high command. These leaders may not take part in the meeting as it could provide Congress and JD(S) enough reason to dub the BJP as a party of dissidents. Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing for the April 27 meeting with Opposition leader in the Council K.S. Eshwarappa confirming his participation. Those organising the meeting include Mr Ravindranath, Sogadu Shivanna, Shivayogi Swamy and Bhanuprakash who want to present a show of strength to Mr Yeddyurappa and his group.

Meanwhile, sources close to Mr Eshwarappa said none of them were opposed to Yeddyurappa becoming the next CM, but they were doubtful if BJP would come to power considering the differences among leaders. We are not seeking the removal of Mr Yeddyurappa but only asking him to change his attitude. The target of 150 seats set by Mr Shah for the Assembly polls may be difficult to achieve if the grievances of loyal party workers are not addressed immediately.

Its BJPs internal matter: RSS

The RSS does not seem too worried over the cat-and-mouse game between B.S. Yeddyurappa and K.S. Eshwarappa. While BJP insiders not aligned with either camp feel the conflict can be dealt with once central leaders enter the scene, the RSS is of the view that both leaders are wrong and they could be told to mend their ways by party seniors. They do not feel the Sangh should intervene in BJP affairs as far as this matter is concerned. Sources in the RSS said that Mr Yeddyurappa, an old-timer, had not changed and takes unilateral decisions the same way he used to do in the Nineties. Now, people expect more internal democracy which he has not adopted which is why this situation has cropped up, they confided. Nor has Mr Eshwarappa, who has the indirect backing of RSS leader, Santhosh, found any sympathy among RSS or neutral leaders in the BJP. A leader said He is like an empty vessel and makes a lot of noise.
New Delhi: With the vote share jumping from a meagre nine per cent to 30 per cent in West Bengal, BJP chief Amit Shah has decided to strengthen the organisation and make it battle-ready by spending three days in the state to hold meetings with his cadre, local NGOs and intelligentsia.

Mr Shah is expected to meet the booth level workers at the birthplace of the naxalite movement-Naxalbari in north Bengal. Union minister Smriti Irani earlier said that Naxalbaris history was about lal hinsa ki kranti ( history of red violence.) Mr Shahs visit to naxalbari will also be a signal that the BJP stands for unity of the country and against red-terror.

On Wednesday, Mr Shah is expected to be in Bhowanipore in south Kolkata  the constituency of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The plan is to randomly choose a non-BJP household and meet the residents and possibly have tea with them. It will be his chai-pe charcha with Bengalis.

In the evening, he is expected to meet local NGOs and intellectuals at Mahajati Sadan and later hold a dinner meet with all the state district presidents.

The following day, On April 27, Mr Shah will visit Rajarhat to meet the booth level workers and possibly repeat his plan of entering non-BJP households to hold his chai-pe-charcha. Incidentally, Bengal is the first stop to try out BJPs Deendayal Vistar Yojna  Mr Shahs plan to strengthen and expand the party at the booth levels, particularly in areas where BJP continues to remain weak. The other stops, for which dates have not yet been finalised, include, Odisha, Lakshwadeep, Telengana and even Gujarat. Mr Shah will be visiting the areas and booths in Gujarat, where the BJP either continues to remain weak or has been hit by the rapid rise of the Opposition. The party president is expected to spend at least three days in each of these states.
Hyderabad: The TS BJP has reacted strongly to actor and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, accusing him of trying to divide the people through a series of tweets alleging discrimination of people from south India by the Central government and people of North India.

Pawan Kalyan consistently issuing baseless and shallow statements against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central government is highly reprehensible, said TS BJP chief spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao here on Monday.

Addressing a news conference here, he wondered at Mr Kalyans audacity to criticise the Prime Minister and the NDA government on North/ South discrimination without citing any specific issues, examples or cases but making casual, random and baseless statements. Referring to Mr Kalyan tweet calling for unity of south Indian political parties to fight north Indian parties, he said that it was a sham.

Your brother Chiranjeevi floated a party and after elections, merged it in the Congress for a Cabinet post. Do you believe that the Congress is a south Indian party? Mr Krishna Saagar Rao asked.

He said that the BJP considers Mr Kalyan a twitter tiger and an invisible leader of an invisible party. Pawan Kalyan has till date added no value to common people through his invisible Jana Sena and this divisive opportunistic politics, based on lies and hatred will be rejected by the people, Mr Krishna Saagar Rao said.
The first round of the French presidential election last Sunday was the culmination of total churning that broke traditional political barriers and threw up new parties. The political division between left and right, as indeed their fringes, with the xenophobic Front National once led by the father of Marine Le Pen on the far right and the Communists on the left, stands redefined. The debate now veers around globalisation and sovereignty, for or against the European Union and rebalancing of the welfare state, and not old ideologies. The Fifth Republic, as created by President Charles de Gaulle, was under serious re-examination. Historically, the Left viewed globalisation paradoxically. On the one hand it saw it as neo-imperialism utilising military force and soft power to advance Western economic and financial interests, but on the other it was useful to advance human rights and counter racism. Socialist President Francois Mitterrand supported the European Union as France hoped to dominate the unified market. The reunification of Germany belied that as the new German economic behemoth became the fulcrum of monetarist policies. But Mr Mitterrand earlier managed to unify the Left in the 1970s and 80s and rule for 14 years. The Left has now fractured under the pressure of economic stagnation, terrorism and immigration.

President Francois Hollandes poor ratings put the French Socialists in a bind in selecting its next candidate for President. From this dilemma rose Emmanuel Macron, a centrist-reformist minister in the Hollande government, once his boss opted out. He combined youth, audacity and luck, with Republican Party nominee Francois Fillon and initial leader in the polls coming under the shadow of a scandal involving his wife. When asked early in his political career as a minister whether he was really committed to changing France, he replied: You are like Saint Thomas. You only believe in what you see. Me too. Socialists in his own party did not trust his reformist, pro-EU zeal. But he bridged the political divide as the Opposition was sympathetic. The space in the centre opened up as the Socialists put up a Left-winger Benoit Hamon as their candidate. Unsurprisingly Jean-Luc Melenchon, the breakaway candidate on the Left, supported by the Communists, got 19.6 per cent of the vote, compared to Mr Hamons 6.4 per cent. But peculiarly the issues on which he on the extreme left and the queen of the extreme right Marine Le Pen agree are more than those they disagree on. For instance, they concur on exiting the EU, abandoning the euro, more social benefits for workers, exit from Nato and the need to normalise relations with Russia. They have both been dubbed sovereignists. Perhaps because of this, after the first round, when almost the entire political firmament has endorsed Mr Macron, including former Prime Minister Manuel Valls and defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Mr Melenchon has refused to do so.

Mr Macron has led in the first round and now faces his right-wing rival Marine Le Pen in the May 7 second round. He overcame incumbency by creating a new party En Marche, meaning on the march, and by occupying the centrist space vacated by both the ruling Socialists and the Opposition Republicans. It is a variation of Akhilesh Yadavs gambit in Uttar Pradesh by undertaking a coup against his father and uncles. US President Donald Trump similarly broke the bipolar US political system by remixing elements from across the political divide. His position on trade, for instance, defies Republican Party orthodoxy. Mr Macrons success, albeit at the first hurdle, has been mostly read as the survival of the European unification. Markets have risen as all modelling indicates that losing candidates votes, other than perhaps hardcore followers of the left-wing Mr Melenchon, should swing behind the centrist candidate. Frances choice is between Ms Le Pens disruptive and revolutionary ideas and the orderly though painful reform advocated by Mr Macron. Ruchir Sharma in an article attributed Mr Macrons success to French voters responding to economic revival, the early signs of which are manifest. Second rounds can be tricky, as senior Iranian politician Hashmi Rafanjani discovered in 2005 when he beat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the first round with multiple candidates participating, to be ousted by the latter in the run-off. The votes of defeated candidates can veer unpredictably, though logically with the defeated candidates mostly endorsing Mr Macron, he should largely bag them. The black swan that could alter this would be another major terror attack before May 7.

How does the French electoral drama impinge on Indian interests? It benefits India if the EU does not disintegrate as the world order already has multiple stress points. A united Europe is a vital pole in a multi-polar order, which India advocates. Such a Europe also keeps US Presidents from either retreating from global issues or indulging in erratic operations like unleashing missiles on Syria and perhaps on North Korea next. The EU also remains the repository and defender of values that India shares as a civilisation  such as freedom of faith, tolerance and the complete panoply of human rights. It would be more difficult for China to poach technologies or enlarge its geo-strategic footprint if it confronts a united Europe. It is always easier for the larger carnivore to hunt animals separated from the herd. Even more significantly, with a similar churn in India and the ascendance of right-wing forces utilising Narendra Modis personality, religion, real and imagined historical hurts and jingoism, there are lessons to be learnt. The most important of these is that one man can quickly reoccupy space that is always available in the middle, if he has the personality, the timing and luck. Who shall be Indias Macron? That is the question Indias Opposition leaders should be asking today.
The search has begun among Indias fractious opposition groups for a strategy to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two years from now. A dire situation should require an enlightened coming together of otherwise competing interests. Which means everyone must come with a large-hearted willingness for self-sacrifice. The alternative is the familiar craving for power with the veneer of good intentions. The Janata Party experiment of 1977-79 is an example. That slot of power at any cost is gone to the BJP anyway. What the opposition can find is a useful space left for it  to unite and to rescue the country with steady, caring hands. Activity in the opposition ranks indicates a sense of purpose. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, back from a long medical leave, met Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the CPI(M). She also held a rare face-to-face chat with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Elsewhere, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been calling for a united opposition, including the left. She feels the threat more palpably than others from the rise of the BJP, and in particular from the consolidation of power in the hands of Mr Modi. Ms Banerjee also met Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik who too is in trouble with Hindutva.

In Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP left the opposition in tatters last month, former chief ministers and arch-rivals Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati have expressed the need to bury the hatchet. They both feel the chill in their bones. Equally crucially, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, rumoured to face dismissal regardless of the outcome of this weeks municipal election in Delhi, met Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. How does one begin to break the gridlock of unwieldy egos or the contesting ideologies the opposition comes with? An even bigger problem  quite a few in the opposition share their source of funds (and corruption) from the businessmen who also support the ruling establishment. The Congress tried to address this influence of big business in politics. In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi did call for the eviction of moneybags who ride the backs of the Congress worker. He was smeared with the Bofors muck in retaliation. Manmohan Singh subsequently wooed the tycoons. They shepherded his policy and eventually left him holding a can of worms.

When Singhs government got blamed for corruption, the tycoons who benefited from the graft showed a clean pair of heels, and switched sides. The BJP welcomed them by creating new laws to make corporate funding opaque, even secretive. Having thus diagnosed the ailment, the Indian opposition needs to get down to the business at hand. When Mr Modi thunders, as he did during the Uttar Pradesh polls, that he has the goods on his critics, he could be referring to the big or small IOUs that every political party gets saddled with. Under the circumstances, if the big fish can get the small fish pre-emptively, the big fish can always flaunt itself as the incarnation of probity. The current governments spurious fight against corruption is also a ploy to take away the focus from far worse. Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar and cow-linked lynching are examples.

As Congress calls for the dismissal of Kejriwal in Delhi it plays into the hands of the BJP. If the CPI(M) seeks the dismissal of Mamata Banerjee, it objectively does the BJP a favour. Arundhati Roy described the quandary that democracies today face everywhere: The crisis of modern democracy is a profound one. Free elections, a free press and an independent judiciary mean little when the free market has reduced them to commodities available on sale to the highest bidder. Is Indias opposition ready to discard its links with two-timing big business and learn from Kejriwal and from the left about crowd funding?

By arrangement with Dawn
The sitting President wasnt even in the race and all the candidates of mainstream parties were routed in the first round of the French presidential election. That left centrist Emmanuel Macron, heading the youthful En Marche movement, the narrow winner on Sunday, and the lone beacon of hope for liberal, pro-European reform in a nation riven by unemployment, social inequality and a persistent terror threat. Frexit is prominent among the many fears if the country elects Mr Macrons opponent, Marine Le Pen of National Front (FN), in the May 7 run-off, which means there could be further disruption of European unity and more ground conceded to right-wing populism, that gained much ground after Donald Trump became Americas 45th President.

May 7s big fight is seen as a contest between globalism, representing liberal values, and a sense of nationalism that has gained currency in the United States as well as India. It appears Frances Socialists, Left and centre-right are backing Mr Macron in the hope that he would stave off a lurch to the extreme right. But Ms Le Pen is unlikely to go down without a fight. Her popularity has already outstripped that of her father, who stood in the 2002 presidential race. Then theres the fear that even if Ms Le Pen loses, her party could still make handsome gains in the June parliamentary polls. France hasnt been the centre of the world since the First Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. The world is left hoping the final result in France will help preserve the optimism of its liberal elements.
A decorated war veteran in Chennai has been fighting a losing battle in recovering more than fifty lakh rupees from a real estate player. A young entrepreneur has been struggling to get his payments on his invoices of over a crore from a well funded start up that folded up. A recruitment firm has been unable to get the police to register a criminal case against another company which availed its services but failed to honour bills running into a few lakh rupees. While the retired army officer is yet to press charges, the recruitment company is considering filing a civil suit and the entrepreneur is vigorously pursuing criminal action. When it comes to recovery of dues, even when there is sufficient documentation, the usual and convenient refrain of debtors is this: Its a civil dispute. Go to court. The unsolicited advice stems from the assumption that judicial delays and legal costs may deter creditors from pursuing civil remedies. A person accused of non-payment cannot cherry pick the line of action to be taken against him! Thats the prerogative of the creditor, based on facts and circumstances.

About a decade ago when banks started using strong arm tactics to recover loans through outsourced agents and indiscriminately began filing criminal cases against borrowers, the Supreme Court had frowned upon such practices.The apex court in Mohamed Ibrahim Vs State of Bihar, noted the growing tendency of complainants to give the cloak of a criminal offence to matters which are essentially and purely civil in nature, obviously either to apply pressure on the accused, or out of enmity, or to subject the accused to harassment. Banks have their debt recovery tribunals. What does the common man have? Civil remedies aside, police action, however limited, cannot be discounted in cases of cheating, criminal breach of trust or criminal intimidation. The Supreme Court in Arun Bhandari Vs State of UP had observed that commercial transactions may also contain ingredients of criminal offences and such disputes have to be entertained notwithstanding they are also civil disputes.

In most commercial transactions that land up in police stations, the offence of cheating is invoked. Section 415 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) does not merely define cheating as deceiving or fraudulent or dishonest inducement but also any act or omission that is likely to cause damage in body, mind, reputation or property. So unpaid bills leading to the creditor in turn facing the heat from vendors knocking on his doors will fit into this definition.

In a case where the complainant had stated that he was induced to believe that the respondent would honour payment on receipt of invoices, and realised later that after receiving the goods, the respondent sold them to others and still did not pay the money, the Supreme Court in Rajesh Bajaj Vs State Nct of Delhi held that the crux of the postulate is the intention of the person who induces the victim by his representation and not the nature of the transaction. The apex court disapproved of the High Courts hyper technical approach and how it sieved the complaint through a cullendar of finest gauzes for testing the ingredients under Section 415 IPC. Such an endeavour may be justified during trial, but certainly not during the stage of investigation. At any rate, it is too premature a stage for the High Court to step in and stall the investigation by declaring that it is a commercial transaction simplicitor wherein no semblance of criminal offence is involved.

Making a fine distinction between a mere breach of contract and cheating, the Supreme Court in Bhajan Lal ruled that it depends upon the intention of the accused at the time of inducement which may be judged by his subsequent conduct. In State of Kerala Vs Pareed Pillai, the apex court held that fraudulent or dishonest intention must be shown shown right at the beginning of the transaction.

Filing a summary civil suit for recovery of money under Order 37 of the Code of Civil Procedure is a feasible option when there is admitted liability. But when the liability is disputed and there are other aspects like intimidation, criminal action may be inevitable. That may not pass muster with a debtor. As they say, five minutes depends on which side of the bathroom door you are!

(The writer is a lawyer, columnist & author)
As India loses its grip on the Sunni-dominated Kashmir Valley, now the hotbed of a low-intensity guerrilla war, India has to keep its eyes and minds open on abrogating Article 370 to ensure integration of the Valley through mobility of people from the rest of India. Kashmiris in the Valley have been yearning to retain their sub-national identity, but they simply cant wage war against India and hold the rest of the state hostage. Many believe that abrogating Article 370 may well be the answer, but equally it is a process where one has to tread on eggshells. A landmark judgment may well have opened old wounds and the question of revocation of Article 370. Tinkering and tweaking through incrementalism isnt the way forward in Kashmir any more. A decisive response from the Prime Minister himself is required so that the problem can be solved within the four walls of the Indian Constitution. To recover lost ground, something that the winter lull should have been used to do in terms of opening a back channel with the separatists, there are certain steps that can be taken immediately:

Send a more proactive governor to replace N.N. Vohra, perhaps Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain, who can start talking to the stakeholders including the separatists.

As part of the unified command, send S.M. Sahay back in an active position; replace the current subsidiary intelligence bureau head with someone more in sync with the ground situation.

Shift the Army and paramilitary commanders, shake the tree, sift through gene pools and find best people with knowledge of contemporary Kashmir operations.

Kashmir doesnt deserve a perfunctory response from New Delhi any longer. We now hold only territorial sovereignty and have lost control over the

hearts and minds of the local populace.

In the unquenchable quest for power, the BJP should not be blindsided by nationalistic considerations and should seriously look at its alliance with the PDP in the state, which is only fuelling the Hindu Jammu versus Muslim Kashmir divide.

Perhaps the time to exit the coalition is not right for as we have seen with the Srinagar bypoll, there is no room for democracy or pro-democratic institutions and forces in the Valley currently.

Start making decisive moves to provide employment in the Valley where the disaffection is the highest. Look at reviving Central public sector undertakings like HMT Chinar Watches or Rambagh Silk Co, which are in a complete state of disrepair, with even the factory sites decrepit and dilapidated.

The Choice between terrorism and tourism is empty dialogue, for the people seem to have chosen their calling.

Pakistan has understood that this youth upsurge is like no other in 70 years, it will continue to target military personnel and installations in a systematic operation.

Most important, begin the process of abrogation of Article 370, it is not cast in stone, it is a temporary provision, start the process of mobility and integration.

If Article 370 and its abrogation remains contentious, the J&K high court division bench ruling on July 16, 2015, in the case titled Santosh Gupta and another etc vs State Bank of India and others, should act as a catalyst. In this judgment, it was held that various key provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act 2002 (Sarfaesi) were outside the legislative competence of Parliament, as they would collide with Section 140 of the Transfer of Property Act of Jammu and Kashmir. The said Central Act has been held to be inapplicable to banks such as the State Bank of India, which are all Indian banks. Aggrieved by this judgment, State Bank of India filed a civil appeal in the Supreme Court, which was accepted on December 16, 2016, by the division bench comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R.F. Nariman. In the judgment, the Supreme Court held that the approach of the state high court was not in consonance with the established law enshrined in the Indian Constitution as well as in the J&K state constitution. In paragraph 40 of its judgment, the Supreme Court held: The high court judgment begins from the wrong end and therefore reaches the wrong conclusion. Furthermore, in para 41 it is held: It is rather disturbing to note that various parts of the judgment speak of the absolute sovereign power of the state of J&K, which is contrary to the relevant provisions of the Indian Constitution. It is the Indian Constitution which is the only sovereign, and the J&K state constitution is subordinate to it.

In order to buttress its view, the Supreme Court referred to the preamble of the state constitution which in clear terms recites that we, the people of the state of J&K, having solemnly resolved, in pursuance of the accession of this state to India, which took place on October 26, 1947, to further define the existing relationship of the state with the Union of India as an integral part thereof. There is no reference to sovereignty in the state constitution. It is also relevant that the Supreme Court has reminded the state high court that the residents of J&K are first and foremost citizens of India. Indeed, it is recognised by Section 6 of the J&K constitution also. Section 3 and Section 147 of the J&K constitution bar the introduction of any bill in the state legislature having a bearing on the accession made by the maharaja of the state with Union of India. Pertinently, the Supreme Court in I.R. Coelho vs State of Tamil Nadu declared that the powers of a Constituent Assembly and Parliament, which is the creation of the Constituent Assembly, are not equal. Which clearly means that the power of the Constituent Assembly can never be exercised by the state Assembly as the same is not constitutionally competent. Further, if one analyses Section 147 of the Jammu and Kashmir constitution, it becomes crystal clear that even if the state Assembly has the will to go for such an extraordinary measure it can never do so as Section 147 clearly says that no amendment can be made to Section 147, Section 3 and 5 or to the provisions of the Constitution of India as applicable to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, therefore Article 370 is one such provision of the Constitution of India applicable to the state which cannot be amended.

Kashmiris themselves believe that Section 147 puts all speculation to rest by closing further discussion on the abrogation of the Article 370 for it says  Article 147 of Part 12 is about amendment of the J&K constitution, which states that, no bill shall be introduced or moved in state Legislative Assembly to amend or change abovementioned articles 3 and 5. The 1954 resolution of the Constituent Assembly was followed by the incorporation of Section 3 in the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, which reads: The state of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India. Meanwhile, Section 5 of the Jammu and Kashmir constitution will only operate in areas in which Parliament has no power to make laws for the state. As recently as January this year, soft separatist leader and J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti labelled the people  including members of her alliance partner BJP  anti-nationals for trying to abrogate the special status enjoyed by the state under the Indian Constitution by using the judiciary and creating an atmosphere of insecurity. She knows that a storm is coming, and building a buffer to it both by the Centre and state is vital at this juncture.
Samsung display had originally planned to develop the new lamination process with Apple for the OLED iPhone due later in 2017.

Are you attracted to the near bezel-less display on the LG G6 and the Samsung Galaxy S8? Do you want to part with your kidney for owning one of those palm-sized style statements? Then wait, you could be losing it too early as next years flagships from Samsung and LG could have a true bezel-less display.

Samsung Display and LG Display are working on a screen where the curved edge can be applied to the top and bottom as well. With the existing dual curved side edge technology, the new research from Samsung and LG could give the world a four-sided curved edge display. In short, that would be a true bezel-less screen where all sides of the phone can be used by the software to display useful information.

The real hurdle, however, is the current lamination technology that is used to keep the screen, glass and protective film held together. The current stick-type lamination that is used in existing smartphones isnt capable of laminating a four-sided curved screen. It will induce a blind spot at the four corners, which is an issue that no manufacturer would like to have in their flagship phone.

Samsung display had originally planned to develop the new lamination process with Apple for the OLED iPhone due later in 2017. But Apple has chosen to stay away from the curved display and prefer a flat OLED display that could be bezel-less. This means that Samsung has a years time to solve the problem and deliver a quad-curved Infinity Display on the Galaxy S9. Even LG Display is hard on its heels to get the next generation lamination technology ready for implementing a real bezel-less screen for next years flagship.

The current Galaxy S8 series has a screen-to-body ratio of about 83 percent. If that figure has to be raised to 98 percent, then Samsung would have to either follow the Xiaomi Mi Mix for an embedded earpiece or push the physical earpiece and sensors on the thin frame between the top edge and the rear panel. No wonder making a beautiful looking phone is extremely complicated.

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The SD835 is exclusively built by Samsung on the 10 nm manufacturing process and was first featured on the Samsung Galaxy S8. Due to that, other manufacturers like Xiaomi had to wait to get access to the chipset for launching their own flagships

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has only started seeing the world and Samsung have already begun work for the next flagship chipset that Qualcomm would like to call  the Snapdragon 845.

According to The Korea Herald, Samsung is developing the next generation flagship chipset along with Qualcomm. Once the development is complete, the chipset will be reportedly manufactured by Samsung or Taiwans TSMC. The manufacturers could employ the 7nm manufacturing process that will have better power efficiency and performance numbers.

Based on the technological patents, Samsung could build the next generation of its Exynos chipset for the Samsung line-up of smartphones, particularly the S series and the Note series phones in the Asian markets. That could be also built on the 7nm manufacturing process. The current 8895 chipset is based on the 10nm manufacturing process and is featured in the Galaxy S8 series.

The current flagship chipset  the SD835 is exclusively manufactured by Samsung on the 10 nm manufacturing process and was first featured on the Samsung Galaxy S8. Due to that, other manufacturers like Xiaomi had to wait to get access to the chipset for launching their own flagships. LG even had to ditch the 835 for the older 821 in favour of a timely launch.

Samsung is also working on an 800ppi OLED screen which could see the light of the day in 2017, possibly in the Galaxy Note 8. The OLED panel will be the 7th generation of technology and will have improved productivity in terms of visual rendering.

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Do you remember the lovely Galaxy Note 7? Despite having serious battery explosion issues, die-hard Samsung fans and Note 7 owners were extremely sad to let it go. In fact people loved the phone so much that Samsung had release a series of software updates to render the Note 7 models in the wild useless. Well, it seems that Samsung wants to reward its loyal fans with their most beloved device. The Galaxy Note 7 is coming back.

When I say back, I dont mean a newer hardware with the old moniker. The original 2016 pre-explosion era Galaxy Note 7 will be sold by Samsung as refurbished units. Dont worry about the battery though; the original battery will be replaced by a smaller (and possibly safer) 3,200mAh battery. The device that received the WiFi certification has been known as SM-N935S on the certification reports, as stated by Galaxy Club. The original 2016 model has also received the WiFi certification, indicating that there could be two variants of the Note 7 selling in the markets.

As per our speculations, the Galaxy Note 7 could be sold in two variants depending on the condition of the device, i.e recalled Note 7 units could be sold with the new battery at a much cheaper price tag and the unsold Note 7 units could be selling at a higher rate than the recalled ones. We hope that the price for the refurbished models should be lower than $850. Oh, it is confirmed that at least South Korea and Vietnam will be getting the refurbished units for sure. As for India, Samsung hasnt hinted on selling the revamped Note 7 anytime soon.

So, apart from the hardware, is there any new addition to the refurbished Note 7? Well, its 2017 and all flagships have moved to latest Android version. The Note 7 will be running Android Nougat out of the box. Theres no hint on the Note 7 getting Bixby from this years Galaxy S8 as of now.

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RFM says the injured were treated at a health outpost that had only a nurse and midwife. (FIle Photo)

Dakar (Senegal): At least 20 people, the vast majority of them women, were killed when a wooden boat capsized off the coast of central Senegal in a delta region popular with tourists, firefighters said on Tuesday.

A traditional wooden boat overturned near the coastal town of Bettenty on Monday night, with 72 on board, all except two of them women, said Commander Oumar Kane, a senior official with Senegal's national firefighters.

"Unfortunately, we have 20 dead bodies and one missing," Kane told AFP on Tuesday. "The search is ongoing" though 51 people had been saved so far, he added.

The women are believed to have been on their way to look for seafood in a coastal area well known for delicacies such as oysters, and where tourists flock in large numbers.
Nairobi: At least 26 people were killed and many others injured in a head-on crash between a bus and a truck on the highway between Nairobi and Kenya's second city Mombasa, police said on Tuesday.

"It was a very bad head-on collision. We lost 26 people in the accident," Leonard Kimaiyo, police chief for the southern town of Kibwezi said.

Another senior officer said the bus, heading to Mombasa, was overtaking several vehicles when it collided with an oil tanker.

Kenya has a poor road safety record, with up to 3,000 people killed each year according to police. The World Health Organization puts the toll at 12,000.

In December at least 40 people were killed an accident around 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Nairobi, in which a tanker smashed into several other vehicles before exploding.
Sudipta Sarangi of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in the US said his cross- country analysis using data from more than 150 countries shows the more Facebook penetrates public usage, the higher the likelihood of government corruption meeting protest.

Social platforms like Facebook may help fight government corruption, especially in countries where press freedom is curbed, say researchers who studied the impact of social media during the 2012 anti-corruption protests in India.

Sudipta Sarangi of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in the US said his cross- country analysis using data from more than 150 countries shows the more Facebook penetrates public usage, the higher the likelihood of government corruption meeting protest. In short, social media serves as peer of the press, Sarangi said.

This study underscores the importance of freedom on the internet that is under threat in many countries of the world, Sarangi said. Facebook helps lessen corruption in governments where press freedom is low. By showing that social media can negatively impact corruption, we provide yet another reason in favor of the freedom on the net.

Researchers began the study in 2012, when social media was being used to organise anti-corruption protests in India. They also followed the 2011 rise of Arab Spring.
During his US visit, Jaitley on Sunday raised the H-1B issue with Mnuchin as India fears the curb would impact the movement of Indian IT professionals to America. (Photo: File)

Washington: Days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue of restrictions on H-1B visa with his American counterpart Steven Mnuchin, the US has said that it greatly values investments by Indian companies and wants strong economic ties between the two nations.

"We want to see US-India business-to-business ties remain strong," State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference yesterday.

He was responding to questions on the ongoing review of H-1B visas by the Trump Administration and its impact on the Indian IT companies, who are heavily dependent on it.

"We greatly value Indian companies' continued investment in the US economy, which also, of course, supports thousands of US jobs," Toner said. "With respect to any new requirements on visas, I'd have to check and see if that's been updated," he said, adding that under the current government, the US has been looking at ways to strengthen the processes like visa interview and admission processes in new ways.

Toner said that it's been from the beginnings of this administration and certainly with respect to immigration and with refugee flows as well.

"Those processes are ongoing," he added. On being asked about the visa review process, Toner said, "It's important to remember that this is always a part of how our consular bureau works and our consular officers work overseas, and our embassies and missions work overseas, and that is we're always reviewing the processes that are in place to issue these visas and finding ways to strengthen them, because we want to ensure the security of the American people."

During his US visit, Jaitley on Sunday raised the H-1B issue with Mnuchin as India fears the curb would impact the movement of Indian IT professionals to America and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy.

The development came after President Donald Trump 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, a decision that would impact India's USD 150 billion IT industry.
Saudis election to the CSW has outraged several human rights groups, which called the move 'absurd'. (Photo: AP)

United Nations: The United Nations (UN) has elected Saudi Arabia, which is very strict about its policy of gender segregation, to its womens rights commission, drawing criticism from human rights groups.

Director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer said that at least five European Union states voted in a secret ballot for the Saudis to serve a four-year term on the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), according to a report in The Independent.

Saudi is now among the 45 countries on the CSW, which promotes womens rights, documenting the reality of womens lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women, the UN said.

Saudis election to the CSW has outraged several human rights groups, which called the move absurd. "Electing Saudi Arabia to protect womens rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief," Neuer said.

Neuer said that all women in Saudi Arabia must have a male guardian who makes all important decisions for her. Women are also banned from driving cars and cannot obtain a driving license, he added.

The World Economic Forum had also given Saudi Arabia the 134th rank among 145 countries in its 2015 Global Gender Gap report.

However, the move received support from a former administrator of the UN Development Programme, Helen Clark. It's important to support those in the country who are working for change for women. Things are changing, but slowly, Clark said.

This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has become a subject of debate. Saudi Arabia was subjected to criticism in March this year when its first ever girls council meeting had only men. However, the organisers claimed that there were women involved in the event, but they were sitting in a separate room.
The San Diego Unified School District's multiyear plan includes a letter addressing Islamophobia to staff and parents of its 132,000 students. (Photo: YouTube)

San Diego (United States): One of the nation's largest school districts has launched a campaign against Islamophobia, drawing praise and criticism.

The San Diego Unified School District's multiyear plan includes a letter addressing Islamophobia to staff and parents of its 132,000 students.

It's expected to be drafted and sent before Ramadan begins in late May. The district is also reviewing internal staff calendars to make sure Muslim holidays are recognized.

Next school year, it will review materials on Muslim culture for libraries, provide resources to teachers and engage in partnerships with the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Over several years, it plans to consider high school clubs that promote American Muslim culture, create "safe spaces" for students and train staff about Muslim culture.

The plan drew little attention when the board approved it 4-0 on April 4, with one member absent. Public comments from staff and community members were uniformly positive.

"We believe this is a great first step in the direction of protecting Muslim students from the bullying that is a direct result of the growing Islamophobia in our state and nation," Hanif Mohebi, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' San Diego chapter, said after the vote.

"Other school districts should follow this lead, and we will be happy to work with them to provide resources and trainings."

Pushback gradually spread on the internet and social media, with written attacks on Islam and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. A Sunday article on the far-right website Breitbart News drew hundreds of reader comments.

The headline of a story on the Angry Patriot website that had 35,000 Facebook 'likes' read, "Islamic Takeover CONFIRMED - American School Surrenders to SHARIA LAW."

The school district said on its website that the plan addresses "some of the specific challenges faced by the Muslim student community" after the Muslim community expressed concern about student safety last summer.

"We strongly believe students cannot learn if they are afraid, and so this initiative to combat Islamophobia is focused on eliminating the fear faced by children," it says. The district said it is not endorsing Islam, favoring a religion or imposing Sharia law.

As for 'safe spaces,' the district says, "Schools with large Muslim communities may choose to make areas available for prayer, if that is requested by their parents and students. However, this is no more or less than we would do to accommodate Christians who want to pray at school, or members of other faiths. It is not uncommon, for example, for our schools to have a prayer club that meets before the start of school."

San Diego is the latest school district to express solidarity with Muslim students. In September, Kansas City Public Schools passed a resolution condemning violence and hate speech and expressing support for students who worship Islam.

The Oakland Unified School District in California said in a board resolution in November, "The 2016 presidential election has created an atmosphere of fear among immigrants, Muslims and other vulnerable groups in Oakland."
However, only 5,434 Singaporean dollars worth of tax refunds made to the five men have been recovered. (Photo: Representational)

Singapore: Five Indians, who were part of a syndicate, were jailed and fined in Singapore on Monday for making fraudulent goods and services tax (GST) refund claims amounting to over USD 120,000.

They were jailed for making fraudulent GST refund claims amounting to Singaporean dollars 167,253 (USD 120,092) between January 2015 and May 2016.

Kothandaraman Gnanam, 29, Karunanidhi Rajesh, 32, Ramaiyan Karthikeyan, 44, and Waithiyalingam Karunanidhi, 61, were jailed for three years and three months.

Their accomplice, Karunanithi Saravanan, 37, was jailed for three years and two months, the Strait Times reported.

They were also fined between 14,000 Singaporean dollars (USD 10,052) and 70,000 Singaporean dollars (USD 50,262). Each man also had to fork out 51,952 Singaporean dollars (USD 37,303) as a penalty.

However, only 5,434 Singaporean dollars worth of tax refunds made to the five men have been recovered.

The court heard that the men loitered in and around jewellery shops in Little India area to obtain invoices and jewellery tags from customers, who were Singapore permanent residents and work pass holders, not entitled to GST refunds.

They would buy the invoices from the customers but no mention was made on the amount they paid for each invoice.

Tourists visiting Singapore can claim GST refunds on goods they have bought when they leave the country. They receive a receipt for goods purchased and an Electronic Tourist Refund Scheme (eTRS) ticket when they buy items from a GST-registered retailer.

They can then use the eTRS ticket to make GST refund claims at ports of departure such as the Changi airport.

They can also make similar transactions using the credit cards which they had used to buy their goods.

The five men used their passports and white embarkation cards to obtain eTRS tickets from the respective shops using the receipts they had obtained.

They then matched the invoices, jewellery tags and eTRS tickets with the jewellery they already had at hand.

Saravanan also provided jewellery from his own wholesale purchases to his accomplices to help them make false claims.

The men would then claim eTRS GST cash refunds at the airport before flying off.

When there were not enough valuables to go around, they would share among themselves the same piece of jewellery.

Investigators from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) arrested them on February 1, this year.

The men pleaded guilty last Friday to 14 GST-related charges involving 17,317 Singaporean dollars (USD 12,432) each. Each man also had between 198 and 235 similar charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

They also removed from Singapore a total of 112,924 Singaporean dollars (USD 80,630) which were ill-gotten gains from their criminal conduct. Each man pleaded guilty to between seven and 11 charges of removing money from the country.
Tokyo: A 54-year-old man in Japan has been arrested for living above a public toilet, where he had stored about 300 bottles of his urine. He had been living there for the past three years and also had a gas stove, heater and clothes in his makeshift home above the restroom.

According to a report in Daily Mail, the Usuki police arrested the man, Takashi Yamanouchi, after an electrician, who had come to install a light above the restroom, spotted a mans shadow and informed the workers at the toilet.

Yamanouchi, who had been homeless for the past 10 years, was charged for trespassing, authorities said.

Police said that the bottles of urine were both in two litre and 500 ml and were neatly arranged. However, police are unsure why he was collecting his urine.

In order to arrest homeless Yamanouchi, the authorities had crawl through a 50-square-centimetre service hatch.

Yamanouchi found out this place above the restroom when he saw someone else climbing through the hole and he shared his space with him for a brief period, police said.
Six police officers and three protesters were slightly injured in the violence in central Paris, police said, adding that 143 people were arrested, with 29 held overnight.

Police said on Monday they arrested over 100 people after election night unrest in Paris, with protesters hurling bottles at security forces, torching cars and smashing shop windows.

Six police officers and three protesters were slightly injured in the violence in central Paris, police said, adding that 143 people were arrested, with 29 held overnight.

Hundreds of youths gathered to protest against far-right leader Marine Le Pen and former banker Emmanuel Macron, who both qualified Sunday for the May 7 run-off in France's two-stage presidential election.

The anti-fascist, anti-capitalist demonstrations were held in several French cities including central Lyon, southwestern Bordeaux and the western cities of Nantes and Rennes.
Talk about fluid tunes: A group of innovative Danish musicians submerged like fish in an aquarium have created an underwater concerto with instruments specially adapted to resonate in a silent world.

In the central Danish town of Aarhus, a Godsbanen centre concert hall looks more like a fish farm than a music set, with its jumble of water tanks, canisters, tubes, pipes and retrofuturistic objects.

One after the other, the five members of the Between Music band  Laila, Robert, Morten, Dea Maria and Nanna  descend into their own individual glass-paned water tanks for their latest project AquaSonic, where they play the violin, cymbals, bells, a crystallophone with a pedal, and a kind of hurdy gurdy with a long neck. Hydrophones, or special microphones that pick up the sound of the music in the water, amplify the soundwaves, producing music that resembles the sounds whales make. A pioneer in the field of aquatic music, Laila Skovmand wears several hats with the ensemble: she is artistic director, music and lyrics writer, and vocalist. She sings both underwater and at the waters surface.

Like a siren, her lips at water level, Skovmand releases a captivating ch-ant. Im an educated sin-ger and I wanted to explore new songs. I got the idea that if I sang into the surface of the water I might get some other timbre, some delays, so I tried that, she explains.

The group collaborates with engineers and makers of musical instruments to develop water-resistant instruments whose sounds respect the harmonies composed by Skovmand. There are a lot of musical limitations. There are so many things we cant play because of the struggle with water, the struggle with sound, but I think that what the water gives is that special kind of timbre that you cant get in air, she says.
Berlin: Ivanka Trump, making her overseas debut as the US "First Daughter" at a women's summit in Berlin on Tuesday, was forced to defend her father's attitude towards women.

Sitting on a G20 panel with female leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Donald Trump's daughter drew chuckles from the audience when she praised "my father's advocacy" on the issue and his role as "a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive".

The panel moderator, a finance journalist, interjected, saying: "Some attitudes toward women your father has publicly displayed... might leave one questioning whether he is such an empowerer for women."

"I've certainly heard the criticism from the media and that's been perpetuated," replied the 35-year-old Ivanka.

"I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades, when he was in the private sector, are testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man."

Trump 'enabled me to thrive'

Ivanka, a glamorous former model who started her own fashion line, has worked for her billionaire-father's company and now has an office in the White House. She said her father "encouraged me and enabled me to thrive".

"I grew up in a house where there were no barriers to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity ... There was no difference for me and my brothers."

Merkel is seen to be cultivating a good relationship with Ivanka as a key communication channel with the Trump presidency.

News magazine Der Spiegel saw the meeting as "a summit of the two women who are supposed to moderate Donald Trump -- if that is even possible".

It said "the hopes of the free world rest on the two women because they supposedly have the power to influence the man who looks down on women".

'A veritable coup'

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily said that for Merkel to "have lured Ivanka is a veritable coup for the chancellor".

Even though there are higher-ranking US officials, it said, "it would be difficult to find a more important and influential representative".

Ivanka has been accused in the United States of benefiting from nepotism, and was ridiculed on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy show for being "complicit" in promoting Trump's divisive policies.

Undeterred, she has spoken out on women's empowerment, most recently in a Financial Times op-ed article co-written with World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

They said only 55 percent of women participate in the paid labour force worldwide and called for better training, improved access to finance and legal changes.

On the panel Tuesday, however, Ivanka immediately faced a tough opening question from the moderator, Miriam Meckel, editor-in-chief of business weekly WirtschaftsWoche.

Asked whether she was in Berlin to represent her father, the American people, or her business, Ivanka replied: "Certainly not the latter... I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, it is quite new to me.

"It's been a little under 100 days but it's just been a remarkable and incredible journey. You know as an entrepreneur and as an individual prior to this, in the private sector, I care very much about empowering women in the workplace."

A demonstration against Ivanka's visit was scheduled outside a gala dinner Tuesday. Kathleen Brown, of the protest group Coalition Berlin, charged that Ivanka's clothing line is produced in "sweatshops" with mainly female garment workers in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

"How can Ivanka Trump talk of women's 'empowerment' at the same time President Trump has blocked funding for international reproductive care? Ivanka's silence on life-and-death matters for women is deafening."

Trump was also due to visit electronics giant Siemens for a tour of its technical academy and talk with apprentices, and visit Berlin's Holocaust memorial.
Moscow: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Russia this week for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said Tuesday, as the two sides look to make headway on a decades-old territorial dispute.

The Kremlin said talks set for Thursday will focus on "the state and prospects for development of Russo-Japanese cooperation in the political, trade and economic, and humanitarian spheres."

The meeting follows on from Putin's first visit to Japan in 11 years last December, when the two leaders failed to resolve a disagreement over an island chain that has prevented their nations signing a peace treaty to formally end World War II.

The Soviet Union seized islands off Japan's northern coast in 1945 in the closing days of the war. Known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, they have been a thorn in relations ever since.
The petitioner pleaded that after partition of sub-continent the NGO has been looking after the temple. (Photo: AFP)

Peshawar: A Pakistani court on Monday allowed Hindus to worship at a Shiva temple in Abbottabad district which had been off limits to them for 20 years.

A bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) headed by Justice Ateeq Hussain Shah permitted Hindus to worship at the Shiv Jee temple of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under section 20 of the Constitution.

The temple had been closed for any religious activity over property dispute. In 2013, a Hindu Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) filed a petition with the PHC Abbottabad bench that they had purchased the property through lease by a legal owner.

The petitioner pleaded that after partition of sub-continent the NGO has been looking after the temple. The petitioner and the head of the NGO Balmaik Sabha, Sham Lal, said that the temple was constructed 175 years ago.

The British regime took over the temple and handed it over to Gurkha Rifles. The Hindu soldiers use to pray. After partition in 1947, the Balmaik Sabha took over the charge of the temple and other property till 1960 when Cantonment Board Abbottabad (CBA) seized temple and all Hindu properties.

He said that eight years ago CBA granted permission to conduct prayers in the temple. Lal disclosed that in 2013 he filed a petition against the seizure of temple and Hindu properties by CBA.

Lal is a retired official of Pakistan Military Accounts (PMA) Abbottabad. His two family members are also working in PMA and rest of the family is residing in Abbottabad.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged restraint over North Korea in a phone call with Donald Trump on Monday, as Japan joined exercises with an American supercarrier heading to the Korean peninsula.

The US leader has repeatedly called on China, the Norths sole major ally, to do more to rein in Pyongyang, as tensions in the region soar amid speculation it will conduct another nuclear test. (China) hopes that the relevant parties can maintain restraint and avoid actions that would increase tensions in the Korean peninsula, Mr Xi said, according to the foreign ministry. The conversation highlights rising concern in Beijing that tensions between Washington and Pyongyang could spiral into military conflict.
Home minister Rajnath Singh today paid homage to the 25 CRPF personnel who were killed in yesterday's deadly Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh.



Singh arrived in Raipur at around 10.30 AM and directly headed to the headquarters of the 4th battalion of Chhattisgarh Armed Force in Mana camp area where the wreath- laying ceremony was held.



Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Das Tandon, Chief Minister Raman Singh, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir and senior state and paramilitary officials were also present on the occasion.



Singh then held a meeting with the chief minister and other senior officials of the state. At least 25 CRPF personnel were yesterday killed and seven wounded in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, the deadliest ambush by Naxalites of security forces this year.



The nearly 100-strong CRPF patrol providing security for road construction work came under fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions, inflicting heavy casualties on the personnel.



The Naxalites mounted the assault in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country.
A comprehensive re-look at the strategy would be undertaken during a scheduled meeting on May 8 when Chief Ministers and senior police officials from naxal-hit states meet here.



Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who described the killing as "cold-blooded murder and cowardice", acknowledged the need for a review of the strategy when he went to Raipur in Chhattisgarh to pay homage to the CRPF personnel killed in the attack on Monday.



"We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it. We are working to root out the problem of Left Wing extremism...We have accepted it as a challenge," Singh told reporters in Raipur. Singh said naxals were using tribals as "human shields".



His remarks come a month after he called for "introspection" into what led to the killing of CRPF personnel on March 11 in Sukma. In a statement in Lok Sabha on March 24, he said naxals have suffered "unprecedented losses" in 2016 and that they will continue to attempt such incidents to restore the "flagging morale" of their cadres.



"However, there is a need for introspection on this incident. I have directed the Director General, CRPF to conduct a detailed enquiry into the incident so that the lapses that led to the incident can be identified which will reduce the possibility of repetition of such incidents in the future," Singh had then said.



Officials also point to the vacancy at the top in CRPF, saying this affects the functioning of the force. Though there is an acting Director General, they said, the government should appoint a full-time chief.



Sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had forwarded names of possible candidates for the post of CRPF DG to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) twice but no decision was taken. The MHA might not have been able to convince the PMO about its choice, they said.



After another deadly hit by Maoists on CRPF personnel, the Government on Tuesday said it will review its strategy to combat naxals and revisit it if there is any lacunae.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of a suspected member of proscribed Tamil Nadu based terrorist organisation 'Al-Ummah'. He was charge sheeted for procuring a SIM card for the co-accused who carried out blast in a motorcycle in front of KRSP van in Malleswaram, Bengaluru in 2013.



A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta dismissed the petition filed by 30-year-old Basheer. The petitioner challenged the Karnataka High Court's order of January 5, 2017.



The HC did not find sufficient ground to grant bail to Basheer, a Tiruvannaveli-resident. It had said if the offences, as alleged against the petitioner, under various provisions of law are proved, the punishment would be either death or imprisonment for life.



Senior advocate Ratnakar Dash, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that he was accused of providing SIM cards to the other accused but the person who committed the theft of the mobile phone has not been made an accused in the case. He also claimed the said mobile phone was not seized.



The offence is of wide ramifications, I admit, but there was no major role ascribed to me. All that the prosecution claims is only of circumstantial evidence, the counsel said. The bench, however, was not impressed with the arguments. The court declined the plea.



In his plea, Basheer has claimed that he was in judicial custody since April 22, 2013 and there was no progress in the trial.



The Karnataka police's central crime branch had claimed that the accused have also planned to plant a bomb in front of BJP office with an aim to target political leaders due to ensuing assembly elections. The accused, along with others was charge sheeted under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Damages to Public Property Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Former UP minister Gayatri Prajapati and two of his alleged accomplices were today granted bail by a POCSO court here in connection with a rape case.



Special judge of a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court Om Prakash Mishra granted bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu.



The court asked Prajapati to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount. An FIR was registered against Prajapati and six others on February 17 on a directive of the Supreme Court.



After being on the run for nearly a month, Prajapati (49) was arrested from Aashiyana area here on March 15 and sent to jail for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter in 2014. The six others had been arrested earlier.



Prajapati had approached the Supreme Court to get a stay on his arrest but the top court asked him to approach the court concerned. At the time of his arrest, Prajapati had claimed that he was innocent and alleged the charges were a conspiracy to malign him.



The former minister had said that he was prepared for a Narco test to bring out the truth and also demanded that similar test on the minor victim.



In the just-concluded Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Prajapati lost his Amethi seat to the BJP. The allegations against Prajapati were raked by the BJP during the elections to attack the then Akhilesh Yadav led government
A plea seeking execution of the National Green Tribunal's order to frame an aviation policy for the eco-sensitive Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand today prompted the green panel to seek responses from the Environment Ministry and the state government.



A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Uttarakhand government, National Board of Wild Life and others on a plea raising concern over the looming threat to the flora and fauna due to regular operation of helicopters in the eco- sensitive zone in the state.



The wildlife preserve is known for its dense forests which has trees like oak, chir, pine, birch, alpine, besides rhododendron meadows and numerous flowering plants of Himalayas. It is also a home for endangered and rare species like Musk Deer and Himalayan Tahr (a type of wild goat).



A large number of pilgrims, intending to avoid the 16 km trek to visit the Kedarnath shrine in Rudraprayag district, opt for the chopper services to reach the destination.



The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by environment activist Kavita Ashok seeking execution of its December 10, 2015 order.



The NGT, in its order, had asked the state government to issue directions in consonance with the aviation policy with specific reference to the eco-sensitive zones at Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary in relation to the height and level of noise that the helicopters should be permitted to generate.



The petitioner, who has also sought imposition of penalty for non-compliance of the order, contended that helicopter operations in this area for religious tourism has "seriously disturbed the eco-system and fauna of Kedarnath Sanctuary".



In its plea, filed through advocate Gaurav Bansal, the plea alleged that the authorities have till date neither acted on the interim measures as suggested by Wildlife Institute of India, nor have declared the Eco Sensitive Zone for Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.



"As the helicopter service is likely to start ... (soon), the respondents can use the gap period for preparation of interim measures as suggested by the Wildlife Institute of India.



"The applicant has learnt from the article published in a leading english daily that Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun has also suggested to the Uttarakhand Government to shift the Sersi helipad which is close to Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary," the plea said.



The tribunal had earlier declined to prevent flying of helicopters in the eco-sensitive zone at Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand and asked the state to issue specific directions in consonance with the aviation policy.
Five persons got killed in a firing as clashes over land dispute emerged between two groups at the border of Alwar and Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan.



The incident took place on Tuesday morning when the members of two groups, Karan Saini and Vijay Saini got into a verbal dispute over agriculture land situated in the Khedi vIllage of Alwar and Bhararpur border. The dispute took an ugly turn when the members from Vijay Sainis group attacked Karan Saini with sharp weapon and opened up fire. SHO Nadbai, Nemi Chand told DH, Both the groups belong to the same community and according to the locals they have been fighting over the piece of land since long.



On Tuesday morning around 7:30AM when Karan Sainis family members were irrigating the agriculture land, the group members of Vijay Saini reached on the spot and dispute took place. With the growing heated arguments between the two factions, a member from Vijay Saini attacked the members of Karan Saini with a sharp weapon. Following which a member from Vijay Sainis group opened up the fire which killed 5 persons on spot including a woman.



Twentty five others have been injured out of which some have been referred to Jaipurs SMS hospital. Since the village and agriculture land is situated on the border of Alwar- Bhararpur village, police in the border districts of Alwar and Bharatpur are unable to decide on filing the FIR. However Alwars police station filed the FIR at 7:15PM after receiving directions from the office of IG Jaipur.



Alwar SP Rahul Prakash told DH, Police filed the FIR in the evening under section IPC 302. Karan Saini has lodged it against 25 people who belong to Vijay Saini's group. The name of the deceased are Premwati, Bahadur and Nunu, Karan Singh and Mohan. According to our information the 12 bore-gun that was used to fire belong to Lalla Ram, army personnel who is known to Vijay Saini and had come to Alwar on vacations. The group members who opened up the fire are still absconding and police is yet to record statement of any of the injured.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday described as shame the prolonged incarceration of a Kashmiri man for over 16 years on terror charges despite his acquittal in 10 out of 11 cases.



A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud ordered for release of Gulzar Ahmad Wani from November 1, 2017 on bail if the prosecution failed to record evidence of material witnesses in the Sabarmati Express train blast case lodged against him Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district.



Wani, a PhD scholar of Aligarh Muslim University, was arrested in Delhi on July 30, 2001 for being a member of militant outfit Hizbul Majahiden and allegedly carrying out, along with others, blasts across Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra. Baramulla-resident Wani is now 43. At present, he is facing trial in the case relating to Sabarmati train blast that claimed lives of nine people and left scores other injured.



His counsel sought bail saying that out of 11 criminal cases, registered against him, he has been acquitted in 9 cases. During the pendency of his bail petition, he has been exonerated in 10 th case as well.



Senior advocate P N Mishra, appearing for Uttar Pradesh government, submitted that the accused has not been in custody in all these years in the present case, relating to the Sabarmati train blast.



Expressing its shock over the state government's response, the bench said, Out of 11 cases, he has been acquitted in 10 cases. What a shame!



The problem is that you want to keep him inside the jail but not lead evidence and complete the trial. He was acquitted in all other cases, the bench said, also noticing that his co-accused had already been released on bail.



The court noted on December 14, 2015, when Wani's plea was admitted for consideration, he had remained in jail for 14 years. It was also disclosed that only six out of 96 witnesses were examined by then. By September 9, 2016, only 20 prosecution witnesses were examined.



The court had then directed for conclusion of recording of the evidence within six months. But so far, the trial was not complete.



You seem to be very casual, the bench told the UP government. The court ordered, We consider it just and appropriate to direct for completion of examination of material witnesses by October 31. If it is not complete by then, the petitioner shall be enlarged on bail on November 1.
The villagers came first, and then the Naxalites, dressed in black. "They were some 300 Naxalites, all wearing black," a jawan of the Central Reserve Police Force said. The jawan was among those injured in the Naxalite attack that took 25 lives in Chhattisgarh yesterday.



Some of the Maoists carried rocket launchers, the jawan, who did not wish to be named, said.

Another injured jawan, Sher Mohammad Khan, told PTI the Naxalites also carried AK-47s, SLRs and other automatic weapons.



The two men, who were in a 99-strong CRPF team carrying out a sanitisation exercise for an under-construction road in Chhattisgarh, are now being treated in a hospital in Raipur.



"They first sent the villagers to check our location. The villagers weren't carrying arms, (so) how could we fire at them," the unnamed CRPF man asked.



"We retaliated. We also killed many Naxals," he added. Khan said there were women in the group of Naxalites that attacked the CRPF team in Sukma.



Sukma is a part of south Bastar, which has for decades been battling the guerrillas.

Since April 2010, nearly 200 security personnel have died in six major attacks in Chhattisgarh.



"I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home minister Rajnath Singh to grant us the Power Act (AFSPA) in this area to deal with the Naxal menace," Khan said, referring to the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts or AFSPA, in force in some troubled parts of the country. The controversial Act gives sweeping powers, such as the right to shoot at sight, to the forces.



The government promised to review its strategy on battling Naxalites, as the Chhattisgarh chief minister warned that an operation would be launched "with more firmness" and "vigour" against the guerrillas in the coming days.



Shaken by the audacious attack, the Centre and the state government made it clear that they would strike back in equal measure.



Most telling were the comments by Home minister Singh, who rushed to Chhattisgarh capital Raipur this morning.



"The sacrifice of our brave jawans will not go in vain," Singh told a press conference after paying homage to the slain jawans.

He said a meeting of all Naxal-hit states will be held on May 8 to look at ways of rooting out Left Wing extremism. "We will review the strategy (of dealing with Naxalites) and if necessary we will revisit it," he said.
Sixty-year-old Gajendra Mishra is a distraught man. Having lost his son Abhay Mishra, the CRPF personnel from Bihars Bhojpur district, Gajendra posed a question to the Maoists: If you (ultra-Left extremists) have enmity with the Government, why dont you kill netas (leaders)? Why did you kill my beta (son) or, for that matter, any others son who join paramilitary force to serve the country?



Waiting for his sons body to be flown to Bihar, Gajendra was seething with rage how an inept Government had been unable to corner a handful of Maoists who have created mayhem in Chhattisgarh.



In 2010, the Maoists killed 76 jawans. Now 26. And everytime, the government comes out with the oft-repeated assurance that it would give a befitting reply to naxals. But nothing happens, said Gajendras younger son Amit Mishra, who was planning to join Army but after Abhay Mishras martrydom, he is having second thoughts on joining the defence force.



No different is the scene at another martyr Saurabh Kumars house at Danapur. Saurabh was married on June 25, 2014 and has a two-year-old son, who could not make out why the family members are grieving, and how he would never be able to see his father again. Saurabh had left for Chhattisgarh on March 19 this year and promised his young wife and son that he would return soon. Today, we are waiting for his body, said Sauravs father Kamlesh Singh, who is more worried how his daughter-in-law and grandson would lead their life.



Altogether six CRPF personnel from Bihar lost their lives in Mondays Maoists attack in Chhattisgarh. Apart from, Saurabh and Abhay, four others have been identified as Ranjit Kumar of Sheikhpura, Abhay Kumar of Vaishali, Krishna Kumar Pandey of Chenari in Sasaram, and Naresh Yadav of Darbhanga.



A pall of gloom descended here after we learnt about Abhay Kumars death. He was married in 2015 to a girl from Muzaffarpur.... Just dont know how to console his young widow, said one of his relatives in Vaishali.



Naresh Yadavs father at Darbhanga was all the more inconsolable. Naresh was my only son. Our world has crashed completely, he said unable to control his emotions.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray today questioned the BJP's alleged reluctance in backing RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's candidature for the post of president, saying it should not be a problem when the party can entrust RSS men with gubernatorial duties.



"Our heartfelt wish is that Bhagwat's name should be put forth (by the BJP) for the president's post. He is the most eligible candidate for our resolution of a Hindu rashtra. Look at the appointment of governors. If RSS workers can be appointed as governors of states, there should be no problem in making Bhagwat the president," Thackeray told reporters here.



When asked if Sena will back NCP chief Sharad Pawar as the next president if its first choice does not materialise, he said, "We have not spoken to each other over the issue so there is nothing to say at the moment..."



"But what can be said about Pawar? Modiji has himself said Pawar is his Guru. He has also been awarded with a Padma Vibhushan. I do not know what is going on in whose mind," Thackeray said.



The Sena chief also took a jibe at the Centre over the killing of 25 CRPF jawans in Chhattisgarh.



"It is widely said that the act banning cow slaughter is not effective because it is implemented in some states while in

others it is not. This means that demonetisation has not happened in Chhattisgarh and Kashmir," he claimed.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained that besides rooting out corruption, demonetisation was aimed at crippling terror and naxal funding.



To a query on increasing fuel rates in the country, Thackeray said, "If the government can levy the same taxation system across the country (through GST) why can the purchasing price be too equal everywhere? It is not right for Mumbai to pay the highest charge on petrol and diesel." Recently, the price of petrol was hiked by Rs 1.39 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.04 a litre in sync with firming international rates.
BJP chief Amit Shah today launched his party's expansion drive in five states from West Bengal's Naxalbari village, declaring development and progress will start from the place where the left-wing extremism had its origins in the late 1960s.



Aiming to expand his partys footprint ahead of the 2019 general elections, Shah met BJP workers and said the Trinamool Congress will not be able to stop Narendra Modi's chariot and the "lotus will bloom" in Bengal.



Union Minister Smriti Irani yesterday said that by starting his drive from booth number 93 at Naxalbari, Shah will give a message of solidarity to BJP workers, who have "suffered" violence there.

The BJP has accused the ruling TMC of unleashing violence on its workers in the state.



Shah's visit to Naxalbari comes a day after the deadly attack by Naxals in Sukma in Chattisgarh in which 25 CRPF men were killed.



West Bengal is among the five states where he will spend three-days each as he looks to strengthen the party in the states where it has been traditionally weak, with an eye on the next Lok Sabha polls. Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are the other states that will be covered by Shah.



"The Naxals had started their violent activities here at Naxalbari and now, development and progress will start from here," Shah said at a meeting of BJP workers at Naxalbari in Siliguri in north Bengal. "Under Narendra Modi's leadership, Bengal will very soon be on the path of development."



The BJP chief had lunch at the house of a tribal family before interacting with party workers.

Sitting on the floor of Raju Mahali's house at Dakkhin Katiajote village in Naxalbari, he had a meal of rice, moong dal, 'potol' (a kind of gourd) fry, squash curry, salad and papad, served on a banana leaf.

Shah said he would tour five states in 15 days.



"TMC may think they can stop Modiji's chariot, but they cannot stop it. The more they try to stop us, the more the lotus will bloom here," Shah said



"In 2019 (Lok Sabha polls), the BJP will get the maximum number of seats in West Bengal. The people of the country will witness it," claimed Shah.



"The TMC is unleashing violence but in the end, the BJP's victory in Bengal is certain. No one can stop it," he added.



"Bengal, which was once at the forefront of development, now lags behind. Unemployment is high and the TMC government is following the policy of appeasement (of minorities)," alleged Shah.



Talking about Modi's 'Sabka sath sabka vikas' slogan, he said development was reaching "every nook and corner" of the country, but the TMC government was "not allowing" it to happen in Bengal.



The BJP president will also take the prime minister's message of "development for all" to a place where a violent movement to uproot Indian state had started, she said.



Besides Shah, top party leaders, including almost every union minister, have been roped in to drive the campaign at booth-level to boost the organisation's prospects.
Two key policy makers of the government have sharply differed on an idea gaining traction of late to get rid of bad loans of public sector banks.



While Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has been vehemently pursuing 'bad bank' to deal with non-performing assets of PSUs which have astronomical figures, NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya Tuesday said that a private sector asset reconstruction company (ARC) can do better job than 'bad bank'.



"A bad bank is a difficult thing to do. Public-owned ARC is often called the bad bank. Private-owned ARC ultimately can be more effective," Panagariya told reporters here.



He made the remark while sharing some of the key highlights of the three year action agenda that the Aayog is preparing for the government.



Subramanian had recently told a press conference that the government was in touch with the Reserve Bank of India on creation of 'bad bank' to take over the loans of ailing companies from state-owned lenders.



RBI too has favoured the idea in the recent past with its Deputy Governor Viral Acharya suggesting two-pronged strategy to resolve the issue of bad loans. He suggested creation of a national asset management company for larger stressed assets of power companies and the likes. The second, he said, could be a private asset management company which could buy loans of telecoms, textiles and metals where the demand was good and loans were not too large.



The gross NPAs of the state-owned lenders have risen to Rs 6.3 lakh crore at the end of September 2016, according to the latest available official data.
Security establishment may talk about last year's victories in the fight against naxals but the statistics for 2017 show a different picture.



The number of security personnel killed in naxal attacks rose this year while that of Maoists decreased, official statistics showed. This happened at a time the number of gunbattles between the forces and Maoists decreased.



According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), there is a decline in the number of naxal incidents this year till March 31  250 incidents in the first three months of 2017 as against 321 reported during the same period last year.



The number of encounters also came down from 103 to 61. Similarly, the number of civilians killed have come down to 48 from 70. So is the case of Maoists  44 this year as against 70 in the first three months of 2016.



However, the killing of security personnel have gone up from 25 to 32 during the same period.



At the same time, the number of attacks on police, including those in which landmines were used rose by one  from 30 to 31.



Another low point is the number of naxals arrested (421 in 2017 and 505 in 2016) and the surrenders (327 and 397).



Intelligence inputs also suggest that the number of training camps held by naxals rose more than double from three in the first three months of 2016 to eight this year. The number of jan adalats, which the authorities call the kangaroo courts, also rose from four to six.



Chhattisgarh has emerged as the theatre of naxal violence this year, displacing Jharkhand, if one goes by the figures. This year, Chhattisgarh reported 40 deaths in 105 incidents this year till March, up from 38 and 106 respectively.



Last year same period, Jharkhand had reported 109 incidents and 33 deaths. In 2017, it had 70 incidents and just 16 deaths.



Home Minister Rajnath Singh himself had talked about the unprecedented loss faced by the naxals in Parliament in mid-March but he did not forget to remind the forces that Maoists would look for opportunity to hit.



He had repeatedly talked about not taking the naxals lightly before they are fully crushed citing their ability to launch spectacular attacks to attract attention and boost the morale of the forces.



However, officials in private admit that some of the casualties in attacks could have been avoided if the Standard Operating Procedure are followed properly.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti reviewed prevailing security situation in the Valley with top brass of army, police and other agencies during Unified Headquarters (UHQ) meeting here on Tuesday.



Mehbooba chaired the multi-agency meeting with the rank and file of the security establishment, a day after she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi. Sources told Deccan Herald that she discussed issues like social media wars, ban on Internet, student protests, security for ensuing Amarnath yatra, attacks on politicians and families of security personnel and infiltration from across the border, with the top brass of security forces and civil administration.



For the first time since its formation, the meeting of the UHQ was held in Srinagar while the Durbar Move offices are is still in Jammu. The UHQ is the apex decision-making body on security affairs in the state which has the representatives from the Army, paramilitary forces, police and intelligence agencies and is headed by the Chief Minister.



The focus of the meeting remained on the use of social media by separatist and their sympathisers to flare up the tensions in Kashmir Valley while other security issues including Amarnath yatra were also discussed threadbare, they said and added top brass of security forces briefed the CM about ground situation in the Valley.



An official spokesperson said Mehbooba directed the security agencies to undertake youth counselling and ensure that no collateral damage takes place while dealing with law and order situations. Holding of counselling sessions for youth would not only help the youth ally apprehensions and misgivings about the system but would also give the security agencies a chance to reach out to people through community policing, the CM told the meeting.



She also directed the security agencies to exercise restraint while dealing with provocative situations. Wherever restraint was exercised, it showed positive results on the ground. Youth caught in the cycle of misinformation and violence are our own who ought to be won over with a healing touch, Mehbooba said and specifically directed that culprits be brought to justice if found involved in harassing a community or section of society in the name of a social cause.



The Valley has seen a surge in violence after nine civilians were killed and more than 150 were injured in security force and police actions on April 9 when the Srinagar bypoll was held.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against its former chief Ranjit Sinha on charges of misusing his official position and trying to influence the coal scam probe.



He became the second retired CBI director to face a regular case filed by the agency in a span of three months, the first being A P Singh booked in February this year on charges of illegally favouring controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi.



The case against Sinha was registered three months after the Supreme court ordered the CBI to probe the officer after a court-appointed panel found that a probe was needed.



The apex court said it was prima facie satisfied and convinced that Sinha needs to face a probe as it feels that he misused his authority.



The CBI officers said the FIR was registered under sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. These sections deal with abusing official position, indulging in corruption and criminal misconduct.



Sinha ended up in trouble after a visitors diary landed in the public domain where it suggested that several persons being probed by the CBI met him at his official residence regularly.



The list included coal scam accused, meat exporter Moin Qureshi. Qureshi, who is under income tax scanner, visited Sinha some 90 times, according to the diary, whose authenticity was contested by Sinha.



Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who brought the issue before the apex court, had told the judges that several people with questionable characters were his regular visitors.



The list included Mahendra Nahata, a 2G scam suspect who met Sinha 71 times while consultant Deepak Talwar, who figured in Nira Radia tapes and probed in 2G, called on him 50 times. Congress MP Vijay Darda (coal scam accused), Sunil Bajaj, head of corporate affairs in Essar who was probed in the 2G case, and former Medical Council of India chief Ketan Desai (arrested on corruption charges) were his other visitors.
Amid delay in the re-union of AIADMK warring factions in Tamil Nadu, the rebel leader and former chief minister O Panneerselvam on Tuesday said that the present situation looks "favourable" for merger talks.



"The current scenario looks favourble for talks between the groups", Panneerselvam said.



Recently, the both AIADMK group have formed committees to hold patch up talks for the merger of the two factions, but it seems to have hit a road block with both of them talking tough.



The latest demand laid by Panneerselvam's group was to remove jailed V K Sasikala's portraits and cutouts immediately from the party headquarters in the capital.



Panneerselvam faction's demand came few days after its senior leaders sought removal of Sasikala, her nephew T T V Dhinakaran and their family members from the AIADMK prior to reunion talks with the other faction led by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.



The second demand by the group was for a CBI probe into the death of former chief minister and J Jayalalithaa.



However, the other AIADMK group, led by Palaniswami, accused Panneerselvam's camp for laying out several demands even before the merger talks.
The Uttar Pradesh government today cancelled 15 public holidays in marking the birth or death anniversary of eminent personalities.



Most of the holidays had been declared by the previous Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) governments apparently to keep certain sections of the society in good humour, often with an eye on the vote bank.



Howevee, the state Cabinet at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today decided to cancel 15 such public holidays in educational institutions.



"Instead, students in schools and colleges would now be taught about the great personalities on these days," Cabinet minister Shrikant Sharma said while briefing mediapersons on the decisions of the government.



An official release later clarified that government employees were free to avail restricted holidays on these days.



Adityanath had in his address on the occasion of Dr BR Ambedkar's 126th birth anniversary here expressed concern over the shrinking academic session due to increased holidays.



"There should be no holidays in schools on birth anniversaries of great personalities. Instead, a special two- hour programme should be held to teach students about them. The 220-day academic session has been reduced to only 120 days due to such holidays and if this tradition continues, there will be no day left for teaching in schools," he had said.



In Uttar Pradesh, there are 42 public holidays of which at least 17 are related to the birth anniversaries of eminent personalities.



The previous Samajwadi Party government had declared holidays on the birth anniversaries of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar (April 17), Maharishi Kashyap and Maharshi Nishadraj Jayanti (April 5), Hazrat Ajmeri Garib Nawaj Urs (April 26), Maharana Pratap Jayanti (May 9) besides on the death anniversary of Ambedkar (December 6).



Sharma said the revised list of holidays will soon be made available.



Public holidays that have been scrapped by the government include Jan Nayak Karpori Thakur birth anniversary (Jan 24), Maharshi Kashyap and Maharaj Guha birth anniversary (Apr 5), Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Ajmeri Gareeb Nawaz Urs on (Apr 14), Chandrashekhar birth anniversary (Apr 17), Parashu Ram Jayanti (Apr 28), Maharana Pratap Jayanti (May 9), Jamat Ul Vida on June 23 (last Friday of Ramzan), Chhat Puja (Oct 26), Eid Milad Un Nabi (Dec 2), Chaudhary Charan Singh Jayanti (Dec 23).


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used the April 16 referendum, providing for 18 constitutional amendments, to overthrow the modern, Western-style Turkish state. The was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923 following demise of the multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural autocratic Islam-based Ottoman empire.



Ataturk's state was ethnically Turkish, narrowly nationalist, assertively secular and quasi-democratic. It had a parliamentary form of government. He appointed the military as a guarantor of this polity. As the system evolved over decades, checks and balances between executive, legislature, and judiciary were adopted with the aim of preventing the rise of a dictator and abuses of power.



Once Erdogan implements the constitutional amendments proposed by his fundamentalist Justice and Development Party and, supposedly, approved by a narrow 51.4% of those who voted in the referendum, the parliamentary system will be replaced by a presidential system.



The post of a prime minister will be abolished and the president, until now a largely ceremonial, politically neutral figure, will become chief executive and head of his party. He will draw up the state budget and appoint cabinet ministers, members of the National Security Council and 12 out of 15 judges to the constitutional court. Prosecutors and lower court judges will be chosen by parliament and president. Checks and balances will be checked. Modern day sultan Erdogan could reign until 2029.



Having assured his position and boosted his power, Erdogan will be able to step up efforts to replace Ataturks secularism with a religion-based system where conservative Islamic tenets dominate. He advocates a partial return to the Ottoman model, regarded by Erdogan and many of his followers as Turkeys Golden Age.



However, Erdogan has no intention of tolerating the diverse ethnicities, faiths, and cultural orientations that had flourished under the Ottomans. He wishes to stick to the ethnically Turkish, national character and to exploit the quasi-democratic aspects of Ataturks model.



To achieve his aim of one-man rule, Erdogan has crushed all opposition. After last Julys failed army coup, he finished off the military as a political force and decimated the countrys civil service, judiciary and media by jailing 50,000 and purging more than 130,000. He imposed a state of emergency and intimidated his critics.



To ensure victory-by-fraud in the referendum, Erdogan denied opponents the media means to argue their case and pressured the electoral commission to accept hundreds of thousands of voting slips which did not bear official stamps.



The commission barred a recount and refused to accept formal complaints against the conduct of the referendum. This leaves the 48.6% of the voters who opposed the amendments with no recourse, risking destabilisation at a time Turkey is fighting Islamic State and Kurdish separatists as well as intervening in the Syrian conflict.



Rural-urban divide

Erdogans opponents come from Turkeys three major cities  Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir  while his supporters live mainly in rural areas and provincial towns. The divide is, therefore, civilisational with liberal educated, secular urban Turks up against conservative, religious small town and village Turks.



If Erdogan continues to rely on his constituency without trying to cultivate and mollify his opponents, he could face revolt and resistance in Turkeys cities comparable to the protests that erupted in May 2013 when he tried to impose a development scheme which would have eradicated Istanbuls Gezi park, beloved by the citys residents.



Demonstrations against this effort took place at 90 sites in Turkey, including all the chief cities, as well as in the Turkish diaspora. The protesters, energised by bulldozers in the park, took up a wide range of issues: corruption, lack of freedom of the press and expression, destruction of the environment, challenge to secularism, Erdogans war against the Kurds and involvement in Syria. He managed to quell the upsurge without dealing with its causes.



Erdogans most risky domestic policy has been his revival of the 30-year-old war on the Kurds, who have been fighting for recognition as a distinct ethnic group and for federalism. When he took power, he had pledged to end the conflict by appealing to the Kurds on the basis of their being Sunni Muslims, like the vast majority of Turks.



Erdogan called a halt to army action and engaged in negotiations with the Kurds from 2013 until mid-2015, but resumed attacks on them as a means to boost his partys electoral prospects in that years November election.



His most risky regional policy has been his promotion of the war in Syria by facilitating the transit of foreign fighters and weapons across Turkey into Syria and offering Ankara's full backing to expatriate Syrian dissidents, many of whom are tied to the Muslim Brotherhood.



Ankara also permitted IS and al-Qaeda to take root in poor quarters of Turkeys cities. He has been repaid by deadly bombings in Ankara and Istanbul and erosion of Turkeys reliability as a member of the Western alliance, particularly since a number of perpetrators of IS attacks in Europe have visited or travelled through Turkey to join jihadi groups.
COLUMBUS  A 32-year-old man who relocated from New York to Columbus last year was sentenced to prison for having sex with a 15-year-old runaway during an incident at a local apartment building in late December.

Platte County District Judge Robert Steinke sentenced Christopher George to two to three years in prison for his conviction of first-degree sexual assault of a minor in connection with the incident at an Eighth Street apartment building.

The assault charge is a Class 2 felony, punishable by up to 50 years imprisonment. In exchange for Georges plea, the prosecution dismissed charges of child abuse and procuring alcohol for a minor.

The judge gave George credit for 120 days already served in jail while awaiting the outcome of the case. The defendant has been in custody since his Dec. 22 arrest.

George moved to the area late last year to accept a job as a lab analyst at a Schuyler food safety testing company.

Court documents describe a Columbus Police investigation that got underway the afternoon of Dec. 22 with a complaint of a domestic dispute at the apartment.

When officers arrived at the apartment, Investigator Gregory Sealock wrote in his probable cause arrest statement, Georges wife reported returning home to find her husband and the juvenile runaway from New York having sex.

The defendant and victim both admitted to being involved in a consensual sexual encounter at the time Georges wife returned to the apartment, Sealock wrote in his statement.

Prior to the sexual activity, the investigator reported, the victim admitted drinking vodka with George that he provided.
The chances of Namma Metro line from Nagawara to Kempegowda International airport via Thanisandra are high.



Earlier, Rail India Technical and Economic Service (Rites) had proposed nine routes for Metro-airport connectivity and with regard to this, BRMCL had published the details on its website and called for peoples opinions. Around 1,300 people had responded and most of them favoured extension of Gottigere to Nagawara Metro line till the airport. A meeting was held between Bengaluru Development Minister K J George and Byatarayanapura MLA and minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Tuesday.



An official, who attended the meeting, said: The ministers have shown interest in finalising the airport connectivity through the route passing by Nagawara, Thanisandra and Rashtrotthana Vidya Kendra. There are lesser chances for other probable airport connectivity routes such as Mehkri Circle to Yelahanka, Yeshwantpur to Yelahanka and K R Puram to Budigere Cross.



Under Metro second phase, Gottigere to Nagawara Metro line is going to come up. The line passes along the route of - Jayadeva Hospital, Diary Circle, M G Road, Shivajinagar and Cantonment Railway Station. People will benefit if this route is extended till the airport. People from South Bangalore will benefit if there is Metro connectivity to airport, said a BMRCL official.


A woman in her early thirties has lodged a complaint stating that she was gang-raped by a cab driver and his friends while she was returning home on March 30.



The victim, a native of Uttar Pradesh, lodged the complaint with the Koramangala police on April 11. She had come to Bengaluru recently, looking for a job, the police said.



The victim, through her friend, alleged that the gang of four including the driver had offered to drop her home late in the night. They abducted her, drove her around the city and raped her, taking turns, in a moving car on the night of March 30.



The police who took up the case immediately, carried out investigations and found several loopholes in the case.



They said the allegations by the woman were not genuine.When her family members got to know about the police complaint, they denied her allegations and requested the police to drop the complaint. They took her back to their native place.



The Koramangala police who carried out investigations for nearly a fortnight found that there was a altercation between the woman and a cab driver. But there was nothing suggestive of a heinous incident that was narrated by the victim to the police, sources said.



While the police have taken up the complaint seriously, the victim's family members are not cooperating when the police tried to get her for a medical examination, the sources claimed.


The police have arrested four people on the charge of attempting to exchange demonetised notes worth Rs 1 crore in Ashokanagar.



The arrested are Lakshmipathi, Kantharaju, Bayyappa Reddy and Shyam. The police seized demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations and four cellphones from them.



The suspects had struck a deal with a certain Rajiv Gupta. The deal was that Gupta should pay new notes worth 60% the value of the banned notes. As per the agreement, the four were waiting inside a Toyota Fortuner car with cash near a Nandini milk parlour opposite Mayo Hall. The police raided the vehicle and detained them. However, Gupta did not turn up. The police are on the lookout for Gupta and are questioning the suspects to ascertain the source of money.
Two jewellery businessmen from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu were arrested by the railway police here on Tuesday for smuggling gold by train.



The police recovered over two kg gold ornaments worth Rs 24 lakh from the arrested S Venkatesh (50) and M Pandiyan (30).



The police acted on definite leads and were waiting at the Cantonment railway station. The suspects got down at 5.30 am from a train and were carrying ornaments in two bags, Prasad, Police Inspector, Cantonment Railway police station, told DH.



The police detained them for questioning and checked their baggage. The suspects did not have necessary documents. They wanted to sell the gold by avoiding taxes to earn more money in the wake of Akshaya Tritiya festival.


Work has been initiated for the revival of Bellandur lake, but without even knowing its actual boundary.

Revenue records show the lake was spread over more than 1,000 acres, whereas about 250 acres has been encroached upon. Thus, the lake area is reduced to about 750 acres. The stormwater drains at the waste weir of the lake at Amanikere Kodi have also shrunk drastically.



Following public outcry against the rampant encroachment of lakes, the Assembly committee on lake encroachment headed by Speaker K B Koliwad was constituted. The revenue officers of Bengaluru district said unless the Koliwad committee submits its report to the government and the latter, in turn, gives the revenue department a clear-cut direction, the demarcation of boundary of Bellandur lake will not take place.



There are encroachments of Bellandur lake and most of them are residential buildings. We are waiting for directions as we cannot arbitrarily go on a demolition spree, said a revenue officer. The deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district V Shankar was not available for comments.



Lake protection groups too raised concerns over the revival of the lake without demarcation of boundaries. Vijayan Menon, urban expert and member of the Citizens Action Forum, which is a petitioner in the Bellandur lake case, questioned the effort when survey has not been done.



The revenue department says it has surveyed the lake, but the survey sketch has neither been notified nor the lake boundary has been demarcated, said Menon.



Survey report with panel

Activist Sridhar Pabbisetty said the survey report was with the Koliwad committee. Unless the committee gives direction to the revenue department, it is unlikely that the encroachment will be removed. He said physical demarcation of the lake boundary was a must. Pabbisetty claimed that the encroachment of the lake was rampant. The stormwater drain after the Ammanikere Kodi (waste weir) has not only shrunk, but it has been diverted, he said.



Pabbisetty said, Our demand to the government is that the BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) and KLCDA (Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority) fix the boundary of the lake. Without identification of the boundary, the lake revival is an eyewash. If the government does not act now, we will bring this fact to the notice of the National Green Tribunal in the next hearing.



Decision soon: Koliwad

When contacted, Koliwad said he had a meeting with the officers of various government departments with regard to rejuvenating Bellandur lake. He said a decision regarding the demarcation of the boundary of the lake would be taken shortly.






Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday announced that Indira canteens will start functioning from August 15 in all the 198 wards of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).



Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the officials of Finance and Urban Development departments to discuss the canteen project, Siddaramaiah said: We have decided to hand over the responsibility of managing the canteens to the BBMP. A committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Bengaluru Development Minister K J George to discuss and decide the design of the canteens, logo and related details.



Mayor G Padmavathi, Deputy Mayor Ananda M, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad, Food and Civil Supplies minister U T Khader and Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development) Mahendra Jain will be part of the committee, he said.



The canteens will come up on 500 sq ft of space at each of the wards and built at a cost of Rs 7.50 lakh. The total cost of the project is Rs 15 crore and the canteens will be constructed by Karnataka Land Army Corporation.



The chief minister said that breakfast will be available at Rs 5 and Rs 10 would be charged for lunch and dinner at the canteens. Our officers will visit Amma canteens at Tamil Nadu to study the model there. There will be no compromise on the quality of food that will be served at the canteens. We need time to prepare to launch the canteens. Hence, we have decided to start them from August 15," he said.



Drinking water to slums

Siddaramaiah said that about 10,000 litres of drinking water will be supplied free of cost to the slums in the city every month. The government has decided to waive the pending water bills and the interest for slum dwellers, he announced.


The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of a suspected member of the proscribed Tamil Nadu-based terrorist organisation Al-Umma.



He has been chargesheeted for procuring a SIM card for the co-accused who carried out a blast in a motorcycle in front of a KSRP van at Malleswaram in Bengaluru in 2013.



A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta dismissed the petition filed by 30-year-old Basheer.

The petitioner challenged the Karnataka High Court's order of January 5, 2017. The high court did not find sufficient ground to grant bail to Basheer, a Tirunelveli resident.



It had said if the offences, as alleged against the petitioner, under various provisions of law are proved, the punishment would be either death or imprisonment for life.



Not made accused

Senior advocate Ratnakar Dash, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that he was accused of providing SIM cards to the other accused but the person who committed the theft of the mobile phone has not been made an accused in the case. He also claimed that the said mobile phone was not seized.



No major role

The offence is of wide ramifications, I admit, but there was no major role ascribed to me. All that the prosecution claims is only of circumstantial evidence, the counsel said.



The bench, however, was not impressed with the arguments. The court declined the plea. In his plea, Basheer has claimed that he was in judicial custody since April 22, 2013 and there was no progress in the trial. The Bengaluru police's Central Crime Branch had claimed that the accused had also planned to plant a bomb in front of the BJP office with an aim to target political leaders due to ensuing Assembly elections.



The accused, along with others was chargesheeted under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.


The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Karnataka government to place on record before it an alternative mechanism for e-auction of iron ore extracted from Ballari, Tumakuru and Chitradurga mines.



The court also agreed to consider the steelmakers plea for increasing the iron ore mining cap from 30 to 40 million tonnes per annum. A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked advocate Anita Shenoy, representing the state government, to respond within six weeks to the plea by lobby group Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) to scrap iron ore e-auction system. FIMI, represented by senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, submitted that instead of e-auction, there should be long-term agreement between the producers and buyers as part of the new mechanism. He relied upon the suggestion made by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in this regard by its report on April 28, 2016. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Samaj Parivartan Samudaya, opposed the plea, saying that the e-auction was meant to provide the best price and royalty to the state government.



The industry body, however, said even if there is long-term agreement for purchase, it would continue to be examined by the monitoring committee.



The bench, also comprising Justices Prafulla C Pant and Navin Sinha, asked the CEC to explain within six weeks, if there is any chance of raising mining cap of 30 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) for iron ore in Karnataka. The steel makers, represented by senior advocate C U Singh, sought direction for raising the cap.



The apex court had on April 18, 2013 allowed mining in Ballari, Tumakuru and Chitradurga districts, but with the cap of 30 mtpa. The court, however, refused to hear a plea by the Karnataka government for permission to increase the cap on mining put on the public sector companies.



Meanwhile, the court directed for release of 90% mandatory deposit of the district mineral fund, if the reclamation and rehabilitation of the areas, which suffered environmental damage due to extensive mining, was complete.


A day after Maoists killed 25 CRPF jawans in Chhattisgarh, the Centre on Tuesday said it will review the strategy to combat left-wing extremism and revisit it to see if there is any lacunae.



A comprehensive re-look will be undertaken during a meeting of chief ministers and senior police officers from Maoist-affected states on May 8 in the national capital.



Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who described the killing as cold-blooded murder and cowardice, acknowledged the need for a review of the strategy at Raipur, where he rushed to pay homage to the martyrs.



The sacrifice of our brave jawans will not go in vain...We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it. We are working to root out the problem of Left-wing extremism...We have accepted it as a challenge, Rajnath said.



Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh also warned that an operation will be launched with more firmness and vigour against the guerrillas in the coming days.



I believe that the fight against Maoists in Sukma is the biggest battle being fought against Left-wing extremism in the country. We have decided to enhance our activities and construction work in the region, the chief minister said.



The government has a two-pronged anti-Maoist strategy  with armed operations followed by development activities, such as constructing roads, health centres and schools, in the affected areas. The security operations are carried out by paramilitary forces with support from the state police.




Memorial services will be held May 6 at Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Owatonna, Minnesota. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. followed by the service at 11 a.m. A luncheon will be served after the service and the burial ceremony will be held at St. John's Cemetery.
Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) Mysuru launched an indigenously developed agrotechnology superfood, Teff, on Tuesday.



The institute noted that being a drought resistant crop, Teff has great potential for the nation yielding about 200-250 kg per acre. Teff can be grown in both seasons of kharif (June-July) and Rabi (October-November) and is suitable for districts with dry zones in Karnataka.



High in micronurtients

They stated that the grain is rich in micronutrients like Calcium, Iron and Vitamin C. Teff as an ingredient blends well with various foods like dosas, porridges, rotis and gluten-free breads.



CFTRI has signed an MoU with Sri Sri Rural Development Programme to extend its efforts to farmers for superfood production and farm gate food processing. It also plans to conduct workshops to sensitise farmers from across the state and help develop recipes for Teff.



In the recent past, CFTRI has also developed agrotechnologies for superfoods Chia and Quinoa to grow in Indian conditions. Earlier, since superfoods were imported, they were very expensive and most Indians were unable to afford it.
With the government coming under attack from the Opposition over Mondays Maoist ambush, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday gave a twist to the issue by questioning human rights activists for being silent.



These (human rights) activists raise voice and react violently if an extremist or a terrorist is killed by the police, but take shelter in silence when large number of jawans and innocent people get killed by those who operate underground, said Naidu, the minister for information & broadcasting and urban development.



Naidus comments are a veiled jibe, said BJP sources, at activists taking a position only when stone-pelting youth in Kashmir face the heat from security forces  under intense pressure in the Valley as they are faced with daily protests.



The BJP is also under pressure to explain the steps it would take to retaliate against Left-wing extremism, as it did across the LoC last September to avenge a militant attack on an army base camp in Uri, near the border in Jammu and Kashmir.



Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission issued a statement condemning the attack and hoped that states would take note of sacrifices made by the CRPF.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday asked the Tamil Nadu government not to open liquor shops along the highways for three months, thwarting alleged efforts to reopen them.



Following the Supreme Court order to close down liquor vends along state and national highways, the AIADMK government has been forced to shut 3,450 shops resulting in the loss of Rs 10,000 crore for the exchequer.



The state government has been controlling the liquor business and has been using proceeds to fund freebees, which would be severely hit if the liquor sales were to stop.
Termed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of Karnataka, the execution of 9 of the 19 freedom fighters by the British government, which was never part of the states history, will now be available in book format.



The book titled The Unsung Freedom will be published shorty by the Karnataka State Archives Department as part of digitisation of historical documents, K A Dayananda, director, Archives Department, told reporters on Tuesday.



The department has taken up digitisation of old documents pertaining to the state on a massive scale. The Archives Department has launched a web portal (http://archives.kannadasiri.co.in) for easy access to historical records of the state at the click of a mouse. Karnataka is the only state in the country to digitise historical documents to help research scholars, students and the public.



Nonagenarian Konana Channabasappa recently shared the 50-page judgement copy of the Madras Court during the colonial period about the capital punishment given to 19 freedom fighters. The Britishers executed 9 of the 19 freedom fighters. They were working abroad drawing handsome salaries then. They returned to India responding to Subhas Chandra Boses call to fight for freedom and joined the East India Company on meagre wages. They worked secretely collecting information about the British governments activities and fought against them. However, they were arrested once their secret mission was exposed and were awarded capital punishment.



The sacrifice of these freedom fighters was never a part of history. We know about Sangolli Rayannas execution as history refers to his heroic deeds. The sacrifice of nine freedom fighters is no less than that of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre victims. Hence, the department has decided to bring out the judgement copy which deals with activities of the 19 freedom fighters in a book form, Dayananda said.



The department has digitised around five lakh pages and hopes to complete the digitisation of over 1.5 crore pages in two years. The department is in touch with government agencies in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram to procure documents pertaining to Karnataka. The process of getting content running into 20,000 pages pertaining to Karnataka from England is also on, he said.



Around 129 people used the Archives departments documents in 2016, around 86 in 2015 and 85 in 2014.



The department awarded Rs 10,000 scholarships to research students to make use of documents. The amount has been increased to Rs 20,000. Only 1% of the population knows about the departments documents. Hence, the department conducted an exhibition in various parts of the state last year to create awareness about the importance of historical documents available for reference, he added.



Content comprising around 55,000 pages is in running Kannada handwriting which only experts can read. The department has hired 15 scholars to read and translate them to modern Kannada, he said.




Indias latest war-fighting doctrine flags the need for military exploration of the space besides raising specialised troops to operate in a nuclear environment.



Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, who is also chairman of the chief of staff committee, on Tuesday released the doctrine and emphasised on joint planning and conduct of operations across all the domains of conflict that is land, air, sea, space and cyberspace.



Currently, Indian space programme is guided by the developmental, commercial and scientific needs. Top commanders from the integrated defence staff now underscored the need to explore the space military as well, defence ministry sources told DH.



This comes almost 10 years after China shook the world with its A-SAT test in which the communist country fired a missile to destroy a junk satellite.
A CRPF teams decision to have quick lunch gave Maoists the perfect setting to launch a deadly attack on them in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday, resulting in 25 deaths.



The incident has once again exposed chinks in the CRPFs preparedness to deal with surprise attacks.

The Maoists were tracking the movement of three CRPF teams which were acting as road opening parties, providing protection to the staff of a 5.5 km-long road construction project. A source said that locals gave the guerrillas inputs about the CRPF teams movement.



One team decided to have a quick lunch, and the guerrillas made the most of this, rendering them sitting ducks.



Giving little reaction time, 300 Maoists rained bullets on the CRPF team which was having lunch. Some soldiers jumped into action and saved the workers and other people in the area where the gun battle was on.



While an injured soldier claimed that the Maoists had rocket launchers and automatic weapons, a source in the security establishment refused to confirm. However, a senior officer said the Maoists used Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL), and expressed surprise about it. The guerrillas also used arrows to throw crude bombs at the CRPF team.



The officer said the Maoists may have looted these weapons from earlier gun battles, and it could be as recent as from the site of the killing of 12 CRPF personnel last month.



In Mondays attack, the Maoists are learnt to have looted 13 AK-series rifles, 5 INSAS rifles, 3,420 live rounds of various rifles, 75 magazines of AK rifles, 31 magazines of INSAS, 67 UBGL rounds, 22 bullet-proof jackets, two binoculars, five wireless sets and a deep-search metal detector.



Another source said the Maoists did not use Improvised Explosive Device (IED), which they usually use to target security personnel.



Also, the Indian Air Forces (IAF) rescue operation was equally dramatic.



While the initial instruction was to airlift three casualties and two Mi-17 V5s, including one on escort role, on landing at Burkapal, the IAF team found that the casualties were more.



One CRPF jawan succumbed to injuries on board.



The security establishment has been citing decrease in incidents and number of casualties, but the series of incidents this year shows that Maoists have not lost teeth and they are still capable of launching surprise attacks.



Citing the increasing number of surrenders, security officials believe that there is a churning in the Maoist circles due to the leadership crisis and disillusionment among the cadre.



However, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had warned against complacency, saying Maoists still had the capacity to launch attacks at will.






Hotels and restaurants in Karnataka will soon have to display boards saying service charge is voluntary. They cant add the charge in their bills either.



Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader told a press conference on Tuesday the government was acting on guidelines issued recently by the Centre.



Service charge, a term used by restaurants for tips, should remain voluntary, the Centre has said.

Khader said he would meet the hotel owners association and issue a notification soon. Hotels and restaurants cannot deny entry to consumers who refuse to pay service charge. Consumers who find violations can file complaints with the consumer courts, he said.



Many restaurants collect 6 to 8% of the bill as service charge, with consumers remaining unaware that they are paying tips.



Food inspectors and legal metrology officials will conduct random inspections, Khader said.



The Centre has issued an advisory to all states, including Karnataka, to educate people on the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.



Khader said the department would also prevent waste of food at hotels, restaurants and marriage halls. The plan is to involve non-government organisations in a big way. They will distribute leftover food among the needy. We have the right to food, but not the right to waste food, he remarked.



The minister said the government would supply a litre of kerosene every month to BPL families in rural areas, even if they have LPG connections.



Two LED bulbs will be given free to each BPL family not using kerosene, he announced.

The government has relaxed the procedure to issue ration cards. All it takes is an application with eligibility self-certification, minister Khader said.


Chinese Shipyard Signs Contract to Build Patrol Ships for Malaysia



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LINCOLN  As promised, owners of the four beer stores in Whiteclay are appealing last week's decision by the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission to deny renewal of their liquor licenses.

An attorney for the beer stores said Monday that appeal filings were being sent to Lancaster County District Court via overnight mail.

In copies of the filings shared with media, attorney Andrew Snyder of Scottsbluff argues the Liquor Commission's decision was "arbitrary and capricious," not supported by evidence and contrary to Nebraska law.

Snyder also asks the court to allow the beer stores to remain open until the appeal is resolved to shield them from "irreparable harm and injury in the form of lost income."

A judge in the case has yet to be assigned.

The Liquor Commission last week decided not to renew the stores' licenses after they expire Sunday, citing concerns about law enforcement in Whiteclay. The unincorporated village has eight official residents, but its four liquor stores sell millions of cans of beer each year, much of it to residents of South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol is banned.

The beer store owners argue the Liquor Commission considered inappropriate evidence and violated their due process rights by ordering them to reapply for their liquor licenses, rather than receiving automatic renewal.

The stores are Arrowhead Inn, State Line Liquor, D&S Pioneer and Jumping Eagle Inn.

Unless a judge suspends the commission's decision, the stores will be forced to close Sunday.

It's possible the appeal could reach the Nebraska Supreme Court. If that happens, Snyder and David Domina of Omaha, the attorney representing five Sheridan County residents who oppose the beer stores, said they expect the issue to remain unresolved for up to two years.
A 32-year-old Russian hacker was sentenced to 27 years in prison in the U.S. for stealing millions of payment card details from businesses by infecting their point-of-sale systems with malware.

The sentence is the longest ever handed out in the U.S. for computer crimes, surpassing the 20-year jail term imposed on American hacker and former U.S. Secret Service informant Albert Gonzalez in 2010 for similar credit card theft activities.

Roman Valeryevich Seleznev, a Russian citizen from Vladivostok, was sentenced Friday in the Western District of Washington after he was found guilty in August of 10 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of intentional damage to a protected computer, nine counts of obtaining information from a protected computer, nine counts of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Roman Seleznev is the son of Valery Seleznev, a member the lower house of the Russian Parliament known as the Duma. Valery Seleznev accused the U.S. authorities of kidnapping his son when they detained him in 2014 in the Maldives with the help of local authorities and subsequently flew him to Guam.

Roman Seleznev was known in the cybercrime world as a prominent carder -- a trader of stolen payment card data. He used the online aliases Track2, 2pac and nCuX and sold millions of credit card details on specialized cybercriminal websites.

U.S. authorities claim that from 2009 to 2013 Seleznev infected the point-of-sale systems of more than 500 U.S. businesses with malware that captured payment card data and siphoned it off to servers under his control. The same technique was used by hackers in some of the largest data breaches that came to light in recent years, including those at U.S. retailers Target, Home Depot and Neiman Marcus.

The laptop found in the hacker's possession when he was arrested in 2014 contained 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers. Earlier this month, Seleznev sent a handwritten letter to the judge taking responsibility for his actions and asking for leniency.

In the letter, the hacker described his rough childhood and the events that led up to his life of crime. He wrote that he was raised in poverty by his single mother after his parents divorced when he was two years old.

He described himself as a respectful, polite and good child who tried to make his mother and father proud, but all that changed following the sudden death of his mother when he was 17. He was forced to drop out of college and find work at a computer club, but didn't manage to earn enough to even pay the bills for his mother's apartment.

That's when he discovered CarderPlanet, one of the first cybercriminal forums specialized in the trading of credit card data, and started using his computer skills to hack into businesses.

After the sentencing Friday, Seleznev's lawyer read a handwritten statement from the hacker that is very different in tone from his previous letter. In it, he described himself as a political prisoner, kidnapped by the U.S. government, the Associated Press reported. He also claims that the sentence is an indication that he is being used as a pawn by the U.S. government to send a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the world.
Conferencing Furthering Classroom Experience

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By Andrew Bindelglass

Contributing Writer By Andrew BindelglassContributing Writer

One of the most important responsibilities that early educational institutions have is making sure that young children become competent and confident readers. As such, a large amount of classroom time is spent on reading: teachers reading to students, students reading on their own, or group reading sessions. The problem that many teachers run into here is that, while all this time and repetition is necessary, it can also lead to boredom, something that educators of young children desperately want to avoid.





Lincoln County in North Carolina is looking to combat these issues with an innovative new technology: video conferencing. Students at Battleground Elementary School and Kiser Intermediate School in Lincoln have been taking advantage of video conferencing to read with people from all over the world, as well as get a firsthand educational experience that is both informative and entertaining. We have used the system with our fifth graders to talk to NASA and the Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, Kiser teacher and librarian Amanda Swengros said. We also have used it to do battle practices with Iron Station to help our Battle of the Books team prepare for competition.

The school district is also using the video conferencing technology to foster greater connection between schools at the elementary and middle school levels. For one day a week, it is not the teachers who read to the elementary school students, but the middle schoolers at Kiser Intermediate. This gives the elementary school students the excitement of having a new face to read to them and also gives middle school students a chance to practice their reading and interpersonal skills. They love it, Battleground teacher Jennifer Reep said. They like seeing the older kids and working with another school. The Kiser students get to gain reading fluency at the same time.

The Lincoln School district is another example of how educational facilities can use video conferencing to further their educational goals. Teachers should always be seeking out new ways to apply technology to better their classroom experience.

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Edited by Alicia Young
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Brussels 24 April 2017 - The Commission for environment, climate change and energy (ENVE) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has met in Brussels with the new Energy Union governance, climate finance and electricity markets on top of the agenda. Commissioner for Environment Karmenu Vella presented the latest developments of the Environmental Implementation Review (EIR) while MEP Claude Turmes supported CoR members in their search for tangible mechanisms of multi-level energy governance. Energy efficiency in buildings and the EU space policy are also in ENVE's working plan.

Commissioner Vella presented the latest developments of the Environmental Implementation Review (EIR), a process launched in May 2016 to identify why environmental law in Europe is deficiently executed, define recommendations for better compliance and boost political debates in the Environment Council. Commissioner Vella announced the first round of EIR dialogues, which have taken place in Estonia, Belgium and Slovakia and invited the CoR to encourage Member States to reunite in their EIR dialogues national, regional and local authorities in an attempt to address common root causes of ineffective implementation. Commissioner Vella revealed the EIR peer-to-peer tour will be launched this autumn at an event at the CoR to allow Member States, regional and local environment authorities to exchange their expertise. Commissioner Vella indicated that public-private partnerships should be further considered as an efficient way to manage Natura 2000 sites.

Commissioner Vella contributed to the exchange of views of an upcoming opinion on EIR lead by Andrew Cooper (UK/EA). The member of the Kirklees Council highlighted the need to work on data as to make it a meaningful comparable tool for improving environmental implementation. Cooper calls the EC to integrate climate change, chemicals and the Industrial Emissions Directive into the EIR cycle. The CoR working document asks the EC to develop a code of conduct for national EIR dialogues and vertical cross-governmental dossiers teams so to ensure cities and regions are fully integrated in the revision exercise.

The ENVE commission appointed Marco Dus (IT/PES) as rapporteur of an upcoming opinion on climate finance which final adoption is foreseen during Octobers plenary session. To be considered as credible partners in UN climate talks, cities and regions need to demonstrate they can deliver climate action. As the document is to contribute to COP23 discussions, the opinions goal is to improve how climate finance instruments are designed and used so cities and regions can make further contributions to tackling global warming.

ENVE adopted Bruno Hranic (HR/EPP) draft opinion on the Energy Union governance and clean energy package. Hranic believes that EU Member States can succeed with the Energy Union only if their planning and reporting formally considers the know-how of cities and regions. During the debate, the European Commission services expressed their awareness of this fact, and the rapporteur of the European Parliament, Claude Turmes has pledged his support to the CoR's amendments aiming to improve draft legislation by including explicit references to multi-level governance. In this respect, the CoR should be included in the Energy Union Committee to be set up by the European Commission, because the bulk of clean energy efforts will be delivered locally, be it new renewable power plants, insulated buildings or involvement of local communities in ownership of such projects. The rapporteur has also called for more a business-friendly environment which could be achieved through targeted signals, strategies, standards and regulations and with the right support from financial instruments in which public funds are deployed to facilitate private investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency.The rapporteur's proposals will be discussed with a range of stakeholders during the EU Sustainable Energy Week in June and with the Estonian Presidency and other EU institutions during the external ENVE conference in Tallinn on 3 July, before its adoption during the CoR's plenary session 12-13 July.

ENVE adopted a draft opinion on energy efficiency and buildings led by rapporteur Michiel Rijsberman (NL/ALDE), Regional Minister of the Province of Flevoland. Rijsberman said: We need higher energy efficiency targets if we are to meet the pledges of the Paris agreement. The European Commission proposes to increase the energy efficiency target from 27% to 30% by 2030 yet we consider a binding target of 40% achievable and which would lead to a 50% CO2 reduction by 2030 instead of 40%. Rijsberman pointed out that a higher energy saving target would "reduce the EU's gas import of 60% and create of 1.2 to 3.2 million additional jobs in Europe".

Members adopted Daiva Matonienes (LT/ECR) draft opinion on renewable energy and the internal market in electricity. The member of the Siauliai City Council and former Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Environment said: We must create the favourable conditions for the optimal use of clean energy and for achieving an efficient electricity market. We welcome the 'Clean Energy for All Europeans' package precisely as it intends to achieve that. The European Commission must, however, pay more attention to the development of new environmentally friendly and energy efficient technologies. We must open up the electricity market and achieve greater integration. We also welcome the EC green trade certificate system as it will facilitate trade and making progress on a truly integrated market. For the success of this package, the EU must pay more attention to the positive role that local and regional governments can play in supporting energy communities", concluded Daiva Matonienes.

ENVE members had an exchange of views on the working paper A space strategy for Europe by rapporteur Andres Jaadla (EE/ALDE). Jaadla recalled the space sector generates some 50 billion added value and 200.000 jobs. The member of the Rakvere City Council stressed the opportunities space policies can bring to towns and regions and announced a space week in November, to be organised by the Estonian EU presidency to start next July. It will have the objective of promoting space policy and bring visibility to its multiple applications.

Estonia will host next ENVE commission meeting, to take place in Tallinn on 4 July 2017.



Contact:

David Crous

Tel. +32 (0)470 88 10 37

david.crous@cor.europa.eu
Samsung says Galaxy S8 preorders are 30 percent higher than that of Galaxy S7. However, the company has not shared any exact sales figure of the new device

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are already off to a great start in South Korea, Samsung's home market. Preorders for the device touched over a million units ahead of its scheduled sale date of April 21. Now the company has confirmed that the preorders for its new flagship were 30 percent higher in the US as well.

Samsung says its 2017 flagships, Galaxy S8 and S8+, have received more preorders than last year's Galaxy S7. The company claims this is the 'best ever' preorder for Samsung smartphones in the US, which is quite understandable after the sad ending of the Galaxy Note 7. While Samsung is not sharing exact numbers, Samsung Electronics America COO Tim Baxter said, "The response is humbling, energising, and points to a great launch week."

The Samsung Galaxy S8 comes with an all new Infinity Display, packing a taller display into a smaller form factor. The smartphone is the first to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 chipset in the US and comes with support for gigabit LTE download speeds. The smartphone offers 4GB RAM, 64GB storage and continues to support IP68 water and dust resistance.

With the Galaxy S8 series, Samsung has not pushed itself on the camera and battery front. The Galaxy S8 offers a 12MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ offer 3000mAh and 3500mAh batteries respectively, which are the same as their predecessors. Both the handsets support quick charging and fast wireless charging.

Samsung is also reemphasizing that there is no hardware defect with the Galaxy S8 and the company will issue a software update to fix the red tint issue observed by few users. The company told The Wall Street Journal that the incoming update will resolve the issues observed by early buyers. The update is also said to fix Wi-Fi connectivity issues for S8 users in the Korean market. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ were recently launched in India at Rs 57,900 and Rs 64,900 respectively. The smartphones are currently available for preorder and will go on sale starting May 5 from Flipkart and other offline retailers.
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Sheryl Sandberg book: a tale of resilience

The Facebook exec's Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy chronicles how the sudden death of her husband gave her new perspective on life.



By BARBARA ORTUTAY

AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK  Though perhaps best known as Facebook's No. 2 executive, Sheryl Sandberg is also a mentor, a mother, a billionaire and an author. When her husband Dave Goldberg died suddenly in 2015 while they were vacationing in Mexico, she added widow to the list.

The grief felt like a void, like it was sucking me in and pushing on me, pulling me in and I couldn't even see or breathe, she said in an interview with The Associated Press. People who have been through things like this told me it gets better. And I really didn't believe them.... I want other people going through things to believe it does get better.



'Tragedy does not have to be personal, pervasive or permanent, but resilience can be. We can build it and carry it with us throughout our lives.'

--Sheryl Sandberg





Her new book  Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy, written with psychologist Adam Grant  chronicles the devastating loss, her grief and how she emerged from it with a new perspective on life. A humbled follow-up to her first book, Lean In , it's also a how-to, drawing from studies and the experiences of others to describe techniques for building strength and resilience and ways to support those going through hard times.

Sandberg also uses the new book to address what she now sees as shortcomings in the career advice she offered women in Lean In. Surveying the world as a wealthy corporate executive rendered her oblivious to the circumstances faced by less fortunate women, she acknowledged. Not everyone can lean in; not everyone wants to.

I didn't get it, she wrote. I didn't get how hard it is to succeed at work when you are overwhelmed at home.

THE FIRST MONTHS

The most affecting parts of the book recount not just Sandberg's grief, but that of her children. When she had to tell them that their father died. When, arriving at the cemetery for his funeral, they got out of the car and fell to the ground, unable to take another step. I lay on the grass, holding them as they wailed, unable to protect them from their sorrow.

It did get better, though slowly. Sandberg returned to work at Facebook in a haze, unable to summon her previous self-confidence.

I couldn't understand when friends didn't ask me how I was. I felt invisible, as if I was standing in front of them but they couldn't see me, she wrote, adding later, that by staying silent in such situations we often isolate friends, family and co-workers.

At Facebook, Sandberg has long been an advocate of bringing your whole self to work, meaning a willingness to share your personal life with co-workers. But this can get tricky when it comes to facing trauma. Sandberg found it difficult, and even considered carrying around a stuffed pachyderm to encourage co-workers and even friends to talk about the elephant in the room.

PICKING UP THE PIECES

Then one day, about a month after Goldberg died, she decided to post on Facebook about her grief, her gratitude toward her friends, and her related tumultuous feelings  for instance, coming to believe she would never again feel real joy. She wrote it out, not planning to share it publicly. After some more thought, she decided it couldn't possibly make things worse.

The change was immediate. Friends, co-workers and strangers  many of whom had dealt with loss themselves  began reaching out. It helped, Sandberg wrote. The post has been shared more than 400,000 times and has some 74,000 comments. It opened up a conversation.

I know it almost sounds silly because I certainly work at Facebook and I know what Facebook's mission is, she said. But experiencing it for myself was a very ... deep experience.

Talking about these things, as difficult as it might be, can be a lifeline. As is getting help at work, something Sandberg acknowledged not everyone can. Facebook has recently extended its bereavement policies to allow employees more time off after the death of a loved one. But Sandberg says supporting people once they are back at work  including reminding them that their contributions are needed and welcome  is just as important.

Death is not the only kind of adversity that summons up the elephant, Sandberg wrote in the book. Anything that reminds us of the possibility of loss can leave us at a loss for words. Financial difficulties. Divorce. Unemployment. Rape. Addiction. Incarceration. Illness.

BUILDING STRENGTH

A few weeks after she lost her husband, Sandberg was talking with a friend, making plans for someone to fill in for a father-child activity. Crying, she told the friend But I want Dave. He put his arm around her and said, Option A is not available. So let's just kick the s- out of Option B.

Sandberg said she believes strongly in pre-traumatic growth  people's ability to build up resilience before something bad happens so that they are able to deal with it better. She has peppered the book with anecdotes and studies about resilience, from the story of Malala Yousafzai, the 19-year-old Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace laureate, to that of the survivors of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes described in the book (and movie) Alive.

Tragedy does not have to be personal, pervasive or permanent, but resilience can be, she wrote. We can build it and carry it with us throughout our lives.




SoDo warehouse sells for $6M

SEATTLE  A warehouse property at 25 S. Hanford St. has sold for $5.94 million, according to King County records. The seller was Park East Building Inc., which acquired the property in 2008 for $4.1 million.

The buyer was Terreno Hanford LLC, which is associated with Terreno Realty Co. of San Francisco.

Publicly traded Terreno has been an active local buyer of warehouse, distribution and industrial properties. In February it paid $7.8 million for a similar property in Georgetown. The company owns and operates 12.1 million square feet in six coastal markets, with a focus on infill investment.

The Hanford property has 1.06 acres that were developed in 1952 with a 35,400-square-foot warehouse.

Kidder Mathews' first quarter report estimates that the industrial vacancy rate is 3.02 percent for the region and 1.46 percent for Seattle, and said, Demand for sale properties continues to remain high with a very limited supply.

The Hanford deal was worth about $168 per square foot. Brokers weren't announced.




A 45-year-old man who called a person working in a pizza restaurant a black b****** was warned by a District Court Judge that his liberty was very much at stake, Donegal town District Court has heard.

Thomas McCaughey of Annalitten, Castleblayney, County Monaghan was charged with assaulting Karnail Singh under section two of the non-fatal offences against the person act and being in breach of the peace at Apache Pizza, the Diamond, Donegal town on April 23rd.

The man, who owns his own business, represented himself in court.

Mr Singh told the court that McCaughey entered the premises around 4am and started to abuse and threaten him.

He told the court that McCaughey hit him and was really abusive.

Mr. Singh told the court that the accused said he was muslim and that he should go back to his own country. There were around twenty people on the premises at that time.

Judge Kevin Kilrane, advised McCaughey to get a solicitor, adding that his liberty was very much at stake. He described McCaugheys conduct as shocking behaviour.

McCaughey said that he had apologised for his actions.

Judge Kilrane ordered McCaughey to pay 1,000 compensation to Singh before May 22nd, adding that his behaviour was utterly unacceptable.

Judge Kilrane said should the monies be paid, there will be a fine.

The case was adjourned to May 22nd.
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Two candidates are going forward next week to the Sinn Fein convention, where local party members will select a replacement for former Donegal County Councillor, Mick Quinn.

Vying for the seat are Sean Johnny ODonnell, a full-time farmer and former Letterkenny Urban Councillor who was born in Letterkenny and later moved to Churchill; and Adrian Glackin of Glenswilly, current manager of Glenswilly GAA senior team and former chairperson of the club.

The convention will be held at 7.30pm, May 4th, at the Lagoon Restaurant and Guesthouse in Termon.

Mick Quinn stepped down from the council last month on health grounds, after serving for nearly eight years on Donegal County Council.

Sinn Fein Cllr. Jack Murray said that at the closing date for nominations there were two names put forward to contest the convention. He said voting will be open to Sinn Fein members in the Letterkenny Municipal District and the convention will be overseen by Sligo County Councillor, Chris McManus.

Cllr. Murray said the candidate who receives the most votes will represent the people of Donegal in the council on behalf of Sinn Fein.

That person will also take on the huge responsibility of filling the shoes of Mick Quinn, who first took a seat on Donegal County Council for our party back in 2009, Cllr. Murray said. Mick was an excellent public representative who worked tirelessly on behalf of the people who elected him. He was also a committed Irish republican and held his political principles with conviction.

Mick has set the bar very high for his successor but I am delighted that we have two excellent nominees going forward to convention, Cllr. Murray said.

Sean Johnny ODonnell was born in Letterkenny and later moved to Churchill where he is a full-time farmer. He was a Letterkenny Urban Councillor from 1974-79 and has been involved in republican politics and a variety of community and voluntary organisations over the last number of decades, including the National Waters Restoration League, Letterkenny Housing Action Committee, Donegal H-Block Committee, Anti-Extradition Committee, and Churchill Local Development Group. He was a founding member of other groups such as Letterkenny Area Development Association, Integrated group for people with disabilities, Derryveagh Glens Community Group and Meenaboll Environmental Protection Group.

Sean was also a founding member and chairperson of the Donegal Branch of the Buddy Bear Appeal from 1988  1998, when almost 200,000 was raised in aid of children with cerebral palsy and spina bifida.

Adrian Glackin from Glenswilly is the current manager of Glenswilly GAA senior team, and served as chairperson of the club in 2012.

He worked in Tesco, Letterkenny from 1996-2016, where he became line manager. During this time, he led a walkout of Letterkenny Shopping Centre staff in a dispute against centre management over the withdrawal of free parking spaces for staff in February and March 2008. Adrian then organised meetings, got customer support in the form of petitions and helped gain support from the general public by publicising the issues in local media.
A young Donegal man has been jailed for a year for a theft spree in South Donegal that happened on dates between January 2016 and January 2017.

20-year-old Nathan Coughlan Armada Cottages, Bundoran pleaded guilty to a total of 19 charges that occurred in Bundoran, Donegal Town and Lough Derg.

He admitted stealing various items to the total value of 1,900 euro, before Ballyshannon District Court.

Two of the charges related to incidents in chapels in Bundoran.

Judge Kevin Kilrane originally jailed Coughlan for a total of 20 months but suspended the final eight months of the sentence.

He was banned from driving for five years.

A number of the jail sentences were concurrent and a number of the offences were taken into consideration.

The defendant pleaded guilty to driving with no insurance at Supermacs Car Park Bundoran on January 27 last year and theft at the Aparthotel, Bundoran on October 28 last year.

He also pleaded guilty to theft at Armada Cottages on a date unknown between July 31 and August 13 last year.

The defendant admitted stealing 50 euro in coins from the Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Bundoran on August 24 last year and theft of cash and coins on July 13 last from the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Church Road Bundoran.

He admitted stealing 18 bottles of Smirnoff to the value of 504 at Supervalu, The Glebe Donegal Town on May 17 last year and 550 euro from Wilmots Amusement Arcade, Bundoran having entered as a trespasser on May 30 last year.

The defendant pleaded guilty to stealing 105 euro from Leahy Hairdressers, Church Road, Bundoran on May 16 last year and handling nine stolen curtains to the value of 650 euro on January 30 last year.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to stealing a Black River Island Purse at the Aparthotel, Bundoran on October 28 last year.

He further admitted stealing two windbreakers to the value of 100 euro at Lough Derg on July 25 last year.

And he pleaded guilty to driving with no insurance or licence at West End Bundoran and driving at Supermacs with no licence on January 27 this year.

The court heard the defendant had been given a suspended jail sentence for robbery in November 2014 at Ennis Circuit Court.

Defence solicitor Gerry McGovern said it was very hard to see any light for his client who was totally wasting his life.

He was just wandering in and out of shops and walking out the doors and would be spending a lot of time in jail.

And it would not take a great detective to solve these crimes.

Mr Mc Govern said he hoped that while inside, some Probation officer or psychiatrist could help the defendant as he was going to spend a lot of time behind bars.

The defendant was in a relationship and a lot of his crimes were petty but nasty.

The defendant said he had a cocaine problem, but if he did he would be better getting something dome about it.

Judge Kevin Kilrane said the crimes before the court were committed while the defendant had a three years suspended jail sentence hanging over him.

You are not stupid and are a quite intelligent fellow so why would you go and commit these offences,  asked the judge.

The judge said he did not need any Probation Report.
NEW BROCKTON  Turns lanes that will be used to enter Shell Field may be coming after the Coffee County Commission approved a request to initialize the project.

County engineer Randy Tindell asked the commission Monday to start the paperwork and bidding process for the project. He explained a turn lane would be installed in the center of Shell Field Road and one on the side that would allow motorists to turn right into the U.S. Army heliport.

Tindell added the state of Alabama would pay for the project, which is occurring at the request of Fort Rucker officials. He said construction is still several months from beginning.

In other action, the commission:

* Approved aligning the countys back to school sales tax holiday to match the states tax holiday. In years past the tax holiday has been the first weekend in August, but this year it will be from July 21-23.

* Approved a resolution recognizing the 49th anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act.

* Heard a report from Sheriff Dave Sutton regarding the Boll Weevil 100 race that will take place on May 6. Sutton said several reserve officers and members of the sheriffs posse will support the race. Sutton also encouraged local motorists to be vigilant around the bike riders.
A 1.5-mile section of West College Street will be resurfaced in the future thanks to an agreement the City of Enterprise has made with the Alabama Department of Transportation.

The Enterprise City Council on Tuesday approved the agreement, which is an 80/20 matching grant. With the total cost of the project estimated to be $405,000, the state will pay about $300,000, according to Enterprise mayor Kenneth Boswell.

Boswell said the city will budget its share of the project for the 2018 fiscal year.

The section that will be resurfaced begins at the city limits just inside the western section of Boll Weevil Circle and ends at Kentucky Street. Boswell said the project leaves the concrete section that approaches the downtown area.

Simultaneously with that project, the city will also replace some culverts along the stretch of road. Boswell said the city obtained a federal grant for that project following major erosion caused by torrential downpours earlier this year.
In a key scene in the iconic movie All the Presidents Men, Robert Redford, as Bob Woodward, has a surreptitious meeting with Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook) to gather information that would lead to the exposure of the Watergate cover-up and the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Follow the money, Deep Throat says. It was simple and direct, and in the end, was solid advice.

That would not have been a simple task in Alabama, where campaign funding has traditionally been a street-corner con, like three-card Monte or a shell game, in which campaign donations are transferred among political action committees until they are virtually impossible to track.

Its surprising that the Alabama Legislature approved a measure in 2010 that would ban the transfer of campaign funds between PACs, but its not surprising that the new law was quickly met with a legal challenge. The Alabama Democratic Conference had a PAC which had been receiving funds from entities such as the Alabama Education Association, the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, the state Democratic Party and others. The ADC argued that the law restricted political speech in violation of the constitution, a position rejected by both the trial court and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the ADCs challenge, effectively upholding Alabamas ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers.

Its an important win for transparency in government in Alabama, as the restriction makes hiding the source of political contributions far more difficult.
What is it?

The Tucson is one of the most popular compact SUVs in Australia at the moment, a five-seater soft roader that combines all of the strengths of the South Korean brand  good value, decent equipment, five-star safety and locally-tuned suspension that makes it both comfortable and enjoyable to drive.

It is an old name on a new model that launched in 2015 as a replacement for the slightly smaller ix35 and slots into one of the most competitive and broadest segments of the automotive landscape, up against rivals such as the Mazda CX-5, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV-4, Kia Sportage and numerous others.

How many models can I choose from?

There are 10 different variants of the Tucson spread across four model grades, starting with the entry-level Active which is offered with either a recently updated 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder driving the front wheels via either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission or a 2.0-litre turbo diesel with all-wheel drive and an automatic as standard.

Even in its most basic configuration, the Tucson Active rides on 17-inch alloy wheels, has cruise control, manual air conditioning, LED daytime lights, and a 7.0-inch colour touchscreen with Bluetooth, Apple Carplay and a reverse camera.

It also comes with six airbags, hill descent control and hill start assist and reverse parking sensors

The next-level Active X is only available with the petrol four cylinder engine in front-wheel drive but adds leather-appointed seat trim, larger 18-inch alloys, electric folding and heated side mirrors and matte grey exterior highlights.

The mid-spec Elite is offered with both 2.0-litre engine options plus a more modern 1.6-litre turbo charged four cylinder with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel drive. The Elite trim also brings LED headlights, electric adjustment for the driver's seat, dual-zone air conditioning, keyless entry and push-button start, a larger 8.0-inch multimedia system with sat nav and a hands-free powered tailgate.

The range-topping Highlander is only available with the 1.6-litre turbo petrol or 2.0-litre turbo diesel engines and has larger 19-inch alloys, heated and ventilated front seats, a panoramic glass sunroof, a cooled glovebox, rain-sensing wipers, LED tail lights and the full suite of active driver aids, including automated emergency braking, front parking sensors and lane departure and blind spot warnings.

Photo: Mark Bean What do they cost?

The Active is one of the most affordable compact SUVs with a starting price of $28,590 (plus on-road costs) for the petrol variant with a manual transmission. An automatic gearbox costs an additional $2500 and the diesel adds another $5000.

The Active X costs $31,150 (plus on-roads) in manual form with the automatic also adding $2500.

The Elite starts at $36,250 (plus on-roads) for the 2.0-litre petrol variant with the 1.6-litre turbo costing $39,250 (plus on-roads) and the diesel costs $41,250 (plus on-roads).

Stumping up for the full-of-fruit Highlander will set you back $45,450 (plus on-roads) for the petrol variant and tops out at $47,450 (plus on-roads) for the diesel.

Any options that I need to know about?

With so many models to choose from, Hyundai keeps the options list relatively simple. Premium metallic or mica paint alternatives cost an additional $595 while a beige interior trim can be added to the Active X, Elite or Highlander versions for $295 and a red interior can be ordered on the Highlander only for the same price. The full-length sunroof can also be added to the Active X and Elite models for an extra $2000.
Details of a meeting between Deputies Declan Breathnach, Gerry Adams and Fergus O'Dowd with with Drumcar SJOG and the HSE have been released.

Both O'Dowd and Adams spoke of the meeting, which took place on April 14th.

Following on from a meeting in March with Declan Moore, Regional Director of St John of Gods North East, all parties agreed that a meeting with the Louth Oireachtas Members, Mr Moore and the Jude O'Neill HSE's Head of Social Care for CH08 would be beneficial to outline the very serious concerns family members had in relation to service provision in Drumcar and in particular the lack of respite services available.

Deputy O'Dowd said: The need to prioritise the significant shortfalls in respite was one the main issues highlighted. Respite is something that I have campaigned on for some time and I'm extremely disappointed that we have not seen an improvement in this area.

Many other important service issues were also discussed including the concerns of family members who have loved ones in the residential units in Drumcar.

Mr Moore and Mr O'Neill both agreed to communicate and draft a plan to address the significant shortcomings in the next few weeks.

It is unacceptable that families with loved ones in need of vital services are currently unable to access them. The pressure and stress families are enduring must end.

It is hoped that a meeting with the Louth Oireachtas members and the Minister for Disabilities Finian McGrath will take place shortly to further progress solutions for the concerned families we represent. Minister McGrath, under my invitation visited the Drumcar National School recently and again I highlighted the major concerns that related to funding and provisions for the school in the immediate future and when a new site is confirmed for the New St Marys Special School.

Deputy Adams also released a statement on the meeting saying: 

I have spoken to many constituents recently who are carers for their relatives with intellectual disabilities. They all raise similar issues with me.

The lack of regular and appropriately lengthy respite, and in some cases no respite provision.

The absence of future residential accommodation for adults with intellectual disabilities who are currently being cared for at home.

Flaws in the blanket application of the policy of decongregation, particularly for those who have lived practically all their lives in St Marys Drumcar and who have high support needs.

All of the above, combined with the fact that there are no dedicated emergency respite beds in the county of Louth, are pointing towards a worsening crisis for people with disabilities.

I had received assurances from Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath in the summer of 2016, following the complete cancellation of respite in Drumcar, that respite would be a priority for Budget 2017. 

Yet a response to my parliamentary question states that Disability Services for Co Louth has not been made aware of any additional funding allocation for 2017 for respite services in Co Louth.

This is an incredibly frustrating situation for these families. They are not being treated properly by this Government.

Those in attendance at this meeting have decided to request a meeting for all Louth Oireachtas members with Finian McGrath to raise concerns in person with him.

This Government must be held to account for the decisions it makes.
Working is motoring ahead on the Colaiste Chu Chulainn at its site on Marshes.

As can be seen from these photographs, walls are already starting to go up.

The Minister for Education & Skills, Richard Bruton T.D attended the turning of the sod at Colaiste Chu Chulainn yesterday (Monday).

The delivery of this project is a key action in the Governments Action Plan for Education, which aims to make the Irish education and training system the best in Europe within a decade.

A contract for in excess of 16m for the construction of a new 1000-pupil post-primary school building for Colaiste Chu Chulainn was signed in January.

The school is located on lands opposite the Marshes Shopping Centre and will provide state of the art facilities for the pupils and teachers. The accommodation being provided will also include a two-classroom ASD Unit.

The Contractor is Ganson Building and Civil Engineering Contractors Ltd, who are based in Balbriggan and they were represented by David Rogers, Company Director.

Site clearance work commenced shortly before Christmas and it is expected that works will be completed by the summer of 2018 with pupils taking up occupation in September of that year.

Funding for the new school, which operates under the patronage of the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, is being provided by the Department of Education and Skills with Louth County Council managing the construction of the school building on the Departments behalf.

A new public park and playground will be provided as part of the contract.

The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD, said that he was delighted that this project had now gone to construction.

Under the Governments Action Plan for Education, which aims to make Ireland the best Education and training system in Europe within a decade, we will invest hundreds of millions to provide thousands of new school places in state of the art facilities. Students in Louth will benefit from the opportunity to learn in new and improved teaching spaces and modern educational facilities built to a very high standard.

The Minister thanked Louth County Council for delivering the project on the Departments behalf. He commended the inter-agency co-operation between his Department and Louth County Council for the delivery of a major piece of infrastructural provision which, will not alone be of enormous benefit to its pupils, teachers and parents but also to the wider community in Dundalk.
Stunning show apartment coming soon at Osiers Point, Wandsworth

London property-seekers with an eye for style will soon be able to catch a glimpse of the fantastic show apartment coming soon to Taylor Wimpeys sought-after Osiers Point development in Wandsworth.

The magnificent two-bedroom show apartment will be unveiled on Sunday 7th May for visitors to get a tantalising glimpse of the high-specification of this stunning collection of homes, which benefits from a prime location by the River Thames and enjoys a vibrant nightlife and vast range of restaurants and bars on the doorstep.

Finishing touches are being made to the amazing two-bedroom show apartment before it is officially launched, and prospective purchasers are being encouraged to save the date and sample the wonderful lifestyle opportunities available at this popular development.

Susan Joseph, Regional Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey, says: Were very excited about the launch of this fantastic new show apartment, which will showcase the very latest interior trends to reflect the carefully-planned layout and spacious design of typical homes at the development.

Property-seekers can really be inspired by the fabulous furnishings and interior design of the new show apartment, so Id encourage anyone who is interested to visit the development and see this outstanding property when it launches on Sunday 7th May!

Theres a stunning selection of homes currently available to reserve at Osiers Point, including one-bedroom apartments priced from 515,000 and two-bedroom designs from 620,000.

The two-bedroom plot 71 apartment, priced at 620,000, for example, boasts an open-plan kitchen/living/dining room which opens out to a private balcony and a private terrace, an en-suite master bedroom, a further good-sized bedroom, a main bathroom and a useful storage cupboard off the internal entrance hallway.

Located in Osiers Road, Point Pleasant, between Putney Bridge and Wandsworth Bridge, Osiers Point benefits from a host of places to eat and shops on the doorstep, as well as quick links into central London within easy reach.

Just a few minutes stroll from the new homes is Wandsworth Park, while the independent shops, cafes and bistros of Old York Road, and the Southside shopping centre, cinema and restaurant complex, are located on Wandsworth High Street.

Regular direct services operate to Waterloo from Wandsworth Town railway station in as little as 14 minutes. East Putney underground station is also just a short walk away and lies on the Wimbledon branch of the District line, making Osiers Point an ideal location for commuters.

River taxis run at peak times in the morning and evening between Putney and Blackfriars and stop at Wandsworth alongside the Riverside Quarter development, making commuting to work by river a stress-free option.

The new show apartment is launching between 11am and 6pm on Sunday 7th May at Osiers Point, located on Osiers Road, Point Pleasant, Wandsworth, SW18 1NL. The development is open Friday to Monday from 11am to 6pm and Thursdays 12pm to 7pm. Alternatively, visit taylorwimpey.co.uk.
Whether out singer-songwriter Amy Ray is performing with longtime musical partner Emily Saliers as one half of the Indigo Girls as she has since the mid-1980s or going solo as she did with her solo debut "Stag" in 2001, you can recognize her instantly.
UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd on Sunday called for greater government access to encrypted content on mobile apps.

Apps with end-to-end encryption, like Facebooks WhatsApp, should not be allowed to conceal terrorists communications from law enforcement, Rudd said in an appearance on The Andrew Marr Show, a BBC broadcast.

There should be no place for terrorists to hide, she said. We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp  and there are plenty of others like that  dont provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other.

Khalid Masood, who killed four people outside the UKs parliament building last week before being shot dead, reportedly used WhatsApp a few minutes before going on his murder spree.

On this situation, we need to make sure that our intelligence services have the ability to get into situations like encrypted WhatsApp, Rudd maintained.

Backdoor Law in Place?

Even though she supported end-to-end encryption as a cybersecurity measure, Rudd later said in an interview on Sky News, it was absurd to have terrorists talking on a formal platform and not have access to those conversations.

We are horrified at the attack carried out in London and are cooperating with law enforcement as they continue their investigations, WhatsApp spokesperson Anne Yeh said in a statement provided to TechNewsWorld.

During her appearance on Marrs show, Rudd disclosed that she would be meeting with Facebook and other technology companies on Thursday to discuss ways to meet the information needs of security officers. She did not rule out new legislation to regulate encrypted messaging if the government and the tech companies were unable to reach an accord.

However, that law may already exist. The UK last year adopted the Investigatory Powers Act, which compels tech companies to provide a technical capability to remove electronic protection within their products. That law has been interpreted in some quarters to mean that tech companies can be compelled to install backdoors into their products in order to decrypt data when necessary.

A backdoor would not have helped prevent Masoods attack, however.

To use a backdoor, you have to identify somebody as a target and hack them, explained Matthew Green, a computer science professor specializing in cryptography at Johns Hopkins University.

With this terrorist, they identified this person and decided he wasnt a threat and stopped monitoring him, he told TechNewsWorld. Nothing is going to help once you look at a guy then look away.

No Door Secure Enough

Backdoors have been criticized as a means to meet the information needs of law enforcement because they undermine the purpose of encryption.

Many technologists and even many in law enforcement have acknowledged theres no secure backdoor, said Chris Calabrese, vice president for policy at the Center for Democracy & Technology.

You simply cannot build a door that only the good guys can walk through, he told TechNewsWorld. If you start building backdoors, they will be exploited by hackers; they will be exploited by terrorists.

Tech companies have been skeptical of creating backdoors to break the encryption used by their products and then turning over the keys to law enforcement.

Another idea floated is that the companies should create the backdoors but retain control of the keys to prevent abuse.

That wont work. The systems are too complicated and the backdoors too difficult to keep secure, Calabrese said.

Companies dont want to have to worry about their employees misusing these keys, and they dont want to have to secure them, said Johns Hopkins Green.

Application Hopping

Even if backdoors were installed in applications like WhatsApp, they most likely would miss their mark  assuming that mark is to prevent terrorists from communicating securely.

If the bad guys feel that this application has been compromised by government officials and backdoors become available, this leads to a simple response by the bad guys  use a different application, explained Paul Calatayud, CTO at FireMon.

WhatsApp is a third-party application on a mobile device, he told TechNewsWorld. Nothing prevents the bad guys from moving to a lesser known third-party application.

While WhatsApp cant crack the encrypted contents on the parliament killers phone, it still can provide authorities with information about the terrorists phone activity  such as the time a message was sent, who it was sent to, and the physical location of the sender and recipient.

It doesnt matter what this guy said before he did this thing, said Bruce Schneier, CTO of IBM Resilient. What matters is who it was, and WhatsApp doesnt protect that.

Investigators can access all kinds of information without recourse to backdoors, he told TechNewsWorld, but that would require a real conversation about the problem, which you dont get from these people who grandstand after tragedies.
Privacy advocates and consumer groups are fighting back against the U.S. Senates Thursday vote to undo privacy restrictions on Internet service providers.

In a 50-48 party line vote, the Senate approved the Congressional Review Act, S.J. Res. 34. If the House of Representatives gives it the green light, it then will go to the president to be signed into law.

Were working actively with a coalition of other consumer groups pushing to defeat the resolution in the House, said John Simpson, director of the Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project.

If the consumer groups dont succeed in the House, we will remind President Trump that he has expressed concerns about invasions of his own privacy, and call upon him to veto the resolution to protect consumers, Simpson told the E-Commerce Times.

Meanwhile, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has put up a Web page urging consumers to call their members of Congress about the resolution.

The Center for Democracy & Technology also has pledged to fight the resolution.

Without the FCC rule, Americans will have no real privacy protections online because of current limitations placed on the Federal Trade Commission by Congress and the courts, said Katharina Kopp, policy director at the Center for Digital Democracy.

For example, an ISP could infer a subscriber was unemployed, based on online usage patterns, and sell this information to predatory financial vendors, which can have unforeseen consequences, Kopp told the E-Commerce Times.

What the Legislation Provides

The Senate resolution lifts the FCC privacy rules adopted last fall.

The rules require, among other things, that ISPs get opt-in consent from consumers before sharing such sensitive information as geolocation data; financial data; health data; childrens personal information; Social Security numbers; Web browsing and app usage history; and the content of communications.

The resolution enables ISPs to profit by collecting and selling consumer information without prior consent or notification, said James Scott, senior fellow at the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology.

Further, ISPs will continue to operate without associated liability, culpability, and accountability for the irresponsible collection, dissemination and exposure of consumer data the resolution will enable, Scott told the E-Commerce Times.

Redlining and other discriminatory practices in housing and loan pricing could be facilitated, noted Consumer Watchdogs Simpson, and drug companies could assemble extremely personal health information and use it to target consumers without running afoul of HIPAA.

Psychographic big data algorithms are powerful enough to precision-target and leverage pretty much anyone being targeted, ICITs Scott warned. Get ready for turnkey nation state perception steering and psychographically targeted propaganda unlike anything weve seen before.

Can Consumers Protect Themselves?

Consumers will have to encrypt all their traffic, using either a virtual private network or Tor, advised EFF Senior Staff Technologist Jeremy Gillula.

You cant just install Privacy Badger or browse in incognito or private mode, he told the E-Commerce Times.

However, VPNs usually cost money, and you have to trust your VPN provider not to spy on you instead, Gillula pointed out, while Tor users frequently encounter excessive CAPTCHAs and other impediments to browsing freely since websites often treat Tor users differently.

Forever and Ever, Oh Man!

The FCC cant do anything if the Congressional Review Act is signed into law, because CRAs prohibit an agency from passing a new regulation in the same form or one that is substantially the same, Simpson observed.

Further, because the FCC reclassified broadband access providers as common carriers to enact Net neutrality, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission would have no jurisdiction, he noted.

There would be no privacy rules, said Simpson, and nobody could enact them.
Protecting the data in electronic health records did not start with the advent of HIPAA  the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996  as many people think. Protecting health records has been a critical requirement in the healthcare space since the computers became a fixture in hospitals. However, HIPAA added public reports of fines issued for covered entities failure to properly protect data contained within EHRs.

Many people assume that EHR data has limited value to unauthorized users. (Who cares about my blood test results, or that I just visited my dermatologist?) Understanding their value is quite simple, though. In addition to personal health information, or PHI, EHRs contain Social Security numbers, which never expire  and cybercriminal use of SSNs is not easily detected.

No Expiration Date

Stealing EHRs is better for cybercriminals than stealing credit cards, which can be used only until the card expires, is maxed out or canceled, according to a Trend Micro study released last month.

an EHR database containing PII that do not expire  such as Social Security numbers  can be used multiple times for malicious intent, the study explains. Stolen EHR can be used to acquire prescription drugs, receive medical care, falsify insurance claims, file fraudulent tax returns, open credit accounts, obtain official government-issued documents such as passports [and] drivers licenses, and even create new identities.

Another important statistic that helps explain why cybercriminals are attracted to EHR data is that 91 percent of the U.S. population has health insurance. Its no wonder, then, that 113.2 million healthcare-related records were stolen in 2015, according to Trend Micro.

What About Federal Laws?

Everyone remembers signing dozens of documents before getting to see a doctor. If you were to read each document, you would find that you agreed to allow the protection of your personal health information. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for HIPAA oversight.

Under HIPAA, all covered entities must protect PHI in very specific ways. Healthcare providers that are covered entities include doctors, clinics, psychologists, dentists, chiropractors, nursing homes and pharmacies  but only if they transmit any information in an electronic form in connection with a transaction for which HHS has adopted a standard.

There are thousands of covered entities out there, including solo doctors, psychologists, dentists, and chiropractors, all of whom have the duty to protect PHI  but how do small practitioners who cannot properly afford the IT infrastructure protect PHI?

Small covered entities hire a company to help, which HIPAA refers to as a business associate. Under HIPAA, each business associate must sign an agreement with the covered entity to protect PHI, aptly termed a business associate agreement, or BAA.

Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, a BAA allows covered providers and health plans to disclose protected health information to these business associates if the providers or plans obtain satisfactory assurances that the business associate will use the information only for the purposes for which it was engaged by the covered entity, will safeguard the information from misuse, and will help the covered entity comply with some of the covered entitys duties under the Privacy Rule.

The HHS offers a sample BAA that explains the business associates potential liability under HIPAA:A business associate is directly liable under the HIPAA Rules and subject to civil and, in some cases, criminal penalties for making uses and disclosures of protected health information that are not authorized by its contract or required by law. A business associate also is directly liable and subject to civil penalties for failing to safeguard electronic protected health information in accordance with the HIPAA Security Rule.Given the potential liability, all covered entities and business associates use extraordinary efforts to protect PHI and EHRs.

Who Protects EHRs?

The HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Investigates civil rights, health information privacy, and patient safety confidentiality complaints to identify discrimination or violation of the law and take action to correct problems.

The OCR frequently reports covered entities that fail to protect PHI properly, and those entities are fined accordingly.

A number of states, including Texas, New York and Ohio, have created their own laws to protect PHI. Texas in 2011 passed House Bill 300, which places stricter requirements on patient health privacy than those required by HIPAA and also expands the definition of covered entities to include those that come into possession of, obtain, assemble, collect, analyze, evaluate, store, or transmit protected health information.

Given their immense long-term value, cybercriminals likely will target PHI and EHR databases for years to come, so it is incumbent upon all covered entities and business associates to make the safety of this information a top priority, and do everything possible to protect their PHI and EHR databases.
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The Buffalo Pipeline, owned by Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., leaked approximately 450 barrels, or roughly 18,900 gallons, of crude oil onto farmland in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma last week.

Wheat farmer and cattle rancher Steve Pope told local TV station KFOR that he has lost an estimated 120 acres of pasture and wheat crop from the spill.

The National Response Center on Sunday listed internal corrosion of the pipeline as the likely cause of the discharge.

Plains All American Pipeline released a statement about the spill:

On Friday, April 21, 2017, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. experienced a crude oil release on our Buffalo Pipeline, near Loyal, Okla. We are following our emergency response plan, and our staff is working with regulators and affected landowners. Our current priorities are to ensure the safety of all involved and limit the environmental impact of the release.

The oil spill happened less than 1,000 feet from the nearby Cooper Creek, which feeds into the Cimarron River, but the spill was contained on Popes fields. Cleanup is underway at the site of the leak.

Pope expressed concerns about the damage from the spill as well as President Trumps proposed budget cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), now led by former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.

What bothers me is we keep seeing the EPA being cut so much, Pope told KFOR.

A lot of the regulations that have been put on the oil companies are there for a reason. Sure, there are probably some that are over-regulated but, without those regulations, I wonder if I would have had as quick of a response for guys to come out here and start cleaning this up.

Plains All American Pipeline is one of the largest energy companies in the country with an extensive energy infrastructure in the United States and Canada. The company says it handles an average of 4.6 million barrels per day of crude oil and natural gas liquids in its transportation segment.

But the company has had a long history of pipeline issues, KFOR pointed out. Citing data from the U.S. Department of Transportations Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the oil company was behind more than 25 pipeline incidents in the state of Oklahoma since 2006, with 14 incidents listing corrosion as a cause and six due to material, welding or equipment failures.

Al Jazeera detailed the companys extensive history safety and environmental violations in other states, including its citation for 10 oil spills that violated the Clean Water Act in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Last year, Plains was also indicted for a major May 2015 spill that spewed 140,000 gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara, California that fouled miles of shoreline and killed hundreds of seabirds and marine animals.
What Is the Keystone Pipeline?

The Keystone pipeline is an existing structure that carries oil from Alberta, Canada, down to Cushing, Oklahoma. The major controversy surrounds a proposed 1,200-mile extension, or shortcut, between Alberta and Nebraska. Dubbed the Keystone XL pipeline, this additional route would connect into the existing Keystone pipeline in Nebraska, which extends onward to Texas. Its worth noting that the proposed shortcut shouldnt be confused with an already existing Keystone XL extension between Oklahoma and Texas, called the Gulf Coast pipeline, which has been operating since 2014.

The additional extension has been under consideration since 2008, when Canadian-based TC Energy (known as TransCanada at the time) decided this would be the best way to ramp up oil production as the route would allow 830,000 barrels a day to be transported to Texas. The current pipeline carries around 550,000 barrels a day from Canada. However, the proposed shortcut faced almost immediate objections from a varied contingency concerning the pipelines environmental impact. For more than a decade the project has been caught in a tug of war between political administrations, environmentalists and oil lobbyists, alternating between having permits granted then revoked. The battle continues to this day.

How Much of the Keystone Pipeline Is Completed?

Its estimated that just eight percent of the Keystone XL pipeline has been built so far, although President Joe Biden canceled the project in January 2021.

History

Understanding the fuller picture of the pipelines complicated history involves some patience. The pipeline first underwent environmental review by the U.S. State Department in 2009. Around this time, Nebraskans started raising concerns about the pipelines potential impact on farmland and a major water system. The State Department approved the pipeline moving forward in 2010 after determining it would have a minimal effect on the environment, but this only increased opposition from state legislators and scientists. As a result, the State Department delayed the project for another year pending additional review, yet came to the same conclusion in 2011.

Following increased protest activity that year surrounding environmental concerns in Nebraska, the department revised its decision and ordered the pipeline to be rerouted through the state, and TC Energy agreed. Yet this wasnt the end. Barack Obama, president at the time, blocked the Alberta to Nebraska extension based on insufficient time for officials to properly review the new proposed route.

Meanwhile, TC Energy moved forward with the southern extension from Oklahoma to Texas in 2012 while re-submitting a new reroute application for the first leg. No sooner did Nebraska approve the new route in 2013 before opponents filed a lawsuit against the state government. In 2014 a Nebraska judge ruled in favor of the opposition, and the State Department once again suspended moving forward. After being laddered up to the Nebraska Supreme Court, the previous ruling was overturned in 2015 and the U.S. Senate greenlit Keystone XL to resume yet again. President Obama immediately vetoed the bill; later that year the administration rejected TC Energys reroute application, putting a supposed end to the project.

That is, until Donald Trump took office in 2016. One of President Trumps first orders revived the Keystone XL pipeline in 2017. A federal judge blocked that order in 2018, pending an environmental review. Not to be outdone, President Trump issued a presidential permit in 2019 allowing the pipeline to proceed, and construction began in 2020.

Why Is There So Much Opposition?



Members of the Cowboy and Indian Alliance, including Native Americans, farmers and ranchers from across the United States, begin a demonstration against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in front of the U.S. Capitol April 22, 2014 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

The type of oil that TC Energy wants to transport from Alberta via the XL pipeline is known as tar sands, a thick-as-molasses oil due to a hydrocarbon substance called bitumen, which also contains a mixture of clay, sand and water. This type of oil is considered one of the dirtiest fossil fuels on the planet. Extracting it involves clearing large swaths of biodiverse boreal forest and using steam to liquefy the underground bitumen. All of this comes at a great cost to the environment and contributes to climate change, explaining why so many different groups are opposed to the project. Yet just as many groups have political and financial reasons to keep the Keystone XL pipeline alive.

Financial Motivators

For starters, the U.S. oil industry finds tar sands oil attractive because it means less of a reliance on oil from the Middle East, while the XL extension would prove cheaper than using rail transportation. Investors also want to protect their stake in the $8 billion pipeline.

Then there are other industry supporters, including the National Association of Manufacturers and construction unions, who have vested reasons for supporting claims that the pipeline would rely on renewable energy and achieve net-zero emissions by 2023, according to TC Energy. However, fully offsetting pipeline emissions wouldnt help to reduce any of the emissions created by those using the actual tar sands oil.

The Global Energy Institute within the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports Keystone XL because it claims the pipelines construction would provide more than 13,000 jobs to Americans and Canadians and generate $3.4 billion in U.S. GDP growth. That number also encompasses millions from state and local taxes. The Global Energy Institute has recently accused President Biden of making a politically motivated decision to cancel the pipeline, claiming that the pipeline would in fact protect the environment while boosting the domestic economy.

Yet there are valid claims that the refined tar sands oil wouldnt even be sold in the U.S., but instead benefit the global market since Canada is free to sell the oil to anyone, all while the pipeline takes a toll on American land and water.

Not only that, but the State Department estimated that Keystone XL would ultimately create just 35 full-time jobs to operate the pipeline  so the thousands that are touted would be temporary jobs.

Political Motivators

The pipeline became caught in political crosshairs since it crosses the Canadian border, meaning TC Energy cant proceed without a permit from the U.S. State Department.

Keystone XL has become highly politicized since its introduction in 2008, with democrats concerned about climate change (generally) opposing it and republicans who deny climate change (generally) supporting it. As mentioned in the timeline, former President Obama continually rejected the pipeline due to concerns about the rushed nature of environmental considerations. Later, former President Trump sought to immediately restore the Keystone XL project upon taking office: in part because his predecessor rejected it, and in part because of motivators that had more to do with maintaining economic reliance on the fossil fuel trade and less to do with worrying about climate change issues.

Ultimately, the real issue comes down to the environment.

How Does the Pipeline Impact the Environment and Society?



Heavy oil seen mixed with water in a tailings pond in the Alberta Oilsands. dan_prat / iStock / Getty Images

Tar Sands Oil



As previously touched upon, tar sands is not your average oil. Accessing it requires two different methods, neither of which is environmentally friendly. Both require water from the nearby Athabasca River in Alberta, taxing its finite quantities. The first method, involving surface mining, creates gallons of wastewater in the process. This wastewater is stored in tailings ponds, where the toxic water is more likely to leak into the environment. The other method involves pumping steam underground in order to access the needed bitumen through a well. This method also requires burning fossil fuels in the process. In fact, extracting tar sands oil produces more greenhouse gas emissions than extracting other natural resources.

Extraction methods arent the only environmental threat. Oil pipeline leaks and spills are very real dangers too. In 2010, a faulty pipeline carrying tar sands oil leaked 843,000 gallons into Michigans Kalamazoo River. Owned by Canadian-based Enbridge, the companys slow response to stop the spill prompted area evacuations and permanently damaged the Talmadge Creek, the initial site of the spill. The incident is considered the largest inland oil spill to occur in the U.S. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that the oil damaged more than 1,560 acres of streams and rivers and negatively impacted at least 4,000 area animals that needed to be saved. Not only that, but removing bitumen from the environment is a far more costly and involved process than typical crude oil, itself a costly and involved process. Whereas crude oil floats on a surface, bitumen sinks.

Then theres the matter of using tar sands oil itself as a fossil fuel. As it stands, burning the full amount that current technology is able to extract would contribute 22 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere. The worst-case scenario predicts burning the maximum amount of tar sands oil that exists in Alberta would increase global warming by 0.4 degrees Celsius.

Indigenous Tribes

Parts of the proposed Keystone XL extension would run through or close to Indigenous territory, potentially threatening drinking water sources. There have already been oil leaks along existing parts of the Keystone pipeline, and the affected tribes, including the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, have no reason to believe the extension would be any different. Besides the environmental dangers, the initial permits granted by the State Department ignored existing treaties between the government and Tribal Nations.

Farmers and Ranchers

Tribes arent the only ones whose rights and land have been threatened by the pipeline. Farms and ranches along the route have faced eminent domain, which would allow the government to take control of private land for public use; i.e., handing it over to TC Energy regardless of opposition. Nebraska has been a battleground state, with an estimated 92 percent of its land belonging to family-owned farms and ranches. Also at stake would be the Ogallala aquifer, an underwater supply that provides water to most of the state. If thats contaminated by leaks, the ramifications would take a toll on public health, agriculture, livestock and wildlife. One study estimates that even a small leak could contaminate five billion gallons of water. Its not just the tar-like bitumen that poses this danger; transporting sludgy tar sands oil requires carcinogenic chemicals to dilute it enough for pipelines.

Public Health

Tar sands oil poses additional hazards, both to local Alberta residents and those who live along the proposed route. Numerous studies have already linked higher cancer rates from polluted air and water in areas where people live near tar sands oil production or tar sand spills.

Wildlife

Its not just the public who is at risk. For example, Nebraska is home to 20,000 acres of dunes and prairie hills known as Sandhills. Its a popular pitstop for migrating sandhill cranes in particular. TC Energys proposed reroute would still cut straight through this region; a leak of any size could prove disastrous.

When Did the Pipeline Leak and Why?

Despite TC Energy touting an advanced leak detection system, the existing pipeline has leaked dozens of times since its inception in 2010, and locals have often been the first to notice and report many of them.

There were 35 leaks in the pipelines first year alone, including a 21,000-gallon spill impacting North Dakota. In 2016, about 16,800 gallons of oil leaked in South Dakota, but that was small compared to the following year, when 210,000 gallons spilled near the small town of Amherst, South Dakota. TC Energy later revised that number to 407,000 gallons of leaked oil. In 2019, an additional 378,000 gallons spilled in North Dakota.

Tar sands oil is more likely to leak than crude oil due to its corrosive nature and the high temperatures needed to transport it, and leaks are also much harder to detect. Not only that, but cleaning it up has proven to be a Herculean task. An NRDC report found that tar sand leaks are three times more likely than conventional crude oil. On top of that, a 2012 report revealed that leak detection systems missed 19 out of 20 leaks during a 10-year period. TC Energy itself admitted in 2011 that the company could only detect leaks greater than 500,000 gallons of tar sands a day.

As for what specifically caused all of the leaks to date? That depends, although variations of equipment failure is a recurring favorite. Its still unknown what caused the massive 2019 leak in North Dakota.

Whats Being Done About Keystone XL?

After years of back and forth, President Biden, who ran on a more climate-friendly platform than his predecessor President Trump, canceled the pipeline on his first day in office on Jan. 21, 2021. But the case still isnt closed. In response, 21 Republican-led states have since filed a lawsuit against Biden questioning his authority to make such a decision. (Nevermind that Trump overstepped his authority by issuing a 2019 presidential permit allowing the pipeline to proceed, thereby bypassing the required environmental reviews.)

Oil demand has also dropped since the pipelines initial proposal back in 2008, due in part to an economic shift toward clean energy and then decreased oil usage during the 2020 COVID pandemic. Plus early investors, including Shell and the Koch Brothers, have since pulled out of the deal. Though Keystone XL appears to have reached the end of the line, opponents say the final step involves removing the existing pipeline infrastructure.

Takeaway

The canceled Keystone XL pipeline is a promising step toward a less oil-reliant future, but its still a step. There remain other controversial pipelines caught up in legal battles, most notably the Dakota Access pipeline and Enbridges Line 3 replacement project. Resolving the ongoing oil pipeline threat ultimately requires a continued push toward clean energy, thereby eliminating the need for pipelines in the first place.

Meredith Rosenberg is a senior editor at EcoWatch. She holds a Masters from the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in NYC and a B.A. from Temple University in Philadelphia.
(Photo: REUTERS / KCNA)North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) visits the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the 72nd birth anniversary of North Korea's late leader Kim Jong Il in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang February 16, 2014.

A United Nations expert has issued an urgent appeal to lower political and military tensions on the Korean Peninsula over continued missile tests by the authorities in Pyongyang following on a similar call earlier in April by world and Korean church leaders.

"The recent rise in conflict rhetoric is worsening already critical human rights challenges in North Korea," said the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea, Tomas Ojea Quintana.

"At a time when the international community needs to come together to protect the rights of people in the DPRK [North Korea], we are instead witnessing a rise in incitement to armed confrontation," he said.

"Statements that feed hatred and polarization do nothing but undermine opportunities to improve the dire situation of ordinary North Koreans," the human rights expert stressed.

The World Council of Churches had on April 14 joined the National Council of Churches in [South] Korea in expressing grave concern at the re-deployment of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group to the seas surrounding the Korean peninsula.

The issued their statement the context of "already heightened tensions - especially in the midst of the ongoing joint US and South Korean Foal Eagle-Key Resolve military exercises."

They noted that the movement of the U.S. ships had been taken during the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, and North Korean threats of a nuclear response.

'ESCALATION OF MILITARY CONFRONTATION'

"This constitutes a further escalation of military confrontation in the region," said the church leaders.

The WCC said it had been engaged for more than 30 years in promoting dialogue between North and South Korean Christians, accompanied and supported by representatives of the "global fellowship of churches in WCC membership."

"Our purpose has been and continues to be the promotion of peace and reunification of a country and people divided by an unresolved conflict.

"Particularly in recent years almost all other channels of dialogue and encounter have been closed off, in favor of escalating military confrontation and tightening sanctions.

"We do not believe that this is a recipe for peace, but rather for increasing the risk of conflict. War cannot achieve a sustainable peace, as the modern history of the Korean peninsula all too tragically demonstrates."

The National Council of Churches in [South] Korea said, "We implore the United States government to solve the North Korean nuclear issue through mutual talks of peace from both governments. The conversation must happen now."

The U.N. Special Rapporteur's appeal which was aimed at both the North and the South followed the series of declarations and military actions which he said have fueled tensions in the region.

These include North Korea's program of nuclear and ballistic missile tests, and the deployment of the U.S. States aircraft carrier group to the area.

"The onus is on all of us to lower tensions and restore dialogue, including on human rights. But U.N. member States, in particular the DPRK and other governments involved in current hostilities, have to realize the great responsibility on their shoulders to preserve peace and stability, in accordance with the U.N. Charter," Quintana noted.

North Korea is subject to international and unilateral sanctions to curb its nuclear program. Despite this, theNort country has reportedly conducted five nuclear tests since 2006 and continues to carry out long-range missile launches on a regular basis many of them over waters bordering its neighboring south and Japan.
Blue economy pushed for Philippines

Filipino scientists and academicians lamented that their government has neglected the mariculture and aquaculture sector, even as they pushed for a blue economy for the country. Blue economy aims for the sustainable management of marine resources.

At the two-day scientific forum of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) in Cebu City in central Philippines, experts, who discussed the potentials and challenges in the aquatic and fisheries industries, noted that the Philippines does not invest enough in the maritime sector, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported.

.

This is despite the fact that, according Ronald Mendoza of the Ateneo de Manila University, the Philippines is the second-largest archipelagic country and 60% of the country's population live in coastal areas.

Also, NAST acting President Fabian Dayrit cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showing that in 2012 the fishing sector had the highest poverty incidence. "Thus, this sector deserves better from the government and from the society", he said.

Dayrit, moreover, said the Philippines is among the top producers of aquatic products, adding that aqua resources are also used in pharmaceutical products.

Dayrit noted that there are many untapped areas in the aquatic and fisheries industries.

Academician Rafael Guerrero III cited the need for a Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to attain a "blue economy".

He explained that this department would give more emphasis on sustainable fisheries, particularly mariculture, which he described as the cheapest source of protein.
To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020.
FEDOR can drive cars, screw in light bulbs, and fire two handguns at once

By Jon Gabay, contributing writer

Recently, news stories have been surfacing about the Russians teaching their AI robots to shoot handguns. As AI and robotics advance, it seems that there have been enough warnings from people around the world. Dont give AI machines weapons. But do we listen? No.

Named FEDOR, which is an acronym for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, one Russian robot has already demonstrated its ability to drive a car and is dexterous enough to screw in a light bulb. Developed by a Russian company called Android Technics, its charter is to develop anthropomorphic robots and AI-based robot control systems.

The Russians insist that teaching the terminator-like robot how to shoot two handguns simultaneously while performing target acquisition and performing friend-or-foe analysis is just to improve the eye and hand coordination.

Teaching an AI robot how to shoot with both hands at multiple targets is an engineering accomplishment. But is it a benefit to society? Image source: YouTube.

The way the robot's developers see it, shooting things can be a good way to test the decision-making and coordination of a learned motor skill (no pun intended). In response to all the buzz surrounding the intelligent robot, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin, tweeted: We are not creating a Terminator, but artificial intelligence that will be of great practical significance in various fields.

But the military is already using robotic weapons and applying AI. In a video released by Rogozin, you can not only see FEDOR shooting away at several targets, but you can also see a robotic tank doing autonomous targeting and destruction of targets. And the Russians are not alone. U.S. drones and the next generation of brilliant weapons will be using AI to make in-the-field, real-time decisions as to friend or foe, s well as who to kill and who to spare. And its not just soldiers jobs at risk.

Robotics and artificial intelligence are both improving at an accelerating rate and have been for several reasons, but a key one is to reduce or eliminate the need for the worker entirely. Dangerous occupations will be the first area to justify societal acceptance. While its true that sending humans into danger has been OK for the military, it is not true for the civilian worker. Thats why workers who deal with hazardous materials and workplace environments are typically better-paid than workers who work in safe, clean, and non-toxic places.

Not sending a person to disarm a bomb that can be disarmed through a robotic avatar with clear vision, communications, and dexterity can save lives. The same is true when sending in a robot to clean up a nuclear spill inside a highly radioactive nuclear reactor. As a matter of fact, the same company that makes FEDOR is also making a robot in conjunction with Toshiba to clean up Fukishima. Such robots may be expensive, but workers cost more money in the end.

Of course, the Russian news stories about teaching robots how to shoot weapons can evoke mixed emotions. From a technological point of view, its fascinating to watch a machine learn, understand, and refine its movements to learn how to shoot at targets and improve.

On the other hand, we all know where this technology is leading: to the military, to law enforcement, and maybe even one day, to autonomous rule.

Theres a good quote that goes, The young dont always do what they are told. And while we want to think of the human species as smart, advanced, and mighty, we have some work to do. Were still unraveling the basics of the universe and havent even mastered how to properly treat each other, creatures, and planets. I hope AI beings learn faster and better.

Since studying electrical engineering, Jon Gabay has worked with defense, commercial, industrial, consumer, energy, and medical companies as a design engineer, firmware coder, system designer, research scientist, and product developer. As an alternative energy researcher and inventor, he has been involved with automation technology since he founded and ran Dedicated Devices Corp up until 2004. Since then, he has been doing research and development, writing articles, and developing technologies for next-generation engineers and students.

Learn more about Electronic Products Magazine
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Samsung Electronics might launch its upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8 during IFA 2017 just like its previous releases of Galaxy Note lineup.

According to BGR, it was earlier this year when the South Korean tech company has confirmed that it's working on Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which will be enhanced and safer than Galaxy Note 7. With that being said, it is a clear sign Samsung will not abandon the Note brand despite the disaster it had faced.

Samsung may have questioned the mechanical integrity of its Galaxy Note 7 batteries for the fires, but then that is only a part of the story. The company's desires to incorporate significantly bigger battery inside the Samsung Galaxy Note 8's predecessor and to unveil the product earlier than the iPhone 7 series were both reasons that contributed to the device's end.

Now, the big question is when Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will make its first appearance. Luckily Ubergizmo has learned that IFA Executive Director Jens Heithecker stated that he assumes that the South Korean tech giant will unveil the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 during the said event. But then, the news outlet also clarified that this seems to be just the estimation of Heithecker as conflicting to the speculations. Nevertheless, his reasoning really makes sense.

"My personal perspective is that IFA would be the better place (to unveil the new Note smartphone). The big advantage is that we have a lot of media and journalists from all around the world in Berlin. It is not possible to bring them all together in other cities wherever it is, in August. That's our offer," Heithecker stated during an interview.

Conversely, whether or not the release of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will happen during the IFA 2017 still remains to be seen. But then, the media outlet stated that what is known is that Samsung has established that there will be a Note 8.
Cyber crime seems to evolve and innovate as much as the tech industry it seeks to exploit. In recent times, ransomware has become an especially potent tool of cyber criminals looking to exploit compan...
EU leaders have congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his victory in the first round of Frances presidential election, which will, according to many, define the future of the European Union. Across the EU, leaders have called on French voters to stand tall against the extreme-right candidate. On 7 May, Emmanuel Macron will face off Marine Le Pen in the second round of the election.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel supported the En Marche pro-European candidate, saying that Macrons success shows that France and Europe can win together. The center is stronger than the populists believe. Martin Schulz, former President of the EU Parliament, who will try to challenge Mrs. Merkel for her post, called for all the democrats in France to unite to ensure the nationalist does not become president.

European leaders are focusing on countering Mrs. Le Pen and keeping her away from power. She has promised to call a referendum on Frances future in the EU, ditch the euro and return to the franc. Manfred Weber, the President of the center-right European Peoples Party group (EPP) in the European Parliament, said that Mrs. Le Pens performance in the election was weaker than predicted.

In preparations for the second round, Mrs. Le Pen yesterday (24 April) stepped aside as a leader of her National Front (FN) party. She said that it was important now to be above partisan considerations. Although the polls suggest that Mr. Macron is a firm favorite for the second round, Mrs. Le Pen declared that We can win, we will win. In the first round of the vote, Mr. Macron took the first place with 24.01% while Mrs. Le Pen came second with 21.30%.




People in Europe and the World expect from CoE to make a succes of its "Monitoring" for Human Rights and Democracy, despite difficulties, said Finland's President Tarja Halonen to "EuroFora" at a crucial moment for the mecanism built 15 years ago by the paneuropean organization which celebrates its 60th Anniversary in 2009.Halonen, known as "Mother" of CoE's "Monitoring" mecanism, a long-time MEP and former Foreign Minister before becoming Finland's President, holds a long experience in the mattter, after also serving twice as CoE and EU Chairwoman in the past. That's why she is well placed to judge how CoE's "monitoring" should deal today with some crucial issues of importance both to CoE and to the EU.The move came just a Month before a crucial, last visit to Turkey, scheduled for June, by the President of CoE''s "Monitoring" Committee, Ukranian MEP Serge Holovaty, to finalize his Report on Ankara, the CoE Member State with the longest Monitoring procedure. From its results depends its overall credibility.This is a Test-case, because, in fact, it's in order to avoid Sanctions threatened against Turkey by a CoE's Assembly's April 1995 Resolution for grave Human Rights violations, Democracy gaps, the continuing Military Occupation in Cyprus, the unresolved Kurdish problem, Aegean differend with Greece, etc., that MEPs decided to create, for the 1st time on April 1996, a "Monitoring" proces, allegedly destinated to check, without excluding Countries who did not fulfill all CoE's standards.In the Past, the obliged withdrawal of Greece's Military regime and of its "Civil" cover-up out of the CoE had helped bring back Democracy in 1974. But, on the contrary, since April 1996, the idea was to "monitor" Human Rights' respect while keeping most concerned Countries inside the CoE. After Turkey's oldest example, this was extended also to several former "Eastern" European Countries, even if CoE's Assembly has imposed to some of them (fex. Ukraine, Russia, etc., after Belarus, Serbia, etc) various "Sanctions", that Ankara always avoided. Curiously more succesful even than .. USA itself, (a CoE "Observer" since 1995), which has been at least threatened with sanctions some years ago..EU-effects of CoE's Monitoring process became obvious between 2001-2008, since the "closure" of this procedure, when CoE felt that a Country had met most of its Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law obligations, (i.e. the "Copenhagen Criteria" for the EU), helped trigger Negotiations with the EU for "Accession" or other closer relations : This occured already before the 2004 and 2007 EU Enlargements to former "Eastern" European Countries, as well as for the commencement of "accession" negotiations with Croatia, and of "open-ended" negotiations with Turkey in 2005.But a stricking new development are Holovaty's recent findings that on core Human Rights issues as Torture and Freedom of Expression, Turkey, even "5 Years after" CoE closed its "Monitoring", back in 2004, inciting EU to start accession Negotiations in 2005, still presents grave problems.His findings are of crucial importance after a 2008 CoE Resolution called, "if need be", to "seriously consider the possibility of Re-Opening the Monitoring procedure for Turkey" : A move which might affect Ankara's controversial EU bid, since EU Accession Negotiations are based on the Hypothesis that the Candidate fullfils the "Copenhagen Criteria" (See above)..-------------------------Holovaty expressed his will to check "Matters still Outstanding" and those that he "didn't have an opportunity to discuss" at an earlier visit this year, "in order to discuss the more complex issues in greater depth", at his forthcoming New Visit to Ankara, before the December 2009 EU Summit. This is all based on the 2004 CoE Resolution which stresses that, CoE "will continue.. post-monitoring Dialogue with the Turkish authorities,...in addition to a 12-points list,..and on any Other Matter that might arise in connection with Turkeys Obligations as a CoE member state".CoE's Resolution also asks from Turkey "to secure the proper Implementation of Judgements, particularly in the Cyprus v. Turkey InterState case", of 2001, which concerns also the plight of many Hundreds of MISSING People. It adds Turkey's obligations to "execute" ECHR's Judgements in the Loizidou case,..and in particular adopt General Measures to avoid repetition or continuation of Violations found by the Court" to the detriment of Refugees.Nevertheless, Holovaty said to "EuroFora" that "MISSING" persons,"might be included" and cannot be excluded, but he has yet to examine the situation "to find out which issues will be raised" to the Turkish Government.Therefore, "EuroFora" asked Halonen, as the Historic "Mother" of CoE's Monitoring mecanism, if she thought that, "whenever there are grave Human Rights Violations, as fex. "MISSING" persons, attested even by ECHR's judgements, they should be always checked by a Monitoring process. Or could they be forgotten ?"- "We (CoE) must be, at the same time, Fair, Realistic, but not in the mind that "now we have Forgotten", etc., replied to "EuroFora"'s question Halonen, speaking as a matter of general principle.- "When we think of those People that are suffering from the lack of Democracy, of Human Rights, and of the Rule of Law", "we should find a base on how to deal with the (Monitoring) system more rapidly"', she stressed.- "Sometimes it's very difficult to combine Transparency and Effectivenes together, particularly in this specific case", she went on to say. But, "I have not found a (CoE Member) Country who could be insensitive in this sens", Halonen answered concerning grave Human Rights violations attested by the ECHR.- "I have no ready-made answer. I have the expectations that you, in the CoE, will, step by step, find the different types of the monitoring systems."Also "because this is a part of the UN's Post-Conflict system, (fex. when it comes to Cyprus' MISSING persons), and it's a more Global system". So that, "If we make a succes in Europe, the others will follow", throughout the World. "But they expect that we (Europe) are this opportunity, this Opportunity to make a Succes", Halonen concluded.In addition, she advised to extend CoE's Monitoring to all its 47 Member States, "because, as long as we hear that, all these monitoring systems are "OK for the neighbor, but not for me", "it's very difficult" to understand. Something which could make easier to Compare...Finnish MEP Jaako Laakso, former CoE Rapporteur on the Occupied Territories of Cyprus and one of the 5 Signatories of the Historic CoE's call to create the "MONITORING" mecanism since 1996, was more specific : - "We (CoE Assembly) have to find a way for the issue of Cyprus' MISSING People to be better followed", he stressed, anouncing his intention to "speak to Mr. Holovaty" about that. "There might be also other ways", added Laakso.- The 2008 "Year had been a very Bad one for Turkey with regard to Human Rights in general, and Freedom of Expression in particular", denounced, meanwhile, Holovaty's preliminary Post-Monitoringh Draft Report by Holovaty, published by the CoE on April 2009."Amnesty International believes that freedom of expression is not guaranteed given the various articles of the Criminal Code that restrict it. .. "For example, 1,300 Websites are said to have been closed down by the (Turkish) authorities in 2008" ! While "the new Turkish Criminal Code was used to bring a total of 1,072 proceedings between June 2005 and April 2008, and led to the conviction of 192 people", for expressing views. "Representatives of the Ozgur Gundem newspaper, which specialises in Kurdish affairs, ..complained about Numerous Attacks on their Freedom of Expression ...as was everyone who advocated a settlement to the question by means other than the intervention of the army" "According to their figures, 19 Newspapers had been suspended 43 times between 4 August 2006 and 4 November 2008" !...Moreover, on 2008, CoE's "Ministers adopted its 4rth Resolution on the execution of the judgments of the ECHR, ...and outstanding issues regarding 175 Judgements and decisions relating to Turkey delivered between 1996 and 2008... concerning Deaths resulting from the excessive use of force by members of the Security forces, the failure to protect the right to life, the DIisappearance and/or death of individuals, Ill-Treatment and the Destruction of property". CoE's " Ministers urged the Turkish authorities ...to ensure that members of Security forces of all ranks can be prosecuted without administrativeauthorisation" for "serious crimes". Holovaty reminded."Nonetheless", Holovaty heard anew of "Several cases of Violence committed last year (2008) by the (Turkish) security forces". Amnesty International speaks of Many Cases of ill-treatment and Torture in the prisons and by the police". "Including, fex."'the death of Engin Ceber, a young man of 29 who died on October 2008 as a result of the TORTURE allegedly inflicted on him by police officers, prison staff and members of the gendarmerie. He was part of a group of people arrested on September 2008 during a demonstration and Press Conference in Istanbul'. Proceedings against suspects are "on-going" in this case.- " I therefore noted an Obvious Contradiction between the Governments stated zero tolerance policy.... of Torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and the different testimonies given", denounced CoE's Rapporteur. Turkish "authorities must make considerable efforts to guarantee that proper investigations are carried out into allegations of abuses by members of the security forces and that perpetrators are effectively punished" "In this respect, I have requested detailed Statistics on the number of Investigations, acquittals and convictions in cases involving allegations of abuse in order to show the positive impact of the measures taken to date", Holovaty said, repeating a permanently unsatisfied CoE's demand to Turkey since a Decade...- "The Political Crisis that shook the country in the spring of 2008 highlighted the Weaknesses of the (Turkish) Constitution", which comes from the Military regime of 1982, "and the Urgent Need of Reforms", stressed from the outset CoE's Rapporteur in 2009. In particular, "the ...Democratic functioning of state institutions, including the independence of the judicial system, are crucial", he observes.But, "the Electoral system and the ways in which it is circumvented do not appear to give those elected complete Legitimacy, and tend to pervert the course of direct universal suffrage", denounces Holovaty, observing that, even 5 Years later, Turkey did not yet change the 10% nationwide Threshold for a party to take any seat, which is "far higher" than the "3%" maximum in Europe and already condemned as contrary to European Standards by the CoE.+ Moreover, EU Parliament's 2009 Report on Turkey, drafted by Dutch MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten and adopted in Strasbourg on March, expresses "Concern over the Failure of the (Turkish) Judiciary to prosecute cases of Torture and Ill-treatment, the Number of which is Growing". EU also "is concerned about continuing Hostility and Violence against Minorities" in Turkey. It also "calls on the Turkish Government to launch, as a matter of Priority, a Political Initiatve favouring a lasting Settlement of the Kurdish issue, (while "condemning violence.. and terrorist groups"). EU "regrets that No progress has been made on establishing full, systematic Civilian suprevisory functions over the (Turkish) Military".The final results of Holovaty's 2nd and last visit to Turkley will be known later this year, and, at any case, before EU's December 2009 Summit.
Hello!



As a US citizen I have to file my taxes every year and this year I got tax refund from IRS on my income of 2016. I received a check from US Treasury Department impressively within one month time. However, surprisingly when I took this check to my bank in Abu Dhabi they told me that Bank do not accept US $ checks any more. They could not tell me why, even though my relationship manager called head office in Dubai to get further confirmation but the answer was NO.



I wanted to know from other expats if they have also faced similar situation while depositing US $ checks in UAE Banks and what could be possible solution to this issue. Currently I do not have any bank account in USA. Please share your thoughts if any.



Thanks.
I live in the USA and my Fiance lives in the UK. For months we have been trying to figure out a way for us to be together after 4 years of being a part, and we might have a solution but we are a bit confused and cant seem to get straight answers.



First of all, my fiance has NO INTENTION OF ADJUSTING ON THE VISA WAIVER PROGRAM.

All we want to do is for him to come here for 2 weeks, have a very small wedding with close family and possibly a small reception, us go on our honeymoon here in the states, and then at the end of the 2 weeks he return home to the UK and then I apply for the UK spouse visa. But we cant figure it out, is this considered visa fraud?



Is this even allowed? Should we spill to immigration all of our plans? if we dont then is it considered fraud? we are just very very very confused and really need help, thanks!
Hi guys,

My wife holds a indian passport and i have british, she is looking to go to Tenerife on holiday with friends and i will not be traveling. Is it a schengen visa she needs to apply for and is there any issues that i am not travelling with her.



Thanks in advance.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
After four straight years of declining sales and a government tax investigation announced last month, Caterpillar Inc. investors are being rewarded for their patience.

The shares headed for the biggest gain in five months after the company raised its forecast for 2017 sales, as Chinas economy improves and demand in energy and transportation increases. Caterpillar boosted revenue forecasts on Tuesday to a range of $38 billion to $41 billion. First-quarter earnings and sales also topped analysts expectations.

An improving outlook adds to signs that Caterpillars long-awaited turnaround may be at hand after it cut costs to ride out a slump in demand from the mining and energy industries. Chinas economy has accelerated for two straight quarters, brightening sales prospects. The forecast offers investors good news at a time when a U.S. criminal probe into the companys offshore dealings has weighed on the stock.

Clearly, encouraging signs are emerging that CATs end markets are finally turning around following a very challenging four year period, Matt Arnold, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co., said in a note to investors. We view todays news as a solid positive for the stock.

For the three months ended March 31, the Peoria, Illinois, company earned $192 million, or 32 cents per share. That compares with $271 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier. Stripping out restructuring costs, earnings were $1.28 per share. That easily beat the 62 cents per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research called for.

Revenue rose to $9.82 billion from $9.46 billion. That topped the $9.36 billion in revenue that analysts expected.

The results come days after Nucor Corp., the biggest steelmaker in the U.S., said it is seeing renewed demand growth in China.

Sales in Asia/Pacific were higher as a result of an increase in end-user demand, primarily in China, stemming from increased government support for infrastructure and strong residential investment, Caterpillar said in a statement.

This increase was partially offset by an unfavorable impact from changes in dealer inventories, primarily in China, which were about flat in the first quarter of 2016 and decreased in the first quarter of 2017.

On Monday, Caterpillar reported its first increase in three-month retail machine sales since 2012, led by gains in the Asia-Pacific region.

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. added Caterpillar to its conviction list of highly recommended stocks. The bank cited machinery markets in the early stages of recovery and a change in the companys strategy toward improving returns on capital rather than boosting market share.

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Gross domestic product in China increased 6.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, compared with a 6.8 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. It was the first back-to-back acceleration in seven years.

There are encouraging signs, with promising quoting activity in many of the markets we serve and retail sales to users turning positive for both machines and energy & transportation for the first time in several years, CEO Jim Umpleby said in the statement.

Umpleby said that while Caterpillar is raising its full-year outlook, there continues to be uncertainty across the globe, potential for volatility in commodity prices, and weakness in key markets. The company said that in North America, demand for new construction equipment has remained low because of weak infrastructure development and customers relying on existing used equipment.

Most people have seen enough evidence that the environment is turning from brutal to positive again, Edward Joness Arnold said in a telephone interview before the earnings results were released. Between Caterpillars machinery numbers and other indicators and metrics, the industrial economy globally looks like its getting better, and Cat is going to harness that.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Coca-Cola Co. will step up its bid to transform the company into a far leaner operation under incoming CEO James Quincey after quarterly earnings missed estimates.

The soda giant vowed to cut costs by an additional $800 million a year, adding to a plan to wring $3 billion in savings. That will include 1,200 job cuts through 2018. The belt-tightening effort accompanies a move to spin off much of Coca-Colas bottling operations, one of the companys biggest strategic changes in decades.

Quincey, 52, takes the reins on May 1 from Muhtar Kent, who has been divesting bottling plants around the world. The company is trying to re-emerge as a more focused  and profitable  business, which will concentrate on developing new drinks and selling ingredients to partners.

For now, the changes are taking a toll on results. Coca-Cola posted first-quarter earnings of 43 cents a share Tuesday, short of the 44 cents predicted by analysts. A decline in soda volumes and currency fluctuations also continued to weigh on sales.

Revenue fell 11 percent last quarter, with the structural changes accounting for 10 percent of the decline, the Atlanta-based company said.

The overhaul makes it more difficult for investors to assess the results, said Ken Shea, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Its hard to find the underlying profitability with this company at the moment, he said. Its almost like investors have to take the companys word for Look, were going to get out of this plumbing change at the end of the year and at that point well have our operating model in place to do some nice things.

On the bright side, Coca-Colas earnings per share may not decline as much as expected during the full year. The company now projects a drop of 1 to 3 percent, compared with a previous prediction of as much as 4 percent. Organic revenue, which excludes currency effects and structural changes, is expected to grow 3 percent.

Coca-Cola and rival PepsiCo Inc. are scrambling to add more noncola beverages, coping with a shift by consumers away from traditional soft drinks. Per-capita consumption of soda beverages sank to a 31-year low in the U.S. in 2016, according to Beverage Digest, a trade publication.

Quincey said he aims to expand Coca-Colas portfolio of drinks. That plan is already having an impact on its C-suite. Coca-Cola will have a chief growth officer and a chief innovation officer reporting directly to the CEO when he takes charge next week.

Weve laid out a clear path to transform the company for the future to be bigger than our past -- to be a company that is bigger than the Coca-Cola brand, Quincey said in remarks on the companys website.

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Coca-Cola has also shifted its strategy to focus on profit growth, rather than volume. Thats included the introduction of smaller cans and bottles, which fetch higher prices per ounce than larger packages. After promoting the smaller packs in the U.S., the company is now taking the concept to emerging markets.

Soda producers also are grappling with greater regulatory burdens on their core products. Philadelphia was the first major U.S. city to implement a soft-drink tax in June. Similar measures have since passed in the San Francisco Bay area; Boulder, Colorado; and Illinois Cook County.

Coca-Colas sparkling-drink volume declined 1 percent in the first quarter. Though overall sales shrank, it still came in ahead of analysts estimates. Coca-Cola reported revenue of $9.12 billion, compared with a prediction of $8.87 billion.

The beverage maker expects to achieve the additional $800 million in cost savings by 2019.

Next week I will proudly hand over the CEO reins to James Quincey with full confidence that he will complete the companys transformation and lead our aggressive growth agenda, Kent, 64, said in the statement.
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Give Melissa and Graydon Langford a few hours at Knight Watch Games and the couple happily will lose themselves in fantasy, sci-fi and other imaginative adventures at the San Antonio tabletop gaming store.

My husband and I come here for date night all the time, said Melissa, who spent a recent Saturday night at the shop with Graydon and a handful of other young men and women playing the Battleshiplike submarine wargame, Captain Sonar. We get a soda from the vending machine, and its a $4 date.

Meanwhile in a galaxy not too far away  actually a nearby private gaming room that same evening  husband and wife David and Rachel Dvorak joined a ragtag band of Rebels for a Star Wars roleplaying game that cast David as a wannabe Jedi named Garen and Rachel as a hotshot space pilot named Avlin.

Forget the stereotype of the gaming shop plastered with posters of scantily-clad vixens, patronized by lonely gamer guys who pound Mountain Dew over game boards and maps in moms basement.

At Knight Watch Games, its all about making otherworldly fun extra inviting with extra character from the castlelike decor, complete with faux-stone walls, long wooden banquet tables, wall-mounted swords and dangling banners. Its an environment thats welcoming to ladies as well as gentlemen, significant others as well as singles and novice players as well as die-hards.

The gaming haven is the brainchild of owners Paraic (pronounced poor Rick) Mulgrew, an Army veteran, and his wife Brenda, a former restauranteur. It specializes in more sophisticated board games, card games and roleplaying games or RPGs.

When you come here you dont see, for lack of a better word, gratuitous booby posters on the wall, Brenda Mulgrew said. You see decor. You see beauty.

A formidable Magic: The Gathering player, Brenda understands the challenge many women face when they first set foot into the traditionally male-dominated world of fantasy gaming. So she also hosts a biweekly ladies night, where lady gamer newbies as well as gamer wives, girlfriends and moms learn the intricacies of dice rolls, initiative and other tabletop gaming elements and titles in a fun, judgment-free zone with a woman to guide them.

You see females. If nothing else, you see a female owner, Brenda said. And as a woman, that automatically puts you at ease.

No wonder Knight Watch has seen not one but two recent in-store marriage proposals.

The first was late Easter evening, when store regular Chris Sherrer popped the question to fellow Knight Watch regular and girlfriend Morgan Mooso at the shops coveted Nobles Table, whose cushioned antique seats usually are reserved for a game tournaments top players.

It just felt right, said Sherrer, who presented Mooso with an engagement ring after she beat him at the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game.

The second proposal happened the following Saturday with another couple of regular Knight Watchers, when Peter Pochon got on bended knee in the armory to seek Kat Hollers hand ahead of their Dungeons & Dragons groups monthly game.

Its kind of home away from home for a lot of us, said Holler, who stressed that unlike other game stores, Knight Watch has picked up on that cultural shift of men and women both participating in tabletop gaming.

The couple that plays together stays together, Brenda said. Youll hear us say that often in the store.

That the Mulgrews have such a broad customer base in this nonstereotypical shop Paraic credits partly to blockbuster movie franchises like The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars and the hit HBO TV series Game of Thrones  shows that brought to the mainstream masses what once was strictly the turf of geek subculture.

And tabletop gaming is along for the ride, scooping up its own legion of fans.

Its just a blossoming industry right now, Paraic said.

Just look at the YouTube channel Geek & Sundry. Launched by Supernatural actress and web series creator Felicia Day in April 2012, Geek & Sundry has championed nerd culture, especially tabletop gaming, to the tune of more than 1.5 million subscribers and more than 290 million views.

Those may be about half the numbers of the official Star Wars YouTube channel, but as Darth Vader would say, still most impressive. Geek & Sundrys most popular web series by far is TableTop, now in its fourth season featuring host Wil Wheaton of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame and celebrity guests playing board games.

Meanwhile the popular series of mostly video game-centric PAX conventions, which includes PAX South in San Antonio, will debut a tabletop-only expo called PAX Unplugged this November in Philadelphia. This from a celebration that started in 2004 as a 4,500-person event in Bellevue, Washington, expanding to Boston in 2010, Australia in 2013 and San Antonio in 2015.

Youll find that theres a whole new breed of gamers that didnt even know that theyre gamers, said Paraic, himself an avid Dungeons & Dragons buff and Magic: The Gathering fantasy card game competitor. And you just build this bigger and bigger community. And then they bring their spouse in. Its just a surprising reception. A lot of nongamers are coming in, and they leave the store gamers.

And the Mulgrews have transported them all to a setting straight out of the latest fantasy spectacle. Beyond the Renaissance Fair vibe, there are the stores two private gaming rooms. In addition to lavish wooden tables and bookshelves decorated with skulls, daggers and other props youd find in a wizards lab, the rooms feature surround sound as well as flat-panel displays and iPads to give games a multimedia boost. Theres even a smoke machine and special lighting to further recreate the atmosphere of a mythical land or mystical planet.

Knight Watch also houses a special armory of corsets, tunics and other medieval garments for sale  including suits of armor from leather to plate mail, plus swords and other weapons made of foam, hard resin and metal  and its own fantastic beasts that peacefully roam the store: a giant wooly coat Siberian Husky named Urza and an Alaskan Malamute mix named Mishra.

And where can you go and they have those giant beautiful dogs in the store, Melissa Langford said. And everyone here is really happy to be here. They all love board games. People will walk around and be like, Oh, what game are you playing? Oh, I heard of that. Theres a lot of community here.

A his and hers community that reflects the husband and wife who cultivate it. But not always on the cheap.

The Dvoraks and their fellow Star Wars RPG players each paid $100 to use one of Knight Watchs special gaming rooms to cover seven gaming sessions. Renting a tech-enhanced gaming room usually runs $40 to $60 for up to 6 hours of play per session.

Which brings up another difference between Knight Watch Games and the typical game shop. It caters to adults with the money to pursue such a sophisticated approach to tabletop gaming, whereas most stores are content to offer a simple room with foldout tables and chairs.

They value this as something that they didnt have as kids, Paraic said.

rguzman@express-news.net
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Its not easy to get down to the River Walk with a broken ankle and tibia, but Eddie Alvarez was relaxing in a wheelchair near the Pecan Street bridge Tuesday night, joining tens of thousands of people to watch more than 50 floats in the Texas Cavaliers River Parade.

Alvarez, 30, had come every year with his grandmother when he was young and hoped to start the tradition again with his son, Andrew. But in early March he was injured in a bicycle accident, his left leg enveloped by a large black walking boot, and still had six more weeks to go. So he adorned its straps with a collection of medals, borrowed the wheelchair and rolled down the ramp near Convent Street with Andrew.

People clustered on the sidewalks of downtown bridges, found their folding chairs among the 19,000 the Cavaliers sold for up to $25 apiece, or viewed the parade with the help of dinner reservations at restaurants along the river.

Its like Mardi Gras with a family flair, said Richard Sparr, the commander of the Texas Cavaliers board.

A civic organization of more than 500 members, the Cavaliers raised a record $1 million in parade sales, sponsorships and solicitations this year, which will be distributed to more than 50 charities that help children in Bexar County.

The beneficiaries range from the Sunshine Cottage to Any Baby Can, and many of their volunteers and staff appeared in the parade alongside City Council members, Fiesta Commission officials and military commanders. Sparr said $250,000 will go to the Winston School, which serves students with learning challenges.

He said the participating charities see spikes in donations afterward because of their exposure in the river parade. The parades economic impact to the city likely ranged as high as $60 million, Sparr said.

Children ran between chairs with confetti and bits of eggshells in their hair while parents sipped their beverages and cheered on the floats.

Misty Wood clapped joyously in her homemade hat, with its peacock and flowers she glued on herself.

Shes been going to the Arneson River Theater just about every year since she was a child  and shes 71.

This is all part of my culture, part of my home, she said, sipping a margarita. Theres nothing like it anywhere else. Its what makes San Antonio.

And the best part?

That I get to be here, at this parade, one more year.

Confetti cannons fired into the air as King Antonio XCV, Michael Casillas, who was elected by the Cavaliers and is the first Latino King Antonio, arrived by boat and stepped onto the theater stage.

Colton Willis brought his 4-year-old foster son to Fiesta for the first time.

A San Antonio native, he said the Cavaliers have been family to him, and hes happy to support an organization that raises so much for local charities.

Fiesta is unique to San Antonio, its something completely different, Willis said. While we have a lot of fun, we have a lot of good here, too.

San Antonio is a city steeped in history and diverse culture. The Texas Cavaliers River Parade pays homage to its diversity though its theme: kaleidoscope, said River Parade Marshal Barton Simpson, who works in commercial real estate.

The colors and patterns of the kaleidoscope are reminiscent of the richness of San Antonios diverse cultures.

Retired Army Major Gen. Patrick Brady, who received the Medal of Honor as a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, was the parades honorary grand marshal.

Near the start of the route, Richard Cochran sat at the edge of the river with his legs splayed over the side, while his wife stood nearby. Their tiny 3-pound Chihuahua, Chloe, peeked out from a handbag on the ground. The couple moved to San Antonio four years ago to be closer to their daughter after retiring from running a trucking company in Baltimore. Chloe loves the parade and so do the Cochrans, Sue Cochran said.

Nothing is like San Antonio, she said. San Antonio goes all out. They really do.

Bystanders on the Augusta Street bridge had a perfect vantage point. A handful of children stood in front of a line of canvas chairs so they could hang over the weathered lattice railing, excitedly gazing down at the water. A mother bounced a toddler on her hip as a band on one of the floats played Journeys Any Way You Want It.

Randall Polasek, 26, held a baby on his shoulders and waved her arms to the music.

Were pretty lucky to get this spot here, said Polasek, who has lived in San Antonio his whole life and recently started working at Central Library as an analyst. Its pretty cool.

He said his family decided to come to the parade for the first time because of his jobs proximity to the River Walk.

It just seems every year we do more and more Fiesta, he said. This is what we live for here in San Antonio. Best week of the year.

Back down on the River Walk, near the Martin Street bridge, John Reyes, 51, and his girlfriend, Vida Ledesma, both wore towering velvet Cat in the Hat-style hats.

Nobody has a bad time at a parade, said Reyes, a nursing assistant at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital.

The Hernandez family enjoyed the parade with class, at the same spot theyd observed it from since 2010. They drank wine out of real stemware and ate cheese at two small tables covered in red tablecloths. The siblings raised their wine glasses as the floats drifted by.

Its the tradition, Mary Hernandez-Neudecker said.
At least one bill that would give residents of unincorporated areas more power to fight annexation by a city won approval in the state Senate on Monday and is on the way to the House.

The Senate passed SB 715, filed by Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, on a 20-10 vote. If it becomes law, residents would have a chance to vote on whether or not they want to become part of a city through annexation.

Final passage of it, or several other annexation bills, could dramatically curb San Antonios ability to grow in the future and could halt the citys current attempts to annex a rapidly developing part of north Bexar County along Interstate 10 West  a scaled-down version of the annexation plan the city proposed two years ago.

Scores of Bexar County residents, including many who live in the I-10 area that San Antonio is planning to annex, showed up at a committee hearing earlier this month to show their support for Campbells bill. She said shes heard from people all over the state, people frustrated with the fact that the power of annexation is in the hands of city planners.

A lot of residents, a lot of people, they dont want a forced annexation, they want a voice, said Campbell, who filed a similar bill in 2015. Thats what this bill does.

Last week, state Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, proposed several amendments to the measure, including one that would have grandfathered San Antonios I-10 West annexation plan, in addition to existing plans to annex a commercial area along U.S. 281 and, in 17 years, a large residential area along that same corridor.

He proposed an amendment that would have allowed cities to still pursue annexation of areas within five miles of a military base without a vote. Military officials have said annexation protects the bases from encroaching development.

Menendez also suggested that all San Antonio residents  and not just residents in the areas being considered for annexation  get to vote on whether to absorb a new area.

Campbell rejected all of the proposals. U.S. 281 and a large portion of I-10 West are in her district.

However, the senator did accept Menendezs proposal to grandfather a recently executed agreement between San Antonio and the suburban city of Converse. Converse plans to annex parts of unincorporated Bexar County that San Antonio declined to absorb, and San Antonio will give up territory in exchange.

At least three House bills  HB 299, HB 424 and HB 2272  have been filed this session to strip cities like San Antonio of the ability to initiate large-scale annexations of unincorporated areas. All are pending in the House Land and Resource Management Committee.

We are very concerned about it, said Jeff Coyle, San Antonios director of government and public affairs.

Coyle said its a really tough environment for cities right now in the Legislature, referring to the spate of proposed bills that could seriously affect large municipalities to make their own governing decisions, like Senate Bill 2, which would force cities to hold a property tax rollback election if the annual tax revenue climbs above a certain threshold.

Supporters of annexation argue that cities need it in order to have the power and flexibility to grow and to extend better services to urbanized areas on cities edges.

Those opposed make the case that cities use annexation as a land grab, gobbling up tax revenue from new residents while not providing better or any services in return. They also dont want their property taxes to go up.

The Texas Municipal League, which opposes the Campbell bill and other annexation reform measures, commissioned a study last year from TXP Inc., an Austin-based economic development consultant, to study annexations impact. It found that states that allowed cities to determine when they could annex saw faster economic and population growth, and better bond ratings, compared to cities in states that had tighter annexation restrictions.

Unexpectedly, the study also found cities in states with more flexible annexation laws actually physically grew more slowly than in states with the stricter laws.

To Bennett Sandlin, the TML director, that might be a sign that cities dont necessarily exercise annexation power just because they have it but that there are greater benefits to the tool.

Texas has thrived because we have broad annexation laws, Sandlin said.

vdavila@express-news.net
Democrats in Comal County are mourning the loss of their county chairwoman, Roberta Robbi Boone, who was killed Friday evening in a traffic accident on Texas 46.

The Department of Public Safety could not provide any details Monday on the incident, saying the trooper investigating it hasnt yet filed a report. A member of Boones family said her Toyota Prius was hit by a truck at FM 311 and Texas 46 and she was flown to University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

This is a person who made a difference in the world, Ann Patla, treasurer of the Comal County Democratic Party and a close friend of Boone, said Monday. It will be very difficult to fill her shoes.

Boone, 75, led local Democrats since 2010 and worked tirelessly for the party in the county and the state, Patla said.

Democratic voters are far outnumbered by Republicans in Comal County, but Boone maintained a positive outlook and helped her party open a local office, recruit new members and  with limited success  field candidates. The only Democrat for a county office last November, Fred Riter, garnered 11,943 votes in the sheriffs race, losing to Republican Mark Reynolds, who received 49,063.

The thrust of our efforts has been to get people out to vote, Boone, a former teacher, said in a 2014 interview. I think (potential Democratic candidates) feel right now this is a Republican voting district, and theyll wait until their opportunities (to get elected) are better.

Shed been a widow since the December death of her longtime spouse, Daniel Boone, who ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat in 2012 for the U.S. House and in 2014 for the Texas Senate. The couple raised four children and operated a bed-and-breakfast.

Ruth Pharis, the county Republican chairwoman, called Robbi Boone a very classy lady.

She was a strong advocate for her party, Pharis said, noting that Boone was active on legislative issues and statewide Democratic matters. This county is a strong Republican county, and she did very well in trying to get her point of view over.

A statement by Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said, in part, All of us will miss Robbis determination and passion going forward. Our thoughts are with the entire Boone family during this difficult time.

A memorial service is set for 2:30 p.m. May 6 at Unitarian Universalists of New Braunfels on Alves Lane. About 40 acquaintances of Boone gathered informally to celebrate her life Sunday at the New Braunfels home of Bob and Cindy Peterman.

Robbi and Daniel Boone were a dynamic couple, Cindy Peterman said Monday. So often people want to do something, but they sit there and think of all the reasons they cant do it, or why it cant be done. That was never the case with those two.

Robbi Boone was positive and enthusiastic about the future of the party here in Comal County, said Rick Nathan, president of an affiliated group, Democrats of Comal County. Her death is a huge, huge loss. Everyones been devastated.
For most people, Six Flags is an amusement park where you ride the roller coasters and enjoy musical performances.

For the more historically inclined, however, the full phrase, Six flags over Texas, has a deeper meaning, referring to the six nations that, over the past 500 years, have claimed sovereignty over the land now known as Texas.

Despite the terms familiarity, researchers at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission are unable to determine who first coined it, or when.

I could see someone like (writers) Paul Horgan or Walter Prescott Webb being behind it, mused Bruce Shackelford, curator of South Texas Heritage at the Witte Museum. Its the kind of turn of phrase either of them could have come up with.

We do know that the concept of Texas existing under the flags of two kingdoms, two republics, a confederacy and a military dictatorship dates at least to the states centennial celebration in 1936. Thats when seals representing Spain, France, Mexico, the Confederate States of America, the Republic of Texas and the United States were embedded in the terrazzo floor of the Capitol rotunda in Austin.

Because variations in flag designs often led to disagreements over which specific flag to display in the sextet, the Texas Historical Commission in 1996 adopted standard designs for the six flags.

Spain (1519-1685; 1690-1821)

The commission-approved banner is the March 8, 1793, red and gold flag, which depicts a lion of Leon and a castle of Castile on an off-centered shield topped by a crown. Until 1931 this was the official flag of the Kingdom of Spain.

A second flag sometimes incorrectly used in six flag displays is the royal banner of Castile and Leon, said to have been carried by Cortez during his conquest of Mexico. Although it was displayed during the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition and appears on the Capitol rotunda floor, the banner, used as a state flag from circa 1230 to circa 1516, predates any Spanish presence in Texas.

France (1685-1690)

The French flag flew over Texas only during the short existence of the doomed colony of Fort St. Louis. Founded by Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle and located near Lavaca Bay, Fort St. Louis failed due to a combination of disease, famine, internal strife, hostile Indians and other hardships.

But which flag did the colonists carry? At the time, the French flew a number of different designs. For the Centennial Exposition, a white banner sprinkled with gold fleur-de-lis was chosen as most likely to have flown over what was the first European settlement on a stretch of Gulf Coast reaching from Pensacola and Tampico.

Mexico (1821-1836)

From 1823 until the time of Texas independence, the Mexican flag looked similar to the current Mexican flag, with green, white and red vertical stripes centered by an image of an eagle holding a serpent in its mouth while standing on a cactus. One difference: The eagle on the 1823 flag was more natural looking, compared to the stylized, Aztec eagle on the current flag.

The eagle and serpent represent the tradition that the Aztecs were to make their permanent settlement where they saw a snake being eaten by an eagle standing on a nopal growing from a rock in the middle of water, according to the Texas State Historical Association website. Legend has it that the Aztecs saw this omen at Lake Tenochtitlan, the site of the future Mexico City.

Republic of Texas (1836-1845)

The first official flag of the fledgling Republic of Texas was adopted in December 1836. Known as David G. Burnets flag, it consisted of a bright blue field with a large golden star at the center.

In 1839, the more familiar Lone Star Flag was adopted by the Texas Congress. It was introduced via a bill by Sen.William H. Wharton that described the flag as consisting of a blue perpendicular stripe of the width of one third of the whole length of the flag, with a white star of five points in the centre thereof, and two horizontal stripes of equal breadth, the upper stripe white, the lower red, of the length of two thirds of the whole length of the flag.

Its unknown who designed the flag, although it might well have been Wharton himself, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

The earliest known image of the Lone Star Flag appears on a large (76 inchs by 68 inches) map of Bexar County created in late 1839. The hand-drawn map shows land deeds transferred from Mexican to Texan authority. Drawn in watercolor, the flag appears in the upper left corner of the map, which is available in a reduced size for $40 on the Texas Land Office website.

Confederate States of America (1861-1865)

The CSA flag in the official six flags list is not the controversial rebel flag with its white-bordered blue diagonal cross containing 13 stars on a red background. Officially known as the Second Confederate Navy Jack, that flag was never officially recognized as the flag of the Confederate government.

Instead, it is the less inflammatory Stars and Bars flag, which was adopted by the provisional government and served as the rebellious nations unofficial banner for two years.

According to the Texas State Historical Association, Many of the Stars and Bars flags flown in Texas during this period (also) featured unions with a single star surrounded by a circle of stars.

United States of America (1845-1861; 1865-present)

In 1845, Texas became the 28th state to join the union, yet the U.S. flag containing only 28 stars flew over Texas for only about a year when, on July 3, 1847, Iowa became the 29th state. The 28-star flag appears on the reverse side of the state seal of Texas, accompanied by the five other flags and, interestingly, an image of the Alamo.

rmarini@express-news.net

Twitter: @RichardMarini

COMING THURSDAY: San Antonio was a Confederate depot.
WASHINGTON  Five days from a potential government shutdown, Trump administration officials Monday appeared to soften their insistence that Congress provide the first down payment on a border wall by this week, retreating instead to general language about ensuring border security.

In a series of briefings focused on President Donald Trumps first 100 days in office  a benchmark that arrives Saturday  the administration found itself playing defense on a record high on dramatics but devoid of significant legislative achievements, the most glaring being the failure to repeal Obamacare or to make any progress on a wall paid for by Mexico.

Instead, they blamed the presidents historically high disapproval ratings on Democratic obstruction in Congress and a damaging media narrative of dysfunction and palace intrigue.

The polls reflect the coverage that were getting, one White House official said in a no-names briefing for reporters Monday.

Although Trump has been critical of anonymous media reports, the officials, who were authorized to brief reporters, insisted on anonymity to discuss the presidents 100-day milestone.

Backing away from some of the more aggressive pronouncements of administration officials over the weekend, the officials also made clear that Trump wants to avoid any government shutdown resulting from an inability to pass and sign a temporary spending measure by midnight Friday: Were working in good faith to make sure not only our border is secure but that the government continues to do its job.

Trump campaigned on the promise of a big, beautiful wall along the entire Southern border, but Fridays government funding deadline presents a tough dose of political reality: He needs Democrats to pass a new funding measure for the rest of the year, and they remain uniformly opposed.

Democrats also have calculated that blame for any government shutdown, much like a 16-day closure in 2013, likely would fall on Republicans who control the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Its ironic that the administration should hit its first wall on the issue of immigration, said Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington.

Some analysts have suggested that the White House could settle for funds for drones, sensors and additional border agents, allowing Trump to say he is fulfilling a campaign pledge to fortify the border.

Despite what the White House described as some short-term setbacks, administration spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump remains committed both to the wall and the idea that Mexico ultimately will pay for it.

In order to get the ball rolling on border security and the wall, he was going to have to use the current appropriations process, but he would make sure that that promise would be kept, as far as the payment for it, Spicer said.

Spicer also said that the funding piece will happen in due time, signaling that it may fall away from the current spending package being negotiated between White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and congressional leaders.

Spicer and other White House officials also made clear that they expect no government shutdown this week, another sign that immediate wall funding will not be an obstacle. As the negotiations continue, Trump has maintained a steady barrage on Twitter: The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! Trump tweeted Monday morning, ending the message with an if

He finished the thought hours later, tweeting ....the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be! #BuildTheWall

Those tweets followed another Sunday, saying, Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall.

Some of the presidents allies have urged him to keep pressing for immediate wall funding, even as some Republicans in Congress remain skeptical of the cost-effectiveness of the entire plan.

Trump has asked Congress for $1 billion to plan, design and construct the first installment of the wall, which would cover an estimated 62 miles of new or existing barriers in the Rio Grande Valley, El Paso and around San Diego, California.

About two-thirds of that first installment  $644 million  would pay for 34 miles of new levee and border wall in the Valley, a top priority for the Customs and Border Protection agency.

Democratic leaders blasted Trumps border wall demands Monday in a conference call with reporters to counter the White Houses 100-day blitz. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Trump threw a monkey wrench into the budget negotiations, adding that a deal easily could be struck by Friday if the president stepped out of it.

Schumer said Republicans dont have a plan for funding the wall project, the cost of which has been estimated at upward of $20 billion.

Democrats give much higher estimates, in addition to the costs of buying up border land and fighting eminent domain challenges in court.

The administration is also planning to seize private land from my constituents, in exchange for laughably small payments, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, wrote to his constituents last week. Texans of all political stripes dont like federal agents taking their property. We will fight this bad idea until the president finally admits that it isnt going to happen.

San Antonio-area Democrats were unified in opposing border wall money in the must-pass spending legislation.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, referred to the border wall as a waste of money thats more a symbolic gesture than a border security tool.

He added in a statement: Holding our government hostage to secure its funding is reprehensible.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-San Antonio, called the potential deadlock another of (Trumps) dangerous and disappointing self-created crises. Republicans have boasted of their unified Republican government. Now its up to them to keep all of our essential public services operating without interruption.

With a potential shutdown crisis looming, a new Economist/YouGov poll found that a majority of Americans would rather avoid turning out the lights over a border wall dispute. Some 60 percent of those surveyed in the online poll April 12 and 13 said it is more important to keep the government open, compared with 19 percent who said Congress should come up with the money. Twenty-two percent were unsure, according to CQ Roll Call, which is owned by The Economist Group.

A lingering political problem for Trump is that, unlike many of the promises he made as a candidate, building a border wall is both vivid and specific. This is one area of policy where the president really did provide some detail, said

C. Stewart Verdery Jr., a former Bush administration official briefing reporters Monday on Trumps first 100 days.

Even as the administration faces an uphill fight for the money, White House aides pointed to other successes on immigration, notably a dramatic drop in the number of illegal border-crossers since January.

That is a big accomplishment for this presidency, Spicer said. Its something were very proud of.

Even as Spicer called the 100-day mark an artificial number, he pointed to two other immigration initiatives where the administration has made progress: a crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities and a plan to suspend refugee arrivals from certain terrorist-prone nations. Both initiatives remain in legal limbo.

Reporter Bill Lambrecht contributed to this report.
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Few places in San Antonio are tied as closely to the citys early history as the Yturri-Edmunds Historic Site, a complex of 1800s structures, including one of only three adobe houses of its kind that remain locally, on former mission farmland.

The site, owned and managed by the San Antonio Conservation Society, stayed in one family for nearly 140 years. Its known history dates to about 1730, when the Pajalache Ditch, a channel linked to an acequia fed by the San Antonio River and used to raise crops for Mission Concepcion, was likely built.

A limestone-lined section of the ditch remains interpreted on the site at 128 Mission Road.

This land was part of the Mission Concepcion labores (farm fields). Concepcion is about a half-mile south of us, Vincent Michael, executive director of the conservation society, said on a recent tour.

A stone dam on a bend in the river diverted water from the east bank to Concepcion and its fields through an acequia that reconnected with the river farther south, according to the sites successful 1996 nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, by researchers Karl Preuss and Ron Bauml.

In his book, The Spanish Acequias of San Antonio, the late veteran archaeologist Waynne Cox described the Concepcion Acequia as one of the oldest in the frontier village of the 1700s, predating the mission itself, with completion as early as 1724. The main acequia channel, originally running about 3.3 miles long, also was one of the widest  so large, that there are reports that the priests kept a boat on it to attend to its cleaning, Cox wrote.

By the latter half of the 18th century, the missions and local Native American populations were declining. Mission friars, and later the Mexican government, distributed mission lands to indigenous families and others.

Manuel Yturri de Castillo, believed by historians to have been a native of Spain, found work as a merchant and came to San Antonio to sell goods. In 1821, he married Maria Josefa Rodriguez, a member of one of 16 Canary Islander families who had established the first municipal government here in 1731.

According to the site nomination, Yturri petitioned local leaders in 1823 for former Concepcion land and received three sections in a forest of hackberry trees. Texas was an independent republic when he and his wife had the first of two children in 1839.

Yturri died in 1843, leaving the property to his widow, who remarried in 1847. After she died in 1849, her second husband, Thomas Whitehead, an Englishman who had served as a city councilman and local judge, engaged in a legal battle with his father-in-law over ownership of the property. He won and soon began making repairs and improvements.

Construction of the Yturri-Edmunds House is believed to have started about 1860. Whitehead had built a dam on the river two years earlier to direct water to the Pajalache Ditch, and he was sued by a neighbor who said it flooded his property. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in the neighbors favor on appeal.

An 1859 lumber yard bill and probate court records suggest that Whitehead intended to build a mill and make other improvements, though its not known what actually occurred. Yturris daughter, Vicenta, and her husband, Ernest B. Edmunds, a merchant from New Orleans, are believed to have taken possession of the house by the time they married at Mission Concepcion in 1861.

The house, today decorated in period furnishings and functioning as a house museum, reflects the heritage and architecture of the Hispanic people of the Southwest in the 1800s, according to the site nomination.

Few of these adobe houses remain in San Antonio, and the Yturri-Edmunds House stands as the best preserved example, it stated.

The 30-by-50-foot house, with six-over-six, double-hung windows, 18-inch-thick walls and fireplaces with stone hearths, is believed to initially have had a parlor and music room, with a bedroom later added. A kitchen, dining room and school room made up a later rear addition.

They were going to build a new house, Michael said. But it was the Civil War, so there was a shortage of material. So they ended up adding onto the house.

They added a third room. And at some point later, probably in the 1860s, they added three rooms on the back. So its a six-room house, which was quite large for the middle of the 19th century in San Antonio.

Ernest Edmunds died in 1874, the same year Ernestine Edmunds, the youngest of his three children, was born. She pursued the path of her mother, Vicenta, now recognized by the Harlandale Independent School District as the first paid teacher in the districts service area.

According to the site nomination, Vicenta Edmunds taught in 1877 at Flores Street School, and she may have instructed children as a volunteer in the Mission San Jose granary.

Ernestine Edmunds taught at Morrill Chapel School from 1900 to 1910, before it was absorbed by the Harlandale district. She was a federal social worker, then attended North Texas State Teachers College in Denton before returning to teach at Alamo Heights Elementary School.

Ernestines devotion to her teaching made her a minor celebrity in San Antonio, the site nomination stated.

Edmunds was known for riding her horse daily to school. She painted images of the old grist mill and of Mission Concepcion, and she was a school librarian late in her career. Former students recalled her teaching American citizenship. The Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, awarded her its George Washington Medal in 1951.

Before she died in 1961, Edmunds arranged to donate her house and two-thirds acre site to the Conservation Society, which later relocated historic structures to the complex, saving them from demolition. The mill, reconstructed in the early 1970s, includes an adobe wall and stone steps believed to be original, although its initial construction date is unknown. Today, it is powered with electricity for demonstrations to school groups on how it once used water to grind grain into flour.

Also on the complex is the Oge Carriage House, a two-story, board-and-batten structure built in 1881 and moved to the site from the King William Historic District in 1964.

The circa 1855 Postert House, a one-room German structure relocated from the downtown area, was reconstructed on the complex in 1985. The site also has an outdoor shrine, stone-and-wood grape arbor, stone well with wooden pavilion and two small wooden bridges traversing the ditch.

The complex has been closed for about three years during reconstruction of Mission Road, but it has recently hosted fundraisers and tours for fourth-graders.

Conservation Society members hope to soon reopen the complex for guided tours Fridays, by appointment made at least one week in advance. Regular adult admission will be $10. Visit saconservation.org.

shuddleston@express-news.net

Twitter: shuddlestonSA

COMING TUESDAY: Historic spur was a status symbol.
Last week, I wrote about the shock felt by state legislators who learned that Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood opposed a bill crafted to protect the rights of crime victims.

Pending in the Texas House, Jennys Law is named for a mentally ill rape victim jailed for nearly a month in 2015 by Harris County prosecutors intent on securing her testimony against her assailant, a serial rapist. After suffering a psychological breakdown while testifying, Jenny was housed with the jails general population, even wrongly labeled by jail staff as someone facing sexual assault charges; her case became a national scandal.

Last month at the state Capitol, LaHoods office was the only entity to testify against Jennys Law, which would ensure a witness right to an attorney before prosecutors could hold them in jail.

LaHoods stance, I wrote, showed a lack of fairness. But the district attorney might have another reason to oppose the law as its written: The prosecutor who sought the witness bond that sent Jenny to jail in Harris County now works for LaHoods office here.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg fired the prosecutor, Nicholas Socias, after ousting the previous DA and taking office in January. (Ogg made Jennys incarceration central to her campaign.)

LaHood then hired Socias, who now works under Criminal Trial Division Chief Michael Hoyle as the second chair felony prosecutor in the 399th Criminal District Court in Bexar County.

Hoyle appeared last month at the state Capitol to argue against Jennys Law on behalf of LaHood.

If youre going to prosecute the devil, youre going to have to go to hell to get your witnesses, Hoyle told the Senate committee. Well, now those witnesses have a right to an attorney at taxpayer expense so they can litigate their participation in the states prosecution.

The bills author, state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, told Hoyle at the hearing that he was shocked by his insensitivity to the circumstances. The bill unanimously passed the committee, then sailed unanimously through the Texas Senate. Last week, it passed a Texas House committee  again, unanimously.

At the state Capitol, LaHoods lone battle against Jennys Law is a conspicuous anomaly. On Monday, I asked the district attorney in a text message whether Sociass employment in his office has played a role.

No employee creates policy positions in the Bexar County District Attorneys office, LaHood responded. I have said this before, I am not against Jennys Law. I do advocate for revisions to the law that will better protect victims rights.

LaHood then sent a list of six proposed revisions.

Among them: LaHood believes a judge should issue a witness bond when requested and prior to any hearing, and he has concerns about how an attorney can represent a person they have not yet met.

LaHood added, The appointment of counsel and determination about whether or not the witness is necessary should take place after the witness has been brought to court.

Hoyle did not mention any revisions when he testified against the bill last month.

Last year, Jenny filed a federal lawsuit claiming that her jailing amounted to her being re-raped. Socias is named as a defendant.

In a reply filed last month, Socias argued that he is entitled to absolute immunity because he detained Socias for one reason  to assure that she appeared to testify at the trial of her rapist.
WASHINGTON  Sonny Perdue was sworn in as the 31st U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by fellow Georgian and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas in a brief ceremony April 25 at the Supreme Court building.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Secretary Perdue by a vote of 87-to-11 on April 24. After Secretary Perdue took the oath of office, he addressed employees at the USDA before getting to work on his first day.

Also this morning, USDA launched his official Twitter handle: @SecretarySonny.

The only legacy that I seek is the only one that any grandparent or parent seeks  to be good stewards, and to hand off our nation, our home, our fields, our forests, and our farms to the next generation in better shape than we found it, Perdue said.

Main principles

Perdues policies as secretary will be guided by four principles. First, he plans to maximize the ability of the agriculture and agribusiness sector to create jobs, to produce and sell the foods and fiber that feed and clothe the world, and to reap the earned reward of their labor.

He also intends to prioritize customer service for American taxpayers and consumers.

He plans to ensure the meeting of food safety standards, and remember that Americas agricultural bounty comes directly from the land.

He follows his fathers words that were all stewards of the land, owned or rented, and our responsibility is to leave it better than we found it.

Upon nominating Secretary Perdue in January, President Donald J. Trump said, Sonny Perdue is going to accomplish great things as Secretary of Agriculture. From growing up on a farm to being governor of a big agriculture state, he has spent his whole life understanding and solving the challenges our farmers face, and he is going to deliver big results for all Americans who earn their living off the land.

About the secretary

Sonny Perdue came by his knowledge of agriculture the old fashioned way: he was born into a farming family in Bonaire, Georgia. From childhood, and through his life in business and elected office, Perdue has experienced the industry from every possible perspective.

Uniquely qualified as a former farmer, agribusinessman, veterinarian, state legislator, and governor of Georgia, he became the 31st USDA secretary April 25.

Additionally, Perdue recognizes that American agriculture needs a strong advocate to promote its interests to international markets.

As a youngster growing up on a dairy and diversified row crop farm in rural Georgia, Perdue never fully realized that the blessings of purposeful, meaningful work would serve him as well as they have in life.

When he was a young boy feeding the calves and plowing the fields, he was an integral part of the workforce on his fathers farm.

As the son of a mother who was an English teacher for 42 years, he benefitted from her teachings as well  not just by instilling in him the beliefs he still holds dear, but also by lending him an appreciation and respect for language and proper grammar.

Farming background

But more than anything in his life, it was the family farm which shaped him. He has lived and breathed the exhilaration of a great crop and the despair and devastation of a drought.

He learned by experience what his father told him as a child, If you take care of the land, the land will take care of you.

As a younger man, he served his country in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of Captain. After earning a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Georgia, he put that training to use in private practice in North Carolina.

Perdue has been married to Mary Ruff Perdue for 44 years and has four adult children and fourteen grandchildren. He and his wife have served as foster parents for eight children awaiting adoption.

Perdue remains a licensed airplane and helicopter pilot and avid outdoor sportsman.
SALEM, Ohio  Two stories collided into one in a small Kansas town April 22.

After the wildfires devastated farms and ranches in the West earlier this year, 7-year-old Cale McCracken  1,200 miles away in Portage County, Ohio  saw a need.

He wanted to raise enough money to buy milk replacer for orphaned calves that lost their mothers in the wildfires that swept through parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Colorado and Kansas in early March.

When his family connected with Rachelle Schlochtermeier, of Meade, Kansas, they had no idea just how much their efforts would mean to another young boy whose family had lost cattle in the fires.

Calf relief

Schlochtermeier organized an orphaned calf relief from her home in Meade, Kansas, after a friends family was directly affected. We needed a place for these orphan babies, said Schlochtermeier. The ranchers dont have time to deal with it.

With the help of local 4-H clubs, they were able to take in 99 calves and disperse them among 22 families to care for them. We had an overwhelming response from people who wanted to care for the babies, she said. Schlochtermeier and her family kept eight of the calves to care for themselves.

Schlochtermeiers home, centrally located to those who offered to foster the calves, became headquarters for feed and supplies. Those caring for calves could stop by and pick up what they needed.

Young ranchers

Six weeks ago, Schlochtermeier got a call to pick up five calves from the home of young brothers, Shaun, 5, and Chance, 3. The two Scott brothers were scared about what would happen to the calves  having watched their parents put down many of the cattle too burned to save.

Chance pleaded with Schlochtermeier, Where are you taking my calves? Are you going to put them down? Take care of my calves. Schlochtermeier assured both brothers that she would personally take care of them, many of which were so badly burned they would need to be tube fed.

On the morning of April 22  when Cale McCracken arrived at Schlochtermeiers ranch with his family and a trailer full of supplies  the Scott family was also visiting the ranch. That little boy (Chance) and Cale met for the first time, and that was the first time the boy had seen his calves since the day Rachelle picked them up, said Casey McCracken, Cales mother.

Gathering supplies

So how does a 7-year-old boy get the notion to form his own relief effort? Christopher and Casey McCracken (Cales parents) are acquaintances of the Duma family, which had organized a large convoy to Ashland, Kansas, from northeast Ohio in late March and again in April.

Cale, homeschooled by his mother, overheard his parents making plans for their own trip to Kansas, and decided he wanted to do something on his own to help. He felt bad for the mommas that were burned in the fire and he wanted to take milk replacer for the baby calves, said Casey.

Cale started writing letters to family, friends and neighbors, and making phone calls, to see if anyone had any jobs for him so he could raise enough money to purchase 50 bags of milk replacer for the orphaned calves.

He started with a goal of $1,500 and ended up with $2,676. I had to clean a chicken coop for some of that money and I picked up sticks for a couple people  which were actually more like logs, he said.

More than enough

When we started, I said OK buddy, well try for that 50 bags and well just give this to the Lord, said Casey. We went from wanting to meet that goal to wondering if we were going to have enough room in the trailer, she said.

Cale purchased his supplies from Tractor Supply Co. in Alliance and was offered a 15 percent discount on everything he bought. The McCrackens were able to purchase 135 bags of shavings, 25 fly spray bottles, 120 bags of sweet feed, 45 bags of milk replacer and four calf nursing pails to donate to Kansas relief efforts.

Generosity

Most of (the donations) are from friends and family and perfect strangers, said Casey. We were kind of in disbelief of the generosity of people we didnt even know, she said.

This whole project has been overwhelming for me, Schlochtermeier said about organizing the calf relief efforts. I am shocked that someone that young would even think about somebody 1,200 miles away  it is amazing.

I gotta say, one of my favorite parts (of the trip) was actually giving them the feed, said Cale. It may have been 21 hours (to get there) but that 21 hours was worth it.

Casey said the kindness of complete strangers was most notable to her. Kansans offered places to stay and meals for the travelers, and children offering to spend their Saturday unloading supplies that came in from all across the country.

While the McCrackens were at Schlochtermeiers ranch, a 4-H club from Indiana pulled in with a trailer load of supplies and spent the day helping to unload other trailers.

Casey said she cant even put into words, how amazing their trip to Kansas was. Its a good opportunity to teach our kids how to serve the lord by serving others, she said. These are life lessons that we are excited to do with him.

How to help orphaned calves in Kansas

If you would like to make donations to help relief efforts for orphaned calves in southwest Kansas, you can mail checks to the following places; Include Orphaned Calf Relief in the memo line.

4 Leaf Clover 4-H Club Orphaned Calf Fund

Meade State Bank

P.O. Box 250

Meade, KS 67864

Santa Fe Trail Veterinary Clinic

404 W. Texcoco St.

Montezuma, KS 67867

(Donations to the clinic are used for vet supplies to doctor and treat the calves.)

Country Feeds

11205 U.S. Highway 56

Montezuma, KS 67867

(Monies received to Country Feeds are used for bedding, water buckets and feeders, fly spray, etc.)

And, follow the relief efforts on Facebook.

Related
MILFORD  The mother of a survivalist who ambushed two Pennsylvania State Police troopers made an appeal for her sons life Monday, telling jurors who are weighing the death penalty for him, I want my son to be saved.

Both of Eric Freins parents testified during the penalty phase of their sons capital murder trial as his lawyers try to persuade the jury to sentence him to life without parole for the murder of Cpl. Bryon Dickson II.

Frein killed Dickson, 38, and seriously wounded a second trooper when he opened fire outside the Blooming Grove state police barracks in 2014.

Deborah Frein told jurors her son has been made out to be a monster, and thats not who he is at all.

Frein, 33, was convicted last week of murder of a law enforcement officer, terrorism and other offenses.

Mondays session was delayed after Frein showed up in court appearing disheveled and unsteady on his feet. His defense team said he was refusing to communicate with them and asked the judge for a mental competency exam.

Defense lawyer Michael Weinstein said he learned from jail officials that he would not walk, would not talk, was staring off into space and had to be brought here in a wheelchair.

Prosecutors accused Frein of malingering, and the judge refused the defense request.

Michael Frein told jurors he spent 28 years in the military  retiring as an Army major  but lied to Eric by claiming hed been wounded in Vietnam, when in reality he never went to Vietnam or saw combat. He said he also falsely claimed to have been a sniper.

Frein added he shared his political views with his son, telling Eric that governments too big and citing a number of cases in which police had shot and killed suspects as bad police work.

But he said he never encouraged Eric Frein to target police.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday that enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is critical to protecting honest companies from competitors who choose to pay bribes.

Sessions, speaking at the Ethics and Compliance Initiative Annual Conference in Washington, DC, said corruption increases the cost of doing business and hurts honest companies that dont pay these bribes.

The FCPA and similar laws are in place for a reason, Sessions said. When they are broken, it has real consequences in peoples lives.

Thats why FCPA enforcement is critical to helping companies that want to do the right thing, Sessions said.

Both companies and individuals will be held accountable, Sessions said. It is not merely companies, but specific individuals, who break the law.

Last week another DOJ official publicly pledged support for FCPA enforcement.

Trevor McFadden, the Criminal Divisions Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, said prosecutors at the DOJ are intent on creating an even playing field for honest businesses.

McFadden told an audience at a compliance-related event in Washington that the DOJ will continue aggressive enforcement against companies and individuals who pay bribes overseas.

Sessions said Monday that companies should succeed because they provide superior products and services, not because they have paid off the right people.

The Justice Department will continue to strongly enforce the FCPA and other anti-corruption laws, Sessions said.

Before Donald Trump ran for public office, he criticized the FCPA.

In a 2012 phone-in appearance on CNBC, he said the FCPA is a horrible law and it should be changed.

I mean, were like the policemen for the world, Trump said Its ridiculous.

Those comments impacted the Attorney Generals Senate confirmation process. Then-Senator Jeff Sessions was asked if he would enforce the FCPA despite President Trumps earlier criticism of the law.

Responding to a written question from a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sessions said:

Yes, if confirmed as attorney general, I will enforce all federal laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the International Anti-Bribery Act of 1998, as appropriate based on the facts and circumstances of each case.

(The International Anti-Bribery and Fair Competition Act of 1998 amended (pdf) the FCPA to implement provisions of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. It expanded jurisdiction to anyone acting within the United States, it made bribes to international organizations illegal, and it added language banning bribes that seek an unfair advantage from a foreign official.)

* * *

Here are Attorney General Jeff Sessions full prepared remarks to the Ethics and Compliance Initiative Annual Conference in Washington, DC on April 24, 2017:

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for the introduction, Larry [Thompson]. I am honored to be here, and grateful for the invitation to speak to this group.

I understand it isnt typical for an Attorney General to speak at a compliance conference such as this, so I should explain why I am here. I thought this would be a good opportunity to convey two important messages.

First, I want to thank you for working so hard to ensure that your companies and clients do the right thing. The Department of Justice investigates and prosecutes people and companies that break the law  including laws that criminalize corporate misconduct. That is an incredibly important responsibility, and the men and women of our department take it seriously. Our work ensures that law-breaking is punished, and helps deter future bad behavior. I think I have the experience to properly evaluate a case. We will enforce the law and not back down to powerful forces  but we will be fair  equal justice to poor and rich.

But each case we bring may be a sign that something has already gone wrong. That is what your work seeks to prevent, by building strong cultures of compliance within your companies to deter illegal and unethical conduct. We applaud those efforts. Our department would much rather have people and companies obey the law and do the right thing, so we dont have to see them in court.

Your good work makes our jobs easier, and it makes your companies and our country better.

So on behalf of the Department of Justice, I thank you, once again, for doing this vital work. We have done our part to reward effective compliance programs and to better understand your efforts; you have my commitment that we will continue to do so.

The second message I want to make clear today is that under my leadership, the Department of Justice remains committed to enforcing all the laws. That includes laws regarding corporate misconduct, fraud, foreign corruption and other types of white-collar crime.

I understand there can be some uncertainty when there is a new Administration or new leadership at the Justice Department.

As you are probably aware, I have spent my first weeks as Attorney General ensuring that our department strengthens its focus on some key issues. For example, we need to turn back the recent surge in violent crime and murder that is troubling many of our cities. We need to restore a lawful system of immigration that upholds the rule of law and keeps us safe. And we must disrupt the transnational cartels, gangs and human traffickers that are bringing drugs and violence into our communities and which threaten the integrity of legal systems and even nation states.

These are important priorities for our department. But focusing on these challenges does not mean we will reduce our efforts in other areas.

As we re-double our efforts to combat violent crime, we will still enforce the laws that protect American consumers and ensure that honest businesses arent placed at a disadvantage. This Department of Justice will continue to investigate and prosecute corporate fraud and misconduct; bribery; public corruption; organized crime; trade-secret theft; money laundering; securities fraud; government fraud; health care fraud; and Internet fraud, among others.

The Department of Justice not only has a duty to uphold the rule of law, which makes our country so great, but we also have a responsibility to protect American consumers. These laws are in place for a reason. When they are broken, it has real consequences in peoples lives.

We will also enforce these laws so we can protect honest businesses. Companies that obey the law and do the right thing should not be at a disadvantage simply because their competitors choose to break the rules.

One area where this is critical is enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Congress enacted this law 40 years ago, when some companies considered it a routine expense to bribe foreign officials in order to gain business advantages abroad.

This type of corruption harms free competition, distorts prices, and often leads to substandard products and services coming into this country. It also increases the cost of doing business, and hurts honest companies that dont pay these bribes.

Our department wants to create an even playing field for law-abiding companies. We will continue to strongly enforce the FCPA and other anti-corruption laws. Companies should succeed because they provide superior products and services, not because they have paid off the right people.

Let me conclude by briefly making two final points about our approach to this work.

The Department of Justice will continue to emphasize the importance of holding individuals accountable for corporate misconduct. It is not merely companies, but specific individuals, who break the law. We will work closely with our law enforcement partners, both here and abroad, to bring these persons to justice.

Also, when we make charging decisions, we will continue to take into account whether companies have good compliance programs; whether they cooperate and self-disclose their wrongdoing; and whether they take suitable steps to remediate problems.

For years, the Department of Justice has directed our prosecutors to consider these factors when making charging decisions. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines also provide for substantial penalty reductions for companies that self-disclose, cooperate and accept responsibility for their misconduct. These principles will still guide our prosecutorial discretion determinations.

Our economy, and indeed, our whole system of self-government, depends on people believing that those who choose to disregard the law will be caught and punished. This is ultimately the responsibility of the Justice Department.

But more broadly, it depends on people and companies choosing of their own accord to obey the law and do the right thing. Making this happen is a larger task  one that is entrusted to all of us. Each of you plays an essential role in this work. So once again, thank you for your efforts, and thank you for listening to me today.

____

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
Dave Bautista is desperate to see Daniel Craig reprise the role of James Bond.

Dave Bautista

The 48-year-old former wrestler starred opposite Daniel in the most-recent 007 movie 'Spectre', in which he played the villainous henchman Mr Hinx, and Bautista would love to see the English actor return as Bond.

Asked if he'd like to reprise the part of Mr Hinx, the burly star confessed: "Yeah! Believe me we're talking about it a lot. We're waiting at home with our fingers crossed."

But Bautista admitted his character's future is closely tied to whether Daniel makes another Bond movie or not.

He told the Metro newspaper: "We're waiting for the news to see if Daniel will sign up for 'Bond 25', because then there's a chance that Hinx will come back."

However, like the rest of the world, Bautista remains in the dark about his former co-star's intentions.

He shared: "I'm reading the rumours just like everyone else."

Earlier this month, it was reported that producer Barbara Broccoli has convinced Daniel to star in another Bond movie, after the duo successfully worked together on an off-Broadway production of William Shakespeare's 'Othello'.

A source said: "Daniel was very pleased with how 'Othello' went and the great reviews. Now Daniel's talks with Barbara are going in the right direction.

"They have a script - screenwriting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade [who've penned several Bond movies] are writing and they'll go into production as soon as Daniel is ready to commit."

Another source claimed that the success of 'Othello' - which earned the actor widespread praise - has proven to be a turning point for Daniel.

The insider explained: "Daniel had such a good time in 'Othello,' produced by Barbara that he's ready to do a final Bond."
Each day, eight people are killed and another 1,161 injured in crashes involving a distracted driver according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thirty-one percent of drivers in a survey cited by the CDC said they had read or sent a text message or email while driving at least once in the 30 days prior to the survey.

In 2015, 3,477 people were killed in crashes in which distracted driving was a factor, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

To draw attention to the problem defined by these statistics, April has been designated as Distracted Driving Awareness month.

When her own family was affected by distracted driving, Jodi Bales of the One More Day Foundation made it her mission to bring the problem of distracted driving in front of the audience most affected  drivers between the ages of 16 and 24.

Q. What is the One More Day foundation, and why was it started?

A. My daughter, Alicia Nicholson, was killed on Feb. 6, 2016, by a woman who failed to stop at a four-way intersection in Cumberland County. (The driver) has been charged with texting and driving. We started this foundation to raise awareness to the dangers of distracted driving, in hopes of saving another family from having to live through a lifetime of pain. Alicia left behind a husband, two daughters, Aaliyah and Annabelle (at the time 3 years old and 1 year old). She was three months shy of graduating from the HACC nursing program.

Editors Note: Andrea Lenk was charged in July 2016 with felony homicide by vehicle, misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter and several summary traffic violations in connection with the crash at the intersection of Route 174 and West Lisburn Road in Monroe Township, and is awaiting trial.

Q. What do you do to raise awareness of the problem of distracted driving?

A. It has only been 14 months, however, in that time, I have spoken at Boiling Springs High School, Big Spring High School and West Shore Christian Academy. On May 11, I will be speaking at the Carlisle High School. Recently, I have become a member of the Pennsylvania Teen Safe Driving Coalition and spoke at the Teen Traffic Safety Symposium on April 24. The One More Day Foundation hosted a 5k on Saturday, April 15, to help raise awareness as well.

Q. How prevalent is distracted driving here in the Cumberland County area?

A. Sadly, distracted driving is a growing epidemic. Each year the number of distracted driving related crashes rises. Visit www.teensafedriving.org/pa for more information and statistics.

Q. What can people do to reduce the potential for distracted driving in their own vehicles?

A. Every cellphone provider offers an app (for example, AT&Ts drivemode app) that turns off all alerts when your car reaches 15 miles per hour. One of the leading causes of cellphone usage while driving is the temptation when the driver hears an alert such as the alert when a text message is received. Once a driver has eliminated their own distractions, drive defensively. Be aware of your surroundings and other drivers. Make certain they are stopping at a red light or a stop sign. Follow the laws of driving. Those laws are made to protect and save our lives. A vehicle is a very powerful weapon.

Q. How can the community support the mission of the One More Day foundation?

A. The community can access our website at www.driveattentive.org. Support fundraisers. Contact the foundation if they have an event that could utilize a speaker to discuss the dangers of distracted driving and statistics. Drive attentive. Save a life. Educate your loved ones.
Roger Waters is among 47 high-profile celebrities urging Radiohead to cancel their planned performance in Israel.

Roger Waters

The 'Creep' hitmakers are set to perform at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv on July 19, but the the 73-year-old Pink Flloyd legend, along with directors Ken Loach and Peter Kosminsky and actresses Maxine Peake and Juliet Stephenson and many more, have signed a letter with Artists for Palestine UK in the hope the alternative rock band will reconsider the concert and join the on-going cultural boycott by not going ahead with the show in a country "where a system of apartheid has been imposed on the Palestine people".

According to The Guardian newspaper, the letter reads: "I'm asking you not to perform in Israel, Palestinians have appealed to you to take one small step to help pressure Israel to end its violation of basic rights and international law. Since Radiohead campaigns for freedom to the Tibetans, we're wondering why you'd turn down a request to stand up for another people under foreign occupation.

"Surely if making a stand against the politics of division, of discrimination and of hate means anything at all, it means standing against it everywhere - and that has to include what happens to Palestinians every day."

While Waters - is getting ready to release his first album for 25 years, 'Is This the Life We Really Want?' - didn't personally comment on the situation, 'I, Daniel Blake' director Loach said the band should pull the gig out of "their own self respect".

The group's guitarist Jonny Greenwood - who is joined by Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood, Ed O' Brien and Philip Selway in the band - has links to Israel as he is married to Israeli artist Sharon Katan.

Prior to this, in 2015 a petition was started calling on a boycott of the country until the "colonial oppression of Palestinians" was over.

Radiohead are not the only band to have been told by Waters that they shouldn't perform in Tel Aviv.

Last November, the 'Another Brick in the Wall' hitmaker signed another open letter to stop Chemical Brothers performing along with 7,000 others.
Jo Malone was asked to sell Jo Malone London on the "very first day" it opened.

Jo Malone at the Mayfair Collective event

The British perfumer launched her eponymous beauty brand in 1983, which she sold to Estee Lauder in 1999, has admitted prior to passing over the reins to the longstanding cosmetics company she was asked if an unknown client could buy her company for 1 million minutes before its official opening.

Speaking about the unforgettable moment at an event at London's The Mayfair Collective, which was attended by BANG Showbiz, the mogul said: "Oh yes. I remember the very first day.

"This man walked in in a pin-striped suit, American, and he walked in and said 'Are you Jo Malone?' and I said 'Yes', and he said 'I have been instructed by my client to come and buy your company.' I had not even been open one hour, I'm not even joking. And he offered a million dollars for my company, and I remember standing there thinking 'I could buy a bed', because we had a piece of foam we would roll out and sleep on and roll it away in the morning, and transfer the little flat into a shop."

However, the entrepreneur - who has since launched Jo Loves - declined the offer because she didn't want to "rob" herself of "an adventure".

She explained: "And I just stood there and thought 'If I do this, and sell this right now, I'll rob myself of an adventure' and I said 'No thank you'. And I never saw him again."

Jo has revealed the night before the opening day, which was initially set for two days later, was chaotic as she had to swiftly paint the entire store and use hair dryers to ensure everything dried in time.

She explained: "The night before we opened in October, and we were meant to be opened two days later, and the Financial Times put out a story we were opening the following morning, so we had to open. That was it. So, the night before there we were painting the shelves. We had hair dryers to dry all of the shelves quickly, put all the products on, shut the door. We arrive the next morning and everything had stuck to the shelves, couldn't move one bottle off shelves. So, we were there with screw drivers tearing it all off. "
Princess Charlene of Monaco "can't wait" to bring her children to Africa.

Princess Charlene and Prince Albert II

The 39-year-old former Olympic swimmer - who hails from South Africa - has two-year-old twins Jacques and Gabriella with her husband Prince Albert II, and has said she is excited to "introduce" her children to her home continent.

Speaking to South African news channel Eyewitness News, Charlene said: "I am African and this is my heritage. It will always be. It's in my heart and in my veins. I can't wait for them to come here. I can't wait for them to be introduced to Africa."

Previously, Charlene said she was focused on raising her children and educating them on the "responsibility" of royal life.

She said: "For now, I'm a full time mum. I don't know how long that will be for. But yes, it is quite a difficult situation in comparison to the normal folk. We do have responsibilities and duties, and of course my son and my daughter are born into our responsibility. So it's quite something for me to accept that and to educate them."

Meanwhile, her 57-year-old royal husband recently gushed about Charlene's parenting skills, and said their brood are "never noisy" except for when they're having fun.

He said: "Gabriella and Jacques are very active, very playful, absolutely adorable, lots of fun and a lot of work."

"I am very happy that [Charlene] is able to spend as much time as she does with them/ I have never really heard them complain. Yes, when they are hungry (they do) but they've never been noisy (except when) they are being joyful."

And that's not the first time Albert has praised his wife's skills as a mother either, as he previously credited her as being the reason their children are "smiling and happy".

Speaking in 2015, he said: "She's very eager to be with her children at all times. She's up with the kids at 6, 6:30 and takes them through the morning. Every day.

"I don't think they would be as smiling and happy as they are if she weren't as good a mother as she is."
The Walking Dead is without a doubt one of the most divisive shows on television, partly down to its huge popularity with people across the globe. Could there be the biggest plot twist in history still to come, and right around the corner, though?

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes / Credit: AMC

Now its rumoured that Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) could die in the fight against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in upcoming episodes of the zombie apocalypse show.

Speaking to TVLine, showrunner Scott Gimple explained: [He will suffer any loss] to give his people and other people the life that they should live, where the world belongs to all of them and not just one person. A real life. Thats the only choice. So hes willing to face the losses.

He added: Rick will suffer any loss, even his own self, so could we be about to see the shows lead and fan-favourite character bow out of the series with the upcoming slew of new episodes?

We highly doubt it, but those who work on The Walking Dead certainly arent afraid to throw a curveball our way every once in a while.

Though its based on the Robert Kirkman comic books of the same name, the series has often deviated from its source material, but never so far as to wipe out a character as integral to the story as Rick.

Exactly who would lead the charge if Rick DID die would be anybodys guess. Personally, we think Maggie would make a darned good leader after everything shes been through.

The Walking Dead returns later this year to AMC in the US and FOX in the UK for the start of its eighth season.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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If reports doing the rounds are anything to go by, then actress Priyanka Chopra will soon be blasting off into outer space with her next film project - a biopic on late Indian astronaut Kalpana Chawla. Years after news first broke of the actress being offered the titular role, recent reports state that Priyanka has finally come on board for the project that will be mounted on an international scale.



According to reports, Priyanka's team has been actively involved in the pre-production work of the film that is being directed by debutante Priya Mishra. The script has also reportedly been locked and a new production company will be bankrolling the film.



After taking on the role of Olympian Mary Kom, Priyanka will reportedly lock on her space suit and play the part of Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian woman astronaut in space. The girl who hailed from Karnal, Haryana, flew into space on the shuttle Columbia in 1997. She died on her second expedition along with six other crew members in 2003, in a space shuttle disaster. She had spent 31 days, 14 hours and 54 minutes in space.



Meanwhile, Priyanka is back from the US after shooting for the second season of her television show 'Quantico'. She is currently in the city to promote her Hollywood debut film 'Baywatch'.
The 23rd of April is a unique and a very special international celebration. The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, dedicated this day to the children of the country to emphasize that they are the future of the new nation.

National Sovereignty and Childrens Day (Ulusal Egemenlik ve Cocuk Bayram) commemorates the inauguration of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara on 23 April 1920.

In 1921, to mark the event, 23 April was proclaimed a national holiday.

In 1979 the day started to be called International Childrens Day and since its first year, Turkey has hosted thousands of children from 150 different countries over 40 years.

Celebrations in Fethiye

To mark National Sovereignty and Childrens Day, the children of Fethiye took part in celebrations, organised by FETAV, held at the town square, Beskaza.

Fethiye Times went along to enjoy the celebrations and capture some of the moments from the day.

Wreath setting and a parade

The celebrations started with a wreath-setting ceremony in front of the Ataturk monument in Beskaza Square.

Fethiye Mayor, Alim Karaca, children and parents, accompanied by the Fethiye Municipality Band, then marched from Ozgecan Park, along the kordon, to Beskaza Meydan (Fethiye Town Square).















On reaching Beskaza, there were activities by children and for children

In photos: A celebration of children

The FETAV Cocuk Korusu (FETAV Childrens Choir) led the National Anthem, Istiklal Mars

The FETAV Cocuk Korusu (FETAV Childrens Choir) led the National Anthem, Istiklal Mars

Fethiye Mayor, Alim Karaca and the Dalaman Governor were among the Protokol who attended the celebration

We hope you enjoyed Childrens Day, whatever were doing

A final word from Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Little ladies, little gentlemen,

You are all the roses, the stars and the sparkling joy of our future, the ones who will elevate the nation.

Always be aware of your value and significance!

And work hard

We have great expectations from you.
International buyers are not paying enough for apparel and garments manufactured in eco-friendly factories in Bangladesh, according to Tofail Ahmed, commerce minister of the country. Investments have been made to make the factories eco-friendly, however, buyers have not increased the prices. On the contrary, they have been cutting prices.

The minister said this during a meeting with the delegation of Germany's Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, which was led by its vice-chairman Michael Sommer.

Factories were turned green after the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 that claimed the lives of 1,130 people, with a view to improve workplace safety and environment. Multiple steps were taken to ensure workers' safety after this incident.

International buyers are not paying enough for apparel and garments manufactured in eco-friendly factories in Bangladesh, according to Tofail Ahmed, commerce minister of the country. Investments have been made to make the factories eco-friendly, however, buyers have not increased the prices. On the contrary, they have been cutting prices.#

National Initiative, Accord and Alliance inspected over 3,780 factories and ended up renovating 47 factories and closing 39 of them. The initiative also resulted in 7 factories in the country receiving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certificates from the Green Building Council of the US.

Less than 2 per cent factories in Bangladesh are non-compliant, which is an internationally recognised standard, said Bangladeshi media reports quoting Tofail.

Labour laws of the country were also amended and Workers' Welfare Association were allowed to be formed in export processing zones.

Germany is the second largest market for Bangladesh. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Trade leaders from various Indian states will meet in New Delhi to discuss the new goods and services tax (GST) and the issue of digital payments with a view to formulate a 60-day strategy for a national campaign to educate and empower the trading community on adopting the new tax. The Government is likely to implement the GST from July 1, 2017.

Trade leaders from various Indian states will meet in New Delhi to discuss the new goods and services tax (GST) and the issue of digital payments with a view to formulate a 60-day strategy for a national campaign to educate and empower the trading community on adopting the new tax. The Government is likely to implement the GST from July 1, 2017.#

In addition, the Union Government is also taking pro-active steps for promoting faster adoption of digital payments in the country.

Trade leaders from various Indian states will meet in New Delhi to discuss the new goods and services tax (GST) and the issue of digital payments with a view to formulate a 60-day strategy for a national campaign to educate and empower the trading community on adopting the new tax. The Government is likely to implement the GST from July 1, 2017.#

The two day national conference of prominent trade leaders of states is being organised during April 27-28, 2017 by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). More than 150 trade leaders are expected to participate in the conference, a release from CAIT said.

Trade leaders from various Indian states will meet in New Delhi to discuss the new goods and services tax (GST) and the issue of digital payments with a view to formulate a 60-day strategy for a national campaign to educate and empower the trading community on adopting the new tax. The Government is likely to implement the GST from July 1, 2017.#

"Our effort is to train them as master trainers on both GST and digital payments and in turn they will train trading community at district level in their respective states," said CAIT national president BC Bhartia and secretary general Praveen Khandelwal.

Trade leaders from various Indian states will meet in New Delhi to discuss the new goods and services tax (GST) and the issue of digital payments with a view to formulate a 60-day strategy for a national campaign to educate and empower the trading community on adopting the new tax. The Government is likely to implement the GST from July 1, 2017.#

While GST is a technology based taxation system, much different from current taxation regime, about 70 per cent small businesses in the country still have to adopt computerisation in their existing business format, they said. Therefore, it is a challenge to equip them with technology before rolling out of GST.

Trade leaders from various Indian states will meet in New Delhi to discuss the new goods and services tax (GST) and the issue of digital payments with a view to formulate a 60-day strategy for a national campaign to educate and empower the trading community on adopting the new tax. The Government is likely to implement the GST from July 1, 2017.#

For educating on GST, the CAIT has chosen Tally Solutions Limited as its technology partner whereas for spreading awareness on digital payments, it has tied up with MasterCard and HDFC Bank. So far, CAIT has already organised 113 conferences on GST and digital payments in the past 100 days.

Trade leaders from various Indian states will meet in New Delhi to discuss the new goods and services tax (GST) and the issue of digital payments with a view to formulate a 60-day strategy for a national campaign to educate and empower the trading community on adopting the new tax. The Government is likely to implement the GST from July 1, 2017.#

The event will discuss various topics such as overview of proposed GST structure and its implications on trade and commerce, role of technology in GST taxation system, need to have dedicated computerised business solution for GST compliance, treatment of inter-state movement of goods and services, rules pertaining to place of supply, raising of invoices, availing of input tax credit, and role of trade leaders and trade associations in ensuring penetration of GST education among traders across the country.

Trade leaders from various Indian states will meet in New Delhi to discuss the new goods and services tax (GST) and the issue of digital payments with a view to formulate a 60-day strategy for a national campaign to educate and empower the trading community on adopting the new tax. The Government is likely to implement the GST from July 1, 2017.#

The conference will also deliberate on linkages between digital payments and GST, why digital payment is essential for future business in India, ways and means for faster adoption of digital payments, percolation of digital payments down the line among non-corporate sector, and advantages and road blocks of digital payments adoption. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
LVMH and Christian Dior, which holds directly and indirectly 41 per cent of the share capital and 56.8 per cent of voting rights of LVMH, have signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the contemplated sale of Christian Dior Couture by Christian Dior to LVMH for 6.5 billion, representing 15.6x adjusted last twelve months EBITDA as of end of March 2017.

The transaction will be financed by a vendor loan granted to LVMH with a maximum maturity of 24 months, allowing LVMH to refinance at the appropriate time, based on market conditions. This will be done as a part of a project aiming at simplifying Christian Dior  LVMH group structures by regrouping the entire Dior brand within LVMH.

The two-fold strategic project, announced by the Arnault Family Group, Christian Dior and LVMH Moet Hennessy  Louis Vuitton, includes simplification of the structures through a simplified public offer by the Arnault Family Group for Christian Dior shares it does not currently hold. This public offer would primarily take the form of a mixed offer consisting of 172 in cash and 0.192 Hermes International shares for each Christian Dior share, and would be completed by two secondary offers, in cash and in Hermes shares respectively. It also includes the strengthening of Fashion & Leather Goods division of LVMH through the acquisition of Christian Dior Couture from Christian Dior for an enterprise value of 6.5 billion.

LVMH and Christian Dior, which holds directly and indirectly 41 per cent of the share capital and 56.8 per cent of voting rights of LVMH, have signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the contemplated sale of Christian Dior Couture by Christian Dior to LVMH for 6.5 billion, representing 15.6x adjusted last twelve months EBITDA as of end of March 2017.#

The main features of the project are the public offer values each Christian Dior share at 2602, which represents a premium of 14.7 per cent over the closing share price as of April 24, 2017 and 18.6 per cent over the 1-month average share price.

The Boards of Directors of Christian Dior and LVMH are unanimously favourable to the contemplated transactions and have appointed independent experts to review their terms, LVMH said in a press release.

This project represents an important milestone for the Group. The corresponding transactions will allow the simplification of the structures, long requested by the market, and the strengthening of LVMHs Fashion & Leather Goods division thanks to the acquisition of Christian Dior Couture, one of the most iconic brands worldwide. They illustrate the commitment of my family group and emphasise its confidence in the long-term perspectives of LVMH and its brands. I am delighted to announce this project today and thus continue and reinforce the development of LVMH in France and worldwide, said Bernard Arnault.

The closing of the transaction is expected for the second half of 2017 subject to compliance of the offer for Christian Dior shares. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The Embassy of the US in Nepal recently organised an event to encourage Nepali traders to make the most of the Nepal Trade Preference Programme initiated by the government of the US. The country has provided preferential trade benefits to Nepal on 66 different export products including scarves, shawls, carpets, bags, headgear, leather goods and more.

The programme is a part of US' Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, 2015 that was introduced in December last year and provides duty-free tariff benefits on select products to Nepali traders until 2025. It was initiated to contribute to Nepal's economic growth after the earthquake in April 2015.

Mark Linscott, assistant US trade representative said at the event that Nepal's private sector should export products that enjoy duty-free access to the US. He also urged traders to meet technical requirements decided by the US government for various products.

The Embassy of the US in Nepal recently organised an event to encourage Nepali traders to make the most of the Nepal Trade Preference Programme initiated by the government of the US. The country has provided preferential trade benefits to Nepal on 66 different export products including scarves, shawls, carpets, bags, headgear, leather goods and more.#

The implementation of the trade preference programme will make Nepali products more cost-effective in the US market, said Nepali media reports quoting Alaina B Teplitz, US Ambassador to Nepal.

Nepal is losing its trade surplus in the US, according to Bhawani Rana, president, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He added that both Nepal and US governments should assist Nepali traders to benefit from duty-free trade access and increase exports.

Commerce minister of Nepal Romi Gauchan Thakali has urged the government of US to include some other goods like readymade garments to the list of products that enjoy duty-free access to the US. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Why Aamir Couldn't Refuse The Invite

The superstar was invited by Lata Mangeshkar- The Nightingale Of India to attend the Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards which was held to commemorate her father's 75th death anniversary.

Aamir Bags An Award; Gets Sentimental

Aamir was reportedly honoured with a Vishesh Puraskar for his outstanding work in his wrestling flick Dangal which released last year.

What Caught Everyone's Attention!

Once bashed for his comments on intolerance, Aamir was honoured by RSS Chief Mohan Bhagat which raised many eyebrows.

Aamir's Thanksgiving Speech

While receiving the award, Aamir said, "Today wherever I am, the credit goes to all the writers who have written my films. I am here because of the directors and writer for the wonderful work they have done. I thank all of them."

Aamir's Last Award Appearance

The actor had last attended an award function 16 years ago at the Academy Awards when his film Lagaan was nominated in the Best Film category.
'Take It Away, If I Don't Deserve It'

Asked about criticism he faced after receiving the award, the actor told media here on Monday, "I have been working in the film industry for the last 25 years and I have noticed that every time whoever wins a National Award, the debate starts on who is deserving to win the award. I got it after 25 years. If you think I don't deserve it, you can take it away."

Akshay 's Contribution Towards Stunt Artistes

The actor was present here at the event by Movie Stunt Artistes Association for the insurance of all the stunt artistes who work in Hindi films.

Akshay Wants Stunt Artistes To Get Recognition

Stunt artists and choreographers should be accorded as much respect as heroes at every award ceremony, actor Akshay Kumar said on Monday.

'I'm A Stuntman First'

Introducing a special insurance scheme for all stunt artistes working in Hindi film industry, he said, "I am a stuntman first before an actor. For 10 years, I worked as a stuntman in Hindi film industry before getting the opportunity of acting."

Stuntmen Should Get Equal Respect: Akshay

"So I know how stuntmen risks their lives to earn their bread. I know what it takes to risk their lives to entertain us. So I think they should get equal respect even at the award shows for their work."

Akshay Announces The Insurance Scheme

The actor along with renowned cardiac surgeon, Dr Ramakanta Panda of Asia Heart Institute, announced the insurance scheme that covers around 380 stunt artists between the age of 18 to 55 with a death compensation of Rs 10 lakhs.

Dr Panda On His Collaboration With Akshay

Emphasising the importance of the insurance, Panda said: "Akshay came to me saying how could he help these people who are doing stunts in films and get injured and need treatment. He asked me if I can reserve some beds for them.

Mr Panda On Insurance

"Since they (stunt artists) work across the country, I thought insurance would be a better help. So we manage to collaborate with the insurance company to provide the facilities," concluded Mr Panda.
I Have Stopped Taking Contracts From Bollywood

Abhishek Sable, director at Happy Maids Service told HT, "I have stopped taking contracts from Bollywood. In the beginning, around three years ago, I provided house help to five-six celebrities.''

They Would Throw The Plate At Their Face

''In my experience, only a few celebs are good. The others never gave [the maids] decent food. And if they didn't like the food that the cook had made, they would throw the plate at their face. Gaali toh unke mooh pe rehti thi.''

They Would Wake The Cook Up With A Kick

"They would come home late at night and wake the cook up with a kick and tell them to cook [right then]. We tried going to the police, but to no avail.''

One Actor Falsely Accused The Maid Of Theft

''One actor falsely accused a maid of theft. When I took her to the police, she contacted some minister and the case was dismissed.''

Woh Maid Ko Time Par Khana Nai Dete The

Another service provider, on condition of anonymity, says, "An incident took place at an actor's house. She is divorced with two children and comes from a family of actors. Woh maid ko time pe khaana nahi dete the.''

They Fed Her Leftover Food

''Whatever was left over from their parties, they'd feed her that. We can't leave the maids in such conditions. These things happen with stars.''

They Also Create Problems With Salary

''Hum zada inn logo ka kaam nahi lete hain, kyuki inke complaints aate rehte hain. They also create problems with salary - they feel that people are dying to work at their houses, so they can decide what they want to pay."

The Maids Have Placed Their Trust In Us

Anupam Singhal, co-founder of Book My Bai and writer of the blog post exposing the celebs, says, "We provide over 2,000 maids in a month. We've provided help to around 35 celebrities, out of which around 26 such cases have come to me. [The maid] has placed her trust in us and my responsibility is to get her a good job at a good household."

My Experience With Bollywood Celebrities Has Been Bad

''And when I know my experience with Bollywood celebrities has been bad, I have no reason to get her a job there. I also have examples where the celebrity has taken very good care of the maids.''

We Are Turning Them Down

''But in the majority of the cases, some sort of abuse or exploitation has happened. We have a few pending requests from celebrities that we're turning down now.

It's Inhuman; Some Are Even National Award Winners

"It's inhuman to have physical abuse, verbal abuse, economic abuse. Maids are not paid salaries for months together. That's the reason I came out and wrote the blog, because many of them are role models, some even National Award winners."

If I Take A Name; The Celebrity Will Slap A Defamation Case

"If I take a name, the celebrity slaps a defamation case against [our] company. The maid should stand next to me and say that she'll go to the police and file a case. Otherwise, I would have nothing to prove.''

There's A Social Stigma

''Most of these maids refrain from going to the police because they say they've come here to earn money and not get into legal hassles. There's a social stigma about what their families will think."

Physical Abuse Of The Maid Was Almost A Daily Affair

"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.''
Dileep and Kavya Madhavan, the star couple finally made their first public appearance after marriage, thus putting end to all the rumours. Dileep and Kavya recently came together for the press meet of Dileep Show 2017.

It was rumoured that the actress is planning to retire from films and dancing, to concentrate on family life. But in the Dileep Show 2017 press meet, Dileep and Kavya confirmed that she will be performing in the show.

When Kavya Madhavan Replaced Mamtha Mohandas Even though Kavya had decided to accompany Dileep in the trip, she initially had no plans to perform. Mamtha Mohandas, who was initially a part of the show, backed out due to health issues. Later, Dileep convinced Kavya to join the show instead of Mamtha. Kavya's Career Plans However, the sources close to Kavya have confirmed that the actress has absolutely no plans to continue her acting career. Instead, Kavya is planning to concentrate on her family life and business. Kavya's Disappearance From Social Media Kavya has totally disappeared from the social media, after the marriage. The actress was heavily attacked by the moral police in social media after she got married to Dileep. It is the reason behind the actress's decision to stay away from social media and her fans. Happily Married Dileep and Kavya Madhavan are leading a peaceful family life, and are planning to shift to their new house very soon. Dileep's daughter Meenakshi is also said to be accompanying the couple on the USA trip. Dileep Show 2017 Dileep Show 2017 will feature several popular Mollywood celebrities, including Namitha Pramod, Rimi Tomy, Nadhirshah, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Dharmajan Bolgatty, etc. The 1-month-long show will be staged at the major cities of the USA.

In the recent interview given to Manorama Online, Dileep had finally opened up about the divorce with Manju Warrier and remarriage with Kavya Madhavan. According to the actor, he and Kavya were not in a relationship before marriage.

Dileep also stated that Kavya was not the reason for his divorce with Manju Warrier, as the rumour mills suggest. The actor decided to marry Kavya, as she was unnecessarily blamed for everything that went wrong in his and Manju's married life.

The actor feels that Kavya can be a perfect life partner for him, as she has also gone through a very painful first marriage. Dileep also revealed that Kavya is not a mother for his daughter Meenakshi, but the duo shares a great friendship.
Yaar Endru Therigiratha, Ivan Thee Endru Purigiratha? Remember these lines which comes as a background song soon after the classic transformation scene in the warehouse, from the 2013 blockbuster, Vishwaroopoom? The movie had Padmasree Kamal Haasan donning the role of a RAW agent with multiple shades.

Vishwaroopam went on to become a big hit and the ending of the movie was left with a wagging tail making it evident that the movie would soon be followed by a sequel.

The sequel, Vishwaroopam 2, was expected to hit screens at the end of the same year but was delayed due to unforeseen reasons which were then cited as production work issues. The first part of the movie was set against the backdrop of United States of America whilst the second part is said to be set majorly in Mumbai, which also infers the fact that the production cost and time consumed would be relatively less.

However, the delay of the movie completion and its subsequent release were being eternally elongated and the movie was almost in the semi-shelved state. But the time now has come for the revival of the movie, where the actor turned director took it on to his twitter account by carrying out the much anticipated news to his fans.

Kamal Hassan was seen quoted, "Happy to announce, Raajkamal Films International has taken over the responsibility of bringing Vishwaroopam2 within this calendar year 2017."

Ulaga Nayagan also extended his tweet by quoting, "Take it away lasses and lads. VR2 is yours to enjoy. I persevered inspite of political interferences. Was worth it. For my Nation & me."

The three-time national award winner, just like the first part of the movie would be producing Vishwaroopam 2 now, as the production house in charge has been taken over by Kamal's Raajkamal films from the ace producer, V. Ravichandran's Aascar Films.

The movie is also rumoured to witness a grand release on the occasion of Diwali and thus, in all probabilities seem to be clashing with Vijay-Atlee combo's much awaited movie.

With Rajinikanth-Shankar's magum opus, 2.O backing out of the Diwali scene, a few notable films are seen to be occupying the top spot in order to set the cash register ringing.

Being made with a good budget of 75 Crores, the movie continues with the same casting as of Part 1 with the likes of Rahul Bose, Pooja Kumar & Andrea Jeremiah continuing to be part of the sequel as well.
The airline industry is so competitive that upon learning United Airlines dragged a paying passenger off a flight so their employees could enjoy a free ride, Delta played hide-and-seek with the body of a man on the way to his own funeral.

We live in an era of air travel where paying customers are regarded as some sort of annoyance worthy of abuse rather than, well, customers worthy of some minimally healthy appreciation.

It matters little to some airport security that children are watching while they drag a passenger from his seat, bloody him up and then stand by while he re-enters the plane, staggering from one end to the other, obviously in shock, muttering that he has to go home.

Another video shows him clinging to a doorway in the plane, pleading with security and police, Just kill me.

The video shows the police simply watching him. I hope Im not giving the police too much credit in presuming they were waiting for him to calm down, which is much better than hog-tying him to a gurney, taping his mouth shut and wheeling him off.

Better, but not much.

Who knew that United has a fine print policy in which they reserve the right to have airport security violently drag you off their planes to make room for employees flying to work in another city?

If youre ever asked, Would you be willing to take $400 in air travel and a hotel so one of our four employees can get to Louisville? say, Yes, please, unless youre willing to take a beating.

Which brings up another fact about Uniteds poor business model of bouncing paying customers around in favor of employees needing a lift.

The man they dragged across the seats and floor is reportedly a doctor who said he could not stay in Chicago overnight because he had appointments with patients the next day.

This sounds like a reasonable justification to go back to the computer and have it select another random seat for ejection.

But, no, they chose the much more expensive option.

It may cost United a couple thousand dollars to book employee flights on another airline.Instead, they chose option number two  pay out at least a couple million in a civil suit they are sure to lose.

If the doctors lawyer can get a jury trial, United and OHare might be buying him a multi-million dollar private jet and pilot.

And Delta?

31 year-old Bryant Lee Raburn, who died from leukemia, was supposed to be flown to Nashville from Raleigh for his funeral.

Instead, Delta escorted the body on the scenic route to Utah. And dropped him there.

WRAL TV reports:

Bryant was rerouted to Salt Lake City in a cargo hold, and we didnt know how to get him to Nashville, said David Rhodes, Bryants stepfather.

According to Rhodes, hours spent on the phone with Delta got him nowhere. I was stonewalled everywhere I called, he said.

Finally, Rhodes traveled to the Nashville airport himself to work with operating managers to find a new flight that would get his stepsons body to Tennessee in time for the funeral.

In August, 2014, 22 travelers from Delaware flew from Philadelphia to New York on their way to Dublin. What they didnt know was that the ticketing agent in Philly booked them on a ghost ship to Dublin.

The flight didnt exist.

So there they were, stranded in New York.

Fourteen of them grew weary of Deltas failure to get them on a flight to Dublin and took cabs and limos back to Delaware. The remaining eight fought for over five hours with agents and a Delta VP to get flights on other airlines.

Heres what weve learned from these airlines:

Uniteds slogan: Fly United. We dare you. Punk.

Deltas slogan:Delta gets you there. Well decide where there is. You got a problem wit dat?
Ramaakanth Sake joins Smartmatic to strengthen regional position

London-headquartered Smartmatic, the global leader in Automated Elections, Smart Cities, and Identity Management Solutions, has announced the appointment of Ramaakanth Sake as President of its Asia Pacific operations (APAC).

Ramaakanth, based in Singapore, will assume the overall responsibility of directing Smartmatic's operations and organization throughout the Asia Pacific region. As president of APAC, Ramaakanth will oversee India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, all Southeast Asia, Oceania, Korea, Japan and China.

Since its inception in 2000, Smartmatic has developed and manufactured in Asia more than 275,000 voting and counting machines. Its R&D lab in Taiwan has been crucial to the consolidation of its position as the undisputed leader in the industry. Smartmatic has helped conduct the three largest electronic vote counting projects in Asia and has successfully completed Smart City projects in the Philippine provinces of Bataan and Bulacan.

According to Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica, Ramaakanth's appointment holds a strategic importance to the company as he points out that the Asia-Pacific region is "shaping up to be a key engine for the global economy, opening enormous opportunities for the industry."

"I am confident that Ramaakanth's experience, energy, and vision, combined with strategic-thinking, excellent sales track-record and exceptional leadership abilities, will make him the ideal executive to lead our efforts as we partner with forward-thinking governments in the region wishing to embrace technology solutions to improve governance," Mugica said.

Confident about opening even more opportunities for Smartmatic in the region, Ramaakanth said "I am excited to join Smartmatic's passionate and energetic team. I look forward to partnering with election commissions, and governments across the APAC region to bring efficiency and transparency to their elections and improve the life quality of citizens."

Ramaakanth has enjoyed a successful career spanning over two decades. Before joining Smartmatic, he worked for the Tata's and then Motorola Solutions for 20 years in India and Singapore, where he rose to the position of Vice President-MSSSI.

About Smartmatic

Smartmatic is a technology company that develops and implements technology and services to help governments become more transparent and efficient. It employs over 600 people in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, US, Mexico, Barbados, Haiti, Brazil, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170424006511/en/

Contacts:

Smartmatic

Mrs. Samira Saba, +1-561-862-0747

Marketing and Communications Director

Communications@smartmatic.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) said it is exploring the sale of three non-protein businesses, as part of its strategic focus on protein-packed brands. In February, Tyson Foods announced its strategy to sustainably feed the world with the fastest growing portfolio of protein packed brands. As the company focuses on its growth and value creation, it is exploring the sale of its Sara Lee Frozen Bakery business, the Kettle business and Van's. Company officials believe the sale of these businesses will allow Tyson Foods to sharpen its focus on core businesses and expand its protein leadership position in retail and foodservice. Sara Lee Frozen Bakery, the Kettle business and Van's produce items such as frozen desserts, waffles, breakfast bars and soups, sauces and sides. Any sale would include the Chef Pierre, Bistro Collection, Kettle Creations and Van's brands, a license to use the Sara Lee brand in various channels, as well as the company's Tarboro, NC, Fort Worth, TX and Traverse City, MI prepared foods facilities. Rothschild is acting as Tyson Foods' financial advisor on the sale. 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.
NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- InfortrendTechnology, Inc. (TWSE: 2495) today announced the release of EonStor GSe Pro 2000, a unified storage integrating SAN, NAS, and Cloud to enable easy cross-platform file sharing and storage for small offices and workgroup users. The compact tower storage featuring sleek metal casing and whisper quiet design packs multiple benefits for businesses operating with space constraints and cost considerations.

EonStor GSe Pro 2000 supports cross-platform CIFS/SMB, NFS, AFP, FTP folder sharing to streamline the process of sharing and accessing data. The native cloud gateway engine, integrating private and public cloud services, including Google Cloud, Dropbox and Alibaba Aliyun, allows users to leverage cloud for capacity expansion, data archiving and backup.

Powered by a quad-core processor and embedded with onboard 10GbE ports, EonStor GSe Pro 2000 delivers superior data transfer performance for IOPS/throughput-demanding applications such as server virtualization, video editing, backup, and email servers. Additional interface connectivity is available through a diverse selection of host boards and two expansion slots supporting 1GbE RJ45, 10GbE RJ45, 10Gb SFP+, 8Gb FC, and 16Gb FC connections to a wide range of external devices.

Storage management is hassle-free with the management tool EonOne, which combines storage configurations and controls such as storage provisioning and scheduling backup as snapshots into simple step-by-step procedures. Multiple services including LDAP, Proxy, Syslog, and VPN servers and antivirus are built into the system to provide value added benefits for the users.

"EonStor GSe Pro 2000 packs a lot of compelling values in a compact, modern and silent design with uncompromising performance. It is purpose-built for small office use scenarios," said Thomas Kao, Senior Director of Product Planning at Infortrend.

Click here for more details about EonStor GSe Pro 2000.

About Infortrend

Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) has been developing and manufacturing storage solutions since 1993. With a strong emphasis on in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, Infortrend storage delivers performance and scalability with the latest standards, user friendly data services, personal after-sales support, and unrivaled value. For more Information, please visit www.infortrend.com

Infortrend and EonStor are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc., other trademarks property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Infortrend Europe Ltd.

Agnieszka Wesolowska

Tel:+44-1256-305-220

E-mail: marketing.eu@infortrend.com
HONG KONG, CHINA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/24/17 -- Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704) (TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced the release of the first edition Cybercrime Investigation Body of Knowledge (CIBOK) book by the CIBOK editorial committee. This book is designed to set a new standard for public-private partnerships in the global fight against cybercrime by providing the knowledge, skills and behaviors required to solve and prevent today's threats.

Trend Micro took the initiative to bring together great minds in cybersecurity investigations to ensure relevant, high quality results. Leading incident responders, former FBI and DOJ investigators, cybersecurity lawyers and security researchers collaborated to develop this resource for use in education and for the betterment of the industry.

"CIBOK introduces a standard for the research and investigation of cybercriminal activity that can unify and strengthen the collective efforts to fight global cybercrime," said Ed Cabrera, chief cybersecurity officer for Trend Micro. "Trend Micro is a strong advocate for public-private partnerships, and this book provides a foundation to guide security researchers, law enforcement and incident response teams. It also encourages more individuals and organizations to work together."

Public-private partnerships are an integral aspect of the global fight against cybercrime. In developing this book, CIBOK and Trend Micro recognized and met the need for an industry standard to advance cybercriminal investigations. CIBOK focuses on five key objectives, including the need for consistent cybercriminal investigations and what content is needed for investigations. It addresses the needs, background information and requirements for cybersecurity researchers assisting law enforcement, and can be used as an educational tool for students and industry practitioners.

Trend Micro fosters ongoing partnerships with INTERPOL, the National Crime Agency, FBI and the Secret Service, which result in the identification and arrest of cybercriminals around the globe. A recent example of this is the 2016 INTERPOL arrest of a Nigerian national who had extorted $60 million from businesses around the world using BEC scams, which Trend Micro supported.

To purchase a copy of the CIBOK book and to learn more about the organization please visit: www.cibok.org.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cyber security solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 5,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world's most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables users to enjoy their digital lives safely. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.hk.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Claudius Lam

Trend Micro

+ 852 2866 4362 (Office)

+ 852 9022 0876 (Mobile)

Email Contact




Regulatory News:

Pixium Vision (Paris:PIX) (FR0011950641 PIX), a company developing innovative bionic vision systems to allow patients who have lost their sight to lead more independent lives, announces its cash position and its revenues for the first quarter of 2017.

Khalid Ishaque, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "The first quarter witnessed significant achievement following the strategic plan of the Company. With the final patient implanted in IRISII clinical study, the patients are in the re-education and follow-up phase and an interim 6-month progress report is expected during the third quarter of 2017. On the reimbursement front, NUB status was received and negotiations are on-going with German health insurers and hospitals through the second quarter. In France, the eligibility of IRISII for the Forfait Innovation reimbursement is under review by Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS). In parallel, sales and market development efforts are also focused on commercial visibility and raising awareness at medical, scientific, re-education, and patient association events across Europe and Middle East. For PRIMA system, given its disruptive potential and interest from regulatory bodies, it continues to be assessed in greater detail by the regulatory bodies including FDA in the US. The multiple set of data to be presented at the annual ARVO 2017 conference further strengthens the dossier on route for the first in human feasibility study. We remain confident for a first in Human implantation of PRIMA in 2017."

Selected financial items First Quarter 2017 First Quarter In K EUR 2017 2016 Operating income other revenues 741.1 665.2 Of which Research Tax Credit (CIR) 449.9 665.2 Of which grants subsidies 291.2 0 Net Cash position at March 31, 2017 First Quarter In K EUR 2017 2016 Cash and Cash equivalent at January 1st 14,244.2 24,353.8 Net cash flow from operating activities (3,595.1) (4,306.8) Net cash flow from financing activities 3,814.8 0 (Decrease) Increase in cash 219.7 (4,371.0) Cash and cash equivalent at March 31st 14,463.9 19,982.8

During the first quarter of 2017, operating income amounted to 0.74 million, up 11.4% year-on-year, driven by an increase in subsidies accounted through IFRS. These are offsetting the lower level of eligible expenditure basis of research tax credit (CIR) following IRISII CE mark.

Use ofcash flow from operating activities at 31 March 2017 amounted to 3.6 million. During the first quarter 2017, R&D efforts focused on the continued development of PRIMA and the cost accrued in the regulatory process as well as the ongoing clinical development on IRIS II. Beyond R&D expenses, sales marketing expenses are slightly increasing whereas the administrative expenses are tightly controlled.

On March 28th, Pixium Vision received 3.8 million net proceeds from the drawdown of the venture loan signed in September 2016 with Kreos Capital. In all, the cash position of Pixium Vision increased by 0.2 million in the Q1 compared to December 31st, 2016.

At March 31, 2017, the cash and cash equivalent of Pixium Vision amounted 14.5 million compared to 14.2 million as of December 31st, 2016.

Business update

Following its strategic development plan, Pixium Vision continued its progress on multiple fronts during the first quarter of 2017.

IRISII

Following achievement of the major milestone with the final patient implanted in its clinical trial early January, the next milestone will be the 10-patient six-month interim follow-up data expected during the third quarter.

After being granted NUB Status 1, the innovation reimbursement system in Germany, for IRISII, the company is closely working with the eligible hospitals in tariffs negotiations with their respective insurance providers being conducted through the second quarter.

In France, the company is seeking accelerated market access and reimbursement under the "Forfait Innovation" program. Following discussions on post-market clinical follow-up requirements, the dossier is under review, initially by HAS and then Ministry of Health, with final decision expected during the Q3.

Increasing its commercial visibility, the company has staffed its initial sales and marketing development team focusing on targeted European and Middle East countries. Pixium Vision is actively targeting key ophthalmic centres and training healthcare professionals (surgeons and re-education specialists) beyond those who participated in clinical studies. Pixium Vision remains strongly engaged with blind patient associations in raising awareness and educational initiatives.

PRIMA, its innovative photovoltaic sub-retinal implant,

The company is aggressively pursuing the development of the PRIMA system to successfully prepare the first clinical studies. Through availability of additional pre-clinical in-vitro and in-vivo data demonstrating safety, enhancements in surgical technique, including closest in-vivo model to human, Pixium Vision has further enriched PRIMA's regulatory dossier and process initiated end of 2016. The data further strengthens and facilitates the very constructive discussions with the regulatory bodies in Europe evaluating first in human study expected in 2017. In the US, FDA has also demonstrated a high level of interest in PRIMA's breakthrough technology and Pixium Vision is working closely with experts continuing to review under expedited pathway.

Serving to finance the on-going development of Pixium Vision through the commercial deployment of IRISII and the R&D investments in PRIMA, the company has announced on March 28th the planned drawdown of the first tranche (4 million) of the 11 million venture loan signed with Kreos Capital Ltd.

2017 operational outlook

Pixium Vision will focus on the commercial activities and reimbursement for IRISII and in parallel continue R&D and clinical development of PRIMA.

For IRISII, the company is focusing its efforts to generate its first sales, either in benefiting from positive reimbursement conditions or in using innovative funding sources. The company will also report the first interim results of patient follow-up in the IRISII multicentre study.

For PRIMA, the Company should start its First in Humanimplantation in a feasibility study in Europe. In the US, following review and consultations with the FDA under the Expedited Access Pathway (EAP) program for innovative technologies, Pixium Vision is mapping the clinical and regulatory pathway for the US market.

Next event: Annual General Meeting June 27th, 2017

ABOUT PIXIUM VISION

Pixium Vision's Mission is to create a world of bionic vision for those who have lost their sight, enabling them to regain partial visual perception and greater autonomy. Pixium Vision's bionic vision systems are associated with a surgical intervention as well as a rehabilitation period.

The company is developing two bionic retinal implant systems. IRISII, the company first bionic system, obtained CE mark in July 2016. In parallel, Pixium Vision has recently completed the pre-clinical study phases for PRIMA, a sub-retinal miniaturized wireless photovoltaic implant platform, and is planning to initiate first-in-human trials.

Pixium Vision collaborates closely with academic and research partners spanning across the prestigious Vision research institutions including the Institut de la Vision in Paris, the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory at Stanford University, and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. The company is EN ISO 13485 certified.

For more information, please visit: www.pixium-vision.com;

And follow us on: @PixiumVision; www.facebook.com/pixiumvision

www.linkedin.com/company/pixium-vision

Pixium Vision is listed on Euronext Paris (Compartment C). Pixium Vision shares are eligible for the French tax incentivized PEA-PME and FCPI investment vehicles.

Pixium Vision is included in the Euronext CAC All Shares index

Euronext ticker: PIX ISIN: FR0011950641 Reuters: PIX.PA Bloomberg: PIX:FP

Disclaimer:

This press release may expressly or implicitly contain forward-looking statements relating to Pixium Vision and its activity. Such statements are related to known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could lead actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements to differ materially from Vision Pixium results, financial conditions, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements.

Pixium Vision provides this press release as of the aforementioned date and does not commit to update forward looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For a description of risks and uncertainties which could lead to discrepancies between actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements and those contained in the forward-looking statements, please refer to Chapter 4 "Risk Factors" of the company's Registration Document filed with the AMF under number R16-033 on April 28, 2016 which can be found on the websites of the AMF AMF (www.amf-france.org) and of Pixium Vision (www.pixium-vision.com

IRIS is a trademark of Pixium-Vision SA

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170424006625/en/

Contacts:

Pixium Vision

Didier Laurens, +33 1 76 21 47 68

CFO

investors@pixium-vision.com

@PixiumVision

or

Media Relations:

Newcap Media

Annie-Florence Loyer, +33 1 44 71 00 12 +33 6 88 20 35 59

afloyer@newcap.fr

or

Lea Jacquin, +33 1 44 71 94 94

ljacquin@newcap.fr
STOCKHOLM, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Catella acted as exclusive financial advisor to the board of HD Ejendomme in the sale of the DKK 4.3 billion real estate company to funds managed by NIAM

HD Ejendomme has agreed on terms with NIAM to divest all shares in the company. Simultaneously with the acquisition NIAM will inject new equity and recapitalize the company. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

NIAM is a strong owner with substantial experience on the Nordic real estate markets and the deal will enable HD Ejendomme to grow its portfolio under management with a focus on residential properties in Denmark.

"This was a unique opportunity for us to acquire a large notably residential portfolio and a well-functioning management platform. We expect to utilize it as a platform for further investments and have a pipeline of potential acquisitions lined up," says Kristian Krogh, Senior Director and Head of Denmark at NIAM.

HD Ejendomme is one of the largest real estate companies in Denmark. It owns and operates approximately 2,000 residential and 375 commercial units across Denmark and employs some 85 people with headquarter in Odense. In 2014, the former CEO of Financial Stability Mr. Lars Jensen was appointed as chairman of HD Ejendomme to steer the company out of the financial crisis.

"I am pleased that the assignment I took on is now solved. All the creditors will get their money back and those who continue to finance the company will continue under the new and recapitalized ownership," say Lars Jensen, Chairman of HD Ejendomme.

"We appreciate the trust and the mandate awarded to Catella by the board of HD Ejendomme. Catella is well positioned for this kind of highly complex mandate in line with our position being the link between property and finance," says Jesper Bo Hansen, Head of Corporate Finance at Catella.

For more information, please contact:

Jesper Bo Hansen

Head of Corporate Finance in Denmark

+45-33-93-75-93

jesper.bo@catella.dk

Press contact:

Ann Charlotte Svensson

Group Head of Communications

+46-8-463-32-55, +46-72-510-11-61

anncharlotte.svensson@catella.se

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/catella---corporate-finance/r/catella-exclusive-advisor-in-sale-of-one-of-the-largest-real-estate-companies-in-denmark-for-dkk-4-3,c2249273

The following files are available for download:
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and Transgene today announced a new clinical research collaboration to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of Transgene's investigational therapeutic vaccine TG4010 in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo (nivolumab) standard chemotherapy(CT) as a first-line treatment for advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors have low or undetectable levels of PD-L1.

The Phase 2 clinical trial will explore the potential of combining Transgene's TG4010, an investigational therapeutic vaccine designed to generate an immune response against MUC1 expressing tumors such as NSCLC, in conjunction with Bristol-Myers Squibb's immune checkpoint inhibitor, Opdivo, designed to alleviate immune suppression. Both therapies will be combined with standard chemotherapy in first line NSCLC patients. The Phase 2 trial will evaluate objective tumor responses, and disease control in patients provided the regimen of TG4010 Opdivo CT, whose tumors express low and undetectable levels of PD-L1. In addition, the study will evaluate safety and tolerability of this regimen together with other efficacy metrics. This multi-center single-arm trial is expected to deliver first results in 2018.

Under the terms of the agreement, Transgene will be the sponsor of the trial. Bristol-Myers Squibb will provide Opdivo for use in the study.

"We are excited to explore the potential benefits of combining Opdivo with an investigational therapeutic vaccine, TG4010, in NSCLC where the need for new therapies is particularly acute," said Fouad Namouni, M.D., head of Oncology Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "As the science around cancer research continues to rapidly evolve, we are building on our leadership in Immuno-Oncology with potential combinations of therapies that may help advance new therapeutic approaches for patients in need of better options."

"We are enthusiastic about this new collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb. This trial will assess the potential of Transgene's TG4010, an investigational therapeutic vaccine that is designed to stimulate the immune system, in combination with nivolumab, Bristol-Myers Squibb's immune checkpoint inhibitor, and standard chemotherapy. Based on the results obtained with TG4010 in a large Phase 2b trial (TIME trial) in combination with chemotherapy, we are hopeful that this triple combination regimen could provide a treatment option for patients with advanced NSCLC," commented Philippe Archinard, Chairman and CEO Transgene.

About Opdivo

Opdivo is a programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor that is designed to uniquely harness the body's own immune system to help restore anti-tumor immune response. By harnessing the body's own immune system to fight cancer, Opdivo has become an important treatment option across multiple cancers.

Opdivo's leading global development program is based on Bristol-Myers Squibb's scientific expertise in the field of Immuno-Oncology and includes a broad range of clinical trials across all phases, including Phase 3, in a variety of tumor types. To date, the Opdivo clinical development program has enrolled more than 25,000 patients. The Opdivo trials have contributed to gaining a deeper understanding of the potential role of biomarkers in patient care, particularly regarding how patients may benefit from Opdivo across the continuum of PD-L1 expression.

In July 2014, Opdivo was the first PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to receive regulatory approval anywhere in the world. Opdivo is currently approved in more than 60 countries, including the United States, the European Union and Japan. In October 2015, the company's Opdivo and Yervoy combination regimen was the first Immuno-Oncology combination to receive regulatory approval for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and is currently approved in more than 50 countries, including the United States and the European Union.

About TG4010

TG4010 is an immunotherapy that has been designed to express the coding sequences of the MUC1 tumor-associated antigen and the cytokine, Interleukin-2 (IL2). TG4010, which is based on a modified vaccinia virus (MVA), induces an immune response against MUC1 expressing tumors, such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The results from the Phase 2b TIME trial with TG4010 immunotherapy associated with chemotherapy in NSCLC have been published in the peer-reviewed medical journal,The Lancet Oncologyin December 2015.

About Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with an estimated 1.8 million new cases annually. It is also a leading cause of cancer-related deaths, accounting for an estimated nearly 1.6 million deaths in 2012 (Source: GLOBOCAN 2012). Advanced lung cancer remains one of the cancer types with the worst prognosis (five-year survival rate for advanced NSCLC of less than 5%), underlining the still unmet need in this disease.

U. S. FDA APPROVED INDICATIONS FOR OPDIVO

OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving OPDIVO.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received prior anti-angiogenic therapy.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) that has relapsed or progressed after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and post-transplantation brentuximab vedotin. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) with disease progression on or after platinum-based therapy.

OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNING: IMMUNE-MEDIATED ADVERSE REACTIONS

YERVOY can result in severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions. These immune-mediated reactions may involve any organ system; however, the most common severe immune-mediated adverse reactions are enterocolitis, hepatitis, dermatitis (including toxic epidermal necrolysis), neuropathy, and endocrinopathy. The majority of these immune-mediated reactions initially manifested during treatment; however, a minority occurred weeks to months after discontinuation of YERVOY.

Assess patients for signs and symptoms of enterocolitis, dermatitis, neuropathy, and endocrinopathy and evaluate clinical chemistries including liver function tests (LFTs), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level, and thyroid function tests at baseline and before each dose.

Permanently discontinue YERVOY and initiate systemic high-dose corticosteroid therapy for severe immune-mediated reactions.

Immune-Mediated Pneumonitis

OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis. Fatal cases have been reported. Monitor patients for signs with radiographic imaging and for symptoms of pneumonitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or more severe pneumonitis. Permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 and withhold until resolution for Grade 2. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, fatal cases of immune-mediated pneumonitis have occurred. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.1% (61/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 6% (25/407) of patients.

In Checkmate 205 and 039, pneumonitis, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in 4.9% (13/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.4% (9/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1) and Grade 2 (n=8).

Immune-Mediated Colitis

OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated colitis. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of colitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 (of more than 5 days duration), 3, or 4 colitis. Withhold OPDIVO monotherapy for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 or recurrent colitis upon re-initiation of OPDIVO. When administered with YERVOY, withhold OPDIVO and YERVOY for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 or recurrent colitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 2.9% (58/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 26% (107/407) of patients including three fatal cases.

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal (diarrhea of =7 stools above baseline, fever, ileus, peritoneal signs; Grade 3-5) immune-mediated enterocolitis occurred in 34 (7%) patients. Across all YERVOY-treated patients in that study (n=511), 5 (1%) developed intestinal perforation, 4 (0.8%) died as a result of complications, and 26 (5%) were hospitalized for severe enterocolitis.

Immune-Mediated Hepatitis

OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated hepatitis. Monitor patients for abnormal liver tests prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater transaminase elevations. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 immune-mediated hepatitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 1.8% (35/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 13% (51/407) of patients.

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal hepatotoxicity (AST or ALT elevations >5x the ULN or total bilirubin elevations >3x the ULN; Grade 3-5) occurred in 8 (2%) patients, with fatal hepatic failure in 0.2% and hospitalization in 0.4%.

Immune-Mediated Neuropathies

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, 1 case of fatal Guillain-Barre syndrome and 1 case of severe (Grade 3) peripheral motor neuropathy were reported.

Immune-Mediated Endocrinopathies

OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated hypophysitis, immune-mediated adrenal insufficiency, autoimmune thyroid disorders, and Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of hypophysitis, signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, thyroid function prior to and periodically during treatment, and hyperglycemia. Administer hormone replacement as clinically indicated and corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater hypophysitis. Withhold for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hypophysitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Administer hormone-replacement therapy for hypothyroidism. Initiate medical management for control of hyperthyroidism. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hyperglycemia.

In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypophysitis occurred in 0.6% (12/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, hypophysitis occurred in 9% (36/407) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 1% (20/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 5% (21/407) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis resulting in hypothyroidism occurred in 9% (171/1994) of patients. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 2.7% (54/1994) of patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis resulting in hypothyroidism occurred in 22% (89/407) of patients. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 8% (34/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, diabetes occurred in 0.9% (17/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, diabetes occurred in 1.5% (6/407) of patients.

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe to life-threatening immune-mediated endocrinopathies (requiring hospitalization, urgent medical intervention, or interfering with activities of daily living; Grade 3-4) occurred in 9 (1.8%) patients. All 9 patients had hypopituitarism, and some had additional concomitant endocrinopathies such as adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism. 6 of the 9 patients were hospitalized for severe endocrinopathies.

Immune-Mediated Nephritis and Renal Dysfunction

OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated nephritis. Monitor patients for elevated serum creatinine prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grades 2-4 increased serum creatinine. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 increased serum creatinine. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 1.2% (23/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 2.2% (9/407) of patients.

Immune-Mediated Skin Adverse Reactions and Dermatitis

OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated rash, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), some cases with fatal outcome. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 rash. Withhold for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 rash. For symptoms or signs of SJS or TEN, withhold OPDIVO and refer the patient for specialized care for assessment and treatment; if confirmed, permanently discontinue. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated rash occurred in 9% (171/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated rash occurred in 22.6% (92/407) of patients.

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal immune-mediated dermatitis (eg, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, or rash complicated by full thickness dermal ulceration, or necrotic, bullous, or hemorrhagic manifestations; Grade 3-5) occurred in 13 (2.5%) patients. 1 (0.2%) patient died as a result of toxic epidermal necrolysis. 1 additional patient required hospitalization for severe dermatitis.

Immune-Mediated Encephalitis

OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated encephalitis. Evaluation of patients with neurologic symptoms may include, but not be limited to, consultation with a neurologist, brain MRI, and lumbar puncture. Withhold OPDIVO in patients with new-onset moderate to severe neurologic signs or symptoms and evaluate to rule out other causes. If other etiologies are ruled out, administer corticosteroids and permanently discontinue OPDIVO for immune-mediated encephalitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, encephalitis occurred in 0.2% (3/1994) of patients. Fatal limbic encephalitis occurred in one patient after 7.2 months of exposure despite discontinuation of OPDIVO and administration of corticosteroids. Encephalitis occurred in one patient receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY (0.2%) after 1.7 months of exposure.

Other Immune-Mediated Adverse Reactions

Based on the severity of adverse reaction, permanently discontinue or withhold treatment, administer high-dose corticosteroids, and, if appropriate, initiate hormone-replacement therapy. Across clinical trials of OPDIVO the following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred in <1.0% of patients receiving OPDIVO: uveitis, iritis, pancreatitis, facial and abducens nerve paresis, demyelination, polymyalgia rheumatica, autoimmune neuropathy, Guillain-Barre syndrome, hypopituitarism, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, gastritis, duodenitis, sarcoidosis, histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (Kikuchi lymphadenitis), myositis, myocarditis, rhabdomyolysis, motor dysfunction, vasculitis, and myasthenic syndrome.

Infusion Reactions

OPDIVO can cause severe infusion reactions, which have been reported in<1.0% of patients in clinical trials. Discontinue OPDIVO in patients with Grade 3 or 4 infusion reactions. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion in patients with Grade 1 or 2. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, infusion-related reactions occurred in 6.4% (127/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, infusion-related reactions occurred in 2.5% (10/407) of patients.

Complications of Allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO

Complications, including fatal events, occurred in patients who received allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Outcomes were evaluated in 17 patients from Checkmate 205 and 039, who underwent allogeneic HSCT after discontinuing OPDIVO (15 with reduced-intensity conditioning, 2 with myeloablative conditioning). Thirty-five percent (6/17) of patients died from complications of allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Five deaths occurred in the setting of severe or refractory GVHD. Grade 3 or higher acute GVHD was reported in 29% (5/17) of patients. Hyperacute GVHD was reported in 20% (n=2) of patients. A steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, without an identified infectious cause, was reported in 35% (n=6) of patients. Two cases of encephalitis were reported: Grade 3 (n=1) lymphocytic encephalitis without an identified infectious cause, and Grade 3 (n=1) suspected viral encephalitis. Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) occurred in one patient, who received reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic HSCT and died of GVHD and multi-organ failure. Other cases of hepatic VOD after reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic HSCT have also been reported in patients with lymphoma who received a PD-1 receptor blocking antibody before transplantation. Cases of fatal hyperacute GVHD have also been reported. These complications may occur despite intervening therapy between PD-1 blockade and allogeneic HSCT.

Follow patients closely for early evidence of transplant-related complications such as hyperacute GVHD, severe (Grade 3 to 4) acute GVHD, steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, hepatic VOD, and other immune-mediated adverse reactions, and intervene promptly.

Embryo-Fetal Toxicity

Based on their mechanisms of action, OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with an OPDIVO- or YERVOY- containing regimen and for at least 5 months after the last dose of OPDIVO.

Lactation

It is not known whether OPDIVO or YERVOY is present in human milk. Because many drugs, including antibodies, are excreted in human milk and because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from an OPDIVO-containing regimen, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment. Advise women to discontinue nursing during treatment with YERVOY and for 3 months following the final dose.

Serious Adverse Reactions

In Checkmate 037, serious adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=268). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 42% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse drug reactions reported in 2% to <5% of patients receiving OPDIVO were abdominal pain, hyponatremia, increased aspartate aminotransferase, and increased lipase. In Checkmate 066, serious adverse reactions occurred in 36% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=206). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were gamma-glutamyltransferase increase (3.9%) and diarrhea (3.4%). In Checkmate 067, serious adverse reactions (73% and 37%), adverse reactions leading to permanent discontinuation (43% and 14%) or to dosing delays (55% and 28%), and Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions (72% and 44%) all occurred more frequently in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) relative to the OPDIVO arm (n=313). The most frequent (=10%) serious adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm and the OPDIVO arm, respectively, were diarrhea (13% and 2.6%), colitis (10% and 1.6%), and pyrexia (10% and 0.6%). In Checkmate 017 and 057, serious adverse reactions occurred in 46% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, dyspnea, pyrexia, pleural effusion, pneumonitis, and respiratory failure. In Checkmate 025, serious adverse reactions occurred in 47% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were acute kidney injury, pleural effusion, pneumonia, diarrhea, and hypercalcemia. In Checkmate 205 and 039, among all patients (safety population [n=263]), adverse reactions leading to discontinuation (4.2%) or to dosing delays (23%) occurred. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =1% of patients were infusion-related reaction, pneumonia, pleural effusion, pyrexia, rash and pneumonitis. Ten patients died from causes other than disease progression, including 6 who died from complications of allogeneic HSCT. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 21% of patients in the safety population (n=263) and 27% of patients in the subset of patients evaluated for efficacy (efficacy population [n=95]). In Checkmate 141, serious adverse reactions occurred in 49% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, dyspnea, respiratory failure, respiratory tract infections, and sepsis. In Checkmate 275, serious adverse reactions occurred in 54% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were urinary tract infection, sepsis, diarrhea, small intestine obstruction, and general physical health deterioration.

Common Adverse Reactions

In Checkmate 037, the most common adverse reaction (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=268) was rash (21%). In Checkmate 066, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=206) vs dacarbazine (n=205) were fatigue (49% vs 39%), musculoskeletal pain (32% vs 25%), rash (28% vs 12%), and pruritus (23% vs 12%). In Checkmate 067, the most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) were fatigue (59%), rash (53%), diarrhea (52%), nausea (40%), pyrexia (37%), vomiting (28%), and dyspnea (20%). The most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO (n=313) arm were fatigue (53%), rash (40%), diarrhea (31%), and nausea (28%). In Checkmate 017 and 057, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418) were fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, cough, dyspnea, and decreased appetite. In Checkmate 025, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406) vs everolimus (n=397) were asthenic conditions (56% vs 57%), cough (34% vs 38%), nausea (28% vs 29%), rash (28% vs 36%), dyspnea (27% vs 31%), diarrhea (25% vs 32%), constipation (23% vs 18%), decreased appetite (23% vs 30%), back pain (21% vs 16%), and arthralgia (20% vs 14%). In Checkmate 205 and 039, among all patients (safety population [n=263]) and the subset of patients in the efficacy population (n=95), respectively, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) were fatigue (32% and 43%), upper respiratory tract infection (28% and 48%), pyrexia (24% and 35%), diarrhea (23% and 30%), and cough (22% and 35%). In the subset of patients in the efficacy population (n=95), the most common adverse reactions also included rash (31%), musculoskeletal pain (27%), pruritus (25%), nausea (23%), arthralgia (21%), and peripheral neuropathy (21%). In Checkmate 141, the most common adverse reactions (=10%) in patients receiving OPDIVO were cough and dyspnea at a higher incidence than investigator's choice. In Checkmate 275, the most common adverse reactions (= 20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270) were fatigue (46%), musculoskeletal pain (30%), nausea (22%), and decreased appetite (22%).

In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, the most common adverse reactions (=5%) in patients who received YERVOY at 3 mg/kg were fatigue (41%), diarrhea (32%), pruritus (31%), rash (29%), and colitis (8%).

Checkmate Trials and Patient Populations

Checkmate 067 advanced melanoma alone or in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 037 and 066 advanced melanoma; Checkmate 017 squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); Checkmate 057 non-squamous NSCLC; Checkmate 025 renal cell carcinoma; Checkmate 205/039 classical Hodgkin lymphoma; Checkmate 141 squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck; Checkmate 275 urothelial carcinoma.

Please see U.S. Full Prescribing Information for OPDIVO and YERVOY, including Boxed WARNING regarding immune-mediated adverse reactions for YERVOY.

About the Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Collaboration

In 2011, through a collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Ono), Bristol-Myers Squibb expanded its territorial rights to develop and commercialize Opdivo globally except in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where Ono had retained all rights to the compound at the time. On July 23, 2014, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono further expanded the companies' strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop and commercialize multiple immunotherapies as single agents and combination regimens for patients with cancer in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

About Transgene

Transgene S.A. (Euronext:TNG), part of Institut Merieux, is a publicly traded French biotechnology company focused on designing and developing immune-targeted viral-based therapies for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases. Transgene's programs utilize viral vector technology with the goal of indirectly or directly killing infected or cancerous cells. The Company's two lead clinical-stage programs are: TG4010, a therapeutic vaccine for non-small cell lung cancer, and Pexa-Vec, an oncolytic virus for liver cancer. The Company has several other programs, including TG4001, in clinical and preclinical development. Transgene is based in Strasbourg, France, and has additional operations in Lyon, as well as a joint venture in China. Additional information about Transgene is available at www.transgene.fr.

Follow us on Twitter: @TransgeneSA

Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that TG4010 in combination with Opdivo, will be successfully developed or approved for any of the indications described in this release. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Contacts:

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Media:

Lisa McCormick Lavery, 609-252-7602

lisa.mccormicklavery@bms.com

or

Ken Dominski, 609-252-5251

ken.dominski@bms.com

or

Transgene

Media:

Citigate Dewe Rogerson

David Dible/Marine Perrier, 44 (0)20-7638-9571

transgene@citigatedr.co.uk

or

Transgene

Investors:

Lucie Larguier, +33 (0)3-8827-9104

investorrelations@transgene.fr

or

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Investors:

Tim Power, 609-252-7509

timothy.power@bms.com

or

Bill Szablewski, 609-252-5894

william.szablewski@bms.com
AXA IM, COMMERZBANK, ECOFI INVESTISSEMENT S , LA FRANCAISE INVESTMENT SOLUTIONS, NATIXIS AM and OFI AM funds admitted

Innovative model to facilitate investment in funds

Service to open on 15 May 2017

Regulatory News:

Euronext (Paris:ENX) (Amsterdam:ENX) (Brussels:ENX) today announced the launch of Euronext Fund Service in Paris, an innovative and complementary solution for investing in open-end funds (UCITS1 and AIF2) registered or passported in France. It offers institutional and retail investors a simplified, automated cost-efficient subscription/redemption service to invest in funds through their brokers. Euronext Fund Service will be launched on 15 May 2017, starting with AXA IM, ECOFI INVESTISSEMENTS, NATIXIS AM and OFI AM funds. Other asset managers including COMMERZBANK and LA FRANCAISE INVESTMENT SOLUTIONS will join Euronext Fund Services in the weeks following its launch.

Euronext Fund Service is designed to meet industry professionals' needs for an easier and straight through processing access to funds. For asset managers, it will boost their funds' visibility and facilitate their access to both domestic and international investors. Clients will be able to place orders for a range of international open-end funds through their broker, as they already do for other exchange tradable products.

Euronext Fund Service builds on new technologies developed by fintech companies, in particular robo-advisors seeking automated infrastructure solutions. Among other advantages, these new services are in line with the needs of new-generation investors, the "Millennials", drawn by digital technologies.

Funds admitted to trading on Euronext Fund Service will benefit from enhanced visibility through data flows generated by Euronext. A partnership with Morningstar will also allow free access to a rich repository of fund data for selection and comparison on the Euronext website.

Orders placed through Euronext Fund Service will be at Net Asset Value in euros, transferred to the Fund Agent under the Euronext model. Fund Agents registered with Euronext are BNP Paribas Securities Services, CACEIS, CM-CIC Market Solutions and Societe Generale Securities Services.

Stephane Boujnah, Chairman and CEO of the Managing Board of Euronext NV, said: "We are delighted to launch this new service, which illustrates our flexibility and ability to meet a range of different demands, and we look forward to welcoming asset managers of all sizes from the very start. Designed in partnership with the financial community, Euronext Fund Service is an innovative offering that addresses asset managers' needs for more digitalised and automated solutions. It will also help enrich the Euronext community as a whole."

About Euronext

Euronext is the leading pan-European exchange in the Eurozone with nearly 1,300 listed issuers worth close to 3.5 trillion in market capitalisation as of end March 2017, an unmatched blue chip franchise consisting of 25 issuers in the EURO STOXX 50 benchmark and a strong diverse domestic and international client base.

Euronext operates regulated and transparent equity and derivatives markets. Its total product offering includes Equities, Exchange Traded Funds, Warrants Certificates, Bonds, Derivatives, Commodities and Indices. Euronext also leverages its expertise in running markets by providing technology and managed services to third parties. Euronext operates regulated markets, Alternext and the Free Market; in addition it offers EnterNext, which facilitates SMEs' access to capital markets.

Disclaimer

This press release is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities. This press release is provided "as is" without representation or warranty of any kind. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the content, Euronext does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Euronext will not be held liable for any loss or damages of any nature ensuing from using, trusting or acting on information provided. No information set out or referred to in this publication may be regarded as creating any right or obligation. The creation of rights and obligations in respect of financial products that are traded on the exchanges operated by Euronext's subsidiaries shall depend solely on the applicable rules of the market operator. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Euronext.

This press release speaks only as of this date. Euronext refers to Euronext N.V. and its affiliates. Information regarding trademarks and intellectual property rights of Euronext is located at www.euronext.com/terms-use.

2017, Euronext N.V. All rights reserved.

1 Undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities.

2 Alternative investment funds.

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Euronext

Pauline Bucaille (Europe): +33 1 70 48 24 41

pbucaille@euronext.com

or

Alice Jentink (Amsterdam): +31 20 721 4488

ajentink@euronext.com

or

Pascal Brabant (Brussels): +32 2 620 15 50

pbrabant@euronext.com

or

Sandra Machado (Lisbon): +351 210 600 614

smachado@euronext.com

or

Aichata Tandjigora (Paris): +33 1 70 48 24 43

atandjigora@euronext.com
Regulatory News:

Q1 2017 results :

Internet revenues: 163 million, +4% 1

Total revenues: 189 million, -1%1

Outlook for 2017 confirmed :

Internet revenues growth: +3% to +5%

EBITDA2: 210 million to 225 million

The financial restructuring plan, which enabled SoLocal Group (Paris:LOCAL) to reduce its leverage at 1.46x, was successfully implemented in the first quarter of 2017 and enables the deployment of "Conquer 2020" strategic plan.

When releasing the 2017 Q1 results, Jean-Pierre Remy, Chief Executive Officer of SoLocal Group, stated: "The first quarter of 2017 reflects the encouraging momentum observed in the last quarter of 2016, notably the good growth of our Internet activities and allows to confirm our outlook. Nevertheless, as explained last December, the uncertainties that weighed on the Group's financial restructuring slowed down commercial performance in the last quarter of 2016, which will considerably impact our growth in mid-2017."

1 In Q4 2016 versus Q4 2015 (scope: continued activities)

2 Total (Internet Print Voice) recurring EBITDA

I. Revenues

SoLocal Group's revenue for the first quarter of 2017 is as follows:

In millions of euros Q1 2016 Q1 2017 Change Internet revenues 157 163 +4% Local Search 118 119 +2% Number of visits (in million) 595 634 +7% ARPA1 (in ) 232 250 +8% Number of clients (in thousand) 506 477 -6% Digital Marketing 40 43 +10% Penetration rate (in number of clients) 23% 24% +1pt Print Voice revenues 33 26 -21% Revenues 190 189 -1%

Note: Chart concerning the continued activities

The Group recorded revenues of 189 million in Q1 2017, down -1% versus Q1 2016, growth in Internet activities almost offsetting more limited decline in Print Voice activities.

Internet revenues of 163 million in Q1 2017 were up +4% vs Q1 2016, and continue the trend observed in Q4 2016

Audience growth : Internet visits recorded a growth of +7% in Q1 2017 versus Q1 2016, of which +17% for mobile audience (representing 45% of total audience).

Internet visits recorded a growth of +7% in Q1 2017 versus Q1 2016, of which +17% for mobile audience (representing 45% of total audience). Local Search revenues: +2% in Q1 2017 versus Q1 2016 Local Search ARPA 2 +8% in Q1 2017 versus Q1 2016, above historical trend since Q2 2016, resulting from an upgrade in the Search offering. Client base : -6% in Q1 2017 vs Q1 2016, benefit from reinforced acquisition capabilities will arise along the year, as well as improvement of 2 points on the sales order churn rate.

+2% in Q1 2017 versus Q1 2016

Digital Marketing revenues : Revenues increased by +10% in Q1 2017 vs Q1 2016, thanks to the acceleration of the Group's innovative offerings: +15% growth for sites and content, +10% for programmatic and data, and +11% for transactional services and online reservation services (health and restaurants). This quarter, Digital Marketing revenues represented 23% of total revenues.

Print Voice revenues of 26 million in Q1 2017 decreased by -21% versus Q1 2016. This business represented 14% of total revenues this quarter.

II. Financial restructuring

During the first quarter, the Group implemented its financial restructuring, enabling it to strenghten its equity and decrease its net debt to 335 million and the level of leverage to 1.46x at 31 March 2017.

1 Average Revenue Per Advertiser

III. Outlook

The achievement of financial restructuring in Q1 2017 and the performance recorded in Q1 2017 enable SoLocal Group to confirm its outlook for 2017.

The expected outlook for 2017 is as follows :

2017 Internet revenues growth +3% to +5% Recurring EBITDA (in m) 210 225

About SoLocal Group

SoLocal Group, European leader in local online communication, reveals local know-how, and boosts local revenues of businesses. The Internet activities of the Group are structured around two business lines: Local Search and Digital Marketing. With Local Search, the Group offers digital services and solutions to clients which enable them to enhance their visibility and develop their local contacts. Thanks to its expertise, SoLocal Group earned the trust of some 490,000 clients of those services and over 2.4 billions of visits via its 4 flagship brands (PagesJaunes, Mappy, Ooreka and A Vendre A Louer) but also through its partnerships. With Digital Marketing, SoLocal Group creates and provides the best local and customised content about professionals. With over 4,400 employees, including a new orders force of 1,900 local communication advisors specialised in five verticals (Home, Services, Retail, Health Public, BtoB) and Internationally (France, Spain, Austria, United Kingdom), the Group generated in 2016 revenues of 812 millions euros, of which 80% on Internet and ranks amongst the first European players in terms of Internet advertising revenues. SoLocal Group is listed on Euronext Paris (LOCAL). More information may be obtained at www.solocalgroup.com.

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Contacts:

SoLocal Group

Press

Delphine Penalva, +33 (0)1 46 23 35 31

dpenalva@solocal.com

or

Edwige Druon, +33 (0)1 46 23 37 56

edruon@solocal.com

or

Alexandra Kunysz, +33 (0)1 46 23 47 45

akunysz@solocal.com

or

Investisseurs

Emmanuelle Vinel, +33 (0)1 46 99 41 80

evinel@solocal.com

or

Sebastien Nony, +33 (0) 1 46 23 49 03

snony@solocal.com
STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Ericsson (ERIC) reported Tuesday first-quarter net loss of 10.9 billion Swedish kronor or 3.29 kronor per share, compared to profit of 2.1 billion kronor or 0.60 per share a year ago. Adjusted loss per share was 2.42 kronor, compared to prior year's profit of 0.87 kronor. Net sales declined 11 percent to 46.4 billion kronor from 52.2 billion kronor a year ago. Sales, adjusted for currency, decreased 16% partly due to lower IPR licensing revenues. Looking ahead, the company said that the more focused business strategy is expected to result in a significantly improved profitability already in 2018. Beyond 2018, the company believes that it can at least double the underlying 2016 operating margin. The restructuring charges for 2017 are estimated to be 6 billion kronor to 8 billion kronor. Full-year sales are expected to be negatively impacted by up to 10 billion kronor by 2019, by addressing low-performing operations within Managed Services and optimizing the offering within Network Roll-out. 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.
IIITM-K develops app for coffee growers

Published: April 25, 2017

Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) has launched an application named Kaapi Soil Health Management and Monitoring (Kshemam) app to provide soil nutrient information and fertiliser recommendation for coffee plantation owners. The app will help in proper identification of optimum levels of fertiliser use. Farmers by entering information like geographic coordinates or their administrative divisions can check the soil property, nutrient status and fertiliser recommendations for their land. In addition, the spatial variation of individual nutrients can also be thematically visualised with the help of this app. By using this app, the farmers can generate fertiliser recommendation, nutrient advisory and soil health card in English, Kannada, Tamil or Malayalam.

National Bureau of Soil and Land Use Planning at the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has already done GPS enabled soil sampling and nutrient analysis in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu to provide correct information to the coffee growers. In India, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the leading producers of coffee.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2017

Topics: Agriculture  National  TNPSC

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Joseph Hood PR Manager Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Email: mhi-pr@mhi.co.jp Tel: +81-(0)3-6716-2168 Fax: +81-(0)3-6716-5860

Hannover, Germany, Apr 25, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd. (MHPS) and OSIsoft announced today that they are teaming up to enhance the capabilities of MHPS-TOMONI; a revolutionary new digital solutions platform that supports thermal power plant operations.As part of the announcement it was revealed that MHPS-TOMONI will be part of Red Carpet Incubation Program (RCIP), developed by OSIsoft and Microsoft. RCIP utilizes PI Integrator for Microsoft Azure, an application which has the ability to automatically clean, prepare and transmit PI System data to Microsoft's Cloud Platform. This helps reduce the burden involved in data preparation, lowering the total time, cost and energy consumed, as compared with traditional data analytics methods and business applications.MHPS is set to further boost its digital transformation for thermal energy producers, helping power plant owners to minimize unplanned downtime and increase asset performance.By using the trusted OSIsoft PI System and Azure, MHPS is able to build a secure, scalable platform to support the needs of its customers in a short period of time. MHPS's collaboration with OSIsoft and Microsoft enables it to lower costs while also seamlessly connecting real-time data from operations with analytics and business applications in order to expedite the data analytics processes. The result is more reliable and efficient power generation."MHPS is joining with trusted partners like OSIsoft and Microsoft around the globe to enhance the MHPS-TOMONI platform with applications that will further increase customer value. We are harnessing big data to enhance plant performance, improve availability, and meet key performance metrics that are crucial to driving success," said Akimasa Muyama, Chief Technology Officer, MHPS.A digital power plant requires a robust information infrastructure to leverage the massive amount of data that is generated during plant operations. OSIsoft is a proven pioneer and market leader in managing big data to support operational intelligence. As part of this strategic alliance, MHPS, OSIsoft and Microsoft will collaborate to integrated digital solutions that add intelligence to power plants around the world, using best-in-class software and leveraging their respective knowledge and expertise."Data preparation is a necessary first step in analytics, but it consumes inordinate amounts of time and energy," said Prabal Acharyya, WW Director of IoT Analytics for OSIsoft. "We are delighted to collaborate with MHPS and Microsoft to help accelerate cloud-based advanced analytics solutions for thermal power industry through RCIP."MHPS-TOMONI, a revolutionary new digital solutions platform designed by MHPS, devises tailor-made methods to optimize power plant operations, based on an inclusive, collaborative and 'customer first' approach. The platform will be showcased by MHPS at the Hannover Messe trade show from April 24-28, 2017 (Hall 7, Booth C40).Moving forward, MHPS is committed to exploring new opportunities to collaborate with partners, building on its extensive knowledge, experience and understanding of customers as a power plant equipment OEM to provide unparalleled offerings for the thermal power industry."Microsoft is proud of its continued collaboration with OSIsoft to support our customers seeking greater value from their data," said Joseph Sirosh, Corporate Vice President, Data Group, Microsoft. "With RCIP, OSIsoft and Microsoft are helping Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems bridge the OT-IT gap and help their power industry customers get valuable insights from the PI System and Microsoft Cortana Intelligence."About Mitsubishi Hitachi Power SystemsMitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS), headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, is a joint venture formed in February 2014 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Hitachi, Ltd. integrating their operations in thermal power generation systems and other related businesses. MHPS today ranks among the world's leading suppliers of equipment and services to the power generation market, backed by 100 billion yen in capital and approximately 20,000 employees worldwide.The Company's products include GTCC (gas turbine combined-cycle) and IGCC (integrated coal gasification combined-cycle) power plants, conventional gas/coal/oil-fired (thermal) power plants, boilers, generators, gas and steam turbines, geothermal power plants, AQCS (air quality control systems), power plant peripheral equipment and solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC). For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.mhps.com/en.About OSIsoftOSIsoft is dedicated to helping people transform their world through data. Our PI System captures operational data from sensors, manufacturing equipment and other devices and turns it into rich, real-time insights to reduce costs, optimize production or make critical business decisions. Worldwide, PI System manage over 1.5 billion sensor-based data streams. To learn more, please visit www.osisoft.comAbout Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd.Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) was formed on February 1 2014, integrating the thermal power generation systems businesses of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Hitachi, Ltd. in a quest to further enhance their social response capabilities in all respects. These include the technological strength to create new products of outstanding quality and reliability, the comprehensive strength in engineering to oversee projects in regions across the globe, and finely honed sales and after-sale servicing capabilities. MHPS aims to come out a winner in global competition and achieve a solid position as a world leader in thermal power generation systems and environmental technologies. For more information, please visit www.mhps.com.Source: Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd.Contact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
NEC Landslide Simulation System



NEC Seiichiro Toda s-toda@cj.jp.nec.com +81-3-3798-6511

TOKYO, Apr 25, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701), in collaboration with Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC), announced today the completion of a trial for a system that identifies areas where there is danger of a landslide occurring. The effectiveness of the system was confirmed as the trial was conducted in Chiang Mai Province in Northern Thailand during the period from November 2016 to March 2017.Landslides caused by heavy rainfall are frequent in Thailand, and they result in personal injury and damage to property as well as affecting transportation by destruction of roads. For those reasons, measures for reducing such damage are urgently needed.In April 2015, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and Thailand's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology(1) issued a joint statement announcing that the two countries would cooperate in a wide range of areas, including the development of more sophisticated disaster prevention ICT and the use and application of the technologies. As a country that experiences frequent natural disasters, Japan is expected to contribute to disaster prevention in Thailand through provision of its advanced technologies.This trial supports the disaster prevention cooperation project between Thailand and Japan. NEC conducted this trial in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Thailand as part of the "Research and study for the development of a landslide simulator in Thailand" project commissioned by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.NEC joined NDWC(2) in conducting verification experiments with a flooding simulation system in Uttaradit Province in Northern Thailand between November 2015 and March 2016. The trial reported here is a follow-up to that work.The landslide prediction system is one of the modules of NEC's "integrated risk management system." The integrated risk management system consists of a shared platform that has functions such as data integration, visualization, and early warning, and disaster modules specialized for particular disasters such as landslides, flooding, and earthquakes. The disaster modules or functions can be selected individually as required, or several disaster modules can be combined in order to predict multiple disasters simultaneously.The landslide prediction system performs a simulation based on meteorological data (observed rainfall and forecast rainfall), topographical data (elevation values, land use purposes), and soil data (soil depth, hydraulic conductivity, porosity, cohesion force, internal friction angle, etc.), making it possible to predict the degree of landslide danger.Further, the system can perform detailed simulations using a 50-m quadrilateral mesh and provide hourly-basis prediction for a period of up to seven days in advance. This allows NDWC to issue warnings to threatened areas before the landslides occur, helping to reduce potential damage. Moreover, even during periods when no disaster is forecast, areas at risk of landslides can be identified by performing simulations using previous rainfall data, which enables hazard maps to be prepared."We were able to construct the NEC landslide simulation system in cooperation with various Thai government organizations. The system is optimized for Thailand and is expected to have a role in the operations of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and the NDWC," said RADM Thavorn Charoendee, Executive Expert, National Disaster Warning Center. "With the ongoing cooperation of Japan, the Thai government will continue to expand the simulation area.""NEC will continue to contribute to the development of more sophisticated disaster prevention ICT and the use and application of the technology for preventing disasters in Thailand, such as landslides and flooding," said Minoru Hirata, General Manager, Smart Infrastructure Division, NEC Corporation. "Further, we will harness the experience and knowhow gained through this trial to actively promote the system to other countries in Asia that experience frequent damage from landslides."http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_NECLandslideSimulationSystem.jpgNEC Landslide Simulation System(1) Currently, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, following reorganization.(2) Affiliated with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology up to September, 2016, and subsequently affiliated with the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of the Ministry of Interior.About NEC CorporationNEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.Based on its Mid-term Management Plan 2015, the NEC Group globally provides "Solutions for Society" that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company's corporate message of "Orchestrating a brighter world," NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/solutionsforsociety/message.html.Source: NEC CorporationContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
TAIPEI, Taiwan, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NEXCOM brings vehicle telematics to snow plow operations to inform residents of Columbus, Ohio about operation progress. Targeted to modernize the administration of snow and ice removal, NEXCOM's vehicle telematics solution has been deployed in hundreds of trucks to assist with managing and monitoring of automatic vehicle locations, snow plow routes, and operation status. With the solution, the city is able to mobilize its snow plow fleet responsively and elevate the residents' perception of public services.

NEXCOM delivers data acquisition, visualization, and communication altogether with a rugged vehicle telematics solution to improve how mobile forces operate. Adopting the solution in snow and ice removal operations, the Department of Public Service of the City of Columbus can ensure and verify the execution of snow plans and make snow and ice treatment activity publicly accessible. With the access to information that was previously unavailable, residents can check activity updates online instead of hanging in the air, wondering whether they are being left out.

"Our goal in NEXCOM is to enable mobile forces to act on what has been, is being, or could be developed on the move," said Jay Liu, Assistant Vice President of NEXCOM Mobile Computing Solutions Business Unit. "The vehicle telematics solution plays to NEXCOM's technology strength and allows the department to communicate ground truths about road and snowfall conditions among snow patrol vehicles and operation centers, orchestrate a fleet of snow plow trucks based on road treatment priority, track snow plow status, and update residents on the progress."

The vehicle telematics solution serves as a combination of fleet management terminal, graphic information system (GIS), and vehicle gateway. The solution on snow patrol vehicles functions as an information hub providing operation centers firsthand observation to reprioritize tasks, coordinate the workforce, and formulate contingency plans accordingly. On snow plow trucks the solution hums with activities, displaying work orders, navigating drivers to assigned routes, and reporting back to operation centers about the whereabouts of snow plow trucks on duty, the address range of roads that are treated, and the time when roads are treated.

Hundreds of vehicle telematics solutions have been deployed in the public fleet, riding with public workers through grim winters. The solution gives a quintessential example of how vehicle telematics can augment public service operations and facilitate open communication between a municipality and residents, and can be easily leveraged for waste collection, road maintenance, and other public services.

About NEXCOM: NEXCOM has six businesses: IoT Automation Solutions, Intelligent Digital Security, Internet of Things, Intelligent Platform & Services, Mobile Computing Solutions, and Network and Communication Solutions. Under the IoT megatrend, NEXCOM expands its offerings with solutions in emerging applications including IoT, robot, connected cars, Industry 4.0, and industrial security. www.nexcom.com

Liyin Lin

Marketing Director

Email: liyinlin@nexcom.com.tw

Tel: +886 2 8226 7786 ext. 2110
LONDON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Waterman Group is delighted to celebrate the completion of the first building at the International Finance Centre in Jersey - IFC 1. The development by the States of Jersey Development Company, designed by MJP Architects and Richard MacCormac, is a world-class business hub providing 68,000 sq ft of high quality Grade A office space in the heart of St Helier.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493456/The_IFC_1_building_in_Jersey.jpg )



The IFC 1 building has been completed as part of the overall master plan that will deliver 470,000 sq ft office space across six standalone buildings with private car parking spaces beneath the buildings and 520 public parking spaces on three levels below a public park.

IFC Jersey forms a new extension to the existing central business district and will establish a clear identity for the island's premier industry and strengthen the connection between the historic town centre and the waterfront.

Waterman was appointed to deliver building services, environmental, sustainability and structural engineering design. Our sustainability experts provided advice to optimise the proportion of glazing and carefully considered solar shading that has been seamlessly integrated into the facade design.

The building will be one of the first in the Channel Islands to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating. Furthermore, its carbon performance will be 19% better than the minimum requirement with 20% reduction in energy by using low and zero carbon technologies, including air source heat pumps. The offices have also been designed to use the latest Low energy LED lighting with daylight dimming control.

The specification of the building is based on Central London BCO 2014 standards and will provide tenants with flexible column free space with natural light on all four sides.

Lee Henry, Managing Director of the States of Jersey Development Company, commented; "The building will provide Jersey's important financial services industry with premium, column free Grade A office space. Its distinctive appearance and efficient layout, together with its progressive, flexible and sustainable environmental strategy, sets a new standard for office development in Jersey."

Richard Whitehead, Regional Director of Waterman Structures, commented; "IFC 1 provides exceptional Grade A office accommodation and the success of the project is demonstrated by the tenants it has attracted. The project stands out in its class through its sustainable design and it has been a pleasure working under the lead of MJP Architects who have designed an exemplary building working with our multidisciplinary teams."

Reza Schuster, Director MJP Architects, said; "MJP are proud to be part of the team delivering a world class new financial district for Jersey's premier industry. IFC 1 has an important place in the overall development, as the first link in the chain between the Waterfront and the Historic Town, and by setting a gold standard for future phases."

A substantial part of the IFC1 building has already been let - UBS will occupy the 4th and 5th floors whilst BNP Paribas will be based on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

The construction of the remaining buildings has been split into phases and is being delivered on a building by building basis in response to demand.

The IFC 5 building is currently under construction with completion anticipated early 2018.

About Waterman Group

Waterman Group is a multidisciplinary consultancy providing sustainable solutions to meet the planning, engineering design and project delivery needs of the property, infrastructure, environment and energy markets. Founded in 1952 and listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1988, Waterman has grown into a leading engineering and environmental consultancy with offices throughout the UK, Australia and Europe. Waterman works with government agencies, local authorities, government-regulated industries and private sector clients to provide innovative, sustainable and economic solutions across a wide spectrum of business activities.The firm has extensive experience in property and buildings, environmental consultancy, power and energy, roads, highways and rail infrastructure, urban and regional planning. Award winning teams provide professional consultancy services throughout the complete life cycle of the asset starting from initial surveys and concept planning, through to design, delivery, project management, supervision and on-going maintenance. See more information onhttp://www.watermangroup.com.
LONDON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) has welcomed the news that the registered trade mark EARLY YEARS RESOURCES has been surrendered, after taking legal action on behalf of its members.

EARLY YEARS RESOURCES had been registered as a trade mark by a supplier to the industry, who was not a BESA member. They had subsequently challenged a large number of BESA members in an attempt to prevent other business from using the phrase EARLY YEARS RESOURCES.

It was the view of BESA and its members that the phrase EARLY YEARS RESOURCES needed to remain free for use by all those in the education suppliers industry and in the wider educational sector. For this reason, BESA applied to the UK Intellectual Property Office to cancel the trade mark registration which had been secured.

Working with its members, BESA compiled 300 pages of evidence, which included witness statements from both the industry and practitioners within the sector. It was following this submission that the organisation involved chose to surrender the trade mark and reach a settlement.

Patrick Hayes, Director of BESA, said: "While BESA fully recognises the rights of education companies to trade mark their brands, in this instance EARLY YEARS RESOURCES has long been understood and used by the industry as a description for the category of educational resources directed at early years settings and the early years foundation stage. It sits alongside similar phrases such as 'primary resources' and 'SEN resources'.

"As the trade association for education suppliers, representing over 400 companies in the UK, BESA was uniquely positioned to lead this action, but we couldn't have done it without the support of our Executive Council, members of our Early Years Special Interest Group and concerned practitioners from the sector. We would also like to express warm thanks to our solicitors Fieldfisher, who represented us on this matter, alongside barrister Richard Reynolds of 9 Bedford Row for his advice throughout.

"We believe this trade mark should not have been granted, and we will carefully monitor the registering of similar marks in future."

Hastings Guise, partner at Fieldfisher, said: "It was a privilege to work alongside BESA. The Association was a great client and the active support of its members made our job much easier. The trade mark in question had been registered on the basis of alleged recognition within the industry. So it was essential to demonstrate to the IP Office that actually the phrase described a product category. Once we had put in compelling evidence, I think the other party realised that they faced a steep hill if they wished to defend their position and backed down gracefully by surrendering the problematic registration. It is important for businesses to protect their trade marks, and Fieldfisher assists many clients with IP registration and enforcement. However, the trade mark registration system should not be used to take control of commonly used industry phrases and we were pleased that we could help BESA prevent that from happening in this case."

About BESA:

BESA, the British Educational Suppliers Association, is the only trade association covering the entirety of the UK educational suppliers sector. It has an 80-year heritage serving the sector, and represents over 400 suppliers, including manufacturers and distributors of equipment, materials, books, consumables, furniture, technology, ICT hardware and digital-content related services to the education market. Visit http://www.besa.org.uk for more information.

BESA's directors and a wide range of members are available for comment. To discuss this story further, contact: Mark Rosser mark@besa.org.uk / +44(0)20-7537-4997
ROME, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

- Burberry's Greg Stogdon to be joined on stage by Oscar and BAFTA-winning director Asif Kapadia and award-nominated scriptwriter Matt Charman

- World-first discussion about Burberry's movie-style short film 'The Tale of Thomas Burberry', and the implications for advertisers

- Fake news also high on the agenda with BBC World Service, Bloomberg Media, Carat Global and Jaguar Land Rover joining a panel session



Festival of Media Global 2017, the leading annual meeting of international media figureheads, is to lift the lid on one of the past 12 month's most intriguing campaigns: Burberry's cinematic short film, 'The Tale of Thomas Burberry', exploring the life of the brand's founder.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/464489/Festival_of_Media_Global_Logo.jpg )



For the first time, Burberry's senior vice president of creative media Greg Stogdon will be joined on stage by award-winning film director Asif Kapadia and Academy Award-nominated scriptwriter Matt Charman to reveal details of the ground-breaking project, which stars Domhnall Gleeson, Sienna Miller, Dominic West and Lily James.

Stogdon, Kapadia and Charman will convene at the Festival - which takes place between 7 and 9 May at The Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri - to discuss the convergence of the film industry and media, and whether scriptwriters and movie producers are the new creative directors for brands.

Jeremy King, COO at Festival of Media, commented: "It is such an honour to have Burberry speak at the Festival of Media. We are aware that every event in the media space is very keen to have the luxury brand as part of its programme, so we are so excited, particularly as it is going to be world first.

"This year's agenda is arguably the best in the event's 11 year history and designed to solve the marketing and media educational gaps of the world's biggest spending and innovative advertisers. Having Burberry as part of it only adds to the glamour and relevance of the Festival of Media on the media event calendar."

Click here for a full list of confirmed speakers.

FAKE NEWS

The Festival will also bring together executives from BBC World Service, Bloomberg Media, Carat Global, Adblock Plus and Jaguar Land Rover to discuss the phenomenon of fake news.

Advertisers around the world are already struggling to control what content their campaigns are aligned with, so understanding the challenges of fake news and how to beat it are of paramount importance to the entire media ecosystem.

Leaders such as Bloomberg global chief revenue officer Keith Grossman, Carat chief strategy officer Sanjay Nazerali and Jaguar Land Rover global head of digital marketing Dominic Chambers will examine the need for 'responsible platforms' for 'responsible brands'.

30% FEMALE SPEAKERS

This year's Festival of Media Global boasts its most diverse line up yet, with nearly a third of the agenda comprising female speakers.

Highlights include OMD EMEA president Nikki Mendonca discussing brand storytelling in an addressable world; MediaLink chairman Wenda Harris Millard and Kim Kadlec, global marketing at Visa, debating marketing's influence on corporate strategy; and OgilvyRED's Carla Hendra joining a panel discussion on disruption in the media industry.

The Girls' Lounge female quotient and creator Shelley Zalis will explore what a diverse HR strategy looks like, while speakers from Aviva, Hopscotch and Sky will discuss the connection between inclusion and commercial success in the industry.

NETWORKING AND AWARDS

Festival of Media Global 2017 will offer unparalleled networking opportunities for senior marketing and media industry executives. Brands already confirmed as attending Festival of Media Global 2017 include Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nike, VISA, Huawei, NBA, Fiat, Diageo, Pokerstars and Tinder, with many more to be announced.

Furthermore, the winners of the Festival of Media Global Awards 2017 will be unveiled at the event on 8 May, following a day of judging led by jury co-chairs Sarah Mansfield, VP media, Europe and LatAm, and global operations from Unilever, and Procter & Gamble's Gerry D'Angelo.

Click here toview the shortlist.

About C Squared

C Squared is one of the fastest-growing specialist publishing, events and technology companies in Europe. Its mission is to help the media and marketing industry become more connected and better informed so that it is fully equipped to respond to the challenges and opportunities brought about by digital technology andglobalization. C Squared launched the Festival of Media in Venice in 2007 and the brand now has four major events across the world, attended by 4,000 senior delegates and receiving over 4,000 Awards entries. In 2009, C Squared acquired the leading brand M&M Global along with the M&M Global Awards. The company also owns Creamglobal which has now become the world's largest database of media innovation and its bespoke technology serves many of the leading global agency groups and multinational advertisers. More information is available at: http://www.csquared.cc

Festival of Media Awards contact: Christina Leissem, e: christina.liessem@csquared.cc t: +44(0)20-7367-6993

Festival of Media Sponsorship contact: Michelle Graves, e: michelle.graves@csquared.cc t: +44(0)20-7367-6992

Festival of Media Delegates contact: Komla Ayewoh, e: komla.ayewoh@csquared.cc t: +44(0)20-7367-6984


Opens new Customer Experience Center in Frankfurt to expand customer support across Europe

LONDON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Prysm, Inc., a leading digital workplace platform provider, today announced the appointment of Tom Blenkin who will lead the company's European region as vice president of sales. Blenkin brings with him an industry-proven track record with more than 10 years of experience working in the European software market.

In his new role, Blenkin will be responsible for advancing the company's go-to-market strategy, business development, and supporting Prysm's customers in Europe as the business expands in this key region.

"From the start, I have been very impressed with the strength of the Prysm brand and its technology. It has a very strong footing within the digital workplace market in North America and the potential to continue this growth in the European market is an exciting prospect," said Blenkin. "The collaborative workspace market is growing at a rapid rate, particularly in Europe as businesses get to grips with the productivity and engagement benefits that it provides, and I can't wait to spearhead this expansion deeper into Europe."

Blenkin joins Prysm from OpenText, where he was head of sales for Northern Europe and focused on growing the digital experience management business. Prior to this, Blenkin was a sales leader at HP Inc.

"Tom brings an impressive track-record of driving sales in the European market to the Prysm team. His knowledge and experience in the software industry will ensure that our customers are deriving the best possible value from our solution," said Jason Smith, senior vice president, global sales, Prysm. "We're thrilled to have Tom bring his expertise to Prysm as we look to strategically grow our brand across the EMEA region."

Blenkin will be based in Prysm's London office, overseeing Prysm's European sales division.

Joining the Prysm European hub in London and its office in Ghent, Prysm recently opened a Customer Experience Center (CEC) in Frankfurt. The new CEC will host new and existing Prysm customers as the company expands across Europe. To learn more about Prysm, visit prysm.com or schedule a demo of Prysm's digital-workplace platform.

About Prysm

Prysm is a leading provider of cloud-based, digital workplace solutions to many of the world's largest globalenterprises. ThePrysm digital workplace platform drives a new era of digital transformation and enterprise agility. By enabling individuals and teams to explore all their data, content, applications and tools on hyper-visual, always-on digital canvases, Prysm ignites innovative thinking, drives decisions, accelerates productivity and transforms presentations into experiences. Customers using Prysm benefit from an open, enterprise-grade solution that integrates with existing collaboration tools and scales to hundreds or thousands of users, while meeting advanced security requirements.

Founded in 2005 in the Silicon Valley, Prysm has nearly 500 employees with offices worldwide. Learn more atprysm.com.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contact

Shannon Lyman

Director of Communications

+1 859-699-6891

SLyman@prysm.com

Conor McLarnon

AxiCom for Prysm

+44 20 7559 5612

conor.mclarnon@axicom.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/428976/Prysm_Logo.jpg
LONDON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

NTT Group report shows 25 passwords account for one third of all authentication attempts; and phishing attacks responsible for three-quarters of all malware

NTT Security, the specialized security company of NTT Group, has launched its 2017 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR), which analyzes global threat trends based on log, event, attack, incident and vulnerability data [1 October 2015 to 31 September 2016]. Analyzing content from NTT Group operating companies, including NTT Security, Dimension Data, NTT Communications and NTT Data, and data from the Global Threat Intelligence Center (formerly known as SERT), the report highlights the latest ransomware, phishing and DDoS attack trends and demonstrates the impact of today's threats against global organizations.

With phishing now widely used as a mechanism for distributing ransomware - a form of malware designed to hold data or devices hostage - the report reveals that 77% of all detected ransomware globally was in four main sectors - business & professional services (28%), government (19%), health care (15%) and retail (15%).

While technical attacks on the newest vulnerabilities tend to dominate the media, many attacks rely on less technical means. According to the GTIR, phishing attacks were responsible for nearly three-quarters (73%) of all malware delivered to organizations, with government (65%) and business & professional services (25%) as the industry sectors most likely to be attacked at a global level. When it comes to attacks by country, the U.S. (41%), Netherlands (38%) and France (5%) were the top three sources of phishing attacks.

The report also reveals that just 25 passwords accounted for nearly 33% of all authentication attempts against NTT Security honeypots last year. Over 76% of log on attempts included a password known to be implemented in the Mirai botnet - a botnet comprised of IoT devices, which was used to conduct, what were at the time, the largest ever distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

DDoS attacks represented less than 6% of attacks globally, but accounted for over 16% of all attacks from Asia and 23% of all attacks from Australia.

Finance was the most commonly attacked industry globally, subject to 14% of all attacks. The finance sector was the only sector to appear in the top three across all of the geographic regions analysed, while manufacturing appeared in the top three in five of the six regions. Finance (14%), government (14%) and manufacturing (13%) were the top three most commonly attacked industry sectors.

Steven Bullitt, Vice President Threat Intelligence & Incident Response, GTIC, NTT Security, says: "The GTIR is the most comprehensive report of its kind, based on analysis of trillions of security logs over the past year. We identified more than six billion attempted attacks over the 12-month period - that's around 16 million attacks a day - and monitored threat actors using nearly every type of attack. We assisted organizations with data breach investigations, collected and analyzed global threat intelligence, and performed our own security research. The lessons learned from all these efforts are directly reflected in the recommendations throughout this report.

"Our end goal is not to create fear, uncertainty and doubt or to overcomplicate the current state of the threat landscape, but to make cybersecurity interesting and inclusive for anyone facing the challenges of security attacks, not just security professionals. We want to ensure everyone is educated about these issues and understands that they have a personal responsibility when it comes to the protection of their organization, and that the organization has an obligation to help them do so."

To learn more about the most important global threats and the actions that management, technical staff and users can take to improve their security posture, follow the link to download the NTT Security 2017 GTIR: http://www.nttsecurity.com/GTIR2017

Summary of other key global findings:

Top attack source countries: United States (63%), United Kingdom (4%), China (3%)

(63%), (4%), (3%) 32% of organizations had a formal incident response plan up from an average of 23% in previous years.

59% of all incident response engagements were in the top four industries - health care (17%), finance (16%), business and professional services (14%), and retail (12%).

Over 60% of incident response engagements were related to phishing attacks.

Incident engagements related to ransomware were the most common incidents (22%).

56% of all incidents in finance organizations were related to malware.

50% of all incidents in health care organizations were related to ransomware incidents.

With visibility into 40 percent of the world's internet traffic, NTT Security summarizes data from over 3.5 trillion logs and 6.2 billion attacks for the 2017 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR). Analysis is based on log, event, attack, incident and vulnerability data. It also includes details from NTT Security research sources, including global honeypots and sandboxes in over 100 different countries in environments independent from institutional infrastructures.

NTT Security is the specialized security company of NTT Group. With embedded security we enable Group companies (Dimension Data, NTT Communications and NTT Data) to deliver resilient business solutions for clients' digital transformation needs. NTT Security has 10 SOCs, seven R&D centers, over 1,500 security experts and handles hundreds of thousands of security incidents annually across six continents.

NTT Security ensures that resources are used effectively by delivering the right mix of consulting and managed services for NTT Group companies - making best use of local resources and leveraging our global capabilities. NTT Security is part of the NTT Group (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), one of the largest ICT companies in the world. Visit nttsecurity.com to learn more.

Contact: Paula Averley, paula@origincomms.com, +44(0)7766-257776
SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The only full life cycle presentation tool proven to help presenters connect better with audiences

Prezi, the visual presentation platform that helps people connect more powerfully with their audiences, announced today the availability of Prezi Next, its new and most powerful platform yet. Designed with insight and feedback from Prezi's 85 million users, Prezi Next is the only full life cycle presentation platform on the market that allows users to create, present, and analyze their presentations.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493267/Prezi_Logo.jpg )



(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493268/Prezi_Hero.jpg )



(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493269/Prezi_iPad.jpg )



Prezi Next was designed for customers in a wide range of industries, including education, nonprofit, business, media, and government. It builds on the storytelling elements of Prezi's original product by incorporating a more flexible, intuitive editor with customizable designer templates, which help users more easily create visually stunning presentations. Prezi Next scales from the individual user up to large business teams, all in a single powerful platform.

Its interactive format lets presenters move freely between topics and adapt on the fly, without having to flip through slides. Through this approach, called "conversational presenting," presenters can focus on what interests their audiences most, a method that is proven to be more engaging and effective.

Prezi Next also adds the option of full-lifecycle tools like analytics for everyone -- a feature previously only available to teams -- which allows users to track progress with their audiences all the way through the funnel, and refine their presentations based on real-time data.

"We built Prezi Next from the ground up with insight from our 85 million users, and we're incredibly proud to see it transforming their presentations from a typical 'one-way' dialogue to an interactive conversation that supports immersive storytelling," said Peter Arvai, CEO and co-founder of Prezi. "Prezi Next also sets the foundation for us to adopt, support, and implement emerging and future technologies, such as the augmented reality preview that we are sharing at TED 2017."

"Since using Prezi Next, we've had record sales that we haven't seen before," said Jamie Gomez, marketing manager at ViewSat. ViewSat provides a comprehensive range of free-to-air satellite and transmission services for broadcasters of every size across the globe. "Conversational presenting gives us an edge by allowing us to take an educational stance. Now we split the content into different parts and ask prospects what they want to learn about. They appreciate the interactivity, ask questions, and respond much better."

"There's nothing better than a high-impact presentation to strengthen, promote, or build a brand. With Prezi Next, we have the visual support needed to engage our prospects and keep them engaged," said Abel Antonio Martinez Carrillo, Planning and Business Development, Chupa Chups. Chupa Chups is the popular Spanish brand of confectioneries sold in over 150 countries worldwide.

Prezi Next Features:

Prezi Next is built on the latest HTML5 technologies and includes the following features to help users more easily create, present, and analyze their presentations.

For creation:

A new editor: Prezi Next is built on a completely new editor, which is easier and more intuitive to use, and enables customers to create presentations more quickly.

Prezi Next is built on a completely new editor, which is easier and more intuitive to use, and enables customers to create presentations more quickly. " Smart Structures " : To help users more easily structure, modify, and move information in their presentations, Smart Structures allow you to easily expand on your messages to show context. Information containers behave in a smart way and make it easy to expand your content with one click.

To help users more easily structure, modify, and move information in their presentations, Smart Structures allow you to easily expand on your messages to show context. Information containers behave in a smart way and make it easy to expand your content with one click. Designer templates: Prezi Next includes 100 new designer templates that can be easily customized to fit any brand or topic. Even new users can quickly create professional-quality presentations that set them apart and make them more memorable.

For presenting:

Conversational Presenting: Through a new dynamic, flexible format, users can more easily navigate a presentation from point A to point Z, or go straight to point M, without flipping through slides.

Through a new dynamic, flexible format, users can more easily navigate a presentation from point A to point Z, or go straight to point M, without flipping through slides. Zoom Reveal function: Allows presenters to tell their story and reveal information as they go, adding excitement to their narratives.

Allows presenters to tell their story and reveal information as they go, adding excitement to their narratives. Prezi Viewer for Android and iOS devices: So users can present anywhere at any time.

For analytics:

In the Premium package, Prezi Next includes analytics features which allow users to determine:

Real-time view tracking: Users can watch who is viewing their presentation and at what time.

Users can watch who is viewing their presentation and at what time. Real-time sharing: Users can see who is sharing their presentation, and with whom.

Users can see who is sharing their presentation, and with whom. Content Optimization: By providing data on view times for each part of their presentation, users can see which content is resonating best with their audience, where they spend most of their time, and where they drop off.

Pricing and Availability

Prezi Next is available now worldwide. For more information on Prezi Next pricing, please visit prezi.com/pricing.

About Prezi

Prezi is the presentation platform that helps you connect more powerfully with your audience and customers. Unlike slides, Prezi's single, interactive canvas encourages conversation and collaboration, making your overall presentation more engaging, persuasive, and memorable. Prezi's latest offering, Prezi Next, is a full-lifecycle presentation platform so everyone can easily create visually stunning presentations, deliver them in a more natural and conversational way, and analyze their effectiveness. Founded in 2009, and with offices in San Francisco, Budapest, and Mexico City, Prezi now fosters a community of over 85 million users and over 325 million Prezi presentations around the world. Its investors include Accel Partners, Spectrum Equity, and TED conferences. For more information, please visit http://www.prezi.com.
TO: RNS FROM: F&C Commercial Property Trust Limited DATE: 25 April 2017

Director Declaration

In accordance with the requirements of the Listing Rule 9.6.14, the Company advises the following change to directorships in other publicly quoted companies, held by the following member of the Board.

Trudi Clark was appointed to the Board of NB Private Equity Partners Limited on 24 April 2017.

All enquiries:



The Company Secretary

Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited

Trafalgar Court

Les Banques

St Peter Port

Guernsey

GY1 3QL

Sharon A Williams



Tel: 01481 745436

Fax: 01481 745051


India's first sea ropeway to connect Mumbai & Elephanta Island

Published: April 25, 2017

Indias first and longest ropeway is planned to be constructed by the Mumbai Port Trust to link Mumbai with the famous Elephanta Island in the Arabian Sea. Elephanta Island has got global recognition for its famed Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The 8-km long ropeway will start from Sewri in Mumbais east coast and end at Elephanta Island at Raigad district.

The 40-minute ride by a 20-seater cable car is expected to boost tourism as it offers a magnificent view of mudflats on the east coast especially during the flamingo season, the mangroves as well as the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link to the north.

At present, the islands are accessible only by ferries from the mainland and takes around an hour for the 10-km cruise. Other details like the cable height and capacity of cars are being worked out.

Elephanta Island

Elephanta Island is a 16 sq. km island that has several archaeological remains famous for its cave sculptures. The island is locally known as Gharapuri Caves. It is located in Mumbai Harbour, east of Mumbai, Maharashtra. The island is believed to be inhabited from 2nd century BC but the famous temples carved out of rocks are believed to have been constructed around 5th-6th century AD. The island has a dam to conserve freshwater collected during monsoons and two British-era canons atop a hill that offers a panoramic view of Mumbai. The much famed two-day Elephanta Cultural Festival is organised by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation in winters.

At present, the island is inhabited by around 1,200 residents. The inhabitants are mostly fisherfolk and farmers who live in three tiny port villages called Rajbandar, Shentbandar and Morabandar. Tourists, however, are not permitted to have an overnight stay at the island as it is covered with thick forests.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2017

Topics: Maharashtra  National  States  Tourism

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Providing access to the global financial community with a range of low cost, carbon neutral connectivity and hosting capabilities

Verne Global, a global developer at the forefront of data center infrastructure design, today announced the availability of a range of BT Radianz connectivity and hosting services at its innovative data center in Iceland.

The move offers BT's global financial services customers more choice in the selection of predictable, low-cost, highly efficient data centers to house and connect their applications and services. It also allows BT's financial markets customers to join a growing ecosystem of participants already located in the Verne Global data center.

BT Radianz Services are designed specifically for the global financial markets. They include connectivity and hosting services between and within global trading venues. The BT Radianz Cloud platform supports the world's largest secure networked financial community offering access to thousands of applications and services from more than 400 providers.

Strategically located between key North American and European financial centres, the Verne Global data center will provide members of the Radianz Cloud community with an additional choice of secure compute location. It adds to an existing global footprint of more than 20 data centres that offer BT Radianz services.

Iceland is unique in its abundance of low cost geothermal and hydro-electric energy sources complemented with year-round free cooling. This allows Verne Global to present a compelling and sustainable solution for financial services firms looking to reduce costs and carbon emissions, particularly for power-hungry technologies such as high performance computing (HPC) and grid applications.

Stef Weegels, Director of Business Development at Verne Global commented, "We are pleased to expand our financial services capabilities with the addition of BT Radianz Services, which offer a key industry network and a range of connectivity and hosting solutions." He added, "With the right connectivity, compute and infrastructure resources in place, firms located at the Verne Global data center are able to use technology in ever more innovative, valuable and cost effective ways."

Michael Woodman, Head of Radianz, BT, commented, "Adding Verne Global's Icelandic venue to our portfolio of more than 20 global data centers provides BT customers with a new breed of connectivity and hosting opportunities where power and cost efficiencies help our customers to optimise their operations at an application level." He adds, "This agreement continues to reinforce our reputation as a creator of innovative capabilities, specifically developed for the financial services industry."

The addition of the Verne Global data center to the Radianz footprint is part of BT's 'Cloud of Clouds' portfolio strategy aimed at helping large organisations connect easily and securely to the applications and data they need, regardless of where they are hosted and where they are based.

BT also offers connectivity to Verne Global's data center from:

BT IP Connect Global: BT's IP VPN MPLS platform that connects global enterprises in a fast and efficient way to help unlock full business potential;

BT Ethernet Connect Global: flexible and adaptive, high-performance Ethernet Wide Area Network (WAN) service connecting sites around the globe.

Notes to Editor

Iceland was voted the world's safest location for a data center, obtaining 1st place (lowest risk) out of 37 nations in the 2016 Data Center Risk Index, published by Cushman Wakefield. This report takes into account ten variables including energy cost, connectivity, ease of doing business, level of corporate tax and political stability.

Independent global technology advisory firm, Citihub Consulting, recently published a whitepaper on Iceland as a strategic data center location for financial services firms. It is Citihub Consulting's belief that Iceland should feature highly in location strategy discussions.

About Verne Global

Verne Global owns and operates a 44-acre data center campus near Keflavik, Iceland and is addressing two key issues facing today's data revolution power pricing and availability. Verne Global provides highly-optimised, secure, flexible, scalable and 100% renewably-powered data center solutions offering forward thinking organisations significant and long-term cost savings. To learn more, visit www.verneglobal.com

About BT

BT's purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world's leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services. BT consists of six customer-facing lines of business: Global Services, Business and Public Sector, Consumer, EE, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 20161, BT Group's reported revenue was 19,012m with reported profit before taxation of 2,907m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

1The results for the period have been revised to reflect the outcome of the investigation into our Italian business. Detail of which is set out in our third quarter results announcement published on 27 January 2017. This financial information is unaudited.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005198/en/

Contacts:

Witz Communications for Verne Global

Carmen Harris, +1-919-435-9120

carmen@witzcommunications.com
SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Calypso Technology Inc., a leading provider of capital markets and investment management software, and R3, the financial services industry's largest distributed ledger (DLT) consortium, are developing a DLT application for trade matching confirmations with a group of global financial institutions.

Connecting to the Calypso Cloud application, R3's Corda platform was used to carry out trade matching tests in real-time across four time zones. Participants included Westpac Banking Corporation in Sydney, ING in Amsterdam, BBVA in Madrid, Banco de Credito del Peru (BCP) in Lima, and a large investment management firm in US. These institutions each used a node on Corda to enter FX trades, seamlessly from within Calypso, with one another, validate them and confirm matching, leveraging Calypso's industry-leading post-trade processing capabilities, in real-time.

The project participants will continue working with Calypso and R3 in the next phase of development, moving into a live pilot and subsequent production application.

Tej Sidhu,Chief Technology Officer at Calypso Technology, comments: "This is a leap into a new era. Calypso provides a completely integrated experience with the Corda DLT platform where golden copies replace a series of electronic messages, and where technology replaces human intervention and manual reconciliation. Calypso recognizes DLT and Blockchain as new standards of operation efficiency and transparency. We are very pleased to reach this milestone."

Todd McDonald, Co-Founder at R3, comments: "Corda is the only DLT platform designed from the ground up to address the specific needs of the financial services industry. This test is a perfect example of its ability to meet banking requirements in areas such as identity, privacy, security and scalability. We look forward to pursuing the next stage of development with Calypso."

Victor Gamero , FX Trader at BCP, comments: "Beyond the obvious gain that this new matching methodology provides, we were very impressed by the mitigation of operational risks."

AliciaPertusa, Head of CIB Digital Strategy at BBVA said, "Disruption in capital markets needs to reach massive adoption. Calypso & R3, as key market players and infrastructure providers, are well positioned to overcome this difficult challenge."

About Calypso Technology, Inc.

Calypso Technology, Inc. is a Cloud-enabled provider of cross-asset front-to-back solutions for financial markets. Its award-winning software improves reliability, adaptability, and scalability across several verticals, including capital markets, investment management, central banking, clearing, treasury & liquidity, and collateral. For the past 20 years, Calypso has delivered innovative solutions for trading, risk management, processing, and accounting, bringing simplicity to complex challenges.

With over 35,000 users in over 60 countries, Calypso is on the cutting-edge of emerging technologies like big data, Blockchain, and AI. "Calypso" is a registered trademark of Calypso Technology, Inc. in the U.S., EU and other jurisdictions.Other parties' trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners and should be treated as such.

www.calypso.com

About R3

R3 is leading a consortium with over 80 banks, clearing houses, exchanges, market infrastructure providers, asset managers, central banks, conduct regulators, trade associations, professional services firms and technology companies to develop groundbreaking commercial applications of distributed ledger technology for the financial services industry.

Operating in nine countries from all regions of the world, the R3 team is made up of financial industry veterans, technologists, and new tech entrepreneurs, bringing together expertise from electronic financial markets, cryptography and digital currencies.

Press contact

Calypso:

Chris Shayne, CFA

415-530-4147

chris_shayne@calypso.com

R3:

Nick Warren/Nick Murray-Leslie

Chatsworth Communications

+44 (0)207 440 9780

contact@chatsworthcommunications.com

Charley Cooper

R3

+1 917 855 8529

charley@r3cev.com
SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The globalbreast implants marketis anticipated to reach USD 2.0 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing focus toward enhancement of physical appearance has led to the growth of breast implants market.

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Breast reconstructions are being highly adopted by women in order to enhance their physical appearances. This kind of surgery involves esthetic repair of any damage taking place after implantation procedure. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in 2015, nearly 106,000 breast reconstruction procedures have been performed in the U.S. Thus, such huge number of cases are expected to drive the growth of the market.

Breast implants are used post mastectomy to enhance esthetic appeal. Breast augmentation is another procedure requiring the application of these implants. Esthetic appeal plays an important role in increasing the demand for these procedures, thereby, making the cosmetic industry lucrative for the target population.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Breast Implants Market Analysis By Product (Silicone Breast Implants, Saline Breast Implants), By Shape (Round, Anatomical), By Application (Reconstructive Surgery, Cosmetic Surgery), By End-use, And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/breast-implants-market

Further key findings from the report suggest:

In 2016, silicone implants dominated the market due to the fact that it has a natural resemblance to the breast tissue

Saline implants are anticipated to showcase significant growth over the forecast period due to lesser risk of complications during implant rupture

Round-shaped implants held the largest market share in 2016 owing to less complications involved during implant rotation

Anatomical-shaped devices are expected to showcase lucrative growth in the future due to their design that has a natural appearance, which make them ideal for breast enhancement

The cosmetic surgery segment dominated the market in 2016 due to the growing number of cosmetic procedures conducted globally

North America dominated the market in 2016 due to rising number of augmentation procedures of this organ conducted in the U.S.

dominated the market in 2016 due to rising number of augmentation procedures of this organ conducted in the U.S. Asia Pacific is expected to display lucrative growth over the forecast period owing to immense opportunities in the field of medical tourism in this region

is expected to display lucrative growth over the forecast period owing to immense opportunities in the field of medical tourism in this region Some of the key players include ALLERGAN; Sientra, Inc.; GC Aesthetics; Mentor Worldwide LLC; Establishment Labs S.A.; Polytech Health & Aesthetics GmbH; GROUPE SEBBIN SAS; HANSBIOMED CO. LTD; Laboratoires Arion; and Shanghai Kangning Medical Supplies Ltd.

Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Glucose Monitoring Device Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/glucose-monitoring-device-market

Infectious Vaccines Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/infectious-vaccines-market

Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/neurovascular-intervention-devices-market

Direct Energy Medical Devices Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/direct-energy-medical-devices-market

Grand View Research has segmented the breast implants market on the basis of product, shape, application, end-use, and region:

Breast Implants Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Silicone Breast Implants Saline Breast Implants

Breast Implants Shape Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Round Anatomical

Breast Implants Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Reconstructive Surgery Cosmetic Surgery

Breast Implants End-Use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Hospitals Cosmetology Clinics Ambulatory Surgical Centers

Breast Implants Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK Asia Pacific Japan China India Latin America Brazil Mexico MEA South Africa



Read Our Blog: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/blogs/healthcare

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. Thecompany provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: +1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: +1-888-202-9519

Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com



Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com


LONDON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The challenge? Envision a world where whisky could taste genuinely different; where you could experience a surprising flavour sensation influenced by the intense sweetness of rye whiskey married with the depth and subtlety of a carefully crafted Scotch.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493868/Johnnie_Walker.jpg )



This is the test the ingenious blending team at Johnnie Walker, the world's number one best-selling Scotch Whisky brand[1], set themselves in crafting Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish. The limited edition new blend is the second and latest innovation in the Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch portfolio - a series of experimental Scotch Whiskies that challenge convention and lift the lid on the skill and never-ending pursuit of flavour that has driven the small team of expert blenders at Johnnie Walker for over 200 years.

Inspired by the time master blender Dr Jim Beveridge, whose personal journey making whisky began over 40 years ago, spent blending bourbons and ryes in Kentucky in the 1990s, Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish pushes the boundaries of blending like never before.

Available only in a small number of selected markets, including Travel Retail, Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish has been drawn from over 200 whisky samples, aged in first-fill bourbon casks and finished for up to six months in former rye casks. Featuring whiskies from just five distilleries including Dufftown and the now closed Port Dundas, the new blend is rich and warming with an intense honeyed sweetness.

The magic, creativity and experimentation brought to life in the whisky making process, is what drives the blending team at Johnnie Walker to experiment with new and surprising taste experiences, resulting in this latest addition to the Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch series. The on-going flavour experiments that Beveridge and his team study at the brand's home in Scotland are a crucial part of their work, focussing on developing and understanding alternative flavours including wine, coffee and chocolate.

"Experimentation is the key to innovation," says Dr Beveridge. "It's something that has been at the heart of Johnnie Walker from the very beginning and which has enabled us to consistently create perfect whiskies like Johnnie WalkerRed Label and Johnnie Walker Black Label for generations.

"What we're doing today is what we've done for almost 200 years, experimenting with flavours and flavour influences to make sure that the whisky we make every day is the very best it can be. Right now, interest in whisky is higher than it's ever been and it's the right time to let people try some of the innovative - sometimes seemingly weird - things we're experimenting with. We think people will love these whiskies and more than that, they'll love knowing the story of how they came about."

Dayalan Nayager, Managing Director of Diageo Global Travel, said: "Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish is the perfect purchase for travellers looking for new and surprising taste experiences, Johnnie Walker fans or those seeking to explore the category.

"Travellers are looking for brands that have discovery, authenticity, craftsmanship and real human stories behind them. Johnnie Walker has a truly unique story to tell and we are thrilled to offer shoppers a glimpse into the world of flavour exploration from the world's biggest Scotch Whisky brand. As this is also a limited editionproduct, it is truly an exciting addition to the Johnnie Walker range in duty free."

When making whisky, the blenders at Johnnie Walker think 'from the bar back,' ensuring bartenders and whisky fans at home have the perfect liquids at hand to serve neat, on the rocks, or as the foundation of a flawless Scotch-based cocktail.

Inspired by the recent success of Johnnie WalkerSelect Casks - Rye Cask Finish, travellers can pick up a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish in selected duty free stores worldwide now.

Notes to Editors:

Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish has a RRP of $52.50/32.00

Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish has an ABV of 40%

Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish is available in 1L bottle.

Johnnie Walker Expert Blenders

Our blenders' passion, skill and commitment to innovation has enabled them to consistently create perfect whiskies like Johnnie Walker Red Label and Johnnie Walker Black Label for generations.

Our blenders can choose from more than eight million casks of carefully crafted Scotch Whisky drawn from more than 30 distilleries across Scotland, meaning that Johnnie Walker is crafted from a flavour palette that none of our competitors can match.

For almost two centuries, six generations of our blenders - starting with John Walker himself - have been bold visionaries, playing and experimenting with flavour not out of duty or necessity but because they love what they do. It's this skill and vision that has enabled our blenders to consistently create perfect whiskies like Johnnie Walker Red Label and Johnnie Walker Black Label for generations. This latest expression comes from a brand that has always been committed to the importance of innovation to drive sales globally.

--------------------------------------------------

1. IWSR, 2015

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits, beer and wine categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Buchanan's and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff and CAroc vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO). For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at http://www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, http://www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French shares were slightly higher in choppy trade on Tuesday after a sharp rally in the previous session following Emmanuel Macron's first-round victory in the presidential runoff. France's outgoing president, Francois Hollande, has urged voters to back centrist Macron in the second round of the election on May 7, warning that far-right leader Marine Le Pen would be a 'massive risk' for the economy and jobs. The benchmark CAC 40 index was up 10 points or 0.18 percent at 5,278 in late opening deals after climbing as much as 4.1 percent in the previous session. Luxury goods conglomerate LVMH rallied 4.5 percent after announcing it would buy out the minority interest held by Christian Dior SA in a 12.1 billion deal. Eye-care firm Essilor gained over 1 percent after confirming its fiscal 2017 targets. Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, slid half a percent after posting muted revenue growth for the first quarter. Credit Agricole was little changed on reports that the bank has begun discussions to buy Italy's Cesena, Rimini and San Miniato savings banks. Rivals BNP Paribas and Societe General were flat to slightly lower after sharp gains the previous day. In economic releases, a gauge of French manufacturing sentiment rose 3 points to 108 in April, the highest since June 2011, survey results from the statistical office Insee showed. European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny said in an interview to the Austrian newspaper Der Standard that uncertainty about the future measures of the Trump administration is particularly worrying and the problems from Brexit may be underestimated as of now. 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.
LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- ASAP Expo dba ASAP International Holdings (OTCQB: ASAE) today announced that the company's CIO, Mr. Jerome Yuan, will present at the Meet the Money Conference held in Los Angeles on May 8-10, 2017. Jerome Yuan will be speaking on the "Chinese Investment: Debt and Equity" panel on Tuesday May 9th at 10:50am Session 6C.

Mr. Yuan is a featured speaker on the panel. This session will be moderated by Mr. Harry W Pflueger from MAXIM Hotel Brokerage. Other confirmed speakers for the forum include:

Alice Gao, ICBC (USA) NA, Senior VP & Head of Commercial Banking

Don Li, Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Head of Asia Investment Group

Frank J. Bergold, HSBC Bank USA, Senior Vice President

Grant Walker King, Hollywood International Regional Center, Managing Partner

Meet the Money was founded in 1990 by Jim Butler, Chairman of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group -- a legal and advisory team in the industry. With more than $71 billion in hotel transaction experience, involving more than 3,800 properties around the globe, the team's extensive of the market and its players allows them to call on the industry's top executives and thought leaders to share their insight and expertise at Meet the Money.

Jerome Yuan, CIO of ASAP International, stated, "I am honored to have the opportunity to participate in the top hotel conference in Los Angeles. Our involvement and invitation to Investment in Hospitality Forum validates our hard work helping overseas investors realize significant gains through real estate acquisitions in the U.S. in very short time."

About ASAP International Holdings

ASAP is a holding company that operates real estate, investment banking and consulting for Chinese companies. Our mission is to be the bridge between China and the Western world. Our Real Estate division assists with institutional and high net-worth individuals with acquisition advisory and asset management. In past few years, ASAP is one of the most active hotel buyers in the U.S. and has consulted its clients with the successful acquisitions around 25 hotels with total value close to $1 Billion.

Corporate website www.asapholdings.com

With the exception of historical information, the matters discussed in this news release include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws that are qualified by cautionary statements herein and in all company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in our expectations.

Contact:



Ana Gandara Morales

(213) 625 1200

info@asapholdings.com




RENO, NEVADA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- NuLegacy Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE: NUG)(OTCQX: NULGF) reports its initial 40 hole (35,000 ft.) 2017 drilling program (to be expanded as warranted) has commenced with the arrival of the first of two drill rigs; the second rig is scheduled to arrive mid-May.

The initial 2017 exploration program will focus on:

1. Expanding the extent of the gold mineralization in the Avocado deposit, 2. Drilling the Deep Iceberg IP anomaly to confirm it as the third gold deposit identified to date, 3. Exploring the VIO and Jasperoid Basin anomalies to establish their prospectivity as deposits, as well as, 4. Expanding the gold content of the established near-surface oxide Iceberg gold deposit, an exploration target of 90-110 million tonnes of 0.9 to 1.1 grams of gold per tonne (conceptual numbers.)(i)

Of the initial 35,000 ft. planned, 65% will consist of deeper drilling to explore for additional deposits and 35% will concentrate on expanding the gold footprint of the near-surface Iceberg deposit. Further geophysical and geochemical surveys are contracted for follow up on the success of last year's surveys in generating additional drill targets outside of the five currently confirmed mineralized areas.

We are fortunate to enroll three integral personnel to round out the geo-technical/deposit discovery team; Mr. John Katseanes, Ms. Denise Dowell and Mr. William (Bill) Mounts, all former consultants to Barrick Gold Exploration who have opted to work in the entrepreneurial junior exploration industry.

John Katseanes is a renowned geo-technical database architect; his mission is to ongoingly upgrade our data base architecture and accelerate our ability to analyze, interpret, and visualize (present in 3D models) the Red Hill Project geological environment to improve the targeting of the most prospective areas of gold mineralization in which to drill for high grade gold intercepts.

John will be ably assisted by Denise Dowell as our Geo-Technical Database Administer, who is responsible for the compilation, assimilation and maintenance of all databases relevant to the exploration of our Red Hill Project.

Bill Mounts is our new Drilling Supervisor responsible for overseeing all drilling and drilling contractors' relationships in Nevada. Bill has over 50 years of experience working with Newmont Exploration, Barrick Gold and numerous other major gold miners and is credited with saving these companies millions in their drilling expenses.

About NuLegacy: NuLegacy Gold Corporation is an advanced stage Nevada exploration company focusing on the discovery of district scale Carlin-style gold deposits on its premier 98-sq. km (35 sq. mile) Red Hill Project in the prolific Cortez gold trend of Nevada.

To date we have discovered the Iceberg(i) and the Avocado Carlin-style gold deposits and have identified three more highly prospective exploration targets (The Deep Iceberg, VIO and Jasperoid Basin geo-physical anomalies) to be drilled this year.

NuLegacy's Red Hill property is located on trend and adjacent(ii) to three multi-million ounce Carlin-type gold deposits (the Pipeline, Cortez Hills and Goldrush deposits) that are amongst Barrick Gold's largest, lowest cost and politically safest gold assets(iii).

(i) An established exploration target of 90-110 million tonnes of 0.9 to 1.1 grams of gold per tonne. These figures are conceptual in nature and derived from a compilation of 149 historic and 34 NuLegacy drill holes. To date, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. (ii) The similarity and proximity of these deposits in the Cortez Trend is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization in NuLegacy's Red Hill Project. (iii) As extracted from Barrick's Q4-2013 and Q1-2014 reports.

On Behalf Of NuLegacy Gold Corporation

James E Anderson, Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Roger Steininger, NuLegacy's Chief Geoscience Officer is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG 7417) and the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects responsible for preparing and reviewing the scientific and technical information contained in this news release

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.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, actual results of exploration activities, environmental risks, future prices of gold, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, availability of financing and other risks in the mining industry. There are no known resources or reserves in the Cortez Trend Project and the proposed exploration programs are exploratory searches for commercial bodies of ore. In addition, the presence of gold deposits on properties adjacent or near the Cortex Trend Project is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization on the Cortex Trend Project. All the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including our annual management's discussion and analysis dated July 28, 2016 for the year ended March 31, 2016. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation.

Contacts:

NuLegacy Gold Corporation

James Anderson

CEO

604-639-3640

james@nuggold.com



NuLegacy Gold Corporation

Albert Matter

Chairman

604-639-3640

albert@nuggold.com



NuLegacy Gold Corporation

Roger Steininger

CGO

604-639-3640

roger@nuggold.com



NuLegacy Gold Corporation

Frank Lagiglia

ICM

604-639-3640

frank@nuggold.com

www.nulegacygold.com






BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks steadied on Tuesday as the euphoria surrounding Emmanuel Macron's victory in the first round of the French presidential election faded and corporate earnings took center stage once again.



France's outgoing president, Francois Hollande, has urged voters to back centrist Macron in the second round of the election on May 7, warning that far-right leader Marine Le Pen would be a 'massive risk' for the economy and jobs.



The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2 percent at 386.69 in late opening deals, on track for its fifth straight session of gains.



France's CAC 40 was moving up 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was adding 0.3 percent, while the German DAX was down 0.1 percent in choppy trade.



Chipmaker AMS soared 16 percent after the company posted strong first-quarter revenue and indicated it might increase its mid-term revenue growth target.



Swedish truck maker Volvo rallied 8 percent after its first-quarter net profit beat forecasts.



Luxury goods conglomerate LVMH rose over 4 percent and Christian Dior jumped as much as 12 percent as LVMH announced it would buy out the minority interest held by Christian Dior SA in a 12.1 billion deal.



Swiss drug giant Novartis rallied 2.5 percent despite the company reporting a drop in first-quarter earnings, mainly due to a net charge related to the discontinuation of an acute heart failure drug.



Lonza Group rallied 3 percent after upgrading its outlook for 2017.



Hikma rallied 2.5 percent and Shire rose over 1 percent after German healthcare firm Fresenius announced two acquisitions worth combined more than $5 billion.



On the flip side, Swedish telecom giant Ericsson fell almost 4 percent after posting a wider-than-expected operating loss in the first quarter.



Whitbread shares slumped 6.5 percent in London. The hotel and restaurant group warned of 'tougher consumer environment' going forward as a result of the U.K. leaving the EU.



Mining shares moved lower after Goldman Sachs said tightening conditions in China may have an impact on commodity demand. Antofagasta, BHP Billiton and Anglo American dropped 1-2 percent.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Vitaros U.S. NDA Re-Submission on Track for Third Quarter 2017



SAN DIEGO, 2017-05-04 13:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Apricus Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:APRI), a biopharmaceutical company advancing innovative medicines in urology and rheumatology, today reported that the Vitaros drug-device combination human factor testing study required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is underway.



"In November of 2016, the FDA designated Vitaros as a drug-device combination and required Apricus to provide additional information regarding the proper use of the applicator in the planned NDA re-submission," stated Richard W. Pascoe, Chief Executive Officer. "We have since confirmed the necessary regulatory requirements for a drug-device combination product and have initiated the required human factors study which we believe is in accordance with the FDA guidance. We expect this study will be completed in the second quarter of this year and the results will be incorporated into our planned Vitaros NDA re-submission, which remains on track for the third quarter of this year."



About Apricus Biosciences, Inc.



Apricus Biosciences, Inc. (APRI) is a biopharmaceutical company advancing innovative medicines in urology and rheumatology. Apricus has two product candidates currently in development. Vitaros is a product candidate in the United States for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, which is in-licensed from Warner Chilcott Company, Inc., now a subsidiary of Allergan plc (Allergan). RayVa is our product candidate in Phase 2 development for the treatment of the circulatory disorder Raynaud's phenomenon, secondary to scleroderma, for which Apricus owns worldwide rights.



For further information on Apricus, visit http://www.apricusbio.com.



Vitaros is Apricus' trademark in the United States, which is pending registration and subject to the agreement with Allergan. Vitaros is a registered trademark of Ferring International Center S.A. in certain countries outside of the United States. RayVa is Apricus' trademark, which is registered in certain countries throughout the world and pending registration in the United States.



Forward Looking Statements



This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, as amended. Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things: the timing of the completion of the drug-device combination human factor study; the ability of the drug-device combination study to provide results which can be incorporated into Apricus' planned Vitaros NDA resubmission; and the timing of regulatory submission and approval of Vitaros in the United States, if any. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to a variety of reasons that are outside the control of Apricus, including, but not limited to: the protocol for the drug-device combination human factor study may not be in compliance with the FDA guidance; the study may produce negative results; Apricus' may not be able to obtain FDA and other requisite governmental approval for Vitaros; Apricus' ability to further develop Vitaros, such as delivery device improvements, may be limited or unsuccessful; Apricus' ability to carry out further clinical studies for Vitaros, if required, as well as the timing and success of the results of such studies; Apricus' ability to raise additional funding that it may need to continue to pursue its commercial and business development plans; and market conditions. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and Apricus assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Readers are urged to read the risk factors set forth in Apricus' most recent annual report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q, and other filings made with the SEC. Copies of these reports are available from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or without charge from Apricus.



CONTACT: Matthew Beck mbeck@troutgroup.com The Trout Group (646) 378-2933

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First malaria vaccine to be tested in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi in 2018

Published: April 25, 2017

The World Health Organization has announced that it is ready to test the first malaria vaccine in the real world setting in 2018. The aim of the testing will be to ascertain whether the vaccine will work under real world circumstances or not. Kenya, Ghana and Malawi have been chosen for taking part in the pilot project.

The vaccine, RTS,S, also known as Mosquirix, was produced by GlaxoSmithKline in 1987 in a public-private partnership with the PATH Malaria Initiative and with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2015, the vaccine received approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

For the next four years (2017-2021), the vaccine will be administered to children between 5 and 17 months in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. The vaccine will be given four times and will be administered by an intramuscular injection.

The RTS, S vaccine works by targeting the liver phase of the malaria parasites life cycle as the parasite multiplies inside the liver after getting introduced into the body by a mosquito bite. It has taken about 30 years for the creation of the vaccine to the approval of pilot programme in 2017. Only five species of Plasmodium parasite spread malarial parasite worldwide.

Need

According to WHO, malaria kills one child every two minutes and has killed 429,000 people in 2015. According to the WHO World Malaria Report 2016 , Nigeria suffers most malaria deaths worldwide (26%), followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (10%), India (6%), and Mali (5%). African continent suffers the most mosquito-borne ailments and there still exists gaps in prevention coverage as many people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to mosquito protection like bed nets or bug spray.



Month: Current Affairs - April, 2017

Topics: Ghana  International  Kenya  Malaria  Malawi  WHO

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HONG KONG, CHINA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- A game-changing co-operation framework agreement focused on data centre construction has been signed by China Telecom Global (CTG), one of the world's largest providers of integrated telecommunication services, Global Switch, the leading owner, developer and operator of large-scale, carrier and cloud neutral data centres in Europe and Asia Pacific, and Daily-Tech, a developer and operator of data centre infrastructure across China.

The agreement enables CTG and its partner Daily-Tech to draw on Global Switch's already significant data centre capacity, services, development and management expertise outside China, ensuring their growing customer base continues to receive world-leading, resilient and mission critical data centre infrastructure, facilities and services as they expand into global markets.

Global Switch currently operates 10 data centres in key connectivity hubs across Europe and Asia Pacific, providing around 300,000 square metres of state of the art technical space. It currently has operations in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.

Under the terms of the agreement, the trio of businesses will enter into various co-operation arrangements with respect to data centre facilities, including: collaboration in developing new markets, adding to Global Switch's international footprint and capacity; joint marketing of services; one-stop service and system access; as well as data centre, network and systems integration services.

For all of the companies involved, this agreement provides a transformative platform from which to drive ongoing growth and expansion. CTG and Daily-Tech are boosting their competitiveness by ensuring secure and quality data centre capacity for customers on an international scale, while Global Switch has an opportunity to support and help grow CTG's extensive customer base worldwide, but remains a large-scale, carrier and cloud neutral, multi-tenant data centre provider.

The global and substantive nature of the arrangement also reaffirms a commitment from three leading and experienced businesses, to play an important role in delivering China's Belt and Road initiative, by underpinning the international expansion of Chinese companies.

The agreement was officially signed in Hong Kong on 25 April 2017 in a ceremony attended by: Deng Xiaofeng, Chief Executive Officer of China Telecom Global; Li Qiang, Chief Executive Officer of Daily-Tech; and, John Corcoran, Chief Executive Officer of Global Switch. Simon and David Reuben, Directors and long-term core shareholders in Global Switch, were also present at the ceremony, reflecting the importance of the occasion for customers, the three businesses, and the wider data centre industry.

The terms of this framework agreement clearly establish the co-operation intentions of the three companies involved. Going forward, each business will negotiate the appropriate details and form of co-operation for specific agreements that they enter into.

At the signing ceremony, Deng Xiaofeng, Chief Executive Officer of CTG, said: "We are delighted to enter into this worldwide relationship with two of the data centre industry's leading providers. This pioneering and important agreement will ensure our customers receive quality and secure data centre infrastructure, facilities and services as they expand internationally, as well as boosting CTG's competitiveness in new markets. We are also pleased to be taking another significant step forward in delivering against the objectives of China's Belt and Road initiative."

Li Qiang, Chief Executive Officer of Daily-Tech, added: "This is an innovative, enabling and global cooperation agreement between three large-scale businesses with significant experience. It will offer new and secure growth opportunities to our strategic customers, and reaffirms our collaborative approach towards overseas expansion, by finding and sharing opportunities with mutual benefits. Ultimately, we aspire to serve more Chinese and international customers by working together."

John Corcoran, Chief Executive Officer of Global Switch, said: "The signing of this agreement is a testament to Global Switch's considerable strength, experience and reliability as an international, large-scale, carrier and cloud neutral data centre owner, developer and operator. It represents another core building block in our future growth strategy, and is a further demonstration of the springboard and connectivity we can offer to companies seeking to expand within a secure, professionally managed and world class environment."

ABOUT CHINA TELECOM GLOBAL

China Telecom Global Limited (CTG) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Telecom Corporation Limited. CTG was established in 2012 and headquartered in Hong Kong. China Telecommunications Corporation is one of the world's largest providers of integrated telecommunication services striving to enhance its capabilities in managing global operation, so as to keep pace with changing times. CTG has subsidiaries and affiliates in 27 countries and regions, 68 overseas PoPs, and delivers more than 20T in international connectivity bandwidth and intercontinental capacity. CTG also has 38 submarine cable resources, which CTG was involved in the construction of more than 10 of those cables. With the direct connections with more than 10 neighbouring countries and regions via terrestrial cables, CTG has mapped out a global service and capacity network.

Leveraging on its abundant resources in mainland China, CTG connects the Asia Pacific region and the world. It has gradually become a world-class integrated information service provider. Targeting international carriers, multinational corporation clients and overseas Chinese, CTG provides customized and cost-effective integrated communication solutions and diversified telecom services to cater to their global business needs. Its services include internet direct access, internet transit, data services, broadband, unified communications, internet data centre, cloud computing, ICT services, fixed and mobile voice and value-added services, professional services and industry solutions, telecom operation consultancy and service outsourcing.

For more information, please visit www.chinatelecomglobal.com

ABOUT DAILY-TECH

Daily-Tech Beijing co., Ltd ("Daily-Tech") was founded in 2009 and has quickly grown into one of China's top three data centre providers, renowned for being an innovative high technology company supported by strong capital and business acumen. Daily-Tech's business partners include some of the world's most prestigious companies such as Schneider Electric; Johnson Controls and China Telecom. With over 800 employees, more than half of which are R&D professionals, Daily-Tech currently has a planned portfolio of ten high specification data centres in China, all of which are designed to meet the international Uptime Institute Tier III standard. Through the five data centres that are already operational -- one in Shenzhen, two in Beijing, one in Zhejiang Huzhou and one in Hong Kong Shatien -- Daily-Tech provides tailor made solutions for clients including Alibaba, China's leading e-commerce company and the world's biggest retailer. Daily-Tech is actively expanding its business footprint internationally by establishing international cloud computing centres for large enterprises, and by providing global SMEs international cloud integration solutions overseas and within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

For more information, please visit www.daily-tech.cn

ABOUT GLOBAL SWITCH

Global Switch is a leading owner, operator and developer of large-scale, carrier and cloud neutral, multi-tenanted data centres in Europe and Asia Pacific. Founded in 1998, Global Switch has a proven business model, demonstrable track record and is the highest credit rated data centre company in the world with investment grade credit ratings from Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poor's. Global Switch is jointly controlled by Aldersgate Investments Limited (a Reuben Brothers company) and Elegant Jubilee Limited, a consortium of high quality, private sector Chinese corporate and institutional investors who acquired a 49% stake in the company in December 2016.

Global Switch is a vital and strategic partner for customers that require secure and resilient data centre services with scalable capacity and a high level customer service. The Company's focus is on highly resilient, central, low latency, network dense locations in prime city centre locations and internet hubs close to its customers on the edge of financial and business districts.

Global Switch's data centres operate exclusively in the Tier I markets of Europe and Asia Pacific to Tier III or higher and currently total around 300,000 sq m (3,200,000 sq ft) of gross floor space. They are occupied by a broad range of customers, global and national, large and small including government organisations, financial institutions, enterprises, global systems integrators, telecommunication carriers, cloud and managed service providers and other hosting businesses.

For more information, please visit www.globalswitch.com

China Telecom Global



Text100 Hong Kong

Irene Chua / Sara Cheung

+852 2534 8700

Email Contact /

Email Contact



China Telecom Global

Public Relations

+852 2582 9233

Email Contact



Global Switch



Bell Pottinger Hong Kong

Sam Turvey / Qian Li

+852 9663 7952 / +852 9667 9602

Email Contact /

Email Contact



Global Switch

Ali Ballantine

Group Director, Marketing & Communications

+44 20 7802 5154

Email Contact



Daily-Tech



Creative Consulting Group

Crystal Lee / Colin Ho

+852 9714 8515 / +852 9078 8950

Email Contact /

Email Contact



Daily-Tech

Peng Jun

+86 189 0731 8419

Email Contact




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Euro Sun Mining Inc., (TSX: ESM) ("Euro Sun" or the "Company") is pleased to report that gold recovery to concentrate has increased from 72% to 82% utilizing new metallurgical test work on mineralized material from its gold and copper Rovina Valley Project (the "Project" or "RVP") located in east-central Romania. The new management of Euro Sun initiated a new metallurgical study by Eriez Flotation Division ("Eriez"), a leading flotation engineering firm based in Erie, Pennsylvania, using their proprietary column cell technology.

Highlights from the metallurgical test program include:

-- Gold recovery ranging from 81.4% to 82.1% at a gold concentrate grade of 109.1 g/t to 118.6 g/t -- Copper recovery ranging from 86.9% to 88.9% at a copper concentrate grade of 19.48% to 21.31% -- No Cyanide is used in any of the current test work nor will it be contemplated for the Project -- Current open circuit testing sees a likely bump in recovery once closed circuit testing is completed

G. Scott Moore, President and CEO of Euro Sun Mining, stated, "We are very pleased with the results from these tests, which indicate that we will be able to produce a saleable copper concentrate. The recoveries and concentrate grades from these tests surpassed the results from all previous tests, and we believe this demonstrates an increase in the economic value of the ore, which will positively impact several aspects of the project in our feasibility study."

The metallurgical test work was conducted on a master composite from the Colnic gold and copper porphyry mineral deposit.

Table 1 - Bulk Run 1, Column Rougher-Scavenger and Cleaner Flotation Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper Grade and Recovery (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Streams Feed Tail Conc. Conc. Yield Recovery ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rougher-Scavenger 0.12 0.01 1.31 8.67 95.40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Cleaner 1.33 0.04 3.85 33.74 98.00 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Cleaner 3.93 0.30 8.20 45.96 95.83 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Cleaner 8.05 0.40 19.48 40.09 97.02 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combined (Global) 0.12 19.48 0.54 86.9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 1 - Bulk Run 1, Column Rougher-Scavenger and Cleaner Flotation Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Grade (g/t) and Recovery (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Streams Feed Tail Concentrate Recovery ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rougher-Scavenger 0.73 0.10 7.38 87.27 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Cleaner 7.20 0.17 21.01 98.45 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Cleaner 20.85 0.18 45.16 99.54 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Cleaner 45.97 3.73 109.11 95.16 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combined (Global) 0.73 109.1 81.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 2 - Bulk Run 2, Column Rougher-Scavenger and Cleaner Flotation Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper Grade and Recovery (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Streams Feed Tail Conc. Conc. Yield Recovery ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rougher-Scavenger 0.12 0.01 1.39 8.24 95.41 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Cleaner 1.45 0.04 4.08 35.01 98.21 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Cleaner 4.11 0.17 8.45 47.67 97.85 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Cleaner 8.17 0.40 21.31 37.15 96.90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combined (Global) 0.12 21.31 0.51 88.85 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 2 - Bulk Run 2, Column Rougher-Scavenger and Cleaner Flotation Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Grade (g/t) and Recovery (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Streams Feed Tail Concentrate Recovery ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rougher-Scavenger 0.73 0.09 7.84 88.56 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Cleaner 7.76 0.19 21.81 98.37 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Cleaner 21.58 0.20 45.05 99.50 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Cleaner 46.50 3.89 118.58 94.74 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combined (Global) 0.73 118.58 82.12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Corporate Update

Feasibility Study

Euro Sun has received several proposals for the completion of a feasibility study on the development of Phase I of the Rovina Valley Project. The Company expects to announce a successful bidder in the coming weeks.

Permitting

Euro Sun received a mining licence from the Romanian National Agency for Mineral Resources ("NAMR") in May, 2015, signifying an important transitional milestone from the exploration stage to the exploitation phase. The Company is working diligently to have the mining licence ratified by the four required ministries (Environment, Economy, Justice and Finance), and published in the government gazette.

Since the legislative elections held on December 2016, the Romanian government has reshuffled the cabinet twice. The latest change, in April 2017, included a new Environmental Minister. As such, three of the four required Ministers have been changed in the first 90 days of the new government. This has unfortunately set back our efforts in getting the licence ratified in the first quarter of 2017, since any ministerial changes require us to restart the ratification process. We are working diligently with NAMR to get the ratification process initiated now that all four ministers are in place and not likely to be changed in the near term.

Euro Sun has gained strong local support for the Rovina Valley Project, evidenced by written letters of support from all the local communities around the project in addition to the neighbouring county of Hunedoara.

Once the mining licence is ratified, Euro Sun can move ahead with the completion of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment on the Rovina Valley Project, which the Company expect to complete in parallel with the feasibility study.

Exploration

Field work is on-going on the Stanija prospect (located approximately 3km from the Rovina Valley Project), with an extensive exploration program outlined for this quarter. Following a review of these results, the Company will determine whether drilling is merited under the prospecting permit.

Qualified Persons

The scientific and technical information pertaining to the metallurgical studies presented in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Joseph C. Milbourne, Vice President Technical Services for Euro Sun, who is a Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Euro Sun Mining Inc.

Euro Sun is a Toronto Stock Exchange listed mining company focused on the exploration and development of its 100%-owned Rovina Valley gold and copper project located in west-central Romania, which hosts the second largest gold deposit in Europe.

Caution regarding forward-looking information:

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the election of directors. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks inherent in the mining industry and risks described in the public disclosure of the Company which is available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.eurosunmining.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

The TSX does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Contacts:

Euro Sun Mining Inc.

Investor Relations

+1 416.309.4299

info@eurosunmining.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Montreal entrepreneurs Stephane Manos and Ouissam Youssef are paying their success forward by creating the Concordia University ENCS Entrepreneurship Award for Capstone Design in District 3. The award will encourage and reward Capstone design teams from any department within the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science for their work to implement successful commercialization plans for Capstone design projects, developed within Concordia University's District 3.

District 3 is a community dedicated to collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship, located in a dynamic workspace on university grounds. The think tank empowers Concordia students, faculty, and alumni from various disciplines to collaborate on challenging real-world initiatives that transform bold ideas into tangible ventures for the betterment of society. District 3 strives to attract and retain outstanding students, develop innovation and entrepreneurship skills, support product development and foster mentorship collaborations with experts and Concordia alumni.

"At Concordia's Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, we take great pride in the successes of our alumni, but it's particularly gratifying when these successful alumni chose to give back. So, it's heartening that Mr. Manos and Mr. Youssef have made this generous commitment to the students of ENCS and the entrepreneurial mission of District 3. The award will enable selected students to prototype their capstone project for possible commercialization." - Dr. Amir Asif, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science.

The mission of District 3 is close to the hearts of Manos and Youssef, both graduates of the Concordia Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science's Computer Engineering program, where they met and launched their first businesses together while completing their studies. In the decade that followed, the partners built a number of internationally successful online ventures, leading to the foundation of Valsoft Corporation, a company devoted to the acquisition and development of software businesses in niche vertical markets.

"Our entire business philosophy, regardless of the type of industry, is based on entrepreneurship," stated Youssef. "When we acquire companies, we are motivated first and foremost by our respect and admiration for the people who founded them and the impact of their work. We take pride in providing entrepreneurs with the resources and platforms to expand their vision."

"We remember our years at Concordia vividly, and our dreams and aspirations when we started our first business," added Manos. "The establishment of the ENCS Entrepreneurship Award for Capstone Design in District 3 is our way of paying it forward and honouring the support we received when we started out."

The $10,000 annual ENCS Award will begin in May 2017 and continue for 5 years. To be eligible, student team members must be enrolled in any department within the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science's fourth-year Capstone Design Project. The departmental Capstone coordinators will launch a call for submissions this spring and a selection committee comprised of the director of District 3 and two faculty members will choose the best Capstone design project and commercialization plan. The Award will be open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and international students.

"Be humble. Stay hungry!" - Stephane Manos and Ouissam Youssef

Contacts:

Sources:

Valsoft Corporation

Concordia University Faculty of Engineering

and Computer Science



Media relations:

Leeja Murphy, Agence Pink

leeja@agencepink.com

514-213-0045




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Timmins Gold Corp. (TSX: TMM)(NYSE MKT: TGD) ("Timmins Gold" or the "Company") is proposing to change its name to Alio Gold Inc. at its upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. If approved, the Company expects to begin trading on both the TSX and the NYSE MKT under the ticker ALO on May 16, 2017.

The Company is pleased to introduce a new management team that has been assembled to grow the Company into a mid-tier gold mining company by revitalizing its San Francisco Mine in Sonora, Mexico and building its high-grade, high-margin Ana Paula Project in Guerrero, Mexico. As part of the transition, Arturo Bonillas will be stepping down as President of the Company. He will continue as an advisor to the new team to ensure continuity of important permitting and community relations activities.

Chief Executive Officer, Greg McCunn, said, "I am excited by the opportunity to lead such an accomplished group of experienced mining professionals focused on creating shareholder value from our pipeline of assets in Mexico. I would like to commend Arturo on a successful and distinguished career in the mining industry. I look forward to continuing a close working relationship with him in his advisory capacity and wish him all the best in his other future endeavours."

New Management Team

Colette Rustad has been appointed as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Colette is a strategic and financial leader with a proven track record of delivering results and building, developing and leading high-performance teams in the gold mining industry. She will be instrumental in arranging financing for the Ana Paula project as well as leading important systems and process implementations suitable for a multi-mine, mid-tier gold mining company.

Jose Hector Figueroa has been appointed Vice President of Operations and will be leading the Company's revitalization of its San Francisco Mine in northern Sonora, Mexico. Jose has more than 30 years of mining experience in Mexico and Peru, and is a strategic and operational mining leader with a proven track record of enhancing the operations in the mines he has managed.

Paul Hosford has been appointed Vice President of Project Development and will be tasked with bringing the Company's Ana Paula Project through Feasibility Study and into production. Paul is an experienced mine development professional with over 30 years of experience in metallurgy, operations, commissioning and project development.

Jason Gregg has been appointed Executive Vice President of Human Resources. He is a senior human resources executive, with proven ability to connect top quartile people practices to the financial bottom line of the organization. Jason will be leading the implementation of high performance business systems at Alio Gold.

Miguel Soto, Vice President of Exploration, will continue to lead the Company's exploration team as it looks to undertake a major review of the exploration potential of its premium land package on the highly prospective Guerrero gold belt.

Miguel Bonilla, formerly Vice President of Finance and Administration in Mexico, will undertake new responsibilities as Country Manager Mexico. His duties will be extended to oversee permitting, community relations and he will be responsible for enhancing the Company's social licence to operate.

Management Bio's

Colette Rustad - Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Colette is a strategic and financial leader with a proven track record of delivering results and building, developing and leading high-performance teams in the gold mining industry. For the last 10 years, she has held positions as Senior Vice President at Goldcorp as SVP, Controller and SVP, Treasurer. During this time, she developed important relationships with banking and capital markets partners while executing debt and equity financings, led the company's public reporting requirements and led a 5-year consolidated global IT implementation project. In 2015 the company received the Overall Award of Excellence for Corporate Reporting from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada. Prior to joining Goldcorp, Colette held several senior roles with Placer Dome/Barrick Gold including Chief Financial Officer, Africa where she oversaw the commercial, financial, tax and legal operations for the company's $1 billion and $250 million investments in South Africa and Tanzania, respectively. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CA) and was a Senior Tax Manager and Senior Audit Manager with Ernst & Young in Toronto. Colette has extensive experience in Latin America and is fluent in Spanish.

Jose Hector Figueroa - Vice President, Operations

Jose has more than 30 years of mining experience in Mexico and Peru, and is a strategic and operational mining leader with a proven track record of enhancing the operations in the mines he has managed. He was recently Chief Operating Officer with Southern Peru Copper where he oversaw operations at Cuajone. His extensive experience in strategic planning, mine planning, optimizing of process plants and implementing safety systems will be a valuable asset as he leads the Company's revitalization of its San Francisco Mine. Previously, Jose has held senior management and operations positions with Cobre del Mayo and Grupo Mexico at the Cananea and La Caridad mines. Jose holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering with specializations in Finance, Systems Engineering and Computer Process Simulations. Jose will be based in the Company's office in Hermosillo, Mexico and at the San Francisco Mine site.

Paul Hosford- Vice President, Project Development

Paul is an experienced mine development professional with over 30 years of experience in metallurgy, operations, commissioning and project development. Paul will be tasked with bringing the Company's Ana Paula Project through Feasibility Study and into production. Paul's recent experience was as Project Director for New Gold's Rainy River project, responsible for the EPCM, tender and award of all major contracts, project controls, permitting and construction. Previously, he was Project Manager of the Mount Milligan mine development for Thompson Creek Mines, responsible for the detailed engineering, procurement, contracts and construction support. Paul also worked for Barrick as Manager Process Development, leading process development at the Goldstrike mine and at Hatch as Project Manager, responsible for numerous development projects and feasibility studies. Paul holds a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and is a Professional Engineer.

Jason Gregg- Executive Vice President, Human Resources

Jason is an experienced senior human resources executive, renowned for the ability to connect top quartile people practices to the financial bottom line of the organization. Jason has over 20 years of experience as a human resource professional and successfully integrated Newmarket Gold and Crocodile Gold into a single highly functioning organization as the VP of Human Resources & Environment prior to the recent merger between Newmarket Gold and Kirkland Lake Gold. Before joining Newmarket Gold, Jason provided HR consulting services to various mining organizations as well as other industries including forestry and technology. Prior to developing his consulting practice, Jason worked as a Human Resources executive in the mining industry with Farallon Mining and Nyrstar. Jason has also held senior level human resource roles with HDI, International Forest Products, Canadian Forest Products, and Teck. Jason holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Annual General Meeting Reminder

The Company's Annual General Meeting will be held on May 12, 2017 at the offices of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, 595 Burrard Street, Suite 2600, Vancouver, British Columbia. Please note the time of the meeting has been changed from 2:00pm to 10:00am PST.

Shareholders requiring assistance with the voting process may contact Laurel Hill Advisory Group, the proxy solicitation agent, by telephone at: 1-877-452-7184 (North America Toll Free) or 416-304-0211 (collect outside North America) or by email at: assistance@laurelhill.com.

Please vote your shares before 10:00am PST on May 10, 2017

About Timmins Gold / Alio Gold

Timmins Gold/Alio Gold is a Canadian gold mining company engaged in exploration, development and production in Mexico. Its principal assets include the producing San Francisco Mine in Sonora, Mexico and the development stage Ana Paula Project in Guerrero, Mexico. The Company also has a portfolio of other exploration properties, all of which are located in Mexico.

Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) nor the New York Stock Exchange MKT accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements which relate to future events including: estimates, forecasts and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, business and financial prospects, financial multiples and accretion estimates, future trends, plans, strategies, objectives and expectations, including with respect to production, exploration drilling, reserves and resources, exploitation activities and events or future operations.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans, "anticipates", believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential", or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggestions herein. Except as required by applicable law, the Company does not intend to update any forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.

Contacts:

Timmins Gold / Alio Gold

Greg McCunn

CEO and Director

604-638-8980

greg@timminsgold.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Eloro Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: ELO) (FRANKFURT: P2Q) ("Eloro") is pleased to announce further results from its on-going geological mapping and sampling program at its La Victoria Gold/Silver Property (the "Property") in Huandoval District, Pallasca Province, Ancash Department, Peru. As shown in Figure 1, this work has outlined two major new target areas in the north-central part of the Property known as Ccori Orcco. Target 1 is located approximately 1.5km east of San Markito while Target 2 is approximately 500m south of Target 1 and 1.5km east of Rufina (Figure 1). Figure 2 is a composite cross section for the San Markito-Ccori Orcco-Rufina areas showing the potential extent of the epithermal systems.

Both target areas in Ccori Orcco are at least 200m wide and extend for approximately 1 km along strike parallel to major NW-SE and NE-SW structures in the area. Mineralization is associated with hydrothermal (argillic and silicic) and supergene alteration in hydrothermal breccias associated with quartz feldspar porphyries ("QFP"). Preliminary sampling has been carried out in the area; results are pending.

Reinterpretation of historical Induced Polarization ("IP") data in the San Markito area shows a strong chargeability anomaly that coincides with the Ag-Au showings in mineralized breccias (Figure 1). The anomaly extends for at least 1250m North-South at depths from about 50 m to more than 200m, the maximum depth reached with the array that was used for the survey. The anomaly extends as far south as the last IP line. It is thus open to the South as well as to greater depth. The shape of the anomaly suggests elongation in a north or north-northwest direction, parallel to important structures that have been mapped at San Markito.

Tom Larsen, President and CEO of Eloro commented: "We have now outlined five major target areas at La Victoria. Two of these areas, Rufina and San Markito, are nearing final permit approval for diamond drilling which is expected to commence in June. Extension of the IP surveys to cover the new target areas in Ccori Orcco is planned to commence at the end of May as well as continuation of the successful mapping and sampling program. Reconnaissance work including a detailed magnetic survey will also be carried out on the new southern claim block."

Dr. Bill Pearson, Chief Technical Advisor for Eloro, added: "It is evident that there are multiple low to intermediate sulphidation epithermal systems on the La Victoria project. These systems appear to be controlled by major NW-SE trending faults with mineralization typically occurring at intersections of these faults with NE-SW trending structures as well as along intrusive-sedimentary contacts. The identification of QFP intrusives in the Ccori Orcco area is very positive as these intrusives are associated with major gold deposits elsewhere in the belt."

About Eloro Resources Ltd.

Eloro is an exploration and mine development company which holds a 100% undivided interest in the La Victoria Gold/Silver Project, located in the prolific North-Central Mineral Belt of Peru. The La Victoria Gold/Silver Project covers 80.4 square kilometres and is within 50 km of several large, low-cost producing gold mines, with three producers visible from the property. Infrastructure in the area is good with access to road, water, and electricity and is located at an altitude that ranges from 3,100m to 4,200m above sea level. Eloro also holds a portfolio of gold and base-metal properties in northern and western Quebec. For additional technical information on the La Victoria Project, the reader is referred to the NI 43-101 Technical Report on the La Victoria Au-Ag Property, Ancash, Peru filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Information in this news release may contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information express, as at the date of this news release, the Corporation's plans, estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations, or beliefs as to future events or results and are believed to be reasonable based on information currently available to the Corporation. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

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 release.

Jim Steel MBA, P.Geo., a Qualified Person in the context of NI 43-101 has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

To view the figures associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1092636_figures.pdf

Contacts:

Jorge Estepa

Vice-President

Eloro Resources Ltd.

(416) 868-9168




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Pasinex Resources Limited (CSE: PSE) (FRANKFURT: PNX) (the "Company" or "Pasinex") has intersected three metres of massive sulphide mineralization averaging 52% zinc about 150 metres south of the underground mine workings at its 50%-owned JV Pinargozu zinc mine in Turkey. Diamond drill hole PPS-17-009 was drilled from surface and intersected the zinc mineralization at a vertical depth of 184 metres(1). This discovery was made during step out exploration drilling to test for new zones outside of the mining area. This exploration program ran in 2017 after surface and underground resource delineation drilling during the second half of 2016.

To view Figure 1 & 2, please visit the following links:

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1092608a.pdf

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1092608b.pdf

This new discovery is a significant step-out because a relatively small volume of mineralization in this very high-grade mineralizing system yields a disproportionally large amount of zinc. As an example, the entire footprint of the current Pinargozu Mine Workings fits within a footprint of only 350 metres north-south by 200 metres east-west (Figure 1). A cross section showing PPS-17-009 in the context of the mine workings and other drilling in this new zone is presented in Figure 2.

President and CEO of Pasinex Resources, Steve Williams commented: "We continue to deliver exceptional drill results at our Pinargozu zinc mine which is very encouraging. While the complex geometry can create challenges at the drill bit from time to time, when we see drill intercepts like PPS17-009, reported today, we believe we are expanding the mineralized zones."

Overall Summary of Drilling Late 2016 / Q1 2017

The table below for highlights of surface diamond drilling during second half of 2016 and Q1 2017.

Table 1: Summary Highlights of Drill Core Assay Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Core Length Drill Hole # (metres(1)) Zn Grade %(2) Core Recovery %(3) From (metres) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PPS17-009 3 51.5 55.0 224.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- OG16-010 4.9 42.6 57.6 51.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- OG16-007(4) 3.0 48.8 33.7 82.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- OG16-009(4) 3.7 31.9 47.8 56.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PPS16-008 1.5 46.9 63.0 87.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 True widths have yet to be determined. 2 Zinc mineralization is predominantly a mix of non-sulphide (Smithsonite) and sulphide (Sphalerite) material. 3 Grades for intervals with poor core recovery may not truly represent the complete mineralized interval. 4 Subsequently mined out.

High-grade zinc mineralization also contains minor localized high-grade pods of lead. Drill hole OG16-008 intersected 2.5 metres averaging 31.5% Pb and 19.9% Zn from 64.5 metres; drill hole PPS16-021 intersected 17% Pb and 15% Zn over forty centimetres from 14.9 metres. Silver concentrations in this batch of assay results spike locally up to 552 ppm Ag over two metres width (from 33.5 metres) in underground drill hole PPU16-063.

Drilling during 2016 was designed to find proximal extensions to the main mineralized envelope at Pinargozu (resource expansion). In Q4 2016, a program of 28 drill holes were completed from surface for a total of 5,753 metres. Most of this surface drilling is "step-out" drilling looking to find new mineralization stepped out from the Pinargozu Mine.

A batch of 15 step-out drill holes (OG series) were completed at the Orta Gallery in Q3 2016. In Q4 2016, a batch of 21 surface drill holes tested extensions to main zone Pinargozu mineralization, and seven step-out drill holes (SG series) were drilled at the Sulu Gallery. Eight of 15 holes drilled at the Orta Gallery intersected high-grade non sulphide zinc mineralization. However of these eight successful drill holes, the high-grade mineralization cut in six of these drill holes has already been mined out. Only 3 of 21 drill holes around Pinargozu intersected zinc mineralization. PPS16-008 cut very high-grade zinc mineralized intervals ranging from 20 cm up to 1.5 metres with grades ranging from 26.5% Zn up to 46.9% Zn separated by barren intervals within a 26 metre run from 87 metres to 113.5 metres.

During the last quarter of 2016, a total of 43 fan drill holes were completed from underground. This underground drilling was designed to incrementally extend mineralized envelopes and guide mine development (resource expansion). Only a minority of these drill holes (20%) did not intersect mineralization. Follow this link to see a complete tabulation of all Q4 2016 underground and surface drilling results and Q1 2017 surface drilling.

During the first quarter of 2017, 13 surface exploration holes were drilled from surface for a total of 2,341 metres. Only two holes including PPS-17-009 intersected significant zinc mineralization, which is defined as at least one metre averaging 1.5% Zn. These surface drill holes were part of a more expansive step-out drilling program and are therefore highly significant in an exploration context.

For the next round of underground drilling the location of underground drilling stations have not yet been optimized. This process requires careful planning given the complex geometry of this CRD-style of deposit. Underground drilling in 2017 will re-commence shortly once underground development reaches these planned underground drill stations.

Horzum Zinc Trend (HZT)

The Pinargozu Mine is located in southern Turkey. Pinargozu is one of several exploration targets along the Horzum Zinc Trend (HZT) which hosts a series of Carbonate-Replacement-Deposit (CRD) type mineral occurrences, extending north for at least eight kilometres from the high-grade Horzum mine. The HZT has been prospected and mapped to some extent in the past but has not previously been systematically explored. Pasinex is the first to apply advanced exploration technology and CRD exploration concepts and models to the HZT district.

Quality Control and Data Verification

Samples were assayed at the SGS laboratory in Ankara. Zinc, lead and silver, assays were performed using multi-acid (4-acid) digestion/ICP-AES Package (33 Elements) - Zn (lower detection limit: 1 ppm/upper detection limit: 10,000 ppm) code ICP40B. For high grade zinc multi-acid (4-acid) digestion/AAS Package code AAS43B with detection up to 100% Zn.

Very high zinc assays are checked by ICP90Q - sodium peroxide fusion, ICP finish (detection 0.01% - 100%). Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the submission of blanks duplicate samples inserted at regular intervals into the sample train by Pasinex personnel. Duplicate pulp samples are sent to the ALS laboratory in Izmir as an umpire ISO-compliant check to confirm analytical accuracy. Drill core samples were prepared at a standard non-certified facility at the Horzum Mine. External quality control on sample preparation is assured by reference to regular selection of duplicate coarse reject samples which are now sent to SGS. All core samples from drill hole PPS-17-009 were prepared at SGS-Ankara. SGS-Ankara's quality system complies with the requirements for the International Standards ISO 9001: 2000 and ISO 17025: 1999.

Qualified Person

EurGeol, P.Geo. John Barry, a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Barry is responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control and data verification and has confirmed all procedures, protocols and methodologies used. Mr. Barry is a director of the Company.

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 smelter / refiners from its mine site in Turkey. The Company has a strong technical management team with many years of experience in mineral exploration and mining project development. The mission of Pasinex is to build a mid-tier zinc company based on building a large land within a productive CRD district 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.

Visit our web site at: www.pasinex.com

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

PASINEX RESOURCES LTD.

"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 Ltd. 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




82 percent of enterprises are facing a gap between user demand and what IT can deliver, or an 'Availability Gap'

Unplanned downtime cost enterprises an average of $21.8 million each per year, up 36 percent YoY

66 percent of enterprises admit that Digital Transformation initiatives are being held back by unplanned downtime

Ninety-six percent of organizations have Digital Transformation initiatives on their roadmap and more than half of those initiatives are in process now1. There is obviously a huge appetite across enterprises to utilize innovation for competitive advantage, and this places a huge burden on businesses to deliver access to services, data and apps, at any time and from anywhere 24.7.365. However, according to the latest industry data released today from Veeam Software, the innovative provider of solutions that deliver Availability for the Always-On Enterprise, there is a major disconnect between user expectations and what IT can deliver, and it is hindering innovation. In fact, 82 percent of enterprises admit to suffering an 'Availability Gap' (the gap between users demand for uninterrupted access to services and what businesses and IT can deliver), which is impacting the bottom line to the tune of $21.8 million per year, and almost two thirds of respondents admit that this is holding back innovation.

Now in its sixth year, the 2017 Veeam Availability Report surveyed more than 1,000 senior IT leaders from 24 countries and shows that 69 percent of global enterprises feel that Availability (continuous access to services) is a requirement for Digital Transformation; however, the majority of senior IT leaders (66 percent) feel these initiatives are being held back by unplanned downtime of services caused by cyber-attacks, infrastructure failures, network outages, and natural disasters (with server outages lasting an average of 85 minutes per incident). While many organizations are still "planning" or "just beginning" their transformational journeys, more than two thirds agree that these initiatives are critical or very important to their C-suite and lines of business.

The Business Cost of an Outage: More Than Lost Revenue

The 2017 Veeam Availability Report reveals once more the true impact of downtime on businesses. While downtime costs vary, the data shows that the average annual cost of downtime for each organization in this study2 amounts to $21.8 million, up from $16 million from last year's report.

Downtime and data loss are also causing enterprises to face public scrutiny, in ways that cannot be measured by a balance sheet. This year's study shows that almost half of enterprises see a loss of customer confidence, and 40 percent experienced damage to brand integrity, which affect both brand reputation and customer retention. Looking at internal implications, a third of respondents see diminished employee confidence and 28 percent have experienced a diversion of project resources to 'clean up' the mess.

The Multi-Cloud Future

Unsurprisingly, cloud and its various consumption models are changing the way businesses approach data protection. The report shows that more and more companies are considering cloud as a viable springboard to their digital agenda, with software as a service investment expected to increase by over 50 percent in the next 12 months. Indeed, almost half of business leaders (43 percent) believe cloud providers can deliver better service levels for mission-critical data that their internal IT process. Investments in Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) are expected to rise similarly as organizations combine them with cloud.

Protection Gap Creates a Challenges

In addition, 77 percent of enterprises are seeing what Veeam has identified as a 'Protection Gap' (an organization's tolerance for lost data being exceeded by IT's inability to protect that data frequently enough), with their expectations for uptime consistently being unmet due to insufficient protection mechanisms and policies. Although companies state that they can only tolerate 72 minutes per year of data loss within 'high priority' applications, Veeam's findings show that respondents actually experience 127 minutes of data loss, a discrepancy of nearly one hour. This poses a major risk for all companies and impacts business success in many ways.

Supporting Quotes

"Today, immediacy is King and consumers have zero tolerance for downtime, be it of a business application or in their personal lives. Companies are laser-focused on delivering the best user experience and whether they realize it or not, at the heart of this is Availability. Anything less than 24.7.365 access to data and applications is unacceptable. However, our report states such ubiquitous access is merely a pipedream for many organizations, suggesting new questions need to be asked of transformation plans and a different conversation started about existing infrastructure. Enterprises are facing a major crisis from competitors that are able to offer this uptime and combine that with user experience."

Peter McKay, President and COO of Veeam Software

"The results of this survey show that most companies, even large, international enterprises, continue to struggle with fundamental backup/recovery capabilities, which along with affecting productivity and profitability are also hindering strategic initiatives like Digital Transformation. In considering the startling Availability and Protection gaps that are prevalent today, IT is failing to meet the needs of their business units, which should gravely concern IT leaders and those who answer to the Board."

Jason Buffington, Principal Analyst for data protection at the Enterprise Strategy Group

About the Report

Veeam commissioned Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), a leading IT analyst, research, and strategy company, to develop and execute the survey for this report. ESG conducted a comprehensive online survey of 1,060 ITDMs from private and public sector organizations with a minimum of 1,000 employees, in 24 different countries, in late 2016. The countries surveyed include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, the UAE, UK and the US. For a full copy of the 2017 Veeam Availability Report, click here https://go.veeam.com/2017-availability-report.

Supporting Resources:

Global Infographic

Availability Report Executive Brief

About Veeam Software

Veeam recognizes the new challenges companies across the globe face in enabling the Always-On Enterprise, a business that must operate 24.7.365. To address this, Veeam has pioneered a new market of Availability for the Always-On Enterprise by helping organizations meet recovery time and point objectives(RTPO) of less than 15 minutes for all applications and data, through a fundamentally new kind of solution that delivers high-speed recovery, data loss avoidance, verified recoverability, leveraged data and complete visibility. Veeam Availability Suite, which includes Veeam Backup Replication, leverages virtualization, storage, and cloud technologies that enable the modern data center to help organizations save time, mitigate risks, and dramatically reduce capital and operational costs, while always supporting the current and future business goals of Veeam customers.

Founded in 2006, Veeam currently has 47,000 ProPartners and more than 242,000 customers worldwide. Veeam's global headquarters are located in Baar, Switzerland, and the company has offices throughout the world. To learn more, visit https://www.veeam.com.

_______________________________

1 Source: ESG Research Report, 2017 IT Spending Intentions Survey, March 2017"

2 The average size of company surveyed had 7,500 employees.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005830/en/

Contacts:

Veeam Software Public Relations Manager, Corporate Americas

Heidi Monroe Kroft, 614-339-8200 x8309
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Tupperware Brands Corp. (TUP) reported a profit for its second quarter that climbed from last year. The company said its bottom line advanced to $62.5 million, or $1.21 per share. This was higher than $59.2 million, or $1.17 per share, in last year's second quarter. Analysts had expected the company to earn $1.20 per share, according figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. The company said revenue for the quarter rose 1.5% to $572.9 million. This was up from $564.7 million last year. Tupperware Brands Corp. earnings at a glance: -Earnings (Q2): $62.5 Mln. vs. $59.2 Mln. last year. -Earnings Growth (Y-o-Y): 5.6% -EPS (Q2): $1.21 vs. $1.17 last year. -EPS Growth (Y-o-Y): 3.4% -Analysts Estimate: $1.20 -Revenue (Q2): $572.9 Mln vs. $564.7 Mln last year. -Revenue Change (Y-o-Y): 1.5% -Guidance : Next quarter EPS guidance: $0.91 - $0.96 Full year EPS guidance: $4.66 - $4.76 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.
Application of IBM Watson Explorer to maximize insights from Flotek's prescriptive oilfield chemistry solutions data

HOUSTONand ARMONK, New York, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Flotek Industries, Inc. (NYSE: FTK) today announced a global agreement to develop a cognitive reservoir performance system for the oil and gas industry. The new system uses IBM Watson Explorer technology to analyze Flotek's proprietary oilfield chemistry research, oil & gas client-contributed data and publicly reported sources from completion and production to reveal insights and identify new approaches to enhance the performance of wells throughout their entire life-cycle. For example, this solution will enhance oilfields by enabling decision making using machine learning for better production performance to improve oil recovery.

"The digital age has brought a massive amount of insight-rich industry data related to well-depths and rock formations," said Luq Niazi, Global Managing Director, Chemical & Petroleum Industries, IBM Consulting. "With IBM Watson Explorer, our clients will gain insights that can be interpreted quickly to understand exactly what is happening at a client's well and deliver value to the core of the business."

Flotek's Reservoir Cognitive Consultant TM (RC2 TM) will enable better decisions using machine learning to maximize reservoir performance through the Watson platform. The service will allow Flotek data scientists and chemists to search and analyze troves of historical and experiential data from thousands of client wells in real-time and apply their unique technical expertise to discover critical trends and insights.

"We are committed to maximizing reservoir performance, ultimate recovery and client investments. For years, our clients have communicated the need for predictive data related to well performance rather than reactive, backward-looking information available in the energy industry," said John Chisholm, chairman of the board, CEO and president of Flotek. "Reservoir Cognitive Consultant will bring greater transparency to the oilfield by identifying specific challenges facing our clients through prescriptive chemistry technology designed to deliver measurable, transformative results."

About Flotek Industries, Inc.

Flotek develops and delivers prescriptive chemistry-based technology, including specialty chemicals, to clients in the energy, consumer industrials and food & beverage industries. Flotek's inspired chemists draw from the power of bio-derived solvents to deliver solutions that enhance energy production, cleaning products, foods & beverages and fragrances. In the oil and gas sector, Flotek serves major and independent energy producers and oilfield service companies, both domestic and international. Flotek Industries, Inc. is a publicly traded company headquartered in Houston, Texas, and its common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "FTK." For additional information, please visit Flotek's web site at www.flotekind.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493816/Flotek_Logo.jpg
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Tupperware Brands Corp. (TUP) announced the company now expects fiscal 2017 EPS excluding items in a range of $4.67 to $4.77. Sales growth now is projected to be in the 3-5% range. For the second-quarter, the company expects EPS excluding items in the range of $1.17 to $1.22. Sales growth is expected to be in the range of 2-4%. First-quarter GAAP net income and earnings per share were $47.4 million and $0.93, compared to $43.4 million and $0.86 in the prior year, respectively. Adjusted, earnings per share was $1.01, up 11% in dollars and local currency. First quarter net sales were $554.8 million, up 6% in dollars and local currency. 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.
Making sense (and, sometimes, nonsense) out of Current News, Issues, Politics
DETROIT, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report onGlobal Automotive Liftgate Market by Vehicle Type (Hatchback, SUV, and Others), by Material Type (Metal and Composites), by Manufacturing Process (Stamping, Compression Molding, and Injection Molding), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2017-2022.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160831/402975LOGO )

This market report, from Stratview Research, studies the liftgate market in the global automotiveindustry over the period 2011 to 2022. The report provides detailed insights on the market dynamics to enable informed business decision making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.

The Global Liftgate Market in the AutomotiveIndustry: Highlights

As per Stratview Research, the global automotive liftgate market offers a healthy growth opportunity of 5.6% CAGR during the forecast period of 2017 to 2022 and reach US $5,104 Million in 2022. Organic growth in the automobile production owing to increasing disposable income and growing urbanization, increase in the share of SUVs production, and increasing demand for lightweight liftgates to reduce the overall vehicle weight for achieving stringent government regulations, such as CAFE standards are the major growth drivers of the global automotive liftgate market.

The author of the report cited that SUV segment is expected to remain the growth engine of the global automotive liftgate market during the forecast period of 2017 to 2022. Large number of SUVs production and high demand for comfort & space in vehicles would continue to drive the segment over the next five years.

As per the study, metal is projected to remain the most dominant material type for manufacturing liftgates over the next five years, whereas composites based liftgate is likely to witness higher growth rate in the same period. Due to government regulations, the auto industry is rapidly moving towards lightweight materials such as sheet molding compound and long-fiber reinforced thermoplastics to make final component light in weight without sacrificing the overall liftgate performance.

Stamping is expected to remain the most dominant manufacturing process of liftgates in the global automotive industry over the next five years, whereas injection molding is expected to be the fastest growing manufacturing process in the same period. Injection molding offers many benefits over competing processes, such as low part cycle time, ability to manufacture complex products, recyclability, good surface finish, lightweight, and excellent strength to weight ratio.

In terms of region, Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the largest liftgate market during the forecast period. The region is also expected to experience the highest growth in the same period. Increasing automobile production coupled with increasing SUV production share is driving the demand for liftgates in the region.

According to Stratview Research, major global liftgate manufacturers are Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen Group, Meridian Lightweight Technologies, Trinseo, Honda Motor Company, Toyota Motor Corporation, General Motors, Plastic Omnium, and Magna International. Developing lightweight composite liftgate, mergers & acquisitions, and forming long-term contracts with OEMs are the key strategies adopted by the key players to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis

Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis

Market trend and forecast analysis

Market segment trend and forecast

Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.

Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities

Emerging trends

Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players

Key success factors

This report studies liftgate market in the global automotive industry and has segmented the market in four ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. The following are the four ways in which the market is segmented:

Global Automotive Liftgate Market, By Vehicle Type

Hatchback (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

SUV (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Others(Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Automotive Liftgate Market, By Material Type

Metals ( Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Composites(Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Automotive Liftgate Market, By Manufacturing Process Type

Stamping ( Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Compression Molding (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Injection Molding(Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Automotive Liftgate Market, By Region

North America (Country Analysis: The USA , Canada , and Mexico )

Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , Spain , The UK, Russia , Czech Republic , and Rest of the Europe )

Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China , Japan , India , South Korea , and Rest of the Asia-Pacific )

Rest of the World(Country Analysis: Brazil , Argentina , and Others)

Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the global automotive industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports:

Click Here for Other Reports from Stratview Research in the Automotive Industry

Some of our other premium reports in the automotive industry:

Global Automotive Airbag Inflators Market by Vehicle Type, by Airbag Type, by Inflator Type, by Region, Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2016 - 2021

Global Automotive Airbag Inflators Market likely to reach $4.8 billion in 2021, estimated to grow at CAGR 3.8% during 2016 to 2021.

in 2021, estimated to grow at CAGR 3.8% during 2016 to 2021. Expected growth in automotive vehicles production, introduction of more bags per car, and increasing safety standards across the globe are the major drivers of airbag inflators market.

Global Automotive Airbag Yarn Market by Vehicle Type, by Airbag Type, by Coating Type, by Region, Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2016 - 2021

Global Automotive Airbag Yarn Market is likely to grow at 6.0% CAGR during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021.

Expected growth in automotive vehicles production, introduction of more bags per car, and increasing safety standards across the globe are the major drivers of airbag yarns market.

Global Automotive Headlamp Reflector Market by Vehicle Type, by Light Type, by Material Type, by Manufacturing Process, by Region, Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2016 - 2021

Global Automotive Headlamp Reflector Market offers robust growth opportunity and is likely to witness 4.8% CAGR during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021.

Organic growth of the global automotive vehicles production and increasing demand of LED lighting system are the major growth drivers of the global automotive headlamp reflector market.

Bulk Molding Compounds (BMC) based headlamp is expected to experience the fastest growth during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021 as they offer many benefits over competing materials, such as ability to manufacture complex and sharp curves, high gloss surface finish, excellent strength to weight ratio, lightweight, and excellent temperature resistance.

About Stratview Research

Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas.

We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies.

Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making.



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Stratview Research

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 06/12/17 -- Goldstrike Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: GSR)(OTC PINK: APRAF)(FRANKFURT: KCG1) is pleased to announce that it has, in conjunction with its new strategic partner, a Canadian subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM), commenced the most comprehensive exploration program to date on the Plateau property, situated in Central Yukon, 130 kilometres southeast of Mayo.

The program has been initiated with a close-spaced helicopter geophysical survey covering the entire approx. 571 square kilometre Plateau property, utilizing Newmont's proprietary system. The results of that survey will be augmented with high resolution Radarsat-2 "bare-rock" surface mapping and half meter resolution satellite imagery to facilitate interpretation of the structural geology of the 50 kilometre long, district scale, gold mineralized corridor defined to date.

Goldstrike and Newmont have also commenced a program on large untested portions of the property using Newmont's proprietary reconnaissance geochemistry (BLEG) technique. These technologies and methodologies have been refined through use on a multitude of properties around the globe and come with a proven track record of success that will greatly enhance Goldstrike's ability to discover additional gold mineralization on the Plateau property.

Two float-plane accessible camps, complete with docks, will host the Newmont and Goldstrike technical teams and drilling crews that will carry out follow-up surveys and diamond drilling at Goldstack as well as other newly discovered areas containing high grade gold mineralized quartz veining and breccia systems such as "Big-Bang" and "Bonanza". These and several other new gold showings were discovered in 2016, expanding the known extent of the district scale gold mineralized corridor from 25 kilometres to 50 kilometres. Ground geophysical and geochemical surveys will also be executed to further define the extent of gold mineralization on multiple zones within this corridor in preparation for the largest drill campaign to date.

ABOUT GOLDSTRIKE

Goldstrike is a well-funded exploration company with a focus on two projects in Yukon. It recently entered into a strategic alliance with a Canadian subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation to carry out a comprehensive, multi-year exploration program on its Plateau property, and with funding from Newmont and a Yukon YMEP grant added to proceeds from prior financings and the exercise of warrants, Goldstrike has the funding required to carry out a comprehensive 2017 program on its Lucky Strike property and its two newly staked properties in the White Gold District. The Fraser Institute currently ranks Yukon as the No. 1 jurisdiction in the world for mineral potential.

The Plateau property covers approx. 571 square kilometres (5,700 hectares) in the Mayo Mining District and contains a district scale gold-mineralized system known as the Yellow Giant Trend. It is 100% owned by Goldstrike subject to a 3% NSR, of which one-third (1%) may be purchased for C$1,500,000 until March 22, 2020.

The Lucky Strike property is located in the White Gold District, 30 kilometres northwest of Goldcorp's Coffee Creek gold deposit and 10 to 15 kilometres east of Kinross' Golden Saddle gold deposit. Goldstrike owns a 100% interest in the Lucky Strike, BRC, Kings Ransom and Goldsource properties free and clear of all encumbrances, including royalties. Goldstrike's Yukon land holdings, including those in the White Gold District, now total 4,704 claims covering over 1,000 square kilometres.

Goldstrike is committed to transparency and the promotion of health, safety, environmental and community interests, which are integral to the conduct of its business. The Company supports the rights of workers and the communities in which it operates. It respects the traditional rights and culture of the First Nations and their concern for the environment and preservation of their cultural heritage. The Company is committed to building relationships based on honesty, openness, mutual trust and involvement, and to working with local communities to develop relationships that focus on creating value for everyone. WORKING TOGETHER, WE SUCCEED.

To see additional information and maps of the Plateau Property and the new White Gold District assets, the Kings Ransom and Goldsource properties, please visit www.goldstrikeresources.com

James Moors, P. Geo., Chief Geologist, is a qualified person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, for Goldstrike's Yukon exploration projects and supervised the preparation of, and has reviewed and approved, the technical information in this release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Terrence E. King, President and Chief Executive Officer

For new information from the Company's programs, please visit Goldstrike's website at GoldstrikeResources.com. For further information follow the Goldstrike's tweets at Twitter.com/GoldstrikeRes.

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.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or financial performance that is based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action; and the plans for completion of the contemplated transactions with Newmont as set out above. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases such as "anticipates", "expects", "understanding", "has agreed to" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "would", "occur" or "be achieved". Although Goldstrike has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Goldstrike and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, if any, Goldstrike has applied several material assumptions, including the assumption that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required by law, Goldstrike does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Contacts:

King James Capital Corporation

Jeff Stuart

Investor Relations for Goldstrike

(604) 210-2150

jstuart@kingjamescapital.com




25 April 2017

Andalas Energy and Power Plc

('Andalas' or the 'Company')

Update on Tuba Obi East

Andalas Energy and Power Plc, the AIM listed Indonesian focused energy Company (AIM: ADL), provides an update on the Tuba Obi East oil and gas concession ('TOE') in the South Sumatran Basin.

Tuba Obi East ("TOE") is one of a cluster of three gas fields identified by Andalas as suitable for development as an integrated wellhead independent power producer project ('IPP'). The other offsetting fields, which are operated by Pertamina, are known as Karang Makmur and Simpang Tuan. Pertamina has indicated that following the expiry of the TOE technical assistance contract ("TAC") that it will retain and develop TOE alongside the offset fields as a single integrated unit (the "MJ Cluster").

This is in line with the Company's cooperation agreement signed with Pertamina, Indonesia's national oil company, in September 2016, to develop wellhead IPPs utilising Pertamina's significant inventory of gas assets. As part of this agreement, in December 2016, Andalas submitted its first 2 x 30 MW Wellhead IPP project development with Pertamina for government approval. The Company can now advise that this first project envisages sourcing gas from fields included within the Pertamina owned MJ Cluster, which is now expanded to include the gas resources at TOE. The advantages of Pertamina operating TOE are as follows:

Pertamina will fund the upstream development at the MJ Cluster, which has the potential to exceed $50million . Andalas believes it can create more value by concentrating its resources on progressing its Wellhead IPP project and pipeline;

Pertamina, as owner of the enlarged MJ Cluster, has the technical and financial resources to fast track the development of this asset to match Andalas' ambitions to use the gas to develop the MJ Cluster IPP project;

The company's timetable and ability to meet its target of 250-500MW of installed capacity is enhanced by this decision.

Andalas CEO, David Whitby, said: "As our recent project submission and project inventory updates attest, our cooperation with Pertamina continues to strengthen, therefore rather than focus our resources on developing a single smaller gas to power project at TOE, we are focussed on continuing the momentum we have in developing a portfolio of at least five projects with Pertamina that each have the ability to add significant value.

"The inclusion of TOE in the MJ Cluster is a logical next step with the benefit of removing from Andalas the obligation to fund an upstream gas project that was not fundamental to our wellhead IPP strategy. At the same time with Pertamina now the operator, TOE is back in the hands of our partner who has the resources, technical capability and the desire to develop the broader MJ Cluster unit to supply Andalas' first wellhead IPP project."

**ENDS**

For further information, please contact:
EDMONTON, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Radient Technologies Inc. ("Radient" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: RTI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Francesco ("Frank") Ferlaino as Chairman of its Board of Directors.

Frank succeeds Mr. Armand Lavoie who will step down as Chairman as of May 1, 2017.

Armand joined the Board as Director in 2003 and has held the position of Chairman since that time. Armand has decided to step down down as Chairman due to time constraints but we are pleased that he will continue in his role as an Independent Director.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors and management, I would like to thank Armand for his dedicated service and leadership to the Company and his extensive contributions to the growth and development of Radient through some very challenging times. We count on his continued contribution as a valuable member of the Board of Directors" said Denis Taschuk, President and CEO of Radient.

Frank, is a retired executive from the cosmetic and personal care industry. Frank spent 28 years with the L'Oreal group starting in 1977 and had various roles during that time. He began his L'Oreal career overseeing sales for the Consumer Products Division of L'Oreal Canada. He then worked his way to General Manager of the Division then ultimately to CEO of L'Oreal Canada in 1996. During his tenure as CEO, he oversaw the acquisition/introduction of a number of new brands and the restructuring of the manufacturing and distribution activities. During his time, L'Oreal Canada became the leader in the Canadian cosmetic industry and was one of the most profitable countries in the L'Oreal Group. In late 2000, Frank accepted the role of President and CEO of L'Oreal Brazil with a clear mission to accelerate growth through internal and external activities. During his 4 year tenure L'Oreal Brazil became a high profile and strategic subsidiary of the L'Oreal Group. Currently, Frank and his wife own and operate a vineyard and winery in Tuscany, Italy where they have been producing award-winning wines since 2007.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors and management, I would like to congratulate Frank on his appointment as Chairman of the Radient Board. In the time that Frank has been on the Board his leadership and experience have been highly valued by the Board and Senior Management. Frank is very well suited to help guide Radient through it's next stages of development and will further strengthen and broaden Radient's leadership team," said Armand Lavoie, outgoing Chairman of the Board of Radient.

"I am honoured to be appointed as Chairman of the Board of Radient and I look forward to working with my fellow Directors and Senior Management to continue to build a world class company," said Frank Ferlaino, incoming Chairman of the Board of Radient.

About Radient

Radient extracts natural compounds from a range of biological materials using microwave assisted processing ("MAP"), a patented technology platform which provides superior customer outcomes in terms of ingredient purity, yield, and cost. From its 20,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Edmonton, Alberta, Radient serves market leaders in industries that include pharmaceutical, food, beverage, natural health, personal care and biofuel markets. Visit www.radientinc.com for more information.

Contacts:

Denis Taschuk

Chief Executive Officer

(780) 465-1318

dtaschuk@radientinc.com



Mike Cabigon

Chief Operating Officer

(780) 465-1318

mcabigon@radientinc.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Ceylon Graphite Corp. ("Ceylon") (TSX VENTURE: CYL)(OTC:CYLYF )(FRANKFURT: CCY) announces that Sarcon Development (PVT) Ltd ("Sarcon") its wholly owned subsidiary has purchased a HXY-2T type Core Drilling Rig from the H.H. Drill-Tech Drilling Machinery Co Ltd based in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China. It is anticipated the drill will arrive in Sri Lanka by the middle of May. For it's immediate requirements, Sarcon has hired a local drilling operator, currently on site to start the drilling process at its K1 site which is a past producing graphite mine. Drilling at K1 will initially be in the area identified during VLF ground mapping around the old mine site and then other parts of the grid.

The company will drill all the 116 grids over the next 24 months, this will provide the precise location(s) of the graphite vein(s) in each grid. The company's goal is to build a geological database for its mining operations.

Bharat Parashar, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Owning its own drill rig will give Sarcon both a cost advantage plus positioning flexibility in the exploration process as we move towards our goal of commencing production."

About Ceylon Graphite Corp.

Ceylon Graphite Corp is a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE: CYL), that is in the business of exploring for and development of graphite mines in Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka has granted the company exploration rights in a land package of over 100km2. These exploration grids cover all relevant areas that had historical graphite production during the early twentieth century representing the majority of the known graphite occurrence in Sri Lanka. Ceylon's graphite is the purest in the world, and currently accounts for less than 1% of the world graphite production.

"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 information as such term is defined in applicable securities laws, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. The forward-looking information includes statements about the Company's expected increase in global exposure and anticipated investment from European investors. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company including the assumption that trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange will increase the Company's profile to European investors. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. Risk factors that could cause cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking information include, among other things, a general economic downturn. The Company cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive.

These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com).

Further information regarding the Company is available at www.ceylongraphite.com.

Contacts:

Ceylon Graphite Corp.

Bharat Parashar

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

info@ceylongraphite.com

Corporate Communications

(604) 559-8051




Today, on the 25th of April 2017, AS Tallinna Vesi held an investor conference webinar where Chairman of the Board Karl Heino Brookes and Chief Financial Officer Riina Kai introduced the performance during the first quarter of 2017. AS Tallinna Vesi would like to correct an error made in the presentation at the webinar by stating the amount of the potential deferred dividend to be 46 cents per A-share. The correct number is 36 cents per A-share. The error has been corrected in the presentation, which is up on AS Tallinna Vesi's website. No changes were currently made in the dividend policy and the proposal is to pay 54 cents per A-share and 600 euros per B-share in June 2017. AS Tallinna Vesi would like to thank all participants. Webinar recording is available here. Presentation is available in here. Riina Kai AS Tallinna Vesi Chief Financial Officer Ph: (+372) 62 62 262 riina.kai@tvesi.ee

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.
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




SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Tarku Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: TKU) (the "Company" or "Tarku") announces the execution of a letter of agreement (the "Agreement") to merge Eureka Exploration Inc. ("Eureka"), a private issuer, with Tarku. Eureka's assets encompass 5 well-positioned exploration properties near Chibougamau and Matagami in Northern Abitibi, Quebec and aggregates 274 claims or 15,186 ha along regional gold-bearing trends. This merger will greatly increase Tarku's land position in Quebec and expose the Company to both the significant assets and strong technical team of Eureka.

Summary of the transaction

Under the terms of the Agreement Tarku will acquire all of the common shares and common share purchase warrants of Eureka Shares issued and outstanding in consideration for the issuance of 10,000,000 common shares of Tarku (the "Tarku Shares") and 900,000 common share purchase warrants of Tarku (the "Tarku Warrants"), each Tarku Warrant entitling the holder to subscribe for one (1) Tarku Share at a price of $0.10 until June 29, 2018.

In connection with the closing of the acquisition, the following changes will be made on the board of directors:

-- two (2) directors of Tarku will step down and allow Julien Davy and Benoit Lafrance to join the Board of Directors; -- Julien Davy will be appointed as President of Tarku; and -- Benoit Lafrance will be appointed as Exploration Manager of Tarku.

Both Sylvain Laberge and Jeff Sheppard will retain their positions as the CEO and CFO, respectively, as well as their director positions.

Eureka owns a 100% interest in the following properties:

Chibougamau district

Based on the innovative approach of using a different geological model than the typical "Chibougamau Cu-Au mineralization type", Eureka took a wide land position for orogenic gold potential along a regional fault in the northern part of the Chibougamau district.

-- Richardson - 42 mining claims covering 2,319 ha, located 20 km NNE of Chibougamau: The Richardson property is located along the regional Barlow fault. Despite the absence of documented gold occurrences at the time of staking in early 2016, the exploration model used by Eureka for targeting orogenic gold has been proven successful with the discovery of a mineralized felsic volcaniclastic rock containing 1.7 g/t Au (associated with disseminated sulphides) during preliminary fieldwork conducted in 2016. In addition to its gold potential, the Richardson project also includes a mafic-ultramafic intrusive complex representing a favourable setting for Ni-Cu-PGE (platinum group elements) mineralization as well as a historical intercept of 2.75% Zn over 0.6m (historical drill hole), highlighting the potential for Zn-Cu-Ag-Au volcanogenic massive sulphides (VMS) mineralization. -- Bullion - 26 mining claims covering 1,435 ha located 25 km NNE of Chibougamau: The Bullion property is located along the regional Barlow fault. Historical data on the Bullion project reveals gold results ranging from trace quantities up to 2 g/t Au over 2 meters (associated with disseminated sulphides) in 1984 drilling . This mineralization, along with the new Eureka gold showing on the Richardson project, enhances the gold potential along the new regional trend.

With the adjoining Bullion and Richardson projects, Eureka Exploration holds 16km of 100%-owned land position on an underexplored, prospective gold-bearing regional structure that has seen only 8 drill holes completed in the 1980's. This faulted contact on the northern edge of the most northerly sedimentary basin of the Abitibi shows similarities to the Detour Lake Mine geological context. Tarku/Eureka management caution that mineralization within the Detour Lake mine may not be indicative of the mineralization that may be identified on its Chibougamau properties, which remain a conceptual exploration targeting model.

Matagami district

Eureka also used a different geological model than the typically applied VMS-type model used by the other companies to identify base metals in the Matagami district. Following this approach, Eureka took a significant land position which targets gold mineralization along regional fault zones east of Matagami district.

-- Apollo - 96 mining claims covering 5,320 ha located 50 km east from Matagami: The Apollo project is located along the regional Riviere Waswanipi ductile shear zone that affects alkaline lavas, polygenic conglomerates (Timiskaming-type) and porphyritic intrusions anomalous in gold. This geological context shows potential for "Orogenic Gold associated with Alkaline Rocks and Porphyritic Intrusions" mineralization type. This faulted contact on the northern edge of the Abitibi is interpreted as being similar to the Detour Lake Mine geological context. Tarku/Eureka management caution that mineralization within the Detour Lake mine may not be indicative of the mineralization that may be identified on its Chibougamau properties, which remain a conceptual exploration targeting model. -- Admiral - 24 mining claims covering 1,334 ha, located 25 km east from Matagami: The Admiral projects include two regional shear zones and shows potential for mesothermal orogenic gold as highlighted by the Lac Olga Ouest showing located immediately east of the claims (historical geological sampling recovered samples ranging from trace quantities to 5.9 g/t Au in a quartz-carbonate-pyrite vein; grab sample). -- Atlas - 86 claims covering 4,778 ha located 50 km east from Matagami: The Atlas project contains aluminous-type alteration and volcanic sequence with facies and geochemical affinity similar to the Bousquet Formation of the southern Abitibi. This distinctive geological environment highlights the potential for the presence of gold-bearing Volcanogenic Massive Sulphides mineralization (Au-Ag-Cu-Zn VMS). Tarku/Eureka management caution that the mineralization within the LaRonde mine may not be indicative of the mineralization that may be identified on its Matagami district properties, which remain a conceptual exploration targeting model.

The completion of the transaction is subject a number of conditions, including, but not limited to, the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and all other necessary approvals. Additional information on the transaction will be provided in a subsequent news release.

About Tarku (www.tarkuresources.com):

Tarku Resources Ltd. is an exploration company focused on discovery in the mineral-rich Canadian landscape. The foundation of the company is based on an experienced management team with a track record of success. The goal of Tarku is to provide success for shareholders through the implementation of strategic property acquisition, the use of proven exploration techniques and the exploitation of fertile ground. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the company's properties.

About Eureka (www.eurekaexploration.com):

Eureka Exploration is a private mineral exploration company focused on generating sustainable projects for precious and base metals by conducting exploration in areas with strong geologic potential and high levels of social acceptability. Eureka holds 100% of the interests in its' Chibougamau and Matagami projects. Project generation is the foundation of mining development. The goal of Eureka is to produce exploration projects with excellent potential for partners or buyers to build into a mining project

National Instrument 43-101 disclosure

Mr. Timothy Termuende, B.Sc., P.Geo., director of Tarku, is the qualified person under the guidelines of National Instrument 43-101, respecting standards of disclosure for mineral projects, who has reviewed and approved the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding our intentions and plans. The forward-looking statements that are contained in this news release are based on various assumptions and estimates by the Company and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from results forecasted or suggested in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We caution you that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, as discussed in the Corporation's filings with Canadian securities agencies. Various factors may prevent or delay our plans, including but not limited to, contractor availability and performance, weather, access, mineral prices, success and failure of the exploration and development carried out at various stages of the program, and general business, economic, competitive, political and social conditions. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward- looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Sylvain Laberge

President and CEO

514-702-9841

slaberge@sdnlfinancial.com




Essel Group ME ("EGME") is pleased to announce that Simba Energy Inc. has become "Simba Essel Energy Inc." effective on Monday, April 24, 2017.

At its recent annual general meeting, shareholders of Simba voted in favour of approving the two agreements that Simba entered into with EGME in 2015. This included an agreement under which EGME was granted the right to earn a 60% interest in Simba's production sharing contracts (the "PSCs") in Kenya, Chad, Liberia, Ghana and Guinea, by contributing 100% of the funding to carry out an exploration program on the PSCs.

Following receipt of shareholder approval, the TSX Venture Exchange has also advised that it has no objection to Simba proceeding with the EGME transactions.

Simba's Board of Directors is to meet in the near future to review the seismic programme and other related data assembled in preparation of a drill program later this year on Block 2A, Kenya.

-ENDS-

About EGME

EGME is a diversified conglomerate operating primarily in the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia pacific region.

EGME is part of Essel Group, the Indian multinational conglomerate operating in a broad spectrum of industries including media, packaging, infrastructure and technology. Building on Essel Group's 90 year history of developing and promoting businesses, EGME is leading the Group's regional expansion and currently operates subsidiary businesses in the natural resources, energy, industrial supply and logistics, education and financial services sectors. For further information, please visit www.esselgroupme.com

About Simba

Simba Energy Inc. provides investors with well positioned exposure to oil and gas exploration in key areas of Africa with active onshore production sharing contracts ("PSCs") in Kenya and Guinea and PSCs under continuing negotiation in Chad, Liberia and Ghana. Simba's mission is to focus on onshore oil and gas potential in areas that are under-developed or not previously exploited. For further information, please visit http://www.simbaenergy.ca/

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005902/en/

Contacts:

EGME

Kriti Ladsaria

+971 42793955

or

Finsbury

Dorothy Burwell Charles O'Brien

+44 (0)20 7251 3801

or

Simba Energy

Mark Sommer

+1 604 629 9647 +1 855 777 4622
CJI   74 : 10    , 13  ...  ,  , EWS    
Kasparov to discuss power and propaganda in the digital age together with Claudio Guarnieri of Citizen Lab and Amnesty International

Garry Kasparov, chess grandmaster, chairman of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation, and Avast Security Ambassador, will discuss propaganda in the digital age, together with Claudio Guarnieri, Security Researcher with Citizen Lab, Senior Technologist with Amnesty Technology and Security without Borders at re:publica 2017 in Berlin

In their session, moderated by Internet politics activist Geraldine De Bastion, Kasparov and Guarnieri will discuss how state and corporate actors use and misuse the Internet for their political and commercial interests, and how this affects human rights, individual freedom, privacy and security. They will also debate how a balance between regulations and individual empowerment could be established.

As a Soviet citizen and a pro-democracy leader in Russia, Kasparov has witnessed how governments abuse information to strengthen their own power. Guarnieri has extensively researched and reported human rights violations through digital technology in many countries, including Iran and Azerbaijan, and even the U.S.

What: Presentation and discussion: Hacking Democracy: Power and Propaganda in the Digital Age

When: Monday, May 8, 2017, 5:15 6:15 p.m. CET.

Where: Stage 1 at re:publica 2017, STATION Berlin, Berlin-Kreuzberg, Germany

Who: Garry Kasparov, Avast Security Ambassador; Claudio Guarnieri, Security Researcher Citizen Lab and Senior Technologist Amnesty International Host Geraldine De Bastion, re:publica

Press Conference:

Prior to the session, Avast will host a press conference at re:publica, reception room, at 3:00 4:00p.m. CET, with Garry Kasparov and Ondrej Vlcek, Avast's CTO, and Executive Vice President and General Manager, Consumer. Kasparov will touch on the session topic, and will talk about man vs. machine interaction. Since Kasparov's historic matches against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue, he has been passionate about finding ways humans and intelligent machines could collaborate. Vlcek will then analyze how man vs. machine interaction can work in digital security, how threats can be fought with machine learning and artificial intelligence technology, and where human intelligence is required in security. Vlcek joined Avast as a software developer in 1995, became chief developer in 2003, and has driven artificial intelligence in security since its early days.

Media: If you are interested in joining the press conference, or in an interview with Garry Kasparov or Ondrej Vlcek, please contact avast@hbi.de.

About Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in the Soviet Union in 1963. He became the youngest world chess champion in history in 1985 and was the world's top-rated player for 20 years, until he retired in 2005. His matches against arch-rival Anatoly Karpov and the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue popularized chess and machine intelligence in unprecedented ways. Kasparov became a pro-democracy leader in Russia and an outspoken defender of individual freedom around the world, a mission he continues as the chairman of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford-Martin School, where his lectures focus on human-machine collaboration. Kasparov is a provocative speaker who appears frequently before business, academic, and political audiences to speak about decision-making, strategy, technology, and artificial intelligence. His influential writings on politics, cognition, and tech have appeared in dozens of major publications around the world. He has written two acclaimed series of chess books and the bestsellers How Life Imitates Chess on decision-making and Winter Is Coming on Russia and Vladimir Putin. His new book, Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins comes out in May 2017. In 2016, he was named a Security Ambassador by Avast Software, where he discusses cybersecurity and the digital future. He lives in New York City with his wife Dasha and their two children.

About Avast

Avast (www.avast.com), the global leader in digital security products for businesses and consumers, protects over 400 million people online. Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company's threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, OPSWAT, ICSA Labs, West Coast Labs and others. Avast is backed by leading global private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Summit Partners.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005905/en/

Contacts:

Avast

Marina Ziegler

PR Director

ziegler@avast.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) Tuesday reported a sharp decline in first quarter net income to $85 million or $0.25 per share, from $207 million or $0.61 per share last year. Revenue for the quarter declined to $1.604 billion from $1.616 billion last year. Revenue passenger miles for the period declined 3.9 percent to 11.399 billion from 10.976 billion a year ago. Load factor was down 0.3 points to 83.9 percent. Available seat miles for the first quarter improved 4.2 points to 13.58 billion from 13.03 billion a year ago. Looking ahead to the second quarter, the airline expects capacity to increase in a range of 4 to 6 percent, while capacity for the full year 2017 is projected to increase 5.5 to 7.5 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.
DUBLIN, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Ultra-Low Temperature Freezer Market 2017-2021" report to their offering.

Global Ultra-Low Temperature Freezer 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. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.



The global ULT freezers market is growing moderately at a rate of 3.08%, which can be attributed to increased investments in R&D. Also, the market is driven by the expansion of end-user segments such as biobanks, hospitals and diagnostic centers, and others that use cold storage solutions such as ULT freezers to store a broad range of specimens and products such as tissue organs and pharmaceuticals under different low temperatures. One trend in market is increasing focus on expanding capacity and lowering footprint. There is a growing demand in the US for blood bank refrigerators with higher capacity and lower carbon footprint. With the increasing demand for storage space from end-users, vendors are increasingly expanding their equipment capacity to provide under-counter and upright blood bank equipment models.

For instance, Helmer Scientific, a key vendor in the market, offers the iB105, an under-counter blood bank refrigerator with a storage capacity of 66 blood bags (450 ml bags). Therefore, the increased storage capacity and lower footprints of newer products will encourage end-users to upgrade existing equipment. Similarly, in August 2016, Stirling Ultracold, a provider of ULT freezers for the biomedical sector, entered into a master supply agreement with Case Western Reserve University to assist it in advanced sustainable research by offering units of energy-saving ULT freezers with low carbon footprint. With a global awareness about lowering the carbon footprint and need to accommodate several specimens, vendors will focus extensively on providing advanced solutions.

According to the report, one driver in market is increasing investments in life science research. Growing investments in life science research, along with an increase in chronic diseases, fast-growing older population, population growth, growing life expectancy, and higher disposable income, are positively influencing the demand for blood bank refrigerators. Vendors are focusing on updating product technologies to keep up with the varying needs of researchers. ULT freezers remain a crucial element in the life sciences sector. Thus, the growth of the life sciences sector will propel the demand for ULT freezers during the forecast period.

The growth potential of this sector in terms of market size has driven many major vendors to continuously invest in increasing their new product pipelines while creating innovation and increasing their revenue streams. Emerging markets are likely to remain key growth regions during the forecast period. Although these markets are in their nascent stage in terms of growth and investment opportunities, several US-based life science companies are focusing on markets with unmet needs and significant access constraints, particularly in Africa and South America. M&As and divestiture activities will also play a key role in the growth and diversification prospects of these companies in emerging markets during the forecast period. Therefore, with an increase in the number of initiatives undertaken in the field of life sciences, there will be a significant demand for ULT freezers in the coming years.

Further, the report states that one challenge in market is high cost of equipment. The healthcare industry is stringently regulated worldwide. Manufacturers need to meet the compliance criteria at every stage of product development and management, which is often time-consuming and expensive. The funding and finance of ULT freezers vary from one region to another. For example, in the US, funding is mostly done by research councils (R&D funders and companies), governments, academia, companies, and non-profit organizations. Public biobanks, in general, depend on both government and external funding from a variety of sources.

Key vendors



Eppendorf

Helmer Scientific

Panasonic Biomedical

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Other prominent vendors



ARCTIKO

AticoExport

Bionics Scientific Technologies

Glen Dimplex

Haier Biomedical

LABCOLD

Macro Scientific Works

REMI GROUP

Azbil Telstar

Vestfrost Solutions

VWR (Supplier and manufacturer)



Key Topics Covered:

Part 01: Executive summary



Part 02: Scope of the report



Part 03: Research Methodology



Part 04: Introduction



Part 05: Market landscape



Part 06: Segmentation by end-users



Part 07: Segmentation by geography



Part 08: Decision framework



Part 09: Drivers and challenges



Part 10: Market trends



Part 11: Vendor landscape



Part 12: Key vendor analysis



Part 13: Appendix

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/l34jh9/global_ultralow

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- African Gold Group, Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AGG) ("AGG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed the previously announced financing whereby certain strategic investors and certain insiders of AGG have subscribed to a private placement of 74,827,188 units (the "Units") at a subscription price of C$0.09 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of C$6,734,446.92. Each Unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share of AGG at a price of $0.12 per share for a period of thirty-six (36) months from the date of closing.

In conjunction with the closing of the financing, Mr. David Brown, Mr. Michael A.J. Nikiforuk, Dr. Antony Harwood and Mr. Pierre Lalande have stepped down from the board of directors. The Board would like to thank them for their hard work over the last several years.

Declan Franzmann, departing Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") stated: "We are pleased with the closing of our previously announced financing with Forbes and Manhattan and look forward to our renewed focus on our Kobada Project. I would also like to extend my sincerest thanks and appreciation to the board members of AGG who are departing the Company today. Their contributions and guidance over the years have proven invaluable for the advancement of Kobada and we wish them the best."

The board would also like to welcome Mr. Stan Bharti as Chairman of AGG, and other new directors: Mr. Bruce Humphrey, Mr. John Begeman and Mr. Stephan Theron to the board of AGG.

Additionally the Board of AGG also welcomes Mr. Theron as its new Chief Executive Officer and Brett Richards as the new President and Chief Operating Officer of AGG, effective immediately. Mr. Theron brings to AGG 18 years of extensive management, capital project development and M&A experience within the mining industry. He has structured numerous mining focused investments and has worked on mining projects throughout Africa. As previously disclosed, Mr. Richards is a well-known mining executive with over 30 years' experience in mining and metals and has focused primarily on projects in Africa over the past 10 years. The board would also like to extend its thanks to Mr. Franzmann for his work and contributions as an executive officer of the Company and looks forward to his continued input as a member of the board of directors of AGG.

Mr. Jaimie MacPherson, current Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") of AGG will remain on in a transition capacity for the next three months, at which time the Company will appoint Mr. Ryan Ptolemy as CFO of the Company, and announce it at the appropriate time. Mr. Ptolemy is a CPA, CGA and CFA charterholder. Mr. Ptolemy currently serves as CFO to a number of public companies in the mining sector.

The Company has also executed a binding term sheet dated April 24, 2017 with 2516232 Ontario Inc., a private company incorporated under the laws of Ontario ("PrivateCo"), whereby it has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of PrivateCo (the "Acquisition") in exchange for an aggregate of 33,333,333 common shares in the capital of the Company at a deemed price of $0.09 per share for a total acquisition price of $3,000,000. The Company and PrivateCo are at arm's length to each other. The Acquisition is subject to customary conditions for a transaction of this nature, which include satisfaction of due diligence, negotiation and entering into a definitive acquisition agreement and approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

PrivateCo is party to an option agreement with TEMFOR s.a.r.l. providing PrivateCo with the option to acquire from TEMFOR, the Madougou gold project located in Burkina Faso. Madougou is a mid-stage exploration project, located in the north-western region of Burkina Faso. The project has been extensively explored, with both ground and airborne geophysical surveys conducted, and over 20,000m of RC drilling completed on the 182km(2) land package. Madougou is in a mining favourable jurisdiction within West Africa, and is contained in a regional mineralised area of the greenstone belt within Burkina Faso, with several gold producing operations. AGG view Madougou as a highly strategic asset, with tremendous potential to add significant value to the Company.

Three officers and directors of the Company (the "Purchasing Insiders"), purchased an aggregate of 24% of the securities issued pursuant to the offering. The offering was considered and approved by the board of directors of the Company, with the directors who purchased Units under the offering declaring a conflict and recusing themselves from voting on the offering. There was no materially contrary view or abstention by any director approving the offering. Pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"), the purchase by the Purchasing Insiders was a "related party transaction" but the Company was exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation or minority shareholder approval in connection with the offering.

AGG paid a cash fee of $306,600 and issued 3,406,666 compensation warrants (each a "Compensation Warrant") to GMP Securities L.P. and Delano Capital Corp. for financial advisory services completed in connection with the offering. Each Compensation Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one Unit at $0.09 for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the date of closing, with each Unit being issued on the same terms as under the offering.

About African Gold Group

African Gold Group is a Canadian exploration and development company with its focus on West Africa. African Gold Group is focused on the development of the Kobada Gold Project in Mali, a low capital and operating cost gold project with potential to produce more than 50,000 ounces of gold per annum. For more information regarding African Gold Group visit our website at www.africangoldgroup.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain "Forward-Looking Statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of African Gold Group; and statements regarding the ability to develop and achieve production at Kobada are forward-looking statements that involve various 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from African Gold Group's expectations have been disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in African Gold Group's documents filed from time-to-time with the TSX Venture Exchange and other regulatory authorities. African Gold Group disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements whether resulting from new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Contacts:

African Gold Group, Inc.

Brett Richards

President and Chief Operating Officer

+1 905 449 1500

brett@brettrichards.org

www.africangoldgroup.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Augusta Industries Inc. (the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: AAO) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Fox-Tek Canada Inc. ("Fox-Tek"), has successfully delivered its new lab electric field mapping ("EFM") technology to a nuclear facility in the United Kingdom. The Corporation previously announced in its press release dated January 17th, 2017 that it was awarded a contract to develop a laboratory version of its EFM technology to be used in a nuclear facility.

The new EFM Lab System is specifically designed for use in a research/experimental environment where a need for accurate material changes is required. Unlike Fox-Tek's standard EFM units that are fully autonomous, these new units will require a user to take readings. As such, a computer interface tool is being developed to ensure that the user is able to quickly configure the system for a particular application. Fox-Tek will continue to make its DMAT tools suite available to client's that might require more help to analyze their data.

"The new EFM units represents an exciting new opportunity for the Corporation as it will open new markets and create more opportunities for the Corporation's products and technology," stated Allen Lone, President of the Corporation. "The Corporation will continue to develop and engineer solutions to meet and exceed current industry requirements for continuous and/or periodic non-intrusive wall loss monitoring."

About the Corporation

Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Marcon International Inc. ("Marcon") and Fox-Tek, the Corporation provides a variety of services and products to a number of clients.

Marcon is an industrial supply contractor servicing the energy sector and a number of US Government entities. Marcon's principal business is the sale and distribution of industrial parts and equipment (Electrical, mechanical and Instrumentation.) In addition to departments and agencies of the U.S. Government, Marcon's major clients include Saudi Arabia-Sabic Services (Refining and Petrochemical), Bahrain National Gas Co, Bahrain Petroleum, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Gas, Qatar Petrochemical, Gulf of Suez Petroleum, Agiba Petroleum and Burullus Gas Co.

FOX-TEK develops non-intrusive asset health monitoring sensor systems for the oil and gas market to help operators track the thinning of pipelines and refinery vessels due to corrosion/erosion, strain due to bending/buckling and process pressure and temperature. The Corporation's FT fiber optic sensor and corrosion monitoring systems allow cost-effective, 24/7 remote monitoring capabilities to improve scheduled maintenance operations, avoid unnecessary shutdowns, and prevent accidents and leaks.

The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimates of future events. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are detailed from time to time in the Corporation's periodic reports filed with the Ontario Securities Commission and other regulatory authorities. The Corporation has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts:

Allen Lone

President, CEO

Augusta Industries Inc.

(905) 275 -8111 Ext 226

atlone@fox-tek.com




NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- India Globalization Capital, Inc. ("the Company") (NYSE MKT: IGC), engaged in the development of cannabis-based combination therapies to treat a variety of life altering conditions, announces that it has engaged the expertise of NetworkNewsWire ("NNW"), a multifaceted financial news and publishing company that delivers a new generation of social communication solutions, news aggregation and syndication, and enhanced news release services.

"We have an exciting pipeline of phytocannabinoid-based treatments based on our formulation for pain. As we move toward pre clinical and clinical trials, we are working with NetworkNewsWire to make sure the investment community is aware of the opportunities created by our progress -- both from a corporate and broader medical standpoint," states Ram Mukunda, CEO of IGC.

NNW's strategies help public and private organizations find their voice and build market visibility. As part of the Client-Partner relationship with IGC, NNW will leverage its investor-based distribution network of over 5,000 key syndication outlets, various newsletters, social media channels, blogs, and other outreach tools to generate greater brand awareness for the Company.

"IGC occupies a unique position in the medical cannabis field by focusing on combination therapies for a number of indications, including possible veterinary applications," states Sherri Franklin, director of Content Marketing for NNW. "It is an interesting story to dig into, and we look forward to helping IGC prime its corporate message to effectively tell this story to existing and potential shareholders."

About India Globalization Capital (IGC)

India Globalization Capital is engaged in the development of cannabis-based therapies to treat pain, PTSD, seizures, cachexia, chronic and terminal neurological and oncological diagnoses, and other life altering conditions. In support of this mission, IGC has assembled a portfolio of patent filings for its phytocannabinoid-based treatments. The company is based in Bethesda, Maryland.

For more information, visit http://www.igcinc.us

About NetworkNewsWire

NetworkNewsWire (NNW) provides news aggregation and syndication, enhanced press release services and a full array of social communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and distribution company with an extensive team of journalists and contributing writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies who need to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. NNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today's market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge.

For more information, visit https://www.NetworkNewsWire.com

Please see full disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW, wherever published or re-published: http://nnw.fm/Disclaimer

Forward-Looking Statements

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 or 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 evaluating 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.

NNW Contact:



NetworkNewsWire (NNW)

New York, New York

www.NetworkNewsWire.com

212.418.1217 Office

Email Contact




WEST CHESTER, OH -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) today reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2017.

1st Quarter 2017 Highlights

Net income of $62.5 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, was the best first quarter net income since 2008

Adjusted EBITDA of $142.9 million increased 76% from the first quarter 2016

Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 9.3% from 5.3% in the first quarter 2016

Actions taken during the quarter strengthened the balance sheet

AK Steel reported net income of $62.5 million, or $0.19 per diluted share of common stock, for the first quarter of 2017, compared to a net loss of $13.6 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2016. The company's first quarter financial results were impacted by iron ore derivatives and expenses related to the senior notes offering.

The company's adjusted EBITDA (as defined in the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section below) of $142.9 million, or 9.3% of net sales, for the first quarter of 2017 increased 76% from adjusted EBITDA of $81.1 million, or 5.3% of net sales, for the year ago first quarter.

"Our first quarter performance reflected the ongoing benefits of our margin enhancement activities, strong operational focus and an improved pricing environment," said Roger K. Newport, Chief Executive Officer of AK Steel. "We also made great progress in the quarter on new product development, as we continue to focus on introducing innovative products."

Primarily as a result of the continued efforts to reduce sales of lower margin products, first quarter shipments declined 10% to 1,486,900 tons compared to the first quarter a year ago. Despite the drop in shipments, net sales increased 1% to $1.53 billion for the first quarter of 2017 from $1.52 billion for the first quarter of 2016. Average selling price per ton increased 12% to $1,022 from $914 in the same quarter a year ago, primarily as a result of higher average selling prices on both contract and spot market sales, higher surcharges on specialty steel products, and an improved product mix.

The increase in net sales and our continued focus on cost management, partially offset by higher raw material and energy costs, contributed to the 76% increase in adjusted EBITDA. Results for the first quarter of 2017 included a LIFO charge of $35.4 million, compared to a LIFO credit of $12.3 million in the first quarter a year ago. Costs for planned outages for the first quarter of 2017 were $7.3 million, as compared to $3.4 million from the same quarter a year ago.

Iron Ore Derivatives

The company routinely uses iron ore derivatives to minimize the volatility in the cost of its iron ore purchases. Historically, these economic hedges qualified for hedge accounting -- meaning that gains and losses on derivatives were reflected in the company's financial results in the same period that the hedged iron ore purchases affected earnings.

Beginning in the third quarter of 2016, the company's iron ore derivatives no longer qualify for hedge accounting treatment. Therefore, adjustments to mark these derivatives to fair value each period are recognized currently in the company's financial results, versus being recognized in the period that iron ore purchases affect earnings.

In the first quarter of 2017, the fair value of the company's iron ore derivatives further increased due to a rise in iron ore costs, which resulted in the company recognizing mark-to-market gains of $16.3 million in its first quarter results. However, $11.4 million of settled iron ore derivative gains were not included in the income statement for the first quarter of 2017, but instead were recognized in the company's financial results in prior periods. This would have partially offset the company's increased iron ore costs reported in its first quarter 2017 financial results related to sales during the quarter.

Senior Notes Offering to Lower Debt

In March 2017, the company issued $400.0 million of 7.00% senior unsecured notes due 2027. Through a concurrent tender offer for its 7.625% senior unsecured notes due 2020 (the "2020 Notes"), the company retired $361.3 million in principal of the 2020 Notes in March 2017, and announced it will redeem all the remaining outstanding 2020 Notes totaling $168.5 million on May 15, 2017. Included in other income (expense) in the first quarter of 2017 was $9.7 million of expense related to the tender offer. The company expects to record additional expense of approximately $3.4 million in the second quarter of 2017 related to the remaining 2020 Notes that will be redeemed in May.

The company ended the first quarter of 2017 with total liquidity of approximately $1.5 billion, consisting of cash and cash equivalents and $1.3 billion of availability under the company's revolving credit facility.

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 operations 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.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements made or incorporated by reference in this earnings release reflect management's estimates and beliefs and are intended to be "forward-looking statements" identified in the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "estimates" and other similar references to future periods typically identify forward-looking statements.

The company cautions readers that forward-looking statements reflect the company's current beliefs and judgments, but are not guarantees of future performance or outcomes. They are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that are inherently affected by economic, competitive, regulatory, and operational risks, uncertainties and contingencies that are beyond the company's control, and upon assumptions about future business decisions and conditions that may change.

Forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve risks and uncertainties, resulting in the possibility that actual events or performance will differ materially from such predictions as a result of certain risk factors, including reduced selling prices, shipments and profits associated with a highly competitive and cyclical industry; domestic and global steel overcapacity; changes in the cost of raw materials and energy; the company's significant amount of debt and other obligations; severe financial hardship or bankruptcy of one or more of the company's major customers or key suppliers; the company's significant proportion of sales to the automotive market; reduced demand in key product markets due to competition from aluminum or other alternatives to steel; excess inventory of raw materials; supply chain disruptions or poor quality of raw materials; production disruption or reduced production levels; the company's healthcare and pension obligations; not reaching new labor agreements on a timely basis; major litigation, arbitrations, environmental issues and other contingencies; regulatory compliance and changes; climate change and greenhouse gas emission limitations; conditions in the financial, credit, capital and banking markets; the company's use of derivative contracts to hedge commodity pricing volatility; potential permanent idling of facilities; inability to fully realize benefits of margin enhancement initiatives; information technology security threats and cybercrime; as well as those risks and uncertainties discussed in more detail in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, as updated in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. As such, the company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only to the company's plans, assumptions and expectations as of the date hereof. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.

AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) (Dollars and shares in millions, except per share and per ton data) Three Months Ended March 31, ----------------------------- 2017 2016 -------------- -------------- Shipments (000 tons) 1,486.9 1,658.2 Selling price per ton $ 1,022 $ 914 Net sales $ 1,533.4 $ 1,518.8 Cost of products sold 1,310.8 1,365.5 Selling and administrative expenses 71.2 63.5 Depreciation 55.1 53.7 Pension and OPEB expense (income) (16.2) (11.9) ------------- ------------- Total operating costs 1,420.9 1,470.8 ------------- ------------- Operating profit 112.5 48.0 Interest expense 39.4 42.8 Other income (expense) (7.8) (0.7) ------------- ------------- Income before income taxes 65.3 4.5 Income tax expense (benefit) (13.4) 0.1 ------------- ------------- Net income 78.7 4.4 Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 16.2 18.0 ------------- ------------- Net income (loss) attributable to AK Steel Holding Corporation $ 62.5 $ (13.6) ============= ============= Net income (loss) per share attributable to AK Steel Holding Corporation: Basic $ 0.20 $ (0.08) ============= ============= Diluted $ 0.19 $ (0.08) ============= ============= Weighted-average shares outstanding: Basic 314.1 177.5 Diluted 325.6 177.5 AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts) March 31, December 31, 2017 2016 ------------ ------------ ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 185.7 $ 173.2 Accounts receivable, net 524.5 442.0 Inventory, net 1,105.8 1,113.9 Other current assets 107.7 94.6 ----------- ----------- Total current assets 1,923.7 1,823.7 Property, plant and equipment 6,585.4 6,569.0 Accumulated depreciation (4,609.4) (4,554.6) ----------- ----------- Property, plant and equipment, net 1,976.0 2,014.4 Other non-current assets 204.7 197.9 ----------- ----------- TOTAL ASSETS $ 4,104.4 $ 4,036.0 =========== =========== LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 651.5 $ 589.9 Accrued liabilities 176.6 234.1 Current portion of long-term debt 168.5 -- Current portion of pension and other postretirement benefit obligations 41.3 41.3 ----------- ----------- Total current liabilities 1,037.9 865.3 Non-current liabilities: Long-term debt 1,684.5 1,816.6 Pension and other postretirement benefit obligations 1,077.6 1,093.7 Other non-current liabilities 149.9 148.4 ----------- ----------- TOTAL LIABILITIES 3,949.9 3,924.0 EXCHANGEABLE NOTES EXCHANGE FEATURE 19.7 21.3 Equity: Common stock, authorized 450,000,000 shares of $0.01 par value each; issued 315,663,417 and 314,739,500 shares in 2017 and 2016; outstanding 314,785,342 and 314,160,557 shares in 2017 and 2016 3.2 3.1 Additional paid-in capital 2,861.4 2,855.4 Treasury stock, common shares at cost, 878,075 and 578,943 shares in 2017 and 2016 (5.3) (2.4) Accumulated deficit (3,002.3) (3,064.8) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (86.2) (63.5) ----------- ----------- Total stockholders' equity (deficit) (229.2) (272.2) Noncontrolling interests 364.0 362.9 ----------- ----------- TOTAL EQUITY 134.8 90.7 ----------- ----------- TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY $ 4,104.4 $ 4,036.0 =========== =========== AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited) (Dollars in millions) Three Months Ended March 31, ---------------------------- 2017 2016 ------------- -------------- Cash flows from operating activities: Net income (loss) $ 78.7 $ 4.4 Depreciation 51.0 50.1 Depreciation--SunCoke Middletown 4.1 3.6 Amortization 7.2 5.3 Deferred income taxes (11.9) 4.5 Pension and OPEB expense (income) (16.2) (11.9) Other postretirement benefit payments (11.4) (9.6) Changes in working capital (54.6) 71.6 Other operating items, net (10.6) 18.7 ------------ ------------- Net cash flows from operating activities 36.3 136.7 Cash flows from investing activities: Capital investments (32.5) (28.8) Other investing items, net 1.5 (0.1) ------------ ------------- Net cash flows from investing activities (31.0) (28.9) Cash flows from financing activities: Net borrowings (payments) under credit facility -- (30.0) Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt 400.0 -- Redemption of long-term debt (367.5) -- Debt issuance costs (7.8) -- SunCoke Middletown distributions to noncontrolling interest owners (15.1) (21.1) Other financing items, net (2.4) (0.3) ------------ ------------- Net cash flows from financing activities 7.2 (51.4) ------------ ------------- Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 12.5 56.4 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 173.2 56.6 ------------ ------------- Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 185.7 $ 113.0 ============ ============= AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (Unaudited) (Dollars in millions)

In certain of its disclosures in this news release, the company has reported adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin that exclude the effects of noncontrolling interests. EBITDA is an acronym for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. It is a metric that is sometimes used to compare the results of different companies by removing the effects of different factors that might otherwise make comparisons inaccurate or inappropriate. For purposes of this news release, the company has made adjustments to EBITDA to exclude the effect of noncontrolling interests. The adjusted results, although not financial measures under generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and not identically applied by other companies, facilitate the ability to analyze the company's financial results in relation to those of its competitors and to the company's prior financial performance by excluding items that otherwise would distort the comparison. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are not, however, intended as alternative measures of operating results or cash flow from operations as determined in accordance with GAAP and are not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Neither current nor potential investors in the company's securities should rely on adjusted EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA margin as a substitute for any GAAP financial measure and the company encourages current and potential investors to review the following reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA.

Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA Three Months Ended March 31, ----------------------------- 2017 2016 -------------- -------------- Net income (loss) attributable to AK Steel Holding $ 62.5 $ (13.6) Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 16.2 18.0 Income tax expense (benefit) (13.4) 0.1 Interest expense 39.4 42.8 Interest income (0.4) (0.3) Depreciation 55.1 53.7 Amortization 3.8 2.0 ------------- ------------- EBITDA 163.2 102.7 Less: EBITDA of noncontrolling interests (a) 20.3 21.6 ------------- ------------- Adjusted EBITDA (b) $ 142.9 $ 81.1 ============= ============= Adjusted EBITDA margin 9.3% 5.3% ============= =============

(a) The reconciliation of EBITDA of noncontrolling interests to net income attributable to noncontrolling interests is as follows:

Three Months Ended March 31, ----------------------------- 2017 2016 -------------- -------------- Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests $ 16.2 $ 18.0 Depreciation 4.1 3.6 -------------- -------------- EBITDA of noncontrolling interests $ 20.3 $ 21.6 ============== ==============

(b) Included in adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2017, was $16.3 million of unrealized gains from iron ore derivatives.

AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION STEEL SHIPMENTS (Unaudited) (Tons in thousands) Three Months Ended March 31, ---------------------------- 2017 2016 ------------- -------------- Tons Shipped by Product Stainless/electrical 209.9 223.8 Coated 779.3 837.1 Cold-rolled 246.2 301.9 Tubular 30.7 29.4 Hot-rolled 178.6 220.4 Secondary 42.2 45.6 ------------ ------------- Total shipments 1,486.9 1,658.2 ============ ============= Shipments by Product (%) Stainless/electrical 14% 13% Coated 52% 51% Cold-rolled 17% 18% Tubular 2% 2% Hot-rolled 12% 13% Secondary 3% 3% ------------ ------------- Total shipments 100% 100% ============ =============

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




LONDON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Following hot on the heels of being shortlisted for Most Innovative Product of the Year in the 2017 Business Continuity Awards hosted by CIR magazine, The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) announced today that Alert Cascade is also a finalist in the BCI European Awards.

A panel of expert judges, comprised of senior business continuity professionals, assessed the nominations and shortlisted Alert Cascade in recognition of their provision of a first class service backed up with excellent customer feedback and support. David West CBCI, Head of Communities at the BCI comments: "This in itself is an excellent endorsement of Alert Cascade's achievements as we've had our highest ever response this year."

Alert Cascade's cross sector customer base spans the UK and Europe and customers have been quick to highlight the contribution that Alert Cascade's mass notification service makes to their own continuity and resilience, and that of the surrounding community.

Briar Chemicals Limited comments: "The development work carried out over the last 18 months has simplified our resilience processes, and provided features not available from other vendors.", whilst the YBS Group comments: "The unique enhancements included in the latest version bring some significant benefits to our own business continuity processes."

As one of only a few remaining non US owned emergency notification providers, Alert Cascade is uniquely placed to understand the needs of their UK and European customers, with the senior management team all benefiting from experience in an operational or emergency planning environment prior to moving into the mass communication arena. This real life experience helps to shape both the outstanding service and the excellent support that Alert Cascade provides to their customers.

Russell Pearson, Director of Alert Cascade Limited comments: "The technical delivery of a mass communication service can be a challenge in and of itself; with differing telephony routing, local regulations and internal Information Security policies to contend with, we work hard to ensure that our platform meets all of our customer's needs, not just a select few. More importantly though, our team have all had experience of being the one to "push the button" in an emergency. We have an unparalleled level of insight into the customer experience, and this directly impacts the decisions that we make about our platform and the way that we support our customers."

The BCI European Awards 2017 recognise the outstanding contributions of business continuity, risk and resilience professionals and organisations living or operating within the European region. Winners will be announced at the annual BCI European Awards Gala Dinner on 11th May, at the prestigious Principal Hotel, Edinburgh.

About Alert Cascade Limited:

Alert Cascade (alertcascade.co.uk) specialises in communication and collaboration solutions for business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis communications, operations management and the control room environment.

Alert Cascade is 100% UK owned and operated.

Alert Cascade's contingency and continuity solutions have been used successfully in the tragic aftermath of the Westminster terror attack, during the Brussells, Paris and Nice attacks, during the 7/7 London bombings and for response, collaboration and recovery from factory fires, power failures, severe weather, IT disasters and numerous other incidents across EMEA.

terror attack, during the Brussells, and attacks, during the 7/7 bombings and for response, collaboration and recovery from factory fires, power failures, severe weather, IT disasters and numerous other incidents across EMEA. Over 250 customers worldwide are using Alert Cascade to protect their organisation and members of the public, including Sellafield Limited, Yorkshire Building Society, Biffa, Shell, BP, National Grid and BASF.

For more information about Alert Cascade's products and solutions, please contact the sales department: +44-(0)-203-50-30-999 sales@alertcascade.co.uk



Contact: Emma Lane

Tel:+44-(0)-203-50-30-999

Mobile: +44(0)-7432-038607

Email: emma@alertcascade.co.uk

Website:www.alertcascade.co.uk


HELSINKI, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Caverion has signed an agreement with general contractor 5E-BYG in Denmark on the delivery of building systems for Aabenraa Hospital, phase two. The agreement includes Project Execution for the technical disciplines of Electricity, Heating & Sanitation, Ventilation, Cooling and Security systems, including Fire Protection System and Warning, Intruder Alarm System, Access Control System and Patient Call. The value of the contract is approximately EUR 14 million. This is Caverion's fourth project at the hospital.

In phase two, the acute hospital in Aabenraa, Southern Denmark will expand with a new construction of 22,280 square meters. The project will start in June and includes the creation of new wards and outpatient clinics in a number of specialties, including intensive care. After the expansion, the hospital will also have additional laboratory facilities, improved services, additional parking and a helipad with direct access to the emergency department.

"We are very proud of this assignment that has been in the pipeline ever since we completed the previous three projects at the hospital in Aabenraa. We have good experience in solving complex tasks in hospitals throughout Denmark," says Knut Gaaserud, Executive Vice President & CEO of division Denmark-Norway of Caverion.

Caverion's three former projects at Aabenraa Hospital phase one were finished in 2014-2015. The project now announced will start in June 2017 and will be completed in September 2020. The project belongs to Caverion's public sector client segment.

The functional objective of the project is to create a coherent whole where the new construction is optimally integrated in the existing structure and where buildings, interior design and logistics support future activities for the benefit of patients and staff. The hospital building in Aabenraa is a quality fund project funded by the state.

Read more about our work for public health care

For further information, please contact:

Louise Wilhelmsen

Communications Consultant

Caverion Denmark-Norway

louise.wilhelmsen@caverion.com

+45-61-89-58-83

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/caverion/r/caverion-awarded-with-new-project-contract-for-aabenraa-hospital-in-denmark,c2249855

The following files are available for download:
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Cuba Ventures Corp. (TSX VENTURE:CUV)(OTCBB:MPSFF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Cuba Banking and Finance expert, Alfredo Manresa, to the board of directors. The company is delighted to announce that the simultaneous development of 166 of the 432 owned Cuba-centric sites is on schedule. Media Expert & Advisor Vito Echevarria appears on Washington DC news network DCW50.

Alfredo Manresa Appointed Director

The company is pleased to announce that Alfredo Manresa Ruiz has joined the board of directors. Mr. Manresa has served as a key advisor to the company since March 22, 2016. Mr. Manresa is a seasoned international banking professional and manager. Mr Manresa was a management executive for Spain's CAM Bank (now Sabadell) between 1989-2012 in various high profile management roles, including branch and regional management positions in Europe and Latin America and, the founding manager of CAM Bank in Havana, Cuba. During his tenure as Country Bank Director in Havana, Alfredo handled over 80 million Euros annually in loans and investment, having been licensed for financial operations by the Central Bank of Cuba. Alfredo's extensive knowledge of the Cuban banking and financial system brings an important addition to Cuba Ventures board of directors. Under the helm of Alfredo, the Havana branch he managed earned the award of best CAM Bank International Branch in 2003, 2004 and 2005, surpassing notable international branches in Miami, London, Paris and Mexico. He is fluent in Spanish and English, in addition to his accomplished career in the corporate and private banking world, Alfredo will be a strong management asset for upcoming financial dealings and Cuba focused investments, employing his knowledge and experience of the inner workings of Cuba's financial system and banking regulations.

166 website modernization & update on schedule

The 96 informational websites being updated by Vancouver-based Think Tank Labs, as per the new release of December 12th, 2016, is progressing smoothly with an estimated conclusion date of May 10th. The 96 informational websites being updated by Vancouver-based Think Tank Labs, as per the new release of December 12th, 2016, is progressing smoothly with an estimated conclusion date of May 10th. The Founder of Think Tank Labs, Cale Gibson, commented: "the update of the informational web properties for Cuba Ventures is running along smoothly with the overall performance of the speed of the website being increased by 88% as well as being fully mobile friendly."

The 70 e-commerce websites, under a separate update program using numerous specialized third-parties, is arriving at fruition, with a pilot beta site set for launch in early June, two months before scheduled.

Steve Marshall, CEO of Cuba Ventures commented "bringing our e-commerce infrastructure, and design in-line with current technologies has been the singular objective since this update cycle began. Shareholders should note that our legacy websites continue to be highly productive, as sales revenue demonstrates; however, my review of the upcoming e-commerce beta site is positive. Functionality and design are light-years ahead of our legacy e-commerce sites, while the assortment of services available for direct purchase has increased twofold, allied to our increased supplier agreement offer and local agency equity ownership. I anticipate that these updated websites will increase revenue through, not only a more efficient booking process for the 1000s of current travel offers but, the addition of direct-pay, highly attractive bespoke services for North American visitors, absent in our current legacy website iterations."

Cuba Ventures in the Media

Cuba Ventures U.S Media Expert Vito Echevarria Interviewed on DCW50 news Washington DC:

http://www.travelucion.com/world-news/cuba-ventures-corp-advisor-vito-echeverria-appears-on-dcw-50-news-washington-dc/

About Cuba Ventures Corp.:

Cuba Ventures Corp. is a publicly traded Canadian company capitalizing on the growth and unique opportunities in the USD $3.5 billion per year Cuban travel and tourism industry. Travelucion, a wholly owned subsidiary, is a digital media and marketing company which owns a vast portfolio of Cuba related websites and online portals providing travel information, featuring individual web assets for Cuba's popular cities and towns, online booking solutions and online reservations through proprietary software, catering to international visitors to Cuba. Travelucion's online travel division is a duly licensed retail travel supplier handling millions of dollars in sales annually.

For further information on Cuba Ventures Corp. (TSX VENTURE: CUV) or Travelucion visit the Company's website at www.cubaventures.com or www.travelucion.com. The Company has 72,412,487 shares issued and outstanding.

CUBA VENTURES CORP.

Steve Marshall, CEO

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:

Steve Marshall, CEO or

Nick Findler

Cuba Ventures Corp.

604-639-3850 or Toll Free: 800-567-8181

604-687-3119 (FAX)

info@cubaventures.com

www.cubaventures.com




NEW DELHI (dpa-AFX) - India-based software services company Wipro Ltd. (WIT) reported Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income attributable to equity holders was 22.61 billion Indian rupees or $349 million, an increase of 1% from last year's 22.38 billion rupees. Earnings per share were 9.32 rupees or $0.14, higher than 9.09 rupees last year. Gross revenues were 139.88 billion rupees or $2.2 billion, an increase of 2.6% from 136.32 billion rupees a year ago. Non-GAAP constant currency IT Services Segment Revenue in dollar terms grew 5.2% from last year. IT Services Segment Revenue was $1.95 billion, an increase of 3.9%. IT Services segment revenue in Rupee terms grew 4.7%. Looking ahead, for the first quarter, the company expects Revenues from IT Services business to be in the range of $1.915 billion to $1.955 billion. Further, the company said its Board of Directors recommends issue of bonus shares to shareholders, including to ADS holders, in the ratio of one equity share for every one equity share held as on the record date to be decided, subject to approval of shareholders through postal ballot. The Board will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares of the Company around July 2017. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Leading Edge Materials Corp. ("Leading Edge Materials") or ("the Company") (TSX VENTURE: LEM)(OTCQB: LEMIF) is pleased to announce high grade lithium results from the first five diamond drill holes at the Company's 100% owned Bergby lithium project in Sweden. Bergby was a new discovery by Leading Edge Materials in 2016, and this is the first drilling program completed at the property.

Key Results:

-- BBY17005 intersected 10.45m @ 1.62% Li2O (lithium oxide) from 2.2m depth -- BBY17004 intersected 1.90m @ 2.35% Li2O from 10.2m depth -- BBY17003 intersected 8.20m @ 1.54% Li2O from 2.85m depth -- BBY17002 intersected 3.95m @ 1.48% Li2O from 0.00m depth -- BBY17001 intersected 1.45m @ 0.61% Li2O from 4.85m depth

Blair Way, President and CEO, stated, "This first program of drilling at Bergby has intersected high lithium grades at a very shallow depth, and places Bergby as a leading lithium project in the Nordic region. Bergby was discovered by the Leading Edge Materials team early in 2016, and to have achieved both high grades and a high hit rate of potentially mineralized pegmatite under thin glacial soil cover is a credit to their work. We look forward to sharing the additional drill results and the plans for follow up of this exciting prospect."

Bergby lies in central Sweden, 25km north of the town of Gavle, secured by three exploration licenses that cover a total of 1,903 Ha. The site is close to infrastructure, with major roads, rail and power supply passing immediately adjacent to the claim boundaries.

This first Bergby drilling program is now complete, with 18 short holes for a total of 533m drilled across a 650m long trend (see Table 1 and Figure 1 for drill collars locations and orientations). The pegmatite with potential for lithium mineralization was intersected in 17 of the 18 holes drilled and is now known to have a strike length of at least 500m. Holes reported within this release lie within a 50m x 50m area near an area of lithium mineralized pegmatite in outcrop, with mineralization drilled to date lying very close to surface. Intersections included elevated levels of tantalum (see Table 2 for all mineralized intersections).

The true thickness of the mineralized interval is interpreted to be approximately 90% of the sampled thickness. Holes were targeted to test the extent of the lithium mineralized pegmatite beneath shallow glacial soil cover. Further drill results will be released as they become available.

Europe is playing a leading role in the transition to low-carbon energy generation from renewable sources, and the efficient storage of that energy. Electric mobility (EVs, HEV, PHEVs) and stationary electricity storage are dependent on high purity graphite, lithium and cobalt, where Leading Edge Materials is an active European player. Lithium has a strong and expanding market, due to the essential role it plays in lithium-based batteries for the automotive, consumer product and stationary electrify storage industries. The high electrochemical potential of lithium results in the high power to weight ratio that is essential for efficient mobile batteries.

On behalf of the Board,

Blair Way, President & CEO

Samples submitted by Leading Edge Materials Corp were prepared and analyzed by the ME-MS89L technique by ALS Ltd's laboratories in either Pitea, Sweden, Loughrea, Ireland and/or Vancouver, Canada, where duplicates, repeats, blanks and known standards were inserted according to standard industry practice. The qualified person for the Company's exploration projects, Mark Saxon, Director of Leading Edge Materials, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy has reviewed and verified the contents of this release.

About Leading Edge Materials:

Leading Edge Materials is a Canadian public company with principal assets in Scandinavia, a region well recognised for its promotion and investment in innovation. LEM's flagship asset is the Woxna Graphite production facility located in central Sweden targeting the supply of specialty materials for lithium ion battery production. LEM's core investments are matched to high growth markets, linked to the global shift to low-carbon energy generation and energy storage.

The TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange), accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward-Looking Information. Certain information in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "Forward-Looking Statements"). All statements, other than statements of historical fact that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are Forward-Looking Statements. Forward-Looking Statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may," "will," "can," "should," "could," or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. Forward-Looking Statements are based upon the opinions and expectations of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-Looking Statements are subject to a number of factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the Forward-Looking Statements including, among other things, the Company has yet to generate a profit from its activities; there can be no guarantee that the estimates of quantities or qualities of minerals disclosed in the Company's public record will be economically recoverable; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; competition with other companies within the mining industry; the success of the Company is largely dependent upon the performance of its directors and officers and the Company's ability to attract and train key personnel; changes in world metal markets and equity markets beyond the Company's control; mineral resources are, in the large part, estimates and no assurance can be given that the anticipated tonnages and grades will be achieved or that the indicated level of recovery will be realized; production rates and capital and other costs may vary significantly from estimates; changes in corporate goals and strategies, unexpected geological conditions; and delays in obtaining or failure to obtain necessary permits and approvals from government authorities. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the Forward-Looking Statements, and the assumptions on which such Forward-Looking Statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. 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 the Forward-Looking Statements are based will occur. Forward-Looking Statements herein are made as at the date hereof, and unless otherwise required by law, the Company does not intend, or assume any obligation, to update these Forward-Looking Statements.

Table 1: Drill collars locations and orientations, Bergby Project. Drilling was conducted with "Wireline 56" equipment proving core with a diameter of 39mm.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Easting Northing Elevation Hole_ID SWEREF SWEREF RH2000 Azimuth Dip Length ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17001 612902 6760564 35 295 45 54.8m ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17002 612881 6760582 35 0 90 14.8m ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17003 612872 6760590 35 0 90 16.45m ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17004 612864 6760597 35 0 90 17.9m ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17005 612877 6760609 35 0 90 17.95m ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table 2: Mineralized intervals from first 5 drill holes, Bergby Project

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hole FROM TO WIDTH Ta2O5 Number (m) (m) (m) Li2O% ppm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17001 4.85 6.30 1.45 0.61 24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17002 0.00 3.95 3.95 1.48 155 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17003 2.85 11.05 8.20 1.54 119 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17004 10.20 12.10 1.90 2.35 89 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBY17005 2.20 12.65 10.45 1.62 103 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To view Figure 1: Location of Drilling and Interpreted Trend of Lithium-Bearing Pegmatite, Bergby Project. Grid presented in SWEREF coordinate system, visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1092668-F1.jpg

Contacts:

Leading Edge Materials Corp.

+1 604 685 9316

www.leadingedgematerials.com




Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2017) - Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX: AVL) (OTCQX: AVLNF) ("Avalon" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it will be pursuing a staged development approach for the Separation Rapids Lithium Project involving initial construction of a demonstration scale process plant in the Kenora area. This approach will satisfy the need to produce large volume trial samples of the Company's various lithium products for its customers. The facility would incorporate capacity both for lithium mineral concentration and for piloting Avalon's proprietary hydrometallurgical process to produce lithium battery materials including both lithium hydroxide and carbonate from petalite concentrates.

The Company's Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"), disclosed in the news release dated September 27, 2016, outlined a scenario for economic production of a high purity lithium hydroxide product from its concentrate of the lithium mineral petalite using an innovative new hydrometallurgical technique. The Company developed a proprietary flotation process in 1998-99 for concentrating the petalite which was further optimized during the 2016 pilot plant program and incorporated into the PEA model. This petalite concentrate can also be used as a direct input into high strength and thermal shock resistant specialty glass and ceramics products. Surging demand for lithium from battery makers is disrupting traditional supply sources for innovators in the glass industry, which still accounts for 30% of global lithium demand as reported by the USGS. This creates an opportunity for new producers of high purity lithium minerals to fill the growing supply gap. Avalon's high purity petalite concentrate is ideally suited to meet this need.

In addition, under the non-binding Letter of Intent entered into with Lepidico Ltd., disclosed in the Company's news release dated February 6, 2017, the Company has a potential buyer for a lepidolite mineral concentrate which will also be produced from the Company's demonstration plant. Lepidico has disclosed its desire to gain ready access to this high grade lithium product by co-locating its planned lithium carbonate demonstration plant facility with Avalon's demonstration plant in the Kenora area.

Recent work by Avalon has determined that a phase 1 demonstration plant designed to process 11 tonnes of ore per hour (90,000 tpa) could satisfy the initial requirements of Lepidico and potential glass customers, as well as provide sufficient feed for the lithium hydroxide hydrometallurgical process circuit in the same facility. It will also provide facilities for confirming other by-product opportunities including feldspar. Lastly it will demonstrate the efficiency of Avalon's innovative processes and confirm the ability to scale up and expand this technology in an operational environment. Preliminary estimates of the capital requirements for the demonstration plant are in the order of US$25 million, which the Company expects to finance with the support of the customers for its lithium products.

The Company now plans to proceed with an update of its 2016 PEA Technical Report to reflect the potential for petalite and lepidolite lithium concentrate production in addition to value-added lithium battery materials, using the staged development approach. This update will provide a more detailed cost estimate for the phase 1 demonstration plant and an update on the lithium battery materials price assumptions to reflect reports of recent price appreciation for both lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. The independent Qualified Persons from Micon International Limited that supervised the preparation of the Company's 2016 PEA have agreed to provide the technical support for this updated study.

A suitable industrial property with all required infrastructure including grid power, natural gas and rail access has already been identified in the Kenora area. With the availability of an industrial site, the Company anticipates that an efficient permitting process can be applied which could see the demonstration plant commence operations in less than two years.

Avalon's Senior Vice President for Metallurgy and Technology Development, Dave Marsh commented, "This staged approach has the potential to reduce overall investment risk for the Separation Rapids Project by establishing a small-scale demonstration plant to confirm the commercial viability of our innovative lithium processing technology before proceeding to a full-scale operation. This facility will also have the capacity to generate large volume trial samples of our lithium products for our customers, particularly consumers of petalite in the glass industry."

Avalon's President, Don Bubar, added, "Getting a lithium battery materials demonstration plant up and running in the Kenora area will establish northwestern Ontario as a new regional centre for the production of the critical materials needed for Canada's growing cleantech supply chains."

The technical information included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by the Company's Senior Vice President, Metallurgy and Technology Development, Mr. David Marsh, FAusIMM (CP), and Donald S. Bubar, P.Geo. both Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.

About Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.

Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. is a Canadian mineral development company specializing in niche market metals and minerals with growing demand in new technology. The Company has three advanced stage projects, all 100%-owned, providing investors with exposure to lithium, tin and indium, as well as rare earth elements, tantalum, niobium, and zirconium. Avalon is currently focusing on its Separation Rapids Lithium Project, Kenora, ON and its East Kemptville Tin-Indium Project, Yarmouth, NS. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship are corporate cornerstones.

For questions and feedback, please e-mail the Company at ir@AvalonAM.com, or phone Don Bubar, President & CEO at 416-364-4938.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the statement that Avalon will be pursuing a staged development approach for the Separation Rapids Lithium Project, that this approach will satisfy the need to produce large volume trial samples, that the facility would incorporate capacity both for lithium mineral concentration and for piloting Avalon's proprietary hydrometallurgical process to produce lithium battery materials including both lithium hydroxide and carbonate from petalite concentrates, that the Company's petalite concentrate can also be used as a direct input into high strength and thermal shock resistant specialty glass and ceramics products, that surging demand for lithium from battery makers is disrupting traditional supply sources for innovators in the glass industry, and this creates an opportunity for new producers of high purity lithium minerals to fill the growing supply gap, that Avalon's high purity petalite concentrate is ideally suited to meet this need, that the Company has a potential buyer for a lepidolite mineral concentrate which will also be produced from the Company's demonstration plant, that Lepidico is co-locating its planned lithium carbonate demonstration plant facility with Avalon's demonstration plant in the Kenora area, that the plant could satisfy the initial requirements of Lepidico and potential glass customers, as well as provide sufficient feed for the lithium hydroxide hydrometallurgical process circuit in the same facility, that the plant will also provide facilities for confirming other by-product opportunities including feldspar, that it will demonstrate the efficiency of Avalon's innovative processes and confirm the ability to scale up and expand this technology in an operational environment, that preliminary estimates of the capital requirements for the demonstration plant are in the order of US$25 million, and that the Company expects to finance this with the support of the customers for its lithium products, that the Company now plans to proceed with an update of its 2016 PEA Technical Report, that this update will provide a more detailed cost estimate for the phase 1 demonstration plant and an update on the lithium battery materials price assumptions to reflect reports of recent price appreciation for both lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, that with the availability of an industrial site, the Company anticipates that an efficient permitting process can be applied which could see the demonstration plant commence operations in less than two years, that a staged approach has the potential to reduce overall investment risk for the Separation Rapids Project and that lithium battery materials demonstration plant in the Kenora area will establish northwestern Ontario as a new regional centre for the production of the critical materials needed for Canada's growing cleantech supply chains. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "potential", "scheduled", "anticipates", "continues", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "scheduled", "targeted", "planned", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" or "will not be" taken, reached or result, "will occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Avalon to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. Although Avalon has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to market conditions, and the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses as well as those risk factors set out in the Company's current Annual Information Form, Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such forward-looking statements have been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Avalon does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2017) - Gunpowder Capital Corp., (CSE: GPC) (CSE: GPC.PR.A) (FSE: YS6N) ("Gunpowder", "GPC" or the "Corporation") announced today that it has entered into various agreements with Eastgate Biotech Corp., (OTC Pink: ETBI) ("Eastgate").

Eastgate has retained GPC to act as a financial advisor to Eastgate, and to assist Eastgate in listing its common shares onto a Canadian stock exchange, including assisting Eastgate with various administrative and compliance matters related to the going public process.

As compensation to GPC for its services, Eastgate will pay GPC Fifteen Thousand Dollars ("$15,000.00") CDN. Post listing onto a Canadian exchange, Eastgate will retain GPC for a minimum of six months to serve as a capital markets advisor and received a fee of Five Thousand Dollars ("$5,000.00") CDN per month. Furthermore, post listing onto a Canadian exchange, Eastgate will also issue to GPC, 8% of Eastgate's outstanding common shares.

GPC has also agreed to lend Eastgate Seventy-Eight Thousand Dollars ("$78,000.00") USD at a rate of fourteen percent (14%) per annum. The loan is secured by a personal guarantee by an officer of Eastgate and is convertible at anytime before maturity into common shares of Eastgate at a price of $0.05 per share. Eastgate will also issue One Million ("1,000,000") common stock purchase warrants to GPC. The warrants shall have a life of three years, and allow for the purchase of 1,000,000 Eastgate common shares at a price of $0.05 per share.

About Eastgate Biotech Corp.

Eastgate Biotech Corp., produces and distributes innovative and healthy nutraceuticals that are based on natural therapies which are absorbed naturally by the body. Eastgate utilizes state-of-the-art nanotechnologies to deliver healthy alternatives to conventional pharmaceuticals that all-too-often create dangerous side-effects and unexpected consequences for those trying to attain and maintain healthy lives. For more information please visit www.eastgatebiotech.com.

About Gunpowder Capital Corp.

Gunpowder Capital Corp., is a merchant bank and advisory services firm based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Gunpowder invests in both publicly traded and private businesses that have successful management teams and attractive economic models. We partner to support their growth initiatives with our proven methodology of appropriate financing and structured exits. Gunpowder Capital offers the capital, support, flexibility and exit strategy client-companies require allowing them to focus on core operations, without the distractions. For more information please visit www.gunpowdercapitalcorp.com.

For further information please contact:

Mr. Frank Kordy

Interim CEO & Director

Gunpowder Capital Corp.

T: (647) 466-4037

E: frank.kordy@gunpowdercapitalcorp.com

Mr. Paul Haber

CFO

Gunpowder Capital Corp.

T: (416) 363-3833

E: paul.haber@gunpowdercapitalcorp.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although Management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

- 30 -
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2017) - Manganese X Energy Corp. (TSXV: MN) (FSE: 9SC2) (TRADEGATE: 9SC2) (OTC: SNCGF) (the "Company") has concluded its drill tender process and, after signing a drill contract, intends to commence the spring drill program mid-May at the Battery Hill Deposit, on the Company's Houlton Woodstock manganese property in New Brunswick. The drill programme will consist of 7-8 holes of approximately 1,600 meters total. The purpose of this spring drill programme is to investigate and establish some key structural issues such as dip, true thicknesses and folding in preparation for designing and implementing a larger resource oriented late summer drill program. Focus of the spring drill program will be on the Sharpe and Moody Hill sectors. The spring program should also help to indicate the tonnage range potential for Red and Grey ore types and provide guidance towards the possibility of achieving higher grades within these two sectors of the property.

In reference to our latest Press Release dated April 6th, 2017: "Manganese X Energy Announces Potential Acquisition", the Company is continuing in its negotiations to acquire an additional manganese deposit, the parties are very close to finalizing a binding letter of intent and expect to have it completed within the next 14-21 days.

Qualified Persons and QA/QC

Roger Dahn, B.Sc., P.Geo (New Brunswick), Manganese X Energy's Vice President of Exploration, is designated as the Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to this release and has reviewed the contents for accuracy.

About Manganese X Energy

Manganese X Energy's mission is to acquire and advance high potential manganese prospects primarily located in North America as well as potential global acquisitions with the intent of supplying value added materials to the lithium ion battery and other alternative energy industries as well as the steel industry. In addition, our company is striving to achieve new methodologies oriented to environmentally friendly green/zero emissions and producing manganese at a lower competitive cost.

For more information, visit the website at www.manganesexenergycorp.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Martin Kepman

CEO and Director

martin@kepman.com

1-514-802-1814

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains "forward-looking information" including statements with respect to the future exploration performance of the Company. This forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements of the Company, expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, as well as others, are disclosed within the Company's filing on SEDAR, which investors are encouraged to review prior to any transaction involving the securities of the Company. Forward-looking information contained herein is provided as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation, other than as required by law, to update any forward-looking information for any reason. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information.
The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and Plattform Industrie 4.0 announced a joint demonstration at Hannover Messe, April 24-28, 2017, in Hannover, Germany, highlighting Industrial Internet security, interoperability and collaboration.

Participating IIC member companies announcing their support for the joint demonstration include: aicas, Belden/GarrettCom/Hirschmann/Tripwire, Cisco, Electric Imp, Fujitsu, GlobalSign, Infineon Technologies, Microsoft, Plethora IIoT, SAP SE, Schneider Electric, SICK AG, SoCe, Waterfall Security, Wibu-Systems and Xilinx. Additional companies are included in the demonstration.

The demonstration can be found in Stands C24 and D24 of Hall 8 of Hannover Messe and live demonstrations can be found in many participating member stands and halls throughout the event, in other parts of Germany and in other parts of the world.

For more information about the demonstration, please refer to the original press release, which was issued on April 20, 2017: A Global Industry First: Industrial Internet Consortium and Plattform Industrie 4.0 to Host Joint IIoT Security Demonstration at Hannover Messe 2017

About the Industrial Internet Consortium

The Industrial Internet Consortium is the world's leading organization transforming business and society by accelerating the Industrial Internet of Things. Our mission is to deliver a trustworthy Industrial Internet of Things in which the world's systems and devices are securely connected and controlled to deliver transformational outcomes. The Industrial Internet Consortium is managed by the Object Management Group (OMG). For more information, visit www.iiconsortium.org.

Note to editors: Industrial Internet Consortium is a registered trademark of OMG. For a listing of all OMG trademarks, visit www.omg.org/legal/tm_list. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005317/en/

Contacts:

Industrial Internet Consortium

Karen Quatromoni, +1-781-444-0404 x146

quatromoni@iiconsortium.org
DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Paragon Software Systems, Inc., a leader in vehicle routing and scheduling optimization solutions, announces that Matthew Clark, a leading nationwide drinks distributor, has teamed up with Paragon to enhance its customer experience while minimizing the impact of deliveries on the environment. The company has adopted Paragon's routing and scheduling software to manage its fleet of 225 commercial vehicles based across nine regional depots. This will ensure Matthew Clark provides a consistent and efficient delivery of drink products, which is an essential part of the unrivaled service commitment its on-trade customers, such as bars and restaurants, have come to depend upon.

"For us, a delivery service that is accurate and arrives on time is absolutely critical to gaining competitive advantage. Our customers now need more varied and frequent orders to deal with the ever-changing tastes of the UK consumer, especially when sales space is at a premium," said Jacqui Allan, Head of Transport Planning at Matthew Clark. "Matthew Clark opted for Paragon Multi Depot to meet our requirements for a sophisticated multi-drop route planning tool that will calculate accurate and efficient delivery routes to meet the just-in-time requirements of the on-trade marketplace. The implementation is going very smoothly and we look forward to realizing the full benefits of Paragon's software when the full roll-out has been completed."

"For companies such as Matthew Clark, a consistently excellent customer experience is core to their brand values and to differentiating themselves in their marketplace," said William Salter, CEO and President of Paragon Software Systems. "The accuracy and flexibility of our software means it can meet their immediate requirements while possessing the functionality to manage the ever-changing needs of this very fast-moving industry."

Matthew Clark undertook a review of the marketplace to identify multi-drop route planning software that would replace an existing system that was in use in seven of its nine depots. The Paragon solution was chosen for its greater planning accuracy, along with the availability of complementary modules that will enable the company to further enhance its delivery operation, future-proofing the transport operation for continued growth.

The Paragon routing and scheduling software is already operational at depots in Birmingham, Southampton and Wetherby, with the roll-out to the remaining sites taking place over the coming months. Moving forward, deliveries will be scheduled by a central planning team based in Wetherby, enabling the company to flex the boundaries of depots where necessary to achieve a reduction in mileage and CO2 emissions.

Customer order data is automatically transferred from Matthew Clark's order management system to Paragon's multi-drop routing software, so deliveries can be quickly and efficiently planned on a next-day basis. The schedules must factor in a wide range of delivery variables based on the company's diverse product range -- including wine, champagne, spirits, beer and soft drinks -- and the different types of customer premises. Typically, each two-man delivery team handles 15 to 20 drops a day, with the company delivering to 16,000 on-trade locations such as pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels.

About Paragon Software Systems

Paragon Software Systems, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is a leading provider of truck routing and scheduling software solutions. Paragon's advanced planning systems have been proven to cut transportation costs and improve efficiency across a wide range of distribution operation types and industry sectors. Paragon's North American truck routing software clients include George's Inc., AgReliant Genetics, Linde, McLane, National Food Corporation, and many others. The software is used for the daily route optimization of transportation schedules; rationalizing fixed routes; managing transportation resources; strategic logistics planning; and managing home delivery orders with dynamic routing. Paragon Software Systems, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Paragon Software Systems plc, the UK's number one provider of transportation routing and scheduling software. Paragon has over 3,400 systems installed at more than 1,100 client sites in 60 countries worldwide. For more information, visit paragontruckrouting.com.

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For More Information, Contact:

Becky Boyd

MediaFirst PR

(770) 642-2080 x 214

Email Contact



Kristel Jarvis

Paragon Software Systems

+44 (0) 1306 732600

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AB "Klaipedos Nafta" (hereinafter - the Company) hereby informs that on 25th of April 2017 the Company has announced the annual liquefied natural gas (hereinafter - LNG) terminal capacities allocation procedure and an invitation for the potential users of the LNG Terminal to submit their requests for allocation of LNG terminal capacities for the upcoming Gas Year, lasting from the 1st of October, 2017 to the 30th of September, 2018. Letter of the invitation (Annex No. 1) is provided along with this notification on material event and is also published on the website www.kn.lt.



The Company performs the allocation of capacities according to the publicly announced Regulations for Use of Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal (hereinafter - the Regulations), which were verified and approved by the National Commission for Energy Control and Prices (hereinafter, the NCECP) and the Board of the Company.



During the allocation procedure of the LNG terminal capacities the LNG regasification capacities and LNG reloading capacities shall be allocated. The total volume of the LNG terminal capacity being allocated is 3.75 bcm per annum, which is equivalent to 6.5 mln m3 of LNG per annum applying a relative coefficient of expansion of 1:580. On its website the Company constantly announces and updates the information regarding the unallocated capacities of the LNG terminal, which shall be available for acquisition during the Gas Year as well.



The Company shall accept the requests of potential LNG terminal users until 25th of May, 2017, 4 p.m. Lithuanian time.



Annex No. 1 - Invitation to provide LNG terminal capacity allocation requests.



Marius Pulkauninkas, Director of the Finance and Administration Department, 8 46 391 763



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BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Veteran US astronaut Peggy Whitson, currently living and working aboard the International Space Station, has set the U.S. record for most cumulative days in space. Whitson launched on Nov. 17, 2016, with 377 days in space already under her belt, and broke Jeff Williams' U.S. record of 534 cumulative days in space Monday.



The occasion was celebrated with President Donald Trump, First Daughter Ivanka Trump, and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins making a special Earth-to-space call to personally congratulate the 57 year-old Whitson for her record-breaking stay aboard the International Space Station.



NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, who arrived on April 20 for his first mission aboard the orbiting outpost, also participated in the call alongside Whitson.



'Peggy is a phenomenal role model for young women, and all Americans, who are exploring or participating in STEM education programs and careers,' said President Trump.



A biochemist by profession, Whitson has several records in aerospace history in her name.



She made her first trip to the International Space Station in 2002 for a 184-day stay in the four modules that made up the space station at the time.



In 2008, Whitson became the first woman to command the space station, and on April 9 became the first woman to command it twice. She went on her eighth spacewalk on March 30 and surpassed astronaut Sunita Williams' record for the most spacewalks by a female astronaut. The 57-year-old astronaut is also the oldest female spacewalker.



This is Whitson's third long-duration stay on board the space station, and her mission was recently extended for an additional three months. Rather than returning to Earth in June as originally planned, Whitson will remain on the space station and her return home, with Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, is targeted for September. Whitson's extension will give her significantly more time to conduct scientific experiments aboard the station.



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LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - RESAAS Services Inc. (CSE: RSS) (OTCQX: RSASF), a cloud-based social business platform for licensed real estate professionals, is pleased to announce that it will be working with Shea Homes, one of the largest homebuilders in North America, to digitally market its latest development in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Shea Homes recently announced its newest high-end development, "Azure", a Shea Signature ' Community with 66 homes located within the 105-acre master-planned community known as The Ritz-Carlton, Paradise Valley. Pursuant to a service agreement with Shea Homes, RESAAS will be coordinating and executing a series of digital marketing initiatives across multiple media types to drive awareness of the new development.

"Azure will be a collection of homes inspired by paradise with unprecedented architectural styles, the ability to personalize and style each home and one of the most sought-after addresses in the Southwest," said Ken Peterson, VP of Sales and Marketing at Shea Homes Arizona.

RESAAS is set to empower Shea Homes to connect with a highly targeted audience of agents who represent the ideal buyer demographic for these stunning new homes, based on factors such as agent location, listing patterns, referral activity and real estate designations. This provides a highly efficient channel to market the Azure project to the REALTOR  community based on Shea Homes' target market.

"Over the years RESAAS has proven to be a leading source of new business for agents that use our services," said Tom Rossiter, CEO at RESAAS. "We are looking forward to bringing this new opportunity to select members of the RESAAS community and assisting Shea Homes with its sales and marketing plan for this latest development."

About RESAAS Services Inc.

RESAAS is a cloud-based social business platform built for licensed real estate professionals. RESAAS brings proprietary real-time technology into the business of real estate and transforms how real estate listing data flows between real estate agents, brokers, associations and MLSs. Visit www.resaas.com.

About Shea Homes 

Shea Homes is one of the largest private homebuilders in the nation. Since its founding in 1968, Shea Homes has built more than 100,000 homes. Over the past several years, Shea Homes has been recognized as a leader in customer satisfaction with a reputation for design, quality and customer service. Shea Homes builds new homes in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Washington, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Texas. For more information about Shea Homes and its communities, please visit the company's website at www.SheaHomes.com.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release.

Forward-Looking Information:

This press release and the RESAAS website referenced herein contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including but not limited to statements regarding the company's technology platform. The forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by RESAAS' management, including future plans for the design and development of the company's technology platform.

Forward-looking information is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking information. Although RESAAS believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information because RESAAS can give no assurance that it will prove to be correct. The Forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date of this press release. RESAAS disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

On Behalf of RESAAS



Danielle Sissons

VP Operations

RESAAS Services Inc.

Telephone: (604) 558-2929

Email: danielle.sissons@resaas.com



Investor Relations

Scott Young

RESAAS Services Inc.

Telephone: 1 (705) 888-2756

Email: scott.young@resaas.com
MONTREAL, QC--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - iPerceptions, a global leader in Voice of the Customer solutions, today announced that iPerceptions' Audience Recognition and Audience Optimization solutions have been combined under the Datacratic brand. This move creates two separate brands: iPerceptions, which maintains its focus on Voice of the Customer solutions, and Datacratic, which focuses on Audience Data solutions that power digital marketing campaigns and website personalization efforts.

"Having all our ad tech solutions under the Datacratic brand will provide greater company and market focus, and will provide a greater return for existing and future clients," said Martin Le Sauteur, Chief Executive Officer of iPerceptions and Datacratic. "This change will also allow both iPerceptions and Datacratic to capitalize on their respective growth opportunities in the rapidly-changing customer experience and ad tech spaces."

Datacratic's Solutions

Datacratic's solutions now include Audience Recognition, which is the only solution on the market to improve the effectiveness of retargeting campaigns by using intent segments powered by user feedback. Datacratic's solutions also include Audience Optimizer, which integrates with leading Data Management Platforms, including Oracle Data Cloud (Bluekai), to create high-quality look-alike audiences that increase the reach and performance of digital marketing campaigns.

Recently, TELUS joined a number of enterprise brands that have turned to Datacratic to increase the performance of their retargeting campaigns. The Canadian telecommunications giant saw a 98% increase in overall campaign conversion and a 77% drop in Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) from using Datacratic's Audience Recognition solution.

Datacratic Brand Refresh

In addition to the combination of the ad tech solutions together under a single brand, the Datacratic brand has been completely refreshed, which includes the introduction of a new logo and website.

"We are excited to launch a new brand identity and logo for Datacratic that not only represents a modern look, but also embodies its unique position in the ad tech space as the only provider of intent data powered by user feedback," said Derek Zakaib, Chief Marketing Officer of Datacratic.

Key Facts

iPerceptions will continue to offer its industry-leading enterprise platform that collects and analyzes the feedback of real visitors in real situations across the customer lifecycle. iPerceptions will also continue to have a dedicated team of Voice of the Customer experts that provide a full range of professional services.

Datacratic was acquired by iPerceptions in October 2016 and now operates as an iPerceptions company. For more details, read the press release on the acquisition.

Datacratic integrates with the world's leading Data Management Platforms (DMPs) such as Oracle Data Cloud, and Datacratic's look-a-like audiences can be found in leading Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) such as The Trading Desk, MediaMath and Rocket Fuel.

Datacratic will be attending the Oracle Modern Customer Experience conference in Las Vegas on April 25th to 27th 2017. Meet the Datacratic team at the event.

Additional Resources

Download Datacratic's Audience Recognition Solution Brochure

Download Datacratic's case study with TELUS

To learn more about Datacratic and its solutions -- visit Datacratic.com

About Datacratic

Datacratic is a leader in providing audience data that helps enterprise brands create more effective and targeted digital marketing campaigns. Datacratic's Audience Recognition Solution uses visitor feedback to build smarter audience segments that improve the effectiveness of retargeting campaigns. Datacratic's Audience Optimizer scores 3rd party audiences using 1st party data signals to create high-quality look-alike audiences that increase the reach and performance of digital marketing campaigns. The world's leading Data Management Platforms integrate with Datacratic including Oracle Data Cloud. To start creating better performing digital marketing campaigns today, visit Datacratic.com.

About iPerceptions

iPerceptions is a global leader in Voice of the Customer (VoC) solutions, helping the world's most respected brands become customer-centric organizations. iPerceptions' enterprise platform collects and analyzes the feedback of real visitors in real situations across the customer lifecycle. With an experienced team that has managed 1000's of VoC programs since 1999, iPerceptions offers a full range of services from survey design to deployment to analysis. iPerceptions collects over 20M visitor feedback data-points every year across 1,200 brands and in 35 languages and is the trusted partner of world's most recognizable retail, hospitality, financial and automotive brands. To start doing marketing that's powered by the voice of your customers today, visit iPerceptions.com.

All trademarks and registered trademarks in this document are the properties of their respective owners.

Jonathan Fraser

iPerceptions

514-488-3600

marketing@iperceptions.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2017) - American CuMo Mining Corporation (TSXV: MLY) (OTC Pink: MLYCF) ("CuMoCo" or the "Company") announces that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Idaho CuMo Mining Corporation (Idaho CuMo), has completed an option to purchase agreement for thirty-six (36) patented mining claims, covering an area of approximately 640 acres adjacent to the CuMo Project. Patented claims contain the surface rights as well as the mineral rights. These patented claims are in addition to the purchase of twenty unpatented mining claims announced March 2, 2017.

"Collectively, these 36 patented claims represent another important and significant addition to our overall land position and are integral to the continuing development of our CuMo Project" said Shaun Dykes, President and CEO of CuMoCo. "Because they are patented claims, minimum permitting is required and these claims will be drilled during the upcoming season. Our drill program will be focused on examining the western extension of the higher-grade copper zone as outlined in previous drill programs".

The consideration payable for the claims is as follows:

Upon closing date of the agreement, the sum of US$320,000 in cash, two Idaho CuMo Silver Units in the aggregate principal amount of US$500,000 and such number of CuMoCo common shares having a value of US$322,500 (with the shares being issued at a price equal to the 10-day weighted average trading price of the shares on the TSX Venture Exchange as of the last business day prior to the Closing Date);

Upon the first anniversary of the Closing Date, US$320,000 in cash, one Idaho CuMo Silver Unit in the aggregate principal amount of US$250,000 and such number of CuMoCo common shares having a value of US$322,500 (with the shares being issued at a price equal to the 10-day weighted average trading price of the shares on the TSX Venture Exchange as of the last business day prior to the first anniversary of the Closing Date);

Upon the second anniversary of the Closing Date, US$320,000 in cash, one Idaho CuMo Silver Unit in the aggregate principal amount of US$250,000 and such number of CuMoCo shares having a value of US$322,500 (with the shares being issued at a price equal to the 10-day weighted average trading price of the shares on the TSX Venture Exchange as of the last business day prior to the second anniversary of the Closing Date); and

Upon the third anniversary of the Closing Date, US$320,000 in cash, one Idaho CuMo Silver Unit in the aggregate principal amount of US$250,000 and such number of CuMoCo shares having a value of US$322,500 (with the shares being issued at a price equal to the 10-day weighted average trading price of the shares on the TSX Venture Exchange as of the last business day prior to the third anniversary of the Closing Date).

Payment of the Option Payments (except for the issuance of the CuMoCo shares) may be accelerated at CuMoCo's option. The agreement is subject to exchange approval.

Title to the property, which is divided into three (3) groups, will be held by an independent Escrow Agent, with the first group being released upon receipt of the second anniversary payment, the second group upon receipt of the third anniversary payment, and the third group upon receipt of the final payment.

In other news, the Company is pleased to provide an update on the financial partnership announced February 27, 2017 with Millennia Minerals Pte Ltd. (Singapore) ("Millennia"). Millennia has now established Millennia Minerals (USA) Inc. ("Millennia USA") for the purposes of investing US$100 million into the CuMo Project and US$ 100 million into Calida Gold. Investment agreements have been prepared by Millennia USA's lawyers and are currently being reviewed by CuMoCo and its legal counsel. Full details will be announced upon signing of the final agreements. US$500,000 of the initial US$1 million payment made by Millennia announced on March 15, 2017 has been released for use by the Company.

Finally, the Company also announces that it has contracted Timberline Drilling, Inc. of Idaho to perform the upcoming drill programs at its Calida Gold property and CuMo Project. Drilling at Calida is scheduled to commence early June, subject to the delivery of all necessary permits. Permitting for Calida is currently underway and a site visit will be conducted in early May.

Mr. Shaun M. Dykes, M.Sc. (Eng), P.Geo., President and CEO of the Company is the designated qualified person for the CuMo Project and Calida Gold, and prepared the technical information contained in this news release.

About CuMoCo

CuMoCo is focused on advancing its CuMo Project towards feasibility. CuMoCo also intends to advance its newly-acquired Calida Gold property. Management is continuing to build an even stronger foundation from which to move the Company and its projects forward. For more information, please visit www.cumoco.com, www.idahocumo.com and www.cumoproject.com.

For further information, please contact:

American CuMo Mining Corporation

Shaun Dykes, President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (604) 689-7902

Email: info@cumoco.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this new release.

Forward-looking information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation including, but not limited to, statements that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, such as the Millennia Minerals satisfactorily completing due diligence and Company, Idaho CuMo, Poly and Millennia Minerals subsequently entering into a definitive agreement; Millennia Minerals completing the three private placements into Poly; the Company's ability to move its CuMo Project to feasibility and production, and to become one of the largest and lowest-cost molybdenum producers in the world as well as a significant producer of copper and silver. Forward-looking information is based on a number of material factors and assumptions, including the result of exploration activities, the ability of the Company to raise the financing for a feasibility study and to put the CuMo project into production, that no labor shortages or delays are experienced, that plant and equipment function as specified that the Court will not intervene with the Company's proposed exploration activities at the CuMo Project, and the ability of the Company to obtain all requisite permits and licenses to advance the CuMo Project and eventually bring it into production. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, future events, conditions, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future prediction, projection or forecast expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of molybdenum, silver and copper; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents, including the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the period ended December 31, 2016. There may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.
There are no substantial differences between the audited annual report and the unaudited report.



The year 2016 saw a low price level on the natural gas market, which helped increase the sales volume by 14%. Under the influence of the natural gas price, the revenue dropped by 11% against the previous year and amounted to 392.3 million euros. However, the EBITDA*, owing to the sales volume, grew by 11% to 76.5 million euros. The company's net profit in the past year was 37.5 million euros, up from 30.5 million euros in 2015.



The performance was boosted by the inception of natural gas trading in the neighbouring countries, which was a strategic step by Latvijas Gaze to get acquainted with the open market and competitive circumstances. The customers abroad were sold 132 million cubic metres of natural gas or 9% of the total annual sales volume. The Latvian consumers were sold 1.375 million cubic metres of natural gas, which is 4% more than in 2015.



The investment amount in 2016 remained at the level of previous years - 29.6 million euros. Latvijas Gaze still prioritises safety and makes further investments in the modernisation of infrastructure to improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact.



Nevertheless, the year 2016 also saw a decrease by 2.1 million euros in the profit gained from the transmission and storage services spun off. This primarily stems from the decrease in storage volumes and the tariffs which have not changed since 2008.



Latvijas Gaze was actively getting ready for the opening of the natural gas market on April 3. Legal entities received offers of further cooperation in March, while households will have an option to keep receiving natural gas for a tariff approved by the PUC.



* EBITDA - earnings before interest, corporate income tax, depreciation and amortisation, and impairment of fixed assets.



Vinsents Makaris Investor relations manager Phone: + (371) 67 369 144 E-mail: IR@lg.lv



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IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Fabless power semiconductor company Helix Semiconductors announced it has received the Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award in the power conversion module market from research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. This award is part of Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards, which are given each year to companies that encourage significant growth in their industries, identify emerging trends, and create advanced technologies that will transform industries in the near future. Helix Semiconductors was presented with the award for its patented MuxCapacitor voltage reduction technology last month in San Diego.

By leveraging its proprietary cascading capacitors voltage reduction method, Helix Semiconductors' MuxCapacitor-based integrated circuits aim to revolutionize the global power conversion module market that traditionally uses transformer-based voltage reduction. Helix Semiconductors' MuxCapacitor technology reduces energy waste (a common problem faced with transformer-based power supplies) and also offers unprecedented opportunity to develop power conversion modules to meet power supply demand and to reduce the part count in power supply topologies.

According to Frost & Sullivan, "Helix Semiconductors offers unmatched competencies in reducing vampire load, which is considered the primary reason behind the power wastage problem throughout the world. This technology guarantees product developers the ability to design consumer electronic goods and IoT devices with unmatched energy efficiency in comparison to any other power conversion module. Helix Semiconductors uniquely combines gate timing, low conversion ratio of capacitive voltage, and capacitor gate sharing technology. Together, these features have made Helix Semiconductors' solution more energy efficient than any other competing product across the globe."

In an effort to eliminate energy waste worldwide, Helix Semiconductors recently announced the eMpower HS100 chipset. Based on its MuxCapacitor technology, the eMpower HS100 chipset brings unparalleled conversion efficiency of more than 95 percent when converting AC mains voltage to 5VDC -- especially at light load, no load or standby operating conditions. At full loads, the eMpower HS100 enables efficiency of greater than 93 percent. Added Frost & Sullivan, "Helix Semiconductors has demonstrated that its chipset achieves up to 20 times more energy efficiency than the standards prescribed by regulatory authorities, such as the U.S. Department of Energy and the Energy Division of the European Commission. It also offers an increased ROI by reducing the total cost of product development."

The Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award marks the second consecutive year that Helix Semiconductors has been honored by Frost & Sullivan. The company previously received the Global New Product Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan in the Internet of Things Power Conversion Module category. Harold A. Blomquist, Helix Semiconductors president and CEO, commented, "We are on a mission to efficiently power all things electronic. Through research, data, global experience and intuition, Helix Semiconductors is creating energy-efficient power conversion products that are friendly to humans and their environment. We are very pleased that Frost & Sullivan has recognized our tireless efforts and are honored to accept this award."

For more about Helix Semiconductors, please visit www.helixsemiconductors.com.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. For more, please visit http://www.frost.com.

About Helix Semiconductors

Helix Semiconductors is a fabless power semiconductor company focused on developing energy-efficient digital power solutions. At a time when worldwide energy shortages are a reality and strict new efficiency standards are being enacted globally, Helix Semiconductors is creating impactful, energy-efficient power conversion products that are friendly to humans and the environment.

Applications addressed by Helix Semiconductors' power conversion technology include the billions of devices in the consumer, computer, telecom, medical, and industrial markets. To learn more, please visit the company website at www.helixsemiconductors.com.

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Media Contact:

Stephanie Olsen

Lages & Associates

(949) 453-8080

Email Contact




BOSTON, MA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Despite perceptions about current and future rates of labor union membership, many multi-employer pension plans, also referred to as Taft-Hartley or union-sponsored plans, remain a major force -- and face significant challenges.

Approximately 1,400 multiemployer defined benefit plans -- plans maintained by more than one employer along with a labor union -- exist in the U.S., covering about 10.4 million participants. But their aggregate funded status -- the percentage of future obligations that current assets cover -- significantly lags that of single-employer pension plans when using similar metrics for comparison.

According to global investment firm Cambridge Associates, the solution to this problem may begin with multiemployer plan investment committees' taking a new look at their decision-making processes, a step that, in turn, could lead them to potential investment opportunities that may deliver needed higher returns, perhaps in exchange for liquidity.

"Given our low-return, low-rate investment environment, it's unlikely that a simple mixture of stocks and bonds will generate the 7% to 8% or even higher returns that multiemployer pension plans need -- and that many trustees are counting on -- in order to meet future funding requirements," says Alex Pekker, Senior Investment Director at Cambridge Associates and author of "A Stronger Union," a new Cambridge Associates Pension Series research report.

Multiemployer plans' aggregate funded status, based on Aa corporate yields, the same basis corporate plans use to determine their funded status, is only 51%, according to estimates from Cambridge Associates. That is about 25% to 30% lower than the aggregate funded status of corporate plans.

"The good news is that there may be opportunities for a significant number of plans to reset their investment approaches. This may involve trading some portfolio liquidity for potentially greater returns, such as through select private investments. Also key may be recalibrating plans' use of active management strategies, or even their investment decision-making policies and roles," Pekker says.

Unique Challenges that Multiemployer Plans Face

The unique challenge for multiemployer plans stems from plan demographics, and the multiplicity of important priorities and constituents represented on the plans' investment committees.

First, as baby boomers move into retirement age, disbursements from the plans correspondingly increase, in tandem with the rising number of retirees eligible for plan payouts. At the same time, declining union membership means lower contributions coming in to replenish plan assets. In addition, multiemployer pension investment committees are composed of disparate groups of people: representatives of different companies on the management side, each of which may have different priorities - and a mix of retirees and current workers on the union side, who tend to have very different objectives for the pension fund based on their age and working status.

Looking to Private Investments for Potentially Strong Returns

Going beyond stocks and bonds as portfolio investments may make a big difference for multiemployer plan trustees and participants. Carefully selected private investments, which include private equity, venture capital, real assets and private credit, could be an important component for many portfolios. For example, over the past 10, 15 and 20 years, global private equity funds have outperformed the global public equity markets by 480 basis points to 710 basis points, on an annualized basis.

The challenge with private investments is that they are longer-term investments, and involve giving up some liquidity. But some multiemployer plans may be more able to take advantage of the opportunity than they currently do. "Trustees often underestimate their plan's tolerance for private investments, either by overestimating their liquidity needs or by mistakenly characterizing all private strategies as on the far end of the liquidity spectrum," says Brian McDonnell, head of the global pension practice at Cambridge Associates.

It is important for plan sponsors to recognize that private investment options are more extensive than simply large private equity and venture capital funds. They come in the form of a wide range of funds, each with very different liquidity, growth, income and risk profiles, and include both private credit and equity instruments, as well as involvement in everything from early-stage start-ups to mature companies.

Private credit in particular may present interesting opportunities for multiemployer plans, due to the wide range of strategies and lock-up periods available. These strategies, for instance, can aim to maximize returns (e.g., investing in distressed corporate debt), preserve capital (e.g., direct lending to corporate borrowers) or both (e.g., investments in pharmaceutical royalties). Most private credit funds require a commitment of six to 12 years, in contrast to the typical 10-12 years of other private investments.

Considerations for Implementing Illiquid Investments

Careful manager selection is critical for finding private investment funds that will generate excess returns, or "alpha," according to Pekker. And any plan's investment decisions must be informed by its particular circumstances, including funded status, risk tolerance, liquidity and cash flow, and the objectives of its committee members and participating employees.

In fact, while private investments could play an important role in addressing the challenges faced by many union plans, they are not appropriate for all plans, nor are they the only solution.

"Finding alpha at both manager and portfolio levels, as well as diligent risk management, are fundamental to plan success," says Pekker. "Whether that involves some elements of private investments or other approaches, however, should depend on each plan's unique features, constraints and needs. Regardless, revisiting investment decision-making processes to ensure each decision is as well-thought-out, efficient and timely as possible will be critical to multiemployer plans' future health and viability," adds Pekker.

For more information, or to speak with Alex Pekker, please contact Eric Mosher of Sommerfield Communications at +1 (212) 255-8386 or eric@sommerfield.com.

About Cambridge Associates

Cambridge Associates is a global investment firm founded in 1973 that builds customized investment portfolios for institutional investors and private clients around the world. Working alongside its early clients, among them several leading universities, the firm pioneered the strategy of high equity orientation and broad diversification, which since the 1980s has been a primary driver of performance for these leading fiduciary investors. Cambridge Associates serves over 1,100 global investors - primarily foundations and endowments, pensions and family offices -- and delivers a range of services, including outsourced investment (OCIO) solutions, traditional advisory services, and access to research and tools across global asset classes. Cambridge Associates has more than 1,300 employees -- including over 150 research staff -- serving its client base globally. The firm maintains offices in Arlington, VA; New York; Boston; Dallas; Menlo Park and San Francisco, CA; Toronto; London, UK; Singapore; Sydney; and Beijing. Cambridge Associates consists of five global investment consulting affiliates that are all under common ownership and control. For more information about Cambridge Associates, please visit www.cambridgeassociates.com.

Media Contact:

Eric Mosher

Sommerfield Communications

(212) 255-8386

Eric@Sommerfield.com




SCOTTSDALE, AZ--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - Jay Feitlinger, founder & CEO of StringCan Interactive, digital marketing agency for multi-location businesses, today announces the release of his first book, "Family 2.0." For years, he and his company have been advising business owners and marketers how to strategically connect with their ideal audiences online and significantly grow their companies. As a husband and father to two young girls, Feitlinger realized that strengthening and growing one's own family (especially for entrepreneurs) could be viewed in much the same way.

"So profound and powerful, I cried openly in an airport when I read this book," says Jay Baer, best-selling author and president of Convince & Convert. "I desperately wish Jay wrote this years ago when my own kids were younger. An absolute must-read for every 'busy' parent."

"Family 2.0" leads entrepreneurs and business leaders through an approach that helps them connect better with their families and grow their relationships at home. Business owners often face common challenges when it comes to prioritizing their families and struggling to relate to their loved ones. Through personal experience, research and speaking with countless entrepreneurs, Feitlinger developed a four-day retreat that families can use to encourage asking smart questions, listening intently and being agile when interacting with unique personalities and communication styles. "Family 2.0" presents an enjoyable, step-by-step guide to following this retreat on your own, and is the preeminent resource for entrepreneurs looking to apply the same intentionality used in business to the relationships that matter most.

"I noticed a theme whenever I was among other entrepreneurs," says Feitlinger. "Our conversations were almost always related to our businesses, and many of us were quick to talk about our successes as well as our shortcomings. But when the conversation shifted to our families or other valued relationships outside of work, admissions of success or failure were not as forthcoming. The more I brought this topic up to my peers, the more it became clear that many of us felt very equipped in the business world, but worried our most important relationships may be floundering.

"I began connecting the dots between business retreats and the deliberate work I've done with my own employees and peers over the years to foster communication, heal wounds and set goals. And I thought, 'Why can't I apply this same intentionality and process to my family relationships?' The answer was that I could, and once I did, my family began thriving. This book is a way for me to help other business executives and entrepreneurs have as much success -- or more -- in their home lives as they do at work. You shouldn't have to sacrifice the happiness of those you love in order to compete in business. And now I'm showing people how to make this shift and reboot their families."

While the book was written for entrepreneurs, its content is applicable to all individuals who are career-minded and seeking a way to improve their family relationships. Even families that are already strong can benefit from the reflection, establishment of mutual (and individual) goals and fun activities that "Family 2.0" invites you to work through together.

"Family 2.0" is available now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/FAMILY-2-0-Harness-Business-Principles/dp/1945330538.

About StringCan Interactive

StringCan Interactive is a digital marketing agency that focuses on helping multi-location businesses reach more customers and achieve their marketing goals. The company prides itself on creating brilliantly focused digital strategies with world-class implementation. Services include persona development, inbound marketing and marketing automation roadmaps, content marketing, media planning & buying and more. StringCan is headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz. and has a second office in Paris, France. Learn more at www.stringcaninteractive.com.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/4/24/11G136785/Images/Family_2.0_Cover-704d2044d52083ea86ff0a67f8d7ed48.jpg

StringCan Media Contact:

Rebecca Hasulak

rebecca@stringcaninteractive.com
With a unique Lingerie Styling service and innovative 3D mirror technology

NEW YORK, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rigby & Peller is revolutionizing the way women shop for lingerie with its unique Lingerie Styling experience.

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493461/Rigby_and_Peller_Lingerie_Event.jpg

Kate Young will be hosting an exclusive press event on Fifth Avenue this Thursday at the Rigby & Peller Boutique in New York City. The Celebrity Stylist's clients include Dakota Johnson, Sienna Miller, Selena Gomez, and Natalie Portman to name a few.

Special Guest Blogger, Sheryl Luke of Walk In Wonderland, will also be attending and sharing her favorite looks and personal style advice.

The REDEFINING LINGERIE event will feature personalized Lingerie Styling sessions with Luz Cuevas, Rigby & Peller Chief Lingerie Stylist and team. Guests will discover the lingerie industry's best kept secret: the luxurious Lingerie Styling Experience enhanced with innovative 3D mirrors that allow for clients to get precision fit sizing in seconds, with a simple turn in the fitting room. With the expert lingerie stylists in boutiques, clients no longer have to settle for getting fitted with measuring tapes and purchasing product that feels like a compromise. Rigby & Peller creates a retail experience that is incomparable and irresistible for clients. Fittings become a treat through the brand's pioneering technology and philosophy. Through revolutionary lingerie styling, masterfully curated collections of crafted pieces from around the world and understanding that lingerie is the first layer of confidence, the brand is positioned as the true authority in intimates.

RigbyandPeller3DExperience

About Rigby & Peller:

Throughout its 75 years, Rigby & Peller has evolved into one of the most talked about global lingerie destinations and has dressed some of the world's most iconic women, from rock royalty to crowned heads. Offering carefully curated collections of masterfully-crafted lingerie, their Boutiques create a luxurious and fun atmosphere for clients to shop Lingerie. As pioneers of Lingerie Styling and the expertise of our Boutique teams, Rigby & Peller is known for its unique Lingerie Styling experiences now enhanced with innovative 3D mirror technology. Rigby & Peller has US stores in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Washington DC and other major cities. For more info visit www.rigbyandpeller.com

About Tracy Paul & Company Inc.

Tracy Paul & Company, Inc. is a full service public relations and branding agency, best known for effective strategies, creative ideas, events, branded content production and product placement. The agency provides a variety of services from NYC and Los Angeles. Tracy Paul & Company Inc. is well versed coast to coast and maintains partners worldwide. www.tracypaul.com

Press Contact:

Tracy Paul

Tracy Paul & Company

tracy@tracypaul.com

Priyanka Gandhi

Rigby & Peller

Priyanka.Gandhi@us.rigbyandpeller.com

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493459/Rigby_and_Peller_Logo.jpg
CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- International Telecoms Week (ITW), the annual meeting for the global wholesale telecommunications community, announces the availability of the ITW Press Room at its 2017 event and extends an invitation to global accredited media organizations to join over 6,500 delegates from all areas of the wholesale community, representing 1,900+ companies from more than 140 countries.

ITW 2017, the wholesale telecommunications industry's largest annual event produced by Capacity Media, returns to Chicago's Hyatt Regency and adjacent Swissotel May 14-17, 2017. Executives from leading global organizations, including headline sponsors AT&T, BT, China Telecom Global, Etisalat, Orange, PCCW Global, Saudi Telecom Company, Sparkle, Tata Communications, and Telefonica, will converge to exchange business ideas, opportunities and to expand their global network reach through collaborative relationships.

"The support and networking opportunities provided by the Press Room have continued to receive positive feedback, which is why we continue to bring it back each year," says Rosalind Irving, CEO of Capacity Media. "We expect to facilitate more meaningful dialogues between our community and the press, and share more news that impacts the global wholesale telecommunications and carrier communities than ever before."

Exclusively managed by iMiller Public Relations, a global Public Relations and Marketing firm serving the telecom and technology industries, the ITW Press Room offers sponsors and attendees the opportunity to meet with attending press on-site, as well as submit press releases and news for possible inclusion in the ITW Show Daily -- a magazine distributed daily throughout the conference. To take advantage of these discounted news circuit rates, sponsors and attendees can submit a press release or media kit until 11:59 PM on Friday, May 12. After May 12, press releases and press kits can be emailed daily or dropped off in the Press Room, located in the Swissotel, Swiss Tower, Lucerne conference room, during normal hours of operation.

For more information about participating in the ITW Press Room or to learn about press opportunities at ITW 2017, please visit the online media hub or email ITW2017@imillerpr.com. To learn more about ITW or to register for this year's event, visit www.internationaltelecomsweek.com.

About International Telecoms Week

ITW is the largest meeting for the global wholesale telecommunications community. The event attracts participants from all areas of the industry including: Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 carriers, mobile/wireless operators, ISPs, VoIP providers, OTTs and technology partners from the voice, data, satellite, subsea and fixed-line markets. ITW offers various networking opportunities through meeting rooms, an integrated exhibit and bilateral table area, numerous breakfasts, lunches and cocktail receptions and provides a wide range of conference sessions for attendees to benefit from. Additional information can be found at www.internationaltelecomsweek.com or by following ITW on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Media Inquiries:



Ilissa Miller

iMiller Public Relations for International Telecoms Week

Tel: +1 866 307 2510

Email: Email Contact




BELFAST, Northern Ireland, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The annual Routes Europe air service development forum was officially handed over to the Basque city of Bilbao today (25 April) at a ceremony in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150730/250177LOGO )



(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493998/Routes_Europe_Handover.jpg )



Routes Europe brings together airlines, airports, tourism authorities, governments and other stakeholders to plan future air routes. The 2018 event will be hosted by the Basque Government and Basquetour at Bilbao Exhibition Centre.

Bilbao is the gateway to the Basque Country, an autonomous region of northern Spain which includes the Basque Mountains, the Rioja Alavesa wine region, the resort town of San Sebastian and the beaches, estuaries, cliffs and villages that run along the Basque Coast.

The city's emergence as a leading tourism destination began with the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in 1997. The museum of modern and contemporary art was the catalyst for the modernisation of the Biscay area and draws 1.2 million visitors a year.

The growth in tourism is reflected in the rising traffic levels at Bilbao Airport which handled 4.58 million passengers in 2016 (7.3% more than 2015). Traffic is also growing at the region's smaller airports, San Sebastian and Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Routes Europe 2018 will give the hosts a platform to showcase the Basque Country's attractions to some of the most influential people in the aviation industry.

Around 1,200 route development professionals from 116 airlines, 270 airports and 36 tourism authorities attended Routes Europe 2017 in Belfast, and Bilbao can expect similar attendance next year.

Steven Small, brand director of Routes, said: "Bilbao has been studied all over the world as destinations attempt to replicate its regeneration programme. Our delegates will be excited to explore the aviation opportunities in Bilbao and the wider Basque Country."

The Basque Country's Minister of Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Alfredo Retortillo said: "We are going to offer you our genuine hospitality, ancient traditions, modernity reflected in the titanium shields of the Guggenheim Museum and last but not least some of the most starred gastronomy all over the world.

"I hope you will agree that this will be a good environment for businesses and route development."

More information about Routes Europe can be found at routesonline.com

Routes Europe 2018, 22-24 April 2018, Bilbao Exhibition Centre, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

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 visithttp://www.ubm.com for 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


MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- HPQ Silicon Resources Inc ("HPQ") (TSX VENTURE: HPQ)(FRANKFURT: UGE)(OTC PINK: URAGF) would like to inform its shareholders of the following significant advances in its Purevap project with strategic partner PyroGenesis Canada Inc ("PyroGenesis").

1. Work is now transitioning from bench scale testing to Pilot Plant, as PyroGenesis approaches completion of phase 1 of the Process Characterization phase. Bench scale testing will continue and overlap with the start of equipment purchase and assembly of the Pilot Plant. The purpose of the Process Characterization bench scale work is threefold: -- Determine the best and most efficient way to scale up the PUREVAP QRR process -- Generate the necessary data required for the design of the 200 Tonnes Per Year High Purity to Solar Grade Silicon Metal pilot-scale system announced on August 2nd 2016; -- Complete tests at different operational settings to identify the best and most efficient way to produce High Purity to Solar Grade Silicon Metal. 2. Payments totalling $1,072,000 were made in two tranches to Pyrogenesis in February and March to continue the work on the design and fabrication of the PureVap pilot plant equipment. Since August 2016, HPQ as invested $2,925,200 for the pilot equipment. 3. PyroGenesis has continued testing modifications to the process to include upgrading the Bench scale testing Plant process from batch to semi - batch processing to test for improve efficiencies. 4. The previously announced bench scale testing for 5N purity will commence shortly. HPQ has carefully prepared batches of 99.5% SiO2 derived from its Roncevaux quartz property, selected and sorted using XRF scanning, manually crushed and has now been delivered to PYR. Once completed, a report on the purity testing, as mentioned in January (press release January 29,2017) will be finalized. 5. Project work remains on time and on budget, equipment procurement phase for the Pilot Plant has begun, all payments are up to date, and after May payment of $531,000, the next substantial payment will only be due in October to coincide with the delivery of the Pilot Plant furnace. Discussions with government agencies regarding other sources of financing are ongoing.

Bernard Tourillon, Chairman and CEO of HPQ-Silicon stated, "We continue to make positive progress with the PureVap process and are now setting our sights on final bench scale purity tests and the Pilot Plant. The bench scale test work has achieved most of our goals and we will report on details in each area described above as results become available. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kind words, condolences and support during this difficult personal period."

About HPQ Silicon

HPQ Silicon Resources Inc is a TSX-V listed junior exploration company planning to become a vertically integrated and diversified High Value Silicon Metal (99.9+% Si), and Solar Grade Silicon Metal (99.999+% Si) producer.

Our business model is focused on developing a disruptive High Purity and Solar Grade Silicon Metal manufacturing process (patent pending) and becoming a vertically - integrated High Value Silicon Metal and Solar Grade Silicon producer that can generate high yield returns and significant free cash flow within a relatively short time line.

Disclaimers:

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "may", "plan", "will", "estimate", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "in the process" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the acceptance of our products by the market, our strategy to develop new products and enhance the capabilities of existing products, our strategy with respect to research and development, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, and uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's on-going filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

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.

Shares outstanding: 168,987,616

Contacts:

Bernard J. Tourillon, Chairman and CEO

(514) 907-1011



Patrick Levasseur, President and COO

(514) 262-9239

www.HPQSilicon.com




Six years of planning, intense negotiations and raising funds to bring an Amtrak stop to the Arcadia Valley may all go up in smoke if President Donald Trump's budget cuts to rail transportation are ultimately approved by the U.S. Congress.

The Arcadia station, which began Amtrak service in November, appears on a list of more than 220 cities that the National Association Of Railroad Passengers (NARP) has said will no longer receive Amtrak service, according to the budget outline released by the Trump Administration. The proposal cuts $2.4 billion from transportation, which is a 13 percent reduction of last year's funding.

The only other Missouri Amtrak stop that appears on the list is in La Plata, a town with a population of around 1,366 residents located in north central Macon County.

Bringing an Amtrak stop to the Arcadia Valley brought with it headaches, problems, delays and setbacks from the very start. Amtrak, MoDOT, Union Pacific, the city of Arcadia and members of Our Town Tomorrow began meeting in 2012 to discuss the documents and funding needed to make the Arcadia Amtrak stop possible.

At the time the city was awarded the matching grant the projected cost of the platforms construction was $314,212.25. Adding a 15 percent contingency, the grand total of the proposed project was expected to come in at $361,344.09. Not included in that amount was the 25-year lease from Union Pacific on the platform grounds and all electrical items, such as lights.

Facing a shortfall at the beginning of 2016, State Rep. Paul Fitzwater, R-Potosi, and Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, announced that MoDOT had secured $100,000 in federal transportation funds to complete the Amtrak stop. In addition to the MoDOT Transportation Enhancement Grant, the project was partially funded by Iron County Economic Partnership and the William Edgar Foundation.

Eventually, the city of Arcadia was one of 11 southeast Missouri committees selected to receive a share of $2.9 million in federal enhancement funds through an 80/20 grant amounting to $330,000 which, which along with the $50,000 match provided by the William Edgar Foundation, a $30,000 grant from the Taum Sauk Fund, and more than $7,000 in community donations, was used for the platforms construction.

Now it appears that the Arcadia stop  along with Amtrak service throughout the country  could potentially come to an end.

NARP denounced the budget outline, claiming that it slashes investment in transportation infrastructure. The cuts not only would affect Amtrak transit and commuter service, but also air service to rural towns, which could cost towns like Arcadia construction and manufacturing jobs.

"It's ironic that President Trump's first budget proposal undermines the very communities whose economic hardship and sense of isolation from the rest of the country helped propel him into office," said NARP President Jim Mathews. "These working class communities  many of them located in the Midwest and the South  were tired of being treated like 'flyover country.' But by proposing the elimination of Amtrak's long distance trains, the Trump Administration does them one worse, cutting a vital service that connects these small town economies to the rest of the U.S. These hard working, small town Americans don't have airports or Uber to turn to; they depend on these trains."

The proposed budget cuts include:

 Elimination of all federal funding for Amtrak's national network trains, which provides the only national network service to 23 states and the only nearby Amtrak service for 144.6 million Americans;

 A cut of $499 million from the TIGER grant program that invests in passenger rail and transit projects of national significance;

 Elimination of $2.3 billion for the Federal Transit Administration's "New Starts" Capital Investment Program, something the NARP says is crucial to launching new transit, commuter rail and light-rail projects.

In addition to the possibility that Texas Eagle twice-daily service to Arcadia will come to an end, other long-distance train routes across the country that would be affected by the proposed cuts include Gulf Coast Restoration, in development; Silver Star, daily service; Cardinal, three trains a week; Silver Meteor, daily service; Empire Builder, daily service; Capitol Limited, daily service; California Zephyr, daily service; Southwest Chief, daily service; City of New Orleans, daily service; Sunset Limited, three trains a week; Coast Starlight, daily service; Lake Shore Limited, daily service; Palmetto, daily service; Crescent, daily service; and Auto Train, daily service.

Yet, in the midst of all the dire predictions regarding Amtrak's imminent demise due to budget cuts, a local lawmaker is asking his constituents to take a deep breath and relax. U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-8th District, stressed that, while it's always wise for citizens to be aware of what the government is doing, it's simply too early in the budgeting process for people to begin writing the Arcadia Amtrak stop's obituary.

"The president's complete budget has never been even presented," Smith said. "What he presented was just a very 'above the radar' budget. Until we get his complete budget we don't even know of the changes and the cuts and where they hit. We'll be reviewing the budget when it's all there, but right now the complete president's budget is not there yet.

"Even with cuts, the budget is never line-itemed that it would be one particular area. It may be a reduction in amount to whatever operation, but that doesn't mean Arcadia Valley. We have to look at the president's complete budget, but right now it's way too early."
New German market research highlights requirement for advanced email security to protect organizations from ransomware and impersonation attacks



MUNICH, Germany, 2017-10-04 06:30 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mimecast Limited (NASDAQ:MIME), a leading email and data security company, today announced its plan to expand into Germany.



Mimecast's new office in Munich will serve as a regional hub for Central Europe and strengthen ties with existing customers and partners. Mimecast will build a team that offers high-quality local German-speaking customer service, technical support and partner program management. Mimecast will also open two fully replicated data centers in Germany in 2018 to support the growing appetite for local data residency.



Mimecast is 100% committed to the channel and is currently recruiting additional German partners to accelerate its growth and further enhance customer experience in the region.



"Mimecast is all-in on Germany with a long-term view on investment in technology infrastructure and jobs," said Michael Heuer, Country Manager - Central Europe.



"Email is a critical service for organizations and they need help to archive their growing volumes of data in a highly secure repository while providing powerful search tools that allow employees to easily access this information quickly for productivity and GDPR compliance.



"Our research shows that advanced email attacks in Germany are growing and many firms have not yet embraced a cyber resilience strategy. It's vital that organizations not only invest in preventing attacks but also prepare how to keep their business working during an incident," he added.



Mimecast German research highlights*



-- Sophisticated email attack volumes are rising - 55% of respondents had seen more targeted spear-phishing with malicious links in the last 3 months; 47% saw impersonation fraud asking for confidential data rise and 43% for fraudulent wire transfers -- 61% of organizations had some of their data encrypted by ransomware in 2017 with 37% of those affected paying the ransom -- Only 19% of German organizations have already adopted a cyber resilience strategy



Mimecast's integrated cloud suite is designed to comprehensively manage email security, archiving and business continuity for on-premises and cloud services like Microsoft Office 365.



Prospective customers, partners and employees are invited to meet Mimecast representatives at the it-sa 2017 exhibition and congress held on 10-12 October in Nuremberg. Hall 10.1-214.



About Mimecast Mimecast Limited (NASDAQ:MIME) makes business email and data safer for more than 27,300 customers and millions of employees worldwide. Founded in 2003, the company's next-generation cloud-based security, archiving and continuity services protect email, and deliver comprehensive email risk management in a single, fully-integrated subscription service.



*Research was conducted in September 2017 by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Mimecast. Respondents were IT decision makers at 100 German organizations with more than 1,000 employees.



Press Contacts Richard Botley press@mimecast.com +44 207 847 8747



Investor Contact Robert Sanders investors@mimecast.com 617-393-7074



Statements in this press release regarding management's future expectations, beliefs, intentions, goals, strategies, plans or prospects, including without limitation, the potential extension of operations to Germany, the timing of such expansion, and the success of those potential operations, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. Mimecast intends all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 21E of the Exchange Act and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks. As a result of such risks, Mimecast's actual results may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements discussed in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. Mimecast is providing the information in this press release as of this date and assumes no obligations to update the information included in this press release or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR -- (Marketwired) -- 07/10/17 -- Fortis Inc. ("Fortis" or the "Corporation") (TSX: FTS)(NYSE: FTS) will release its second quarter 2017 financial results on Friday, July 28, 2017. A teleconference and webcast will be held the same day at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern). Barry Perry, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Karl Smith, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, will discuss Fortis' second quarter 2017 financial results.

Analysts, members of the media and other interested parties in North America are invited to participate by calling 1.877.223.4471. International participants may participate by calling 647.788.4922. Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. No pass code is required.

A live and archived audio webcast of the teleconference will be available on the Corporation's website, www.fortisinc.com. A replay of the conference will be available two hours after the conclusion of the call until August 28, 2017. Please call 1.800.585.8367 or 416.621.4642 and enter pass code 37869181.

About Fortis

Fortis is a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry with total assets of approximately C$48 billion as of March 31, 2017. The Corporation's 8,000 employees serve utility customers in five Canadian provinces, nine U.S. states and three Caribbean countries.

Fortis shares are listed on the TSX and NYSE and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com, www.sedar.com, or www.sec.gov.

Contacts:

Investor Enquiries

Ms. Kealey Martin

Manager, Investor Relations

Fortis Inc.

709.737.2900



Media Enquiries

Ms. Jennifer Lawlor

Senior Communications Advisor

Fortis Inc.

709.737.2799




DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / October 5, 2017 / Puration, Inc. (OTC PINK: PURA) today announced plans to launch online sales of its EVERx CBD Infused Sports Water next week. PURA has partnered with Alkame Holdings to combine PURA's proprietary cannabis extract process with Alkame's patented technology that alters the structure of water, producing a combination of characteristics that are unprecedented in the beverage industry. The Alkame technology breaks down the hydrogen bonds, reducing water's cluster size, providing a more efficient delivery system for the CBD. Separate from the infused CBD, the Alkame technology includes an optimal alkaline pH level formulated with antioxidants and electrolytes for effective hydration. PURA has also private labeled Alkame's patented alkaline water which will also be available online under the EVERx Brand Name.

Learn More About Puration at: www.aciconglomerated.com

Learn More About the EVERx Products at: www.drinkeverx.com

Disclaimer/Safe Harbor:

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Among others, these risks include the expectation that any of the companies mentioned herein will achieve significant sales, the failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of the companies' contracts, the companies' liquidity position, the companies' ability to obtain new contracts, the emergence of competitors with greater financial resources and the impact of competitive pricing. In the light of these uncertainties, the forward-looking events referred to in this release might not occur. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

PURA Contact Info:

Brian Shibley

info@aciconglomerated.com

1 800 861 1350

https://www.aciconglomerated.com/contact/

SOURCE: Puration, Inc.
Zurich - F10, der Schweizerische Inkubator und Accelerator, hat die Auswahl aller 14 Startups fur sein P2 Programm bekanntgegeben. Das F10 bringt in seinem 6-monatigen Programm frische und aufregende Startups aus der FinTech, RegTech und InsurTech Industrie mit etablierten Finanzinstitutionen.

Das Programm beginnt am 3. Juli 2017 mit einem exklusiven Grand Opening, bei dem die Kantonsratin und Unternehmerin Judith Bellaiche die Key-Note Rede halten wird. Bellaiche ist eine Meisterin der Startup-Kultur und bekannt fur ihre Anfechtung von Regierungsvorhaben, die Innovation durch steigende Steuern einschranken. "Im F10 glauben wir daran, dass sich das Investieren in die besten und geistreichsten Startups und die Moglichkeiten zur Zusammenarbeit mit Unternehmen fur beide Seiten lohnt und wir gleichzeitig gemeinsam die Grenzen der Technologien ausreizen," sagt Markus Graf vom F10. "Die Schweiz ist im Herzen der globalen Finanzwelt und unser Netzwerk bietet den Startups eine komfortable und aussichtsreiche Grundlage."

Die ...

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Consolidated revenue:

up 31.2% as reported and 28.6% on a comparable basis

Luxury activities: up 34.0% as reported and 31.6% on a comparable basis

of which Gucci: up 51.4% as reported and 48.3% on a comparable basis

Sport Lifestyle activities: up 16.5% as reported and 14.0% on a comparable basis

Regulatory News:

"Kering (Paris:KER) achieved a record performance in the first three months of the year, posting a sharp acceleration in sales growth. Benefiting from somewhat more favorable market conditions, our strong delivery primarily stems from meticulous execution of our strategy and the creative audacity of our Houses. In a climate of persistent geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties, our first quarter puts us in a particularly good position for the balance of the year. The Group will continue to focus on organic growth and market share gains, on value creation and ongoing operational and financial discipline."

Francois-Henri Pinault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Sharp acceleration in growth across the Group

First-quarter 2017 revenue totalling 3,573.5 million

Major sequential increase driven by double-digit growth across all activities and all geographic regions excluding Japan

Luxury activities: all Houses delivering remarkable performances

Record growth at Gucci, whose creative universe is drawing ever increasing enthusiasm

Sustained growth trajectory for Yves Saint Laurent

Positive trends at Bottega Veneta and in the Other Luxury brands; marked sales acceleration at Balenciaga

Sport Lifestyle activities: excellent start to the year

Puma revenue up 17.9% year on year as reported and 15.3% on a comparable basis; all product categories contributing to the brand's ongoing growth momentum

(in millions) Q1 2017 Reported change Comparable change(1) Luxury activities 2,417.1 +34.0% +31.6% Sport Lifestyle activities 1,064.1 +16.5% +14.0% Corporate and other 92.3 Kering Continuing operations 3,573.5 +31.2% +28.6%

(1) On a comparable Group structure and exchange rate basis.

LUXURY ACTIVITIES: EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES

Revenue generated by Luxury activities totalled 2,417.1 million in the first quarter of 2017, up by a sharp 34.0% as reported and 31.6% on a comparable basis, against a favourable base of comparison.

Sales growth in the Group's directly operated store network was particularly high, at 36.6% on a comparable basis, driven by remarkable performances in Western Europe and the Asia Pacific region, which reported retail sales increases on a comparable basis of 49.9% and 46.7%, respectively. Growth in retail sales was also significant in North America and the Rest of the world, up 29.7% and 28.1%, respectively, on a comparable basis. Online sales leapt 60.1% on a comparable basis, underscoring the success of the digital strategies implemented by Kering's Luxury Houses.

Wholesale revenue climbed 20.2% on a comparable basis.

Gucci Outstanding growth performance

The particularly remarkable growth reported by Gucci in the first quarter of 2017 demonstrates the resounding success of the brand's creative reinvention and the exceptional skill with which its strategy has been implemented. Revenue shot up by 51.4% as reported and 48.3% on a comparable basis, with all regions and product categories contributing to the overall rise.

Sales in directly operated stores were up 51.4% on a comparable basis, with especially sharp increases in Western Europe (up 66.4% on a comparable basis) and the Asia Pacific region (up 63.1% on a comparable basis).

Gucci's collections once again proved extremely popular during the period, with double-digit growth for all product categories and ever-increasing demand for Ready-to-Wear and Shoes. Leather Goods also experienced excellent momentum, reflecting Gucci's talent in creating iconic models and successfully renewing them season after season.

Bottega Veneta Improving trends

Bottega Veneta's revenue was up 4.7% as reported and 2.3% on a comparable basis, marking an upturn for the brand against a backdrop of more favourable market conditions.

Western Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World experienced positive momentum, fuelled by sales to both returning and new customers. Overall, sales in directly operated stores climbed 3.6% year on year on a comparable basis.

Shoes, especially Women's models, remained in high demand.

Yves Saint Laurent - Sustained robust growth

Yves Saint Laurent delivered another excellent performance in the first quarter, with revenue up 35.4% as reported and 33.4% on a comparable basis. Directly operated stores saw further double-digit sales growth in all geographic regions except Japan, with particularly sharp increases in Western Europe (up 46.0% on a comparable basis) and Asia Pacific (up 48.1% on a comparable basis). Online sales also posted further growth, driven by Western Europe and North America.

The Summer collection fully designed by Anthony Vaccarello and available in stores since January 2017 has been extremely well received. A number of products rapidly rose to best-seller status, notably in Women's Shoes and Ready-to-Wear.

Other Luxury brands Double-digit growth for both Couture Leather Goods and Watches Jewellery

Revenue from the Group's Other Luxury brands was up 12.3% as reported and 11.1% on a comparable basis, with all distribution channels contributing to the overall growth.

Couture Leather Goods Maisons posted an aggregate revenue rise of 11.1% on a comparable basis, powered by an excellent showing from Balenciaga's directly operated store network across all geographic regions and all product categories, confirming the success of Demna Gvasalia's collections. Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen achieved further growth in the period, while Brioni's sales in directly operated stores trended upwards again.

Revenue from Watches Jewellery Houses climbed 13.1% on a comparable basis, with good performances at Boucheron and Pomellato, demonstrating their innovative flair through new collections, reworked iconic lines and 360-degree marketing campaigns. The Group's watch manufacturers also fared well in the first quarter. Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin joined the exhibitors at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in January 2017, where they successfully unveiled several new models.

SPORT LIFESTYLE ACTIVITIES: VERY GOOD PERFORMANCES FROM PUMA

Revenue generated by Sport Lifestyle activities advanced 16.5% year on year as reported and 14.0% on a comparable basis, fuelled by an excellent performance from Puma, which reported record quarterly revenue of 1,008.9 million. All geographic regions except Japan registered double-digit sales growth and Footwear was the leading product category, with sales up by a significant 24.8% on a comparable basis.

Conversely, Volcom's sales continued to be weighed down by the difficulties experienced by specialist distributors in the US, despite a solid showing from the directly operated store network.

"Corporate and other": consolidation of Kering Eyewear sales

For the first time, Kering Eyewear whose operation of the Gucci license for sunglasses and frames has been effective since January 2017 - is accounted for under "Corporate and other". Kering Eyewear's total sales, before elimination of intra-group sales and royalties received by the brands, amounted to 112.9 million in the first quarter. Net revenue for the period totalled 85.5 million.

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS SINCE JANUARY 1, 2017

Brioni: Appointment of Fabrizio Malverdi

On March 17, 2017, Kering announced the appointment of Fabrizio Malverdi as CEO of Brioni. Reporting to Jean-Francois Palus, Kering's Group managing director, his mission is to accelerate the international expansion of one of the most prestigious houses in the high-end menswear market, which follows in the long tradition of Italian tailors.

Kering Eyewear

On March 21, 2017, Kering announced that its subsidiary, Kering Eyewear, and Cartier, owned by Compagnie Financiere Richemont, had signed a strategic partnership agreement aimed at combining their operations in order to create a powerful platform for the development, manufacture and worldwide distribution of the Cartier eyewear collection. This project is subject to clearance by the relevant competition authorities.

Bond issue

On March 28, 2017, Kering carried out a 300 million issue of ten-year bonds with a fixed-rate coupon of 1.50%.

Renovation of Boucheron's flagship store on Place Vendome

On March 30, 2017, Kering announced that renovation will begin at Boucheron's iconic flagship store at 26, Place Vendome in Paris. The project aims to showcase the architecture and original volumes of the building, as Boucheron's 160th anniversary draws near.

SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

Launch of the 2025 sustainability strategy

On January 25, 2017, Kering launched its new sustainability strategy for 2025. Its targets are divided into three themes:

Environment: CARE for the planet, which includes initiatives by which Kering aims to reduce its Environmental Profit and Loss (EP&L) account by at least 40%, and carbon emissions from its activities by 50%, among others.

Social welfare: COLLABORATE with people, which comprises the Group's social ambitions.

Innovation: CREATE new business models, which primarily involves investing in disruptive innovations that can transform conventional processes in luxury, and influence the industry.

AUDIOCAST

Kering will hold an audiocast for analysts and investors at 6.00pm (CEST) on Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Available at www.kering.com (Finance section)

The audiocast will also be available by phone, using one of the dial-in numbers below:

France: +33 (0)1 70 48 01 66

United Kingdom: +44 (0)20 3427 1903

United States: +1 646 254 3367

Access code: 4498672

A replay of the audiocast will also be available at www.kering.com (Finance section).

PRESENTATION

The slides (PDF) will be available ahead of the audiocast at www.kering.com.

About Kering

A global Luxury group, Kering develops an ensemble of luxury houses in fashion, leather goods, jewellery and watches: Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni, Christopher Kane, McQ, Stella McCartney, Tomas Maier, Boucheron, Dodo, Girard-Perregaux, Pomellato, Qeelin and Ulysse Nardin. Kering is also developing the Sport & Lifestyle brands Puma, Volcom and Cobra. By 'empowering imagination', Kering encourages its brands to reach their potential, in the most sustainable manner.

The Group generated revenue of 12.385 billion in 2016 and had more than 40,000 employees at year end. The Kering share is listed on Euronext Paris (FR 0000121485, KER.PA, KER.FP).

www.kering.com

Twitter: @KeringGroup

LinkedIn: Kering

Instagram: @kering_official

YouTube: KeringGroup

APPENDIX 2017 first-quarter revenue (in millions) Q1 2017 Q1 2016 Reported change Comparable change(1) Luxury activities 2,417.1 1,803.7 +34.0% +31.6% Gucci 1,354.0 894.2 +51.4% +48.3% Bottega Veneta 280.4 267.9 +4.7% +2.3% Yves Saint Laurent 364.4 269.2 +35.4% +33.4% Other Luxury brands 418.3 372.4 +12.3% +11.1% Sport Lifestyle activities 1,064.1 913.1 +16.5% +14.0% PUMA 1,008.9 855.9 +17.9% +15.3% Other Sport Lifestyle brands 55.2 57.2 -3.5% -6.3% Corporate and other 92.3 7.0 Kering Continuing operations 3,573.5 2,723.8 +31.2% +28.6%

(1) On a comparable Group structure and exchange rate basis.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006197/en/

Contacts:

Press

Emilie Gargatte, +33 (0)1 45 64 61 20

emilie.gargatte@kering.com

or

Astrid Wernert, +33 (0)1 45 64 61 57

astrid.wernert@kering.com

or

Analysts/investors

Claire Roblet, +33 (0)1 45 64 61 49

claire.roblet@kering.com

or

Andrea Beneventi, +33 (0)1 45 64 63 28

andrea.beneventi@kering.com
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Horizonte Minerals Plc, (AIM: HZM)(TSX: HZM) ('Horizonte' or 'the Company') the nickel development company focused in Brazil, is pleased to announce the detailed voting results for the election of its Board of Directors, which took place at the Company's Annual General Meeting held on 25 April 2017 (the "Meeting").

The nominees listed in the management information circular dated 16 March 2017 were elected as directors of the Company at the Meeting. Detailed results of the vote are set out below:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nominee Votes For % Against % ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Hall 504,830,563 99.8% 100,000 0.2% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeremy Martin 534,097,863 100% 0 0% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Owen Bavinton 504,590,163 99.8% 100,000 0.2% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- William Fisher 504,590,163 99.8% 100,000 0.2% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allan Walker 504,590,163 99.8% 100,000 0.2% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alexander Christopher 533,997,863 99.8% 100,000 0.2% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For further information visit www.horizonteminerals.com.

About Horizonte Minerals:

Horizonte Minerals plc is an AIM and TSX-listed nickel development company focused in Brazil, which wholly owns the advanced Araguaia nickel laterite project located to the south of the Carajas mineral district of northern Brazil. The Company is developing Araguaia as the next major nickel mine in Brazil, with targeted production by 2019.

The Project has good infrastructure in place including rail, road, water and power.

Horizonte has a strong shareholder structure including Teck Resources Limited 17.9%, Lombard Odier Asset Management (Europe) Limited 14.11%, Richard Griffiths 13.8%, JP Morgan 8.98%, Hargreave Hale 6.84% and Glencore 6.4%.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the potential of the Company's current or future property mineral projects; the success of exploration and mining activities; cost and timing of future exploration, production and development; the estimation of mineral resources and reserves and the ability of the Company to achieve its goals in respect of growing its mineral resources; and the realization of mineral resource and reserve estimates. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved".

Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to risks related to: exploration and mining risks, competition from competitors with greater capital; the Company's lack of experience with respect to development-stage mining operations; fluctuations in metal prices; uninsured risks; environmental and other regulatory requirements; exploration, mining and other licences; the Company's future payment obligations; potential disputes with respect to the Company's title to, and the area of, its mining concessions; the Company's dependence on its ability to obtain sufficient financing in the future; the Company's dependence on its relationships with third parties; the Company's joint ventures; the potential of currency fluctuations and political or economic instability in countries in which the Company operates; currency exchange fluctuations; the Company's ability to manage its growth effectively; the trading market for the ordinary shares of the Company; uncertainty with respect to the Company's plans to continue to develop its operations and new projects; the Company's dependence on key personnel; possible conflicts of interest of directors and officers of the Company, and various risks associated with the legal and regulatory framework within which the Company operates.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Contacts:

Jeremy Martin

Horizonte Minerals plc

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7763 7157



David Hall

Horizonte Minerals plc

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7763 7157



Emily Morris

finnCap Ltd (Corporate Broking)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 0500



Christopher Raggett

finnCap Ltd (Corporate Finance)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 0500



James Thompson

finnCap Ltd (Corporate Finance)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 0500



Damon Heath

Shard Capital (Joint Broker)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186 9952



Erik Woolgar

Shard Capital (Joint Broker)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186 9952



Lottie Brocklehurst

St Brides Partners Ltd (PR)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177



Elisabeth Cowell

St Brides Partners Ltd (PR)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177




5 th ARM Annual Cell Gene Therapy Investor Day April 27, Boston (US)

April 27, Boston (US) Investment for Advanced Therapies Summit May 3, London (UK)

May 3, London (UK) International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) May 3-6, London (UK)

Regulatory News:

TxCell SA (Paris:TXCL) (FR0010127662 TXCL), a biotechnology company developing innovative, personalized cellular immunotherapies using regulatory T cells (Treg) to treat severe inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as well as transplant rejection, today announces that Stephane Boissel, CEO of TxCell, will present in upcoming cell therapy conferences.

Mr. Boissel will present an update on TxCell's ENTrIA CAR-Treg platform at the 5th Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) Annual Cell Gene Therapy Investor Day which will be held on April 27, 2017 in Boston (US). The TxCell presentation will be coupled with an interview by Joshua Schimmer, MD, Managing Director and Senior Biotech Equity Research Analyst at Piper Jaffray Co. The presentation and interview will take place at 5:00pm local time (Harborside Room).

Mr. Boissel will also be participating to a panel discussion entitled "Biotech Perspective: The opportunities of cell gene therapy and why now?" at the Investment for Advanced Therapies Summit which will be held on May 3, 2017 in London (UK). This panel discussion will take place at 9:15am local time.

In addition, Mr. Boissel and other members from TxCell will attend the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) 2017 Annual Meeting which will be held on May 3-6, 2017, in London.

About TxCell - www.txcell.com

TxCell is a biotechnology company that develops platforms for innovative, personalized T cell immunotherapies for the treatment of severe inflammatory and autoimmune diseases with high unmet medical need. TxCell is targeting a range of autoimmune diseases (both T-cell and B-cell-mediated) including Crohn's disease, lupus nephritis, bullous pemphigoid and multiple sclerosis, as well as transplant rejection.

TxCell is the only clinical-stage cellular therapy company fully dedicated to the science of regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs). Tregs are a recently discovered T cell population for which anti-inflammatory properties have been demonstrated. Contrary to conventional approaches based on non-specific polyclonal Tregs, TxCell is exclusively developing antigen-specific Tregs. This antigen specificity may either come from genetic modifications with Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) or from pre-existing Treg cell T-Cell Receptor (TCR). TxCell is developing two proprietary technology platforms, ENTrIA, which is composed of genetically-engineered Tregs, and ASTrIA, which is composed of non-modified naturally antigen-specific Tregs.

Based in Sophia-Antipolis, France, TxCell is listed on Euronext Paris and currently has 46 employees.

Next events

Financial and business conferences Apr 27 5th Annual Cell Gene Therapy Investor Day (ARM) Boston (US) May 3 Investment for Advanced Therapies Summit London (UK) May 22-23 Bioquity Europe 2017 Paris (FR) May 30 Gilbert Dupont 15th Annual Healthcare Conference Paris (FR) June 6-9 Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference New York (US) June 9 Kepler Cheuvreux Biotech Day Paris (FR) June 19-22 BIO International Convention San Diego (US) Scientific and medical conferences May 3-6 International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) Annual Meeting London (UK) May 10-13 American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting Washington (US) May 30-31 Phacilitate's inaugural Special Interest Group: Automation Edinburgh (UK) June 1-2 22e congres Nantes Actualites Transplantation (NAT) Nantes (FR)

Forward-Looking Statements TxCell

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of TxCell, which shall not be considered per se as historical facts, including TxCell's ability to develop, market, commercialize and achieve market acceptance for specific products, estimates for future performance and estimates regarding anticipated operating losses, future revenues, capital requirements, needs for additional financing. In addition, even if the actual results or development of TxCell are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, those results or developments of TxCell may not be indicative of their in the future.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "could," "should," "may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "aims," "targets," or similar words. Although the management of TxCell believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonably made, they are based largely on the current expectations of TxCell as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In particular, the expectations of TxCell could be affected by, among other things, uncertainties involved in the development of the Company's products, which may not succeed, or in the delivery of TxCell's products marketing authorizations by the relevant regulatory authorities and, in general, any factor that could affects TxCell capacity to commercialize the products it develops, as well as, any other risk and uncertainties developed or identified in any public documents filed by TxCell with the AMF, included those listed in chapter 4 "Risk factors" of the 2015 document de reference (registration document) approved by the AMF on May 24, 2016 under number R.16-048 and in the section 5.1 of the update of the registration document filed with the AMF on January 24, 2107 under number D.16-0346-A01. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements made in this press release will in fact be realized. Notwithstanding the compliance with article 223-1 of the General Regulation of the AMF (the information disclosed must be "accurate, precise and fairly presented"), TxCell is providing the information in these materials as of this press release, and disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006255/en/

Contacts:

TxCell

Caroline Courme

IR Communication Director

Tel: +33(0) 4 97 21 83 00

caroline.courme@txcell.com

or

Image Box Press relations

Neil Hunter Michelle Boxall

Tel: +44(0) 20 8943 4685

neil.hunter@imageboxpr.co.uk

michelle.boxall@imageboxpr.co.uk

or

NewCap - Investor relations

Julien Perez Pierre Laurent

Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 98 52

txcell@newcap.eu
In response to speculation in the market, ChemChina today reconfirmed on behalf of the Offeror that all regulatory approvals and conditions required for the closing of the offers have been obtained or satisfied. Subject to at least 67% of Syngenta's issued shares and ADSs being validly tendered into the offers and not withdrawn as of May 4, 2017, the Offeror will purchase and pay for all such shares and ADSs at the first settlement on May 18, 2017.

For further assistance in connection with the Swiss Offer and/or additional information on how to accept the Swiss Offer, Syngenta shareholders may contact the information agent Georgeson at 00 800 3813 3813 (toll free) or +44 117 378 5186 (direct dial) or by email at chemchinaoffer4syngenta@georgeson.com. For further assistance in connection with the U.S. Offer and/or additional information on how to accept the U.S. Offer, Syngenta shareholders may contact the U.S. information agent Georgeson at its address at 480 Washington Boulevard, 26th Floor, Jersey City, New Jersey, 07310, or at the toll-free number for holders of securities at +1 (866) 431-2096 or by email at syngentaoffer@georgeson.com

About Syngenta

Syngenta is a leading agriculture company helping to improve global food security by enabling millions of farmers to make better use of available resources. Through world class science and innovative crop solutions, our 28,000 people in over 90 countries are working to transform how crops are grown. We are committed to rescuing land from degradation, enhancing biodiversity and revitalizing rural communities. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Syngenta.

Disclaimer

This press release is not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities.

Additional information and where to find it

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell company securities. The solicitation and offer to buy company securities is only made pursuant to the Swiss offer prospectus and the offer to purchase and other documents relating to the U.S. offer that have been filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). At the time the US Public Tender Offer was commenced, ChemChina and a designated direct or indirect subsidiary filed a tender offer statement on Schedule TO with the SEC and thereafter, the company filed a solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14d-9 with respect to the offer. Investors and security holders are urged to read these materials carefully since they contain important information, including the terms and conditions of the offer. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of these materials and other documents filed by ChemChina and the company with the SEC at the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Investors and security holders may also obtain free copies of the solicitation/recommendation statement and other documents filed with the SEC by the company at www.syngenta.com

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

Some of the statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the expected consummation of the acquisition, which involves a number of risks and uncertainties, including the satisfaction of closing conditions for the acquisition, such as regulatory approval for the transaction and the tender of at least 67% of the outstanding shares of the company, the possibility that the transaction will not be completed and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's public filings with the SEC, including the "risk factors" section of the company's form 20-F filed on February 16, 2017 as well as the tender offer documents filed by the offeror and the solicitation/recommendation statement filed by the company. These statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any forward-looking statements. These statements are generally identified by words or phrases such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "may", "should", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue" or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from the results and/or timing discussed in the forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these statements. The offeror, ChemChina and the company disclaim any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the period covered by this press release or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006310/en/

Contacts:

Syngenta International AG

Media Office

CH-4002 Basel

Switzerland

Tel: +41 61 323 2323

Fax: +41 61 323 2424

www.syngenta.com

or

Media contacts:

Leandro Conti

Switzerland +41 61 323 2323

or

Paul Minehart

USA +1 202 737 8913

or

Analyst/Investor contacts:

Jennifer Gough

Switzerland +41 61 323 5059

USA +1 202 737 6521
SINGAPORE, Apr 25, 2017 - (ACN Newswire) - The inaugural editions of Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia, held from 18 to 20 April 2017, received very strong reception and participation from the breadth of leading industry companies and experts, regulators, top executives and academics, establishing them as key touchstone events for the industry.The inaugural editions hosted over 3,000 trade attendees from 52 countries, of which 24 percent attendees were from overseas. The attendees engaged in high-quality discussions on industry challenges, showcased innovative solutions, and forged strategic partnerships to unlock and drive the industry's growth potential in the region."Home to Singapore Airshow, Asia's largest aerospace and defence event, and now to Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia, Singapore has established its leading position in providing key strategic platforms for the global fixed wing, rotary wing and unmanned systems industry participants to converge, forge partnerships and tap into the region's growth potential," said Mr Leck Chet Lam, Managing Director, Experia Events. "We are very encouraged by the positive response to the inaugural events and the fact that industry players are looking at Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia as must-attend events with its offering of business collaborations, industry knowledge and networking opportunities. We will continue to have a pulse on the industry and bring more exciting dimensions to the future editions.""We are very thrilled to see that the attendance at the Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia 2017 is concentrated around the innovations in the industry, especially as both industries start to converge. Participating at the events as founding sponsors reaffirms our commitment to the industries in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region," said Christophe Nurit, Regional Executive Asia Pacific, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company.- Contributing to the vibrancy of Singapore's Aviation LandscapeThe robust networking and business opportunities that the inaugural Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia have provided for the Asia-Pacific region and beyond make it a critical part of the ecosystem of Singapore's aviation and aerospace industry, contributing to the long-term sustainability of the industry and opening doors to key markets for local and global companies alike."Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia are very targeted events that have allowed us the opportunity to interact with a myriad of audience who represent the industry's entire ecosystem," said Lu Weiyao, Co-Founder and Technical Director, Flare Dynamics Pte Ltd. "The level of exposure that we have attained by participating in the events have gone through the roof and we are certain that from the leads generated at the events, we will be able to expand our network further."Additionally, networking programmes such as the VIP Buyers Programme facilitated strategic meetings with public sector representatives from Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, Brunei as well as leading industry players such as BP, Shell Aviation, PT Derazona Air Service, Macquarie Rotorcraft Leasing, PhilJets Group, Thai Helicopter Services, Waypoint Leasing among others."Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia have established a unique platform for us to meet with high-level executives and manufacturers as well as learn more about the industry trends and forecasts for the region," said Thierry Tea, CEO, PhilJets Group. "As we continue to grow and expand, the events give us an edge into this dynamic industry."- Catalyst for Strategic Partnerships Across the RegionRotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia also saw the announcement of several significant collaborations, affirming its position as an effective strategic platform of choice for leading industry companies, solutions providers and innovators from across the industry.Announcements made at the inaugural events include the Airbus Helicopters and SingPost partnership for drone delivery trials. The project, named "Skyways", aims to develop an aerial drone delivery system for urban environments like Singapore. An initial trial involving transporting small packages using a drone around the National University of Singapore (NUS) campus is expected to take place in early 2018."It is a well-organised event. We are happy to meet various customers, partners and suppliers at this event, to share ideas and discuss opportunities to grow the market in this region. We hope to see even more participants from the various mission systems for a more sustainable showcase," said Philippe Monteux, Head of Region, Southeast Asia & Pacific, Airbus Helicopters.Bell Helicopter also had leveraged the events to solidify several partnerships and deliveries across key markets such as Indonesia, India and Vietnam. Tata Steel Group has purchased a second Bell 429 helicopter to support their steel production operations. Air Pacific Utama (PT APU) also signed a purchase agreement of the first Bell 407GXP and Customer Advantage Plan (CAP), the first Asia-based customer to sign for the new service solution, at Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia."We are pleased with the response to the first edition of the biennial Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia exhibition," said Sameer A. Rehman, Managing Director, Bell Helicopter Asia Pacific. "We were able to celebrate multiple successes during the exhibition as well as showcase our emerging product technologies and share our vision for the future of rotorcraft."Rotorcraft Asia 2017 and Unmanned Systems Asia 2017 are organised by Experia Events with the support of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, the Defence Science and Technology Agency, International Enterprise Singapore, the Ministry of Transport, Singapore, the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau.The second edition of Rotorcraft Asia and Unmanned Systems Asia, held from 16 to 18 April 2019 at Changi Exhibition Centre, will continue to demonstrate industry relevance to exhibitors and visitors by anticipating market trends, introducing new features as well as offering exhibitors the opportunity to present their latest and most innovative technologies to potential buyers.For more information, visit www.rotorcraft-asia.com and www.unmannedsystems-asia.com.About Rotorcraft AsiaRotorcraft Asia is a dedicated commercial and para-public helicopter event for the thriving Asia Pacific Market. It is the premier business and networking platform for manufacturers, owners and operators, MROs, distributors of products and services for the rotorcraft and related industry. Comprising an exhibition, conference and static aircraft display, Rotorcraft Asia will be an integrated marketplace to springboard and tap into opportunities in this dynamic region. For more information, visit www.rotorcraft-asia.com.About Unmanned Systems AsiaThe premier unmanned systems event in Asia presents the future of drones across a vast spectrum of commercial and defence applications, showcasing cutting edge technologies and solutions in aerial, ground, surface and underwater systems. Unmanned Systems Asia offers a highly effective platform for stakeholders to advance their search and rescue, communications, monitoring and surveillance capabilities. The show brings together manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, buyers, academia, governments, research and regulatory bodies to explore the limitless opportunities of unmanned systems. For more information, visit www.unmannedsystems-asia.com.About Experia Events Pte LtdExperia Events specialises in organising and managing exhibitions and conferences of strategic interest, fostering industry development and thought leadership. It has built a strong portfolio in aerospace and defence with the highly successful Singapore Airshow, Asia's largest aerospace and defence event, as well as the inaugural Singapore International Robo Expo and key events such as IMDEX Asia, Asia Pacific's flagship maritime defence show; Rotorcraft Asia, the premier dedicated event for the global civil helicopter industry; Unmanned Systems Asia, which presents the future of unmanned systems across a vast spectrum of commercial and defence applications; and Cybertech Asia, a strategic platform for the international cyber community.Experia Events' expertise also extends to the government and lifestyle sectors, through key events such as the World Cities Summit, Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore. With a proven track record underscoring its aspirations to stage events that influence, Experia Events aims to diversify its range of strategic events globally. For more information, visit www.experiaevents.com.For further enquiries, please contact:Marilyn HoExperia Events Pte LtdDirector, CommunicationsTel: +65 6595 6130Email: marilynho@experiaevents.comRanjeet KaurHill+Knowlton StrategiesTel: +65 9025 7674Email: ranjeet.kaur@hkstrategies.comSource: Rotorcraft Asia 2017Copyright 2017 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
HALIFAX, NS--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - Nine seafood companies from Nova Scotia, Canada, specializing in premium fish and seafood products will share new harvests and explore business opportunities at the 2017 annual Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium.

"Nova Scotia's exports to the European Union accounted for $204 million last year," said Laurel Broten, President and CEO, Nova Scotia Business Inc., the private-sector-led business development agency for the province. "Our fish harvesters and processors offer the highest quality fish and shellfish that is pulled responsibly and sustainably from the province's clean waters."

With a second lobster processing location to be completed this year, Nautical Seafoods Ltd. will be attending Seafood Expo Global to expand their business into the European market. Known for a fresh and quality product, Nautical Seafood harvests Jonah crab and wild caught sea scallops from one the seven wonders of North America, The Bay of Fundy.

Sea Star Seafoods Ltd. will also be attending to sell and promote their salted and dried ground fish, along with a variety of stock fish, salted mackerel and smoked herring products. Sea Star Seafoods provides superior quality salt fish products by maintaining control in all aspects of seafood processing.

Fisher King Seafoods Ltd., Victoria Co-operative Fisheries Limited, IMO Foods, James L. Mood Fisheries Ltd., Breakers Fish Company Ltd., Gidney Fisheries Ltd. and Golden Alliance Canada Inc. will also attend to access new markets, seek new customers, and discover business opportunities.

Learn more about Nova Scotia's seafood sector and the companies exhibiting at Seafood Expo Global, or visit Nova Scotia Seafood at Booth 9-4089.

Fisher King Seafoods Ltd. will use the event to promote its line of products, including, lobster, crab, and scallops produced from sustainable resources to its growing business throughout Europe with the anticipated finalization of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and to the strong contingent attending from Asia. "We utilize this event to both maintain our presence in the frozen seafood market, and explore new opportunities and connections," said John Andrews, Export Manager, Fisher King Seafoods Ltd. "The show provides the opportunity to learn from those participating in the primary resource industry, and our end user customers about trends and directions related to all frozen seafood items."

Sea Star Seafoods Ltd. will be attending with a variety of salted and dried ground fish. "We are proud to exhibit for a second year in Brussels. It will be exciting to explore the possibilities that CETA will bring and have these discussions with new and existing customers," said Adlai Cunningham, President, Sea Star Seafoods Ltd.

Victoria Co-operative Fisheries Limited purchases their products from harvesters daily, offering fresh and premium products. "Our locally owned, harvester co-operative is positioning itself for the expected new markets in Europe that will occur due to the CETA agreement between Canada and the European Union. This is a tremendous opportunity for all Nova Scotia based seafood producers to increase Exports with direct benefits to our local economy," said Osborne Burke, General Manager, Victoria Co-operative Fisheries Limited. The company is currently shipping their products around the world.

IMO Foods with the Atlantic Ocean at their doorstep, IMO Foods produces private label canned herring, sardines and mackerel using freshly caught fish. Their products are rich in Omega-3, and produced sustainably with locally sourced and quality product.

Nautical Seafoods Ltd. will be attending Seafood Expo Global to reach new customers who are seeking live product. With a focus on trade business in the European market, Nautical Seafoods takes full advantage of their geographic location. "We are able to offer our customers the benefit of a strategic location in the Lobster Fishing Area 35. Landings are delivered by our fisherman right to our plant door. We then use our own trucks for delivery to nearby airports or the Port of Halifax," said Shawn Everett, President, Nautical Seafoods Ltd.

James L. Mood Fisheries Ltd. with a mission to broaden business relationships and venture into air freight with live lobster, James L. Mood Fisheries is looking for new partnerships in the European and Asian markets. A family owned and operated wholesale seafood business, James L. Mood Fisheries deals in multiple specials that keep business operational year-round.

Breakers Fish Company Ltd. with a strong relationship and integrity in the market, Breakers Fish Co. is holding to build on that presence and seek new long-term partners at Seafood Expo Global. Breakers Fish Co. has a combined 125 years of experience in the industry and specializes in fresh and frozen products around the world.

Gidney Fisheries Ltd. have been procuring, selecting, processing and delivering the finest quality lobsters since 1892. Lobsters are purchased from local fisherman, graded to meet the highest quality standards, processed in a technologically advanced storage facility and delivered through efficient logistics. Gidney Fisheries also offers fresh, frozen and salted ground fish, scallops, crabs, and dogfish.

Golden Alliance Canada Inc. is an all year-round supplier of premium frozen seafood company with solid market and expert product knowledge. Innovation and new product development have been part of Golden Alliance Canada Inc. since its inception. Their reputation has earned the trust of our industry in both Canada, China and other countries.

About Nova Scotia's Seafood Industry:

In 2016, Nova Scotia's fish and seafood products were valued at $1.8 Billion

Nova Scotia is Canada's number one seafood exporter, accounting for more than 27% of the country's total national seafood exports

Nova Scotia is home to 4,000 registered fishing vessels and 5,400 commercial fishing license holders

35% of Canada's shellfish exports come from Nova Scotia

The province offers new direct routes into other markets by air; allowing for fast delivery of live lobster products

Nova Scotia supplies  of all scallops exported from Canada

Nova Scotia's top exports to the European Union include: fresh lobster, cold water shrimps and prawns, frozen lobster and scallops

The top three countries in the EU that benefit from Nova Scotia's pure seafood products include: Denmark, Belgium and the United Kingdom

Nova Scotia Business Inc. is the private-sector-led business development agency of Nova Scotia, Canada. We attract global investment to create new jobs across the province and work with companies in all communities to be more successful exporters. Our clients benefit from our business advisory services, skill development and training, and support as they access global markets and succeed in the global economy.

The Nova Scotia Seafood logo is available for use.

Media Contact:

Lorraine Doridam

Marketing and Communications Advisor

Nova Scotia Business Inc.

T: 902.424.6685

E: ldoridam@nsbi.ca
Parents from Central Middle School in Park Hills were alarmed and concerned after receiving a message from Principal Mike Harlow Friday evening about two students who had been arrested earlier in the day after they brought weapons to the school and had allegedly planned to attack two people.

According to information received from the school district, two students brought multiple knives to school in their backpacks and were allegedly planning to harm a staff member and a student one week from (Friday).

Fortunately, another student found out about the plan and immediately reported it to Harlows office Friday afternoon. According to school administrators, the knives were retrieved from the students backpacks without incident and the Park Hills Police Department was notified immediately. Both students were placed under arrest for violation of the Missouri Safe Schools Act and suspended from school pending further investigation

The Safe Schools Act, which was originally passed in 1996, requires school administrators to report to their local police department, as soon as is reasonably practical, any felony or act that if committed by an adult would be a felony, including possession of a weapon, when committed on school property or while involved in a school activity.

The law also requires that the schools disciplinary policy provide for suspension for not less than one year, or expulsion for a student who brings a weapon to school. However, the law allows for school administrators to modify the suspension on a case-by-case basis and further states that suspension does not prevent the school district from providing educational services in an alternative setting to students who have been so disciplined.

Central Middle School and the Central R-III district place a high priority on the safety of our students and staff, Harlows message to parents and guardians stated. Unfortunately, we have had an incident at the middle school that demands the attention of our students and parents.

Harlow also said, I hope that our students are aware that bringing or being in possession of a weapon at school can and will result in an arrest and suspension from our school. Also, students need to feel free to inform a school official if they ever feel in danger or see a weapon.

We appreciate the cooperation and assistance from our students. Please accept my assurance that I will continue to do everything I can to maintain a safe and secure campus. We have a great school and I want to do everything I can to maintain the excellence in education that our community expects.

Harlow indicated that the incident is under investigation by police. Because the students are minors, no names have been released.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- On this 33rd annual National Day of Mourning, Prevention Link remembers and pays respect to the many Ontario and Canadian workers who have been killed, injured or suffered illness because of work-related incidents. We also honour the many families and friends who have been deeply affected by these tragedies.

"Every worker has the right to return home safe and sound at the end of each work day," said Rob Halpin, Executive Director of Prevention Link. "Our team remains boldly committed to working with employers, workers and our health and safety partners to improve health and safety in the workplace and prevent further injuries, illnesses and deaths."

Approximately 230,000 Ontario workers are injured or made sick at work every year, thousands of others pass away years later due to resulting health complications and still other cases, undoubtedly, go unreported or unacknowledged.

"It is additionally crucial to recognize that mental health and illness is increasingly claiming the lives of more workers in many occupations across the province each year due to lack of conversation and acknowledgement of the disease as a significant health complication," said Halpin.

Beginning May 6, Prevention Link will launch its new Occupational Mental Health and Illness 101 workshops. The half-day workshop, guided by Dr. Wendy Stanyon - a mental health nurse and academic - aims to open the conversation around mental health challenges in workplaces across Ontario.

"Occupational injuries and illnesses are a preventable workplace epidemic that continues to cost tens of thousands of lives and impact many working families in Ontario. We must continue to work collaboratively to ensure every working Ontarian gets home safe."

Prevention Link staff will be attending National Day of Mourning events around the province.

Prevention Link, a Government of Ontario supported initiative governed by the Ontario Federation of Labour Executive Committee, is a leading provider of training and advisory support on secondary prevention of workplace injury in the province. For information, visit preventionlink.ca and follow @PreventionLink on Facebook and Twitter.

Contacts:

Ogho Ikhalo

Senior Communications & Outreach Specialist

Prevention Link

416-443-7654

oikhalo@preventionlink.ca




HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Although not frequently discussed, Dr. Bernardino Arocha, a hair loss surgeon in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and New Orleans, says female hair loss is actually more common than most people believe. The American Academy of Dermatology has stated that 40% of women will experience visible hair loss by the time they turn 40 years old. In addition to the obvious cosmetic impact hair loss has on women, Dr. Arocha highlights that female hair loss often correlates with a pronounced loss in confidence. He says advanced hair loss solutions can not only provide help women restore their hair with natural-looking results, but also renew their self-esteem.

According to Dr. Arocha, testosterone has traditionally been blamed for the onset of pattern hair loss. However, in the past few decades, scientists have discovered that a high level of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is actually the cause of this condition. Pattern hair loss occurs when testosterone is converted to DHT. As Dr. Arocha points out, since women have small, naturally-occurring levels of testosterone in their bodies, pattern hair loss can occur in women if the level of dihydrotestosterone spikes.

Dr. Arocha notes that female pattern hair loss is only one of many reasons a woman may begin to lose her hair. Common factors that can induce hair loss in women include hormonal fluctuations, stress, pregnancy, menopause, anemia, thyroid conditions, and vitamin or mineral deficiencies. In addition, Dr. Arocha says, some women may also experience hair loss caused by hair styling techniques that damage or break the hair, including braids, ponytails, hair extensions, styling tools, or chemical treatments.

Regardless of the cause, Dr. Arocha says a number of available hair loss treatment methods can be very effective for restoring the hair. For some of his patients, he notes that a topical solution such as ROGAINE can be a sufficient remedy. Other non-surgical options at Dr. Arocha's practice include Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy, which utilizes microneedling to stimulate the body's healing process as well as new hair growth. Surgical options such as follicular unit extraction (FUE) can transfer the patient's hair from a donor site to the thinning areas for exceptionally natural-looking results, says Dr. Arocha. His patients who choose FUE have typically been able to enjoy a full head of their own naturally-growing hair that can be cut or styled however they please.

Ultimately, Dr. Arocha explains, women who are suffering from hair loss should know that it is a very common condition and that advanced treatment options from an experienced hair restoration surgeon can often restore what has been lost with beautiful, long-lasting results.

About Dr. Bernardino A. Arocha

Bernardino Arocha, MD is a board-certified hair restoration surgeon who has performed more than 4,000 hair transplant surgeries. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery, a Fellow of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, and an active member of the American Society of Hair Restoration Surgery and the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. Dr. Arocha is also the Founder and President of Arocha Hair Restoration, a comprehensive hair loss treatment practice with offices in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and New Orleans. He is available for interview upon request.

To learn more about Dr. Bernardino Arocha and his hair restoration practice, visit arochahairrestoration.com or facebook.com/ArochaHairRestoration.

To view the original source of this press release, click here: http://www.arochahairrestoration.com/hair-loss-treatments/female-pattern-hair-loss-austin-houston-and-dallas-hair-transplant-surgeon-discusses-causes-and-treatments/

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Arocha Hair Restoration



Houston

3005 Huldy St.

Houston, TX 77098



Dallas

5452 Glen Lakes Dr.

Suite 201

Dallas, TX 75231



Austin

13785 Research Blvd.

Suite 125

Austin, TX 78750



New Orleans Location

201 St. Charles Avenue, Suite 2500

New Orleans, Louisiana, 70170



(713) 526-4247

1-888-723-HAIR



Rosemont Media

(858) 200-0044

www.rosemontmedia.com




LAGOS, Nigeria, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

West Africa's leading connectivity and data center solutions provider, MainOne has pledged its commitment to boost Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Ogun State with a data center project in Sagamu. During a recent courtesy visit of the company's Board and Management to the Executive Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and his cabinet, the company's Chairman, Fola Adeola, disclosed MainOne's plans to make investments that will boost ICT development in the state.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/494071/MainOne_Data_Center.jpg )



Affirming the company's commitment to the digital transformation of Nigeria, Mr. Adeola highlighted the untapped investment opportunities in the country, noting that ICT infrastructure investments will support rapid technology proliferation in the State. "Given its market and reputation as haven for manufacturing and other enterprises, growth potential, investment-friendly disposition and proximity to Lagos State, Ogun State has the potential to become one of the major hubs of industrialization in Nigeria. Technology has a major role to play in that evolution. The focus of the state government on infrastructural development is a welcome development, and technology will be critical to achieve the full potential for economic development," Mr. Adeola said.

In his comments, the Governor highlighted the investor-friendly posture of his administration, and its focus to 'Rebuild the Gateway State', which is already attracting a significant portion of new FDI investments into Nigeria to the state. "We believe that infrastructure development is a vital component for Ogun State's economic growth and have continued to invest in new road and rail infrastructure within the state, which is already transforming the ease of doing business. In addition, Ogun State has a network of 21 tertiary institutions, which guarantees employers a capable indigenous workforce," he said.

Corroborating these statements, the Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Funke Opeke explained, "As a pioneering broadband company in Nigeria, we are excited to partner with Ogun State by creating in Sagamu a technology hub, capable of attracting local and international technology companies to do business in the state. This is similar to what we have achieved in Lagos, where we transformed the Yaba area into Nigeria's undisputed 'Silicon Valley' that is now attracting international attention and investments. Yaba is home to a significant number of Nigeria's tech hubs and start up community and has created thousands of direct jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs, by stimulation of the ISP, eCommerce and ICT sectors."

MainOne hopes to start building its Data Center in Sagamu, Ogun State later this year. The facility which is based in the Flowergate Industrial Park is designed to provide services to the burgeoning base of industry in Ogun State and serve as a backup for businesses in Lagos who will enjoy easy access through the Lagos-Ibadan expressway once repairs are complete.
The Asian Development Bank will provide Singapore-based Sunseap Group with $9.2 million. The company will use the funds to construct Cambodia's first large-scale PV plant, a 10 MW facility located in Svay Rieng Province.The Asian Development Bank has agreed to lend 9.2 to Singapore-based Sunseap Group for the building of a 10 MW solar facility in Cambodia. The financing package, which was provided by ADB's Private Sector Operations Department (PSOD), includes co-financing from a private sector financial institution through ADB's B Loan program and a concessional loan from the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia (CFPS). The project, which will be Cambodia's first large-scale PV power plant, will be located close to Bavet, a special economic zone in the Svay Rieng province, near the border with Vietnam. Sunseap's local unit Sunseap (Asset) Cambodia Co. Ltd has already secured ...

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.
Established markets facing biggest ever wealth transfer

Asia's share of single family offices stands at just 17 percent

UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, today announces the launch of the Family Office Compass, a strategic toolkit to help ultra high net worth families flourish across generations.

The Family Office Compass addresses one of the key findings of the Global Family Office Report 2016: Nearly 70 percent of family offices expect a generational transition within the next 15 years, yet just 37 percent of them believe that the next generation want to play a more prominent role in managing their family's affairs. This reluctance is often not due to a lack of interest or aptitude, but rather an inability to identify ways to participate that suit their personal interests and life trajectories. For many families, placing trust in potential successors can be a challenge. Family offices can find it equally demanding to maintain relevance with the younger generation. The Family Office Compass is designed to help overcome these potential obstacles, so that generational transition is a success and family wealth continues to grow multi-generationally.

The Family Office Compass, developed in conjunction with the Cambridge Institute for Family Enterprise, not only guides families in how to set up a state-of-the-art family office, but also offers them a perspective on the strategic role of a family office beyond traditional and short-term wealth management. It demonstrates how a family office can guide the family from generation to generation, ensuring that members stay unified and preserve and grow its wealth.

Meanwhile, new research by Campden Wealth shows that the global population of single family offices (SFOs) today is 5,300. Over 75 percent of these are located in either Europe or North America, while another 17 percent are in Asia Pacific and over 8 percent in emerging markets. These single family offices cater to individuals with USD100 million or more in investable assets.

According to Campden's estimates, 740 family offices globally are owned by ultra high net worth individuals with assets under management of USD1 billion or more in investable wealth. Of these, 30 percent are based in Europe, 36 percent in North America, 24 percent in Asia Pacific and 10 percent in emerging markets. The UBS/PwC Billionaires Report (2016) found that there are 1,397 billionaires across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Based on this number and our estimate of billionaire family offices per region, we can calculate that 65 percent of European billionaires have a family office, compared with 50 percent of those based in North America and 34 percent in Asia Pacific.

John Mathews, Head of Private Wealth Management and Ultra High Net Worth, UBS, Wealth Management Americas said: "It is crucial for families wanting to create lasting financial success to identify their driving purpose and to formulate an overall family strategy. Clarity of purpose for the family, and in turn, the family office leads to improved performance of the family office over time and increased usefulness to the family. This compass offers us a detailed road map for a family office to succeed and survive over generations."

Notes to Editors

About UBS

UBS is committed to providing private, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland, with superior financial advice and solutions, while generating attractive and sustainable returns for shareholders. Its strategy centers on its Wealth Management and Wealth Management Americas businesses and its leading universal bank in Switzerland, complemented by its Asset Management business and its Investment Bank. These businesses share three key characteristics: they benefit from a strong competitive position in their targeted markets, are capital-efficient, and offer a superior structural growth and profitability outlook. UBS's strategy builds on the strengths of all of its businesses and focuses its efforts on areas in which it excels, while seeking to capitalize on the compelling growth prospects in the businesses and regions in which it operates. Capital strength is the foundation of its success.

Wealthy clients seek professionals who understand their unique challenges, passions and ambitions. Due to UBS's long experience of working with the most sophisticated ultra high net worth clients globally, we have developed a unique understanding of their mindset, motivations and core values. We join forces with them to create bespoke solutions which are bold, innovative and tailored precisely to their individual needs. The four dimensions of Great Wealth business, investments, passion, and legacy form the basis on which we open a dialogue and begin a partnership with our clients across generations for generations, so that Great Wealth endures.

About UBS Wealth Management Americas

Wealth Management Americas is one of the leading wealth managers in the Americas in terms of financial advisor productivity and invested assets. Its business includes UBS's domestic US and Canadian wealth management businesses, as well as international business booked in the US. It provides a fully integrated set of wealth management solutions designed to address the needs of ultra high net worth and high net worth clients.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006430/en/

Contacts:

Media

UBS Wealth Management Americas

Maya Dillon, +1 212-713-3130

mdillon@ubs.com

or

Headland Consultancy

Del Jones, +44-20-3805 4860

djones@headlandconsultancy.com

Oliver Tilley, +44-20-3805 4836

otilley@headlandconsultancy.com

Danny Calogero, +44-20-3805 4849

dcalogero@headlandconsultancy.com

Martin Robinson, +44-20-3805 4828

mrobinson@headlandconsultancy.com

or

UBS Group AG

Switzerland: +41-44-234 85 00

UK: +44-207-568 99 82

Americas: +1-212-882 58 57

APAC: +852-297-1 82 00

www.ubs.com
Systech Showcased at Partner Booths with Etipack, Inno4Life, and Videojet

PRINCETON, New Jersey, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Systech International, a global technology leader in brand protection solutions, is proud to feature its innovative serialization and traceability solutions at Interpack 2017 on 04-10 May 2017 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Systech will demonstrate its solutions in collaboration with three of its value-added partners: Etipack, Inno4Life, and Videojet.

Given the increasing number of counterfeit medicines and the fast-approaching EU Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) deadlines, as well as serialization deadlines worldwide, the pharmaceutical industry is now entering a crucial phase. Stakeholders throughout the supply chain must comply with the new regulations to ensure maximum patient safety. In the areas of serialization and traceability, Systech's solutions are founded on a more than 30-year history of vision and inspection, with widespread adoption by the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Systech's serialization solutions provide full regulatory compliance on any packaging line, anywhere in the world - UniSeries' is deployed on nearly 1,600 packaging lines globally, more than any other serialization solution. Systech's traceability solution UniTrace' provides the most secure supply chain available, and works with all major serialization solutions. The technology enables end-to-end tracking from point of manufacture to point of dispensation via an intuitive, web-based interface-enabling complete visibility to maintain patient safety. Systech and its global network of partners stand ready to assist firms in meeting their specific country's regulatory deadline as well as to countries of export.

About Systech's Partners

Etipack has been a leading designer of labeling and coding systems for self-adhesive labels, feeders and pick & place devices since 1978. The company's mission is to create flexible solutions tailored to user requirements, by means of modular machinery that can be personalized according to the specific needs of particular industrial sectors. Systech's UniSeries serialization solution will be on display at Stand D38 in Hall 12.

Inno4Life specializes in complex customer-specific equipment and services the Life Science industries, primarily the Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Clinical Instrumentation and Food industries. The Inno4Life serialization equipment solutions are designed to simplify packaging processes and are compatible with all high-tech production facility and software processes. Systech's UniSolve delivery solution will be on display at Stand A59 in Hall 8a.

Videojet Technologies Inc. provides coding and marking solutions through a broad range of technologies. Videojet applies data-such as best-by dates, production date, lot number and operator information, as well as linear and 2D bar codes-onto product packaging, shipping containers, and pallets around the world. Videojet is hosting its own Track & Trace Forum throughout the show, with Systech's serialization solutions running in simulation mode with pack-by-layer and aggregation examples, and Systech representatives in the booth throughout the expo. Videojet's forum is at Stand A01 in the balcony in Hall 6.

About Systech International

Systech, a global leader in product verification and brand protection, is re-defining the future of authentication. As the innovator of serialization, Systech is trusted by top pharmaceutical companies worldwide to ensure regulatory compliance, mitigate risk, ensure supply chain integrity, and drive efficiency. Beyond compliance, the company is leading the charge to protect global brands-for consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, health & beauty, pharmaceutical, and contract manufacturing companies. Its best practices and award-winning technologies are guiding Product and Brand Protection Officers in their quest to improve patient/consumer safety, increase engagement, decrease counterfeiting, avoid diversion, and reduce harm to coveted brands. For more information visit www.systechone.com.

SYSTECH CONTACT

Erin Dunkel

Vice President, Marketing

+1 (610) 761-8960

Erin.Dunkel@systechone.com

Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/461585/Systech_Logo.jpg
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- First Mining Finance Corp. ("First Mining" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: FF)(OTCQX: FFMGF)(FRANKFURT: FMG) is pleased to announce the first assay results from the first 12 holes of a 106 hole, 28,500 metre diamond drill in-fill program on its 100% owned Goldlund Gold Project ("Goldlund"), located near the town of Sioux Lookout in northwestern Ontario, Canada.

Highlights:

-- Hole GL-17-044 intersected 26.0 metres of 2.14 grams per tonne gold -- Including 2.0 metres of 18.43 grams per tonne gold -- Hole GL-17-021 intersected 52.0 metres of 2.21 grams per tonne gold -- Including 2.0 metres of 43.09 grams per tonne gold -- Hole GL-17-017 intersected 62.0 metres of 0.90 grams per tonne gold -- Including 2.0 metres of 12.74 grams per tonne gold

Note: Assaying for the Goldlund 2017 drill program is being done by SGS at their laboratories in Red Lake, Ontario, and Burnaby, BC. Reported widths are drilled core lengths; true widths are unknown at this time. Assay values are uncut.

The goal of the 2017 drilling campaign at Goldlund is to upgrade Inferred resources into the Measured and Indicated categories with the majority of the drilling focused on Zone 7 and Zone 1 (Figure 1). The total budgeted amount of drilling is 28,500 metres within 106 drill holes using HQ sized (63.5 mm) core. Table 1 shows the results of drilling the first 12 holes for the 2017 Goldlund drilling campaign and Table 2 provides additional drill hole information.

Commenting on the results, Patrick Donnelly, President of First Mining stated, "We are extremely pleased with the first assay results from Goldund in which 12 out of 12 drill holes contain significant intercepts of gold mineralization, including a number of high grade intercepts. We expect that additional results from Goldlund will continue to increase our confidence in the resource. The current drilling program is 60% complete and we expect to complete the program in early summer. Once the drilling campaign is completed, the results will be compiled in order to make plans for a much larger drill campaign which will be announced once definitive plans are completed."

In addition, Keith Neumeyer, the Chairman of First Mining, stated "We also wanted to take this opportunity to comment on recent trading activity in the junior gold market. In December of last year, First Mining was added to the VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners Exchange Traded Fund (the "GDXJ"), a well-known Exchange Traded Fund that invests in junior gold companies. According to their most recent public filings, the GDXJ holds over 15% of the outstanding shares of First Mining. The GDXJ recently announced a change in their investment criteria in order to allow a larger number of companies into their portfolio so that they could distribute their capital over a larger pool of companies. These changes mean that the GDXJ will be required to significantly rebalance its portfolio. We believe that this announcement has contributed to the recent declines in the share price of First Mining, along with a number of other junior gold companies. We wanted to let investors know that it is business as usual at First Mining. We are making good progress with our exploration programs at our projects, and expect to release further drill results from our Goldlund project over the next few weeks. I remain as convinced as ever that the fundamentals for gold remain strong and that the volatility we are seeing is only a temporary distortion."

Table 1. Drill Hole Assay Results from Goldlund

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au g/t ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-016 GL-17-016 40.0 48.0 8.0 0.77 and 54.0 64.0 10.0 0.55 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-017 5.7 210.0 204.3 0.45 inc 12.0 74.0 62.0 0.90 and inc 12.0 38.0 26.0 1.79 and inc 32.0 38.0 6.0 5.46 and inc 32.0 34.0 2.0 12.74 GL-17-017 and 106.0 116.0 10.0 1.86 inc 106.0 112.0 6.0 2.91 and inc 106.0 108.0 2.0 7.38 and 134.0 140.0 6.0 0.54 and 204.0 244.0 40.0 0.32 inc 236.0 244.0 8.0 0.66 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-018 30.0 112.0 82.0 0.43 inc 30.0 38.0 8.0 0.83 GL-17-018 and inc 52.0 72.0 20.0 0.70 and inc 70.0 72.0 2.0 3.26 and inc 104.0 110.0 6.0 1.33 and inc 108.0 110.0 2.0 3.53 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-019 118.0 126.0 8.0 0.45 GL-17-019 and 152.0 170.0 18.0 0.55 inc 166.0 170.0 4.0 1.82 and 226.0 232.0 6.0 0.98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-21 155.0 365.0 210.0 0.85 inc 155.0 207.0 52.0 2.21 and inc 185.0 203.0 18.0 5.14 GL-17-21 and inc 201.0 203.0 2.0 43.09 and inc 273.0 301.0 28.0 1.38 and inc 281.0 283.0 2.0 8.80 and inc 289.0 291.0 2.0 6.29 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-031 25.0 59.0 34.0 0.91 GL-17-031 inc 51.0 59.0 8.0 2.81 and inc 55.0 57.0 2.0 8.77 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-034 GL-17-034 104.0 134.0 30.0 0.98 inc 108.0 110.0 2.0 8.75 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assaying for the Goldlund 2017 drill program is being done by SGS at their laboratories in Red Lake, Ontario, and Burnaby, BC. Prepared samples are analyzed for gold by either Bulk Leach Extractable Gold (BLEG) assay techniques or by lead fusion fire assay with an atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) finish. Multi-element analysis on the mineralized zones is also being undertaken by two-acid aqua regia digestion with ICP-MS and AES finish.

Table 1 (continued). Drill Hole Assay Results from Goldlund

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au g/t ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-043 GL-17-043 58.0 74.0 16.0 0.34 inc 72.0 74.0 2.0 1.29 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-044 80.0 106.0 26.0 2.14 GL-17-044 inc 82.0 92.0 10.0 4.85 and inc 88.0 90.0 2.0 18.43 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-046 40.0 156.0 116.0 0.62 inc 48.0 74.0 26.0 1.15 GL-17-046 and inc 64.0 68.0 4.0 3.22 and inc 128.0 152.0 24.0 1.31 and inc 150.0 152.0 2.0 10.67 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-047 96.0 204.0 108.0 0.47 GL-17-047 inc 128.0 130.0 2.0 16.95 and 248.0 254.0 6.0 3.55 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-048 GL-17-048 108.0 160.0 52.0 0.36 inc 134.0 136.0 2.0 3.92 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Assaying for the Goldlund 2017 drill program is being done by SGS at their laboratories in Red Lake, Ontario, and Burnaby, BC. Prepared samples are analyzed for gold by either Bulk Leach Extractable Gold (BLEG) assay techniques or by lead fusion fire assay with an atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) finish. Multi-element analysis on the mineralized zones is also being undertaken by two-acid aqua regia digestion with ICP-MS and AES finish.

Figure 1. Plan Map

To view figure one - Plan Map - please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/FirstMiningFig1.pdf

Figure 2. Cross-Section through the Goldlund Project

To view figure two - Drill Hole Locations - please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/FirstMiningFig2.pdf

Table 2. Drill Hole Locations

Hole ID Azimuth degrees Dip degrees Length (m) UTM East UTM North Section ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-016 0 -90 152 545648 5527228 545650E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-017 180 -80 302 545648 5527228 545650E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-018 0 -90 149 545648 5527213 545650E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-019 0 -90 374 545651 5527183 545650E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-021 0 -90 383 545649 5527159 545650E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-031 0 -90 125 545601 5527214 545600E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-034 0 -90 228 545601 5527177 545600E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-043 0 -90 107 545550 5527211 545550E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-044 0 -90 200 545550 5527194 545550E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-046 0 -90 209 545549 5527171 545550E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-047 0 -90 278 545550 5527154 545550E ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- GL-17-048 180 -80 302 545550 5527154 545550E ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gold observed during the current drilling program occurs both as fine disseminations in quartz vein stockworks and as more discrete larger grains up to 2 mm spatially associated with pyrite in the quartz veins. Calaverite, a gold telluride mineral, has been noted occasionally in higher grade intervals on fracture surfaces in the quartz veins. Higher grade gold distribution in the granodiorite dike is often, but not always, associated with zones of more intense quartz stockworking and potassic alteration. Figure 2 displays a cross-section of the geology and gold mineralization with drill holes GL-17-16 to GL-17-19 and GL-17-21.

QA/QC Procedures

The QA/QC program for the 2017 drilling program consists of the submission of duplicate samples and the insertion of certified reference materials and blanks at regular intervals. These are inserted at a rate of one standard for every 20 samples (5% of total) and one blank for every 30 samples (3% of total). The standards used in the 2017 program consist of 5 different gold grades ranging from 1 to 9 g/t, and are sourced from CDN Resource Laboratories in Langley, BC. Blanks have been sourced locally from barren granitic material.

Field duplicates from quartered core, as well as 'coarse' or 'pulp' duplicates taken from coarse reject material or pulverized splits, are also submitted at regular intervals with an insertion rate of 4% for field duplicates and 4% for coarse or pulp duplicates. Additional selected duplicates are being submitted for screened metallic fire assay analysis and to an umpire lab for check assaying. SGS also undertake their own internal coarse and pulp duplicate analysis to ensure proper sample preparation and equipment calibration.

Dr. Chris Osterman, P.Geo., CEO of First Mining, is the "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and he has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.

ABOUT THE GOLDLUND PROJECT

The Goldlund deposit is situated within a land package of approximately 280 square kilometres (28,000 hectares) referred to as the Goldlund Gold Project. The Property has a strike-length of over 50 kilometres in the Wabigoon Subprovince. Goldlund is an Archean lode-gold project located in northwestern Ontario, approximately 60 kilometres from the township of Dryden. The claims that make up the land package cover the historic Goldlund and Windward mines.

On January 9, 2017 the Company announced an initial mineral resource estimate for Goldlund. At a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off grade, the Goldlund deposit contains pit constrained Indicated Resources of 9.3 million tonnes at 1.87 grams per tonne or 560,000 ounces of gold. At a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off grade, the Goldlund deposit contains pit constrained Inferred Resources of 40.9 million tonnes at 1.33 grams per tonne or 1,750,000 ounces of gold. The technical report for this resource estimate has been filed on SEDAR and is also available on the Company's website at www.firstminingfinance.com.

ABOUT FIRST MINING FINANCE CORP.

First Mining is a mineral property holding company whose principal business activity is to acquire high quality mineral assets with a focus in the Americas. The Company currently holds a portfolio of 25 mineral assets in Canada, Mexico and the United States with a focus on gold. Ultimately, the goal is to continue to increase its portfolio of mineral assets through acquisitions that are expected to be comprised of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and nickel.

ON BEHALF OF FIRST MINING FINANCE CORP.

Keith Neumeyer, Chairman

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements"(collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the future operating or financial performance of the Company, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things: completion of the current drilling program at the Goldlund project; commencement of a follow-on drilling program at the Goldlund project; the potential results of such drilling programs; any upgrade to, or expansion of, the resources on the Goldlund project; and the exploration potential and upside of the Goldlund project. 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. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the results of future exploration efforts at the Goldlund project; management's discretion to refocus its exploration efforts; fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar); changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding); the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; and title to properties. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these times. Except as required by law, First Mining does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

First Mining Finance Corp.

Patrick Donnelly

President

604-639-8854



First Mining Finance Corp.

Derek Iwanaka

Vice President, Investor Relations

604-639-8824

www.firstminingfinance.com




Washington D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2017) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former broker with knowingly or recklessly trading unsuitable investment products in the accounts of five customers and misappropriating more than $170,000 from one of those customers.

The SEC's complaint alleges that Demitrios Hallas repeatedly traded unsuitable investments in his customers' accounts, exposing customers who were unsophisticated with limited or no investing experience and modest incomes, net worth levels, and assets to a significant degree of volatility and risk. In a little more than a year, Hallas allegedly traded 179 daily leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs) and exchange traded notes (ETNs) - products that the SEC alleges are inherently risky, complex and volatile, and only appropriate for sophisticated investors - in the customers' accounts, generating commissions and fees of approximately $128,000. The net loss across all 179 positions was approximately $150,000. The SEC's complaint further alleges that Hallas misappropriated more than $170,000 in funds from one customer. Instead of investing the funds on the customer's behalf, Hallas allegedly deposited the funds into his own personal bank accounts and spent them on personal expenses, including significant bar and restaurant bills, credit card and student loan payments, and rent.

The SEC previously issued an Investor Alert warning about excessive trading and churning that can occur in brokerage accounts, and an Investor Bulletin educating investors about ETNs and the risks associated with them.

"As alleged in our complaint, Hallas enriched himself by systematically disregarding his customers' investment profiles and repeatedly trading in risky, volatile products that were unsuitable for them," said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC's New York Regional Office and Co-Chair of the Enforcement Division's Broker Dealer Task Force. "As reflected in this case and our recent case against two former JD Nicholas brokers, the SEC is very focused on brokers who seek to exploit their customers by willfully recommending unsuitable trades or strategies to them."

The SEC's complaint charges Hallas with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. The complaint seeks a permanent injunction as well as the return of ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Michael C. Ellis and Thomas P. Smith Jr. in the New York office. The litigation will be led by David Stoelting and Mr. Ellis, and the case is being supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa. The examination that led to the investigation was conducted by Ronald Krietzman, John Celio, Dee-Ann DiSalvo, and Bernard Bujak.
Regulatory News:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (ticker: PSH:NA) today held its Annual General Meeting of shareholders (AGM) in St. Peter Port, Guernsey. At the AGM, PSH shareholders passed resolutions: to receive the annual report and the financial statements; to re-elect the Company's five directors; to re-appoint the Company's auditor; to authorize the Company to buy back shares; to amend the investment policy; to exchange the class B shares for a new special voting share; to amend the Articles of Incorporation of the Company (including those required in connection with the London Stock Exchange listing); and to permit the disapplication of pre-emption rights for certain capital raises.

The specifics of those resolutions can be can be found in the Notice of Annual General Meeting available on the Company's website, https://www.pershingsquareholdings.com/company-reports/notices-shareholders/.

The results of the proxy voting in respect of the public shares (the "Public Shares") are noted in the chart below. All the management shares (the "Management Shares") voted in favour of the resolutions and represented 8,964,540 weighted votes. PS Independent Voting Company Limited ("VoteCo") voted all of its shares in favour of the resolutions. The percentages in the chart aggregate the results of voting by the Public Shares, Management Shares and VoteCo.

Resolution For Against Abstain Ordinary Resolutions 1 118,453,794 100% 0 0% 4,032 2 117,235,719 99.72% 718,405 0.28% 503,702 3 95,405,740 90.97% 23,048,054 9.03% 4,032 4 102,143,006 93.61% 16,310,788 6.39% 4,032 5 108,887,428 96.89% 7,826,178 3.11% 4,032 6 117,932,768 99.80% 521,026 0.20% 4,032 7 117,932,768 99.80% 521,026 0.20% 4,032 8 117,951,722 99.80% 502,072 0.20% 4,032 Special Resolution (authorizing the Company to buy back shares) 9 118,453,794 100% 0 0% 4,032 Special Resolution (amendment to the Company's investment policy) 10 118,293,794 99.87% 160,000 0.13% 4,032 Special Resolution (amendment to the Company's articles of incorporation) 11 118,293,794 99.87% 160,000 0.13% 4,032 Special Resolution (authorizing the Company to exchange class B shares for a new special voting share) 12 118,453,794 100% 0 0% 4,032 Special Resolution (disapplication of pre-emption rights) 13 106,506,694 92.80% 8,917,600 7.20% 3,033,532

In addition, PSH today announced that, following its 28 March 2017 announcement to seek a London Stock Exchange ("LSE") listing, PSH published a Summary Document in connection with the proposed admission of its ordinary shares to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the LSE's Main Market ("Admission").

Admission and dealings in PSH's ordinary shares are expected to commence on the LSE's Main Market at 8.00 a.m. (BST) on 2 May 2017.

The ISIN for the ordinary shares will be unchanged (ISIN: GG00BPFJTF46). The ticker on the LSE will be "PSH". PSH's listing on Euronext Amsterdam will not be affected.

Further details of Admission are set out in the Summary Document which is available on the PSH website, https://www.pershingsquareholdings.com/company-documents/, and can be reviewed at the offices of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, 65 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1HS, United Kingdom.

A copy of the Summary Document will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for review at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.

PSH also announced today that it has appointed Jefferies International Limited ("Jefferies") as joint corporate broker and sole buyback agent for the share buyback program ("Program") previously announced on 19 April 2017. The Program is expected to begin on 2 May 2017 when PSH's ordinary shares commence trading on the LSE's Main Market.

PSH will announce any market repurchase of shares no later than 7.30 a.m. (BST) on the business day following the calendar day on which the repurchase occurred. Shares bought back under the Program will be cancelled.

Pursuant to and during the term of the Program, Jefferies may, independently of, and without influence by, PSH, effect on-market purchases of shares from time to time at its absolute discretion on the LSE provided that the maximum price payable for a share may not exceed the higher of the price of the last independent trade and the highest current bid stipulated by Article 3(2) of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU/2016/1052).

The aggregate volume of shares purchased under the Program on each trading day shall not exceed 25% of the average daily volume traded on the trading venue on which the share purchase is carried out in the 20 trading days preceding each day on which share purchases are made.

In accordance with EU regulations, PSH advises shareholders that (a) the maximum amount of shares to be repurchased under the Program is expected to be approximately 5% of PSH's current outstanding public shares which at PSH's 21 April 2017 stock price represents about USD185,000,000, (b) the Program is expected to last approximately until PSH's next Annual General Meeting but may end earlier depending on exchange liquidity, and (c) the purpose of the Program is to reduce PSH's outstanding capital while reducing the discount to net asset value.

About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (PSH:NA) is an investment holding company structured as a closed ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006805/en/

Contacts:

Maitland

James Devas, +44 20 7379 5151

Media-pershingsquareholdings@maitland.co.uk
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Fortress Paper Ltd. ("Fortress Paper" or the "Company") (TSX: FTP)(OTCQX: FTPLF) is pleased to report that the World Trade Organization (the "WTO") issued its panel report today finding in favour of Canada in the dispute relating to China's imposition of anti-dumping measures on Canada's dissolving pulp industry. The WTO panel concluded that China's Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") failed to conduct its injury investigation in accordance with its WTO obligations. The timeframe provided to China to comply with today's decision will be negotiated by Canada and China or established by an independent arbitrator. At the end of this period, Canada could decide to initiate WTO compliance proceedings if it is of the view that China did not implement the panel's decision properly. Fortress Paper is of the view that a proper implementation of the panel decision should result in China removing anti-dumping duties on imports of Canadian dissolving pulp.

Yvon Pelletier, Chief Executive Officer of Fortress Paper, commented: "We are gratified by the WTO panel ruling and congratulate the Government of Canada, its legal team and dedicated government officials who provided unwavering support and commitment through more than two years of effort. Our relationships with viscose producers in China remain strong despite the challenges these duties presented to our business, and we are encouraged that, following implementation of this decision, our dissolving pulp sales channels will benefit through the expansion of business opportunities in China. In the meantime, we continue our efforts to optimize customer mix and geographical diversification."

About Fortress Paper

Fortress Paper operates internationally in two distinct business segments: dissolving pulp and security paper products. The Company operates its dissolving pulp business at the Fortress Specialty Cellulose mill located in Canada, which has expanded into the renewable energy generation sector with the construction of a cogeneration facility. The Company operates its security paper products business at the Landqart Mill located in Switzerland, where it produces banknote, passport, visa and other brand protection and security papers.

Contacts:

Fortress Paper Ltd.

604-904-2328

info@fortresspaper.com




"If 'never again' means anything, I had to be here today." The words came from a rabbi, calling to mind the Holocaust, standing among Christians outside a church in New York on Good Friday evening. The rabbi spoke at a former Catholic church, now being leased to Coptic Christians.

The rabbi and his audience gathered in response to the ISIS attacks on churches in Egypt, one an attempt to kill the Coptic pope.

I find that people are not pleased when a spotlight is shined on Christian persecution. There is the mistaken idea that if we're writing about it in the West, we must be talking about someone getting bent out of shape because of the so-called war on Christmas. Or, to be more seasonally appropriate, the Easter Bunny supplanting Christ's resurrection on Easter. There is also an assumption that persecuted Christians are looking for special privileges, not to mention a distaste for the unavoidable impression of victimhood.

Yes, Christians are persecuted. And in the case of Coptic Christians and so many other Christians and religious minorities in the Middle East, they are targets of genocide. They are also some of the most resilient people you're ever going to meet. They are forgiving, but not because they are merely passive victims. They are forgiving because they are beacons of a radical love beyond human understanding, and they rely on that love to help them through their difficult circumstances.

Under Caesar's Sword, a joint academic effort involving both the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University's Berkeley Center, among others, is well aware of the challenges. The project's new report, "In Response to Persecution," unpacks just what Christian persecution is, where it is happening and what Christians are doing in response -- surviving, associating and confronting -- some, of course, giving their lives for the cause of not only religious freedom but human dignity itself, as the two are inseparable.

The report explains that "most of the world's persecution of Christians takes place within a geographic band that begins around Libya, moves eastward to Egypt and the rest of the Middle East, expands north to Russia and south to Sri Lanka, and then proceeds eastward to China, Indonesia, and North Korea. Outside of this band are several other oppressive regimes, like Cuba." In some of these areas, though clearly not all, Christians are outnumbered. In some places -- including India and Indonesia -- democracy doesn't guarantee protection. In other countries, like Eritrea, Somalia and Yemen, persecution is so severe that they are "inaccessible to research."

When 21 men, most of them Coptic Christians, were beheaded on the shores of Libya in February 2015, they "accounted for a mere twenty-one of the 7,100 Christians" estimated to have died for their faith just that year alone. "This represents more than a 300 percent rise from the 2013 figure of 2,123, and does not include incidents of intimidation or nonlethal violence."

The report is full of advice for aid organizations, businesses and media. As Pope Francis heads to Egypt next week, ISIS's advance welcome was an attack on the 6th-century St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. A beacon of the Beatitudes, Pope Francis brings love and forgiveness with him. I'm reminded of the words of Christian de Cherge, a monk who was kidnapped and believed murdered by Islamist terrorists in Algeria in 1996. Shortly before he disappeared, he wrote a testament forgiving his killers in advance: "I have lived long enough to know that I share in the evil which seems, alas, to prevail in the world, even in that which would strike me blindly. I should like, when the time comes, to have a clear space which would allow me to beg forgiveness of God and of all my fellow human beings, and at the same time to forgive with all my heart the one who would strike me down."

Now is the time to beg forgiveness, too, for not having the time to pay attention and remedy our ways. If "never again" means anything, as the rabbi said on Good Friday.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- DIRTT Environmental Solutions (TSX: DRT) ("DIRTT" or "the Company") announced today it has been awarded a significant contract from a large international company, for interior construction projects in multiple locations. Details on the amount of work to be completed at each location are dependent on final design specifications, creating the potential for this first phase to exceed the US$5 million contract value and develop into a longer-term partnership between DIRTT and that company.

"DIRTT's ability to build custom, flexible and beautiful spaces rapidly and with cost certainty were key factors in securing this partnership," says Mogens Smed, CEO of DIRTT. "DIRTT's commitment to challenging the conventional construction norms of environmentally-damaging materials, excess waste and project delays were also a significant factor."

About DIRTT

DIRTT Environmental Solutions (Doing it Right This Time) uses its proprietary 3D software to design, manufacture and install fully customized prefabricated interiors. The Company's customers in the corporate, government, education and healthcare sectors benefit from DIRTT's precise design and costing; rapid lead times with the highest levels of customization and flexibility; and faster, cleaner construction. DIRTT's manufacturing facilities are in Phoenix, Savannah, Kelowna and Calgary. DIRTT's team supports more than 100 sales distribution partners throughout North America, the Middle East and Asia. DIRTT trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "DRT." For more information visit www.DIRTT.net or contact us at ir@DIRTT.net.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, without limitation, may contain the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans", or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of Management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. In the context of any forward-looking information please refer to risk factors detailed in, as well as other information contained in, the Company's filings with Securities Regulators (www.sedar.com). Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts:

Mogens Smed

CEO

DIRTT

msmed@DIRTT.net

403.616.7276



Scott Jenkins

President

DIRTT

sjenkins@dirtt.net

403.723.5009



Derek Payne

Chief Financial Officer

DIRTT

dpayne@dirtt.net

403.313.9879




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Greek yogurt giant Chobani has filed a lawsuit against Alex Jones, alleging that the radio host published false news about the company. Alex Jones is a high-profile conspiracy theorist and the host of a popular right-wing radio show The Alex Jones Show. According to Chobani, Jones and his website Infowars defamed the company by falsely linking Chobani and owner Hamdi Ulukaya to child rape and a tuberculosis outbreak near its plant in Twin Falls, Idaho. The suit was filed on Monday in district court in Twin Falls County, Idaho. The company is seeking $10,000 in damages. The reports were published on April 11 on InfoWars.com and on 'The Alex Jones Channel' on YouTube. They A tweet from Infowars read 'Idaho Yogurt maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists.' (Jones) is no stranger to spurious statements. He has claimed that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut,' Chobani's attorneys wrote. 'Mr. Jones has now taken aim at Chobani and the Twin Falls community.' 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.
TechnipFMC (NYSE: FTI) and (PARIS: FTI) has been awarded a subsea contract by Murphy Sabah Oil for the Phase 1A Block H Gas Development Project. The project is located in offshore Sabah, Malaysia, at a water depth of approximately 1,300 meters.

This contract covers the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning (EPCIC) of the umbilicals, risers and flowlines as well as the transportation and installation of subsea hardware and controls.

Hallvard Hasselknippe, President Subsea Projects at TechnipFMC, commented: "We are proud to have been awarded this contract from Murphy Sabah Oil which demonstrates the strength of our solutions and deepwater capabilities in Malaysia."

Note: this inbound order was included in the company's second quarter results.

Important Information for Investors and Securityholders

Forward-Looking Statement

This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "scheduled," "estimated" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which are generally not historical in nature. Such forward-looking statements involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or projections. Known material factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements include the Company's ability to successfully deliver, and Murphy Sabah Oil's acceptance of, the subsea products ordered. For additional information regarding known material factors that could cause actual results to differ from projected results, please see our risk factors set forth in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which include our Registration Statement on Form S-4, Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.

We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of our forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law.

About TechnipFMC

TechnipFMC is a global leader in subsea, onshore/offshore, and surface projects. With our proprietary technologies and production systems, integrated expertise, and comprehensive solutions, we are transforming our clients' project economics.

We are uniquely positioned to deliver greater efficiency across project lifecycles from concept to project delivery and beyond. Through innovative technologies and improved efficiencies, our offering unlocks new possibilities for our clients in developing their oil and gas resources.

Each of our more than 40,000 employees is driven by a steady commitment to clients and a culture of purposeful innovation, challenging industry conventions, and rethinking how the best results are achieved.

To learn more about us and how we are enhancing the performance of the world's energy industry, go to TechnipFMC.com and follow us on Twitter @TechnipFMC.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171102006570/en/

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TechnipFMC

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Vice President Investor Relations

Matt Seinsheimer

or

James Davis, +1-281-260-3665

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James Davis

or

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Christophe Belorgeot, +33 1 47 78 39 92

Vice President Corporate Communications

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Delphine Nayral

or

Lisa Adams, +1-281-405-4659

Senior Manager Digital Communications

Lisa Adams
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

(All amounts in US$ unless otherwise specified)

Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") (TSX: CS) today announced its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017. Cash flow from operating activities for the quarter was $4.1 million or $0.01 per share and cash flow from operating activities before changes in working capital for the quarter was $26.0 million or $0.07 per share. The net income for the quarter was $12.8 million or $0.03 per share and adjusted net income was $0.7 million or break-even on a per share basis after adjusting for certain non-cash and non-recurring charges. Copper production for the quarter totalled 24,002 tonnes (23,176 tonnes of payable copper) at a C1 cash cost[1]of $1.75 per payable pound produced with copper sales for the quarter of 20,771 tonnes at a C1 cash cost[1]of $1.74 per payable pound sold.

"Operational performance in the second quarter was on plan, with costs trending down from the first quarter," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "Most importantly, Pinto Valley returned to full production, setting quarterly and monthly throughput records."

"For the second half of the year, approximately half of our production is unhedged and completely unhedged in 2018 and beyond," continued Mr. Pylot.

Overview 2017 Q2 2017 Q2 2016 YTD 2016 YTD Revenue ($ millions) 115.2 100.2 243.2 226.5 Copper produced (tonnes) 24,002 28,157 44,952 52,704 Payable copper produced (tonnes) 23,176 27,200 43,407 50,900 C1 cash cost per payable pound produced[1] ($/lb) 1.75 1.51 1.85 1.61 All-in cost per payable pound produced[1] ($/lb) 2.10 1.92 2.35 2.07 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound produced[1] ($/lb) 2.26 2.01 2.51 2.19 Copper sold (tonnes) 20,771 22,549 42,353 50,534 Realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb)* 2.56 2.21 2.63 2.20 Adjusted realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb) ** 2.40 2.21 2.42 2.29 C1 cash cost per payable pound sold[1] ($/lb) 1.74 1.66 1.72 1.72 All-in cost per payable pound sold[1] ($/lb) 2.14 2.15 2.23 2.19 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound sold[1] ($/lb) 2.31 2.26 2.39 2.30 Net income (loss) ($ millions) 12.8 (13.4) 5.4 (26.2) Net income (loss) attributable to shareholders ($ millions) 12.9 (13.2) 5.4 (25.9) Net income (loss) per common share ($) 0.03 (0.03) 0.01 (0.07) Adjusted net income (loss)[1] ($ millions) 0.7 (7.5) (1.7) (9.0) Adjusted net income (loss)[1] attributable to shareholders ($ millions) 0.8 (7.3) (1.7) (8.8) Adjusted income net loss[1] per common share ($) 0.00 (0.02) (0.00) (0.02) Cash flow from operating activities 4.1 1.1 26.1 33.3 Cash flow from operating activities per common share ($) 0.01 0.00 0.07 0.09 Operating cash flow before changes in working capital[1] ($ millions) 26.0 21.6 50.1 40.5 Operating cash flow before changes in working capital per common share[1] ($) 0.07 0.06 0.13 0.11 Cash and cash equivalents ($ millions) 82.4 100.2 82.4 100.2 Net debt[1 ]($ millions) 216.5 243.9 216.5 243.9 * Q2 2017 includes a provisional pricing adjustment of $0.2 million (2016 - negative $5.8 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to nil per pound (2016 - $(0.12) per pound) of copper sold during the quarter. 2017 YTD includes a provisional pricing adjustment of $5.4 million (2016 - negative $11.5 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to $0.06 per pound (2016 - ($0.10) per pound) of copper sold during the six month period. The Q2 2017 and 2017 YTD provisional pricing adjustments were predominantly related to assay adjustments. The Q2 2017 figure of ($0.2 million) is broken down as $0.6 million related to price adjustments and ($0.4 million) related to assay adjustments. This translates into adjustments of nil and nil respectively on a per pound sold basis. The YTD Q2 2017 figure of $5.4 million broken down as $3.7 million related to price adjustments and $1.7 million related to assay adjustments. This translates into adjustments of $0.04 and $0.02 respectively on a per pound sold basis. ** Q2 2017 adjusted realized copper price includes the provisional pricing adjustments noted above and realized loss of $7.7 million (2016 gain - $0.2 million) equivalent to $(0.16) per pound (2016 gain - nil per pound) related to copper derivative contracts exercised during the quarter. 2017 YTD adjusted realized copper price includes the provisional pricing adjustments noted above and realized loss of $19.3 million (2016 gain - $9.8 million) equivalent to $(0.21) per pound (2016 gain - 0.09 per pound) related to copper derivative contracts exercised during the period.

Financial Highlights for the Three Months Ended June 30, 2017

Net income of $12.8 million included: Earnings from mining operations of $21.1 million , Realized copper price of $2.56 per pound A commodity derivative gain of $3.8 million , comprising a realized loss of $7.7 million combined with an unrealized gain of $1.3 million and reversals of unrealized losses recorded in a previous period of $10.2 million , Production costs included a non-cash reversal of $(0.7) million related to the write-down of inventory at Pinto Valley, An income tax expense of $4.5 million .

included: Cash flow from operating activities of $4.1 million or $0.01 per common share.

or per common share. Operating cash flow before changes in working capital [ 1] of $26.0 million or $0.07 per common share.

of or per common share. Working capital increased $8.7 million to$157.0 million at June 30, 2017 from $148.3 million at March 31, 2017 . Cash decreased to $82.4 million at June 30, 2017 from $109.4 million at March 31, 2017 largely as a result of a $10.0 million debt repayment made in April, 2017 and $9.0 million in payments made related to the commodity derivatives during Q2'17.

to$157.0 million at from at . Cash decreased to at from at largely as a result of a debt repayment made in April, 2017 and in payments made related to the commodity derivatives during Q2'17. Production of 23,176 tonnes of payable copper at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $1.75 per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost [ 1] of $2.26 per pound of payable pound copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost of per pound of payable pound copper produced. Revenue of $115.2 million generated primarily from the sale of 20,771 tonnes of copper.

Financial Highlights for the Six Months Ended June 30, 2017

Net income of $5.4 million or $0.01 per common share which included: Earnings from mining operations of $48.1 million , Production costs included a non-cash charge of $0.4 million related to the write-down of inventory at Pinto Valley, A commodity derivative loss of $10.1 million , comprising a realized loss of $19.4 million , an unrealized loss of $6.0 million and reversals of unrealized losses recorded in a previous period of $15.3 million . $8.4 million in current and deferred income tax expense.

or per common share which included: Cash flow from operating activities of $26.1 million or $0.07 per common share.

or per common share. Operating cash flow before changes in working capital [ 1] of $50.1 million or $0.13 per common share.

of or per common share. Working capital decreased $14.1 million to$157.0 million at June 30, 2017 from $171.1 million at December 31, 2016 . Cash decreased to $82.4 million at June 30, 2017 from $130.4 million at December 31, 2016 largely as a result of $30.0 million in debt repayments and $19.3 million in payments made related to the commodity derivatives during 2017 YTD.

to$157.0 million at from at . Cash decreased to at from at largely as a result of in debt repayments and in payments made related to the commodity derivatives during 2017 YTD. Production of 43,407 tonnes of payable copper at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $1.85 per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost [ 1] of $2.51 per pound of payable pound copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost of per pound of payable pound copper produced. Revenue of $243.2 million generated primarily from the sale of 42,353 tonnes of copper.

Production and Additional Highlights for the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2017

Pinto Valley Mine:

Produced 15,491 tonnes of copper during Q2 2017 at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $1.84 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost [ 1] of $2.17 per pound of payable copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 26,791 tonnes of copper during 2017 YTD at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $1.98 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost [ 1] of $2.42 per pound of payable copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. At Pinto Valley, throughput averaged 58,700 tonnes per day ("tpd") for the quarter, setting a quarterly throughput record as well as achieving a new monthly throughput record in May of 60,350 tpd. Grade, recoveries and production were as planned for the quarter.

Cozamin Mine:

Produced 4,106 tonnes of copper during Q2 2017 at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $1.19 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost [ 1] of $1.73 per pound of payable copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. Produced 8,236 tonnes of copper during 2017 YTD at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $1.26 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost [ 1] of $1.84 per pound of payable copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. At Cozamin, grade and recoveries were as expected, with throughput continuing ahead of plan with ongoing improvement in mine production and mine development.

On April 4, 2017 , the precious metal streaming arrangement with Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (formerly Silver Wheaton Corp.) expired. After this date, the full silver by-product credit is earned by Cozamin resulting in an increase to by-product credits of $0.23 per payable pound of copper produced in Q2 2017 vs. Q2 2016.

Minto Mine:

Produced 4,406 tonnes of copper during Q2 2017 at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $1.93 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost [ 1 ] of $1.95 per payable pound of copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per payable pound of copper produced. Produced 9,926 tonnes of copper during 2017 YTD at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $2.00 per pound of payable copper produced and an all-in cost [ 1 ] of $2.03 per payable pound of copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and an all-in cost of per payable pound of copper produced. At Minto , production for the quarter was impacted by mine sequencing changes to support a mine life extension. Throughput continued higher than planned, but head grade and recoveries were lower than originally guided due to a higher percentage of partially oxidized ore feeding the mill from the Area 2, Stage 3 open pit and underground mining running slightly behind schedule.

, production for the quarter was impacted by mine sequencing changes to support a mine life extension. Throughput continued higher than planned, but head grade and recoveries were lower than originally guided due to a higher percentage of partially oxidized ore feeding the mill from the Area 2, Stage 3 open pit and underground mining running slightly behind schedule. At current copper prices, Capstone anticipates the continuation of operations at Minto until mid-2020, subject to permitting and regulatory approvals. Capstone is also evaluating further deposits for re-inclusion into reserves, which may support additional mine life beyond 2020.

Additional highlights:

Capstone repaid $10 million on the senior secured corporate revolving credit facility ("RCF") on April 19, 2017 , reducing drawn debt to $298.9 million .

Outlook

Production Guidance:

Capstone expects to be within the range of 2017 consolidated production guidance of 94,000 tonnes (5%) of copper. Minto and Cozamin are expected to complete the year on, or above, plan, largely offsetting Pinto Valley's first quarter deficit.

Operating Cost Guidance:

Capstone anticipates that consolidated C1 cash cost[1], All-in cost[1]and Fully-loaded all-in cost[1]will end the year between $0.15 and $0.20 per pound of payable copper produced higher than originally guided.

At Minto, C1 cash cost[1 ]and all-in cost[1]are expected to increase by approximately $0.50 per pound of payable copper produced. The mine sequencing changes to support the mine life extension have resulted in lower production than initially guided in the first half of 2017. In addition, the revised Minto mine plan that extends operations beyond 2017 brings the Minto East underground and an extension of the Area 2 open pit into the mine plan. Development to access the Minto East deposit is ongoing and the stripping of the extension of the Area 2 pit will commence in H2'17, with resulting ore processed primarily in 2018. Because the development and stripping activities related to Minto East and the extension of the Area 2 pit are planned to take less than 12 months, all development and stripping costs will be expensed in 2017. The Area 2 open pit extension will supplement the ore mined from the higher grade underground deposits.

At Pinto Valley, increased costs related to the first quarter production deficit are expected to add between $0.10 and $0.20 to Pinto Valley's C1 cash cost[1 ]and all-in cost[1]per pound of payable copper produced.

Cozamin's 2017 C1 cash cost[1 ]and all-in cost[1 ]are expected to be slightly higher than guided as a result of lower by-product credits per payable pound of copper produced and additional planned capital, respectively.

1. This is an alternative performance measure; please see "Alternative Performance Measures" at the end of this release.

Capital and Exploration Guidance

At Cozamin, an additional $1.0 million in capital development is planned to be spent by year-end as the mine has been advancing at higher than planned development rates. As a result Cozamin's 2017 sustaining capital guidance is increased from $18.0 million to $19.0 million.

Also at Cozamin, a further $1.1 million has been approved to test brownfield targets along strike from the Mala Noche Footwall Zone ("MNFWZ") and east of the San Rafael zinc zone, and as a result, Cozamin's 2017 capitalized exploration guidance is increased from $5.0 million to $6.1 million.

At Minto, $0.6 million has been added to the 2017 H2 capital budget for definition drilling at Minto East and Ridgetop in support of the design of the extended mine plan.

All other capital and exploration guidance remains unchanged.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

Capstone will hold a conference call and webcast on Monday, July 31, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time (8:30 a.m. Pacific time) to discuss these results.

Date: Monday, July 31, 2017 Time: 11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time) Dial in: North America: 1-888-390-0546, International: +416-764-8688 Webcast: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1421361&s=1&k=20DB088377B441B928A92B347D0179CE Replay: North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677 Replay Passcode: 103102#

The conference call replay will be available until Monday, August 7, 2017. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within 48 hours of the call athttp://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.

This release should be read in conjunction with Capstone's consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, which are available on Capstone's website athttp://capstonemining.com/investors/financial-reporting/default.aspxand on SEDAR. An updated corporate presentation, including results to June 30, 2017, in addition to the Q2 2017 webcast slides, will also be available athttp://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.

About Capstone Mining Corp.

Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, focused on copper. We are committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our three producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in Arizona, US, the Cozamin polymetallic mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects; the large scale 70% owned copper-iron Santo Domingo project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned Kutcho copper-zinc project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile and US. Capstone's strategy is to focus on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable, mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available athttp://www.capstonemining.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This document may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Capstone does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable securities legislation.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect our expectations or beliefs regarding future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production and capital expenditures, the success of our mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses and title disputes. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. In this document certain forward-looking statements are identified by words including "anticipate", "guidance", "outlook", "planned", "expects" and "expected". By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, amongst others, risks related to inherent hazards associated with mining operations, future prices of copper and other metals, compliance with financial covenants, surety bonding, our ability to raise capital, Capstone's ability to acquire properties for growth, counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals, use of financial derivative instruments and associated counterparty risks, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation, compliance with governmental regulations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, reliance on approvals, licences and permits from governmental authorities, impact of climatic conditions on our Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto operations, aboriginal title claims and rights to consultation and accommodation, land reclamation and mine closure obligations, uncertainties and risks related to the potential development of the Santo Domingo Project, increased operating and capital costs, challenges to title to our mineral properties, maintaining ongoing social license to operate, dependence on key management personnel, potential conflicts of interest involving our directors and officers, corruption and bribery, limitations inherent in our insurance coverage, labour relations, increasing energy prices, competition in the mining industry, risks associated with joint venture partners, our ability to integrate new acquisitions into our operations, cybersecurity threats, legal proceedings and other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause our results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that our forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.

National Instrument 43-101 Compliance

Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR athttp://www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projectsof the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents.

The technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projectsof the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). The disclosure of the Technical Information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Technical Information related to mineral exploration activities has been reviewed and approved by Brad Mercer, P. Geol., Senior Vice President, Exploration. Both are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.

Alternative Performance Measures

The items marked with a "[1]" are alternative performance measures and readers should refer to Alternative Performance Measures in the Company's Consolidated Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 as filed on SEDAR and as available on the Company's website.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

This news release contains disclosure that has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Without limiting the foregoing, this news release may refer to technical reports that use the terms "indicated" and "inferred" resources. US investors are cautioned that, while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian securities laws, the SEC does not recognize them. Under US standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. US investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of indicated resources will ever be converted into reserves. US investors should also understand that "inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of "inferred resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Therefore, US investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred resources exist, or that they can be mined legallyor economically. Accordingly, information concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources contained in this news release may not be comparable to information made public by US companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.

Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor Relations and Communications, 604-637-8157, cburnett@capstonemining.com
DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/25/17 -- Jammin Java Corp. (OTCQB: JAMN), the sustainably grown, ethically farmed and artisan-roasted premium coffee company, is pleased to announce it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with High Performance Beverage Company (OTC PINK: TBEV) to joint venture in the development of canned and bottled cold coffee drinks.

Jammin Java is moving into new areas of cold coffee products to establish itself within the multi billion dollar industry. Bloomberg news reported Canned or bottled ready-to-drink coffee is a natural evolution flowing from a consumer landscape awash with premium coffee at ubiquitous Starbucks and countless independent coffee bistros. The U.S. ready-to-drink coffee market has been growing by double digits annually since 2011, and Euromonitor International expects the market to reach nearly $3.6 billion by 2020. The global market stood at $18 billion in 2015, according to Euromonitor.

Product lines Jammin Java is planning to produce are:

Cannabis Coffee for the Colorado markets, including THC and CBD based coffees

Sugar Free and Low Calorie Canned and Bottled Cold Coffee products for the US nationally

Coffee Energy Drinks including full fat and sugar along with low calorie varieties.





Jammin Java considers the taste and the active ingredients to be the most important factors in producing its coffee based drinks.

Chris Plant, CEO of Jammin Java, stated, "We are excited to begin this transition in our business model from traditional coffee roasters to the cold coffee drink business. We believe we will have many advantages over the existing companies in the market place because we are a coffee company first." Mr. Plant continued, "The fact we are located in Colorado, where cannabis is recreationally legal, will give us a competitive advantage when we start selling cannabis coffee drinks throughout the state. Priority number one is making a great tasting coffee drink, and a close number two is establishing ourselves as the premium cannabis coffee drink in Colorado. Once we accomplish that, we will look to start cannabis coffee drinks in the other legally permitted States."

Please follow us on Twitter @

twitter.com/JamminJavaCorp

About Jammin Java

Jammin Java is a United States (U.S.)-based company that provides sustainably grown, ethically farmed and artisan roasted gourmet coffee through multiple U.S. and international distribution channels. U.S. and international grocery retail channels have become the Company's largest revenue channels, followed by online retail, office coffee services (referred to herein as OCS), food service outlets and licensing. The Company intends to introduce new cold coffee beverages to its product line and achieve a leadership position in the gourmet coffee space.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Press Release includes forward-looking statements. See disclaimer here.

Contact:

Growth Circle Inc.

Marcus Laun

303-437-8162

info@growthcircle.com




HSINCHU, Taiwan, Aug. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- By 2021, solar tracker installations will grow to an amount of 37.7 gigawatts and account for nearly half of all ground-mount solar systems, according to GTM Research. The booming of this niche market is self-evident since Warren Buffett is also taking the lead in investing in the Dual Axis Tracking system.

Taiwan based PV solution provider, BIG SUN Group has recently synergized its innovative iPV Tracker, a Dual axis tracker, with abifacial module resulting up to a 100% power generation gain over a conventional fixed tilt system.

On the rear side of the bifacial module power generator, iPV tracker's unique 360 degree, universal axis design with aslim cable drawn driving mechanism, has much reduced the shading impact from the sizable Linear actuator and slewing drive employed by the conventional dual axis trackers.

Moreover, to eliminate any shading induced from the module mounting frame, Summer Luo, the Chairman of BIG SUN, also the inventor of iPV Tracker, has redesigned the rear supporting frame so as to match exactly to the frame dimension of any module. "In addition, the iPV Tracker is tall enough to have the sunlight reflected and absorbed onto the rear side of the bifacial module. These features have enabled the realization of the benefits of bifacial modules, especially in snow season."

A worthy PV product must be capable of not only enduring various climate zones and different seasons, but also accommodating the extreme weather resulted from the climate change. The iPV Tracker is the only robust dual axis tracker that can fully accommodate extreme weather with special features as "Wind Resistant", "Snow Removal", "Dust Removal", "Flood Avoidance" and "Back Tracking".The patented back tracking mechanism has enabled the iPV Tracker a more dense installation yielding 15-50% more on land utilization.

Another innovative energy monitoring system, iPVita, designed by BIG SUN, can furnish power generation status, environmental sensor feedback (irradiance, wind speed, temperature), operation efficiency and remote control, at just a click away on your mobile device. In particular, the auto abnormality alert system has in itself differentiated specific hardware failure,system down, network issues or a communication breakdown issue. Such diagnosis function combined with the auto abnormality dispatching/tracing function of iPVita has facilitated the iPV Trackers to reach> 99.9% availability in field operation.

BIG SUN continuously enhances the design of iPV Tracker, besides flexible module platform frame design to match to any module frame dimension to avoid shading on bifacial modules, another significant enhancement this year is the unleash of the 2nd generationwheel axis structure and spring design. This much simplified design has prevented the slipping of steel cable rendering much less noise than before. Also the upgraded design of spring in parallel connection with steel chains has further reinforced a more robust driving mechanism.

BIG SUN has also unveiled a scale up and cost down version of 12Kw tracker suited for sites without strong wind. This can accommodate 40 panels with a 60 cells module or 32 panels with a 72 cells module. This is best applied to large scale power plants with lower LCOE, while maintaining reliable & robust operation. As Luo commented, "The PV industry now is seeking a wide range of balance while the profitability is evidently most pursued and 12kw iPV Tracker is 100% ready for this end."

In Solar Power International 2017 (SPI in Las Vegas, USA), BIG SUN has the privilege to jointly exhibit advanced modules from Longi Solar, China and First Solar, USA mounted on iPV tracker to demonstrate the flexibility of its accommodation. You are cordially welcomed to visit our booth at #503 for further information and discussion.

For More BIG SUN Group Global Exhibitions on iPV Tracker can be found in the following line up:

The Green Expo 2017 - Sep. 5-7 , WTC, Mexico , Booth #1304

, WTC, , Booth #1304 EXPO Solar 2017-- Sep. 6-8 , KINTEX, Gyeonggi-Do( Seoul ), Korea, Booth D26

, KINTEX, Gyeonggi-Do( ), Korea, Booth D26 Renewable Energy India Expo 2017-- Sep. 20-22 , India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, India , booth Hall 7, 7.49

, India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, , booth Hall 7, 7.49 PV Taiwan 2017-- Oct. 18-20 , Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taiwan , Booth I1126

About BIG SUN Group

BIG SUN Group, Taiwan-based PV solution provider, was founded in 2006. Its core business is focused on the design, production, and sale of high-quality solar products. BIG SUN's main products include Combo-CellTM, 6" mono-crystalline silicon solar cells, the iPV Tracker (dual-Axis Tracker) and the web-based iPVita monitoring & control system. The current conversion efficiency of BIG SUN's 6" mono-cell is 20.4% (60-cells module with up to 290 watts power). Based on its extensive product lines, BIG SUN can offer vertical integrated PV power system solutions.

iPV Tracker: www.ipvtracker.com

iPVita: www.ipvita.com

BIG SUN: www.bigsun-energy.com

Media Contact:

Angel Lu

Marketing Manager

+886 03-5980288ext. 1951

angel.lu@bigsun-energy.com

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Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company focused on RNA binding proteins for neurodegenerative disease, received a $10m investment.

Backers include Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV). The round adds to an earlier $5m investment made by Takeda Pharmaceuticals in December 2015.

Led by Glenn Larsen, Ph.D., President and CEO, and Dr. Ben Wolozin, M.D., Ph.D., CSO, Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals is committed to restoring the health of people with ALS, Alzheimers disease and other neurodegenerative diseases by developing a new approach that has the potential to arrest, and possibly reverse these diseases.

FinSMEs

25/04/2017

THE PRESS RELEASE

Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals Receives $10 Million Investment from Pfizer and AbbVie to Research Breakthrough Approach to Neurodegenerative Disease

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/  Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals, a privately held biotechnology company focused on RNA binding proteins for neurodegenerative disease, announced today that two additional pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV), have invested in Aquinnahs work to treat ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), Alzheimers disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. This $10 million adds to an earlier $5 million investment made by Takeda Pharmaceuticals in December 2015.

We are excited to have the support of three world-class pharmaceutical companies to expand our drug development efforts from ALS into new RNA binding proteins known to modulate Tau, one of the hallmark pathological proteins involved in Alzheimers disease, said Glenn Larsen, Ph.D., Aquinnahs President and Chief Executive Officer.

While the scientific community has spent years studying neurofibrillary tangles and b-amyloid plaques, Dr. Ben Wolozin, M.D., Ph.D., Aquinnahs Chief Scientific Officer, believes the newly discovered role for RNA binding proteins in the biology of Tau protein provides an essential, previously undetected key to better understand Alzheimers disease. We discovered that RNA binding proteins play a critical role in brain deterioration, cognitive loss and life expectancy reduction in mouse models of Alzheimers disease. Targeting these pathways are expected to yield new therapies for the treatment of Alzheimers disease.

There continues to be a substantial need to combat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers disease and ALS, said Scott Brun, M.D., Head, AbbVie Ventures, AbbVie. Aquinnahs research approach, developed by world-class scientific and drug development leaders, could offer valuable advances to treat these debilitating, progressive brain diseases and complements AbbVies ongoing neuroscience research efforts.

We believe Aquinnahs novel approach to ALS and Alzheimers disease is one of the most promising developments in neurodegenerative disease today. We see the potential for multiple approaches to these diseases based on the companys work. Neurodegenerative disease remains one of Pfizers top priorities and we are committed to supporting Aquinnahs research, said Morris Birnbaum, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer of Internal Medicine, Pfizer.
Aurica Capital, a Barcelona, Spain-based growth equity firm, raised 140m for its third growth equity fund.

In addition to a 74m commitment from Banc Sabadell, the firm has now received commitments from several institutional investors, including pension funds and insurance companies and multiple family offices. The fund has a target of 150m and a hard cap of 200m.

Aurica III specializes in investing  through significant stakes with control mechanisms  in Spain-based small to medium-sized companies with revenues over 30m and EBITDA of more than 5m.

To date, the fund has invested in two companies:

 Delta Tecnic, a maker of masterbatches for the cable and PVC industries; and

 Flex, a manufacturer of bedding products.

Led by Ivan Plaza, Principal, Aurica Capital originally started investing growth capital in 2000 making over 19 investments in its prior two investment periods and has fully exited 17 of these companies.

FinSMEs

25/04/2017
Twistlock, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of cloud container security solutions, raised $17m in Series B funding.

The round was led by Polaris Partners with participation from existing investors YL Ventures, TenEleven and Rally Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, Brendan Hannigan of Polaris joined Twistlocks Board of Directors as Chairman.

The company, which has raised $30m to date, intends to use the funds to scale the team and deliver innovative security solutions.

Led by Ben Bernstein, CEO and co-founder, Twistlock provides an enterprise security suite for container security. The companys technology addresses risks on the host and within the application of the container, enabling enterprises to enforce security policies, monitor and audit activity and identify and isolate threats in a container or cluster of containers.

Twistlock recently released the 2.0 release, which brings enhanced visibility and compliance to containerized environments to handle stringent enterprise security requirements.

The company also has offices in Portland, OR, New York, Portland, San Francisco and Herzliya, Israel.

FinSMEs

25/04/2017
After the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), India's drug pricing regulator, reduced the price of cardiac stents by almost 75 percent, the government now has prohibited stent-makers from withdrawing their products from the market for the next six months.

Cardiac stents are wire mesh tubes  extremely small ones  used to unclog coronary arteries and help in preventing heart attacks. The NPPA proposed that the maximum prices of the drug-eluting stents (DES) be fixed between Rs 21,881 and Rs 67,272, according to an Economic Times report.

According to The Times of India, the government has "invoked special powers under the law directing companies to maintain production, import and supply of coronary stents to avoid any shortage." After the pricing regulation was announced, big pharma companies like Abott, Medtronic and Boston Scientific Corporation are looking to recall their products.

According to another Economic Times report, an Abbott spokesperson is quoted as saying, "Following the NPPA price ceiling decision in February 2017 and over the past two months, we have examined and re-examined whether there is a sustainable way to make available in India two of Abbott's latest stent technologies  the Alpine drug eluting stent and the Absorb dissolving stent  considering their higher manufacturing costs and other associated costs."

According to another Economic Times report, the manufacturers and importers have been directed to submit a weekly report on the number of coronary stents being produced and distributed in India, including weekly production plans to NPPA and the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

The Times of India has also reported that there a few stent-makers who are finding novel ways to circumvent the price caps including special offers like "buy 10 and get 3 free". Addressing this problem, the NPPA has issued a memorandum asking companies to abide by its rules, warning that failure to do so would mean that the companies would be prosecuted under the Essential Commodities Act.
Washington: Any serious actions taken by the Trump Administration on the H-1B visa program would be a cause of worry as a majority of Indian exports in the services sector go to the US, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian has said.

If there are serious actions taken its something thats going to kind of worry us a lot because, remember that our exports of services are about 40 to 45 percent of the total exports, Subramanian told an audience here last week.

Something like 50 to 60 percent of all our exports of services goes to the United States. So it would worry us quite a bit, he said while responding to a question on the H1-B visa during his visit at the Peterson Institute, a top American economic think-tank.

Subramanian said that India would be okay as long as the visa reforms are manageable and its keeping a close watch on it.

Anything that is going to interfere with export growth creates anxiety (in India). In the context of the United States, were all watching very carefully the H1-B visa situation, the Chief Economic Advisor said.

On the visa side, I dont know but as long as you know we can keep this thing manageable. You know it should be okay, he said.

During his US visit, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also taken up the the H-1B issue with the American side and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy.

President Donald Trump had earlier this month 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, a decision that would impact Indias $150 billion IT industry.

The Indian IT industry expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations.

The US market accounts for about 60 percent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry.

Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals.

India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive.
In a move aimed at cutting the rising food subsidy bill, the Modi government has written to all the state governments to work on the initiative. This call comes on the heels of the government's successful initiative to convince people to forego subsidy on cooking gas.

With regard to foregoing of LPG subsidy, the government has met with decent success so far, with over 1 crore households giving up their cooking gas subsidy. Of the 20 crore households benefiting from the LPG subsidy, 1 crore households have voluntarily opted to buy cooking gas cylinders at the market price. This has helped the government to directly transfer the subsidy amount to beneficiaries' bank accounts.

With regards to the food subsidy bill, the Union food ministry has asked all the state governments to work on the Give-It-Up campaign under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), The Financial Express report said.

The government has earmarked Rs 1,45,338.60 crore for food subsidy in the current fiscal as against the revised estimate of Rs 135,172.96 crore for the previous fiscal. Total subsidies on food, fertiliser and petroleum have been pegged higher by over 3 percent to more than Rs 2.4 lakh crore for 2017-18.

Currently, India has around 5 lakh fair price shops, and the government wants these shops to highlight subsidy cost given for rice and wheat, so that people willing to give up their subsidy could be coaxed to give it up, the FE report says.

Presently, the government gives subsidy of Rs 21.09 per kg and Rs 29.64 per kg on wheat and rice.

However, the report suggests that the response may not be that positive as the subsidy is provided to around 82 crore people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), while only 19 crore households enjoy LPG subsidy.

We are constantly taking steps to ensure that only those who need highly subsidised foodgrains get them through TPDS, the FE report said citing an official.

Although the government has asked people to voluntary give up their subsidies, it has been taking measures to plug diversion of subsidised foodgains like seeding of Aadhaar cards of 23 crore ration card holders and installing electronic point of sale (e-PoS) machines at fair price shops (FPSs), the report said.
New Delhi: Such has been the sway that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had over the electorate that often in speeches or the weekly radio address, he urges millions of admirers to do their bit for the country - whether it be keeping their surroundings clean, cutting down on wastage of precious resources or surrendering privileges to prioritise the poor and the needy. All this, in exchange for a clean, efficiently run, focused-on-delivery government.

It will be interesting to observe if the prime minister will again demand a similar sacrifice from the believers to give up taking subsidised rice, wheat from ration shops. The Centre has once again written to state governments on a give-it-up scheme for PDS commodities. This would be a bold gamble and far tougher to implement than previous such schemes, given the scale of the food subsidy scheme and problems in identifying intended beneficiaries. MoS Consumer Affairs C R Chaudhary had told Rajya Sabha on 31 March this year that despite the Centre writing to states on a give-it-up scheme for TPDS (targeted PDS) no response had been received from any state on the issue. Will the Centre be second-time lucky?

Anyway, this is reminiscent of the give-it-up campaign earlier used for subsidised LPG cylinders. As per news reports, consumers who are not below the poverty line and therefore do not need the subsidised rice and wheat, would now be asked to voluntarily give up these commodities.

A Financial Express report says the Centre has written to the states to first begin displaying the actual cost of rice and wheat at the roughly 5 lakh fair price shops across the country so that consumers become aware of the quantum of subsidy. And then, those who can afford to give up the subsidy would be asked to do so under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). The Centre spends Rs 21.09 per kg and Rs 29.64 per kg respectively as subsidies on wheat and rice currently, the FE report said.

Remember, Modi had launched a personal appeal to those who were taking subsidized cooking gas cylinders last year, saying they should give up the subsidy to help the really needy. His appeal had resulted in about a crore Indians (out of the roughly 17 crore households which used this subsidy) to give it up.

Will the same rate of success be achieved with foodgrains? Within a year of voluntarily giving up LPG subsidy, more than one lakh consumers have said they want the LPG subsidy back as prices of the cooking gas cylinder has been rising. In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said LPG consumers who give up their LPG subsidy have an option to switch back to availing the subsidised cylinders after one year of giving up their subsidy. His reply earlier this month revealed that 112,655 consumers ( as on 1 April, 2017) have taken the subsidy again for LPG, one year after giving it up. Maharashtra tops the list with the highest number of consumers opting in at 22,984.

If LPG consumers are coming back into the subsidy net, what is the guarantee that volunteers giving up cheap rice and wheat will not float back into the system soon enough? Anyway, identifying the intended beneficiary of the governments food largesse remains a gigantic task, since ration cards are also with the non-BPL families who may not buy subsidised foodgrain but also do not surrender these cards.

The spurt in non-subsidized LPG prices is to blame for volunteers coming back to the subsidy net, The Deccan Chronicle report says. A non-subsidised LPG cylinder was around Rs 470 in Delhi in September 2016. This was just approximately Rs 50 more than a subsidised cylinder which was then priced around Rs 420. By April 2017, a non-subsidised LPG cylinder cost around Rs 725 in Delhi against a subsidised LPG cylinder which is at around Rs 440, the report says. Clearly, the Give-it-up appeal by PM Modi is slowly losing its charm  if prices rise further, more people could opt back for the subsidized cooking gas cylinder.

Now, what about foodgrain subsidy? Experts say the give-it-up campaign may not be the ideal way of lowering the subsidy bill or plugging huge leakages in the system. Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist with Care Ratings told Firstpost, To my mind, every tax paying Indian is entitled to subsidies including food subsidies. But if the government wants to plug leakages in TPDS, it could ask above-BPL families to surrender their orange ration cards. This would curb leakages to some extent but not entirely.

Sabnavis said excluding people (from subsidies) based on income will be a logistical issue as it is hard to link income with state of BPL  the former is based on self-declaration.

Meanwhile, several other steps have also been taken by the government to plug leakages in the PDS such as seeding Aadhaar cards of ration card holders besides installing electronic point of sale (e-PoS) machines at fair price shops, the FE report says. The Centres food subsidy budget has increased 61 percent to Rs 1.45 lakh crore (budget estimates) for the current fiscal from Rs 89,740 crore in 2013-14.

An analyst tracking the PDS scheme said leakages under the PDS scheme could be anywhere between 25-40 percent and the give-it-up scheme may plug only a portion of this.
In order to give a boost to its 'Housing for all' scheme, the government has tweaked the rules pertaining to Employees' Provident Funds scheme, enabling over 4 crore subscribers to pay equated monthly installments of home loans.

In addition to paying EMIs of home loans, the new rules also allows PF subscribers to use their retirement funds to purchase or construct house or purchase of land. Other measures such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) was also recently introduced by the government giving a boost to the housing sector aimed at middle-income groups.

Key details of the provident fund rules aiding the housing sector

1) The new rules allow subscribers to pay monthly instalments towards home purchase from their provident fund deposits.

2) Provident fund subscribers will get to withdraw around 90 percent of their deposits in their PF accounts, either towards purchase of land, house or for construction of house purpose.

3) A PF subscriber looking to purchase a house under this scheme should first be a member of a cooperative society or a society registered for housing purpose having at least ten members. Previous rule allowed EPFO subscribers to withdraw savings for purchase of house/flat or purchase of land etc only after completing five years of service. But the rule allowed them to withdraw only three years of their basic salary for this purpose.

4) To avail this facility, the subscriber needs to first apply to the EPFO under the new scheme.

5) The funds to be used for EMIs will directly be paid to the government, housing agency or primary lending agency, the NDTV report says.

6) The member has to contribute to the provident fund for at least three years to getting eligibility to use funds under the new scheme.

7) Last week, the rate of interest on employees' provident fund was fixed at 8.65 percent for 2016-17 following the finance ministry's approval, thereby aiding over four crore members.

8) Earlier this month, the government said EPFO's subscribers will get loyalty-cum-life benefit of up to Rs 50,000 at the time of retirement for contributing to the scheme for 20 years or more. It further said, the benefit will also be provided in case of permanent disability even if the members have contributed for less than 20 years.
Mumbai: Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi was spotted shooting at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Station here for his upcoming film Beyond The Clouds.

The Oscar nominated filmmaker was shooting a special film sequence, read a statement from the makers of the film.

Produced by Zee Studios and Eyecandy Films, the project is Majidi's Indian story for a global audience.

Based on human relationships, the film covers the nuances of a brother-sister relationship that offshoots into many more interesting situational aspects - a style Majidi is well known for.

The film stars Shahid Kapoor's younger brother Ishan Khatter and Malayalam actress Malavika Mohanan.
Sofia Hayat, former Bigg Boss contestant, has tied the knot with her beau Romanian interior designer Vlad Stanescu in a ceremony conducted under traditional Egyptian rituals.

Their wedding theme was 'God's goddesses, fairies and angels' and everyone in attendance, including the bride and the groom, were dressed in accordance.

Hayat announced her engagement to Stanescu two months ago.

She even shared her excitement for her wedding through a long Instagram post captioned as, "When you meet someone who makes you feel the most beautiful you could ever feel .. I had to say yes. I am now officially engaged. Ecstatically happy and grateful. Sometimes you just know. After 1 week of dating..yet knowing each other so deepwe knew. Love is infinite..and so great. When you feel this amount of unconditional love in such little time..you know. Always be true to your heart..for it only knows the truth. This is the marriage the heavens have been waiting for. The cosmic mother has finally been reunited with the cosmic father..and in our abundant Unconditional LOVE..the world will come to know it to. The alchemy of sacred sex brings about changes to the world in a way you never thought possible. The SUN The Father..is now here."

Days before her wedding, she shared her excitement on Instagram and captioned it as, "The theme of my wedding is Gods Goddesses Fairies and angels..got the tiaras and wings in!! We are having a wonderful crowning ceremony to honour the divinity in us and our guests!!! Cant wait!!! 3 more days for the sacred Egyptian ceremony then our 3 rd wedding will have a different theme in my Temple of Awakening:) #vladsofiawedding.

The theme of my wedding is God's Goddesses Fairies and angels..got the tiaras and wings in!! We are having a wonderful crowning ceremony to honour the divinity in us and our guests!!! Can't wait!!! 3 more days for the sacred Egyptian ceremony then our 3 rd wedding will have a different theme in my Temple of Awakening:) #vladsofiawedding A post shared by Sofia Hayat. (Gaia Mother) (@sofiahayat) on Apr 20, 2017 at 5:55am PDT

Another former Bigg Boss contestant, Rakhi Sawant, was the first to congratulate Hayat through congratulatory comment on her wedding picture. Her message read, "Congratulations My Sweetheart Friend."

Here are the pictures from the wedding:
TVF CEO and founder Arunabh Kumar was arrested by the Mumbai Police on Saturday (22 April 2017) and released later the same day.

Kumar has been at the centre of a sexual harassment row, ever since an anonymous blogger claiming to be a former TVF staffer put up a post on Medium, detailing allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of the company's CEO. The blogger, who used the moniker Indian Fowler (taking off from Susan Fowler, who wrote the viral blog post about the toxic work culture at Uber), wrote that Kumar had behaved inappropriately with her on several occasions  and while her post was later deleted, it triggered similar claims from several other women; two of whom have gone on to file police complaints against the TVF honcho.

On 17 April 2017, Firstpost had reported that Arunabh Kumar secured anticipatory bail from the Dindoshi Sessions Court. At the same time, it was also reported that Kumar had been summoned by the police at least eight times for interrogation.

Mumbai Mirror reported that on 22 April, Arunabh was called in for questioning by the police. He was then arrested by the police, before being immediately released after posting Rs 10,000 in bail. He was arrested and let out on bail. Investigations are on. We will be filing the chargesheet soon, Mirror quoted DCP Vinayak Deshmukh of Zone X as saying.

Meanwhile, TVF's creative director and star of the series Bisht Please Nidhi Bisht sent out a letter to the 200 employees of the firm, decrying the allegations against Arunabh Kumar.

Stating that the harassment claim originated from a 'fake, anonymous' source, she wrote: "Did anyone bother to ask us, the real women at TVF, what we believe, having breathed the (company's) culture day in and day out?"

Kumar himself has denied the accusations of wrongdoing.

After securing anticipatory bail, Kumar had issued a statement to the police in which he alleged that the harassment claims were a conspiracy against him. "I have strong feeling that someone is trying to hamper my business by doing all of this," Kumar said.
By David Henry

| NEW YORK

NEW YORK A brief, noisy protest by drum-beating young adults at Citigroup's annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday evolved into an orderly exchange between an older tribal woman and the bank's two top executives, who conceded it had approved investments in a North Dakota pipeline too quickly."We wish we could have a do-over on this," Chairman Mike O'Neill said after hearing from Casey Camp-Horinek, a council woman for the Ponca Nation. She asked the executives to pardon the disruption from younger protesters who were concerned about environmental damage from the pipeline and shale oil.Citigroup is one of four lead banks in a group of 17 which have provided project financing for the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline crosses land of the Standing Rock Sioux whose members are concerned about possible ground water contamination if the pipeline breaks.In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed orders smoothing the path for the pipeline in a move to expand energy infrastructure and roll back key Obama administration environmental actions.

Chief Executive Mike Corbat said Citigroup had not given enough early consideration to the concerns of the indigenous people. But now, he said, Citigroup could do more to protect the environment by keeping its investments."We made the decision that we are a better force for good at the table than away from the table," Corbat said. "We don't think it is the right thing to simply sell these and walk away."Camp-Horinek thanked the men for listening and spoke with them and Corbat's wife, Donna, after the meeting.

O'Neill and Corbat had waited quietly during the drumbeating and resumed the meeting after the protesters walked out peacefully after an interruption of less than 10 minutes.Wells Fargo & Co's shareholder meeting, which was held at the same time in Florida, resulted in repeated interruptions.

That meeting went into a brief recess after a shareholder made what Chairman Stephen Sanger called a "physical approach" toward a board member and was removed. At the Citigroup meeting in New York, shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favor of the company's annual compensation of executives and sided with directors in rejecting a call for a special study of breaking up the big bank. In the so-called "say-on-pay" referendum, more than 95 percent of votes were cast to approve 2016 compensation awards, according to a preliminary count announced by the company.Only about 2.5 percent of votes favored a breakup study of the bank, which is the fourth biggest in the United States by assets.The compensation endorsement was far stronger than the 63.6 percent approval at the 2016 annual meeting. Directors, disappointed that support was so weak last year, reviewed compensation practices and made changes after meeting with institutional investors and proxy voting advisory firms. (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Bhopal: In the wake of the Maoist attack in which 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed, the Madhya Pradesh police has issued a high alert in the Naxal-affected Balaghat district, a senior official said on Tuesday.

"The areas under Balaghat police range are bordering with the Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. So, we have put the security forces on high alert," Inspector General (Balaghat Range) G Janadan told PTI on Tuesday.

He said the patrolling along the borders has been intensified to check the activities of Naxals.

"This area has also been Naxal-affected and the police has intensified patrolling at the borders of Kawardha and Rajnandgaon districts of Chhattisgarh and Gondia district of Maharashtra," Janardan added.

In the fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions, at least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and seven wounded on Monday.

The Naxalites mounted the assault in the Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, where Left-Wing extremism is rampant.

This was the deadliest guerrilla attack on security forces in the state so far this year.
By Vipul Vivek

The monarchy of Bhutan has remained the biggest beneficiaryby amount and shareof Indian foreign aid for 17 years, but over the last nine years, Afghanistan has made it to the distant second spot, preferred over traditional recipients Nepal and Bangladesh, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of Indian foreign ministry data(1).

Although its share of foreign aid is falling and that of African countries, listed as a group, is growing, Bhutan has remained Indias unfailing priority because of its strategic location, its dependence on India and its hydropower potential. Indian aid to Sri Lanka and the Maldives increased fastest, according to aid data between the financial years 2000-01 and 2016-17.

Source: Notes on Demands for Grants for Ministry for External Affairs in Union Budgets1

However, the averages over this period conceal substantial fluctuations in aid. For instance, while aid to Sri Lanka fell 69% year-on-year in the financial year 2016-17, it rose 118% and 166% in 2012-13 and 2009-10, respectively. Similarly, while aid to the Maldives rose 45% in the financial year 2016-17, it dropped 89% in 2012-13 after rising nearly 25 times in the previous year.

Among the countries to have benefited most by Indias reallocation of aid is Afghanistan.

In eight of last 10 years, Afghanistan makes it to second spot

Before the financial year 2007-08, the foreign ministry did not even report aid for Afghanistan individually. Since then, it has been the second biggest beneficiary, by share, in eight of the following 10 years.

In the pre-2007-08 period, Nepal was the second-largest recipient in all years except three, when Bangladesh held that position. Over the 17 years we analysed, Afghanistan received the least aid of the 12 major regions reported by the ministry, the allocation shrinking more than a quarter by amount.

How Indias Foreign Aid Priorities Changed,2000-01 To 2016-17

Source: Notes on Demands for Grants for Ministry for External Affairs in Union Budgets1Note: Please choose Unique Colors under the Color dropdown, Foreign Aid (As % of total) under the Size dropdown. Year denoted is financial year.

Among regions for which the ministry reports data as a group, African countries are the only significant beneficiaries: Indias aid to African countries grew 57 times between 2000-01 and 2016-17, the share rising 4.38 percentage points over the same period. African countries, as a group, were the second biggest beneficiary in 2003-04 and 2004-05 among all regions, countries as well as groups of countries, taken together.

The only constant in this story is Bhutan, but other countries in other regions have been eating into its share at a time when questions are being raised about Indias policy of aid to Bhutans hydropower sector. By change in share over the 17 years, it is better only than Afghanistan, with Bhutans aid having fallen by 10.45 percentage points.

Notes:

1. Data source: Notes on Demands for Grants for Ministry for External Affairs in Union Budgets 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18

2. Figures for Afghanistan are for financial years 2007-08 to 2016-17. Central Asian countries region dropped after financial year 2007-08. Figures for Eurasian countries are for financial years 2008-09 to 2016-17 only. Figures for Latin American countries are for financial years 2007-08 to 2016-17 only. Figures for Mongolia are for financial years 2009-10, and 2011-12 to 2016-17 only.

3. Central Asian countries include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. Eurasian countries include Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Kyrgyz, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously identified Bhutanese prime minister Tshering Tobgay as the countrys monarch at the time, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, in the cover image. We regret the error.

(Vivek is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)
New Delhi: Sealing of the Indo-Bangla border, early completion of the National Register of Citizens and a host of other issues were discussed at a high-level meeting between the Centre and the Assam government.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and others reviewed the progress of fencing work along the Indo-Bangla border to check illegal immigration, official sources said.

They discussed threadbare all the clauses of the Assam Accord and in particular clauses 6 and 7 pertaining to the constitutional safeguards to indigenous people and economic safeguards.

The process of the NRC updation exercise to weed out the names of illegal immigrants were also reviewed, the sources said. The chief minister said he has been monitoring the progress regularly and has held around 40 meetings in this regard.

The meeting was held ahead of Wednesday's tripartite talks between Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the chief minister and representatives of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU).

In a separate meeting, between Sonowal and the AASU, it was decided to urge the Home Minister to completely seal the porous Indo-Bangla border and complete fencing work on a war footing.

The chief minister pointed out that both the governments at the state and the Centre are committed to sealing of the border, including riverine areas, to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants once and for all.

The meeting was attended by state minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, media adviser to chief minister Hrishikesh Goswami besides others.

The AASU was represented by adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya, president Dipanka Nath, general secretary Lorinjyoti Gogoi and educationist Basanta Deka.
New Delhi: The CRPF remains headless for almost two months now with the government yet to appoint its regular Director General (DG), even as the country's largest paramilitary force lost 38 personnel in line of duty in two major ambushes during the period.

Post K Durga Prasad's retirement as the last full-time chief of the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) on 28 February, the Union Home Ministry had appointed Additional DG Sudeep Lakhtakia to hold the charge in "additional" capacity. Notably, 12 CRPF personnel were killed in a Naxal ambush in Sukma in Chhattisgarh on March 11, while the force on Monday suffered one its major casualties in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) theatre after 25 jawans died in a repeat of the brazen Maoist assault.

While officials in the Home Ministry say the appointment of a full-time DG is expected soon, those in the CRPF maintain there was "no word" with them in this regard.

A senior Home Ministry official said a panel of eligible IPS officers has already been prepared but there has been no finality on the name of the next DG for the nearly 3-lakh-strong force till now.

While the day-to-day operations and work of CRPF is being conducted, the absence of a regular chief hits when big and important policy decisions are to be taken, the official said. "The government will soon appoint a full time DG for the CRPF soon," the officer added.

A senior CRPF official said while the acting CRPF DG and senior Security Advisor in the Home Ministry K Vijay Kumar rushed to the spot and met the troops the very next day, the "absence of a regular chief at such crucial moments is felt".

"There has been no word on the appointment of the new DG," the CRPF officer said. In the first week of April, 168 recruits of the force

suffered food poisoning at their camp in Pallipuram in Kerala and had to be hospitalised.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had taken strong exception of the incident and also convened a meeting of all paramilitary chiefs asking them to keep a check on such instances.

"It is always good to have a full-time chief who is empowered to take confident policy decisions. It is surprising to see that the 3-lakh personnel force, which is also the largest paramilitary across the globe, is kept headless and without a regular DG for well about two months," another officer said.

The CRPF is not only the lead anti-Naxal operations force of the country but also heavily deployed for rendering law and order duties in various states in assistance to local police and for conducting anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the CBI's response on a plea alleging that a woman, related to former Union minister P Chidambaram, has grabbed a hotel in Tamil Nadu in collusion with the officials of a public sector bank.

The petition filed by K Kathirvel, a doctor by profession who was running the hotel in partnership with his associates, accused Padmini, sister of Chidambaram's wife Nalini, of grabbing the property in collusion with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) officials.

Justice RK Gauba issued a notice to the CBI and sought a status report by 25 July with regard to the complaint lodged by Kathirvel, who has alleged arm-twisting by the bank and Chidambaram's wife Nalini to grab the hotel for Padmini.

The court asked the probe agency to inform it about the action they have taken so far.

CBI's standing counsel Rajdeepa Behura accepted notice for the agency and said she will file a response on the averments made in the petition.

Kathirvel alleged in his plea that he had filed a complaint with CBI in September 2016 against Chidambaram, his family members and top officials of IOB for grabbing his

hotel, but the agency has not yet taken any step.

The petitioner said he had filed the complaint with the CBI director after CBI's Tamil Nadu unit showed reluctance to entertain it.

According to his complaint, in 2007, the 'Comfort Inn' hotel in Tirupur, in which he was a partner, was grabbed by them with the help of the top management of IOB.

Arguing for Kathirvel, his counsel Yatinder Chaudhary, said this was a clear case of abuse of power by the former Union minister's family using banks to grab the properties they wished.

He contended that even after clearing the dues, the bank went on with a "mock auction" to allot the hotel to Padmini.

The hotel was worth more than Rs 10 crore and had a loan due of Rs 2.5 crore with the IOB and the bank had declared the loan as a non-performing asset and announced an auction, the complaint said.

Kathirvel said he had approached the Madras High Court and later the Debt Recovery Tribunal, besides paying Rs 64 lakh ($96,000) to the IOB to avoid the auction. After receiving the amount, the bank promised cancellation of the auction, he claimed.

He alleged that the bank cheated him and conducted a "farce auction" and allotted the hotel to Padmini at a very cheap rate of Rs 4.5 crore.
Lucknow: Former UP minister Gayatri Prajapati and his two accomplices were Tuesday granted bail by a POCSO court in connection with a rape case.

Special judge of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court Om Prakash Mishra granted the bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu.

The court asked him to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount. The FIR was registered against Prajapati and six others on the directive of the Supreme Court.

Prajapati (49) was arrested on 15 March and sent to jail for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter.

The woman had alleged that Prajapati had raped her when she met him three years ago. She alleged that she was raped when she fell unconscious after taking tea laced with a sedative.

Prajapati allegedly took some photos of the victim and then threatened to make them public and continued to rape her for two years.

In the just-concluded Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Prajapati lost his Amethi seat to the BJP.

The allegations against Prajapati were raked up by the BJP during the elections to attack the then Akhilesh Yadav-led government.

In March, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the arrest order of Gayatri Prajapati.

"It's very unfortunate that its order for registration of FIR against Gayatri Prajapati is being given a political colour," Justice AK Sikri and Justice RK Agrawal said, while refusing to allow his plea to recall the order on lodging of FIR in the sexual assault case.

The bench said Prajapati can approach the concerned court for seeking bail if he gets arrested. "Whatever remedies the parties have they will have right to avail," said the bench.

The court made it clear that it was not monitoring the case against him and its order was confined to the registration of FIR.

On 17 February, the apex court had asked Uttar Pradesh Police to register an FIR against Prajapati.
The Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party government is tightening the noose around Muslims to prevent cow slaughter in the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu region which has seen spate of mob attacks on the Muslims transporting the bovine animals for consumption.

On Friday evening a mob attacked a Muslims Gujjar family in Reasi area, which has left at least five people, including two women, injured. The family members, who are distant relatives of senior PDP leader and vice-chairman of Gujjar and Bakerwal Advisory Board, Chaudhary Zafar Ali, were moving with their herd of cattle to Srinagar, when they were intercepted by a cow vigilante group at Reasi and were attacked with iron rods.

Police said that eleven people, who have been booked for attempt to murder, were part of the cow vigilante brigade. Mob fury erupted as they asked from the family members the permission for carrying the cow herd from the concerned deputy commissioner or additional deputy commissioner (ADC), but after the Gujjars failed to furnish any authority letter they were assaulted and women were molested.

Friday's incident is among the many cases reported in Jammu where a mob has attacked cow traders and in a few cases even set vehicles on fire. Earlier in September last year, a mob set ablaze a truck carrying cattle towards Kashmir from Rajouri. In December 2015, two vehicles were also set on fire at Kalakote after being intercepted by a mob as they spotted that the vehicles are transporting cattle. In October 2015, three persons, including a policeman, received burn injuries after a Kashmir bound truck carrying the cattle was attacked with a petrol bomb at Udhampur. In November 2015, a truck carrying the cattle was torched near Nagrota on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.

President of the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, Javid Rahi, said that these are the incident which were reported, while as many of the cases of attacks on the Gujjar nomads by the Hindu mob go unnoticed. " The members from the Gujjar community are harrased for no reason,'' he said. The mob attack on the Gujjar family in Reasi drew widespread rage among the Muslim community and the mainstream and separatist politicians in Kashmir. PDP's consumer affairs and public distribution minister, Chaudhary Zulfikar, condemned the incident, while Hurriyat Conference chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has accused the government of declaring a war on Muslims.

While some Muslims blame that the attacks have intensified as the BJP wants to take the political mileage out of communal polarisation, but the difference in food habits of Hindus and Muslims based on their religious faith is also believed to be the main reason for the friction among the community members. While beef consumption is allowed in Muslim majority region of Kashmir, a Dogra-era law to penalise the possession of the cow meat is being strictly enforced in Jammu. Under Section 298 (A) of Renbir Penal Code, the punishment for cow slaughter goes upto 10 years, while imprisonment is also to be awarded for possessing cow meat under section 298 (B) of the RPC. Senior Advocate, D C Raina, said, "RPC was codified during the reign of Maharaja Ranbir Singh. Under the RPC, punishment, including the fine and imprisonment, is also to be awarded for the possession of meat of buffalo. Hindus worship cow and this is clearly ordained in the Vedas as well as Upanishads,'' he said. This is unlike the Muslims who sacrifice the cows during Eid.

The family which was attacked by the mob in Reasi has also been booked under Section 188 CrPC for not getting the permission from the concerned deputy commissioner, deputy inspector general (DIG) of Udhampur, Virender Sharma told Firstpost. "We have already seized the cattle. Local people had grown suspicious as the family was carrying a big herd of cows," he said.

Shoib Ali, whose family was attacked on Friday, has two girls, a son-in-law and a cousin who were all injured. Shoib's nephew, Sajad Ali Khatana, said that Shoib and his family members were carrying their cattle to Kashmir when they were attacked by the cow vigilante brigade. " Shoib Ali was some distance away with the sheep and goat herd while the his son-in-law Nazakat Ali had moved ahead along with other family members when they were attacked and women were molested,'' he said.

Deputy commissioners in the Jammu region have issued prohibitory orders seeking a ban on the transportation of cows and cattle without prior permission to keep a check on communal clashes. Official sources told Firstpost that once application to transport cattle has been submitted, the district administration checks who owns the cattle and a report from a veterinary officer is sought  to clarify that the cow is being used for milking purposes and not for slaughtering.

Additional deputy commissioner of Reasi, Babu Ram, however said that permission was not required if the cattle, including cows, were herded along but was only to be acquired if the cattle is transported. Shoib's cousin, Khattana, said that they were only herding the cattle and not transporting it.

DIG Virender Sharma said that police have however intensified the vigil to prevent cow smuggling. " We have placed barricades at different places as the incidents of bovine smuggling have only gone up. The frequency of cases which have been reported has increased,'' he added.
The miracle story of Egyptian Eman Ahmed Abdulati was shattered on Tuesday when her 32-year-old sister Shaimaa accused the doctor of Saifee hospital of lying about the weight loss, said media reports. Shaimaa said the doctor has asked them to return to Alexandria in Egypt without completing the full treatment.

According to NDTV, a video was released by the sister on Facebook where she alleged that reputed bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala had been lying about the whopping weight loss in order to get publicity. "Everything was a lie. God forgive them for what they have done... Eman did not lose 240 kg or 260 kg," Shaimaa says in the video.

According to The Times of India, the doctors and administrators of Saifee Hospital, where Eman has been undergoing the treatment, rebutted the allegations. Ladkawala said that he has fulfilled his promise by making Eman lose a lot of weight and enabling her to sit in a chair. Now, she is suffering from neurological problems which don't fall under his supervision, the doctor added.

Lakdawala further said that Shaimaa has made a video accusing him; it's circulating within the Egyptian consulate. The officials who helped them in getting Eman to Mumbai are so ashamed of her behaviour that they are apologising to him.

On Monday, Shaimaa alleged that Eman has been suffering from seizures since a surgery in March. The last time she suffered a seizure was sometime three years ago. A Mid-day report, however, said the rapid weight loss has dramatically enhanced Eman's health parameters. Her heart, lung, kidneys and fluid levels are all under check now.

Earlier, on 15 April, there were reports saying having lost a whopping 262 kgs after two months into her weight reduction treatment here, Eman was facing a new challenge of neurological rehabilitation, the bariatric surgeon attending her had said. Eman had landed in the megapolis as the world's heaviest woman weighing nearly 500 kilograms. She arrived here on 11 February, in a chartered flight for the treatment. Since then, she was under the care of Lakdawala and his team at the Saifee Hospital here.

"Three years ago, a stroke paralysed her. Since then there was very little muscular movement and it complicated her health issues with subsequent weight gain. physiotherapy is being administered to her as a part of the treatment. Though I am not an expert in it, her consultants here have now recommended concentration over neurological rehabilitation," Lakdawala had said.

"It is a crucial phase because the challenge of obesity in her overall health has been successfully addressed. The fluid content is already removed from her body, which helped us in halving her weight," he said. Lakdawala said that when Eman was brought to Mumbai, she was severely obese and her weight was 498 kilograms. Her body parts were then running at five per cent efficiency, which has now increased up to 60 percent, he said.

"She was also facing a bit of depression as hardly anyone was here to talk to her. She does miss her family and it is very difficult to communicate as she barely speaks because of her paralysis. It becomes more difficult for her to converse in a non-Arabic language," Lakdawala said. Now, we have lowered her category from 'high risk'

patient to a normal one, he had added.

According to Hindustan Times, after repeated attempts to avail medical aid from Egyptian and Greek doctors, Emans sister Shaimaa began an online campaign, which caught the attention of Lakdawala. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj communicated with the officials of Indian embassy in Egypt, who had rejected Emans visa application to come to India for treatment.

On financial assistance received for her treatment, Lakdawala had said, "So far, Rs 65 lakh have been received, entirely from Indian donors. It is much less than the cost incurred as yet. And she still needs more medication and treatment in terms of neurological rehabilitation." However, the age factor is on her side, he feels. "She is around 34 years old, which could be of some help to her," the surgeon had said.

Eman successfully underwent a laparoscopic weight-loss procedure called sleeve gastrectomy on 7 March. Before being brought to Mumbai, the woman was confined to her bed and had not moved out of her house for the last 25 years.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: India's military expenditure grew around 8.5 percent in 2016, making it the world's fifth largest spender at $55.9 billion, figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) revealed on Monday.

As per the figures, the US remains the world's largest military spender, registering a growth of 1.7 percent between 2015 and 2016 to $611 billion. China is second on the list, spending $215 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent. Japan, South Korea and Australia are also in the top 15 spenders worldwide.

However, the growth rate was much lower than in the previous years, the Sipri report said.

Russia increased its spending by 5.9 percent to $69.2 billion, making it the third largest spender. Saudi Arabia, the third largest spender in 2015, dropped to fourth position in 2016, with its spending dropping by 30 percent in 2016 to $63.7 billion, despite its continued involvement in regional wars.

Pakistan spent $9.93 billion and does not figure in the top 15 spenders.

"The growth in US military expenditure in 2016 may signal the end of a trend of decreases in spending, which resulted from the economic crisis and the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq," the report said, adding, however, that US' 2016 figures remained 20 percent lower than its peak in 2010.

"Despite continuing legal restraints on the overall US budget, increases in military spending were agreed upon by Congress," said Aude Fleurant, director of the Sipri Arms and Military Expenditure (AMEX) programme. "Future spending patterns remain uncertain due to the changing political situation in the US."

Military expenditure in western Europe rose for the second consecutive year, and was up by 2.6 percent, while falling oil revenue and associated economic problems attached to the oil-price shock has forced many oil-exporting countries to reduce military spending.

Last year's global military spending accounted for 2.2 percent of GDP worldwide. Military spending as a share of GDP, was highest in the Middle East, with an average of 6 percent, while the lowest was in the Americas, with an average of 1.3 percent.

However, data for all Middle East countries was not available. For countries where data is available, substantial increases were seen in Iran and Kuwait, while sizable decreases were noted in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Sipri said.

In Asia and Oceania, military expenditure rose by 4.6 percent in 2016. Spending levels are related to the many tensions in the region such as over territorial rights in the South China Sea.
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Belagavi: A six-year-old girl, who fell into an abandoned 400-feet borewell at Jhunjarwad village in the district, was pulled out dead after a nearly 54-hour rescue operation.

The operation ended late last night with authorities recovering Kaveri's lifeless body. The last rites were performed soon after, a family member said.

"Let this not happen to any other child.. Let no mother face this ordeal," said Kaveri's mother Savita, who has been hospitalised for weakness.

The girl was stuck at a depth of around 30 feet in the 400-feet borewell and the rescue team had located the hands of Kaveri, last evening.

A hook was used to lock the girl's hands to prevent her from slipping deeper. The National Disaster Response Force, experts from Hutti

Gold Mines and Fire services personnel were engaged in the rescue operation since Saturday evening, when Kaveri slipped and fell into the borewell while playing with her friends.

"Our efforts did not pay off. Unfortunately we could only recover the girl's body," an official from the rescue team said.

A 30-feet pit parallel to the borewell in which the girl was trapped had been dug, but the operation had got delayed by hard and rocky soil.

Thousands of people from surrounding areas had flocked to the village to see the operation. Athani MLA Laxman Sangappa Savadi said, "Despite all efforts the girl could not be saved...I will discuss with the government about the compensation."

A case will be registered against the owner of the field Shankar Hippargi, police have said.
It is frightening.

It is uncomfortable for policymakers in Delhi who feed themselves on half-truths.

It is a dangerous reality for 'nationalists'.

But it is a fact that no one denies: Kashmir is sitting on a powder-keg.

The flare-up in Pulwama and the continuing student protests could well become the matchstick needed to set the Valley aflame, again. One watches with bewilderment and awe when girl students, barely out of their teens, hit the streets, raise slogans of freedom, throw stones and out of sheer frustration, kick bulletproof vehicles to vent their anger at police and paramilitary forces on the streets  the face of bad times in Kashmir these days.

In seven years of chronicling street protests of Kashmir, I have seen on countless occasions middle-aged women as part of the protests, but very rarely witnessed incidents in which they threw stones. But never before have I seen or heard, except for the decade I spent outside the Valley, young teenage girls as equal members of the protesting groups who throw stones at forces, march on the streets and raise slogans with equal pitch. It is a spectacle.

The sense of alienation and resentment among both young men and women is too deep. The protests might subside in few days but the scars are too deep to heal so soon. On Monday morning, before hundreds of students hit the streets and pro-freedom cries pierced the cool air in Srinagar, the Kashmir Police had done a spectacular job of keeping them at bay and confined within the four walls of the SP Higher Secondary and College.

But then the slogans soon filled Lal Chowk, the city centre, and the thuds of exploding teargas canisters created panic. The streets of Lal Chowk turned into a battleground within minutes. Those boys and men who throw stones and participate in protests on a regular basis must have been watching in awe the way these teenage girls were giving a tough time to the police.

So are we missing something here? How come we reached the point of absolute lawlessness today? Are these protests just an outburst of anger or is there something deep here that we are failing to observe? Or don't want to, because it's not convenient? Why hasn't Pakistan been blamed for "funding" these "agitational terrorists"?

It is not that the students have not protested previously. It is not important how many colleges and universities are part of this student uprising that is building slowly and steadily. What is important is why students are on the streets in the first place. Incidents like the one at Degree College Pulwama have occurred in the past too. Why has the reaction been so violent this time around?

"We had a reason to fight the Indian State for 100 years, but now the country has provided us with enough suffering to hate it for thousands of years," Akib Nisar, a Class XII student in SP School told me on Monday morning.

The anger, frustration and sense of loss is building up and it is much dangerous than the armed militancy. If this agitation survives a few more days in Srinagar and the forces that have shown extreme restraint so far decide that enough is enough, mark my words, Kashmir is going to see another uprising and this time, it will be bigger and led by students themselves, leaderless and more chaotic than we have seen previously.

The new generation of Kashmiris are brutal and blunt in their utterances; they hate political correctness. They are not afraid of dying: The fear of death is long gone. Today, death is a wish in the Valley. It tragically brings you fame and gives another reason for future generations to never forget what India has done. The sense of fearfulness has gone from most of the youths today and the Indian State should worry now before it gets out of hand.

Most of the boys and girls you see on television screens these days were born much after the insurgency broke out. They have only seen guns, violence, funerals, militants and forces in their life. Their social media feeds are full of political brutalisation. As for what normal life means, they know nothing about it.

No amount of 'Khelo India', no 'Tourism versus Terrorism' binary, no 'your role model versus mine' worries them. They are against the status quo. They want their leaders to deliver. If they fail them, they dont shy away from writing or criticising even a tall leader like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and that too openly on social media platforms. Like the generation born just before the insurgency erupted, they are not shy or cowardly. They have grown up in times of crackdowns, torture and illegal detention. My generation would look for ways to run when an army vehicle would approach, but today's generation runs after these vehicles and throw stones at them.

So when even their own, supposedly "freedom-loving" student unions call to return to their classrooms, they defy it. Even a shout by Kashmirs most popular separatist leader like Geelani has not brought them back to class. On Geelani's call, even mainstream political leaders used to shut their shops. But this is another generation of Kashmiris, a generation that likes playing the guitar, but songs of defiance and freedom. They will play the santoor and even a run-down traditional rabab, and the songs are anything but pro-India.

We are losing this generation rapidly to disillusionment and hatred. We must act before it's too late.
Abdul Gani Dar was traveling in a Maruti car, along with his personal security officer (PSO), when a speeding vehicle blocked his path, between Pinglan and Pahoo village in Pulwama district on Monday. Three gun-wielding militants came out of the car, dragged Dar out of his car, searched his pockets, and pumped two bullets into his body. His PSO too rattled by the speed at which the events unfolded watched everything helplessly.

Dar, 66, despite being the district president of ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), maintained a low profile, according to the people who knew him in Pulwama district court, where he worked throughout his life and continued to do so till he was shot dead.

Once the militants fled the scene, his PSO bundled him into the car and drove him straight to Srinagars SMHS hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

"We have identified two local militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba, who are involved in his killing. We are questioning his PSO, who was present at the spot, and the kind of weapons militants used when they fired at Dar. We will soon identify the others as well," Pulwama superintendent of police, Rayees Mohammad Bhat, told Firstpost.

Dar, a soft-spoken man was the third "mainstream" political activist to have been killed by militants in the last two weeks, as the militant continue to issue threats to the political workers and harass those associated with them.

Two weeks back, according to family members of Dar, some unknown person appeared in their house asking him to publically apologise for his association with mainstream politics, but he refused. He was the last standing man with political affiliation and a close aide of Finance Minister, Haseeb Drabu, in the district. Following the threats by the militants, a majority of the political workers have either resigned or publically tendered apologies on public addressing systems in mosques. It has been a throwback to the early nineties, at least in Pulwama, when this was a common practice.

"We had requested police to upgrade his security. But that never happened," a family member of told Firstpost on condition of anonymity.

"Militants would have thought dozens of time had there been enough people with him as they would have retaliated. What can one PSO do?" he asked.

In 2009, when the militancy was limited to the pockets of Tral village, Dar, a resident of Rahmoo village, was attacked by militants when they tried to snatch the rifles of his PSO, in that attack his PSO killed two militants, he had then fought an election unsuccessfully on a Congress ticket. Following this, the Jammu and Kashmir Police reviewed his security and installed a guard-room inside his house but his security detail remained poor.

"It is the police Headquarters in Srinagar which reviews the security of the individuals and categorise them accordingly, but I am not privy to any application or a request that the family of Dar had sent for upgrading his security detail," Rayees, the SP of Pulwama, said.

The poll-bound south Kashmir witnessed the first political killing in March when unidentified gunmen abducted and later shot dead a former sarpanch.

The Jammu and Kashmir government is facing a huge challenge to provide security to the political workers like panchs and sarpanchs. The government said in the winter session of the assembly that 1,785 protected people are availing security cover, in the form of personal security officers, residential guards, vehicles or accommodation.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said that as per records, 1,463 categorised and 322 uncategorised people are availing security cover. Besides, there are 284 political activists who are availing secured hotel accommodation.

"The security cover to the protected persons is provided as per the guidelines of Ministry of Home Affairs, government of India as laid down in Yellow Book (classified document)," she said.

The Security Review Coordination Committee constituted by the government of Jammu and Kashmir reviews the security of these protected persons periodically.

"The fact that political activity in south Kashmir faces more challenges is a reality," former chief minister and working president of the National Conference, Omar Abdullah, said recently.

We failed to launch full-blown out political activity on the ground is also because of the fear that has set in among our workers, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the state congress chief, told Firstpost.

When the militants started a tirade against village heads, the police refused to provide them security to more than 34,000 panchs and sarpanchs citing the huge number of the villages and towns in Kashmir. The number of grassroot political workers, the foot soldiers of any democratic process in Kashmir, is much bigger and larger than this and any state would not afford to put a couple of cops in the house of every political worker.

"It is almost an impossible task. More important than providing security to political workers, across the party line, is to provide them with a sense of security and we are working on that, DGP, Jammu and Kashmir, SP Vaid, said recently.

For the moment a sense of dread has set in among all the political workers across the ideological lines in the valley and will only go away when the situation starts to return to some semblances of normalcy.
The 2006 Malegaon bombings were a series of bomb blasts that happened on 8 September 2006 in Malegaon opposite Shakil Goods Transport Company, a town in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, 290 km from Mumbai. The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially blamed the bombings on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), but a chargesheet filed in 2013 put the blame on the Hindu extremist group Abhinav Bharat. Here's all you need to know about the blasts.

The day of blasts



At least seven were killed and 125 were injured in the explosion that took place in a cemetery, adjacent to a mosque, at around 1:15 pm after Friday prayers on the holy day of Shab e Bara'at. Most of the victims were Muslim pilgrims. While security personnel spoke of two bombs attached to bicycles, there were other reports indicating that three devices had exploded causing a stampede.

A curfew was imposed in the town and state paramilitary forces were deployed in sensitive areas. According to The Wire, the blasts were similar to an explosion that occurred in the New Delhi just three days earlier. Two low-intensity bombs were fitted on a Hero Honda motorcycle and rigged to detonate in Malegaon. The motorcycle used later led the police to the accused.

Arrests made

The ATS rounded up nine people who had links to SIMI and HuJI. Two who were arrested had reportedly links with Pakistan. On 30 October, Noor-Ul-Huda, an activist of the Students Islamic Movement of India was arrested. The DGP of Mumbai said that the two other suspects were Shabeer Batterywala and Raees Ahmad. On 6 November, it was reported that the prime conspirator Shabbir Batterywala was an operative of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the co-conspirator was Raees Ahmad of SIMI. Through the motorcycle used, the ATS found evidence which pointed to the involvement of Hindu extremist groups in the attack.

On 24 October, 2008, the police arrested three people in connection with the blast  Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Shyam Bhawarlal Sahu and Shiv Narayan Gopal Singh Kalsanghra. The names of Hindu organisations like Rastriya Jagran Manch, Hindu Rashtra Sena, Sharda Sarvagya Peeth and Abhinav Bharat came up in the investigation and further arrests were made. On 4 November, 2008, the ATS held Lieutenant-Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, a serving Army officer, for his involvement. According to The Indian Express, Thakur, Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Purohit, Sameer Kulkarni, Rakesh Dhawade, Sudhakar Dwivedi aka Dayanand Pandey, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Pravin Takalki were in judicial custody of whom Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange were absconding.

Political impact

The matter soon took a political turn with the BJP and the Shiv Sena accusing the ATS of harbouring political motives behind the arrests and accusing the Congress of using the ATS for its political gains.

The prosecutors filed charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, which requires the court to have taken cognisance of two previous chargesheets against one or more of the accused. In July 2009, the special court trying the case dropped the MCOCA charges on that ground that when the chargesheet was filed for Malegaon 2008, the cognisance of the accused was not taken in the other cases.

NIA starts probe

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the case on the direction of Home Ministry on 13 April, 2011, and it is still investigating the case. In 2015, the Supreme Court set aside the Bombay High Court order and dropped the MCOCA charges, claiming there was hardly any evidence against the accused in the previous cases. It also asked the high court to constitute a special court and begin the trial at the earliest.

On 25 April, 2016, the court found the initial ATS charges to be fabricated and released the nine Muslims previously arrested. Nearly eight years later after ATS produced videos and transcripts purportedly showing Thakur as part of conspiracy meetings for the 2008 Malegaon blasts, both the ATS and NIA backtracked on it before the Bombay High Court.

Chargesheet filed

In May 2016, the NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet in the case dropped charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Thakur and five others after which she filed for bail. However, the bail plea was rejected by the NIA Court in June 2016 following which she appealed to the Bombay High Court contending that the NIA Court had considered only the ATS chargesheet and not the NIA chargesheet before rejecting her bail.

In her fresh plea, Thakur contended before the high court that her health had been steadily deteriorating since her arrest in October 2008, and she had become 'infirm' due to numerous hardships she underwent during the probe by ATS. In June, 2016, the Congress demanded that the Narendra Modi government sack the NIA chief whose role in the investigation into the Malegaon blasts has been questioned by a Mumbai special court.

The NIA, on 17 April this year, told the Supreme Court that there was no need to keep the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case in judicial custody as a charge sheet has been filed in the matter. A bench of Justices RK Agrawal and AM Sapre was told by counsel for NIA that they were not pressing any more for the custody of accused in the case.

"A chargesheet has been filed in the case and argument on framing of charges is going on and at the moment the agency is not pressing for police custody of the accused," the counsel said.

Thakur gets bail

The bench after recording the submission adjourned the matter for further hearing. Lt Col Shrikant Purohit and other accused Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi, have moved apex court saying that the investigation has remained incomplete with NIA failing to file chargesheet and his detention without trial is illegal.

The Bombay High Court on 25 April granted bail to Thakur but denied any relief to co-accused former Purohit in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. "The appeal filed by Thakur is allowed. The applicant is directed to be released on bail on a surety of Rs 5 lakh. The appeal filed by Purohit stands dismissed," said a division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi.

The court directed Thakur to surrender her passport to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). It also directed her not to tamper with the evidence and to report to NIA court as and when required.

With inputs from agencies
The nexus between India's Maoists with both, Pakistan-based Islamic terrorists and China, is not a figment of an overzealous investigator's imagination. Nor is it hallucination on the part of a bunch of "Hindu nationalists". There is no irrefutable evidence to prove that either Islamist jihadis or the Chinese have helped Maoists in launching any specific attacks in India, including the one in Chhattisgarh on Monday, but there are enough indications of their collusion for India to worry about.

Though police forces across all states have been arresting Maoists or killing them in real and fake encounters, reducing the number of their active, armed members from 12,000 to 8,000, they continue to strike with deadly frequency and precision. This inevitably raises questions about the external help which they are evidently receiving by way of arms and training. Even the intelligence agencies have been talking about for some time now.

For instance, at the site where Maoists attacked a CRPF battalion in Jharkhand's Latehar district on 7 January, 2013, the police found grenades which were suspected to have been made in Pakistan. In October the previous year, the Jharkhand police arrested a leader of the People's Liberation Front of India, a splinter group of the Communist party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), and seized from him bullets which had on them the letters POF, apparently meaning Pakistan Ordnance Factory.

But that was the last we heard of the two seizures.

The first time that the Indian investigators stumbled on substantial information on this nexus was after the arrest of Lakshar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Mohammed Umar Madani in Delhi on 4 June, 2009.

Previously a resident of Balkatwa village in Bihar's Madhubani district, Madani first travelled to Pakistan, where he received combat training, and then to Nepal, where he became a "head hunter" for LeT. According to official statements at that time, he revealed during interrogation that his job was to not only recruit Muslim youth in India for LeT but also to establish links with Maoists in Bihar and Jharkhand and send them for training in Pakistan. Documents seized from him hinted at plans by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to break up India with help from Maoists.

Intelligence reports had said that as many as 500 Maoists were trained by activists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in the hills near Vagamon in Kerala in 2008. In both the conversations, which were private and and rare interviews, Maoist leaders make no secret of their sympathy for the Islamic jihadi outfits.

Lakshmana Rao aka Ganapathi, the General Secretary of the CPI (Maoist), had this to say in a 2009 interview to journalist and writer Rahul Pandita:

"Islamic jihadist movements of today are a product of imperialist-particularly US imperialist-aggression, intervention, bullying, exploitation and suppression of the oil-rich Islamic and Arab countries of West Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, etcetera, and the persecution of the entire Muslim religious community. As part of their designs for global hegemony, the imperialists, particularly US imperialists, have encouraged and endorsed every war of brazen aggression and brutal attacks by their surrogate state of Israel ... It is only Maoist leadership that can provide correct anti-imperialist orientation and achieve class unity among Muslims as well as people of other religious persuasions."

Ben West of Global Intelligence Agency Stratfor said in a 2010 email accessed by Wikileaks said that there was a "certain amount of truth" in the talk about LeT-Maoists link.

The Chinese connection

Indian officials have seized from Maoists weapons and bullets made not only in Pakistan, but also in China. Not surprisingly, the Chinese arms made way to the Maoists via Bangladesh, Myanmar and, of course, India's highly porous border with Nepal. Quoting an intelligence bureau report, Headlines Today said in 2012 that Chinese intelligence units had been training, arming and funding Maoists to help them wage war against India.

The channel had said: "Disturbingly, the report is replete with specific observations and specific pieces of intelligence on China's dirty game. It reveals how Maoists have been training in Nagaland, funded by the Chinese. It shows how certain Maoist units are now being given encrypted wireless communication devices."

Maoists had links with LTTE too

Seeking help from external sources is nothing new for Maoists. In the past, they sought and got assistance from forest thug Veerappan and Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In 2000, during the many weeks that I spent in the jungles of Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border, where Veerappan unleashed unspeakable terror, tribals spoke of strangers making sudden appearances in their villages. Interviews with officials of the forest and police departments revealed at that time that some of those mysterious strangers were Maoists and the others were believed to belong to LTTE.

Maoists sought help from LTTE in learning ambushing techniques. And both Maoists and the LTTE together sought safe sanctuary in Veerappan's jungle in return for weapons.

Officials who investigated some past Maoist attacks noted that their techniques were similar to those used by LTTE. The precision and skill the Maoists exhibited in attacking CRPF jawans in March last year near Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, killing seven of them, was attributed to the training they had received from LTTE in setting off landmines.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told the Lok Sabha last year that Maoists not only had "close links" with Leftist outfits in countries such as Germany, France, Turkey and Italy, but may also have received training from the Communist Party of Philippines.

Neither Kiren Rijiju nor former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had made a similar statement, spoke of the Chinese and Pakistani links. Considering the new passion in the Pakistan-China relations and their common agenda against India, it's time the Narendra Modi government spoke up about the nexus between the Maoists and the two neighbouring countries.
New Delhi: The Centre on Monday said it is not imposing Hindi on anyone but promoting it like other regional languages.

"We are not imposing Hindi but promoting Hindi like any other language," Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told reporters in Kashmir.

Rijiju is the minister incharge of the Department of Official Language.

His comments came in the backdrop allegations levelled by certain quarters that the Modi government is trying to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states. DMK leader M K Stalin has accused the Centre of trying to relegate people who don't speak Hindi, to second-class citizens and of pushing the country into becoming "Hindia".

The controversy was generated after President Pranab Mukherjee accepted the recommendation of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language (CPOL) that all dignitaries including the president and ministers, especially those who can read and speak Hindi, may be requested to give their speech/statement in Hindi only.

The president has accepted several other recommendations, including making announcements on board aircraft in Hindi followed by English.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the allegation that Hindi is being imposed is "completely false" and the government has "no intention" of imposing any language, including Hindi, on anyone.

"I was pained to read in a section of the press today news reports wherein DMK leader MK Stalin has been quoted alleging imposition of Hindi by the central government," he said.

The minister said the suggestion of the CPOL was "only recommendatory and not mandatory". "It is totally false and mischievous to allege that an Ordinance was passed in this regard (making use of Hindi mandatory for MPs and Union ministers)," he added.

Naidu said it was only the recommendation of the CPOL, headed by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram, which was forwarded to President Pranab Mukherjee on June 2, 2011 and the present government notified it on March 31 this year. He said that DMK was part of the UPA in 2011 when this recommendation was made and forwarded by the committee to the president.
Bhubaneswar: Apprehending influx of Maoists from Chhattisgarh a day after the carnage in Sukma, the Odisha Police on Tuesday sealed the border with the neighbouring state and sounded a high alert in Malkangiri district.

Though the Maoist ambush Monday took place about 45 km from Malkangiri and close to Maharashtra border, the Odisha Police deployed its elite anti-Maoist Special Operation Group (SOG), District Voluntary Force (DVF) and jawans of the CRPF and the BSF to ensure there was no influx of ultras in Odisha, state DGP KB Singh said.

Singh said there was every possibility of Maoist ultras preferring to take shelter in Odisha as Maharashtra has already sealed its border with Chhattisgarh. "The central forces and state police have been told to undertake area domination exercise and flush out Maoist rebels, if any," the DGP told reporters.

Malkangiri Superintendent of Police (SP) Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said, "We have sounded a high-alert in the border areas. The whole district has also been put on extra vigil."

Monitoring has been intensified in all entry and exit points at the bordering areas. Besides, instructions have been given to police officers and combing police parties to

coordinate with their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, he said.

A similar alert was also sounded along the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB), the police said. As many as 300 heavily armed Maoists ambushed a CRPF contingent and killed 25 troopers in Chhattisgarh on Monday.
Lucknow: Pakistan-born liberal author Tarek Fatah, a Shia worship place in Uttar Pradesh and a crowded area in Haridwar in Uttarakhand were among the targets of the four terror suspects held in a multi-state operation last week, police said on Tuesday in Lucknow.

The terrorists wanted to target Fatah, a Canadian national who often visits India, to create a sensation across the world, SSP of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Umesh Kumar Srivastava said.

He was the target as he is seen as opposing the Shariat law and advocates liberal and progressive form of Islam, Srivastava said.

"However, the self-radicalised terror suspects eventually realised that it was not easy to target the author, so they went ahead with an alternative plan to target other places and persons in order to make their presence felt," he added.

The four terror suspects are Umar alias Nazim (arrested from Mumbai), Mufti alias Faizan (arrested from Bijnor in UP), Zaqwan alias Ehtesham (arrested from Narkatiaganj in Bihar) and Ghazi Baba (arrested from Jalandhar in Punjab).

"The terror suspects had even planned to target a Shia worship place in Amroha (in UP)," a senior UP ATS officer said.

Police said an alert has been sounded in Amroha, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar after "revelations" made by Mufti and

Zaqwan.

The suspects had also planned a bomb attack at a crowded place in Haridwar, a popular pilgrim town in Uttarakhand.

"Plans were also made to eliminate a poice officer in Mumbai and set afire a sugar mill in Narkatiyaganj," he said.

Mufti and Zaqwan were on Saturday taken on eight-day remand by ATS for quizzing.

Umar and Ghazi Baba were produced in the court of special chief judicial magistrate here yesterday after they were brought to Lucknow on transit remand.

The court sent them to judicial custody till 4 May, police said.
Jaipur: Breaking her silence on the Alwar lynching case, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said on Tuesday that none of the culprits would be spared and no such incident would be tolerated in the state.

"Such incidents would not be tolerated in Rajasthan. Seven people have been arrested and further appropriate action will be taken on the basis of facts that will emerge after investigation," Raje told reporters in the state assembly premises here.

"None of the culprits will be allowed to get away," she asserted.

The lynching incident occurred in Behror town in Alwar district when Pehlu Khan and four others were attacked by a mob of cow vigilantes while they were on their way to Haryana after purchasing cattle in Rajasthan's Ramgarh on 1 April.

55-year-old Khan succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on 3 April leading to massive outrage.

The incident also led to uproar in the Rajasthan Assembly on Monday as the opposition Congress attacked the government over the law and order situation in the state.

Raje was also asked by reporters about certain controversial comments made by her party MLA about Bhimrao Ambedkar.

The chief minister said her party's stand is clear about Ambedkar that he was the architect of the constitution. She said that Ambedkar is a respectable ideal for all.
Jaipur: Five persons were killed and 35 others were injured on Monday in a clash between two groups over a land dispute in Doroli village of Alwar district.

Alwar SP Rahul Prakash said two groups of the Mali community, led by Battu Ram Saini and Lala Ram Saini, clashed at Doroli village in the district over a piece of land in Nadbai tehsil of Bharatpur.

The warring groups threw stones and opened fire at each other. As a result, five persons were killed, Prakash said.

Administrative officials had got the land freed from Lala Ram on 27 March, but he continued to cultivate crops on it, which led to the clash.

Those killed were identified as Sia Ram Saini, Premvati Saini, Karn Singh, Bahadur Saini and Nannuram Saini.

The injured persons are undergoing treatment at hospitals in Kherli, Alwar and Jaipur, police said.

Police could not register a case immediately as they could not ascertain in which police station area the incident took place.

Later in the evening, Kherli police of Alwar district took over the probe into the matter after registering a case.
New Delhi: A day after 25 CRPF personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush, the Congress on Tuesday launched a frontal attack on the BJP government in Chhattisgarh, saying its inability to fight the guerrillas stems from the lack of willingness on the part of Chief Minister Raman Singh.

The "inability" of the state government in fighting Naxalism lies in the "lack of will" of the chief minister, chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

He also took a swipe at BJP president Amit Shah over his party's expansion plan, launched from Naxalbari in West Bengal on Tuesday, and said he should instead confer with the prime minister on how to stop Naxalism.

"...don't put Party before the nation," Surjewala said on Twitter.

AmitShahji starts BJP expansion plan from Naxalbari today. Instead, pl plan with PM on how to stop Naxalism & don't put Party before nation.  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) April 25, 2017

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh accused the Chhattisgarh chief minister and other BJP leaders, who win elections from Naxalism-affected areas, of striking a "deal" with the guerrillas.

"I have said this before and am repeating, that Raman Singh and all those BJP leaders who have won from Naxalism-hit areas have struck a deal with Naxals and there is some exchange between them," he said.

Surjewala also questioned the central government for its failure to appoint a full-time director-general (DG) of the paramilitary force. The post of the CRPF DG has been lying vacant since February.

"No CRPF DG post-February 2017. NIA Chief on the 2nd extension. Lack of policy, plan & direction to fight Naxals confounds BJP government. Has BJP government framed a congruous & comprehensive policy in 3 years to deal with Naxalism or was its resolution babble?" he said in a series of tweets.

No CRPF DG post Feb2017.NIA Chief on 2nd extension.Lack of policy,plan & direction to fight Naxals confounds BJPGovt https://t.co/uwdy7wOU9V  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) April 25, 2017

Has BJPGovt framed a congruous & comprehensive policy in 3years to deal with Naxalism or was it's resolution babble? https://t.co/4V8pd8cY3F  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) April 24, 2017

Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said the BJP had made strong claims of wiping out terrorism, but in reality, the number of casualties of CRPF jawans in the state has been the highest during its tenure. She claimed that the intelligence failure and the lack of coordination between the Centre and the state were the main reasons for the deadly Maoist attack.

"If we are serious of wiping terrorism from across the border, we should be serious about defeating terrorists from within the nation.

"The Congress made full attempts to defeat the scourge of these terrorists. We wiped out terrorists in Andhra Pradesh. We lost our senior leadership in Chhattisgarh to Naxal violence. This was during the BJP tenure. We have seen no action," she said.

Digvijaya Singh said Naxalism cannot be wiped out till the state government takes the tribals and those living in these areas into confidence and talks to them.

"You cannot end Naxalism till the time you talk to all. You have to first take the people living in Naxal-affected areas into confidence," he said.

The Congress on its Twitter handle hit back at Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who asked whether the families of security men killed in the Naxal attack have any human rights, saying, "Of course they have Human Rights! But, aren't you the government? You have clearly failed in defending these Rights!"

Of course they have Human Rights! But, aren't you the Govt? You have clearly failed in defending these Rights! https://t.co/dY5ZYTYSrN  INC India (@INCIndia) April 25, 2017

At least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and seven wounded in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Monday, in the deadliest ambush by Maoists of security forces this year.

The nearly 100-strong CRPF patrol providing security for road construction work came under fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions at around 12.25 pm in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country.

With inputs from PTI
For a political party which had promised us "zero tolerance" to terrorism in its election manifesto, the killings of as many as 25 CRPF jawans on Monday in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district must be considered a major failure in managing internal security by the BJP-led governments both in New Delhi and Raipur. As Firstpost has rightly pointed out, the Maoist-related violence has already killed 72 security personnel in 2017, highest in Chhattisgarh since 2011.

There are many angles from which the Maoist-menace in eastern and central India can be looked at. Administratively speaking, it reflects poorly on the part of the Modi government to undertake the much-needed police reforms in the country. We have a terrible paucity of officers to guide the jawans in our paramilitary forces. Our police are inadequately armed to take on the highly motivated insurgents. There is a perennial intelligence failure. The country has a multiplicity of agencies to deal with terrorism, but there is hardly any coordination among them. Each one of these points merits a separate treatment, which I intend to take up later in this forum.

But the most important problem in tackling the Maoist menace in the country is the lack of consensus among our political and intellectual elites on the very nature of the menace. One distinctly remembers how as prime minister, Manmohan Singh had displayed a distinct soft corner for the Maoists by saying that "Maoists are not terrorists" and that he would be happy to talk to them. And mind you, he had such a view of the Maoists despite openly admitting that "the Naxalites/Maoists pose the gravest threat to the internal security" of the country. Singh had cited factors such as underdevelopment, corruption, police atrocities and exploitation of vanvasis (forest dwellers) and the poor in contributing to the growing influence of Maoists. It seems the same mindset continues to prevail under the Modi regime.

As a good doctor cannot treat a patient without the proper diagnosis of the disease, no government can deal with Maoists if it is not sure whether the Maoists should be treated with empathy or force. Are they terrorists or the modern-day Robin Hoods for tribals?

Reportedly, the hapless CRPF jawans who were dastardly killed by the Maoists on Monday were on duty to clear roads for the tribals living in the region. Incidentally, Sukma has seen a lot of road construction in the last couple of years and the Maoists saw this developmental activity as an act by the enemy. In fact, the Maoists, while preaching to represent the poverty-stricken, destroy every activity that pertains to the development of these very poverty-stricken people. They kill the workers and officials engaged in the developmental projects in states like Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and, for that matter, in other states falling in what is called the Red Corridor (106 districts that spans across 10 states  Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh). They burn the newly created school buildings. They blow up railway tracks, bridges and inter-district state highways. They torch trucks and blast telecom towers. They behead policemen a la Taliban-style from time to time. Sometimes, they even hijack passenger trains. They also deliberately initiate communal riots between Hindus and Christians, as they did in tribal areas of Odisha once by killing a leading social activist Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, who had done exemplary work among vanvasis in the state. They have been responsible for many a caste riots in Bihar as well.

And yet, rarely you see our liberals and human rights activists saying a word against them in public forums. On the other hand, if some of them get killed in police encounters, one will see television discussions and myriads of op-eds in our newspapers condemning the police actions. None of these people will ever see their actions as terrorist activities.

Let us see whether the universally accepted definitions and understanding of terrorism apply to the Maoists or not. While it is true that "one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter" has often haunted the debate on terrorism for decades, let me cite those definitions that are accepted and used in the United Nations (UN), of which India is a leading member:

In a resolution (GA Res. 51/210 Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism), the United Nations says: 1. "Strongly condemns all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed. 2. Reiterates that criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify them."

UN Security Council Resolution 1566 refers to terrorism as "criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organisation to do or to abstain from doing any act".

On 17 March 2005, a UN panel described terrorism as any act "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organisation to do or abstain from doing any act".

The UN General Assembly Resolution 49/60 titled "Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism," adopted on 9 December 1994, contains a provision describing terrorism. It says: "Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them."

Any honest and sincere readings of the above resolutions in the world body, which India has never opposed, make it amply clear that the Maoists are nothing but terrorists. In fact, one may quote a Special Secretary to the Union Home Ministry, AK Mitra: "Maoist problem is not a simple problem of law and order. This is a terrorist (emphasis added) and inter-state problem."

Admittedly, the usual factors of underdevelopment, corruption, police atrocities and exploitation of vanvasis and poor people do contribute to the growing influence of Maoists. But that is one part of the story. But there is the other part, which is similar to the case in Kashmir: people are supporting the so-called revolutionaries in the "Red Corridor" in eastern/central India not out of love and reverence but because of terror and fear.

Maoists and their leaders are flourishing since money, important for them to procure sophisticated weapons, is no longer a problem. Most Maoist leaders  incidentally, all of them belong to upper castes and are well-educated  have over the past decades acquired large properties in urban areas with the money that flows to them through extortion goes to thousands of crores annually. And those extorted are not only contractors, businessmen, doctors and engineers but also poor labourers and farmers, who are forced to part with a substantial portion of their earnings. They raise funds through extortion or by setting up parallel administrations to collect taxes in rural areas where local governments and the Indian State appear to be absent. This is not all. Smuggling of contrabands and wood along with poppy cultivation also enrich their coffers.

And what is worse, the Maoists have strengthened their links with the notorious terrorist groups outside the country, including the ISI of Pakistan. They had active collaborations when the LTTE was live and kicking in Sri Lanka. The security literature in the subcontinent is well-endowed with instances of how arms were secretly distributed amongst the members of small Communist groups as well as some of the Islamist groups in Bangladesh and how Maoists once had conspired to re-begin notorious activities of Naxalites in West Bengal. There have been hidden agreements between the Maoists and Al-Qaeda outfits in the South Asian region. It may be recalled that the Maoist groups in India had taken the initiative in forming the 2001 Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia, better known as CCOMPOSA, in some secret locations in the jungles of central India. Its members were Naxalite or Maoist outfits from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

If all these acts do not make Maoists terrorists what else would? By all means, one should talk to them, but for the country's sake, let us first defeat them. The Maoists have waged a war against the country, a war which is not on behalf of the poor but for establishing a political system that has nothing to with our democracy and our democratic Constitution. We cannot allow them to win this war.
New Delhi: The government has no plans to deploy the army to tackle the Naxals, notwithstanding reverses being faced by paramilitary and police forces, a Home Ministry official said on Tuesday.

"It is an internal security issue. There is no question of deploying the army in the anti-Naxal operations," the official said.

Since the Naxal violence is considered as a law and order problem, paramilitary and police forces will continue to deal with the Maoists, even though there have been casualties on the part of the security forces, the official said.

The comments of the senior Home Ministry official came in the wake of speculation in sections of the media that the government was considering the option of deploying the army.

However, the Indian Air Force provides logistical support to the anti-Naxal forces by offering chopper sorties for the evacuation of injured, sick, air dropping of food, medicine and other essentials.

As many as 25 CRPF personnel were killed on Monday in an attack by the Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district.

On 11 March, 12 paramilitary personnel were killed by the Naxals in the same district of Chhattisgarh.

On 6 April, 2010, altogether 75 CRPF personnel and a constable of the state police were massacred by the Naxals in Dantewada of Chhattisgarh.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday condoled the death of four CRPF personnel from the state who were killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh and announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh each to their families.

Palaniswami said he was deeply grieved at the death of four CRPF personnel from Tamil Nadu and expressed his deep condolences to their family members, a statement said.

The four CRPF personnel from Tamil Nadu who lost their lives on Monday were M Padmanabhan, N Senthilkumar, N Thirumurugan and P Azhagupandi.

At least 25 CRPF personnel killed on Monday when Maoist ambushed the 74 battalion of CRPF, which was providing security to road construction work near Chintagufa in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.

The Maoists mounted the assault around 12.25 pm in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country. The area is close to the Chintagufa-Burkapal-Bheji axis, the hotbed of violence which has seen a number of such attacks in the past resulting in high casualties.

An injured jawan, brought to a hospital, said the CRPF patrol was attacked by around 300 Maoist guerrillas.

This was the second such incident in Sukma within a span of one month. The last Maoist attack took place on 11 March, where 12 CRPF jawans were killed.

The incident comes at a time when the country's largest paramilitary force is without a full-time chief after K Durga Prasad retired on 28 February.

75 CRPF personnel and a Chhattisgarh police official were killed in the deadliest Maoist attack in adjoining Dantewada district on 6 April 2010.
New Delhi: Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday accused human rights activists of adopting "double standards" for being silent over the deadly Maoist attack but raising a hue and cry when extremists are killed by security forces.

"These (human rights) activists raise voice and react violently if an extremist or a terrorist is killed by the police but take shelter in silence when a large number of jawans and innocent people get killed by those who operate underground," information and broadcasting minister Naidu said in a statement.

He said the dastardly killing of 25 CRPF jawans who were clearing roads for development works in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday, has shocked the nation and is highly deplorable.

His comments also assume significance in the backdrop of security forces coming under intense pressure in Kashmir as they are faced with almost daily protests and stone-pelting by the locals.

"While the nation was shocked by this killing and violence, the so-called sympathisers and proponents of human rights have maintained baffling silence since Monday (when CRPF men were killed)," Naidu said.

Why are human rights activists silent when such inhuman acts are mindlessly committed by outlawed elements? Naidu asked.

He said such motivated acts of violence are being resorted to with tacit support from the so-called human rights advocates in desperation to derail the development

works of the central and the state governments.

The minister called for an urgent need to build strong public opinion against such attacks and the so-called rights activists who adopt "double standards".

He said the families of jawans who were killed and injured while in uniform would get the highest consideration from the central and state governments.

"Both the governments would work with renewed commitment to bring such dastardly acts of violence to an end," the minister said.
A lot of issues have been conflated around the tragic incident in Sukma where 25 CRPF jawans were butchered during an ambush by Left-wing terrorists. The act of wanton violence has led to nationwide shock and the government's handling of internal security has come into question. Understandably so.

This is the second attack in just over a month in the same troubled district of Sukma in Chhattisgarh, previously part of the Bastar division. The earlier ambush on 11 March had left 13 jawans dead along the Injeram-Bhejji stretch, roughly 60 km away from Mondays spot in Burkapal area. Part of the feared Red Corridor, this is the same stretch where 76 CRPF personnel were killed in 2010.

Three sets of reactions and a counter-reaction have come to the fore. To begin with, a social media-driven outrage has called for exemplary punishment for those responsible for the crime.

Second, it has been pointed out that the tragedy could have been averted had the CRPF battalion stuck to its standard operating procedure during the road sanitising programme, alleging that it hadn't done so and averring that the government must be held accountable for this lapse.

Third, a political reaction has emerged holding the NDA government singularly responsible for failing to check the Maoist menace. Apart from BJP's political rivals, this last group also comprises members of 'liberal' establishment who reflexively justify Left-wing violence. This clique has feigned the loudest outrage and has since been firing at Narendra Modi from the shoulders of slain jawans. Some Leftist leaders have also 'condemned' the violence, giving rise to an irony thicker than rhinoceros hide.

These reactions have been followed by a familiar pushback with Maoist sympathisers and sleeper cells in media, academia and civil society seeking to rationalise the slaughtering of jawans.

Not 'Maoists', but terrorists

Before anything though, we need to set the lexicon right while describing Left-wing terror. To call these murderers 'Maoists' or 'Naxalites' is misleading because it adds layers to their actions and confers on their heinous crimes some sort of ideological legitimacy. It also paves the way for their entrenched brethren in liberal establishment to provide intellectual heft and justification for these crimes.

Words matter. These Left-wing extremists are not friends of the poor out to create a classless society through violence. They are lowlife terrorists using cynically a defunct ideology to oppress, violate and even kill the poor. Their use of violence has no ideological or moral ends. They feel threatened by the actions of the state busy laying out infrastructures for development and are killing security personnel to keep alive their rent-seeking opportunities.

Why worse than Islamic State

In their actions, these Left-wing extremists are no better than members of the Islamic State. Both use violence as a gruesome and macabre political spectacle to increase influence and subjugate people under their control.

In some respects though, these Left-wingers are worse than even IS. Members of the Islamic State have no pretense for the well-being of the people whom they forcibly subjugate. These 'Maoist' terrorists have no compunction about using the poor  whose cause they claim to champion  as shields and props in their asymmetric warfare against security forces. They repeatedly destroy building blocks of infrastructure and use bloodshed as a tool to arrest the development of India's poorest regions to keep the villagers under their cosh. In this, their moral degradation and dereliction are deeper.

To give just on example, in a March 2017 report from Dantewada, Rahul Pandita writes in Open magazine about the oppression that these terrorists subject the destitute villagers to.

"In the past few months, Maoists have killed hundreds of civilians in their areas of influence along the entire Red Corridor, especially in the Dandakaranya Special Zone Committee (DKSZC), of which Bastar division (now divided into seven districts, including Sukma) is a part Three days before killing Buccha, Maoists held hostage the entire villages of Burdikarka and Dhanikarka in the neighbouring Dantewada district and severely beat up dozens of villagers. People from these two and another village called Gadmiri had recently held a mass protest against Maoists. In a kangaroo court held by Maoists that night, a villager of Burdikarka called Samo Mandwi was pulled out and killed. Mandwi had, a few days earlier, taken part in a police recruitment programme. On 5 March, Maoists killed Kalmu Podiya in Sukmas Rabripara village on charges of being a police informer. On 3 March, they slit the throat of a young man called Mahender in Dhurawas village on similar charges."

Left-wing terrorism deadlier than Islamist terrorism in India

The stark fact is that Left-wing terrorism in India's Maoist-affected zones claims far more lives than all other forms of terrorism faced by India, including cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. Data compiled by South Asia Terrorism Portal point out that between 2005-2017 (till 16 April), 7,442 have fallen prey to Left-wing terrorists compared to 6,100 in Kashmir and 6,360 in North East insurgency movement.

Intellectual heft and a perverse paradigm

Left-leaning intellectuals have frequently justified this violence through the perverse logic of end justifying the means. However, when the end itself is a study in moral depravity, the entire argument in favour of Left-wing violence collapses like a pack of cards. We must remember that Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad or other sundry organisations involved in similar Islamo-fascist movements do not enjoy even a fraction of intellectual backing that these Left-wing terrorists do in India.

Many of these backers of Left-wing terrorism, crucially, continue to maintain a stranglehold on the 'liberal' establishment and ports of entry in academia leading to a further reinforcement of such support among intelligentsia. As long as these ports are secure, students traversing these paths will be suitably brainwashed to normalise Maoist violence. And there will be enough amplifiers in mainstream media to give legitimacy to their perverse paradigm. Any rational voice against this depravity will be summarily dismissed as 'Right-wing reaction'. The state shall always be at the losing end of the debate as the 'monolithic force' against which these 'Gandhians with guns' are plowing a brave furrow.

Is Modi government guilty of dereliction of duty?

To return to the central question raised by some following the violence, can the Modi government be rightfully accused of dereliction of duty. It is always tempting to blame the state for every loss of life but a rational assessment may provide perspective.

According to figures furnished by the Ministry of Home Affairs, a comparison of number of people killed due to Left-wing violence between 2011 and 2017 (till 31 March) shows that in last year, there has been a dramatic difference in the ratio of deaths between security forces and Maoists. In 2011, 142 security personnel were killed compared to 99 Left-wing terrorists. The corresponding figures in subsequent years are  114/74 in 2012, 115/100 in 2013, 88/63 in 2014, 59/89 in 2015, 65/222 in 2016.

It is evident that under the NDA, a lot less security forces are getting killed compared to Left-wing terrorists. Charges of dereliction of duty and calls for Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's resignations do not really hold water.

The 'price for development'

In a strange way, the NDA government might be paying in blood for its policy of bringing India's poorest and Maoist-infested areas into development loop. The state is slowly building road and infrastructure, trying to reach previously inaccessible areas and looking to provide the benefits of growth and development to our most poorest of regions. It is obvious that Left-wing terrorists find this a mortifying threat.

Pandita details in his piece the huge strides taken by the government in laying roads, connecting hitherto unconnected villages. Whereas earlier Left-wing violence and threats kept construction companies away from these troubled zones, the Chhattisgarh government has been able to float tenders and construction work on many of these areas in Red Corridor have begun in earnest.

It is instructive that these terrorists targetted the 75th battalion out to sanitise the 56-km stretch from Dornapal on NH 30 to Jagargunda, which, as The Indian Express points out in a report, is one of the most sensitive zones in the country. About eight km of this has been constructed. Over the last three years, says the report, "Road-building activity in this area has seen 11 exchanges of fire, 18 IED blasts, three civilian deaths in explosions, and the recovery of 16 IEDs."

Quoting Hindi daily Navbharat Times, a Swarajya magazine report indicates that a road bridge over Sabari river in Sukma has "effectively reduced the distance between Dornapal in Chhattisgarh and Podia town of Odisha from 120 kms earlier to just 3 kms now."

On the issue of CRPF jawans not following SOP, it must be remembered that road-sanitisation is a process which renders security forces vulnerable to ambush. No matter what formation they use, their proximity to construction area makes it easier for terrorists to fire at them from dense foliage cover. There might be legitimate concerns and areas of improvement but a state determined to co-opt the poor into its development loop must bear the cost.
At least 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush at Burkapal in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Monday afternoon. This is the second Naxal attack in just over one month in the same district. The last was on 11 March, when 12 jawans were killed.

What makes the security forces operating in the Maoist-hotbed of Bastar so vulnerable to Naxal attack? Why do the Maoists succeed in killing our jawans in large numbers almost every time?

Monday's ambush has again compelled us to think and search for the cause. Despite having sophisticated weapons and training to combat guerrilla warfare, each attack by the Left-wing extremists leaves the forces and general public helpless.

According to sources in Bastar, Monday's ambush was planned by Hidma, the commander of the Maoists' military battalion. He succeeded in overpowering the 74th battalion of the CRPF by reportedly using an S-shaped ambush, and looted sophisticated weapons from the security forces in broad daylight.

This has exposed loopholes and failures in the functioning of the security forces, including the state police, in the Red Corridor.

According to internal security experts, "multiple factors" led to the massacre. And this is not the first time it has happened; they are being repeated year after year in Chhattisgarh's tribal belt. This is the fourth attack on such a large scale in the last six years.

The previous attacks on CRPF personnel:

- 6 April, 2010: Maoists kill 76 CRPF personnel in Tadmetla.

- 29 June, 2010: 26 jawans were killed at Dhaurai in Narayanpur

- 25 May, 2013: At Darbha Ghati, 27 people, including CRPF personnel and political leaders, were killed. The top Congress leadership in Chhattisgarh was virtually wiped out.

Apart from these, an attack also took place on 11 March this year, in which an IED blast killed 12 jawans, but didn't get much traction from the media, as it took place on the same day that results to Assembly elections in five states were announced.

"Multiple factors  from leadership failure to loopholes in the functioning of the security forces  have led to the death of 25 CRPF personnel. The most unfortunate part is that despite repeated incidents, no lessons are being learned," Prakash Singh, said former director general, Border Security Force, and an expert on Left-wing extremism.

Factors leading to repeated attacks and killing of jawans:

Non following of SOPs: According to local sources, a road opening party (ROP) by the CRPF, divided into two groups, was having lunch when the ambush occurred. According to standard operating procedures (SOPs), instead of sitting together in a large group, the jawans should have divided themselves into small groups of four or five. "It's against basic SOP. Prima facie evidence indicates this SOP wasn't followed. If one jawan takes lunch, the other protects. Even when jawans march, a gap is always maintained. Repeated attacks and killings of CRPF personnel indicates failure in following SOPs. Secondly, was there a quick response team (QRT) to back the ROP?" questioned counter-terrorism analyst Anil Kamboj.

Lack of leadership: Experts have questioned the CRPF leadership, from the top to the platoon commandant level. The post of director general in the CRPF has been lying vacant for over 50 days and it demoralises the force at all levels.

Lack of coordination: Lack of coordination between the state police and central forces gives Maoists an opportunity to have the upper hand over CRPF and the police. Instead of putting the onus of countering Naxalism on the Centre, the state police should be at the forefront. Combating Naxalism shouldn't be considered a battle between the Centre and the Maoist cadre. Instead of playing second fiddle, the Chhattisgarh police have to play an active role," Singh remarked.

Lack of proper training: Security experts have questioned whether the CRPF personnel are adequately trained in guerrilla warfare against the Maoists in the difficult terrain in Bastar. The CoBRA battalion  an elite force within CRPF, that is efficiently trained for this purpose  has only eight battalions deployed in Bastar. Why did the Chhattisgarh government fail to develop an effective anti-Naxal squad, like Andhra Pradesh's Greyhound?

Poor infrastructure and manpower: According to sources, out of 425 sanctioned police stations in Chhattisgarh, only 403 exists; out of which 161 don't have vehicles. Many police stations in these highly sensitive areas are half-staffed, as policemen prefer not to have postings there. Nearly 10,000 vacancies have fallen short in Chhattisgarh police.

Intelligence failure: "Obviously, the large number of Maoists who led the ambush were not paratrooped on a single day. Why did CRPF fail to get information about their movement and gathering?" questioned Singh, former DGP, UP police.

Area domination: "CRPF personnel are there to protect the road construction work and the workers. But if they are unable to defend themselves from Maoist attacks, how can we expect them to protect the area? The foremost requirement in combating Maoists is area domination. Repeated ambushes shows failure on the part of security forces in this effort," added Kamboj, a former senior fellow at IDSA.
Monday's Maoist attack on a CRPF battalion in Chhattisgarh's Sukma was the fifth such attack in the same place in recent memory, and the second in just the last month. This has also made 2017 the most dangerous year for security forces in Chhattisgarh, with 72 personnel being killed.

In the latest instance, the CRPF jawans were deployed in Sukma to monitor a road that was under construction. They were to protect the road and also the employees working on it. But the Maoists' ambush took the jawans by surprise. A survivor said over 300 Maoist guerillas attacked their battalion, of whom 10-12 were killed by the CRPF in retaliation.

As reported by Indian Express, three roads are under construction to connect Jagargunda with Dornapal in the East, which was also the one that was attacked on Monday; Bijapur in the West, and Kirandul in the North. "Of the three under-construction roads, the first is a 75-km stretch of NH-30, connecting Sukma with Konta. The second connects Injeram and Bhejji, which came under attack on 11 March, leaving 13 CRPF men dead. The third  the stretch where Monday's ambush occurred  is a road that connects Dornapal on NH 30, with Jagargunda," the report said.

The area is controlled by the Maoist insurgents, and the government believes the way to regain control is by having infrastructure like roads in place. To this end, Jagargunda is especially critical, since it has been a trading hub for the area's tribals.

As mentioned in The Indian Express report, buses used to connect this area with Bijapur and Sukma, something that stopped after the Maoists took control. "The extremists have increasingly damaged the roads connecting Jagargunda in an effort to cut it off from the rest of the state. Jagargunda has a police station and a CRPF camp. Monday's encounter took place just off Burkapal. The 56-km under-construction stretch has five police stations and 15 CRPF camps," the report added.

Considering the area has witnessed Maoist attacks in the past as well, the CRPF may have looked to increase its presence in the area. Strengthening its network of roads has been among the Chhattisgarh state government's key strategies to counter the presence of Naxalites in the area.

As Hindustan Times reported, a 99-strong team has been deployed to provide security to workers building the road. The report said Monday's attack only reinforces the theory that the Maoists and the state government both believe infrastructural development could be the first step towards gaining control of the areas. "For the rebels, the roads mean quick access for government troops into their heartland, and cancelling their turf advantage of hostile terrain and guerrilla warfare," the report said.

It would also enable the state administration to bring in schools, hospitals and ancillary development to wean away local villagers from the rebels. "Security forces will move with ease in the area after this road is built and this is troubling the Maoists. We are entering their core through this road," DM Awasthi, special director general of police (anti-Maoist operations), was quoted as saying in the Hindustan Times article.
New Delhi: Union minister Kalraj Mishra on Tuesday said that involvement of people through the khadi industry could help uproot terrorism.

"Enthused with the massive response to the first ever national exhibition organised by the KVIC in Jammu and Kashmir last year, Union minister Kalraj Mishra said involvement of people through khadi could uproot terrorism," the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) said in a statement.

Addressing a meeting of the KVIC here, Mishra, who is Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister, observed that earlier people in the valley were apprehensive about participating in the exhibition-cum-sale. "But in a day or two, the people there realised that making khadi products can be the best way for them to eke out a proper livelihood," he said, adding "we want to generate maximum employment with the motto 'one yarn, one nation'".

Mishra said the MSME ministry will organise such exhibitions regularly in the valley as this "symbol of self-reliance can give the people enough courage to tackle the problems there".

Expressing satisfaction with the KVIC's report card, Mishra said that the government would leave no stone unturned in establishing coordination between vision and action, to fulfil the combined cherished dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

He said the time has come to incorporate the maximum number of people, especially those belonging to the weaker sections of the society and women, in the welfare schemes run by the KVIC and laid stress upon maximising the reach of khadi to the remotest areas. KVIC Chairman V K Saxena said the body is promoting bee-keeping as it has immense potential in employment generation and in the coming years, it can be the biggest job-creator in the country, particularly in rural areas.
A 39-year-old woman from Hyderabad, who was sold to a sponsor (kafeel) in Saudi Arabia and is now, reportedly, facing mental and physical harassment. Her situation has caught the attention of Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. She said on Monday said that the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia has been directed to rescue and repatriate the woman to India at the earliest.

Reacting to a news report, Swaraj tweeted, "I saw this news item and asked for a report from @IndianEmbRiyadh which has been received. I have asked Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to rescue and repatriate her to India at the earliest. I have asked ProtectorGenGOI to proceed against the agent who sent her to Saudi Arabia. (sic)."

I saw this news item and asked for a report from @IndianEmbRiyadh which has been received. /1I https://t.co/Y0Fruh8YXM  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 24, 2017

I have asked Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to rescue and repatriate her to India at the earliest. /2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 24, 2017

I have asked @ProtectorGenGOI to proceed against the agent who sent her to Saudi Arabia. /3  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 24, 2017

According to The Times of India, Salma Begum was sent to Saudi Arabia by two agents  Akram and Shafi  from the same locality in Hyderabad on 21 January, 2017 on a housemaid visa. Salma's daughter Sameena told The Times of India that the two agents cheated her mother. Sameena added that her mother wants to return home, but the kafeel, who has allegedly bought her for a hefty sum, is not allowing her to do so.

"The torture started when she denied to a contract marriage with her kafeel in Saudi Arabia. She, however, informed me sending a message that she was sold by the agents. Now, the kafeel does not want to send her back," Sameena was quoted as saying.
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday cancelled 15 public holidays in marking the birth or death anniversary of eminent personalities.

Most of the holidays had been declared by the previous Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) governments apparently to keep certain sections of the society in good humour, often with an eye on the vote bank.

However, the state Cabinet at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday decided to cancel 15 such public holidays in educational institutions.

"Instead, students in schools and colleges would now be taught about the great personalities on these days," Cabinet minister Shrikant Sharma said while briefing media persons on the decisions of the government.

An official release later clarified that government employees were free to avail restricted holidays on these days.

Adityanath had in his address on the occasion of Dr BR Ambedkar's 126th birth anniversary here expressed concern over the shrinking academic session due to increased holidays.

"There should be no holidays in schools on birth anniversaries of great personalities. Instead, a special two-hour programme should be held to teach students about them. The 220-day academic session has been reduced to only 120 days due to such holidays and if this tradition continues, there will be no day left for teaching in schools," he had said.

In Uttar Pradesh, there are 42 public holidays of which at least 17 are related to the birth anniversaries of eminent personalities.

The previous Samajwadi Party government had declared holidays on the birth anniversaries of former prime minister Chandrashekhar (17 April), Maharishi Kashyap and Maharshi Nishadraj Jayanti (5 April), Hazrat Ajmeri Garib Nawaj Urs (26 April), Maharana Pratap Jayanti (9 May) besides on the death anniversary of Ambedkar (6 December).

Sharma said the revised list of holidays will soon be made available.

Public holidays that have been scrapped by the government include Jan Nayak Karpori Thakur birth anniversary (24 January), Maharshi Kashyap and Maharaj Guha birth anniversary (5 April), Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Ajmeri Gareeb Nawaz Urs on (14 April), Chandrashekhar birth anniversary (17 April), Parashu Ram Jayanti (28 April), Maharana Pratap Jayanti (9 May), Jamat Ul Vida on 23 June (last Friday of Ramzan), Chhat Puja (26 October), Eid Milad Un Nabi (2 December), Chaudhary Charan Singh Jayanti (23 December).
By Dinesh C Sharma

New Delhi: Hot springs are popular tourist spots and places of healing for many, but Indian scientists have discovered that they are also a great source of hardy bacteria that can be useful for many applications such as tackling oil spills.

As natural extreme environments with water at very high temperature, hot springs are of special interest to scientists and those engaged in industrial research. The study of living organisms like bacteria that survive in extreme conditions in hot springs is can throw up surprises.

Scientists from Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have studied bacterial samples drawn from hot springs at Anhoni (near Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh) and Tattapani (in Chhattisgarh) in central India. The Anhoni hot springs have a temperature between 43.5 to 55, and Tattapani has an extremely high temperature ranging between 61.5 to 98.

They have uncovered microbial community in these hot springs and their results reveal presence of bacteria which can survive using hydrocarbons such as toluene, benzene and xylene at Anhoni.

This means these bacteria can be used to control oil spills naturally, and also for other industrial applications.

Future research on the bacteria from Anhoni can enable their utilisation to address oil spills such as the one reported recently from Chennai which led to death of many marine animals and difficulties for the people living nearby. Bacteria isolated from Anhoni can be utilised to clear the oil naturally in case of such hazardous incidents, explained Vineet K Sharma, associate professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, IISER Bhopal, who led the study.

Sharma said, the presence of many thermophilic genes and enzymes observed at Tattapani hot springs could have industrial applications in processes which are carried out at high temperatures.

This study is the largest exploration of extreme environments in India carried out with seven distinct samples from three major hot springs. The complete genetic sequencing of these samples was carried out on using sophisticated sequencers and by analysing several billion bits of data with advanced computational tools. This research was supported by the Center for Research on Environment and Sustainable Technologies at IISER Bhopal.

Led by Sharma, the study was carried out by doctoral students  Rituja Saxena, Darshan Dhakan,. Parul Mittal and Prashant Waikar. Arundhuti Ghatak and Anirban Chowdhury from Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at IISER analysed geological aspects of Anhoni hot springs. The study results appeared recently in scientific journal Frontiers of Microbiology.

The author tweets @dineshcsharma
Many animal lovers think that wool is one animal product they can use, "knowing" that no creature has suffered to provide it. Many like Australian wool and look for the label 'Merino', which is the sub-species of sheep from which the wool has been shorn. For such people, here are some facts on wool:

What is wool? Hair grown by sheep to protect themselves from the weather. Is it a natural product? It should have been, but Nature has had, for many years now, no hand in it. Without human interference, sheep would grow just enough wool to protect themselves from the weather, but hybrid sheep, that the wool industry use as "wool machines", are scientifically bred to grow huge amounts of wool, far more than their bodies need or can carry.

Research scientists have bred a Merino sheep which is exaggeratedly wrinkled  the more wrinkle, the more wool. Unfortunately, greater profits are rarely in the animal's best interests. More wrinkles mean greater perspiration and greater susceptibility to fly-strikes, a ghastly condition interlinked with maggot infestation in the sweaty folds of the sheep's over-wrinkled skin. To counteract this, farmers now perform an "operation", without anaesthetic, called "mulesing", in which sections of flesh around the anus are sliced away leaving bloody wounds to prevent fly-strike.

The wool around the buttocks can retain faeces and urine, which attracts flies. The scar tissue that grows over the wound does not grow wool, so is less likely to attract the flies that cause fly-strike.

The unnatural overload of wool (often half their body weight) causes misery to the sheep in the summer months when they often die from heat exhaustion. On the other hand, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation reminds farmers that a closely shorn sheep is more sensitive to cold than a naked man. Every year, hundreds of thousands of sheep die of cold soon after shearing. Presumably, the farmer is aware of the possibility of this occurring but, no doubt, it is a calculated risk and the high price of wool covers the cost of the dead sheep. In such commercial ventures, the suffering of the animals is irrelevant.

You probably think that, because they are so valuable as wool producers, sheep must warrant proper handling and treatment. Here is the truth: all over the world, and especially in Australia from where we import a lot of wool, they are appallingly treated. When you see a sheep shearing demonstration on television, you are not aware that these are "demonstration experts" who handle the animal well and do the job neatly and quickly without causing obvious distress. But these are not the run-of-the-mill shearers. There are a lot of unskilled farmhands who work in a hurry and leave bloody gashes on the sheep whenever their scissors cut too close. Every shearing operation has one boy standing by, called a "blood stauncher", whose job it is to put tar on the wounds to stop the bleeding.

In Australia, as anywhere else in the world, it is not necessary to use anaesthetics for operations performed on farm-bred animals, so mulesing, tail-docking, ear-clipping and castration of sheep can be performed by unskilled farmhands. The methods of castration are still quite barbaric: a rubber ring may be used to cut off the blood supply to the testicles, causing them and the scrotum to wither; or the testicles may even be bitten off by farmers, who refer to them as "oysters of the bush"! Still more suffering is caused by foot-rot and other harrowing complaints to which these poor creatures are subject to. There are photographs of animals literally trying to walk on their knees because their feet are so painful.

Now there is a special breed of sheep which will never see the outdoors, but is bred intensively, like chickens, in sunless, concrete coops, to produce a "super wool" called "Sharlea". Also, a new drug, cyclophosphamide, is being injected into sheep because it has been found to have a hair-loosening effect. Instead of shearing, sheep can now have their hair pulled out in handfuls! Of course, the drug has the aftereffect of making sheep blind. But then, who wants a seeing wool-machine anyway.

What will happen to the absolutely naked sheep after the hair has been pulled out? Since they are very sensitive to weather, one of the options is to spray the sheep with a waterproof chemical. What happens when the farmer feels that sheep are wearing out? Obviously, they are ready for the slaughterhouse. Some are transported vast distances in unsuitable trucks and trains. Crowded in layers for a three or four-day journey to the slaughterhouse, they receive neither food nor water and must stand all the way. The sick or clumsy ones who may fall are trampled by their frightened fellow creatures.

Of course, some are dead on arrival. Those that can still stand are hurled or harried down the gangplank by men and electrocuted. The dead and the dying are dragged off and thrown into heaps. Some may also suffer the greater cruelty of being exported live to the Middle East. They are herded on to ships (upto 1,20 ,000 per ship) where they are forced to stand in their own urine and faeces in dark holds. Amidst the stench, sheep lie dying as their fellows try to survive on powdery pellet food and urine-contaminated water.

Further horrors await the sheep in the Middle East.

Witnesses have seen a sheep's throat cut with a knife in the street where it slowly chokes to death on its own blood, or is then blinded and bundled into the boot of a car to be quartered at home later.

Journalists have reported the intense suffering of badly handled sheep during transport. In one instance, we are told of 12 wagons loaded with 800 ewes who had been shorn the day before, and had spent a bitterly cold night in the open, leaving Dover on a cargo ship. Two hours after they arrived at Dunkirk, they were re-loaded, 80 to a truck, bound for Marseilles. On arrival there, 25 were lame and one so weak that she could not stand. This ewe, along with the others, was taken further to Algiers where she was dragged off the ship to die on the dockside. At Algiers, the ewes, which had neither been fed nor watered since leaving Marseilles, found a bundle of hay on the dockside and fought each other to reach it. A lorry driver, trying to get through, drove straight at them, sending a few flying and breaking their legs. Even these were loaded onto the slaughterhouse trucks. All this cruelty abroad is duplicated a million times on sheep in India.

Nevertheless, you may say, wool is necessary since it keeps us warm in winter. But wait, that is true only if you are a sheep. Wool is not the ideal fabric for humans. Our skin eliminates wastes all the time. The best clothing allows these wastes to pass through them so that the body is not infected with its own excretions. As we say, the skin needs to breathe. Clothing that holds perspiration, and other body wastes, against the skin limits its cleansing activity by obstructing the free access of fresh air and sunlight, thereby laying the ground for all sorts of skin diseases. Woollen fabrics make the worst clothing in this respect.

If we don't use wool, how do we keep warm? There are alternatives which are so much better. Clothes and blankets which wash easily, do not shrink and keep their colours, cost far less and are far superior to wool. In future, whenever you are tempted to buy wool, remember the cruelty that has gone into its production. As always, the buyer has the power to put an end to organised cruelty. Wool users support butchery by subsidising the production cost of lamb and mutton joints  even though they may not consume them. Can one live with the knowledge that one has abetted the callous exploitation of these gentle animals?

To join the animal welfare movement contact gandhim@nic.in, www.peopleforanimalsindia.org
Lucknow: Attacking the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav said Tuesday that those wearing saffron scarves have got the licence to beat up policemen and attack police stations.

The former chief minister's comments came in the backdrop of right-wing activists thrashing policemen in Agra and some other law and order related incidents.

"It is disheartening that those wearing saffron scarves have got the licence to beat up policemen and attack police stations. In Kannauj policemen were beaten up, in Agra clashes took place with police, in Allahabad four persons of a family were killed," he said.

Yadav's own government had faced much media criticism and opposition fire over the law and order issue in the state. The BJP had turned it into a major poll plank. In a kind of role-reversal as he referred to the murder of a middle-aged couple and their two young daughters in

Allahabad district to target the present dispensation.

"The Badaun incident of alleged rape and murder of two sisters during our regime was raked up by media and all political parties raised a hue and cry over it. But does the Allahabad incident not need any attention?" he asked.

Referring to an incident in Saharanpur, where clashes and stone-pelting took place between two communities over the taking out of a procession, Yadav said that a Samajwadi party delegation had prepared its report on the happenings.

The SP chief said he would share information with the media about the report on Wednesday.

Asked to comment on bail granted to rape-accused Gayatri Prajapati who was a minister in his government, Akhilesh said, "It's good that he got bail. Please tell me if there is anything wrong in it."

On his dream project, Lucknow-Agra expressway, which is under scrutiny of the present government, Akhilesh said if they (BJP) has any problem, they can float new tenders for the expressway which is to be constructed further.
The Centre's recent decision to make Hindi compulsory up to Class X in CBSE schools and in State-run Kendriya Vidyalayas, combined with the recommendation of the Committee of Parliament on Official Languages (CPOL), that said all dignitaries may be required to give their speech/statement in Hindi, especially those who can read and speak the language, seems to have caused a stir.

Political leaders of several states have argued against the idea, saying that imposing Hindi may threaten to dilute the local language and culture of the respective state.

On Tuesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee upped the ante, renaming some of the central government's schemes in her state.

According to a report in India Today, Banerjee ordered that the words 'Pradhan Mantri' be removed from the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), and the name of the scheme be changed to Banglar Gramin Sadak Yojana. The PM's Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) wasn't spared either, as its name was changed to Mission Nirmal Bangla.

The West Bengal government's reasoning: Since the state had to bear 40 percent of the cost of implementing the schemes, as compared to 10 percent earlier, and since the state was providing both the machinery and agencies, it made no sense for the Centre to get credit for these.

On Monday, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju denied the Centre was imposing Hindi on anyone, adding that the government was simply promoting it like any other language.

Rijiju is the minister in charge of the Department of Official Language. His comments came in the backdrop of allegations levelled by certain sections that the Modi government was trying to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.

On Saturday, DMK leader MK Stalin had accused the government of trying to relegate people who don't speak Hindi to second-class citizens and of pushing the country into becoming "Hindia". Stalin also accused the Centre of trying to destroy India's unity.

In a video posted to his official Facebook page, the 64-year-old condemned the BJP government's efforts to make Hindi the official language of India. He said, "I must condemn these unceasing efforts of the central government under the BJP's leadership, which effectively try to relegate non-Hindi speaking citizens as second-class citizens in their own motherland."

He said, "Tamil Nadu has always stood against domination of an external language over its mother tongue and has stood the ground victorious right from 1938."

He also invoked the Constitution of India: "This kind of re-titling goes against the letter and the spirit of the Constitution of India that was framed under the leadership of Dr Ambedkar and ensures equal rights to all the citizens in all dimensions."

He added, "By forcing Hindi onto its citizens  from primary school students to Parliament  the BJP government is betraying all non-Hindi speaking residents of the country, including future generations." He added that the history of Tamil Nadu shows that the state has stood against the domination of an external language over its mother tongue.

However, critics may be able to point to the Narendra Modi-led government attempting to popularise Hindi by launching a number of welfare schemes with Hindi names.

List of welfare schemes launched by the BJP government

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana

Atal Pension Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchai Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojanay

Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Kisan Vikas Patra

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Yojana

Swadesh Darshan Yojana

Udaan Scheme

National Bal Swachhta Mission

Prakash Path

Niti Aayog

Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana

Namami Gange Project

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan

With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dinakaran (also spelt as Dhinakaran) has confessed to meeting Sukesh Chandrsekar, the arrested middleman in the EC bribery case, assuming he was a high court judge, as Delhi Police, which quizzed him for the third day in a row, grilled him for almost seven hours on Monday.

Dinakaran, who is accused of trying to bribe an Election Commission official in a bid to retain the 'two-leaves' symbol of AIADMK, however, maintained that he did not pay any money to Sukesh in this regard, police said.

Dinakaran reached the Crime Branch Inter State Cell office in Chanakyapuri around 3.30 PM, even as the police started by interrogating his personal assistant Janardhan.

They also quizzed his longtime friend Mallikarjuna, who has been accompanying him everywhere ever since Sukesh was arrested, police said.

It was only around 6 pm that Dinakaran's questioning began and came to an end around an hour post midnight, they said.

On sustained quizzing, Dinakaran said he had met Sukesh, who had posed as a high court judge and sought to help him in the matter, police sources said.

However, he denied paying money to the middleman, the sources said, adding the Crime Branch officers also confronted Dinakaran and Sukesh.

Dinakaran has been called for questioning tomorrow at 5 pm.

B Kumar, late Jayalalitha's lawyer and her key aide, also came to the Crime Branch office in Chanakyapuri late in the evening. He is likely to be questioned tomorrow in connection with the case, they said.

The leader had come under scanner after the arrest of the alleged middleman Sukesh and had since maintained having no idea about him.

On Sunday he was grilled by the police for 11 hours. The controversial leader was earlier summoned by Delhi Police at his Chennai residence in the case.

Having been appointed as deputy general secretary by jailed AIADMK chief V S Sasikala, Dinakaran has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.

A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK (Amma) recently revolted against Sasikala-Dinakaran leadership. The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran as a condition for the merger.

Dinakaran later announced he would stay away from party affairs and that he could be removed only by Sasikala. Sasikala is at present serving a four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a disproportionate assets case.
The North East may be embracing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with enthusiasm, but many are unhappy with the Centre's move to impose Hindi in the region. Although most people endorse the Indian State and are happy to be part of it, they are also keenly aware of their distinct cultural identity  be it the Nagas, the Manipuris, Mizos or the Khasis. And they want to preserve their linguistic and cultural uniqueness.

This is why the recent decision of the central government to make Hindi compulsory in CBSE schools and in State-run Kendriya Vidyalayas have come as a shock. People in the North East are in no mood to accept the imposition of an alien Sanskritised language.

"The decision brings out the discriminatory nature of the BJP government, which seeks to impose Hindi on people coming from non-Hindi linguistic backgrounds. The step gives undue importance to Hindi vis-a-vis other languages from non-Hindi speaking regions, by selectively promoting it in CBSE board schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas, which are present in all parts of the country, the North-East Forum for International Solidarity said in a press release.

The BJP may have to think twice before it goes ahead with the plan. It may even resort to what it had done about the beef ban, which is promoted across north India, but wasn't imposed in the Christian-majority states of the North East, and in Kerala. Any attempt to ban the slaughter and sale of beef will be fiercely resisted by these states.

And while some states like Assam may permit mandatory imposition of Hindi in schools, others like Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya are unlikely to do so. Considering Manipur and Assam both have BJP-led governments, the protests may not be so

vociferous. "I don't agree (with the rule)," said Chinglen Khumukcham of the North East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS). "When people's interests are touched, it's not about BJP or Congress or any other party."

He pointed to the fact that when Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tried to make Assamese compulsory in all schools in the state, the tribals protested, and the government dropped the idea of carrying this to tribal areas, Khumukcham said.

Most people in the North East aren't familiar with Hindi; English is the link language for the educated tribals of the region. The Christian missionaries who came to the region to convert these tribals also set up schools and hospitals. In most of the Christian states, like Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya, Irish missionaries as well as the Baptists set up excellent schools and colleges. As a result, the average Khasi, Mizo and Naga can speak, read and write better English than the average person from north India.

With Meghalaya going to the polls next year, and the Congress government out of favour, BJP should have considered the ground realities before getting President Pranab Mukherjee to accept the recommendations of an expert parliamentary committee. These are presumably the same MPs who travel the world to promote Hindi.

"This decision would further add to discrimination faced by people from other linguistic backgrounds, as it would allow the present government to renege on its commitment towards preserving and promoting the culture and language of people from different regions of India. It also nullifies the spirit of diversity upheld by the government, wherein preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity of non-Hindi speaking regions is guaranteed," the release went on to say.

Elsewhere in Assam, the first BJP government of the state has drafted a new population policy, which while being enthusiastically welcomed by the majority community, is being regarded as an assault on fundamental rights by minorities. The draft policy, unveiled by Sarma, focuses on a two-child norm. Those with more than two children would be banned from government jobs. Other benefits like providing tractors for farmers, cheap housing for the poor, and other state schemes would also not be extended to those with more than two children. In addition, they also cannot contest elections, be it for panchayats, municipal bodies or autonomous councils.

The move, which was part of the BJP's poll manifesto, aims to curb the state's Muslim population, which is said to be growing at an explosive rate. The Assamese fear they could be reduced to a minority in their own state. There is even talk about a conspiracy to make Assam a Muslim majority state.

This fear had been with the community for several decades now. It was in the air, when the All Assam Students Movement, headed by Prafulla Mahanta and the late Bhrigu Phukan, led a campaign against alleged foreign nationals from neighbouring Bangladesh entering the state's voters list. The movement, vociferously supported by the Assamese, catapulted the young student leaders to power. An almost xenophobic fear of Muslims, mainly those living in the riverine areas of the Brahmaputra, has haunted Assam's middle class ever since.

While it is a fact that the poor and the illiterate have a higher fertility rate than the educated, the answer is not to bar them from

government jobs, but to educate them on the importance of family planning. Force never helps in these circumstances. Instead, schools in the char or riverine areas, good family health centers are the way forward.

As the Congress learnt a bitter lesson during the Emergency, advocating forced sterilisation could backfire.

As Guwahati-based political analyst Haider Hussain points out, knowledge is the key. "Education makes a great difference, whether for Hindus or Muslims. In a college in Barpeta district run by Muslims, most of those who have got their degrees generally have two children. They are all Muslims, and Barpeta district in lower Assam is seen by the Assamese as an area where Muslims dominate and produce lots of babies. My point is that education would have been a better way to arrive at the same results."

The draft policy has not yet gone through the legislature and there will be public consultations before this becomes law. Yet, chances are that it would be passed and enthusiastically embraced by the Assamese. But it certainly does not mean it's a great idea.
Cooch Behar: Continuing to voice her opposition to sharing Teesta waters with Bangladesh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday claimed that the river had dried up and if its water had to be shared, the people and the farmers in the region would not get a drop.

"There is no water in the Teesta. If we share its water, then the people of Siliguri, Jalpaiguri will not get water and the farmers will not be able to carry out agricultural activities... I am saying this because I have seen it," she said while addressing a rally.

But, Banerjee said, she had no objection to sharing waters with Bangladesh as such and referred to her proposal of sharing the waters of the Torsa and the Manshai rivers, on which, she said there should be a discussion.

The chief minister added two more rivers to the list  the Sankosh and the Dhansai. "Water from the Sankosh river causes floods... why do not you (Centre) do some planning about that. Go take water from it. There are the Torsa, the Manshai and the Dhansai rivers. Take water from them...We do not have any problem," she said.

"I love the people of Bangladesh... They want water and we do not have any objection to it. We can share water from a source which has it. But, we cannot share it from a source which does not have water. I have already put forward an alternative proposal in this regard," said Banerjee. She referred to her agreeing to the creation of border enclaves for a peaceful exchange of people, saying nobody had to push her for that and she completed a job that was "not done for the last 70 years".

"We have created the chitmahals. Nobody had to tell me to do that. The people of that area demanded for the chitmahals and we did what was not done in 70 years. I personally went to the area. We have returned the rights of the people living there. Those from Bangladesh have returned to their country and the Indians have come back to India. We have provided them with everything from food to houses," said the TMC supremo.

She said earlier, water from the Farakka barrage had been shared with Bangladesh and criticised the Centre for "not honouring its promise" of providing funds for the barrage which dried up. "We had shared water from Farakka... So many villages had gone under the water. The Centre had promised funds for Farakka, but they have not been released till date. Now, the barrage has dried up. The Kolkata port too has dried up. Dredging was not even done once," said Banerjee.

She alleged that Bangladesh was planning to block the passage of water by erecting a dam on the Atreyee river and requested the government of the neighbouring country to re-think its decision as it would affect the people of Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal.

"I will request the Bangladeshi government not to come up with a dam on the Atreyee river, because the people of Balurghat are not getting water," she said.

The Atreyee river flows through West Bengal as well as the northern parts of Bangladesh.

The chief minister said both India and Bangladesh shared a good relation and that should continue. "The two countries will work for each other. I love my West Bengal and Bangladesh. I do not make discrimination, but I have to look at West Bengal also," she said.
Aam Aaadmi Party, the hope of the aam aadmi (common man) of Delhi till two years back, is expected to get a drubbing at the hands of BJP in the MCD elections, as per exit polls.

Whatever be the results on Wednesday, the party needs to undergo serious introspection if it wants to resist the onslaught from BJP in Delhi. It needs to rethink its strategy, else retaining Delhi in the 2020 Assembly election and expanding base in rest of India would be difficult.

The party needs to identify key issues with its current set up and tweak its strategy for the upcoming elections.

Develop second rung leadership

AAP is a one man party, dependent solely on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Today, AAP is no different from regional parties like RJD, TRS, SP, BSP, TDP etc. which are all a one man show. It needs to empower its second rung leaders.

A good idea would be to depute the likes of Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh, Ashish Khetan and Ashutosh in states where elections are likely to be held in the next two years. These people should be handed the responsibility to expand the party base, build cadres comprising young people and pick up and focus on issues of non-performance of governments in these states.

Bring back ex-colleagues

A patch-up effort should be initiated by Kejriwal to bring back party founders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan into the fold. Their sacking has dented the image of the party. The party will gain from the expertise of Yadav, who knows a lot about the demographics and socio-economic background of different states  being a pollster earlier.

Bhushan brings with him his legal expertise and through PILs, he can help expose corruption in incumbent governments. Most likely, their Swaraj Party is likely to get a sub-three percent level vote share in the MCD election. But, whatever it gets would have translated to votes for AAP, had they been united again.

Curb over-ambition, have patience

AAP is a young dynamic party and like many youngsters, with dreams in their eyes, it wants to gain success quickly. It was able to form the government in Delhi in 2013, within a year of its formation. A party like BJP took 10 years to form its first state-level government.

AAP needs to have patience. It needs to build a strong base in states where it wants to contest. It cant win every state like Delhi in a short span. In Delhi, Kejriwal worked for years as an RTI activist and then with Anna Hazare for the India Against Corruption movement.

The party needs to have patience; their turn will come, especially with Congress on a decline and because of the need for a party to fill in the void.

Conserve energy, contest where AAP has a chance

It would be wrong to say that the party is all over the place. It did contest in only two states, in Punjab and Goa, out of five states which went to polls this year. It has to continue to look for building blocks in states where Congress and BJP are the main players, and there are no big regional parties.

Four states go to polls in the next one and a half years  Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. BJP and Congress have been ruling the state for decades now, essentially making them bipolar contests. There is a clear need for an alternative party in these states.

Though AAP may not win any of these, it can start preparing a strong base for the next state elections. Chhattisgarh would not be an ideal place to contest  with Ajit Jogi forming his own party, the contest is already triangular. Similarly, Karnataka is a no go, as JDS is a dominant third party there. In Karnataka, the focus should be limited to urban seats, if at all.

Needs to perform in Delhi... stop the theatrics

AAP needs to perform in Delhi. It has done good work but the controversies (defamation, tussle with LG, corruption charges etc.) have robbed the party of its due credit. A clear demarcation between government and the organisation structure needs to be established.

Kejriwal can rise above this wall. Like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is the star campaigner for his party. But, even if he is needed to go to other states for rallies/campaigns, an impression that he is neglecting Delhi should not be generated.

AAP was born out of agitation politics so its only natural for it to take the confrontational route for issues concerned with public welfare. However, it needs to appreciate the fact that it is now in power in Delhi and accept that it has to behave responsibly.

Go back to the roots

A party born out of a public movement needs more interaction with its support base. People voted for AAP because it valued public opinion on policies, manifesto, selection of candidates etc. This substantially increased voter engagement. It even conducted a poll, asking whether it should form a government with Congress or not.

These innovative ideas made the voters feel important. AAP needs to go and reach out to people, take feedback on policies/programs, re-initiate its public governance model, do regular surveys, among other things to regain voter confidence.

To sum up, AAP needs to re-establish its connect with the aam aadmi, which it has perhaps lost. Go to the battleground in poll-bound states, raise peoples' issues, and put pressure on the government to get them solved.

The fly-by-night operator model, with leaders bombarding voters during elections and then disappearing for the next five years  something that happened in Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi and Amethi  will not work.

AAP is liked by people because its different. If it tries to become like any other political party, it will be doomed. The party needs to regain its Midas touch.

Follow all the live updates here
Srinagar: A crucial meeting of the unified headquarters chaired by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti began on Tuesday to review the deteriorating security situation in the valley.

Comprised of top brass of army, police, paramilitary, state and central intelligence agencies, the unified headquarters is the apex anti-militancy grid in the state.

The meeting is being held after Mehbooba returned from Delhi where she discussed situation in the Kashmir Valley with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Students unrest that has been surfacing in the valley coupled with sped up militant activities, as per sources, will be on the top of agenda in the meeting being held at Sher-e-Kashmir international convention centre (SKICC) on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar.

Having assured the media that the situation would be brought under control within the next three months, the Chief Minister will have to painstakingly chalk out a strategy with the security agencies to realise the promise.

This is the first meeting of the unified headquarters here after last year's summer unrest that left more than 100 persons dead in the Valley.
Kerrville, TX (78028)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low near 65F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low near 65F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Aparupa Poddar on Tuesday moved the Calcutta High Court seeking to quash a CBI FIR against her in the Narada sting case.

Poddar's counsel claimed before Justice Joymalyo Bagchi that the investigating agency had not asked the MP about her version with regard to the alleged sting wherein a person "resembling her" is shown to be allegedly receiving money for favours.

Poddar's counsel Siddharth Luthra claimed the CBI had considered the video clips as gospel truth and did not ask her about her version during the one month of initial inquiry before registering the FIR. The court adjourned the hearing till Friday.

In the sting operation, which was claimed to have been done in 2014, persons resembling senior TMC leaders are seen purportedly accepting money from representatives of a fictitious company in return for favours.

The high court had ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the matter. The order was challenged by the West Bengal government in the Supreme Court, which refused to grant relief on 17 March and gave the CBI one month to conclude the preliminary probe and file an FIR, if required.

The CBI has booked 12 top TMC leaders, including MPs and ministers, and an IPS officer in connection with the Narada sting operation case.

The FIR has been registered under section 120(b) of IPC related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with bribery and criminal misconduct.

The maximum sentence for these crimes ranges from five to seven years imprisonment.

The TMC leaders against whom the CBI has registered the FIR include Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and Lok Sabha MPs Saugata Roy, Aparupa Poddar, Sultan Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.

West Bengal ministers including Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim, Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari, Environment minister Sovan Chatterjee, and Panchayati Raj and Rural Development minister Subrata Mukherjee have also been named in the FIR.

Former state minister Madan Mitra, MLA Iqbal Ahmed and IPS officer Saiyaad Mustafa Hussain Mirza have also been made accused in the case.

The sting was done by the editor of portal Narada News, Mathew Samuel, who claimed to have used an iPhone for the purpose. The contents had then been transferred to a laptop and stored in a pen drive.

The Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh had, on a direction of the Calcutta High Court, checked the video clips and had reported that there was no

tampering or editing. The CFSL had stated in its report that it could open 47 files out of 73 movie files provided in the pen drive.
New Delhi: Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi amid talk of a joint presidential candidate being put up by the opposition.

Gandhi, who has emerged as the central force in uniting various parties on the issue, spent some time discussing the current political situation.

However, Yadav, whose name is among one of the probable candidates, termed the meeting as a mere "courtesy call".

"It was merely a courtesy call," he told PTI.

Hectic negotiations are on among opposition parties for putting up a joint presidential candidate to replace incumbent Pranab Mukherjee.

Gandhi has met several opposition leaders, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Left leaders Sitaram

Yechury and D Raja, in the recent past over the issue.

Sources said the opposition is trying to put up a united face and jointly fight the presidential poll even though the numbers have tilted in favour of the NDA after Uttar Pradesh assembly election results.

Parleys are also being held among leaders of other opposition parties.

The presidential election has to be held before 24 July, when President Mukherjee's term ends.

He had taken over the post in July 2012, defeating the NDA candidate late PA Sangma.

Sources said that during his meeting with Gandhi on Monday there was agreement to the possibility of fielding a

candidate acceptable to all secular opposition parties, but there is no discussion on likely candidates yet.

When asked, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said no names have been discussed so far.

"We are aware of the consultations, which are evolving consultations. We will get back to you whenever something is finalised," he said.

The Congress would take a "conscious, concerted and balanced call" on a joint opposition presidential candidate

after consultation with all opposition leaders.

The sudden flurry of opposition activities comes in the wake of the BJP's winning streak in states since the formation of the Narendra Modi government in 2014. It currently has governments in 13 states and is a junior partner in the ruling alliance in Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.

Some feel that the opposition unity for contesting may well turn out to be a precursor to an anti-NDA front ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Lucknow: Attacking the Yogi Adityanath led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday that those wearing saffron scarves have got the licence to beat up policemen and attack police stations.

The former chief minister's comments came in the backdrop of right-wing activists thrashing policemen in Agra and some other law and order related incidents. "It is disheartening that those wearing saffron scarves have got the licence to beat up policemen and attack police stations. In Kannauj policemen were beaten up, in Agra clashes took place with police, in Allahabad four persons of a family were killed," he said.

Akhilesh's own government had faced much media criticism and opposition fire over the law and order issue in the state. The BJP had turned it into a major poll plank.

In a kind of role-reversal, he referred to the murder of a middle-aged couple and their two young daughters in Allahabad district to target the present dispensation.

"The Badaun incident of alleged rape and murder of two sisters during our regime was raked up by media and all political parties raised a hue and cry over it. But does the Allahabad incident not need any attention?" he asked. Referring to an incident in Saharanpur, where clashes and stone pelting took place between two communities over a procession, Yadav said that a Samajwadi Party delegation had prepared a report on the happenings.

The SP chief said he would share information with the media about the report tomorrow. Asked about bail being granted to rape-accused Gayatri Prajapati who was a minister in his government, Akhilesh said, "It's good that he got bail. Please tell me if there is anything wrong in it."

On his dream project, Lucknow-Agra expressway, which is under scrutiny of the present government, Akhilesh said if they (BJP) have any problem, they can float new tenders for the expressway which is to be constructed further.
By Michael Holden

| LONDON

LONDON Almost a decade after three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished, London police said they were still following critical lines of inquiry but might never solve the case. McCann disappeared from her bedroom on May 3, 2007 during a family holiday in Portugal, while her parents were dining with friends at a nearby restaurant in the resort of Praia da Luz.Despite a massive international search and media coverage which prompted reported sightings from across the globe, her fate remains a mystery."Sadly investigations can never be 100 percent successful," said London Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley. He said police had no definitive evidence as to whether Madeleine was alive or dead."We will do everything we can do reasonably to find an answer as to what's happened to Madeleine. I so wish I could say that we'll definitely solve it. But a small number of cases sadly don't get solved."Her parents, Kate and Gerry, said the 10-year anniversary was a "a horrible marker of time, stolen time"."The two themes that seem most appropriate to me as we reach this ten year mark are perseverance and gratitude: We will go on, try our hardest, never give up and make the best of the life we have," Kate wrote on their Find Madeleine Facebook web page.

In the 10 years since McCann vanished, the media has suggested a host of explanations for her disappearance, ranging from a burglary gone wrong to abduction by slave traders.Madeleine's parents were named as official suspects by Portuguese police four months after the disappearance but in 2008 were cleared. Portugal's public prosecutor later dropped the case, citing a lack of evidence."There's no reason whatsoever to reopen that," Rowley said.

"DOWNRIGHT LIES"

The McCanns and friends who were with them on the night Madeleine went missing later won large payouts from newspapers over stories that they were involved. Another Briton was awarded 600,000 pounds in damages over false allegations he had abducted the girl. "We are bracing ourselves for the next couple of weeks," the McCanns said. "It's likely to be stressful and painful and more so given the rehashing of old 'stories', misinformation, half-truths and downright lies which will be doing the rounds in the newspapers, social media and 'special edition' TV programmes."The Portuguese closed their inquiry in 2008. London police launched a review of the case in 2011 after the McCanns wrote to then British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The subsequent investigation examined 600 individuals and threw up new leads, prompting Portuguese prosecutors to order the case re-opened in 2013.Following interviews and a search of wasteland near Praia da Luz, four suspects were cleared of any involvement.London police have spent 11 million pounds on their investigation and last month were given another 85,000 pounds for four detectives to continue for a further six months."Where we are today is with a much smaller team focused on a small number of remaining critical lines of inquiry that we think are significant," Rowley said."If we didn't think they were significant, we wouldn't be carrying on." (Editing by Andrew Roche)

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Kabul: Afghanistan's defence minister and army chief of staff resigned on Monday after the deadliest Taliban attack on a military base, and US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he was "under no illusions" about the problems facing the country.

Mattis, visiting as the United States looks to craft a new Afghanistan strategy, held talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, officials and US commanders, who want more troops."2017 is going to be another tough year for the valiant Afghan security forces and the international troops who have stood, and will continue to stand, shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan against terrorism," Mattis said.

General John Nicholson, the head of US and international forces in Afghanistan, said he was "not refuting" reports that Russia was providing support, including arms, to the Taliban. A senior US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that intelligence showed Russia was providing money and machine guns to the Taliban.

Russia has previously denied providing any material or financial aid to the insurgent group, but has said it maintains ties with Taliban officials in order to push for peace talks. Moscow has been critical of the United States over its handling of the war in Afghanistan.

Mattis arrived in Kabul just days after a Taliban assault on a major army base in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in which more than 140 Afghan soldiers were killed. Afghan officials said the final death toll was likely to be higher.

Earlier, Ghani's office announced in a post on its Twitter account that Defence Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim "stepped down with immediate effect." Shah Hussain Murtazawi, acting spokesman for Ghani, told Reuters the resignations were because of Friday's attack. Habibi and Shahim told reporters their resignations were voluntary. Despite his resignation, Habibi  who had come under pressure from Afghan lawmakers last month following an Islamic State attack on a Kabul military hospital  attended a meeting with Mattis at the headquarters of the Nato-led military coalition in the Afghan capital.

Deadly attack

In a serious security failure on Friday, as many as 10 Taliban fighters, dressed in Afghan army uniforms and driving military vehicles, made their way on to the base and opened fire on soldiers and recruits eating a meal and leaving a mosque after Friday prayers, according to officials. Ghani's office also announced the replacement of four army corps commanders in response to the attack, and defence officials said as many as eight army personnel had been arrested.

A senior US official said, based on intelligence and the types of tactics used, the Taliban-linked Haqqani network likely played a role. "This is very typical Haqqani network tactics, techniques and procedures," said the official, adding the United States believed it took 4-6 months to plan the attack. Ghani declared a day of mourning on Sunday.

The attack came a little more than a week after the United States dropped a 22,000 pound bomb, known as the "mother of all bombs", against a series of Islamic State caves and tunnels near the border with Pakistan. US officials say they were surprised by the level of attention that particular bomb received, since it did little to change the situation on the ground, where the Taliban, not Islamic State, remains the bigger threat.

More troops

US officials acknowledge that Afghanistan has rarely in recent years been considered a priority by decision makers, who have instead been consumed by Syria, Iraq and, increasingly, North Korea. But there are signs that the Trump administration is making progress in crafting a policy for Afghanistan. US President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser HR McMaster visited Afghanistan earlier this month, the first senior official from the new administration to do so.

US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there was an ongoing inter-agency review to determine the goals and milestones for the United States in Afghanistan.Meanwhile, the Afghan army is preparing for what is expected to be a year of hard fighting against Taliban militants, who now control or contest more than 40 percent of the country.

Nearly 9,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan, in addition to thousands of international coalition forces. Nicholson recently told a Congressional hearing he needed several thousand more international troops in order to break a stalemate in the long war with Taliban insurgents.

US officials say Nicholson's request was making its way through the chain of command. Conversations, however, according to current and former officials, were revolving around 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops. One official said there was an emphasis on creating a strategy that was not tied to artificial deadlines.

Former President Barack Obama had wanted to reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan before he left office.While Mattis is no stranger to Afghanistan - he served there and was also the head of U.S. Central Command  there are questions about what a few thousand additional US troops can achieve."Let's face it, no matter how many troops you may send to Afghanistan, it's going to be very difficult to end the war. We had 100,000 troops fighting in Afghanistan during the height of the surge and we didn't end the war," said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
Canberra: Australia's prime minister said on Tuesday that he is looking forward to meeting soon with US President Donald Trump, three months after their heated telephone conversation over an Obama-era refugee deal.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was speaking to reporters at the al-Minhad air base in the United Arab Emirates after meeting in Afghanistan with Defense Secretary James Mattis and greeting Australian troops in the Middle East ahead of Veterans' Day commemorations on Tuesday.

Turnbull met in Sydney over the weekend with Vice President Mike Pence, whose visit was intended to smooth over any lingering hard feelings after the prime minister's contentious phone call with Trump on 28 January over a refugee resettlement deal struck by the previous Obama administration.

Turnbull said on Tuesday that he will announce his Trump visit "very shortly." The meeting will take place in New York, according to media reports.

"We've had very good meetings with Vice President Pence and the Defense Secretary James Mattis just in the last few days. I look forward to continuing those discussions with President Trump and will do so at an early opportunity," Turnbull told reporters.

Australia is unhappy with Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Under the refugee resettlement agreement, the United States will take up to 1,250 refugees that Australia houses in detention camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Trump, who campaigned on tough-on-immigration policies, was enraged by the agreement, prompting a tense phone call with Turnbull and an angry tweet in which the president dubbed the deal "dumb."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer's subsequent mispronunciation of Turnbull's name as "Trumbull" did not help matters.

The fallout has left relations between the US and Australia at their lowest point since the Vietnam War, when Australia's then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam criticised a series of bombings authorised by then-President Richard Nixon.

On Tuesday, Turnbull left open the possibility of Australia increasing its military contribution in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

He also announced an additional 110 million Australian dollars (USD 83 million) over three years in humanitarian and stabilisation assistance for Iraq.
The EU has hardened its position on Brexit talks ahead of a key summit, making new demands on financial services, immigration and Britain's exit bill, a document showed on Tuesday.

The leaders of the other 27 countries will stress that Britain will be liable for costs for at least a year after it leaves in 2019, according to the draft negotiating guidelines seen by AFP.

They insist that Britain's huge finance industry must also stick to EU rules if it wants easy access to European Union markets.

And Britain should give EU citizens permanent residency after living there for five years, they say, in a challenge for the British government which has vowed to limit immigration.

European diplomats agreed to the changes on Monday at a meeting with the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, ahead of Saturday's Brussels summit where EU leaders will approve "red lines" for two years of tough negotiations.

The leaders are also expected to have a "wider debate on Brexit and the upcoming talks" at the summit, a European source said.

The EU's language has notably toughened from EU President Donald Tusk's first draft, issued two days after British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered the divorce process on 29 March.

The new harder stance comes as May prepares to hold talks with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and Barnier in London on Wednesday.

The section on Britain's divorce bill  estimated by EU sources at 60 billion euros  now adds a mention of "issues resulting from" the bloc's seven-year budget from 2014 to the end of 2020.

Previously, it only mentioned costs up to Britain's withdrawal in 2019, but the new version spells out the EU belief that Britain is liable for all costs it signed up to while a member.

Britain's prized financial services industry is also targeted, with changes to the draft making it clear that arrangements for it will not necessarily be tied to any future trade deal with the EU.

Instead, the City of London must "respect (the EU's) regulatory and supervisory regime and standards and their application" if it wants to do business in Europe.

The EU has meanwhile made a top priority of protecting the rights of three million European citizens living in Britain and one million Britons living in Europe, who currently can work and live anywhere they choose in the EU.

But the latest draft adds a new demand for EU citizens to have "the right to acquire permanent residence after a continuous period of five years of legal residence"  a move that is likely to be opposed by London.
By Rosalba O'Brien

| SANTIAGO

SANTIAGO A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck off the west coast of Chile on Monday, rocking the capital Santiago and briefly causing alarm along the Pacific Coast but sparing the quake-prone nation of any serious damage.The quake was centred about 85 miles (137 km) from Santiago, and some 22 miles (35 km) west of the coastal city of Valparaiso. The U.S. Geological Survey twice revised the magnitude before settling on 6.9, a strength usually capable of causing severe damage.The epicentre's shallow depth of 15.5 miles (25 km) below the sea allowed it to be felt hundreds of miles (km) away. Santiago office buildings swayed for about 30 seconds at the end of the workday. Closer to the epicentre, residents scrambled for higher ground, remembering the lessons of the country's devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2010."It was short but very powerful," said Paloma Salamo, a 26-year-old nurse, who was in a clinic in Vina del Mar, just north of Valparaiso, when the quake struck.People ran from the facility carrying children and some headed for the hills when the tsunami alarm sounded, she said, but calm was soon restored."So far there has been no human loss nor significant damage," President Michelle Bachelet said, praising people for evacuating in an orderly fashion in the immediate aftermath.

Officials cancelled a tsunami warning that had been issued in Valparaiso. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported small tsunami waves of half a foot (15 cm).There were no reports of structural damage in Valparaiso, but cellphone networks were down in some places, a spokesman with the local government said.FELT BEYOND THE ANDES

Videos from the Valparaiso area showed objects falling from store shelves, rocks falling onto roads and lights flickering. The quake was felt as far away as Argentina, on the other side of the Andes. Interior Minister Mario Fernandez said there had been some landslides but "in general the situation is pretty normal bearing in mind the quake's intensity."Strict construction codes in Chile limit damage to buildings.Copper mining was unaffected, according to Chile's state-run Codelco, one of the largest copper mining companies in the world, and Anglo American, which has copper operations in central Chile.

But interruptions in the electricity supply led the Aconcagua oil refinery to temporarily suspend operations for safety reasons, state-run oil firm ENAP said. There was no damage to either of Chile's two refineries, ENAP [ENAP.UL] said.Several aftershocks including two of magnitudes 5.0 and 5.4 were recorded in the same spot and could be felt in Santiago, part of a cluster of tremors from that area in recent days.Chile, located on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," has a long history of deadly quakes, including a 8.8 magnitude quake in 2010 off the south-central coast, which also triggered a tsunami that devastated coastal towns. More than 500 people died.That was the sixth-largest earthquake ever recorded, according to the USGS. The largest recorded temblor in history was also in Chile, a 9.5-magnitude quake in 1960.The long, slender country runs along the border of two tectonic plates, with the Nazca Plate beneath the South Pacific Ocean pushing into the South America Plate, a phenomenon that also formed the Andes Mountains. (Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien, Fabian Cambero, Gram Slattery, Felipe Iturrieta and Jorge Otaola; additional reporting by Sandra Maler in Washington; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by G Crosse and Mary Milliken)

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Beijing: China has banned Islamic names for babies in Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, home to the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.

According to the move, children with the banned names like Saddam or Midina will not be able to get a residence permit called "hukou", which is required for access to medical and educational services, it said in a statement.

"This is just the latest in a slew of new regulations restricting religious freedom in the name of countering religious extremism," the HRW said.

The Xinjiang government claims the names were banned because of their religious connotation, which can "exaggerate religious fervour", Efe news reported.

On 1 April, the authorities in Xinjiang had also imposed new rules banning "abnormal" beards or a full veil and warned people of punishments for refusing to watch state TV or radio programmes.

Conflicts between the Uighur and the Han, the majority ethnic group in China and who also control the government, are common.

Beijing usually attributes the violence to Islamist groups and secessionists whereas Uighur groups in exile consider the conflict to be a result of repression by the Communist regime.

"Violent incidents and ethnic tensions in Xinjiang have been on the rise in recent years, but the government's farcically repressive policies and punishments are hardly solutions," said HRW.

"They are only going to deepen resentment among the Uighurs," it added.
By Samia Nakhoul, Nick Tattersall and Orhan Coskun

| ANKARA

ANKARA Turkey will not wait at Europe's door forever and is ready to walk away from EU accession talks if rising Islamophobia and hostility from some member states persist, President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in a wide-ranging interview on Tuesday.Speaking at the presidential palace less than two weeks after winning sweeping new powers in a referendum, a relaxed Erdogan said a decision by a leading European human rights body to put Turkey back on a watch list was "entirely political" and that Ankara did not recognise the move.The Strasbourg-based Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said it put Turkey back on review over its crackdown on dissent since last year's coup attempt, rights violations, and concerns about Erdogan's increased grip on power.Turkey's relations with the EU soured further ahead of the referendum, when he accused Germany and the Netherlands of acting like Nazis by banning rallies by his supporters."In Europe, things have become very serious in terms of the extent of Islamophobia. The EU is closing its doors on Turkey and Turkey isn't closing its doors on anybody," Erdogan said, showing photos of vandalised mosques and supporters of the outlawed Kurdish militants rallying against him in Europe."If they're not acting sincerely we have to find a way out. Why should we wait any longer? We're talking about 54 years," he said, referring to the 1963 Ankara Agreement which acknowledged the long-term goal of Turkish membership of a united Europe.If necessary, he said, Turkey could hold a vote similar to Britain's on EU membership. He said Brexit had given Britain "peace of mind" and that it was "walking towards a new future".It is a critical week for Turkish-EU relations. EU lawmakers will debate ties on Wednesday, while the bloc's foreign ministers will discuss the issue on Friday.Erdogan said he would be closely watching.

"I'm very curious as to how the EU is going to act," he said, criticising EU states that have called for an end to accession talks. Turkey, he said, was still committed to negotiations."There is not a single thing that we are not ready to do, the minute they ask for it. Whatever they wish, we do. But still they are keeping us at the door," he said.Erdogan pointed to the French presidential election, in which far-right leader Marine Le Pen has threatened to take France out of the European Union, and said the bloc was "on the verge of dissolution, of breaking up".

"One or two countries cannot keep the EU alive. You need a country like Turkey, a different country symbolising a different faith ... But EU member states don't seem to realise this fact. They are finding it very difficult to absorb a Muslim country like Turkey," he said.BUFFER AGAINST SYRIA AND IRAQ

Europe, Erdogan said, had failed to appreciate Turkey's role in stemming the flow of migrants from neighbouring Syria and Iraq across it borders, and said the burden had fallen on Turkey and other countries in the region including Lebanon and Jordan.He insisted there could be no solution to Syria's conflict while President Bashar al-Assad remains in power, and said Russian President Vladimir Putin had told him he was not personally committed to the Syrian leader."Assad is not the address for a prospective solution in Syria," Erdogan said, voicing frustration at international failure to compel the Syrian leader to leave.

"He has attacked his people with tanks, with cannons, with barrel bombs, with chemical weapons, with fighter jets. Do you think he could be the vehicle for a solution?" The Turkish leader hinted at a softening of Russia's support for the Syrian president. Putin, he said, had told him: 'Erdogan, don't get me wrong. I'm not an advocate for Assad, I'm not his lawyer'."Syria's war, pitting rebels mostly from its Sunni majority against a minority rule rooted in Assad's Alawite community, has killed 400,000 people, created millions of refugees, drawn in regional and global powers and allowed Islamic State to seize swathes of territory.Russia's dramatic military intervention in 2015, after four years of inconclusive fighting, tilted the balance of power in favour of Assad, who is also backed by Turkey's regional rival Iran.Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq but its role has been complicated by U.S. support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG, viewed by Turkey as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey's southeast.Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq's Sinjar province and in northeast Syria on Tuesday, in a widening campaign against groups linked to the PKK.Turkey will not let Sinjar become a PKK base and will continue military operations there and in northern Syria "until the last terrorist is eliminated", Erdogan said. (Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Tulay Karadeniz; Editing by Andrew Roche)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
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The battle to become France's president comes down to a clash of two visions  Emmanuel Macron is pro-globalisation and pro-European Union, while Marine Le Pen rages against both. As the rival camps celebrated reaching the decisive second round of the election on Sunday, Le Pen said that voters will have "a very simple choice" on 7 May.

"Either we continue on the path of... off-shoring jobs, unfair foreign competition, mass immigration and free movement of terrorists... or you choose France and borders that protect," she told her supporters.

Macron, 39, had a starkly different message: "I will be... the voice of hope for our country and for Europe," he told thousands of his followers. The photogenic former investment banker, who had never before stood for election, started his centrist movement only 12 months ago.

Yet polls currently show he will easily become France's youngest ever president, beating Le Pen by more than 20 percentage points.

His meteoric rise began when President Francois Hollande chose him as an economic advisor and then parachuted him into his Socialist cabinet as economy minister.But shrewdly sensing his chance, Macron turned his back on Hollande when he quit the cabinet in August to concentrate on building up his own centrist political movement "En Marche" (On the Move).

French voters did exactly what they were expected to do  to the relief of French pollsters who helped redeem a profession still smarting over getting Brexit and the US election wrong. The final surveys published on the eve of Sunday's presidential election showed Macron and Le Pen qualifying for a run-off vote in two weeks' time.

Macron was projected at 23-24 percent with Le Pen at 22-23 percent  and those figures were in line with their final scores of 24.01 percent and 21.30 percent. It was the same success  forecasts that were within around one percentage point of their final results  for scandal-hit conservative Francois Fillon and far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon.

"There's a feeling of relief in the sense that polling groups have been under attack a lot during the campaign," pollster Yves-Marie Cann from the Elabe group admitted to AFP. Le Pen, who scored her best results in Sunday's presidential vote far from France's biggest cities, was carried to the run-off election by a part of the nation left behind in an era of globalisation. The results reflect the cleaving of France into two nations: cities reaping the benefits of global links on one side, and small towns and rural areas far from the busiest hubs of employment on the other.

It is these regions  marked by de-industrialisation, lack of jobs and the fear of a falling standard of living  that helped propel the National Front (FN) leader into the 7 May runoff against pro-European Union centrist Macron.

She won 28 percent of votes in her party's traditional bastion of the southeast and also did well in France's rust belt  scooping up 31 percent of votes in the northeast and 28 percent in the east. Elsewhere, she picked up support from those struggling to make ends meet.

Only once have French presidential pollsters failed badly in recent memory, Cann said: In 2002, when far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of Marine, stunned France and the world by making it through to the second round.

In the days ahead of Sunday's vote, "they successfully detected the late rise in turnout and indicated Emmanuel Macron in the lead and Marine Le Pen in second," said Anne Jadot, a political scientist at the University of Lorraine in eastern France.

High turnout helps

A combination of factors probably explains the French success after perceived American and British failures. French polls are constructed differently, with pollsters typically seeking out a sample of people who are chosen as being representative of the voting population at large. US and British pollsters often contact a random sample of voters by phone or internet.

Turnout for French presidential elections is generally high at around 80 percent, making voters easier to second-guess. High levels of abstentionism make an electorate more difficult to model. And French presidential elections are a simple process, with the winners in the first round being the two candidates who gather the most votes nationwide.

Macron and Le Pen will go through to a run-off on 7 May when one of them must get more than 50 percent, with Macron widely predicted to be the eventual victor. The American presidential system is indirect and far more complicated. Presidents are elected on the basis of votes cast state-by-state with the winner needing at least 270 votes from an electoral college.

The Divide

Le Pen's support drastically drops in large cities such as Paris and Lyon, where she scored five and eight percent. Those are the places where Macron scooped up nearly a third of the ballots on his way to pulling in 23.75 percent of the vote.

"Macron-Le Pen: The two Frances" said the headline of Monday's Le Monde, in which "two nations confront one another, the rural areas that went overwhelmingly for Marine Le Pen and the cities that backed Emmanuel Macron."

Voters who backed the far-right leader feel she alone can put them back on the track to prosperity. "I think (politicians) don't realise how hard it is to live on middle-class wages," Carine Sayed, 30, a trainee beautician, told AFP. "If they spent six months making 1,300 ($1,400) they would see how hard it is for many French people nowadays."

"They don't know what we're going through," added Sayed, who lives about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Paris in Melun. Although Le Pen called it "historic", her result was tinged with disappointment after polls in recent months had put her at around 27 percent.

She was hoping to ride a wave of populist, anti-globalisation sentiment that helped sweep Donald Trump to victory in the United States and paved the way for Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

"In its new strategy, the National Front is no longer concerned with the right-left divide," said Joel Gombin, one of France's leading experts on the far-right. "It is exploiting a new dynamic of globalists against patriots, and successfully so, because the second round is a clash of these two ideologies.

However, he noted: "There is nothing to indicate that the FN can win on the basis of this divide."

How did the international media react

The results of the election made front page headlines around the world. Many newspapers noted that a likely win for Macron in the 7 May run-off would be good news for the European Union but warned that far-right rival Le Pen could still pull off a surprise victory.

'Le Pen threat not over'

Media in neighbouring Britain hailed pro-European Macron's strong showing while adding that Le Pen's second-place success should not be ignored. "The threat from the French extreme right is not over," the centre-left Guardian said, describing Macron as the "best hope of a deeply-troubled but great country". Similar caution appeared on the front page of France's leftist daily Liberation which ran a picture of Macron with the headline: "Just one more step." French communist paper L'Humanite had a picture of Le Pen with the words "Never" across it. "Let's rally together to block her way," it said.

The Financial Times predicted 7 May would be an "act of coronation" for him, but warned that governing would not come so easily, saying Macron could be forced into "hard bargaining" to implement his reform agenda. An opinion piece on America's rightwing Fox News website said Le Pen was still in with a good chance and referenced US President Donald Trump's shock win, saying: "She may pull off an even bigger surprise than the Tweeter in Chief. Yuge, in fact."

'A house divided'

Many papers pointed to the historic defeat inflicted on traditional parties, with the Wall Street Journal calling the vote a "stunning rebuke of France's mainstream political forces". "A huge leap into the unknown," wrote the French economic daily Les Echos which described the vote as an expression of people being "fed up to the back teeth with the 'system' (and) making a clean break with the past."

The BBC said France was "entering unchartered political water" and noted that whoever won the next round, the country was "deeply divided".

"Congratulations to the artist! Eight months have seen Emmanuel Macron stage his takeover bid in the world of politics," enthused Xavier Brouet in the regional French paper Le Republicain Lorrain, in a nod to Macron's business background.

The New York Times noted Macron's strange status as both someone who has set himself apart from establishment parties but who also hails from the political elite. "His profile is that of an insider, but his policies are those of an outsider," it said. "If the ever-precocious Mr. Macron is to succeed, his first challenge is to sell a product still largely unfamiliar to almost everyone: himself."

The international reactions to Sunday's vote

European Union

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker congratulated Macron and wished him "good luck" in the run-off, Juncker's spokesman tweeted. "To see the flags of #France and the European Union greet the result of @emmanuelmacron, it's the hope and future of our generation," tweeted European Union foreign policy chief .

Michel Barnier, the European Commission's chief negotiator on Britain's withdrawal from the EU, hinted at concerns Le Pen could lead France away from the bloc. "Patriot and European, I will put my trust in Emmanuel Macron on May 7. France must remain European," the Frenchman tweeted.

Russia

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia "respects" the result, and is "in favour of building good and mutually beneficial relations". Russia has appeared as a keen backer of Le Pen, who met President Vladimir Putin in a surprise visit to Moscow ahead of the vote.

Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman wished Macron "all the best for the next two weeks". "It's good that Emmanuel Macron was successful with his course for a strong EU and social market economy," Steffen Seibert said in a tweet. Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel expressed confidence that the 39-year-old would be France's next president.

"I'm sure he will sweep away the far-right, rightwing populism and the anti-Europeans in the second round," Social Democrat Gabriel said in a video posted on Twitter during a trip to Amman. Writing on Twitter, he added: "I'm glad that @EmmanuelMacron is leading the field. He was the only truly pro-European candidate."

Austria

The head of the Austrian far-right FPOe, Heinz-Christian Strache, congratulated Le Pen on her "historic success". "Europe's patriotic spring can celebrate another success and step forward... The old established parties and their discredited representatives will gradually disappear into insignificance all across Europe. They have been ruining Europe for years!" he said on Facebook.

Strache said that because "established French parties" were backing Macron, it would be a "wonder" if Le Pen won the second round.

Britain

Former Conservative finance minister George Osborne, recently appointed editor of London's Evening Standard newspaper, hailed a good result for the centre. "Congratulations to my friend @EmmanuelMacron. Proof you can win from the centre. At last, the chance for the leadership that France needs," he tweeted.

Denmark

Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen expressed cautious optimism that former banker Macron would emerge victorious over Le Pen.

"Congratulations @EmmanuelMacron. We should await the final election, but Europe needs an openminded and reform oriented France => Good luck!"

Norway

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, whose country is not a member of the European Union, tweeted: "We need more not less cooperation in #Europe."

The Netherlands

Geert Wilders, Dutch MP and leader of the anti-Islam anti-immigrant Freedom Party, swung behind Le Pen, welcoming the result as a "bright day for patriots in France and elsewhere who want more national sovereignty and less EU and immigration. "I have just sent her my sincere congratulations. Now on the way to a vigorous second round, I am hoping for a President Le Pen."

With inputs from AFP
Iran and major powers met Tuesday in Vienna to review adherence to their 2015 nuclear deal as uncertainty grows about the landmark accord's future under US President Donald Trump.

The regular quarterly meeting was expected to hear, as Washington confirmed last week, that Iran is sticking to its side of the deal with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

The accord saw Tehran drastically curb its nuclear activities in order to ease concerns that Iran wanted to build an atomic bomb. In return nuclear-related Western and UN sanctions were lifted.

However, Trump has ordered a 90-day review, saying last Thursday that Iran was "not living up to the spirit" of the "terrible" deal because of its actions in other areas.

This refers to Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rebels in Yemen, and militias in Iraq and in Lebanon as well as Tehran's ballistic missile programme.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday the review would examine the nuclear accord "in the larger context of Iran's role in the region and in the world, and then adjust accordingly."

Trump's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last Wednesday expressed misgivings about the nuclear deal itself, in particular the time limits in key areas.

Iran cut the number of centrifuges that "enrich" uranium -- making it suitable for power generation and at high purities for a bomb -- from about 19,000 to 5,000.

Together with other restrictions and ultra-tight UN inspections, Iran pledged to stay at this level for 10 years and not to enrich uranium above low purities for 15 years.

Its uranium stockpile will also stay below 300 kilos (660 pounds) -- well short of what would be needed for an atomic bomb -- for 15 years.

Tillerson said the accord "fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran" and had been a way of "buying off" Tehran "for a short period of time".

Iran is not happy either, with critics of President Hassan Rouhani -- facing a tough battle for re-election next month -- charging that the nuclear deal has failed to provide all the promised economic benefits.

While nuclear-related sanctions were lifted, those related to human rights or missiles remained or have been expanded, frustrating Iran's efforts to boost trade.

Last week Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to Trump's comments by saying that Washington was failing to live up not just to the spirit of the nuclear deal, but its wording as well.

"So far, it has defied both," Zarif said on Twitter.

Tuesday's "Joint Commission" meeting among senior diplomats was held behind closed doors -- in the same plush Vienna hotel where the deal was hammered out -- with no press events planned.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, was representing Iran in the talks. Iranian news agency IRNA quoted him as saying that Iran was adhering to the deal but that this did not completely hold true for the other side.
New Delhi: The threat of the quasi state terror outfit Islamic State (IS) may spill over the South Asian region and beyond, Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali warned on Tuesday.

" Although we have a number of fresh (terrorist) groups, our focus will be on a new phenomenon called Daesh (as the IS is also called)," Abdali said while delivering a lecture "Strengthening India-Afghanistan Strategic Relations in an Uncertain World" organised by the think tank Brookings India.

"This is the most dangerous phenomenon we are facing. This most brutal, brutal phenomenon is growing in Afghanistan and its effects are being felt by the people of Afghanistan," he said.

Abdali expressed the hope that the countries of the region and the rest of the world would help Afghanistan in dealing with "this most dangerous group that we face today that can literally spill over the rest of the region and beyond".

His comments come after the US dropped the massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) or the "mother of all bombs", also dubbed as the most powerful non-nuclear bomb, on April 13 targeting an IS tunnel network in Afghanistan.

Without naming Pakistan, the Ambassador said that terrorism was being used as a tool "against Afghanistan, against India and other countries of the world".

Stressing that there should be no duplicity in dealing with terrorism, he said that one should not differentiate between the IS and the Taliban.

However, he was wholesome in his praise for India for its role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Recalling that New Delhi and Kabul had upgraded the bilateral relationship into a strategic relationship, Abdali said that India was the first strategic ally of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.

"We are grateful to India for being the largest donor in the region and the fifth largest donor in Afghanistan's reconstruction," he said..

He said that the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his country twice in the last couple of years showed the importance India gave to Afghanistan.

Modi visited Kabul in December 2015 to jointly inaugurate with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani a new building of the country's parliament built with Indian aid and then again in June last year to inaugurate the India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam.

"India has contributions in each of the achievements of Afghanistan in the last 16 years," Abdali said.

From almost no education in 2001, there are now millions of students going to school in Afghanistan, he said, adding that there are over 16,000 Afghan students studying in India.

According to the Ambassador, in a country of 30 million people, there are over 20 million mobile users, over 60 TV channels and over 200 newspapers.

"We had presidential and parliamentary elections," he said.

"From no army and no police, today we have 352,000 army and police (personnel)."

Abdali said that the role of all countries was necessary in the reconstruction of Afghanistan in this new world order of multi-polarity.

"A better Asia and a peaceful Asia can be achieved by learning from past mistakes," he said.

The Ambassador also called for operationalising the India-Afghanistan-US trilateral partnership for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Jerusalem: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday cancelled talks with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel after the visiting diplomat declined to call off meetings with rights groups critical of Israel's government, an official said.

The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the meeting was cancelled after Gabriel decided to go ahead with talks with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem.

Breaking The Silence seeks to document alleged Israeli military abuses in the Palestinian territories, while B'Tselem has worked on a range of issues and has strongly opposed Israeli settlement building.

Cancelling the meeting between Netanyahu and Gabriel was a rare step, but in line with the current right-wing Israeli government's stance against groups it accuses of having political agendas.

Gabriel earlier told journalists in Ramallah, where he held talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, that he had still hoped to meet Netanyahu and the rights groups.

He had also told German public television station ZDF that a decision to cancel the meeting would be "extremely regrettable".

"It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad," he said.

Gabriel added that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met critics of the German government during a visit to Germany.

The two NGOs are due to hold a joint meeting with Gabriel on Tuesday evening, a source from one of them said.

Such disputes have arisen in the past between visiting foreign officials and Israel's government.

In February, Israel reprimanded the Belgian ambassador after the country's prime minister, Charles Michel, met with B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence during a visit to Israel.

However, there was no public rebuke from the government when British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson met with anti-settlement NGO Peace Now during a visit in March.

Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years and Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian territory has drawn intense international criticism.

Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of

their future state. Germany has been among critics of Israeli settlement policy.

A German government spokesman said in February that a summit with Israel planned for May had been delayed, with Israeli media reporting it was due to the Jewish state's controversial new settlements law.

Israel passed a law in February that legalises thousands of settler homes built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.
Berlin: German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel says it would be "regrettable" if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancels their meeting in Jerusalem because of his appointment with groups critical of Israel's actions in the West Bank. Gabriel describes that encounter as "completely normal."

Netanyahu is threatening to scrap Tuesday's meeting with Gabriel if he meets members of Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem. Gabriel told Germany's ZDF television he heard about that from Israeli media.

Gabriel said it would be "unthinkable" to cancel meetings if Netanyahu met government critics in Germany. But he says a cancellation of today's meeting wouldn't be a "catastrophe," and wouldn't change his relationship with Israel.

Gabriel said: "You can't get a proper and comprehensive picture in any country on Earth if you only meet in government offices."
Chants of death to the dictator grow louder as Iran protests intensify The protests in Iran that were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini have now entered the 42nd day. The demonstrations are more powerful than ever and so is the crackdown by Iranian authorities. Thousands of mourners defied heightened security measures as they made their way to Aminis burial site in
Spanish police on Tuesday arrested four men with alleged links to suspects held in Belgium over their involvement in the Brussels airport and metro attacks last year, officials said.

The four were among nine men arrested in a vast operation targeting suspected Islamic extremists that was carried out in the northeastern region of Catalonia in conjunction with Belgian police, Catalan police said in a statement.

The men  a Spanish national and eight Moroccans living in Catalonia, all 30 to 40 years old  are believed to belong to a terrorist organisation, the statement added.

"Four of those who were detained have links with people arrested for the attacks carried out at Brussels airport and metro," a spokesman for Catalonia's regional police force told AFP.

It is not clear if the four were directly involved in carrying out the Brussels attacks, the spokesman added.

Belgium has been on high alert since March 22 last year when suicide bombers attacked Zaventem airport and the Maalbeek metro station, killing 32 people and leaving more than 320 wounded.

The attacks were led by an Islamic State cell that was also responsible for the carnage in Paris in November 2015.

"The Belgian judge leading the investigation into the Brussels airport attack found ties between the suspected authors of the attack and the Moroccans who live in Catalonia," a spokesman for Spain's National Court, which handles terrorism investigations, told AFP.

The men arrested in Catalonia "may have participated or cooperated in past actions" and may have travelled to Belgium, Catalonia's regional interior minister Jordi Jane told radio Rac1.

There were no "clear indications" that the suspects arrested Tuesday intended to carry out an attack in Spain, he added.

The authorities said the suspects were also being investigated for drug trafficking, robbery and other crimes.

Most of the nine men arrested Tuesday have criminal records related to petty or organised crime, police said.

Police raided 12 properties in six Catalan cities, including the regional capital Barcelona, as part of the operation which followed an eight-month investigation.

Officers seized three firearms, drugs, cash and electronics during the dawn raids.

At the same time, police in Morocco searched several homes of family members of the suspects arrested in Spain. They were accompanied by Spanish police.

Between 2012 and October 2016, Spain detained 186 people with suspected links to Islamic jihadism, including 63 in Catalonia, according to the interior ministry.

Spain, the world's third most visited country, increased its terror alert to category four on a five-point scale in 2015 after attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait.

The country has been mentioned on extremist websites as a possible target for historical reasons, since much of its territory was under Muslim rule from 711 to 1492.

But it has been spared major jihadist violence since March 2004, when bombs exploded on commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people in an attack claimed by Qaeda-inspired militants.

Unlike France or Belgium, Spain is less exposed to the risk that radicalised citizens who left to fight abroad will return with plans to commit attacks on home soil.

Only around 160 Spaniards are estimated to have joined the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, according to a study by the Real Instituto Elcano think tank, compared with over a thousand from nearby France since 2012.
WELLINGTON/WASHINGTON New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English was flying to the mountainous resort city of Queenstown on Tuesday to meet intelligence officials from the "Five Eyes" network, which includes the U.S. FBI, CIA and National Security Agency.The meetings, designed to facilitate intelligence sharing between the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, are being held at a sensitive time for the Asia-Pacific region as tension between the United States and North Korea escalates.However, six U.S. and allied government sources told Reuters it was a routine annual get-together that was not being held to respond to any particular crisis.The confirmation of the meetings indicates that "Five Eyes" countries hold regular intelligence conferences, a fact not widely known outside intelligence circles until now, according to analysts.

"I can confirm that it's Five Eyes, just part of the regular cycle of conferences that are held," English told reporters on Monday. He declined to specify which officials were attending.The officials and English declined to discuss what topics would be on the agenda, although English said he would use the meetings as an opportunity to stress New Zealand's dedication to the intelligence-sharing network."It's becoming increasingly obvious, I think, that as you consider these supra-national threats like ISIS that you work together with other countries," English said, using a common acronym for the Islamic State militant group.

A source at one of the agencies confirmed that the New Zealand conference was an "annual get-together ... a regular meeting of all of the seniors". Activities by Russia's government and counter-proliferation of nuclear arms in North Korea would likely be discussed, alongside more mundane topics like managing diversity in the workplace and how to prevent whistleblowers, according to Massey University security and defence analyst Rhys Ball, who formerly worked for New Zealand's intelligence service.

"The interesting thing about this conference, I think, is that this might offer some of those senior officials the first opportunity to meet up with some of the new American intelligence officials," Ball told Reuters. U.S. officials declined to discuss the movements of specific senior officials. A source familiar with the matter said senior Canadian officials were taking part.New Zealand media reported that FBI director James Comey would attend and published photos of him disembarking from a plane in Queenstown on Sunday.The sources told Reuters that agencies whose top officials were expected to attend included the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency from the United States, Britain's MI-5, MI-6 and Government Communications Headquarters, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Communications Security Establishment Canada, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the Australian Signals Intelligence Directorate, and New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau and Security Intelligence Service. (Reporting By Mark Hosenball and Charlotte Greenfield; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Paul Tait)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panarat Thepgumpanat

| BANGKOK

BANGKOK A Thai man filmed himself killing his 11-month-old daughter in two video clips posted on Facebook before committing suicide, police said on Tuesday.People could access the videos of the child's murder on her father's Facebook page for roughly 24 hours, until they were taken down around 5 p.m. in Bangkok (1000 GMT) on Tuesday, or about a day after being uploaded."This is an appalling incident and our hearts go out to the family of the victim," a Singapore-based Facebook spokesman said in an email to Reuters. "There is absolutely no place for content of this kind on Facebook and it has now been removed." Last week, Facebook said it was reviewing how it monitored violent footage and other objectionable material after a posting of the fatal shooting of a man in Cleveland, Ohio was visible for two hours before being taken down.The harrowing footage from Thailand showed Wuttisan Wongtalay tying a rope to his daughter Natalie's neck before dropping the child, dressed in a bright pink dress, from the rooftop of a deserted building in the seaside town of Phuket.Wuttisan's suicide was not broadcast but his lifeless body was found beside his daughter, said Jullaus Suvannin, the police officer in charge of the case."He was having paranoia about his wife leaving him and not loving him," Jullaus told Reuters.

Wuttisan's wife, Jiranuch Triratana, told Reuters she had lived with him for over a year. At first the relationship had gone well, she said, but then he grew violent and sometimes hit her five-year-old son from a previous husband.She feared that something was wrong on Tuesday when she found he had left home with Natalie, whose nickname was Beta. She set out to look for them."I was afraid he would hurt our daughter even though he loved her," she told Reuters by phone from the funeral.VIDEO REMOVED

Thailand's Ministry of Digital Economy said it contacted Facebook on Tuesday afternoon about removing the videos, after receiving a police request."We contacted Facebook today and Facebook removed the videos," ministry spokesman Somsak Khaosuwan told Reuters, adding that the government would take no action against the company. "We will not be able to press charges against Facebook, because Facebook is the service provider and they acted according to their protocol when we sent our request. They cooperated very well."After the company faced a backlash for showing the video of the Cleveland killing, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook would do all it could to prevent such content in the future.

Thai netizens voiced outrage about the clips of the child's killing, which were uploaded on Monday, the first at 4.50 p.m. (0950 GMT) and the second at 4.57 p.m. (0957 GMT)."This is the most evil clip I've seen in my life," said one user, Avada Teeraponkoon. "I couldn't stand it for more than one second." "How can he watch his own child stop breathing?" said another, Rujirek Polglang. "He should have just died alone." The killing was the first in Thailand known to be broadcast on the social networking site, said deputy police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen. "It could be influenced by behavior from abroad, most recently in Cleveland," Kissana told Reuters. The first video had drawn 112,000 views by mid-afternoon on Tuesday, while the second video showed 258,000 views. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff in SINGAPORE; Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Clarence Fernandez and Mike Collett-White)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Isabel Coles and John Davison

| ISTANBUL/BEIRUT

ISTANBUL/BEIRUT Turkish planes bombed Kurdish fighters in Iraq's Sinjar region and northeast Syria on Tuesday, killing at least 20 in a widening campaign against groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.A Turkish military statement said around 70 militants were killed in the operations inside the two neighbouring states.The air strikes in Syria targeted the YPG, a key component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are backed by the United States and have been closing in on the Islamic State bastion of Raqqa.The Turkish raids showed the challenges facing U.S.-led attempts to defeat Islamic State in Syria and risk increasing tension between NATO allies Washington and Ankara over Kurdish combatants who have been crucial in driving back the jihadists.In Washington, the State Department said it was deeply concerned by the air strikes, which were not authorized by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Turkey is part of the coalition of more than 60 countries."We have expressed those concerns with the government of Turkey directly," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on a conference call. "These air strikes were not approved by the coalition and led to the unfortunate loss of life of our partner forces," he added.Toner said the strikes hurt the coalition's efforts to go after the militants. "We recognise their concerns about the PKK, but these kinds of actions frankly harm the coalition's efforts to go after ISIS and frankly harm our partners on the ground who are conducting that fight."

A U.S. military officer accompanied YPG commanders on a tour of the sites hit near Syria's frontier with Turkey later on Tuesday, a Reuters witness said, demonstrating the close partnership.The YPG said in a statement its headquarters in Mount Karachok near Syria's frontier with Turkey had been hit, including a media centre, a radio station, communications facilities and military institutions."As a result of the barbaric strikes by the Turkish warplanes at dawn today against the YPG centre ... 20 fighters were martyred and 18 others wounded, three of them critically," said spokesman Redur Xelil.Ilham Ahmed, a senior Kurdish politician who co-chairs the political wing of the SDF, said they wanted the United States to provide aerial protection against Turkey.

The Turkish military said the two regions it struck around 2 a.m. (2300 GMT) had become "terror hubs" and the aim of the bombardment was to prevent the PKK sending weapons and explosives for attacks inside Turkey.Designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state for Kurdish autonomy. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, most of them Kurds.Turkish security sources said 13 PKK militants had been killed on Tuesday in operations backed by the air force in the largely Kurdish southeast of Turkey. Two Turkish soldiers were also killed when a roadside bomb planted by the PKK blew up in Sirnak province."NEW QANDIL"

Turkey has regularly bombed the mountainous border area between Iraq and Turkey where PKK militants are based since a ceasefire broke down in July 2015. But Tuesday's raid was the first time Turkish forces have targeted its affiliate in the northwestern Sinjar area.The PKK established a presence in Sinjar, bordering Syria, after coming to the aid of its Yazidi population when Islamic State militants overran the area in the summer of 2014 and killed and captured thousands of members of the minority faith.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said he will not allow Sinjar, around 115 km (70 miles) from the Turkish border, to become a "new Qandil", referring to a PKK stronghold in Iraq near the borders with Turkey and Iran.The presence of a PKK affiliate in Sinjar is also rejected by Kurdish authorities who run their own autonomous region in northern Iraq and enjoy good relations with Turkey.Five members of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces, which are also deployed in Sinjar, were killed, and nine wounded in one of the Turkish air strikes, according to the peshmerga ministry, apparently by accident.It called the attack "unacceptable" but blamed the PKK for being there and demanded the group withdraw from Sinjar. (Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Rodi Said, Ellen Francis, and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk and Isabel Coles; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and James Dalgleish)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Geneva: UN chief Antonio Guterres urged countries today to pitch in to help prevent a looming famine in war-torn Yemen, warning that children especially were already dying at an alarming rate.

"Yemen today is experiencing a tragedy of immense proportions," the UN Secretary General told country representatives gathered in Geneva for an aid pledging conference.

"We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation," he said, adding that Yemen is gripped by "the world's largest hunger crisis".

Appealing to donors, he stressed that "a famine can be prevented if we act quickly and commit to funding crucial life-saving assistance". The conference, co-hosted by the Swiss and Swedish foreign ministers, comes after the UN in February said Yemen needed USD 2.1 billion (1.9 billion euros) of aid this year alone.

The UN had warned that unless international donors stepped up their response the war-torn country faced a "serious risk of famine". By today, only 15 percent of that appeal had been funded, Guterres said.

UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien told the conference that Yemen was "the world's largest humanitarian crisis today."

A total of 17 million people, or around 60 percent of its population, are going hungry, while seven million of them do not know where their next meal is coming from and need immediate food aid, the UN said.

Children especially are bearing the brunt of the crisis.

"On average, a child under the age of five dies of preventable causes in Yemen every 10 minutes," Guterres said. "This means 50 children in Yemen will die during today's conference, and all those deaths could have been prevented."

Many of the children who survive "will be affected by stunting and poor health for their entire lives," he added. Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom noted that with two million children out of school, there is a growing risk of recruitment by armed groups, while two-thirds of girls are married off before the age of 18. "We must act now", she said.

Yemen's war has pitted pro-government forces against Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies, renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to help the government retake the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country's north and west.

Fighting in Yemen has killed more than 7,700 people over the past two years and forced 3.3 million people to flee their homes, according to UN numbers.
New York: A 24-year-old woman has sued the United Airlines for being forced out of her business class seat and escorted to the rear of the plane without an explanation, the latest public relations nightmare for the American airline.

Karen Shiboleth, a Columbia graduate whose friends include first daughter Tiffany Trump, claims she was forced out of her business class seat during a flight to London from Newark, New Jersey, last September and escorted to the rear of the plane without an explanation.

She sued the airline on Monday, claiming $150,000 in punitive damages "to deter such behaviour in the future", the New York Daily news reported.

Shiboleth, who was moving to London last year for her graduation school at Kings College, boarded a United Airlines flight to Heathrow Airport. After several upgrades, Shiboleth ultimately sprung for a 'BusinessFirst' class seat, which cost $3,146 and 60,000 American Express rewards miles.

"The upgraded BusinessFirst ticket was to ease the burden of her move, improve the care and safety of her personal belongings, and provide convenience from the stresses that accompany moving  especially moving to a new country nearly halfway across the world," according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court.

After Shiboleth had boarded the plane, she noticed there were multiple empty BusinessFirst seats. Ten minutes before takeoff, however, a United Airlines gate attendant got on the plane and "without explanation" demanded that she vacate her seat in the United BusinessFirst and move to the back of the plane, the suit alleged.

While Shiboleth asked for an explanation, nobody would tell her why she had to move or why she could not just go to an empty BusinessFirst seat, the suit claims. Even though Shiboleth showed them that her assigned seat was 1B in the BusinessFirst cabin, the staffer took Shiboleth's arm "without consent and forced" her to a middle seat in the back of the plane, the report said.

The employee, "who was not even a flight attendant  evidently boarded the plane for the sole purpose of harassing, humiliating, embarrassing and physically accosting" Shiboleth in front of other passengers, the suit states. While the employee was hauling her to the back, she also abused her in front of other passengers, the lawsuit claims.

United Airlines, in a statement said, "Our goal is to provide all of our customers with a great travel experience." "We are aware of the filing and reviewing it, but due to pending litigation we are unable to comment further," it was quoted as saying.

United Airlines recently made headlines and remains under scrutiny following its treatment to the Vietnamese-American passenger, David Dao, who was physically dragged off an "overbooked" flight when he refused to give up his seat for United crew members on a flight from Chicago to Louisville.

Just days after the incident, it emerged that a bride and groom headed for their wedding were booted from a United Airlines flight here after they relocated to empty seats three rows up without permission.
Male: The UN on Tuesday demanded an immediate investigation into the murder of a liberal blogger in the Maldives, calling on the government to ensure the safety of dissidents in the troubled honeymoon destination.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein condemned Sunday's stabbing of Yameen Rasheed and urged a swift and thorough inquiry into the killing, meeting international standards.

"Rasheed's killing comes in the context of what appears to be an upsurge in arrests and prosecutions of the political opposition," Zeid's spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

She noted that Rasheed, 29, had received death threats in December and lodged complaints with the police, yet had to push to get his concerns registered.

Rasheed, who poked fun at the nation's politicians on his blog The Daily Panic, was found in the stairwell of his Male apartment with multiple stab wounds to his chest and neck. He died in hospital.

"We remind the state that it has a duty to ensure that journalists, civil society actors and human rights defenders are able to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and opinion without fear for their safety," Shamdasani said.

The government of President Abdulla Yameen has already faced censure from the UN rights body over the arrest and jailing of a former president and a former defence minister.

Rasheed is the third media figure to be targeted in the Maldives in the past five years.

Blogger Ismail Rasheed narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed by an unidentified attacker in 2012.

A journalist with the independent Minivan News, Ahmed Rilwan, was likely abducted in August 2014 and has been missing ever since.

The government has said it will investigate the killing and has called for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Exiled opposition leader and ex-president Mohamed Nasheed has also demanded an international investigation.

In the wake of Rasheed's death Nasheed, who is living in London, said on Twitter that "a treasured soul has been stolen from us".
Del Rio, Texas: One by one, the Mexican men stood in the jury box, shackles rattling as they fidgeted slightly and pleaded guilty to crossing the US border illegally.

They had come for better jobs, many to earn more money to help raise their children, their defence lawyer told a federal magistrate in a quiet west Texas courtroom about 3 miles (5 kilometers) north of the Mexican border.

The magistrate, Collis White, warned that a guilty plea would mean jail time and they couldn't return to the United States legally for years. Speaking in Spanish, each of the 15 men said they understood and took their chances. They faced up to six months in jail, but most were sentenced to just a few days.

The men had the misfortune of landing in America's toughest courthouse when it comes to dealing with people who cross the border illegally. In other jurisdictions, authorities routinely skip the criminal charges and simply order quick deportations. But for the last decade, just about everyone arrested near Del Rio gets prosecuted.

That tough approach is a model President Donald Trump hopes to replicate as part of his sweeping plans to stop illegal immigration, the cornerstone of his campaign. He wants to prosecute many more people caught crossing the border illegally.

Doing so wouldn't be cheap. Immigration cases already account for more than half of federal prosecutions. Trump is seeking hundreds of million dollars more for more jail cells, prosecutors and marshals to transport prisoners. It's unclear if Congress will give him the money.

Civil libertarians object to the prosecutions, saying those arrested are rushed through the legal system without having a chance to exercise their rights.

And a previous attempt to expand the Del Rio approach had mixed results. Prosecutions spiked at the end of the Bush administration and during the first few years of the Obama administration, but later declined. Part of the decline is likely because of the drop in arrests at the border. But limited resources, including jail space to house people and prosecutors to try cases, were also issues.

Still, Trump administration officials have made clear they plan to press ahead. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly made the point as they've been touring the border in recent weeks, saying that those who enter the United States illegally will be arrested, prosecuted and deported. Earlier this month, the Justice Department released a memo calling on prosecutors to appoint border security coordinators in every judicial district.

"This is a new era. This is the Trump era," Sessions said during a visit to the border in Nogales, Arizona, this month.

In White's Del Rio courtroom each case of someone charged with crossing the border illegally was handled in under a minute. Only one was sentenced to more than a few days  a man who had been deported in 2013 was sentenced to 120 days in prison.

Each man was warned not to come back to the United States without the government's permission.

"If you can find a legal way to come back, you're more than welcome," White told the shackled men, his words repeated in Spanish by an interpreter. "But it has to be just that."

The new push for immigration prosecutions comes as the number of people crossing the border illegally has plummeted. Under President Barack Obama, there was a steady decline in arrests, a likely indication fewer people were trying to sneak into the United States. And in March, the second full month of the Trump administration, border agents reported the fewest border crossers in a single month in at least 17 years.

Illegal immigration straddles a line in federal courthouses. Being in the United States illegally  whether after crossing a border or overstaying a visa  is a civil offense, not a crime. But those caught crossing the border illegally, or violating a previous ban from returning to the US, can face criminal charges, though that generally doesn't happen.

The Del Rio prosecution strategy followed an earlier push to secure the border and curb the flow of illegal border crossers. Before the effort launched, agents in the Border Patrol's Del Rio Sector arrested more than 68,000 people in a 12-month period.

Arrests dropped by more than 25,000 after the first year. Over the last decade, arrests in the area have averaged about 20,000 a year.

The acting chief patrol agent in Del Rio, Matthew Hudak, said the effort to prosecute just about every border crosser has worked well there for several reasons.

"Policy matters, enforcement matters, the work of agents matters," Hudak said.

It helps that the Border Patrol's sector there only covers one judicial district. In other areas, including El Paso, agents often work across state and judicial district lines, making it more difficult to coordinate prosecution, jail space and transportation.

The often-brief court proceedings that help make the Del Rio prosecutions appealing to the Trump administration alarm civil libertarians.

Celia Wang, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said border crossers facing prosecution are urged to plead guilty and don't fully know the implications of that. Many immigrants lose their chance to make claims to stay in the United States, including under the asylum process.

"People have no idea what is happening," Wang said. "It's completely lost on (them),"


Its a bird. Its a plane. No its not Superman, its Kitty Hawk flying car. The flying-car company called Kitty Hawk that has been funded by Google co-founder Larry Page has finally released a video of its first prototype vehicle.

Kitty Hawk Flyer is an all-electric ultralight aircraft that is designed to operate over water. Available for sale by the end of this year, owners wont need a pilots license to operate one as it comes under the Ultralight category of FAA regulations. In a statement given to the New York Times Page said, Weve all had dreams of flying effortlessly. Im excited that one day very soon Ill be able to climb onto my Kitty Hawk Flyer for a quick and easy personal flight. The Flyer is designed for uncongested areas in the U.S. and must be flown over fresh water. It travels at up to 25 miles per hour at a max of 15 feet above water.

According to the Flyers FAQ, the price will be revealed later this year, and Kitty Hawk members will have priority placement on the wait list, as well as a $2,000 discount. Members will also have exclusive access to flight demonstrations and test flights throughout the year. Kitty Hawk says that there are no plans to ship the vehicle outside the US.

Via
Today at an event in India, Google announced that it has updated Gboard for Android with support for 11 new languages to the list of 11 existing Indian languages that include Bengali, Bashkir, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Telugu and more. It also has transliteration support in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati and more.

With this Gboard now supports 22 Indian languages that include: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo (Devanagari, Bengali), Dogri (Devanagari, Arabic), Gujarati, Hindi (Devanagari, Hinglish), Kannada, Kashmiri (Devanagari, Arabic), Konkani (Devanagari, Latin), Maithili (Devanagari), Malayalam, Manipuri (Bengali), Marathi (Devanagari), Nepali (Devanagari), Odia, Punjabi (Gurmukhi, Arabic), Sanskrit (Devanagari), Santali (Ol chiki, Latin), Sindhi (Devanagari, Arabic), Tamil, Telugu, Urdu (Arabic).

It also has auto-correction and prediction in these new languages, two layouts for each one in the native language script and one with the QWERTY layout for transliteration, which lets you spell words phonetically using the QWERTY alphabet and get text output in your native language script.

It has Google Search built in and also allows you to search and use Google Translate right in your keyboard. Gboard already supports Hinglish language option that lets you switch back and forth between Hindi and English.

[HTML1]

The latest update also brings new text editing tool that makes it easier to select, copy and paste, plus new options for resizing and repositioning the keyboard so it fits to your hand and texting style. The update also brings some under-the-hood improvements including better accuracy and predictions while you type, says Google.

These features are available in the latest version of Gboard for Android that is available today on Google Play Store. The iOS app should be update soon.

Source 1, 2
Sony rolled out Android 7.0 (Nougat) update for Xperia X Performance and Xperia XZ smartphones back in November last year, today it has started rolling out Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) update for these smartphones.

The Android 7.1 update brings new emoji that reflect the pivotal roles women play in the world, app shortcuts that can be launched directly from home screen in apps like Twitter, Google Messenger, Google Maps by simply long pressing the app icon, but this doesnt work on Xperia Home launcher yet. It also brings several bug fixes and improvements.

The Android 7.1.1 update for the Xperia XZ and Xperia X Performance have build number 41.2.A.2.199 and also includes Android security patch for 1st April 2017. The update is available only in select countries currently and should roll out globally in the coming week.

Source
Check out the latest FoneArena Daily video that gives you a quick roundup of the latest technology news.

Samsung launched Galaxy On Nxt smartphone with unibody metal design back in October last year. Today, it has launched 64GB version of the smartphone. It comes in Gold and Black colors, is priced at Rs. 16,900 and will be available exclusively from Flipkart starting from today midnight

Google and Chinese imaging company Yi Technology have jointly announced Yi Halo, the virtual reality (VR) camera.

The flying car company called Kitty Hawk that has been funded by Google co-founder Larry Page has finally released a video of its first prototype vehicle.

Google is expected to launch three Pixel devices this year. It has been reported that the company is working on two Pixel phones codenamed as Walleye and Muskie.

Deal of the day  Offers on Mobile Accessories on Amazon.
When he was president he called them fat cats, but now hes likely thanking them for a huge payday.

Former President Barack Obama, less than 100 days out of office, has agreed to speak at a Wall Street conference run by Cantor Fitzgerald LP, senior people at the firm confirm to FOX Business. His speaking fee will be $400,000, which is nearly twice as much as Hillary Clinton, his secretary of state, and the 2016 Democratic Party candidate, charged private businesses for such events.

Obama has agreed to speak at Cantors health care conference in September and will be the keynote luncheon speaker for one day during the event, people at the firm tell FOX Business. These people say Obama has signed the contract, but the company, a mid-sized New York-based investment bank, is waiting to coordinate with the former president before making a formal announcement.

These people add that Obama could ultimately back out of the arrangement depending on his schedule and other concerns such as adverse publicity.

A spokesman for the former president didnt return a call for comment; a spokeswoman for Cantor said the firm is not in a position to comment just yet, but would not deny that Obama has agreed to speak to the firm and at the $400,000 fee.

News of Obamas speaking deal with Cantor, which had yet to be reported, comes as the former president made on Monday his first public comments since leaving office after an extended vacation. In those comments to college students at the University of Chicago, the president spoke broadly about the need for public service and studiously avoided any mention of the current president, Republican Donald Trump, or how he intends to make a living now that hes a private citizen.

Its also likely to be a source of criticism against the former president given Obamas record of attacks against Wall Street bankers for making huge salaries while average Americans were suffering from the ravages of the 2008 financial crisis. Obama, a progressive Democrat, spoke frequently about Wall Street greed during his eight years as president, and now hes accepting a speaking fee from the industry he singled out as the main culprit of the banking collapse.

Is there an irony here because he spoke incessantly about the income gap and is now earning from those same people he criticized? Yes it is, said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant. Should we expect it? Yes, we should because all former presidents do this. He went on the attack against Wall Street and now hes being fed by those same people he called fat cats. Its more hypocritical than ironic.

Another irony: Obama will be speaking at a health care conference at a time when his signature piece of legislation  ObamaCarecould be radically altered by President Trump and a Republican Congress. Given the September date of the conference, Obama may be forced to address problems with the controversial health care law, such as massive premium increases, if the GOP repeal doesnt take shape by then.

Of course, Obama wouldnt be the first politician or even former president to accept large fees for speaking to business groups. Most presidents like Obama, who isnt independently wealthy, also seek to cash in on their celebrity though speaking fees and lucrative book deals (Obama has already signed a book deal worth a reported $60 million).

Former president Bill Clinton, for example, is a prolific speaker, and by some estimates earned well over $100 million in fees for public appearances since leaving office. But like his wife, Hillary, Bill Clintons average fee of little more than $200,000 is nearly half of what President Obama will be commanding for his speech at Cantor, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

And while Bill and Hillary Clinton frequently spoke to Wall Street firms, such as Goldman Sachs, unlike Obama, they were hardly at odds with the financial business during either of their times in office. The presidency of Bill Clinton included a massive deregulation of Wall Street, a booming stock market and lower taxes on investmentsall moves that endeared him to the Wall Street community.

The former first lady and former U.S. Senator from New York was regarded as a centrist when it came to Wall Street regulation and received copious monetary support from the financial community all through her political career. During her unsuccessful 2016 president campaign, she largely avoided attacking banks directly even as she preached the need for income redistribution and stiff regulations against businesses.

President Obama, meanwhile, was elected president while the country was in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, and then the Great Recession. Public sentiment against the big banks for their role in the crisis was high, and he wasted little time using the publics anger at the big banks to his political advantage.

During a 2009 interview with CBSs 60 Minutes Obama famously said, "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street, and gave a series of speeches during his two terms in office demanding accountability from banks, which he characterized as the main culprits of the 2008 financial crisis.

But even worse for the banks were his actions as president. His championing of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law squeezed bank profits, and forced firms like Goldman Sachs to drop once-lucrative business lines. The Obama Justice Department didnt indict a single bank for financial crisis related frauds, but it did rack up billions of dollars in penalties against players like JPMorgan, the nations largest bank, for alleged abuses.

Sheinkopf says Obama may receive criticism from Republicans for his alleged hypocrisy over accepting the speaking fee from Wall Street, but he believes the criticism inside his own party will be muted even from such notable class warriors as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Democrats are lacking so much leadership that they arent going to be upset with this, he said. They have no heroes anymore, and [Obama] was their last great hero, so how can they turn on him even though he is being a bit of a hypocrite?
Young Americas Foundation Spokesman Spencer Brown says a lawsuit filed against the University of California, Berkeley, for blocking conservative commentator Ann Coulter aims to prevent the university from blocking certain types of speech.

First and foremost, this is about students rights on this campus, Brown told the FOX Business Networks Stuart Varney.

The university's decision to cancel Coulter's appearance, Brown says, demonstrates a double standard in how the school treats conservative students.

"Here we have a school, UC Berkeley, that has decided conservative students on their campus arent required to follow the same first amendment rights as other students.

Brown says even some liberal politicians have taken a stance on free speech and come out in support of the organizations lecture program.

Youve seen them take a position here thats so indefensible in banning free speech for conservatives, that even prominent liberals such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have come out and voiced their support for Young Americas Foundations campus lecture there.

After initially cancelling the speech, which had been scheduled for this Thursday, April 27, UC officials did offer an alternative date for Coulter could speak. But Brown explained that the organization, as well as Coulter, are not happy with the new date suggested.

The date that they picked for us, that May 2 date, is what the school calls their dead week and so students arent even on campus for the large part, because its the week in between the last week of classes and their final exams.

Brown sees the alternative date as a veiled attempt by the university to suppress a conservative view on campus.

It was just another attempt by Berkeley to block students from hearing a conservative viewpoint.
President Donald Trump issued another warning to Canada Tuesday, vowing that he will not stand for the way Americas northern neighbor treats U.S. dairy farmers.

Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!, Trump tweeted.

Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

Hours later, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who has fiercely opposed some of Trumps policies, including the border wall, supported him on this fight.

Been fighting for NY dairy farmers on this. Glad to see @POTUS join our fight to change Canada's unfair policy that undercuts our farmers, Schumer tweeted.

Been fighting for NY dairy farmers on this. Glad to see @POTUS join our fight to change Canada's unfair policy that undercuts our farmers. https://t.co/SbdrhnhPOa  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 25, 2017

These tweets come one day after the Trump administration said it would impose 20 percent tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Monday that it has been a bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations.

Last Monday, it became apparent that Canada intends to effectively cut off the last dairy products being exported from the United States. Today, in a different matter, the Department of Commerce determined a need to impose countervailing duties of roughly one billion dollars on Canadian softwood lumber exports to us. This is not our idea of a properly functioning free-trade agreement, Ross said.

Trade groups for U.S. dairy farmers have complained that Canada is incentivizing its processors to use local supplies  and in the process blocking American dairy exports.

Canada, what theyve done to our dairy farm workers, its a disgrace, Trump said last week. Farmers in Wisconsin and New York state are being put out of business.

The industry has been calling on the government to step in.

Our federal and state governments cannot abide by Canadas disregard for its trade commitment to the United States, and its intentional decision to pursue policies that are choking off sales of American-made milk to the detriment of U.S. dairy farmers, said Tom Vilsack, the former secretary of agriculture and current president and CEO of the US Dairy Export Council, in a statement earlier this month.
Though IRAs have been around for more than four decades, many people are still ill-informed about how they work. In a recent TIAA study, more than half of Americans admitted to not knowing the difference between a Roth and traditional IRA. If you're nearing retirement, it's especially critical that you get your facts straight, as you may come to rely on your IRA as a crucial source of income down the line.

1. Only 33% of U.S. adults have an IRA

A good 41% of workers aren't offered an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan. All workers, however, get the option to contribute to an IRA, yet only 33% actually have an account open. If you don't have access to a 401(k), it's all the more vital that you take savings matters into your own hands. You can open an account by visiting a bank or traditional brokerage firm, and our IRA Center is loaded with information to help you get started.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

2. Not all IRAs are created equal

The most common IRA varieties are the traditional and the Roth, each of which comes with its own unique benefits. Traditional IRA contributions are tax-deductible the year you make them, but withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income in retirement. Roth IRA contributions, meanwhile, are made with after-tax dollars, so there's no immediate tax savings, but come retirement, withdrawals are taken tax-free. Furthermore, while traditional IRAs impose required minimum distributions once you turn 70 1/2, Roth IRAs allow you to keep your money invested indefinitely.

Roth IRAs offer far more flexibility on withdrawals than traditional IRAs. With a traditional account, you'll face a 10% early withdrawal penalty for removing funds prior to age 59 1/2 unless you happen to qualify for an exception. Roth IRAs, on the other hand, allow you to access your principal contributions at any time and for any reason, no questions asked (though you may face a penalty if you withdraw the interest portion of your account balance early).

Another key difference between the two is that making too much money could render you ineligible for a Roth. Currently, single tax filers earning $133,00 or more and joint filers earning $196,000 or more aren't allowed to contribute to a Roth directly. If your income exceeds these thresholds, you can look into converting your traditional IRA to a Roth account.

3. Older Americans get catch-up contributions

If you're nearing retirement, here's a piece of good news: You can contribute $1,000 more per year to your IRA than your younger counterparts. While Americans under 50 are limited to a $5,500 contribution per year, those 50 and older can contribute up to $6,500 a year. If you save that extra $1,000 per year for 15 years and your investments generate an average annual 8% return, you'll wind up $27,000 richer for having taken advantage of those catch-ups.

4. You can contribute to an IRA and a 401(k) at the same time

Even if you have a 401(k) plan, you're allowed to fund your IRA simultaneously. Whether you'll get a tax deduction out of the deal, however, will depend on your income. If you have a 401(k) and earn less than $62,000 as a single tax filer, you can deduct your IRA contributions in full. The same holds true if you're married filing jointly with an income of $99,000 or less. Additionally, if you don't have a 401(k) but your spouse has one through his or her employer, you can still take a full IRA deduction if your combined income is $186,000 or less.

5. The average boomer aged 60 to 64 has just over $165,000 saved in an IRA

Given the number of near-retirees with no savings whatsoever, having a $165,000 IRA balance to show for is fairly respectable. That said, when you divide that sum over a 25-year retirement, you're looking at just $6,600 a year, or $550 a month, of income. Granted, that's in addition to whatever Social Security benefits you're eligible for, but if we add in the average current monthly benefit of $1,360, that's still only $1,910 a month, or $29,520 a year, to cover your senior living costs. If your IRA balance falls below or is hovering around the average, you might seriously consider postponing retirement and working a few extra years to boost your savings while you still can.

As you near retirement, it pays to read up on IRAs and make sure you're taking full advantage of your savings options. The more information you have, the better equipped you'll be to make smart choices for your retirement savings.

The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after.Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
It's incredibly easy to lose the context of earnings amid a hectic season -- especially this week, which is filled with numerous earnings conference calls -- and simply glance at the headlines and big-number figures. That's a mistake that investors should be wary of making, especially in the case of Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), which is about to face a brutal year-over-year comparison. Here's why.

A trip down memory lane

Investors might have forgotten just how wildly successful Ford's first quarter of 2016 was. The automaker's pre-tax profit of $3.8 billion was a massive $2.1 billion improvement from the first quarter of 2015. It was Ford's best-ever quarterly pre-tax result, and it helped generate a first-quarter record operating cash flow of $2.7 billion.

"The first quarter was an absolutely terrific start to the year -- an all-time record for the company, with very strong performance across the business. We're excited about our future and confident in our ability to deliver long-term growth and profitability, as we expand our business model to be both an auto and a mobility company," said Mark Fields, Ford's president and CEO, in a press release last April.

Ford's record first quarter of 2016 wasn't by chance, however, as the automaker rode a successful 2015 model-year launch of America's best-selling full-size truck: the F-150. Much of the costs and plant changeovers had happened prior to the first quarter, and the big bucks came flooding in one year ago. Also at the time, Ford Europe posted its best quarterly profit since 2008, which is going to be tough to replicate with near-term Brexit complications.

Unfortunately for this year, Ford's first quarter is going to pale in comparison to 2016's, and the full-year results are expected to take a step down before rising again in 2018.

Image source: Ford Motor Company's "Let's Chat" presentation, March 23, 2017.

How low is the bar?

In the first quarter of 2016, Ford blew analysts' consensus for $0.48 adjusted earnings per share out of the water when it posted an EPS of $0.68. Consensus estimates per Thomson Reuters call for Ford's first-quarter 2017 EPS to check in at $0.36, a massive 47% decline. Ford's management has guided for a weaker result, estimating the first-quarter adjusted EPS to check in between $0.30 and $0.35. That steep decline is sure to make waves on news feeds, but it should be taken with a grain of salt given the aforementioned context.

Ford Fusion Vignale in Europe. Image source: Ford Motor Company.

While the automaker's results will be driven by sales of full-size trucks and SUVs in North America, the results out of China and Europe could be what makes or breaks the first quarter. Consider that this might be Ford's best quarter out of Europe for the entire year, because the company's hedges against fluctuating currencies -- due to Brexit -- are set to run out during the first half of the year. Management expects a $600 million hit to Ford's pre-tax profits throughout the year. If those hedges remained throughout the first quarter, Ford is set up to have a strong earnings result,with sales up more than 9% through the first quarter until that negative impact begins to take place.

On the other hand, Ford's sales in China have absolutely slumped in the first quarter. A large part of that decline is due to the Chinese government's raising the purchase tax on vehicles from 5% to 7.5%, on the way to an eventual 10% tax rate for 2018. Ford's total sales in China are down 19%over the prior year during the first quarter, which is disappointing considering the industry's 4.6% gain.

Ultimately, investors shouldn't be alarmed by a massive decline in year-over-year pre-tax profits. Take the results with a grain of salt and surround them with appropriate context. If Ford salvaged a tough quarter in China, and Brexit implications haven't gained traction in Europe, the company could still beat estimates despite the tough comparison.

10 stocks we like better than FordWhen 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 Ford 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

Daniel Miller owns shares of Ford. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ford. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Fracking is where it's at for U.S. oil production, but it's more than a little complicated.

In this week's episode of Industry Focus: Energy, Motley Fool analysts Sean O'Reilly and Taylor Muckerman walk investors through what they need to know about the fracking process and about some of the best-established businesses in the industry. Find out how the new technology lets drillers access more oil, what steps frackers take to make the process cleaner, a few ways investors can get exposure to the space without buying directly into an exploration company, and more.

Also, the hosts look into the sudden seat change at Arconic(NYSE: ARNC), where CEO Klaus Kleinfeld has been abruptly ousted from his position by investment-management company Elliott Management.

A full transcript follows the video.

10 stocks we like better than Arconic Inc.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 Arconic Inc. 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

This video was recorded on April 20, 2017.

Sean O'Reilly:Welcome to Industry Focus, the podcast that dives into a different sector of the stock market every day. Today isThursday, April 20, 2017, so we're talking about energy, materials, and industrials. I am your host, Sean O'Reilly, and to my left is Motley Fool Premium analyst and St. Louis Cardinals die-hard, Mr. Taylor Muckerman. What's up, Taylor?

Taylor Muckerman:Sporting my redtoday, got a sweep yesterday, first series win.

O'Reilly:You feeling good?

Muckerman:Better.

O'Reilly:Very good. I'm a Cleveland Indians fan. We're not going to talk about last year.

Muckerman:I would talk about last year. You lost in Game 7, but you still went to the World Series.

O'Reilly:How far did you guys get?

Muckerman:Oh, funny. That's why I'm saying, I would want to talk about last year if I was you.

O'Reilly:Thank you. If I were you? We need a couple of those editors from upstairs.

Muckerman:Yeah, hold up paper on the glass. "You said that wrong!"

O'Reilly:Use your commas! So, on today's show, we're going to walk our Foolish listeners through the fracking process. I know that sounds really attractive, doesn't it?

Muckerman:We use the word a lot, but we haven't ever really described it.

O'Reilly:That's true. And we'll, of course, mention a few interesting companies along the way, maybe some cool fracking sand companies.

Muckerman:If our listeners ask politely.

O'Reilly:We should have a chat sometime, "Tweet at us right now if you want ... "

Muckerman:We could. We do live chats with our members. We could do a live stream using Slido.

O'Reilly:Could we use Slido?

Muckerman:Yeah, you just have to throw a password over the podcast, and if people listen to it they get treated with the password.

O'Reilly:And, of course, the password, if you had to pick, would be Go Cardinals!, or something.

Muckerman:No, then people who don't listen every week wouldn't be able to figure it out.

O'Reilly:Yeah, OK. So we'll walk through the fracking process. But first, we have to briefly talk about what's going on withArconic. Basically, this week, the sudden ouster of its CEO Klaus Kleinfeld. Arconic is thelightweight metals and engineering manufacturer. It's thesuccessor --

Muckerman:Well, not successor, becauseAlcoa(NYSE: AA)still exists.

O'Reilly:It spun off the original aluminumproduction operations, and this is the advanced stuff. So Alcoa took the name.

Muckerman:Alcoa kept the aluminum production,and they spun off the aluminum products division into Arconic.

O'Reilly:Yeah. It was interesting to me, because in every press release I've ever seen for this, or analysis, Arconic is not mentioned as a spinoff. It's just, "We're separating, and that's it."

Muckerman:Yeah, I guess maybe not a spinoff, technically.

O'Reilly:But bottom line, that's just semantics to this point. This happened about six months ago. The guy that steered Arconic through this process of becoming an individual company was, again, CEO Klaus Kleinfeld. Total surprise -- it was announced on April 17 that Kleinfeld has been forced out by investment managerElliott Management. This is actually where it gets even weirder.

Arconic said that Mr. Kleinfeld's exit came after he sent an unauthorized letter to Elliott Management, that Arconic's board of directors said showed poor judgement. The company then said that Mr. Kleinfeld is stepping down by mutual agreement. I don't know what was in this letter. That sounds awesome. If somebody knows, tweet at me, I guess. Elliott said in a statement that the letter from Mr. Kleinfeld "read as a threat to intimidate or extort a senior officer of Elliott Management based on completely false insinuations, a threat that we took seriously and about which we immediately and privately informed the board." Whoa.

Muckerman:Yeah, I would believe them if they didn't already want him out of there for over a year. This is just their excuse.

O'Reilly:That's the final cap on this whole --

Muckerman:They were probably poking the bear for a year,and he finally woke up from hibernation.

O'Reilly:Arconic is going to have a shareholder meeting on May 16, and they had it on the docket to get him out. That letter, I want to know what's in that letter. That sounds insane, from a professional CEO of a large corporation.

Muckerman:Yeah. If you're a shareholder of Alcoa -- because he's been the CEO of Alcoa before the split -- he pushed back against the split in 2012 and 2013, when the price ofcommodities started to fall, eventually succumbing to investors' demands, and successfully overseeing the split and then taking control as the CEO of Arconic. He's a visionary. He has long-term visions for Arconic, not these near-term visions that Elliott Management has. If you look at his success at Alcoa and Arconic now as a businessman and a relationship man with their customers,Boeingwas going to go all composites, they were going to completely eliminate the aluminum products that they used from Alcoa and now Arconic. He had the CEO come to their plant, they hashed it out, and they proved that they needed to remain an Arconic customer. And it's one of their biggest contracts. And then you see the CEOs ofAirbus, on top of Boeing,United Technologies, and to [General Electric] Aviationall voicing their support for Klaus Kleinfeld. But Elliott Management, they have some ulterior motives, some short-term motives, I'm sure.

O'Reilly:This is not news, yeah.

Muckerman:The stock did pop a little bit, but all these reports you see about his track record in the market for Alcoa, all say, "Oh, this stock's done so poorly since he's been there!" But they never mention the fact that the price of aluminum has also done quite poorly since he was CEO.

O'Reilly:Right. Lemons out of lemonade. Last thing before we move on, what you were talking about, he's a visionary. When the split happened six months ago, I saw it mentioned in The Wall Street Journal, he had this big, long production video of the future, 60 years from now. And he's like, "We're going to build the future, these towers, with robots, we're going to build it all," and it's like, oh my gosh, this guy is thinking long-term.

Muckerman:Using Arconic's products. As Fools, we appreciate that, and as Fools, we don't appreciate, at least I don't appreciate, what happened. I'm going to keep my eye on him and see where he ends up. If he doesn't choose to retire, I think somebody is going to want him on their board, or in their C-suite. I'd be interested which company that is. Hopefully they're public so I can follow along.

O'Reilly:We've been doing this for a year and a half together. We've talked a lot about fracking. It's kind of all we talk about.

Muckerman:Well, it's what's disrupted the industry over the last decade or so, and it's what put American oil and natural gas back on the map.

O'Reilly:I have a good friend who's a petroleum geologist. I remember when he was in school 10 years ago, he gave a presentation about this, and I happened to be on campus. I was just passing through. He was talking about this and how revolutionary it was. He was talking about -- we're going to talk about it in a second -- drilling sideways and all this stuff. It was a big deal, and we hadn't been able to do that until recently. So,first and foremost, we need to clarify some terms. Fracking isactually what happens after a well is drilled. We've been drilling oil wells for over a hundred years.

Muckerman:Thetechnology there has definitely improved, but it's not what frackingis.

O'Reilly:Have youever been to Drake's Well,Pa.?

Muckerman:I haven't. That's the original, right?

O'Reilly:It'sso anticlimatic.

Muckerman:Yeah, I'm sure. Kind of like the geyser in Yellowstone. Whatever, dude.

O'Reilly:The actual well drilling, which, again, going down, we can now go 360 degrees around. That immediately makes any given oil well morevaluable. You used to just drill a holeand oil would come up, and that would be it.

Muckerman:Andyou would have to go straight down. But we're going up to 10,000, maybe even a little further down now.

O'Reilly:I saw this graphic, and they hadEmpire State Buildings down.

Muckerman:Yeah,multiple Empire State Buildings.

O'Reilly:Yeah,they had, like, five.

Muckerman:We can goover a mile horizontally once we'rea couple miles below the surface. We'renot just going straight horizontal anymore. We have directional drilling, whereit's basically like a video game --

O'Reilly:Does the bit do any dances,like a shimmy-shimmy?

Muckerman:Iimagine the movie Tremors,with that big monster eating its way through the ground, andchoosing its path at will.

O'Reilly:Doyou think they saw the movie and thought, "We need to do that"?

Muckerman:Yeah. I mean,it's not doing spirals. It has to have some sort of straight direction to it,because they have to have the casings andcement tofortify it. But yeah, we're not just going at a 90-degree angle anymore.

O'Reilly:Correct me, but,basically, when they're doing all these drillsand the fracking, whichwe're going to touch upon in a second, a lot of what they do is tobasically make sure the hole stays in place and together.

Muckerman:Yeah,a lot of pipe anda lot of cement go into this process. The first thousand or so feet, I don't know,it depends on the water level, butthey have to protect them first and foremost.

O'Reilly:Andthat gets cased in cement.

Muckerman:It does. Theylower the piping down,and before they drill any further, they force cement down the hole, and wrapsaround the pipe at the bottom, and then upfills,and once it's cemented thenthey can use the drill bitto drill back through thehardened cement, and thenthey can continue drilling down to the oil and natural gas. First andforemost, they're protecting the water level.

O'Reilly:So they'remaking a thousand-foot straw out of cement.

Muckerman:Thewhole thing is a straw, but that's the most heavily protectedpart of the straw.

O'Reilly:OK,and that's so things don't collapse --

Muckerman:Well,that and so we don'tmess up the water table.

O'Reilly:Important also.

Muckerman:Yeah,so the oil and natural gas aren't seeping outinto the water table throughcracks in the casings. Basically, what you can imagine is,the top of this holehas the widest casing,and then they just putsmaller and smaller casingsdown through, so it's kind of like apolice baton when they snap it out.

O'Reilly:Right,or an inverted skyscraper. That'sactually a good analogy, the baton. Respect. So,hydraulic fracturing is the use of --this is what I got offline --fluid and material to create and restore smallfractures and rock formations. One thathopefully has oil and natural gas in it, of course.

Muckerman:Yes,you would hope. There'scompanies out there that help them arrive at that conclusion.

O'Reilly:Right. So,historically, youfind these geologic formations, and we know the types of rockthat usually have reservoirs of oil. That's easy.

Muckerman:Yeah,that's called conventional oil.

O'Reilly:Yeah,that's conventional oil, and it's easy. It's drilling a hole andThere Will Be Blood.

Muckerman:Big basins, generally long-lasting wells.

O'Reilly:Right. That's whatSaudi Arabia has with theirGhawar Field; that'swhat we're talking about here. This is going down there thousands of feet, and there's oil stuckbetween the tiniest of rocks. It's actuallycrazy to think about, that we're getting it out.

Muckerman:Yeah, it's thin layers that areseparated by sediment and rock. So they drop a wire line into these drilled wells and send anelectrical charge through this wire that then creates,like you said, a small explosion, and they do it over stages.

O'Reilly:Are you saying they'refracturing the rock, Taylor?

Muckerman:They are, they'refracturing the rock. Through the steel casing, and then through the rock, with pellets and things that diffuse reaction. They do it in stages. That'sone reason why we're producing more oil now,because we're being able to tighten the spacing, so we can have more stages per well. They frack, they plug, they frack, they plug, they frack, they plug. Then, once they've fracked all the stages, they remove the plugs, and then they start the process of forcing the fluids and proppants down into the fractures.

O'Reilly:This is likeputting a man on the moon. This is really complex.

Muckerman:Maybeeven more complicated.

O'Reilly:Youever hear the computers they usedfor the firstApollo 11, the originalGame Boy had more computing power than those computers.

Muckerman:Yeah,now you're just walking around with several of those in your pocket.

O'Reilly:Yeah. We'vecovered a lot of ground here. What companies --

Muckerman:Yeah,there's companies in every stage of this.

O'Reilly:IfI have some acreage in the Delaware basinover there in West Texas, one,I'm obviously a millionaire,automatically. But do I sell the land toEOG Resourcesor Pioneer [Natural Resources] andcall it a day? Or can I hire a companyto just do the fracking for me?

Muckerman:EOG and theexploration and production companies aren't necessarily buying the land. Maybesometimes they do, but they're leasing it. Then, as anacreage holder, you get lease payments, andyou probably negotiate some royalties on top of that.

O'Reilly:So that's what I would do, theoretically.

Muckerman:Yeah,theoretically, yeah. We're not going to talkabout the producers today,because those are some of the bigger names we mention all the time, because they're the folks that are mostdirectly impacted by the price of oil. But yeah, you're calling companies, A, you can call acompany that can do pretty much everything, which isgoing to be aSchlumberger,Halliburton,Baker Hughes, orWeatherford-- those are theExxonMobilof the drilling and fracking world. They do everything.

O'Reilly:Butthey do not own or produce or sell the oil.

Muckerman:They don't. Maybe there'ssome kind of way that they can negotiate acontract with royalties, but no, for the most part, you'rebuying a stock in these companies because they're going to do the dirty work.

O'Reilly:And then they get a day rate, and that's it.

Muckerman:They get a day rate for the rigs, and then for all the equipment they use, andrental prices and things like that, yeah.

O'Reilly:So all along,they were giving oil companies a break on these day rates and stuff. But now, they're like, "All right, now that oil is up, we need to ... "

Muckerman:They have to eat, too. So you get them toprovide some of the equipment to do the drilling,to do the fracking, to do the completing. And then once the oil starts flowing, they throw the wellhead on it,sometimes call it a Christmas treebecause that's what it looks likewhen it's sitting on top of the well. Then,once the oil is producing --

O'Reilly:On to the next one.

Muckerman:They clean their hands withsome of the orange automotive soap that really degreases everything,and then they move on to the next one. Another reason why we'reproducing and drilling so much moreefficiently is becausewe have what we call pad drilling now, where they basically put some of these rigs on tracks, andwithout disassembling them like they used to have to do,they used to have to take apart the drilling rigevery single time.

O'Reilly:I'mpicturing a crane.

Muckerman:It'slike a bulldozer or a tank. It'sbasically on a track. It's called pad drilling, where they can slide it over to the next well site. Disassembling these rigs was the bulk of the time thesecompanies were spending on actual drilling.

O'Reilly:You canimagine it's complex.

Muckerman:Yeah,exactly. And if one bolt is wrong, you're screwed.

O'Reilly:Let's talk a bit about water and sand.

Muckerman:Water and sand make up about 98%-99% of what you're forcing down there,and then you have some chemical additives that are used for --

O'Reilly:Likeslickwater solutions, whatever that is.

Muckerman:-- to reduce thegrowth of bacteria, whichcan be dangerous, releasing gases. Italso provides a bit more of a fluid environment. Yeah,predominantly waterand frack sand and some sort of proppant, depending on what kind of well you're drilling.

O'Reilly:There arecompanies likeU.S. Silicaand Hi-Crush Partnersthatliterally just make the sand for these guys.

Muckerman:Yeah. U.S. Silica is not just sand.I don't even know if they do just strictly sand.

O'Reilly:Silicaimplies some kind of glass, too.

Muckerman:Yeah,they can actually create a very specific proppant for a specific well.

O'Reilly:Basedupon the geologic properties that are downstairs.

Muckerman:Yeah. Anda company likeCore Labscan tell you what kind of proppant might work best, because they're a core and fluid analysis company that'sused by pretty mucheverybody in the business.

O'Reilly:And you can send them a core to their lab andmake them tell you stuff.

Muckerman:You cansend it to them; they can come get it for you. We visited them a couple years ago, and they were telling us thatcompanies even as big as Exxon andChevronwere outsourcing their coresample analysis to Core Labs because they did itso much better than everybody else. But they've been hurt recentlybecause their future was very heavily reliant on deepwater, so once that comes around,maybe that's another company to look at. But you analyze the core sample, and then you can determine your water to sand, water to proppantchemical ratio that'sspecific for each individual well. Again, technologyhelping us produce more oil and natural gas per individual well.

O'Reilly:Allthis stuff, over the last five years,I assume they've been getting betteratwhat we just describedeven in just the last five years and that's kind of what we're talking about with these companies lowering their cost of production even since 2012.

Muckerman: But you look at these companies using much more sand -- so,not only the companies you mentioned, butCARBO Ceramicsas well, and a couple smaller ones,Fairmount Santrol HoldingsandEmerge Energy Services, allcompanies you can look at on the proppant side of the business -- as these companies use more and more proppants, demand should drive the price up, as long as they don't create too much supply too soon.

O'Reilly:Right. Beforewe finish up here, what's the flushing stage? It's just using water to flush out the well when you're done?

Muckerman:Basically, yeah. Clean up on aisle oil. But a lot of these companies now,the wells aren't being cleaned outas quickly because they're going back and usingcarbon dioxide to go back in andtry to force more oil out.

O'Reilly:Andthat's usually on really old wells,as I understand.

Muckerman:Yeah,really old wells. They're even going back and trying to fractureconventionally drilled wells --

O'Reilly:From 100 years ago, I hear, sometimes.

Muckerman:You'renot getting nearly100% of the oil and natural gas out of these wells. I would be surprised ifsome of these wells or even reaching 70% or 80%.

O'Reilly:The conventional wells?

Muckerman:Yeah. And fracking wells are leavingeven more, percentage-wise, in the ground than conventional. You'regoing back and trying to use carbon dioxide, more water flowing through these, and refracking things in different stages after they've exhausted the conventional resource. There'sa lot of activity going on -- not only those companies that we've mentioned, butNational Oilwell Varco, hugeequipment supplier. Ifyou're looking at the drilling rigs, Naborsis the largest land drilling rig provider in the United States.

O'Reilly:Distribution NOWgetsthese guys all the parts that they need when things happen.

Muckerman:Helmerich & Payneis a very widely respected rig operator and rigmanufacturer. Then,Patterson-UTIas well. Different stages. If you wantthe whole thing outside of the proppants, look at aHalliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, or Weatherford. Ifyou want to get more specific, you can go proppants with thecompanies we mentioned -- U.S. Silica, Hi-Crush Partners, CARBO Ceramics, and those other smaller ones. Then,if you want the rig providers andoperators, Helmerich & Payne, Patterson-UTI, and Nabors. They do other things, butthat's the bread and butter of those three companies, the rig and drilling side of it.

O'Reilly:Cool. Thanksfor your thoughts, Mr. Muckerman.

Muckerman:Yeah,I appreciate it. It's very important,it's going on all over the United States and the world, eventually, on the same scale that we have here.

O'Reilly:Watch out.

Muckerman:Yeah, you can definitely not invest in theexploration and production companies and still profit from fracking.

O'Reilly:Awesome, cool.That is it for us, folks. I want to remind our listeners that the Tech show is tomorrow. Tune in to get Dylan Lewis's thoughts. If you're a loyal listenerand have questions or comments, we would love to hear from you. Just email us at industryfocus@fool.com. If you want to hit Taylor and I up on Twitter, tweet at us @TMFEnergy.As always,people on this program may have interestsin the stocks that they talk about,and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against those stocks, so don't buy or sell anything basedsolely on what you hear on this program. For Taylor Muckerman,I am Sean O'Reilly. Thanks for listening and Fool on!

Sean O'Reilly has no position in any stocks mentioned. Taylor Muckerman owns shares of Core Laboratories, General Electric, and Halliburton. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Core Laboratories, National Oilwell Varco, and NOW. The Motley Fool owns shares of EOG Resources, ExxonMobil, and General Electric. The Motley Fool recommends Chevron. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
So you're a beginning investor and you want to know how to pick a stock?

Good news. Even an average stock-picker should get a return around 9% a year, themarket's historical average. Now let's take a look at how you can find the best stock for you.

Step No. 1: Decide what your investing goals are

Different people invest for different reasons. Some are looking to build wealth for a life-changing event down the road like retirement or a child's college fund. Others are looking for an income stream to provide spending money. Some want to speculate for a potential big gain, while others are just looking to preserve the money they already have.

Traditionally, the two opposite ends of the investing-style spectrum are growth and income. Chances are your own investing strategy will fall somewhere on this spectrum. Growth investors tend to target, high-priced stocks, with strong growth rates and lots of potential. Think Amazon.com or Facebook.Income investors, on the other hand, favor slower-growing, stable companies that pay dividends. Coca-Cola andMcDonald's are good examples of top income stocks, often called blue chips.

Your investing goals will likely depend on your own life situation. If you're a young adult looking to save money for retirement or a down payment on your first home, a growth strategy will probably be a better fit. If you're a retiree looking for money to supplement your income, choosing reliable dividend stocks would be better for you.

Step No. 2: Learn some stock basics

Investing in the stock market can be intimidating for new investors. The stock market is full of confusing jargon, and the risk of losing money is very real. But it's not as complicated as it may seem. You only need to know a few terms in order to get a basic understanding of any stock. Here are three you should know:

P/E ratio:The price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) is the best indicator of how expensive a stock is. The actual price of a share, on the other hand, is relatively meaningless. The P/E is simply the price per share divided by earnings per share. It shows much investors are paying for a dollar of profits. Historically, the average P/E ratio is 15.7. Today, the S&P 500 P/E is 26.25.P/E ratios can range from none for companies without profits, to the triple digits for companies with slim profits and high prices, and single digits for companies in decline.

Revenue growth: Revenue is simply the total sales of a company in a given period. Wall Street demands that essentially every stock show revenue growth, or at least have a plan to do so in the near future. While profits are more important to investors, profit growth can be more volatile and is often influenced by one-time events, making them more difficult to parse on a quarterly basis. Profit growth can also come from cost-cutting, which is not always in the best interest of the company's long-term growth. Revenue growth, on the other hand, is more straightforward and consistent, and generally gives a clearer reading of a company's growth prospects.

Dividend yield:On financial news sites likeYahoo! Finance, annual dividend payouts are listed alongside percentages called dividend yields. The yield is the annual dividend payout divided by the stock price. It's the percentage of the stock's value that investors get paid back to them each year. The S&P 500's average dividend yield is 1.9%, while the best dividend-paying stocks pay 4% yields or higher. Note that most stocks pay out dividends on a quarterly basis, and many stocks don't pay dividends at all.

Step No. 3: Pick a sector

Beginning investors will be best off picking a stock in a sector they are familiar with. Love going to theme parks? Think about putting some coin intoDisney. Have a medical background? Check out healthcare stocks. There are thousands of publicly traded stocks in the U.S. Narrowing them down based on your own interests or experience can make a complicated process much easier.

Familiarity alone isn't enough of a reason to buy a stock, but it can give you an edge over the pros, and it will make it easier, even enjoyable, to follow the stock. You need to understand the underlying business, after all, in order to make smart investments.

It's no surprise, for instance, that millennials recently flocked toSnap Inc(NYSE: SNAP) shares after its IPO, as young people are by far the biggest users of Snapchat and therefore have the best understanding of the product. That doesn't necessarily mean Snap will be a winning stock, but those investors should have a better sense of the company's progress and when to bail if, for example, the product falls out of fashion.

My own best investment came when I bought shares ofChipotle Mexican Grill(NYSE: CMG) shortly after its IPO in 2006. As a college student in Colorado -- Chipotle's home state -- I had visited the chain several times, gaining a first-hand familiarity with it that many investors didn't have, and believed in its growth potential.

Famed fund manager Peter Lynch encouraged individual investors to "buy what you know" --a good first step for beginning investors.

Step No. 4: Bring it all together

By now, you've decided what your investing goals are, learned the basic stock market fundamentals, and narrowed down your potential choices to a sector or group of stocks you're familiar with. Now it's time to pick one.

There are a number of factors to consider, such as potential growth and valuation (P/E ratio), but perhaps the most important question to ask yourself about a stock is whether it has a sustainable competitive advantage. Warren Buffett, Founder of Berkshire Hathaway andthe world's most acclaimed investor, considers sustainable competitive advantage to be perhaps the most important criterion for choosing a stock. He looks for companies with powerful brands, a history of dominance, beloved products, and other factors that block out competition and allow a company to earn excess profits. Many of the companies I've listed above are considered to have sustainable competitive advantages, whether that's Amazon's Prime ecosystem, Facebook's network effects, or Buffett himself with Berkshire.

A sustainable competitive advantage will ensure that a company can continue growing and earning outsized profits, and stocks that have them will generally outperform over the long term.

Now, go off and do your homework -- but if you still feel overwhelmed you can always put your money in an index fund. No less than Buffett himself has argued for that strategy repeatedly, and even recommended his heirs put 90% of his estate into a low-cost S&P 500 index fund.

But before you go and do that, go back to Step #1 first and make sure it's a good fit.

10 stocks we like better thanWal-MartWhen investing geniuses David and TomGardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter theyhave run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tomjust revealed what they believe are theten best stocksfor investors to buy right now... and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- theythink these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click hereto learn about these picks!

*StockAdvisor returns as of April 3, 2017The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.

Jeremy Bowman owns shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Facebook, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Lehigh Valley Health Network is moving 500 employees from the suburbs to downtown Allentown, the eastern Pennsylvania city where one of its eight hospitals is located.

The white-collar support workers are now located in a business park in Salisbury Township, about four miles from downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania's third-largest city with about 118,000 residents.

By Nov. 1, 350 workers will move into Three City Center, a two-year-old office building in the city's Neighborhood Improvement Zone, a section designed to draw businesses back to the city with favorable lease rates. The rest of the workers will move into the same building by June 2018.

The health network has about 17,000 employees, about 925 of whom will work in downtown Allentown after the move.
President Donald Trumpas administration plans to slap tariffs on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, raising concerns on Wall Street that home builders will face higher costs.

Softwood lumber, which comes from pine, fir and spruce trees, is used in home construction. Taxes on Canadian imports are expected to increase the cost of lumber for home builders, thus weakening profits.

While the broader market rallied Tuesday, shares in the nationas top home builders retreated. Lennar (NYSE:LEN), Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) and D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) all declined, with Lennar leading the way with a 1.5% drop. PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM), which reported weaker profit margins for the first quarter, was down 3.6% in afternoon trading.

The tariffs werenat as punitive as some projections, though. Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY), the Seattle-based forestry giant, slipped 2.2%. West Fraser Timber, one of the Canadian companies impacted by the new tariff, rallied 8.2% on the Toronto stock exchange.

aWe do not think that the price of lumber will go up by anything like the 20%, but there may be some small increase in the price of lumber for [home construction],a Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Tuesday during a press briefing in the White House.

Ticker Security Last Change Change % PHM PULTEGROUP INC. 38.93 +0.21 +0.54% TOL TOLL BROTHERS INC. 42.39 -0.41 -0.96% LEN LENNAR CORP. 77.80 -1.48 -1.87% KBH KB HOME 28.14 -0.10 -0.35%

He added that home prices wonat be affected by the move.

aThe biggest part of most home prices, in any event, is the land value, not the lumber value,a Ross explained. aLumber is a pretty small percentage of the total cost of the house.a

The U.S. and Canada have sparred for decades over what American companies have called unfair subsidies from Canadian governments. Ross said provinces in Canada subsidize the rates they charge loggers at an average of 20%. In turn, loggers have been able to sell lumber on the cheap. The practice has undercut U.S. mills, which normally get lumber from trees grown on private land. Canadian loggers argue that the U.S. canat meet demand from the construction industry on its own.

The U.S. Commerce Department said taxes ranging from 3% to 24.1% will be applied to Canadaas lumber exports to the U.S., which total about $5.6 billion annually, in an effort to level the playing field. The tariffs are based on the amount of Canadaas subsidies.
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Legislators in Japan have paved the way for integrated casinos and resorts to operate in their country after a years-long lobbying campaign from the gaming industry to win over the Liberal Democratic Party. Analysts predict that this could be a massive opportunity for the few companies that win licenses to build resorts there, amplified by the coming 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

In this segment of theIndustry Focus: Consumer Goodspodcast, Vincent Shen and Seth McNew discuss why companies like Las Vegas Sandsand others are willing to bet billions in this market.

A full transcript follows the video.

10 stocks we like better thanWal-MartWhen investing geniuses David and TomGardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter theyhave run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tomjust revealed what they believe are theten best stocksfor investors to buy right now and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- theythink these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click hereto learn about these picks!

*StockAdvisor returns as of April 3, 2017The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.

This video was recorded on April 13, 2017.

Vincent Shen: I'm sure the gaming industry is revving its engine right now, anticipating the opportunities in Japan. We talked about this earlier this year, the fact that the government in Japan essentially approved the beginning of the process to open some integrated resorts in that country. Some of the really bullish initial forecasts put the size of the Japanese gaming market as high as $25 [billion] to $40 billion. That's based on the popularity of gambling-like games that currently exist in the country. Some of the more conservative estimates come in at around $5 [billion] to $10 billion. I think the entity that ultimately holds the key to exactly how lucrative and large the market becomes is, of course, the Japanese government. They're in the process now of deciding the rules and regulations for the industry -- where the resorts can open, how they'll operate. Do you think companies are overly optimistic, hoping for a way out of the volatility that can happen in Macau? Ultimately, how do you think things will shake out for Japan?

Seth McNew: I don't know if I would say overly optimistic. Even on the low side of those estimates, that's a really big bump in the gaming industry, and also for something that's diversified.

Shen: Yeah, it's like a second Vegas, admittedly.

McNew: A second Vegas that's in a new country, a country where you can expect some new attention being paid to it because of the 2020 Olympics coming up. So, even if it's on the low end of that, I think every one of these companies should be excited about trying to get a resort there.

Shen: Some of the comments that management and the leaders at these companies have made, to give you a sense of exactly how powerful and how excited they are for this opportunity -- for example, I have Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas Sands founder and CEO. He's called Japan the ultimate opportunity for his business going forward, and he has aims to spend something like $10 billion in that market once things kick off. Then, there's also Lawrence Ho, CEO at Melco: He's basically echoed that sentiment. He said, "This opportunity is priceless, and we will spend whatever it takes to win." So, obviously, the leaders of these companies, the leaders of that industry, the bullishness that they are showing, should give investors an idea -- once we have a better idea of what the regulations will shake out to -- whether there are limitations, just as an example, in Singapore, as a permanent resident or citizen, they charge an entry fee, because they want to limit any negative effects that the gaming industry can have, or that these casinos can have. In that region, there has been some talk, some rumors that there might be something similar. So, whether this goes from $5 [billion] to $10 billion, or as big as $25 billion, as the more optimistic people hope it will be, it's going to really depend on how some of that regulation ultimately shakes out.

Seth McNew owns shares of Las Vegas Sands. Vincent Shen 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.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate on Monday confirmed former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be agriculture secretary in President Donald Trump's administration as the farming industry looks to Washington for help amid a downturn in the market.

Perdue won confirmation on a strong bipartisan vote of 87-11, as several Democrats backed a Trump nominee after razor-thin outcomes for his choices earlier this year. Perdue's cousin, Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., voted "present" but presided over the vote and announced the final tally.

The son of a farmer from Bonaire, Georgia, Sonny Perdue will be the first Southerner in the post in more than two decades. He has owned several agricultural businesses, but isn't related to or affiliated with the food company Perdue or the poultry producer Perdue Farms.

At his confirmation hearing in March, Perdue assured nervous farm-state senators that he will advocate for rural America, even as Trump has proposed deep cuts to some farm programs. He also promised to reach out to Democrats.

Still, Perdue, 70, is getting a late start on the job. Trump nominated him just two days before his inauguration, and then the nomination was delayed for weeks as the administration prepared his ethics paperwork. Perdue eventually said he would step down from several companies bearing his name to avoid conflicts of interest.

As agriculture secretary, he'll be in charge of around 100,000 employees and the nation's food and farm programs, including agricultural subsidies, conservation efforts, rural development programs, food safety and nutrition programs such as food stamps and federally-subsidized school meal,

Perdue will take office as farm prices have been down for several years in a row and some parts of the industry, including cotton and dairy farmers, say they need the department and Congress to rewrite agricultural policy to help revive their business.

Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said Perdue will help facilitate recovery in small American towns.

"I know he will put the needs of farmers, ranchers and others in rural America first," Roberts said.

Perdue's main task over the coming year will be working with Congress and coordinating his department's input on the next five-year farm bill. Current farm policy expires next year, and lawmakers on the House and Senate agriculture committees will have to find a way to push it through Congress amid heightened partisan tensions and concerns over spending.

At his hearing, he pledged to help senators sustain popular crop insurance programs and fix problems with government dairy programs.

Perdue may also find himself in the uncomfortable position of defending agriculture in an administration that has so far given the issue limited attention, despite Trump's strong support in rural areas. Trump has proposed a 21 percent cut in USDA programs and has harshly criticized some international trade deals, saying they have killed American jobs. But farmers who produce more than they can sell in the United States have heavily profited from some of those deals, and are hoping his anti-trade policies will include some exceptions for agriculture.

At the hearing, Perdue said, "Food is a noble thing to trade."

Perdue will also be part of the administration's response to a dispute with Canada's dairy industry, which has a new lower-priced classification of milk product that Trump says is harming U.S. producers in dairy states like Wisconsin and New York. Canada changed its policy on pricing domestic milk to cover more dairy ingredients, leading to lower prices for Canadian products that compete with U.S. milk.

Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, voted for Perdue and encouraged him to come to Wisconsin to talk to affected farmers.

"I stand as a willing partner to work with Secretary Perdue and President Trump to address this urgent issue," Baldwin said.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York also talked to Trump about the dairy issue last week in a rare phone call between the two men.

Trump has reached out to farmers on regulation, saying the government has too many rules that negatively affect farm country. That issue is expected to come up on Perdue's first day in office Tuesday, when the president holds hold a round table discussion with farmers and sign an executive order "to provide relief for rural America," according to the White House.

The White House hasn't said when Perdue will be sworn in, but he is scheduled to speak to USDA staff Tuesday morning.

After Perdue, remaining nominees for Trump's administration to be confirmed are Robert Lighthizer for U.S. trade representative and Alexander Acosta for labor secretary.

Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump has promised to deliver the most sweeping tax reform package since President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, but he might have more luck getting a piece of it a a 20 percentage point cut to the corporate tax rate a through during his first 100 days if he is willing to press pause on personal tax cuts, according to some policy experts.

aThe best tax cut he can do is the corporate tax cuta he can put it in immediately,a Art Laffer, former economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan, told FOX Business.

The United Statesa business tax rate is 35 percent, the highest among developed countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and also one of the highest across the entire world.

Laffer, who helped Reagan usher through his tax overhaul, said the best way for the Trump administration to move forward is to delay action on personal tax cuts for the time being.

aPersonal income taxes come with a huge morass of special interest pandering that makes it really difficult a it is very difficult to do within the first 100 days,a he said. a[But] Democrats would love to see the corporate rate reduced.a

Brian Riedl, Manhattan Institute senior fellow and former chief economist to Sen. Rob Portman, agreed, telling FOX Business he doesnat see a comprehensive tax reform bill passing with either bipartisan votes or partisan support through reconciliation. Though if Republicans throw all of their muscle behind the corporate tax cut, they may run into a different set of problems, he said.

aMost Democrats in private completely understand [the need for a corporate tax rate cut] and get it. But they have gotten so much political mileage off of calling it a tax break for multinationalsa Iam not sure politically they can actually turn around [and support it],a he said.

This week, Trump demanded his staff work on slashing the corporate rate to 15 percent regardless of the potential impact on deficit projections, pushing those concerns to the backburner, according to a report Monday from The Wall Street Journal. This may be another sticking point for Democrats.

aDemocrats want it to be revenue neutral. They want pay-fors and base-broadeners that the business community wonat accept,a Riedl said.

Republican Congressional leaders will meet with administration officials Tuesday night, where the group is expected to hash out details of the highly anticipated tax reform plan which could be introduced as early as Wednesday.

Another corporate tax reform issue business owners are focused on is whether the administration moves forward with a switch to a aterritoriala system. Right now the U.S. uses a worldwide taxation process, which means a company headquartered in the U.S. with subsidiaries abroad must pay the U.S. corporate income tax on all profits regardless of where the cash is earned; profits made in a foreign country are not only subject to that countryas income tax, but also the United Statesa. A territorial taxation process taxes only the income earned by a company within the specific country. The United States is the only G-7 country that still has a worldwide tax system.

aIt has almost become a fiduciary responsibility of [U.S.] companies to invert,a Riedl said, referring to corporate inversions, which happens when a U.S.-based company moves overseas to reduce or avoid the tax burden on income.

House Speaker Paul Ryanas aBetter Waya plan proposed switching to a territorial tax system in order to level the playing field and discourage companies from inversions. Riedl thinks Wednesdayas plan will include a move away from the worldwide taxation system.

The president has pledged to redomecile businesses and bring back the more than $2 trillion in profits companies are stashing overseas in order to avoid paying Americaas deep tariffs. Revamping the corporate tax rate to level the playing field for American companies is one way he can make good on his promise, Riedl said.

aIt has been a lost decade of growth, you canat blame the economic recovery anymore,a he said.
Ivanka Trump visited Germany Tuesday, where she took part in a summit to promote womens empowerment and entrepreneurship during her first international trip as an informal advisor to the president.

The First Daughter faced some tough questions about her fathers commitment to empowering women in the workforce, where her answers were met with some skepticism, and even boos.

I certainly heard the criticism of the media and thats being perpetuated. But I know from personal experience and I think the thousands of women that have worked with and for my father  are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man, Trump fired back.

Ivanka was in the company of prominent women from around the world including Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. Trump has played a key role in the administrations push to promote job growth, and female business opportunities in particular, throughout the presidents first 100 days in office.

Tuesday afternoon she visited Siemens' technical school in Berlin amid the Trump administrations push for a larger domestic emphasis on vocational training.

Were very pleased with Ivanka Trumps visit and welcome her interest in learning about our professionally oriented training system," Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser said in a statement.

She will also see the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and pay respects to those killed during the Holocaust. Trump converted to Judaism before marrying her husband Jared Kushneran orthodox Jewin 2009.

Trump's trip also piqued the interest of the German media. Newspaper Berliner Zeitung, which has described her as "the president's whisperer," said German officials hope the president's daughter will convey a positive image of Germany to her father as a result of her short visit," according to Reuters.

Merkels office reached out directly to Ivanka to invite her to the "Inspiring women: Scaling up women's entrepreneurship" summit, signaling a strengthening bond between the two world powers. Some believed the relationship between President Trump and Chancellor Merkel was off to a rocky start after the U.S. president criticized Germany for its refugee policy, trade policies and not living up to its fiduciary responsibilities to NATO. The Trump administration still has not appointed an official ambassador to Germany.
Senator Ted Cruz introduced a proposal to fund the Trump administrationas southern border wall Tuesday using money forfeited from the criminal prosecution of drug lords, including the infamous drug kingpin JoaquAn "El Chapo" Guzman.

U.S. prosecutors are seeking a $14 billion forfeiture of illicit profits and other assets from Guzman.

aFourteen billion dollars will go a long way toward building a wall that will help keep Americans safe," Cruz said in a tweet Tuesday.

Guzman was extradited to the United States in January and is currently awaiting federal trial for moving nearly 500 tons of cocaine across the U.S.-Mexican border, among other charges. This of course followed his legendary, and elaborate, second escape from a Mexican prison in 2015, which featured a mile-long tunnel and a motorcycle track.

President Trump has harped on the border wall as an instrumental tool for astopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth.a

Guzman was head of the Sinaloa cartel and is considered by the U.S. government to be one of the most powerful drug lords of all time. The bill comes at a time when funding for the border wall threatens to shut down the government if Congress canat reach an agreement by Friday.

Cruz named the bill the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order (EL CHAPO) Act and has created an online petition on his website.
As the Trump administration hits Canada with a 20% tax on imports of softwood lumber, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross indicated Tuesday the move was meant to prime the pump for a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"NAFTA has not worked as well as it should," Ross said, adding the administration has put aCongress on noticea that it intends to renegotiate the deal.

As President Trump and his cabinet hammer down on trade imbalances including adumpinga of materials such as steel, lumber and aluminumathe latter is expected to be addressed Thursday according to Rossathey appear to be weakening the trade agreements they have in place until they have the complete authority to move ahead with a full renegotiation.

Ross said the effort to broker a new deal with Canada and Mexico has been astalleda until Congress grants the president trade promotion authority (TPA). TPA is a fast-track process to allow aan up or down votea with no amendments on proposed legislation.

While hosting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in February, the president said he wanted to atweaka NAFTA mainly due to the trade imbalance with Mexico, not Canada.

aWe have a very outstanding trade relationship with Canada. Weall be tweaking it. Weall be doing certain things that are going to benefit both of our countries. Itas a much less severe situation than whatas taking place on the southern border,a Trump said during the press conference with Trudeau.

Ross said he did not believe this new tariff on Canadian lumber would impact the relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau.

On Tuesday morning Trump also tweeted about Canadaas dairy supply-management policies and their impact on U.S. producers.

Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

While the U.S. flexes it muscles in the world economy, Ross insisted he did not expect a trade war to break out between the two countries.

aI donat know what it is that they could do that would be a legitimate action [in retaliation],a he said.
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Bachelor star Chris Soules was arrested on Monday following a fatal accident, Fox News has learned.

According to a press release from the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office, Soules, 35, was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a fatality motor vehicle accident (a class D felony).

"Due to the on-going investigation, further charges may be pending," the statement read.

Soules' attorneys, Sean Spellman and Molly Spellman of West Des Moines, Iowa released a statement to Just Jared Tuesday saying, Chris Soules was involved in an accident Monday evening (April 24) in a rural part of Iowa near his home. He was devastated to learn that Kenneth Mosher, the other person in the accident, passed away. His thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Moshers family."

Robert Roepke, whose daughter is married to Mosher's son, defended Soules.

I believe it was a very tragic, sad accident that took the life of a guy that was just coming home from work," Roepke told People.

This is corn planting time, the best time of the year for a farmer. Kenny was working on one of the farms just a little north of Aurora and I think he was just coming home. For Chris, what happened was just a freak accident.

Chris comes from a good family and is still well-vested in farming. Hes got a great life ahead of him, he adds. This is a serious bump in the road and I dont know about his [alleged] alcohol issue but I just know that this was a huge mistake. Its something hes going to have to deal with for the rest of his life. It just ended very tragically.

According to Iowa's KWWL.com, court documents indicate there were alcoholic containers at the scene of the crime.

Ken was just a guy  a husband, grandfather, a dad, says Roepke. He loved farming and cared about the land. He was a good guy. He was doing his business, taking care of business. The Moshers are in shock and still trying to process it all.

Police responded to a 911 call about the accident at approximately 8:20 p.m. Monday.

According to TMZ, the reality star was driving a vehicle that rear-ended a tractor trailer. The driver of the tractor trailer, [Kenneth Eugene Mosher, 66 of Aurora], reportedly died at the hospital following the crash after the vehicle was sent into a ditch.

CHRIS SOULES TALKS LIFE AFTER 'THE BACHELOR'

"The judge put a $10,000 cash bond on him," an official at the jail told Fox News. He posted bond and was released on Tuesday.

Soules starred on the 19th season of The Bachelor and became engaged to Whitney Bischoff on the show. The pair has since split.

He appeared on "Dancing with the Stars" after his "Bachelor" season.

ABC declined to comment.

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For the second annual Portland Mercury Pizza Week, more than 30 pizzerias around Portland, Ore. offered special, one-of-a-kind slices to customers all weekend, each for just $2.

On Sunday, however, Scotties Pizza Parlor in Southeast Portland took the cakeor, rather the pie, with a record breaking masterpiece.

Scotties broke the world record with a one-day-only "Centouno Formaggio" pizza featuring 101 cheeses. Centuono Formaggio means "101 cheeses" in Italian.

Though the pizza shop had already decided to make a special gut-busting 100-cheese pie for Pizza Weekin homage to the 2014 movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," which features a 99- cheese pizza called the "Novantanove Formaggio"they went for the record by adding part-skim mozzarella stuffed inside the crust.

Were big 'Ninja Turtle' fans, explained owner Scottie Rivera to Fox News. We wanted to do something insane like that, and anything pizza related is up our alley.

After doing a bit of research, Riviera discovered that world champion pizza Johnny DiFrancesco of Australia had already made a 99 cheese pizza inspired by the movie. We were like, okay, then we need to take it up a notch, said Rivera, who then reached out to his cheese supplier Greg Hessel of Cowbell Cheesemongerwhom he affectionately calls Greg the Cheese Guy.

The feat of pulling together more than 100 cheeses took months.

We had to first figure out how much total weight in cheese would be worthwhile for Greg to pull off each block of cheese that he has in the warehouse, explained Rivera. Based on that, we reverse-engineered the balance and proportion we wanted, to dull any overwhelming funky flavors that we might get having a lot of cheese on pizza.

The final version included whole milk mozzarella, a shredded 55-cheese blend, 36 soft cheeses, and a blend of 9 grated dry cheeses.

We figured out this balance between using shredded mozzarella and a blend of all the semi-soft low-moisture shredded cheeses, and then taking all the soft cheeses we could get and then blending them with our house made ricotta, said Rivera. Any hard dry aged cheeses, we grated finely and then sprinkled on top, and then we came up with the idea to add a baked Parmesan crisp, like a light cracker, that we stuck into the ricotta on every slice. It gives it a fun textural element and looked cool.

The final topping to break the record was aged park-skim mozzarella stuffed inside the crustan added bonus available for one day only.

On Sunday, dozens of pizza patrons waited in line to try the once-in-a-lifetime pie, forming lines out the door, The Oregonian reported.

So, what does a 101-cheese pizza taste like?

On a Reddit Food Porn thread devoted entirely to the feat, a brave eater writes, I tried two slices from two different pies and can say that I tasted different nuances and notes of cheese with every bite (with the lemon ricotta and that parmesan crispie tying the two together).

That said, can I honestly say that my palate is sensitive enough to identify and name each of the 100 cheeses that crossed it? Sadly I cannot. However was it incredibly delicious and each bite a journey through the sacred lands of cheesedom?

"Resoundingly yes. 10/10 would eat again.

But Rivera says the goal of the pizza record was never to make something that crazy.

The goal was to make it taste like a regular slice of cheese pizza, Rivera laughed. With the first bite, you dont know what to expect, so you can almost mistake it for a regular slice. Then you chew a little more and you start to get a lot of character here: theres things going on, its almost hard to place.

THIS IS THE BEST CHEESE TO USE ON PIZZA

He continued, Its like a journey from the tip of the slice. Its crazy and exciting to eat.

The pizzerias website has a list of all the ingredients, including whole milk mozzarella, Beauford dete, Black Betty Gouda, Dulcinea, Charllerhocker, Gruyere, Muenster, Schnebelhorn, Testun di Capra, Rahmtaler, and Raclette di Savoie, Camembert Fermier, Casatica di Buffalo, Mascarpone, Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano.

Rivera says he has no plans to repeat the feat, but one thing he is passionate about is making sure all his staff receives a living wage.

Were a small business, so we dont charge an arm and a leg for our pizza, but we pay everybody $15 an hour," the restaurateur explained. "I think living wages are important, especially in Portland, where cost of living is really high. These jobs are way undervalued, but my crew and I work hard to make a really good pizza.

And though Guinness wasnt on hand to verify the record (Rivera said he reached out a couple months ago), Scottie's is pleased with the achievement.

To their credit, Im sure that they are inundated with a lot of ridiculous thingsoh, I hopped on one foot for three hours straight!but I submitted an application back in February," explained Rivera.

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Riviera hopes that customers and follower might start reaching out to Guinness to help push their application through.

I got a response (from Guinness) asking a question that Id already answered, so I responded, and tried to say, Can you guys let me know what kind of evidence or proof you need? I waited until the last minutemy wife and I were up until 4 am finishing processing the cheeseswaiting to see if Guinness said we needed a video of every cheese going into the cheese grater.

Its really frustrating, and Im following up every few days. This week Im going to really get on them.

In the meantime, Rivera is taking a well-deservedthough shortbreak.

Scottie's Instagram account posted a photo of a paper plate inscribed with the words, We are closed today Monday 4/24 to rest, recover and reset after PIZZA WEEK. Well be back at it tomorrow 4/25. See you soon, Scotties Pizza.
Some residents in southwest Illinois were fired up on Monday over a new gun club with a bar that may be opening in town.

A public meeting in Willowbrook, Ill. Monday evening proved many residents think having firearms and alcohol under the same roof is a recipe for disaster, despite the fact that it was unanimously recommended to the village board by the planning commission, Fox 32 reports.

Willowbrook Mayor Frank Trilla had to maintain control over the strong-willed vocal opposition while the backers of the Chicago Gun Club and Training Facility pitched their plans.

Chicago Gun Club LLC making its presentation. Signs and crowd jeers as "Guntry Club" explained. @fox32news pic.twitter.com/ElaaYZ6ZCJ  Lisa Chavarria FOX32 (@LisaChavarria) April 24, 2017

The supporters of the gun range hope to provide a place for local police officers to train, create job opportunities for veterans, establish a place for the community to learn best shooting practices-- all while making a generous contribution to the local economy.

WOMAN DIES AFTER BEING SHOT AT SOUTH CAROLINA GUN RANGE

The bar attached to the range will only be available to top-tier members, according to backers, and if they drink, they cannot shoot.

The range would be located near hotels, a church, and homes - places deemed important by residents who say they fear gun and alcohol-related accidents may spill out into the neighborhood, according to WGN-TV.

I dont own a gun, Joe Neveril from Chicago Gun Club said. And the reason for that is because there are not enough quality facilities to train.

FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN CHICAGO GUN RANGE REGULATIONS

Zoltan Backsay, a resident who lives nearby the proposed location, is opposed to the plan and set up a petition to warn people about this gun range.

The petition also highlights issues like lead pollution, noise pollution, the possibility of a misfired or stolen weapon, plus problems associated with the shooters' easy access to alcohol.

Humans have a tendency to be irresponsible sometimes, Backsay says. It doesnt belong in our neighborhood.

While the mayor was impressed by similar gun clubs, many residents are not and hope to convince the village board to end the debate May 22 when a final vote is expected.
Dont even think about sending back your food at the Soul on the River restaurant in New Jersey.

Footage that was posted to Facebook last week  and has since been viewed more than 342,000 times  shows an angry restaurateur at the Neptune City eatery yelling at a female patron and trying to throw her food back in her face.

The video was shot by the restaurant patron herself, Tiffany Sharhon, who, unhappy with her delivery order, decided to return the food to Soul on the River herself. But instead of a refund or a new order, Sharhon says she was only met with hostility from the proprietor, later identified as Mona.

VULGAR TIRADE BY WOMAN AT CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT GOES VIRAL



I tried to support this young black woman's business and this is what I got today  undercooked food and a crazy a-- owner who didn't want to refund my $12 for wet slimy fish and foul food with no taste, explained Sharhon on Facebook.

The footage starts just as the restaurateur begins screaming at Sharhon.

Get out of my place of business! she yells, just before slapping the Styrofoam tray of fish in Sharhons direction. Get the f--- out of my place of business!

Someone in the shop can then be heard yelling, Mona, stop! just as the restaurateur walks out from behind the counter.

A woman inside the shop then warns Sharhon to step outside in order to get away from Mona, who continues stomping toward Sharhon.

This is my place of business, you leave it! she yells.

TOO MUCH ED SHEERAN BAD FOR RESTAURANT BUSINESS, SAYS STUDY

Once in front of the restaurant, Sharhon turns the camera on herself to explain the events which led up to the altercation.

She sold me uncooked fish, and then yells at me and doesnt give me my money back, says Sharhon into the camera. The unhappy customer continues, Dont shop here at all...Please. Shes rude as hell and she threw food at me for no reason.

Meanwhile, a man places himself in the doorway of the eatery, separating Mona from Sharhon. He can also be heard trying to calm the restaurateur.

You didnt have to smack the food on me or her. Thats all Im saying, the unidentified man tells Mona.

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Sharhon later explained on Facebook that she was refunded her $12 after police were called to the scene.

Regardless, the altercation has already gone viral on social media, generating thousands of comments  and nearly all of them condemn the restaurateurs actions.

Soul on the River has declined to comment on the altercation to both NJ.com and WABC, telling the latter that they would not be issuing any statements without "attorney approval."
An artificial womb that could someday sustain extremely prematurely born infants has managed to keep baby sheep alive for four weeks.

The womb, called a biobag, is a plastic bag filled with fluid to mimic the conditions inside of a uterus. A baby born too early could spend a few weeks in the bag, where tubes from their umbilical cord to an external device would provide oxygen to their blood. After that, the baby would be taken out of the bag and hooked up to a mechanical ventilator, which would help them breathe until they develop sufficiently to breathe on their own.

The technology could someday better support infants born in the middle of the second trimester, as early as 22 or 23 weeks into the pregnancy. Currently, babies born so early have a low chance of surviving  about 50 percent  and the devices that keep them alive can also cause severe and permanent damage.

Dr. Alan Flake, a pediatric and fetal surgeon at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, tested different version of the biobag on prematurely born lambs, the results of which are described this week in Nature Communications.

In the most advanced version of the device, lambs that couldnt live on their own outside of their mother survived for up to four weeks in the bags. After they were delivered, their lungs functioned well  similar to normal lambs of their age, Flake said.

Read more: Surprising study finds possible culprit in preterm births

The duration of support is outstanding, said Dr. George Mychaliska, a pediatric and fetal surgeon at C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital, who has spent the past 10 years researching similar systems, and was not involved in this study. He was able to keep extremely premature lambs alive for one week in a published study, and two weeks in as-of-yet unpublished research.

None of these artificial uterine environments are available to babies in the clinic, and human trials on a device are at least three years away, the scientists estimate.

A promising, but tricky, technique

Right now, the prospects for extremely premature babies are grim. The best available treatment for babies born with underdeveloped lungs is to put them on a ventilator  a mechanical device that pushes oxygen into their lungs  but those are far from ideal.

We know that even a few hours of that damages the lungs of a 24-week infant, Mychaliska said. Our hands are tied, because in the absence of that, the baby would die. So we accept some lung damage to keep the baby alive.

By contrast, environments that imitate the inside of a uterus continue delivering oxygen to the fetus via the umbilical cord, or directly into the arteries, which could avoid the lung damage.

But challenges have been numerous. Its difficult to stick tubes into the umbilical cords because they shrink when they are exposed to oxygen or perturbed. Artificial uteri can also easily become contaminated with infections, and the fetal heart is weak and sometimes cant handle artificial pumping of blood.

In tests on sheep, Flake first slits open the uterus as if he were performing a caesarean section. Then, he connects an artificial blood-circulation system to the ends of the umbilical cord. Finally, he takes out the tiny lamb, umbilical cord included, and places it into the biobag, which is filled with a brew of electrolytes. The entire process takes about two minutes, he said.

In the most advanced device tested in Flakes study, eight lamb fetuses spent three to four weeks in personal biobags. Then they were taken out of the bags and placed on mechanical ventilators for about 12 hours before being euthanized for study, Flake said. (Some lambs were kept alive longer, but are not part of this study.)

The lambs were killed quickly because the intention of this study was to determine how the lambs developed in the biobag, and Flake didnt want the lambs to grow too much out in the real world.

Human trials on horizon

Whether such an approach would work for human infants  and whether parents would accept it  remains an open question.

Some wonder whether the optics of a baby in a bag might scare off parents.

Ive talked to other practitioners who think that families might not be able to accept that their baby is going to be placed in a bag for four weeks, said Dr. Brian Gray, a pediatric surgeon at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis who was not involved in the study. Its very science fiction-y. Some people might not be able to accept that.

Co-first author Dr. Emily Partridge, a research fellow at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, acknowledged the concern, but said that even though it might look weird, the medical care that infants would be getting in these biobags would be a vast improvement over currently available technology.

Flakes team has patented the device and is in consultation with the Food and Drug Administration to plan a preclinical trial in animals as a prelude to doing a trial in humans. The device that Flake plans to use for that trial is similar to the device discussed in the Nature Communications paper, but not exactly the same. He said that the next animal study should be done in two or three years, and a human trial should start in three years.

Read more: Giving newborns medicine is a dangerous guessing game. Can we make it safer?

And lambs arent a perfect model for humans. Specifically, at the equivalent stage of development, humans are much smaller, and their brains are less well-developed. None of the lambs incubated in the biobag experienced bleeding in the brain  but it might still happen in humans, causing brain damage or death.

No human infants have yet developed in these sorts of artificial uteri. But many lambs have. And at least one has lived to tell the tale.

Its known in Flakes paper only as long-term survivor, and spent 25 days gestating in an earlier version of the biobag, which resembled a large tank. Flake said that one of the researchers in his group developed an emotional attachment to the lamb, so a decision was made to donate the lamb to a farm. Flake declined to disclose the lambs new home, and stressed that the long-term survival of the research subjects was not the purpose of the study.

But somewhere in the fields of Pennsylvania, a biobag-grown lamb is gamboling among its wild cousins  a futuristic thought indeed.
A hunter who believed he had taken down a pair of turkeys set out to find the birds, only to discover his brother and friend wounded on the ground. Kenneth Dienst, who was out hunting with the victims on the opening day of turkey season in Kansas, accidentally shot the pair after mistaking their disguises for real birds.

Right after he shot, he thought he saw a turkey flopping on the ground, but when he hurried up there, he saw two guys rolling on the ground, Jim Bussone, a Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism game warden, told The Wichita Eagle. Hed shot [both] in the face. The shooter swore hed seen strutting toms and some other turkeys right up until then.

UTAH MAN INITIALLY DENIED TRANSPLANT OVER POT USE DIES FROM COMPLICATIONS, FAMILY SAYS

The victims, identified as Gary Dienst and Justin Wiles, had been hiding behind preserved turkey tail fans, meant to act as a decoy to attract other birds, The Wichita Eagle reported.

Bussone told the news outlet that while the hunters were initially spread across two properties, the two victims returned to where Diesnt was hunting without notifying him. Bussone inferred that the tragic accident could have been prevented, calling the pairs failure to communicate with Diesnt one of the cardinal sins we teach against in hunter ed.

SURGEONS REMOVE PENCIL FROM BOY'S CHEST AFTER FREAK ACCIDENT NEARLY KILLS HIM

They were calling to each other and sneaking up on each other like two toms coming at each other, Bussone told The Wichita Eagle. Both swore they were sneaking on real turkeys.

Crawford County Sheriff Dan Peak told Parsonssun.com that the victims were able to walk to a nearby truck and are expected to recover from their injuries. An investigation is ongoing.
A Utah man who was initially denied a lung transplant after a hospital found traces of marijuana in his system died on Saturday, in the Pennsylvania hospital that agreed to accept his case. Riley Hancey, 20, was recovering from a double lung transplant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania when he suffered fatal complications, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

FLASHBACK: FAMILY SAYS HOSPITAL WOULDN'T GIVE TEEN LUNG TRANSPLANT OVER POT

Hanceys difficulties began in December, when he was admitted to the University of Utah Hospital after contracting pneumonia. He was placed on life support two weeks later, but ultimately denied transplant eligibility after tests revealed traces of marijuana in his system, The Tribune reported. His father, Mark Hancey, said his son smoked marijuana with friends over Thanksgiving, but was not a habitual marijuana smoker.

Though the hospital would not comment specifically on Hanceys case, a follow-up statement said that it does not transplant organs in patients with active alcohol, tobacco or illicit drug use or dependencies until these issues are addressed, as these substances are contraindicated for a transplant.

FAMILY OF QUADRIPLEGIC MOM WHO CHOSE TO COME OFF LIFE SUPPORT MEETS ORGAN RECIPIENT

After a thorough search, his family had Hancey transferred to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he underwent a double-lung transplant on March 29. Updates on Hanceys YouCaring page asked for continued prayers as he recovered from the procedure. On April 22, the family announced Hanceys death.

It is with heavy hearts, we are devastated to announce that Riley Hancey passed away from complications of a lung transplant, the post read. We are extremely thankful to all the wonderful doctors and staff at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Utah for their expertise and care that Riley received. We would also like to thank the donor family, who in their own grief chose to save a life. We will never forget your kindness and generosity.

WIFE PROVIDES HUSBAND WITH LIFE-SAVING PARTIAL LIVER DONATION

His father told The Tribune that his death is unbelievable.

If you could talk about angels, [the UPenn] medical staff, they are a group of angels. From the physicians down, I just couldnt believe it, Mark Hancey told the news outlet.
With about one-third of children in the United States who are overweight or obese, most parents know their kids should be getting at least an hour of exercise each day. Exercise not only helps with weight control, but it helps kids build healthy muscles, bones and joints, improves their self-esteem, helps them sleep better, and may even prevent depression later on in life, a January 2017 study in the journal Pediatrics found.

However, experts say the time to get kids moving isnt when they take their first steps but rather weeks after theyre born.

What we know about development is that every stage builds one thing upon another and the brain-behavior relationships are built easier when youre younger, Jane Clark, PhD, professor and chair of the department of kinesiology at the University of Maryland, told Fox News.

ITCHY SKIN DURING PREGNANCY SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED

Just as talking, reading and singing to babies promotes cognitive and speech development, movement from the very beginning helps babies facilitate their motor milestones.

Tummy time is babys first exercise.

At around 6 weeks, you should feel comfortable throwing a blanket down on the floor and putting your baby down on it because thats the beginning of exercise and movement, Dr. Corinn Cross, a board-certified pediatrician in Los Angeles and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), told Fox News.

Tummy time every day helps babies build their upper body strength so they can hold up their heads, push up and then later roll over, crawl, pull up to stand and eventually walk.

7 SIGNS YOU'RE HITTING THE MOMMY JUICE TOO HARD

Starting tummy time early can also foster independence and prevent you from having to strap your baby in an infant seat, swing or bouncer, or put him in a playard when you need to get things done. I think [parents] do it out of safety, but I think you just have to find a safe place, Cross said.

Do babies need fitness classes?

Mommy and me yoga, gymnastics and music classes are all great ways to get your baby moving, but dont sweat it if its not possible for your family because your baby wont lag behind on his milestones, Cross said.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), there isnt enough evidence that these classes promote physical activity or prevent obesity, but they say babies should have a safe, nurturing and minimally structured play environment.

10 REASONS YOU CAN'T LOSE THE BABY WEIGHT

So find natural ways for your baby to move and interact at home and with other children  at the park, a childrens museum or on playdates, for example.

Sing, dance and move with your baby.

Experts say parents should avoid putting their babies in infant car seats, strollers, and bouncers when its not necessary and avoid giving their babies a phone, iPad or digital device to distract them.

Instead, natural play is a great way to get babies moving. Sing, dance and bounce your baby, and lift him up in the air. Hold your baby on your lap, encourage him to stand up, and then slightly lean him to each side. Youre actually getting them to make adjustments in their body, in their torso muscles and in their legs, Clark said.

WHAT EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SEX AFTER PREGNANCY

As your baby gets older, encourage him to crawl and sit up by placing blocks, cups and toys he can reach for in front of him. You put toys in front of them and theyre going to be more active, theyre going to move, and that sets them up better for life, Cross said.

Get toddlers moving.

The Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America) recommends toddlers get 30 minutes of structured physical activity and at least 60 minutes of unstructured physical activity every day. According to the organization, toddlers also should not be sedentary for more than an hour except when theyre sleeping.

However, the reality is that many toddlers fall short. Preschoolers in child care centers only get 48 minutes a day of activity and only 33 minutes a day are spent outside, a 2015 study in the journal Pediatrics found.

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Whats more, only 19 percent of kids play outside and get at least an hour of exercise every day, a 2012 survey by the YMCA found.

Providing opportunities for movement early on will ideally help kids not only have the skills but also the confidence to participate in sports, martial arts and dance when theyre older.

Youre not going to be physically active if the only thing you can do is walk, Clark said. If you dont have the competence, you wont have the confidence.
A young mom has revealed why she wont baby-proof her home  and insists kids should learn from their mistakes."

Abby Plested lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with her husband, Dan, and their two children, Houston, 3, and 3-month-old Goldie Grace.

10 REASONS YOU CAN'T LOSE THE BABY WEIGHT

Plested, 23, who runs the lifestyle blog Honey We Are More, has given a candid insight into her unconventional parenting methods.

Discussing how she keeps her Pinterest-worthy home looking so beautiful, she told Stuff.co.nz: Dont baby proof. Let them learn and they wont do it again.

Her modern home is filled with bohemian-inspired decorations such as giant cacti, large wicker pots, and hanging Moroccan baskets.

7 SIGNS YOU'RE HITTING THE MOMMY JUICE TOO HARD

Plested told Daily Mail Australia why she has never installed certain safety features.

Sure there is a place and a need to baby proof some parts of your home however, I think you can get over the top with it, she said.

I have never put baby gates up in my home or stairs because I think its important for the baby to learn boundaries without these.

Yes, it means you have to watch your baby more but you are most likely doing that anyway.

BABIES NEED EXERCISE TOO: AN EASY AGE-BASED GUIDE FOR PARENTS TO FOLLOW

For example, I have cactus in my house, and Houston touched it once and he will never go near them again. Trust me.

However, there is one item Plested wont have with kids around the house.

I would love a glass dining table, but its just not practical with two young kids, she told Stuff.

All the stickiness and fingerprints would actually make it look far worse than its potential to look good.

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Plested does, however ensure, that all of her mirrors, cupboards and shelves are properly attached so there is no danger of them falling.

Her home is filled with DIY projects she has curated herself, and it is decorated using a palette of vibrant, funky colors.

First published on The Sun
As you get older, you may notice that you dont rebound from a night of drinking quite like you used to. Thats because, as we age, alcohols effects on our bodies become more and more exaggerated, George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), told Fox News.

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While the NIAAA recommends that men consume no more than 14 drinks a week, that number plummets to 7 drinks a week for men over 65. (While the NIAAA doesnt have a separate recommendation for women over 65, younger women are encouraged to drink no more than 7 drinks a week.) The risk increases when you mix alcohol with other medications  even things like allergy or sleeping pills, Koob said.

Its not that anyone is doing it on purpose, but if you dont know about it, you can find yourself more intoxicated than you would ever have dreamed, he explained.

WHY DRINKING TOO MUCH DOESN'T HAVE TO LEAVE PERMANENT DAMAGE

Fox News spoke to Koob and Dr. Andrew Nye, a family practice physician at Orlando Health, about just how alcohols effects change with age:

1. Your quality of sleep declines.

Alcohol will help you fall asleep initially, but when you do wake up, your brain will be super wired, Koob said. This is because your brain is experiencing a rebound hyper-excitability, he explained  an effect that is more dramatic the older you get. And, because alcohol is a diuretic, youll have to get up and go to the bathroom even more.

5 UNEXPECTED BENEFITS OF DRINKING YOU NEVER KNEW

2. Your memory will take a greater hit.

Because, as you age, your body becomes less effective at clearing out the toxins produced by alcohol, the effects on your brain become more severe, Nye said. He noted that these toxins can damage the protective coverings of nerve cells in the brain, which can affect memory.

3. Your balance gets a lot worse.

As you get older, you become more sensitive to alcohols effects on coordination and balance, Koob said. And, with increased age, those falls become even more dangerous.

4. Your speed and accuracy grow more impaired.

Tests have shown that speed and accuracy in individuals is more impaired for people over 55 versus people under 55, Koob said, making it even more dangerous to drive under the influence.

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5. You may have worse hangovers.

While most current evidence is anecdotal, Koob said, many people report more severe hangovers for less amounts of alcohol as they get older. Nye agreed, noting that because our liver processes alcohol less efficiently as we age, we may experience more severe hangover symptoms, including dry mouth and headaches.
Nancy Slagowitz, 49, says she has found her fountain of youth. And she didnt discover it in an expensive pill  her miracle came in the form of a kettlebell.

The lean, married mother of two points to high-intensity interval training (HIIT), in which she uses a kettlebell, as the elixir thats keeping her young.

HOW TO WORK OUT WITH YOUR LIVING ROOM FURNITURE

Its the perfect antidote [to harsher workouts], says Slagowitz, who trains two to three times a week and says she has seen a transformation in her body and attitude. While Reebok CrossFit was punishing  My body couldnt handle it. I felt like Private Benjamin, she says  her HIIT routine has had the opposite effect.

I walk differently. I definitely feel more fit, stronger and have more energy, says Slagowitz. I have abs and that cut look in my arms. [Plus, I] look younger.

Slagowitzs turnaround lends credence to new findings that suggest HIIT can actually stop the aging process at the cellular level.

Nancy Slagowitz, 49, says she has found her fountain of youth. And she didnt discover it in an expensive pill  her miracle came in the form of a kettlebell.

5 MILITARY-INSPIRED MOVES FOR A FULL-BODY WORKOUT

The lean, married mother of two points to high-intensity interval training (HIIT), in which she uses a kettlebell, as the elixir thats keeping her young.

Its the perfect antidote [to harsher workouts], says Slagowitz, who trains two to three times a week and says she has seen a transformation in her body and attitude. While Reebok CrossFit was punishing  My body couldnt handle it. I felt like Private Benjamin, she says  her HIIT routine has had the opposite affect.

I walk differently. I definitely feel more fit, stronger and have more energy, says Slagowitz. I have abs and that cut look in my arms. [Plus, I] look younger.

Slagowitzs turnaround lends credence to new findings that suggest HIIT can actually stop the aging process at the cellular level.

Your body is working hard after the workout to replenish your muscles and keep getting oxygen into the body, says Dara Theodore, a trainer at the Fhitting Room. It works for you beyond the 20, 30 or 40 minutes youre doing the actual activity.

THE 'BOOB JOB' WORKOUT: 4 MOVES FOR A NATURALLY PERKIER CHEST

Jessica Bolbach, who co-owns Kore in the Meatpacking District with her mother, Candice Bolbach, recommends that older exercisers spend extra time on their form to avoid injury.

By listening to your body and easing into the exercises  it will still provide the benefits [and] will prevent injury, which will allow you to do more over time, says Jessica, 30. In turn, youll see even greater results and progress, no matter your age or fitness level.

Theodore says beginners of all ages should ease into a HIIT routine, and suggests starting with twice-a-week workouts with rest periods. Once the fitness improves, she says, increase this to three to four times a week.

HIIT is a particularly helpful workout for time-starved New Yorkers.

I like [that it] hits the body from head to toe because, quite frankly, I dont have a lot of time to work out. Its the most bang for your buck, says Theodore, 45, who is raising two children. The Upper East Side mother was a runner and yoga devotee until she went to the Fhitting Room. As a trainer, the incredibly cut Theodore has seen results in her physique, her energy level and even her blood work.

A JOGGER'S FITNESS TRACKER DOCUMENTED HER BRUTAL ATTACK ON A RUN

One hundred percent, I feel younger. I have genetically high cholesterol [and it] came down, says Theodore. And the fact that I teach class with younger trainers and were all on the same schedule and have the same amount of energy, I attribute that to HIIT.

Candice Bolbach isnt surprised by the study. The 60-something HIIT devotee who, along with her husband, takes classes four times a week at her gym says, Not only does my body look better and feel better, but my face and skin do as well because it brings more oxygen to the blood flow. [I look] younger. Thats the truth.

Her daughter agrees that she has seen the difference in her mother, as well as in other older clients.

People talk about toning their trouble spots, like [their] booty. Theyre the things that start to lose [definition] as you get older, but by doing this workout, those are the things you can maintain and [even] reverse, says Jessica.

WHY YOUR SCHLUBBY HUBBY IS AGING WORSE THAN YOU

Beyond looking and feeling younger, there are other benefits, notes Slagowitz: Her jeans are a size smaller. It was a difference she saw after a few months.

You get lean doing this, says the admitted foodie, adding that HIIT helps her to work off her wine-and-dining habit. It makes it a lot more fun living in New York.

The Workout

Dara Theodore, a trainer at Fhitting Room, one of the early HIIT proponents, says this 20-minute HIIT workout  which requires dumbbells and kettlebells at the weight of your choice  uses compound movements.

Youre using more than one joint and accessing more than one muscle group, which makes it a more efficient and intense workout, she says.

Start the routine with a three-minute warm-up of your choice (think jumping jacks or jogging in place).

Then, move onto the five high-intensity moves below.

STUDY IDENTIFIES BEST EXERCISE TO REVERSE SIGNS OF AGING

Each high-intensity move should be done for 40 seconds. In between each move, do low-intensity squat thrusts for 20 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds before starting the next move.

To do a squat thrust  a modified burpee thats body-weight cardio to keep your heart rate up, says Theodore  squat with your hands on the floor, kick your legs out into a plank, bring the legs back in and stand back up. Keep it up for 20 seconds.

Do the entire routine twice.

Move 1: Kettlebell deadlift

Begin in a standing position with the kettlebell in your hands. Slowly hinge forward from your hips while pushing your butt back, lowering your arms until your hands hover by your knees. Stand back up.

This is full body because youre engaging from the shoulders down, says Theodore. Your lats are engaged, and youre working your hamstrings and quads.

IS COLLAGEN REALLY AN ANTI-AGING CURE-ALL?

Move 2: Push up to renegade row

Start in a plank position with a dumbbell in each hand (resting on the floor) and your feet shoulder-width apart. Do a regular pushup, and each time you come back up, pull one dumbbell up toward your rib cage, return to the floor and then do the dumbbell pull on the other side.

Youre engaging your lats while youre keeping your core fully engaged, says Theodore.

Move 3: Goblet lateral lunge

Stand with your feet together while gripping a weight with two hands. Step one leg out laterally, bending the knee, while keeping the other leg straight. Hinge forward, lowering your elbow to your knee. Come back up and repeat on other side.

This is one of the most basic, fundamental moves. Youre using your core, glutes, abductors and inner thighs, says Theodore.

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Move 4: Push press

Stand with your core engaged holding a dumbbell in each hand, just outside of your shoulders, with your elbows bent. Dip your knees down and then use leg power to push back up to standing position while pushing the weights straight above your shoulders. Lower your arms back to starting position.

If doing two dumbbells at once is too difficult, its okay to do one arm at a time, says Theodore.

Move 5: Russian twist

Sit on the floor with your body in a V position and your toes pointed. Hold the weight at your chest and using your obliques, rotate side to side.

This is a core rotational movement, says Theodore.
Tuesday, April 25, is World Malaria Day. Malaria is an infectious disease claiming the lives of now 429,000 people each year  mostly children.

Living in the South most of my life, I am all too familiar with the annoyance of mosquitos, especially in the evening. But I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to live with mosquitoes beyond annoyance; an insect bite that might mean the death of my sweet little boy. Millions of mothers and fathers face that fear around the globe year after year, whereby malaria claims the life of one child every two minutes.

The good news is that the number of deaths from malaria per year is down by 48 percent since 2000. We have made historic, epic strides in treating and eradicating malaria with new testing methods, widespread distribution of insecticide-treated nets, and introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) to prevent deaths worldwide from mosquito bites.

Nearly 1 million people were dying each year from a mosquito bite just fifteen years ago, but today, weve cut that number in half thanks to prudent funding and programs through the integrated efforts of the Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI), launched by President George W. Bush, and the strategic efforts of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

A nimble public-private partnership, the Global Fund is a financing institution that funds the response to malaria in countries worldwide, while the PMI provides talented U.S. field teams who offer technical support to malaria control programs, facilitating the implementation of Global Fund grants.

Together, these two humanitarian efforts reinforce each others effectiveness, collaborating on cutting-edge prevention measures and ensuring transparency and efficiency.

The Global Fund has led the extraordinary distribution of more than 713 million insecticide treated bednets and the treatment of 626 million cases of malaria worldwide.

Among children under age five, the malaria death rate is down 69 percent since the year 2000. Prevention works.

End Malaria for Good is the global theme for Tuesdays tribute on World Malaria Day to both the success gained and the ongoing battle. Absent efforts, malaria could resurge within just one infectious season.

Currently, President Donald J. Trumps budget recommends a 28 percent cut for the entire International Affairs Account. A more detailed budget proposal to come soon will have varying levels of funding for line items, like HIV/AIDS, nutrition, and family planning associated with global health and poverty focused development assistance. The proposals for cuts to PMI and the Global Fund, and how Congress responds, are deeply important.

We must ask ourselves today, what would happen if Congress allowed for cuts to funding for PMI and the Global Fund, both initiatives Republicans and Democrats alike have solidly supported in recent years?

How many fewer bed nets will be provided? How many mothers will we have to tell that we simply arent able to offer her child the treatment s/he needs to fight this infectious disease? How many lives will be lost? How have we squandered a chance to move closer to eliminating this threat to innocent kids?

As President George W. Bush has said, I am confident that with renewed focus and determination, we can finish the job, and ensure that no child dies from a mosquito bite."

We are a country dedicated to security, progress, and compassion. We lose these values among nations worldwide if we decide not to lead the world in funding and systematically enhancing programs to end malaria for good as we have done for the last two administrations.

Join me in calling your member of Congress today to encourage them to fully restore funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Because no parent should watch their child die from a bug bite.
Amazing how a lawsuit can rattle the rust off an outdated institution.

A couple of weeks after Bellwether spotlighted the University of California at Berkeleys cancellation of a speech by conservative firebrand Ann Coulter, a student group has sued the university for inhibiting free speech on campus.

Good for the students!

Bellwether had argued that shutting down Coulter because of supposed security concerns amounted to viewpoint discrimination, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled is illegal. Thats the argument that the Berkeley College Republican club made in its lawsuit, filed in federal court this week.

And, after trying to ignore the issue for a few weeks, Berkeley has now been prodded into responding. The school says that Coulter is welcome on campus, but only during the first week of May, which, not so coincidentally, is a study week in preparation for final exams. Thats like inviting someone to your house, then locking all the doors and turning out the lights.

Significantly, the lawsuit also names Janet Napolitano, the president of the University of Californias extended college system. Remember her? She was President Obamas first secretary of Homeland Security and a previous governor of Arizona. Though she is now fighting cancer (and we wish her all the best in that challenge), Napolitano is ultimately responsible for defending free speech on the campuses she administers. Naming her personally sends a signal that real people, not just institutions, must be held to account when freedom is threatened.

Berkeleys lame defense exposes just how out of touch the school is. This isnt the 1960s, folks. And being conservative is not a crime, or a personality disorder. Its just a point of view that Berkeley, and other universities, try to keep in a dark closet, like dusty lawn furniture that never gets used.

Hey, Berkeley: What kind of world are you preparing your students to enter? In case you hadnt noticed, Donald Trump is president, Republicans control both houses of Congress, and Neal Gorsuch just donned the robes of a Supreme Court justice.

This isnt the first time Berkeley has tried to shut down free speech. Back in February, it refused to let conservative bomb thrower Milo Yiannopoulous deliver remarks on campus. The reason then was the same as with Coulter: people who dont agree with him threatened to disrupt the event. Some protesters carried signs that read, This is war. Really? Whats going on in Syria is war. In Berkeley, its more like whining.
The 2016 Presidential election was about creative destruction, pitting one candidate, Hillary Clinton, who stood for continuing down the same path that our nation had been on since George H.W. Bushs election in 1988, against Donald Trump, who promised to rethink everything.

Creative destruction is the term MIT economist Joseph Schumpeter used to describe the capitalist process where business constantly seeks product and process upgrades that result in the development of new and improved ways of doing things and new products that drive out the old and outdated ones.

Donald Trumps first 100 days should be judged on whether he is successfully generating the creative destruction the voters demanded. By any standard, he is doing just that.

The Supreme Court nomination and confirmation of Neil Gorsuch has set the stage for a complete rebooting of the nations court system.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumers quixotic insistence on denying the extremely well-qualified Gorsuch the votes to achieve cloture resulted in the complete elimination of the judicial filibuster.

This single change will allow Trump to not only appoint hundreds of lower level federal judges without input from the Senate minority, but possibly fill three additional Supreme Court seats, defining the judiciary for generations. It is quite possible that if the President does nothing else but fill the judiciary with constitutional constructionists, he will be the most consequential president of the first half of the 21stcentury.

Donald Trumps budget is equally transformational. In proposing the elimination of agencies like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, Trump is signaling that his administration will end government payments to organizations that could be better supported by the private sector.

While many conservatives would prefer that the debate be on the proper role of government, this president is simply saying that programs that force middle class taxpayers to fund upper class wants should end. This isnt about Robert Mapplethorpe and the like. Its just a practical business decision that New York and Hollywood elites can support these priorities without forcing the people of the flyover states (who they despise) to pay the freight.

On the economic front, Trump is deconstructing much of Obamas pen and phone activism with a clear focus on regulations that harm growth. Utilizing the Congressional Review Act process, Congress has passed and the President has signed eleven bills rescinding midnight regulations promulgated in the waning days of the Obama administration.

As a result, domestic energy production will increase, small and mid-sized businesses wont be strangled with additional paperwork, and federal government encroachment on state powers over wildlife management, education and drug testing for government assistance recipients is dramatically restricted.

Energy development, a key to robust economic growth, has been freed up due to the approvals of the Keystone XL pipeline and Dakota Access pipeline, providing less expensive ways to get oil from Canada and the Bakken Oil fields to refineries. The move to end the coal-industry-killing Clean Power Plant rules will stop the shutdown of coal fired utilities, while new competition between natural gas and coal will force efficiencies in both industries, ensuring reliable low-cost power for a generation.

And perhaps most consequentially, Trump has re-ordered how the United States is going to interact with the rest of the world.

By exiting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Trump is resetting what it means to be a trade partner with the United States. His Labor Department, working with the Customs Bureau, can be expected to target goods made in places where slave and child labor are encouraged. If you want to end the use of slave labor, why not make it harder to sell those goods in the United States, rather than rewarding these nations with better tariff rates? That is transformational.

Trump has also already met with Chinese Premier Xi Jingping, and, along with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, has softened the administrations stance on Chinas currency manipulation. At the same time, China is taking a much more assertive role in attempting to end the North Korean nuclear threat before they develop the capacity to destroy Seoul, Tokyo, Hawaii or the western continental United States. Make no mistake, Trumps anti-Chinese currency manipulation rhetoric set the table for China to ratchet up the pressure on North Korea, because it gave the United States government something valuable to trade for Chinese help.

Finally, since January 20th, Trump has begun to assert his America first foreign policy, changing relationships for the better through key meetings with the leaders of Japan, Great Britain, Germany, and Canada, as well as having his Secretary of State meet with his Russian counterpart as well as Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Creative destruction is not easy and there will be stumbling blocks along the way, particularly when it comes to draining the swamp in Washington, as government -- unlike natural free markets -- lives in symbiosis with businesses whose livelihoods are impacted by its decisions.

The groaning and complaining about the Trump Administration among establishment voices on both the left and the right can largely be attributed to the uncomfortable movement of these swamp creatures as they are being knocked off their moorings, uncertain about what will happen next  a key attribute of creative destruction at work.

What more could a Trump voter want?
Those who want to preserve our constitutional republic spent a lot of time and energy getting Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court. There is no doubt that his confirmation was an important step toward achieving that goal. But with rumors swirling that another slot could open as soon as this summer, the public should realize that it is President Trump's next pick that will provide the opportunity to finally solidify a conservative majority that will protect the Bill of Rights and enforce the Constitutions limits on the power of the federal government.

In case after case, Justice Antonin Scalia was that crucial fifth vote. From the Chicago and District of Columbia gun cases that recognized our Second Amendment rights, to the ones such as Citizens United v. FEC and Hobby Lobby v. Burwell that affirmed our First Amendment rights to speak freely and practice our religion without undue interference, he proved an essential bulwark. Thus, getting a proven constitutionalist such as Gorsuch to replace Scalia was vital.

But we must not forget that one of the other generally conservative justices, Anthony Kennedy, is often more mercurial when it comes to such issues. Known as the Courts "swing" vote, he sides on occasion with the so-called conservative block on the Court, but has also joined the four liberal justices in important cases to create nonexistent "rights" or to advance socially progressive causes.

It was Kennedy's fifth vote that extended habeas corpus rights to foreign alien terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay in Boumedienne v. Bush in 2008.

It was Kennedy that created a nonexistent right to gay marriage in Obergefell v Hodges on an issue that heretofore was a matter entirely within the province of the states.

In Kelo v. City of New London, Kennedy joined the liberal justices to rewrite the eminent domain provision of the Fifth Amendment to allow private property to be seized by government for transfer to another private owner, instead of for a public purpose as the plain text of the amendment says.

In a case decided after Scalia died, and in which Justice Elena Kagan was recused, Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in a 4-to-3 decision that allowed the University of Texas-Austin to continue to discriminate on the basis of race in its admissions process in blatant violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

As Justice Clarence Thomas said in his dissent, the decision "rests on pernicious assumptions about race." It will perpetuate racial discrimination for years to come.

The same could be said of Chief Justice John Roberts. Like Kennedy, he has been on the right side on important issues such as free speech in cases such as Citizens United. But it was Roberts who provided the disappointing fifth vote in 2012 in NFIB v. Sibelius to uphold the constitutionality of the individual mandate in Obamacare forcing Americans to purchase health insurance.

And in 2015 in King v. Burwell, Roberts joined the four liberals and rewrote an unambiguous provision of Obamacare that provided federal tax credits only to individuals who bought health insurance through exchanges "established by the State" to say that the word "State" also includes the federal government.

Justice Scalia sarcastically noted in his dissent that Roberts, who wrote the majority opinion, was asserting that when ObamaCare says an exchange "established by the State," it was actually saying an exchange "established by the State or the Federal government." As Scalia said, "That is, of course, absurd."

If it is a liberal justice who leaves the Court, then replacing that justice with a conservative who believes in applying the Constitution as written would, obviously, provide an extra vote that could make the difference in cases where Anthony Kennedy (or perhaps Chief Justice John Roberts) sides with the remaining three liberal justices.

But even if it is Justice Kennedy who resigns (and he is the justice the rumor mills are concentrating on), replacing a justice who is only a part-time conservative with a full-time conservative could make a significant and very crucial difference in the outcomes of the decisions that come before the Court.

Whoever the next departing justice is, President Trump must make sure the next Supreme Court justice is someone who believes in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights 100 percent of the time, not just when it is convenient to achieve the particular policy goal the justice wants.

And President Trump will need someone who doesn't care what the New York Times, MSNBC, or the Washington cocktail circuit says about him or her.

He needs a rock-solid, principled lawyer who understands that the U.S. Supreme Court is the last defense against an increasingly powerful, oversized, busybody government that seems to believe it has the right to dictate every aspect of our lives.
Greek yogurt giant Chobani is suing far-right radio host Alex Jones, accusing the conspiracy theorist of publishing false information about the company.

Chobani alleges that Jones and his InfoWars website posted fabricated stories earlier this month that linked Chobani owner Hamdi Ulukaya and the company to a sexual assault case involving refugee children.

The complaint says InfoWars released a video on April 11 falsely claiming that Chobani was importing migrant rapists, with the goal of causing customers to boycott its products.

Chobanis attorneys say Jones has ignored requests to remove the inaccurate coverage.

Chobani filed the lawsuit Monday in Idaho District Court in Twin Falls, where the company operates its largest yogurt plant in the world. Its seeking $10,000 in damages. InfoWars didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.
Local governments in the Washington, D.C., region are planning a full-scale terror attack drill for Wednesday  an exercise that comes amid mounting tensions with North Korea and other threats.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments confirmed in a press release that law enforcement and first responders will participate in the exercise designed to prepare for the possibility of a complex coordinated terror attack in the National Capital Region.

The drill prepares for an attack involving multiple locations and teams of perpetrators  and will be staged at six sites across the District of Columbia and the Virginia and Maryland suburbs.

It will involve hundreds of police and other emergency personnel and volunteer actors.

Law enforcement officials practice and exercise their skills on their own regularly because thats the best way to ensure we are always ready to respond quickly and professionally, Scott Boggs, managing director of homeland security and public safety at COG, said in a statement.

He said the exercise set for Wednesday will go one step further and stage a very realistic emergency event involving multiple sites and actors posing as the casualties.

He stressed there is no reason for residents to be alarmed because the exercise will occur in a controlled environment.

The timing may be coincidental, but the drill comes as the Trump administration is working to address concerns about North Koreas missile capabilities  and ahead of a major North Korea briefing for all 100 U.S. senators on the White House grounds later Wednesday.

After dining with the president, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters Trump will not allow North Korea to build a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the United States.

"If I were North Korea, I would not underestimate President Trump's resolve to stop them from getting a missile to hit our homeland," he said.

The Trump administration has warned that all options, including a military strike, are on the table to block North Korea from developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland. But a pre-emptive strike against North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities isn't likely. The Trump administration is instead seeking to put pressure on North Korea with the help of China.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
First daughter and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump faced a rocky reception Tuesday while defending her fathers advocacy for women at an event in Germany.

During her first official trip abroad in her White House role, she drew groans from the audience when she touted her fathers record after making a plug for paid leave policies.

I am very proud of my father's advocacy -- long before he came to the presidency but during the campaign and into the primaries, he has been a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive, she said in Berlin.

Disapproving murmurs and groans could be heard, and the moderator paused to note the reaction. The moderator said President Trumps public attitudes toward women in former times might leave one questioning whether hes such an empower-er for women, and asked Ivanka to comment.

In response, the first daughter said shes heard such criticism from the media, and its being perpetuated, but said she knows her fathers attitudes from personal experience.

And I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades when he was in the private sector are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women, she said.

President Trump tweeted earlier Tuesday that he is "proud of @IvankaTrump for her leadership on these important issues" as she started her trip.

Ivanka Trump's one-day visit, at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, gave Merkel and other officials face-to-face access with the president's influential daughter at a time when world leaders are still trying to discern where his policies will lead.

Merkel and Trump were part of a high-powered panel discussion Tuesday at the W20 Summit, a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries, entitled "Inspiring women: Scaling up women's entrepreneurship." They were joined by Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and the Netherlands' Queen Maxima, among others.

The 35-year-old Trump, who stepped away from running her fashion brand to become an unpaid White House adviser, said she is still finding her feet in her new role.

"I'm listening, I'm learning, I'm defining the ways in which I think that I'll be able to have impact" in empowering women in the U.S. economy and beyond, she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
One of the most popular perks for Washington D.C.'s power players is coming to an end, Fox News has learned.

After June 30, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices and certain diplomats will no longer be able to park in the special lot set aside for them at Reagan National Airport, just across the Potomac River from the Capitol.

The coming change has left some lawmakers and their schedulers apoplectic. The special lot has long enabled lawmakers to shave minutes off their trip to Capitol Hill for a crucial roll call vote  or to get a head start on their flights home for every congressional recess.

"When minutes count ..." one scheduler complained to Fox News Tuesday.

Lawmakers' special access to Reagan National was a key argument for keeping the airport open after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, when some argued it should be closed because of its close proximity to the nation's capital.

The airport is closing the lot as part of a $1 billion expansion project aimed at streamlining the movement of passengers through its terminals.

Once the lot closes, cars with government credentials will have to park in the airport's public garages, just like everyone else. However, lawmakers, justices and diplomats will not have to pay for parking  provided they remember to show their government ID to the garage's cashier.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania are set to vote on a bill that would eliminate public schools ghost teachers, that is, teachers who work full-time for their union while drawing both an instructors salary and a salary from their union.

The legislation, re-introduced by Republican Sen. Patrick Stefano, would bar public school districts from allowing educators to take time away from teaching to work for local or statewide teachers unions in areas like personnel disputes and professional development, while accruing salaries, benefits and pensions from the school district.

Under current law, a collective bargaining agreement between a union and a school district can require the district to allow work arrangements where school district employees work full-time for the union while remaining on the districts payroll  the educators reaping those benefits are commonly referred to as ghost teachers.

The Commonwealth Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based think tank, issued a report recently that found that ghost teaching is authorized in as many as 111, or 22 percent, of Pennsylvanias 500 public school districts.

These ghost teachers receive taxpayer-funded salaries, health benefits and pensions, yet they may never return to the classroom or engage in actual teaching, Stefano told the Trib. This should not be allowed or tolerated because it is a blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars and drains money and resources away from our classrooms and our students.

Stefanos bill would ban Pennsylvania public schools from agreeing to the collective bargaining terms that would allow union leave for teachers that last more than three consecutive days, or more than 30 days in a school year.

In Philadelphia, at least 18 teachers who never set foot in a classroom last year received over $1.7 million from the school district while performing union work during school hours, Stefano said in a memo. Another concern is that the district has no knowledge or control over what teachers are doing while on this type of leave  the teachers could be working toward goals that the district believes could be harmful to its operation.

Ghost teachers, according to Stefanos office, is most common in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh school districts, but is present in schools statewide.

The bill passed the Senate Education Committee, with votes along party lines at the end of March. The full Senate has not yet schedule floor debate for the measure.
President Trump began to edge away Monday evening from demanding that funding for his promised border wall be included in a must-pass spending bill, reducing the chances of a government shutdown at the end of the week by making clear hes flexible on that timeline.

Trump told a group of 20 conservative media reporters Monday evening that he would be willing to return to the wall funding issue in September, two people in the meeting said. His earlier demand that it be included represented a significant impasse in budget talks, and the latest comments potentially could pave the way for a bipartisan deal just days ahead of the government shutdown deadline.

White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway confirmed to Fox & Friends Tuesday morning that the wall does not need to be funded this week, but she said it remains a very important priority to [Trump].

Building that wall and having it funded remains an important priority to him, but we also know that that can happen later this year and into next year, she said.

Trump also took to Twitter Tuesday morning to make clear that his overall position has not changed.

Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc, he wrote.

Congress is under pressure to pass a $1 trillion spending bill that would pay for government agencies; if the bill fails to pass by midnight Friday, it will trigger a partial government shutdown.

In the wake of Trumps border wall comments, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., welcomed the approach. "It's good for the country that President Trump is taking the wall off the table in these negotiations," Schumer said late Monday. "Now the bipartisan and bicameral negotiators can continue working on the outstanding issues."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also praised Trumps announcement, calling it welcomed news given the bipartisan opposition to the wall.

The border wall was the most controversial issue facing lawmakers negotiating the spending bill. Trump insists that Mexico will pay for the wall in the end, a key pledge during his campaign. Cost estimates range past $20 billion, but the White House had been seeking $1.4 billion as a down payment in the spending bill in order to start the process.

Prior to the White House demand late last week for border wall money, it had largely been assumed on Capitol Hill that the spending measure would include funding for additional security steps along the border, but that there wouldn't be any money explicitly dedicated for new wall construction. With the presidents recent comments, that approach now appears likely to prevail.

"I'm optimistic. I don't think anybody wants a shutdown," Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said as he exited a meeting of GOP leadership. "The White House and basically the minority leaders of the House and Senate have to have some level of agreement on the things that you're adding."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday telling the Agriculture Department to identify and eliminate potentially unnecessary regulations that hurt farmers and rural communities.

The order is similar to those Trump has previously signed for top-level agencies and comes one day after former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue was sworn in as Trump's agriculture secretary.

Americas noble farming tradition stretches back to our earliest days, Trump said.

The order also establishes a task force that will review policies, legislation and regulations that potentially hurt agricultural and economic growth.

You people are going to be so prosperous and hire more people, Trump said after his White House roundtable discussion with farmers and signing the order.

He also suggested the order is part of a larger concern about domestic output and trade, particularly Canada recently deciding to change its policy on pricing domestic milk, leading to lower prices for products and creating problems for U.S. dairy farmers.

I love Canada, but theyve outsmarted our lawmakers for a long time, he said. They have a tremendous surplus with the United States. I have no fear.

Trumps administration also moved Monday to impose a 20 percent tariff on softwood lumber entering the U.S. from Canada, escalating an intensifying trade dispute between the two countries.

Trump is signing a flurry of executive orders this week as he approaches his 100th day in office and looks to rack up accomplishments to tout.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Trump's first 100 days in office had all the hallmarks of a chief executive's approach: Busy, brash and bold.

As the president hits the benchmark on Saturday, he has compiled a record big on action, but mixed on results. Trump has sought to manage expectations, mocking as "ridiculous" the 100-day yardstick that dates back to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had signed a staggering 76 pieces of legislation by the time he reached it.

FDR's legacy of out-of-the-chute productivity has cast a long shadow over all of his successors, and Team Trump is well aware of it.

In office, President Trump has accomplished more in his first 100 days than any other president since Franklin Roosevelt, the White House said in a Tuesday statement accompanied by a list of executive orders and other actions the fledgling administration has taken.

Well before he took the oath of office, Trump promised huge changes in the first 100 days of his administration, including repealing and replacing ObamaCare, cracking down on illegal immigration and pursuing a tax overhaul.

So how did he do? Fox News takes a look at some of the highlights  and lowlights  of Trumps first 100 days in office:

Supreme Court: Getting Gorsuch confirmed



Trumps biggest, cleanest victory to date was getting conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court in the face of deep Democratic opposition. In a fast-paced chain of events, Senate Republicans deployed the so-called nuclear option, changing precedent so that Gorsuch could be confirmed with a simple majority of 51 senators as opposed to 60. At Gorsuchs swearing in, Trump said, A new optimism is sweeping across our land and a new faith in America is filling our hearts and lifting our sights.

Congratulations to Justice Neil Gorsuch on his elevation to the United States Supreme Court. A great day for America! #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/7pjc1UrI8d  President Trump (@POTUS) April 10, 2017

ObamaCare repeal: Down, but not out

Trump said one of his first priorities as commander-in-chief would be to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare. Not only was he not able to do so within 100 days, it was the conservative faction of his own party that helped stop the Republican bill from moving forward. After the bills defeat, Trump said he learned a lot about loyalty and the vote-getting process. Trump said House Republicans were 10 to 15 votes shy of getting it to pass, at first blaming the Freedom Caucus for the defeat but then pivoting to Democrats. The president added the best thing we can do, politically speaking, is let ObamaCare explode. Its exploding right now.

However, congressional Republicans have begun work on a new health care package and Trump continues to voice optimism that -- this time -- they can get it done.

Syria strikes: Use of force

Though he often urged his predecessor to avoid getting entangled in Syria's ongoing civil war, Trump changed his approach after reports surfaced of a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians earlier this month. He ordered the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield in response. The White House was largely praised for the action that it said sent a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Trump administration also has been tough on terror in its first 100 days. And the Department of Treasury has sanctioned 25 entities and individuals involved in Irans ballistic missile program.

American energy: Keystone, Dakota pipelines

Among his first moves as president, Trump signed a presidential memorandum that cleared the way for two major oil pipeline projects that had been blocked by the Obama administration to move forward. Trump promised American steel would be used in the construction -- a claim the White House had to walk back in late March, explaining it would apply to future construction. Trump also signed an order that would end protracted environmental reviews.

Border wall

Trump boasted throughout the campaign he was going to build a big beautiful border wall and make Mexico pay for it. That hasnt happened yet, and the administration has struggled to get early funding for it in this week's spending bill. But White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway told "Fox & Friends" Tuesday that the wall is still prominent on Trump's radar.

Building that wall and having it funded remains an important priority to him, but we also know that that can happen later this year and into this year, she said.

At the same time, the administration has moved aggressively on other fronts -- threatening to pull funding for sanctuary cities (though that is held up in court), moving to speed up certain deportations and trying to suspend immigration and travel from six mostly Muslim countries. The latter, too, has been held up in the courts.

The wall, meanwhile, could loom large for Trump throughout his early tenure, amid challenges covering the cost, tricky terrain and manpower.

Tax overhaul: In the works

With the 100-day clock ticking down, Trump still hopes to score a big victory with a sweeping overhaul of the tax code. He pushed a blueprint this week that would cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent.

Hanging over the push is Democrats' continued protest over Trump's refusal to release his tax returns. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer recently reiterated that Trump has no plans to release his tax documents  though most presidents before him have. Some Democrats continue to say they won't cooperate on a rewrite of the tax code unless they are told in detail how revisions would benefit Trump, his businesses and family members.
The University of California, Berkeley is likely to once again be the site of brutal protests on Thursday as questions arise about whether the citys mayor has ties to an extremist group sparking violence.

Ann Coulter has vowed to move ahead with a planned appearance at the university, despite Berkeley trying to reschedule her speech over security concerns. Law enforcement sources told Fox News that regardless of whether the conservative firebrand shows up, there is a 99 percent chance that the college will erupt in violence.

The sources are helping the Berkeley Police Department prepare for what is now seen as an inevitable showdown over First Amendment rights to free speech.

BERKELEY FLIP-FLOP: ARE UNIVERSITIES COMPLICIT IN MUZZLING FREE SPEECH?

Charles Sid Heal, a retired commander from the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department who met with Berkeley police on Monday, said that authorities are preparing for the worst because extremist groups from across the spectrum are heading to Berkeley, and because the past three protests that devolved into violence were met by a lackluster response from local police.

Weve been told theyre going to come no matter whether Ann Coulter comes or not, and the next riot is not a standalone in isolation but a natural consequence of the lackluster approach of the past, Heal said, adding that because protesters felt police didnt protect them at the last riot many are pledging to defend themselves. People are becoming vigilantes.

Heal and others said there is deep discord between the Berkeley Police Department and the city government, led by Jesse Arreguin, the 32-year-old newly elected mayor facing his first major test in running a large city. Arreguin has been accused of supporting left-wing violence because he is a member of the Facebook group of By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, a far left group that has incited violent protests across the country.

UC BERKELEY STUDENTS THREATEN TO SUE OVER ANN COULTER VISIT

Yvette Felarca, a BAMN national organizer, was unapologetic last June after her group shut down a Neo-Nazi protest in Sacramento that sent 10 people to the hospital.

"We will do it again, she said. The Nazis had to run and hide behind the police.

In a statement to Fox News, Arreguin distanced himself from Felarca and BAMN.

"On social media, following a particular account does not mean you support that group or individual, he said. I was following this particular group so I could stay up to date on what they are up to. I condemn their violent actions in the strongest terms.

But a source close to Berkeley city government accused Arreguin of bolstering leftist groups by quietly aligning himself with them.

Mayor Arreguin is not representing all of Berkeley right now, the source who wished to remain anonymous told Fox News, hes coming from a deep leftist position. We have some very radical elements on the police review commission. Jesse is emboldening them because he has a majority on the commission.

SLOW LEARNERS UC BERKELEY LIBERALS GET SCHOOLED ON THE LAW

The mayor was criticized for basically handcuffing police officers who patrolled the April 15th tax day riot that resulted in 11 injuries, including a stabbing. Critics said he restricted police officers so much they could not do their job.

If the police went in more aggressively, more people couldve gotten hurt, Arreguin was quoted as saying. We have to balance how we respond with the goal of trying to keep as many [people] safe as possible.

Arreguin said all protesters who commit violence will be arrested in Berkeley  no matter what side they are on the political spectrum.

Unfortunately, extremists from both sides have come to Berkeley in recent weeks to engage in provocation, he said.

But Heal would like to see a more proactive approach on Thursday, rather than a reactive one.

Theres a disconnect from a realistic approach on how to deal with violent protests, he said. The politicians need to understand they are representing the majority of the community, and their personal agendas may not meet the overall community.

A city official told Fox News that she is receiving emails from concerned citizens fearing that police officers are not doing enough to protect them.

There have been at least three UC Berkeley free speech protests that have devolved into violence since February 1st  leading to 34 arrests, 39 injuries and property damage totaling at least $100,000.

There have been calls on Coulter to cancel her appearance to avoid further bloodshed. But Arreguin and Heal say they support her for standing up for her First Amendment rights.

"I fundamentally disagree with everything someone like Ann Coulter stands for, Arreguin said. But in an open society, she has a right to speak and students and community members have a right to peacefully protest her.

Besides, Heal said, protesters will still show up if she cancels her speech.

"Its not going to make any difference if she cancels at this point, Heal said. The extremists are going to come here. Its terrifying.
Beyonce and Jay Z have put in a $120 million bid for a stunning hilltop Bel Air mansion that boasts four pools, eight bedrooms  and even bulletproof windows.

As Beyonce prepares to give birth to twins, she and Jay are planning to move their family to Los Angeles from New York in search of more privacy. They have bid on the breathtaking, newly constructed mansion at 454 Cuesta Way in Bel Airs private East Gate area.

The place, which is being sold off-market for an asking price of $135 million, has just been completely remodeled from the ground up, and also boasts 11 bathrooms, a media room, space for a recording studio, a garage that can fit 15 cars, separate staff quarters and a big spa with a hot tub, sauna and steam room.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

The hilltop location offers extra privacy, along with the woven metal security gates. It also offers sweeping views of Los Angeles.

The sprawling mansion spreads across six separate structures encompassing more than 30,000 square feet and more than 10,000 square feet of outdoor living space on two acres of land.

This story originally appeared on NYPost.com.
Many scientific discoveries can be attributed to a happy accidentthe discovery of penicillin thanks to moldy petri dishes, for instance. Might our mounting plastic crisis be solved similarly? One scientist and amateur beekeper in Spain has discovered that the larvae of wax moths, which live on beeswax and thus frustrate bees and their keepers, appear to have quite the appetite for plastic, not to mention the highly unusual ability to digest it, reports the Guardian.

As the scientist explains in the journal Current Biology, the grubs that she removed from one of her hives and then tossed in a plastic bag chewed their way out in minutes.

These critters are often bred as fish bait, and the Times of London notes the irony: Worms that usually lead to the demise of fish may point toward a way of saving their habitat instead.

Scientists have previously discovered that certain bacteria and fungi can break down polyethylene in the lab, but the process takes a long time, measured in months, reports the Los Angeles Times.

In a world where Americans alone generate 33 million tons of plastic a year, less than 10% of which we recycle, per the EPA, that's not going to cut it.

The new study raises the possibility that scientists could unleash the worms on waste in the oceans and elsewhere, though more research is needed. For example, if the worms ate their way through the plastic simply to escape, that's one thing.

"But if theyre munching it to use as an energy source, its a completely different ball game," says a Cambridge researcher. (This whale was found with 30 plastic bags in its stomach.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: Beekeeper's Surprise Find May Help Our Plastic Problem
In a moment of reflection on the eve of graduating from Eastern Michigan University, student Daivon Reeder struck a chord on social media with a tweet that has since gone viral.

Alongside a photo in his cap and gown, Reeder wrote Thursday: "My step dad told me it was pointless to go to orientation, I wasn't going to graduate.....4 years later he in jail & I'm well....," followed by a line of laughing emojis.

My step dad told me it was pointless to go to orientation, I wasn't going to graduate.....4 years later he in jail & I'm well....  pic.twitter.com/bLftj8BXni  KING KIDD  (@_justcallmekidd) April 20, 2017

Hours later, the tweet began trending in Detroit, catching the attention of Twitter as well as the media. Local Detroit station WDIV 4 featured a segment on Reeder, who graduated Saturday with a degree in criminal justice and a minor in military science.

He told the station that after losing his academic scholarship, those words pushed him even harder to succeed. "[I have] the average, typical, inner-city Detroit boy story," Reeder, 22, says.

"I grew up constantly moving houses." The eldest of four, Reeder said his mother struggled to make ends meet for his family, and his stepfather was not always in the picture.

After his stepdad made the comment about graduating, "I kind of heard that and I was like OK, I'll show you," Reeder tells Fox 8.

"I'm just a first generation college kid from Detroit trying to beat the odds," he tells BuzzFeed News. "I guess people can relate to a humble beginning." The tweet had more than 600,000 likes and 148,000 retweets as of Monday afternoon.

(This tweet made waves for a different reason.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: Student's Tweet Perfectly Calls Out Cynical Stepfather
Whales' social lives have largely remained a mystery to scientists, until now.

Researchers have gained a whale's-eye view of the marine mammals' lives in Antarctica, thanks to a research project that placed noninvasive digital tags  containing sensors and a camera  on minke and humpback whales.

The data and footage collected reveal the animals' feeding habits and social behaviors, and show how whales use their blowholes to clear sea ice so they can breathe. [Whale Album: Giants of the Deep]

The research project, a collaboration between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Oregon State University, used suction cups to attach cameras with sensors to the whales' backs. These camera tags would stay on each whale for 24 to 48 hours, allowing researchers to experience a day in the life of a whale.

"We have been able to show that whales spend a great deal of time during the days socializing and resting and then feeding largely throughout the evening and night time," lead scientist Ari Friedlaender, an ecologist at Oregon State University, said in a statement . "Every time we deploy a tag or collect a sample, we learn something new about whales in the Antarctic."

The new study offers crucial insights into the whales' feeding habits, according to the WWF, and how they may be impacted by warming ocean temperatures and shrinking ice. The tags have already shown researchers where the whales gather in large numbers to feed, and the footage reveals that the animals will stay for weeks at a time in the feeding area.

Different feeding behaviors have also been discovered because of the sensors. For instance, whales will range from rolling lunges near the surface to dives up to 1,148 feet deep to eat krill (small crustaceans), their main food source. Video of the whales diving for food also reveals the relative size of krill, and the density of the krill patch , that the whales are feeding on. This information can help with whale conservation efforts because beyond the impacts of climate change, an increase in krill fishing can also threaten the whales, said Chris Johnson, ocean science manager for WWF-Australia.

"Once we have an idea about where the whales feed, how often, where they go and rest, we can use this to inform policy and management to protect these whales and their ecosystem," Friedlaender said.

The researchers are still analyzing the data collected from their initial deployment of the sensors in March. The scientists said they plan to publish their findings eventually in a scientific journal.

Original article on Live Science .
If you enjoy perusing through travel rags, youve likely seen pictures of planes swooping right over a beautiful beach in the Caribbean. Those pictures are shot on Saint Martin-- an island nation split in two, with both French and Dutch-speaking sides.

Its also home to a major airport: Princess Juliana International Airport (SXN) located on the Dutch side, Sint Maarten. For thrill seekers, it's a well-known plane-watching paradise.

In January, travel consultant Rene de Lambert organized an aviation geek gathering on the island. It was a chance for his readers to watch the planes take off and land-- and talk about their shared hobby.

Its sort of like going to a chocolate factory," De Lambert tells Fox News. "This is Willy Wonka for frequent flyers. Everywhere you look, its something oh, Id like that too.... Where else do you get to see people blown into an ocean from a jet?

CRAZY AIRPLANE LANDINGS YOU HAVE TO SEE TO BELIEVE

Selene Phoenix, a New York-based speech pathologist admits to being obsessed with travel.

I have been having the most fantastic time since I landed at Saint Martin. Ive never been here before," Phoenix, a Delta million-miler who attended the trip, tells Fox News. "Ive heard about it, Ive seen pictures of it, but its just not the same as being in the moment and being part of watching the planes coming in of all different sizes - private planes, propeller planes, jumbo planes, four engine planes, and international flights come through the islands.

"Its just a smorgasburg of aviation joy."

Jamie Larounis, a travel blogger who started the airline site The Forward Cabin, also attended the gathering in Saint Martin.

This is a must-do for any aviation enthusiasts, travel enthusiasts, and just anybody who wants to take a few minutes out of their day to see aviation..."he explained. "They stop the traffic, and people are getting blown into the water, getting sand blown into their faces as these huge jets take off."

Larounis says he got the biggest thrill from the giant Air France A340 that lands once a day at SXN.

As soon as that plane takes off, youll see a tornado of sand and water kick back. Its funny, as you approach the back of the runway, youll see a sign that says Keep Off, Stand Back  warning about fumes and jet fuel spray.

In 2012, two tourists suffered injuries as they were watching the planes take off. But that hasn't deterred scores of tourists since from flocking to the site. In fact, some wish they could still take in an even bigger blast.

Travel blogger Angelina Aucello laments the fact that she can no longer catch the KLM 747 jumbo jet that used to fly into the island every morning. Now, she says, the Air France A340-300 is the largest jet to land and takeoff from the famous spot.

Can't wait to get to Saint Martin?

The travel addicts had some great advice.

5 CRAZY CARIBBEAN RESORTS YOU HAVE TO STAY IN BEFORE YOU DIE

Since Sint Maarten is a year round tourist spot, popular with both those flying in and cruising in, fares arent always in the reasonable range," says Larounis.

"To save money, there are several low-cost carriers that have multiple flights a week including Spirit to Fort Lauderdale and Jet Blue to Boston and New York. To save money, avoid peak times of the year including Spring Break and holiday weekends and consider buying cheaper fares to other Caribbean Islands or Florida and then purchasing a separate ticket into SXM.

But the frequent traveler wasn't a big fan of the hotels, especially those in close proximity to the airport, which are likely best for plane-spotting.

However, he noted that "there are several hotels within walking distance that would be classified as 2 or 3 star hotels, by U.S. standards.

The Sonesta resort on the other side of Maho beach is simply amazing, especially for families traveling with kids," says Aucello. To enjoy the facilities all day, it's just $89 per person and kids under 4 are free. Average rates for Sonesta in the spring range from $225 to $333 a night.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Being a Caribbean hotspot, Saint Martin isn't exactly cheap regardless of where you stay. Aucello says lunch for two-- without cocktails-- can easily run you over $55.

But if you're a first timer, De Lambert says keeping it simple is probably best.

"What I would recommend is the first time you go, consider a cruise," the travel expert said. "You can experience so many islands. Take a one week or a ten day cruise to see which island you like. The U.S. Virgin Islands are great because they take dollars, its an American territory and they speak English and take dollars. Barbados and Grand Cayman are fantastic for diving.

But of course, as an aviation geek, he's partial to Saint Martin.
A "chop shop" for eagles?

It may sound strange, but that's what federal authorities in South Dakota on Monday said was unfolding at an organization that performs Native American dance programs in Rapid City.

Fifteen people have been indicted for illegally trafficking eagles and other migratory birds after a two-year undercover operation potentially involving hundreds of birds.

100 ROOSTERS FOUND IN CALIFORNIA COCKFIGHTING RING BUST

Officials expect "significant" additional federal charges in the case, which focused on trafficking of eagles and eagle parts such as feathers for profit, U.S. Attorney Randy Seiler said. The case involves more than 100 eagles, a number that could climb as high as 250.

Seiler described one operation as basically a "chop shop for eagles" in which eagle feathers were stuffed into garbage bags. He said it was clear that it was a moneymaking operation and that various part of the eagle were treated as merchandise.

CRIME FIGHTING ROBOTS MAY BE COMING TO A MALL NEAR YOU

"There was no cultural sensitivity. There was no spirituality," Seiler said. "There was no tradition in the manner in which these defendants handled these birds."

Three men charged in the case are involved with Buffalo Dreamers. Owner Troy Fairbanks has been charged with conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking and violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Lacey Act.

Fairbanks, 54, allegedly sold or traded eagle parts to an informant including a golden eagle head for $250, a trade involving about $5,400 of legal merchandise for eagle parts and selling two sets of eagle wings for $900.

It wasn't immediately clear if Fairbanks has an attorney. A telephone number for Buffalo Dreamers went directly to voicemail. The defendants are set to appear in court in May, SDPB Radio reported.

Those accused in the case include people from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Authorities didn't immediately disclose how much the defendants are thought to have profited in the case, and Seiler said some of the 15 defendants are unconnected to each other.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A man suspected of shooting at a motorist in downtown Los Angeles on Monday was taken into custody after a nearly four-hour standoff with police that shut down part of the city's fashion district.

Los Angeles police officers were first called to 8th Street and Santee Street around noon after receiving a 911 call reporting gunshots in the area. Several streets were closed for hours as heavily-armed officers stood guard on sidewalks and police established a command post.

When officers arrived, they were told that a man had shot at a passing car, police said. Officers searched the area, but they could not find the vehicle or any victims, according to authorities.

The officers were able to get a photograph of the suspect and tracked him to a nearby apartment building, a police spokesman said. Detectives believe that after the shooting, the man ran into an apartment building and refused to surrender for hours, prompting a large police response that closed several streets.

Investigators believe the man, whose name wasn't immediately released, had fired at a passing car from a street corner, police spokeswoman Detective Meghan Aguilar said.

Police found a gun on the rooftop of an adjacent building, and sometime during the standoff investigators believe the man changed his clothing, Aguilar said.

A SWAT team had searched the building where the man was hiding, but police could not coax him into surrendering. Hours later, he called out to tell police that he "wanted to come out of the apartment and he wanted to surrender," Aguilar said.

The man was later escorted from the building by two police officers, and charges against him were pending Monday evening, police said. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.

Detectives were continuing to interview witnesses and search for evidence after the man was taken into custody.

___

Follow Michael Balsamo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1 .
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Vice President Mike Pence ended his trip to Asia on Monday with a thanks to U.S. service members based in Hawaii and promises of robust military spending under President Donald Trump.

Pence sat with troops for lunch at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii and noted the president's push for increased military spending at a time when the U.S. faces threats in the Asia-Pacific posed by North Korea.

The vice president said he wanted to assure military members that "in these uncertain times, people who serve here at U.S. Pacific Command will know that in your commander-in-chief, you have a president who is going to fight to rebuild our military."

Pence wrapped up a 10-day trip to Asia that included a visit to the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea, consultations with leaders in South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Australia, and a quick stop to see troops in American Samoa.

The United States' efforts to curb North Korea's nuclear and weapons programs dominated the trip, which put Pence in Asia shortly after Kim Jong Un's regime unsuccessfully launched a ballistic missile.

For Pence, the trip offered evidence that the former governor has become one of President Donald Trump's chief emissaries on the world stage, patching up relations, reassuring allies still wondering what to expect from Trump and diving into international crises like North Korea.

During the trip, Pence delivered North Korea a stern warning: that "all options are on the table" when it comes to curbing the North's nuclear ambitions. He told foreign leaders the Trump administration would seek support from its allies to pressure Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Pence's early foreign travel schedule has contrasted sharply with a mostly homebound Trump, who is not scheduled to travel overseas until late May for NATO meetings in Belgium and a gathering of the Group of Seven major industrial nations in Italy. Pence partly covered that ground when he visited Germany and Belgium in February.

Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, had visited nine countries by late April 2009, his first three months in office, checking in with allies such as Canada, Britain and Germany. The last first-term president to wait until May to take his first foreign trip was Jimmy Carter in 1977.

Pence postponed a visit to the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor on Tuesday to return to Washington for what's expected to be a busy week on Capitol Hill with the threat of a government shutdown if there's no agreement on spending priorities.

Trump has pushed for a large increase in military spending and Pence noted during the lunch that he would be returning to Washington to work on a supplemental Pentagon funding package. The plan, while still subject to negotiations, could top $15 billion.

"The president truly believes that the time has come for us to rebuild this military," Pence said.

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On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC

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Arkansas executed two condemned murderers Monday night, becoming the first state in 17 years to carry out two death sentences in one day.

Marcel Williams was pronounced dead at 10:33 p.m. Central Time, 17 minutes after the procedure began at the Cummins Unit in southeastern Arkansas. Jack Jones had been put to death on the same gurney more than three hours earlier.

FITBIT LOGS WIFE'S STEPS AFTER HUSBAND SAYS SHE DIED, POLICE SAY

Williams' execution had been delayed for two hours after a federal judge in Little Rock issued an emergency stay over concerns about how Jones' execution was carried out. Williams' attorneys claimed Jones gasped for air, an account the state's attorney general denied, but the judge lifted her stay about an hour later.

Initially, Gov. Asa Hutchinson scheduled four double executions over an 11-day period in April. The eight executions would have been the most by a state in such a compressed period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The state said the executions needed to be carried out before its supply of one lethal injection drug expires on April 30.

THREE DEAD IN GANG-RELATED GEORGIA SHOOTING

The first three executions were canceled because of court decisions, then inmate Ledell Lee was executed last week.



Arkansas' last double execution occurred in 1999.



Jones was sent to death row for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. He strangled her with the cord to a coffee pot.



He was also convicted of attempting to kill Phillips' 11-year-old daughter and was convicted in another rape and killing in Florida.



Jones said earlier this month that he was ready for execution. He used a wheelchair and he'd had a leg amputated in prison because of diabetes.



Williams' "morbid obesity makes it likely that either the IV line cannot be placed or that it will be placed in error, thus causing substantial damage (like a collapsed lung)," his attorneys wrote in an earlier court filing asking justices to block the execution.



Both men were served last meals on Monday afternoon, Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves said. Jones had fried chicken, potato logs with tartar sauce, beef jerky bites, three candy bars, a chocolate milkshake and fruit punch. Williams had fried chicken, banana pudding, nachos, two sodas and potato logs with ketchup, Graves said.



In recent pleadings before state and federal courts, the inmates said the three drugs Arkansas uses to execute prisoners -- midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride -- could be ineffective because of their poor health.



Jones, 52, lost a leg to diabetes and was on insulin. Williams, 46, weighs 400 pounds, is diabetic and has concerns that the execution team might not be able to find a suitable vein to support an intravenous line.



The poor health of both men, their lawyers claimed, could make it difficult for them to respond during a consciousness check following a megadose of midazolam. The state shouldn't risk giving them drugs to stop their lungs and hearts if they aren't unconscious, they have told courts.



The last state to put more than one inmate to death on the same day was Texas, which executed two killers in August 2000. Oklahoma planned a double execution in 2014 but scrapped plans for the second one after the execution of Clayton Lockett went awry.



Arkansas executed four men in an eight-day period in 1960. The only quicker pace included quadruple executions in 1926 and 1930.



Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas.



Authorities said Williams abducted and raped two other women in the days before he was arrested in Errickson's death. Williams admitted responsibility to the state Parole Board last month.



"I wish I could take it back, but I can't," Williams told the board.

"After more than 20 years, justice has prevailed for the family of Stacey Errickson," Hutchinson said in a statement after Williams' death. "This is a serious and reflective time in our state and it is important for the Errickson family and all Arkansans to know that in this case our laws ended in justice."

In a letter earlier this month, Jones said he was ready to be killed by the state. The letter, which his attorney read aloud at his clemency hearing, went on to say: "I shall not ask to be forgiven, for I haven't the right."

After Jones was put to death, Hutchinson said in a statement that the "rule of law had been upheld."

"A governor never asks for this responsibility, but I accept it as part of the solemn pledge I made to uphold the law," he added. "We hope this will help bring closure to the Phillips family."

Including Jones and Williams, nine people have been executed in the United States this year, four in Texas, three in Arkansas and one each in Missouri and Virginia. Last year, 20 people were executed, down from 98 in 1999 and the lowest number since 14 in 1991, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.



Fox News' Shannon Bream, Casey Stegall and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An eight-year-old girl who was the sole survivor of a horror crash that killed her mother and two siblings in Australia has spoken of how she escaped the sinking car.

YOUNG Chloe-May Kabealo, the sole survivor of horror Tweed river crash breaks her silence. https://t.co/aiIY9dqJcp  Gold Coast Bulletin (@GCBulletin) April 23, 2017

Only three weeks ago, Chloe-May Kabealos world changed when she managed to get out of the van her mother, Stephanie King, was driving.

AT LEAST 5 DEAD AFTER SMALL PLANE CRASHES INTO SUPERMARKET IN PORTUGAL

The vehicle has plunged into the swollen Tweed River at Tumbulgum, in northern New South Wales, which had flooded following a lashing from Cyclone Debbie.

Speaking at a fundraiser for the remaining members of the family  Chloe-May and her dad Matt Kabealo  the eight-year-old told of her miraculous escape.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and I tried to go up for air, and then I just kept floating up out of something and then I got out, she said.

The girl managed to climb out of the rivers bank and run to a nearby farmhouse where she was assisted by locals.

They just took me in and let me get into clean clothes and cleaned up all my cuts on my feet, she said.

Click for more from news.com.au.
Students at Hillsdale Elementary School in North Highlands, Calif., aren't getting any homework, for now.

The Twin Rivers School District Teachers Union has said its 1,500 members will only perform contracted work during a current labor dispute. This means teachers will not work during their lunch break or after school, including non-paid work like overseeing clubs, band and dances.

SAN DIEGO SCHOOLS CRITICIZED FOR EFFORT AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA

In the case of Hillsdale Elementary, teachers will no longer assign homework because those assignments are prepared and graded after hours.

The union says its members were offered a two percent raise after administrators got pay increases of at least 5 percent.

Some parents say they were concerned about how this tactic will affect their children's education and other school activities.

The Twin Rivers School District released a statement to FOX40 saying the union was within its rights to follow its contract by the strict rules of its contract.

But it also stated that it was disappointed by the decision because it affects students in what is an adult dispute.

Click for more from Fox 40.
A 1-year-old girl police say was kidnapped by her armed and dangerous father was found safe on Tuesday and her father was arrested.

An Amber Alert had been issued on Monday for Lexi Segura but was lifted when her fathers vehicle was found abandoned a day later. But the search continued for the infant and her father, Daniel Segura, Fox 11 reported.

TENNESSEE AMBER ALERT: KIDNAPPED TEEN BACK WITH FAMILY, LAWYERS SAY

Segura was found with a handgun, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department told KTLA the father and the mother were involved in a dispute before he allegedly kidnapped the girl.

They were in an argument prior to him leaving the location with the child without the mothers consent, displaying a handgun in a threatening manner, Jodi Miller told KTLA.

Lexi was abducted in Ranch Segura Cucamonga, which is about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, and found in nearby Montclair.

Click for more from Fox 11.
The driver of a stolen car who led police on a high-speed pursuit across southeast Los Angeles County on Tuesday morning was fatally shot by police after turning down a road that led to a closed gate and trying to drive toward officers.

Long Beach police officers had tried to stop the green Honda Accord shortly before 6 a.m. after receiving an indication from the Lo-Jack system that the vehicle was possibly stolen. The driver of the car refused to pull over and led officers on a high-speed chase through several cities.

Television news helicopters followed the pursuit as the car raced at extreme speeds on streets, boulevards and freeways, narrowly missing collisions with other vehicles.

At one point during the pursuit, a handgun was thrown out a window of the car. Investigators later recovered that weapon, police said.

The pursuit came to an end about an hour later in Bellflower when the car turned down a road that led to a closed gate and the driver turned back toward officers.

Police opened fire, striking the male driver, a Long Beach police spokeswoman said. The officers tried to revive the man, but he died at the scene. A male passenger in the car was uninjured and was taken into custody, she said.

Los Angeles police officers were also involved in a pursuit Tuesday morning of a stolen moving truck that drove erratically through rush-hour traffic on several freeways, narrowly missing other vehicles and at times driving in reverse along the crowded roadways.

Police had initially responded to a report of a "possible suicidal person." When police attempted to speak to the man, he stole the moving truck and led them on a pursuit, said Officer Aareon Jefferson, a Los Angeles police spokesman.

The driver was taken into custody about 40 minutes after the pursuit began when he pulled up next to another truck in the Van Nuys neighborhood and tried to hop into it.

___

Associated Press writer John Antczak contributed to this report.
A Georgia pastor has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for molesting two teenagers who attended his church in coastal Brunswick.

Media outlets report a judge sentenced 57-year-old Kenneth Adkins on Tuesday. A jury convicted him earlier this month on eight criminal counts, including aggravated child molestation.

Prosecutors said the pastor pressured two teenagers  a boy and girl, both 15  to have sex while Adkins watched in his office at Greater New Dimension Church in 2009. They said the pastor also touched the girl inappropriately.

The male victim testified against Adkins during his trial. But the young woman testified the allegations were false.

Adkins insisted he's innocent. He told the judge at his sentencing hearing: "Most certainly I did not do the things I am accused of."
It would appear to be a David and Goliath fight over property rights, but a furry little rodent is currently whipping the landowners of Thurston County, Washington.

In 2014, three sub-species of the Mazama pocket gopher were listed as threatened in the county under the Endangered Species Act. Since then, property owners have lived in fear that a gopher hole might show up and derail any plans to develop their land.

Steve and Deborah McLain have been trying unsuccessfully for over a year to get a permit to build a home on the 8 acres they own near the city of Tumwater. The problem started when inspectors found a single mound of dirt indicating a pocket gopher lived there.

The gopher has been able to enjoy our property the entire time, said a frustrated Deborah McLain, and they have more rights to our property than we do.

SUPREME COURT SEEMS DIVIDED IN PROPERTY RIGHTS DISPUTE

The McLains have offered to give up one of their acres as protected habitat for the gopher, but Thurston County still wont issue a building permit. The county requires landowners who want to build anything on their property to determine if their soils are conducive for gopher tunneling. If they are, inspectors must make three site reviews 30 days apart. The reviews must be done between June 1st and October 31st  because thats when gophers are the most active.

Larry Weaver is a homebuilder. He says the gopher issue is driving most contractors out of the county.

In one instance I had to give up 64 percent of my property where we built the house, said Weaver. It was a little over an acre and 64 percent had to be fenced off as gopher habitat.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which listed the gopher as threatened, cant even give a rough guess as to how many pocket gophers are living in Thurston County.

Its not based on number, its based on area and threats, said Eric Rickerson, the Washington state USFWS Supervisor.

PROPERTY RIGHTS BATTLES THREATEN TO FURTHER SLOW CALIFORNIA'S COSTLY, LONG AWAITED BULLET TRAIN PROJECT

The Mazama pocket gopher thrives in loose, well-drained prairie soils. The government estimates 95 percent of the gophers habitat has been lost due to development. Since it is cost-prohibitive to actually count gophers, which live underground and rarely surface, the aim of the conservation plan is to prevent building on the remaining land that is good for gophers.

Glen Morgan from Citizens Alliance for Property Rights doesnt think the gopher is endangered at all. He points to the fact that gophers have been thriving in the most dangerous place in Thurston County, the artillery firing range on the Armys Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

This all starts basically with environmental groups that push a species, whether theyre endangered or not, to force U.S. Fish and Wildlife to start down this road, to list them whether or not theres any good science, said Morgan.

Thurston County officials are working on a conservation plan that would create a $42,000 gopher tax for new homeowners who build on gopher habitat. That money would be used to purchase land in another part of the county where it would be managed as protected space for gophers.

A sort of cap-and-trade gopher tax has already been started by a large developer. Kaufman Real Estate owns prime land near a small regional airport. It also happens to be prime gopher soil. In exchange for obtaining building permits, Kaufman bought 77 acres for gopher habitat. The process has taken several years and cost the company $3 million.

Thurston County Commissioner Gary Edwards said the county is trying to avoid getting sued by environmental groups, but he also opposes the gopher tax.

The rich can continue to function and live anywhere they want, said Edwards, but the poorer folks, the people out there working for a living cant.

The Center for Natural Lands Management defends the gopher protections. Patrick Dunn says gophers turn over soil as they dig their tunnels creating places for wildflowers to germinate. They also help other rodents and even reptiles like snakes.

Gophers are fantastic animals, says Dunn, Theyre really critical in these ecosystems.
This Atlanta-area man is not your average thief.

Police are searching for a man they believe is a person of interest in at least two thefts in a northwest city neighborhood.

VIRGINIA JAIL ESCAPE FAIL: 2 HURT TRYING TO SCALE BARBED WIRE FENCES

"Everything is weird about this story, Dailey Dewling, one of the victims, told Fox 5. "The man is on a bike. He has a prosthetic arm and a hook in place of his hand."

Atlanta Sergeant Warren Pickard said the man has been caught on surveillance footage and even a camera from a residents home was taken too. They suspect that there have been more victims, the station reported.

One resident told police that the unidentified man swiped her home security camera, WSB-TV reported.

Click for more from Fox 5.
A school district in West Virginia has been thrust into the national spotlight after a lawsuit filed by two county residents accused the district of violating the Constitution over its weekly Bible study courses.

Supporters of the Mercer County public school class, which is offered during school time for 30 minutes at the elementary level and 45 minutes in middle school, maintain that it's optional.

END BIBLE CLASSES? WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOL SEEKS TO DISMISS ATHEIST LAWSUIT

They also say that the content of the classes are worthy, intended to explore the history and literature of the Bible and not geared toward promoting religion.

Opponents, however, say that the classes offered to 6,600 students in 16 public elementary schools and three middle schools are unconstitutional. According to the filed suit, the Bible class advances and endorses one religion, improperly entangles public schools in religious affairs, and violates the personal consciences of nonreligious and non-Christian parents and students.

MOM SUES TO STOP BIBLE STUDY CLASSES IN WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOLS

As a person of faith myself, I don't see any problem with having an after-school Bible program, Lynne White, a former school board member and mother of two sons who went to Mercer schools, told The Washington Post. But to me this seems a pretty clear violation of the Constitution.

My experience with it has been very positive. I've never known of anyone who has been pressured or felt ostracized, Rev. David Dockery, the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Princeton, told the newspaper. Anytime God's word can be proclaimed is beneficial and is a good thing, he said.

The program is overwhelmingly popular locally; parents and community members help to raise nearly $500,000 a year to pay for the classes. Almost every child attends.

The suit was first filed in January and then amended by the Freedom from Religion Foundation in March. The program is unconstitutional at its core and cannot be saved via modifications, Patrick Elliott, a lawyer for the foundation, responded.

A motion was filed by the district to dismiss the lawsuit.

There are two things to look at, Hiram Sasser, an attorney with First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit law firm representing the school district, told the newspaper. The first is whether you can have a Bible course at all. And the other is whether you can have the Bible course as it is presently constituted. Its fair to say that were very confident on the first issue. And on the second issue . . . our client is very, very flexible in terms of making sure that the content is in compliance with the law.
Police arrested a Tampa mother who allegedly left a baby in a hot car while she went into the courthouse to pay a fine.

Just after noon Friday, an off-duty Plant City officer was flagged down by passers-by who were concerned about a baby left alone in a car on Twiggs Street. According to a police report, the sweating infant was showing signs of distress and her face was red.

"It was a warm day the windows were cracked but the temperate in the vehicle got up to 123 degrees with the child sitting in the sun," said TPD spokesperson Eddy Durkin.

The report says the officer gained access to the black Kia and put the baby girl in his air-conditioned vehicle, where she continued sweating for several minutes before cooling down.

When paramedics arrived, they took her to the hospital to be checked out.

The report noted that it was 93 degrees that afternoon. Tampa Fire Rescue measured the interior temperature of the car at 123 degrees after they arrived.

Meanwhile, the babys mother came out of the courthouse and explained that shed opted to leave the sleeping baby inside while she paid a fine inside because she didnt expect it to take as long as it did.

Brandi Leigh Guggino, 23, was arrested on a charge of child abuse and neglect. She was released from jail on $2,000 bond.

Read more from FOX 13 News.
TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT

Caitlyn Jenner told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that President Trump has "kind of disappointed me in the first hundred days" on LGBT issues.

The former Olympic gold medalist, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, told host Tucker Carlson that Trump initially "looked like he would be pretty good on all LGBT issues," but she criticized the administration for revoking the Obama administration's guidelines allowing public school students to use restrooms and other facilities that correspond to their gender identity.

'TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT': IT WAS EASIER TO COME OUT AS TRANS THAN REPUBLICAN

TENSION IN THE PACIFIC

North Korea on Tuesday reportedly conducted a huge live-fire drill that involved up to 400 artillery pieces, which may have been supervised by the countrys leader, Kim Jong Un.

Meanwhile, the entire U.S. Senate has been invited to the White House for a briefing on Wednesday about the North Korea situation.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats plan to provide the update to lawmakers.

It is rare for the entire Senate to be invited to such a briefing.

'TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT' KIM JONG IL BIOGRAPHER ON 3RD AMERICAN NOW DETAINED

SHEPARD SMITH REPORTING: TRUMP CALL STATUS QUO WITH NORTH KOREA UNACCEPTABLE

OBAMA GETS HUGE PAYDAY

Fox Business' Charlie Gasparino writes that when he was president, he called them "fat cats," but now hes likely thanking them for a huge payday.

HISTORIC EXECUTIONS

Arkansas executed two condemned murderers Monday night, becoming the first state in 17 years to carry out two death sentences in one day.

Marcel Williams was pronounced dead at 10:33 p.m. Central Time, 17 minutes after the procedure began at the Cummins Unit in southeastern Arkansas. Jack Jones had been put to death more than three hours earlier.

COMING UP ON FOX NEWS CHANNEL

11:35 AM ET: President Trump gives remarks at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's National Days of Remembrance. US Capitol.

2 PM ET: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer gives briefing from White House

COMING UP ON FOX BUSINESS

8 AM ET: Tom Price, HHS secretary, to appear on "Mornings With Maria"

NOON: David Stockman, former Reagan budget director, to appear on "Cavuto: Coast to Coast"

1 PM ET: Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., House budget committee member, will appear on "Cavuto: Coast to Coast"

8 PM ET: Wilbur Ross, commerce secretary, will be a guest on "Lou Dobbs TOnight"
While many states have become more gun-friendly in recent years  passing laws that allow for open and concealed carry  California has not. In fact, the state has passed a series of laws that have basically made the Golden State the capital of gun control.

Now the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association is firing back.

The California Rifle and Pistol Association on Monday filed a lawsuit aimed at overturning a sweeping set of bills signed into law last year by California Gov. Jerry Brown. The group has planned to challenge different aspects of the California law, which passed following the mass shootings in San Bernardino, which killed 14 people, and in Orlando, which killed 49.

Mondays lawsuit deals with the state's ban on almost every style of the so-called assault rifle, including the nation's most popular: the AR-15.

GUN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ARE ON A POLITICAL ROLL WITH FOUR RECENT WINS

In January, any assault-style weapon with an easily detachable magazine became illegal.

The lawsuit says this is unconstitutional, not just because it will do nothing to stop violent criminals, but because it infringes on the Second Amendment.

The California Rifle and Pistol Association filed the suit in federal court in Santa Ana and said it plans to file others in the coming days and weeks.

GUN SALES SURGE IN CA AHEAD OF SWEEPING NEW GUN CONTROL LAWS

They're coming at gun ownership from every angle, said Chuck Michel of the California Rifle and Pistol Association. The whole PR campaigns to demonize gun owners. It's all completely inappropriate and it's part of an agenda that I think the Trump administration rejects.

The group wants the expanded assault weapons law declared unconstitutional  saying it criminalizes possession of guns commonly used by law-abiding citizens.

The group also plans to challenge a state law that bans high-capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, and other gun control laws passed last year.

Californias laws limited handgun purchases to one a month, expanded the gun sale waiting period to 10 days and required a background check on all ammunition purchases.

Gun control groups say gun owners have no business buying large-capacity magazines and background checks keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people.

The Constitutional right to keep and bear arms does not mean that convicted felons, that other very dangerous people, have the same rights to carry deadly weapons in public that law-abiding Americans do, said Adam Skaggs, litigation director for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. And background checks are simply a very simple means of ensuring that guns and in California's case, ammunition, don't fall into dangerous hands.

Most courts have held that the Second Amendment does protect an individuals right to keep and bear arms  but the right is not absolute.

The NRA affiliate likely waited for the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court to file its suit. Gorsuch, like former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, is generally seen as friend to the Second Amendment.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, who pushed heavily to pass the laws, told the Los Angeles Times that he was confident they would stand up in court.

Background checks and other guns laws California has enacted have saved lives and are key in making our mortality rate one of the lowest in the nation, de Leon told the Times in a statement. I am confident that the courts will reject the NRAs arguments, just as our voters did in November, and uphold Californias right to implement common-sense policies to protect its people.
The gunman who ambushed two Pennsylvania State Police troopers at their barracks in 2014 decided Tuesday he won't take the stand to try to persuade jurors to spare his life.

Eric Frein said he won't testify at the penalty phase of his capital murder trial, and the defense rested its case. His lawyers later said outside court they did not want to expose Frein to cross-examination, fearing he might try to "rationalize" the deadly ambush.

Prosecutors will call rebuttal witnesses Tuesday afternoon. The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Wednesday on whether to sentence Frein to death or to life in prison without parole.

Earlier in the day, his sister Tiffany Frein, told jurors Eric was her "protector" against their abusive parents, the Morning Call reported.

"Eric understood me. He was the only one," she told jurors. "He made me feel like someone actually loved me. I don't have a family. I never really did. Eric was my home."

Her father, Mike Frein, who earned a doctorate and worked on vaccines, previously acknowledged to the jury he had a drinking problem more than a decade ago.

The defense, trying to prove a mitigating circumstance the jury could weigh in its deliberations, has sought to portray Mike Frein as a domineering, angry but highly accomplished figure whom Eric Frein looked up to and tried to emulate.

Mike Frein, who logged 28 years in the military and retired as a major, admitted to jurors Monday he lied to his family for years about seeing combat in Vietnam and about being a sniper.

Eric, meanwhile, was a military re-enactor and college dropout who lived with his parents into his 30s.

Mike Frein also told the jury he had shared his political views with his son, calling the government too big and railing against abusive police. His son, in a letter he wrote to his parents while on the run, advocated revolution as a way to restore lost liberties.

Frein's decision to avoid the witness stand seemed to come as a relief to one of his lawyers, Bill Ruzzo.

"Defendants typically rationalize and we were afraid that might happen," he told reporters.

Frein, 33, was convicted last week of killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and critically wounding Trooper Alex Douglass in an unprovoked, random sniper attack at the Blooming Grove barracks. He was captured after a 48-day manhunt. Prosecutors have said he was trying to foment a rebellion against the government.
For the past three decades, U.S. Border Patrol officers have caught about 50 illegal immigrants per day trying to sneak across the 16,000 acres of land abutting Mexico thats owned by Arizona rancher John Ladd.

TRUMP BUDGES ON BORDER WALL FUNDING, EASING SHUTDOWN STANDOFF

Since President Trump took office and made border security a priority, however, that flood of illegals has slowed to a trickle.

Its [down] 90 percent, 95 percent, Ladd told Fox & Friends on Tuesday. We have a wall thats existing on our ranch since 2006, and theyre replacing that with an 18-foot Ballard fence, steel tubing, concrete. And with that activity, its almost non-existent to see an illegal anymore.

VIDEO: FUNDING FOR BORDER WALL SPARKS BRUTAL BUDGET FIGHT

But while Ladd and fellow rancher Fred Davis are seeing a benefit from the tough immigration talk, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that Trumps promised wall isnt only bad policy, its sinful.

The wall is, in my view, immoral, expensive, unwise, Pelosi said on Meet The Press. And when the president says, Well, I promised a wall during my campaign, I dont think he said he was going to pass billions of dollars of cost of the wall on to the taxpayer.

Ladd and Davis  whove invited Pelosi to their property with no luck  disagree.

You know she talks about splitting the community up, all the communities that I know about, all of the cities along the border already have high fences, Davis said. Where the wall is necessary is in a lot of the outlying areas where you still only have a four-wire barbed wire fence between Mexico and us.

He added: The wall itself is just a tool in the kit, but youve gotta put boots on the ground to go with it to make it effective. And thats been part of the problem in places they have a wall now.
One of the nation's largest school districts has launched a campaign against Islamophobia, drawing praise and criticism.

The San Diego Unified School District's multiyear plan includes a letter addressing Islamophobia to staff and parents of its 132,000 students. The letter is expected to be drafted and sent before Ramadan begins in late May. The district is also reviewing internal staff calendars to make sure Muslim holidays are recognized.

The plan drew little attention when the board approved it 4-0 on April 4. Public comments from staff and community members were uniformly positive. Pushback gradually spread on the internet and social media, with written attacks on Islam and the Council on American-Islamic Relations,

The San Diego Union-Tribune and The Los Angeles Times both ran articles on the issue. The story was also picked up by Breitbart. The school district is holding a meeting Tuesday night that is expected to draw large crowds.

Stan Anjan, the executive director of Family and Community Engagement at the district, who has called for safe spaces for Muslim students earlier this month, told The Union-Tribune that the schools could begin the initiative by next year.

Some of the steps that could reportedly be taken include social studies lessons on Islam and Islamic holidays. Critics said that the move calls for teaching Islam, which violates church and state. Despite criticism, Anjan said the district favors no religion.

Our plan is to add major holidays for all faiths to help principals and individual school communities plan events at times that are least disruptive to the populations they serve, he wrote. It is a resource to assist schools  not a mandate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
One of the nation's largest school districts has launched a campaign against Islamophobia, drawing praise and criticism.

The San Diego Unified School District's multiyear plan includes a letter addressing Islamophobia to staff and parents of its 132,000 students. The letter is expected to be drafted and sent before Ramadan begins in late May. The district is also reviewing internal staff calendars to make sure Muslim holidays are recognized.

The plan drew little attention when the board approved it 4-0 on April 4. Public comments from staff and community members were uniformly positive. Pushback gradually spread on the internet and social media, with written attacks on Islam and the Council on American-Islamic Relations
At the Starbucks on Fort Campbell Boulevard in Clarksville, Tenn. -- two miles from the U.S. military base -- store manager Shannon Feltz pours hot coffee for a group of veterans seated at a communal table.

On a shelf next to the register are rows of green-and-white mugs reading: "Proudly serving those who serve."

On Tuesday, the Clarksville store became one of 37 around the country designated by the coffeehouse chain as "Military Family Stores" -- stores staffed primarily by veterans and military spouses as part of a larger effort to employ service members and their families nationwide.

"Seventy-five percent of my business is the military," said 47-year-old Feltz, a 14-year military spouse whose husband is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army.

"We are so excited about this announcement," Feltz told Fox News.

Of the corporate Seattle-based coffee giant, Feltz said, "I've never felt so supported by a company in my life."

Starbucks on Tuesday unveiled four other new Military Family Stores: Two in Texas, serving Camp Mabry in Austin and Ft. Bliss in El Paso; one in Newport, Rhode Island, near Naval War College; and another in Bedford, Mass., a few miles from Joint Base Hanscom.

The stores -- now at 37 -- are part of a broader initiative by Starbucks to provide thousands of jobs to veterans and military spouses, while also serving as communal hubs where current and former service members can connect, share stories and become part of a larger support network.

The company has committed to hiring 25,000 veteran and military spouses by 2025. Starbucks has currently employed more than 10,000 veteran and military spouse partners since it announced its initiative in 2013.

"Service members and military spouses are the best example of engaged citizens," John Kelly, a Starbucks senior vice president, said.

"Long after leaving active duty, they continue to vote, volunteer and serve their communities at a high rate, serving as the best examples of citizenship," Kelly said. "We are honored to serve as a place where these American heroes can continue to impact their community in a positive way."

In addition, many coffee shops designated as Military Family Stores have also joined the "Adopt a Military Unit program," in which store partners sponsor units and send care packages to active military deployed overseas.

Approximately 453,000 veterans were unemployed in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate of veterans for that year varied across the nation, ranging from 1.8 percent in Indiana to 7.6 percent in the District of Columbia. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that 39,471 veterans are homeless on any given night.

Matt Kress, a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Iraq, worked as a firefighter in California before managing the veterans and military affairs program for Starbucks.

Kress described the transition from active combat to civilian life as a "frightening period" during which military personnel enter a "major unknown."

Starbucks' veteran initiative, he said, provides help in every way to a community whose unique needs are often overlooked.

"Some of our veterans are only with us for a year, while others are here longer," he said. "This is their landing spot to figure out what they want to do with the rest of their life."

Cristina Corbin is a Fox News reporter based in New York. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaCorbin.
Oregon police were hunting an ex-con Mexican national accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old Portland girl while her younger sister slept just a few feet away.

Previously-deported Santiago Martinez-Flores, 48, has a decades old criminal history and already served time for assault, criminal mischief, unauthorized use of a vehicle and failure to perform the duties of a driver. He was deported in March 2001 after a two-year prison sentence but made his way back to the U.S. sometime before the February sexual assault in which hes suspected, Fox 12 reported.

RANCHERS FIGHT PELOSI'S CHARGE OF 'IMMORAL' BORDER WALL

The girl was sexually assaulted as she slept in her apartment on Feb. 26, according to investigators. But she woke up during the incident and, after the intruder tried to hold her down, the girl was able to break free and run to her parents room, officials said.

The girls father quickly retrieved a gun and ran to confront the man, who had already escaped. However, the girl was able to describe her attacker and authorities said they found physical evidence linking Martinez-Flores to the crime.

Martinez-Flores may be using the alias Felipe Coeto or Isidro Ramos Flores.

It's a terrible thing, and to have somebody take advantage of a child like that I think is one of the worst things that a human being can do, neighbor Debra Griffith told KATU2. I hope they put them away for a long, long time.

Click for more from Fox 12.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Carroll County Sheriffs Office is admitting it was a mistake that led to a SWAT raid at a Montgomery County mans home where he and his family were detained by police.

Israel Orellana has the same name as a man investigators were searching for in a gun theft case. Somehow, Carroll County got a warrant to search the wrong mans home.

Orellana says he was in his bedroom Tuesday when he heard the noises. He says his mom had friends from church at their home at the time.

I thought it was my moms friends because sometimes they pray and they start dancing, he said. So I get up from my bed and I start walking over to my door. And as I'm opening my door, I make eye contact with the SWAT officer and he pushes up against the door with his shield and he slams me against the wall. He starts screaming at me, Stop resisting! Stop resisting!

Orellana showed FOX 5 a bruise on his face and scrapes on his arm. He said his hands were tied behind his back and he was taken upstairs to find that his family and his mothers friends were also detained. He says officers barged in on his 14-year-old sister in the bathroom.

It was really horrific, he said. You feel really helpless during the whole situation. Like you know you're innocent, you're telling them you're innocent, but they just see you as a criminal.

The Carroll County Sheriffs Office got the search warrant for Orellanas home and requested that Montgomery County police execute it. According to the search warrant, a man named Israel Orellana was linked to a home burglary where 20 guns and money were stolen. The suspect in the case was identified in surveillance video and investigators believed that Orellanas drivers license photo matched that video.

Both Israel Orellanas live in Gaithersburg.

The second in command at the sheriffs office, Colonel Larry Suther, told FOX 5 that an internal investigation is now underway.

Click for more from Fox 5.
A United Airlines fight on Monday made an emergency landing in Costa Rica after one of its engines reportedly overheated over the ocean.

Time magazine, citing a reporter who was aboard the plane, reported that Flight 1516 was headed for Houston from Libreria, Costa Rica. The magazine citied local reports that said the plane took off from Daniel Oduber International Airport and landed back about two hours later after circling.

The airline did not immediately respond to the magazine. A fire supervisor from Costa Rica confirmed the overheating incident. The plane was identified as a Boeing 737-800.

One of the passengers aboard the flight reportedly said that the plane about crashed in an emergency landing before the pilot quickly pulled up. So scary. Another passenger said it was the most frightening thing Ive ever experienced.
The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, is now operating in the same area as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group off the Korean Peninsula in the Sea of Japan.

The vessel, which arrived in the southwestern city of Busan on Tuesday, is one of a fleet of Ohio-class submarines-- some of the most powerful naval assets the U.S. has. Heres a quick overview of the vessel:

The USS Michigan is more than 560 feet long and weighs more than 18,000 tons when submerged and is regularly deployed throughout the Western Pacific from its home port of Bremerton, Wash.

It was first launched in 1980 and commissioned two years later. It was built to carry the Navys third generation submarine-launched ballistic missile, the Trident C-4. The Michigan carried out its primary mission of deterrence for nearly two decades in over 60 missions.

At the end of the Cold War, it was spared from decommission and converted with two other ships to the Ohio-class sea frame. In 2007, it followed the USS Ohio, Florida and Georgia as a guided missile submarine.

The vessel is capable of hitting speeds of over 20 knots while submerged and can drop over 800 feet below sea level. It also contains 22 tubes that carry seven Tomahawks each.

The USS Michigan has an unlimited range of travel and can stay at sea for approximately 60 days with full supplies of food.

The Michigan is the third ship to bear the name in the U.S. Navys history. The original Michigan was the first iron warship in the U.S. Navy and likely the first iron or steel warship of its size in the world, according to a biography on the Navys website. It was on duty throughout the Great Lakes during the Civil War but never saw battle.

It was renamed the USS Wolverine in 1910 when it was turned over to the Naval Reserve as a training ship.

That same year, the second USS Michigan was commissioned and assigned to the Atlantic Fleet with other first-class battleships. During World War I, the ship escorted convoys, trained recruits and engaged in Fleet maneuvers before being placed on limited commission in 1919.

The third and current Michigan is tasked with standing at the ready to support U.S. operations around the world and is known for its readiness.

The sub had won a prestigious Battle Efficiency Award two years in a row with its Blue Crew winning in 2010 and the Gold Crew in 2011.

It also had the distinction of having the first four women selected to serve on guided missile subs in 2016, making the USS Michigan the first US submarine with enlisted female soldiers.
Joseph Jakubowski was arraigned in federal court on Tuesday morning, April 25th, and he pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he stole 18 firearms and two silencers from Armageddon Supplies in Janesville on April 4th, and for being a felon in possession of firearms. A federal trial date was set for September 25th. Jakubowski also appeared in court in Rock County Tuesday afternoon for his preliminary hearing on three state charges.

Jakubowski didnt stand as Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker entered the court, nor did he speak during the brief arraignment. Not guilty pleas were issued on Jakubowskis behalf.

Jakubowski stands accused of burglarizing a gun store in Janesville, torching his own vehicle, and mailing a manifesto to President Donald Trump apparently threatening public officials, schools and churches  before vanishing  setting off a 10-day, nationwide manhunt.

Jakubowski faces the following charges at the state level:

Burglary  arm self with dangerous weapon

Theft  Written lease  special facts

Possession of burglarious tools

Cash bond has been set at $30,000  $10,000 on each of the three charges he faces out of Rock County.

READ MORE FROM FOX 6 NOW.
At just 33, Afghanistans ambassador to the U.S., Hamdullah Mohib, knows all too well what it is to be a child of war.

Born in a small village near Jalalabad in Nangarhar province  mere miles from where the U.S. recently dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on an ISIS base  his family fled the Soviet fighting, living for several years in Pakistan as refugees. They returned, only to flee across the border once again amid the outbreak of the Afghan civil war in the late 1990s.

Decades later Mohibs homeland remains in conflict. The Russians have apparently re-surfaced, this time allegedly empowering Taliban forces, U.S. military officials want more troops to control insurgent factions and 2016 saw a record number of civilian casualties. Furthermore, terrorists Friday committed the deadliest attack on Afghan troops at their own base in the 16-year U.S-led war, prompting the resignation of the countrys defense chiefs.

While prospects appear bleak from the outside, Mohib is optimistic about the Trump administration. He says U.S.-Afghan relations are especially strong, and everything from education, economics and even tourism is looking up. Meantime, Afghan troops will soon be ready to torch terrorism without the U.S. military waiting in the wings, he said.

Fox News: What is your hope for U.S.-Afghanistan relations under the Trump administration?

Hamdullah Mohib: So far we are very encouraged by what we have seen and heard from the Trump administration. There seems to be no hesitation on the part of this White House to fully engage with Afghanistan on a range of key issues, from terrorism to trade.

President Ghani and President Trump have spoken twice by phone and both times have had wide-ranging, productive conversations. They have discussed the security situation, our military needs, Pakistans role in creating instability and the U.S.-led fight against Daesh [ISIS]. National security adviser H.R. McMaster was just in Afghanistan and had good meetings with President Ghani and other senior government figures.

President Trump is also a keen businessman, and we are gratified that he has shown interest in Afghanistan as a potential U.S. economic partner. He realizes we are a country in a strategic location at the heart of Asia, with the potential to develop into a regional economic force. He recognizes the enormous value of our rich deposits of lithium  which our battery-driven world runs on  as well as our estimated $3 trillion worth of oil, gas and mineral reserves. So we are very much looking forward to working with him and his administration not just to eradicate terrorism from our soil but also to execute President Ghanis vision to make Afghanistan self-reliant and economically stable.

Fox News: Are more U.S troops needed at this time in Afghanistan?

Mohib: Talking only about troop numbers misses the point. We dont disagree with what senior U.S. generals have said, which is that more coalition troops are needed to end the stalemate. We need to turn the tide decisively against the enemy, and to do that our forces also need things like mine detection and detonation equipment, night vision capability, training in aircraft and vehicle maintenance and close intelligence support.

But decisions about troop levels must be driven by agreement on a winning strategy. Afghanistan now has a four-year plan, developed in cooperation with the U.S. and our coalition partners, that, if executed, will mean the difference between winning this war or allowing it to drag on for years to come. That strategy should determine how many troops are needed to win.

Fox News: Do you expect that all U.S. troops will be able to completely leave by 2020? How will this security and stability be achieved between now and then?

Mohib: The best-case scenario is that by 2020, Afghan troops will be able to carry on with whats needed on their own. But a lot can happen between now and then. The war in Syria is still playing out and its effects are being felt throughout the region. The U.S. has maintained military bases in countries where it feels an American presence promotes regional stability  in South Korea and Japan, for example.

This model might also be appropriate for Afghanistan, but it will depend on how much we have achieved in the international fight against terrorism by 2020.

Fox News: What role can your international partners play in this?

Mohib: The most important thing our international partners can do is to continue to believe in Afghanistans potential and stand by us as we work to build the future our people deserve. Last summer, our NATO partners renewed their pledge to support the Afghan military forces in Afghanistan through at least 2020. That commitment sent a crucial signal to terrorist groups that the international community stands squarely with Afghanistan and against them.

In October, our international donor partners pledged $15 billion to ensure, as the final communique said, that Afghanistan will remain on a firm path to political and economic stability, state building and development. This, too, was an important milestone: Our partners were satisfied that the government has done what it pledged to do upon taking office in late 2014. We earned their confidence.

Fox News: What do the people of Afghanistan think about continued U.S. presence after all these years?

Mohib: They are enormously grateful for all that America has done to help Afghanistan recover from decades of war and occupation, and they will never forget the sacrifices that so many American military members and their families have made. But they also look forward to the day when Afghanistan is self-reliant and at peace, and not dependent on other nations.

Fox News: Are you concerned about Russian involvement in Afghanistan? Some officials have suggested that they aligning themselves with extremists, and providing the Taliban with weapons. Is this causing problems?

Mohib: We are monitoring the situation. We certainly dont want any foreign power giving material or political support to terror groups that prey on our people. State-sponsored terrorism -- which Pakistan has practiced for many years at enormous cost to Afghanistan -- must be condemned and punished by the international community, without exception.

Fox News: What do you think Russias intentions in Afghanistan are?

Mohib: I wouldnt presume to know, but Afghanistan is a sovereign country and not up for grabs by any foreign power.

Fox News: Some reports indicate that insecurity and instability is on the rise in Afghanistan. Is this an accurate depiction?

Mohib: Media reports tend to present this image, but the facts tell a different story. The territory that the Taliban control is sparsely populated or entirely unpopulated. Because our security forces have gotten stronger and smarter, the Taliban is avoiding head-to-head battles and instead choosing soft, defenseless targets like hospitals and unprotected buildings. Twice recently they have even dressed in disguise to attack unsuspecting civilians and off-duty soldiers.

These attacks go against all human values, so its not a surprise that in the pockets of the country where the Taliban once had support, the population has turned against them.

Daesh [ISIS] is attempting to gain a foothold on our soil, but our forces move swiftly and lethally against any position where we find them. And, as we saw with the recent U.S. action against their network of underground tunnels, we are working with our coalition partners to prevent any and all gains.

AFGHANISTAN SUPPORTS SENDING MORE US FORCES

POST-ISIS, IRAQIS DEBATE US TROOPS REMAINING IN THEIR COUNTRY

Fox News: Afghanistan is indeed a beautiful country. Are there efforts in motion to focus on the tourism and economic industries?

Mohib: Afghanistans natural beauty is truly stunning. We have snow-capped mountains, verdant valleys, fields of saffron and roses, sparkling rivers and waterfalls. And Afghans are famously warm and welcoming to strangers. At the moment, the government is investing in many undeveloped areas of the economy in an effort to generate jobs and revenue, and tourism is certainly one industry yet to be developed. This wasnt always the case, by the way. Before 1980, Afghanistan was very popular with visitors. So we recognize the potential of Afghanistan as a tourist destination, but we see it as something to focus on after we have secured the peace and can promote the country to foreign visitors knowing they will feel entirely safe.

Fox News: You were a refugee yourself. How has this impacted your diplomatic efforts and the way you envision Afghanistans future?

Mohib: No one wants to leave their home. I left out of necessity as a teenager when my family felt my life was in danger from the Taliban. Many years later, I felt not just an obligation to come home and help rebuild, but a strong desire to be back in my homeland. Now that I represent Afghanistan in America, I meet hundreds of Afghan-Americans who also left but still feel a powerful connection to the country. My own experience means I can empathize with them and serve as a kind of bridge between these two worlds.

I can also relate to young people, being under 40 myself. And Afghanistan has an enormous youth population that is becoming the engine of the countrys growth. Here in America, I meet a lot of young bright people who are either studying or working and who want to go back and be a part of the new Afghanistan. That makes me tremendously optimistic about our future.

Fox News: You have noted that education prevails over terrorism. What reforms are needed to improve education in Afghanistan?

Mohib: Today we have nearly 10 million children in school, and almost 40 percent are girls. Education has become an absolute top priority in Afghanistan. But we have a ways to go. We need more teachers and more textbooks, and every village must have a school within easy reach. The curriculum we teach must be on par with international standards so our children can compete in the modern world. We also need to make sure that children with disabilities are welcomed and accommodated in our schools. Right now we dont have enough special-needs teachers, Braille textbooks or handicap accessible buildings, but we are working hard to correct that.

Fox News: As many have stated, corruption in Afghanistan is a big problem. What can be done to combat this, and do you think curbing this will also help in curbing the rise of insurgents?

Mohib: President Ghani ran on a zero-tolerance anti-corruption campaign and he has made this issue a priority. But Afghanistan has had institutionalized corruption for many decades, so it will take more than just two or three or even five years to clean things up. Corruption is entwined with other problems like human trafficking, narcotics production and drug smuggling, all of which feeds and funds violent insurgents and terror groups. Knowing this, the government has taken unprecedented measures to eradicate it.

Just a partial list: We created the National Procurement Authority to scrutinize government contracts, which has saved hundreds of millions of dollars; we implemented transparency and accountability systems across government agencies to eliminate opportunities for graft; we created the first anti-corruption commission and anti-corruption justice center to investigate and prosecute senior Afghan officials; we created a new high council chaired by President Ghani that oversees the public declaration of assets by senior officials; we appointed a new chief justice and attorney general and replaced hundreds of judges and prosecutors; and we fired 25 percent of customs officials and prosecuted several money-laundering cases.

As a result of these and other measures, in 2016 the government collected a record $2.1 billion in revenue, surpassing the International Monetary Funds target by more than $150 million. That represents a 22 percent increase over 2014. Clearly, were on the right track.
Two U.S. F-35A aircraft arrived on Russias doorstep in Estonia on Tuesday amid heightened tensions between Russia and the U.S.

The F-35As, and approximately 20 supporting airmen, are participating in a training deployment to Europe, according to the Air Force. The deployment had been planned in advance and was unrelated to current events, military officials said. The U.S. coordinated closely with Estonian allies.

PENTAGON STRIKES NEW F-35 DEAL WITH LOCKHEED AFTER TRUMP INVOLVEMENT

The introduction of the newest fighter to Europe, with its state of the art systems will help the alliance maintain the fundamental sovereign rights of all nations, Margus Tsahkna, the Estonian minister of defense, explained during a ceremony at Amari Air Base.

The training deployment is the first overseas flying training for the aircraft, marking an advancement of the joint strike fighter program. The training will provide an opportunity for the combat-ready aircraft to train with U.S. and allied aircraft in a realistic training environment while also showing off its operational capabilities. It will also help to integrate with NATOs 5th generation aircraft and infrastructure, the Air Force said.

Airmen and the aircraft started arriving in Europe on April 15 and are slated to remain in Estonia for a short period before returning to the Royal Air Force in Britain.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
The risk of bankruptcy looms for Italy's flagship airline, Alitalia, after employees resoundingly rejected proposed salary cuts and layoffs that were aimed at securing investments and keeping the carrier afloat.

It's the latest twist in the decades-long saga of decline for the loss-making company, which has been through multiple bailouts and restructurings but never managed to compete with the booming low-cost carriers in Europe.

Alitalia said Tuesday that its board concluded that in light of the employees' vote on Monday, it has decided to "begin procedures foreseen by law," a reference to extraordinary administration. The board will meet Thursday to discuss the move.

Such a scenario could result in shedding unprofitable routes, most likely predominantly domestic ones, to competitors, and selling off aircraft to help pay creditors.

It was unclear if the Italian government might try to convince European Union officials to allow a "bridge loan" for Alitalia to ease the crisis.

In a statement, Alitalia's board, said it had "taken note with regret" of the rejection of the cost-cutting plan, whose aim was to open the way for investment, including more than 900 million euros (about $1 billion) in new financing.

"All parties will lose: Alitalia's employees, its customers and its shareholders, and ultimately also Italy, for which Alitalia is an ambassador all over the world," said James Hogan, the airline's vice chairman and president and CEO of Etihad Aviation Group, Alitalia's biggest minority shareholder.

Hogan noted that Etihad had poured in "vast amounts of financial and commercial support during the past three years" and had reaffirmed "its strong commitment and principal willingness to support the airline with a package worth nearly 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in aggregate to help fund Alitalia's new five-year business plan."

But that commitment hinged on employees approving the cost-cutting plan.

Workers and passengers of Alitalia, which continues to fly its routes as normal, are familiar with a mood of crisis.

For decades, various restructuring proposals and privatization efforts  championed by governments of various political stripes  failed to turn the airline around.

In one such move, a group of Italian business leaders, dubbed "the captains courageous," in 2008 tried to heal the company by taking on the "healthy" operations and isolating the loss-making businesses.

That strategy, which saw job losses and wage cuts, came after then-Premier Silvio Berlusconi dismissed foreign airlines' interest in Alitalia, declaring that the company must stay "Italian."

Alitalia has struggled with stiff competition from low-cost carriers, especially on domestic or European routes, as well as the convenience of high speed trains between Milan and Rome.

But Alitalia's latest crisis reflects "the errors of all," the daily Corriere della Sera wrote in a front-page column Tuesday. "Shareholders, management, governments, employees," as well as what the Milan daily called a chronic rationale in Italy that "there is always a way out less painful than the bill presented by reality."
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Far-right presidential contender Marine Le Pen said Tuesday that people are revolting against the elite and predicted that could translate into a "very big surprise" when ballots are cast May 7 in France's final round to choose a new leader  and it will be her.

Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, the independent centrist candidate who is her rival in the upcoming vote, sparred in successive television appearances, tossing insults as each launched a political offensive to win new voters before the balloting in less than two weeks.

Macron placed first in the first-round of the election, followed by Le Pen, and he is viewed as the favorite. Nine other candidates were eliminated.

"There is a revolt of the people against the elite" seen in Britain's Brexit vote and "probably" in the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, Le Pen said in a TF-1 television show.

"The people will probably reserve a very big surprise for the oligarchy," the anti-establishment candidate said, referring to elite decision-makers, including Macron, who is a former economy minister and investment banker.

For Macron, Le Pen's anti-European Union, anti-immigration platform is based on "hatred for others" and contrasts with his desire to "calm" the country.

The pro-business candidate said he belongs to the "progressive camp" with a project "to make France succeed ... in a stronger Europe" that his rival wants to leave.

Those are "two clear offers that come face to face," Macron said on French public television.

Le Pen holds out a still starker comparison, saying French voters will be making a choice between "uncontrolled globalization and the nation."

She contended Macron's plan for France amounts to "fratricide," saying it would pit people and companies against each other, with the strongest winning in a land where "the markets are the boss, money the king."

Le Pen started her day at the Rungis wholesale market outside Paris, calling for more food to be produced and consumed in this country known as the gastronomic center of the Western world.

She said the French government must promote meat from France.

"Let's promote the 'eating French' especially in (school) canteens where our children must take advantage of healthy, quality products," she said.

Le Pen was booed by some workers in the fruits and vegetables section.

Criticism came from all quarters Tuesday, including from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the long-time nationalist leader who questioned her campaign.

He told France Inter radio that he thinks his daughter has produced a "too laid-back" campaign. He said that in her position, he would have done a "Trump-style" campaign that would have been "very aggressive against those who are responsible for the country's decadency."

He still supports her candidacy in the presidential runoff.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, who repeatedly has been convicted of crimes based on anti-Semitism and racism, founded the National Front party that his daughter took over, but a feud has divided the two.

In 2015, Marine Le Pen pushed him out of the party because he refused to desist from anti-Semitic provocations that were undermining both her bid to become French president and her bid to make the National Front an acceptable political alternative.

Le Pen announced Monday she was stepping down from the party leadership while running her campaign.

___

Associated Press writer Philippe Sotto contributed to this report.
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France's top officials and presidential candidates are attending a national ceremony to honor the police officer killed by an Islamic extremist on the Champs-Elysees.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, who are facing off in France's May 7 presidential runoff, are attending the ceremony Tuesday in the inner courtyard of the Paris police headquarters.

French President Francois Hollande will be making a speech to pay tribute to Xavier Jugele, 37.

The Paris police officer was shot to death last week when an assailant opened fire with an assault rifle on a police van parked on the most famous avenue in the French capital. Two other officers were wounded.

The attacker was shot and killed by officers.

The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Australia's foreign minister and New Zealand's justice minister have joined hundreds of people on the site of the battlefields of the World War I Battle of Gallipoli to remember those who were killed on the 102nd anniversary of the start of the ill-fated campaign.

The solemn ceremony kicked off at dawn Tuesday under tight security following a series of attacks and bombings that have plagued Turkey.

On April 25, 1915, troops from Australia and New Zealand first landed at dawn on the Gallipoli peninsula under British command in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

More than 44,000 Allied soldiers were killed in the battle. Turkish casualties were estimated at 250,000.

The battle helped forge Australia and New Zealand's national identities.
A Greek court has rejected a new Turkish extradition bid for three of eight Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece by helicopter after last year's failed military coup in Turkey.

Greece's supreme court has already ruled that none of the eight men should be extradited as they wouldn't get a fair trial in Turkey, and that their lives might be in danger there.

The decision has prompted anger from Turkey.

Ruling on the new Turkish request Tuesday, the Athens court accepted a prosecutor's recommendation that no significant new evidence against them had been produced.

The court will meet again next week to discuss whether to extradite the other five Turks, in accordance with the new request.

All eight pilots and flight engineers have requested asylum in Greece.
The Japanese government has admitted that people across the country may have precious little time to take cover from a North Korean missile attack: just 10 minutes.

UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS NORTH KOREA MISSILE TEST

Millions have viewed a government website detailing what to do in case of an attack, the Japan Times reports.

Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura announced the city would establish a response team in case of any North Korean missile launch, nuclear attack, or attack on North Korea by the U.S.

NORTH KOREA MISSILE TEST ENDS IN FAILURE

Still, the mayor said, Depending on the case, the warnings and alarms might only sound four or five minutes before a missile arrives.

Last month, some people in Japan completed a first-of-its-kind evacuation drill in Japan centered around a North Korean missile attack.

Japan reportedly plans intends to use a system broadcasting information about a forthcoming missile attack via satellite, telephone, and cyberspace to local disaster management officials.

Once that step is in motion, local governments would relay the warnings through loudspeakers, emergency broadcast television channels, FM radio broadcasts and phone alerts, the Japan Times added.

The portal site says if you are outside when a warning is sounded, find the strongest concrete building you can or go underground, if possible. Families in homes are urged to stay low to the floor and under tables away from windows. If school is in session, students should hide under desks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a scheduled meeting Tuesday with visiting German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel after learning the diplomat would meet with human rights organizations critical of the Israeli military, in a rare feud between two allies.

Gabriel has planned to meet with Israeli representatives of the human rights organizations known as Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem.

ISRAEL MARKS HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY WITH SOMBER CEREMONY

Breaking the Silence is a non-government organization that publishes testimonies of veterans from Israeli Defense Forces to shed light on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. B'Tselem is a non-profit that documents human rights abuses in occupied territories.

Netanyahu had threatened to scrap the meeting before following through. Gabriel earlier called Netanyahu's ultimatum "regrettable and unimaginable" in an interview with German media outlet ZDF, adding: "It is perfectly normal for us to meet with representatives of civil organizations during a political visit."

NETANYAHU ISSUES STERN WARNING ON IRAN IN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH FOX NEWS

Gabriel refused to take a phone call from the Israeli premier, explaining that he refused to participate in a political game, Haaretz reported.

In return, shortly afterwards, Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying, "Imagine if foreign diplomats visiting the United States or Britain met with NGOs that call American or British soldiers war criminals. Leaders of those countries would surely not accept this."

The statement added, "Diplomats are welcome to meet with representatives of civil society but Prime Minister Netanyahu will not meet with those who lend legitimacy to organizations that call for the criminalization of Israeli soldiers. Our relations with Germany are very important and they will not be affected by this."

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin did meet with Gabriel, stressing the significance of Israel and German relationship was "a truly deep and positive one."

Gabriel noted he had arrived on Israels Holocaust Remembrance Day and said, We came here yesterday on a very special day. It reminds us of the special relationship and special responsibility not just today but in the future, to a secure and safe Israel, to support the country which is the country of those who survived the Holocaust.

During their meeting, Rivlin spoke of the current debate surrounding his visit, and stressed that as a democratic state, Israel was familiar with receiving criticism from time to time.

He also noted that criticism needed to be based in reality. Our army is the most moral army in the world, Rivlin said, adding, it is an army made up of all our children. We know how to maintain our army as the most moral in the world, and we will continue to do so.

Gabriel has served as Germany's foreign minister since January and its vice chancellor since 2013. This is his first visit to Israel in his new job.

A similar diplomatic skirmish occurred earlier this year after visiting Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel met with representatives of Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem a day after his meeting with Netanyahu. The Israeli premier then ordered the summoning of Belgium's ambassador to his foreign ministry.
North Korea on Tuesday reportedly conducted a huge live-fire drill that involved up to 400 artillery pieces, which may have been supervised by the countrys leader, Kim Jong Un, as the U.S. added a nuclear-powered submarine to its fleet of vessels powering toward the region.

Pyongyang apparently deployed long-range artillery units in the coastal region of Wonsan, an unnamed government source told South Koreas Yonhap news agency. South Koreas military did not confirm the report, but told the news outlet it was firmly maintaining readiness.

NORTH KOREA CELEBRATES AS SOUTH KOREA, UNITED STATES KEEP WATCH

There was speculation that the North might carry out another nuclear or missile test.

News of the live-fire drill came after the USS Michigan, the nuclear-powered powered Ohio class submarine, pulled into the South Korean port of Busan for a hull check.

VIDEO: 3RD AMERICAN NOW DETAINED BY NORTH KOREA

The USS Vinson aircraft carrier strike group made it to the Philippine Sea in waters south of Japan, according to senior U.S. defense officials.

When asked about the USS Michigan, Lieutenant commander Matt Knight with U.S. Pacific Fleet told Fox News in a statement the submarine was on "routine deployment."

"U.S. Navy ships and submarines routinely make port calls in a variety of locations," Knight said. "As a matter of routine, we do not discuss future operations or the details regarding the operations of our submarines. USS Michigan is currently on a routine deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific."

Meanwhile, the entire U.S. Senate has been invited to the White House for a briefing on Wednesday about the North Korea situation. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed the upcoming briefing, for all 100 senators.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats plan to provide the update to lawmakers.

It is rare for the entire Senate to be invited to such a briefing.

South Koreas Defense Ministry has said the North appears ready to conduct such "strategic provocations" at any time. South Korean Acting Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has instructed his military to strengthen its "immediate response posture" in case North Korea does something significant on the April 25 anniversary of its military. North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying military capability.

On Monday, Trump also had lunch with ambassadors of countries on the U.N. Security Council. Ahead of the meeting, Trump called for big reforms at the U.N. and criticizing its handling of recent events in Syria and North Korea  but said it has tremendous potential.

"You just don't see the United Nations, like, solving conflicts. I think that's going to start happening now," he said.

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
Factcheck: Mail on Sundays astonishing evidence about global temperature rise



In an article in todays Mail on Sunday, David Rose makes the extraordinary claim that world leaders were duped into investing billions over manipulated global warming data, accusing the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of manipulating the data to show more warming in a 2015 study by Tom Karl and coauthors.What he fails to mention is that the new NOAA results have been validated by independent data from satellites, buoys and Argo floats and that many other independent groups, including Berkeley Earth and the UKs Met Office Hadley Centre, get effectively the same results.NOAAs results are independently verifiedThe new NOAA record published in Karl et al primarily updated their ocean temperature record. While they also released a revised land record based on data from the International Surface Temperature Initiative (and the related Global Historical Climatology Network version 4 beta product  GHCNv4), the land record was largely similar to their prior record and was responsible for relatively little of the increase in warming they showed....Further updates to come from NOAANOAA is planning on further updates to their sea surface temperature record this year to incorporate Argo data and to make some adjustments to their spatial interpolation technique. Based on the preliminary results that their team presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting late last year, their new record (ERSSTv5) will have about 10% less warming than their current record (ERSSTv4) over the 2000-2015 period, largely due to changes in the way that they account for areas with limited data. Their upcoming record will still show 50% more warming than the old NOAA record (ERSSTv3b).While NOAAs data management procedures may well need improvement, their results have been independently validated and agree with separate global temperature records created by other groups.The astonishing evidence that David Rose purports to reveal in no way changes our understanding of modern warming or our best estimates of recent rates of warming. It does not in any way change the evidence that policymakers have at their disposal when deciding how to address the threats posed by climate change.If anything, there is strong independent evidence that NOAAs new record may be the most accurate one over the last two decades, at least for the two-thirds of the world covered in ocean.
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An Afghan official says the Taliban have killed eight policemen and overran three security checkpoints in northern Takhar province.

Sunatullah Timor, the provincial spokesman, says the attack took place on Monday in the district of Darqad. He says the hours-long firefight also wounded three police officers and killed eight of the attackers.

Timor says the Taliban have cut off the districts of Darqad and Khuja Bhawedin. The government sent in reinforcements and launched a counter-attack.

The attack coincided with a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis who from Kabul accused Russia of providing weapons to the Taliban for use against American-backed forces in Afghanistan  a charge Moscow denies.

Mattis' visit followed a Taliban raid on an Afghan base last week that killed over 100 soldiers and military personnel.
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Pope Francis has told the Egyptian people he is coming to Cairo this week as a friend and a "messenger of peace."

In a videotaped message released on Tuesday, Francis also says he hopes the pilgrimage will "be an embrace of consolation and of encouragement to all Christians in the Middle East."

Twin bombings of Coptic Christian churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday this month killed 44 people.

Francis departs for Cairo on Friday and returns on Saturday.

He wished the "dear people of Egypt" peace and said he was coming "with a joyful and grateful heart."

Francis expressed hope that his trip might also "offer a valid contribution to interreligious dialogue with the Islamic world, and to ecumenical dialogue with the venerated and beloved Coptic Orthodox Church."
A South African man on trial for allegedly murdering his father, mother and brother with an ax has returned under escort to the scene of the killings.

Henri van Breda, along with the judge and lawyers in his trial, on Tuesday inspected the home in Stellenbosch where the murders occurred in January 2015.

South African media say that during the visit, van Breda gave his version of events on the night of the killings. Media were not allowed to enter the house.

Van Breda has said he fought an attacker during the slaughter. He pleaded not guilty Monday as the trial began.

The suspect also is charged with attempting to murder his sister, Marli. Then 16, she suffered severe injuries and is reported to be unable to remember the incident.
More than 30 U.S.-backed Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish fighters were killed in a series of airstrikes carried out by Turkish jets on Monday, two American defense officials confirmed to Fox News.

Dozens of fighters were also wounded in the strikes. Both officials said there were no U.S. troops among the fighters who were hit. The closest U.S. soldiers were about six miles from the site of the strikes.

This is very serious, said one outraged U.S. official.

TERROR IN BRUSSELS: COPS ARREST EIGHT SUSPECTED ISIS MILITANTS WITH LINKS TO BOMBINGS THAT KILLED 32

U.S. and Russian troops in the areas of the attacks were warned about an hour before 24 Turkish jets and two Turkish drones bombed locations in northern Iraq and northeast Syria. Senior Russian officials contacted U.S. counterparts to try to get Turkey to back off the strikes, but those pleas were ignored by the Turks, officials said.

"This is very serious."  U.S. defense official

Given the extraordinarily complex battlespace in these areas, it is vital that Turkey and all partners in the defeat-ISIS effort coordinate their actions closely as we work together to maintain maximum pressure on ISIS and ensure the safety of all Coalition personnel in theater, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Adrian J.T. Rankine-Galloway told Fox News.

POST-ISIS, IRAQIS DEBATE PENTAGON TROOPS REMAINING IN THEIR COUNTRY

U.S. officials told Fox News that Kurds were not warned in advance of Turkish airstrike.

"There wasn't enough time," said one official.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner told reporters Tuesday the U.S. was concerned Turkey conducted the strikes without proper coordination and emphasized the importance of respecting Iraq's borders and sovereignty. Toner said U.S. officials had directly shared their concerns with Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded: We are obliged to take measures. We must take steps. We shared this with the U.S. and Russia and we are sharing it with Iraq as well, Reuters reported.

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hosted his Turkish counterpart, Fikri Isik, at the Pentagon for talks about the upcoming Raqqa offensive in Syria.

Both secretaries ignored a question from a reporter about the role Kurds would play in that operation.

There are currently about 1,000 U.S. troops on the ground in Syria. In March, 400 Marines deployed to Syria as part of an artillery battery to support U.S.-backed troops fighting around Raqqa.

The U.S. Air Force uses a Turkish airbase near the border with Syria to conduct strikes against ISIS.

Last week, Fox News reported ISIS leaders and hundreds of bureaucrats had been seen by U.S. military drones fleeing the terror group's so-called capital during the past two months and heading to the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, located 90 miles southeast of Raqqa. Some also fled to al-Mayadin, further down the Euphrates River and the location where U.S. special operations forces killed a mid-level associate of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi late last week.

The U.S. views the Syrian-Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, known as the YPG, as key allies in the fight against ISIS. Turkey views the group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a Turkish insurgent group that has conducted a decades long insurgency that's killed thousands. Both Ankara and Washington consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

Turkish airstrikes hit PKK positions "on and around Mt. Sinjar" earlier in the day, resulting in five deaths, according to a statement from the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.

Fox News' Rich Edson contributed to this report.
The Venezuelan Attorney General's Office is investigating an incident during which the Caracas chief of police suffered a gunshot wound in the leg.

Before daybreak Tuesday, Police Chief Robinson Antonio Navarro Acosta was shot while patrolling near the Guarataro neighborhood, where security forces had been dispersing a demonstration.

FEARS OF MILITARY-GRADE WEAPONS IN WRONG HANDS AMID VENEZUELA UNREST

The number of deaths since protests against the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro started a month ago rose to 26 later in the day, after 23-year-old Orlando Medina died instantly from a gunshot to the head in the western state of Lara.

Fifteen people have died in violence around demonstrations and 11 others in night-time lootings.

Political activists and Venezuelan media have reported more deaths, but those have not been confirmed.

VENEZUELA'S MADURO TO PROVIDE GUNS TO 400,000 LOYALISTS AMID PEAKING TENSION

With near-daily demonstrations by both opponents and supporters of Maduro, there have been fatalities on both sides, as well as one National Guard sergeant killed during a protest.

The prosecutor's office did not specify the political allegiance of Tuesday's victim, though media in Lara said he was an opposition sympathizer.

"Any death hurts, government or opposition," chief state prosecutor Luisa Ortega said in a speech. He said that four fatalities were adolescents and 437 people had also been injured.

The ruling Socialist Party accuses foes of seeking a violent coup with U.S. connivance, while the opposition says Maduro is a dictator repressing peaceful protest.

The opposition's main demands are for elections, the release of jailed activists and autonomy for the opposition-led legislature. But protests are also fueled by a crippling economic crisis in the oil-exporting nation of 30 million people.

The unrest is Venezuela's worst since 2014, when 43 people died in months of mayhem sparked again by protests against Maduro, the 54-year-old successor to late leader Hugo Chavez.

Nearly 1,500 people have been arrested, with 801 still detained as of Tuesday, rights group Penal Forum said.

Trying to keep the pressure on Maduro, the opposition Democratic Unity coalition is planning a march on Wednesday toward downtown Caracas. Past attempts to reach that area have been blocked by security forces using teargas and rubber bullets against masked youths hurling stones and Molotov cocktails.

Thousands of red-shirted Maduro supporters marched in the state of Falcon on Tuesday, chanting pro-government slogans and denouncing the opposition for violence.

"They call themselves defenders of human rights but then they murder people. They're the same as 2002," Socialist Party No. 2 Diosdado Cabello told the crowd, referring to a short-lived coup against Chavez that year.

EFE and Reuters contributed to this report.
FOCUS ON DEFENSE CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND OCEANIA
An appeal by a man convicted of killing a University of Mary Washington student has been denied.

The Virginia Court of Appeals denied Steven Vander Briels appeal on Friday, according to Fredericksburg Circuit Court records.

Briel was charged in the April 17, 2015, slaying of Grace Mann at the Washington Avenue home where they lived with two other female UMW students.

A jury convicted Briel in July 2016, and he was sentenced to a term of life plus 11 years. Briels attorneys sought to have their client found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The 20-year-old Mann was found by her housemates strangled to death that April afternoon. Briel was home at the time, but later fled on foot. He was caught by police about two hours later.

Briels attorneys told the jury that the 32-year-old New Jersey native, who had re-enrolled at the university that semester, killed Mann in a fight that stemmed from a schizophrenia-induced delusion.

In court, his attorneys said Briel did not intend to kill Mann, but planned instead to incapacitate her because he feared she was trying to kill him. They said Briel suffered from delusions in which he suspected everyone from his housemates to a janitor to a plumber of being involved in plots against him.

The defense team had a forensic psychologist who diagnosed Briel with paranoid schizophrenia and said he was insane when he killed Mann. The prosecution also had a forensic psychologist, who said Briel was not insane.

Briels attorneys claimed in their appeal that he was denied a right to a fair trial because the court refused to allow instructions to the jury during the trial phase about what could happen if Briel was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The appeals court wrote that the trial court here did not abuse its discretion in refusing to allow voir dire [juror examination] regarding the consequences of an acquittal by reason of insanity, because to do so would encourage a jury to find the accused not guilty by reason of insanity based upon whether or not the defendant will be committed or released rather than whether he is legally insane.

Briel has the option of asking a three-judge panel of the Virginia Court of Appeals to review the case, according to Fredericksburg Commonwealths Attorney LaBravia Jenkins. If that fails, he can file an appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court.
A man who stole more than $150,000 from a Stafford County company over a two-year period pleaded guilty to seven felony charges Tuesday.

Michael Patrick Ziegler of Reston was convicted in Stafford Circuit Court of two counts of forgery, two counts of passing forged documents and three counts of obtaining money by false pretenses. In exchange for his guilty pleas, prosecutor Michael Hardiman dropped a number of other charges.

Ziegler will be sentenced July 24. He was allowed to remain free on bond until then.

According to the evidence, Ziegler worked as a vice president for Garrett Development Co. Hardiman said company owner Andy Garrett hired Ziegler and made him a vice president in part because he knew Zieglers father.

Hardiman said Garrett also allowed Ziegler to live in his home rent free for two years, and gave him a loan for a car.

He said Ziegler repaid Garrett by diverting money from the company to a phony shell company in MiamiJMN Consultingthat he created. JMN features the initials of Zieglers wife and two sons, Hardiman said.

The scam involved creating fraudulent invoices that Ziegler sometimes got Garrett to sign. The theft took place from April 2014 through last year, Hardiman said.

The illegal activities came to light when Garrett noticed a bill from an architect that was much higher than it should have been. Garrett contacted the architect, who told him that he had never submitted a bill. He said Ziegler sent him an excessive payment and told him to cash the check and send the excess money to a JMN Consulting account.

Stafford Detective Ed McCullough investigated and learned there was no such company, only a post office box.

Bank records led to Zieglers home address in Kentucky, where his wife and children were living. Hardiman said the resulting paper trail led to a solid case against Ziegler.
First-term Irmo Mayor Barry Walker announced Sept. 26 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. The mayors wife, Susan, also got COVD-19, Walker said on social media. As you know Im a kidney patient and require weekly dialysis, Walker wrote. This virus compromises my immune syste Read moreWhat You Missed: Irmo Mayor Barry Walker gets COVID-19
The UK government needs to maintain tariff-free trade access with the EU post-Brexit and be pragmatic when it comes to developing new trading relationships with non-EU countries, according to the Countryside Alliance.

The rural lobby group has published a Brexit policy document which outlines its demands to ensure that the countryside remains living and working once the UK is outside Europe.

The group argues that if high tariffs are imposed on the agricultural sector then it will be damaging to UK producers and EU consumers.

See also: Small farmers demand radical shake-up post Brexit

Approximately 90% of UK beef, sheep and dairy exports go to the EU and high tariffs would be particularly damaging to some of our most rural areas where farming is a vital part of the local economy and community, it says.

The document also calls on the UK government to ensure food and agricultural produce are central to any new trade deals with non-EU countries.

However, it adds that while the government should be ambitious, it must also be pragmatic, because some farmers will always struggle to compete on the global market.

Farmers in the uplands, and other marginal areas, are not in fair competition with global producers who are operating in very different environments, often with fewer safety and animal welfare laws to comply with.

Iconic landscape

This type of upland and marginal farming does, however, provide a vital public good in maintaining some of our most vital iconic rural landscapes.

These farmers will require a fully funded agricultural policy that rewards them for their contribution and supports their efforts to diversify.

Other demands in the document include the need for a comprehensive food labelling policy and to extend mandatory country of origin labelling to lightly processed meats such as sausages or ready meals.

While the EU has established compulsory country of origin labelling for beef, lamb, pork and poultry it remains the case that sausages made in the UK using Danish pork can still be legally labelled as British, it says.
EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan is predicting a bloodbath over the terms of any future UK-US free-trade agreement after Brexit.

Addressing an event organised by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) in County Kildare, Mr Hogan said the UK had made it clear it intends to pursue its own international trade agenda once it leaves the European Union.

See also: Countryside Alliance demands pragmatic trade deals

However, he said fault lines were already emerging with respect to any UK-US trade agreement.

International trade secretary Liam Fox is pushing for agriculture to be included in such discussions, claiming that Americans have been eating hormone beef and chlorine chicken perfectly safely for years, so whats all the fuss about? he said.

I predict an interesting debate on this. Would British farmers and consumers accept hormone beef and chlorine chicken on their supermarket shelves? I seriously doubt it. There may yet be a bloodbath over these issues.

Encouraging

Mr Hogan said he was encouraged by British prime minister Theresa Mays desire to secure a bold and ambitious free-trade agreement with the EU.

However, the UKs desire to also strike trade deals with non-EU countries meant Mrs May was unwilling to keep the UK within the EU customs union, as this would mean it would have to apply the same external tariffs on imports.

It is my hope that, over the coming months, the British government will recognise that the best way to maintain the freest possible trade in goods such as agri-food is to remain in the customs union, and that sense will prevail, said Mr Hogan.

Failure to do so would allow the UK to open the doors to cheaper food imports from around the world  something that would be extremely damaging for the Irish agri-food sector.

Exposed

IFA president Joe Healey explained that 40%, or 4bn (3.6bn) worth, of agri-food exports go to the UK each year.

The value of our exports cannot be undermined by an increase in low-cost food imports into the UK market, he said.

Any free-trade agreement must include the maintenance of European standards and the UKs acceptance of the European common external tariff to protect the UK market against low-cost imports from outside the EU.
The city of Lebanon is seeking people to fill five positions on the Lebanon Planning Commission.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. May 22 to the city clerk, 925 S. Main St., or online at lkaser@ci.lebanon.or.us.

Candidates must reside within the city limits, the urban growth boundary or the Lebanon ZIP code.

The planning commission advises the Lebanon City Council and serves as a quasi-judicial committee. The commission has the authority to make binding decisions regarding land use activities on public and private property. It is governed by the Lebanon Municipal Code, Title 16, and Oregon Revised Statutes 227 and 197.

Members receive no compensation and must file annual Statements of Economic Interest with the State Ethics Commission. The commission normally meets in the evenings on the third Wednesday of each month.

To apply, fill out a City of Lebanon Board/Committee/Commission/Council Application available online at www.ci.lebanon.or.us or at City Hall, 925 S. Main St., or call 541-258-4905 to obtain an application.

After the current planning commission reviews the applications, the committee chair will provide a written recommendation for the mayor's consideration. Appointments will be determined and applicants notified by June 5. The applicant will be appointed by the mayor at the June 14 meeting of the Lebanon City Council.

Terms for all five positions run until June 30, 2021.
Story Highlights Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index at +7 last week

Score is in line with those in recent weeks but down from highs in January, March

Economic outlook component remains well below its highest point

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans have remained upbeat about the economy for 24 straight weeks, though their current level of confidence is lower than it was earlier in the year. Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index stood at +7 last week, generally in line with readings since the November presidential election. However, it is below the +16 score observed in early March and similar high scores in late January.

Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: how Americans rate current economic conditions and whether they feel the economy is improving or getting worse. The index has a theoretical maximum of +100 if all Americans were to say the economy is doing well and improving, and a theoretical minimum of -100 if all were to say the economy is doing poorly and getting worse.

Shortly after the presidential election, Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index crossed into positive territory for the first time in nearly two years. The index's overall improvement was mainly attributable to a surge in confidence among Republicans, who expressed widespread dissatisfaction with the state of the economy during former President Barack Obama's tenure but whose opinions quickly changed course after a Republican won the White House.

While Republicans were mostly responsible for the uptick in economic confidence late last year, other Americans also found a reason to improve their assessment of the economy, as evidenced by the index's rise throughout the presidential transition period.

The measure hit a nine-year high of +14 in the last week of January, coinciding with President Donald Trump's inauguration, before retreating in the ensuing weeks. In early March, confidence reached a new peak of +16.

Since then, however, confidence has fallen back to levels similar to those recorded immediately after Trump's election. Nonetheless, Americans are still significantly more confident in the economy than they were before the election.

Outlook Component Well Below Peaks in January, March

For the week ending April 23, 33% of Americans assessed the economy as "excellent" or "good," while 21% rated it as "poor," resulting in a +12 current conditions score -- similar to the +11 score from the prior week.

Meanwhile, 47% of Americans last week said the economy was getting better, while 46% said it was getting worse, resulting in an economic outlook score of +1. While this represents an improvement from the previous week's score of -3, the economic outlook component has fallen considerably from +15 in early March and +13 in the last two weeks of January.

Bottom Line

Americans remain optimistic about the health of the U.S. economy, though they are not quite as optimistic as they were shortly after Trump's inauguration or in early March as financial markets registered their best performance to date. While the index has fallen from its record high in March, it has been stable for the past five weeks.

This week could be a fateful one for the U.S. economy with a number of economic policies on the legislative agenda, including tax reform, a second attempt to fundamentally change the federal healthcare law known as "Obamacare," and a funding deal that must be reached by Friday to avoid a shutdown of the federal government.

It is not clear whether any of these policies will immediately affect economic confidence unless Trump and Congress cannot avert a government shutdown. The last time the federal government shut down, in 2013, Gallup's Economic Confidence Index fell 12 points in one week -- the largest drop the index experienced since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 sparked a global financial crisis.

These data are available in Gallup Analytics.

Gallup.com reports results from these indexes in daily, weekly and monthly averages and in Gallup.com stories. Complete trend data are always available to view in the following charts:

Daily: Employment, Economic Confidence, Consumer Spending

Weekly: Employment, Economic Confidence, Job Creation, Consumer Spending

Read more about Gallup's economic measures.

View our economic release schedule.
ALBANY POLICE

Night swimming  9 p.m. Saturday, Second Avenue and Main Street SE. Jared Hamer, 33, who had a parole violation warrant for his arrest, ran from police, went into the Willamette River and tried to swim away. Shortly afterward, he reconsidered and swam back to shore. He was lodged in the Linn County Jail and has a no-bail hold.

Elude arrest  11:53 p.m. Saturday, Center Street and Santiam Highway. Police pursued a Honda Accord that went east on Highway 20 to Highway 226. Speeds topped 90 mph. Ashley Fern Blair, 24, of Jefferson, was arrested on a charge of felony attempt to elude and a felony warrant out of Marion County. It was later discovered that the Honda was reported stolen out of Salem.

LINN COUNTY SHERIFF

Burglary  1:24 p.m. Saturday, Mikes Auto Repair and Towing, 37980 Jefferson-Scio Drive. A caller reported that the shop was broken into and an air tool, drills, scan tools and other specialty items were stolen from the business.

DUII crash  2:34 a.m. Sunday, 30800 block Waterloo Road. A deputy responded to a single vehicle crash. Michael Keen, 26, of Lebanon, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants.

LEBANON POLICE

Stolen car  5:36 a.m. Friday, 1600 block S. Ninth Street. A caller reported that his white 1991 Honda Civic was reported stolen sometime during the previous night. The vehicle had approximately $1,000 in tools inside, as well as two child car seats.
You can bet this years Kentucky Derby online from Florida via any number of international racebooks that wont ask for your social security number or report your betting activity to a government entity.

While Florida features a number of top race tracks in which to bet from, most of these are located in and around the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area and Tampa Bay.

Charge up your smart phone and place your bets online while enjoying the Gulf Stream Park Kentucky Derby watch party.

Come to the Carousel Club at Gulfstream Park and watch the 2022 Kentucky Derby on their TVs for a watch party you wont want to miss. It's Julep season! Enjoy half-priced Mint Julep pitchers from 12 PM-4 PM! May your hats be big and your juleps fine. See you at Carousel Club for the Kentucky Derby Watch Party in Hallendale.

Saturday Event Details:

Watch the Kentucky Derby on our TVs!

Half-priced Mint Julep pitchers (12 PM-4 PM)

SportsBetting Racebook vs. TwinSpires

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If you live in South Carolina, the only option you have is to bet online from home.

South Carolina residents are prohibited from playing at any of the US-based racebooks like TwinSpires but of course there are plenty of options available in terms of the international sites .

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An Oregon state agency issued stop-work orders April 7 for two Millersburg subdivisions well after construction started, citing potential wetland concerns, according to Millersburg City Manager Steve Hasson.

Federal wetlands inventory maps, which the city relies on to approve developments, show no wetlands, however.

Hasson expressed frustration about the Oregon Department of State Lands government overreach in emails to city officials and the media, saying the Eagle Nest and Woods Estate subdivisions already have streets, curbing, gas, water and sewer.

Its not like this is in the early stages. Its ready to rock and roll, Hasson said. Ive never seen anything like this, and Ive been around for forever and ever and three more days.

Dan Watson, owner and president of K&D Engineering, the firm overseeing Eagle Nest, said the owner has already invested $1.5 million in construction on the project, which could bring 42 new homes to town. That price tag doesnt include land acquisition.

The project is ready for houses, Watson said. If you have wetlands on your site, it delays your project at least a year.

And that could be critical, because developers never know when the booming housing market will sour.

The Woods Estate subdivision has 51 houses planned. Both Eagle Nest and Woods Estate are south of Millersburg Drive and west of Woods Road, on the western edge of the city.

Hasson wrote that a State Lands employee apparently relied on maps on Google for her determination that there may have been wetlands on the sites and has no physical evidence of potential wetlands damage. State Lands wetland specialists were at the projects on Thursday collecting soil samples, however.

The state, Hasson added, waited until there was no possible ability to restore whatever wetlands may have existed before voicing concerns, and said that he viewed the action as an entrapment scheme.

This approach to resolution is similar to a building enforcer watching a person build a house and waiting until it is completed before taking an action to correct the situation. Is it possible this agency wished to extract more funds out of the developer or build a better case against them? Hasson wrote.

Developers rely on local jurisdictions review of wetland assessments as part of the review process for moving forward with their projects. The state, Hasson said, has its own protocol, and didnt notify Millersburg of the stop-work order, despite the city issuing permits for projects.

They admitted the city had done nothing wrong in our approving these developments. They agreed the maps and information the city and developers relied upon reflect no wetlands at these sites. However, DSLs view is that the maps and the methods the city and its developers have relied upon do not tell the whole story, Hasson wrote.

Hasson said that the Department of State Lands informed him that a developer or the city could seek a land use determination from the agency free of charge and the organization would respond within 30 days.

What they were telling me is only they have the wherewithal to assure wetland assessments  essentially they have the only reliable knowledge base to determine development outcomes, Hasson wrote.

And the agency can evaluate a development at any time during the process, shutting the site down if it believes there are wetlands without any guarantee the project can continue in the future, Hasson said.

Watson said that he would essentially be forced to have the department review every project that comes before him for wetland concerns.

The wetlands process is time consuming and expensive in all cases and often what the federal and state government regulates as wetlands does not look like wetlands to a normal person. Sunrise Park, for example, the lawns that were in that park were determined to be wetlands, Watson said.

The cease-and-desist orders carry upward of $10,000 fines per day, as well as criminal sanctions, if construction work continues.

Hasson stressed that the city of Millersburg believes that protecting the environment is important.

He added he will keep issuing permits, though he is now providing those who apply with a copy of the stop-work orders to inform them there is another agency out there lurking.

A Department of State Lands spokeswoman said Monday that she didnt have detailed information about the Millersburg situation and could not comment.

A real estate agent handling Woods Estate could not be reached Monday.
The Corvallis School Board has five open seats that will be decided in the May election, and the Gazette-Times will be running Q&As with candidates for all positions.

Presented below are the questions and responses we received for the candidates for position six on the board.

Ed Junkins

Age: 51

Occupation: pediatrician and academic dean of Western University of Health Sciences campus in Lebanon Oregon

Q: Why are you running for the board?

A: As an involved parent of five boys, with decades of experience as a pediatrician, the academic dean of a medical school and a passionate educator, I have always sought ways to support and enrich the development of students in the community. Both my wife and I are products of K-12 public education, and weve experienced all levels of education in schools with our children. I have served on a school board for three years in another state. My focus on the Corvallis School Board will be on academic outcomes, equity and inclusivity, and childhood emotional and physical safety at school.

Q: What are your qualifications for the board?

A: My qualifications for school board include being: a pediatric physician, I understand the developmental needs of children; a pediatric emergency physician and published researcher in school injuries, I have considerable experience with ill and injured children, and can consult on topics ranging from playground safety to chronic medical needs of students; an expert in curriculum development, I can critically evaluate the academic metrics of the district; as an expert in communication and conflict resolution, I am comfortable with conflict and finding solutions; and a former dean of diversity and inclusion, I can teach cultural competence to a spectrum of audiences.

Q: What two specific issues would be your priorities if elected?

A: My top priorities on the school board would be: one, increase funding and innovative solutions to address teacher-student ratios, which might include adding positions for teachers or aides in the classrooms, or other innovations such as bolstering library resources district wide to support teaching programs, and policies to ensure a safe and nurturing learning environment; and two, expand district cultural competency training, as the districts demographics are rapidly changing, there are challenges in maintaining an acceptable level of cultural competency. An inclusive and equitable environment benefits everyone in the community, and requires a commitment at the highest level of administration.

Q: Corvallis School District is considering asking voters to approve a building bond next year and some decisions in the proposal may be controversial, specifically closing or consolidating schools or asking for higher tax rates than the current bond. How do you think the board should handle its bond proposal?

A: The reality is that the district must maintain adequate funding for programs to keep pace with the state, while preserving a safe and nurturing learning environment in the classrooms. Thus, the districts budget will need to be nimble and efficient in order to meet its goals: every student graduates, every student shows growth, and closure of the opportunity gap. The best chance to meet these important goals is through evidence based decision-making and best business practices, while maintaining relationships with partners in fundraising. I would support a bond which is soundly based in evidence and well-vetted by community constituents.

Carlos M. Lopez

Age: 38

Occupation: wastewater/surface water collections specialist for the City of Corvallis

Q: Why are you running for the board?

A: I am looking to give back to a community that has embraced and welcomed my family.

Q: What are your qualifications for the board?

A: I am a parent of students currently in the system, I hope to get more parents get involved in shaping the future of our children, it is fun, rewarding and you meet great people! I am also the president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2975, the city employee union and serve on the facilities planning commission. I am an executive board member at state council 75.

Q: What two specific issues would be your priorities if elected?

A: High school graduation rates, preserving and enhancing the wide range of programs we have for the needs of our children.

Q: Corvallis School District is considering asking voters to approve a building bond next year and some decisions in the proposal may be controversial, specifically closing or consolidating schools or asking for higher tax rates than the current bond. How do you think the board should handle its bond proposal?

A: The board is doing community outreach, it has formed a facilities planning committee. The board also recognizes the strong voices of it's community volunteers and parents. We have a strong, active and giving community; they will find a fair and equitable resolution.

Andy Roberts

Age: 37

Occupation: director of specialized information systems within the Division of Finance and Administration at Oregon State University

Q: Why are you running for the board?

A: I want to contribute to my community in a meaningful way, and I hope to offer my experience and energy via the school board to make a positive impact. The importance of a strong public educational system cannot be overstated; the education we provide our children today shapes the community we have in the future.

My wife, Rachel (Roberts), and I moved to Corvallis 11 years ago specifically because the community reflects so many of our values. We have two daughters, one in second grade at Adams Elementary, and the other is in preschool.

Q: What are your qualifications for the board?

A: I have been working in information technology for over fifteen years, and recently completed my masters of business administration at OSU. In my career, I have always been a problem solver  I assist in identifying goals and find ways to achieve them.

I have been working with OSUs Capital Planning and Facilities Services for almost five years, which gives me experience that would be beneficial during the school districts facilities planning.

My wifes career has been within public elementary schools in special education, and we are both advocates of public education and lifelong learning.

Q: What two specific issues would be your priorities if elected?

A: Addressing the safety of our facilities is my first priority. Students need a safe and welcoming place to be successful.

I think hands-on, experiential learning are among the most effective ways to engage students and build a love of learning. I would work to ensure programs such as art, music, and physical education have stable funding and are available at all schools. These are fundamental elements of a well-rounded education and should have consistent funding.

Q: Corvallis School District is considering asking voters to approve a building bond next year and some decisions in the proposal may be controversial, specifically closing or consolidating schools or asking for higher tax rates than the current bond. How do you think the board should handle its bond proposal?

A: We have several schools that are highly likely to collapse in the event of a large earthquake, and that needs to be at the forefront of these decisions. The research connecting small school sizes and student success is clear; smaller schools encourage attendance, reduce dropout rates, reduce behavior problems, and enhance equity. Our community-based elementary schools are in the sweet spot of 300 to 400 students per school, and I think targeting these numbers in facility planning is in the best interest of our students.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
Niklas Pohler case : Both sides seek acquittal for Walid S.

Bonn In a surprise turn of events in the Niklas Pohler case, the prosecution are asking for the main defendant, Walid S., to be acquitted. One reason is his similarity to Hakim D.

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In a surprise move in the Niklas Pohler court case, public prosecutor Florian Geler has requested an acquittal for the main defendant, Walid S. He explained in his closing speech that after being convinced at the start of the proceedings of Walid S.s guilt, he began to doubt his complicity during the trial. A particular reason was his similarity to the other suspect, Hakim D.

I cannot say with the necessary conviction that it was the defendant who dealt Niklas the deadly blow, said Gelar. The prosecutor said the defendants guilt was not beyond reasonable doubt even though Walid S. was capable of the crime. This crime is comparable to crimes already carried out by the defendant. These include an assault on 30 April 2016, a week before the death of Niklas Pohler.

Walid S. had admitted hitting and kicking another youth at that time. Walid S. denies hitting his victim on the head with a bottle, but it is clear to me he did, said Geler. He therefore asked for a suspended youth custody sentence of one year for the crime of 30 April and an acquittal in the Niklas case.

It apparently cannot be ruled out that witnesses possibly mixed up Walid S. and Hakim D. Hakim D. is also capable of such a crime and he looks very similar to Walid S. After gathering evidence, there are two possible perpetrators and I can no longer say which is the actual perpetrator, said the prosecutor. He finds this outcome to the trial very unsatisfactory. Above all he is sorry for the mother of the deceased.

On 7 May 2016, 17-year-old Niklas Pohler from Bad Breisig was attacked close to Bad Godesberg station while on his way back from a concert and so seriously injured by a blow to the head that he died six days later. Ten days after the incident, Walid S. was arrested as a suspect. He was charged along with an alleged second perpetrator, Roman W.

Right from the start, investigations also focussed on the 22-year-old Tunisian, Hakim D. He was supposed to be deported because of other crimes but this was postponed because of the investigations in the Niklas case. D. is currently in custody. Although the prosecution could find no evidence of Hakim D.s participation in the attack on Niklas, the 22-year-old again became the focus during the trial against Walid S. A witness said an acquaintance of hers recognised Hakim D. as Niklass attacker but was too scared to tell the truth in court. However, the witness denied this and stuck by his evidence that he did not know Niklass attacker.
Warning from Bonn police : New telephone scams

Bonn Police are warning of a new wave of telephone scams in Bonn. A healthy mistrust of any unusual call is the best protection.

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The phone rings and the number +22569880997 is displayed. Judith Olek takes the call on her mobile but does not notice it is from overseas. A woman is sobbing on the other end of the line. She could not speak, she was crying so much, reports Olek. She hung up and called the police.

The number is known to investigators and any call back costs money. Telephone scammers are always coming up with new schemes and most recently in Bonn they have posed as police or customs employees. Officials warn against them with information campaigns.

We always register such telephone scams intermittently, says Robert Schalten, spokesman for the Bonn police. There has been another wave since the beginning of the year. There were twelve incidents in February, of which two were successful, with the victims being defrauded of sums in the five figure range. Scholten also knows that such situations are very embarrassing for those affected and the number of unreported cases is therefore almost impossible to estimate.

The most common scam is where those called are told of a fictitious emergency and are put under pressure. It could be a car accident involving a relative who urgently needs money, says Scholten but the list of scams is long. Most recently, scammers have posed as police to gain trust. Then the number 110 is on the display, says Scholten. An easy rule: the police never use 110 to call anyone. Scholten advises anyone with the slightest suspicion to note down the phone number and to inform the police.

Customs officials are also fighting ID-spoofs and identity theft at the moment. Citizens are receiving phone calls demanding information relating to apparent legal proceedings. It is suspected the information given is intended to be used for cash payments. It is advised to immediately end such conversations. Another scam is a demand for storage charges for two trunks apparently being stored at Berlin-Brandenburg airport.

It is difficult for investigators to catch the perpetrators. Of 266 reported cases in Bonn last year, only eleven were solved. In most cases we cannot trace the calls, says Scholten. To be able to react, the Bonn police have centralised the processing of attempted scams. We also cooperate closely with other officials in Germany. When something happens, we get to hear about it, explains Scholten. New examples can be quickly identified and the public warned. But the best protection is a healthy mistrust as shown by Judith Olek.
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Protecting the worlds oceans  an important goal of Germanys climate diplomacy

The worlds oceans are vital to our survival. They regulate the global climate and are a source of food and income for billions of people. Only a very small part of the seas enjoys legal protection, however. Our diplomats are working in New York right now to change this state of affairs.
kacylee at 25-04-2017 08:54 AM (5 years ago) (f)

A 30-year-old Ugandan woman reportedly died on April 14 after falling 20 meters to the ground off a mango tree. Betty Atyeno, from Tali village in Abako Sub-county, Alebtong District, had climbed the tree to pluck mangoes for her five children, who had reportedly gone a whole day without food. She lost grip and fell, and although she was rushed to a local health centre, she died a few hours later.



A member of the local council, Mr John Odongo, said Atyeno had separated from her husband after a domestic disagreement. Odongo said: "The current hunger is causing a lot of domestic violence since men are chasing away their wives and children because they are unable to look after them." Odongo urged the Ugandan government and aid agencies to intervene to avert widespread famine in the region.

A 30-year-old Ugandan woman reportedly died on April 14 after falling 20 meters to the ground off a mango tree. Betty Atyeno, from Tali village in Abako Sub-county, Alebtong District, had climbed the tree to pluck mangoes for her five children, who had reportedly gone a whole day without food. She lost grip and fell, and although she was rushed to a local health centre, she died a few hours later.A member of the local council, Mr John Odongo, said Atyeno had separated from her husband after a domestic disagreement. Odongo said: "The current hunger is causing a lot of domestic violence since men are chasing away their wives and children because they are unable to look after them." Odongo urged the Ugandan government and aid agencies to intervene to avert widespread famine in the region.

Uganda's State Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Mr must Ecweru, reportedly said recently that the prolonged drought had increased the number of people facing hunger in Uganda from 1.2 million to seven million.

Uganda's State Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Mr must Ecweru, reportedly said recently that the prolonged drought had increased the number of people facing hunger in Uganda from 1.2 million to seven million.

Post Reply I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia. Posted: at 25-04-2017 08:54 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Sennheiser and Samsung to bring 3D audio Ambeo earbuds to Android News oi -Shilpa Even Android users can listen to 3D audio with these earbuds.

We have seen how 3D video technology grabbed the attention of everyone. Now, it's the turn of 3D audio to create a space in the list of advanced technology we know so far.

Sennheiser has launched a new earbud known as Ambeo Smart Surround earbuds at the Consumer Electronics Show. These earbuds are having the capability to record 3D audio. That is, it can record the sound so clearly that it will appear as if we are hearing it in real life. These Ambeo Smart Surround earbuds are made compatible only with iPhones during its launch.

But now it's time for Android users to buy this product and make the best of it. Yes, the Sennheiser is said to working with Samsung to make these earbuds compatible with Android devices as well.

CEO Andreas Sennheiser says, "We are working with Samsung on the Ambeo smart headset to make it available for Android devices. A dominant layer of the smartphone market is Android-based phones".

Microphones to record audio These Ambeo earbuds will come along with two omnidirectional microphones which are used to record realistic audio that works alongside a premium A/D converter, mic preamp and SoftLimit from Apogee. Also Read: Refurbished Galaxy Note7 gets Wi-Fi certified; May launch soon These two microphones are designed in such a way that they can capture even the subtle differences in timing, volume, and timbre which occurs as sound from different directions. So, it gives the stunning result when played back on headphones. Works best with mobile phones With this device, one can use iOS device's camera to record the three-dimensional sound, store binaural audio along with the video and also 180 visual perspectives. Daniel Sennheiser, co-CEO Sennheiser, says: "Together the AMBEO SMART HEADSET and your mobile device can become powerful creative tools for capturing your world in an entirely new way". Translation to digital information To translate sound into digital information, this device uses a premium Apogee analog to digital converter, mic preamp, and SoftLimit. Also Read: Samsung is allegedly prepping the 7th gen OLED displays and foldable OLEDs Apogee's SoftLimit helps in automatically optimizing the recording levels so one do not have to care about distortions in sound. Transparency in hearing functionality It offers transparent hearing which lets you hear what is actually going on around you even when you are using the headset. This feature can be manually adjusted using the 3-step rocker switch provided with the headset.

With Android smartphones used by almost everyone, these earbuds by Sennheiser will make 3D audio popular with no doubt.

Source

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Wi-Fi certification

A small ray of hope has been seen by Samsung lovers after the several variants of refurbished Galaxy Note 7 received Wi-Fi certification. It was found with a model number SM-N935S and running Android 7.0 Nougat on them.

Also Read: Samsung is allegedly prepping the 7th gen OLED displays and foldable OLEDs

List contains six new devices

Not just one model, but seven different models have been listed by Wi-Fi Alliance. The device with model number SM-N930 is said to be variations of the refurbished Galaxy Note7 which may launch in June.

Other model numbers which were found in the list are- SM-N930FD, SM-N930X, SM-N930S, SM-N930L, SM-N930K, SM-N930F, and SM-N935S. A different variant of this phone will come with slightly different speeds and specs.

Original Note 7 also received the certification

Some sources have observed that the device with model number SM-N930F has ben certified by Wi-Fi alliance. If you remember, this model number is of original Galaxy Note 7.

This made everyone to raise their eyebrows since it is not clear why the company is still trying to update the canceled model to have the latest Android OS in it.

Problems with old Note 7

After the company received explosion feedback from many users, they discontinued Galaxy Note 7 by the end of the October, which resulted in a loss of $5.3 billion.

Also Read: 10 best accessories for Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

In the press conference, the company explained that the faulty battery design, as well as defective batteries, were the primary reasons for all this tragedy. Now to cope with this failure, the company is refurbishing its old model.

Original Note 7 design

Talking about the design, the original phone has a blend of 3D glass and metal design. It also has IP86 ratings -- water and dust resistance, including the S-Pen. The phone has the capability to survive in water up to 5 ft deep for 30 minutes.

Amazing Camera

The old Note 7 had a fantastic camera compared to the other phones which were released last year. It flaunts a 12MP rear camera with LED flash, dual-pixel PDAF, Smart OIS and F/1.7 aperture.

Also Read: Weekly Roundup: Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, Xiaomi Mi 6, Honor Bee 2 and more

For selfie, this smartphone is backed with 5MP front camera f/1.7 aperture. This f/1.7 aperture helps to absorb more light inside, so one can capture an amazing photo even during low light conditions.

Specs and other features

The old variant of the Note has a 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED curved dual edge display with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels translating to a remarkable 518 ppi.

It is powered by an Octa-Core Exynos 8890 (2.3GHz Quad + 1.6GHz Quad), processor. It supported hybrid dual SIM slot and coupled with 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, 64GB native storage with an expandable option of up to 256GB via MicroSD card slot.

With improved security features

Forget about flaws, the company has added more security feature to this old device. It is equipped with an Iris scanner, apart from fingerprint recognition sensor. So the old Note 7 users were able to unlock their phone using eye recognition as well.

Price and Availability

Launched in August 2016, it was Priced at Rs. 59,990. With Dual pixel rear camera, this smartphone was released in Gold Platinum, Silver Titanium, and Black Onyx color variant.

Also Read: Samsung, Google teams up to offer Play Music as default music app on Samsung devices

When will we get the refurbished model?

To speak about refurbished model, the price and launch date are not yet confirmed by the company. But for now, we know that Samsung is truly working to revive its failed Note.
Three Google Pixel phones with Snapdragon 835 SoC may launch this year News oi -Chandrika These Pixel phones could get released in October

In 2016, Google launched two smartphones; Pixel and Pixel XL. While Google has not given us any hints, rumors suggest that the company plans to come up with three phones this year.

Now, according to a post on Android Open Source Project, the upcoming Google handsets are codenamed as Walleye, Muskie and Taimen. Walley and Muskie could be the successor of Pixel XL and Pixel respectively. On the other hand, Taimen is rumored to the brand-new tablet from Google. Last month, another rumor said that Taimen could get released as a Pixel phone without Google's branding.

Pixel XL accidentally receives 'Dogfood' Build of May Android Security update

Google usually codenames its smartphones after the names of fishes. As Taimen is world's largest salmonid, the phone could arrive with a large display.

The post on Android Open Source Project further reveals that the all the upcoming Google's phones will come equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset inside.

Previous reports also suggested that a cheaper edition of Google Pixel phone will get released this year, which will be called the Pixel 2B. However, Rick Osterloh, the Senior Vice President for Hardware for Google has told that Pixel smartphones will continue to stay premium.

He has hinted us about the Google Pixel 2 launch timeline as well. He has said that the upcoming phones would get released around October this year.

The already existing rumors reveal that Google Pixel 2 phones come with waterproof body and improved cameras featuring large-sized megapixels for advanced low-light photography.

Moreover, the future Pixel 2 handsets are not expected to sport the 3.5mm audio jack.

Source Via

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Telcos revenue may grow up to 63 billion by 2026: Ericsson News oi -Priyanka The company today said that it in talks with telecom players for its 5G ready solutions

According to the new report by Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson, the revenue of Indian telecom operators from traditional services are likely to grow from $37 billion to $63 billion by the year 2026 due to population growth increased penetration and high GDP growth.

The report says that 5G enabled industry revenue potential for operators can potentially add some incremental 20 percent (or $13 billion) on top of the $63 billion. If they take up roles beyond being connectivity and infrastructure providers to become service enablers and service creators. Adding that 5G enabled digitization revenues in India will be $25.9 billion by 2026.

"The largest opportunity will be seen in sectors like manufacturing, energy, and utilities followed by public safety and health sectors. Some of the 5G use cases that could be implemented using the unique features of 5G technology include industrial control and automation, autonomous driving, safety and traffic efficiency services, hospital applications and medical data management amongst others," the report added.

Vodafone offers unlimited calls to 3 countries

Paolo Colella, Head of Region India, Ericsson said, "As 5G becomes increasingly integral to industrial businesses and digitalization, we see a clear growth in the opportunity for new 5G-enabled revenues. To capture this value, investments in networks, business development, go-to-market models and organizational adaptation is required."

He said, "We have recently introduced our 5G platform to support the beginning of a huge change in network capabilities, allowing our customers to offer more advanced use cases and new business models to their customers. Ericsson has also announced 5G plug-ins - software-driven innovations that bring essential 5G technology concepts to today's cellular networks."

Meanwhile, the company today said that it in talks with telecom players for its 5G ready solutions.

" We are in talk with telecom operators for migration to 5G," said Nitin Bansal, Head of Network Products, Ericsson India.

The company has also launched its 5G ready Radio Solutions for the Indian market.

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Council gives green light for University campus masterplan

The University has welcomed the decision by Glasgow City Council to give the green light to its campus masterplan to develop the former Western Infirmary site. Council decision welcomed

The vote to approve planning permission in principle will lead to the creation of world-class teaching, learning and research facilities for students and staff.

It will also transform the West End of the city, bringing significant community, economic, environmental and cultural benefits as well as the creation of 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs.

Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Anton Muscatelli, said: We are delighted that Glasgow City Council has endorsed our ambitious plan which we believe will be a major economic driver for the city and for Scotland as well as underpin this universitys world-leading position.

The decision to approve the masterplan is pivotal to allowing us to start this development. An initial financial envelope of around 430m will be spent over the next five years on the first phase of the project. It is part of a wider 1bn investment which includes significant spend on refurbishing and improving the existing estate. This will be one of the biggest educational infrastructure projects in Scotlands history and is certainly the biggest development undertaken by this University since it moved to Gilmorehill 150 years ago.

We are very aware that whilst we undertake this scale of construction that we must minimise disruption to both the University community and the West End and the University will work closely with community groups to ensure we respect those living and working in the area.

This first phase of the development will see the construction of the following new buildings, together with clearance of the Western Infirmary Site and the new landscaping of the public realm:

A Learning and Teaching Hub

A Research Hub to facilitate new multidisciplinary cutting edge research

An Institute of Health and Wellbeing tackling the public health problems of Glasgow and beyond

The Adam Smith Business School including space to grow our postgraduate students population

A base for our College of Arts including new performance spaces

Significant upgrade of our chemistry building (the Joseph Black Building)

The second phase, expected to start in 2023, will deliver:

New teaching and research space for engineering

An Innovation Quarter on Church Street to improve engagement with local industry and promote creation of new companies

A building for research into chronic diseases

The creation of a Social Justice Hub to lead research in the elimination of global inequalities

A number of conditions are attached to the planning application which the University has recognised and to which the University is already working towards compliance. These conditions cover the replacement of trees, landscaping and the retail mix on the site.

The first building will be a new Learning and Teaching Hub which will link into the Boyd Orr building on University Avenue. Planning permission for the L&T Hub was granted in December. It will deliver a 500-seater raked lecture theatre, four flat-floored lecture theatres and 1,000-plus spaces for learning.

In the longer term it should also provide much-needed conference space and facilities for outreach and widening participation work with schools. Its construction will necessitate the demolition of the Mathematics and Statistics building whose occupants will move into a temporary home on the former Western Infirmary site in April.

Media enquiries: liz.buie@glasgow.ac.uk / 0141 330 2702
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.
McConnell tankers enable first F-35 European deployment

By Ashley M. Wright , 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs / Published April 21, 2017

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. (AFNS) -- When the F-35A Lightning II deployed to Europe for the first time April 15, it was made possible by the backbone of the aerial refueling fleet, the KC-135 Stratotanker.

"The mission of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing is to refuel the fight," said Col. Albert Miller, the 22nd Air Refueling Wing commander. "This particular flight was a significant milestone of the F-35 program, and demonstrates the U.S. Air Force's global reach, something our total force team at McConnell (AFB) enables every day, making rapid, global mobility a reality."

The F-35 deployed to Europe for the first time from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The multi-role fighter is deployed to maximize training opportunities, affirm enduring commitments to NATO allies and deter any actions that destabilize regional security.

The KC-135 from McConnell AFB was just a first step in building an air bridge to deploy the Air Force's newest weapon's platform for a training exercise with U.S. allies in Europe. Multiple refueling aircraft from four different bases provided more than 400,000 pounds of fuel for the fighters' flight from the U.S. to Europe.

"It was exciting being able to contribute to the mission directly," said Capt. Ben Hessney, a 349th Air Refueling Squadron aircraft commander for the flight.

Hessney added that a large amount of effort went into planning the success of the mission.

While this effort was a historic one, Miller stressed the value aerial refueling adds to all joint flying missions.

"The tip of the spear is not thrown, but carried by a tanker," he said. "The might of our Air Force is in our ability to deliver effects anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. It's the KC-135, and soon to be the KC-46 [Pegasus], which allows the United States to carry aid to our allies or deliver kinetic power to our enemies in a short amount of time."



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Counter-ISIS Strikes Target Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 21, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 32 strikes consisting of 80 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 21 strikes consisting of 28 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, five strikes destroyed seven ISIS wellheads, five oil tankers and five oil processing equipment items.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed two bunkers, an ISIS wellhead and a front-end loader.

-- Near Raqqa, five strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions.

-- Near Tabqah, eight strikes engaged six ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions, a command-and-control node and an ISIS staging area.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 11 strikes consisting of 52 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building and a mortar system.

-- Near Qaim, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a weapons cache, a tactical vehicle and an anti-aircraft artillery system.

-- Near Fallujah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units, destroyed 11 rocket-propelled grenade systems, seven fighting positions, six vehicle bombs, five mortar systems, three vehicle bomb-making facilities, a weapons cache, a medium machine gun and an ISIS staging area; damaged 11 ISIS supply routes, four fighting positions; and suppressed two mortar teams and ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed four weapons caches, a vehicle bomb and a bunker.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a front-end loader.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

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Taliban Attack Targets Afghan Government Personnel

By Cheryl Pellerin DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2017  A Taliban attack on a mosque and a dining facility today at Camp Shaheen outside Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan has killed "probably more than 50" friendly Afghan forces and civilians, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said here today.

Air Force Col. John J. Thomas briefed the Pentagon press corps by telephone from Centcom headquarters in Tampa, Florida, noting that information about the attack, which had occurred just hours before the press call, still was being gathered.

"The attack was apparently against a mosque and a dining facility where there were Afghan government forces and probably Afghan civilians who work at the base," Thomas told reporters. "What we know is that the Afghan national forces have responded, and they know that they have killed several enemy [fighters] in response to the attack."

Thomas said that officials from the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan will follow up later in the day with more information.

The spokesman said there was "no indication" that coalition forces were harmed in the attack.

ISIS Operative Killed

Centcom also confirmed today that on April 6, Abu Bakr al-Uzbeki, an operative of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, was killed by U.S. forces during an operation targeting the member of ISIS.

Thomas said Uzbeki, killed in the eastern Syria city of Mayadin about 27 miles east of Deir ez-Zor, was a close associate of the so-called caliph of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

"Uzbeki facilitated the movement of ISIS foreign terror fighters and funds," the Centcom spokesman said, noting the deceased terrorists had played a key role in ISIS's external terror-attack plotting. He also facilitated the high-profile attack on a nightclub in Istanbul on New Year's Eve that killed 39 civilians.

"ISIS remains committed to taking advantage of failed and weakened states," Thomas said, "and we continue to move against those terror plotters as we go forward."

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-142-17 April 21, 2017

Readout of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis' Meetings with Israeli Leadership

Pentagon Spokesman Eric Pahon provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis met today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, and Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman.

The secretary reaffirmed the United States' unwavering commitment to Israel's security and qualitative military edge, and the importance of our enduring relationship with the government and people of Israel.

Secretary Mattis and Prime Minister Lieberman held a joint press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv. The secretary reinforced the need for vigilance and the strongest possible cooperation to counter threats from terrorist groups and from Iran's destabilizing activities.

Secretary Mattis acknowledged next week's Holocaust Remembrance Day, noting the two countries' common determination to never allow such horrific events to recur.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1159669/

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; Israeli Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman April 21, 2017

Joint News Conference with Secretary Mattis and Minister of Defense Lieberman in Tel Aviv, Israel

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

STAFF: -- defense, James Mattis here in Israel. We'll start today's press conference with opening remarks, first from Minister Lieberman and then from Secretary Mattis; after which time they will answer questions from two journalists -- two Israeli journalists and two American journalists selected in advance.

Thank you.

Minister?

MINISTER OF DEFENSE AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN: Thank you.

Your Excellency, Secretary of Defense General James Mattis, I would like to express my appreciation for your friendship, for your sincerity, for your support and for your understanding of complexity of all challenges that we are facing here in Israel.

No doubt the main problem, not only for us, but for the entire world, it's an axis of evil from North Korea to Iran to Damascus and to Hezbollah and Beirut. And no doubt the same, the main link in this chain, it's Iran.

Iranians, they are trying to undermine stability in all Middle East; in Yemen, in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon and of course, their activity against Israel through their proxies. We are sharing the same values, we are sharing the same views. And I hope that with your support we will be able to overcome all these threats and, of course, to bring peace and stability to this part of the region.

We appreciate your success against the Daesh, your operations and you are leading the coalition against terror, against Daesh in Mosul, in Raqqah. And it really seems that it is a great, great step forward to overcome the terror all around the world.

On behalf of myself and the people of Israel, I would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to the American administration, led by the President Donald Trump. We're happy to see you, the first member of cabinet visited to Israel. And of course we hope to see during this year President Donald Trump in Jerusalem also.

Thank you.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Well, thank you, Minister Lieberman, my friend.

And good morning, everyone.

I'm honored to return to Israel once again to show my respect for this country. And for the Israeli people, I am keenly aware that we stand together this morning; just a week before the Holocaust Remembrance Day. And we share a common determination to never allow such horrific events to recur.

As you noted, this is my first visit to Israel as secretary of Defense and I'm honored as well to be the first cabinet official from the new administration to visit our friends here. This trip follows a number of senior level engagements between the political leadership of our two countries, including President Trump's meeting with President [sic] Netanyahu in Washington in February and Minister Lieberman's visit to Washington in March.

Our defense cooperation is nested firmly within our diplomatic relationship. And on that score, I'm pleased that the U.S. Senate confirmed Ambassador Friedman who will arrive here next month.

I just came from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two other important U.S. partners in this region. My discussions in those countries reinforced the need for vigilance and for the strongest possible cooperation in the international community to defeat threats to all of our counties.

Minister Lieberman and I just finished our third meeting since I became the secretary of defense in January. Our close and regular dialogue is a reflection of the enduring bond between our country's militaries.

During this meeting we had another in-depth conversation, sharing a keen appreciation for the security situation facing Israel and our friend's in the region. And further refining the practical steps we are taking together to defend our shared security interests.

The depth of our relationship was clear following the U.S. strike in Syria when Israel immediately expressed its strong support for our action to enforce the longstanding international prohibition against the use of chemical weapons.

Looking across the region, we in the United States recognize ISIS represents a clear and present danger, not only to Syria and Iraq, but to Israel and other countries in this region, to Europe and, ultimately, to the U.S. homeland. The coalition campaign against ISIS in Syria in Iraq, as you noted Minister, it is on track and we have accelerated and intensified that campaign to surround and isolate the enemy so we methodically remove its physical caliphate.

In addition to our campaign to defeat ISIS, we also recognize the need to confront the destabilizing activities of Iran. Iran continues to threaten Israel and its neighbors with ballistic missiles, through its maritime and cyber activities and through proxies and surrogates, including Lebanese Hezbollah, a terrorist organization helping to keep Assad in power in Syria.

In the face of these threats the United States maintains absolute and unwavering commitment to Israel's security and to its qualitative military edge over Iran or other threats.

The foundation of our long term commitment is the significant 10 year security assistance package we signed recently with Israel which will enable Israel to continue to acquire the most advanced U.S. military technology. This complements our expanding cooperation on intelligence sharing, counterterrorism, and counter-proliferation across the region.

This specifically includes our continuing cooperation to defend against a ballistic missile threat and, in that regard, I congratulate Israel on the highly successful David's Sling and Arrow 3 ballistic missile defense systems. Both of which achieved initial operating capability.

With Minister Lieberman, I look forward to accelerating process on David's Sling and Arrow 3 and the other elements of our defense cooperation.

And in closing, our alliance with Israel is a cornerstone of a larger regional security architecture, which includes cooperation with Egypt, Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and our Gulf partners. My goal is to further strengthen our partnerships in this region in order to deter and defeat threats and, ultimately, to temper our adversary's designs.

I welcome your questions, thank you.

MIN. LIEBERMAN: Thank you -- thank you.

STAFF: First question will be from Tal Shalev, Walla! News.

Q: Hi.

General Mattis, in 2013 you told the Aspen Security Forum that you think the current situation in Israel and the Palestinian Authority is unsustainable and you warned that the settlements could lead Israel to becoming an apartheid state. Do you still stand by this position?

And Mr. Lieberman, we've been hearing contradicting statements from the administration in recent days about how much Iran is complying or not complying with the Iran -- with the Iran deal, with the JCPOA.

What is Israel's position? Does Israel want the U.S. to cancel the Iran deal?

SEC. MATTIS: To answer your question, I believe in Israel's security. And whatever it takes to keep Israel secure is where we stand and where we will always stand as Americans.

In that regard, how Israel achieves its level of sustainable security is absolutely critical, and that includes all the peoples here inside the borders of Israel or inside the Middle East. All these people are going to have to work together, we're going to have to resolve it, and it's got to be done in a way that looks out for the rights of all those people.

Minister?

MIN. LIEBERMAN: Thank you.

First of all, we are not in a position to give any advice to an American administration. But, of course, we were happy to see a new policy renew, a new approach.

And first of all, regarding their terrorist activity, not Hezbollah and not Hamas, they're not able to exist even one week without Iranian support. Iranian authorities, they are trying to -- as I mentioned, to undermine the stability even in Yemen and even in Iraq.

Their efforts to create more proxies and more militias is also, I think -- it's a big concern for both states. And I think that Iran it's clear the biggest sponsor in the world of terror. And according this -- their position, it's crucial to place more pressure and more sanctions on the Iranian regime.

STAFF: Next question will be from Bob Burns, Associated Press.

Q: Thank you.

Question, Mr. Minister, can you confirm that Israel estimates that the Syrians retain between one and three tons of chemical weapons? And can you provide any evidence that that's the case?

And a question for Secretary Mattis: What would be the implications for this large quantity of chemical weapons still being in Syria? And can you say where -- whether the remaining Syrian air forces has moved its aircraft -- its combat aircraft to a Russian base at Lattakia and what that might imply for future U.S. options to act against another example of Syrian use of chemical weapons?

Thank you.

MIN. LIEBERMAN: First of all, I hope that you do not expect that I will share with you our intelligence information.

But I clarified my position. I think sometimes that we have 100 percent information that Assad regime used chemical weapons against rebels. And I think it was very, very clear position.

And we strongly support the last U.S. action in Syria. It was very, very strong and new message to all this region.

SEC. MATTIS: Yeah, Bob, the bottom line is, there can be no doubt in the international community's mind that Syria has retained chemical weapons in violation of its agreement and its statement that it had removed them all. There's no longer any doubt.

The amount of it I don't want to get into right now. We don't reveal some of that detail because we don't want to reveal how we're finding out.

But the bottom line is, I can say authoritatively they have retained some. It's a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions. And it's going to have to be taken up diplomatically.

And they would be ill-advised to try to use any again. We made that very clear with our strike.

So, I'll just leave it at that.

Q: Of the aircraft?

SEC. MATTIS: They have dispersed their aircraft. No doubt they've dispersed their aircraft in recent days.

STAFF: Next question you will have (inaudible).

Q: Mr. Defense Secretary, what is your opinion on the Iranian nuclear deal, an agreement to which you have objected in the past? And will the U.S. insert changes that Israel is demanding?

And another question, in your opinion, will the transfer of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem lead -- to Jerusalem resulting in the escalations? And is that why the process has been frozen?

And Defense Minister Lieberman, does Israel attack ISIS targets in the Sinai? And if so, have they done in coordinations with the Egyptians?

SEC. MATTIS: Okay, yeah. On the -- on the Iran nuclear agreement; as our secretary of State said about three days ago, Iran appears to the degree we can determine it -- and we're pretty confident, they appear to be living up to their -- their part of the agreement.

It is an agreement that is in force, the United States has signed it in the previous administration. It continues to be in force. That in no way mitigates against -- or excuses the other activities of Iran in the region, to include its support of the war in Yemen that grinds on thanks to their support -- to the Iranian support.

Or what they're doing in Syria to keep Assad in power and continue the mayhem and the chaos and the murder that's going on there and the refugees. So those are separate issues, but the agreement on nuclear issues still stands and that's all I can say about it.

On the move of the embassy, that is something you'd have to take up with the secretary of State, it's just not under my purview. I can't speak to that.

MIN. LIEBERMAN: I think that we're really happy to see that the Egyptian military force is more active and more efficient in their fight against ISIS -- ISIS in Sinai. And of course we saw that their last operation were very, very successful.

STAFF: Last question from Idrees Ali, Reuters.

Q: Mr. Secretary, North Korea has once again made some provocative statements about making -- or taking strikes against the U.S. This comes after -- you know, Vice President Pence has made statements, you have made statements as well. At what point is there a tipping point where words just won't do it and you have to take some sort of action beyond words?

And the second question is, Aya Hijazi was sort of flow to the United States today from Egypt. Did her issue come up when you were meeting with President Sisi? And how significant is her release to resetting Egyptian-American relations?

And, Mr. Minister, the Trump administration has obviously made some very strong statements against Iran, but their actions seem to be very much in line with what the Obama administration did. For example, you know, the recent sort of acknowledging that -- that they're in line with the JCPOA. What do you want to see from the Trump administration that would differentiate them from the Obama administration in regards to Iran?

MIN. LIEBERMAN: Thank you.

SEC. MATTIS: As far as North Korea's latest words, I think we've all come to hear their words repeatedly, their word is not proven honest -- it's been provocative, they've not lived up to any statements they've made in the past years -- decades actually, about stopping their ballistic missile and their nuclear programs. So I would just take their words at the same value we've always given them as we've learned not to trust them.

As far as the release of the American citizen, she was found innocent in the Egyptian courts and, appropriately, she has returned home. We were happy to hear she was found innocent and the court system recognized that she was not guilty of what she had been charged with. So it all turned out fine from our perspective that she has now returned home with her family.

MIN. LIEBERMAN: You know, the new administration just now accomplished the first 100 days and what we see it's really, that new administration, in the midst of new policy review, mostly completely new approach to North Korea, Syria and also Iran.

I think that we saw in the last days very, very clear and strong message regarding the Iranian regime and we're really satisfied and we have enough patience to wait for concrete steps.

STAFF: Thank you, everyone.

MIN. LIEBERMAN: Thank you.

-END-

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1160212/

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu April 21, 2017

Remarks by Secretary Mattis before meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Israel

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Mr. Secretary, welcome.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Thank you, Prime Minister.

P.M. NETANYAHU: This is a -- a genuine pleasure to welcome Secretary Mattis to Israel. I've heard a lot about him, read a lot about him and I think this is a propitious moment.

Israel has no better friend than America. America has no better friend than Israel. And this is a -- a partnership based on common values in the deepest sense of the word.

We sense a great change in the direction of American policy. We noted the very clear and forthright words, Mr. Secretary, that you had to say about Iran. This follows very strong and forthright words on the part of President Trump and very forthright deeds against the use of chemical weapons by Iran's proxy, Syria.

This has been appreciated around the world and in our region. I think this is a welcome change, a strategic change of American leadership and American policy.

We have common values and also common dangers.

The common dangers are based on the twin threats of militant Islam, the Shiite extremists led by Iran, the Sunni extremists led by Daesh.

We are committed to thwarting these dangers, as we are committed to seize the common opportunities and great opportunities that I think are before us, Mr. Secretary, because of the understanding of our -- many of our Arab neighbors as to the commonality of the threat, but also as to the opportunities of the future.

And I look forward to discussing with the secretary of defense of our great American ally how we thwart the dangers and how we seize the opportunities together.

So, welcome to Jerusalem.

SEC. MATTIS: Well, thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.

It's an honor to be here in Israel, our longtime friend and ally in the region.

The two dangers that face Israel and all of the other nations in the region that are trying to maintain a stable and peaceful and prosperous region are those that I'm here to discuss with the prime minister.

Especially the week before Holocaust Remembrance, I think it's important that we remind ourselves that if good people don't band together, then bad people can do a lot of damage in this world. And we're committed to stopping that and doing whatever it takes to pass on peace and freedom to the next generation.

So thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. It's a privilege to be here with you.

P.M. NETANYAHU: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We shake hands and we look at each other. Now you want us to shake hands and look there?.

SEC. MATTIS: How's this?

(LAUGHTER)

P.M. NETANYAHU: Thank you.

SEC. MATTIS: Did we do it right?

STAFF: (Off mic.)

(LAUGHTER)

SEC. MATTIS: All right. Thank you.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1159374/

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; Israeli President Reuven Rivlin April 21, 2017

Remarks by Secretary Mattis and President Rivlin in Jerusalem, Israel

ISRAELI PRESIDENT REUVEN RIVLIN: Well, it is a real great honor and pleasure to welcome you, to welcome you, Secretary of Defense, not only as the secretary of our greatest ally, but also as a former general. And not only a general, a real soldier and a leader that you -- that to lead soldiers it means to lead what you call teamwork.

And every one of our former generals are respecting you so much, saying that you was one of the greatest leaders and generals of the army and they are appreciating very much. I would like to take this opportunity to thanks the Americans and our allies about how helping us and supporting us with the MOU. Signing the MOU, helping us very much, and I would like really to emphasize that. Carrying the burden of security that falls on our shoulders, and you know what are those burdens.

And then after the MOU know that every one of us remember the need of the QME, which is something that in Hebrew sounds very good. Because in Hebrew we have the word "que-me." And I know that everyone's paying a lot of intention to this need.

We are very committed to the need to build -- the need of building trust with the Palestinians. And I know how you are devoted to this mission. And -- and I believe that the -- our future is to understand that we are not doomed to live together. Our destiny's to live together. Never the less, the miss of trust between the two people its make us -- makes it almost impossible to find a way in order to bring to an end not only a conflict, but a real tragedy.

We are living together, we are sharing the same land, we have responsibilities, but we have to trust on each other in order to understand that we can live together. Unfortunately, for the time being we are wasting a lot, 120 years. It's not only one side, it's both sides. But the rejection of many of our neighbors, the Palestinians; our cousins, the Palestinians, to the very idea of the existence of the state of Israel really does not help us in the last 100 years since the Sykes-Picot Agreement.

But I would like to also emphasize that I'm not so sure -- actually I'm not sure at all that bringing to an end the conflict, which is a must, will bring us to any kind of solution to what is going on here in the region.

We have learned in universities and in the army that the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Unfortunately, not necessarily so; we find ourself in a position that we are surrounded by more than five armies, every one of them is fighting the other one. No one of them is really feeling a lot of sympathy to the state of Israel.

And that goes on in what is going on here and then now we have new neighbors in the hour. The -- the Russians and I met President Putin and he was talking to me saying, "You are a very good friend of the Americans."

I say, "I confess." I agreed with a lot of proud (sic), but I tell them that, we are going to keep every interest that we find as necessary for us in -- all around the world, especially on the Black Sea.

And then we got to understanding about -- with your knowledge, of course, about the (bitters ?) that we had to understand and to find a way in order to cooperate -- on the tactic basis in order to make it possible for all of us to be on the same Earth space when you have the SA-300.

And because of that, Mr. Secretary, I would like to welcome you once again. You know that we are facing a lot of challenges. And the need to understand that in the Middle East, there are no shortcuts. No shortcuts. Everything -- every challenge is an opportunity. Never the less, some of the challenges should be handled.

I would like to thank the president -- former President Obama and President Trump about the understanding of -- the need of -- the needs of Israel. And we are looking forward and we are looking forward knowing that we have a great friend in the Pentagon and the -- the administration. And we welcome you with -- from the bottom of our heart. Thank you so very much.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Well, thank you, Mr. President, for making time; I know how busy you are. But it's an honor and a privilege to be here, the first member of the new administration's Cabinet to visit Israel. We are committed to Israel's defense, we support Israel's internal security and Israel's external security.

Obviously the week before the Holocaust remembrance time, it's important we all remind ourselves that if good people don't band together and work together across all religious and all ethnic lines, then bad people can dominate and we're not going to allow it. We're going to work very, very closely.

My view is that relationships do not stay the same; they either get better or they get weaker. And our commitment is to make these relationships stronger. The military to military relationship, Mr. President, has always been good. But I will just tell you that we intend to make it the strongest ever and work with all our friends in the region and elsewhere in terms of security.

We have two fundamental threats here; one is from terrorism, the other is from Iran. And we cannot allow those threats to break apart the human connections between those of us who are committed to peace and prosperity and tolerance for each other.

And we have seen new challenges arise, but as you point out there are new opportunities Mr. President. And we will work together with you and other like-minded nations; we're not alone in how we look at terrorists. We're not alone in how we look at Iran's problems. So it's time for us to all work together, but certainly the enduring relationship with Israel will be stronger every day.

But thank you again for the --

PRES. RIVLIN: Yes.

SEC. MATTIS: -- very warm welcome, Mr. President.

PRES. RIVLIN: God bless --

SEC. MATTIS: Thank you.

PRES. RIVLIN: God bless you, God bless America, God bless President Trump.

SEC. MATTIS: Thank you, sir. Thank -- Mr. President, thank you.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1159370/

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Officials Provide Details of Latest Counter-ISIS Strikes in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 22, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 45 strikes consisting of 91 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 37 strikes consisting of 39 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, 10 strikes destroyed 16 ISIS oil equipment items, five ISIS storage tanks, four ISIS well heads and three ISIS oil pumps.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; and destroyed three storage tanks and three well heads.

-- Near Al Shadadi, a strike destroyed a weapons cache.

-- Near Raqqah, 15 strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed a fighting position, an ISIS bridge, a command and control node, and a mortar system.

-- Near Tabqah, eight strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions, an ISIS vehicle and a command and control node.

Additionally, nine newly reported strikes were conducted in Syria April 19-20.

-- April 19: Near Raqqah, eight strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed four fighting positions and a car bomb factory; and damaged four ISIS supply routes.

-- April 20: Near Tabqah, a strike destroyed a command and control node.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 52 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Mosul, seven strikes engaged eight ISIS tactical units; destroyed six fighting positions, two car bombs, two mortar systems, two tactical vehicles, a weapons cache, a front-end loader, a rocket-propelled grenade system and an ISIS warehouse; damaged 22 ISIS supply routes and two fighting positions; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit and rocket team.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a tactical vehicle and a weapons cache.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

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Afghanistan Declares National Mourning After Army Base Attack Kills More Than 130

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 22, 2017

MAZAR-E SHARIF, Afghanistan -- The Afghan government has announced a day of mourning in the wake of an April 21 attack by the Taliban on a military compound in Balkh Province that officials say left more than 130 army personnel dead.

President Ashraf Ghani's office said in a statement that flags across the country would be flown at half-staff on April 23 following the deadly assault in Mazar-e Sharif that officials say was carried out by militants dressed in Afghan Army uniforms.

Ghani's acting spokesman, Shah Hussain Murtazawi, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan in a telephone interview from Kabul that Ghani announced the national mourning "in order to pay tribute to the martyrs of Friday's attack."

Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Daulat Waziri said on April 22 that two of the 10 attackers carried out suicide bombings during the assault, while the other eight were shot dead during the ensuing gunbattle.

The ministry said that more than 100 military personnel were killed or injured in the attack.

But officials in Kabul told Radio Free Afghanistan that more than 130 had been killed, and a high-ranking military official in Mazar-e Sharif put the figure at 138. Officials said the death toll could rise.

The Defense Ministry said it is investigating the exact number of those killed and injured in the attack. It said it would announce the final numbers to the nation but did not indicate when such an announcement might come.

Waziri, the ministry spokesman, said that the victims were almost all members of the 209th Corps of the Afghan National Army (ANA).

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that more than 500 Afghan soldiers had been killed or wounded. The Taliban statement also said four of the attackers were soldiers who had been stationed at the outpost.

The attack targeted a mosque where soldiers were at Friday Prayers, as well as a dining hall.

Ismael, an Afghan Army soldier who witnessed the assault, told Radio Free Afghanistan that he was baffled at how the assailants managed to penetrate the military compound, and that the attack "will make people have second thoughts about joining the ANA."

"If [the militants] could enter the army base today, they probably could do something bigger at another time," he said, adding that he was "in a state of confusion and shock."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered condolences to Afghanistan, saying she was horrified by "the Taliban's deceitful, brutal barracks attack on your soldiers."

"My sympathy to the many injured and the relatives of the many victims," she wrote in a telegram to Ghani.

A German Army contingent is stationed at the base, which serves as the Afghan Army command center in the north of the country.

In an April 21 statement following the attack, U.S. General John Nicholson, commander of NATO's Resolute Support operation, praised "the Afghan commandos who brought today's atrocity to an end."

With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-balkh-province -taliban-attack-army-base/28446149.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Military Strikes Continue Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 24, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 31 strikes consisting of 97 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 24 strikes consisting of 48 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, three strikes destroyed three ISIS wellheads.

-- Near Palmyra, two strikes destroyed four fighting positions and two ISIS shipping containers.

-- Near Raqqa, seven strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed three fighting positions, a heavy machine gun, a tactical vehicle and an ISIS wellhead.

-- Near Tabqah, 12 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 12 fighting positions, a tactical vehicle, an ISIS vehicle, a heavy machine gun and a command-and-control node.

Additionally, three strikes were conducted in Syria from April 19-21 that have been closed within the last 24 hours.

-- On April 19, near Raqqa, Syria, a strike damaged a command-and-control node.

-- On April 20, near Raqqa, Syria, a strike suppressed two ISIS tactical units and damaged a fighting position.

-- On Apr. 21, near Raqqa, Syria, a strike destroyed an improvised bomb factory and suppressed two ISIS tactical units.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 49 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Rawah, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed an ISIS staging area.

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed 11 fighting positions, eight heavy machine guns, four rocket-propelled grenade systems, two ISIS-held buildings, an ISIS-held bridge and a vehicle-borne bomb; damaged 14 ISIS supply routes and a fighting position; and suppressed four rocket teams, three mortar teams and an ISIS tactical unit.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

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U.S.-Djiboutian Relationship Strong and Strengthening, Mattis Says

By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2017  The meeting between Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh yesterday went to the heart of the U.S. relationship with the African nation, the secretary said, describing it as strong and strengthening.

"I came here to meet with President Guelleh and to spend time with [Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser], our theater commander for all of Africa, here at our only enduring location in Africa," the secretary said at a news conference with Waldhauser in Djibouti.

Mattis expressed his gratitude to Guelleh in the 40th year of the independence of the modern state of Djibouti "for everything that they have done," he said. "And you'll remember, those who go back to those hectic days after 9/11, this was a country that stepped forward at the end of 2001, early 2002, and said, 'We're with you,' and they've been with us every day, and every month and every year since."

The U.S.-Djiboutian strong partnership shows very clearly there, Mattis said, where the nation has hosted American troops for more than a dozen years.

"I emphasized with the president that we stand by Djibouti and its commitment," the secretary said. "It has made its own commitment to fighting terrorists. It's got two battalions with the [African Union Mission in Somalia] force. That's the Africa force stabilizing Somalia by fighting against the al-Shabaab terrorists, and that international mission by African troops there, supported by the United States, is actually commanded by a Djiboutian general officer."

Respect, Support

The secretary said he also underscored to Guelleh how U.S. presence in Djibouti respects the African nation's sovereignty and that it contributes to the Djiboutian people.

"We are the third-largest employer in Djibouti with Camp Lemonnier," he said, adding that the United States has awarded hundreds of contracts to local businesses, which is part of the partnership.

Mattis said following the press conference, he would meet with French troops stationed there.

"We're all keenly aware of the terrorist attack that France just suffered in Paris and others," he said. "And the French are great partners in the fight against terrorism. They've engaged vigorously against terrorists in this region, and they're proving stalwart in every fight against the enemy. They always move aggressively against the enemy every time they fight them."

Japan has its only overseas base in Djibouti, Mattis noted, adding that its presence shows how multiple nations can "work together here at this crossroads, this important geographic crossroads."

There's a common goal in Djibouti of ensuring regional security, and each nation represented there respects Djiboutian sovereignty and its sovereign decisions "just the way we do when we deal with other nations," he said.

The secretary also emphasized how international law is critical to keeping waterways open and the importance of maintaining "the same degree of cooperation in that regard in the future, as other countries come in."

Africom commander Waldhauser thanked the secretary for his visit.

"This only underscores the importance of the relationship that we have with the country of Djibouti, because this particular piece of geography is very, very important to our strategic interests, especially in this area," the general said.

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Steppe Eagle 17 continues partnership for US, UK, Kazakhstan

By Capt. Desiree Dillehay April 24, 2017

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- Approximately 50 U.S. and U.K. Soldiers and more than 500 Kazakhstani Soldiers participated in Koktem, phase one of Exercise Steppe Eagle, which took place March 31 to April 11, 2017, at Illisky Training Center, Kazakhstan.

A cold wind blew past as medics rushed across an open field to their patients. Radio operators followed close on their heels to call in the medical evacuation requests. Their patients were actually exercise role players that held casualty cards describing their injuries.

Medical and communication operations are two of 19 tasks covered during Koktem, phase one of Exercise Steppe Eagle, which took place March 31 to April 11, 2017, at Illisky Training Center, Kazakhstan.

Koktem, meaning "spring" in Kazakh, is a series of military-to-military engagements involving U.S., U.K. and Kazakhstani soldiers that occur simultaneously and support the themes of Exercise Steppe Eagle 17 later in the year.

The military-to-military engagements also included public order, military planning, troop leading procedures, engineer tasks, water purification, media engagement, entry control points, convoys, patrols, civil-military coordination, rules of engagement, and fire support.

Approximately 50 U.S. and U.K. Soldiers and more than 500 Kazakhstani Soldiers participated in Koktem. Participating U.S. Army Soldiers came from around the world and included units from U.S. Army Central, the Kentucky Army National Guard and the Arizona Army National Guard.

The state of Arizona has had an enduring partnership program with Kazakhstan since 1993, and they were well represented at this year's first phase of Exercise Steppe Eagle.

The British Army's 1st Battalion, The Rifles, 160 Brigade, also had a strong representation and participated in many of the military police functions, such as entry control points and convoy operations.

During Koktem, the commander of 160 Brigade, Brig. Gen. Alan Richmond, visited the training center to view the progress of this year's military-to-military engagements.

"We take the lead for the United Kingdom in terms of military-to-military relations and development here in Central Asia," said Richmond. "We as a brigade are very proud to be working alongside our American friends and allies to support Exercise Steppe Eagle and (build) our relationship with Kazakhstan. And the development of (Kazakhstan's) capability, the peacekeeping capability, is very important."

Soldiers from all three militaries spent the first week of Koktem running through the academics of each task covered for peacekeeping and peace support operations. The academics week was followed by a three-day field training exercise that combined all of the tasks.

On the final day of the exchange, the Kazakhstan Peacekeeping Brigade hosted an after action review that pulled together lessons learned from the U.S., U.K. and Kazakhstan participants.

"This was a successful two weeks that will add to the exercise in July," said Lt. Col. Kent Cavallini from the Kentucky National Guard, adding that he saw, great spirit and great teamwork from all participants.

Exercise Steppe Eagle 17 will take place in Kazakhstan this summer, and will focus on multinational peacekeeping and peace support operations. Exercises like Steppe Eagle 17 promote mutual understanding and interoperability between partner nations, and provide an opportunity to build relationships and exchange ideas.

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Taiwan reiterates sovereignty over South China Sea islands

ROC Central News Agency

2017/04/22 19:33:24

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) Reacting to Philippine officials' visit to one of the Spratly Islands, Taiwan reiterated its sovereignty over the South China Sea islands on Saturday and urged all parties to refrain from action that could escalate tensions in the region.

The South China Sea islands are part of Republic of China (Taiwan) territory, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement after Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Philippine military chief of staff General Eduardo Ano reportedly visited Thitu Island on Friday to assert the Philippines' claims to the island.

It is undisputable that the ROC enjoys rights to these islands and their surrounding waters based on international and maritime law, the ministry said.

The ROC government has expressed serious concerns over the recent unilateral moves taken by "related countries" that heightened tensions in the region, and has urged the parties concerned to exercise self-restraint, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the ministry reiterated that disputes in the South China Sea should be dealt with a multilateral mechanism for negotiations, based on the principles of shelving differences and seeking joint development of resources.

Taiwan is also willing to engage in dialogue with other countries on an equal footing, to jointly seek to promote peace and stability and maintain freedom of navigation and overflight in the region, the ministry said.

Six countries -- Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei -- claim all or part of the South China Sea, which is said to be rich in resources.

(By Elaine Hou)

ENDITEM/ls

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Nimitz Strike Group Successfully Completes COMPTUEX

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170424-16

Release Date: 4/24/2017 11:49:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Holly L. Herline USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Public Affairs

PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- The USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 11 successfully completed its final pre-deployment assessment, Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), April 21, marking the completion of its condensed Inter-Deployment Training Cycle (IDTC) for an upcoming deployment.

COMPTUEX is an exercise that tests a strike group's ability to work and operate as one cohesive unit in a simulated real-world-scenario based training environment.

Nimitz was joined by CSG 11, to include Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 9 and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11, to prove their operational capabilities prior to deploying.

Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, said COMPTUEX is designed to put a strike group through the highest level of training that we can possible give. This allows them to go forward around the world and do anything that our country would ask them to do.

Throughout the exercise, the strike group encountered an environment that mirrored, as closely as possible, what they may encounter while deployed in future areas of operation.

"Considering that the past five weeks have been the first time that the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group has trained together at sea in more than three years, we did extremely well," said Commander, CSG 11, Rear Adm. Bill Byrne. "We did a lot of high velocity learning."

Nimitz, during the COMPTUEX, became the first carrier strike group to implement the use of the Fleet Warfighting Training System Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) training concept. LVC allows for the synthetic virtual environment to be integrated with the live environment, providing a more comprehensive and realistic training environment.

LVC can create scenarios that involve higher complexities and stress the strike group to its max capabilities, leading to more proficient strike groups and fighting forces while better preparing them for what they may encounter while deployed.

The COMPTUEX was broken up into two separate phases.

Phase I closely followed a schedule of events (SOE) that acted as a training phase for Sailors and watchstanders. Phase II provided the strike group with a scenario that didn't follow an SOE, and is more realistic.

"Some of it might be in a synthetic environment, some is live, but overall it is designed to really challenge the strike group," said Tyson. "This is so that, from Rear Adm. Byrne, to the youngest Sailor on the deck plates, everyone feels confident that, if you have to go into any scenario where you are tested to the highest end of your capability, you will be able to comfortably go and succeed."

The COMPTUEX challenged and trained the strike group on all levels including the Sailors on the deckplates.

"I believe the training was invaluable," said Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 2nd Class Traci Allen, Combat Systems' Electronic Warfare (EW) Module Supervisor, and a native of Chattanooga, Tennesee. "We finally got the chance to work with our whole strike group and figure out our battle rhythm. The experiences we gained will follow us over the horizon when we take to open water. Nothing and no one can take that away from us."

Commander, CSG 15, Rear Adm. Ross Myers and his staff acted as the grading entity for the COMPTUEX. They observed the Sailors aboard Nimitz and throughout the strike group as they reacted to scenarios that they may face on deployment and determined their proficiency to operate in a real-world environment.

"CSG 15, our trainers and assessors, presented an enemy and warfighting environment that was both relevant and realistic," said Byrne. "This is the best training scenario I've seen in my 30 years of working these types of battle problems. That sort of competitiveness, initiative, and toughness I saw across the strike group is exactly what the Chief of Naval Operations asks of us."

With the completion of COMPTUEX, the Nimitz carrier strike group is now fully certified to deploy later this year.

"We are going to be tested. We need to go forth confident that we will be competitive enough and that we will be tough enough to prevail. I have no doubt that Nimitz Strike Group is both," said Byrne.

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CSG-1 and JMSDF Ships Refine Maritime Skills While Transiting Western Pacific

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170424-17

Release Date: 4/24/2017 11:50:00 AM

By Story by: Commander, Carrier Strike Group 1 Public Affairs

PHILIPPINE SEA (NNS) -- PHILIPPINE SEA- Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) commenced an at-sea bilateral exercise in the Philippine Sea, April 23.

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) were joined by JMSDF destroyers JS Samidare (DD-106) and JS Ashigara (DDG-178), both out of Sasebo, Japan, as the San Diego-based strike group continued its northern transit in the Western Pacific.

The routine exercise is designed to improve combined maritime response and defense capabilities, increase combined maneuvering proficiency, and ensure maritime forces remain ready to defend the region when called upon.

"We always look forward to operating with our Japanese partners," said Rear Adm. Jim Kilby, commander, Carrier Strike Group 1. "The relationship between the JMSDF and the United States is better than ever and it's in part thanks to these bilateral exercises."

The Carl Vinson Strike Group has conducted three previous bilateral exercises with the JMSDF since deploying earlier this year, most recently in March. The U.S. Navy conducts bilateral and multilateral exercises like this routinely as well as operations in the Western Pacific Ocean with the JMSDF throughout the year.

CSG-1 departed San Diego for a regularly scheduled deployment to the western Pacific, Jan. 5 and is comprised of Carl Vinson, CVW 2, Lake Champlain and embarked Destroyer Squadron (CDS) 1, consisting of Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Michael Murphy and USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108).

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USS Oscar Austin Enters U.S. 6th Fleet

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170424-02

Release Date: 4/24/2017 9:49:00 AM

From U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

ATLANTIC OCEAN (NNS) -- USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79), entered the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations April 22, as part of a routine deployment in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and increased theater security cooperation and forward naval presence in the U.S. 6th fleet area of operations.

While in the area of operations, sailors aboard Oscar Austin will train to share information, experiences and work together for regional stability and to strengthen our NATO alliances and European and African partner nations.

Quote:

"We have trained hard over the past year and have proven that we are ready and capable of handling any tasking that should come our way. I am confident Oscar Austin is ready to support maritime operations across the globe."

Cmdr. Janice G. Smith,

commanding officer, USS Oscar Austin (DDG79)

Quick Facts:

Oscar Austin embarked Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 46, Det. 1.

Oscar Austin is currently working with allies and regional partners to help develop and improve our maritime forces.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

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US drone strike kills three civilians in southern Yemen

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 3:42PM

At least three Yemeni civilians have lost their lives when a US unmanned aerial vehicle carried out a strike in the southern part of the impoverished Arab country.

The deadly drone strike was conducted in al-Saeed area of Shabwah Province on Sunday afternoon.

The casualties came after the aerial attack hit a vehicle carrying four people, suspected to be al-Qaeda members. The vehicle was completely destroyed in the strike, which also hit three civilians who happened to be passing nearby.

The US has intensified its military engagement in Yemen in recent weeks.

On March 2, Washington launched a series of strikes against alleged al-Qaeda targets in Yemen. The military attacks focused on the southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwah as well as Bayda, farther to the north.

The military operations were the first since a botched ground raid in January that killed women and children as well as an American commando.

The drone strikes in Yemen continue alongside the Saudi military aggression against the impoverished conflict-ridden country. Saudi Arabia has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015 in an unsuccessful attempt to reinstate a former government.

The aerial attacks, initiated by former US President George W. Bush in 2004, were escalated during former US president Barack Obama's terms in office.

The attacks had been carried out in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and elsewhere.

US President Donald Trump has recently given the CIA new authority to launch drone strikes across various parts of the world in Washington's so-called war on terror.

The US claims the airstrikes target members of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and other militants, but according to local officials and witnesses, civilians have also been the victims of the attacks in many cases.



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Dozens injured as troops fire at student protesters in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:2PM

Dozens of people have been injured after paramilitary troops opened fire on a crowd of stone-throwing student protesters in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Media reports said police fired live rounds and used tear gas and water cannon to try to disperse hundreds of students in the main city of Srinagar on Monday.

The students retaliated by hurling stones and breaching the barricades set up by paramilitary soldiers.

The angry students also chanted slogans against Indian rule over the Muslim-majority Himalayan region.

"We want freedom" and "Go India, go back," they shouted.

Shopkeepers downed their shutters and many bystanders took refuge inside as the clashes with Indian forces spilled onto main streets in the city's main commercial center of Lal Chowk.

Tensions between Kashmiri students and government forces have intensified since April 15, when Indian forces raided a college in Pulwama, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Srinagar, to scare anti-India activists.

Nearly 100 students were wounded in last week's disturbances. The unrest had prompted authorities to temporarily shut down schools and universities.

In a separate incident on Monday, an official with the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) was shot by unknown gunmen, later dying of his injuries.

PDP formed a governing alliance with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after a 2015 election in the state. That has made his party hugely unpopular in the mainly Muslim valley.

In the latest surge of violence in Kashmir, at least eight people were killed on April 9, when Indian paramilitary forces clashed with protesters during a by-election in Srinagar.

Pro-independence factions in Kashmir had called for a boycott of the vote, resulting in heightened security and low voter turnout when the polling began.

The Muslim-majority region has witnessed an increase in mass protests and violent attacks since early July 2016, when Burhan Wani, a top figure in a pro-independence group, was killed in a shootout with Indian troops.

More than 90 people have lost their lives and more than 12,000 wounded in the ensuing crackdown.

In recent months, the use of pellet guns by Indian forces in Kashmir has drawn widespread criticism as the weapons have caused permanent disabilities among victims.

The government crackdown has failed to halt the protests against the Indian rule in Kashmir.

The region has been divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both since the two partitioned and gained independence from Britain in 1947. The two countries have fought three wars over the disputed territory.

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Mattis in Afghanistan to shape US strategy

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:19AM

US Defense Secretary James Mattis has arrived in Afghanistan on a surprise visit aimed at shaping President Donald Trump's strategy in the conflict-ridden country, amid signs of renewed violence.

Mattis arrived in the capital city of Kabul on Monday and was expected to meet with Afghan officials as well as American military troops stationed there.

The Pentagon chief's arrival coincided with the resignation of his Afghan counterpart Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim following a Taliban attack on a military base that killed some 140 soldiers last week.

The apparent security failure saw as many as 10 Taliban militants disguised as Afghan army personnel make their way into the base on military vehicles and gun down unsuspecting soldiers and new recruits. The final death toll is expected to be higher.

There are currently over 9,000 US troops in Afghanistan. Washington claims that the massive military presence is only aimed at maintaining security across the country until Afghan military forces are ready to take over the responsibility.

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to change the US mission's stated priorities of training and advising Afghan forces and focus instead on carrying out strikes against terror groups such as Daesh (ISIL).

This change of policy was put on display earlier this month, when General John Nicholson, the top commander of US/NATO troops in Afghanistan, ordered his troops to drop the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bombalso known as Mother of All Bombson a purported Daesh target in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

Speaking to reporters in Israel last Thursday, Mattis defended using the 11-tonne munition and said he was not surprised by it.

"There was no surprise in terms of the effect of that battle at all. The battle was going on, and we were going to use what was necessary to break ISIS. And we've made that very clear in every theater where we're up against ISIS," the Pentagon chief said, using an alternative name for Daesh.

This is Mattis' first trip to Afghanistan as defense secretary.

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Afghan defense minister, army chief of staff resign after Taliban raid

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:43AM

Afghanistan's defense minister and the country's army chief of staff have resigned following a recent attack by the Taliban militants that took the lives of scores of Afghan army soldiers.

The Afghan presidential palace announced in a post on its Twitter account that President Ashraf Ghani had on Monday accepted the resignations of the defense minister and the army chief of staff.

"Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim stepped down with immediate effect," the presidential palace tweeted.

Shah Hussain Murtazawi, an acting spokesman for Ghani, separately told Reuters that the resignations were because of the Taliban attack on a military base in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which killed some 140 army soldiers.

The base attacked was the headquarters of the Afghan National Army's 209th Corps, which is responsible for security in much of northern Afghanistan.

The scale of the loss of life and the apparent ease with which the Taliban militants managed to stage the attack have raised serious questions as to the state of security in Afghanistan, likely providing impetus for the Monday resignations.

During the attack, some 10 Taliban militants, disguised as Afghan soldiers and driving military vehicles, entered the base and engaged in the carnage. They continued the attack for several hours and were not stopped until special forces arrived.

In March, another brazen Taliban attack killed dozens at the country's largest military hospital in the capital, Kabul.

Some Afghan officials have reportedly said that a final death toll from the attack in Mazar-i-Sharif is likely to be higher.

President Ghani traveled to the city on Saturday to visit the base. He also ordered a day of national mourning to be observed on Sunday.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has arrived in Afghanistan on a surprise visit.

It was not immediately clear who he would meet with as his peer following the resignation of the Afghan defense minister, which came just on the day of Mattis' unannounced arrival.

The US has thousands of military forces in Afghanistan. It led an invasion of the country that toppled a Taliban regime in 2001.



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U.S. Defense Chief Visits Afghanistan Amid Military Shake-Up

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 24, 2017

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has arrived in Afghanistan, making an unannounced visit to assess the needs in the war against Taliban and other militants.

Mattis, who is the first member of President Donald Trump's cabinet to visit Afghanistan, was expected to meet Afghan officials and U.S. troops while in Kabul.

His arrival coincided with an announcement that the Afghan defense minister and army chief of staff had resigned in the wake of a Taliban attack on an army base on April 21 that killed scores of soldiers.

Afghanistan is the sixth stop on a weeklong tour Mattis said was intended to bolster relations with allies and partners. He also visited Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, and the small East African country of Djibouti.

General John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Kabul, recently told Congress that he needed a few thousand more troops to keep Afghan security forces on track to eventually handling the Taliban insurgency on their own.

Mattis was due to meet top officials including President Ashraf Ghani less than two weeks after the U.S. military dropped its most powerful nonnuclear bomb, the MOAB, on Islamic State hideouts in eastern Afghanistan.

Mattis, who served in Afghanistan, has said he is compiling an assessment for Trump on Afghanistan's long-running conflict. He is the second senior U.S. security official to visit Afghanistan this month, after national security adviser General H.R. McMaster.

Around the time Mattis arrived, Ghani's office announced that he had accepted the resignations of Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi and the army chief of staff.

Their departure followed one of the deadliest Taliban attacks targeting the Afghan security forces, an assault on an army base in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.

The Defense Ministry said that more than 100 military personnel were killed or injured in the attack, but officials in Kabul told RFE/RL that more than 130 had been killed. Some officials put the toll even higher.

Ghani's office also said he had replaced the commanders of four army corps in response to the attack.

Trump's administration is seeking to build its strategy for the Afghan conflict -- the longest war in U.S. history.

Taliban militants hold large amounts of territory more than 15 years after being driven from power by a U.S.-led invasion following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.

General Nicholson recently told a congressional hearing that he needed several thousand more international troops in order to break a stalemate in the war against the Taliban.

U.S. officials say that Nicholson's request was advancing through the chain of command.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, AP, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan- defense-minister-army-chief-quit-after- taliban-mazar-attack/28448318.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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UN Finds Torture Widespread In Afghanistan

RFE/RL April 24, 2017

A UN report says cases of torture and mistreatment of detainees in Afghanistan have increased despite promises from President Ashraf Ghani and new laws enacted to curb the widespread practice.

At least 39 percent of the conflict-related detainees interviewed by UN investigators "gave credible and reliable accounts" of being tortured or experiencing other mistreatment at the hands of Afghan police, intelligence, or military personnel while in custody, the report says.

That compares with 35 percent of interviewees who reported such ill-treatment in the last UN report, released in 2015.

The Afghan government has acknowledged that problems could be caused by individuals but not as a national policy.

"The government of Afghanistan is committed to eliminating torture and ill-treatment," the government said in a statement.

The report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) is based on interviews with 469 conflict-related detainees conducted over the past two years in 62 detention facilities administered by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghan National Police, and other Afghan national-defense and security forces across the country.

"Torture does not enhance security," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said in a statement. "Confessions produced as a result of torture are totally unreliable. People will say anything to stop the pain."

The UN report comes as senior Afghan officials prepare to appear before the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva this week during a review of Afghanistan's record of implementing antitorture laws.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague is conducting a separate review of torture in Afghanistan.

"Notwithstanding the government's efforts to implement its national plan...the present report documents continued and consistent reports of torture and ill-treatment of conflict-related detainees, mainly during interrogation, and highlights a lack of accountability for such acts," UN officials concluded.

The document notes a 14 percent increase in reports of torture by Afghan National Police, at 45 percent of those interviewed.

The report says that more than a quarter of the 77 detainees who reported being tortured by the police were boys under the age of 18.

A force known as the Afghan Local Police severely beat almost 60 percent of their detainees, according to the interviews carried out by UN investigators.

Nearly 30 percent of interviewees held by Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the NDS, said they had faced torture or mistreatment.

Afghan National Army soldiers were also accused of mistreating some detainees.

Most detainees who reported being tortured said it was to elicit a confession, and the ill-treatment stopped once they signed a written confession. In many cases, they could not read the confession, the report says.

Torture methods included severe beatings to the body and soles of the feet with sticks, plastic pipes, or cables; electric shocks, including to the genitals; prolonged suspension by the arms; and suffocation.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-un- report-torture-widespread/28448548.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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U.S. Concerned Russia Supplying Arms To Afghan Taliban

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 24, 2017

A top U.S. Army general has suggested during a visit to Afghanistan by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that Russia is arming Taliban militants.

General John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said during a joint press conference in Kabul with Mattis on April 24 that he wouldn't dispute that Russia's involvement in the Afghan war includes Moscow providing weapons to the Tailban.

Nicholson avoided offering specifics.

But, earlier on April 24, a senior U.S. military official told reporters in Kabul that Russia was giving machine guns and other medium-weight weapons to Taliban militants.

That official, briefing journalists about intelligence reports on condition of anonymity, said Taliban fighters are now using Russian-supplied weapons in the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, and Uruzgan.

Russia denies that it provides any such support to the Taliban.

Russia says its contacts with the Taliban are limited to safeguarding security and getting the Islamic extremists to reconcile with Afghanistan's government.

Russia has also suggested easing global sanctions against Taliban leaders who cooperate with efforts to launch peace talks with the Kabul government.

Mattis, when asked on April 24 about Russian activity in Afghanistan, said Washington is increasingly concerned about reports of Russian weapons shipments to Taliban fighters.

Mattis said Washington would "engage with Russia diplomatically" whereever possible.

But he said the United States was "going to have to confront Russia where what they're doing is contrary to international law or denying the sovereignty of other countries."

"For example, any weapons being funneled here from a foreign country would be a violation of international law," Mattis said.

Meanwhile, General Nicholson on April 24 also said it was "quite possible" that the Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network was responsible for an April 21 attack on an Afghan military base at Mazar-e Shariff that killed as many as 140 Afghan soldiers.

Nicholson said he came to that assessment after considering the sophisticated planning behind the attack.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility.

Mattis's arrival in Kabul on April 24 coincided with the resignation of Afghanistan's defense minister and army chief of staff in the wake of the Mazar-e Sharif massacre.

Mattis, the first member of President Donald Trump's cabinet to visit Afghanistan, met with Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and other senior government officials during his previously unannounced April 24 visit.

Mattis's visit -- the final stop on a six-country tour aimed at bolstering relations with U.S. allies and partners -- was focused on assessing the needs in the war against the Taliban and other militants as Washington considers whether to deploy more U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

General Nicholson recently told Congress that he needs a few thousand more troops to bolster Afghan security forces until they eventually can handle the fight against Taliban militants on their own.

U.S. officials say Nicholson's request has been advancing through the chain of command.

U.S. national security adviser General H.R. McMaster visited Kabul earlier in April.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-mattis- nicholson-russia-arming-taliban/28449422.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Denmark Says Russia Hacked Defense Ministry E-Mails

April 24, 2017

Denmark's defense minister has criticized Moscow's "aggressive" behavior after a report accused Russian hackers of infiltrating e-mail accounts of the country's Defense Ministry.

"This is part of a continuing war from the Russian side in this field, where we are seeing a very aggressive Russia," Defense Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen told Danish media.

A report published on April 23 by Denmark's Center for Cybersecurity accused a group of pro-Kremlin hackers of breaking into the e-mails of Defense Ministry employees in 2015 and last year.

"The hacked e-mails don't contain military secrets, but it is of course serious," Frederiksen said, adding that the hacking "is linked to the intelligence services or central elements in the Russian government, and it is a constant battle to keep them away."

The report identified the hacker group as APT28, also known as Pawn Storm, Sofacy, and Fancy Bear.

The group has links to the Russian government and security services and has previously been named by the FBI and U.S. Homeland Security as being behind "malicious cyberactivity" against U.S. government bodies.

The report comes at a time when several Western governments, including the United States, France, and Britain, have accused Russia of using hacking to influence elections. Moscow denies it.

Western media reports about the Danish accusations said that Russian officials were not available to comment.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-denmark- defense-ministry-hacking/28448928.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Update: air strikes against Daesh

24 April 2017

The RAF are continuing to take the fight to Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

Summary

- Thursday 20 April  Typhoons supported Syrian Democratic Forces, striking a Daesh-held building north-west of Raqqa, and a mortar team hiding in a tunnel in the east of the country.

- Friday 21 April  Tornados struck a Daesh supply vehicle and a group of fighters engaged in close combat with Iraqi troops in Mosul.

- Saturday 22 April  Tornados took part in a Coalition attack on Daesh accommodation and vehicle sheds south-east of Rawah, and two engineering vehicles in Mosul.

- Sunday 23 April  Typhoons destroyed an armed truck south-west of Tabqah in Syria, while Tornados bombed a Daesh position in western Mosul.

Detail

The RAF is continuing to support Iraqi forces in their effort to liberate western Mosul. While the operating environment in the city is very challenging, particularly given the closely-packed buildings, very narrow streets, and the density of the urban population, our aircrew have continued to deliver precision strikes in close support of Iraqi troops on the ground. Daesh's current tactics, including the illegal use of civilians as human shields, and fighting from sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighbourhoods, increases the risk to innocent life. While no military operations come without risk, particularly in dense urban environments and against such inhuman Daesh tactics, the RAF continues to take all steps necessary to minimise civilian causalities.

The RAF assisted Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Thursday 20 April. A pair of Typhoons struck a Daesh-held building to the north-west of Raqqa. The Typhoons then hit a Daesh mortar team hiding in a tunnel in the east of the country.

RAF Tornados provided close air support over western Mosul on Friday 21 April. A pick-up truck used by Daesh was destroyed with a Brimstone missile. The Tornados then struck a group of Daesh fighters in a building which had been firing on Iraqi troops.

Tornado patrols over Mosul continued on Saturday 22 April, when the aircraft used Brimstone missiles to destroy two vehicles used by Daesh. Two other Tornados struck a group of Daesh buildings to the south-east of Rawah, in western Iraq.

On Sunday 23 April, Typhoons assisted the SDF, destroying an armed truck near Tabqah, west of Raqqa. In western Mosul, a Daesh-held building was struck by a Paveway IV, released by a Tornado flight, after Iraqi troops came under fire from the building.

Previous update

Sunday 2 April: Tornados, supported by a Voyager air tanker, patrolled over western Mosul. When Iraqi forces came under Daesh mortar fire, the Tornados' aircrew were able to identify the mortar team firing their weapon out of the ground floor of a large building. This allowed the Tornados to achieve a clear line of fire for a Brimstone missile, which scored a direct hit on the mortar team while causing minimal damage to the rest of the building.

Monday 3 April: Tornados and Typhoons conducted attacks in western Mosul, also against Daesh mortars. The Typhoons had to bomb through cloud, but the Iraqi ground forces, only metres away, reported that the terrorist position had been struck accurately. The Tornados, also hampered by cloud, targeted a mortar that was firing on an Iraqi unit from the top storey of a tall building. A Paveway IV was employed with a carefully selected fuse setting, and it successfully demolished just the uppermost storey, leaving the rest of the building intact.

Wednesday 5 April: Royal Air Force Typhoons provided close air support to Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as they consolidated their hold on the huge Tabqah Dam to the west of Raqqa. Daesh had tried, in their desperation, to counter-attack with suicide truck-bombs, so the Typhoons conducted an air strike to cut the approach road to the SDF positions and make any further truck-bomb attacks much more difficult. Given attempts by both Daesh and Russia to claim falsely that Coalition air attacks have been directed at the dam itself, it is important to emphasise that the Typhoons' target was two miles to the south-east and posed no threat whatsoever to the dam's structural integrity. A pair of Tornados meanwhile supported the Iraqi forces driving Daesh out of western Mosul, and used a Paveway IV guided bomb to engage a mortar position. The Tornados then flew down to Iraq's western desert, where other Iraqi troops were operating against Daesh to the south of Al Qaim. A Brimstone missile was used to destroy a motorcycle combination carrying three terrorists at speed over the desert and a second Brimstone eliminated a light machine-gun position.

Thursday 6 April: A Tornado and a Typhoon flew as a pair, armed with a mix of Paveway IVs and Brimstone missiles. Over north-western Mosul, they engaged a Daesh motor team who were moving to a new position on a truck. A number of unidentified individuals were seen on foot nearby, so our aircrew waited patiently until they had moved away from the immediate proximity of the vehicle. A Brimstone missile, which has a smaller warhead than a Paveway, was then used to destroy the target. The RAF flight then patrolled an area some 25 miles west of Kirkuk, where they were able to track a truck carrying a terrorist team who had been planting booby traps, scoring a direct hit on the moving vehicle with another Brimstone missile.

Friday 7 April: A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft flew overwatch for Iraqi troops in west Mosul. Coalition surveillance aircraft identified two Daesh mortar teams: one firing from the doorway of a building, the other from a small courtyard. The Reaper's crew were able to conduct successful attacks with Hellfire missiles which accounted for both teams.

Saturday 8 April: A Tornado and Typhoon pair used two Paveway IVs to strike a truck-bomb factory in Mosul.

Sunday 9 April: Two Tornados patrolled the Iraqi border with Syria, where they bombed a stockpile of home-made explosives near Al Qaim.

Wednesday 12 April, two Typhoons came to the assistance of Iraqi troops when they came under fire from a sniper team in Mosul. A single Paveway IV guided bomb successfully dealt with the threat.

Thursday 13 April: Typhoons patrolled over Raqqa. North of the city, Syrian Democratic Forces reported being in very close combat with a group of seven, strongly defended, Daesh positions. Despite heavy cloud, the Typhoons were able to destroy one position on their first pass, then having confirmed the exact location of the other six targets, struck all of those simultaneously with Paveway IVs on a second pass.

Friday 14 April: Tornados focused their efforts over Mosul, where Iraqi troops identified a car-bomb that had been positioned on a road leading out of the north of the city. A Brimstone missile destroyed the booby-trapped vehicle with a direct hit.

Saturday 15 April: A further Tornado patrol supported Iraqi forces engaged in a firefight with Daesh positioned in a large building in western Mosul. Two Paveway IVs silenced the terrorist fire. Meanwhile, Typhoons continued their support for the SDF as they pushed east from Tabqah towards Raqqa, bombing a terrorist-held building.

Sunday 16 April: Two flights of Tornados active over Mosul. Each flight conducted a successful attack with a Brimstone missile, accounting for a terrorist position on top of a building and an engineering vehicle used by Daesh to construct defensive positions.

Monday 17 April: Tornados operated over western Iraq, where a heavy machine-gun had been spotted, concealed within a grove of trees at Rawah. A single Paveway IV destroyed the weapon. Typhoons continued their support to the SDF west of Raqqah, and conducted a successful Paveway attack on a group of terrorists positioned in a treeline to the south of Tabqah.

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Top US Military Officials 'Not Refuting' Russia Arming Afghan Taliban

By Carla Babb April 24, 2017

Days after the brazen Taliban attack on an Afghan military base, top U.S. military officials are "not refuting" reports Russia has been arming the insurgent group.

"We continue to get reports of this assistance and, of course, we had the overt legitimacy lent to the Taliban recently by the Russians that really occurred late last year," said U.S. General John Nicholson, the ground commander for international forces in Afghanistan.

Nicholson made the comments Monday in Kabul alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who made a previously unannounced visit to Afghanistan, after stops in Qatar and Djibouti.

Mattis noted Russia is choosing to be a strategic competitor in a number of areas, including in the war-torn South Asian country.

"We will engage with Russia diplomatically, we will do so where we can, but we will have to confront Russia when what they are doing is contrary to international law or denying the sovereignty of other countries," Mattis told reporters in the Afghan capital, where he also met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

Deadly attack

The U.S. defense secretary's visit Monday comes days after about 10 Taliban militants killed at least 140 people April 21 in the deadliest insurgent raid on an Afghan military base in 16 years.

The militants were dressed as Afghan soldiers when they arrived at the regional headquarters of the Afghan National Army in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province.

General Mohammad Radmanesh, a spokesperson of the Afghan Ministry of Defense, said that the militants were allowed on the base without all of the proper checks after pleading for urgent care for a man in their vehicle who was covered in blood.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in retaliation for the recent killings of Taliban shadow governors for Kunduz and Baghlan provinces.

The Afghan government is investigating the incident and, on Monday, President Ghani announced that Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim were stepping down in the aftermath of the siege.

Mattis on Monday noted the "barbaric" nature of the attack and the challenges associated with the mission.

"2017 is going to be another tough year for the valiant Afghan security forces and the international troops who have stood, and will continue to stand, shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan against terrorism," he said.

The defense secretary said there was a "pretty low standard" for the Taliban to join the Afghan political process, noting they "need only to renounce violence and reject terrorism."

Long-term US-Afghanistan policy

Mattis traveled to Afghanistan as U.S. President Donald Trump has directed a review of U.S. policy for the country and as Ghani looks to announce a four-year security plan for his nation in the coming weeks.

Possible elements of the four-year plan include the provision of up to 200 U.S. helicopters and other aircraft for Afghan forces, along with doubling the number of Afghan special forces, according to U.S. and Afghan officials familiar with the ongoing discussions.

However, a U.S. official stressed to VOA on Monday that the Pentagon is still working with Congress and the White House to firm up the new administration's Afghanistan policy and financial commitments before making any final planning decisions.

When asked by reporters Monday about deploying more U.S. forces to Afghanistan amid what General Nicholson has called a U.S. stalemate with the Taliban, Mattis said he was "owed some degree of confidentiality" on what he will recommend to Trump.

"Right now we are engaged in defining the challenge [and] the way ahead with a whole lot of nations. There is no one nation that is going to carry all of this," Mattis said.

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Afghan Defense, Army Chiefs Resign Over Deadly Attack

By Ayaz Gul April 24, 2017

Afghanistan's defense minister and military chief have both resigned following Friday's deadliest ever attack on a major army base that killed at least 140 soldiers and wounded many more.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the raid on the Afghan National Army's 209th Shaheen Corps in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Afghan President President Ashraf Ghani's office, in a brief announcement Monday, said, "Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim stepped down with immediate effect" and the president has accepted their resignations.

Habibi later told a joint news conference with Shahim at the defense ministry that they resigned on their own and were not forced to do so.

"Following sacrifices our men are rendering (in this fight), I am also morally bound to resign in the national interest and set an example for my successors so they will also show moral courage and do the same for resolving issues facing them in the future,country," Habibi later told a joint news conference with Shahim at the defense ministry

Afghan officials and witnesses said that a group of ten heavily armed suicide bombers attacked and carried out the massacre just when hundreds of soldiers and officers were about to finish afternoon prayers in a mosque located deep inside the highly fortified facility.

Authorities have so far declined to confirm the number of casualties.

The government observed day of national mourning on Sunday in honor of the deceased soldiers.

Unnamed security officials and politicians in the capital city of relatively peaceful Balkh province claim the death toll could be as high as at least 180 and said special forces were also among them.

A presidential spokesman told reporters on Sunday an investigation was underway.

"Afghan president has ordered a full and technical investigation with regards to the attack on the military base. In order that the result of the investigation must be acceptable to the president and the people of Afghanistan," Shah Hussain Murtazawi told a news conference in Kabul.

The insurgent attack has led to a flood of criticism of President Ashraf Ghani's administration, with many accusing it of nepotism and appointing incompetent officers to key security posts who have failed to rid army ranks of soldiers suspected of links to the Taliban.

A Taliban spokesman claimed that four of its fighters who participated in Friday's raid had served at the military base.

On Sunday, U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster spoke to his Afghan counterpart, Haneef Atmar, and condemned the terrorist attack.

"On behalf of the President Trump administration, and the American people, Gen. McMaster reaffirmed U.S. support for the people and security forces of Afghanistan," Haneef's office said. It added that Atmar told McMaster his government is determined to clear ranks of Afghan forces of "enemy influence and infiltrations".

The U.S. military has repeatedly shown concern over thousands of"ghost soldiers" in the Afghan army, meaning personnel who do not exist but their salaries are being drawn.

A month ago, militants attacked the country's largest army hospital in Kabul and killed more than 50 people, including doctors and soldiers. However, militants who have pledged allegiance to Syria-based Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for that attack.

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PLA reorganized into 13 army corps, says expert

Central News Agency

2017/04/24 14:34:30

Hong Kong, April 24 (CNA) Mainland China's 18 army corps have been reorganized into 13 army corps, according to a military expert in Hong Kong.

The expert, Leung Kwok-leung (), told a CNA reporter on Monday that the 13 new army corps of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will also use new numeric designations that start from 71.

He said the PLA has had 70 army corps in its history and the new numbers are simply an extension of that tradition.

Leung also said, according to his information, the new 71st, 72nd and 73rd army corps will come under the Eastern Theater Command; the 74th and 75th under the Southern Theater Command; the 76th and 77th corps under the Western Theater Command.

Three each of the six remaining army corps fall under the Northern Theater Command and the Central Theater Command.

He also quoted sources as revealing that the PLA's 15th airborne army is likely to be upgraded as the new 84th Airborne Army Corps, an indication that mainland China is trying to improve its airborne forces.

Leung expects the new 84th Airborne Army Corps to include an airborne assault group similar to that of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division.

Meanwhile, a military website run by Beijing's Global Times reported today that the new vice head of the 76th Army Corps visited a commemoration of the Red Army in Gansu days ago.

This was the first time the name of the new 76th Army Corps has been officially mentioned.

(By Stanley Cheung)

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China's first domestically-built aircraft carrier ready for launch: Sources

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:18PM

Reports say Beijing is set to launch its first domestically- built aircraft carrier after more than two years, as the country is beefing up its military in the face of growing tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Military sources in China said on Monday that the home-made aircraft carrier, known as the Type 001A, was sitting at the Dalian shipyard in China's Liaoning Province and could hit the water "as early as this week."

Local media also announced that People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was making "final preparations" to launch the carrier as "the scaffolding around the ship was removed and the deck was cleared."

South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based news agency, said China's new aircraft carrier was 70,000 tones in weight, 315 meters long, 75 meters wide and had a cruising speed of 31 knots.

"It is slightly larger than the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, which was refurbished from the semi-completed Soviet carrier Varyag, which Beijing bought from a Ukrainian shipyard in 1998," the agency said.

The new carrier has a larger hangar to carry more J-15 fighters and more space on deck for helicopters and other aircraft, according to reports.

The vessel is expected to go into commission around 2020, after being outfitted with military equipment and conducting operational tests.

Beijing claims almost all the disputed waters of the South China Sea, through which around $5 trillion of global sea-borne trade passes each year. China's growing military presence there has fueled concern in Japan and the United States.

Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the sea that has rich fishing grounds, oil and gas deposits. Japan has no claims there, but is locked in another territorial dispute with China over a group of islets in the neighboring East China Sea.

The US has taken sides with China's rivals in regional territorial disputes. Beijing says Washington is deliberately escalating the situation in the region and has denounced US frequent patrols in contested waters as "illegal" and "provocative."

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DPRK says no dialogue with U.S. without Washington abandoning hostility

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:13, April 23, 2017

PYONGYANG, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Saturday that it is not interested in holding any dialogue with the United States as long as Washington refuses to abandon its hostile policy towards Pyongyang.

The present U.S. administration is blaming Pyongyang for 20-odd years of failed DPRK-U.S. talks to justify its economic sanctions and military standoff, Rodong Sinmum, the official daily of the ruling Korean Workers' Party, said in a commentary.

"It openly reveals its intention not to rule out the use of military force including unilateral preemptive attack, to say nothing of multilateral military and diplomatic pressure and high-intensity economic sanctions and redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea," the newspaper said.

The United States has claimed that "it does not harbor any illusion about dialogue with the DPRK," said the paper.

"Meanwhile, the U.S. is pressurizing countries around the DPRK to join it in putting diplomatic pressure and high-intensity economic sanctions on the DPRK. It even threatens that it would seek out an independent way of preventing the DPRK from bolstering nuclear deterrence," it added.

The United States has been calling for tighter economic sanctions against the DPRK and has threatened to take military action for its nuclear and missile tests, triggering high tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The two countries had held dialogue both bilaterally and within the framework of the Six-Party Talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula in the past, but failed to achieve any results.

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Xi calls for restraint over DPRK tensions in phone conversation with Trump

People's Daily Online

By Li Qian (CNTV) 13:33, April 24, 2017

China hopes all parties can exercise "restraint" on the DPRK issue, and not take "provocative actions", said Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump on Monday.

Xi stressed China is strongly against any action that would violate any UN Security Council resolutions. The Chinese president added that only if all parties take their responsibilities and work together can the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue be solved.

The phone conversation came amid rising tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, with concerns growing over the possibility of a sixth DPRK nuclear test.

During the phone call, the two presidents also talked about bilateral ties, pledging close contact through various means to promptly exchange views on major issues of common concern.

Xi called for strengthening communication and cooperation between the two countries in fields including trade, military, law enforcement, the Internet and culture.

Trump has spoken highly of his meeting with Xi at Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month, saying he is looking forward to meeting with President Xi again. Trump also added that he is looking forward to his visit to China .

This was the second phone call between the two leaders this month. On April 12, Xi and Trump talked about the Korean Peninsula situation, and matters related to Syria.

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Chinese FM urges voice of peace, reason over Korean Peninsula issue

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:20, April 24, 2017

ATHENS, April 23 -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here on Sunday urged all sides to make voices of peace and reason on the Korean Peninsula issue, and reiterated China's consistent and definite stand on denuclearizing the Peninsula.

Wang made the statement when asked about the situation of the Korean Peninsula at a joint press conference with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias.

Wang said that there were already enough shows of force and confrontation at present and that "we need to make peaceful and rational voices."

China's stand on the issue of the Korean Peninsula is constant and definite, and will not change, which means adherence to realizing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and adherence to maintaining peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, peaceful means must be applied to solve the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, Wang noted.

Though China is not the focus of the current contradiction, and though the key to solving the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula is not in its hands, China, adopting an attitude of assuming responsibility for peace of the Korean Peninsula and regional stability, has always been exerting efforts for resuming peace talks, according to Wang.

Recently, China has put forward a legitimate and reasonable proposal on the issue, which is winning understanding and support from more and more countries, the Chinese minister said, adding that China welcomes solutions proposed by other sides concerned if they also hold sincerity for peace.

"China will not be swayed by the various statements concerned, and will not renounce its due responsibility," Wang said, "China will continue maintaining dialogue and consultation with all sides and continue playing a constructive role in solving the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula."

Wang is visiting Greece to take part in an international forum on ancient civilizations.

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DPRK vows to continue developing nuclear weapons for self-defense

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 20:14, April 24, 2017

PYONGYANG, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Monday it will continue developing nuclear weapons for self-defense against military threat from the United States.

The Korean Workers' Party's official daily Rodong Sinmum said in a commentary that the U.S. move to dispatch a nuclear carrier strike group to the Korean Peninsula is dangerous.

"This is an undisguised military blackmail against the DPRK and a dangerous action that plunges the peninsula into the touch-and-go situation," it said.

"Steadfast are the Korean army and people's will and resolve to annihilate the invaders to the last one and totally round off the showdown with the U.S. by bolstering up their nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way," it added.

The DPRK has intensified its condemnation of the United States recently, vowing to retaliate with nuclear weapons amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

"It is a wicked design of the U.S. to shake the DPRK's will for increased nuclear deterrent through intensive military threat and blackmail and then realize its ambition for 'the north's dismantlement of nukes,'" said the newspaper.

"Such threat may startle a jellyfish, but can never work on the DPRK. The U.S. had better recognize this," it said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said recently Washington was sending an "armada" to the Korean Peninsula to check attempts by the DPRK to conduct more nuclear and missile tests.

Speculations are high that Pyongyang would conduct another nuclear or missile test around April 25, which will mark the 85th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army.

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Security Council must impose new sanctions on North Korea: Trump

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:22PM

US President Donald Trump has said the United Nations Security Council must impose new sanctions on North Korea, amid escalating tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters on Monday ahead of a lunch with ambassadors from countries on the Security Council.

"The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs," the US president said.

"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem and it's a problem that we have to finally solve," he added.

Last week, the Security Council threatened to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea in return for its "highly destabilizing" actions.

The council said on Thursday that Pyongyang's tests of nuclear-capable missiles and nuclear activities "are greatly increasing tension in the region and beyond."

It also expressed "utmost concern" at Pyongyang's "highly destabilizing behavior and flagrant and provocative defiance" of six previous UN sanctions resolutions.

North Korea has so far conducted five confirmed nuclear tests and numerous missile test-launches. While it has not fired missiles against other countries, it has vowed strong action -- including missile attacks against South Korea -- if it is invaded by the South and the US.

North Korea has threatened the US with "all-out war" and announced that Pyongyang would continue to test missiles on a weekly basis.

The US has been unnerved by North Korea's advancing missile and nuclear programs and has dispatched a military strike group to the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has threatened to sink the American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson that President Trump is sending to the western Pacific Ocean.

"Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a US nuclear powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," North Korea's ruling Workers' Party newspaper said in a commentary on Sunday.

The article said Pyongyang had weaponry that "can reach continental US and Asia Pacific region."

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US to North Korea: Refrain from 'provocative' actions

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:38PM

The United States has asked North Korea "to refrain from provocative" actions amid rising tensions between the two countries.

"We call on [North Korea] to refrain from provocative, destabilizing actions and rhetoric, and to make the strategic choice to fulfill its international obligations and commitments and return to serious talks," US Navy Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Monday.

"North Korea's unlawful weapons programs represent a clear, grave threat to US national security," he added.

The statement came a day after North Korea threatened to sink an American aircraft carrier that President Donald Trump is sending to the western Pacific Ocean.

"Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a US nuclear powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," North Korea's ruling Workers' Party newspaper said in a commentary on Sunday.

The article said Pyongyang had weaponry that "can reach continental US and Asia Pacific region."

The USS Carl Vinson is currently conducting exercises with two Japanese destroyers in the Philippines Sea.

Last week, President Trump called on China to rein in North Korea.

"China is very much the economic lifeline to North Korea so, while nothing is easy, if they want to solve the North Korean problem, they will," he tweeted.

Trump discusses North Korea with Xi, Abe

On Sunday, Trump spoke on the phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the North Korean issue.

After the phone call with Trump, Abe told reporters Monday that he and Trump had agreed to keep close contact on North Korea. He appreciated Trump's stance of keeping "all options on the table" regarding Pyongyang.

The Trump administration has several times warned that all options, including a military strike, were being considered to halt Pyongyang's missile and nuclear activities.

"The North Korean nuclear and missile problem is an extremely serious security threat to not only the international community but also our country," Abe told reporters.

Xi, the Chinese president, told his American counterpart during the telephone call that all sides had to exercise restraint.

China has opposed any move that runs counter to the UN Security Council resolutions already in place against North Korea.

Tensions have increased between North Korea and the US in recent weeks. The US has been unnerved by North Korea's advancing missile and nuclear programs and has dispatched a military strike group to the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang has said it is ready for war.

The prospects of a potential military confrontation have made regional countries worried.

North Korea has threatened the US with "all-out war" and announced that Pyongyang would continue to test missiles on a weekly basis.

Pyongyang says its missile and nuclear programs act as deterrence against a potential invasion by its adversaries, particularly the US.

The US has military forces in South Korea on a permanent basis, and routinely threatens the North with military action.

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North Korea 'can sink US aircraft carrier in one strike'

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 8:2AM

North Korea says it has the military power to sink an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that is approaching waters off the Korean Peninsula in "one strike."

The US has deployed a strike group, including the large USS Carl Vinson carrier, to the Korean Peninsula in what is intended to be a show of force amid North Korea's advancing missile and military nuclear programs.

The US carrier will reach the peninsula by the end of April, according to US defense officials.

Pyongyang, considering the deployment an act of provocation, said on Sunday that it was ready to show its own military might by sinking the "nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike."

"Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," read an editorial on North Korea's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Sunday.

The article said Pyongyang had weaponry that "can reach continental US and Asia Pacific region."

Two Japanese destroyers joined the US strike force in the western Pacific Ocean on Sunday, according to the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.

South Korea also said on Monday that it was in talks with Washington to hold joint drills with the US strike group. South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun, however, gave no further details about the discussions with the US Navy.

Earlier, controversy erupted over the location of the strike group. While White House officials, including US President Donald Trump, kept suggesting that the strike force was headed for the Korean Peninsula, it emerged that the flotilla was in fact heading in the opposite direction at the time. It was only after news broke of its actual location that the strike force was ordered to head toward the Koreas.

Meanwhile, Trump spoke on the phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday to discuss North Korea.

Abe told reporters on Monday that he and Trump had agreed to keep close contact on North Korea. He appreciated Trump's stance of keeping "all options on the table" regarding Pyongyang.

The Trump administration has several times warned that all options, including a military strike, were being considered to halt Pyongyang's missile and nuclear activities.

The Chinese president, however, told his American counterpart during a separate telephone call that all sides had to exercise restraint.

Xi Jinping also said China opposed any move that ran counter to the United Nations Security Council resolutions already in place against North Korea.

During recent weeks, tensions between North Korea and the US have significantly increased, raising fears of a potential military confrontation between the two sides.

Washington opposes Pyongyang's missile and military nuclear programs, which North Korea says act as deterrence against a potential invasion by its adversaries.

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US Senators to Get Rare Briefing at White House on North Korea Threat

By Steve Herman April 24, 2017

All 100 U.S. senators have been invited to the White House on Wednesday for a classified briefing that will primarily concern North Korea, the administration announced Monday.

The briefing will be conducted by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Dunford.

While lawmakers often receive classified briefings on Capitol Hill, it is rare for them to take place at the White House and for the entire Senate to be involved in one event.

During a White House lunch with ambassadors of United Nations Security Council member states on Monday, the U.S. president called unacceptable the "status quo in North Korea."

Trump said the Security Council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

"North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve," the president added. "People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it's time to solve the problem."

Trump, Abe

The comments came after Trump made his latest round of separate telephone calls to the leaders of Japan, China and Germany to discuss concerns about North Korea. His most recent call was made just before meeting the ambassadors on Monday morning to German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the "urgent security challenge" posed by North Korea, according to the White House.

A 30-minute call (Sunday evening U.S. time/Monday morning in Asia) between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meant to increase pressure on Pyongyang not to engage in further provocative actions, but was not prompted by any significant change in the situation, according to officials in Tokyo.

"We agreed to strongly demand North Korea, which is repeating its provocation, show restraint," Abe told reporters in Tokyo. "We will maintain close contact with the United States, maintain a high level of vigilance and firmly respond."

Abe also said he and Trump agreed that a larger role in dealing with Pyongyang should be played by China.

Trump, Xi

Trump subsequently spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about North Korea.

The Chinese president said he hopes all sides avoid doing anything to worsen the tense situation on the Korean peninsula, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Trump, in the phone call with Xi, "criticized North Korea's continued belligerence and emphasized Pyongyang's actions are destabilizing the Korean Peninsula," according to a White House readout issued Monday. "The two leaders reaffirmed the urgency of the threat posed by North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, and committed to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

North Korea's continued development of ballistic missiles and its underground nuclear tests  there have been five  are "to put it mildly, a game changer," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Monday. "And it's one of the reasons why you've seen administration officials talking so candidly about our concerns and about the fact that the time for strategic patience and that policy is over."

Trump and U.S. officials have repeatedly said all options remain "on the table" to deal with further North Korean provocations.

North Korea threats

The conversations involving the president about North Korea took place as a U.S. Navy strike force, led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, is approaching the Sea of Japan, off the east coast of the Korean peninsula.

The strike force on Monday was wrapping up a "routine" joint drill "to provide combined maritime response" with components of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force in the Philippines Sea "as it continued its northern transit," U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters at the Pentagon.

Officials in Seoul announced earlier Monday the Vinson is also scheduled to hold a joint training exercise with South Korean naval ships.

"Consultations are under way in connection with the exercise," Ministry of National Defense spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters. He provided no additional details.

The approach of the American naval carrier strike group has not gone unnoticed in Pyongyang.

"Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," read a Sunday commentary in the Rodong Sinmun, the Workers' Party newspaper.

Such threats are common from the reclusive state.

North Korea on Tuesday celebrates the anniversary of the founding of its military, a key holiday in the country.

There are concerns Pyongyang, in conjunction with the anniversary, will demonstrate a show of force by possibly firing more ballistic missiles or conducting its sixth nuclear test.

Trump has said that Xi is applying pressure on North Korea to not engage in further provocations.

It is speculated by analysts in Washington and Beijing that China is threatening to cut crude oil supplies to its impoverished neighbor should it conduct another nuclear test.

U.S. citizen detained

Meanwhile, a third U.S. citizen was detained Friday by North Korean authorities as he was about to leave the country.

Toner at the State Department told reporters he was not aware of any diplomatic access to the American.

The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) confirmed the detention of Kim Sang-duk, who had been teaching accounting at the privately-funded school started by evangelical Christians.

"We cannot comment on anything that Mr. Kim may be alleged to have done that is not related to his teaching work on the PUST campus," the university said in a statement Sunday.

At least two other U.S. citizens are known to be held in North Korea.

The U.S. State Department said it is working with Swedish diplomats on the case.

The United States and North Korea have never had diplomatic ties. Sweden's embassy in Pyongyang represents the interests of American citizens in the country.

North Korea has a pattern of detaining and sentencing American visitors to prison in order to get high-profile visitors to go there to obtain their release.



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Iran inks deal with China to redesign Arak reactor

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 23, IRNA -- Representatives of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and a Chinese company on Sunday signed a contract in Vienna, Austria, to redesign the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor.

Signing the deal took place at the premises of Iran's mission to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna. It is a turning point in redesigning and modernization of Arak heavy water reactor.

It is also a major step towards implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached between Iran and the G5+1(US, UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany) in 2015.

Based on the contract, the Chinese side is to verify and confirm that the new design of the Arak reactor which was carried out by Iranian specialists, is based on international safety standards.

Copies of documents related to primary designing of the Arak reactor which was complete in March 2017 by the Iranian specialists and are significant for the next phase of the reactor's redesigning, will be delivered to the Chinese side.

Iran and China have had several rounds of intensive negotiations in the past 12 months to discuss technical details about the contract. The talks concluded two weeks ago in Beijing, China, and officially signed in Vienna on Sunday.

The contract signed today in Vienna, is the beginning of a number of more comprehensive contracts to be inked for completion and re-installation of the Arak reactor in the future.

9191**1394

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Redesign contract for Iran's Arak nuclear reactor signed

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sun / 23 April 2017 / 15:47

Tehran (ISNA)  The contract for redesigning Iran's Arak heavy water nuclear reactor was signed in Vienna on Sunday with Iranian and Chinese companies in attendance.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi had announced the completion of negotiations related to the redesigning of Arak nuclear reactor.

According to the final accord, Iran will be the employer and the owner of the project and China will be the coordinator between Tehran and 5+1 group.

"The detailed accord is about 200 pages which cover different aspects of the cooperation," Salehi said.

China and the United States are joint heads of the working group on the Arak project and at the end, they should verify Iran's designs.

End Item

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On January 20th, 1942, senior officials of the German Nazi Party met in a villa in the Wannsee district of Berlin to discuss what they called the Final Solution to the Jewish questionthe deportation and extermination of the Jewish population of German-occupied Europe.

This Final Solution is today known as the Holocaust--the systematic, bureaucratic annihilation of six million Jews by the German command and its collaborators, as a central act of state during the Second World War. It was an act perpetrated against a specific segment of the population as part of the Second World War, yet it was separate from the German war effort. Indeed, the Final Solution often took precedence over the war effort: despite a desperate need for personnel and material on the front lines, no assets or supplies were diverted from death camp assignments.

Never before in human history had genocidethe annihilation of an entire people--been implemented as government policy despite the fact that it brought no economic or political advantage.

As writer George Santayana once wrote, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. That is why we must never forget the Holocaust and the millions of people who perished in it.

In 1979, the U.S. Congress designated the date corresponding to Nisan 27th on the Hebrew calendar, as the beginning of the 8 days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust. This year, that date falls on April 24th.

Although words do pale, yet we must speak. We must strive to understand. We must teach the lessons of the Holocaust. And most of all, we ourselves must remember, said then-President Jimmy Carter on April 24th, 1979.

We must learn not only about the vulnerability of life, but of the value of human life. We must remember the terrible price paid for bigotry and hatred and also the terrible price paid for indifference and for silence.

To truly commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, we must harness the outrage of our memories to banish all human oppression from the world. We must recognize that when any fellow human being is stripped of humanity; when any person is turned into an object of repression; tortured or defiled or victimized by terrorism or prejudice or racism, then all human beings are victims, too.

The world's failure to recognize the moral truth forty years ago permitted the Holocaust to proceed. Our generation--the generation of survivors--will never permit the lesson to be forgotten.
Commander: Iran's Naval presence in open seas indication of power

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Rasht, Gilan Prov, April 24, IRNA -- Deployment of Iran's flotilla in the open seas is a source of pride for the Islamic establishment and serves as manifestation of the country's authority in the international waters, says the Navy Commander.

Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari in ceremony attended by Navy staff and commanders on Sunday said that in recent months, three squadrons of Iranian flotilla have been dispatched to Oman, India, Pakistan and Kazakhstan.

They served to be Iran's ambassadors of peace and friendship, Admiral Sayyari said.

Pointing to the enemy's plot in the early years after the Islamic Revolution aimed at dismantling the Army, he added that they wanted, through demolishing the country's defensive power and tarnishing the Army's status, to undermine the Islamic Revolution and prevent its dissemination abroad.

Describing the army as a shield and a powerful defending arm for the Revolution, Sayyari added that the enemy's main tools to achieve its ends were the anti revolution elements of and the Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group.

Sayyari described advancements made by the Armed Forces as satisfactory and added that their abilities in modernizing navy fleet, manufacturing various types of destroyers and warships with rocket launchers are not comparable to the past.

The Navy Commander urged indentifying the enemy and threats, as well as modernizing military hardware.

Such steps are important factors in defending the Islamic Revolution, Sayyari said.

9156**2044

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Japan destroyers begin joint drill with US carrier group

People's Daily Online

(CNTV) 14:11, April 23, 2017

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) kicked off a joint drill with American warships in the western Pacific Ocean on Sunday as a fleet led by the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heads to waters near the Korean Peninsula, The Japan Times reported.

Two Japanese destroyers, "Samidare" and "Ashigara," which departed from Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture on Friday, are scheduled to join the US carrier strike group for training on tactics and communications, Japan Times said, citing the country's defense ministry.

MSDF destroyers held joint drills with the USS Carl Vinson twice last month in the East China Sea, and the latest one came amid heightened tensions over the DPRK's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

The DPRK will celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Korean People's Army on Tuesday. In the past, Pyongyang has marked major anniversaries with missile launches or nuclear weapons launches.

Speaking in Australia on Saturday, US Vice President Mike Pence said the USS Carl Vinson would be in waters near the Korean Peninsula "before the end of this month."

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said the USS Carl Vinson was on its way to the region, but it was later revealed to be sailing in the opposite direction.

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US Treasury sanctions Syrian officials over suspected gas attack

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:16PM

The United States has announced "sweeping sanctions" against Syrian officials in response to allegations that the Syrian government was responsible for a suspected gas attack earlier this month.

The Treasury Department ordered assets belonging to 271 employees of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) to be frozen in the United States, it announced on Monday.

It also prohibited any American individual or business from dealing with the Syrians.

The Treasury alleged the SSRC was responsible for producing the chemical weapons that US officials said were used in the April 4 incident and the means to deliver them.

The West accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of launching a chemical attack in Idlib province, which left 87 dead.

The Syrian government strongly denied responsibility for the attack, and there is no evidence that it was behind the incident.

"The United States is sending a strong message with this action that we will hold the entire Assad regime accountable for these blatant human rights violations in order to deter the spread of these types of barbaric chemical weapons," Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said of the new sanctions.

On April 7, President Donald Trump ordered the US military to carry out a barrage of missile strikes against a Syrian airfield, where US officials claimed the chemical attack originated.

US officials stepped up the rhetoric against the Syrian government following the missile strike, saying the conflict would not be resolved with President Assad in power.

"There's not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime," the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said at the time.

The Treasury had already imposed sanctions against 18 Syrian officials in January.

Washington has also threatened Russia and Iran with tougher sanctions over their support for Syria.

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Syria to stop counter-terror operations for chemical probe: Russia

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:10PM

The Russian Defense Ministry says Syrian government forces will suspend counter-terrorism operations near a town in the northwestern province of Idlib to help experts carry out an investigation into a suspected chemical incident there.

"The General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces has expressed readiness to cease operations in Khan Shaykhun if a special mission of experts is sent there to investigate the events of April 4," the ministry said in a statement released on Monday.

On April 13, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized Western countries, saying they were looking for excuses to avoid investigating both a recent suspected chemical attack in Syria's Idlib as well as US missile strikes on an air base in the Arab country's Homs Province.

"We want the inspectors to transparently, independently and professionally investigate not only the [Shayrat] airfield that, as claimed by our Western colleagues, was used to load the aircraft with chemical weapons, but also to inspect the site hit by the airstrike. Only this kind of inspection can be objective," Lavrov said in a joint press conference with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali, in Moscow.

Over 80 people died in the April 4 purported gas attack on Khan Shaykhun, which Western countries blamed on the Syrian government.

Using the incident as a pretext, US warships fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea at the Shayrat airfield in Syria's central province of Homs on April 7. US officials claimed that the suspected Khan Shaykhun attack had been launched from the military site.

Syria's official news agency, SANA, reported that at least nine people had been killed in the early morning strike on the Syrian airfield.

Last week, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with the Russian Sputnik news agency that the chemical incident was "a false-flag play just to justify the attack on the Shayrat base."

He also accused the West of preventing any impartial investigation into the suspected chemical attack.

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US Hits Hundreds of Syrian Tech Workers with New Sanctions

By VOA News, Lou Lorscheider April 24, 2017

The U.S. Treasury has slapped sanctions on hundreds of employees of a Syrian research center that Western analysts say develops chemical weapons like those thought to be used by government forces against civilians in Syria's long-running civil war.

These expanded sanctions, announced Monday in Washington, target workers at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, a Damascus-based facility linked to the research and development of biological, chemical and missile related technology.

The website GlobalSecurity.org alleges that the development of chemical weaponry at the center is secretly aided by Russian chemical experts.

The sanctions come three weeks after a suspected sarin gas attack in Syria's Idlib province killed at least 87 civilians and disfigured or otherwise incapacitated more than 300 others.

That April 4 attack, linked to government forces, sparked international outrage and prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to retaliate with a huge cruise missile attack on a Syrian government airbase.

Sanctions freeze assets

Monday's Treasury directive orders U.S. banks to freeze all U.S. assets of 271 employees of the center, and bans U.S. companies from conducting business with them. Other administration officials, speaking to reporters Monday, described the targeted workers as "highly educated" people able to travel abroad with the help of the international financial system.

"These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's horrific chemical weapons attack," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The secretary also described the sanctions as a "strong message ... that we will hold the entire Assad regime accountable for these blatant human rights violations."

Bush ordered first sanctions in 2005

Former President George W. Bush first placed sanctions on the facility in 2005 on suspicion that its workers were developing weapons of mass destruction.

Last year, President Barack Obama sanctioned an array of companies doing business with the center, and earlier this year, Washington imposed penalties on senior center officials linked to chemical weapons research and development.

Some international relief workers have complained that earlier Western trade sanctions made it difficult to navigate a shifting system of licenses, export controls and other prohibitions that restricted the ability of workers to obtain critical medical supplies.

As an example, relief workers last year cited bans on "dual use" items, including piping used in drilling that is also used to deliver fresh water to civilians and medical facilities in a country wracked by years of drought and warfare.

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2017 Han Kuang Exercises to kick off on May 25: MND

ROC Central News Agency

2017/04/23 19:32:27

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) The annual Han Kuang military exercises will begin on May 25, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Sunday, and President Tsai Ing-wen () will be invited to follow the drills.

MND spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi () said the invitation has been delivered to the Presidential Office, but no response has been received.

Some media reports said on Sunday that to prepare for the annual war games the MND will conduct drills on May 9 and May 16 in which F-16 jet fighters will fire AGM-65 Maverick missiles in the air over the Penghu Islands.

Chen would not directly comment on the reports, saying only that "everything is being carefully planned based on our original plans."

According to the MND, the 2017 Han Kuang Exercises will be carried out in May in two stages, one centered on live-fire drills and the other focused on computer-simulated war games.

This year the exercises will create a scenario of a military deployment by China's People's Liberation Army in 2025 and include F-35 fighters as a parameter in its computerized war games to simulate combat tactics and strategies, MND officials said.

The ministry said live-fire drills will be carried out on the Penghu Islands on May 25, with the involvement of all three branches of the military -- the Army, Navy and Air Force.

(By Claudia Liu and Elizabeth Hsu)

ENDITEM/ls

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Erdogan set to discuss S-400 missile systems with Putin: Turkish minister

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:46PM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to discuss a contract for buying the advanced S-400 long-range air missile defense system during an upcoming meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Turkey's defense minister says.

Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on Monday that President Erdogan would discuss the deal during a planned meeting with Putin on May 3.

"I suppose after Erdogan's talks with Putin a joint decision will be made on further steps for purchasing Russia's missile system," Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency quoted the minister as saying on Monday.

The defense minister added that more information on the contract and implementation of some projects will be provided later.

Isik had already told a press conference on Friday that Turkey had reached the "final stage" of talks with Russia to purchase the missile system.

Back in February, Isik announced that talks with Russian officials over the purchase had "progressed significantly," but sealing the deal was not expected in the near future.

Russia's S-400 system is designed for high-efficiency defense against airstrikes utilizing various kinds of ballistic missile attacks. It is capable of striking dynamic targets in the air at a distance of around 400 kilometers moving at a speed of almost five kilometers per second at various altitudes.

The news of the S-400 negotiations between Ankara and Moscow surfaced in November 2016, a year after Turkey walked out of a $3.4-billion contract for a similar Chinese system, namely FD-2000, the export version of HQ-9, claiming that Beijing was unwilling to finalize the deal.

Turkey's preference for using Chinese defense systems caused concern among other NATO members at the time, primarily because the HQ-9 system was incompatible with the equipment used by the US-led Western military bloc.

In 2015, Ankara was also angered by Washington's decision to withdraw its Patriot surface-to-air missile battery from Turkey's border with Syria. The move initially prompted the Anatolian country to consider developing an indigenous missile system, but that stance later shifted.

Senior officials in Moscow have already said that Russia could sell missile systems to Turkey in light of a rapprochement between the two countries.

In June 2016, Turkey and Russia put an end to seven months of strained relations, when Erdogan wrote a letter to his Russian counterpart, apologizing for the Turkish military's downing of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 during an anti-terror mission in Syrian skies near the Turkish border.

The Russian fighter jet went down in the mountainous Jabal Turkmen area of the Syrian western province of Latakia on November 24, 2015. The pilot lost his life in the crash, while Syrian government forces rescued the Russian navigator on board.

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Turkish Referendum Result Sparks Peace Process Speculation

By Dorian Jones April 24, 2017

Observers say one of the few positives that supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took from the controversy-marred narrow referendum victory last week was the widely touted bump in support from southern Turkey's restive predominantly Kurdish region.

Critics say that bump had more to do with fraud and intimidation, but Erdogan advisers and members of his ruling AK Party argue it signifies a sea change in Kurdish sentiments toward the president and away from separatist politics.

"The Kurds stood next to Erdogan at a critical turning point," wrote Abdulkadir Selvi, an influential columnist with Hurriyet newspaper, who added that "these results have reminded the ruling party of its historical responsibility in the solution to the problem."

Adding to the weight of Selvi's words is that fact that he is widely seen as being close to Erdogan.

"Kurds saved Erdogan, coalition with nationalists failed. Erdogan needs to pay back this favor," tweeted Altan Tan, a parliamentary deputy from the pro-Kurdish HDP party, highlighting the widely held belief that Erdogan's strategy of courting Turkish nationalist voters in the referendum failed.

But many within the pro-Kurdish movement remain deeply skeptical there has been any momentous change in policy, "No one really believes that," said Ertugrul Kurkcu, an HDP deputy and its honorary president, dismissing any hopes for a new peace process. He argued that actions speak louder than words.

"The day after the referendum they arrested another HDP MP in Mus," he said. "Who is is going to make peace with whom? The government with their local henchmen will make a peace process? This is something very amusing, in fact."

The "henchmen" Kurkcu is referring to is Huda Pa, a hardline Kurdish Islamist party that strongly backs Erdogan.

Turkish security forces continue to crackdown on the PKK, the outlawed Kurdish insurgent group, claiming this week to have killed more than 50 rebels. But Friday saw the unexpected release from jail of two HDP parliamentary deputies. A dozen more remain in jail, including the party's co-leaders. Last week also saw the PKK call off a prison hunger strike.

Erdogan has presided over previous peace efforts, and while they ultimately failed, his efforts were initially rewarded by a surge in support from Kurdish voters. Analysts suggest that, given the animosity between Erdogan and the HDP  in particular, its imprisoned leader  peace efforts could circumvent the party and involve direct talks with imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. That is what occurred in previous attempts at negotiations, the last of which ended in 2015 amid mutual recriminations.

The PKK has been fighting for greater minority rights and regional autonomy since 1984. The conflict has claimed over 45,0000 lives.

Observers say Turkey's presidential and general elections in 2019 could provide a powerful impetus toward peace efforts, in Erdogan's calculations.

"If Turkey is able to go back to that environment of seeking a negotiated solution to the Kurdish problem, then this would not only have a positive impact regarding stability at home,but surely enhance Turkey's diplomatic hand abroad," said Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels. "From there on, Turkey could adopt different policies toward the PYD."

The PYD is the main pro-Kurdish party in Syria, which Ankara designates as a terrorist organization, linking it to the PKK. The PYD militia, the YPG, forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Force that is fighting Islamic State and is militarily backed by Washington.

That support remains a major point of tension between the NATO allies, and is expected to top the agenda when U.S. President Donald Trump meets Erdogan next month in Washington.

Many predict Trump will press Erdogan to change his stance towards the Syrian Kurdish forces, which would likely pave the way to an enhanced U.S.-Turkish relationship, a top Erdogan priority. But hawks within the Turkish presidency are pressing for military incursions into Syria and Iraq against the PKK.

"AKP is not on its own when speaking about the PKK," said HDP deputy Kurkcu. "They have made a coalition with the MHP [Turkish nationalist party], they have made a coalition with the hardliners in the army. Therefore, this coalition does not allow for any reconciliation in this respect."

Erdogan has repeatedly threatened new cross-border operations against the PKK, and local reports say military preparations are already underway. But observers suggest Erdogan is likely still digesting the lessons of the referendum and has not yet decided on his future strategy.

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Defence Secretary announces 539 million investment in new missiles systems

21 April 2017

Secretary of State, Sir Michael Fallon, has today announced three new missile contracts worth a combined 539 million for state-of-the-art Meteor, Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) and Sea Viper missile systems at MBDA Stevenage.

The deal ensures our Armed Forces have the best equipment available to protect the new Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers and the extended fleet from current and future threats.

The half a billion-pound contracts will sustain over 130 jobs with MBDA in the UK, with missile modification and service support being carried out in Stevenage, Henlow, Bristol and Bolton.

Secretary of State, Sir Michael Fallon, said:

"This substantial investment in missile systems is vital in protecting our ships and planes from the most complex global threats as our Armed Forces keep the UK safe."

"Backed by our rising Defence budget, these contracts will sustain high skilled jobs across the UK and demonstrate that strong defence and a strong economy go hand in hand."

As part of a 41 million contract, the Meteor air-to-air missiles will arm the UK's F-35B Lightning II squadrons. It will provide the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy with a world beating missile that can engage with targets moving at huge speed and at a very long range. The weapon will enter service on Typhoon with the RAF in 2018 and the F-35B from 2024, and will be used on a range of missions including protecting the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers.

Meanwhile, a 175 million in-service support contract for the anti-air Sea Viper weapon system will ensure that the Royal Navy's Type 45 Destroyers can continue to provide unparalleled protection from air attack to the extended fleet. Under the contract, the missiles will be maintained, repaired and overhauled as and when required to ensure continued capability. The Sea Viper missile defends ships against multiple threats, including missiles and fighter aircraft.

The final contract is a 323 million deal to purchase the next batch of cutting-edge air defence missiles for the British Army and Royal Navy, offering increased capability at a lower cost. Designed and manufactured by MBDA UK at sites in Bolton, Stevenage and Henlow, the next-generation CAMM missile will provide the Armed Forces with missiles for use on sea and on land. CAMM has the capability to defend against anti-ship cruise missiles, aircraft and other highly sophisticated threats. Signalling our continued investment in Type 26 programme, CAMM will provide the anti-air defence capability on the new Type 26 Frigates for the Royal Navy and will also form part of the Sea Ceptor weapon system on the Type 23 Frigate and will also enhance the British Army's Ground Based Air Defence capability by replacing the in-service Rapier system.

Tony Douglas, Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support, the MOD's procurement organisation, said:

"Work on these cutting-edge missiles, which will help to protect the UK at home and abroad and secure jobs across the country, demonstrates the importance of Defence investment. That is why, working closely with our industry partners, we continue to drive innovation and value into everything we do; securing next generation equipment for our Armed Forces at the best possible value for the taxpayer."

Dave Armstrong, Managing Director of MBDA UK, added:

"MBDA is delighted by the continued trust placed in us by the Ministry of Defence and the British military. The contracts announced today for Meteor, CAMM and Sea Viper will help protect all three UK Armed Services, providing them with new cutting-edge capabilities and ensuring their current systems remain relevant for the future. They will also help to secure hundreds of high-skilled people at MBDA UK and in the UK supply chain, maintaining the UK's manufacturing base and providing us with a platform for exports."

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Scottish shipyards begin building Royal Navy's latest patrol ship

21 April 2017

Work has officially begun in Scotland on HMS Spey, the fifth ship in a fleet of new Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) being built for the Royal Navy.

Tony Douglas, Chief Executive Officer for Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), the UK's Defence procurement organisation, pressed the button to cut the first sheet of steel for the HMS Spey at BAE Systems' Govan shipyard on the Clyde today.

Like her four sister ships HMS Forth, HMS Medway, HMS Trent and HMS Tamar, which are all either under construction or preparing for sea trials, HMS Spey will be built at Govan before she is transferred to the Scotstoun yard, where she will be fitted out for operations.

Work to build HMS Spey and the rest of the OPV fleet is sustaining 800 jobs and the vital skills needed to build the fleet of next-generation Type 26 Frigates, which will begin construction at Govan in the summer.

Minister for Defence Procurement, Harriett Baldwin, said:

"The start of work on HMS Spey, the fifth Offshore Patrol Vessel, is another milestone in a significant programme of work which is sustaining hundreds of jobs in Scotland and the vital shipbuilding skills needed to build the Royal Navy's new Type 26 Frigates."

"The on-going successful delivery of these ships is a key element of the Government's ten-year, 178 billion equipment plan to provide the UK's armed forces with the kit they deserve."

HMS Spey, which will be 90 metres long and displace around 2,000 tonnes, is one of two ships being built under a 287 million agreement signed between the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and BAE Systems in December 2016. She is due to be delivered to the Royal Navy in 2019 and enter service by 2021.

She is expected to carry a 30mm cannon and a flight deck capable of receiving a Merlin helicopter, in support of counter-terrorism, anti-piracy, anti-smuggling and maritime defence operations.

DE&S CEO Tony Douglas said:

"The team at Defence Equipment and Support has driven the successful delivery of the OPV programme; today's steel cut is a proud moment not only for us, but for the Royal Navy and our industry partners too."

"I am looking forward to continuing this long-standing and close relationship when we begin manufacturing for the Type 26 fleet later in the summer."

Batch 2 Offshore Patrol Vessels have a maximum speed of 24 knots and can sail 5,500 nautical miles before having to resupply.

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OSCE Identifies American Monitor Killed In Eastern Ukraine

RFE/RL April 24, 2017

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has identified an American paramedic who was killed by a land mine explosion in eastern Ukraine on April 23 while working as an OSCE monitor.

An OSCE statement on April 24 said U.S. citizen Joseph Stone was killed when an OSCE vehicle he was riding in hit a land mine in the separatist-controlled village of Pryshyb in the Luhansk region.

The statement said two other OSCE monitors injured by the blast -- a German woman and a man from the Czech Republic -- were released from a Luhansk hospital on April 24 and transferred to Kyiv.

It said the two were listed in stable condition.

Meanwhile, the armored Toyota B6 Land Cruiser that struck the land mine has been transported to Kramatorsk -- the Ukrainian government's provisional administrative center in the Donetsk region -- for what the OSCE described as an "ongoing assessment."

Ukraine's government in Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have blamed each other for the land mine explosion.

U.S. 'Shocked'

Self-proclaimed separatist leaders in the breakaway Luhansk region on April 24 claimed that Ukrainian "saboteurs" infiltrated territory under separatist control and planted the land mine in order to "discredit" the Russia-backed militants.

But Ukraine's Defense Ministry rejected that claim, noting that the site of the land mine has been under separatist control since the summer of 2014.

"There can be no Ukrainian sabotage groups, and are none" in this area, Ukraine's Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said.

The U.S. State Department has said it was "shocked" about Stone's death while he serving as an international monitor in separatist-controlled territory of eastern Ukraine.

It called on Russia to use its influence with the separatists to allow the OSCE to conduct a "full, transparent, and timely investigation."

"This death underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which these courageous monitors work, including access restrictions, threats, and harassment," a State Department statement late on April 23 said.

Stone's death was the first among OSCE monitors, who were initially deployed to the region in 2014 to monitor cease-fires in a conflict that has killed at least 9,940 people.

International Condemnation

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said the incident was a "reminder of the urgent need for progress on a peaceful resolution of the conflict."

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who holds the rotating chairmanship of the OSCE in Europe, said there was a need for a "thorough investigation' and that "those responsible will be held accountable."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a similar call.

"The federal government expects that the parties to the conflict immediately do everything possible to ascertain how we reached this tragic point and who holds responsibility for it," she said.

Merkel also said it was time for all sides to start honoring a long-promised cease-fire, adding that the Russian-backed separatists bear the greater responsibility to make sure that happens.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel lamented that "someone who just wanted to help create peace and put an end to the fighting has lost his life."

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko instructed Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin to keep the OSCE informed of Kyiv's investigation into the blast.

"This crime must be investigated and those responsible must be punished," Poroshenko wrote on Facebook.

"Ukraine condemns all forms of constant resistance by the rebels to the OSCE SMM's work," he added, using an acronym for the OSCE's special monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine.

Separatists Make 'Unsafe Route' Claim

A statement issued by the Russia-backed separatists in Luhansk on their website claimed that the OSCE team had veered off the main road and was traveling along an unsafe route.

"We know that this patrol team deviated from the main route and was moving along secondary roads, which is prohibited by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission mandate," the separatist statement said.

Eduard Basurin, a senior separatist figure, said the OSCE vehicle "deviated from its main route and moved onto backroads" when it struck what he said was an antitank mine.

The separatists' claim could not be confirmed.

The unarmed, civilian OSCE mission, with more than 700 international observers, seeks to reduce tensions and report on the situation on the ground in Ukraine.

In March, the 57 member states of the OSCE, which include Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, decided by consensus to extend the mandate of the mission for another year, its third extension since it was first deployed in Ukraine in 2014.

Western nations have imposed sanctions on Moscow for its illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula and its support for the separatists in eastern Ukraine.

With reporting by RFE/RL correspondent Christopher Miller, AFP, Reuters and DPA

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-dead-osce-paramedic -named-joseph-stone/28449349.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Tillerson Briefs Poroshenko On Russia Visit, Vows 'Firm' Support

RFE/RL April 24, 2017

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine remain an obstacle to improved U.S.-Russian relations and he reiterated his "firm" support for Kyiv.

Spokesman Mark Toner on April 23 said the call was meant to brief the Ukrainian leader on Tillerson's April 11-12 trip to Moscow, where he met with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

He said Tillerson relayed his "message to the Russian leadership that, although the United States is interested in improving relations with Russia, Russia's actions in eastern Ukraine remain an obstacle."

Toner said Poroshenko passed on his condolences on the death earlier in the day of a U.S. member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission in eastern Ukraine.

The OSCE said a member of its monitoring staff was killed and two were injured after their vehicle hit a mine in eastern Ukraine in an area controlled by Russia-backed separatists.

The OSCE first deployed staff in 2014 to monitor the cease-fires between the Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces in a conflict that has killed at least 9,940 people. The mission has been extended to at least March 2018.

Tillerson and Poroshenko agreed that "this tragic incident makes clear the need for all sides -- and particularly the Russian-led separatist forces -- to implement their commitments under the Minsk agreements immediately," Toner said.

The spokesman said the secretary reiterated the "firm" U.S. commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. He confirmed that sanctions against Moscow will remain in place until Russia returns control of the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine and fully implements its commitments in the Minsk agreements.

The 2015 Minsk agreement and subsequent related agreements set out steps to end the war between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Europe and restore Kyiv's control over the border with Russia.

Tillerson also "emphasized the importance of Ukraine's continued progress on reform and combating corruption," Toner said.



Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/tillerson- poroshenko-russia-crimea-ukraine- osce-putin-lavrov/28448012.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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We will find out later today whether Cheltenham will see some of the world top cyclists passing through, and maybe even finishing in the middle of town.

Sweetspot, the organising company of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain, the countrys biggest cycle race for men is announcing the route for this years race at a ceremony in Cardiff this evening.

(Image: Mikal Ludlow)

Officials from Cheltenham Borough Council which put together a bid to host the finish of the stage are travelling down to the Welsh capital with hope and fingers and toes crossed.

The authority has worked with Cotswolds District council to try and attract the race to Gloucestershire, with the bid suggesting the Cotswold Hills would be good roads to see racing on, with the end of a stage being hosted in Cheltenham.

Cheltenham had made a bid to host the start or fish of a stage last year but instead the nearest it came to the town was the Forest of Dean and Gloucester on the stage between Aberdare and Bath.

Gloucestershire Live will be in Cardiff for the announcement this evening: check back here for exclusive updates as they happen.
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The death of a 60-year-old woman killed in a collision with a train in the early hours of yesterday morning is not being treated as suspicious.

Police and an ambulance attended Morris Hill level crossing at around 3.40am on Monday, following reports someone had been struck by a train.

Very sadly the womans injuries were unsurvivable and she died at the scene off Swindon Lane.

The line was closed for several hours to allow investigations to be carried out by British Transport Police, assisted by their colleagues from Gloucestershires force.

We were called to Morris Hill crossing in Cheltenham at around 3.35am to reports that a person had been struck by a train, a spokeswoman for the BTP said.

We attended along with the ambulance service but sadly a woman died at the scene.

Her next of kin has been informed.

The incident is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.

Local officers were at the line towards Gloucester until 5.44am and it took around another hour for the railway to reopen.

Gloucester Coroners Office confirmed a post-mortem will take place next week to ascertain how the woman died, with an inquest to follow at a later date.
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A former chief inspector who was the first policeman to drive a patrol car across the Severn Bridge when it was opened by the Queen has died, aged 80.

Brian Brazil joined Gloucestershire Police in February 1958 and completed 30 years of service with the force, retiring in May 1988.

Spending much of that time in the traffic department, he was honoured to oversee the royal visit of Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh on September 8 1966.

At the time, the Queen hailed the bridges construction as the dawn of a new economic era for South Wales.

Five years later, PC Brazil was honoured to be promoted to the rank of sergeant and was seconded to the police driving school at Devizes.

At the age of 41 he became an inspector and transferred from Stroud to Cheltenham.

During this time he spoke to the media about many policing issues, including drink driving awareness and road safety.

In 1967 he qualified as an advanced police driving instructor.

Adding to a most comprehensive CV, he was also head of the accident prevention department at the police HQ in Cheltenham.

Always willing to do his best for people, he once saved a mans life by driving him speedily but safely to hospital following an incident in the seventies.

Vic Zaranoui penned his thanks in a letter his family have kept.

In 1974 he helped this man in need after an incident, said daughter Nicola.

He took him to Southmead Hospital where he had an operation on his kidney- and his safe driving helped him get there which saved his life.

His last honour was to rise to Chief Inspector and on November 21 1980, he received a long service and good conduct medal for his time with the force.

To this day, newspaper cuttings of key campaigns the Barnwood resident was involved in are proudly displayed in the family home- featuring his expanded royal portfolio meeting Prince Charles, Prince Phillip, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne.

Chief Insp. Brazil leaves his wife Glenys of 57 years, daughters Gail and Nicola ( pictured ), son-in-laws Steven and David, together with grandchildren Joanne, Tom, Danny, Bradley and great-grandson Riley.

He was a wonderful father who loved telling his grandchildren stories about when he attended big incidents, said Nicola.

They used to love playing with his police whistle and truncheon. Hed bring motorbikes home so we could see them.

He loved the discipline of the job- he was firm and authoritative but a very generous man who would help anybody.

When I left school I was always dubious to say who my dad was, as it depended which side of the law you were on!

He really was one in a million.

Funeral details will be published in The Citizen in the near future.
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It has emerged that Stroud MP Neil Carmichael has been spoken to by police about election expenses  he said he has done nothing wrong.

Former Stroud Labour MP David Drew, who will seek the chance to take on Conservative Mr Carmichael in the forthcoming General Election said that matter needs to be resolved before Mr Carmichael can fight the snap election called by Prime Minister Theresa May last week.

I have put my name in the ring, said Mr Drew. A lot of people wanted me to do it. We have some good local candidates who will be ready for 2020 or whenever the next General Election is after this one but how many people can give up eight weeks of their life to fight an election?

I have said I will go for it and if I am selected I will fight as hard as I can. Stroud is up for grabs.

Mr Carmichael has still not sorted out whether he should be standing because of the election expenses issue during the last election.

Mr Carmichael told Stroud Life he has assisted police with inquiries but has done nothing wrong  Gloucestershire Constabulary was one of 12 forces to hand files to the Crown Prosecution Service after the Conservative Party was fined 70,000 for what it called an administrative error over allotting expenses for the national battle bus which called at constituencies all over the country.

The investigation concluded that there were significant failures by the Conservative party to report accurately on how much it spent on campaigning at three by-elections in 2014 and at the 2015 General Election  the partys spending return on the latter was missing payments worth at least 104,765.

I have assisted police with their inquiries, Mr Carmichael confirmed, adding that he could not remember exactly when but it was last year.

I have done nothing wrong, I have been found guilty of nothing  thats what it boils down to. The Electoral Commission report found that there were mistakes made at central party level.

He said he is looking forward to campaigning on his record in Stroud.

There has been a lot of investment in Stroud and more is on the way, he said. We have seen a huge amount lately with Sartorious creating jobs, we have the Berkeley Green University Technical College opening in September and its already oversubscribed.

In terms of planning, I am pleased Stroud District Council has a local plan in place after I called on them to do that, and I am delighted that a number of parish councils are getting Neighbourhood Plans in place.

After the success of getting the agreement on doubling the rail line to London from Stroud, I am campaigning to get a station again at Stonehouse on the line to Bristol and long term I am campaigning for a bridge between Sharpness and Lydney.

He said he was pleased to see more investment in roads and continues to press, with other MPs, for the A417 missing link to be built at Birdlip, and he said he is looking forward to the Festomane Festival of Manufacturing and Engineering which he founded expanding even more.

Mr Drew last week said he would not stand but since he has been persuaded to throw his hat in to the ring again.

While the Stroud Labour candidate is expected to be confirmed over the weekend, the Greens have gone with 2015 candidate and outgoing county councillor Sarah Lunnon, and the Liberal Democrats have confirmed contingency candidate Max Wilkinson will fight for them.

Mr Drew won the seat from the Tories in 1997 and beat Mr Carmichael in 2001 and 2005 before losing to him in 2010 and 2015.

At the last election, Mr Carmichael won by 4,866 votes, taking 45.7 per cent of the vote, while Labour took 37.7. UKIP garnered eight per cent, the Greens 4.6 and the Liberal Democrats 3.4. Two independent candidates each secured less than half a per cent of the vote.

Applications to be the Labour Parliamentary candidate for Stroud have closed but the selection of the candidate rests with the party's National Executive Committee  not local party members.

Green Ms Lunnon said the election is basically a second referendum.

Theresa May is seeking a mandate to throw us off the Brexit cliff, for a little island 1950s backward vision of Britain, she said. We don't have to agree it. This General Election provides an opportunity to create a country that is secure with decent health and social care, a country that protects its economy and its countryside from climate chaos, a country that generates safe energy, provides decent jobs and affordable homes. It is probably the most important General Election of our lives.

Meanwhile Stroud Liberal Democrats have written to Mr Carmichael, urging him to reject Theresa May's hard Brexit.

"I have a lot of respect for Neil Carmichael's historic pro-European beliefs, but when the Brexit bill came to parliament he went back on everything he had previously said and campaigned for, said Mr Wilkinson.

If he signs up to a hard Brexit manifesto, it would go against everything he still says he believes in and what the vast majority of Stroud people voted for at the referendum.

"The Liberal Democrats are united in saying we will stand up for Britain's place in Europe and to keep our country open, tolerant and united."

Addressing Mr Wilkinson, Mr Carmichael said: The Government will negotiate a deep and special partnership between a strong and successful European Union and a United Kingdom that is free to chart its own way in the world.

We will be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the world and I will fight to ensure the United Kingdom can easily trade with the whole of the European Union and all the member states.

UKIP has not announced a candidate for the snap election yet.
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Police are hunting for two boys aged about 15 following a fire at the play equipment on Queen Elizabeth II field in Stroud on Wednesday April 12.

Police investigations are ongoing after two youths were seen leaving the scene at about 8pm after a fire destroyed a 12,000 play boat.

Fundraising and a petition are now under way as parents and neighbour have rallied round to try to support the restoration of the play area at Dudbridge.

Police believe the fire was started deliberately and investigations are ongoing.

They have now issued descriptions of two boys.



Both were about 15 years old and wore dark clothing. They had bikes with them, but it's not clear whether they rode off, said a spokesman.



The first boy is described as white, 5ft 6ins to 5ft 8ins tall , and the second boy is described as having tanned skin, about 5ft 6ins to 5ft 8ins tall and was wearing some form of grey-coloured bag across his chest.

They were seen to leave the QEII park area via the Golden Jubilee Way exit leading to Dudbridge Hill at about 8.15pm.

Cainscross Parish Council met on Monday night and discussed the future of the play area.

The playboat was a bespoke piece specially designed for the canalside setting.

Clerk so the council Jeni Marshall explained; The play equipment was insured and we are now in the process of getting quotes for the insurers. However we are considering getting a metal framed boat as a replacement, rather than a wooden one.

The council also discussed improving security at the site and will be investigating whether an electricity supply can be installed to the site, enabling lighting and possibly CCTV to be installed.

An online campaign has been started by local resident, Emily Forgione, to raise funds for improvements.

My family and I have lived close by for seven years and we were so pleased when the playground was installed on the Queen Elizabeth ll Playing fields a few years ago, she said.

We visit a few times a week and more in the summer months. The community surrounding us and even further make use of the park on a regular basis and during the summer months, it's an absolute hive of activity, and has a really great atmosphere.

Mum Hayley Jones also regularly takes her young son and daughter to the park.

As a family we were devastated by the vandalism attack on the boat.

our children were very disappointed that they wont be able to play there any more.

Its so sad to think local teenagers have done this as probably not so long ago they may have played on the boat themselves.

An online petition is also calling for improvements to security.

Around 70 people have signed the petition to be presented to the police and Stroud District Council, which states; We feel things need to change, to keep our Park protected and a great place for everyone to enjoy. The security needs to be increased, to stop a repeat of recent events.

Police investigations into the suspected arson are continuing after neighbours reported seeing two boys running away.

In 2013, Cainscross Parish Council used around 25,000 of funds from house builders in Baytree Square and Hilly Orchard to install a swing which can take several children at once, and the novel narrow boat on the former Cope Chat recreation ground near the Stroudwater Canal.


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A teenager has admitted 'unlawfully killing' Gloucester man Paul Pass on the first day of his trial.

The 17-year-old from Woolwich in London, who cannot be named because of his age, pleaded guilty to manslaughter as well as to inflicting grievous bodily harm of Mr Pass's friend Mark Andrews.

Mr Pass, 49, died after suffering a stab wound to his leg at his home in Marian Court near Archdeacon Street on October 7 last year.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiring to supply class A drugs cocaine and diamorphine in Gloucester between September 1 and October 7 last year.

Fellow defendant Bilal Moosajee, 19, from Podsmead Road in Gloucester, today also pleaded guilty to kidnapping Mr Pass and Mr Andrews on October 6.

Both will be sentenced at a later date.

The jury had yet to be sworn in for the trial at Bristol Crown Court today before the changes in pleas.

But the trial will continue with the 17-year-old from London facing further charges alongside defendant Rezwan Islam, 19, from Derby Road in Gloucester.

Islam stands accused of kidnapping and murdering Mr Pass as well as kidnapping and inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on Mr Andrews.

He also faces charges of robbing Clinton Thomas of his bag and two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs cocaine and diamorphine.

Another 17-year-old from Gloucester, who cannot be named because of his age, is also charged with assisting an offender as he is accused of driving the other teenager and Islam away from the alleged crime scene.

This afternoon, after the new pleas were announced, a jury of four women and eight men were selected and will hear the summary of the prosecutions case tomorrow morning (Wednesday, April 26).

The court has yet to hear the circumstances which led to the death of Mr Pass on October 7.

The 17-year-old from Gloucester was granted bail with conditions while the other two defendants were remanded in custody.

The trial is estimated to last around four weeks.

THE CHARGES

Rezwan Islam

Profile: 19, Derby Road, Gloucester

Charges:

Murder of Paul Pass

Section 18 GBH wounding with intent against Mark Andrews

GBH against Mark Andrews

Kidnap of Paul Pass

Kidnap of Mark Andrews

Section 18 GBH wounding with intent against Gary Cole

Robbery of Clinton Thomas

Supply of Class A drugs cocaine

Supply of Class A drugs diamorphine

Bilal Moosajee

Profile: 19 and of Podsmead Road, Gloucester

Charges:

Kidnap of Paul Pass (Pleaded guilty)

Kidnap of Mark Andrews (Pleaded guilty)

17-year-old from Woolwich in London

Profile: Cannot be identified because of his age

Charges:

Section 18 GBH wounding with intent against Mark Andrews

Section 18 GBH wounding with intent against Gary Cole

Manslaughter of Paul Pass (pleaded guilty)

Committing GBH against Mark Andrews (pleaded guilty)

Supply of Class A drugs cocaine (pleaded guilty)

Supply of Class A drugs diamorphine (pleaded guilty)

17-year-old from Gloucester

Profile: Cannot be identified because of his age

Charge:

Assisting an offender

WhatsApp

Gloucestershire Live will be following the trial through the coming weeks and will be publishing details as they come in via its WhatsApp channel.

It will provide up to the minute developments in the case as well as help explain the technical elements of a criminal trial.

If you would like to receive these messages on your WhatsApp simply save number 07816 996213 as a contact on your phone.

Next send a message expressing interest in the group by messaging "PAUL" via WhatsApp.

It may take some time to add you to the messaging group so do not worry if you do not see updates straight away.

We hope to send between three and five posts a day but this may vary depending on how court is proceeding.

If you no longer want to receive the messages send "STOP PAUL".
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - April 24, 2017) - Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSX: GCM) announced today that the proposals to consolidate its common shares and to extend its Senior Secured Convertible Debentures due 2020 ("2020 Debentures") were both overwhelmingly supported by those who voted at today's Special Meeting of Shareholders. The detailed results of the votes for each matter are set out below:

SPECIAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS Item Description of matter Outcome Voted Voted (%) 1. Approval of a special resolution authorizing a consolidation of the Corporation's issued and outstanding common shares on a one post-consolidation share for every fifteen pre-consolidation shares (1:15) basis, subject to approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange, as more specifically set out in the Management Information Circular. Approved 104,968,502 For

13,528,921 Against 88.6%

11.4% 2. Approval of an ordinary resolution, the full text of which is set forth in Schedule A of the Management Information Circular, to approve the extension of the maturity date, and the increase of the interest paid over the remaining term, of certain of the Corporation's issued and outstanding 2020 Debentures, and any other ancillary changes, at the option of the holders thereof, all as more particularly described in the Management Information Circular. Approved 64,650,827 For

5,201,514 Against 92.6%

7.4%

The Company intends to effect the share consolidation shortly and will provide further details as they become available.

2020 Debenture Extension Proposal

The Company also announced today that it has received conditional listing approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange, subject to meeting the required conditions, for the listing of extended 2020 Debentures if the extension proposal is approved by holders of the 2020 Debentures and becomes effective. As previously disclosed in the Company press releases dated March 6 and April 11, 2017, the Company is seeking to amend the Amended and Restated Indenture dated as of January 20, 2016 relating to the 2020 Debentures through a consent solicitation process (the "Consent Solicitation") to voluntarily extend the maturity date of the 2020 Debentures. The extended 2020 Debentures will carry largely the same terms and conditions as the other 2020 Debentures except that the maturity date will be extended to 2024 and interest will be paid monthly over the remaining term of the extended 2020 Debentures at an annual rate of 8%. If the Consent Solicitation is approved by 2020 Debenture holders and becomes effective, it is anticipated that the extended debentures will be posted for trading under the symbol "GCM.DB.X".

With receipt of the approval of the Company's shareholders for the Consent Solicitation to proceed, the Company reminds its 2020 Debenture holders to review the Consent Solicitation materials, which can be found on the Company's website at www.grancolombiagold.com and on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Holders may also contact Kingsdale Advisors for additional information or assistance in providing their consent or election by telephone at 1-877-659-1819 (North America toll free) or by e-mail at contactus@kingsdaleadvisors.com.

The Consent Solicitation will expire at 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on May 11, 2017, unless extended at the sole discretion of the Company. Eligible holders who desire to extend the maturity of their 2020 Debentures, conditional on such amendments becoming effective, can also make their election at or prior to 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on May 11, 2017, unless extended at the sole discretion of the Company.

The Consent Solicitation continues to be subject to certain conditions and approvals including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and stock exchange approvals. Terms outlined herein may be amended as required to receive such approvals.

About Gran Colombia Gold Corp.

Gran Colombia is a Canadian-based gold and silver exploration, development and production company with its primary focus in Colombia. Gran Colombia is currently the largest underground gold and silver producer in Colombia with several underground mines in operation at its Segovia and Marmato Operations. Gran Colombia is continuing an expansion and modernization project at its Segovia Operations.

Additional information on Gran Colombia can be found on its website at www.grancolombiagold.com and by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Apr 25, 2017) - Teranga Gold Corp. ("Teranga" or the "Company") (TSX:TGZ)(ASX:TGZ) is pleased to announce two new gold discoveries from its exploration program at Golden Hill, its joint venture with Boss Resources Limited (ASX:BOE) ("Boss"), in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

The Company's new discoveries are located within the Ma and Nahiri prospects, representing the first two of the ten drill ready targets that have been identified to date at Golden Hill. All ten targets are within close proximity to each other.

"The assay results for Ma and Nahiri are very encouraging for an early stage exploration program," said David Mallo, Teranga's Vice President, Exploration. "They display good grades, widths, continuity and strike length in each prospect, and the mineralized zones occur from surface with good oxide depth developed."

Additionally, the next two targets - Jackhammer Hill and Pourey-Peksou - were also drilled during the first quarter. The Company can report that, while these assay results are pending, drilling intersected the expected alteration and structures at each of these targets.

Mr. Mallo added, "Overall, we are excited by these positive results, especially given their close proximity to one another. Based on the success of this first phase, a multi-drill second phase program on these targets has begun."

The Golden Hill property is located within the highly mineralized Hounde Greenstone Belt in Burkina Faso. This belt hosts a number of high-grade gold discoveries, including the recently discovered Sious, Yaramoko and Hounde deposits, the latter property being contiguous with Golden Hill. To the south of Golden Hill is another large land position where active exploration programs are well underway.

HIGHLIGHTS

Initial assays from the Company's initial drilling evaluation at the Ma prospect intersected favorable results over the minimum 1,300-metre strike extent drilled to date. Highlight results include:

6.5 m @ 2.67 g/t Au and 3 m @ 8.86 g/t Au in GHDD-010

9.8 m @ 1.92 g/t Au including 5.3 m @ 2.62 g/t Au in GHDD-011

7.9 m @ 2.71 g/t Au in GHDD-015

5.2 m @ 5.15 g/t Au in GHDD-017

4.9 m @ 3.64 g/t Au in GHDD-020

The initial drilling evaluation at the Nahiri prospect intersected broad, highly anomalous intersections within which highlight intervals include:

14 m @ 2.85 g/t Au including 5 m @ 6.56 g/t Au and 18 m of 1.46 g/t Au including 4 m @ 2.38 g/t Au in GHRC-011

13 m @ 1.56 g/t Au including 6 m @ 2.23 g/t Au in GHRC-010

12 m @ 1.25 g/t Au including 3 m @ 2.28 g/t Au in GHRC-001

12 m @ 1.06 g/t Au and 1 m @ 11.00 g/t Au in GHRC-015

Ma Prospect

At the Ma prospect, 13 diamond drill (DD) holes were completed to test the primary NW-trending Ma structure, a secondary, parallel, NW-trending structure and N-S trending cross-structures. To date, a 1,300-metre strike extent of the primary Ma structure has been successfully intersected in all eight of these holes over varying spacing, (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1). A complete listing of the results from the first 13 drill holes is included in Table 1.

A follow-up drill program is scheduled to begin in early May to further evaluate the strike extent on regularly spaced sections, extend drilling further along trend and test depth extensions below the initial drill holes.

Nahiri Prospect

At the maiden Nahiri prospect, 17 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes were completed in four drill profiles designed to test a 500-metre strike extent of a combined soil and auger geochemical anomaly. Three of the northernmost drill profiles, comprising a minimum 350-metre strike extent, returned the most favorable results, within a broadly anomalous gold zone. Significant results from these drill sections are outlined in Table 2.

About the Golden Hill Property Joint Venture

The Golden Hill property is comprised of three adjacent exploration permits covering 468km2 located in southwest Burkina Faso in the central part of the Hounde Greenstone Belt. Teranga, through the acquisition of Gryphon Minerals Ltd., has an earn-in agreement with Boss pursuant to which Teranga, as the operator, can earn an 80 percent interest in the joint venture upon delivery of a feasibility study and the payment of AUD2.5 million.

Table 1: Ma Prospect Drilling Highlights

Hole # Northing * Easting * Elevation Azimuth Dip EOH

(m) Interval

(m) * Core

length

(m) * Grade

(g/t Au) Ma Primary Structure GHDD - 010 1237505 452175 399 39 -45 122.0 39.5 - 46.0 6.5 2.67 incl. 40.0 - 42.0 2.0 5.03 52.0 - 55.0 3.0 8.86 81.0 - 87.0 6.0 1.39 100.0 - 103.0 3.0 0.97 116.0 - 117.0 1.0 1.52 GHDD - 011 ** 1237408 452333 434 24 -45 62.1 29.2 - 40.0** 9.8 1.92 incl. 29.2 - 34.5 5.3 2.62 incl. 32.8 - 34.5 1.7 6.06 GHDD - 012 1237377 452363 440 20 -45 92.0 30.0 - 31.0 1.0 3.93 34.0 - 41.0 7.0 1.81 incl. 34.0 - 37.0 3.0 2.94 GHDD - 013 1237342 452435 437 24 -45 88.0 23.0 - 26.0 3.0 1.22 79.0 - 80.0 1.0 1.51 GHDD - 014 1237297 452457 428 24 -45 63.1 45.0 - 54.0 9.0 1.55 incl. 53.0 - 54.0 1.0 9.20 GHDD - 015 1237231 452621 412 20 -45 66.5 20.9 - 28.8 7.9 2.71 incl. 26.2 - 28.8 3.6 5.24 56.0 - 58.0 2.0 1.77 GHDD - 016 1236966 452873 375 40 -45 59.0 11.0 - 15.0 4.0 1.27 26.0 - 28.0 2.0 2.73 GHDD - 017 1237758 451855 382 39 -45 111.0 32.0 - 37.2 5.2 5.16 incl. 34.0 - 37.2 3.2 7.38 Ma Secondary Structure GHDD - 008 1237670 452122 408 55 -45 65.0 23.0 - 24.0 1.0 1.16 GHDD - 009 1237602 452159 398 55 -45 80.0 31.0 - 32.0 1.0 2.05 58.0 - 61.0 3.0 1.60 GHDD - 018 1237607 452249 406 20 -45 80.0 25.0 - 26.0 1.0 1.99 GHDD - 019 1237675 452205 412 279 -45 80.0 NSR GHDD - 020 1237687 452084 408 24 -45 80.8 23.6 - 28.5 4.9 3.64 incl. 25.9 - 27.9 2.0 7.60

* Intervals calculated with a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off and 2 metres maximum internal dilution. Sampling used lithologic contacts for the initial drill program, standard metre-metre sampling will be utilized in future. True widths are unknown. UTM's are WGS84-30N ** Interval includes 2 metres of no recovery (34.5-36.5) where hole intersected an artisanal opening

Table 2: Nahiri Prospect Drilling Highlights

Hole # Northing * Easting * Elevation Azimuth Dip EOH

(m) Interval

(m) * Core

length

(m) * Grade

(g/t Au) GHRC-001 1233804 450710 359 65 -60 37 19 - 31 12 1.26 incl. 25 - 28 3 2.28 GHRC-002 1233957 450463 368 65 -60 84 12 - 14 2 1.36 GHRC-010 1233900 450533 367 65 -60 85 35 - 50 15 1.43 incl. 40 - 46 6 2.23 GHRC-011 1233917 450567 365 65 -60 80 7 -21 14 2.85 incl. 7 - 12 5 6.56 25 - 27 2 2.22 48 - 61 18 1.46 incl. 52 - 56 4 2.38 and 61 - 63 2 3.63 70 - 73 3 1.10 GHRC-015 1233790 450673 359 65 -60 82 13 - 25 12 1.06 29 - 30 1 11.00 GHRC-017 1234007 450570 361 65 -60 88 6 - 21 15 0.56

* Intervals calculated with a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off and 2 metres maximum internal dilution. Sampling used lithologic contacts for the initial drill program, standard metre-metre sampling will be utilized in future. True widths are unknown. UTM's are WGS84-30N

Competent Persons Statements

Teranga's exploration programs are being managed by Peter Mann, FAusIMM. Mr. Mann is a full time employee of Teranga and is not "independent" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Mann has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr. Mann is a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The technical information contained in this news release relating exploration results are based on, and fairly represents, information compiled by Mr. Mann. Mr. Mann has verified and approved the data disclosed in this release, including the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information. The RC and diamond core samples are assayed at the BIGGS Laboratory in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Mr. Mann has consented to the inclusion in this news release of the matters based on his compiled information in the form and context in which it appears herein.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"), which reflects management's expectations regarding Teranga's future growth, results of operations (including, without limitation, future production and capital expenditures), performance (both operational and financial) and business prospects (including the timing and development of new deposits and the success of exploration activities) and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as "potential", "belief", "believe", "expects", "potential" or "potentially", "estimates", "estimated", "plans", trends", "anticipated", "ability" and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results "could", "should", "would", or "will" have been used to identify such forward looking information. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, all disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or results of operations, future economic conditions and anticipated courses of action. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect management's current beliefs based upon information currently available to management and based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, Teranga cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with such forward looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions, opinions and analysis made by management in light of its experience, current conditions and its expectations of future developments that management believe to be reasonable and relevant but that may prove to be incorrect. These assumptions include, among other things, the ability to obtain any requisite governmental approvals, the accuracy of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, gold price, exchange rates, fuel and energy costs, future economic conditions, the ability to resettle the community within anticipated timeline, anticipated future estimates of free cash flow, and courses of action. Teranga cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements.

The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others: the inherent risks involved in exploration and development of mineral properties, including government approvals and permitting, changes in economic conditions, changes in the worldwide price of gold and other key inputs, changes in mine plans and other factors, such as project execution delays, many of which are beyond the control of Teranga, as well as other risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in Teranga's Annual Information Form dated March 30, 2017, and in other filings of Teranga with securities and regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. Teranga does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. Nothing in this report should be construed as either an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell Teranga securities. All references to Teranga include its subsidiaries unless the context requires otherwise.

About Teranga

Teranga is a multi-jurisdictional West African gold company focused on production and development as well as the exploration of more than 5,000km2 of land located on prospective gold belts.

Since its initial public offering in 2010, Teranga has produced more than 1.2 million ounces of gold from its operations in Senegal. Following its recent acquisition of Gryphon Minerals, the Company is fast-tracking the completion of a feasibility study for the Banfora Project. Concurrent with its production and development activities, exploration programs are underway to seek to increase the Company's reserve base through resource conversion and making new discoveries. Teranga has a strong balance sheet and the financial flexibility to continue to grow its business.

Steadfast in its commitment to set the benchmark for responsible mining, Teranga operates in accordance with the highest international standards and aims to act as a catalyst for sustainable economic, environmental, and community development as it strives to create value for all of its stakeholders. Teranga is a member of the United Nations Global Compact and a leading member of the multi-stakeholder group responsible for the submission of the first Senegalese Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative revenue report. The Company's 2015 responsibility report, which is available at www.terangagold.com/2015responsibilityreport, is prepared in accordance with its commitments under the United Nations Global Compact and in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines.

APPENDIX 1

To view Figure 1: Ma - Primary and Secondary Structures, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/MaProspectPrimaryandSecondaryStructures.jpg

APPENDIX 2

JORC Code, 2012 Edition - Table 1 Report

Section 1: Sampling Techniques and Data

(Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections)
Shareholders require transparency from the exiting board and demand they disclose their vote numbers

Given urgent nature of challenges before the Company, a shareholders' meeting is required on an expedited basis

TORONTO, April 25, 2017 /CNW/ - Courtenay Wolfe and Harrington Global Opportunities Fund Ltd., concerned shareholders of Eco Oro Minerals Corp. (TSX: EOM) ("Eco Oro" or the "Company"), outline a clear path to complete the reconstitution of the Eco Oro Board that shareholders have voted for.

First, the Eco Oro Board should abide by the same standard of transparency the concerned shareholders have set and make their votes public. Second, given the pressing issues facing the Company and the fact that the votes have already been cast, shareholders should not be forced to wait to see the change they have voted for implemented.

"I want all shareholders to know that we will stand with you and ensure that your votes will be respected when our requisitioned meeting is finally held. We remain committed to the goal of replacing each director of the Company, which shareholders have clearly voted for. We will also take steps to ensure that the meeting is held as soon as possible. We urge you to continue to support the campaign for change as this is our only chance to change the board and save our Eco Oro investment," said Courtenay Wolfe. "We are so confident in our position that, if validly submitted proxies do not give us a majority of the voted shares (excluding the 10,600,000 New Shares), we will immediately withdraw our requisition and stand down."

In its press release issued earlier today, the Company stated that, on April 21, 2017, "following a tabulation of all proxies at that time, the Company determined that the management nominees received substantially more support from shareholders" than our nominees.

This is simply untrue. Rather than continue to hide behind self-aggrandizing rhetoric, the Board should live up to the same standard of transparency we have set and release their numbers. We have submitted proxies representing:

a total of 50,838,533 votes in favour of our nominees, representing approximately 48% of the issued and outstanding shares (excluding the New Shares); and

an additional 54,664 votes against our nominees.

Failure by the Board to release their vote totals is a clear indication that they do not have the support alleged.

Unfortunately, today's press release is yet another attempt by management to mislead shareholders, because the Company now knows that the decision of the Toronto Stock Exchange approving the issuance of the New Shares has been set aside by the Ontario Securities Commission. Indeed, the Commission further ordered that the New Shares carry no voting rights at the annual general and special meeting of Eco Oro shareholders previously scheduled for today, unless disinterested shareholder approval is obtained. Despite the Commission's order released yesterday, the Company included the New Shares in its calculation so that it can falsely state that it had "substantially more support". This half-truth is consistent with the Company's pattern of inadequate and misleading disclosure.

Though the Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed our petition, we would note that the decisions of the Court and the Commission in no way conflict with one another. The Court simply held that the issuance of the New Shares was not oppressive and the Commission ordered that those shares not be considered for the purposes of voting at the shareholders' meeting. In light of this, we urge the Company to call the meeting promptly on 10 days' notice.

The Company needs to hold the meeting and count the votes. It is time for the entrenched Board of Eco Oro to accept the will of shareholders.

SOURCE Concerned Shareholders of Eco Oro Minerals Corp.
12 of 12 drill holes intersect significant gold mineralization

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Apr 25, 2017) - First Mining Finance Corp. ("First Mining" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: FF)(OTCQX:FFMGF)(FRANKFURT:FMG) is pleased to announce the first assay results from the first 12 holes of a 106 hole, 28,500 metre diamond drill in-fill program on its 100% owned Goldlund Gold Project ("Goldlund"), located near the town of Sioux Lookout in northwestern Ontario, Canada.

Highlights:

Hole GL-17-044 intersected 26.0 metres of 2.14 grams per tonne gold Including 2.0 metres of 18.43 grams per tonne gold

Hole GL-17-021 intersected 52.0 metres of 2.21 grams per tonne gold Including 2.0 metres of 43.09 grams per tonne gold

Hole GL-17-017 intersected 62.0 metres of 0.90 grams per tonne gold Including 2.0 metres of 12.74 grams per tonne gold



Note: Assaying for the Goldlund 2017 drill program is being done by SGS at their laboratories in Red Lake, Ontario, and Burnaby, BC. Reported widths are drilled core lengths; true widths are unknown at this time. Assay values are uncut.

The goal of the 2017 drilling campaign at Goldlund is to upgrade Inferred resources into the Measured and Indicated categories with the majority of the drilling focused on Zone 7 and Zone 1 (Figure 1). The total budgeted amount of drilling is 28,500 metres within 106 drill holes using HQ sized (63.5 mm) core. Table 1 shows the results of drilling the first 12 holes for the 2017 Goldlund drilling campaign and Table 2 provides additional drill hole information.

Commenting on the results, Patrick Donnelly, President of First Mining stated, "We are extremely pleased with the first assay results from Goldund in which 12 out of 12 drill holes contain significant intercepts of gold mineralization, including a number of high grade intercepts. We expect that additional results from Goldlund will continue to increase our confidence in the resource. The current drilling program is 60% complete and we expect to complete the program in early summer. Once the drilling campaign is completed, the results will be compiled in order to make plans for a much larger drill campaign which will be announced once definitive plans are completed."

In addition, Keith Neumeyer, the Chairman of First Mining, stated "We also wanted to take this opportunity to comment on recent trading activity in the junior gold market. In December of last year, First Mining was added to the VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners Exchange Traded Fund (the "GDXJ"), a well-known Exchange Traded Fund that invests in junior gold companies. According to their most recent public filings, the GDXJ holds over 15% of the outstanding shares of First Mining. The GDXJ recently announced a change in their investment criteria in order to allow a larger number of companies into their portfolio so that they could distribute their capital over a larger pool of companies. These changes mean that the GDXJ will be required to significantly rebalance its portfolio. We believe that this announcement has contributed to the recent declines in the share price of First Mining, along with a number of other junior gold companies. We wanted to let investors know that it is business as usual at First Mining. We are making good progress with our exploration programs at our projects, and expect to release further drill results from our Goldlund project over the next few weeks. I remain as convinced as ever that the fundamentals for gold remain strong and that the volatility we are seeing is only a temporary distortion."

Table 1. Drill Hole Assay Results from Goldlund

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au g/t GL-17-016 GL-17-016 40.0 48.0 8.0 0.77 and 54.0 64.0 10.0 0.55 GL-17-017 5.7 210.0 204.3 0.45 inc 12.0 74.0 62.0 0.90 and inc 12.0 38.0 26.0 1.79 and inc 32.0 38.0 6.0 5.46 and inc 32.0 34.0 2.0 12.74 GL-17-017 and 106.0 116.0 10.0 1.86 inc 106.0 112.0 6.0 2.91 and inc 106.0 108.0 2.0 7.38 and 134.0 140.0 6.0 0.54 and 204.0 244.0 40.0 0.32 inc 236.0 244.0 8.0 0.66 GL-17-018 30.0 112.0 82.0 0.43 inc 30.0 38.0 8.0 0.83 GL-17-018 and inc 52.0 72.0 20.0 0.70 and inc 70.0 72.0 2.0 3.26 and inc 104.0 110.0 6.0 1.33 and inc 108.0 110.0 2.0 3.53 GL-17-019 118.0 126.0 8.0 0.45 GL-17-019 and 152.0 170.0 18.0 0.55 inc 166.0 170.0 4.0 1.82 and 226.0 232.0 6.0 0.98 GL-17-21 155.0 365.0 210.0 0.85 inc 155.0 207.0 52.0 2.21 and inc 185.0 203.0 18.0 5.14 GL-17-21 and inc 201.0 203.0 2.0 43.09 and inc 273.0 301.0 28.0 1.38 and inc 281.0 283.0 2.0 8.80 and inc 289.0 291.0 2.0 6.29 GL-17-031 25.0 59.0 34.0 0.91 GL-17-031 inc 51.0 59.0 8.0 2.81 and inc 55.0 57.0 2.0 8.77 GL-17-034 GL-17-034 104.0 134.0 30.0 0.98 inc 108.0 110.0 2.0 8.75

Assaying for the Goldlund 2017 drill program is being done by SGS at their laboratories in Red Lake, Ontario, and Burnaby, BC. Prepared samples are analyzed for gold by either Bulk Leach Extractable Gold (BLEG) assay techniques or by lead fusion fire assay with an atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) finish. Multi-element analysis on the mineralized zones is also being undertaken by two-acid aqua regia digestion with ICP-MS and AES finish.

Table 1 (continued). Drill Hole Assay Results from Goldlund

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au g/t GL-17-043 GL-17-043 58.0 74.0 16.0 0.34 inc 72.0 74.0 2.0 1.29 GL-17-044 80.0 106.0 26.0 2.14 GL-17-044 inc 82.0 92.0 10.0 4.85 and inc 88.0 90.0 2.0 18.43 GL-17-046 40.0 156.0 116.0 0.62 inc 48.0 74.0 26.0 1.15 GL-17-046 and inc 64.0 68.0 4.0 3.22 and inc 128.0 152.0 24.0 1.31 and inc 150.0 152.0 2.0 10.67 GL-17-047 96.0 204.0 108.0 0.47 GL-17-047 inc 128.0 130.0 2.0 16.95 and 248.0 254.0 6.0 3.55 GL-17-048 GL-17-048 108.0 160.0 52.0 0.36 inc 134.0 136.0 2.0 3.92

Assaying for the Goldlund 2017 drill program is being done by SGS at their laboratories in Red Lake, Ontario, and Burnaby, BC. Prepared samples are analyzed for gold by either Bulk Leach Extractable Gold (BLEG) assay techniques or by lead fusion fire assay with an atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) finish. Multi-element analysis on the mineralized zones is also being undertaken by two-acid aqua regia digestion with ICP-MS and AES finish.

Figure 1. Plan Map

To view figure one - Plan Map - please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/FirstMiningFig1.pdf

Figure 2. Cross-Section through the Goldlund Project

To view figure two - Drill Hole Locations - please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/FirstMiningFig2.pdf

Table 2. Drill Hole Locations

Hole ID Azimuth  Dip  Length (m) UTM East UTM North Section GL-17-016 0 -90 152 545648 5527228 545650E GL-17-017 180 -80 302 545648 5527228 545650E GL-17-018 0 -90 149 545648 5527213 545650E GL-17-019 0 -90 374 545651 5527183 545650E GL-17-021 0 -90 383 545649 5527159 545650E GL-17-031 0 -90 125 545601 5527214 545600E GL-17-034 0 -90 228 545601 5527177 545600E GL-17-043 0 -90 107 545550 5527211 545550E GL-17-044 0 -90 200 545550 5527194 545550E GL-17-046 0 -90 209 545549 5527171 545550E GL-17-047 0 -90 278 545550 5527154 545550E GL-17-048 180 -80 302 545550 5527154 545550E

Gold observed during the current drilling program occurs both as fine disseminations in quartz vein stockworks and as more discrete larger grains up to 2 mm spatially associated with pyrite in the quartz veins. Calaverite, a gold telluride mineral, has been noted occasionally in higher grade intervals on fracture surfaces in the quartz veins. Higher grade gold distribution in the granodiorite dike is often, but not always, associated with zones of more intense quartz stockworking and potassic alteration. Figure 2 displays a cross-section of the geology and gold mineralization with drill holes GL-17-16 to GL-17-19 and GL-17-21.

QA/QC Procedures

The QA/QC program for the 2017 drilling program consists of the submission of duplicate samples and the insertion of certified reference materials and blanks at regular intervals. These are inserted at a rate of one standard for every 20 samples (5% of total) and one blank for every 30 samples (3% of total). The standards used in the 2017 program consist of 5 different gold grades ranging from 1 to 9 g/t, and are sourced from CDN Resource Laboratories in Langley, BC. Blanks have been sourced locally from barren granitic material.

Field duplicates from quartered core, as well as 'coarse' or 'pulp' duplicates taken from coarse reject material or pulverized splits, are also submitted at regular intervals with an insertion rate of 4% for field duplicates and 4% for coarse or pulp duplicates. Additional selected duplicates are being submitted for screened metallic fire assay analysis and to an umpire lab for check assaying. SGS also undertake their own internal coarse and pulp duplicate analysis to ensure proper sample preparation and equipment calibration.

Dr. Chris Osterman, P.Geo., CEO of First Mining, is the "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and he has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.

ABOUT THE GOLDLUND PROJECT

The Goldlund deposit is situated within a land package of approximately 280 square kilometres (28,000 hectares) referred to as the Goldlund Gold Project. The Property has a strike-length of over 50 kilometres in the Wabigoon Subprovince. Goldlund is an Archean lode-gold project located in northwestern Ontario, approximately 60 kilometres from the township of Dryden. The claims that make up the land package cover the historic Goldlund and Windward mines.

On January 9, 2017 the Company announced an initial mineral resource estimate for Goldlund. At a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off grade, the Goldlund deposit contains pit constrained Indicated Resources of 9.3 million tonnes at 1.87 grams per tonne or 560,000 ounces of gold. At a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off grade, the Goldlund deposit contains pit constrained Inferred Resources of 40.9 million tonnes at 1.33 grams per tonne or 1,750,000 ounces of gold. The technical report for this resource estimate has been filed on SEDAR and is also available on the Company's website at www.firstminingfinance.com.

ABOUT FIRST MINING FINANCE CORP.

First Mining is a mineral property holding company whose principal business activity is to acquire high quality mineral assets with a focus in the Americas. The Company currently holds a portfolio of 25 mineral assets in Canada, Mexico and the United States with a focus on gold. Ultimately, the goal is to continue to increase its portfolio of mineral assets through acquisitions that are expected to be comprised of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and nickel.

ON BEHALF OF FIRST MINING FINANCE CORP.

Keith Neumeyer, Chairman

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements"(collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the future operating or financial performance of the Company, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things: completion of the current drilling program at the Goldlund project; commencement of a follow-on drilling program at the Goldlund project; the potential results of such drilling programs; any upgrade to, or expansion of, the resources on the Goldlund project; and the exploration potential and upside of the Goldlund project. 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. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the results of future exploration efforts at the Goldlund project; management's discretion to refocus its exploration efforts; fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar); changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding); the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; and title to properties. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these times. Except as required by law, First Mining does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
A UC Berkeley student group filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing the university of unconstitutionally censoring conservative speech, days after administrators said they could not safely accommodate right-wing commentator Ann Coulter on campus this week.Coulter, an author and television commentator, was invited by the Berkeley College Republicans and the nonpartisan BridgeUSA to speak on campus Thursday night. But campus officials said they could not ensure the safety of those who attended because police had learned of threats of violence by both opponents and supporters of Coulter.The school offered to schedule her talk for September, and when Coulter refused, the university offered a 1 p.m. appearance on May 2. Coulter again declined, saying she was busy that day. She noted the date was part of the week before final exams, known as Dead Week, when classes are suspended and students are taking time off to study.The offer was a "sham" because of the timing and because the university, for purported security reasons, was refusing to make large on-campus buildings available for the talk, lawyers for Young America's Foundation, the sponsor of Coulter's planned speech, and Berkeley College Republicans said in its U.S. District Court lawsuit.At the same time, the suit noted, UC Berkeley has recently allowed speakers invited by liberal students -- including former Mexican President Vicente Fox, a critic of President Trump's immigration policies -- to appear without similar time-and-place restrictions. Those speeches took place without incident.Coulter has said she will speak at Berkeley on Thursday regardless of the university's position because she has a contract."I'm showing up this Thursday," she said in a Fox News interview Saturday evening. "It's up to the police to keep me safe."At a news conference Monday, Harmeet Dhillon, lawyer for the groups that filed the suit, said the College Republicans would likely decide by Thursday whether to host the speaker that day.Anticipating Coulter's appearance, the International Socialist Organization called Monday for its members to protest "peacefully" by picketing outside the event and "challeng(ing) the narrative inside."Dhillon accused university officials of adopting an unwritten policy that allows administrators to place restrictions on "high-profile" conservative speakers. The restrictions include scheduling their talks at far corners of the campus during class time and saddling the sponsoring groups with unreasonably high security costs, she said.The lawsuit said university officials "could have taken appropriate security measures to ensure the safety of those attending conservative speaking engagements -- as is their duty to all students on campus -- but they have refused to do so."It said UC officials and police "have permitted the demands of a faceless, rabid, off-campus mob to dictate what speech is permitted at the center of campus during prime time."That was a reference to the violence that led UC Berkeley to cancel a scheduled Feb. 1 appearance by another far-right speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, at the student union. The College Republicans said they also had to cancel an April 12 appearance by conservative writer David Horowitz because the university scheduled his appearance before 3 p.m. at a building more than a mile from the center of campus.In response, UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the university has applied its policies evenhandedly."We've had a wide range of speakers across the political spectrum," including many speakers sponsored by the Young America's Foundation, Mogulof said. "Never in anyone's memory has so much staff time been devoted in trying to facilitate an event as in this instance."Coulter is "welcome on this campus, but at a time and place when police say, 'Yes, we can provide security,'" Mogulof said. "We don't have a protectable venue" available Thursday.The lawsuit seeks damages and a court order prohibiting "any unwritten or unpublished policy restricting the exercise of political expression on the UC Berkeley campus."
Its surprisingly difficult to design a method for electing city councils that are fully representative. If you elect your city council by district, as Chicago and Philadelphia do, you risk having members who are too parochial in their outlooks, with limited incentives to think about the city as a whole. Conversely, electing council members through citywide elections runs the risk of leaving parts of the city unattended.Courts have ruled against the latter, particularly councils that ignore areas heavily populated with members of protected racial or ethnic groups. Last year, Yakima, Wash., withdrew its appeal against a ruling that found that its prior system of electing council members citywide disenfranchised Hispanics. Up until that ruling, no Latino had ever won a seat on the council. After it, though, three Latinos won district elections in 2015.Many big cities try to combine the two approaches, electing some council members by district and others citywide. In Seattle, for example, voters in 2013 approved a change that switched the council from having all nine members elected citywide to one in which seven members run by district and two remain at-large.But the oldest hybrid system may belong to Tucson, Ariz. Since 1929, it has nominated each of the six council members by ward, then each runs citywide in the general election. That means members have to stay alert both to parochial concerns such as zoning and constituent services, while also bearing in mind the citys needs as a whole when it comes to budgets and public safety. The way we do this makes us work harder to represent the entire city on citywide issues, says Councilman Steve Kozachik, and makes us have to go and do the legwork and listen to the concerns of people in our own community.Its not a system without its critics, however. In 2009, Arizona passed a law to abolish Tucsons system. Three years later, the state Supreme Court voided that law, finding that Tucson had the right under its charter to elect its council by a method of its own choosing.But the story doesnt end there. A group of local citizens filed a new legal challenge, arguing that residents of some wards are still disenfranchised. Most of the residents in wards 2 and 4 are Republicans, says Bruce Ash, a complainant in the case, and the elections are being decided by Democrats who live on the other side of town in wards 1, 3, 5 and 6.The argument that the hybrid system violated equal protection for all voters prevailed once in federal court. But in September, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Tucsons method. All voters in Tucson have an equal right to vote, both during the primary election and during the general election, the court found. An appeal is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, but its not considered likely that the justices will vote to take up the case.
As lawmakers in Washington work to avoid a shutdown of the federal government this week, the tenor of the negotiations could provide a window for states and localities into what to expect from future budget debates on Capitol Hill.The big picture is how well the Republican conference gets along in terms of this run-of-the-mill budget stuff, says Dan White, a director at Moodys Analytics. If they take it down to the wire, that portends some very uncertain fiscal times over the next couple months.The federal government has been running on a continuing resolution that funds agencies at 2016 levels. Congress has until midnight on April 28 -- this Friday night -- to agree on a spending plan for the remainder of the federal fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, or approve another short-term resolution.In the aftermath of the Republican partys failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), observers are eyeing the amount of drama it takes for Congressional leaders to agree on the budget. A political squabble now over closing out fiscal year 2017 wouldn't bode well for hopes of getting through a new fiscal 2018 budget, which must be approved by Oct. 1.If it takes this much to do four months of spending," says White, "whats it going to take for a whole year of spending?In some ways, it's that question about the 2018 federal budget, in which President Donald Trump has proposed massive cuts to domestic spending programs, that weighs more heavily on state and local governments.If the shutdown really happens, thats a real headache, says John Hicks, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers. But the longer view of what fiscal federalism is going to look like -- thats the larger question.Still, states and localities are watching this weeks developments with a wary eye. A federal shutdown of a few days wont break budgets. Any longer, however, and it becomes a genuine economic concern.That's what happened in October 2013 when the federal budget agreement was stalled by lawmakers who wanted to strip funding for the ACA. The government shut down for 16 days, more than 800,000 nonessential civilian federal workers were sent home, and states and localities were plagued with the logistics of staying open amid federal funding uncertainty.Health programs like Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, which rely on federal funding but are administered by states, continued running during the 2013 shutdown, as did food assistance programs for the poor.But elsewhere, governments had to make choices about whether to cover the federal gap.Head Start programs were the hit the hardest. As many as 23 programs in 11 states faced temporary closure because they rely solely on federal funding. Some dipped into reserve funds or found outside assistance, but many did not. In Mississippi, for example, 900 Head Start children went without school and 220 employees went without work during the shutdown.National parks were also closed during the previous shutdown, impacting tourism revenues in scores of nearby towns. The National Park Service (NPS) reached agreements with six states to reopen and temporarily operate 14 parks, but nearly 400 park sites remained closed. The NPS estimates that those towns and cities lost out on a combined $414 million in parks tourism spending.For a lot of those rural communities where those parks are located, thats a lifeline to them, says Irma Esparza-Diggs, federal advocacy director for the National League of Cities (NLC).The NLC and National Association of Counties are holding an event in Washington on Thursday to warn Congress about the local impacts of a federal shutdown.At the state level, those with the most federal civilian employees (California, Georgia, Maryland, Texas and Virginia), had the overwhelming administrative task in 2013 of dealing with furloughed workers who showed up in droves to state unemployment offices. For example, Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation received roughly 4,000 applications during the first six hours it was open following the shutdown. That was more federal claim applications than the department usually receives in an entire year.Nationally, the Office of Management and Budget analysis pegged the total cost of the 2013 shutdown at more than $2 billion, although much of that was compensation to employees paid not to work for a combined 6.6 million days.The Bureau of Economic Analysis also found the shutdown made a small dent in the economy's growth rate. The Washington, D.C. region, where many federal contractors and employees are based, saw the largest impact.
Big Need, Little Licensing

Scope of Practice Laws

Confronting an opioid overdose epidemic that is killing at least 90 people every day, two federal agencies this month gave more than 700 nurse practitioners and physician assistants the authority to write prescriptions for the anti-addiction medication buprenorphine.The goal: To let them help treat as many of the more than 2.5 million people addicted to painkillers or heroin in the nation as they can.Tens of thousands more nurse practitioners and physician assistants could be helping, too, by applying for a federal license to prescribe the potentially life-saving medicine. But laws in more than half the states are likely to prevent nurses from using their licenses in rural areas that need it most.Twenty-eight states prohibit nurse practitioners from prescribing buprenorphine unless they are working in collaboration with a doctor who also has a federal license to prescribe it. The problem is, half of all counties in the U.S. do not have a single physician with a license to prescribe buprenorphine.In addition, laws in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming explicitly prohibit nurse practitioners from prescribing buprenorphine  one of three anti-addiction medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  with or without a doctors supervision. And a law in Kentucky prohibits physician assistants from prescribing the safe and effective drug.Were losing people every day, and governors are asking how long it will take before this additional group of clinicians is able to get out there and start providing medication-assisted treatment, said Maureen Cahill, senior policy adviser at the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.But some of those governors should blame their own scope of practice laws. Those laws restrict what nurse practitioners and physician assistants can do, including providing buprenorphine to people with opioid addictions to help them kick their habit.Treating opioid addiction with buprenorphine can be highly effective. It prevents withdrawal symptoms and curbs cravings. But a federal license is required to prescribe it for addiction treatment.Only one in 10 people in the U.S. with an addiction receive treatment. In large part, thats because of a shortage of trained treatment providers, especially ones who can prescribe buprenorphine.To help address that, Congress last year enacted the Comprehensive Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act. One of the laws most significant provisions allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to apply for a federal license to prescribe the medicine.Until now, only doctors could prescribe buprenorphine, and in the 15 years since the drug was approved, fewer than 39,000 doctors have sought a license to do so.Meanwhile, there are more than 222,000 nurse practitioners and about 109,000 physician assistants in the nation, and many of them offer primary health care in rural parts of the nation where the opioid crisis is most acute.The two federal agencies that issue licenses  the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration  have so far approved them for 560 nurse practitioners and 184 physician assistants.Mitra Ahadpour, who oversees buprenorphine licensing at SAMHSA, said she expects applications to increase as more health care professionals learn about the new law and take a free, three-day online training course.Applications for licenses to prescribe buprenorphine may not surge, however, unless states change their scope of practice laws to allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to use their prescribing power on their own.Some have. West Virginia, which ranks No. 1 in the nation in overdose deaths, last year changed its scope of practice law to allow nurse practitioners to diagnose, prescribe and treat patients without a doctors supervision, with the exception of prescribing schedule II drugs such as Percocet, Vicodin and OxyContin. South Dakota granted nurse practitioners full practice authority in February.Oregon is updating its rules to authorize nurse practitioners to prescribe buprenorphine for addiction. Nurse practitioners in Oregon already have authority to prescribe schedule III drugs, including buprenorphine, for pain management. But previous state rules, which reflected federal law at the time, prohibited prescribing it for addiction.Changing the laws isnt easy, though, despite the training that nurse practitioners and physician assistants have.In addition to an undergraduate nursing degree, nurse practitioners must complete a graduate program to be certified. Physician assistants, who work directly with doctors, must complete at least two years of advanced studies after obtaining a bachelors degree.A 2010 Institute of Medicine report cited nearly 50 years of academic studies and patient surveys in concluding that primary care provided by nurse practitioners has been as safe and effective as care provided by doctors.But state medical societies, which represent doctors and wield significant influence in most legislatures, are reluctant to cede professional turf to nurses. Arguing that nurse practitioners lack the necessary level of medical training, they insist that it is unsafe for patients to be treated by nurse practitioners without a doctors supervision.Some doctors also have a financial incentive to limit nurses independence. Often carrying heavy medical school loan debt, they can be loath to see their revenue diverted by competing health care services, particularly those with lower fees.The Federal Trade Commission has weighed in on legislative efforts to give nurse practitioners more autonomy in several states, arguing that physician groups have no valid reason for blocking such laws other than to thwart their competition.Still, getting state lawmakers to update their scope of practice laws has been a slow process, said Taynin Kopanos, vice president of state government affairs for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.Although nurses care very much about getting more treatment to people who need it, and governors and lawmakers do as well, scope of practice laws are not likely to be changed overnight just because of the opioid epidemic, Kopanos said.
Donald Trump's stunning victory was not so much a sign of a political or social upheaval in America but one that shows the decline of a nation that has lost its moral compass, John Kasich says in his new book.In, Kasich deals with his deepest feelings about Trump's presidential triumph in a chapter called Faith Above All.After citing the familiar villains of a superficial news media, voters content to stay in their echo-chambers and candidates spreading falsehoods, Kasich pointed to the country's spiritual decline."I happen to believe that you can't guide an entire society without a shared religious foundation," he says a little less than halfway into the 293-page book being released Tuesday."I saw Trump's reckless entreaties as a weakening of our shared American values -- even more so, a coarsening of our shared American values," Kasich wrote."It troubled me that a strong plurality of Republican voters didn't seem to care that the candidate they supported was operating at the basement level ... Donald Trump gave the impression of a man who would do or say anything to get attention, even incite a crowd to violence," the Ohio governor lamented."He was dominating the discussion, the coverage, and the voting -- all in a way that could only signal that this type of behavior was being ratified by the American people. Most alarmingly, to me, it signaled a spiritual disconnect at play in this election cycle."What Kasich doesn't mention is that Trump won a large majority of self-identified evangelical Christian voters -- many of whom said they were voting for the Republican billionaire because of their hope that Make America Great would apply to spiritual values, too.In an interview today, Kasich said "there's a tendency when societies mature to take God off the throne and put man on the throne," which creates confusion in society.The book, Kasich's fourth, rambles at times like some of his speeches. It contains several new nuggets of information from the campaign trail but nothing close to a shocking revelation."Years from now, generations from now, I believe we'll look back on this election as a kind of tipping point, a dividing line ... historians will scratch their heads and wonder what the heck was going on with us in this election year."In a letter to his 17-year-old twin daughters that concludes the book, he says he wrote Two Paths as "an opportunity to lead, to heal, to offer a message of hope to a country that's been divided by the most bitter, most contentious, most polarizing election in American history."He doesn't universally condemn Trump.As a candidate, the president "gave millions of disenfranchised voters a voice," Kasich acknowledged."What the voters were telling us in this election was that they were angry, that they were feeling that their lives were out of control, that there was a sense of helplessness and hopelessness in the heartland," he said."We must listen to the word of the people and draw upon the lessons of this election cycle so that we might grow as a nation. Democracy has spoken."He recounts the offer of Donald Trump Jr. to the governor's top campaign strategist John Weaver to make Kasich the GOP running mate -- who would take charge of both foreign and domestic policy while Trump spent his time "making America great again."Kasich says the younger Trump denied the conversation took place; however, Trump Jr. confirmed the talk if not its entire contents with The Dispatch before the November election."I could never have worked with Donald Trump," Kasich said."I could not condone how he seemed to treat women and immigrants and minorities, or the way he looked at the world," Kasich said."I was embarrassed by what (his family members) were seeing on television. There was no decency. There was hatefulness and disrespect. There was no humility. There was only solipsism and self-aggrandizement."It was a blight on this great country, the way some of these candidates were behaving, and it left me feeling that we should all have been ashamed of ourselves. As I exited the presidential stage, it was unthinkable to me that I could ever endorse Donald Trump, who I believed had set the ugly tone for the campaign."Kasich embarks on a coast-to-coast book tour this week, as well as multiple media appearance ranging from Morning Joe to Comedy Central. But he gives no hint of another presidential run in 2020. At the very end of the book he expresses the hope to his daughters that "when you fill out your first presidential ballots, you can vote for a candidate who inspires you, who challenges you, who encourages all Americans to think freely and to dream bigly and to celebrate our differences."Kasich said today he didn't write that with himself in mind.While in interviews the past couple of days Kasich has indicated that he's all but through with politics, he gave the more-general staetment today that he simply has "no plans" to run for public office. "Who knows what will happen." he said.
Description

GIS - 25 April, 2017: World Book Day 2017 was marked by the inauguration of a China corner at the National Library, yesterday in Port Louis. This event which aims to reinforce the ancestral, economic and cultural links between Mauritius and China is an initiative of the Ministry of Arts and Culture, in collaboration with National Library and Chinese Cultural Centre. World Book Day 2017 was marked by the inauguration of a China corner at the National Library, yesterday in Port Louis. This event which aims to reinforce the ancestral, economic and cultural links between Mauritius and China is an initiative of the Ministry of Arts and Culture, in collaboration with National Library and Chinese Cultural Centre.

The Minister of Arts and Culture Mr Pradeep Roopun and the Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China, Mr Li Li, along with other personalities were present on the occasion.

In his address, Minister Roopun recalled the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mauritius and China and the signing of an agreement between the two countries for cultural cooperation in 1980. He further highlighted that the bilateral cooperation has been constantly strengthened and stressed on the close cultural and economic ties that Mauritius shares with China.

The Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture of China has donated books on this occasion to further reinforce cooperation between the two countries. On that score the Minister made an appeal to everyone to take advantage and explore the pleasure of reading. These books, he said, would bring us more information on Chinese arts and culture. Moreover, Mauritius is looking forward to new areas of cooperation and exchanges with Nanjing in areas of technologies, he added.

The Minister deplored that people are losing interest in reading in this age of technology and called on the population to adopt a culture of reading.

For his part, Ambassador Li Li, spoke of the friendly and longstanding relationship between Mauritius and China and underlined that it should be further nurtured. According to him, year 2017 will be a flourishing one as both countries will embark on new avenues of cooperation to further strengthen this relationship.

In the context of World Book Day 2017, a four-day book festival comprising quiz, dictation and slam competitions amongst others will be held at Trianon from 4 to7 May.
Skyhigh Networks, the first cloud access security broker to achieve cybersecurity compliance across the federal government, has entered into a partnership with the government purchasing cooperative CIS CyberMarket.The company offers a security layer for cloud services in the form of control points. Using Skyhigh, information technology workers can define user roles, set permissions and track data. Security has been a concern of government officials looking to move systems to the cloud, especially when it comes to sensitive or personally identifiable information.Its the first time CIS CyberMarket , which serves state, local and tribal governments, has offered a cloud access security broker (CASB) to its members.When organizations move to the cloud, they leave behind the network perimeter and need a new point of control for all their users, devices and cloud applications, said Jon Fyffe, Skyhighs director of U.S. state, local and education, in a press release . Skyhighs CASB evolves security from prevention to protection, enforcing context and content-aware policies wherever data travels in the cloud.Most members of the cooperative purchasing group have plans to move to the cloud, according to the statement, but need security assurances before they can do so. As part of the partnership, CIS CyberMarket has negotiated discount rates for Skyhigh.Skyhighs CASB allows us to strategically use the cloud without compromising security and governance, said Missouri Chief Information Security Officer Michael Roling in the statement.Skyhigh is the only CASB to achieve authorization through the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program , which federal agencies use to assess cloud vendors. State and local governments also often use FedRAMP as a proxy standard for buying cloud services.
(TNS) - City officials and the public "really need to be concerned," about the shrinking police force, interim Dallas Police Chief David Pughes said Monday.Pughes told the City Council's public safety committee that the department is down to a nearly critical level of 3,077 officers. That's the smallest force the city has had in about 10 years. Another 100 would-be officers are training in the police academy.The chief said he's concerned that the department, which peaked at nearly 3,700 officers about six years ago, will be short-handed while entering the summer months, when crime generally increases.Consternation about the failing Dallas Police and Fire Pension System has driven the officers to quit and retire much faster than the department can hire and train new ones.So far this year, police have hired just 80 officers and expect to hire 200  far from their target of around 450. And the department has lost 244 officers this year, many of whom had more than 20 years of experience. Police officials believe another 120 will leave by the end of September.Deputy Chief Scott Walton said the projections remain "a huge wild card" until a bill to save the pension from insolvency is signed into law by the governor. The bill is awaiting a House vote and has met political opposition from Mayor Mike Rawlings, who has called on voters to push lawmakers to change the legislation.High attrition is one of several major issues that Pughes inherited when he took the temporary job in October. Violent crime has also been on the rise, and Pughes discovered last year that the 911 call center was short-staffed. The latter problem became clear to the public when some technology-induced call spikes left hundreds of emergency callers on hold.But the attrition  and the unknown about how many more will leave  keeps Pughes up at night.Council member Adam McGough said he believes "a perfect storm is coming." And he's worried the city isn't ready for it."At a certain point, we just need bodies, warm bodies who are willing to serve our communities and protect us in a way that needs to happen," he said.Pughes said he is looking into hiring retired officers full time or part time but hasn't worked through all the details yet."I'm actually excited about the possibility of bringing retirees back in whatever capacity they can work," Pughes said.He may also use reserve officers and overtime to bolster the force.Pughes said the officers he has left have done "an amazing job" at fighting crime. He told the committee that property crimes are down so far this year, through April 12, over the same time period last year. Violent crimes were up slightly. But crime is still mostly higher than it was in 2015 when the department had closer to 3,500 officers.Response times, however, have crept up slightly again. Pughes said three patrol divisions  north central, southwest and southeast  all had some struggles but have performed better recently.Council member Philip Kingston lauded Pughes for "doing a good job with not enough personnel."Pughes said he's doing his best to make sure his officers feel appreciated. But he worries about losing too many good ones."My only hope right now is that it doesn't get any worse," he said.2017 The Dallas Morning NewsVisit The Dallas Morning News at www.dallasnews.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS)  Nobodys got to use the Internet.Thats an interesting notion.U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, made the statement to a constituent pounding him for letting the companies that sell Internet connections collect Web surfing data from customers  most profitably for sale to advertisers.Yet the congressmans declaration that Internet use falls below the level of necessity is worth pondering at least as much as the debate over consumer privacy versus corporate interests.Is the Internet a luxury we could do without? If government decides you are entitled to Internet, is a connection at the library enough? Or does that segregate the poor to wait in line for a computer while the rest of us connect at home?If you need home Internet, will dial-up cut it? Is a 5-megabit connection  enough for email, but lousy for streaming services  adequate?Any need for reliable Wi-Fi or an Ethernet plug clearly falls below priorities like food, shelter and medical care. (A fundamental right to health insurance remains controversial.) Most people alive today survived just fine in a time before the Internet.Still, its absurd to think life in the digital age offers the same possibilities without a way to go online. For most of us, even a week offline feels wildly impractical (and yet awfully tempting). Service aint cheap. Between cellphone and home Internet bills, its easy to pay more than $100 a month.Kansas Citys relatively lucky. Google Fiber debuted here in 2012 with the first industrial-strength broadband sold to homes. AT&T followed suit . Time Warner Cable, now Spectrum, juiced up its speeds.That flood of new broadband prompted an examination of the citys divide between internet haves and have-nots.Google Fiber would eventually deliver free Internet service to residents of several public housing complexes. A handful of groups, notably Connecting for Good with its ad hoc Wi-Fi networks and hand-me-down computers, worked to narrow the digital divide.Libraries stepped up. Access to the Internet is now one of the most popular things they offer. At Olathes libraries, patrons come about 32,000 times a year to hook up. At Johnson County Library branches, its about 660,000 times. The Kansas City Public Library connects people to the Internet more than 850,000 times a year. Across the Mid-Continent Public Library system, its nearly 1 million.About one in four Americans doesnt have broadband at home. Nearly half of households with incomes below $30,000 a year do without.The Federal Communications Commission during the Obama administration called 25 megabits per second  almost double the current national average  table stakes for participating in modern life. The new head of the FCC has spoken about more universal Web access, but hes also revoked the participation of nine Internet service providers in a program subsidizing hookups for the poor.Thats where the issue gets tough  whether to tax some customers to underwrite Internet connections for those who cant afford to pay full freight, or for the far more expensive work of running lines into small towns and farmhouses.We do it with electricity. And with phone service.Still to come is a national conversation about whether America agrees with Sensenbrenner that nobodys got to use the Internet.
ARLINGTON, Va.  At the NASCIO Midyear conference in Arlington, Va., on Monday, April 24, agile development was on the agenda in a big way. Identified as a top 10 priority for 2017 for the organization, the incremental delivery strategy is bringing a pretty significant side benefit to the workforce in the state of Nebraska, according to CIO Ed Toner . Turns out agile is the preferred development strategy for millennials  a demographic CIOs are anxious to incorporate into their workforces.When Toner needs a little inspiration, he told, he visits the team of millennials working on the state's enterprise content management system on the floor below the CIO's office. They've logged 20,000 hours of development time to date, Toner reports, and they're excited about the opportunities working for the state has provided them. So much so that now they circle back to Southeast Community College to encourage others to join them.
Deadly currents

Water drones

(TNS)  Jamie Racklyeft knows he's a lucky man, that he should have died on a warm summer day while swimming in Lake Michigan.He knows within minutes after two strangers in a kayak pulled him to shore, a 16-year-old boy drowned in the same rip current that almost killed Racklyeft.With the number of drownings in the Great Lakes spiking 78 percent last year compared with the previous year, and another mild winter likely meaning warmer water temperatures and more people venturing out into the lakes this summer, Racklyeft knows it could be another bad year for drownings.Last year, 98 people drowned in the Great Lakes, including 46 in Lake Michigan and nine in Lake Superior. In 2015, 55 people lost their lives in the Great Lakes, 25 in Lake Michigan and two in Lake Superior.Why the sharp increase?"Air temperatures were warmer, which drew more people to the beach, and water temperatures were warmer, which drew more people on the beach into the water," said Racklyeft, executive director of the Great Lakes Water Safety Consortium.Meanwhile, water levels have continued to rise over the last few years from historically low levels in the Great Lakes. That means wave energy comes closer to shore where unsuspecting swimmers and waders can quickly get dragged out."It creates dangerous rip currents where people get caught and get trapped. If they don't have a flotation device like a life jacket, they become one of the victims. They're all preventable. That's the frustrating thing," Racklyeft said Friday during a water safety conference in Sheboygan.Last year, half of drownings in the Great Lakes were related to rip currents.The National Weather Service in Sullivan, which handles forecasts for southeastern Wisconsin, recently began issuing beach hazard and swim risk information between Memorial Day and mid-September. A recreational beach forecast with wind speed and direction, wave period and height and swim risk is issued daily at 4 a.m. and updated in the afternoon, said Marc Kavinsky, marine program leader at the weather service's Sullivan office.The recreational beach forecast was started in response to drownings in the Great Lakes as well as elsewhere, Kavinsky said in an interview following his presentation at the water safety conference. Forecasts are issued for specific beaches with water temperatures, UV index, maximum air temperatures and wave height and frequency.The average surface temperature of Lake Michigan, which is compiled from daily temperature readings, was 52 degrees last year, four degrees higher than in 2015.Beach hazard statements are issued when winds, waves and currents make it risky for swimmers. Wisconsin doesn't get them often, Kavinsky said, because weather patterns typically move west to east, making it more hazardous for swimmers on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan."It's nice to have the water levels higher but that brings more cautions  waves crashing against piers and crashing against the shore," Kavinsky said.Racklyeft decided to wade into Lake Michigan at Van's Beach in Leland, Mich., in August 2012. It was a windy, warm day and Racklyeft, a communications strategist for the University of Michigan, only planned to splash around a bit. Before he realized what was happening, the water was up to his chest, then his neck and then he was treading water. He realized he was caught in a rip current and knew not to fight it, to swim to the side and perhaps get out of it.But the waves were relentless. Unlike bigger ocean swells, smaller waves on the Great Lakes usually break with more frequency and every five or six seconds. Racklyeft was getting pummeled."I came to the realization that this was it, I wasn't going to get out of this. This was the way I was going to die. It was an unbelievably scary experience to think  this is it," said Racklyeft, who related his near-death experience at the conference."Everything went dark and I could only hear muffled voices. I couldn't see. I could hear them say 'are you OK?' I said 'I must be dead.' They said 'two brave strangers in a kayak saved you.'"Racklyeft admits he has survivor's guilt because of the drowning death 45 minutes later of a teenager at the same beach. That's the reason he's made it his mission to educate people about the dangers of rip currents and to wear life vests.Dozens of people from county parks departments, law enforcement and rescue agencies and others attended the two-day conference to learn about the latest life-saving technology. Among the demonstrations were by teams from Michigan Tech and the Great Lakes Unmanned Systems Center, which showed how water drones can be used to save potential drowning victims.Someone who is drowning often has no strength left to wave their hands or scream to alert others, and by the time 911 is called and law enforcement arrives, it's a body recovery instead of a rescue. Sometimes rescuers are bystanders who try to swim out, are caught in the same rip current and then become victims themselves.But what if a life-saving drone could be thrown into the water and then maneuvered out to the victim?Michigan Tech students are working on a drone that can be used as a life raft, cheap and affordable enough that they can be kept at popular swimming beaches or in squad car trunks and used very quickly."It's like a mechanized life ring," said Andrew Barnard, leader of the SENSE Enterprise Team at Michigan Tech. "If you've got someone 100 yards offshore, it takes away the danger of swimming out to them or the time it takes to get a boat. A life ring can only be thrown maybe 25 yards and if it's windy it's hard to get the life ring to the person."The Michigan Tech water drone prototype, which students dubbed Nautical Emergency Rescue Drone (NERD), uses plastic PVC piping, low-cost remote vehicle propellers and the same controls used for remote-controlled planes and boats.Jeffrey Loman demonstrated a $10,000 water drone called E.M.I.L.Y. that has been used extensively at beaches in California. The 4-foot-long yellow buoys can travel up to 22 mph through waves and rip currents and carry a life vest and helmet out to victims, who can hang on until a boat arrives or possibly get towed to shore.Following the drownings of two people off Little Presque Isle in Lake Superior last summer, the Keewenaw Bay Indian Community bought two of the devices, which are believed to be the only two in the Great Lakes, Loman said before throwing one of the buoys into a small lake in Sheboygan and demonstrating its capabilities."Two down and maybe hundreds and thousands of these (E.M.I.L.Y. devices) to go in the Great Lakes. But many communities are small and can't afford these," said Loman.
McLaren's simulator is good enough for Jenson Button to prepare for Monaco.

That is the view of Eric Boullier, following Felipe Massa's expression of surprise that the retired 2009 world champion sat out the recent post-Bahrain grand prix test.

Button, 37, is making a one-off return to F1 in Monaco next month, filling in for Fernando Alonso who is tackling the fabled Indy 500.

But he will prepare only in McLaren's state of the art simulator at Woking.

That surprised fellow veteran Massa.

"If the simulator is good enough, why don't most of the top drivers want to use them?" he asked.

But McLaren boss Boullier thinks the simulator is in fact the best option for Button.

"Given the technology of this car, we decided that organising a test would not have been useful," he is quoted by Spain's El Confidencial.

"The simulator is very realistic so it's best for him to test the car there," the Frenchman added.

"After 10 laps, he'll be fine," said Boullier.

Massa, however, warned that the 2017 cars are "very different" to the cars that Button last raced in 2016, requiring a higher level of fitness.

But Button said: "I've done a lot of triathlon training recently, so I have no worries."

Boullier agreed: "He's only missed a handful of grands prix and he's as fit as a fiddle. And he's always been good at Monaco. He'll do a great job, I'm sure of that."

(GMM)
Industrial and technology group thyssenkrupp has opened a new 10-million (US$10.9 million) development center for engine components in Dalian, China. The Group will concentrate its engine component development and prototyping activities at the 2,000 square meter development center in the future.

The center in Dalian will focus on the development of innovative valve train products specifically for the Chinese market. The new development center is situated on the grounds of the existing production site in Dalian, where the company has been manufacturing assembled camshafts and cylinder head cover modules since 2005.

With the new development center we want to serve our customers in China with even better customized and more efficient products. The needs of OEMs in China are growing steadily  especially as regards CO2 and other emission standards. We want to support them locally with customized development work. Karsten Kroos, CEO of thyssenkrupps Components Technology division

In recent years the Chinese market has become more important for the Groups automotive activities. In the past fiscal year alone, the component division increased its sales in China by around 8% to 1 billion. Orders from Chinese automakers are playing a key role as China continues to lead global growth in the auto industry. Some 27 million vehicles were produced in the country in 2016.

Driven by new customer orders, thyssenkrupp has invested more than 300 million in expanding its component production network in China in the past three years. Overall, thyssenkrupp employs over 5,100 people at its automotive sites in China.

Competition among the different powertrain systems is nowhere as dynamic as in China. Efficiency gains in the internal combustion engine are just as important as the development of improved hybrid and all-electric drives. With our products and services we support this transformation in many ways independent from the drivetrain technology. Karsten Kroos

Powertrain components from thyssenkrupp such as cylinder head covers with integrated camshafts are up to 30% lighter than conventional products and help reduce fuel consumption and lower harmful emissions. thyssenkrupp is also a supplier of electrical steel and components, which are used in hybrid and electric drives. In addition, the Group is involved in battery manufacturing for electric vehicles and offers both manufacturing facilities and housing structures for vehicle batteries.
"Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc.," President Donald Trump tweeted this morning.

Even as Fox News reported that he "began to edge away Monday evening from demanding that funding for his promised border wall be included in a must-pass spending bill."

And:

"White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway confirmed to 'Fox & Friends' Tuesday morning that the wall does not need to be funded this week, but she said it remains a 'very important priority to (Trump).'

'Building that wall and having it funded remains an important priority to him, but we also know that that can happen later this year and into next year,' she said."

Or into forever.

Trump, of course, has significantly changed his position on the wall in that he's asking Congress for the money to build it.

Not Mexico.

How much? There are a lot of estimates out there, but an analysis by MIT came up with $38 billion.

My recommendation would be for Trump to keep talking up the wall but to never get around to building it.

As political rhetoric, it works like a charm for him. As reality, well, it's like the repeal-and-replace for Obamacare: hollow.

But, just as his followers still believe he's going to produce a great health care plan any day now, some also believe in the promise of the wall.

So Trump should just keep giving them the promise.

He can say it's underway, it's ahead of schedule, it's big and beautiful, it's keeping Mexicans out, whatever he wants.

If it's all a fantasy, so what? His followers crave fantasy.

If the media report that there's no wall-building happening, Trump can denounce it as fake news.

What will his followers believe  what Trump says or what they don't see?

Trump, naturally.

If the wall is real in Trumpworld, that's good enough. Building it would be a big waste of money. And it could never live up to the promise, anyway.
GREENSBORO  When police responded to N.C. A&T late last Thursday, they found a man dying from gunshot wounds  the third violent death in the city in seven hours.

I dont recall anything in that frequency of time in my career, said Greensboro Police Chief Wayne Scott, who has served as a police officer in the city for 26 years. And hopefully we never see it again.

Police are still looking for the crime scene of the first shooting. Officers responded about 4:20 p.m. Thursday to Moses Cone Hospital after 25-year-old James Will Johnson of Greensboro arrived with a gunshot wound. He was later pronounced dead.

About 8:45 p.m., police were dispatched to the 3100 block of Utah Place on a shots-fired call and found 37-year-old Larry Wayne Pratt of Greensboro dead with a gunshot wound to the head.

A report of yet another shooting led police to the A&T campus about 11:30 p.m. Detectives learned a woman visiting the university was approached by a man with a gun in the parking lot of Pride Hall at 410 N. Benbow Road. As the two fought in the parking lot, the mans gun fired, police said. The woman escaped with minor injuries and the gunman fled.

Moments after talking with the woman in the lobby of the dormitory, officers found Kimeko D. James, 25, of Greensboro clinging to life inside a vehicle in the parking lot. Paramedics and Greensboro firefighters rushed to get him out of the vehicle and onto a backboard, cutting off his white T-shirt and performing CPR before whisking him to Cone hospital where he was pronounced dead.

James was not an A&T student.

Officers had to work outside their assigned districts Thursday night to help investigate the homicides and secure crime scenes, Scott said. Between 4 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. Thursday, Greensboro police officers were dispatched 310 times to two homicides, five discharge-of-firearm calls and 12 domestic disputes among other incidents, according to Guilford Metro 911.

The night before in the same time frame, Greensboro police responded to 275 calls, which included two discharge-of-firearm calls, according to Guilford Metro 911.

Capt. Nathaniel Davis, commander of the Greensboro police criminal investigations division, said his detectives are following leads in each of the killings and he feels confident that they are unrelated. No motives have been given in the shootings.

Off-duty detectives voluntarily came in to help handle three homicide cases in such a short time span, he said.

Investigating one case takes a team of eight detectives, including a supervisor. At least two of the detectives go to the hospital to question family and friends of the victim while other detectives interview witnesses and secure the crime scene, he said.

When you talk about three homicides, thats taxing on your team, Davis said. Youre digging into more than one team investigating homicides and no matter if its gang-related or whatever, we treat each homicide the same.

Theyve investigated multiple homicides in a 24-hour period. But three? Not recently.

Last year, police investigated two homicides within a 24-hour period three times:

On Oct. 2, A&T students Alisia Dieudonne and Ahmad Campbell were shot and killed inside a house party at an off campus apartment.

On Oct. 16, Raheem Samad Heading and Michael Jerome Davis Sr. were killed in separate locations about 90 minutes apart.

On Christmas Eve, Michael Antonio Womack and Christopher Keith Daly were killed about an hour and 45 minutes apart.

Davis called the three killings Thursday unusual for Greensboro. He said making sure adequate manpower is immediately involved in the investigation is critical to solving the cases.

Its essential for us to get to witnesses right away while things are still fresh in their minds, Davis said.

Lt. S.A. Morton, who was the watch commander Thursday, said his patrol radio buzzed nonstop from the time he reported for duty at 6 p.m. until 4 a.m. As watch commander, he is responsible for responding to incidents of all kinds throughout the city. The more violent crimes, he said, tend to happen when warmer weather arrives.

It hit 82 degrees Thursday in Greensboro, according to the National Weather Service in Raleigh.

As soon as the weather breaks and then again at the end of the fall, we see an increase in violent crime, Morton said.

Scott said he will discuss the killings at a Safer City Summit meeting in May in hopes of preventing a similar loss in such a short time span. He created the group of law enforcement, community and faith leaders to come up with ideas on how to combat the crime rate.

As of Thursday, there were 10 homicides in Greensboro, two more than during the same time period in 2016.
A district attorney overseeing a 9-month State Bureau of Investigation probe into two prosecutors offices for the alleged theft of state funds said Tuesday that agents are continuing to conduct interviews and gather evidence.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said agents are interviewing potential witnesses and collecting personnel records and other evidence in the investigation of the prosecutors offices in Rockingham, Person/Caswell counties.

Person/Caswell County District Attorney Wallace Bradsher and former Rockingham County District Attorney Craig Blitzer are accused of scheming to hire one anothers wives in order to collect more than $100,000 in annual salaries for time that neither woman worked.

The investigation has led to a whistleblowers lawsuit filed in February and Blitzers resignation from his elected position on March 10.

The State Bureau of Investigation and our office understand the great importance of this investigation to the judicial districts and communities involved and continue to work diligently to bring it to a conclusion, Freeman said.

Freeman said SBI agents have obtained court orders for various items, including computer, bank and personnel records.

The court orders obtained by News & Record from the Wake County Courthouse give more details into what evidence agents have been searching.

On March 8, SBI agents searched the Rockingham County District Attorneys Office for a computer in Blitzers possession. He resigned from office two days later.

On March 27, agents searched data saved on servers at the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts and seized a computer held at the AOC in Raleigh.

On April 4, agents obtained records from First Citizens Bank, which has branches in Madison, Reidsville and Eden but not in Person or Caswell counties.

As the records are obtained, agents are conducting analysis, Freeman said. This can be a time-intensive process. Additional interviews are underway.

Superior Court Judge Joe Crosswhite ordered the SBI to investigate at the request of the AOC on July 25, 2016. Freeman adopted the investigation from Crosswhite on Feb. 23.

Two days earlier, Debra Halbrook, a former victim-witness legal assistant for Wallace Bradsher, filed a whistleblowers lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court, bringing the investigation to Freemans attention.

Halbrook accuses Wallace Bradsher of firing her for reporting the theft allegations to the SBI. Halbrook was months shy of reaching her 20-year anniversary with the court system, which would have made her eligible for retirement benefits.

Halbrooks lawsuit names as defendants Wallace Bradsher and his wife, Pamela Bradsher, Craig Blitzer and his wife, Cindy Blitzer, former Caswell County Chief Assistant District Attorney and current District Court Judge John J. Stultz, Admistrative Assistant Gayle Peed, Senior Assistant District Attorney LuAnn Martin, the Person and Caswell County district attorneys offices and the state of North Carolina.

Crosswhite named Stultz and Cindy Blitzer as suspects during the initial investigation. The lawsuit accuses Peed and Martin of helping to cover the alleged scheme to pay the wives for time they were not working.

The suit also states that the SBI is investigating allegations about bribes, sexual misconduct, misuse of grant funds and the mischaracterization of indictment statistics to secure additional state funding took place in Bradshers office.

The defendants had 30 days from the time the lawsuit was filed to answer the complaint. Raleigh-based attorney Drew Erteschik, who represents Halbrook, granted the defendants each a 30-day extension.

That extension ended this week, but Erteschik confirmed Monday that all of the defendants requested another extension of varying time lengths, which he granted.

Stultz, the Bradshers and the Blitzers all received another 30 days. The defendants represented by the N.C. Attorney Generals Office, which includes all of the individuals in their official capacities, received a 3-week extension.

The Attorney Generals office is also representing Peed and Martin in their individual capacities.

The Bradshers, Blitzers and Stultz are being represented by private attorneys for the portion of the lawsuit in which they are sued in their individual capacities.
RALEIGH  Republican lawmakers have voted to override Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto of a bill that reduces his authority over state elections, the latest partisan clash in North Carolina over laws that chip away at executive branch power.

The GOP-led House completed the override Tuesday, a day after the state Senate also controlled by Republicans cast a similar vote. The fight likely isnt over  Cooper has threatened to sue over the new law, which takes effect early next week.

The bill now on its way to becoming law creates a combined elections and ethics board with equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. The House debate Tuesday centered around whether that balance made sense, given the possibility it would result in tie votes on important election issues that would not settle anything.

Under current law, the governor appoints a five-member state Board of Elections to oversee the electoral process, picking from nominees recommended by the two political parties and with neither party receiving fewer than two seats. As a practical matter, that has resulted in the governors party having a one-vote majority on the board.

Two Guilford County legislators played prominent roles in the floor debate Tuesday morning that led up to the House vote as state Rep. John Blust (R-Greensboro) and state Rep. Amos Quick (D-Greensboro) expressed opposing views.

Blust argued that it was time to try something new because the nation was in an unprecedented state of political nastiness, exemplified by rowdy street demonstrations against President Donald Trump before he was even sworn into office.

Were not where we were in the past, said Blust, who is serving his ninth term in the House. Im seeing things I never thought I would see.

Freshman legislator Quick then took the floor to counter that any up-front partisanship Trump encountered was little different from that which greeted former president Barack Obama, of whom U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell (R-Ky) once said that his number-one goal was to make sure that Barack Obama was a one-term president.

So these partisan times didnt just start today, Quick said.

The state House voted Tuesday along party lines, 75-44, to override Coopers veto and to enact the new format  an outcome that triggered charges from the governors office that GOP legislators were trying to rig elections.

This bill simply repackages similar legislation that has already been struck down by the court, Cooper spokesman Ford Porter said in a news release, adding that the governor will continue to fight.

But legislative leaders moved quickly in search of judicial support for the new measure, filing a 44-page motion with the North Carolina Court of Appeals later Tuesday asking for a declaration that the new version satisfied issues raised by a three-judge panel that overturned the similar plan the GOP-led General Assembly approved late last year shortly before the new Democratic governor took office.

They also filed a similar motion with the panel of Superior Court judges who first found the earlier version unconstitutional, asking those judges also to affirm that the new law complies with their order and dismiss the governors case, said Shelly Carver, spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Eden).
Updated at 7:33 p.m.

GREENSBORO  The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for portions of the Triad until 1 a.m. Tuesday.

The flood warning includes Rockingham, Alamance, Davidson, Forsyth and Randolph counties.

At 7:11 p.m. Monday the Doppler radar indicated that moderate to heavy rains was moving into the western and northeast Piedmont.

The area had already seen up to 2 inches of rain and as high as 5 inches in some parts.

Flooding has already been spotted in Davidson County.

Rainfall will total between 1-2 inches by 11 p.m.

GREENSBORO  The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory until 8 p.m. in the Triad.

Between 1-2 inches of rain has fallen over the Triad since 8 a.m. this morning, and meteorologists expect another 1-3 inches to fall this evening.

At 5:20 p.m. the Doppler radar indicated widespread rain with pockets of heavy rain moving southeast to northwest across a large portion of central North Carolina.

Meteorologists warn that the rainfall over saturated ground will likely cause minor flooding.

Along with the rain, a low pressure system is moving northward towards the eastern part of the state. The pressure system will bring wind gusts up to 25 mph. The winds could potentially topple trees.

The advisory includes Guilford, Alamance, Davidson, Fosyth and Randolph counties.
HIGH POINT  High Point University will name a new building for a Greensboro couple.

The university announced recently that it will build a conservatory so students and faculty can do botanical research. The standalone structure with the working greenhouse  part of a new $160 million building program that HPU announced a year ago  will be located near the universitys planned undergraduate science building.

The conservatory will be named for Don and Teresa Caine, who own Camco Manufacturing in Greensboro.

Don Caine graduated from High Point University in 1965. A year later, he founded Camco in a warehouse on whats now Gate City Boulevard in Greensboro. He and Teresa mixed by hand the companys first product  antifreeze for plumbing in trailers and recreational vehicles.

Camco now makes more than 3,000 cleaners, fluids, housewares, hardware, camping and sanitation products for ATVs, RVs and boats. The company has a headquarters on Landmark Drive in Greensboro and five other manufacturing sites in the United States and Asia.

The naming of the conservatory follows a financial gift to the university from the Caines. The university declined to disclose the amount of the gift.

HPU said the couple previously set up a scholarship fund that supports students with academic merit and financial need.
WASHINGTON  As the world braces for a possible North Korean nuclear test, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged restraint in a call to President Donald Trump. Americas U.N. envoy warned of a strike if Pyongyang attacks a U.S. military base or tests an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Xis phone call with Trump came amid signs Pyongyang could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test explosion since 2006, or the latest in a rapid series of missile tests, further advancing its ambitions of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.

In Washington, the Trump administration invited the entire 100-member Senate for a briefing Wednesday on the escalating crisis. Adding to the atmosphere of animosity, officials said North Korea has detained a third U.S. citizen.

Trump told ambassadors from U.N. Security Council members that the status quo in North Korea is unacceptable and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions.

This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem, and its a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now its time to solve the problem, he said at the White House.

North Korea poses one the sternest national security challenges facing the 3-month-old Trump administration. The administration has settled on a strategy emphasizing increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, rather than trying to overthrow Kim Jong Uns isolated government or use military force. But senior officials have repeatedly said that all options remain on the table.

China is a traditional ally of North Korea and fought on its side in the 1950-53 Korean War. Those ties have frayed, but Beijing remains the Norths economic lifeline. The Xi-Trump call on Monday morning Beijing time was the second time the two leaders have spoken by telephone since meeting in Florida earlier this month.

Xi told Trump that China strongly opposes North Koreas nuclear weapons program, which violates U.N. Security Council resolutions, and hopes all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Chinas official broadcaster CCTV said.

A White House readout of the call said Trump criticized North Koreas continued belligerence and the leaders reaffirmed the urgency of the threat. They committed to strengthening coordination to denuclearize North Korea, a statement said.

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and ships in the strike group accompanying it are continuing to move toward the South Korea region, after completing a short naval exercise with Japanese ships in the Philippine Sea. But the ships are probably several days from arriving in the region.

In addition to the Carl Vinson, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered, guided-missile submarine, is due to arrive Tuesday on a routine port visit at Busan, South Korea, a U.S. defense official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tuesday marks the founding anniversary of North Koreas armed forces. It has marked such dates in the past with displays of its military capabilities.

Commercial satellite imagery suggests the North has been readying for weeks for an underground atomic explosion, and could conduct one at any time. Alternatively, a long-range missile test could show North Korean progress toward being able to fire a weapon at America. But any decision by Trump to resort to military action would be highly risky, principally because the capital of close ally South Korea lies within range of North Korea artillery and rockets.

Nikki Haley, Trumps U.N. ambassador, said Monday the U.S. wasnt looking for a fight with Kim and wouldnt attack North Korea unless he gives us reason to do something. She praised Chinas increased pressure on North Korea.

Asked about the threshold for U.S. action, Haley told NBCs Today that if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously were going to do that.

But asked what would happen if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, Haley said, I think then the president steps in and decides whats going to happen.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the briefing to senators will be delivered by four top administration officials: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford.

The latest American held in North Korea is Tony Kim, who also goes by his Korean name Kim Sang-duk. The 58-year old taught accounting for a month at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. He was detained on Saturday, according to Park Chan-mo, the university chancellor. No details on why Kim was detained have been released.
After an article and an opening explanation in your editorial (April 22) to why Guilford County representatives did not attend a town hall meeting, the editorial writer continues to criticize them for not attending. I receive a weekly report of legislative activities that noted how busy that entire week has been in Raleigh for general sessions and committee meetings.

Yes, the people are legislators bosses. You, in Guilford County, elected them to represent you. That is what they were doing in one way or another and why they did not attend the meeting. They were doing their jobs. So dont criticize them for doing what they are supposed to do. Historically, newspapers are supposed to report the news, not indoctrinate your opinion on others especially in what are supposed to be news stories.
Many conservatives oppose government funding for Planned Parenthood, contending that anti-abortion taxpayers shouldnt be required to pay for it. It doesnt matter that abortion is only one of many services provided by Planned Parenthood. Any financial support for the organization can be seen as backing all its activities, critics say.

Theres a similar argument to make in a Missouri case that was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court last week. It involves a Lutheran church that wanted to resurface its playground with material made from shredded tires offered by the state. The church was denied because it is a religious entity.

A playground doesnt have a religious purpose, the church said  and the courts conservative justices, and possibly two of its liberals, seemed to agree.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, on the other hand, noted the long American tradition of government declining to fund religious institutions and asked why the state should be required to grant benefits to a church. Not doing so wouldnt infringe on the Lutherans religious freedom.

If the court does side with the church, the ruling could have broad implications. If a state pays to build a gym at a public high school, could a church school demand equal funding?

North Carolina is in a similar position with its opportunity scholarship program. This provides vouchers for eligible parents to send their children to private schools  most of which have religious affiliations.

We dont think taxpayers should be required to pay for religious instruction. Republican state legislators dont agree, but theyre selective when it comes to choosing what taxpayers should pay for. For example, they ended a program of public funding for appellate court candidates, partly on the basis that taxpayers should not have to support candidates whose views they might not agree with.

North Carolinas voucher program survived a legal challenge when the state Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in a 4-3 ruling in 2015. In that case, plaintiffs presented several claims, including the contention that the program allowed religious discrimination because a participating school could deny admission to students who did not share its beliefs. The court dismissed this claim, ruling that the plaintiffs didnt show they personally had been discriminated against. So this question has yet to be answered in North Carolina.

This is a more substantive issue than the playground dispute in Missouri. Playgrounds do not provide religious instruction, but religious schools do. A state can say that resurfacing a playground is a safety issue that has nothing to do with what happens inside the church, just as providing police or fire protection to a church at public expense is not supporting its religious practices.

Its a more difficult argument that paying for a child to receive religious instruction at a church school isnt a violation of the separation of church and state. In that case, the state is supporting the church and its work.

That question deserves more attention in North Carolina.
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STAMFORD  Revolution Lighting Technologies is sailing into a new market after gaining a major endorsement of its light-emitting diode tubes.

The U.S. Navy has certified Revolutions 2-foot T8 LED tube for the military standard, which allows the acquisition of the tubes through the standard Navy supply chain. The certification also positions Stamford-based Revolution to enter the international maritime market, with the Navys endorsement making Revolution more competitive in selling its LED technology to foreign navies and the cruise-line industry.

Its an exciting time for Revolution, said Revolution CEO and Chairman Robert LaPenta. U.S. military certification of products is a huge advantage when youre marketing overseas. They would not consider our product without this certification.

The Navy has not yet bought any T8 tubes from Revolution, but it represents a promising market. The Navy had installed more than 219,000 LED tubes on 168 ships in its fleet, according to a 2016 survey.

LED usage will continue to increase as vessels upgrade from fluorescent lighting and LED lights are installed in new ships, according to Navy officials. The Navy is pursuing LED general-area lighting in all new ships to reduce fuel usage and decrease maintenance requirements, according to Navy officials.

Revolution has been making the T8 tubes since 2008, but producing the military version took about a year and a half and cost Revolution about $500,000, according to LaPenta. Meeting military benchmarks for the T8s required more than 50 percent of their components to be made in the U.S, LaPenta said. Commercial T8 tubes are produced in China.

It was a very difficult and expensive project, said LaPenta, a Navy veteran who served in the late 1960s. But the good news is that because the certification so difficult to get, there wont be much competition.

Ramping up its domestic production, Revolution last month opened an approximately 60,000-square-foot center in Simi Valley, Calif., to house the companys sourcing and distribution teams and offer more space for inventory, production and testing.

Since the opening of the Simi Valley hub, Revolution officials report the company has produced more than 45,000 LED tubes there that comply with the Buy American and Trade Agreement acts. Recent projects that have used tubes made at the Simi Valley complex include federal contacts for the battleship New Jersey, General Services Administration buildings in Texas and Michigan, and a naval base in California. Those tubes meet certain American assembly and manufacturing benchmarks, but not the same standard as the T8s certified for the Navy.

The shatterproof plastic T8 tubes are 50 percent more efficient in their wattage draw than glass and fluorescent lights, according to Revolution. The T8s last for 70,000 hours and carry a 10-year warranty.

Commercial T8 tubes cost $8 to $10, compared with a price tag of $35 a few years ago, according to LaPenta. Revenues from the commercial T8 tubes surpassed $10 million in 2016.

Were now seeing the intersection for the demand where LEDs are becoming the standard new technology in the market, LaPenta said. The prices have come down, the products are competitive, and customers have gained an understanding.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott
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GREENWICH  The small plot of land next to 11 Byram Dock St. has no markers, no headstones, and no visible indication anyone is buried there.

But town officials say the nondescript patch is indeed an old burial ground, the Byram African-American Cemetery  known as the Colored Cemetery until 2014. Long left unattended, it is one three cemeteries clustered together at 29 Byram Shore Road behind the historic Thomas Lyon house. Separated by a rocky ridge from The Old Burying Ground at Byram Shore and the Lyon family cemetery, the African-American cemetery is listed on some of the towns oldest maps, officials say.

So preservationists in town were alarmed a few years ago when owners of 11 Byram Dock St., which also abuts the burial ground, began storing construction equipment and materials there for a renovation project on their own property.

As a result, a new bill is before the General Assembly that would extend to abandoned burial grounds the same protections afforded to active cemeteries.

I am hopeful that this proposed bill will be called to the House floor for a vote this legislative session, said state Rep. Mike Bocchino, R-150th, who introduced the legislation at the behest of the Greenwich Preservation Trust.

There are different ways to desecrate a cemetery, said Conservation Commission Director Denise Savageau, and its not necessarily like way back when there were grave robbers. What we are seeing the most of, is people who are neighbors saying Oh, it looks like thats abandoned. Its just an open space, saying, Ill just make that a part of my yard, and just encroaching on cemetery land using that as part of your yard.

An attorney for the owners of 11 Byram Dock St. said the couple in 2013 did an underground survey of the area around their home before getting a permit to remodel. The ground penetrating study, performed by Admiral Conservation Services of Georgetown, Conn., found no evidence that anyone was buried there, just the existence of a subterranean oil fill line and and an oil tank, he said.

To review those findings, the Greenwich Preservation Trust contracted Westport-based Historical Perspectives, Inc. for a documentary study in 2015. Researchers concluded the 2013 report had insufficient information to make any deductions regarding the absence or presence of graves.

Historical Perspectives also found that the cemetery land had been disturbed by the installation of retaining walls, removal of rock faces, changes to the grade plane, and the stockpiling of soil to improve an easement for access to the back of the 11 Byram Dock St. home.

The town issued a stop work order to the homeowners, Jeffrey and Andrea Stewart. But the only basis officials had for doing so was that the Stewarts did not have a permit to use the lot adjacent to theirs. The land itself had no legal protection.

Right now ... there is no regulation that we can enforce for what was done there in the state of Connecticut in terms of the violation of a cemetery, Savageau said. Thats not what the (stop work order) was for, because this is what we could do: They were doing construction. They did not have authority to use the neighboring property as a construction site, only a permit to work on their own site not an adjacent site.

The new law, if passed, would make desecration of an abandoned cemetery a class C felony, carrying a minimum penalty of $500, and maximums of $10,000 and 10 years in prison.

In addition to the legislation, the events in Byram led to the creation last year of a town Cemetery Committee, with a mission to identify and ensure the maintenance of cemeteries in town. There are 31 other cemeteries on the committees list that are either abandoned or have undetermined ownership.

The Cemetery Committee has focused all efforts on acquiring the African-American Cemetery so that as town property, it can be protected.

The effort hit a roadblock last fall when the Stewarts said they owned an easement crossing the property.

Savageau said the acquisition is on hold while the Law Department assesses the situation.

We hope we can come to some kind of compromise, said Philip Russell, the Stewart familys attorney, that balances the good faith belief that some people may have, that this property is significant, with the legitimate property interests of local residents.

Acquiring the land could be a complicated process given there are incomplete land records available.

Theres a map that shows the Byram Cemetery, Lyon Cemetery and the dock on one property, Savageau said. It showed that the (African-American) Cemetery was part of that parcel ... That said, we dont have any deed that says that.

So the reason we are going through the acquisition process, she said, is to clean up the deed (and) to basically reconfirm that the town does own the cemetery. Thats the process we are going forth with.

E: jturiano@greenwichtime.com; T: @jturianoGT; IG: @greenwichgreen
How likely are your customers to recommend your brand to others? This is the only question you need to ask to measure your companys net promoter score (NPS). Your NPS can tell you a lot about your brand and how successful you are at building brand advocacy.

Related: With the Right Incentives Loyal Customers Will Become Brand Advocates

So, why do you need brand advocates at all? Well, today, if customers see an ad for your business, ithat ad wont necessarily be enough to convert them into customers. In fact, it often takes six to eight touches before a prospect turns into a customer.

Even more of a problem is the fact that your audience doesnt always trust your brand. But 9 percent of them -- according to a study -- trust brand advocates. Building brand advocacy isnt easy, though. If it were, every brand would be able to do it. Says Laura Fritton, founder of oneforty.com:One cant artificially build advocacy; it is something you earn by going above and beyond to delight customers.

Not to pun, but going above and beyond is the specialty of an industry like, say, luxury airlines -- and Emirates airline in particular. Thats why a company like Emirates has such powerful brand advocates. Even if you dont offer luxury products or services, you can borrow a few of its tactics to learn more about brand advocates. Here are three lessons you can learn from Emirates.

1. Be truly unique.

Its not enough to say your brand is unique -- you must actually be unique. Be authentic; dont just act it, says social media strategist Ted Rubin. True authenticity will set your brand [business or personal] apart in todays highly competitive market. Advocates are attracted to 'real' and can sniff out fake in a heartbeat.

Think about what your brand offers and how you position yourself. What sets you apart from your competition? Why should consumers choose you over anyone else?

A luxury airline like Emirates offers an in-flight experience unlike any other. With perks for first-class customers, like showers, personal flight suites and a huge variety of food and drinks, Emirates and its competitors attract advocates just through their offerings.

Related: Employees Are Your Biggest Brand Advocates

But it doesnt stop there. Flight attendants dress in signature outfits, harkening back to the days of 1960s Pan Am, and offer unparalleled service throughout the flight. Emirates also ensures that its employees are easily recognizable and makes sure that customers needs are well taken care of. When customers are happy, they are more likely to become a brand advocate.

2. Focus on the experience

Your customers want more than just your products or services. Remember, you have to go above and beyond. You need to make choosing your brand a singular experience. When its an experience, people will talk about it.

The combination of perks, service and experience makes flying with Emirates a VIP adventure that customers dont soon forget. The exclusivity of the experience also creates a mysterious curiosity that surrounds the brand. People want to know what its like to be on an Emirates flight.

YouTuber Casey Neistat filmed his experience with Emirates after he was upgraded to first class, on a flight from Dubai to New York. The nine-minute video that resulted has gotten over 30 million views.

Writer Mark Seal similarly detailed his experience with Emirates for Departures.com. He met a fellow passenger who was celebrating his 400th Emirates flight, and described him as fanatically devoted, in love with the crew -- 'an international mix, he says -- and his fellow fliers.

You need to make people fall in love with your brand by giving them an experience they cant get enough of -- and one that other people will be curious about.

3. Give people what they want

For most people, flying with an airline is not exactly a pleasant experience. This is clearly what has inspired Emirates and other luxury airlines. Theyve taken something people did not enjoy and turned it into an exclusive and special experience.

To do this with your own company, you need to put yourself in the mindset of your customers. What do they want most? How can you make their experience with your brand better? What are they most unhappy with?

Understanding your customers is one of the most important parts of brand advocacy. You cant expect your customers to endorse you if you dont understand their needs and wants.

To learn more about your customers, you need to do some research. Look at your demographics and create personas for each type of customer you have. Take it even further: Try holding a focus group to speak to customers face to face, or send out an email to your customers to ask them directly what it is they want most.

Related: Build Brand Advocacy From the Inside Out

Once you know what they want, give it to them -- but dont forget to go above and beyond.

Related:



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Leroy Green has worked at Pondicheri since November. Photo: M. Cooper

Cooking saved Leroy Greens life. Before, I could have been anywhere. I could have been in jail, he says. Thats the thing about this now. I can do what I say Im going to do. Green, whos rarely without a Yankees cap, is a line cook at Pondicheri, the Indian cafe and restaurant in the Flatiron District. Hes been there since November, and is an important part of the team  even though he didnt consider a career in food until after serving 15 years in federal prison.

As a kid, Green ran numbers at a candy store in Jamaica, Queens. The stores owner sold alcohol illegally, and marijuana. Thats when Green began selling, and using  first marijuana and then, at 14, cocaine. There was really no reason for me to be in the street, Green says. I have a good family. I come from a good home, but as a teenager, I ventured off to the streets and became a drug dealer.

When Green was 16, he sold to an undercover cop. The ensuing arrest got him a week in jail. Me and my big brain said, I wasnt going to get arrested again. So, when he got out, he hired people to sell for him. By the time he was 18, Green had one of the biggest operations in Jamaica, with close to 30 people working for him out of 10 apartments. But that came crumbling down, he says. He was arrested and charged with his first prison sentence, a three-to-nine. He served three years. The whole three years I did, I just thought, How am I going to do it better? Selling drugs. There was nothing else on my mind. Green got out in 1990 and had a six-year run. In 1996, the federal government said enough is enough. Green was arrested again. No bail, he says with a pause. Never got out again until 2013.

Green was sentenced to 20 years, but he applied for clemency and was commuted under President Obama, whose criminal-justice-reform agenda looked to lessen the punishments for those who committed nonviolent crimes. It was hard when I got out. I didnt have the money I used to have. I spent a year and a half doing the same shit that lead me to jail. Green says it was also difficult to reconnect with his two daughters, who were both young when he was sentenced. After 18 months of running the street again, I felt like I was heading nowhere. Selling drugs, Green lived in his car until it was taken from him. With no roof over his head, and no other choice, he moved to a shelter. Thats when he first heard about the Doe Fund, a nonprofit that provides transitional work, housing, and educational opportunities to people with histories of incarceration, homelessness, and substance abuse. Green was assigned a job at the Doe Fund, as all residents are, the day he moved in. Ironically, he says, they put me to work in the kitchen.

At each of the organizations locations, residents cook the meals that feed the other people who live there. Green, who currently lives at the Doe Fund in Harlem, excelled in the kitchen. At first, it was just something to do, to keep me busy and out of trouble, he says. But I like cooking. I like feeding people.

Green was a cook in prison. He was familiar with kitchens and cooking, and he knew service and the basic day-to-day task of feeding people. In federal prison, they put you to work in a lot of places, he says. Baking was the best because you can start and finish your product without anyone else interfering  its your product. Green worked the line at breakfast, too, making eggs to order. He took his time in the kitchen, which wasnt necessarily what people were looking for, he explains. I didnt enjoy cooking in prison because nobody cared about the food. Now that hes out, however, that love of cooking made him a perfect candidate for a new program within the Doe Fund. Cooking, Green says, didnt have a purpose until Chef-in-Training  that changed everything.

The Doe Funds Chef-in-Training program is an eight-week, hands-on course that teaches students to work on a New York City restaurants line. It was introduced in December 2015 as an extension of the Doe Funds Ready, Willing & Able transitional work program, and its the brainchild of Doe Fund employees John Kirkland, Jennifer Dillon, and Gino Dalesandro. Standing in the kitchen at the Gates Avenue Doe Fund location in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where the class is taught, Kirkland says he saw a need for the class after learning of the industrys dearth of line cooks.

To find great cooks is nearly impossible, Jake Finder explains. Finder owns Gristmill in Park Slope, and has ads all over the place for a dishwasher, sous-chef, and cook. Im getting chef applicants and dishwasher applications, he says. No one wants to cook.

Almost every chef in the city seems to echo this sentiment. Its really hard today, says Dan Kluger, and it seems to be getting worse and worse. Kluger runs Loring Place in Greenwich Village, and has cooked in New York for 20 years, working for chefs like Tom Colicchio and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Eight to ten years ago, cooking was booming, he says. Everybody wanted to be a chef, and today, while I think its still an incredibly popular industry, there are so many other opportunities within the industry.

New York is a brutal city for finding line cooks, Anita Jaisinghani agrees. Thats been our toughest challenge here. Jaisinghani owns Pondicheri, the Houston-based Indian cafe with a Manhattan outpost that opened last year. Jaisinghani brought her concept to New York unaware of the problem: That was a detail no one told me about.

Andrew Rigie, director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, outlines some of the causes for the problem. There are more than 24,000 eating and drinking establishments in New York City, he explains. Its very competitive. A lot of cooks are jumping from restaurant to restaurant, where historically many worked in the same kitchen for years, and often their entire career.

Rigie also mentions a spike in high-end, corporate kitchens, plus delivery-only restaurants that cater to the lunch crowd and offer employees a more traditional (and often more desirable) 9-to-5 schedule. Manhattan restaurants are also losing cooks to restaurants in outer boroughs, and even other cities, where the cooks can pay cheaper rents and work nearby.

Green at Pondicheri. Photo: M. Cooper

Kirkland first learned of the citys line-cook problem during a conversation with Rigie in early 2015. I saw the need to develop a training program to get people into these jobs, Kirkland says. There are amazing people that have awful things happen to them, he adds, but are now in a place where they can be an asset to an industry. The problem, as he saw it, was that potential workers lacked access to necessary training: You need to understand how things work in the kitchen. To remedy this, Kirkland and his colleagues looked for a chef who would be able to train potential employees.

Justin Fertitta applied. He grew up outside Chicago, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, and has worked at the Waldorf Astoria and Aquavit. At the Doe Fund, hes taken his experience and training, and condensed them into a program that takes weeks to complete, instead of years. He hands me a 50-page booklet, and explains, Everything I learned in culinary school is in our curriculum. It covers topics like Auguste Escoffier, the traditional brigade system, Balthazars menu, egg cookery, notes on Chefs Table, diagrams of every kind of knife you could imagine (and how to use and care for them), mother sauces, and the variations of roux. Students are eligible for the class only after obtaining their food handlers license (for which there is another class in place).

Fertitta taught three classes last year. Green is a graduate of the second. The best one, he says with a smile. We did Italian food, Thai food. Justin took me around the world with different spices. He gave me a purpose  before I was just doing it.

Each Chef-in-Training class can accommodate up to 15 students. This year, with a grant from the State Street Foundation, the Doe Fund is able to add a fourth course, raising the number of total program graduates and potential line cooks to 60. The program has a 75 percent job-placement rate in food services. Ten graduates are currently working full time in restaurants, and an additional five have found food-service positions outside of restaurants. Green landed at Pondicheri after responding to an ad he saw online.

For us, people are people, Jaisinghani says, aware of Greens past, and any company is as good as its people. I had a good feeling about Leroy, she goes on, but Ive had good feelings about other people that didnt make it past the first two weeks. Hes been with us for a few months now, and everyone likes him. Its good. Hes definitely become a main part of our team.

Cooking has given me my life back, Green says. When Im cooking, nothing bothers me. Its a challenge. Its a tough business. If youre looking for an easy job, this is not it. But Im looking to move up and make it easier for myself.
Stuart busy saving the planet.

About a third of Americas bread gets tossed out each day, but a pioneer in the fight against food waste is about to put some of it to far, far better use. Toast, Tristram Stuarts celebrated British beer made from recycled loaves, is coming to New York City, the New York Times reports. It marks not only the beers entry Stateside but also the release of his latest style  an American pale ale, appropriately enough. Toast is kind of a big deal across the pond, where a growing number of restaurants and grocers have been selling it since 2016. Each bottle uses roughly one slice along with the malted grains, yeast, and hops, and Stuart estimates theyve saved 3.6 tons of bread in their first 15 months. Its also gotten kudos from chefs Jamie Oliver and Dan Barber, who calls it delicious, but seems equally into its wonderful backstory, not surprisingly. He says he plans to put it on the menu at Blue Hill.



For the New York release, production is being outsourced to Chelsea Craft Brewings facilities up in the Bronx, where the Times says a test batch has already been completed. Samples accompanied the premiere of Anthony Bourdains Wasted! The Story of Food Waste at the Tribeca Film Festival this past weekend (Toast is in that documentary, coincidentally). To help crowdfund the costs, Stuart has also launched an Indiegogo to raise $35,000. Any extra money will presumably go to Feedback, a charity he started to tackle food waste on a global scale that receives 100 percent of Toasts profits. The ambitious goal is to start production by July 4, and Stuart says New York bakeries are already knocking down our door to donate their surplus loaves to the calling.
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There are multiple competing VR cameras, but Nokias OZO scored a big win - a partnership with Lucasfilm/Disney to create VR content for the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi film.

Brian Miller, SVP of Creative & Strategy at Lucasfilm, will fulfill fans wishes of learning more about the filmmaking process by giving them a peak behind the scenes - virtually. They will get to experience the beautiful sets where the movie is shot.

Perhaps it will look something like this sit down with The Jungle Bookss cast and director. There should be more Last Jedi VR content, but for now Disney is keeping mum. Hopefully, well get something more dynamic like Petes Dragon 360 experience (both of these were shot with the Nokia OZO).

Also, this is a multi-year deal so well likely see VR content for other Star Wars films and other Disney properties.

Source
Samsung Brazil lists violet-colored clear case for the Galaxy S8, could this be a hint?

There were previous rumors that Samsung was going to release a violet-colored Galaxy S8 and/or Galaxy S8+. It appears those leaked photos were not in vain. While we don't know where, or when a violet S8 would come, it could very well be that Samsung is planning for it.

A listing on Samsung Brazil lists a Clear Protective Case for the Galaxy S8, tinted in three colors: Black, Silver, and what should be Grey is actually Violeta. Its not even a mistake, as the color dot is, in fact, violet. However, what doesnt line up is when you select the violet clear case, youre shown an Orchid Grey model in the photos.

Either someone made a mistake, or Samsung is trolling us really hard.

Nothing is certain except that I would totally rock a violet S8. What about you? Do you find a violet S8 appealing at all?

Thanks for the tip, Rafael!

Source
Xiaomi launched its flagship the Mi 6 last week, but Mi fans from US and Europe need to once again search for unofficial channels to get the new device. Senior VP Wang Xiang at Xiaomi said the company wants to expand to the Western world but working with carriers is too much of a hassle and prefers to bring technology to emerging markets.

Wang Xiang took the Senior VP position after Hugo Barra left Xiaomi for Facebook. After the Mi 6 launch, he sat down with some reporters to talk about the company plans.

Xiang shared that Xiaomi is currently operating in 30 markets, most of them still emerging. The company' main aim is to reach the mass market and to bring innovation for everyone. This means Xiaomi is currently satisfied with its 2nd position in India and 3rd position in Ukraine and does not want to explicitly aim for the premium, elite thing, as Xiang put it.

Another barrier, according to the Xiaomi VP, are the carrier-driven markets - the US and the UK would bring extra work to the R&D department. The engineering team is super busy and would struggle to serve such carriers, Xiang admitted. More interestingly, he revealed that 2019 is a realistic goal for Xiaomi to enter the US market.

Xiaomi is constantly having trouble to respond to pre-orders, the towards Redmi Note 4, so probably the company is just playing it safe.

Source 1  Source 2
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Haiti - FLASH : PM's cortege killed one, wounded one





Monday, following the heavy rains that hit particularly the South of Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20744-haiti-flash-heavy-rain-on-the-south-significant-damage-provisional-assessment.html Prime Minister Lafontant at the head of a delegation including Max Rudolph Saint-Albin Minister of the Interior and Local Government and Roosevelt Bellevue, the Minister of Social Affairs went on the site to assess the situation and plan the response.



It was during his visit in the locality Kans halfway between Les Cayes and Camp Perrin, that a convoy of vehicles of the Prime Minister, has struck and killed a teenager and injured another who accompanied him. According to witnesses the cortege would not have stopped following this accident...



In a statement dated Monday, the Prime Minister said "have learned today with great sadness the death of a teenager following an accident in Kans near Les Cayes which also caused a wounded.



[...] The Prime Minister deplores this accident and sends his sincere condolences to the family of the victim, and to that of the wounded. He takes this opportunity to assure them of the full solidarity and active accompaniment of the government in these painful moments."



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-20751-icihaiti-weather-two-victims-per-drowning-in-the-south.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20744-haiti-flash-heavy-rain-on-the-south-significant-damage-provisional-assessment.html



HL/ S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Education : Ministry prepares for 2017 State exams





Jackson Pleteau, the Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of Education (Pierre Josue Agenor Cadet), assisted by Jean Nelson Pierre, the Administrative Coordinator in the Directorate General, chaired a working meeting around the State examinations, between the Directorates involved and the Examination Organizing Committee. Members of the Cabinet of the Minister and representatives of the West Departmental Directorate (DDO) also attended the meeting.



The validation of the candidates was amongst others at the center of the debates. It was agreed that the Departmental Directorates of Education should exercise more vigilant control over the lists of students authorized to take these examinations. The DC Jackson Pleteau asked the DDO to exercise stricter control over the heads of schools and in case fraud attempts were proved, to crack down on them.



The Director of Cabinet Pleteau, also stressed the need to organize good exams, in optimal conditions while fighting as much as possible against the cheaters.



Monitoring, will be strictly enforced this year. The task will be entrusted to the teachers or, failing that, to the students of the Teacher's Normal Schools or students of faculties of education science.



The Directorate of Secondary Education (DES) indicated that it was working tirelessly on the preparation of exam texts, stating that after the re-reading stage, the DES would move on to the editing phase of the exams text, this, from the first week of May so that everything is ready in time.



Calendar of State Examinations 2017 :

- Examinations of the 9th fundamental year: 3 to 5 July;

- Examinations of the Teacher's Normal Schools (ENI) and the Centers of Family Education (CEF): 3rd to 7th July;

- Examinations of the baccalaureat: July 10th to 13th;

- 2nd Special session for that that failed: from 21 to 24 August;

- Technical and Vocational Training Examinations (FTP): 31 July to 5 August.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20377-haiti-notice-state-examinations-official-calendar-2017.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - DR : Seizure of more than 2,200 false documents in the hands of Haitians





During the last 9 months (August 2016 to April 2017), the Directorate General of Migration (DGM) in the Dominican Republic has seized 2,202 false or modified documents during national control operations, on the migration situation of foreigners (Haitians) living in Dominican territory.



Lieutenant General Maximo William Munoz Delgado, Director General of the DGM said that out of this number there were 1,478 false documents and 724 counterfeit identity documents (identity theft).



The 1,478 false documents included 1,239 cards of the National Regularization Plan of Foreigners (PNRE), 126 Haitian passports, 69 Dominican identity cards, 40 Dominican visas, 3 Dominican residences and 1 Dominican passport.



Regarding the 724 identity theft documents, DGM reported that they included: 459 PNRE cards, 241 Haitian passports, 15 Dominican Cedulas and 4 Haitian National Identity Card (CIN).



The DGM indicated that an investigation was being opened with other State Security agencies to identify those responsible for this false and falsifying network, which targets Haitians in an irregular situation.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Rosny Desroches for the Army

Following the announcement of the departure of the Minustah next October https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20656-haiti-flash-bye-bye-the-minustah-hello-the-minujusth.html , Rosny Desroches, the Executive Director of the ISC declared "We need armed forces in the country to maintain public order and peace."



Mayor of PAP and Municipal Finance

On Monday at the Karibe Convention Center, Mayor of Port-au-Prince, Youri Chevry, accompanied by Mayors Kettyna Bellabe and Bernard Joseph, participated in the International Summit on Finance and the 2nd edition of Fin Tech, which was held under the theme "Financing Real Estate in Haiti". This day dedicated to Municipal Finance, among other things, allowed to share reflections on decentralization, sustainable Development Objectives (ODD), municipal finance and port infrastructures in communes.



300,000 jobs over 8 years, according to ADIH

Georges Sassine, President of the Association of Industries of Haiti (ADIH) affirmed that the textile assembly sector was booming in Haiti and that this sector is able to create thanks to the HOPE law (extended to 2025 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13699-haiti-economy-new-developments-on-the-renewal-of-the-hope-act.html ) more than 300,000 jobs over 8 years with annual revenues for Haiti, 6 billion US dollars. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20641-haiti-economy-moise-hopes-the-creation-of-300-000-new-jobs-over-5-years.html



Minister of Education in Mexico

Following the opening by the Head of the Government of Mexico City, Miguel Mancera, of the Seminar on School Feeding in Latin America and the Caribbean (24-26 April); Pierre Josue Angenor Cadet, the Minister of National Education, spoke on the first panel to present Haiti's efforts in the area of school feeding. He supported the need for a reinforcement of the actions in progress for the benefit of Haitian pupils. The panel was coordinated by the Regional Director of the World Food Program (WFP) for Latin America and the Caribbean.



Towards the relaunch of the Tourist Office of Grand'Anse

On Monday, with a view to relaunching the activities of the Grand'Anse Tourist Office, dysfunctional for several months and to enhance the tourist potential of this Department, the Minister of Tourism met with the Senator of the Grand'Anse, Sorel Jacinthe.



Coordination of Actions in the South

On Monday, Fednel Monchery, the new Director General of the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities, accompanied by his technical team, the Chief and the Cabinet Director of the Minister, met with representatives of international community organizations, around of heavy rains that caused flooding in the South, the weekend https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20744-haiti-flash-heavy-rain-on-the-south-significant-damage-provisional-assessment.html The purpose of this meeting, which was held at the National Emergency Operations Center (COUN), was to assess the situation, identify the partial needs of the affected populations and harmonize mechanisms for coordinating response actions.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Kat Jamieson is an author and tastemaker who has been sharing her passion for lifestyle topics such as fashion, decor, travel, and cooking since 2011 on her blog: With Love From Kat. Her first book, Blended, was recently released in October. In this book, Kat shares a seasonally inspired and holistic approach to cooking, as well as her take on entertaining and living well. She shares more than 125 recipes that have helped her to feel energized, vibrant, and balanced. Aside from these nourishing recipes, Kat also discusses how she has obtained a truly balanced and...
By Lisa Espinosa | Published on 2017/04/24

"Man to Man" hits the ground running with beautiful cinematography, a charismatic lead, and enough humor to take the edge off the many action scenes. From directors Kim Sang-ho-I ("Arang and the Magistrate") and Lee Chang-min-I ("Birth of a Beauty", "Midas"), and writer, Kim Won-seok-II ("Descendants of the Sun", "The Queen's Classroom"), this newest jTBC drama definitely pulled out all the stops to grab our attention. It makes it worthy of the first Korean drama for which Nextflix has acquired exclusive rights.

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Park Hae-jin's winning looks and powerful demeanor dominate much of the episode. He plays a cold, efficient, Korean spy named Kim Seol-woo who is dispatched all over the world as a ghost agent - a man completely off the grid. To complete a mission he must pose as a bodyguard for a famous actor, Yeo Woon-gwang (Park Sung-woong). Both of these characters are caricatures of two well-known male stereotypes. Seol-woo is the unbeatable badass agent while Woon-gwang is perfectly arrogant and high maintenance in every way. Mix in Kim Min-jung as Cha Do-ha, a crazy fan girl turned manager, and Yeon Jung-hoon as Mo Seung-jae, a scarily ambitious chaebol, and our cast fills out every Korean drama character trope in the book. As a start, this isn't bad. It instantly relates us to tropes we understand, but "Man to Man" better move beyond this quickly.

Humor is quickly established as a mixture of the ridiculous and the dark. One scene parodies the famous kiss scene from "Descendants of the Sun" while another mocks the typical dipping pose of the infamous romantic forced proximity. Blending different styles of humor didn't quite work for the episode. Rather, the episode felt overly stuffed with content in an attempt to be eye-catching.

Do-ha is, to be frank, scary. The antics she pulled this episode were the stuffs of a sasaeng (extreme) fan and not to be condoned. While her devotion to her actor did allow her to notice something off about Seol-woo, it doesn't detract from her completely inappropriate behavior. Seung-jae is scary in the truest sense of the word. He uses money and violence to climb the socio-political ladder, while his wife, Song Mi-eun (Chae Jung-an), helps him manipulate his public image. It's a strange combination of characters, but I'll wait a few weeks to see how they develop and fit together.

So far, I like the action and Park Hae-jin the best. The entire episode screamed of introductory material so at least the action was entertaining. And despite Park Hae-jin's charms, the last scene of the episode was still a tad awkward, but they had to make the actor and the ghost agent meet somehow, right?

Written by: Lisa Espinosa AKA Raine from 'Raine's Dichotomy'

"Man to Man" is directed by Kim Sang-ho-I and Lee Chang-min-I, written by Kim Won-seok-II, and features Park Hae-jin, Kim Min-jung, Park Sung-woon, and Yeon Jung-hoon.

Watch Episode 1 on Netflix!
Published on 2017/04/25 | Source

Added episodes 5 and 6 captures for the Korean drama "Chicago Typewriter" (2017)

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Directed by Kim Cheol-gyoo

Written by Jin Soo-wan

Network : tvN

With Yoo Ah-in, Lim Soo-jung, Go Kyung-pyo, Kwak Si-yang, Jo Woo-jin, Yang Jin-sung,...

16 episodes - Fri, Sat 20:00

Synopsis

Writers from the 1930s are reincarnated in the present as a best-selling writer in a slump, an anti-fan, and a ghostwriter.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/04/07

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We're a family of seven living in Georgia where Andrew's working as a professor at GSU. You can read more about us here
A growing number of us are having doubts that the countries are not safe for the deportees, she wrote in a guest contribution to Helsingin Sanomat .

Finland should suspend the deportations of unsuccessful asylum seekers to conflict-affected countries at least until authorities have re-examined the security situations in the countries in question, says President Tarja Halonen.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs recommends that Finns do not travel to Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria. Yet, authorities see no obstacles to returning people who have experienced persecution to these countries.

Finnish authorities, she said, should visit the countries to familiarise themselves with the local security situations and the authorities receiving the deportees.

Forced returns should be suspended for the duration of this process before the issue is revisited. It would be humane and also reinforce Finns confidence in their own administration. It is also a question of what kind of a mark we want to leave of ourselves in history.

Halonen, who served as the President of the Republic of Finland between 2002 and 2012, underscored that people must not be discriminated against during the asylum process based on their religious beliefs but reminded that religion can nevertheless be the cause of persecution and discrimination.

Islamic asylum seekers have converted to Christianity in Finland. They must not be returned. Not because they are Christians but because their decision to renounce Islam may be a serious threat to their position in their home country, she argued.

Decision-makers have understandably re-examined the asylum regulations to determine whether or not they remain up-to-date, wrote Halonen. Several aspects of the regulations, however, have been amended with no concern whatsoever for their combination effect.

Many warned against the very kind of stricter asylum regulations that have been adopted. They have lead to a rapid increase in the number of negative asylum decisions but also to an increase in the number of undocumented people in the country, she said.

The proposal of Paula Risikko (NCP), the Minister of the Interior, to raise the refugee quota would be a step in the right direction, estimated Halonen.

We cannot welcome everyone who has to abandon their home country due to uncertainty in the future  and no one is demanding that we do. But we must improve. We can raise our annual refugee quota from the current 750 to guarantee a safer route to a greater number of people in the most vulnerable position who have been granted refugee status by the UN, she stated.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Martti Kainulainen  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
They certainly arent, he exclaimed in a speech to his party comrades in Tampere on Saturday.

Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre) has firmly refuted suggestions that the assessments used to determine whether or not a particular country is safe enough for unsuccessful asylum seekers to return to are politically motivated.

If Sweden changes its assessments, Finland will follow suit. Our assessments of the countries where people can and cannot be returned to are in line with each other, stated Sipila.

He estimated that the debate surrounding the issue has veered into dubious territory, as more and more are calling into question the functionality of the rule of law. We mustnt be bright-eyed but we must have faith in the authorities and the legal system, he stressed.

Finnish authorities, he added, are making their decisions on which countries and regions are safe carefully  on the same grounds as before.

Sipila admitted that the voice of the heart and the voice of reason are prone to the occasional clash amidst the debate over the forced returns of unsuccessful asylum seekers.

My heart tells me to share a meal and offer a place to stay to everyone who is fleeing war. But we must also keep in mind that not all of those people are coming here with good intentions. There has been a change in our security situation. Reason tells us that we have to take this into consideration, he explained.

Sipila also revealed that he is prepared to raise the countrys refugee quota in the event that an agreement on the issue is found by the European Union.

Paula Risikko (NCP), the Minister of the Interior, has revealed that a proposal to raise the annual quota by 300 to 1,050 will be discussed as the Finnish Government convenes for its mid-term session on Monday and Tuesday.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Jolanta Lubiene and her eight year old daughter, Enrika, who were murdered in Killorglin, Co Kerry

The remains of Jolanta Lubiene and her daughter Enrika at the foot of the alter at their funeral mass in Lithuania

The sister of a Lithuanian woman and her eight-year-old daughter murdered in Kerry nearly four years ago has said she would still describe the man who killed them as a monster.

Speaking after the inquests into the deaths of her sister Jolanta Lubiene (27) and niece Enrika, Kristina Kuleviciene said the hearing had brought finality to the family.

Marius Lubys, the husband and father of the deceased, described his daughter as "the best little girl".

A jury at the inquests returned a verdict of unlawful killing in accordance with the findings of the post-mortem examinations.

Alarm

The verdict also recorded their deaths on June 16, 2013.

Lithuanian national Aurimas Andruska is serving two concurrent life sentences for the murders on a date between June 15 and 17, 2013. An appeal by him to overturn his convictions was unsuccessful.

Ms Lubiene and her daughter Enrika were found dead in the home they shared at 9 Langford Downs, Killorglin, Co Kerry on June 17, 2013 by Ms Lubiene's friend Ramute Narmute, who raised the alarm.

Ms Lubiene had received at least 61 stab wounds to the thorax, abdomen, neck, arms, legs and back in a "sustained and violent sharp-weapon attack".

Dr Margot Bolster's post- mortem examination of Enrika revealed she had received 11 stab wounds and some superficial wounds. Both died from haemorrhage and shock due to multiple stab wounds.

Ms Narmute told the inquest she became concerned when Ms Lubiene had not returned any of her texts or calls.

When she called at the house on Sunday evening, she could see Ms Lubiene's body lying on the kitchen floor and she could hear her dog barking.

Drained

She said she knew she was dead because the colour had drained from her face and she was white.

"I could see the blood on the stairs and the body on the floor of the kitchen. I thought it was a man at first but then I saw the black hair and I knew it was Jolanta," she said.

She and her husband reported what she had seen at the garda station. Gda Eamon Prenderville told the inquest he entered the house through the back door, which was unlocked. The other doors were locked and the curtains of the front bay window were firmly shut.

He saw a woman's body on the kitchen floor. He said there was blood staining in the utility room, kitchen and hallway.

He began to cordon off the scene but later, when he returned to the garda station, he learned Ms Lubiene had a young daughter. When he returned, he found Enrika lying on the landing.

The deposition of Det Insp Fearghall Patwell, read out by Supt Flor Murphy, said Andruska was identified through a profile of his DNA that was found on Enrika's top.

A fingerprint in Ms Lubiene's blood found on the wall of the stairs, matched a sample given voluntarily by him to gardai.

He was convicted of the double murder in November 2014, following a five-week trial.

Addressing the family following the inquest, Supt Murphy said he hoped it brought them "solace and comfort" that an appeal by Andruska on his conviction had been rejected at the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Coroner Terence Casey paid tribute to the gardai on their investigation that brought the perpetrator to justice in such a short time.
Dublin model Tia Duffy has revealed that her brother is lucky to be alive after being the victim of an unprovoked one-punch assault in Australia.

Tia (29), from Finglas, said she received a call from friends of her brother Derek (26) to say he had been rushed to hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.

The incident happened in the early hours of last Tuesday when he was out having a meal with friends.

Celebrating

"He's been living in Darwin for the last three years and he was out with friends. They were celebrating finding a new apartment," said Tia.

"Someone just randomly attacked him from behind. They punched him in the head and he fell and hit his head on the pavement. That's the last thing he remembers."

Tia, who is based in Toronto, said the attacker's companion also assaulted two of Derek's female friends before fleeing.

Police in Darwin are investigating what she said was a "completely unprovoked attack" on her brother, who is a restaurant manager.

"He would never be in any kind of argument. He's not that type of guy at all. I'm just trying to understand why someone would do this," said Tia.

"I'm just livid about the whole thing. Every time I think about it, I just think, 'How can someone do that?'

"I wanted to raise awareness that if you throw just one punch at someone you can kill them. I feel like he's lucky to be alive. I'm just shell-shocked by the whole thing."

Derek spent a week in intensive care being monitored every hour but has now been moved to a separate unit. He still has bleeding on the brain.

Tia said they will not know the long-term impact of his injuries for a while, but she hopes to fly to Australia with her family once his condition stabilises.

Derek's friends Lauren and Lisa have set up a fundraising page to help pay his medical bills.

To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/derek-duffy
A woman who was 39 weeks' pregnant collapsed and died from an extremely rare condition for which no cause is known, an inquest heard.

Shannon Burke (20), of School Street Flats, Dublin 8, and her baby boy died following "a cascade of events" believed to have been triggered by amniotic fluid entering her bloodstream.

Ms Burke went to the Coombe Hospital the day before her death complaining of stomach pains, Dublin Coroner's Court heard.

Reassuring

She was admitted and fully examined. The baby's heart rate was reassuring and she was discharged, the court heard.

In the early hours of January 14, 2014, Ms Burke's partner Patrick Davis found her unresponsive in their bed and called emergency services.

Paramedics began resuscitation and she was rushed to the operating theatre at the Coombe Hospital. Her baby boy was resuscitated at birth but later died.

Ms Burke was haemorrhaging and was transferred to St James's Hospital where a laparotomy was performed in a bid to identify the source of bleeding, but no cause was found.

The cause of death was cardiac respiratory collapse and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy due to amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) syndrome at 39 weeks plus three days gestation, a post-mortem found.

Pathologist Dr Siobhan Nicholson said amniotic fluid had escaped into the bloodstream, triggering the widespread activation of blood clotting.

"This cascade of events best supports a diagnosis of AFE. It is an extraordinarily rare, catastrophic and unpredictable event for which there is no definitive cause," Dr Nicholson said.

"It's likely to have been something very sudden that happened in the middle of the night."

Consultant obstetrician at the Coombe Hospital Dr Tom D'Arcy said he had never experienced AFE before.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane returned a verdict of death due to natural causes and sympathised with the woman's mother, brother and aunt who were present in court.

"It's very difficult for you. That was such a tragic occurrence for the family, to lose a young girl in those circumstances," she said.
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The shooting occurred while HPD attempted to serve a no-knock search warrant at the residence of William David Whetstone, 33. During the incident, Whetstone was shot and killed.

According to the release, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) gathered witness statements and evidence, including footage from multiple body cameras.

HPDs Special Operations Team entered the home around 8:14 a.m. and encountered Whetstone, according to a Feb.3 HPD press release.

Officers gave Whetstone verbal commands not to move, Whetstone reached between the cushions of a sofa producing a handgun and pointing it at officers, the release states.

HPD Sgt. Rodney N. Harris was shot during the incident, and has since recovered. Master police officer David H. Lee and Sgt. Randy W. Isenhour discharged their weapons during the incident, according to the release.

The law of North Carolina recognizes the principle of self-defense, Learner said, which is the inherent right to use deadly force to protect ones self or others from death or great bodily harm.

The SBI investigation uncovered that the HPD knew Whetstone kept weapons at the residence, and that the team announced themselves as law enforcement when they entered the residence.

A second suspect was in the home and complied with the officers orders.

[Whetstone] was told repeatedly not to move, yet he lunged to the arm of the sofa and rammed his right hand down between the cushion and arm of the sofa, reads the DAs release. Whetstone pulled a handgun out of the sofa and pointed it directly at officers who were only a few feet away.

According to the release, the incident only took a few seconds.
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A retired park ranger, Pete Gill now spends his days driving the Bookmobile, delivering library books around Lincoln County.

He spends the bulk of his time at elementary schools in Panaca, Pioche and Caliente.

They kids are usually excited to see me, Gill said. Sometimes Ill go into a school and announce Im here. Then I have to run back because the kids are already streaming out.

Hes equally excited to see them.

I like kids so I love this job, he said. It gives me a chance to visit. Most of the kids, I know their parents. I get to ask how their families are doing.

Across Nevada, there are three Bookmobiles, delivering library services to some of the most remote places in Elko, Lander, Eureka, Humboldt and Lincoln counties. They are funded through state grants and federal funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which President Trump has proposed cutting as part of his budget plan.

President Trumps plan calls for the elimination of the $230 million budget for the Institute of Museum and Library Services along with three other cultural agencies  the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Nancy Neff, a Ruby Valley native, grew up checking out books from the Bookmobile, which stops at the three-room school about 70 miles from Elko.

As a rural person, I know our way of life is less and less relevant to lawmakers all the time, she said. But, contrary to some peoples beliefs, we are not uneducated, and we do wish our children to be educated. It is nice to have books delivered to us.

Ginny Dufurrena, who lives on a ranch 75 miles outside of Winnemucca, has driven the Humboldt County Bookmobile for 17 years.

Her longest route is a 168-mile round trip to Kings River, including 18 miles of gravel road ending at a two-room schoolhouse. She also serves Imlay, Orvada, Paradise Valley and stops at different ranches and a general store along the way.

Im a pretty big deal, she said. Im right up there with the Schwans man.

Over the nearly two decades shes driven the Bookmobile, Dufurrena has seen kids grow up and bring their own kids to check out books. The service is popular not just with children, but adults as well.

Its not uncommon for someone to flag me down, jump off the tractor and climb through the fence, she related. They run up and say, I need some more of those playaways (audio books).

Cyndi O, director of the Humboldt County library, called the Bookmobile massively important.

The majority of the Humboldt County population lives in outlying rural areas, she said. The Bookmobile is really a lifeline to them. They get not only books, audio books and movies, they also get news. They get an opportunity to catch up and socialize, find out whats going on in town.

Dufurrena is happy to provide the service.

Ive grown rich through this job, Dufurrena said, not monetarily, but through people and experience.
The ruling alliance between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir may be under strain, but the two parties are unlikely to snap their ties as the move is bound to cost them dear, politically and electorally.

Both the PDP and the BJP have lost significant political ground in their respective strongholds after they joined hands in 2015, following a hung verdict in the 2014 assembly elections.

The outcome of the Lok Sabha bypolls in Srinagar is a clear indication that the PDP is on shaky ground. It lost the seat to the National Conference (NC) in a record low-turnout election.

Nearly three years ago, PDP candidate Tariq Hameed Karra had pulled an upset victory over NC stalwart Farooq Abdullah in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Karra has since defected to the Congress in protest against the PDPs alliance with the BJP.

Prior to that, chief minister Mehbooba Muftis brother and PDPs candidate from Anantnag, Tassaduq Mufti, appealed to the Election Commission to postpone the bypoll in view of the violence during polling for the Srinagar seat. Tassaduqs statement was widely interpreted as an acknowledgement by the PDP of its declining popularity. His sister represented the Anantnag seat in the Lok Sabha, till she took over as chief minister after their fathers death. It is also well known that the PDP leadership had favoured postponement of the by-elections on both the seats and had conveyed its views to both the Election Commission and the Centre.

After the Srinagar bypoll defeat, the PDP suffered a setback in the legislative council elections and this time, the blow was dealt by its own alliance partner. A cross vote by an Independent legislator from Zanaskar, Syed Mohammad Baqir Rizvi, in favour of BJPs Vikram Randhawa helped him defeat PDP candidate Abdul Qayoom Dar.

Banking on Rizvis support to bag the seat, the PDP was jolted by the BJPs move.

Though the development further aggravated the already tenuous ties between the PDP and the BJP, neither of the two parties could afford to pull out of the ruling coalition at this juncture.

First, there are still more than three years left for the next assembly elections and second, opposition parties have stepped up their demand for imposition of governors rule. Both the propositions will put the two parties in a highly precarious position.

At best, there will be some noises. The CM nuanced the PDPs position on the future of the alliance. Whatever happened in the legislative council polls is bad. As far as PDP is concerned, we have followed the coalition dharma. But this is our internal matter and we will together resolve it, she said. For its part, the BJP blamed lack of communication for the reported differences and insisted there is no rift.

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This time Mamata Banerjee is worried, and perhaps a bit nervous, too. When the 23-minute Narada capsule was first aired on the morning of March 14 last year, the Assembly polls in Bengal were less than three weeks away. But despite feverish speculation, the unprecedented show of the dirty dozen  MPs, MLAs, ministers, Kolkata mayor all extending their hands to accept cash  could hardly dent the Trinamool Congress vote bank, and the mercurial leader essayed an eye-popping sweep reducing the opposition to a virtual joke.

The Trinamool Congress chief had much to fear last year, when she was also confronted with an unprecedented coming together of the Left and Congress that had the Narada expose as a delectable fodder. In comparison, the waters in Bengal are far calmer now with the nearest elections -- rural polls -- at least a year away. Moreover, after the thumping 2016 mandate and the Supreme Court verdict upholding her demand to return Singur land to the tillers, thereby vindicating her claim as the messiah of the farmers, Mamata Banerjee is at the pinnacle of her political career.

But then in politics, context is God and Mamata Banerjee cannot be faulted if she cannot conceal her frowns after CBI registered the FIR on Narada. She knows only too well that with BJP metamorphosing from a paper tiger to a real one baring its teeth and swishing its tail vigorously, mid-April of 2017 is substantially different in her state than mid-April a year ago. After the victory in Uttar Pradesh, BJP is a different animal to contend with.

To the new found verve, two local factors must be added. One, after the unprecedented push in Ram Navami celebrations in Bengal, the shine in the eyes of state BJP leaders led by hardliner and former RSS pracharak Dilip Ghosh is matched only by the glint of the swords they brandished in the processions in different parts of the state. Two, their saffron enthusiasm was further boosted when BJP secured a jump of vote share from 9% (in 2016) to 31% in the Assembly bypoll in Kanthi Dakshin constituency, turning the contest into a bipolar one with TMC. Both the Left and Congress candidates lost their deposits. Add to that the fact that Amit Shah has kicked off the BJPs expansion drive from Naxalbari in Bengal yesterday.

A look at the names in the FIR that CBI registered in Delhi provides the real shivers. Apart from seven MPs, it has the seniormost minister and an able administrator (Subrata Mukherjee), ministers who are confidants of Mamata Banerjee (Bobby Hakim and Sovan Chatterjee), a crowd puller in his own right (Suvendu Adhikari) and even a man with clean reputation, former physics professor, Saugata Roy. According to the grapevine, CBI has drawn up a list of 17 more names for questioning, and they may contain more nasty surprises.

If they are put behind the bars, the Bengal chief minister will have to virtually recreate a new party leadership structure. Incidentally, two Lok Sabha MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Paul are already in CBI custody and the chit fund investigation is by no means over.

Now, the worst part. While some of the leaders are personally close to Mamata Banerjee, a few are not so, and if they begin to sing in front of the investigators, troubles will multiply for the leader, who built Trinamool Congress from the scratch in 1998 and led it to power in 13 years flat. In January 2015, there was fierce speculation that the number two in the party, Mukul Roy, had a frank discussion with CBI sleuths investigating the Saradha scam.

And Narada is no Saradha, the probe for which was largely conducted from Kolkata. With CBI registering the FIR in Delhi, it has become virtually impossible for Trinamool leaders to pull strings. In the recent meet in Bhubaneswar, BJP president Amit Shah has announced that Bengal is a priority state for the party, signalling that the decks are clear for the onslaught.

In the summer of 2017, Mamata Banerjee may just sweat it out a bit more, far more than she has ever done in the four decades of her political career.

Avijit.Ghosal@htlive.com

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Like any other parent, 45-year-old Chander Meghwal of Mana village wanted to give the groom a grand reception at his daughter Mamtas wedding on Sunday.

However, a band is de rigueur for a marriage ceremony in the Malwa hinterlands to be called grand. And therein lay the rub.

Chander is a Dalit, and the dominant upper caste community in the village has decreed that no family of low social status should have a band as part of their marriage procession. At best, they could have a dhol  a two-headed barrel-shaped drum  for musical accompaniment.

A few upper caste members even threatened Chander of dire consequences if he tried to become their equal by hiring a full-fledged band. But Mamta, a class 12 student, wouldnt be cowed down. Reiterating their right to celebrate happy occasions in ways they deemed proper, she suggested that they approach the district administration for help.

Mamta, a Class 12 student, plans to continue studying after her marriage.

Upon receiving Chander Meghwals application, we told leaders of the villages upper caste community that it was illegal to prevent anybody from hiring a band for their marriage procession, said sub-divisional magistrate GS Dabar.

Some, however, remained unconvinced. They told Chander that he and his family would be subject to social ostracism  or worse  if they went ahead with their band-party plans. So, sub-divisional officer of police OP Sharma stationed a law-enforcement team comprising three inspectors and a dozen police personnel at the village from Saturday night.

The next morning, a new tradition was born in Mana village. A band accompanied a Dalits daughter for the Ganga Poojan ceremony and, later that day, the grooms procession was welcomed with a musical fanfare hitherto witnessed only at upper caste weddings. And even as the villagers celebrated, a team of police personnel kept their eyes peeled for troublemakers.

Mamta seemed visibly pleased. I want all my sisters to have weddings as grand as mine, she gushed.

But while Chander smiled for the cameras, he didnt seem overly cheerful. I wonder how the upper castes will react, now that I have defied their age-old tradition, he was heard telling a policeman.
In a major crackdown against the Lala Pathan gang who had gained notoriety in Mandsaur-Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh) Pratapgarh (Rajasthan) region in the past decade, the Mandsaur police have booked 11 of the gang members under the draconian National Security Act (NSA) in the course of the last three months, while dozen more have been externed from the district.

The sustained action is arguably the most comprehensive action by police against this gang, whose members were into drug smuggling, dealing in disputed property, extortion among other things and whose writ ran large in these regions.

I personally feel that we have broken the back of the gang. The gang members had been arrested in the past and put in jail in Mandsaur or Pratapgarh, but as they have a lot of influence in these areas they managed to operate from the jail also. Now they have been sent to Indore Central jail, which is new place for them, the IG Ujjain zone, V Madhukumar said.

A senior police official who has worked in the area for years said that the gang members are originally Muslim Pathans from Swat region of Afghanistan who have settled here for over a century and are a closely knit community, though of late some Hindu criminals have also co-opted in the gang. Initially, they used to lend money as hence they were called Lala the generic term for moneylenders and since they were Pathans the name Lala Pathan. Over the years they shifted to drug smuggling and into purchasing disputed properties with the help of money and muscle power. Of late they had also entered into extortion business, as the punishment for drug smuggling under NDPS Act is stiff.

Police source said that the main flag-bearers of the gang, Kayyum Lala (63), of Akhepur, Rajasthan, came into authorities gaze when in 1990 he contested the Mandsaur assembly elections. Though he lost, the amount of money he splurged, around Rs 30 lakhs according to one estimate, made people sit up. Over the years, police have acted against the gang member who are family members or related through marriage. For example, Kayyum has 20 cases registered against him in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. They include murder, attempted murder, NDPS, extortion, criminal intimidation etc. His son Azam Khan (36) has 14 cases registered against him in Rajashtan and Madhya Pradesh on similar charges. Azams four brothers-in-law Bablu Lala, Chunnu Lala, Saddam Lala and Bhura Lala are the other important gang members.

Sometime late last year, the gang attempted to extort Rs 1 crore as protection money from brothers Anil and Ajay Soni, who are diamond jewelers and have show rooms in Mandsaur and Neemuch. The brothers refused and approached the police along with the recorded threats over phone. To intimidate them on December 1, 2016, the gang members fired at the showroom. When the Soni still refused to cough up the money, they shot at Ajay Soni, on January 10, 2017 in Neemuch, that has left him crippled for life.

The shooting galvanized the business community who threatened to ghearo the chief minister during his visit to Mandsaur and this pressurized the police to act. The extortion demands of the gang were becoming unbearable and so we took a stand. I am satisfied with the police action, but still more needs to be done, says Anil Soni.

Property broker of Mandsaur, Sudip Patil said that for the past decade or so, many of the property deals were being done at gun-point in this area by members of the gang.

The police acted swiftly and arrested the accused. Says Mandsaur SP, O P Tripathi, We have collected evidence and have build up a strong case against the accused. None of the remaining gang members would be spared.

FOR INFOGRAPHICS

Those booked under NSA are

Kayyum Lala

Azam Kayyum Khan (Akhepura, Rajashtan)

Saddam Ashraf Khan (Arnod, Rajasthan)

Shahrukh Afzal, Mandsaur

Wasim son of Yusuf Pathan

Nadeem Shafi Mohammad, Pratapgarh

Ansar Bundu Khan (Jaipura, Rajasthan)

Faiyaz Zami Mohammad

Bhola Rishi Tiwari, Mandsaur

Jitesh Nathulal Soni, (Kalukheda, MP)

Dharmendra Ashok (Pratapgarh)

Akhepur in Pratapgarh district of Rajasthan is the main centre from where they branched out. There are two main families are that of Hakim Lala (father of Kayyum Lala) and Peershed Lala.

Their main centres are Akhepur, Naugaon, Devalji, Sakria, Hathunia (Rajasthan) and Lasudia, Rajnagar, Berali, Kheri (Madhya Pradesh)

Abdul Latif, alias Chota Daud the infamous bootlegger cum gangster from Gujarat was also from Naugaon village.
He has always been praised for his high energy levels even at the age of 60, and age has never been an impediment for Anil Kapoor. However, an injury has slowed him down, at least for about a month. The actor, who returned to India a few days back after shooting for Mubarakan in London, UK, is down with bursitis.

Its not a new injury; its an injury that I have had for many years. Its called bursitis and its an internal injury in my left leg between the ankle and heel area. It is a condition in which the tendon gets inflamed. Its a result of wear-and-tear, body imbalance, as well as action sequences and dance movements that are part of our profession. So, Im going to take it easy, says the actor.

Unveiling... Yours truly !! Thank you @MTsSingapore for making me look good in wax! #MadameTussauds A post shared by anilskapoor (@anilskapoor) on Apr 19, 2017 at 9:31pm PDT

The Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) actor says that the problem has become a little chronic. Pehle main kaam chala leta tha (earlier, I would somehow manage). But now, I feel that I must focus on [healing] it for one or one-and-a-half month. And I have been working on it. Hopefully, it will heal in that much time (around one-and-a-half-month) and Im able to completely recover, he says.

All set for a super interesting discussion about dreams of parents with @rheakapoor #livenonstop #ensuredreamssurvey A post shared by anilskapoor (@anilskapoor) on Apr 24, 2017 at 11:16pm PDT

As a result of his injury, Anil wont be able to shoot any hard core scenes. I can do work but only what is light in nature. Its [injury] not that intense that I cant work at all. However, I cant do rigorous action or dance movements for a month. Jo main phudakta rahta hoon idhar udhar, woh kam karna padega ek mahine ke liye (laughs; for a month now I have to cut down on the jumping around that I keep doing generally). So, I have to conserve my energy now, says the actor.

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It has been 25 years since Shah Rukh Khan has been ruling Bollywood (he debuted with Deewana in 1992), and he has acted in a plethora of films over the years. Ask the actor if new releases still make him nervous, and Shah Rukh says, I dont know if I am nervous [before a films release], but I am concerned for sure. So, its not as if I dont sleep properly or am troubled [if a film is coming up].

No calculations

While Shah Rukh says that most movies arent calculated when it comes to how they are planned, he admits that some movies could be. He says, Especially when it comes to our commercial films  which have song-and-dance sequences  they might have some calculations, as one does think of a few set parameters such as releasing it around Diwali or other festivals.

Do I need to say anythingbut that I love u all at the Eden Garden. Ami KKRYAAAYYYYYY!!!!! A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) on Apr 23, 2017 at 11:01am PDT

But why is Shah Rukh concerned about how his films will be received even though hes one of Indias biggest actors? Mujhko concern rehta hai (Im concerned), because you always hope that the film you have made and the story you are telling will be liked by more people, because you feel for it [the film]. On the other hand, as a movie star who has been around for 20 to 25 years, you also want to entertain people, and sometimes, finding that mix [between telling a story and entertaining] is difficult. Sometimes, it just happens even when we dont realise it, he says.

Shah Rukh Khan was last seen in Raees.

Being responsible

At the same time, Shah Rukh admits that film-makers and actors are always aware that they are making a film with a good heart, and thats why they also assume that the films story will be liked by others too. For me, it goes like this: somebody tells me a story and then I want to be a part of it (story). But since other people are also attached to a film, I am more concerned now. You start being responsible when you have been working for two-and-a-half decades. So, Im concerned, yes, but not worried or nervous (smiles), he says.

Spidey boom at home. They r coming out of everywhere! On the bright side, at least pizza delivery issue is resolved. A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) on Mar 29, 2017 at 11:32am PDT

Just an actor

Shah Rukhs last release, Raees, saw his on-screen avatar being compared with his roles in films such as Darr (1993) and Anjaam (1994). It has been 25 years, and one day, I want to hear that Shah Rukh isnt back as this or that (laughs); and that he is doing a new thing. I hope someday somebody will say it, or maybe, somewhere along the line, [theyll say] I have done everything (laughs), he says.

Lehraate Khet, Ladkiyaan, Lassi Te Love in Punjab. Thk u all for such a great shoot & to Imtiaz for bringing us here. A post shared by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) on Apr 7, 2017 at 2:23am PDT

Despite having played a variety of roles, Shah Rukh insists that he is not like Rahul or Raj, or like Raees or Sunil. He says, Its just an act. It was very interesting the way Rahul (Dholakia; director) and the writers wrote it (story of Raees). Maybe other actors had done it, but for me, it was new.

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After essaying titular role in Oomung Kumars Mary Kom, Priyanka Chopra is all set to play astronaut Kalpana Chawla in a biopic on the first woman of Indian origin to go to space.

Kalpana Chawla was one of the seven astronauts killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.

A Mid Day report claimed Priyankas team had confirmed that she will play Kalpana in the biopic and added that the team has been involved in the legwork of the film for past one year. The film will be mounted on an international scale. A new production company, Getway, is likely to produce the biopic, it quoted a source as saying.

Priyanka Chopra is gearing up for her first Hollywood release, Baywatch.

Debutante director Priya Mishra told the tabloid, I have been working on it for the past seven years. A new production banner will back the project.

Hindustan Times could not independently verify the report.

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Stunt artists and choreographers should be accorded as much respect as heroes at every award ceremony, actor Akshay Kumar said on Monday.

Actor Akshay Kumar and Dr. Ramakant Panda during Movie Stunt Artists Association meet in Mumbai on April 24. (IANS)

Introducing a special insurance scheme for all stunt artistes working in Hindi film industry, he said: I am a stuntman first before an actor. For 10 years, I worked as a stuntman in Hindi film industry before getting the opportunity of acting. So I know how stuntmen risks their lives to earn their bread. I know what it takes to risk their lives to entertain us. So I think they should get equal respect even at the award shows for their work.

The actor along with renowned cardiac surgeon, Dr Ramakanta Panda of Asia Heart Institute, announced the insurance scheme that covers around 380 stunt artists between the age of 18 to 55 with a death compensation of Rs 10 lakhs.

Emphasising the importance of the insurance, Panda said: Akshay came to me saying how could he help these people who are doing stunts in films and get injured and need treatment. He asked me if I can reserve some beds for them. Since they (stunt artists) work across the country, I thought insurance would be a better help. So we manage to collaborate with the insurance company to provide the facilities.

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Actors Sushant Singh Rajput and Parineeti Chopra were recently asked to comment on the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jhadav, on death row in Pakistan. The case has become a major bilateral issue. The actors refused to comment, saying they werent in a position to talk about it. Their refusal spiralled into a debate over why film actors should even be asked to comment on current affairs when theyre promoting their films.

We cant be opinionated about everything under the sun. Thats like expecting us to have a parallel job of an opinionator, says actor Taapsee Pannu. Half knowledge is very harmful and as a celebrity, we should be very responsible in terms of what we say.

On Jadhav, Parineetis reply was, Im the least important and least worthy [person] to comment on this. Our government is on it and I dont think my opinion matters. Just because our voice reaches the whole country, one cant force me to have an opinion on something that doesnt concern me .

Sushant made a point on the larger issue of celebs being randomly asked questions about current affairs, saying, One can condemn or not, if one knows the issue inside out. Why is it important for a public figure to know [about] every issue?

In the past, too, there were incidents when celebrities dodged or refused to give an opinion on sensitive issues such as terrorism, rape or a historic judgment.

At a promotional event for her film, Parineeti Chopra said that one cant force her to have an opinion on something that doesnt concern her. (Hindustan Times)

Actor Ali Fazal points out that its unfair to blindside public figures with issues that they might not know much about or be qualified enough to comment on. A case as sensitive as Kulbhushan Jhadav  it involves a persons life, and we have to be more caring. I agree as public figures, were expected to have and share an opinion, but it doesnt mean we must have an opinion on anything were asked. At times, actors comment on things without thinking of the consequences and then they [Bollywood actors] are labelled dumb people, which isnt true.

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt says that celebrities are used to add some sheen to news products and their silence is also a response. But since you cant market their silence, theyre coerced into saying something. I feel that one has the right to speak, and one also has the right to be silent. But a no comment response is bad business in this sound-bite age, he quips, adding, Why does it hurt our vanity to say, I dont know? In any case, what do you truly know? You merely echo what youve heard or read.

In such situation, is it better to stay quiet? Actor Nimrat Kaur says its wise not to give out half-baked information. As a public figure, she says, its our responsibility to express [our views] in a balanced way whenever were vocal or are asked about an issue. And if we dont know about something, why open up our mouth? Also, why isolate public figures and put them under the spotlight for being a know-it-all on everything? 

Some celebrities blame their lack of information on their hectic lifestyles. Most of the times, were travelling, were in different time zones and continents. Its a bit unfair to expect us to know everything thats going on, says actor Richa Chadha Id like to take the time to become informed on an issue before reacting to it, because we live in a world that now lives on reactions  whether its on Twitter or the real world. Ive even been quizzed about the budget before the budget actually came out.

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Vir Das is completely in love with his job. The stand-up comedian enjoys doing shows in India but complains that Indians need to have a better sense of humour and enjoy jokes rather than reading between the lines.

I think we, Indians read too much into the jokes, which ideally should not be taken seriously. We should let them run and slide, and forget about it. They are not made to hurt or malign anyone, but just to make people laugh. Sadly, the problem is that we make a big deal about them. We need to learn to have a sense of humour, says the 37-year-old , who will soon launch a world tour spanning 26 countries and across six continents.

 In my shows too, I talk about the history of India [Mahatma] Gandhi, freedom struggle, Mahabharta among many other things. I wont shy away or get scared from making jokes because I know its just a joke and nothing more, he adds.

The actor-comedian believes that comedians are not responsible for influencing peoples opinions through their jokes. Its not a comedians job to make people aware about whats going on. The onus is on everyone. And banning a comedian, or censoring their jokes is not the way to go about it. Censorship of any kind is wrong, says the Delhi Belly actor.

Vir often receives flak on social media for his jokes but he says he is clueless as to why that happens. What people forget is that I am a comedian. Its my job to humiliate myself. I have said things that are far worse and meaner about myself than what they have ever said about me. So, I am not bothered about what people have to say about that, he says.

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ELKO  The Nevada Legislature is in the process of approving a bill to ensure every law enforcement officer wears a body camera, but that same law could keep the state from receiving federal funding to improve its 911 systems.

Senate Bill 176 would require all officers who routinely interact with the public to wear a body camera. The proposed law also requires those recordings be retained a minimum of 15 days.

To help governments pay for this mandate, the bill would allow counties to enact up to a $1 surcharge on phone bills.

A 25-cent surcharge already exists in Nevada law, but it was originally written to pay for upgrades to 911 systems. If the law is passed, the funds could be used to pay for the body cameras and whatever is needed to store the recordings.

The bill was passed by the Senate April 17 by a vote of 20 to 1. The lone senator to vote against it was Republican Donald Gustavson of Sparks. The Assembly will have a chance at the bill next.

At least one group has expressed concerns over the bill  the National Emergency Number Association. NENA formed in 1982 as a nonprofit with a mission to improve 9-1-1 through research, standards development, training, education, outreach and advocacy, stated the group in a letter to state Sen. David Parks, who is the chairman of the Nevada Government Affairs Committee.

NENA CEO Brian Fontes stated SB 176 may preclude Nevada from securing millions of dollars in federal grant funding to modernize its 9-1-1 infrastructure.

In 2004, Congress passed legislation, which was amended in 2012, to authorize federal grants to assist states and local governments in implementing enhanced or Next Generation 911 systems, he stated. Grant applicants must certify at the time of their request and annually thereafter that no portion of any designated 9-1-1 charges imposed by the state or other taxing jurisdiction is being obligated or expended for any other purpose.

At least one state (Arizona) has had to return its federal grant money after it passed legislation that transferred 9-1-1 surcharge funds to the state General Fund, Fontes stated.

The state doesnt qualify for federal funding because it doesnt have a statewide 911 coordinator, said Department of Public Safety Director James Wright.

Elko County officials are concerned SB 176 could keep the state from applying for federal funds.

Elko County Manager Rob Stokes said the Legislature will decide if SB 176 will keep federal 911 funding out of the state.

I hope the Legislature would take it into consideration, he said about the letter from NENA. We already have said please dont impact our existing revenue sources and dont give us an unfunded mandate.

Elko County commissioners recently enacted the 25-cent surcharge to pay for upgrading the countys 911 system.

The County has said it has basic 911, which means when someone calls the emergency line the caller is connected with one of the dispatch locations, but the address of where the call is coming from does not appear on the computer screen. The phone number may appear on the screen as long as it is a listed number and isnt blocked.

However, the state says Elko County has no 911, according to a June 2016 report by the Nevada Public Safety Communications Committee. The state doesnt consider Elko Countys system basic 911 because wireline calls are routed to a seven-digit number and the dispatch has no way to identify the user unless caller ID is attached. This system also gets a busy signal when all lines are full, according to the state report.

The only other place that has this type of system in the state is McCarran International Airport, according to the report.

Basic 911 has not changed in more than 40 years and these systems may include a mapping solution or be tied to a database, according to the state report. Lincoln, Esmeralda and White Pine counties have this type of system.

Enhanced 911 shows the telephone number and an address with mapping. Calls from a cell phone show the number and location with a degree of confidence, according to the report. Areas in the state with Enhanced 911 are Carson City, Mesquite, Nellis Air Force Base, U.S. Department of the Interior at Lake Mead, North Las Vegas, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, Henderson, Boulder City, and Pershing, Lander, Mineral, Douglas, Lyon, Churchill and Eureka counties.

The highest level of 911 systems is called Next Generation. This type of system has voice, data, text, image, video and multimedia applications. The areas in the state that have Next Generation 911 are Las Vegas Metro, Storey, Washoe, Nye and Humboldt counties, according to the report. However, Nye and Humboldt counties need emergency services IP network to be considered a full Next Gen. The network allows neighboring jurisdictions to connect and expands mutual aid.

At least one state has had to return its federal grant money after it passed legislation that transferred 9-1-1 surcharge funds to the state General Fund.Brian Fontes, CEO National Emergency Number Association
Bollywood actor Alia Bhatts mother Soni Razdan has said that rumours surrounding her daughter and actor Sidharth Malhotras equation do not worry her.

A cute family picture:Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt with wife Soni Razdan and daughter Alia Bhatt. (HT Photo)

Why should it (link-up) take away from her work? Why should any friendship take away from her hard work. Nobody is saying she is wasting her time with Sidharth and coming late on the sets or going early. She loves her work, she is a confident and hard-working girl. She is a young, normal girl. When she is free, it is her choice how she spends her time. Who she goes out with is her prerogative. Why cant she have a nice social life? Soni said.

Soni, who is making her comeback on television with Star Plus Love Ka Intezar next month, says Alia is a hard- working actor and no relationship will affect her passion for acting.

The 60-year-old actress says Alia does discuss her personal life with her, but marriage is something which is not at all their focus right now as the young star is busy making her mark in films.

Alia has been very busy with her work. The last thing we will be talking at this point in her career will be about marriage. I am sure she has got no such idea in her head. It is very far from the topic of conversation. It is a topic you talk about when it is time, Soni says. PTI KKP NP SHD SHD
A new book brings alive the life and poetry of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as author Aslam Parvez weaves together the strands of the political, the personal, the cultural and the literary aspects of a bygone era.

Publisher Hay House describes The Life and Poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar as an absorbing, authentic and exemplary chronicle  studded with rare nuggets of information and enthralling anecdotes  of one of the most tragic figures of history who was witness to the end of a glorious dynasty.

First published in Urdu in 1986, this book brings alive the life and poetry of Zafar (1775 to 1862), who presided over a crucial period in Indian history when the country was subjugated and became a colony of the fast-expanding British Empire.

Pic of #bahadurshahzafar , last emperor of India as he lay awaiting his trial by the British at the #redfort ... A post shared by narayanan.b. (@narayanandelhi) on Jul 31, 2015 at 10:46pm PDT

This work is as much about the 1857 Rebellion as it is about Zafar, the reluctant leader of the rebels. The pages also evoke the captivating ambience of a period when formidable poets such as Mirza Ghalib, Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq and Momin Khan Momin, apart from Zafar himself, came up with one creative gem after another.

The author also provides a vivid picture of Delhi during the last days of its cultural and literary splendour as the Mughal capital and as a custodian of Urdu literature and poetry.

Finally, he recounts, in a touching manner, how Zafar spent his last days in Rangoon (where he had been exiled by the British)  a lonely and forgotten individual  far away from his beloved Delhi and from the trappings of empire.

#Mughal #mughalart #mughalempire #indianart #thelastmughal #bahadurshahzafar The crown of last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Now part of Royal Collection in U.K. A post shared by Vidhyut Kargutkar (@vidhyut_kargutkar) on Oct 31, 2016 at 6:41am PDT

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While author Chetan Bhagats one book has made its way in Delhi University curriculum, his another bestseller has run into trouble with a Bengaluru based author accusing him of plagiarism, a charge denied by him.

Anvita Bajpai, an IIT and IIM graduate, said that she has filed a lawsuit in a Bengaluru court which granted temporary injunction restraining sales of the book One Indian Girl.

Bajpai took to social media claiming that characters, places and emotional flow of Bhagats book have been lifted from one of her books Life, Odds and Ends, a copy of which she had gifted to the author during Bengaluru Literature Festival in 2014.

I had filed an original suit seeking a permanent injunction restraining Chetan Bhagat and the publisher from selling One Indian Girl and also sought damages worth Rs 1 lakh. The court has granted a temporary injunction restricting the sales, Bajpai said in her Facebook post.

Bhagat rubbished the allegations as unfounded and said his book was not based on Bajpais works in any way.

This is deeply unfortunate. This is for one an absolute surprise for me as I have never read any of this authors works. My stories are always original--including One Indian Girl--and it is unthinkable for me to do anything like what is suggested, he said.

Shraddha Kapoor (2L), Arjun Kapoor (2R), writer Chetan Bhagat (L) and director Mohit Suri (R) attend the trailer launch of Hindi film Half Girlfriend in Mumbai on April 10, 2017. (AFP)

Surely, alleging anything like this in the current digital age is strange. I write universal stories about everyday issues. This could be a misunderstanding and Im sure will be clarified as what is being suggested is baseless. My publishers legal team will be taking appropriate steps, he added.

Rupa Publications, which had published the book, six months back, refused to comment on the issue.

One Indian Girl is Bhagats seventh novel and is about an investment banker, Radhika Mehta, who is stuck with making a choice between the three men in her life, while trying to keep up a distinctly different image for the sake of her family.

His novel Five Point Someone was yesterday announced to have been included in the English literature curriculum for undergraduate students at Delhi University.

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Reliance Industries plans to spend a further Rs 18000 crore on its Jio telecoms business in the current quarter, it said on Monday, taking its investment in the venture to more than Rs 1.9 lakh crore.

Reliance derives the bulk of its revenue from its core refining and petrochemicals operations, but the group has bet big on Reliance Jio Infocomm. The project backed by Reliance owner Mukesh Ambani launched in September in a flurry of cheap phones, free voice and cut-price data plans that have forced rivals to respond.

Announcing record profit for the 2016/17 financial year, Reliance said the additional investment is required for its fibre network as it expands Jios 4G reach.

Analysts and investors have expressed concern over the time it will take Jio to recover its heavy outlay, but its head of strategy, Anshuman Thakur, said there would be a drastic drop in investment after the current quarter.

Jio racked up 108.9 million subscribers by the end of March, Reliance said. It started charging for internet data this month, after more than seven months of free services, but has kept prices low.

Jio is witnessing the largest migration from free to paid services in history, said Reliance Chairman Ambani.

Ambanis aggressive strategy to capture market share has led to rivals consolidating. His younger brother Anil Ambanis Reliance Communications merged with smaller rival Aircel and in February Indias biggest telecoms company Bharti Airtel bought out the Indian operations of Norways Telenor.

That was followed by Britains Vodafone announcing a merger with Idea to create the biggest telecoms company in India.

Jio, however, controls the highest chunk of 4G airwaves across India and has introduced a range of features to woo consumers in one of the worlds most competitive telecoms markets, from mobile phone apps to its own handset brand.

Reliance earlier reported a 12.8% rise in the groups fourth-quarter standalone net profit, topping analyst estimates, citing higher margins at its refining and petrochemicals business.

The gross refining margin per barrel of crude -- a key profitability gauge for refiners -- was $11.50 for the quarter, against $10.80 a year earlier.

Net profit on a standalone basis, which takes into account only the refining, petrochemicals, oil and gas exploration businesses, rose to Rs 8151 crore ($1.26 billion) for the three months to March 31, beating analysts expectations of Rs 8010 crore.

On a consolidated basis, including newer businesses such as telecoms, retail and U.S. shale gas operations, Reliances net profit rose 16.6% to 80.5 billion rupees.

($1 = 64.4400 rupees)
Indian IT industrys apex organisation has said that the two top companies -- TCS and Infosys -- received only 8.8% of the H-1B visas allotted for placement of workers in the United States.

Of the six Indian IT companies, software majors TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) and Infosys received 7,504 H-1B visas in FY 2015, which is 8.8% of the total H-1B visas, the National Association of Software Services and Companies (Nasscom) said in a statement in Bengaluru.

Nasscoms clarification was in response to a US official who had last week accused Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering majority of the H-IB visas by including more applications in the lottery system.

Only six Indian IT firms were among the top 20 recipients of the H-1B visas in fiscal 2015 for their professionals to work in the US, said Nasscom.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week to reform the H-1B visas norms by replacing the lottery system with a merit-based immigration policy.

Every reputable data source in the US has documented a growing shortfall between the supply and demand for computer science majors in the US workforce, especially in cutting-edge fields such as cloud, big data, and mobile computing, asserted Nasscom.

The US Department of Labor estimates that there will be 2.4 million unfilled STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) jobs by 2018, with 50% of the vacancies in IT-related positions.

US President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States. (Reuters File Photo)

Indian IT firms account for less than 20% of the H-1B visas; although Indian nationals get 71% of them, testifying their high skill levels, especially in the very coveted STEM skills category, Nasscom said.

Noting that the annual number of Indian IT specialists working on temporary visas for Indian IT service firms was 0.009% of the 158-million-member US workforce, a Nasscom survey also found that the average wage for visa holders is $82,000 besides a fixed cost of $15,000 incurred on each visa, including its fee and related expenses.

The average wage for visa holders is over 35% higher than the minimum prescribed exempt wage of $60,000, pointed out the Nasscom statement.

All companies, including the US, Indian and others, hire locally and bridge the skills gap by bringing in highly skilled professionals to temporarily work in the US on H-1B and other visas.

Indian IT firms follow the global delivery model with US and global counterparts working with 75% of the Fortune 500 companies, to enable them become more competitive globally and creating jobs locally in the US, the statement read.

The Indian IT Industry is a net creator of jobs in the US and supports half a million jobs directly and indirectly.

Refuting the American accusation, Infosys said it was committed to helping its US clients leverage technology to transform their businesses, empower their employees in new ways and become more competitive.

To do this, we 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 and work with policymakers to foster innovation within states and across the country, said Infosys in a statement to IANS in Bengaluru.

Responding to reporters queries on the issue on Monday in New Delhi, commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India is taking up its concerns with the US on the H-1B visa issue but not about individual companies.

No one is questioning Americas sovereign right to issue visas... were only talking about their commitments made in their understanding with us on issuing visas to Indian professionals. There is no talk of individual companies, Sitharaman said.
The US has said that it greatly values investments by Indian companies and wants strong economic ties between the two nations, days after finance minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue of restrictions on H-1B visa with his American counterpart Steven Mnuchin.

We want to see US-India business-to-business ties remain strong, state department acting spokesperson Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday.

He was responding to questions on the ongoing review of H-1B visas by the Trump Administration and its impact on the Indian IT companies, who are heavily dependent on it.

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, a decision that would impact Indias $150-billion IT industry

We greatly value Indian companies continued investment in the US economy, which also, of course, supports thousands of US jobs, Toner said.

With respect to any new requirements on visas, Id have to check and see if thats been updated, he said, adding that under the new government the US has been looking at ways to strengthen the processes like visa interview and admission processes in new ways.

Toner said that its been from the beginnings of this administration and certainly with respect to immigration and with refugee flows as well.

Those processes are ongoing, he added.

On being asked about the visa review process, Toner said, Its important to remember that this is always a part of how our consular bureau works and our consular officers work overseas, and our embassies and missions work overseas, and that is were always reviewing the processes that are in place to issue these visas and finding ways to strengthen them, because we want to ensure the security of the American people.

During his US visit, Jaitley raised the H-1B issue with Mnuchin on Sunday as India fears the curb would impact the movement of Indian IT professionals to America and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy.

Not discussing individual cases

Indian commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the government has taken up the H-1B visa issue with the US but it is not discussing the problems of individual IT companies.

She was responding to a query about the US accusations that top Indian IT firms, including TCS and Infosys, were unfairly cornering the lions share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system.
Of all the outlandish conspiracy theories favoured by the American lunatic fringe  aliens are being held captive in Roswell, the moon landing was staged, Elvis is alive ad infinitum  the one that always makes me laugh out loud is the belief that the United Nations is a shadowy world government, plotting to take over the White House and US Congress, and stamp out the freedoms held most precious by said fringe, such as the right to bear assault weapons, and to deny women control of their own bodies. This notion is especially hilarious if youve had any direct contact with the UN, and have witnessed the sheer incompetence that attends so many of its well-intentioned missions. Never mind plotting to take over the White House, the UN wouldnt be able to take over my New Delhi apartment, unless I was incapacitated by a giggling fit from watching its bumbling bureaucrats make the attempt.

In recent years, this most multi of multilateral organisations, which is meant to render succour to the worlds miserable has also been delivering relief of the comic kind. Remember the 2003 rib-tickler, when Libya (yes, Muammar Gaddafis Libya) was elected to the chair of the UN Human Rights Commission? Or the 2012 chuckle-fest, when the UNs World Tourism Organization endorsed Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe as a leader for tourism?

Last week, the UNs absurdist sense of humour yielded yet more global guffaws with the announcement that the new countries elected to its Commission on the Status of Women would include  cue the trumpet fanfare  Saudi Arabia.

Thank you for indulging my sarcastic streak. Room for one more? Heres Hillel Neuer, head of the monitoring group UN Watch: Electing Saudi Arabia to protect womens rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief. He pointed out that the government in Riyadh requires every Saudi woman to have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf, controlling a womans life from her birth until death. For good measure, he added, Saudi Arabia also bans women from driving cars.

Okay, enough sarcasm for now. Its easy for the world to giggle at this, or at least those of us living in countries where the law (and in many cases, society) recognises women as equal to men. But putting Saudi Arabia on a womens commission will have unfunny consequences.

First, it will diminish the already slim chances that Saudi women will get equal rights anytime soon. If you think membership of the commission will subtly pressure, or even shame, Riyadh into doing right by half its population, think again. Brutal, undemocratic regimes do not respond to moral suasion, much less shaming. Gaddafi, youll remember, did little to improve his human-rights record after 2003.

Second, it will send a terrible message to the world, and a reassuring one to regimes that repress women, and to organisations that persecute them. Saudi Arabia may be the monarch of misogynist nations, but there are many others that will feel their policies now have some kind of sanction from the UN. Chauvinistic religious and political groups everywhere will take this as an endorsement of their retrograde worldview.

Third, it will undermine the work of the commission itself. Even if the other members are able to shun, silence, or otherwise render ineffective the Saudi representative, their collective decisions will lack credibility. Who, after all, would take seriously the judgement of a jury if one of its members openly identified with the accused?

Finally, it will hurt the UN itself, by strengthening the argument of those who believe the organisation is highly compromised, has lost touch with reality, and needs to have its wings (and budget) cut. This is especially true in the US. Its not just loony conspiracy-theorists who regard the UN with suspicion: A broad swath of the Republican Party feels the same way. That is, of course, the party that now controls both the White House and Congress. The president himself has made his own views perfectly clear, declaring the UN as just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. The international opprobrium that has met Saudi Arabias election to the commission will only harden that view.

This is an especially bad time for the UN to draw attention to one of its follies, since the Trump administration is already looking to cut back US support  financial and non-financial. The US gives $3 billion a year, which covers 22% of the organisations costs, and more crucially, pays for 29% of the cost of the Blue Helmets peacekeeping operations.

The UN might argue, as it had in the past, that it has no control over the membership of most commissions, and that Saudi Arabia was voted in by secret ballot. But that will only empower its critics, who will point out that the organisation is not only inept, but also impotent. If the rules allow such absurdities to occur, then it behoves the UN leadership, starting with secretary-general Antonio Guterres, to call on members to change them.

Ok, back to sarcasm. As I write this, I imagine the UNs official gag writers are gathering to decide their next joke. Should they nominate Russia to head the Electoral Assistance Division, invite Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan to inaugurate the May 3 World Press Freedom Day at its New York headquarters or, just maybe, recommend North Koreas Kim Jong-un as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency?

Bobby Ghosh is editor-in-chief of Hindustan Times

Twitter: @ghoshworld

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New Delhi, Dehradun: The National Green Tribunal Tuesday issued notices to the Union and the Uttarakhand governments seeking their response on a plea raising concern over the unregulated operation of helicopters creating a threat to the flora and fauna in the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), state government, National Board for Wildlife (NBL) and others.

The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by environment activist Kavita Ashok seeking directions to frame an aviation policy for the eco-sensitive zone. The petitioner also said that she has learnt through an RTI response that Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has recommended to the government to shift the Sersi helipad near Sonprayag. It is the nearest helipad for reaching the Kedarnath shrine.

The Hindustan Times was first to report on April 20 the findings WII report that highlighted how the noise from low-flying choppers was disturbing the wildlife in the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. It was also reported that WII has suggested shifting of helipad as an interim measure.

The sanctuary is known for its dense forests, which has trees like oak, chir, pine, birch, alpine, rhododendron meadows, and numerous flowering plants, besides endangered and rare species like Musk Deer and Himalayan Tahr.

A large number of pilgrims, intending to avoid the 16-km trek to Kedarnath shrine in Rudraprayag district, opt for the chopper services. More people started opting for the chopper service after the flash floods of 2013.

In her plea, the petitioner had sought execution of the NGTs December 10, 2015 order. The NGT, in its order, had asked the state government to issue directions in consonance with the aviation policy with specific reference to the sanctuary in relation to the height and level of noise that the helicopters should be permitted to generate.

The petitioner, who has also sought imposition of penalty for non-compliance of the order, contended that helicopter operations in the area for religious tourism have seriously disturbed the eco-system and fauna of Kedarnath Sanctuary.

In its plea, filed through advocate Gaurav Bansal, the petitioner alleged that the authorities have till date neither acted on the interim measures as suggested by the WII, nor have declared the eco sensitive zone for the sanctuary.

As the helicopter service is likely to start ... (soon), the respondents can use the gap period for preparation of interim measures as suggested by the WII...The applicant has learnt from the article published in a leading English daily that WII has also suggested to shift the Sersi helipad, the plea said.

Contacted, R Rajesh Kumar, additional secretary, civil aviation, said, We will follow the orders of the Tribunal.

Uttarakhand High Court had, in 2012, sealed noise level limits around protected areas  50 decibels during the day and 40 decibels during the night. A report by DFO Kedarnath submitted to the government in 2013 mentioned that the noise levels reported in the valley was 120 decibels. Later the NGT had asked the WII to pitch in for researched results.

Digvijay Singh Khati, chief wildlife warden, said, The final report of WII has recommended shifting of Sersi helipad and also limiting sorties per day.

WITH PTI

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Although a Supreme Court ruling has given an identity to third genders in the country, members of the community are yet to receive rights to employment and social status, said a rights activist Rubi Handa.

She was speaking at an advocacy programme organised in Dehradun on issues affecting the community.

More than 30 members of the third gender-- popularly known as kinnar-- and cross-dressers participated in the event to discuss problems of the community.

The Chennai-based voluntary health services (VHS) organized the event.

One of the key issues discussed at the event was social security and employment opportunities for the community.

Dr. G Pannirselvam, senior manager programme at VHS, told Hindustan Times on the sidelines of the event that in many states, including Tamil Nadu, they have done considerable work to provide employment opportunities for the third genders.

In Uttarakhand, however, the community is self dependent but there are some people from the community who are deprived of livelihood opportunities, he said.

There are more than 2.5 lakh third genders across the country with more than 1,000 in Uttarakhand, but the state aids control society has been able to identify only 200 of them.

Dhananjay Chauhan, a panelist said there is a need of reservation for the community.

If the government treats every citizen alike, then why cant we get reservation in the government sector for employment? he questioned.

There should be a toll free number on the lines of the beti bachao-beti padhao for third genders so that they can report atrocities faced by them.

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April 24

Billy E. Baker, 55, of Spring Creek was arrested at the Elko County Jail on a warrant charging conspiracy to violate sexual offender registration laws. Bail: $50,000



Roman M. Cervantes, 30, of Elko was arrested at the Elko County jail for two counts of battery and two counts of disturbing the peace. Booked and released without bail.



Amanda M. Crawford, 38, of Midvale, Utah, was arrested at the Elko County Jail on three counts of fugitive felon from other state. No bail listed.



Cody J. Hawken, 19, of Spring Creek was arrested on Lamoille Highway for driving under the influence, speeding 11 to 15 mph over posted limit, and minor in possession of alcohol. Bail: $1,740



Kyle D. Leyva, 23, of Spring Creek was arrested at Elko District Court on warrant charging four counts of failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. Bail: $3,747



Caleb O. Paice, 36, of Wells was arrested in Wells for driving with a suspended drivers license and stop lamps required. Bail: $470



Jasmine D. Perez, 25, of West Wendover was arrested at 1791 Elko Ave. on a warrant charging two counts of use of a credit or debit care without the consent of the owner. Bail: $10,000



Alexandra Powell, 30, of Wells was arrested in Wells on a warrant for failure to appear on a traffic citation. Bail: $225



Lionel J. Tom, 27, of Elko was arrested on Indian View Heights for violation of a domestic violence temporary protective order. Bail: $3,140



Ray R. Williams, 34, of Carlin was arrested at 10th and Chestnut streets for driving under the influence, failure to yield at a stop or yield sign, and failure to give appropriate signal when required. Bail: $1,450



Loren V. Woods, 25, of Elko was arrested on the 400 block of Court St. for two counts of possession of a controlled substance, two counts of possession of a hypodermic device, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia. Bail: $12,920

The charges listed above do not imply guilt. Under the law, everyone is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government will use the photo and logo of former Jansangh president Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay in its offices, publicity and promotional materials to commemorate the BJP ideologues birth centenary celebrations.

Taking the lead, tourism, culture, watershed and pilgrimage minister Satpal Maharaj directed his officials to display Deendayal Upadhyayas logo with the message Gareeb Kalyan Varsh (Year of welfare for poor) in all advertisements, promotional and other publicity activities throughout the year.

Tourism officials were asked to display or put up Upadhyays photographs in the offices as he has been a source of inspiration for the people and government. The minister has directed officials that wherever photographs cannot be used, it could be replaced by logo stickers.

Incidentally, the tourism department works a lot on publicity and promotional activities in Uttarakhand and across the country to attract investors.

Deendayal Upadhayay was not only our ideal but also a great human being who conceived and propounded the philosophy of integral humanism that works on mechanism of Vasudaiv Kutumbakam. Besides being a Jansangh leader, he was a great thinker and writer who worked for uplift of the poor and for keeping India united. The nation is celebrating his birth centenary and we will remember him this way, the minister told Hindustan Times.

Satpal added that the culture and the watershed management departments will follow the directive with immediate effect.

He stressed that the government will also soon begin work on developing a model hill township in memory of Upadhyay in accordance with partys vision paper announced before the election. The town will come up at a place that will be easily accessible for the people of both Kumaon and Garhwal regions, he said, pointing towards Gairsain designated as summer capital of Uttarakhand.
The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) for the first time will install mobile and prefabricated toilets for pilgrims and tourists en route to the Chardhams.

These public lavatories will come up at Rishikesh, which serves as a gateway to the four shrines, and a few in Dehradun as well.

But the concern is waste disposal. These toilets have a tank to store waste which will be taken to the nearest sewage treatment plant. However, there are questions regarding the feasibility of disposing waste daily during peak of the yatra season.

The pilgrimage begins on April 28 with the opening of Gangotri-Yamunotri portals followed by Kedarnath on May 3 and Badrinath on May 6.

Many a time, the sewage is dumped in manholes rather than taking it all the way to the treatment plant. That is also an option, though not advisable. But it reaches the plant at the end, SS Rana, regional officer Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB), told Hindustan Times.

Currently, two sewage treatment plants operate in the Dehradun-Haridwar bypass and the Mothrawala Road.

The high court gave legal status to rivers and water bodies as living entities. No one can flout the order. The agencies should be encouraged to reach the treatment plant rather than dumping waste in manholes, Ashok Kumar Kakkar, who runs private SJS Sewer Tanks, said.

While mobile toilets come with six or eight seats. prefabricated toilets have a limited capacity for one person at a time. Both these toilets are movable and will be installed according to footfall. They will function by the first week of May, SS Samant, UTDB in-charge of infrastructure on Char Dham route, told Hindustan Times.

The Board has already installed 176 flexi toilets on the route to the four shrines. Similar lavatories will come up at 184 spots on Kedanrath route and 17 on Hemkund Sahib route. These toilets were made by NGO Sulabh International. The NGO will also provide 234 staff, including sweepers and supervisors, for maintenance of these toilets.

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Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba has alleged that BJP leaders are calling Aam Aadmi Party legislators and luring them to switch sides by offering ticket in the Lok Sabha elections or coveted government posts.

In a series of tweets, the AAP legislator claimed that she, too, received a call from a BJP leader. Though she did not name the BJP leader, Lamba said she will make the phone recording public at an opportune time.

The BJP leader who called cited example of Shazia Ilmi (former AAP leader who joined BJP ahead of 2015 assembly elections) saying that she is earning Rs 5 lakh after getting a government post. You should also think, Lamba said in one of her tweets.

The mention of her name in the tweets irked Ilmi who got into a war of words with Lamba. Ilmi reminded Lamba over the previous association with the Congress before joining AAP.

@LambaAlka well I challenge you to prove this or get ready for a another defamation case? Any evidence or just gassing??  shazia ilmi (@shaziailmi) April 24, 2017

Tweets of Lamba on the issue was also retweeted by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Speaking at a press conference at party office, AAP (Delhi) convener Dilip Pandey said party legislator from Jangpura, Praveen Deshmukh, has also been approached by the BJP leaders.

Its a well known fact that the BJP has been using such tactics in other states as well to form governmentBut would like to make it clear to the BJP that its dirty tactics would not bear fruits as our legislators are out to put in place an alternative polity in the country, Pandey said.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP spokesperson Naveen Kumar denied the charges.

I havent seen the tweets yet. But this is the outcome of their personal rivalry. On the question of AAP leaders being lured by offering money, I would say this has been the culture of AAP and Congress. The BJP never invites leaders of other parties to join and it will never do in future. This shows AAPs frustration. Why dont they wait for another day? The results will be out on April 26, which will make things clear, Kumar said.

On March 28, AAP legislator from Bawana, Ved Parkash had quit Delhi assembly and the party to join the BJP.
Over 350 budget hotels in Delhi, which were facing closure with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) giving them shutdown notices because of absence of proper effluent and sewage treatment plants, may have been given a months time to prevent shutdown.

According to the hotel owners body, Delhi Hotel Mahasangh, environment minister Imran Hussain has provided the relief after a meeting with hotel owners on Tuesday.

We told the minister that hotels and guesthouses, up to 20 rooms, should be given exemption. However, as discussed in the meeting, the ones which have operational kitchen or rooftop restaurant have to comply with the DPCC rules. We also demanded simplification of the procedure, said Arun Gupta, president of the body.

The minister gave us a months time. We have been also asked to submit a note on our demands, Gupta added.

Hussain and DPCC officials couldnt be reached for their comments.

The notice by DPCC, individually issued on April 10, said if they (hotel owners) failed to comply, power and water supplies will be snapped. Delhi Police and health department of the North Corporation had also been asked to cancel the licences of these establishments.

The notice asks the individual owner to submit compliance report under section 33A of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and section31A of Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, within 15 days.

According to traders, Delhi police is the nodal agency for granting licences to run a guesthouse and its licencing department has never asked for permission from the DPCC. If it is mandatory to get the consent from DPCC, then why doesnt the licencing department show it on their website as it does for an approval from fire department and MCD, hotel owners said.

There are around 1,500 budget hotels in Delhi, most of which are located in Paharganj, Karol Bagh and Mahipalpur. Most of these dont have consent to establish (CTE) or consent to operate (CTO), which are mandatory to run hotels in Delhi. CTE is the first step for any industry or trade to begin operations and the permission is given within four months of it being applied for. The CTO is given by the DPCC. This permission is a mandatory part of the process in place for ensuring that water and air are not polluted. However, these hotels didnt have the required permission.

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The Delhi High Court has stayed the order of its single judge bench which had dismissed a students plea against JNUs new admission policy for 2017-18 capping the number of students per professor for MPhil and PhD courses.

The students have claimed that proper procedure was not followed by the university while adopting a 2016 notification of the University Grant Commission (UGC) on admission policy.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra decided to review the single judge bench verdict noting that it will have wide ramifications.

It cannot be denied that the Single Judge in the impugned order has given findings and made absolute propositions of law which would have wide ramifications, the bench said in its March 18 order.

Observing that the students have made out a prima facie case against the JNUs admission process, the bench directed that till the next date of hearing on April 28, the single judge verdict will be stayed.

The single judge had refused to accept the students contention that the university can decide how to implement the regulations, saying once UGC framed the regulations, the varsity was required to follow it.

The single judge had rejected students contention, saying the UGC Act, under which the regulation was issued, was enacted by Parliament and would prevail over the JNU Act which lays down the procedure for adopting the notification.

The single judges judgement had come on the students plea contending that the UGC notification dated July 5, 2016, threatens to put our future in jeopardy as they would not be able to find research supervisors/guides due to the said notification.

Apart from the JNU students, the Students Federation of India (SFI) has also moved the court against the UGC norms on the eligibility and manner of admission to the MPhil and PhD courses in the country.

The SFI in its plea has challenged the constitutional validity of the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of MPhil and PhD degree) Regulations 2016 which came into effect from July 5, 2016. The students body termed the Regulations as irrational, unreasonable and arbitrary and alleged that it was contrary to the fundamental rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy.

The students were of the view that the regulation only sets the minimum standards and it was for the varsity to decide how to implement them.

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Suspecting his wife of infidelity, a 44-year-old retired BSF personal allegedly shot at his wife with his licensed gun in southwest Delhis Chhawla early on Tuesday.

Believing his wife to be dead, Nityanand then walked towards the local police station to surrender. But a police team that had already been alerted about the firing intercepted him on the way and arrested him.

Nityanands wife, 40-year-old Sunita, is admitted at Safdarjung Hospital with a bullet to her abdomen. Her condition is critical, said Surender Kumar, DCP (South-West), when asked if the woman would survive.

Nityanand lived with his wife, and a teenage son and daughter in Sarika Vihar that falls under the jurisdiction of Chhawla police station.

The DCP said Nityanand was an alcoholic and had been relieved of service by BSF a few years ago because of his addiction. Back at home, Nityanand would suspect his wife of infidelity and frequently quarrelled with her over this issue, said the DCP.

A similar quarrel over this issue late Monday night led to physical violence and continued until early morning. Nityanand brought out his licensed double-barrel gun and shot at his wife from close range, said Kumar.

The couples children and neighbours heard the sound of the gunshot and rushed to the crime scene to find the woman lying in a pool of blood. Nityanand, however, had managed to slip out of the house believing he had eliminated his wife.

One of the neighbours informed the police and a team rushed to the spot to learn that Nityanand had escaped. The woman was rushed to a local hospital even as the police launched a manhunt for Nityanand.

He was finally nabbed close to the local police station. He has told police he was on his way to surrender.

He has been booked for attempt to murder and is being interrogated about the exact trigger behind the crime. Whether he was drunk at the time of the crime will be established after police receive his medical reports.
Facebook posts are about to graduate to high literature at Delhi University.

In this age of the ubiquitous social media, one of the countrys leading universities wants its English literature students to master writing Facebook posts.

The posts will go beyond the mundane. Ate this, met them, went there  this wont cut. It would be serious academic writing.

As part of the skill enhancement courses (SEC), students will also be taught to write blogs, cover letters and proof reading.

The idea has been proposed by the English departments choice-based credit system core committee, which wants Facebook posts to be part of a course on academic writing.

Facebook has emerged as the favourite hunting ground of aspiring writers, poets and artists. It allows them to reach a wider audience and find a publisher too.

Facebook posts as literary writing is not the only syllabus change DU is looking at.

It has also proposed to add popular writer Chetan Bhagats debut novel Five Point Someone as a general elective paper for students of honours courses other than English, a choice that raised many eyebrows.

The English department has sent to all colleges the proposed changes and teachers have to send in their feedback by May 1. HT has a copy of the proposed changes.

The university had not decided how the course would be taught and instructions would be given only after receiving feedback from teachers, sources said.

Christel R Devadawson, head of the English department, said changes could be made after receiving feedback.

Skill enhancement courses in general are meant to take the emphasis from just literary centric teaching to broad-based, everyday, contemporary concerns, she said.

Some teachers had concerns about the structure of SEC and those will be addressed based on the feedback we receive, Devadawson said.

The recommendations will be sent to the academic and executive councils for approval.

Teachers would be offered training programmes on the new topics. Colleges can also collaborate with organisations and experts who can give specific inputs on these topics, Devadawson said.

Many teachers are of the view that the changes should have been made after wider discussions as was the practice earlier.

Saikat Ghosh, who teaches English at SGTB Khalsa College, said social media was an important tool of communication and it was good that students learn to communicate effectively.

But my problem is with the way these changes have been brought about without any consultations with teachers at large, Ghosh said.

Teachers from different DU colleges are expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss the proposed changes.

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For over a century, like an expansionist coloniser it gobbled up hundreds of acres of our land, meticulously killing one plant species after another, starving them of nutrition and water. But, not any more. Freedom is in sight.

An army of scientists, now backed by a special budgetary support of Rs 50 lakh from the Delhi government, are reclaiming the land by rooting out the Vilayti Kikar from Delhi.

The Kikar (Prosopis julifora) was brought to Delhi from Mexico by the British more than a century ago. The exotic plant became invasive and wiped out most of the native plants and along with it the animals, which once used to roam in the ridges. It had also wreaked havoc on citys groundwater.

Scientists have got initial successes in Aravalli Biodiversity Park (ABP) and in a small portion of Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP). Their next target is the ridge.

You can say it is a kind of ecological succession. We are replacing the Vilayti Kikar with native plants. We have got initial success in both Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) and the Aravalli Biodiversity Park (ABP). Now we are targeting the ridge from where want to replace the Kikar from around 800 acres in a phased manner, said CR Babu professor emeritus at Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems in Delhi University.

In both the parks, where Kikar scared away all the native plant species away, the scenario has changed. While large swathes of forests which were once monopolised by the Kikar in Aravalli and Yamuna biodiversity park a few years ago, have now been reclaimed with the help of native species.

Full grown plants of Kulu, Salai, Dhau, Dhak and Inderjau among other that had almost vanished because of the Kikar are now back in the Aravalli and Yamuna biodiversity parks. The forests now seem livelier with several canopy layers rather than just a monotonous plantation of Kikar.

We have replaced the kikar with around 900 native species, including grasses, over 400 acres in ABP. Around 30 different forest communities, each community comprising 10  30 different plant species, have come up in the park, said M Shah Hussain scientist in-charge of ABP.

The native plants are also helping the animals that had once abandoned these areas to come back too. The count of bird species in Aravalli have also shot up from 50 in 2004 to more than 200 now. Some birds such as the black eagle, Indian pitta and pied hornbill have been spotted after almost seven decades.

In the Yamuna park, the butterfly population has shot up from just two species in 2002 to more than 75 now. While dung pellets and hoof marks of herbivores animals on the forest floor signal the return of animals such as boars and nilgai, recently a leopard was also spotted.

But the task of bringing back native species was easier said than done. Scientists had to survey the Aravalli ranges in neighbouring states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to identify suitable plants. Nurseries in those states were requested to send seeds and saplings of wild plants.

These saplings were nurtured in our own nurseries till they were at least 4-5feet tall. Only then we planted them in the forest to challenge the Kikar. Regular watering and cow dung manure was given at least for the following two years so that the natives could fight the foreigner, said Faiyaz A Khudsar, scientist in-charge of the Yamuna Biodiversity Park.

Then, it was time for the final assault.

Scientists opened up the thick Kikars canopy by trimming the branches so that sunlight could reach the saplings of native species.

The strategy worked. The native species being taller than Kikar were able to cut off sunlight from reaching the Kikar when they were fully grown. Without sunlight the Kikar failed to produce food and started to wither.

Prabhakar Rao, one of the core members of Kalpavriksh, an NGO, said that the approach taken by Babu and his team seemed to be correct as trees like the Kikar need a lot of sunshine. Once the native trees grow taller and create a shade over them, the Kikar died, he said.

Scientists are now ready to take on the Kikars at Kamala Nehru ridge (northern ridge). Saplings are being made ready so that they could be planted with the arrival of the monsoon this year. The first assault would be launched on an area of 50 acres.

Knee-height saplings of native plants could be seen waiting in long rows at the Kamla Nehru ridge to take on the notorious foreigner this monsoon. Labourers have been deployed to nurture them every day.

But not all experts agree with this replacement method. They claim that the Kikar releases toxins which make the soil almost unfit for other species and the only solution is to uproot the tree.

The Kikars roots secrete a kind of toxin (an alkaloid) which inhibits the growth of other plants. It was because of this that most native trees vanished. Only a few plants such as the Kanju can withstand this toxin but most plants cant. Just planting a native tree and allowing sunlight doesnt help. It has to be uprooted from at least 30 inches deep in the ground, said Pradip Krishen, naturalist and author of the book, Trees of Delhi. He has been working on Kikars in Jodhpur for quite long.

Amid all this, a ruling by the Madras High Court has further boosted the zeal of the scientists. The court suggested that the Tamil Nadu government should bring a special act to eradicate Prosopis juliflora, which has damaged native plant species in the southern state.

Scientists are also planning to approach the Delhi governments environment and forest department so that the action plan could be taken up in other areas in Delhi.

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Months before Sunil Kulkarni was arrested by Mumbai Police in an alleged sex and drugs racket, the Shifu Sunkriti cult leader had spent 19 days in Delhis Tihar Jail. Kulkarni was accused of repeatedly raping a 17-year-old aspiring actress, but he was released on bail later.

Kulkarni has been arrested in Mumbai on charges of trafficking and pushing girls into drug abuse. Three couples have also filed pleas against Kulkarni for forcing their daughters into drugs. The Mumbai police are searching for two sisters whose parents have alleged that they were entrapped by Kulkarni. Sex clips found on Kulkarnis phone and a pen drive have led the Mumbai crime branch to Delhi. Police suspect Kulkarni operates several firms in the Capital under different names.

Kulkarni spent time in Delhis Tihar jail after being accused of raping a girl with one of his associates at a flat in south Delhis Kishangarh for several months. They had also captured the alleged crime on camera and used the footage to blackmail the girl, the victim had alleged.

A resident of Ghaziabad, the girl had enrolled in an acting school in 2014 when she was introduced to Kulkarni through a common friend. Kulkarni had boasted of contacts in the film industry and shown dreams of making it big in films, a senior Delhi Police officer said about the girls allegations.

But instead of taking her to Mumbai, he had advised her to stay in Delhi for a few months to work on her looks and put on some weight, police said. He would keep her in a flat in Kishangarh in South Delhi and would allegedly offer her medicines that the girl said would make her feel sleepy, said the officer.

According to the police, it was during her stay in that Kishangarh flat that Kulkarni allegedly raped the girl and captured the act on camera. He allegedly continued with the crime, all the while threatening to send the photographs and videos to her parents if she complained about it to anyone.

Kulkarni finally took the girl to Mumbai in August 2015. There, he again kept her in a flat for six months during which he and one of his associates would allegedly rape her, police alleged.

It was when she was brought back to Delhi in July 2016 that the girl decided to break her silence. Since she was scared about revealing it all to her parents, she decided to visit the police directly, a senior officer said.

A case based on her statement was subsequently registered at Vasant Kunj (North) police station on July 20 and Kulkarni arrested the next day. In her statement recorded before a magistrate, the girl also mentioned the role of his associate.

Kulkarni spent the next few days in Tihar Jail before he was released on bail on August 8. The case is going on but a charge sheet is yet to be filed. The other accused is still on the run, said the police officer.
The countrys biggest school board appears to be moving towards creating a level playing field and enhancing transparency. Backed by the ministry of human resource development, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to do away with the policy of moderation of results: It wont award students extra marks in exams for difficult questions, said to be the reason behind inflated scores in Class 12 board exams  which in turn lead to impossibly high cut-offs.

This is a departure from the past when the CBSE and state boards used to dole out between 10% and 15% extra marks in difficult subjects such as mathematics and physics in the name of moderation. However, these extra marks were subject to a ceiling of 95%. This implied that the scores of students getting 80% to 85% were enhanced, but someone getting 95% or above did not benefit from this. Not just was this unfair to those who were scoring 95% on their own, it also drove a few Delhi University colleges to set up an unrealistic 100% as the first cut-off during admissions to undergraduate programmes. Last year, responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, minister of state for HRD Upendra Kushwaha had justified the moderation policy in the Class 12 Board examinations saying that it helped bring parity owing to an element of subjectivity in evaluation processes across the country. The CBSE adopts a moderation policy to bring parity due to element of subjectivity in evaluation, to level up mean achievements due to difference in difficulty level of different set of question papers and to maintain parity of pass percentage of candidates ..., he had said, in a written reply. Clearly, the ministrys views on the subject have evolved. The CBSE hopes other state boards will follow suit. More than two crore students in India appear in Class 10 and around 1.5 crore in Class 12 exams conducted by more than 40 education boards.

Another move towards transparency is a mention on mark sheets of extra marks given to Class 12 students to help clear a paper. Known in student parlance as grace marks, these are given in cases where a student narrowly misses the passing marks. The mark sheet as well as the Board website will now clearly mention the extent and mechanism used to award grace marks. Critics say that the mention of grace marks may lead to a feeling of stigma among students, but its supporters argue awarding grace marks is unfair to others who manage to clear tough exams on their own. In the past, a number of state boards were using these spikes to ensure that their pass percentage didnt dip dramatically compared to other state boards. Although the actual impact on cut-offs may be visible only during college admissions, it is a good sign that the Board is dropping an opaque old-school method of evaluation that granted students random spikes in grades regardless of the individual efforts they had put in.
The Narendra Modi government has notified that the new Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act will come into effect from May 1. Every state should now create a real estate regulator in compliance with the new law. The consequences will be a sea-change for the better in a sector of the economy that is a byword in corruption, nepotism and customer abuse. The consequences may take some years to fructify, but at the end buying property should no longer be the Russian roulette that it is at present.

Among other welcome measures in the new law is a requirement that a real estate developer will have to put 70% of the money buyers give them in escrow accounts. This will end the present business model under which developers use customer payments to fund new real estate projects. If something went awry with the builders finances or clearances, buyers were left running from pillar to post trying to get their money back.

Making it worse for the customer was the political clout wielded by many real estate firms. They laundered money for politicians and bureaucrats in return for being able to break the rules with impunity, including when it came to land acquisition and construction approvals. As a study by the Institute for Public Finance and Policy calculated, almost 40% of money used to buy real estate was black wealth. The political connection was so close cement production in India was tied to the state election cycle. The fortunes of certain developers rose and fell depending on which party was in power.

The Modi government cannot be faulted in its determination to take on the dark side of real estate. The new anti-benami legislation is designed to allow tax authorities to go after those who have salted away black money in real estate through cut-outs. The real estate regulator should keep developers with suspect finances or crony backing from entering the market. Finally, the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, which has opened its door for business recently, will hopefully end the impasse over insolvent developers and their hundreds of thousands of half-finished properties.

The disruption to the real estate sector, normally a major driver of economic growth and job creation, will be considerable and could last a year or more. But it will be well worth it if an Indian home-buyer can assume that her down payment on a home will not mean years of litigation, occasional political thuggery or a court order saying her home is illegal and faces demolition.
From the coming academic year, 2017-18, Class 12 admissions to state-run junior colleges will be conducted online; much like first-year junior college (FYJC) online process, said the states education department. The move is aimed at making Class 12 admissions transparent and curbing malpractices such as donations and non-merit-based admissions.

This means students aspiring to switch colleges in Class 12 will need to fill out an application form that will soon become available on the portal mumbai.11thadmission.net. But colleges are waiting for the official circular before following this process.

Many students look to change colleges in the middle of Class 11 or in Class 12 if they want to secure admission at a college of their choice  especially if they are unhappy with the college allotted to them in the FYJC online admissions. Last year, students had to approach individual colleges and they would be allotted a seat if there was a vacancy.

But this year, the Bombay high court prohibited offline admissions of any kind. We have stopped offline admissions entirely in Class 11 and Class 12, said B B Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai region. Some colleges who are unaware of the change in rules might admit students offline, but they will be asked to reverse the process once the online admission portal opens.

Officials said until last year, less than 50% students continued in colleges allotted to them in the online process, especially in smaller or lesser-known colleges. Even after conducting multiple online rounds to ensure 100% admissions through the system, we find students change colleges offline after Class 11, making the entire online admission process pointless," said Chavan. The department had conducted nine rounds of admission for FYJC last year.

Mumbai colleges complained they are clueless about the change in the admission process, as the department hasnt issued an official circular yet. Sathaye College, Vile Parle, is accepting student applications, but has kept the admission process on hold. We were told about the change in admission process eight months ago, but we are waiting for government orders on how to implement it, said Kavita Rege, principal. The college has around 35 vacant seats in science and 15 to 20 seats in commerce stream.

Vidyadhar Joshi, principal, Vaze-Kelkar College, Mulund, said online class 12 admissions will make things easier for students and colleges.

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Ashok Tanwar, president of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, met villagers of Gwal Pahari on Tuesday to address their grievances against the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and the BJP-led state government.

The locals said the land, a dispute over which is currently being heard by the Punjab and Haryana high court, has been in their possession for years and they have been cultivating on it for generations. They accused the MCG of trying to usurp their land.

Gopal Singh, a local, said, We have all records of possession with us and many of us sold our land to third parties. Thus several parties have been created and they all have done a fair sale and purchase deed. Ever since the MCG came into being, it has made repeated attempts to acquire our land. We need all the support in this regard.

Tanwar assured the locals of all possible help.

We will take up the issue in the state assembly. We will not allow the government or the MCG to usurp farmers land under any case, said Tanwar, who visited several other parts of Gurgaon with party members on Tuesday.

Tanwar said, We will gather information in this regard and try to resolve it in favour of the genuine owners. The residents of the village are unhappy with the MCG and the state government.

The MCG carried out a demolition drive on March 14 to remove structures such as boundary walls and hutments in order to secure its land from encroachments in Gwal Pahari.

The MCG action came nearly two months after former Gurgaon deputy commissioner TL Satyaprakash said mutation no. 3249, which was the basis of the MCGs claim to ownership of 464 acres of disputed land, was wrongly done.

The MCG later obtained a stay against the collectors observation from the court of D Suresh, divisional commissioner, Gurgaon.

On February 23, Suresh, while hearing the MCGs plea, justified the civic bodys claim that the collector had passed an order without jurisdiction.

The opponents had, however, argued that Satyaprakashs observation was an inquiry report that was sent for approval to the government.

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The scorching summer days may still be a while, but taps are already running dry in several parts of Gurgaon. The Block U of Pink Town Houses in DLF Phase 3 has not been receiving water for the last 10 days. Residents complain that the lack of water in summer has made it difficult for them to carry out their daily activities. They said that even though they had filed numerous complaints to DLF, no action has been taken to address the water shortage.

Residents say they even spoke to Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) officials regarding the issue but to no avail.

The supply shortage in our area is mainly because of a large number of houses and paying guest accommodations in the 60 yard area next to ours and they share the same water line. Initially, houses in that area were not supposed to have more than two floors, but now we see that the houses have four to five floors. Because of the increase in usage, we do not get water, said Dhiraj Kumar, president Pink Town Houses residents welfare association.

The residents said when they complain about the water shortage to Huda officials, they send officials for inspection, to check pipelines and supply. Following the inspection, supply would be proper the next two to three days, after which the problem would start again. The residents have always been given only verbal assurances though they have given a written petition to officials, the residents alleged.

I havent received a drop of water for the last 10 days. I have given so many complaints but no action has taken on them. We have to pay for private water tankers. We are also paying regular maintenance charges. We were even ready to pay for a separate water line to Pink Town Houses, said Binita Singh, a resident.

Yashpal Yadav, Huda administrator, said that there is no scarcity of water anymore. We did have some water crisis till yesterday (Monday) but we have resumed supply to the city from Tuesday evening, he said.
As theft cases are on the rise in the city, the Gurgaon police has issued an advisory asking people to be more careful and not leave their belongings unintended in cars parked along the roads. This came after the police received several complaints that gangs have been targeting vehicles near malls, breaking the windows and making off with valuables, such as laptops, kept inside the vehicle.

In one such instance, a case was registered after an unidentified person stole a laptop, power bank, data card and a mobile charger from a car parked outside DT Mega Mall in DLF Phase 1.

Complainant Sandeep Soni, a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan, said he visited DT Mega Mall in his Honda Amaze sedan around 7pm last Wednesday and he parked his car outside the mall. He was inside the mall for an hour and a half, during which time his laptop and other items were stolen from the car.

Upon returning to his vehicle, he found the car window broken and his Lenovo laptop, power bank, mobile charger stolen.

A case under Section 379 (for theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been lodged at the DLF Phase 1 Police station on Monday.

We have gathered all information regarding the case and have filed a FIR. We have been advising people not to park their vehicles along the road as cases of theft have increased. Images from nearby CCTV cameras might shed some light on this case. We are trying to nab the gang behind these crimes, said assistance sub-inspector Rishipal of DLF Phase-1 police station.

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Government officials on Tuesday remeasured the distance of five hotels on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway as per new guidelines of Haryana government. Their distances from the highway had been measured earlier, but the Haryana government released fresh guidelines a few days ago saying the distance to the point of sale of liquor should be considered instead of an establishments entrance.

The committee measuring the distance released the final list of establishments falling under the red zone on Tuesday evening.

Committee members found The Leela Ambience, The Oberoi, Trident, Country Inn and Suites and Huda Gymkhana Club to be out of the 500-metre limit set by the Supreme Court for ban on sale of liquor near highways. The distance of Huda Gymkhana Clubs point of sale was found to be 519 metres.

We will send the final report to the excise commissioner on Wednesday. The committee members have remeasured the distance of the hotels and Huda Gymkhana Club and except one, all are in the safe zone. The meeting was conducted on Tuesday and the committee members have verified the layout plans and submitted their report, said Hardeep Singh, deputy commissioner, Gurgaon.

According to excise department officials, the Hyatt Regency Gurgaon near national highway (NH)8 fell within the red zone. The Sita Heritage resort, which had also changed its entrance, had applied for measurement, but did not submit the layout plan, hence its decision is pending.

We have submitted Tuesdays report to the deputy commissioner and final report will be sent to the headquarters. They (the establishments approved) will soon receive their approval to renew their licences, said HC Dahiya, deputy excise and taxation officer (West), Gurgaon.

The Haryana government came out with its revised guidelines regarding point of sale after discussions with committee members and seeking clarity from the district town planner, senior town planner of the Town and Country Planning department and the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (HSIIDC).

Meanwhile, 30 pubs and bars, including 15 in Sector 29, started serving liquor on Monday evening after they received the green signal from the excise department.

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Sri Lanka was certified malaria-free by World Health Organisation in 2016 after having no indigenous cases for three years. The last locally-transmitted case in Sri Lanka was in October 2012, with the island nation bringing down malaria from 264,549 cases in 1999 to zero in November 2012.

Sri Lanka is not alone. Between 2000 and 2015, 17 countries eliminated malaria (no indigenous cases for three years or more), reports the World Malaria Report 2016. Of the 91 countries with malaria transmission in 2015, 39 have cases and deaths by 40% between 2010 and 2015 and 10 countries reported had no deaths in 2015.

By 2030, India too plans to end indigenous transmission of malaria, a parasitic disease that spreads between people through the bite of infected female anopheles mosquito.The symptoms include fever, headache, chills and vomiting.

In India, malaria infected 1.06 million persons in 2015, with 242 confirmed deaths.

Here are the tools Sri Lanka used to win the war against malaria.

Web-based surveillance: All fever cases were tested for malaria and each case notified with the Anti Malaria Campaign at the ministry of health. People with a travel history to countries with malaria transmission were closely tracked for symptoms, as were people in the armed forces on peacekeeping missions, immigrants, emigrants, tourists and pilgrims.

Rationing medicines: Anti-malarial medicines were only available with the AMC, which compelled the private health sector to notify all cases. With malaria cases sharply falling, it soon became unprofitable for the private sector to stock anti-malarial medicines.

24x7 hotline: AMC ran a 24-hour hotline to notify, track and treat the patient in isolation to stop further spread of infection.

Parasite control: In the early1990s, the AMC changed from vector-control (mosquito control) to parasite control strategy to contain infection. From 1999 onwards, cases have steadily declined and by 2008, less than 1,000 cases were being reported per year.

Health access: A strong public health system, sanitation and roads lowered mosquito breeding and took treatment to people in the remotest of places. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment by trained health workers with focus on high-risk areas lowered disease and deaths.

Stakeholder partnerships: Intensive disease surveillance, integrated vector (mosquito) management, rigorous community engagement and research increased social, technical and financial support for eradication.
Heath Ledgers sisters say playing The Joker in The Dark Knight didnt contribute to the actors death.

Many believe that his obsession to get to the role of The Joker took a dark toll on him, and led to his death. He died at the age of 28 on January 22, 2008 from an accidental mixture of prescription drugs.

Ledgers sisters Kate Ledger and Ashleigh Bell talked about the rumour after attending the premiere of I Am Heath Ledger at Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, reports thedailybeast.com.

He wasnt depressed about The Joker. Honestly it was the absolute opposite. He had an amazing sense of humour, and I guess only his close family and friends really knew that. But he was having fun, Kate said.

They also said that they were shocked by reports circulating around the time of his death.

It was coming out that he was depressed and it was taking a toll, and we were going, What? Ashleigh said.

Actor Heath Ledger arrives at the premiere of the film Candy in New York November 6, 2006.

Ashleigh added: I dont know if it was the case that we wanted to clear it up, but as soon as he had the movie everything that came into light about The Joker, we were all so confused.

Heath received the Best Supporting Actor trophy at the 81st Academy Awards posthumously for his role of The Joker.

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Actor Faye Dunaway says she thought co-presenter Warren Beatty was joking when he paused before showing her the envelope that should have contained the Oscars best picture winner.

Dunaway tells Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News she thought Beatty was stalling for effect.

Dunaway read La La Land as best picture winner rather than Moonlight after PwC partner Brian Cullinan mistakenly handed them the back-up envelope for Actress in a Leading Role instead of the envelope for Best Picture.

Martha Ruiz (R, in red) and Brian Cullinan (upper R) of PricewaterhouseCoopers confer on stage after the Best Picture was mistakenly awarded to La La Land instead of Moonlight. Accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, who oversee the ballots, said presenters Warren Beatty (front R) and Faye Dunaway had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope. (REUTERS)

She says she read the movies title on the card but didnt notice Emma Stones name.

Dunaway says she felt completely stunned and later felt guilty because she thought she could have done something to prevent the debacle.

Holts interview with Dunaway will air Tuesday on the Today show.

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Actor George Clooney and wife Amal Clooney are reportedly spending more than $1 million to have a royal experience when Amal gives birth to their twins.

Earlier it was also reported that the 55-year-old actor had made a reservation for the entire Kensington wing at Londons Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

The hospital wing George has booked is said to cost upto $588,000 for a weeks stay, reports aceshhowbiz.com.

Amal is also said to be flying in two birth companions from Los Angeles which cost $30,000 and an Italian masseuse who charges $5,000.

George Clooney (L) and his wife British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Clooney attend the 42nd edition of the Cesar Ceremony at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. (AFP)

Earlier this month, the couple was reportedly giving their neighbours a 45,000 pounds as compensation package for the noise caused by the renovations to their estate.

The package was said to include a holiday to Corfu, a six-week stay in a luxury hotel and a 30,000 pounds lump sum. In addition, the Clooneys paid for their neighbours to rent a 780,000 pounds cottage.

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A suspected Maoist ambush that killed 25 soldiers in Chhattisgarhs Sukma might have shocked India but data for the 12 years show that violence by left-wing insurgent groups is declining across the country.

Figures sourced from the South Asia Terrorism Portal say that the average number of deaths across all categories  civilians, soldiers and militants  in 2011-17 was less than half the number in 2005-10. The data didnt take into account the strike on Monday on Central Reserve Police Force.

In this period, 2989 civilians, 1885 personnel and 2571 militants died  a total of 7,445 people, underlining former prime minister Manmohan Singhs warning that Maoist violence was one of Indias worst internal security challenges.

The worst year during this period was 2010 that saw 1180 deaths in total.

Chhattisgarh accounted for almost half of all security personnel death, a third of all militant deaths and a quarter of civilian deaths.

The second-most affected state was Jharkhand while Andhra Pradesh was third. In all, Chhattisgarh saw 2599 deaths due to Maoist violence during this time. 14 of Indias 29 states saw incidents of Maoist violence during this period.
A considerable number of Maoists are believed to have been killed in retaliatory action by CRPF personnel after an attack in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district that killed at least 25 soldiers, the force has said.

The paramilitary force said in a statement about 300 to 400 Maoists ambushed a patrol party, the deadliest ambush by the rebels this year that was condemned by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It said on Monday two companies of the 74th battalion were out on operation to provide security to people engaged in constructing a road to connect Burkapal to Chintagufa in the area.

There were 99 personnel out on the operation. A CRPF company has a strength of about 100 personnel.

It said the ensuing gun battle was fierce. The CRPF troops replied in a befitting manner but taking advantage of their geographical position, Maoists succeeded in inflicting loss on the force.

Twenty-four brave soldiers were martyred and one succumbed to his injuries while being evacuated to a hospital in Raipur, the statement read.

25 brave soldiers of 74 Bn, CRPF martyred & 06 critically injured in an encounter with Maoists today at Burkapal in Sukma, Chhattisgarh  CRPF (@crpfindia) April 24, 2017

The party was ambushed by a group of about 300-400 Maoist cadres at 12:30pm at Kalapattar near Burkapal.

The area is close to the Chintagufa-Burkapal-Bheji axis, the hotbed of Maoist violence which has seen a number of such attacks in the past resulting in high casualties.

The injured CRPF jawans of the 74th battalion being shifted to a hospital in Raipur. (HT Photo)

A considerable number of Maoists are believed to have been eliminated (in retaliatory action by CRPF men) as the tell-tale sign indicate from the ground, the statement added.

The bodies of all soldiers, it said, were airlifted to Raipur, while six soldiers injured in the ambush were admitted to a hospital in the state capital.

CRPF director general (acting) Sudeep Lakhtakia and senior officials of the operations directorate of the force are expected to visit the site on Tuesday to take stock of the situation. Union home minister Rajnath Singh and his junior colleague in the ministry, Hansraj G Ahir, are also expected to travel to Raipur.

An injured soldier, brought to a Raipur hospital, said: The Naxals (Maoists) first sent villagers to check our position...I also saw some women Naxals. They were all wearing black uniforms and had sophisticated weapons like the AK series assualt rifles.
The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana provided 384 five-star hotel rooms, 100 to and fro air tickets for free to the NRIs who had came to attend the two-day Pravasi Haryana Divas in Gurgaon in January this year.

The event, held at Kingdom of Dreams from January 10-11, was organised to give Pravasi Haryanvis an opportunity to connect to their roots and invest in the development of their home state.

The information on freebies doled out by the government to the NRIs was revealed in an RTI query filed by Gurgaon-based activist Harinder Dhingra.

The reply I reveals that for 384 rooms booked for NRIs in top hotels such as Taj Vivanta, Crowne Plaza Today, Hyatt Palace and more, the government spent a whopping Rs 62 lakh.

The state tourism department also bore the cost of Haryana Darshan organised for 150 pravasis at a cost of Rs 12,500 each, which comes out to be Rs 19 lakh in total.

Further, the Khattar government bore the two-way airfare for 100 guests flying in from countries across the world. Dhingra said though he asked for the information of the total expenses incurred by the government for the air fare, the RTI reply did not mention it.

The approximate cost for the economy airfare calculated after talking to sources who were involved in the organisation of the event comes out to be over Rs 60 lakh. The Khattar government had claimed to have signed 24 MoUs involving potential investments of Rs 20,000 crore during the event. He had said that 23 Pravasis had offered to invest Rs 17 crore in various philanthropic works.

Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, however, called the statement a gimmick. No investment is coming to Haryana on ground. Its only coming in the CMs speeches, he said.

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Air India plans to introduce premium economy class seats on some of its flights in the aftermath of Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad assaulting its staffer because he had to travel economy despite being entitled to a business class seat.

Gaikwad had insisted on travelling business class on an all-economy flight, and later hit an airline staffer 25 times with his slipper, triggering a row between him and Air India.

The MP was upset as he had to travel economy from Pune to Delhi to attend the Budget session of Parliament last month even though he had a business class ticket.

The proposal apparently aims to accommodate MPs who are entitled to travel business class but fly on routes where the airline operates only all-economy flights.

The national carrier is mulling reconfiguring as many as eight of its aircraft operating on various domestic routes in order to introduce very limited number of premium economy seats, an Air India official said.

Generally, premium economy seats are positioned between economy and business class seats, with a different fare and services structure.

About two years ago, Air India -- which is working on ways to increase its market share -- had mooted the idea of premium economy class but it was shelved due to commercial reasons.

The idea is now being revived, especially in the wake of the Gaikwad episode, according to the official.

While the final contours are still being worked out, the idea is to redesign the front row seats - three on each side of the aisle - and convert them into two seats on either side.

The front row seats will be set aside for the proposed reconfiguration. This will ensure better leg room as well as more elbow room for the passenger, the official said.

In efforts to provide more privacy for the traveller, the premium economy seats could be separated from the rest with curtains and the individual could also be served a different menu compared to economy class passengers, he added.

Before putting in place the premium economy category, the official said the airline would amend its fare rules to allow business class passengers to travel on premium economy seats in case of non-availability of seats in higher class.

The rules will also specify that a passenger who opts for this exchange of seats cannot claim the difference between premium and business class fare, the official noted.

Parliamentarians are entitled to one business class return air ticket on an Air India flight from the airport closest to their constituency to the capital for each of the four Parliament sessions per year.

In addition to this, they are also eligible for another 16 business class return tickets on Air India for travel as part of carrying out their duties.

At present, Vistara is the only domestic carrier which offers a three-class cabin - business, premium economy, and economy - across its 13-aircraft fleet.
AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran was formally arrested by Delhi Police on Tuesday night after he allegedly paid bribe to a middleman to get the disputed two-leaves party symbol for his faction.

Dinakaran was arrested along with his aide Mallikarjun after three days of questioning at the Chanakyapuri crime branch office.

Dinakaran has been accused of paying bribe to middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar to get the two-leaves party symbol. The dispute over the party symbol erupted after the AIADMK split into two groups following the death of party supremo and then Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

Dinakaran is a leader of the VK Sasikala-led AIADMK (Amma). The other faction is O Panneerselvams AIADMK Puratchi Thalavi Amma.

Police sources said Dinakaran was jointly interrogated with Chandrashekhar. He was quizzed about the Rs 1.3 crore found from Chandrashekhars hotel room in a five-star hotel in the city.

Chandrashekhar, who was arrested on October 16, is learnt to have told police that he received the money from Dinakaran.

Police said some amount of the money was transferred to Chandrashekhar through online banking. The role of a Chandni Chowk-based hawala trader is also being probed.

Dinakaran came to Delhi on April 22 after police summoned him for interrogation. A police team had visited Chennai and served him summons.

We will probe Chandrashekhars claims. He had promised Dinakaran to get the symbol allotted through his contacts in the Election Commission. We are also probing the role of a retired bureaucrat of the Tamil Nadu cadre, said an officer.
A court in Delhi on Tuesday asked the Delhi Police what action has been taken against AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran, who has been accused of attempting to bribe Election Commission officials to reclaim the partys disputed two leaves symbol.

Special Judge Poonam Chaudhary asked the Crime Branch of Delhi Police why it is not taking any action against Dinakaran, nephew of jailed AIADMK party chief VK Sasikala, over the bribery allegations.

The Delhi Police responded that they were already questioning Dinakaran in the matter.

The court posed the questions while extending the police custody of middleman Sukesh Chandrasekhar till April 28. Chandrasekhar was presented before the court after his eight-day police custody expired on Tuesday.

Defence counsel for Chandrasekhar opposed the polices plea to extend the custody, saying the allegation in the FIR was that Chandrasekhar had conspired with Dinakaran, who has not yet been arrested.

Chandrasekar was arrested from a south Delhi hotel on the night of April 16 allegedly with Rs 1.3 crore that was meant for bribing poll panel officials.

Chandrasekar reportedly told the police he was Dinakarans middleman and was asked to pay the money to the officials for allotting the two leaves party symbol to Dinakarans faction of the AIADMK.
The Alwar police on Tuesday blamed victims for the lack of progress in a case over the killing of a dairy farmer Pehlu Khan by alleged cow vigilantes in the district over twenty days ago.

The 55-year-old farmer and four others from Nuh in Haryana were assaulted by self-styled cow vigilantes near Behror in Rajasthan on Delhi-Alwar highway on April 1, branding them as cattle smugglers.

Khan succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital on April 3.

The Alwar police said the investigation into the case got stuck because the four, including two sons of Khan, who were injured in the attack did not return to record their statements before the police.

Alwar superintendent of police Rahul Prakash said the four after being discharged from the hospital were told to record their statements at Behror police station.

They did not come to us to record the statements, he said.

However, Irshad, Khans injured son said though they were taken to the police station after the death of his father on April 3 their statements were not taken.

We were there until noon the next day, but police didnt record our statements, he told HT over telephone from his village in Nuh.

In connection with the lynching, police so far arrested six people out of the eight identified from the video of the incident doing the rounds on social media.

We have so far arrested six people, all of whom were identified from the videos, he said. We have identified two more people from the video and trying to arrest them.

Police registered a case of culpable homicide against six named and 200 unnamed accused for assaulting the five men around 11pm on April 1. The FIR was registered on the basis of the statement Khan gave to police from ICU before his death.

On April 3, after Khan passed away, the section of culpable homicide was replaced with a section for murder (302 of the IPC).

Police named Om Yadav (45), Hukum Chand Yadav (44), Sudhir Yadav (45), Jagmal Yadav (73), Naveen Sharma (48) and Rahul Saini (24) for the lynching.

On April 5, police arrested three people  Vipin Yadav, Ravindra Yadav and Kalu Ram Yadav. Two more accused  Dayanand Yadav and Neeraj Yadav  were arrested on April 9. On April 21, 30-year-old Yogesh Khati was arrested.

However, none of those arrested were named in the FIR. The six named accused are absconding since Khan died in the hospital.

Earlier, on April 16, the Alwar police said they will not arrest the six named in the FIR before interrogating them to make sure they were involved in the crime.

Prakash said they were raiding various places to nab the six but added they would only be detained for interrogation.

We will arrest them only after we are sure that they were involved in the crime, he told HT.

Earlier, on April 5, Prakash announced a reward of Rs 5,000 to anyone who would provide information that would lead to the arrest of the six absconders.
Reasi town observed a complete shutdown on Tuesday following a call by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, transporters and trade organizations to protest biased police action following an attack on a nomadic family by a 200-strong mob last week.

Police in Reasi, 78 km from Jammu, had arrested 11 people after a nomadic family was attacked for allegedly smuggling cattle. Those arrested were later released on bail.

Demanding a fair probe and revocation of FIR against the 11 accused, protestors burnt tyres on all the connecting roads in the town and shouted slogans against the police and civil administration, said a local resident.

The administration had deployed adequate police and CRPF personnel in and around the strategic town. The army, which has a considerable presence in the area, has been kept on a stand-by.

By afternoon, the administration conceded one major demand of the protesters.

Raghav Kesar, state general secretary of ABVP said, We demand impartial investigations, which are possible only after the suspension of SSP Reasi (Tahir Sajjad Bhat) and deputy SP (Mujeeb-ur-Rehman). Police have implicated innocent persons in the FIR, he alleged.

Kesar also claimed that during meeting of a delegation with the Reasi deputy commissioner Ravinder Kumar on Tuesday afternoon, the latter agreed on a blanket ban on transportation of bovines in vehicles during night.

The DC also agreed upon constituting village level committees to check bovine smuggling. However, he has asked us to give him a memorandum seeking revocation of FIR and suspension of the SSP and Dy SP, said Kesar.

Reasi DC Ravinder Kumar said that apart from committees and ban on transportation in vehicles during night, he has also made it mandatory to record entries of animals at various police check points on the highways to check cattle smuggling.

As far as revocation of FIR and suspension of SSP and Dy SP are concerned, I have asked the delegation to give me a memorandum that will be submitted to the higher ups for their consideration, he added.

Reasi SSP Tahir Sajjad Bhat and DSP Mujeeb-ur-Rehaman have been accused of biased investigations by the protestors.

Earlier, SSP Bhat told the HT that the nomad family refused to lodge written complaint with police after claiming that their 10-year-old child had gone missing on the night of attack.

Had their 10-year old been missing, how could have they proceeded on their journey? It seemed that the child either could have caught up with a herd, which had passed Reasi stretch or is with the family. The entire thing (missing) seemed to be a pressure tactics, he said.

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They are young, most of them in their school or college uniforms. Some of them wear burkhas while many of them have their heads and faces covered. Their school bags slung on their backs, now they also have stones in their hands.

Young girls barely out of their teens have become the new face of protests in Kashmir, adding a new dimension to the story of a valley wracked by years of violence and brutal retaliation government forces.

This April, the valley has woken up to fresh violence sparked by the killing of whom people describe as innocent civilians by security forces. The anger has been fanned by several video clips which purportedly show human rights abuse by security forces, including the use of a Kashmiri man as a human shield.

The anger has spilled out on to the streets and young women are leading the charge.

Dozens of pictures have gone viral on social media -- of groups of girls and women pelting stones on police and CRPF personnel.

A young girl seen kicking an armoured police vehicle has drawn particular attention for the anger it represents  she is said to have reacted in the manner after a college girl was injured on April 21 in Srinagars Old City.

Why should we fear? Things cant get worse than what has already happened in Kashmir. We have seen dead and mutilated bodies. We have seen many of our brothers and sisters defaced by pellets. At the most we will also die, said Neelofar Jabeen (name changed on request), a 21-year-old arts student of Womens College in Srinagar.

Protests by women and girls, even at the verge of violence, is not new to India.

Thousands of students, most of them girls, had taken to the streets in 2012 after the Delhi gang rape and murder of a paramedic student on a moving bus. The protesting girls had broken through police barricades and clashed with security forces seeking safety for women and punishment to the accused in the case that had numbed the country.

A police official in Kashmir described the new trend as teenage aggression.

These things happen everywhere. Students come out in all parts of India to protest. Some where they come out for students rights and somewhere they come out for azadi. The aggression is same. And women have been protesting in Kashmir even before, the official said.

Kashmir witnessed one of the worst summers in 2016 when more than 90 people lost their lives during violent street protests following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani in July.

Hundreds of people, many of them children, lost their eyesight to pellet guns fired by government forces, attracting international outrage.

On Monday, Jabeen was part of massive student protests and stone-pelting in Lal Chowk, five days after schools and colleges opened following suspension of class work by the government. The colleges were closed after students across the valley took to the streets on April 17 to protest police action, two days earlier, on fellow-students of Pulwama Degree College in south Kashmir.

The girls shouted azadi slogans while the boys from the nearby Shri Pratap College and School targeted government forces with stones and projectiles. Within no time many girls, some in dresses with floral prints, also joined the boys. The two groups mingled and chased the armoured vehicles of police and CRPF. The government forces retaliated with tear gas shelling.

Nothing will happen if we remain silent. The brutalities of Indian forces are continuing and then the narrative of paid stone-pelter by Indian media continues. They are giving us a bad name. Now what will they say when a student in uniform throws stones, said a social science student of Womens College, who says she is a supporter of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani.

The anger was (always) there but the Pulwama incident fired that even more. We have understood that the power is in youth. It is now our turn. The Kashmir issue needs to be resolved. Majority of us want independence, she said, seeking anonymity.

Since armed insurgency broke out in 1989, Kashmiri women have always been part of protests and demonstrations. Massive pro-freedom demonstrations in the past have seen thousands of women participants, with many of them singing songs while eulogising militants. But the aggressive posturing by girl students now have left many stunned.

During the early 1990s, when we used to go to schools, just one bullet would send us shivering. We would run into corners by the sound of a tear gas shell or a grenade. I would not have imagined in my wildest dreams that Kashmiri girls can chase a police vehicle with stones in their hands. The situation in Kashmir is scary and the women doing these things make it scarier, said a female journalist working in Srinagar.
In a fit of rage, an impoverished man strangulated his two-year-old crying son for disturbing him in sleep and threw his body into an adjoining rivulet at Belawadan village in Purnia district, around 350 kms east of Patna, late Sunday evening.

Mangal Sharma, 35, a daily wager, has been arrested and sent to jail, after his wife Sulekha Devi lodged a complaint with the Banmankhi police station, Monday morning.

Police said Sharma was ticked off when his youngest of three children, Adarsh Kumar, 2, began crying at night. A couple of hours later, when Devi got up and enquired from her husband about her youngest son, who was missing, her husband only told her that he was crying.

She immediately became suspicious. Sensing foul play, she rushed out of the house and saw her childs body along the side of a rivulet.

Devi told the police that her husband was mentally unsound. Devi claimed that Sharma was behaving in a weird manner for the last couple of months. She, however, could not back her claim with medical records, the police said.

Purnia superintendent of police Nishant Kumar Tiwary told HT, We have arrested the accused and are in the process of filing the chargesheet, which should be ready in about 24 hours. The post-mortem examination of the body has been done. We will go for speedy trial in the case.

With Sharma behind bars, police said it would now be an uphill task for Devi to ensure two square meals a day for self and her two surviving children  Neha Kumari, 5, and Aditya Kumar, 3. But more than her worries about food, Devi wants justice for her youngest son.

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Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh stirred a controversy on Tuesday by suggesting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a deal with Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh, a day after insurgents gunned down 25 soldiers in the Sukma region.

Speaking to reporters, Singh said he stood by earlier statements that said chief minister Raman Singh and the BJP won elections from the red corridor because there was some understanding between them.

He also said the governments recall of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last year had had no impact on Maoist violence. The government should talk to all parties. Unless we take tribal villagers into confidence, naxalism cannot be contained.

His comments came just hours after Union home minister Rajnath Singh described the militant ambush on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel as a challenge and said the Centre would review its counter-insurgency tactics.

When in power at the Centre, the Congress had unleashed Operation Greenhunt, which attempted to drive rebels out of their forested stronghold in central India with a wave of military action, followed by development.

But the operation came under attack for alleged human rights excesses and was discontinued. In 2013, several top leaders of the Congress were killed in an explosion orchestrated by the Maoist rebels.
China on Tuesday stressed on the need to upgrade negotiations on the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIMEC) to the government level as the third meeting of the joint study group, comprising representatives from government departments and business and research organisations from the four countries, started in Kolkata after a gap of two years.

The corridor stretches over about 3,000km  from Kolkata to Kunming in China via Silchar and Imphal in India, Dhaka and Jessore in Bangladesh, and Mandalay in Myanmar.

The Chinese delegation has come prepared with a draft mechanism for inter-government cooperation that will be shared with the delegation from the three other countries during the two-day meeting.

The first meeting of the joint study group was held in China in 2013 and Bangladesh hosted the second in 2014. India was to host the next but it did not materialise in time.

Speaking at the inauguration on Tuesday, Wang Xiaotao, who is heading the Chinese delegation, said, There is a need to put in place an inter-government cooperation mechanism and develop it into a regional cooperation mechanism.

Expressing their keenness on the corridor, Xiaotao, vice-chairman of Chinas National Development and Reform Commission, said, We have drafted the framework for the inter-government cooperation mechanism based on joint researches previously conducted by the four countries. The draft will be shared with the other countries during the meeting.

Gitesh Sharma, additional secretary at Indias ministry of external affairs, who presented the keynote address, highlighted Indias Act East policy that envisages mutual development and prosperity in our shared region, and said that sub-regional cooperation in formats such as BCIM complemented the policy.

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The CRPF remains headless for almost two months now with the government yet to appoint its regular Director General (DG), even as the countrys largest paramilitary force lost 38 personnel in line of duty in two major ambushes during the period.

Post K Durga Prasads retirement as the last full-time chief of the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) on February 28, the Union Home Ministry had appointed Additional DG Sudeep Lakhtakia to hold the charge in additional capacity.

Notably, 12 CRPF personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush in Sukma in Chhattisgarh on March 11, while the force on Monday suffered one its major casualties in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) theatre after 25 jawans died in a repeat of the brazen Maoist assault.

25 brave soldiers of 74 Bn, CRPF martyred & 06 critically injured in an encounter with Maoists today at Burkapal in Sukma, Chhattisgarh  CRPF (@crpfindia) April 24, 2017

While officials in the Home Ministry say the appointment of a full-time DG is expected soon, those in the CRPF maintain there was no word with them in this regard.

A senior Home Ministry official said a panel of eligible IPS officers has already been prepared but there has been no finality on the name of the next DG for the nearly 3-lakh- strong force till now.

While the day-to-day operations and work of CRPF is being conducted, the absence of a regular chief hits when big and important policy decisions are to be taken, the official said.

The government will soon appoint a full time DG for the CRPF soon, the officer added.

A senior CRPF official said while the acting CRPF DG and senior Security Advisor in the Home Ministry K Vijay Kumar rushed to the spot and met the troops the very next day, the absence of a regular chief at such crucial moments is felt.

There has been no word on the appointment of the new DG, the CRPF officer said.

In the first week of April, 168 recruits of the force suffered food poisoning at their camp in Pallipuram in Kerala and had to be hospitalised.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had taken strong exception of the incident and also convened a meeting of all paramilitary chiefs asking them to keep a check on such instances.

It is always good to have a full-time chief who is empowered to take confident policy decisions. It is surprising to see that the 3-lakh personnel force, which is also the largest paramilitary across the globe, is kept headless and without a regular DG for well about two months, another officer said.

The CRPF is not only the lead anti-Maoist operations force of the country but also heavily deployed for rendering law and order duties in various states in assistance to local police and for conducting anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.
The government seeks custody of liquor baron Vijay Mallya from the UK, but Indias success rate at extradition has been no more than 36% over 15 years, according to this report by Factly.in, a data journalism portal. This means India managed one extradition of every three sought.

While 62 fugitives have been extradited to India from a foreign country between 2002 and 2016, 110 fugitives are yet to be extradited though a formal request has been made by India, according to an answer to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) on December 6, 2016, Factly reported.

Mallya was arrested by the Scotland Yard  and released on bail  on April 18, 2017, in connection with an extradition request filed by India on February 8, 2017. The UK government has sent the request to the concerned court, and his arrest marks the beginning of the process of extradition.

Mallya is wanted in several cases related to economic offences in India. The now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines that he set up owes over Rs 9,000 crore to state-owned and private banks, as The Indian Express reported on April 18, 2017.

There were 16 extradition requests pending with UK as of July 2016, according to this answer to the Lok Sabha. Only one fugitive has been extradited from UK  Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, an Indian citizen, for murder; the extradition came in October 2016, 23 years after Indias extradition treaty with the UK came into force in 1993.

The highest extraditions happened from UAE (18), followed by USA (9). While four each were extradited from Canada and Thailand, three have been extradited from Germany and South Africa.

India has extradition treaties with 47 countries.

India also has extradition arrangements with nine other countries  Croatia, Fiji, Italy, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Sweden and Tanzania.

What is the process of extradition?

A request for extradition can be initiated against a fugitive criminal who is formally accused of, charged with or convicted of an extradition offence. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) takes up extradition requests with the concerned foreign countries when a request for extradition is received from the relevant law enforcement agencies in India.

All extradition requests should be supported by documents and information as prescribed by the MEA guidelines. It has to be noted that each extradition request is different and the request is dependent on the specific treaty/agreement signed with a country. The offence should also be defined in the list of the extradition offences.

What are the offences defined in the extradition treaty with UK?

The extradition treaty signed in 1993 with the UK defines the scope of the extradition offence as one which is punishable by law for a term of imprisonment of at least one year. The treaty does not classify political offences as extradition offences but it provides an exhaustive list of offences that will not be treated as a political offence.

Most fugitives extradited in 2005

The most (8) fugitives were extradited in 2005 followed by seven each in 2003 and 2004. Six fugitives were extradited in 2015 during the rule of the current government.

Most people extradited for murder and terrorism-related offences

Out of the 62 fugitives extradited since 2002, 14 were extradited for murder-related offences and 10 for offences related to criminal conspiracy.

As many as nine fugitives were extradited for terrorism-related offences, including three of them from the UAE, in relation to the Mumbai bomb blasts in 1993.

Rakesh Dubbudu has been working on issues related to the Right to Information for a decade. He is a data/information enthusiast & is passionate about governance/policy issues. Factly.in is dedicated to making public data meaningful.

Published in arrangement with IndiaSpend
Demonetisation seems to have had an effect on the appetite of some wild tuskers in Assam, who broke into a shop and consumed high-value currency notes on Monday.

The incident took place at Tarajuli Tea Estate in Sonitpur district, located nearly 200 km north-east of the state capital, when three-four wild elephants entered the area in search of food. The elephants entered the shop and consumed nearly Rs 26,000 in Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes kept in the cash box, Rajendra Duggal, owner of the shop, told a local TV channel.

According to him, there was Rs 40,000 in the cash box, but the tuskers didnt consume the bundles of notes in small denominations, including Rs 50 and Rs 10. The group left the scene after the incident.

The wild elephants broke into the shop at the Tarajuli Tea Estate in Sonitpur district. (HT Photo)

The incident happened around 2am. Besides damaging two houses and the shop, the elephants ingested some cash kept at the shop. No one was hurt or injured, Sonitpur West divisional forest officer Davinder Suman told HT.

This is the third instance of wild elephants raiding the shop located inside the tea estate. But its the first time they broke the cash box and consumed notes.

Usually, herds of wild elephants enter villages across Assam in search of food and also to taste the country liquor locally brewed in homes. This could be the first instance of tuskers consuming currency notes in the state.

Man-elephant conflict due to factors like rapid loss of dense forests, infrastructure projects falling in elephant habitats and growing frustration of villagers due to loss of property and lives is one the rise in Assam.

Between 2006 and 2016, wild elephants killed 785 people in the state. Another set of figures by the forest department shows between 2001 and 2014, 225 pachyderms fell victim to poaching, speeding trains, poisoning, electrocution etc.

Unable to find enough resources to sustain in the old habitats, elephants venture close to villages and human settlements, damage crops and in many instances kill, maim humans.

In a bid to save themselves and their property, humans try to chase away the pachyderms with drums, sticks, spears and fire-torches. Some even resort to poisoning and electrocuting the wild animals.

Assam has the highest number of wild elephants in India. The figure has steadily climbed from 5,246 in 2002 to 5,620 in 2011. It is expected to touch nearly 6,000 when census takes place this year.

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Twenty-three former IAS officers have written an open letter to Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje demanding the arrest of all those who attacked a 55-year-old dairy farmer from Haryana in the states Alwar district, and end all vigilantism in the name of cow protection.

The former bureaucrats, including Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Arun Kumar, Aruna Roy and Wajahat Habibullah, said they were disturbed by the lynching and murder of Pehlu Khan, and added that this kind of vigilantism, if not checked, will lead to large-scale violence. They also demanded punishment for police and administrative personnel for dereliction of duty in the letter written on April 23.

We are dismayed by the acts of omission and commission of the government following the incident, including the delay and marked reluctance in arresting those guilty of the act, the bureaucrats have written.

While one may have differing sentiments on the importance of cows, and their slaughter or consumption, the killing of Pehlu Khan by an arbitrary self-appointed group of vigilantes shows how much we have succeeded in undermining the principles and values on which we have based our nation, they said.

Khan and four other dairy farmers were attacked by alleged cow vigilantes on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway on April 1 when they were returning to Nuh, their village, after buying cows from the weekly cattle market in Jaipur. He died in hospital 2 days later while others were discharged and taken to other hospitals in Haryana and Delhi.

The police have named 6 people in the FIR lodged in connection with the case but have failed to arrest anyone so far. However, they have arrested 6 others, identified from the videos of the attack that were circulated on social media.

The former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers said that the post facto delays in acting against the attackers reflected the inefficacy of the Raje government.

Chief minister Raje, who is active on social media, is yet to break her silence on the issue.

The letter said that a reprehensible attempt on the part of certain people in authority in Rajasthan as well as in the Union government to deny this horrific incident or to minimise its gravity have made them complicit in the crime with their inaction and silence.

The reference was to Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Katarias statement a few days after Khans death, saying that the dairy farmers were cow smugglers. The minister repeated the charge in Rajasthan assembly on Monday.

The former IAS officers have urged Raje to take a decisive action on the dying statement of Khan.

The culprits must be arrested to restore the faith of the victims families and their communities in the system of justice in the country. The failure to take immediate action at this juncture will amount to a mockery of good governance and the rule of law and will inevitably lead to anarchy, they have written.

A number of activists from Left parties, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and labour organisations are staging a 3-day dharna from Monday outside the Vidhan Sabha criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan for giving cow vigilantes a free run in the state.
Heres a list of top 10 stories to bring you up to date.

25 CRPF personnel killed in Maoist encounter in Chhattisgarh, PM Modi calls attack cowardly, deplorable

Suspected Maoist militants killed 25 paramilitary personnel and injured six in Chhattisgarhs south Sukma region on Monday, police said, in an ambush possibly to thwart a crucial road link the government believes would break the back of the insurgent group. The midday attack, which occurred between the Burkapal-Chintagufa area in the Maoist hotbed of Bastar, is the worst in seven years. Mondays victims were part of a 99-strong team providing security to workers building the road. Survivors of the attack said about 300 militants waylaid them, firing with rifles from hilltops. Senior police officers said the security party was having lunch when they were attacked.

Read the story here.

Cows to get unique identification numbers, tags with details of horn, tail: Centres proposal to SC

The central government will soon approve tamper-proof identity tags for all cattle in the country that will document a range of data, including a unique number and the type of their horn and tail, solicitor general Ranjit Kumar told the Supreme Court on Monday. A government-appointed panel headed by a joint secretary of the Union home ministry came up with the idea as part of efforts to prevent illegal transportation of cattle and livestock to Bangladesh. The panels report was submitted on the top court on Monday, and Kumar told the bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar that the government backed the suggestions.

Read the story here.

Musharraf defends Hafiz Saeed, claims he was not involved in Mumbai attacks

Pakistans former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has claimed that Jamaat-ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed was not involved in the 2008 Mumbai attack that left 166 people dead. I dont think Saeed was behind the 26/11 attacks. In Pakistan, we dont call him a terrorist, the 73-year-old Musharraf said. Referring to Saeeds house arrest in Pakistan, Musharraf said, Let me surprise you. The Hafiz Saeed issue is an issue in India, not in the United States. They may be talk about Haqqani and Shakil Afridi... they dont talk about Hafiz Saeed, only India keeps talking about him, he said, while talking about the Mumbai attacks.

Read the story here.

For Indians, America under Trump is a land of vanished opportunity

Generations of Indians have admired the United States for almost everything. But many are infuriated and unnerved by what they see as a wave of racist violence under President Donald Trump, souring the United States allure. The reaction is not just anger and anxiety. Now, young Indians who have aspired to study, live and work in the United States are looking elsewhere. We dont know what might happen to us while walking on the street there, said Kanika Arora, a 20-year-old student in Mumbai who is reconsidering her plan to study in the United States. They might just think that were terrorists.

Read the story here.

Army canteens suspend sales of Patanjali amla juice; company blames Uttarakhand dept

The Canteen Stores Department (CSD), the retailing entity selling consumer goods to the armed forces, has suspended the sale of a batch of Patanjali Ayurvedas amla juice after it failed to clear a laboratory test. The Haridwar-based ayurveda firm, promoted by yoga guru Ramdev, however, blamed an Uttarakhand government department for the fiasco. Defence ministry sources said a show cause notice has been served on the company after the juice failed the test carried out at West Bengal Public Health Laboratory in Kolkata. The company has said Amla juice is an Ayurvedic proprietary medicine and department should have conducted examination under prescribed (Ayurveda) category and not under food category.

Read the story here.

Days after Jharkhand breach, govt websites continue to bleed Aadhaar data

Days after Hindustan Times reported a data breach of over a million Aadhaar numbers from a Jharkhand government website, at least four more instances of similar leaks on other government websites have come to light. These breaches come at a time when the Supreme Court is hearing a set of petitions challenging a controversial government decision to make it mandatory to seed Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) with Aadhaar numbers for filing income tax returns. The unsecure websites investigated by HT include a scholarship database in Uttar Pradesh, a public distribution system website in Chandigarh, a pensioners dashboard in Kerala and a Swachh Bharat Mission website maintained by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, which cumulatively compromise the digital identities of thousands of citizens.

Read the story here.

Students clash with security forces, 24 hurt as protests rock Srinagar again

Twenty four people, including 12 security personnel, were injured on Monday as students clashed with police who used tear gas to disperse the protesters as colleges opened in Kashmir after a five-day shutdown. As soon as colleges reopened on Monday, students of Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School and College came out on roads adjacent to the institutions and pelted stones on security forces who retaliated with tear gas and water cannons. Students shouted Islamic and pro-azaadi slogans as they charged at the security personnel and threw stones that left a dozen policemen injured.

Read the full story here.

Cops, scribes injured as cow vigilantes trigger tension in Jharkhands Giridih

A day after self-styled Gau Rakshaks (cow vigilantes) triggered tension in Jharkhands Giridih district which left over a dozen persons and seven cops injured, the sensitive areas remained under police surveillance on Monday, with only a few shopkeepers daring to up the shutters. Tension simmered in the town a few hours after cow vigilantes found three bovine-laden trucks on way to Bengal from Bihar via Bengabad-Madhupur on Saturday. The protests by the Gau Rakshaks against alleged cow smuggling took a violent turn on Sunday morning, police said.

Read the story here.

Testing times for Adityanath govt as saffron outfits run riot in UP

Violence involving right wing Hindu organisations from various parts of Uttar Pradesh is proving to be an embarrassment for the Yogi Adityanath government. The volatile situation even forced chief minister Yogi Adityanath to send a clear message of zero tolerance on law and order front. The

Saharanpur violence on Friday was latest in the series of incidents that have rocked the state after the BJP formed the government in U.P. After the CM took a tough stand on the issue, an FIR was lodged against BJP workers and eight people were arrested on Monday.

Read the story here.

IPL 2017: Rising Pune Supergiant halt Mumbai Indians winning spree, rise to 4th

Rohit Sharmas splendid 58 went in vain as Ben Stokess 2/21 and a brilliant final over from Jaydev Unadkat guided Rising Pune Supergiant to a thrilling win over Mumbai Indians. Steve Smiths men have now risen to fourth in IPL 2017 standings while MI are still at the top with 12 points.

Read the story here.
The government said on Tuesday it has accepted the challenge thrown by Maoists and hinted at adopting a revised strategy to tackle Left-wing insurgents who killed 25 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh in one of the bloodiest massacres of security personnel in India.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who visited Chhattisgarh capital Raipur following Mondays ambush in south Suma, described the incident as cold blooded murder and is understood to have sought visible action against the rebels within two months.

The midday attack in the insurgency hotbed of Bastar is the worst since Maoist rebels -- who claim to be fighting for land rights of marginalised tribal communities  killed 75 CRPF troopers in the same region in 2010.

It is an act of desperation. We have accepted it as a challenge. We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it, the home ministry quoted Singh as saying. He also called a meeting of 10 Maoist-affected states on May 8 to review measures to tackle what is described as Indias biggest internal security threat.

Speaking to reporters in Raipur, the minister called the ambush a desperate attempt to block development and said the government had taken the strike as a challenge.

The naxals (Maoists) wont succeedwe will revise and renew our strategy at a meeting on May 8, he said after paying homage to the CRPF personnel at a wreath-laying ceremony.

In Delhi, home ministry officials ruled out army deployment in the Maoist-affected areas saying it was an internal security matter that it will be handled by police and paramilitary.

This is not the first time the government has ruled out using the army against the Maoists. The army had also voiced concerns over any such deployment though Air Force choppers provide logistical support to security forces on ground.

Sources said Singh asked acting CRPF chief Sudeep Lakhtakia and its former chief K Vijay Kumar, who is now a security advisor with the home ministry, to stay in Chhattisgarh and come up with a revised strategy to counter Maoist.

The minister told them he needs results on ground within next two months and such losses of personnel are unacceptable. The minister made his displeasure known to the security brass, said a source privy to the discussions.

In Sukma, CRPF officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the Maoists are well-versed with the movement of forces and target them when the they are most vulnerable  while having lunch.

Mondays ambush was also mounted when the 99-strong CRPF road opening party  which provide security to workers laying roads in the Maoist stronghold  had stopped for lunch. Maoists are opposed to the road, fearing that it will make movement of security forces easier to deep within the rebel strongholds.

Several Maoist groups are active in India though most of them are said to be just rag-tag bunch of armed men involved in threatening and kidnapping for ransom. Left-wing insurgency has claimed around 10,000 lives across several states since it started in the 1960s.

The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been seeking to stem the insurgency by earmarking development funds for revolt-hit areas and improving policing.

(With agency inputs)
Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday termed the deadly Maoist attack on CRPF personnel in Chattisgarh cold blooded murder, saying the government has accepted the challenge and it will take strong action.

At least 25 soldiers died a day ago after a nearly 100-strong patrol party was ambushed in Sukma, considered among Indias worst insurgency-hit regions.

Singh, who visited Raipur to take stock of the situation, said the government will review its strategy to combat Maoist militancy and deploy more senior officers in the region.

It is an act of desperation. We have accepted it as a challenge. We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it, his ministry tweeted.

Speaking to reporters in Raipur, the minister called the midday ambush of CRPF personnel a desperate attempt to block development and said the government had taken the strike as a challenge.

The naxals (Maoists) wont succeedwe will revise and renew our strategy at a meeting on May 8, he said. The Centre and state governments will together work and take action.

He paid homage to deceased CRPF personnel at a wreath-laying ceremony at the headquarters of the 4th battalion of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force in the Mana camp area.

Chhattisgarh governor Balramji Das Tandon, chief minister Raman Singh, Union minister of state for home affairs Hansraj Ahir and senior state and paramilitary officials were also present at the ceremony.

The home minister said Maoists were the biggest enemies of tribal and poor people in the area and were against any development.

But they will not succeed in their evil designs, he said, asserting that the Centre and the state would work together to fight them.

Maoist attacks: 2007-2017 2017

March 12: 12 CRPF jawans were killed in a Maoist attack in insurgency-hit Sukma district in Chhattisgarh.

January 29: One CRPF jawan was killed in an explosion of a pressure bomb allegedly planted by Naxals in Sukma.

2016

March 31: Seven policemen were killed in a powerful landmine blast in Chhattisgarhs Raipur district.

2014

March 11: 15 security personnel were killed in a Maoist attack in Sukma district.

2013

May 25: 25 Congress leaders were killed, including former state minister Mahendra Karma, in an attack in Chhattisgarhs Darbha valley.

2010

June 29: 26 CRPF jawans were killed in a Maoist ambush attack in Chhattisgarhs Narayanpur district.

April 6: Maoists killed 75 CRPF personnel and a state police official in an attack on a convoy of security forces in Chh attisgarhs Dantewada district.

February 15: 24 personnel of the Eastern Frontier Rifles were shot dead by Maoists when they attacked their camp in Sealdah in West Bengals West Midnapore district. 2009

October 8: A Maoists attack on Laheri police station in Maharashtras Gadchiroli district killed 17 policemen.

May 22: 16 cops were killed in an attack by Maoists in the jungles of Maharashtras Gadchiroli district.

2008

July 16: Naxals killed 21 policemen in Odishas Malkangiri district after they blew up a police van with a landmine.

June 29: 38 troops were killed in Odishas Balimela reservoir when Maoists carried out an attack on a boat carrying four police officials and 60 greyhound commandoes.

2007

October 27: Former Jharkand CM Babulal Marandis son Anup and 17 others were killed in a Naxal attack in Giridh district of Jharkhand.

March 15: 55 policemen were killed in their sleep when more than 500 Naxals attacked a police outpost in Chhattisgarhs Rani Bodi village. 12 CRPF jawans were killed in a Maoist attack in insurgency-hit Sukma district in Chhattisgarh.One CRPF jawan was killed in an explosion of a pressure bomb allegedly planted by Naxals in Sukma.Seven policemen were killed in a powerful landmine blast in Chhattisgarhs Raipur district.15 security personnel were killed in a Maoist attack in Sukma district.25 Congress leaders were killed, including former state minister Mahendra Karma, in an attack in Chhattisgarhs Darbha valley.26 CRPF jawans were killed in a Maoist ambush attack in Chhattisgarhs Narayanpur district.Maoists killed 75 CRPF personnel and a state police official in an attack on a convoy of security forces in Chh attisgarhs Dantewada district.24 personnel of the Eastern Frontier Rifles were shot dead by Maoists when they attacked their camp in Sealdah in West Bengals West Midnapore district.A Maoists attack on Laheri police station in Maharashtras Gadchiroli district killed 17 policemen.16 cops were killed in an attack by Maoists in the jungles of Maharashtras Gadchiroli district.Naxals killed 21 policemen in Odishas Malkangiri district after they blew up a police van with a landmine.38 troops were killed in Odishas Balimela reservoir when Maoists carried out an attack on a boat carrying four police officials and 60 greyhound commandoes.Former Jharkand CM Babulal Marandis son Anup and 17 others were killed in a Naxal attack in Giridh district of Jharkhand.55 policemen were killed in their sleep when more than 500 Naxals attacked a police outpost in Chhattisgarhs Rani Bodi village.

Chhattisgarh CM Singh too called the attack condemnable and said development work as well as anti-Maoist operations will continue unabated.

We will increase our development activities as well as strengthen our operation, he said.

Mondays attack, which occurred between the Burkapal-Chintagufa area in the Maoist hotbed of Bastar, is the worst in seven years. In 2010, rebels killed 75 CRPF troopers in the same region. Mondays victims were part of a 99-strong team providing security to workers building the road.

On March 11, suspected Maoist rebels ambushed a similar CRPF road opening party and killed at least 12 troopers in Sukma.

(With agency inputs)
Brothers Ashfaq and Mushtaq Khan were ostracised all their young life because of the way they looked but they now appear to be on the path to leading a normal life.

A couple of months after HT highlighted their plight, the two Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia (HED) patients from Vidisha districts Ramnagar village have started receiving help from organisations and individuals.

Ten-year-old Ashfaq and seven-year-old Mushtaq are now being treated at Lucknows Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), which has paved the way for diluting the discrimination they faced from villagers, who had labelled the brothers ghost boys.

The genetic disease had manifested in four pointy teeth in the boys upper jaw, hair peppered with grey, flat noses, dark and cracked skin, and thin and reedy voices.

I am a labourer. It was difficult for me to bear travel expenses to go to even Bhopal, which is just 100km away from our village. But people helped us. Now, at least I am aware of the disease my kids have. Their treatment has also started, the boys father, Ajeet Khan, said.

An awareness campaign was also organised to inform the villagers that the two kids were not suffering from a communicable disease. We organised two seminars for villagers with the help of school teachers. We explained to them about the disease and also that if villagers helped the kids, they could live a normal life, said Ravi Goyal, executive director of NGO Shaktishali Mahila Sangathan Samiti (SMSS).

The NGO also created a WhatsApp group that has helped bring in donations for the brothers, including 30,000 from the 1979 batch of probationary officers of State Bank of India. The grants have helped Khans family buy a solar fan and ice box for the brothers, who experience excessive heat because of the HED.

Now, they spend the whole time in front of the fan. If they feel hot, they cool themselves by spraying water and rubbing ice cubes on their toes, said the boys mother.

Scorned, ridiculed and even pelted with stones till two months ago, the brothers now have friends.

Earlier kids didnt play with them but now they spend the whole day with the boys. Drastic change has come in villagers behaviour, said Kaluram Ahirwar, a teacher.

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An army Majors wife was found hanging at their official quarters located under Bolarum police station in Hyderabad, police said on Tuesday.

The deceased, Sandhya Singh, who was a radio jockey, was found hanging on Thursday, police said.

Her husband Major Vaibhav Vishal is currently working in 54th Infantry Division here. The deceased was working as a radio jockey, deputy commissioner of police B Sumathi said.

According to the police official, it was a love marriage and the deceased belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC) community from Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, based on the information provided by her husband, a case of suicide had been registered.

However, the family members of the deceased alleged that her husband had been harassing her for dowry. Following this, the army Major was booked under section 304 (b) (dowry death), and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act at Bolarum police station, police said.

We wrote a letter to the Army officials seeking his custody. As per the communication, we received from them that he (Major Vishal) is in ICU of an army hospital due to health problems. The army assured us that he will be handed over to us as soon as he will be fine medically, Sumathi said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday assured his Nepalese counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda that India will extend all possible assistance for the elections to in Nepals local government bodies scheduled for May and June.

The poll process came under a cloud after political parties in the Madhes region bordering India threatened to boycott the voting to pressure the government to address their demands, including the amendment of Nepals new Constitution.

The tabling of a revised constitutional amendment bill by the government in Parliament has heightened the chances of Madhesi parties participating in the polls.

During the telephone conversation, Modi conveyed his best wishes to Prachanda for the successful conclusion of the elections to be held in two phases on May 14 and June 14. These will be the first polls to local government bodies in 20 years.

Modi conveyed the support of the people and government of India for Nepals efforts to achieve peace, stability and socio-economic transformation, and assured Prachanda that New Delhi will extend all possible assistance for the polls, according to an official statement.

Prachanda thanked Modi and said Nepal will implement the new Constitution by holding the elections on time, the statement said.

A separate statement issued by the Indian side said the two prime ministers discussed recent developments in bilateral relations, including Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandaris recent visit to India.

Prachanda spoke about his governments efforts to take all stakeholders on board in the constitution implementation process and sought Indias assistance for the upcoming elections.

However, there was confusion about one aspect of the telephone conversation: Who initiated the call. The statement issued by Prachandas secretariat said Modi had called the Nepalese prime minister. The Indian statement said Prachanda made the telephone call.

The confusion also gave rise to different theories in Kathmandu about Indias position on the polls.
The CRPF, Indias largest paramilitary force, has been virtually headless for the last two months due to non-availability of enough eligible Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in the rank of director general (DG) who can be considered for its top post.

But thats only the tip of the iceberg.

Besides not having a regular chief, the CRPF  which lost 25 personnel in a suspected Maoist attack in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district on Tuesday  has six more vacancies at the special director general (SDG) level. The SDG is the second-highest rank after the DG at central police organisations such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency and Bureau of Police Research and Development, besides paramilitary forces.

More significantly, around half-a-dozen additional DG-level vacancies are likely to crop up in the next six months.

The Centre doesnt have enough IPS officers in the rank of DG or SDG to fill up these vacancies. But the process of promoting 1984-batch IPS officers to the rank of DG to fill up these posts is on. It is expected to be completed in a month, said a home ministry official on the condition of anonymity.

This is why Sudeep Lakhtakia, a 1984-batch IPS officer, has been heading the CRPF as acting chief ever since his predecessor, K Durga Prasad, retired on February 28. He will be eligible to hold the post of DG only if he is empanelled or  in other words  promoted to the rank at the Centre.

Just two weeks ago, the Central IPS Association (CIPSA) took up the issue of senior-level vacancies at central police organisations with home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, and requested that 1984-batch IPS officers be granted an early promotion.

The CIPSA also asked the home secretary to promote eligible officers from the 1985 batch to the rank of DGs, keeping in view the vacancies that will crop up in central police organisations over the next six months, said an office-bearer of the association.

However, inside sources dropped broad hints about a likely delay in the process  considering that even 1984-batch IAS officers havent been promoted to the rank of secretary at the Centre. The IAS lobby generally tries to keep a gap of six months to a year between the empanelment of IAS and IPS officers from the same batch. This is done to provide IAS officers with an edge over their IPS counterparts. And as the 1984 batch of IAS officers are yet to be promoted to the post of secretary, the wait for IPS officers from the same batch is only going to be longer, said a senior IPS officer who is yet to be promoted to the DG post at the Centre despite working in that very capacity in his state.

The 1984-batch IAS officers are likely to be empanelled as secretary in the next few days. According to the IPS lobby, comparative promotions at their end should also be carried out immediately. If functional requirements warrant the early promotion of a batch, there should not be any restriction on the promotion or empanelment of a particular batch of IPS officers, the officer said.

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Each time I tweet, I get an instantaneous response from a select few. They are on my timeline without fail and they are always abusive. There is no pretence of building a counter-narrative. They crawl out like termites and I sometimes wonder if theyve been assigned different targets.

Social media is full of keyboard warriors and most of them are, of course, nameless and faceless. Ive often wondered what motivates them. How does downright filthy language come so easily to them? Are they paid for their vitriol? Are they just paper tigers that shoot and scoot into their anonymous worlds or do their tweets represent their worldview?

It takes me over a week to fix a meeting with a troll. I am forced to follow those who abuse me so I can send them direct messages but they dont reply, endorsing my view that theyre faceless bullies. In the end, a contact helps me set up a meeting. The contact was associated with the BJP for the 2014 general election but claims he has fallen out with the party. The troll too appears to be a BJP follower from his tweets. He always addresses Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Subramanian Swamy as Sir. Rahul Gandhi is the son of an Italian bar waitress, Jawaharlal Nehru was a syphilis patient and Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor are colonial slaves and asslickers

Since the troll is cloaked in anonymity and wrapped in a dark world he prefers to shroud himself in, lets call him Shiv.

A few hours before our meeting, questions swirl through my mind.

What will Shiv be like in person? Will be as bigoted as his tweets? As nasty? As unreasonable? As unrelenting? As unidimensional?

Lets talk about trolls | My father took real bullets, I can take hate bullets: Gurmehar Kaur

A perusal of his tweets over the last few years made it crystal clear that he saw himself as a staunch Hindu. He believes Muslims are no ones friends except jihadis. He is clearly allergic to anything secular, including the founders of the nation. Women are fair meat. He claims to be deeply religious but doesnt bat an eyelid before offering to feed a Muslim journalist a pork burger. He recently even warned Shehla Rashid, the high-profile student from JNU, against blowing herself off because there isnt provision of 72 males.

Will Shiv endorse his views or will eye contact make a difference?

I walk purposefully towards the courtyard where he is seated on a hot, sunny day. He gives me the once-over and waits for me to start the conversation.

Shiv has called me anti-national and sees me as a libtard. He thinks I support Kashmirs stone-pelters and have made excuses for Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhars jihad by quoting from his own interrogation report on how he turned his attention to India after the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Trolls  including the one on front of me -- are swift with delivering judgements. They are only comfortable when they can slot you, so I deserve to go to Pakistan because I am an ISI agent.

Shiv is a 32-year-old engineer from Gujarat and is currently without a job. He has close to 17,000 followers on Twitter and of the 1600-odd people that Prime Minister Narendra Modi follows, Shiv is one of them.

I and my troll are face to face at a hotel in Pune.

Why cant you tweet without being virulent?

Dressed in a shirt and trouser, he looks like the guy next door. He is not shifty. His body language is aggressive and he looks me straight in the eye.

The answer is pat.

Every action has a reaction. If you speak against my faith, I wont spare you. If you poke, I will poke. If you say Bharat tere tukde honge, toh tumhare bhi tukde karenge.

You abuse online. Will you do the same in person?

If Im assaulted physically, I will also respond, physically.

Why do you have so much anger in you? Why do you hate Muslims so much? Havent you had Muslims in your classroom, as neighbours? Isnt anyone from the community a friend?

Kashmiri Pandits have been driven out of their homes. Our temples have been razed. Fifty nine kar sewaks were burnt alive. They cut cows. They are not our brothers and they cant be our friends.

Isnt that illogical? At least a 1,000 Muslims were killed in the post-Godhra riots. They were innocents. You come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi late mara, pehle marna chaheye tha (Gandhi died late, he should have died earlier). India would not have been broken into two.

It is difficult not to wince. The Shiv sitting in front of me is a mirror image of his online avatar. Im reminded of a tweet hed sent to Shabana Azmi saying, she might have produced four kids if Javed Akhtar had taken her to honeymoon instead of Aryan-Dravidian goats.

Who are your political role models?

Savarkar and Bal Thackeray.

Thackeray was held guilty for his role in the Mumbai riots by a judicial commission.

Every action has a reaction.

Are you a Modi bhakt?

Only Gods have bhakts.

Do you associate yourself with the BJPs political ideology?

I will pick Shiv Sena over BJP. I prefer Yogi Adityanath to Narendra Modi. Why does your blood pressure shoot up when you see saffron?

It is time to remind him that Adityanath has made incendiary speeches and has been booked for attempt to murder and an attack at a place of worship.

His reply is no different from those expressed online. His body language continues to remain aggressive.

He has barely taken oath and you are judging him. Let him work before you brand him.

Do you ever relax? Listen to music or watch movies?

I meditate and listen to Kishore Kumar songs. I can sing too.

Who is your favourite actor?

Only Akshay Kumar is pro-India. Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan dont feel safe in India. They live in India, earn in India but dont feel safe in India. Ill troll Aamir Khan till Im alive. He did recently, asking him why he wasnt speaking up against illegal slaughter houses. Mouth full of swine poo or camel piss, he had asked

Why?

He insulted Shivji in the movie PK.

It was cleared by the censor board. Why do you want to be the judge and jury on everything?

The censor board is run by humans. They make mistakes.

Since I know Shiv is single, I ask him if he has a girl friend.

I did but we parted ways mutually because Im not earning enough. He has just got a license to export spices to the Middle East but still has to start work.

Have you ever felt that you hurt people you troll by being abusive? You are trolling people who dont even know you. For you Aamir and Shah Rukh are not actors but Muslims. Why?

If you hurt me, Ill hurt you.

He is proud of being blocked and reveals some names: Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai and Rana Ayyub.

Why does Modi follow you? Are you associated with the BJP?

May be he likes my ideology.

The trolls ideology is reinforced when he says, The last train to Pakistan is still to leave.

Harinder Baweja is Editor, Special Projects at Hindustan Times.

This piece is part of HTs new campaign, Lets Talk About Trolls, which focuses sharp attention on online abuse and bullying.

Join HTs campaign to mark April 26 as #AntiTrollingDay. Share your views with us at letstalkabouttrolls@hindustantimes.com or @htTweets with #LetsTalkAboutTrolls and we will feature your response.

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The Madras high court on Tuesday asked Tamil Nadu government not to open any state-run retail liquor vending shops near highways for the next three months, stalling a government move to circumvent a Supreme Court order.

The court issued the interim order on a petition filed by the opposition DMK and another political party amid growing protests across the state against Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) relocating its retail outlets closer to residential areas.

Taking up the case, a two-member bench comprising chief justice Indira Banerjee and justice M Sundar directed the government to give an undertaking that it would not open any liquor shop along highways. Failing which, she said, the court would come out with a specific order.

The interim order was issued after the two sides presented their arguments. The case was posted for further hearing on July 12.

The top court in December last year ordered all establishments selling liquor within 500 metres of national and state highways across India to relocate.

In a bid to circumvent the order, the state government started denotifying the state highways by handing them over to respective municipalities.

The DMK and Pattali Makkal Katchi had moved the petition on Monday seeking urgent directive to prevent the government from opening the TASMAC-owned liquor shops.

Opposing a recent circular issued by the commissioner for municipal administration asking municipalities across the state to take over state and national highways, senior DMK counsel P Wilson said, The state has no jurisdiction or power to take over national highways.

The municipalities also do not have the power to take over state highways, Wilson submitted to the court.

Besides, the government order circulated through the commissioner was aimed at circumventing the SC order on liquor vends on national and state highways, the lawyer said.

Tuesdays interim order is applicable only to liquor outlets the government proposed to set up along the highways circumventing the apex courts order till the next three months, when the court will hear the case again.

The DMK that has promised total prohibition in its last election manifesto, has taken a strong stand against the Tasmac shops and has been supporting anti-liquor outlets protests, spearheaded mainly by womenfolk across the state.

In some places, villagers have destroyed Tasmac shops that were shifting into residential areas after the SC order.

DMK working president MK Stalin, launching a scathing attack on the government, said it was more interested in providing liquor to the people than water for drinking and irrigation purposes.

The government is keen on reopening closed liquor shops, but it did not seem to share the same enthusiasm when it comes to providing safe drinking water to the masses, Stalin alleged at a public rally at Tiruchirapalli on Monday.

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The Bombay high court on Tuesday gave bail to 2008 Malegaon blasts accused Pragya Singh Thakur but refused relief to co-accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit.

A bench of justice Ranjit More and justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi said the court had found no prima facie evidence against the saffron-robed religious leader and asked her to deposit a cash surety of Rs 5 lakh.

Six persons were killed in blasts close to a mosque in Maharashtras Malegaon on September 29, 2008. In its charge sheet filed next year, the state anti-terrorism squad named 14 people, including Thakur and Purohit who were arrested on charges of being key conspirators.

THE BLAST AND AFTER INCIDENT

September 29, 2008: A bomb planted on a motorcycle went off at Malegaon, killing six people and injuring 101



MAIN ACCUSED

Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit

Role: He was arrested on November 5, 2008, and according to ATS played a key role in the formation of Abhinav Bharat, with "the intention to propagate a separate Hindu Rashtra with its own constitution".



Pragya Singh Thakur

Role: Her motorcycle was allegedly used in the blast.



Bharat Ratekar

Allegedly a member of Abhinav Bharat, he and Aseemanand, who ran the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram at Dangs in Gujarat, had introduced Purohit to Pragya Singh Thakur. A bomb planted on a motorcycle went off at Malegaon, killing six people and injuring 101He was arrested on November 5, 2008, and according to ATS played a key role in the formation of Abhinav Bharat, with "the intention to propagate a separate Hindu Rashtra with its own constitution".Her motorcycle was allegedly used in the blast.Allegedly a member of Abhinav Bharat, he and Aseemanand, who ran the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram at Dangs in Gujarat, had introduced Purohit to Pragya Singh Thakur.

The case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency in 2011.

The NIA had last year dropped all charges against Thakur and five others, triggering Opposition allegations that the Hindu terror accused were freed because of government pressure. The agency said it found no evidence against Thakur and others.

Welcoming the order, Thakurs brother brother-in-law Bhagwan Jha said the family was delighted. Finally, we have won. Nine years she was in jail without evidence. Now we will celebrate nationwide, he told reporters outside the court as he distributed chocolates.

The high court was hearing appeals filed by Thakur and Purohit against an earlier order of a special court that rejected their bail pleas.

The families of the victims on Tuesday sought a stay on the order so that they could appeal against it in the Supreme Court.

THE CASE October 24, 2008: The police arrest 3 people in connection with the blast  Pragya Singh Thakur, Shiv Narayan Gopal Singh Kalsanghra and Shyam Bhawarlal Sahu November 4, 2008: The ATS arrests Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, a serving Army officer, for his involvement in the blast January 30, 2009: ATS files a final charge sheet against 11 accused in the case July 31, 2009: The special court says the MCOCA charges are not applicable and the case be tried by a regular Nasik court July 07, 2010: The Bombay high court reverses the order and upholds the charges under provisions of MCOCA August 2010: Col Prasad Purohit and Pragya Singh Thakur challenge the order of the Bombay high court upholding the MCOCA charges April 1, 2011: Investigation transferred to NIA April 15, 2015: SC sends the case back to the lower court to re-consider the applicability of MCOCA October 12, 2015: The court rejects the bail application of four accused, but held that MCOCA is applicable April 25, 2017: HC grants bail to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur but rejects bail of Lt Col Prasad Purohit The police arrest 3 people in connection with the blast  Pragya Singh Thakur, Shiv Narayan Gopal Singh Kalsanghra and Shyam Bhawarlal SahuThe ATS arrests Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, a serving Army officer, for his involvement in the blastATS files a final charge sheet against 11 accused in the caseThe special court says the MCOCA charges are not applicable and the case be tried by a regular Nasik courtThe Bombay high court reverses the order and upholds the charges under provisions of MCOCACol Prasad Purohit and Pragya Singh Thakur challenge the order of the Bombay high court upholding the MCOCA chargesInvestigation transferred to NIASC sends the case back to the lower court to re-consider the applicability of MCOCAThe court rejects the bail application of four accused, but held that MCOCA is applicableHC grants bail to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur but rejects bail of Lt Col Prasad Purohit

According to investigating agencies, the blast was allegedly carried out by right-wing group Abhinav Bharat and 11 persons are in jail in the case.

In her appeal, Thakur argued that the lower court failed to take note of the change in circumstances in her case considering that the NIA declared in its charge sheet that it found no evidence against her and charges should be dropped.

Families of some of the victims had been arguing that there was enough evidence in the ATS charge sheet to establish that Thakur was one of the main conspirators.

The NIA opposed Purohits bail plea and argued that there was prima facie evidence in the form of audio and video recordings, call data records and witness statements that proved his involvement in the case.

According to NIA, Purohit had taken part in the conspiracy meetings and even agreed to arrange explosives.

Purohit had argued that the NIA was selective in exonerating some accused persons and that the agency had made him a scapegoat in the case.

(With agency inputs)

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The family of a 16-year-old Muslim girl of Hajiyapur locality of Bareilly, who is believed to have eloped with her 20-year-old Hindu neighbour on April 17, has approached local clerics after the police failed to find the couple.

Tired of running from pillar to post in search of their daughter, the family decided to take the help of clerics. We wanted to keep it in the family but were forced to approach clerics after the police failed to take any action in our case, said the girls father.

The clerics have termed the girls disappearance an attempt at religious conversion and are now planning to take up the matter with administrative officials.

The girls family said they were away on the day she went missing. Her aunt, who lives right across the narrow ally leading up to their house, was the last person to see her.

Alleging discrimination due to their religion, the girls mother said, My family has not been at peace ever since she left home. We have approached every one from the police to the administration for help but no one is taking any action. Is this because we are from a different community?

The girls kin lodged a police complaint against the youth, Avdesh, and his family. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered against him under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping woman to compel her for marriage) of the Indian Penal code.

The police said they were investigating the matter and will soon arrest the youth. We are working on a couple of good leads and the couple will be detained soon, said Rajendra Singh Siddhu, the investigating officer (IO) of the case.

But even after eight days, the police is yet to trace the missing duo. Police sources also said that couple was romantically involved and thus decided to elope with each other.

Meanwhile, the incident has divided the Hindus and Muslims of the neighbourhood. Had it been a Muslim boy and a Hindu girl, the entire police force would have been searching for them but in our case, no one seems to care, lamented Yasin Khan, a resident of the locality.

Just a stones throw away from their ally, is the now vacant house of the youths family. The narrow metal front door is locked. They left a day after their son went missing. The family was under pressure from a lot of people who were angered by the incident, said a close relative, Ravindra Singh.
The government has no plans to deploy the army to tackle the Maoists, notwithstanding reverses being faced by paramilitary and police forces, a home ministry official said on Tuesday.

It is an internal security issue. There is no question of deploying the army in the anti-Maoist operations, the official said.

Since Maoist violence is considered a law and order problem, paramilitary and police forces will continue to deal with them, even though there have been casualties on the part of the security forces, the official said.

The comments came in the wake of speculations that the government was considering the option of deploying the army.

The Indian Air Force provides logistical support to the anti-Maoist forces by offering chopper sorties for the evacuation of injured, sick, air dropping of food, medicine and other essentials.

As many as 25 CRPF personnel were killed on Monday in an attack by the rebels in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district.

On March 11, 12 paramilitary personnel were killed in the same district.

On April 6, 2010, 75 CRPF personnel and a constable of the state police were massacred by the Maoists in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh.
There are no universal rules. You have to take a call depending on the situation at a particular time, says a photojournalist working with a leading news agency, while talking of how one balances ones professional duties with basic human emotions. It is not easy. Not when one is under pressure to capture and file that defining image from a conflict area or disaster zone. As a photojournalist your duty is to record the events, he says. But he himself has on occasions put away the camera to perform a greater duty  that of helping a fellow human being in distress.

As an Associated Press photojournalist, Dar Yasin did last week, when he handed over his camera to another photographer to help a student injured in a protest in Kashmir. Yasins action is being hailed as immensely humanitarian and socially responsible, both by other photojournalists, as well as the common people of Kashmir. Often though the situation is very different, and photojournalists have had to bear the brunt of criticism for performing their job at the cost of their moral and social responsibilities.

In 1993, Kevin Carter photographed a malnourished toddler during the Sudan famine. The child had stopped to rest while crawling towards some food. Close behind the toddler waited a vulture. Though the image came to symbolise the suffering of the people in Sudan during the famine, helped raise funds for sufferers and won a Pulitzer, many expressed concern over the fate of the child and criticised Carter for not helping him. Some termed Carter another predator.

Photographers insist that there can be no single binding rule on how to behave in such situations. If someone is dying and I am the only one there to help, if there is no one else around, I will take a quick photo of the situation and then try to help the person. But if there are others to help, my responsibility would be to capture the intensity of the moment, says Raghu Rai who has photographed the war for Bangladeshs liberation in 1971, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984 and conflicts in Kashmir.

The photographer agrees. I was in Kabul in 2009. There had been an attack on a United Nations campus and I was the first photojournalist to reach. Two cops were telling a staff member to jump down from the building, but the man knew that just the two of them wouldnt be able to catch him, and he was reluctant. I joined the cops in getting the man down to safety, he remembers. But he explains that it is not always possible for the photojournalist to get involved. If there is a clash between two groups, my involvement to protect one or the other, can be construed as my bias in favour of or against them, he says.

These situations, feels photographer Prashant Panjiar, is not outside the domain of normal. And so a photojournalist would often behave as any other in that situation. If you saw a girl being teased by a few men on a street, would you help her or wait for the police to come. It is the same for a photojournalist in a conflict or disaster zone. You do what is right at the moment, he says.

To show or not to show

There are other considerations. In a life and death situation, it is not only the photojournalists role in assisting victims that is under scrutiny, but his ethics, sensitivity and aesthetics as reflected in the photograph that he captures. A 1976 photograph which received the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography, showed a 19-year-old and her two-year-old niece falling from the collapsed fire escape of a burning apartment building on Marlborough Street in Boston. The photo made officials in Boston change the fire escape safety laws. But the photographer was charged with invading the privacy of the victim and indulging in sensationalisation.

In a similar incident, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, German photographer Thomas Hoepker, photographed a group of seemingly relaxed Americans with the burning twin towers in the background. The photograph that was published in 2006, made the subjects seem untouched by the tragedy. A man, who later identified himself as a member of the group, clarified that everyone in the picture were actually in a profound state of shock and disbelief and that the picture had been taken without permission. In another 9/11 photograph titled The Falling Man, a man is photographed in what has been described as a calm moment whilst falling from the tower. Many viewers find the photograph extremely disturbing.

Rai agrees that one can convey the enormity of a tragedy without showing extremely disturbing images. When I started photographing Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity, Mother called me one day and told me that I have to respect the dignity of those living at the homes. Those words have stayed with me. He gives an example of how he works in such situations. During the Bangladesh war of 1971, Pakistani forces had killed some intellectuals and professors of Dhaka University. I took a long shot of the bodies floating in the tank with showing any close-ups of faces or other body parts, he says.

The aim, says Panjiar, should again be to do the right thing. Sometimes if there is violence between two groups, some person will increase that violence if they see a photographer. They will perform to the camera. Again a photographer has to decide whether it will be right to capture that.

The pressure to break news and present never-before-seen images might make one forget ethics for a moment. But it is the responsibility of the editor and photographer to sit and decide what one is conveying before finally presenting that image before the public, says Rai. This is especially needed, says the agency photojournalist, in the time of social media excesses. Ethics and responsible coverage should be what sets a professional apart from social media amateurs, he insists.

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A team of Maharashtras anti-terrorism squad swooped down on a housing society at Puna Kumbharia village in Gujarats Surat district on October 10, 2008, to arrest an ochre-robed, emerging Hindu leader: Pragya Singh Thakur.

She looked like the new version of Sadhvi Ritambhara or that of Uma Bharti in the 1990s. While other controversial sadhvis or women ascetics were accused of arousing religious passions through their speeches, Pragya was arrested for a violent crime: a bomb blast in Maharashtras Malegaon town on September 29, 2008, that killed six people and injured 101 others.

She was arrested because the LML Freedom motorcycle used in the blast was registered in her name. The Bombay high court granted Pragya, 36, bail on Tuesday, saying it had found no prima facie evidence against her.

Her father, an Ayurveda practitioner named Chandrapal Singh Thakur, has denied she had any role in the blast and said she had sold the bike to a person called Mahesh in 2004. The motorcycle, however, was still registered in her name at the regional transport office in Surat when the blast happened.

Pragyas arrest shocked her friends in Madhya Pradesh where she finished college (WHICH). Pragya is the third of five childrenthe family has four sisters and a brother--and joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the early nineties.

Pragya moved to Madhya Pradesh as her father was transferred from Jalaun district in Uttar Pradesh to Lahar in Bhind district of the central state in the seventies as an agriculture department employee. Her father again shifted to Surat around 2000 when Pragya was setting out for a post-graduation in history.

Pragya stayed back in Madhya Pradesh and charted her own course. It was a time when her family got proposals for her marriage. A young Indian Police Service officer contacted her father but Pragya, who was still in college, refused marriage because she wanted to pursue a career in student politics.

She rose to the post of the state organising secretary of ABVP in 1996 and lived in Ujjain for a year before quitting the organisation in 1997. She then tried to run an NGO in Bhind in 1998 but it was not successful.

Pragya was associated with many obscure and loose-knit organisations such as Vande Mataram Jan Kalyan Samiti and Rashtrawadi Sena. In 2005, she led a massive religious procession called Chunari Yatra in Dewas, and stayed in Jabalpur for a while where she owns a house in the Gorakhpur locality. Pragya also owns some land in Jabalpur where it is believed she planned to build an ashram.

Pragya announced she had become a sadhvi in 2007 at the Allahabad Kumbh and was ordained by the popular seer Swami Avadheshanand Giri, the head of the powerful Juna Akhada.

She assumed a new name: Sadhvi Poornachetananand Giri.

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Corruption is rearing its ugly head again within the core of Spains ruling Popular Party (PP). Leaders are being yelled at on the streets once more, and amazement and confusion are among the chief responses to the latest scandal to hit the conservative party in Madrid: Operation Lezo.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Brasilia on Monday. AFP

This new graft probe has already led to the arrest of former regional premier Ignacio Gonzalez, and to his predecessor Esperanza Aguirres resignation as spokesperson for the PP at Madrid City Council, where the party holds 21 seats.

Yet true to form, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy continues to say nothing about the matter, and chooses instead to focus on his international agenda. He was seen in Brazil on Monday, where he made a public appearance next to President Michel Temer but took no questions.

He knew what was in store: a bombardment of queries regarding the latest investigation into kickbacks for contracts back home. It seems that, for now at least, Rajoys only response to the plethora of scandals affecting his party  Gurtel, Punica, Lezo and more  is to travel abroad, keep mum about domestic troubles, and offer speeches about the importance of maintaining economic growth and job creation in Spain.

Younger party leaders have expressed indignation and shame at the state of affairs

After Brazil and Uruguay, Rajoy will travel to Brussels and China. His chief concern is to give an sense of business as usual at the international level.

But all is not well back home. Mariano Rajoy and Javier Arenas are the only two remaining members of the PP leadership from the days before 2008, when the Gurtel graft scandal hit the headlines. And while no statements are forthcoming from them, the younger party leaders have already expressed indignation and shame at the state of affairs.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (left) with Brazilian President Michel Temer. EVARISTO SA (AFP)

The young deputy secretaries at national party headquarters  people like Pablo Casado, Javier Maroto, Andrea Levy and Fernando Martinez Maillo  have made a private pact to keep their anger under wraps. But they are aware that, ever since their appointment two years ago in a bid to rejuvenate the partys image, they have been sent out to press conferences, TV studios and public debates to defend the PPs honesty and internal regeneration, even as some leading party members such as Ignacio Gonzalez or Rodrigo Rato  the former International Monetary Fund managing director found guilty of misappropriation of funds through his use of complimentary credit cards handed out by struggling banks  continued to line their pockets through shady deals.

The mood among these younger leaders is one of disillusionment, weariness and confusion  but above all, one of impotence. What more can we do? is the reply, asked if there is a plan underway to deal with this new wave of corruption. We will forge ahead, and keep working and focusing on the real problems of Spaniards.

The PP, which heads a minority government following two inconclusive elections in Spain and a 10-month stalemate, is now mostly hoping that the scandal will blow over, that unemployment figures will continue to drop, that tourists will keep coming in droves this summer, and that opposition parties will run into trouble of their own  particularly the Socialists (PSOE), with their upcoming primaries to elect a new leader.

English version by Susana Urra.
It was a shame on the part of police to insist on judicial custody of an accused in the Sabarmati Express bomb blast, languishing in a UP jail for 16 years without bail, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.

It also fixed a date in November for his release even if trial is incomplete.

It is a matter of shame. He has been acquitted in 10 out of the 11 cases but still you want him to be in jail without bail, a bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and justice DY Chandrachud told counsel for UP government, who opposed bail of Kashmir resident Gulzar Ahmed Wani.

Wani will be released on bail on November 1 subject to conditions to be imposed by the trial court, the SC said. So far only 76 of the 96 prosecution witnesses have been examined.

A bomb blast occurred in the Sabarmati Express in UPs Barabanki district on August 14, 2000. Wani was arrested from New Delhi on July 31, 2001, and named an accused in the case.

The prosecution had also accused him of being a conspirator in 10 other case of explosions in Agra, Kanpur, and India Gate in Delhi prior to 2000. But he Wani was acquitted in all other cases.
BJP president Amit Shah kicked off the partys booth chalo programme, an exercise to strengthen the party organisation at the grassroots level in Bengal at the cradle of left wing extremism in India, Naxalbari, in a symbolic manner with lunch at the hut of a scheduled tribe couple.

The meal, served on plantain leaves, was a frugal one consisting of daal, vegetables, rice, and roti.

With BJPs Bengal president Dilip Ghosh to his right, Shah sat cross-legged on the floor of the hut with tin roofs and walls in South Kotiajot village in Naxalbari block and ate his meal.

Shah was seen chatting with Gita Mahali who cooked the meal. Her husband is a labourer. The woman seemed overawed by the situation.

The BJP has started showing interest in Naxalbari where left wing extremism was born 50 years ago with the killing of a police officer and 11 villagers falling to retaliatory police firing the next day.

Hatighisha, the village of legendary Naxalite leader Kanu Sanyal was adopted by BJP MP S S Ahluwalia as a model village after he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014. While campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls, Narendra Modi had said in north Bengal that the BJP would change the face of Naxalbari and alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government had done little for it.

BJP will get the maximum number of seats in 2019 (Lok Sabha) polls. The history of violence started from this Naxalbari. This is where the Prime Ministers slogan Saab ka saath, saab kaa vikash will be given shape, said Shah after a meeting with the party workers. He also said that BJP workers will visit every home in every village of Bengal.

BJP workers are being attacked in Bengal. The more they are attacked, the more BJP will rise in the state, said Shah.

After he landed in Siliguri on Tuesday morning, the BJP president changed his plans and decided to go to Mahalis house and have his meal instead of holding a meeting with party workers.

As far as symbolisms go, the party chose this particular house, scrapping the original venue which was the house of the lone BJP panchayat member of the area.

After lunch, Shah met booth level workers of the party. He was accompanied by BJP leaders such as national secretary Rahul Sinha and Bengal observer Kailash Vijayvargiya.

The booth chalo drive is an exercise designed to focus on strengthening the party organisation at the grassroots level.

When Shah was touring Naxalbari, Mamata Banerjee was attending a public meeting organised by the Kamtapur Progressive Party at Rashmela grounds in Cooch Behar district about 200 kms away. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls KPP supported BJP, but in 2016 Assembly elections it threw its weight behind TMC after its leaders assured the KPP to recognise Rajbonshi language.

On Wednesday, Shah will visit a few households in Bhawanipore, the constituency of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, where he will hold a similar exercise.

On Thursday, Shah will meet party leaders and intellectuals and prominent citizens in Kolkatas Mahajati Sadan on April 27. In the 1,200-capacity auditorium, there will be 800 party leaders and workers from the five organisational districts into which they divide Kolkata. Intellectuals and prominent citizens will be invited to fill up the remaining 400 seats.

Bengal is now a focus state for the BJP with Shah going on record recently in Bhubaneswar that the partys golden age depends on whether it can win Bengal, Odisha and Kerala.

In Bengal, the party has traditionally been a marginal player with three MLAs in an Assembly of 294 in its best show. The BJP wants to make a dent in the 2018 rural polls in Bengal, which it also wants to use to fine tune its bid in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

After the renewed vigour post UP polls, the saffron camp have organised Ram Navami celebrations in an unprecedented scale in the state. On April 9 in the Assembly by-poll in Kanthi Dakshin, one of the bastions of Trinamool Congress, BJP raised its vote share from 9% in 2006 to 31%, further boosting the morale of its workers.

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India in April signed billion-dollar deals for the execution of two contracts to buy advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM) systems from Israel and 155mm/52-calibre tracked self-propelled artillery guns from South Korea.

The deals were finalised days before a report released on Monday put India in fifth place on the list of the worlds largest military spenders in 2016. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its annual report that the countrys defence expenditure grew by 8.5% last year to $55.9 billion.

As New Delhi loosens purse strings to scale up military capabilities to keep pace with Chinas defence modernisation, heres a look at the seven big weapons and systems that India has contracted or will soon place orders for:

MRSAM systems: India on April 6 inked deals worth $2 billion to buy advanced surface-to-air missile systems from Israel. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will provide the Indian Army with advanced MRSAM systems to take down hostile aircraft and missiles. It is the single largest contract in Israels defence industry history. The MRSAM will allow the army to shoot down a wide range of aerial targets at ranges of up to 70 km. The MRSAM is the army version of the long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) systems deployed on Indian warships. LRSAM has been co-developed by India and Israel under a Rs 2,606-crore programme.

155mm/52-calibre tracked self-propelled guns: Private sector defence major Larsen & Toubro and South Korean firm Hanwha Techwin (HTW) on April 21 signed a $720-million contract for executing the artillery gun programme for the Indian Army. The army will be supplied 100 K9 VAJRA-T guns. L&T plans to begin production of the guns at Talegaon near Pune in Maharashtra and is expected to deliver them within three years. An improved version of HTWs K9 Thunder, the K9 VAJRA-T gun has been tailored to meet the requirements of the India, including its desert formations.

M777 ultra-light howitzers: India sealed a $750-million deal with the United States for 145 ultra-light howitzers (M777), manufactured by BAE Systems, in November. The howitzers are being bought to increase the armys high-altitude capabilities. It was the first deal to modernise the countrys artillery after the Bofors scam unfolded in the late 1980s. The army will get its first two 155 mm/39-calibre M777s in May. While 25 howitzers will be imported, the remaining 120 will be assembled in India by BAE Systems and Mahindra Defence. The M777s will be deployed in the northern and eastern sectors.

Rafale fighter jets: India signed a $8.7-billion deal with France for 36 Rafale warplanes in September to arrest the fall in the air forces combat strength.

The Dassault Aviation-build fighter jets - equipped with latest weapons - will be delivered to the Indian Air Force between September 2019 and April 2022. The deal is crucial for the IAF which is grappling with a depleted fighter fleet. India has 33 fighter squadrons with 18 planes each but requires 45 squadrons to deal with a combined threat from China and Pakistan. The fighters will be equipped with Meteor beyond visual range missiles built by European defence major MBDA Missile Systems. The Meteor has a range of 150 km.

Anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM): India is on track to buy Israeli Spike ATGM systems, manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd. The $500-million deal could be signed in the coming months. India is negotiating the purchase of 321 launchers and 8,356 fire-and-forget missiles with the Israeli firm. The missile can destroy armoured vehicles and bunkers at a distance of 2.5 km and the army plans to equip more than 400 of its units with the third-generation ATGM systems. India chose the Israeli ATGM over US defence and aerospace firm Raytheons Javelin system more than three years ago.

Minesweepers: India is in the final stages of closing a $5.1-billion deal with South Korea for building 12 mine counter-measure vessels (MCMVs) in the country. The MCMVs will be built at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in collaboration with Busan-based Kangnam Corporation under the Make in India initiative. The construction of the first vessel is expected to begin in April 2018, with deliveries completed between April 2021 and April 2026. The navy will be without a minesweeper till 2021, with the existing fleet of six Soviet-origin vessels to be decommissioned by next year. Navies use vessels to secure harbours by locating and destroying mines.

Attack and heavy-lift helicopters: In 2015, India ordered $3.1 billion worth of 22 Boeing AH-64E Apache Longbow attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers. The deliveries are likely to begin in 2019. Boeing beat off competition from Russia, which had offered its Mi-28N Night Hunter helicopter gunship and the Mi-26 heavy-lift choppers to the IAF. The Chinooks will plug a crucial gap in the IAFs heavy-lift capabilities as it currently relies on a solitary Mi-26 chopper to carry payloads to high altitudes. The IAF also urgently requires new attack helicopters.
A one-day shutdown called on Tuesday by the Opposition DMK in Tamil Nadu to express solidarity with the states drought-struck farmers has hit business but buses and autos are moving as usual.

While shops, hotels downed their shutters in the capital Chennai and other parts of the southern state, government buses were seen on roads. Offices, too, were open.

DMK working president MK Stalin and his senior party colleagues were arrested in Thiruvarur when they tried to block traffic.

In southern Tamil Nadu, protesters stopped vehicles and also forced public transport off the road. Schools and colleges are closed for summer break but life in general appeared unaffected by the shutdown.

The Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Indian Union Muslim League and a host of trade unions affiliated to the opposition parties are among those supporting the bandh.

In Chennai, all 3,800 state government buses have been provided security, with at least one police person onboard.

Cinema halls were closed for the day and the film fraternity expressed its support by cancelling shoots. Staff at fuel stations were wearing black badges.

Outside Chennai, the shutdown got a good response, especially in the Cauvery Delta, the rice bowl of the state. In Thanjavur, most businesses were shut and buses off the road. In Cuddalore private buses and auto rickshaws stayed away while shops were closed in Tirunelveli.

In temple town of Rameswaram, tourists had a tough time as hotels and restaurants downed shutters for the day.

Neighbouring Puducherry, too, joined the protest.

Poor rains have left Tamil Nadu battling a severe drought. The government had in January declared all the states 32 districts drought-hit and sought help from the Centre.

A group of farmer was camping in Delhi often resorting to novel -- sometimes shocking -- tactics to draw attention to their problems.

Chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami visited them at Jantar Mantar on Sunday and urged them to end their agitation.

Palaniswami also assured the protesters of submitting a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ask him to waive off farm loans.

The farmers are demanding that the Centre step in to write off their loans from nationalised banks, a revised drought relief package and ways to resolve the drying up of the Tamil Nadu leg of the Kaveri river.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) would become a useless body if its regulations are not followed by universities, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday, voicing concern over a string of cases in which educational institutes sought exemption from the statutory bodys guidelines.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud made the comment while hearing an appeal filed by Lucknow-based Integral University challenging a high court order ousting its vice-chancellor because he was not a distinguished academician as one is required to be under UGC rules.

The university told the apex court that it was a minority institution and was therefore under no obligation to follow UGC standards.

The university said it had not adopted the UGCs regulations, which an earlier SC verdict had made mandatory.

If the regulations are not adopted, then we are not required to appoint a V-C as per the rules, advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Integral University, told the bench.

He said a universitys needs have to conform to the regulations established while appointing teachers.

The apex court, however, disagreed with his argument and said it was willing to take a re-look at the two-judge verdict that gave this liberty to universities.

Qualification of a head of the university has a bearing on the standards of the institution. Power to regulate standards is not just restricted to teaching staff but also its head, Justice Chandrachud said.

What is left to the management is selection, it said, fixing Wednesday to hear the matter when a larger bench of three judges would be sitting.

An outcome in this matter is bound to have a bearing on Aligarh Muslim Universitys (AMU) case which is contesting for autonomy. AMU is defending the appointment of Lt Gen Zameeruddin Shah (retd) as the V-C on the ground it was a minority institution and that it never adopted the UGC regulations.

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A world-class research lab of Indias apex agriculture body has turned into a store for poultry fodder.

Built at more than Rs one crore a few years ago, the lab in UPs Pilibhit was supposed to be used by PhD students and other research scholars of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).

But instead, the lab has no other use but storing fodder for poultry.

The reason: while constructing the world-class laboratory, ICAR and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) didnt make provisions for power and water supply!

On Monday, Parliament watchdog, PAC stumbled on a CAG report that alleged major lapses in the construction of the research lab.

Initially, the lab was planned in Delhi, but for reasons unknown, it was shifted to Pilibhit. But what intrigued everyone in the panel is how governments two apex bodies (ICAR and CPWD) forgot to provide power and water supply, said a member of the PAC.

There were no clear answers. And both the agencies were not forthcoming to take the onus for this disaster, said another member.

At the PAC meeting, some members even asked why the lab was shifted from Delhi to Pilibhit. The process led to escalation of costs by almost 100%, the CAG remarked in its report.

Both, ICAR and CPWD have been asked to explain how public money was wasted even as the key educational infrastructure was not built.

According to sources, ICAR decided to not to incur more money for power and water supply as the expenses had already hiked sharply.

Scientists have often highlighted that India lacks world-class facilities in higher education and scientific research. There have been allegations of shortage of funds too.

The latest episode, however shows how resources have been squandered while the scientific community derived little benefit.

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Rising Pune Supergiant, on a roll after three back-to-back wins in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017, will face a tough challenge when they take on two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 encounter in Pune.

After languishing in the bottom-half of the table initially, Supergiant notched up three successive wins to grab the fourth place.

On Monday, Pune eked out a three-run victory over Mumbai Indians in a thrilling encounter, thanks to some effective bowling by Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat at the death.

Read | IPL 2017: Kolkata Knight Riders responded after my threat

Resurgent Pune

Opener Rahul Tripathis batting has also boosted their campaign. The 26-year-old from Maharashtra came up with scores of 31, 59 and 45 in the last three matches.

Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni too showed his vintage form with a sparkling 61 not out against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Skipper Steve Smith and Ajinkya Rahane have also contributed from time to time and Manoj Tiwary has also played a few useful cameos.

In the bowling department, spinner Imran Tahir has taken 10 wickets so far to emerge as the teams best bowler, while Stokes and Unadkat snapped six and five wickets respectively so far.

Read | Kolkata Knight Riders didnt think of IPL win vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Consistent Kolkata

Kolkata, on the other hand, have been pretty consistent this season and are placed second in the points table with two losses and five wins in seven matches.

Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with two half-centuries in the initial phase and when he failed to contribute, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey have stepped up to do the bulk of scoring.

In fact, Yusuf Pathan also produced a 39-ball 59 against Delhi Daredevils to rescue his team once. So overall, KKR boasts of a formidable batting line-up.

During their last outing however, it was the KKR bowlers who produced a fantastic show to bundle out Royal Challengers Bangalore for 49 -- the lowest score in IPLs history.

Chris Woakes has taken 10 wickets in the seven matches that he has played, while Nathan Coulter-Nile has scalped eight after featuring in only three games for Kolkata. Umesh Yadav too has seven wickets from five outings.

Among the spinners, slow left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav has taken six wickets in as many matches for KKR.
Twenty-three days after a 55-year-old dairy farmer died after allegedly being attacked by cow vigilantes in Alwar, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Tuesday said such incidents will not be tolerated in her state. This is the first time that Raje has spoken on the incident that shook the nation and found resonance in Parliament too.

We will not tolerate such incidents in Rajasthan, Raje told reporters outside the state Assembly.

She said investigation in the case is and police have already made several arrests.

The CM said facts of the case will emerge in the investigation and necessary action will be taken based on that. No guilty person will be spared, she added.

Rajes statement came a day after state home minister Gulab Chand Kataria termed the victim, Haryana resident Pehlu Khan, a cow smuggler. During a discussion in the assembly, Kataria said that a smuggler has no religion and claimed that Pehlu Khan did not have valid papers for transporting cows. His comments had led to protests both inside and outside the assembly. On Tuesday too, protests were held outside the assembly by civil society organizations in which members of victims families also participated.

Two days ago, 23 former IAS officers wrote an open letter to the CM demanding justice for Pehlu Khan and demanded a public statement from Raje over the incident.

Khan, who hailed from Haryana, along with four others, including his two sons, was attacked by cow vigilantes in Alwars Behror on April 1 when he was transporting cows. Khan had died on April 3 during treatment at a hospital, while his associates suffered injuries.
Family members of Raju Das, who died in Saudi Arabia on February 20 under suspicious circumstances are waiting for his dead body and have no clue when their endless wait will end.

Das, 38, a resident of Kashmir village in Rajasthans Barmer district, left for the Middle East kingdom more than six months back in search of a job there.

According to Dass brother, Kumbha Ram, he got a job to graze cattle in Riyadh.

On February 20, however, the family received the news of his death from a relative who too worked in the country.

Since then they have been seeking help from the district administration and politicians, including Sheo BJP legislator Manvendra Singh, to bring back his body.

From the district administration to local politicians, we have approached everybody and made all possible efforts to bring back Rajus body but nothing worked in our favour so far, said Kumbha Ram.

We feel helpless as no one in the family has a passport, he said.

A month back, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had assured Manvendra Singh that the Centre will expedite the matter. But painful wait for the family is proving endless as even after 65 days, the deceased body could not be brought back to India.

The Centre is in touch with the government of Saudi Arabia and the body will be brought to India after clearance of necessary formalities, said Singh.

Singh claimed that according to his information earlier Riyadh police considered this case to be a case of suicide and as the investigation was going on due to which body could not brought back to India.

Investigation by the Riyadh police has been completed but due to lack of documents Dass dead body has not yet been handed over to the Indian authorities there, Singh said, adding that efforts are on to complete the process as soon as possible.

Das is survived by his 65-year-old mother, 70-year-old father, wife Guddi Devi and two children Ramesh (5) and Kavita (3).
If Pehlu Khan was transporting cows illegally, he should have been handed over to the police and not beaten up by a mob mercilessly, a relative of the dairy farmer, who died of injuries sustained in a brutal thrashing by cow vigilantes, said Tuesday.

Pehlus uncle Husain Khan was reacting to Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Katarias statement terming the dairy farmer a cow smuggler. Kataria had also claimed that that there were several cases registered against Pehlu.

I am not aware of any case of cow smuggling against Pehlu or his sons. We have never received a court notice in this regard. Why would he smuggle milch cows and calves to slaughter houses and that too in an open loading vehicle on a highway? He had come to the cattle fair to buy buffalo but bought the cows as they were cheaper, Husain Khan said.

The accused were heard discussing taking out petrol from motorcycles and setting them afire, but the police arrived before they could do so, he alleged. He said no one from the administration or ruling party has visited them so far.

Pehlu, a dairy farmer from Nuh in Mewat district of Haryana was beaten up by a group of cow vigilantes at Behror in Alwar on April 1. Four others, including Pehlus two sons, were also assaulted. Pehlu succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital on April 3.

Dalit activist Jignesh Mewani warned of rasta roko agitation if the Rajasthan government failed to ensure justice for Pehlus family. We will take out a rally from Alwar to Ahmedabad on the first anniversary of Una episode in July, he added.

Social activist and CPI (ML) politburo member Kavita Krishnan said that the people who beat up others in the name of cow protection should not be called vigilantes. These people are murderers. They are not gau rakshaks (cow saviours) but nar bhakshaks (man eaters). Today, times are such that we need insaan rakshaks. We cannot rely on the government and police only but need to create awareness among the masses, she said.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, Krishnan flayed Sadhvi Kamal Didi for comparing one of the accused to Bhagat Singh. I have read writings of Bhagat Singh who was critical of the fact that in India there is a sacred animal and people kill each other in the name of that animal. It is shameful that Kamal Didi is using Bhagat Singhs name, she said. Krishnan also questioned the BJPs hypocrisy on allowing sale and consumption of beef in some states but worshipping cow in other states.

Writer and activist Farah Naqvi appealed to the state and the central governments to take steps to put a stop to the killings in the name of cow. Justice for Pehlu Khan, Azmat Khan and others is only first step. We all love cows, which is a symbol of Indian culture but some people have turned it into a symbol of hate, she said. Naqvi also questioned the state governments action of registering counter cases against the victims.
Police in Barcelona on Tuesday morning arrested four people accused of having links to the terrorist attacks carried out last year in Brussels at the citys airport and on the metro system. The operation, which took place this morning, is ongoing but has already netted eight arrests. The group being targeted is alleged to be linked to jihadist terrorism and organized crime.

Two Mossos take off a suspect of Brussels terror attacks in Barcelona. Albert Garcia

The Catalan regional police, the Mossos dEsquadra, have carried out 12 property searches in Barcelona and in a number of locations in the metropolitan area, including LHospitalet de Llobregat, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Ripollet, Cornella de Llobregat and Masquefa.

They are youngsters with prior records, several of which are linked to drug trafficking Mossos chief Josep Lluis Trapero

The investigation was prompted eight months ago based on unconnected information supplied by members of the public and due to preventive work carried out by the Mossos. They have not carried out any actions in Catalonia, explained Josep Lluis Trapero, the head of the Mossos. They are youngsters aged between 31 and 39, with prior records, several of which are linked to drug trafficking.

In an interview with regional channel TV3, Trapero added that the suspects under arrest are Moroccans resident in Catalonia.

The information gleaned as a result of investigations carried out by the Mossos was taken to a High Court, which began a probe and ordered the creation of a joint Spanish-Belgian team under the European Union judicial coordination program known as EUROJUST. Over recent months, the program saw an intensive exchange of information between the Belgian police and the Mossos. The result was evidence pointing to a direct link between the suspects and jihadist terror groups.

A joint Spanish-Belgian team was created under the EU judicial coordination program known as EUROJUST

The scope of the operation saw the Mossos inform Spains intelligence services of their findings, which led to a further exchange of information. Also involved were the anti-terrorist branches of the Spanish National Police force, as well as the Belgian Federal Police.

While Spain has not suffered an Islamist-inspired terror attack since the Madrid train bombings in 2004, in recent years there have been regular arrests of suspects thought to have been carrying out recruiting activities for jihadist groups.

English version by Simon Hunter.
The Rajasthan University Teachers Association (RUTA) decided on Tuesday to defer their call for a boycott of exam duties by another day considering their meeting with the vice chancellor.

The association had earlier called for the boycott in protest against the actions of the special operations group (SOG) of Rajasthan police in connection with paper leak cases.

The SOG arrested four professors of the university, one retired professor and two other employees last week, and questioned several others regarding examination paper leaks.

RUTA and other employees unions of the university will meet vice chancellor Rajeshwar Singh on Wednesday to raise the allegedly arbitrary actions of the SOG, association president Jayant Singh told HT. The outcome of the meeting will decide the further course of action, he added.

The teachers had initially decided to boycott exam duties from Monday but deferred their call after having a word with the vice chancellor, who was out of station.

RUTA held a meeting with the non-teaching staff association, technical employees association, and fourth-grade employees association of the university, and decided to defer the boycott call and chalk out their course of action after meeting the vice chancellor.

Everybody expressed concern over the situation in the meeting. We are all for the guilty getting punished, but the SOG should not randomly take away anybody for questioning. We just want that the atmosphere of fear should end, said Jayant Singh.

He said they will request the vice chancellor to allot the SOG a room in the university where they can question the university employees instead of taking them to the SOG office. Furthermore, RUTA is considering the option of extending legal help to those arrested by the SOG, he added.

Amod Saxena, the president of the Rajasthan University Non Teaching Staff Association, said all employees are working under fear. We just want the atmosphere to be made better, said Saxena.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday virtually ruled out sharing Teesta waters with Bangladesh, arguing there is no water to be shared in the first place.

Speaking at a public meeting in the north Bengal district of Cooch Behar, she said, The Teesta does not have water to be shared? We can give water from (the rivers) where it is available. This was the first time Mamata Banerjee was visiting north Bengal, the region through which the Teesta flows, after her meeting with the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Read: Mamatas new Teesta twist could muddy waters for Indo-Bangla ties

With this public comment, the Bengal chief minister has ruled out sharing waters of the river that the Sheikh Hasina regime in Dhaka is desperately seeking from India.

The Bangladesh prime minister is banking on Narendra Modi to push through the Teesta Water sharing agreement. (HT Photo)

Her stand may not please the Narendra Modi government that assured Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of a solution to the water sharing question soon.

On April 8, the issue was discussed between the two prime ministers at Hyderabad House in Delhi.

Read: Teesta water deal: One issue where Mamata loses nothing by sitting tight

At a joint press conference Narendra Modi said the agreement was crucial for bilateral ties and expressed hope that the Bengal chief minister will eventually support it. I know that her (Mamata Banerjees) feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts (with regard to finalising the treaty), he said. Modi added that he firmly believed that an early solution to the issue can and will be found.

The Teesta water sharing issue has been a vexed question for quite some years. In 2011, the Bengal chief minister put former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a post by pulling out from his delegation to visit to Dhaka over the Teesta water-sharing deal, scuttling the agreement.

Incidentally, it is important for Sheikh Hasina to get an agreement on sharing Teesta waters as she is under pressure at home to deliver on this front.

On Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee, too, said that she wants cordial ties between the two countries.
Pakistan-born Canadian writer and liberal activist Tarek Fatah was one of the six prime targets of the four terror suspects, arrested by the UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) from different parts of the country on Thursday.

Fatah was a target as he was seen as being opposed to the Shariat law and an advocate of liberal and progressive form of Islam.

ATS officials told HT that by targeting Fatah and the others, the terror suspects wanted to create sensation and show their presence in the country.

A senior ATS official said terror suspect Umar alias Nazim, who was arrested from Mumbai, had done a recce to target the writer during one of his visits to Mumbai. He said the suspect used to watch the writers show on a popular television channel and keep tab on his movement in India. The official said some of Fatahs activities and statements had been criticised by Muslim groups.

The four suspects, however, gradually realised and it was not easy to target the writer so they also prepared an alternative plan to target some more places and persons to show their presence, said the official.

Asim Arun, inspector general (IG) of police, ATS, said the writer was one the terror suspects targets but they dropped the idea as they were unable to track his movements.

Arun said they later planned to target a Shia worship place in Amrohas Naugawa Saadat. He added that an alert has been sounded in Amroha, Bijnore and Muzaffarnagar after startling revelations made by Mufti alias Faizan (who was arrested from Bijnore) and Zaqwan alias Ehtesham (who was arrested from Narkatiyaganj, Bihar), during rigorous interrogation.

Faizan and Ehtesham were on Saturday taken on eight-day remand by ATS sleuths for further quizzing. The two other suspects, Umar and Ghazi Baba (who was arrested from Jalandhar), were produced in the court of special chief judicial magistrate on Monday after being brought to Lucknow on transit remand. The court sent them to judicial custody till May 4. The ATS will move court on Tuesday to seek their police remand.

The IG said the terror suspects had planned a bomb attack at some crowded place in Haridwar, Uttarakhand during some holy gathering. He said they also had plans to eliminate a police officer in Mumbai and set ablaze a sugar mill in Narkatiyaganj, Bihar. They were also planning to target some gas cylinder shop or battery shop located in a crowded place so that it could cause major damage, he said.

Arun confirmed that the four suspects had even made advance payments to two persons of Bijnore to arrange gunpowder, firearms and ammunitions to be used for the attack but they were arrested before they could carry out their plan.

Read more| Uttar Pradesh on alert: Police warn of spectacular attacks by ISI-trained sadhus
A public army has been formed to fight stone-throwers and elements attacking jawans of Indian army and para-military forces in strife torn Kashmir valley .

Balyogi Arun Puri Chaitanya Maharaj, who has formed the Jan Sena, said 13,000 people had registered themselves and were ready to give a befitting reply to the stone throwers.

I appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to permit the Sena to go to Kashmir and teach the separatist forces there a lesson, he said.

Arun Puri is head priest of the Siddhnath temple, a revered place in Kanpurs Jajmau locality. He is meeting the saints in and around Kanpur with his plan for the valley. He held a meeting of saints in Jajmau in which he divulged that 100 youths of each civic ward have enrolled for Jan Sena in Kanpur.

There are 114 civic wards under the Kanpur Municipal Corporation. They are being imparted training to tackle the wayward youths in Kashmir, he said.

Arun Puri and other saints would meet the district magistrate on Wednesday with a formal letter to the PM and the President of India for allowing the JanSena march to Kashmir.

Asked how will he arrange accommodation and food for 13,000 people, he said he had enough disciples to take care of these two issues. We arent asking the government anything in return but will appreciate if the volunteers are allowed to spend the nights in army camps, Puri said.

He said he was in touch with other sanyasis to raise the army at national level.
For the residents of Jauharpur village in Banda district,200 km south of the state capital, UPs new director general of police (DGP) Sulkhan Singh is a karm yogi or one who believes in action.

Former head of Jauharpur village Balwan Singh said Sulkhan Singh came from a humble background and rose to the top post in the state police by dint of hard work and commitment.

The top cop starts his day with yoga. Some pictures of his yoga session he pasted on his Facebook page have gone viral.

The name plate at his modest ancestral house is the only thing that differentiates it from other semi-concrete houses in the area.

From the gate, one has to cross farm machines, tools and gunny bags packed with grain to reach the verandah where it becomes clear that farming is the main occupation of the family.

Sulkhans father Lakhan Singh who is in his 80s, was busy discussing plantation of paddy in the coming kharif season.

My son got the reward of honesty and diligence, Singh told HT as the villagers nodded in agreement.

On Friday, the village had erupted in celebration when the news broke of Sulkhans appointment as DGP.

Sulkhans mother Kalawati Devi said the villagers informed her that her son had become the state police chief.

Read more: Will crack down on gau rakshaks, gundagardi, wont spare VIPs: New UP DGP

I knew he will make big in life as he was promising and intelligent since school days. Sulkhan has not visited the village for the last one year. After taking the charge, he should visit home to share his achievement with the family and villagers, she said.

Sulkhans younger brother Rajnish lives in the village and helps the family in farming.

My brother has earned fame due to his honesty and hard work. He will definitely take measures to check corruption in the police force and order crackdown on criminal gangs, he said.

Singh studied in the village school till class 8 and completed high school from Tindwari School. He completed intermediate from Adarsh Bajrang Inter College in Banda and civil engineering from Roorkee.

He cleared the civil services examination in the first attempt in 1980.

Babulal Gupta, a retired school teacher at Adarsh Bajrang Inter College, said Sulkhan was disciplined and studious as a boy.

The new DGP has made his intentions clear that he takes his job seriously and that is a warning for for those who take law into their hands.

To send a message to the people that he means business, Singh made it clear the police would take action against the people who are indulging in vigilantism in the name of gau raksha, a police officer in Lucknow said.
The Uttar Pradesh Board of Secondary Education has decided to randomly summon answer sheets from districts infamous for mass copying and get it checked by experts in Allahabad.

The step will help in the assessment of students of these districts and also detect foul play by copying mafia. It will also help the Board officials to get a benchmark of average marks for certain districts and minimise the possibility of over marking or biased evaluation by examiners.

Coded copies in 31 districts The UP Board has also been issuing coded answer sheets for the last few years to check replacement of the Boards answer sheets with pre-written copies. Earlier, the Board used to issue coded answer sheets for less than a dozen districts but widened the ambit last year by covering 31 sensitive districts. Coded copies are being used in Aligarh, Agra, Mathura, Hathras, Etah, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Kasganj, Allahabad, Kaushambi, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur City, Chitrakoot, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, Ballia, Jaunpur, Gonda, Sultanpur, Sambhal, Hardoi and Bhadohi, among others.

After deciding to get the copies of students scoring over 90 per cent in Board examinations re-evaluated by senior examiners, this is another attempt by the Board to rein in copying mafia.

Many schools also try to illegally secure higher marks for some of its students to ensure their names on the merit list as the overall good result attract more students for admission.

The evaluation process of the UP Board  one of biggest examination bodies of the world in terms of examinees  is set to kick off at 253 evaluation centres from April 27.

The board is likely to complete the task within 15 days and initiate the process of compilation of results.

During the evaluation process, the Board will summon unchecked answer sheets from sensitive districts and get it evaluated by specially-appointed examiners at the Government Inter College, Allahabad.

The Board will specially focus on Barabanki district which has been producing toppers for the last few years. Other districts like Kaushambi and Ghazipur will also be under the scanner as copying mafia is active here.

Secretary, UP Board, Shail Yadav, said: We have decided to get copies selected randomly from some districts and get then evaluated by our examiners. This is a part of our efforts to ensure fair examination and evaluation of answer sheets.

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Uttar Pradesh will become an open defecation free (ODF) state by October 2018, a year prior to the national target. The states 30 out of 75 districts will achieve the target by October 2017 itself with Shamli already having been declared an ODF district.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath made this announcement at a grand function held to observe the National Panchayati Raj Day in Lucknow on Monday.

Union rural development and panchayati raj minister Narendra Singh Tomar, deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, apart from a large number of pannchayati representatives from various parts of the country, were present at the function. Every year, April 24 is celebrated as National Panchayati Raj Day across India.

NATIONAL AWARDS The national awards  Deendayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar and Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar  were conferred on 250 panchayats selected from various states. There were three dozen recipients from UP. The nominations for Panchayats Awards are invited online every year.

The CM appealed to all the states 59,000 village panchayats, non-government organisations and cooperatives to pool in their efforts and resources to help achieve the target of an open defecation-free UP by October 2018.

Only Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Mizoram are ODF states at present.

He said his government will start a new system of identifying the best performing village panchayats and honour them as an incentive from time to time at functions to be organised at different places in the state.

CM Yogi Adityanath said his government had started supplying 18 hours of power to rural areas. We will provide 24x7 electricity to villages from October 2018, he said, adding, But this facility will be given only to those villages where there is no power theft. He said people in villages must cooperate with the government by subscribing to legal power connections and installing metres on their premises.

The CM said the government will soon launch a helpline where people can lodge their complaints if a damaged transformer is not replaced within 24 hours in cities and 48 hours in villages.

He claimed he did away with the VIP culture in the power sector by ensuring that all districts got electricity supply equally as opposed to the past practice of some VIP districts getting more power than others.

The chief minister said his government was also working on a scheme to set up a secretariat named after Chandra Shekhar Azad in each village panchayat.

CHANNEL LAUNCHED

The chief minister launched the union ministry of panchayati rajs YouTube channel with short films on best practices and government schemes. He also launched sharing of audio-visual capacity building content for panchayati raj institutions through instant messaging apps over smart phones and released the quarterly magazine Gramoday Sankalp and its online version.

Read more: Yogi adopts new work culture but how long can his sleep-deprived ministers cope?
A division bench of the Bombay High Court which granted Pragya Singh Thakur alias Sadhvi Poornachetananad Giri bail and simultaneously rejected the bail plea of co-accused Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, for their involvement in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, passed two separate detailed orders.

On Tuesday, the bench noted that it had chosen to consider the findings of both the charge sheets filed by the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). However, most of the evidence cited by the ATS against Thakur failed to support the charges framed against her.

The court, while granting bail to Thakur, primarily relied on the fact that two witnesses, Swami Amurtanand Devtirth and Rakesh Dhawade, who had first implicated Thakur, had retracted their statements. The bench also pointed out that the forensic laboratory could not say with certainty that the engine number of the LML Freedom motorbike that was used to plant the bomb was the same as that of the bike that once belonged to Thakur.

Besides, there were statements by witnesses to establish that even if the bike was the same, Thakur had sold it to Ramchandra Kalsangra two years before the blast. It also went on to note that though some witnesses had claimed to have seen Thakur at the Bhopal meeting, where the conspiracy of the blast was first hatched, much contradictory statements co-existed, and that several others were present in the said meeting, thus the same cannot be considered as a circumstance against Thakur.

So the court directed that Thakur be released from judicial custody as soon as she provides a surety of Rs5 lakh. It also directed her to deposit her passport with the NIA court, to remain present before the agency whenever required, and to not tamper with the evidence.

Blow to Purohit

The court, however, minced no words in rejecting the defence presented by Purohit. It said that it could not accept his contention that he had no role in the blast and that instead, he was attending the meetings only to gather military intelligence.

The bench refused to consider the findings of the ministry of defence and the court of inquiry which Purohit claimed supported his contentions. It said that at this stage of bail, it could only rely upon the case diaries and the charge sheets.

The court also said that after going through the transcripts of the various conspiracy meetings and Purohits phone calls, both before and after the blast, it was clear that he was dissatisfied with the Indian constitution and instead, envisaged a Hindu Rashtra. So he founded Abhinav Bharat, collected money for the group, and propagated Guerrilla War against the Jihadi activities of Muslims.

The court observed that if Purohit was indeed gathering military intelligence, he neednt have feared getting arrested after the blasts and discussed destruction of evidence in phone calls with other accused persons.

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A 66-year-old compounder was found checking patients and prescribing medicines to them at a clinic in south Mumbai. The man, who has been working at the clinic for the past 30 years, and the doctor, who owns the clinic, have been booked for cheating and forgery. No arrests have been made so far.

The incident came to light on April 22 when a doctor from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) raided the clinic .

The doctor posed as a patient. The compounder checked him and also prescribed medicines, said an officer from Azad Nagar police station.

The compounder said the doctor would come to the dispensary in the evening, and take 10% share from his earnings. The doctor paid him a salary of Rs5,000 every month, said Vijay Kadam, senior police inspector, Azad Maidan police station.

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has put out a fresh proposal to renew 4,177 plots before the civic improvement committee. It will be tabled for discussion on Wednesday.

The move comes after the state government proposed a separate lease renewal policy for Mahalaxmi Race course and certain other clubs such as Willington in south Mumbai.

Of the 4,177 plots, the lease agreements of 242 have expired and need immediate renewal.

The Shiv Sena-run general body in the BMC had rejected the lease renewal policy last year.

Now, the state government will come up with separate rules to renew the lease for Mahalaxmi race course, five to seven gymkhanas and clubs. This will also pave the way for a separate directive to be issued on rent.

The 4,177 plots were leased out by the BMC for a period of 30 to 99 years. Many of these agreements, some dating back to 1970s, have already expired. In most cases, the lack of a policy creates problems not just for leaseholders but also the civic body.

With the new agreements not in place, BMC is not charging for the plots at the market value. Leaseholders of dilapidated buildings cannot renovate them until a policy is in place.

In 2015, the BMC had served notices to over 240 properties, for which the lease had expired and this proposal will ensure that their leases are renewed. The policy includes a penalty for breaches to be charged at 3.75% of the ready reckoner rate. In case of delayed payment, BMC will charge an extra 18% interest, the policy states.

The new policy allows the BMC to renew leases and allow the tenant to regulate breaches in a three-year time frame.

Even the Mahalakshmi racecourse 99-year lease expired on May 31, 2013. The plot, around 8 lakh sqm, was given to Royal Western India Turf Club. With the Shiv Sena eyeing the plot to develop a theme park, its lease is yet to be renewed.

However, approving this policy will not mean approving the racecourse lease, as the state is yet to pass directives on this, said a civic official.

A senior civic official said, Now we hope that with the non-inclusion of the Mahalaxmi racecourse, the ruling party will approve the policy as it has been held for a long time.

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One evening in 2002, when Esperanza Aguirre was running for the top job of the Madrid division of the Popular Party (PP), she met with two journalists for dinner in the capital. The pair were interested in the bitter power struggle she was waging with the then incumbent, Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, but Aguirre refused to discuss the matter, instead preferring to chat about generalities. Finally, one of the pair said to her: Gallardon will destroy you. Aguirres expression suddenly changed, hardening: You dont know me, she replied coldly, before politely returning to her affable former self.

Esperanza Aguirre speaking last week after the arrest of her successor as head of the regional government of Madrid, Ignacio Gonzalez. Emilio Naranjo (Efe)

Aguirre beat Gallardon, taking over the presidency of the PP for the region of Madrid and the following year taking over the running of the Madrid region for the following nine years.

Her career in politics had begun in 1983, but took off in 1989, when she was made head of the regional environment department, rising quickly through the ranks over the next seven years to become Madrid deputy mayor and party spokesperson for the PP in City Hall.

Behind the scenes, the PP had been pressuring Aguirre to resign

When Jose Maria Aznar became prime minister in 1996, she was soon put in charge of the Education Ministry and then became speaker of the Senate. By now she was frequently in the media spotlight, in part because of her aristocratic connections: she is Countess of Murillo and Bornos, Grandee of Spain. But she was still largely portrayed as a flag-waving Spanish nationalist of little intellectual substance or political weight.

But once she took over the regional government in 2003, she soon showed her mettle. From dumb blonde she became the leaderess, Spains answer to Margaret Thatcher.

Five years later, she emerged unscathed from the 2008 terror attack in Bombay, arriving at Madrid airport to tell the media how she had walked through pools of blood. By now she was a major player in the PP, surrounded by a court of interested, overwhelmingly male, political suitors. This is the period when most of the illegality now being uncovered by the courts was taking place.

Not that Aguirre herself has not been directly at the center of irregularities, albeit for political, rather than financial gain. In 2003, the Madrid regional Assembly was due to appoint the Socialist Partys (PSOE) Rafael Simancas as head of the regional government. The same day, two PSOE deputies (Eduardo Tamayo and Maria Teresa Saez) failed to appear for the key investiture vote, meaning that new elections had to be held, which the PP won, after Tamayo and Saez formed their own party.

Ignacio Gonzalez at Esperanza Aguirre's right hand.

An investigation revealed that the two PSOE deputies had taken refuge in a hotel that had been paid for by two businessmen with close links to the PP who had met with senior Madrid PP officials. The affair became known as the Tamayazo.

The whiff of corruption soon began to spread throughout the regional government and the PP generally. But Aguirres hold on power in Madrid was now unassailable, and she would stay in politics, even after her first resignation, in September 2012, when she stood down as regional premier, ostensibly for health reasons after she was diagnosed with cancer.

Aguirre said she was resigning from the first line of politics, but not from politics.

There is no going back, this is crossing the Rubicon, she added, noting: I am sure that for a politician, it is absolutely essential to choose the moment of retirement and the way to do it. And this was the moment.

There is no going back, this is crossing the Rubicon Esperanza Aguirre on her first of three resignations in 2012

During her mandate, based on lowering taxes, privatizing public services, building new hospitals, and imposing bilingual secondary and primary education, Aguirre had watched impassively as senior PP figures in Madrid and in her administration were targeted for criminal investigation, while one scandal after another was uncovered including Gurtel, Punica, spying, the Canal Isabel II, and the Tamayazo.

In February 2016, Aguirre resigned for the second time, on this occasion as president of the Madrid division of the PP, in the wake of the accusations against Francisco Granados, who held a number of senior posts under her, in the Punica corruption inquiry. As before, she called the press conference, this time held on a Sunday and giving Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy just five minutes notice.

Francisco Granados and Esperanza Aguirre.

I accept my political responsibility for having chosen that gentleman [Granados] and because I should have kept an eye on him, she said three days after the Civil Guard searched the headquarters of the PP. People want gestures and my gesture is to assume my political responsibility, knowing that I have taken nothing nor can I be accused of doing so, but I am the president of the PP in Madrid and must assume my responsibility, she said in what was interpreted as a reference to Rajoy.

Despite her two resignations, Aguirre remained a powerful force in the PP, as its spokesperson in City Hall and as a municipal representative.

On Monday afternoon, when she called her press conference with an hours notice, nobody doubted she would be resigning for a third time, but there were questions as to whether she would retain her position as a councilor.

I feel tricked and betrayed by Ignacio Gonzalez, she said about the man who had been her right-hand man and who took over from her as the head of the regional government in Madrid in 2012.

My understanding of politics at the service of Spain leads me to assume my political responsibility for not having kept an eye on Ignacio Gonzalez, for not having discovered what the Civil Guard and the court has discovered, she said.

As head of the Madrid regional government, Aguirre became Spains answer to Margaret Thatcher

She described the arrest of Gonzalez as part of Operation Lezo the hardest hammer blow she has suffered. The PP had been pressuring her behind the scenes to resign.

The arrest of Gonzalez last week, now being held in prison, was the final blow to her political reputation. On Monday she stepped down from her position as her partys spokesperson in City Hall. There was no point in further explanations or sinecures as she once defined the public subsidies that some of her colleagues converted into huge sums of money.

Having resigned from the leadership of the Madrid PP in February last year for not knowing what was going on  I could have kept an eye on financing but I didnt I was busy building 12 hospitals  she was no longer going to convince anybody, not even her own party.

English version by Nick Lyne.
A 62-year-old retired officials of a nationalised bank was allegedly duped by a cyber criminal who posed as a bank official, and duped him of Rs1.06 lakh by obtaining his credit and debit card details, as well as the One Time Passwords (OTP).

The complainant (name withheld) is a resident of Andheri (West). He received a phone call from a woman at 10.30 am on April 5, who told him that she is calling from a nationalised bank, where the complainant has a credit card.

On the pretext of converting bonus points on his credit card to a few thousand rupees, she asked for his 16-digit card number and the CVV number on the back of the card.

The victim then received OTPs on his mobile phone, which he shared with her seven times.

Then, the woman passed the phone to another cyber criminal who posed as her senior. This man told victim that the money for the bonus points needs to be transferred to another account and asked for his Bank of India debit card details.

The unsuspecting senior citizen shared his card details for second time and also another three OTPs. At 2.30 pm he found that Rs 1.06 lakh was withdrawn from his account.
Theres good news in store for Mumbaiites- while the citiys real estate developers are now building smaller, affordable homes in the range of Rs50-60lakh, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) on Tuesday introduced 75 new spacious buses, equipped with laptop and mobile charging points, better ventilation and more legroom. In a new development on the Mumbai couple who was found hanging in their rented home on Sunday, cops found that they had taken loans from several banks and had changed their names in 2009 to evade creditors, said police. Meanwhile, Eman s story, the worlds heaviest woman who was treated in India, took a dramatic twist as her relatives allege negligence by the doctors. Also, The Maharashtra Opposition parties have formed an informal code of conduct for its leaders and workers participating in the third phase of the Sangharsh yatra for farm loan waiver. Here are our picks-

1.Mumbai gets a realty check, affordable 1-BHK flats all set for a comeback in western suburbs

With no takers for premium large-sized flats in Mumbai, real estate developers are now building smaller homes in the range of Rs50-60lakh. The Centre recently gave infrastructure status to smaller homes. This will help builders get funds easily and also give them more time  five years from the current three years  to complete the projects.

2. Mumbai family suicide: Couple changed identity to evade creditors, say cops

The Mumbai couple, found hanging in their rented home on Sunday, had taken loans from several banks and had changed their names in 2009 to evade creditors, said police. While the man changed his name from Sunil Uttewar to Indrajit Dutt, the woman changed her name from Jasmine Uttewar to Jasmine Patel.

3. BEST gets better: 75 new buses with mobile charging points on Mumbai roads from today

The new buses were launched on Tuesday. (HT Photo )

Your bus commute in Mumbai is all set to get smoother. The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) on Tuesday introduced 75 new spacious buses, equipped with laptop and mobile charging points, better ventilation and more legroom. These are part of the 303 new buses to be added to the 3,800-bus fleet of the loss-making transport body.

4. Maha Oppn Sangharsh Yatra dress code: No fancy clothes, sunglasses or jewellery, please

The Maharashtra Opposition parties have formed an informal code of conduct for its leaders and workers participating in the third phase of the Sangharsh yatra for farm loan waiver  no fancy clothes or jewellery, no sunglasses and definitely no arguments with citizens.

5. Worlds heaviest woman Emans journey in Mumbai: From thank you India to docs are liars

Egyptian Eman Ahmed, 36, the worlds heaviest woman, who is being treated at a Mumbai hospital is in the news again. This time not for her weight loss. While doctors claim she has 242kg, almost half her weight since her surgery, her sister Shaimaa Salim on Monday called Saifee hospital surgeon Dr Muffazal Lakdawala and the hospital liars, alleging they put Eman on massive medication to stop her brain activity.
A 45-year-old doctor, Dr Jasmine Patel, who along with her daughter and husband, was found hanging in a rented apartment in Kamothe on Sunday, had in her suicide note requested that her and her daughters bodies be sent to the anatomy department of KEM hospital for the students. But the police said on Monday that they will not do that as the bodies had decomposed.

Ashok Naik, senior police inspector of Kamothe police station, said, There are some formalities in sending bodies for such studies. A specific form has to be filled up by the family when the patient is alive and then the body to taken for anatomy after death. That was not done in this case.

Also, KEM authorities have told us that they dont accept decomposed bodies. We have now realized that the mother-daughter duo committed suicide on the night of April 20, and the husband killed himself the next day. Since bodies have decomposed now, we have decided to hand them over to their family members, he said.

After completing her MBBS, Patel joined a government hospital in MP as an assistant civil surgeon. After that she became the medical superintendent in a civic hospital there. Before shifting to Mumbai, she was holding the post of director of a private hospital in Jalgaon.

In Mumbai, the family first stayed in Chembur. They shifted to Navi Mumbai around seven years ago and Patel had been running a clinic since then.

Naik said, Their names were Jasmine Uttewar and Sunil Uttewar till 2009. However, Jasmine adopted the surname Patel and her husband changed his name to Indrajeet Dutta after that. We are now trying to find out why did they do that.

The police also suspect that Dutta might have a criminal record. The family had mentioned in their suicide notes that they had left white clothes to wrap their bodies. They also left some clothes and cash for the maid and some books and artificial flowers for a neighbour. Their personal belongings were found in a trunk, he said.

Ravindra Srinivash Shetyam, the chairman of the society, was all praises for the deceased. He said, Patel used to ask me about my life after retirement. Her husband used to accompany her to the clinic. But they never participated in the celebrations and events we organised at the society.

The girl never came out of the house. We hardly ever saw her in the compound and she has not even attended school after they shifted to this building, he said.

Inspector Naik said, We are in a process of examining their call data records (CDR) to find out people they were in touch with as that may give us some clue about the reason behind the drastic step. We will get more details once their family members reach the city.

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Shocked after three from a family ended their lives in their rented home on Sunday, members of the housing society in Kamothe in Mumbai plan to conduct a puja (special prayers) to drive away the evil forces.

Indrajit Dutt, 50, his wife Dr Jasmine Patel, 45, and their daughter Oshin, 15, who lived in the society for more than a year, were found hanging in their home in Indra Vihar Residency on Sunday. Police suspect financial trouble drove them to take the extreme step.

Residents of the 75 flats in the society want to conduct special rituals. It is shocking and tragic. We are ready to pay for it , but it should be done at the earliest, said a resident.

Ravindra Srinivash Shetyam, chairman of the society, said they plan to conduct a puja. We have discussed the matter with society members. We will conduct a puja soon.

The incident has left most scared. My children dont go out alone even to play. They are scared of taking the lift, said a resident of society.

The police are examining the call data records of the family to get details on the people they were in touch with.

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With no takers for premium large-sized flats in Mumbai, real estate developers are now building smaller 1-BHK homes in the range of Rs50-60 lakh.

The Centre recently gave infrastructure status to smaller homes. This will help builders get funds easily and also give them more time  five years from the current three years  to complete the projects.

There is a demand for low-cost homes, said Babulal Verma, managing director of Omkar Realtors and Developers, which plans to create 4,000 affordable flats in its various projects. We will launch 700 one-BHK flats in Malad next month.

Ruparel Realty has come up with a project, Ruparel Optima, at Kandivli with 1-BHK flats priced at Rs52 lakh.

Paradigm Realty has unveiled 480 affordable homes in two of its projects in Borivli  Ariana Residency and Casa Palazzo. We have sold more than 200 apartments in the past three months, said Parth Mehta, managing director, Paradigm Realty.

In keeping with their goal of Housing For all by 2020, both the state and central governments have been encouraging affordable housing schemes.

For years, builders focused on luxury apartments. However, the realty sector has been witnessing a slowdown in the past few years, bringing down the number of new launches and sales.

Real estate experts want the government to provide more incentives to flat-buyers for a turnaround. The buyer will have to pay at least 11% more in the form of service tax, value-added tax, stamp duty and registration. These taxes need to be waived. Buyers have a shoe-string budget and these taxes affect them directly, said Prakkash G Rohiira, director, Karma Realtors.

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The spat between the sister of Eman Ahmed and doctors at Mumbais Saifee Hospital, where the Egyptian woman has undergone weight-loss surgery, has taken a new turn.

Doctors who performed bariatric surgery on Eman , 36, said on Tuesday they would no longer attend to her. Emans sister Shaimaa Selim had a day ago criticised the hospital and called Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, who heads Emans medical team, a liar and accused him of negligence. She also said the hospital had told her not to speak to the media.

Dr Aparna Govil Bhasker, the chief bariatric surgeon, officially resigned from the team on Tuesday morning in protest against Shaimaas allegations. What has happened is very sad. We are deeply hurt. This is the worst form of assault a doctor can face. An assault doesnt always have to be physical. By resigning from the team, I am protesting against this form of assault, she said.

But Dr Lakdawala, who spearheaded the Save Eman campaign, will continue to treat her, hospital officials said. He was unavailable for comment.

In a video recorded on April 14, Shaimaa accused Emans doctors of lying about her sisters weight loss. They have said that Emans weight has dropped from nearly 500kg to 171kg. Shaimaa claimed the hospital was not equipped for such a case and cared about show and propaganda only.

She added, My sisters health is deteriorating. Eman has been critical for one-and-half months and she has been put on massive medication to stop her brain activity. Her face and hand are bluish.

The hospital has denied the allegations. Huzaifa Shehabi, its chief operating officer, said on Tuesday morning that Eman was hale and hearty and medically fit to travel back home. Her weight has gone down miraculously, faster than expected. If a patients treatment is over, we cant keep her in the hospital unnecessarily, he said.

Bhasker said Eman spoke four sentences in Arabic  for the first time in years  after a speech therapy session on Tuesday. No promises were made that she will be completely alright; we are doctors, not gods, he added.

While the hospital said Eman was fit to be discharged in a fortnight, she has not been given a deadline. Doctors said Shaimaa could have made the allegations because Emans family may not be able to afford her treatment back home. They have not spent anything on treatment so far and do not intend to pay anything here, he said.

While is still unclear how much money the hospital spends a day on treating Eman, doctors estimated it has spent Rs 3 crore so far, including the cost of flying her to Mumbai, her surgeries, medical tests and the new infrastructure that the hospital built especially for her.

About Rs 90 lakh was raised via crowd-funding; the rest of the cost has been borne by the hospital and doctors treating Eman, said Dr Bhasker.

Meanwhile, Eman underwent a computed tomography (CT) scan on Tuesday. Our CT scan machine cant take more than 204kg. The fact that she underwent a successful scan today is proof that she has lost weight, Shehabi said.

Doctors said that the latest CT report suggested Eman had no new infarcts (a small localised area of dead tissue resulting from failure of blood supply) or intracranial haemorrhage (bleeding within the skull), which proved that her condition wasnt worsening. The CT scan report proves she has not suffered a stroke since arriving at Saifee Hospital. The cause of her repeated seizures is scar epilepsy (epilepsy caused by scar tissue or a brain infection). Her medications and neurological rehabilitation therapy will need to be continued as before, said Dr Arun Shah, head of neurology at the hospital.
More than 4,000 seats in the Right to Education (RTE) quota are vacant even after four rounds of admissions. This is despite the state conducting admissions on time for the first time in four years without any delay.

Under the RTE Act, unaided, non-minority schools are required to reserve 25% seats for disadvantaged groups and offer them free education till class 8.

On Tuesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) allotted 203 seats to students in the fifth and final round of admissions, which will conclude on April 29, in time for the April 30 deadline set by the government  a feat that has not been achieved in the four years since the process began.

But the number of admissions continue to remain low. Only 2,747 students out of 7,449 applicants have secured admissions so far. In the fourth round that ended on April 18, only 82 students confirmed their seats, out of 370 allotments.

Officials said the problem lies with students seeking admission only to a handful of schools. As many as 34 schools are still to receive a single application. This year the admission process was conducted without a hitch or delay, but even then there are over 4,000 vacant seats, said Mahesh Palkar, education officer, BMC. Parents are choosing only those schools which are in demand, while other schools do not get a single application.

The low number can also be attributed to schools rejecting students for not producing proper documents while taking admission or parents not turning up in time to secure admissions. We extend the deadline for taking admissions, but still some parents get left out because they might have gone on vacation, said Nisaar Khan, BMC education inspector.

He added that the department will probe these cases where schools have turned away allotted students, to see if they were justified in doing so.

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Noting that the Mumbai polices probe into the functioning of Shifu Sunkriti, an alleged sex and drugs racket, has thrown up shocking details, the Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday granted the crime branch additional time for further investigation.

The crime branch submitted its probe report in a sealed envelope to a bench of justices Ranjit More and AM Badar.

The crime branch told the court while the prime accused, and alleged leader of the group, Sunil Kulkarni, was arrested, efforts were on to arrest Kulkarnis co-accused.

The court said it was satisfied with the probe conducted so far.

Meanwhile, the two women from Malad, whose parents were the first to approach the HC, requested the court to allow them to intervene in the matter.

Justice More, however, directed them to first file an intervention application, saying the court will then decide on granting permission.

During the previous hearing, on April 19 , a bench of justices Ranjit More and Anuja Prabhudessai directed the police to immediately register an FIR and make serious efforts to trace Kulkarni. A day later, the police arrested Kulkarni.

The petitioners claimed that the girls, who were regular college students and working professionals, were enticed by Kulkarni and forced into drugs. It claims that under the influence of such drugs, the girls left their respective homes to join Kulkarni and refused to come back.

Patil told the court some of the parents had first approached the police in December last year and then met with them on several occasions since then, but no action was taken.

During the previous hearing, when the bench asked the police why it had failed to register the FIR, the state argued the girls were all above 18 years of age and they had given statements attesting that had joined Kulkarni out of their will.

The court however, junked this argument saying the girls clearly were under the influence of drugs and hencehad given such statements.

It also noted that the state could have sought a magistrates permission and rescued the girls by sending them to a state-run rehabilitation facility or home.

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The Khadakpada police in Kalyan have recovered 16 two-wheelers and nine mobile phones from a 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy who were arrested last week.

The minor was on Tuesday produced in court and sent to child home while Mammu alias Wasim Sanjay Irani, a resident of Ambivli in Kalyan, was sent to judicial custody.

We recovered seven two-wheelers worth Rs3.70 lakh from Irani and nine two-wheelers worth Rs5.15 lakh from the minor. We also found 10 mobile phones worth Rs1 lakh from them. They executed their robbery plans mostly in Thane, said Sanjay Shinde, deputy commissioner of police from Zone 3.

Shinde suspects that more people are involved in theses robberies.

Irani was wanted under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999.

He was arrested from Kalyan on April 21 after the police got a tip off about his whereabouts. During investigation, he revealed the name of the minor who was arrested too.

The two were involved in mobile thefts and other robberies. The minor plunged into the criminal world when he was 13. Earlier, he was also arrested in an attempt to murder case and for pelting stones on personnel from Khadakpada police station, said a police officer. Still we believe there are a few stolen items, location of which, the two have not revealed to us, said B. Roham, inspector from Kalyan zone.

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1.56 crore stolen from van parked outside SBI ATM in Mumbai

GRP arrest six of a gang in Mumbai, crack train robbery case

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Two brothers, both in their 20s, were booked by the police in Ulhasnagar, a suburb near Mumbai for allegedly molesting and threatening a 22-year-old woman for refusing their advances.

Akash Katare and Bunty Katare are on the run after a case was filed against them on Monday.

An officer from Hill Line police station said the incident occurred on October 17, 2016, when the woman, a housewife, had come to stay with her parents for a few days after a tiff with her husband. The couple lives in Kalyan.

Akash and the woman were in a relationship before she got married. She was accosted by the brothers when she visited the market with her son. Akash asked her to give him Rs50,000 and also demanded sexual favours. She refused and the next day, he threatened to throw acid on her and kill her son. He even threatened to defame her by disclosing their past to her husband, the officer said.

Senior inspector Mohan Waghmare from Hill Line police station said the woman refused to give into their demands

and approached the court last year.

Following courts directive, the case was transferred to us on Monday. A case was filed against the accused. Both will be arrested soon.

READ MORE

Mob justice: Jharkhand villager beaten to death for raping five-year-old girl

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Ciudad del Este, Paraguays main commercial city, became a war zone on Monday night when around 50 gunmen armed with assault rifles, dynamite and night-vision goggles attacked the headquarters of a private security firm and made off with millions in cash. The thieves killed a security guard during their three-hour assault, which began around midnight and saw cars burnt out and a shootout with the police. No details have emerged about the stolen amount, but Prosegur reportedly had enough space in its vaults to store up to $40 million.

More information Atraco de pelicula en Paraguay: 50 hombres roban millones de dolares en una oficina de Prosegur

After blowing up part of the Prosegur building, the thieves used remote controls to set off military-grade explosives  enough to take down an entire building  under 16 vehicles in different parts of the city. This included a large truck that was left lying across an international thoroughfare and caused further accidents when several motorcycles failed to spot it in time and crashed into it, local media reported.

In the ensuing chaos and confusion, the robbers managed to flee into neighboring Brazil inside five armored vehicles. Paraguayan authorities suspect the culprits are members of a Brazilian criminal gang that pulled off a similar heist in Pernambuco on February 21. That time, the target was a cash storage company called Brinks, which lost $20 million that day. The Ciudad del Este heist was nearly identical: a surprise attack around midnight using paramilitary techniques.

Videos uploaded by local residents showed a city besieged, under fire and with explosions going off and citizens cowering in the dark, a local outlet reported.

The Prosegur headquarters were under police watch after a tunnel was discovered under the building

Nothing like this has ever happened in this city. It looks like Syria, said the prosecutor in charge of the investigation. They used five vehicles to make their getaway. They set off dynamite and fled toward the bridge that links [Ciudad del Este] with the Paraguayan city of Hernandarias. There were around 50 robbers, who used military-grade weapons and dynamite.

Ciudad del Este is the commercial heart of the country. Located along the so-called Triple Border, it is a hotspot for drug trafficking between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, and lives off trade with its neighboring countries. Low prices and goods of often questionable origin have made the city a magnet for investors.

The sheer scope of the attack alerted authorities in Brazil, where the Federal Police deployed units on land, air and water. In the meantime, Argentina announced reinforced border controls and offered help from its own police.

A vehicle that was set on fire by the fleeing gang. Twitter

It was the Brazilian police, in coordination with Paraguayan forces, who finally located part of the gang in Foz do Iguacu, where they arrived on two speedboats after crossing the Parana River. Paraguays interior minister confirmed that there was a shootout between law enforcement officials and a dozen gang members, three of whom were killed and four more arrested. The Interior Ministry has posted images of seized weapons and one of the dead gunmen on its Twitter account.

The ministry has also admitted that they were aware that a major heist was in the works, but lacked sufficient evidence regarding the exact day or location to take action.

The Prosegur headquarters had been under police watch since 2015, when a tunnel was discovered under the building.

They found an L-shaped tunnel going under Prosegur and ending in a house. Two years later, they managed to rob the premises, said Richard Vera, head of homicide investigations at the Ciudad del Este Police Department. Vera said that the gang was made up of Brazilian and Paraguayan nationals, but declined to confirm whether they were members of Primer Comando Capital (PCC), a group created in the 1990s as a protection unit for convicts serving time in Brazilian prisons, and now particularly active in the Sao Paulo area.

English version by Susana Urra.
University of Mumbai teachers do not have a model answer key to consult while assessing papers, showed a response to a Right to Information (RTI) query.

This may have led to a number of students being wrongly marked over the years, said the RTI applicant, Vihar Durve.

In March this year, HT reported that of the 2.19 lakh students who had applied for rechecking of answer papers between 2014 and 2016, almost 73,000 students, or 30%, were declared passed.

There needs to be uniformity while assessing papers because two examiners will not have a similar opinion about a question, especially in theory subjects, added Durve.

In its reply to Durves application, the university said it did not share a common model answer book with examiners even though it was mandatory according to the law.

However, the varsity mentioned in the reply that giving model answer papers to examiners and moderators was not compulsory.

It also said it regularly called the chairperson of a subject to decide on a model answer

paper.

In subjects with large number of students, we do provide model answers. In subjects with small student participation, theres no need of such format as model answers are discussed with examiners by the chairperson of a subject, said MA Khan, MU registrar.

READ

After poor LLM scores, Mumbai university to recheck 10% papers to see if assessment was flawed

80% fail LLM first semester exams, students blame faulty assessment

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The Maharashtra government is likely to invite bids again to appoint a contractor for the construction of the phase one of the grand memorial to Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji after the bids it received were much higher than expected amid worries that the budget is likely to shoot up further.

The government has estimated that the project in the Arabian sea off Mumbai coast would cost around Rs 3500 crore. It has anticipated that the first leg of the project would cost between Rs2300 crore and Rs 2500 crore and the second phase is likely to cost about Rs 1000 crore.

The lowest bidder quoted over Rs 1500 crore more than the estimated cost of the project.

The government is now considering to renegotiate with the lowest bidder or invite bids again so that the bidding amount would come down. It is also planning wider publicity to attract more bidders for the project so that competition could force bidders to reduce prices.

When the bids were opened by the public works department last Saturday, the government found the lowest tender by Larsen & Toubro Limited, at Rs 3826 crore and Shapoorji Palonji Group at Rs 4779 crore.

We will first negotiate with L&T to check if we could arrive at the amicable quotation. In case the talks fail, we will go for the re-tendering, Vinayak Mete, who heads the committee that overlooks the project, said.

I think we failed to get a wider response from the players at the global level in the first attempt. With more competition, we may bring down the cost quoted, Mete added.

The final decision over the appointment of the company will be taken by the high power committee headed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

According to an official from the general administration department, the gap between the governments estimate and the quotation may be due to the lapses in the estimation.

Since this is the first of its kind project, the estimation might have gone wrong leading to a much higher quotation by the lowest bidder. The companies qualified for the financial bid had submitted jeep-loads of documents to prove their quotation. In such a scenario, the cost is likely to remain high even after the re-bidding, he added.

The project involves building the worlds tallest statue, surpassing the height of New Yorks Statue of Liberty and the under-construction Statue of Unity of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat. The entire memorial will be 210 metres tall, close to over 80-storey structure, built entirely in the sea on an islet of 15.96 hectares.

The project was conceived in the 1980s and has been a talking point for all political parties ever since.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a groundbreaking ceremony for the ambitious project last December, in the run-up to Mumbais civic polls and pacify the restless Maratha community, which was protesting for quotas in government jobs and education.

Shivaji is held as an icon of the Maratha community, which constitutes 33% of Maharashtras population.

Read more: Shivaji memorial in sea: 13 firms show initial interest in building statue

Shivaji memorial in Mumbai will pollute sea and damage coast, say experts

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The Ghaziabad police on Tuesday said that owner of Audi Q7 that had crashed into an autorickshaw around 12.15am on January 28 on the Hindon canal road in Indirapuram, killing four, has been named an accused in the case. However, the police remained tight-lipped on the person behind the conspiracy, in which an alleged impostor had surrendered at a court and got bail.

Senior superintendent of police, Deepak Kumar, said,Dr Manish Rawat is an accused in the case. However, he said that he does not know the sections under which each accused has been charged. He later directed the officers concerned to forward him the details about the case investigation, handled by the crime branch.

The officials quoted a crime branch report that stated that the doctor could only face charges under bailable IPC sections  203 (giving false information respecting an offence committed), 279 (rash driving) and 304a (causing death by negligence).

The police have, so far, failed to comment on the person responsible for hatching the conspiracy, in which Syed Imtiyaz Qadri had surrendered at the court of the chief judicial magistrate on January 31 and obtained bail on identity documents of a truck driver, Ishaq Ahmad, who was his co-tenant in Bareilly.

We will continue to fight till the persons involved in the conspiracy are identified. It is vital to know who hatched the conspiracy, and more importantly, in order to protect whom. We have already sent a detailed report to top state officials in Lucknow about the case. Next, we will meet the UP chief minister personally in order to get justice. We already know that investigators are under pressure, Sunita Sengar, mother of Yajuvendra Singh, one of the four victims, said.

Qadri was arrested nearly a fortnight ago by Maharashtra police officials under Nala Sopara police station for chain snatching and robbery. Sources said that he had told the Maharashtra police that he had fled Bareilly upon learning that four persons were killed in the Audi crash case, in which he surrendered as the driver.

He later told the police that three persons had roped him as the driver and had told him that the ploy was to get insurance claims. He was also paid Rs7,000 to appear before the CJM court.

Sources said that the total blame in the case, under IPC sections for cheating by personation, cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy could be imposed on Qadri, who is a scapegoat in the case.

Officials said that Qadris case pursuer Raj Kumar, who had accompanied him to the court when he had surrendered as the driver, could face charges of cheating and cheating by impersonation. The two persons who furnished surety and bonds for his bail are also likely to be charged under sections of criminal conspiracy.

To know about the larger conspiracy and those involved, we will definitely get the issue reviewed by the senior officers of the crime branch, said Deepak Kumar, senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad.

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The members of a traders association in Ghaziabad blocked the 10-lane Dasna toll plaza on Tuesday morning and lifted the boom barriers, allowing free vehicular movement for over an hour. The group is demanding the removal of the toll plaza located at Dasna on NH-24 to allow free movement of vehicles between Ghaziabad and Hapur.

Scores of members from the Sanyukt Vyapar Mandal gathered at the toll plaza on Tuesday morning and staged a protest, demanding the facility be made toll-free for commuters. They said the toll road, having 10 lanes, was operational for more than 15 years and has already recovered its cost.

So many years have passed but the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is still charging a toll from commuters. We have demanded that the toll be scrapped and the details of investment and the cost recovered so far be made public. The facility should have become toll free by now, said Ashok Bhartiya, chairman of the association.

Apart from recovery of charges, the toll has no facility for first-aid and even drinking water. The bouncers at the facility also misbehave with motorists, said Rakesh Sharma, another member.

The protesters also made the stretch toll-free for more than an hour. A large contingent of police force arrived from neighbouring police stations, including Masuri, to bring the situation under control. The protesters later handed over a memorandum to the police and NHAI officials and said they will resort to a protest again if the toll is not made free by August 15.

On the other hand, the officials of NHAI said that the toll has been allotted in perpetuity and the rate comes down to 40% once the investment is recovered.

The recovery in this case will not be possible as the facility is proposed to move to a new location in Nizampur (Hapur bypass) in another year as part of the proposed NH-24 widening (Dasna to Hapur). The balance investment, of around Rs 90 crore, will now be added to the new project cost as it will have more lanes and requires more land acquisition. As per estimates, the toll incurred an investment of around Rs 184 crore, said RP Singh, project director, NHAI.

The officials said they had proposed new lanes at the new facility after it is shifted to Nizampur but senior officials want 24 lanes to allow more traffic in a smooth manner. The widening of Dasna to Hapur stretch is estimated to cost around Rs 1,400 crore, including the cost of the new toll plaza at Nizampur.

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Dissent is one word which has assured, in the last few years, a currency unprecedented in our democratic history. The reason obviously is that at many levels, political, social, cultural, dissent is under severe assault. A political ethos and regime have emerged asserting that dissent from majoritanism is not only not permissible if not by the State, by the numerous groups of vigilantes which have mushroomed illegally and unconstitutionally. Dissent is not a right which was conferred upon we the people of India as the Constitution states but it is inherent in all structures of democratic nature. However, in the current climate of violence and bans dissent is being termed and seen as anti-national, anti-Indian, anti-Hindu.

It can be reasonably argued that in India, from the beginning of its civilisational enterprise, nothing has remained singular for long; in fact, nothing has been, in a sense, allowed to be singular for long. Whether god or religion, philosophy or metaphysics, language or custom, cuisine or costume  every realm is dominated by plurality. It is not accidental or purely a linguistic device that in many Western languages the word for India is plural  Indes meaning Indias. It is difficult to talk about a single Indian tradition: there are multiple traditions, all authentically and robustly Indian. Even within a single major religion Hinduism there are four vedas (not one), millions of gods, 18 upanishads, six schools of classical philosophy, two epics, four purusharthas. In fact it can be easily claimed that India as a country and equally as a civilisation is an unending celebration of human plurality. It has survived through millennia mainly through plurality, both as a people and as a civilisation.

Plurality, on its part, is inevitably embedded in the notion that there are many ways of looking and living in the world. Also, that plurality accommodates differences. These differences, in their turn, embody and enact dissent. When the vedic seer ordains in a grand manner the noble notion aanobhadrah kratvo yantu vishwatah, what is being sanctified is the idea that there are ideas spread all over the world and they are all welcome. The other vedic saying envisages that vasudhaiv kutumbkam or the whole earth is a family. Such openness to the plurality of ideas and their acceptance as in a family is the core of the Vedic cosmic vision. It could be asserted that, throughout the millennia, many dilutions and distortions may have taken place in real life and practice, as they do almost inevitably everywhere, Indian traditions and civilisation never lost sight of this noble vision nor ever failed to allow adequate space for it.

India invented four religions namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. The birth and growth of the later three religions is yet another instance when Buddha, Mahavir and Nanak, the three founders of the three religions, dissented from the ritualistic and social caste rigidities of the Sanatan Dharma to discover new paths of spirituality, metaphysics, social organisation and liberation. Here is religious plurality being created through religious dissent. Buddhism and Jainism are two religions in India which are not posited on the notion and existence of God. They are two godless religions and this fact cannot be superseded by the reality that, overtime, followers of both religions started worshiping Buddha and Mahavir as gods. Also, Sanatan Dharma included Buddha as one of the ten avatars of God, Dashavtar along with Rama and Krishna. Another level of the irrepressible plurality incorporating within its fold that which was distinctly radical dissent.

Whether in traditions of creative expression or in the repertoire of intellectual articulation, in India dissent from faith or from the state has always been allowed to grow and be acknowledged and accommodated. In fact, the vital plurality was many a time inspired by or expanded through dissent. For instance, when the classical tyranny of Sanskrit needed to be questioned and subverted, the many modern Indian languages came into being as forms of dissent from the classical. The vernacular did not, as it were, demolish or aspire to occupy the hallowed space of the classical. Instead it became a dissenting parallel. Each Indian language embodies and sustains a worldview which deviates from the classical world view of Sanskrit. The presence of nearly 1,000 Ramayanas in India ranging from creative transformations in languages to different readings from the Jain point view for instance, are evidence that the domination of a narrative and the worldview it enacted and expressed was creatively challenged and transformed. A Kannada Ramayan or a Hindi Ramcharitmanas deviate quite substantially from the original in Sanskrit by Valmiki and all of them are thought to have validity and sanction.

Some satisfaction can be derived from the fact that in the present situation some writers-artists-intellectuals have refused to be silent and have protested. It could be claimed that they have stood by the glorious and unbroken tradition of plurality and dissent and hopefully would continue to fight through creative and intellectual means for democratic values of freedom, justice and equality as enshrined both in our traditions and the Constitution. All thinking and creative persons owe this much at least to Indian heritage, creative imagination and humanity. That they have many different points once again underlines the innate plurality of both affirmation and dissent in India.

Ashok Vajpeyi is a former bureaucrat, a Hindi poet and critic

The views expressed are personal
The Bharatiya Janata Party has been generally famous for its tradition of baithak (meetings), bhojan (food) and vishram (rest).

But Yogi Adityanath, the new chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, seems to have gone back to its earlier practice of chintan-manthan, reminding many of Kalyan Singhs first tenure in the early 1990s when meetings lasted for over 8-10 hours, so much so that once he himself had fainted because of mental fatigue.

Interestingly, Kalyan Singh headed a jumbo-size government with over 90 ministers in his second term (1997) when many of his ministers had earned the sobriquet of no file ministers. They had departments but with no work. Kalyan Singh had cut short meetings that he had become famous for.

The rest of the BJP chief ministers  Ram Prakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh  did not actually follow the partys tradition of long-drawn meetings.

Yogi Adityanath has, however, revived the BJPs work culture, leaving many a minister fuming and fretting due to sleep deprivation.The gruelling induction process of the new government will conclude on Tuesday.

Its almost three weeks since the departmental presentations started in the cabinet room in the state annexe, which houses the chief ministers office.

Yogi, following in the footsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had made the presence of all the 47 cabinet and state ministers compulsory. Generally, the meetings started by six in the evening and ended well beyond midnight.

A senior minister said in a complaining tone, We are literally sleep deprived. He is a yogi and can manage his tough routine on barely two hours sleep; but what about us.

Others said that as the government was new, people from their constituencies came visiting them at their residence early in the morning as thereafter many of them were not accessible till late night. After all punctuality is another hallmark of the Yogi government?

The 47-odd ministers, who sat through the daily presentations from evening to midnight, now are hoping for a temporary reprieve as they will soon be asked to travel the state in May-June heat.

The three-part sessions focused on the departments administrative structure, the present schemes and the future roadmap.

Once when a minister wanted to know why he should be attending presentation of a department other than his own, Yogi had brusquely said, The departments can change too. Moreover as in-charge of districts, all ministers should know about every department.

Yogi will soon allot districts to ministers for monitoring of development works thereafter which would start their tours with night stay in villages.

Incidentally, not only the ministers but bureaucrats and babus are also burning midnight oil. A senior bureaucrat lamented,  Now that biometric attendance has been made compulsory, we have to give our thumb impression every time we enter or leave office.

Another bureaucrat quipped, Between the time when the meeting started and ended, the date often changed.

While Yogi likes to hold official meetings in his office, both his predecessors -- Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav -- had preferred their office at home. In fact, the only time when Mayawati came out of the confines of her home was for the cabinet meeting, for which also a separate road was built from her residence to office  about a km away. Public was not allowed to use the road.

The other chief minister who spent nights in office was ND Tiwari, who often checked implementation of the schemes late in the night. In fact, officers never slept before midnight not knowing when the call may come from the CMO. Kalyan Singh used both his office and residence for meetings, but they were actually long-drawn.

Mayawati, while heading fragile coalition governments, often made surprise calls and checks. She became famous as iron lady for the suspensions she announced from the dais. However, after she formed a majority government in 2007, her focus shifted to development of parks and statutes.

Now Yogi is trying to change the work culture in the secretariat. The first month of the government saw positive results. And its just the beginning.
A total of 63 case of fire in wheat fields damaging crop on 259 acres due to sagging electricity cables have been reported till April 20, reveals an assessment by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

According to principal secretary, power, A Venuprasad, who also holds the charge of chairman-cum-managing director of the PSPCL, the number of fire incidents in the current rabi season are less as compared to last year in the corresponding period when wheat over 223 acres was gutted in 100 incidents.

Farmers, however, differ with the PSPCL figure with reports of fire in fields coming from different parts of the state every day. The PSPCL is hiding facts, said Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Balbir Singh Rajewal, adding that loss was much more and the power corporation was underplaying to figures to save its skin.

In Moga alone, 300 acres of ripe crop was damaged due to fire 10 days ago. A farmer also died while trying to save his crop from fire, said Rajewal.

Local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday announced Rs 24 lakh relief from his pocket to farmers at Oithian village in Amritsar whose crop over 300 acre was gutted. As per reports, the crop caught fire due to sparking in overhead power lines.

Read more | Fire in fields: Punjab farmers blame sagging power lines, dismiss meagre relief

If we go by these two incidents, wheat over 600 acres has already been burnt. Yesterday, I got report from Khanna where crop over 35 acres was burnt, said Rajewal. Farmers are fearing losses one due to the changing weather conditions and sparking in overhead the power lines, he added.

The state government has already ordered a girdawari to know the quantum of loss due to fire and unseasonal rain. Rajewal told HT that he had also asked all his district unit presidents to find out the exact amount of loss. According to him, the loss was no less than 5,000 acres. He reiterated his demand to increase the compensation to Rs 40,000 per acre from existing Rs 8,000 per acre.

Punjab power and irrigation minister Rana Gurjit Singh had ordered a round-the-clock vigil by the PSPCL staff to avert fire incidents in wheat fields.

Despite our repeated requests to the PSPCL staff to strengthen power lines, nothing has been done so far. They just do temporary arrangements, said Nek Singh of Khokh village in Nabha. Rebutting PSPCL figures, he said the loss in the current season was much more than last year.

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With police treating the death of 31-year-old Tejinder Singh Teji of Fathehgarh Churian in Gurdaspur after falling off the 8th floor of a building in Mohali as suicide, the deceaseds mother Kamlesh Kaur has demanded a judicial inquiry into the case. On Sunday afternoon, police had raised the rented flat of Teji at Emaar MGF Housing Society in Sector 105, but events that transpired led to the death of Teji. The police have registered a case under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)). Under the Section, the police are to inquire and report on suicide, but Kamlesh insists it is murder.

My son cannot jump as the police are claiming. He was brave and loved his family. It is a conspiracy. I will meet the Punjab chief minister and demand a judicial inquiry, Kamlesh claimed.

Four men in civvies came, ordered my son to go with them. When he refused, threw him out of the balcony from the 8th floor. It is clear case of murder, as they did not even have a warrant. He had been acquitted in all cases registered against him, she claimed, adding that Teji was now into the business of offering immigration services in SAS Nagar for 10 years now. I doubt if the four men who came were policemen, she claimed.

Tejis uncle Harbhajan Singh, of Amritsar, questioned the role of police, The police did not earmark the spot where he fell. It is also unclear why they entered a wrong flat number at the entry gate.

Police version

With the case grabbing the headlines, the SAS Nagar police has said it will take the help of the forensic department to crack the case. SAS Nagar SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal told HT, As far as allegations of family members are concerned, they are yet to give us a formal (written) complaint. The forensics department has been asked to answer the question of how Teji fell from the building.

Tejis mother Kamlesh Kaur with her grandchildren. (Sanjeev Sharma/HT)

Police were on hunt for illegal weapons

It was the hunt for illegal weapons that led the police to conduct a raid at the flat in Sector-105, it has now emerged.

As recently as April 18, Patiala police had booked Teji for supplying a .315 pistol, illegally, to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Teji was killed after he fell off the 8th floor of Emaar MGF Housing Society in Sector 105 in a bid to escape arrest by the raiding Nabha police team.

Teji faced four cases, acquitted in one

Even as Tejis mother alleged that her son was murdered and had been acquitted in all cases, he faces pending cases. In 2014, he was acquitted in a cheating case registered at Fathehgarh Churian in August 2006. Among the pending cases he faces are a 2008 case in Amritsar district under Sections 382 (planning to commit robbery with intent to kill) and 34 (act done by several people in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.

The guards version

The security guard, who was on duty, about 1pm on Sunday, when Teji fell down from the 8th floor said, He fell on the hips and became unconscious as soon as he hit the ground. I was not aware of what had happened. Teji was rushed to the Fortis Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Post-mortem done, body given to family

Tejis post-mortem was conducted at the Phase-6 civil hospital and the body has been handed over to family members. Tejis wife was not present at the flat when the incident happened, as she was at her parents house at Una in Himachal Pradesh. Tejis son Pranav Pal Singh (10) and daughter Mannat Kaur (8) were busy playing.

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Just 110 of 36,000 students studying on the Panjab University campus and the University School of Open Learning (USOL) applied for scholarship from the student-aid fund in 2016-17. Out of 110, 94 have been found eligible.

This scholarship is apart from fee concessions applicable to needy students and here students whose family income is upto Rs 4 lakh may apply. The information will be put up before syndicate meeting on April 30.

PU takes Rs 50 per annum from each student for maintaining the student-aid fund. We hardly get any applications. In fact, all those who applied have got it. Just 110 applications came out of 36,000 students at PU, said professor Navdeep Goyal, who is a part of a committee formed to decide the applications.

Just 61 application were received from PU teaching departments and 49 came from USOL. Just 2 were found ineligible out of 61 applications of teaching departments, while from USOL 14 applications were not found in order. The rejected applications are of those whose family income certificates were either attested by the notary or self.

During the deliberation in the committee to choose students for scholarship, professor Goyal said that only valid income certificates from executive magistrate or tehsildar or employer were allowed as per the guidelines in Hand book of Information and Rules for admission for the grant of finance assistance. He added under the student-aid fund and those affidavits attested by notary or self would not be acceptable.

PU to revise remuneration of outside assignments for teachers

Chandigarh: Panjab University is all set to increase remuneration for outside assignments for teachers and bringing an amendment in Acceptance of Outside assignments and Permission for doing other than normal work in the PU calendar.

Earlier, teachers were not allowed to receive an honorarium of more than Rs 2,400 per month. But now it will be increased to Rs 25,000 per month.

The other condition is that it will be a limited participation and teachers of day classes shall be allowed to take up lectures in the afternoons. Also, the condition that travelling allowances in addition to honorarium should be only realistic remains the same.

A committee was set up by the vice-chancellor which decided on March 16 that amendment be brought. The committee under professor Sanjeev Puri, honorary director CIPP, professor Navdeep Goyal, the department of Physics, professor BS Ghuman, dean of faculty of Arts, professor Anupam Bawa of UBS, professor RK Singla, director of computer centre, decided that honorarium of Rs 2,400 has been continuing for long and not realistic in the present-day situation and so it should be revised. The issue will be discussed in the syndicate meeting on April 30.

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Police said on Tuesday at least 14 foetuses were found dumped in jars inside a sack in a village in Jharkhands Deoghar district, just over a month after 19 aborted female foetuses were recovered near a stream in Sangli in Maharashtra.

A woman found two foetuses, one male and one female, in a jar on Sunday after she bumped into a sack while crossing a road in Dumarthar village, about 300 km northeast of Jharkhand capital, and informed other villagers.

The next day, people found another sack containing similar jars which had 12 foetuses, mostly females, and reported it to the police.

Doctors and health workers cannot share an unborn childs sex with the parents, or carry out tests to determine the childs gender under Indian laws. Only registered medical practitioners are allowed to perform abortions. The practice of aborting female foetuses is widespread in India where a preference for male child runs deep.

Read: Delhi: Foetus found in government hospital toilet, case registered

Deoghar superintendent of police A Vijayalakshmi confirmed the report and said an FIR had been lodged with Mohanpur police station and a probe was on.

There are a few nursing homes along the roadside, we are probing whether the foetuses were removed after abortion following prenatal test to determine the sex of the foetus, which is banned, she said.

Vijayalakshmi added that a team, headed by the civil surgeon, has been constituted to find out details regarding disposal of medical waste and lapses and violation of sex determination cases if any.

Deoghar civil surgeon Shiv Chandra Jha, who has been asked to report within a week, said the matter was being investigated. We have to check how old the foetuses are, he said.

Jha, however, said it was up to the police to find out who threw the jars containing the foetuses and from where they were brought. The civil surgeon said a DNA test of the foetuses will be conducted and that he will find out which hospitals and nursing homes were following the guidelines of waste disposal management.

Pre-natal sex determination is rampant in the state and Jharkhand high court took cognizance following a Hindustan Times report in 2014 that said 13.2% to 18.2% abortions took place after pregnant women were checked for the sex of their unborn child.

The high court directed the government to find out the number of genetic counselling centres, laboratories, and clinics in the state and whether registrations obtained by them or not.

A 2011 study in the British medical journal The Lancet found that up to 12 million girls had been aborted in the last three decades in India.

In Jharkhand, there are just 928 females per 1000 males as per the 2011-12 Annual Health Survey.

Read: SC denies permission to abort 26-week-old foetus suffering from Downs Syndrome

Activists allege the societies under National Health Mission do not check whether hospitals and nursing homes, private nursing homes, in particular, are following the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994.

They said if the health department carries out raids at nursing homes that are being found violating the act, no stringent actions are taken and the defaulting owners are let off after warnings.

National health mission managing director Kripa Nand Jha, however, said regular monitoring is done to spot health centres violating the PCPNDT act. The targets are given to the civil surgeons and discussions take place in the monthly meetings, he said.

Jha said the health department has asked the Deoghar civil surgeon to submit his report and that action will be taken accordingly.

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The protest marches that took place on Monday throughout Venezuela against the government of President Nicolas Maduro left at least two people dead amid widespread disorder. Opposition leaders sought to distance themselves from what they said had intended to be a peaceful protest involving sit-downs to occupy public areas. The Attorney Generals office has ordered four public prosecutors to look into the deaths.

Protesters in Caracas on Monday. FERNANDO LLANO (AP)

More information La protesta de la oposicion venezolana termina en una anarquia generalizada

The two deaths took place in the western state of Barinas, a stronghold of former president Hugo Chavez, and in neighboring Merida.

In Caracas, a sit-in blocking one of the main roads into the capital led to a violent confrontation with police. Masked youths poured oil onto the road to prevent it being used, and local officials said there had been a number of motor vehicle accidents.

The protests of the last three weeks against the government of President Nicolas Maduro have proved more violent than previous demonstrations. Between February and June 2014, there were 43 deaths, while over the last 24 days, 23 people have been killed. In the absence of a political solution, there is a real possibility the conflict could spread.

I want elections now; I say that as president and head of the government President Nicolas Maduro

Meanwhile, the government has rejected demands for new general elections or a recall referendum. Under no circumstances will there be general elections, warned Disdado Cabello, who is the first vice-president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.

The opposition says it intends to take to the streets again on Wednesday in a repeat of the protests a week ago, when a march was organized from different points in the city to converge on the offices of the Ombudsman and that led to violent clashes with police and government supporters. An alternative destination has not been announced.

Wednesdays demonstration, the 11th in 24 days, will in all likelihood provide another opportunity for the forces of law and order, supported by armed civilians, to face off against the opposition, which is not set up for violent confrontation. As far as the government and its supporters are concerned, the center of Caracas is holy ground.

Mondays disturbances have been used by the government to justify keeping the opposition out of the center of the city, while at the same time portraying it as a dangerous urban guerrilla force out to provoke civil war.

So far, what is happening in Venezuela are outbreaks of spontaneous violence following the repression ordered by the government. The protests have impacted on the routine of all the capitals residents. Blocking main roads has led to classes being cancelled in the private schools in the wealthy east and southeast of the city, as well as the temporary closure of some private universities. The government has threatened to fine institutions that suspend classes.

Between February and June of 2014, there were 43 deaths: over the last 24 days, 23 people have died

Mondays sit-down protests attracted thousands of people, and are a clear bid to intensify the pressure on the government. In response, President Maduro has said he is prepared to hold state elections for governor. I want elections now, he said on television on Sunday. I am saying that as president and as head of the government, he added.

The National Election Council should have convened these polls in December, but says opposition parties need to update their membership lists before putting candidates forward. The opposition accuses the body, which is controlled by the government, of stalling in order to prevent the loss of key regions.

The governments change of mind has been interpreted variously. Some say Maduro is trying to divide the opposition, while others say the offer should be taken up as it is vital to weaken the government wherever possible before the presidential elections due at the end of 2018. Then there are those who refuse to accept Maduro staying in office further, saying he has become a dictator.

But for the moment, the opposition seems to be working in the same direction and is refusing to take the government up on its offer. Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles has said he will not accept the offer of elections in return for ending the protests, accusing the administration of trying to manipulate the opposition.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Four jawans of Jharkhands elite combat force were injured when they stepped on pressure bombs planted by Maoists in Bhura Pahad (hills) during combing operation on Monday evening.

The Jhakhand Jaguar jawans, Manoj Kumar Paswan (28), Satish Kumar (27), Yogesh Rana (28) and Sushil Chhetry (44) were airlifted and treated in Medica Hospital in Ranchi.

Hospital sources said the injured jawans were out of danger and convalescing.

The incident comes close on the heels of an ambush by 300-400 Maoists in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district where 25 CRPF jawans were killed.

Bhura Pahad is a range of hills spread over more than a hundred square kilometres across Latehar, Palamu and Garhwa districts and extends to Chhattisgarh.

On the directive of the ministry of home affairs, forces are conducting an Operation Clean Sweep in the hills for the last one week, hunting for top Maoist leaders who are apparently holed up in the hills.

The cliffs, valleys and mountainous rivulets provide a safe hiding space for Maoists. Jharkhands top Maoist leader, Arvindji is learnt to be hiding in these hills along with his 70-80 armed cadre.

Intelligence sources have provided accurate information to the forces about the location and movement of the red rebels. But since the entire forested area is mined with improvised explosive devices, forces are taking extra precaution in advancing towards the rebels hideouts.

Despite high level of alertness, the four jawans fell prey to the designs of the Maoists and got injured.
SS Rajamoulis highly anticipated magnum opus Baahubali 2 will have the biggest release ever for an Indian film when it will hit the screens in nearly 9000 screens worldwide on Friday. Going by industry sources, the film releases in around 6500 screens in India. In USA, a key market for Telugu films, the second part in Baahubali franchise will open in 1100 screens. In rest of the world, the film will release in 1400 screens.

Considering its wide release, trade pundits believe the film is expected to take an earth shattering opening on the first day. Baahubali 2 is the third Indian film to release in IMAX format and as well in other large screen format. In USA, it is releasing in around 40 IMAX screens and the number is expected to go up as it inches closer to the release date.

Even within India, theres unprecedented craze for the film, especially in Kerala where the first part of the franchise made a killing at the box-office. Trade pundits believe Baahubali 2: The Conclusion will easily mint around Rs 5 crore gross from the first day in the state. In Karnataka, too, the film is expected to rock at the box-office and is likely to supersede the collections of the first part in the franchise.

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It was only a few days ago that Kannada activists ensured a smooth release for Baahubali 2 in Karnataka following Sathyarajs apology over allegedly inflammable comments he made nine years ago against Kannadigas during the Cauvery water dispute protest organised by Tamil actors. Now, highly reliable sources in Kollywood have informed that Baahubali 2s release in Tamil Nadu is likely in huge trouble.

Baahubali 2s producers had initially sold the Tamil Nadu theatrical rights to K Productions, who resold it to Sri Green Productions for Rs 47 crore. Sri Green has already paid Rs 30 crore to K Productions, but due to their recent loss in Bairavaa and Kattappava Kanom, they couldnt settle the remaining amount, says an insider to HT, and added that though K Productions is ready to release the film on their own by paying back Rs 30 crore to Sri Green, the latter has already sold the territory-wise business through sub-distributors in Tamil Nadu, adds our source.

K Productions cant release the film until Sri Green gives back the rights to them or agrees to stay out of the distribution but as of now, both the parties are not in a mood for an amicable settlement.

Trade pundits in Tamil film trade suggest that issue can be resolved only if Shobu of Arka Media Works reduces the Tamil Nadu distribution rights and holds a talk with K Productions Rajarajan and Saravanan of Sri Green Productions. Theatres in Tamil Nadu are yet to open advance bookings for Baahubali 2 as they havent received the nod from their distributors.

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Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday lauded renowned actor-director Kasinadhuni Viswanath on being named for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for his outstanding contribution to the film industry, hailing him as a guiding force.

My compliments to renowned film director and great actor Kasinadhuni Viswanath for being conferred the award, the Information and Broadcasting minister said.

He said the award is conferred by the Indian government for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.

He deserves it. The committee has made a recommendation and I have accepted it as the minister in-charge. He is icon in the film industry and known for classical and traditional art, music and dance, Naidu said.

He said Viswanath has been a guiding force in the Indian film industry.

87-year-old Viswanath became the 48th recipient of the award, the highest recognition in Indian cinema, which consists of a golden lotus, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs and a shawl.

The award for the year 2016 will be conferred by President Pranab Mukherjee at a function on May 3 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

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A new UK study has highlighted the importance of friendships in helping people get through the more stressful periods of life.

Carried out by Dr Rebecca Graber from the University of Brighton during her time at the University of Leeds, the preliminary study is the first to provide long-term statistical evidence on the huge benefit of friends, and in particular best friends, on coping with and developing resilience to stress.

The study included 185 adults, with 75 completing the studys questionnaires and assessments on psychological resilience, best friendship quality, coping behaviours and self-esteem.

Participants then completed the same assessments again one year later, to see how the quality of best friend relationships had affected resilience to stress during this period.

The results showed that best friendships had a protective effect against stress, helping to develop psychological resilience in adults, although how still remains unclear.

The findings also support research published last year by Dr Graber, which found that best friendships can help develop resilience to stress in socioeconomically vulnerable children.

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Picking names for babies just got tougher in Chinas restive Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, with authorities issuing a list of banned names for Muslim newborns whose use could deprive children of government benefits.

A list accessed by Hindustan Times puts the number of banned names at 29. According to the new ruling by the Communist Party of China, names such as Islam, Saddam, Medina and Imam have been deemed overly religious and banned.

Names which connote the star and moon, symbols widely used in Islam, too were banned.

Critics have called the rule absurd and part of a wider and increasingly intense crackdown on the Muslim Uyghur minority, including restrictions on beards and veils. Some members of the community have been accused of fomenting separatism, violence and terrorism.

Xinjiang is home to some 10 million Muslim Uyghurs, a little less than half of Chinas 23 million Muslims.

Children with the banned names will not be given a hukou or local household registration, without which there is no access to civic amenities such as education and healthcare.

You're not allowed to give names with a strong religious flavour, such as Jihad or names like that. The most important thing here is the connotations of the name... (it mustn't have) connotations of holy war or of splittism (Xinjiang independence), an unnamed official told Radio Free Asia.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress, told Hindustan Times in an email: This is another example of an extremely hostile attitude towards the Uyghur community. If the Uyghurs dont accept (the rules) there will be allegations and punishment.

Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch said in a statement, This is just the latest in a slew of new regulations restricting religious freedom in the name of countering religious extremism. On April 1, Xinjiang authorities imposed new rules prohibiting the wearing of abnormal beards or veils in public places, and imposing punishments for refusing to watch state TV or radio programs.

These policies are blatant violations of domestic and international protections on the rights to freedom of belief and expression, she said.

Rights groups say the religious and cultural rights of Uyghurs in Xinjiang are severely restricted, leading to alienation among the ethnic community. Incidents of violence are a result of government policies rather than part of a movement towards a separate country, they say.

Besides restrictions on abnormal beards and wearing veils in public, the crackdown has led to other decisions some would describe as bizarre. Last month, a Uyghur official in Xinjiangs Hotan prefecture was demoted for not smoking in front of religious figures. He didnt have a resolute political stance, reports said.
An antique gong framed by ivory has been removed from a royal exhibition to mark 70 years of Indias independence after it emerged that its display would breach strict laws and offend Prince Charles and Prince William, who campaign for a ban on ivory trade.

The exhibition  being held at the sylvan royal country retreat in Sandringham, Norfolk, 180 km northeast of London  runs till October and features a range of gifts given over the centuries to the royal family in colonial India.

The gong, which hangs between two elephant tusks, was given to Queen Elizabeths great-grandfather in the late 19th century and then used to announce royal dinners. The exhibition also includes objects such as an intricately carved ivory box and a clock cabinet.

The gong was removed from the exhibition that is drawing many visitors after experts pointed out the Control of Trade in Endangered Species Act bans the display of un-worked ivory for commercial gain. There is an entry fee for the exhibition.

A Sandringham spokesman said: It is our understanding that items on display at the Sandringham Estate comply with all existing regulation. However, in any case where there is a genuine doubt, the relevant specimen will be removed from display.

Charlie Mayhew, chief executive of wildlife conservation charity Tusk, said: It seems an eminently sensible move. They are showing a lead on this. If there is any doubt, then it shouldnt be traded or displayed.

Prince Charles and Prince William (a Tusk trustee) have been at the forefront of an international campaign to ban ivory trade, and the ruling Conservative Party has made the ban a promise in its last two manifestos.

Prince William hit the headlines in February 2014, when he reportedly remarked that he would like to see all the ivory owned by Buckingham Palace destroyed.

A royal spokesperson told Hindustan Times: All members of the royal family have united around a single, shared purpose  to put a stop to the illegal killing and trafficking of some of the worlds most iconic and endangered species.

One of the ivory items from colonial India in royal possession (not displayed at the exhibition) is an exquisite throne gifted by the Maharaja of Travancore to Queen Victoria in 1851. It has rarely been seen in public since it was first displayed at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London.

It is already illegal to sell post-1947 ivory in Britain, but antique dealers reportedly exploit the difficulty of determining the age of an item. Under new rules to be announced, dealers will be told to prove the age of items using carbon dating or face having them confiscated and destroyed.

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Nearly a month after banning electronic devices larger than a mobile phone on US-bound flights from eight Muslim-majority countries, the Trump administration is considering barring passengers flying from Britain and some European airports from carrying laptops, according to media reports.

British officials understand that their US counterparts are looking at extending the banto flights from Europe, The Guardian quoted sources as saying.

A Whitehall source suggested that although it was not certain that the ban would be extended to the UK, the US was considering doing so.

The Times too quoted a Whitehall source as saying that British security officials had been alerted that President Donald Trump plans to enforce the laptop ban on flights to the US from some European locations. The measure could be implemented in just weeks, the report said.

The US surprised airlines by imposing the ban in March for flights from 10 airports in Muslim-majority countries, including Amman, Istanbul, Riyadh, Kuwait City and Dubai. Passengers on flights from the affected airports were required to stow their electronic devices in checked-in baggage.

The measure affected thousands of Indians and other travellers who fly to the US every month via airports in the Middle East.

The ban in March affected countries that are allies of the US. None of them were covered by the Trump administrations attempts to ban travellers from six other Muslim-majority nations.

American officials told a news briefing the ban last month was imposed after intelligence reports suggested terrorists could smuggle explosive devices in various consumer items. The ban will remain in place till October.

The Guardian report it was not immediately clear why US authorities could extend the ban on large electronic devices such as tablets and laptops to flights from European airports.

The UK too banned large electronic devices on flights from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey.

Some experts have questioned why the US restrictions affected only Middle Eastern airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, which have been accused by US airlines of benefiting from government subsidies.
The worlds last male northern white rhino has joined the Tinder dating app as wildlife experts make a last-chance breeding effort to keep his species alive.

I dont mean to be too forward, but the fate of the species literally depends on me, the rhinos profile says. I perform well under pressure. I like to eat grass and chill in the mud. No problems. 6 ft tall and 5,000 pounds if it matters.

The campaign called The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World, by a Kenyan wildlife conservancy and the dating app, focuses on the rhino named Sudan.

Conservationists are hoping that Sudans Tinder profile will help them raise enough money for $9-million fertility treatment as all attempts at getting him to mate naturally have failed.

The 43-year-old and his last two female companions are unable to breed naturally because of issues that include old age.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the app aim to raise the funds for research into breeding methods, including in-vitro fertilization, in an effort to save the species from extinction.

We partnered with Ol Pejeta conservancy to give the most eligible bachelor in the world a chance to meet his match, said Matt David, head of communications and marketing at Tinder. We are optimistic given Sudans profile will be seen on Tinder in 190 countries and over 40 languages.

Sudan lives at the conservancy, protected by guards around the clock, with the two females, Najin and Fatu.

The plight that currently faces the northern white rhinos is a signal to the impact that humankind is having on many thousands of other species across the planet, said Richard Vigne, the conservancys chief executive officer.

Ultimately, the aim will be to reintroduce a viable population of northern white rhino back into the wild, which is where their true value will be realised.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of being responsible for the murder of Mashal Khan, a university student who was lynched over a charge of blasphemy accusation.

Zardari made the accusation while addressing a political rally at Malakand in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, close to the place where Khan lost his life earlier this month.

It all happened because of your (Sharifs) philosophy. That is why I hold you responsible for this incident, Zardari said. You are the offspring of (former military dictator) Zia-ul-Haq.

Later, he criticised the premiers brother, Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, saying to the crowd, The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is yours, but you are being deprived of it by the Punjab chief minister.

Pledging to assist the Pakhtun community in regaining control of your projects and resources, Zardari said his party had vowed to serve the masses. We have given the Pakhtuns their identity as we know that they needed to be recognised, he added.

The province's name was changed from the North West Frontier Province to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa when Zardari was the president and the PPP was in power at the centre.

Zardari and other PPP leaders have stepped up attacks on Sharif and his PML-N party as political parties gear up for the next general election, which is expected to be held next year. The PML-N came to power by defeating the PPP in the 2013 general election.
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n January 16, 1865, Major General William Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Orders No. 15, which one admiring biographer lauded as the single most revolutionary act in race relations in the Civil War. The order promised thousands of freedmen 40-acre parcels of land located in a 30-mile wide swath from Charleston south along the Atlantic coast to the St. Johns River in Florida. But Southern-sympathetic Northern politicians and even Sherman himself would come to betray the famous order that gave freedmen 40 acres and a mule, and former slaves would be forced off the land their families had worked for generations.

That Reconstruction betrayal drove many impoverished blacks from the South to Northern cities. The nations postwar leaders inability to possess the will, the wisdom, and the imagination to provide the black men and women, freed by the deaths of more than 750,000 Americans, with the means to rise economically affected American race relations for decades to come.

Shermans Special Field Orders No. 15 was an aggressive response to two issues that had bedeviled the Lincoln administration for nearly four yearsthe federal governments confiscation of Rebel-owned property and the relocation of the thousands of contrabands who had found their way to Union Army camps. Repeated attempts to resolve these issues through legislation had collapsed in the face of the inflexible partisan positions staked out by Democrats and Republicans.

The first attempt to resolve the issue came in August 1861, with the First Confiscation Act declaring that all property used in aiding, abetting, or promoting the insurrection was to be seized, confiscated, and condemned. Fearful that the legislation might appear a desperate response to the Union defeat at First Bull Run, and might also be unconstitutional, Lincoln reluctantly signed the bill, and then immediately ordered Attorney General Edward Bates not to enforce its provisions. Lincolns timidity angered the more radical members of his party.

The following summer Lincoln again found himself at odds with several Republican members of congress. Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbulls Second Confiscation Act authorized the government seizure of all the estate and property, money, stocks, credits, and effects of anyone in rebellion against the United States. Furthermore, all slaves of personsengaged in rebellionthat [come] under the control of the government of the United Statesshall be forever free of their servitude. The Second Confiscation Act lacked provisions for enforcement and proved no more effective than its predecessor.

Confiscation by the Union military, however, proved to be an altogether different matter. Commanders on the front lines seized abandoned Southern plantations and their slaves. But Congress and the Lincoln administration proved unable to dispel the uncertainty surrounding experiments in free labor by agreeing on policies for the seized lands.

Black leaders, wary of Congress and the administration, had put forth their own ideas regarding possible land redistribution. In November 1861, the Anglo-African newspaper published an editorial titled What Shall Be Done with the Slaves? that argued when the war ended there will be four million free men and women and children, accustomed to toil who should be awarded the confiscated land.

The growing likelihood that a Union victory would bring an end to chattel slavery led many black leaders to join the frequent calls for land redistribution. For tens of thousands of freedmen, ownership of the land they had labored on as slaves promised economic self-sufficiency and a path to citizenship. Nowhere was that promise more eagerly embraced than in Savannah in January 1865.

[quote style=boxed float=right]Union Commanders on the Front lines seized abandoned Southern plantations and their slaves[/quote]

Sherman and his army had occupied that city following their seven- week march from Atlanta through northern Georgia. I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, he telegraphed the president on December 22. But controversy had tainted Shermans gift. On December 9, Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis had ordered a pontoon bridge over Ebenezeer Creek, near Savannah, disassembled before the freedmen traveling in the armys wake could cross. The result, in the words of one Union cavalry officer, caused hundreds of blacks to rush by the hundreds into the turbid stream, where many drowned. Confederate forces captured those who remained on land. On January 9, 1865, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton arrived in Savannah to investigate the incident.

The secretary of war asked Sherman to arrange a meeting with leaders from Savannahs black community. On Thursday evening, January 12, Stanton and Sherman got together with 20 ministers and lay leaders from the citys black churches; at least 15 of the attendees had at one time been enslaved. In response to a question about how freedpeople could take care of themselves, 67-year-old Garrison Frazier, a former slave and the groups spokesman, remarked that the best way was to have land, and turn it and till it by our own labor. All but one of the group wanted to live separately from whites, for there is a prejudice against us in the South that will take years to get over.

Sherman issued Special Field Orders No. 15 four days after the meeting. It reserved and set apart for the settlement of the negroes now made free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the President of the United Statesthe islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns River, Florida. Subject to several bureaucratic strictures, each family shall have a plot of not more than forty acres of tillable groundin the possession of which land the military authorities will afford them protection, until such time as they can protect themselves, or until Congress shall regulate their title.

The order encouraged the enlistment of young and able-bodied negroes in the service of the United States, and guaranteed anyone enlisting the right to locate his family in any one of the settlements at pleasure. Finally, the order provided that no white person whatever, unless military officers and soldiers detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside; and the sole and exclusive management of affairs will be left to the freed people themselves, subject only to the United States military authority and the acts of Congress.

Michael Fellman argues in his book Citizen Sherman that Sherman solved a number of problems bothering him by issuing Special Field Orders No. 15, as the general had washed his hands of his negro problem by purging his columns of large numbers of black camp followers and passing them onto a man he despised, Brig. Gen. Rufus Saxton, the Union commander stationed at Port Royal, S.C.

Saxton, as inspector of settlements and plantations, was responsible for assigning each family 40 acres of land and furnishing a possessory title (which granted the right to use but not own the land, subject to the presidents approval). He sought and received assurances from Stanton that the federal government would not renege on its promise of land. Under Shermans orders, the Union Army also provided the freedmen with mules no longer fit for military use to work the land.

Saxton efficiently processed thousands of requests for land, and by June 1865, approximately 40,000 blacks had settled on 400,000 acres. Despite the enthusiastic response of the freedmen, the settlement of Shermans Reservation quickly encountered problems. One was largely practical. Many of the freedmen received their plots too late for spring planting. This created the need for temporary reliefthe provision of food, clothing, and shelterthat the government was ill-prepared to meet. Of greater long-term significance was the change in political circumstances, as Shermans order was out of sync with the Lincoln administrations evolving Reconstruction policy.

Freedmans Friend Rufus Saxton was an excellent choice to implement Shermans Field Orders No. 15. The Massachusetts native and West Pointer was an outspoken abolitionist and recipient of the Medal of Honor for his command of the Union defenses at Harpers Ferry in the spring of 1862. After his reassignment to South Carolina, Saxton was instrumental in the organization of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, the first official black regiment.

On March 3, 1865, less than two months after Sherman issued his order, the formation of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands added a new, often confusing layer of administrative oversight to the Sherman land grants. Although Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, commissioner of the Bureau, immediately ordered Saxton to continue his work, the heretofore autonomous venture in land redistribution was quickly caught up in larger political currents in the wake of Lincolns assassination.

Andrew Johnsons ascendancy to the presidency in April 1865 marked the beginning of a bitter struggle over the seized lands, as he instituted a lenient policy of special pardons that restored most of the rights of former Confederates who swore an oath of allegiance to the United States. Simultaneously, Howard was putting the infant Freedmens Bureau on a collision course with the new president. His Circular No. 13 issued on July 28, 1865, instructed bureau agents that land redistribution was the official policy, despite the presidents emerging amnesty program. Had Howards policy stood, as many as 900,000 acres of plantation lands previously belonging to slave owners might have been redistributed. But on August 16, the president countermanded Howards circular and said that if Southern whites obtained a pardon and paid their taxes, they could reclaim their land. In September, in response to a direct presidential order, Howard accepted strict new criteria for designating a property as officially confiscated, which in many places had the effect of ending land redistribution. By September 1865, many former owners of the land in the Sherman Reservation had begun demanding the return of their property based on the special presidential pardons. An order from President Johnson to Howard supported these claims.

Saxtons sympathy for the freedmen virtually guaranteed that he would refuse to comply. Thousands of them are already located on tracts of forty acres each, he wrote Howard. Their love of the soil and desire to own farms amounts to a passionit appears to be the dearest hope of their lives. Furthermore, Saxton argued in a second letter, the faith of the Government is solemnly pledged to these people who have been faithful to it and we have no right now to dispossess them of their lands.

Johnsons second order to restore the lands also instructed Howard to negotiate a mutually satisfactory agreement between the freedmen and the former owners. The bureau commissioners first stop was Edisto Island, one of the Sea Islands off South Carolina. There he tried to get the freedmen to quit the land in return for guarantees that they would be hired by the lands former owners. Edistos black residents refused and in response gave Howard a petition to deliver to Johnson. The freedmen argued they were not truly free without the land.

[quote style=boxed float=left]Saxtons removal marked the death knell for land redistribution[/quote]

The petition remains a painful reminder of the sense of betrayal among the former slaves. You ask us to forgive the landowners of our island, wrote the petitioners. You only lost your right arm [Howard had been wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks in 1862] in the war and might forgive them. The man who tied me to a tree and gave me 39 lashes; who stripped and flogged my mother & sister & who combines with others to keep away land from methat man, I cannot well forgive. Does it look as if he has forgiven me, asked the petitioners, since he tries to keep me in a condition of helplessness?

Howard reported the refusal to Stanton. The secretary of war, whose animosity to the new president would eventually lead to his dismissal and Johnsons subsequent impeachment, suggested that Howards only obligation was to try to get an agreement. If an understanding was not forthcoming, the blacks could stay. The Edisto petition, however, fell on deaf ears in Washington, and on January 15, 1866, Johnson ordered Saxton removed from his position.

Two weeks later, William Henry Trescot, who was in Washington to lobby on behalf of those South Carolinians whose lands had been confiscated, met with Sherman and other officers to discuss the genesis of Special Field Orders No. 15. Sherman told the group that his intention was to offer a temporary solution. In a follow-up letter to the president, he wrote, I knew of course we could not convey title and merely provided possessory titles, to be good as long as War and our Military Power lasted. I merely aimed to make provision for the Negroes who were absolutely dependent upon us, leaving the value of their possessions to be determined by after events or legislation. As one historian has argued, What the general had managed in No. 15 was a strategists version of bait and switch, at once a magnetic distraction for black people and sufficiently high-minded to leave the secretary [Stanton]cured of that Negro nonsense.

Saxtons removal in early 1866 sounded the death knell for land redistribution to the freedmen. Ordered by the president to return the confiscated land in a way that was mutually agreeable to the original owners and the freed people who had claimed it, Howard set out to do the impossible. White Southerners resistance to land ownership by blacks proved intense. The feeling against any ownership of land by negroes is so strong, wrote one Alabamian, that the man who should sell small tracts to them would be in actual personal danger.

The restoration of confiscated lands to their antebellum owners proceeded at a breakneck pace. On January 31, 1866, the Freedmens Bureau controlled 223,600 acres; within 18 months that total had shrunk to 75,329 acres. In July 1866, the congressional reauthorization of the Freedmens Bureau included a provision returning all the lands included in the Sherman Reservation to their original owners. Those freed people continuing to occupy confiscated land were generally given a choice: Sign work contracts, thereby accepting peonage, or leave. Most left.

The Johnson administrations determination to restore the antebellum patterns of landownership alarmed many in Congress who continued to seek a means of offering freedmen their own land. Signed into law on June 21, 1866, the Southern Homestead Act opened 46 million acres of public lands in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi to settlement. Until June 1868, the land was divided into 80-acre parcels; thereafter the size of the parcels doubled to 160 acres. Homesteaders could not purchase the property. They had to occupy and improve the land for five years before acquiring full ownership.

Ex-Confederates were banned from obtaining land, but only until January 1, 1867. George Julian, an Indiana congressman and longtime opponent of slavery, had drafted the most important provision of the law. No distinction or discrimination shall be made in the construction or execution of this act on account of race or color, he wrote. The law failed, however, because Southern bureaucrats frequently failed to inform blacks of their exclusive right to file land claims, the land was often of poor quality, and impoverished black settlers generally had little to invest in their homesteads. The program registered fewer than 4,500 homestead claims before the law was repealed in 1876.

[quote style=boxed float=right]Impoverished black settlers had little to invest in their homesteads[/quote]

By the end of the Civil War, the federal government controlled 850,000 acres that had been confiscated from Rebel Southerners under wartime provisions. Nearly half the acreage was located in the Sherman Reservation, where thousands of freedmen had claimed 40-acre plots along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida. Thousands more lived on leased properties at Norfolk, New Bern, and Roanoke Island.

For a time, writes historian Douglas Egerton, It appeared that federal policy was about to enable the birth of a black landowning class. Freedmen shared an almost universal belief that they had a right to the lands they had been working, many for several years. Our wives, our children, our husbands, has been sold over and over again to purchase the lands we now locates upon, argued Bayley Wyat, a freedman living in northern Virginia. But, Egerton continues, it was simply too baffling and revolutionary an idea that those who had produced the regions wealth should now benefit from it.

Following the Civil War, public discussions about compensating former slave owners far outnumbered those about compensating former slaves. A proposal that slaves freed by the Emancipation Proclamation be paid for labor after January 1, 1863, fell on deaf ears. The Johnson administrations decision to return the confiscated land quickly disabused freedmen of any notion that they might be rewarded for their wartime loyalty, as demonstrated by the valiant service of more than 180,000 black troops and the work of thousands more on Southern plantations under the Yankee armys control.

Within a year of the wars end, the Freedmens Bureau had returned more than 400,000 acres to their antebellum owners. By the middle of 1867, all but 75,000 acres were in the hands of their original owners. Few decisions have had a more long-lasting and deleterious impact on American society than the Johnson administrations decision to force the freedmen off confiscated lands. Could the nation have been induced to listen to those stalwart Republicans, Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, Frederick Douglass lamented in 1880, some of the evils which we now suffer would have been averted. The negro would not today be on his kneessupplicating the old master class to give him leave to toil.[And] he would not now be swindled out of his hard earnings.

Rick Beard, an independent historian, author, and museum consultant, writes from Harrisburg, Pa.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Southwest Borderlands is without question the Civil Wars least understood and appreciated theater. The sparsely populated region, extending from southern California to the Rio Grande, experienced not only clashes between Union and Confederate forces during the war, but also a struggle for survival and dominance among Indian and Hispanic populations on both sides of the Mexican border. Those conflicts were in fact interconnected civil wars that were spawned or exacerbated by the war of the rebellion in the United States.

Numbering only about 15,000 menroughly a quarter of the total U.S. Postal workers at the timethe antebellum U.S. Army had a tall task guarding the nation against both domestic and external threats. Most of the Regular Armys active regiments of dragoons, mounted rifles, cavalry, and infantry were stationed in the Far West, but those were typically fragmented, company-sized units incapable of conducting large-scale campaigns.

Operations generally were limited to occasional engagements with Indian raiders, the policing of well-traveled roads, and peace-keeping efforts between Indians and settlers, miners, mail carriers, and wagon freighters.

After Abraham Lincolns election in November 1860 and the secession of seven Southern states over the next few months, once-unthinkable civil war loomed. That put southern California and the New Mexico Territory, then comprising present-day Arizona, New Mexico and southern Nevada, in the crosshairs. Federal troops abandoned their far-flung Western forts and consolidated on the Pacific Coast and along the Rio Grande in anticipation of a Confederate invasion from Texas.

The retreating Federal presence and redirection of resources left a temporary power vacuum in the Southwest Borderlands, leading to widespread violence as local tribes, mainly Apaches, Comanches, and Navajos, embarked on opportunistic raids and conquests. Unguarded against raiders, the regions forts, mines, settlements, herds, and villages were particularly vulnerable. We are hemmed in on all sides by the unrelenting Apaches wrote one Tucson-based newspaper editor. Since the withdrawal of the Overland Mail and the garrison troops the chances of life have reached the maximum height. Within but six months nine-tenths of the whole male population have been killed off, and every ranch, farm and mine in the country have been abandoned in consequence.

The Indians, however, were not the only ones to take advantage of the vacuum. Rebelling Confederates from Texas and New Mexico quickly followed suit. In July 1861, the federal government made an urgent call for volunteer troops from California and both the New Mexico and Colorado territories. On July 22, the day after the Union disaster at First Bull Run, Lincoln endorsed the Volunteer Employment Act, stipulating that volunteers could enlist for service of at least six months and up to three years.

In response to that call, 16,000 volunteers from California, 5,000 from New Mexico, and 3,000 from Colorado joined the Union Army, with California mustering two regiments of cavalry, five regiments of infantry, and two mountain-howitzer batteries. California volunteer regiments would serve as far north as Fort Colville, Washington Territory, and as far east as Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They even forayed into French-occupied Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua.

Just a week after the Bull Run defeat, 700 Union Regulars under Major Isaac Lynde, based at Fort Fillmore, New Mexico, were embarrassingly overrun and captured by Lt. Col. John R. Baylors mounted riflemen. Lyndes force had attempted a half-hearted demonstration of force against Baylors men at nearby Mesilla only days before on July 25. Though outnumbered, Baylors men aggressively responded with Texas bravado. The unnerved Federals returned to Fort Fillmore and then evacuated it after destroying most of its military, food, and medical stores.

Lyndes force was ill-prepared for what was supposed to be a 20-mile retreat north to Fort Stanton and became disorganized in the punishing desert heat while heading along the San Augustin Pass. In fact, many dehydrated Federals simply dropped to the side of the road, unable to continue marching. By contrast, Baylors motley band of Texas volunteers were battle-hardened Comanche and Apache fighters and confident veterans of desert campaigns.

To the dismay of many of his men, Lynde conditionally surrendered his command without firing a shot, believing that honor did not demand the sacrifice of blood. Fort Fillmores post surgeon wrote that old soldiers and strong men [wept] like children. He blamed Lyndes actions on cowardice, imbecility, and an inability to manage logistics, including allowing an inordinate number of camp followers and officers wives to impede the excursion. The damned old scoundrel has surrendered us! some of Lyndes officers swore aloud, and members of the 7th Infantry torched their regimental colors rather than surrender them to Baylor.

In the wake of his victory, Baylor proclaimed a Territory of Arizona for the Confederacy. His proclamation, dated August 1, 1861, marked the first occasion the area (at the time considered southern New Mexico ), would be officially recognized by a government.

Among the claims in Baylors proclamation:

The social and political condition of Arizona being little short of general anarchy, and the people being literally destitute of law, order, and protection, the said Territory, from the date hereof, is hereby declared temporarily organized as a military government until such time as Congress may otherwise provide. I, John R. Baylor, lieutenant-colonel, commanding the Confederate Army in the Territory of Arizona, hereby take possession of the said Territory in the name and behalf of the Confederate States of America All offices, both civil and military, heretofore existing in this Territory, either under the laws of the late United States or the Territory of New Mexico, are hereby declared vacant, and from the date hereof shall forever cease to exist. That the people of this Territory may enjoy the full benefits of law, order, and protection, and, as far as possible, the blessings and advantages of a free government, it is hereby decreed that the laws and enactments existing in this Territory prior to the date of this proclamation, and consistent with the Constitution and laws of the Confederate States of America and the provisions of this decree, shall continue in full force and effect, without interruption, until such time as the Confederate Congress may otherwise provide.

In Richmond, Confederate President Jefferson Davis confirmed Baylors self-proclaimed governorship.

Baylor began offering protection against Apache attacks on area mines and settlements. And in February 1862, Captain Sherod Hunter arrived in Tucson with his 100-man Company A, 2nd Texas Mounted Volunteers, along with elements of other Confederate territorial companies. Most Anglo settlers welcomed protection of any kind, no matter the source. An effort was also made to gain recognition of the Confederacy from the Mexican government, which they hoped would secure desperately needed food supplies for Texas regiments pushing up the Rio Grande in New Mexico.

Although Lincoln and the War Departments primary focus was the fighting in the East, they didnt completely ignore the situation out West. In August 1861, in fact, they began debating whether a force out of California could attack the Confederates in Texas by way of Mexico. Department of the Pacific commander Brig. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner received assurances from Mexican officials they could. The operation would involve landing Union troops at Guaymas or Mazatlan on the Gulf of California, and then marching across Sonora and Chihuahua to strike the Confederates along the border in western Texas if not in Mexico itself.

The first of the new California regiments, however, were diverted by civil unrest in southern California. Federal authorities were anxious, justifiably, that 20,000 or so Confederate sympathizers might team with disloyal Hispanos, still seething over the loss of California to the Americans in 1848, to instigate civil war in the southern counties. By December, the militant secessionists had been rounded up and the rebellion suppressed.

Colonel George Wright, commander of the 9th U.S. Infantry had assumed command of the Department of the Pacific from Sumner in October 1861, but fearful that a march through Mexico might incite an international incident he suggested a more practical approach: A force of California troops would invade the territories by crossing the Colorado River at Yuma and then proceed along the Gila River on the old Butterfield Overland Mail Route. That plan was approved by Washington.

Wright selected 47-year-old James Henry Carleton, colonel of the 1st California, to lead the push. Wright wanted an attack to take place as soon as possible. Carleton, he knew, was a tough, efficient dragoon officera protege of the hard-marching Stephen Watts Kearnywith many years of frontier experience. He had earned a reputation as both an uncompromising disciplinarian and a stickler for detail.

As Wright devised his plan for the Arizona mission, he was informed of the ominous international implications of war in the Borderlands. Lincolns beleaguered administration could no longer enforce the Monroe Doctrine, and French, Spanish, and British warships were heading to Veracruz to claim unpaid Mexican debts and, perhaps, reclaim empire in the Americas. At the beginning of the war, Carleton had been assigned command of a force responsible for guarding the central Overland Mail Route through the Nevada, Utah, and Dakota (Wyoming, after 1865) territoriesa region he knew well from his service during the Mormon War of 1857-58. Mormon leader Brigham Young considered the reassignment of Federal troops from Utah as an opportunity to strengthen his independent state of Deseret and quickly made overtures to regional tribes such as the Utes to prepare for war against emigrating Gentiles  and U.S. Troops.

With the growing Confederate threat in the Borderlands, however, Carletons orders from Washington were rescinded. Authorities reasoned that a thrust from southern California across Arizona and New Mexico to the Rio Grande would serve several strategic purposes: It would block a junction of Texas and California secessionists; reopen the southern Overland Mail Route; provide garrisons for abandoned posts; and furnish protection to the citizens of the territories and the northern states of Mexico. The Californians would also be in a position to fall upon the flank and rear of Brig. Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibleys Army of New Mexico as it pushed past Union forts while marching up the Rio Grande toward Santa Fe and the Colorado goldfields.

Carletons force included 10 companies of his own regiment, the 1st California Infantry; five companies of the 1st California Cavalry under Lt. Col. Edward E. Eyre; and Light Battery A, 3rd U.S. Artillery. First Lieutenant John B. Shinn commanded the battery, which consisted of four bronze field pieces (6-pounder guns and 12-pounder field howitzers) manned by Regulars. Wright assigned Captain John C. Cremonys Company B, 2nd California Cavalry, to Carletons contingent before the column set out across the desert. Colonel George W. Bowies 5th California Infantry (10 companies) and two mountain howitzer batteries later joined Carletons command, bringing the total force to 2,350 men. Before the wars end, some 6,000 additional California soldiers would follow this advance column.

Experienced Regular Army officers raised and trained the regiments bound for Arizona. Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin F. Davis, formerly captain of Company K, 1st U.S. Dragoons, drilled the 1st California Cavalry into a well-trained and disciplined battalion. But by the time the Californians marched for the territory in late 1861, Davis and many of the other Regular officers had gone east to fight, and civilian appointees led the volunteers. The men benefited greatly from the training provided by their original cadre of officers.

The first men to answer the call were Anglo-Americans recruited from every part of California. More than half the states Anglo population was of military age, and these men flocked to enlist at forts and camps. These volunteer soldiers represented a true cross section of Californias Anglo male population. They were a hardy lot, used to working outdoors in the harshest conditions imaginable. Most of them were laboring in the mines and goldfields of northern California when the war broke out. About 1 in 4 had been born outside the United States.

They also tended to be bigger and stronger than their Eastern brethren. Army quartermasters soon discovered that the Western soldiers needed coats, trousers, hats, and shoes considerably larger than those required by their counterparts back East. As was the case with most voluntary migrations, the Westerners exhibited not only a stature above Union soldiers 5-foot-8 average height but intelligence and self-reliance as well. The men ranged in age from 18 to 45, though most were in their early 20s, and had at least some formal education.

The Californians enlisted for a variety of reasons, from a patriotic desire to preserve the Union to the lure of three meals a day. Others found the pay of $11 a month compelling. In the ranks slavery was rarely a discussion topic, but tempers did occasionally flare between proslavery and antislavery men. Whether or not they approved of slavery, the majority of Californians agreed that the Union must be preserved. Californios (i.e., native Californians descended from Spanish and Mexican pioneers) adopted a wait-and-see attitude as the sectional strife between North and South escalated, but most of the Hispanos felt that this was not yet their war.

In many ways the California Volunteers proved to be superior to the Regular Army soldiers who preceded them in the Borderlands. Although well officered, the Regular ranks were filled with recent immigrants and Americans from the lowest rung of the socioeconomic ladder. They had little or no formal education and most were illiterate. Alcoholism, a 33 percent desertion rate, malingering, and a host of social diseases crippled the strength and effectiveness of the standing Army. The Regulars lacked the diverse talents of the Volunteers, most of whom viewed military service as a temporary break from their civilian occupations. The Volunteers were literate, even literary, and quickly adapted to new people, environments, and challenges, while the Regulars looked to their officers and the security of military routine. All things considered, the independent Californians seemed ideally suited for the arduous service they would face in the border territories.

California Governor John G. Downey confirmed commissions for a number of outstanding officer candidates who had served as enlisted men in the Regular Army before the war. William McCleave had served as Carletons first sergeant in Company K, 1st U.S. Dragoons, during the decade preceding the Civil War, and Carleton pushed for his old friends appointment to command Company A, 1st California Cavalry. McCleave left the service in 1860 to oversee the Armys experimental camel herd at Fort Tejon, Calif., but now he jumped at the chance to serve as an officer under Carleton. Cavalry commands were the most sought after in the patriotic rush that followed the opening of hostilities. Carleton made certain that these plum commissions went to men of proven ability.

Although the governor had to approve commissions in the volunteer service, a military board established in the early months of the war reviewed all officer candidates as a safeguard against unqualified appointments. At first the enlisted men of the California companies elected their officers, as was common practice in militia companies. The men usually chose competent officers and practically considered such factors as fairness and general likeability. The Anglo frontiersmen looked for a leader with a military bearing who could command respect. In the rush to recruit and organize units, the amateur soldiers chose volunteer officers as much for their imposing appearance as their military competency. Consequently, the elected officers were often physically impressive and well above average height.

The California troops skirmished with Hunters Confederate rangers at Picacho Pass in Arizona in April 1862 as the Rebels retreated to the Rio Grande to link up with Sibley. As they followed the old Butterfield Trail eastward, both Union and Confederate troops were attacked by Apaches at strategic passes and water holes. At the same time, Sibleys army straggled down the Rio Grande and back to Texas, defeated by their own poor logistics, a hostile New Mexican population, and the unforgiving desert.

The Confederates had claimed victories in July 1861 at Fort Fillmore and in February 1862 at Valverde, the river crossing near Fort Craig, but were fought to a standstill on March 26-28, 1862, in Glorieta Pass on the Santa Fe Trail while marching to capture desperately needed supplies at strategic Fort Union, northeast of Santa Fe. Colorado Volunteers under the command of Colonel John P. Slough had joined up with Regulars to stop the Confederate advance and in the process destroyed the Rebels entire wagon train carrying the half-starved expeditions food, blankets, and ammunition. Union troops in New Mexico united under the command of Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby and cautiously maneuvered Sibleys wounded but still dangerous army down the Rio Grande.

As Carletons California Column marched across the desert, skirmishing with Apaches and picking up Confederate stragglers and wounded men in southern New Mexico and Texas, Carleton, promoted brigadier general of volunteers during the Columns march, along with famed frontiersman Kit Carson launched relentless attacks against Apaches, Comanches, and Navajos, crippling those nations ability to wage offensive war and confining them to government reservations. (For more, see Reviews, p. 58.)

The Southwest Borderlands saw multiple civil wars and struggles for survival and dominance between 1861 and 1867, when the last of the U.S. Volunteer troops were mustered out of service. The Borderlands Indian populace probably suffered the most from the tidal wave of U.S. military might that flooded the territories and brought a new power hierarchy to the region.

Andrew E. Masich is president & CEO of the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. This article was adapted from his 2017 book Civil War in the Southwest Borderlands, 18611867 (University of Oklahoma Press).
B lue Cross pet charity is launching the world's first cat pop-up estate agent, in London from April 26 until April 29, to help fur-parents make their feline friends feel even more at home.

From impressive Georgian manors, tropical teepees and an extravagant Taj Mahal replica, each 'prop-paw-ty' comes with a detailed description and even a floor plan to ensure it's up to the chief mouser's standards.

Notoriously hard to impress, cats have been known to like a cardboard hideaway and make the most of retreating to a quiet place where they wont be disturbed.

The prop-paw-ty on offer at the world's first cat estate agents 1 /6 The prop-paw-ty on offer at the world's first cat estate agents Blue Cross Estate Agent for cats Blue Cross pet charity is launching the world's first cat pop-up estate agent, in London until April 29, to help chief mousers find their ideal home. Evie the cat examines the houses on offer... Cardboard cat houses From impressive Georgian manors, tropical teepees and an extravagant Taj Mahal replica, there's something for every cat at the estate agents located in Old Street. Choosing a 'prop-paw-ty' Joey Childs, cat home specialist, talks Baggy the cat through the current housing available. Finding the purrfect pad Baggy decided to try out the manor house for size. Up for adoption Each cat used in these images is up for adoption through Blue Cross, including Colin who is sizing up a Scandi-style Hygge House.

Ryan Neile, head of Animal Behaviour at Blue Cross, explains why you shouldn't wait until Christmas to treat your pet.

"Cats love to hide and feel safe and secure, they will often seek out dark nooks and crannies with high sides. They're very inquisitive and love to explore new things, so most wont hesitate to jump inside a cardboard box."

Designed by various journalists, bloggers, designers, retailers, 3D design university students and school children, all the cardboard box homes are up for sale via a silent auction ballet with the proceeds going to Blue Cross.
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Nike has officially announced the winner of the Nike Ease Challenge, a design competition which invited designers, engineers, makers and innovators to advance and reinvent footwear design for athletes of all abilities.

And the winner of the Nike Ease Challenge is Brett Drake from Cheynne, Wyoming.

Per Nike,

The initial inspiration was from rear entry snowboard bindings. I questioned how I could create a system where a mid or high top shoe could be slipped on rather than pulled on, he explains. This is where the hinged heel came into play. By allowing the heel to hinge near the midsole and rotate back the athlete can then slide their foot into the shoe.

The rear entry system uses powerful, lightweight magnets to transform the heel counter into a drawbridge and provide a simple, wide entry and exit area. The magnets are light enough to not add significantly to the weight of the shoe and strong enough to lock the athlete down once inside the shoe.

Brett was one of three finalists who visited Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon earlier this month to present their solution to a panel of judges that included NIKE Inc. Chairman and CEO, Mark Parker.

The video recap below includes footage from the finalist presentations as well as interviews with Brett, Tobie Hatield and athletes such as Carl Lewis and Elena Delle Donne, who has a personal connection to creating innovation for athletes of all abilities.

Check out the kicks in the gallery above.

Nike Ease
The Taxi Air Jordan 12 last released in 2013, but after a four year hiatus Jordan Brand is reportedly set to release the coveted white and black Air Jordan 12 once again.

The Taxi Air Jordan 12s will reportedly return late this year, this time carrying a $190 price tag with it, though we dont think thatll stop anyone from picking up this all-time classic sneaker.

The Taxis originally debuted in 1996 and were re-introduced as part of the Countdown Pack in 2008 before releasing a third time in 2013. As of now, it looks as though the 2017 joint will be releasing as part of Jordan Brands annual Holiday Collection in December.

Get reacquainted with the iconic Taxi Air Jordan 12 in the gallery above and stay tuned for a first look at the 2017 pair once images are revealed.

Taxi 12s
Controversial Broward County rapper Ski Mask The Slump God hoped to receive a nomination to one of the most prestigious honors in hip hop: the XXL Freshman Class. However, the Florida native announced on Twitter Tuesday that he failed to make it on the coveted list.

Ski Mask, who has strong ties to fellow Broward County resident XXXTENTACION, has made a name for himself with his particular brand of rap music. The young upstart opened for Desiigner on The Outlet tour until he was kicked out for beefing with Rob $tone. He recently released Bowser  a collaboration with X  as well as BabyWipe.

XXXTENTACION and Rob $tone are still on the list of rappers eligible for this years XXL Freshman class.

Ski Mask The Slump God
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One Saturday morning in 1977, La Siberia Mexican restaurant opened its downtown doors to a group of 21 business leaders from banking, insurance, energy and other local industries.

"They didn't have a breakfast menu, but the owner brought staff in for us," recalled Manuel Leal, who had called the group together for the first official meeting of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "What we were doing had never been done before here."

Forty years later, the Hispanic Chamber is now the city's second-largest business organization in terms of how much money it takes in. With 4,000-plus members and corporate sponsorships from Fortune 500 and other companies, the chamber generated more than $1 million in revenue in 2015, tax records show. By comparison, the Greater Houston Partnership reported more than $12 million in 2014.

The Hispanic chamber offers seminars and resources for economic development to a growing roster of primarily Hispanic-owned businesses. Since 2013, it's hosted the Emerging Scholars Institute to guide young professionals by offering networking opportunities and leadership training that's applicable across industries.

The chamber's rise from humble beginnings reflects the Hispanic community's growing influence in Houston's economy.

Celebrating 40 years What: Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 40th anniversary luncheon and business expo Where: Hilton Americas, downtown When: 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday More info: houstonhispanicchamber.com See More Collapse

The metro region has the nation's third-largest Hispanic population, behind Los Angeles and New York, and 76 percent of local Hispanic consumers live in Harris County. Locally, Hispanic consumers spent an estimated $57.75 billion in 2014, up 44 percent from 2009. That number is expected to grow to $175.89 billion in 2034.

Likewise, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses doubled between 2013 and 2015, when they accounted for 41.6 percent of Houston's small businesses, according to research compiled by Telemundo Houston and presented last year at the chamber's inaugural Hispanic Houston Impact Summit.

On Wednesday, the chamber will host a business expo to commemorate its 40-year anniversary.

The celebration also marks the 10-year mark of Laura Murillo's tenure as president and CEO. When she took the reins in 2007, she said, the organization was at risk of being evicted from its East End office and faced possible disbanding or a merger with the Greater Houston Partnership.

Murillo, at the time a volunteer on the chamber's board, left an executive position at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center to take on the turnaround job.

"I didn't see the chamber for what it was," Murillo said. "I saw it for what it could be."

Murillo sought greater involvement from Fortune 500 companies and a brighter spotlight on the group's endeavors.

One previous leader, Yolanda Londono, established a corporate advisory board during her time as president and CEO from 1991 to 1997 and earned the chamber recognition by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. But building on that was difficult with just two paid employees, including Londono herself.

"You can't create the master plan until you can convene the needed people," Londono said.

Taking over after a period of CEO turnover in the early 2000s, Murillo scouted for new office space to bring the chamber back to its roots in downtown, where Leal and the first few leaders after him kept moving meetings from boardrooms to community centers and the like.

In her first year, Murillo boosted contributions and grants to the chamber, from nothing to more than $1 million. Television and radio programming further promoted the group as the place to go for business advice, support and networking.

She also capitalized on Amegy Bank's desire to tap into the Hispanic market.

Murillo secured a 10-year lease for 2,500 square feet of office space in the bank's 1801 Main Street building at a below-market rate, recalled Kelly Foreman, the bank's corporate real estate and facilities manager. In 2010, the bank helped the chamber expand its office space to 4,300 square feet with an additional 5,700 square feet for event space that the chamber, bank and local community groups could use.

"The chamber's growth to one of the largest in the U.S. and Amegy's growth over the last 10 years are related," said John Hernandez, Amegy's business and community development manager.

Hernandez said the work with the chamber helped increase the bank's Hispanic client base significantly, though he declined to provide specific figures.

"We're thrilled to be associated with them," he said.

Under Murillo's leadership, the chamber won recognition from the national Hispanic chamber and was named Marketer of the Year for economic development from AMA Houston.

"It blows all expectations away from anything I could have expected," said Leal, recalling the difficulty in the early days getting enough volunteers together to get the organization off the ground. One of the challenges was convincing the local community and government that it was a business group, not a political activist network.

"We weren't interested in political power, we were interested in green power," Leal said.

As it has grown, the chamber has taken a role in encouraging political and civic engagement. It launched a voter registration campaign for the 2016 presidential election, and Murillo was invited to attend President Donald Trump's inauguration.

"We had to be at the table with leadership, Hispanic or not," Murillo said.

Of all of the chamber's major changes over the last decade, she is most proud of the Emerging Scholars Institute, Murillo said.

Alex Obregon, deputy city controller and now chamber treasurer, participated in the program's second class and through it formed the Latino Texas PAC in 2015 with a group of his cohorts.

"In today's time, early leadership development is ideal for your profession," Obregon said.

Back in 2009, under Murillo's guidance, the chamber adopted the tag line of "Leader of Houston's New Majority." As the Hispanic community's role in the city's economic, cultural and political development grew, she said, she wanted the chamber's leadership role to grow as well. That remains a priority.

"Our community needs us now more than ever," Murillo said.
AUSTIN - Supermarket chain Albertsons is exploring a possible takeover of Whole Foods Market, the Financial Times reported Monday, citing unnamed sources.

Albertsons, which operates about 2,200 stores, is controlled by buyout group Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus has had preliminary talks with bankers about making a bid for Whole Foods, the Financial Times reported, citing a person close to the buyout firm. No formal bid has yet been made, according to two people briefed on the situation, the Financial Times reported.

Shares of Austin-based Whole Foods jumped more than 4 percent in afternoon trading after the Financial Times report. The share price ended the day up 75 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $36.46.

A Whole Foods spokeswoman on Monday said the company had no comment on the report.

The reported interest from Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons comes about two weeks after investment group Jana Partners revealed it had built a 9 percent stake in Whole Foods and raised the possibility of either a management shakeup or even a sale for the company. Whole Foods has a current market value of about $11 billion.

Jana Partners' other demands for Whole Foods included "addressing core operating deficiencies in areas including customer loyalty and analytics."

A number of factors, including intensified competition, have hit Whole Foods hard, leading to struggles in recent quarters. A March report from a Barclays analyst, for instance, suggested Whole Foods had lost 14 million customers since 2015 - many of them to Kroger, which has stepped up its organic offerings.

Kroger has also been rumored to be interested in Whole Foods, according to published reports. So has Florida-based supermarket chain Publix.

Online retail giant Amazon last year considered making a takeover bid for Whole Foods as a way to boost its grocery operation but decided not to pursue a deal, Bloomberg news service reported last week.

Founded in Austin in 1978, Whole Foods has 462 stores worldwide and 87,000 employees. In its fiscal first quarter, Whole Foods recorded record sales of $4.9 billion but saw its net income decline. It also lowered its earnings projections for the year.
Law enforcement officers shot and killed Monday night a 16-year-old robbery suspect and injured two more before arresting the culprits who are suspected in nearly a dozen robberies of convenience stores and fast food restaurants in northwest Harris County.

Four suspects - 18-year-old Javalon Robinson, 17-year-old Xavier Cox and 16-year-old and 15-year-old male teenagers - are accused of breaking into a Jack-in-the-Box around 9:40 p.m. Monday.

It was the latest in about 10 aggravated robberies the Harris County Sheriff's Office has linked to the four in less than a month, said Deputy Thomas Gilliland with the sheriff's office.

A task force had taken on capturing the crew. It included the Houston Police Department, the sheriff's office, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

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The three surviving suspects were charged Monday with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. The agencies are considering filing additional federal charges to dissuade others from breaking into similar businesses for quick cash.

"We're trying to put a dent in these types of crews," Gilliland said. "Certainly facing federal charges is something that might curtail some of these folks."

Houston police officers and Department of Public Safety troopers spotted around 9:40 p.m. Monday the younger three suspects clad in dark sweatshirts and bandannas walking into a Jack-in-the-Box at 6902 Highway 6 North.

Robinson allegedly waited in a car in the parking lot - a white Mustang deputies believe the four stole in the area on Sunday.

Two of the teens held handguns, according the Harris County Sheriff's Office. At the cashier, they demanded money. Employees handed over the cash.

TURNED AWAY: Supreme Court rejects case of Houston man shot by police

The trio tried to escape the fast food joint undetected, but three police officers and four troopers stopped them near the front of the restaurant, according to a sheriff's office news release.

The law enforcement officers demanded the teenagers drop their weapons. They were carrying at least one rifle and a pistol, both of which were later recovered at the scene.

Instead, the trio opened fire at the officers and troopers. They shot back, hitting all three suspects and killing one.

The 16-year-old suspect was transported to the North Cypress Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The 15-year-old suspect was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in critical but stable condition. Cox was transported to Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Robinson was arrested in the getaway car. He was not injured. As of Tuesday afternoon, he was behind bars in the Harris County Jail.

No employees of the Jack-in-the-Box got hurt.

"They're in there trying to make a living and these violent robbers come in - heavily armed - and put them through what I would consider a very traumatic experience," Acevedo said.

Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff's Office believe the teenagers had stolen cash from about four locations along F.M. 1960 in northwest Harris County since Sunday, including a Stripes convenience store on Sunday at a Shell station on Fry Road and F.M. 529.

All four suspects were involved in about half of the robberies. At least one of them played a role in the remaining robberies, Gilliland said.

The stolen mustang they drove helped deputies track them down, Gilliland said.

Robinson has an adult criminal history in Harris County. He was out on a $5,000 bail at the time of the shooting, according to court documents. He had been charged with deadly conduct for shooting a gun at another person and was due back in court in May. Robinson pleaded guilty in 2016 to theft of two laptops and a tablet valued between $2,500 and $30,000

HELP SOUGHT: Police seek assistance in identifying 2015 nightclub shooter

Neither the police officers nor the DPS troopers were injured during the gunfire.

The Houston Police Department officers who shot were Sgt. C. Andersen, Sgt. K. Bounds andOfficer W. Peverill, according to an HPD news release. Anderson has been on the force for almost 37 years, Bounds for 24 years and Peverill for almost five.

Because the shooting was outside of Houston city limits, the sheriff's office took over the ongoing investigation.

As the agency does with all officer-involved shootings, the Houston Police Department will conduct an internal investigation. The Houston police officers will be on desk duty until that investigation is concluded.

Police Chief Art Acevedo offered his condolences early Tuesday morning to the 16-year-old's family

"That's somebody's child that died tonight," Acevedo said. "Somebody's loved one."

Investigators spent most of the night taping off the area around the restaurant and gathering evidence of the shooting.

Because the shooting happened within the Harris County border, the shooting will be investigated by the Sheriff's Office. HPD will conduct its own internal inquiry.

The HPD officers will be on desk duty pending the outcome of the internal investigation.
Few on Allston Street knew much about Mary Cerruti when she quietly vanished. But she left behind her own self-portrait in dozens of annotated photographs, developed at Walgreens.

Whether Cerruti intended for others to see them is anyone's guess. A realtor bought her Houston Heights home at a foreclosure auction in late 2015. Then he offered everything inside - trash, he called it - for sale.

Shocked that a missing person's belongings could be sold, neighbor Elizabeth Stein went to see what she might save. She found the photos, which the realtor said she could take. Stein figured she could give them to Cerruti when she returned.

"Little did I know," Stein said.

On March 4, 2017, tenants moving into Cerruti's renovated, cleaned-out house found bones in the wall. She had been missing for two years. A pair of eyeglasses, like the ones she wore, were found nearby.

RELATED: Bones found in wall of Heights home of woman who disappeared in 2015

Officials have sent at least one of the discovered teeth to the University of North Texas for DNA analysis, but it could be months before they have results. The process is time consuming, and the lab has a backlog. Cause of death also remains pending.

The collection of photos, which Stein gave to another concerned neighbor, don't crack the case. Instead, they offer a glimpse at the 61-year-old woman's life in the years before she became a neighborhood activist, taking on the developer building apartments all around her, and then disappeared.

Printed in 2013 and 2014, the images focus on two topics: her cats, who brought her joy at home, and the gentrification of her neighborhood, which infuriated her.

"This is what's left of her, how she felt about the development being built around her," said Roxanne Davis, who held on to the photos. "I wonder what didn't get found, what got thrown away?"

***

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Brett Coomer/Staff Show More Show Less



A photograph of a yellow house, surrounded by a chain-link fence and hidden behind much greenery, sets the stage. "My little castle at 610," reads a note on the back.

This is Cerruti's home, located at 610 Allston St. When she moved there around 2001, the block felt sketchy. Today, it's coveted and pristine; her house is painted blue and for sale, listed at $439,900.

Cerruti lived alone with little commotion. Then the gentrification began, and the character of the neighborhood changed, as it has in much of the Heights.

Across the street, new townhouses appeared. A developer razed the houses near her to construct apartments, which Cerruti wrote that she was "completely against."

RELATED: Mysterious bones, a missing woman and the ordinary life she lived

She wasn't alone in noting the changes. Richard Copelyn Jr., who grew up in the neighborhood and still lives a block from Cerruti's old house, observed the expensive homes going up in a place once infested by guns and drugs. The same developer that surrounded Cerruti's home also built new apartments around Copelyn's.

Prior residents would likely be surprised to see Allston Street today. "It's like that type of lifestyle never happened, like those people were never here," he said.

***

Cerruti documented the changes step by step. On the lots facing her, a pair of $500,000-plus townhouses took the place of the two-story "whore house apartments," she wrote. An empty lot adjacent to them was all that became of the "Mexican crash pad." A new blue home on the other side of the lot sold for $680,00, according to her notes.

"(A)m I nuts to think this is nuts?" she asks. "Plus driving up my proberty [sic] taxes like crazy." One neighbor who moved in several years ago said he expects the desirability only to increase. "It was just a matter of time," he said. "It was just prime property."

Transition occurred up and down the block. Bradley Smith, owner of Smith Family Homes, built a row of townhouses on what used to be a wooded area at the opposite end of Cerruti. It became part of the street's transformation from highly neglected to desirable and upscale.

The hike and bike trail now runs past the end of the block, and trendy, new restaurants are a short distance away.

"It was more of a revitalization, instead of a gentrification," Smith said.

***

Long-time Heights resident Sally Romano too noticed the neighborhood "really beginning to change," she wrote in an email. But the bulldozing saddened her, erasing the area's diversity and character and replacing it with what she called homogeneous, soulless buildings.

Romano also started to worry about Cerruti - so much so that she asked police to check on her in 2013. She passed the house at 610 Allston daily when she walked her dog, and had noticed mail and newspapers going uncollected, according to a 911 call slip. And her cats weren't being fed.

The house, as shown in the photos, remained like a personal, funky oasis. A Houston Post newspaper rack sat near a red Adirondack chair on the porch. A large bronzed Texas star hung next to the front door of the wood paneled house.

The interior decor was a mish-mash: Frida Kahlo and Susan Sarandon portraits. "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" posters. Dozens of tin Mexican ornaments, many shaped like hearts.

All indicated Cerruti was creative and artistic, said Stein, who went to the estate sale after the house sold in November 2015. She bought a mid-century coffee table and a door knocker in the shape of a gecko. And she took the photos.

***

When Trammell Crow Residential began work in 2013 on the adjacent property, the construction noise began daily at 6:30 a.m., according to Cerruti's notes.

Down went the white warehouse next door, which she noted was reassembled elsewhere rather than trashed. Down went two new houses "because they are in the way of the 450 apartments." Down went tree after tree. (Much of the land had been owned by Pappas Restaurants, but a company spokesperson declined to comment.)

RELATED: Mystery in the Heights: What happened to Mary?

Cerruti had refused to sell. But she wrote that the bulldozers and backhoes made her wish she had moved, even if the developer made what she considered "very poor offers."

She saw her situation mirrored in the white bungalow down the street. Townhouses, including those built by Smith and another set by Carnegie Homes, went up on either side of the home. "Now she's strangled," Cerruti wrote.

Mary Young, 78, still lives in that home. Her father was raised there, she said, and so was she, and her son after that. People often ask to buy it, but she's not selling. she said.

***

Sometimes, amid the construction chaos, her cats hid from her, Cerruti wrote.

In the photos, felines blend in everywhere. A tabby sprawls on a wicker table. A kitten snuggles in a shoe box. Five curl between the items on her desk. Little Spot, Sweetie, Slim.

Mr. Buddy, a big gray cat, was "everybody's pal," she wrote - especially when it came to the rescued kittens. "Nothing is cuter than a Siamese kitten," she scrawled.

But they also got into trouble, biting the phone line ("the dead phone problem"), destroying panties and shoes ("all are fair game") and pouncing on each other after eating wet cat food ("like a shot of adrenaline").

"Eight cats is way too many cats," Cerruti wrote.

Later, when Cerruti went missing, six were reported dead.

***

Neighbors tried to keep an eye on Cerruti as time progressed. Davis emailed Trammell Crow on her behalf at least once in early 2015 when construction equipment had blocked her driveway and her water had been cut off.

"Our construction personnel do follow up with Ms. Cerruti regularly to see if she is OK," Trammell Crow's Scot Davis wrote in reply. (When reached by phone, Davis declined to be interviewed.)

Residents began moving into the apartments that year around May. The townhomes sold quickly. Rachel Conkling, of Martha Turner Sotheby's, sold one that summer within two weeks of listing the property.

The Heights now is "the place to be," said Conkling, who added that she lives there herself.

***

In June, police received calls with requests to check on Cerruti on two consecutive days.

Diane Hallman, who lived a few houses down, placed one after noticing a broken window at the home. She saw the police come over but never knew if the situation was resolved. "We just assumed that, well, everything turned out to be OK," Hallman said.

The police didn't find Cerruti. They had no reason then to suspect she was in the attic, and they don't enter homes on welfare checks if nothing seems amiss, HPD spokesperson Jodi Silva said.

"It wasn't out of her nature to disappear," she added.It took another six weeks for a missing person's report to be opened, more than a year for the bones to be found in the home. And still no one knows what happened to her.

Only one image in the collection depicts Cerruti herself.

It shows only her shadow, stretching over the torn-up sidewalk in front of her home, the little castle at 610.

***

BONES: It was the summer of 2015 and Mary Cerruti had vanished. Her Heights neighbors were worried. Mail piled up in front of her bungalow and a window broke. Six dead cats were reported inside. A new apartment complex she opposed had just been built around her home, but no one could figure out where Mary had gone. The house sold late that year at a foreclosure auction. The mystery remained. Then new residents moving in on March 4, 2017, encountered a startling surprise: they found bones, and a pair of eyeglasses, in the wall. Follow the story below:

Part 1: Bones found in wall of Heights home of woman who disappeared in 2015

Part 2: Mysterious bones, a missing woman and the ordinary life she lived

Part 3: Before she went missing, Mary Cerruti left a self-portrait at her home in the Houston Heights

Read more on our subscriber site at HoustonChronicle.com/Bones.
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I don't mind sitting on the couch and watching DOGTV, the only TV channel with shows produced exclusively for dogs, with my best cocker-doodle friend, Lilly.

It's fun watching videos of dogs playing by the beach, chasing a ball, going for rides in a car and doing all sorts of fun dog things. Lilly loves the videos, and it's a nice bonding moment for us.

But if Lilly starts hogging the remote, that's it, no TV for a week. I'm the human in the house, and I wear the pants around here. Plus, Lilly doesn't have opposable thumbs, and she's always accidentally changing the channel to "Sewing With Nancy" on Channel 8.

DOGTV is a 24/7 channel that runs wall-to-wall short videos (2 to 4 minutes long) of dogs doing all sort of dog activities. The videos fall into three categories:

Relaxation: Videos designed to calm dogs down, make them feel secure and take away anxiety.

Stimulation: Dogs fetching sticks and balls, playing in the park and running on the beach, like Pam Anderson in "Baywatch" bouncing in slow motion.

Exposure: Videos with situations that normally frighten dogs and make them anxious, like vacuum cleaners, fireworks or the dreaded doorbell ringing. The idea is to show dogs that there's nothing to fear, so they won't go berserk when a doorbell rings on "Modern Family." I think shows do that on purposed to mess with viewers.

"Lilly, stop barking! It's just the TV!"

DOGTV debuted in 2012, and it's available on most program providers, including Comcast and DirecTV. The subscription fee is about $5 a month. Last week, DOGTV became available on Comcast's "On Demand" feature, so you can watch the doggy baby-sitter channel anywhere on most devices. Just call your cable provider and ask if it carries DOGTV and for how much. Because it's a pay channel  no commercials.

DOGTV was created by Ron Levi, who heads up the content division of the channel. I asked him, did people think you were crazy when you said, "How about a TV channel with programming exclusively for dogs?"

"They still think I'm crazy," he laughed. "But I knew that people love their dogs and how big an industry pets are in the U.S. I also knew that people who work were leaving their televisions on during the day for their dogs. I figured that a TV channel for dogs could be successful."

Levi and a team of animal behaviorists spent three years researching dogs' vision and hearing, how they react to stimulation and how they deal with stress, boredom and loneliness. The channel launched as a free service in San Diego, Calif. One year later, DOGTV went national, plus distribution in Japan, Germany, France, South Korea, China, England and Israel. DOGTV has deals to develop shows with Animal Planet and Discovery Family channels.

The problem with leaving on other TV channels, even Animal Planet, for your dog is, they may show programs that frighten your best friend, like lions chasing down wildebeests and eating them, or crocodiles chomping rats (disgusting) or Miss Hathaway chasing butterflies on "Beverly Hillbillies" reruns.

Billy Bob Thornton went on the "Today" show and raved how he watches DOGTV with his two Cavalier King Charles spaniel pups. "It's like a moment of Zen," he said.

I've got a feeling that Billy Bob's whole life is a moment of Zen.

DOGTV has more than 2,000 videos of dogs. The channel has the seal of approval from the Humane Society and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Levi said that DOGTV videos may look a little weird to humans because they're made especially for dogs.

"Dogs see and hear differently than humans," Levi said. "Their eyesight isn't nearly as good as ours. They don't see colors like we do, either. Dogs can't see greens and reds, but do see blues and yellows and black and white. So our videos accentuate those colors. Because dog's hearing is much better than ours, we keep the volume lower than shows for people. We tell people to keep the volume set for what they normally have, and we set the volume lower for your dog."

By keeping the volume down, dogs will get accustomed to hearing doorbells and thunder and fireworks without losing their minds. And bowels. When there's loud thunder and lightning and I'm away from the house, I know there's a treat waiting for me when I get home.

I'm going to need a mop, two rolls of paper towels, a gas mask and three bottles of Febreze here!

Levi said dogs who watch DOGTV are more confident and happier, and less likely to experience stress and separation anxiety.

How come when I hold Lilly up to a mirror, I get nothing. No reaction. But put her in front of DOGTV, and suddenly, she's a couch potato and telling me to microwave a bag of popcorn?

"That's because there's no action when a dog looks in a mirror," Levi said. The dog doesn't know that's him in the mirror, and the dog is just standing there. Dogs like action. They like to watch other dogs doing things, like running or chasing a ball. Dogs don't have a preference for any breeds or size of dogs to watch, but they seem to like watching young ones more."

Hey, that's Channel 2 News' deal!

Here's an odd one: Levi said that cats seem to enjoy watching DOGTV almost as much as dogs do. Maybe it's research, and it's true what Michael Corleone said in "Godfather Part 2."

"My father taught me many things here. He taught me, keep your friends close but your enemies closer."

Odder still: Levi does not own a dog.

"My wife and I are expecting our first baby. Maybe down the road we will get a dog, but right now we're concentrating on the baby's arrival."
Within education circles in Houston, there are often two mindsets about school reform. There are those who long to return to the last century and reminisce fondly about the days when your school was determined solely by your address.

Others celebrate the freedom of school choice and would gladly do away with neighborhood schools altogether.

Though these differences might feel urgent for educators and policymakers, there are two other stakeholders who are often not included in policy debates: Parents and employers.

When parents consider whether to send their children to a particular school, they want to know practical information, such as safety, academic performance, quality of teachers and leaders, ease of the commute, which careers students pursue when they graduate. Rare from parents are questions about whether it's a traditional public, public charter, public magnet, or any other type of school.

Houston parents want a great school for their children. Period. They don't care how it's governed; they want to know whether there is space for their child.

Houston employers also have simple needs when it comes to finding talent. Employers are looking for workers who possess specialized industry skills, possess honesty and integrity, work hard and collaborate well. Like parents, Houston employers aren't concerned whether a potential hire attended a traditional public school, public charter, magnet or private school.

Gary Coronado/Staff

What if we followed the lead of parents and employers and started thinking in simpler terms about how to improve public education in Houston?

Rather than polarizing choices between privatizing the system or fixing school districts by focusing solely on public charters, we could commit to increasing the availability of great schools in all neighborhoods to meet the demands of parents and employers.

This might sound naive, but there is one thing I've learned in more than 25 years of working to improve school outcomes in Houston: No one solution or program will fix everything. Great schools are the unit of change, and we've got to have more of them, of all types, especially in our underserved neighborhoods where parents by the tens of thousands are on district magnet and public charter waitlists.

Fortunately, we're not starting from scratch, as there are many examples across Houston of high-quality schools, whether district schools, public charters, private schools or other hybrid models, that are beating the odds and producing strong outcomes for all students.

The problem is that we don't have enough seats to enroll the number of kids who need  and want  to attend. How can we remove the barriers and increase the number of great schools in Houston?

Dave Einsel/Stringer

Here are three ideas we can try right now.

1) Educators and policymakers need to stop debating and start working together. Everyone involved in education in Houston, including district leaders, charter leaders (including me, too), elected officials, private school advocates and education philanthropists must pivot from arguing with each other and begin the important work of starting more great schools.

From Spring Branch to Aldine to Grand Prairie to San Antonio, there are promising signs across Texas that educators can put aside their policy differences to work together for the common good of all children.

2) We've got to find ways to recruit and retain more high-quality teachers and leaders. The most important ingredients of a great school are its teachers and its leadership.

Our local universities and alternative certification providers produce some talented teachers and leaders, but they are not enough. We need additional talent pipelines like Teach For America, Relay Graduate School of Education, and others to attract and keep the best possible teachers and leaders for our schools.

3) We should find ways for public charter schools to grow in partnership with local school districts. There are currently ISD schools and public charter schools in Houston  including KIPP, YES College Prep, and others  that are outperforming state averages with underserved populations.

It makes sense for these networks to grow in response to parent demand and results. But charters and school districts also need to work together to share ideas, resources and best practices and to scale the impact of these innovations to benefit more students.

In the end, no one will remember what type of school it was that helped Houston's students meet their full potential. But history will record if we continue to ignore lessons learned, stay in our silos and let our children down by failing to deliver the education they expect and deserve.

Mike Feinberg is the co-founder of KIPP.





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GALVESTON - Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has sent Donald Trump a letter signed by more than 60 Texas leaders urging the president to include a coastal barrier in his planned $1 trillion national infrastructure project.

"We believe we have all the support necessary; what we need is the $15 billion in funds to protect this crucial part of the nation's economy," reads the letter sent Monday to the president.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The cost estimate is larger than the previous one, $11.63 billion, because it includes money for a ring dike around the portions of the city of Galveston behind the seawall and for a gate at the Galveston Bay entrance to Clear Lake, Land Office spokeswoman Brittany Eck said. The ring dike and gate were previously proposed but not included in cost estimates, Eck said.

The letter - signed by 21 coastal mayors, six county judges and more than two dozen businessmen and educators - says that construction could begin in 2018 on the barrier, popularly known as the Ike Dike, if money is available.

"These projects are in an excellent position to 'turn dirt' as early as next year and start the process of finally protecting the coast of Texas," the letter says.

Congress is unlikely to fund a coastal barrier until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes its studies. The corps is scheduled to have a preliminary recommendation ready by June 2018, with the full study completed by 2021.

Another study that the corps is working on with the Land Office that only looks at coastal areas in Brazoria, Jefferson and Orange counties is expected to be completed this fall, Eck said. It would contain enough information to allow Congress to authorize construction of small pieces of the overall plan.

The project would protect the coasts of Harris, Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers, Jefferson and Orange counties from a storm surge like the one generated in 2008 by Hurricane Ike, which killed 74 people and caused nearly $30 billion in damage.

The Gulf Coast Community Protection and Restoration District last year recommended a coastal barrier built along the Gulf side of Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula with a storm-surge gate connecting the two barrier islands to protect Galveston, Harris and Chambers counties.

A system of dikes would protect Brazoria, Jefferson and Orange counties.
Early voting began Monday for local elections next month that will determine who leads increasingly diverse Pasadena, the fate of a major school bond referendum in League City and whether Houston's largest school district pays tens of millions to the state to comply with a controversial policy and avoid a potentially bigger financial hit.

Across Harris County, 1,153 voters turned out Monday for the elections, figures show. They included many who live within the Houston Independent School District and voted for a second time on "recapture," a process through which so-called property tax-wealthy school districts pay the state to help fund districts that collect less.

EARLY VOTING: In Bexar County, early voter turnout exceeds 2015

The state ordered HISD this year to pay tens of millions to the Texas Education Agency despite its large population of English-language learner students and pupils living near the poverty line.

A vote "for" Proposition 1 would give HISD the green light to pay the state $77.5 million in recapture fees this June, a number that could balloon to $376 million by the 2019-2020 school year. A vote "against" Proposition 1 means the district would refuse to pay the recapture money, which Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath has warned would lead to the state removing some of the city's most valuable commercial properties from HISD's tax rolls and transferring the tax revenue to property-poor districts such as Aldine ISD.

The suburbs also feature some high-profile races, none more so than the May 6 election for the next Pasadena mayor.

NO REGRETS: Just 2 percent of Trump voters say they regret voting for him

The working-class city southeast of Houston is the setting of a high-stakes battle over the voting rights of its burgeoning Hispanic population - rights that a federal judge found earlier this year were violated by a redistricting scheme pushed through a few years ago by longtime Mayor Johnny Isbell.

Isbell cannot seek reelection because of term limits, and seven candidates are vying to succeed him: City Council members Jeff Wagner and Pat Van Houte; John Moon Jr., a San Jacinto College trustee; two former Republican state representatives, Robert Talton and Gilbert Pena; Gloria Gallegos, a Pasadena school district administrator; and David Flores, a construction company manager.

The May election is widely viewed as a test of the political influence of Pasadena's growing Latino population.

Isbell had backed a redistricting plan that created six district seats and two at-large positions on the city council, replacing an all-district seat system. A federal judge rejected that arrangement in January, saying it was deliberately aimed at diluting Hispanic voting strength to ward off an impending power shift.

Isbell instructed the city's attorneys to appeal, and the council voted last month to withhold payment from the law firm handling the appeal.

Meanwhile, voters in Fort Bend and Waller counties will determine a number of school board, mayoral and council positions.

In central Fort Bend, incumbent mayors in the neighboring and fast-changing cities of Rosenberg and Richmond face re-election challenges.

Two candidates, Bill Benton and Edmund Samora, are seeking to unseat Rosenberg Mayor Cynthia McConathy, who stirred debate last year after sending an email to city employees inviting them to participate in prayer at the start of the new year. Richmond Mayor Evalyn Moore has been serving in her post since the 2012 death of her husband, Hilmar Moore, who had been the city's mayor for 63 years. She now faces Tres Davis, who is running what an online fundraiser calls a "People's Campaign."

Meanwhile, in Stafford, longtime Mayor Leonard Scarcella, who has held his seat since 1969, is running unopposed.

Sugar Land has only one contested seat: that to fill the position of Harish Jajoo, a city councilman who ran unsuccessfully in 2016 to be the city's first South Asian mayor. He chose not to seek re-election as a councilman.

Of note among school district trustee races, Lamar Consolidated ISD's Anna Gonzales, who was indicted on charges related to bribery in a case that was dismissed last year, faces an opponent in Joe Hubenak, the son of the late state representative and LCISD board member by the same name.

In Brazoria County, Pearland voters are heading to the polls to vote for mayor, City Council and school trustees. A letter from a real estate agent denouncing "liberal gay rights Democrats" trying to take over the city and school board elections there - which are nonpartisan - drew ire from many progressive groups, as well as longtime Mayor Tom Reid and two other candidates endorsed by the letter.

In Clear Creek ISD, the district is asking voters to approve a $487 million bond that officials say is needed to build new schools and keep up with growing student populations. But conservative groups are concerned that the bond's steep price tag includes too many unnecessary frills, such as $13.7 million to renovate Clear Creek High School's auditorium.

Consternation over the bond has set up a showdown between two warring political action committees, or PACs, which have spread from national races down to municipal races and local bond referenda.

Only a few races are on the ballot in Montgomery County, none of them county-wide. The cities of Cut and Shoot, Shenandoah and Oak Ridge North all have contested city council races, and nine municipal and special utility districts are setting new tax rates, seeking to float bonds and filling the seats for new directors.

Shelby Webb and Emily Foxhall contributed to this report.
Even as the controversial 'sanctuary cities' bill winds its way through the state legislature, Houston officials came together Monday evening to reassure members of the local immigrant community that they can still use police and other city services without running into immigration problems.

"Do not fear the Houston Police Department unless you're involved in criminal activity - then we want you to fear us," Chief Art Acevedo told the crowd of more than 100 gathered for the southwest Houston town hall-style panel discussion geared toward the Muslim community.

MJ Khan, Islamic Society of Greater Houston president and the event moderator, peppered city officials and prominent Muslim community members with questions about immigrant rights during the hour-long panel.

"HPD is not ICE and we don't seek to be ICE," Mayor Sylvester Turner said. "In this city we don't profile. We're not going to do that."

The fresh reassurances from city officials come amid a downturn in crime reporting in the Hispanic community, a point Acevedo made at a press conference earlier this month and reiterated at Monday's event.

The number of Hispanics reporting rape is down 42.8 percent over the first three months of last year, even as reporting in other demographics is on the rise, Acevedo said. Other violent crimes have registered a 13 percent reporting drop in the Hispanic community.

The city's Department of Health and Human Services has also seen a downturn in use of services, Director Stephen Williams told the crowd.

"In the last few months, the numbers of people who come to us have been diminishing and we're not comfortable with that," he said. "We're not only a welcoming city but we're a welcoming health department."

Immigration attorney Maha Khalil assured event-goers that they should not be afraid to go to the courthouse to pay tickets, and a library representative told the crowd they can get library cards and check out books without fear of deportation.

Aside from offering reassurances, Acevedo discouraged Houstonians from spreading shaky information about immigration raids, pointing to false rumors about ICE busts at Fiesta that earlier this year seeded fear in the community.

"If it's on Twitter it's probably not true," he said, encouraging residents to rely on more official channels.

In response to a texted-in question, Khalil addressed immigrants' rights if ICE shows up at the door.

"If they don't have warrant, you don't need to open," she said. She advised memorizing an attorney's number in advance and utilizing the right to an interpreter and the right to remain silent.

In response to another question, Acevedo dispelled concerns about the possibility of legislation that could force local authorities to cooperate with immigration.

"I think it's really important in this political season that we not focus on the rhetoric. I'm not worried about a movement from the federal government to force police departments to engage in immigration enforcement," he said.

"That would be counterproductive to public safety."

The Texas House is set on Wednesday to take up a controversial proposal that would require local sheriffs and jailers to comply with federal requests to hold on to people in the country illegally or face a misdemeanor criminal charge.

It is part of so-called "sanctuary cities" legislation that Gov. Greg Abbott made a priority item this session. The proposal has sparked concern among immigrant advocates as well as some law enforcement officials - such as Sheriff Ed Gonzalez - who have worried that it could make cities less safe.

But Austin's political machinations aside, Turner touted Houston as a diverse city that champions inclusion and relationship.

"In this city we don't seek to divide, we don't seek to separate," he said.

"We don't build walls. We build relationships."
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When Rod Barnaba stepped into Barrett's historic cemetery on Monday, the 46-year-old handyman thought back fondly to his childhood in the tight-knit community founded in 1889 by former slave Harrison Barrett.

Barnaba remembered how he would take a shortcut through the northeast Harris County graveyard to go between his relatives' homes a few minutes away.

On Monday, though, the walk was upsetting instead of nostalgic. Over the weekend, a pickup had plowed through the well-kept Barrett Station Evergreen Cemetery. It toppled tombstones and crashed through a residential fence in the once-rural area where development now encroaches as Houston's swelling suburbs expand outward.

The graves of Barnaba's family members - including his father and all four grandparents - were undisturbed. Others were not so lucky.

Wilbert Lee Eagleton, 77, saw the tire tracks that led to displaced tombstones bearing his family name. One long concrete slab was busted open, revealing a metal coffin. Eagleton, one of 13 children, was outwardly unfazed as he inspected the damage. It was just the latest challenge in a long life that included his 1964 election as the first black member of Crosby's school board.

As Eagleton and other residents arrived at the vandalized cemetery, they tried to piece together what had happened in the small town 20 miles northeast of downtown Houston. They wanted to know who damaged the headstones and who would pay for repairs at the 89-year-old cemetery maintained by volunteers.

"We are having a hard time with this," said Melody Fontenot, who leads the cemetery's nonprofit organization and just last year laid her husband to rest there, among about 2,500 other graves. "As people are finding out, they're so upset."

'It was different'

Some residents speculated the culprit was a drunken driver leaving a party, which would explain the empty Corona six-pack carton lying on the cemetery grass; one local looked at the tire tracks and figured it was two pickups, one pursuing the other as they busted through an adjoining fence; others suspected it was a neighbor nursing a grudge.

Police, however, initially reported that it was none of the above.

The damage occurred late Saturday or early Sunday, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office and a neighbor who heard the incident.

Patricia Reed said it was around midnight when she heard an engine rumbling near her house, whose back adjoins the cemetery.

"I thought, oh my God, they're racing again," said Reed, 74. "But it was different. Then I heard a banging sound."

She couldn't look outside because she has no windows on the rear of her house, and she was afraid to go outside and risk a confrontation. So it wasn't until the next morning that she noticed the flattened road signs along Barrett Road, which curves through the graveyard. She called police.

The sheriff's deputies who responded found a man who said he had lost control of his 2005 GMC pickup in Barrett, an unincorporated area near Crosby that grew from 2,900 residents in 2000 to 4,720 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"At first he said that he was driving along and another vehicle was coming the other way, and he tried to avoid them and lost control," said Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland. "But it was later determined  that he was the one (who was) speeding and lost control."

Deputies left the man, who was unidentified, with two traffic citations, one for failing to stay in a single lane and another for driving without a license, the sheriff's office said.

"It didn't look like anything was intentional, not that we know of," Gilliland said, adding that the sheriff's Traffic Enforcement Division has not finished its investigation. If police find the driver intentionally damaged graves, that could open the door to charges of desecration, a misdemeanor.

Donations needed

However, residents were not satisfied by the explanation. Some thought the man who was ticketed was not the actual driver. Several said witnesses saw a private tow truck remove a vehicle before police arrived at the cemetery.

On Monday, a few dozen people stopped by to survey and document the damage. Barnaba and Eagleton pulled out a tape measure to start planning repairs, though Fontenot didn't know where the cemetery would find the money.

"We don't have the funds to just use to clean up," she said. "We're going to have to get some donations."

Two workers from the county's roads and bridges department arrived shortly after noon with instructions to repair or replace the flattened road signs. They had not been told anything about a cemetery.
A Houston man who plotted to blow up a makeshift apartment to "send a message" to the man living there has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison.

Cary Lee Ogborn told U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt on Monday that he regretted all of it - his frenzied exchanges with an online vendor on an encrypted website, his purchase of what he thought were bomb-making materials.

He was stupid, he told the judge, to have engaged in any of it.

In the end, the 50-year-old boat repairman discovered he had been exchanging messages with an undercover FBI agent who used Ogborn's admissions about his plan to arrest and convict him.

Hoyt ordered Ogborn to spend 30 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. The judge agreed to Ogborn's request to recommend he serve time at a federal facility in Memphis, near his family.

Attorney Joshua Lake, of the Federal Public Defender's Office, told the judge that Ogborn had arranged to work for his parents' business and to take care of rental properties upon his release.

Ogborn pleaded guilty in November to knowingly transporting materials across state lines that were powerful enough to maim and kill people and destroy buildings.

He was arrested in September after retrieving a package he had ordered on a massive online marketplace called AlphaBay, a sort of underground eBay that encrypts visitors' identities, providing anonymity.

Ogborn believed the package contained dynamite, a grenade and a remote detonator.

According to court documents, Ogborn accessed the site through The Onion Router or TOR, which provides access to the dark web by bouncing a user from router to router, making it difficult to trace a person's identity.

'Help the burn'

Ogborn sent a private message Aug. 21 to a vendor on AlphaBay using the handle boatsmanstv. He wrote that he needed a detonator to set a 5-gallon drum of gasoline on fire from a distance.

Over the next month, boatsmanstv traded messages about various tools he might purchase to cause an explosion in a 20-by-40-foot wooden shed that was being used as a living space.

According to court documents, the buyer said he might use dynamite, gasoline or diesel fuel and pressure spray the entire building "to help the burn."

He responded to specific questions from the vendor that appear to be aimed at designing the appropriate kind of bomb.

"Dont know exactly whats inside but person using for apartment," boatsmanstv wrote, skipping apostrophes, on Aug. 27. "Person will not be there when set off. Dont want to kill just send message."

By Sept. 11, the plan boatsmanstv had evolved a bit, as had the plotter's breathless, typo-ridden messages.

"The idea we have for this person is while he sleeping we put grenade in back of truck and run to our car 20 to 30 meters away, he heres (sic) truck blow up and come outside while he outside we blow up house. Tell me about grenade please. how far do we need to be away?"

The vendor promised to send the customer the supplies for $600. In all, boatsmanstv spent more than $15,000 in the underground currency Bitcoin, officials said.

Ogborn went to a post office box to retrieve the package. He brought it to his home address, a large work shed in the 6300 block of Mayfair in southeast Houston.

Long rap sheet

Ogborn already had a lengthy rap sheet in the Houston area. In 2013, he pleaded guilty in Harris County to knowingly possessing illegal metal knuckles and served a 30-day jail sentence. The same year, he pleaded guilty and served time in Montgomery County for illegal possession of a firearm.

Before that, Ogborn was convicted for driving with a suspended license and committing insurance fraud in 2004, and lying about a stolen car in 1996. He served time for 1989 convictions for auto theft and possession of cocaine and marijuana.
Chinese authorities have accused a 56-year-old Houston businesswoman of going to a city in southern China two decades ago to conduct an espionage mission, recruiting Chinese citizens to spy for foreign agencies and spying on the communist nation herself, her husband said Monday.

The revelations, which he said comes from her indictment last month and conversations with her legal team, provide the first insight into why China has detained Sandy Phan-Gillis, who was arrested in March 2015 as she passed through an immigration control post connecting mainland China with Macau. Phan-Gillis was in China on a trade delegation that included Houston City Councilman Ed Gonzalez.
WASHINGTON - Five days from a potential government shutdown, Trump administration officials on Monday appeared to soften their insistence that Congress provide the first down payment on a border wall by this week, retreating instead to general language about ensuring "border security."

In a series of briefings focused on President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office - a benchmark that arrives Saturday - the administration found itself playing defense on a record high on dramatics but devoid of significant legislative achievements, the most glaring being the failure to repeal Obamacare or to make any progress on a wall paid for by Mexico.

Instead, they blamed the president's historically high disapproval ratings on Democratic "obstruction" in Congress and a damaging media narrative of dysfunction and palace intrigue.

"The polls reflect the coverage that we're getting," one White House official said in a no-names briefing for reporters Monday.

Although Trump has been critical of anonymous media reports, the officials, who were authorized to brief reporters, insisted on anonymity to discuss the president's 100-day milestone.

Backing away from some of the more aggressive pronouncements of administration officials over the weekend, the official also made clear that Trump wants to avoid any government shutdown resulting from an inability to pass and sign a temporary spending measure by midnight Friday: "We're working in good faith to make sure not only our border is secure but that the government continues to do its job."

Trump campaigned on the promise of a "big, beautiful wall" along the entire southern border, but Friday's government funding deadline presents a tough dose of political reality: He needs Democrats to pass a new funding measure for the rest of the year, and they remain uniformly opposed. Democrats also have calculated that blame for any government shutdown, much like the 16-day closure in 2013, likely would fall on Republicans who control the White House and both chambers of Congress.

"It's ironic that the administration should hit its first wall on the issue of immigration," said Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington.

Compromise suggested

Some analysts have suggested the White House could settle for funds for drones, sensors, and additional border agents, allowing Trump to say he is fulfilling a campaign pledge to fortify the border.

Despite what the White House described as some short-term setbacks, administration spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump remains committed both to the wall and the idea that Mexico ultimately will pay for it.

"In order to get the ball rolling on border security and the wall he was going to have to use the current appropriations process, but he would make sure that that promise would be kept, as far as the payment for it," Spicer said.

Spicer also said that "the funding piece will happen in due time," signaling that it may fall away from the current spending package being negotiated between White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and congressional leaders.

Spicer and other White House officials also made clear that they expect no government shutdown this week, another sign that immediate wall funding will not be an obstacle. As the negotiations continue, Trump has maintained a steady barrage on Twitter: "The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)!" Trump tweeted Monday morning, ending the message with an "if"

He finished the thought hours later, tweeting "....the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be! #BuildTheWall"

Those tweets followed another on Sunday saying "Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall."

Some of the president's allies have urged him to keep pressing for immediate wall funding, even as some Republicans in Congress remain skeptical of the cost-effectiveness of the entire plan.

Democrats stand firm

Democratic leaders blasted Trump's border wall demands Monday in a conference call with reporters to counter the White House's 100-day blitz. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump "threw a monkey wrench" into the budget negotiations, adding that a deal easily could be struck by Friday "if the president stepped out of it."

Schumer said Republicans "don't have a plan" for funding the wall project, the cost of which has been estimated at upwards of $20 billion.

Democrats give much higher estimates, in addition to the costs of buying up border land and fighting eminent domain challenges in court.

"The administration is also planning to seize private land from my constituents, in exchange for laughably small payments," Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar wrote to his constituents last week. "Texans of all political stripes don't like federal agents taking their property. We will fight this bad idea until the president finally admits that it isn't going to happen."

With a potential shutdown crisis looming, a new Economist/YouGov poll found that a majority of Americans would rather avoid turning out the lights over a border wall dispute. Some 60 percent of those surveyed in the online poll April 12 and 13, said it is more important to keep the government open, compared to 19 percent who said Congress should come up with the money. Another 22 percent were unsure, according to CQ Roll Call, which is owned by The Economist Group.

Specific border wall

A lingering political problem for Trump is that, unlike many of the promises he made as a candidate, building a border wall was both vivid and specific. "This is one area of policy where the president really did provide some detail," said C. Stewart Verdery Jr., a former Bush administration official briefing reporters Monday on Trump's first 100 days.

Trump has asked Congress for $1 billion to plan, design and construct the first installment of the wall, which would cover an estimated 62 miles of new or existing barriers in the Rio Grande Valley, El Paso and around San Diego.

About two-thirds of that first tranche - $644 million - would pay for 34 miles of new levee and border wall in the Rio Grande Valley, a top priority for the Customs and Border Protection agency.

Even as the administration faces an uphill fight for the money, White House aides pointed to other successes on immigration, notably a dramatic drop in the number of illegal border-crossers since January.

"That is a big accomplishment for this presidency," Spicer said. "It's something we're very proud of."
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In California's Central Valley, farmers channel water from heavy rains onto their land before letting it dissipate into aquifers.

In the Pacific Northwest, water is siphoned from rain-swollen rivers and tributaries, then pumped underground for crops and industry.

In Florida, water managers are considering whether to inject millions of gallons of water into its aquifers to save wildlife and wetlands in the beleaguered Everglades.

Now Harris County is thinking about how it can put its water to better use after two recent years of devastating floods.

As part of a novel and untested plan, the county is studying whether it can reduce the impact of floods by using high-powered pumps to whisk water into aquifers or old oil wells underground and away from the city's booming sprawl. This, in turn, could preserve water for drought conditions and serve Houston's increasing water demands.

"The question is: Can you do it?" asked Harris County Commissioner Jack Cagle, whose office is helping lead the effort.

'Think outside the box'

Some hydrologists and engineers are skeptical, citing concerns over water quality and the sheer immensity of the flooding problem. Still, moving or pumping excess rainwater has become widespread across the country, and Harris County now joins a growing chorus of communities in Texas looking to better handle a resource that can swing from deadly in wet years to precious in dry ones.

"Sometimes you have to think outside the box and try these things out and put some money behind it to see if it will work or not," said Russ Poppe, executive director of the Harris County Flood Control District. "This is another step in the evolution in how we manage excessive stormwater here."

County commissioners this month approved a study to assemble a team of consultants and researchers from Texas A&M University to investigate whether capturing floodwaters and storing them underground is feasible. The county has directed more than $160,000 toward the study.

The idea would be to gather rainwater as it falls, in a pond for example, and use a pump to inject it underground into the aquifer.

The study would show if, how and where the water could be pumped - and what kinds of permits would be necessary, Poppe said. It would also look at the cost or scope of such a project.

If implemented, the project would be a significant departure from the district's traditional flood-control strategy, which has relied on straightening and widening channels, lining them with concrete and building detention ponds.

Help for subsidence

Cagle, the Precinct 4 commissioner, said a successful project also could help slow or prevent subsidence - the sinking of the ground that comes after years of drawing excessive amounts of groundwater to keep the fast-growing region's thirst quenched. Aquifers in the region have lost 300 to 400 feet over the last century, leaving the land to collapse and increasing the flood risk.

The proposal could also help combat saltwater intrusion. When groundwater is pulled from the top of Houston's aquifers, near the northern part of the county for drinking purposes, salty seawater flows in at the southern end, near the Gulf, turning the water brackish and potentially threatening drinking water quality.

Flooding is "driving much of this right now," Cagle said.

Many experts predict climate change will lead to more severe flooding.

Historic rains and floods in spring 2015 prompted Rico Torres to shut down his bayou-tour business during the peak summer season, when families would typically be boarding kayaks, canoes and paddle boards in Buffalo Bayou and other locations.

Then, in 2016, the same thing happened.

"We lost about 80 percent-plus of our revenue because we had to close during the summer," Torres said of his business, which opened in 2010.

The consequences for many were far more severe, as the major spring storms of 2015 and 2016 killed dozens and flooded upwards of 15,000 homes.

Torres has experienced both sides of severe weather.

As the Houston area endured the third-driest year on record in 2011, Torres recalled, boats dragged along the bottom of the bayou at times. Dry, brittle trees even tumbled into the waterway, blocking passage.

Harris County lost approximately 19 million trees during the drought. Fanned by dry weather, wildfires in the Houston region burned dozens of homes.

The swings are not completely new. A record drought in 1996 was washed away by El Nino in 1997. The La Nina that followed put the state back in drought. A big drought in 2006 ended with one of the state's wettest years on record in 2007.

Many other places across the country have experimented successfully with strategies similar to what Harris County is considering, said Susan Roberts, chairwoman of the groundwater management committee at the American Water Works Association.

San Antonio, for example, draws drinking water from its main Edwards Aquifer during times when water is plentiful and shifts it to a deeper one, the Carrizo, for storage. City water system officials take water back out during times of scarcity, a system that has worked for more than a decade, Roberts said.

Kerrville and El Paso also store water in aquifers - the only other such operations in the state.

State officials are increasingly interested in the concept.

Water quality concerns

In 2015, the Legislature passed a bill amending the water code to give the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality authority over aquifer storage programs, part of an effort to make it easier to pursue them. Several other localities are now looking at storing water in aquifers.

The Legislature also may try to clear up confusion over water rights when stormwater spills into rivers so that it can be more easily taken out and stored. It's also considering a bill directing the water development board to study the areas where the strategy makes sense.

Still, some are skeptical that such an approach would be effective in the Houston area.

For starters, Roberts said, there is concern over water quality: Pumping dirty stormwater into the ground has the potential to compromise the quality of drinking water in the ground.

"Because the floodwaters come with the debris  high level of sediments, junk, potentially anything that's in its way comes along  you've got to filter that out before you think about putting down any injection well," she said.

Phil Bedient, a Rice University civil and environmental engineering professor and hydrologist, also questioned whether the pumps could affect floodwaters.

Said Bedient: "You're dealing with rates and volumes of water in a big flood, a big runoff event, where you're just not going to be able to put that water in there very easily."

Officials say they expect the study to answer many questions about whether the plan is workable.
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Anyone who cares about public education should vote against HISD Proposition 1. Here's why:

Our votes deserve respect. Last November, HISD voters were smart enough to vote against the recapture proposition, which applies to school districts that experience rapid growth in property value. At a certain point, according to state school funding formulas, these districts face unsavory choices, including sending some of their property tax revenue to the state or having some of their property tax base detached. Either scenario then funnels that local tax money to property-poor districts. HISD voters in November said no. Now, state bureaucrats have dressed up the same proposition and are selling it to the district, and thus, to voters, as a new, improved deal. It's not.

The new deal is worse than the first. Yes, the new deal reduces the recapture payments for the first year; but it tacks them back onto future years. And HISD - like the victim of an unscrupulous payday loan company - ends up paying more, not less.

Lawmakers are still hiding behind the same trick question. The politicians who wrote the ballot language knew from the start that recapture was a bad deal. That's why they say it's about "attendance credits." But it's not. It's about shutting down public schools.

They're still taking our local tax money - and lots of it. Recapture will take more than $1 billion out of our local, public schools in the next four years and send it to state bureaucrats in Austin to spend essentially however they want. Sure, the recapture funds go to property-poor districts, but the trick is this: The state then turns around and send those districts less money from the general revenue fund so it can fund other public needs.

Recapture hurts our neediest students. Under recapture, HISD will be forced to eliminate or make severe cuts to early childhood education centers, mental health resources, mentoring and tutoring programs, truancy and dropout prevention programs, and college counseling programs.

Recapture is a fatally flawed system to begin with. Often referred to as "Robin Hood," it was supposed to take funds from wealthy districts and redistribute it to poorer districts. But not this time. HISD has a student poverty rate of 76 percent. Proposition 1 will deprive these students of resources critical to health and learning that keep them in school, off the streets and on track to graduate.

State bureaucrats are addicted to the money, now more than ever. Recapture was passed by the Texas legislature in 1993 under threat of a court order. It was considered a temporary fix until comprehensive reform could be worked out. But that hasn't happened. The recent budget proposed by the state senate actually cuts general fund expenditures for public education as revenues from recapture continue to rise.

Proposition 1 hurts more than our students; it hurts all of us. If Proposition 1 passes, the closure of schools and rapid decline of our local education system will also decimate neighborhoods, hurt our economy and make Houston unattractive to businesses and people looking to relocate here.

Here's the bottom line: Once again, the Legislature has forced HISD voters to make a terrible choice. Either way is bad for public school kids in Houston. But voting for HISD Proposition 1 means total capitulation to the unfair recapture system - forever. It's tantamount to giving up on public education in Houston.

I attended a legislative hearing last year where officials from school district after school district testified about how much they regret the decisions of their voters to vote for recapture measures. They wished they could still continue the fight against the system that is destroying their schools. But they can't, because their voters gave in. And once you're in, you're in for good.

Voting against HISD Proposition 1 at least keeps HISD in the fight. It gives us leverage to fight in court and to fight in the Legislature. It puts teeth in our insistence that our legislators do their jobs.

Our kids deserve better than what state bureaucrats are foisting upon them. On May 6, vote against HISD Proposition 1. Let's stay in the fight.

Jones represents District IV on the Houston Independent School District board of trustees.
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Update June 22, 2017: The reform to the federal criminal code to penalize dogfighting has been published in the federal registry. This finalizes the legislative process of outlawing the cruel practice at the federal level.

Mexican lawmakers have approved penalties for dogfighting and the activities surrounding it, including organizing fights, owning or trading a fighting dog, possessing property used to hold fights or attending a fight as a spectator. The law will be enacted as soon as it is published in the federal register (Diario Oficial de la Federacion).

Anton Aguilar, executive director of Humane Society International/Mexico, issued the following statement:

We are grateful to our lawmakers for first banning, and now penalizing, dogfighting in Mexico. For too long, countless dogs have suffered and society has deteriorated because dogfighting, and the criminal rings that surround it, have largely been left untouched by the Mexican legal system. Those days are over. Dogfighters beware  dogfighting is a criminal activity in Mexico and now anyone participating or supporting this cruel spectacle could face serious consequences under the law.

Support the efforts of HSI to prevent cruelty and save lives.

Timeline:

April 2017: The Senate Justice Committee approves dogfighting penalties, moving the bill to the full Senate, which voted today to approve the penalties.

January 2017: the Senate and the House of Representatives passed a reform of article 82 BIS 2 of the Ecological Equilibrium and Environment Protection General Law mandating that the Federation, the Federal States and Mexico City penalize the dogfighting within a year.

December 2016: the House of Representatives passed a reform of the federal criminal code penalizing various activities related to dogfighting, including organizing fights, owning or trading a fighting dog, possessing a property used to hold fights, and attending a fight as a spectator.

July 2016: HSI/Mexico launched an anti-dogfighting campaign, including a petition for legislators to ban and penalize dogfighting in Mexico. In November 2016, HSI presented the more than 200,000 signatures obtained supporting the petition.

Media contact: Raul Arce-Contreras, rcontreras@humanesociety.org, (US) +1 301 721 6440

For general enquiries: call 866-614-4371 or fill out our contact form
Many low earners, teens, and students dont bother filing tax returns. After all, if you only earned a few grand last year, whats the point, right?

But tax experts say theres plenty of reason for low earners to file a tax return.

Our system is based on filing your taxes, says Jeff Cates, president of Intuit Canada  which means that if youre a low earner and you dont file a tax return, you will likely be missing out on some cash back in your pocket.

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So long as you earned income in the previous tax year  meaning some sort of paycheque or self-employed earnings  you or your family could get money back from the government.

Here are a few ways you can do just that:.

GST/HST rebate

This is a tax credit  its money the government sends back to the taxpayer. In this case, it goes to lower-income people to offset the cost of the GST/HST.

For the July 2016 to July 2017 period, a single person earning less than $35,926 can get up to $420 in cash per year from this rebate, and a family of four earning the same can see up to $842.

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The government sends this money in four installments over the course of a year, but you cant get this benefit without filing a tax return. Its available to those aged 19 and over.

Education expenses

A tuition tax credit is available to full- or part-time students who spent at least $100 on tuition at an accredited institution. You can use it if you or family members paid for your tuition, but not if your employer or a government program covered it.

If you earned too little to take full advantage of this tax credit, you can transfer up to $5,000 of credit to your parents or an eligible person  meaning up to $750 cash back.

If you moved to go to school, you or your parents can claim your moving expenses, so long as you moved at least 40 kilometres closer to the school.

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If you have a student loan youre paying off, dont forget to claim the interest you paid on it. The government will credit you with 15 per cent of the cost of that interest.

Moving expenses

There is a tax deduction for the cost of moving  meaning you can reduce the amount of income you pay taxes on by claiming this benefit.

You can deduct some of your moving expenses, so long as you moved at least 40 kilometres closer to your new job or school, and parents can claim this on behalf of children in school.

Moving expenses for children I rarely see claimed,'' tax professional Jason Heath of Objective Financial Partners told The Canadian Press. It could literally be $1,000 (for a student) to move back and forth.''

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Child-care expenses

Some child-care expenses are deductible from your taxable income. This includes babysitting and daycare, as well as some summer camp costs.

If more than one parent is raising the child, the parent with the lower income has to claim these expenses  even if that parent earned no money.

You can deduct up to $8,000 in expenses for a child six and under, and up to $5,000 for a child aged seven to 15.

Be careful, though, says Robb Engen of the Boomer and Echo financial blog. Some dads might get away with calling it babysitting when parenting on their own, however that's not going to fly in (Canada Revenues) eyes.

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http://boomerandecho.com/

Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB)

This is a tax credit available to individuals or families with lower incomes.

For 2016, a single person with no children gets the maximum tax credit of $1,028 if they earned between $7,112 and $11,675. The tax credit is reduced the more you earn above that amount, and youre not eligible if you earned more than $18,529.

A family with children gets the maximum tax credit of $1,868 if the family earned between $10,472 and $16,122. The tax credit is reduced above that, and any family earning above $28,576 wont receive the credit.

(These numbers vary in Alberta, B.C., Nunavut and Quebec.)

An individual or a family must earn at least $3,000 in a year to qualify for the WITB.

Public transit tax credit

You can, and should, claim the full amount you spent on public transit on your tax return. The government will credit you 15 per cent of what you spent on monthly or weekly passes, or electronic fare cards used on an ongoing basis. So make sure you get a receipt.

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This tax credit was eliminated in the federal Liberals most recent budget, so the 2016 tax year is the last time youll be able to use this benefit.

Medical expenses

Medical deductions are among the most overlooked tax benefits, experts say.

You can take advantage of a medical expense benefit as long as you made some money, says Cleo Hamel, a senior tax specialist with American Expat Tax Services.

Not everything is covered by provincial health insurance, and if you find yourself spending out of pocket on health care, you can deduct those expenses from your taxable income, potentially giving yourself a tax return.

You can deduct medical expenses if they amounted to three per cent or more of your income or your spouses income, or $2,237, whichever is less. Those paying for expanded medical insurance can deduct their premiums and any out-of-pocket deductibles.

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Future benefits of filing today

One major reason to file an income tax return  even if you didnt earn much  is to prepare for the day when you will make more. Filing a tax return can help with both retirement and buying a home.

Any earnings you do report on your tax return will build RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) contribution room, which will be useful for your future, higher income earning years, Engen says.

Anything you put into an RRSP is deducted from your taxes, and taxed only when you use the money in retirement. Since you can withdraw up to $25,000 from an RRSP to buy a first home, you can consider it a savings account for a first home (you get 15 years to pay the money back into your RRSP).

Hamel says her teenage sons filed tax returns for their part-time jobs and got hundreds of dollars back from the government.

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If I had followed the rule of no filing until youre 18, we would have missed out on two years of returns & RRSP contribution room, she says.

She advises putting money into an RRSP even if you dont have much in the way of savings, because the sooner you begin, the more those savings will be worth in retirement.

If you can start when youre 18 it will make you much more, she says.

Whatever your income situation, you can get help with your taxes for free. There are a number of free guided software applications you can use, the most popular of which are TurboTax and UFile. They build your income tax return by asking a series of questions. H&R Block offers a similar free service. There are also free tax preparation clinics across Canada. You can find their locations and hours via this Canada Revenue Agency page.

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OTTAWA  If a Canadian province doesnt set up a framework to sell marijuana legally, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will ensure pot is available to all Canadians online.

Trudeau said he recognizes that different provinces will have different approaches but they will have more than one year to establish the systems they want to use to sell cannabis.

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If they decide they dont want to bring legislation forward, we will make [marijuana] available through a federal system, probably on the Internet, Trudeau told VICE Canada Monday evening during a town hall event focused on pot.

Our system will be accessible for all who do not have a system in their province, Trudeau continued, in French. So there will be a way for all across the country, who have the age of maturity, to buy cannabis.

Nearly two weeks ago, the federal government unveiled its long-awaited marijuana legislation, which will give adults the right to legally buy and smoke cannabis, to hold up to 30 grams in public and to grow four plants per household.

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Ottawa also unveiled tough laws for anyone found to be selling cannabis to children and developed a system for testing drug-use on roadways. Decisions about where and how marijuana should be sold, as well as how old adults have to be the purchase the drug, were punted to the provinces. Feds set a minimum age of 18 to buy marijuana, but said provinces could raise the age limit.

The Liberals noted at the time of the announcement that if jurisdictions did not put in place a regulated retail framework, individuals would be able to purchase cannabis online from a federally licensed producer with secure home delivery through the mail or by courier.

Trudeaus spokeswoman Kate Purchase noted this would be modelled on the existing medical cannabis system that allows users to order online from federally licensed producers whose couriers verify identification and age at the door.

The proposed federal legislation is expected to come into force by July 2018.

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Several provinces expressed concerns about various parts of the legislation, but many are already forming working groups to study the bill.

The prime minister also suggested Monday that once a legal system for cannabis is in place, his government would study what it could do to help ensure Canadians saddled with criminal records for previous pot possession are not treated unfairly.

[O]ur focus is on changing the legislation to fix what's broken, about a system that is hurting Canadians like you, and then we'll take steps to look at what we can do for those people who have criminal records for something that is no longer criminal, Trudeau told a young Torontonian named Malik, who worried his pot possession charge would prevent him from leaving the country.

Trudeau recalled a story told to HuffPost Canada in 2013 about how his late brother Michel, who died in an avalanche in 1998, had been in a car accident a few months prior to his death. Police had found a few joints and Michel was charged with possession.

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When he got back to Montreal, my dad said, 'OK. Don't worry about it.' He reached out to his friends in the legal community, got the best possible lawyer and was very confident that we were going to be able to make those charges go away, Trudeau recounted.

We were able to do that because we had resources, my dad had a couple of connections, Trudeau said to laughter in the crowd.

"Our system will be accessible for all who do not have a system in their province."

However, people from minority communities, marginalized communities, without economic resources, are not going to have that kind of option to go through and clear their name in the justice system and that is one of the fundamental unfairnesses of this current system  is that it affects different people differently.

Still, the prime minister  who once smoked pot as an MP  stressed that until the bill is passed, marijuana use remains a crime.

Trudeau said he expects Canadians will choose to purchase cannabis through the legal and regulated system rather than buy it from a shady character in a stairwell.

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No black market for beer: Trudeau

There is no black market for beer, for alcohol, Trudeau said. Yes, there is a black market for cigarettes but thats because taxes are very high, the prime minister clarified. It is one of reasons, Trudeau said, the government wants to be careful on pricing.

Several cabinet ministers have noted the Liberals dont want to tax pot too much to drive people away from the legal structures but they dont want to make it too cheap either and encourage consumptions.

Its psychology, Trudeau added.
HuffPost Canada

Previously untold stories of Canada's veterans. The truth about life as children of immigrants. The fierce spirit of survival of Fort McMurray citizens during the wildfires. These are the stories we tell on HuffPost Canada, and they've captured the industry's attention.

HuffPost Canada has been nominated in four categories for the 2017 Digital Publishing Awards, including:

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The awards celebrate the best and brightest of Canada's digital journalism content, publications and creators.

HuffPost Canada's managing editor, Kenny Yum, will receive the inaugural Digital Publishing Leadership Award, which honours his numerous contributions to the Canadian digital publishing industry.

Yum has led HuffPost Canada since its launch in 2011, and is proud of the recognition his newsroom received this year.

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"Digital storytelling is evolving in so many ways and we're happy to see our work in mini docs, 360-degree video and live streaming be given a nod," he said. "In addition, our Born And Raised series, focusing on stories of second-generation Canadians, was our chance to tell stories often not told broadly by media today."

Digital storytelling is evolving in so many ways and we're happy to see our work in mini docs, 360-degree video and live streaming be given a nod.  Kenny Yum

Launched in September 2016, Born and Raised focuses on the personal stories of the Canadian-born children of immigrants. Conceived and led by former lifestyle editor Arti Patel, the continuing series includes blogs, videos and aimed to bring these stories to the forefront.

As part of the Born And Raised series, Patel and videographer Stephanie Sannuto teamed up to produce "Coming Out To My First-Generation Parents," which featured the first-hand accounts of LGBTQ Canadians who came out to their immigrant parents.

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Salute, a four-part documentary about former Canadian soldiers, explores their mental and physical trauma, and how they are dealing with the aftermath. HuffPost Canada senior politics editor Ryan Maloney and videographer Dan Lytwyn travelled across the country to bring back stories of the four veterans.

Finally, HuffPost video producer and host Emily Anonuevo and RYOT! videographer Tyson Sadler captured the harrowing aftermath of the Fort McMurray, Alta. wildfires for HuffPost and Facebook audiences, visiting an emergency centre in Lac La Biche and heading to the frontlines of the natural disaster.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to stand up to the bully in the White House, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair told reporters in Ottawa Tuesday.

But Mulcair, responding to yet another softwood lumber dispute with the United States, was asked several times to clarify what exactly he wants Trudeau to do in light of the U.S. decision to slap punishing duties of up to 24 per cent on lumber imports.

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Mulcair accused Liberals of lacking a plan to respond to the tariffs and inferred several times that Trudeau was not showing enough backbone with U.S. President Donald Trump.

You know, when youre dealing with a bully, at some point youve got to stop backing up, Mulcair said. And thats all Mr. Trudeau seems to be able to do with President Trump and with the current U.S. administration is just keep backing up.

The NDP leader noted how Trudeau complimented Trump in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek last week as someone whose can be swayed by good counter-arguments. Those remarks came on the same day Trump blasted Canadas dairy policies as a disgrace.

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At some point, Canadians want our prime minister to stand up for us. Same way Mr. Trump is going to keep pushing, at some point weve got to say, look, this is a two-way street, Mulcair said. And were going to stand our ground and push back. Mr. Trudeau seems to be incapable of doing that. Thats the honest answer.

CBC reporter Katie Simpson asked Mulcair what pushing back would look like.

I think it means explaining to the Americans that trade is not a one-way street, Mulcair said, again accusing Trudeau of giving ground to that bully instead of pushing back.

But what does that look like? Simpson asked again.

That looks like Canada explaining that on dairy the Americans are actually the winners under the current rules, he said.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair on new softwood lumber duties: "We don't seem to have a plan" for dealing with the new U.S. administration. pic.twitter.com/3AJ5VBFJ8b  CPAC (@CPAC_TV) April 25, 2017

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Trudeau did note in that Bloomberg interview that the U.S. boasts a $400 million dairy surplus with Canada.

Mulcair suggested it would be Americans who would lose most if the border closed.

On softwood lumber, if the border came to be closed, I know that the price of an American house would skyrocket, he said. So I think that at some point the Americans have to realize that this type of approach is not going to give them anything. Its not a one-way street and they cant have everything their way all the time.

But Mr. Trudeau seems singularly incapable of delivering that message back.

Tit-for-tat?

The Canadian Press Terry Pedwell asked Mulcair if he was advocating a tit-for-tat approach that would mean Canada shuts down the border for some products.

What I am calling on the government to do is to assume its responsibilities, Mulcair responded. How is it possible that Mr. Trudeau didnt see this coming?

The Globe and Mails Campbell Clark asked Mulcair if there were any substantive measures, beyond explaining that trade is not a one-way street, hed propose Trudeau take.

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Mulcair said the government should agree to the loan guarantees that producers in Ontario and Quebec have requested to help them stay afloat.

Carr's tough talk

Thats one concrete example, Mulcair said. The Americans would see that were willing to stand up for our industry and it wouldnt have an inflection on the current negotiations.

Asked again if he is calling for retaliatory measures, Mulcair said the federal government should be coming up with a plan to protect jobs.

Moments earlier, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said the federal government was bracing for job losses in the forestry sector and Employment and Social Development Canada is ready to provide essential services to those impacted.

Carr also promised to push the U.S. to rescind this unfair and unwarranted trade action.

At an event in Kitchener, Ont. earlier in the day, Trudeau said his government would continue to remind the U.S. that millions of good U.S. jobs depend on the flow of goods across the border.

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Its not just a one-way relationship, the prime minister said.

With files from The Canadian Press

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Natural hair care line Shea Moisture has been a staple for many black women throughout the years. But last Thursday, a new video from the company surfaced, which had many wondering who exactly their target audience really is.

"Break free from hair HATE," the beauty retailer captioned the ad on their Facebook page. "See how these women have finally learned to embrace hair LOVE."

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And while the cover image is a black woman with loose curls, the ad featured mostly white women with wavy or bone straight hair  which left people pissed.

"First of all, this video is trash af," a woman declared in the comments. "Second of all, you are gonna learn the power of the black woman dollar today. Yes tf you are. Y'all played yourselves!! Good luck recovering from this fukkery!"

"Everybody gets love but black women! Never buying this trash again," someone else added.

But black women alone weren't alone in their views.

White women chimed in as well and seemed to be be equally as confused about the concept.

"I'm a white woman. I've been using your product and didn't need another white woman in a commercial to use it," one person noted. "I mean, sure, have a token white if you want but where the hell are the black women?!?! One light skinned woman is not representing your clientele. I'm pissed off and white, I can't imagine what my dark skinned sisters are feeling."

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The conversation even moved to Twitter where users started the #SheaMoistureIsOverParty hashtag.

BOOYYY WHAT!! shea moisture out here wilding thinking white people experience hair hate. What is that? Cancelled. #SheaMoistureisOverParty   (@crybabyjujube) April 24, 2017

And while from the outside looking in, some may be confused as to why black women are up in arms over the ad  it's actually a huge deal.

The vast majority of mainstream hair care lines don't offer products that are specifically made for kinky hair, making it impossible for some women to cater to their locks. And even when stores do carry them, they often separate them from the shampoos and conditioners that were manufactured for what some brands call "normal" hair.

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Aside from that, many women have a sense of anxiety when it comes to embracing their natural curls. This comes as a result of years of low visibility for their hair types in the mainstream media and being told negative things about their kinks, in comparison to straight, fine hair, from people within their own communities.

"[We need to] stop referring to [our hair] as nappy, bad and all of the other derogatory words we use when we are referring to our natural hair," celebrity hairstylist Aisha Ebony shared with HuffPost Canada in March. "We embed these things into our psyche and when we finally see our hair in true form we have already started hating it because weve told ourselves for so long that it is undesirable."

"When we finally see our hair in true form we have already started hating it because weve told ourselves for so long that it is undesirable." hairstylist Aisha Ebony

Shea Moisture's erasure of black women in the ad can be taken as a serious slap in the face. especially since the brand was founded by Sofi Tucker, a dark-skinned woman from Sierra Leone in 1912, according to the company's website.

But it looks like Shea realizes they made a huge mistake and on Monday claimed they're pulling the campaign.

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"Wow, okay  so guys, listen, we really f-ed this one up," Shea Moisture shared via Facebook. "Please know that our intention was not  and would never be  to disrespect our community, and as such, we are pulling this piece immediately because it does not represent what we intended to communicate."

"You guys know that we have always stood for inclusion in beauty and have always fought for our community and given them credit for not just building our business but for shifting the beauty landscape," they added. "So, the feedback we are seeing here brings to light a very important point."

The apology continued:

While this campaign included several different videos showing different ethnicities and hair types to demonstrate the breadth and depth of each individuals hair journey, we must absolutely ensure moving forward that our community is well-represented in each one so that the women who have led this movement never feel that their hair journey is minimized in any way. We are keenly aware of the journey that WOC face  and our work will continue to serve as the inspiration for work like the Perception Institutes Good Hair Study/Implicit Association Test that suggests that a majority of people, regardless of race and gender, hold some bias towards women of color based on their textured or natural hair. So, youre right. We are different  and we should know better. Thank you all, as always, for the honest and candid feedback. We hear you. Were listening. We appreciate you. We count on you. And were always here for you. Thank you, #SheaFam, for being there for us, even when we make mistakes. Heres to growing and building together

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But this isn't the first time Shea Moisture has come under fire for their ads. Back in 2015, the company got some serious backlash after they featured white babies, instead of black ones, to promote their children's product line.

Hoo boy.

HuffPost Canada reached out to Shea Moisture for comment, but the company did not respond at the time of publishing.

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Fentanyl doesn't only kill addicts. Thats what one Alberta mom wants the public to know after her son overdosed and died.

Sherri Kent posted a tragic photo to Facebook last week of her and her son Michael in the hospital.

"My son was not an addict, he made a mistake that cost him his life," she wrote.

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Michael Kent died on March 21. He was 22 years old, according to his obituary.

Opioids like fentanyl are killing unprecedented numbers of people across Canada. Alberta saw 51 deaths related to the drug in the first six weeks of 2017. Calgarys police chief said recently that three to four people die every day from opioid overdoses in the province.

But while toxicology reports have not yet come back on Michaels death, Kent told CBC News, doctors told her that he likely overdosed on fentanyl.

And if thats the case, he would be far from the first victim to take it unknowingly.

He met up with a man in Kelowna last month who told him he had some strong heroin, she told CBC.

They took the drugs in a store bathroom, but Michael overdosed and the other man left, scared. When he returned 20 minutes later to tell the store owners to unlock the bathroom door, Michael was already blue in the lips. He was put on life support and died a week later in hospital.

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"Michael was larger than life and giving to a fault," read his obituary.

His mom wrote on Facebook that she thinks there is no way for parents to protect their children other than to warn them of the dangers of drug use.
When you're feeling down in the dumps, you might be tempted to throw on your sweats and curl up on the couch, but sweating it out will make you feel a lot better.

In the video below, yoga instructor Rachelle Wintzen demonstrates three yoga poses that will leave you feeling refreshed and uplifted.

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Is there anything more freeing than the Wild Thing pose? This move opens up the chest, stretches the back and encourages deep breathing all while reducing anxiety and balancing hormones.

According to researchers at Boston University, deep breathing plays a part in the mental benefits of yoga.

In a study published earlier this year, lead researcher Chris Streeter found people who took Iyengar yoga three times per week lowered their depression scores by half after three months. Iyengar yoga focuses on both breath and posture. Researchers recommend practicing yoga twice a week to reap benefits, but note that the more you do it the better it is for you.

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In this fitness series, we look to fitness and well-being experts for three exercises to relieve common pains and ailments. What condition would you like to see us tackle next? Shoot us an email at CanadaLiving@huffingtonpost.com or let us know in the comments below.

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Years ago, I remember listening to a radio documentary that reconstructed the dramatic final moments in the control room of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Kiev, Ukraine on April 26, 1986. That re-enactment came to mind recently as I read two news stories: one about accelerating warming of our oceans, and the other about the incredible strides being made in renewable energy technology.

Critical seconds

According to the radio dramatization, the final seconds in the Chernobyl control room came down to a race between two opposing factors: one, an unstable nuclear reactor about to surge out of control and the other, the plant's control rods being lowered into the reactor in time to prevent a catastrophe.

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As the reactor began its ominous surge, the operators suddenly realized what was happening and a switch was thrown to lower the control rods -- but the process would take several seconds. Would they descend in time to stave off disaster?

Alas, had that switch been thrown mere seconds earlier, Chernobyl might still be an unknown, ordinary place in Ukraine. Instead, we know it as the site of the world's most devastating nuclear accident ever.

Two stories

So what two stories brought this narrative to mind?

The first was the news that Earth's oceans are warming much faster than previously believed, and that that warming is accelerating. The conclusions were reached thanks to the Argo float system, a new network of temperature sensors deployed in oceans around the world. Whereas previous ocean temperature sensors were only capable of measuring surface water temperatures, Argo floats can measure ocean temperatures at depths of up to 2,000 meters. Ocean temperatures a critical indicator of global climate change as over 90 per cent of extra heat reaching Earth ends up in oceans.

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The second was an optimistic overview of the revolution that's happening right now in renewable energy. Technologies are advancing quickly, costs are dropping much faster than expected and installations around the world are exceeding forecasts. Over 98 per cent of Costa Rica's electricity came from renewables in 2016. China has scrapped plans for 85 new coal fired power plants, and is investing over $350 billion into new wind, solar and hydro power.

One story about a climate on the verge of sliding out of control, the other about the technology that can prevent that from happening. A bit like the race between the nuclear reactor and the control rods.

Two wolves

In a traditional Cherokee legend, an elderly brave tells his grandson about the battle that goes on within every person.

He explains that there are two wolves inside each of us, continuously in conflict. One is evil: it is anger, jealousy, resentment, greed, arrogance and lies. The other is good: it is serenity, contentment, love, generosity, humility and truth.

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The grandson thinks for a minute, then asks, "Which one wins?"

The old man answers simply, "The one we feed."

So... which will we feed?

Yet globally, greenhouse gas emissions from our consumption of oil, coal and natural gas remain at or near record levels. Fossil fuels are a hard habit to break; they're the evil wolf.

At the same time, solar panels cost a fraction of what they did just a few years ago. Wind turbines are becoming cheaper and more efficient. Tidal and wave energy technologies are on the cusp of breakthroughs. Collectively, they're the good wolf.

So which will win -- the evil wolf that's ruining our climate, or the good wolf that can prevent that from happening? The choice is ours -- it will be whichever we feed.

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According to Canadian Economic Advisory Council head Dominic Barton, 40 per cent of all jobs will disappear over the next decade due to automation.

Interviewed April 23 on CBC radio's Sunday Edition, Barton -- who is also global managing partner at McKinsey & Company -- predicted that whole job categories and employment sectors will be decimated. These include professions like accounting, law, engineering and, yes, even medicine.

Thus, whereas automation was until recently considered a threat only to factory and assembly line workers, travel agents and toll booth attendants, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly moving the phenomenon up the employment food chain.

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The evidence is all around us. For example, IBM's Watson supercomputer (the one that uses and understands natural language and defeated champion Ken Jennings on the TV game show Jeopardy in 2011) is already revolutionizing medical diagnoses and has teamed up with H&R Block to provide A.I.-assisted tax advice.

As someone who is in the business of identifying and recruiting high-performance management teams -- and as an individual with a deep personal interest in the technology sector -- I am often asked by young people, in particular, how best to navigate through such a rapid and disruptive era of change.

My short answer is to stay human. Develop and hone skills that are difficult, if not impossible, to replicate.

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One is creativity. Humans have an uncanny ability to take ideas in whole new directions. Think of Steve Jobs, who took a calligraphy course at Reed College (as a "drop-in" after he had dropped out) and subsequently revolutionized the look and feel of personalized technology.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, it may well be liberal arts grads that inherit the earth (or at least survive in the workplace).

I am not alone in this thinking -- recently entrepreneur and billionaire Mark Cuban said he would advise people today to get a degree in philosophy if they want to remain "robot-proof." Google executive Jonathan Rosenberg recently told CNBC, "I think Mark Cuban is right. We need more liberal arts grads."

Full disclosure: I was a philosophy major as an undergraduate at McGill University. It served me well -- in fact I encouraged my own daughter, who just started university this past year, to pursue a liberal arts education. She is doing so -- and loves it.

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It is important to point out that for most, a liberal arts degree is, in the best sense of the word, foundational. Philosophy majors, by and large, do not become philosophers, any more than anthropology majors become anthropologists or history majors become historians. But ideally they all will have developed the foundational skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, researching and effectively communicating.

Often, they will go on to acquire more specific job-related competencies through graduate certificate programs tailored to the market needs of the moment.

Robert Waite, a Rosenzweig & Company advisor and one of Seneca College's graduate program professors, believes the model of the future will increasingly see liberal arts students move straight on to job-ready programs following university. And he sees them being highly successful.

"I tell my students that they need to be ready to train and retrain frequently throughout their careers. They will of necessity need to acquire specific in-demand skills and adapt to evolving technologies or markets. But I also tell them to never let go of the ability to apply critical thinking or creativity to whatever task is placed in front of them. That's what will ultimately separate them from an algorithm or a Watson," said Waite.

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What is the bottom line in all of this? In an increasingly automated world, it is the qualities that make us most human that will be valued highest in the workplace of the future. And the liberal arts -- also known as humanities -- may well offer the clearest path to success.

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When it comes to global killers, malaria is one of our planet's deadliest perpetrators. In fact, half of the world's population -- 3.2 billion people -- is at risk. In 2016, one child died from malaria every two minutes.

Like so many of our most pervasive diseases, malaria is even deadlier for women and children.

Pregnant women are particularly susceptible to the disease because their immunity is lowered during pregnancy. This results in increased rates of infection, which often leads to anemia, miscarriage, low birth weight or premature births, all of which take a further emotional, physical and even economic toll on women.

These vulnerabilities are often compounded by deep-seated gender inequalities and discrimination. Strict gender expectations and roles often put women and girls at a higher risk.

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Over the course of several decades working in international development, we have witnessed first-hand the grim realities of women whose families are affected by malaria. Women like Maria, a 35-year-old mother of five whose infant son, Wilson, fell seriously ill with malaria. As his fever worsened and he began vomiting and suffering from convulsions, Maria's anxiety mounted. She could not sleep and was tormented by her son's suffering.

Responsible for caring for her other children and with limited financial means, it was difficult for her to seek treatment for her son while also continuing to prepare meals, maintain the household, fetch water and attend to a myriad of other household tasks.

For millions of women and adolescent girls around the world, a malaria-infected mosquito bite on themselves or their child is yet another hurdle they must overcome to survive, let alone thrive.

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Shouldering the responsibility of child-care and household duties, women often face obstacles tending to their health care needs, or even those of their children. If they do decide to seek care, they may need to seek permission from their husband, and travel to a distant health facility -- which in many countries is unsafe. With little to no economic independence, seeking treatment can be a struggle.

(Photo: Plan International)

The disease can be even more dangerous for pregnant adolescent girls. Young, marginalized, and excluded, these girls are often barred from accessing health care entirely.

The global health community could discover a panacea tomorrow, but if we fail to design health programs that address the lived realities of women, malaria will remain a major threat to public health.

In order to end the malaria epidemic in our lifetime, we must also strive to end gender inequality and advance women's rights and status within communities. Despite progress made, women continue to pay a heavy tribute. According to the World Health Organization, 69 per cent of women do not receive the recommended Three doses of malaria-preventive therapy required during pregnancy. Thirty-six per cent of children with fevers that could indicate malaria do not receive the care they need.

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To address these obstacles and many others, Plan International Canada has begun implementing the Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) approach to preventing life-altering diseases such as malaria in remote communities where health services are difficult to access. The key to this approach is to increase access to prevention services within communities and to treat mothers and their children in an integrated way close to home. iCCM ensures that when people fall ill, care for a variety of common health issues is easy to access. This approach involves listening to women at the grassroots level and creating programs that address the specific realities and barriers they face. It involves treating the human, not simply the disease.

In communities where iCCM has been implemented, women like Maria have improved access to maternal and newborn health care as well sexual and reproductive health services. Their children are screened and treated for malnutrition, respiratory infections, diarrhea and malaria -- all major causes of death in children under the age of five. When women become pregnant, they are assigned a local birth attendant who is also trained to screen for malaria, administer malaria pills and distribute bed nets.

Trained community health workers engage with communities to stress the importance of the entire family, especially children and pregnant women, sleeping under the nets every night. And thanks to initiatives like Plan International Canada's Spread the Net Student Challenge, Maria received bed nets for her whole family. She can now sleep soundly at night with the knowledge her children are safeguarded against the disease.

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As we mark World Malaria Day, let's amplify the voices and experiences of women and adolescent girls, too often on the frontlines of this disease, and responsible for bearing the burden of its life-threatening impact. Though tiny, the mosquito can become another insurmountable obstacle for a woman struggling to realize her rights and regain her agency.

Together, we can create a world where not only the malaria epidemic is eradicated, but its roots in gender inequalities and discrimination too. The theme of World Malaria Day 2017 is End Malaria for Good. This is not an impossible goal, but to achieve it, women and girls must be a part of the solution.

Co-authored by members of Plan International Canada's Global Fund team: Bernabe Yameogo, Director of the Global Fund Unit; Magalie Nelson, Health Advisor; and Erika Silva, Health Advisor. The Global Fund Team at Plan International Canada works to accelerate the end of the malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis epidemics.

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It's hard to resist the siren song of spring fashion. Suddenly clothes are bright and light again after a long, drab winter. But with all the new styles to choose from, how do you know which trend is best, and how can you afford what you want?

The designs on the catwalk during fashion week can be so crazy, so out-there, that it feels almost impossible to determine which trends for that season will filter down to us, the masses. An online search or a flip through fashion magazines will tell you the "top trends" and each writer will have a different take on what stood out. Eventually you can find the commonalities and determine what catches your eye -- and what suits you best.

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Spring 2017 trends include dresses with bold wide stripes, ruffled blouses, florals from head to toe, bra tops, platform shoes, all types of athleisure outfits, and a bit of '80s glam. Follow these tips and you can easily, and affordably, introduce some of these styles into your existing wardrobe.

Know the retail sales cycle

All retail stores generally receive new inventory shipments every four to eight weeks, at which time the existing inventory will get marked down. The new spring clothing usually arrives in stores in February, but there's no need to grab the newest item as soon as it arrives. By the time the warmer season actually begins, most items will already be discounted. Also, look for seasonal sales, pre- and post-holiday sales, online-only sales, special offers, coupons, etc. If you pay attention, there's really no reason you should ever pay full price.

Make a list and shop when you have time

Are there certain items that you really want? Take the time to think through your needs and where it makes sense to splurge or save. For example, it's worth spending more on a quality, staple item that will get more wear, but look for deals on trendier pieces that will likely be out of style in a few months. Set aside some time to evaluate what you need, and how new items will work with your existing outfits, then make a list. Even if it's on sale, an inexpensive shirt that you never wear isn't a bargain. And impromptu decisions can lead to a wardrobe of random pieces that don't work together.

Shop your closet

The switch from one season to another is the perfect time to assess your wardrobe. Pull out your spring clothes, pour a glass of wine and have your own private fashion show. What do you still like? What fits? Do you feel emotionally attached to a jacket you never wear? Let go of the items that don't work for you. This will also help you figure out what you really need and want. Plus you'll avoid spending too much on something that may be gorgeous, but doesn't enhance your wardrobe.

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Check out a clothing swap

Once you have edited your wardrobe and determined what is no longer needed, why not try out a clothing swap? Whether through an online community or just with a group of friends, swaps are a great opportunity to trade your cast-offs and re-vamp your wardrobe with very little expense. Another person's giveaways might be exactly what you're looking for to complement your wardrobe. With the money you save, you can then buy any new pieces that you may still want.

Find your inner stylist

If you feel like you don't know how to put together an outfit based on your closet, just look to the internet, television or magazines for advice. There are so many resources available that there is no excuse for resorting to yoga pants or sweats as your go-to outfit. Inspiration is only a Pinterest board away. There are all sorts of easy tricks such as combining prints in unexpected ways, or pairing moto boots with an elegant dress. Once you can see how to style your existing clothes, it's easy to see where you can best add in something new and trendy.

Get updates from your favourite stores

One of the easiest ways to save money on your wardrobe is through email subscriptions and following your favourite stores on social media. You'll get emails when sales are on, and sometimes even early access to exclusive sales. Following your favourite store on a social media accounts like Instagram can also keep you up-to-date on deals and sales.

Sari Friedman is the Marketing Director of Ebates Canada and resident shopping expert. Ebates.ca is Canada's largest Cash Back shopping site. As a fashion enthusiast and new mom, Sari has an eye for finding and sharing amazing deals on the hottest trends and must-have styles.

Follow Ebates Canada on Twitter for the best Canadian deals, Cash Back offers and online shopping tips @EbatesCanada

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The bearded Republican regarded us suspiciously.

He had been washing his pickup truck (naturally) and listening to country music on the radio (ditto). It was blindingly bright Saturday morning in August in New Hampshire, and we were out knocking on doors for our candidate, Hillary Clinton.

The beard squinted. He grunted.

My wife and I worked on Clinton's presidential campaign in Maine and at her Brooklyn headquarters. But this was the first time we had gone door-knocking for her in a heavily Republican district. "If we don't get shot by a right-wing lunatic carrying an assault rifle, we will have had a good day," I told my wife, as we approached the beard and his truck.

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Lisa asked him if he planned to vote Democrat, up and down the ticket. He grunted.

"Can we count on your support for Hillary?" she said, sweet as pie. My wife isn't just beautiful and smart, she's sweet, too.

The beard looked like he wanted to spit. "Clinton's a crook," he said, as the interstate hummed nearby. "She should be locked up."

We had already heard this many times that morning, and not just from bearded Republicans. A few registered Democrats had said it to us, too.

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Lisa was undeterred. "But Trump has got a few ethics problems, sir," she said, still smiling at the beard. "He's under all sorts of investigations."

The beard shrugged, looking like he wanted to return to his pickup truck or shoot us with an assault rifle. "She's a crook," he insisted. "But Trump is going to start a war."

Afterwards, Lisa swore that she did not recall the heavens parting at that moment or a host of angels heralding the arrival of a political epiphany. She insisted we walked away and went to the next door in search of votes. But I swear -- I swear! -- an epiphany is what I experienced, in spades. I was practically thrown to the ground, Damascus-like.

For months, Hillary Clinton's campaign had been dutifully reminding everyone that Donald Trump was a vile, venal racist groper. Every day, Clinton and the mainstream media said that: "Donald Trump is a racist jerk."

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War was Donald Trump's thing. He liked it.

Except there was a problem. Having lived in the Deep South as a kid, I knew what it was. It was this: Donald Trump may have been a racist jerk, sure. But millions upon millions of Americans were racist jerks, too. Racism -- from slavery, to Jim Crow, to segregation, to the assassinations of Dr. King and Malcolm X, and beyond -- was woven through their history of the United States, like a foul, feral snake.

By calling Donald Trump a racist jerk, Hillary Clinton was merely reminding millions of other racist jerks why they needed to vote for him. It wasn't an attack, you see. It was a Get Out The Vote strategy in reverse.

But war? The war that the Trump-loving New Hampshire beard had mentioned? War -- having lived in Texas during Vietnam, and having been taught to take shelter under my school desk in the event a North Vietnamese fighter jet figured out how to travel 8,584 miles without refuelling or being spotted -- was what every American, of every political stripe, feared most. Racism was what divided the states.But fear of wartime was what United the States.

And here was Donald Trump, saying on the campaign trail that NATO was useless, or sort-of calling for someone to shoot Hillary Clinton, or repeatedly praising violence at his rallies, or wondering why the U.S. had nukes if it didn't use them, or threatening wars and walls against all and sundry. War was Donald Trump's thing. He liked it.

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The United States had been here before, of course. In 1964, the Republicans had anointed Barry Goldwater as their presidential candidate. Goldwater was Trump before Trump was Trump. He was a racist, too, and he praised extremism and the John Birch Society and guns, and promised to use nukes against the Commies.

So what did the LBJ-led Democrats do about Goldwater? They didn't go after him about racism, so much. They went after his fetish for war.

They put together an ad called "Daisy" -- I know this, because I named my consulting firm after that ad -- and warned everyone Goldwater wanted to start wars. The people listened. The ad only ran once, but it destroyed Barry Goldwater. LBJ was re-elected in a landslide.

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As I watch Donald Trump giddily dropping the "mother of all bombs" on Afghanistan, or bombing Syria, or sending a U.S. soldier to his death in Yemen, or threatening war with North Korea -- as I watch all those things -- I think of that bearded guy in New Hampshire, washing his pickup truck one sunny Saturday morning in August. He warned us. He warned Hillary Clinton.

We didn't listen.

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For the first time in recorded memory, the race to lead the World Health Organization is playing out in the unlikeliest of places: Twitter.

Equipped with infographics, hashtags and slogans, the top candidates to become Secretary General of the world's largest public health agency have used social media to try to engage with the world community.

During World #Immunization Week, we must celebrate shared results & redouble efforts to improve the health of ppl everywhere. #WHODG  Tedros Adhanom (@DrTedros) April 25, 2017

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But with growing concerns about the effectiveness of public health policy by other institutions, will the mandate of the WHO build a "better, healthier future" still ring true?

The short-listed candidates are now down to three, each with their own diverse backgrounds and visions for how public health policy should be shaped.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the candidate from Ethiopia, seems intent on reforming the WHO to focus on deadly diseases which have taken a toll on his continent. "When reforming, we have to focus on getting things done, also, because the world expects quick results, quick wins," he said.

David Nabarro, the U.K. candidate who oversaw the WHO's ebola and flu efforts at its peak, wants a bigger emphasis on mitigating climate change. He's gotten public support from Russian health officials, including Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova.

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The last candidate, Sania Nishtar of Pakistan, has the broadest resume as a cardiologist, reformer and health entrepreneur. She's staked her campaign on the developing world and not being too presumptuous with public health policy. "I realize that every attempt at priority setting in the past has only come up with a longer wish list," she said in an interview with Science magazine.

A lot is at stake in this election, including the future of global health. Many countries, such as Canada, are focused on implementing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and universalizing coverage. Others, pushed by the WHO, are leading anti-tobacco efforts. But many are seeking a reduced role for determining health policy at the very top level.

Last month, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker released the much-anticipated white paper on the "Future of Europe."

Its conclusions startled some, specifically the aims of public health policies which have been at the center of EU policy in recent years.

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The fate of public health could very well be at stake.

The EU will do "less in domains where it is perceived as having more limited added value, or as being unable to deliver on promises," the commission concludes. "This includes areas such as regional development, public health, or parts of employment and social policy not directly related to the functioning of the single market."

As such, the white paper urges that "more flexibility" be left to member states to experiment in certain areas.

For many public health activists, that conclusion was alarming.

"It is extremely disappointing that public health has been used as an example of an area where the EU should consider doing less," balked the European Public Health Association in a statement. "We cannot understand how the white paper proposes to do less on public health, when the health is a matter that European citizens cherish dearly."

Some countries such as Italy, however, celebrated the commission's efforts to give member states more breathing room -- something the public health establishment is leaning towards, especially once the costs are considered.

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This is especially true in the realm of global tobacco policy, spearheaded by the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

According to a study published in the health journal The Lancet last month by Canadian researchers at the University of Waterloo, global smoking rates have decreased by just 2.5 per cent in over a decade, despite a nearly $18 million budget of the FCTC and massive spending by national governments.

"The researchers were unable to account for how well enforced the policies were," researchers said in the media release accompanying the report. "Although progress in combatting the global tobacco epidemic has been substantial, this progress has fallen short of the pace of global tobacco control action called for by the treaty."

Not only have these efforts proved to be less than effective, it seems they haven't affected the places most plagued by smoking.

A 2016 study by the Reason Foundation revealed that smoking rates in developing countries have actually increased, specifically China and India. "It is fair to say that, 11 years after the FCTC came into force, it has not proven to be a stellar success on its own terms," concludes the report.

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Source: The Reason Foundation

As to whether a policy shift for the FCTC and similar efforts would be included in reform, the top candidates for WHO's leadership have not yet released any public statements to this effect. Which could certainly precipitate a crisis for public health.

One potential reform potential for the WHO lies in be adopting measures for harm reduction, specifically vaping and e-cigarette technologies which are proving to be less harmful than tobacco smoke.

The Tobacco Harm Reduction Expert Group, formed last year and made up of public health experts from Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom and India, says that opposing alternative technologies is harming public health.

"The WHO has an opportunity now to improve radically the life expectancy of today's smokers by applying the principle of harm reduction that is already one of the core principles of WHO's tobacco control strategy," they said in a statement released in India last year.

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If the candidates to lead the WHO want to embrace reform, it's clear that harm reduction will prove more effective in combating the disastrous health effects of tobacco.

The election to become the next Secretary General of the World Health Organization will be held at the next general assembly in May. The fate of public health could very well be at stake.

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The five things you need to know on Tuesday, April 25

1) THE SEARCH PARTY

Keir Starmer today unveils Labours Brexit policy for the general election. One one reading, his pitch appears to be not so much a change in policy from the Tories but a change in tone: lets be nicer to the EU27 and they will give us a deal that helps both sides. The flaw in this could be that actually some in Brussels are in agreement with Tory Eurosceps: there is no such thing as a soft Brexit. To give the UK a trade and customs deal that allows all the benefits of EU membership would hardly be a deterrent to others who wanted to leave the club.

But last nights Newsnight gave a measure of where we now are in this election. Peter Mandelson, when asked what Labours strategy was on Brexit, replied: Search me. And the gaping hole in the overnight briefs on Starmers speech was the lack of any mention of immigration or freedom of movement. That may not be his fault, of course. Im told the release of the extracts was delayed by several hours yesterday, as Corbyns office delayed on signing them off.

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The other big news though in Starmers extracts (other than immediate rights to EU citizens, which is frankly a niche issue to many Labour heartland voters) was his vow to guarantee a meaningful vote for Parliament on any Brexit deal. I understand he would be willing to go back to Brussels and negotiate further if MPs blocked the deal. The risk is a never-ending veto for Parliament over the EU referendum verdict. On the Today programme, Starmer confirmed he would be willing to go back to the negotiating table in 2018.

Meanwhile, taking their lead from Tony Blair, all the pro-EU groups have joined forces to target leading Brexiteers, with a hit-list of attack seats where voters should focus their Remain anger. Kate Hoey, Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa Villiers feature on it. A further list of 20 defence seats include Labours Mary Creagh, Angela Smith and Pat McFadden as well as the Lib Dems Norman Lamb and Tom Brake. Separately, there are mutterings that Corbyns own seat is being targeted by Labour Remainers and Lib Dems.

2) BLUE DRAGON

With all the caveats that one poll does not make a trend, let alone make a forecast, the ITVWales/YouGov survey yesterday was still a real shocker: Tories 40%, Labour 30%. The Red Dragon would turn blue if those findings were replicated on June 8, with the Tories getting the largest number of MPs in the principality since 1859. Given that Labour wasnt even founded then and the franchise was not exactly wide, thats a helluva stat.

The poll suggests the Tories would get 21 seats and Labour just 15. Few in CCHQ believe that, but some Conservatives think they can get up to 14 or 15, which is still remarkable. The reason is May is winning over ex-Labour supporters who voted UKIP in 2015 and/or Leave in the EU referendum. It remains debatable whether UKIP/Leave was a gateway drug to voting Tory, or whether having tasted the crack cocaine of Brexit those voters just want the safer, softer drug of Mrs May.

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After chairing Political Cabinet in No.10 this morning, the PM heads to Wales to ram home her message in this mornings Western Mail (the Cardiff-based paper): Brexit should have been a wake-up call for a generation of politicians who have taken the people for granted for too long. Sounds like indyref of 2014? You betcha. What was most notable last night was Labours First Minister Carwyn Jones response to the poll: We know Jeremy needs to prove himself to the electorate here in Wales, just as we know the political weather is tough going, a fact underlined by the polling numbers released today. Again, this may be Corbynsceptics using the dire polls to help reassure voters their leader wont be PM but should still vote for their local Labour candidates.

Once more, the Tories didnt need to do much yesterday. The Communist Party of Britain and the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition said Corbyn was such a good leader they would not oppose Labour in the election.

3) THE CHICKEN RUN

The Mirrors chicken-suited hack continues to ask why the PM is running scared of TV debates, but yesterday the real clucking cowards appeared to be UKIP. After Douglas Carswell and Nigel Farage ruled out running for Parliament again, donor Arron Banks announced he was U-turning his plan to run in Clacton.

As a collector of political memorabilia/trash, I still have the Tories Bottler Brown ale, marking the ex-PMs decision in 2007 not to call an election. And the Kippers now look like theyre bottling it too. UKIP leader Paul Nuttall locked himself in a room yesterday to avoid questions on whether he would himself run as an MP. Carswell said UKIP was now officially over.

UKIP faced accusations of full-throttled Islamophobia over not just its burka ban but also its call for girls at risk of FGM to face annual compulsory health checks. To be fair to UKIP, the French have similarly hardline policies, and FGM victim Nimko Ali pointed out yesterday that Labours Diane Abbott had in 2014 called for mandatory checks on girls. Some health professionals think checks are a good idea, but many campaigners think they will deter the vulnerable.

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But while some are running away from the election, others are returning. We learned yesterday that the Tories are getting more of their 2015 election band back together. Obamas ex online guru Jim Messina has been rehired by May, along with digital whizzkid Craig Elder - credited with the Tories wipeout of the LibDems last time.

BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR

80s pop group Bananarama are re-uniting, so heres their promo video in 1988 featuring some real MPs bopping along. A more innocent age

4) OVER HERE

Labour may not be talking about EU migration overnight, but everyone else is. The Education Select Committee warns special visa rights for university academics to avoid a "damaging brain drain. Meanwhile, the PM will resist pressure from Philip Hammond, Amber Rudd and both Johnsons (Boris and brother Jo, the unis minister) to take students out of the migration target.

A cross-party amendment to do so will be reversed in the Lords tomorrow as part of the wash-up process before Parliament prorogues on Thursday. Sources tell the FT that May is adamant the policy will be unchanged, and that No.10 is unhappy with JoJo for pushing it.

The FT also has a nice scoop that the Home Office is so worried about a new deluge of permanent residence applications that it is discouraging EU nationals in the UK from doing so. Its website now says: Under EU law you dont need a document to confirm your residence status in the UK. If youre planning to apply for a document just to confirm your status, you can sign up for email alerts instead. Email alerts?

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Meanwhile, at the sharper end of the debate, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees has a new report warning of a two-tier system that leaves refugees homeless and destitute. Offically designated refugees, such as Syrians who come under the Home Offices Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, get dedicated support. But people granted asylum face sudden withdrawal of financial help and paperwork nightmares that can leave them on the street.

5) DELAY DAY

The High Court should rule today on the Governments application to extend yesterdays legal deadline for publishing its air quality plan. Will the judges give ministers what they want because to do otherwise would risk running into tricky political waters of purdah and elections? In the Commons, Labours Fiona Mactaggart (who is not standing again) had a startling statistic for Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom: between now and the delayed date of June 30 there will be seven more dead people from air pollution in her Slough constituency. Environment Minister Therese Coffey shouted in response: Youre embarrassing yourself now, dear.

Leadsom did hint that her plan, when published, would be based on actual NO2 emissions rather than lab tests used by VW and other car firms. But she claimed that while the plan was ready now, it really needed consultation (even though if it had been published months ago that consultation could have happened) so had to appear after the election. No wonder Labour smelled a rat: that May doesnt want to risk stories about winners-and-losers of a diesel scrappage scheme.

In fact, theres a pattern of ministers just using the election as an excuse to bury potentially tricky news. The Sun points out Sajid Javid had tried to delay a 300m business rates relief fund on Friday but then executed a weekend U-turn. And almost unnoticed yesterday, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley used a written statement to say she would delay to June 20 the deadline for Ofcom and other reports on Foxs planned takover of Sky.

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POOL New / Reuters

Three core issues will be central to the general election campaign in the weeks ahead and will determine where the general election is won and lost.

The Brexit factor

The Conservative Party's commitment to securing the right deal for Britain abroad and a better deal for ordinary, working people here at home will appeal to pro-Brexit voters many of whom have traditionally voted Labour or have opted for Ukip (it's good night for them) in recent years. Theresa May will stress that a strong vote for her party will enable her to "get the job done" on leaving the EU and give her a mandate to make a success of the process.

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Buoyed by taking Copeland earlier this year the PM will be confident of sweeping up many more Brexit-leaning Labour constituencies with a narrow Labour lead. These include Halifax (428 Labour majority and 21,579 Brexit majority); and Barrow and Furness (795 Labour majority and 11,862 Brexit majority). Any Labour MP will a majority of less than 5,000 in a pro-Brexit constituency (there are 36 of these and 26 are in the midlands) will struggle although the allegiance many traditional supporters feel to the Party, if not to Jeremy Corbyn, must not be underestimated.

The Lib Dems meanwhile are the party fighting Brexit and will use this narrative to exploit the pro-Remain constituencies in the south and west where they just lost out in 2015 such as Twickenham, Bath, Kingston and Surbiton and Lewes.

NHS

The Labour Party made health a core part of its 2015 general election campaign and we can expect the NHS to feature heavily again in the coming weeks.

Shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, believes that satisfaction with the NHS has decreased since the last election with rising anger over A&E delays and longer waits for routine operations. The Party will want to show that on some benchmarks NHS England has seen its worst ever winter as hospitals have struggled to keep up with rising patient demand. The Party may seek to highlight the likelihood of service closures stemming from Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships, and will be keen to capitalise on any indication that the Conservatives will row back on plans to recruit 5,000 more doctors into primary care by 2020.

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Meanwhile sources at CCHQ suggest that the Conservative Party will put up an "aggressive case" for its record on health and rebut "scare stories" about the state of the NHS. The Party will be quick to accentuate the recent update on strategy by the head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, in which he pointed to cancer survival being at a record high, improved dementia diagnosis and safer patient care.

It remains to be seen how much attention will be given to the seven-day NHS pledge made by David Cameron in 2015 and the 50million "challenge fund" to deliver it. Some surgeries have begun opening at weekends, however others have scrapped the experiment because of the small number of patients seeking appointments on Saturdays and Sundays.

Fitness to govern

According to a recent Opinium survey for the Observer less than half of Labour voters believe Jeremy Corbyn would make a better PM than Theresa May. Among all voters only 14% of voters said they would choose the Labour leader, while 47% backed Mrs May. In view of this it is no surprise that the Prime Minister's strong leadership credentials will be at the heart of her campaign promising stable government in the national interest in contrast to the incapable and incompetent Jeremy Corbyn.
General elections are often dull. Little is at stake, and the campaign grinds on for weeks with not much being proposed or said. The result is regularly of no consequence as the opposition proposes only minor changes from the government of the time. Many people will struggle to recall campaigns at all; the 1987, 2001 and 2005 campaigns stand out as particularly forgettable in more recent times.

The coming election, however, counts like no ballot for a generation. The path Britain chooses in 2017 will define not only the type of country we wish to be but also the future of Britain itself. There is a real danger that the liberal open Britain founded on union with Scotland and forged on free enterprise and trade will be left for dead. The tolerant, realistic and optimistic Britain kneels on the executors' block. Theresa May stands with axe poised.

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Mrs May, in her words, has called the poll to eliminate all resistance to Brexit in the House of Commons. She desires to remove the need for a Commons vote on whatever Brexit deal she agrees in the upcoming negotiations. Mrs May wants a blank cheque to push through a hard Brexit, leaving the single market and the customs union in the hope of controlling immigration numbers, a personal obsession dating back to her days as Home Secretary. Further, she wishes to grant free reign to the hardliners in her party who want to use the upcoming 'Great Repeal Act' as an excuse to take back workers' rights, paid maternity and paternity leave, and the ease of hire and firing.

During the campaign, Mrs May, who has time for neither scrutiny or opposition, will mention little of her plans. Rather she will focus on bland platitudes about 'getting on with the job,' 'strong leadership' and 'making a success of Brexit.'

We cannot let this happen. Mrs May must be challenged on her proposals for Brexit. She must be challenged on why she wants to exit the single market at the cost of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds. She must be challenged on why she intends to destroy the British banking, service, and car making sectors that are the engine of our strong economy. She must be challenged on the impact of removing a young and vibrant workforce from Britain. She must be challenged on why she wants to abandon Britain's influence and standing with our closest neighbours. She must be challenged on why she intends to pursue a strategy that risks the breakup of Britain and peace in Northern Ireland.

And finally, she must describe how restricting immigration will solve a health crisis sparked by an ageing population and a lack of social care. Or make Britain a fairer and more equal society. Or reduce tax avoidance and encourage greater corporate responsibility. Or build a single new house. Or provide more money to schools. Or mend the deep divisions that have grown in our country.

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Mrs May will not provide definite answers to any of these questions; her desire to control immigration stands before everything, and as a result, her judgement is severely compromised. The veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke was right to observe that the Conservative Party now seemed to be in the grip of Enoch Powell. These are indeed the most dangerous of times.

Therefore, it is paramount that a Conservative majority government is denied, and Mrs May's ruinous ambitions are kept in check by a strong and vibrant parliament. Voting for the Liberal Democrats is the only way that can be achieved. The Lib Dems alone can take seats back from the Conservatives in their key heartlands, many of which voted to remain in the European Union. The Labour party is in disarray and may not survive the next five years. Labour are highly unlikely to poll higher than in 2015 and gain a single seat from the Conservatives.

Further, Labour are decidedly wobbly on Brexit, the party's position changes almost daily and many Labour MPs, fearful of their Brexit voting constituents, will cave into pressure from the Prime Minster. Jeremy Corbyn hardly mentioned Brexit in his campaign launch and his commitment to opposing Mrs May is of serious concern. In contrast, the Lib Dems are the only party with a clear anti-Brexit message whose MPs will not stand shoulder to shoulder with the Conservatives in voting for a harsh and disastrous Brexit. The one issue that defines liberals is the unshakable belief in an international outlook and the power of building partnerships rather than barriers with our neighbours. The more Lib Dem MPs that are returned to the House of Commons, the greater the pressure will be on Mrs May to stand back from economic destruction, and the greater voice there will be for the almost fifty percent of the population who voted against Brexit in 2016.

Mrs May must be held to account. A Conservative government free of opposition on Brexit will lead to job losses on a mass scale as the reality of life outside the Single Market causes international firms to relocate to mainland Europe. A slowdown in the economy will lead to higher taxes, reduced pensions, and less money to spend on vital public services like schools and the NHS. And a loss of rights for UK citizens in Europe will make us all less free in our opportunities to live and work away from our home country.

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Yesterday marked the official commemoration date of the Armenian Genocide, which occurred just over a century ago. A day which offers an opportunity to reflect on the unimaginable violence from which the nation is still recovering.

The Genocide triggered the 20th century's first large-scale refugee population. Between 1915-1923, 1.5 million Armenians were systematically murdered, and 500,000 survivors were forcibly displaced. The survivors were left to flee as far afield as the United States, France and Argentina, with many settling in neighbouring states including Russia, Syria and Lebanon.

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Whilst it is important to reflect on one of the darkest chapters in our recent past, we must also recognise the incredible rejuvenation of Armenia, and the Armenian people, that has occurred over the past 102 years.

In 1917, the total number of Armenians was estimated to be 284,157. Over the past century, this has risen to a population of 3 million in the country itself, as well as an estimated 10 million in the global diaspora.

Armenia is rebuilding itself into a cosmopolitan and forward-thinking nation. As it recovers from the economic devastation following the fall of the Soviet Union, the country is undergoing gradual economic growth, driven by a number of burgeoning industries. Agriculture, food processing, and information technology are some of the thriving sectors which are attracting both inbound investment, and a growing regional talent pool. Additionally, academic centres of excellence, such as the newly launched international school, UWC Dilijan, are attracting foreign students into the country.

The country has established a productive tourist industry, with major airlines committing regular flights to the capital. Over 1.2 million tourists visited Armenia in 2016, many of whom were from Europe.

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Away from the state itself, Armenia's diaspora has grown and thrived in a range of new host countries. Indeed, large Armenian communities now reside in the United States, Russia, France and Argentina. The extended Armenian community includes some of the world's most noted businesspeople, scientists, academics, sportspeople and entertainers.

From Alexis Ohanian to David Ignatius, Andre Agassi, Cher or Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the Armenian people have made major contributions toward advancing their adoptive countries. Long ago, we learned to adapt to our host countries, to be loyal citizens, even as we maintain our common historic identity.
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Every election is a choice between more of the same and something new. Theresa May will try to frame 'more of the same' as a good thing by saying she is a safe pair of hands.

Nothing could be further from the truth. May's "strong and stable" leadership has, in nine months, provoked constitutional crises at Holyrood and Stormont. And just five days into their Brexit negotiations, the Conservatives seemed to want the UK to go to war in Spain. Meanwhile, May accuses Labour of putting us at risk, despite her cuts to vital funding for fire, police, health and the Armed Forces.

This is what more of the same means: Our NHS in crisis. Schools underfunded. Wages falling or stagnated. Foodbank usage at a record high. The government has cut everything from bin collections to social care, but the deficit has still not been fixed in spite of a trail of binned promises.

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Labour will build a Britain for the many not the few and end the rigged system that's holding people back. A real living wage will lift millions out of poverty and put new money into forgotten communities. Four new bank holidays will promote unity across our nations and boost leisure spending while bringing our holiday allowance into line with our European neighbours. Plans for regional investment banks will ensure we're no longer dependent on just one square mile of City bankers to run the economy, and that parts of Britain that have been starved of support will be able to create their own wealth. We will invest in new housing, new industries and new jobs, so that the economy works for the many not the few.

Despite her words, May has no real understanding of the challenges working people in Britain face. There's no plan for Brexit, no intention of ensuring people's lives improve under their rule, and no plan for dealing with the problems blighting Britain - the huge school funding gap, the beds crisis in our NHS, the record levels of in-work poverty, the neglect experienced by vast regions of Britain, and the loss of trust in our politics - which is at its lowest on record.

This election is about the kind of Britain we want to live in. Do we want life after Brexit to be a tax haven for the rich, or a more caring, compassionate country? Tens of billions of tax giveaways for the rich and big corporations show May's government is simply concerned with helping the powerful.

Theresa May has made much of "British values." But it is Labour, with a campaign rooted in giving power and wealth to communities, which comes far closer to the decent, honest, compassionate and caring Britain I recognise.

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Corbyn's record stands for itself. He has never avoided confronting powerful interests. Nor would a Labour government.

Strong leadership means sticking to your principles, and facing the public with a bold plan for the future. And only Labour is willing to do what it takes to tackle elite interests, ensuring millions can achieve their potential and live richer lives.

This election is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for real change. By rejecting more of the same, we can build a Britain that works for the many, not the few.
Hutchinson woman accused indecent liberties with four underage teens

Woman and her husband claim she was set up by teens colluding against her
Unity of Georgian Armenians supports HHK (video)

The Unity of Georgian Armenians NGO will back the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and its candidate for Yerevan Mayor [Taron Margaryan] in the upcoming municipal elections, its co-chairman Tachat Vardapetyan told reporters in Yerevan on April 25. We always get the support of the party (HHK) and the majority of our members agreed to back the HHK in the upcoming elections, he said. Tachat Vardapetyan also referred to the recent attempt to burn the car belonging to Samvel Manukyan, a lawmaker of the Georgian parliament. He said he had talked to his colleague [Samvel Manukyan] and learnt that he had not suffered serious damages. I do not know how to call this phenomenon, it can be called vandalism. I do not understand why it should happen on the days when we commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide, he said. At the same time, Mr Vardapetyan added that neither Samvel Manukyan, nor he linked the incident to their Armenian origins. I do not rule out that this bastard is Armenian himself. Armenians make up 95percent of population and I do not think that it could have been done by a representative of other nationalities.
In new research recently published in the journal Information Economics and Policy, Sudipta Sarangi of the Virginia Tech Department of Economics said his cross-country analysis using data from more than 150 countries shows the more Facebook penetrates public usage, the higher the likelihood of government corruption meeting protest. In short, Sarangi said social media serves as peer of the press.

"This study underscores the importance of freedom on the internet that is under threat in many countries of the world," Sarangi said, adding that social media is negatively correlated with corruption regardless of the status of the freedom of the press. In other words, Facebook likewise helps reduce and/or lessen corruption in governments where press freedom is low.

"By showing that social media can negatively impact corruption, we provide yet another reason in favor of the freedom on the net," he said.

The study took into account a number of control variables including other economic, democratic, and cultural factors, said Sarangi. It also comes on the heels of a volatile American election in which Facebook and other social media platforms were seen as culprits in the spread of "fake news," especially tied to politics.

Sarangi began the study in 2012 while at Louisiana State University, with co-author Chandan Kumar Jha, now an assistant professor at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York. At the time, Sarangi said social media was being used to organize anti-corruption protests in his and Jha's home country of India. It also followed the 2011 rise of Arab Spring across the Middle East where large protests toppled governments.

"Our initial results were encouraging in that we found a significant, negative correlation between Facebook penetration and corruption across a small sample of countries," Sarangi said.

Several qualitative studies have touched on the use of social media to oust corruption before, and many other studies have focused on internet or e-government and its impact on corruption. Sarangi said, however, that few quantitative studies have looked specifically looked at social media and its impact on corruption because country-specific social media usage data is hard to acquire.

Sarangi and Jha's study is the first of its kind to establish a link between social media and corruption across more than 150 countries, showing the complimentary role of social media along with the press in open countries, and its greater impact in countries that are oppressive. The study features a falsification test which checked whether the results would be true for a pre-Facebook era in the same countries.

Findings showed that this was not the case. Also considered were government-sanctioned social media platforms.

"Establishing causality is a difficult thing in the corruption literature, simply because corrupt governments might also control social media," Sarangi said.

Sarangi added that much of the anti-corruption content posted on Facebook is user-created and shared individually, its audience growing with each share or repost. In other words, Sarangi and Jha report that social media as an information and communication technology tool allows multi-way communication as opposed to traditional media such as TV and print media that allow for only one-way communication. The back and forth of communication is harder to control by government censors.

"Indeed, the role of social media and the internet in providing unbiased and independent news in several countries such as China, Russia, and Malaysia has widely been recognized by scholars," added Sarangi.

"Social media provides cheap and quick means of sharing information and reaching a larger audience to organize public protests against the corrupt activities of government officials and politicians. It is therefore not a surprise that despotic governments favor controlling social media."

Additionally, interaction in social media platforms typically is shared among friends and family, thus adding a personal connection and therefore more perceived credibility to shared information. Sarangi said individuals may feel compelled to act on such information to show solidarity with family or friends.

As of February 2017, Facebook was estimated to have 2 billion users worldwide, according to CNN. Among the countries studied by Sarangi and Jha: Denmark, the least corrupt, and Somalia, the most.

"As social media evolves to be an increasingly important part of our daily lives, it is important for continued research to help us understand how these tools are impacting our lives," said Brandi Watkins, an associate professor in the Department of Communication, part of the Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Watkins was not involved in this study, but researches the use of social media.

"Related to this study, it is important to look at how platforms like Facebook can be used to improve societal issues, especially in the area of corruption," added Watkins. "This study highlights the need for information, whether from traditional media or social media, in reducing corruption."
North Adams Eyes Tax Title Sales For Tax Relief, Engineering

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The city has a fairly good idea what the increase in its fiscal 2018 budget will be: 1.12 percent, largely driven by health insurance increases, pensions, the school budget and two new positions.

But it doesn't yet know how much revenue will come in this year as it pursues some $2.6 million in liens, taxes and interest outstanding. The hope is to use some of those gains to offset taxes and prepare engineering for projects in anticipation of a debt drop-off in 2020.

"The budget is balanced that you received ... it will remain balanced," Mayor Richard Alcombright said at Thursday's Finance Committee meeting, in reviewing what had been covered at a recent City Council meeting . "We will be using several recurring reserve accounts if we have the capacity to do so."

Those accounts would likely be the transfer station and the Windsor Mill, which the city is trying to sell.

"You see that we struggle each year to find ways to increase our local receipts. We've been fairly stagnant over time," the mayor said. This year sees a drop in transfer station monies and some $67,000 overall in state aid. "Our state aid is probably equivalent to what we were receiving in 2004-2005. And there's no indication it's going to be any different anytime soon."

There's also a 3 percent drop in Community Develop Bock Grant administration funding because of new federal restrictions.

So even though the budget is up only 1.12 percent, the tax rate is expected to rise by about 4 percent, with $16.9 million in real estate and personal property taxes going toward the $39.9 million budget.

The City Council authorized in February the tax title auction of some 200 properties worth about $2.6 million.

A list of delinquent taxpayers posted in the newspaper last week has already prompted activity in the treasurer's office of owners coming in to pay or set up payment options within the 30 days allowed.

Officials are expecting to garner between $700,000 and $800,000 of what's left to auction next month.

"People buy the lien, they don't by the title," Alcombright said. "What happens is they become the collector of the debt at the same rates of interest as the city would charge so it's not a whole lot different."

Real property with a building in good condition are most likely to sell because it's worth the collector's efforts.

The city has about a 97 percent collection rate, according to officials, but some of the properties have had outstanding bills or interest dating to the 1980s. Any funds collected would flow into free cash on July 1.

"When we come to fund the budget in November and set our tax rate, I would hope to take some of that, whether it's $300,000 or a quarter of a million, and utilize that against this $16.9 [million dollars]," the mayor said. "This money is what was tax money and, in someway shape or form, we'd like to return it. The other thing I think it would help preserve our levy ceiling if we do this."

Some of those funds could also be turned to engineering for long-delayed capital improvements.

"We have significant needs," Alcombright said. "I'd like to use $250,000 to the top priorities on our [Capital Improvement Plan]."

Specifically, he's looking at leaning retaining walls along West Main Street and the city's deteriorating aqueducts and dams attached to the reservoirs.

The water treatment plant also needs a new computerized operating system because the current one is obsolete and can no longer be serviced; the city's been buying used parts to keep it running. There's a potential to switch the plant to natural gas, which will require an access road off Phelps Avenue. The city also needs to update its voting machines.

About $1.1 million in debt and interest will fall off the books in 2020. If engineering can be done in the next year, the city can use short-term borrowing with the intention to bond in 2020 for those items and the recently purchased Department of Public Works building.

"We're thinking a half-million bucks could support $10 million in borrowing for 20 years," the mayor said. "What will that $10 million fix? That why we need to engineer."

North Adams Budget Draft Fiscal 2018 by iBerkshires.com on Scribd
The Board of Selectmen voted to place the article on the ballot knowing that even if it passes, the vote can't happen.

Non-Binding Question Asks Lanesborough to Hike Retiree Health-Care Premiums

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.  John Goerlach worked 20 years in the town's Highway Department so when he retired, part of his health insurance will come from the town's budget.

Goerlach will be paying 15 percent of the premium with the town picking up the rest. Goerlach is now a selectman, a decade after leaving the town's employment, and he's tasked with managing the town's finances. Because of conflict of interest laws, he cannot vote to increase the percentage retirees pay for benefits.

Selectman Henry "Hank" Sayers has a relative working for the town so he can't vote on changes to the percentages either.

That means two-thirds of the Board of Selectmen can't vote on a request from Finance Committee member Ray Jones to change the percentage retirees pay for health care from 15 to 30 percent. Jones has asked that a ballot question is placed during the election calling for the Selectmen to make such a change.

"This is just going to be a waste of time because even if they vote for it, we can't vote on it," Sayers said.

Town Counsel Jeff Blake said the Selectmen are the administrative body tasked with making such decisions, so a town meeting vote can't change the percentages. But, neither Sayers nor Goerlach can vote so there aren't enough votes to make it happen.

"You could vote to put this on a non-binding ballot question," Blake said, but, "this will change nothing."

Jones will take the non-binding ballot question and the Selectmen agreed to put it on the ballot. Jones says this is the first step toward making a change, which he says is more in line with benefits offered in the private sector and in other communities.

"All I want to do is have the people know about this process and have a vote," Jones said. "This is just getting a feeler from the general public."

The lack of ability to vote on it isn't deterring Jones, who previously said he'd find a way to change the law to allow for it. He says the ballot question is the first step in his plan to change those percentages.

Blake said the law is pretty clear about such changes being in the Board of Selectmen's purview and court opinions support that.

The second challenge is the timing.

In 2011, laws were passed allowing cities and towns to change the premiums for retirees without going through collective bargaining. But the Legislature placed a moratorium on that in 2015. Last year, Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed the moratorium but the Legislature overrode the veto. The moratorium doesn't expire until July 2018.

"There is a significant amount of support for keeping that section in there," Blake said.

Blake says it isn't known if the Legislature plans to extend those protections even further. Blake says it takes a lot of support to override vetoes so he doesn't expect the state to quickly change its mind.

"All I want to do is start the process because I have a plan. This is the first step in that plan," Jones responded.

Selectman Robert Ericson said while the Selectmen can't make the changes nor can the changes be implemented until 2018, a town meeting vote would send a message to the Legislature. If enough towns vote in favor of allowing for changes in those percentages, lawmakers will have to lift the moratorium, he said.

Sayers, however, said if town meeting vote doesn't go in favor of the reduction "it is going to tie our hands even more." The split is written into the contracts with unions, such as the teachers' union, and a town meeting vote against such changes could hurt the town's ability to negotiate that.

Nonetheless, the Selectmen opted to put the non-binding question on the ballot. It simply asks whether or not voters want to change the split to 70-30 or not but it won't make any difference unless there are changes made on the state level.




iciHaiti - Cooperation : Towards the relaunch of the Haiti-Chile Country Program





Aviol Fleurant, Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, held a working session with Ambassador Chile accredited to Haiti, Patricio Utreras on bilateral relations between the two countries.



The Minister hoped that Haiti would benefit from the Chilean experience, a country in the process of becoming an emerging country and also wanted to know how to use this cooperation in order to stop the massive emigration of Haitians to Chile. On this last point, Ambassador Utreras expressed his concern about the fact that Haiti was losing a good part of its youth with this uncontrolled process...



On the Chilean experience, the Ambassador explained to the Minister the different steps that his country has taken to reach the level it is today. The first was to work on the strengthening of democratic institutions so that it could then lay the groundwork for an acceptable degree of fiscal consolidation in order to achieve responsible government. In addition, Chile has carried out many reforms, including reform of the tax system and reform of an economy open to foreign trade.



One of the most important points for the Minister Fleurant was the study of the tracks for the relaunch of the country program Haiti-Chile around the main government priorities. The two men agreed to set up a working group of experts from the Ministry and Chile, which will be responsible for preparing and designing the country program, with a view to signing a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding.



IH/ iciHaiti


















Hrachya Harutyunyan to be extradited to Armenia in a month or two (video)

Hrachya Harutyunyan, an Armenian truck driver sentenced to 6 years and 9 months in prison by a Moscow court, will be transferred to Armenia. "When I met the deputy minister [of Justice], he said that Harutyunyan would be transferred to Armenia in a month or two. Now I am preparing papers for his extradition, Victor Martirosyan, the father of Harutyunyans wife, told A1+ Company. Victor Martirosyan met with Deputy Minister of Justice Vigen Kocharyan earlier in Tuesday. On July 13, 2013 the gravel-loaded truck driven by Hrachya Harutyunyan, an Armenian citizen working in Russia, collided with a packed commuter bus outside the Russian capital. The impact of the crash was so powerful that the bus had split in two. The accident claimed 18 lives and injured more than forty others. The investigation revealed that the accident resulted from poor maintenance of the truck resulting in a brake malfunction. Harutyunyan, according to investigators, was to know about it. In August, a Moscow district court sentenced Hrachya Harutyunyan to 6 years and 9 months in prison on charges of 'violating traffic and vehicle operation rules, which unwittingly led to the death of two or more persons.' The families of the 18 victims received 18 mln rubles as compensation from Ara Abrahamyan, Chairman of the Union of Armenians of Russia. Harutyunyan has acquired numerous health problems while in custody. He has a lump in his armpit. Some say it is a lipoma, others say it is a tumour. He also has heart and spinal problems, a hernia which disallows him from bending down to pick up something off the floor, Victor Martirosyan said.
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The 1996 death of JonBenet Ramsay in Boulder, Colorado was as mulled over and deciphered as the Madeleine McCann case in Britain.

There are remarkable similarities. The parents in the Ramsay and the McCann cases were cast under suspicion. The young girls had both been sleeping at the time they first vanished. Both remain unsolved despite massive police investigations and media coverage, a fact that has led to numerous documentaries, films and news stories.

Given all the coverage, it raises the question of whether we really need yet another film weighing up the theories of whether one, or both, the Ramsay parents accidentally killed their daughter, or was it her 9-year-old brother who had recently attacked his sister, or a kidnapping gone awry?

Wannabe actors line up to audition for the role of JonBenet Ramsay in this highly original new Netflix documentary (Michael Latham/Netflix)

Following a botched investigation in which police failed to search the basement of the house where JonBenet lay dead, we will probably never discover the truth. The documentary reveals that the case is now used as a how not to investigate by the Boulder police force.

But just when one thought that there was nothing else to say about the murder, Australian director Kitty Greens new film, Casting JonBenet, manages to find a unique angle.

Rather than interview people and ask them to talk about the case as in a traditional documentary, Green asked the members of the Boulder community to audition for a proposed film about the murder. A film that the wannabe actors were told in the audition would never be made. Casting JonBenet is made up of the audition tapes.

Rather than looking at who killed JonBenet Ramsay  there have been a lot of documentaries about that, we were looking at, I guess, the legacy and mythology surrounding the case. The Cultural obsession, says Kitty Green.

The Australian director Kitty Green has found a unique way to explore the sensational child-murder case of JonBenet Ramsay

Its been 20 years and she is still on the cover of magazines. We looked at ways people are obsessed with the crime and the way people create their own narratives in order to explain a story where there is actually no explanation, its not solved and probably never will be, so they are coming up with their own narratives to make sense of something that will probably never make sense to them.

The film drew rave reviews at the Sundance and Berlin film festivals, with Netflix buying the movie to show on its platform.

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The Australian director is no stranger to looking and uncovering controversial subjects. Her debut film, 2013s Ukraine is not a Brothel, saw her go undercover for over a year to expose Femen, the Ukrainian feminist group famous for their topless protests. Using a mix of interviews, archive material and original recordings, Green tells the story of the women in the neo-Situationist group.

Ukraine is not a Brothel is like an observational film. I followed those girls and got abducted by the KGB, it was craziest thing Ive ever done, says Green, who was arrested while filming Femen make a topless protest against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in 2011.

Chris Mueser and Marian Rothschild re-enact the public plea made by her parents to return missing daughter JonBenet Ramsay (Netflix ) (Netflix)

Casting JonBenet was a lot more controlled, it was structured early on and we knew what we wanted to achieve. But what we did not know was how people would react to this experiment. That was the most surprising thing, how honest they were and how personal it got.

In addition to the moments in the casting room, Green is the latest director to use re-enactment as a way of getting to a greater truth, than that which may be achieved by simply asking someone to tell their story straight to camera. Urging people to act out their experience rather than tell them is becoming increasingly popular in documentary filmmaking.

Cambodian director Rithy Panh used re-enactments in his 2003 film, S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, which saw two former prisoners return to Tuol Sleng Prison where they meet their former captors. The guards and interrogators give a tour of the prison, re-enacting their treatment of prisoners.

At the recent Qumra festival in Doha, Panh told me that S-21 and others of this ilk cannot be seen as re-enactment movies because, Re-enactment presupposes that I know what happened. Im not perpetrator or victim at S-21 so its not really re-enactment. I call it memory of body. We see a truth through their gestures.

Boulder resident Hannah Cagwin auditions for a role in the film about murdered JonBenet Ramsay (Netflix)

The best documentary prize at this years Berlin Film Festival went to Raed Andonis Ghost Hunting, in which Palestinian men build a set to mimic an Israeli prison they were kept in, and then recreate events from their time in jail.

I dont see past as part of our memory. I see it as part of our present life and also part of our future, says Andoni, who believes that it creates a more authentic and present way of recounting an event. Sometimes we have to face some ghost living inside us. Im searching for a trauma. But Im not a psychologist, Im a storyteller, and my aim is to take the journey.

On re-enactments, Andoni argues, This is a kind of a cinematic decision. They are building their own memory. The re-enactment helps them go deeper and see their past from a different perspective. Thats why I asked them to play the role of the interrogators; only professional actors play the role of the prisoners. I dont want to be a slave of memory. I want a new point of view.

The Bafta winning documentary The Act of Killing sees perpetrators of the 1965-66 killings in Indonesia re-enact their crimes in the style of their favourite film genre.

Director Joshua Oppenheimer says, Art can force people to confront, not things that they dont know, but force people to confront what they are too afraid to talk about. Its sort of like arts task is to get us to look at our most painful truths. Its like the child in The Emperors New Clothes, opening the space to finally get us to talk about things that we have been too afraid to talk about at that moment.

Whats different about Greens approach is that she hasnt used protagonists directly affected by the incident in question. As such the result is more light-hearted and easier on the viewer. The revelations of the side characters means the film soon stops being about the murder, but about the wider community  one that has quirky elements and personalities that Green likens to Twin Peaks.

Green was inspired to make a film like this partly after hearing a Louis CK joke about the discarded casting tapes for the part of the little girl in Schindlers List, and by an 8-minute short film she made in 2015, The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul. Baiul was a figure skater who in 1994 won Ukraines first Olympic gold medal.

Ultimately, its about getting different peoples perspectives on something that is well known, says Green on her approach. There were some odd characters, but when they sat down and talked about their experiences, their own pain and connection to the case, they were humanised in some way. Its a human story with a loss of life and that is horrifying and that gets lost in the sort of who-did-it mystery.

Casting JonBenet is on Netflix from 28 April
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How do films make you feel? The Independent gets personal about cinema and TV with actors, directors, cinematographers and other people from the continually evolving world of "content" in a new fortnightly podcast hosted by Culture Editor Christopher Hooton.

In episode six, Chris catches up with colleague Clarisse Loughrey on the Star Wars Celebration event that just took place in Orlando, Florida and what it says about Disney's dominance. Later, Warren Beatty drops into discuss returning to film after 15 years and writing, directing, co-producing and starring in a movie at the age of 80. The Hollywood legend discusses his latest feature, Rules Don't Apply, parallels between himself and Howard Hughes and how the film industry has changed.

Listen to it below, subscribe on iTunes and podcasts apps here and follow the podcast @kernels and host @ChristophHooton on Twitter. You can find early episodes with Matthew McConaughey, Sir Patrick Stewart and more here.
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The Hollywood Walk of Fame star belonging to Donald Trump has been vandalised once again as the US President celebrates his 100th day in office.

Photos that have been obtained by TMZ shows Trump's commemorative star fit with graffiti bearing the words F*ck Trump.

The star has only been recently replaced after it was destroyed with a pickaxe and sledgehammer a week before he won the election in October 2016. The culprit - James Otis - was later sentenced to three years of probation and 20 days of road maintenance work.

Recommended Stephen King has compared Trump to two characters from his books

No arrests have been made regarding the latest act of vandalism, the LAPD has confirmed.

Trump's presidential inauguration took place 100 days ago in Washington D.C. on 20 January where he gave a speech that seemed strangely familiar to one spoken by Batman villain Bane (Tom Hardy) in Christopher Nolan film The Dark Knight Rises.

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 was revealed last week how Trump agreed to let Oscar-winning Al Pacino film Scent of a Woman (1992) shoot scenes in his hotel on the proviso that he was given a cameo in the film. Director Martin Brest agreed but later left his appearance on the cutting room floor.
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China, the UK, the European Union and Brazil have all filed questions at the United Nations about the United States policies on climate change amid international concern that Donald Trump will withdraw the US from the historic Paris Agreement.

While the Trump administrations plans remain unclear, there have been suggestions the US could face trade tariffs if its greenhouse gas emissions are allowed to increase while the rest of the world makes substantial cuts.

Beijing asked the US to explain what measures would be taken to reach a target to cut emissions by 17 per cent between 2005 and 2020, which is currently expected to be missed.

Chinese officials said the target would be even more challenging given Mr Trumps stance on the issue.

And they directly contrasted the Republican presidents views  he has ludicrously described climate change as a hoax perpetrated by China  with those of Barack Obama.

According to the projections  the US needs to take additional measures to achieve their 2020 targets, China said in a question lodged at the UN.

Given that President Trump is not supportive of President Obamas Climate Actions plan, it is even more challenging to achieve the 17 per cent emission reduction in 2020 purely through domestic actions.

Does the US have any plan or preliminary thoughts on using international market mechanism to accommodate recent changes?

If still not, what additional measure will the US consider to take to achieve the 2020 target?

Mr Trump has begun the process of dismantling the Clean Power Plan (CPP), which was the flagship climate policy of his predecessor.

Clean Power Plan is among the most important mitigation actions of the Presidents Climate Action Plan 2013, the Chinese submission said.

Although the Party has explained that the estimated mitigation impact was not reported because the Plan is expected to start delivering emission reductions after 2020, it is believed that the anticipation of full implementation of CPP will have significant impacts on the electricity market and relative investment choices before 2020.

Has the US prepared any alternative approaches to mitigate emission of electricity sector in case the CPP is cancelled?

The European Union also asked what additional measures would be taken to meet the 2020 emissions target. It noted that emissions in 2013 were 10 per cent below the level in 2005.

Could the US provide additional information on how its mitigation actions to date have had an impact on emissions reductions? the EU asked.

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke  filled with the carbon that is driving climate change  drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

Please could the US provide additional information on how believes its future implementation of actions will ensure it achieves its targets?

The UK asked what assessment had been made of the impact of policy announcements made recently by the US.

And Brazil noted the US was forecast to cut emissions by 13 to 15 per cent by 2020, which would miss the target.

It asked whether the US was planning to put the additional measures in place.

The questions were filed in February but have only recently been released.

They referred to a US report on its progress on climate change which had been submitted to the UN by the Obama administration.

The Trump administration was due to hold a crunch meeting earlier this month about whether to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, but it was cancelled. A decision is expected to be announced by the end of May.

Administration officials appear divided on the issue with some arguing the US should stay to have a seat at the table during international talks.

But, speaking to Bloomberg, experts suggested remaining a signatory to Paris while not genuinely living up to its commitments would be a bad move.

This whole idea of being binding or non-binding is a distinction without a difference," Marlo Lewis, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Trump and whoever comes after Trump will continually be caught in this no mans land where if you dont do what Obama promised, you are breaking a promise that America, allegedly, has made to the world.

And Mike McKenna, a strategist who advises energy companies, told Bloomberg that paying only lip-service to Paris would turn the United States into a professional liar and hypocrite.

If were not going to participate in honest action, the right answer is, get out, he said. It is weaselly and beneath our national honour to do something like this.
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A high school student has chosen her prom night to make an important political statement.

Milan Bolden-Morris from Florida wore a full length dress adorned with the faces of 15 black victims of police-involved deaths.

Sharing a picture of herself and her date on Instagram, Ms Bolden-Morris wrote: Yes Im black. Yes Im 17. Yes God is using me to convey a message thats bigger than me" along with a #BlackLivesMatter hashtag.

In the centre of the dress is Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old schoolboy who was shot dead by former neighbourhood watchman George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida in 2012. Mr Zimmerman was cleared of Martins murder .

Also featured on the dress is Michael Brown, the 18-year-old, who was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson and whose death sparked protests across his hometown of Ferguson, Missouri, and Sandra Bland  a 28-year-old black woman who was found hanged in a jail cell in Texas in 2015 three days after being arrested during a traffic stop.

Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Show all 15 1 /15 Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Kandy Freeman participates in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Hawk Newsome, a Black Lives Matter activist, leads a protest outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Hawk Newsome (C) leads a chant during a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, US. January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower An NYPD officer speaks with a Black Lives Matter leaders during a protest in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Kandy Freeman participates in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower An NYPD officer speaks with a Black Lives Matter leaders during a protest in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Carol Garza, a Black Lives Matter supporter, protests outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower People participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 14, 2017. Stephanie Keith/Reuters Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower A Black Lives Matter supporter protests in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter activists march in front of Trump Tower on January 14, 2017 in New York City. Kevin Hagen/Getty Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter activists march in front of Trump Tower on January 14, 2017 in New York City. Kevin Hagen/Getty Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter supporters protest in the snow outside Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images Black Lives Matter organises march to Trump Tower Black Lives Matter Kandy Freeman marches in front of Trump Tower on January 14, 2017 in New York City. Kevin Hagen/Getty

Ms Bolden-Morris told CNN: When someone loses a mother, father or child in unnecessary circumstances, it should not be overlooked but addressed."

The dress was designed by Florida-based designer Terrence Torrence, who has previously designed dresses for the rapper Lil Kim, after Ms Bolden-Morris approached him.

He told the network: With all the killings that was going on, it just hit me one day: you should put that into a dress. I wanted to paint a picture and put a story out there through my fashion and I wanted to show we could spread our message with not just posters and fliers but also garments.
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A model who earned the nickname hot felon after his mugshot went viral has been barred from entering the UK.

Jeremy Meeks became a viral sensation when the Stockton Police Department released his image after he was arrested for possessing an illegal firearm in February, 2014. He was later charged and sentenced to 27 months in prison.

After his release in March, 2016, Meeks embarked on a modelling career  sparked by the reaction to his infamous mugshot - and walked the catwalk in New York Fashion Week in February.

Due to appear at an event in London as well as partake in several modelling shoots, Meeks was prevented from entering the country by UK border officials on Monday.

Meeks walks the Philipp Plein show in New York Fashion Week (Getty)

Meeks manager Jim Jordan said he, the 32-year-old and Meeks wife landed in London but Meeks was detained by border officials at immigration before being turned away and sent back to the United States. He reportedly landed back in New York City on Monday.

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He wasnt arrested but they deported him out of the country, Mr Jordan told the Mail Online. They wouldnt let him come into the country. He is really upset. He was police-escorted onto the plane.

Mr Jordan claimed Meeks was in possession of the correct travel documentation to enter the country and alleged he was interrogated for four hours, fingerprinted and strip-searched.

Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks Jeremy Meeks: 'Handsome felon' in pictures Jeremy Meeks

It was his first time in London and he was all excited, it was his big debut, Mr Jordan said. He was on the right track for what we feel was going to be his new life. Now hes very sad. Hopefully this is just a setback and he will be able to come back from this.

In a video where he is seen walking through the airport Mr Meeks vents his frustration saying: Ive been denied. London dont want me here having served my time. S*** is crazy.

The Independent has contacted the Home Office for comment. A representative for Mr Meeks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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HipChat has revealed that it was targeted by hackers over the weekend.

The instant-messaging service says the attackers may have gained access to users names, email addresses and hashed passwords.

Hashing passwords means scrambling them into complex sequences of characters that are designed to be difficult for hackers to crack.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

However, most worrying of all is that theres a chance the attackers also got their hands on messages and content in private chats.

HipChat says this is a possibility for less than 0.05 per cent of instances, but even so, this could cause affected users serious concern, inconvenience and embarrassment.

We are contacting and will work closely with these customers, wrote Ganesh Krishnan, HipChats chief security officer, in a blog post.

The incident involved a vulnerability in a popular third-party library used by HipChat.com.

HipChat has invalidated users passwords and sent them instructions on how to reset them.

Users concerned about the hack should update their login details for other services immediately.

HipChat says it is confident it has isolated the affected systems and closed any unauthorised access, and is working with law enforcement to investigate the incident.

To reiterate, we have found no evidence of other Atlassian systems or products being affected, adds the blog post.

Atlassian, which owns HipChat, is also behind popular workplace services Trello and Jira.
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Lauri Love, the alleged computer hacker, has been allowed to challenge his extradition to the US.

Authorities in America want Mr Love, who has Asperger syndrome, to face trial on charges of cyber hacking. But his lawyers say that could mean a sentence of up to 99 years in prison if he is found guilty, and that he would not be able to cope with such punishment.

The 32-year-old activist is alleged by the US to have stolen huge amounts of data from US agencies including the Federal Reserve, the US Army, the Department of Defence, Nasa and the FBI in a spate of online attacks in 2012 and 2013.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

His solicitors, Kaim Todner, announced in a statement on Tuesday that they had obtained permission for Mr Love to appeal against extradition.

Recommended British hacker who breached US government computers to be extradited

No date has yet been set for the challenge, which will be heard at the High Court in London.

Karen Todner, Mr Loves lawyer, said in the statement: The reason permission has been granted is that the High Court acknowledge that the grounds raised some issues of great importance.

We are delighted for this news for Lauri and will continue to do everything we can to ensure prevention of his extradition to the United States of America.

Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, authorised his extradition to the US last year.

The Home Office said Ms Rudd had carefully considered all relevant matters before signing an order for Mr Loves extradition.

Additional reporting by Press Association
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Uber is to launch flying cars to replace its taxis.

The company hopes to have people flying around on special platforms that can take off vertically and carry people to their destination, the company has said in a major press conference.

The flying vehicles will be made available at a similar cost to the existing UberX service and eventually be much cheaper than owning a traditional or flying vehicle, Uber head of product Jeff Holden said.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The company has already hired a leading Nasa engineer to run its flying car project. And it said it was talking to authorities such as Nasa itself and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association about how to approve its flying vehicles.

It hopes to have the taxis go into operation by 2020 in Dallas Fort Worth, it suggested. It will have demo vehicles available in Dubai by the same year.

If they were introduced, the hovering taxis could cut down a journey across San Francisco from 30 minutes to three minutes, the company suggested during the press conference.

Uber was keen to refer to the new taxis as electric vertical take off and landing (VTOL) vehicles, rather than flying cars. That's because they work more like a helicopter or hoverboard, though they can take off more quietly and without the same disruption.

The announcement came at the beginning of its three day Elevate conference in Dallas. That will see it and other companies looking at flying vehicles seek to work together, with Uber suggesting that it wouldn't want to build the hardware for flying cars itself.

The conference and announcement came after a rough time for Uber, which has seen it charged with tracking people's phones and being accused of a culture of sexual harassment.
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An Australian woman has spoken of how she can recall every memory she has experienced since she was a newborn baby.

Rebecca Sharrock, 27, from Brisbane, is one of 80 people in the world who has Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). The rare condition gives her a highly powerful memory which can recall details from her life including the gifts she received on her first birthday. HSAM also gives Sharrock the ability to retain information, meaning she can recite the Harry Potter books in their entirety.

Recommended How the pioneer of art therapy helped millions of people

However, HSAM also enables sufferers to remember painful memories  including break-ups and bereavements  in great depth.

In a post entitled I can remember back to when I was a newborn child Sharrock recently wrote on the Omni blogging site that her earliest memory is from when she was 12 days old.

Describing how her parents carried her to the drivers seat of their car and put her down for a photo.

"As a newborn child I was curious as to what the seat cover and steering wheel above me were. Though at that age I hadn't yet developed the ability to want to get up and explore what such curious objects could be, she wrote.

Sharrock went on to reveal how she would look at her toys in her crib and the fan next to her bed; the itchy satin dress her parents dressed her in on her first birthday; and a Minnie Mouse stuffed toy that terrified her. At 18 months, Sharrock says she remembers starting dreaming.

To help build a better understanding of the human memory, Sharrock is currently taking part in two memory studies with scientists in the US and Australia. She hopes the research will help people with memory problems, including dementia.

Sharrock isnt the only person with HSAM to share her story. Alexandra Wolff, a 25-year-old from Maryland in the US, told NPR in an interview that HSAM feels like time travel.

She told the broadcaster she can remember everything she has heard and felt in a day, right down to getting sick to my stomach or getting a headache.

Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Show all 10 1 /10 Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 30 per cent of people deal with anxiety by talking to a friend or relative, or by going for a walk. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report Almost one in five people feel anxious all or a lot of the time. PA Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 22 per cent of women feel anxious a lot or all of the time, compared to 15 per cent of men. Roman Levin/Flickr Creative Commons Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 45 per cent of people who feel anxious in everyday life cite financial issues as their biggest cause of worry. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report And 26 per cent of people who feel anxious say fearing for the welfare of their children and loved ones leaves them burdened with worry. And 26 per cent of people say fearing for the welfare of their children and loved ones leaves them burdened with anxiety. Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 27 per cent of people who suffer from anxiety say work issues, such as long hours, are the source of the problem. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report But 16 per cent use alcohol to cope, while 10 per cent turn to cigarettes in the face of anxiety. Unemployed people are more likely to resort to these harmful strategies: 27 per cent use alcohol and 23 per cent use cigarettes. AFP/Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report Only seven per cent of people who say they suffer from anxiety seek help from their GP. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report People are thought to be more anxious than they were five years ago. Alessandra/Flickr Creative Commons Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report The stresses of modern life are thought to have created "The Age of Anxiety". Getty

This means Wolff can relive the happiest moments in her life in minute detail, and does so often alone in her room.

"It's a huge temptation. I could, if I didn't have stuff to do all day, I could probably live in the past 24/7," she said.
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A neurologist has shared the warning signs of a ruptured brain aneurysm after a woman died believing she just had a severe migraine.

Lee Broadway, 42, from North Carolina died at the beginning of April two days after telling her husband Eric she was leaving work because of the intense pain of a migraine. She had suffered from migraines as a child but felt this episode was different and later died in hospital from complications of a brain aneurysm.

A brain aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel in the brain caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall. If an aneurysm bursts or ruptures it can lead to a subarachnoid haemorrhage where bleeding caused by the rupture aneurysm causes brain damage and severe symptoms.

Dr Howard A Riina, professor of neurosurgery at NYU Langone Medical Centre told People that the pain associated with a brain aneurysm is often described as the worst headache of someones life. The NHS also says the headache has been described as a thunderclap headache like a sudden hit on the head resulting in blinding pain unlike anything experienced before.

Health news in pictures Show all 40 1 /40 Health news in pictures Health news in pictures Coronavirus outbreak The coronavirus Covid-19 has hit the UK leading to the deaths of two people so far and prompting warnings from the Department of Health AFP via Getty Health news in pictures Thousands of emergency patients told to take taxi to hospital Thousands of 999 patients in England are being told to get a taxi to hospital, figures have showed. The number of patients outside London who were refused an ambulance rose by 83 per cent in the past year as demand for services grows Getty Health news in pictures Vape related deaths spike A vaping-related lung disease has claimed the lives of 11 people in the US in recent weeks. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a better equipped immune system PA Health news in pictures Cancer breath test to be trialled in Britain The breath biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients Getty Health news in pictures Average 10 year old has consumed the recommended amount of sugar for an adult By their 10th birthdy, children have on average already eaten more sugar than the recommended amount for an 18 year old. The average 10 year old consumes the equivalent to 13 sugar cubes a day, 8 more than is recommended PA Health news in pictures Child health experts advise switching off screens an hour before bed While there is not enough evidence of harm to recommend UK-wide limits on screen use, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have advised that children should avoid screens for an hour before bed time to avoid disrupting their sleep Getty Health news in pictures Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study finds A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail Getty Health news in pictures Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users Reuters Health news in pictures More children are obese and diabetic There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since 2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a leading cause Reuters Health news in pictures Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty Health news in pictures Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study claims Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly controlled blood sugar iStock Health news in pictures Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty Health news in pictures Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund, said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping active PA Health news in pictures New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. Just Giving Health news in pictures Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants. Getty Health news in pictures Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients in its care as part of a zero suicide ambition being launched today Getty Health news in pictures Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to kill off tumours Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour. Nephron Health news in pictures Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major study Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues Getty Health news in pictures NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women wrongly given all-clear Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their doctors following the identification of procedural issues in the service provided by Pathology First Laboratory. Rex Health news in pictures Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by scientists Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour cells to gain these migratory properties. Getty Health news in pictures NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles advertised A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years ago. REX Health news in pictures Cannabis extract could provide new class of treatment for psychosis CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that causes paranoia and anxiety. Getty Health news in pictures Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to hand settlement money back to NHS Mr Bransons company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an 82m contract to provide childrens health services across Surrey, citing concerns over serious flaws in the way the contract was awarded PA Health news in pictures More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS bursary scrapped The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively Getty Health news in pictures Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year. Reuters Health news in pictures Long commutes carry health risks Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent more likely to suffer from depression Shutterstock Health news in pictures You cannot be fit and fat It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests  but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty

Its this severe, severe headache that is out of the ordinary, Dr Riina said. People who have migraines that are quite severe say that a headache [associated with an aneurysm] was worse than any theyve ever had.

He suggested not to go running to the hospital if you have a headache and nausea and said people that frequently experience migraines  which can be with auras  often have routines to help relieve the headache like taking medicine or sitting in a dark, quiet room. However, if the usual routine does not help relieve the pain, it could be an aneurysm.

It is a very unique headache and really the main symptom is feeling like this headache is like none you have ever had, he says.

Recommended Migraines were taken more seriously in medieval times

Other symptoms, according to the NHS, are a stiff neck, sickness and vomiting and pain on looking at light.

The rupturing of a brain aneurysm is very rare and only around one in 12,500 people have one In England each year.

Brain aneurysms which have not ruptured are not as rare with some experts believing it could be as high as one in 20.

Dr Riina suggested five to 10 per cent of the US population could have an aneurysm without any symptoms. Patients with an aneurysm may be referred for further treatment depending on the size, location and likelihood of it rupturing.

Exactly what causes aneurysms is unclear but risk factors include a family history of the condition, smoking and high blood pressure.
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Removing a condom during sex - known as stealthing - transforms a consensual act into a non-consensual one.

It's a little-discussed form of gender violence, but that is all changing thanks to a new study into the phenomenon, published last week.

When a man removes a condom during sex - often unbeknownst to his partner, be they man or woman - he is opening them up to the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Recommended Man convicted of rape for taking off condom during sex

But mostly, hes committing an act he was not permitted to do, which many people are claiming is rape-adjacent.

For most men, the reason they remove condoms - often when changing positions so their partner doesnt notice - is because they prefer the feel of sex without wearing one. But some also do so to exert power over their partners.

Apart from unwanted pregnancies and STIs, survivors experienced nonconsensual condom removal as a clear violation of their bodily autonomy and the trust they had mistakenly placed in their sexual partner, study author Alexandra Brodsky, a legal fellow at the National Women's Law Center, writes.

Survivors [of stealthing] describe non-consensual condom removal as a threat to their bodily agency and as a dignitary harm, she explains. You have no right to make your own sexual decisions, they are told. You are not worthy of my consideration.

Her report explores the phenomenon and shares the experiences of a number of victims.

Obviously the part that really freaked me out was that it was such a blatant violation of what wed agreed to, one woman quoted in the study said. I set a boundary. I was very explicit.

Brodsky also shares the story of a woman called Rebecca who had herself been stealthed and now works for a sexual violence crisis hotline.

Their stories often start the same way, Rebecca said. Im not sure if this is rape, but...

Brodsky says she decided to undertake the research when she was in law school in 2013 and realised how many of her friends were struggling with forms of mistreatment by sexual partners that werent considered part of the recognized repertoire of gender based violence - but that seemed rooted in the same misogyny and lack of respect.

Many women - for it is predominantly women - who are victims of stealthing feel conflicted about it as they dont know the act of removing a condom during sex has a name. They knew they felt violated, but didnt have the vocabulary to process it, Brodsky explained to the HuffPost.

Everyone knew that it felt like a serious violation, she says. Everyone knew it was a betrayal of trust.

A number of the people I talked to felt like because it wasn't something they'd heard discussed, because it wasn't something they had a name for, they struggled to know how to think about it in the context of other disrespectful and violent sexual experiences they'd had.

Brodsky hopes her research will end this by shedding light on the practice, as its possible stealthing is on the rise.

As part of her research, Brodsky delved into dark corners of the internet where she found communities of men discussing how to get away with stealthing and swapping tips. These are men who think it is their right to spread their seed with every woman they have sex with.

One can note, Brodsky writes, that proponents of stealthing root their support in an ideology of male supremacy in which violence is a mans natural right.

One man, for example, has published a comprehensive guide to committing the act:

He reveals how his first experience of stealthing gave him a rush more intense than I can describe and how hes over time developed techniques that make sure he shot my load deep inside the girls unsuspecting ****.

Of course, he writes, You can always try the, 'What's wrong? I thought you knew it was off? You mean you didn't feel it? I thought you knew!!' approach which for me has had a surprisingly high success rate.

Brodksy believes stealthing may violate a number of criminal and civil laws and victims have the right to pursue justice, but none of the victims in the study took legal action.

However, earlier this year a Swiss man was convicted of rape for stealthing in a landmark case.

Survivors experience real harms - emotional, financial, and physical - to which the law might provide remedy through compensation or simply an opportunity to be heard and validated, she writes.

But many of the existing laws are insufficient: We know that the law doesnt work for gender violence survivors, she told HuffPost.

Many of the myths and assumptions and forms of skepticism that we see from judges approaching rape victims and other kinds of sexual assault victims are likely to be present in stealthing cases.

In the UK, the the Istanbul Convention, which aims to bring violence against women - including all non-consensual acts of a sexual nature - was ratified earlier this year, so stealthing would definitely come under that.

Brodsky thinks a new law specific to condom removal should be introduced.

Furthermore, she doesnt want to give any power to the men who commit stealthing: I think that term really trivialises the harm; it obscures the violence and makes it sound sneaky and maybe regrettable but ultimately an inevitable part of sex, and that's not true. We deserve better than that.
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Workers in loss-making Italian airline Alitalia rejected a management restructuring plan to cut jobs and salaries on Monday, betting that the government will be asked to call in an administrator to draft an alternative rescue plan.

The flag carrier, owned 49 per cent by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, has been bailed out repeatedly by Italian governments and private investors over the years, though Rome says it will not renationalise Alitalia and creditors are losing patience.

"The workers' anger won out," said Antonio Piras, general secretary of the Fit-Cisl union, explaining why two-thirds of workers had rejected a plan that had been agreed with unions.

Recommended Alitalia passengers stranded as strikes ground hundreds of flights

The plan involved cutting 1,700 jobs among ground staff and trimming salaries among flight personnel by 8 per cent in order to unlock additional financing and keep Alitalia in the air.

It has made an annual profit only a few times in its 70-year history, is losing at least 500,000 ($543,000) a day and is set to run out of cash in coming weeks, sources say.

Alitalia's board will hold a meeting on Tuesday.

Sources say the company will use that meeting to consider whether to enter special administration, under which the government would be asked to appoint a commissioner to assess whether the carrier can be overhauled or should be wound up.

With the firm under protection from creditors, the commissioner would seek to prepare industrial and financial plans for a rapid revamp of Alitalia, either as a standalone company or through a partial or total sale, or else put it on course for liquidation.

Alitalia had warned that union backing was essential to obtain fresh funds from shareholders, which also include Italy's top two banks Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit

"This was a painful vote but a determined one against a company that until now has done little to fix its issues," several unions said in a joint statement, adding they hoped shareholders and the government would do everything possible to prevent decisions that could have traumatic consequences.

Workers had repeatedly said they were unwilling to accept any further sacrifices when Alitalia's labour costs were already among the lowest among the legacy airlines in Europe.

Before privatisation in 2009, various governments disbursed 4bn in cash to Alitalia, rarely requiring strong industrial strategies in return.

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said over the weekend he understood the sacrifices workers had been asked to make but that Alitalia would not survive without the proposed cuts.

Government ministers said in a joint statement that they were concerned about the outcome of the vote and would seek to minimise the impact on Italians and other travellers while Alitalia's shareholders decided what to do next.

Alitalia said last month it would cut 1bn in costs over three years and revamp its business model for short and medium-haul flights in order to return to profit by the end of 2019.

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.

The carrier also planned to increase flights on higher-margin long-haul routes, but workers remained skeptical over its plans, given a string of failed restructurings in the past.

After buying into Alitalia in 2014, Etihad pledged to return it to profit by 2017 but the turnaround faltered in the face of competition from low-cost airlines and high-speed rail services.

Reuters
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Britain can make up for all of the exports that it will lose as a result of Brexit by building on underdeveloped links with countries such as India, Canada and Israel, according to a think tank.

Open Europe, which has previously produced research focusing on the negative impacts of leaving the EU single market, now says the UK can seize the opportunity of Brexit to boost trade. Some economists have expressed doubt over the conclusions however.

There is enough untapped UK trade potential to offset the effects of Brexit on exports to the EU," the group's latest paper states.

In this scenario, an ambitious, outward looking UK trade strategy could complement a deep and comprehensive deal with the EU and contribute to delivering increased UK prosperity.

The research takes into account the distance between the UK and its various trading partners, as well as the relative size of their economies and other factors such as their openness to trade to assess which markets are most important for post-Brexit Britain.

According to the model, UK exports to certain countries including India, Pakistan and Nigeria are consistently less than should be expected, while those to the US, China and others outperform expectations.

The top 10 underperforming UK export markets have untapped potential of more than 41bn in 2030, the report claims.

The services sector, which accounts for most of the UK economy, has been poorly served by the EU, according to the report because of the limitations of the Single Market, and because of linguistic and legal differences.

Open Europe called on the Government to seize the opportunity of Brexit to draw fully on our comparative advantages, the English language, the common law system, the status of the UK judiciary and legal system, the UKs security, development and defence reach, our world-class universities, our innovation and science.

Dr Monique Ebell of the National Institue for Economic and Social Research said Open Europes conclusions were misleading for several reasons. First, they did not take into account the fact that much of Britains existing trade with external partners such as the US is dependent on Britain being within the EU.

This is particularly the case with high value-added sectors such as financial and professional services, where global companies will often use the UK as their European base to export services from. This is threatened outside the EU.

Open Europe makes the assumption that the UK has a comparative advantage in services that can be used to increase exports to high-growth countries such as India. But it is far from clear that this is the case, Ms Ebell said.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned  forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA  because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

Many of the financial services that UK companies offer are specific and are designed for the needs of advanced economies. Its not clear that they would be suitable for a country like India, Ms Ebell said.

While Canada and Israel are both advanced economies, their combined populations are less than one tenth that of the EU, so will do little to make up for any drop off in exports, the economist said.

Ms Ebell's recent research found that the EU single market is more effective at generating additional services business than the average of other free trade agreements around the world.

Open Europe also says that Theresa Mays Government should not have an all-or-nothing approach to free trade agreements, because exports can be adequately facilitated without them, the report states, citing the UKs current relationships with China and the US as examples.

The UK should also exploit its soft power more effectively, including the reach of its universities as well as its deep historical connections with many countries, the think tank said.
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The chief executive of Centrica has said that the proposed price cap on energy bills would have the potential to turn the owner of British Gas into a loss-making business.

Speaking to the BBCs Today Programme, Iain Conn said that the companys average margin after tax is just 52 per customer, meaning that Centrica would "absolutely be losing money" if the proposed cap comes into effect and would have to "address" its costs and "look at service".

Over the weekend, Damian Green, the Work and Pensions Secretary, confirmed that the Government would cap energy prices if it wins the general election in June. Its believed that the plans could cut gas and electricity costs by 100 a year for as many as 17 million families.

Recommended The Conservatives have caused energy shares to tumble

But Mr Conn said that, while the market is currently "not perfect", the plan "will probably have unintended consequences".

"I think there are some at the heart of the Government who just don't believe in free markets, he said. I find that concerning at a time when this market is highly competitive and the UK is seeking to forge a new future relying upon free trade with the rest of the world," he added.

On Monday, shares in Centrica and energy provider SSE fell sharply.

Ministers have in recent months toughened their stance on energy suppliers after five of the big six energy providers announced price increases of up to 10 per cent.

Theresa May last month vowed to crack down on spiralling energy prices saying that "the market is not working as it should".
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The respected chair of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Tyrie, will stand down from Parliament at the general election.

The announcement leaves open one of the most powerful non-ministerial positions in Parliament, covering the economy, finance and also elements of the Brexit process.

The Conservative MP for Chichester since 1997 said that he had made the decision "after very careful thought" adding that he remains "deeply committed to public service".

Mr Tyrie, 60, added: "I am determined, and hopefully young enough, to contribute in other ways in the years ahead".

Under Mr Tyrie's leadership since 2010 the TSC has been a source of often forensic scrutiny of senior politicians, civil servants and financiers.

As chair, he clashed frequently with the former Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, over issues of governance at the central bank and had regular tussles with the former Chancellor, George Osborne, over the disclosure of Treasury analyses.

Charlotte Hogg, a deputy governor of the Bank of England, resigned in March after it was uncovered by the Committee that she had failed to disclose to the Bank that her brother was employed by Barclays.

Mr Tyrie also chaired the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, which reported in 2013.

Last September he wrote a hard-hitting report for the Open Europe think tank on "giving meaning to Brexit" in which he said that leaving the EU without a trade deal and trading on World Trade Organisation rules would "amount to shock therapy" for the economy.

He also founded an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition.

Mr Tyrie, formerly an economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, retained the safe seat of Chichester in 2015 with a 24,413 majority over his Labour opponent.

The Treasury Select Committee chair, along with a number of others, is elected by MPs at the start of a new Parliament under an Alternative Vote system.

But Mr Tyrie was re-elected unopposed in 2015, reflecting his standing among fellow Parliamentarians.

Andrew Bailey, the head of the Financial Conduct Authority, paid tribute to Mr Tyrie, saying he has "played a major role in enhancing the accountability of economic and financial policy at a time of great change."
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It started with fever and vomiting. Then the 5-month-old baby developed facial twitching, stiffening of his right arm and seizures. The family rushed him to Connecticut Childrens Medical Centre.

Clinicians there performed tests, including a brain MRI that showed clear signs of a serious infection. The testing showed that the baby didnt have meningitis, an infection in the tissues surrounding the brain. But he did have an unusual pattern of inflammation in the very deep parts of his brain.

Doctors didnt know what was causing the inflammation. But the parents said that two weeks earlier, they had pulled a tick off the babys knee, and that the tick had been there for two to three hours. The parents told doctors that the tick was probably carried in on someones clothing who was out hunting, who then held the baby before changing clothes.

Nicholas Bennett was the infectious disease specialist who treated the boy when he was brought to the hospital in early November. It was too late in the year for the infant to have been exposed to mosquitoes, which can transmit viruses that cause encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain.

Instead, the clues suggested a rare tick-borne illness known as

Powassan virus disease. Bennett had trained in upstate New York, where doctors had seen cases of the illness, which can be fatal in up to 10 per cent of cases. He also had read studies saying that the disease had been found in ticks in Connecticut.

Many people who become infected with the virus do not develop symptoms, but it can cause encephalitis and meningitis. Symptoms can include fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, loss of coordination, speech difficulties and seizures. There is no specific medicine to cure or treat Powassan virus disease.

An infected tick can transmit Powassan virus as quickly as 15 minutes after attachment. By comparison, Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections can take as long as one to two days to transmit, and the tick has to stay attached the whole time, he said.

Taking into account the story, the MRI findings and the time of year, there was really only one virus it could be, said Bennett, director of the hospitals division of paediatric infectious diseases and immunology and author of a report released Thursday by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

An engorged female blacklegged, or deer tick, lxodes scapularis, which transmits Powassan virus disease, a rare illness that can be serious. This larval tick is no bigger at the end of this sentence. Handout from the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention

Bennett requested testing for the disease, which can only be done at the CDC. It was confirmed, making it the first reported human case in Connecticut. Officials said the case highlights the importance of considering Powassan virus disease when there are clinical symptoms that could be compatible, and of obtaining a comprehensive exposure history.

Lyme disease (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The infants seizures were controlled with medication and he was sent home after seven days. But one month after the onset of symptoms, his parents noticed that he could not sit up without help, something he had been able to do before he got sick. Four months after his illness, when he was 10 months old, he was reported to have normal motor and verbal development, was crawling, walking with a walker and babbling, the report said. The baby also had a distinct left-handed preference, an indication of right-sided weakness most likely caused by infection in the left side of the babys brain, Bennett said.

Powassan virus disease is rare. An average of seven cases were reported annually in the United States between 2006 and 2015, the CDC report said. Most cases have occurred in the Northeast and Great Lakes areas during the late spring, early summer and mid-fall, when ticks are most active. Several states (Minnesota, New Hampshire and Virginia) reported their first Powassan virus disease cases during the past seven years, the report said. Its not known whether this represents a spread of the virus within the local tick population, or increased testing and recognition of the virus as a cause of human disease.

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The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has more than 100 officials investigating the cause of the mystery illness, and has warned citizens against smoking e-cigarette products until more is known, particularly if modified or bought off the street Getty Health news in pictures Baldness cure looks to be a step closer Researchers in the US claim to have overcome one of the major hurdles to cultivating human follicles from stem cells. The new system allows cells to grow in a structured tuft and emerge from the skin Sanford Burnham Preybs Health news in pictures Two hours a week spent in nature can improve health A study in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that a dose of nature of just two hours a week is associated with better health and psychological wellbeing Shutterstock Health news in pictures Air pollution linked to fertility issues in women Exposure to air from traffic-clogged streets could leave women with fewer years to have children, a study has found. Italian researchers found women living in the most polluted areas were three times more likely to show signs they were running low on eggs than those who lived in cleaner surroundings, potentially triggering an earlier menopause Getty/iStock Health news in pictures Junk food ads could be banned before watershed Junk food adverts on TV and online could be banned before 9pm as part of Government plans to fight the "epidemic" of childhood obesity. Plans for the new watershed have been put out for public consultation in a bid to combat the growing crisis, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said PA Health news in pictures Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into the neanderthals of Eurasia. 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The drug used in the trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been sitting on a shelf unused, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism REX Health news in pictures Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental health problems, study finds Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being prescribed drugs and criticised ideological reasons doctors use to avoid doing so. Getty Health news in pictures Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month later. 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I think we need to think more often about testing for it, Bennett said. We dont know how frequent infections are, and I think it can help give families and patients better advice about what to expect if we can identify and follow patients who get this infection.

The hospital has standard tests to check for viral causes of encephalitis, but it doesnt include Powassan. So it could easily have been missed, Bennett said. In fact, Im sure that there could have been cases in kids and adults that have slipped under the radar. Many cases of encephalitis never get a cause identified, and thats probably because in at least some cases were not using all the right tests.

Bennett said he has ticks in his back yard and has pulled them off every family member.

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Its very possible that clinicians are only diagnosing the worst cases and that those who dont have symptoms go undiagnosed. It would be an important study to assess how widespread this infection really is in the ticks and the people who live in those affected areas, he said.

The other lesson is that people should perform prompt tick checks and removal. After being in outdoor areas where ticks are present, the recommendation is to immediately shower and change clothing, and check for ticks.

The Ixodes scapularis ticks that can transmit the virus are often very small, he said, from about the size of a pinhead up to the size of an apple seed, and can be easily missed. The tick is also the primary vector of Lyme disease.

 The Washington Post
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Extremely premature babies could be kept alive in future using an artificial womb that scientists plan to test in humans after a successful study involving unborn lambs.

A plastic bag filled with artificial amniotic fluid  the nutrient-rich liquid that sustains a foetus in the womb  allowed foetal lambs to develop at an age equivalent to 23 weeks in humans.

Human infants born at 23 weeks have just a 15 per cent chance of survival, according to pregnancy research charity Tommys. This rises to 55 per cent at 24 weeks, while babies born at 25 weeks have an 80 per cent chance of survival.

Premature babies are often placed in incubators to help keep them warm, but the new invention closely replicates conditions in a real womb, scientists at the Center for Fetal Research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have said.

This system is potentially far superior to what hospitals can currently do for a 23-week-old baby born at the cusp of viability, said Dr Alan Flake, the Centres director.

These infants have an urgent need for a bridge between the mother's womb and the outside world. If we can develop an extra-uterine system to support growth and organ maturation for only a few weeks, we can dramatically improve outcomes for extremely premature babies.

Inside the device, the infant's own heart circulates blood through the umbilical cord into an external gas-exchange machine taking the place of the mother's placenta, while synthetic amniotic fluid enriched with nutrients flows in and out of the temperature-controlled, near-sterile biobag.

No mechanical pump is used, because even gentle artificial pressure could fatally overload an underdeveloped heart.

A diagram showing how the artificial womb-like 'biobag' nourishes a foetal lamb (The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)

The researchers believe their new system could be ready for human trials in three to five years, but stress there is no question of using the system to replace a mother's womb at earlier stages of development  which could raise fears of sci-fi technology and the end of conventional pregnancy.

Six pre-term lambs were used in tests of the most recent version of the extra-uterine support device, which evolved from a glass tank to the biobag design over a period of three years.

Animals breathed and swallowed normally, opened their eyes, grew wool and developed properly functioning nerves and organs, said the researchers writing in the journal Nature Communications.

The lambs remained in the womb for up to a month. While most were humanely killed to allow analysis of their brains, lungs and other organs, a few were allowed to survive and were bottle-fed.

They appear to have normal development in all respects, said Dr Flake as one of the survivors reached a year old.

But Dr Flake said there was no technology even on the horizon that could replace a mother's womb at the earliest stages of foetal development. There's a lot of sensationalistic conversation about supporting humans artificially from embryo forward, he said.

I would be very concerned if other parties wanted to use this device to try to extend the limits of viability.

Every year in the UK 60,000 babies  one in nine  are born prematurely, requiring special hospital care.

At infant prematurely born at 23 weeks weighs less than 600 grams. There is a high likelihood of lifelong disability among those that do survive, who have a 90 per cent probability of suffering chronic lung disease or other effects of being born with immature organs.

A major technical hurdle still to be crossed is downsizing the system to make it suitable for human infants, which are a third of the size of the lambs used in the study.

Mothers meeting their newborn babies Show all 9 1 /9 Mothers meeting their newborn babies Mothers meeting their newborn babies Fermont Fotographie Mothers meeting their newborn babies Fermont Fotographie Mothers meeting their newborn babies Fermont Fotographie Mothers meeting their newborn babies Fermont Fotographie Mothers meeting their newborn babies Fermont Fotographie Mothers meeting their newborn babies Fermont Fotographie Mothers meeting their newborn babies Fermont Fotographie Mothers meeting their newborn babies Mothers meeting their newborn babies

Expert Professor Colin Duncan, from the University of Edinburgh, said: This research isn't about replacing the womb in the first half of pregnancy. It is about the development of new ways of treating extremely premature babies.

The researchers supported the growth and development of extremely premature foetuses within a bag of fluid where the foetus pumps its own blood through an artificial placenta.

This is a really attractive concept and this study is a very important step forward. There are still huge challenges to refine the technique, to make good results more consistent and eventually to compare outcomes with current neonatal intensive care strategies.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have grown a miniature womb lining in a lab which they hope can provide new insights into the early stages of pregnancy, when the placenta is established.

Events in early pregnancy lay the foundations for a successful birth, and our new technique should provide a window into this events, said Professor Graham Burton, director of the universitys Centre for Trophoblast Research.

Additional reporting from Press Association
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Mexico has succeeded in eliminating trachoma, an infectious disease that is the worlds leading cause of blindness, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced.

The disease, which causes the inner surface of the eyelids to become rough, is believed to be responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of 1.9 million people worldwide.

It remains a public health problem among poor, isolated populations in 41 countries following Mexicos elimination of the disease  a "historic moment for public health in Mexico and the Americas", said the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

Mexico is the first country in the Americas to receive validation of having defeated the disease, which is still endemic in countries including Brazil, Guatemala and Colombia.

Carissa Etienne, PAHOs director, said this achievement was a result of a "decades-long efforts of Mexican authorities, health workers and communities to improve their health and quality of life, and end this disease of poverty".

Young children are most likely to develop trachoma, caused by an infection that spreads through skin-to-skin contact or from flies that have touched discharge from the eyes or nose.

 Disfiguring tropical disease sweeps across Middle East

The disease was common in Britain in the 19th century, but is now mostly found in hot, dry countries and affects those without access to clean water to wash their faces.

Mexico is the third country to eliminate the disease as a public health problem after Oman became the first beat the disease in 2012. Morocco also received WHO validation of having eliminated trachoma in November.

Britain recently announced it was doubling its funding to fight neglected tropical diseases, which International Development Secretary Priti Patel said belong to the last century.

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The money will be used to fight trachoma and other tropical diseases that can cause debilitating pain, disfigurement and death, including parasitic infections such as Guinea worm and elephantiasis.

In 2004, Mexico began to take more aggressive action towards eliminating trachoma, reducing the number of cases from 1,794 that year to zero in 2016, according to data from local health teams.

This was achieved through a drive for better sanitation, use of antibiotics and surgery in severe cases, using the slogan: With water, soap and cleanliness you can prevent trachoma.

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The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even metabolically healthy obese people are still at a higher risk of heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range Getty Health news in pictures Sleep deprivation When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain to eat itself Shutterstock Health news in pictures Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness group was spurred to launch the napercise class after research revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have to have children to take part Getty Health news in pictures 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health professor have said Getty Health news in pictures 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves Getty Health news in pictures Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25 or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall behind by the time they hit their teenage years Getty Health news in pictures Cycling to work could halve risk of cancer and heart disease Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new research suggests  but campaigners have warned there is still an urgent need to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the same degree as cycling. Getty

The WHO criteria for elimination of trachoma as a public health problem is prevalence of less than five per cent in children aged one to nine and less than one case of inverted eyelashes per 1000 people.

Another five countries have said they have reached these elimination targets and are awaiting WHO validation: China, Gambia, Ghana, Iran and Myanmar.
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One evening last autumn, the Isis fighters came down from the mountains. Sayed Ghozlani was visiting his family during a break from the army, and the fighters wanted to find him. They stormed his house during dinner and corralled the men. They beat them up, tied their hands behind their backs and forced them all to kneel. Then one fighter pressed a gun against Ghozlani's head and demanded his name.

"Abdul Malik, he replied.

"That's not the truth, another militant said in a voice that was familiar, according to two witnesses.

His face bloodied, Ghozlani looked up to see a figure carrying an AK-47 rifle and smiling triumphantly.

It was his cousin Muntasir.

In the mountains of western Tunisia, radical Islamists are spreading their ideology, cowing villagers with brute violence and dividing families. American-trained Tunisian soldiers are battling them, but the militants are formidable opponents.

Fadha, Salina and Mohammed Ghozlani had a brother who was killed by Isis militants last autumn (Lorenzo Tugnoli/Washington Post)

The struggle lays bare Isis's aspirations as it loses territory in Iraq and Syria, security officials and analysts say. The militants are searching for new safe havens and areas to control, as well as sow chaos. They are also fortifying existing footholds to expand their reach and fallback options.

In Egypt, Isis militants are staging devastating attacks on minority Christians. In Algeria and the Sahel region, new Isis affiliates have emerged. And after losing its Libyan stronghold of Sirte in December, Isis is trying to regroup in southern Libya, and potentially in Tunisia and other neighbouring countries, US military and intelligence officials say.

"The instability in Libya and North Africa may be the most significant near-term threat to America and its allies' interests on the continent, General Thomas Waldhauser, head of the Pentagon's Africa Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month.

The return of possibly thousands of fighters threatens to further destabilise Tunisia, a moderate Muslim nation and the only one to emerge as a functioning democracy after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

Less than 15 miles from the Algerian border, the mountains have become a crossroads for militants from the region. Caves and bushes provide plenty of cover for training camps and redoubts in an area that is partly ungoverned.

Locals congregate at a cafe in Kasserine's city centre (Lorenzo Tugnoli/Washington Post)

In villages and towns, the forces abetting radicalisation are in full gear: ignored by successive governments, the region is beset with high unemployment, poverty and weak social services. Resentment toward the government runs deep.

On that November evening, these colluding forces led one cousin to betray another.

"Ever since my brother joined the army, our cousin wanted to kill him, says Fadha Ghozlani, 35, who was in the house during the attack, along with their younger brother, Mohammed. He brought the terrorists to our home."

By UN. estimates, at least 5,500 Tunisians have fought for Isis and al-Qaida in Syria, Iraq and Libya  more than from any other country. Many are from the Kasserine region.

But even as Tunisia became a militant pipeline to the wars in those countries, its secular history and drift toward the West made it a target. In 2015, Tunisian gunmen believed to have trained in Libya attacked the resort town of Sousse and the Bardo Museum in the capital, Tunis, killing scores, mostly foreign tourists.

Mafoud Bin Daraie, an imam, became a target after denouncing radical Islamist ideologies. A militant attempted to kill him in this room (Lorenzo Tugnoli/Washington Post)

Last year, Isis fighters based in Libya brazenly battled security forces in the southern border town of Ben Guerdane, widely seen as an effort to establish a new foothold in Tunisia. That foothold seems to be taking shape in these mountains, where Isis is also in a contest with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb for recruits and territory.

Security analysts say that many fighters have defected to form the Isiss Tunisian branch, Jund-al-Khilafah, which in Arabic means the soldiers of the caliphate.

There are no more than a couple hundred militants in the mountains, security officials say, including some from Algeria, Mauritania and West African countries. But most of the fighters are Tunisians from the area, disaffected men such as Muntasir.

By the time he joined Isis last summer, it had become harder to travel to the wars abroad. The nation is under emergency law. Men younger than 35 need written permission from their parents to leave the country. A 125-mile earthen wall was built along the border with Libya to prevent jihadis from leaving and entering.

"The security situation is improving, says Yasser Mesbah, an interior ministry spokesman. But we can't say the threat is over."

Consider this: 3,576 Tunisians were tried last year on terrorism-related charges, including recruitment and training, according to Interior Ministry data.

"The bigger issue, not just for Tunisia, but for all of us, is this: what about the guys who have not left the state to fight? says Patrice Bergamini, the European Union's ambassador to Tunisia. "They are like ticking bombs."

Sayed and Muntasir grew up near each other in Thmad, a bucolic village in the mountains. Born the same year, they played together and often slept in the same room. They were both tall, lean and handsome.

Their families, like others in their once close-knit community, farmed and grazed sheep. They celebrated holidays and festivals together.

Karma is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Kasserine. Dozens of families have sons who have joined the militants (Lorenzo Tugnoli/Washington Post)

By the time the cousins turned 20, the Arab Spring uprisings were transforming Tunisia. In Kasserine, violent protests in January 2011 played a central role in the ousting of dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Like other southern areas, it had been ignored by the country's northern elite for decades.

Neither cousin took part in the revolution. Muntasir was growing crops and tending to his family's sheep on the mountains. And by then, Sayed had joined the army to help support his parents and siblings.

But Sayed's job drove the two cousins apart. Muntasir soon viewed him as a member of Ben Ali's oppressive regime.

"When Muntasir learned that Sayed had enlisted in the army, he used to call him 'tyrant,'  recalls Mohammed Ghozlani, 25, Sayed's younger brother. He used to throw this word in our faces whenever he saw us in a local cafe or other places. But at that time, he didn't try to harm us."

After the revolt, a new openness flourished. But that also paved the way for religious extremists to attract youths frustrated with the lack of opportunities. In mosques and Islamic education camps, imams implored young people to give up their Western ways and urged them to defend Islam.

Mohamed Zorgui, a rapper and community youth leader, recalls that in 2013 the black Islamic State flags were being displayed openly in the city centre."

The flags are gone, but the sense of despair lingers. The promises of economic growth that emerged after the revolution remain unfulfilled, and cafes are filled during the day with idle young men of working age.

High unemployment and resentment toward the government have made the Kasserine region a key source of recruits for Isis and other radical groups (Lorenzo Tugnoli/Washington Post)

"The youth have no idea what the future will bring, says Mahmoud Kahri, a lawmaker representing Kasserine. And the government has found no efficient way to address their problems."

That has garnered more sympathy for the militants. In January, protests broke out in the town over the lack of jobs. Some youths burned tyres. Others branded government officials nonbelievers and chanted Isis is coming, Zorgui recalls.

In Al Karma and Al Zuhour, two hardscrabble enclaves in the town of Kasserine, dozens of families have sons who left to fight abroad or were recruited by the militants in the mountains. Scrawled on the wall of a school in Al Zuhour are the words: Isis is lasting and expanding."

By all accounts, Muntasir was not a devout Muslim. He rarely attended mosque or prayed five times a day. But last spring, his relatives noticed that he started praying and engaging in discussions about Islam. "Muntasir used to drink alcohol, and then, one day, he suddenly started to speak about religion, Mohammed Ghozlani recalls.

Yet Muntasir kept his sympathies to the Isis a secret, and many family members didn't realise he had joined the militancy until he had vanished into the mountains during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last summer.

Mafoud Bin Daraie, a 40-year-old imam and community leader, says the militants have largely drawn recruits from rural young men who have wrong impressions of Islam or are very poor".

He has tried to stop several Kasserine youth from heading overseas to fight or into the mountains. But now he himself is a target.

A few months ago, a Tunisian militant with a handgun entered Daraie's mosque during Friday prayers. But security forces were tipped off, and before he could pull the trigger, they grabbed him. "They tried to kill me because I spoke out against them, Daraie says.

A few blocks from his mosque, a house is pocked with softball-sized holes from heavy gunfire. In August, security forces fought a nine-hour battle with militants holed up there. Two of the gunmen, along with a passerby, were killed.

One day last summer, the militants accused Najib Guasmi, 37, a shepherd, of being an informant for the security forces. "They killed him with a bullet to his head, says his brother, Hadi.

The militants have also planted landmines, killing several civilians in recent months.

At least a dozen Tunisian fighters returning from Syria and Iraq have joined the militants, said Ridha Raddaoui, co-author of a recent report on terrorism by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights. As more fighters return, he adds, they will be fuel to the battle in the mountains against the Tunisian state".

At checkpoints in the towns, Tunisian security forces search vehicles for weapons and bombs. Soldiers patrol in Humvees and armoured personnel carriers. Suspected militants have been arrested and sent to jail.

But a recent visit to the mountains, under armed escort, revealed the security challenges on this vast terrain dotted with cactus and pine trees along dry riverbeds.

"There are fighters everywhere, says a national guard commander, pointing at the mountains, a Belgian-made rifle slung over his shoulder. He is speaking on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to journalists. But we don't have the necessary means and equipment to fight them."

Mohamed Zorgui, a rapper and community leader, says that Isis flags were being displayed openly in the city 2013. The flags are gone, but the sense of despair lingers (Lorenzo Tugnoli/Washington Post)

The security forces, he says, are stretched thin and lack equipment to track down the militants. "God is the only one protecting us now, he says.

On that November evening, Muntasir was determined to confront his cousin. By then, he was routinely coming down from the mountains to pick up food and supplies. Nearly half the village was helping the militants. The other half lived in fear.

Sayed, too, was coming home  despite the omens. On one visit, a cousin told him that if he had a gun he would kill him on the spot.

"I told my brother, 'Don't come to the house. Muntasir is watching you,'  Fadha Ghozlani recalls.

But Sayed was close to his mother, and she needed money.

As Sayed glared at Muntasir in their house, his mother began to cry. She begged Muntasir not to harm her son.

But the militants hauled Sayed into a guest room. Muntasir joined them. Moments later, two bullets pierced the back of Sayed's head.

 Washington Post
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Millions of tons of plastic bags end up on landfill sites every year, risking the health of the environment and destroying the natural habitat of certain animals.

But amateur beekeeper Federica Bertocchini has made an astounding discovery when removing wax worms from honeycombs, which she hopes could help solve the problems caused by plastic bags.

In the wild, the worms live as parasites in bee colonies by laying their eggs inside hives and, once hatched, grow on the beeswax. The worms on Professor Bertocchini's property had been kept in a plastic shopping bag, which she saw were full of holes.

Recommended Scientists successfully grow potatoes in replica Martian environment

Professor Bertocchini, from the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria (CSIC), Spain, noticed the strange phenomenon, and in collaboration with Paolo Bombelli and Christopher Howe from the University of Cambridge, they took approximately 100 wax worms and exposed them to supermarket-brand plastic bags.

In just 40 minutes, holes began to appear, and after 12 hours the mass of the plastic bags had reduced by 92mg.

Professor Bombelli said: If a single enzyme is responsible for this chemical process, its reproduction on a large scale using biotechnological methods should be achievable.

"This discovery could be an important tool for helping to get rid of the polyethylene plastic waste accumulated in landfill sites and oceans."

One of the reasons the worms can break down plastic at such a quick rate is likely because theyre doing it already  when theyre digesting beeswax, a sort of natural plastic as Professor Bertocchini calls it, with a chemical structure similar to polyethylene.

The team are planning to use what they have learned from the worms to find a viable way to get rid of plastic waste to save our oceans, rivers and the entire environment from the unavoidable consequences of plastic accumulation.
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Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann say they still have "significant" leads to pursue, ten years after she went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said there were "critical lines of enquiry of great interest to ourselves and our Portuguese counterparts, and there are some significant investigative avenues we are pursuing that we see as very worthwhile".

The force still employs four officers on the case despite Mr Rowley acknowledging that the Met "does not have evidence telling us if Madeleine is alive or dead".

Meanwhile, Madeleine's mother has warned about the likelihood of new misinformation, half-truths and downright lies spread about her daughters disappearance.

Kate McCann said the family was bracing itself for a stressful and painful few weeks as the tenth anniversary is marked next Wednesday.

Ms McCann described the anniversary as a horrible marker of time, stolen time, but she also insisted the family was clinging on to the prospect that Madeleine may still be found alive, saying: "There will always be hope.

Mark Rowley added: "It is a missing persons inquiry but as a team we are realistic about what we might be dealing with - especially as months turn to years."

He refused to comment on other aspects of the investigation but said the Met's "relationship with the Portuguese investigators is better than ever and this is paying dividends in the progress all of us are making".

Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

Writing on the Official Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, Ms McCann said: "Ten years - there's no easy way to say it, describe it, accept it."

She said media appearances were "draining and on occasion, unhelpful to the only thing we want, finding Madeleine".

"They need to have a purpose. We could spend all our time and energy trying to defend ourselves by correcting inaccuracies and lies, but then we would have no strength left to look for Madeleine, look after our other children and to live our life.

"Even if little consideration for Gerry and me is shown, they will at least bear in mind the effect such unfounded and unwarranted negativity could have on our other children - and of course Madeleine."

 Madeleine Mccann documentary claims to have 'groundbreaking' new evidence

Ms McCann added: "We are bracing ourselves for the next couple of weeks.

"It's likely to be stressful and painful and more so given the rehashing of old 'stories', misinformation, half-truths and downright lies which will be doing the rounds in the newspapers, social media and 'special edition' TV programmes."

She also confirmed there is an "active" police investigation to try to find Madeleine and bring her abductor to justice.

"There are no new appeals that the police wish to make at this moment in time and so we are keeping any media involvement marking this unwanted milestone to a minimum, she added.

The Madeleine McCann case Show all 25 1 /25 The Madeleine McCann case The Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann One of the last photos of Madeleine before her disappearance EPA The Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann Madeleine McCann was three when she was abducted during a family holiday in 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Top worn by a man that detectives investigate with connection to disappearance of Madeleine McCann A computer generated image of the distinctive burgundy long sleeve top worn by a man that detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are looking for The Madeleine McCann case Apartment in Portugal from where Madeleine went missing An aerial view of the Ocean Club apartments and pool where Madeleine McCann went missing Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The Madeleine McCann case Kate McCann Kate McCann speaks to the press outside the court house in Lisbon on 12 September 2013 following the first audience of the McCann couple's libel proceedings against former inspector Goncalo Amaral for a book written about the case of their missing daughter The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Kate McCann and Gerry McCann before the start of the 'Miles for Missing People' charity run in Regent's Park in London, 2011 The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Kate and Gerry McCann make an appeal at a press conference in the holiday resort of Praia da Luz, Portugal 7 May 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann The McCann's give an interview with a Spanish television channel at their home in Rothley The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Madeleine McCann was abducted in Portugal in May 2007 AP The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Preliminary forensic analysis on samples recovered from the McCanns' hire car raised the possibility of a match with Madeleine's DNA profile, according to the leaked report Getty Images The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Pope Benedict XVI blesses a photo of four-year-old abducted British girl Madeleine McCann, while meeting her parents Gerry and Kate McCann, after his weekly general audience at the Vatican, 2007 Reuters The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Gerald McCann and Kate McCann speak to the press on 4 May 2007 at the Ocean club appartement hotel in Praia de Luz in Lagos after Madeline vanished while her parents were out to dinner The Madeleine McCann case Portuguese police search for Madeleine Dozens of Portuguese police aided by dogs search for missing three-year old British girl Madelaine McCann in front of the Ocean club appartment hotel in Praia de Luz in Lagos The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann Gerald McCann and Kate McCann walk holding their two other children outside the Ocean club apartment hotel in Praia de Luz in May 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann Madeleine McCann pictured at the age of three, left, and as she might have looked aged nine PA/Teri Blythe The Madeleine McCann case Kate and Gerry McCann The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have described as "pure speculation" reports in the Portuguese press suggesting that a chief suspect in the disappearance of their daughter was killed in a tractor accident four years ago. PA The Madeleine McCann case Tribute for missing Madeleine in Rothley, Leicesteshire Three year old Cally prepares to add a yellow ribbon to a floral tribute for missing Madeleine McCann in Rothley in Leicesteshire, 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Support for the missing Madeleine Everton captain Lee Carsley (L) leads his team onto the field, followed Mikel Arteta (C) and Manuel Fernandes (R) wearing Tshirts bearing a message of support for the missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, prior to the English Premiership match between Chelsea and Everton, at Stamford Bridge in London, 2007 The Madeleine McCann case Madeleine McCann A poster appealing for information about Madeleine McCann at a Spanish railway station PA The Madeleine McCann case BBC's Crimewatch reconstruction of Madeleine McCann's disappearance Former porn star Mark Sloan (L) was cast in the BBC's Crimewatch reconstruction of Madeleine McCann's disappearance BBC The Madeleine McCann case Clarence Mitchell holds two artist's impression of the new suspect McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell holds two artist's impression of the new suspect on 20 January 2008 in London. The description has come from British woman Gail Cooper, who was staying with her family close to the McCann's apartment in Portugal The Madeleine McCann case Image of a woman sought in the case Clarence Mitchell, the press spokesman for the McCann family, releases a photofit image of a woman sought in the search for missing Madeleine McCann Getty Images The Madeleine McCann case Suspect in disappearance of Madeleine McCann Police released two e-fits of suspect in disappearance of Madeleine McCann Getty Images The Madeleine McCann case Raymond Hewlett Convicted paedophile Raymond Hewlett, who is being sought in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann PA The Madeleine McCann case A picture of a suspect An artist's impression of a suspicious man seen by a witness apparently watching the McCann family's apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, the day before Madeleine McCann went missing Channel 4

Madeleine's disappearance sparked one of the most high-profile, and costly, police investigations of recent times.

Scotland Yard has been assisting with the inquiry since 2011 at a cost of more than 11m.

Last month the Home Office confirmed it has granted officers 85,000 to carry on with the case for a further six months.
Pres. Trump Succumbs to Turkish Pressures By not Recognizing the Armenian Genocide

By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com Armenians and Turks around the world wait with bated breath each year to see if the President of the United States would use in his annual April 24 statement the word Genocide to describe the mass killings of Armenians. Armenians and Turks seem to forget that the United States has not only recognized the Armenian Genocide, but has done so repeatedly at the highest levels: The House of Representatives recognized the Armenian Genocide twice in 1975 and 1984. So did President Reagan in his Presidential Proclamation 4838, issued on April 22, 1981. Most importantly, the United States Government officially recognized the Armenian Genocide in a report filed with the International Court of Justice (World Court) in 1951. Therefore, after all this recognition, as I have repeatedly stated in my columns, Armenians no longer need additional acknowledgments by the President of the United States or the U.S. Congress. This year, many were curious if Pres. Trump would issue a statement at all on April 24 and whether he will use the term Armenian Genocide. After 84 members of Congress wrote a joint letter to Pres. Trump and private individuals like Mike Sarian of California contacted high level Trump administration officials urging the President to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, the White House issued a statement on April 24, declining to call it genocide. The good news is that, given Pres. Trumps lack of familiarity with Armenian issues, and not having made any campaign promises to the Armenian community, the Trump administration did not completely ignore the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and marked this special day with a statement, as was done by several previous presidents. Pres. Trumps statement mentions the basic facts of the Genocide, describing the Armenian mass killings as one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century. Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. While Armenians are disappointed that Pres. Trump shied away from using the term Armenian Genocide, the Turks have no reason to celebrate. On the contrary, they should be ashamed that the President of the United States is accusing their ancestors of committing one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century and refers to the killings of 1.5 million Armenians, which the Turkish government denies to this day! The bad news, however, is that Pres. Trump issued a statement that does not acknowledge the Armenian Genocide as a genocide. Pres. Trumps aides have simply copied the texts issued for eight years by Pres. Obama and before him by Presidents Bush and Clinton, including the reference to the Armenian term Meds Yeghern, which is not understood by anyone except Armenians, and does not have the legal meaning under international law of the term genocide or tseghasbanoutyoun in Armenian. The use of Meds Yeghern is simply a clever ploy to avoid the word Genocide. In the past, I have taken the position that if a President cannot acknowledge the Genocide, he should not insult the memory of the Armenian victims and the intelligence of Armenian-Americans by referring to it as tragedy and atrocities. When Sean Spicer, Trumps spokesman was asked about the White Houses omission of the term genocide from its April 24 statement, he cynically replied: it is perfectly in keeping with the language thats been used over and over again [by previous Presidents]. It is shocking that a Pres. Trump, who takes such pride in speaking out his mind and strongly criticizes the shortcomings of previous presidents, is all of a sudden proud to follow their unacceptable censorship of the Armenian Genocide! Pres. Trump angered a lot of people around the world when he called Pres. Erdogan after the referendum earlier this month and congratulating him on a tainted election that gave Erdogan dictatorial powers! Pres. Trump is scheduled to welcome Pres. Erdogan to the White House in May! I fully agree with the reactions of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) to Pres. Trumps statement. The ANCA stated: President Trump has chosen to enforce Ankara's gag-rule against American condemnation and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. In failing to properly mark April 24th, President Trump is effectively outsourcing U.S. genocide-prevention policy to Recep Erdogan, an arrogant and authoritarian dictator who clearly enjoys the public spectacle of arm-twisting American presidents into silence on Turkey's mass murder of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and other Christians. The AAA stated: the President's statement fails to stand up for human rights and is inconsistent with American values, and represents the same kind of capitulation to Turkish authoritarianism which will cost more lives." Cong. Adam Schiff (Dem.-CA), a long-time supporter of the Armenian community, also issued a statement condemning Pres. Trumps lack of use of the term Armenian Genocide: Today, we received another disappointing statement from yet another President, refusing to acknowledge the murder of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923 for what it was -- a genocide. President Trump now joins a long line of both Republican and Democratic Presidents unwilling to confront Turkey, and by refusing to do so, he has made the United States once again a party to its campaign of denial. How can we speak with the moral clarity we must about the genocidal campaign by ISIS against religious minorities in Syria and Iraq, if we are unwilling to condemn the first genocide of the last century? If the President will not speak out, the Congress must, and I join my colleagues -- Democrats and Republicans -- in calling on the House to take up the Armenian Genocide resolution. With all due respect to Cong. Schiff, the Armenian-American community does not need one more House resolution on the Armenian Genocide, on the top of the two resolutions already adopted in 1975 and 1984. What Armenians around the world demand is justice -- compensation for their enormous losses, return of their confiscated private and communal properties, and liberation of the occupied Armenian territories. This is what a future House resolution must demand, not more genocide recognition. Finally, I am very pleased that WikiLeaks tweeted on April 24 to its 4.6 million followers one of my previous columns on Hillary Clinton rejecting the suggestion of her top campaign aides to issue a statement on the Armenian Genocide before last years presidential elections.
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The University of Leeds will be welcoming royalty onto its campus this September when Japanese princess Kako arrives to study.

Princess Kako of Akishono, the 22-year-old granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, is enrolling at the university for a year as an exchange student, according to the Imperial Household Agency.

The princess has not decided which course she will study during her year abroad but she is said to be interested in psychology and art, according to the Japan Times.

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The princess has previously attended the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo and the Gakushuin University. She will return to Japan next summer after completing her exchange in the UK.

Her older sister, princess Mako, also spent her third year at ICU abroad in the UK, studying at the University of Edinburgh, according to The Mainichi.

Princess Mako later returned to the UK and studied at the University of Leicester two years ago.

Her year in Leicester was completed as a regular student, with the Imperial Household Agency choosing not to announce the news of the princesss choice of university until she had completed her Masters of Art in Museum and Gallery Studies.
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Refugees in the UK are being consigned to hunger and homelessness immediately after they are granted asylum, a report has found, in what has been described as a timely wake-up call about the plight of refugees seeking sanctuary in the UK.

The research, published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Refugees, shows Government policies are creating a costly two-tier system of refugee protection, with those who entered the country on Government-led resettlement schemes generally provided for, but others often being left homeless and destitute  damaging their prospects of integration.

A combination of delays and confusion about important paperwork from Government departments, a cliff-edge of support following a positive decision on refugee status and poor English language provision are leading to refugees who want to contribute their skills and talents to the UK facing a number of barriers, the report warned.

It reported worrying delays in the issuing of National Insurance numbers  necessary for newly recognised refugees to be able to gain access to finance and housing once their asylum support is ended  which is resulting in newly-recognised refugees becoming destitute.

The 28-day period given to asylum seekers after they are successful in their application before the Home Office stops giving them support  known as the move on period  is too short, the report found, with the brevity of the move-on period leaving too many newly recognised refugees homeless and destitute."

One refugee, Anas from Syria, was left unable to access jobseekers support or secure accommodation after the Home Office made a spelling mistake on his official paperwork, which resulted in him spending five months homeless, jobless and without any financial support.

Speaking to researchers, Anas said: Isis and Assad mean that its no longer safe for me at home. When I arrived in Britain I was so thankful to have been offered safety.

Recommended Syrians resettled in UK recognised as refugees by the UK Government

All I wanted was to be a good person and give back to the country which sheltered me  but I couldnt for no better reason than because my paperwork was wrong and it took five months to fix it.

I will always be grateful to Britain, but I will never understand a system which stops people like me from getting on my feet and contributing to society.

A programme under the last Labour government, called the Refugee Integration and Employment Service, offered 12 months of support to access housing, education, social security and the job market, but was ended under the coalition government in September 2011. Since then, there has been no government provided support service for refugees who have been through the asylum system.

The report also found that JobCentre staff who are dealing with refugees did not always provide the right information or have awareness of the correct procedures, leading to delays in refugees being able to access support. Refugees also face problems opening bank accounts, frequently as a result of being unable to provide documentation banks ask for, the evidence showed.

Separately, it found that many female refugees were at risk of sexual and gender based violence once they arrive in the UK, due to being financially dependent on a partner and facing barriers to services such as English language classes.

Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Show all 7 1 /7 Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The Solidarity With Refugees group said Saturdays protest aimed to show our Government and the world that Britain is ready to welcome more refugees. Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis People march through central London as they take part in a protest rally organised by Solidarity with Refugees in a bid to urge the Government to take more action on the migrant crisis Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The protest comes days before world leaders meet to discuss crisis at UN General Assembly Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Demonstrators made their way from Park Lane to Parliament Square in London on Saturday afternoon Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Marchers chanted refugees are welcome here and waved banners reading no-one is illegal and lets help people Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The march was supported by charities and groups including the Red Cross, Asylum Aid, Save the Children, Hope Not Hate, Oxfam and the UN Refugee Agency Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis In the wake of Alans death, David Cameron pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK over the coming five years but there have been additional calls to re-home those who have already reached Europe, as well as asylum seekers coming from other conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan Rex Features

Commenting on the reports findings, Thangam Debbonaire, Labour MP for Bristol West and chair of the APPG, told The Independent it was bizarre that the Home Office was preventing refugees from integrating into society by making it difficult to do simple things like finding accommodation and getting a job.

If you dont get issued with the five pieces of documentation in time  which few do  you will have a high chance of being destitute without 28 days, Ms Debbonaire said.

Theres a huge contrast between the elation that people thought they were going to feel when they were granted asylum, and the fact that immediately they face eviction from their asylum accommodation. They cant apply for benefits, they cant work  they cant do anything.

These are people who have come here with very little, and havent been allowed to work up until that point. The suddenly theyre ask to find a flat or accommodation in the private sector. I would struggle in 28 days  and Ive got a good job.

These are not asylum seekers whose claims are in dispute. These are people who the Home Office has decided are refugees. And thats a really high bar, because they dont grant it easily. To instantly make it hard for those who have been granted asylum to integrate seems bizarre.

It doesnt help the UK population to feel like they are able to welcome refugees if the refugees themselves arent in a position to integrate if they want to. British The refugees I met had all gone to enormous lengths to learn English, to try keep up their qualifications or get volunteering experiences. They want to work; they dont want to claim benefits.

It doesnt help refugees and it doesnt help the indigenous population  it doesnt make any sense.

Maurice Wren, the Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, who provide support to the APPG, meanwhile said: Its unacceptable that the Government treats refugees unequally by offering a relative few the necessary help and support they need to integrate into British life, while simultaneously consigning another much larger group to the high risk of homelessness, hunger and despair.

These are people who have fled the same bombs and the same bullets; its vital the Government recognises that they need the same support to begin rebuilding their lives.

Stephen Hale, chief executive of Refugee Action, said the report served as a timely wake-up call for the Government to help refugees rebuild their lives and avoid wasting their talents.

This report is a timely wake-up call. The new Government must seize the opportunity to enable all refugees in Britain, regardless of how they arrive, to successfully rebuild their lives, Mr Hale said.

Refugees are determined to learn English and start contributing to their new communities through volunteering, work and socialising with their neighbours. But as the report highlights, they face huge barriers to integration. This is a shocking waste of their talents.

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

Alex Fraser, director of refugee support at the British Red Cross, said: This report confirms what we see on a daily basis: that all too often, people who have come to the UK after fleeing conflict or persecution are being left destitute and reliant on charity to survive.

By definition, a refugee has had to leave their home country because their life is in danger. A two-tier system, where refugees who arrive in the UK as asylum seekers are at risk of being left homeless or living hand-to-mouth, is completely at odds with the supportive and welcoming spirit behind the governments Syrian Resettlement Programme.

No one should be left destitute as a side effect of being granted protection in this country. We strongly encourage the government to take notice of this report, in particular its recommendation to extend the move-on period* from 28 days.
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Pro-EU campaigners have named 20 Brexit-backing MPs they hope to oust from their seats at the general election, in a last-ditch bid to derail Theresa Mays plan for a hard Brexit.

The small group of mainly Conservative MPs are being targeted because they have been particularly vocal in their support of cutting all ties with Brussels, including leaving the single market.

Labours Kate Hoey and high profile Tories including Iain Duncan Smith are on the attack list drawn up by the Remain-supporting group Open Britain.

Activists have also drawn up a list of 20 staunchly pro-European MPs from across the three main political parties, as well as Green MP Caroline Lucas, who they plan to defend in the 8 June vote.

Labour's Mary Creagh and Conservative Neil Carmichael are among the MPs to win the support of Open Britains election plan, dubbed the 20/20 key seat strategy.

The group says it will draw on the 500,000 supporters it has on its books and has teamed up with European Movement and Britain for Movement to access another 100,000 backers.

Lord Mandelson, who sits on the Open Britain board, said: Election candidates of all parties should be demanding that a hard Brexit is rejected and making clear that they will reserve judgment on the outcome until they see whether we get exactly the same trade benefits, as [Brexit secretary] David Davis has promised.

Ms Hoey, the only Labour MP on the attack list, will face a concerted effort to have her 12,000 majority overturned by the Liberal Democrats.

The party finished more than 20,000 votes behind Ms Hoey in 2015, with just 6.9 per cent of the vote compared with the Labour MP's 53.8 per cent.

But the local borough, Lambeth, backed remaining in the EU by 78 per cent, meaning there is likely to be strong support for a candidate who could oust the Brexit-backing incumbent.

 Tony Blair: 'Consider voting Tory or Lib Dems over Brexit'

Meanwhile, in his second intervention in the week-old election campaign, Tony Blair said the Conservatives' position on Brexit must be "turned against them".

The Labour former prime minister insisted he had "not urged tactical voting" after suggesting voters may support Lib Dems or Tories if they kept an open mind on EU exit negotiations.

We have to expose the fact that the mandate the Tories are asking for is not for an open negotiation in the interests of the country but for a "Brexit at any cost" driven by the ideology of the right of the Tory party, he wrote, in an article for The Guardian.
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Theresa May is under mounting pressure to remove foreign students from the immigration figures after MPs warned that her refusal to do so is damaging Britains world class universities.

In a report published today, the cross-party Education Select Committee calls for overseas students to be recorded under a separate classification and not be counted against the overall [migration] limit.

Suggesting that Ms May is isolated on the issue, the MPs say: There is widespread support for treating international students as temporary rather than permanent migrants: from the public, Parliament, and parts of the Government. It highlights remarks by the Brexiteer ministers Boris Johnson and Liam Fox in favour of taking the students out of the figures.

Amid Cabinet tensions over immigration, the Prime Minister may have to compromise in order to push the Higher Education and Research Bill through before Parliament is dissolved for the general election. Unless she makes concessions, the House of Lords, which voted for an amendment saying foreign students should not be treated as migrants, could block the Bill.

Although Ms May last week reaffirmed her commitment to the Governments target to reduce net migration to under 100,000 a year, it is unclear whether the figure will be included in the Conservative Party's manifesto. The Independent understands that some ministers, who believe the goal will never be achieved, are pressing for a vaguer pledge to reduce migration to sustainable levels.

The Independent and the Open Britain group are running a Drop the Target campaign to persuade the Government to abandon the goal.

 Theresa May says 'strong' 28 times and 'stable' 15 times in 13 minute speech

In the report, the committee said EU students generated an estimated 3.7bn for the UK economy and 34,000 jobs in 2011-12. They are worried the Governments drive to reduce the number of overseas students is deterring applications. The number of EU undergraduates dropped by 7.4 per cent over the last year, a trend likely to worsen after the Brexit vote.

According to the committee: The Government should remove overseas students from the net migration target to make it clear it wants talent to come to the UK. The Governments refusal to do so is putting at risk the higher education sectors share of the international student market. Removing international students from the target would be a simple way to offset some of the risks from leaving the EU.

It warned: If the Government does not address the specific concerns within the higher education sector, there is a risk that Brexit will damage the international competitiveness and long-term success of our universities.

The committee called for a system closely resembling freedom of movement for all overseas students to enable the UK to remain a global leader in higher education. For EU students, there should be a reciprocal open approach with light touch controls, such as visa-free access, it said.

The rights of EU higher education staff, who make up 16 per cent of the workforce, to work and live in the UK should be guaranteed as soon as possible, to end uncertainty and prevent a significant brain drain of talented staff.

The MPs urged the Government to unilaterally agree the rights of the three million EU nationals in the UK before the end of this year even if a reciprocal deal is not agreed before then.

They warned that ministers would be failing in their duty if they did not draw up a contingency plan for higher education in the event of no exit deal being reached in the UK-EU negotiations.

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

Neil Carmichael, the committees Conservative chairman, said: As we leave the EU, we now have the opportunity to reform our immigration system to ensure we reap the full rewards of the ability of our universities to attract the brightest and best students and staff from across the world.

MPs backing Open Britain renewed its call for students to be taken out of the immigration figures. Norman Lamb, a former Liberal Democrat minister, said: EU university staff make a vital contribution in building our knowledge economy and supporting our world-leading universities. Ben Bradshaw, a Labour former minister, said: It is shameful that the Government sees EU citizens living in Britain as cards in a negotiation, rather than human beings.

Alistair Jarvis, deputy chief executive of Universities UK, said: Changes to our immigration system are also needed to ensure that the UK remains a destination of choice for international talent and students.

The Department for Education said decisions on the report's recommendations would be a matter for the next government. It pointed out that ministers had already guaranteed EU students access to student loans and grants for the 2018-19 academic year. Jo Johnson, the Universities Minister, said: We have been clear about our commitment to the UKs world class higher education sector.
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A Tory politician and former senior Government adviser has defected from the party over Theresa Mays Brexit strategy.

Surrey councillor Christine Elmer said she found it impossible to be a member of the Conservative party and had joined the the Lib Dems so she could campaign against hard Brexit.

The pro-Remain politician, who has sat on Elmbridge Borough Council since 2006, added that the Prime Minister calling a general election had fuelled her discontent within the Tory ranks.

She said: "I have been unhappy for some time with the political direction of the Conservative party.

In recent days this situation had escalated by a series of events, including the announcement by the Prime Minister of a general election about the handling of the terms of the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.

As a fervent Remainer I find I can no longer support the Government's line on this, nor that of the current MP Dominic Raab.

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

"I now find it impossible to be a member of the Conservative party and have therefore decided to join the Liberal Democrat party.

Elmbridge bucked the national trend in last years referendum, with 59.5 per cent of voters wanting to remain in the EU.

Conservative Mr Raab, whose Esher and Walton constituency includes most of Elmbridge, campaigned for Vote Leave.

Recommended Theresa May to meet EU chiefs Juncker and Barnier ahead of key summit

Councillor Elmer, a senior policy adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2001 and 2007, tweeted a link to the Lib Dems' membership sign-up page as she announced her defection on Monday night.

The partys leader, Tim Farron, pledged to give voters the chance to reverse Brexit in a second referendum.
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Worried EU nationals have been told not to apply to stay permanently in the UK  after the Home Office was deluged with applications.

Officials are instead advising EU citizens who fear for their future after Brexit to sign up for email news alerts about what action they may need to take in the future.

The stance was immediately attacked by the Liberal Democrats as evidence that the nasty party are back, with a warning the Conservatives would fail to give badly needed reassurance.

Recommended European Parliament to block Brexit deal unless EU citizens can stay

Experts pointed out that EU citizens had no choice but to apply for residence if they wanted to bid to become British citizens.

Furthermore, the Home Office stance directly contradicts the advice of EU embassies, such as Polands, which is for its citizens to apply for residence, to remove uncertainty.

Theresa May has refused to grant the 3 million EU nationals in the UK the right to remain and work after Brexit until the 1.1 million British expats in the EU are given the same guarantee.

She also heightened their fears by insisting she was happy to walk away from the EU with no deal if necessary  which would include no agreement over expats rights.

As a result, residency applications from EU citizens have mushroomed from less than 10,000 in the summer of 2015 to around 45,000 in the same three-month period a year later.

Colin Yeo, a barrister specialising in UK immigration law, said: It is utterly unrealistic for the UK Government to now expect EU citizens to simply sit on their hands and trust the UK government to do the right thing.

And Tom Brake, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman, said: If this is meant to reassure EU citizens who have made Britain their home then it has completely failed.

The new Home Office guidance appears to be an attempt to head off an expected avalanche of applications if the Brexit negotiations turn sour.

The European Parliament President has suggested the UK must accept that the European Court of Justice will rule over any agreement on EU citizens rights  which Ms May is unlikely to accept.

The guidance reads: You do not need to do anything as a result of Article 50 being triggered.

There will be no change to the rights and status of EU nationals living in the UK while the UK remains in the EU.

Under EU law, you dont need a document to confirm your residence status in the UK. If youre planning to apply for a document just to confirm your status, you can sign up for email alerts instead.

Those updates, the guidance added, would tell people the steps that you may need to take to confirm your status in the UK after we leave the EU.

The Home Office has been fiercely criticised for the huge bureaucracy involved in applying for permanent residence, including making the form a staggering 85 pages long.

Some EU nationals have been rejected on the basis that they did not take out comprehensive sickness insurance  when the requirement was barely known.

The Home Office declined to comment on criticism of the new guidance, which was issued earlier this month.
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Labour has dangled the possibility of delaying Brexit if the exit deal negotiated with EU leaders is rejected by MPs.

Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit Secretary, said a Labour prime minister would then  unlike Theresa May  go back to the negotiating table to try to strike better withdrawal terms.

Asked if that would mean the UK staying in the EU past the March 2019 exit date, while the negotiations continue, Sir Keir replied: We have to get the best deal we can.

We are talking about the tail-end of 2018. We would have a vote and we would go back to the negotiating table. That is the position that we want to adopt.

Sir Keir attacked Ms Mays refusal to return to Brussels if her exit terms are rejected by MPs as a stubborn refusal for the sake of my country to go back and renegotiate.

However, it will not be possible to delay Brexit beyond the two-year timetable set out in the Article 50 withdrawal process without the agreement of other EU leaders and the European Parliament.

They have sent out mixed messages about allowing Britain to rethink  with some hints dropped that an attempt to delay would result in a tougher negotiating stance in Brussels.

Sir Keir is attempting today to clarify Labours confused Brexit stance, by insisting it would make access to the single market  not ending freedom of movement  its key objective in the talks.

He will commit the party to tearing up the Conservatives White Paper and Great Repeal Bill and replacing it with legislation safeguarding workers' rights, consumer protections and environmental standards.

Labour will also promise that the rights of EU nationals living in Britain would be guaranteed on the first day of a Jeremy Corbyn-led government.

The party insists it accepts last year's referendum result and does not want to overturn it, but is offering a less-damaging alternative to Ms Mays hard Brexit.

It would give top priority to retaining the benefits of the single market and the customs union  both of which the Conservatives have vowed to walk away from.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, Sir Keir said: We accept that unchanged single market membership is not a viable option, but we would want to leave the options on the table.

He attacked Ms May for closing down her options, adding: That leaves her in a weak bargaining position. She may be clear, but she is rigid and she is reckless.

However  crucially  Labour has not explained its stance on ending freedom of movement, to limit immigration, which the EU has insisted cannot happen with full single market access.

Last night, Lord Mandelson laid bare Labours problems when, asked on BBCs Newsnight programme what the partys Brexit strategy was, replied: Search me.

The Liberal Democrats said Sir Keir had torpedoed the launch of Labours Brexit blueprint, which was an attempt to mask its support for the Tories strategy.

For all Keir Starmers warm words on Europe, when it comes down to it he backs the Conservative hard Brexit agenda, said Alistair Carmichael, a Lib Dem MP.
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The Green Party has pulled out of a crucial election seat in a bid to help the Labour Party beat the Tories - the first tactical withdrawal of its kind ahead of the general election.

The decision is expected to allow more votes to go to Labour MP Rupa Huq, who beat the Conservatives with a majority of just 274 votes in 2015, when no other party managed to attract more than seven per cent of the vote.

Green Party members in Ealing Central and Acton  where the party won 1,841 votes in the 2015 election  voted not to field a candidate last week, after Ms Huq promised to campaign for voting reform and the environment.

 General Election 2017: What you need to know

It marks the first progressive alliance to be made between opposition parties in which they agree that one side will stand down in order to secure more votes for the other.

They will hope to stop the Tories taking overall power on 8 June even if they win the most seats.

The Green Party is openly calling for such alliances to take place across the country, while Labour and the Liberal Democrats appear to be considering the idea at a grassroots level in other constituencies.

Ms Huq told The Independent there was common ground between Labour and the Green Party in Ealing, so it made sense for the Green candidate to withdraw.

Theyve understood that any splitting of the vote in Ealing, given the fragile majority that I have  the most vulnerable Labour seat in London  its too much of a risk, Ms Huq said.

Weve agreed on a lot of stuff anyway, so theres a lot of common ground there. Im now the red-green candidate and Im proud to be so.

The progressive alliance movement is being heralded by think tank Compass, which is working in constituencies across the UK to facilitate discussions between grassroots members of the three parties.

Mark Daniel, secretary of Ealing Green Party, told The Independent the party had received overwhelmingly positive feedback from supporters following the decision, and that he believed activists from the Liberal Democrats and Labour could also be willing to make such sacrifices.

"By and large we quite like Rupa. She has made quite prominent statements on proportional representation and Heathrow, as well as climate change and environmental issues in regards to Brexit, so for those reasons we won't tell our members to vote for her, but we will say we're not going to stand against her," he said.

"The Labour Party has said it isn't willing to support progressive alliances, but I think it's a situation where the voters might be ahead of the parties. It's difficult for party leaders to say we will stand down, but you get tactical on the ground, and I think in a way it's the ground leading the top.

"We've had a lot of people sending messages of support, and no one has sent a message saying they oppose the decision, and that includes Green Party members in Acton, but also in other constituencies."

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

Stephen Clark, the organiser of West London Compass, said the decision for the Greens not to field a candidate in Ealing was welcomed by the organisation, and indicated that similar alliances were in the process of being agreed across the UK ahead of the election.

He told The Independent: Discussions are taking place in a number of the other seats between the Greens and the most likely potential progressive candidate, and were hoping something will come from those.

"I think we will find as the election goes on that people will come this way. The system is crying out for it.
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Only a quarter of Scots support Nicola Sturgeon's call for a second independence referendum to be held between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, a new poll has indicated.

Just 26 per cent of those questioned backed that timetable while 46 per cent stated there should not be another vote on leaving the UK at all.

The research in the Kantar Scottish Opinion Monitor also said there appeared to be a "weakening" in support for independence, with 60 per cent backing staying in the UK while 40 per cent want Scotland to leave, when undecided voters were excluded.

The figure puts support for independence below the 45 per cent that was recorded in the independence referendum in September 2014.

 Sturgeon: May using election to 'crush opposition' and take UK in an 'ever rightward' direction

A total of 1,060 Scots aged 16 and above were questioned for the research, which took place between 29 March and 11 April  after the First Minister had announced her plans to hold another ballot on independence.

Almost half (47 per cent) of those who voted Yes in 2014 want a second referendum to be held by spring 2019 but, in contrast, 72 per cent of No voters indicated they did not want there to be another vote.

While 52 per cent of those who backed the SNP in the 2016 Holyrood elections wanted a fresh independence referendum, the research also indicated one in five SNP supporters from that election are against another vote.

Tom Costley, head of Kantar in Scotland, said: "One group of particular interest is those who voted Yes in the 2014 independence referendum and then voted Leave in the EU referendum - one in three (30 per cent) of this group do not want a referendum at all, possibly suggesting that leaving the EU was their primary goal and at the time Scottish independence seemed the best way to achieve this.

"It is a cautionary reminder that the positive feeling towards the EU expressed in the EU referendum doesn't necessarily translate into full support for independence for Scotland."

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

Seven out of 10 Scots said they would be certain to vote if another independence referendum is held  with 55 per cent of this group saying they would vote to stay in the UK while 37 per cent would vote Yes and 8 per cent said they did not know.

The figures mean that 22 per cent of those who voted for independence in 2014 would now vote No, according to Kantar, while 8 per cent of No voters from 2014 have switch to being independence supporters.

Mr Costley said: "It is interesting to speculate on why there appears to be this weakening in the Yes vote despite Scotland voting clearly in favour of remaining within the EU, which is the stated position of the SNP-led Scottish Government.

"The forthcoming local authority elections in Scotland may well provide some pointers as to the extent to which the media criticism of the Scottish Government's performance in areas such as health and education may be having an impact with voters.

"The changing economic outlook in Scotland, particularly in relation to the oil industry, may also have led to voters reassessing independence."

Scottish Labour general election campaign manager James Kelly said: "This is yet another poll that shows people in Scotland do not want another divisive independence referendum.

"It's time for the Nationalists to focus on the job of governing - like dealing with the crisis in our schools and tackling the problems in the NHS after a decade of SNP mismanagement.

"Voters can send a message to Nicola Sturgeon that Scotland is divided enough, we don't need any more division.

"When people go to the polls for the council elections on 4 May and the general election on June 8, they can vote Labour to elect a local champion; or they can vote SNP to elect a candidate who will only focus on another divisive referendum."

An SNP spokesman said: "We already know that 60 per cent of people think Theresa May and the Tories are wrong to try and block Scotland having a choice on its future - and most recent polls show support for independence on a knife-edge.

"But this is a Tory party that now thinks it can do what it wants to Scotland and get away with it.

"As we face the prospect a hard-right Tory government, with a bigger majority, only the SNP will stand up for Scotland and provide the strong opposition needed."

Press Association
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Three Remain-supporting Conservative MPs have quit the Open Britain campaign group after it launched a bid to unseat Eurosceptic Tory MPs.

Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan and Dominic Grieve said it would be untenable for us to play any further role in an organising campaigning against parts of their political party.

Open Britain had released a list of target seats to attack that included four Conservatives, including former cabinet ministers Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa Villiers.

The Tory party constitution forbids campaigning against its own candidates. Senior Tories criticised the move, with Tim Montgomerie, former editor of ConservativeHome, calling for the MPs to be expelled.

The three MPs announced they were quitting involvement with the campaign group in a joint statement.

As long-standing Conservative Party members and MPs it is untenable for us to play any further role in an organisation, such as Open Britain, which is advocating campaigning against Conservative MPs or candidates, they said.

l and we will not be doing so. Nicky Morgan, Anna Soubry and Dominic Grieve.

Other hard Brexit-supporting MPs targeted by Open Britain include Charlotte Leslie, Steve Baker, Caroline Ansell and David Burrowes. The only Labour MP on the list was Kate Hoey.

A spokesman for Open Britain said: It is understandable that during an election campaign, political differences between members of different parties become magnified.

Open Britain represents activists from all political persuasions who want to campaign against a hard Brexit and for a continued close relationship with Europe.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned  forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA  because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

As a grassroots organisation, weve had thousands of emails from our supporters asking how and where they should campaign during the general election and we are trying to direct them to where they can make the biggest difference in the fight against hard Brexit.

The Government have made this into a Brexit election, so it would be surprising if Open Britains volunteers did want to get involved. There is no way of getting involved in an election like this, without campaigning for or against members of one party or another, so it was always going to disappoint some within a cross-party organisation.

Our key seats list will continue to include support for those willing to campaign against hard Brexit from across the political spectrum. It has been a pleasure to work with some fantastic Conservative MPs in recent months and our door will always be open after the election to any that want to work with us in the future.
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Theresa May has hinted that the Conservative general election manifesto will attempt to address the looming social care crisis.

The Prime Minister said the country needed to stop ducking the issue when she was asked what her manifesto would do to address the issue on a visit to Wales on Tuesday.

She pledged a long-term solution to the crisis but said the Government was taking transitional measures.

Recommended Radical social care funding plan considered by the Chancellor

Mr May said: We are and have been already working on a long-term solution and thats what we need in this country, we need to stop ducking the issue we need to ensure weve got that long-term solution for a sustainable future for social care.

The PM claimed the Government had put more money into social care as a short-term response, and that in the medium term it had allowed councils to increase their council tax to fund the service.

UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images

In fact, councils face a 2.6bn shortfall for social care funding that council tax rises will not be able to cover, according to research by the cross-party Local Government Association released in February.

One in 10 councils cut their spending on social care by more than a quarter in the past six years, according to an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine has warned that tens of thousand of excess deaths are year could be linked to the poor state of health and social care budgets.

Labours says it wants to integrate health and social care to deliver a national care service in the same vein as the NHS.
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Britain would be "literally erased from the face of the earth" in a nuclear war, a Russian MP has warned.

Franz Klintsevich, a retired colonel, was responding to comments from Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who said "in the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you cant rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike."

Mr Klintsevich said if Britain were to launch a preemptive strike, then "not having the biggest territory, it will literally be erased from the face of the earth."

 Michael Fallon: Theresa May would fire UKs nuclear weapons as a first strike'

Another translation, carried by the Russian news agency TASS, says Britain would be "razed to the ground" in a retaliatory strike.

Sir Michael's comments came in response to Labour divisions over retaining the Trident deterrent, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suggesting renewal might not be in the party's election manifesto  only to be corrected later by party colleagues.

Speaking to BBC Radio Four's Today Programme, Sir Michael said Labour had left voters "completely unsure as to what would actually happen to our nuclear deterrent."

He said Prime Minster Theresa May would be ready to use Trident as a "pre-emptive initial strike".

In the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you cant rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike, he said.

Asked in what circumstances, he replied: They are better not specified or described, which would only give comfort to our enemies and make the deterrent less credible.

The whole point about the deterrent is that you have got to leave uncertainty in the mind of anyone who might be thinking of using weapons against this country.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters

Mr Klintsevich, who is deputy chairman of the upper house of the Russian parliament's defence and security committee, called Sir Michael's comments "disgusting" and said it "deserves a tough response".

He added: "In the best case this statement should be taken as an element of psychological war  which looks particularly disgusting in such a context.

"Otherwise, it sounds really bad, because a reasonable question arises: Against whom is Great Britain going to preemptively use nuclear weapons?"

If Britain intended to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state, he added, "then probably English people desperately want to share the laurels of the USA who threw nuclear bombs at defenceless [Japanese cities] Hiroshima and Nagasaki [in 1945]."

"But those times have gone for good, as has the era of the greatness of the British Empire."
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Ukip's foreign affairs spokesman has resigned after the party launched an integration agenda that called for a burqa ban and mandatory health checks on schoolgirls deemed to be at risk of female genital mutilation.

In a statement, James Carver, MEP for the West Midlands, said that no one has the right to dictate what people should wear, adding that he strongly objected to the misguided policy announced on Monday at a news conference in central London.

He continued: When facial identification is necessary, such as at passport controls or in a bank, then it is perfectly reasonable to order the removal of veils, as is the practice, but in a free and liberal society, people have a right to their religious beliefs, and to dress as they see fit.

Recommended Paul Nuttall barricades himself in hotel room to escape reporters

I feel this policy undermines my desire to represent all communities within the West Midlands, including the many British Muslims, who, I know, from first-hand experience, voted to leave the EU in last years referendum.

The resignation came after prominent party supporter, Arron Banks, criticised the party for going to war on Muslim religion and accused the party of heading entirely in the wrong direction following the announcements of a string of predominately Islam-focused policies.

The proposals, which also included a moratorium on Islamic faith schools and an explicit ban on sharia councils in Britain, were widely condemned by politicians and faith groups. Caroline Lucas, the Green Party co-leader, described as full-throttled Islamophobia, an assault on multiculturalism and an attack on Muslims in Britain.

Later on Tuesday, Harun Khan, the Muslim Council of Britains secretary general, is expected to say it is deeply regrettable that the UK Independence Party is singling out Muslims in the most negative terms and attack stereotyping around bombs, beards and burkas.

 Ukip pledges to ban the burka

We are actually in this country rather behind the curve on this, because even the biggest party in the EU has called for an EU-wide ban on this, he will add.

This is not leadership. And it is certainly not becoming of a party seeking to represent British people.

Together with fellow Britons, Muslims will be looking for true leadership that unites our country during this time of uncertain transition and seek to represent all British people, and certainly not scapegoat some.

Bigots must not be allowed to set the terms of the debate. Due to the scourge of terrorism that we all oppose, bigots are obsessed with sharia law, keen to question our loyalty to our country and refuse to accept us Muslims as equal citizens of this nation."

But speaking on BBCs Radio 4, Peter Whittle, the partys deputy leader, defended the policies, adding: The burqa is not something in the Quran, its not specified by the Quran, its a cultural practice, FGM is a cultural practice.
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Ukip has been accused of going to war on Muslim religion by one of its most prominent supporters after the party announced a series of predominately Islam focused policies, including a ban on the burqa in public places.

Accusing the party of heading entirely the wrong direction in an extraordinary intervention, Arron Banks, a former donor to the party, made the comment after he withdrew his application on Monday to be Ukips candidate in Clacton for Junes general election.

It comes after the party used a news conference on Monday to announce a string of policies that Caroline Lucas, the Green Party leader, described as full-throttled Islamophobia, an assault on multiculturalism and an attack on Muslims in Britain.

Proposals included passing a law against the wearing of face coverings in public places, implementing an annual school based medical check on girls from groups at high risk of suffering from the practice of female genital mutilation and a moratorium on Islamic schools in Britain.

On his Twitter account Mr Banks, a close ally of Nigel Farage, said: Not sure campaigning with the national party going in entirely the wrong direction is smart. I dont approve of the war on Muslim religion.

The millionaire former Ukip donor had previously announced that he would fight the Essex seat of Clacton in order to undermine Douglas Carswell, who defected from Ukip to become an independent earlier this year.

 Ukip pledges to ban the burka

However Mr Carswell last week said he would be standing down as an MP at the June 8 general election and thrown his support behind Theresa May, describing her as a real revolutionary.

Later on Tuesday, Harun Khan, the Muslim Council of Britains secretary general, is expected to say it is deeply regrettable that the UK Independence Party is singling out Muslims in the most negative terms and attack stereotyping around bombs, beards and burkas.

But speaking on BBCs Radio 4, Peter Whittle, the partys deputy leader, defended the policies, adding: The burka is not something in the Koran, its not specified by the Koran, its a cultural practice, FGM is a cultural practice.

He added: "We have talked about these issues in Ukip for many years - 2010 we actually had this in our manifesto, that we should ban face coverings - not, for example the headscarf, not those sorts of things at all, just purely the face covering, because we believe that is a literal barrier to integration in our society.

Key Faces of UKIP Show all 11 1 /11 Key Faces of UKIP Key Faces of UKIP Nigel Farage Getty Key Faces of UKIP United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) Migration spokesman Steven Woolfe addresses supporters and media personnel in central London Getty Key Faces of UKIP Robert Kilroy-Silk, former television presenter and newly elected member of the European Parliament for the UK Independence Party (UKIP), shows a placard against the European Constitution in front of the Houses of Parliament Getty Key Faces of UKIP Mark Reckless, Director of Policy Development addresses party members during the UK Independence Party annual conference at Doncaster Racecourse Getty Key Faces of UKIP Gerard Batten MEP poses with protesters outside parliament Creative Commons Key Faces of UKIP Diane James gives an address at the UKIP Autumn Conference in Bournemouth Getty Key Faces of UKIP Douglas Carswell MP speaks to party members and supporters during the UK Independence Party annual conference Getty Key Faces of UKIP Suzanne Evans, Deputy Party Chairman of UK Independence Party (UKIP) speaks during the launch of UKIP's election manifesto Getty Key Faces of UKIP Peter Whittle, the UK Independence Party Member of the London Assembly, is interviewed in central London Getty Key Faces of UKIP MEP Mike Hookem during a visit to Concept Metal Products & Co Ltd Getty Key Faces of UKIP Paul Nuttall, Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party speaks at a Say NO, Believe in Britain debate at Carn Brea Leisure Centre in Pool near Redruthon Getty

"We are actually in this country rather behind the curve on this, because even the biggest party in the EU has called for an EU-wide ban on this."

Mr Khan will add: "This is not leadership. And it is certainly not becoming of a party seeking to represent British people.

"Together with fellow Britons, Muslims will be looking for true leadership that unites our country during this time of uncertain transition and seek to represent all British people, and certainly not scapegoat some.

"Bigots must not be allowed to set the terms of the debate. Due to the scourge of terrorism that we all oppose, bigots are obsessed with sharia law, keen to question our loyalty to our country and refuse to accept us Muslims as equal citizens of this nation."
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Zac Goldsmith has made it on to the shortlist to stand in his old constituency just four months after he lost it in a by-election he triggered.

The former MP gave up the Conservative whip and resigned from Parliament in October, forcing a by-election in his south London constituency of Richmond Park, in protest at the Governments approval of a third runway at Heathrow.

But the gamble backfired when his 23,000 majority was overturned by Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Olney in the December election on a wave of anti-Brexit feeling.

The constituency voted heavily for Remain during the EU referendum last year.

It capped off a disastrous year for the politician after he also lost heavily to Labours Sadiq Khan in the 2016 London Mayoral race in May where he was accused of running a dog whistle racist campaign.

Mr Goldsmith has now returned to the Conservative fold and is one of three candidates on the shortlist for the seat, Tory blog Conservative Home reported.

The two other candidates up for consideration are barrister and former BBC journalist Laura Farris and IT specialist Luke Parker.

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

The Liberal Democrats have denounced the move saying if he stood for the Tories he would "lose what little credibility he has left".

A spokesman for the party said: People in Richmond Park voted resoundingly against a hard Brexit and against Heathrow expansion, both backed by this Conservative government.

He couldnt stand on a Conservative platform last time, so whats changed?

Despite the Conservatives appearing on track to win a resounding majority in the Commons after 8 June, internal polling leaked earlier this month suggested the party may struggle to hang on in the pro-Remain south London constituencies.

The survey, published by the New Statesman, found the Conservatives could lose as many as 27 seats it gained from the Liberal Democrats in the south-west of England and London at the 2015 general election.

The Liberal Democrats are campaigning on a platform of opposing Brexit and demanding a second referendum on terms of the exit deal with the EU.
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The king of Swaziland is attempting to ban divorce and has instructed religious leaders to inform citizens of the decree, according to reports.

King Mswati III issued the decree during a meeting at the Engabezweni Royal Residence, Daily Nation reports, instructing those gathered to inform people they cannot pull out of a marriage.

In our culture, once you marry, there is no turning back, he reportedly told the Times of Swaziland.

Recommended King of Swaziland to marry his 15th wife

The kingdom of Swaziland has a population of 1.2m and is one of the last absolute monarchies in the world, where the king reigns by decree and appoints his own ministers. The king, who has been in power since the age of 18 and has 15 wives, has previously said that democracy is not good for his nation. Political parties have been banned in the country for over 40 years.

King Mswati III has yet to table an official decree on the ban, but his comments came as a new Marriage Bill is being drafted by the Swazi Attorney-Generals office that puts forwards five reasons for allowing divorce, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.

The government of Swaziland has countered the kings claims however, denying that divorce is banned in the country.

Sabelo Dlamini, a spokesperson for the government, told SABC the kings comments were taken out of context, New24 reports, adding that he was merely making a call for the nation to engage in conversation instead of resorting to divorce.

There is no law banning divorce in Swaziland, when the king meets people, he usually talks about issues of national interest for families especially, and the strengthening of Swazi culture, Mr Dlamini said.

Swazi culture is one of those cultures which seek for families to be united, he added.
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Barack Obama has reportedly agreed to speak at a Wall Street conference for almost half a million dollars.

The former President, who left the White House almost 100 days ago, is said to be appearing at Cantor Fitzgeralds LPs healthcare conference as a keynote speaker in September.

Mr Obamas reported speech fee is nearly twice as much as Hillary Clinton has charged private companies for similar style events.

According to Fox Business, Obama has signed the contract for the event but the company is waiting to finalise arrangements with the former President before making a formal announcement. Obama is still contractually able to pull out of the event with the mid-size New York based investment bank if he so wishes.

Mr Obama took to the stage in Chicago for his first public appearance since Donald Trumps inauguration on Monday. Returning to the city he launched his political career in, he warned of the increasing polarisation of US politics.

The former President revealed his first post-White House project would centre on urging the next generation to become more politicised and civically engaged.

Theres a reason why Im always optimistic, even when things arent necessarily going the way I want, and that is because of young people like this, the 55-year-old said, gesturing to the young adults who joined him on the panel discussion.

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

Obama adhered to the tradition of giving new President's some leeway in the early period of the administration and did not mention President Trump in the entirety of his speech. Although at the beginning he did joke: "So, whats been going on while Ive been gone?

Just a day before, the former south side Chicago community organiser met with at-risk young men and boys from the Chicago Create Real Economic Destiny programme which is a job skills scheme.

Obama has kept a relatively low profile since packing his bags and leaving the White House. He has enjoyed some downtime with former First Lady Michelle Obama at a resort in Tetiaroa  the South Pacific island once owned by Marlon Brando  where he has started work on penning his White House memoir.

The former president also went kitesurfing on Mosquito Island on the British Virgin Islands alongside billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson. While there, he took time out of his holiday to condemn President Trumps highly controversial travel ban.

The President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion, Mr Obama's spokesman said in a statement.

Citizens exercising their Constitutional rights to assemble, organise and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake.

Mr Trump signed an executive order restricting travel from seven majority-Muslim countries days after arriving in the White House. After prompting chaos across airports worldwide, a federal judge blocked the order in February.

The President issued a revised hardline immigration ban in March that blocks new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and temporarily halts the US refugee programme. However US District Judge Derrick Watson issued a temporary restraining order against the revised ban after the state of Hawaii filed a lawsuit challenging it.

Eric Schultz, senior advisor to President Obama, told The Independent:

As we announced months ago, President Obama will deliver speeches from time to time. Some of those speeches will be paid, some will be unpaid, and regardless of venue or sponsor, President Obama will be true to his values, his vision, and his record.

He recently accepted an invitation to speak at a health care conference in September, because, as a President who successfully passed health insurance reform, its an issue of great importance to him. With regard to this or any speech involving Wall Street sponsors, Id just point out that in 2008, Barack Obama raised more money from Wall Street than any candidate in history  and still went on to successfully pass and implement the toughest reforms on Wall Street since FDR.

And while hell continue to give speeches from time to time, hell spend most of his time writing his book and, as he said in Chicago this week, focusing his post-presidency work on training and elevating a new generation of political leaders in America.

This article has been updated to include Obama's statement.
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Finland, the Netherlands, and San Francisco, California, have already shown interest in giving people a regular monthly allowance  a system known as basic income.

Now Ontario, Canada, is planning a basic-income trial as well.

On Monday, Premier Kathleen Wynne outlined new details of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot, which is expected to begin later this spring and last for three years.

A total of 4,000 people in three regions in the province will begin receiving additional income based on their current salary.

A person in the trial can receive up to $16,989 a year, though the equivalent of 50% of any additional earned income will be subtracted from that figure. So a person who makes $10,000 a year at their job, for example, would receive $11,989 in basic income, for a total income of $21,989.

Eligible recipients, who must be between 18 and 64 and considered low-income, will be chosen through a randomized selection process.

Wynne says one goal of the pilot is to reassure people that their government supports them.

It says to them government is with you, she said. Ontario is with you.

The premise of basic income is straightforward: People get monthly checks to cover living expenses such as food, transportation, clothing, and utilities  no questions asked.

Along with Canada, several countries are conducting basic-income trials.

Finland's government launched its pilot on January 1 and is giving 2,000 unemployed Finns $590 a month. In various cities throughout the Netherlands, 250 people will soon receive an extra $1,100 a month for two years. And in Kenya, the charity GiveDirectly has launched a trial version of a 12-year study that seeks to gather the first longitudinal data on basic income.

The concept of basic income has been around since the 1960s. Since then, various researchers and government officials have given basic-income experiments a try, with mixed results.

In general, however, the data seems to tilt in basic income's favour.

A study published in late 2016 found that people who received unconditional cash transfers used drugs and alcohol less frequently than people who didn't receive the money. And though it's easy to assume free money would make people lazy, research suggests the opposite is true. People in one 2013 study worked on average 17% longer and received 38% higher earnings when they got a basic income.

Skeptics, meanwhile, say that because many basic-income trials have been conducted in small villages in the developing world, the findings won't necessarily translate to developed countries.

Ontario's trial will begin in the regions of Hamilton, including Brantford and the County of Brant, and in Thunder Bay and the surrounding area. The third pilot will launch in Lindsay in the fall.

Everyone should benefit from Ontario's economic growth, Wynne said in a statement. A basic income will support people in our province who are reaching for a better life.

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Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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Christian Bale might have been one of the few Hollywood actors to have steered clear of castigating Donald Trump but even he has felt compelled to vent his frustrations about the President.

The esteemed actor, who tends to avoid speaking about politics in the public domain, subtly suggested the world is seeing President Trump reading a Dictatorship for Dummies book.

The 43-year-old said the world had been catapulted into a post-truth era and lamented how politics had changed since the election of Mr Trump.

Well, [the U.S. presidential election] was happening as we were filming, Bale, who plays an Associated Press reporter in his new film The Promise, told The Daily Beast.

We shot this towards the end of 2015, so that was happening and then becoming more and more relevant.

It was after being questioned about the disappearance of the free press under dictatorships that Bale took aim at Mr Trump, saying: Its like were watching somebody reading a Dictatorship for Dummies book.

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

I remember prior to the election I thought it was batshit crazy that people would talk about how therell be 'a revolution in appreciation of what we have and not taking it for granted,' and you think no way in hell.

But were here, and you think, well OK, thats your best bet, isnt it? So the hope is that journalism becomes more exceptional than it has been in decades, and that we start to recognise and treasure it - to treasure so many different things.

The Oscar-winning actor, who is best known for his roles in Empire of the Sun, American Psycho and Christopher Nolans Batman Begins, also argued climate sceptics were evidence of the rise of a post-truth era, condemning those who question the science of global warming.

Were living in the post-truth era ... People are questioning facts, which is nuts," Bale said. "I liken it to the debate on climate change. Theres no debate! The science is settled. But people continue to do this smokescreen and pretend that theres a debate, you know?
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US President Donald Trump intensified a trade dispute with Canada, slapping tariffs of up to 24 percent on imported softwood lumber in a move that drew swift criticism from the Canadian government, which vowed to sue if needed.

Trump announced the new tariff at a White House gathering of conservative journalists, shortly before the Commerce Department said it would impose countervailing duties ranging from 3 percent to 24.1 percent on Canadian lumber producers including West Fraser Timber Co.

Were going to be putting a 20% tax on softwood lumber coming in  tariff on softwood coming into the United States from Canada, Trump said Monday, according to a tweet by Charlie Spiering, a White House correspondent for Breitbart News. A White House official confirmed the comment.

The step escalates an economic battle among neighbouring countries that normally have one of the friendliest international relationships in the world. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross amplified Trumps remarks in a statement afterward that also referenced a fight over a new Canadian milk policy that US producers say violates Nafta.

It has been a bad week for US-Canada trade relations, Ross said, adding it became apparent that Canada intends to effectively cut off the last dairy products being exported from the United States. He said the Commerce Department determined a need because of unfair Canadian subsidies to the lumber industry to impose countervailing duties of roughly one billion dollars.

In a dig at the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has said he wants to renegotiate, Ross added, This is not our idea of a properly functioning Free Trade Agreement.

Canada fired back, saying the tariff is an unfair and punitive duty imposed on baseless and unfounded allegations, according to a joint statement from Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr. The measures will hurt workers on both sides of the border and will raise US home prices, they said.

Canada will vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood lumber industry, including through litigation, the ministers said, adding they nonetheless remain confident that a negotiated settlement is not only possible but in the best interests of both countries.

The Canadian dollar dropped to a four-month low against the US dollar after Trump announced the tariff, trading down 0.40 percent to C$1.356. The loonie traded at 73.8 US cents.

In the latest chapter of a trade dispute that has been simmering for decades, the US Department of Commerce in a preliminary determination Monday said it has calculated that Canada subsidises Canfor Corp. by 20.26 percent; West Fraser Mills Ltd. by 24.12 percent; Tolko Marketing and Sales Ltd. and Tolko Industries Ltd. by 19.5 percent; Resolute FP Canada Ltd. by 12.82 percent and J.D. Irving Ltd. by 3.02 percent. It set a preliminary subsidy rate of 19.88 percent for all other producers in Canada.

The so-called countervailing duties, which counter what the US considers Canadian subsidies, came in below some analyst expectations. CIBC analyst Hamir Patel forecast the initial combined countervailing and anti-dumping duties could reach 45 to 55 percent, he said in an April 23 note. The US may also apply anti-dumping duties if it determines Canadian firms are selling for below costs. That decision is expected in June.

It definitely couldve been a heck of a lot worse, Kevin Mason, managing director of ERA Forest Products Research said by phone from Kelowna, British Columbia. I think a lot of people were bracing for a higher duty.

Canadian companies such as Vancouver-based West Fraser and Canfor Corp. will be able to weather the current duty level as lumber prices are high, Mason said. Lumber prices may actually decline in order to curtail Canadian shipments to the US, he said.

The duties are unwarranted and the determination is completely without merit, Susan Yurkovich, president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council, said in a statement. The allegations are the same made in previous softwood trade battles which were rejected and overturned by independent Nafta panels, she said.

The industry group represents companies such as Canfor, West Fraser and Interfor Corp.

This new trade action is driven by the same protectionist lumber lobby in the US whose sole purpose is to create artificial supply constraints on lumber and drive up prices for their benefit, at the expense of American consumers, Yurkovich said.

A detente in the lumber trade dispute expired in October, and a new agreement isnt on the horizon. Thats contributed to a more than 20 percent surge in wood prices since the US election.

Since the early 1980s, the US has argued with Canada over how much softwood lumber the countrys suppliers can sell in the US and at what price. The two nations have negotiated temporary agreements in previous years over softwood, which comes from trees that have cones, like pine or spruce, and is preferred by builders for constructing home frames.

But hammering out a new deal has been slow-going for the Trump administration, which still doesnt have its chief trade negotiator in place.

After the latest deal lapsed, a group including US timber companies petitioned an independent government agency and the US Commerce Department for duties on lumber imports from Canada, saying the country unfairly subsidies its own industry, costing profits and jobs.

While signing an executive order Thursday on steel imports, Trump digressed to note that during a trip to Wisconsin earlier in the week, hed called Canadas cutting of prices of dairy ingredients a disgrace thats hurt farmers in Wisconsin and New York. He added that the disgrace extended to whats happening along our northern border states with Canada, having to do with lumber and timber.

While beneficial for US lumber suppliers, tariffs could lead to even higher costs for companies that buy wood, such as builders and mattress makers, which use it in box springs.

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

Most of the softwood in Canada is owned by provincial governments, which set prices to cut trees on their land, while in the US its generally harvested from private property. The fees charged by Canadian governments are below market rates, creating an unfair advantage, US producers say. Canada disputes that.

Robert Lighthizer, Trumps nominee to be the next US Trade Representative, said at his confirmation hearing last month that he views the lumber dispute as the top trade issue between the US and Canada. Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden told Lighthizer the fight is the longest-running battle since the Trojan War.

Bloomberg
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Is the President's softened tone on China a strategic choice, or does it reflect his daughter Ivanka's extensive business ties to the country? Was the early camaraderie between President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe influenced by a business deal between Ivanka Trump's company and a state-associated Japanese firm, after the President's daughter sat in on a meeting with Abe? Probably not; yet such questions inevitably arise given the combination of Ivanka Trump's business entanglements and her White House role.

The entanglements would have been concerning if she had never entered the White House. Playing both roles puts America's reputation on the line. Foreigners must wonder: Is the United States a country where government actions are intertwined with the private interests of the president's family? What does the United States surrender in ethical standing when the president's daughter is both a close adviser and a businesswoman with operations that depend on the goodwill of foreign governments?

The Associated Press reported last week that global sales of Ivanka Trump merchandise have surged and the company has applied for at least nine new trademarks in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canada and the US. Ivanka Trump's company secured valuable trademarks in China on the same day she helped welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to Mar-a-Lago on an official visit.

Ivanka Trump and her advisers say that she has relinquished most control over the business to a trust run by her family members. Why not just sell her business? Because, they may say, its value is based on her personal branding, so the Trump name and reputation would still be for sale. Why not establish a blind trust? Because retaining some control allows her to reject potentially shady deals. Won't she run afoul of White House ethics rules if she offers advice on, say, trade with China? Executive-branch rules have permitted certain conflicts of interest in the past, and she can recuse herself on a case-by-case basis, with advice from lawyers and government ethics experts.

But the fact remains that foreign governments will see approving trademark applications, financing and business deals as a way to curry favour with the US government. As long as Donald Trump is president, would a country such as China ever reject an Ivanka trademark application?

For decades, the United States has advocated the principle that official corruption is a scourge to be stamped out, above all by isolating government from the private interests of those in power - and of their families. This principle is enshrined in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits Americans from participating in the bribery that undermines so many foreign economies.

In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home Show all 13 1 /13 In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The front of the house Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The lobby Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The house exterior Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The patio Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The bedroom Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living area Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The Living Room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The kitchen Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The bathroom Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The hall Zillow

The risk now is that the Trump administration will taint that advocacy, allowing foreign leaders to argue that the United States is no better than any Central Asian dynasty. Rather than defending a narrow legal case, the Trumps should be bending over backward to avoid any suggestion of hypocrisy. Ivanka Trump can be an adviser on foreign affairs; her business should not simultaneously be expanding or seeking rights and benefits overseas.

The Washington Post
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Canadas largest province is to trial universal income, becoming the first North American government to test the progressive policy for decades.

Some 4,000 people in Ontario will be given at least C$16,989 (9,850) a year under the scheme, with no conditions or restrictions attached.

Participants living in three settlements in Ontario will be selected at random to participate in the radical scheme, which advocates hail as a solution to poverty and costly bureaucracy.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the scheme was needed to address new challenges presented by the modern world.

From technology to Trump, it is a time of greater uncertainty and change, Ms Wynne said as she announced the trial on Monday.

She added that it was time to be bold to help the most vulnerable in society.

This is no time to retreat, this is no time for government to cling to the status quo, or step away from its responsibilities, she said. This is the time for us to be focussed and fair.

The three-year pilot will assist those in low-paying or precarious employment and those already receiving social assistance.

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The Premier said the money offered by the trial was not an extravagant sum by any means, but it will offer a small increase for those on social assistance and disability benefits.

Those in work will have their basic income reduced by 50 cents with every dollar they earn. All participants will continue to receive child or disability benefits.

The programme  launching in Hamilton and Thunder Bay in the spring and Lindsay this autumn  will cost C$50m (29m) a year.

Finland launched a trial of universal income in January. Two thousand people are to receive 560 euros (480) every month for two years, without having to report whether they are seeking employment or how they are spending the money.
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A topless man was arrested after snorting cocaine in front of police officers as they tried to evacuate him from the danger zone of a raging wildfire.

Joshua Benz, 25, flagged down a patrol car in a rural area of Collier County, Florida, where firefighters have been battling flames for five days.

Fire tore across more than 7,000 acres of brush, destroying nine buildings including five homes, after the blaze began on Thursday.

Benz, wearing jeans and no shirt, approached officers on Friday night as they managed the evacuation of more than 7,000 residents from the Golden Gates Estates, east of the city of Naples.

He put a clear plastic bag up his nose and snorted for three or four seconds before turning around and putting his hands behind his back, Naples Daily News reported.

Police arrested Benz and the bag was found to contain cocaine, Collier County Sheriff's Office said.

Mansions burn in California wildfires Show all 7 1 /7 Mansions burn in California wildfires Mansions burn in California wildfires 171174.bin Getty Images Mansions burn in California wildfires 171219.bin MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Mansions burn in California wildfires 171227.bin MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Mansions burn in California wildfires 171228.bin MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Mansions burn in California wildfires 171213.bin AFP Mark Ralston Mansions burn in California wildfires 171230.bin MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Mansions burn in California wildfires 171229.bin MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Benz, from Naples, was held in Collier County jail on a $5,000 (3,900) bond and will face a charge of cocaine possession in court on 15th May.

Firefighters were still battling flames on Tuesday, with crews estimating the wildfire was 65 per cent under control.

Brush fires have plagued Florida throughout 2017 amid dry weather and droughts.

More than 1,600 wildfires have ripped through 88,000 acres of the state since the beginning of the year.

A blaze near the Georgia-Florida state line continued to spread this week after being sparked by a lightning strike on April 6.

The wildfire has burned more than 90 square miles as winds spread flames through dry areas of the Okefenokee Swamp. Firefighters said the overall area of the blaze grew more than 22 per cent between Monday and Tuesday.
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A US mayor has been forced to defend her record for combating poverty after a video emerged in which she appears to connect being poor with atheism.

While speaking on a NOWCastSA forum on the impact of non-profit activities in San Antonio, Texas, earlier this month, Mayor Ivy R Taylor was asked by a member of a Christian coalition group, what her thoughts were on the causes of poverty.

The young woman asked: What do you see as the deepest systemic causes of generational poverty in San Antonio?

Mayor Taylor begins by saying shell "go ahead and put it out there, before continuing with: To me its broken people  you know  people not being in [a] relationship with their Creator and therefore not being in good relationship with their families and their communities and, you know, not being productive members of their society. So I think thats the ultimate answer.

Texas has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country and San Antonio stands at 4.2 per cent  just 0.5 per cent off the national average. Almost 15 per cent of its population lives below the poverty line.

The mayor went on to say that her opinion, which is based on religious prerequisites, is not one she adopts in her capacity as a mayor, and concludes by saying that education is the great equaliser.

Her comments prompted a backlash.

Many, including her constituents, responded on social media:

Mayor Taylor released a statement, in which she claims the video was deliberately edited.

She wrote: "The video clip that surfaced on social media this weekend is a dishonest, politically motivated misrepresentation of my record on combating poverty. It was intentionally edited to mislead viewers".

"I have devoted my life to breaking the chains of generational poverty- as an urban planner, the District 2 Councilwoman, and now Mayor. Ive done so because of my faith in God and my belief in Jesuss ministry on Earth".

However, as people have pointed out, the initial video was a live stream, which means it could not have been edited in the way she claimed.

This isnt the first time her views have been criticised. As a council member in 2013 she voted against protecting LGBT residents from discrimination from public and private business owners.

Her reasoning was that, though she believes that human beings deserve respect and should be "free from harassment", individuals "should be free to exercise their faith or moral values".
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Donald Trump plans to strip all funding from a State Department bureau that promotes the rights of women around the world, it has emerged.

Oxfam America led criticism of the move, saying said cutting funds for the Office of Global Womens Issues would have dire consequences for millions of people, as well as our global standing.

Documents first leaked to Foreign Policy showed plans to reduce the offices 2016 budget of $8.25 million (6.43 million) to zero in 2018, though the Presidents budget will still have to make it past Congress.

Its clear that womens empowerment and gender equality are on the chopping block in this budget, Oxfam vice president for policy, Paul OBrien, said.

The offices work had been championed by defeated presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during her time as Secretary of State under Barack Obama.

Oxfams intervention came as Mr Trump tweeted he was proud of his daughter Ivanka for her leadership on womens empowerment.

On Tuesday Ms Trump told an audience in Germany, where she shared a stage with Chancellor Angela Merkel, she was really striving to think about how best to empower women in the economy, both domestically and across the globe.

She also defended her fathers treatment of women and said the thousands he had employed in the Trump Organisation were a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man.

Mr OBrien added: Talk is cheap when you dont fund the efforts you tout.

Congress must stand against this reckless move to walk away from one of Americas proudest and smartest investments.

At less than a penny of every federal budget dollar, these vital programmes are wise investments that ensure girls are able to go to school, small business owners can contribute to the local economy, and millions of small farmers are able to produce enough crops to prevent hunger.

Instead of building on these investments and ongoing real reforms, this administration is proposing devastating cuts that will have dire consequences for millions of people, as well as our global standing, national security interests, and the values central to Americas identity.

Now is not the time to cut back on development, but to build on progress to make it even more effective.

Musimbi Kanyoro, the president and chief executive of the Global Fund for Women, told The Independent: This proposed budget cut sends an alarming signal about the primacy the US government accords to womens human rights around the world.

In previous years, we saw this office help drive meaningful progress and position the US as a champion for womens rights worldwide.

It took a leadership stance on womens rights, amplified the voices of grassroots womens leaders, and enacted important policies like the US global strategy to empower adolescent girls, which carried the potential to ensure more girls globally are educated, healthy, and free from violence.

An action like this de-prioritises women and girls and holds the threat that we will actually see global womens rights recede rather than advance under the watch of this administration."

In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters

The President is seeking savings to pay for a proposed $54 billion (42 billion) increase in funding for the US military, which he said had been depleted over a number of years.

In January Mr Trump was criticised for reinstating the Mexico City Policy, a block on federal funds going to non-governmental organisations that help provide abortion services for women overseas, through an executive order.

Marie Stopes International, an NGO that lobbies in favour of abortion and provides a variety of family planning services in both the UK and abroad, warned women in developing countries would pay the price for the shift.

That month, millions of women held marches around the world to protest Mr Trump. The hundreds of demonstrations followed Mr Trump's derogatory remarks about Fox News host Megyn Kelly after a presidential debate, and a recording of him boasting of famous men being able to grab women by the pussy.

The leaked budget documents show the President also intends to strip funding from a series of other soft-power and scientific programmes within the State Department  including slashing two-thirds of the Bureau for Food Security's resources, and 95 per cent of funds for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

The $2.5 million budget for USAID's work with blind children is also set to disappear, according to the documents. USAID is the agency that administers American foreign aid.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

The State Department referred to previous statements it had made. An official said: Later this spring, the President will release the full FY 2018 budget request with more details on specific funding and programmes requested for the State Department and USAID, along with other Executive Branch agencies.
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Donald Trump has claimed his administration 'will not stand' for Canada making business tough for US dairy farmers in border states.

"Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult," Mr Trump tweeted. "We will not stand for this. Watch!"

The tweet echoed comments reportedly made by Mr Trump at a closed-door meeting with conservative journalists the night before. Breitbart News, which was present at the event, reported Mr Trump claimed dairy farmers in Wisconsin and upstate New York are getting "killed by NAFTA".

Recommended The great dairy trade war that will test Trump

Canada maintains a high tariff on imported dairy products, which dissuades American dairy farmers from selling many of their products in the country.

At the meeting, however, Mr Trump reportedly claimed Canadian tariffs were hurting American dairy farmers in the US market, too.

Telling reporters he would address Canadian dairy imports, Mr Trump said: Its going to mean that farmers are going to start selling milk in our country.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shot back quickly, telling Bloomberg, The US has a $400 million dairy surplus with Canada so its not Canada thats the challenge here.

Canadian officials have blamed global dairy overproduction, not Canadian policies, for American dairy farmers woes.

US dairy farmers discarded more than 43 million gallons worth of excess milk last year, according to US Department of Agriculture numbers.

US complaints stem largely from the decision of one dairy company, Grassland Dairy Products, to discontinue business with approximately 75 Wisconsin dairy farmers.

The company cited changes in Canadian prices as the reason for the decision. Several farms in and New York were affected as well.

Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary Ben Brancel and New York Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball wrote a letter to the the US Department of Agriculture about the situation this month. Around the same time, Mr Trump began calling Canadian tariffs "unfair" and vowing to "stand up for our dairy farmers."

"Canada, what they've done to our dairy farm workers, it's a disgrace," Mr Trump told reporters last week. "...We're not going to let Canada take advantage [of the US]."

Mr Trump has yet to set specific policy on dairy trade, but did announce tariffs on Canadian lumber imports on Monday. Duties on Canadian lumber will range from 3 to 24 per cent.

"It has been a bad week for US-Canada trade relations," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.
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Donald Trump is showing a lot of signs of dangerous mental impairment and may be a threat to the survival of American society, a leading Yale psychiatrist has claimed.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Yale Universitys Dr Bandy Lee said she had seen a marked surge in violence among her own patients since the day of Mr Trumps election, blaming his strong rhetoric.

The lecturer, a former Harvard research fellow and chief resident at Massachusetts general hospital, was defending experts at an event she organised after they called the President dangerous and delusional.

The claim led one Republican politician to accuse them of throwing ethical standards out the window because they cannot accept the election results.

But Dr Lee insisted she and the panellists had peoples safety foremost in mind and that their judgement was not politically-motivated.

She told The Independent: To say that there are mental health impairments in Mr Trump is not to make a moral judgement on him, and not to indict him in any way.

It should not be used as a political weapon against him, but rather should be raised as a concern just like any medical issue that may impair an individuals ability to function in office.

I actually am afraid of politicisation of this. We wouldnt make up that someone has cancer, or a disability. Mental health should be treated the same.

 Ivanka Trump gets booed for trying to defend her father at major international summit

One of the reasons why I think that this matter needs to be out in public discussion is because of the very special stigma that is attached to mental illness. That stigma is due to ignorance.

Its about the situation where the presence of mental instability in a person in a position of power [is] affecting the survival and safety, not just of our patients, but of our whole patient base, meaning it spills into our responsibility.

As mental health professionals we are privy to specialised knowledge that most others may not have, or be able to perceive. That is how psychiatric or psychological dynamics can have public health consequences at large.

Most of my patients are violent offenders. Ive been treating them and designing programmes for them for over 20 years. Since the morning after Mr Trumps election, there has been a marked surge in violence among my patients. They find justification for their violence in the rhetoric.

Asked whether she had similar fears under Barack Obamas presidency, she said: No. None of us had this level of concern.

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. 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Controversy around the panels claims stemmed from whether they violated the Goldwater Rule, instituted by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in the 1970s to discourage practitioners from offering professional opinions on people in the public eye unless they had personally examined them.

In an election blog last year, APA president Dr Maria Oquendo said breaking the rule would be irresponsible, potentially stigmatising, and definitely unethical, and that it could decrease patients confidence in their doctors.

Dr Lee said that while she believed diagnosing an individual from afar isnt possible, she and others had a duty to speak out and that we are expected and required to put survival and safety above all else.

She claimed that a reaffirmation of the rule in March had expanded it beyond any original language and that her panel had adhered to the Goldwater Rule in its original conception.

It was acting as a psychiatrist might do in ordinary practice if they were forced to break confidentiality rules to protect people, she said.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

She added: That is how all ethical principles are applied. Theyre meant to be applied thoughtfully, and larger ethics need always to be considered. Professionals should be speaking out with consideration, restraint and responsibility, and only in truly exceptional cases.

Assessing dangerousness is actually quite different from doing an individual analysis. Its about protecting the individual and his or her potential victims.

[Mr Trump] is certainly showing a lot of signs. A number of us really believe that he should undergo an evaluation, to undergo really the true extent of his impairment. This shouldnt be spoken about carelessly, gratuitously.

The real dangerousness is this instability, unpredictability and impulsivity that point to dangerousness due to mental impairment. The kind of taunting of North Korea, for example. The military attack that was done within a few days of office.

He suddenly, impulsively, bombed Syria. And then the dropping of the Mother of All Bombs, the expression of contentment at the show of force, is very troublesome.

Asked whether she believed the President represented a threat to the survival of American society, she said: I wouldnt be speaking up unless it rose to that level. It may come to that.

In February another psychiatrist, Dr Allen Frances, wrote in the New York Times that psychiatric name-calling is a misguided way of countering Mr Trumps attack on democracy.

Dr Frances, of Duke University Medical College, headed a taskforce that literally wrote the book on diagnosing mental illness in 1994. He added in a letter to the paper: It is a stigmatising insult to the mentally ill (who are mostly well behaved and well meaning) to be lumped with Mr Trump (who is neither).

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
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Donald Trump has called the Security Councils inaction against Syria's President Bashar al Assads alleged use of chemical weapons as a failure while they were sitting next to him after a White House luncheon.

The president said he is disappointed because the UN doesnt like to take on problems and said the 15 member countries of the Security Council have remained blindfolded for decades to taking action on threats like North Korea.

Sources told The Independent that the Security Council also met with members of Congress for coffee and discussed North Korea, Syria, and what Mr Trump called "big reforms" to the UN that certain US legislators and Mr Trump would like to see.

Recommended Trump to order billions of funding cuts to UN agencies

US Ambassador the UN Nikki Haley, who holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month - said the meeting was a chance for members to see what the president is engaged in foreign policy and how he really need[s] them to engage.

He appeared to attempt a joke regarding Ms Haley - suggesting she could be replaced if unpopular - but commented that she is doing a great job.

Mr Trumps criticism of the UN prior to the lunch meeting is well-documented - he called it a a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time during his 2016 campaign.

He has also made clear his dislike of the fact that the US shoulders much of the burden for funding the UN, but made clear at the meeting he would be less concerned about this if the UN did a "good job".

"If we do a great job, I care much less about the budget because you're talking about peanuts compared to the important work you're doing," he said.

Richard Gowan, a UN expert with the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Independent that Mr Trumps comments could actually be useful blather.

He said the Security Council has been adrift on issues like South Sudan and Syria because of infighting among the five permanent members, which includes Russia.

Mr Trump was accurate in his statement that certain issues like those have been discussed repeatedly over the years, without any real change.

Ms Haley also commented that the meeting at the White House was a chance for the Security Council to see that the US is all about action. She said "reforms on spending" and past resolutions were discussed, but member countries have not commented as yet as to how those reforms were received.

North Korea vows to launch 'pre-emptive nuclear strike' against US as United Nations votes for new sanctions over missile tests Show all 2 1 /2 North Korea vows to launch 'pre-emptive nuclear strike' against US as United Nations votes for new sanctions over missile tests North Korea vows to launch 'pre-emptive nuclear strike' against US as United Nations votes for new sanctions over missile tests article-2289574-187CFBA9000.jpg REUTERS North Korea vows to launch 'pre-emptive nuclear strike' against US as United Nations votes for new sanctions over missile tests pg-28-kim-jong-un-getty.jpg Getty Images

He may just scare a few Council members into being a bit more constructive in future, said Mr Gowan.

However, Mr Trumps comments on US contributions to the UN could prove geopolitically dangerous.

The president has used the word unfair to describe American taxpayer contributions to both the North American Treaty Organisation (Nato) military alliance and the UN before.

US funding to the UN gives Washington huge leverage, Mr Gowan said.

Any major cuts to funding from the US - covering approximately 22 per cent of the overall budget and 28 per cent of the peacekeeping budget - could open the door to China, undermining Mr Trumps America First motto.

Mr Gowan noted that China could easily fill the financial gap and increase its own leverage.

With North Korea as a major problem unaddressed for far too long according to Mr Trump, Chinas increased financial leverage could result in a thornier political conflict with China and Russia for the US.

Chinas bombers are already on high alert due to Mr Trumps recent stance on North Korea. He is moving a fleet of aircraft carriers to the Sea of Japan as a result of a failed nuclear test by Pyongyang.

Despite the seemingly undiplomatic language, Mr Gowan said publicly dismissing the UN while continuing to work with them behind the scenes is fairly common for Republican presidents.

Mr Trump said that though the UN is underperforming, the group has tremendous potential.

I see fantastic things ahead for the United Nations, he added.
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Fox News television host Sean Hannity is the latest high profile male member of the network to face questions over his behaviour.

Debbie Schlussel, a lawyer and former Fox News guest, sparked the firestorm around the married conservative last week during a Tulsa, Oklahoma radio interview in which she was asked if anyone at the network had made her feel uncomfortable when she made appearances.

Well, only by Sean Hannity, not by Bill OReilly, she replied then in a nod to the recent sexual harassment scandal that cost Mr OReilly his prime time television slot at the network last week. Mr O'Reilly denies all allegations.

Recommended Sean Hannity told live on TV he is bad for the country by Ted Koppel

Ms Schlussel said that Mr Hannity had repeatedly invited her to go back with him to his hotel while he was staying in Detroit where the two were featured on a panel discussion. After she rejected his advances, she claims that he called her and yelled at her. She said it was made clear to her after the programme that she wouldn't be back on his show. She says she made two more appearances on Fox after that, one on Mr Hannity's show.

But, after the story received national attention, Ms Schlussel sought to clarify her comments and insisted that she did not think Mr Hannitys actions constituted sexual harassment. While she thought his behaviour was weird and creepy she would never accuse him of sexual harassment because sexual harassment has a special meaning under the law, she said.

Mr Hannity, for his part, has adamantly denied the accusations and has called them fabrications.

LET ME BE CLEAR THE COMMENTS ABOUT ME ON A RADIO SHOW THIS WEEK by this individual ARE 100 percent false and a complete fabrication, Mr Hannity wrote in a statement regarding the allegations. This individual is a serial harasser who has been lying about me for well over a decade. The individual has a history of making provably false statements against me in an effort to slander, smear and besmirch my reputation.

Mr Hannity, who married his wife in 1993, also posted his thoughts on Twitter about the accusations. The conservative commentator appeared to relish the changing story that emerged from Ms Schlussel and bragged that he had hired "the best" slander lawyers to represent him.
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One of Donald Trump's senior advisers stormed out of a cyber security conference after allegedly yelling fake news at student protesters.

Sebastian Gorka walked off the stage during a panel discussion at Georgetown University after being questioned by students over his alleged links to a nationalist group in Hungary with wartime links to the Nazis.

The Deputy Assistant to the White House has been forced to deny that he is an anti-Semite after he was spotted wearing a medal of the Vitezi Rend (Order of Vitezi), during the Presidential inauguration. The Vitezi Rend was formed in the 1920s by Admiral Horthy, Hungary's wartime leader who allied the country to the Nazis and helped Hitler's regime deport Jews to concentration camps. The Order was reconstituted in various forms after the Second World War came to an end.

Dr Gorka,who has worn the medal in public on several different occasions, has argued that he does so as a way of honouring his late father, to who it was awarded.

His father was reportedly given the medal in 1979 while living in exile, in recognition of his resistance to the Soviet occupation of Hungary after the war.

Dr Gorka stormed out of the event after receiving a grilling from protesters standing at the back of the lecture hall and holding up signs such as one saying Gorkas Gotta Go.

After receiving several questions about his links to Vitezi Rend and about allegations of anti-Muslim rhetoric on Breitbart, where he previously worked as an editor, he told the students they were victims of fake news, Bloomberg reported.

He said his experience of the media in the White House had been a superb case study of fake news.

In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges guests as he arrives on the platform at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump shakes hands with Justice John Roberts after taking the oath at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump raises his fists after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets outgoing President Barack Obama before Trump is inaugurated during ceremonies on the Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump resident-elect Donald Trump arrives on the platform of the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Attendees partake in the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump waves with wife Melania during the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters registered their rage against the new president Friday in a chaotic confrontation with police who used pepper spray and stun grenades in a melee just blocks from Donald Trump's inaugural parade route. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators protest against US President Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A woman holds a sign before the start of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Anti-Trump protesters prepare banners for a protest against the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Berlin REUTERS In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators shout slogans against US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators march, block foot traffic and clash with U.S. Capitol Police at the entry checkpoints for the Inauguration of Donald Trump Alamy Live News In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators display a banner as people arrive for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A man displays a placard as people lineup to get into the National Mall for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump raise their hands as they are surrounded by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump protests outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden share an umbrella as President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address at the inauguration in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Advisors to President-elect Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon depart from services at St. John's Church during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump take cover as they are hit by pepper spray by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump An activist demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump is helped after being hit by pepper spray on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer tries to tackle a protester demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump Reuters/Adrees Latif In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Police arrest and detain a protester in the street in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters

He denied that he or any member of the White House team was an anti-Semite and argued that the Trump administration was one of the most pro-Israeli administrations in US history.

Dr Gorka, who once advised Hungarys right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, then said he was leaving the stage to allow his colleagues to actually get questions about the issues on the table.

The former security analyst, who was born in London during his parents exile and is a former British Army reservist, was accused of hiding his links to the Vitezi Rend when he applied to become a naturalised American citizen in 2007.

The group is on a list of organisations which are regarded by the State Department as having historically been under the direction of the Nazi Government of Germany, which makes any member ineligible for US citizenship.

Last month, three Democrat Senators asked the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department to look into claims by The Tablet newspaper that Dr Gorka himself was a formal member of the Vitezi Rend.

Dr Gorka, who is married to American heiress Katherine Fairfax Cornell, has denied allegations about his connections to the group.

The modern-day Vitezi Rend says it denounces facism and anti-Semitism.
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The US should remain signed up to the landmark Paris climate agreement, Donald Trump's energy secretary has said.

But Rick Perry said the existing arrangement on reducing carbon emissions would only be honoured if elements of the deal were altered.

The revised settlement should shift more of the responsibility for limiting climate change to European nations, he said.

Recommended World powers round on Donald Trump at UN over climate change

Im not going to tell the president of the United States to walk away from the Paris accord, the former Texas governor said on Tuesday. I will say that we need to renegotiate it.

His comments come amid speculation that the US President was planning on withdrawing America from the 2015 international accord.

A final decision by the Trump administration is expected in May.

Withdrawing from the accord, which has been signed by more than 190 countries, would represent a major blow to international efforts to tackle global warming.

During a speech in New York, Mr Perry also criticised Germany, which has mothballed nuclear plants leaving it more reliant on dirty coal, saying: Dont sign an agreement and expect us to stay in if youre not really going to participate and be a part of it.

We need to renegotiate it. They need to get serious.

Mr Perry, who as governor of Texas backed the expansion of wind power, insisted that the Trump administration would not ditch green energy for coal and shale.

We are going to ensure that renewable energy finds its way to the grid, he said.

However, any move by the new administration to water down its climate change commitments would have consequences, other world powers have warned.

Paris climate talks in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Paris climate talks in pictures Paris climate talks in pictures A man is covered with a multi-coloured banner with the message, "Climate" as environmentalists attend a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) that meets in Le Bourget, December 12, 2015 Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) speaks with China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (R) and officials at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Delegates and members of NGO's read and work on copies of 'The adoption of the Paris agreement' is pictured after the announcement of the final draft by French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures UN climate chief Christiana Figueres (C) speaks with French President Francois Hollande (L), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2ndL) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures A Swiss Dominican priest poses with activists dressed as polar bears as activists gather for a demonstration to form a giant red line at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Activists hold up a giant banner reading 'Climate justice' by association 'ourpowercampaign' during a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Representatives of indigenous peoples demonstrate in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Activists form a giant red line during a demonstration on the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images Paris climate talks in pictures The slogan "No Plan B" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France, December 11, 2015. Reuters

There have been suggestions the US could face trade tariffs if its greenhouse gas emissions are allowed to increase while the rest of the world makes substantial cuts.

Mr Trump, who has previously called climate change a hoax invented by the Chinese, promised a raft of policies during his campaign including to undo Obamas climate action plan and defund UN climate change work.

In November, two weeks after his election victory, Mr Trump said he had an "open mind" on the climate deal.

Recommended Trump in talks about keeping the US in Paris climate deal

Then in January, days after his inauguration, the former head of the US President's transition team at the Environmental Protection Agency said Mr Trump would pull out of the Paris agreement.

I expect Donald Trump to be very assiduous in keeping his promises, despite all of the flack he is going to get from his opponents, Myron Ebell said.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen state prosecutors have urged Mr Trump not to withdraw from the Paris agreement.

Attorneys general from 12 states as well as the District of Columbia and American Samoa have joined a chorus of voices, including major fossil fuel energy companies and environmental advocates, condemning the idea of exiting the agreement.

"Climate change, if left unchecked, will lead to global environmental dislocation and disaster on a scale we likely cannot imagine," the prosecutors wrote.

The Paris accord seeks to limit global warming by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from burning fossil fuels.

As part of the deal, the US committed to reducing its emissions by between 26 per cent and 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025.
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The White House has refused a request from the House Oversight Committee to disclose documents related to payments received by former US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn from foreign sources.

White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short wrote to the committee saying that they would not complete the request, citing a number of reasons for the refusal. The letter stated that some queries should be addressed to the Department of Defence, some of the information was not in the possession of the White House, and that the West Wing was simply unable to accommodate other requests.

Even with that refusal Mr Flynn had already been connected to foreign actors through his bank account. House Oversight investigators announced last month that Mr Flynn had received more than half a million dollars from work for the Russian state-owned television network RT and for work with a lobbying firm that likely benefited Turkey.

Top members of the committee told reporters on Tuesday may have broken US law by not fully disclosing his business dealings with Russia when seeking a security clearance to work in the administration.

"I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law," Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the committee, said.

Mr Flynn has been the subject of scrutiny for his potential ties to foreign states  especially Russia. Earlier this year when he was forced to resign from his position in the administration of US President Donald Trump for failing to disclose that he had discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak.

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 Trump administration has been dogged by questions about the extent of contact members of the campaign team had with Russia during the 2016 election, adding to the scrutiny on Mr Flynn. Russias alleged role in hacking the election to try and sway the proceedings in Mr Trumps favour prompted former President Barack Obama to impose further sanctions on the country and to vow to retaliate for the interference. Mr Trump has repeatedly denied that Russia had any role in helping him get elected.
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A judge in San Francisco has blocked Donald Trump's executive order withholding funds from sanctuary cities that fail to comply with federal immigration demands.

The block came after San Francisco and Santa Clara County asked the courts to intervene, arguing that more than $1 billion was at stake for each of them.

In his ruling US District Judge William Orrick III wrote that the language of the executive order made it clear that the Trump administration planned on using the order to block funding for more than just law enforcement as federal lawyers had argued.

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And if there was doubt about the scope of the Order, the President and Attorney General have erased it with their public comments, he wrote.

Sanctuary cities generally dont allow the use of local funds to comply with federal immigration requests, including civil detainer requests in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers request that a local jail detain an inmate for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release date so immigration officials can decide if they want to detain them.

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 court's intervention is another setback for Mr Trump, who has struggled to secure a major legislative victory in his first 100 days in office and has has been challenged by opponents on some of his highest profile executive actions aimed at fulfilling campaign promises.

That includes two controversial travel bans that were halted in federal courts that would have restricted travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries.

Mr Trump had made eliminating sanctuary cities a major part of his campaign after an undocumented immigrant shot and killed 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle as she walked with her father in the city. Following the news of her death, Mr Trump began repeatedly referencing her on the campaign trail.

But supporters of sanctuary cities have vehemently opposed Mr Trumps efforts to pull federal funding from cities that dont comply with federal immigration officials. In addition to San Francisco and Santa Clara County, two Massachusetts cities and a third California city filed lawsuits against Mr Trumps executive order.
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Every US senator has been called to a White House briefing on North Korea, as tensions with the rogue state escalate.

It is unusual for the entire Senate, which has 100 members, to travel to the White House on the same day. They will be briefed by the country's top security officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spokesperson Sean Spicer said.

Washington has expressed mounting concern over North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, and its threats to attack the United States and its Asian allies.

 US and South Korea hold joint military exercises amid North Korea crisis

Donald Trump triggered speculation he was planning a response in the event of another nuclear test by Pyongyang when he made hastily scheduled calls to Japans Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and Chinas President, Xi Jinping, on Sunday.

Pyongyang had been suspected of planning a new nuclear trial to coincide with the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army on Tuesday.

The isolationist state staged its largest-ever artillery firing drill on Tuesday morning to mark the date, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

On Monday, Mr Trump told UN Security Council ambassadors the status quo was not acceptable, saying the council must be ready to impose new sanctions.

Unease has grown around the Korean Peninsula, with the northern state on Saturday arresting a US citizen at Pyongyang airport in an apparent attempt to gain leverage over Washington.

Wednesday's briefing was originally scheduled for a secure room at the Capitol, but Mr Trump suggested a shift to the White House, congressional aides said. They also suggested the briefing was being held at the White House to underscore the message to North Korea that Washington is serious about wanting a shift in policy.

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

A senior Trump administration official said the flurry of activity around North Korea was not a part of something choreographed and cautioned against over-interpretation.

Both Democrats and Republicans welcomed the meeting. It's (the location) their choice, said Senator Ben Cardin, lead Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I hope that we hear their policy as to what their objectives are, and how we can accomplish that hopefully without dropping bombs.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said the administration should be telling senators it had a red line, if it has one. By 2020, if nothing changes inside of North Korea, they'll have the technology, they'll have a breakthrough, to develop an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) that can reach America. I hope this president will say that's a non-starter, Mr Graham said.

North Korea on Sunday threatened to sink an American aircraft carrier, which had begun joint drills with two Japanese destroyers in the western Pacific Ocean, in a demonstration of its military might.

On Tuesday, a missile-armed US submarine arrived in South Korea, on its way to join the other warships.

The briefing will take place at 3pm local time. Aides said they were working with the White House to schedule a similar briefing for the House of Representatives.

Reuters contributed to this report
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Chinese authorities have banned Islamic baby names in the countrys largest Muslim province, as part of a crackdown on alleged extremism that monitors say restricts fundamental rights.

A document entitled Naming Rules for Ethnic Minorities prohibits names used by Muslim parents around the world including Imam, Hajj, Islam, Quran, Saddam, Medina and Islam, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported.

It applies to the Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang, where the Communist Party has been imposing ever tighter restrictions on religion in what it claims is a battle against extremism, amid a separatist uprising by Uyghur rebels.

Any babies with overly religious names will be barred from the hukou household registration system governing access to healthcare and education, a police official in the regional capital of Urumqi told RFA, which was founded by the US government and advances its foreign policy.

Youre not allowed to give names with a strong religious flavour, such as Jihad or names like that, he added.

The most important thing here is the connotations of the name... [It mustnt have] connotations of holy war or of separatism.

Chinese military police attending an anti-terrorist oath-taking rally in Hetian, northwest China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (Getty)

Muslims from the Uyghur ethnic group, which is the majority in Xinjiang, are being urged to stick to the party line and avoid anything seen as promoting terror and evil cults.

A list of banned names was previously detailed in Hotan prefecture in 2015 but has now reportedly been rolled out throughout Xinjiang, which is home to an estimated 10 million Muslims.

Human Rights Watch said the latest absurd prohibition was part of a slew of new regulations restricting religious freedom in the name of countering extremism.

These policies are blatant violations of domestic and international protections on the rights to freedom of belief and expression, said Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watchs director for China.

Violent incidents and ethnic tensions in Xinjiang have been on the rise in recent years, but the governments farcically repressive policies and punishments are hardly solutions.

Instead, they are only going to deepen resentment among Uyghurs.

The reported list of names emerged less than a month after authorities in Xinjiang imposed new rules prohibiting the wearing of abnormal beards or burqas in public places, and imposing punishments for refusing to watch state television or radio programmes.

It included a ban on naming of children to exaggerate religious fervour, but did not immediately give specifics.

Human rights attacks around the world Show all 10 1 /10 Human rights attacks around the world Human rights attacks around the world China Escalating crackdown against human rights activists including mass arrests of lawyers and a series of sweeping laws in the name of national security. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Egypt The arrest of thousands, including peaceful critics, in a ruthless crackdown in the name of national security, the prolonged detention of hundreds without charge or trial and the sentencing of hundreds of others to death. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Gambia Torture, enforced disappearances and the criminalisation of LGBTI people; and utter refusal to co-operate with the UN and regional human rights mechanisms on issues including freedom of expression, enforced disappearance and the death penalty. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Hungary Sealing off its borders to thousands of refugees in dire need; and obstructing collective regional attempts to help them. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Israel Maintaining its military blockade of Gaza and therefore collective punishment of the 1.8 million inhabitants there, as well as failing, like Palestine, to comply with a UN call to conduct credible investigations into war crimes committed during the 2014 Gaza conflict. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Kenya Extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and discrimination against refugees in its counter-terrorism operations; and attempts to undermine the International Criminal Court and its ability to pursue justice. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Pakistan The severe human rights failings of its response to the horrific Peshawar school massacre including its relentless use of the death penalty; and its policy on international NGOs giving authorities the power to monitor them and close them down if they are considered to be against the interests of the country. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Russia Repressive use of vague national security and anti-extremism legislation and its concerted attempts to silence civil society in the country; its shameful refusal to acknowledge civilian killings in Syria and its callous moves to block Security Council action on Syria. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Saudi Arabia Brutally cracking down on those who dared to advocate reform or criticise the authorities; and committing war crimes in the bombing campaign it has led in Yemen (pictured) while obstructing the establishment of a UN-led inquiry into violations by all sides in the conflict. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Syria Killing thousands of civilians in direct and indiscriminate attacks with barrel bombs and other weaponry and through acts of torture in detention; and enforcing lengthy sieges of civilian areas, blocking international aid from reaching starving civilians. Getty Images

Rules published in state-controlled media continued: Parents should use good moral conduct to influence their children, educate them to revere science, pursue culture, uphold ethnic unity and refuse and oppose extremism.

Punishments also appear to be increasing for officials deemed to be too lenient over the growing restrictions.

In January, a government employee who criticised policies in messages to his wife received a serious warning and in March, a Uyghur official was reportedly removed from her job for holding her wedding ceremony at home instead of at a government-approved venue.

Human Rights Watch said a further 97 officials in Hotan prefecture were reprimanded earlier this month, including one who was demoted for not daring to smoke in front of religious figures and showing an inadequately resolute political stance.

Successive bans on select extremist behaviours have previously been introduced in in areas of Xinjiang, including stopping people with headscarves, veils and long beards from boarding buses in at least one city.

Hundreds of people have died in the ongoing conflict between separatists and the Chinese government in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which sits on Chinas far north-western border.

Beijing has blamed the unrest on Islamist militants, though rights groups say the violence is a reaction to repressive Chinese policies and rebels claim the region has been illegally occupied since 1949.

Peaceful protests have taken place alongside bombings and other violent attacks on Chinese security forces and institutions.

The government strongly denies committing any abuses in Xinjiang and insists the legal, cultural and religious rights of Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group, are fully protected.
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Japanese citizens will have just 10 minutes to prepare a North Korean ballistic missile attack, authorities in the country have warned.

In the event of an attack, a document posted on the country's civil protection site advises people to find the strongest concrete building possible or go underground.

Then they should then take cover under tables and stay away from windows, it says.

A ballistic missile would likely take around 10 minutes to travel 1,600 km (1,000 miles) from its launch pad in North Korea to Okinawa, it adds, citing a launch in February last year which took that length of time to fly over the Japanese island.

The warning comes as tensions ratcheted up between North Korea, its Asian neighbours and the US. The secretive communist state test-fired four ballistic missiles last month, three of which landed in Japans exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan, just off the coast of the country.

It has subsequently emerged that the country's civil defence website had 5.7 million visitors in the first 23 days of April  more than 14 times the usual monthly traffic.

 North Korea marks 85th anniversary of army by showing images of missiles in government

Japan's early-warning system, which issues missile strike alerts to the population via loudspeaker and telephone has come under increased scrutiny amid the rising tensions.

In 1998, North Korea demonstrated that its missiles were capable of reaching Japan when it fired a missile to launch a satellite across Japanese territory that landed in its economic zone on the Pacific Ocean side.

Japan's government has been briefing local authorities on what they should do if a missile lands in their area and urging them to hold evacuation drills.

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

Sales of nuclear shelters and radiation-blocking air purifiers have also surged in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, in the US, every member of the Senate was called to a White House briefing on the threat posed by North Korea last week.

Donald Trump triggered speculation he was planning a response in the event of another nuclear test by Pyongyang when he made hastily scheduled calls to Japans Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and Chinas President, Xi Jinping, over the weekend.

Mr Trump later told UN Security Council ambassadors the status quo was not acceptable and said the council must be ready to impose new sanctions.
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North Korea has staged its largest-ever artillery firing drill to mark the anniversary of the founding of its military, according to reports.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the drill, celebrating 85 years since the North's army was created, took place near the eastern port city of Wonsan. Dictator Kim Jong-un was presumed to have taken part, it said.

South Korea's military said it was closely watching the North's troop movements around Wonsan and a separate report suggested between 300 and 400 artillery pieces were used in the test.

Recommended Japanese nuclear shelter sales surge after North Korea missile test

Seoul's joint chiefs of staff did not directly confirm Yonhap's report, which cited an unnamed government source.

North Korea's state media was defiant in a commentary marking the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean People's Army, saying its military was prepared "to bring to closure the history of US scheming and nuclear blackmail".

"There is no limit to the strike power of the People's Army armed with our style of cutting-edge military equipment including various precision and miniaturised nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles," the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a front-page editorial.

It is believed the North has a large number of artillery pieces trained permanently on Seoul.

Tuesday's drill came as US President Donald Trump criticised the Kim regime's "belligerence" in a phone call with Chinese premier Xi Jinping and said its actions were destabilising the Korean peninsula.

While Mr Xi asked Mr Trump for restraint, both leaders "reaffirmed the urgency of the threat", according to the White House.

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. 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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. 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Mr Trump has spoken out aggressively against North Korea in recent weeks, calling the country a "problem" that will be "taken care of".

He told United Nations Security Council ambassadors on Monday that the UN must be prepared to impose stronger sanctions on the country.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov plans to eliminate the countrys gay community by the start of Ramadan, a British foreign minister has claimed.

Reports from Chechnya allege that more than 100 men have been rounded up and detained in secret prisons by authorities on suspicion of being gay in recent weeks, with many beaten and tortured. At least four men are alleged to have been killed.

Speaking in Parliament during an urgent question on the persecution and detention of LGBT citizens in the Russian republic of Chechnya, minister of state for the Foreign Office Sir Alan Duncan said he had been informed of alleged plans to eliminate the countrys gay community by the start of Ramadan, which commences on 26 May.

Human rights groups report that these anti-gay campaigns and killings are orchestrated by the head of the Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, Sir Alan said.

He has carried out other violent campaigns in the past, and this time he is directing his efforts at the LGBT community. Sources have said that he wants the community eliminated by the start of Ramadan.

Sir Alan called the reports of actions taken in Chechnya, a largely Muslim country, as utterly barbaric. One man told CNN people had beaten him with their fists and feet to try and get names of other gay men from him. Then they tied wires to my hands and put metal clippers on my ears to electrocute me. Theyve 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

Sir Alan said the Government is using all engagement with Russia to make our voice clear, adding that he raised the issue personally with Russias deputy foreign minister Vladimir Titov while discussing general human rights matters.

Donald Trumps ambassador to the UN has said she is disturbed by allegations coming out of Chechnya. If true, this violation of human rights cannot be ignored  Chechen authorities must immediately investigate these allegations, hold anyone involved accountable and take steps to prevent future abuses, she said.

But Chechnya has denied the reports. Its interior ministry called the allegations an April Fools joke, when they were first reported, while a spokesperson for leader Mr Kadyrov later denied gay people exist in the country.

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.

Russia has backed the Chechen leaders denials of the brutality. Vladimir Putins spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said there had been no evidence found to support the allegations, which were first reported in newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

He added the Kremlin had no reason to doubt Mr Kadyrovs claims that no one under his rule has been persecuted over their sexual orientation.
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Emmanuel Macron is at least 20 points ahead of Marine Le Pen in every poll on the French presidential election taken since the first round of voting.

Mr Macron, a former minister who set up his own party to run for president, came top on Sunday, with 23.8 per cent of the ballots cast.

Ms Le Pen, the former Front National (FN) leader, joined the 38-year-old in the presidential run-off after coming second with 21.5 per cent of the vote.

But every survey suggests Mr Macron will claim a landslide victory when French voters go back to the booth on 7 May.

Polling conducted by Elabe and Harris both give the centrist candidate a 38-point lead, while Ipsos calculated a cushion of 24 points.

OpinionWay put Ms Le Pen 22 points behind, while Ifop conducted two rounds of polling, putting her 20 and 21 points back respectively.

Leading politics experts believe Mr Macron will blow Marine Le Pen out of the water following his successful 'En Marche!' campaign.

Dr Rainbow Murray, a French politics expert from Queen Mary University, told The Independent it would take a scandal of "significant proportion" to ruin his chances.

 Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to wife Brigitte during speech after entering round two

The presidency is Macrons for the taking. Le Pen is too divisive and she does not have the majority of the electorate that she would need, she said.

An unprecedented scandal is the only scenario, as I see it, that could halt Macrons chances, even another terrorist attack I think wouldn't change the outcome.

Emmanuel Macron has consistently polled above 60 per cent in the second round of voting (Statista)

Dr Joseph Downing, French politics expert and fellow at Frances National Centre for Scientific Research, said a Macron presidency looked a safe bet.

I think he is going to do a good enough job of reaching out to voters of other parties so I dont think it will be tight in the second round at all, he told The Independent.

Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right Show all 3 1 /3 Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right 506411.bin Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right 506506.bin REUTERS Le Pen's legacy: bitter battle for future of the French far right 506507.bin

I think he will take between 65 and 75 of the final vote, which is good, but at the same time the National Front have only got into the second round twice in living memory.

It is historic and unprecedented that two people in the second round do not represent established parties, the fact that Macron can do well really does show the fragility of the system.
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The level of politically-motivated crime in Germany has hit an all-time high as the left and right wing clash over the refugee crisis, terror attacks and the coming election.

Thomas de Maiziere, the German interior minister, said total of 41,500 political crimes - 4,300 of them violent - recorded last year was unacceptable.

We will use the full force of the law again those who reject our legal system, he added, in an apparent reference to the radical Reichsburger anti-government movement.

A reduction in the number of politically-motivated crime is not expected. Security agencies are prepared for upcoming events including the G20 meeting in Hamburg and the election campaign and will take decisive action when necessary.

German crime figures for 2016 show the vast majority were committed by the right rather than the left, with right-wing violence up by 14 per cent and the left down by a quarter.

The refugee crisis is among the issues increasing tensions, with pro and anti-migrant protesters clashing at demonstrations and extremists attacking asylum seeker accommodation.

Police arrest an activist during a demonstration against anti-immigration party the Alternative for Germany (AfD) before the party's conference in Cologne on 22 April (Reuters)

A police car was set on fire during protests in Cologne on Saturday, as thousands of demonstrators converged on the anti-immigration Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party conference in Cologne.

Attacks on refugee accommodation fell for the first time since 2014 last year but still stood at around 1,000 incidents, with the interior ministry calling the fact that those who have fled terror and war in their homelands are the focus of right-wing violence shocking.

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Violations of immigration law including illegal entry into Germany and overstaying visas contributed to an increase in crimes committed by foreign citizens, which rose by 4.6 per cent, constituting 40 per cent of all suspects.

But when immigration and asylum offences were excluded, the proportion of non-German suspects fell to 30 per cent.

Mr de Maiziere said the disproportionate rise in crime by those classified as immigrants, including asylum seekers, refugees, illegal immigrants and people awaiting deportation, had risen to 174,4000 cases  up 53 per cent.

As unpleasant as these figures are as a whole, they validate our course, to clearly make distinctions according to each individuals need for protection, he added.

Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Show all 13 1 /13 Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Women protest against sexism outside Cologne Cathedral on 5 January after the assaults Oliver Berg/EPA Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Women protest against sexism in Cologne following the rash of sex attacks on New Year's Eve Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police initially failed to mention the assaults in report the following morning EPA Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police officers patrol in front of the main station of Cologne, Germany AP Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks German far-right supporters demonstrate at Cologne`s train station (Reuters) Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police used pepper spray to control supporters of Pegida, Hogesa (Hooligans against Salafists) and other right-wing populist groups as they protested against the New Year's Eve sex attacks on 9 January, 2016 in Cologne, Germany Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police use a water cannon during a protest march by supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016 Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Police use pepper spray against supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida, in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Artist Mira Moire protests naked in Cologne against the mass sex attacks on New Year's Eve AP Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks A demonstrator holds a sign in German that reads 'No violence against women' during a demonstration in the wake of the sexual assaults on New Year's Eve, outside the cathedeal in Cologne, Germany, 09 January 2016. EPA Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Counter demonstrators hold up a sign reading "Against sexism, against racism" as they protest against a demonstration of the islamophobic movement PEGIDA at the train station in Cologne, Germany, on January 9, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Demonstration by a womens group on Saturday (AP) AP

Those who need no protection have no right to remain in our country, and those who commit serious crimes have forfeited their right of residence.

But neither will we allow all refugees living with us to be put under suspicion.

The vast majority live alongside us, with our values and the rules of a peaceful and democratic co-existence.

Mr de Maiziere said one reason for the high crime rate among asylum seekers and refugees  who committed 9 per cent of all offences in 2016 - was likely to be their accommodation situation, seeing fights break out in makeshift shelters and overcrowded rooms.

Right-wing political parties and movements have blamed Angela Merkels decision to open Germanys borders to refugees in 2015  sparking the arrival of more than a million asylum seekers  for a series of deadly terror attacks and mass sexual assaults in Cologne.

An Afghan asylum seeker injured four people in an axe attack on a train in July, while days later a Syrian refugee blew himself up in Ansbach.

Germany: Turkish nationalists clash with pro-Kurdish protesters in Cologne

A rejected Tunisian asylum seeker who Germany had attempted to deport killed 12 people in a lorry rampage at a Christmas market in Berlin. All three attacks were linked to Isis.

There was also a significant increase in crime motivated by imported ideologies  up 66 per cent - including Isis supporters and jihadis, and over Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group.

Federal prosecutors have initiated numerous cases against suspected Islamists and former foreign fighters from Isis, al-Qaeda and the Taliban, as well as against suspected spies acting on behalf of Recep Tayyip Erdogans government in Turkey.

A referendum on expanding the Presidents powers has increased tensions, as well as a failed coup in July and the ongoing crackdown on Kurdish separatists, political dissidents and alleged supporters of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

When excluding immigration-related crimes, the largest group of non-German suspects were Turks, followed by Romanians, Poles and Syrians.

Figures from the German interior ministry also showed that violent crime had increased by 7 per cent, but a spokesperson emphasised that with immigration offences excluded the overall national crime rate fell.


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Ivanka Trump has been booed and hissed at by an audience in Berlin after she praised Donald Trumps stance on women.

During her first international outing as a White House advisor, the first daughter argued her father was "a tremendous champion of supporting families.

The statement immediately drew audible boos and rumbling from the audience who did not appear to agree with the assertion.

Ms Trump, the Presidents second child who is said to be his favourite, is in Germany for talks on encouraging womens economic empowerment.

When pressed about President Trump's past attitudes toward women during the W20 Summit, she told the audience: "I've certainly heard the criticism from the media, and that's been perpetuated."

In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home Show all 13 1 /13 In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The front of the house Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The lobby Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The house exterior Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The patio Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The bedroom Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living area Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The Living Room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The kitchen Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The bathroom Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The hall Zillow

But Ms Trump, a former executive of the Trump Organisation, insisted her own personal experience and those of the "thousands" of women who have worked with Mr Trump for decades did not tally with the media's criticism.

She said: "They are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man".

The first daughter added: "He encouraged me and enabled me to thrive. I grew up in a house where there was no barrier to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also attended the panel discussion which focused on female empowerment in the global economy and entrepreneurship. The summit was a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries titled "Inspiring women: Scaling up women's entrepreneurship."

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Other guests include IMF director Christine Lagarde, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and the Netherlands' Queen Maxima.

During her trip, the first daughter will visit the German capital's memorial to the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis. Ms Trump converted to Orthodox Judaism before she married Jared Kushner, also an unpaid White House advisor, in 2009.

The booing from the Berlin audience is by no means the first time Ms Trump has found herself subject to criticism. She was impersonated by Scarlett Johansson in a Saturday Night Live sketch cuttingly titled complicit last month. The actor's faux perfume advert which quickly went viral suggested the first daughter was complicit in the actions of the Trump administration.
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A key adviser to Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of inciting hatred against Muslims.

Robert Menard, mayor of Beziers, was fined 2,000 euros for saying there were too many Muslim children in his city's schools.

It comes after Ms Le Pen announced she was temporarily stepping down as leader of the Front National party to concentrate on her presidential bid.

The move has been seen as an attempt to distance herself from the party's racist image and embrace a wider range of voters.

 Marine Le Pen steps down from National Front leadership

During an interview on TV, Menard said: "In one of the classrooms in my town centre, 91 per cent of children are Muslim. Obviously this is a problem"

He had also posted a tweet comparing a school picture from the 1970s to one taken recently which he said proved the conspiracy theory of a "great replacement," which claims Muslim immigrants are replacing the traditional French population.

The prosecutor said Menard had reduced children "to their religion, regardless of whether they have French nationality or do not practice".

Menard was convicted of an "incitement to hatred and discrimination".

In a tweet sent after being convicted, he said he was "obviously appealing".
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Marine Le Pen made the surprise announcement on Monday night that she was stepping down as leader of the Front National, claiming it would allow her to represent better the interests of "all French people".

On the surface, at least, it seemed to change little about her approach to the country's problems. Visiting a wholesale market outside Paris on Tuesday, she declared that under her regime, the government would promote meat and produce reared in France, so "our children take advantage of our healthy, quality products".

"Let's promote the 'eating French' especially in [school] canteens," she said. She was promptly booed by some workers in the fruit and vegetables section.

The far-right candidate has been forced to take drastic action, giving up control of her father's political party, after she scraped through to the second round of the French presidential election nearly one million votes behind centrist Emmanuel Macron - despite leading in polls throughout the campaign.

The manoeuvre will be used to present Ms Le Pen as a unifier, representing not only a political party but the interests of France as a whole.

Speaking to French television channel France 2, she said: This evening I am no longer the president of the Front National but I am a presidential candidate, a candidate that wishes to unite all French people behind a project of hope, of prosperity and security.

Ms Le Pen headed the Front National since 2011, when she took over from 2002 presidential runner-up Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Mr Le Pen and his daughter have laid bare their political differences in recent years, and on Tuesday he was again critical of her leadership. Speaking to France Inter radio, he said he still backed her for president - but that he would have run a more "Trump-style" campaign himself, one that would have been "very aggressive against those who are responsible for the country's decadency".

For the Front National, Ms Le Pen's announcement was only a technicality. The partys vice president, the MEP Jean-Francois Jalkh, will assume the function of leader at least until the end of the election, but is known for his loyalty to the Le Pen family.

Ms Le Pen will now turn her full attention to chasing votes both from the right and the far-left, if she is to have any hope of entering the Elysee Palace.

Despite polls giving Ms Le Pen only 35 to 40 per cent of the votes in the second round, against more than 60 per cent for Mr Macron, she told French TV: We can win and I am going to go even further to say we will win.

Ms le Pen said it was perfectly feasible to catch up the 10 little points between her and Mr Macron.

She called the results of the first round of voting historic, despite some of her supporters expressing disappointment in the second-place finish.

Her first goal will be to reach out to supporters of right-wing candidates Francois Fillon and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, followed by the far-left voters who backed Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Ms Le Pen said she wanted to talk to Mr Dupont-Aignan, who won nearly five per cent of the first-round vote and has not said which side he would back in the next.

His platform is extremely close to ours. Patriots should come together to fight those who promote unbridled globalisation, she said.

She also said there were ongoing contacts with Les Republicains party, despite the fact Mr Fillon clearly called on his supporters to vote for Mr Macron in the election's second round.

French Presidential Election Show all 20 1 /20 French Presidential Election French Presidential Election Voters line up to cast their ballots REUTERS French Presidential Election REUTERS French Presidential Election REUTERS French Presidential Election Police patrol polling stations in France REUTERS French Presidential Election REUTERS French Presidential Election REUTERS French Presidential Election REUTERS French Presidential Election REUTERS French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte Trogneux REUTERS French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron casts his ballot REUTERS French Presidential Election SAA/ French Presidential Election REUTERS French Presidential Election Front National leader Marine Le Pen casts her ballot REUTERS French Presidential Election Early ballots are read as results continue to come in Reuters French Presidential Election Macron supporters react as results come in early in the evening AP French Presidential Election Supporters of Front National leader Marine Le Pen cheer as early results come in Reuters French Presidential Election Alamy French Presidential Election Front National leader Marine Le Pen takes to the stage to address her supporters as fans cheer Reuters French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron greets supporters on Sunday night AP French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte Trogneux celebrate the incoming results EPA

For Ms Le Pen, relinquishing the Front National leadership can be seen as a logical next step in a deliberate attempt to move away from her fathers track record of Holocaust denial, anti-Semitic and climate-sceptic views through a process known in France as dediabolisation, which means casting out the devil.

In recent campaigns, Ms Le Pen even dropped her surname from posters and leaflets to be known only as Marine, accompanied with the slogan "In the name of the people".

Ms Le Pen is not standing as an independent candidate since she still belongs to the Front National, but she is giving herself more space to manoeuvre as she is about to face Mr Macron, who himself belongs to a movement - and En Marche! is just one year old - rather than a traditional party.

At a time when the French electorate has sneered at the traditional left and right-wing parties, Ms Le Pens tactical move plays right into the demand for a new kind of politics.
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Two children are among at least 16 refugees who have drowned attempting to cross from Turkey to Greece.

The sole survivors of the disaster were two women  one of them pregnant  who said around 25 people had been loaded on to a smugglers boat towards the island of Lesbos.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said a six-year-old boy was found dead in Greek waters, alongside six women and two men.

Seven more bodies, of six men and a child were found in Turkish waters by the coastguard following the sinking on Monday night.

A spokesperson said that the survivors, an eight-month pregnant woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and another woman from Cameroon, were out of danger following hospital treatment and would receive accommodation and support in Greece.

The number of people crossing the Aegean to Greece has dropped drastically over the past year, but this tragic incident shows that the dangers and the risk of losing ones life remains very real, said Philippe Leclerc, a regional representative of the UNHCR.

 Refugee crisis: Stranded refugees face deteriorating conditions in Greece camps

It was the second reported boat disaster in waters between Turkey and Greece this year, which has seen a record number of refugees die attempting the longer and more treacherous crossing from Libya to Italy.

It has become the dominant sea route to Europe after new regulations were imposed under the controversial EU-Turkey deal in March 2016, seeing anyone arriving on Greek islands detained under the threat of deportation.

More than 62,000 asylum seekers have been stranded in Greece by the agreement and border closures throughout Europe, despite warnings over a growing epidemic of sexual violence and exploitation and suicide attempts in refugee camps.

Around 4,900 migrants have made the voyage this year, according to UNHCR data  an average of 20 a day  far down on the total of 173,000 for 2016.

Many of those already in Greek camps have been waiting for their asylum claims to be processed for up to a year while living in dire conditions under the threat of violent protests and attacks by right-wing groups.

A group of 12 Syrians of Kurdish origin started a hunger strike on Friday at the notorious Moria detention camp on the island of Lesbos.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

The UNHCR said its staff were working to help resolve the situation amid concern for their health, with the strikers cutting out water on Sunday.

They are preparing a letter to Greek authorities demanding their claims be considered in line with international law and the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The worsening situation is driving migrants into the hands of smugglers in desperation to escape the country.

An Iranian man died near the north-eastern city of Xanthi on Monday night after a van carrying him and 13 other migrants crashed while being chased by police.

Police said the van's driver, a suspected smuggler from Moldova, had swerved past a motorway checkpoint and crashed on a rural road before being arrested.

Refugees have died in fires and of hypothermia and suffocation in Greek camps, where some are on hunger strike (AFP/Getty)

The migrants found inside, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran, are believed to have crossed from neighbouring Turkey over a river that separates the two countries.

Almost 1,100 asylum seekers have died in attempted sea journeys to Europe so far in 2017, while several more have been killed by hypothermia, suffocation or in accidents on land.

Despite the record deaths, humanitarian organisations carrying out search and rescue operations have been increasingly attacked for allegedly aiding smugglers, which they deny.

Sophie Beau, the co-founder of rescue charity SOS Mediterranee, said NGOs were being forced to act by the failure of European states, who should be increasing rescue capacity themselves.

NGOs are being blamed for our presence, when authorities should be blamed for their absence, she added.

Theres a humanitarian tragedy unfolding in front of our eyes at the door of Europe and we cannot just remain blind.

More than 44,000 migrants, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Iraq, have arrived over the Mediterranean and Aegean seas this year.
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Turkey's relations with the European Union have reached their lowest point in recent times, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said.

His comments came after a leading European human rights body placed Turkey back on a watchlist over concerns about the functioning of democratic institutions in the country.

Mr Yildirim told reporters Turkey would decide on what steps it would now take regarding the decision by the Strasbourg-based Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The 47-member based council placed Turkey on the watchlist over the ongoing crackdown on dissent since last year's coup attempt, rights violations and concerns about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increased grip on power.

 Turkey's president Recep Erdogan wins referendum to greatly expand powers

While the Council is separate from the European Union, the vote is likely to be a further setback to Turkey's bid to join the EU.

Relations with the EU soured even more during a referendum campaign this month on granting Mr Erdogan more powers, during which he accused Germany and the Netherlands of acting like Nazis by banning Turkish political rallies.

The Council of Europe applies its monitoring scheme to all countries when they join, but this was the first time it has been reopened against any member of the body, which includes Russia, Ukraine and all 28 EU member states.

In a resolution, the assembly  made up of parliamentarians from the various member states  voiced concern over Turkey's sweeping dismissal and detention of civil servants, judges, prosecutors and academics following the botched coup, as well as the closure of independent media and non-governmental organisations.

The vote to open the procedure against Ankara passed with 113 votes in favour versus 45 against. The assembly called on Turkey to swiftly lift the state of emergency and free jailed lawmakers and journalists.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

The EU has already said Turkey's EU negotiations will cease should Mr Erdogan reinstate death penalty, as he has indicated he might, and the EU official responsible for negotiations with potential new member states has called for a new format of relations with Turkey.

Some EU officials hope that, even if it came to formally aborting Turkey's EU bid, the bloc could re-energise talks on trade with a Nato ally whose cooperation is vital in dealing with the unprecedented flow of refugees from the Middle East.

Others, however, say progress would be hard without a breakthrough in talks on reuniting the island of Cyprus.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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China is not allowing Chinese construction crews to work in the West Bank because it opposes Israeli settlements in what it considers occupied Palestinian territory.

Israel officials said Sunday they had signed a deal with China to bring Chinese construction crews to Israel. They would not address reports that the work would be restricted to only some areas.

A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman confirmed the West Bank restrictions Monday.

Spokesman Geng Shuang says China values its relationship with Israel but opposes the construction of Jewish settlements on Palestine's occupied territory. Geng cited a UN Security Council resolution adopted in December declaring the settlements illegal.

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 West Bank was captured by Israel in 1967. Palestinians claim it as part of a future state  a position with wide international backing.

Associated Press
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US State Department documents obtained by Foreign Policy magazine show that while President Donald Trump intends to stick to his promise to slash foreign aid, under the budget proposals the Palestinian Territories would receive increased funding.

The Trump administration announced last month that it planned on reducing the diplomacy and foreign aid budget by 28 per cent in the next fiscal year while increasing funds for military programmes and preserving Israels current $3.1bn (2.4bn) security aid package.

The leaked documents propose a cut in assistance for several countries across the world, but a 4.6 per cent rise for both the West Bank and Gaza - a total of $215m (168m) for fiscal year 2018.

 Teacher attacked by right-wing American Jewish group 'for being Palestinian'

Syria, Iraq and Libya would also receive increased aid spending, the 15-page proposal said, as the administration seeks to more closely link aid with the US national security objectives.

The moves are somewhat surprising considering Mr Trumps lukewarm attitude towards the Palestinian authorities and pledged support for Israel during his election campaign and tenure so far.

While Jordans King Abdullah is the only Middle Eastern leader to have been invited to meet the president twice so far, Jordan - which hosts more than 1.4 million Syrian refugees - would have its aid slashed by 21.7 per cent.

Lebanon, where one in four of the population is now Syrian, would have its budget cut by 22.7 per cent, and Yemen - currently embroiled in a two-year-long civil war, and where the UN estimates more than half of the 27million strong population is food insecure - would see its aid reduced by 16.8 per cent.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

Health programmes worldwide would also face a 25 per cent decrease in funding. Other sweeping cuts would target food security institutions, as well as programmes and offices for global womens issues and climate change.

The administration is also seeking to merge the State Department with USAID, the governments development wing - a streamlining move former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios told Foreign Policy would end the technical expertise of USAID, and in my view, it will be an unmitigated disaster for the longer term.

Earlier this year more than 120 retired US generals and admirals wrote to Congress urging the body to fully fund diplomacy and foreign aid, arguing the functions were critical to keeping America safe.

Congress is highly unlikely to approve the Trump administrations proposals in their current form.

The budget plans have already faced bipartisan opposition among politicians. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called the leaked documents dead on arrival.
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Three Isis fighters were reportedly killed by wild boars on Iraqi farmland controlled by the group.

The militants had been trying to remove the animals near Kirkuk in the al-Rashad region when the boars went on a rampage, Iraqi News reports.

One source claimed other Isis members took revenge on the pigs after the fatal attack occurred.

It was unclear exactly how the fighters died or how the revenge was carried out.

Isis have held areas surrounding Kirkuk since 2014, and several thousand civilians have reportedly fled from the region.

It comes six months after Iraqi forces launched efforts to retake the city of Mosul, thought to be the last stronghold of the group in the country.

However, there are fears that the offensive could push militants to regroup elsewhere. One fear is that the province of Kirkuk could become another stronghold.

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

Local forces in the region have repeatedly called on the government to liberate Isis-held areas, but its resources are predominantly occupied by Mosul.

Militants have been accused of executing civilians in the region who attempt to flee to refugee camps.
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Isis-affiliated fighters apologised after launching an attack on Israeli soldiers, the countrys former defence minister has claimed.

Moshe Yaalon was reportedly referring to an incident when a group linked to Isis in the Syrian Golan Heights exchanged fire with Israeli forces last November.

The area is a rocky plateau in southwestern Syria, which was partly seized by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

There was one case recently where Daesh [Isis] opened fire and apologised, Mr Yaalon said speaking at an event in the northern city of Alufa, during which he was was being interviewed about Israels policy on Syria.

After a short gun battle, the Israeli military attacked Syrian jihadist group Khalid ibn al-Walid with airstrikes and tank fire, killing four of them, The Times of Israel reports.

This was the first direct clash between Israeli forces and Isis militants after the terror group opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side, a military spokesman said at the time.

 Footage shows Isis schoolgirl Linda Wenzel being captured in Iraq

Khalid ibn al-Walid, which affiliated itself with Isis in May 2016, seized territory including a large town and several villages on the Syrian border with Israel in a surprise attack on moderate rebel forces in February this year.

A spokesperson for Mr Yaalon refused to elaborate on how Isis expressed its apology to Israel after the attack and the Israel Defense Forces also refused to comment.

According to the first Western journalists, who have entered Isis' territories and survived, Israel is the only country in the world the Islamic group fears because it believes its army is too strong to face.

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

Under Israeli law, communication with the group is illegal because it constitutes contact with an enemy agent.

Mr Yaalon is the former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and served as Defence Minister from 2013 until his resignation in May 2016.

During the interview, he said Israel carried out strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces in retaliation when the Golan Heights was attacked.

 Liberated from Isis, women burn their burqas and men shave off their beards

Israel has adopted a largely non-interventionist position regarding the complicated conflict on its doorstep, although it has retaliated on occasions when conflict has spilled over into territory it controls.
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The leader of US and international forces in Afghanistan has said that he is not refuting reports that Russia is providing weapons to the Taliban.

General John Nicholson made the comments to reporters in Kabul on Monday during US Defence Secretary Jim Mattiss first trip to the country as part of US President Donald Trumps administration.

While Gen. Nicholson did not provide details, he said he would not dispute claims made to media by an anonymous senior US military official in Kabul earlier that day that Russia had stepped up its assistance to insurgents over the last 18 months, providing machine guns and other medium weight weaponry to fighters in Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan.

 Afghanistan: Fifteen years since US-led invasion

Russia has denied providing the Taliban - which ruled Afghanistan until the US invasion in 2001 - with any material or financial aid.

It says it maintains diplomatic ties with Taliban officials in order to push for peace negotiations with the Afghan government and to maintain security.

The US has called Russias presence in the country a malign foreign influence.

Moscow has long been critical of the US handling of its war in Afghanistan, and the years of failed efforts to bring peace.

The Soviet Union fought its own bloody war in the country in the 1980s, which ended in defeat. The CIA provided arms to Afghans resisting Soviet troops which analysts believe ended up falling into the hands of both the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Show all 16 1 /16 Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2001 Afghans at the Killi Faizo refugee camp desperately reach for bags of rice being handed out to the thousands who escaped the bombardment in southern Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. (Chaman, Pakistan, December 4, 2001) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2002 Mahbooba stands against a bullet-ridden wall, waiting to be seen at a medical clinic. The seven-year-old girl suffers from leishmaniasis, a parasitical infection. (Kabul, March 1, 2002) All photos Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2003 A mother and her two children look out from their cave dwelling. Many families who, fleeing the Taliban, took refuge inside caves adjacent to Bamiyans destroyed ancient Buddha statues now have nowhere else to live. (Bamiyan, November 19, 2003) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Students recite prayers in a makeshift outdoor classroom in the Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region in northeastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from India and Pakistan. (Northeastern Afghanistan, September 2, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Bodybuilders in the 55-60 kg category square off during a regional bodybuilding competition. Many Afghan men, like others around the world, feel that a macho image of physical strength is important. (Kabul, August 6, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2008 A woman in a white burqa enjoys an afternoon with her family feeding the white pigeons at the Blue Mosque. (Mazar-e-Sharif, March 8, 2008) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Addicts inject heroin while trying to keep warm inside the abandoned Russian Cultural Center, which the capital citys addicts use as a common gathering point. Heroin is readily available, costing about one dollar a hit. (Kabul, February 9, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 An elderly man holds his granddaughter in their tent at a refugee camp after they were forced to flee their village, which US and NATO forces had bombed because, they claimed, it was a Taliban hideout. (Surobi, Nangarhar Province, February 7, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Seven-year-old Attiullah, a patient at Mirwais Hospital, stands alongside an X ray showing the bullet that entered his back, nearly killing him. Attiullah was shot by US forces when he was caught in a crossfire as he was herding sheep. (Kandahar, October 13, 2009). Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 US Army Sargeant Jay Kenney (right), with Task Force Destiny, helps wounded Afghan National Army soldiers exit a Blackhawk helicopter after they have been rescued in an air mission. (Kandahar, December 12, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 An Afghan National Army battalion marches back to barracks at the Kabul Military Training Center. (Kabul, October 4, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Eid Muhammad, seventy, lives in a house with a view overlooking the hills of Kabul. He and millions of other Afghans occupy land and housing without possessing formal deeds to them. (Kabul, November 21, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Razima holds her two-year-old son, Malik, while waiting for medical attention at the Boost Hospital emergency room. (Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, June 23, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Young women cheer as they attend a rally for the Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani. (Kabul, April 1, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Burqa-clad women wait to vote after a polling station runs out of ballots. (Kabul, April 5, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2015 Relatives, friends, and womens rights activists grieve at the home of Farkhunda Malikzada, who was killed by a mob in the center of Kabul. Farkhunda was violently beaten and set on fire after a local cleric accused her of burning a Quran. (Kabul, March 22, 2015) Paula Bronstein

Monday's comments are among the strongest US suggestions yet that Moscow is providing arms to the Taliban.

The US must confront Russia on the issue, Secretary Mattis said.

Well engage with Russia diplomatically Well do so where we can, but were going to have to confront Russia where what theyre doing is contrary to international law or denying the sovereignty of other countries.

For example, Mr Mattis told reporters, any weapons being funnelled here from a foreign country would be a violation of international law.

More than 140 Afghan troops were killed in a huge Taliban gunmen and suicide attack on a military base in Balkh province last week.

Referring to the massacre, Gen. Nicholson said that anyone who arms belligerents who perpetuate attacks like the one we saw isnt focused on the best way forward to a peaceful reconciliation.

The US maintains around 9,800 troops in Afghanistan, mainly to support Afghan security forces. In recent comments to Congress Gen Nicholson said a few more thousand were necessary to make sure Afghan troops can eventually handle the Taliban insurgency on their own.

2017 is going to be another tough year [in Afghanistan], Mr Mattis said on Monday.

Agencies contributed to this report
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More than 10,000 dead. Approximately 19 million people in desperate need of humanitarian aid, including 7.3 million on the brink of famine. The figures in Yemens two-year-old civil war are staggering  but they dont convey the daily suffering of civilians.

The numbers do not show the human aspect. Unlike Syria, where news about the devastation and death makes it to the media very quickly, Yemenis suffer in silence, said Sherine El Taraboulsi-McCarthy, a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute.

 The child victims of Yemens civil war

With the countrys airports as well as land and sea borders controlled by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, no Yemeni refugees are fleeing to Europe in their thousands. Without any perceptible impact on the West or overspill of violence, the conflict has remained largely invisible.

The UN estimates $2.1bn (1.6bn) is needed to pull Yemen back from the brink of collapse, but before humanitarians and diplomats gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, for an aid summit on Tuesday, just 14 per cent of that had been pledged by donor governments to date.

As the fate of 27 million people was discussed by foreigners sitting around the chamber at the UNs European headquarters, Yemenis trapped by the war struggle on with normal life as well as they can.

Often reduced to cliched descriptors such as the poorest country in the Middle East, Yemens cultural identity  created by its unique position at the crossroads between the Middle East and the African and Asian continents  is far richer and more complex than the reporting on its conflict suggests.

The modern state, created in 1990, has always been poor and plagued by war, but its people have proved their resilience.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

Following the 2011 Arab Spring uprising against President Ali Abdallah Saleh, the 2013 National Dialogue Conference  which lasted for months and included dozens of parties as part of the reconciliation efforts  seemed to suggest the country was on the right path to political and economic reform.

People were hopeful. "After being on the brink of civil war, Yemenis negotiated an agreement for peaceful change, the only such in the region," Jamal Benomar, the UNs then special envoy, said at the time. The National Dialogue established a new social contract and opened a new page in the history of Yemen.

Shia Houthi rebels, al-Qaeda and other insurgents continued to chip away at the fragile peace, however, resulting in the toppling of the government after Houthis swept into the capital Sanaa in 2014.

While often portrayed as a proxy war between Tehran and Riyadh, Iranian influence over the Houthis is overstated. US intelligence believes Tehran advised the rebels not to assault Sanaa, and the insurgents long-term political goals are unclear.

Yet in the last two years, Saudi Arabia and its regional partners have used the spectre of Iran to justify an an extensive bombing campaign over the country at the request of the exiled, internationally recognised Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

Much of the devastation has been caused by arms sold to the kingdom by Western states such as the UK and US  a move which officials within Barack Obamas administration worried could amount to complicity in war crimes.

The Saudi economic strangulation, blockades on Yemens air and seaports preventing the import of food and medicine and the targeting of vital infrastructure such as roads and bridges  and in some cases civilian buildings such as hospitals and funeral gatherings  have contributed to the dire situation Yemenis are now facing.

It is painful to describe the things I have seen in recent months, said Tawfeek Al-Ganad, a writer and historian who had just arrived in Beirut from Yemen. He went on to describe the targeting of journalists and civil society activists he knew who have been killed or abducted by Houthi sympathisers. Not only are people starving. Those who try to alleviate the situation are prevented from doing so.

Mr Al-Ganad spent three days travelling from Aden to Lebanon, where The Independent met him last week. After waiting for inspections at more than 20 different checkpoints, eventually Houthi rebels only let him leave on one of the three flights a day out of the country because his final destination was Lebanon  home to the Shia group Hezbollah.

 Yemen's prime minister accuses UK of war crimes

Mansour Rageh is Mr Al-Ganads colleague at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies and a key strategist at the Central Bank of Yemen. Normally Yemenis are there for each other, Mr Rageh said. You can always borrow money or what you need from friends and neighbours.

But there is no capital to lend. Salaries have not been paid and everyone is poor. Its a cultural shift which is ripping at the very fabric of Yemeni society and changing how people treat each other.

While welcome in the short term, aid such as the 116m (99m) pledged in Geneva on Tuesday by the European Commission will not empower Yemens people to take control of their own futures.

Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Show all 4 1 /4 Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod

Several Yemenis and other observers of the conflict The Independent spoke with expressed disappointment that voices from the country were not at the forefront of Tuesdays conference  and that a political solution to the conflict wasnt the driving factor behind talks.

We need the UN to commit to a timelined peace process in Yemen now. Aid is useless as long as the war remains. To help us is to end the war, not send shipments of guns, and hold a sorry conference every other year, said Farea al-Muslimi, a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC.

Saudi Arabia is going to make certain that Yemen does not completely break down. But as it stands, the country will remain in a situation of constant need, Ms El Taraboulsi-McCarthy said. Their interest in Yemen is solely asserting leadership and power in the Arab world. Those points have not made it into the pledging conference and our discourse about Yemen at all.

Yemenis dont want aid: they want peace and the opportunity to rebuild their country for themselves.
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Saudi Arabia has been voted onto the UN womens rights commission in a secret ballot - a move branded "shocking" and "absurd" by critics.

At least five European Union states reportedly cast their ballots for the Middle Eastern kingdom, where women still do not have the right the right to drive and were only allowed to stand as candidates and vote in municipal elections first the first time, two years ago.

It will now serve a four year term on the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which claims to be dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Rothna Begum, a women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch told The Independent it was "shocking".

Recommended The UK is selling arms to Saudi while pretending to care about Yemen

"How can Saudi Arabia seek to promote womens rights globally, when at home they continue to severely discriminate against women through the male guardianship system?" she said.

The guardianship system means that women in Saudi Arabia remain permanent legal minors. Ms Begum said that as a result they are required to seek permission from a male guardian "to travel abroad, marry, or be released from prison, and may be required to provide guardian consent to work or get health care".

She also pointed out that women cannot drive or apply for a driving licence in the conservative country. Earlier this month, the country got into hot water after images of the first girls council meeting emerged  with 13 men in attendance, but no women.

Hillel Neuer, director of UN Watch, UN Watch a non-governmental organisation (NGO) whose stated mission is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter", also called appointment "absurd", while award-winning author and columnist Mona Eltahaway was equally appalled, and referred to the appointment as a disgrace.

The Human Rights Foundation, a New York-based NGO, called the country a dictatorship.

Canadian Conservative MP Michelle Rempell called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to condemn the appointment.

"Where is the credibility of the United Nations as a whole if were putting countries like Saudi Arabia on the womens rights commission?" she said.

Saudi Arabia is also a member of the Human Rights Council, which it will serve on until 2019.
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Following a year of radical political change and ongoing racial tensions, students from across the country will soon cast their votes in the National Union of Students presidential election.

Controversial leader Malia Bouattia, who was elected as the first black female Muslim president last year, stands again alongside Further Education champion Shakira Martin and wildcard vlogger Tom Harwood, who made his name known through viral videos and a pledge to stop Isis.

The three candidates make for one of the most diverse election line-ups in NUS history  but who are the characters behind the cause? The Independent speaks to all three hopefuls to find out

Malia Bouattia (Current president)

The new NUS National President Malia Bouattia (PA)

Age: 30

Campaign tagline: Malia for a Strong, Transformative Union

Manifesto in a nutshell: Fighting against the HE Bill and Prevent, supporting trade unions to halt job cuts and college closures

USP: Grassroots voice of the student left

Why should you be president?

Given the political context were in and the massive uncertainty, Im the one with the strongest track record who has literally dedicated my life to fight for education. My parents gave up everything fleeing Algeria to come here so that I could study in safety. So its kind of been instilled in me from a very young age what the value of education is and peoples right to access it.

How are you different to the other candidates?

Im sure all the candidates are dedicated to the future of education, but at this point given the uncertainty from the Brexit negations, to how the HE bill is going to play out and the cuts to our colleges and snap general election, its question of whos going to come into that position of leadership and hit the ground running and do what it is necessary to ensure that students remain on top of the agenda.

How will you continue the fight for international students?

One of our crucial campaigns this year has been to ensure that international student numbers are removed from net immigration. Weve seen the defeat in relation to that in the Lords but its about continuing to apply that pressure Im literally fighting individual deportation cases and ensuring the full weight of our union is behind international student.

How will you ensure student voices are heard in the general election?

In my plan of action this year we envisioned a snap election. We will ensure that we have massive voter registration drives, that we ally with all the groups from Bite the Ballot to Operation Black Vote and many others. [In terms of student political engagement] Ill just keep going until its at 100 per cent.

How do you react to the disaffiliation of some student unions from the NUS in the past year?

[As] a presidential candidate I knew it was coming and it was one of the reasons I chose to stand. I understood there was discontent around value for money, around whether our democracy was accessible and available to everyone and engaging and whether our campaigns were relevant to the issues on the ground. We have had around 22 referendums and a huge majority chose to stay. I think those frustrations havent gone away. Ive used my platform and my leadership this year to ensure that they are heard and addressed.

What is your proudest achievement as president?

Theres so many. I think having an NUS that is finally fighting alongside students and making the case for a free education.

On an international scale that Ive been building relationships with unions across Europe because I knew that had to happen following Brexit, that we needed to rely on our European counterparts to ensure continued flow of research and exchange and placements and even employment and beyond that.

Do you regret some of the controversial statements that youve made (ie, allegations of anti-Semitism which were investigated last year)?

The comments were made almost 6 years ago and I recognise they were incredibly clumsy and Ive apologised for it in the past as well. I guess what I hope people look at now is my actions and how Ive prioritised fighting hate crime within our project of work within NUS and Ive been one of the only presidents in recent history to do so.

Anything youd like to add?

Weve dealt with a lot of silencing and demonisation and hostility yet we continue to prove those myths wrong. Were always there to fight whether its related to the future of our NHS or education as we know it, the shutting down of detention centres, were an incredible force made of many different people and I think the continuous attempts to homogenise us with what we think, what we want to do, what were about is a false and destructive one and I am looking forward to continuing to prove all those myths and actually build a base and revive our movement to its full potential.

Shakira Martin

Sir Vince Cable and Shakira Martin, NUS vice-president, who are to work together on 'Students Shaping Further Education' project (Champollion)

Age: 29

Campaign tagline: Making Education an Option for Everyone

Manifesto in a nutshell: Expose and demolish class barriers in all forms of education, tackle student homelessness, anonymise Ucas applications system

Current role: Vice president for Further Education (FE)

USP: Vince Cable is officially a fan

What inspired you to run?

Over the past couple of years, Ive spoken to so many students across the country who have said that the NUS is out of touch with its members and out of touch with students and not fighting for the issues that students care about. I want to put the NUS back into the hands of its membership and send the message to the heart of the government about what students want.

And what do students want?

The cost of living is too high  its leaving students in too much debt, they want support throughout their studies They want scholarships for postgraduate and student carers and student parents, they want an NUS that invests its money into developing resources to support student causes on the ground locally. They ultimately want an NUS that isnt divided, that looks after the interest of all its students. They want a union that can show true leadership and doesnt put politics before students.

Presumably a big part of that for you is making sure FE isnt pushed out of the debate?

One hundred per cent. Approximately 4.1 million NUS members are from FE backgrounds so its definitely going to be my priority to ensure they are at the heart of the student movement. Its about helping everyones journey.

Recommended Government begins controversial plans to sell off student debt

What would you most like to change?

Its about making our voice heard externally, but also its about time we had an NUS that was helping all students gain access to an education.

How would you help unite the student body?

By listening to what peoples priorities are, learning from the past mistakes made and leading a strong campaign to make changes to legislation to break down the barriers students face within their education.

How would you put pressure on the Government to protect international students?

This is a major concern as we leave the EU and its vital we continue the campaign to get international students removed from immigration figures and protect their rights to work and study here.

Why should people vote for you?

With my work in the NUS Ive already put FE back on the agenda and secured a 500m investment into further education. But I believe what makes me different from the other candidates is my background. Ive overcome adversity and Im from a working class family. I came into this movement with nothing and because of that Im very much a people before politics kind of person. I have a record of fighting for students at all levels. I understand the purpose of the NUS and if I was elected I would make sure it was at the forefront of everything I do.

I am a single parent and I have faced challenges, but the NUS has helped me and now I can appreciate my privileges and help others in return. I will bring the energy and fun back into the student community.

Tom Harwood

Tom Harwood, 20, is campaigning to become Durham University's NUS delegate (Tom Harwood)

Age: 20

Campaign tagline: For a Credible, Inclusive NUS

Manifesto in a nutshell: To make the NUS inclusive, tackle mental health stigmas, combat sexism, fight anti-Semitism

Current role: Second-year politics student at Durham University

USP: Penchant for satirical campaign videos

Why should students vote for you?

The NUS is in crisis and its failing students. Im standing to re-legitimise a movement that has so alienated the majority of students in this country. We have to become more moderate, inclusive, and credible as a national union. We have to change now otherwise more university SUs will leave and NUS will continue to fail students on the real issues of living costs, anti-Semitism, and housing.

You've said the NUS is in "crisis"; what do you think is so broken about student politics?

The NUS has failed in including students in the movement. Nationwide, turnouts in NUS delegate elections are pitifully low, it is common for turnouts to be below 5 per cent. This is not good enough. It seems that every week theres a new anti-Semitism scandal, and the current leadership of NUS is refusing to change. Intimidation is rife, and the hard factional politics push students away.

By allowing all students to vote for an NUS president we can take it back to reality. We can push power out of the hands of self serving factions and to the students we are supposed to represent.

The Times called your candidacy a manifesto of mockery. Are you a serious contender?

My campaign is certainly fun and engaging but that I dont take serious issues very seriously. The comical pledges in my manifesto effectively and poignantly satirise the silly motions the NUS has discussed and passed in recent years. Students understand this and when they see my comical pledges alongside my serious ones, they know I am the right choice for NUS President.

Do you think your sense of humour makes you more approachable, or easier for students to get behind?

For too long NUS has only spoken to itself and refused to engage beyond its narrow bubble. I have taken my campaign to students who have been alienated and rejected by the current leadership of NUS, and spoken directly. Thats why the only SU that has primary elections for who their students want to be president, the University of Manchester students' union, overwhelmingly backed my campaign.

Are students politically engaged enough?

We can be, but sadly too many are alienated by the out of touch leadership of student political institutions. My NUS would aim to engage all students, and be ferociously non-partisan in doing so.

Do you think students will be fairly represented in the upcoming election? Or should they spoil their ballots?

Its not for me to tell students to vote for any one party, but what I would say is the reason all parties have got it wrong on student issues is that we dont engage or vote in the numbers we should. I would encourage all students to vote for all parties and none, to stand up and be counted, so our vote becomes more valuable to all politicians.

You said you were ready to call out anti-Semitism. Is there a danger you will ruffle feathers on the other end of the scale to Malia?

I believe I would not be doing my job as NUS president if I was not ready to work wit Jewish students to combat anti-Semitism. Im not afraid to speak truth to power within the NUS on this. Its clear there is an institutional problem and it has to be tackled head on.
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Los Angeles isnt known for being a late-night city. In most parts of the sprawling metropolis, things grow quiet around 9pm and completely die after 2am when the bars close. But there is an exception to this rule  within the sleeping city, a city that never sleeps: Koreatown.

As its name suggests, Koreatown is a pocket of Los Angeles shaped by Korean culture. The neighbourhood can feel a lot like Seoul with its billboards for the popular spirit soju and its abundance of Korean-language signs. But other forces are actively shaping the neighbourhood, too. For starters, theres a strong Oaxacan community in the area serving some of the best tlayuda outside of Mexico. But tonight I'm here for what Koreatown is fast becoming known for: its 24-hour culture.

Its 6pm on a Wednesday and Im brewing a strong cup of coffee. While I usually dont reach for caffeine this late, tonight is a different story. Ive heard that you can stay out all night in Koreatown, and Im going to test that theory personally from dusk to dawn.

Dusk dawns: Koreatowns office blocks give way to a vibrant night scene (Getty) (Getty Images)

8.30pm

Ever-so-trendy bars and restaurants are proliferating here, too, like neighbourhood newcomer Heres Looking At You. Hopped up on caffeine, I start the overnight adventure with dinner. Chef Jonathan Whiteners cooking style stems from his experience growing up in Southern California, and the dishes read like delicious cultural mash-ups. Stracciatella cheese gets paired with peptia seeds and yuzu kosho  Japanese hot sauce. Scottish salmon is finished with passion fruit seeds and shiitake vinegar. Its fusion food at its finest, and a great culinary embodiment of Koreatowns melting pot essence.

Pretty healthy: lining the stomach at Heres Looking At You (Natalie B Compton)

10pm

The nights next chapter is where the drinking starts, so I meet a friend for back-up. Koreatown is packed with interesting watering holes so it isnt easy to pick a spot. We decide on The Prince, a dimly lit bar that dates back to the 1920s. Today its a solid spot for affordable drinks and Korean fried chicken. We down gin and tonics and head off to our next destination on foot  LA is notorious as a city where cars are essential, but Koreatown is one of its most walkable neighbourhoods.

11.45pm

Its almost midnight and theres a dazzling choice of activities on offer. Theres Shatto Lanes, a bowling alley that stays open until 2am on weekdays. Bottles of beer and bowling go hand in hand, reads the website, and maybe thats the reason for the super-cheap drinks at the bar.

Bright lights, big city: the Hotel Normandie is on the ball in the night stakes (Natalie B Compton)

We could go for a spot of karaoke  Koreatown is teeming with bars. The Venue is a shiny new spot that serves craft cocktails with on-theme names like Whiskey Houston and the Mic Drop. Like most of the karaoke places in the neighbourhood, it stays open till 2am.

Instead, we decided on more drinking, and plump for The Normandie Club, a craft cocktail bar a few blocks away. The bartender makes me something with mezcal and we find a comfortable booth in the candlelit lounge. This place is full of secrets  at the back of the bar is The Walker Inn, an internationally acclaimed speakeasy that serves a multi-course drink experience. Order off-menu and theres even the chance to book a room at the boutique hotel upstairs for $99, depending on availability. Not that Im interested, of course  the night is still young for me.

Inn-sider tip: The Walker Inn is a speakeasy for cocktail connoisseurs (Natalie B Compton)

3am

If I wasnt still full from dinner, now would be a perfect time for a late-night meal at one of the many 24-hour restaurants in the neighbourhood. Korean BBQ is a great way to go  especially if youre with a group of people who love grilled meats. BCD Tofu House is a hot pot hotspot. For a 4am waffle, Pipers serves diner food all night long on the weekends.

3.30am

Instead of a full meal, I opt for spicy ramen noodles and a coconut water at Wi Spa, a Korean spa thats open 24/7. By this point, Ive had about a thousand cocktails and Im extremely tired. It takes a Herculean effort to climb the stairs to the restaurant. The ramen is pretty basic but helps take the edge off my discomfort.

Happy feet: chilling out, and heating up, at Wi Spa (Facebook) (Wi Spa/Facebook)

4am

Wi Spa was a good idea. With bellies full of ramen, my friend and I head for the spas soaking tubs, steam rooms, and saunas. I cant handle the bubbling baths for long in my current state, so retreat to the jimjilbang, or common area. Im not the only one, either  its heated jade floor is covered with napping strangers. I grab a mat and join them, falling asleep almost immediately. I wake up an hour later, mouth agape and bone-dry, sweating heavily thanks to the toasty floor.

5.45am

We leave the spa in search of breakfast. The days first light is bathing Koreatown in a soft pink glow. Between the weird nap and the heavy drinking, Im not feeling patient or ambitious enough to wait for up Cassells to open at 7am. This posh diner, located in the Hotel Normandie, has a notorious breakfast burger served on a bun made of hash browns. But theres no time for that. Im on the brink of death and want something fast.

Fill that hole: soaking up the night's booze at California Donuts (Natalie B Compton)

6am

We pull up to California Donuts, a 24-hour doughnut stand. The sugar hits the spot even though the doughnut itself is merely good, not great. A sense of accomplishment comes over me while I tear into my maple bar. It might not have been pretty, but I made it through an entire night out in Koreatown. Now, as the rest of LA gears up for the morning, its time to sleep.
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Its 8.30am and Im riding the U-Bahn. Its crowded  at least, as crowded as it gets in Berlin. Everyone is able to hang on to a few inches of personal space as well as their dignity. Still, their rush hour demeanours are familiar: harassed, grim, preoccupied with smart phones and tablets.

I feel smug in my yoga pants, because my day promises to be anything but monotonous. Ive signed up to an entire day of Meetups  events organised via the social networking website that brings people with similar interests together.

Recommended 48 hours in Berlin

Since the sites 2002 launch in New York, Meetups can be found all over the globe  but for some reason, Berlin is one of its fastest growing cities. Since its first Meetup was mooted in 2008, it has become the fourth largest city for Meetups in Europe. What does that say about the city? Im here to find out.

I get off the U8 line at Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg, the former West Berlin district that bordered the Wall. Two landmarks jut out among the concrete 1970s blocks: a steeple and a minaret. East meets West  this is the area where Turkish immigrants and hipsters live side by side. And my first Meetup of the day is typical for Kreuzberg: Morning Yoga and Coffee. Its charged by donation  because, of course, yogis dont officially demand money. The suggested amount is 7-12 (6-10).

Teacher Gintare Simutyte is serene in a way only yogis can be. She asks us to set an intention for the day before leading us from pose to pose at a swift pace. My intention, I resolve, is to be open and curious. After the yoga comes the coffee part, when the students head to a nearby cafe. Id love to join them, but I have to get to my next Meetup. Still, I feel like weve already bonded  silently, in breath and movement.

As I hurry back to the U-Bahn, I get a flurry of messages from my next stop, the Berlin Jelly Coworking Club, informing me of a last minute change of location. The cafe they planned to meet at is unexpectedly closed. Jelly is an international movement in which freelancers, entrepreneurs and home workers meet (for free) to work together and, with 1,373 members, the Berlin Meetup group is the largest in the world.

I join them at the Berlin Central Library near Alexanderplatz.

Last-minute changes come with not having a fixed office space, says organiser Craig Sailor. The library, however, is a reliable backup plan  the perfect alternative office. Its open to all and has free WiFi, power, a cheap cafe and group study rooms where people can chat.

I make small talk with the co-workers while checking my email  we are, after all, here to find common ground. A translator from Yorkshire works on a legal contract next to me. Meanwhile, an American illustrator sketches a set of portraits for a bridal party, a WordPress developer from New Zealand removes emojis from the internet and a German philosopher composes a YouTube lecture explaining Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature.

The Meetup runs from 10am to 3pm with people dropping in and staying for as long they like. Just before I leave at noon, a data engineer employed by a Californian company starts her day. Not only is Berlin as cosmopolitan as they say; everyone seems to work to their own rhythm.

I head south on the U8 again, past Kreuzberg and into Neukolln to Noize Fabrik, a co-working space for people in the audio and creative industries. Like Neukolln itself, Noize Fabrik is rough-hewn and super-cool.

A Meetup lunch at Noize Fabrik pits two Berlin priorities against each other: locally sourced or vegan? (Madhvi Ramani)

They regularly host events in their space, including the Sound Food Meetup, a weekly communal networking lunch (7.50/6.30)).

Dutch chef Roos Versteeg has prepared a dish of root vegetables and greens to bid farewell to winter and celebrate the onset of spring. Its gluten free and vegetarian  it started out vegan, too, until she found herself facing a contemporary Berlin dilemma: vegan or regionally sourced? Ultimately, she confesses guiltily, she went regional, roasting the parsnips and leeks in local butter  but only, she assures me, because vegetable oils change chemically at high temperatures.

After my local lunch, its back on the U8, heading north to TechCode. The international start-up incubator hosts free Chinese Language Class Meetups at their smart, glass-walled offices in Mitte. There are six students, mostly start-up guys for whom China is, of course, a crucial market.

Instructors Marie and Till teach us about We Chat, Chinas biggest messenger platform. By the end of the lesson, I can ask in Chinese if someone was on We Chat, whether I could add them, and tell them to scan my QR code (which every We Chat member has) so that they could add me as a friend.

Marie and Till teach the tech heads how to We Chat in Chinese (Madhvi Ramani)

My next Meetup takes me on the U2 to Potsdamer Platz. Its rush hour again, and Potsdamer Platz is a soulless place. Built on the former no-mans land between East and West Berlin, everything here is modern and jagged. Why would anyone have a Meetup here, I wonder? Only tourists come to Potsdamer Platz.

The answer becomes clear as soon as I walk into Caras Cafe  this free Practise Your German Meetup is attended by about 30 brand new Berliners. Over a double espresso, I settle into a conversation with a Serbian doctor who hopes to work in Germany. Her complaint echoes that of many here: its easy  almost too easy  to live in Berlin without speaking German, because Germans quickly switch to (usually faultless) English.

So in order to practise German, non-native speakers can meet up here to fumble through the language in different accents: French, Italian, American. Its an enthusiastic crowd and everyone helps one another out. Theyre checking their phone apps and pocket dictionaries as I bid them tschuss to rush to my final Meetup at the offices of online fashion retailer Zalando.

This, the React Native Meetup, is the biggest Ive been to all day, with almost 300 attendees. Tech Meetups are a popular way for developers and designers to network, and are heavily linked to the citys burgeoning start-up culture, of which Zalando is one of the major successes. Nearly 30 per cent of all Berlin Meetups are now tech related.

Officially were here to listen some presentations about using React Native, an open-source JavaScript library. Most attendees, however, seem more interested in the boxes of free pizza that are up for grabs. I cram slice after slice into my mouth as my neighbour says that the pizza provided by the Meetups of Berlin-based online bank N26 is better. Some people, it seems, are here with a single agenda  and I might be one of them, as I notice the curiosity and openness I started my day with are gone. As the speaker from Soundcloud begins to talk about using the framework for app prototyping, I lose interest and wander off to the loo.

Shooting the breeze at Zalando, Madhvi realises the true meaning of Meetups (Madhvi Ramani)

On my way back, in what seems to be the Zalando canteen and recreation area (Berlins hipster offices, it seems, are just like London and New Yorks), I bump into the data engineer from the Berlin Jelly Coworking Club. We study the Zalando lunch menu and decide, looking at its cheap range of burritos and burgers, that we both need to get a job there.

Dont you need to learn about React Native? I ask.

If I ever do, Ill just Google it, she shrugs.

We play a game of pool instead of going back to the talk. My day of Meetups has taught me that Berlin is a kaleidoscope of different social scenes; mindful, creative, cosmopolitan, tech-orientated. But ultimately, this is what Meetups are really for: meeting people.
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Passengers flying from the UK to America could reportedly be banned from boarding planes with their laptops.

The policy, which has so far only affected travellers from Middle Eastern countries, is to be extended to flights from some parts of Europe within a matter of weeks, officials said.

British security services were waiting to hear whether the rule will apply to the UK, but sources told The Times that it could be one of the countries included.

Under the rules, any devices larger than a mobile phone need to be checked in and stored in the hold, where they can be screened more extensively.

After the initial laptop ban was brought in in January, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly indicated the restrictions could be extended, saying US officials would tighten up their procedures to ensure more thorough vetting.

 Donald Trump's in-flight electronics ban explained

The prospect of an expansion across Europe came as the continent remains on high alert following a string of attacks in France, Russia, Sweden, Italy, Germany and the UK since the start of the year.

The first US electronics ban affected nine airlines flying from 10 specific airports in Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai, the worlds busiest airport for international travellers.

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. 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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. 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The UK mirrored the US ban on electronics ban, bringing in a similar restriction on carry-on luggage on flights from six predominantly-Muslim nations. The Government cited an attempt by the Islamist al-Shabaab group to bring down a jet in Somalia using a laptop bomb.

But Europe refused to match the British ban, causing concerns that the rules were being undermined.

A UK Government spokesperson told The Times: The safety and security of the travelling public is our highest priority. We keep aviation security under constant review, but we do not comment on speculation.

The US Department of Homeland Security said it was continuing to evaluate the threat level, but said no decisions had been made to expand the laptop ban to flights from the UK.
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Exactly two years to the day that an earthquake devastated Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 and destroying huge swathes of the countrys ancient buildings, tourism is finally showing signs of recovery.

And not just recovery  significant growth. Bookings for Nepal this year are higher than in 2014, the year before the 7.8 Richter tremor brought the countrys tourist trade to its knees overnight. Visitors stayed away from the country in the immediate aftermath and the year that followed  local guides reported being out of work for up to seven months afterwards, even in areas not severely affected.

Over 800 of Nepals ornate temples, palaces and monuments were severely damaged or completely destroyed. Durbar Square, an Unesco world heritage site, still has streets lined with rubble and temples cordoned off behind danger zone signs.

However, it seems that things are finally on the up for Nepal, which owes a considerable proportion of its GDP to tourism. Various tour operators have seen an increase in bookings, including Intrepid Travel and G Adventures.

Nepal is outstripping growth because of the awareness raised, Michael Edwards, Intrepid Travels regional director for the UK and Europe, told Travel Weekly. We have put extra resources into promoting the country, but the response from customers has been amazing.

The holiday company has seen bookings soar by 70 per cent globally compared to 2016. Intrepid Travel made a concerted effort to aid in this recovery, launching an appeal and raising $400,000 in the 24 hours following the disaster.

Structures in Nepal are cordoned off behind danger zone signs (Heather Carswell)

Edwards said: Weve never had a bigger or quicker response to something. It really touched a nerve with people.

Meanwhile, G Adventures, which offers a range of trips with an eco-tourism focus, has reported a 62 per cent rise in bookings compared to last year, and numbers have also surpassed those of 2014.

Nepals return has been phenomenal and wed like to thank agents for their support, said managing director Brian Young. So confident are we in Nepals growth, we have launched a new Local Living Nepal trip for 2017.

Long-haul specialist tour operator Travel 2 has also added Nepal to its offering for the first time this year, in response to demand from agents.
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The fact that Emmanuel Macron met his wife Brigitte, 24 years his elder and once his teacher, in a classroom setting has shocked the British public.

In fact, its stunned everyone  except the French.

Transposing the situation to a candidate in the UKs general election is basically impossible; it would send shockwaves throughout British politics. But as a French person, its the reaction that I find surprising. The Macrons story is unusual and interesting, sure, but its also no big deal.

Its a cliche that French politicians are forever upsetting the countrys politics with their love affairs. But even when you move beyond the stereotypes, its true that the French do have a vastly different attitude than their British counterparts when it comes to sex and relationships.

Firstly, pupil-teacher relationships in France are not frowned upon as a deeply inappropriate affair, as long as both parties are over the age of 18. Thats not to say that these relationships are common, but as long as consent applies and the law is respected, people mind their own business.

Secondly, French presidents have, since time immemorial, made ink run on paper about their relationships with younger and beautiful women.

 Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to wife Brigitte during speech after entering round two

Despite their 13-year age gap and significant height difference, former President Nicolas Sarkozys wife, former model Carla Bruni, threw a screen of glamour over his murky affairs.

More recently, revelations of President Francois Hollandes reported love affair with actress and film producer Julie Gayet, who is 18 years younger, was splashed across the front pages.

So Brigitte, the daughter of a renowned chocolatier and macaron-maker in the northern city of Amiens, who has been married to Macron for 10 years, will not shock the French.

And yet the backstory of Macrons romance with his school sweetheart continues to intrigue, and has become the subject of great gossip and speculation even in his home country.

But this has nothing to do with pupil-teacher relationships, French politics or romantic behaviour. This is simply sexism.

What is fuelling endless chatter about Macrons position in the relationship and his history with Brigitte is the fact that she is his senior. If Macron had been a woman and Brigitte a man, likely there would never have been such an uproar  at least in France.

In the US, there has been no backlash against Donald Trump, whose flamboyant wife Melania Trump is 24 years younger than him  strangely enough, thats the same age gap as the Macrons.

Brigitte, 64, a grandmother of seven, is no doubt very conscious about her age and strives to look youthful on the arm of her 39-year-old husband, who could become Frances youngest president.

 French Election: Macron and Le Pen to fight for presidency

A key player in Macrons En Marche! movement, Brigitte initially avoided the publicity surrounding Emmanuel Macrons campaign. But as Macrons popularity rose through the polls, so did interest in the woman who shares his life and could one day join him at the Elysee Palace.

On Sunday night, Macron walked on stage triumphant after winning the elections first round, holding tight onto Brigittes hand and claiming that without her, I wouldnt be me.

Criticism of Brigitte as the ageing peroxide blonde about to step in the shoes of a first lady is just another expression of misogyny in the political sphere. And it ignores the fact that her age and experience may prove essential to balance the political immaturity Macron has been accused of. What is certain is that if Macron wins on 7 May, she will stand proud by his side  whatever the tabloids across Europe make of it.
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The traditional political party is dead. Havent you heard? For decades, Conservative Party membership has been dwindling  its a long time since the era when Young Conservative dances served as marriage markets for an entire social class. (2.8 million members in 1953, down to about 150,000 today.)

Meanwhile, rosters may have been swelled by the surge of Corbyn-campaign vehicle Momentum, but more than half its parliamentary party are still contemplating escape to a new left-of-centre (or Continuity Remain) party vehicle. In France, as every British pollster with a French GSCE will tell you, the first round of voting in the current presidential election was marked this weekend by the success of two candidates from outside the political mainstream. We shall hear a lot of people suggest this week that such is Britains future.

Not so fast. If we learn one thing from the first few days of the 2017 election campaign, it is that reports of the death of the traditional political party have been greatly exaggerated. Across the country, seemingly dry and dreary constituency associations have swung into action to wield their most significant power  picking the men and women wholl have a meaningful shot at a parliamentary seat. Even some of Jeremy Corbyns greatest critics in the Labour Party  with exceptions  are pinning red rosettes to their lapels and quietly fudging the issue of whether theyre happy to make Corbyn PM.

Watch the Conservative campaign, and the resilience of the nations oldest political party becomes particularly apparent. The Tory party is a fractious beast, but it likes power  and Tories know power requires them to exude executive competence. Look at how swiftly the party machine rallied around to crown Theresa May during last summers leadership contest  outsider Andrea Leadsom was, I gather, encouraged to quit that race and avoid a long and damaging internal struggle.

 MPs clear way for general election on June 8

The jurys still out on whether Theresa May made the right call in going to the country with another (exhausting) election so early in her tenure. (When she publicly insisted that no election was on the cards, I argued that it was in the Tory party interest to keep Jeremy Corbyn at the head of the Labour Party for as long as possible. Id say the same today  though Corbyns new declaration that he wont resign after an election loss suggests that Tories can keep breathing easy.) It would have been perfectly reasonable  nay, admirable  for May to declare that a new-ish Prime Minister elected only by her own party should seek endorsement from the nation as a whole. (The Tory party pilloried Gordon Brown for refusing such a test.)

What sticks in the craw, for many of us, is her continuing insistence that the new election will in effect be a re-endorsement of her negotiating position on Brexit. With both Conservative and Labour MPs wildly split on their stances, many of us face a choice between voting for a local MP whose view on Brexit reflects our own, or a broader party we trust on a whipped vote.

Yet for all her talk of a single-issue election, what Theresa May has done in a stroke is remind her party faithful that theres one thing more important than Britains future in Europe  and thats the future of the Conservative Party. Nothing unites a party like an election. Look at Nicky Morgan, former Education Secretary and one of the PMs biggest critics. This week, Morgan posted an article on the Conservative Home website, supporting Mays decision and sharing tips with the websites grassroots readership on how to campaign under the party banner.

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

Elsewhere, there are signs of a return to the political status quo. Ukip leader Paul Nuttall spent yesterday talking down establishment parties, but his movement is sinking in the polls, with all the irrelevance of a single-issue party that has already declared victory on its single issue. (Its French counterpart, the Front National, is less of a new movement than it claims: Le Pen pere founded the group in 1972.) Meanwhile, the Lib Dems hope to regain third-party status: their own membership is now at its highest since 1994. With old party politics come old dilemmas for voters: will a Remainer-LGBT campaigner vote for Tim Farron?

Meanwhile, the prospect of a new British centre party is still fraught with difficulties. Emmanuel Macron may have done well with the new movement he founded in just April 2016 (a cult of personality such that its slogan, En Marche!, shares his initials.) But France, with its complex coalition politics, has a long tradition of party structures shifting and renaming themselves. Nicolas Sarkozys reshaped his centre-right party Les Republicans in his own image as recently as 2015; Jacques Chirac forged its predecessor, UMP, only in 2002. As todays left remembers well, the British SDP failed in part because it lacked the Labour Partys strong sense of historical narrative.

As long as Britains first-past-the-post system remains in place, it will be inadvisable to draw too many communalities with presidential France. Given how many weeks every Tory MP will spend this year wearing a blue rosette, Theresa May has shrewdly made it reputationally impossible for any to cross the floor to join any centrist or Remain grouping in the near future. Perhaps a better chance of change is to see more formal groupings of dissenters emerge in each party. (A few years back, Tory moderniser Nick Boles suggested his allies stand separate candidates as national liberals.) Reform of the party system will come, but slowly and steadily  as is the British way.
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Like everyone  indeed, most of the Cabinet  I was not expecting this general election. Perhaps naively, I took the Prime Minister at her word when she repeatedly pledged that the current parliament would keep going until 2020. While I welcome any opportunity to get rid of a Tory Government, it is quite clear that the Prime Ministers public rationale for calling this general election was cynical and dishonest.

She had already triggered Article 50. She had used her majority to do so without any of the very reasonable amendments I and others tabled to the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 a couple of months ago. So, far from needing a larger majority to get Brexit through the House of Commons, Theresa May has already done so with the current one. So her real reasons for calling an election, in the hope of gaining a bigger majority, are twofold.

First, she wants the power to enact a right-wing Tory agenda unencumbered by the consciences of some of her MPs. Grammar schools and a Budget that will raise taxes on working people while cutting their public services are just two things we can expect from an empowered Tory Government.

 General Election 2017: What you need to know

Second, she wants to be able to escape any scrutiny whatsoever for the Brexit deal that is eventually negotiated. She wants the freedom to go back on all the promises made by her and by the Leave campaigners with little meaningful challenge in Parliament. And she would have more of an ability to go for the worst option of all  a destructive Brexit with no deal, that would mean us defaulting onto WTO trading terms, leading to high tariffs on all our imports and exports; a job-destroying, price-raising nightmare scenario that would leave working people worse off.

The Prime Minister has talked of bringing a still-divided Britain together after a bruising referendum. But she and her hard Brexit allies in and out of parliament are intent on dividing our country still further, dismissing all who want even to scrutinise her policies as saboteurs. The spectre of an emboldened Prime Minister set on hard Brexit should be deeply concerning for anyone who cares about Britains future and wants to see a fairer, more equal country.

Labour has rightly set out tests on which the Government must be held to account. The Open Britain campaign, of which I am a supporter, has set out the Brexit Contract, outlining the 10 promises ministers have made on which they must be judged. And Vote Leave Watch, which I chair, has been prominent in reminding people of the 350 million extra per week promised to the NHS. All of us have been highlighting what the "exact same benefits" in trade, as David Davis promised, should look like, how Brexit could destabilise Northern Ireland, the risks of a dilution of our workers and consumer rights, and so on. We will all hold this Government responsible for what comes to pass.

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

Why? Because no matter how people voted last June, they did not vote for a hard Tory Brexit that will make working people worse off and reduce our rights at work. Keir Starmer is right to hold the Government to account for their promise to deliver the exact same benefits as we have now. In reality, this means we have to stay in the Single Market  no ifs, no buts. No alternative to the Single Market can deliver the same economic benefits. So I have told constituents I will fight to keep Britain in the Single Market and Customs Union after Brexit; oppose any attempt to reduce our rights at work, as the Tory hardliners would like; and argue that we should continue to work closely with our European partners in the fight against common cross-border challenges  terrorism, organised crime, and climate change. We must also lead the charge to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in our country. This is the argument I am making in Streatham, and will continue to make in Parliament if re-elected.

Only Labour have the ability to do this. The Liberal Democrats are trying to bury their recent past as the enablers of Tory austerity, but working people in this country will not forget or forgive the damage they did in government and what it is still doing to our communities today. The Greens  like Ukip and the Tories  campaigned for the in/out referendum which led to Brexit which they now complain about, and the SNP, confined for Scotland, are trying to divide our country by breaking yet another Union. Only Labour has the capacity to mount a sustained challenge to the Conservatives, and build a brighter, fairer future for Britain. In short: the more Labour MPs that are elected on 8 June, the harder it will be for Theresa May to pursue an unchecked hard Brexit on 9 June.

Chuka Umunna MP is Chair of Vote Leave Watch
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Will the media stop obsessing about the age difference between Emmanuel Macron and his wife?

Unsurprisingly, journalists never bother about men with (often much) younger wives.

These constant references to Brigitte Macron are quite inappropriate and irrelevant.

Anthony Ingleton

Sheffield

Dont underestimate Le Pen

In the first round of the French presidential election, more than 40 per cent of voters chose candidates at the furthest ends of the political spectrum. However, we may be misleading ourselves to think of various political opinion as a spectrum. It is probably better to think of it as a pie chart where the extremes meet. There is quite a lot of common ground when ultra-nationalism meets ultra-socialism, as can be evidenced not so long ago in Europe.

For this reason, the far-right Front Nationals Marine Le Pen chances of winning against the independent centrist Emmanuel Macron in the run-off on 7 May shouldn't be underestimated. If she did win, it would drastically change the dynamics of campaigning in the final four weeks of the British general election on 8 June.

Geoff Naylor

Hampshire

Hope for a united Europe

Cher Emannuel Macron, the people of the UK who believe in a united Europe are hoping and praying that you win  and that you have a parliament that supports you. We hope that you will ask and invite the people of the UK to think again before the costs and the long term impact of Brexit becomes apparent.

Our progression towards a united Europe is still in infancy and a great deal more work and constant change will be required as we build that cooperation and unity. The Brexit vote has seriously damaged that progress. We have an historic task before us. We wish you good luck and send our support to you and all of our friends and neighbours in France.

Martin Deighton

Address supplied

Labours Brexit Trump card

Theresa May thinks she holds all the aces in the general election. But in the early stages, Jeremy Corbyn is coming across as nowhere near as bad as expected, so this dilutes one ace.

If Labour were to promise to implement the full Brexit that people voted for, including full control of borders and leaving the single market and customs union, this would remove a very large ace, leaving May with not such a good hand after all. Making this Brexit promise would also reconnect Labour with its natural supporters and avoid the annihilation of the party that opinion polls are predicting.

David Kilpatrick

St Albans

The electorate are stuck in a miserable stalemate this time, choosing between a Conservative Government that has embarked on an austere programme of cuts, social and economic deprivation and a weak and immature Labour government. Both are trying to ride the tides of Brexit. However, Labour would do better on issues related to welfare, immigration and the economy and understand well that in this age of interdependence, it is impossible for the UK to disentangle herself from the web of the European Union.

Theresa May has renegaded on nearly every pledge she had made to the British public and accentuated the divides between those who have and those who have not. It would be a suicidal thought to reward her with another term in office.

Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London NW2

A brief history lesson

Sadly, Donald Trump has probably never heard of the Ottoman Empire, Armenia or its genocide (Will Donald Trump have the guts to call the Armenian genocide what it was? Robert Fisk, 24 April). I doubt he has even heard of the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement, by which Britain and France carved up Mesopotamia, thereby sowing the seeds of much of the present-day conflicts in the Middle East, where all those beautiful babies lived (those on the right side, of course!). Could Robert Fisk be persuaded to give Trump some history lessons? Via Twitter?

Sue Breadner

Isle of Man

Bank holiday blues

Ardent Brexiteers ought to be reminded that the United Kingdom gained two additional bank holidays after joining the EEC in 1973. New Year's Day became a country-wide bank holiday instead of being confined to Scotland and the May Day one which will take place soon.

Rosemary Morlin

Oxford

A nuclear election

Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for being cautious in his response to hypothetically agreeing to press nuclear buttons and authorising drone attacks on Isis commanders.

Theresa May, in contrast, can be counted on to act swiftly and decisively. I can believe it. She seems ruthlessly unconcerned about any collateral damage incurred as a result of her Governments punitive policies. There are plenty of civilian casualties to be found in the NHS, in the care system for the elderly, in the disabled community and people with mental health problems who have suffered the callous disregard of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Her MPs have been programmed for the election. Press the right button and out comes Strong and stable leadership or A country that works for everyone.

Catherine Smedley

France

Word of the day

Word of the day: popinjay. Noun: a vain or conceited, foppish, excessively talkative person. Apposite at the moment given the strutting of our politicians for our votes.

Kerry Larbalestier

Address supplied
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A wave of relief swept through Europe after newcomer Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday. Markets cheered as the euro briefly surged to a five-month high against a basket of currencies and Paris' CAC finished the day 4.1 per cent higher, writing off Marine Le Pen as the next French President and with it the existential threat to the euro and Europe itself. Brussels and Germany, meanwhile, applauded Macrons victory hoping it will revive the Franco-German partnership at the heart of the EU and stop the wave of populism that has swept over the Western continent in recent months.

But arent we taking his victory for granted and celebrating too prematurely?

According to the latest Ipsos poll for France Television, Macron, a 39-year-old former banker, would take 62 per cent of the vote compared with just 38 per cent for Marine Le Pen. But if Le Pen seems to be losing ground, it would be dangerous to discount her chances of winning the race to the Elysee Palace. She has never been so popular.

 Marine Le Pen pledges to expel 'foreign extremists'

The Front National (FN)  Le Pens party until Monday, when she stepped aside in a symbolic move interpreted as an attempt to reach out to more voters  picked up a record 7.6 million votes on Sunday. This is the strongest ever result for a FN candidate and 2.8 million more than her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, got when he stood in the first round of the presidential election in 2002.

It is also worth noting that Le Pen Senior was crushed by his opponent, Jacques Chirac, who received 82 per cent of the final vote that year. This is 20 per cent more compared to the predicted score for Macron, showing that such strong opposition to the FN is fading among the electorate.

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France today is a more divided country than it was in 2002. It is crippled by high unemployment, with three million people or 10.2 per cent of the workforce out of jobs, and security concerns are high in voters' minds, after more than 200 people have been killed in terror attacks on French soil since 2015. That has played into Le Pen's favour, and she knows it very well.

Macron now has to convince reluctant voters who see the former banker as the reincarnation of capitalism to go to polls and heal divisions splitting the country. This wont be as easy as it sounds. A 25-year-old law student who voted for Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leftwing candidate who refused to back either Macron or Le Pen in the second round, told me: I am not sure if I will vote in the second round and all the people who supported Melenchon are asking themselves the question.

Why should I give my vote to an elitist candidate I dont believe in? Right now I am not sure of anything but I am tempted to vote blanc [hand in a ballot without selecting any candidate].

 Marine Le Pen steps down from National Front leadership

An architect in her early thirties working in Paris who backed Macron at the first round said: I am happy that he won the first race, but it is far from over. On Sunday, he was celebrating as if the race was already won. I thought it was arrogant of him, especially considering the FNs historically high score.

Indeed, Macron has already made his first mistake by celebrating his victory in a chic restaurant on Sunday  a party widely compared by commentators to former President Nicolas Sarkozy's infamous night at Fouquets, another top Parisian restaurant after his 2007 election victory - the exact political elite event voters might feel alienated by. Many, including David Cormand, the head of Frances Green party, criticised the dinner, claiming the qualification of the National Front in the second round was no reason for anyone to celebrate. Cormand tweeted: This party at La Rotonde is unworthy in a political situation when the far right is qualified for the second round.

Pollsters and bookmakers both state that it is very unlikely that Le Pen could win the race against Macron. Polling experts told The Independent that it would take a scandal of significant proportion to ruin Macrons chances. But if the events of 2016 taught us anything, it is that those polls can be wrong.

Only two weeks remain before the 7 May run-off between the two remaining presidential candidates. Le Pens manifesto includes, among other policies, negotiating with EU for return to French sovereignty, a return to the franc, clamping down on free trade, cutting immigration and a referendum that could lead to 'Frexit'.

Instead of popping champagne corks, Macron should get to work if he wants to avoid yet another shock Western election result in 2017.
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After many centuries of political resignations, Marine Le Pens may be unique. Leaders have given up the job for reasons including criminality, alcoholism, rank unpopularity, ill health, sexual transgressions, and, in the case of that habitual quitter Nigel Farage (of whom more below), because there was a vowel in the month, a Y in the day, or a horse called Give It Up Nige in the 4.15 at Uttoxeter.

But never, so far as I know, has a leader resigned within hours of taking their party to its best ever election result. A day after emulating her adorable father Jean-Marie by reaching the France presidential run-off, but having won a million more votes than the old sweetheart did in 2002, Marine jacked in the leadership of the Front National (albeit her choice of verb hinted it will be temporary) for reasons that arent entirely clear.

Her version is that she wants to rid herself from the shackles of party association, and soar above any partisan considerations. Which makes perfect sense when what has taken her this far are such glaringly unpartisan considerations as bullying Muslims and disguising nationalism as patriotism.

Alternatively, you could see it as a desperate last throw of the dice. With her centrist opponent Emmanuel Macron crushing her by almost two to one in the polls, she needs to roll a double six in the hope that a sudden amnesia pandemic will wipe the memories of about 15 million voters of almost everything shes been saying for years.

 Marine Le Pen steps down from National Front leadership

A third theory, which being mine alone is almost certainly cobblers, is that Farage put her up to it. After Brexit and his sparkling cameo as Hero Sycophant No 11 in Donald Trumps rise, Nigel has a global reputation as the hard rights seer of seers. So if he told Marine that resigning is jolly good fun and seldom permanent, and never did his mavericky lowest-common-denominator appeal any harm, how could she have resisted his froggish charms.

Farage, if no one else, is suffering from amnesia. In 2014, when he found Marines opinions too spicy even for his iron stomach, he ruled out any Ukip alliance with the French NF. After three more years of the same, froggy went a courtin to Paris, whence last month he tweeted a snap of himself and Marine. Now he tells a US radio host that she has detoxified her movement of its racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and homophobia.

Her resignation implies that, privately at least, she disagrees with him about that, although neither her campaign pledge to close mosques nor her continuing opposition to gay marriage are going anywhere.

Also disagreeing with Farage (with the ritual caveat about the reliability of opinion polls) is a thumping majority of the French public. Macron, a onetime socialist who wants open borders and more EU integration, appears to be heading for a landslide. The only defeated rival not backing him is the candidate of the far left (he must be dead jealous of Jeremy Corbyn, whose Communist Party endorsement will do so much to allay middle Englands concerns).

But even the narrowest Macron win would be a hugely welcome bucking of the Brexit-Trump trend we all feared could sweep the democratic world.

 Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to wife Brigitte during speech after entering round two

If he does become President, cementing the EU by establishing that Europes Atlantic seaboard has room for only the one idiot country, it will do more than slow the march of barbarism. It will remind us that Anglo-French differences go far beyond perceptions of the EU.

It will also confirm that the French are incomparably more sophisticated. They couldnt give a toss that Macron met his wife Brigitte when he was 15, and she was a 40-year-old teacher (married with three kids, one older than Macron) at his Jesuit school.

Although they didnt openly become a couple until he turned 18, and only married 10 years ago, he proposed at 16. That Emmanuel (now 39) and Brigitte (64) are still together more than 20 years later strikes me as pretty amazing. More amazing, here in petty bourgeois England, is that despite that narrative they are on the verge of entering the Elysee Palace.

In the English-speaking world, any such love story would at best be comically absurd (see the Friends subplot about teenage Phoebes half-brother Frank falling for his middle-aged teacher) and at worst deeply scandalous. Either way, it would be lethal to a political career.

If an Englishman with such a romantic history ran for office, the tabloids would stigmatise him as an Oedipal weirdo. He wouldnt have a prayer of being elected to even as eccentric a parish council as Dibleys.

So God love the French for understanding the human heart for the endlessly complex and quixotic organ it is. And God spare their Gallic bones if and when they reject the poisonous race-baiting from which neither her old efforts at sugaring the strychnine nor this cosmetic resignation seem able to distance the once and future Queen Marine of the Front National.
Some 220 emergency beds were opened for homeless people late last year

More than 5,000 people were homeless across the country last month and more than 200 were found sleeping rough in Dublin on one night this month.

Official figures from a headcount on April 4 found 138 people were forced to bed down on the streets of the capital, up a third on last April.

Another 57 were recorded in Merchant's Quay Ireland's Night Cafe and officials also found 23 Romanians sleeping outside after they had arrived in previous weeks seeking or having been promised employment.

More than half of them have been repatriated, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive said.

The monthly report on emergency accommodation also revealed that 3,299 adults and 2,134 children were homeless in March.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney recommitted to a deadline of the middle of this year to end the use of hotels, guest houses and B&Bs for emergency beds for families unless the circumstances are exceptional.

"I will continue to work with all the stakeholders to ensure that this ambitious target of Government is met and that a better way of life and the appropriate supports are provided for families, who need them most," he said.

"There are no quick-fix solutions here but I will continue to work with my colleagues in Government and all stakeholders to address the major challenge that is homelessness."

Detail on the spring rough sleeper count in Dublin showed 85 people had previously accessed homeless services and seven had never done so.

Thirteen were described as non-Irish nationals and the nationality of another 40 could not be established.

The vast majority of rough sleepers were found on the streets of the city and men outnumbered women by about four to one.

Winter 2014 was the worst on record for rough sleepers, when 168 people were counted on the streets.

Pat Doyle, chief executive of the Peter McVerry Trust, said it had been hoped the number would come down with new beds and homes being made available.

"We still see people falling through the cracks too easily," he said.

"We need better and stronger supports for vulnerable people, people who find it very difficult to comply with a one-size-fits-all approach.

"We are still asking for improved responses from Government departments like social protection, justice and health."

The trust noted that there are 33,000 empty homes in Dublin.

Mr Doyle said: "These buildings can and must play a critical role in providing exits from homelessness.

"We know there are over 33,000 empty homes in Dublin alone, yet we only need around 200 of these to all but eliminate rough sleeping in the city."

Roughan MacNamara of Focus Ireland said the increase in rough sleepers was expected but disappointing.

"We all need to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to end this terrible and unacceptable human crisis," he said.

The charity highlighted the need to force action from owners of empty houses, including looking at introducing a vacant home tax, while encouraging the building of new homes.

Focus Ireland said there is a target to source 300 permanent homes this year for rough sleepers and single adults in emergency accommodation under the Housing First Programme.

It aims to get people off the streets and into a home as quickly as possible and give them intensive support to keep the roof over their heads.

"This approach has had a high success rate worldwide, but requires access to homes to work," Focus Ireland said.
People outside the Department of Health in Dublin protest over plans to grant ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital to the Sisters of Charity religious order

The Catholic Church will not decide on the care of mothers and babies at the new National Maternity Hospital, it has been claimed.

The St Vincent's Hospital Group (SVHG) said the new 300 million euro facility will carry out all medical procedures legally available in the Republic.

"Continuing to suggest that procedures currently undertaken at NMH will not be available in the new maternity hospital is entirely false and without foundation," chairman James Menton said.

"In line with current policy and procedures at SVHG, any medical procedure which is in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Ireland will be carried out at the new hospital."

The Sisters of Charity owns the valuable land at St Vincent's in Dublin where the National Maternity Hospital is to be built and the order is the shareholder of the SVHG.

Under a complex arrangement revealed in recent weeks the nuns are due to own the new facility even though it is fully state funded.

This sparked concerns over the role the nuns would play in the governance of the hospital and whether they would commit to allowing abortions, contraception or IVF treatment.

Ambiguity deepened when Bishop Kevin Doran said that the Sisters would have to obey church law as owners, regardless of how the facility is funded, and that governance rests with the Pope.

Dr Peter Boylan, a former Master at Holles Street, was asked to resign from the board of the current National Maternity Hospital after speaking out about the nuns' involvement.

The respected obstetrician questioned whether clinical care, including abortions or IVF treatment, would be influenced by their religious beliefs and said it is inappropriate for a hospital to have a strong religious influence, particularly from the Catholic Church.

Mr Boylan rejected calls from the chair of the current National Maternity Hospital to resign.

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 SVHG chairman Mr Menton described some of the concerns raised as " continued misinformation and untruthful allegations".

"The primary concern of the Board of Directors of SVHG and of the Chartered Trust of the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) is the delivery of a modern maternity and neonatal service that is women and infant-centred and which is safe and world class," he said.

"The National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park, DAC, will deliver such a facility for the women of Ireland."

Mr Menton insisted clinical independence will be enshrined in contracts.

It is understood the nuns were not asked to sell the site to the state.

Tens of thousands of people have signed an online petition opposing any role or ownership for the nuns of the new facility.

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.
Former US senator George Mitchell, who helped broker the Good Friday Agreement, has had personal discussions with the British government amid concerns about the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland.

But he has ruled out taking on any future mediation role in the North.

In an interview with the Irish Independent from his New York office, Mr Mitchell said that while he respected the outcome of the UK referendum, he disagreed with Brexit.

He said he shared concerns about the potential economic impact of a return to a hard Border.

"While it will be necessary to figure out a different way, let us hope that it doesn't mean a resumption of the tight Border controls. I know that the British government is keenly aware of it.

"I've had personal discussions with the UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and his government is very well aware of the consequences of what happens, and I hope very much that in the course of these discussions they will take that into account," he said, ahead of his International Human Rights lecture address, organised by The Mary Robinson Centre, in Ballina, Co Mayo, on Thursday.

Mr Mitchell said he was in Dublin the day of the referendum vote, and Belfast the following day, and was immediately conscious of the concerns.

The former special envoy to Northern Ireland said he hopes and believes that the parties in the North can resolve their current difficulties, even though the resumption of power sharing in the wake of the March 2 election has proved elusive. A potential deal between the parties is now not likely until after the June 8 UK general election at the earliest.

The Good Friday Agreement, Mr Mitchell said, while a significant achievement, did not by itself guarantee peace, political stability or reconciliation.

"I said [after the peace agreement was brokered] that there would be many difficult decisions ahead. Indeed the agreement itself explicitly deferred to the future some decisions that we couldn't resolve at that time," Mr Mitchell said.

But he said there was nothing unusual about "domestic controversies in democratic societies". He cited the potential US government shutdown this week over the country's budget, Brexit and the French election.

"I don't think that we should hold Northern Ireland to a standard that is hard to be met anywhere in the western world," he added.

"I think it's possible for them to get back together and I hope very much that they will."

Mr Mitchell revealed that he travelled to Derry to visit Martin McGuinness in hospital just weeks before his death.

"I was in Belfast, I spoke at Queen's University, and I took the occasion to drive to Derry and visit Martin McGuinness and his family in his hospital room," he said.

He said Mr McGuinness, along with the other Northern Ireland leaders at the time of the Good Friday Agreement, including John Hume and David Trimble, deserve credit for "the courage and the vision that they showed in reaching the agreement". Mr Mitchell was due to speak at a memorial service in New York for Mr McGuinness last night.

Speaking of his visit to see the former deputy first minister, he added: "We spoke for quite a long time, mostly reminiscing and laughing about some of the humorous events that occurred during our time together in the negotiations."

Asked what he would say to those who have suffered at the hands of IRA violence and may disagree with recent tributes paid to Mr McGuinness, Mr Mitchell said: "Each person is entitled to his or her view, I accept whatever position anyone takes. I was aware of his past when I met him.

"The objective that I had was to try to bring the conflict to an end, and in that process he was a significant contributing factor and in the subsequent governance of Northern Ireland."

On President Donald Trump, Mr Mitchell said it was clear that his first 100 days have been "less successful than those of most other presidents".

"But I think there remains opportunity for progress in terms of our domestic economy and hopefully in foreign affairs where he has modified or reversed several of the controversial positions that he took during the campaign," he said.

Mr Mitchell also said the technological revolution facing the world will be seen by historians as significant as the industrial revolution of the 19th century.

"There was fear, anxiety, upheaval, some violence. That's going on today," he said. "While it has created wealth, it is also wealth that has not been distributed throughout the whole society.

"While many people are beneficiaries of the revolution, many feel they are victims. No society has yet figured out a way to retain the benefits, while seeing that they're distributed more fairly throughout society, That really is the challenge of the 21st century in economic terms in my judgment."
A survey of over 1,000 farmers by FarmIreland.ie shows that 71pc of farmers with children do not know if they have anyone to take over their farm.

The figures also show that 35pc of respondents over 65 years of age do not have any children working on the farm or planning on going into farming.

It also shows that 47pc of farmers in Ireland would not encourage their children to go farming. Further, when sectors are looked at, the survey found that 57pc of dairy farmers do not have children working on the farm or planning to go farming.

That figure is even more startling among beef farmers, as 75pc do not have a child working on the farm or planing to work on the farm.

Further, 54pc of farmers in the West and North West said they would not encourage their children to go farming.

Dairy farmers were more positive about encouraging their children to go into farming, with 60pc of dairy farmers saying they would encourage their children to go farming.

Most farmers cited poor incomes as the deciding factor in not encouraging their children to take up farming. Recent research from Teagasc shows that income varies quite considerably by farm system.

Profitable

Dairy farms are consistently the most profitable farms with an average income of 62,141 in 2015. Cattle rearing farms have the lowest average farm income at 12,660 in 2015.

Respondents to the FarmIreland.ie survey were strongly in favour of not selling their farms. Overall, 84pc said they would not consider selling their farm, while just 16pc said they would consider it.

Those oldest age bracket (65+) reflected the national average and were less conservative about selling the farm than some younger farmers. 94pc of the youngest age bracket (18-34 year olds) said they would not consider selling the farm.

Geographically, farmers in the East/Midlands are most likely to consider selling their farm, with 19pc saying they would consider selling up.

This compares to just 13pc of farmers in the West/Northwest saying they would consider selling their farms.
The Department of Agriculture has issued an ultimatum to thousands of farmers to get online by 2018 or risk losing their EU direct payments.

The warning was issued by the Department last week when officials insisted that the full changeover from paper to online applications for CAP direct payments will go ahead next year.

Up to 20,000 farmers, or almost 15pc of eligible applicants, still use physical application forms to apply for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) aid scheme.

However, the Department has confirmed that paper-based applications for the BPS and ANC will not be accepted in 2018.

Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) Deputy President, Richard Kennedy, claimed the association was pressing the Department to facilitate farmers who continued to make 'hard copy' applications.

Meanwhile, Pat McCormack of the dairy farmers' organisation, the ICMSA, said farmers could not be denied payments as a result of the changeover.

"Our bottom line is that no farmer can be left without a payment in 2018 as a result of the Department's decision on this matter," he said.

However, a spokesperson for Agriculture Minister Michael Creed confirmed to the Farming Independent that EU rules require that all applications must be completed online by 2018.

There will be no exemptions or derogations granted, stressed the spokesperson.

Farmers are to be offered the option to have their application made online by Department staff, by calling in person to the offices at Portlaoise, Cavan and Drumshanbo on specified days ahead of the application closing dates.

It has also been confirmed that all queries raised by the Department in relation to applications are to be processed online.

Farmers will be contacted by email and must use email in response, while all supporting documentation must be forwarded electronically.

Broadband

Limerick IFA has put a motion to the association's national council condemning the compulsory move to online applications.

The motion calls for an opt-out for farmers who are not computer-literate, or who live in rural areas where broadband is either very weak or non-existent.

Limerick members said implementation of the changeover should be postponed until there was an adequate national rural broadband network and decent coverage.

Pat McCormack of the ICMSA said the Department had to recognise that broadband coverage was either patchy, sub-standard or totally absent in many rural areas.

"Many older farmers are unfamiliar with online systems - is that to be held against them?

"The Department will simply have to accommodate such people in 2018," he said.

A spokesperson for Minister Creed said: The Department is aware that, for a variety of reasons, it can be difficult for individuals to submit their applications online.

To assist in this regard, officials from the Department will be visiting a number of locations around the country over the coming weeks where they will be available to provide one-

to-one assistance to farmers in making their applications online, and to answer any queries regarding the

application process individuals may have.

Benefits

The Department points out that the online application process provides many benefits to farmers over a paper application, including warning applicants of certain potential errors such as over-claims, breach of percentage thresholds in Greening and ensuring no vital information is omitted.

While there was a surge in growth of online applications after the system was introduced a decade ago, the rate of change has slowed in recent years.

Between 2007 and 2009, online applications increased by 457pc. Between 2015 and 2016 the increase was just 9.6pc.

Farmers who require assistance are invited to contact the Departments Direct Payments Helpdesk on lo-call 0761-064420.
Dublin City Council has given a company backed by billionaire businessman Denis O'Brien the go-ahead for a 50m luxury apartment plan in Donnybrook, despite concerns from two groups of D4 residents.

In its decision, the City Council gave planning permission for the five five-storey apartment blocks containing 90 apartments,but has ordered that the top floor in the fifth block be omitted.

The Council has also ruled that the development does not require the provision of a child-care facility after consultants for Mr O'Brien's Purleigh Holdings Ltd argued that child-care facilities in the wider area would cope with any additional demand from the development.

In one of the 24 conditions attached to the grant of permission, Purleigh Holdings is required to pay 994,464 to the Council towards public infrastructure.

In the planner's report recommending that planning be granted, the planner stated that the proposal was considered to be acceptable and in line with the proper planning of the area.

In their objection against the plan, the Greenfield Residents Group stated "enough is enough. Ninety units in an overbearing 'monolith' of five blocks each, five storeys is far too much, both for the development itself and for the surrounding residential area".

Mr O'Brien acquired the site from UCD in 2008 when he gave UCD 15m in cash and another three acre site in a land-swap plus cash deal.
Long-term renters should look at ways in which they can financially protect themselves, similar to mortgage holders, a leading insurance company has said.

With rents across the country now 8pc higher on average than their Celtic Tiger peak in 2008, Royal London has urged renters to consider protection against illness and death.

In Dublin, rents are an average of 13.7pc higher than in 2008, according to the Daft.ie rental price report 2016, while data from the 2016 Census shows that there were 469,671 households in rented accommodation in 2016, an increase of nearly 5pc from 2011.

The profile of renters in this country has changed significantly. Traditionally the renting group in Ireland was single people in their 20s and early 30s, Joe Charles head of proposition at Royal London said.

Now a growing cohort of families and individuals in their 30s, 40s and 50s are renting at a time when financial security and protection becomes more important as they grow older, settle down, and especially if they have children to look after, he continued.

Read more: Comment: Its time to stop faffing about and start treating this housing crisis like the emergency that it really is

The company is advising long-term renters to review their financial capabilities and consider putting their own form of rent protection in place, by taking out life insurance policies. They say a good comparable example is when people put mortgage protection cover in place.

Those who are renting long-term should consider doing something similar to those with a mortgage, and put life and/or specified serious illness cover in place, to ensure their rent and other ongoing expenses will continue to be paid for their family should anything happen to them, Mr Charles said.
Providence will use CHC's Sikorsky S-92 to fly to the well from Cork Airport. Photo: Providence Resources/PA Wire

Helicopter group CHC will provide transport services to offshore drilling operations for Irish oil and gas exploration company Providence Resources under a new contract.

CHC has the separate 500m contract to operate the Irish Coast Guard's search and rescue services.

Last month, personnel at the firm were plunged into grief following the crash of Rescue 116 off the Co Mayo coast with the loss of four crew.

Rescue 116 crashed 17km off Blacksod Bay, killing Captain Dara Fitzpatrick and Captain Mark Duffy.

Two other crew members - winch operator Paul Ormsby and winchman Ciaran Smith - have yet to be found despite extensive searches of the surrounding area.

Recordings from the aircraft's black box, which was found following an examination of the wreckage, showed the helicopter's navigation system did not include mapping of Blackrock Island.

The crew only became aware of the island's proximity seconds before impact.

CHC will provide transport serving Providence's Druid/Drombeg exploration well, which is located 215km off the south-west coast.

Providence will use CHC's Sikorsky S-92 to fly to the well from Cork Airport. The contract will get under way this June.

"With our extensive experience transporting offshore workers in the oil and gas industry, dedication to safety, and reputation for the highest quality service, we look forward to building on our relationship with the Providence team in Ireland," said Mark Abbey, CHC regional director for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Shares in Providence fell by 2.3pc on Dublin's Iseq index yesterday.
Retail Excellence Ireland represents around 1,600 members from across Ireland. Stock image

Retail Excellence Ireland is to host its sixth annual expo at Croke Park next month.

Matt Shea, president and CEO of the world's largest retail association, the US-based National Retail Federation, is scheduled to be one of the keynote speakers at the event, along with "retail futurist" Howard Saunders, Ryanair's chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs, and academic researcher and lecturer David Meade.

The event will focus on areas including the shift to online retailing, combating online fraud and how to turn customers into fans.

Retail Excellence Ireland represents around 1,600 members from across Ireland, the idea of the event is to provide attendees with tips on a diverse range of topics relating to best practice in the retail industry.

The Retail Retreat & Expo will be held in Croke Park on Wednesday May 10.

"The significance of retail to the Irish economy cannot be understated with 282,000 workers employed," said spokeswoman Lorraine Higgins.
More than one in two SMEs say that they expect no impact from Brexit

Almost 70pc of Irish workers would like to work in a small to medium-size enterprise (SME) or a startup, research has found - with respondents believing that startups and SMEs offer the best office culture.

Younger workers are also following this trend, with close to half of those aged under 25 preferring to work in an SME, and a further 20pc saying they would like to work in a startup.

Almost half of those surveyed stated that they would be more motivated to give up their free time and work longer hours for a smaller company.

The research, by One4all, which surveyed Irish employees' attitudes towards office culture, wellness, and perks found that 39pc of those polled disagree with the statement that providing office perks, such as breakfast or snacks in the office, puts pressure on employees to work longer hours.

While salary is the most important factor for most people when looking for a job, a friendly work environment was deemed the next most important thing for Irish job-seekers.

Just 3pc of workers feel a strong company vision is an important factor in searching for a job, while just 5pc rate a company with a strong ethical/moral standpoint as being important to their job search.

"What's interesting is a high number of workers feel motivated to work longer hours for a smaller company," said One4all CEO Michael Dawson.

"People are happier to give up their hard-earned free time to help a smaller business flourish, which is a very positive thing for growing Irish companies, and for the Irish economy in general."
Paddy Cosgrave is considering a return to Dublin with a financial technology and payments conference.

The Web Summit founder, whose Dublin headquarters is to expand by another 40 jobs this year, said that the companys Moneyconf conference, currently based in Madrid, is likely to move to another city shortly.

Moneyconf is coming towards the end for Madrid, he told Independent.ie. Were now looking at other cities, including Edinburgh, Paris and Dublin.

The conference, previously held in Belfast, is smaller than the Web Summit, which attracted 53,000 people in Lisbon last November. It is also smaller than Collision, Cosgraves New Orleans-based tech event which is expected to see 20,000 attendees next month.

But holding it in Dublin would mark a new phase in the relationship between Mr Cosgrave and Irish authorities.

The move comes as the Web Summit announced 40 new jobs for its Dublin office, including a new position for an Irish government affairs manager. This role, Mr Cosgrave said, will be multi-faceted.

Were back working with the Irish government, he said. The Web Summits most important supporter from the start, by a wide margin, was the IDA. Theyre back as one of our partners. Theres a lot of positivity and a lot of change. Its an interesting time for Ireland and not just because of Brexit.

Web Summit hiring for 40 positions in Dublin, immediate start. Trinity degrees not required. Wifi works (in office) https://t.co/TTr92jTPXG  Web Summit (@WebSummit) April 24, 2017

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Two years ago, tempers flared between Web Summit founders and the Irish government over the decision to relocate the global even to Lisbon. But Mr Cosgrave said that Web Summit conferences are now sought by countries and cities around the world.

Cities in Europe, Asia and the US are actively pursuing us for larger conferences and also for smaller ones such as Moneyconf, he said. My co-founder David [Kelly] dedicates a lot of time travelling around the world.

Mr Cosgrave said that he is also looking to spin out more individual conferences from the Web Summit.

Moneyconf came out of Web Summit and is now an invitation-only event for 1,000 stakeholders, including all the interesting startups, a lot of the bigger banks like Goldman Sachs and big payment players such as Alipay and Visa, he said.

Were looking to spin out more of the conferences in Web Summit, which has become a conference of conferences. For example, the largest business of sport conference in Europe is held at the Web Summit.

The Web Summits three year deal with Portugese authorities to host the event in Lisbon is extendable to five years. However, such an extension has not yet been discussed, Mr Cosgrave said.

We wont be having that conversation until next year, he said.

The Web Summit company runs several other global technology events, including Collision in the US, Rise in Hong Kong and MoneyConf in Madrid.

Collision will feature keynote speakers including actor Jessica Alba, musician Wyclef Jean, Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital and Alexis Ohanian of Reddit.

Mr Cosgrave said that he expects the US conference to almost double in size over the next 12 months.

By next year, Collision will be larger than South By Southwest, which has about 32,000 attendees, he said. It hasnt been growing in recent years and is a bit stagnant. We have 20,000 this year and I think well leapfrog it next year. Collision is basically the Web Summit mirrored in the US.

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Last year the Web Summit registered over 53,000 attendees to Lisbon. Mr Cosgrave said that was double the number that attended the previous Web Summit held in Dublin in 2015. He said that 60,000 attendees are expected to attend the event this year, including tech company CEOs, political leaders and personalities from sports, fashion and music. In 2016, the Web Summit added new elements to the event including the Forum, a gathering of leading political and business leaders, which included Jose Manuel Barroso, former president of the European Commission, Roberto Azevedo, director general of the WTO and Mogens Lykketoft, president of the United Nations General Assembly.

Mr Cosgrave said that the new jobs being hired for the companys Dublin headquarters would take the organisation to over 180 people.

The new jobs, which are currently being advertised, are in sales, engineering and policy.

"We figured out how to get a tremendous amount of attendees and now we're getting good at attracting partners and exhibitors, like Mercedes," he said.

Dublin is a very important part of the Web Summit DNA with our operations continuing to be based in our office in Tramway House. As we continue to expand across the world and to improve the experience of our attendees across our events, we are looking for talented people across a range of disciplines. We want to hear from people who are looking for a unique and interesting opportunity for the next chapter in our growth. Trinity degrees are optional.

Mr Cosgrave said that the hiring climate in Dublin has changed, with a higher standard of sales professional now available because of the number of tech multinationals working here.

Two years ago, a lot of the people we were hiring were from startups, he said. Now were hiring out of Google, Facebook, Salesforce and Oracle. Sometimes the multinationals here come in for criticism but they provide the most amazing sales training resources for other companies.

"Google has invested a huge amount of money in developing and training these people and then companies like ours can just pick them up and theyre basically plug and play.

He said that competition from multinationals for tech workers was stiff but there are now enough to go around.

If you have 4,000 sales people on Barrow Street, there are likely to be 40 who will move to work in a startup, he said.

Weve hired people with six or seven years experience from Google and Oracle. They love a change.

The WebSummit was co-founded by Paddy Cosgrave, journalist Daire Hickey and accountant David Kelly.
US President Donald Trump is due to unveil a tax plan tomorrow - but it now seems unlikely he'll include a border-adjusted tax that House Speaker Paul Ryan has proposed, a senior administration official has said.

The border tax would hurt Irish exports into the US, and at the same time make it more attractive for US companies to shift operations back home.

That could potentially be a double hit to the economy here, which relies on foreign direct investment by US multinationals and access to the large American market.

The Trump administration will release a tax plan for individuals and businesses but it may not include every component that will go into final legislation, according to a different senior White House official.

The plan will offer "specific governing principles" along with indications of new rates, but a complete proposal probably won't be ready until June, Mr Trump's budget director said.

His political ally, Paul Ryan has proposed replacing the US's 35pc corporate income tax rate with a 20pc border-adjusted tax on US companies' domestic sales and imports.

Exports out of the US would be exempt under the plan, which is opposed by retailers, carmakers and oil refiners that rely on imported goods.

The Associated Press reported on Friday that Mr Trump said the plan will result in "massive" tax cuts for both individuals and businesses.

The cuts will be "bigger I believe than any tax cut ever", he said, according to the AP report.

Later, while signing an executive order related to a broad review of tax regulations from 2016 and 2017, Mr Trump said he wants Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin "to begin the process of tax simplification".

During the 2016 election campaign, Mr Trump initially issued a plan that included proposals for cuts in tax rates for individuals and corporations, a repeal of the estate tax, an offshore profits repatriation tax holiday for multinationals and a cap on the deductibility of business interest.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said yesterday that the US tax system needed an overhaul.

"We'll wait and see on Wednesday. Like all tax issues, the devil is in the detail.

"You can have a principle that is very good, but it's only when you see the detail that you see if there's any problem to me," he told reporters.

"No one signalled any problems to me for Ireland on what's coming out in the US.

"There would be a general view in the OECD and the European Community that the US corporate tax system needs reform.

"It's out of line with other trading countries at present. The nominal rate is too high," he said.

Whether or not Mr Trump can follow through on his tax plan remains up for debate.

Challenges thrown up by his efforts to dismantle Obama Care, have yet to be resolved.

To push tax legislation through, the administration will need support in Congress, which it failed to secure on Obamacare.

Funding tax cuts will have to take account of wider budget pressures, including health spending.

Mr Trump's Republican Party controls a majority of 52 of the Senate's 100 seats.

Under normal Senate rules a 60-vote majority is needed to avoid legislation being ground down in lengthy debate. (Additional reporting Reuters/Bloomberg)
A man filmed himself killing his 11-month-old daughter in two video clips posted on Facebook before taking his own life, police said on Tuesday.

People could access the videos of the child's murder on her father's Facebook page for roughly 24 hours, until they were taken down around 5pm in Bangkok - a day after being uploaded.

Last week, Facebook said it was reviewing how it monitored violent footage and other objectionable material after a posting of the fatal shooting of an elderly man in Cleveland, Ohio was visible for two hours before being taken down.

The harrowing footage from Thailand shows Wuttisan Wongtalay tying a rope to his daughter's neck before dropping her from the rooftop of a deserted building in the Thai seaside town of Phuket.

Wuttisan's suicide was not broadcast but his lifeless body was found beside his daughter, said Jullaus Suvannin, the police officer in charge of the case.

"He was having paranoia about his wife leaving him and not loving him," Jullaus told Reuters.

Reuters was unable to contact the mother of the dead child. Calls to her mobile number went unanswered. Television images showed her weeping and holding the dead baby.

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A regional Facebook representative in Singapore was not immediately available to comment.

After the company faced a backlash for showing the video of the Cleveland killing, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook would do all it could to prevent such content in the future.

Thai citizens voiced outrage about the clips showing the child's killing.

"This is the most evil clip I've seen in my life," said one user, Avada Teeraponkoon. "I couldn't stand it for more than one second."

"How can he watch his own child stop breathing?" said another, Rujirek Polglang. "He should have just died alone."

The killing was the first in Thailand known to be broadcast on the social networking site, said Thai deputy police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen.

"It could be influenced by behavior from abroad, most recently in Cleveland," Kissana told Reuters.

Before they were taken down, the first video had drawn 112,000 views by mid-afternoon on Tuesday, while the second video showed 258,000 views.

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article please contact the Samaritans on 116123 for support or visit the website on www.samaritans.org.

Pieta House can be contacted on 1800 247 247. For more information on Pieta House and Darkness into Light visit www.pieta.ie.
Bill Clinton ruthlessly roasted Donald Trump on Twitter with a dad joke.

He took aim at Trump's previous claims that the Obama administration bugged his office during his campaign - despite all evidence to the contrary - with a non-so-subtle pun.

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017

Taking to Twitter on Sunday, the former US president posted an image of himself standing beside a giant bug alongside the caption: "BREAKING: We just learned that the @clintoncentre has been bugged."

BREAKING: We just learned that the @ClintonCenter has been bugged. pic.twitter.com/4Or6lrnRPN  Bill Clinton (@billclinton) April 23, 2017

Clinton might be a tad late to the party on this one but credit where credit's due for the use of such statement making props.
Luke Manning was trying to get a glimpse of the new elephant

An 11-year-old schoolboy, who fractured his two front teeth while trying to catch a glimpse of a new baby elephant at Dublin zoo, has been awarded more than 16,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.

Barrister Gerard Humphreys told the court that in April 2015 Luke Manning was in the zoo with his mother Audrey Manning and a group of children when the accident happened.

Mr Humphreys said the zoo had been very busy as children were on their Easter holidays. Luke and his group had gone to the elephants area but their view had been obstructed by a large crowd of spectators trying to see the star arrival.

The court heard that as they were leaving the area, Luke and his group passed viewing seats where they could have a view of the elephants at times. Luke had decided to walk up the steps leading to the seats.

Counsel today told Judge Francis Comerford that as Luke reached the second step his right foot slipped and he fell on his face, his mouth hitting the step.

Judge Comerford heard that Lukes lips immediately swelled up and blood started to come out of his mouth. Staff had applied first aid to his mouth but it had become apparent that his front teeth had been damaged.

Mr Humphreys said that Luke was taken by his mother to the emergency department of Dublin Dental University Hospital in Lincoln Place where a dressing was applied to his two broken upper front teeth.

The court heard that Luke later underwent extensive treatment to restore his teeth including a composite restoration. A doctors report had stated that Luke had made a full recovery.

Through his mother Audrey Manning, of St Eithne Road, Cabra, Dublin, Luke sued the Zoological Society of Ireland for negligence. He alleged the steps had been slippery.

Mr Humphreys said that due to the trauma to his teeth, they may lose nerve vitality over time and a root canal treatment would be required. Luke may also need to have his teeth crowned in the future.

The court heard that due to the immediate care of the zoo staff and Lukes mother, his damaged teeth had an extremely favourable prognosis. Luke had no reported problems or pain from his teeth.

Counsel said the defendant had made a 16,270 settlement offer and he recommended its acceptance to the court. Judge Comerford approved it.
The Irish Independent is delighted to publish a brand-new educational supplement for Leaving Cert Business, Accounting and Economics.

This 3-part series 'The Business Files' will begin on Saturday, April 29th will give students an in-depth insight into potential exam questions as well as brilliant contributions from a host of top business writers, start ups, and successful business people.

Meet the risk-takers who start companies, the men and women who balance the books and the people who shape our economic strategy. This series will feature contributions from Dragons Den start Richard Curran, the Business Teachers Association of Ireland, the ESRI and more, making it a must read for every Leaving Cert student and anyone with an interest in the business world.

Part One will be published on Saturday, April 29th

Part Two on Thursday, May 4th

Part Three on Thursday, May 11th

Two issues will be published on Thursdays, which will give readers the chance to fully immerse themselves in business news with the Irish Independent's weekly Business supplement 'Business Week'.

Don't miss The Business Files, your essential business guide only in the Irish Independent.

Before you make up your mind, open it.
Farmers are overwhelmingly pro-European but would prefer to get a fairer price for produce than subsidies.

A huge 80pc of farmers say we should remain within the EU and not consider leaving, despite the Irish agri-food sector's reliance on the UK as an export destination.

While farmers are very pro-Europe, their attitude to direct payments from the EU is largely negative, with 75pc saying they are unhappy with the current system.

They believe that payments are unfairly distributed or they would prefer a fair price for their produce instead of subsidies.

The findings are contained in the Farm Ireland National Survey of Farmers 2017 which provides a snapshot of rural hopes and fears.

It was conducted on behalf of Independent News and Media's leading agri-news website FarmIreland.ie and surveyed more than 1,000 farmers countrywide.

Yesterday, the Irish Independent reported on the overwhelming support among farmers (72pc) for prenuptial agreements amid concerns about land ownership following marital breakdown.

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Today, more details of farmers' attitudes to Europe are revealed at a time of great uncertainty with Brexit looming large.

The UK is Ireland's most important trading partner for the agri-food sector, and Brexit could mean a reduction in the value of Irish agri-food exports of anything from 150m (1.5pc) to 800m (7.2pc) per annum.

But when asked if we should consider leaving the EU, 80pc of respondents to the survey said Ireland should not consider an exit, while 16pc said we should and 4pc said they did not know.

These figures back up recent research which found that Ireland is among the least likely countries to vote to leave the EU.

However, the figures are in stark contrast to farmers in the UK, 58pc of whom said they wanted to leave the EU, with just 31pc saying they wanted the UK to remain within the trade bloc.

The hugely positive attitude towards Europe here is no doubt a reflection of the monies that Irish farmers have received from Europe, but also the recognition of the need to export the majority of Irish food and drink and the importance of access to the European market.

Between 2007 and 2013, the EU through the Common Agricultural Policy invested more than 11.7bn in Ireland's farming sector and rural areas, and secured the supply of safe, affordable and quality food for its citizens.

However, farmers were vocal in their dislike of subsidies over a 'fair price' for their produce. Others said that the distribution of subsidies was unfair, with those most in need not getting enough.

When farmers were asked whether they received enough money from Europe through the Basic Payment, many stated that they would prefer no subsides but a fairer price for their produce.

Distribution issues were also raised by many farmers, with a combined total of 74pc saying they are not happy with current European support for farmers.

According to those surveyed, 41pc of farmers believe they are not getting enough money through direct payments, while 34pc of farmers believe that the way in which payments are distributed needs to be changed.
Dr Peter Boylan, pictured, did not reply to the text, signed by Dr Rhona Mahony and Nicholas Kearns. Picture: Tom Burke

The outspoken former master of the National Maternity Hospital in Holles St, Dr Peter Boylan, has been asked by text message to resign from the board by his deputy chairman Nicholas Kearns.

Dr Boylan, who is a strong critic of the decision to allow the Sisters of Charity ownership of the new national maternity hospital, confirmed to the Irish Independent last night he was asked to resign "by text" last Sunday.

He said the text was signed by Mr Kearns and the current master of the hospital, Dr Rhona Mahony.

"I got a text on Sunday afternoon from Mr Kearns and the Master of the hospital," he said, adding that he has not responded to it.

It comes in the wake of the outcry over the decision to give ownership of the 300m hospital to the Sisters of Charity, who own the St Vincent's Hospital campus in Dublin where it will be located.

Dr Boylan said last night he intends to attend a meeting of the Holles Street board tomorrow afternoon.

"It is shooting the messenger to ask me to resign. Telling me 'you are out' is not going to advance the hospital," he said.

He also said the agreement between Holles St and St Vincent's has not yet been put to the governors, who are the shareholders of the healthcare facility.

Expand Close Dr Peter Boylan did not reply to the text, signed by Dr Rhona Mahony, pictured, and Nicholas Kearns. Picture: Arthur Carron / Facebook

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Whatsapp Dr Peter Boylan did not reply to the text, signed by Dr Rhona Mahony, pictured, and Nicholas Kearns. Picture: Arthur Carron

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Dr Boylan, who is a brother-in-law of Dr Mahony, retired as an obstetrician last year. He said that it is important to have a board with "diverse opinions".

A spokesman for the hospital said last night Dr Boylan was a member of the board at all times during the six-month period of mediation which resulted in agreement last November to co-locate the National Maternity Hospital with St Vincent's University Hospital.

"The board was kept fully briefed on all developments by the negotiating team during that period.

"The decisive final meeting of the board overwhelmingly supported the agreement with 25 in favour, two abstentions (including Dr Boylan) and one vote against.

"Thereafter the agreement was approved by Government and planning permission was lodged. Last week, some five months after the agreement was approved, Dr Boylan, without warning, consultation with or notification to the board, its chair or the Master of the hospital, went public in attacking the agreement."

During an interview, with RTE's 'Morning Ireland' last week, Dr Boylan, suggested that the Sisters of Charity would bring a strong religious influence to the practices at the new National Maternity Hospital.

"The state is investing 300m of your money and my money in a new maternity hospital and it is inappropriate that that hospital should have a strong religious influence, particularly from the Catholic Church, with all its bad history in relation to women's healthcare," he said.

Yesterday Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald called for "the utmost clarity" on the future governance at the new hospital.

The Justice Minister said the days of "interference by religious authorities" in maternity services are in the past.

She said she believes there will be "significant progress" in the coming days on the issues that have "arisen" and that Health Minister Simon Harris is working on achieving clarity.

"What I would say is that the time for interference in any modern maternity hospital for the future, any interference by religious authorities, that time is in the past and for the future, clearly, women and the country need clarity and that's what the minister (for health) is working to ensure we have," she said.

"People want a modern maternity hospital that's working to best clinical practice and the religious orders and the Church have nothing to do with it or with the decisions that are made for women."

More than 5m stands to be lost if the controversial deal to move the National Maternity Hospital to the St Vincent's campus collapses.

The public funding has already been spent in preparing to move the maternity hospital from Holles Street to the Dublin 4 site.

Around 100,000 has been paid to An Bord Pleanala as part of the planning application.

The board of St Vincent's Healthcare Group will meet later this week to review its involvement in the project in light of the public outcry.

Dr Rhona Mahony has said an agreement between the two boards allows for full independence for the maternity hospital and it will provide all services that are legal in the State.

Compulsory purchase route is costly and open to legal challenge

Adverse public opinion about the decision to allow the Sisters of Charity to own the proposed new National Maternity Hospital is threatening to derail the deal put in place for the publicly-funded construction of the 300m facility. But are people getting worked up about nothing when there is a deal in place guaranteeing the independence of the hospital?

An agreement document states the hospital's clinical services will be free of any religious considerations, while other safeguards include a 'golden share' being held by the State to ensure the hospital's independence.

A lien, or legal charge on the hospital, would also mean it cannot be sold. But not everyone is convinced these measures will guarantee that clinical decisions are not in some way subject to religious interference.

Couldn't this all be solved if the State just bought the land?

It could, but it wouldn't be simple. There is no guarantee that the St Vincent's Hospital Group would agree to sell.

The proposed location of the new hospital is right in the centre of the St Vincent's campus, adjacent to the main ward block of the existing public hospital.

A sale would be a much likelier proposition if the new hospital was to be located on the periphery of the campus.

Could the State seize the land?

In theory it could, but this would be a very expensive option, especially when you consider the State is being offered the use of the land for free. The land would have to be bought by way of a compulsory purchase order, an instrument used to allow public infrastructure projects to go ahead for the common good. Under CPO rules the hospital group would have to be paid the value of the land, which would be considerable given its Dublin 4 location.

A premium would also need to be paid for any potential diminution of value of the remaining lands in the campus, plus other costs arising from disturbance or loss of profits.

Could a CPO be subject to legal challenge?

Most definitely. Indeed if there was a CPO and it was to be challenged, the project could be set back several years with no guarantee it would go ahead eventually at the chosen site.

One just has to look at the case of Kildare farmer Thomas Reid who resisted efforts by IDA Ireland to compulsorily purchase his land in 2011. The matter went all the way to the Supreme Court, where Mr Reid won his case in 2015.

What about a long-term lease?

This would lead to a situation where the State owns the hospital buildings but not the ground on which they stand.

In the context of the deal that already exists, this option wouldn't make much sense, financially or otherwise, unless it involved a peppercorn rent and the lease being for an awfully long time, effectively guaranteeing the buildings for use as a maternity hospital in perpetuity.
THE Sunday Independent today reveals full details of the confidential agreement that will see ownership of the National Maternity Hospital pass to a religious order if it relocates to the St Vincents Hospital site.

The 25-page document goes to the heart of the row over concerns of religious interference in the hospital by setting out the mechanisms that will be used to safeguard its independence.

Health Minister Simon Harris has refused to publish the agreement, saying he will make it available to the Oireachtas Health Committee this week.

However, the deal was at risk of collapse this weekend following a decision by the St Vincents Healthcare Group to pull back from the project because of the controversy.

Todays disclosures come as the man who brokered the deal between the National Maternity Hospital and St Vincents Hospital in Dublin, Kieran Mulvey, criticised the abuse and threats directed at the St Vincents group and called for cool heads.

Last night Mr Harris told the Sunday Independent that failure to deliver the new maternity hospital would be a betrayal of women and children.

The agreement document reveals that St Vincents Healthcare Groups ownership of the hospital is conditional on allowing the State a golden share in the company to protect its independence, and a lien, so that it cannot be used as collateral against loans or sold.

The document sets out how a clause protecting the hospitals clinical services from religious, ethnic or other discrimination will be included in the companys memorandum and articles, and will be further copper-fastened by reserve powers vested in the board.

The agreement also requires the National Maternity Hospital to share information on private practices operated by consultants at Holles Street and St Vincents.

According to the agreement, the two hospitals will share information to provide for transparency on the specific roles and purposes of private practices.

It reveals that National Maternity Hospital master Dr Rhona Mahony will also be clinical director of obstetrics and gynaecology across the St Vincents group and will report to the groups medical board and clinical director. The agreed single system of clinical governance will operate for the primary benefit of patients on the campus, the document states.

However, the agreement was in jeopardy this weekend following St Vincents Healthcare Groups decision to hold a hospital board meeting this week to review the project following misinformation and views expressed by Mr Harris.

The health minister yesterday defended his remarks, saying: I think when the St Vincents board meets and considers my comments they will see that all I said was please ensure that I am allowed to do my job on behalf of the citizens of this country.

Mr Harris said there was no Plan B if the agreement failed. He also told the Sunday Independent: It would be betraying women and infants if we dont give this issue the time and space this is required to get it absolutely legal and contractually correct.

There will be clinical independence, there will be no financial benefit for the order, religious or otherwise.

This is a massive project and we cannot betray women and infants by failing to deliver it.

Kieran Mulvey, a former head of the Workplace Relations Commission, wrapped up the agreement last November. However, the controversy over the deal erupted last week after reports that the Sisters of Charity, which owes 3m to the States redress scheme for abuse victims, was being gifted a 300m hospital.

Peter Boylan, a former master of the National Maternity Hospital, has argued that the hospital will be subject to Catholic influence if it is owned by a religious order, and has cautioned against handing it over to the nuns.

Dr Mahony responded that agreement between the two hospitals ensured clinical and operational independence and that ownership was neither here nor there.

The controversy continued yesterday, with calls by Labour TD Alan Kelly for the religious orders land to be bought up by compulsory purchase order.

At a media conference in Kerry yesterday, former health minister Mary Harney questioned why the order wanted to own the hospital.

More than 85,000 people have signed an online petition aimed at stopping the Sisters of Charity from owning the hospital.

In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Mr Mulvey warned that if the agreement to co-locate the hospital did not go ahead it could take years to find another suitable site and women and children would lose out.

He said the debate had been all about what I believe are circumstances that may not arise. There are reserved powers that clearly protect the ethos of the National Maternity Hospital going into the St Vincents campus and that is going to be legally guaranteed.

Mr Mulvey delivered a veiled dig at politicians, such as Mr Kelly, who have called on the State to use compulsory purchase powers to buy the land from the religious order.

To be talking about compulsory purchase and to be calling for other issues is really losing the point here, he said.

I think there are constitutional issues that arise here that could get us into a court of law very quickly, and by the time we get out of the court of law, we will lose another two to three years and we will be looking at the childrens hospital saga all over again.I am not making any judgment call on what has been said. But I believe what has been lost in all of the argument, the rhetoric and the statements, is the actual improvement in womens health which will derive from this development. What perturbs me is nobody is talking about that.

According to informed sources, St Vincents Healthcare Group executives were annoyed at Mr Harriss reference to asking the Health Service Executive to review the agreement that the two voluntary hospitals had already reached.

Mr Mulvey said: I would say it is time for cool reasoning and cool heads and less of the megaphone politics going on at the moment.

The core of this is the health of women and the care of women and their new born infants in proper medical facilities where they have access to the best medical facilities they can get.
The position of the new National Maternity Hospital on the St Vincent's campus

The board of St Vincents hospital, which is to be the site of the new national maternity hospital, has today again hit out at what it calls misinformation and untruthful allegations.

It said "any medical procedure which is in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Ireland will be carried out at the new hospital.

The St Vincents Healthcare Group said it was responding to comments made by Dr Peter Boylan, the retired master of the national maternity hospital in Holles St, about his concerns that certain services will not be available at the new facility due to Catholic ethos.

The Sisters of Charity who control the St Vincents board will own the new maternity hospital.

James Menton, chairman of St Vincents , said it feels compelled to respond to the continued misinformation and untruthful allegations being made by him (Dr Boylan) concerning the medical care which will be available to women attending the new maternity hospital at Elm Park."

He said the primary concern of the Board of Directors of SVHG and of the Chartered Trust of the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) is the delivery of a modern maternity and neonatal service that is women and infant centred and which is safe and world class.

Expand Close The current National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street. Photo Damien Eagers / Irish Independent / Facebook

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The National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park, DAC, will deliver such a facility for the women of Ireland.

The clinical independence of the hospital will be enshrined in the Memorandum and Articles of the new hospital, as agreed by both SVHG and NMH in the agreement mediated by Kieran Mulvey.

He added that the the autonomy of the Board of the National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park DAC in specific clinical and operational matters will be further enhanced through reserved powers.

He referred to provisions in the Memorandum and Articles of Association for agreed exclusive Reserve Powers to be provided to the Board.

These powers will ensure there will be clinical and operational independence in the provision of maternity, gynaecology, obstetrics and neonatal services (without religious, ethnic or other distinction) in the hospital at Elm Park, Dublin and the provision of medical, surgical, nursing, midwifery and other health services at Elm Park, Dublin, including strategic planning in relation to the development of such services in the future in accordance with best practice.

Continuing to suggest that procedures currently undertaken at NMH will not be available in the new maternity hospital is entirely false and without foundation.

In line with current policy and procedures any medical procedure which is in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Ireland will be carried out at the new hospital.

The Minister for Health, Simon Harris, welcomed the confirmation by the Board of St Vincents Healthcare Group that any medical procedure which is in accordance with the laws of this State will be carried out at the new hospital.

He said that he and his officials will arrange meetings with the two hospitals shortly.

In a statement, Mr Harris also repeated his request that some time be allowed for the detailed work that is necessary.
An Irish woman whose son punched a shark after it attacked his wife has hailed him as a 'hero'.

Frankie Gonsalves was snorkeling along the coast of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic on Saturday when a shark bit her foot and calf.

Her husband Dean punched it repeatedly in the head until she managed to escape.

The couple, who have two children, were just ten yards from shore when the vicious attack happened.

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After being treated at a local hospital, they were then airlifted to the UK.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader on Monday, Anne O'Donoghue said she is "extremely proud" of her son.

Ms O'Donoghue moved to London when she was 21 but is originally from Janesboro, Co Limerick.

"I am just thankful that he saved Frankie," she told the Leader.

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"He would do anything for her. He is very strong and very kind. I couldnt ask for a better son. He is a hero but I was proud of him before he did this. Dean is definitely making the news. It is on all the papers over here," she said.

Ms O'Donoghue said the extent of her daughter-in-law's injuries are unclear, but confirmed she would have to have skin grafts.

Her employers, St Helena Government released a statement saying: "SHG can confirm that a member of staff has been involved in an incident on Ascension Island. The person concerned was swimming near the shore and her injuries were attended to at the George Town Hospital."

Ascension Island's council issued a warning to swimmers after the attack.
Dr Peter Boylan, pictured, did not reply to the text, signed by Dr Rhona Mahony and Nicholas Kearns. Picture: Tom Burke

The outspoken former master of the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street, Dr Peter Boylan, has been asked by text message to resign from the board.

Dr Boylan, who is a strong critic of the decision to allow the Sisters of Charity to own the new 300m national maternity hospital, told the Irish Independent he was asked to resign last Sunday. He said the text was signed by the deputy chairman Nicholas Kearns and the current master of the hospital, Dr Rhona Mahony.

"I got a text on Sunday afternoon from Mr Kearns and the Master of the Rotunda," he said. "It is shooting the messenger to ask me to resign. Telling me 'you are out' is not going to advance the hospital."

Dr Boylan, who is a brother-in-law of Dr Mahony, retired as an obstetrician last year. He said that it is important to have a board with "diverse opinions".
Up to 60 cars in a Dublin housing estate have been vandalised in an attack in which the words 'GOD' and 'ISIS' were scraped into the paintwork and thousand of euro worth of damage caused.

Gardai at Blanchardstown are investigating the criminal damage incidents to vehicles which occurred in the Castleknock Park area of Dublin between 11pm on Monday night and 7am on Tuesday morning.

Residents are shocked at the level of the mindless vandalism involved.

Many of the cars were targeted in the driveways of the owners, and had deep scrapes inflicted on many panels.

"It will cost around 300 per panel to get this fixed. It is disgusting," said one angry resident.

The cars were targeted randomly throughout the settled and mature estate in Castleknock.

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Other messages scrapped into the cars included the words, 'kill your famly', spelled wrongly in each case.

"It is disturbing to think that someone could do such a thing. We work hard to pay for our property and then this happens," said another resident.

Gardai are perplexed by the incident and local investigators say they have never seen such a level of brazen and sustained vandalism before.

Garda are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed anything suspicious or anyone who may have CCTV or dash cameras to contact Blanchardstown Garda Station on 01-6667000, The Garda Confidential Line on 1800-666-111 or any Garda Station.
A grieving father says he was "horrified" that a hospital did a review into his daughter's death without informing him or his wife.

Warren Reilly said he believes Portiuncula Hospital in Galway didn't tell himself or his wife Lorraine about the probe into baby Amber's death because they were afraid the family would sue.

The Reilly's daughters Asha and Amber were born in Portiuncula Maternity unit in 2008 and 2010.

Asha was stillborn at 30 weeks and Amber survived for a week before passing away at Holles' Street Hospital.

They are among 18 families whose baby deaths at the maternity unit were examined, it was found that in Asha's case there was a failure to recognise the signs of placental abruption and intervene to save her.

It was also determined that in Amber's case there was a failure to identify and respond to abnormal CGT tracings and to follow the guidelines in place for the management of a vaginal birth after a caesarean section.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast today, Warren said: "In 2008 at 30 weeks pregnancy Lorraine presented to Portiuncula Hospital, early enough that something could have been done for her, but she suffered a massive placental abruption which went undiagnosed despite presenting hours before there was any danger to herself or Asha.

"In 2010 Amber was at 40 weeks, full term, Lorraine had a normal labour but it didn't progress as we would have hoped and a mistake was made in how to handle Lorraine that day, there was no consultant called in and unfortunately those mistakes resulted in Amber passing away."

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A review took place into Amber's death in 2011 but Warren and Lorraine were not informed.

Warren, who is from Loughrea in Co Galway, said: "We only found out that review had been conducted in February 2015 when we followed up with Portiuncula about the review into a number of cases...

"We were horrified to think that this service would go ahead and do this review without even informing the families or looking for their participation and their input.

"Otherwise obviously all they can go on is staff input and medical notes, which doesn't give a full story of what happened to a family."

He continued to say: "Recently as part of looking into our own cases we did a Freedom of Information request into a number of emails and correspondence that went on in the hospital in 2011 and again when we were in touch with the hospital group in 2015, it was those emails that showed us they didn't want to do the review into Amber's care initially and only did so because they were afraid we were contemplating litigation.

"Initially we had no interest in doing so, we just wanted to know the review practises and that any potential mistakes had been learned from and that is still our focus today."

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He also urged all medics to think of how their actions can have devastating consequences for families.

Mr Reilly said: "It's deeply upsetting that any family would have to push to find out any information like that but we believe the important thing now is that staff and administrators anywhere within the HSE realise the decisions they make affect real people.

"They have to step up to the mark and make sure that when they are considering anything within their roles they will consider the real people and they realise these things have real consequences for real people and real families.

"I believe there are people within the hospital doing a great job but overall the culture has to change."

He said that the family are coming to terms with their loss and they just hope it will prevent more tragedies.

Warren said: "We're doing good all things considered, it's been a very stressful time, particularly the last two years going through the review process but you just have to hope that all the effort you're putting in to highlight these things will be heard and they will actually make changes."

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An external review of standards of care in the Galway unit is set to be published in the coming weeks.

In a statement the HSE Saolta Health Care Group  which has responsibility for Portiuncula Hospital  say they have written to Lorraine and Warren Reilly "... to apologise unreservedly and fully for the failures of care delivered to Lorraine that contributed to the likely preventable deaths of Asha and Amber."

They also state that the Reillys "...should have been previously informed..." about the 2011 review and they should have been "... given the opportunity to be involved."
The baby otters were born at Dingle Oceanworld at the beginning of April

Meet the adorable latest additions at one of Ireland's leading aquariums.

Dingle Oceanworld in Co Kerry welcomed five baby otter pups at the start of April and posted the first picture of them on Facebook today.

The litter of Asian Short Claw pups are new arrivals for mum and dad Wade and Mekong, who only moved from the Ellesmere Port Aquarium and Chessington Zoo in the UK to Dingle last year.

The cute brood also includes siblings Harry and Moana.

Dingle Oceanworld shared the happy news and gave an insight into what we can expect for the first few weeks of the otters' lives.

A spokesperson said: "Come and see our baby otters before they see you!

"The pups are very dependent on Mum and Dad and they will have only fully opened their eyes by about 40 days old!

"It is at this age that they will start moving around. However, it may take them as long as three months to start swimming as they are actually born scared of the water!"

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The aquarium team also revealed on the website that Asian small-clawed otters are listed as a vulnerable species and many otter species are endangered.

They said: "The Asian Short Claw Otter worldwide population is in as much trouble as the red panda.

"Asian small-clawed otters are threatened by rapid habitat destruction and pollution.

"They also may be sold as pets in some countries, considered pests by rice farmers, trained by fishermen to drive fish into nets, or hunted for their pelts, meat and organs for medicine."
Picture shown to delegates at the GRA Conference by delegate Ger Comerford

This horrific injury was suffered by an unarmed garda when he was grappled to the ground while trying to arrest a crime suspect.

The garda received 22 staples in the elbow wound and was out of work for five months.

The photograph of the injury was displayed today during a debate on assaults on members of the force at the annual conference of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) in Galway.

Kilkenny delegate Ger Comerford produced the photograph of his unnamed colleague, who was assaulted in 2013.

Mr Comerford said the garda suffered a shattered cartilage in his elbow after hitting the pavement when he was pulled down by the suspect trying to evade arrest.

The suspect was later convicted of a charge of assault causing harm.

The association want the legislation changed to create a specific charge of assault on a garda, or any other frontline emergency worker with a minimum mandatory sentence of at least a year.

Central executive member, James Morrisroe, of Cavan-Monaghan division, said they were not trying to "tie the hands" of the judiciary but believed that an assault on a garda should carry a jail sentence on conviction.

At the moment, he said, most assaults were dealt with by the courts through a suspended sentence or a fine.

He said he had been assaulted five or six times during 21 years in the force.

He also called for other deterrents and said that while Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan suggested the garda force was ten years behind with the latest technological aids, he believed the time lag was more like 30 years.

Donegal delegate Louis Browne told the conference how he had served nine months duty with an United Nations peace force in Bosnia in 2002 when the country was torn apart by internal strife but he had not encountered any assaults.

However, within 16 months of returning to work as a garda in Donegal town he had suffered two serious assaults and in one incident received a badly gashed head and had to get eleven stitches for injuries to his fingers in an attack.

He believed he had been assaulted simply because he was a garda.
A referendum offering abortion on demand as proposed by the Citizens' Assembly is "highly unlikely" to occur, Government sources admit.

While ministers are talking up the possibility of a vote next year, privately there is a belief the Assembly will deliver an unachievable report. Fianna Fail is also sceptical the Dail would back the idea of asking voters whether they want abortions to be widely accessible.

The party's health spokesman, Billy Kelleher, said the Assembly provided a "roadmap" for politicians, but "there are several roads".

He suggested legalising abortions on "socio-economic grounds" as recommended "would be difficult" given the make-up of the Dail.

There was an expectation in Government circles that the Assembly would vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which gives equal rights to a mother and her unborn child. But few predicted the 100 members to go much further than allowing terminations in the cases of rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormalities.

Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald, who would be in the liberal wing of Fine Gael, described the actual outcome as "very interesting".

"I think it deserves very serious consideration," she said. "My own view has always been that the Constitution is not the place to deal with this very complex issue, the best place is between a woman and her doctors, but of course you also have to have an appropriate legislative basis."

However, others within her party will stringently oppose the idea abortions should be available without restrictions. Leadership frontrunner Leo Varadkar previously described himself as "pro-life" and said he opposes abortion on demand.

Yesterday he said: "I think it is essential the debate ahead is conducted in a manner respectful of different points of view. Over the next few months, the all-party Oireachtas committee will consider the Assembly's advice and refine it into a proposal that can be put to the people. I believe once this has been done, a final proposal should be put in a referendum in 2018 so the people can have their say."

Fine Gael has still to nominate its four TDs and one senator to the Oireachtas committee which will consider the matter, but names in the mix include Kate O'Connell, Bernard Durkan, Jerry Buttimer and Catherine Noone.

Fianna Fail has already selected Lisa Chambers, Anne Rabbitte and James Brown, alongside Mr Kelleher. Ms Chambers, who favours repeal, said the Assembly had a "difficult job" and she believes its report should have a "strong bearing" on the work of the Oireachats commitee.

But others in the party are steadfast in their view that the Eighth Amendment should be retained in full. Fellow first-time TD Margaret Murphy O'Mahony previous said it would probably be a red-line issue for her because "no doctor" could predict how long a baby will live outside the womb.

The fact TDs in the two main parties can't even find a middle-ground shows why a workable compromise within three months is expecting a lot from the new committee.

And that's before you mix in groups like People Before Profit, which sees no room for compromise.

Brid Smith reacted to the Assembly vote, saying: "The logic of what the Citizens' Assembly has said about abortion rights for women is that there should be no replacement clause in the Constitution and that the Eighth Amendment should simply be repealed."

In truth it voted by 57pc that it should be replaced "with a constitutional provision that explicitly authorises the Oireachtas to legislate to address termination of pregnancy, any rights of the unborn, and any rights of the woman".

Fianna Fail is unlikely to want to battle an election where the question of the Eighth Amendment looms large. In reality, the shaky numbers in Leinster House mean it may have no choice.

The Citizens' Assembly delivered a result that drew celebrations from the pro-choice movement. Yet by trying to take one giant leap for Irish society rather than an incremental step, the Assembly may have created a challenge too great for the political class.

What happens next?

The Citizens' Assembly has completed its five weekends of meetings to consider the Eighth Amendment on abortion.

Its chairperson, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, is now beginning the process of drafting its report.

The results of last weekend's votes will be the most significant content of the report, which is to be finished by the end of June at the latest. Once it's finalised the report will be presented to the Oireachtas.

Meanwhile, political parties are currently considering which TDs and senators will sit on a special Oireachtas committee that will debate the Assembly's recommendations.

It in turn will produce its own report for the Dail, a process that may take some months if the recent experience of the committee on the future of funding water is anything to go by. There have already been suggestions that a three-month deadline would be too short given the complexity of the abortion issue.

It will be up to the Dail and the Government to recommend any constitutional change that will require a referendum.

A referendum on abortion is likely to take place next year.
The country must not be "bankrupted" by the public sector pay bill, Simon Coveney has warned.

Mr Coveney said that while the Government will try to be generous in the looming pay talks with public sector unions, it must "ensure that we don't expose the State to a bill that we can't afford".

He added: "That happened before and the county was almost bankrupted as a result".

Mr Coveney's remarks came as it emerged that the Government wants to cut the 3.3bn cost of public sector pensions, a move that may put it on collision course with unions.

It is also reportedly set to offer workers a 6pc pay rise over three years.

The Public Sector Pay Commission (PSPC) is to publish its report on pay levels in the public sector within weeks.

Talks on a successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement will begin after that.

Mr Coveney said there should be "appropriate recognition" of what workers in the public sector have been through since their pay was cut as an emergency measure during the economic crisis. But he said unwinding these measures must be done "in a way that is affordable for the state".

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Meanwhile, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said that public service pensions will be considered as part of the public pay negotiations. "Pensions are now seen as an integral part of a pay package, so it's not that pensions are being put on the table, they're on the table all the time," he said.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said he wants the Government's strategy for the pay talks to be "affordable to the State" and "fair to everybody".

It was reported that the Government's submission to the PSPC urges the Commission to reflect the cost of State contributions to its workers' pensions in comparison to the costs in the private sector.

The State's contribution for public sector workers who were appointed prior to 2013 is an average of 29pc of pensionable salary. The equivalent figure in the private sector is 11pc.

The Government's submission to the PSPC reportedly suggests that this could be reduced to 25pc if pension increases are linked to the consumer price index.

Just last week the general secretary of the Public Service Executive Union (PSEU), Tom Geraghty, warned there "will be no concessions that disimprove pension entitlements".

Last night, Civil Public & Services Union (CPSU), general secretary Eoin Ronayne - who represents those paid less than 38,000 - warned his organisation will resist moves to cut the State contribution to their pensions.

"We think lower-paid workers already significantly contribute to their meagre pension... [we] will resist any suggestion that lower paid workers pay more," he said.

In a statement, the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants (AHCPS) highlighted pay cuts their members have sustained. It said public sector pensions have undergone reform and AHCPS members have been subject to the pension levy.

Mr Donohoe's spokeswoman said the value of public service pensions is "an important component" of the overall pay packages of public servants." She said the submission to the PSPC recognises that the majority of public servants are making contributions to their pensions and most are subject to the pension levy. She added that the introduction of a different pension scheme in 2013 for new entrants to the public service will in time reduce the cost to the State.
The news that Terry Jones has dementia is very sad. He, along with the other Pythons, has become a household name - at least for those of us over the age of 50.

His part as the mother of Brian in Life of Brian will be amusingly remembered. Now the news that he cannot speak any more must be heartbreaking and frustrating for a man who lived by the spoken word, by quips and by wit. And now he is silent.

The news of this broke when his family arranged an interview to publicise the condition of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) from which he suffers, and about which the public know very little. His long-standing buddy Michael Palin was also interviewed.

Most people associate dementia with Alzheimer's disease and while it is the most common, FTD is often a missed diagnosis as it is not thought about.

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In the US, about 60,000 are diagnosed with it every year. It is a condition that effects a somewhat younger age group than Alzheimer's, most commonly in their Fifties and Sixties. FTD is an umbrella term for those who lose the functioning in the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain, and the specific symptoms can vary with the exact part that is affected. These particular areas of the brain are large, located in the front and side of that organ, and are concerned with behaviour, language and personality. There is shrinkage of the lobes due to damage to certain groups of neurones.

Previously it was called Pick's disease, after Arnold Pick, a psychiatrist from Prague who discovered it in 1892 when he retrospectively examined the brain tissue of several deceased patients who had dementia. He identified a protein mass in the neurones which have become known as Pick bodies and characterise the disease when examined under a microscope.

Now, Pick's disease is used to depict a specific constellation of symptoms in the broader frontotemporal group.

Some people with FTD undergo dramatic changes in their personality and become socially inappropriate, impulsive or emotionally indifferent, while others lose the ability to use language, as Jones has. Some cannot find words for common objects, referring to "it" or "the thing" while others speak in a robotic, telegrammatic style.

Those who were once kind and loving become indifferent to the feelings of their loved ones. One of the FTD websites describes a man with the condition who telephoned his wife while in hospital undergoing chemotherapy and demanded that she come hope to cook for him. He had previously been a most caring, gentle and considerate man. People who abhorred coarse language may suddenly start telling risque jokes or dressing inappropriately. Compulsive buying (oniomania) is another feature as is restlessness and lack of motivation. Compulsive overeating occurs in the later stages.

While sufferers experience difficulties performing complex behavioural tasks, memory for past events, known as episodic memory, is generally maintained at least until the late stages of the disease. So, unlike Alzheimer's disease, recognition of people is maintained in FTD.

When it presents initially, the changes are often mistaken for psychiatric illness such as hypomania (because of the disinhibition and compulsive buying), schizophrenia (because of the change in how language is used), or depressive illness (because of agitation and poor motivation). There may be a genetic component, although there is debate about this and it applies to all the subtypes.

What is sadly lacking are specific treatments - and some of the memory-enhancing agents used to help those with Alzheimer's dementia simply do not work in frontotemporal dementia as these target neurochemicals not affected in the latter.

SSRI antidepressants are used to treat the impulsivity, aggression and overeating. Practical measures to ensure that the home is made safe so as to minimise impulsive wandering and reduce the risk of dangerous behaviour is a priority.

It goes without saying that driving is unsafe. Antipsychotic agents, sometimes used to reduce the risk of wandering in elderly people, especially in nursing homes, should not be used as they may worsen the tremor and stiffness that some experience.

Jones has brought much joy to millions of people and his illness is a huge burden for him and for his family to bear. He and his family should be in our thoughts and in our prayers. Yet he has not lost his wit despite his suffering. He showed remarkable humour and incisiveness when first diagnosed, and he'd tell people: "I've got dementia. My frontal lobe has absconded."
How many words have you handwritten, rather than typed, in the last week? What about the last month? While it's a fact that some of us now go for weeks or months without ever holding a pen or pencil, what's less well known are the cognitive effects caused by the demise of handwriting since the onslaught of email and texting in the late 90's.

Since its likely invention in Mesopotamia around 4000 BC and the creation of paper in China in the 2nd century BC, to the proliferation of the ballpoint pen in the 1940s and the steady decline of the cursive (or joined-up) style thereafter, handwriting has gone through many transformations and upheavals over the last six millennia.

"Your ability to read is intrinsically related to your ability to write. There's a symbiotic relationship between these different functions," says Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Leeds, Mark Mon-Williams.

"When you write a particular letter, the shape of that letter will actually feed into the next letter you prepare to write, so it's more likely you remember a motor pattern. This type of physical, spatial association is less pronounced on a typewriter. So the process of actually writing words seems to be intrinsically linked with how we represent words.

"Cognitive skills have traditionally been thought of as an output of the body but, increasingly, what we have realised over the last couple of decades is that, unsurprisingly, these things are completely intertwined: our cognitive abilities are part-and-parcel of our abilities to interact with our environment," says Mon-Williams.

And this is where the psychological process of visual-motor memory (i.e. the memory of a visual pattern and how to regurgitate it via the motor system) leaves typing, neurologically-speaking, in the Dark Ages. From Palaeolithic cave painting through to the hieroglyphic and modern graffiti, visual-motor memory is understood to have presented humankind with an evolutionary advantage that is hoped will remain for at least centuries to come.

However, while the ability to produce and interpret written symbols is a crucial part of every child's development, a lack of handwriting exposure and practice could have far-reaching consequences.

In essence, tapping on a keyboard - from a mobile phone to a desktop computer - does not help children learn how to generate motor commands that result in the hand producing a graphical representation of a memorised shape. And adults, once so schooled and steeped in the mores of handwriting, also have much to gain by staying engaged with the pen.

"We know of the term, 'use it or lose it,' and we know that as people get older it's important they keep their skill base going," says Mon-Williams. "A lot of the evidence suggests that this physical enactment of writing helps your cognitive functions. So I'd say definitely keep that skill going, especially as you get older."

The National Handwriting Association in the UK was established to raise awareness of handwriting as a crucial component of literacy, as well as to foster good practice in its teaching. Chair of the Association, Dr. Angela Webb, spent 12 years as a primary school teacher before becoming a psychologist specialising in the learning needs of children with poor motor co-ordination.

"The evidence for the cognitive benefits for children in learning to handwrite is growing," says Webb, who cites numerous reputable studies over the last two decades that closely link handwriting with progress in reading, spelling, long-term recall, fact retention (in areas of maths) and in producing high-quality written composition.

"Because of the nature of the impact, it is likely that these benefits continue into adulthood. However, despite the anecdotal evidence provided by authors that most prefer to use handwriting for stimulating creative thought, there is little research on this to date."

Until recently, possible links between handwriting and reading were unclear at best, but since 2014 FMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) studies in the US have suggested that in the early stages of learning to read, brain activation during letter perception is influenced by numerous factors.

"The findings demonstrate that when individual letters are handwritten, there is early recruitment in the processing of brain regions known to underlie successful reading," says Webb.

In fact, published studies have established that the retention of content is enhanced through the process of writing, rather than typing.

"The motor, or kinaesthetic, memory is known to be powerful and can endure where other memory systems fail," says Webb. "But there is some compelling evidence that long-term memory is enhanced through using the handwritten mode.

"Three studies have found that students who took notes on laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than students who took notes by pen.

"They show that laptop note takers tended to transcribe lectures verbatim rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words."

However while both involve the processing of language through a motor delivery of the script, the linguistic processes required for handwriting and keyboarding (e.g. generating words, and retrieving knowledge from long-term memory) lean on orthographic coding and rapid automatised naming.

"However, the two modes have also been found to tap into different areas of processing, unique to each," says Webb.

"For example, the motor simplicity of producing a letter with the simple movement of pressing a key on a keyboard compared with the complexity of conceiving and producing a handwritten letter means that one requires a more complex set of sub-skills than the other."

As for the future of handwriting, it appears if it is to regain anything close to its 20th Century status, then an emphasis must be placed on young people and adults to be able to handwrite legibly and fast enough for the task in hand.

"It is a common misconception that cursive, or joined, handwriting is more effective in achieving these goals, but there is no research to support this," says Webb, who adds that research into learning of letter forms suggests there is greater benefit when the letters are un-joined.

"A recent study found what is often reported by professionals: that young people who have been taught to write in joined-up handwriting may revert to un-joined script as they mature as it is faster and a more accurate and efficient way of writing for them, especially when under time pressure."
Divorce becomes legal, The English Patient is best picture and the Pokemon craze finally makes life worth living. Princess Diana dies, Mary McAleese is elected, Steve Jobs re-joins Apple and South Park makes its debut.

With all this going on, it would be easy to forget that 1997 was a vintage year to be in the market for a new car. Toyota's first Avensis premiered alongside the Citroen Xsara, Mercedes' clever if troubled A-Class, the original Land Rover Freelander and Ford's universally admired Puma. Meanwhile, budget-conscious motorists began to get their tongues around how to pronounce Daewoo properly. Despite all of this, there was one car that got everyone's attention when it debuted at that year's Frankfurt Motorshow. Alfa Romeo's new dawn, the 156, was not an especially innovative car. It was not a car entering a market that was crying out for new models either, as Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Saab and Audi clamoured for the attention of the aspirational.

But it was a pretty car, it was not German or Swedish and it would go on to be one of Alfa's most successful premium models ever. In another 20 years, when these things are being restored and dragged out of barns and garages, we who are old enough will look back on the 156 and go "I remember those... very late Nineties".

Styled by Walter de Silva, an Italian car designer whose work at Fiat would see him poached by the Volkswagen Group, the 156 was an in-house Alfa design and sat on a compact, front-wheel-drive platform. Power came from a range of Alfa's acclaimed Twin-Spark four-cylinder range in 1.8 and 2-litre guises. These were powerful little engines - the 1.8 churned out 144 fizzy horsepower - and were supplemented shortly after launch with a 120hp 1.6. The 156 would go onto have a bewildering array of engine and transmission options but it is in Twin-Spark manual form that most owners experienced it. Journalists were suitably impressed with the Alfa's road manners, performance and looks to award it the 1998 European Car of the Year gong, the only Alfa to win.

Buoyed by critical and sales success, Alfa Romeo set to work expanding the range in an effort to finally beat the Swedes and Germans at their own game. The 190bhp 2.5-litre V6 was fast and fun even if it ate tyres and was a perennial theft magnet, while the Selespeed semi-automatic transmission was an early and only semi- successful attempt at what Mr Clarkson would call a "flappy- paddle gearbox". Bizarrely, Alfa Romeo came over all practical and introduced a vaguely useful but very handsome estate version, dubbed the Sportwagon, in 1999, while even more practicality ensued with the shock introduction of a diesel version. Alfa Romeo had made diesel cars before, but this time around it was a diesel you might actually want to buy, with 2.4 litres and 136bhp, later climbing to 150bhp.

Customers flocked into Alfa showrooms. Not only was the 156 pretty but it was well equipped and good value compared to the increasingly pricey-looking opposition. The hidden rear door handle is a feature widely copied today - just look at the current Renault Clio or the new Nissan Micra. The offset number plate is still seen at the front of all Alfa Romeo models, as is the cowl over the instrument panel and the long, slim taillights.

But by the new millennium it was becoming apparent that looks alone would not sustain the fairest of them all, so the 156 started to innovate. The 2002 2-litre JTS replaced the Twin-Spark system with a more efficient direct-injection system, a move that boosted power to a healthy 165bhp while also improving emissions and fuel economy. That year also saw the 3.2-litre GTA - a V6-powered 250bhp invitation to chat to your local judge. On a more practical front, a 115bhp 1.9 diesel came along in 2003 as people come round to the idea of a diesel- powered premium car.

A Giugiaro design update for the 156 was introduced in 2003. While changing the 156 might have seemed as pointless as giving Natalie Portman a facelift, the result was a success and the 156 retained its looks and its following even if, sadly, the 2.5 V6 got the boot later that same year.

The 156 bowed out in 2005, although a bizarre European four-wheel-drive variant carried on for a bit longer, replaced by the 159 that was less charismatic, less popular but a much more reliable and better-built car.

Subjectively, the 156 has its flaws. The Twin-Spark engines were not especially economical, while bits of trim got buzzy and the odd button stopped working. The V6 Busso engine guzzled petrol and oil and demolished the tyres of anything it was attached to, while the 2.4 diesel was known to bottom its sump off speed ramps. That said, it was handsome enough to forgive it anything and entertaining enough to help you forget. I wonder will the new Giulia evoke memories like that in 2037?
City of lights: Amsterdams canal district comes into its own at night SERGEY BORISOV

So we're standing in Amsterdam's De Pijp district, munching on macaroons. Hers is salted caramel. Mine is mango. Both are dangerously delicious.

"Why do ours never look like that?" my wife asks. Patrick van Drie smiles. He's the man behind the macaroons, a former art director who packed it all in to make these meringue-like confections. His shop is called Poptasi (poptasi.com), after his street art pseudonym. "They're a ruthless cookie," he grins. There's more to Amsterdam than red lights and Rembrandt, it seems ...

What's the best way to get around?

You can't avoid bikes in Amsterdam  the city ranks as the most cycle-friendly on earth, and shoals of cyclists whizz past at every junction. So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. We rented from Green Budget Bikes (greenbudgetbikes.nl; 12 for 24 hours), going Dutch with tall-handled, single-geared city bikes. Amsterdam is a flat city, so you can cover lots of ground with relatively little effort. Bike theft is a problem, however  so lock up.

What are the must-see sites?

Amsterdam boasts at least two of the world's greatest art galleries  the Van Gogh Museum (vangoghmuseum.nl; 15pp) and the Rijksmuseum (rijksmuseum.nl; 15pp).

It also boasts two of the world's greatest entrance queues, of course  so do yourself a favour and book tickets online, as well as avoiding peak hours. You'll be glad you did.

The Van Gogh Museum is a fabulous, trippy treat  with sunflowers and starry nights unfolding in all of their vibrant, swirling glory. As with the Dutch Masters at the Rijksmuseum, no amount of crowds or flashing cameras can spoil the thrill.

What about the red lights and reefers, then?

Amsterdam's attitude towards prostitution and soft drugs can be summed up in one word: tolerance. Canals around the old centre are dotted with red lights, sex stores and coffee shops, and tourists pour down De Wallen's alleyways on weekends.

It's a weird mix. We see shops selling cannabis lollipops, stag parties daring each other to approach the girls, and gabled houses in which residents sit watching TV.

It's changed a lot since my first visit. Several windows previously used by sex workers have even been turned into shops and galleries. But you don't have to scratch far beneath the surface, of course, to start the conversations on sex trafficking and organised crime. It's worth seeing, in other words, but forget about a family visit.

Anywhere cool for shopping?

Absolutely. Skip Dam Square and head straight for the Nine Streets (theninestreets.com) a brilliantly browse-worthy quarter in the canal district. You'll find funky cafes, restaurants, boutiques, bookshops, antiques, pubs and even vintage Louis Vuitton luggage nestled together in a free-spirited, creative quarter that just keeps on giving.

Any gripes?

Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum and Stedelijk (stedelijk.nl) re-opened after massive renovations last year, but the North-South metro remains a work in progress. Expect lots of construction hoardings, and canals that can be surprisingly stinky in parts.

The know how

What's the food like?

There are lots of buzzy restaurants in areas such as the Nine Streets and De Pijp. I'd recommend skipping the steakhouses and shooting for an Indonesian like Tempo Doeloe(tempodoeloerestaurant.nl). And do not leave Amsterdam without wrapping your fist around a large cone of Vlaamse Frites (Flemish fries).

Where should I check in?

I discovered Hotel V Nesplein (Nes 49, hotelv.nl) by accident, stepping into its sweet little bar and restaurant one Sunday and finding rooms from 225. Miauw Suites (miauw.com) offers four contemporary suites at the heart of the Nine Streets district, so you can live like a local. Rooms from 145.

How do I get there?

Aer Lingus flies direct to Amsterdam from both Dublin and Cork. Flight and hotel packages are widely available from Irish operators such as lastminute.com, Cassidy Travel (cassidytravel.ie), ebookers.ie, clickandgo.com and others.
Amsterdam is built on an intricate system of canals, and a canal cruise - or a bike ride - is a great way to get an overview of the city's layout

Who ever wrote there are nine million bicycles in Beijing should take a look at Amsterdam; the Dutch city is awash with them.

A great side effect is that it seems cleaner and less frenetic than most cities and in permanent holiday mood. Whether it's anything to do with the lack of traffic, or not, the people seem very jolly. Amsterdam is also extremely pretty. And that's not just because its multitudes of colourful tulips are in bloom at this time of year. Unlike most of its neighbours in Europe, Amsterdam wasn't damaged in World War II and so it still retains the beautiful old buildings, which were built during Holland's heyday in the 17th century, when it was enriched through its tea and coffee plantations and diamond mines in the colonies.

This compact city is built on an intricate system of canals and bridges, and a great way to get a good overview of the layout of the city is to do as we did and take a canal cruise.

As our barge drifted through the calm waters we took in the different areas, some more posh than others, passed the different bridges - 1,500 bridges in total - and enjoyed the different house types lining the canals. The houses are all tall and narrow - apparently the narrower the house the less tax you paid back in the 17th century, something town planners here should think about - and the many different-sized windows, the ornate doorways and the variety of decorative gables and roof shapes, some flat topped, some stepped, some triangular add up to a higgledy piggledy charm.

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Tall, narrow houses are a bit of an emblem for the Dutch and their national airline KLM - who by the way now have four flights daily from Dublin to Amsterdam - give out ceramic houses typical of the country to their business passengers, and villages in Holland vie for their houses to be part of the collection.

Probably the most famous house in Amsterdam is that of Anne Frank; we later visited this poignant landmark where the talented Jewish teenager hid with her family for two years during the Nazi occupation of Holland, from 1942 until they were betrayed and sent to Auschwitz, mere months before the war ended. Only Anne's father Otto survived and when her diary was found he had it published. Their cramped quarters have been sympathetically restored and it's stark in its simplicity.

What little is there is affecting - a tin containing marbles that Anne had given a neighbour the day she went into hiding, her sister Margot's Latin notes and her mother Edith's Jewish prayer book. All the detritus of ordinary lives going on as if nothing earth-shattering was happening outside. Yet they were all too painfully aware - a diary entry mentions the simple fact that they couldn't flush the toilet during the day as it might be heard. One particularly plaintive entry printed on the walls resonates to this day.

''One day this terrible war will be over, the time will come when we will be people again and not just Jews. We can never be just Dutch or Englishmen, we will always be Jews, but by then we will want to be.''

To stroll through the streets is, of course, a must. We ambled through the Negen Straatjes - a little network of nine narrow streets - and enjoyed the many unusual shops, selling designer clothes, jewellery and artefacts. Tulip stalls abound at this time of year, of course. And not only are there tons of cheese shops - the Dutch love their Gouda - we even came across a cheese museum.

Of course no visit to Amsterdam is complete without a trip to the Rijks museum. You could spend days here - it boasts 8,000 artistic and historical objects telling the story of Holland from 1200 to the present, but we only had hours so we concentrated on the Gallery of Honour which houses the museum's three Vermeers (Vermeer of the Girl with the Pearl Earring fame) and the museum's pride and joy, Night Watch, by Rembrandt.

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The detail in Nightwatch, considered the artist's masterpiece, is extraordinary, and, available freely in the gallery, are laminated sized-down copies of the painting with interesting explanatory notes, drawing attention to the different features of the painting.

By a happy coincidence we were staying at the luxurious Doelen Hotel in Amsterdam where Rembrandt actually painted Night Watch. A plaque there states that, until 1882, an old watchtower had stood in the spot and was a meeting place for the city soldiers. They asked Rembrandt to paint them and Night Watch was the result. Needless to mention, the hotel is not backward in declaring the connection and has a Rembrandt suite. Hotel Doelen is the oldest in Amsterdam but it's been recently refurbished and the rooms are gorgeous.

It also does a mean breakfast. Freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, pastries, cereals, cold meats, cheeses and eggs every possible way. Pancakes are a thing - there are pancake houses everywhere - so I sampled Dutch pancakes, delicious balls of sweet-tasting lightness.

The locals laughed when we asked about typical Dutch dishes. A bit like the Irish, there's little national cuisine - they mentioned croquettes and Stomp Pot, a potato dish - but our meals, of every type of cuisine were excellent, and at similar prices to here and the restaurants and cafes were all fun, buzzy places. And I'm not even talking about the places where you can get the hash brownies.

Normally, when going for a city break, the last place I want to spend time at is the airport, but Amsterdam's Schiphol is actually a traveller's delight, particularly if you're travelling long haul - KLM have 159 connections from Schiphol to the rest of the world; the chairs in the transfer area are full-length loungers, there's a quiet area with cots for kids and it's a shoppers' heaven.

And, of course, there are hotels. Next year, there will even be a Rijks Museum at the airport. It may seem laughable to suggest but dare I say it - Amsterdam and Schiphol could nearly make a two centre weekend!

Getting there

KLM now offers four daily flights to Amsterdam and the world from Dublin Airport. Economy fares start from 100 return and are inclusive of taxes. To book or for additional information, check klm.com or call the reservation line on (+353) 15251804

The newly decorated NH Collection Amsterdam Doelen Hotel (nh-hotels.com) is one of the Dutch citys oldest and finest five-star hotels and is within walking distance of the main museums, shops and iconic sights. Guests enjoy complimentary gym access and free wifi.

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Would you like to try to help save lives?

The opportunity is here. Blood donation really does save lives. While 1 in 4 people in Ireland will need a blood transfusion at some stage in their lives, only 3% of those eligible to donate right now are active donors.

Every new donor, every new donation, saves lives, is the message from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) who points out that we all have a role to play. They are asking people across Ireland to think about becoming first time blood donors. Those who have donated before are being asked to come back and regularly attend blood donation clinics more often.

Did you know that you are entitled to give blood every 90 days? Why not mark this in your calendar. The average donation per donor in Ireland is 1.18 times in the year and the aim is to now increase this. Interested donors are encouraged to visit the giveblood.ie to check whether they are eligible to give blood and to find out where upcoming clinics are happening.

When you give blood you might be helping your family, your neighbour or even yourself as 1 in 4 of us will need a blood transfusion in their lifetime, says the Irish Blood Transfusion Service.

For many people its something they absolutely believe in and understand it is important - but they just never get round to doing it despite their good intentions. For many others, particularly younger people, it is something that often doesn't register with them and is maybe something older people do  but when they think about it and understand how important it is and how few actually give blood, they become very keen to get involved.

Here are five reasons your blood donation can make a massive change:

1. Blood only lasts 35 days

Giving blood is an act of selfless generosity. Blood only lasts 35 days and is often used within 7 days of collection. IBTS aims to have over 7 days supply at any time but is often operating well below this, particularly for certain blood groups.

2. Blood cannot be made synthetically

Blood is not frozen nor made synthetically. Each unit transfused to a seriously ill patient comes from a donor in Ireland from an act of pure selfless generosity by giving up a few hours of their time every few months to attend a clinic and give blood.

3. You can help fight cancer

67% of donated blood is used in the treatment of cancer (as those undergoing chemo lose the ability to make their own red cells). Most families in Ireland will have been affected by cancer in some way and donating blood can make a massive difference.

4. Its a lifeline in the Emergency Room

We read about accidents and emergencies and often feel powerless but you can make a difference. 27% of donated blood is used in Surgery and Emergency Room situations (a car crash patient can require up to 30 units of blood to save their life).

5. You can help babies and newborns

6% of donated blood is used for newborn and premature babies and childbirth complications. Your donation will provide a vital lifeline for them at the most vulnerable stage in their lives.

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Seven remarkable donors say join in

People in the town of Skerries in North County Dublin have come together in a remarkable way to give blood and save lives. This tightly knit community hosts a clinic four times a year.

Regular donors include Laura Boylan (25) is a firefighter and RNLI volunteer; Taxi driver John Spencer, who is a father of six and like his father before him, now donates blood and has been a regular donor since the age of 18 and encourages others to join in.

Aga Daly, originally from Poland, a member of the local theatre group donates for others and for her son as youll never know if you will need blood. Tom Mulvany is one of the youngest donors at only 19. He is an engineering student and keen rugby and GAA player. His parents were his inspiration for donating as they also donate. He is a neonatal donor as his blood is suitable for newborn or premature babies.

Family man Conor Nally, who is in his 50s, came to blood donation later in life after finishing playing rugby. He is very active in his local community and said: I am really really keen to recruit other donors.

Mother and daughter Grainne and Sarah, a teacher and student teacher, in addition to having their career in common both also donate. We want to spread the word and get more people to try blood donation for the first time and give it a go.

Every new donor, every new donation, saves lives  find out more here. Every one counts.

See the website to check your eligibility and find a clinic near you.

Also contact the donor line 1850 731137 if you want more information.

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Yes, it's nearly May and it's almost four degrees outside: but just because the weather hasn't caught up to our wardrobe fantasies doesn't mean you can't fake it with your makeup.

Here's 10 of the best tried and tested products to help you glow get 'em.

Betty LouManizer by The Balm

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This modern cult classic not only gives you an iridescent glow, but bronzes as well. In short, I'm obsessed and don't know how I didn't find it sooner. 20.50 at Debenhams nationwide.

Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighter by Becca

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Australian cosmetics brand BECCA are synonymous with second-to-none highlighters but the product that packs the most punch is the Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighter. Available for 38 at Space NK on Dublin's Grafton Street or beccacosmetics.com - if you can get it before it sells out.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish

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For a more subtle glow, try MAC's mineralize range in bestseller Soft n' Gentle, favoured by celebrities in Ireland and abroad. 31.50 at MAC counters nationwide.

MAC Lustre Drops

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While we're here, let's not forget one of the originals - a highlighting and illuminating post- powder addition to your makeup routine. Just the tiniest drop will mimic the effects of a fresh-from-holidays glow. 26 at MAC counters nationwide.

Naked Flushed by Urban Decay

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This bronzer-highlighter-blush combo is bargain when you consider you're getting three products in one from one of the best makeup brands around. 31 at Debenhams or urbandecay.com.

Lancome Energie de Vie

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This moisturising range will help you glow from the inside and like most from this French brand, actually lives up to its hype. The Liquid Moisturiser (55) is the most popular but if you really want to up your game, try the Sleeping Mask (55) at Lancome counters nationwide.

Copacabana Illuminator by NARS

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For a more natural looking highlight, this super sheer illuminating liquid will have you glowing with a drop the size of a pea. 33 at Brown Thomas.

Veil Mineral Primer by Hourglass

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Hourglass' offerings aren't restricted to its must-have Ambient Light blush, but its primer is the perfect base for your beauty routine, no matter your skin type. Available at Harvey Nichols, Dundrum Town Centre.

The Tools

Fan brush by NYX Professional

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21 at Boots

The Angled Brush by Powder n' Pout

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14 at powdernpout.com
A portrait of slain police officer Xavier Jugele is pictured at the Paris Police headquarters (AP)

The coffin of slain police officer Xavier Jugele is carried in the courtyard of the Paris Police headquarters (AP)

France's top officials have joined presidential candidates at a national ceremony held in honour of the police officer killed by an Islamic extremist on the Champs-Elysees.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, who will contest the May 7 presidential run-off, were present at the ceremony for Xavier Jugele at the Paris police headquarters.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and former president Nicolas Sarkozy also paid their respects to Mr Jugele.

French president Francois Hollande hailed the 37-year-old officer, who was killed last week when an assailant opened fire with an assault rifle on a police van parked on the most famous avenue in the French capital. Two other officers were wounded.

The attacker was subsequently shot and killed by officers. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mr Hollande said the French people must "support the police", adding: "They deserve our esteem, our solidarity, our admiration."

In a message to the presidential candidates, Mr Hollande also asked France's future government to "provide the necessary budget resources to recruit these indispensable people to protect our citizens and give them the means to act even more efficiently".

Mr Hollande recalled that France's police and military forces are deployed on French territory and abroad to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria and Africa's Sahel region.

He said this is "a combat that will last, a combat that will be fought until the threat is definitively over. That combat will be long, demanding, difficult - but, I am certain, victorious".

Mr Jugele was one of the officers who raced to the Bataclan concert hall the night three armed men with suicide bombs stormed a show and slaughtered 90 people on November 13 2015.

He returned to the concert venue a year later as a spectator when it reopened with a concert by Sting.

Mr Jugele told People magazine at the time how happy he was to be here "to celebrate life. To say no to terrorists".

The officer was also a member of a French association of LGBT police officers, and was in a civil union.

In a speech during the ceremony, his partner, Etienne Cardiles, said: "Let's stay dignified, let's take care of peace and preserve peace."

Mr Jugele had worked in the Paris area as a police officer since 2011. At the time of his death, he was a member of the Paris police department's public order and traffic division.

He had received praise from bosses earlier this year for his courage during the evacuation of a building after an accidental blast in the western suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt.

Mr Jugele has been promoted to police captain and awarded the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour posthumously.

AP
Bronze statues of late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang (AP)

North Korea has held major live-fire drills as it marks the anniversary of the founding of its military.

The exercise took place in an area around the North's eastern coastal town of Wonsan, according to the South Korean military, as a US guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea amid rising tensions over Kim Jong Un's regime.

Envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea have also met in Tokyo to discuss the growing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles programme.

Experts thought North Korea might conduct a nuclear test or a ballistic missile launch to mark the anniversary, but as of Tuesday evening neither has occurred.

Crowds in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, laid flowers and paid respects at giant statues of the country's former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, one day after the minister of defence reiterated that the North was ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any measures it deems necessary to defend itself against "US imperialists".

Gen Pak Yong Sik told a meeting of thousands of senior military and civilian officials: "The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the US imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression."

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said they are closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where the drills are reportedly being held.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seoul's defence ministry could not confirm these details.

The streets of Pyongyang were quiet. Floral tributes and bowing at statues and portraits of the leaders is a regular routine on major anniversaries.

People also gathered in open spaces to take part in organised dancing, another common way to mark holidays.

Choe Un Byol, who came with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders, said: "Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day."

North Korea often also marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Recent US commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea's nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the country's preparation for an ICBM launch is in its "final stage".

The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Cmdr Jang Wook from South Korean navy public affairs said there is no plan for a drill.

The submarine's arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier headed toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea. The US 7th Fleet said two American destroyers are conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.

Despite the build-up, US president Donald Trump has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow the government in Pyongyang.

Mr Trump told ambassadors from UN Security Council member countries that they must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea.

He said: "This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not.

"North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it's time to solve the problem."

AP
Some arrests were carried out in Barcelona

Spanish police have arrested nine suspected members of a jihadi group in connection with recent deadly attacks in Belgium and France.

Police said the arrested were one Spaniard and eight Moroccans living in Catalonia, all aged between 30 and 40 years old.

A regional police spokeswoman said at least four of the detained are suspected of being linked to people arrested following the 2016 Brussels airport and subway attacks that killed 32 people and wounded 300 others.

Regional police spokesman Josep Lluis Trapero told TV3 regional television that four of the detained were clearly members the Islamic State group.

He said the arrests could help solve investigations into attacks in France and Belgium.

Mr Trapero said the group was also being investigated for drug trafficking and other crimes.

A police statement said police made 12 raids in five Catalan towns including the regional capital, Barcelona.

It said the arrests followed an eight-month investigation in coordination with Belgian police.

Spanish police have arrested some 200 suspected jihadis since Spain raised its national security alert to one step below the maximum in 2015.
Madeleine McCann's mother has marked the tenth anniversary of her daughter's disappearance by vowing to "never give up hope".

In a message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page, Kate McCann described the tenth anniversary as a "horrible marker of time, stolen time."

"We could spend all our time and energy trying to defend ourselves by correcting inaccuracies and lies, but then we would have no strength left to look for Madeleine, look after our other children and to live our life," she wrote.

Madeleine McCann vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007 when she was just three-years-old.

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Preparing themselves for the next two weeks, Ms McCann said it would be an extremely difficult time for the family.

"It's likely to be stressful and painful and more so given the rehashing of old 'stories', misinformation, half-truths and downright lies which will be doing the rounds in the newspapers, social media and 'special edition' TV programmes.

"We consider ourselves immensely fortunate to have received the love, solidarity and support from so many kind and decent people over the last decade.

"There have been many challenges and low points along the way but the warmth, encouragement and positivity we have experienced from the 'quiet majority' has undoubtedly sustained us and maintained our faith in human goodness. And while that is there, there will always be hope.

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"Thank you so much from all of our family."

Kate and her husband Gerry McCann, who work as doctors and live in Rothley, Leicestershire, described media appearances as "draining" in the post.

They also said there is an "active" police investigation to try find Madeleine and bring her abductor to justice.

Madeleine's disappearance sparked one of the most high-profile investigations in recent times and has cost millions of euro.

Many theories have been put forward about her disappearance, with the latest claiming she may have left the apartment looking for her parents before she was taken.
When Emmanuel Macron resigned from Socialist President Francois Hollande's government in 2016 to launch his En Marche! (On the Move!) political movement, many thought he was doomed to failure.

But in just 18 months the movement now has more than 200,000 members and Mr Macron is vying for first place with another outsider, the Front National's Marine Le Pen, in the French presidential election.

Should Mr Macron make it into the Elysee Palace it will be a remarkable achievement for a former banker plucked from relative obscurity by Mr Hollande to become his economy minister in 2014.

Mr Macron was born into a middle-class family in the city of Amiens where he was educated at mostly private Catholic schools.

While in secondary school he fell in love with his drama teacher Brigitte Trogneux, who was 24 years his senior, when they collaborated on an end-of-year play. When his parents sent him to finish his final year of school at an elite establishment in Paris, he refused to give up on Ms Trogneux and proclaimed he would come back and marry her. Sure enough, the couple stayed together and eventually married in 2007. They now live together in Paris with her three children from her first marriage.

Ms Trogneux has played a key role in the election campaign, with Mr Macron vowing that she will have a role in his administration. She has been quoted as saying she is "the president of his fan club" and is often seen attending high-level meetings by his side.

Despite initially wanting to be a novelist, Mr Macron graduated from the elite Sciences Po university in Paris before entering the civil service. He worked at the French treasury for four years before leaving to become a banker. In 2012, he was appointed as Mr Hollande's deputy chief of staff, then economy minister.

During his tenure in government, Mr Macron became particularly unpopular among the traditional left as he enacted a series of labour laws, including one which allows companies to negotiate over the 35-hour week, which led to strikes across France.

Mr Macron has pitched himself as a socialist-liberal and played on his personal appeal as a young, fresh face and a counterpoint to the xenophobic, nationalistic, anti-globalisation campaign of his main rival Ms Le Pen.

Before he announced his candidacy, his team, inspired by the Obama campaign in the US in 2008, carried out a survey of thousands of French citizens to hear what policies they wanted from their politicians.

Le grande marche (the great walk) by supporters and activists resulted in 25,000 unusually in-depth interviews with voters which he has built his policy platform on, the BBC reported.

The resulting centrist manifesto has been ridiculed for trying to please everyone, but broadly speaking he vows to cut taxes and spending but also provide support for those on low incomes along with 50bn for public infrastructure and a shift to renewable energy.

More controversially, he has vowed to cut corporation tax and red tape, allowing companies to renegotiate the 35-hour week and make it easier to hire and fire.

His supporters say this will help revive France's moribund economy. The French labour code is famously longer than the Bible, deterring investment and private sector growth.

Mr Macron has vowed to bring unemployment down from its current 10pc to 7pc. His biggest challenge is winning over blue collar workers who are put off by his support for globalisation, multiculturalism and the EU.

Some dissatisfied voters see immigration as the source of their woes and have flocked to the Front National.

During a debate last month, Ms Le Pen attacked Mr Macron for his vague positions, saying he managed to speak for seven minutes without saying anything.
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron waves to supporters as he leaves his apartment in Paris yesterday morning. Photo: Thibault Camus/AP

Marine Le Pen announced last night that she was temporarily stepping down as head of France's Front National party to widen her appeal ahead of next month's presidential election run-off.

The far-right candidate will face Emmanuel Macron, the centrist, on May 7 with the country divided as never before over Europe.

By distancing herself from the party founded by her father in 1972, Ms Le Pen hopes to reach out to potential voters who backed the eurosceptic and protectionist far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, and Francois Fillon, the defeated conservative, some of whose harder-line supporters could vote FN.

"I have always considered that the president is the president of all the French," she said. "Under this banner, he or she must unite all the French.

"Tonight, I am no longer the president of the Front National. I am the presidential candidate."

Ms Le Pen had already airbrushed out her party's name, and her own surname, from campaign posters to woo voters from the left and right, as well as in recent years "detoxifying" her party's racist, anti-Semitic image.

Sunday's first round upturned France's political landscape as candidates from the mainstream left and right were eliminated and the two finalists both claimed to be "anti-system" champions.

The final results saw Mr Macron, an independent centrist who created his movement En Marche! only a year ago, take pole position on 24.01pc, with Ms Le Pen of the far-right Front National second on 21.3pc.

Mr Fillon, the conservative runner, was a close third on 20.01pc, just ahead of Communist-backed Mr Melenchon on 19.58pc, while Benoit Hamon, the official candidate of the ruling Socialist Party, came fifth on just 6.36pc.

A startling electoral map of the country showed Mr Macron top in most departments, or counties, in the West, while Ms Le Pen was on top in most of the East. Ms Le Pen scored very highly in rural and so-called "peri-urban" areas. She has pledged to protect "forgotten France" from austerity, globalisation and immigration.

Mr Macron romped home in most towns and cities with more than 15,000 residents with his "neither right nor left", pro-European promise of modernisation.

"Emmanuel Macron attracted in his wake France that is doing well, an optimistic France, while Marine Le Pen has attracted the France that has been left behind by globalisation," said Adelaide Zulfikarpasic of BVA Opinion.

Mr Melenchon also fared well in some big cities, such as Marseille and Lille.

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Despite Mr Macron's plans to "relaunch" the EU, the combined scores of staunch eurosceptics Ms Le Pen, Mr Melenchon and nationalist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan add up to around 46pc of the vote.

For 'Le Monde' editorialist Francois Fressoz, the French have thrown out mainstream candidates in favour of a "new split" over Europe. The match over Europe would come to a head during a televised debate between the finalists on May 3. Ms Le Pen, who reached the second round promising to quit the euro and hold a referendum on EU membership, opened hostilities yesterday by calling Mr Macron a "hysterical, radical 'Europeanist'."

Europe's political establishment also rushed to back Mr Macron yesterday, arguing that it had "no choice" but to support the centrist Europhile over a candidate hell-bent on the bloc's destruction.

Putting aside convention, Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, announced support for Mr Macron against Ms Le Pen.

Meanwhile, Mr Macron was accused of acting as if he had already won the presidency after marking his first-round victory with a glitzy party in a high-end bistro.

The 39-year old centrist was denounced as "arrogant" by supporters of Ms Le Pen for inviting supporters, including Parisian celebrities, to the Paris eatery, where Champagne and oysters were served.

He also raised hackles for appearing with Brigitte Trogneux, his 64-year-old wife, on stage at an American-style victory rally reminiscent of JF Kennedy. "No male politician in the running for French president has ever dared this mise en scene (staging)," wrote 'Le Figaro'.

A Harris poll out yesterday gave Mr Macron good reason to be confident, suggesting he would beat Ms Le Pen by 64pc to 36pc in the run-off on May 7.

Even political allies expressed concern that his over-confidence would be wrongly interpreted in the French provinces.

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (43), a centre-right politician who has called for voters to back Mr Macron in round two to block the far-right candidate, said: "They are looking like it is a foregone conclusion, but it isn't a foregone conclusion."

His decision to invite guests, including actors, writers and philosophers, to the famous Rotonde restaurant in Paris's Montparnasse district without waiting for the second round was considered inappropriate by some.
People watch the dawn service ceremony at the Anzac Cove beach in the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey (AP/Emrah Gurel)

Ministers from Australia and New Zealand have joined hundreds of people at the site of the Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey to remember those who were killed on the 102nd anniversary of the start of the ill-fated campaign.

The solemn ceremony began at dawn on Tuesday under tight security following a series of attacks and bombings that have plagued Turkey.

On April 25 1915, troops from Australia and New Zealand first landed at dawn on the Gallipoli peninsula under British command in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

More than 44,000 Allied soldiers were killed in the battle. Turkish casualties were estimated at 250,000.

The battle helped forge Australia and New Zealand's national identities.

AP
Ivanka Trump speaks during a panel of the W20 Summit in Berlin (AP)

Ivanka Trump drew groans and hisses from an audience in Berlin as she defended her father's attitude towards women.

However, she brushed it aside as "politics" during her first overseas trip as a White House adviser.

Appearing on a high-powered panel at a conference to push for more support for women in business, Ms Trump also said she was still trying to define her place in her father's administration.

"I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, as it is quite new to me, it's been a little under 100 days," she said.

Ms Trump has been a vocal advocate for policies benefiting working women and vocational training.

However, she also has faced criticism in the United States, particularly from those who think she has done little to temper her father's conservative agenda.

Sharing a stage with German chancellor Angela Merkel, International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde, Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland and others, Ms Trump was asked by the host whom she was representing - President Donald Trump, the American people, or her own business interests.

"Certainly not the latter," Ms Trump said.

As she described her father as "a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive", she drew scattered groans and hisses from the audience, prompting host Miriam Meckel to press her for a response.

"You hear the reaction from the audience, so I need to address one more point:

"Some attitudes towards women your father has publicly displayed in former times might leave someone questioning whether he is such an empowerer for women," said Ms Meckel, the editor of a business magazine and a professor of corporate communications at a Swiss university.

"Are things changing?"

Ms Trump replied: "I've certainly heard the criticism from the media, and that's been perpetuated."

She added that her own personal experience and the fact that "thousands" of women have worked with and for Mr Trump for decades in the private sector "are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man".

"He encouraged me and enabled me to thrive," Ms Trump said.

"I grew up in a house where there was no barrier to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity."

There was, she stressed, "no difference between me and my brothers. And I think as a business leader you saw that, and as a president you will absolutely see that."

Talking later to a small group of reporters, Ms Trump said she was unfazed by Ms Meckel's direct questions in a public forum.

"I'm used to it. It's fine," she said, and also shrugged off the audience's reaction.

"Politics is politics, as I'm learning, and there are many different viewpoints and people with different options and perspectives," she said.

Ms Trump, who promoted child care and family leave policies during her father's campaign, also told reporters that child care "is going to be part of comprehensive tax reform".

Before the event, the president tweeted that he is "proud of @IvankaTrump for her leadership on these important issues".

Ms Trump, 35, stepped away from both running her fashion brand and from an executive role at the Trump Organisation to become an unpaid White House adviser, but she continues to own her lifestyle brand, which allows her to profit off her rising profile and has prompted criticism from ethics experts.

She said she was "humbled to be here with so many formidable leaders" and would bring their advice and knowledge back to her father.

"This is very early for me; I'm listening, I'm learning, I'm defining the ways in which I think that I'll be able to have an impact," Ms Trump said.

During Ms Merkel's visit to Washington in March, she organised a discussion with the German leader, her father, and US and German executives about how companies can better train workers.

On Tuesday's panel, she applauded a suggestion for a special fund to be created to help female entrepreneurs secure international funding, adding that more needs to be done to help in the US.

"We are not where we need to be," she said.

Later, Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser gave Ms Trump a tour of a Berlin training centre run by the German industrial conglomerate.

Germany is proud of its vocational training system, and Ms Trump has said she hopes to learn from German successes.

Siemens said it has some 12,000 young people worldwide, including 9,000 in Germany, in programmes that combine study with practical training.

Before heading to a formal dinner, Ms Trump visited the capital's memorial to the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis.

She converted to Judaism herself ahead of her 2009 marriage to Jared Kushner, also a White House adviser.

During the 25-minute visit, Ms Trump walked slowly through the field filled with concrete slabs.

She was accompanied by US Embassy personnel and a strong police guard to keep curious tourists and others at a distance.

She paused occasionally to look at the slabs, meant to symbolise the chaos of the Holocaust, and donned sunglasses before emerging on the other side of the monument to a crush of cameras and onlookers.

AP
A recruiting sign for the Arkansas Department of Correction greets visitors to the Cummins Unit prison (AP Photo/Kelly P. Kissel)

Arkansas has completed the first double execution in the US since 2000 (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP)

After going nearly 12 years without executing an inmate, the US state of Arkansas has executed three in a few days - including two in one night.

Jack Jones and Marcel Williams received lethal injections on Monday night, roughly three hours apart. It is the first double execution to be carried out in the United States since 2000.

While Jones, 52, was executed on schedule, attorneys for Williams, 46, convinced a federal judge minutes later to briefly delay his execution over concerns about how the earlier one was carried out.

They claimed Jones "was moving his lips and gulping for air", an account the state's attorney general denied, but the judge lifted her stay about an hour later and Williams was pronounced dead at 10.33pm.

In the emergency filing, Williams' attorneys wrote that officials spent 45 minutes trying to place an IV line in Jones' neck before placing it elsewhere. It argued that Williams, who weighed 400lbs (28 stone eight ounces), could have faced a "torturous" death because of his weight.

Intravenous lines are placed before witnesses are allowed access to the death chamber.

A reporter who witnessed the execution said Jones moved his lips briefly after the drug midazolam was administered, and officials put a tongue depressor in his mouth intermittently for the first few minutes.

His chest stopped moving two minutes after they checked for consciousness, and he was pronounced dead at 7.20pm.

Asked why Jones' lips moved, Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves said he understood that the inmate was apologising to the department director, Wendy Kelley, and thanking her for the way she treated him.

Williams was already in the death chamber when the temporary stay was issued. He was escorted out of the chamber and used the restroom, then was brought back in after the stay was lifted.

Initially, Governor Asa Hutchinson scheduled four double executions over an 11-day period in April. The eight executions would have been the most by a state in such a compressed period since the US supreme court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

The state said the executions needed to be carried out before its supply of one lethal injection drug expires on April 30.

Besides the two executions on Monday, Arkansas put to death one other inmate last week and has a final one scheduled for Thursday. Four other executions have been blocked.

Before last week, Arkansas had not carried out an execution since 2005 or a double execution since 1999.

Jones, who had argued that his health conditions could lead to a painful death, gave a lengthy last statement. His final words were: "I'm sorry."

In the two-minute statement, he also said: "I hope over time you can learn who I really am and I am not a monster."

Williams declined to make a final statement.

Jones was sent to death row for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. He strangled her with the cord to a coffee pot. He was also convicted of attempting to kill Phillips' 11-year-old daughter and was convicted of another rape and killing in Florida.

Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he kidnapped from a petrol station in central Arkansas.

Authorities said Williams abducted and raped two other women in the days before he was arrested over Errickson's death. Williams admitted responsibility to the state Parole Board last month. "I wish I could take it back, but I can't," Williams told the board.

In a letter earlier this month, Jones said he was ready to be killed by the state. The letter, which his attorney read aloud at his clemency hearing, went on to say: "I shall not ask to be forgiven, for I haven't the right."

Including Jones and Williams, nine people have been executed in the United States this year, four in Texas, three in Arkansas and one each in Missouri and Virginia.

Last year, 20 people were executed, down from 98 in 1999 and the lowest number since 14 in 1991, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.

AP
Ms Le Pen was criticised by her father over her presidential campaign so far (AP)

French far-right presidential contender Marine Le Pen has called for more food to be produced and consumed in the country known as the gastronomic centre of the western world.

Ms Le Pen, visiting the Rungis wholesale market outside Paris, said the French government must promote meat from France.

She said: "Let's promote the 'eating French', especially in (school) canteens where our children must take advantage of healthy, quality products."

Ms Le Pen was booed by some workers in the fruit and vegetable section.

The National Front leader is facing pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron in France's May 7 presidential run-off.

But even presidential candidates sometimes have to face criticism from the family.

Ms Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, told France Inter radio that he thinks his daughter has been "too laid-back" in her campaign.

He said that, in her position, he would have launched a "Trump-style" campaign that would have been "very aggressive against those who are responsible for the country's decadency".

He still supports her candidacy in the presidential run-off.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, who repeatedly has been convicted of crimes based on anti-Semitism and racism, founded the National Front party that his daughter now leads, but the two have had strong political disagreements at times.

In 2015, his daughter pushed him out of the party because he had refused to desist from anti-Semitic provocations that were undermining both her bid to become French president and her attempt to make the National Front an acceptable political alternative.
Afghan Special Forces inspect a cave which was used by suspected Isil militants at the site where a MOAB, or Mother of All Bombs, struck the Achin district of the eastern province of Nangarhar, Afghanistan. Photos: Parwiz/Reuters

Pictures have emerged of the Isil tunnel network in Afghanistan which the US targeted with "the Mother of All Bombs".

The US dropped the bomb - its largest explosive short of a nuclear weapon - on April 13, targeting what it said was a tunnel complex used by the jihadist group's Afghan affiliate.

The GBU-43/B weighs 9,797kg and was dropped from a cargo plane. It has the equivalent power of 11 tonnes of TNT explosives.

But Reuters photographs from the scene of the blast in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan gave an ambiguous sense of the bomb's power.

Afghan special forces troops entered one of the caves used by suspected Isil fighters and found the tunnels apparently undamaged by the explosion.

Trees immediately around the blast site had scorched branches and a few small houses were partially destroyed.

Expand Close Burnt trees and some partially destroyed buildings were visible at the site. Photo: Parwiz/Reuters / Facebook

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Whatsapp Burnt trees and some partially destroyed buildings were visible at the site. Photo: Parwiz/Reuters

But only a few hundred yards away other trees were perfectly intact and still had leaves on their branches, belying claims that the explosion may have sent a destructive blast wave for up to a mile, according to Reuters.

The bomb was dropped on a remote corner of eastern Afghanistan and it has been difficult to assess exactly what impact it had.

Afghan officials claimed that nearly 100 militants and no civilians were killed by the blast but those claims have not been independently verified.

The Trump administration pointed to its use of the enormous bomb as a sign of its determination during a tense and ongoing standoff with North Korea. ( Daily Telegraph London)

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Former US President Barack Obama has said that immigrants to the US are being demonised in the same way as Irish people who arrived in America after the potato famine.

In his first public speech since leaving office, the former US president said Irish immigrants were treated like the "other" in the 19th century just like Muslims are today.

Mr Obama drew parallels between the two periods in American history and said that, in both, immigration policy was "driven by biases".

Mr Obama was speaking at the University of Chicago on stage with half a dozen students and activists to discuss how to get more young people engaged in politics.

The closest Mr Obama came to discussing current President Donald Trump was when he talked about immigration. Mr Trump has called for a complete ban on all Muslims entering the US and twice tried to ban them from doing so.

"I always used to say in crowds where folks didn't want to hear it, it's not like everyone in Ellis Island had their papers straight.

"If you look at what was said about [the] Irish when they were coming here in the wake of the potato famine, they talked about them the same way you hear people talking about immigrants today," said Mr Obama.
Ivanka Trump has been booed and hissed at by an audience in Berlin after she praised Donald Trumps stance on women.

During her first international outing as a White House advisor, the first daughter argued her father was "a tremendous champion of supporting families.

The statement immediately drew audible boos and rumbling from the audience who did not appear to agree with the assertion.

Ms Trump, the Presidents second child who is said to be his favourite, is in Germany for talks on encouraging womens economic empowerment.

Expand Close U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters / Facebook

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When pressed about President Trump's past attitudes toward women during the W20 Summit, she told the audience: "I've certainly heard the criticism from the media, and that's been perpetuated."

But Ms Trump, a former executive of the Trump Organisation, insisted her own personal experience and those of the "thousands" of women who have worked with Mr Trump for decades did not tally with the media's criticism.

She said: "They are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man".

The first daughter added: "He encouraged me and enabled me to thrive. I grew up in a house where there was no barrier to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also attended the panel discussion which focused on female empowerment in the global economy and entrepreneurship. The summit was a women-focused effort within the Group of 20 countries titled "Inspiring women: Scaling up women's entrepreneurship."

Other guests include IMF director Christine Lagarde, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and the Netherlands' Queen Maxima.

During her trip, the first daughter will visit the German capital's memorial to the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis. Ms Trump converted to Orthodox Judaism before she married Jared Kushner, also an unpaid White House advisor, in 2009.

The booing from the Berlin audience is by no means the first time Ms Trump has found herself subject to criticism. She was impersonated by Scarlett Johansson in a Saturday Night Live sketch cuttingly titled complicit last month.

The actor's faux perfume advert which quickly went viral suggested the first daughter was complicit in the actions of the Trump administration
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's "Days of Remembrance" ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington (Reuters)

US president Donald Trump has condemned those who deny the Holocaust and pledged to confront anti-Semitism.

In a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mr Trump said those who would deny that six million Jews were killed by Germany's Nazi leadership during the Second World War "are an accomplice of this horrible evil".

The US president added: "We must never, ever shrink away from telling the truth in our time."

Mr Trump also pledged that as president of the United States, he will "always stand with the Jewish people".

The president spoke at a US Capitol ceremony hosted by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to mark the unveiling of its new conservation and research centre.

The centre houses a vast collection of artefacts by those who survived Adolf Hitler's massacre.

Expand Close President Donald Trump speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 25, 2017, during the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's National Days of Remembrance ceremony (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) / Facebook

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Whatsapp President Donald Trump speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 25, 2017, during the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's National Days of Remembrance ceremony (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Members of Congress and Holocaust survivors - whose strength and courage Mr Trump said was an inspiration - attended the emotional event in the Rotunda, the centre of the Capitol.

Survivors lit candles at the end of the ceremony.

"Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil and we'll never be silent. We just won't," he said.

"We will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again."

Mr Trump said Holocaust denial is one form of "dangerous anti-Semitism that continues all around the world" and that can be seen on university campuses, in attacks on Jewish communities "or when aggressors threaten Israel with total and complete destruction".

"This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism," he added.

"We will stamp out prejudice, we will condemn hatred, we will bear witness and we will act.

"As President of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people and I will always stand with our great friend and partner, the state of Israel."

Mr Trump's commemoration of the Holocaust follows a recent blunder by his chief spokesman, Sean Spicer, on the issue.

Mr Spicer recently apologised for making what he later said was an "inappropriate and insensitive" statement earlier this month that compared Hitler to Syrian president Bashar Assad by suggesting that Hitler "didn't even sink to using chemical weapons".

The remark, which Mr Spicer had made days after a chemical attack in Syria killed scores of civilians, ignored Hitler's use of gas chambers to kill Jews.

The White House's commitment to fighting anti-Semitism was questioned earlier in the year after it released a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day that excluded any mention of the Jewish people, in contrast to similar statements from previous administrations.

Mr Trump's own relations with American Jews had become strained after a testy exchange during a news conference with a reporter for an Orthodox Jewish publication.

Some also thought Mr Trump had waited too long to come out forcefully against bomb threats against Jewish community centres nationwide.

Mr Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, converted to Judaism before marrying her husband, Jared Kushner, now a senior White House adviser.

On an official trip to Berlin on Tuesday, Ms Trump, now working at the White House as an assistant to the president, visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Addressing survivors in attendance at the Capitol, Mr Trump called each one a "beacon of light".

"It only takes one light to illuminate even the darkest space, just like it takes only truth to crush a thousand lies and one hero to change the course of history," he said.

"We know that in the end good will triumph over evil and that as long as we refuse to close our eyes or to silence our voices, we know that justice will ultimately prevail."
More than five million people in South Sudan face "life-threatening hunger if nothing changes soon", it has been warned (AP)

The US has urged the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo and additional sanctions on South Sudan to pressure the parties to end the country's civil war - but Russia and China remain opposed.

Two counties in South Sudan are already in the throes of famine and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned the council that 5.5 million people - half the country's population - face "life-threatening hunger if nothing changes soon".

"We must not wait for more deaths, more displacement and more destruction before we have the courage to act," she said.

There were high hopes that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighbouring Sudan in 2011.

However, the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, his former vice president, who is a Nuer.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 has not stopped the fighting, and clashes last July between supporters of Mr Kiir and Mr Machar set off further violence.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and forced 3.5 million to flee their homes.

In March, a UN inquiry found the country is experiencing ethnic cleansing and the conditions for genocide are present.

Ms Haley said the beneficiary of the division in the Security Council is South Sudan's government.

"So if you want them to continue to harass the people of South Sudan, if you want to continue to see starvation in South Sudan, doing nothing is exactly what you need to keep doing," she told council members.

"But if we're going to stop it... that's not about dialogue. That's not about hope. That's not about wishes. That's about action."

However, Russia's deputy UN ambassador Petr Iliichev reiterated Moscow's opposition to ramping up sanctions, saying peace "will not be brought about by a Security Council arms embargo but rather by targeted measures to disarm civilians as well as to demobilise and reintegrate combatants".

"We also think there is a need to listen to the views of regional countries, that discussions on the levying of additional restrictions against Juba would be untimely," he said.

China's deputy UN ambassador Wu Haitao said "it is important for the Security Council to send out more positive and enthusiastic messages".

He stressed that a political settlement is the only way to end the conflict and expressed hope that the UN, the African Union (AU) and an eight-member regional group, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), can join forces to promote negotiations.

Ms Haley also urged all parties "to seriously engage" with the UN, AU and Igad to achieve a cease-fire and immediate humanitarian access.

"And we call on the AU and UN envoys to put forward an operational plan of active engagement for peace in South Sudan," she said.

UN envoy David Shearer told the council, however, that no party has shown interest in reviving the 2015 peace agreement.

"Despite what appears to be attempts by the parties to achieve victory through military means, a political solution is the only way forward for South Sudan," he said.

"Military offensives are fracturing groups and intensifying ethnic divisions to a degree that will hinder reconciliation."

He stressed that "to create political will for the parties to end hostilities and build peace, the international community must speak with one voice (and) the African Union, the Security Council and Igad must be united in dealing with the parties."

AP
The third edition of Tax, Accounting and Audit in India is updated for 2017, and provides an overview of the f...
New York, Apr 26(Just Earth News): With nearly two-thirds of war-torn Yemen a about 19 million people a in need of emergency support, the international community on Tuesday raised $1.1 billion at a pledging event in Geneva to aid what the United Nations chief calls athe worldas largest hunger crisis.a

The aim was to bridge a funding gap in the 2017 humanitarian appeal of $2.1 billion. Prior to the conference, only about 15 per cent had been met.

We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation. We must act now, to save lives, said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who presided over the opening of the High-level Pledging Event on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, alongside the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Switzerland and Sweden.

He noted that the man-made crisis had devastated the economy of a country that was pitifully poor even before the current conflict, and forced three million people from their homes  leaving many being unable to earn a living or grow crops.

Some 17 million are food-insecure, making this the worlds largest hunger crisis, Guterres said, highlighting a situation worsened by import restrictions and the destruction of port facilities.

Calling particular attention to children at risk in Yemen, Guterres said that on average, one child under the age of five dies of preventable causes every 10 minutes in Yemen.

This means fifty children in Yemen will die during on Tuesdays conference  and all those deaths could have been prevented, he stated.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), pledges were made by 48 Member States, the European Commission, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and four NGO/humanitarian organizations for humanitarian action in Yemen in 2017. Now we must see the pledges translated into the scaled up action the people of Yemen need and deserve, the Guterres said.

Yemens next challenge: lifting restrictions on aid access throughout the country

The exact pledges for the day totalled $1,098,466,634, a remarkable success according to the Secretary-General, who expressed optimism at the close of the conference that the full amount required will materialize in the coming months.

The next challenge to overcome would be to lift access restrictions to and without Yemen. Guterres urged parties of the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and allow unhindered movement of humanitarian actors to reach those in need.

Access is the key for the success of this pledging conference, he said, calling also for the necessary infrastructure to be allowed to operate in normal conditions and for goods to be imported and distributed.

Echoing the Secretary-Generals calls for access, Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen OBrien noted the UN and its humanitarian partners are scaling up and ready to do more provided there are resources and access.

Having visited Yemen thrice over the past two years, he recalled haunting images of a 13 year old girl who now headed her household, of toddlers too sick to register their mothers touch, and of families living with little access to food, clean water or medicines.

Both officials stressed that funding alone will not reverse the fortunes of the millions of people impacted. They called for a cessation of hostilities and a political settlement, with talks facilitated by the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

Between famine and starvation lies disease

More than two years of fighting has destroyed the countrys infrastructure  including attacks that targeted civilians. Some 326 attacks have been verified on health facilities, schools, markets and other infrastructure.

As the violence rose, the ability to aid those in need has been hampered. The disruption of health services has been severe, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), told the pledging event.

Less than half of the countrys health facilities are functioning and the majority of health providers, if they stayed, have not been paid since at least August 2016.

She warned also that infections would increase as the population grows more hungry.

Large swaths of the population are on the brink of famine, Dr. Chan said. Between famine and death from starvation lies disease. Infections that a well-nourished body wards off become deadly in severely malnourished people.

She called for more services, such as vaccinations, and access to basic health services.

Photo: Giles Clarke/OCHA

Source: www.justearthnews.com
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Recent research found that Indian-origin couples living in Canada, mostly from Punjabi and Hindi-speaking communities, may be practising selective sex abortions due to their preference for sons!

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The research published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada has found that among all Indian immigrant women with two previous daughters, male to female ratios were higher than expected, particularly among those whose mother tongue was Punjabi and Hindi.

The research also found that the ratios did not diminish with duration of stay in Canada.

"Population-based studies have demonstrated son-biased male to female ratios at higher birth orders among Indian immigrants in Canada. Son-bias appears to strengthen with previous abortions, pointing to sex selective practices," the research said.

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"Son-biased sex ratios among Indian immigrants have been identified in a number of immigrant-receiving countries. Research has suggested that family building practices in these communities may be influenced by son preference and female discrimination," it said.

The researchers analysed 46,834 birth/delivery records to Indian-born mothers who delivered up to three consecutive singleton live births in Ontario hospitals between April 1993 and March 2014 and immigrated to Canada between 1985 and 2012.

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Mothers who gave birth to twins or triplets or did not have all their singleton births in Ontario were excluded, along with all their children.

The research stated that among Indian immigrant mothers with two previous daughters, longer duration of residence in Canada did not lead to more balanced male-female ratios at the third birth.

"This finding chiefly applies to mothers whose first language was Punjabi or Hindi," it said.

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"In our analysis, we found that son-biased male-female ratios at birth among Indian immigrant mothers were mostly driven by Punjabi-speaking women, and to a lesser extent, those whose first language was Hindi," the report said.

"These results are consistent with nationally representative data from India where highly skewed male-female ratios were found in predominately northern and some eastern states, where Punjabi is one of the top languages spoken," it said.

The study was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
An elderly man was discriminated based on his appearance and denied a seat in the Delhi metro. The senior citizen asked two young men, who were sitting on the seats assigned to for senior citizens, to vacate the seats they were occupying.

Delhi

One of them said that the seats are for Hindustanis, not for Pakistanis like you. In a Facebook post about the incident describes the man as having a beard with no moustache.

According to the post, the incident happened last week on the violet line. It was shared by Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Womens Association. Finally, she says, a fellow passenger Comrade Santosh Roy intervened.

Delhi metro

When he asked the young men to apologise, they told the elderly man to go to Pakistan.

Security guards took the young men away when the metro stopped at Khan Market metro station, and a complaint was filed at the Pandara Road police station.

Here is the full post:

A Citizen Stands With Victim Of Communal Bullying

Last week, Comrade Santosh Roy, National Secretary of AICCTU and a long-standing leader of the DTC Workers Unity Centre, was traveling on the violet line of the Delhi metro. Opposite him, two young men were seated on the senior citizens seats. A senior citizen (who appeared to be Muslim because he had a beard and no moustache) came up to the young men and asked one of them to allow him to sit. The young men refused. When the senior citizen asked them again, the young men told him, This seat is for Hindustanis not for Pakistanis like you. If you want a seat go to Pakistan and get it there. Comrade Roy got up promptly and told the young men to apologize for their hate speech, and also to give the seat to the senior citizen. Some other young men came to the support of the two abusive young men, one of whom caught Comrade Roy by the collar and told him also to Go to Pakistan. Comrade Roy stood his ground, and several other passengers in the metro came to his support. When the metro stopped at Khan Market station, a guard entered the compartment. As the guard, accompanied by Comrade Roy and the elderly Muslim gentleman, took the two young men to the police chowki at Pandara Road, the young mens other supporters promptly deserted them. A complaint was filed at the police station, though the two young men kept threatening Hamare log aa rahe hain (Our supporters will come). The police offered to escort the elderly Muslim gentleman home, but he went home on his own. The next day onwards, Comrade Roy got calls from the police saying the young men wanted to apologize. He responded that he was not interested in an apology, and in any case the apology was not due to him in the first place, but to the elderly gentleman. Some days later Comrade Roy visited the police chowki. There, the elderly gentleman had given a written statement that he accepted the apology from the two young men and that he had forgiven them keeping in mind their young age. The young men were contrite and made many apologies to Comrade Roy also, while their parents, who were also present, said that their sons had done a shameful and wrong thing.

The elderly gentleman was generous enough not to pursue the complaint against the two young men. Perhaps, also, he did not want to pursue tedious and long-drawn out legal proceedings. But the most important thing is that a communal remark by two men did not go unchallenged by bystanders, ensuring that the men who made the remark had to withdraw it and apologize to their victim. Those men had been emboldened by the prevailing communal climate to think they could get away with abusing a Muslim person. Certainly, Comrade Roys intervention ensured that they will feel less bold in future and will think twice before doing such a thing. Perhaps they will also reflect on the immorality of their own behaviour  since it met with public opposition rather than public support.

In times when a communal climate is being manufactured all around us, it is important for every Indian to show active support for minorities when they are subjected to abuse, indignities or violence.

In 2014, after a gunman held people hostage at a cafe in Sydney, Australia, Muslims in Australian feared an Islamophobic backlash. Australians then used social media messages with the hashtag #illridewithyou (Ill ride with you) offering to accompany Muslims on public transport. After a Muslim imam was shot dead in Queens in the USA in 2016, people in the US offered to walk Muslims to the mosque to ensure their safety, using the hashtag #IllWalkWithYou (Ill walk with you).

With Muslims being lynched all over India in the name of cow protection, anti-Romeo squads and various other pretexts, Muslims in India are insecure in public spaces and even inside their own homes. Following a minor quarrel between children in a Meerut park, Muslim women were thrashed by women of the Valmiki community whose husbands shouted Aa gaya hai tera baap Yogi (beware, you father Yogi is here now). Every day, in public spaces, Muslims are subjected to hate speech, threats and violence. Kashmiri students and youth in various Indian campuses too are facing hate speech, threats and violence. Africans in India are frequently subjected to racist abuse and violence. Poor people are lynched in the name of being 'pickpockets' or thieves. We need to intervene to stop, prevent and resist such incidents.

Its time for Indians to tell vulnerable Muslim people around them #IStandWithYou  and speak up against every incident of communal abuse, bullying, lynching, rumour-mongering.

Let us all be public spirited human beings like Comrade Santosh Roy and let Muslims, Kashmiris, Africans and people from other vulnerable communities that we are there for them. Let us stand with them and speak up for them when we hear them abused, threatened or attacked. Let us do what we can to prevent lynch mobs from forming around us on any pretext. Each of us can make a difference. Let us share and publicise such experiences so that we can encourage all Indians to stand up for the rights and dignity of vulnerable people.




Yesterday, Sushma Swaraj directed the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to 'rescue and repatriate' an Indian woman after reports of her being 'sold and tortured' reached the External Affairs minister.

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Swaraj, after citing a TOI report on Twitter, tweeted:

I saw this news item and asked for a report from @IndianEmbRiyadh which has been received. /1I https://t.co/Y0Fruh8YXM  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 24, 2017

I have asked Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to rescue and repatriate her to India at the earliest. /2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 24, 2017

I have asked @ProtectorGenGOI to proceed against the agent who sent her to Saudi Arabia. /3  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 24, 2017

Salma Begum, the 39-year-old resident of Hyderabad, was allegedly sent to Saudi Arabia in January on a housemaid visa by two agents, Akram and Shafi. However, Begum's sponsor - to whom her agents sold her for Rs 3 lakh - soon began harassing and extorting her for marriage. Her refusal led the man to physically and emotionally torture her.

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Begum somehow managed to send a message across to her daughter and in the audio message, appealed to the Indian government for help.
India's military expenditure grew around 8.5 percent in 2016, making it the world's fifth largest spender at $55.9 billion, figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has revealed.

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As per the figures, the US remains the world's largest military spender, registering a growth of 1.7 percent between 2015 and 2016 to $611 billion. China is second on the list, spending $215 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent. Japan, South Korea and Australia are also in the top 15 spenders worldwide.

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Russia increased its spending by 5.9 percent to $69.2 billion, making it the third largest spender. Saudi Arabia, the third largest spender in 2015, dropped to fourth position in 2016, with its spending dropping by 30 percent in 2016 to $63.7 billion, despite its continued involvement in regional wars.

Pakistan spent $9.93 billion and does not figure in the top 15 spenders.

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"The growth in US military expenditure in 2016 may signal the end of a trend of decreases in spending, which resulted from the economic crisis and the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq," the report said, adding, however, that US' 2016 figures remained 20 percent lower than its peak in 2010.

"Despite continuing legal restraints on the overall US budget, increases in military spending were agreed upon by Congress," said Aude Fleurant, director of the Sipri Arms and Military Expenditure (AMEX) programme. "Future spending patterns remain uncertain due to the changing political situation in the US."

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Military expenditure in western Europe rose for the second consecutive year, and was up by 2.6 percent, while falling oil revenue and associated economic problems attached to the oil-price shock has forced many oil-exporting countries to reduce military spending.
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has allowed Hindus to worship at a Shiva temple in Abbottabad district which had been off limits to them for 20 years.

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The temple had been closed for any religious activity over property dispute. In 2013, a Hindu Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) filed a petition with the PHC Abbottabad bench that they had purchased the property through lease by a legal owner.

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The petitioner pleaded that after partition of sub-continent the NGO has been looking after the temple. The petitioner and the head of the NGO Balmaik Sabha, Sham Lal, said that the temple was constructed 175 years ago.

The British regime took over the temple and handed it over to Gurkha Rifles. The Hindu soldiers use to pray. After partition in 1947, the Balmaik Sabha took over the charge of the temple and other property till 1960 when Cantonment Board Abbottabad (CBA) seized temple and all Hindu properties.

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He said that eight years ago CBA granted permission to conduct prayers in the temple. Lal disclosed that in 2013 he filed a petition against the seizure of temple and Hindu properties by CBA.
As North Korea fast tracks its sixth nuclear test, tensions are starting to skyrocket in the region.

More recently, an official North Korean website warned that Pyongyang will "wipe out" the United States if Washington starts a war on the peninsula.

Reuters

Amid reports of the nuclear test, Vice President Mike Pence said US supercarrier Carl Vinson will arrive in waters off the Korean peninsula "in a matter of days".

Pyongyang is still believed to be far from reaching its aim of building a missile capable of reaching the US mainland, but the secretive nation has ramped up its rhetoric in recent weeks and has carried out two rocket tests this month alone.

Reuters

In a series of editorials the Rodong Sinmun newspaper -- the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party -- said the North's forces were undeterred and called the US strike group's imminent arrival "undisguised military blackmail".

"Such threat may startle a jellyfish, but can never work on the DPRK," it said today, using the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

A day earlier it said the North's revolutionary forces were "combat-ready to sink the US nuclear aircraft carrier with a single strike".

Reuters

Pyongyang's rhetoric intensifies every spring, when the US and South Korea hold joint exercises it sees as rehearsals for an attack on the North.

A separate editorial on the North's propaganda website Uriminzokkiri today claimed that the dispatching of the Carl Vinson signalled a war: "It is proof that an invasion of the North is nearing day by day."

The editorial, described as being written by an army officer, said it was a "big miscalculation" for Washington to compare the North to Syria, which did not launch an "immediate counterattack" after a US cruise missile strike earlier this month.

In the event of an attack, it said, "The world will witness how Washington's rash nuclear aircraft carriers are turned into a huge pile of steel and buried at sea and how a country called America is wiped out from the Earth."

Reuters

There is speculation the North may conduct another test to mark the 85th anniversary of the founding of its Korean People's Army (KPA) on Tuesday.

But it has never tested an intercontinental ballistic missile with sufficient range to reach the continental United States -- although it has ambitions to develop one -- nor is it known to have miniaturised atomic technology sufficiently to be able to fit a nuclear warhead on a rocket.
Few days back, the US military dropped the Mother of All Bombs in a remote village in Afghanistan. Pictures of its aftermath show a charred mountainside, burned trees and mud houses destroyed. A damaged house and burnt trees are seen at the site where a MOAB, or ''mother of all bombs'', struck the Achin district of the eastern province of Nangarhar, Afghanistan.

The bomb was dropped on April 13 and Afghan officials said that 94 militants were killed. The GBU-43/B weighs 21,600lbs (9,797-kg) was dropped from a cargo plane. It has the equivalent power of 11 tonnes of TNT explosives.

1. A damaged house and burnt trees are seen at the site where a MOAB struck.

Reuters

2. Afghan Special Forces inspect inside a cave which was used by suspected Islamic State militants.

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3. Burnt trees where the MOAB struck.

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4. Forces patrol the site in the Achin district of the eastern province of Nangarhar in Afghanistan.

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5. Forces inspect the insides of a cave where US military thought ISIS militants were operating from.

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6. Another view of the site of impact.

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7. Still image taken from a video released by the U.S. Department of Defense on April 14, 2017 shows the moment after a MOAB struck.

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8. U.S. officials said a network of tunnels and caves was being used by militants linked to Islamic State.

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9. Image shows the extent of impact of the MOAB.

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10. Another view of the explosion

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A second extradition request by Turkish judicial authorities for three out of eight Turkish military servicemen that fled to Greece last July in the wake of an unsuccessful coup in the neighboring country was rejected on Tuesday by an appellate council in Athens
No fewer than two persons were yesterday killed in Mushin area of Lagos, when two warring factions of street gangs clashed in the area.

Witness said trouble started when, rival youth gangs, suspected to be secret cult sects engaged themselves in a fight burning shops and looting stalls worth millions of naira.

The rampaging youths were said to have invaded Alamutu Street, Idi Oro, from Akala Elegba looting shops and setting them ablaze early this morning.

In a quick response to the crisis, the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Command waded into the area to restore peace.

Meanwhile, the Lagos Police Command said it has arrested eight persons alleged to be involved in a clash that led to the death of two people and destruction of property in Idi-Oro, Mushin.

The command Spokesman, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, confirmed the arrest

Famous-Cole said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, had also deployed more police personnel to ensure peace in the area.

He said the suspects, who were arrested in Idi Oro had machetes and axes in their possession Normalcy has returned to the area and there is a heavy police presence there.

The public should go about their business. There is a free- flow of traffic in the area now, Famous-Cole said.

Source: Leadership
Men of the Katsina State Police Command has arrested an 18-year-old sex worker, Aisha Idris, for allegedly conspiring with a nurse to sell her three-month-old baby for N200,000.

Speaking in Katsina, the State Police Commissioner, Usman Ali Abdullahi, disclosed that the nurse, he identified as Ogugua Oko, who works with the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina, connected her to the buyer of the baby.

Following their arrest, the three-month-old baby was recovered from one Grace Ohoho, a resident of Okuku village, Owerri in Imo State.

According to the Police boss, Information gathered has it that Aisha Idris gave birth three months ago at the Federal Medical Centre. She conspired with her friend, Hauwa, and a nurse working with the Centre, who linked them to one Joy Ihenamere to sell the baby for N200,000 to Grace Ohoho.

The case was reported to the command on April 10. The suspects are in the police custody.

Ohoho, who claimed to have been married for 18 years explained that her inability to bear children forced her into buying the baby she named Victor.

Aisha Idris on her own part, revealed that she did not know what to do with the baby and was planning to abandon him when the idea came to her.

Source: Dailypost
The former first lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan, has been given the permission to withdraw her money, the Federal High Court in Lagos has granted her unrestrained access to her recently unfrozen $5.9 million. The court had on April 6th unfrozen the money which was earlier seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, who suspected that the funds found in a Skye bank account were proceeds from financial crimes.

The EFCC had applied for a stay of execution on the court order unfreezing her account. However at the court hearing today, counsel to EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, informed the court that the agency was withdrawing its application for stay of execution on the order and is also not going to appeal the order.

Counsel to Patience Jonathan, Ifedayo Adedipe, confirmed to the court that he had been served with the EFCCs application to withdraw its application for stay of proceedings.

Adedipe also notified the court of his clients plan to withdraw the Form 48 and Form 49 he filed to cite Skye Bank for contempt of court for not allowing Patience Jonathan withdraw money from the account despite a court order unfreezing the account.

After hearing both sides, the presiding judge, Justice Olatoregun, granted the request for withdraw of their respective applications, giving Patience Jonathan unrestrained access to make withdrawals from the account.
Economic and Financial crimes commission (EFCC), Monday arraigned three siblings Vincent Ayewah, Florence Ayewah and Emmanuel Ayewah, and four others before a Lagos High Court, Ikeja for allegedly defrauded Africas richest woman, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija of N3m through her Rose of Sharon Foundation.

Those charged alongside the siblings include; Onuwa David; Okoronkwo Chikadibia; Ehizibolo George, Chinyere Awanah.

An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wasiu Ajisafe, after their arraignment informed the court that the anti-graft agency received a petition dated 15th November, 2012 from the foundation signed by its founder, Mrs Alakija, against one of its staff, Vincent Ayewah, on issues of stealing, forgery and impersonation.

Led in evidence by the prosecutor, the prosecution witness, Ajisafe informed the court that the Foundation, which is a non-profit making organization for empowering widows and awarding scholarship to orphans, hired Vincent to assist the project officer of the foundation in daily duties of attending to beneficiaries.

Vincent, thereafter, connived with his two siblings who are also beneficiaries at the foundation, including friends, to forge staff Identity cards of the Foundation with different names so as to defraud the organisation.

 The agency, thereafter, received letters of the investigation activities from banks like Fidelity, Stanbic bank and others. In view of this, other suspects were arrested of which they volunteered their statements under caution.

Source: Vanguard
The autopsy done on the remains of Isiaka Adeleke, the Osun West Senator who died on Sunday in Osogbo is suggesting that the late lawmaker had an overdose of painkillers in his system, family and medical sources have told PREMIUM TIMES.

The sources said a medical examination of the tissues taken from the Senators body indicated he was injected with an overdose of painkillers.

We learnt he was injected by one of his personal physicians said to have administered similar drugs on him in the past to suppress nagging pains in one of his legs, one source said.

Another source claimed the man who administered the drug on the former governor was not a qualified doctor, and had since been arrested. But PREMIUM TIMES is unable to independently verify that as at the time of publishing this report.

Mr. Adeleke died early Sunday at Biket Hospital in Osogbo but was not buried same day as scheduled after his younger brother, Deji, ordered an autopsy to be done at the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital (LAUTH) to ascertain the cause of death.

The preliminary result of the autopsy has since been made available to the family. It has however not been made public.

The pathology who conducted the autopsy, a Dr. Solaja, declined to speak to PREMIUM TIMES. He immediately terminated the telephone call made to him after our reporter identified herself.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Akeem Lasisi, could not be reached for comments. His known telephone number was switched off the several times our reporter called.

An official of the hospital, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to discuss the matter with the media, said, There will still be more examination on the tissue sample collected so as to ascertain the exact cause of death as people have been speculating poison.

Our efforts to confirm the arrest of the doctor who administered the painkiller were also unsuccessful, with Police Commissioner Fimihan Adeoye saying he had not received any report to that effect.

Mr. Adeleke was rushed to Biket Hospital in Osogbo on Sunday where he was confirmed dead.

The late senator was buried at his residence in Ede on Monday (today).

Source: PremiumTimes
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday granted bail to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

The Judge who presided over the case, Binta Nyako said the bail was granted on health grounds.

The judge also gave a stern warning to the defendant not to participate in any rally or be found in a crowd of more than 10 persons in the course of the bail.

She, however, refused the separate bail applications filed by the the IPOB leaders co-defendants.

The accused persons charged along with Kanu and who were denied bail by the judge were the National Coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin Madubugwu, and a former Field Maintenance Engineer seconded to the MTN, David Nwawuisi.

The court also in a separate ruling rejected the application by Kanu and two of the co-defendants seeking the setting aside of the courts earlier order granting protection to prosecution witnesses to enable them to testify behind a screen or in mask as well as using pseudonyms to refer to them during proceedings.

Kanu who had been in detention since 2015 was granted bail on Tuesday following the application filed by his lawyer after part of the charges filed against them were struck out by the court.

Justice Nyako noted that she had observed that Kanu was always having to sit down in the dock whenever he appeared in court, a development which she said could be an indication that he could be suffering from an ailment that could not be treated in prison.

She therefore granted bail in the sum of N100m with three sureties in like sum.

The judge ordered that one of the sureties to be provided by the defendant must be a highly placed person such as a senator.

She directed that the other must be a highly recognised leader in the religion being practised by Kanu.

When asked by the judge in the course of reading the ruling, Kanu said she was practising Judaism.

The third surety, according to the judge, must be a resident of Abuja and who must have a landed property in the Federal Capital Territory.

The court fixed July 11 and 12 for commencement of trial.

Source: ( PM News )
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Monday ordered the temporary forfeiture of a 12-storey building at 27 Marine Road, Apapa owned by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP-Delta North Senatorial District), until the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) concludes investigations in the N1.5billion fraud charges levelled against him.

The order was at the instance of an application filed by the EFCCs counsel, George Chia-Yakua, against Senator Nwaoboshi and his two companies: Golden Touch Construction Project Limited and Bilderberg Enterprises Limited.

The EFCC said that the application was in line with Section 44(2)(k) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended, and Sections 28 and 29 of the EFCC (Establishment) Act 2004.

Chia-Yakhua told the court that the anti-graft agency had received a petition from a group, Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum against the accused on alleged money-laundering by Nwaoboshi, who heads the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs.

In an affidavit in support of the application, Garuba Yusuf Abubakar, said that upon receipt of the petition, investigations were made on the movement of funds suspected to be proceeds of illegal activities.

He said that in 2010, the Tender Boards of Delta State awarded a contract to the Senators second company, Bilderberg Enterprises Limited, to buy construction equipment for the Delta State Direct Labour Agency for N1.580 billion. But rather than buying new equipment, the company only imported and supplied used equipment to the agency, when the state government had paid for new ones.

Abubakar further alleged that Nwaoboshi moved the proceeds to various accounts linked to him, and his company bought the said 12-storey building known as Guinea House in Apapa for N805 million.

The deponent said that further investigation revealed that Nwaoboshis Bank Verification Number (BVN) 22300559079, has 20 bank accounts he operates in Nigeria, while his private companies through BVN 22244303840, have 23 accounts.

Consequently, Justice Abdulaziz Anka ordered that the disputed property be temporarily forfeited to the federal government.

Source: BreakingTimes
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential gubernatorial candidate at the 2015 general election,Umar Nasko and the immediate past Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, has been accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission with an alleged N3bn fraud.

It was learnt that the charges had been filed before a Federal High Court in Minna, Niger State.

Nasko also served as Chief of Staff and Commissioner for Environment under Aliyus administration between 2007 and 2015.

According to the EFCC, Aliyu, who is popularly known as the chief servant, allegedly diverted N520m from the Niger State Government Security Account domiciled in Zenith Bank account between January and March 2011.

Within the same period, the former governor also allegedly diverted a separate N1.7bn from the same account.

The commission said in 2015 Aliyu and Nasko allegedly diverted about N1.09bn, which was 16 per cent shares of Niger State in the North South Power Company Limited.

The alleged crimes are believed to be in contravention of sections 97 and 312 of the Penal Code.

One of the charges read in part, That you, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, being the governor (also known as chief servant) of Niger State from 2007 to 2015; Umar Mohammed Nasko, being the former Commissioner for Environment/Chief of Staff to Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, sometime between April 7, 2015 and December 7, 2015 in Minna within the jurisdiction of this honourable court while being entrusted with dominion over money belonging to Niger State Government dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of N1,090, 000,000, which formed part of the proceeds of the sale of 16 per cent shares of the sale of Niger State in the North South Power Company Limited and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 312 of the Penal Code.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
A man has suddenly disappeared from sight on Good Friday leaving his family in deep agony as search continues.

A South African family identified as the Msibi family is currently in shock after dad, Gideon disappeared on Good Friday.

According to Daily Sun SA, the 63-year-old father of four had come home from Rustenburg, where he works, to spend the Easter weekend with his family.

According to his daughter Thuli Msibi (38), their father arrived home at Extension 8 in Kagiso, Mogale City at about 10 in the morning. She said: He got out of his bakkie as if he was coming into the house.

But then he just stopped at the gate, looked at us as we waved hello, jumped back into the bakkie and left.

He never said a word to anyone. We still do not know what happened. He just stood there and went back to his car. That was the last time we saw him.

Thuli said the family had tried to call their father but the calls were not going through. They tried the entire weekend but had no luck.

Instead, they were surprised to receive a call from the police saying their fathers bakkie had been found abandoned in Rustenburg.

It was a shock for us when we got the news. Our father is a hardworking man and we were looking forward to spending time with him and had even prepared a special meal.

We just want him to come home, dead or alive. We want to know where he is so we can have closure.

Rustenburg police confirmed that a missing persons case had been opened and said they were investigating.
The Vice-Chancellor of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Kayode Soremekun, on Monday said the award of honorary degrees of the institution would not go to politicians and moneybags.

Mr. Soremekun spoke at a news conference in Oye-Ekiti to herald week-long activities marking the maiden convocation ceremony of the institution.

According to him, the university does not subscribe to cash-and-carry honorary degrees often given to politicians and moneybags across the country.

We are de-emphasising the mercantilist and cash-and-carry mentality of giving honorary degrees to only the rich and the powerful.

There are many people contributing to the development of this country but nobody is recognising them.

This university has been receiving commendations here and there for ignoring the moneybags.

Everything is not about silver and gold; we should remember the people on this side of the divide, the professor said.

The vice-chancellor said the universitys resolve would convey the intended message that recognition could also go to patriotic Nigerians from humble backgrounds.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the university has selected four awardees for honorary doctorate degrees, with three retired principals of secondary schools and an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert making the list.

The retired principals are, 100-year-old Adepoju Akomolafe; 89-year-old Francis Daramola, former principal of Christs School which is the alma mater of the current Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, and Efunjoke Coker, while the ICT expert is Babatope Agbeyo.

Mr. Soremekun said that the Attah of Igala and Chairman of Kogi State Council of Traditional Rulers, Michael Idakwo, would be installed as the first Chancellor of the institution at the grand finale of the convocation ceremony on Saturday, April 29.

The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, and Mr. Fayemi are among the dignitaries expected at the convocation.

The vice-chancellor said 504 graduands cutting across 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 academic sessions would receive first degrees while engineering graduands would get inducted into their professional bodies.

In the 2014/2015 session, eight students had First Class honours; 69 Second Class Upper; 79 Second Class Lower; eight Third Class and one Pass.

In 2015/2016 session, 10 obtained First Class; 155 Second Class Upper; 134 Second Class Lower and 40 Third Class.

Mr. Soremekun said an endowment fund would be launched as part of the activities marking the maiden convocation while the universitys postgraduate school would soon begin.

Source: NAN
The Federal Government on Monday said it has begun discussions with illegal petrol refiners in the Niger Delta as part of measures to end the unwholesome activity in the region.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu said government has met with the illegal refiners to review and adopt an implementation template for the setting up of modular refineries to replace existing illegal refineries in the region.

Kachikwu who spoke in Abuja at the 10th edition of the annual Nigerian Association of Energy Economics (NAEE)/International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE) conference, explained that the replacement of illegal oil refineries with modular refineries was part of the governments wider plan for the development of the Niger Delta, and the countrys oil and gas industry, and as such wants to take care in its execution.

Represented by the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Dr. Bello Gusau, the minister noted that in the past few weeks, we have had open and prospective discussions with some of the refiners and government is assiduously working to ensure this initiative is carefully implemented without destruction to the environment.

This will not only provide a legal job and source of income for the populace, but also contribute to our national productivity.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, the President of the NAEE, Prof. Wumi Iledare appeared not impressed by last Decembers deal by the Federal Government with some International Oil Companies to exit Joint Venture cash call.

Iledare said the deal would have been taken care of long ago, if the government had passed the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which has languished at the National Assembly for over a decade.

He stated that while accolades have been showered on the government for such thinking through such deal, the need for comprehensive reform of the oil sector using the PIB was still very vital.

Source: BreakingTimes
Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has arrived the Federal High Court in Abuja for the proceedings of the ongoing trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, and his co-accused.

The Governor was already seated in the courtroom for over 30 minutes before Kanu and his co-accused were produced in court by prison officials at about 10.05am on Tuesday.

The governor was decked in red attire with a red cap typical of Igbo culture to match.

When Kanu arrived the courtroom, his attention was drawn by his lawyers to Fayose who was said to be waiting for him.

Fayose stood up and had a hug with the Biafra nation agitator.

After exchanging pleasantries, Fayose moved back to his seat while Kanu took a seat on the other side of the aisle.

After some minutes the governor crossed over the aisle to take a seat beside Kanu.

They had a brief chat before Fayose returned to his original seat.

The governor is still seated in the courtroom while the trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, is being awaited to deliver her reserved ruling.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
There is always ability in disability, that was the story of Haben Girma, who is the first Deaf-blind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, a feat which earned her recognition as a White House Champion of Change, Forbes 30 under 30, and BBC Women of Africa Hero.

Since her graduation, Haben advocates for equal access to information for people with disabilities. Haben holds a B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology from Lewis & Clark College.

Because of her disability rights advocacy, she was honored by President Barack Obama, President Bill Clinton, and many others.

Haben has been featured extensively in media around the world, including the BBC, NBC, Forbes, NPR, and many more. Shes based in San Francisco and she enjoys salsa dancing, surfing, and traveling the world.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni who briefed journalists in Ishawo on the ongoing operations in the creeks 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, said 13 suspected kidnappers have already been arrested and are currently aiding the team to track down the remaining suspects still on the run.

It would be recalled that two weeks ago, four police officers and an Army Captain lost their lives after an ambush unleashed on them by suspected militants in Ishawo area.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, while condoling with the families and loved ones of the departed officers, had assured that every perpetrator directly or remotely linked to the dastardly act would be brought to justice in the shortest possible time.

Owoseni said that the Governor immediately ordered a joint operation to hunt down the perpetrators, adding that the operation was yielding positive results.

So far so good 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. What you have seen now is for us to appraise what we have been doing for the past one week. So, quality arrests have been made and we are talking to them because the arrests that were made we believe that we get some evidential value from them, so they are talking to us, at least that makes us to know who we are looking for so that we wont be just wild catching, Owoseni said.

The Commissioner of Police who was joined on the inspection of the joint operation to the den of the militants in Ishawo Creeks by the Commander, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Mr. Tunji Disu, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Habib Aruna, security squad leaders and some journalists, said the visit was to appraise the work done so far and the next line of action.

Earlier this morning, they were able to get to the proper camps of these criminal elements where they saw some of them cooking food who fled immediately they saw the combined team. We just feel that we should take a decision to destroy the camps.

The destruction of the camps are ongoing, that is why we are here and the officers that are handling the destruction of the camps, they are right inside the creeks now and at the end of the day, they would share the story as they finish the operations, but our movement here is just for you to see the terrain and see what the security operatives are facing with regards to policing this environment and that is why we are clamouring for the destruction of these shanties, Owoseni said.

Source: BreakingTimes
Popular socialite in Lagos identified as Mrs. Fumilola Ogbuaya, aka Arike Fumilola Ogundipe, wanted in connection with drug trafficking by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NAFDAC)

The woman was also accused of allegedly using proceeds of drugs to acquire property.

It was learnt that the socialite was implicated in a case of botched exportation of 1.6 kilogrammes of cocaine to Saudi Arabia in February 2017 through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The NDLEA Commander at the Lagos airport, Ahmadu Garba, said one Odeyemi Morayo, aka Ariyo Monsurat Olabisi, arrested by the agency implicated Ogbuaya during investigation.

He said, Mrs. Fumilola Ogbuaya, aka Arike Fumilola Ogundipe, a Lagos socialite has ignored an invitation by the NDLEA. Her Lagos residence was traced by a team of investigators, but she was not at home. Since the visit to her Lagos residence, she had not been to that house and had also not reported to the NDLEA office.

The agency is investigating several landed properties worth several billions of naira traced to Ogbuaya in Lagos, Ogun and Osun states. The assets include Arike Plaza, some plots of land and buildings in strategic locations. The Lagos socialite, who is a distributor of alcoholic drinks, is needed by the NDLEA in an ongoing investigation. She hails from Ilesa, Osun State.

The NDLEA Chairman, Col. Muhammad Abdallah (retd.), urged members of the public with information on Ogbuayas whereabouts to report to the nearest NDLEA office, adding that the case would be pursued to a logical conclusion.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
An Ebute-Meta Chief Magistrates Court in Lagos on Monday charged a local textile trader, Titilayo Momoh, for attempting suicide on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

The one-count charge reads, That you, Titilayo Momoh, on the 24th day of March, 2017 at about 10:00 hours at Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos did attempt to commit suicide by jumping into the river and thereby committed an offense under Section 235 Cap C17, Volume 3 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Mrs. Momoh pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Her defense counsel, Beauty Otigi, applied for bail. The prosecutor, Kehinde Omisakin, did not object to the bail application.

Chief Magistrate T.A. Elias consequently granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. He also ordered the defendant to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before her next court appearance.

The judge then adjourned the case till June 2017.

Source: SaharaReporters
An Osun High Court on Tuesday in Osogbo sentenced four persons to death for conspiracy and armed robbery.

The convicts, Joseph Moses, 24, Samuel Job, 19, Gideon Ode, 25, and Daniel Abraham, 24, were brought to the court on a four-count charge of armed robbery and conspiracy.

The prosecutor, Abdulrahman Temitope, had told the court that the convicts committed

the offense on October 14, 2013 at about 8:00 p.m. along Kajola expressway in Osogbo.

Temitope said the convicts conspired among themselves to rob one Abubakar Rauf of his motorcycle with registration number BDG 896 QB.

The suspects conspired to attack the complainant with a knife and dangerous weapons collecting his motorcycle.

They injured the complainant and also carted away his Bajaj motorcycle to their house before they were apprehended, the prosecutor said.

Mr. Temitope said the crime committed had been a serial occurrence within the vicinity which had led to the death and missing of some persons.

The prosecutor said the offences contravened Section 6 and is punishable under section 1 of the Robbery and Fire Arm (Special Provision) Cap R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Counsel to the accused, Jimmy Jones, however, pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy in her judgment.

Delivering judgment, Justice Olubunmi Ayoola sentenced the convicts to death due to the magnitude of their crime, adding that the prosecutor had proved his case beyond any reasonable doubt.

Source: NAN
Nigerian Prince, a proposed movie on email scammers, has won a one million dollar AT&T grant at the Tribeca Film Festival. The movie, written and directed by Nigerias Biyi Bandele and Oscar Hernandez-Topete, was announced the winner on April 20, at the Film Festival in New York. According to media reports AT&T will provide funding of up to one million for Bandele to create his movie. Tribeca will also provide mentorship from seasoned industry professionals. The telecommunications conglomerate also plans to distribute the winning film across several of its video platforms. Nigerian Prince is based on the notorious email scams from Nigerians. Its centered on a stubborn Nigerian-American teenager sent back to Nigeria against his will. Things take another turn when he joins forces with an Internet scammer in order to return to the United States. Bandele is a Nigerian novelist, playwright and filmmaker. His directorial debut film Half of a Yellow Sun was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival while his other movie, Fifty was included in the 2015 London Film Festival. Bandele also directed the third season of the popular MTV drama series, Shuga.

Source: Vanguard
The Ogun State Police Command, has arrested one suspected Internet fraudster identified as Abiodun Joseph, who impersonated the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Facebook and duped two Nigerian ladies of various sums of money.

The suspect was said to have been arrested on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, at Ilese, in the Ijebu North East Local Government Area.

Joseph was paraded alongside three armed robbers and kidnappers at the state command headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, on Monday.

The suspect had allegedly duped the ladies, who were based in the United States of America, to the tune of N600,000, which was paid through money transfer.

While parading the suspects, the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, said Joseph had been using his Facebook and Whatsapp accounts to dupe unsuspecting members of the public.

He said his men got wind of the illicit act of the 26-year-old suspect and swung into action.

He said, On interrogation, he owned up to the crime and confessed that he defrauded the ladies of N600,000.

While speaking with PUNCH Metro, Joseph said he opened the Facebook account in October 2016 to defraud people.

He said he uploaded Oonis pictures from the Internet and used them on the Facebook account, adding that in no time, ladies began to send him requests, commenting on his good looks.

Joseph revealed that many ladies sent requests to him that they wanted to be his oloris (wives) thinking he was genuine, adding that he exploited their desperation to defraud some of them.

He said, I opened the Facebook account in October last year purposely for Internet scam. I knew that Ooni was popular and that was why I uploaded his picture.

A few days after I opened the Facebookaccount, many people, mostly ladies, sent friend requests. Many of them said I had good looks and they wanted to be my oloris.

In our chats, I told them that they have to pay some money for traditional ritual if they are really interested in being the oloris. Two of them in the US fell for the scam and sent some money to me totalling N600,000 through money transfer.

One sent N350,000 and the second one sent N250,000.

Some of the ladies were really desperate; some of them sent nude pictures, showing their breasts and private parts (as seen by our reporter from one of the two iPhone 6 seized from the suspect).

Joseph, however, said one of the ladies who wanted to be oloris demanded that he should buy her a house worth N45m.

The suspect said he told her that she had to pay N5m out of the amount and he would make up the balance.

He said he was still waiting for the N5m when the police swooped on his residence and arrested him.

He concluded, I regret my action, most especially using the name and pictures of the Ooni to perpetuate fraud. I seek his forgiveness.
Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, rescued an aide to Osun State Governor, Ms Idiat Babalola, from mob attack at the premises of the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, on Monday.

According to the Senior Special Assistant (Media) to Amosun, Mr. Adejuwon Soyinka, the crowd of sympathisers demanded that Babalola be made to leave the premises of the Ede, Osun State country home of the Adelekes.

Read also: Adelekes burial: Mob collapses canopy on Amosun, Akeredolu, others

The irate youths said Babalola was being touted to become the running mate of the anointed candidate of the APC.

Problem started when Babalola was sighted by the mourners who demanded that she should be sent out.

Despite pleas from family members of the deceased , the youths insisted and started shouting and raining curses on her.

See photos:
Following the satisfactory result from analyses of water samples from all water delivery points at the Queens College, Yaba, the Lagos State Government has recommended the resumption of academic activities in the school.

In a release signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Mrs. Adeola Salako, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who disclosed today while giving an update on the outbreak of gastroenteritis in the school, noted that the schools authority, in collaboration with the Parents Teachers Association, Old Girls Association and the Federal Ministry of Education had successfully addressed the lapses by instituting various control measures.

Idris said the control measures include the decommissioning of the multiple contaminated water sources, deployment of a single water source with water treatment, renovation of the dining hall, decontamination of the hostels, overhauling of the sewage system and clearance of the septic tanks.

He added that the periodic testing and retesting of water sources would continue, in line with international best practices.

Idris said, I am delighted to inform you that, based on the results of the analysis of the latest water samples collected on Tuesday, April 11, 2017, all water delivery points have been certified to conform to official specifications and I hereby recommend to the school authority resumption of students of Queens College, Yaba, Lagos.

While restating the state governments commitment to citizens good health, Idris emphasised the need for the school authority and appropriate federal agencies to continue to supervise and monitor the students and staff of the school because of the polymicrobial nature of the outbreak.

Idris also revealed that four out of the 25 infected kitchen staff that were treated and tested afresh still harboured some bacteria, recommending that the affected staff be made to undergo further treatment, be prevented from handling food and be redeployed from the kitchen area.

He noted that since the outbreak of the disease in the school, 40 cases were admitted in various public and private hospitals in the state.

He added that 37 cases were discharged after full recovery, while the remaining three were lost to the disease.

The commissioner noted that though no new case of the disease has been reported since the last case was discharged on the 18th of April, 2017, he warned that sporadic cases may still occur due to multi-microbial nature of the disease occurrence.

Idris however restated the need for the school authority as well as proprietors of schools in the state to ensure strict compliance with personal and environmental hygiene by ensuring provision of safe water, appropriate refuse disposal, conducting food handlers test for kitchen staff and food vendors biannually, and continuous monitoring of water and sewage treatment plants.

He also encouraged students and all stakeholders to imbibe the culture of regular handwashing with soap and water.

He urged members of the public to report suspected cases of any disease of public health importance to the nearest public health facility or notify the Ministry of Health via the following numbers: 08037170614, 09087106072, 08023169485, 08052817243, and 08026441681.

Source: Punch
The full statement by the Kano State Emirate Council revealing that the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II spent a whopping N4.3 billion since becoming the royal father in 2014.

The Kano State Emirate Council on Monday released details admitting that Emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II, spent a staggering N4.314billion since emerging as the emir in June 2014.

This was made public at a press conference in Kano, by the senior council official in charge of finance, who is also the Walin Kano, Bashir Wali.

Mr. Wali, who provided some details of the expenditure, also explained that Emir Sanusi inherited N1.9 billion (exactly N1.893,378.927.38) and not N4 billion as stated in some media reports.

Here is the official statement below:
Dino Melaye has taken his victorious celebration over the certificate scandal to a new level.

Recently, the senator representing Kogi West attended an event with his team and to the surprise of many, he mounted the stage, took over the microphone and began to perform Aje kun iya nioje.

Recall that Melaye first released the video of that song shortly after he appeared before the senate committee on ethics and privileges over his certificate scandal. The vice-chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, had also appeared before the panel to confirm or deny the allegation that Melaye did not graduate from the university. Garba affirmed that the senator graduated from the university.

To celebrate this victory, Melaye uploaded the video in which he sang a Yoruba song, Aje kun iya nioje, aje kun iya nioje, eni ti o teni no, ton de na de ni, aje kun iya nioje.

A quick translation of the song reportedly is: You will be beaten mercilessly if you fight someone who is stronger than you.

Diss song here

The song fast became a sensation and has been covered by top acts including comedian EmmaOhMaGod.

Now, Dino Melaye is performing the song live and this has stirred reactions from Nigerians.

Watch the clip:

And heres what Nigerians think:
With a zero-day Word exploit nipping at our heels, its time to work around the recent crop of bugs and get your Windows systems patched.

Windows and Office patches have presented many challenges the past few months. February Patch Tuesday was dropped, then Microsoft came back with an obviously forgotten Flash patch. March had a big batch of bugs. April has had more than its fair share of bugs, too, including one that dismantles Windows Update on certain AMD Carrizo computers.

[ The essentials for Windows 10 installation: Download the Windows 10 Installation Superguide today. | Stay up on key Microsoft technologies with the Windows Report newsletter. ]

Heres where we stand with this months patches:

I undoubtedly missed a few problems, but those are the big ones.

Theres a new version of the much-maligned KB 3150513, which you want to avoid unless youre planning an in-place upgrade to Win10 Creators Update soon. Gunter Born reported a problem with the latest Malicious Software Removal Tool; something is messing up the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

With that as preamble, here are the steps I recommend.

Windows 10

Follow my tip on installing Win10 updates. If you want to stay on Win10 Anniversary Update and prevent Microsoft from forcing you on to Creators Update (which has plenty of bugs but fewer than I expected), follow these instructions. You may want to use wushowhide to hide any driver updates. All of the other updates should be fine, including Servicing stack updates, Office, MSRT, and .Net updates (go ahead and use the Monthly Rollup if its offered). I recommend reporting any problems you might encounter.

Windows 7 and 8.1

If you have a newer computer (built in the past 18 months), watch out because you might get slipped a Microsoft Mickey Finn.

Theres a big controversy over Microsofts heavy-handed approach to coercing users to move to Windows 10 by disabling Windows Update on newer 7th-generation PCs. It looks like Microsoft will use this months patches to shut off Windows Update on computers running Intel Kaby Lake and AMD Ryzen processors. It isnt clear why earlier Carrizo DDR4 PCs were included in the dragnet or if older Skylake-based computers are immune from the shutdown.

If youre running Windows 7 or 8.1 on a PC made in the past 18 months, check to see if installing this months Windows patches will block Windows Update. Thats not as simple as it sounds; Microsoft hasnt bothered to provide a hit list of blocked chips or a program thatll scan your system and tell you if running the updates will block your PC. Heres the next-best alternative:

Step 1. Download and run Speccy. Its a free system scanner that will tell you both the type of CPU youre using and the RAM memory specs (screenshot).

IDG

Step 2. If Speccy says youre running an Intel Kaby Lake processor or an AMD Ryzen processor, seriously contemplate whether you want to apply this months security patchesor if its easier to jump to Windows 10.

Step 3. If Speccy says youre running an Intel Skylake processor, you can breathe a little easier. Although Microsoft is still being coy about whether all Skylakes will be supported with Win7 and 8.1 updates, I havent heard of anyone with a Skylake whos been shut down. Given Microsofts year-long waffling on this topic, I doubt well ever know for sure, but for now Skylake looks safe.

Step 4. If Speccy says you have a Celeron processor, your patching future isnt so clear. I have a report from an Intel Celeron T3000 owner who got clobbered. Intel officially lists the Celeron 3965U as a 7th-generation chip, so it will likely be prevented from getting Win7 and 8.1 patches. I cant find a definitive, official list of banned Celeron processors, but the Wikipedia page for Kaby Lake lists the Celeron G3930, G3930T, and G3950 as 7th generation and thus probably banned. I say probably because we dont have any official confirmation or documentation from Microsoft.

Step 5. If Speccy says you have an AMD Carrizo CPU and DDR4 RAM memory, youre in the throes of a documented bug. If you install this months Monthly Rollup or Security-Only patch on a Carrizo DDR4 PC, Windows Update will be blockedeven though Microsoft explicitly said Carrizo chips would be supported with Win7 updates. Apparently Carrizo DDR4 owners are collateral damage.

Users with Win7/8.1 PCs that fail Microsofts ill-defined test are caught between a rock and a hard place. Preventing the Word zero-day involves installing this months Monthly Rollup or Security-Only patch. But installing the patch also shuts down Windows Update. Theres a vigorous game of Win7 whack-a-mole going on, with GitHub poster Zeffy providing a way to unblock Windows Update on clobbered Win7/8.1 computers. The process isnt pretty, but if you want to run Win7 or 8.1 on a newer PC, you dont have much choice.

If you have an older computer or decide to take a chance on blowing up Windows Update on a newer PC, you need to choose whether to install the security-only updates or get all that Microsoft has to offerincluding telemetry patchesby using the monthly rollup. If youre in Group A (the monthly rollup group), updatings easy. If youre in Group B (those who dont want Microsoft snooping), its considerably more complex. I provide details in my patchocalypse article.

For those in Group A:

Step A1: Get your settings right. In Win7, click Start > Control Panel. In Win 8.1, press Win-X and choose Control Panel. Click System and Security. Under Windows Update, click the link marked Turn automatic updating on or off. Make sure Windows Update is set to Never check for updates (not recommended), then check the boxes marked Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates and Give me updates for Microsoft products and check for new optional Microsoft software when I update Windows. Click OK.

Step A2: Check for updates. Back in the Control Panel, under Windows Update, click the link to Check for Updates. (You may have to click Check for Updates a second time.) If youve done a Group A run in previous months, the check should go quickly. If it lingers for hours, follow these steps. Dont check any unchecked boxes. If you have no intention of updating this machine to Win10 in the near future, look for KB 3150513 and make sure its unchecked.

Step A3: Install the patches. Click the button marked Install Updates and follow the instructions. Youll end up with the April Monthly Rollup; all of your Office patches; maybe some .Net patches; Adobe Flash fixes; the Microsoft Security Essentials update; and the usual MSRT scanner. After the reboot, everything will be set to block automatic updates. Youre ready, but be sure to watch this column next month to see when the unpaid beta testers are done.

For those in Group B:

Step B1. Get the Security-Only patches. If you want security patches only, you have to reach out and grab them, then install them manually. Thats a nontrivial task. Since the Security-Only patches are not cumulative, you need to make sure you have the October, November, and December 2016 Security-Only patches installed. If you use Win7, theres also a January 2017 Security-Only patch. No Security-Only patches were issued for either Win7 or 8.1 in February, but there are March and April patches. You also need to manually download and install the Internet Explorer patches. Theres a big jumble of KB numbers and download links involved. AskWoody AKB article 2000003, maintained by PKCano, lists them all.

Download any patches that you havent yet installed, double-click on the downloaded MSU file, and let the installer run its course. If you get the Unsupported Hardware notice (screenshot), seriously reconsider your decision to stay with Windows 7 or 8.1. If you decide you really want to thumb your nose at Microsoft, try playing whack-a-mole with Zeffy.

IDG

Step B2: Get your settings right. In Win7, click Start > Control Panel. In Win 8.1, press Win-X and choose Control Panel. Click System and Security. Under Windows Update, click the link marked Turn automatic updating on or off. Make sure Windows Update is set to Never check for updates (not recommended), then check the box marked Give me updates for Microsoft products and check for new optional Microsoft software when I update Windows. Uncheck the box marked Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates (yes, Group B is different from Group A), and click OK.

Step B3: Check for updates. Back in the Control Panel, under Windows Update, click the link to Check for Updates. (You may have to click Check for Updates a second time.) The check takes many minutes. If it takes many hours, follow these steps.

Step B4: Get rid of the Monthly Rollup. Click the links to look at the Important and Optional updates. Dont check any unchecked boxes. If you see any entries marked Monthly Quality Rollup, uncheck the boxesif youre in Group B, you dont want them. For heavens sake dont ever check anything marked Preview. If you see any Security and Quality Rollup for .Net Framework boxes checked, leave them checked.

Step B5: Get rid of problematic updates. If you have no intention of updating this computer to Win10 in the near future, look for KB 3150513 and uncheck the box.

Step B5: Install the patches. Click the button marked Install Updates and follow the instructions. Youll end up with Office patches, .Net patches, possible Adobe Flash fixes, Security Essentials update, and the usual MSRT scanner. After the reboot, youre done. Pat yourself on the back, and watch this column next month for the all-clear.

Patching Windows and Office has always been a chore, but conscientiously applying updates has turned into a minefield.

Comments and suggestions most welcome on the AskWoody Lounge. Im looking at the ongoing viability of the Group B Security-only patching approach. Care to join the discussion?
Livestock Report Walsh Trading - Tue Nov 8, 8:27PM CST Cattle markets drift

Wheat, W. D. Gann natural support and resistance levels ONE44 Analytics - Tue Nov 8, 5:17PM CST 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 - Tue Nov 8, 5:00PM CST 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 - Tue Nov 8, 4:29PM CST 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 : 86.93 (-0.86%) CTH23 : 85.01 (-0.85%) CTK23 : 84.04 (-0.94%)

Hog Prices Fade for Turnaround Tuesday Barchart - Tue Nov 8, 4:29PM CST 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%)

Cattle Close Firm, Mostly Red Barchart - Tue Nov 8, 4:29PM CST 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%)

Tuesday Loss for Corn Market Barchart - Tue Nov 8, 4:29PM CST 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 : 666-0 (-0.22%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.6542 (-1.14%) ZCH23 : 672-2 (-0.22%) ZCK23 : 672-2 (-0.22%)
Private-equity firms are on a fundraising tear as they increasingly invest in technologythe traditional territory of venture capital.

Flush with cash, private-equity firms are flocking to the technology sector.

Silver Lake, based in Menlo Park, Calif., said this month that it raised $15 billion in capital for a tech-focused fund, exceeding its $12.5 billion target. Private-equity dealmaking in the sector is accelerating, with a record 184 transactions in the first quarter up 26 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to 451 Research, an information technology research and advisory company.

The tech industry is seeing a shift in its capital source - from venture capital to private equity - as fundraising in the latter market booms, according to alternative asset research firm Preqin. Forty percent of investors surveyed by Preqin plan to increase their investment in private equity this year.

An increasing number of tech-related companies have moved beyond the traditional territory of venture capital funds, and the sector as a whole has increasingly become a target for the wider private equity industry, Christopher Elvin, head of private equity at Preqin, said in an email.

Silver Lake is now the manager of the largest tech-centric private-equity fund ever raised, a title once held by private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners, whose sixth fund attracted $10.5 billion in late 2016, according to Preqin.

As for the wider fundraising boom, Elvin said that a record 1,908 private equity funds were seeking a combined $635 billion from investors at the start of April. While the most in-demand managers often see their funds oversubscribed, forty-five percent of investors say its harder to identify attractive investment opportunities in private equity compared to a year ago, according to the 2017 Preqin Global Private Equity and Venture Capital report. Only 5 percent believe its easier, Preqin found.

Silver Lakes most recent deal was the March sale of Vantage Data Centers to a group of investors that included Digital Bridge, PSP Investments and TIAA Investments, for undisclosed terms. Silver Lake also hold stakes in large tech companies such as Alibaba Group, Avaya, Broadcom, and Motorola Solutions, according to the private equity firms website.

Vista, meanwhile, acquired Infoblox, a tech security company, in November. The firms portfolio also includes Cvent, Sovos Compliance, and Superion, its website shows.

As for how quickly newly raised private equity capital will be deployed in tech? Elvin said giant firms like Silver Lake and Vista will take their time.

It is likely that these funds will not be able to deploy their capital as quickly as smaller growth or venture capital funds operating in the same sector, but there is no indication that they should necessarily adopt a slower rate of deployment than other buyout funds of a similar size, Elvin wrote in an email.
Investors in Credit Suisse will have their say on revised remuneration proposals at the banks annual meeting on Friday, but U.K. fund managers say its just the beginning.

As investors prepare to vote on revised bonus proposals for Credit Suisses top executives on Friday at the Swiss banks annual meeting, U.K. fund managers with big stakes in investment banks are warning them to make changes to their employee bonus schemes or risk a shareholder revolt.

Credit Suisses upcoming annual meeting has been in the news for several days, after investors forced the bank to revise downward remuneration proposals amid fears that otherwise they would not be approved by shareholders.

U.K. fund manager Schroders, which managed some 397.1 billion ($490.7 billion) at the end of 2016 in assets, is among those investors that hold a position in Credit Suisse and will be voting at Fridays annual general meeting. Jessica Ground, global head of stewardship at Schroders, tells Institutional Investor that Credit Suisse is just one example of how European banks have failed to correctly align top executive remuneration with corporate performance.

We are encouraging all banks to think about it, she says. We want to make sure there is a link between pay and performance. Pay has been running ahead of average earnings and of stock market returns. You have to have difficult conversations with companies and say, You havent delivered.

Fridays Credit Suisse meeting is being watched closely by buy-side governance teams after a report from proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services urged investors to vote against the original remuneration plans.

Hermes Investment Management, which manages 28.5 billion in assets and advises on a further 261 billion, is also voting Friday, on behalf of investors in its funds and its stewardship clients. Leon Kamhi, head of responsibility at Hermes, says remuneration structures in the banking sector are still too heavily reliant on the expectation of bonuses, despite recent changes to European regulations.

Lets face it, salary is typically not the only element of fixed compensation, he says. There is always an expectation that a certain level of bonus will be paid each year. So part of that bonus is acting like a deferred salary.

Another U.K. manager, Standard Life Investments, has been studying pay in financial services; the effort is being led by Alison Kennedy, its director of governance and stewardship.

Although Standard Life doesnt own any shares in Credit Suisse, Kennedy tells Institutional Investor that banks often measure success on inadequate, irrelevant, or irrational measures.

There is still a problem with the targets they are setting for themselves, she explains. Some are going down a scorecard route, where they have a range of performance measures. Some are financial, some are risk-based, some regulatory, and some customer satisfaction. They are all too widespread, and we are not sure, as shareholders, that it gives appropriate outcome. You might see a bank that is not performing that well paying out because they received fewer fines that year.

European banks are becoming increasingly sensitive to growing investor pressure on pay. In February, U.K. banks HSBC and Barclays both cut their bonus pools.

Institutional investors are now being a lot more public, says Schroders Ground. There has been a trend towards disagreement, and we have seen a number of pay proposals publicly withdrawn.
Nomura lands at second place for the first time since the survey was introduced.

For the first time ever, Mizuho Securities Group has toppled Nomura for first place in Institutional Investors annual All-Japan Sales Team ranking of the top equity sales teams in the country.

Nomura had been voted No. 1 every year since 2012, when the survey was introduced. SMBC Nikko Securities took third place in this years ranking, repeating last years rank, followed by Daiwa Securities Group at No. 4 and UBS at No. 5.

Institutional Investor received responses from 665 buy-side analysts and money managers from 323 firms, who collectively manage about $1 trillion in Japanese equities. The participants voted for their top four generalist salespeople based on eight attributes, including providing special services, understanding client needs and customized service, as well as knowledge and effective communication of research products. Each firms individuals were combined to form a team and create the leader table.

Much of the sell-side is focused on issues of regional diversification, said Keith Truelove, global head of equity distribution for SMBC Nikko Securities, which means domestic firms with Japan-focused expertise and knowledge will have a competitive advantage. And, within any specific market, such as Japan, the requirements on a broker from institutional investors are becoming more complex, Truelove added. Our experienced distribution team members are best equipped to deliver to clients a powerful combination of advisory resources, execution capabilities, and primary offerings that we have developed in Japan over the years.
Brokerage giant Aon has revealed the top global business risks, which are being shaped by technological advancements including social media, along with economic and geopolitical trends.

Aons 2017 Global Risk Management Survey shows damage to reputation/brand as the top-ranked risk by 1,843 respondents at public and private companies from around the world.

Cybercrime has dramatically risen in the ranks from ninth to fifth this year and has become the top concern among business in North America amid the increasing frequency of cyber breaches.

Political risk/uncertainties has re-entered the list of top risks at number nine , as politically stable developed nations become new sources of volatility and uncertainty for businesses.





Want the latest insurance industry news first? Sign up for our completely free newsletter service now The Aon report notes that many new driving factors are exacerbating traditional risks, adding new urgency and complexity to old challenges.

Take damage to reputation as an example. Over the past few years, while defective products, fraudulent business practices or corruption continue to be key reputation wreckers, new media technologies have greatly amplified their negative impact, making companies more vulnerable, the Aon report says.

In the age of Twitter or viral videos, damage to reputation could occur because of an inappropriate tweet by an executive, or a video by an employee complaining about sexual harassment or discrimination. On a related note, fake news, which started as a way to influence elections on social media, has begun to spill over to the corporate world.

According to Aon, businesses can no longer rely on their usual risk mitigation or risk transfer tactics as traditional risks evolve.
ASIC has announced that it has entered into a cooperation agreement to promote innovation in financial services with its Indonesian counterpart Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK).The deal, signed in Melbourne last week, establishes a framework for cooperation between both regulators in fintech and will see both share information on emerging market trends and regulatory issues that arise through innovation.As the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has seen its fair share of fintech development in insurance and other financial services.ASIC commissioner, John Price, said that the agreement highlights the deep ties between both regulators and the importance of international cooperation when it comes to technology and innovation.Many fintechs are not constrained by national borders and it is fundamental that we leverage this to share views, exchange information and to discuss some of the challenges that this can create for fintech businesses and the community, Price said.Pak Muliaman, chairman of the OJK, said that the deal will deepen engagement that can be used for financial sector development in both countries.Thus far, ASIC has signed similar agreements with regulators in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Canada and Kenya.
There could be more acquisitions on the horizon for brokers as the market continues to pick up, an expert has said.Last week, AUB Group announced that it had purchased a 50% stake in Brisbane-based LEA Insurance Brokers, adding to its five-bolt on acquisitions made thus far in FY 2017.Fabian Pasquini, divisional chief executive, national partners and group acquisitions at AUB Group, said that the broker network may not be done yet and acquisition activity could be about to pick up.We are always in the marketplace, 24/7, Pasquini told Insurance Business.The market overall hasnt had much acquisition activity. I am sensing signs of people coming out of their internal focus of business and looking to the horizon and that is a promising sign for us.Pasquini noted that AUB Group had been in discussions with LEA for some time as the businesses had discussed a partnership over the last few years.The business offered several attractive factors to AUB Group, Pasquini said, as LEAs business in the franchise and association sector alongside its burgeoning life insurance business saw AUB Group make a move.For other brokers, Pasquini said that AUB focuses on the current successful formula of a brokerage as well as how the business would fit into a partnership when acquisition talks begin and progress.Culture is critical, Pasquini noted.AUB also looks at what strands of its business will help strengthen an acquisition partner. In the case of LEA, Pasquini said that with more than 4,000 predominantly SME-based existing clients, AUB will look to roll-out coverage in financial and people risk to go alongside current physical risk solutions.
North Queensland MP Warren Entsch is confident that the Government will set-up a new mutual insurer to operate in Northern Australia - but the plans have come under attack from Suncorp Entsch currently has a proposed mutual model under assessment with the Department of Finance and Treasury, submitted alongside Regis Mutual Management and Willis Re, which encourages the Federal Government to underwrite a new mutual.The proposed plan has come under scrutiny from Suncorp, with Anthony Day , Suncorp Insurance CEO, saying mitigation is the only way to achieve protection for northern communities.A government mutual would merely paper over the cracks and not address the heart of the problem in the north  the high risk of cyclones devastating whole communities, flattening homes and neighbourhoods, Day said.We welcome government action but it needs to be directed at investing in mitigation, which is in this regions best interests.Entschs model would see Regis manage the firm, which would be owned by policyholders and provide basic cyclone cover, the Australian Financial Review reports.I have been talking directly to the Prime Minister on this. Im confident we will get a decision on this, Entsch told the AFR.What Im looking at is having a mutual just for cyclones in North Queensland. We need to get more competition into the market. The thing the insurance companies dont like about the model that Im putting up is its going to introduce competition to the market.Entsch likened his model to compulsory third party insurance as all residents in the Top End would be required to take out cover.However, Day said that the model is not in the national interest and will not help the region in the long-term when compared with mitigation.The Government is yet to respond to its own Northern Australia Insurance Premium Taskforce report, which was issued last year and warned about some of the pitfalls presented by a mutual.The report noted that a mutual could result in a complex claims experience and, without Government support, would be unable to offer premiums below current levels.The Government should be willing to listen and act on the strong advice of its own inquiries, Day continued.
To help continue freight operations and to maintain tracks, among many other things, Huron Central Railways parent company Genesee & Wyoming Canada is desperately seeking public funding.Huron Central Railway was hit with significant insurance premium hikes following the 2013 Lac-Megantic train disaster. Under the Safe and Accountable Rail Act of 2015, tighter insurance requirements were imposed on all railways, particularly those that ferry significant volumes of dangerous goods, which must be covered for up to $1 billion.On top of having to deal with stiff insurance requirements, the railway company also has to deal with railroad upkeep costs.In a reply to Northern Ontario Businesss email, Genesee & Wyoming Canada president Louis Gravel said that the railroader needs around $5 million to $6 million each year in order to sustain the infrastructure. Gravel also pointed out that freight volumes along the 278-kilometre line are sufficient to cover the operating costs, but not the capital investment.The Sault Ste. Marie-based railway company hauls freight for Essar Steel Algoma in the Sault, the Domtar pulp and paper mill in Espanola, and the EACOM sawmill in Nairn Centre.Previously, Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa and Queens Park came together to create a $33 million fund to help pay for the costs of maintaining the rails that the company used, but that pool was emptied by 2015.The short-line railway in Canada needs more government support at both the provincial and federal levels, as it is a key component of regional economic development, Gravel reasoned. We reduce the congestion, accidents and maintenance costs on regional roads caused by an increased usage of heavy trucks.
Consulting and insurance broker firm Acrisure has announced that D. Michael Sherman will occupy the post of president effective immediately.Sherman first joined the company in January this year as a strategic advisor. He will continue to be responsible for the oversight of its overall operations.The new Acrisure executive is a 40 year insurance veteran and has occupied various top positions with other insurers during the course of his career. He will report directly to Acrisure chief executive Greg Williams.In a company statement, Williams said: This is an appropriate time to create a separate position of president, and Mike is extremely qualified to assume this role. He will continue to apply his vast operations and leadership experience as we further build Acrisure into the preferred provider of insurance solutions.We have worked closely together over the past several months and during that time he has impressed me with his insights and vision as we continue our focus on accelerating organic growth and operational excellence. Mike will also assist us as we continue to identify strategic acquisitions around the globe.Sherman earned his B.A. from Alma College in Michigan and received his MBA from Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio.
They are wary of absolute power, because it corrupts absolutely - and they want Congressman Jeb Hensarling to know it.The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) has sent correspondence to Hensarling, who is Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, to express its concerns about the creation of a new federal insurance oversight office that has the potential to centralize regulatory power in the hands of one individual.A PR Newswire report said that lawmakers are currently considering the establishment of the Office of the Independent Insurance Advocate within the Treasury Department.According to the report, the proposal to create the new office is contained in the Financial Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs (CHOICE) Act, which is intended to limit federal encroachment on the business community which resulted from the Dodd-Frank Act.The language in question merges the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) with the independent member with insurance expertise on the Financial Stability Oversight Council to create the Office of Independent Insurance Advocate, the wire report said.What set off PIAs alarm bells is the way the proviso is worded, in such a manner that it prohibits the Secretary of Treasury from taking action to delay or prevent the issuance of any rule or the promulgation of any regulation by the Independent Insurance Advocate. The language of the proposed law also gives the person who occupies the appointive position carte blanche in any matter as it bars the Treasury Secretary from undertaking any interventions over the individuals actions, despite the office being housed under the Treasury Department.Furthermore, the provision states that the director of the new office would be a Senate-confirmed presidential appointee serving a six year term. The said office will also have its own budget and would have the capacity to hire its own staff, including lawyers, analysts and economists, the report said.We are struck by how powerful this position would be, PIA national vice president of government relations Jon Gentile said in the report. This office could potentially grow in a manner that would lead to a federal regulatory bureaucracy.This provision of the Financial Choice Act runs completely counter to the intent of Dodd-Frank reform by creating a new, expansive and unnecessary federal insurance bureaucracy with the potential to grow, PIA national executive vice president & chief executive Mike Becker added.Moreover, he explained: The Independent Insurance Advocate could lead to a federal insurance czar with no supervision, who would be positioned to usurp our strong and effective system of state insurance regulation.
Insuring fruit crops in Hawaii doesnt involve nearly as many pineapples as you might think.Its more about macadamias, pawpaw, and coffee. And its pretty unique  customer service is an agents lifeblood, because premiums dont change no matter who insures you.Because it is a Federally regulated program, the prices are set, so you cant go from one agent to another agent and get any discounts. Premium is going to be the same no matter who you use, said Caren Herrod, from Golden State Crop & Insurance Services.Once you acquire that client, its all about setting a good impression all the time, not just up front. Its definitely about the service. To me, its a very intriguing program.The Multi-Peril Crop Insurance program is authroized by the Risk Management Agency at the USDA. There are 18 private companies authorized to write crop policies, although the RMA determines both what rates can be charged and which crops can be insured.While P&C or Ag insurance covers the property and property owner on many different levels, multi-peril crop insurance covers the crop, Herrord said. Some policies cover a deficit in harvested production, some cover damage to trees, some cover nursery plants, and some cover losses in farm revenue.Because there isnt the competition, as far as dollars go  we stay knowledgeable in the crops and whats going on with growers and any changes on the horizon with rules. We have to be of the best service to our growers.Perhaps surprisingly, pineapples  that food most synonymous with Hawaii  dont have their own crop insurance.There is a lot of speculation that the pineapple industry is just too big to fail, Herrod explained. Its not that they dont fail. Its just one of those crops  theyre very hardy, they can withstand extreme swings in temperatures, periods of drought, periods of rain. The chance of loss is still there but the likelihood of a catastrophic loss is very slim. So because of that there hasnt been the interest in them having their own policy.Theres very few companies [growing them]  they require a lot of attention and its a big investment. These large companies have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of acres. A small loss percentage in the big scheme of things doesnt affect a large corporation the same as it would a small family owned farm.That said, there are still coverage options available to pineapple growers, just not in the form of a pineapple specific MPCI policy. [However] a grower may be able to insure their farm revenue, which can include revenue from pineapples, so a pineapple grower still has options available to them.
Zoom Health Plans financial statements reportedly paint a picture that is in stark contrast to its operations, prompting the decision of state insurance regulators to place it into receivership.The Oregon Insurance Division said that it took over the company, which has around 3,000 policyholders insured under its group and individual plans, after the regulator became aware of a material difference between the companys 2016 annual financial statement and its actual financial condition.It has been commanding the companys Portland offices since April 05, after it placed the company under supervision. During this period, Zoom Health declared it is leaving the business after sustaining significant losses in 2016.A review of the firms operations revealed the discrepancy between its books and reality, Oregon Insurance Division Lisa Morawski said in a report by The Oregonian. However, she declined to give further details on the situation.Meanwhile, Zoom spokesman Len Bergstein said it still has $9 million in cash reserves, which is more than enough to fulfil its obligations to its policyholders.The report also added that the 2,000 policyholders under group plans will be transferred by the state regulator to other carriers, while the estimated 700 who have individual plans under Zoom Health will have to find other providers by themselves when their policy expires this year.Official figures say the company lost close to $9 million in total in the health insurance exchanges in 2015 and 2016.Zoom Health is an offshoot of a network of clinics, ZoomCare, founded in 2006 by two University of Iowa alums who became medical doctors. The clinics are in good financial health and not subject to the receivership, according to The Oregonian.
Sen. Charles Schumer says the stampede that injured 16 people at New Yorks Penn Station just over a week ago shows a need for better coordination between law enforcement agencies at transportation hubs.

The stampede erupted April 14 following false reports of gunshots at the crowded station, where people also were leaving a New Jersey Transit train that had been stuck in a tunnel. The rumors were triggered by an Amtrak police officers use of a stun gun to subdue a disruptive man.

Schumer said Sunday there should be a joint command at Penn Station so law enforcers can communicate with each other better.

The New York Democrat says the federal Department of Homeland Security should issue recommendations for the best way to keep transportation hubs safe.

Schumer also says Congress should increase rail security funding for Penn Station and other hubs.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics New York
Investigators are scouring for clues about what sparked a fast-moving New York City house fire that killed five people, including two young boys and two teenage girls.

The fire broke out Sunday afternoon, on a street full of single-family homes in the middle class neighborhood of Queens Village, a neighborhood near Belmont Park, which hosts the Belmont Stakes, the final leg in horse racings Triple Crown. Television news footage showed flames chewing through the roof of the two-story home and roaring in upstairs rooms of the house as smoke poured from it.

It was a fire that moved very, very quickly, and the loss was horrendous, said Mayor Bill de Blasio. This is the devastation of a family, he said, adding: Theres a lot we need to know about what happened here.

There was no immediate theory on what started the blaze. A burned-out car was found behind one of the homes, and witnesses reported hearing loud booms, but Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said it didnt appear there was an explosion.

Nigro said a passing motorist saw someone tumble from a window as smoke billowed, and called the fire department. The victim, a roughly 46-year-old man, fell onto a porch roof and then a lawn and survived, Nigro said.

The wood-frame home burned rapidly and was already engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived. They struggled to reach some of the victims who were as high up as the attic, a super-human task for firefighters to reach people in a home engulfed by such a massive fire, Nigro said. They managed to bring a 2-year-old and someone else from the attic where they had been trapped, he said. But they were too late to save them.

Police early Monday morning said the victims included two boys ages 2 and 10, two girls ages 16 and 17, and a 20 year-old woman. They said the man who escaped the fire is in the hospital and is expected to survive. Officials have not released the names of the victims, pending family notification.

A neighboring home also caught fire and was badly damaged, but no one was inside at the time. Four firefighters suffered minor injuries; no other people were injured.

Neighbor Dorothy Murray told reporters that when she looked out her door and saw the fire, I could have fainted.

The fire was so intense  theres no way in the world nobody could go over there to save nobody, said Murray.

She said she babysat sometimes for one of the children  cute little fellow, she said. Hes adorable.

First-responders carried a limp child from the wreckage.

It was the worst thing Ive ever seen in my life, neighbor Foster McPhee, 67, told the New York Post. The guy who was carrying the baby out, you could just see the stress on his face. Im just emotional about it because Im a grandfather and I have kids, too.

Firefighters tried to save the family even as the rescuers mourned one of their own, firefighter William Tolley, who died Thursday after falling five stories while battling a blaze in Queens.

The fire was the deadliest in the nations biggest city since March 2015, when a house fire in Brooklyn killed seven children, all siblings. That fire was touched off by a hot plate.

By nightfall Sunday, neighbors whod been standing in horror outside had gone back into their homes, and first responders had blocked off the street as they continued to investigate.

Brenda Lewis, who lives six houses down from the fire scene, said she was still in shock. With her iPad in hand, she stood in the evening cold, showing the neighbors the videos she took earlier in the day. It was something, she said.

Associated Press writer Deniz Cam contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics New York
Oxbotica, the Oxford-based artificial intelligence company that is developing driverless cars for the UK, announced it is leading a consortium of companies that plans to trial a fleet of fully autonomous vehicles in urban areas and on motorways, culminating in a journey from London to Oxford in 2019.

These vehicles will be operating at Level 4 autonomy  meaning they have the capability of performing all safety-critical driving functions and monitoring roadway conditions for an entire trip, with no passengers, said a statement from the DRIVEN consortium.

Besides Oxbotica, other partners in the DRIVEN consortium include re/insurer XL Catlin, Oxford Robotics Institute, Nominet, Telefonica O2 UK, TRL (describing itself as a centre of excellence for future transport), the UK Atomic Energy Authoritys RACE, Oxfordshire County Council, Transport for London and Westbourne Communications.

The consortiums 30-month project plan, which is due to commence this month, seeks to address the following key challenges: communication and data sharing between connected vehicles; insurance modeling for connected and autonomous vehicles; risk profiling, and the cyber security risk caused by this amount of data sharing.

A key challenge will be how to insure autonomous fleets of vehicles with the consortium planning to develop a system that automatically takes into account data from the vehicle and external sources that surround it, for example, traffic control systems, said the consortium.

The project will also address data protection and cyber-security concerns raised by international policymakers and law enforcement agencies around the world by defining common security and privacy policies related to connected and autonomous vehicles, the statement added.

A major part of the consortiums work will include the use of a fleet of six inter-communicating vehicles equipped with Oxboticas software, Selenium, which provides any vehicle it is applied to with an awareness of where it is, what surrounds it and, with that knowledge in hand, how it should move to complete a task, explained Oxbotica.

Richard Jinks, who leads the project at XL Catlin, said: Working on this project gives us the opportunity to work with leading external parties to create a risk profiling tool and insurance pricing mechanism which is truly revolutionary.

We are seeking to address some of the most fundamental challenges preventing the future commercial deployment of fully autonomous vehicles, said Dr. Graeme Smith, chief executive of Oxbotica.

Professor Paul Newman, head of the Oxford Robotics Institute based at the University of Oxford, and one of Oxboticas founders, said: DRIVEN is the first of its kind and brings a host of new questions surrounding the way these vehicles will communicate with each other. Were moving from the singleton autonomous vehicle, to fleets of autonomous vehicles  and whats interesting to us at the Oxford Robotics Institute is what data the vehicles share with one another, when, and why.

Source: XL Catlin, Oxbotica



Topics AXA XL
Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has appointed Kerry McKay to the newly created role of head of Distribution and Client Management for Continental Europe. He will report directly to LSMs head of Europe, Kadidja Sinz.

The move comes as LSM seeks to expand its operations as a specialist insurer throughout Europe, providing a broad range of services and products through its six continental European branch offices, the company said in a statement.

With a 27-year career in the insurance sector, McKay has significant distribution experience, having successfully developed and enhanced broker relationships across Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. He most recently held a global role as head of Central Broker Management for insurer XL Catlin, where he worked for the past five years. Prior to this, McKay worked for brokers Jardine Lloyd Thompson Specialty and Marsh in London, with roles encompassing risk consulting, multi-national client management, placement and project management.

Kerry joins us at an exciting time as we expand across Europe and grow our capabilities through investment in people and infrastructure, commented Sinz. His considerable experience in building great partnerships with brokers as well as understanding the needs of clients in an evolving market will be of real benefit to us.

McKay is expected to take up his new role this summer.

Topics Europe AXA XL
French prosecutors started a preliminary investigation of alleged fraud at PSA Group, the latest car manufacturer to be targeted over potential violations of emissions rules in the aftermath of Volkswagen AGs diesel-cheating scandal. The stock fell the most in two months.

The Paris prosecutors office opened the probe on April 7 after receiving a report from the French Economic Ministrys fraud division, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor said Monday by phone. The fraud would have made the cars dangerous to human health, she said. Three judges are assigned to lead the investigation. Paris-based PSA, the maker of Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars, reiterated that it complies with all regulations.

The investigations were sparked by Volkswagens September 2015 admission that it installed software in diesel cars that cheated on emissions tests by activating pollution-control systems only during official checks. The probe of PSA and other competitors is part of a wider investigation into diesel vehicles nitrogen-oxide emissions in France and the European Union, which has urged member states to further look into cars in their jurisdictions.

PSAs vehicles have never been equipped with software or any device that would have allowed them to detect testing, a spokesman for the carmaker said by phone, adding that the manufacturer hasnt received notice from the prosecutor about any probe.

Jail Risk

Under French law, carmakers found to have cheated on the vehicle-certification process can be fined as much as 10 percent of their average revenue for the three years prior to the incident. Executives risk up to two years in jail and 300,000 euros ($327,000) in fines.

Shares of PSA fell as much as 3.5 percent, the steepest intraday drop since Feb. 24, and were trading down 1.5 percent at 18.89 euros as of 11:01 a.m. on Tuesday in Paris. That pared the stocks gain this year to 22 percent, valuing the carmaker at 16.6 billion euros.

The Paris prosecutors office started a probe of French carmaker Renault SA in January. While the office has received a report from the Economy Ministrys examination of Italian-U.S. manufacturer Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Volkswagen, findings havent yet arrived for General Motors Co.s Opel division, the spokeswoman said. PSA is in the process of acquiring Opel.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Fraud France
Large liability claims are becoming more expensive, complex and international, with activity increasing outside the United States, according a report published by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

Although recent years have seen a noticeable rise in large environmental liability claims, pharmaceutical and automotive product liability and product defect/recall are the main drivers for large liability claims globally, said the report, titled Global Claims Review  Liability in Focus. (To view other claims trends covered by the report, see links below).

While we have not necessarily seen an increase in the frequency of large liability claims, those that are filed are typically now more complex and with a higher spend than in the past, said Larry Crotser, head of AGCS Chief Claims Office, North America.

Indeed, industrial, environmental, product liability and financial lines claims surpassing $1 billion are more commonplace and are no longer confined to the U.S. and Europe, said the report.

AGCS quoted a 2015 study from Aon, which identified 86 corporate liability losses in excess of $1 billion since 1989. Some 57 of these losses were in excess of $2 billion and 13 over $10 billion, mostly from pollution incidents and regulatory actions. (The Aon report was titled Global Insurance Market Opportunities.)

Pollution Claims

Large environmental liability claims, such as pollution, are increasing  particularly those from the mining and construction sector  which can be complex, costly and take a long time to settle, the report said.

Peter Oenning, global head of Claims Liability, AGCS, noted that environmental liability claims can be particularly challenging in emerging markets. They can be complex and difficult to deal with, given cultural differences, language and legal systems that may be less predictable than courts in the U.S. and Europe, he said.

For example, one of the largest losses of 2015 came after the collapse of an iron ore tailings dam at the Samarco mine in Bento Rodrigues, Brazil.

The Samarco mining disaster is one of the countrys largest environmental disasters, killing 19 people and causing extensive pollution and property damage.

Samarco and its owners (the mine is a joint venture between Vale and BHP Billiton) have agreed to settle a $48 billion compensation claim from federal prosecutors by June 2017, the AGCS report said.

In addition, the two mining companies reached a settlement with Brazilian authorities of at least $2.6 billion to cover clean-up costs and compensation, it continued.

The largest corporate liability loss in recent years was BPs 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, which has a price tag of $61.6 billion, covering multiple liability settlements with federal and state authorities, shareholders, property owners and consumers, AGCS said.

Emissions Scandal Example

AGCS went on to say that the emissions cheating scandal in the automotive industry is an example of how complex liability losses can become, with multi-jurisdictional regulatory investigations and litigation for carmaker Volkswagen and its directors.

In October 2016, Volkswagen agreed to a $15 billion settlement with a group of U.S. federal and state regulators covering some 475,000 vehicle owners in the U.S. In December 2016, it agreed to a further $1 billion settlement to fix or buy back another 80,000 vehicles sold in the U.S.

Product Liability & Recall

The report said another factor in the increasing size of liability claims is the more challenging product liability and recall incident environment, which is being complicated by complex global supply chains and large numbers of products and suppliers being concentrated on a smaller number of larger companies.

As an example, the report noted that U.S. auto recalls have hit a record high for the past three years in a row, culminating in the recall of around 53.2 million vehicles in 2016.

One of the major recall cases involved faulty airbags made by Japanese manufacturer Takata, which has affected approximately 42 million vehicles and 19 automakers to date, the report said.

[Takata] has agreed to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing and pay approximately $1 billion to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation into ruptures of its airbag inflators.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical liability and recalls also continue to generate large claims, the report said, pointing to the rise in claims against pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. over suspected links between talcum powder and ovarian cancer, as well as a potential source of asbestos.

In three separate cases during 2016, juries awarded $72 million, $55 million and $71 million, respectively, to plaintiffs in talcum powder cases tried in Missouri, said AGCS. As of October 2016, there were believed to be around 1,700 similar lawsuits in state and federal courts.

With an increasing proportion of goods now manufactured in Asia, the report continued, product liability claims have become a significant driver for large liability claims from China, accounting for 2,124 product recall cases in the U.S. during 2015, followed by 685 U.S. companies.

China accounted for 62 percent of the product safety alerts issued by the European Union in 2015.

Global Regulators Get Tougher

Part of the reason for the escalating size of liability claims is that regulators around the world are getting tougher, making corporations and their directors more accountable, AGCS explained.

The report cited the example of the Samarco mining disaster and its effect on domestic regulation. The disaster has led to a significant increase in environmental exposure and claims in Brazil as environmental laws have been clarified and as the regulator has become more aggressive, according to Tiago Santos Badin, claims manager, AGCS Brazil, who was quoted in the report.

Further, Crotser noted that the number of recalls has been rising along with an increased focus on product and workplace safety, as well as more proactive regulation.

At the same time, consumer protection laws have been strengthened in many countries and U.S.-style litigation continues to spread around the globe, said AGCS, noting that consumers in countries such as China, Singapore and Japan have a greater awareness of compensation.

The report predicted that global class actions by consumers and investors will become more significant. Although they remain a largely U.S. affair, collective redress is taking on a more international dimension, including in Europe.

Source: Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty

Related:

Topics USA Legislation Claims Europe Pollution China Allianz
Police say a 10-year-old boy has been charged as a juvenile with aggravated arson after a fire at an Ohio discount store caused damage estimated at more than $200,000.

Middletown police Lt. Jim Cunningham says about 10 people were inside the Family Dollar store when the fire began Sunday afternoon. No one was hurt.

Investigators suspect the fire was set intentionally.

Police say the boys mother helped officers track him down after they determined he was a suspect. There was no immediate information about why or how the fire was set.

Police didnt publicly identify the boy. He was released to his mother and is scheduled to appear in Butler County Juvenile Court on May 16. It wasnt clear whether he has an attorney.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Law Enforcement Ohio
Combined Insurance, a provider of individual supplemental accident, disability, health and life insurance products, and a Chubb company, has moved from its Glenview, Ill., office into Chicagos Triangle Plaza, effective April 10.

Approximately 300 Combined Insurance employees are based out of the new office space, located at 8750 W. Bryn Mawr (near OHare International Airport), occupying three floors, while the customer contact center, operations and IT departments will continue to operate out of the companys downtown Chicago office at 111 E. Wacker Drive.

Since 2001, the company operated out of the former AON building on Milwaukee Avenue in Glenview. Prior to that, the company was located at 5050 North Broadway in Chicago.

Along with the modern office makeover, Combined employees will see other employee benefits with the new location which include a discounted gym membership, large cafeteria with a variety of menu options, easy access to Chicago transit and OHare, and a variety of restaurants and activities in the Rosemont area.

Combined Insurance was founded in Chicago in 1922 by W. Clement Stone.

Source: Combined Insurance

Topics Chubb
Monumental views on insurance and risk in the nations capital? Surely we jest. Well, we will take an occasional dip into the Potomac waters to poke fun, but overall we hope this reporting on insurance and risk as seen from the nations capital will be worthy of reflection.

Bush Wins!

The results are in: Republican Jeb Bush lost the presidential race but won the insurance money race in 2016.

For the 2016 presidential race overall, candidates raised $1.5 billion while outside groups raised another $615 million on behalf candidates, according to the nonprofit research group, the Center for Responsive Politics.

Insurance industry contributors gave about $23.5 million to 25 different U.S. presidential candidates.

The Center for Responsive Politics, based in Washington, D.C., tracks money and lobbying on elections and public policy, and maintains a database of contributions that shows which candidates were favored by various industries, as well as which groups were the most active in donating in 2016.

Bush, former Florida governor, an early favorite for the nomination who dropped out during the primaries, came in first in the insurance sweepstakes in 2016 with $11.8 million.

Other insurance donations included $5.7 million to Sen. Marco Rubio, another Republican; $16,00 to Gary Johnson, Libertarian candidate, and $10,000 to Jill Stein, Green Party candidate.

Insurance contributors gave $726,00 to Donald Trumpalmost double what they gave Bernie Sanders.

Bushs insurance lead was enhanced by $10 million from one donor, C.V. Starr, owned by Hank Greenberg. His Starr Companies overall gave $15 million to federal candidates in 2016.

2016 Presidential Candidate Recipients of Insurance Contributions

CANDIDATE TOTAL Jeb Bush (R) $11,819,572 Marco Rubio (R) $5,712,907 Hillary Clinton (D) $2,458,032 Donald Trump (R) $726,811 Ted Cruz (R) $675,521 John Kasich (R) $518,245 Bernie Sanders (D) $384,898 Chris Christie (R) $279,965 Ben Carson (R) $258,214 Rand Paul (R) $160,574 Scott Walker (R) $150,733 Carly Fiorina (R) $98,804 Bobby Jindal (R) $50,850 Mike Huckabee (R) $41,930 Lindsey Graham (R) $34,005 Martin OMalley (D) $25,129 Rick Santorum (R) $20,750 Rick Perry (R) $17,800 Gary Johnson (3) $16,464 Jill Stein (3) $10,101 George Pataki (R) $9,700 Jim Webb (D) $4,100 Jim Gilmore (R) $3,450 Lawrence Lessig (D) $1,195 Evan McMullin (I) $642

Source: Source: The Center for Responsive Politics.

The numbers reflect both dollars raised by the candidates as well as dollars raised by outside groups that backed the candidates.

By the way, the insurance contributions were up over the 2012 presidential election, during which insurance contributions to presidential candidates totaled about $7.4 million, with Mitt Romney getting $4.7 million and Barack Obama, $1.7 million.

Overall Race

Donald Trump was an unusual presidential candidate in many ways, including that he vowed to fund much of his campaign himself and in the amount of free publicity he received.

Trumps his chief opponent, Hillary Clinton, outraised him in funds. Whereas Clinton raised $564 million and outside groups supporting her took in another $206 million, Trump raised $333 million and outsiders raised only $75 million to back him. Bernie Sanders raised $228 million and accepted no outside money.

Among Trumps Republican rivals, Bush raised $34 million while outside groups raised $122 million for him. Marco Rubio raised $52 million, with another $111 million coming in support from outside groups. Ted Cruz raised $90 million and outside groups got him another $54 million.

There was another way to give to Trump. Among the $1 million donors to the Trump Inauguration was Henry R. Kravis, co-founder and co-chairman of the investment firm KKR that includes Alliant Insurance Services in its portfolio.

House, Senate Giving

A total of 137 insurance political action committees also gave about $29.4 million to various House and Senate candidates in 2016. Thirty-six (36) percent went to Democrats and the rest to Republicans.

According to opensecrets.org, the top insurance political action committees active in the 2016 election, giving to presidential, House and Senate candidates, were

Top 50 Insurance PAC Contributors in 2016 Election

PAC Name Total Dems Repubs National Assn of Insurance & Financial Advisors $2,128,200 $706,500 $1,421,700 New York Life Insurance $1,993,950 $847,750 $1,145,200 Indep Insurance Agents & Brokers/America $1,461,475 $321,500 $1,139,975 Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers $1,428,500 $556,500 $872,000 AFLAC Inc $1,281,500 $601,000 $680,500 USAA $1,233,000 $316,500 $916,500 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance $970,000 $416,500 $553,500 American Council of Life Insurers $935,500 $378,000 $555,000 Liberty Mutual Insurance $911,550 $344,300 $567,250 State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance $781,875 $348,250 $433,625 National Assn of Health Underwriters $718,800 $264,000 $453,800 Prudential Financial $715,750 $392,000 $323,750 National Assn/Mutual Insurance Companies $689,000 $156,500 $531,500 Pacific Life Insurance $670,000 $270,500 $398,500 Association for Advanced Life Underwriting $651,500 $200,000 $449,000 Property Casualty Insurers Assn/America $603,911 $213,500 $390,411 Nationwide $507,150 $182,500 $324,650 Blue Cross & Blue Shield Assn $487,710 $100,050 $387,660 Metlife Inc $477,500 $152,000 $325,500 Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance $468,300 $148,750 $319,550 Cigna Corp $439,075 $172,700 $266,375 Farmers Group $402,722 $106,122 $296,600 Metlife Inc $361,000 $164,000 $197,000 TransAmerica $357,500 $154,000 $203,500 Marsh & McLennan $335,450 $140,500 $194,950 Travelers Companies $299,000 $98,500 $200,500 Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois $289,000 $98,500 $190,500 Thrivent Financial for Lutherans $270,000 $106,500 $163,500 Americas Health Insurance Plans $265,000 $109,000 $156,000 Principal Life Insurance $259,000 $116,000 $143,000 RGA Reinsurance $256,500 $97,500 $159,000 AXA Equitable Life Insurance $246,000 $81,500 $164,500 Allstate Insurance $245,500 $51,500 $194,000 Unum Group $236,000 $111,500 $122,000 Genworth Financial $201,750 $54,000 $147,750 Assurant Inc $199,000 $69,500 $129,500 Jackson National Life Insurance $198,500 $42,500 $153,000 Blue Cross/Blue Shield of California $190,000 $130,500 $59,500 ACE INA $184,000 $72,500 $111,500 Hartford Financial Services $169,000 $74,500 $94,500 Lincoln National Corp $164,000 $58,000 $101,000 American Insurance Assn $157,000 $32,000 $125,000 Primerica Inc $156,000 $61,500 $94,500 Guardian Life Insurance $156,000 $73,000 $83,000 Chubb INA $149,600 $53,000 $96,600 Doctors Co $148,200 $93,200 $55,000 Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida $147,488 $58,988 $88,500 Zurich Insurance $138,500 $54,500 $84,000 WellCare Group $131,000 $73,500 $57,500 AON Corp $123,200 $34,500 $88,700

Based on data released by the Federal Election Commission on February 08, 2017.

Source: The Center for Responsive Politics.
Insurance broker and consultant Willis Towers Watson has made six senior appointments across its Global FINEX business, the companys financial, executive and professional risk specialty group.

Jeremy Wall has been appointed chairman of Global FINEX and head of FINEX for all regions outside North America, where he will be responsible for direction and strategy across Great Britain, Western Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australasia, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. London-based Wall joined Willis Towers Watson in 2002 and previously served as head of FINEX in Great Britain.

Allison Barrett has been appointed global head of FINEX Financial Institutions, where she will be responsible for strategic direction of the companys FINEX products and service offerings to its financial institutions portfolio. She will also lead a team of dedicated financial institution specialists across the globe. New York-based Barrett joined Willis Towers Watson in 2013 and previously served as FINEX Financial Institutions leader in North America.

Jonathan Brooks has been appointed global head of FINEX Client Insight & Innovation, Operational Strategy and Market Services. London-based Brooks will also serve on the Global FINEX leadership team, where he will contribute to the Global FINEX strategy across all lines of business and geographies. He joined Willis Towers Watson in 1998, serving in a variety of senior operations roles including, most recently, chief operations officer for Financial Lines in Great Britain.

Olivia Cooper has been appointed FINEX Great Britain regional leader, reporting to Wall, where she will be responsible for the companys delivery of FINEX products and services to clients in this region. She will also serve as a member of the Global FINEX leadership team. London-based Cooper joined Willis Towers Watson in 2006 and previously served as the FINEX Asia regional leader based in Singapore.

Anthony Dagostino has been appointed global head of Cyber Risk, responsible for the companys global cyber strategy. He will also focus on developing an integrated cyber risk management proposition for clients. New York-based Dagostino joined Willis Towers Watson in 2016 and previously served as FINEX Cyber/Errors and Omissions practice leader in North America.

Ken Ross has been appointed to serve on the Global FINEX leadership team. New York-based Ross, who was recently appointed leader of the companys FINEX North America business, will contribute to Willis Towers Watsons go-to-market strategy while ensuring North America FINEX clients have access to the companys global resources.

Topics New York Willis Towers Watson Leadership London
MetLife Inc. is asking a U.S. court to put on pause a case over how the government deems certain companies too big to fail, one of the most significant reforms to come out of the financial crisis, while President Donald Trumps administration finishes reviewing the current regulatory approach.

In March 2016 U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer struck down the governments designation of MetLife as systemically important, saying it was arbitrary and capricious in assessing the risks to the financial system of a possible failure by the largest U.S. life insurer.

The government, under former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, immediately appealed and the two sides squared off in court last October, with a decision expected next month.

Some companies are wary of the too big to fail designation because it forces them to hold on to capital and creates extra oversight they say is burdensome.

Last week, Trump ordered a review of the Financial Stability Oversight Council made up of the countrys top financial regulators and how it makes the designations.

MetLife said in its filing the review could prompt the Trump administration to reconsider the case and whether it is appropriate for the government to continue pressing this appeal.

At a minimum, the findings of the forthcoming report may substantially illuminate this courts consideration of the issues on appeal, the company wrote.

Two of the three judges on the panel considering the case were appointed by Obama, who signed the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law that created designations with the intent of preventing a repeat of the 2007-2009 financial crisis, when the government injected billions of dollars into failing banks and other companies in order to keep the financial system afloat.

The court appeared more sympathetic to FSOCs arguments than Collyer, who said it should have analyzed costs and benefits to MetLife, the likelihood MetLife would fail and possible counterparty losses.

Whoever loses the appeal had been expected to take the case to the Supreme Court. However, Trumps review and MetLifes Monday motion now cast doubt on that possibility.

The U.S. Treasury did not respond to a request for comment. Its secretary, Steve Mnuchin, is overseeing the review as chair of the FSOC.

The only nonbanks carrying the too big to fail label are American International Group, which received a $182 billion bailout during the crisis, and Prudential Insurance . MetLife is not considered designated during the appeal.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)

Topics USA
The Environmental Protection Agency says it has narrowed the source of salt contamination in an Osage County, Oklahoma, creek to three nearby oil and natural gas injection wells.

The Tulsa World reports the contamination was first reported in August 2016 when an oily sheen appeared on North Bird Creek on the Chapman Ranch in Osage County, a few miles from the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.

The contaminated water would be deadly to cattle and horses. Ranch operators moved livestock about two miles away from the stream. Hundreds more were sold.

EPA District 6 spokesman David Gray says an investigation has identified three injection well operators as likely sources. They were not identified.

Gray says EPA scientists are recommending the companies test their systems to see if they are impacting Bird Creek.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Pollution Oklahoma
RIC Insurance General Agency has named Michele Epstein as vice president of management and professional lines.

She will be based in Chatsworth, Calif. and produce, enhance and expand these product offerings for RICs agency partners.

Epstein worked as vice president and broker for AP Specialty before joining RIC. AP Specialty acquired ELM Insurance Brokers, where she worked in the same capacity. Prior to these roles, Epstein was founder and president of Attorneys and Professionals Insurance Services, as well as executive vice president of Jaymes & Jaymes Inc.

Santa Rosa, Calif.-based RIC is a wholesale insurance brokerage and managing general agency with office locations across the Western U.S.

Topics California
Jeremy D. Morley concentrates on International Family Law. The firm works with clients around the world from its New York office, with a global network of local counsel. Mr Morley is the author of "International Family Law Practice", the leading treatise on international family law in the U.S., and "The Hague Abduction Convention", published by the American Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a former law professor.
A Government minister has urged the Dail and Seanad not to block the abortion recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly, saying that providing there is no "legal impediment" the findings should not be "interfered with", writes Fiachra O Cionnaith of the Irish Examiner

Minister of state for jobs and Independent Alliance TD John Halligan made the comment as he said there must now be a referendum on the eighth amendment.

Speaking to reporters at the launch of a 6.7m joint research investment by Science Foundation Ireland and the UK research council, Mr Halligan said it would be wrong for politicians to prevent the proposed legal changes.

While stressing he has "the utmost respect for arguments on both sides", he said voting on the recommendations that have been made is "the only way you are going to settle this".

"I happen to be pro-choice but I know there are other people who are pro-life, and I think the only way you are going to settle this is not that it would be settled by politicians but settled by the people of Ireland.

"Let them have a referendum or a vote, and that's it, whatever way it falls it falls and we have to accept it," he said.

Asked if he agreed with a 2018 referendum date, Mr Halligan said "the sooner it's held the better". He acknowledged legislative procedures will have to take place on the back of the Citizens' Assembly's recommendations, but insisted politicians must not block its findings.

"I don't think that [blocking or watering down the findings] can happen, because the Citizens' Assembly was set up essentially to make recommendations and they would be the judges of what would come before the people of Ireland.

"Providing that it doesn't interfere with the constitution or there's not a legal impediment, I don't think they should be interfered with.

"But of course the recommendations will come to the Dail, so I'm sure TDs in the Dail and the Seanad will have a chance to debate it and give their own views on it, but essentially I think it should go to the people of Ireland," he said.
The Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said rank-and-file Gardai should not blame management for inflating breath test figures.

Almost a million breath tests have been wrongly recorded.

However, the Garda Representative Association, who are holding their annual conference in Galway, have said it is not their fault.

The Tanaiste told the GRA conference: "There can be no place for a culture of blame in An Garda Siochana. The challenges the organisation faces are too great for that kind of posturing.

"The recent fixed charge notice and alcohol breath test issues were failures. Failures of the entire organisation.

"The force must accept collective responsibility and collectively resolve to ensure something like that never happens again."

She said all levels in the force must move on.

Ms Fitzgerald said: "I strongly believe that every part of the organisation has a role to play moving forward.

"And also when things go wrong each part of an organisation has to examine their own role, that's just the reality of organisational life, and that's the reality of An Garda Siochana."
A wildfire which has scorched 76 square miles near the Georgia-Florida state line could keep burning for the next six months, officials said.

The fire was sparked by lightning on April 6 inside the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Police in England have seized three supercars after they were seen racing on the M1.

The cars - a McLaren 570s, a Lamborghini Aventador and a Ferrari - were stopped after a number of drivers reported them to South Yorkshire Police.

A force spokesman said the drivers of the cars, who were travelling across three lanes of the motorway, were forcing traffic to slow down behind them before accelerating into the clear section of road.

The police spokesman said: "These vehicle were reported, and captured on CCTV, travelling on the M1 south between junctions 38 and 37.

"They were travelling side by side across all three lanes and brought traffic to a very slow speed.

"When they had created a big enough section of clear road, they accelerated away, some might say racing one another.

"They then repeated this process."

The spokesman said the cars had been hired by the drivers and warned others that vehicles seen driving in an anti-social manner would be stopped and impounded.

He added: "We are pretty sure (the cars) won't be crushed and turned into tin cans, but you never know."
A Thai man upset with his wife has killed their 11-month-old daughter on Facebook Live before taking his own life.

Officers found the bodies of 20-year-old Wuttisan Wongtalay and the baby in an abandoned hotel in Phuket province after receiving reports of the video.
A young man has been jailed for two years for setting up an online computer hacking business which caused chaos all over the world.

Adam Mudd was just 16 when he created his Titanium Stresser programme, which was used to carry out more than 1.7 million attacks on websites including Minecraft, Xbox Live, and gamers' communications tool TeamSpeak.
In its decision, the city council has given planning permission for the five-storey apartment blocks containing 90 apartments but has ordered that the top floor in the fifth block be omitted.

The council has also ruled that the development does not require the provision of a child-care facility after consultants for Mr OBriens Purleigh Holdings Ltd made the case that the existing child-care facilities in the wider area would cope with any additional demand from the development.
Gary Wilson, aged 57, of Kumara, Graball Hill, Crosshaven, Co Cork, faced a charge of assault causing harm to Laura Donovan at Fitzys Bar in Crosshaven on June 3, 2016.

Insp Ronan Kennelly outlined the allegations yesterday.

It is alleged that he attacked the barmaid, said Insp Kennelly. He was a customer in the pub at the pub. The nature of the alleged assault was that he grabbed her face and pushed her against a glass-panelled door which shattered. He allegedly punched her in the face also.

The inspector said her injuries consisted of minor cuts to her back and arms and slight bruising over her right eye.

Judge Olann Kelleher said he would accept jurisdiction to deal with the case at district court level.

Emmet Boyle, solicitor, applied for a copy of the prosecution documents and CCTV from the bar.

The case was adjourned until next month when the accused will be given an opportunity to plead guilty or not guilty to the charges. As well as the assault count, he is also accused of engaging in disorderly conduct on the premises.
The research was conducted at Trinity College Dublin as part of proposals to establish a smoke-free campus.

A previous online survey showed that 50% of undergraduates, 58% of postgraduates and 66% of staff were in favour of the Trinity campus becoming smoke-free.

The authors of this study, led by Dr Gabrielle McKee of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Institute of Population Health in TCD, said its background was a proposal to introduce a tobacco-free campus in a university in the Republic of Ireland and that students might be receptive to health promotion initiatives.

Some 739 respondents engaged with the study, the majority of whom were biochemistry students (55%), first year students (70%), and aged less than 22 (84%).

Most were non-smokers (81%). The proportion of students who were smokers was 19%, including 12% who were occasional smokers.

According to the findings: Smoking was significantly more common among nursing and psychology students, in those aged 22 years or more, and in those living in their own home.

It also said that occasional rather than daily smoking was more prevalent in university students.

A substantial proportion of both occasional (42%) and daily smokers (48%) had attempted unsuccessfully to quit in the last year and a high percentage of both occasional (36%) and daily (48%) smokers reported their most recent quit attempt being made without assistance.

Researchers also found that daily smokers were more likely to be older than occasional smokers and of the opinion that giving up smoking would make it harder to handle stress in their lives.

As for the 19% of respondents who said they did smoke, the reports authors state that although this is a sizable minority, it indicates that it is no longer the norm to smoke.

Interestingly a large percentage of both non-smokers (60%) and smokers (44%) reported being affected by secondhand smoke outside the campus buildings.

These factors may contribute to the denormalisation of smoking as a behaviour on campus.

People who identified themselves as smokers were less likely to agree that tobacco was addictive and to consider those who smoked at parties and weekends to be regular smokers.

Daily smokers were older and nine times more likely to report increased difficulty in handling stress if they quit smoking.

There was also a keen desire among many to give up the habit: 44% of all smokers had attempted to quit in the past year, 35% of smokers intended to quit in the next 30 days and 53% in the next six months, although 40% did not use quitting supports.

The report suggests the targeting of prevention strategies, such as during induction for new students, and timing smoking cessation media strategies so as not to coincide with exam periods, may make them more likely to succeed.

The study, entitled Predictors of Daily and Occasional Smoking and Quitting in Irish University Students, can be read via www.tara.tcd.ie
Alan McCarthy and seven other tenants received letters last week informing them they have until July 6 to vacate their apartments at Fishermans Quay, Grove Island, Corbally, Limerick.

Eight tenants received eviction notices from KMPM Kersten Mehl property management company, on behalf of Munster Pensioneer Trustees Ltd.

Mr McCarthy, who lives with his son, 19, added he would be prepared to chain himself to his home to stay there: I will be removed kicking and screaming if necessary. I dont want to do that, but, if I have to, I will.

Mr Coveney, who was in Limerick to visit the States largest development of social houses  81 units in total at Edward St in the city  pledged to look into the plight of the Fishermans Quay residents.

Its quite a complex issue that I think needs some time to tease out. Ive only been informed about this issue in the last 24 hours, he said.

We need to look at the range of options that are there to help them to make sure they have accommodation, either where they are currently or in other suitable accommodation.

I need to speak to the council and to the Residential Tenancies Board to make sure [the tenants] rights are being respected, and Ive told the residents Ill be back to them before the end of the week, the minister added.

After the meeting, Mr McCarthy said: I wasnt expecting to come out feeling so assured. We are very pleased with how the meeting went, and [the minister] has given us an undertaking to do something for us; what that will be remains to be seen.

Munster Pensioner Trustees Ltd has referred media queries to Kersten Mehl, who stated: I have managed this complex for the last eight years. I received instructions to issue these notices on a number of two bedroom apartments, as the landlord wished to sell them.
The last time this was proposed  in 2006  it was abandoned after the then justice minister Michael McDowell scuppered such a move, which had been agreed by the DPP and the gardai.

The Adult Cautioning Scheme, operating outside the criminal courts, includes public order and drink- related offences, minor assaults and criminal damage.

The Irish Examiner understands the scheme is being examined to determine if it should be expanded to include possession of cannabis and possibly other drugs.

Sources said the matter was being looked at and followed on from last years United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS), which stated that countries should have mechanisms in place to divert people caught possessing drugs from the criminal justice system.

The Juvenile Cautioning Scheme includes offences all the way up to manslaughter.

The draft National Drugs Strategy (NDS) also envisages a HSE-run multi-tiered screening and brief intervention project.

Under tier 1, gardai will refer people who they come across committing crime because of their drug or alcohol use to the programme.

The NDS is proposing that the wider issue of decriminalisation be referred to a high-level group for detailed research and examination.

It will use the Oireachtas Justice Committee report of October 2015 as its starting point. That report recommended the Government consider the Portuguese model, which involves decriminalisation.

During the NDS consultation, it was claimed that the type of health structure in the Portuguese model, called the Dissuasion Committee (which has power to compel users to attend), does not exist here.

The community and voluntary sector is pushing for an expansion of the Spent Convictions Act 2016, which allows for the erasure of a single criminal record if a person is crime-free for seven years. They want it expanded to a group of offences committed during a persons drug addiction.
It is understood that the Department of Health is considering a review of the ownership and religious patronage of hospitals similar to the schools patronage and divestment reforms in the wake of the scandal engulfing the national maternity hospital.

Should the hospital patronage review suggestion be acted upon, it could potentially affect a large number of hospitals across the country, including the St Vincents and the Mater Hospitals in Dublin and the Mercy University Hospital in Cork.

Sources stressed the move is still in its infancy, with Mr Harris understood to have only discussed it on an informal basis with a small number of cabinet ministers and officials in order to gauge their willingness to support him on such a move.

The Irish Examiner understands that despite the potential cost of such a move, Mr Harris is said to be in favour of diluting the say of religious institutions in the countrys hospitals.

In recent days, the Government has been on the back foot because of the escalating crisis over the involvement of the Sisters of Charity in the planned new national maternity hospital, amid disputed concerns, the facilitys medical advice will be limited by Catholic doctrine.

Comments by Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran that the Catholic ethos would have to be respected in any hospital on land owned by the congregation have caused some concern within Government and contradict assurances that the maternity hospitals independence would be guaranteed.

Mr Harris and a number of other ministers have insisted this will not be the case at the new national maternity hospital  which is due to be built at St Vincents Hospital on land owned by the Sisters of Charity  and that religion will not be allowed to influence any medical procedures at the site.

The major potential stumbling block to the proposal is the likely cost and complexity of making it a reality.

However, one senior Government source said that should the review occur, it is likely to mirror the schools patronage and divestment review instigated by then Labour TD and education minister Ruairi Quinn under the previous government.

This review began in 2012 when Mr Quinn instigated processes for schools under Catholic or other religious patronage to be transferred to alternative patrons in areas where parents wanted more choice. Just 10 schools have changed hands to date.

Meanwhile, Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald yesterday called on the Catholic religious authorities to back off and allow the maternity hospital at the St Vincents Hospital campus to proceed.

Speaking at Templemore College, she said: The women of Ireland badly need it. It has to go ahead and it has to go ahead quickly. But I would say the time for any interference in a modern maternity hospital for the future, any interference by religious authorities, that time is in the past.

And for the future, women and the country need clarity and thats what the minister is working to ensure we have. I hope over the next few days we will see significant progress.
Jolanta Lubiene, aged 27, and her daughter Enrika Lubyte, aged 8, whose bodies were found dead in their rented home at 9 Langford Downs, Killorglin, on June 17, 2013, had been due to return to Lithuania for good later that summer.

Lithuanian national Aurimas Andruska is serving two concurrent life sentences for the murders on a date between June 15 and 17, 2013.

An appeal by him to overturn his convictions was unsuccessful.

Ms Lubienes sister, Kristina Kuleviciene, said the inquests into the deaths of her sister and niece had brought finality for the family.

Asked if her opinion of the man convicted of their murder had changed, she said: He is still a monster.

The husband and father of the deceased, Marius Lubys, described his daughter as the best little girl.

Marius Lubys, in front, husband of Jolanta Lubiene, arriving at Killarney Courthouse yesterday for the inquest into their deaths in Killorglin 2013. Picture: Don MacMonagle

Ms Lubiene and Enrika were found by Jolantas friend Ramute Narmute, who raised the alarm.

Ms Lubiene had received at least 61 stab wounds to the thorax, abdomen, neck, arms, legs and back in a sustained and violent sharp weapon attack.

Dr Margot Bolsters autopsy of Enrika revealed she had received 11 stab wounds and some superficial wounds.

Both died from haemorrhage and shock due to multiple stab wounds.

Ms Narmute told the inquest she became concerned when Jolanta had not returned any of her texts or calls.

When she called to the house on Sunday evening, she could see Jolantas body lying on the kitchen floor and she could hear her dog barking.

She said she knew she was dead because the colour had drained from her face and she was white.

I could see the blood on the stairs and the body on the floor of the kitchen.

I thought it was a man at first but then I saw the black hair and I knew it was Jolanta, she said.

She and her husband reported what she had seen at the garda station.

Gda Eamon Prenderville told the inquest he entered the house through the back door, which was unlocked.

The other doors were locked and the curtains of the front bay window were shut. He saw a womans body on the kitchen floor.

He said there was a lot of blood staining in the utility room, the kitchen, the hallway and the railway station.

He began to cordon off the scene but later, when he returned to the Garda station, he learned Ms Lubiene had a young daughter.

When he returned to Langford Downs, he found Enrika lying on her left-hand side on the landing.

Joan ONeill, who worked with Jolanta in the kitchen of St Josephs Nursing Home, was the last to see her alive.

She gave her a lift into town when they finished work at 1.30pm on Saturday.

She told the inquest when Jolanta had not turned up for work on Sunday morning, which was unusual, she told Sr Elizabeth Farrell.

Neighbour Mark OSullivan was the last to see Enrika alive, cycling on her bicycle on the estate at 9.30am on Saturday.

The deposition of Det Insp Fearghall Patwell, read out by Supt Flor Murphy, said AurimasMothr Andruska was identified through a profile of his DNA that was found on Enrikas top.

A fingerprint in Ms Lubienes blood found on the wall of the stairs, matched a sample given voluntarily by him to gardai.

He was convicted of the double murder in November 2014, following a five-week trial.

The jury at the inquests into the deaths of Ms Lubiene and Enrika returned a verdict of unlawful killing.

The verdict also recorded their deaths on June 16, 2013.

Addressing the family following the inquest, Supt Murphy said he hoped it brought them solace and comfort that an appeal by Mr Andruska on his conviction had been rejected at the Court of Criminal Appeal this year.

Coroner Terence Casey paid tribute to the gardai on their investigation that brought the perpetrator to justice in such a short time.

The people of Killorglin, Kerry and Ireland are very thankful to you for the work you do, he said.
Customs officials confiscated THC cannabis oil from Vera Twomey after questioning her for an hour after she got off a flight from Barcelona.

She voluntarily made customs officials aware of the fact that she had the THC oil on her person as the product had not been detected by sniffer dogs.

Ms Twomey, of Aghabullogue, Co Cork, went to Spain to get a prescription from a consultant for medicinal cannabis for Ava, 7, who suffers from a form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome.

Ava can experience multiple seizures every day and her mother says her condition is worsening.

Speaking on the Neil Prendeville show on Corks Red FM, Ms Twomey insisted she was only trying to legally obtain THC for her daughter and that she was not in the business of carrying out cheap stunts.

It shouldnt be a criminal act to bring it in, she said.

If I came through the airport with the THC and left the airport that is an illegal substance that I have on my person. Whether I was caught with it or whether I was not caught with it.

"THC is there for people to be able to use it for their families all over Europe. I wanted to bring the medication back but I do not want to be charged as a criminal.

Ms Twomey refuted a suggestion by a caller that she had failed her daughter by bringing the medicinal cannabis to the attention of customs officials.

She said that Ireland needs to update its rules in relation to medicinal cannabis and that doctors should work with their international colleagues to learn more about THC.

Last month Vera walked from Cork to the Dail to highlight her daughters plight.

THC-based cannabis oil is illegal in Ireland but is available via prescription in many other countries. .

The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) has recommended access to medicinal cannabis under a monitored five-year programme for sufferers of severe epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy.
Speaking at a major gathering of Irish farmers at Goffs, Co Kildare, yesterday, Mr Hogan said this negative impact had already occurred due to a fall in sterling.

He rejected calls for Ireland to consider any bilateral deal with the UK saying the countrys best hopes are as part of the bloc of 27 EU countries, which will begin negotiations with the UK in June.

The decisions will be taken in Brussels, not in London, he told delegates at the forum organised by the Irish Farmers Association.

Mr Hogan, who is EU Commissioner for Agriculture, described the decision of the British people last June to leave the EU as a mistake which was negative for Ireland but he said European institutions are aware of the unique circumstances for this country and Brexit.

The Irish agri-food sector is facing probably its greatest challenge since independence. Your sector is one of enormous importance to this country, both economically and socially.

"You have a sector that has proven its resilience on many previous occasions and that resilience is about to be tested again, he said.

Just as the EU is determined to act as one and protect its collective interests, the Irish agri-food sector should do the same. Just as with the EU of 27, your strength is in your unity. This is a time for leadership, coherence, patience, realism and determination, he said.

Mr Hogan said that during its 44 years of membership to date and during its remaining two years of membership, the UK has taken and will continue to take financial commitments.

These settlements should be honoured in full and this will be an essential element of the negotiations on an orderly withdrawal.

As all commitments are taken jointly with the other member states, if they are not paid for by the UK, the other 27 member states will have to foot the bill, he said.

Mr Hogan said it would, however, be naive to believe that the Common Agricultural Policy budget will be immune from the inevitable budgetary pressures that arise, not alone because of Brexit, but also because of the other political pressures on the budget arising from such issues as migration, security and defence.

Speaking at the same event, IFA president Joe Healy called on the commissioner to ensure the interests of Irish farmers are not devastated by Brexit. He called for a retention of the closest possible trading links between Ireland and the UK.
Medical researchers from Galway believe it is the first discovery of the virulent NDM enzyme in bathing seawater in Europe.

They claim there is a high risk that such bacteria could be found wherever raw sewage is pumped into coastal waters.

One of the lead researchers, Martin Cormican of NUI Galways School of Medicine and University Hospital Galway, said the findings also raised concerns that existing tests on the quality of bathing water might be insufficient to detect such bacteria.

We have known for more than 100 years that proper control of sewage is a foundation stone for protection of public health, but in 2017 we are still allowing sewage to flow into the sea and rivers because we have not organised ourselves to build the treatment systems we need, said Prof Cormican.

The study identified an outflow of untreated human sewage as the likely source of the contamination at the unnamed beaches in the Republic, which was discovered in samples taken since last July.

However, the Irish Examiner has established that the beaches are located in Co Galway.

NDM, which was first identified in 2009, is a type of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae  CPEs  a so-called superbug which is immune to some of the last-line antibiotics available to hospitals.

In February the World Health Organisation declared CPEs a critical priority for which new antibiotics were urgently needed due to the high levels of such resistant bugs found in large parts of Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and southern Europe.

The study claimed two freshwater streams located near one of the beaches had also become contaminated by the backwash of such sewage by tidal currents.

Positive samples for NDM found in the streams were resistant to eight widely used antibiotics including ampicillin and cefoxitin, while NDM in the seawater was resistant to 12 antibiotics.

Another researcher, Blathnaid Mahon, said it was important to note that tests carried out by the EPA had consistently found that bathing water quality in the area of the two beaches had met regulatory standards.

The researchers said there was no evidence anyone had been infected by exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the area of the beaches.
James Brady, aged 23, was given a five-month suspended sentence yesterday.

However, as a matter of procedure, it was necessary for the accused to sign a bond for the sentence to be suspended. After a few minutes, defence solicitor, Shane Collins-Daly, returned to Cork District Court and said: Unusually, Mr Brady does not wish to sign his bond. He wants to go into custody. He is worried about his mental health and believes he would be out of harms way in Cork Prison.

In the absence of the defendant agreeing to sign the bond Judge Olann Kelleher sentenced the young man to five months in prison.

The man was before the court yesterday for getting drunk and kicking the wing mirrors off five different cars in Cork City.

Brady, of St Vincents Hostel, Anglesea Terrace, Cork, pleaded guilty yesterday to five counts of causing criminal damage and one of being drunk and a danger.

Inspector Ronan Kennelly said at Cork District Court that Garda Donal Daly responded to a call on April 9 to say that an intoxicated male was damaging cars at Anderson St and Lower Oliver Plunkett St. He was kicking the wing mirrors off vehicles causing about 100 worth of damage in each case.

He did not bring any compensation to court. Mr Collins-Daly said his instructions were that, even if the case was put back, his means were such that he would not be in a position to put compensation together.

Mr Collins-Daly said the cars that were damaged were randomly selected and the accused could offer no explanation for his behaviour.
The landmark Metropole Hotel in Cork, which was, until the mid 1950s, known as Irelands finest dry hotel, is now the spiritual home of the Cork Jazz Festival and is considering further expansion.

It has invited people to share their own special memories of the hotel over the decades.

The memories can be from events held at the hotel, weddings, jazz memories or any stories of nostalgia, a spokesperson said.

The best entry will receive a complimentary family gathering for 30 guests and an overnight stay for two on the night of the anniversary function.

They will also receive an invitation to celebrate at the exclusive party that will be held in June at the hotel.

The Met was opened in 1897 and was owned by the Musgraves.

The property on MacCurtain Street was designed by architect Arthur Hill and built by John Delaney & Co Builders to the highest standards and opulence of the day, with most of its early guests being travelling salesmen and businessmen.

Darragh Culhane and Helen Quinlan serving afternoon tea to Mona Kennedy, Teresa Delius and Irene ODriscoll at the Met.

The hotel occupied the upper floors of the building with the ground floor and basement let out for retail, with two shops on either side of the main entrance - including the famous Turkish Delight sweet shop, Hadji Bey, run by Harutan Batmazian who had arrived in Cork from Armenia in 1903 and who had his own sweet stall at the Great Exhibition in Cork.

Lawsons Outfitters occupied another unit and the name can still be seen over the shop door today.

Edward VII is reputed to have had tea on the roof of the Metropole when he visited Cork in 1903 for the citys Great Exhibition, and other famous guests included Gregory Peck, James Mason, Frank OConnor, John Steinbeck, John Huston and Walt Disney.

In the 1930s and the early 40s, the hotel was run by Jimmy Musgrave, who was the president of the Irish Rugby Football Union, and after whom Musgrave Park was named.

Douglas Vance was appointed hotel manager in 1944 and is credited with transforming its fortunes.

However, he made headlines around the world when he refused a request from the 1950s British film star, Dawn Adams, who was a guest of the hotel while attending the Cork Film Festival, to bathe in a bath full of milk.

He refused her request saying the people of Cork were finding it hard to make ends meet at the time.

The hotel was at that time a dry hotel because the Musgrave family believed alcohol should not be served there, and it was advertised as Irelands Finest Unlicensed Hotel.

Alcohol was normally served at functions by a publican who had been brought in and who was then charged a modest corkage fee.

Vance believed the hotel should have its own liquor licence to have some control over how much alcohol their guests drank while on the premises.

And while the Musgrave family were initially slow to change their minds, it is reported that Vance pointed out to Stuart Musgrave Jnr one fine Saturday the amount of drunk people attending six weddings in the venue.

Musgrave Jnr was said to have been appalled and the Metropole got its liquor licence in 1956.

The Jazz Festival was born in 1978, partially as a response to the fall-off in bed nights arising out of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

In 1977 the Metropole was sold to a consortium of local businessmen and a leisure centre was added.

In 1999 it was sold on to Ryan Hotels and it underwent a 9m refurbishment.

The hotel has been under new ownership since 2015  a London-based family who also own the Cork International and Cork Airport Hotels  and following the purchase of an adjoining site, another upgrade and extension is being considered.

Anyone who would like to share memories of the Met should contact sales manager Susan Lavelle on (021) 4643700 or email: slavelle @themetropolehotel.ie.
Cork County Council has revealed it intends to spend some 160.5m alone on social housing over the period of its 2017-2019 capital programme, the largest single allocation under the scheme.

Presenting the plan to councillors in County Hall yesterday, the councils head of finance, Loraine Lynch, described the proposed spending plan as an ambitious programme that will be subject to annual review.

It is a good indication of what we hope to achieve over the next three years, she said.

The bulk of the spending  389m  is contractually committed spending for ongoing programme of works while the remaining 128.6m is subject to further funding being secured.

The council aims to spend 13.7m on voluntary housing over the lifetime of the programme, and predicts it will spend 191.7m on housing in total over the three years when social housing and other housing projects are included.

The local authority has predicted that it will deliver 498 housing units this year.

Some 163.6m is allocated for roads, including 86.7m for national routes and 9.7m for regional roads.

National roads earmarked for spending include the N22 Macroom-Ballyvourney by-pass and the N28 Cork to Ringaskiddy road.

Other sizeable allocations include 35.3m for flood relief measures, 37.4m for the remediation of Haulbowline and 27.1m for recreation and amenity projects.

These include playgrounds, waterways and blueways, the refurbishment of the Briary Gap Theatre in Macroom, and the redevelopment of Mallow Town Hall into a North Cork Arts Centre.

There are also funds allocated for a skatepark in Carrigaline and greenway projects in Cork Harbour and from Youghal to Midleton.

Tourism projects will benefit from 10.8m capital funding, while 2.7m will be spent on libraries.

A further 6.4m will be spent on Coastal Protection measures, such as harbour improvement works, new marine and leisure pontoons and storm damage repair to coastal and harbour protection walls, breakwaters and revetments.

More than 4m will go towards funding traffic and transportation planning, and in 2017 there are plans for the second and third phases of a cycle track in Ballybrack, Douglas; a junction upgrade at Little Island; a Donnybrook Hill pedestrian enhancement scheme; and improvements to Douglas Village.

The investments in Douglas will continue as proposals outlined in the Douglas Land Use and Transportation Study, the aim of which, the council says, is to provide sustainable travel infrastructure and to improve the uptake of travel by modes other than the private car.

It further proposes transportation studies in Little Island, Castletownbere, and Carrigaline.

While the programme received a broad welcome from coucillors, some issues were raised with specific allocations.

Independent councillor John Paul OShea said the 3m ring-fenced for foothpaths is not enough when spread over three years and divided out among the local authoritys eight municipal districts.

Fianna Fails Frank OFlynn said it was taking the council too long to turn around voided social houses to new tenants, and while welcoming allocations for playgrounds, said CCTV systems were needed to deter vandalism.
Speaking to reporters at the graduation of 143 gardai at Templemore College, she said: The women of Ireland badly need it. It has to go ahead and it has to go ahead quickly.

But I would say the time for any interference in a modern maternity hospital for the future, any interference by religious authorities, that time is in the past.

And, for the future, women and the country need clarity and thats what the minister is working to ensure we have. I hope over the next few days we will see significant progress.

"People want a modern maternity hospital that is working to best clinical practice and that the religious orders of the Church have nothing to do with it or with the decisions that are being made for women. I think thats very important.

Drill Instructor Karl Burton does a final inspection before a graduation ceremony at the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary. Pictures: Don Moloney / Press 22

She said the utmost clarity was needed about the hospital and its future.

Weve seen what happened in the past, weve seen the involvement... and thats not to say good work hasnt been done in the fields of health and education but were talking about a modern hospital; were talking about a maternity hospital, were talking about services for the future for women, and I think the country is very clear  that is about the State bringing that hospital and that the key decisions are not in any way influenced by any particular religious ethos.

"A number of issues have arisen and we need further clarity on those issues; that is what the minister is working towards.

Ms Fitzgerald said the Citizens Assembly report on abortion deserves very serious consideration.

Garda Orla Moriarty from Anglesboro, Co Limerick, was joined by her cousin, NYPD officer Kevin Roy.

She said: My own view has always been that the Constitution is not the place to deal with this very complex issue; its best dealt with between a woman and her doctors. But you also have to have an appropriate legislative basis.

My own particular view is that there should be a referendum next year. I certainly think, given the timescale that has been outlined, thats ( referendum next year) certainly a very real possibility.

On the Garda breath-tests scandal, she said comprehensive answers are needed.

I have referred it to the Police Authority, who have the ability to hire, to recruit to work, independent experts to examine all of the facts. I would expect a very comprehensive report to emerge from that. I await that report with great interest.

"I think everyone in the country wants to know how this happened: What were the precise circumstances, what were the factors that led to this quite extraordinary situation?

Louise Gallagher from Donegal with her sister Elaine at yesterdays ceremony.

She also singled out investigations to tackle the Limerick gang feud.

I think the work by gardai in Limerick has been quite extraordinary. When there is a crisis in relation to An Garda Siochana, sometimes we dont hear about the very valuable work thats done; the dangerous work thats done by An Garda Siochana, the professionalism with which they do their work.

"And you just have to look at the investigations in Limerick to see that where 24 out of 25 murders were solved and they dealt with a very dangerous situation there.

Ms Fitzgerald told the new gardai they are entering the force at a critical time.

Newly qualified gardai celebrate following yesterdays ceremony in Templemore.

She said: Recent controversies, if not fully addressed, have the very real potential to undermine the traditional strong public trust that An Garda Siochana has enjoyed since the foundation of the State.

Trust in policing is a cornerstone in any democracy and, once broken, is difficult to restore.
In 2003, when I visited the Midland Regional Hospital on a few occasions, the place was a kip. It looked to be on the point of crumbling, like something that had been left behind since the 1970s.

Nearly eight years later, I had cause to visit again. Driving through the main entrance I did a double take. A bright shining building, crafted by some lovely architecture, loomed before me. Inside, it was airy and modern, a fitting location for the accommodating staff, and decades away from what it had been on my previous visit. The healthcare, according to those who knew it at the time, was excellent in there.

Presumably, its no accident that the years between my two visits coincided with the high career point of the local political bigwig, Brian Cowen. Between 2003 and 2011 he served as minister for finance and Taoiseach. Would the transformation of the state of the local hospital have occurred to anything like the same extent if the local man hadnt been at the centre of power in those years? Who knows?

The lovely Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore came to mind when news of travails from nearby Portlaoise Hospital.

The latter has been under the microscope for the last five years, since it emerged that there had been a number of tragic deaths of newborn babies.

Since then, problems have also been identified in emergency and surgical care.

A plan for the future of the hospital, drawn up by the Dublin Midland Hospital Group which includes Portlaoise, has been completed and presented to the Minister for Health, Simon Harris.

Leaks from the plan suggest there are strong recommendations for an effective downgrading of the facility. This would include the curtailment of 24 hour surgical and emergency services.

One of the problems at Portlaoise is that since its shortcomings began to leak into the public domain, many potential patients have gone elsewhere. The volume of maternity clients and even the volume of throughput in the Emergency Department has decreased. This in turn has an adverse effect on the skill levels of the medics treating people. The less there is to do, the less prospect of acquiring expertise through experience.

All of the above issues at Portlaoise concern the healthcare of citizens. If that were the only consideration, then the report on Mr Harris desk would be published, discussed and implemented post haste. Except, the healthcare of citizens is not the primary consideration in the governance of healthcare. Far more importantly, it would seem, is the politics of health.

For instance, was there any discussion about the cost/benefit of transforming Tullamore hospital when the local man sat atop the political tree? Or was it just a matter of Mr Cowen shovelling the money into the local facility because he had the power to do so?

Equally, the healthcare of those who might still be minded to use Portlaoise is secondary to the political considerations of implementing a plan designed to best serve the people.

Mr Harris, like every minister for heath who preceded him, has made the requisite assurances that things will be different with him in charge. Yet in the case of Portlaoise, he is as craven to political considerations as all his predecessors. To advocate implementing the plan for Portlaoise would be to invite wrath down on his party colleagues in the Laois constituency, of which Port-laoise is the main population centre.

The perception locally would be that the proposed effective downgrading of Portlaoise Hospital would be a negative development. In reality, the medium- term effect would be the opposite, but politics is mainly concerned with both perception and the short term. So Mr Harris, the new, bright shiny young minister, is as craven to placing political considerations above the healthcare of citizens as were all his predecessors.

The current travails concerning Portlaoise is merely a microcosm of the health of politics nationally. Within the next few weeks, the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare is due to publish its blueprint.

The committee, chaired by the Social Democrats Roisin Shortall, has great intentions. She is a serious politician as are many others on the committee.

One can expect with some confidence that they will produce a plan which if implemented could well improve heathcare for the vast bulk of citizens.

But so what? Many other such plans have been formulated in the past.

Researching, envisaging, discussing how best to serve the healthcare of the masses is the easy bit.

The problems arise when it comes to implementation, which inevitably will mean reconfiguring the health and hospital system from one suited to the early 20th century to one for today. And in this our politicians have a record of running for cover.

The politician from the northside of Cork or the soutside of Dublin will have no issue with plans to close all the hospitals in Tipperary. But by God they will do whatever it takes  including leave their party  rather than acquiesce with discommoding their own voters.

So it goes around the country. So it will continue to go irrespective of how many brilliant plans are put forward by either politicians or medical experts.

There are a few exceptions. After the 2011 general election, Frank Feighan stuck with his Fine Gael party after it closed 24-hour emergency care in Roscommon hospital. Denis Naughten couldnt live with that so he left the party. Feighan didnt stand in the last election. Today, Mr Naughten is Minister for Communications. There is no evidence that the health of the citizens of Roscommon is any worse off as a result of this effort to move into the 21st century.

As long as politics rules health, it doesnt matter how many sensible plans are put forward to benefit citizens. Perception will always trump the health of citizens. The short-term will always win over any consideration for the future. In that vein, the travails of Portlaoise can really be reduced to one big shortcoming. The town didnt have a Brian Cowen.
AFTER a series of foreign policy U-turns, there is now talk of a new Donald Trump, one more inclined to use military power than the Trump of the 2016 US presidential campaign. That earlier Trump seemed to regard US military action in Syria as pointless and dangerous. He called for the US to ensconce itself behind new walls.

Now, suddenly, the Trump administration has launched a missile attack on one of Syrian president Bashar al-Assads air bases, hinted at taking military action against North Korea, and dropped the mother of all bombs on an Islamic State redoubt in Afghanistan. All of this was accompanied by tweets from the president declaring that the US would pursue its own solutions to key issues if other countries did not help.

The international community  including China  seemed to understand why the US would strike the Syrian air base from which a hideous chemical-weapons attack was launched. But the Trump administration is still following an America first agenda. Having awoken to global realities, the administration is now adjusting its policies, sometimes so abruptly that one might reasonably worry that diplomacy is taking a backseat to bombs and tweets.

That concern is reinforced by the dramatic cuts to the US State Department budget, and to US funding for the United Nations, which Mr Trump has proposed. Many key positions in the US diplomatic apparatus remain unfilled. Even Americas friends recognise that this is a dangerous trajectory. Bombs can only destroy. To build lasting peace requires compromise and coalitions  in a word, diplomacy.

There are many conflicts around the world, starting with Syria, that will only become harder to solve without US diplomatic attention. UN-sponsored talks to end the Syrian civil war have gone nowhere, partly because no-one knows where the US stands. Faced with this leadership vacuum, other countries are hedging their bets and looking after their own interests.

Another issue that demands diplomacy is North Korea, which is developing nuclear weapons and the intercontinental ballistic missiles needed to deliver them. So far, Mr Trump has tried to pressure China to find a solution by threatening to take dramatic, unilateral action if the Chinese fail to rein in their client. But whether the Trump administration actually has a strategy for North Korea, or the means to realise it, remains unclear.

Beyond North Korea, the UN warned that the ongoing conflict in Yemen, which rarely makes headlines, is rapidly pushing the country toward social, economic, and institutional collapse. The humanitarian situation is dire for 60% of Yemens 30m inhabitants: An estimated 7m people could be close to famine; and 500,000 children are at risk of severe malnutrition.

The war between Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadis Saudi-backed government and former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Salehs rebel Houthi coalition has been raging for years, with no military breakthrough in sight. Former US president Barack Obamas administration made repeated, but futile, efforts to broker a ceasefire; but it also reluctantly supported Saudi Arabias air campaign by supplying bombs. Mr Trump will likely provide such support far more eagerly.

One simplistic explanation for the Yemen conflict is that it was engineered by Iran. According to this view, US and Saudi intervention is meant to stymie the Islamic Republics geopolitical ambitions. And now that Mr Trump has tacitly accepted the Iran nuclear deal, some of his advisers believe that it is necessary to apply pressure on Iran from elsewhere. As a result, US raids and sorties in Yemen have become more frequent in recent months.

But, in reality, Irans support for the Houthis is often exaggerated. And Iran, for its part, probably welcomes a scenario in which the US and Saudi Arabia are bogged down in the Yemen quagmire.

Another possible justification for US engagement in Yemen is that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has found a foothold there. But AQAP thrives in an environment of destruction and despair. So there is little that can be done about the group, as long as Yemen is being ripped apart by war.

Even as the UN issues stark warnings about an impending catastrophe in Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition is preparing an offensive to capture the coastline around the port of Hodeida  which the International Crisis Group has warned would aggravate Yemens humanitarian emergency.

Rather than stepping up the fight, the US should be pursuing further diplomacy and humanitarian-aid efforts. And, after all, it was Hadi and the Saudis who rejected the UNs last attempt to broker a ceasefire.

To resolve the conflict, the rebels and the government need to re-engage immediately with the UN special envoy for Yemen, who has furnished a roadmap for talks.

In addition, the UN Security Council should support a political solution, by adopting a long-overdue resolution demanding that both sides agree to an immediate ceasefire, by granting access to humanitarian aid, and by returning to the negotiating table.

Diplomacy will require that all parties compromise. No-one  except, perhaps, Iran  has anything to gain from further escalation. If Yemens humanitarian catastrophe leads to a total collapse, millions of desperate people might flee the country, enabling AQAP, and other extremist organisations, to profit from disorder and despair.

Americas re-engagement with the world should be welcomed, but not if the Trump administration continues to view conflicts solely through a military lens. Yes, fighting is sometimes necessary; but diplomacy always is. Nowhere is this more obvious than in places like Yemen. The complete collapse of yet another country is the last thing the world  including Trump  needs.

Carl Bildt is a former prime minister and former foreign minister of Sweden.
Tuesday, April 25th, 2017 (8:22 am) - Score 971

Alternative fibre optic network builder Cityfibre has posted their final results to the end of 2016, which reveals that their completed cable duct and fibre optic network (FTTP) footprint has increased to 3,383km (up from 743km in 2015) and they now serve 3,962 customer premises (up from 1,200).

Much of the growth has occurred as a direct result of the operators on-going effort to re-purpose and extend KCOMs UK network assets (excluding Hull, East Yorkshire), which they acquired for 90.6 million at the end of 2015 and have since been working to commercialise under their own model (here). We should point out that most of Cityfibres customers tend to be higher value public sector organisations/sites or businesses.

As a result of that the last year has seen their turnover rocket by 140% to 15.4 million (2015: 6.4m) and gross profit jumped by a related margin to 13.5 million. Similarly an Initial Contract Value (ICV) of 75.5m was added in the period (up 225% from 23.2m in 2015), although the extra costs meant their loss after tax was 12.6m (2015: 6.4m) and that includes financing costs of 7.3m (2015: 0.3m).

Furthermore theyve also grown to have 143 full-time equivalent staff (up from 105 in 2015).

Operating Highlights:

 New connections sold and acquired totalled 5,063, up from 1,100 in 2015

 Direct fibre connected customer premises up to 3,962, from 1,200 in 2015

 Completed route kilometres of ducted fibre increased to 3,383km, from 743km in 2015

 Service provider relationships numbered 54 at period end, up from 41 in 2015

 Readmission to AIM on 14 January 2016 via 80.0m equity placing at 50p per share

 Closing of acquisition of metro and long distance duct and fibre assets from KCOM for 90.0m (the Network Assets) on 18 January 2016

 Total funding package of 180.0m secured to fund the acquisition and future development of the assets, comprising 80.0m from the equity placing, alongside 100.0m in committed debt facilities

 Closing of acquisition of metro fibre network assets of Redcentric plc on 23 September 2016

The latest results state that Cityfibre has major metro duct and fibre footprints in 42 cities across the UK and a national long distance network that connects these cities to major data-centres across the UK and to key peering points in London.

The company further claims that their network can now address 28,000 public sites, 7,800 mobile masts, 280,000 businesses and 4 million homes (note: they aim for 5 million UK homes in 50 cities), although as usual this should be taken with a huge bag of salt. The operators definition of addressable market reach is a very hypothetical measure and should NOT be confused with practical network coverage, such as the more traditional premises passed.

For example, if you were to apply a similar measure to Openreachs (BT) fibre optic network then it would be a bit like saying that most of the UK could get an ultrafast broadband FTTP/H line today, even though related cables currently reach only 435,000+ premises passed. Similarly Cityfibres actual premises passed figures (see here) will be tiny (e.g. 14,000 homes via FTTP in York with 26.1% take-up and 20,000 in Bournemouth).

Never the less Cityfibres focus is less on homes and more on the lucrative business and public sector market. The network they build around that might in the future help to act as a springboard for other ISPs to reach residential properties (like the joint deployment in York with Sky Broadband and TalkTalk), although so far the demand for connecting homes via Cityfibres approach has been very limited; partly because urban markets are already competitive with Virgin Media and BT in play.

Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre, said: 2016 was truly a transformational year for CityFibre. Alongside delivering on our stated growth strategy, the acquired network footprint has accelerated our original business plan by up to seven years. Over the last twelve months we have more than doubled our contracted revenue base, added twenty nine new cities and increased our service provider partner base to 54. CityFibre now has significant presence in 42 cities across the UK and the rapid commercialisation of the Groups assets underlines the strong demand for an alternative to BT Openreach at a national level. We continue to see significant levels of demand from both business and public services sectors alongside increasing interest from mobile operators and residential broadband providers. With the regulatory and political landscapes now both favouring alternative fibre investment, CityFibre has never been better placed to capitalise on expanding its existing footprint and a growing number of near term strategic opportunities. Current trading continues in line with managements expectations.

The good news for Cityfibre is that Ofcoms recent move to legally separate Openreach from BT, as well as their related decision to make BTs cable ducts more accessible to rival operators, could present some new opportunities for future network expansion. However its still too early to know how much of an impact this will actually have in the future.

As an example, Cityfibres recent 10-year and 3.2m deal to provide 120 connections to key council sites over a newly-built 50km fibre network in Southend-on-Sea was largely based on Openreachs related Passive Infrastructure Access (PIA) solution. So clearly the revised PIA2 solution that was recently proposed (here) may be a boost for Cityfibre.
A two-year-old startup today unveiled two new 3D metal printing machines, one of which can create prototypes and the other production parts faster and cheaper than existing technology, the vendor says.

Desktop Metal, based in Burlington, Mass., demonstrated the Desktop Metal (DM) Studio System, which it calls an "office-friendly" metal 3D-printing system for rapid prototyping, and the DM Production, a manufacturing-class printer it claims is 100 times faster than today's laser sintering machines.

The DM Studio System includes both a printer and microwave-enhanced sintering furnace that can produce metal 3D printed parts in an engineer's office or on a shop floor. The company claims its DM Studio System is 10 times less expensive than existing metal prototyping technology.

Customers can reserve the Studio System in May, with shipping beginning in September 2017. The printer sells for $49,900 and the complete system -- including printer, debinder, and furnace -- is $120,000. For its part, the DM Production System is available on reserve in May, for shipping beginning in 2018. Pricing for the Production system has not yet been announced, but the printer is expected to cost around $360,000 (with additional equipment pricing to be determined).

Pete Basiliere, research vice president for additive manufacturing at Gartner, said existing laser or electron beam sintering 3D printers cost from $165,000 to $1,765,000.

"We cannot know if Desktop Metals 3D print results are comparable with existing powder bed fusion devices results until the same parts are built with both technologies and are then tested for appearance, performance and quality," Basiliere said.

Terry Wohlers, principal consultant and president of industry research firm Wohlers Associates, said the DM Studio System is significantly less expensive than existing technology -- though he could not confirm the "10 times" figure the vendor claims -- and said the machine's ability to print with up to 30 alloys is "pretty impressive."

"Most metal [powder bed fusion] systems do not support nearly this many," Wohlers said in an email to Computerworld.

Metal powder bed fusion 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) processes use either a laser or an electron beam to fuse together successive layers of powdered alloys to build an object.

Both the Studio and Production systems require a post-process furnace cycle, Wohlers explained, which is where the actual sintering and melting of the alloys occurs.

"It's difficult to know the size of the potential market, but if the company can have success in the automobile market, it could be quite large," Wohlers said. "The automotive industry is likely the 'sweet spot' for the Production System. Companies doing small volumes of production parts may consider the Studio System. The company is positioning it for the prototyping of metal parts."

Since its inception in October 2015, Desktop Metal claims it has raised $97 million in venture capital and attracted major investors, including GV (formerly Google Ventures), BMW Group, GE, Lowe's, NEA, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lux Capital, Saudi Aramco, and 3D printing leader Stratasys.

Desktop Metal Desktop Metal's Production System 3D printer set up as on a factory floor.

Uwe Higgen, a managing partner of BMW i Ventures, the carmaker's venture capital arm, said there's "a huge potential for the highly competitive automotive industry to accelerate product development and production" with additive manufacturing.

"Desktop Metal's technology offers a new way for the manufacturing industry to be smarter, faster and more cost effective with metal 3D printing," Higgen said in a press release from Desktop Metal.

Don Jones, the global parts strategy manager for construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc., stated in the same news release that the company's parts network has 21 distribution centers around the world, with hundreds of thousands of parts used in over 2,000 dealer locations.

"By leveraging a portion of 3D printing for metal parts, we will be able to enhance best-in-class service with lower inventory investment," Jones said. "We are excited to evaluate the Desktop Metal suite of products, which will allow us to print metal parts at high speed and minimal post processing and environmental constraints closer to our customers, reducing the need to expedite ship critical parts from across the globe."

The DM Production System 3D printer can build parts up to 13-in x 13-in x 13-in, which is not small, Wohlers pointed out. "However, as the size increases, the throughput [speed] per part declines," Wohlers said.

The DM Studio System can build parts up to 12-in x 8-in x 8-in in size.

Desktop Metal said the Studio System printer is safe for office use because it doesn't rely on traditional metal 3D printing processes that use metal powders that are melted together on a print platform and it also has no cutting tools as a CNC metal router would.

Instead, the Studio System uses a proprietary technology it calls Bound Metal Deposition, which is similar to today's most prominent 3D printing technology -- fused deposition modeling (FDM), which melts thermoplastics and extrudes it layer by layer to build an object. Instead of plastics, the Studio System extrudes a myriad of different alloys which are then bound in the post-process furnace.

Desktop Metal's Studio System uses a "debinding step" necessary to remove the primary binding agent within the metal alloy material. The Production System does not require a debinder.

Because it operates similarly to a FDM 3D printer, there's no need for dedicated operators, Desktop Metal explained in its marketing materials. The machine relies on cloud-based software that allows a single, seamless workflow to move from the part's creation on computer-aided design software to sending printable files to the machines.

The Studio System offers swappable print cartridges for fast material changes.

The Production System uses a proprietary Single Pass Jetting (SPJ) technology, that the company claims is 100 times faster than today's laser-based additive manufacturing systems.

"I find it very interesting that Desktop Metal is bringing two 3D printers employing two different technologies to market," Basiliere said. "The Studio [System] is a material extrusion device while the production machine will be a powder bed fusion device. Other companies would have offered a desktop device and a production device with both using one technology and material set."

The Production System, Desktop Metal claims, can dramatically reduce the cost-per-part when compared with today's laser-based systems, "for the first time making it competitive with mass production techniques like casting," the company stated in its press release.

As with HPs Multi Jet Fusion 3D printer, Desktop Metals single pass jetting printer technology will be "orders of magnitude faster than existing powder bed fusion printers," Basiliere said.

HP HPs 4200 series Jet Fusion printer (left) and post processing station

"Whether that is 100x [faster] remains to be seen. Importantly, the 3D printers speed is only one element that has to be considered. Throughput is more important than speed," Basiliere continued. "The total elapsed time to make the 3D printer ready to run plus printing time plus post-processing time have to be compared."

The market for enterprise desktop metal printers, Basiliere said, could be quite large for three reasons. First, the desktop devices provide another step in the iterative prototyping process that can be used to make models in metal that are close to what will be made in production, whether the part is made with conventional techniques or additive manufacturing. Second, desktop metal printers can output robust tools, jigs and fixtures that are then used to make goods with conventional manufacturing processes. Third, printers could also make finished goods, whether for consumers or businesses, if the appearance, performance and quality are adequate for use.
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Two luxury apparel brands owned by a JAB Holdings Inc. subsidiary  Jimmy Choo and Bally International  appear up for sale.

The board of directors for London-based Jimmy Choo said it has informed JAB Luxury of its plans to solicit offers.

JAB Luxury is a subsidiary of JAB Holdings Inc., which bought Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. for $1.35 billion in July. It has made a $7.5 billion offer for Panera Bread.

JAB Luxury owns 67.7 percent of Jimmy Choo. It said there is no guarantee it will sell any or all of its holdings in the company.

JAB Luxury does not intend to comment further until a decision on possible strategic options has been made.

Bloomberg News reported Monday that the decisions to put Jimmy Choo and Bally on the block are part of putting more focus on its food and beverage companies, such as Krispy Kreme.

JAB Luxury has owned majority stakes in both companies for several years. Jimmy Choo sells luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and fragrances. Bally International sells designer shoes for men and women, along with bags and accessories.

JAB said it has made a strategic decision to focus on consumer goods, including a 37 percent stake in cosmetics maker Coty Inc. Bloomberg reported that the announcement made no mention of British jacket-maker Belstaff, another JAB luxury-goods holding.

JAB spent more than 500 million pounds in 2011  about $639 million in todays dollars  to buy Jimmy Choo from private-equity investors. It sold a 32.3 percent ownership stake in 2014 as part of an initial public offering.

We consider disposals of JABs luxury business make sense, as they do not offer the same cost-synergy advantages as the companys other businesses in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, Jeanine Arnold, senior analyst at Moodys, said in a note.

Analysts said Jimmy Choo could draw interest from luxury retail groups in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Middle East.

JAB Holdings announced its bid for Panera Bread on April 5, offering $315 per share. The offer represented a 20 percent premium over Paneras all-time share price high and a 30 percent premium from its March 31 closing price.

The deal includes taking over $340 million in Panera debt. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Panera had $5 billion in sales in 2016.

By comparison, JAB affiliate JAB Beech paid $1.35 billion for Krispy Kreme on July 27. That deal was worth $21 a share, representing a 25 percent premium over its share price of $16.86 when the deal was announced May 9.

As of Dec. 27, Panera had 2,036 restaurants in 46 states and in Ontario, Canada, operating under the brand of Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co. and Paradise Bakery & Cafe.

That includes four in Greensboro, two in Winston-Salem and one each in Boone, Burlington, Clemmons, Kernersville and High Point.
Caterpillar Inc. offered investors Tuesday a beacon of light at the end of a long and dark restructuring tunnel.

The company, with a manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem, disclosed an overall complex first-quarter report that was not all that promising when it came to core news.

 A modest 3.1 percent increase in sales and revenue to $9.8 billion.

 A 29.4 percent year-over-year decline in net income to $192 million

 A 14-cent drop in diluted earnings to 32 cents.

However, analysts and investors were more than encouraged that Caterpillars restructuring initiative  which began in September 2015  was showing signs of bearing fruit even as it will cost more than 2,000 jobs in Belgium by mid-year.

The company said it took $752 million in restructuring costs during the quarter, of which $670 million were connected to announcing the closure of its Gosselies, Belgium plant by mid-2017. Caterpillar also is moving production from its Aurora, Ill., plant to other U.S. plants by the end of 2018.

Excluding 96 cents in restructuring charges, Caterpillar had adjusted earnings of $1.28 a share.

That more than doubled the average earnings forecast of 62 cents by eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Analysts typically do not include one-time gains and charges in their forecasts.

Stifel analyst Stanley Elliott said Tuesday that Caterpillar started the year off on a strong foot when excluding the restructuring costs.

Expectations were high for Caterpillar heading into the quarter and the company more than delivered. The momentum seen across its footprint is clearly exceeding expectations.

The combination of bottoming markets, prior restructuring and improved volumes highlights what the company has done from a manufacturing perspective and the earnings power as markets turn, Elliott said.

Jim Umpleby, Caterpillars chief executive, said it was the first time in more than two years that the company reported an increase in year-over-year sales and revenue.

Were also benefiting from our significant cost reduction and restructuring actions, which have improved cash flow and further strengthened an already healthy balance sheet, Umpleby said.

With this momentum, we will continue to focus investment on improving our competitive position by investing in new technologies and improving our productivity to deliver profit growth and shareholder value.

Caterpillar also encouraged analysts and investors by cautiously reversing course on its fiscal 2017 guidance, raising it for both revenues and earnings.

The company increased its sales and revenue range for the full year by $2 billion on each end to $38 billion to $41 billion. Diluted earnings are down 20 cents to $2.10 at the midpoint of its sales and revenue range, but adjusted earnings at the midpoint range was up 85 cents to $3.75.

There are encouraging signs, with promising quoting activity in many of the markets we serve and retail sales to users turning positive for both machines and energy and transportation for the first time in several years, Umpleby said.

However, Umpleby cautioned that 2017 restructuring costs will reach $1.25 billion, up $750 million from the prior outlook.

While we are raising the full-year outlook for sales and revenues, there continues to be uncertainty across the globe, potential for volatility in commodity prices, and weakness in key markets, Umpleby said.

The company operates a $426 million plant in Winston-Salem. Caterpillar officials said Jan. 20 that the plant has 140 full- and part-time employees with its Progress Rail subsidiary that took over operations Jan. 1. The local workforce is down from a peak of 438 and a pledge of 510 full- and part-time employees.

Each of the three main divisions had a first-quarter revenue increase: 1 percent in construction industries to $4.09 billion; 2 percent for energy and transportation to $3.36 billion; and 15 percent in resource industries to $1.67 billion.

Caterpillar said it had an increase in demand for rail applications in the services and aftermarket sectors of North America despite continued weakness in the rail industry  with a significant number of idle locomotives.

Goldman Sachs analyst Jerry Revich reiterated his buy rating for Caterpillar, as we believe core end markets are in the early stages of recovery, while a significant change in its manufacturing footprint and capital allocation process will drive structurally higher margins in the cycle.

Wells Fargo Securities analyst Andrew Casey said investors should take comfort that Caterpillars backlog expansion  up 22 percent - shows it has some sustainability.
Red Robin restaurant plans May 8 Hanes Mall opening

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. said Monday it will open its Hanes Mall restaurant at 11 a.m. May 8.

The restaurant is located on an outparcel on Hanes Mall Circle between BJs Restaurant & Brew-house and Texas Roadhouse restaurant.

The chain has more than 500 locations, which are primarily company-owned restaurants, throughout the United States and Canada. The chain also has several Red Robin Burger Works restaurants. Red Robin had revenues of $1.3 billion for fiscal year 2015.

Richard Craver

Judge gives preliminary OK

to Yadkinville hospital settlement

A federal judge issued a preliminary approval Friday a settlement of just more than $1 million in a class-action WARN lawsuit filed by three former employees of the closed Yadkinville hospital.

The 140 class members will receive a combined $660,000 after attorney fees are paid. The compensation will range from $803 to $21,100 a person.

A final hearing on the settlement is set for 10 a.m. June 22 in federal court in Greensboro. Notices of the settlement will be sent to class members.

Yadkin Valley Community Hospital was shut down May 22, 2015, by CAH Acquisition 10 LLC. CAH remained in the hospital until Yadkin County took possession through a federal court agreement on July 15, 2015.

In September 2015, the three former employees  Carrie Hutson, Jeanna Simmons and Jenifer Swanner  filed the class-action request pursuing salaries and benefits tied to the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). Employees must file a lawsuit in federal court to assert WARN rights.

Payments are projected to begin within 14 days after court approval of the settlement stipulations. They would be made on the first of every subsequent month.

Richard Craver

Randolph building reuse projects gain state grants

The N.C. Rural Infrastructure Authority approved two existing building reuse grants for the Triad last week, both in Randolph County.

The town of Seagrove received $250,000 toward renovating a 30,678-square-foot building for Sapona Plastics. The company provides injection molding and assembly of plastic parts. It said it will add 25 jobs and spend $2.7 million on capital investments.

The city of Asheboro receives $225,000 toward renovating a 72,000-square-foot building housing for SouthCorr, a corrugated packaging company. The project was awarded a One North Carolina Fund grant on April 7. The company has pledged to create 22 jobs and spend $8.4 million on capital investments.

Richard Craver

Demolished McDonalds building

on Trademart to be rebuilt

The McDonalds restaurant building at 1460 Trademart Boulevard, off Peters Creek Parkway, has been demolished.

An unidentified company spokesperson would only say that the restaurant is being rebuilt and is scheduled to open in mid-July.

According to a City of Winston-Salem building permit, the new building is valued at $836,000 and will be 4,996 square feet.

Fran Daniel
The National Weather Service in Raleigh has issued a flood warning until 1:15 a.m. Tuesday for the following counties: Forsyth, Guilford, Davidson, Alamance, Orange, Harnett, Randolph, Lee and Chatham.

A flood warning also was issued until 6:30 a.m. Tuesday for Stokes, Rockingham and Caswell counties, by the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va.

At 7:11 p.m. Doppler radar indicated areas of moderate to locally heavy rain moving into the western and northeast Piedmont, according to the weather service. Much of the region has already received between 2 and 4 inches of rain, with some areas getting about 5 inches.

With the saturated ground, additional rainfall will run off, quickly filling rain swollen creeks and streams. Abbotts Creek in Davidson County was rain swollen and will likely flood low lying areas in vicinity of Lexington, the weather service said.

Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches through 11 p.m. are possible in the area.
Governor follows veto with judge appointment

RALEIGH  North Carolinas new Democratic governor is moving quickly to put his stamp on a state appeals court that is a new flashpoint with the Republican-dominated General Assembly.

Gov. Roy Coopers office says Republican Court of Appeals Judge Douglas McCullough resigned Monday morning, and a replacement backed by Democratic Party officials was appointed to the vacancy 15 minutes later.

McCullough was due to leave the court next month when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 72. His resignation Monday allowed Cooper to appoint John Arrowood to the seat.

The appointment comes three days after Cooper vetoed legislation decreasing the appeals court from 15 judges to 12, a move meant to block Cooper from appointing judges when three Republicans reach retirement age.

Lawmakers are expected to override Coopers veto this week.

Class-size proposal

phases in lower caps

RALEIGH  Republicans have unveiled legislation depicted as a compromise that prevents North Carolina school districts from having to cut supplemental programs to reduce average class sizes in early grades.

A bill approved by a Senate committee Monday evening would phase-in the reductions for the maximum class sizes in kindergarten through third grades currently scheduled for next fall. Now, those caps wont have to be met until fall 2018.

Education groups, teachers and parents were worried that without change districts would have to locate money elsewhere to meet lower class sizes by eliminating art, music and physical education instructors or increasing class sizes in other grades.

The bill also would require more reporting by local superintendents about how theyre using money designated specifically to lower class sizes.

Senate completes its part to override elections board veto

RALEIGH  North Carolina Senate Republicans have quickly completed their part in overriding Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto of a measure trying a second time to combine the state elections board and ethics commission.

The Senate voted Monday night with no debate by a margin exceeding the three-fifths majority necessary to cancel a veto. The measure now goes to the House. The bill would become law with a similar House vote.

Cooper successfully sued to strike down a law approved before he took office combining the two panels. So, Republicans tried again with a retooled measure.

The Associated Press
Every day, Jeff White and his little white dog, Lilly, walk a one-mile loop that dips into the Muddy Creek Greenway.

But Monday and Tuesday, floodwaters swallowed the trail, standing taller than his 13-year-old pup.

Ive never seen the water this high, said White, who has lived in the nearby Century Oaks neighborhood, off Meadowlark Drive, for 21 years. And never this prolonged.

The three-mile trail was completely flooded from Jefferson Elementary to Meadowlark Elementary and beyond after 5 inches of rain fell on the Triad since Saturday.

The monthly average for the Piedmont Triad is 3.57 inches of rain.

The Yadkin River was in the moderate flood stage, rising to 25 feet at midday Tuesday. Flood level is 18 feet, and the river reaches major flood stage at 29 feet.

We expect the river to continue rising throughout Tuesday and crest sometime overnight, said Kathleen Carroll, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh. Were not projected to go into the major flood stage.

Reports of water standing on roads continued Tuesday, and emergency workers helped a man whose car was submerged in floodwaters earlier that morning.

The driver, Ben Sullivan, told WGHP/FOX8 that he was on his way to work from his Salem Glenn neighborhood around 5:30 a.m. He said it was too dark for him to see the standing water on Dock Davis Road in Clemmons between Glen Day Drive and Riverwalk Drive.

Water flooded into his car, and Sullivan climbed on top of the vehicle.

His body weight on top of the car was keeping it from washing downstream, said Lewisville Fire Chief Steve Williams. As soon as he got off the car, it floated away into the trees and sunk.

Dock Davis Road remained closed Tuesday, submerged under at least 4 feet of water with the top of Sullivans vehicle barely showing over the surface.

The Lewisville Fire Department was one of the many agencies responding to the scene. It has the countys only water and dive response team.

Sullivans was their fourth water-related rescue in 24 hours, Williams said.

On Monday night, the team helped rescue and bring food to two horses in Clemmons that were stranded on a grassy island surrounded by floodwaters.

Winston-Salem police helped free a deer ensnared by a fence and fallen tree branches Monday.

Every four or five years, we see water this bad that closes down the roads, said David Kivett, Lewisvilles assistant fire chief. Today, were in good shape with the water starting to recede, so were pleased with that but warn people to still be cautious.

The heavy rain in Winston-Salem stopped about 2 a.m. Tuesday, but a steady mist fell throughout the day, said Shawna Cokley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh. Adverse effects and dangerous conditions could remain.

A tree fell on a student apartment building at Wake Forest University on Tuesday. Roads across the county continued to be closed due to standing water.

What well probably see  and continue to see over the next few days  are creeks and streams running high and flowing over banks, causing water on roads, Carroll said.

The state Division of Water Resources issued a warning, urging people to be careful while on the water recreationally.

Since Sunday, North Carolina has reported more than 50 sewer overflows. Overflows are caused by clogs in the collection systems that can result in raw sewage released into communities, degrading the quality of public water.

Bacteria and other pollutants may be present in surface water after a large rainfall event. Boaters and swimmers should stay out of areas with discolored water or dead fish, the statement said.

Rivers in the eastern part of the state toward the coast, especially, will continue to rise and remain at high levels for the next several days, Carroll said. Parts of the state received up to 8 inches of rain.

In Smithfield, a body was found in the Neuse River by a crew cleaning storm debris, but it wasnt immediately clear if the death was caused by the weather.

Highs are expected in the 80s into the weekend with a forecast for sunny skies today.

Itll feel much, much warmer (today) and muggy with the lingering ground moisture until things dry up, Carroll said. Itll be a pretty dramatic warming compared to what weve seen lately.
The inaugural ceremony, which took place in Kandal, saw the attendance of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Cambodian counterpart Samdech Techo Hun Sen along with tens of thousands of people living in the two countries shared border lines.

PM Phuc highlighted the accomplishments in bilateral cooperation, including positive outcomes in economics, trade, investment, security-defense, culture, education and tourism.

He noted that the collaboration between Vietnamese and Cambodian localities, especially cross-border ones, has been enhanced.

The PM stressed the significance of the bridge, saying that it will become the shortest route connecting Cambodias Phnom Penh capital with Vietnams borderline, thereby promoting bilateral trade and contributing to poverty reduction in disadvantaged border areas.

Long Binh-Chrey Thom bridge (Photo: VNA)

The two PMs agreed that the bridge is not only significant in terms of economy but also politics, culture, society, security and defense, and described it as a symbol of solidarity, friendship and sound cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia.

PM Hun Sen took this occasion to thank the Vietnamese Government and people for supporting Cambodia to escape from the Khmer Rouge genocide regime.

At present, Vietnam still assists Cambodia in the cause of national building and sustainable development, he added.

The construction of Long Binh - Chrey Thom bridge commenced in January 2014.

The Vietnamese Government provided a credit package worth USD18.76 million to help the Cambodian Government build the bridge.

This is the second biggest transport project in Cambodia following the construction of Highway 78 using the Vietnamese Governments preferential credit.

The inauguration of the bridge also marks the two countries efforts to complete the land border demarcation and marker planting./.
Fans of the namaste bow or tree pose will soon have a new studio to practice their regular stretching and breathing techniques, as Essential Yoga recently held its soft opening at 140 West Richardson Street (upstairs from Katie Mae's) in Summerville's historic downtown area. Read moreEssential Yoga debuts in Summerville
[JURIST] The State of Hawaii filed its answer [text, PDF] as plaintiff with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Friday in a lawsuit against the administration of President Donald Trump [official website], concerning Executive Order 13780 [text], also known as the revised travel ban. The state maintains that a preliminary injunction issued by the district court should be affirmed, arguing that the order is overstepping presidential authority. Trump appealed [JURIST report] after the district judge ruled [JURIST report] in favor of Hawaii in March.

Earlier this month the State of Hawaii asked [JURIST report] for the full appeals court to hear the case. In March the appeals court had ordered [JURIST report] an expedited schedule for the appeal. That same month a Washington federal judge refused to reinstate [JURIST report] his injunction on Trumps original travel ban.
[JURIST] Eric Olsen [corporate profile], CEO of cement manufacturer LafargeHolcim [corporate website], announced on Monday that he will resign following the discovery that LafargeHolcim had paid armed groups in Syria to prevent a factory from closing. French prosecutors are investigating [Reuters report] the payments, and two human rights groups filed a complaint in a French court against the corporation, alleging that it may have been complicit in financing Islamic State and in war crimes. Olsen said in his resignation [text], While I was absolutely not involved in, nor even aware of, any wrongdoing I believe my departure will contribute to bringing back serenity to a company that has been exposed for months on this case. Beat Hess, current Chairman of the Board, will take over Olsens responsibilities until a new CEO is hired.

In February France approved [JURIST report] a law to hold parent corporations liable for subsidiary human rights violations. The law was inspired by the 2013 garment factory collapse in Bangladesh which killed over 1,000 people [JURIST report]. The French companies using the factory blamed their suppliers and were not liable for the safety violations under French law at the time. Last April Bangladeshi workers gathered [JURIST report] on the third anniversary of the Rana Plaza garment factory disaster to demand justice for the incident. In July a Bangladesh court officially indicted [JURIST report] 41 people with murder stemming from the 2013 garment factory collapse after finding that the staff allegedly forced workers to stay in the unstable establishment despite concerns that the structure was visibly cracking.
[JURIST] Filipino lawyer Jude Sabio [personal Twitter] filed a complaint [text, PDF] Monday against Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte accusing him of extrajudicial killings during his nationwide anti-drugs crackdown. The 77-page complaint was filed before the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] and asks the court to prosecute Duterte over his involvement in the Davao Death Squad [HRW backgrounder]. In an accompanying statement, Sabio accused the Duterte of repeatedly, unchangingly and continuously committing extrajudicial executions from his term as Mayor of Davao City through to his current presidency. Sabio is asking the ICC [PhilStar report] to charge Duterte and 11 senior government officials with crimes against humanity and to issue an arrest warrant for them. Duterte has denied his involvement in the death squad and maintained that any killings of drug suspects were conducted within the bounds of the law.

Over 8,000 people have been killed since Duterte took office last year over drug-related offenses. Numerous rights groups have been critical of the killings and have spoken out against the current administration. Early in March Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] released a report that accused the police of falsifying evidence [JURIST report] in relation to the alleged police killings of citizens. This policy of sanctioned killings has been part of Dutertes rhetoric since his time as mayor of Davao City. In December a UN Human rights chief called for a murder investigation [JURIST report] after Duterte admitted to killing people in his role as mayor. Duterte has seemed skeptical of the ICC , in November he suggested that the Philippines might leave [JURIST report] the international body.
A number of leading international brands (Photo: PV)

Accordingly, the biggest franchise event titled International Franchise Discovery Day will be held by VF Franchise Consulting, the leading US franchising and licensing consulting company, with offices in Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand, on April 27th.

At this event, Vietnamese franchisees will have opportunity to meet leading international brands in the food and beverage sector seeking partners for expansion with minimum investment capital from USD1-USD5 million, such as Grimaldis New York Pizzeria; The Boiling Crab; and Presotea.

As the worlds most effective and successful model, franchising provides investors with a relatively rapid avenue of entering into business with controlled levels of investment and reduced risk.

According to Mr Sean T. Ngo, CEO of VF Franchise Consulting, with over 95 million people and one of the fast growing GDP growth rates in the world, the franchising world has taken notice of the significant opportunities in consumer spending in Vietnam. Consumer spending in Vietnam is especially high in the food and beverage and education sectors of the economy. Even the famous Goldman Sachs estimates that Vietnam will become a Top 10 economy by 2050.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade, until July 2016, up to 148 foreign brands have registered their franchising businesses in Vietnam. In which, the food and beverage brands hold the upper hand with famous trade names like KFC, Lotteria, Jollibee, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Starbucks, McDonalds, Dominos Pizza, Popeyes Chicken, Texas Chicken and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf./.
The NAACP [advocacy website] on Monday announced a lawsuit [press release] against the state of Georgia, claiming that states 2015 voter redistricting was discriminatory. The group claims [US News report] that lawmakers redrew voting district lines for political gain at the expense of minority voters. The complaint asks that a three-judge panel review the redistricting and order the lawmakers to re-draw the districts in question. Furthermore, the NAACP has asked that no elections be held using the changed district lines. The lawsuit is namely concerned with the 105th and 111th district which plaintiffs argued saw a slight decrease in minority voters.

Voting rights and how voters are grouped and counted has become and increasingly important issue over the past year. In January the Department of Justice sued [JURIST report] Detroit Suburbs over a potential Voting Rights Act violation regarding the ability of minorities to elect other minority members as council members. Earlier that week the US Supreme Court blocked [JURIST report] a ruling ordering the redrawing of the congressional district map and special elections to be held in North Carolina. This came after the Supreme Court heard arguments [JURIST report] in racial gerymanderings cases from Virginia and North Carolina in December. In September several organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging Georgias voter registration system [JURIST report]. Last April the Supreme Court unanimously upheld [JURIST report] an Arizona commissions decisions regarding the redistricting of voting districts in the state.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) [official website] on Monday filed the first complaint [text, PDF] in a planned series of challenges [NRA -ILA press release] to new California gun control laws put in place following the San Bernardino attack [LA Times backgrounder]. The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California Southern Division [official website]. Some experts doubt [LA Times report] that the legal challenges will prevail as the laws are limiting gun use, not outlawing it completely.

California has been the center of much of the countrys gun law controversies. In February a federal judge ruled that gun rights advocates are allowed to publish personal information [JURIST report], such as addresses and telephone numbers, of legislators who voted in favor of Californias recent gun control laws. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in December rejected a challenge [JURIST report] to Californias 10-day waiting period for purchasing a gun. Also in December Californias 5th District Court of Appeals reversed and remanded [JURIST report] a lower court ruling which rejected a challenge to a state law requiring gun microstamping. Last July California Governor Jerry Brown signed 20 bills into law, six of which were bills altering the gun laws [JURIST report] in the state
The Canadian Province of Ontario [official website] announced Monday that it will begin a trial program for universal basic income [press release] this summer. The Ontario government said [Guardian report] that it will test the policy on roughly 4,000 participants. Participants for the three-year program will be selected from a randomly selected mailing invite for individuals between the ages of 18 and 64. The program will be aimed at individuals on social assistance, in low paying jobs, or in positions of danger. The pilot is meant to help determine whether universal income is feasible. Opponents of the program are skeptical of its impact and concerned with the feasibility of financially supporting the project after previous failed attempts. Participants will receive an unconditional monthly income that does not effect their various benefits. The program will monitor the impact the income has on the participants health, education, housing and labor market participation.

Various income movements [JURIST backgrounder] have increased over recent years. In June Swiss voters rejected [JURIST report] a universal basic income plan. In 2014 Swiss citizens also rejected [BBC report] a measure to give Switzerland the worlds highest minimum wage. That measure would have raised the Swiss minimum wage to 22 francs an hour. Both of these measures were rejected by over three-fourths of the population. In March Baltimore approved a raise [JURIST report] to the minimum wage. In February the UK Supreme Court upheld [JURIST report] minimum income for immigrant spouses.
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday refused to hear an appeal by General Motors (GM) [corporate website] on its potential liability for ignition-switch defects. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] had ruled [opinion] against General Motors argument that it was not liable for the defects because they were made before it formed a new company following Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 2015, the court held that GM was, in fact, open to liability for the ignition-switch defects. With the Supreme Courts refusal to hear GMs appeal, the currently pending claims against GM will move forward. The claims have been estimated [Reuters report] to be worth between $7 billion and $10 billion.

GM has already settled [JURIST report] for $900 million with the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] to stop a criminal probe by the US, $575 million to settle a shareholder suit and more than 1,380 civil cases by victims, and $595 million through a victims compensation fund outside of court. In recent years other car manufacturers have also faced legal issues for allegedly failing to address malfunctions. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced [JURIST report] in July that it imposed a $105 million penalty against Fiat Chrysler [corporate website] for its failure to provide a remedy and notices for 23 recalls related to automobile malfunctions. In 2014 the DOJ announced a $1.2 billion settlement [JURIST report] agreement with Toyota for misleading customers and US regulators. In November 2012 Toyota settled [JURIST report] a class action lawsuit for $35.5 million brought by its shareholders failing to disclose vehicle quality issues.
The US Supreme Court [official website] heard oral arguments on Monday in McWilliams v. Dunn and Davila v. Davis [dockets], two cases related to capital punishment. In McWilliams [SCOTUSblog materials], the court heard arguments [transcript, PDF] on whether a defendant in Alabama whose mental health was an issue in his case should have been entitled to psychiatric assistance independent of the prosecution. The petitioner was sentenced to death after being convicted of the rape and murder of a woman in 1984. His trial attorney received a report from the inmates psychiatric hospital the day before sentencing, and another psychological report from the state prison on the day of his sentencing. The trial judge concluded McWilliams was faking [and] faking his condition, despite contradictory conclusions in the reports.

In Davila v. Davis [SCOTUSblog materials], the court heard arguments on whether a failure to raise a claim of ineffective appellate counsel in a capital case should be excused due to ineffective assistance of counsel in a state habeas proceeding. The inmate is a gang member who killed a woman and her five-year-old granddaughter while attempting to shoot a rival gang member at a birthday party. The court will decide if there is a meaningful distinction between ineffective counsel at the appellate level as opposed to trial. While the petitioner claims [materials] no meaningful difference has been recognized by the courts, the respondent claims [materials] the right to appellate counsel is not equivalent to the right to trial counsel, and should not be treated as such.
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday heard oral arguments [day call, PDF] in two civil procedure cases: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California, San Francisco County, and BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell [dockets]. Bristol-Myers Squibb [SCOTUSblog materials] focuses on whether plaintiffs may sue in a state that has no particular connection to them, but has significant connection to the defendant. The plaintiffs range from 33 states, but the action is taking place solely in California. Bristol-Myers operates out of the East Coast but runs its business nationwide. The California Supreme Court ruled [opinion, PDF] for the plaintiffs as Bristol-Myers contacts with the forum were related to the claims brought by plaintiffs out-of-state, but rejected general jurisdiction claims.

BNSF Railway [SCOTUSblog materials] focuses on whether the court should uphold its decision in Daimler AG v. Bauman [opinion]. In Daimler the court ruled that a state court could not exercise general jurisdiction over a defendant not at home in the forum state. The plaintiffs in BNSF Railway ask the court as to whether the Daimler ruling would prohibit two US railroad workers from filing in Montana for injuries that occurred in other states. BNSF operates extensively in the state but has argued that it is not at home in Montana and therefore the cases should be dismissed. Plaintiffs have responded that as they are filing under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) [text], they are allowed to bring this suit anywhere the railroad was doing business as the time of the suit. Much of the case will be determined on how the Court applies Daimler and how it interprets FELAs jurisdiction element.
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled [opinion, PDF] that tribal sovereign immunity does not extend to tribal employees acting in an individual capacity. Lewis v. Clarke [SCOTUSblog materials] arose when Brian and Michelle Lewis were injured in a car crash caused by William Clarke, an employee of the Mohegan Tribe [official website] who was driving a Mohegan Sun Casino limousine. Clarke argued that he was entitled to sovereign immunity and the lawsuit should be dismissed. The Supreme Court of Connecticut agreed that Clarke was entitled to sovereign immunity and dismissed the case. Justice Sotomayor, writing for an 8-0 majority, disagreed with the Connecticut ruling, holding that when a suit is filed against an individual, sovereign immunity does not apply. Clarke was treated as an individual in the lawsuit because the Lewises only wanted money from Clarke and wanted to hold Clarke responsible for his individual wrongdoing. The Lewises did not ask for damages from the Mohegan Tribe in the suit.

Justices Thomas wrote a concurring opinion agreeing that Clarke was not entitled to sovereign immunity because the accident occurred outside of the Mohegan tribes territorial boundaries. Justice Ginsburg also concurred, saying that tribes, interacting with nontribal members outside reservation boundaries, should be subject to non-discriminatory state laws of general application. In other words, tribes should be treated like anyone else under the law when suits arise outside of tribal territory.
Interiors specialist Yanfeng, says rising demand for premium cars in China will fuel demand both for its products and the automotive leather segment.

The premium segment is growing 5% in China, with a knock-on effect for the leather industry, but consumers in the country are also looking to purchase vehicles with an eye to customise them afterwards.

Speaking at last weeks (20 April) Automotive Leather Event at its headquarters in Bordeaux, Yanfeng Trim Business Unit director, Sun Zhongwei, noted the phenomenon, adding Chinese customers were becoming more demanding in their requirements.

Premium carmaking in China is growing [and] genuine leather is mainly for premium cars, said Zhongwei in Bordeaux. The entire world is looking at Chinese market growth. After car purchase, many Chinese customers will change the interior of their car. [The] 5% growth in the premium car segment, that only includes sales, not after purchases to change the interior.

Leather is obviously developing very fast in China and Chinese customers will become more and more demanding in the quality and look of leather. [The] leather market is at flat growth [however]. That is because more than 40% of cars are Chinese-made and in these cars we use vinyl and PVC for the seat cover.

We are happy to see many premium car makers will be producing in China  that will be an opportunity for us and leather is going to be more and more important. Customersneed more and more personalisation and we have already started to see customers combine modules, to compose the car seat.

This is an opportunity and a challenge for us  how to adapt our cutting quality to respond to customers demands. That is why we will be using additional leather cutting. We will be producing smaller batches but with more complex configuration.

Yanfeng Automotive Interiors ( YFAI) is the vehicle interior giant created by the 2015 70:30 joint-venture between Yanfeng Automotive Trim and Adient.

Data from just-autos QUBE service shows Yanfeng Global Automotive Interior Systems, headquartered in Shanghai, claims to be the largest automotive interiors supplier in the world, with an estimated global market share of 15% (50% higher than the number two player) and a 25% share of the fast expanding Chinese market, where a high degree of component localisation has been achieved. The companys European business is based in Neuss, Germany.

Following extensive consolidation of the automotive interiors business in recent years, the main competitors for YFAI are now Faurecia, Grupo Antolin and International Automotive Components Group (IAC).

Echoing an Industry 4.0 theme at Lectras Automotive Leather Conference, the Yanfeng Trim director noted how traditional die presses were being replaced by upgraded machines to allow speedier manufacture.

Traditional die presses need more time, added Zhongwei. Digital cutting can be done in real time  this allows supply to OEMs more quickly.

We are going through this transformation and we need to discuss with Lectra to make this happen in our company.
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
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Delloite has presented a primary report on the implementation of the project to corporatize state-run enterprise National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom, the press service of the company reported on Tuesday.

The press service said that the implementation of the project includes 39 basic measures to be realized in three stages. At the final stage the 10 year Energoatom development project will be drawn up with finance management, long term capital attraction and funds management sections.

Deloitte, which was selected by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as advisor for Energoatom, will work tightly with Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers, State Nuclear Regulation Inspectorate, creditors and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"The corporatization opens many new opportunities for us. Now amendments to legislation on the creation of supervisory boards are to be applied along with the corporatization process. Hard joint work is to be carried out to harmonize these processes," Energoatom President Yuriy Nedashkovsky said.

Energoatom is the operator of all four Ukrainian-based operating nuclear power plants, which have 15 VVER reactors with an overall generating capacity of 13.835 gigawatts.
Ukraine's higher business court to hear Gazprom's counterclaim against ruling ordered to collect UAH 172 bln fine on May 16

Ukraine's higher business court has scheduled a hearing of a counterclaim of Russia's Gazprom against a court ruling to collect a fine and penalty of UAH 172 billion from Gazprom for abuse of monopoly for May 16, 2017.

According to the court, the counterclaim was registered on April 20.

As reported, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine decided in January 2016 to fine Russian gas giant UAH 85 billion for abuse of its monopoly position on the Ukrainian market for transit shipments of natural gas. This decision has been upheld several times by Ukrainian courts. In the latest ruling, on February 22 Kyiv's business court of appeals upheld the ruling of a lower court confirming the order to collect the fine from Gazprom, which has already grown to UAH 172 billion (about $6.4 billion) with fines for nonpayment.

Kyiv's business court on March 17, 2017 ruled to collect UAH 172 billion from the Russian company, as the court ruling took effect.

The Antimonopoly Committee on April 11, 2017 sent a petition to enforce collection of UAH 172 billion from Russia's Gazprom to the State Enforcement Service of Ukraine.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has placed Kredobank (Lviv) to the list of preliminarily qualified entities to participate in the removal of insolvent banks from the market, Kredobank said in a press release.

"According to the decision of the NBU committee for regulation of banks operations, supervision (oversight) of payment systems made in April, Kredobank is authorized to act as an accepting bank if an insolvent bank is under liquidation involving the sale of all or a part of its assets and liabilities," the bank said.

The press service said with reference to Kredobank Board Chairman Grzegorz Shatkovski that the bank is mulling the purchase of credit portfolios of insolvent banks.

"Kredobank is interested in acquiring credit portfolios of large insolvent banks which suit its business profile and will attentively consider all opportunities and offers that would appear on the market," he said.

Kredobank was established in 1990. Its strategic investor is Poland's largest bank PKO BankPolski S.A., whose share in the charter capital of the Ukrainian bank is 99.6%.

Kredobank ranked 19th among 93 operating banks as of January 1, 2017, in terms of total assets worth UAH 11.004 billion, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.
Diamantbank reports profit in Q1 2017 next day after bank declared insolvent

Diamantbank (Kyiv) that was declared insolvent a day before on Tuesday reported that the bank saw profit in January-March 2017 after four quarters of seeing losses.

According to a bank report, it saw UAH 1.7 million of net profit in January-March 2017, while a year ago its net loss was UAH 287.404 million.

Net interest income over the period totaled UAH 44.42 million, which is 4.27 times more year-over-year (UAH 10.399 million).

Taking into account spending on reserves, net interest income of the bank was UAH 16.326 million compared to UAH 306.408 million of net interest loss in Q1 2016.

The bank's credit portfolio shrank by 14.8%, to UAH 3.053 billion. Its assets narrowed by 1.9%, to UAH 7.273 billion.

As reported, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on April 24 recognized Diamantbank (Kyiv) insolvent.

Following the National Bank's decision, the Individuals' Deposit Guarantee Fund decided to withdraw the bank from the market by introducing temporary administration for one month - until May 23, 2017.

Diamantbank was registered by the NBU in November 1993. According to the bank, as of January 1, 2017 its largest shareholders were Ihor Kerez (44.4918% indirectly), Davyd Zhvaniya (23.81%), Andriy Schukin and Viacheslav Tsyhanenko (12.28% each indirectly).

The bank ranked 24th among 93 operating banks as of January 1, 2017, in terms of total assets worth UAH 7.414 billion, according to the NBU.
ERU to supply 218 mcm of gas from PGNiG resource to Ukrtransgaz in 2017

ERU Group will supply 218 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas from the resource of Poland's PGNiG S.A. to public joint-stock company Ukrtransgaz in 2017, the press service of ERU reported on Tuesday.

"First in the history of Ukrtransgaz the contract will be implemented by companies not linked to Ukrainian state-owned Naftogaz. Gas will be supplied by PGNiG to its Ukrainian partner ERU Trading. Ukrtransgaz will use the gas for own needs and maintenance of the network," the press service said.

PGNiG said that the company started supplying gas to Ukraine in 2016. The company is mulling opportunities for expanding sales on the Ukrainian market.

As reported, Ukrtransgaz finished its first procurement of gas for own needs via the ProZorro system on April 19.

National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy has won three out of seven lots of public joint-stock company Ukrtransgaz to supply gas for industrial needs.

With the expected cost of UAH 1.672 billion for 218 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas (VAT not included), Naftogaz offered UAH 1.392 billion, UAH 1.373 billion and UAH 1.351 billion for each lot.

Four companies won a lot each: ERU Trading LLC (UAH 1.353 billion), Esco-Pivnich LLC (UAH 1.291 billion), Trafigura Ukraine (UAH 1.53 billion) and Gas Trading Company LLC (UAH 1.331 billion).

The trading for three more lots were annulled as less than two bids was submitted.

ERU Trading LLC belongs to Andriy Favorov (former commercial director of DTEK), Dale Perry and Yaroslav Mudriy
Zero Halliburton Now in the Philippines

After my recent travel to Singapore, I cringe thinking about my deformed luggage. I was like, "what the eff happened to my brand spanking new luggage as I saw a concave corner of it in the conveyor." It's a no brainer that a luggage will be thrown here, there, and everywhere upon check-in so a sturdy luggage is really important especially if you travel a lot.





A luggage is an investment and when I say investment, you really have to pay the price for the quality. Just recently, I was invited to the launch of Zero Halliburton, the only luggage to travel to the moon and back. Yes, this is not a joke. Sharing a short story of this global luggage brand and my picks below :)





Zero Halliburton Now in the Philippines

Zero Halliburton





The global luggage brand has an incredible 80-year history of finely-engineered designs and a proven track record of protecting ones valuables.





Zero Halliburton Now in the Philippines





During the launch, Zero Halliburton introduced to us the iconic aluminum briefcase that stored the rock and soil samples from National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Apollo 11 lunar mission back in 1969. I told you that it's not a joke, as you can see in the photo above.





Zero Halliburton Now in the Philippines

Classic Aluminum Collection





Zero Halliburton Now in the Philippines

Mr. Hiroaki Morishita, Chairman of Zero Halliburton

We are excited to bring over the classic and reinvented designs of Zero Halliburton. Our premium line of luggage provides unequaled protection for travelers valuables across the world. Now, we get to share these fine pieces with Filipinos, so they too may travel with utmost ease and confidence, said Mr. Hiroaki Morishita, Chairman of Zero Halliburton.

Looking back at the historic past, we were entertained by zero gravity moves from aerial dance performance while presenting the luggage.





Zero Halliburton Now in the Philippines

Aerial dance performance





There's a pocket fashion show that illustrates its launch to the world of business, leisure, and travel. Originally designed by aerospace engineers, Zero Halliburton cases have grown into a widely loved travel brand in the world.





Zero Halliburton Now in the Philippines

The premium luggage has extended its line to wheeled business bags, pilot cases, backpacks, and duffel bags. New materials and designs give traction to Zero Halliburtons reach in the global tarmac.




The protests for saving the Central European University get help from an unexpected ally  Trump.

Viktor Orban understands politics very well. However, this time it looks like he really misjudged the situation. It certainly seems like he has pushed things too far and has been put firmly in his place. It also seems hell have no choice but to back away from the decision that undermines the Central European University.

This is far from the most radical decision he has ever made, but it has raised such severe criticism and from people far more important than himself, that the myth of Viktor Orban as a player in global politics crumbled instantly. Where will this all lead? To capitulation in Brussels, to uncomfortable conversations in Moscow, or, perhaps, to Orbans downfall?

It cannot be emphasized enough that Orbans politics are powercentric. His decisions are based on whether a policy will strengthen or weaken his position. With regard to the question of the CEU, there are four different groups who are challenging his authority: Hungarian protesters, EU politicians, American diplomats and the academic elite. But it is clear that these attacks do not carry the same weight when it comes to whether or not the prime minister will reverse the decision.

We can forget about the impact of the pressure applied by the academic elite: intellectuals interest Orban about as much as a box of matches, for he knows that they influence only a very small group of voters. This is, in part, thanks to the efforts of the governing party, Fidesz, to discredit the intelligentsia.

The impact of demonstrations is also questionable. Orban doesnt waver in the face of a crowd of thousands unless one of his loyal research institutes says that potential voters may also take to the streets (see the demonstrations against a proposed internet tax in 2015). In any case, Fidesz doesnt rely on Budapest to win elections. The demonstrations held in other cities, moreover, attracted only a couple hundred protesters, so they have not caused much alarm either.

Around 80 thousand angry Hungarians are giving weight to the diplomatic pressure which has been placed on the government.

However, the tens of thousands who are protesting the laws against the CEU and NGOs are still important, and it would be unwise to discount them. If there wasnt such obvious outrage among Hungarians (even though the government maintains that the protesters are mainly foreigners and people who have been flown in from other countries by George Soros himself), then the condemnation of these laws by the EU and the USA could easily backfire, working in Orban favour. He would be able to claim that this is just another foreign attack which means to harm Hungarys sovereignty, we cant let them get away with it! Around 80 thousand angry Hungarians do give weight to the diplomatic pressure which has been placed on the government.

The European Committee has challenged Hungary on other matters before, but the Hungarian question has been raised more pointedly recently. While Fidesz politicians have grown accustomed to this criticism, and have even been able to profit from it in the past, it seems that the EU has now had enough. Potential sanctions against Hungary have been discussed. And if anything were to bother Orban, it would be the steady flow of EU money drying up. Sanctions would kill Hungarys economy and they would deliver a serious blow to the oligarchs of Fidesz as well.

It seems that the CEU scandal, the law on NGOs and the national consultation campaign slandering Brussels has been too much for the European Peoples Party (EPP) too. Despite being a part of this parliamentary group, Fidesz has recently received a few unexpected blows from them too. However, the EU machinery reacts very slowly and very cautiously. Were the EU to sanction Hungary too strictly, it would run the risk of pushing Orban into the arms of his new best friend, Putin.

However, such a blatant break with the EU would likely mean the end of Orban too. If Brussels were to tighten the leash, Fidesz would lose face in Hungary, and lose the favour with Putin, whom Orban has recently been courting more openly. So perhaps the Union has more room to manoeuvrer here than it thinks.

Trumps administration backed the CEU completely, and Orban hasnt yet lost all common sense.

The attack against the CEU will likely fail, however, because Orban had expected the Trump administration, which also considers George Soros a political opponent, to turn a blind eye to this assault upon an American university. However this was a big mistake. Even in Trumps New World, American interests and the protection of democracy are still more important than political skirmishes. Trumps administration backed the CEU completely, and Orban hasnt yet lost all common sense. He wont be willing to actually pick a fight with the USA just yet.

So, the Orban administration will have to reverse their position as quickly as they pushed for the law regulating cheating universities in the first place. Its difficult not to watch with glee as politicians who have previously parroted fake bureaucratic, administrative and legal reasons for closing down the CEU, have had to quickly learn the new party line, which states that there isnt a problem with the phantom university after all. In the space of just one week, the government has gone from the CEU cant operate in this manner any longer to well find a legal loophole. We can only congratulate them on their impressive mental cartwheels!

Lajos Kosa, the faction leader of Fidesz can say that the CEU is simply an incidental issue as often as he likes, and poor Laszlo Palkovics, the state secretary for higher education, can try to explain that the Hungarian government never wanted to drive anyone out of the country, but at this point it would be hard to see this struggle as anything other than an ugly political defeat.

Now the battle for its interpretation can begin. Right now its difficult to predict who has come out on top, one way or another, and what the consequences will be. A lot depends on the players involved.

For the first time in a long while there is actually something at stake in Hungarian politics.

Is it possible that this was the outcome Orban expected all along? That hell manage to turn the situation to his favour, claiming that George Soros meddled in Hungarian affairs? Or will Orban claim that he was only testing the USA and the EU? Will he now try to reclaim control after having successfully proved that no matter what anyone says to the contrary, there is, in fact, a real conflict between Hungarian and western interests?

Or will the opposition parties that remained ineffectual up to this point come out and manage to widen this new crack in the regimes armour? Will the Momentum party that belongs to the same generation as the protesters manage to ride the wave of demonstrations to a position of power? Will this become a casus belli to prove a wide public dissatisfaction with the Orban regime and lead to its downfall?

The truth is that anything can happen now. Only one thing is certain: for the first time in a long while there is actually something at stake in Hungarian politics.

This article is republished as part of the editorial cooperation with PoliticalCritique.org.
EBRD to provide three-year hryvnia pegged loan in equivalent of $20 mln to OTP Leasing

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a three-year hryvnia loan to OTP Leasing LLC (the subsidiary of OTP Bank, part of Hungary's OTP Group) in the amount equivalent to $20 million, the bank has said on its website.

The funds are provided for financing leasing transactions with private Ukrainian companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under EBRD's SME Local Currency Programme.

Other details of the deal are not disclosed.

OTP Leasing was founded in June 2008 as a subsidiary of OTP Bank. The company provides finance and operating leases as well as car fleet management services in Ukraine.
The Iowa State Penitentiary said five prisoners are being disciplined for possessing or using synthetic cannabinoids.

Justin Carder, George Deason, Anthony Koehlhoeffer, Martin Moon, and Ryan Trowbridge were found guilty of violating institutional rules.

Earlier this month, the prison said it had changed procedures related to inmate male and visiting to prevent the synthetic drugs from getting inside the maximum security prison.

A union representing correctional officers warned that the drugs were creating a dangerous situation for staff and inmates, some of whom were combative and suffered serious health effects after overdosing.

The prison in Fort Madison houses Iowa's most dangerous offenders.
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.
There are common misconceptions about the role of pipelines in our daily lives. We live in a society that runs on oil and oil products. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which is currently under review by Nebraskas Public Service Commission, is designed to safely deliver the energy we use each and every day.

In the coming weeks you will read about the many opinions on this project. One misconception is that pipelines are unsafe. Pipelines are by far the safest way to transport oil and natural gas. In fact, Keystone XL has gone through the most extensive and rigorous environmental review for a pipeline in North America.

The pipeline has undergone five separate, independent, federal environmental reviews, and a separate independent review by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. Each of these reports has acknowledged the project is safe and environmentally responsible.

Another one we hear is that the crude oil it delivers is for export. This is untrue. Canada is the largest supplier of U.S. crude oil imports, providing 41 percent of total U.S. imports  more than all OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) combined. Keystone XL will replace OPEC oil imported to the Gulf Coast with North American crude oil.

We care about Nebraska, the land, the people and the environment. We are proud of our 35-year history in the state and proud to do business here. We look forward to continuing the strong relationships weve built with Nebraskans over the past 35 years.

Matthew John, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

EDITORS NOTE: The author is a communications specialist with TransCanada, the company that plans to build the Keystone XL Pipeline.
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Ukraine will ask the Russian Federation to provide information on the terms of the implementation of the interim decision of the UN court under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine for European Integration Olena Zerkal has said.

"The court's decision must be immediately executed. And we are going to address Russia with a diplomatic note, with a request on how and when Russia will implement this decision," the deputy minister said on ICTV TV channel on Monday night.

According to her, the issue of the need to lift all restrictions on the entry of the leaders of the Mejlis will also be raised before the Russian Federation.

"This decision entails many successive steps, which we are also going to undertake to show the world how the decisions are being implemented, what Russia is doing to make it impossible to simply execute the formal decision," she said.

As reported, on April 19, 2017, the United Nations' International Court of Justice ruled in Ukraine's lawsuit against Russia that Russia should ensure observance of the rights of the Crimean Tatars in Crimea, lift the ban from the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and ensure availability of the Ukrainian-language education.

The court also expects the Russian Federation and Ukraine to implement the Minsk agreements.
So pervasive is the problem of opioid abuse that it has become part of the Canadian consciousness and left doctors, public health officials and politicians scrambling to find solutions to contain the crisis. A man walks past a mural by street artist Smokey D. painted as a response to the fentanyl and opioid overdose crisis, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C., on Thursday, December 22, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A worker in a small boat moves logs on the Fraser River at the Delta Cedar Sawmill in Delta, B.C., on January 6, 2017. Workers sort and move lumber at the Delta Cedar Sawmill in Delta, B.C., on Friday January 6, 2017. The United States has fired the opening shot in a latest softwood-lumber war against Canada, with the Trump administration announcing its first batch of duties on imported wood in the neighbourhood of 20 per cent. The move was expected: the historic dispute over lumber pricing has led to once-a-decade trade skirmishes between the neighbours, resulting in American duties, then inevitable court battles, and ultimately negotiated settlements. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gennady Gatilov arrives at the high-level pledging event for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Tuesday April 25, 2017. (Valentin Flauraud/Keystone via AP)
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An ex-priest has tied the knot with a Romanian male model 54 years his junior.

Retired Philip Clements, 78, who was once a parish priest in Eastry, near Sandwich, married Florin Marin, 24, at a registry office in Ramsgate today.

The pair decided to invite Kent Live to their wedding to make a stance against Church of England rules that bar clergymen from same-sex marriage.

Clergy are currently barred from same sex marriage but are allowed a civil partnership - providing it is a celibate one.

"I've taken up many weddings, and I've almost gave up hope thinking I would be part of my own" said Mr Clements, who was a priest for 50 years.

Speaking last month after announcing their engagement, the retired vicar said he had "learnt to live again" after meeting his younger lover on a dating website two years ago.

Having kept his sexuality to himself almost his entire life, 24-year-old Mr Marin is Mr Clements' first serious relationship.

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He explains: "As a priest, I want the church to think seriously about this issue and to change its teaching and rules to allow clergy as well as lay members of the church to marry someone of the same gender if that is how they feel.

"I think a lot of clergy must be with partners, or wanting to be with them, but they are stopped from being themselves by the rules of the church."

He added: "They mean well, they are good Christians. But they do not understand this aspect of human nature."

Upon saying his wedding vows, Mr Clements added: "I never thought it would happen at my age. I've been a long time looking for you Florin.

"And then I found you. Where have you been the last 78 years? Mostly non-existent."

The pair will be moving to Mr Marin's native Romania tomorrow to begin their new lives together.

Asked how they will embark on married life, Mr Clements said: "There's a list of places Florin has told me he wants to go which are very expensive and far away like the Maldives and Dubai. He wants to go all over.

"I want to go to the village where he was brought up and meet all his family, and hopefully they'll throw us another party.

"He wants to work as a model, and bring me lots of money so he can start paying for things."

Mr Marin has previously defended the couple's age gap, saying he has always been attracted to older people.

He said: "From the young people I have dated in the past, I have learnt nothing."

The couple have taken on each other's surnames and today became Philip Clements-Marin and Florin Marin-Clements.
14:00 25.04.2017 Interfax-Ukraine to host press conference on the results of Committee of Ukrainian Voters study on 'Rating of Governors' Activity for the First Quarter of 2016'

1 min read

On Tuesday, April 25, at 14.30, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference on the results of Committee of Ukrainian Voters study on "Rating of Governors' Activity for the First Quarter of 2016." The participants will include Director General of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine Oleksiy Koshel, an analyst of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine Denys Rybachok (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation.
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Poroshenko, Lukashenko to take part in events marking anniversary of Chornobyl nuclear power plant accident

On Wednesday, April 26, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will meet with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in the exclusion zone of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, the presidential press service has reported.

"The presidents will jointly honor the memory of the victims of the Chornobyl disaster and visit a number of facilities at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant," the source said on Tuesday.

The presidents will also hold talks on the territory of Belarus.
Law enforcers have made a significant progress in identifying those involved in the murder of former State Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov, Ukraine's National Police Chief Serhiy Kniazev has said.

"There are positive changes in the identification of persons involved in the commission of the willful murder of a former State Duma deputy Voronenkov," he said during his report to the board of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry in Kyiv on Tuesday.

As reported, ex-State Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov was killed in the Kyiv downtown on March 23. The murderer was wounded by the security guard of the former deputy and later died in the hospital.
No casualties have been recorded among the servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone in Donbas over the past day, but the militants carried out 21 shelling attacks on Ukrainian army's positions, the Defense Ministry's spokesman Andriy Lysenko has said.

"There have been no losses among Ukrainian servicemen during the past 24 hours, although 21 shootings have been recorded," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
A Laredo man is arrested and charged with insurance fraud after claiming his vehicle was stolen.

On January 20, dispatchers were sent to Mall Del Norte. It was here that Julio Vela, 20, told Laredo police his 2016 Chevy Silverado had been stolen.

After investigating a possible false claim for insurance, police arrested Vela last Friday for insurance fraud.

"Just because we followed a certain, 'I wanted into a store for several hours, and came back out an dit was goen,' we are not just going to dismiss it because we live in a border town. They are going to investigate," says Joe Baeza, of the Laredo Police Department.

LPD's Auto Theft division heads the investigation.
The St. Jude Catholic Church is hosting its annual Jamaica soon.

However, this event involves test driving a Ford vehicle.

For more information, you can watch the interview above.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) reported resumption of its activity on both sides of the Donbas contact line on Tuesday.

"Today the OSCE SMM resumed its patrolling on both sides of the contact line in Donetsk and Luhansk regions," the mission said on Facebook.

"We continue to take mitigation measures to ensure our monitors' security and safety are in place. The patrols are conducted with some restrictions due to an ongoing assessment of the events on Sunday morning," the mission said.

"The SMM remains committed to fulfilling its mandate and contributing to bringing peace to the people of Ukraine including through monitoring and reporting on the security situation. In order to fulfill this task the Mission needs safe, secure and unconditional access for the SMM monitors," the mission said.

It had been reported earlier that the OSCE SMM patrol vehicle had been blown up presumably by a landmine in the area of Luhansk region uncontrolled by Kyiv on April 23, A U.S. citizen was killed, and citizens of Germany and the Czech Republic suffered injuries. All OSCE SMM patrols were summoned back to base after that incident.
An extraordinary woman, living in Kilkenny; born in Poland; educated in London and with a lifelong love of France is to receive one of that country's most prestigious honours at a ceremony in Kilkenny city on May 3.

Dr Therese White, an anaesthetist at Aut Even Hospital, Kilkenny is to be honoured by the French Government.

The French Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency, Jean-pierre Thebault will make her a member of the Chevalier de Palme Academique on May 3.

The Ordre des Palmes Academiques (Order of Academic Palms) is a knighthood of France for academics and cultural and educational figures.

The early Palmes academiques was instituted in 1808 and was only awarded to teachers or professors. In 1850 the decoration was divided into two known classes.

The honour is being bestowed on the, over 65 year old, in gratitude for her promotion of French culture and literature during her life.

Therese has been living and working in Ireland for over 50 years and came to Kilkenny back in 1978 to work in St Luke's Hospital with her late husband Mervin who died 25 years ago.

Before moving into the city she farmed with her husband, Mervin at Grange, Ballyragget where the couple won many awards for their pedigree Charolais cattle and their showjumpers out of the King Of Diamonds line.

Therese White is the president of Alliance Francais in Kilkenny and the local Francophile are delighted for Therese.

This is a fantastic achievement and Therese is more than deserving of the award because of her lifelong association with France and we in Alliance Francais are thrilled, secretary of Alliance Francais in Kilkenny, secretary of the Kilkenny Alliance, Mr Fred Tuite said.
By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON

Top Trump administration officials will hold a rare briefing on Wednesday at the White House for the entire U.S. Senate on the situation in North Korea.

All 100 senators have been asked to the White House for the briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Monday.

While administration officials routinely travel to Capitol Hill to address members of Congress on foreign policy matters, it is unusual for the entire Senate to go to the White House, and for all four of those officials to be involved.

Wednesday's briefing was originally scheduled for a secure room at the Capitol, but President Donald Trump suggested a shift to the White House, congressional aides said.

Washington has expressed mounting concern over North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, and its threats to attack the United States and its Asian allies.

Trump, who called the leaders of China and Japan during the weekend, told U.N. Security Council ambassadors on Monday that "the status quo" is not acceptable, and said the council must be ready to impose new sanctions.

Congressional aides suggested the briefing was being held at the White House to underscore the message to North Korea that Washington is serious about wanting a shift in policy.

A senior Trump administration official said the flurry of activity around North Korea was "not a part of something choreographed" and cautioned against over-interpretation.

Senators said they were happy to be hearing from the White House.

"It's (the location) their choice," said Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I hope that we hear their policy as to what their objectives are, and how we can accomplish that hopefully without dropping bombs."

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said the administration should be telling senators it had a "red line," if it has one. "By 2020, if nothing changes inside of North Korea, they'll have the technology, they'll have a breakthrough, to develop an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) that can reach America. I hope this president will say that's a non-starter," Graham said.

The briefing will take place at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT).

Aides said they were working with the White House to schedule a similar briefing for the House of Representatives.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Richard Cowan; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Shumaker)
April 25 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Tuesday after a sharp fall in the previous session on a market-friendly French presidential vote, although tensions over North Korea offered support for safe-haven bullion.



FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was unchanged at $1,275 per ounce by 0115 GMT. Bullion prices fell about 0.7 percent in the previous session after touching $1,265.90, the lowest since April 11.

* U.S. gold futures were down 0.1 percent at $1,276.60 an ounce.

* Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step towards the French presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for a May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

* The news represented a defeat for anti-European Union forces on the right and left of French politics, sent European shares and the euro vaulting higher and sparked a sell-off in safe-haven bullion.

* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the U.N. Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on North Korea as concerns mount that it may test a sixth nuclear bomb as early as Tuesday.

* The launch of the London Metal Exchange's new precious metals contracts will be delayed until July 10, more than a month later than previously announced, it said on Monday.



* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.17 percent to 860.17 tonnes on Monday.

* Russia and Kazakhstan raised gold holdings in March, the International Monetary Fund said.

* UBS cuts three-month target for gold prices to $1,200 per ounce from previous estimate at $1,300.

* Barrick Gold reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings on Monday and also slashed its forecast for output and hiked costs at its gold mine in Argentina, where cyanide solution spilled recently for the third time in 18 months.

* Newmont Mining Corp reported higher-than-expected adjusted earnings on Monday helped by higher production and gold prices as the gold miner also raised its longer-term forecast for output and lowered costs due to expansions at a Ghanaian mine.

* Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold producer, reported a 19 percent rise in first-quarter sales to $600 million on Monday due to higher production.

* Randgold Resources Ltd confirmed multiple opportunities for extending life of Tongon gold mine beyond current four-year horizon.

DATA AHEAD (GMT)



0645 France Business climate April

1300 U.S. Monthly home price index February

1300 U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller housing index February

1400 U.S. Consumer confidence April

1400 U.S. New home sales March

1400 U.S. Richmond Fed composite index April

(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin)
(Adds stock move, Argentina mine details and sale)

By Nicole Mordant

April 24 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings on Monday and also slashed its forecast for output and hiked costs at its gold mine in Argentina, where cyanide solution spilled recently for the third time in 18 months.

Barrick, which is the world's largest gold miner, also lowered its forecast for 2017 group gold production largely because of the sale of a 50 percent stake in the Argentinian mine, Veladero, to a Chinese miner last month.

Its shares fell more than 3 percent after hours.

Barrick said it expects normal operations to resume at Veladero in June, pending government approval and the lifting of judicial restrictions.

Argentine regulators suspended the addition of cyanide to Veladero's leach pad processing operation and told Barrick to overhaul environmental practices and operations at the mine following the March 28 spill. The June date was based on its "assessment of the time required to complete the proposed modifications to the leach pad," Barrick said in a statement.

Barrick said it now expects full-year production at Veladero of 630,000 to 730,000 ounces of gold, at all-in sustaining costs of $890 to $990 per ounce.

That is 12 percent to 18 percent down from Barrick's previous forecast of 770,000 to 830,000 ounces. It had previously expected mine costs of $840 to $940 per ounce.

Until now Barrick had said it does not expect a material impact from the spill to its 2017 Veladero forecasts.

Veladero is Argentina's largest gold mine and Barrick's third largest contributor to output.

Barrick said April 5 that China's Shandong Gold Mining Co would pay $960 million for 50 percent of Veladero, which is one of Barrick's five core mines. Largely due to the sale, Barrick now expects to produce between 5.3 million and 5.6 million ounces of gold in 2017 across the group, down from an earlier forecast of 5.6 million to 5.9 million ounces. Group cost forecasts remain unchanged.

Barrick and Shandong had a $500 million improvement plan for Veladero, Barrick Chief Operating Officer Richard Williams said on Friday after meeting Argentinian government officials. Argentina's Energy and Mining Minister said analyzing the plan would take about two weeks. Barrick reported group adjusted earnings of $162 million, or 14 cents a share, in the first quarter. That was up from $127 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same period last year but below analysts' forecasts of 20 cents per share, partly because costs rose.

(Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Bill Trott and Chris Reese)
On Friday, April 28, at 10.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference, entitled "International Medicine Procurements Fail. Who Is to Blame? Children Left without Medicines." The participants will include Head of the Center for Pediatric Oncohematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation of the National Specialized Children Hospital Okhmatdyt, Chairman of the All-Ukrainian NGO 'Association of Pediatric Oncohematologists of Ukraine' Svitlana Donska; Head of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Department of the Pediatric Oncohematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Center of the National Specialized Children Hospital Okhmatdyt Oleh Ryzhak; President of the charitable foundation 'Aid to Children with Cancer' M.D. Valentyna Markevych; chief specialist in pediatric hematology at the Kyiv City State Administration's Health Department Natalia Kavardakova; and Board Chairman of the Krona Charitable Foundation Olena Matsibokh (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation.
(Adds comment, updates prices)

* Canadian dollar ends at C$1.3565, or 73.72 U.S. cents

* Loonie hits a 14-month low at C$1.3626

* Bond prices lower across the yield curve

By Alastair Sharp

TORONTO, April 25 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar slumped to a 14-month low against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday after the United States said it would impose preliminary anti-subsidy duties averaging 20 percent on imports of Canadian softwood lumber.

The move sets a tense tone as the two countries and Mexico prepare to renegotiate the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. "The Canadian dollar has definitely not reacted well to the beating of the trade drums," said Brad Schruder, director of corporate sales and structuring at BMO Capital Markets.

While he said reaction to the lumber tariff was likely overdone, the weakness also partly reflected "fear of a snowball effect."

"It renews this concern that Canada could be facing some stiff headwinds on trade negotiations," after being lulled into a false sense of security from more favorable signals in recent months.

The Canadian dollar notched its weakest close this year, settling at C$1.3565 to the greenback, or 73.72 U.S. cents, compared to Monday's close of C$1.3516, or 73.99 U.S. cents.

The currency touched its weakest since Feb. 25, 2016, at C$1.3626 during the session.

Recent weakening in the price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, has added to pressure on the nation's currency amid doubts about the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' ability to reduce global crude inventories.

Oil prices edged up in volatile trading, rebounding from six days of losses, ahead of U.S. crude inventory data forecast to show a drawdown. Canadian government bond prices were lower across the yield curve in sympathy with U.S. Treasuries. The two-year fell 3.5 Canadian cents to yield 0.757 percent, and the 10-year declined 28 Canadian cents to yield 1.521 percent.

Canadian retail sales data for February is due on Wednesday. (Additional reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Chris Reese)
* STOXX 600 hits 20 month high

* AMS jumps after results

* Dior up after buyout deal

(Adds detail and quotes, updates prices)

By Kit Rees

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - Deal-making and earnings underpinned European stock markets on Tuesday as the focus shifted back to fundamentals and away from politics, for now, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index scoring its fifth straight session of gains.

The STOXX 600 ended up 0.2 percent, after briefly hitting its highest level since August 2015 during the session. It is up 7.1 percent so far this year.

A win for centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French presidential election sparked a global rally in risk assets on Monday as investors breathed a sigh of relief over the reduced chances of a nationalist upset. "You've got all these positive factors in Europe's favour, but the problem is of course that we have had some political road bumps to contend with this year," Ken Odeluga, market analyst at City Index, said.

"That is the main cautionary factor that is this fly in the ointment for what are a positive set of circumstances overall."

Figures from Thomson Reuters Lipper showed that net flows into European mutual funds posted their third straight monthly inflow in March with up to $100 billion of inflows potentially in the pipeline. Investors are buying into the improving economy and taking heart from the more favourable political landscape. France's CAC 40 , which rallied more than 4 percent on Monday, ended up 0.17 percent.

Earnings were firmly in focus, with shares in AMS surging 19.6 percent to a record high after the chipmaker reported first quarter revenues above its own forecast and added that it might raise its mid-term revenue growth target. Well-received earnings also boosted shares in auto stock Volvo , which rose 7.6 percent after beating first quarter forecasts. M&A action also fuelled shares, with luxury goods firm Christian Dior rocketing 11 percent to touch a fresh all-time high after a buyout deal.

LVMH and billionaire businessman Bernard Arnault announced a deal to simplify their relationship with Christian Dior by buying out its minority shareholders, aimed at boosting LVMH's earnings. LVMH shares hit a record level and rose 3.9 percent higher, while rival Hermes fell 4.5 percent.

Results, however, weighed on Swedish mining and smelting firm Boliden , which fell 6.6 percent.

Boliden's core operating profit missed forecasts by 6 percent. It blamed a fall in volume of free metals at copper smelters from unusually high levels seen in the previous quarter. Shares in Whitbread also dropped, down 7.1 percent after the Costa Coffee owner reported results and said that it expected consumer confidence to wane next year. (Reporting by Kit Rees and Danilo Masoni; editing by Mark Heinrich)
(Updates prices, adds quotes)

By James Regan

SYDNEY, April 25 (Reuters) - Copper reversed early losses in Asia on Tuesday to trade higher on the back of strong regional equities markets that broadened investor appeal for cyclical assets such as industrial commodities.

"All regional equity markets are higher as is oil and the base metals complex as yesterday's broader 'risk on' theme is maintained," commodities broker Marex Spectron said in a note.

Asian equities coasted to a near two-year high, buoyed by a jump in risk appetite following the centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election. "Asian markets appear to be still lingering in the glow of relief after the French election," said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore. "The jubilance in markets overnight has also added to the optimism."

* COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained percent to $5,680 a tonne by 0715 GMT.

* SHANGHAI: The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange settled 0.04 percent higher at 46,030 yuan ($6,687)a tonne.

* ANGLO AMERICAN: Mining company Anglo American reported a 9 percent rise in overall production for the first quarter of 2017 compared with 2016, but copper output fell 3 percent because of poorer grades and a temporary suspension at the El Soldado mine in Chile. * PERU STRIKE: Workers at mining company Southern Copper Corp in Peru have reached a deal with management to end a two-week strike, a union official and a company spokesman told Reuters on Monday. * OTHER ShFE METALS: Tin ended 0.14 percent lower at 137,610 yuan, while lead finished 0.22 percent higher at 15,945 yuan. ShFE zinc gained 0.19 percent to 21,55 yuan. ShFE aluminium ended 0.77 percent up at 14,375 yuan a tonne.

* LME DELAY: The launch of the London Metal Exchange's new precious metals contracts will be delayed until July 10, more than a month later than previously announced, it said on Monday.

PRICES

Three month LME copper Most active ShFE copper Three month LME aluminium Most active ShFE aluminium Three month LME zinc Most active ShFE zinc Three month LME lead Most active ShFE lead Three month LME nickel Most active ShFE nickel Three month LME tin Most active ShFE tin ARBS ($1 = 6.8835 Chinese yuan)

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Top Base and Precious Metals Analysis - GFMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Richard Pullin and Amrutha Gayathri)
LAGOS, April 25 (Reuters) - Nigeria's commercial hub, Lagos State, has redeemed 57.5 billion naira ($183 million) worth of local currency bonds it issued seven years ago, it said on Tuesday.

Finance Commissioner Akinwunmi Ashade said the state was paying off its debts to create space for new issuance to raise funds for infrastructure investment. He said the state has saved more than 103 billion naira in a sinking fund to redeem bonds maturing in 2019, 2020 and 2023.

Lagos State, which accounts for around a third of Nigeria's economic output, sold the bonds in 2010 to fund badly-needed infrastructure projects, Ashade said.

Nigeria is in its second year of a recession brought on by lower oil prices, which have slashed government revenues, weakened the currency and caused dollar shortages, frustrating business and households.

Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun has said the government needs to invest in infrastructure as a way to spur economic growth. The state government redeemed 167.5 billion naira in bonds last year. ($1 = 314.50 naira)

(Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Editing by Chijioke Ohuocha and Catherine Evans)
Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

BOND AUCTION

Poland's finance ministry will offer treasury bonds worth 6.0 billion zlotys ($1.54 billion) to 9 billion zlotys at a bond auction on Tuesday. MILLENNIUM Poland's Bank Millennium reported on Tuesday a two percent year-on-year increase in its first-quarter net profit to 140.5 million zlotys, thanks to rising net interest income and fee income, as the bank improved margin and slashed deposit cost. MUTUAL FUNDS

Polish regulator KNF plans to limit provisions mutual funds charge for their services, Gazeta Wyborcza daily said.

GROUPON Groupon will hire 500 people in its second Polish shared services centre in Katowice, south of Poland, Puls Biznesu daily said.

PGE Polish biggest power firm PGE will launch a joint venture with France's Energy Pool, which will focus on the so called demand side response and help the biggest electricity consumers reduce demand for power when necessary.

****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.****

For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX ($1 = 3.9010 zlotys)

(Reporting by Warsaw Bureau)
BUCHAREST, April 25 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Tuesday.

DEBT TENDER

Romania sold a planned 800 million lei ($191.92 million) worth of Feb. 2019 treasury bonds on Monday, with the average accepted yield at 1.48 percent, central bank data showed. COURT

A Bucharest court upheld on Monday a two-year suspended jail sentence of Liviu Dragnea, the leader of Romania's ruling Social Democrats, rejecting his challenge. CEE MARKETS

Central European assets, mainly stocks and currencies rose on Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of France's elections, taking a big step towards becoming president. TAXATION

The Coalition for Romanian Development, a large group of foreign and domestic employers, said they opposed the replacement of the flat tax on income with a global income tax, arguing the flat tax has boosted budget revenue, reduced the black economy and eased tax collection. Ziarul Financiar

For the long-term Romanian diary, click on For emerging markets economic events, click on For an index of all diaries, click on For other related news, double click on: --------------------------------------------------------------- Romanian equities RO-E E.Europe equities .CEE Romanian money RO-M Romanian debt RO-D Eastern Europe EEU All emerging markets EMRG Hot stocks HOT Stock markets STX Market debt news DBT Forex news FRX For real-time index quotes, double click on: Bucharest BETI Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX --------------------------------------------------------
JOHANNESBURG, April 25 (Reuters) - Sibanye Gold's shareholders on Tuesday approved the South African miner's $2.2 billion buyout of U.S.-based Stillwater Mining < SWC.N>, moving it a step closer to significantly boosting its platinum portfolio.

About 82 percent of Sibanye shareholders voted in favour of the deal which will cement South Africa's grip on global supply of platinum and advance Chief Executive Neal Froneman's push to diversify away from gold and South Africa.

"We thank our shareholders for their support for this transaction which represents a unique and transformative opportunity to acquire world class, low-cost international PGM assets," Chief Executive Neal Froneman said.

Sibanye, which was spun off from Gold Fields in 2013, last year bought Aquarius Platinum and Anglo American Platinum's mines in Rustenburg. The Stillwater deal is its first venture beyond South Africa. Stillwater, which operates in Montana, is the only U.S. miner of platinum group metals (PGM) and the largest primary producer of PGMs outside South Africa and Russia.

Stillwater's shareholders are due to meet on Tuesday to vote on the transaction.

Sibanye said it would fund the deal with a combination of debt and new equity. It expects the tranches of capital to be raised by the end of June.

($1 = 13.0376 rand)

(Reporting by Olwethu Boso; editing by Jason Neely)
HANOI, April 25 (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 0429 GMT.

April 25 USD/VND mid-point 22,344 USD/VND interbank 22,744/22,746 USD/VND unofficial 22,720/22,750 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.55/36.77

Interbank offered rates Overnight 4.8-5.2

1 week 4.9-5.2

1 month 4.9-5.2

3 months 5.0-5.3

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 25 (Reuters) - Here are news, reports and events that may affect Turkish financial markets on Tuesday.

The lira stood at 3.5800 against the U.S. dollar at 0553 GMT, firming from Monday's close at 3.5839.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond was at 10.55 percent in spot trade on Monday.

The main BIST 100 share index firmed by 1.49 percent and closed at a record high of 93,802.81 points.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian equities advanced on Tuesday as the return of risk appetite following a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election lifted several regional markets to multi-year highs, while the euro retained most of its overnight gains. AIR STRIKES ON PKK IN IRAQ, SYRIA

The Turkish military has carried out air strikes against Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) militants near Iraq's Sinjar mountains and northeastern Syria to prevent the group from sending weapons and explosives for attacks inside Turkey, it said on Tuesday. CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition CHP will all be attending a ceremony to mark the 55th anniversary of the Constitutional Court. Erdogan is expected to speak at the event.

TREASURY

The Turkish Treasury will tap fixed-rate coupon bond with March 2022 maturity.

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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 (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk)
(Adds details throughout.)

BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) - China's coal imports from Russia jumped to their highest in nearly three years in March, customs data showed on Tuesday, as the world's top buyer turned to alternative suppliers following its ban on imports from North Korea in February.

Arrivals from Russia gained 19.5 percent to 2.3 million tonnes, the highest monthly total since June 2014, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday.

North Korea shipped zero coal last month, it said, in line with comments from customs earlier this month. A year ago, China imported 2.38 million tonnes of coal from the country. The data showed a big jump from February by other major importers, Australia, Mongolia and Indonesia, reflecting a shift in trade routes after China's sudden decision to ban all coal imports from its reclusive neighbour. That followed repeated missile tests by Pyongyang that drew international criticism.

Overall coal imports rose, amid strong demand from steel mills, where output climbed to a record last month, and rallying domestic coking coal prices.

The higher steel output has raised more concerns about metallurgical coal supply after China banned high-quality anthracite imports from North Korea that are typically used for steel making.

Australian arrivals in March rose 15.75 percent from a year earlier to 6.66 million tonnes, while Mongolian shipments gained 56.35 percent to 3.05 million tonnes.

Indonesian imports climbed 9.4 percent from a year ago to 2.6 million tonnes.

Coal import from the United States were 340,000 tonnes last month, versus only 39 tonnes at the same time last year, the data showed.

(Reporting by Meng Meng, Josephine Mason and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
* Cautious on euro bonds given ECB tapering prospects, politics

* FX-hedged foreign bonds still more attractive than JGBs

* Sees firm economic recovery and rise in share prices

* To change scenario if Trump seen failing to carry out stimulus

(adds details, quotes and background)

By Hideyuki Sano

TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) - Dai-ichi Life Insurance will be cautious about buying European bonds given prospects of the European Central Bank's tapering its bond purchases and the uncertainties posed by elections in France, Germany, UK and Italy, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Although the company sees diminishing risk in France as opinion polls show centrist Emmanuel Macron is likely to win the run-off due on May 7, it remains wary ahead of elections in the UK and Germany later this year and in Italy next year, said Kazuyuki Shigemoto, general manager of investment planning.

"While European bonds' yields are attractive, if you ask whether you can increase holdings in them, we think it is appropriate to have a cautious stance now," Shigemoto told a news conference.

The risk of so-called Frexit, or France's departure from the European Union, appears to have eased after the first round vote on Sunday. Yet investors remain wary of surging anti-establishment sentiment that could destabilise the status quo in Europe.

In particular, Italy is seen as a next potential flash point as opinion polls show the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which is calling for a referendum on the euro, is likely to win the elections.

Many economists also expect the ECB to signal later this year its willingness to reduce its bond purchases, currently running at 60 billion euros per month.

Japanese insurers bought a record 7.76 trillion yen ($70.5 billion) of foreign bonds, including French and other European bonds, in the last financial year ended in March, to seek higher returns than those on negative-yielding Japanese government bonds.

They are averse to exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations, so they use currency hedging on a large part of their foreign bond investment.

Shigemoto said the firm still thinks currency-hedged foreign bonds appear attractive compared to JGBs but added that it will look to their yield levels closely to make investment decisions.

The core firm of Dai-ichi Life Holdings , Japan's second largest private life insurance group, plans to increase its holdings of foreign stocks, expecting firm economic growth.

That scenario could change, he added, if U.S. President Donald Trump cannot deliver the tax cuts and infrastructure spending he has promised.

The current levels of 10-year U.S. Treasuries around 2.3 percent still reflect hopes for Trump's stimulus, Shigemoto said.

"If expectations of his stimulus completely disappear, then we are not going to buy stocks or buy foreign bonds without currency hedging," he said.

The firm also plans to further diversify its assets by increasing investments in alternative assets such as private equity and real estate.

(Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
* Graphic: Sterling and gilt yields * Graphic: World FX rates in 2017 * Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote (Recasts with fall to 2-week low)

By Ritvik Carvalho and Patrick Graham

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - Sterling sank to a two-week low against the euro on Tuesday, hit by the single currency's renewed strength as relieved investors turned optimistic on Europe after the first round of the French presidential election.

The pound weakened to as much as 85.27 pence per euro after a Reuters report that European Central Bank officials may now feel free to begin to tweak its policy language in June toward a tighter monetary stance. That follows a 1.4 percent surge for the single currency against the pound, its biggest gain since early January, after a run-off vote between two strongly anti-EU candidates was averted in Sunday's first round of voting.

Expectations that centrist Emmanuel Macron will easily beat far-rightist Marine Le Pen in the second round on May 7 have fuelled a relief rally in the EU's shared currency.

"It is mainly euro sterling that is moving things today," said Stephen Gallo, a strategist with Bank of Montreal. "The moves on euro dollar have also dragged cable (dollar exchange rates) up a bit."

By 1540 GMT, sterling was down 0.3 percent at 85.19 pence per euro while gaining 0.3 percent to $1.2836 Sterling surged almost 2 percent to hit four-month highs versus the euro after British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap election last week.

Investors expect her Conservatives to win by a landslide, giving her a clear domestic mandate that may increase her room for manoeuvre as Britain heads into exit negotiations with the European Union.

Sterling has largely stalled, however, since the initial moves on May's announcement and positioning data still points to a large market bias against the pound built up in a shattering few months after last June's Brexit referendum.

EU leaders will warn Britain it cannot assume its big financial services industry will be included in any free trade deal after Brexit, diplomats said on Monday after fixing negotiating terms in a draft document. "The pound's euphoric rally on last week's snap election news could be at further risk if the market loses confidence in the election's ability to make for easier negotiations with the EU," analysts from currencies exchange LMAX said.

"The probability of Macron as the next president in France is also not doing any favors for the pound, with the candidate a well known critic of the UK leaving the EU."

In a week sparse on economic data, the major events from here are likely to be Thursday's ECB policy decision and news conference and UK first-quarter growth numbers on Friday.

Retail sales and other measures of consumer sentiment have pointed to a weakening in an economy that has so far ridden out the threats generated by the Brexit vote relatively robustly.

But a number of analysts have spoken in favour of sterling in the past few weeks, some also emboldened by the election to suggest the worst may be over.

"Our view stands that a lot of the move lower has now happened," said Lee Hardman, a strategist with Japan's MUFG in London. "Any move below 1.20 looks more of a stretch now and that may ultimately be the bottom for this cycle."

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
(Kitco News) - President Donald Trump is just days away from completing his first 100 days in office, and it's been an eventful few months to say the least, especially for the precious metals.

Gold and silver prices are up some 4.7% and 3.7%, respectively, since Inauguration Day.

"It is also worth noting that prices are also up by a similar amount in RMB and euro terms, showcasing that this price rise has not been a function of dollar weakness," Ross Strachan, precious metals demand analyst for Thomson Reuters GFMS, told Kitco News Tuesday.

Despite a recent pullback in prices following the first round of the French Presidential election, both metals managed to rally to five-month highs last week, hitting $1,297.40 and $18.655 an ounce. In other words, just last week, gold prices were up over 7% and silver was up 9.5% since January 20.

Strachan's comments, which came out just ahead of Trump's 100-day mark on April 29, also highlighted that investor interest in the metals has grown since Trump's inauguration, noting that net long positions on COMEX rose by 41% for gold and 67% for silver.

However, he explained that the rallies seen in both metals since January 20 shouldn't be attributed entirely to President Trump.

"We would not suggest that this rally is solely a function of the arrival of President Trump; an improvement in Indian demand has also played a role," he said.

"A rise in geopolitical fears, however, not least due to events in Syria, has clearly played an important part in the price increases  as we had forecast they would - and this has encouraged investment flows into both metals," he added.

That said, the London-based analysts said his short-term outlook on gold remains slightly grim, "a little bearish, with technical headwinds and Indian demand having started to soften after a strong start to 2017."

"Furthermore, the concerns emanating from European elections have lessened in recent weeks with Macron leading the first round of the French presidential polls. Indeed, the introduction of a Good & Services Tax in India in the middle of this year is likely to cause somewhat of a hiatus in purchases from that crucial market."

Over the longer term, Strachan is a little more optimistic on gold, noting that risks of rising geopolitical tensions, further delays in Trump's tax reforms and a pickup in Asian demand should bode well for the metal.

"[W]e expect prices to be recovering at the tail end of the year as Asian buying improves again and mine production slides, while geopolitical tensions spark fresh western investment buying also," he said. "Overall, we expect gold to average $1,267 and to peak at $1,375 this year."
Stuff reports:

The Government is creating a new agency as part of efforts to provide more rigorous and evidence-based assistance to vulnerable Kiwis.

The Social Investment Agency, to be launched in July, will encourage greater use of data by social sector agencies when making decisions about what sort of support to provide.

Social Investment Minister Amy Adams said the work was about better understanding the needs of vulnerable Kiwis and how government initiatives affected someone across their whole life, not just in one specific area.

Greater use of data and evidence, and a focus on measuring outcomes, means we can create a system that looks for more opportunities to intervene sooner and more effectively.
(Xinhua) 08:30, April 25, 2017

PRETORIA, April 24 -- China and African countries held a ministerial conference here on Monday with the aim of stepping up China-Africa cooperation in health.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, Minister of National Health and Family Planning Commission Li Bin, and health ministers from 31 African countries attended the conference with the theme of "China-Africa Health Cooperation, From Commitments to Actions."

Addressing the China-Africa Ministerial Conference on Health Cooperation, the Chinese vice premier hailed China-Africa health cooperation as an epitome of the China-Africa community of shared future.

Liu said numerous moving stories of health cooperation have been recorded in the history of China-Africa friendly relations.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Johannesburg listed public health cooperation as part of the 10 China-Africa cooperation plans, lifting China-Africa health cooperation to a new level, she noted.

Since then, China and Africa have worked together to follow through on the outcomes of the summit and made new progress in health cooperation, said Liu.

China hopes that the conference will boost efforts to further implement the outcomes of the FOCAC summit so as to usher in an even broader future for China-Africa cooperation in health, said Liu.

The Chinese vice premier said China has been accelerating the building of its own health sector while actively participating in global health governance.

China stands ready to work with all other countries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to address global health challenges, and through South-South cooperation, to help build the health sector in developing countries, she said.

Enhanced China-Africa health cooperation will not only benefit the 2.4 billion Chinese and African peoples, but also help enhance the health and wellbeing of all mankind, she said.

She called for intensified efforts to improve the accessibility of Africa's health services, strengthen the public health prevention and control system and capacity-building in Africa, scale up support for the health needs of the youth and women, deepen people-to-people exchanges in health and bring more benefits to the people through China-Africa health cooperation.

More than 200 participants, among them Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Executive Director Michel Sidibe, attended the conference, where World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan sent in a video message.

Representatives of various parties spoke highly of China's achievements in the health sector as well as China's support for African countries.

They also expressed hope for enhanced cooperation with China to help Africa realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by world leaders in 2015.

At the conference, China signed an agreement on maternal and child health care cooperation with Malawi, an agreement on hospital cooperation with the Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mauritania, Zambia, Niger and Chad, and an agreement on a free-cataract-surgery program with African countries including Sierra Leone.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday North Korea is a "real threat to the world," calling for the U.N. Security Council to get ready to impose tougher sanctions on the communist nation.

"The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable," Trump said during a lunch meeting he hosted at the White House for U.N. ambassadors from countries that are members of the Security Council. "The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs."

"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem and it's a problem we have to finally solve. People put blindfolds on for decades and now it's time to solve the problem," Trump said.

Trump also said the U.N. envoys will be "very busy people over the coming months and years."

North Korea and Syria were top issues during the lunch meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said.

"It was an open dialogue very much of the members wanting to hear from the president what his plans are, what he is going to continue to do on Syria or not continue to do on North Korea. All those issues are certainly at the forefront," Haley told reporters at the White House briefing broom.












North Korea on Tuesday marked the 85th founding anniversary of its military, bolstering its bellicose rhetoric against the United States amid tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

On the Korean People's Army (KPA) anniversary, the North warned that the U.S. will have to choose between political and military surrender, showing off its readiness to counter Washington's possible preemptive strike.

"If the U.S. and warmongers run amok with a reckless preemptive strike, we will stage the most brutal punishment of a pre-emptive attack in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice," said Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

The warning came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs.

South Korea and the U.S. are closely monitoring the possibility of Pyongyang conducting a sixth nuclear test or launching a ballistic missile on the occasion of the North's anniversary.

The North held a meeting on Monday to celebrate the KPA's anniversary, stressing that it is ready to respond to possible Washington military actions.

"If the enemies dare opt for the military adventure despite our repeated warnings, our armed forces will wipe the strongholds of aggression off the surface of the earth through the powerful preemptive nuclear attacks," said Pak Yong-sik, the minister of the armed forces.




Senior officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed at a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday to take unbearably strong punitive action against North Korea if the communist country launches a fresh military provocation, the South Korean participant said.

The three countries' chief negotiators on the North Korean nuclear issue held a meeting earlier in the day to coordinate their responses to advancing nuclear and missile threats by North Korea. Kim Hong-kyun, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the foreign ministry, represented the South Korean side, vis-a-vis his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi.

The trilateral meeting comes amid unusually heightened tension after North Korea ratcheted up its ballistic missile tests and military threats to the U.S. and South Korea this year.

"(The three sides) agreed that we will strongly warn that North Korea should stop further strategic provocations, but we will take strong punitive action that the North could not bear if it pushes ahead with one despite the warning," Kim told reporters after the meeting.

"We had a discussion on the details (of what punitive action) but it is inappropriate to talk about the details," Kim said, only adding that the countries will consider stronger anti-North responses in the existing fields of U.N. Security Council resolution, country-level sanctions and international diplomatic pressure.

The diplomats denounced North Korea for posing a threat to the peace and stability of the international community, Kim said. "Since the North remains unchanged on its stance toward denuclearization, the efforts should be focused on keeping up and even further intensifying pressure on the North."
Presidential candidates from the five main political parties use their fingers to show their number on the ballot sheet in a photo session ahead of their fourth televised debate at a studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. They held a roundtable debate for almost three hours on challenging national issues centered on the tight job market for young people, the sluggish economy and North Korea's nuclear threats. They will hold two more TV debates on Friday and next Tuesday before the May 9 election. From left are Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party; Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party; Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party; Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea; and Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party. / Joint press corps
South Korea and Japan were divided over the usage of "East Sea" in naming the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan as a conference of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) opened in Monaco on Monday, South Korean officials said.

Koreans claim that East Sea has been used for more than 2,000 years. But the name was not known internationally in modern times because the Korean Peninsula was under Japan's colonial rule from 1910-45.

In contrast, Japan demands that the waters be called "the Sea of Japan," as that name has been used internationally since the 19th century, even before the peninsula came under Japanese colonial rule.

At the IHO's 19th general assembly, a South Korean delegation consisting of 30 government officials and private-sector experts plan to have the organization's publication "Limits of Oceans and Seas" revised to include the East Sea.

The publication, also known as S-23, is designed to serve as guidelines on the limits and names of oceans and seas for the benefit of national hydrographic offices in compiling nautical charts. It at present refers to the waters between the two countries only as the Sea of Japan.

S-23 was last revised in 1953, but discord over how to name the sea between the two neighbors has hampered the revision efforts.












By Rachel Lee



Argentina celebrates its flagship grape Malbec worldwide every April 17. And again this year, Seoul was among over 100 cities that marked "Malbec World Day."



"Today, when you hear the world "Malbec" you immediately think of Argentina," Ambassador to Korea Jorge Roballo said at the seventh Malbec World Day organized by the embassy at the Millennium Seoul Hilton on April 18. "So this year, we celebrate Malbec as the heart of Argentina."



Argentina is the world's fifth-largest wine producer and ninth-largest wine exporter. It has 1,300 wineries.



At this year's event, Argentina introduced 17 wineries presented by 15 importers.



Argentine Malbec, known for the quality of its tannins _ silky and mouth-filling _ accounts for about 35 percent of grapes planted in the country and 51 percent of its wine exports, Roballo said.



"Malbec integrates the DNA of Argentina and, moreover, tells its story," he said. "Malbec combines the knowledge and experience of the old world with the innovation, freshness and fruit of the new world."



The diplomat saw positive growth in the Korean market for wines from his country.



In 2016, Argentine wine exports to Korea surpassed $4 million, a 7.3 percent increase on 2015, according to the embassy.



"We know how much appreciated Argentine wines are in the local market," Roballo said. "There is an increasing interest by Korean consumers in our wines for their variety and quality and their affordable price."



Korean wine imports have been increasing over the past seven years, surpassing imported hard liquor for the first time last year. The changing drinking culture, especially among young people, has driven the popularity of wines _ and more people are enjoying wine and food matching.



According to the Korea International Trade Association, wine imports in 2015 reached $189 million _ a 4.2 percent increase on a year earlier.



Argentine wine imports increased 13.3 percent in the first 10 months of 2015 on the same period a year earlier. Accumulated imports reached $3.3 million from $2.9 million.



The embassy last year introduced 15 wineries presented by 14 Korean importers, including Shinsaegae L & B, Shindong Wine, LB Wine and Nana Cellar.



"Malbec is not just a wine," Roballo said. "It is a fruit that generates work, individuality, culture and development. Each bottle is a declaration of the core of Argentina. Malbec is the heart of our wine industry and continues to be our ambassador to the rest of the world."




By Rachel Lee

Mexico's new Ambassador to Korea is Bruno Figueroa, the Mexican Embassy said on April 17.

Figueroa has expressed his commitment to expanding political, economic, educational and cultural exchanges with Korea, within the framework of the Strategic Partnership established by the two countries in 2005, the embassy said.

The ambassador said one of his priorities will be to promote the bilateral economic agenda to boost trade and investment opportunities and encourage technical-scientific and educational-cultural exchanges between Mexico and Korea.

Figueroa was Mexico's Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Consul General in San Jose, California. In Mexico, he served as Director-General for Technical and Scientific Cooperation. Until March, he was head of the General Directorate for the Mesoamerica Integration and Development Project, which is the coordinating office for Mexico's cooperation with Central America and the Caribbean.
(Xinhua) 08:40, April 25, 2017

STOCKHOLM, April 24 -- The total world military expenditure rose to 1.686 trillion U.S. dollars in 2016, an increase of 0.4 percent in real terms from 2015, according to a report released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

According to the report, "the United States remains the country with the highest annual military expenditure in the world. U.S. military spending grew by 1.7 percent between 2015 and 2016 to 611 billion U.S. dollars."

The think tank said the growth in U.S. military expenditure in 2016 could signal the end of a trend of decreases in spending due to the economic crisis and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. However, U.S. spending in 2016 remained 20 percent lower than its peak in 2010.

"Despite continuing legal restraints on the overall U.S. budget, increases in military spending were agreed upon by Congress," said Aude Fleurant, director of the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure (AMEX) program.

"Future spending patterns remain uncertain due to the changing political situation in the United States."

Meanwhile, military expenditure in Western Europe "rose for the second consecutive year and was up by 2.6 percent in 2016." There were spending increases in all but three countries in Western Europe, and Italy recorded the most notable increase, with spending rising by 11 percent between 2015 and 2016, according to the report.

Overall spending in Central Europe grew by 2.4 percent in 2016.

"The growth in spending by many countries in Central Europe can be partly attributed to the perception of Russia posing a greater threat,"said Siemon Wezeman, senior researcher at SIPRI.

"This is despite the fact that Russia's spending in 2016 was only 27 percent of the combined total of European NATO members."

Trends and patterns in military expenditure vary considerably between regions. Spending continued to grow in Asia and Oceania, Central and Eastern Europe and North Africa. By contrast, spending fell in Central America and the Caribbean, the Middle East (based on countries for which data is available), South America, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Headquartered in Stockholm, SIPRI's research covers international conflicts, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
By Rachel Lee



Canadian Ambassador to Korea Eric Walsh is hosting a writing contest as part of his country's 150th year of founding celebrations.



The "Canada 150: Creative Writing Contest for Youth" aimed to give Korean students an opportunity to "display and share their creative and imaginative efforts by interacting with established Canadian authors," the Canadian Embassy said.



"The contest also offers the opportunity to promote excellence in Canadian creative writing education as well as in Canadian literature."



The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Creative Writing for Children Society, a non-profit group in Vancouver, organized the event.



With theme "150," elementary, middle and high school students and those attending international and foreign schools in Korea and Canadian curriculum education can participate in the contest.



Participants are asked to write a short story in either of Canada's official languages: English or French. All entries should fit the format of short fiction, including fantasy, sci-fi and a children's story.



Canadian writers Lee Edward Fodi, Stacey Matson and Kallie George will be among the judges, while others will come from the Korean Association for Canadian Studies and the Korean Association for Quebec Studies.



Winners will participate in a creative writing workshop by the Canadian writers, followed by an award ceremony at the Embassy of Canada. A round-trip air ticket to Canada, sponsored by Air Canada, will be awarded to the top-scored winner.



The entry deadline is May 14.



For more information, visit www.insidecanada.kr.




War veterans and military personnel bow their heads to honor fallen soldiers during the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at the War Memorial of Korea in central Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of John Redmond



By John Redmond

War veterans, distinguished guests and top military personnel assembled to pay their respects at the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at the War Memorial of Korea in central Seoul, Tuesday.

The day commemorates the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) that fought the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

ANZAC Day, a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, has been observed every April 25 since the official naming of the day in 1916.

This year's ANZAC Day marks the 102nd anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli in World War I by a Commonwealth force which included Australian and New Zealand soldiers.

The shared experience of the ANZACs formed the "ANZAC legend," which has become an important part of the national identity of both nations. The service not only honors those who fought at Gallipoli, but also acknowledges and commemorates the sacrifice of all the men and women who served Australia, its allies and former adversaries in wars and peacekeeping.

Alongside WWII and Korean War veterans from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, special guests included Turkish Counselor Kaan Baskurt, New Zealand Ambassador Clare Fearnley and Australian Ambassador James Choi.

The dawn service comprised welcoming remarks and the Korean, Australian and New Zealand national anthems performed by the 8th U.S. Army Band, addresses by invited guests and the reading of the poem, "Commemoration to the Fallen" read by Angelica Slater.

The laying of wreaths was followed by a solo performance of "The Last Post," a minute of silence and a blessing.

Veterans and guests then enjoyed a breakfast that included an ANZAC traditional "Gunfire Breakfast," a cup of coffee with a dash of rum.
By Park Jae-hyuk





Lotte Group is still showing a strong attachment to China, emphasizing it will never leave the country despite the paralyzed operations of its Lotte Mart outlets there over the group's land provision for the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in Korea.

According to industry officials, Tuesday, 87 Lotte Mart outlets in China out of 99 have been shut down for months.

In particular, Chinese authorities conducted sudden fire safety inspections this year and suspended the operations of 74 stores while Lotte voluntarily closed 13 stores due to a boycott by Chinese consumers. The remaining 12 stores are also suffering setbacks because Chinese consumers remain reluctant to visit.

"We've continued to demand the Chinese government check the stores' improvements, so we can resume operation," a Lotte Mart official said. "But the Chinese authorities ordered us to wait."

Although the one-month suspension order expired earlier this month, none of the stores could open their doors. China extended the suspension order to six stores and others have yet to receive any official response from the authorities.

Lotte Mart outlets in China are expected to lose 100 billion won ($88 million) in monthly sales, but Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate has said it will not withdraw from China.












By Park Jae-hyuk





Shinsegae may be attempting to shut down its E-mart discount chains in China by the end of this year at the earliest, due to rising deficits over the past few years, according to industry officials, Tuesday.

When it opened its first store in Shanghai in 1997, Shinsegae set the grand goal of operating 1,000 stores in the world's most populous country. The pioneer of the Chinese market opened 27 stores there by 2010.

But Shinsegae, which has chalked up great success here, did not get similar results there  the retail giant failed to take root in China over high rents, unfavorable locations and a slump in the Chinese economy.

E-mart outlets in China posted over 100 billion won ($88 million) in losses in 2011, and their accumulated deficit reached 150 billion won over the past four years.












Yoon Hong-geun,

BBQ Genesis Chairman

By Lee Hyo-sik

BBQ Genesis has decided to give another shot at hiking its fried chicken prices by about 10 percent, a month after it failed to do so under heavy pressure from the government and consumer groups.

This time, the country's largest fried chicken franchise will likely put the price hike plan into action as the agriculture ministry does not appear to oppose its attempt to charge more for one of Koreans' favorite foods.

BBQ, headed by Yoon Hong-geun, said Tuesday it will soon raise prices of its fried chicken by up to 10 percent, citing rising labor costs and surging rent among other reasons. When it raises them, other fried chicken franchises are likely to follow suit.

"Owners of our franchised stores are desperate to hike menu prices because they cannot make ends meet anymore," a BBQ Genesis official said. "Many of them have been struggling to stay afloat. Their expenses have soared while fried chicken prices have remained the same for nine years."

BBQ stores have avoided charging more over the past few years by reducing costs, he said. "But their cost-cutting efforts have reached a breaking point. They have no other choice."

The official said the company and its franchise owners are ironing out their differences about when and by how much they will raise their prices. Consumers would likely pay more for fried chicken early next month.

Owners of BBQ stores also plan to meet with representatives of consumer groups to persuade them to accept higher fried chicken prices.

On March 15, the franchise withdrew its previous price hike plan, giving in to pressure from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs amid unfavorable public sentiment.

The ministry, which was struggling to contain the soaring prices of chicken, eggs and other fresh produce at the time, had threatened to ask the National Tax Service and the Fair Trade Commission to conduct an investigation into BBQ if the company went ahead with the plan.

It said buying chickens accounts for only 10 percent of the franchise's production costs, adding it doesn't make sense to charge more for fried chicken because of rising chicken prices.

This time, however, the ministry has no intent to oppose BBQ's price hike, noting that it has never interfered in the market.

"In March, we opposed BBQ's price hike plan because it blamed higher raw chicken prices for having to charge consumers more," an agriculture ministry official said. "If BBQ has to hike prices because of rising wages, rent and delivery app fees, and other operational issues, the government has no say in that. We have no intent to meddle in the business of private firms."
There seems to be no stopping to Lee Min Ho and Suzy Bae's dominance in news headlines, as they are once again the stuff of it. However this time, it's something different as reports finally point out to the strengthening relationship that the two have despite all of the breakup rumors.

Reports have it that Lee Min Ho is doing the best of what he can to strengthen their relationship with each other. Even though there seems to be a never ending stream of breakup rumors about the two, there is no confirmation that any of these is true.

There was even one report that suggests the likelihood of their marriage. But then again, that one is also not yet confirmed.

With all of these being said, the only sure thing that will happen is that Suzy Bae is busy preparing for her upcoming drama, "While You Were Sleeping". She will work together with Lee Jong Suk in this drama.

Though previous reports say that Lee Min H is jealous of Suzy Bae's new love team, what happens now is that the actor is in an all out support for her girlfriend.

According to Korea Portal, the upcoming drama is slated to be released this year. Its storyline will have a supernatural romance theme to it which is similar to "I Hear Your Voice".

It will revolve around the life of Hong Joo, who will be played by Suzy Bae, who happens to see what the future lies for her and the people around her in her dreams.

Finally, a positive news about the relationship between Lee Min Ho and Suzy Bae have been out. Hopefully, we'll get to hear more of these kinds of news in the future. Let's wish the celebrity couple the best of luck.
(Xinhua) 08:42, April 25, 2017

PRETORIA, April 24 -- Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong on Monday hailed Sino-South African relationship as an example for solidarity and cooperation between China and Africa and between major developing countries.

Inspired by their time-tested friendship, China and South Africa have been committed to developing a special relationship as one between comrades and brothers, Liu told the first meeting of the China-South Africa High Level People to People Exchange Mechanism (PPEM).

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1998, bilateral relationship has developed across the board and has been upgraded from a partnership to a strategic partnership, and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership, she said.

The past five years saw two visits by President Xi Jinpingto South Africa, three visits by President Jacob Zuma to China, numerous meetings between the two presidents on bilateral and multilateral occasions, and in-depth exchanges between Premier Li Keqiangand President Zuma, said the Chinese vice premier.

"Our bilateral relationship has maintained a strong momentum and kept enriching itself," she said. "It is now in its best time ever."

Under the China-South Africa Five-to-Ten Year Strategic Program for Cooperation signed in 2014, the two sides conducted wide-ranging cooperation in areas such as industrialization, special economic zones, marine economy, infrastructure, human resource development, finance and culture.

With a two-way trade volume of 35.3 billion U.S. dollars, China has been South Africa's largest trading partner for eight consecutive years.

As important members of BRICS and the G20, China and South Africa have been making joint contribution to China-Africa cooperation, South-South cooperation and global governance, serving as an example for solidarity and cooperation between China and Africa and between major developing countries, Liu added.
(Xinhua) 08:46, April 25, 2017

BEIJING, April 24 -- The Chinese government has zero tolerance for any fabrication of economic data as it knows the importance of authentic figures in making correct decisions and bringing tangible benefits to its people.

Of the 23 provincial-level regions that have released first quarter regional GDPfigures as of Monday, northeast China's Liaoning Province recorded the slowest growth of 2.4 percent, lower than the national growth of 6.9 percent.

This is not a surprise as the local government admitted in January that a raft of economic data had been falsified from 2011 to 2014 and vowed to eliminate the bubbles in statistics.

In response to the problem, Liaoning reported a 2.5-percent drop in its 2016 regional GDP, compared with a 6.7-percent expansion in national GDP, showing the province's firm stance against falsifying data.

The issue of inflated data originates from the obsession some local officials have for impressive figures, which could bring political benefits under previous official evaluation measures.

China is changing to a more scientific evaluation system from the former system, which placed excessive emphasis on economic indicators.

Fake data are even more harmful to society than fake products, as they will distort the central government's judgment about economic realities and influence decision making.

It is also against the Communist Party of China's ideological line, which underscores seeking truth from facts, and erodes the image of the Party in Chinese people's minds.

As in Liaoning's case, the problem can also hurt the people's material well-being, as inflated fiscal figures caused a reduction in the central government's transfer payments to the local level.

The central government has responded to fake data with a definitive "no."

To ensure data authenticity and reliability, the country has unveiled guidelines on the management of statistical work, improved the legal framework and punished economic data-related violations.

"We will never tolerate statistical violations or data falsifications. There will be zero tolerance," head of the National Bureau of Statistics Ning Jizhe said last month.

Last year, the bureau investigated 15 major statistical violation cases, punishing more than 10 people in each case.

The bureau on Thursday set up a law enforcement unit that aims to become a "sharp sword" against data fabrication.

At a time when the whole country is making strides toward the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way by 2020, no fake data should be allowed.

After all, China's pledge to "leave no one behind" in building a moderately prosperous society must be fulfilled among the people, not just on paper.
(Xinhua) 08:49, April 25, 2017

TAIPEI, April 24 -- Almost 60 percent of people in Taiwan are unhappy with the performance of the current administration led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a poll released by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed Monday.

The poll, which was conducted by telephone between April 17 and 18 among 1,082 adults age 20 and older, showed that 59.1 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the DPP's performance, in comparison to the 35 percent who were satisfied.

Disapproval toward the DPP administration can be seen in people of different ages, occupations and regions across the island, said You Ying-lung, chairman of the foundation.

"For example, residents of all occupations, except farmers, expressed widespread criticism toward the DDP," You noted.

The survey also showed about 46 percent of the public expressed dissatisfaction with Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's performance, 11 months after she took office on May 20 last year. The rate is the second-highest in the foundations's monthly poll.
A wild giant panda in Yang County, northwestern China's Shaanxi province wandered into Changqing National Nature Reserve on April 21.

After encountering the panda, a security guard named Chen Baozhong fed it some bamboo shoots he collected. A group of visitors passed by 20 minutes later and took photos with the panda. Surprisingly, the animal was neither shy nor scared when faced with such a big crowd. Nevertheless, security guards carefully maintained order and kept some distance between the visitors and the panda.

According to Chen, the panda didn't leave immediately after it finished eating. Instead, it remained where it was and slept for about half an hour.

"This wasn't the first time. We have seen wild pandas a few times before," said one employee at the reserve.

Zhao Naxun, a senior engineer at the reserve, explained that April and May are the months when pandas search for bamboo shoots in low-elevation areas (1,200 meters), where humans often live. When the bamboo in higher-elevation zones (2,000 meters) becomes ripe, the pandas also go to those places, Zhao said. Pandas normally change routes when they smell human scents, but they are always easy to spot because of the loud noise they make when eating the shoots.

A total of 345 pandas currently live on the nearby Mount Qin.
The official website of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (http://www.beltandroadforum.org/) was officially made active on April 25. The website is hosted by the secretariat of the organizing committee of the forum, with assistance from the People's Daily Online.

As an authoritative outlet for information related to the forum, the site offers information in both Chinese and English about relevant news, meetings, references, media and services. In addition, official WeChat and Facebook accounts (@beltandroadforum) have been opened for the forum simultaneously.

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing on May 14 and 15. It is a key diplomatic event for China in 2017. Twenty-eight heads of state and government leaders have confirmed their attendance, and more than 1,200 representatives will participate in the event.
China is now capable of building the worlds first underwater vacuum tube train, a futuristic form of transportation that can achieve supersonic speed and reduce airborne noise, according to Chinese academics and scholars.

In order to build an underwater vacuum tunnel, [China] must bring forth new ideas...about submerged floating tunnels, maglev trains and vacuum techniques. Currently, the countrys technologies are sufficient to carry out such a program, Sun Jun, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the Science and Technology Daily.

The vacuum tube train is a magnetic levitation line that utilizes evacuated tubes or tunnels. Due to reduced air resistance, the train could hit a theoretical speed of 2,000 kilometers per hour using relatively little power, and its operation would not be affected by weather.

The China Railway Tunnel Survey & Design Institute has finished a tentative research survey on the possibility of building a 10-kilometer underwater vacuum tunnel in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province. Once built, it would become Chinas longest underwater tunnel, as well as the worlds first underwater vacuum tunnel, cutting the travel time between Fujian and Taipei - located 180 kilometers apart - to just 13 minutes.

The program has been welcomed by many scholars and experts, who note that China has built over 500 underwater tunnels over the past 20 years, gaining rich experience and refined technologies. Sun, along with two other academicians, has called for Chinese authorities to approve and support the program.
This weeks topic is assuredly a tired one in Williams Bay, but our editorial staff believes that it warrants further discussion.

For years, the committee of the whole has debated the safety of pedestrians on Theatre Road, which directly borders the east side of both the Williams Bay High School, as well as the new elementary school.

Ultimately, the discussion resulted in a traffic survey conducted by local police, which led to the eventual addition of a crosswalk with a flashing light.

Trustee Gregory Trush, chairman of the streets and highways committee, believes that more needs to be done to protect those who choose to navigate the area on foot, however, and we agree.

Currently, Theatre Road boasts a speed limit of 35 mph, is not considered a school zone and does not provide any sidewalks.

The combination of the new elementary school and the recent surge of growth in the subdivisions neighboring Theatre Road may also increase foot traffic, according to a statement Trush made during the committees latest meeting on April 12

Yet, the rest of the board was loathe to talk further on this wearied subject.

A popular argument among the trustees on the village board was that Theatre Road is just that  a roadway, unfit for pedestrians.

Its a roadway, Trustee George Vlach said repeatedly during the committees latest meeting on April 12.

Its constructed for road traffic. It was never constructed for pedestrians to be using.

Trustee Marsha Engquist echoed Vlachs sentiment, reiterating Its not intended as a pedestrian route.

And that very well may be the case.

But, in our opinion, the matter at hand isnt whether the denizens of Williams Bay should or shouldnt be expected to amble up and down the street, because its obvious that theyll continue to do so out of sheer convenience, regardless of what anyone else has to say on the matter.

Thats why we believe that steps should be taken to ensure the safety of pedestrians on Theatre Road, or at least to verify how many residents traverse the path and are at risk on a daily basis; especially during the school year, when students are packing their bags and heading for home.

Because, according to Wayne Anderson, the superintendent for the Williams Bay school district, school buses arent a viable option for all of the children.

State law dictates that busing must be provided for children living at least two miles from the school, Anderson said, and the subdivisions near Theatre Road dont qualify for that distinction.

So, for the students who live in those neighborhoods and dont have parents or siblings to pick them up after the final school bell rings, theres only one option.

To hoof it home, and the fastest way is down Theatre Road.

The Regional News editorial board consists of General Manager and Editor Rob Ireland, Resorter Editor and Special Projects Coordinator Jessica Franzene, Office Manager Sue Hinske and Managing Editor David Michels.
PRESS RELEASE

British Government Declares Willingness To Launch Nuclear War

April 24, 2017 (EIRNS)Her Majestys U.K. Government is prepared to launch a first strike with nuclear weapons under undeclared circumstances, Defense Minister Sir Michael Fallon stated emphatically today on BBC Radio 4s "Today" program.

"In the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you cant rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike," Fallon declared. He refused to say under what conditions Great Britain would carry out a first strike, because to do so would "make the deterrent less credible." This, in the context of emphasizing the importance of the UK maintaining its nuclear arsenal and submarine.

Fallon is not some madman speaking for himself. Prime Minister Teresa Mays official spokesman upheld Fallons statement when questioned, telling reporters that there is "no reason to disagree with what the Defence Secretary said."

Her Majestys Government chose to issue this threat in the the midst of the precarious international crisis around North Korea. It follows within days of the report in major U.K. dailies that U.K. Attorney General Jeremy Wright, chief legal advisor to the Crown and a Queens Counsel, is asserting before the courts of the kingdom that waging a war of aggression may be a crime under international law, but it is not a crime in Great Britain.

Is it not time to heed American senior statesman Lyndon LaRouches warning that the continued existence of the British Monarchy and its Empire is a threat to the human race?
(Xinhua) 16:22, April 25, 2017

BUDAPEST, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Hungary have agreed to deepen cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative and 16+1 framework.

China-Hungary relations are at their best after years of all-round development, Liu Qibao told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday.

Liu, head of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said China attaches great importance to Sino-Hungarian relations.

He noted that China is willing to work with Hungary to improve cooperation in economy and trade, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and other areas within the Belt and Road Initiative and 16+1 framework.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road and maritime trading routes, bringing mutually beneficial economic outcomes for every nation it reaches.

The 16+1 framework is a cooperation platform created in April 2012 by China and 16 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries including Hungary.

During the meeting, Liu introduced the new ideas and new strategies of national governance put forward by the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core since the 18th CPC National Congress.

He said the CPC is willing to deepen communication with Hungary's ruling Fidesz Party on ideas of state and party governance in order to promote the further development of Sino-Hungarian relations.

Orban, who is also head of the Fidesz Party, said the Hungarian government and his party attach great importance to relations with China.

He said Hungary will remain open and actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and the 16+1 framework, constantly enriching the content of Sino-Hungarian ties.

Orban said he was looking forward to his trip to Beijing in May for an international forum on the Belt and Road Initiative and for a visit to China.

At the invitation of the Fidesz Party, Liu paid a three-day visit to Hungary. During the visit, Liu also attended a ceremony for the launch of the Hungarian-language edition of the book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China."

Liu also attended a ceremony for the launch of the China-CEE Institute and opened the Chinese Film Festival in Budapest.
PRESS RELEASE

China Joins Arabs in Promoting New Silk Road as Instrument for Middle East Peace

April 24, 2017 (EIRNS)Two Memoranda of Understanding for the formation of a joint Arab-Chinese "Business Council of the Silk Road" were inked in Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday, between the Arab Chambers of Commerce and the China Council to Promote International Trade (CCPIT). Participants discussed ideas for raising Chinese-Arab cooperation to a "strategic partnership," and the potential for China to play a strategic role in the reconstruction of Iraq and Syria, in cooperation with Arab companies, Xinhua reported.

The Lebanese businessmen and bankers involved are eager to join the Belt and Road Initiative. Xinhua reported that Nabil Fahed, Vice Chairman of the Beirut Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, spoke of the importance of the new Business Council, and his hopes that "Lebanon will be a key center for the Silk Road." The chairman of Lebanons Fransabank, Adnan Kassar, spoke of the advantages of location, human resources, and relatively high-level security in the region, which Lebanon offers for the Silk Road. Arab Chambers head Nail al-Kabariti urged that cooperation between China and the Arab countries be strengthened.

Chinas Ambassador to Lebanon, Wang Kejian, emphasized that the Belt and Road Initiative is carrying out giant projects in many countries along the Silk Road.

"The Chinese government fully supports Chinese companies investing in the Arab world, and encourages Arab companies to develop their businesses in China,"

he said.

The Chinese delegation, led by CCPIT head Jiang Zengwei, also held separate bilateral meetings with Lebanons President, Gen. Michel Aoun, and Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Economy Minister Raed Khoury, former minister and Fransabank chair Kassar, and Ambassador Wang joined Jiang at the meeting with Aoun, the Presidency media office reported. Jiang was reported to have praised Aouns election, saying it encourages business and "gives Chinese and Lebanese businessmen an opportunity to work together and improve ties."

Jiang, Wang, and Kassar then met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Kassar there urged that
PRESS RELEASE

Vehicle Bomb in Eastern Ukraine Kills OSCE Observer

April 24, 2017 (EIRNS)A road mine yesterday targeted a vehicle on a mission in eastern Ukraine on behalf of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in the self-proclaimed Lugansk Peoples Republic (L.P.R.). The mission said that one monitor had been killed and two more had been wounded. According to the L.P.R.s militia, the patrol car deviated from its route. The L.P.R. Ministry of State Security said a Ukrainian subversive group was behind the incident.

The L.P.R. Ministry issued a statement that it "does not rule out" the Kiev governments role in the blast, "considering that it is the Ukrainian side that benefits the most from protracting the process of solving security issues."

Russias Foreign Ministry described the incident as a provocation.

"The circumstances of the incident indicate a high probability of a provocation geared at breaking down the settlement process in Donbass. Obviously, such incidents and the general escalation of tensions are in the interest of those who are reluctant to implement political, economic and humanitarian provisions of the Minsk Package of Measures,"

the ministry said in a statement yesterday, reported TASS.

"Once again, we call for more active direct talks between the parties to the conflict, i.e., Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk, within the Contact Group to ensure complete implementation of the Package of Measures [on the implementation of the Minsk agreements], which is the only basis for the Donbass settlement,"

he Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"We are resentful at this cynical action that claimed a human life and that was aimed against the international monitors working there for the sake of peace. We call for a thorough and objective investigation and demand those responsible be called to justice,"

the ministry said.
PRESS RELEASE

South Korea Presidential Candidate Ahn Seeks To Restart Six-Party Talks on North Korea

April 24, 2017 (EIRNS)South Korean Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo told Reuters in an interview, that, if elected, he will work to restart the Six-Party Talks to "denuclearize" the Korean Peninsula, involving North Korea and South Korea, China, the United States, Japan, and Russia.

"While maintaining a two-track policy with sanctions and dialogue and strengthening cooperation with neighboring countries, I will seek six-party talks,"

said Ahn.

"By resuming the six party talks to resolve the North Korean nuclear problem, before it becomes impossible to resolve the issue, as provisional interim measures, I will pursue a freeze on the Norths nuclear weapons program, a moratorium on nuclear tests, and return of IAEA inspectors to the North and restoring monitoring cameras,"

he said. Reuters did not report whether he plans to offer any concessions to the North for these issues.

"Also four-party talks with North Korea, the United States and China will be sought to establish a denuclearized Korean peninsula and a peaceful regime,"

he said.

The Presidential elections are taking place on May 9, sixty days after the formal ouster of Park Geun-hye. Ahn and Moon Jae-in are the leading two candidates, both from the anti-conservative opposition side. Moon is the more ideological leftist, and several different factions have recently gathered behind Ahn in an effort to stop Moon.
Without missing a beat, blustery conservative commentator Bill OReilly returned to the microphone Monday night  just as his former shop, Fox News Channel, was introducing its OReilly-free schedule.

OReillys first appearance since being fired last week by Fox News parent company was not on television  where he inhabited the most prominent perch in cable TV for the better part of 20 years  but an audio podcast made available through his eponymous website.

I am sad that Im not on television any more, a somewhat subdued OReilly told listeners who tuned in to his 19-minute No Spin News podcast. I was very surprised how it all turned out. I cant say a lot because theres much stuff going on right now.

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OReilly promised that fans who sign up for his subscription service would eventually learn his side of the sexual harassment scandal that derailed his Fox News career.

Im very confident the truth will come out, he said. I dont know if youre going to be surprised  but I think youre going to be shaken as I am.

OReillys No Spin News columns have been a regular feature on his website since 2009. But on Monday, OReilly and his team put added emphasis on his newly launched daily podcast. The first installment is being offered free for several days.

The episodes eventually will grow in length, OReilly said, and evolve into a genuine news program for subscribers who agree to pay $4.95 a month or $49.95 for an annual premium membership.

To fill OReillys longtime slot, Fox News on Monday shifted its rising star Tucker Carlson to 8 p.m. Eastern time. He launched Tucker Carlson Tonight in the new time period with an interview of Caitlyn Jenner.

Fox News shifted The Five to 9 p.m. to fill the vacancy left by Carlsons move.

OReilly is not the first personality to try to capitalize on his popularity with a direct-to-consumer media offering.

Former Fox News host Glenn Beck launched the Blaze network in 2011, which attracted a large following before losing some of its steam. Comedian Adam Carolla, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, former ESPN radio star Colin Cowherd (now affiliated with Fox Sports) and former HLN star Nancy Grace also produce podcasts to connect with longtime followers  and to attract new listeners.

OReilly hasnt detailed his other post-Fox News plans. The 67-year-old author and former history teacher is well positioned to reach a substantial audience through the podcasts, several experts said.

What it takes is a distinct point of view and a passionate audience  and he has both, said Hernan Lopez, founder and chief executive of the Wondery, a podcast network.

OReilly and other big personalities have an advantage over upstart podcast producers because they have name recognition and a built-in audience.

Rupert Murdoch, left, leaves a Manhattan restaurant on Monday with Fox News co-presidents Jack Abernethy and Bill Shine. Last week, 21st Century Fox fired the networks biggest star, Bill OReilly, following an investigation into sexual harassment allegations. (Mark Lennihan / AP)

Weve learned that talent can really be their own networks if they are big enough, said Christopher Balfe, who helped launch the Blaze and is now CEO of Red Seat Ventures, a 2-year-old firm that works with personalities such as Cowherd and Grace.

Balfe said the payoff in the on-demand media world can be big but it takes more than name-recognition to be successful.

Its not enough to have viewers  you have to have fans, Balfe said.

One challenge will be converting longtime Fox watchers to OReillys new format. Podcasting attracts a younger audience  the median age of a podcast listener is about 35, Lopez said. The median age for OReillys cable audience was 67, according to ratings firm Nielsen.

Podcasting is one of the fastest-growing media platforms. An estimated 24% of Americans over the age of 12 have listened to a podcast in the last month, up from 12% in 2010, according to a study this year by Edison Research. In a sense, it is an extension of how millennials prefer to watch TV  on-demand, often through a streaming service such as Hulu or Netflix.

Perhaps recognizing the challenge of getting cable watchers to pay another subscription, OReilly suggested Monday that a premium membership makes great Fathers and Mothers Day gifts.

Even if he is ultimately successful, OReilly probably will find that his podcast audience will be a fraction of the size of the crowd that faithfully tuned into The OReilly Factor on Fox News, which this year had been averaging about 4 million viewers an episode, according to Nielsen.

As we saw with the failure of the Sarah Palin Channel, personality alone will not drive adoption, said Glenn Hower, senior research analyst of the Dallas media consulting firm Parks Associates.

21st Century Fox fired OReilly last week after media reports that he and Fox, over the years, had paid large settlements to several women who claimed OReilly sexually harassed them.

Pressure rose when radio personality Wendy Walsh alleged that OReilly promised to bring her onto his show but lost interest after she rebuffed his sexual advances. OReilly has said the claims are unfounded, but they spooked Fox News advertisers.

More than a dozen advertisers pulled their commercials from The OReilly Factor, putting Rupert Murdoch and his two sons, who control Fox parent 21st Century Fox, in a difficult position. They fired OReilly four days after bringing in a law firm to investigate the complaints against the networks biggest star.

OReilly left Fox News with $25 million, the equivalent of one years salary, according to two people familiar with the terms of his exit.

Skittish sponsors probably will be less of an issue in podcasting than on a prominent TV network, the experts said.

One major benefit of the subscription platform is that it removes the complication of sponsors and advertisers, said Erik Diehn, chief executive of Midroll Media, a podcast network that works with stars such as comedian Marc Maron. You dont have to worry about something you said or did, and for somebody like Bill OReilly, that might be liberating.

OReillys website, billoreilly.com, promises that subscribing to his premium service would provide a direct pipeline to the man and the chance to hear his uncensored thoughts.

In something of a dig at his former shop, OReillys website also instructs fans to Remove oreilly@foxnews.com from your vocabulary.

Spencer Brown, chief executive of podcast network DGital Media, said OReillys podcast is coming at a time when the industry is maturing rapidly  both in terms of slick content and the roster of advertisers now flocking to the medium.

But Brown, whose firm includes a stable of popular podcasts such as Pod Save America, said examples of successful subscription-based podcasts were few and far between.

Even the most successful podcasts bring in about $4 million to $5 million a year, according to one analyst  a different league than what OReilly is used to. His Fox News show generated hundreds of millions of dollars a year for Fox, which two months ago renewed OReillys contract, promising him a $25-million-a-year salary.

meg.james@latimes.com

david.pierson@latimes.com

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Greek yogurt giant Chobani filed a lawsuit Monday against right-wing radio host Alex Jones, accusing the conspiracy theorist of publishing false information about the company.

Chobani says that Jones and his InfoWars website posted fabricated stories earlier this month that linked Chobani owner Hamdi Ulukaya and the company to a sexual assault case involving refugee children. The company filed the lawsuit in Idaho District Court in Twin Falls, where it operates the largest yogurt plant in the world.

Jones is no stranger to spurious statements. He has claimed that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Chobanis attorneys wrote. Mr. Jones has now taken aim at Chobani and the Twin Falls community.

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The complaint says InfoWars released a video on April 11 describing Chobanis practice of hiring refugees and a sexual assault case that did not involve the yogurt company.

During the video, an InfoWars reporter republished statements that claimed the Chobani plant brought crime and tuberculosis since it opened the plant five years ago while also pointing out previous reports of its willingness to hire refugees in Twin Falls.

Twin Falls is one of the two cities in Idaho with a refugee resettlement center.

The video was promoted using the headline Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists, even though the lawsuit points out that InfoWars didnt mention or prove that statement in the report. The story was tweeted out by Jones and other outlets.

In an audio statement posted on his YouTube channel Monday night, Jones said sources in the White House and Congress told him that billionaire George Soros, a frequent target of Jones attacks, was behind the lawsuit. Soros is not named in court documents, and there is nothing suggesting he is involved in any way.

Jones vowed to fight the case, saying it was without merit.

Im not backing down, Im never giving up, I love this, he said in the recording. They have jumped the trillion-pound great white shark on this baby.

The report was critical of Ulukayas support of hiring refugees while reporters then reacted to a separate issue involving three Twin Falls refugee boys who admitted to charges involved in the assault of a 5-year-old girl at an apartment complex.

The 2016 assault sparked months of turmoil in Twin Falls after the story about the incident was spun by far-right blogs and anti-immigration groups into accounts that exaggerated and falsified many of the details.

The defendants defamatory statements were designed to cause  and did in fact cause  customers to call for a boycott of Chobanis products, the lawsuit stated.

Chobanis attorneys say Jones has ignored requests to remove the inaccurate coverage. Its seeking at least $10,000 in damages.

The Washington Post contributed to this report.
The Chicago aviation officers who forcibly removed a passenger from a United Airlines flight filed reports saying the traveler was aggressive when responding to requests to give up his seat and flailed his arms while fighting with officers.

The reports, released Monday in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by the Los Angeles Times and others, contradict videos of the incident caught by fellow passengers on their cellphones and viewed by millions of people worldwide. Those videos show the passenger, Kentucky physician David Dao, refusing to give up his spot on a full flight, then being yanked from the seat by the officers, hitting his head against another seat and being dragged down the airplanes aisle.

The ensuing public outrage prompted United Airlines to issue several apologies and launch a review of its procedures when dealing with sold-out flights. Chief Executive Oscar Munoz has promised that airline employees wont call on law enforcement to remove passengers in the future if the incidents dont involve safety or security.

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The incident reports also reveal for the first time the names of the four officers involved in the incident, which left Dao, 69, with a concussion and other injuries. All four of those officers have been placed on administrative leave by the Chicago Department of Aviation, city records say.

The officers were identified as James Long, Mauricio Rodriguez Jr., Steven Smith and Sgt. John Moore. Two of the officers had previously been disciplined for workplace violations, according to city records.

Daos attorney, Chicago personal injury lawyer Thomas Demetrio, called the incident reports utter nonsense. Consider the source.

The April 9 flight from Chicago to Louisville, Ky., was full, and United tried to clear four seats to make room for airline employees who needed to work a shift the next day in Louisville. When the airline couldnt get enough passengers to voluntarily give up their seats, the carrier picked four passengers to remove, including Dao.

In the incident reports, two of the officers blame Dao for his injuries, saying the passengers flailing motions made the officers lose their grip on him, causing him to fall face first into the armrest of a nearby seat.

After he was removed from the plane, the reports say, Dao was lying on the floor on the jet bridge talking to the officers when he bolted past them to get back into the plane. He agreed to leave the plane voluntarily to get medical attention, the reports say.

According to the police reports, Long, Rodriguez and Smith all urged Dao to leave his seat but he refused. Long tried to pull Dao out of his seat, with the help of Rodriguez and Smith, according to the reports.

But in his report, Long said, the subject started swinging his arms up and down with a closed fist. Ofc. Long was able to grab the subject and pull him away from the window seat towards the aisle. But suddenly the subject started flailing and fighting.

Long said Dao knocked the officers arm away, which caused the subject to fall, hit, and injured his mouth on the armrest on the other side of the aisle.

Rodriguezs description of the incident was similar. The subject then started flailing his arms and started to fight with Ofc. Long, he wrote in the incident report.

Long had been suspended from his job for five days in March for ignoring a supervisors orders to keep vehicles from driving into a restricted area of the airport, according to documents provided by the city of Chicago.

Moore, who arrived after Dao was removed from the plane, had previously been disciplined at least seven times from 1999 to 2009 for failing to show up for work without notifying a supervisor, according to city records.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.

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For months, Wells Fargo & Co. shareholders have watched the banks sham accounts scandal unfold, with each new revelation adding a layer of tarnish to the 165-year-old banks reputation.

Finally, on Tuesday, shareholders had a chance to vent their frustration, and they delivered a stinging rebuke to the San Francisco financial giants board of directors.

At the companys annual meeting, held at a resort outside Jacksonsville, Fla., shareholders reelected the banks board members  but with remarkably little support, denying the kind of near-unanimous approval that directors at large public companies are accustomed to.

Angry shareholders at the resort ballroom let loose with a long list of personal grievances and interrupted board members more than once.

They demanded to know why the board didnt act sooner to put a stop to employees practice of opening accounts without customers permission, something that the bank recently admitted dates back to at least 2002.

If somebody wanted to know, they could have known, one shareholder shouted well before the meetings question-and-answer session. So why didn't you see it?

The banks three newest directors, all of whom joined the board in the months after the scandal came to light, each received support from 99% of shareholders. That includes Timothy Sloan, who took over as chief executive and joined the board in October after the resignation of former Chief Executive John Stumpf.

Of the other 12 directors, though, none received more than 80% of shareholder support. At last years meeting, every board member won the support of at least 94% of voting shareholders.

The markedly lower vote tallies Tuesday show that shareholders are still not satisfied with the boards response to the crisis, said Scott Siefers, an analyst with investment bank Sandler ONeill.

I can't recall a time in my career, and Ive been doing this for 20 years, when a director has received anything less than the overwhelming majority of support, he said. Its certainly not a vote of confidence.

Wells Fargo has fired several regional executives and Carrie Tolstedt, who led the community banking division thats at the heart of the accounts scandal. And it revoked a total of $135 million in compensation, including stock and options, from Tolstedt and Stumpf.

The bank also eliminated the sales goals that regulators have blamed for pushing workers to open sham accounts and hired a law firm to investigate the banks sales practices. That report, released two weeks ago, pinned much of the blame on Stumpf and Tolstedt, and painted the board as out of the loop.

Institutional Shareholder Services, which advises institutional shareholders, recommended votes against all 12 members of the audit, risk and human resources committees, which the advisory firm said failed to provide sufficient timely and effective risk oversight.

Four directors, all of them members of the banks risk committee, which is tasked with monitoring key risks facing the bank, received less than 60% of shareholder support.

Enrique Hernandez Jr., chairman of the risk committee, got the lowest level of support, with just 53% of shareholders voting for him. Chairman Stephen Sanger, a risk committee member and the boards most visible face since the banks practices became national news last year, won the support of 56% of shareholders.

Shareholders took a close look at this and at the committees the directors serve on, bank consultant Bert Ely said. It appears there was some rational targeting.

Sanger, who opened the meeting with an apology to shareholders, acknowledged the importance of the results at the close of Tuesdays meeting.

Wells Fargo stockholders today have sent the entire board a clear message of dissatisfaction, Sanger said. Let me assure you that the board has heard that message, and we recognize there is still a great deal of work to do to rebuild the trust of stockholders, customers and employees.

Though all board members were reelected, analysts and observers predict that members who received low levels of shareholder support may leave the board soon.

Siefers said he expects accelerated turnover on the board, and Dennis Kelleher, chief executive of financial advocacy group Better Markets, said the bank must replace several members.

It's normal for directors to get close to 100% of the vote. To get 50-some percent of the vote is a clear and strong message that these directors have to go, Kelleher said.

Within the first hour of the meeting, the proceedings were interrupted three times by angry attendees who railed against the bank and demanded answers from the board.

Sanger called for a brief recess after one attendee, Bruce Marks, chief executive of advocacy group Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, demanded that board members explain what they knew about unethical sales practices and when they knew it.

Let them speak, or are they just mouthpieces for the executives? Marks said, referring to the board members, before he was escorted from the meeting.

All 15 directors attended the meeting, though only Sanger and Sloan spoke.

Your Wells Fargo is on the right track, Sloan said in his opening remarks.

Later, during a question-and-answer period, bank customers, activists and former employees raised a bevy of issues, ranging well beyond unauthorized accounts.

One tearful investor told the board about her difficulty trying to get the bank to modify her mortgage. Another said the bank had taken advantage of her mother, who has Alzheimers disease, by approving loans she could never afford to repay.

Wells Fargo workers also told stories of the stress they felt as bosses pressured them to open more and more accounts, even if customers didnt want or need them. Ruth Landaverde, a former Wells Fargo banker, said the banks sales-goal system was like a constant treadmill with ever-increasing targets.

Driven by those sales goals, thousands of Wells Fargo workers opened as many as 2.1 million checking, savings and credit card accounts without customers authorization over the past several years. That practice, first reported in a 2013 Los Angeles Times investigation, led to a 2015 lawsuit by Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer and to a $185-million settlement with regulators last year.

That settlement put an end to Feuers lawsuit and inquiries by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, but it marked the beginning of other troubles for the bank.

Since then, several federal and state agencies, including the Justice Department and the California attorney generals office, have opened investigations into the banks practices and bank customers across the country have filed lawsuits.

This month, the bank said it would pay $142 million to settle consumer lawsuits, though that settlement is subject to court approval and will be challenged by attorneys for some customers.

Despite all that, Wells Fargo continues to produce massive profits, making the sum total of the settlements peanuts compared with the $5.5-billion profit the bank reaped in this year's first quarter alone.

Wells Fargos stock also is trading near its all-time high. It rose 91 cents, or 1.7%, to $54.56 on Tuesday.

Still, the scandal has slowed the companys consumer business, which has seen a marked slowdown in new checking and credit card account openings.

Enrique Hernandez Jr. (14 years*) Federico F. Pena (6 years) Stephen W. Sanger (14 years) Cynthia H. Milligan (25 years) Lloyd H. Dean (12 years) James H. Quigley (4 years) Susan G. Swenson (19 years) John S. Chen (11 years) John D. Baker (8 years) Elizabeth A. Duke (2 years) Donald M. James (8 years) Suzanne M. Vautrinot (2 years) 98.0% 99.3 98.5 98.1 98.8 99.5 95.3 96.8 99.1 99.5 98.9 99.5 2016 votes for 53.0% 54.0 56.0 57.0 62.0 65.0 67.0 70.0 70.0 75.0 77.0 80.0 2017 votes for Enrique Hernandez Jr. (14 years*) Federico F. Pena (6 years) Stephen W. Sanger (14 years) Cynthia H. Milligan (25 years) Lloyd H. Dean (12 years) James H. Quigley (4 years) Suan G. Swenson (19 years) John S. Chen (11 years) John D. Baker (8 years) Elizabeth A. Duke (2 years) Donald M. James (8 years) Suzanne M. Vautrinot (2 years) 53.0% 54.0 56.0 57.0 62.0 65.0 67.0 70.0 70.0 75.0 77.0 80.0 98.0% 99.3 98.5 98.1 98.8 99.5 95.3 96.8 99.1 99.5 98.9 99.5 Shareholder support for Wells Fargo board wanes Data: abcdefg hijkl mnop qrstu vwxyz 1234 56789 James Rufus Koren / @latimesgraphics Source: Wells Fargo & Co. (*=board tenure)

james.koren@latimes.com

Twitter: @jrkoren

UPDATES:

5 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from banking consultant Bert Ely and Dennis Kelleher, chief executive of advocacy group Better Markets.

11:35 a.m.: This article was updated with a chart showing the voting percentages.

10:50 a.m.: This article was updated more detailed voting results and a comment from analyst Scott Siefers.

10:20 a.m.: This article was updated with a quote from Chairman Stephen Sanger and details from a question-and-answer session.

10 a.m.: This article was updated with details on the election results.

9:15 a.m.: This article was updated with details on a shareholder being removed from the meeting and additional background on the customer accounts scandal.

8:40 a.m.: This article was updated with details about shareholder recommendations from Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis.

7:55 a.m.: This article was updated with details about the previously announced votes of some major shareholders.

This article was originally published at 7:25 a.m.
Images of a lethargic tiger covered in mud at a zoo in Nanjing, Jiangsu province have saddened animal lovers, many of who are demanding a thorough investigation into the animals living conditions.

The big cat, which was spotted at Zhenzhuquan Zoo in Nanjing on April 23, was covered in sludge after taking a dip in a pool. According to Thepaper.cn, the pool was filled with moss and black sludge, and contained dirty, smelly water.

In addition to the tigers poor living conditions, visitors to the zoo have also criticized its shabby wire fences, which scratch the tiger when it passes by.

Even for an ordinary house cat, the owner is responsible for cleaning up it and keeping it healthy, not to mention that tigers are protected animals in China. Im so disappointed to see the tiger [suffering] like this, and I hope authorities can take some action to help the animal, said a visitor surnamed Lu.

In response to the public concern, an employee at the zoo, surnamed Fu, told Huaxi City Daily that the pool had been cleaned up.

The pool is designed to prevent the tigers from hurting visitors. Due to recent rising temperatures, the leaves that fell into the pool began to rot. We will remodel it soon, said Fu.

The broken wire fence was destroyed by tiger cubs, who love to tear the wire for fun. We have already consolidated the enclosure, Fu added.
Two-foot-thick rebar-reinforced walls of rammed earth, and concrete floors stained with wine, are among the distinctive features at this Rancho Mirage compound. There are ceilings made of tin, peacock feathers and leather. The stained-glass windows, railings and sinks were imported from Europe.

Address: 70380 Desert Cove Ave., Rancho Mirage, CA 92270

Price: $4.9 million

Built: 2003

Lot size: 65,340 square feet

House size: 9,500 square feet, five bedrooms, seven bathrooms

Features: Six fireplaces, billiard room, card room, two-story art studio, dance studio, aviary, saltwater lagoon-style swimming pool, citrus trees, lawn, four-plus car garage, circular driveway

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About the area: The median sale price for single-family homes in the 92270 ZIP Code in February was $640,000 based on 26 sales, according to CoreLogic. That was a 20% decrease compared with the same month the previous year.

Agents: Leonardo Montenegro, (760) 424-3000, and Enzo Ricciardelli, (310) 255-5467, both with Sothebys International Realty

To submit a candidate for Home of the Day, send high-resolution color photos via Dropbox.com, permission from the photographer to publish the images and a description of the house to lauren.beale2@latimes.com.

Follow Lauren Beale on Twitter @laurenebeale.

SEE MORE HOMES OF THE DAY:

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Much was made of Kim Kardashians sleek bob and curve-hugging vintage Versace dress at last weeks Hollywood premiere for The Promise. But beyond the glitz was the reason the reality star walked the red carpet, despite a case of the flu. The Promise, a historical epic that hit theaters Friday, is the first big-budget feature film to document the atrocities of the Armenian genocide. Its a topic that hits close to home for Kardashian.

As a girl, she often heard the story about how her great-great-grandparents escaped death thanks to a message delivered by a boy who turned up at the familys church with a letter in hand: Everyone here is going to be killed. Go to Los Angeles, California.



For the record: An earlier version of this article mistakenly implied that some historians have doubts concerning the Armenian genocide.

The Kardashians, believing the boy was a prophet, heeded his warning and left their native Armenia, traveling more than 7,000 miles to California in 1914.

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Everyone thought they were crazy, the reality star says of her familys migration, and then months later everything happened.

On April 24, 1915, the Turkish government began systematically purging the Ottoman Empire of Armenians, leaving 1.5 million dead.

During those years, some Armenians were able to make their way to California like the Kardashians. According to the most recent U.S. census data, Los Angeles County has more than 200,000 residents of Armenian descent  which is why so many in Los Angeles marched on Monday to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide. But their stories and those of the huge number that were killed are still not widely known.

In part thats because Turkey has denied that the killings amounted to genocide, saying the deaths occurred during the chaos of World War I, and pointing out that many Turks were also killed between 1915 and 1917.

 Inspired by true events, The Promise stars Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac and Charlotte Le Bon.

On Monday, President Trump called the killings one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century. But like every president except Ronald Reagan before him, Trump declined to use the term genocide. (Barack Obama used the term during his presidential campaign, but used the less direct Armenian phrase Meds Yeghern once he was in office, the same term Trump used on Monday.)

The movie industry has also been hesitant to tackle the politically fraught issue. Even Kirk Kerkorian, the Armenian American mogul who owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for 17 years, tried for years and failed to bring the story of his people to the big screen while he was alive. But before his 2015 death, Kerkorian put up a whopping $90 million to make The Promise with stars Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac. He died just as the film, written by Robin Swicord (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and directed by Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) was entering production.

The Promise Premiere  @chinesetheatres I'm so proud a film was made about the Armenian genocide, to share the story of the Armenian people pic.twitter.com/phhjSEaivK  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) April 14, 2017

Decades before Kerkorian took over the studio, MGM had plans for a Clark Gable movie that would tell the story of the massacre in an adaptation of Franz Werfels novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. But production was scrapped after the Turkish government threatened retaliation.

The Promise faced its own struggle making it to the big screen. Just last September, when The Promise debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival  where a distributor was sought  the movie found itself ambushed by Internet trolls, traced to Turkish websites, who assigned the movie tens of thousands of one-star ratings on the Internet Movie Database.

That was just validation that we needed to make the movie, says Eric Esrailian, a UCLA physician who took over Kerkorians company, Survival Pictures, after the moguls death. At some point, you have to stand up and speak the truth. Spinning an alternate reality has been done now for 102 years.

Despite the Internet down-voting campaign, The Promise found a distributor in Open Road Films, which launched the movie in roughly 2,000 theaters to coincide with the Monday anniversary of the genocide. The movie follows a young medical student (Isaac) who travels to Constantinople. But just as he begins to delve into his studies  and fall for a local babysitter (Charlotte Le Bon)  he is identified as an Armenian and sent to a labor camp where he tries to escape death while caught in a love triangle with the babysitter and an Associated Press journalist covering the genocide (Bale).

Kerkorian was insistent that the movie feature a romance so it didnt end up feeling like a history lesson, Esrailian says.

The love story was to make it accessible, because unlike the Holocaust and other more recent atrocities, there isnt a baseline knowledge to build on, he says. Some people say you trivialize a genocide movie with a love story, but its the first time people are being introduced  they want to detach themselves for a period of time and not be preached to.

The romantic plotline is being heavily emphasized in the films trailer, which has been airing during episodes of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. The filmmakers are also trying to reach a broader audience through the support of A-list stars and celebrities. In addition to Kardashian and her sister, Kourtney, fellow Armenian Cher also attended the premiere, as did Leonardo DiCaprio and Sylvester Stallone. George and Amal Clooney hosted a tastemaker screening of the film in London earlier this month, and the actor is among dozens of stars who have filmed personal messages urging their fans to partake in the #KeepThePromise social impact campaign. Its unclear how much of a difference the star power made, since the movie debuted with just $4.1 million over the weekend.

 George Clooney filmed a short PSA for The Promise, which is about the Armenian genocide.

Still, with her 51.1 million Twitter followers, Kim Kardashian no doubt remains the films biggest marketing asset. (Shes already tweeted about the movie four times.) She has been vocal about the Armenian struggle for years, writing an essay for Time magazine in 2015 urging President Obama to use the word genocide. And when the Wall Street Journal ran a 2016 full-page ad paid for by Fact Check Armenia that denied the genocide, she posted a fiery response on her app calling the move reckless, upsetting and dangerous. Five months later, the Armenian Educational Foundation took out its own full-page ad in the New York Times featuring Kardashians impassioned essay.

Growing up in Beverly Hills, Kardashian says, we never knew any other Armenians. So every time people would ask me, What nationality are you? Where do you come from? I would be so proud. My dad taught us Family is everything. Always know your heritage.

This is one reason her ethnicity has always been a big part of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. She and her family often eat Middle Eastern food from Glendales Carousel Restaurant, and the show followed her during her first trip to Armenia in 2015.

Cher! Need I say more! My fashion icon and fellow Armenian. What a proud moment this was. We will #KeepThePromise  pic.twitter.com/v1h3m1mfX2  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) April 14, 2017

Though she has no living ancestors in the country today, Kardashian met dozens of people on that trip who knew her family. The neighbors were like, Oh, the Kardashians! We remember them! says the 36-year-old. They were told the Kardashians worked in these string-cheese farms and had two horse and carriages, which they said is equivalent to two private jets today. And that the family was the only one in town who had a swimming pool. It was just so interesting to hear our history.

The Armenian community just really wants to be heard, says Kardashian, who adds shes taking her family to see the film in theaters. I think its so important that people just acknowledge that something happened. Of course we can all get through it. We have no choice. But when youre not recognized for something, that is when youre fearful it could happen again, and thats what so scary.

amy.kaufman@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @AmyKinLA
Just in time for La La Lands DVD release, the film got a love letter of its own from Los Angeles in a ceremony Tuesday morning on the steps of City Hall.

It is my pleasure to declare today in the city of Los Angeles La La Land Day, Mayor Eric Garcetti said of Damien Chazelles Oscar-winning ode to L.A. You can dance safely somewhere near your car, preferably not in traffic, take a date up to Griffith Park, fall in love with somebody or just with your city all over again. Happy La La Land Day, L.A.

Though the films stars, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, were not present, Garcetti presented an ornamental plaque to Chazelle, producer Jordan Horowitz and composer Justin Hurwitz, but not before extolling the virtues of both the film and the city that inspired it.

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Horowitz, whom Garcetti called one of the most gracious people who has ever been in the Academy Awards (referring to the gaffe at this years ceremony, where La La Land was mistakenly declared best picture), thanked the city of Los Angeles and called the dedication an absolute dream come true.

Los Angeles opened her arms to this movie in an incredible way, said Horowitz. This movie has that special magic, and the city was at the center of it.

Garcetti then introduced Hurwitz, who will conduct the La La Land score at the Hollywood Bowl on May 26 and 27.

Justin is an amazing composer and artist, said Garcetti. That earworm thats been living in your head for the past few months, City of Stars, and all of the soundtrack is just something that, once you hear it, and I say this as a composer, not just as a mayor, is beautiful. Its simplicity is powerful, its complexity is approachable.

One of the biggest pleasures of this movie was getting to work with the L.A. musicians, said Hurwitz. Im really excited to work with them again next month at the Hollywood Bowl.

Los Angeles opened her arms to this movie in an incredible way. ... This movie has that special magic, and the city was at the center of it.  Jordan Horowitz, La La Land producer

1 / 14 Bandaloop aerial dancers rappel down City Hall and dance across the tower during the La La Land Day celebration April 25 honoring the award-winning film and its director, Damien Chazelle. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 14 The Bandaloop aerial dancers perform on the side of City Hall during the celebration for the film, which is a musical love letter to Los Angeles. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 14 Aerial dancers perform during the celebration at L.A.'s City Hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 14 Aerial dancers rappel down City Hall during the festivities. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 14 Spectators below marvel at the aerial dancers high above. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 14 Aerial dancers from Bandaloop wait in the wings to take flight. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 14 Mayor Eric Garcetti, right, along with composer Justin Hurwitz, set decorator David Wasco and director Damien Chazelle watch the show at City Hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 14 The Bandaloop aerial dancers perform on the side of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 14 La LA Lands writer-director, Damien Chazelle, at the event held at L.A. City Hall. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 14 Aerial dancers rappel down City Hall and dance across the tower during the La La Land Day celebration. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 14 Mayor Eric Garcettis official proclamation declaring April 25th La La Land Day. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 14 Mayor Eric Garcetti plays piano to close out the festivities in front of City Hall. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 14 The Bandaloop aerial dancers perform on the side of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 14 Mayor Eric Garcetti is flanked by the Bandaloop aerial dancers after they performed on the side of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles during the La La Land Day festivities. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

The opening remarks were followed by a performance by the Bandaloop aerial dancers, who performed on the buildings facade to the films score as hundreds of people congregated on the steps of City Hall, necks craned skyward.

The performance started at 8:30 a.m. and lasted just 10 minutes as the performers danced vertically on the outer walls of City Hall despite strong winds, a drone buzzing around them.

Dancing on City Hall to the music of La La Land feels as magical as it looks, Melecio Estrella, Bandaloops associate artistic director, who opened the performance, told The Times. Giving dance to the public in celebration of the human spirit is what we are all about, and Im thankful that La La Land and the mayors office have helped us to fulfill that mission here in L.A.

Feeling inspired, Garcetti performed City of Stars on the piano, accompanied by the jazz bands bass player and drummer, while the saxophone player snapped his fingers to the beat. Passersby across the street stopped to listen, including 13-year-old Madeleine Schnack and her mother, Shirley Moyers.

I just love all the songs. Theyre all very catchy, said Schnack. I was very happy when they almost won the Oscar [for best picture]. And when we heard that we were going to get to hear the music down here, I woke her up super early so she could come.

I just love this city, added Moyers. I thought it was a celebration of the city and all its diversity and all its creativity, and it just made me so happy to watch them up there. They were so graceful and beautiful.

And it seems the films fans reflect the citys diverse makeup too. Among them were lovebirds Jacob Rodriguez, 19, and Reanne Marino, 18.

The main reason why I liked the movie would have to be the romance, said Rodriguez.

I love musicals and I love the cinematography and the outfits that they put together, said Marino, who wore the yellow dress Stones character, Mia, wore in the film.

When asked how theyd spend the rest of their La La Land Day, the young couple answered almost in unison.

Were going to go home and watch the movie for the hundredth time.

sonaiya.kelley@latimes.com

follow me on twitter @sonaiyak

ALSO

Where La La Land was shot in L.A., scene by scene

Commentary: With a La La Land sweep, Hollywood once more falls in love  with itself

La La Land seriously misunderstands music. So why are its songs pretty great?

For choreographer Mandy Moore, La La Land was the Super Bowl of my career
Physics geeks rejoice. Albert Einstein has his own drama series.

Everyone else? Pay attention, because you may learn something.

Einstein gets the biopic treatment in Genius, National Geographics first scripted drama. In 10 hour-long episodes, the beautifully shot and written series goes beyond what you already know  the scientific brilliance, the hair, those inspirational refrigerator-magnet quotations  for a personal look at one of the 20th centurys greatest minds.

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Genius tracks Einstein (played in his later years by Geoffrey Rush) from his teenage years in 1890s Germany to the scientific breakthroughs that made him a global superstar to the final phase of his life teaching in the United States at Princeton.

In this telling, there are two constants in Einsteins life: Hes always at odds with authority (professors, science luminaries, the Nazi party, J. Edgar Hoover), and hes always cheating on the women in his life.

Genius looks and feels more like an epic feature film than something youd expect to find on a network once known for its nature specials and global-minded documentaries.

The cinematic presentation, however, makes sense given that Genius was co-produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and that Howard directed the first episode, premiering Tuesday. Shot in Prague, the scenery of Europe is lush.

Genius attempts to break down physics concepts for laypeople and clueless television critics with colorful explanations that liken complex equations to ballroom dancing, lovers tooling down wooded lanes on bicycles or a colorful fireball speeding through space.

But this is a human drama, so even if the questions Einstein poses (Time is not absolute. Is it the same everywhere in the universe? What is time?) hurt your brain, its comforting to see that the obsessively curious physicist pretty much alienates everyone else in Genius as well.

Except, of course, the ladies. Who knew E=mc2 could be so sexy? (More on that later.)

Genius begins in Einsteins teen years (played as a young man by newcomer Johnny Flynn). Here hes portrayed as a wildly inquisitive student who challenges the dull conformity of his professors. They teach by repetition and rote, which to Einstein is like nails on a chalkboard.

He quits school in Germany, infuriating his manufacturer father, and makes his way to Switzerland, where hes accepted into Zurich Polytechnic, but only on the second try.

There he meets one of the schools few female students, Mileva Maric (Samantha Colley). He is entranced with her because shes the only woman hes ever met who can debate relativity theories one minute and make love the next, among piles of books and notes.

When she becomes pregnant, Einstein is forced to join the bourgeoisie he so despises, marrying Maric and earning a living as a commonplace patent clerk. Still, he woos the scientific establishment by publishing breakthrough papers, making friends and enemies with other leading physicists such as Philipp Lenard (Michael McElhatton).

Einstein has children with Maric before divorcing her and marrying his first cousin Elsa (Emily Watson), with whom he was having an affair. The multi-tasking Einstein will continually cheat on her too, all while coming up with the theory of relativity.

Rush is a wonderful quirky, distracted and self-centered Einstein. Even as an older man, his sense of curiosity is astounding. Hes so driven by the incessant need to question that he neglects most everyone else in his life.

For a man who knows everything about the universe, says one mistress, you know nothing about people.

As the younger Einstein, Flynn is less charismatic and convincing, but he does get across the pompous egotism that comes with being the smartest guy in the Western Hemisphere.

Genius takes place during a golden period of scientific discovery and offers a whos who of brilliant minds: Marie and Pierre Curie, Wilhelm Rontgen, Carl Jung, Werner Heisenberg.

Another historical marker during Einsteins lifetime is the sharp rise of anti-Semitism pre-World War II. Here, it is documented in brutal, though sometimes generically familiar, scenes. Genius follows Einstein as he leaves Europe for the U.S. in 1933 while Adolf Hitler gains power.

The great unsolved mystery of Genius is why so many women cant help but throw themselves at the number-crunching physicist. The series hardly portrays him as a bookish recluse, but that alone does not the cad make.

His complicated love life, however, does make for some great comedic moments.

When he says to his mistress that he wants her to come live with him, she reminds him that he has a wife. He insists they can make it work. She disagrees.

Perhaps triangular geometry is not as simple as Id like it to be, he mutters.

For nongeniuses, this joyful-to-watch series will answer every question you never had about space and time relativity.

lorraine.ali@latimes.com

@lorraineali
Geoffrey Rush is a man prone to tangents. As he speaks, each of his thoughts leads him to an adjoining thought. This means that, in the course of 30 minutes, the 65-year-old actor muses on everything from the vintage Apple billboards featuring John Lennon to the origins of emojis.

Hes in London to discuss his role as Albert Einstein in National Geographic Channels first scripted drama series Genius, which premieres Tuesday. But in chatting about the famed physicist, Rush finds his way back to emojis.

I have great faith in emojis, the Australian actor says, seated on a sofa in a hotel room overlooking Piccadilly Circus. When I was doing King Lear last year I wanted to take my mind off all the stuff you have to confront in that role.

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I remember texting the stage manager just for fun and I did the whole story in about 50 emojis, he continues. I discovered you can get a form and write to the emoji people and say, Youre missing this. I think an Einstein emoji would be great. It represents brilliance. He stops, then adds, I havent sent in a [suggestion] form yet, but I think I might.

Looking at Rush, its easy to see the iconic face of Albert Einstein, especially once a chaotic fop of gray hair is added to his head. In the series, which is told in a nonlinear form with Rush playing the older version of Einstein and Johnny Flynn the younger, Rush embodies the physicists intelligence, as well as his humor and jovial spirit. Rush appears in five of the 10 episodes, mostly alongside Emily Watson, who plays his wife (for the third time on-screen, Rush notes). At first Rush wasnt sure if he wanted to take on someone as revered and notable as Einstein, but then the Oscar winner realized that such opportunities are rare.

Im in my 60s now, [roles] are not going to come along like this forever, he says. When I read the first script I thought, This is not just about Einstein. This has got a central protagonist who is the defining unusual everyperson who is moving through a golden era of scientific discovery. I just liked the epic scale of that. So I treated the story as if it was fictional. The more I read it like that, the more I thought about how everyone was going to identify with its unpredictable quality and the dramatic scale of the life he led.

Ron Howard, who directed the first episode and executive produces the series along with Brian Grazer, took on the project with Rush specifically in mind for the role. The producer even reworked the schedule to ensure that Rush would be available.

Its not just that you can look at Geoffrey and instantly think Einstein, Howard says. It was also his legendary commitment to character development that made him so appealing. We knew we wanted two actors to play the man over the course of his entire life, something Geoffrey had experience doing with his Oscar-winning role in Shine.

Howard notes that Rush worked in tandem with Flynn to develop younger and older versions of behavior, gestures and body language, which they observed from footage of Albert Einstein. It has been very exciting as an actors director to work with them to create this one cohesive character.

At the heart of Genius is the idea that its essential to ask questions rather than make judgments. Rush, whose manner of speaking suggests that he is constantly considering and reconsidering everything he discusses, related to this sentiment, which he feels is important in the current state of the world. He loves that Einstein looked outward instead of at himself, and continually looked for truth via investigation.

He was so humanistic. From the footage Ive seen he had the twinkle. You want him on your fictional dinner party list.  Geoffrey Rush

In this day and age, for all of his flaws, you just go, He must have been an amazing man, Rush says. He was so humanistic. From the footage Ive seen he had the twinkle. You want him on your fictional dinner party list. From everything Id read about him, it wouldnt be about him. Hed say, So what have you been doing? That notion of empathy for what is going on in someone elses life is nice. We know on the planet right now theres a lot of indifference for whats going on in peoples lives with prejudices and misconceptions, so its nice to have a figure out there you can look at and know that he asked questions. He didnt make rigid assumptions.

Ultimately Genius isnt about convoluted scientific theories. It seeks to look at the life and work of a man who had a complicated story, and who struggled with relationships in the same way as anyone else. People should not come away from this series going, Oh, Ill be able to hold court at dinner parties and explain the theory of relativity, Rush says with a laugh. I think youve got to go to university and study mathematics and physics for five or six years to do that. But youll get an idea of what went into the world that made him a celebrity.

Genius is Rushs first recurring TV role since the mid-90s, when he appeared on the Australian series Mercury. The Tony-winning actor enjoyed the fast pace of television and especially appreciated spending time developing the same character for a longer period of time, which feels akin to his work in theater. Thats also one of the reasons he keeps setting sail with Disneys Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which returns with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, on May 26. His character, Barbossa, rejoins Johnny Depps Capt. Jack Sparrow for yet another high seas tale.

I liked where they went with the sequels because they didnt try and repeat the first film, Rush says. A lot of franchises do that  they try and peg out the same film. I liked the audacity of it going quite operatic. When it came to three, four and five, every time I got sent the script Id read it and Id go, Wow, theyve let this character really evolve. He hasnt  I hope  worn himself out. He was the dark villain in the first one and then he became the politician. And in five, yet again, they dug into more background issues he has.

He adds, I like the nature of that ensemble and the global spread of the story. I did a lot of ensemble work in my theater career, being part of a company for three or four years and then part of another company for a few years. It feels like that.

Rush also has a film about Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti  Final Portrait, which was written and directed by Stanley Tucci  coming out later this year. For Rush, the roles of Giacometti and Einstein feel like the right place for him to be at this point in his career. Hes interested in complex men who have created something notable. Although, again, this is a thought that takes Rush on another tangent.

I have an interest in art and I have an interest in science, he notes. I could read those scripts and know Im really attracted to these characters. Its very rare that I get to play a cop or anyone on a horse. Which Ive done and never again! I have a bond with my agent where I go, I dont do equine. If the script says He gallops into the distance I say, Its a pass.

I just cant go there anymore, Rush says, shaking his head. Theyre too big and too scary.

------------

Genius

Where: National Geographic Channel

When: 9 and 10:15 p.m. Tuesday

Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)
From a Worlds 50 Best restaurant to meatloaf in Torrance, heres whats happening in the L.A. food and drink world:

Hes back: Chef Ernesto Uchimura, the man behind the ketchup leather at Plan Check (he has since left the restaurants), has opened Electric Owl in Hollywood. The restaurant is in the space formerly occupied by the Garland, and is modeled after an old train station. Although he may have made a name for himself with the burgers at Plan Check, there is no burger on the menu at Electric Owl, at least not yet. The food menu has a California cuisine vibe with layers of Cal-Med, comfort food and global flavors, said Uchimura. You can expect long-fermented pizza; roasted potatoes with cacio e pepe ranch; dry-aged steaks; cornbread in corn husks; and handmade pasta. Uchimura described the beverage menu as creative and classic cocktails, some made with savory infusions, and a small wine list with a focus on wines from California and some natural wines. 1451 N. Gardner St., Los Angeles, www.electricowl.la.

Worlds best in L.A.: Enrique Olvera, chef-owner of Cosme in New York City, and his chef de cuisine Daniela Soto-Innes, plan to expand with a location in Los Angeles sometime next year, reported the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants. Cosme is No. 40 on the list. A location for the upcoming restaurant has yet to be announced. Olvera is also the chef-owner of the lauded Pujol in Mexico City, which is No. 20 on the list. www.cosmenyc.com.

By the slice: Luchini Pizzeria & Bar, a new pizza joint by TAO Group, is now open in Hollywood. Its the project of Tao Group chef/partners Ralph Scamardella and Chris Santos, along with corporate executive chef Marc Marone and consulting chef Alvin Cailan of Eggslut and Unit 120. The menu includes plenty of pies, including a pizza called Hair of the Dog, made with vodka sauce, sun-dried tomato, ricotta and crispy prosciutto. And in addition to pizza, theres marinara-braised pork ribs, and avocado crostini. Luchini is also open late, until 2 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, and until 3 a.m. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. 1607 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 593-7771, www.luchinipizzeria.com.

Dumplings 24/7: WP24 by Wolfgang Puck, the chefs restaurant at the top of the Ritz Carlton hotel in downtown L.A., has launched a not-so-secret menu to celebrate its 7-year anniversary. The menu includes $7 dishes, such as the pork belly bao buns; tempura rolls with spicy albacore; and steamed chicken dumplings. Because its secret, youll have to request the menu when you sit down. 900 W Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 743-8824, wolfgangpuck.com/dining/wp24-by-wolfgang-puck.

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Staff shuffle: Darwin Pornel (formerly of Bang Bang, Hotel del Coronado etc.) has stepped in as the new bar director at chef Ray Garcias Broken Spanish in downtown L.A. Meanwhile at chef Tom Colicchios Craft in Century City, Denis Crutchfield, formerly the sous chef, is now the chef de cuisine. Crutchfield replaced Andrew Gavalla. And at Michaels Santa Monica, Roni Ginach, who curated the opening wine list at Kismet, is now sommelier for the restaurant. Ginach plans to eventually add 20 bottles for less than $50 to the wine program. brokenspanish.com | www.craftlosangeles.com | www.michaelssantamonica.com.

Going local: Local Kitchen, a new restaurant by the Altitude Restaurant Group, is now open in Torrance. The restaurant is billing itself as classic comfort food with burgers, tacos, pastas, meatloaf and salads. The bar features 16 craft beers on draft, cocktails and wine. Local Kitchen is open for lunch and dinner and plans to eventually serve brunch. 1321 Sartori Ave., Torrance, (424) 337-1321, localkitchentavern.com.

Still hungry? Bottlefish in Brentwood has launched a new weekend brunch. The Bear and Star, a restaurant that calls its food refined ranch cuisine, will open May 1 in Los Olivos. The Wallace in Culver City has introduced new spring dishes and cocktails to the menu. Casamigos Tequila Margarita cupcakes featuring Casamigos Blanco Tequila-infused lime cake, will be available at Sprinkles locations nationwide May 1 to 22. Manuela is hosting a Derby Day party on May 6 in partnership with Bulleit Bourbon. The Bazaar by Jose Andres has a new menu and an expanded spirits program at Bar Centro. AVEO Table + Bar at the Monarch Beach Resort has a new Sunday brunch.

Jenn.Harris@latimes.com

@Jenn_Harris_

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When chef Rene Redzepi was developing his most recent international pop-up, Noma Mexico, one of the first things he did was contact Rosio Sanchez, who spent years as Nomas pastry chef, and who Redzepi often calls one of the best cooks hes ever worked with.

Its easy to see why Redzepi would want Sanchez to join him and his research team as they traveled throughout Mexico, eating and brainstorming the Noma Mexico menu. Two years earlier, the Cordon Bleu-trained, Chicago-born, first generation Mexican American had left Noma to open the first of two critically acclaimed taqueria pop-ups, Hija de Sanchez, where she stone-grinds Oaxacan corn for her tortillas and offers a rotating menu, including tacos al pastor, beer-braised barbacoa tacos and crispy-fried fjord shrimp tacos with garlic-chile oil.

In May, Sanchez, 31, will fly to Los Angeles from the Tulum-based Noma Mexico to collaborate with L.A.s Jessica Koslow of Sqirl for a special Food Bowl event. Recently, Sanchez phoned in from the Yucatan peninsula to talk about small bee larvae, her tres leches paleta and why she stubbornly keeps micheladas on the Hija menu.

On the menu, theres spring cactus with ant paste, and cold masa broth with lime. What didnt make the cut?

Rare wild bee larvae. When you roast it in oil, its really tasty, very satisfying. But the larvae that we had was really small compared to the bees were used to dealing with in Denmark. So, getting the right amount out of the comb, it was never going to happen, unfortunately.

A new kind of food festival 

Share one of your favorites.

The giant melon clam [from the Gulf of California], served raw with some spices, beach greens and lime.

So far, whats been eye-opening about running an outdoor jungle-side restaurant on the shore  besides the view of the Caribbean?

For me? The logistics. Youre on this strip of beach and its quite difficult to get the things you need. In Mexico City or Oaxaca, the chefs just go to the market in the morning every day, bright and early, and get what they need. But in this case, you cant  the market is a few hours away. And were getting a lot of ingredients from Mexico City, Oaxaca, Ensenada. Its crazy. But its happening! We have a guy who is in charge of only that and he has a team of people helping him.

What was the first Mexican-influenced dish you ever made at Noma?

That was a long time ago, maybe 2012. I made little tacos with veal hearts and nixtamal-ized grain tortillas. It was really fun to think about how I could replicate tongue tacos, which were my favorite when I was younger.

What sort of taste memories guided you when developing Hija de Sanchez?

My mom was from Guanajuato. My dad was from San Luis Potosi. I grew up eating what they made: immigrant family food. We had tortillas with everything. Pozole. A lot of stews and mole on holidays. All of that has definitely influenced Hija de Sanchez, because its all the things I really craved. We also do paletas, but a little more sophisticated, like my tres leches cake paletas. Its basically frozen tres leches cake on a stick. Growing up, I always had tres leches cake on my birthday. So for me, its like a birthday cake paleta. Its a fun thing to channel my youth through.

Coconut paletas (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Recipe: Coconut paletas 

When you first opened your taqueria, customers often referred to tortillas as pancakes. What else perplexed your Danish customers?

The michelada. Its the most iffy one on the menu. So often someone will order it and then later, Ill see the poor michelada sitting there still full. Id rather we dont sell them a michelada than throw it away or have them go, Ugh. At first, I was like, Oh, my god. They hate it. But now I make sure that when someone orders it theyre told, Just so you know, its chile and lime juice and it might be very weird for you. People in Scandinavia dont have a history of eating for spice. Everything is very mild. So if youre going to order something like a michelada, its like drinking a bomb. Its like, What  is this? Im still not going to take it off the menu. Its for the people who come, know what a michelada is and just go crazy.

My mom was from Guanajuato. My dad was from San Luis Potosi. I grew up eating what they made: immigrant family food.  Rosio Sanchez

When it comes to what youre doing at Hija, Mexican-style cheese is foundational. How did you solve that problem?

Have you ever had dairy in Copenhagen? Its the best dairy Ive ever had. We found this small Italian company, La Treccia, in Copenhagen that already made mozzarella and organic cheeses for other restaurants and I said, Would you want to try to make Mexican-style cheeses for us? Now they make cheese for us twice a week  queso fresco, quesillo and cotija style. Of course, its never going to be the same, but I think its amazing. I cant tell the difference  except for maybe its slightly better, because of the quality of the dairy.

At Hija, you use corn and dried chiles from Mexico, your tomatoes are imported from Italy. What locally sourced ingredients have surprised you?

When we first opened I was like, We need masa, tomatillos and good cheeses. You know how Mexican salsas are often made with tomatillos? The tomatillos were definitely not going to happen here. Theyre available but super sweet, not the same at all. So we substituted very high-quality green gooseberries, and I actually love that. I think its perfect. Its not even a substitute  its its own thing now. Our gooseberry salsa will hold up against any tomatillo salsa. Its very tart and very tasty.

How did you find employees who understand Mexican flavors?

There are people from Chile, Spain. But the visa issue is so hard, so we dont have that many people from Mexico. In L.A., Chicago and New York, Mexicans are all around: You say, Make a tomatillo salsa, and there might be some tweaks, but they more or less know how to make it. Here, you have to teach every single thing. For example, we have a tortilla machine and we make masa every day. The first time you ask a European employee to make the tortillas, theyre so panicky. Then a Mexican shows up, looking for a stage and you say, Make the tortillas, and they just start making them.

food@latimes.com
Will Ann Coulter speak at UC Berkeley this week?

Its a question that has consumed the university for weeks and on Monday actually sparked a federal lawsuit from College Republicans who invited the conservative author to speak.

Coulters proposed talk has become a flashpoint for several reasons.

A bonfire set by demonstrators protesting a scheduled appearance by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

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1. Concerns over more violent protests.

Coulter is an outspoken conservative and supporter of President Trump. But its not her message than has sparked concern from Berkeley officials but the prospect that it might spark more violent protests.

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.

Some in Berkeley charge that the most extreme protesters on both sides are outsiders inciting violence for their own ends.

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.

Berkeley officials canceled Coulters speech last week, citing concerns over more protests. A day later they reversed themselves.

2. Battle over free speech

Berkeleys decision to cancel the speech prompted a backlash from those who say the university should not suppress unpopular speech even if it brings protesters to campus.

University officials have generally supported talks from Coulter and others and condemned those who try to shut them down.

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 a statement last week. While there may, at times, be tension between these paired commitments, we cannot compromise either.

In January, Yiannopoulos and former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli were supposed to speak at UC Davis. But protests prompted officials to cancel the event.

Earlier this month, demonstrators disrupted a planned public event at Claremont McKenna College featuring conservative commentator and author Heather Mac Donald.

Some academics say the stakes are high, particularly as the nation is facing deepening political divisions in the era of Trump.

Demonstrators protest at UC Berkeleys Sproul Plaza against a scheduled appearance by Breitbarts Milo Yiannopoulos. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

3. Questions of timing and symbolism

Berkeley administrators had rescheduled Coulters appearance for May 2, when they said the university could provide adequate security. Coulter has vowed to speak April 27, as originally scheduled. And that has sparked the federal lawsuit.

In its suit, the Berkeley College Republicans  which planned to host Coulter  called that date a sham intended to ensure her address was poorly attended.

According to Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer representing the students, Berkeley has adopted an unwritten policy under which it declares certain speakers high-profile and then restricts when and where they can appear on campus.

The day offered to Coulter falls during dead week, when students are studying for final exams and the campus traditionally is deserted. The university also had said Coulter would have to speak at midday, in a science hall located away from the central campus, rather than during the evening.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, seeks an injunction against Berkeleys enforcement of its policy regarding speakers.

A university spokesman on Monday said no such policy exists.

Nobody here understands what they are referring to, Dan Mogulof said, adding that there was no cookie-cutter approach to dealing with campus event requests. In the case of Coulter, the spokesman said, university officials felt those who might show up to protest her posed a risk.

Coulter has said she intends to speak Thursday whether or not her appearance is sanctioned. Dhillon said the groups that originally invited her have not determined if they will be party to that. Theyll have to make that decision on that day, the lawyer said.

The primary financial sponsor for Coulters Berkeley appearance  Young Americas Foundation, a national conservative nonprofit  is a party to the lawsuit. Coulters fee is listed on the organizations website as in excess of $20,000.

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A U.S. judge has blocked President Trumps order to cut off funding to cities that limit cooperation with immigration authorities.

Follow @lanow for breaking news.
The American Civil Liberties Union has joined with a journalist, a college professor and an activist to sue the Los Angeles Police Department over what they describe as a systemic violation of Californias public records law.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, accused the LAPD of failing to comply with the California Public Records Act by not responding to requests within the time frame mandated by the law or by ignoring inquiries altogether.

The civil complaint documents nearly a dozen examples of such requests, including some that were allegedly made years ago and have yet to be answered.

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More and more, police departments throughout the United States acknowledge the value of transparency  to increase public trust, promote better law enforcement, and facilitate effective oversight, the lawsuit stated. The LAPDs pattern and practice of violating the [states records act] and ignoring requests for public information is not only unlawful, but also out of step.

The suit asks the court to compel the LAPD to follow the law and order the department to track  and report publicly  how it responds to public records inquiries for at least three years to ensure it continues to do so.

An LAPD spokesman said the department had no immediate comment Tuesday morning.

Adrienna Wong, an attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, said public records allow residents to evaluate how their law enforcement agencies are performing and look for ways to improve them, and can help improve community trust in police. Access to agency documents is particularly important during this era of increased scrutiny of law enforcement, she said.

All of that information is really relevant to this public discussion and has real concrete impacts, she said.

Though commonly used by journalists and advocacy groups such as the ACLU, public information can be requested by anyone under the California Public Records Act.

Once an agency receives a request filed under the Public Records Act, it must respond within 10 days, saying whether it will provide that information. The law allows agencies to make some exceptions if there are unusual circumstances, giving them an additional 14 days, at most, to respond.

If an agency determines the information can be released, the law requires it to provide an estimated date and time when that will happen. Once an agency decides records are public, the law states, it must release them promptly.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit with three other people: Ali Winston, a journalist whose stories have been published by the Center for Investigative Reporting; Kelly Lytle Hernandez, a UCLA professor known for her work on race, policing and incarceration; and Shawn Nee, a community activist and photographer based in L.A.

The lawsuit cataloged records inquiries made by Winston, Hernandez or Nee that the LAPD failed to respond to by the 10-day or 24-day deadline. In some cases, the lawsuit states, the department never replied.

Such was the case in early 2014, the lawsuit said, when Winston requested records from the LAPD about facial recognition cameras as well as software the department used to target potential criminals. The department didnt respond to the requests within 10 days, the lawsuit said. Three years later, Winston alleged, it still hasnt.

Times reporters have also experienced lengthy delays after requesting records from the LAPD, including cases in which the department has not responded within the 10-day window.

Recently, the LAPDs Discovery Section  which handles such requests  has sent automatic replies that say the processing time for requests is six to eight weeks due to limited staffing.

The ACLU filed its own inquiry in November, asking for information about the oldest records requests the LAPD had yet to fulfill and the departments policies for handling such requests. On the same day, the lawsuit stated, the LAPD responded via email, confirming only that it had received the inquiry.

As of Wednesday, the lawsuit said, the ACLU had heard nothing more.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

kate.mather@latimes.com

@katemather

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China is in talks with the European Space Agency regarding the construction of a moon village, Tian Yulong, chief engineer at the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense and secretary general of China National Space Administration (CNSA), disclosed in Xian on April 24.

Deep space exploration is key to Chinas space development, Tian stated on China Space Day 2017. Tian added that the Chang'E-5 mission, to be carried out by the end of 2017, will achieve the major task of collecting samples from the moon and then returning to Earth. The Change-4 mission in 2018 will land on the far side of the moon and explore the physical environment and mineral resources in that area - an unprecedented accomplishment for humankind.

In addition, Tian said that the next step for Chinas space development is to create a safer, more reliable and economical aircraft, making it more convenient to send people into space. Already, China has started developing a heavy-lift launch vehicle and establishing a transportation system to achieve this goal.

The cost of flying into and out of space must be reduced if we want to achieve this goal. If the price were around 50,000 RMB ($7,261) for one trip, it would be within reach for ordinary people, and we are now trying to make that a reality, said Bao Weimin, director of the science and technology committee under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
An unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile will be launched Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base to test the weapons effectiveness, accuracy and readiness, according to the Air Force Global Strike Command.

The Minuteman III missile test launch will occur between 12:01 and 6:01 a.m. from the north end of the base near Lompoc, according to Vandenbergs 30th Space Wing. The 576th Flight Test Squadron, which will help oversee the operational test launch, is responsible for telemetry, tracking and command destruct systems on the missile.

In a statement, Col. Chris Moss, Vandenbergs 30th Space Wing commander, said missile launches are essential to verify the status of our national nuclear force and to demonstrate our national nuclear capabilities.

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The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, criticized the timing of the launch, citing heightened tension between the U.S. and North Korea. In recent weeks, North Korea has stepped up its testing of ballistic missiles.

When it comes to missile testing, the U.S. is operating with a clear double standard: It views its own tests as justified and useful, while it views the tests of North Korea as threatening and destabilizing, foundation president David Krieger said in a statement. What is needed is diplomacy rather than military provocations. Threats, whether in the form of tweets, nuclear-capable aircraft carrier groups, or nuclear-capable missile launches, only increase the dangers to us all.

On Tuesday, the U.S. 7th Fleet said it was conducting maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.

Both exercises demonstrate a shared commitment to security and stability in Northeast Asia as well as the U.S. Navys inherent flexibility to combine with allied naval forces in response to a broad range of situations, the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement.

The Vandenberg test would be the second missile launched from the base this year.

The other launch was conducted by the strike commands team from the 91st Missile wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota in February. The missile was equipped with a nonexplosive payload that recorded flight data, according the strike command. The missile was launched at the base just north of Lompoc and traveled 4,200 miles to a test range in Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Three Minuteman III missiles were launched in 2016, according to Lt. Col. Jason Turner, 2d Range Operations Squadron commander.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA

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The father of a missing 5-year-old boy  who had been arrested in connection with his sons disappearance  was released from jail Tuesday.

Aramazd Andressian Sr., 35, had been held since Saturday on $10-million bail after being arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and child abduction.

But Andressians scheduled arraignment did not take place Tuesday and he was released from custody, according to his attorney, Rebecca D. Lizarraga. She said his case was dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

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The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said it made the decision, along with the South Pasadena Police Department, not to present the case to prosecutors for filing.

Meanwhile, the search for the boy moved Tuesday to a lake in Santa Barbara County.

Park rangers and deputies from the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara sheriffs departments were searching the Cachuma Lake Recreation Area for any clues. Investigators had said they suspected the boys father visited the lake Friday before the child was reported missing, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

They are utilizing scent K-9s and a dive team in hopes of locating any witnesses or evidence leading to the whereabouts of the missing child, the L.A. County Sheriffs Department said.

The investigation into the boys whereabouts began Saturday.

Andressian was supposed to drop off the boy to the childs mother in San Marino, but he never showed, South Pasadena police Chief Art Miller said.

The mother notified police and gave them a description of her estranged husbands vehicle, a 2004 gray BMW. Officers discovered the car had been impounded Saturday morning in South Pasadena.

The mother told investigators she had handed her son off to his father about 8 a.m. April 15 in Baldwin Park, authorities said. She last saw her son Thursday during a Skype video conversation, the Sheriffs Department said.

The couple are in the process of getting a divorce but share custody of their child, Miller said.

Andressian was found alone and unconscious about 6:30 a.m. outside his car in South Pasadenas Arroyo Park, and he was rushed to the hospital. Authorities searched the park for the boy, but he was not found.

Miller said theres no evidence suggesting the boys father was attacked, and investigators dont know why he was unconscious.

When police interviewed the father, Miller said, his story was all over the place.

L.A. County Sheriffs Department Capt. Chris Bergner said Andressian had given convoluted and not consistent statements.

Unable to get any clear answers about the boys whereabouts, South Pasadena police arrested Andressian late Saturday on suspicion of child endangerment and child abduction, authorities said. His bail was set at $10 million.

The boy, Aramazd Andressian Jr., is 3 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs about 55 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes, as well as a small mole on his right shoulder, authorities said. He was last seen wearing a turquoise shirt and plaid shorts.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA

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UPDATES:

4:45 p.m.: This article was updated with confirmation that Aramazd Andressian Sr. was released from custody.

This article was originally published at 12:05 p.m.
Students at UC Davis can now purchase emergency contraception from a campus vending machine.

The machine, installed at the schools Activities and Recreation Center over spring break, dispenses the morning-after pill as well as condoms, pregnancy tests, tampons and over-the-counter medication such as Advil.

With the Wellness to Go machine, UC Davis joined a handful of other universities across the country that offer the morning-after pill outside the school health center. Both Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania and Pomona College in Claremont sell the pill in vending machines.

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I believe most of the college students are sexually active on college campus, which means we should have more resources and more talk on these issues, decreasing the stigma, said senior Parteek Singh, 21, who spearheaded the move to install the vending machine.

Singh, a former university senator, spent two years working with the schools health services office and campus stores to get the vending machine installed, UC Davis officials said.

This is a big college town. We should have these resources, Singh said.

Emergency contraception became available to women of all ages without a prescription in 2013.

During his 2015 run for student senate, he promised to make Plan B more affordable and accessible.

The original bid for the vending machine was rejected by the administration, he said. School officials suggested selling Plan B at the bookstore instead.

Students already dont feel comfortable buying it. Imagine buying it from another student. Singh said. Thats problematic.

So he broadened the scope to a wellness machine that offered more than just Plan B, expanding it to feminine hygiene products and allergy medication.

Feedback about the vending machine has been positive, Singh said. Some students have walked up to him and thanked him for his work.

Students at other universities have contacted him as well and asked for his help getting similar machines on their campuses.

I really value the anonymity of having a vending machine, Georgia Savage, a member of the Associated Students of UC Davis, told the Sacramento Bee. A lot of students like the judgment-free space and dont have to feel the pressure of interacting with people.

Some students said the vending machine sends the wrong message.

It is promoting like, Oh hey, go and have unsafe sex because then you have a backup option and its going to be cheaper than if you just want to go to a drugstore, Jordan Herrera, a UC Davis student, told KTXL-TV.

Wellness to Go sells the morning-after pill for $30. Plan B costs $40 to $50 at most pharmacies.

Every college should look into this, Singh said.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

For more California news follow me on Twitter: @sarahparvini

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Susan Berman was pacing nervously and biting her lip when her friend Miriam Barnes entered her apartment.

Im going to tell you something, but I need you not to ask me any questions, Barnes quoted Berman as saying. I did something today.

Berman didnt explain what she had done, only that it was a favor for a close friend of hers: New York real estate scion Robert Durst.

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If anything ever happens to me, Bobby did it, Berman said, according to Barnes testimony on Tuesday in a Los Angeles courtroom.

The conversation, she said, took place shortly after Dursts first wife, Kathleen, went missing in New York in 1982. But the chilling significance of Bermans comments didnt sink in until nearly two decades later, Barnes said, when she was at Bermans funeral in Los Angeles.

Barnes testimony came during the latest in a series of hearings before the murder trial of Durst, who stands accused of carrying out the execution-style slaying of Berman, a longtime confidante who was shot dead in her Benedict Canyon home in 2000. As Los Angeles prosecutors have sought to build their case, they have tried to prove two key allegations  that Durst killed his first wife, and that he then killed Berman because she knew about it.

Barnes, a longtime friend of Berman who had lived in the same New York apartment complex, was the second witness to suggest Berman knew something damaging about Durst before she was killed. In February, longtime Durst associate Nicholas Chavin testified that the defendant confessed to Bermans murder outside a New York City restaurant. Chavin also said Berman had previously told him that she knew Durst killed Kathleen.

Berman, a writer and daughter of Las Vegas mob royalty, had served as Dursts unofficial spokeswoman when Kathleens disappearance became tabloid fodder. Before she was killed, authorities had hoped to interview her about the disappearance.

In all, four witnesses are expected to take the stand this week, as prosecutors seek to preserve their testimony for fear the witnesses may die, either of old age or at Dursts behest, before the murder trial begins. The eccentric millionaire is unlikely to be tried before 2018.

The identity of one of the witnesses scheduled to testify this week has been kept secret  the second time that prosecutors have kept a witness confidential until the last possible moment. Chavins identity was withheld from the public until he testified, and only revealed to the defense days before he delivered his bombshell testimony.

The latest secret witness is expected to testify Wednesday, after Dursts defense team cross-examines Barnes.

It was Kathleens disappearance, rather than Bermans slaying, that took center stage during Tuesdays proceedings. Retired New York City Police Det. James Varian, who was assigned to canvass the apartment complex shortly after Kathleen vanished, read aloud from a report he wrote at the time about a neighbor telling him that Kathleen was afraid Durst wanted to kill her.

The neighbor had told Varian about an incident in which Kathleen Durst crawled out of her bedroom window in her pajamas, then scurried into the neighbors apartment because she was terrified of Durst, according to the retired detective. Kathleen claimed Durst had beat her and owned a gun, according to Varians report, and she spent two hours sitting in her neighbors bathroom.

During cross-examination, Varian said the neighbors husband went to see Durst later that same day. Durst denied hitting Kathleen and said that he wasnt mad and wanted his wife to return home, according to Varians report.

An employee at the posh New York City apartment building where the Dursts lived also took the stand, testifying that he manned the elevator Jan. 31, 1982, the day Durst says he last saw his wife after taking her to catch a Manhattan-bound train. Rafael Prado testified that he never saw Kathleen in the building that night and said that a now-deceased co-worker  who told police investigating Kathleens disappearance at the time that he had seen her in the building that day  often came to work intoxicated and had a reputation for lying.

Tuesdays testimony is the latest step in a legal process that has moved in slow motion since Durst was arrested in a New Orleans hotel in March 2015.

He was captured one day before HBO aired the final episode of The Jinx, a documentary that examined Dursts life, Kathleens disappearance, Bermans murder, and the 2001 slaying of Morris Black in Galveston, Texas. Durst admitted to killing Black and chopping up his body, but argued that hed shot him in self-defense. Lawyers led by Dick DeGuerin, the same Texas attorney leading Dursts legal team in Los Angeles, won an acquittal in 2003.

During the final episode of The Jinx, Durst mutters: What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course, which some interpreted to be a confession to multiple murders.

Two days after his arrest in New Orleans, prosecutors charged Durst with Bermans murder, but he didnt return to Los Angeles until November 2016 after he was sentenced on unrelated federal gun charges.

While still in New Orleans, Durst gave a rambling, videotaped interview to Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lewin  footage that has now become a hotly contested piece of evidence. In court filings, Dursts attorneys have accused the veteran prosecutor of misconduct, saying the interrogation of their client was improper and deceptive. Durst, his lawyers say, was frail, afraid and quite disoriented during the questioning.

Lewin, who repeatedly has condemned the misconduct accusations in filings and in court, again expressed frustration with the defenses claims Tuesday. The allegations made by Dursts attorneys are slanderous, said Lewin, who also criticized the legal team for failing to provide evidence to back their accusations of impropriety.

Ive had it with the allegations, Lewin said, as his face reddened. Either put up or shut up.

The prosecutor then complained that defense attorneys had improperly filed a motion for a delay, adding that maybe they shouldnt be practicing law.

One of Dursts attorneys, David Chesnoff, shook his head.

This guys nuts, Chesnoff muttered.

A few minutes later, Chesnoff stood to respond to the accusations from Lewin  whom he called loquacious  saying, Mr. Lewin thinks this case is about him, not Mr. Durst.

During another back-and-forth later in the hearing, Superior Court Judge Mark E. Windham smirked and said, All right, cant we all get along?

marisa.gerber@latimes.com

james.queally@latimes.com

For more news on crime in Los Angeles, follow us on Twitter: @marisagerber and @JamesQueallyLAT

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UPDATES:

7:55 p.m.: This article was updated with testimony from Miriam Barnes, a longtime friend of Susan Berman.

1:45 p.m.: This article was updated with additional testimony from the retired detective and with details from an exchange between the prosecution and Dursts attorneys.

12:15 p.m.: This article was updated with testimony by a retired New York Police Department detective.

This article was originally published at 6 a.m.
A federal judge placed a nationwide hold Tuesday on President Trumps order to strip funds from municipal governments that refuse to cooperate fully with immigration agents.

U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick III, a President Obama appointee based in San Francisco, said Trumps Jan. 25 order, directed at so-called sanctuary cities and counties, was unconstitutional.

The Constitution vests the spending powers in Congress, not the president, so the order cannot constitutionally place new conditions on federal funds, Orrick wrote.

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The case was the first legal test of Trumps order, which has left cities and counties across the nation fearful of losing massive amounts of federal funds.

The Trump administration said it would appeal the decision to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which already is considering Trumps revised moratorium on travel from six predominantly Muslim countries.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, speaking to reporters in his West Wing office, said the decision will be overturned eventually, and well win at the Supreme Court level.

Its the 9th Circuit going bananas, Priebus said, though the ruling came at the district court level.

Tuesdays ruling stemmed from lawsuits by San Francisco and Santa Clara County challenging the order. Among other claims, the suits argued that the directive violated the 10th Amendment, which protects states from federal government interference.

The Trump Administration had argued the counties lacked standing or legal authority to challenge the order because they had not yet suffered any harm.

But Orrick said a preliminary injunction to block the order was needed to prevent upheaval in the counties budgeting process.

The order has caused budget uncertainty by threatening to deprive the counties of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that support core services, the judge said.

He stressed that his decision will not prevent federal officials from designating local municipalities as sanctuaries or from enforcing existing conditions on grant money.

The ruling flatly rejected a last-minute bid by a lawyer for the Justice Department to downplay the significance and reach of Trumps order.

The governments attorney told the judge during an April 14 hearing that the order would affect only limited law enforcement grants handed down by the Justice Department and the Office of Homeland Security  not all of the billions in funding local municipalities receive from the federal government.

That new interpretation of the sanctuary order was not legally plausible, the judge said.

The wording of the order  and statements made by Trump and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions  make clear it was intended to threaten all federal funds, the judge said.

If there was doubt about the scope of the order, the president and attorney general have erased it with their public comments, Orrick wrote. The president has called it a weapon to use against jurisdictions that disagree with his preferred policies of immigration enforcement.

Orrick also noted that the federal government may not legally compel counties to hold inmates who are in the country illegally in jail beyond their release dates.

Counties that do detain immigrants until federal agents can take them face liability under the 4th Amendments guarantee of freedom from seizure.

But Trumps order can be read as requiring states and municipalities to honor such detainer requests to avoid being designated sanctuary jurisdictions, Orrick said.

The judge said the order ran afoul of the Constitution in various ways, violating the separation of powers doctrine, guarantees of due process and the 10th Amendment right of states and cities to self-govern.

The federal government cannot use the spending power in a way that compels local jurisdictions to adopt certain policies, Orrick wrote, citing a Supreme Court ruling against part of Obamacare.

He described Trumps order as vague. It has caused substantial confusion and justified fear among states and local jurisdictions that they will lose all federal grant funding at the very least, he wrote.

A spokesman for the Justice Department said the administration will follow the law with respect to regulation of sanctuary jurisdictions and enforce existing grant conditions.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said the city would continue to be a sanctuary jurisdiction. If the federal government believes a serious criminal should be detained, it can obtain a criminal warrant, he said. The city has always honored them.

We know that sanctuary cities are safer, healthier, more productive places to live, Lee said.

Dave Cortese, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, declared that the politics of fear has just suffered a major setback.

Millions of people across the country can continue to receive essential medical care, go to school and remain active members of their communities without fear that their local governments are being forced to work against them, Cortese said.

Cities and counties around the nation have reacted differently to Trumps order.

The mayor of Miami-Dade County immediately directed jail officials to honor all requests by immigration agents because he said he feared the county could lose $355 million a year in federal funding.

Santa Clara County officials had argued the order threatened $1.7 billion in annual federal funding. San Francisco said it stands to lose at least $1.2 billion a year.

Times staff writers Brian Bennett, James Queally and Jaweed Kaleem contributed to this report.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

Twitter: @mauradolan

Joel.rubin@latimes.com

Twitter: @joelrubin

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6:10 p.m.: This article was update with additional reaction.

2:50 p.m.: This article was updated with reaction and additional details from the ruling.

This article was originally posted at 1:40 p.m.
When an angry mob erupted in violence across Los Angeles 25 years ago this week, two names were commonly invoked by those in the streets.

One is well-known: Rodney G. King, the black man beaten by a group of baton-wielding police officers whose acquittal in a Simi Valley courtroom sparked the riots on April 29, 1992.

King survived his 1991 beating. Latasha Harlins, the other person invoked by looters, did not survive her injuries.

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Harlins, a 15-year-old black girl, was shot in the head by a South Korean-born shopkeeper. A jury convicted the shopkeeper of manslaughter, but a judge imposed a light sentence without prison time, fueling rage and racial tension in the city.

On Monday, as the anniversary of the 1992 riots approaches, residents and community activists gathered at Florence and Normandie avenues, the notorious South L.A. intersection that was ground zero of the unrest, to commemorate King, Harlins and the 54 people who died in the riots.

The event is among the first in a week recalling the riots, which left about 2,000 people injured and $1 billion in property damage across the city.

Its important to remember what started it, said Latashas aunt, Denise Harlins, one of a dozen at the candlelight vigil. In the quarter-century since buildings burned and throngs took to the streets, she said people had forgotten the complex forces that drove the city to explode.

Rodney King and Latasha Harlins and many social ills that was going on at the time brought April 29, 1992, about, Denise Harlins said.

Najee Ali, who organized the small vigil, said the prayerful gathering was meant to show unity.

We are here for all the victims, Ali said. We are here today to say you are not forgotten.

But the memory of the riots remains a point of division. Some recall when columns of smoke filled the sky during days of insurgent anarchy and a breakdown of order.

Others eschew the term riot and call it an uprising or rebellion, emphasizing the deep sense of injustice that powered a raging and destructive mob.

For many, Rodney King embodied that sense of injustice, particularly at the hands of law enforcement.

On the night of March 3, 1991, King had been drinking when officers pulled him over on a dark stretch of Foothill Boulevard in Lake View Terrace. He was acting erratically when he stepped out of the car.

A group of L.A. Police Department officers surrounded him, shot him with Tasers and struck him more than 50 times with solid aluminum batons.

A neighbor, awakened by the helicopters, rushed to capture the scene with his camera. Once the grainy video hit the airwaves, the beating thrust King into the spotlight.

Four officers  all white  stood trial for the beating. After seven days of deliberations in a Ventura County courthouse, a jury with no black jurors acquitted them all. Shortly afterward, the anger over the verdict spilled into the streets, as throngs set fire to entire blocks and stormed police buildings.

A group of young black men walked into a Korean-owned liquor store three blocks west of Florence and Normandie and snatched several bottles of liquor.

They hit the store owners son and broke the storefront window. One yelled, This is for Rodney King!

We are always going to have a Florence and Normandie popping up every now and again.  Timothy Goldman, who recorded the early hours of the L.A. riots

At Florence and Normandie, a white truck driver, Reginald Denny, was grabbed out of his vehicle and bashed by four black assailants with a brick and other objects. His beating was documented by helicopter news crews overhead  footage that would later help secure convictions in the case.

Denny survived his beating and like King and Harlins, became another symbol of the massive upheaval in L.A.

Timothy Goldman, who recorded the early hours of mayhem at Florence and Normandie and was credited with shielding some people from harm, joined Monday nights vigil.

But Goldmans focus was as much on the events of 25 years ago as recent history, when crowds were galvanized by the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and the death of Trayvon Martin, a South Florida teen.

We are always going to have a Florence and Normandie popping up every now and again, said Goldman, sounding resigned to the view that police use excessive force more commonly in encounters with black people. We can go to Ferguson, Baltimore and Charlotte and Baton Rouge. It will continue.

Latasha Harlins death still disturbs many across L.A.

Latasha walked into a convenience store on 91st and Figueroa streets on March 16, 1991, put a bottle of orange juice in her knapsack and walked toward the counter. The owner, Soon Ja Du, claimed the girl was trying to steal the juice.

Witnesses said Latasha told Du she intended to pay and revealed two dollar bills in her hand; police later concluded that there was no attempt at shoplifting by Latasha.

But Du grabbed the teens sweater and as the two struggled, Latasha struck Du in the face and broke free. Latasha tossed the juice on the counter and walked toward the door. Du picked up a handgun and fired a shot into the back of Latashas head, killing her.

The deadly confrontation was captured by fuzzy security footage.

A jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, with a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison. The judge gave her probation, 400 hours of community service and a $500 fine.

Feeling wronged by the judges lenient sentence, Latashas family helped launch a campaign that called on the judge to step down, and lobbied for the district attorney to appeal the sentence.

A state appeals court upheld the sentence in April 1992, just a week before the four officers were acquitted in the beating of King.

Reflecting on the 25th anniversary of the riots, Denise Harlins sees little progress.

When you look at the news and social media and police brutality, it hasnt gotten better, she said.

As the vigil closed on the corner of Florence and Normandie, Ali lit the wicks of candles and placed them on the curb. His hope: for the message of reconciliation and healing to resonate.

angel.jennings@latimes.com

Twitter: @AngelJennings

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

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In the closing weeks of his campaign last year, Donald Trump laid out what he called a 100-day contract with voters  an ambitious flurry of administrative and legislative steps that he vowed would start the process of draining the swamp and protecting American workers.

With many of those promises as yet unfulfilled or abandoned, President Trump and his aides scrambled Monday to present a glowing picture of vast accomplishment even as they downplayed the significance of the 100-day deadline looming Saturday.

Trump isnt the first president to try to balance high expectations against harsh reality in the first months of a new administration. But the traditional temporal benchmark has become a case study for what the news cycle has come to mean in the Trump era.

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The media  and cable news, especially  love a good round-numbered milestone, and Trump is a voracious consumer of cable news. So Trumps aides are contributing to a spectacle that they simultaneously dismiss as meaningless, knowing it is a priority for their boss as he juggles bold campaign pledges against the difficulty of heading the vast U.S. government.

Cabinet officials and other surrogates are being dispatched across the country to talk up the administrations early doings, boasting as White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus did on Sunday of Trump fulfilling his promises at a breakneck speed.

The president will be busy in Washington all week, signing executive orders and presenting what he has repeatedly promised will be a big announcement on tax reform Wednesday.

His aides cautioned Monday that Trump simply will be outlining principles for tax reform and not a detailed proposal to spur congressional action.

As several new polls show a majority of Americans disapprove of the presidents performance so far, he also will speak in venues to constituencies that have graded him more favorably.

On Monday, it was a reception with conservative media. On Friday he is set to address the National Rifle Assn.

And on Saturday night, Trump will hold a campaign-style rally in Harrisburg, Pa., less than 50 miles from Gettysburg, where he made his 100-day compact with voters in October.

It promises to be the administrations most active public outreach effort so far  all in service of what White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday called an artificial deadline for evaluating Trumps achievements.

As Spicer parried with reporters at his televised briefing, he acknowledged there was something of a circular aspect to all this.

I dont think theres anyone in this room that hasnt lodged a request to say, Were writing a story on the 100-day mark, were doing this on the 100-day mark, and so, you know, we want to make sure that we answer your questions as truthfully as possible and as thoroughly and comprehensively, he said.

Asked to identify successes, Spicer repeatedly pointed to a reduction in the number of people caught crossing the border illegally, more than 30 executive orders that Trump has signed, and the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.

A pair of White House officials laid out similar themes at a 40-minute briefing at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which sits beside the White House, one of several such briefings scheduled this week.

The two staffers, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters, pointed to what they said were accomplishments in three areas: safety and security, prosperity and accountability.

They promised detailed online fact sheets later in the week, along with a social media component. They downplayed Trumps failures to keep promises like securing Mexican funding to build a border wall or getting the GOP-led Congress to pass healthcare or any other major legislation, and the repeated refusal by federal courts to let the administration bar visitors from mostly Muslim countries.

Nor did they acknowledge Trumps flip-flops on an array of foreign policy issues, from NATO (its no longer obsolete) to Russia (he now calls for maintaining sanctions) to the Iran nuclear deal (his administration confirmed last week that Tehran is continuing to honor its commitments.)

They cited poll numbers showing Trump has maintained support with most of the voters who put him in office, blaming media coverage on other poll findings that showed his overall approval numbers are historically low for a new president during his early honeymoon period.

When asked about Trumps numerous promises for his first 100 days that have not been met, the officials recast them as ongoing top-line priorities.

The 100-day metric is mostly media-driven, one official said. In our view, were here for eight years.

Complicating the milestone week is the most mundane and basic of governing tasks: passing a spending bill in Congress to keep the government running.

The White House has asked Congress to add billions of dollars to a stopgap spending bill to start construction of a wall along the Southwest border and other border security efforts, a request that even fellow Republicans are wary to grant.

Unless the House and Senate approve a temporary funding measure by midnight Friday, the government would shut down for the second time in four years  this time in a capital where Republicans control all branches of government.

Although the 100-day measuring stick is often disparaged as arbitrary, research has shown that presidents have more ability to achieve goals they set early in their terms, said Julia Azari, a political science professor at Marquette University in Wisconsin.

One of the more important pieces of the narrative presidents have is their claim to represent change, and they lose that the longer theyre in office, she said.

Asked by the Associated Press on Friday whether he should be held accountable for meeting the goals of his 100-day contract, Trump hedged.

Somebody put out the concept of a 100-day plan. But yeah. Well, Im mostly there on most items, Trump said. But things change. There has to be flexibility.

Spicer offered a more positive spin in his news conference Monday.

We feel very good about what weve done as we head up to this first hundred days, he said. I think youre going to continue to see a lot of action and a lot of results going into the second hundred days, the third hundred days, you know, all the way through.

michael.memoli@latimes.com

For more White House coverage, follow @mikememoli on Twitter.

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Having a lawyer can make all the difference in the world to someone facing deportation in federal immigration court, where the law is dizzyingly byzantine. Yet only 37% of potential deportees have one. Part of the problem is a lack of attorneys trained in immigration law, and part of it is money  immigrants, unsurprisingly, often lack the resources to hire lawyers.

Of course, if they were facing criminal charges, they would be provided with lawyers as a constitutional right under U.S. Supreme Court rulings. But immigration codes are civil, and there is no constitutional right to an attorney during civil proceedings. If you can find one on your own, good for you, but the government does not supply one.

Forcing someone  often a person without even a rudimentary understanding of English  to navigate this complicated legal terrain with no idea of what the law says, or what remedies might be available, is Kafkaesque. It is particularly absurd and inhumane to demand it of a child, including the thousands of unaccompanied minors fleeing the murderous streets of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to seek asylum in the United States. Nonprofit activist groups and private law firms with rigorous pro bono programs have provided lawyers in some cases to people facing deportation, but there arent nearly enough such lawyers to go around.

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Forcing someone...to navigate this complicated legal terrain with no idea of what the law says, or what remedies might be available, is Kafkaesque.

In a perfect world, no one would have to go into such a legal proceeding without the benefit of representation. But the federal government, which is responsible for immigration enforcement, doesnt have the resources or the inclination to provide lawyers for the people its trying to deport. With the Trump administrations unsettling clampdown on undocumented immigrants  anyone living in the U.S. without permission is now fair game for deportation, regardless of how long they have lived here or their ties to the community in which they live  some state and local governments are stepping forward to fill some of the gap. Estimates suggest that a person in detention facing deportation is about 10 times more likely to win his or her case with a lawyer. (That number is lower for people not in detention.)

Since 2014, the California Department of Social Services has been sending about $3 million a year to organizations to provide legal help to more than 500 unaccompanied minors facing deportation. Now SB 6, which has cleared the state Senate and is under consideration in the Assembly, would provide an additional $12 million for lawyers for people facing deportation. The law would give top priority to people in detention who have a parent, spouse or child living in California legally, and slightly lower priority to military veterans and their spouses, asylum-seekers and those with long-standing community ties. It specifically excludes people convicted of a violent felony, a carve-out that has upset pro-immigration activists who argue that all people facing deportation should be provided with lawyers. They also argue that singling out convicted felons plays into the Trump administrations portrayal of undocumented immigrants as violent criminals.

The same debate has swirled around a city-county effort. Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis is still pushing a proposal to contribute $3 million to a new Los Angeles Justice Fund even though the supervisors havent yet agreed on whether to exclude convicted felons. The Los Angeles City Council is proceeding with a plan to kick in $2 million a year for up to three years, so long as violent felons are excluded. The Justice Fund, to be administered by the California Community Foundation, would merge the city and county dollars with $5.7 million from several nonprofit foundations. Each deportation defense costs about $5,000, so the $10.7 million L.A. Justice Fund would serve about 2,140 people in a region where the immigration courts have a backlog of 44,600 cases. Of those, 68% of detained immigrants and 26% of those free during the deportation proceedings dont have legal help.

Given that need, it makes sense to prioritize the spending. Among those who should be given special consideration are unaccompanied minors and people eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Those with the sorts of criminal convictions that will probably mean they wont win their challenges should be at the bottom of the list. Thats not because we believe anyone should be denied a lawyer, but because limited public resources need to go where they can do the most good.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

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Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions dislikes police consent decrees  court-enforced settlements between the Department of Justice and cities that are intended to eliminate the use of excessive force and racial profiling in policing.

On April 4, Sessions announced that his Justice Department would review all existing or contemplated police consent decrees. In a radio interview, he argued that they push back against [officers] being on the street in a proactive way, because they reduce morale. Consequently, he said, cities under consent decrees have seen too often big crime increases.

Thats not what the facts show. I serve as monitor of a consent decree entered into in Seattle in 2011, when a federal investigation identified a pattern and practice of unconstitutional use of force by that citys police department. Two days after Sessions announcement, my monitoring team reported that Seattle had achieved initial compliance with the Justice Departments requirements: Incidents of overall force and problematic force have decreased without an increase in officer injuries or crime.

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The numbers show no obvious connection between use of force rates and crime rates.

We have found that under the consent decree, Seattles police are not being placed at any higher risk, nor are they less able or willing to use force to defend themselves than in the past. Of particular note: The drop in use of force hasnt negatively affected public safety. Indeed, the numbers show no obvious connection between use of force rates and crime rates.

Such assessments wouldnt even have been possible without the consent decree reforms. When the process began in Seattle, the SPDs policies related to force were contradictory and confusing. Incidents often went unreported, and when they were documented, the write-ups were generally stuffed, unreviewed, into file cabinets. In rare cases where use of force was investigated, the inquiries were inadequate. (Similar problems have surfaced recently in Albuquerque, Baltimore and Chicago.)

As is the case with most police consent decrees, the one in Seattle required the SPD to work with community representatives to revamp its use of force policies, to retrain officers, to establish new de-escalation approaches for interacting with the mentally ill, and to modernize procedures for reporting, investigating and reviewing use of force.

The results have been impressive. In our latest report, which covered a 28-month period, there was a 60% reduction in the use of moderate to severe force compared with the DOJs initial investigation. Less than 0.00003% of all SPD encounters involved any such use of force. Moreover, force that was problematic or inconsistent with the departments new policies was exceedingly rare  occurring less than 1% of the time.

Although the concept of public safety can be measured in many different ways, the failure of the data to show crime going up as force has gone down gave the monitoring team confidence that the reforms werent compromising the welfare of the city.

At the same time, public trust in the Seattle Police Department has steadily increased. An independent polling company has found the departments approval rating rising among all ethnic groups, from 60% (2013) to 64% (2015) to 72% (2016). Among African Americans the change was even more pronounced: 49% approval in 2013 versus 62% in 2016; and among Latinos, 54% in 2013 versus 74% in 2016. Outright disapproval has trended down, from 34% in 2013 to 20% in 2016 overall.

Although it is hard to definitively establish, expanded community confidence appears to be inspiring more cooperation with the police in solving crime and addressing neighborhood problems.

Seattles consent decree experience mirrors that of Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Los Angeles, after its 12-year consent decree following the Rodney King beating and the Rampart scandal. Reform can be difficult, and it is not a trivial municipal expense, but the benefits are clear  including fewer civil rights lawsuits that can cost police departments and their cities millions in settlement dollars.

Consent decrees should be embraced by officers and politicians alike. Still, some police departments and their powerful public-employee unions fear the scrutiny and accountability demanded by the decrees. The Seattle experience, however, should dispel the myth that consent decrees doom officers and cities to reduced protection and higher crime rates.

Since 1994, when Congress empowered the Department of Justice to act in civil court cases against police misconduct, U.S. cities have made steady progress in the management of use of force and racial profiling. It would be tragic if the Trump administrations Department of Justice turned its back on that progress, depriving Americans of the effective, safe and constitutional policing that Seattles consent decree demonstrates is possible.

Merrick J. Bobb is the executive director of the nonprofit Police Assessment Resource Center. He monitored practices at the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department from 1992 to 2015 and was special counsel to the Los Angeles Police Commission.

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This year marks the 75th anniversary of the release of Casablanca, which immortalized quiet acts of resistance against fascism at the murky crossroads that was wartime Morocco. The legendary scene at Ricks Cafe where refugees, led by Paul Henreid, drown out Nazi officers by singing La Marseillaise became an instant inspiration to moviegoers as World War II was raging. The location of the film was no accident: Casablanca was a haven for those fleeing for their lives. And it was also the scene of a much greater  and real life  act of heroism, one far too little known or recognized: the protection of the Jews of Morocco by the young Sultan Mohammed V. At a time when anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are on the rise globally, we should honor this overlooked but remarkable example of enlightened leadership.

Born the third son of the reigning sultans younger brother, Mohammed was an unlikely ruler from the start and certainly an unexpected hero. A series of international disputes between France and Germany led to the Treaty of Fez in 1912 and French control of Morocco. Mohammeds father, Moulay Yousef, replaced his older sibling on the throne when his brother abdicated because of the treaty. Fifteen years later, upon his fathers death, 16-year-old Mohammed was named sultan largely because the French viewed him as more docile than his older brothers. This turned out to be one of the great misjudgments in French colonial history.

When Paris fell to the Germans in July 1940, the sultan, then 30, was put in a precarious position as Morocco came under the rule of the collaborationist French Vichy regime. Among their first acts, the new overseers sought to impose anti-Semitic laws in Morocco, as per Nazi protocol. Jews had lived in that part of the world since well before Carthage fell, and over a quarter of a million called Morocco their home in 1940. Members of the community had served the sultans court as ministers, diplomats and advisors. Mohammed V took seriously his role as Commander of the Faithful, which he viewed to include all people of the book, meaning everyone belonging to the Abrahamic faiths  Jews, Christians and Muslims. He bravely and publicly declined to assist in the persecution of his own Jewish citizens.

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There are no Jews in Morocco, he declared. There are only Moroccan subjects.

Jews had lived in that part of the world since well before Carthage fell, and over a quarter of a million called Morocco their home in 1940.

Vichy authorities soon forced Mohammed V to promulgate two laws restricting certain professions and schools to Jews and requiring them to live in ghettos. In an act of resistance, the sultan declined to fully enforce the laws. A direct descendant of the original Muhammad, the founder of Islam, through Muhammads daughter Fatimah, the sultan refused to be intimidated. A French government telegram, discovered in Paris archives four decades later, reported that relations between France and Morocco became much more tense since the day the laws went into effect. In 1941, for the first time, Mohammed V made a point of inviting senior representatives of the Jewish community to the annual banquet celebrating the anniversary of his sultanate and placing them in the best seats next to the French officials.

I absolutely do not approve of the new anti-Semitic laws and I refuse to associate myself with a measure I disagree with, he told the French officials. I reiterate as I did in the past that the Jews are under my protection and I reject any distinction that should be made amongst my people.

Although there were limits to his power, Mohammed V ensured that there were never round-ups of Jews in Morocco; it remained a haven to the extent possible. During Vichy rule  which lasted a little more than two years  no Moroccan Jews were deported or killed; nor were they forced to wear the yellow star. When Allied troops liberated North Africa in November 1942, the Moroccan Jewish community was essentially intact.

The sultans actions offer a contrast with other leaders who rallied to the side of the Axis powers in hopes of driving the Jews from Palestine and the British from the Middle East. The grand mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Husseini, for example, spent the war years in Berlin, courting Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, plotting the extermination of the Jews and recruiting Eastern European Muslims to fight for the Nazi cause. Mohammed V, on the other hand, was a strong supporter of the Allies and welcomed President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and French President Charles de Gaulle for four days in 1943 at the historic Casablanca conference. Throughout the sultans reign, he continued to protect his Jewish subjects. When the Arab world reacted violently to the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948 , the sultan reminded Moroccans that Jews had always been protected in their country and should not be harmed.

Mohammed V died suddenly in 1961, just four years after Morocco became an independent constitutional monarchy and he gained the title king. The outpouring of grief was immense. Some 75,000 Jews publicly mourned, the chief rabbi delivered a memorial address by radio, and Jews were prominent participants at the coronation of his son Hassan II and at the new kings initial prayer services.

The Moroccan Jewish community has dwindled, but in commemorations to this day, its members declare their eternal gratitude to Mohammed V and recall his heroism. At a time when such selflessness is in short supply, we should do the same.

Richard Hurowitz is the publisher of the Octavian Report, a magazine about finance, foreign policy, politics and culture. Until its sale in 2013, he led the investment fund Octavian Advisors, which he founded in 2006.

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The first freight train from London to Yiwu, a wholesale market city in eastern Chinas Zhejiang province, arrived at the border of Alashankou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 24. The train, packed with containers carrying medicine, baby products and other goods, will leave the city after its containers are reloaded.
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.
President Obama lifted the veil on his retirement Monday at a University of Chicago forum, engaging students with a message calling on them to use empathy and listen to those with whom they disagree.

I have to say that theres a reason why Im always optimistic when things look like theyre sometimes not going the way I want. And that is because of young people like this, Obama said in wrapping up the 80-minute forum on civic engagement.

There were no direct references to President Trump, the Republican-controlled Congress or the continued attempts to repeal and replace his signature Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, or a host of executive orders the new president has used to overturn Obama policies.

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Instead, the former president returned to the school where he was once a senior lecturer in constitutional law and opened the session by asking an audience filled with students, Whats been going on since Ive been gone?

The forum, a discussion with six young adults, including four students, featured Obama largely delivering bromides from a historical perspective of his years as an organizer, state senator, U.S. senator and president.

I am the first to acknowledge I did not set the world on fire, nor did I transform these communities in any significant way, he said of his days as a community organizer on the South Side.

But it did change me. This community gave me more than I was able to give in return. This community taught me that ordinary people, when working together, can do extraordinary things, he said.

Of his organizing days, Obama said it was important to spend time listening and finding out what theyre interested in and connecting their immediate needs to policies that have influence on their immediate concerns.

Listen to understand rather than listen to respond. That will save you a lot of heartache and grief, said Obama, who added that it was a lesson he learned in marriage.

Obama also counseled students who have an interest in politics to be careful about their use of social media, but encouraged them to own any mistakes the unforgiving medium may show from their past. If you had pictures of everything I did in high school, I probably wouldnt be president of the United States, he said.

It was Obamas first public event since leaving office Jan. 20, ending a three-month vacation that included jaunts to foreign lands and launching a series of talks and paid speeches and appearances in the U.S. and internationally.

His visit also came just days before Trump marks his first 100 days in office, a symbolic deadline the new president has both ridiculed and set as a schedule for his administrations first major accomplishments.

A Trump White House official on Monday questioned Obamas decision to resume a public schedule so quickly, saying administration officials did not recall such a situation when Obama first took office after George W. Bushs presidency. Obamas office noted that other past presidents of both parties used public venues earlier than Obama.

Some Democrats had been hoping for a resurgence of Obama in the public eye as the party struggles in the aftermath of Trumps defeat of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and tries to reformulate its leadership amid divisions between its Clinton establishment wing and progressives who backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign.

But other Democrats have said they must be forward-looking rather than rely on the former president to help rebuild the party. For his part, Obama made it clear that in the future he would be tackling issues he cared about  but wouldnt be doing so on Monday.

Although there are all kinds of issues that I care about and all kinds of issues that I intend to work on, the single most important thing I can do is to help in any way I can prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world, Obama said.

Because the one thing that Im absolutely convinced of is that, yes, we confront a whole range of challenges from economic inequality and lack of opportunity to a criminal justice system that is too often skewed in ways that are unproductive to climate change, to issues related to violence. All those problems are serious, theyre daunting, but theyre not insolvable. What is preventing us from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our politics and our civic life, he said.

Obama lamented that in todays culture, institutions where Americans often found common ground to work together on issues  such as churches, unions and rotary clubs  have declined in membership.

People dont have some of the same habits of being together on a common project that they used to. Weve become a more individualistic society, he said.

And with individuals searching the Internet for facts that back up their views, it has people having entirely separate conversations and you really dont have to confront people who have a different experience, he said.

One of the forum participants, Harish Patel, who lost a Democratic primary for Illinois House last year, asked Obama how to deal with failure. Obamas lone ballot defeat came in 2000, when he lost by a 2-1 ratio in a primary challenge of U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush.

When I thought about that race, what I was reminded of was the degree of which it was probably the sole time in my whole career I ran because it was the next thing rather than on the theory on what I wanted to do, Obama said. Acknowledging it may be cliche, Obama said, Worry less about what you want to be and worry more about what you want to do.

Rick Pearson is a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. Katherine Skiba, also a reporter there, contributed from Washington.
The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to confirm Rod J. Rosenstein as the No. 2 official at the Justice Department, a post that puts the veteran prosecutor in charge of the investigation into whether current or former aides to President Trump coordinated with Russia during the 2016 campaign.

Rosenstein, 52, won unusual bipartisan support on the strength of his crime-fighting efforts as the U.S. attorney for Maryland for the last 12 years. He was confirmed as deputy attorney general by a vote of 94-6.

Normally the deputy has a low public profile, but Rosenstein will not have that luxury: Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation after news reports revealed he had failed to tell his Senate confirmation hearing about his meetings last year with Russias ambassador to the U.S.

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It will fall to Rosenstein to decide whether to file criminal charges against any of Trumps aides, to drop the case entirely or to hand it off to an independent prosecutor.

At his Senate confirmation hearing March 7, Rosenstein refused to say whether he would be willing to bring in a special counsel, saying he wouldnt make judgments in advance.

But he said he had no reason to doubt the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russian authorities sought to influence the presidential race. He also said he believed the Justice Department could handle the most politically complicated cases without fear of compromise.

During the hearing, Rosenstein referred to his work in the 1990s in the independent counsel investigation of President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton for their investments in a failed real estate company known as Whitewater.

Rosenstein was involved in separate questioning of both Clintons, who never were charged with a crime. More than a dozen others were charged and convicted, including the governor of Arkansas.

Rosenstein has spent 27 years at Justice, getting an early job as a senior aide to a deputy attorney general. As U.S. attorney, he supervised a broad range of criminal prosecution.

He first was nominated to the post by President George W. Bush. President Obama kept him on after the Senate did not move on Bushs nomination of Rosenstein for a seat on a federal appeals court.

As Sessions top deputy, Rosenstein will be responsible for using Justice Department resources to step up enforcement of immigration laws, a Trump administration priority.

Sessions already has instructed all U.S. attorneys offices to be more aggressive about filing criminal charges against people who cross the border illegally, and he has threatened to cut off department grants to so-called sanctuary cities unless they cooperate with immigration agents.

Jamie Gorelick, who served as deputy attorney general from 1994 to 1997 under the Clinton administration, praised Rosenstein at an ethics conference Monday. She said the department would remain in experienced hands.

Sessions picked someone who grew up in the department and knows how cases are decided, and should be decided, she said.

joseph.tanfani@latimes.com

Twitter: @jtanfani
About that border wall with Mexico.

President Trump backed off demands that Congress fund his promised border wall with Mexico after political opposition threatened a government shutdown, averting what could have been an embarrassing moment Friday on the eve of marking his first 100 days in the White House.

Trumps reversal was welcomed on Capitol Hill as tensions eased and negotiators continued talks Tuesday to reach an agreement. But it does not completely eliminate the drama surrounding the shutdown threat.

Congress will likely be forced to approve a stopgap measure allowing government offices to remain open while budget negotiations continue into next week.

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Democrats welcomed Trumps changed course, but it drew swift criticism from conservatives who support the wall as a way to curb illegal immigration, as Trump promised in one of the most prominent issues of his campaign.

It looks like President Trump is caving on his demand, talk show host Rush Limbaugh said on his show.

Trump tweeted Tuesday that building the border wall remains a top priority for him, but the White House said the president was willing to shelve the fight until the next budget go-around in the fall.

Nothing has changed on the presidents priorities, press secretary Sean Spicer said. In that next budget, well go for the next group of money.

House and Senate negotiatiors have been working nonstop on a compromise to fund the government for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year by Fridays deadline.

Even though Republicans have the majority in Congress, they are almost certain to need Democratic votes to pass the measure because their own party remains split over how much to spend on government functions.

Republicans submitted their latest proposal Tuesday -- minus the $5 billion in border wall funds, sources said  but outstanding issues remain.

Democrats want assurances that Trump wont yank funding for subsidies to help some Americans afford healthcare under the Affordable Care Act, as he has suggested.

And both Democrats and Republicans are trying to salvage a coal miners pension fund that tanked during the Great Recession and now is at risk of going insolvent unless the government intervenes.

Dozens of miners, many of them retirement age, walked the halls of the Capitol complex in matching camouflage United Mine Workers of America T-shirts Tuesday to urge support.

Republicans, meanwhile, are seeking to boost defense spending Trump has requested, and have also tried to include anti-abortion measures  including the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit public agencies that receive federal funds from blocking healthcare facilities or doctors who refuse abortion services.

Trump wanted $34 billion for the military, but talks now appear to be focusing on about half that amount, about $15 billion, sources said.

Instead of the wall money, the final deal will likely include about $1 billion for other security measures -- possibly surveillance -- on the border.

Trump has long promised that Mexico would pay for the wall along the Southwestern border, something officials in that country have said is not going to happen.

Lawmakers in Congress had little interest in footing the bill -- costs could be as high as $70 billion, according to one new report -- and even less interest in shutting down the government over it.

The growing criticism of the border wall plan, along with the apparent lack of enthusiasm in Congress to funding it, havent yet caused any reassessment of the plan by Homeland Security, the agency that will be tasked to build it.

Spokesman David Lapan said Tuesday DHS will move forward with building barrier prototypes using $20 million redirected from the current budget.

Our directive is to continue to find ways to meet the mission of building the border wall, but we need the funding to do that, Lapan said. We cant do anything until funding is provided to continue construction.

Actual construction will have to wait for the 2018 or 2019 budget years, he said.

No one knows what the wall will cost, he said.

Trump later Tuesday, though, insisted his wall would become a reality.

The walls going to get built, folks, he said during a White House meeting with agriculture executives. In case anybody has any questions, the wall is going to get built.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

@LisaMascaro

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The state affiliate of the National Rifle Assn. on Monday filed the first in a series of planned court challenges opposing sweeping new gun control laws approved in California in the wake of the San Bernardino terror attacks.

The flurry of legal action comes as Neil Gorsuch, President Trumps choice for the Supreme Court, takes his seat, returning a conservative majority to the nations highest court. And as the Republican administration begins appointing additional judges to the federal court system, gun-rights advocates say they hope that some of the more restrictive laws imposed in recent years will be vulnerable to legal challenge.

California is a natural target for the gun lobby. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law several gun control bills, including a prohibition on the sale of semiautomatic rifles equipped with so-called bullet buttons that allow for the quick removal and replacement of ammunition magazines.

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The first lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Santa Ana by the California Rifle and Pistol Assn., the state affiliate of the NRA, and asks the courts to declare the expanded assault weapon law unconstitutional.

It criminalizes possession of firearms which are commonly possessed for lawful purposes by law-abiding citizens for self- defense or shooting sports, said Chuck Michel, a Long Beach attorney for the gun rights groups.

The legislation and other bills including a ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines were approved by Brown and the Legislature in response to a 2015 terrorist shooting in San Bernardino in which weapons including AR-15 rifles were used to kill 14 people attending a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center.

But the new law will do nothing to stop terrorists or violent criminals, and infringes on the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment, the groups argued in a statement Monday.

Brown declined to comment on the lawsuit, but Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) predicted Monday that the strengthened gun controls would withstand any legal challenge.

Background checks and other guns laws California has enacted have saved lives and are key in making our mortality rate one of the lowest in the nation, De Leon said in a statement. I am confident that the courts will reject the NRAs arguments, just as our voters did in November, and uphold Californias right to implement common-sense policies to protect its people.

Michel said the NRA plans five lawsuits in total to challenge new gun laws in California, including one as early as next week that will seek to invalidate a ban on the possession of ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 bullets.

Adam Winkler, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, said the legal challenges may not prevail at the lower court level because California is limiting gun use, not outlawing it completely.

I still think its unlikely that the NRA is going to be successful against these kinds of regulations, Winkler said. Where you see complete bans on firearms you are more likely to see success.

Updates from Sacramento 

Gorsuch filled a vacancy on the court caused by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. Michel said there are indications that Gorsuch will share Scalias views in favor of the 2nd Amendment protection of gun owners rights.

We are much more hopeful that if we have to go up that high [to the U.S. Supreme Court] that we will get somebody who will apply the test that will protect the 2nd Amendment rights to bear firearms for lawful purposes, Michel said.

Even if Gorsuchs seating on the court does not change its balance from when Scalia was on the bench, Winkler sees the stepped-up activity by the NRA as anticipating the future  with a Supreme Court whose decisions could favor its cause.

The NRA is playing the long game, Winkler said. They are going to fight these battles in the hopes that if this does go to the Supreme Court, it will be three or four or five years down the road and it will be a different court, with additional nominees from President Trump.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

Twitter: @mcgreevy99

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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.
More than 3,000 people gathered on a square in Qianjiang, Hubei province on April 22 to enjoy a feast of lobsters. Three thousand kilograms of lobster was consumed during the event, with hungry foodies filling up nearly 300 tables. Even more people waited beside the tables in hopes of finding a vacant chair.

"The view was magnificent," said a visitor from eastern China's Jiangsu province, adding that he has never experienced such a big feast in his hometown before.

The feast was actually a warm-up event for a full-fledged lobster festival to be held soon in Qianjiang. According to Zhang Denghua, manager of the restaurant that organized the event, the lobster feast set a new national record for both number of dinners and overall consumption of lobster.
For the many gifts they give to their communities, seven women were recognized at the 20th annual YWCA Glendale Legacy Luncheon held earlier this month at the Oakmont Country Club.

Among those receiving the Heart & Excellence Awards were two Burbank residents, Nancy Guillen and Joan-Patricia JP OConnor.

Guillen dedicates her time and energy to projects that address cancer research, including the American Cancer Societys Relay for Life and the Fiesta of the Spanish Horse.

She is a member of the Glendale Kiwanis Club, vice president of Family Promise of the Verdugos and recently served as chair of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce. She is also past president of the Glendale Latino Assn. and continues to serve on its board.

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OConnor is a second-generation recipient of this award. Her mother, the late Mary Alice OConnor, received it in 2002. The mother and daughter were members of the first class of National Charity Leagues Burbank chapter.

JP OConnor co-designed and facilitated Leadership Burbank for seven years and is a Family Promise National Associate. A double cancer survivor, she has served twice as Burbank Relay for Life chair and twice as chair of the American Cancer Society San Fernando Valley Leadership Council.

Sitting with OConnor was Janet Puchlik, a childhood friend since the Music Box Nursery School. They joined Girl Scouts together and remained in the troop through graduation from Burroughs High.

Also at the table was Peggy Spear. Theyve been friends since doing a benefit for the Pacific Asia Museum in 1984.

Other Burbank residents attending were Sister Regina Palamara, Marsha Ramos, Sandy Thompson, Joan Chandler and her guest, Elizabeth Cinkan.

During the luncheon, OConnor ran into longtime Glendale resident Shirley Johnson, who served as a USC Trojan Traveler host on a trip OConnor took through the Panama Canal. At the time, OConnor was executive director of the USC Alumni Assn.

The luncheon culminated with a surprise announcement that a memorial scholarship was created in honor of Cameron Willia Hali Burton, the daughter of Carol Ann Burton and Alasdair John Hunter Burton.

Cameron Burton, 25, died in an automobile accident on March 20 in Malawi, a country in southeast Africa, while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Chorale celebrates spring with music

The Burbank Chorale, in its 97th year, will pay homage to famous films during its spring concert titled Lights, Camera, Sing! at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the American Lutheran Church, 755 N. Whitnall Highway.

The chorale director is Mikhail Shtangrud. The program will include inspiring music from such movies as Amadeus, Breakfast at Tiffanys and Henry V.

Accompanying the chorale will be pianist Anna Krendel. Special guest artists will be members of the MUSYCA Childrens Choir.

Tickets are $15 or $20 at the door. Seniors and children under 12 years old are $15. Tickets can be purchased online at burbankchorale.eventbrite.com, call (818) 759-9177 or email tickets@burbankchorale.org.

JOYCE RUDOLPH can be reached at rudolphjoyce10@gmail.com.
A church in Alabama seeks to establish its own police force.

The Alabama Senate passed a bill Tuesday, April 11, granting Briarwood Presbyterian Church the right to start its own police force  of one or more persons  to protect the church and its ministries, the New York Times reports.

The church has more than 4,000 members and 40 ministries, including schools, from preschool through the 12th grade.

The church stated in a February news release that their request was in response to mass shootings in churches and schools, and that its goal is to mirror private universities, which have the right to hire police officers.

Critics say the law would violate the 1st Amendment, which prohibits any law respecting an establishment of religion.

Q. What do you think of Briarwood Presbyterian Churchs request?

I am an advocate for absolute separation of church and state, so it was my initial inclination to object to this bill. However, I also considered the question of  if this church is willing to completely pay for the police force  would it indeed be an encroachment upon the constitutional imperative not to support an establishment of religion?

Looking into it further, I discovered one important thing the articles cited did not mention. This church has a long history of racism and homophobia and a strong socially conservative bent. State police must remain objective, as they are tasked with protecting everyone equally and not warping and bowing the law to benefit some over others. I came to the conclusion that giving any religious institution the right to co-opt state police responsibilities for their private purposes is absolutely a violation of the 1st Amendments establishment clause. Whether or not private universities should have their own police, especially those established by religious orders, is also something I believe should be reexamined.

The bottom line is, the regular police are there to protect everyone. This church can call the local police at any time just as any other citizen or institution who feels threatened. The local police are certainly aware of the outsized threats against religious institutions and have undoubtedly already taken steps to protect everyone in the community. If this church feels like it needs more protection, I am uncertain what prevents them from hiring a private security force that works with the local police, as opposed to its own police force.

Joshua Lewis Berg

Humanist Celebrant

Glendale

..

I stand with ACLUs opposition to Briarwood Presbyterian Church creating a private police force. The bill is a clear violation of the separation of church and state. The effort to create an armed fiefdom adjacent to the city of Birmingham, which is 74% African American, in the 90% white enclave of Vestavia Hills, is a negative legacy of racial segregation that should not be validated by law.

According to The Root, a website that covers issues of concern to African Americans, Briarwood is the center of the Presbyterian Church of America, a pro-segregation Southern faction that refused to desegregate and thus left the larger Presbyterian denomination in 1973. The PCA apologized for its past racism  in 2016. Briarwoods current leader, Harry Reeder, defends flying the Confederate battle flag and has appeared before racist groups like the Sons of the Confederacy. The 80-year-old state senator who has proposed the legislation, J.T. Waggoner Jr., lives in Vestavia Hills and is the son of the Birmingham Public Works Commissioner who served as a key ally of infamous Police Commissioner Bull Connor; together they connived to allow the Ku Klux Klan to attack the Freedom Riders in 1961. His bill allows for the creation of a religious militia able to impose its version of the law on Briarwood property unaccountable to state government.

This sort of vigilantism goes back to the Reconstruction era after the Civil War, when the Klan used violence to reinstate white supremacist state governments. Racial segregation was not just a southern phenomenon: in 1947 when Quaker journalist Drew Pearson organized the Freedom Train, a traveling exhibit of founding documents such as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, he prevented the train from stopping in two segregated cities: Birmingham, Ala. and Glendale, Calif.

Hate crimes are on the rise. At least 295 people have been killed by police thus far in 2017. The return of white supremacist vigilantism should be opposed by people of faith and conscience everywhere. Black Lives Matter.

David L. Hostetter, Ph.D.

Vice President, Unitarian Universalist Church of the Verdugo Hills

La Crescenta

..

The churchs request for permission to hire its own police officers is both justifiable and appropriate. In light of Sandy Hook and other recent incidents of indescribable violence against innocent people, the dear men, women and children of Briarwood Presbyterian Church have the right to assemble in peace and security.

Their goal is to have first responders on site who will coordinate with, not totally replace, local law enforcement. I see that not only is the church allowed to appoint one or more police officers, but that the church will also employ them as well. That means, I take it, that public funds will not be used to pay them.

The left-wing accusation that this is a violation of the 1st Amendment is ridiculous. Just who is the ACLU trying to protect? Certainly not the people of Briarwood Presbyterian Church. Sad, but no longer surprising, that they place their agenda above real peoples security. Not unlike the Pharisees who, one Sabbath, watched Jesus hoping that he would heal a man with a withered hand so that they could accuse him of performing work on the day God set aside for rest and worship. Knowing their intent, Jesus asked them: Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill? But they kept silent (Mark 3:4). So we ask, should not the people of Briarwood Presbyterian Church be allowed to do all they can to save lives?

Pastor Jon Barta

Burbank

..

Briarwood Presbyterian Church could hire a security company to provide guards and other safety measures on its properties. Instead the church seems determined to prove a point, as does their state legislative representative who persists in pursuing this right which would only apply to their church. A similar bill was passed by both the Senate and House of the Alabama Legislature in 2015 but wasnt signed into law by then-governor Robert Bentley, who recently resigned in an ethics scandal.

I have serious concerns about putting the power to make arrests, let alone guns, into the hands of individuals not vetted, trained or supervised by a police department, or by a licensed security firm.

The ACLU objection to the bill states it would unnecessarily carve out special programs for religious organizations and inextricably intertwine state authority and power with church operations, and the organization is confident that if passed, the law would be immediately struck down as unconstitutional in federal court. Im sure the churchs lawyers and the Alabama Senate realize this as well. Stretching the envelope of church-state separation, not safety, is the motivation here.

Briarwoods efforts would be better directed toward improving police services in the low-tax, small-government state of Alabama and passing more stringent gun laws.

Roberta Medford

Atheist

Montrose

..

That Bryant Presbyterian Church wants to have its own police force is not violating the 1st Amendment. It is merely hiring a private agency to detain law breakers. The ability for all Americans to detain lawbreakers is a part of the penal code. The concept of citizens arrest falls under the responsibilities of all citizens of the United States and their guests.

Further, the church is only requiring its police force to arrest lawbreakers on their grounds. The police force has no jail and therefore must transport the prisoners to the local magistrate.

The time and effort spent expressing the fears that a religious organization would try and take over civil prerogatives would be better spent looking at secular organizations that use religious terms to couch their political agendas that seek to remove 1st Amendment rights.

Rabbi Mark Sobel

Temple Beth Emet

Burbank

..

I think its a fine request, and why there should be any backlash, I cant understand. As others have pointed out, this church is the size of a small town. It has every manner of resource which draws people by the thousands. I noted that it had a library, nursery, seminary, counseling center, soup kitchen, Christian school, music ministry, and they even have their own Briarwood Ballet. I cant name all the various things they have going on there, but the place is immense, and such a place needs a police presence.

All churches are publicly accessed, and all churches welcome the public to whatever they offer there because the point of church existence is to build Christian community. That only happens by strangers coming onto the property, buying into the message and then becoming citizens of the town, so to speak. Despite the many who come and embrace a given churchs ministry, there are others who simply come to avail themselves of free stuff, exploit the trusting people and sometimes do them serious harm. Small churches usually figure some plan to spring in the case of such an emergency, but a church of 4,000 is going to need more than a couple of elders muscling a violent outsider to the floor. It may require weapons and police powers.

As any of us know, when we report that a neighbors house alarm has gone off, the police will call that a low priority and come when they get around to it. In the meantime, the house is ransacked. If there is an assault, a gun shooting, or anything else that takes only minutes to transpire, the police sirens are heard shortly thereafter, faintly in the distance. Now if Briarwood is wanting a consistent police presence that they are even willing to pay for, why is that unconstitutional? The government isnt promoting Presbyterianism, its only providing the qualifications for the church to be adequately policed. If this request fails, and 4,000 citizens, who happen to be Christians, do not get protection, perhaps that is an example of the government working against a particular faith. And if a mass shooting happens and the police dont make it until after the carnage, then maybe the government will be liable for not protecting 4,000 tax payers and for facilitating their victimization. Protect the people, whatever their religion; its the governments job.

Rev. Bryan A. Griem

Tujunga
State education officials have selected Laguna Beach High School as one of its Gold Ribbon award winners for 2017.

Gold Ribbon awards recognize California schools that have made gains in implementing academic content and performance standards in English-language arts, mathematics, science and English-language development, according to a Laguna Beach Unified School District release.

Laguna was among 275 middle and high schools to receive the recognition, which replaced the California Distinguished Schools program.

The state honored elementary schools last year.

Education officials created the Gold Ribbon honor as the state creates assessment and accountability systems to jibe with Common Core standards. Common Core places greater emphasis on expository writing and critical thinking across multiple subjects.

School leaders apply for the award based on a model program or practice that other schools could replicate.

Laguna Beach High featured its chemistry program in the category of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the release said.

The program consists of a blended chemistry instructional model and the Advanced Chemical Research (ACR) program.

In the blended chemistry model, the school emphasized real-world problem solving in all levels of chemistry.

Rather than offering separate college-preparatory chemistry and honors chemistry courses, Laguna Beach High blended both classes together in all sections and utilized the honors curriculum for all students, according to the release.

ACR is a project-based learning capstone class that engages high school seniors in research investigations.

The California Department of Education will recognize Laguna Beach High at a ceremony May 1. Laguna Beach Unified trustees will honor the school at their May 9 meeting.

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce
The ninth annual Circle of Life breakfast captured the hearts and minds of dedicated locals determined to rescue women and their children in desperate need of treatment for alcohol and drug dependency.

The organization known as New Directions for Women, (NDFW) is led by the passionate Rebecca Flood, longtime CEO and executive director.

Some 300 donors converged in the dining room of the posh Newport Beach Country Club, raising an impressive $350,000 in support of New Directions services.

NDFW foundation board member and major sponsor Carole Pickup welcomed guests sharing the significant role assumed by family members and friends of women fighting substance abuse. Her passion, like so many others in attendance, is born from personal experience.

The struggle is real, the road to recovery is long, but if we work together and stick together, change for the better can occur, said Pickup, a woman of strong faith, who shared that God has a hand in the recovery and transformation of those fighting the addiction.

Joining Pickup were donors Allison Wilder, daughter of Pamela Wilder who is one of the organizations founders, board member Judy Elmore, journalist and blogger Greer Wylder, and film director Dan Carracino, who is known for Bill W, a documentary about the co-founderof Alcoholics Anonymous.

Also attending the breakfast confab were Judy and Ray Brandt, Poppy Carmelo, Alex Chazen, Amir Kahana, Avi Attal, Jason Feld, Ann Dennis, Anne Huffman, Mary Anna Jeppe, Jerry Johnson, Devon and Kevin Martin, Joe Moody, Dick Pickup, Todd and Natalie Pickup and Anne and John Wortmann.

New Directions has been assisting addicts in Orange County for some 40 years. Their recovery programs began in 1977 and the NDFW sober living home is one of two accredited facilities in the entire county.

Thousands of O.C. citizens yearly seek hospitalization for alcohol and drug overdoses and related death tolls reach unacceptable numbers in county statistics.

NDFW offers private and confidential treatment for women of all ages including pregnant women, women with children, and many women dealing with other circumstances and medical situations.

Flood was once an addict and remains open about her journey. Her story is well-known to fellow supporters.

My philosophy is to heal women then heal generations, Flood said. - If I had been denied the help and treatment I needed when I was struggling with addiction, the cycle would have continued in my life and with my family.

To learn more about New Directions for Women, visit newdirectionsforwomen.org.

Friendship Matters

Thirty years ago, Bruno Serato landed in the USA as an immigrant from Verona, Italy.

Circumstance would introduce the young Serato  who began his first job in America as a busboy at La Vie en Rose in Brea  to another immigrant, Garth Blumenthal, a South African ex-patriot who had come to the U.S. seeking business opportunities. His passion was the U.S. car market.

Over time, both men would succeed and as their fortunes rewarded their ambition and hard work, their personal friendship would also grow.

Serato would become the owner of the Anaheim White House restaurant and Blumenthal would rise to the position of general manager of the worlds No. 1 Mercedes-Benz dealership, Fletcher Jones Motorcars.

Beyond his success as a celebrity restaurateur, Serato gained national attention for his local philanthropy.

For years, Serato feed some 2,200 needy local children every day from his White House kitchen.

Then, earlier this year, tragedy struck and a fire decimated the Anaheim landmark, putting Serato out of business.

Enter Blumenthal, one of many supporters of Seratos mission to feed the kids, and a fundraiser was created.

On April 20, Blumenthal opened the massive doors of Fletcher Jones Motorcars for a reception billed as, Thats What Friends Are For.

The $100 per person ticket sold out and the crowd bid generously on auction items. Ultimately, 130 attendees raised $47,000.

It was all about friends in the community helping one another out  just the sort of activity that makes O.C. great on every level.

To learn more, or to donate, go to fjmercedes.com/thatswhatfriendsarefor/.

B.W. COOK is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
In his diary, President Ronald Reagan was quoted as saying, If youre explaining, youre losing. Newport Beach Councilman Jeff Herdmans April 17 letter, Reagan statue influenced my vote on arts package, is proof that Reagan was right.

In 2011, private funds were raised by former Councilman Keith Curry for a statue of Reagan in Newport Beach. Led by a column written by former Daily Pilot Editor Bill Lobdell, the Democrat-dominated Newport Beach City Arts Commission objected, arguing the process was circumvented because they are responsible for determining appropriate art in Newport.

President Reagans opponents went nuts when Curry suggested locating it at the new Civic Center. The council blinked. The beautiful, bronze statue was eventually dedicated in late 2011, in a dark cul-de-sac near a public bathroom, where it was later vandalized.

Recently, Mayor Kevin Muldoon and the current City Council voted 5-1 to relocate Reagans statue to the Civic Center. Herdman opposed the move because there were just too many unanswered questions.

Sound familiar? Imagine if President Reagan had taken Herdmans wait-and-see position when he broke the back of Communism.

Mike Schroeder

Newport Beach

The writer is past chairman of the California Republican Party.

Peotter keeps changing his mind

Wow, the recall effort is only a few weeks old, and already Councilman Scott Peotter has had four positions. First, he said the recall was to inhibit his free speech. When one considers that Peotters own extraordinary efforts to prevent residents from circulating petitions on the Museum House project was the greatest denial of free speech in recent city history, that argument quickly went away.

Then he said it was about him keeping his promises to cut city spending. But the record shows that under Peotter, pension liabilities and the operating budget are up millions and we now run the sewer system at a structural deficit.

Next he hooked up with Democrat Bob Rush as his chairman and claimed he was being recalled because he was politically incorrect. Well yes, not publicly opposing the racist Farsi campaign signs targeting former candidate Fred Ameri, opposing the city sexual harassment prevention policy and insulting residents who speak before the council is politically incorrect, but it is also unacceptable behavior as a member of the City Council.

Who knows what Peotters slogan will be tomorrow? Here are some we know he wont be using: Scott Peotter: Working to reduce traffic and improve our quality of life, Scott Peotter: champion of parks and libraries, Scott Peotter: He respects the public.

Its time for a change on the City Council.

Richard C. Ingold

Newport Beach

Cheerleaders for Brown, Democrats

The California Budget for 2012 was $90 billion. The California Budget for 2017 is $122.5 billion. Our water infrastructure is no better, the roads are still in disrepair and there has been no improvement to our education system.

My question is where is our media? Every time I open the Los Angeles Times, there is nothing but praise for Gov. Jerry Brown and the rest of our Democratic leaders.

Where is the accountability? When are our citizens going to finally hold our leaders accountable for their actions, or in our case, inaction?

By the way, our most recent tax increase is 12 cents a gallon for gas, and an additional $100 fee for electric cars, and surprise, the press is all for it. Way to go, our press and Gov. Brown, always looking out for the citizens of our great state.

Juli Hayden

Newport Beach

How to get published: Email us at dailypilot@latimes.com. All correspondence must include full name, hometown and phone number (for verification purposes). The Pilot reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity and length.
As the weather begins to warm up, the Glendale Police Department is asking residents to be mindful of bears in the area after a pair of recent sightings.

Both sightings took place on Saturday around Country Club and Greenmont drives and in the 3200 block of Beaudry Terrace, according to police. Those streets connect with each other near the Verdugo Mountains Open Space Preserve and west of the Oakmont Country Club.

The department said bears have begun to wake up from their winter hibernation, and theyre hungry.

Bears tend to wander into populated areas to search for food when their normal natural sources are not available, officials said.

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The last reported bear sighting in Glendale was in September, after residents repeatedly saw the same black bear in the Whiting Woods neighborhood.

Residents can report bear sightings to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife at (562) 598-1032.

To prevent any unexpected ursine house guests, the police department has a list of tips on its website  www.ci.glendale.ca.us/police.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc
Ten Years Ago

For the first time, scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in April 2007 got a look at images of the sun in three dimensions. During a demonstration held at JPL, scientists and guests donned 3-D glasses and watched as solar storms appeared to erupt toward them. To say we are excited is an understatement, said one of the co-investigators for Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), the spacecraft that took images of the sun from different angles. The new views, it was reported, would improve the ability to predict solar weather, which has effects on Earth.

Twenty Years Ago

An otherwise quiet April morning on Commonwealth Avenue was interrupted when four young men entered a home, tied up the startled housekeeper and ransacked the property before making a clean getaway.

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Thirty Years Ago

A new retail shopping center for the northwest corner of Foothill Boulevard and Oakwood Avenue (where Penguins and Jersey Mikes franchises, among other businesses, operate today) was approved by the La Canada Flintridge Planning Commission. The center, on Century Federal Savings property, was originally anchored by a junior-size Thrifty Drug Store.

Forty Years Ago

A member of a prominent La Canada pioneer family, Julia Murray Knight, who moved to the Knight Ranch when she married T. Fenton Knight in 1912, passed away at the age of 88. Her husband, whose family established the ranch in the late 1880s, was elected to the La Canada school board in 1921 and to the state Assembly in 1939. Julias mother, Joanna Murray, founded the La Canada chapter of the American Red Cross and her mother-in-law, Elizabeth Knight, established the La Canada Thursday Club.

Fifty Years Ago

A county fair atmosphere prevailed on the grounds of Flintridge Riding Club, when the 46th annual Childrens Horse Show took place in 1967. It was the 17th year the event had been sponsored by the Flintridge La Canada Guild of Huntington Memorial Hospital.

Sixty Years Ago

A 3-year-old La Canada girl, Kathy Moore, was lost for five hours in the Monument Valley area of Utah where four local families were camping together during their spring vacation. A search was mounted and Kathy was found by a Navajo guide who picked up her trail and found her walking six miles from the Moore familys campsite. She was unhurt and in good spirits, although it was reported she was skeptical of the guides wish to have her return with him in the opposite direction from which she had been traveling.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.
It had been 48 years since Id seen my buddy Fred Alexander. He was in Alpha Company 1st Platoon; I was in 4th. We found we werent as lean, but were twice as mean and still U.S. Marines.

If you read me last week, you know I was adventuring in the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina. I wanted to experience the magic of this fabled land and understand how a sense of place can define the core of our humanity. I was an interloper and would experience Carolinas grandeur from Freds eyes. Regardless, Ive learned that if you ask questions, pay attention and listen reverently, you might develop a sixth sense.

Franklin, North Carolina sits in the Nantahala Range south of Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Nantahala is Cherokee for land of the noonday sun. The mountains are steep and explode upward, thus creating deep valleys that do not feel the suns rays till noon. The valley is sequestered; even the Civil Wars wrath had little effect on the community.

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We followed the Tuckasegee and Oconaluftee rivers into a land absorbed by 80 inches of rain a year. The Appalachians are the oldest mountains in the world and the Smokies are recognized as an International Biosphere Reserve.

The areas original inhabitants, the Cherokee, remain proud stewards of a land settled thousands of years before contact with Europeans. Their civilization flourished until the discovery of gold, which led to Andrew Jackson in 1838 forcing the Cherokee to vacate their ancestral tribal lands.Their trek to Oklahoma, the Trail of Tears, remains a scar on the nations conscience.

We found camp in a majestic portion of the Great Smoky Mountains, Cades Cove. Searching for wood, I followed a trail deep into the heart of the hardwoods. Old growth forests abound with tall stands whose fallen leaves formed a deep carpet of humus and mold. I could smell the ancient soil packed by time and washed by centuries of rain.

I walked the silent trails searching for the Zen of the Great Smoky Mountains and the depth of Appalachian culture. What I sought was around the next bend. I found an old cabin preserved by the park service. In about 1822 it was built by John and Lucretia Oliver, who had arrived there a few years earlier and lived in a hut. The cabin is surrounded by forests that open to lush green fields. I found their farm. I sat on the cabins steps and stared into the fields and envisioned John Oliver, with children trailing behind, following a mule and plow. Theyd work the land from first light to sunset. The magic of the land is the people!

Fred and I circled around the cove and explored each dwelling. He has a meticulous eye and noted the joints of the log cabins and the physics of rushing water, funneled through wooden troughs and smashing into a water wheel. The wheel turns the millstones and grinds corn into grits.

We explored 150-year-old churches. There were Bibles on the pulpits with notes from passersby lamenting the tragedies of life. We read the notes. I looked toward Fred, hoping to understand the mass of human misery.

Life is hard, he said.

We explored cemeteries and found the ancient tombstones of children who lived a mere day. They were called son or daughter. They never had a name. We paid our respects to a Southern soldier who had been killed in the Civil War and saw numerous markers of infants, children and adults who died in the 1918 influenza pandemic. I understood Freds comment. The essence of Buddhism is to find peace with the eventualities of living.

In 1969 Fred chronicled the history of Alpha Company. We spoke of the fate of the guys we served with. Perhaps we fared well, given the fact were still here, but Im not sure. Regardless, we lost too many.

Like all adventures, Im richer for it.

Mission accomplished, Fred said, before we parted ways.

JOE PUGLIA is a practicing counselor, a retired professor of education and a former officer in the Marines. Reach him at doctorjoe@ymail.com. Visit his website at doctorjoe.us.
Heres an African safari for young travelers who think they cant afford one. Geckos Adventures offers a camping trip that takes you from the astonishing Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe to Botswana and South Africa for nine days starting at $760 per person.

The deal: The discount on Victoria Falls & Safari tours applies to trips starting May 28 ($760) and June 11 ($768). Tours usually cost $950 and $960 respectively.

For less than $90 a day, youll see elephants and lions in Hwange National Park, track rhinos in Matabos National Park, and meet and stay with the Hananwa people at a small village in South Africas Limpopo province. Geckos caters to small group tours for 18- to 29-year-olds.

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When: Discount is good for May 28 and June 11 tours.

Details: The tour includes eight nights of camping, some meals (eight breakfasts, 1 lunch and six dinners), land transportation in a 4-by-4 vehicle and activities such as game drives and wildlife viewing. International airfare is extra.

Journey Through Botswana, another nine-day trip offered by Geckos Adventures, also is on sale. May 20 and June 17 departures start at $840 per person and include stops in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. International airfare is extra.

Info: Geckos Adventures, (855) 832-4853

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(Xinhua) 20:27, April 25, 2017

PRETORIA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China and South Africa on Monday launched a people-to-people exchange mechanism and held its first meeting in Pretoria.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, who is also co-chairperson of the China-South Africa High-Level People-to-People Exchange Mechanism (PPEM), read out a congratulatory letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first PPEM meeting.

In her remarks, Liu said the establishment of the PPEM is a strategic decision made by Xi and South African President Jacob Zuma in view of the overall situation of China-South African relations.

It is also an important step to implement the outcomes of the 2015 Johannesburg summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, marking the launch of China's first inter-governmental high-level PPEM with an African country.

Liu said that the PPEM will play an important role in enhancing China-South African relations, deepening bilateral cooperation and facilitating South-South cooperation.

In recent years, with numerous meetings between the heads of state of the two countries, the China-South Africa relationship has maintained a strong momentum and kept enriching itself, said Liu, stressing that bilateral ties are at their best.

It is imperative to bring into full play the leading role of the PPEM to push forward bilateral exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of areas such as education, culture, science and technology, health, youth, women, sports, think tanks, press and tourism, she said.

The vice premier called for the creation of a new pattern of people-to-people exchanges featuring governmental and nongovernmental efforts as well as the broad participation of various parties.

At the meeting, South African Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa also read out a congratulatory letter from President Zuma.

Mthethwa said the South Africa-China PPEM will enhance the mutual understanding and learning between the two peoples and give a boost to South African efforts to realize the African Dream.

Mthethwa noted that with the launch of the PPEM, South Africa and China will be better positioned to jointly face up to challenges and promote common development and prosperity.

During the meeting, Liu and Mthethwa also witnessed the signing of six cooperation agreements.
Pushing back against jeers from a skeptical audience in Berlin after she called her father a champion of families, Ivanka Trump told German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others on a high-powered panel discussion she participated in Tuesday that President Trump firmly believes that women can do any job as well as men.

For the record: An earlier version of this article said that Ivanka Trump arrived at Berlins Templehof Airport. She arrived at Tegel Airport.

On her closely followed visit to Germany ostensibly to discuss womens issues, the 35-year-old first daughter handled the heckles from a well-dressed crowd with aplomb, giving a sure-handed answer.

Ive certainly heard the criticism from the media, and thats been perpetuated, Trump said when asked somewhat provocatively by the moderator, a top German journalist, to address the scattering of boos. But I know from personal experience and I think the thousands of women who have worked for, and with, my father for decades when he was in the private sector are testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women  and their ability to do the job as well as any man.

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Merkel, who invited Trump to Berlin and was sitting with her on the panel, looked for an instant like she was about to intervene, raising her microphone to speak when the moderator urged Trump to respond to the boos. But Trumps reply appeared to allay any notion the German leader may have entertained of the exchange becoming awkward, as she flashed a half-smile.

In the 2016 election, Donald Trump became embroiled in controversy over a 2005 video that emerged in which he boasted about grabbing womens genitals. When Ivanka Trump was asked about whether some of the coarse attitudes expressed by her father in the past might raise questions about whether he really wanted to empower women, she replied that her father had always given her the feeling she could do anything she wanted.

Ive certainly heard the criticism from the media, and thats been perpetuated.  Ivanka Trump, responding to questions about President Trumps attitude toward women

He encouraged me and enabled me to thrive, said Trump, who has stepped away from running her fashion brand to become an unpaid White House advisor. I grew up in a house where there was no barrier to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity. She added that the treatment at home from her father showed no difference between me and my brothers. And I think as a business leader you saw that, and as a president you will absolutely see that.

Merkel met the president last month in Washington when she visited the White House and invited Ivanka Trump to Berlin to take part in the panel discussion at the W20 Summit running within the Group of 20 major global economies and central bank governors. Inspiring women: Scaling Up Womens Entrepreneurship also was attended by Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and the Netherlands Queen Maxima.

German media followed Trumps visit intensely with live TV news broadcasts and scores of live blogs. The coverage began when she stepped off a United Airlines flight from Newark, N.J., at Berlins Tegel Airport and followed her to the conference, a visit to the U.S. embassy as well as to a training center and the Holocaust memorial in the heart of Berlin.

German analysts said the visit worked well for both Trump and Merkel, whom President Trump has been calling for advice at least once a week since her visit last month to Washington, even though he once disparaged her for ruining Germany by allowing in more than 1 million refugees from Syria and the Middle East since 2016. The U.S. president is hugely unpopular in Germany and across Europe, but his daughters visit sends positive signals, analysts said.

Its extremely important for a lot of reasons, said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University. Its an offer and chance for Merkel to be an important point of contact for the White House. And its an important attempt for Trump to possibly get some credibility in an area where he really has no credibility at all  issues such as women, family and education. And if Ivanka Trump manages to succeed in these areas in even small ways, these will be important images from Berlin for her own future ambitions.

UPDATES:

12:20 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 9:55 a.m.
The robbers numbered about 50 and came armed with high-caliber weapons, grenades, dynamite and caltrops, those spiked devices designed to puncture tires.

The Paraguayan government says they escaped by water as well as land, and when their assault on an armored car company was done, they made off with millions of dollars.

Authorities in Paraguay and Brazil are now searching for those behind the dramatic assault on the company located in the triple-border region, where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina all meet. The borders in the area are known to be lax, with contraband electronics, drugs and arms flowing easily in and out of the three countries.

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Around 12:30 a.m. Monday, the robbers blew up the vaults of Prosegur in the Paraguayan city of Ciudad del Este, just a few miles from the Amizade International Bridge, which connects it to Brazilian city of Foz do Iguacu. The explosives left gaping holes in the side of a building.

On Tuesday, Brazilian police arrested eight people near the border with Paraguay after a shootout with members of a gang suspected of carrying out what is being called the robbery of the century.

Three other gang members were killed in the gunfire exchange, and police recovered six rifles, ammunition, two boats and seven vehicles in their search after the shootout.

Early news reports from Brazil and Paraguay put the haul at $40 million, but on Tuesday afternoon a company representative said it was much less, though still substantial.

There were $49 million in the building, Prosegurs executive director, Juan Cocci, told the radio station Mitre de Buenos Aires. Today we can say there are approximately $8 million missing. We still dont know the exact figure, but it has dropped a lot.

Authorities in Paraguay and Brazil said they suspect the culprits were members of an infamous Brazilian criminal organization called First Capital Command, or PCC.

The robbers are said to have arrived in pickup trucks and were armed with antiaircraft machine guns and grenades.

Directly after the explosion, the gang members took residents of neighboring homes hostage during a first shootout with Paraguayan police, which lasted two hours and left one officer dead. Three civilians were injured.

Police said they encountered large-caliber weapons, explosives and caltrops, as well as snipers.

During their escape, the robbers used Molotov cocktails to set 15 vehicles on fire in different areas of the city, the Paraguayan national police said. One vehicle, which was abandoned in front of Prosegur, had Brazilian plates and was used to transport explosives and other equipment used in the heist. The other 14 apparently were meant to create diversions, with one blocking the road out of town. A local police station was also attacked.

In a radio interview Monday, Paraguayan Interior Minister Lorenzo Lezcano said that most of the vehicles used in the robbery had Brazilian plates and that one hostage heard the gang members speaking in Portuguese.

Police believe that the gang escaped in several of the security companys armored vehicles and that they may have transferred the stolen money into boats waiting on the Parana River. Some of the robbers are thought to have traveled about 30 miles downriver to the Brazilian city of Itaipulandia, where the second shootout and arrests took place.

The PCC has been responsible for similar heists in the past, albeit on a smaller scale. The group recently carried out several robberies in the state of Sao Paulo, where gang members armed with rifles and machine guns used explosives to gain access to large sums of money. They also left burning vehicles in the middle of roads on their escape route in order to slow the ensuing police chase.

This isnt the first time Brazilians were involved in a million-dollar bank heist. More than 10 years ago, nearly $70 million was stolen from the countrys Central Bank in Fortaleza in what is considered to be one of the most creative heists in history.

The robbers were able to dig a tunnel under the bank that spanned more than 250 feet by posing as a landscaping company. They even included lighting and an air-conditioning system during the three months it took to build their way in and out of the bank. Until this day, not all those involved have been captured, and only $9 million have been recovered.

Langlois is a special correspondent.

ALSO

After GM flees their country, Venezuelans take sides over who is to blame

Meet the man who could become Frances youngest president

Groans and hisses in Berlin as Ivanka Trump defends her father as champion of women, families

UPDATES:

6:35 p.m.: This story was updated with extensive details about the heist and the police response.

It was first published at 1:10 p.m.
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Everyone is waiting for the company that is best known for creating Windows operating system to make the official announcement of the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 release date. There are reports claiming that the Surface Pro 5 will be the end of device's signature in using a docking port for charging.

According to TechAdvisor, the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will be debuted with a Surface Dial, which has the same as the Surface Studio all-in-one PC. Along with the rumors, the upcoming device will also have the latest sixth-gen of Skylake one, but others claim that it might be the Kaby Lake one. Floating speculations indicated that there are features that have to do with Microsoft to keep the line viable.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will have enjoyable features and exciting upgrades since it is powered by the latest Intel with a longer battery life, which a big issue by the users of Surface Pro 4. Many believed that Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will have a resemblance with the Surface Pro 4, while rumors said that the upcoming device will be an upgrade of Surface Pro 4.

Digitimes reported that the Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will be rumored to release in the first quarter of 2017 with a 4K UltraHD display. Speculations also indicated that the new devices will support with Microsoft's Windows 10 Creator's Update that includes the Hololens and Surface Dial.

When it comes to pricing, there are rumors that Microsoft will charge a similar price for each version of Microsoft Surface Pro 5 and it is expected the cost will be around $899 but it depends on the bundled accessories. The Microsoft Surface Pro 5 also received a thumbs up from China Compulsory Certificate (CCC) not just long ago that might suggest that the new device is almost ready for its big revelation. In addition, the Surface Pro 4 had been a two-year old device that is definitely ready to be replaced.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium has been released for a couple of months as Sony's flagship with two different color variants. Within six months on from the release of its latest flagship, the Japanese giant firm was certainly throwing everything for the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.

According to Android Police, Sony Xperia XZ Premium will be adding a new color variant, the Bronze Pink that is ready to release in June. The new variant will also carry the same Snapdragon 835 processor with a 4K panel that measures 5.5 inches that feature IP68 dust/water resistance.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium color designer, Satoshi Aoyagi said that the firm wanted to find a color that is warm to the eyes and at the same time illuminates every design and premium features of the phone. Powering the new variant is also has a new chip just like the first phone that was officially announced.

Moreover, Trusted Reviews added that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium Bronze Pink variant will only available in a selected markets only and it is confirmed that there are some outlets in the UK will also have the new color variant of Sony Xperia XZ Premium. The said color variant will also carry a 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage with an expandable microSD.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium will have a bigger version of the Xperia XZ that has higher specs. The phone is thinner that has 7.9mm but a little bit heavier at 195g maybe because of its larger screen and its bigger battery. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium will include a 5.3mm headphone jack. The other main thing is the phone borrows from the Xperia Z5 Premium screen size display of 5.5-inch.

However, there are additional features that might the consumer tempt to buy, which Sony Xperia XZ Premium lends its 4K HDR technology from Sony's Bravia TV range. Aside from the TV range, it also includes a fingerprint scanner, USB-C, NFC, and Bluetooth 4.2, and a 3230mAh battery capacity.
Nokia's long-awaited new flagship smartphone, the Nokia 9, was, unfortunately, absent when the company unveiled three of their brand new Android devices back in February. However, new reports are now revealing that there may have been a good reason for the delay as Nokia is apparently incorporating some brand new technology into the device.

According to a report from NPU, who received their information from an anonymous source, the upcoming new Nokia 9 will reportedly be featuring Nokia's brand new OZO Audio technology. The audio technology, which Nokia describes as an advanced spatial audio system, can apparently record and capture audio in 3D.

As per Trusted Reviews, the new advanced psychoacoustic technology basically means that sounds recorded using the Nokia 9 can be played back and heard similar to how they sound in real life. The application for the new audio technology also seems to be geared towards virtual reality (VR) applications to further increase immersion.

If the reports are indeed true, then the upcoming Nokia 9 can be used to generate stunning audio recordings along with the recorded video. The tech itself does come with an Audio Focus mode that will let the device hone in on certain sounds as well as capture audio profiles in its complete three-dimensional entirety.

As for the device itself, reports have claimed that the Nokia 9 will be coming with some top-end internals, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor paired with 6 GB of RAM. The device is also likely to come with a 5.5-inch QHD OLED display that will be encased in a sturdy metal frame.

The Nokia 9 has also been tipped to be coming with a 22-megapixel dual Carl-Zeiss main rear camera setup and a 12-megapixel shooter up front. Keeping the lights on will reportedly be an ample 3,800 mAh battery. The Nokia 9 will also likely come with the latest Android 7.1.2 Nougat operating system out of the box.
Samsung Electronics will reportedly launch is first foldable smartphone that is dubbed as Samsung Galaxy X. The said handset will reportedly debut earlier than Samsung Galaxy Note 8 in two variants.

According to BGR, a Chinese tipser who utilizes the username @mmddj_china on Twitter has posted a couple of tweets about the Samsung galaxy X which are mostly overlooked by mass media on Thursday. This was because the media people are focused on Samsung's proclamations from its first Unpacked event for this year. Nevertheless, the posts seem to hint Samsung's roadmap for its upcoming flagship devices' release.

Samsung Galaxy X will be launched in Q3. If this piece of information is proven to be true, then the patrons of the South Korean tech giant might see the company unveils its first foldable phone during the IFA 2017.

It was also known that the said foldable smartphone was dubbed as Samsung Galaxy X and that it is supposed to be released this year. Moreover, recent news suggests that Samsung has plans of testing the smartphone in waters with a limited launch in 2017 to see if clients will patronize the foldable devices. It was also mentioned that the Samsung Galaxy X mass-production might start in 2018 if the South Korean tech company sees sufficient consumer demand.

Furthermore, Value Walk has learned that there is a probability that the Samsung Galaxy X will arrive in two variants. The first one will be the Samsung Galaxy X1 and the other one will be named Samsung GalaxyX1+. Aside from that, it was also worth mentioning that Samsung has been working on a foldable display smartphone for some years already and this is a secret project which the company calls Project Valley. These handsets are also said to feature a 5-inch display that is equipped with a 4K resolution.

As of this moment, Samsung Electronics hasn't confirmed this information. With this, the company's patrons are advised to take the aforementioned details with skepticism.
US President Donald Trump called NASA female astronaut Peggy Whitson from International Space Station to congratulate her for the success. The 57-year old female astronaut stayed 534 days in space and beat the record of her colleague, Jeff William.

During US President Donald Trump call to Peggy Whitson from International Space Station, he mentioned that he want the female astronaut to speed up into Mars in next three years. While the new female title holder of man in space answered the US President on positive view but took to long to happen since it will cost very expensive.

On Independent report, US President Donald Trump replied Peggy Whitson that it will likely to happen in his second term if ever he were be elected again this coming 2025. President Donald Trump seems very excited on NASA's next achievement which he assumed that the astronauts will take another step but this time it would be Mars.

Meanwhile, NASA set a plan to speed up in Mars by 2030 since the US President Donald Trump signed a bill which states to have funded the next project. But there is no clear evidence if President Donald Trump was serious or just joking in his statement during his call to the International Space Station from the Oval office to congratulate Peggy Whitson.

According to NASA astronaut, Peggy Whitson that the bill signed by US President Donald Trump in March giving the fund of $19.5 billion for the agency to send astronauts from the desired planet this coming 2030s. President Donald Trump seems very serious on his statement saying that the mission is not far from possible and might be happening in advance, claimed by New York Times.

Moreover, US President Donald Trump call from the International Space Station was accompanied by Ivanka Trump who set behind his side and Dr. Kate Rubins. Dr. Peggy Whitson was seen standing with another astronaut who come in space last week, Col. Jack Fischer.
(Xinhua) 20:28, April 25, 2017

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies have been facing an increasing number of intellectual property right (IPR) infringement cases, a customs official said Tuesday.

Zou Zhiwu, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), said customs seized 7.58 million units of goods suspected of infringing the IPRs of Chinese companies in 2016, up 13.2 percent from the previous year.

Last year, GAC took measures on 12 IPR protection cases in which foreign infringement violated the rights of Chinese companies, up from 4 cases in 2015.

GAC will continue its focus on IPR infringement and fake products attempting to cross the border to maintain trade order, he said.

Chinese companies are becoming more aware of IPR protection and had filed 27,873 IPRs with GAC by the end of last year, Zou said.

In 2015, GAC started a three-year campaign to protect the image of "made-in-China" products internationally, with a focus on products exported to Africa, Arab countries, Latin America and countries along the Belt and Road.

Zou said the country had seized 43,300 shipments of goods suspected of IPR infringement during the campaign.
(Xinhua) 20:36, April 25, 2017

LANZHOU, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A 53-year-old Chinese man has been prosecuted for charges including robbery, rape, murder and dismembering bodies, the local procuratorate in Gansu Province confirmed Tuesday.

The serial killer from Gansu, surnamed Gao, was accused of killing 10 women and an eight-year-old girl between 1988 and 2002, said the procuratorate in the city of Baiyin.

According to reports from local media, many of Gao's victims were dressed in red, and some parts of the victims' bodies were missing, which lead some media to dub him the Chinese "Jack the Ripper."

Police in Baiyin had screened men living close to the crime scenes without success. They discovered Gao after one of his relatives committed a crime and underwent DNA testing in 2015.

Gao was arrested on August 26 last year.

The procuratorate told Xinhua that Gao will be tried, but did not give a specific date.
(Xinhua) 20:37, April 25, 2017

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China should unswervingly carry forward strategic restructuring of the economy despite its progress, according to a meeting Tuesday.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, chaired the meeting which discussed the country's economic condition and future work.

The meeting was attended by members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
Land Rover not happy about Chinese Evoque clone

Apr 25, 2017, 6:45am ET

There\'s little the British company can do to protect its intellectual property in the world\'s biggest car market.

Land Rover is still trying to stop Land Wind from selling a clone of the Range Rover Evoque named X7. However, there's little the British company can do to protect its intellectual property in the world's biggest car market.

Land Wind made headlines when it introduced the X7 (pictured) back in 2014. It's all but identical to the Evoque; it even wears fake Land Rover emblems on both ends. Three years later, Land Rover isn't any closer to convincing the Chinese authorities to issue a stop-sale order. Taking the battle to court to make the X7 illegal has been futile, too.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that the Land Wind X7 is a surprisingly popular model in China. It appeals to buyers because it offers Evoque-like style for a third of the cost of the real thing. It's not as nice inside and not as fast, but that didn't stop around 70,000 motorists from signing the dotted line last year.

"They're doing very well. It's a good car. We know; it's our car," company boss Ralf Speth said during a recent interview with industry trade journal Automotive News.

Fighting Land Wind became even more difficult last year when the Chinese government canceled Land Rover's patent without warning. That's a big setback that opens the door to more clones and copies, especially since Evoques sold in China are built locally. However, Land Rover's legal team isn't ready to give up.

Photos by Ronan Glon.
Apr 25, 2017, 5:48pm ET

Uber aims to launch flying taxis in Texas by 2020

The company is already working to establish four \'vertiports\' in Dallas for the small VTOL aircraft.

Uber is reportedly aiming to launch a fleet of autonomous flying taxis in two cities by 2020.

The ride-hailing company will use small electric aircraft capable of vertically taking off and landing (VTOL), according to a Reuters report quoting product chief Jeff Holden's comments at the Uber Elevate Summit.

The company is already collaborating with five different aerospace industry veterans, including Bell Helicopter and Embraer, to talk about building the aircraft. Separate discussions with Hillwood Properties in Dallas are focused on developing four 'vertiports,' while a partnership with Dubai officials could lead to passenger flights in the country at the World Expo 2020.

"What we're doing with them is they're going to be funding studies for demand modeling so that we can deeply understand pricing and network optimization in the Dubai area," Holden said.

The report coincides with Kitty Hawk's demonstration of a single-person multirotor aircraft. The Flyer is initially intended to be used only as a recreational toy over water at altitudes of no higher than 15 feet above the surface, but the company is developing more advanced aircraft for other purposes.
There are almost 100 students in each class at Centennial Secondary School in Sierra Leone, but it is often so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Visiting Broughal Middle School in Bethlehem last week, Centennial Principal Sulaiman Sengeh was struck by the noise and small class sizes seen in American public schools.

During his strip, Sengeh hopes to learn valuable lessons about the U.S. education system that will assist him as he continues to rebuild Centennial, his own alma mater. The school was destroyed during the civil war, which ended in 2002 after tens of thousands of people were killed and more than 2 million people were displaced.

"You have a great country. The children have the opportunity to learn and to practice," Sengeh said. "If you're determined, you can achieve mighty things."

Sengeh's visit to the U.S. marks the first time the 46-year-old educator ever left his homeland. He rode out both the war and recent Ebola outbreak.

The trip will connect him with many of the Americans who have been working hard in the U.S. to help bring water and electricity to his school.

Back in 2009, the Lehigh Valley Professional Chapter of Engineers Without Borders committed to spending five years improving the rural African school, which is in Mattru Jong in the southern province of the country.

Despite the Ebola epidemic extending that commitment, the group is proud to have delivered on its promise, said Lori Cirucci, a Broughal teacher, who has traveled to Centennial several times with her engineer husband, John.

When she first met Sengeh, he was a math teacher at the school, which enrolls 1,700 children.

Today, as principal he's found ways to keep teachers engaged -- they routinely used to not show up for class -- and student test scores are climbing.

Less than 30 percent of Centennial students were passing the eighth to ninth grade entrance exam; today the rate is above 90 percent, Sengeh said.

"He actually turned around that school tremendously," Cirucci said.

While Ebola ravaged the country, Sierra Leone's schools closed and students lost a full academic year, Sengeh said. It has taken almost two years of an accelerated schedule to catch up.

"It was terrible," he recalled. "We feared interacting with people."

Ebola definitely delayed the engineers' work, but it did not stop it, Cirucci said. They are next turning their sights to the local hospital.

The school now has 18 solar panels, which are used to provide electricity and pump water from the new well the group had drilled.

The majority of students do not have electricity in their own homes, but some have cell phones. The power has allowed Sengeh to offer students a cell phone charging station for a fee.

The school has a few computers and students can borrow textbooks from the library. When the Lehigh Valley group first visited the school, there were no books and students copied everything into notebooks.

Centennial has a committed network of alumni all over the world, including in the U.S., pushing for its revitalization, Cirucci and Sengeh said. Sierra Leoneans take great pride in their schools, Sengeh likened it to the pride Americans feel in their country.

"We bring up the children so they will be able to serve God and humanity," Sengeh said.

Despite the differences, Sengeh and Broughal Principal Rick Amato found Thursday how universal education challenges can be as they discussed standardized testing and poverty.

"My definition of poverty is very different than his, but it still impacts a kids' learning," Amato said.

Coming from such a rural area, Sengeh has found the sheer size and scope of American infrastructure and buildings astounding. Sengeh's students walk to school, some more than an hour, and the school doesn't have buses.

"They all wear uniforms and they are really proud of their uniforms,"Cirucci said. "Even if they don't have anything, they come with spotless, spotless uniforms."

Sengeh thinks his countrymen could take some cues on punctuality and planning from Americans. And he plans to take back the idea of making lessons more relevant and practical to students, he said.

"If we could all do this in our country it would help us to grow," Sengeh said.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

The human factor is in the center of the reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, First Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ziyafet Asgarov said Apr. 25.

He made the remarks in Baku at the 48th meeting of the Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

The main topic of the meeting was health cooperation.

Asgarov noted that in recent years Azerbaijan has built and renovated nearly 500 medical institutions.

The most advanced technology and modern equipment are used in Azerbaijans healthcare sector; as a result, child and maternal mortality significantly decreased in the country, according to him.

Asgarov further said that in the modern world, integration is rising to a new level and many modern achievements would be impossible without international cooperation.
Upper Macungie police are asking for the public's help in finding a man who robbed a township gas station at gunpoint Monday night.

Police were called for the armed robbery at 11:43 p.m. at the Exxon station at 7739 Hamilton Blvd.

The man aimed a handgun at a clerk and demanded money, police said, then fled in a gray SUV with the cash.

Police said the SUV traveled north to the intersection of Hamilton Boulevard and Trexlertown Road, and made a left turn onto Trexlertown Road.

The suspect is a 5 foot, 7 inch tall man weighing between 130 and 140 pounds. He was wearing a gray mask and a gray sweater.

Anyone with information about the robbery should contact detective Darren Simmers at 484-661-5911 or dsimmers@uppermac-pd.org. Callers can also use the township police tip/text text line at 484-273-0336.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A Northampton County grand jury has completed its investigation into the suspicious death of a 3-month-old baby.

District Attorney John Morganelli said he'll release the results of the investigation into the death of McKenna Rose Felmly at a news conference at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The baby died April 1, 2016, on her first day at Sharon's Day Care in Lehigh Township.

State regulators shut down the day care center four days later, saying they found evidence of "gross incompetence, negligence and misconduct."

The order from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services says a worker put McKenna in a crib on her stomach for nap time. After nap time, she left the room to wake other children and 25 minutes later found the baby unresponsive with blue lips.

McKenna was the daughter of Adrienne Kromer and Bryan Felmly, who live in the Slatington area. She is also survived by an older sister.

"She will be remembered forever," her family wrote in her obituary. "Even though she never learned how to walk, she now has wings."

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Two teenagers riding in a pickup truck escaped injury when they were run off the road by what Pennsylvania State Police described as a "phantom vehicle," according to a news release.

The reported hit-and-run crash occurred about 8:30 p.m. April 13 on River Road about 1/8 of a mile north of Pine Tree Lane in Upper Mount Bethel Township, state state police at Belfast.

Scott P. Thompson, 18, of Phillipsburg, was driving north in a 2002 Toyota Tacoma when the other vehicle, headed south, crossed into his lane on a curve in the road, police said.

Thompson made an evasive move to the right and drove off the road, losing control and causing the pickup to spin counterclockwise, police said; he then over-corrected and the vehicle began spinning clockwise.

The pickup drove off the left side of the road and overturned onto the roof of the cab, coming to rest off the southbound side of River Road, facing south, according to police.

Thompson and his passenger, Zachary P. Specht, also 18, from Upper Mount Bethel, were wearing their seat belts and were uninjured, police said.

State police at Belfast may be reached at 610-759-6106 if anyone has information to share on the fleeing vehicle.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A southbound black Lexus crossed into the northbound lane of Route 31 on Monday afternoon in Washington Township, Warren County, and crashed into a trash truck, police reported Tuesday morning.

Lexus driver Kristy Chermeski, 34, of Lebanon, had to be cut from the car by the Washington Emergency Squad and Washington Township Fire Department, township police Lt. John Kaufmann said in a news release. A crew and heavy rescue truck from Clinton Rescue Squad assisted in that effort, according to a report from the scene.

Chermeski was flown by NorthStar Aero Medical to Morristown Memorial Hospital, Kaufmann said.

Police did not provide Chermeski's medical condition.

The Premier garbage truck was driven by Keith Hoflund, 51, of Bridgewater, New Jersey, Kaufmann said. He was not reported injured.

The 400 block of Route 31 South was shut until 7:30 p.m. after the 4 p.m. crash, Kaufmann said. About 75 gallons of diesel fuel spilled, Warren County Hazardous Materials Team Chief Tom Nigro said Monday night.

The crash remains under investigation, Kaufmann said.

Police were assisted by the emergency squad, firefighters from the borough and the township, Clinton Rescue, Hunterdon Medical Center paramedics, Warren County hazmat and the New Jersey State Police traffic diversion unit.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Written over the entrance to the all-purpose room too small for the crowd were positive traits to which students at Phillpsburg Middle School should aspire. Respect. Responsibility.

In the center, in bold, was a message: "Character counts."

"That's the key word," Rick Thompson told the town's school board, to applause. "Character counts. And it always will."

That's why, he said, he supports Greg Troxell to lead the Phillipsburg School District as its next superintendent.

Hundreds of residents sharing his opinion packed the room Monday night, several left to stand in the corners or just outside. Some had to park more than a block away. A number brought signs to wave. And many spoke over the course of the four-hour school board meeting.

Parents, teachers, current and former students, elected officials from the surrounding communities -- all praised Troxell, a P'burg graduate who has served as a teacher and administrator who they said should lead the district of 3,500 students and a $127.5 million high school.

They told stories of Troxell's well-known enthusiasm for school activities, which is not limited to sports. Students had nicknames for him -- "D-Trox" and "the Trox" among those stated -- because, they said, he took the time to learn their names and interests.

And, amid allegations of political games, many questioned why the board is allegedly not considering him to lead the district.

"It is bewildering to me and many that he was not considered for the superintendent position," one woman said. She continued, addressing board President Tom McGuire: "You said you're looking for the best candidate? He's sitting two seats to the left of you."

The board did not take any action after a late closed-door session, and the meeting adjourned at 11 p.m.

Greg Troxell, speaks to his last graduating class as principal of Phillipsburg High School in 2015. He became assistant superintendent that year. (Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com)

The school board still needs to find a replacement soon if a full-time hire is to be in place July 1, when current Superintendent George Chando retires. It is customary for administrators to provide 60 days notice to their current employers.

The Phillipsburg Education Association urged people to attend Monday's meeting in a letter to members last week that accused the board of blocking input from staff and residents from the selection process in favor of an unnamed political influence.

The district advertised the superintendent's position early this year and received at least 10 applications. Board members last week said their selection committee had narrowed the search to three finalists. It was not clear if Troxell -- the only candidate identified publicly so far -- was among them.

McGuire defended the board's selection process in a prepared statement read during the meeting.

"Nothing has been done in secret," the board president said. "For individuals to misconstrue the confidential process ... is not only wrong but offensive."

The school board's attorney, Jeff Russo, explained the legal guidelines that formed the selection committee. Board members who may have a conflict of interest, such as a relative who works in the district, are automatically excluded from the committee. In this case, that is half the 12-member board. However, the remaining members do not constitute a voting majority, so while they can recommend a candidate, it will be up to the full board to vote on the next superintendent.

The teachers union said input from anyone outside the board's selection committee has not been accepted. In the union's letter, it accuses a "political influence of a (singular) special interest" of having "infiltrated" the board via campaigns, under a deal that asks board members "deny the best candidate the seat they have earned."

PEA President Greg Babbitt on Monday publicly asked why outside input was excluded. He did not get an answer.

Phillipsburg Superintendent George Chando is retiring at the end of June. (Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com)

The current superintendent, George Chando, informed the board last summer of his intention to retire when his contract expires at the end of June. The 63-year-old started as a teacher in the district in 1975 and worked his way through the ranks until he was named superintendent in 2012 with a five-year contract.

Troxell has a similar background -- he graduated Phillipsburg High School in 1990, and has worked there as a teacher and administrator. He became high school principal in 2009 and assistant superintendent in 2015.

Troxell's supporters referred to him as "a Phillipsburg lifer" who understands their traditions, and as someone who takes a vested interest in individual students.

"I hold public office," Pohatcong Township Mayor James Kern III told the school board. "I understand the difficult decisions you need to make. This is not one of them."

Stories abounded about Troxell's character. Through it all, he sat stoically reserved. Occasionally he cracked a smile, even chuckled at an anecdote a few times. But more often, with each new speaker he listened, clenched his jaw, swallowed and looked down to jot notes.

Afterward, a diplomatic Troxell offered only a brief comment to lehighvalleylive.com, saying that everyone is passionate about the same thing -- making the school district better.

Some residents who spoke said they will remember who on the board doesn't support him when the inevitable vote to hire comes.

"We all believe the Garnet and Gray. We're all lifers here. We must not let politics get involved," the last speaker said to cheers.

"We'll remember who not to vote for," he concluded, pointing at the school board has he walked from the podium.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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The first residents of a 1 billion new town are making plans for their homes.

After decades of discussions, planning meetings and council consultations, construction work is well under way on New Lubbesthorpe  a huge 1,000-acre scheme on farmland between Enderby and Leicester Forest East.

Housebuilders Barratt Developments, which has its headquarters in Coalville, and Davidsons, from Ibstock, have built and completed the first homes at the start of what is expected to be a 20-year project to create a small town, complete with schools, shops, parks, bus services and a leisure centre.

It is estimated the cost of the 4,250 homes, along with warehousing, industrial and office units, a new 15 million bridge over the M1 and roads, sewage, electricity, mains water and gas systems, could go beyond the billion pound figure when everything is tallied up.

As a sign of how things are progressing, the new bridge is set to open this summer  linking Lubbesthorpe with Meridian Business Park  once the main road through the site is complete.

Although the first few homes sit on little more than a vast building site right now, buyers are understood to be keen to get their hands on the deeds and become the first residents on what will one day be a new community.

Martin Ward, a director at Loughborough-based commercial property agents Mather Jamie, has been looking after the interests of landowners the Leicestershire Drummond family for years.

Giving the Business Monthly a tour of the site, he said the scheme was different to others not just because of the scale, but the fact that the Drummond family remained a key partner in the development  even covering the 40 million-plus cost of infrastructure such as the new bridge, roads and utilities.

He said they had been helped by millions of pounds of support from the Department for Transport and the Homes and Communities Agency.

Mr Ward said: "It all goes back to the fact that Blaby district needed a large area of housing.

"It's been on the cards for a while and we were able to secure planning agreements in conjunction with the promoters of scheme.

"Just getting the planning permission costs around 3 million, and consent was secured in January 2014.

"The housebuilders are paying for land on an annual basis that goes into a government controlled account to pay for the infrastructure.

"This is a 20-year scheme and the Drummond family is in it for the long-haul.

"It's also good that we have local housebuilders on site who know the local market backwards and have five star reputations.

"There has been a lot of hard work between the housebuilders and the Drummonds to deliver a quality scheme from the outset.

"I was recently told by Barratt that they were waiting to complete the first 22 sales and the Davidsons showhome opened a few Saturdays ago. When I first saw it, it was mobbed  the demand for family housing in this area is incredible."

A spokesman for the Drummond Estate said: "We have worked for several years and spent considerable time, effort and resources on the New Lubbesthorpe project, which will bring a new community to the area and urgently needed homes and jobs to Leicestershire, in a location which our family has cared for and maintained for generations.

"Leicester recently became the largest city in the East Midlands in terms of population, and New Lubbesthorpe is a fantastic opportunity to ensure the continued growth of the city and county is well managed and maintained."

"We are very excited that the results of this endeavour will soon be obvious to all, and we will continue to work alongside our public and private sector partners to ensure New Lubbesthorpe is the new community that the people of Leicestershire deserve."

Mr Ward estimated 300-350 homes would go up each year, depending on the demands of the housing market and the wider plans of the housebuilders.

He said the plans included a 420-place primary school as part of the landowner's section 106 planning obligations, which could be open for September 2019.

That would be part of the 40 million-plus infrastructure spending.

Mr Ward said: "We are also talking to Blaby District Council about delivering an on-site leisure facility much sooner than we had thought, which we want to be next to the new secondary school.

"That school won't be needed until 2,000 dwellings are built, so is some time away, but we would like to do the leisure centre in the next two or three years.

"In all there are 2 million of community facilities in the section 106 agreement, and if we get the leisure centre right it could be self-funding."

When finished, he said, the whole scheme would create in the region of 2,500 jobs, including an industrial site near junction 21 of the M1 and a business centre with a mix of commercial and retail buildings.

Earlier this year, it was announced that global industrial property business Goodman UK Logistics, in partnership with Wilson Bowden  part of the Barratt Group  had bought 40 acres of farmland from the Drummonds next to junction 21 of the M1, to build warehouses on.

A new road is already being built linking the logistics hub with Leicester Lane, in Enderby, which could eventually link up with Blaby Road, on the other side of the village, near the Next headquarters.

Wilson Bowden managing director Nick Richardson said: "Sites like this are few and far between.

"We are therefore confident this site will attract significant interest from local and national occupiers which want to secure high-specification warehouse accommodation in a prime location."

Goodman's UK Logistics commercial director Jason Harris said they were lucky to have been able to buy such a "prime site", which would be called Leicester Commercial Park.
Minister for Health Simon Harris is set to meet Laois family doctors this week on the future of Portlaoise hospital.

The Minister for Health to meet representatives of Laois GPs, who with hospital consultants have formulated a detailed plan that they believe can secure the future of the hospital's services for Laois.

Last month the GPs declined an offer to meet chief Dr Susan O'Reilly, chief executive of the HSE's Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, who has submitted a plan for Portlaoise hospital's future to the Department of Health. It was written without the GPs' consultation.

Instead the GPs opted to wait for the Minister to meet them, which he promised when he came to Portlaoise hospital last January at a meeting with Laois county councillors and TDs.

Minister Harris avoided the A&E unit in his first visit, because it was "exceptionally busy", according to Minister Charlie Flanagan, who will also attend tomorrow's meeting.

The meeting takes place in the Department of Health in Dublin on Wednesday, April 26

The visit was confirmed by the Fine Gael councillor Tom Mulhall yesterday April 24 at the Laois County Council monthly meeting.

Minister Harris will have the final say on the future of the hospital.
The death of an abandoned Laois dog misused to breed multiple pups, has kickstarted a campaign by Laois SPCA asking the public not to buy dogs and instead rehome a rescue dog.

Sue, an American Bulldog, was brought to Vetcare in Portlaoise last March 7 by a kind gentleman who had found her abandoned in Kyletalisha dump, starved and terrified.

Aged about 8, her body showed the signs of bearing continual litters, which had led to incontinence and the development of mammary cancer. Her skin was raw, her ribs protruding and her leg was badly infected.

It was a particularly bad case of cruelty, said LSPCA dog co-ordinator Geraldine Lanigan.

"A lot of dogs who are abandoned are cruelty cases, but not as serious as Sue. We don't know where she came from, she could have been driven to the dump," she said.

With the care of her foster carer Andrina Lyons, Sue began to recover, visiting Vetcare and charming all who met her with her gentle loving personality.

"You could see in her eyes how much she adored just being near somebody. Shed often lean her body up against yours just to let you know she was there," said Andrina.

"She had such a beautiful nature. She would have given love in abundance, but obviously didnt get anything in return. Her puppies would have been taken from her as soon as they could be sold and the cycle started again. It's always the kind dogs that get mistreated the most, rather than ones who attack, its absolutely heartbreaking," Ms Lanigan told the Leinster Express.

Hopes of rehoming Sue died when a lump was found on her body by Andrina, which turned out to be cancerous. It was removed but quickly grew back, and sadly Sue passed away last Friday April 21.

The LSPCA is now hoping her death will send a strong message to the public.

"Please let her life count for something. Sue would not want her puppies to live through the same hell as her. We want people to adopt dogs from rescue centres, not to buy them from unscrupulous breeders. If you can't get to see the mother and father, that should ring alarm bells," said Ms Lanigan.

"The country's rescues and pounds are overflowing with dogs and puppies looking for homes, with loads of love to give. Giving several hundred euro to a breeder for a puppy, doesnt make it any more lovable. Indeed, you have a better chance of a fully vaccinated, microchipped and vetchecked, healthy puppy from a rescue than you have from a breeder," she said.

Their helpline is 087 6883333. Call 085 2397059 for the Cat Coordinator, and 086 4169559 for the Dog Coordinator. See LSPCA Rescue on Facebook.
Individual profiles of the 17 contestants in the Laois Rose Selection Night this Sunday April 30.

The second youngest of the 17 Laois Rose contestants this year, Philippa Allen aged 19 comes from a big family who are sure to be cheering her on this Sunday night at the Selection night in the Heritage Hotel.

Including her parents, she is from a family of 14 from Raheen, with seven brothers and four sisters, with Philippa being the eighth youngest.

Sponsored by The Hair Gallery, she is currently studying healthcare support in Portlaoise College, after which she hopes to do a four year midwifery degree in University College Dublin.

Philippa has a love of set dancing and has been honing her talents since she was 14 years old, travelling around Ireland to dancing competitions.

Her hobbies are baking, and meeting up with friends and enjoying a laugh together. She loves meeting new people and taking on new experiences. An employee at the Odeon Cinema in Portlaoise, Philippa is sure to star on the stage.

For audience tickets at 20 contact the Heritage Hotel or call Laois Rose co-ordinator Lyn Moloney at 083 4631611.
Details added (first version posted at 11:02)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan Teruyuki Katori.

Ambassador Teruyuki Katori reviewed a guard of honor.

Teruyuki Katori presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then had a conversation with the ambassador.

The head of state emphasized the successful development of bilateral relations between the two countries in various fields. President Ilham Aliyev described the level of relations as good, saying they cover various spheres. The head of state said Azerbaijan is interested in expanding and strengthening friendly ties with Japan.

President Ilham Aliyev hailed the high level of economic ties, adding this cooperation covers energy, banking sector and other fields. The head of state said several important projects have been carried out with the support of the Japanese government.

President Ilham Aliyev said there are good conditions for the operation of Japanese companies as investors and contractors in Azerbaijan. The head of state expressed his hope that bilateral relations will continue to successfully develop during Ambassador Teruyuki Katoris tenure in the country.

Japans newly-appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Teruyuki Katori conveyed greetings of His Majesty Akihito, Emperor of Japan, to the head of state.

He praised the good level of bilateral relations, adding that Azerbaijan and Japan enjoy friendly ties. Ambassador Teruyuki Katori said he will spare no efforts to further expand relations.

During the meeting, they touched upon the activity of Japanese companies in Azerbaijan. They discussed opportunities for cooperation in the fields of advanced technologies, petrochemical industry, pharmaceutical industry, heavy industry, tourism, agriculture, and trade.

President Ilham Aliyev recalled his meeting with His Majesty Emperor Akihito that took place during his visit to Japan, and asked the ambassador to extend his greetings to the Emperor of Japan.
Advanced talks are underway that will allow for prisoners jailed in Portlaoise and other Irish prisoners to have an 'effective' way of making complaints against prison officers according to the Tanaiste Minister for Justice.

In a Dail reply given ahead of this week's Prison Officer Association AGM in Galway, Minister Frances Fitzgerald committed to following through on the report of the then Inspector of Prisons, the late Judge Michael Reilly, on the prisoner complaints system entitled Review, Evaluation and Analysis of the Operation of the present Irish Prison Service Complaints Procedure .

Minister Fitzgerald said one of the key recommendations in the Inspector's report is that prisoners complaints should be subject to review by the Ombudsman, who would also be able to deal with complaints directly in the case of undue delay.

"I accepted this recommendation and officials from the Irish Prison Service and from my own Department are in advanced discussions with the Ombudsman's office with the aim of establishing an effective complaints system for prisoners. When this is in place, the Irish Prison Service will be in a position to implement the revised procedures," she said.

She said new legislation is not likely to be required.

In her reply to Tommy Broughan TD, Minister Fitzgerald said resolving minor complaints at the lowest level would also be addressed in the process allowing prisoners to make complaints to relevant professional bodies; prisoners being entitled to an explanation for decisions made affecting them; frivolous and vexatious complaints being addressed; and the application of fair procedures.

"Similarly the recommendations on adequate training, adhering to protocols and statutory obligations, holding staff to account, not hindering the complaints procedure and having an effective communication system are accepted," she said.

The 70th Prison Officers Association Annual Delegate Conference will take place on April 27th and 28th in the Radisson Hotel, Galway.
A Dublin man was smuggling an IRA communique out of Portlaoise prison when he was arrested by gardai, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

Brian Kenna (54), of Crumlin Park, Crumlin, Dublin has pleaded not guilty to membership of an unlawful organisation within the State, namely Oglaigh na hEireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, otherwise the IRA on November 21st, 2015.

Detective Sergeant Padraig Boyce, of the Special Detective Unit, told prosecuting counsel Ronan Kennedy BL on Tuesday that as a result of a briefing he learned that Mr Kenna was to be in Portlaoise on the day of the alleged offence, "engaging in IRA activity".

The court heard that on the morning of November 21st, the detective and two of his colleagues went to Portlaoise, where they saw the accused man in the prison's carpark.

Det Sgt Boyce said that he approached Mr Kenna and informed him he would now search him under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

The court heard that the detective turned out Mr Kenna's jeans' pockets and a small piece of paper, wrapped in Cling-film, fell to the ground.

The detective said that he asked the accused man what it was and Mr Kenna denied any knowledge and laughed.

"I believed it was an IRA communique," Det Sgt Boyce said, "a form of communication commonly used by IRA members to pass information from one unit to another."

Det Sgt Boyce said that Mr Kenna told him he had been visiting two prisoners.

The court heard that they were Tony Carroll, convicted of possession of firearms, and Kevin Devlin, serving a sentence for possession of explosives.

Earlier, opening the prosecution case, Mr Kennedy said the court will hear that Mr Kenna is a representative of the Irish Republican Prisoners' Welfare Association (IRPWA).

The court will also hear evidence, he said, from garda Assistant Commissioner Michael O'Sullivan of his belief that Mr Kenna was an IRA member on the date in question.

The defence, led by Siobhan Stack SC, is challenging the legality of Mr Kenna's stop and search, as well as his arrest and detention, and the seizure of his car.

The trial continues in front of Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, sitting with Judge John O'Hagan and Judge Flann Brennan.
Kildare gardai want members of the police force to be allowed to grow beards.

The Kildare Garda Division is asking for the rules to be changed to allow members the personal preference of the wearing of a beard on duty.

The motion is one of 32 motions on the agenda for the 152 delegates attending the Garda Representative Association conference which began in Galway this morning.

Among the issues up for debate over the next two days are firearms training, public order units and resources.

The Journal.ie highlighted the fact that the Garda Review covered the concerns of gardai about the beard rules in its June edition last year, pointing out a number of court cases taken by police officers in other jurisdictions, mainly on religious grounds.

It said the garda code was changed in 2005 to include an exemption from this rule for members who cannot shave for medical reasons.
A Kildare man arrested on firearms and drugs charges has been refused bail by the High Court today.

Declan Brady (51), of The Park, Wolstan Abbey, Celbridge, Co Kildare is facing three charges, under the Firearms Act, for unlawful possession of five revolvers, 20 rounds of ammunition and a silencer on January 24 at a unit in Greenogue Business Park, in Rathcoole, Co Dublin.

He is also charged with three counts, under Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, of possession of 22kgs of cocaine, 11kgs of heroin and 53 grams of cannabis with an estimated street value of 3.2 million.

The State objected to bail.

Today (Tuesday, April 25), Detective Sergeant Paul Curran, of the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit, told the court he believed that if released on bail Mr Brady would commit further offences and might not stand trial.

The court also heard evidence from Detective Chief Superintendent James McGowan who said that the gardai were objecting under Section 2(A) of the Bail Act.

The section allows a Chief Superintendent give evidence that the refusal of bail is necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence.

Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy rejected Mr Brady's bail application.
KILDARE County Council has agreed by a majority to ask the Government to define stable yards as agricultural rather than as leisure for rateable valuation.

Cllr Morgan McCabe, who proposed the motion, said that the new designation had increased rates excessively and would have a detrimental effect on jobs and the racing industry.

Cllr McCabe, conscious that he was speaking at the start of Punchestown week, said he could see how a race track could be considered a leisure area for rates purposes by the Valuation Office but stables yards, which varied in size and turnover were different.

He cited cases where the rate bill would rise from 1,400 to 17,000 and from 2,500 to 29,000.

Cllr McCabe said the racing industry was labour intensive,employing one person for every two horses, compared to agriculture which had one for every 200 cattle.

He said other EU countries linked valuations to profits.

Cllr McCabe said the new valuations would be set for ten years, which he described as lazy governance.

Mayor Ivan Keatley said the rise in some estimates seemed to be absolutely colossal.

The Mayor said he has met officials from the Valuation Office and even they had raised their eyebrows about these rises.

At this point, Cllr Ide Cussen asked if members had declared any conflict of interests, and following some responses, Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy said there was disdain show to the query and some jocularity.

Mayor Keatley said it was up to councillors to declare that adding that he was related to a horse trainer.

Cllr McCabe said he had no pecuniary interest in racing.

Cllr Martin Miley said 25% of Irish horse trainers lived in Kildare.

Wishing trainer, Jessica Harrington the best on her successes he said a hay shed had been rated at 4,000.

Cllr Sean Power said he was a brother in law of horse trainer, Peter McCreery, and did volunteer unpaid work as a steward.

Cllr Bernard Caldwell said his son had a trainers licence and he was involved in the Stable Lads association. He said a significant number of trainers were closing doors and over the next few weeks he expected more closures to be announced.

Cllr Brendan Young said horse racing was generally a special activity for rich owners, the sport of kings.

Cllr Caldwell interrupted him to say that there were more jobs at risk.

Cllr Young said there were jobs as risk in all sorts of industries.

Cllr Young said if rates were based on turnover or profit it would be fairer. I would prefer that to re categorising, he said. I dont favour putting people out of work.

Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy said that clarity was needed from the Valuation Office. Are there sampling difficulties, she asked.

She said she was disappointed at the disdain show to those who raised the conflict of interest question. There was, she said, an element of jocularity, over that. Mayor Keatley said: I dont know what jocularity is.

The Council agreed, by a majority, to send the Minister for Agriculture and the Minister for Housing on the motion.
KILDARE County Council has unanimously agreed to call on the Minister for Defence to grant rights representative groups of the Defence Forces to gain access to the industrial relations mechanism of the State in order to negotiate terms of pay and working conditions.

At its monthly meeting on Monday (April 24) Cllr Joanne Pender brought the motion because of what she called negative treatment by the State of Defence Forces.

Cllr Michael Coleman, a former soldier, said members of the Defence Forces are going to moneylenders who could be paramilitaries or criminals.

She said the European Court of Human Rights in 2014 that the absolute ban on trade unions in the French armed forces breached their human rights.

In recognising the campaign by wives and partners of the Irish Defence Forces.

Cllr Pender said that wages were so low that they were not a living wage for serving members of the Force and 20% of them relied on Family Income Supplement. That is no way to be paying any worker, leave alone a member of the Defence Forces. Thousands are leaving in their droves, she said. If they stayed at home and did not work they would be better off.

Cllr Pender said morale is low and they should have a right to be represented by PDFORRA and RACO, which represents officers.

Cllr Mark Stafford, who supported the motion, said there were differences between the French and Irish case. Referring to bills by Sinn Fein and the Labour Party, he asked if trade unions are allowed, would there be a right to strike, asked.

Former soldier, Cllr Michael Coleman, said he was disappointed with the way soldiers were treated. Defence spending was 0.5% of GDP, the lowest in the States history and they had taken a 15% pay cut.

Cllr Coleman said there was a brain drain from the area and it was not a job for life anymore. Because 20% of soldiers were on Family Income Supplements members of the Defence Forces were going to moneylenders who can be paramilitaries and criminals, he said.
Having spent 11 years working for the Conservatives, Walton South councillor Christine Elmer, joined the Liberal Democrats party yesterday. She announced her departure on Twitter:

I can no longer be a Conservative due to this Gov's hard #Brexit. I have today joined #LibDems #Walton https://t.co/AUZbwLesmx via @LibDems  Christine Elmer  (@ChristineElmer) April 23, 2017

Against the Conservative Brexit, Christine Elmer said:

I have been unhappy for some time with the political direction of the Conservative party. In recent days this situation had escalated by a series of events, including the announcement by the Prime Minister of a general election about the handling of the terms of the United Kingdoms exit from the European Union. As a fervent Remainer I find I can no longer support the governments line on this, nor that of the current MP Dominic Raab. I now find it impossible to be a member of the Conservative party and have therefore decided to join the Liberal Democrat party. I have served Walton South ward since 2006. In 2014 for the first time in 40 years of Elmbridge Council electoral history I was returned unopposed and in 2016 I received the highest number of votes in the all-out elections called for the ward. I therefore believe I have a personal mandate to continue in office. It is not my intention to cause a by-election. I will do my best to continue to represent my constituents of Walton South and to look after their interests regardless of political interest. I feel I will be better able to do that as a member of a political party that I can support 100% both at a national level and locally. That party is the Liberal Democrat party.

Richard Waller, Chairman of the Elmbridge Liberal Democrats extended her a warm welcome:

The Elmbridge Liberal Democrats are delighted to welcome Christine Elmer to the party. She is recognised as being a highly competent Elmbridge councillor and in addition will reinforce our voice opposing a hard Brexit nationally.

Andrew Davis, Liberal Democrat candidate for Esher & Walton in the General Election sees this as part of a growing trend:

In Esher and Walton, we are seeing more and more people choosing to support the Liberal Democrats. Christine Elmer is one of many. Support for the Liberal Democrats is growing locally and nationally. The Conservatives lost their majority here in the 2016 borough council elections. And in the last six days, since the snap election was called, weve had 12,500 new members join the party.

Elmbridge is pro-Europe and 60% of us here voted Remain. Yet Dominic Raab, the local Conservative MP, is pushing for a hard Brexit. The majority here dont want a hard Brexit. People here are making their voices heard and choosing Liberal Democrats for Esher and Walton.

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
As I write this, the party should be signing up its 100,000th member. Our new members are joining a party with a glorious history  not just the twenty-nine years since the Liberal Democrats were founded in 1988, but the records of its predecessors, the short-lived Social Democratic Party and the three centuries old Liberal Party.

We stand on the shoulders of giants. Three hundred years ago our political ancestors the Whigs fought for freedom of conscience and thought and religion, for equality before the law. Two hundred years ago the Victorian Liberal Party extended the franchise, brought in free trade, led the assault on privilege: the great cause of Cobden and Bright, Russell and Gladstone.

A hundred years ago the New Liberalism of the twentieth century  the social liberalism of Asquith and Lloyd George, Keynes and Beveridge  laid the foundations of the British welfare state, aiming to create the conditions for freedom for all.

Fifty years ago, the Liberal Party committed itself to help organise people in communities to take and to use power. It became the first major party to develop an environmental policy.

Forty years ago Liberals and Social Democrats joined forces to campaign for Britains place in the European Community. Steel and Jenkins led the Liberal-SDP Alliance that so nearly broke the mould of British politics.

These causes, this history, march at our back. If you need inspiration over the next six weeks, remember them and what they fought for and what they achieved.

And if youre a new member and want to know more about this history  or if youre a local party officer looking for something to give your new members  the Liberal Democrat History Group has just the thing for you: a new edition of our booklet, Liberal History: A Concise History of the Liberal Party, SDP and Liberal Democrats.

This is designed as a comprehensive but concise summary of Liberal, SDP and Liberal Democrat history for readers wanting more detail than they can find on the party website, but less than a full book. We produced the booklet originally in 2005, and weve revised it on three occasions since; this edition is up to date as of March 2017.

Liberal History can be bought for only 3 a copy (2.40 for subscribers to the Journal of Liberal History) from our website, plus postage. We also offer a 50 per cent discount for bulk orders (40 or more copies)  a number of local parties have already bought large numbers to give to their new members. If youre interested in a bulk order, please contact me at [email protected]

* Duncan Brack is the Editor of the Journal of Liberal History and former Vice Chair of the Federal Policy Committee.
Following hard on the heels of our post about the Isle of Wights youngest candidate on Sunday, heres news from Galashiels via The Southern Reporter:

A teenage student from Peebles is the youngest candidate standing in next months Scottish Borders Council elections.

Caledonia Bhatia, 18, a chemical engineering student at Edinburgh University, has been selected as Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for the Galashiels and district ward.

No stranger to political life, Caledonia is the daughter of outgoing Tweeddale West councillor Catriona Bhatia and granddaughter of Liberal Democrat grandee Lord David Steel of Aikwood.

Caledonia said: I have always been interested in the council, with both my mum and granddad being involved.

I used to go out and deliver leaflets for my mum and was out at every hustings supporting her.

I knew at some point in my life I would want to get involved in politics, but Im not sure I ever thought I would be so young.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

The Azerbaijani parliament has approved new structures, administrative and auxiliary positions in the administrative system of Azerbaijan.

This issue was reflected in the change, proposed to the Law on Public Service, discussed at the parliaments plenary session on Apr. 25.

Under the change, the position of head of the body directly ensuring the activities of head of the Azerbaijani state, the structure directly ensuring the activity of Azerbaijans first vice-president, the position of head of the department, as well as the position of advisors of the body directly carrying out the activities of head of the Azerbaijani state are included in the administrative positions.

Auxiliary positions include the deputy head of the body directly carrying out activities of head of the Azerbaijani state, deputy head of the structural department directly ensuring the activities of Azerbaijans first vice-president, as well as the assistant to the first vice-president of Azerbaijan.
Theres an insightful piece by Tony Blair in the Guardian yesterday on how Theresa May has framed this election in terms of the Brexit negotiations. While aimed at Labour readers, we have the same need understand what it is we are facing.

Blair observes that

Essentially, the Tories  have hit on a way of getting votes by presenting the election as about strengthening the prime ministers hand in the Brexit negotiation, ie, they have turned a partisan Tory vote into an act of national interest. Of course, all parties run for election on the basis that a government formed by them is in the national interest. But in this Brexit context, the Tories have hit on what seems a plausible objective claim that they actually need a big majority to represent the country adequately in what is without question a really tough negotiation. This argument has real cut-through. This is why ignoring the Brexit issue or trying to play it down as one issue out of many just wont work.

This plays to a very primal human instinct of respect for strength. The alpha proto-human chimp who was strong in one context would be strong in another because it is just strength. Our instincts did not evolve for the reality that the UKs bargaining position in the EU is just as weak or strong as it is, whether the prime minister of the day happens to have a majority of 10 or 100, or none at all. The UKs strength in the EU and the PMs strength in parliament bear little if any relation one to the other.

Theres a danger here that we look at the 48% and then add on the large chunk of the 52% who want a soft Brexit  staying in the Single Market  or whatever, and tell ourselves that with this on the Brexit issue, we have a strong message with reach. But tragically, most people arent too bothered by Europe one way or the other, but quite rightly want the UK to be in a strong position not a weak one.

So heres the challenge: how do we show that a good result for the Liberal Democrats makes the UK stronger rather than weaker?

Frankly, it makes little difference to Theresa May strength in parliament, never mind the EU, whether she has a majority of 50 or 150. But if there are, say, 50 rather than 10 Liberal Democrats, that sends a message that there is still appetite for co-operation with Europe. It would give May a reason to accept a closer relationship than her back-benchers, intoxicated on vandalism, would otherwise tolerate. Thats a stronger PM in parliament, and a stronger UK because it has more freedom of action in the agreement it can reach.

Of course the previous paragraph credits the PM for having some interest in doing the right thing. We could just say, and may believe, that May is happy to sacrifice the national interest to score points in domestic politics. But that would be giving up on the people currently buying the strength thing and planning to vote Conservative as a result.

Blair offers a different recipe for Labour and to be honest Im not clear how it is supposed to work. But to his credit he sees the importance of a non-partisan challenge to the Tories utterly partisan abasement of the national interest.

We have to expose the fact that the mandate the Tories are asking for is not for an open negotiation in the interests of the country but for a Brexit at any cost driven by the ideology of the right of the Tory party. Yet if this is seen as a narrow Labour point, it will be much less persuasive. Hence the absolute necessity  in the Labour interest  of rallying people to a more reasonable and open position on Brexit across the party divide.

Maybe Labour wont listen because of the messenger, but do they have anybody else who understands the problem? We should read this, and understand it, and compete for those strength votes.

* Joe Otten was the candidate for Sheffield Heeley in June 2017 and Doncaster North in December 2019 and is a councillor in Sheffield.
So, were teetering on the edge of a massive Tory hard Brexit cliff. The UK is in danger of breaking up because of the Tory preoccupation with finding the bumpiest, riskiest way out of the European Union. Donald Trump has his finger on the nuclear button and North Korea is deliberately winding him up.

Yet our media gets all obsessed about whether a man with a good track record on LGBT rights thinks gay sex is a sin. Today, Tim put the matter finally beyond doubt in an interview with the BBC.

He said:

I dont believe that gay sex is a sin, he said. I take the view though that as a political leader, my job is not to pontificate on theological matters. Mr Farron said that with a general election campaign under way, it was important to be talking about big issues like health and social care and Brexit. I am quite careful about how I talk about my faith. I do not bang on about it, I do not make a secret out of it, he said. On reflection, it makes sense to actually answer this direct question since its become an issue. He also said the Lib Dems had undoubtedly the best record on gay rights out of all political parties.

Personally, Id rather politicians kept their traps shut about what was sinful and what is not. So, clearly, does Tim, yet this whole thing was clearly not going to go away until he made a definitive statement. I feel more than a little bit livid that someone with a fantastic record on LGBT equality has been pushed like this. Nobody has asked Theresa May the same question, nor any of the other Christian MPs with much worse voting records.

Writing sensible stuff about Lib Dems in right wing publications once is quite incredible, twice in two days seems almost reckless, but journalist Stephen Daisley has done exactly that. There was yesterdays Scottish Daily Mail article saying that the Lib Dems must be taken seriously and now hes written about what he calls the cruel hounding of Tim Farron for the Spectator.

Journalists feel no misgivings about doing just that to Tim Farron because they suspect him of holding a view they deem bigoted and because although he is a Lib Dem he is not a member of a favoured minority. Their transgression is not political correctness but hypocrisy and the impotent obsessions of identity politics. If we are to bring a theological critique to the campaign trail, a man who seldom talks publicly about his faith seems an odd target when the Prime Minister speaks so openly about hers. How does Tory policy on refugees square with Isaiah 1:17? Or their welfare reforms with Proverbs 22:16 and 22:22? Except that would look priggish and doesnt have social media shareability. Forgive them, Tim Farron, they know exactly what they do.

This was some of the reaction on Twitter:

@caronmlindsay @AylesburyLibDem @timfarron Labor at its nastiest. No better than how Zac Goldsmith treated Sadiq Khan.  Tom Hunter-Watts (@TomHunterWatts) April 25, 2017

@leoniedelt @caronmlindsay @timfarron Telling though how so many who sought to condem him feel no need to correct the record.  Harry Reid (@harryreid1985) April 25, 2017

Any word from Theresa May on her attitude to gay sex? Asking for a friend. #GE2017 https://t.co/Z82SHXuTZ2  Wit and wisdom (@witnwis) April 25, 2017

You do have to feel sorry for the Labour trolls who kept this particular flame burning so brightly for the best part of a week. Now they are going to have to start justifying their own partys policies, if they can work out what they are.

Anyway, on this and so many issues, #ImwithTim, which is a hashtag I think we will have cause to use a lot over the next few weeks. Its been horrible to see him treated in this way and its highly likely that were going to have to get used to it. Hes going to get it even worse from the right, given that hes one of those that the Daily Fail would call a saboteur.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
May 3, 2021, 1 AM

The Harmer-Schau auction taking place May 14 at the Pipex stamp show in Portland, Ore., will include this classic error: the 1901 1 green and black Pan-American Fast Lake Navigation stamp with center inverted.

By Michael Baadke

Harmer-Schau Auction Galleries will conduct a public auction May 14 at the Pipex stamp show in Portland, Ore.

The auction is set to begin Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Red Lion Hotel-Jantzen Beach, 909 N. Hayden Island Drive in Portland, where the show is taking place May 12-14. Admission to the stamp show is free.

The auction consists of 762 lots from 51 owners, with foreign and British Commonwealth single lots, a United States section of 275 lots including stamps and postal history, and U.S. and worldwide collections.

A top item among the U.S. offerings is a sound unused example of the 1901 1 green and black Pan-American Fast Lake Navigation stamp with center inverted (Scott 294a).

The lightly hinged stamp is described as an attractive example of the classic error.

The stamp carries a grade of 70-fine and is accompanied by a 2017 Professional Stamp Experts certificate. It is offered with an estimate of $6,000 and an opening bid of $3,000.

Along with other used and unused U.S. classic stamps and postal history, the auction offers a broad range of general and specialized collections and accumulations.

One interesting postal history grouping consists of 147 different covers signed by Medal of Honor recipients, including patriotic covers from World War II and cacheted first-day covers with relevant frankings. The medal recipients are from World War II through Vietnam. The collection carries an estimate of $1,000 and opens at $650.

A number of U.S. first-day cover collections will be offered, including a selection of approximately 500 Doris Gold FDCs, from the 1970s through 2006, all signed and sleeved in Pittsburgh boxes.

The Great Britain stamp offerings include a used 1882 5 orange Queen Victoria stamp (on white paper, Scott 93) with a circular Reading JA 1 00 postmark.

The stamp is described by Harmer-Schau as very fine and showing excellent color. With a Scott catalog value of $5,000, this stamp carries an estimate of $1,200 and opens at $625.

The 1920 full 10-stamp set of Central Lithuania stamps created from surcharged Lithuanian stamps (Scott 13-22) is offered unused with full original gum. This set carries a Scott catalog value of $3,227, and is offered with an estimate of $1,200 and an opening bid of $1,000. All of the stamps are signed Wallner, with the top two denominations signed Esser.

Lots from the upcoming auction are posted online, with online bidding options available.

For additional information, contact Harmer-Schau Auction Galleries Inc., 1333 N. McDowell Blvd., Suite B, Petaluma, CA 94954.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25

Trend:

Remaining committed to the principle of Islamic solidarity, Azerbaijan, where 2017 was declared the Year of Islamic Solidarity, provided humanitarian aid to Yemen, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a message.

A large-scale humanitarian crisis is currently being observed in Yemen, according to the ministry.

In this regard, on April 25, Geneva is hosting a donor conference called High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen.

At the conference, Azerbaijan is represented by Ashraf Shikhaliyev, the director of the Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA) of the countrys Foreign Ministry.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25

Trend:

Azerbaijan and Lithuania have great opportunities for cooperation in such areas as energy, agriculture, transport and tourism, and intend to develop ties in these spheres, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said.

They made the remarks during the meeting within the framework of Mammadyarovs official visit to Lithuania.

The sides noted the importance of developing trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, stressing the importance of the Azerbaijan-Lithuania intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation. The next meeting of the commission is scheduled for the second half of 2017.

Mammadyarov informed Skvernelis about the negotiation process on new strategic partnership agreement with the EU, as well as regional energy and transport projects implemented with Azerbaijans participation.

Mammadyarov also acquainted the Lithuanian prime minister with the course of negotiations on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
On April 24, the delegation met with upper class students at the Classical Gymnasium 160, secondary school 20 and the lyceum Istek (Desire).

Head of the Department of Management, Professor Kamil Shahbasov and Department of Marketing, Professor Telman Imanov spoke to the students of the Classical Gymnasium 160 about the education opportunities of the biggest economy- oriented university of the region. The Professors provided them with the detailed information about the departments they represent and the majors taught. They talked about the advantages brought by the major and the requirements of the domestic and international labor market.

Pupils questions on Internship Programs of UNEC, international affairs, majors, admission score, graduates provision with workplaces and other question were answered. Students expressed satisfaction of the information delivered by the professors and thanked them for the expanded information about the specialties.

Director of the Gymnasium, Flora Alakbarova assessed UNEC staffs trip to gymnasium. She said pupils are usually in trouble with the university and major choice. They sometimes think if they chose the major Banking, they would have become a Director of the Bank. Revealing the essence of the majors taught by the university teachers is beneficial for their correct choice. I think meeting with UNEC Professors is very useful for them.

Director of UNECs Graduate Center, Professor Gabil Manafov, Senior Teacher Nazim Jafarov and the young instructors of UNEC Agil Azizov and Seymur Aliyev who were on business at the secondary school 220 met with the schoolchildren. They delivered expanded information about the dual diploma and exchange program, the opportunity of studying in 4 languages, an Electronic University Model and so on. They responded the students questions about the trainings in English and Turkish languages, SABAH Groups, tuition fees and other issues.

A promotional video of UNEC was demonstrated for the pupils and leaflets were distributed within the trip to schools.

UNEC is the brand of Azerbaijan State University of Economics. The brand of UNEC has been registered and patented by the State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patent on January 21, 2016.
The 2nd SOCAR International Caspian and Central Asia Downstream Forum  Trading, Logistics, Refining, Petrochemicals commemorating the National Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyevs 94th anniversary started in Baku. It is organized by the Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) in collaboration with a British company Confidence Capital Ltd and powered by SOCAR. Prior to Forum opening ceremony, the guests and participants visited the Alley of Honors to lay a wreath at the tomb of national leader, founder and architect of modern Azerbaijani state Heydar Aliyev.

Opening the forums first session, the rector of the Baku Higher Oil School Elmar Gasimov noted the Forum is dedicated to the 94th birthday anniversary of the National Leader of Azerbaijan and initiator of the countrys oil strategy Heydar Aliyev. After welcoming the Forum participants and guests, BHOS rector emphasized the events great importance for the country, as it facilitates building business ties between professionals from across the globe, and effectively advocates the oil strategy implemented under the auspices of Azerbaijans president Ilham Aliyev.

In his address to the Forum participants and guests, Deputy Chairman of Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijan Republic, Chairman of the Standing Commission on Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Issues Valeh Alasgarov marked the invaluable contribution of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev to establishment of the independent Azerbaijan and development of the countrys fuel and energy sector, and wished success to the Forum. The Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Natig Aliyev spoke of the aspects of the modern-day global energy map. The Minister also noted how proud he is to take part in implementation of Azerbaijans oil strategy, devised by the National Leader Heydar Aliyev. In his speech, Natig Aliyev touched upon the questions of implementation and prospects of grand projects in logistics, refining and petrochemistry, coming to life under the auspices of Azerbaijans president. He laid emphasis on Azerbaijans special role in promoting Europes energy security.

Khoshbakht Yusif-zade, SOCAR's First Vice President for Geology, Geophysics and Field Development spoke in detail on the companys strategy and plans. He enlightened the Forum participants about Azerbaijans oil production history, the role of Azerbaijan oil in economic development of the former USSR and assuring victory in WWII. SOCAR's First Vice President also pointed out the great importance of the founder of the modern Azerbaijani state Heydar Aliyevs role in development of the Republics fuel and energy sector through attracting foreign investments in Azerbaijan economy in the final decade of the past century. He stressed that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev pays special attention to this sector, which is why SOCAR was able to expand its operations far beyond the countrys borders. Khoshbakht Yusif-zade also shared his memories of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev with the Forums participants and guests.

Speaking of the strategic course of development for Azerbaijans petrochemical sector, Chairman of Azerkhimiya Supervisory Council Mukhtar Babayev informed the session attendees of the projects currently under way, as well as of prospective future projects in this field. He congratulated those present with the Forums start.

The report from Director General of SJSC Baku international Sea Trade Port Taleh Ziyadov focused on the operations and prospects of Caspians largest logistics center. He also remarked on the special role of the recently established free trade zone in the Alyat village in development of the countrys oil sector, and announced that its establishment allowed to significantly increase cargo trade turnover.

Deputy Head of Humanitarian Affairs Department of the Administration of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic Maherram Akhmedov, Head of Oil and Chemistry Department of the Office of the Cabinet of Ministries of Azerbaijan Asker Aslanov, SOCAR Vice-president for strategic development Tofig Gakhramanov, BP Azerbaijans Vice-President Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli and Managing Director of Confidence Capital Ltd. Andrew Rudenko attended the Forums opening ceremony.

The first session of the Forum session focused on the matters of strategy and development trends for Azerbaijan's oil, gas and petrochemical industries. The session featured reports by the following speakers: SOCARs Deputy Vice-President of Investments and Marketing Vitaliy Baylarbayov  Azerbaijans oil and gas strategy, SOCAR Polymers General Manager Farid Jafarov  Refining and petrochemical industry of Azerbaijan  new projects development, Deputy Head of SOCAR's Crude and Product Export Operations Kamran Mamedzade  Azerbaijan  Refining, Sales, Marketing and Exports of Crude Oil, BP Azerbaijans Vice-President Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli - The role and prospects of BP in Azerbaijan, Senior Editor of the Platts News Agency Nick Coleman  Azerbaijan in a changing global market: challenges and opportunities.

Among the Forums first session participants were International Energy Agencys Caspian and Black Sea Program Manager Talya Vatman, Khaznah Stategies Managing Parner Peter Kaznacheyev, Thomson Reuters Chief Editor for Commodities Markets Alexander Yershov and the CJSC Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Companys Deputy Chairman Fahrad Guliyev.

SOCAR International Forum is a key event in the Caspian oil calendar covering the latest trends in hydrocarbon exports from the region, providing a unique digest of trading information for strategic decisions and day-to-day operations. It aims to analyze the latest trends and possible development scenarios for cooperation in hydrocarbon trade and exports in the Caspian region and Central Asia.

More than 150 delegates including managers of SOCARs units and members of Azerbaijani Parliament as well as high-level officials, industry leaders, analysts, trade and financial experts, top executives, managers and representatives from ministries and transnational oil&gas companies from Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and other countries participate in the event. During the three-day Forum, eight plenary sessions on various topics will be arranged.
Details added (first version posted on 10:59)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Azerbaijan is an example for Caspian littoral countries in the supply of energy resources to world markets, said Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Valeh Alasgarov.

Alasgarov, who is also the chairman of parliamentary committee of natural resources, energy and ecology, made the remarks during the conference titled The 2nd SOCAR International Caspian and Central Asia Downstream Forum  Trading, Logistics, Refining, Petrochemicals in Baku Apr. 25.

Alasgarov noted that Azerbaijan has always been a supporter of equal cooperation with the Caspian countries and tried to build this cooperation in line with international experience.

Azerbaijan is an initiator in the issue of delimitation of the Caspian Sea bottom and contributed to the solution of this issue within international law. Azerbaijan signed relevant agreements with Russia and Kazakhstan in this field. And we hope that other countries will also join these agreements, added the vice-speaker.

He recalled that Azerbaijan is an initiator in the development of oil and gas resources of the Caspian region.

The Caspian littoral states  Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran  signed a Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea in November 2003.

Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use in July 1998. The two countries signed a protocol to the agreement in May 2002.

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea and a protocol to it on Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb. 27, 2003, respectively.

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 25

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

The extension of the Vienna agreement on the reduction of oil production will be in Azerbaijan's interest, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natig Aliyev told reporters on the sidelines of "The 2nd SOCAR International Caspian and Central Asia Downstream Forum  Trading, Logistics, Refining, Petrochemicals" in Baku Apr. 25.

"The decision on the reduction of oil production, made in December 2016, has yielded positive results," he added. The oil price has been varying within the range of $50-60 per barrel since January 2017, that is, precisely what we expected. I think that the measures taken earlier have brought benefits."



Aliyev added that the participants of the upcoming meeting should agree to extend the agreement till the end of 2017 to keep oil prices at a stable level.

"The extension of the agreement is beneficial for us, so we will not oppose this decision," the minister said.

OPEC and non-OPEC countries reached an agreement on the reduction of oil production in Vienna in late 2016. The agreement was to last until mid-2017, but at the OPEC conference on May 25 oil producing countries will again discuss the prolongation of the agreement till the end of 2017. Azerbaijan reduced oil production by 35,000 barrels per day as part of the agreement.
African penguins at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California took part in a mini March for Science, waddling around in support of the cause.

Science advocates around the world turned out in droves to take part in the March for Science over the weekend, and the demonstration even found support from members of the animal kingdom: African penguins at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California took part in a mini March for Science, waddling around in support of the cause.

The "March of the Penguins for Science," as the aquarium called it, included five African penguins taking an "enrichment walk" with staff and volunteers joining in. Some of the onlookers held signs, including ones saying, "Science gives us happy feet," and "Honk honk, bray bray, African penguins are here to stay." [In Photos: The Best Signs from the 2017 March for Science]

African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) are an endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) "Red List" of threatened species. The IUCN notes that these penguins have experienced a very rapid population decline due to commercial fishing and changes in the birds' prey populations.

"Of course, the birds appreciate all the science that's done around the planet to figure out how to best help them," an aquarium representative who narrated the video said. "In particular, 'climate science: because extinction in a bummer' [as one sign read]."

The Facebook video of the penguins waddling in solidarity had more than 2.6 million views by this afternoon (April 24).

On Saturday (April 22), tens of thousands of people joined the March for Science on Earth Day, a global movement that brought scientists and science advocates onto the streets to convey how important science is to the health and safety of the planet's inhabitants.

Organizers of the global March for Science movement said the event was a first step "to defend the vital role science plays" in all aspects of life. While the march represented all sciences, one aspect of the movement was protesting the U.S. government's elimination of environmental protections and initiatives to mitigate climate change.

In his proposed 2018 budget, President Donald Trump put forward a plan to make unprecedented cuts to the sciences. The largest proposed cut was to the Environmental Protection Agency's budget, a 31 percent reduction from current funding levels. This proposed cut would remove programs such as Energy Star (which helps consumers find energy-efficient products and buildings) and Targeted Air Shed Grants (which help limit pollution at the local level).

Original article on Live Science.
Patients in the United States may be much more willing to disclose their sexual orientation to the staff in a hospital emergency room than health professionals think, a new study suggests.

The researchers found that about 78 percent of health professionals surveyed thought that patients would not wish to divulge information about their sexual orientation in the emergency room. However, only 10 percent of patients who the researchers surveyed said they would refuse to provide this information when asked in this setting, according to the findings, published today (April 24) in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

The findings are important, the researchers said, because other research has suggested that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) populations report having poorer health as well as less access to health insurance and health services than heterosexual populations. But a lack of data on sexual orientation has made it difficult to address the health disparities in the LGB community, the researchers said. [5 Myths About Gay People Debunked]

These findings demonstrate that there can be a difference between what health professionals perceive and what patients want, think and prefer, said lead study author Dr. Adil Haider, a surgeon and a director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

The study showed that the vast majority of patients surveyed indicated that they would be especially comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation in the ER if the question was being asked of all patients, Haider told Live Science.

Currently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Academy of Medicine recommend that information about sexual orientation be routinely collected in federally funded population health surveys as well as in patients' electronic health records.

But few hospitals and health centers are collecting this data, the study authors said.

Different perceptions

The researchers focused on the emergency room, because patients there do not choose their own doctors as they would in a primary care setting, Haider said. He also said that the researchers wanted to understand how willing health professionals would be to routinely collect this data from patients.

In the study, the researchers conducted two separate nationwide surveys, one among patients who had sought medical care in an emergency room, and another of doctors and nurses who worked in emergency rooms.

For the patient group, the researchers wanted to ensure there were enough people included who identified as lesbian, gay and bisexual, so they actively recruited people through organizations that advocate for these groups. The investigators wound up with a group of about 1,500 adults: Roughly half were straight, 16 percent were lesbians, 19 percent were gay men, and 12 percent were bisexual. The average age in the patient group was 49.

The group of health care professionals included about 400 people and was composed of roughly equal numbers of nurses and physicians. The participants' average age was 51.

The study found that more than three-quarters of health professionals thought that patients might be offended by or would refuse to answer questions about their sexual orientation in the hospital emergency room. However, only about 10 percent of patients reported they would be offended by or refuse to give answers to these queries, the study showed.

Haider said that he suspects these different perceptions may exist in part because health professionals may feel they should ask about patients' sexual orientation only if this information has relevance to the disease they are treating. But Haider said this approach might actually be stigmatizing, because health professionals then wind up asking only some people this question, but not others.

On the other hand, Haider said, patients seem comfortable with the idea of health care professionals routinely asking people provide information about sexual orientation. This normalizes the idea of sexual orientation and it just becomes demographic information that gets collected, so all a patient would need to do is to check a box on a paper-and-pencil form or an electronic tablet, he said. [How Do I Love Thee? Experts Count 8 Ways]

Haider said the findings suggested that patients are interested in providing information about sexual orientation because they want to be seen as a whole person. Doing so may help in developing trusting relationships with health professionals and allow all people to feel respected, welcome and comfortable in their care, Haider said.

The study also found that people who were bisexual felt the least comfortable about sharing information on sexual orientation, with 16 percent of bisexual people surveyed saying they would refuse to provide that information. Previous studies have shown that bisexual individuals experience higher levels of identity confusion than lesbian and gay individuals, the researchers said.

Haider said the research team is conducting another study to evaluate which methods may work best to collect sexual orientation information in the hospital setting, such as whether to collect the information on documents or tablets or face-to-face questioning.

Originally published on Live Science.
Skull of a new species of ancient carnivore that once ruled the food chain in Africa.

Scientists have identified a new species of small, toothy mammal that once ruled the food chain in Africa almost 40 million years ago.

Researchers named the new species Masrasector nananubis, after the ancient Egyptian god Anubis, who had the head of a jackal and was associated with mummification and the underworld. Like its namesake, M. nananubis had a long and narrow skull and lots of large teeth, the researchers wrote in a new study.

The ancient carnivore also had fox-like limbs that allowed it to move fast and hunt other small- or medium-size mammals that scrambled on the ground, the scientists said. [Image Gallery: 25 Amazing Ancient Beasts]

By studying specimens of skulls, jaws and limb bones that were unearthed outside Cairo nearly 30 years ago, the scientists were able to examine what the fearsome mammal ate, how it pursued prey and how early carnivores in Africa were related to one another.

They determined that the Masrasector nananubis was part of an extinct group of carnivorous mammals called hyaenodonts.

Despite the similar name, hyaenodonts are only distant cousins of modern-day hyenas, the researchers told Seeker. They were a group of carnivores that diverged in evolution long before the origin of cats, dogs, hyenas and honey badgers.

"Hyaenodonts were the top predators in Africa after the extinction of the dinosaurs," study author Matthew Borths, a paleontologist at Ohio University, said in a statement.

Until now, fossil records of hyaenodonts have been sparse, Borths told PLOS Blogs. However, scientists have found evidence of the animals throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, ranging from around 10 million to 60 million years ago.

"This new species is associated with a dozen specimens, including skulls and arm bones," he said.

This means the M. nananubis fossils can now be used for comparisons with other hyaenodonts, to help scientists better understand the animals' evolution and their role in each ecosystem. "We can explore what it ate, how it moved, and consider why these carnivorous mammals died off as the relatives of dogs, cats and hyenas moved into Africa," Borths said.

The research was published online April 19 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

Original article on Live Science.
Headline changed, details added (first version posted at 12:27)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

As of April 1, 2017, 1.971 billion tons of oil was produced in Azerbaijan, said Khoshbakht Yusifzade, first vice president of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR.

He made the remarks Apr. 25 at the conference titled "The 2nd SOCAR International Caspian and Central Asia Downstream Forum  Trading, Logistics, Refining, Petrochemicals" in Baku.

Of this amount, 971 million tons of oil was produced onshore and one billion tons was produced offshore. It is needed to produce additional 29 million tons to bring the production volume to two billion tons. According to the calculations, we will be able to achieve this by Nov. 25, 2017," Yusifzade said.

Since the beginning of the first oil production  from November 1997 to April 2017, 423.5 million tons of oil and 131 billion cubic meters of gas were produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of fields, he noted.

As of April 1, 2017, 237 million tons of Azerbaijans profit oil was exported to the world markets, he added.

During the reporting period, 443 million tons of oil was delivered from Azerbaijan to the world markets, and 328 million tons of this amount was delivered via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Yusifzade said.

A contract for development of the ACG block of oil and gas fields was signed in 1994. The proven oil reserves of the block near one billion tons.

The shareholders in the project are BP (operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, 35.78 percent), Chevron (11.27 percent), Inpex (10.96 percent), AzACG (11.65 percent), Statoil (8.55 percent), Exxon (8 percent), TPAO (6.75 percent), Itochu (4.3 percent) and ONGC (2.72 percent).
An inside-out view of dolphin sex taken in a computed tomography (CT) scanner. The dolphin penis (red) must navigate the folded vagina (white) of the female.

Being a scientist can be a strange job. Like on the days when your work involves inserting the artificially inflated penis of a dead dolphin into the recently thawed vagina of another dead dolphin, all inside a CT scanner.

For new research presented yesterday (April 23) at the annual meeting of the American Association of Anatomists in Chicago, scientists did just that in the pursuit of a better understanding of how male and female anatomy co-evolve.

"A fair bit is known about male reproductive organs," said Dara Orbach, a postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and a research assistant at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. "There has been fairly little research on female genitalia, comparatively." [Top 10 Swingers of the Animal Kingdom]

Sex and death

More recently, Orbach said, scientists have increasingly come to realize that the penis is only half the story. A new field focused on "copulatory fit"  how the genitals fit together and influence each other's evolution  has sprung up. But most of the research has been on small insects and other arthropods, which are easy to study because scientists can flash-freeze them in liquid nitrogen while the bugs are mating.

That is "totally not feasible for larger animals," Orbach told Live Science.

Marine mammals in particular are known for their twisty, curvy vaginas. Whales, dolphins and other marine mammals also have to manage sex while floating in water, and they have to keep seawater out of the uterus. Orbach and her colleagues wanted to understand how seals, porpoises and whales pull it off.

The researchers removed the reproductive tracts from bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates), common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) that had died of natural causes. They created molds of the vaginas with silicon so they could understand its shape. Then, they froze the actual vaginal tissue and thawed and stained it with iodine right before their experiments. The penises were pumped full of saline using a nitrogen air pump and then put in formalin to "fix" them in the erect position. The penis was then inserted inside the thawed vaginas. Both sets of genitals were then scanned with computed tomography (CT) the researchers could see how they fit together.

A good fit

The researchers revealed their findings only for the bottlenose dolphins at the Chicago conference; the research has yet to be published, Orbach said, so they are not yet making their full results public. But the images revealed that the bottlenose dolphin penis has to navigate around the female's vaginal fold for successful insemination, Orbach and her colleague, Patricia Brennan, of Mount Holyoke College reported. Diane Kelly of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Mauricio Solano of Tufts University also collaborated on the work.

"We think that the positioning of the bodies of the males and females are hugely important in terms of the amount of fertilization success," Orbach said. A female might be able to influence whether a male inseminates her simply by shifting her body position slightly so that his penis doesn't penetrate beyond the labyrinthine curves of her vagina.

Some species appear to be more cooperative than others, anatomically speaking, Orbach said. The shape of the vagina, and thus the ease of copulation, varies dramatically between the animals studied.

"What was surprising is it seems that in some of the species it seems to be more competitive, while in other species it seems to be more collaborative," Orbach said.

Original article on Live Science.
The tumultuous sky in Edvard Munch's "The Scream" painting may have been inspired by so-called nacreous clouds.

Could Edvard Munch's "The Scream" have been inspired by a rare cloud formation?

Scientists at the European Geosciences Union annual meeting this month in Vienna think so. A new hypothesis holds that Munch may have been inspired to paint the masterpiece by "mother-of-pearl clouds" (also called nacreous clouds). These unusual, nearly iridescent, clouds are best seen in wintertime at sunrise or sunset, when they are lit from below.

"We know from observations dated to the late 19th century that nacreous clouds did appear over Oslo during the time period," Helene Muri, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Oslo, told Live Science in an email. "And from Munch's journal entries, it seemed like a physical event, a natural phenomenon, he was describing." [5 Times Science Inspired Art]

Nature in art?

The famous 1893 painting depicts a black-clad figure wailing against a swirling red sky. Munch wrote in his diary that the imagery was inspired by a sunset walk with friends in Norway, when, feeling tired and sick, he paused and watched the sky turn blood-red.

"I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream," Munch wrote, according to The Art Institute of Chicago. "I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood."

Munch's admission of nature's role in the painting has spawned theories about what caused the vermillion sky that evening. One popular hypothesis is that the sunset was especially brilliant due to reflective particulate matter from the enormous 1883 Mount Krakatoa eruption that spread across the planet and caused five years of global cooling.

A new explanation

In 2014, though, a "spectacular" mother-of-pearl cloud formation lit up the evening sky in Oslo. Meteorologist Svein Fikke from Lrenskog, Norway, was struck by the wavy, colorful clouds and how much they resembled Munch's tumultuous depiction of the sky.

Nacreous clouds may have inspired the sky in "The Scream." (Image credit: Audun Saltvik/Shutterstock)

"The fact that these clouds are only visible for a limited time before sunrise and after sunset, that they quite suddenly light up the dark evening sky and their wavy structures support the hypothesis," Muri said.

Nacreous clouds form high in the stratosphere, between about 9 and 16 miles (15 and 25 kilometers) above Earth, Muri said. They require a specific confluence of circumstances: exceptionally cold temperatures, moisture uplift and timing.

"Polar wintertime, when the stratosphere gets really cold, is when you are most likely to see these clouds," Muri said.

They also often appear on the leeward side of mountains, where the topography pushes moist air up into the stratosphere, she said.

"'The Scream' is an iconic piece of art, and it is fun to speculate as to what Munch wanted to portray," Muri said. "We don't know the answer, of course, but the striking resemblance to nacreous clouds is certainly there."

Original article on Live Science.
An experimental "artificial womb" recently kept extremely premature lambs alive for weeks, suggesting that such a device could one day help save the lives of very premature human babies, a new study finds.

The new machine supported the lambs for up to 28 days, which is the longest amount of time that an artificial womb has kept animals stable, the researchers said.

"We tried to develop a system that as closely as possible reproduced the environment of the womb, replacing the function of the placenta," said study senior author Dr. Alan Flake, a fetal surgeon and director of the Center for Fetal Research in the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "This, in theory, should allow support of premature infants for a period of weeks, and thereby reduce dramatically their mortality and morbidity rates and improve their outcomes in both the short and long terms." [7 Baby Myths Debunked]

The scientists experimented with eight extremely premature lambs that had been carried by their mothers for only 100 to 115 days; a normal pregnancy in sheep lasts 152 days. The lambs weighed 3.3 to 5.3 lbs. (1.5 to 2.4 kilograms) when they were placed in the device; when they exited, they were about 5.7 to 9.9 lbs. (2.6 to 4.5 kg). In terms of their lung development, these lambs were equivalent to human infants at 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, the researchers said.

About 30,000 babies are born "extremely premature" in the U.S. each year  that is, before 26 weeks of pregnancy, the researchers said. Extreme prematurity is the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, accounting for one-third of all infant deaths, they added. The total annual medical costs of prematurity in the United States reach an estimated $43 billion, they said.

Advances in medicine can now save extremely premature infants born at 22 to 23 weeks of pregnancy, who may weigh less than 1.3 lbs. (600 grams). Still, at that age, "death rates are as high as 90 percent," Flake told Live Science. The babies who survive have as high as a 70 to 90 percent risk of life-impacting morbidities or sicknesses, such as chronic lung disease and other complications of organ immaturity, he said.

The aim of the new device is to support the growth and development of these extremely premature infants for only a few weeks. Once they reach 28 weeks old, "you remove most of the risks of prematurity," Flake said. "The outcomes are very good."

One previous artificial womb could keep fetal goats alive up to about 22 days, but these animals required dialysis, had muscles so weak that they were immobilized, and ultimately succumbed to respiratory failure. In contrast, the new artificial womb could keep premature lambs alive for as long as 28 days, and they remained healthy, the study authors said. [11 Facts Every Parent Should Know About Their Baby's Brain]

The new device evolved over three years through a series of four prototypes. One of the key features of the machine is that the premature lambs within it did not breathe in air. Instead, they were suspended in a plastic bag of liquid mimicking amniotic fluid, which surrounds fetuses in the womb. "Fetuses normally breathe fluid, which helps in lung development," Flake said.

Incidentally, natural amniotic fluid "is predominantly fetal urine," Flake said. "The fetus swallows amniotic fluid and then urinates to form amniotic fluid. It's hard to believe we all start out that way."

Another key feature of the new device is that there is no external pump to drive the circulation of blood in the device, because pressure even from gentle pumps can fatally overload an underdeveloped heart, the researchers said. Instead, the heart of each lamb pumped blood through its umbilical cord into a machine outside the bag that substituted for its mother's placenta, helping supply the lamb's blood with oxygen and nutrients while also removing carbon dioxide.

The lambs grew in a sealed environment insulated from variations in temperature, pressure and light, and protected from pathogens that could cause hazardous infections. Electronic monitors kept track of their vital signs.

After the scientists removed the lambs from the device, they found that the animals' lungs functioned very well, and were very similar to ones from normal lambs of the same ages, Flake said. Their brains, livers and other organs also seemed to function normally, and the lambs grew wool, opened their eyes, became more active, and appeared to have normal breathing and swallowing movements.

Although the scientists euthanized many of the lambs in their experiments to examine their biology, one survivor is now about 4 months old, and another is more than a year old; they were retired to a farm in Pennsylvania, the researchers said.

"They're reasonably normal in every respect we can tell," Flake said. "We do have plans for long-term observations of survivors, to look for some hidden morbidity. The problem that arises with that, though, is that it's hard to get a handle on things such as mental capacity or behavioral abnormalities in lambs, so it's a problem making comparisons with humans."

The researchers plan to do more animal studies with advanced versions of the device "in the next two to three years, and then the first human trials within three to five years," Flake said. "And honestly, those are conservative estimates."

Human trials

One major change the researchers said they need to make to their device for human trials is to downsize it, because extremelypremature human infants are about one-third the size of the lambs used in the study. In addition, the researchers are investigating what molecules they might add to their artificial amniotic fluid so that it more closely mimics the real thing, study co-lead author Marcus Davey, also of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in a conference with reporters.

Flake cautioned that not every extremely premature baby can benefit from this device. "One limitation is that they need to be delivered by cesarean," from their mothers, before doctors can put them into the artificial womb, Flake said. "I would anticipate that maybe 50 percent or so of extremely premature infants can be put on the system," he said.

Once infants are placed in the devices, they will likely be kept in covered incubators that doctors can keep an eye on with cameras and that can play sounds from their mothers, he said. "We'd try to make the environment parent-friendly," Flake said.

The researchers stressed that they do not aim to support fetuses that are more premature than 23 weeks. The extremely tiny sizes of such young fetuses make it difficult for the scientists to provide vital blood flow and ventilation, Flake said.

"There's a lot of sensationalistic conversations about supporting humans artificially from the embryo onward," Flake said. "The reality is that there is not present technology, nor even one on the horizon, that can support an embryo in a test tube."

The scientists detailed their findings (opens in new tab) online today (April 25) in the journal Nature Communications.

Original article on Live Science.
The "super" laser brings together the power of multiple laser beams directed into a single intense output using an ultra-pure diamond crystal at the point of convergence.

Though it's not big enough or strong enough to destroy a planet, scientists have developed an amplified laser reminiscent of the Death Star from "Star Wars," according to a new study.

The futuristic superweapon combines multiple laser beams into one destructive blast, the researchers said. The idea of merging laser beams is not new, nor has it been limited to science fiction before now. A decades-old Russian missile defense project looked to use liquid as a beam combiner, but that project was abandoned after it was deemed not practical. A similar project in the U.S. investigated laser fusion, but using different materials. Now, a team of Australian scientists has combined the principles of these two research projects and applied them to a new material: diamond.

An ultrapure diamond crystal is the key to a new proof-of-concept amplified laser. By placing a diamond at the point of convergence of the different laser beams, the power of each individual beam is transferred into one potent laser beam, the researchers said. This power transfer occurs due to Raman scattering  when particles are dispersed and excited to higher energy levels  which is especially strong in diamond, according to the scientists. [Science Fact or Fiction? The Plausibility of 10 Sci-Fi Concepts]

Diamonds also have high thermal properties that allow them to harness the laser beams' energies without overheating  a concern with other materials that could be used to combine the laser beams.

"The fundamental problem is that the laser materials struggle to dissipate the very large waste heat load," study co-author Rich Mildren, an associate professor of physics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, told Live Science. "There are technologies on the verge of having enough power, but heat build-up causes the beam to flare and power to drop leading to a lack of power on target."

Researching amplified-laser concepts has become increasingly important as new security threats have arisen, Mildren said. From low-cost drones to missile technology, militaries around the world are looking to high-power lasers as a possible defense solution.

Initial tests of the diamond laser have shown success in short bursts, and the researchers said they are continuing to test the laser for longer periods and at higher powers. When fully operational, the amplified laser could disable drones, missiles and other small objects, according to Mildren.

"Such high-power lasers are also potentially useful in management of space junk, propulsion of small space vehicles and beaming power to remote locations," Mildren said.

The proof-of-concept laser was described in a study published online March 30 in the journal Laser and Photonics Reviews.

Original article on Live Science.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 24

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Extension of the OPEC deal in May is quite likely, because OPEC and non-OPEC partners will be under pressure to extend it, as the market expects this outcome, Spencer Welch, director of the oil markets and downstream team in the London-based IHS Markit, told Trend Apr. 24.

"Extension has already been priced into the market. So, a failure to extend the deal would result in a market price drop," added Welch.

As for the volume of cuts, the expert said it is most likely that the existing cut levels will be rolled over because to try to re-negotiate each countrys individual number would be time consuming and very difficult.

Talking about the effect of the current OPEC output cut deal, Welch said the price went up as expected and compliance was better than expected.

"But oil inventory data is not yet showing a decline, however, there is a considerable time lag in the availability of some stock data," he added.

The expert noted that the rapid rise in US production is making things difficult for OPEC  it is making it harder to re-balance the oil market and harder to pull down oil inventories, and the US production rises are not going to stop.

Welch concluded that current market situation is as follows: supply and demand is in balance, but demand is not yet exceeding supply.

In December 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices.

OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1 with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting as much as 486,000 barrels per day.

Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce the output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from Jan. 1 for six months, extendable for another six months.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Rallies and protest events are a part of political life in the Bay Area. Heres a roundup of whats happening.

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. The free event begins at 7 p.m. at Drivers Market, 200 Caledonia St., Sausalito. RSVP: www.driversmarket.com.

Thursday

Comedy night: 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.

Friday

Memorial: A day of remembrance for workers who have been killed and injured on the job. Panel discussion on Race, Power and Politics: Effects on Workers of Color, with speakers from state and federal agencies, labor organizations and community groups. The event is from noon to 1:45 p.m. at Oakstop Event Space, Telegraph Room, 1721 Broadway in Oakland. For information: http://bit.ly/WorkersMemorial2017.

Saturday

Climate change marches: 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

Sunday

Womens meeting: The second Womens Coalition meeting hosted by Democratic Activists for Women Now. It includes workshops on the democratic process and campaigns. The event is from 11 a.m. Sunday to 2 a.m. Monday. For information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1462614253810438/.

Monday

Immigrant strike: A Day Without Immigrants, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, Embarcadero Center in San Francisco. For information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1885901481694528/

. SEIU United Service Workers West is also calling for a May Day general workers strike. For information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1221437297933877/

May 6

Immigration event: Remembering the 135th Anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act and standing in opposition to President Trumps proposed travel ban. A rally will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Portsmouth Square, 733 Kearny St. in San Francisco. Contact Chinese for Affirmative Action for information: (415) 274-6750

Health care film: Healthcare for Everybody will be screened from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Contra Costa Central Labor Council, 1333 Pine St., Suite E in Martinez. The event is free.

May 7

Health care film: A screening of Now is the Time followed by a health care discussion on the proposed California proposition for a single-payer plan. The event is from 2 to 4 p.m. at the San Lorenzo Library, 395 Paseo Grande in San Lorenzo. For information, contact aruchlis@gmail.com

To list an event, email Sarah Ravani at sravani@sfchronicle.com.
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The Trump administration announced Monday that it plans to slap a roughly 20 percent tariff on softwood lumber imported from Canada, a move that would likely drive San Antonios fast-growing home prices even higher.

Lumber prices were already getting more expensive locally amid growing demand for new homes for San Antonios swelling population, local builders and suppliers said. Prices for Canadian lumber then surged after a trade deal between the U.S. and Canada expired last fall. For local building materials supplier Allen & Allen Co., prices went up by as much as 30 percent over the last few months, Chief Operations Officer Wade Payne said.

Were hoping its only short-term, before cooler heads prevail, Payne said of the tariff.

RELATED: Texas is the biggest loser in Mexico trade war

A labor shortage in the construction industry and new regulations are also pushing up home prices, builders say. Last year, the median home price in the San Antonio area rose to $204,300, the first time it had eclipsed $200,000, according to the San Antonio Board of Realtors.

Rising lumber prices are difficult in an environment where cost increases are already occurring due to the healthy homebuilding market we have in Texas, said Jeff Buell, co-owner of local homebuilder Sitterle Homes.

On Tuesday, the National Association of Homebuilders released a statement calling the tariff a short-sighted action that will negatively harm American consumers and housing affordability. Rising lumber prices have already added almost $3,600 to the price of the average new home just in the first quarter of this year, the association said.

The real person paying the tariff is the United States homebuilder, who will pay higher prices for imported wood, said Kristi Sutterfield, executive vice president of the Greater San Antonio Homebuilders Association. The end result is that the citizens of San Antonio will pay higher prices for their homes.

U.S. lumber representatives disputed that the duties would have a material impact on home prices. They applauded the Trump administration action, saying that enforcing fair trade laws and leveling the playing field could increase the domestic industrys employment.

Its the Trump administrations first major trade action against Canada. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross portrayed the action as a tough measure to punish Canada after President Donald Trump declared last week that we cant let Canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they did to our workers and to our farmers.

What we are doing is dealing with another bad act on the part of the Canadians, Ross said.

RELATED: Border congressman condemns Trumps trade war on Mexico

The Obama administration began reviewing the softwood lumber industry last year out of concern that Canada was subsidizing its wood industry in a way that hurt U.S. rivals. The decision to retaliate against Canada by imposing what are known as countervailing duties, which will be announced Tuesday, is subject to a final review by the International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency that advises the government on trade policy.

Yet the ruling would allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection to begin collecting the funds from Canadian importers immediately. Five Canadian companies were a part of the investigation, and the United States will seek to collect money from four of them retroactively for actions taken in the past 90 days, Ross said.

Ross said this could amount to $1 billion in new tariffs, as well as $250 million in retroactive collections. All other Canadian softwood lumber companies will face the same tariff of 19.88 percent going forward.

Canada supplies most of the lumber sold at many local suppliers. Zaragosa Barbosa, the owner of San Antonio Wholesale Lumber, said that nearly two-thirds of his sales are for Canadian lumber. At Braundera Yard & Hardware, roughly 85 percent of the lumber inventory is Canadian, vice president Joe Domine said. About 35 percent of the inventory is Canadian at Allen & Allen, Payne said.

After the tariff drives up lumber prices, some builders will probably switch to using composite lumber  a material that mixes wood fiber and plastic  for decks and fences, local suppliers said.

Allen & Allen has been buying more Canadian lumber than usual over the last few months, expecting the market to go topsy-turvy, Payne said. Canadian lumber has become harder to find, forcing the company to turn down potential customers.

The tariff probably wont hurt the companys business much because it has a lot of buying power and plenty of long-term customers, Payne said.

Were like everybody else  well wait and see what all the politicians on both sides do, he said. Were stuck trying to make do with what we have and what we can control.

After spending much of his presidential campaign attacking China and Mexico for their trade practices, Trump has shifted his ire toward Canada in the past week.

Trump blasted Canadas recent decision to impose import taxes on ultra-filtered milk, a move he said was very, very unfair to the U.S. dairy industry. Trump saw how hard this was hitting U.S. farmers during a recent trip to Wisconsin and was moved by their reaction, Ross said. However, the softwood lumber action was decided on its own merits, Ross added.

The ruling is the latest salvo in a decades-long battle between Canadian and American lumber producers. U.S. lumber producers, who are mostly based in the Northwest, have long complained that Canada unfairly subsidizes its lumber by selling wood from government land at low rates to Canadian lumber producers, leading to a loss of U.S. jobs.

The Canadians have argued that, despite decades of investigations and litigation, U.S. claims about Canadas unfair practices in the lumber trade have not stood up to scrutiny at the World Trade Organization. A report in the Toronto Star on Monday evening said Canada did not immediately plan to retaliate.

Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, predicted that the dispute would not escalate into something much bigger.

I dont think it will be a trade war with Canada, Bown said. This is an irritant that is always there between these two countries, and Canada knows that.

Jeffrey Schott, a former Treasury official and trade negotiator, said the tariff would likely translate into higher costs for U.S. consumers.

This will put upward pressure on prices for the main consumer of softwood lumber, and that would be the housing industry. So the cost of housing will go up to some extent, he said.

The trade commission will issue a second ruling within several months about whether Canada has also been dumping lumber, a trade practice in which companies sell their products abroad at prices lower than they charge in their home market to damage their foreign competitors.

The Washington Post and the Tribune News Service contributed to this story.

rwebner@express-news.net

@rwebner
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Apr. 25

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistans Foreign Ministry hosted a meeting with a Japanese delegation, the ministry said in a message Apr. 25.

The issues related to the upcoming May visit of Japans Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to Turkmenistan were discussed during the meeting, says the message.

Meanwhile, the discussion on future joint events was also held.

The Japanese delegation included representatives of Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, State Export Credit Agency of Japan, as well as Japanese ambassador to Turkmenistan.

The sides touched upon the issues of further development of cooperation in the oil and gas sector, discussed the implementation of joint projects taking into account the use of high technologies, according to the message.

During the meeting, an exchange of views was held on a wide range of issues of economic cooperation.
From hooking 'em at the University of Texas to getting hitched, a newlywed couple found a way to incorporate their past cheerleading careers into their future together.

Natalie and David Grun were high school sweethearts before they both moved from their hometown in Humble to Austin to attend and cheer for the University of Texas. The Longhorn lovebirds tied the knot on April 8 in Conroe. They had the support  and stunts  of their fellow cheer alumni to root for their new husband-wife team.
April 15

At 12:54 AM, an officer was dispatched to the 3900 block to a burglary of a motor vehicle that just occurred.

At 2:51 am, an Officer observed a suspicious vehicle, bearing a temporary license plate, traveling northbound in the 6300 block of Wakeforest. The Police Officer attempted to follow the vehicle to do a TCIC / NCIC check of the temporary license plate, but the vehicle began to evade. The Police Officer lost view of the suspicious vehicle while in the city of Houston museum district.

At 5:16 pm, an officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby, in regards to a burglary of a motor vehicle that already occurred.

An officer stopped a vehicle in the 2500 block of Robinhood for a traffic violation. The driver was found to have an open warrant with the Harris County Sheriff's Office for DWI. The driver was arrested for the warrant and transported to the Harris County Jail.

April 16

At 4:22 pm, an officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby in reference to a theft that had already occurred at the West University Place Recreational Center on 4/15/17.

April 17

An officer observed a burglary of a motor vehicle in progress in the 4000 block of Villanova. The officer followed the suspects while waiting for back up to arrive. The vehicle was stopped in the 3900 block of Law and four suspects were taken into custody.

At 12:16 pm, an officer was dispatched to the West U PD Lobby in regard to a walk in report of a theft.

April 18

An officer was dispatched to the 4100 block of Emory in reference to a burglary of a building.

An officer was dispatched to a residence in the 3100 block of University regarding an incident of Telephone Harassment.

April 19

At 9:55 a.m., an officer was dispatched to the 2700 block of Werlein to see the complainant in regard to a stolen bicycle.

At 11:30 a.m., an officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound in the 6400 block of Buffalo Speedway, bearing an expired temporary registration tag and inoperable right brake light. Contact was made with the driver, and after providing a Texas identification card, he was taken into custody for driving while license invalid. The driver was unable to provide proof of financial responsibility.

At 6:22 pm, an Officer was dispatched to the 4200 block of Rice, in reference to a Failure to stop and give information call, which had already occurred.

April 20

An Officer observed a vehicle traveling southbound at a high rate of speed. The officer initiated a traffic stop and upon further investigation, it was discovered the driver had multiple outstanding warrants and possession of controlled substances. The driver was subsequently arrested for the warrants and PCS.

April 21

Officers were dispatched to a burglary of a motor vehicle that just occurred in the 4100 block of Sunset. As officers were responding, another officer working plain clothes bicycle patrol observed a reckless driver near 5600 College. The suspects observed the plain clothes officer watching them and fled in their vehicle southbound on Mercer. A Southside Place PD officer was also nearby and was able to stop the suspects. The suspects were found to be in possession of stolen items from the original burglary motor vehicle report in the 4100 block of Sunset. The suspects were arrested and charged with felon in possession of firearm and burglary motor vehicle.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Apr. 25

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

Uzbekistans Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and Palestinian Deputy Foreign Minister Mazen Shamiyah discussed the current state and prospects of development of the Uzbek-Palestinian relations, the Uzbek Foreign Ministrys press service said in a message Apr. 25.

The sides also discussed the aspects of cooperation within the UN, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other organizations, according to the message.

During the meeting, the sides also discussed topical issues of bilateral Uzbek-Palestinian relations, and exchanged views on international and regional issues.

Palestines Ambassador in Uzbekistan Mohammad Tarshahani also attended the meeting.

The Palestinian delegation is also expected to hold meetings in the parliament and several ministries of Uzbekistan.
Texana

Texana Center officials said they were delighted that the City of Fulshear recognized April as National Autism Awareness Month with a proclamation at its council meeting.

The first National Autism Awareness Month was declared by the Autism Society in April 1970. The aim of this month is educate the public about autism. Autism is a complex mental condition and developmental disability, characterized by difficulties in the way a person communicates and interacts with other people. Autism can be present from birth or from early childhood (typically within the first three years). Autism is a lifelong developmental disability with no single known cause.
In what appears to be a turn of events over what many feared were plans to develop part of Jones State Forest, the local lawmaker sponsoring the bill said new wording in the bill will instead protect the forest from development.

The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to hear testimony Wednesday on Senate Bill 1964, the controversial bill introduced by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-The Woodlands, last month that had sparked outrage over fears that it would bring development to the forest.

In its original wording, the bill would have allowed building for "educational purposes" in up to 10 percent of the 1,722-acre property along FM 1488 and Texas 24. The pristine forest is owned and operated by the Texas A&M University system, leading some to fear the bill was really a scheme to build a new Texas A&M campus.

But Creighton, facing a firestorm of protest since he first introduced the bill in early March, is pledging to change the language in the bill. He had previously promised to remove the word "commercial" from the bill, then over the weekend introduced entirely new wording.

But the new terminology, which would still have to make it out of the committee intact, doesn't yet satisfy representatives of SaveJonesStateForest, nor does it provide assurances to the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Texas chapter of the nationwide environmental organization.

After a meeting with representatives of SaveJonesStateForest, a grassroots group that sprouted up to oppose the bill, Creighton promised in a Facebook post that the wording in the original bill would be replaced with "substitute language" that will protect 100 percent of the forest.

"The entire territory of the Jones State Forest must remain natural, scenic, undeveloped and open," Creighton's new proposed wording reads.

When asked by The Courier to confirm the new language would mean there would be no development anywhere in the forest, Creighton responded, "That's absolutely correct."

Representatives of SaveJonesStateForest and the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, say they are wary about any legislation involving the forest, while also wondering why any bill is even necessary.

"Initially we were optimistic about some of senator's wording and new language," Amy Coffman-Welton, a member of the steering committee of SaveJonesStateForest," told The Courier. "But we really walked away from that meeting feeling like maybe he just wanted to meet with us so he could say that he did."

Coffman-Welton and her group questions the need for any legislation involving the forest, while also arguing the state park would be better protected by having no bill move forward at all. They also say there's been a lack of transparency in the matter, which has ignited a sense of distrust over the whole affair -- sentiments shared by the Sierra Club.

"It's hard to trust when you don't know why in the world it's being proposed," Evelyn Merz, conservation chair for Sierra Club chapter, said.

Merz says representatives of her group, who are not affiliated with SaveJonesStateForest, but are united in their opposition to any development in the park, will be at Wednesday's committee meeting urging lawmakers to simply withdraw the bill. Members of SaveJonesStateForest are driving to Austin to be at the meeting as well.

For his part, Creighton acknowledges the distrust in government, blaming it more on the federal government, rather than Texas government officials. He insists the changes in the bill's language come after the overwhelming response from the community.

"The amended language is consistent what the district wants," Creighton said.

SB 1964 is scheduled to be heard at 9 a.m. Wednesday, although bills can be brought up in a different order than they are listed on the agenda.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25



By Fatih Karimov  Trend:



Exports of Irans minerals and mineral industry products increased by 17 percent during the last fiscal year (ended March 20), in terms of value compared to the preceding year.



Iran exported over $7 billion worth of minerals and mineral industry products during the mentioned period, the countrys industry, mines and trade ministrys official SHATA news portal reported Apr. 25.



The volume of the exports reached 57.648 million tons in the 12-month period, 38 percent more year-on-year.



The main exported goods were steel products(6.6 million tons, worth $2.699 billion), followed by copper, aluminium, cement, lead, zing, coal, iron, chromium, molybdenum, titanium, mica, nickel, decorative stones and antimony.



Iran also imported 5.892 million tons of mineral products, worth $3.743 billion in last fiscal year, registering a fall by 26 and 17 percent in terms of volume and value respectively.



Steel products were the main imported goods in mineral sector in last fiscal year. The Islamic Republic imported 4.016 million tons of steel products, worth $2.533 billion in the period.






Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 24

By Dalga Khatinoglu  Trend:

Irans oil revenues from March 2013 to March 2017, which covers Hassan Rouhanis presidency, have reached $157 billion, said Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, head of Management and Planning Organization of Iran, Fars news agency reported Apr. 24.

He said the volume was $251 billion from March 2009 to March 2013, which covers the second term of Mahmoud Ahmadinejads presidency.

He added that the oil price plunged from $104 to $44 during last four years.

Before imposition of sanctions on Iran in 2012, the country was exporting 2.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) of oil and gas condensate, but the figure halved due to the sanctions.

The sanctions on Iran were removed in January 2016, which led to an increase in oil and gas exports to 2.65 mb/d, but the oil price last year was over two times less than in 2012.

According to OPECs annual statistics, Irans total oil export revenue in 2015 was $27.3 billion, compared to $53.652 billion in 2014, about $61.923 billion in 2013 and $101.468 billion in 2012.

The figure for 2011 was $114.751 billion.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25



By Fatih Karimov  Trend:



Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the US of fighting Islam.



He made the remarks addressing a group of Iranian officials and ambassadors of Islamic countries Apr. 25 in Tehran, the official website

of the leader reported.



When the Islamic Republic emerged, enemies of the human societies started to fight with Islam, Khamenei said, adding that, Islam has the

capability to prevent injustice against humanity.



Today, the US and Israel are leading this enmity, Khamenei said.



Elsewhere in his remarks, Khamenei touched upon the upcoming presidential election in Iran, advising the candidates to promise people

that for the progress of the country, economic development and removing the problems they would rely on the Iranian nation, on foreigners.



Irans presidential election will be held in May 19, in which reformist-backed cleric Hassan Rouhani is seeking reelection.



Besides Rouhani, Vice President Eshag Jahangiri, the custodian of Razavi holy shrine Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, Mayor of Tehran Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, former culture minister, Seyed Mostafa Agha Mirsalim and reformist politician Mostafa Hashemi-Taba were the only qualified among more than a thousand candidates.



Conservatives support Raeisi and Ghalibaf.






Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25



By Fatih Karimov  Trend:



The seventh meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) started in Vienna, Austria, Apr. 25.



The regular meeting of the commission is co-chaired on behalf of EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, by Secretary-General of the European External Action Service Helga Maria Schmid, and Irans Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi, Fars news agency reported.



Delegations from the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, United States) and Iran attending the session, in which the implementation of the nuclear deal signed in 2015 and possible obstacles will be discussed.



Iranian delegation is headed by the deputies foreign minister Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht Ravanchi.



The Iranian diplomats, who arrived in Vienna Apr. 24, have already held bilateral meetings by representatives of Russia, China and France.



On Apr. 24, Araqchi also met with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano.



The sixth meeting of the commission was held in Vienna in January and the participants emphasized the need for all relevant parties to honor their obligations under the JCPOA.



In a press release that was issued after the meeting, the Joint Commission said that all sides reaffirmed their strong commitment to continue full and effective implementation of the JCPOA.



Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.



Under the agreement, limits were put on Irans nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 24

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has supported the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and welcomed all diplomatic efforts and initiatives, including of the OSCE, for the conflicts settlement, OIC Secretary General Yusuf bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen told Trend.

"The OIC is also in close contact with regional and international stakeholders, and has recently established a Contact Group to deal more practically and constructively with the issue and hopefully come up with new ways for a peaceful settlement of the conflict," he said.

"In accordance with the OIC basic documents like its Charter, OIC-2025: Program of Action and related resolutions and decisions, all OIC member states shall settle their disputes through peaceful means and refrain from the use or threat of use of force in their relations. The same peaceful approach has also been reiterated for resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," said the OIC secretary general.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been on the OIC agenda since 1992, according to him.

"The OIC has strongly condemned the Armenian aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan and maintained the position that the Armenian forces should be withdrawn from all occupied Azerbaijani territories immediately, unconditionally and completely," Yusuf bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen said.

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.
A man living in the crawl space above a public toilet has been arrested in Japan. But this was no cramped area: it's 92 square meters, or 990 square feet, roughly the same size as this San Francisco condo currently on sale for $995,000.

Takashi Yamanouchi, 54, had apparently been living in these relatively spacious quarters above the bathroom in a city park in the small city of Usuki for the past 3 years. He wasn't the first to find the roomy digs, but told The Mainichi that he moved in only after another squatter had moved out.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

Three Turkish servicemen were killed during an operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group in the southeastern province of Sirnak, Turkeys General Staff said in a message posted on its website Apr. 25.

The message also said one Turkish serviceman was killed, while another was injured in an operation in the Kars province as a result of the explosion of a homemade mine.

Over a month, more than 10 Turkish servicemen were killed during operations.

The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for more than 30 years and has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

The UN and the European Union list the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Local News, Crime, Business & Finance, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 25 2017

Defendants Are Alleged To Have Fraudulently Obtained Short-Sale Discounts And Loans By Submitting False Information To Mortgage Companies.

New York, NY - April 25, 2017 - New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, together with Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, today announced that nine individuals have been variously charged with money laundering, mortgage fraud, grand larceny, conspiracy, and other charges related to their participation in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders that spanned two New York City boroughs and resulted in over $1 million in ill-gotten mortgage loans.

Attorney General Schneiderman said, Our investigation uncovered a brazen and elaborate scheme to defraud mortgage lenders and steal over one million dollars. We have zero tolerance for anyone who tries to cheat the system  and we wont hesitate to bring them to justice. I thank the Acting District Attorney for his partnership on this case.

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, These defendantsamong them a disbarred attorney, a tax preparer, a loan originator, and a New York City investigatorallegedly engaged in an elaborate scheme to manipulate the mortgage process by using lies, sham companies and fake documents to steal millions of dollars from lending institutions. Those who wish to profit from fraudulent and criminally dishonest business practices in Brooklyn will be fully investigated and prosecuted and we thank the New York State Attorney Generals Office for their diligence and hard work on this case.

The defendants are Janelle Defreitas, 37, of Uniondale , Long Island; Raymond McKayle, 53, of East Flatbush, New York; Lester Wayne Mackey, 63, of Wyandanch , New York; Darren Downes, 36, of Baldwin , New York; Jaipaul Persaud, 54, of Fresh Meadows, New York; Roxanne Harmon, 51, of Jamaica, New York; June Whyte, 54, of Ozone Park, New York; Rickley Gregoire, 33, of Brooklyn, New York; and Paula Blackwood-Sambury, 50, of Cambria Heights, New York. The defendants were variously charged with money laundering, grand larceny, residential mortgage fraud, offering false instruments for filing, conspiracy, and related charges before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun.

According to the indictment, from 2012 to 2015, defendants Defreitas, McKayle, Mackey, and Persaud allegedly engaged in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders and steal mortgage proceeds. In the course of the scheme, the defendants allegedly used sham corporations to acquire title to four properties in Brooklyn and Queens, and then conspired with defendants Downes, Harmon, Whyte, Gregoire, and Blackwood-Sambury to obtain mortgages to buy the properties in manufactured resales. The defendants are alleged to have concealed the fact that the buyers couldnt afford the homes by submitting fraudulent mortgage applications showing grossly inflated incomes from fake jobs, bank accounts with fabricated balances and other false information.

According to the investigation, Defreitas acquired title to properties located at 546 Chauncey Street in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn; 158 Tompkins Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn; 85-17 Sutter Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens; and 115-87 223rd in Cambria Heights, Queens, through shell corporations that included West North Capital, Inc., Housing Enhancement and Lifetime Planning (HELP), and others. Defreitas allegedly used defendants Downes, Whyte, Gregoire and Blackwood-Sambury to purchase the acquired real estate from Defreitas and her companies at significantly higher prices. To facilitate the sales, it is alleged that McKayle, a licensed mortgage loan originator, would direct Defreitas on how to alter and falsify material information in loan applications so that unqualified buyers would be approved for loans they could not afford.

According to the indictment, Persaud, a tax preparer, helped Defreitas establish sham corporations and then prepared fake pay stubs and W-2 statements purporting to show that the buyers worked for  and were paid by  the sham companies. In at least one instance, Persaud also allegedly altered income documents from a legitimate employer to show inflated earnings. McKayle, a mortgage loan originator, is alleged to have knowingly submitted the false and fraudulent applications and supporting documents to unsuspecting mortgage companies. It is also alleged that Mackey, a disbarred attorney, falsely represented that he had received the down payments that buyers were required to make; in fact, in some instances, the supposed down payments were provided by Defreitas, which Mackey sometimes helped to conceal by depositing checks into his attorney escrow account and then returning the funds to Defreitas. Mackey is also alleged to have represented Defreitas or the defendant buyers at the closings for most of the fraudulent real estate transactions.

In certain instances, it is alleged, the defendants would acquire properties via a short-salean option available for property owners who are unable to afford their mortgage payments and cannot sell the home for enough money to repay the mortgage. According to the investigation, Harmon, who is an investigator for the New York City Department of Investigation, owed approximately $512,000 on her mortgaged property at 85-17 Sutter Avenue. Harmon and Defreitas allegedly conspired to fraudulently apply for a short-sale via Harmons mortgage holder. Defreitas concealed her involvement by purporting to represent Harmon through one of the shell companies. Eventually, based on Harmons supposed hardship, the mortgage company agreed to a $100,000 short sale to West North Capital  which was also owned by Defreitas. As a result of misrepresentations made by Harmon and Defreitas to the mortgage company, Harmons debt was reduced by approximately $412,000, and Defreitas owned the property without a mortgage lien. A few months later, Defreitas and McKayle submitted a fraudulent mortgage application so that defendant June Whyte, Harmons sister-in-law, could buy the property from West North Capital. Whytes fraudulent application, including fake paystubs and W-2 statements created by Persaud, was approved and West North  and Defreitas  collected almost $400,000 in mortgage loan proceeds.

The investigation originated from a 2014 complaint to the Brooklyn District Attorneys Real Estate Fraud Unit, as well as an automobile insurance fraud case handled by the New York State Attorney Generals Office involving Defreitas and Downes, for which Downes is currently incarcerated. It culminated in a joint investigation and prosecution of the mortgage fraud allegations by the Brooklyn District Attorneys Frauds Bureau and the Real Estate Enforcement Unit of the Attorney Generals Criminal Division.

The charges against the defendants are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Attorney General and the Acting District Attorney thank the Department of Investigation, the New York City Office of the Sheriff, and the New York City Department of Finance, the New York State Department of State, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for their help in this investigation.

The case was investigated by Detective Investigator John Rodriguez, under the supervision of Jim Fenrich, Supervising Detective Investigator, and William Pettie, Deputy Chief Investigator, of the District Attorneys Investigations Bureau and Investigator Steven Pratt under the supervision of Supervising Investigator Sylvia Rivera, Deputy Chief Investigator John McManus and Chief Investigator Dominick Zarrella, of the New York State Attorney Generals Office Investigations Bureau.

The case was also investigated by former Forensic Auditor Matthew Croghan and Forensic Auditor Kristina Kojamanian of the Forensic Audit Section, under the supervision of Chief Edward J. Keegan Jr. and Deputy Chief Sandy Bizzarro.

The case is being jointly prosecuted by the New York State Attorney Generals Office and the Brooklyn District Attorneys Office. The case is being handled by Assistant District Attorney Liz Kurtz, of the District Attorneys Frauds Bureau and Assistant Attorney General Scott Mendelsohn, of the Attorney Generals Real Estate Enforcement Unit, who is cross-designated as an Assistant District Attorney in the Investigations Division, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Felice Sontupe, Chief of the District Attorneys Frauds Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Richard Farrell, Chief of the Real Estate Fraud Unit, under the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief of the District Attorneys Investigations Division.
Former Priest Charged With Sex Crimes, According to Suffolk DA Spota

Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 25 2017

Augusto Cortez, 53, is a registered sex offender having been convicted of forcible touching in Brooklyn in 2009.

Riverhead, NY - April 25, 2017 - A defrocked priest who fled to South America in 2014 to avoid arrest for allegedly sexually abusing a female juvenile on the east end pleaded not guilty on Monday, April 24 at his arraignment before Judge Barbara Kahn in A defrocked priest who fled to South America in 2014 to avoid arrest for allegedly sexually abusing a female juvenile on the east end pleaded not guilty on Monday, April 24 at his arraignment before Judge Barbara Kahn in Riverhead , Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

Augusto Cortez, 53, pleaded not guilty to the three charges in the indictment; Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

The court remanded the defendant without bail and set a return date of May 15. A temporary order of protection was issued for the victim.

Cortez is a registered sex offender having been convicted of forcible touching in Brooklyn in 2009. District Attorney Spota said the crimes alleged in the indictment occurred in June of 2014 and Cortez was indicted by a grand jury in October of that year.

Southampton Town police arrested the defendant April 22 when he was returned to the US from Guatemala.
Tech & Science, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 25 2017

With Trump Announcing Big Cuts, Advocates Press Senator Schumer to Take Bold Action.

Melville, NY - April 25, 2017 - Dozens of community members and environmental activists rallied outside Senator Chuck Schumer's Dozens of community members and environmental activists rallied outside Senator Chuck Schumer's Melville office on Tuesday, calling on him to lead the Senate Democrats in resisting the White House plan to slash the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Donald Trump proposes to cut the EPA's budget by 31 percent, which the groups said would have serious effects on Long Island. Activists and residents at the rally said that such radical cuts would impact to Long Island communities, including the elimination of programs to combat climate change, clean up hazardous waste, and protect water quality.

We are sending a clear message to Donald Trump: Long Islanders reject his budget and his vision for the country, said Eric Weltman, senior organizer at Food & Water Watch. This rally puts Senator Schumer on notice too; we expect him to resist any cuts to the EPAs budget.

Such drastic cuts to the EPA will greatly endanger, not protect, American citizens," said Lisa Oldendorp of Move Forward Long Island. "These cuts will result in increased pollution to our environment, drastically increasing our health risks. Congress and the President need to increase, not decrease, environmental protections.

"We stand up with the EPA and institutions that protect our citizens from those who would destroy our environment for profit or convenience," said George Povall, Director of All Our Energy. "Business and governance models that steal a clean and livable environment from citizens and future generations, and pit their welfare against the public's, are failures, and should fall as such."

Few things are as important to Long Islanders as the EPA. Reducing funding for it is counter to what we need most, clean ups of the damage done in the past, and protection from future degradation, said Jane Fasullo of the Sierra Club Long Island Group.

We need our environmental protections--for our children's safety and future, for our future generations, for all species. We need to save the EPA and strengthen it. It must not be defunded or dismantled, said Dr. Heidi Hutner, ATLI Environmental Committee. We demand that our New York representatives fight for the rights of Mother Earth. She gives us all life and we must respect her and give back. We have abused her for too long.

Now is the time to step up the fight for the future we want for our grandchildren. Some day they will wonder what we did at this crucial moment in history to halt the existential threat of climate change and to demand that access to clean air and clean water is a fundamental right, said Halle Brenner-Perles of Show Up Long Island. We need to be able to tell them that we joined with others from around the country and the world to exclaim that the earth needs our protection. We'll tell them that we fought for a sustainable and just future for them and those to follow.

Americans deserve to know that we are safe when drinking water in our homes or playing with our families at the beach, and these budget cuts will not allow the EPA to meet its mission of protecting our health or a clean environment," said Mara Dias, Water Quality Manager, Surfrider Foundation. "We are calling on Senator Schumer and all members of Congress to reject the crippling budget cuts that are being proposed by the Trump administration.

"Now more than ever, we are called upon to be shomrei adama - safekeepers of the Earth. Time is running out for humanity to honor its covenantal obligation to preserve and protect our planet as a beautiful, sustainable home for all its inhabitants," said Cantor Eric Schulmiller of the Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore.
Local News, Business & Finance, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 25 2017

The surplus is primarily due to $105.8 million in borrowing approved by the Nassau County Legislature and the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority.

Nassau County, NY - April 25, 2017 - Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos released the 2016 unaudited fiscal results today and reported that the County is expected to end the year with a $38 million surplus in the primary operating funds based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The surplus is primarily due to $105.8 million in borrowing approved by the Nassau County Legislature and the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority (NIFA). On a budgetary basis, the County is likely to end with a surplus of $39.6 million. However, if other financing sources are excluded under the method prescribed by NIFA, the County should end with a negative result of $72.9 million.

Table 1 summarizes the major variances to the 2016 adopted budget. The recurring revenues were lower than budgeted by $82.2 million and recurring expenses were lower by $36.4 million. The resulting $45.8 million negative variance was reduced by $72.6 million in one-shot revenue items, $22.8 million in one-shot lower expense items and $62.0 million of operating expenses paid with borrowings, resulting in a potential $111.6 million budgetary surplus. However, after $72 million in expense transfers to non-primary funds, the year-ending budgetary and GAAP results are reduced to $39.6 million and $38.0 million, respectively.

Of the $72 million expense fund transfers, $43.8 million from debt service savings generated by bond premium, to be used for claims and judgments as required by NIFA, has already been approved by the Legislature and $28.2 million is pending legislative approval. These transfers are intended to pay future expenses such as litigation, bond indebtedness and Police District termination pay.

Without the $72 million in expenditure transfers, the Countys 2016 year-end results would have increased to a $110 million surplus on a GAAP basis, $111.6 million on a budgetary basis and would decrease to a negative $0.9 million under the NIFA presentation. Additionally, if $21.1 million accrued in the budgetary results (see Table 1 footnotes) for unpaid property tax refunds is reversed after ongoing analysis of GAAP rules, the year-end results would further improve to a $131.1 million surplus on a GAAP basis, $132.7 million surplus on a budgetary basis and to a positive $20.2 million on a NIFA presentation basis.

As a result of the $39.6 budgetary surplus after the $72 million in fund transfers, the unreserved fund balance in the primary funds would grow from $163.1 million to $202.7 million, as shown in Table 3. Without the transfers, the unreserved fund balance would grow to $274.7 million, and without the $21.1 million property tax refund accrual, the fund balance would increase further to $295.8 million.

The Structural Gap shown in Table 2, based on the $39.6 million budgetary surplus, will improve from the prior year, from negative $141.8 million to negative $45.5 million. Similarly, the NIFA presentation will improve from negative $125.3 million to negative $72.9 million.

The total outstanding long-term debt of the County and its component units will remain flat at $3.63 billion compared to 2015. Although the County issued $533.1 million in new debt, it was offset by maturities, refinancing, and debt defeasance. Of the total long-term debt, $462.4 million debt of the Nassau County Tobacco Settlement Corporation is non-recourse to the Nassau County.

However, the remaining recourse debt of the County does not include an additional estimated $759.2 million of other liabilities or potential liabilities; including $232.6 million owed to New York State Retirement Systems from the Countys continuing election to defer a portion of its annual pension contribution expense, $313.6 million in estimated property tax certiorari liability, and approximately $213 million of potential liability from certain utility litigation cases dating back as far as the 1990s. The County is still making legal arguments and negotiating to reduce this utility liability.

While on the surface, the County financials appear to have improved, the Administration continued to rely on unnecessary borrowing, said Comptroller George Maragos. Nevertheless, the fund balance will increase, the structural gap will narrow and the NIFA presentation results will fall below guidelines. I urge the County Legislature to use the growing fund balance to restore bus services, increase funding for youth services, reduce fees and lower property taxes, especially for seniors and veterans. There is no need for the County to maintain potentially over $274 million in fund balances.
Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 25 2017

Jay Marcello, 25, stands accused of inappropriately touching 14-year-old campers between July and August 2016.

Melville, NY - April 25, 2017 - Suffolk County Police on Monday, April 24, 2017 at 7 a.m. arrested a Suffolk County Police on Monday, April 24, 2017 at 7 a.m. arrested a Kenwal Day Camp counselor after he endangered the welfare of campers last summer and disseminated indecent material to minors.

Following an investigation by Computer Crimes Unit detectives, the FBI Long Island Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office, Jay Marcello was arrested for having inappropriate verbal conversations with campers of various ages and inappropriately touching 14-year-old campers between July and August 2016. Marcello has been employed as a camp counselor at the camp, located at 100 Drexel Ave. in Melville , for the past seven years. Marcello was arrested at Sand Hill Road and Wantagh Avenue in Wantagh at 7 a.m. as he was driving to Nassau County BOCES Rosemary Kennedy Center in Wantagh where he is employed as a substitute teaching assistant.

This investigation was launched after the October 2016 indictment of Keith Meyn , an employee of Kenwal Day Camp. Meyn was charged with Criminal Sexual Act 1st Degree, Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance as a Sexually Motivated Felony, Sexual Abuse 1st Degree, Endangering the Welfare of a Child and 100 counts of Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child.

Marcello, 25, of Wantagh, was charged with eight counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, two counts of Sex Abuse 3rd Degree and one count of Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors 1st Degree, a felony. He will be held overnight at the Second Precinct for arraignment tomorrow at First District Court in Central Islip

The investigation is continuing and detectives believe there may be additional victims. Anyone who may be a victim or have information about this case is asked to call the Computer Crimes Unit at 631-852-6279. All calls will be kept confidential.
Threat Phoned into Herricks Middle School; Nassau Police Called to Scene to Investigate

Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 25 2017

Both Middle and High School searched by authorities; schools declared safe after search, officials say.

NCPD are investigating an Unusual Incident that occurred in the Herricks School District on Tuesday, April 25.

Albertson, NY - April 25, 2017 - The Nassau County Police Department is investigating an Unusual Incident that occurred in the Herricks School District on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 1:00 pm.

According to police, 911 received a call threatening to harm students at the Herricks Middle School- 7 Hilldale Drive, Albertson . Bureau of Special Operations Officers along with Third Precinct Officers searched the Herricks Middle School in addition to the Herricks High School  100 Shelter Rock Road, New Hyde Park and deemed both schools safe.

During the search both schools were on lockdown. The schools ended the lockdown and dismissed students.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the U.N. Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on North Korea as concerns mount that it may test a sixth nuclear bomb as early as Tuesday, Reuters reported.

"The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable," Trump told a meeting with the 15 U.N. Security Council ambassadors, including China and Russia, at the White House. "The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs."

"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem and it's a problem that we have to finally solve," he said. People put blindfolds on for decades and now its time to solve the problem.

U.S. officials have told Reuters tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, banning North Korea's airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks and other foreign doing business with Pyongyang.

The State Department said U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would chair a special ministerial meeting of the Security Council on North Korea on Friday to discuss ways to maximize the impact of existing sanctions and show "resolve to respond to further provocations with appropriate new measures".

Tillerson and U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will also hold a rare briefing on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday for the entire U.S. Senate, Senate aides said.

Administration officials routinely travel to Congress to address lawmakers but it is unusual for the entire 100-member Senate to go to such an event at the White House, and for those four top officials to be involved.

The White House said Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the "urgent security challenge" posed by North Korea in a phone call on Monday.

In an earlier phone conversation with Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all sides to exercise restraint, as Japan conducted exercises with a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group headed for Korean waters.
Mexicos Interior Ministry put nine states on alert Monday when it was discovered that an unknown amount of iridium, a dangerous nuclear substance thats used inside medical equipment, had been stolen in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco state, Sputnik reported.

Reportedly taken from the back of a white Nissan pickup truck on Sunday, the material was inside of industrial X-ray equipment, and the ministry released a statement saying, "This was industrial equipment that included Iridium-192 which can be dangerous for people if it is taken out of its container."

"This source could cause permanent injuries to the person who handles it or who has been in contact with it for a brief time (minutes or hours)  Being close to this quantity of unprotected radioactive material for hours or days could be fatal," the statement added, according to the Telegraph.

A warning was issued for the states of Zacatecas, Jalisco, Nayarit, Durango Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, Michoacan, San Luis Potosi, and Colima. The theft was reported by Tecnologia No Destructiva, SA de CV, the company that handles the equipment.

Nuclear material theft has occurred at least seven times in Mexico since 2013. A truck full of highly radioactive cobalt-60 was stolen in December 2013 by thieves who werent aware of the vehicles contents.

After the substance was found several suspects were arrested and hospitalized.

National Nuclear Safety and Safeguards Commission Director Juan Eibenschutz told the Milenio television network at the time that it was "absolutely certain that whoever removed this material by hand is either already dead or about to die  It would probably be fatal to be close to this amount of unshielded radioactive material for a period in the range of a few minutes to an hour," according to RT.

Authorities are telling people to contact local law enforcement if they locate the material, and to stay at least 30 yards away from the substance. Exposure to iridium can can be injurious, but if the left in the container it poses no danger.

Luis Felipe Puente, National Coordinator of the Interior Ministry, tweeted that if people encounter the container, "dont open it."
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.
The Council of Europes decision to monitor Turkey was condemned as a disgrace by the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, Anadolu reported.

The councils parliamentary assembly announced that it was placing Turkey on a political monitoring watch list earlier Tuesday following an investigation into the countrys democratic institutions.

The assembly adopted the recommendations of observers by 113 votes to 45, with 12 abstentions.

In a statement, the ministry said the decision to re-impose monitoring under the guidance of malicious circles is a disgrace to this organ, which claims to be the cradle of democracy.

It was the second time Turkey had been placed under monitoring, having previously been monitored from 1996 to 2004.

We strongly condemn this unjust decision of PACE [the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe], taken with political motives in contravention of the established procedures, the ministry said.

The statement went on to outline the threats Turkey faced from terrorism.

Our country is simultaneously countering the most brutal terrorist organizations, such as PKK, FETO [Fetullah Terrorist Organization] and Daesh, it said.

While adhering to our international commitments, we take necessary and proportionate measures against the dangers targeting our constitutional order and the survival of our nation.

This constitutes the most fundamental obligation and legitimate right of a state."

EU Minister Omer Celik also condemned the decision, calling it "unfair" and "wrong".

"This is a historic mistake both for the Council of Europe, and PACE," Celik told Anadolu Agency and state-broadcaster TRT reporters in Ankara.

"Instead of producing any kind of solidarity, they, unfortunately, came up with an unfair approach towards Turkish democracy, which keeps the freedom-security balance under very difficult circumstances," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus also lashed out at the decision, urging the Council of Europe to take steps towards fixing it.

"This, unfortunately, is seen as a result of a gradually growing racist, fascist, anti-Turkish, anti-Islam, and anti-Turkey campaign. It is a completely political decision. It does not fit any reality," Kurtulmus told a news conference.

On March 8, the assemblys Monitoring Committee called for the monitoring procedure to be re-opened to strengthen co-operation with the Turkish authorities and all forces in the country and thus ensure respect for fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and democracy.

In a statement, the committee noted a serious deterioration of the functioning of democratic institutions following last Julys coup attempt.

It highlighted disproportionate measures such as the dismissal of thousands of civil servants and violations of media freedom, as well as the earlier lifting of lawmakers immunity.
New Delhi : The government has taken as a "challenge" the killing of CRPF personnel by Naxals in Sukma in Chhattisgarh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today and vowed that "no one will be spared". He said he would possibly go to Sukma tomorrow. "It is a very sad and unfortunate incident... We have taken the attack as a challenge," Singh told reporters here.

Later, in Mandla in Madhya Pradesh, he said the incident was "very painful" and "No one will be spared." He said he would be talking to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. "I have already asked Union Minister of State for Home, Hansraj Ahir to leave for Sukma," Rajnath Singh said. Earlier, Singh had asked Ahir to travel to Chhattisgarh to take stock of the situation.

"Extremely pained to know about the killing of CRPF personnel in Sukma. My tributes to the martyrs and condolences to their families," Singh tweeted. At least 26 CRPF personnel were killed and six wounded in Sukma district today, the deadliest attack by Naxalites targeting security forces this year. PTI
Turkey has condemned an attack which killed at least 25 Indian paramilitary soldiers in the country's Chhattisgarh state on Monday, Anadolu reported.

"It has been learned with great sorrow that 25 security officers were killed and six were wounded in a terrorist attack," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website Tuesday.

The ministry called the attack "heinous".

"We convey our condolences to the friendly people and government of India and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded," it added.

According to local media and Indian security sources, the attack was carried out by Maoist rebels in Indias central state.

All personnel belonged to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), India's largest paramilitary force. The incident took place at around noon in the Sukma district, some 941 kilometers (585 miles) from the capital, New Delhi.

The personnel had been deployed to provide security to workers building roads in the dense forest region near the village of Kottacheru, according to police.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the killings as "cowardly and deplorable".

"We are proud of the valor of our CRPF personnel. The sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain." Modi tweeted.

The Maoist rebels have been fighting for more than three decades in eastern and central India for what they describe as the rights of tribal people in the region.

In March, 12 CRPF personnel also lost their lives in an alleged Maoist attack in the same district.
Four years ago the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,100 people. Working conditions have improved since then, but wages have not. Maria Zimmerman reports from Dhaka.

It is late afternoon as Ashik and his wife Rahinur put long pieces of wood in the fire pit. As has been the case for weeks, todays meal will just consist of rice and a little bit of dried fish. Their son, Himel, is five years old and he is sick. His kidneys have been bothering him for weeks. His parents say they dont think he is getting adequate nutrition. But the family does not have enough money to visit a doctor. They have been living without any income for the last four months.

Ashik and Rahinur were factory workers in Ashulia, a suburb of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Ashik folded the sweaters and pants that Rahinur sewed. Clothing that would later be sold to European clothing chains like H&M and Zara. If they worked overtime, meaning they were in the factory for 14 hours a day, they earned about 180 euros ($193) between the two of them. National minimum wage in Bangladesh is 35 euros per month.

It was very hard work, says Ashik. When we gothome we were very, very tired and exhausted. The money was just enough to cover food and rent, but they could not afford health insurance.Aslik and Rahinur hoped that if they saved a little they would one day be able to buy a television.

Ashik with his son. The family can only afford to live on rice and some dried fish.

If you strike, you lose you job

In December 2016, Ashik and Rahinur took to the street to protest for better wages. The strike shut down 55 factories for a week. That was when the police stepped in and ended it. A short time later there was a knock at Ashik and Rahinurs door. Three police officers arrested Ashik, a union member, and threw him in jail for two months. Another 1,500 workers lost their jobs as a result of the strike, and 35 union members were jailed. Now their names are on a blacklist and they cannot find work.

Some 3.5 million people are estimated to be working in Bangladeshs textile industry. Less than five percent of them are in organized unions. They were unable to get pay raises with their protest last December. The unions are weak and employers are strong and influential. Factory owners say that if workers want more money foreign customers will simply move production to countries where labor is cheaper, such as Ethiopia.

After the strike, the President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Siddiqur Rahman, said that the government had already raised wages in 2013. Now about 61 euros per month, Rahman said that another increase would not be possible for at least five years, if ever.

Textile industry boom

The government in Dhaka supports the regulation of the minimum wage. Their number one priority is the economic development of the country, and the textile industry is Bangladeshs most important business sector. Every eighth Bangladeshi is directly or indirectly dependent upon the textile industry. The boom that the sector has experienced has helped the country, which is still one of the poorest in the world, achieve the United Nations Millennium Development goals. Bangladesh is a success story among the worlds least developed nations, and it intends to continue that success by meeting the sustainable development goals of the Agenda 2030.

In order to keep the country from achieving its success on the backs of hardworking factory workers, Franziska Korn of Germanys Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) offices in Bangladesh says that international fashion labels must use their power. They should make a stand for a living wage and the freedom to organize, says Korn.

Ashik (left) is fighting for fair wages.

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation has started a trainee program for union organizers called the Academy of Labor, which educates young activists for three months at Bangladeshs Brac University. In the longterm, the academy is designed to strengthen unions and facilitate dialog between them and employers associations, as Michael Sommer, deputy chairman of the FES and longtime head of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), told Deutsche Welle.

Safe working conditions

Working conditions for textile workers in Bangladesh have greatly improved since the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory killed 1,100 people in 2013. International unions and textile producers came together to sign an agreement on fire and factory safety in order to make textile factories in Bangladesh safe work spaces. Since the agreement was signed in 2013, some 1,600 safety and fire control deficiencies have been identified and rectified. According to the agreements initiators, 77 percent of all safety deficiencies have been resolved and 400 factories have been certified as safe workplaces. The rest of the countrys factories plan onbeing certified by 2018.

More than 1,100 factory workers were killed when the building collapsed in 2013.

The agreement was an important milestone for Bangladesh, says Franziska Korn. It has created a heretofore unknown level of transparency concerning conditions in Bangladeshi factories. Yet, whereas the founding organizations are focused on extending the agreement beyond 2018, the Bangladeshi government has voiced opposition to an extension.

When the Rana Plaza factory collapsed, Ashik immediately rushed to the scene to help free workers from the rubble. It was an experience that he says he can never forget. The collapse made it possible for us to go to workplaces that wont kill us, he says. Now we need jobs that allow us to live like human beings, with dignity. Jobs that allow us to fill our stomachs, to have a roof over our head and where we dont fall over with exhaustion at the end of the day.




MARTINSVILLE  The Interfaith Council of Martinsville/Henry County will hold the interfaith dialogue American Heritage of Religious Freedom from 1-2 p.m. Thursday at Patrick Henry Community College in the Frith Building.

The Interfaith Councils goal is to promote understanding and communication in the interest of peace. The council members works to share with the community more about their religious heritage, diversity and the common values that all people share.

We try to do a lot of things, one of which is just to try to understand each other a little bit, said Khalil Shadeed, who will be the forums moderator.

Shadeed is a member of the Interfaith Council of Suburban Maryland, the founder and former president of the Islamic Society of Prince George County, the producer of the television program The Scholars Chair and the president of Read1 Communications.

A Martinsville native, Shadeed still returns home regularly to visit friends and family, including his parents Barbara Jean and Raymond Lee Staples Jr. of Fieldale, he said.

Martinsville not only gave me my birth but also my religion, he said. My father gave me the first Quran I ever read.

He was born and raised in Henry County. He is a 1972 graduate of George Washington Carver High School, and he has a bachelors degree in graphic design from Norfolk State University. He has spent his career in Northern Virginia and the Washington D.C. area for 30 years, he said.

The speakers will be the Rev. Kameron Wilds of Smith Memorial United Methodist Church; the Rev. Lynn Bechdolt, a retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; Martha Woody, of the Jewish faith; and Imam James Shabazz of the Martinsville Center for Al-Islam.

The forum is about in its 10th year, Shadeed estimated.

Were going to open the discussion up with the historical piece: How is it that religious freedom has fared since the founding of the country (and even) before the founding of the country.  Opposition to religious freedom was challenged when the United States was formed and has continued to be challenged since, he said.

Thomas Jefferson had the foresight to include people of all religions fairly in the United States, he said, referring to the book Thomas Jeffersons Quran: Islam and the Founders by Dr. Denise Spellberg. Jefferson thought of Muslims and Jews as potential citizens before he wrote the Declaration of Independence.

He used to say that neither Pagan nor Mohammedans nor Jews ought to be excluded from the civil rights of the commonwealth because of their religion. That was a very powerful idea back in 1776.

Religious freedom is something that everyone appreciates, but again, year after year, people have to revisit it to counteract the way some political interests or economic interests  paint some group as a boogeyman, Shadeed said.

An early group to be unfairly targeted were Catholics, in the 17th century, he said. People had a real hard time with Catholics holding political office.

Negative ideas and blame based on religion keep making their way into public policy, Shadeed said. If they would just stay at home, public policy would be based purely on the issues.

We love and feel very comfortable about this value of religious freedom, but it does not come without some vigilance, he said. You have to work for it  it doesnt come automatically.

As one of the outcomes of Thursdays forum, I hope that we can allow the community to know that theyre just human beings on the other side of these doorways, and they have an aspiration to do good.

Holly Kozelsky reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. She can be reached at holly.kozelsky@martinsvillebulletin.com
Watches are not rocket science. Or are they? Watches are not rocket...

Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well, thats a shame, because with some watches, youll need one to understand how to tell the time. Perhaps you dont have a PhD. Well,...
COLLINSVILLE-A Ridgeway woman pleaded guilty to reduced charges in a recent drug trial in Henry County. Renea Robinette had been charged with distributing oxycodone and distributing methadone. As part of a deal with the prosecution, she pleaded guilty to reduced charges of two counts of distributing a schedule 2 controlled substance as an accommodation. She was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison, all suspended, on conditions including supervised probation, a $640 restitution and a $100 fine.

Also in Henry County Circuit Court, a charge of grand larceny against Sahit Hajrullahu of Collinsville was dismissed. The charge stems from an incident April 24, 2016.

Brittney Renee McPeak of Ridgeway, who was charged with felonious possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, was convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. She was sentenced to six months in jail, all suspended on conditions including a $350 fine. The charge stems from an incident April 25, 2016.

MARTINSVILLE CIRCUIT COURT

Michael Lawrence Martin of Danville, who pleaded no contest to two counts of grand larceny, was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison, with a total of three years of active incarceration and a total of 17 years suspended on conditions including supervised probation and a $500 fine. The charges stem from an incident June 21, 2015.

Sheraye Latoya Roy of Martinsville, who was convicted of DWI-third offense (a felony), was sentenced to five years in prison, with one year active and four years suspended on conditions including indefinite suspension of operators license, three years of supervised probation and a $1,550 fine. This stems from an incident Jan. 2.

Andre Lavon Hodge of Martinsville, who was charged with distribution of cocaine-second offense but was convicted of a reduced charge of possession of cocaine, was sentenced to five years in prison, all suspended on conditions including three years of supervised probation. This stems from an incident July 21, 2015.

Anthony Dexter Watson of Roanoke, who was charged with grand larceny but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of unauthorized use, was sentenced to five years in prison, all suspended on conditions including three years of supervised probation and $195 restitution. The charge stems from an incident Jan. 20.

Rogers Wayne Martin of Martinsville, who was charged with felonious driving after being declared a habitual offender-second offense, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor driving after declared habitual offender, He was sentenced to 12 months in jail, with 11 months and 20 days suspended on conditions including a $300 fine. The charge stems from an incident Oct. 22, 2016.

PATRICK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT

Brandon Ontega Reid of Martinsville, pleaded guilty to five charges of distributing controlled substance-second offense. A judge ordered a presentence report and set sentencing for July 10. The charges stem from incidents on various dates between May 1, 2014, and July 7, 2014.

Pierre Quartez Scales of Stuart pleaded guilty to feloniously eluding police and was sentenced to five years in prison, with eight months active and four years and four months suspended on conditions including two years of supervised probation. The charges stem from an incident Oct. 28, 2016.

Steven Markley Morrison of Stuart, who pleaded guilty to two counts each of felonious forgery and felonious uttering, was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison, with two years active and 18 years suspended on conditions including supervised probation and $200 restitution. The charges stem from incidents Aug. 22 and Aug. 23, 2016.

Jimmy Cole Pike of Mount Airy, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to feloniously selling stolen property. A judge ordered a presentence report and set sentencing for July 5. The charge stems from an incident June 19, 2012.

Andrew Joseph Summa of Olyphant, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing schedule 1 or 2 controlled substance-second offense and one count each of distributing controlled substance and distributing schedule 3 controlled substance. A judge ordered a presentence report and set sentencing for July 14. The charges stem from incidents that happened July 30, 2016.

John Edgar McAdams of Stuart pleaded guilty to strangling another and feloniously violating a protective order and was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison, with seven months active and nine years and five months suspended on conditions including supervised probation. The charges stem from incidents that happened March 28, 2016.

Casey Daniel Stanley of Ridgeway pleaded guilty to grand larceny and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with five months active and nine years and seven months suspended on conditions including three years of supervised probation, $225 restitution and a $250 fine. The charge stems from an incident that happened May 19, 2016.

Darnell Lashawn Salda of Martinsville, who was charged with felonious strangulation, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic assault and was sentenced to 12 months in jail, all suspended on conditions including two years of unsupervised probation.

Paul Collins reports for the Martinsville Bulletin and can be reached at paul.collins@martinsvillebulletin.com.
TODAYS WORD is ebb (eb). Example: As Longfellow once wrote, Defeat may be victory in disguise; The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.

MONDAYS WORD was antimacassar. Its a small covering, usually ornamental, placed on the backs and arms of upholstered furniture to prevent wear or soiling. The name comes from Macassar oil, which was once used as a hairdressing. Example: We need to break out the antimacassars; the greasers are coming over later to listen to rockabilly records.

Free Clothes Closet

Blackberry Baptist Church at 3241 Stones Dairy Road in Bassett will host a free clothes closet from 2-4 p.m. this Saturday.

Military Dinner

Victory Baptist Church will host a military dinner at 4 p.m. this Saturday. All are welcome.

TODAY IS: National Zucchini Bread Day

A member of the same family that contains squashes and pumpkins, the zucchini is native to the Americas. Its name, however, comes from Italy. Early explorers brought zucchini from the Americas to Europe, and the Italians dubbed it zucchini, the diminutive form of zuccha, which is Italian for gourd or pumpkin. Zucchini bread is a bit similar to banana bread.

Annual Ride

The annual Jonathan Bowling Memorial Ride will take place this Saturday. The event remembers fallen Marine Jonathan Williams Bowling, and all proceeds from the ride benefit the Corporal Jonathan W. Bowling Memorial Scholarship at Patrick Henry Community College, which provides money for two Patrick County students to attend PHCC each year. The event will begin at 10 a.m. at Patrick County High School (215 Cougar Lane in Stuart) and feature live music, food and door prizes. The ride begins at noon. Registration is $15 per vehicle, and each entrant has a chance to win prizes. Trophies are given for the farthest traveled bike. For more information, visit www.cpljonathanbowling.us.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Not only are the waxed paper containers used for Chinese food takeout not Chinese in origin  they were invented in the U.S.  but their inventor didnt even intend them to be used to hold Chinese food. What were Chinese food takeout containers originally designed to contain?

MONDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: Named after a famous celebrity, there is a phenomenon wherein someones attempts to hide information only serve to make the information more public. What is the name of this phenomenon, and who is the celebrity that inspired the name? The answer: The Streisand Effect, named after Barbra Streisand. In 2002, photographer Kenneth Adelman undertook a project to photograph the entire California coastline in a series of 12,000 photos in order to document coastal erosion. In the process, Adelman photographed Streisands palatial Malibu mansion. In 2003, when Streisand learned that a photo of her home was on the website of the California Coastal Records Project (again, one of 12,000 photos) her attorneys sued the photographer, the site displaying the images, and even the server company hosting the files, seeking a total of $50 million in damages. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, but not before making headlines and drawing nearly half a million people to the offending website just to get a peek at Streisands house. The lawsuit drew far more attention than the photograph ever could have. Two years later, tech writer Mike Masnick dubbed the phenomenon The Streisand Effect.
April 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Fought as part of the larger British-led Battle of Arras during the First World War, the battle was the first instance in which all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) fought together. The success of the unified Canadian Corps in capturing the ridge from German troops, after failed efforts to do so by British and French forces, has steadily grown in significance in recent decades to attain the status of a founding myth, in which Vimy represented Canadas birth as a nation. This mythologized narrative obscures the true nature of an imperialist war that led to the death of millions, while furthering the revival of a militaristic Canadian nationalism that lays the foundation for future wars.

Nearly 100,000 soldiers in the CEF, then a part of the British Expeditionary Force, participated in the Battle of Vimy Ridge from April 9-12, 1917. Supported by a massive creeping artillery barrage against three defending German divisions, Canadian soldiers engaged in fierce fighting as they climbed the ridge, which at a height of 475 metres offered an unobstructed view for several kilometres. The Canadian Corps captured most of the ridge by the end of the first day and managed to hold it while attaining the rest of their objectives over subsequent days. The Canadians suffered 3,598 dead and 7,004 wounded before German troops retreated east.

In their book The Vimy Trap: Or, How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Great War, authors Ian McKay and Jamie Swift use the term Vimyism to describe the nationalist mythology centred around Vimy Ridge that has come to dominate portrayals of the First World War in Canada. For McKay and Swift, Vimyism denotes a network of ideas and symbols that centre on how Canadas Great War experience somehow represents the countrys supreme triumph  that the war itself and anyone who fought and died in it should be unconditionally revered and commemoratedand not least because it marked the countrys birth.

Other tenets of Vimyism as described by McKay and Swift include Canadian exceptionalism, wherein Canadians are said to have succeeded where others failed; the idea that aside from a few malcontents, the vast majority of Canadians believed that death on the Western Front was noble; and the central founding myth that the rights and freedoms Canadians enjoy today were established by its soldiers in the First World War, ostensibly fighting for values such as democracy, freedom, Christianity and civilization against an autocratic and lawless enemy.

The Role of Imperialism

Such noble rhetoric bears little relation to the political and economic factors that actually caused the war. The First World War at its root was a product of imperialism, the process by which the capitalists of each country, in their search for ever-greater profits beyond the home market, expand their operations around the world seeking access to new markets and control over resources. In his contemporary book Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Vladimir Lenin described the real goals of the Allies and Central Powers: The war of 1914-18 was imperialist (that is, an annexationist, predatory, war of plunder) on the part of both sides; it was a war for the division of the world, for the partition and repartition of colonies and spheres of influence of finance capital, etc.

Image: Public DomainTo recruit millions of poor and working class soldiers to fight in the trenches, however, the ruling class in each country needed to maintain the fiction that the war was motivated by more high-minded goals: defence of the Fatherland, to make the world safe for democracy, and so on. Canada was no exception. There is a close resemblance between Vimyist mythology and the war propaganda that dominated official Canada throughout the First World War. During the war, bourgeois politicians, the press and many elements of civil society all trumpeted the virtues of civilization as supposedly embodied by the British Empire and its loyal Dominion of Canada. Along with these jingoistic bromides came a healthy dose of anti-German sentiment, bolstered by sensationalist reports from Belgium of the evil Hun bayoneting babies, raping nuns and crucifying Canadian soldiers.

Anti-war Sentiment in the Interwar Period

Perhaps even more striking than its resemblance to contemporary propaganda, however, is the massive gulf between the tenets of Vimyism and how the battle and war were seen by returning soldiersand, as the years passed, increasingly large sentiments of Canadian society. The senseless butchery of industrialized warfare destroyed an entire generation that suffered death in the trenches, returned home permanently wounded and traumatized, or lost beloved partners, friends and family members.

Where John McCraes poem In Flanders Fields, with its jingoistic exhortation to take up our quarrel with the foe, had previously symbolized pro-war fervor in Canada, the interwar years saw a new skepticism towards war that found expression in art by returning veterans. Group of Seven artist Fred Varleys haunting painting For What?whose very title summed up the pointlessness of the wardepicted a surreal landscape of mud and shell craters, where weary soldiers rested in between burying the corpses of their comrades. Writer Charles Yale Harrison depicted similar disillusionment in his anti-war novella Generals Die in Bed (1930), which highlighted the very different experiences of the war between those sitting comfortably behind the front lines, and the poor and working class soldiers who did most of the fighting and dying.

Forgotten Soldiers

The construction of war memorials in virtually every Canadian city and town following the Armistice was not itself without controversy. In a trend that would be familiar to veterans of the Canadian war in Afghanistan, many of the same patriotic citizens who praised soldiers as national heroes during the war ignored and denigrated the flesh-and-blood human beings who returned home from it, shattered physically and mentally only to face grinding poverty and unemployment.

McKay and Swift describe much of the popular opposition at the time to building expensive war memorials that served no practical purpose:

Throughout much of the 1920s  a slew of leftists took potshots at war monuments as a way of dramatizing the social injustices of the post-1918 world. In 1921 the Halifax city council was urged to hire unemployed and disabled workers and veterans. The following year the local labour paper argued that democracy was the only suitable monument to the war dead, not the $50,000 monument the city had in mind. Socialist (and future Toronto mayor) James Simpson drew a portrait in 1921 of the profiteers, sitting over their wines and in their luxurious automobiles, talking of the monuments they will erect to our gallant dead who fell in France, all the while plotting to force those who had returned from the war to live in oppression and misery. A member of the Vancouver Women Workers decried military memorials in 1922. If you sought the true legacy of the war, she cried, look to the overfilled hospitals, cemeteries and the extended bread lines. The unveiling of the cenotaph in Vancouver was picketed by left-wing veterans who were themselves attacked. Another Vancouver veteran stated, We do not want war shrines and war memorials, but work. In the House of Commons, such progressives as J.S. Woodsworth, William Irvine, and Agnes Macphail made a regular point of arguing against war memorials. In 1923 Woodsworth quoted from one womans letter who argued that the men who had the great misfortune to return to Canada with their lives were entitled to the money that was otherwise going to be wasted on a memorial. He pointed out that Canadas enormous accumulated war debt constituted a very imposing war memorial, and one that is likely to prove very enduring indeed.

Notably, speakers at the unveiling of the Canadian National Vimy Memorialdespite their portrayal of the war in terms of martial valour and sacrificedid not in any way describe the Battle of Vimy Ridge as the birth of the nation. Historical accounts of the First World War in subsequent decades by Canadian writers spoke relatively little of Vimy. In his 1960 book Decisive Decades: A History of the Twentieth Century for Canadians, which served as a standard Ontario Grade 10 history textbook into the 1970s, historian A.B. Hodgetts wrote only four sentences on the Battle of Vimy Ridge, as part of a paragraph on the Battle of Arras.

The Origins of Vimyism

Ghosts of Vimy Ridge Photo: Public DomainThe rise of a specifically Canadian nationalism was a gradual process. The First World War undoubtedly contributed to the development of a national consciousness, though the extent to which it did so is debated among historians. The weakening of British economic and military power as a result of the war, and the simultaneous rise of the United States, played a major role in Canadas distancing itself from the British Empire. Much has been made of Canada signing the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 as a sign of its new independence, yet it did so in indented form along with the other Dominions, with British Prime Minister David Lloyd George signing on behalf of the entire empire. The precise nature of Canadas relationship to the empire remained ambiguous until the Statute of Westminster in 1931 established the legislative independence of Canada and other self-governing Dominions. At no point during this period, however, did any public figure ascribe particular significance to Vimy as a symbol of Canadian independence.

McKay and Swift suggest that the emergence of Vimyism coincided with the 100th anniversary of Confederation in 1967. In the half-century since the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the demographics and culture of Canada had changed dramatically. The steadfast British nationalism that dominated English-speaking Canada during the war had given way to closer cultural, political and economic ties with the United States, a rising tide of Quebec nationalism and the perceived need for a more independent Canada to develop its own national symbols and myths. The Battle of Vimy Ridge, increasingly portrayed as a national achievement embodying Canadian unity, fit the bill perfectly.

Perhaps the most significant step in the road to Vimyism was the 1985 publication of the book Vimy by Pierre Berton, Canadas most popular historian and described by McKay and Swift as one of English Canadas foremost twentieth-century mythmakers. With his undeniable talent for storytelling, Bertons account of the battle marked the moment at which the mythologized narrative we know today began to take shape, with the author describing the battle as the moment in which Canada came of ageeven as he included less glowing details such as the March 1st raid preceding the battle, in which the use of phosgene and an unforeseen change in wind direction led to Canadian forces accidentally gassing their own troops.

In the years that followed publication of Bertons book, Vimyist attitudes steadily grew in prominence in direct contrast to the dwindling number of Canadians who retained a living memory of the First World War. By the 21st century, Vimyism had found a particularly influential advocate in Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who led a conscious refurbishing of militarism by championing Canadas identity as a warrior nation. The 2008 Citizenship Guide marked one of the most prominent official examples of the Vimyist mindset during the Harper era, invoking the words of Brig.-Gen. Alex Ross of the Dominion Council of the Canadian Legion: In those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation.

Debunking Nationalist Myths

At this point, some may object to our negative portrayal of Vimyism. What is wrong, they might argue, with an inspiring national founding myth? Do not the basic facts remain that all four Canadian divisions fought together for the first time at Vimy Ridge, a relatively well-planned battle and a rare victorya Canadian victoryin a war largely characterized by poor planning and mass slaughter for little gain?

From a historical point of view, there are many facts that call this simplified patriotic narrative into question. In The Vimy Trap, McKay and Swift detail objections from military historians to Bertons account of the battle as a major victory in the war, fought by independent-minded Canadian soldiers using innovative techniques such as the creeping artillery barrage, andin an unconventional move for the time equipped with maps of the battlefield. The authors write:

[] the majority of the Canadian Corps consisted of first-generation British immigrants; and as military historian Paul Dickson points out, only about a third of the troops sent overseas in the fall of 1914 were born in Canada. Even the native-born according to Dickson, were often only one generation removed from Britain, and six months after Vimy, Jean Martin shows, 55.48 per cent of the Canadian Corps was foreign, that is, born outside Canada. Offered a chance to serve in the military, most eligible men in Canada had given it a pass. Vimy, from this perspective, was a British victory. [...] The Canadian Corps was not autonomous. Functioning as an integral part of the British Expeditionary Force, it was not an independent national army. At most, the Canadian Corps was a proto-national army. Canadian soldiers were governed by British military law and subject to British military discipline. As Gary Sheffield points out, the key role played by British units and formations and individual British officers in the 9 April 1917 attack at Vimy Ridge cannot be ignored. The simple reason why Canadian soldiers found themselves north of Arras in early 1917 was that the Canadian Corps was then part of the First British Army. [] Contrary to interpretations claiming that Canadian soldiers were trained to be exceptionally free-thinking and free-standing, in contrast to the servile, tradition-bound Brits, both Canadian and British soldiers, as members of the same army under the same general, were (unsurprisingly) prepared to fight in a similar way. If, as [Patrick] Brennan maintains, the barrage plans of the Canadian artillery were important to the Vimy assault, then some credit for them must surely go to Major Alan Brooke, staff officer of the Royal Artillery, who was ultimately responsible for that facet of the attack. Instead Brooke is conveniently written off as a haughty Englishman. Even the widespread dissemination of maps to soldiers was not so very original to the Canadians: the practice had already become standard within the BEF, having also been tried out by the French command. [] Was this battle, as Berton states, the greatest victory of the war? As Sheffield remarks, with due scholarly gravitas, It is not easy to see how this claim can be substantiated. Vimy Ridge marked only the northern flank of the Battle of Arras, which was in turn an attempt only to divert German strength from the much bigger struggle to uproot the German army from France. Indeed, even the very identity of the particular, or overall, victory at Vimy is in some doubt. At least some of the German defenders, according to evidence gathered by [Andrew] Godefroy, thought they had scored a victory or at least a draw. The Germans were not necessarily deluded. In April 1917, the German high command had adopted a largely defensive strategy in the west, designed to hold on to ground already won, while the war on the Eastern Front was decided. [] In April 1917 the Germans even gave out awards to those in the 261st Prussian Reserve Infantry Regiment who had engaged in the fierce fighting at Vimy Ridge and prevented a British breakthrough of the German lines between April 9 and 13 April 1917.

As tends to be the case with history, the facts of the Battle of Vimy Ridge are more complex than the simplified mythology that defines Vimyism.

War and the Class Struggle in Canada

The larger danger of Vimyism, however, lies less in its account of the battle itself and more for what it obscures about the war as a whole. It is in many ways a case of missing the forest for the trees. The method of dialectical materialismthe philosophy of Marxismis to understand an issue by looking at all of its constituent elements and their interaction with exterior factors, examining the contradictions between each component in order to better understand the whole. The overwhelming, often provincialist focus on the Battle of Vimy Ridge as a stirring moment of national unity and the birth of Canadian independence, obscures the real history of the battle itself and of Canada during the war. By drawing attention away from the larger nature of the First World War, it revives dangerous nationalist and militaristic myths of the same kind that drove more than 60,000 largely working class Canadian soldiers to their deaths from 1914-1918, and 10 million total in all the belligerent nations.

Contrary to the narrative of national unity, Canada during the First World War was marked by deep divisions and none deeper than the Conscription Crisis of 1917 that nearly tore the country apart. Where Vimyist ideologues portray a country fighting shoulder to shoulder, the Canadian home front was marked by deep Anglo-chauvinism promoted by the bourgeois media that portrayed Quebecthe population of which was far less enthusiastic about the prospect of fighting and dying an ocean away for the glory of the British Empireas a province of shirkers and cowards. Mass protests and riots broke out across Quebec in 1918 as the Union government of Robert Borden sought to enforce conscription. Borden eventually deployed more than 1,200 soldiers from Ontario to violently put down the uprising. Officially, five civilians were killed and dozens more injured in gunfire during the Easter Monday riots.

Vimyism also overlooks the war profiteering that led to the deaths of many soldiers who were equipped with shoddy supplies, such as boots that quickly rotted in the mud and shovels with holes in them. Perhaps the most notorious example of profiteering was the Ross rifle, a Canadian-manufactured bolt-action rifle championed by Defence Minister Sam Hughes. Hughes also served as head of the Imperial Munitions Board of Canada, where he coordinated $1 billion worth of contracts. Despite the reputation of the Ross for constantly jamming and the tendency of its bayonet to fall off when fired, Hughes insisted on equipping all Canadian soldiers with the rifle and granted an $18 million subsidy to manufacturer Charles Ross. Though the Ross rifle was finally withdrawn in 1916 after public outrage and replaced with the British Lee-Enfield, the scandal-ridden Canadian war industry continued to do $2 million of business on a daily basis. These ill-gotten gains suggest the much-quoted observation of Lenin, who, when a comrade told him that war is terrible, is said to have replied, Yes. But it is a terribly profitable thing.

Above all, the mythologized narrative of the Battle of Vimy Ridge draws attention away from the imperialist nature of the First World War. The pointless slaughter of millions on the battlefields of Europe, which devastated whole societies, shattered survivors and their families and led to the outbreak of a new and even more terrible world war less than two decades later, was conducted for one purpose only: to guarantee the profit margins of a tiny minority of wealthy capitalists. The working masses who represent the vast majority of society and do the vast majority of the suffering and dying in war, must never forget this fact. We cannot allow the revival of the same national chauvinism and militarism that provided the ideological foundation for the First World War to do the same for future imperialist wars.

Every Remembrance Day, the myths of Vimyism are propagated to children and youth, who are told that they owe their freedoms to Canadian soldiers of the First World War. The Vimyist notion that Canadas wars are fought not for profits, but for abstract values such as freedom and democracy, continues to be used by politicians and the bourgeois press to justify new imperialist wars, as was the case for Afghanistan. The working class of all nations must save future generations of their children from killing each other for the profits of the 1% and the capitalist class.

The First World War was once referred to as the war to end all wars, but in fact there is only one such war: the class war. To create a world of peace, let us wage that last war until the attainment of final victory for the working class: the achievement of a socialist society based not on profit, but on human need.

For international working class solidarity!

No war but the class war!
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mary-oshea.jpeg

The Boston Police Department issued a missing person alert for Mary O'Shea of Dorchester. The alert was issued on Monday, one day after she was last seen in her neighborhood.

O'Shea, 55, was last seen in Dorchester around 10 a.m. on Sunday near Minot Street. She was driving a black Saturn Vue and police say she may have been heading toward Randolph. Police say O'Shea may be wearing a maroon-colored top, black yoga pants and sneakers.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Boston Police detectives at 617-343-4581.
Drone Repair

In this June 22, 2016, file photo, a drone aircraft with a payload of simulated blood flies during a ship-to-shore delivery simulation in Lower Township, N.J. With the number of commercial drones expected to soar into the millions in the next few years, it spells an opportunity for budding drone mechanics to make a good living without spending a lot of time on training. A community college in northwestern Minnesota that has been teaching unmanned aircraft maintenance for larger military-type drones is expanding its program to include smaller drone repair. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)

(Mel Evans)

Hanover just became the first town in Massachusetts to have licensed pilots and an approved drone for town operations.

The small town in Plymouth County was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for a new drone program with certified pilots to help town officials in daily operations. Of the six licensed pilots in Hanover, some are representatives from the Hanover police and fire departments. The town's local television station is working on a documentary about drones.

In towns and cities, drones - otherwise known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - can be used to help residents in innovative ways: the flying devices can help officials combat fires, find missing people and children, and detect other kinds of information, according to the Association of Professional Drone Pilots. The town's fire chief, Jeffrey Blanchard, noted that his crew will be able to watch for forest fires and tall buildings without jeopardizing any firefighter.

"Hanover is a leader in many areas - from transparency to financial organization and stability, to its commitment to education. The approval of our drone program is just another way we're bringing efficiency, technology, and collaboration to our citizens," Town Manager Troy Clarkson said in a statement.

The use of drones by law enforcement agencies is not a new concept. Many municipalities have yet to implement drones in the way Hanover has, largely in part because they can be politically polarizing.

The American Civil Liberties Union has extensively reported on the negative effect increased state surveillance could have on individual privacy, despite well-intentioned law enforcers.

While Hanover's use of drones intends to help local law enforcement departments, other states are aiming for the new machine to play a much larger role. In Connecticut, lawmakers are debating a bill that would allow drones to release "less lethal" weapons like tear gas or even bombs. The Associated Press reports that North Dakota is the only state to permit the use of weaponized drones, while Maine and Virginia ban police from using armed drones.
ADS ADS

Soleos is the contraction of two names, the merging of two divinities belonging to two different mythologies. First, Sol, the Roman god embodying the sun, its dazzling brightness and warmth. And second, Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn, who sets off each morning on her chariot to open the gates of the sky to the sun. But for Emile Chouriet, Soleos is above all a timepiece where the sun seems to send out its dazzling rays.

This year, the sun has literally turned into the star of the night, adopting silver reflections similar to the moons across the face of the new Soleos. So the watch face, which is still filled with rays starting from the centre and extending outwards to the chapter ring, has been painstakingly grooved. A fairly complex operation when you realise the how fine the disc is. Each of the resulting geometric grooves is then sanded, setting up an interplay of contrasts between the silver grey and the steel grey.









This starry face captures light in order to reflect it again. So as not to interfere with the brightness of the watch face, the central hour, minute and second hands have been discreetly coated in silver, while the metal-bevelled date window has a special shape to blend into this light-filled decor.



The 40 mm case made of steel houses the EC9316 automatic calibre powering the hours, minutes, seconds in the centre and date at 3 oclock. Soleos is mounted on a steel links on three rows or black calfskin with alligator scales bracelet.

See all Baselworld news >>
fire generic.jpg

An elderly man died in East Bridgewater on Friday after his riding lawnmower caught fire.

Eighty-six-year-old Bernadino Pellegrino was killed at 4 Beaver Village Way Monday morning after the mower he was riding set fire and caused a chain reaction, according to the Boston Globe.

Pellegrino's clothes caught fire before the flames moved on to consume Pellegrino's two-story home. Neighbors soon called emergency 911 responders when they noticed smoke, but the fire reportedly went on to destroy the two-story home. Pellegrino's wife escaped the fire uninjured.

The Globe reports that firefighters said they had a difficult time battling the fire due to solar panels on the front side of the roof. Sunshine meant the panels continued to generate electricity that the fire crews could not turn off.
SPRINGFIELD -- Michael Wiecorek, 50, came to Chicopee in February 2015 because a relative was near death.

While he was here visiting from Alabama he indecently assaulted an 11-year-old girl.

The girl's mother read her daughter's victim impact statement to Hampden Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney Monday after Wiecorek pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child.

Michael Wiecorek

The girl's statement said, "Since this happened I don't want to be a girl anymore. This happens to girls. I just want to be a boy."

The mother said the family agreed to go along with the sentence recommendation and the plea in order for the girl not to have to relive the trauma by testifying.

Sweeney sentenced Wiecorek to five to eight years in state prison plus seven years probation, the joint recommendation of prosecution and defense.

Assistant District Attorney Lee Baker said DNA from external genital swabs from the victim tied Wiecorek to the crime.

Defense lawyer Tracy E. Duncan said Wiecorek has struggled with alcoholism for most of his life, and he was drinking alcohol while visiting his ill relative.

Wiecorek has 780 days credit on his sentence for time spent in jail awaiting trial.
CUMMINGTON - A 31-year-old man from Cheshire was killed and three others were injured in a head-on crash on Route 9 on Monday afternoon.

The crash was reported at 1:45 p.m. near the Cummington/Windsor town line.

Massachusetts State Police said a 2000 Acura 32TL crossed into oncoming traffic, striking a 2013 Toyota Camry with three people inside.

The male victim was transported to Berkshire Medical Center, and then to Baystate Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released yet.

The female driver and a child were also taken to hospitals for treatment of injuries, along with the 23-year-old male driver of the Acura.

The crash is under investigation by the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Services Section and the Office of the Medical Examiner.

No charges have been filed.
confederate flag eho.jpg

A person attaches a Confederate flag to a truck in this photo, which a parent said was snapped outside Easthampton High School on April 24, 2017.

(Submitted photo)

EASTHAMPTON -- Discussions about race relations at Easthampton High School are likely to continue Tuesday evening as the School Committee has scheduled time for an agenda item simply titled "EHS Concerns."

Parents, teachers and students packed two recent meetings and spoke out about racial tensions at the high school, with one group calling for the ouster of high school Principal Kevin Burke and School Resource Officer Alan Schadel.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Nancy Follansbee confirmed Monday evening that a student seen displaying a Confederate flag outside the high school that afternoon would face "appropriate disciplinary action," based upon the student handbook, after an investigation by Burke.

Burke announced earlier this month that the school plans to work with the Collaborative for Educational Services in Northampton to conduct an assessment and implement a three-year plan to increase support for diversity.

Nearly a month ago, three students of color allegedly surrounded and punched a white student in the high school parking lot. The white student had sent a racial slur to an ex-girlfriend using social media, according to police. Students staged a walkout after the incident to draw attention to the school's racial climate.

Three suspects were later arrested by Easthampton police, and one, 18-year-old Joshua Brown, now faces charges in Northampton District Court.

School and city officials subsequently issued statements. "Our community, which includes students, staff, parents and administration does not condone hate speech or offensive language, nor do we condone violence for any reason," said Mayor Karen Cadieux.

Superintendent Nancy Follansbee has since expressed public support for Burke, and dozens of teachers also signed a letter of support for their principal.

Meanwhile, some claim Burke has failed to address a deteriorating climate at the high school marked by bullying, harassment and intolerance of racial and ethnic minorities.

A group of parents submitted an open letter and packet of anonymous personal statements to members of the School Committee last week, but the documents have yet to be addressed at an open public meeting.

Parent Natalie Poirier told The Republican that members of her group have been discussing the matter with members of the School Committee.

Committee Chairman Deb Lusnia and acting Chairman Peter Gunn did not immediately respond to an email Monday seeking more information about those discussions.

Students returned from spring vacation on April 24, and had planned to stand outside the school holding "welcome" signs in the morning, said Poirier. For reasons that are not clear, the stand-out did not occur.

Monday afternoon, parents witnessed a student attaching a Confederate flag to a truck in the school parking lot, and snapped cellphone photos, said Poirier, who forwarded some of those images to The Republican.

"This represents exactly what we are talking about," she said in a telephone interview.

Responding to an emailed request for comment, Follansbee said she and Burke learned about the incident Monday afternoon.

"Principal Burke is investigating to identify the student," wrote Follansbee. "Once the investigation is completed, the appropriate disciplinary action, based on the EHS student handbook, will be taken."

If you go:

What: Easthampton School Committee

Where: 50 Payson Ave. Municipal Building, 2nd floor

When: April 25, 6 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD - A female suffered serious injuries Tuesday morning after she crashed her minivan into a utility pole in the Old Hill neighborhood.

The crash was reported shortly after 7:45 a.m. at Orleans and Union streets, Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Contant, said.

Responding firefighters, who found the female unresponsive on the ground outside the vehicle, provided medical treatment until American Medical Response personnel arrived on scene and took her to a hospital.

This is a developing story. Additional information will be provided as soon as it is available.
roger2.jpg

An artist's depiction of Roger Williams meeting the Narragansett Indians in Rhode Island in the 1630s.

(GRAPHIC FROM USA.GOV)

HOLYOKE -- The separation of church and state in terms of running government and the influence of religion has been an issue in America since the 1630s of Roger Williams and the Puritans, and it will be again at City Hall next week.

The City Council on May 2 will consider a 3-2 recommendation made on Monday at City Hall by its Charter and Rules Committee. The recommendation is to adopt into a rule a phrase that councilors have been saying as a tradition for decades at the outset of meetings immediately after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance:

"God Bless America, God Bless the city of Holyoke and all its citizens and God Bless the City Council."

Williams, a minister, was forced to flee Salem in 1636 as authorities threatened to deport him to England for preaching about the need to keep separate the decision-making in regards to government and religion. Williams (c. 1603-1683) founded the state of Rhode Island.

The City Council debate is unlikely to get that lively, but could be colorful if Monday's committee discussion is an indication.

"We've been saying this at the meeting for years....I just think this is a nice statement, it's a very unifying statement, about our country, our city and the City Council," said Council President Kevin A. Jourdain, who proposed the rule change.

"I think this is just a nice sort of tradition that we've had in Holyoke. I think it's time to just put it in the rules," he said.

Committee member Rebecca Lisi said that when the proposed rule change was discussed previously, a "significant public presence" objected to the meeting-opening phrase being codified into a rule. Such residents preferred that separation of church and state be preserved, she said.

"So I think that it's fine if it's a tradition and we wanted to maintain saying it as part of the, you know, just ritual that we go through, but to codify it, I will not be voting in favor of that this evening," Lisi said.

Committee member Linda L. Vacon questioned whether what Jourdain was proposing, which was amending the rules of the City Council, elevated the matter into a separation of church and state issue.

Jourdain said such phrasing is a common part of government proceedings, from the City Council beginning meetings by reciting the Pledge Allegiance to paid chaplains opening sessions of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate with prayers.

"That is not even close to being illegal," he said.

Lisi said she was not saying that the rules change would be illegal. Her point was that some residents objected to the city's legislative body establishing the phrase as one of its rules, she said.

She used to be the councilor who said, "And the City Council," after councilors would follow the Pledge Allegiance with God bless "America" and God bless the "city of Holyoke," but stopped once debate began about Jourdain's order, she said.

Making the phrase a rule of the part of government that is the City Council is objectionable to some who think such a phrase should remain an intention or inspirational, she said.

"I do understand the concerns that were raised from the public," Lisi said.

Jourdain pounced.

"Let's be crystal clear....I'm getting a little tired of this, 'The public says,' because five people show up at the microphone. The rest of my constituents are out there every day busting their humps working," unable to take a night off to speak at a City Hall meeting, Jourdain said.

" 'Ma and Pa Kettle,' working all day or they're 80 years old and don't want to come here at night," he said.

He disagrees, he said, "That that somehow is representative of the public."

Take a survey of Holyokers about the City Council saying "God bless America," he said: "I bet you 80 percent of the citizens have no problem with that."

Again, Lisi said, she was not objecting to the phrase but to it being installed in the system of a City Council meeting, a mandatory statement as opposed to something that is inspirational.

"I would say it's part of the agenda, but it's not mandatory," Jourdain said. "We can't force a member to say the Pledge of Allegiance, either."

Committee Chairman Joseph M. McGiverin said it was helpful to remember that Council rules can be changed or suspended at any time. Saying the phrase as the Council has been stating it for years, he said, "this is about us and the city and I think it says, a very short, little phrase, let's get on a positive note before this meeting starts. Doesn't always work, but I think it's a nice way to start the meeting."

Voting in favor of recommending the rule change were McGiverin, Jourdain and Vacon. Voting no were committee member Todd A. McGee and Lisi.

McGee said later he voted no for a few reasons, including that the Council shouldn't be telling councilors what they have to say.

Also, the Council has issues that require attention like addressing budget problems, he said. Some officials have said problems exist between current and projected revenue and spending.

"We have to take care of our priorities," McGee said.
Baidus Self-Driving Car To Be Tested in Simple Urban Environment in July

Baidu Driverless Cars (Photo : Getty Images)

Chinese tech giant Baidu has announced on Tuesday, April 18, plans to launch its self-driving car in a restricted environment in July, in preparation for the gradual introduction of its full autonomous driving capabilities on highways and open city roads by 2020, Reuters reported.



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Baidu named the project Apollo, after the lunar landing program.



The company opened the Apollo project to car manufacturers to enable them to see its platform--including vehicle platform, hardware platform, software platform and cloud data services--to help others in the industry, especially carmakers, to develop autonomous vehicles.



The company said that it has partnered with other companies that supplied the vehicles, sensors and other components for the self-driving technology.



According to Baidu, they plan to share technology for simple urban road conditions before the end of the year, with the ultimate goal of launching Baidu's self-driving cars by 2020.



In January, the company appointed former Microsoft executive Qi Lu to become its chief operating officer, as part of its thrust into artificial intelligence (AI).



But two months later, Andrew Ng, Baidu's chief scientist and head of its AI and augmented reality (AR) projects, announced his resignation from the company.



In October, Baidu launched a $200 million fund to support AI, AR and deep learning. A month earlier, it also set aside a $3 billion fund to help mid- and late-stage startups.



"AI has great potential to drive social development, and one of AI's biggest opportunities is intelligent vehicles," Qi said in a statement.



Baidu, which has partnered with German automaker BMW to research on self-driving cars, announced in November that they have ended their joint research due to contrasting opinion on how to conduct the research. The company has partnerships with Chinese companies such as BAIC Motor, BYD and Chery.



Last November, it offered test rides to participants of the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen. The company has also obtained a permit to test in California, where its AI research labs are located.



According to tech and automotive experts, the cars of the future will be fully capable of navigating the streets without drivers, which will revolutionize the transport industry.



Many carmakers and tech companies such as Alphabet's Google and Delphi are investing heavily in self-driving car technology.


Chinese Tourists to Revitalize Philippine Tourism; More Chinese Expected to Arrive in Next 5 Years

China-Philippines relations (Photo : Getty Images)

As China and the Philippines decided to settle the South China Sea issue in an amicable manner, the Philippines' Department of Tourism (DOT) sees that there will be a steady influx of visitors from China in the next five years.



The Philippines' islands have seen a dramatic increase of tourists from 491,000 in 2015 to 676,000 in 2016. The increase in visitors is due to the relaxed approach to the dispute over the Scarborough Shoal.



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The tourism department also said that tourists are more interested in the Philippines now that Beijing lifted the travel ban against the country.



China sends the third largest number of tourists to the Philippines. Tourists in the country are predominantly American and South Korean, but Chinese tourists will have the most impact economically.



"Consider also that the population of Korea is so small compared to China. China consistently could be the single biggest driver of this market," said David Leechiu, CEO of Leechiu Property Consultants.



Leechiu said that China and the Philippines are now considered as close allies or "best friends forever."



"Before, they [Chinese authorities] were preventing people from going to the Philippines because of geopolitical issues. But now, they're back. That's why there's a big jump from 2015 to 2016," the chief executive claimed.



"The arrival volume of 676,000 is actually just 1.7 percent of all the Chinese that traveled last year. We can grow this number 10 times, yet, it still won't mean anything for the Chinese. That's how big China is as a tourism market," he said.



The property mogul praised Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for prioritizing the partnership with China, which is expected to bring much development to other sectors in the economy.



In the first quarter of 2017, tourists have contributed to a total of Php21.7 billion in revenues to the Philippines and showed a significant increase from previous years.


PFL Tech Inc. is a marketing technology company that provides sales enablement and marketing automation solutions, as well asprinting, mailing, and fulfillment services. They also provide some great Montana Jobs.
The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce is the longest-standing and leading advocate for the Flathead Valley community and business climate.
Electricity generated by renewable energy sources continues to grow month over month and year over year in the United States. In April 2022, the share of US electricity coming from renewable energy was up to 29.3%. That was up from 24.8% in April 2020 and 25.7% in April 2021.
Governor Steve Bullock and the Montana Ambassadors today announced the 2013 honorees that have made an outstanding contribution to economic development in Montana.

"The Montana Ambassadors work every day to support Main Street Montana businesses, and attract new entrepreneurs to the state," Bullock said. "Through innovation, entrepreneurship, advocacy and outreach, the Ambassadors were recognizing this year have gone above and beyond to support Montanas economy."

For outstanding service to the organization, 2013 Montana Ambassador of the Year is Jeff Laverdiere. Jeff was chosen for exemplifying what it means to be a Montana Ambassador and for his service to the organization, particularly his effort to increase Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education in Montana schools through the AWIM/STEM project.

The Montana Ambassadors 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year: John & Courtney McKee, Headframe Spirits, of Butte. The McKees are committed to ensuring Montanas quality of life and have demonstrated leadership and innovation in their business field with an incredible entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to the economic development of the State of Montana.

The Montana Ambassadors 2013 Business of the Year: Dick Anderson Construction. Dick Anderson has demonstrated extraordinary innovation and success in his field, including a commitment to his employees, community and economic development in the state of Montana.

This years "Mike Malone Educator of the Year" award is presented to Lorri Brenneman, MT Department of Agriculture for her work with Agriculture in the Classroom. Lori demonstrates outstanding accomplishment, excellence and leadership in the field of education. This award embodies the values of Mike Malone, PhD, former president of Montana State University.

The award for 2013 Outreach Montana Ambassador of the Year goes to Kurt Burgess, California Chapter. Kurt performed exemplary service to assist in building successful business bridges to Montana by organizing special events to bring together constituents.

The 2013 Legislator of the Year is Rep. Duane Ankney, of Colstrip. Rep. Ankney had the distinction of Chairing the House Appropriations Committee. As a strong supporter of agriculture and industry he helped ensure all Montanans have an opportunity to have a quality life style while supporting their families.

2013 Montana Ambassador Plenipotentiary is Senator Max Baucus. The plenipotentiary title is rarely given, lasts a lifetime, and is bestowed on one who has rendered especially meritorious service to the economic development of the state.

The governor will present the 2013 Montana Ambassador Awards at the annual meeting to be held at the Big Sky Resort on March 20. The conference will take place March 19th through the 21st, with the theme "Transitioning Montana Tourists to Montana Investors."

For more information on these awards and the annual meeting and conference, visit http://www.montanaambassadors.com.

The Montana Ambassadors is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization of leaders in business, education, and local and state government with a common dedication to serving the Governor, doing business in Montana, and furthering the best interests of the state.
Nominations for the 2016 Montana State University Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship State Farm Insurance Family Business Awards http://www.montana.edu/business/familybusiness/index.html are due Friday, June 10.

Sponsored by the college and State Farm Insurance, awards are based on multi-generational family business involvement and longevity, preparedness for succession, community and industry contributions, and innovative business strategies.

Awards are usually given to businesses in several categories: large, medium, small, very small, old and new.

Full Story: http://www.montana.edu/news/16195/msu-business-college-seeks-nominations-for-annual-montana-family-business-awards
Jack Ma at the 2017 China Green Companies Summit (Photo : Getty Images)

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is leveraging on China's Belt and Road initiative to bring small and medium enterprises (SMEs) closer to global trade, enhancing the country's ability to expand global trade for small businesses, China Daily reported.



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On the sidelines of the 2017 China Green Companies Summit in Henan Province, Canadian ambassador to China John McCallum said on Sunday, April 23, that Alibaba is co-hosting a trade fair with small merchants from Canada and China, as part of its efforts to gain presence in North America.



Jack Ma, Alibaba's executive chairman, said during the meeting that the move is also part of a broader goal to "expand in line with the Belt and Road Initiative."



"We have plans for Canada, India and Japan, and we have plans for the Belt and Road Initiative," Ma said, as he urged policymakers and business leaders to create new rules and laws to strengthen trade and development.



In Malaysia, small firms are likely to benefit from Alibaba's virtual hub as the company helps to build the country's e-commerce infrastructure to boost connectivity in the region.



Another e-commerce hub is planned in Thailand.



In countries along the Belt and Road route, Ant Financial, Alibaba's payment affiliate, plans to create mobile payment services similar to Alipay's.



"Small and medium-sized enterprises contribute to 95 percent of global economic growth. Through the initiative, the private sector can play its part in revisiting and potentially revising rules of world trade through business practices," Wang Jian, an economics professor at the University of International Business and Economics, said.



Alibaba's initiative boosts connectivity and using e-commerce as a channel, SMEs' growth potential is enhanced, according to Zhao Lei, a professor at the Institute for International Strategic Studies at the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China.



Paul Kavanagh, ambassador of Ireland to China, also pointed out the value of the initiative to global cooperation among small businesses.



"It is a very open-minded cooperation initiative that welcomes all partners. It is very flexible, rather than building strict structures and protocols that constrain cooperation," Kavanagh said.


Montana State University senior Carol Baumbauer has won a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which she hopes will allow her to weave together her passions for technology and international development.

The fellowship provides three years of financial support, including a $34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance. Baumbauer, who is double majoring in electrical engineering in MSUs College of Engineering and French and Francophone studies in the College of Letters and Science, will apply the fellowship as she continues her engineering research while pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, starting in August.

Marshall Swearingen, MSU News Service

http://www.montana.edu/news/16878
When it comes to your Internet at home, you can never have enough bandwidth. Verizon gets that, and on Monday said it was ready to roll out near-gigabit speeds to more than 8 million potential customers in eight East Coast markets. .

The move turns up the heat on Verizons competitors in the fast-changing broadband market. Rivals Comcast, Google Fiber and AT&T are also pushing hard on their own gigabit-per-second networks. The rival build-outs are generally good news for consumers.

Edward C. Baig , USA TODAY

Full Story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2017/04/24/verizon-pushing-fios-speeds-near-gigabit/100843224/

***

Comcast offers Utah customers 1-Gig internet

By TOM HARVEY

Full Story: http://www.sltrib.com/home/5213417-155/comcast-offers-utah-customers-1-gig-internet
A $50,000 investment of state tourism money is being rolled out today. Its a map-based website that highlights and guides people to more than 200 trails across Montana. The site is called http://www.hikewildmontana.org.

"Its Montanas first online, statewide trail guide."

Full Story: http://mtpr.org/post/montanas-first-statewide-hiking-trail-guide-now-online
University of Montana students Brandon Staggs and David Brewer spent a week in Las Vegas, where they, err, did a lot of homework.

True story.

They didnt party or swim.

"We didnt even have a hot tub," said Brewer, who grew up in Missoula.

They heard from analysts who help casinos make money, but they didnt appear to learn much that would help at the blackjack table.

"If you ask them what game they like to play when they gamble, they say, Im risk averse," Staggs said.

KEILA SZPALLER [email protected]

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/news/local/university-of-montana-students-head-to-vegas-for-business-analytics/article_05257535-ccab-5df2-850a-e4ac7d1b8fba.html
Pravind Jugnauth a repondu a cinq questions lors du Prime Ministers Question Time lors de la seance sur des sujets concernant le Mauritius Duty Paradise, la GRA-MTC, les inondations a Richelieu entre autres.

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Ground-penetrating radar has discovered another continent under the Antarctic ice. Is this the fallen angelic civilization that has captured the interest of world leaders, and particularly the Vatican? Theres a ban on Antarctica, now see why. Plus the Venomous 14-Arm Octopus!





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article written by David Robinson

mainerepublicemailalert.com

Russian Scientists in Antarctica battle Organism 46b, Antarctic Creature, Lake Vostok OctopusOrganism 46b hunts by first paralyzing its prey with venom. The strange creature seizes and dismembers prey using a powerful beak, breaking the food source into pieces.The ancients believed in monsters of the deep, serpents hiding under the waves, threatening to capsize the heavy crawling ships of men. Today there is no ocean or lake that has not been probed and found wanting for sea monsters. Except for the freshwater lakes buried beneath the ice of Antarctica.There is a hidden continent under the ice cap of Antarctica. Ground penetrating radar established the existence of hundreds of lakes on this continent. Because of pressure exerted by the ice, these lakes are not frozen. They are liquid, containing fresh water that has been isolated for at least 15 million years.The largest of these is Lake Vostok, covered by a glacier two miles thick. On top of the ice sits the Russian Vostok Research Station. It took ten years for the Soviets to drill a vertical tunnel in the ice in which a special elevator was built, designed to hold a single man. In 2012 the eliptical drill bit finally reached, down the eastern shore of the lake. A team of eight men was lowered to the original surface of the continent, one man at a time. What followed was a closely guarded state secret, until a Russian scientist defected to the West.Dr. Anton Padalka was a member of the Soviet research team. He became a defector after learning his government had military plans for a discovery made in Antarctica. Granted sanctuary in Switzerland, Dr. Padalka disclosed the existence of a life form native to Lake Vostok a strange and lethal creature designated as Organism 46-B. During a scuba dive for which they required low-temperature wetsuits, the creature was encountered on day one of the expedition.Organism 46b is a species of giant octopus, but with 14 arms rather than eight. It shares traits of its nearest known relative, vitreledonella richardi, the glass octopus. But 46b can do one thing that its smaller cousin cannot. It can paralyze from a distance of 150 feet because its venom is contained in the sac that is normally used for expelling ink. Expedition member Alexis Vindogradov, the radio operator, was dispatched in this way, and the radio was lost.Like the Mimic Octopus of the Indo-Pacific, 46-B has remarkable powers of camouflage. The Mimic physically changes its form to resemble one of fifteen other aquatic species, such as a lion fish, or a sea snake, or a jellyfish. Again organism 46-B takes this ability one step further. Dr. Padalka witnessed the creature in the shape of a human diver. They thought it was a member of the team swimming toward them. The scientist nearest to the creature, a marine biologist, became the second researcher to lose his life when the organism resumed its shape and ripped him to pieces.At this point the expedition chief, A.M. Yelagin, decided to use a specimen tank to capture the organism. The only female member of the team, Dr. Marta Kalashnik, was used to lure 46b, not because she was attractive, but because as a former professional athlete, she was judged best able to defend herself. The trap was a success, but one of the sea creatures arms threatened her. Kalashnik was forced to use her axeto defend herself.According to Dr. Padalka, when the man-eater was brought to the surface it was confiscated immediately by Soviet security. The international press was told nothing was found. The entrance to the hole was plugged. Russian President Vladimir Putin now intends to weaponize the venom of the prehistoric beast.
One Belt, One Road trade route (Photo : Getty Images)

Numerous rivals in the security industry are now looking for ways to ensure opportunities to operate along Chinas planned modern-day Silk Road, according to a report by The Star Online.



The project, dubbed as the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative, is an ambitious plan to connect China with the rest of Asia and beyond via land and sea routes.



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"OBOR is a lifetime of work for us," says John Jiang, managing director of Chinese Overseas Security Group (COSG). "In eight years' time, we want to run a business that can cover 50-60 countries, which fits with the One Belt One Road coverage."



Increasing economic activity



Spearheaded under the current administration of President Xi Jinping, the project boasts of investments comprising of hundreds of billions of dollars. Beijing expects this massive plan to boost economic growth at home.



Not to miss on this lucrative opportunity, security companies are taking advantage of their options and jostling for business. Many of them are offering to protect thousands of Chinese workers, as well as pipelines, roads, railways and power plants that are being built.



However, executives involved with the initiative are giving cautions related to Chinese state-owned enterprises running or planning projects from Africa to Vietnam.



They warn that many of these enterprises prefer to deal only with fellow Chinese and treat safety as merely an afterthought while keeping costs low.



No easy road



Major international security firms are optimistic that their credentials and experience will be enough to persuade Chinese companies to make use of foreign services and expertise.



For instance, Frontier Services Group, a Hong Kong-based logistics firm, made an announcement in Dec. 2016 that it was planning to focus and capitalize on the OBOR initiative. The company was co-founded by Erik Prince, who created U.S. military security services Blackwater.



Smaller Chinese firms such as COSG as well as Shanghai-based Weldon Security and Dewei Security are keen to exploit state-owned enterprises preference for hiring Chinese firms.



"For Chinese firms, especially with security work, state companies want to speak with another Chinese person. We can also one hundred percent reflect their thinking when we work," says Hao Gang, Dewei general manager.


Dalai Lama leaving Tawang after a four-day visit. (Photo : Getty Images)

Six places in Arunachal Pradesh have recently been renamed by China, according to an article by the Press Trust of India (PTI). Some experts have pointed out that these places are connected to Tibet or the Dalai Lama.



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This is only an attempt to show its severe displeasure to India for allowing the Dalai Lama to visit the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh and address religious congregations there, Srikanth Kondapalli, an expert on China at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told PTI in an interview.



For starters, the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, Guling Gompa, was rechristened by China as Wogyainling just this week.



Another town, Daporijo, in the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, was renamed as Mila Ri. The community is located on the banks of Subansiri river, a major tributary of Brahmaputra and also one of the main rivers in the region.



According to Kondapalli, Daporijo was once used by Tibetans to get to India. The town has remained relatively peaceful. Tibet and India have not sent military troops to scour the area back when groups of people used the river as a corridor for travel.



The same cannot be said with Mechuka, renamed as Mainquka, for the area boasts a formidable military presence, Kondapalli said. Aside from voicing its displeasure, Chinas move to rename Mechuka also challenges Indias claim on the area.



Other towns renamed by China include Bumla, Namaka Chu, and a sixth place in Arunachal Pradesh. Kondapalli shared that these areas show potential for the development of several industries, including fishery and agriculture. Considered as the apple of the eye of Tibet by the Chinese scholars of the 1980s, these areas are capable of producing large quantities of food.



Kondapalli believes that Chinas decision to rename towns in Arunachal Pradesh is just a continuation of an old practice. China has long been known to give names to territories it claims, such as the case in the South China Sea.


Mission: Impossible 6 plot, release date: Everything you need to know about Ethan Hunts next mission

Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt in Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation." (Photo : Twitter/@IMAX)

"Mission: Impossible 6" has officially started production as confirmed by director Christopher McQuarrie. Here's everything we know so far about "Mission: Impossible 6."



Where is "Mission: Impossible 6" filming?



Filming for "Mission: Impossibly 6" is underway in Paris, France. Lead star Tom Cruise was spotted in Paris on April 10, Monday, shooting a dramatic car chase, The Daily Mail reported. He was also spotted doing a scene with a stunt double.



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What's the "Mission: Impossible 6" plot?



So far, the "Mission: Impossible 6" plot has been kept under wraps by Skydance Media CEO David Ellison but teased that Cruise will be performing "the biggest stunt sequence of his career" in his sixth outing as Ethan Hunt.



"What Tom is doing in this movie I believe will top anything that's come before. It is absolutely unbelievable-he's been training for a year," Ellison told Collider. "It is going to be, I believe, the most impressive and unbelievable thing that Tom Cruise has done in a movie, and he has been working on it since right after 'Rogue Nation' came out [in 2015]. It's gonna be mind-blowing."



Where's Jeremy Renner?



Ethan Hunt's right-hand man, William Brandt, will not appear in "Mission: Impossible 6." It has been confirmed that actor Jeremy Renner is unable to reprise his role due to his commitments with Marvel. Renner is currently filming "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers 4" back to back.



Henry Cavill joins cast



Filling in for Renner is none other than "Man of Steel" star Henry Cavill. Cavill's character is expected to take Renner's place as Cruise's second-in-command. As a caveat, McQuarrie told Cavill that his role requires him to "enjoy extreme heights, high speeds, motor vehicles of all varieties (especially aircraft), practical stunts, firearms, and sporadic exposition." With that said, it is safe to say that Cavill will not be missing out on those explosive action sequences.



"Mission: Impossible 6" cast



The "Mission: Impossible 6" cast includes Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson and "The Crown" actress Vanessa Kirby. According to reports, Cruise fought to have Kirby on board the film after he being impressed with her performance in the Netflix series.



"Mission: Impossible 6" release date



The movie will be out on July 27, 2018.






China Calls for Restraint as US Strikers Fly Closer to North Korea; Beijing Intensifies Defense

South Korean protesters burn an effigy of a North Korean missile. (Photo : Getty Images)

Beijing deployed more bombers and put them on high alert, according to U.S.'s national defense department. China later denied the allegations.



In a statement, the Ministry of National Defense said, "The Chinese military at the China-North Korea border is maintaining a normal level of combat readiness and training."



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China is asking President Donald Trump to lessen U.S. aggressiveness as strikers are moving closer to the Korean peninsula.



Analysts said China's strategy is to make the U.S. understand the strategic importance in the conflict and the relevance of practicing diplomacy.



John Delury, an associate professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University, said, "There's a kind of game here where Beijing is playing along to a certain extent, almost to call Trump's bluff, and to get the Americans to recognize they have the key in their hand to unlock the problem."



China is a major player in the North Korean economy. Coal exports from the country have stopped after North Korea conducted more nuclear tests.



However, China wants to prioritize diplomatic dialogue with Pyongyang as a war in the Korean peninsula will have catastrophic effects in the Asian region.



Michael Hirson, Asia director at consulting firm Eurasia Group, said, "I think China is signaling to both sides, to the U.S. that China is doing more, that China is acting in good faith to head off a crisis in North Korea."



He added that China is sending the message that the solution to the nuclear crisis "is one that involves diplomacy and getting North Korea to the table."



However, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence declared that the "strategic patience is over" regarding the conflict with North Korea.



Zha Daojiong, a professor at Peking University's School of International Studies, believes that the economic sanctions being done by China will be enough to pressure the North Korean government to negotiate and follow U.N. rules on nuclear weapons.


Samuel Puliafito described making plans to open his new bookstore in downtown Winston-Salem as scary.

That is probably the number one thing that holds people back, Puliafito said of fear.

His brother, Ben, a medical student living in New York, gave him the final motivation to take action.

He said something like you should just tell people youre going to open this store, and then youre going to open it, Puliafito said.

While on a road trip last May, Puliafito stopped in New York to see his brother, then the two of them drove to New Hampshire where Puliafito bought the first 10 books for his store.

Bright Leaf Books LLC softly opened at 227 W. Fifth St. on March 25, and a grand opening was held April 7.

The bookstore sells new and used literary fiction, scholarly titles, periodicals, small gifts and fine writing supplies.

Puliafito, who moved to Winston-Salem from Chicago in late July 2016, decided on Winston-Salem for the location of his store after visiting his friend Ezra Rawitsch here in May 2016 during his road trip. It was his first visit to the City of Arts and Innovation.

I wanted a place with good higher education and a place that had an urban center like Winston does, he said. There is a downtown urban core area thats denser than the outlying suburbs.

He also considered locations without a well-established bookstore in the direct market where he would be competing.

This is where I always wanted to be, Puliafito said of downtown Winston-Salem.

So far, customer traffic in Bright Leaf Books has exceeded his expectations.

The positive response Ive gotten from members of the community, especially from some people who are downtown, has been excellent, Puliafito said.

Bright Leaf Books wont be the only downtown bookstore. Bookmarks previously announced that it will open a new bookstore and gathering space in the breezeway at 634 W. Fourth St. this summer. Bookmarks will hold a groundbreaking and celebration event at 10 a.m. April 29.

Puliafito and his store

Born in Boston, Mass., Puliafito, 23, has lived in various states, including Florida and California. He attended Sewanee: The University of the South and received a bachelors degree in religious studies from the University of Chicago.

Prior to entering the bookstore business, he sold books online and also collected books.

Puliafito was applying for the T. Kimball Brooker Prize for book collecting in early 2016, which he later became a co-recipient of, the first time he thought about opening a bricks-and-mortar bookstore.

He believes there is room for two bookstores downtown.

I think we cater to different markets, he said of Bookmarks. I also think that the more bookstores there are, the better, and the more people who move downtown buying books, the better.

At Bright Leaf Books, 90 percent of its books are used and the other 10 percent are new or recent. Used books range from 50 cents to $7.50.

I have a fairly small store, and I like to be pretty selective of what I carry, Puliafito said. I want what I carry to be of high quality both in terms of content, and because in a used store, condition is key.

His offerings include some books by local and regional authors from Press 53, a publishing house based on Trade Street in Winston-Salem.

Bright Leaf Books carries quite a few literary criticism titles and a lot of scholarly titles in areas such as sociology, political science and philosophy.

The store also has history titles, a dedicated Civil War section as well as a section focused on military books.

It offers poetry and art books, cookbooks and childrens books. There are some periodicals, including Scalawag, a Durham-based magazine.

Puliafito also sells some rare books online but not in the store, and he buys books from the public.

The state of indies

Oren Teicher, the chief executive of the American Booksellers Association, known as ABA, said online shopping is a huge challenge for independent bookstores, but these bricks-and-mortar stores are doing much better than most people think.

In the United States, 2016 sales at independent bookstores were up just under 5 percent compared with 2015 and rose a little more than 10 percent in 2015 over 2014, Teicher said.

Book sales grew almost 8 percent in 2012 over the previous year, and independent bookstores held on to almost all those gains in 2013.

While not every bookstore or community has seen this growth, the national trends are clear, Teicher said. In addition, nationally in the U.S., new stores are opening, established stores are finding new owners, and a new generation is coming into the business as both owner/managers and frontline booksellers. All of this is a result of the fact that indie booksellers remain a resilient and entrepreneurial group.

He also said that ABA bookstore membership has grown for the seventh year in a row, with member stores operating in more than 2,300 locations.

Resurgence

Teicher of the American Booksellers Association said in the 1990s and early 2000s more independent bookstores closed than opened, but over the past several years, the industry has experienced a resurgence. The turnaround started around 2011 and 2012.

There are several reasons for this resurgence.

The most important is the localism movement, Teicher said. There are millions of American consumers making decisions to shop in local independent businesses because they are local.

Teicher also said that the cost of technology has come down, allowing independent bookstores the ability to have the same back-office technology that previously only their larger competitor companies could afford.

Back office technology hardware and software such as point of sale and inventory control has helped these businesses operate more efficiently, Teicher said.

He also said that book publishers need bricks-and-mortar stores to thrive and grow.

Readers discover books in a physical place, Teicher said. Its hard to discover books you dont know about online.

He said that e-books and e-readers have not affected independent bookstores as negatively as some people thought.

According to the Association of American Publishers, e-book revenue in the U.S. book and journal industry peaked in 2013 at $3.24 billion, but fell 11.3 percent to $2.84 billion in 2015 compared with $3.2 billion in 2014.

Online retail remained the top sales channel for publishers revenue in the trade category in 2015, with 37.4 percent of the market.

Overall revenue in the U.S. book and journal publishing industry was $27.8 billion in 2015, down 0.6 percent from $27.96 billion in 2014.

Puliafito said his biggest competition is not e-books but people who sell physical books online through a third-party marketplace.

He believes there are two ways to compete as an independent bookstore. The first is to be price competitive, especially in the used-book business.

For the most part, my prices are on parity with what you would find online for any given used book, Puliafito said.

He also said there is a need for a good merchandise assortment.

You have to have good, interesting books, and you have to have a store that has good visual merchandise and it really sells the products that you are carrying, he said.
How do you handle a drunken Chihuahua?

Thats the challenge cops in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania faced earlier this month when they encountered Maxwell, a 12-pound ankle biter ripped to the gills on Smirnoff vodka.

Maxwell, according to reports from Pittsburghs Action News 4 and The Smoking Gun website, was accompanying his 44-year-old owner, who had a vehicular mishap, slamming his car into a fence and pole shortly before 3:30 p.m. on a Thursday. It appears the pair was getting a big head start on the weekend.

Here is a portion of the responding officers report:

As I ran to the vehicle, I located a white adult male, highly impaired, keys in the ignition, turned on, and still in gear. There was a small Chihuahua dog in the car. The driver was just staring at me and failed to respond to commands to secure the vehicle or put it in gear and turn it off. He just turned and stared at me. On his lap was a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka 375 ml. The open bottle was spilled on him and was still pouring into the console of the car. I repeatedly attempted to secure the vehicle but the dog was aggressive and snapping at my hands.

The human suspect was eventually removed from the car, the vehicle was secured with the dog, later identified as Maxwell, still inside while police questioned the suspect to gauge his level of impairment, which appeared to be around an 11 on a scale of one to 10.

Back to the police report:

When we returned to the vehicle the dog Maxwell was drinking the vodka that was spilled and pooled in the console.

Uh-oh.

The situation had taken a turn for the worse  the cops were now dealing with a drunken Chihuahua, a major threat to public safety.

None of the reports explain how the situation actually went down, but heres how I imagine it did: The police back away, secure the perimeter and the sergeant at the scene sighs deeply and shakes his head.

Just two more weeks until my pension kicks in and now this happens  a drunken Chihuahua. Get the chief of the horn. Weve got a Code Red on Cyprus Drive.

The chief deploys the SWAT team and crisis negotiator, then calls the mayor with the bad news.

Your honor, weve got a Code Red on Cyprus Drive.

My god, man. Are you telling me weve got a drunken Chihuahua, a major threat to public safety? Im supposed to give investors from the Sakyahmi Corporation a tour of the citys Cyprus Drive property for their proposed semiconductor facility at 4 p.m. This will ruin everything. You clean this mess up or Ill have your badge!

The chief quickly heads to the scene.

How do we stand, sergeant?

Maxwells still holed up in the car, sir. The negotiator approached and tried to pet him and now the negotiator is missing the tip of his index finger. Maxwell just keeps yapping. Its more of a slurring yap, kind of a shlap. From what we can make out, he wants to go to Taco Bell.

Negative. We cant endanger the citizens safety down there any more. Theyre already eating at Taco Bell. Hold my coat. Im going in to talk to Maxwell.

Sir, you cant. Its suicide. Thats a drunken Chihuahua.

If I dont make it tell my wife I love her. And tell the mayor he can kiss my $@@.

Out of my imagination and back in reality, police did get Maxwell out of the car and down to an animal hospital. After a night treatment, a doctor told Action News Maxwell was back to his normal self, not showing any signs of what happened. Looks like a different dog than the dog presented last night."

For the sake of public safety, lets hope Maxwell stays off the sauce.

Scott Hollifield is editor/GM of The McDowell News in Marion, N.C. and a humor columnist. Contact him at rhollifield@mcdowellnews.com.
US Probe on Steel from China May Trigger Retaliation, Beijing Warns

China's Steel Export (Photo : Getty Images)

According to a report by state-affiliated China Daily, Washingtons probe into price dumping on steel from China and other exporting countries to the United States may set off retaliatory actions against American finance and high technology.



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By proposing an unjustified investigation into steel imports in the guise of safeguarding national security, the U.S. seems to be resorting to unilateralism to solve bilateral and multilateral problems, the newspaper wrote.



The investigation could affect steel exports from China, it said.



If the U.S. does take protectionist measures, then other countries are likely to take justifiable retaliatory actions against U.S. companies that have an advantage . . . in fields such as finance and high-tech, leading to a tit-for-tat trade war that benefits no one, the report noted.



China Daily encouraged the U.S. to put an end to the steel dispute through the World Trade Organization settlement mechanism.



The probe on steel imports was launched by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday. China and other steel-producing countries are under investigation for dumping cheap steel products to the country.



Subsequent to a complaint from EU producers ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp, the European Union increased the anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled flat steel products imported from China. The taxes on Chinese steel increased from 13.2 percent to 22.6 percent in April.



The EU companies said that China is selling steel at very low prices--even to the point of loss--because of overcapacity.



At the start of the previous year, Beijing pledged to decrease the annual steel production to 150 million tons in the next five years. But instead, Chinas steel production has only increased.



The United States must resolve its issues with steel from China. Washington should also be careful with its actions as the probe might flip-over the recent developments in the China-U.S. relations.


The Central African Republic held unprecedented talks with armed groups this week seeking to speed up disarmament in a country struggling to turn the page on years of bloodshed, officials said Saturday.

For the first time since the disarmament process began, the government -- facing a resurgence of violence since last September -- sat down with representatives of 14 armed groups in Bangui on Thursday and Friday.

"General progress has been quite substantial," said Jean-Marc Tafani, head of the disarmament process for the UN peacekeeping mission in Central Africa, MINUSCA.

The national plan for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) "was drawn up with details of steps to implement the project," he added.

Responding to concerns that former fighters could escape unpunished under the process, Tafani said "people suspected of various crimes will be brought to justice," and "kept out of the DDR programme," although he noted that during this week's talks "certain groups said they were against this".

President Faustin-Archange Touadera has repeatedly stressed the importance of the DDR since he took power last year in a country scarred by conflict since the 2013 overthrow of former president Francois Bozize by a Muslim-dominated rebellion.

A counter-offensive by majority Christian militias left thousands dead and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

The nation breathed a sigh of relief in March 2016 when Touadera took office, with a mandate to lead the country through its transition to peace.

But Central Africa's war wounds have proved hard to heal, with swathes of the country still facing unrest.

Since November, violence has raged in the central Ouaka region, leaving hundreds dead and many more injured.

Due to the rise of violence, coupled with a shortfall in aid funding, the humanitarian situation in the country has taken a turn for the worse.

The UN says some 2.2 million people -- more than half the population -- remain in dire need of assistance.

While parts of the country remain wracked by violence, a military intervention in 2013 by France and MINUSCA restored relative calm to the capital Bangui.

But since France withdrew in October, and with the Central African army still under an international arms embargo, UN peacekeepers are now the sole functioning force on the ground.

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Whether you are looking for new ways to address your type 2 diabetes patients care, are interested in the world of personalized molecular diagnostics for cancer , or just want to recommend some soothing music for your patients anxiety and pain, Medical News Today report on some of the technological innovations that could change patient care.

Microlevel focus is key in fighting sickness and disease, and this means finding a way to look at the individual.

Despite the rapidly advancing pace of technological innovation, many of the health problems faced by the wider population persist. In light of this, how can innovative technology be harnessed to help each patient and their individual needs?

One of the recurring themes woven into the speakers sessions was placing the patient at the center of care.

Wearable gadgets, personalized diagnostics, and computer-assisted music: the world of healthcare technology aims to improve the patient experience, contribute to long-term health outcomes and, ultimately, make it easier for physicians to deliver care. Whats new and in the pipeline in 2017? Medical News Today report from the recent WIRED Health conference in London, United Kingdom.

Were going to start leveraging technologies and place them in the hands of providers and patients, said cardiologist Dr. Jessica Mega of Verily, formerly Google Life Sciences, addressing the large audience at WIRED Healths main stage. From a provider standpoint, how do we create solutions with the user in mind? asked Dr. Mega. What is valuable to an individual and how do we do that?

Verilys current attempt at answering these questions lies in their new platform, Onduo, launched in conjunction with Sanofi in September of last year.

Starting with the type 2 diabetes community, Onduo is developing personalized solutions to help patients make better decisions about how they manage their condition.

By bringing together technological devices, software, and traditional medicine, Onduo aims to improve parameters such as medication management, health goals, and healthy behavior.

Developing the product is a multipronged approach involving the patients themselves, as well as clinicians, payers, and other healthcare professionals. The long-term aim is to extend this platform to type 1 diabetes patients and eventually to high-risk groups in order to prevent disease onset.

Part of the tech aspect of this new platform involves a miniaturized continuous glucose monitor, currently in development with Dexcom, to replace the traditional bulky devices.

Randall Barker, of Iowa Park, TX, is familiar with the challenges of continuous glucose monitoring. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1991, and his daughter was diagnosed in 2013. They both use an insulin infusion pump, a continuous glucose monitor, and glucose meters every day to help manage their condition.

We both use the typical blood glucose meter, he told MNT. In fact, we have multiple devices scattered all over. I leave one in my car. She leaves one at school. I have one I leave at work. We both have our main meters that we use at home. Thats five meters, and then we have backups to use also.

Verily say they are building miniaturized sensor electronics on an adhesive patch to make continuous monitoring less disruptive, with the aim of improving behavioral compliance.

Continuous data, better care?

According to a study published in Diabetes Therapy, for people with type 2 diabetes, the recommended glycemic goals are achieved by less than 50% of patients, which may be associated with decreased adherence to therapies.

Share on Pinterest Dr. Jessica Mega, of Verily, presents her solutions at WIRED Health in London, U.K.

Verily say their patch will facilitate subcutaneous monitoring of the interstitial fluid that may be less burdensome for those required to measure their glucose levels. Furthermore, the patch will wirelessly connect to a platform to securely share the data and continuously track the wearers glucose levels.

Could these continuous, accurate data paint a clearer picture of each individual patient, therefore enabling better care?

Euna Chi, M.D., an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System in Chicago, explained to MNT that continuous glucose monitoring may be particularly beneficial in patients with poorly controlled diabetes who are insulin dependent with labile blood glucose levels or asymptomatic hypoglycemia, or perhaps in patients who are nonadherent to frequent fingersticks.

This would provide both the clinician and the patient with more data to help titrate medication and avoid hyperglycemia. However, Dr. Chi stressed that concerns remained even though the technology seems promising.

Interstitial fluid readings do not accurately reflect blood glucose readings and do not eliminate the need for fingersticks, the cost of these devices remains high, and with the paucity of evidence it is unclear what duration of continuous monitoring would result in significantly improved outcomes, Dr. Chi explained.

When asked about the prospect of a patch, Randall Barker told MNT that it would take away some of the inconveniences that he and his daughter face. My daughter has had her sensor ripped out on more than one occasion  one of the downfalls of being a student athlete. I can only imagine how nice itd be with a patch, the decreased likelihood of it being ripped out.

It is becoming increasingly clear that a new kind of care lies at the intersection of technology and health, but why would a cardiologist decide to leave their practice to work at a tech company?
A hemorrhagic stroke is brain damage caused by bleeding in the brain. This can happen after a blood vessel bursts or if brain tissue bleeds.

What is a hemorrhagic stroke? Doctors may also use the term intracranial hemorrhage when talking about hemorrhagic stroke. The bleeding in the brain puts pressure on surrounding brain cells and can cause areas of the brain to be deprived of blood. This leads to brain tissue damage, which can lead to neurologic symptoms and be life threatening. This article discusses why hemorrhagic stroke happens, how to recognize it, and what treatments are available.

What causes a hemorrhagic stroke? Share on Pinterest Puwadol Jaturawutthichai/Shutterstock A hemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding in the brain. This can happen when a blood vessel in the brain bursts or when brain tissue starts to bleed. The damage from a hemorrhagic stroke can result from pressure caused by bleeding, edema, or a lack of blood supply. Brain tissue can bleed after an ischemic stroke, which is a stroke caused by a blocked blood supply. This damages brain tissue, making it frail and prone to bleeding. There is an especially high risk of a hemorrhagic stroke after a large ischemic stroke with extensive brain damage and tissue swelling. This is called a hemorrhagic conversion . It can happen anywhere from a few days to 2 weeks after an ischemic stroke. Other common causes of hemorrhagic stroke include brain tumors, tumors that metastasize to the brain, and severe infections in the brain. What percentage of strokes are hemorrhagic? Researchers estimate that about 13% of stroke cases are hemorrhagic strokes. There are different types of hemorrhagic stroke. An intracerebral hemorrhage is the most common type. In this type, bleeding occurs inside the brain. In a subarachnoid hemorrhage, bleeding occurs between the brain and the membranes that cover it. Learn about different types of stroke.

Symptoms of hemorrhagic stroke Some of the most common symptoms of a stroke include : numbness or weakness in the arm, face, or leg

sudden confusion

difficulty speaking or understanding speech

dizziness

loss of balance or coordination

sudden, severe headache

difficulty seeing in one or both eyes Recognizing the early symptoms of stroke is the best way to help a person get medical treatment quickly. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute urges people to remember the acronym FAST: F = face: Does one side of the face droop when the person smiles?

Does one side of the face droop when the person smiles? A = arms: When they lift both arms, does one arm drift down?

When they lift both arms, does one arm drift down? S = speech: Is the persons speech slurred?

Is the persons speech slurred? T = time: Call 911 immediately if the answer to any of the above is yes. A hemorrhagic stroke shares many of the same symptoms as other types of stroke. However, it may also cause other symptoms, such as vomiting, neck stiffness, and increased blood pressure. Subarachnoid hemorrhage may also cause seizures, loss of consciousness, sensitivity to light, and a sudden, severe headache, also known as a thunderclap headache. Symptoms of a hemorrhagic stroke may start suddenly or develop over several days. A person may also experience: a sudden, severe headache or inability to look at bright light

vision changes

loss of balance or coordination

numbness or weakness on one side of the body

seizures

loss of speech or difficulty understanding speech

confusion or loss of consciousness

nausea and vomiting

paralysis or numbness in any part of the body

stiffness or pain in the neck area

changes in heartbeat and breathing Complications of hemorrhagic stroke Depending on the extent of the damage, a person may experience a range of complications from a hemorrhagic stroke. The neurological complications can include : muscle weakness

decreased sensation

thinking difficulties

difficulty swallowing or talking

loss of bladder or bowel control

loss of vision

seizures

mental health challenges, such as depression Other complications include: a higher risk of pneumonia, if the person inhales food or drink

brain swelling, which can occur within about a week after the stroke

blood clots, which may lead to deep vein thrombosis and possibly pulmonary embolism

urinary tract infections if the person has a catheter

pressure sores if the person is unable to move unaided

shoulder pain due to muscle weakness Some of these complications will improve with time, and rehabilitation can help others. A person may need ongoing medical treatment to monitor and manage their symptoms. Following a hemorrhagic stroke, a person may experience severe headaches for some time. A doctor will provide pain relief medication. Consuming caffeine and alcohol may make the headaches worse.

How to treat hemorrhagic stroke Immediate treatment for hemorrhagic stroke is essential. Emergency treatment focuses on controlling bleeding and reducing pressure in the brain. This can involve repairing affected blood vessels or sealing an aneurysm. A surgical procedure known as a craniotomy may be necessary if there is brain swelling. A surgeon will open a small section of the skull to help relieve pressure on the brain that is building up due to the bleeding. A doctor may also prescribe medication to reduce blood pressure. This will lower pressure in the brain. If the person usually takes blood thinners or other anti-clotting drugs, the doctor may give medication to counter their effects. Blood sugar levels should also be closely regulated, as both high and low blood sugar can worsen outcomes for a hemorrhagic stroke. Additionally, a doctor will not recommend the intravenous administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA), which is a type of medication used to break up blood clots. This medication could worsen bleeding. Rehabilitation Following emergency treatment, the individual will likely have a program of rehabilitation. This can help them: regain strength

recover as much function as possible

return to independent living The extent of recovery will depend on the area of the brain affected and the amount of tissue damage. Tips that may help include: following a heart-healthy diet

avoiding or quitting smoking

developing a plan for regular exercise, in consultation with a health professional

managing body weight, if appropriate

developing regular sleeping habits, if possible

following the treatment plan, including taking medications and attending follow-up appointments

asking about rehabilitation to help with speech, movement, and other challenges

seeking support from loved ones and healthcare professionals to manage mental health

monitoring for new or worsening symptoms and complications and seeking help if they occur A doctor will help the individual determine the best rehabilitation program for them, depending on their age, their overall health, and the impact of the stroke. Some people may need speech, physical, and occupational therapy. Therapy and medication may also help manage any impact on mental health, such as depression.

Hemorrhagic stroke outlook It can take time to recover from a stroke, and some people never recover fully. They may need long-term treatment and supportive care. According to a 2020 study, only about 34% of people who experienced a hemorrhagic stroke survived past the first year. However, the impact will depend on where the damage occurs, how severe it is, and how quickly a person receives treatment. While many people need ongoing care, researchers estimate that around 1239% of people are able to achieve long-term functional independence. A person who has had a stroke may also have a higher risk of having another one. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 4 strokes that happen each year in the United States affect people who have had a stroke before.

Diagnosing hemorrhagic stroke To diagnose a stroke, a doctor will likely: consider the persons symptoms

look at their medical history

carry out a physical examination

do some imaging tests

carry out other tests During the physical exam, a doctor will assess: mental alertness

coordination

balance

signs of numbness or weakness in the face

confusion

speech Imaging tests, such as a CT or MRI scan, can show if there is bleeding inside the brain. This can help identify the type of stroke. An electroencephalogram (EEG) gives information about brain function. The doctor may also recommend blood tests and a lumbar puncture.

Preventing hemorrhagic stroke It is not always possible to prevent a stroke, but some lifestyle changes may help. These include: quitting or avoiding smoking

maintaining a healthy weight

exercising regularly

following a healthy and varied diet

having regular health checks

taking action to manage heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions These preventive measures are especially important for people who have already had a stroke.

Hemorrhagic stroke in children Strokes usually affect older people, but they can also occur in children. Approximately 44% of strokes in children are hemorrhagic, compared to 13% in adults. Possible causes of stroke in children include: blood vessel problems that are present at birth

conditions that affect the blood, such as sickle cell disease

infections

trauma

cancer

some metabolic disorders If a child has a hemorrhagic stroke, the symptoms most likely to appear are: weakness on one side of the body

headache

vomiting

reduction or loss of consciousness

seizure

difficulty speaking

sleepiness

difficulty seeing There may also be a fever before other symptoms appear. Sometimes, an infant experiences a stroke soon after birth, but the symptoms may not be apparent, or they may resemble those of another condition. In some cases, the effects only become apparent as the child develops. The child may show signs of weakness, speech difficulties, and other symptoms, such as headaches. Emergency treatment will aim to manage symptoms and reduce the risk of complications. This may include measures to reduce pressure in the brain and prevent dehydration. The long-term impact will depend on the location and severity of the stroke. It can affect the individuals physical and emotional health and ability to learn and socialize. Long-term treatment, such as physical and speech therapy, can help. Overall, the chance of surviving a stroke appears to be higher among children than adults. If the child has another condition, such as a heart problem, it may affect their outlook.

Questions and answers What causes hemorrhagic stroke? Hemorrhagic stroke most often occurs when a blood vessel in the brain leaks or ruptures, which is known as a hemorrhagic conversion of an ischemic stroke or a bleeding brain tumor. Other causes include severe brain infection, head trauma, certain bleeding disorders, or an aneurysm. How is hemorrhagic stroke treated? Treatment for a hemorrhagic stroke can vary depending on the cause, location, and severity. Generally, treatment focuses on controlling bleeding and relieving pressure on the brain using either medications or surgery. Can a person survive a hemorrhagic stroke? According to one study, about 34% of people who experienced a hemorrhagic stroke survived past the first year. However, the chances of survival depend on the severity of the stroke and how quickly a person is able to receive treatment. How long can a person live after a hemorrhagic stroke? Recovery from a stroke can be a long process, and approximately 1 in 4 people who survive a stroke have another within 5 years. Fortunately, researchers estimate that around 1239% of those who survive an intracerebral hemorrhage are able to achieve long-term functional independence. Identifying and treating the underlying causes of a stroke may help improve outcomes and reduce the risk of recurrence. Hemorrhagic stroke vs. hemorrhagic shock: Are they the same? Although hemorrhagic stroke and hemorrhagic shock may sound similar, they are not the same condition. They both include the term hemorrhagic because they both involve excessive bleeding. However, hemorrhagic stroke is a stroke that occurs due to bleeding in the brain, whereas hemorrhagic shock is a major loss of fluid volume in the body as a result of blood loss. Hemorrhagic shock is a type of hypovolemic shock.
For the first time, researchers have shown that using a nanovaccine to deliver cancer immunotherapy can slow tumor growth and prolong survival in mouse models of several types of cancer. Share on Pinterest Researchers found that the nanovaccine slowed tumor growth and prolonged survival in numerous mouse models of cancer. This image shows how a solution of the nanoparticles scatters laser light.

Image credit: UTSW The team  from the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center in Dallas  describes the work in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. Immunotherapy is a way of treating disease by getting the bodys immune system to fight it. When that disease is cancer, it is critically important that the immunotherapy generates immune cells called T cells that can recognize and target tumor cells for elimination. One way to do this is to apply the principle of a vaccine, where antigens  molecules that uniquely identify the target  are delivered to the immune system to prime it to recognize and destroy the disease-causing cells. Co-senior author Jinming Gao, a UTSW professor of pharmacology and otolaryngology, says that various established vaccine approaches  such as using live bacteria as the delivery mechanism  have been used in cancer immunotherapy. However, he notes that these tend to be complex and costly, and they can also result in immune-related side effects.

Minimalist nanovaccine takes antigen to lymph nodes The approach that the UTSW researchers have developed  which they describe as a minimalist nanovaccine  comprises a simple mixture of a tumor antigen and a synthetic polymer nanoparticle. Nanoparticles are being increasingly used in medicine as they allow scientists to manipulate materials at the level of individual atoms, which is a very useful scale for tackling disease inside cells. A significant advantage of UTSWs nanovaccine approach is that the nanoparticles take the antigen directly to the lymph nodes to help generate primed T cells. Prof. Gao says that conventional vaccines do not do this  they require the immune cells to collect the antigens in a depot system first and then transport them to the lymph nodes to prime the T cells. For the vaccine to work, it has to first deliver the antigens into a type of immune cell called an antigen-presenting cell. The antigen-presenting cells process and present the antigens for recognition by the T cells.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Afghanistan on Monday as President Donald Trump's administration looks to construct its strategy for the war-torn country, where resurgent Taliban militants continue to make gains.

Mattis is expected to meet Afghan officials and U.S. troops while in Kabul, but his arrival coincided with an announcement that his Afghan counterpart, Defence Minister Abdullah Habibi, and the Afghan army chief of staff had resigned after more than 140 Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack last week.

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Foods should be investigated as a potential source of spread of Clostridium difficile, according to research presented at the 27th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID).

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) causes gut infections and can be particularly dangerous for elderly patients. Because it is resistant to commonly used antibiotics it can emerge in patients who are already being treated in hospital for unrelated conditions.

The new research used DNA fingerprinting to examine which particular types of the bacteria were causing infections in patients and how widely they are distributed in Europe.

Some strains were found clustered within a particular country, suggesting they were possibly being passed around within hospitals - a well-recognised route of transmission. However, because some other strains were found dispersed in several different countries, this adds weight to the idea that C. difficile could also be transmitted via our food.

The research was presented by Dr David Eyre, a clinical lecturer at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He explained: "We know that C. difficile lives in the gut in a small proportion of healthy people, where it causes no symptoms. However, its resistance to antibiotics means it can grow uncontrollably in patients treated with the drugs, causing diarrhoea that can be severe or even fatal. It is the most frequent cause of infectious diarrhoea in hospitalised patients, and the increase in the use of antibiotics has allowed C. difficile to spread more effectively.

"Lots of effort has gone into controlling its spread including infection control interventions such as hand washing campaigns, and reducing the use of antibiotics that can lead to infection. Despite these measures, people are still getting C. difficile infections and the routes of transmission are not completely understood."

Other sources of transmission that have been suggested include asymptomatic patients, children - who carry C. difficile more commonly than adults - and farm and domestic animals.

The new research included all the stool samples submitted on one day in summer and one day in winter in 2012/2013 from 482 European hospitals. Dr Eyre and his team selected the ten most common types of C. difficile found in the samples. In each case, they used DNA fingerprinting to examine how widespread the type was within countries and between countries.

Dr Eyre told the congress: "We know that C. difficile infection can spread within hospitals. If this was the only route of transmission, we would expect to see each type of the bacteria concentrated within one area. However, because we also saw some types that were spread around several countries, this suggests the bacteria are moving around by other means."

The research indicated that five of the types were clustered within countries while five others were not. One type, for example, was found in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

Another type which was spread around Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and UK has previously been associated with pig farming.

Dr Eyre continued: "We don't know much about how C. difficile might be spread in the food chain, but this research suggests it may be very widespread. If that turns out to be the case, then we need to focus on some new preventative strategies such as vaccination in humans once this is possible, or we might need to look at our use of animal fertilisers on crops.

"This study doesn't give us any definitive answers, but it does suggest other factors are at play in the spread of C. difficile and more research is urgently needed to pin them down."

To investigate further, Dr Eyre hopes to repeat the study but, at the same time, obtain samples from food, the wider environment and hospitals, to better understand where the source of infection might be.
New research suggests it is possible to quickly and accurately diagnose some the most dangerous and drug-resistant types of bacterial infections, using equipment already owned by most hospitals.

Bacteria have been gradually evolving to become resistant to the antibiotics used to treat them. Over the last few year, scientists have found evidence that some bacteria have become resistant to a last resort antibiotic called colistin.

Now, in a presentation at the 27th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), researchers described how they were able to test bacteria to quickly tell whether they were resistant to colistin, and how easily they might pass this resistance on to other bacteria. They say this is an important discovery because knowing which patients have these most dangerous infections means it is possible to use quarantine measures to halt their spread and stop the rise of drug resistance.

The research was presented by Dr Laurent Dortet, Associate Professor at South Paris University, France, and a researcher at Imperial College London, UK. The work was a collaboration between Dr Dortet and colleagues at Imperial, Dr Gerald Larrouy-Maumus and Professor Alain Filloux.

They studied bacteria called Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. These are both members of a group of bacteria called Enterobacteriacae that can cause gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections, lung diseases such bronchitis and pneumonia, and even sepsis.

Some strains of these bacteria have become resistant to nearly all available antibiotics mostly by producing antibiotic inactivating enzymes, for example extended-spectrum b-lactamases and carbapenemases. This means that colistin often remains the only treatment option for these multidrug resistant bacteria. Unfortunately, some have now also developed resistance to colistin.

Previous research has shown two different types of colistin resistance exist in bacteria. One type, called chromosome-encoded resistance, can only be passed on when bacteria grow and divide to form new bacteria cells. The other type, called plasmid-encoded resistance, is considered more dangerous because it can be passed on from one type of bacteria to another completely different type of bacteria.

Dr Dortet told the congress: "This plasmid-encoded resistance is particularly worrying because it has the potential to spread quickly and easily and, if that happens, last resort drugs like colistin could also become obsolete. If, on the other hand, we are able to rapidly identify bacteria that have this type of resistance, we can take measures to stop its spread. This might include isolating the patient in a separate room where they are treated by dedicated medical staff."

The team tested 134 different colonies of bacteria using a machine called a mass spectrometer. Mass spectrometers are found in testing labs at most hospitals where they are used to analyse various different molecules.

They found that it was possible to distinguish not only between those bacteria that are colistin resistant, and those that are not, but also which bacteria have the more dangerous plasmid-encoded resistance. They say the test can be carried out in around 15 minutes and would cost less than one US dollar per sample.

Dr Larrouy-Maumus explained: "The exciting thing about this technique is that it relies on technology that is already available in most hospitals. This means that it could be rolled out quickly and cheaply, and potentially have a rapid impact on tackling drug-resistance."

The researchers are now working with Imperial Innovations, Imperial College London's technology transfer office, to patent the technique and develop it for widespread use in hospital laboratories.

They say the test could also be useful for screening in veterinary samples, where levels of colistin-resistance are known to be high. It might also be used for testing whether new drugs are able restore bacteria's vulnerability to colistin.
New data presented at The International Liver Congress 2017 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, suggests that colder and less sunny regions of the world have higher rates of alcoholic cirrhosis, a disease caused by excessive drinking which results in irreversible scarring of the liver. An international team of scientists analysing data from over 190 countries found that every increase in temperature of one degree Celsius was linked with a decrease in the alcohol-attributable fraction (AAF*) of cirrhosis of 0.3%. Heavy alcohol intake causes a perception of warmth, while fewer sunlight hours have been linked to depression which in turn, may lead to alcohol abuse. As a result, the researchers hypothesised that colder countries would have higher rates of alcohol consumption and therefore an increased burden of alcoholic cirrhosis.

Alcohol-attributable liver cirrhosis makes up around half of all causes of liver cirrhosis and is responsible for an estimated 493,000 deaths globally every year, or 0.9% of deaths worldwide.1 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Europe is the heaviest drinking region in the world in terms of the prevalence of alcohol consumption.2 Alcohol is also a major cause of liver disease, including liver cirrhosis, which accounts for 1.8% of all deaths in Europe or around 170,000 deaths per year.3

"Our research reveals that a country's climate and geographical location have a startling influence on the burden of liver cirrhosis," said Dr Neil D. Shah, lead author of the study, and senior author, Dr Ramon Bataller, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States. "As average temperatures and yearly hours of sunshine decrease and latitude increases, rates of alcohol-attributable cirrhosis increase. This suggests that drinking alcohol excessively to combat the cold and dark could put people at increased risk of suffering from alcoholic cirrhosis."

The research team, made up of academics from Canada, Mexico, Spain and the USA, conducted a comprehensive analysis of data from 193 countries taken from WHO and World Meteorological Organization databases. This involved collating information on heavy alcohol consumption, binge drinking, average temperature, climate, latitude and hours of yearly sunshine, to determine their influence on alcohol-attributable liver cirrhosis.

In the univariate analysis conducted by researchers, there was an inverse association between mean average temperature, mean annual sunshine hours and a positive association with absolute latitude (p<0.05) with AAF. In the multivariate analysis, average temperature and sunshine hours remained independently associated with the burden of alcohol-attributable liver cirrhosis or AAF after adjusting for the percentage of binge drinkers among active drinkers and alcohol consumption (p<0.05).

"Although association does not imply causality, these provocative data provide a strong argument in favour of the hypothesis that the amount of alcohol intake, and, as a result, the risk of alcohol-related cirrhosis, depends on latitude. It remains to be seen to what extent other factors, such as ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds, may attenuate this association. This important study will certainly add to the current debate on what appropriate public policy measures are to be undertaken depending on climate to prevent alcohol-related cirrhosis," said Prof Francesco Negro, Divisions of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of Clinical Pathology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland, and EASL Governing Board Member.
The largest genomic analysis of puberty timing in men and women conducted to date has identified 389 genetic signals associated with puberty timing, four times the number that were previously known.

The study, published in Nature Genetics and led by researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge and other scientists in the international ReproGen consortium, also found new genetic evidence linking earlier timing of puberty to higher risk of several cancers known to be sensitive to sex-hormones in later life, including breast, ovary and endometrial cancers in women, and prostate cancer in men. These influences remained after controlling for body weight, which is important as body weight itself influences both the timing of puberty and the risk of some cancers.

Dr John Perry, Senior Investigator Scientist from the MRC Epidemiology Unit and senior author on the paper, says: "Previous studies suggested that the timing of puberty in childhood was associated with risks of disease decades later, but until now it was unclear if those were circumstantial observations, for example secondary to other factors such as body weight.

"Our current study identifies direct causal links between earlier puberty timing itself and increased cancer risk. This link could possibly be explained by higher levels of sex hormones throughout life, but we need to do more work to understand the exact mechanisms involved. We aim to understand these disease links and thereby contribute to the prevention of diseases in later life."

The timing of puberty varies widely between individuals but tends to run closely within families. Earlier puberty timing may have advantages for some adolescents, for example for boys who engage actively in sports, but it appears to have largely negative effects on later health, such as higher risks of heart disease and some cancers.

By performing detailed assessments of genetic variants across the whole genome in 329,345 women, comprising data from 40 studies in the ReproGen consortium, UK Biobank, and consented 23andMe customers, this study identified 389 independent genetic signals for age at puberty in women. This observation was then confirmed in a further 39,543 women from the deCODE study, Iceland. Many of these genetic associations were also found to influence age at voice breaking, a comparable measure of puberty timing in men.

These findings shed light on the mechanisms that regulate puberty timing. Dr Perry adds: "These newly identified genetic factors explain one quarter of the estimated heritability of puberty timing. Our findings highlight the remarkable biological complexity of puberty timing, with likely thousands of genetic factors, in combination with numerous environmental triggers, acting together to control the timing of this key transition from childhood to adult life."

Dr Ken Ong, also from the MRC Epidemiology Unit and joint senior author on the paper, says: "One of the more remarkable findings concerns the role of certain types of genes called imprinted genes, which are only active in your body when inherited specifically from one parent but not the other. We identified rare variants in two genes, which both lower the age of puberty when inherited from your father, but have no effect when inherited from your mother. This is intriguing as it suggests that mothers and fathers might benefit differently from puberty occurring at earlier or later ages in their children."
OTTAWA

April 25, 2017

$2.5 billion and $25.7 billion

Canada

Canada

Alistair Bursey

Canada's

$2.30

$9.10

$72.00

The Value of Expanded Pharmacy Services in Canada (Conference Board of Canada )

(Conference Board of ) Getting the Most out of Community Pharmacy  Recommendations for Action (Conference Board of Canada )

) Fact sheet (CPhA)

Value of Pharmacy Services webpage (CPhA)

Canada

/CNW/ - Canada-wide implementation of three pharmacy services could yield cumulative cost savings betweenover the next 20 years, depending on the level of uptake of these services, according to a new report released today by The Conference Board of. Expanding pharmacy services would translate to direct cost savings for governments and prevent chronic disease and premature deaths.The report,, part of a three-part research series commissioned by the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA), reviews the health and economic impact of three services that are currently delivered within a community pharmacy settingsmoking cessation, advanced medication review for heart disease and pneumococcal vaccination. The research findings provide ample evidence that expanded pharmacy services improve health outcomes and reduce burdens on the broader health care system."This report is good news for a cash-strapped health care system, governments, payers and ultimately all Canadians," said, Chair, Canadian Pharmacists Association. "While we have long understood the health benefits of pharmacist care in interventions such as smoking cessation and cardiovascular disease through past clinical practice research, these findings help to bridge the evidence gap to demonstrate the significant valuepharmacists can bring to our health care system."In addition to health and economic gains, a large return on investment is also expected for all three community pharmacy services. By 2035, for every dollar spent, the direct return could reach up tofor advanced medication review for heart disease,for smoking cessation, andfor pneumococcal vaccination.Expanding pharmacy services would improve the health of Canadians through chronic disease management, health promotion and prevention, as well as improve access to health services in rural and remote communities. Pharmacists can also help meet the demands of high-needs and vulnerable populations at reduced cost. Pharmacy care means fewer visits to doctors' offices and emergency rooms, saving health care dollars while also improving health outcomes for patients."If given the opportunity, community pharmacists could do more to help meet the growing demand for convenient, accessible, and cost-effective health care services," said Bursey. "The infrastructure for these services already exists; now we must expand pharmacists' scope of practice and remunerate them appropriately to provide this care across the country."Pharmacists are ideally positioned to provide this care: they have the skills, training and expertise to do even more.Community pharmacists are regarded as the most accessible and convenient primary care providers, and by capitalizing on their expertise as medication experts and broadening their scope of practice, they could play an even greater role in ensuring the sustainability of our health care system.www.pharmacists.caSOURCE Canadian Pharmacists Association
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Canada has no legal restrictions on sex-determination tests and sex-selective abortion unless use of reproductive technology is involved.The study was done by the same group of researchers who reported last year that more male babies than expected were being born to Indian-born women living in Canada.In their research published in 2016, the researchers found that women born in India, who already have two daughters, gave birth to 196 baby boys in Ontario for every 100 girls while in most of the world, between 103 and 107 boys are born for every 100 girls and Canadian-born women living in Canada give birth to about 105 boys for every 100 girls.The new study revealed that the skewed ratio of male to female babies born to Indian-born women does not change with the length of time the women live in Canada, as the researchers would have expected it to.The findings suggest that the gender imbalance will not be corrected without interventions that include community involvement and education, said lead researcher Marcelo Urquia from St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.Noting that India is a culturally and linguistically diverse country, Urquia, who is also Assistant Professor at University of Manitoba, set out to see whether the practice was more common among some groups.He looked at records relating to 46,834 live births to Indian-born women who immigrated to the province of Ontario between 1985 and 2012 and gave birth in Canada between 1993 and 2014.Among all Indian-born women with two previous daughters, elevated male-to-female ratios were particularly evident among women whose mother tongue was Punjabi, findings of the latest study showed.At their third delivery in Ontario, these women had 240 boys for every 100 girls.The researchers also examined whether this sex imbalance corrected itself after immigrants spent more time in Canada.Women whose mother tongue was Punjabi gave birth to 213 boys for every 100 girls if they had lived in Canada for less than 10 years. The number went up to 270 boys for every 100 girls if they had lived in Canada for more than 10 years, the opposite of what researchers would have expected, Urquia said.Indian-born women whose mother tongue was Hindi gave birth to 163 boys for every 100 girls overall, 130 boys if they lived in Canada less than 10 years, and 217 boys if they lived in Canada for more than 10 years, said the study.Source: IANS
US defense leaders and other top officials will give a classified briefing on North Korea to all senators in an unusual meeting at the White House, the Pentagon said Monday.

The briefing will be conducted Wednesday by Pentagon chief Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joe Dunford, who is America's top officer and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

They "will be briefing all senators on the current strategic situation with regards to North Korea," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

While lawmakers often receive classified briefings, these are usually conducted in secure rooms in the Capitol building and not at the White House.

The briefing comes at a time of soaring tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

An official North Korean website warned Monday that Pyongyang will "wipe out" the United States if Washington starts a war on the peninsula, the latest tit-for-tat saber-rattling between the two countries.

The United States has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson to the western Pacific, and observers say North Korea appears to be readying a sixth nuclear test.

US officials have warned that "all options are on the table" in dealing with the North Korean threat but have so far relied on China to rein in its unpredictable ally.

The United States has 100 senators. It was not immediately known if all of them were expected to attend Wednesday's meeting, which is taking place at about 1900 GMT.

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Islam Maytat thought marrying an Afghan-British businessman was her ticket to a new life as a fashionista in London. Instead she became a widow living under militant rule in Syria.

At just 23, the young Moroccan spent three traumatic years in northern Syria under the Islamic State group's so-called "caliphate".

Tens of thousands of foreigners have joined militant groups in Syria, including women who are encouraged to marry and raise the children of IS fighters.

Some, like Maytat, have been lured unknowingly into marriages with would-be militant.

Maytat spoke to AFP after fleeing IS's northern stronghold of Raqa to territory controlled by a US-backed alliance fighting the extremist group.

Now safe in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, Maytat holds her gurgling 10-month-old daughter Maria in her lap as she tells her story.

"Meeting my husband was one of the things that motivated me to study fashion design in Europe, but I had no luck. Everything went wrong," she said.

She first met Khalil Ahmed -- an Afghan-British trader who worked in Dubai -- online in early 2014, and they married two months later.

He flew to Morocco to marry her and they then went to Dubai, stepping into a complex web of lies and journeys across the Middle East that would eventually take her to Syria.

Ahmed proved to be a strict, controlling husband who did not allow her to wear makeup or bright clothes.

After a brief trip to Afghanistan to meet his family, Maytat was eager to get to London and start working as a stylist.

Ahmed proposed travelling to Istanbul, convincing a reluctant Maytat that it would be easier to move to London from there.

But as soon as they landed in Turkey, Ahmed immediately drove her to the southeastern city of Gaziantep near the border with Syria.

Ankara has long been accused of turning a blind eye to IS fighters using the porous Syrian-Turkish border to transport people, goods, and funds -- allegations it vehemently denies.

In Gaziantep, Maytat and Ahmed moved into a large house full of ecstatic couples from countries including Saudi Arabia, Algeria and France.

"I asked them 'Why are you here?' And they told me they were there to migrate to the caliphate in Syria," Maytat recalls.

In June 2014, IS declared a self-styled "caliphate" across Syria and Iraq, where it implemented its literal interpretation of Islamic law.

"I began to cry. It was two weeks after the caliphate was declared and the women kept saying 'We're going to the land of the caliphate, the land of the Muslims', and they were all happy," Maytat says.

In August, Ahmed and Maytat made their own journey across the border into war-ravaged northern Syria.

They settled in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, where Ahmed's brother was already living with his family.

"I said to my husband 'Why did you destroy my life like this? You should have told me from the beginning that this is what we were going to do'," Maytat recalls.

"And he said 'You're my wife -- you have to listen to what I say'."

Tears welling, Maytat says she had felt powerless to resist Ahmed, her only link to her previous life.

By September, she was pregnant with her first child -- Abdullah -- and Ahmed was sent to a month-long military training before deploying to IS's front in Kobane.

On October 8, 2014, Ahmed's brother told Maytat her husband had been killed in combat.

"I became more depressed. I said to myself, this is the only person I knew in this foreign land, and now I'm alone here," she tells AFP.

Pregnant and alone, Maytat moved into a shared "guest house" for widows of Islamist militant, mostly Uzbeks and Russians.

This is when the military training started.

"When they forced us to do weapons training I was pregnant, but I had no choice," she says.

Unable to communicate with many other widows, Maytat was allowed to move into a building housing other Arabic-speakers.

"There were French, Tunisians, Moroccans and Algerians. I stayed there until I gave birth to Abdullah."

Less than a year after her first husband died, Maytat remarried in order to escape the shelter.

Her second husband, an Afghan known as Abu Abdullah, took her to Raqa, the de facto capital of IS's caliphate.

"I couldn't deal with life there -- he wouldn't let me leave the house -- so I asked him for a divorce two months later," she says.

She then married for the third time in three years, this time to an Indian fighter in Raqa known as Abu Talha al-Hindi.

That 18-month marriage produced her daughter, Maria.

When Maytat learned Abu Talha had been killed battling the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, she joined up with another militant widow, a Yazidi woman.

They escaped IS territory via "a secret route" that she refused to divulge.

Traumatised by her past, Maytat is now also worried about her future and that of her two young children.

"I still don't know what to do with my life.

"I hope to return to Morocco with both of my children, but I don't know if I'll have a future or not there."

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Roman Catholic Pope Francis delivered on Tuesday a televised speech addressing the Egyptian people ahead of his upcoming two-day visit to the country on Friday; the first visit by a Roman Catholic pope since his predecessor John Paul II visited Cairo in 2000.

Pope Francis started his speech with the traditional Islamic greeting As-Salamu Alaykum (Peace be upon you), saying he is truly happy to visit as a friend, a messenger of peace, and a pilgrim to the country that over two thousand years ago offered refuge and hospitality to the Holy Family as they fled the tyranny of King Herod.

"With a heart full of joy and gratitude I will soon visit your beloved country, the cradle of civilisation, the gift of the Nile, the land of sun and hospitality, the land where Patriarchs and Prophets lived, and where God, Benevolent and Merciful, the Almighty and One God, made his voice heard," the pope said.

"I am also honoured to visit the land visited by the Holy Family, which you call 'Umm al dunia' (the mother of the world)."

The pope also offered his regards to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb, and Egypt's Coptic Catholic Patriarch, all of whom he is set to meet during his visit.

"I would like this visit to be a witness of my affection, comfort and encouragement for all the Christians of the Middle East, a message of friendship and respect for all the inhabitants of Egypt and the region, and a message of brotherhood and reconciliation with all the children of Abraham, particularly the Muslim world, in which Egypt holds so important a place."

Pope Francis said he wished his visit to Egypt would mark a fruitful contribution to interreligious dialogue with the followers of Islam and to ecumenical dialogue with the venerable and beloved Coptic Orthodox Church.

"Our world is torn by blind violence, a violence that has also struck the heart of your beloved land. Our world needs peace, love and mercy. It needs peacemakers, people who are free and who set others free, men and women of courage who can learn from the past in order to build the future, free of every form of prejudice. Our world needs people who can build bridges of peace, dialogue, fraternity, justice and humanity," he added.

"Dear Egyptian brothers and sisters, young and old, women and men, Muslims and Christians, rich and poor... I embrace you warmly and I ask Almighty God to bless you and protect your country from every evil, please pray for me, Shukran, Tahya Misr (Thank you and long live Egypt)," the pope said in conclusion.

The Roman Catholic pontiff received an official invitation to visit Egypt from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi when they met at the Vatican in 2014.

The visit, which celebrates 70 years of diplomatic ties between Egypt and the Vatican, comes after two suicide bombings targeted two cathedrals in Egypt earlier this month, killing and injuring dozens of Christian worshippers.

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The sister of an Egyptian national recently deemed to be the worlds heaviest woman has accused doctors in India, where her sister is being treated, of lying and jeopardising her sisters life, an allegation the hospital has denied.

Shaimaa Selim, the sister of 35-year-old Eman Ahmed Abdel-Ati, who weighs approximately 500kg, published a video on her Facebook account accusing Indian doctors treating her sister of being liars and looking for publicity.

In February, Abdel-Ati made headlines all over the world when she was flown to Saifee Hospital in Mumbai to undergo weight loss surgery.

On 21 April, Saifee Hospital announced that Abdel-Ati lost 250kg two months after undergoing the surgery.

However, Selim, who is accompanying her sister in India, has accused the hospital and the doctor in charge of treating her sister, Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, of lying.

Selim asserts that Abdel-Ati has only lost 50kg and has suffered a stroke, which Dr Lakdawala has denied.

Selim also said that her sister, who is still in India, will be discharged from hospital to return to Egypt soon, even though she was set to remain in India for one year to receive treatment.

The health committee in Egypts House of Representatives has called on the Egyptian foreign ministry to follow up on the case in Mumbai and keep the committee informed on the situation.

On Tuesday, Egypts general consul in Mumbai met with Selim and Dr Lakdawala.

Dr Lakdawala and Saifee Hospital have denied Selims allegations in statements to Asian News International (ANI), saying that Eman is doing well and that her sister was creating a scene because she did not want to take her sister back to Egypt due to financial reasons.

Lakdawala said that Emans condition has improved "miraculously well," as she has lost 200kg in two months, not the initially estimated 6kg.

Lakdawala has said in a Twitter post that he will continue to treat Eman.

Shaimaa Selim, you killed humanity with one blow, may God help you when you realise what you have done, he said on Twitter on Monday.

I will treat Eman to the best of my abilities till she goes home, he said.

On Tuesday, he posted a new tweet with a link to a blog dedicated to Abdel-Ati titled #SaveEman, where a video posted on the same day shows Abdel-Ati undergoing a CT scan and physiotherapy.

The blog said that the CT scan showed that Abdel-Ati suffered no stroke after her arrival at the hospital.

The blog post added that she has suffered repeated seizures due to scar epilepsy and that her neurological rehabilitation therapy would continue.

Dr Aparna Govil Bhasker, the section chief of Bariatric Surgery at Saifee Hospital, announced on Tuesday in a Facebook post that she is stepping down from overseeing the treatment of Abdel-Ati because of her sisters behaviour.

What her sister has done is worse than physically assaulting a doctor, she said, adding that Abdel-Ati health was better now than it had ever been in the past 25 years.

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MFA SPOKESMAN: We welcome you to the press conference of the 1st Ministerial Meeting of the Ancient Civilizations Forum. The Foreign Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Nikos Kotzias, has the floor.



N. KOTZIAS: Good afternoon.



I would like to thank all of our guests, who came to Athens, the city of Democracy and Culture, so that we could discuss issues concerning ancient civilization and how we can use its wisdom to produce creative plans for our peoples and the world. To discuss, among other things, how we can use culture for peace, and cultural diplomacy for mutual understanding.



We agreed to publish the speeches we made today in a book in all of the languages. We also discussed the institutionalization of this meeting and its being held on an annual basis. Already, three member states of the Forum have expressed their willingness to host the next meetings.



We also agreed that it will be a Forum open to new members; a Forum that can be attended by observers, such as states that do not have ancient cultures. We also agreed that, as of the next meeting, we will also invite international organizations, such as the UN and UNESCO, and, depending on the given agenda for the meeting, we will also invite other specialized international organizations.



We will create a network of competent parties in each country, and we agreed that, at the next meeting, together with the political conference, we will also hold an academic conference, including a joint session between the ministers and academics, which will provide fertile ground for the exchange of views and ideas.



We agreed that ideal culture is good culture, peaceful culture, democratic culture. It is what links the past and the future, which imparts strength even to the weak, substantially upgrades relations between states and gives us, the stewards of ancient civilizations, a special responsibility, highlighting that we prefer the civilized to the barbaric.



We prefer dialogue to fanaticism, civilizing to acts of terror. We prefer to draw the wisdom of our peoples from the past and use it to shape the future.



Today, ten states, on various levels of representation, met in a historic conference, the Ancient Civilizations Forum, which is a joint initiative we took with my Chinese friend, Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Together with other states, we had the pleasure of meeting here in Athens.



For us, culture is a soft power and economic factor, and at the same time it is a civilizing force that cultivates the human being, enabling us to express the inexpressible in a way that banishes fears and insecurity.



We concluded that we can and must continue our cooperation on disseminating the values of a peaceful culture, and that we will be able to shape a number of joint plans and projects that we will agree on over the next two months.



Culture links many manifestations of human activity through education, tourism, deterring wars, through new technology and the way we use it.



As the Greek state, we want to promote a positive agenda in our external relations. As we did yesterday and today, pointing up the richness of our culture and its usefulness in international relations. In this context, less that a month from now, we will have the next Rhodes meeting on stability and security, which is aimed at creating positive synergies in the Eastern Mediterranean, between European and Arab states. All in all, we have put together 12 new international initiatives that are working in this direction.



I want to say that I am both moved and satisfied, because a goal I have been putting forth in my books for decades is being realised. A goal we set together with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras: to bring together this forum.



Thanks to everyone's help, and particularly that of the Chinese side, two parallel great civilizations - and with the consent, from the outset, of Egypt and Italy - with the heartfelt consensus of our friends from Latin America, and with the splendour of Arab culture and the civilizations that developed in the Arab world. Everyone, without exception, gladly accepted our proposal a year and a half or two years ago; a proposal that today is crystallizing and will evolve through a number of practical measures.



I thank you for your patience. I thank our colleagues who will now take the floor to tell us how they feel and how they see this initiative.



I thank everyone.



MFA SPOKESMAN: The Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Wang Yi, please take the floor.



Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi: China supports Greece in this very important initiative for the creation of an Ancient Civilizations Forum.



Moreover, as the Greek Foreign Minister said, China has agreed to be and has acted as a kind of co-organizer of this forum, as we believe it is a useful initiative within an international environment of destabilising factors.



The key words of these meetings are:

First, peace. The ten countries participating in this forum are countries with ancient civilizations, and over the past millennia we have seen the rise and fall of dynasties and empires, we have seen wars, poverty, turmoil in many parts of the world.



Consequently, we, as ancient civilizations, are very well aware of the importance of peace, and we value peace very highly. From our ancient civilizations we have learned that we have a common responsibility to defend peace. Any international conflicts must be resolved by peaceful means, and this world must no longer have wars or conflicts.



The second key word is tolerance for others. All of our civilizations have special characteristics. The variety and diversity of cultures has contributed to their progress. Two thousand years ago, the Chinese said that peace requires a responsible way of dealing with relations. There is no domination among cultures. There is no culture that is higher than others. We are all at the same level, on equal terms. Tolerance and learning from one another is the way to seek progress.



The third key word is cooperation. All ten civilizations have a very proud history. We all need to open up more. We are facing the challenge of achieving progress and improving the quality of life of our peoples. This is why we need to cooperate, so that we can have profitable results for everyone, and we must work together for the collective development and common prosperity of all. And I believe that, in this way, our ten ancient civilizations can contribute to everyone's future.



The last thing I want to say is in reference to the Foreign Minister of Greece, Mr. Kotzias, who worked very hard to create this forum. He dedicated so much to the organization and development of this forum, creating a platform for the interaction of these ancient civilizations. We are all very moved by his dedication, because it is thanks to his efforts that we now see the creation of this forum, and we are very pleased to see the support of the Prime Minister and other organizations. And this active support made feasible this very good start for the Ancient Civilizations Forum.



I also welcome the contribution of friends who are here or are absent, and on behalf of the Chinese side I express our gratitude to all of you. I truly believe that this forum will steadily grow in strength and be fully recognized by the international community. Thank you very much.



MFA SPOKESMAN: Will the Foreign Minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Sameh Shoukry, please take the floor.



Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry: Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to express my warm thanks and our gratitude to the Foreign Ministers of the Hellenic Republic and the People's Republic of China.



It was an honour for us to be here and talk and exchange views at this forum, which in reality revives the history of civilization, revives the values and human principles that must be a source of inspiration and guide to the future.



Pharaonic Egypt, Hellenistic, Roman, Islamic Egypt, the Egypt of today are in reality an extension of the past towards the future, which is based on peaceful coexistence and confronting destructive thoughts, confronting armed conflicts. I believe that, based on peaceful coexistence, we can establish communication among peoples, so that there can be progress.



This is why we look forward to an effective contribution, and we hope that these efforts bear fruit that will contribute to the benefit not just of this group, but of all humanity.



I express my warm thanks,



MFA SPOKESMAN: The Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, has the floor.



Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif: Good afternoon. Ladies and gentlemen, it is great pleasure and honour for me to be here with representatives of the ten ancient civilizations addressing the international media.



I wanted to thank the Government and people of Greece for the gracious hospitality and I want to thank my dear friends, the Foreign Ministers of Greece and China for initiating this welcome initiative at this important juncture, when the international community needs more than ever the contribution of wisdom that comes from older civilizations on the face of the earth.



I believe what we need to do together is to promote the ideas that have kept these civilizations alive.



It has not been the wars  if we remember these civilizations we dont remember them by their military victories, but we remember them by their contribution to knowledge, the contribution to understanding, the contribution to human empathy that these civilizations stood for.



So at this time when the world is suffering from extremism of all kinds, extremism that is reflected in the approaches of many state and non-state actors at the global level, we need the lessons that we can draw from old civilizations, civilizations that have seen the rise and demise of many empires, know that time is a victory and we are but short moments in the history of mankind.



We can contribute by promoting dialogue, understanding, human empathy and moderation within the international community. And I thank the government of Greece for this initiative to allow us to make this contribution at this time, and I believe this idea and this forum has a lot to offer to the international community, and we hope that in the future we can continue to work together in order to promote understanding, dialogue, and moderation.



Thank you very much.



MFA SPOKESMAN: Will the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Iraq, Dr. Ibrahim Al Jaafari, please take the floor.



Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al Jaafari: In the name of the God of mercy, I would like to welcome the convening of the 1st Conference of Ancient Civilizations. This Conference is seen as being of particular importance and, of course, the first step is always key, though the road be very long.



Thus, we now have the potential to give life to this forum and start from zero. We are at the first meeting, and I hope that there will be many more.



We hope this meeting will be annual, and we are prepared to host the next meeting in the land of Mesopotamia, in the land of Iraq, with a civilization that is 7,000 years old. Of course we are pleased to be here with you, with our sister country Egypt, where civilization began.



We hope there will be ongoing communication that reflects the principles of civilization, as the mindset of discrimination, of exclusion, has cost the world dearly. And let us not forget that there is the culture of wars. The First and Second Wars, for example. A mindset based on conflict and racism, which transformed into intolerance. And then intolerance transformed into war, leaving 5.5 million victims in the world.



So we must cultivate a culture of love, of trust, of understanding. We must promote the culture of harmony and convergence.



Many intellectuals in the modern era thought we would have a clash of civilizations, but, on the contrary, we are promoting the culture of convergence of civilizations. We are promoting harmony, reaffirming that we encourage cultural diversity, which we convert into emotional wealth, so that we can confront the world's many ills.



This meeting also falls within the framework of joint cooperation centred on the dialogue of cultures. Dialogue is one of the key points of this effort, and it is of timeless value.



The enemies of civilizations, like the DAESH terrorist organization in the Islamic world, target the human being, women, children, anything that symbolizes humanity, coexistence, love. They have crossed every line and have targeted the very monuments of civilization, destroying them.



We support this dialogue of cultures through our firm stance. Today, this forum is a step in the right direction, but we hope that this effort will continue and become established. This means that the culture of love will now become a reality that will contribute to confronting the intolerance promoted by DAESH, which aims at destruction, while we propose the dialogue of cultures.



I want to thank the Foreign Minister of Greece. I want to thank the Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China. It is no coincidence that they belong to two of the most ancient civilizations, and that democracy was born here in Athens.



Unfortunately, however, the pioneer of democracy, Socrates, was put to death by a democratic decision, and this distorted the notion of democracy, with the result that he was forced to drink hemlock.

Thank you very much, and may the peace of God be with you.



Peruvian Foreign Minister Salvador del Solar: Good afternoon. I convey the gratitude of the government of Peru to the Greek government for hosting this event, as well as our gratitude to the government of China for supporting it.



I think we are moving in the right direction, even though we are now moving towards an uncertain future. I think it is very, very important for us to be able to come together at a forum on ancient civilizations. We believe in dialogue and tolerance as means for dealing with ignorance.



We support culture and we are convinced that this forum of ancient civilizations will create an excellent future for our past.



Thank you very much.



MFA SPOKESMAN: On behalf of Bolivia, Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Guadalupe Palomeque.



Bolivian Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Guadalupe Palomeque: Thank you very much. Good afternoon to everyone. It was a great honour for Bolivia to be able to participate in this first Ancient Civilization Forum. I would like to thank, in particular, the government of the Hellenic Republic, as well as the government of China, the co-organizer of this important event.



I would also like to say that my country represents the Tiwanaku civilization, which developed around Lake Titicaca and La Paz, in Bolivia. In Bolivia, we are in favour of peace and dialogue, and, through people's diplomacy, we promote multiculturalism and, above all, harmonious coexistence. This is our philosophy.



Bolivia will host the next meeting of the Ancient Civilizations Forum, in 2018, and we are certain that we will be able to provide the necessary continuity for this excellent initiative of the Greek government.



Thank you very much.
The current troubles faced by Egypt, including its suffering economy and the threat of terrorism, are temporary, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Tuesday in a speech at a youth conference held in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya.

Earlier in the day, El-Sisi hailed the country's youths and "martyrs" in front of a crowd of some 1,000 young people at the opening ceremony of the three-day gathering, which was broadcast live on national television.

During the event, the president asked attendees to stand for a minute's silence in honour of the country's martyrs.

Around 200 senior government official, MPs, and political and public dignitaries are expected to attend the conference, a presidential source told Al-Ahram Arabic earlier this week.

El-Sisi said that in implementing "tough"and "painful" economic reforms, he has been putting the interests of Egypt above his own popularity, adding that "we should live [in a country] that is properly developed, or leave."

The government has been implementing a set of economic reforms including floating the local currency, cutting energy subsidies and putting in place a Value-Added Tax.

When asked about the country's unemployment rate, which stands at over 12 percent, El-Sisi said that facing this challenge will be tough, since the country's public sector is already bloated and needs no more that 20 percent of its current workforce to function.

The conference sessions and workshops, due to begin on Wednesday, are planned to address issues including a recent surge in the price of foodstuffs, the government's efforts to improve the healthcare system, and sustainable development in the fields of gas and power.

This month's event is the third in a series of such gatherings.

The first regular conference was held in December in Cairo. The decision to hold the regular meetings was announced by the president in October, as one of the takeaways of the first annual National Youth Conference which was held that month.

In January, the second regular youth conference was held in Aswan and tackled challenges facing Upper Egypt, including ways to develop the economy and tourism of the region as well as social and political empowerment among youth. Some 1,300 young people from Upper Egyptian governorates took take part.

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The two church bombings that killed dozens in Egypt this month targeted unity among Muslims and Christians in the most populous Arab nation, Coptic Pope Tawadros II said Tuesday.

Suicide bombers from the Islamic State group attacked two churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria on April 9, killing 45 people in the deadliest attacks on Coptic Christians in recent memory.

The attacks which hit on Palm Sunday "were not aimed at Copts only but at the heart of Egypt... They aimed at breaking the unity of Egyptians," the Tawadros told a news conference in Kuwait City.

"Unity among Egyptians has existed for the past 14 centuries and these attacks will not affect the Egyptian people," he said.

Copts, who make up about one tenth of Egypt's population of more than 92 million, have been targeted several times in recent months.

In December, an IS suicide bomber struck a Cairo church, killing 29 people.

Militants and Islamists accuse Copts of supporting the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, which ushered in a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

Tawadros, on his first visit to Kuwait where a large Coptic community lives, was met by Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and top officials.

He said Egyptian security forces and the military are doing their role in protecting Christian places of worship which have become a target of attacks in recent years.

Egyptian police last week arrested Ali Mahmoud Mohamed Hassan, one of 19 suspects whose names police made public after the Palm Sunday explosions.

The April 9 attacks, weeks before a planned visit by Catholic Pope Francis, prompted the government to declare a three-month state of emergency.

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Turkish warplanes carried out airstrikes on Tuesday against suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq and in northeastern Syria, the military said, in a bid to prevent militants from smuggling fighters and weapons into Turkey.

A Syrian Kurdish militia force said the strikes hit a media center, a local radio station, a communication headquarters and some military posts, killing an undetermined number of fighters in Syria's northeastern Hassakeh province.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian war, also reported the strikes on the media and military targets in Karachok, adding that an airstrike killed three members of the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG.

Ankara says members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, are finding sanctuaries in neighboring Iraq and Syria, among those countries' own Kurdish minorities.

A Turkish military statement said the pre-dawn strikes hit targets on the Sinjar Mountain in northern Iraq and also in a mountainous region in Syria. It said the operations were conducted to prevent infiltration of Kurdish rebels, weapons, ammunition and explosives from those areas into Turkey.

Although Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq, this was the first time it has struck the Sinjar region. Turkey has long claimed that the area was becoming a hotbed for PKK rebels.

Last year, Turkey sent troops into Syria to back Syrian opposition fighters in the battle against the Islamic State group and also to curb what is perceives as the territorial expansion of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, which it claims are affiliated with the PKK. The Kurdish group, which has led an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984, is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its allies.

In its statement, the military vowed to press ahead with operations against the PKK both inside Turkey and across its borders until the "last terrorist is eliminated."

The Syrian Kurdish forces denounced Tuesday's strikes on their positions as "treacherous," accusing Turkey of undermining the anti-terrorism fight.

Aside from aspirations for autonomy, the Kurdish group in Syria is part of the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State militants who seized large swaths of Syria and Iraq in 2014. Since then, the IS has suffered major setbacks at the hands of the coalition, losing large chunks of the territory the Sunni militant group once held. The Syrian Kurdish forces, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, are closing in on IS de facto capital, the city of Raqqa.

"By this attack, Turkey is trying to undermine Raqqa operation, give (IS) time to reorganize and put in danger lives of thousands of" displaced, the YPG said on its Twitter account.

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TUSCOLA COUNTY  Gov. Rick Snyders proposed 2018 budget outlines $115 million to replace the 100-year-old Caro Center, at 2000 Chambers Road, with a new 200-bed psychiatric hospital.

But where it will be built is unknown.

If the proposed new psychiatric hospital is not built in Tuscola County, it would have a huge economic impact on the area.

According to a recent economic impact study, if a new facility is not built here, devastating job losses would occur with the elimination of 349 direct jobs and 398 indirect jobs for a total of 747 jobs lost, said Tuscola County Controller Mike Hoagland.

Of the centers 349 employees, about 70 percent live in the county, and most live less than 30 miles from work.

And, the current location is central to best serve patients and families, Hoagland said. The decision to locate the facility here over 100 years ago still makes sense because most patients come from the population centers just to the south. Moving this facility to the west or north would significantly increase travel times and be a burden for the vast majority of patients and families. It would also be inefficient by increasing law enforcement patient travel times.

Statistics show the majority of patients come from Genesee and Oakland counties, and about 80 percent of patients are from counties within a one-hour drive or less.

Only 13 patients are from northern Michigan counties.

An impact study, without the facility being located here, the unemployment rate would increase from the current 7.9 percent to an estimated 14.7 percent, which would create the highest unemployment rate of any county in the state, said Hoagland.

A variety of data was collected to make a case to state officials for building the new hospital like the Caro Center in the county.

According to the Tuscola County Economic Development Corporation, in 2016 the center had more than $8.9 million in direct operational expenditures, an indirect economic impact of more than $26.5 million, and the annual payroll of the centers employees is about $13 million.

From those factors and others, it is estimated the overall economic benefit of the Caro Center locally is $54 million.

That information and more was outlined for State Rep. Edward Canfield, R-Sebewaing, when he attended a recent commissioners meeting in Tuscola County.

Canfield, who is chairman of the state House Health and Human Services Committee, had information from the state that claimed the Caro Center is not centrally located to health facilities; travel time for family is extensive; and the center is used up and of no further use.

I contend that all of these assumptions (I was provided) are actually misguided, stated Canfield, who has lived and provided medical care in the area for several years.

In fact, the Caro Community Hospital is within four miles of the facility and is licensed and accredited by the state of Michigan, Canfield noted.

Other significant medical providers readily available include: Hills and Dales General Hospital in Cass City, a Veteran Affairs Hospital in Saginaw as well as dialysis, oncology, MRI and closed head injuries care center.

Plus, the state owns about 650 acres around the current center that can be used to build a new hospital. And, the city of Caro provides sewer to the center and could also provide water.

I think the state has an incredible opportunity to lead by example by keeping and reinvesting in the Caro Center, said Nancy Barriger, a long-time county resident. The center is poised to be the greatest comeback kid story, since its already accomplished a century of public service. The state has spent an enormous amount of money, trying to strengthen its business community.

Barriger also called the state to task.

Some people question the effectiveness of the $295 million spent on the Pure Michigan campaign that was created to boost Michigans tourism industry, she said. Economic reports say the campaign was successful with each $1 spent about $8 in direct spending was generated. How does the possibility of the state abandoning the center fit it? There are many projects paid with the publics tax dollars that involve asbestos removal, demolishing old buildings and restoring the properties left behind, and rehabing old buildings into new uses.

What kind of message will the state be sending if it walks away from the Caro Center, and builds new facilities elsewhere? she asked.

Area residents are encourage to write their state representatives about keeping the new state hospital in Tuscola County.
WELLS TOWNSHIP  A 44-year-old Mississippi woman died in a two-vehicle accident that took place on M-46 near Shaw Road early Monday evening.

According to the Michigan State Police Caro Post, troopers were called to the scene around 5 p.m. for a two-car, head-on crash. The drivers involved in the crash were 26-year-old Caro man Ronald Godin and Kimberly Callahan, of Cleveland, Mississippi.

Callahan was pronounced dead at the scene, while Godin was transported to an area hospital for treatment. The crash remains under investigation by the Michigan State Police.

Troopers were assisted by Caro MMR, Kingston Fire and Rescue, Mayville EMS and Caro Fire.
A Marine Corps-controlled howitzer position in northern Syria supporting the assault on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa is mobile, and has moved at least once since it was established, Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said.

In a brief interview with Military.com, Neller said the outpost of several hundred Marines equipped with M777 155mm howitzers could change positions in order to best aid the ongoing fight. The cannons have an effective range of 15 to 25 miles, depending on the round being fired.

"The fight evolves, so they're moving to where they can best provide support based on the capability of the weapons system," he said. "The commanders there understand the capability and they'll reposition them as required in order to provide the fire support and other effects they need to do to make the campaign successful, ultimately."

In late February, a small element quietly detached from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit to establish the fire position, which contains multiple artillery batteries and includes infantry and support personnel. The Marines arrived as local anti-Islamic State forces intensified their siege of Raqqa, at the time the capital for ISIS militants in Syria.

The establishment of a mobile artillery outpost contrasts with the fixed artillery position set up by Marines last year near the city of Makhmour to aid the ongoing coalition assault on Mosul, another major ISIS stronghold in Iraq. That position, known initially as Firebase Bell and renamed the Kara Soar Counterfire Complex, was first manned by members of the deployed 26th MEU.

On March 9, 2016, one of the Marines, Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, was killed in a rocket attack on the complex, becoming the first American service member to fall in Iraq since 2011.

The fire base is now manned by Army personnel as the battle for Mosul continues.

Neller said support of the fight for Raqqa continued in the wake of a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile attack on Shayrat airfield April 7 -- a deterrent measure in response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's reported use of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians.

"They're always concerned about security; they're always concerned about unmanned aircraft, but they're being well protected, just like all the American forces there," Neller said of the Marines manning the mobile artillery support position. "So they're working through all that stuff."

Neller declined to cite specifics about what the artillery Marines had been able to accomplish in Syria, but said they had had significant effect on the fight and had stayed busy, working in "extreme conditions" as they supported the battle.

"I think by all accounts, everybody's satisfied with what they've provided, and we'll see what the next iteration of this looks like," Neller said. "... Hopefully, we'll secure the area in and around Raqqa."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
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...
A retired Marine Corps two-star general will be the next director of the United States Secret Service, the White House announced Tuesday.

President Donald Trump picked retired major general and current acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Randolph "Tex" Alles for the post, adding another prominent Marine veteran to an administration rapidly filling with them.

Alles served in the Marine Corps for 35 years as a naval aviator, serving as an instructor at the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School -- better known as Top Gun -- over the course of his career.

According to an official biography, he earned his wings in 1976 and went on to fly five different fighter airframes during his service: the F-4 Phantom II, the Northrop F-5, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F/A-18 Hornet and the A-4 Skyhawk. In these aircraft, he amassed more than 5,000 flight hours, 300 of them in combat, according to the biography.

His positions of leadership within the Corps included command of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) and of Al Asad Air Base in Iraq; commanding general of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab and vice chief of Naval Research; and director for Strategic Planning and Policy at U.S. Pacific Command, among others.

Alles' military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal with Oak Leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit with Combat "V" device and Gold Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star, the Air Medal with strike/flight numeral 3, and the Navy Commendation Medal with Gold Star, according to his official biography.

He was recommended to lead the Secret Service by John F. Kelly, secretary of Homeland Security and a retired Marine four-star general who served as his contemporary, The New York Times reported.

Alles comes to the position after a multi-year series of scandals for the Secret Service that have eroded the secretive law enforcement agency's public image.

A 2012 incident in which multiple agents were found to have solicited prostitutes in Colombia while on official business for then-President Barack Obama prompted congressional hearings and a wave of firings. More recently, in 2014, three agents were sent back to the U.S. after drunken behavior in the Netherlands ahead of a presidential visit.

Other incidents highlight apparent holes in security provided by the Secret Service. Last month, a man jumped the White House fence and was able to trespass on the grounds for 17 minutes before he was discovered, a security breach that Kelly took particular interest in, according to Times reports.

And in 2014, a mentally unstable man was able to climb over the fence on the White House's north lawn and charge through the front door without being apprehended.

Alles will be at least the fourth Marine general to take a prominent position in the Trump administration, joining Kelly; Defense Secretary and retired Marine four-star Jim Mattis; and active-duty Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
Joseph V. Micallef is a best-selling military history and world affairs author, and keynote speaker. Follow him on Twitter@JosephVMicallef.

US National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, on a recent trip to Afghanistan, called on neighboring countries, and especially Russia and Pakistan to stop supporting the Taliban in its quest to continue to "perpetuate the very long war" which has gripped Afghanistan since 2001. McMaster's visit came on the heels of recent requests by US military commanders to increase he deployment of American troops by "a few thousand". Currently there are around 8,400 US troops deployed in theater.

Pakistan has long had a difficult and strained relationship with its Afghan neighbor. Although that relationship worsened when Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, the two countries have been at odds ever since the emergence of the Pakistani state in 1947. The Soviet invasion, at the time widely believed a precursor to a Soviet seizure of Pakistan's Baluchistan to the south, put potentially hostile forces on Pakistan's western (Soviet) and southern frontier (India) -- a threat underscored by the longstanding military cooperation between India and the USSR. The roots of the Afghan-Pakistan conflict, however, go much further back. They are the product of Afghanistan's historic role at the crossroads of Central and South Asia as well as a little-known legacy of British colonialism in the region: the Durand line.

Historically, Afghanistan has lain astride the invasion route from central Asia into the Indian subcontinent. It was also the shortest route from central Asia to the Indian Ocean. This was the route that the Persian conqueror Darius I took in 516 BC. Alexander the Great followed suit in 326 BC. In turn they were followed by, among others, Muslim armies under Qutaybs ibn Muslim in 705, by Mahmoud Ghazni of the Afghan Ghaznavid Empire in 1001, Muhammad Ghori of the Ghurid Empire in 1175, and the Mongol, Genghis Khan in 1219.

Timur (Tamerlane), during his conquest of northwest India in 1383, took the same route and his descendent Babur, whose grave is in Kabul, also passed through the Khyber Pass on his way to creating the Mogul empire in India in 1526. Ahmad Shah Durrani of the Afghan Durrani Empire followed suit when he attempted to conquer the Punjab in 1748. The last invasion of Afghanistan from central Asia was the Soviet one in 1979. The invasion route ran both ways. The Sikh Empire invaded Afghanistan from the southeast in 1813, and the British, advancing from northwest India (Punjab) fought three wars with the Afghans (1838, 1878, and 1919).

The Himalayas block access from central Asia to the Indian subcontinent and to the Indian Ocean. Their western-most extension, the Hindu Kush, is penetrated by the Salang Pass, which separates northern Afghanistan (and Central Asia) from the rest of Afghanistan, and the Khyber Pass through the Spin Ghar Mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. These mountains are an extension of the Hindu Kush. The two passes are the traditional trade and invasion route from central Asia to the Arabian Sea or into the Punjab of north India and from there the rest of the Indian subcontinent. For millennium, Afghanistan has been fought over by would be conquerors, both for its mineral wealth and for its strategic position at the crossroads of central and south Asia. The security of the Punjab has always rested on specifically controlling the Khyber Pass and, ideally, Afghanistan as well. Even in the technologically driven world of the twenty-first century, this geography still matters.

In the nineteenth century, Afghanistan became a pawn in "the Great Game" between the Russian Empire and Great Britain for control of central Asia. As Russia gobbled up one central Asians khanate after another, the steadily expanding Russian Empire began to encroach, in British eyes, dangerously close to British India. To preclude any further Russian expansion south, Great Britain twice invaded Afghanistan, hoping to use it as a buffer state between Russia and the Raj, only to be defeated by a guerilla army drawn primarily from the Pashtun tribes that inhabited the region.

To at least secure control of the strategic Khyber Pass, in 1893, Great Britain dispatched a British diplomat, Mortimer Durand, to negotiate an agreement to delineate the border between the Emirate of Afghanistan and British India. The resulting agreement resulted in a frontier that ran from the Karakoram Range in the northeast running south through the Spin Ghar mountains (Safed Koh and Toba Kakar Ranges) before turning west along the Chagai Hills to the border with Iran.

The new border, dubbed the Durand Line, divided the Pashtun tribal lands, a region informally referred to as Pasthunistan in two, with half of the Pashtun tribal region now part of British India and the balance remaining part of Afghanistan. The line also resulted in the loss of the province of Baluchistan to British India, depriving Afghanistan of its historic access to the Arabian Sea. The Durand Line also ensured that there would be a thin strip of Afghanistan running to the Chinese border, thus separating the Russian empire from British India. The Durand Line would become one of the principal issue of Afghanistan's foreign policy for the next century and even now remains at the heart of Afghanistan's relations with Pakistan.

The original agreement was only a page long. The treaty was written in English with copies in Dari and Pashto. The English copy, a language that the Afghan Emir Abdur Rahman Khan could neither read nor understand, Durand insisted, was to be the definitive copy. The 1,584-mile boundary was subsequently delimited between March 1894 and May 1896. The Durand Line precipitated a long-running dispute between the governments of Afghanistan and Great Britain and prompted a third Anglo-Afghan war in 1919. Under British pressure, subsequent Afghan governments reaffirmed the boundary line in additional treaties and agreements in 1905, 1919, 1921, and 1930.

The newly formed state of Pakistan inherited the boundary line delineated by the 1893 Durand agreement and upheld by the subsequent treaty of Rawalapindi (1919) that ended the Third Anglo-Afghan war. The government of Afghanistan however has, subsequently, refused to acknowledge that the frontiers represented by the Durand Line were legally binding. In 1947, when Pakistan joined the United Nations, Afghanistan was the only member to vote against its membership. On July 26, 1948, followed two years of steadily deteriorating relations between the two countries, the government of Afghanistan declared that it did not recognize "the imaginary Durand nor any similar line." It also declared that all previous Durand Line agreements, including the subsequent Anglo-Afghan treaties upholding it, were void because they had been imposed on Afghanistan by British coercion.

Moreover, it is widely believed in Afghanistan, including the current government in Kabul, that the original agreement with Great Britain was only for a term of 100 years; after which the lands in question would revert back to Afghanistan. The official treaty, however, makes no reference to a specific term. Past Afghan governments have implied that the Dari and Pashto copies of the original agreement specified the 100-year term (1893-1993) and that this provision was deliberately left out by Mortimer Durand in the "official," English language version, of the treaty. No evidence of this contention has ever been produced, however, and it is not clear whether the Dari and Pashto language versions of the original agreement, either in Afghanistan or Great Britain, still exist. Where they to ever surface and the Afghan contention of a 100-year term be confirmed, the consequences would be explosive.

The Afghan government has asked Great Britain on numerous occasions to release the Pashto and Dari language copies believed to be in its possession. Whitehall has continued to claim that no such copies have been found in British archives. The papers of Sir Henry Mortimer Durand including his correspondence and official papers ended up at the Bodleian Library at Oxford, but those papers do not include any documents concerning the negotiation of the border between Afghanistan and British India. The location of those papers is unknown.

The question of the legitimacy of the Durand Line borders has poisoned Afghan-Pakistani relations for the better part of a century. For Afghanistan, the loss of half of the traditional Pashtun territories divided its largest tribal grouping. Moreover, the loss of Baluchistan left it landlocked, without any access to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean except through Pakistani territory. For Pakistan, the issue of the Durand Line is an existential one. The territory in question amounts to some 60% of its present sovereign territory.

During the cold war the Afghan-Pakistani dispute was subsumed to the larger Soviet-American rivalry. Pakistan aligned itself with the United States, becoming as founding member of CENTO (Central Treaty Organization), while Afghanistan refused to settle its differences with Pakistan as a precondition of joining CENTO and instead sought diplomatic and military support from India and the Soviet Union. Afghanistan was one of the few "holes" in the ring of containment with which the United States surrounded the Soviet Union. The emergence of Pakistan and Afghanistan as American and Soviet proxies meant that, other for ongoing border skirmishes and covert operations, the larger issue of the Durand Line was left unsettled.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 ushered in a new phase in Afghan-Pakistani relations and laid the foundation for a vastly expanded Pakistani role in Afghanistan's internal affairs. Under the guise of Operation Cyclone, a program funded by the Central Intelligence Agency, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) organized large numbers of mujahidin militant groups that it recruited mainly from the Pashtun tribes on its side of the Durand Line. At the time, the government of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq had started a program of aggressive Islamization, so the ISI favored militant jihadist groups as Pakistan's (and the United States') proxies in Afghanistan.

American covert funding for the mujahidin began in response to the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan seizure of power in the Saur Revolution and predated the Soviet invasion by six months. The original program was relatively modest and only amounted to about 20 million dollars a year. By 1989, the year the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, it had increased to over 630 million dollars a year. The U.S. program continued through 1992, but after the Soviet withdrawal financial support quickly declined. Moreover, in October 1990, the Bush Administration refused to certify that Pakistan did not possess nuclear explosive devices, triggering the imposition of sanctions and a suspension of economic assistance and military sales.

Over the course of the program the ISI trained over 100,000 militants to fight the Soviets and Afghanistan's communist government. The CIA funded some 20 billion dollars of expenditures, although some of those funds may have come from contributions of Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states that were funneled directly to the CIA.

Operation Cyclone has two lasting consequences. First in contributing to the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union it deprived Afghanistan of its principal patron and supporter. Secondly, it presented to Pakistan and the ISI a model for how it could intervene in Afghanistan's internal affairs. The fall of the Najibullah government in 1992, and the subsequent four years of chaos, would set the stage for the rise of the Taliban in 1996 and create an opportunity for Pakistan's ISI to emerge as both the Taliban's financer, organizer and principal patron. The Taliban, in turn, would give Pakistan's ISI an unprecedented opportunity to exert its control over Afghanistan and its government. An opportunity that Pakistan's government has pursued for the last 20 years.

Ironically, even the Taliban, which are dependent on Pakistani military and financial support for its survival, have refused to accept the legitimacy of the Durand Line. Despite Pakistani pressure, the Taliban, both when it was in power and to the present day, has sided with previous Afghan governments in maintaining that the Durand Line was void.

The result of the ongoing dispute over the legitimacy of the Durand Line has meant that Pakistan has a vested interest in ensuring that the Afghan government never gets strong enough to unilaterally change the current frontier with Pakistan. Given that Pakistan has six times the population of Afghanistan and a formidable military, the only practical scenario under which Kabul would regain its disputed territories would only be as a consequence of a complete collapse of the Pakistani government resulting either from a fourth Indo-Pakistani war, a Pakistani civil war, domestic revolution, or all of the above.

To avoid that possibility, Pakistan continues to rely on an external patron, bouncing back and forth between either China or the United States, as the ultimate guarantor of its security vis-a-vis India as well as the international legitimacy of its borders. The byzantine complexity of Afghan-Pakistani-Indian relations and the subsequent interest of Russia, China, and the United States in any changes in the status quo means that barring a negotiated settlement for some kind of division of the disputed territories or an Afghan acceptance of the Durand Line in exchange for the end of Pakistani support for the Taliban, either of which are highly unlikely events at the moment, there is no immediate solution to the Afghan-Pakistani dispute over the Durand Line. This issue will continue to complicate the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan for the foreseeable future.

Given that the United States has a vested interest in the establishment of a secure and stable Afghan government and that Pakistan seems determined to use the Taliban and possibly other jihadist groups to ensure that doesn't happen, the issues that surround the Durand Line will continue to have an impact on the formulation of U.S. policy in the region as well as complicate U.S.-Pakistani relations.

The most enduring and destructive legacy of five centuries of European colonialism are borders that were drawn for the sake of political and military expediency but which, given the region's underlying history, culture, and ethnicity, make no sense today. The dispute over the Durand Line is just one more example of an ill-conceived frontier that continues to inflame the long running dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan and which will shape the region's politics well into the twenty-first century.

-- If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.
Iraqi troops on Tuesday drove out Islamic State militants from the largest neighborhood in the western half of the city of Mosul, a senior military commander said, a major development in the months-long fight to recapture the country's second-largest city.

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" in January, after officially launching the operation to retake the city in October.

In February, the troops started a new push to clear Mosul's western side of IS militants, but weeks later their push stalled mainly due to stiff resistance by the Sunni militant group.

On Tuesday, special forces Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi told The Associated Press that the sprawling al-Tanek neighborhood was now "fully liberated and under full control" of the security forces. Al-Saadi did not provide more details.

To the east of al-Tanek, Iraqi forces have been facing tough resistance from IS in Mosul's Old City, an area that stretches along the Tigris River, which divides Mosul into its eastern and western half. The Old City's narrow alleys and densely populated areas have made it hard for troops to move forward.

Also Tuesday, the government-sanctioned paramilitary troops, made up mainly of Shiite militiamen, launched a new push to retake the town of Hatra to the south of Mosul. The force's spokesman, Ahmed al-Asadi, said the operation is being conducted from three directions with aerial support from the Iraqi Air Force. Al-Asadi did not elaborate.

Hatra is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site of the same name that was destroyed by IS as part of the militant's efforts to demolish archaeological sites in and around Mosul. The extremists consider the priceless archaeological treasures  some dating back as far as 3,000 B.C.  as idolatry but have at the same time smuggled and sold many looted artifacts to fund their war.

Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014, along with large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

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The toll in Turkish air strikes on Kurdish forces in northeast Syria on Tuesday rose to 18 killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"The dead are fighters and media officials from the People's Protection Units (YPG)," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, who had earlier reported a toll of three people killed in the dawn raids.

In a statement distributed to journalists, the YPG confirmed that there were casualties from the Turkish bombardment but did not give a toll.

"Turkish planes carried out a broad offensive on a YPG base that houses media and communication centres and some military installations," the YPG statement said.

The strikes appear to be the first Turkish air raids in Syria since Ankara completed an unprecedented military campaign there in March.

Turkey also hit local armed groups in northern Iraq on Tuesday, killing six members of Kurdish security forces in an apparent accident.

The Turkish army said it launched strikes against in northern Iraq and northeast Syria "in order to destroy terrorist havens targeting our country".

"The operations will continue to be carried out from now with the same determination until the very last terrorist is neutralised," the army said.

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Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on Tuesday said Turkish air strikes in which six of its security forces were killed overnight were "unacceptable".

The peshmerga, the region's armed forces, said in the statement however that the apparent accident should be blamed on Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), whose affiliates were the target of the strikes.

"The death of the peshmerga is regrettable and the strike on the peshmerga by Turkish warplanes is unacceptable," the statement said.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. discusses his crash on lap 63 during the Firekeeper's Casino 400 Race at the Michigan International Speedway on June 12, 2016.(Taylor Irby | Mlive.com)

(MLive file photo)

CONCORD, N.C. - Dale Earnhardt Jr., voted NASCAR's most popular driver for the past 14 years, is hanging up his helmet after 2017.

The 42-year-old is expected to announce his retirement at a 3 p.m. press conference, according to a press release from Earnhardt's team, Hendrick Motorsports. He has 26 wins in 603 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races.

Earnhardt was sidelined for half of the 2016 season due to concussions, including the second race at Michigan International Speedway.

He made his return in February's Daytona 500, finishing 37th after being involved in a crash while leading.

Driving the No. 88 Chevrolet, Earnhardt's only trip to MIS in 2016 ended with a crash in Turn 2. Earnhardt's doctors said the wreck is what started causing his concussion symptoms.

Alex Bowman filled in for Earnhardt in the August MIS race, driving the University of Michigan-sponsored car. He finished 30th after an ignition failure.

MIS has long been one of Earnhardt's better tracks - he has four top 10s at the track in his last five races. Two of Earnhardt's 26 wins came at MIS, winning in 2012 and 2008. Earnhardt's average finish at MIS is 15.8.

Earnhardt will join NASCAR stars Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards, who have retired from the sport in the past two years.

Earnhardt made his Cup series debut on May 30, 1999, driving for his father's team, Dale Earnhardt Inc. Earnhardt sits 24th in the points after crashing out of Monday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway and finishing 38th.

His final race is Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports hasn't announced who will drive the No. 88 car in 2018.
Related Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails launch mass hunger strike

Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti's health has declined seriously over the past week after he joined a hunger strike with more than 1,000 other prisoners in Israel, an NGO said Monday.

Barghouti, 57 and serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada, is refusing medical treatment, according to Amani Sarahneh of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club NGO.

He told AFP this was causing his health to decline seriously.

The hunger strike began on April 17, with those taking part ingesting only water and salt. They have issued demands ranging from better medical care to phone access.

Asked about Barghouti, however, an Israeli Prisons Service spokesman said that "no decline in his health condition has been observed".

"If Barghouti feels bad, all he has to do is eat," the spokesman told AFP.

According to the NGO, authorities at the Jalame prison, where Barghouti was transferred and placed in solitary confinement after the strike began, have pressured him to accept medical treatment and also urged other prisoners to try to convince him.

Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel for a range of offences and alleged crimes.

Around 500 are being held under Israel's system of administrative detention, which allows for imprisonment without charge.

Palestinian prisoners have mounted repeated hunger strikes, but rarely on such a scale.

Barghouti is popular among Palestinians, with polls suggesting he could win the Palestinian presidency.

While many Palestinians view him as a hero, Israelis point to the bloody suicide attacks of the second intifada of 2000-2005 and his role in the uprising.

He was convicted of attacks that killed five people, though declined to defend himself and did not recognise the court's legitimacy.

For Palestinians, the prisons have become a stark symbol of Israel's occupation.

Some 850,000 Palestinians have been incarcerated since the start of Israel's occupation 50 years ago, Palestinian leaders say.

Palestinian leaders have denounced Israel's refusal to negotiate with the hunger strikers, warning of a "new intifada" if any of them die.

Demonstrations have been held in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip to support the prisoners, occasionally resulting in clashes with Israeli forces, though they have been limited in number.

A Palestinian former minister, Hamas member Wasfi Kabha, released on the fourth day of the hunger strike, said on Facebook that Barghouti had told him "the strike aims to achieve more humane, fairer and more dignified prison conditions".

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A court in Bahrain on Tuesday jailed 36 Shias convicted of forming a "terrorist" group to attack police, and stripped them of their citizenship, a judicial source said.

Three of those sentenced received life terms, while the rest were jailed for between three and 10 years, the source said.

The defendants had been charged with "forming an illegal group that aimed to jeopardise the constitution and laws... using terrorism as one of its means," according to the judicial source.

They were also accused of "possessing explosives without permits", the source said, adding that the defendants confessed to taking part in riots and vandalism.

The Sunni-ruled kingdom has been the scene of frequent protests and clashes with police since security forces quelled Shia-led nationwide protests in 2011 that called for political reforms.

Hundreds of Bahrainis have been arrested and several high-profile figures, including Shia clerics, stripped of citizenship.

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused authorities of "dramatically" escalating the crackdown on perceived critics, with 32 people summoned by the public prosecution within five days.

The rights group said that at least 24 have since been charged with "illegally gathering".

"The intensified crackdown against Bahraini dissidents in recent days is highly alarming and exposes the shocking extremes to which Bahrain's authorities are prepared to go to silence criticism of their human rights record," said Samah Hadid, head of campaigns at Amnesty's Beirut office.

The measures come ahead of Bahrain's UN human rights review session in Geneva on May 1, Amnesty said, adding that the timing "strongly suggests that this is part of a deliberate attempt to prevent peaceful critics from speaking out about the government's record in Geneva".

Amnesty said those summoned included lawyers, rights and political activists and relatives of "victims of human rights violations".

Eight of those charged were told they are banned from travelling, and four have so far been prevented from leaving the country, Amnesty said.

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Canada will respond firmly to Donald Trump, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday after the United States announced it would level trade sanctions against its softwood and dairy sectors.

"I'm polite, but I'm also very firm in defending Canada's interests," Trudeau said in an interview with broadcaster CTV.

After slapping new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber Monday, the US president threatened to retaliate against its northern neighbor over new pricing policies that effectively cut many US dairy farmers out of the Canadian market.

"We are going to engage respectfully but firmly with the US to demonstrate... the scope of integration of our economies," Trudeau said in response.

Canadian delegations led by Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland have traveled often to Washington since Trump's inauguration in January to try to build a good working relationship.

Softwood trade has long been an irritant between the two nations and was expected to flare up again after a brokered deal that had limited Canada's share of the US market expired in 2015.

But Trump's hard line on the softwood issue appears to have surprised Canada.

"We will work constructively together" to find solutions to these trade disputes, Trudeau said, while downplaying Trump's strong rhetoric.

Cross-border disputes over dairy and lumber, he said, have been "going on since before my father was prime minister" (from 1968).

"These are recurring challenges in what is very big and complex Canada-US relationship," he said.

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German tourists were top of the list of visitors to Egypt during the first three months of the year

The number of tourists visiting Egypt during the first quarter of 2017 rose by 51 percent compared to the same period last year, an official source at the tourism ministry told Ahram Online late on Sunday.

Egypt received around one million tourists during the period from January to March last year, according to data from the state's statistics body CAPMAS.

Germany topped the list of visiting tourists, followed by Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, China and the United Kingdom during the three first months of 2017, said the source, who gave no figures and asked to remain anonymous.

There was also a significant rise in the number of Japanese tourists compared with the same January-March period of 2016, according to the ministerial source.

Egypt aims to attract 12 million tourists by the end of 2017 through a plan that includes increasing the international presence of national carrier EgyptAir, tourism minister Yehia Rashed said in an interview with Reuters last year.

Egypt's tourism industry has been suffering since a Russian passenger jet crashed in Sinai in October 2015, killing all 224 people on board, most of them holidaymakers.

Since the deadly incident, Russia has suspended flights to Egypt, seeking tighter security measures at all Egyptian airports.

Egypt's tourism revenues dropped to $3.4 billion in 2016, a 44.3 percent decline from the previous year, the Central Bank of Egypt said in January. The figure is a far cry from the $11 billion in revenues generated by the sector in 2010, when 14.7 million tourists visited the country.



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Sources said the measures would apply to non-Arab nationals who were travelling with Arab employers under the employer-sponsorship system, primarily used for domestic workers

Egypts tourism minister promised on Tuesday that visa procedures would be "facilitated" for visitors from Arab countries, ahead of a hoped-for increase in visitors during Ramadan and the summer holidays.

According to a ministerial statement released on Tuesday, visitors from the Arab Cooperation Council countries would have their visas facilitated, as would those accompanying those tourists.

Sources told Ahram Online that such measures would apply to non-Arab nationals who were travelling with Arab employers under the employer-sponsorship system, primarily used in Arab countries for domestic workers. Under these facilitation measures, citizens of those countries would now receive on-arrival visas when accompanying their employers.



Minister Yehia Rashid, currently attending the Arabian Travel Marketing event in Dubai, also spoke with a number of Gulf airline companies to increase direct flights between their respective countries and the Red Sea resort towns of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.

The minister's talk with the airline companies comes ahead of a tourism campaign that is scheduled to kickstart during the Islamic month of Ramadan, targeting Arab tourists from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon and Jordan.

The campaigns aims to attract Arab tourism during Ramadan, scheduled to begin in late May, as well as during the Eid Al-Fitr holiday which follows the month, and the summer season.

Egypt plans to attract 12 million tourists until end of 2017 through planning increased routes for national carrier EgyptAir, Rashid said in an interview with Reuters last year.

Egypt's tourism industry has been suffering acutely since a Russian passenger jet crashed in Sinai in October 2015, killing all 224 people on board, mostly holidaymakers.

However, the country saw a 51 percent rise in number of tourists visiting Egypt during the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period last year, an official source at the tourism ministry told Ahram Online earlier this week.

Germany topped the list of visiting tourists during the three first months of 2017, followed by Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, China and the United Kingdom, said the source, who gave no figures and asked to remain anonymous.

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The IBM MobileFirst, for iOS app for use by airline industry personnel, is displayed at the IBM stand at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Paul Hanna - RTS10YGX

ABB has sealed a collaboration agreement with International Business Machines Corp, the Swiss engineering company said on Tuesday, the latest step in its efforts to ramp up its presence in digital technology and the internet of things.

In a joint statement ABB said it would combine its digital offering, which gathers information from machinery, with IBM's expertise in artificial intelligence featured in its Watson data analytics software. The two companies will jointly develop and sell new products.

"This powerful combination marks truly the next level of industrial technology, moving beyond current connected systems that simply gather data, to industrial operations and machines that use data to sense, analyse, optimise and take actions that drive greater uptime, speed and yield for industrial customers," ABB Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer said in a statement.

For example, instead of manual machinery inspections, ABB and IBM intend to use Watson's artificial intelligence to help find defects via real-time images collected by an ABB system, and then analysed using IBM Watson.

ABB has identified digital technology  where machinery communicates with control centres to increase productivity and reduce downtime  as a driver of growth. It now gets around 55 percent of sales from products that are digitally enabled.

As part of the drive, the company last year signed a strategic partnership with Microsoft Corp to roll out digital products for customers in the robotics, marine and ports, electric vehicles and renewable energy sectors.

To spearhead its strategy, it appointed former Cisco executive Guido Jouret as its first chief digital officer last year.
The BJP said it was expecting a "landslide" victory in the MCD polls while the Congress adopted a cautious approach as it predicted a "close" fight with the ruling party in the three civic bodies of the national capital.

A total of 58.58 per cent votes were polled in the elections to 270 wards of the three municipal corporations (MCDs). The voting in two wards were cancelled due to death of the candidates.

Bouyed by the exit polls results, aired by two news channels, forecasting the victory of BJP in around 220 wards, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said he has witnessed unparallelled support of people during his campaigns in nearly 250 wards in South, North and East Delhi Municipal Corporation areas.

"I never saw such a public support to a party in my whole life, specially from the people living in unauthorised colonies, slums and villages in the city. We are expecting a landslide victory," he said.

Trashing the exit poll results that predicted a win in around 31 wards, Congress leaders said, the results will reveal a "close" fight with the BJP while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the third main contender in the elections would remain a "distant" third.

"We do not give any importance to exit poll results. Wait for the counting of votes and actual results and you will witness a close fight between the Congress and the BJP while the AAP will be a distant third," a senior Delhi Congress leader, Chatar Singh said.

The Congress had predicted winning at least 208 wards in the MCD polls during the campaigning.

The AAP that enjoyed an unprecedented mandate in 2015 Assembly elections winning 67 out of 70 constituencies in Delhi, seemed shocked by the exit polls and claimed that the MCD poll results could be "rigged".

"If this is what the exit polls say, it is clear that the EVMs have been tampered with and these fake exit polls are being done to prepare a ground for the rigged results," AAP Delhi convener Dilip Pandey claimed.

The party citing an internal survey had claimed to win 218 wards, during campaigning for the MCD polls.

According to the India Today-Axis exit poll, the BJP may bag anything between 202 and 220 seats, while the AAP and the Congress will score something around 23-35 and 19-31 respectively.

The CVoter-ABP exit poll claimed the BJP was likely to sweep Delhi with 218 seats, limiting the AAP and the Congress to 24 and 22 seats respectively.
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Boutique investment bank Moelis & Co plans to expand in India where it believes economic growth and corporate restructuring will prolong a boom in dealmaking, the head of its local business said.

Manisha Girotra, who previously headed the Indian unit of Swiss bank UBS and is well known in the industry, said she expects deals in sectors such as financials, telecoms and pharmaceuticals to continue driving M&A activity in the South Asian nation.

Mergers and acquisitions involving Indian companies hit a record $72.4 billion last year, led by transactions in the energy and power sectors, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Moelis has been an adviser on deals involving infrastructure companies Jaiprakash Associates and GMR Infrastructure, and pharmaceutical companies such as Strides Shasun and Intas Pharmaceuticals.

"We have a few mandates at this point on the new age tech business," Girotra said in an interview at her office in central Mumbai.

"Telecom towers and financial services should see more activity in the next 12 months," she said, referring to the sale of assets or stakes in mobile mast companies.

Moelis, which set up shop in India in 2012, currently has a team of 14 bankers. Girotra said she would like to take that number to as many as 20 in a year or so, cautioning though that growing revenue takes priority over boosting headcount.

The relatively low investment banking fee pool in India has frustrated bankers, especially multinationals some of whom have scaled back their local operations.

In financial services, Girotra said she sees consolidation in private sector banking and within the insurance sector, which has already seen a raft of deals after India relaxed foreign ownership rules.

Vodafone's Indian unit and Idea Cellular are looking to sell mobile tower assets and their stakes in a joint venture as part of an agreed deal to combine their phone service operations to create the top telecom company in India.

The boutique bank founded by veteran U.S. dealmaker Ken Moelis in 2007 surprised many as it won an adviser role from Saudi Aramco [IPO-ARMO.SE] on its plans for what is expected to be the world's biggest initial public share offer.

"We would love to do it, but selectively," Girotra said, when asked if Moelis would enter into IPO advisory in India.

"The IPO market is very crowded in India," she said. "I see more of the growth coming in M&A and restructuring."
Gurgaon based TOP Technologies Private Limited that runs a coworking platform The Office Pass, has raised a seed investment of about USD 245,000 from a group of individual investors led by Arun Tadanki, former MD of Yahoo India and Southeast Asia.

As per the companys management, the fresh funds will be deployed in enhancing the platform and hiring technology and product talent.

Co-founded by three former employees of property portal Makaan.com, Aditya Verma, Nikhil Madan and Sachin Gaur, the cowering startup launched its operations in March, this year. Property portal Makaan was bought by rival PropTiger in 2015.

The Office Pass is focused on building a scalable, capital-light business model where users can book office space on monthly, daily or even hourly basis, Arun Tadanki, former MD of Yahoo Southeast Asia and India said.

The startup offers office space on flexible terms without the need for long lease or security deposits.
Life insurance companies are looking to have a more flexible regulatory regime for health insurance. With the insurance regulator disallowing them from selling indemnity policies, a large chunk of such products available in the market had to be withdrawn.

In indemnity-based insurance plans, an individual can visit their choice of healthcare provider to avail treatment. The insurer pays a fixed sum as a lump sum amount for this, which is also referred to as reimbursement.

Now, life insurers are only allowed to sell benefit-based health insurance, which refers to fixed amounts set for healthcare expenses like hospital expenses and hospitalisation. If an insured happens to incur additional expenses, it will not be payable.

While the product committee for life insurance is likely to present its report to Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), members will seek some flexibility to design and sell products. Further, IRDAI has also been requested to reconsider letting them sell indemnity products.

"We are hoping that the regulator pays heed to our demand to sell indemnity-based health plans," said a committee member.

In case of products sold by life insurers, the mortality tables are used as a guide to price policies. Individual considerations such as personal health and fitness are not taken into account unlike for products sold by general insurers and health insurers.

Life insurers want flexibility to sell products to individuals and price them on the basis of how fit a person is and according to her lifestyle-related behaviour which includes smoking (which is already a factor) as well as consumption of alcohol.

Discounts could be given to healthier individuals in the same age band.Once this report is tabled with IRDAI, the regulator will discuss with the stakeholders and bring out necessary regulations for implementation of the committee recommendations.
Auto industrys long, assiduous and fierce campaign against the Environment Protection Control Authoritys (EPCA) efforts to illegalize the sale of Bharat Stage 3 vehicles from April 1 this year ended in one of the sternest orders against an industry body in recent memory.

The Supreme Court in its 30-page order, upheld the plea of EPCSA and the amicus curiae Harish Salve, and launched a fierce attack on the industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The unambiguous order and its tone should come as a wake-up call for manufacturers who have skirted the issue for months.

Mincing no words, the Apex Court indicted the industry for its  at best languid approach  to upgrade existing vehicles to BS-4 norms and ruled that allowing gas-guzzling, polluting vehicles were tantamount to an impingement on the right to live as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Reproducing production data in the order as submitted by manufacturers, Supreme Court said that manufacturers pushed production of BS-4 compliant vehicles only from February 2017 displaying a lack of planning and perhaps real concern over a prolonged past period.

The court data showed that all manufacturers were churning out BS-3 compliant vehicles till February, even though EPCA had clarified as far back as October 2016 to adjust production to ensure no sale or registration is made of older emission vehicles after the BS-4 switchover from April 1 this year. In fact, the court ruled that manufacturers continued to produce BS-3 vehicles that are 80 percent more polluting than their BS-4 counterparts with a view to get commercial benefits and avoid the cost of upgrading.

The attempt, sadly, seems to have been to push all concerned to the wall by putting before them a fait accompli situation and by ignoring the concerns of millions of our countrymen and women who are entitled to breathe fresh air or at least breathe less polluted air, the court order said.

On the specific industry point that government notifications on emission migration clearly allowed the disposal of unsold stock of older generation vehicles, the court introduced the notion of purposive interpretation. Here, the apex court said that literal translations of government notifications were inadequate especially when faced with a public health concern. Here, the court ruled, When health of millions of people in our country is involved, notifications relating to commercial activities ought not to be interpreted in a literal manner. The only option in such eventualities is to give a purposive interpretation to notifications that directly concern public health issues which have an impact not only in the present but also in the future.

And finally, the court also took umbrage at the inability of the industry to give a clear answer to how long the disposal of unsold BS-3 stock would take. In a response laced with biting sarcasm, the court said, No one gave any definite answer - the answers varied from about 5 months to 6 months to one year and hedged in with conditions dependent upon market forces and slow moving models. Perhaps Siri would have given a more definite answer.

After such an adverse ruling, CNBC-TV18 learns that the industry is all set to file a review petition in the Supreme Court. The petition is in the final stages of its preparation and would be filed in the coming few days.
Q11. Skywise  which provides a single access point for the sharing of operational and flight data  is about making the right information available at the right time. To do so, it leverages the massive amount of data previously locked in company and functional silos across the industry to improve operational performance and business results for aircraft operators. Which company owns Skywise?

Vistara airlines in collaboration with Taj Hotels has signed an MoU with the Punjab government to promote tourism in the state.

Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh and Gurjot Singh Malhi, Advisor to CEO, held detailed discussion on this with Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh here, an official spokesman said.

The Vistara team has proposed working with the state government to project Punjab as a key tourist destination and suggested signing an MoU to this effect, he said.

Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines, could work with Tata Group owned Taj hotels to push tourism in Punjab in a big way, the CEO said, suggesting that the MoU could help target other foreign airlines to promote the state in select foreign countries.

The chief minister responded positively to the suggestion, welcoming Vistaras interest in promoting the state as a tourist destination, he said.

The chief minister suggested introduction of direct flights from Chandigarh to Singapore to facilitate travel to the Southeast Asian region, which is witnessing significant movement from Punjab, said the spokesman.

The Vistara team said they were happy to explore the feasibility of such a flight, he added.

With five more planes in its fleet, Vistara sees huge potential to connect Punjab with many more cities and countries.

At the moment, it connects Delhi and Amritsar.

Vistara stressed on the importance of the airlines working in coordination with the roadways and railways to promote religious tourism in Punjab, which draws lakhs of people every year to Amritsar.

Captain Amarinder assured the airlines that his government was keen to promote tourism as a means to generate employment and revive the economic growth of the state.

He further assured the visiting team that all efforts would be made by his government to help Vistara execute any plans in the interest of the states welfare.
business Indian IT companies have not been impacted by US policies so far: Shaktikanta Das Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das says that he is optimistic of the US administration that they will give consideration to India's views on ongoing visa issues.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved has launched a strong defence against Canteen Stores Department (CSD) which declared its amla juice unfit for consumption and took the product off its shelves.

The company said the claims of a Kolkata laboratory, whose reports were used by the retailing entity for Armed Forces, are incorrect as there is a separate entity to decide upon the safety of such products.

Patanjali Ayurved clarified the amla juice does not fall in the purview of the safety standards set by the countrys food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). A spokesperson of the company told Mint that the amla juice was tested as per the FSSAI standards whereas the product comes under the ambit of the Ministry of AYUSH.

He said, Our amla juice is a medicinal product and is safe for consumption.

On Monday, CSD stopped the sale of the amla juice at all its 3,901 outlets across the country. The company has sent a clarification to the CSD and is hopeful that the suspension will be lifted off.

This is not the first product of Patanjali Ayurved that has come under the scanner. Patanjalis ghee (clarified butter) was termed substandard and unsafe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Haryana.

The company had then argued that cow ghee is one of a kind product and the first to be introduced in the commercial market. Hence, there is no safety standard for cow ghee.

Amla juice and Patanjalis cow ghee are the best selling products of the company, generating 20 percent revenues of the company.
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Workers at Sri Lanka's state-run oil firm Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) called off a strike on Monday less than 24 hours in after the government agreed to consult them before signing an oil tank deal with India.

Thousands of Sri Lankan motorists queued for fuel earlier in the day after the workers went on strike to demand the government scrap the deal which trade unions say would give India too much influence over fuel prices.

CPC Managing Director Nadun Fernando said the unions agreed to call off the strike after six-and-a-half hours of talks that also involved Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"The government has agreed to consider the suggestions and proposals of trade unions and other stake holders before any decision on the operation of Trincomalee oil tank farm is taken," he told Reuters.

A trade union official said they called off their action after Wickremesinghe agreed in writing to consult them about the deal, which would put 99 oil tanks in the hands of Lanka IOC , a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation .

Union leaders said there was speculation the deal could be finalised either when Wickremesinghe visits New Delhi on Tuesday or Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes to Sri Lanka on May 11.

Sri Lanka has agreed with India to jointly develop and operate all the tanks in the oil storage facility in the port town of Trincomalee, near the world's second deepest natural harbour.

Lanka IOC already operates 15 of the oil tanks and the rest have not been used for decades.

For its part, IOC has agreed to build a second refinery with a capacity of at least 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Sri Lanka, while Modi pledged in 2015 to establish a petroleum hub in Trincomalee.

Unions at CPC said handing the tanks to Lanka IOC would give it too much influence over fuel stations.

"If they are given, they will have the control to decide the market prices," D.J. Rajakaruna, a CPC union leader told Reuters.

State Enterprise Minister Kabir Hashim said the unions had been given false information, as India and Sri Lanka had agreed to give 10 tanks to CPC while 74 were expected to be developed under a joint venture between CPC and Lanka IOC.

"It will be signed between the governments of India and Sri Lanka," he told reporters in Colombo.

A Lanka IOC official told Reuters that due to trade union pressure CPC would be allowed to use 10 of the 84 tanks earmarked for the joint venture between the two companies.

(Additional reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; editing by David Clarke)
business Cyprus looks to redefine economic equation with India Five months after the renegotiation of the double tax avoidance treaty, Cyprus is looking at redefining its economic equations with India. The key question - can the two nations capitalise on their close political ties to establish a trade relationship that goes beyond mere tax arbitrage?
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Cash-rich public sector undertaking (PSU) companies have been generous with dividend payouts in the last few years and in some instances it even exceeds the net profits of some of these firms.

According to a report in the Financial Express, Coal India paid Rs 12,353 crore as dividend in FY17, a 190 percent payout compared to its net profit in the first nine months of the year. Other state-owned firms like NMDC, Nalco, ONGC, NHPC and Bharat Electronics have announced huge dividends in the last two years.

Along with dividends, many PSUs are buying back their own shares which also added to the governments revenue. Together, dividends and buybacks were as high as 844 percent of the April-December 2017 net profit of Nalco, while for NMDC and Bharat Electronics, the figures were 425 percent and 402 percent, respectively, according to the report.

This liberal payout of dividends last fiscal year can be credited to policy changes introduced by the government in 2016. Under the new guidelines every PSU was asked to pay a minimum annual dividend of 30 percent of profit after tax or 5 percent of the net worth, against the earlier 30 percent of PAT and 30 percent of government equity.

It was also mandated that every CPSE with a net worth of above Rs 2,000 crore in cash and bank balance of over Rs 1,000 crore to buy back a portion of their shares with effect from FY17 after factoring in their capex plans.

"The move paid off as seven PSUs bought back shares worth Rs 18,963 crore or 41 percent of total disinvestment receipt in FY17," the FE report says.
The Centre has agreed to look into the Maharashtra government's demand for financial assistance to complete irrigation projects in drought-prone areas of the state, an official said today.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Nripendra Misra, Principal Secretary, Prime Minister's Office (PMO), in New Delhi and discussed projected related to Maharashtra.

He thanked the PMO for its intervention which led to stage 2 forest clearance for the Navi Mumbai International Airport and also for loan signing agreement between the state government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project.

The Centre agreed to consider the state's proposal to remove hurdles for slum rehabilitation in the Coastal Regulation Zone (administered by Union Ministry of Environment and Forests) in Mumbai, said the official from the Chief Minister's Office.

With a view to make Maharashtra slum-free by 2022, the state government has proposed amendments to the Slum Areas Act that will give more teeth to the SRA (Slum Rehabilitation Authority) to ensure strict implementation of schemes.

The CM also put forth demand for financial assistance for completion of irrigation projects in drought-prone areas of the state and the Union government agreed to look into it, he said.

During the meeting, Fadnavis called for drawing up a long-term strategy for sustainable production of pulses, the official added.
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Niti Aayog in its three-year draft action agenda today suggested a host of reforms in taxation, agriculture and energy sectors with the objective of accelerating growth and increasing employment opportunities.

The draft agenda, released by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya today, also underlined the need for recalibrating the role of the government by limiting its involvement in activities that do not serve a public purpose.

Among other things, the Aayog has also suggested the closure of loss-making CPSEs and strategic disinvestment in 20 state-owned companies.

The three-year agenda (2017-18 to 2019-20) called for steps to check tax evasion, expand tax base and simplify taxation system through reforms. It suggested the government could consider consolidating existing custom duty rates to a unified rate.

The other suggestions include creation of an institutional mechanism to promote competition through comprehensive review and reform of government regulations across all sectors, besides strengthening of the public procurement system.

Stressing the need to bring down land prices to make housing affordable through increased supply of urban land, it suggested the need of reform in the Rent Control Act along the lines of the Model Tenancy Act.

Other suggestions include, more flexible conversion rules from one use to another, release of land held by sick units, release of other urban land potentially available and more generous floor space index.

It also recommended setting up of dormitory housing for migrants.

The draft action agenda on the agriculture sector, which seeks to double the income of farmers by 2022, include reform of the Agriculture Produce Marketing to ensure that farmers receive remunerative prices.

The Aayog's three-year agenda also suggested raising productivity through enhanced irrigation, faster seed replacement and precision agriculture.

The farmers, it said, should be encouraged to shift to high-value commodities like horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries.

With regard to the energy sector, the draft agenda pitched for adopting consumer-friendly measures such as provision of electricity to all households by 2022, LPG connection to all BPL households, elimination of black carbon by 2022 and extension of the city gas distribution programme to 100 smart cities.

It also suggested to reduce the cross-subsidy in the power sector to ensure competitive supply of electricity to the industry.

The draft agenda also talked about reforming the coal sector by setting up a regulator, encouraging commercial mining and improving labour productivity.

With regard to transport and digital connectivity, the draft action agenda suggested strengthening infrastructure in roadways, railways, shipping and ports, inland waterways and civil aviation.

It also pitched for ensuring last-mile digital connectivity, particularly for e-governance and financial inclusion, through developing infrastructure, simplifying the payments structure and improving literacy.

Facilitate public-private partnerships, it said, by reorienting the role of the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) and added there is a need to "introduce low cost debt instruments and operationalise the National Investment Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)".

Referring to job creation, the draft agenda sought creation of coastal employment zones to boost exports and generating high-productivity jobs.

It also emphasised on enhancing labour-market flexibility through reforms of key laws and addressing the high and rising share of non-performing assets (NPAs) in India's bank through supporting action of larger assets to private reconstruction companies (ARCs) and strengthening the State Bank of India-led by ARC.

On Science and Technology, it suggested creating a 'National Science, Technology & Innovation Foundation' to identify and deliberate national issues, recommend priority interventions in S&T and prepare frameworks for their implementation.

It also suggested developing guidelines for PPPs in S&T to improve education and industry-academia linkages for demand-driven research. The draft agenda also stressed for streamlining the administration of the patent regime.

The agenda also pitched for enhanced focus on public health through significantly increasing government expenditure on it and suggested establishing a focal point and setting up a dedicated cadre.

There is a need to generate and disseminate periodic, district-level data as per uniform protocols, the draft agenda said.

It also suggested launching the National Nutrition Mission and developing a comprehensive Nutrition Information System.

The draft agenda also suggested to revisit the policy towards felling of trees on private land and transport of trees.
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

Domestic aluminium makers may not get immediate protection from the surge in imports of the metal into the Indian shores. The wait towards imposition of minimum import price (MIP) could be longer owing to escalating prices at the global benchmark  London Metal Exchange (LME).

Local aluminium prices mirror trends in LME, where prices have toed crossed USD 1900 per tonne, at par with the proposed MIP rate of USD 1,996 per tonne for primary aluminium products, which include ingots, billets and wire rods.

The Centre is closely monitoring the LME prices. We are in the wait-and-watch mode right now. MIP may be imposed if prices at LME start crashing or there is a clear downward trend, a senior government official told Moneycontrol.

MIP serves as the floor rate below which overseas shipments of specified items are not allowed to enter Indian shores. A rise in global base metal prices would nullify the impact of the trade barrier.

Total aluminium imports into the country increased to 909,000 tonne during April-September FY17, up 23 percent from the year-ago period. The surge in imports was mainly from China, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

The Commerce Ministry wants to be cautious before levying MIP, as it wants to steer clear of flouting WTO norms, the official said, explaining that MIP can be used only as a short-term measure to protect the local industry.

The ministry is watchful of the situation as India has already been dragged to WTO after Japan, in December, filed a complaint against safeguard duty as well as MIP on steel imports.

Top aluminium makers have been pressing the government for immediate measures to arrest the import surge and help local producers realise better prices and margins. Mines ministry has also endorsed their case to the commerce ministry, which can ultimately impose the trade barrier.

They have complained that a slowdown in global demand and the Chinese dumping metal into the Indian shores have depressed prices, increased competition and hit companies profitability as they are finding it difficult to sustain their sales in the local market.

Companies such as Hindalco Industries Ltd, Vedanta Ltd and state-owned National Aluminium Co Ltd have claimed that China is offering huge subsidy in power charges and incentive on export of finished and semi-finished products. In addition, Indias free trade agreement (a pact between countries to reduce or eliminate tariff or non-tariff trade barriers) with Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia has only aggravated the surge in imports.

Hired by the industry, consulting firm Mecon had in December proposed MIP rate of USD 1,996 per tonne for primary aluminium products, which includes ingots, billets and wire rods.

The consulting firm has also recommended MIP price for secondary aluminium products such as tubes, wires and cables. While an MIP of USD 3,000 per tonne has been proposed for aluminium tubes and pipes, USD 2,2275 per tonne has been recommended for wires.

A floor price of USD 2,566 per tonne has been projected for aluminium sheets, plates and strips.

The industry has proposed an MIP on primary and secondary aluminium products, for a period of six months.
Sweden is keen to collaborate with Maharashtra on waste management, smart cities, and renewable energy.

"I exchanged views with both the governments at the centre and in the state on global climate change efforts, ongoing international negotiations and the potential for bilateral cooperation," visiting Swedish deputy minister on climate Eva Svedling said here today.

The minister met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the state environment minister Ramdas Kadam and discussed collaboration on climate change and sustainability solutions.

"Sweden and our business are ready to work with India on the important transformation taking place, when it comes to smart and healthy cities, renewable energy and more," she told reporters here after addressing the students of the Welingkar Institute of Communication.

Swedish companies have advanced solutions for smart energy, urban transportation, waste management and air quality, she stressed. There are over a 100 Swedish companies operating in the state which could support the clean agenda. These companies employ over 1.8 lakh directly, and 1.3 million people indirectly, she said.

Her visit is a follow-up to the joint statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven during his state visit to India last year.

"I have learnt and seen first-hand the potential and opportunities as well as the challenges faced by India, Maharashtra and Mumbai, in relation to climate change and sustainability. Climate change is a top priority for our government," Svedling said.

She also visited the dumping grounds at Govandi earlier in the day and took a ride on the Volvo hybrid city bus which is operating in Navi-Mumbai, which saves fuel up to 40 per cent in real operating conditions.

Sweden has long-term goals of reducing emissions by 70 per cent by 2030 from the 2010 levels, as well as becoming the first fossil fuel-free country by 2040, with net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2045.
By CNBCTV18.COM

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is looking to sell 50 billion rupees ($775 million) worth of the offshore rupee-denominated bond in order to build expressways, economic corridors, bridges and tunnels.

Asia's third-largest economy has kicked off an international roadshow in Singapore for a masala bond sale aimed at upgrading the country's highways.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is looking to sell 50 billion rupees ($775 million) worth of the offshore rupee-denominated bond in order to build expressways, economic corridors, bridges and tunnels.

With stops to come in Hong Kong and London, the roadshow is a visible sign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to the upgrade of public works, which is seen as critical to future economic growth.

India is looking to reduce traffic congestion by building multi-lane roads and increasing the rate of national highway construction, the country's Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari said at a Nomura event on Monday. Enhancing the monetization of existing infrastructure to fund maintenance and the development of multi-modal hubs were also key goals, he added.

New Delhi has already facilitated investments to fund these programs the government will be injecting $3 billion of annual equity commitments into the newly-formed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund  but Modi wants the private sector to help.

To drum up foreign investor interest in India's road network, the second-largest in the world, policymakers have undertaken a slew of reforms, Gadkari said. Measures include a one-time fund infusion to revive stuck projects, a fast-track dispute resolution and a new model of public-private partnerships that offers lower risk for the private sector.

Innovative technologies, such as electronic toll collection and intelligent transportation systems, are also underway.

Previously, confidence in the system was lacking and that impacted decision-making, Gadkari said. "Now, there is a stronger political will. We created confidence in the minds of people so the overall mind-set has changed."

As part of a fiscal incentive package, New Delhi has granted 100 percent tax exemption for five years and duty-free import of specified equipment for highway construction.

Investors from more than ten countries already have stakes in various projects, including the U.S., Canada, China and Russia.

A former president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, 59 year-old Gadkari assured his audience that corruption and red-tape, common complaints from Indian businesses, were no longer issues.

"We have zero tolerance against corruption, the system is transparent and each tender is there."

Solid returns awaited long-term investors looking to participate in India's highway story, Gadkari added. Vehicle sales keep increasing and the compound annual growth rate of road freight is expected to grow 15 percent over the next decade, he said.

"Every day we collect tolls so we are ready to give you returns daily, monthly or yearly."
This year, the festival of Dhanteras, which marks the beginning of the five-day long festival of Diwali, will be celebrated on October 25. (Image: Reuters)

Gold fell more than 1 percent on Monday, after the market's favoured French presidential candidate won the first round of the country's election, but prices pared losses as U.S. Treasury yields came off their highs.

Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step towards the French presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting, with the latest opinion polls showing him as strong favourite to beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the final run-off.

The news represented a defeat for anti-European Union forces on the right and left of French politics, sent European shares and the euro vaulting higher and sparked a sell-off in safe-haven bullion.

Spot gold was down 0.7 percent at $1,275 an ounce by 3:19 p.m. EDT (1919 GMT), having touched its lowest in nearly two weeks at $1,265.90. U.S. gold futures settled down 0.9 percent at $1,277.50.

Gold came off its lows as the U.S. dollar index rebounded from a 5-1/2-month low and 10-year U.S. Treasury yields pared gains made earlier in the session.

"For the moment some of the tail risk in the form of a shock win by any of the other candidates has been averted. We see more downside in the very short term, leading up to the (French election) run-off in two weeks," said Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar.

He added, however, that a weaker dollar and simmering geopolitical tensions in North Korea and the Middle East were probably enough to keep gold underpinned at about $1,250.

"We have shifted our three-month view to bearish from bullish, targeting $1,200/oz from $1,300/oz previously," said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst for UBS Chief Investment Office, adding that two factors drove this short-term view.

"The market is now underpricing our view of two additional Fed rate hikes this year and the prospect of a balance sheet reduction (and) easing political risks."

In the wider markets, global equity markets rallied to send a gauge of world stock indexes to a record high.

"The predominant factor (for gold) will be the retreat of risk aversion," Simona Gambarini, analyst at Capital Economics, told the Reuters Global Gold Forum.

Escalating geopolitical tensions had prompted speculators to increase their bullish position in COMEX gold to a five-month high in the week to April 18, official data showed.

Spot silver was down 0.2 percent at $17.85 an ounce after touching a one-month low of $17.65.
In an interview to CNBC-TV18's Latha Venkatesh, Sonia Shenoy and Anuj Singhal, Prakash Diwan of Altamount Capital Management shared his reading and outlook on the market and also gave recommendations on various stocks.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview.

Anuj: We were discussing this yesterday when the numbers came but you would have looked at all the numbers now, what is the call on Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) at current levels?

A: The first call was the things are good, it could only improve and I think the numbers have just validated that. People are talking about this disappointment in the petchem, EBITDA and things like that but we need to understand that the company is in constant capacity enhancement either it is augmenting the technology or it is expanding sheer capacity. Today the kind of USD 5 arbitrage between Singapore and its gross refining margins (GRMs) means that this is a quasi-mode that is developing for the company. So even if there is a little bit of short in terms of crude prices and all at least it manages to keep itself in a profitable territory. So petchem, 50-60 percent of the benefit of the capex will come in the next 12 months and the rest is for FY19.

So if you were to start looking at it from a two-year perspective, the catch up that Reliance has started with 30-35 percent upside we have seen in the last couple of months is probably just the beginning of a very strong bull run. It will start getting the Jio numbers. 1,80,000 crore is not a mean number to spend on and recover but why is that profitability starts improving incrementally every day, every month, I think we are giving it a little bit of a sceptical rating and P/E multiple at this current level.

My rough calculation tells me that the price on a core business itself should be above Rs 1,550, the Jio business right now is free now. Some people say it is a loss-making thing, so that is why we are not discounting it positively but if you were to take that on the basis of a rough discounted cash flow (DCF), I think this stock could be Rs 2,000 probably in the next 12-15 months itself.

Latha: Is there more to buy in HDFC Bank and do you see collateral advantage in any other stocks?

A: This is like when you start running out of good opportunities, whatever comes your way and you want to put the bucket out as Warren Buffet keeps on saying but to be honest, there is so much available in that NBFC and banking space and I think the PSU banks are still  the bigger ones, let us not get into this whole long list of midcaps, smallcap banks in the PSU side - definitely offer much more upside in terms of the re-rating that is underway.

HDFC Bank is a comeback that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have made and that is one of the reasons why you have seen that overzealous buying that has happened. On the fundamentals, a lot of other banks have started delivering incrementally much better value. So I would not read too much into the mood that is changed towards HDFC Bank suddenly.

I would look at some of the other banks and not to say that some of the other banks havent done well as well. They have also been amply rewarded whether it is IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, RBL. Look at small, big, everything is getting amply rewarded. So in that liberal mood that we are in, there could be some better opportunities as well.

Sonia: Lately we are seeing a lot of companies that have an exposure to Maruti Suzuki that are doing very well, the auto ancillaries, whether it is Jay Bharat Maruti, Lumax Industries, Subros etc, the rally has been thick and fast but any stocks where there is still value?

A: Let us look at some of the smaller ones and they might not necessarily be Maruti oriented in terms of their growth so we talked about the Shivam Autotech casually once.

However, what is changing there and I think the quarterly numbers will probably capture that is that they have set up a pilot with Bosch  one is they have got the Rohtak unit already commissioned, Bosch unit if that takes off, they could probably be one of the very few global auto ancillary plays where Bosch has given out that technology and wants to depend on it.

Now given the globalisation that is happening, Indian automobile ancillary units supplying to some of the OEMs across the world will benefit much more because this is one space where China does not compete much, the Latin American markets have slowed down quite a bit, Europe is not competing as much, I would still look at some of the quasi global plays in this and I keep on talking about the likes of the Endurance Tech and Motherson Sumi. So you stick to those, not necessarily just the domestic ones.

This space you cannot write-off so easily as yet just because the valuations have been so stellar, a lot of people have had doubts but I would still be a bit picky but keep myself exposed to the space quite a bit.

For full interview, watch videos...

Disclosure: Reliance Industries, the parent company of Reliance Jio, owns Network 18 that publishes Moneycontrol.com.
Markets across the globe rallied following a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election which lifted risk-on sentiment, as it reduced the risk of Brexit like shock.

After winning the first round of elections, the pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron is expected to beat right-wing rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote next month.

Several regional markets rose to multi-year highs, while the euro retained most of its overnight gains. Tracking gains in US markets which closed over 1 percent higher, the Nifty rose to a fresh record high of 9,279.80 in morning trade on Tuesday.

There is a big sense of relief among European investors with French CAC up 4.5 percent, and DAX up over 3 percent. The tail risk of problems with a French exit from Europe is off the table. Mr Macron is constantly predicted to win the second round and he has a pro-reform agenda, Geoff Lewis, Manulife Asset Management said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

It was one of those geopolitical events which is now behind us which will act as a booster for riskier assets. This is definitely a win for risky assets, he added.

Commenting on US markets, Lewis said that we still have worries if Donald Trump will be able to push his agenda forward with respect to tax cuts. There are still things which are ahead of us, but this is still a win for risk assets, he said.
Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com told CNBC-TV18, "Near term target on Reliance Industries is about Rs 1,650-1,700. So, a dip is a buying opportunity and you will get those dips and consolidations. There is a conservative target of Rs 3,000 plus and the word is conservative. Everyone should have Reliance in the portfolio. I have been bullish on Reliance for years, it has just broken out but I was upbeat anyway."

"Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Canara Bank are giving short term uptrends. This is short term but it is there. The traction will continue but I dont have a day trading buy or a swing trading buy. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Maruti Suzuki have rallied a lot, you have to be patient and wait for some consolidation; that will come about and then it should be bought into," he added.

: Reliance Industries owns Network 18 that publishes Moneycontrol.com.
Mitessh Thakkar of miteshthacker.com told CNBC-TV18, "I think the PSU banking lot could be very interesting. I think it is slightly underperformed but what I am observing is that the patterns are getting stronger as the day passes by. So, Syndicate Bank, Allahabad Bank, these are the stocks where I would want to have some kind of trading focus today. Indian Bank had a massive bar yesterday and today also we are seeing some mild follow up over there. I think if I was to get an intraday dip around levels of Rs 283-282, I think that will be an excellent buy with a stop loss below Rs 272 and look for target of around Rs 305 plus."

"The other one which I like a lot is PC Jeweller. I think the intraday setup is very good. The stock has been sideways for last few days but now it is showing signs of moving up. So, that is a buy as well. Keep a stop below Rs 416 for target of Rs 440," he said.

"Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) had a good gap up, good technical setup. So, buy with a stop loss below Rs 1,272 and target of Rs 1,335."

"The other one is IRB Infrastructure . The stock has been in news. My sense is that some kind of momentum pickup should happen over here. So, buy with a stop loss below Rs 252 and look for target closer to about Rs 269-270."
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Reliance Industries

Citi maintained its buy call on the stock with an increase in its bull case target to Rs 1,923 due to higher Jio valuation and lower peak net debt. It believes that the companys outperformance could sustain as the earnings are an at an inflection point. Among key risks to the stock are weakening in refining fundamentals and global petrochemical spreads, the research firm added.

Analysts at the firm termed the companys March quarter performance as strong, with the standalone EBITDA being 3 percent ahead of estimates. Meanwhile, the profit after tax (PAT) was largely in line, it said. Gross refining margins of USD 11.5 per barrel

were above its estimates, it said.

On the companys capex plans, it sees standalone capex being lesser than USD 2.5 billion in FY18. Jios capex in the first quarter of the fiscal will be similar to March quarter before declining sharply, it said.

Nomura maintained its buy call on the stock as well, but with an unchanged target price of Rs 1,540. The brokerage house observed that the net profit was 1-2 percent ahead of its estimates, driven by lower tax rate. It too feels that the recent outperformance of the company could sustain.

However, the earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and profit before tax (PBT) were below its estimates on the back of higher depreciation and lower other income. These numbers too were partly offset by lower finance costs, it added.

Going forward, it sees earnings growing ahead once Jio, petchem and refining expansion projects start to deliver. It expects consolidated EBITDA/PAT CAGR of 19 percent/15 percent, respectively over FY16-20.

Meanwhile, it observed that high capex on Jio continued during the quarter and expects similar capex in Q1 of this fiscal. The near term focus will be on addition in customers of Jio. Having said that, it feels that the large capex cycle is coming to an end.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has downgraded the stock to neutral, but increased the target price to Rs 1,450 from Rs 1,375. The global brokerage firm observed that the firms March quarter net profit was 9 percent above estimates, while refining beat was led by GRM.

Analysts at the firm now have the focus on Jios success and the capex cycle. They believe that a further rerating on the stock is contingent on a successful Jio P&L as well as falling capex. It further added that while capex could decline, there is limited visibility on a successful Jio P&L.

The stock could find support from growth in Jios monthly subscribers, while weak margin, project startup hiccups and high capex were the key risks, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.

Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, has an overweight rating on the stock as it saw upside risks from improving energy margins as well as project executions. A steady project pipeline commissioning from FY18 should reduce the risk of further capex, it added.

JPMorgan is neutral on Reliance with an increased target price of Rs 1,310 from Rs 1,240. While the lower capex in its core business was positive, Jio was the key unknown element, it said. Further extension of discounts by Jio would be negative, it added.

Rolling forward its valuation to FY19, Deutsche Bank raised its target by 10 percent to Rs 1,600. Lower downstream margins, policy vagaries were the key downside risks for stock, it said.

(Disclosure: Reliance Industries owns Network 18 that publishes Moneycontrol.com.)

Indiabulls Housing Finance

CLSA retained its buy call on Indiabulls Housing Finance with an increase in target price to Rs 1,170 from Rs 950. The brokerage firm also raised its earnings estimates by 3 percent and saw 23 percent profit CAGR over FY17-20. It observed that the earnings growth was led by topline growth and operating efficiencies. CLSA also saw growth to be led by housing loans, especially from the affordable segment in the next three years.

Mahindra and Mahindra

Credit Suisse upgraded Mahindra and Mahindra to outperform from neutral and increased the target price to Rs 1,500 from Rs 1,390, implying 20 percent potential upside. While tractor volumes were up 14 percent in March despite demonetisation, there was a potential for tractor business to surprise positively, it added.

The weakness in utility vehicle market was already factored in, it observed. The stock was currently trading at a 40 percent discount to Maruti Suzuki, which it expects to narrow.

UltraTech Cement

CLSA raised the target price of the stock to Rs 4,575 from Rs 4,000. The companys March quarter performance was in line with its estimates, it stated. A pan-India presence, growth focus and cost optimization were the key focusses, CLSA said. UltraTech was the only preferred stock in the sector, it added.

Deutsche Bank reiterated its buy call on the stock with an increase in target price to Rs 4,750 from Rs 4,560. It highlighted the companys gain in market share during a challenging environment in the cement space. Moreover, it expects continuing reduction in costs and working capital for the company.

Morgan Stanley has an overweight rating with a target of Rs 4,690. It projected 25 percent EBITDA CAGR over FY17-19 and added that the focus on cost by the firm will aid earnings growth.

Citi, on the other hand, has a buy call on the stock with a target of Rs 4,400.
ICICI Direct's currency report on USDINR

Sovereign bonds fell for a third day, tracking gains in US treasury yields, after centrist candidate and investor - friendly Emmanuel Macron won the first round of French presidential elections  The benchmark 6.97 % 202 6 bond yield rose to 6.94 % from 6.92 % in the previous session  Yield on the US 10 - year rose to 2.27 % from 2.25 % in the previous session.

The rupee rose to the highest levels in more than a week against the dollar, in line with most Asian peers, as foreign banks likely sold the greenback for their clients amid improved risk appetite after a pro - European Union centrist won the first round of French Presidential polls  After intial weakness on the back of a stronger euro, the US$ index nursed losses only to close at 99 and ending with losses against major currencies on Monday. However, with the US government again discussing a reform agenda of tax cuts, the index may derive cues from the announcement.

In the currency futures market, the most traded dollar - rupee April contract on the NSE ended at 64.46. The April contract open interest increased 1.2% from the previous day  May contract open interest rose 20.8% from the previous day  We expect the US $ to meet supply pressure at higher levels. Utilise up sides in the pair to go short on the US$INR pair.

Intra-day strategy

US$INR April futures contract (NSE) View: Bearish on US$INR Sell US$INR in the range of 64.60- 64.70 Market Lot: US$1000 Target: 64.40/ 64.30 Stop Loss: 64.80 Support Resistance S1/ S2: 64.50 / 64.30 R1/R2:64.80 /65.00

The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies 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.

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U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX31I61

US President Donald Trump discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel the conflicts in Syria and Yemen and the "urgent security challenge" posed by North Korea in a phone call, the White House said.

"The leaders discussed the conflicts in Syria and Yemen and the urgent security challenge posed by North Korea," the White House said in a readout of the phone call.

Trump also reaffirmed American support for German- and French-led efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Ukraine on the basis of the Minsk agreements, it said.
In what comes as a reprieve for Dr Reddy's, the two observations that the company received from the US drug regulator USFDA for its Srikakulam plant are not very critical in nature but are merely procedural.

CNBC-TV18 accessed the form 483 which includes the two observations. While the first observation says that the pharma major's Srikakulam lab records do not include a complete record of all data, the second reads that the Srikakulam site does not always maintain complete records.

Srikakulam API plant was issued a warning letter from US FDA in November 2015 and has undertaken remediation measures. US FDA in its warning letter reprimanded the plant for non-compliance of data standards in lab tests, unauthorized access, and poor record-keeping practices.

The plant supplies active ingredients for Dr Reddys captive consumption as well as for meeting its customer needs. The CTO-6 is the largest API manufacturing plant of the company contributing about 10 percent of sales when Dr Reddys received the warning letter.

Dr Reddy's said it collectively spent about USD 35-40 million on remediation work that includes legal and professional charges.

The drugmaker in March received repeat observations from the US FDA on its Duvvada oncology formulation facility in Visakhapatnam.
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Reliance Industries witnessed a surge of over 3 percent intraday on Tuesday as investors cheered the companys better-than-expected results. Analysts, too, have given the numbers their thumbs-up as well.

The petrochemical major's quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations on Monday as profit on a standalone basis grew by 1.6 percent sequentially to Rs 8,151 crore for January-March quarter. Net income on consolidated basis rose 7 percent to Rs 8,053 crore QoQ.

Standalone revenue from operations during the quarter increased 12 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 74,598 crore while consolidated revenue soared 10.33 percent to Rs 92,889 crore, the company said in its filing.

Reliance reported gross refining margin for the quarter at USD 11.50 a barrel, which was far ahead of analysts' estimates of USD 11 a barrel and outperformed Singapore complex margins by USD 5.2 a barrel. It had posted GRM at 10.8 a barrel in December quarter.

The companys stock was in the news recently when it surpassed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in terms of market capitalisation and also became the most valued company in the country. Analysts have largely given positive calls on the stock, driven by a reduction of capex cycle in sight and better metrics in the results.

Citi maintained its buy call on the stock with an increase in its bull case target to Rs 1,923 due to higher Jio valuation and lower peak net debt. It believes that the companys outperformance could sustain as the earnings are at an inflection point. Among key risks to the stock are weakening in refining fundamentals and global petrochemical spreads, the research firm added.

Analysts at the firm termed the companys March quarter performance as strong, with the standalone EBITDA being 3 percent ahead of estimates. Meanwhile, the profit after tax (PAT) was largely in line, it said. Gross refining margins of USD 11.5 per barrel were above its estimates, it said.

On the companys capex plans, it sees standalone capex being lesser than USD 2.5 billion in FY18. Jios capex in the first quarter of the fiscal will be similar to March quarter before declining sharply, it said.

Nomura maintained its buy call on the stock as well, but with an unchanged target price of Rs 1,540. The brokerage house observed that the net profit was 1-2 percent ahead of its estimates, driven by lower tax rate. It too feels that the recent outperformance of the company could sustain.

However, the earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and profit before tax (PBT) were below its estimates on the back of higher depreciation and lower other income. These numbers too were partly offset by lower finance costs, it added.

Going forward, it sees earnings growing ahead once Jio, petchem and refining expansion projects start to deliver. It expects consolidated EBITDA/PAT CAGR of 19 percent/15 percent, respectively over FY16-20.

Meanwhile, it observed that high capex on Jio continued during the quarter and expects similar capex in Q1 of this fiscal. The near-term focus will be on addition in customers of Jio. Having said that, it feels that the large capex cycle is coming to an end.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has downgraded the stock to neutral, but increased the target price to Rs 1,450 from Rs 1,375. The global brokerage firm observed that the firms March quarter net profit was 9 percent above estimates, while refining beat was led by GRM.

Analysts at the firm now have the focus on Jios success and the capex cycle. They believe that a further rerating on the stock is contingent on a successful Jio P&L as well as falling capex. It further added that while capex could decline, there is limited visibility on a successful Jio P&L.

The stock could find support from growth in Jios monthly subscribers, while weak margin, project startup hiccups and high capex were the key risks, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.

Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, has an overweight rating on the stock as it saw upside risks from improving energy margins as well as project executions. A steady project pipeline commissioning from FY18 should reduce the risk of further capex, it added.

JPMorgan is neutral on the stock with an increased target price of Rs 1,310 from Rs 1,240. While the lower capex in its core business was positive, Jio was the key unknown element, it said. Further extension of discounts by Jio would be negative, it added.

Rolling forward its valuation to FY19, Deutsche Bank raised its target by 10 percent to Rs 1,600. Lower downstream margins, policy vagaries were the key downside risks for stock, it said.

The stock has moved around 12 percent in the past one month, while its three-day gain stood at 5 percent. At 11:04 hrs, Reliance Industries was quoting at Rs 1,437.90, up Rs 21.50, or 1.52 percent on the BSE. It touched a 52-week high of Rs 1,465.00.

(Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.)
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Refuting US claims, Nasscom (National Association of Software and Services Companies) on Monday said that Indian IT companies accounted for less than 20 percent of the 65,000 visas that are issued annually.

A White House official last week had said that Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) use large share of H-1B visas through the lottery system. However, according to the Nasscom data, these companies accounted for only 8.8 percent of the H-1B in FY15.

In FY2015, only six of the top 20 H-1B recipients were Indian companies. Further, among the companies named, the two Indian companies namely TCS and Infosys together received 7,504 approved H-1B visas, which is only 8.8% of the total approved H-1B visas, the apex body said.

Visas granted In FY16 and FY17 to IT companies was below the 20 percent mark, Nasscom president R Chandrasekhar told Financial Express.

The tightening of work visas by the Donald Trump government has led to fall in visa applications for the first time since 2013.

For 2017-18, number of H-1B applicants dropped by nearly 16 percent to 199,000 applications. This number in 2016-17 was 236,000.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which takes care of visa process, has temporarily suspended premium processing of work visas.

Trump last week signed an executive order to remove the lottery system for visas and replaced it with merit-based immigration policy.

Nasscom further said that Indian IT companies pay almost 35 percent higher wages than the prescribed level of USD 60,000. The average salary for visa holders is nearly USD 82,000 excluding visa costs.

US is facing accelerating shortfall between demand and supply of skilled technical workers. According to the US Department of Labour, there will be 2.4 million unfilled STEM  occupations that require education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics - jobs by 2018.

Of this, almost 50 percent vacancies will be IT-related.

The tightening of visas in US has triggered multiple visa woes for India. Singapore, Australia and New Zealand too have tightened their work visa policies. Brexit only adds to the growing uncertainty for the sector.

The IT sector, already facing multiple growth challenges, is bracing itself for a tough ride with US and uncertainty surrounding the visa norms.
April 25, 2017

Turkish Airstrikes On Kurds Complicate U.S. Operations In Iraq And Syria

A few hour ago the Turkish airforce hit Kurdish and Yezidi positons on both sides of the Singal mountains in east-Syria and west-Iraq. Near Derik in east-Syria more than 20 bombs destroyed a YPG headquarter, a radio station and a media center. At least nine YPK fighters were killed. The YPG is the Syrian sister organization of the Kurdish PKK in Turkey. The PKK is a designated terrorist organization. Within Syria U.S. special forces are embedded with the YPG and are coordinating YPG moves against the Islamic State in Raqqa. YPK and PKK follow the anarcho-marxist theories of their leader Abdullah Ocalan who is in isolation detention in Turkey.

The Turkish airstrike in Iraq hit YPG and Peshmerga positions near Shingal where they protect a displaced person camp of Yezidis. The Yezidis are an ancient religious minority. The Peshmerga are the main Kurdish militia in Iraq. They are controlled by Kurdish regional government. At least five Peshmerga fighters, all followers of Barzani clan, were killed and several more wounded. The Barzani family holds all important position in Iraq's Kurdistan - president, premier, intelligence chief and several others. Its election mandate has long run out but it simply ignores the regional parliament and rules through force and bribes. The Barzani clan is allied with Turkey and the U.S. It allows the Turkish army to operate several bases within its area. The U.S. is operating from Erbil airport in the Iraqi-Kurdish area. The oil pumped from wells in the Kurdish area is sold by the Barzanis to Turkey. The Turkish hit on Barzani fighters is deeply embarrassing for them and may incite new protest against the Barzani' quasi dictatorship.

The YPK is training Yezidi self defense forces. This is against the Barzanis' interest who sees their monopoly force in the area endangered.

Turkey is a U.S. ally and the U.S. has several bases in Turkey which it uses to fight the Islamic State. The U.S. is also allied and operates with the YPG in Syria and the Peshmerga of the Barzani clan in Iraq. The airspace in east Syria and north-west Iraq supposedly under U.S. control. There will be some serious explaining to do why the U.S. did not prevent one of its allies from bombing its other allies. Did it agree to this Turkish attack? Either way U.S. operation in the area will experience new difficulties.

Turkey has also threatened to invade the Kurdish held areas in east-Syria at Tal Abjad to move onto Raqqa and thereby split the Kurdish held areas.



Map by Winep - bigger

The primary winner of these Turkish operations is the Islamic State.

The YPK is now likely to divert forces from the U.S. led attack on the Islamic State in Raqqa to protect against further Turkish adventures. The PKK within Turkey may restart its guerrilla campaign against the Turkish military. The Barzani clan will come under renewed pressure by Kurdish people in Iraq as well as by the Iraqi government to loosen its ties with Turkey. All sides will blame the U.S. and its operations against Syria and the Islamic State.

The whole mess in Syria and Iraq thus becomes even more complicate than it already was.

Posted by b on April 25, 2017 at 8:05 UTC | Permalink

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Josephine Humphreys shared vivid memories of childhood summers on Sullivan's Island and how they immersed her in a world of stories she would later add to as a novelist.
A California-based mortgage lender has expanded in the Midwest with the introduction of a new office in Illinois.The opening of New American Findings Naperville, Ill., branch marks its second Chicoagoland grand opening in six months. The Naperville location will celebrate with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday.The Naperville branch will be a full-service location, and will offer a complete spectrum of purchase and refinance products to the Chicagoland housing market, according to a news release. The new branch will be headed up by Jose Rincon, who has served as a mortgage professional in the area for more than a decade. Rincon is a top-producing originator who ranks at #24 on the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals Top 250 Latino Mortgage Originators list.Were excited to be a part of New American Fundings expansion in the Chicagoland area, Rincon said. We look forward to growing with an industry powerhouse that integrates innovative technology with superior customer service to provide a pleasant experience to all of our clients.Were thrilled because this location has been long awaited, said Hamid Hamrah, New American Funding regional vice president. We look forward to interacting with the members of the community and finding out how we can provide local homebuyers with our second-to-none service.
Just two weeks after the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) kicked off National Fair Housing Month, the department announced it has reached a settlement with a group of California lenders alleged to have discriminated against an applicant due to his ethnicity.An applicant from Watsonville, Calif., said he was denied the opportunity to prequalify to buy a home in Hollister, Calif., because he was Hispanic, according to HUD. The companies involved were American Financial Network of Brea, Calif.; Benchmark Communities of Fresno, Calif.; Brigantino Enterprise of Hollister; and an employee of Benchmark Communities.The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in rental, sales or home lending transactions based on a persons national origin, race, color, religion, sex, familial status or disability.Where a person comes from should not impact their ability to purchase a home, said Bryan Greene, HUDs general deputy assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Todays action reflects our nations promise of fair housing and equal access to credit for every qualified individual, regardless of their national origin.The complainant will receive $5,000 from American Financial Network in reparation, and the company will annually train all of its employees and new hires on fair housing; Benchmark Communities will also annually train its employees who interact with homebuyers/potential homebuyers on fair housing.
Wells Fargo will pay an additional $32 million in the class-action settlement over its fake-accounts scandal, the bank has announced.



Wells Fargo announced last month that it would pay $110 million to settle with customers who were affected by the scandal, in which bank employees opened 2 million customer accounts without authorization. The updated settlement of $142 million will include any customers who were impacted by Wells Fargos sales practices as early as May 2002, according to an announcement from the bank.

Read more: Wells Fargo rehires 1,000 employees who left over fake-account scandal

The expansion of this agreement is another important step to make things right for our customers, said Tim Sloan, Wells Fargo president and CEO. On our journey to rebuild trust, we want to ensure our customers feel confident that we have heard their concerns about retail sales practices, which includes offering them numerous opportunities for remediation. We encourage any customer with concerns or questions about their accounts to contact us.



The updated settlement accounts for the findings of an investigation by Wells Fargos board of directors. The settlement class will now consist of all customers who claim that Wells Fargo opened an account in their name without consent, enrolled them in a product or service without consent, or submitted an application for a product or service in their name without their consent during the period from May 1, 2002, through April 20, 2017, the bank said.
The story of Charles Whitman and his deadly shooting spree from the clock tower at the University of Texas 51 years ago is fairly well known in the state.

But, it is also the subject of a Netflix documentary that scored 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. And, it appears, few people have seen it.
Jamie Rhoads knew she had a family history of breast cancer. Still, the diagnosis in her mid-30s was difficult to comprehend.

Upon hearing it for the first time, you feel punched in the stomach, like the breath was knocked out of you and youre trying to find your bearings, Rhoads said.

In 2014, she turned to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where other family members had received treatment.

Upon my arrival in the MD Anderson waiting room, most people were in their 60s or 70s, Rhoads said. I remember thinking: Where are the people my age? Where are the people 10 years from where I am today?

Rhoads, now 37, decided to convey positivity even when she faced unexpected reactions to some treatments. She will share her journey with overcoming cancer at the Making Cancer History Seminar, which is 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. today at Midland Country Club.

The free, public event includes lunch and is underwritten by the Henry Foundation, according to a press release.

Rhoads, who grew up in Midland and recently moved to Missouri, hopes to share the importance of knowing family history. She also wants people in West Texas to know they have the option to turn to MD Anderson to receive care.

If I inspire or cause one person to get a mammogram with it, if it gives someone peace of mind knowing about MD Anderson, thats good, Rhoads said.

The center, located in Houston, has attracted more than 6,100 patients from the Midland-Odessa area since 1944, according to a press release. Margaret Meyer, director of social work, said her department works with patients who come from outside the city.

People are coming, and theyre scared, especially if they are patients, Meyer said in a phone interview. Theyre hoping to find some answers to their health care struggles. The last thing they need to worry about is where they will stay and how theyre going to get here.

Though patients are responsible for their own transportation and lodging, social workers help them navigate the options. Meyer said MD Andersons work doesnt stop when patients leave its facilities. For patients who require ongoing counseling, the social work department helps them find resources in their local communities.

We also want to help them maintain healthy lifestyles at home, Meyer said. People are more comfortable in their own beds. We try to consolidate appointments [in Houston].

Rhoads said her MD Anderson doctors were in contact with medical professionals in Midland. She was also had one-on-one communication with the health care workers.

Its pretty crazy to think about how big the [center] is, and I was able to have personal relationships, Rhoads said.

Rhoads also received support from family members. Nicole Rhoads, her sister-in-law, was one relative who came to Houston during treatment.

It was hard, Nicole Rhoads said. She was sick from treatments and would have to fly home. She stayed positive through the whole thing.

At the seminar, Jamie Rhoads will join representatives from the medical center, including: Dr. Miguel Rodriguez-Bigas, professor of surgical oncology; Dr. Surena Matin, professor of urology; and Dr. Lauren Byers, assistant professor of thoracic/head and neck medical oncology. Theyre scheduled to give presentations about advances in their fields.

Rhoads appreciates the care from MD Anderson and said facing cancer in her 30s made her value personal relationships. Her sister-in-law thinks she will give perspective to people attending the seminar.

She has such a great positive attitude and a strong faith in the Lord, Nicole Rhoads said. Shes willing to help others walk through this journey. Her story will inspire people from all walks of life.

Registration is requested at events@mdanderson.org or 866-262-9029 ext. 6.
Anabolics - Post Cycle Recovery

Written by William Llewellyn

16 July 2018

Anabolics - Post Cycle Recovery

Post-Cycle Recovery: How Long?

When we discuss the side effects associated with steroid use, it is accurate to note that many of them (not all) are temporary. For example, oily skin, acne and increased water retention are all common side effects during a steroid cycle, but they usually resolve themselves within a couple of weeks of stopping use of the offending steroids. What about some of the other common side effects, though such as alterations in cholesterol and suppression of natural testosterone production? We often regard these also as temporary issues, but how temporary are they, really? A study published in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology asks this question, and comes back with some interesting answers that all anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) users need to pay attention to.1

The study in question looked at a group of 56 male bodybuilders who were recruited through an anti-doping telephone hotline. Each of the men had ultimately ended their intake of steroids, providing a good opportunity to examine them post cycle. The researchers followed the group to see how their health responded to the change, conducting periodic medical examinations for up to one year after their last steroid injection. The study found that cholesterol disturbances lasted for up to six months in many of the subjects. Indeed this was a temporary side effect, but it was much more persistent than many steroid users may have expected. The disturbances to natural testosterone production were even longer lasting in some cases, with a portion of the men continuing to notice suppression of LH and FSH (luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, the two main stimulatory hormones for testosterone release) a full year after steroid cessation.

This study doesnt necessarily present a great deal of new information. Protracted recovery of lipids and testosterone has been discussed in this column and elsewhere before, though admittedly the data on these topics remains light to this day. Studies following bodybuilders and athletes immediately after quitting steroid use are even less common, so I do feel this paper adds some needed perspective on the all-important post-steroid recovery period. Gentlemen, let this be a reminder. Recovery of normal testosterone and cholesterol levels is not an instant process. It may take many months after you quit these drugs for things to get back to normal, perhaps longer in some cases. While not specifically addressed, this study may also help emphasize the need for a proper PCT (Post Cycle Therapy) program, something regular readers know I am a longtime supporter of.

William Llewellyns books (ANABOLICS 10th Edition, UNDERGROUND ANABOLICS and SPORT SUPPLEMENT REFERENCE GUIDE) are now available for 25 percent off the cover price by calling 888-918-7888 or visiting www.AnabolicsBook.com.

References:

1. Long term perturbation of endocrine parameters and cholesterol metabolism after discontinued abuse of anabolic androgenic steroids. Garevik N, Strahm E et al. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 2011 Aug 22.



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A Florida House panel passed a bill implementing the state's medical marijuana amendment Monday, but not without tacking on another restriction to a bill already called too restrictive by advocates.

Florida House panel passes HB 1397, goes to House floor

Bill implements medical marijuana amendment

Bans smoking, vaping, edibles, adds telemedicine restriction

CAPITOL CONNECTION: Latest News | Contact your Florida legislators

HB 1397 passed the House Health and Human Services Committee Monday and is now headed to the House floor for full debate and vote.

The bill maintains a 90-day waiting period before patients can receive a prescription. It bans smoking, vaping and edibles. A new restriction added Monday bans telemedicine. That's when doctors can work with patients over the phone to get their prescription.

Advocates say the new restriction will make it difficult for truly sick, bedridden patients to get medical marijuana.

Supporters of Amendment 2, which was approved by 71 percent of voters last November, say the bill goes against the intent of the amendment and that it puts more restrictions in place.

On Tuesday the Senate's version of the bill will go through its final committee. The Senate version gets rid of the 90-day rule and allows vaping and edibles. The two sponsors of the competing bills are working on a compromise so they have a bill that can pass both chambers.

The Associated Press contributed to information in this story.
The Florida Senate's version of a bill for medical marijuana passed its final committee stop Tuesday, but what happens now is unclear.

FL Senate medical marijuana bill passes committees

Bill's sponsor working on compromise with FL House sponsor

House bill more restrictive than Senate bill

RELATED: House medical marijuana bill adds new restriction

CAPITOL CONNECTION: Latest News | Contact your Florida legislators

SB 406 passed the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday, and should go to the Senate floor for a vote.

But the bill's sponsor, FL Sen. Rob Bradley (R-Orange Park), is in talks with the sponsor of the House bill (HB 1397), FL Rep. Ray Rodrigues (R-Estero).

Both lawmakers are hopeful they can reach a compromise, but they aren't there yet.

Both bills have some similarities -- they ban smoking and using the drug in public, for instance -- but the House bill is far more restrictive. Advocates prefer the Senate bill, which allows vaping and edibles, and calls for adding more dispensaries in the next few months.

Stephani Scruggs-Bowen of Pensacola, whose husband has epilepsy, says increased competition would help lower prices. She said the cannabis prescribed for Michael Bowen costs $500 per month in Colorado, but sells for $3,000 per month in Florida, and does not have as much cannabidiol, the ingredient that helps prevent seizures.

"Everyone knows of people who this can help treat. They know it is not a bunch of dreadlocked hippies and stoners. It is real people like my husband," she said.

The constitutional amendment, approved by 71 percent of voters last November, expands the list of illnesses qualifying for medical marijuana prescriptions beyond cancer, terminal illnesses, epilepsy and chronic muscle spasms. HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder, ALS, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, or other similar conditions now qualify for the drug.

If the legislature fails to reach a deal on medical marijuana, the Florida Health Dept. will be left to implement the medical marijuana constitutional amendment on its own. But the agency has already said it would probably leave the current medical marijuana policies in place if that happens.

FL House vs. FL Senate medical marijuana bills

HB 1397 SB 406 Bans smoking Bans smoking Does not allow use in public Does not allow use in public Seed-to-sale tracking system Seed-to-sale tracking system Bans vaping, edibles Allows vaping, edibles Allows for more dispensaries after 150,000 patients Allows for more dispensaries after 75,000 patients No additional dispensaries immediately Allows for more dispensaries by Oct. 3, 2017 Keeps 90-day waiting period for drug Ends 90-day waiting period for drug Bans telemedicine, patients must be seen in person Allows for telemedicine

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Dozens of out-of-state firefighters are helping battle the massive wildfire that has burned thousands of acres in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Brush fire ignites at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Fire has shut down a large part of the park for several days

Firefighters from several different states are helping

MAP (PDF): Active wildfires burning across Florida

The fire has shut down a large part of the park for several days since it first started burning Friday.

It's just one of the 115 active wildfires burning about 30,000 acres across the state as of Monday afternoon. About 5,000 acres have been charred by the Black Point Fire.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service firefighters such as Steven Natho are trading the mountains of southwest Oklahoma for the flat, humidity-prone land of Florida.

"Where we're at, it's mountainous  a lot of rocks," Natho said. "(Here) it's different."

What's not different for Natho  and others working in Florida from states such as Alabama, Colorado and Mississippi  is being away from family for long periods of time.

This current stint is 14 days  two weeks without seeing his loved ones and his girlfriend of two years.

"She knows the ballgame," Natho said. "She knows it can change. Everyone in the firefighting community kind of takes that on."

Despite his time away from loved ones, Natho's work on Florida's east coast is valuable to the people who live here  those who probably will never see him.

"I love it," he said about fighting the fires. "I wouldn't do anything else."

Officials hope to reopen part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to the public as early as Wednesday.
The main witness in the death penalty case against an Orange County man accused of murdering an 83-year-old woman took the stand Tuesday, the second day of the trial.

Janet Gutierrez testified that Juan Rosario asked Elena Ortega for money the night the woman was beaten, robbed and then left to die in her burning home in 2013.

Gutierrez was on the stand Tuesday morning. She said at the time that she told Rosario she didn't have any money. Later that night, Gutierrez said, Rosario came home with money and jewelry and was covered in blood.

"He told me he had to kill her because she saw his face and his fingerprints were everywhere," said Gutierrez, who is Rosario's ex-girlfriend.

Gutierrez said she helped Rosario cover his tracks.

Defense attorneys said Gutierrez is a convicted felon who is an unreliable witness. They said she's not credible because she has changed her story several times since coming forward. Attorney Roger Weeden said Gutierrez sent Rosario love letters and visited him in jail.

Gutierrez told Weeden on the stand that she was promised immunity.

"What does that mean?" Weeden asked.

"That I couldn't be charged for anything that I told them," Gutierrez responded.

The judge admonished the defense Tuesday, however, saying attorneys were not turning over discovery to the state. Judge Leticia Marques said Rosario's attorney had violated the discovery rules three times.

If Rosario is found guilty, jurors will make their recommendation in May or June if he should get the death penalty.

This is the first death penalty case tried in Orange County after Gov. Rick Scott took almost two dozen first-degree murder cases away from State Attorney Aramis Ayala.

Ayala said earlier this year that she will not seek capital punishment as a sentence while she is in office.
AUSTIN -- The Senate Finance Committee on Monday took up a bill that its author says will help the state understand the true cost in state funds of illegal immigration in Texas. Though the federal government is responsible for maintaining border security, its failure to secure the border is costing Texans millions, says Dallas Sen. Don Huffines. The Legislature approved $800 million to pay for more troopers and more resources for border security last session, and the Senate version of the budget includes the same amount for the upcoming biennium.

Huffines says that his bill, SB 764, will help the state's argument that Washington, D.C. should pay Texas back. "When the federal government fails to protect the border, then the federal government should reimburse the state for its expenditures," he said. "With this cost accounting Texas can better explain to the federal government the severity of the consequences of its failure of its responsibilities." His bill would require the Comptroller to tally and release each biennium the total cost to the state incurred by people not lawfully present in the U.S. It would also require that the report break out the specific costs for healthcare, education and incarceration of these individuals.
With County Judge Bill Coleman calling it a wise investment as we move forward, Hale County commissioners unanimously agreed to initiate the process for the county, in partnership with the City of Plainview, to acquire privately-owned hangers and other facilities at Hale County Airport.

While the airport is jointly owned by the city and county, many of the structures were constructed by the airports former Fixed Base Operators  Miller Flying Service and Hutcherson Flying Service  and now owned by Rocket Aviation.

Coleman at Fridays work session said that while the airport has benefited significantly from TxDOT Aviation grants which provide 90 percent state funding against a 10 percent local match, those will not be available for future expansion unless both the airport and facilities are publically owned.

Our airport just named the states most improved airport for 2017, Coleman said Monday. We are now in a position to use non-primary entitlement funding that has been set aside to help with this acquisition since we wont be needing them for maintenance and upkeep.

A recent appraisal set the value of the privately-owned airport facilities at $950,000. Other costs involved in a transfer of assets, he said, include $35,000 for a survey, $10,000 for environmental due diligence studies and $63,800 for an airport management study.

Coleman said Friday the city and county are eligible for reimbursement of $600,000 for the transfer of assets, although the costs associated with the management study are non-reimbursable.

The estimated cost to each sponsor (the city and county) is $220,650, and we would end up with a million dollars worth of income-producing assets, Coleman said.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Benny Cantwell, speaking in support of the move, said, It would be in the best interest of Hale County to move forward. Having a good, well-managed airport has a huge bearing on the success of economic development efforts.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Mario Martinez added, Our airport is one of our best recruiting tools. It goes hand-in-hand with the grant we received for development of the Plainview Industrial Park. And if we do nothing, our chances of getting additional 90/10 grants from TxDOT Aviation are over. I agree that this is a good investment for Hale County.

Coleman added that future lease payments on hangers and related facilities could help the city and county recoup their initial investments.

This first step, Coleman explained, involves the commissioners authorizing Coleman to draft a letter to Tim and Stacie Hardage of Rocket Aviation formally advising them that the county is initiating the process to acquire the privately held airport assets.

In other action, commissioners:

--Hired Rudd Owen as outside counsel to assist the county in correcting an erroneous legal description in a county-issued warrantee deed for a 0.362-acre tract owned by Jess Sammann at the intersection of FM 1612 and Country Road 25.

--Approved hiring Tommy Baker, a retired deputy sheriff, as bailiff for 64th District Court.

--Approved agreements with the City of Tulia and Swisher County to house their jail inmates for $54 and $52 per day, respectively, while the Swisher County jail is being renovated. Tulias agreement is based on Hale Countys current rate while Swishers rate is based on an existing contract.

--Formally accepted a legal opinion from County Attorney Jim Tirey that verbal and written contracts and commitments from a county office holder are not binding on their successors. Precinct 3 Commissioner Kenny Kernell sought the opinion because some county residents who paid to have county crews spread caliche on rural roadways adjacent to their property were under the mistaken impression that the county would continue to dress and maintain the all-weather road surfaces indefinitely. Tirey said various statutes are clear that those commitments are not binding beyond the fiscal year in which they are made.

--Approved quarterly reports from the Plainview/Hale County Economic Development Corp., Indigent Health Department and Veterans Service Office which were presented at Fridays work session.

--Authorized the County Auditors Office to seek bids for food products and food service items for the Hale County Sheriffs Office. The bids will be opened June 7 and awarded June 26.

--Approved current accounts payable of $146,184.21.

--Approved the financial statement showing an ending balance on March 31 of $21,677,982.35. That inflated total includes $2.5 million that has been borrowed for future projects.

--Approved the 2017 first quarter investment portfolio showing interest income of $24,914.58.

--Accepted the first quarter activity report from UMC EMS, which provides ambulance service to Abernathy and the surrounding rural area. It made 14 responses during the period, all within its designated area. Two responses were to assist other agencies.

--Waived future fees for the Covenant Health Groups Mobile Dental Van to use RV hookups at the Ollie Liner Center. The van provides dental services to local low-income clients every six weeks.

--Accepted the March activity report from Hale Center EMS. The service responded to 11 emergency calls, eight within Hale Center and three in its rural coverage area. One was a no-transport. There were no transfer runs in March.

--Advised by District Attorney Wally Hatch of plans to spend up to $1,800 in asset forfeiture funds to purchase an 8-terabyte computer drive for records and police video storage and a new computer.

--Approved a request for Latrice Kemp, Carla Cannon and Christina McIntee, or their designees, to attend a computer training conference.
HART -- Under the guidance of new Hart High School Ag Teacher Adam Faulkner, two donated 1937 Farmall F-20 tractors are on site at the school for ag students to restore. Faulkner said it will take both tractors to make one.

Faulkner found the tractors through Jerry Mathis of Olton, former Hart ISD Ag teacher who came on board at Hart in an interim position to teach the ag students after the semester resignation of their teacher. Faulkner had purchased some plow discs from Jerry Lopez of Olton for student projects. He became acquainted with Lopez and mentioned needing to teach his students tractor restoration.

In memory of his father, Louis Lopez Jr., who died last year, Jerry Lopez and his mother donated the two Farmalls to the Hart ag program to help with teaching the ag students. Eventually, the tractor will be raffled.

A 2002 graduate of Azle High School, Faulkner earned an ag degree in 2007 from Tarleton State University in Stephenville. He had planned on teaching ag, but instead went to work in the oil and gas industry. He was a natural gas compression specialist and worked at this until January.

He is married and has two children, and was frequently a long way from home because of his job. In spite of a cut in pay, he wanted to be able to see his family more. So he began looking for teaching positions, and found the Hart job. He talked to David Cox, Hart ISD superintendent, and was hired.

Because of a job promotion, he and his wife and his two children had moved to the Higgins area while he was still in the oil and gas field. He now lives in Hart during the week and goes home on the weekends. He said that the recent Panhandle wildfires got to the back door of his house in Higgins. The family had evacuated before the fires got so close. Higgins is in Lipscomb County in the northeastern Texas Panhandle.

Faulkner considers himself a jack of all trades. He is giving ag students some of his knowledge, teaching them all kinds of welding, as well as oxygen and acetylene cutting. He also will teach some basic mechanics, and knows some woodworking skills.

The students are already learning how to work with metal and wood. The classroom is lined with their projects.

Faulkner said he is teaching a hands-on, fun approach to learning, working to have a positive impact on the students. Teacher turnover at Hart is high, and Faulkner is the third ag teacher in the last five years. The once-storied livestock oriented program was done away with for a number of years. An interim superintendent had recommended to the school board at the time to buy out the remainder of the ag teachers contract and close the program, which the board agreed to do.

Later boards began to see the importance of a program that would teach just not livestock knowledge, but welding, cutting, woodworking, etc. And it was brought back.

Mathis was brought in to fill the gap until a new teacher was hired. He was injured in a fall a few weeks ago and has been absent from the classroom, but Faulkner expects him to return soon to help out. Mathis specialty is livestock. The two teachers are working to impart not only their knowledge, but to show the students they can make things with their hands, and build self-confidence.
Shelia Lashun Hallman, 52, was held in Hale County jail Monday on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after being arrested about 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the 2400 block of Milwaukee. Bond had not been set. She also is being held on two outstanding municipal warrants, for failure to maintain financial responsibility and speeding (45 mph in a 35 mph zone). Bond on those warrants had not been set. Fines are $441.78 and $253.31, respectively.

--A known person reportedly used a vehicle belonging to another individual without permission between 5 p.m. Friday and about 11 a.m. Sunday. Police also are investigating an incident involving unlawful restraint in connection with the stolen vehicle. The crimes occurred in the 600 block of North Columbia.

--A known individual used a motor vehicle in connection with an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and cause between $750 to $2,500 damage to property belonging to another about 2 a.m. Sunday in the 600 block of North I-27.

--Property in the 900 block of El Paso was vandalized about 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Damage was set at $100 to $750.

--A juvenile reportedly assaulted a public servant about 1:45 p.m. Friday in the 1200 block of Houston.

--A 19-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Sunday on two outstanding warrants, for no liability insurance and speeding 15 mph or more over the posted speed limit. Bonds had not been set. He was arrested about 8 p.m. Saturday in the 700 block of Broadway following a traffic stop.

--Two men, ages 25 and 26, and two women, ages 22 and 25, were held in Hale County jail Sunday on charges of assault causing bodily injury in connection with an incident about 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Southeast Alpine. Bond for each is $2,500. The 25-year-old man also was being held on two outstanding warrants, for speeding and failure to appear. Bond on those charges had not been set.

--An unknown person reportedly used or exhibited a deadly weapon during an assault that occurred shortly before 9 a.m. Monday in the 300 block of West Fifth Street.

--A hit-and-run traffic mishap involving vehicle damage reportedly occurred about 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the 2400 block of North Columbia.

--A 29-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Monday on $200 bond for public intoxication. He was arrested about 9:15 p.m. Sunday in the 1500 block of Quincy after police responded to a report of a suspicious person.

--A vehicle was burglarized between 6 p.m. Thursday and 10 p.m. Saturday. The incident occurred in the 200 block of Southeast Seventh Street.

--An assault causing bodily injury reportedly occurred about 3 p.m. Monday in the 500 block of West 22nd Street.

--A known person reported assaulted another by making offensive contact Sunday in the 2600 block of Olton Road.

--A 61-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Tuesday on bonds totaling $4,500 after being arrested about 7:45 p.m. Monday in the 2500 block of Denver. The warrants include two for theft of property under $100 with prior convictions, and theft of property more than $100 but less than $750 with prior conviction.

--Property in the 2400 block of Milwaukee was vandalized about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Damage was estimated at between $100 and $750.

--A 36-year-old man was held in Hale County jail Sunday without bond for an outstanding municipal warrant for driving while license invalid. He was arrested about 3:45 a.m. Saturday in the 700 block of West Ninth Street.

--A 27-year-old woman was held in Hale County jail Monday on $1,500 bond for driving while license invalid with previous conviction or suspension and without financial responsibility. She was arrested about 5:45 p.m. Sunday in the 400 block of West Fifth following a minor traffic accident.

--An unknown person reported used identifying information belonging to another for fraudulent purposes. The victim reported the offence about 5 p.m. Monday.

--Someone committed identity theft by forging financial instruments between Sept. 1, 2016, and April 23, 2017. The crime was reported about 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

--Property in the 1000 block of Vernon was vandalized between noon and 10 p.m. Saturday. Damage was between $750 and $2,500.

--An assault by threat reportedly occurred about 1:30 p.m. Friday in the 600 block of North Columbia.

--Property valued at between $1,500 and $20,000 was stolen from a building in the 3000 block of West Seventh sometime Thursday.

--Fraud involving the use of counterfeit currency reportedly occurred about 6:30 a.m. Monday in the 800 block of North Columbia.

(Anyone with information on crime in Plainview and Hale County may contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 293-8477 or 293-TIPS.)
Among the rest who did not go to private crammers at university, however, only a handful had relied on outside help at high school.

Kil Hye-ji, a researcher at KEDI, studied English-language crammer experiences of 570 university students and found that 437 or 76.6 percent went to crammers, and 66.8 percent of them had private tuition at high school as well.

Dependence on private tuition from a young age causes children to lose the ability to study independently, so that they rely on outside help even at university, a study by the Korean Educational Development Institute warns.

One 28-year-old graduate of a prestigious university in Seoul started attending private crammers in eighth grade and continued until his senior year in high school. This reliance on help from tutors continued in college because he believed he would not be able to succeed on his own.

"Perhaps it was due to my dependence on crammers since childhood, but I tend to rely on outside help rather than on myself when it comes to my studies," he said.

Prof. Kim Dong-il at Seoul National University said in a report in 2011 that students who relied on private crammers in high school were 1.8 times more likely to keep needing it in college than those who did not.

They spent 25.7 percent more money a month on outside help than their peers who did not.

"Students who go to crammers in elementary, middle and high schools also think it's normal to turn to outside help to find jobs and learn necessary skills," Kim said. "It's really a form of addiction, and that's very unfortunate because once they graduate they're faced with countless challenges they need to tackle by themselves."
A UC Berkeley student group filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing the university of unconstitutionally censoring conservative speech, days after administrators said they could not safely accommodate right-wing commentator Ann Coulter on campus this week.

Coulter, an author and television commentator, was invited by the Berkeley College Republicans and the nonpartisan BridgeUSA to speak on campus Thursday night. But campus officials said they could not ensure the safety of those who attended because police had learned of threats of violence by both opponents and supporters of Coulter.

The school offered to schedule her talk for September, and when Coulter refused, the university offered a 1 p.m. appearance on May 2. Coulter again declined, saying she was busy that day. She noted the date was part of the week before final exams, known as Dead Week, when classes are suspended and students are taking time off to study.

ALSO Ann Coulter rejects Cal offer to switch date of speech

The offer was a sham because of the timing and because the university, for purported security reasons, was refusing to make large on-campus buildings available for the talk, lawyers for Young Americas Foundation, the sponsor of Coulters planned speech, and Berkeley College Republicans said in its U.S. District Court lawsuit.

At the same time, the suit noted, UC Berkeley has recently allowed speakers invited by liberal students  including former Mexican President Vicente Fox, a critic of President Trumps immigration policies  to appear without similar time-and-place restrictions. Those speeches took place without incident.

Coulter has said she will speak at Berkeley on Thursday regardless of the universitys position because she has a contract.

Im showing up this Thursday, she said in a Fox News interview Saturday evening. Its up to the police to keep me safe.

At a news conference Monday, Harmeet Dhillon, lawyer for the groups that filed the suit, said the College Republicans would likely decide by Thursday whether to host the speaker that day.

Anticipating Coulters appearance, the International Socialist Organization called Monday for its members to protest peacefully by picketing outside the event and challeng(ing) the narrative inside.

Dhillon accused university officials of adopting an unwritten policy that allows administrators to place restrictions on high-profile conservative speakers. The restrictions include scheduling their talks at far corners of the campus during class time and saddling the sponsoring groups with unreasonably high security costs, she said.

The lawsuit said university officials could have taken appropriate security measures to ensure the safety of those attending conservative speaking engagements  as is their duty to all students on campus  but they have refused to do so.

It said UC officials and police have permitted the demands of a faceless, rabid, off-campus mob to dictate what speech is permitted at the center of campus during prime time.

That was a reference to the violence that led UC Berkeley to cancel a scheduled Feb. 1 appearance by another far-right speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, at the student union. The College Republicans said they also had to cancel an April 12 appearance by conservative writer David Horowitz because the university scheduled his appearance before 3 p.m. at a building more than a mile from the center of campus.

In response, UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the university has applied its policies evenhandedly.

Weve had a wide range of speakers across the political spectrum, including many speakers sponsored by the Young Americas Foundation, Mogulof said. Never in anyones memory has so much staff time been devoted in trying to facilitate an event as in this instance.

Coulter is welcome on this campus, but at a time and place when police say, Yes, we can provide security, Mogulof said. We dont have a protectable venue available Thursday.

The lawsuit seeks damages and a court order prohibiting any unwritten or unpublished policy restricting the exercise of political expression on the UC Berkeley campus.

Bob Egelko and Michael Bodley are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com, mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko, @Michael_Bodley
The U.S. Forces Korea will practice evacuating American civilians from Korea in June. The drill comes amid growing rumblings from Washington of a possible preemptive strike on North Korea's nuclear or missile facilities.

But the USFK carries out the drill, awkwardly dubbed "Courageous Channel," as a matter of routine twice a year and has deliberately postponed it by a month to avoid giving an impression of urgency, according to a military source here.

In May 2010, right after the North sank the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, the U.S. canceled the drill to allay fears of impending war.

The purpose of the drill is to evacuate American non-combatants in an emergency. They are supposed to gather at 18 evacuation shelters nationwide, including the U.S. military garrison Yongsan in Seoul, and be taken to Japan by air or ship.

A military spokesman here said, "They don't practice the entire evacuation process each time. They sometimes only practice gathering at assembly points."

An estimated 200,000 American civilians live in South Korea, mostly the families of service personnel, who are the first priority in an emergency. Next on the list are American expats or tourists and then their Korean families.


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San Antonians now have a low-cost way to get to the Windy City if they want to escape the summer heat.

Frontier Airlines has added a nonstop route from San Antonio International Airport to Chicago OHare International Airport, slated to fly out of the Alamo City three times a week. The Denver-based airline began the service on Sunday, Frontier spokesman Jim Faulkner said. Introductory fares start at $69 a flight.

The company shifts flights to warmer destinations ahead of the summer vacation season, Faulkner said, adding more routes to cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix.

We saw that there was definitely a demand for a low-fare option from Chicago OHare to San Antonio International, Faulkner said.

The new Frontier flight joins two other nonstop flights to Chicago out of San Antonio: an American Airlines flight to Chicago OHare and a Southwest Airlines flight to Chicago Midway International Airport.

Frontier Airlines returned to the San Antonio market in May 2016 with a direct flight to Philadelphia and routes to Atlanta, Denver and Las Vegas after pulling out of the city in 2012.

The San Antonio International Airport is currently a hub for 37 nonstop routes to destinations in the U.S. and Mexico, including flights to Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. and JFK International Airport in New York City. The airport added a nonstop Southwest flight to Kansas City in November and will add a nonstop Air Canada route to Toronto beginning May 1.

The city has sought to draw more nonstop flights using an air service incentive program approved by City Council members in November 2015 that offers airlines up to $200,000 in marketing funds if they add new flights along with waivers of landing fees.

A spokeswoman for San Antonio International Airport did not return a call and email requesting comment.
The shares of radio and billboard giant iHeartMedia Inc. have tumbled 27.3 percent since the company warned investors last Thursday that it may not survive over the next 10 months.

The shares closed at $2.10 Monday.

The San Antonio companys stock, which reached an all-time high of $18.95 in 2008, has plunged under its crushing debt load  largely stemming from its acquisition that year by two Boston private equity firms.

Although the company said it will probably be able to survive by refinancing or extending the maturity on its more than $20 billion in outstanding bonds, it gave no assurance it would be able to do so, according to its proxy statement filed April 20 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

If iHeart doesnt generate enough cash, cannot refinance or extend the maturity on its debt or extend the maturity of its credit facility, we may be forced to reduce or delay our business activities and capital expenditures, sell material assets, seek additional capital or be required to file for bankruptcy court protection, the company said, adding that it could also default on its debt payments. We cannot assure you that we would be able to accomplish any of these alternatives on a timely basis or on satisfactory terms, if at all.

The companys projected cash flow  without significant debt restructuring  wont otherwise be enough to meet its obligations that come due Feb. 23, iHeart said.

The company has been scrambling to restructure its debt over the last six months. It was able to push out the maturities on roughly $750 million in bonds that were originally due earlier this year. But analysts said its future solvency remains uncertain and largely depends on a pending offer to exchange $14.6 billion of its bonds.

The pending debt-exchange offer basically extends key loans and debt due as early as 2019 by two years and, in some cases, offers up to 49 percent of the equity in Clear Channel Outdoor. IHeartMedia has not said how much of the debt has been exchanged so far, although it disclosed in its proxy statement that it hasnt had any luck getting bondholders to modify the terms of its debt covenants.

We have from time to time been engaged in discussions with some of the holders of our indebtedness regarding proposed modifications to the terms of that indebtedness and other changes to our capital structure, but those discussions have not resulted in any agreements to date, the company said.

The company has $317 million in debt maturing this year, $324 million in 2018 and $8.4 billion due in 2019. As of March 31, iHeartMedia had $365 million in cash on hand, $201 million of which is held by its billboard subsidiary, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., which is considered the best-performing unit of the company. iHeartMedia also owns more than 850 radio stations.

Analysts said they see the debt-exchange offer as an out-of-court bankruptcy settlement negotiation with lenders and bondholders before a possible formal bankruptcy filing.

The company is just doing its due diligence and laying it out there, said Seth Crystall, senior credit analyst for Debtwire, a corporate debt research firm based in New York. But it (bankruptcy) is close to a reality, Crystall added Monday.

The company will report first-quarter earnings on May 4, but investors and lenders are watching for results of the debt-exchange offer, which may be extended and new terms offered that are more favorable to lenders and bondholders.

A company can still operate for a while without filing bankruptcy, even if auditors issue doubts about a companys ability to pay its near-term debt, Crystall said.

The proxy statement represents a change in tone, said Patrice Cucinello, a Fitch Ratings Inc. analyst in New York, who said iHeartMedia has burned cash for several years.

They are not covering their interest and capital expenditures with internally generated funds. Their near-term debt maturities has become an increasing concern, Cucinello said Monday.

The company is in aggressive negotiations with its lenders and bondholders, she said. Its unclear if the lenders are willing to negotiate with the offer on the table, she added.

The proxy statement is not new information, Cucinello said. As this year has gone by, theres been a heightened awareness of the need for the company to refinance the $330 million it used up on its revolving credit line that expires on Christmas Eve, she said.

The companys annual shareholder meeting is scheduled May 26 in San Antonio.
Noble Energy has completed the acquisition of Clayton Williams Energy that was announced in January.

The acquisition was completed following approval by the stockholders of Clayton Williams Energy and became effective immediately after markets closed on Monday.

Clayton Williams Energy is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Noble Energy operating under the name NBL Permian LLC.

Noble had filed a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act notice in March with the Texas Workforce Commission, city of Midland and Midland County of its plans to close the at 6 Desta Drive, which would impact 197 employees. Of those, 123 worked in the Midland office and 74 in the field. In announcing the completion of the acquisition, Noble officials said the Midland office will remain open through the end of the year to support the integration of Clayton Williams Energy into Noble.

More than a quarter of Clayton Williams Energy employees  64  are continuing with Noble. The majority of them are field employees who will be working out of Nobles Pecos office. Some former Clayton Williams employees will be joining Nobles Houston office.

Corporate officials said the consolidation of the Midland office into the Houston and Pecos locations will enable Noble to fully leverage the technical and functional expertise of its workforce.

Acquired assets include 71,000 highly contiguous net acres in the core of the Southern Delaware Basin adjacent to Noble Energys original Reeves County holdings, an additional 100,000 net acres in other areas of the Permian Basin, and more than 300 miles of oil, natural gas and produced water gathering pipelines. Production on the assets totals approximately 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

We are pleased to close the transaction and appreciate the strong support of the stockholders of Clayton Williams Energy, said David L. Stover, Noble Energys chairman, president and CEO, in a statement. Our plan to rapidly increase development of these highly prolific Delaware Basin assets will be a major contributor to Noble Energys leading U.S. onshore oil volume growth of nearly 30 percent annually through 2020.

The scale and quality of these assets, combined with Noble Energys strong financial capacity and exceptional technical expertise, will drive significant cash flow growth and value creation for all our investors, he said.
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Whether you stream, buy or rent, heres a look at whats new or notable in home video. Movies are available on streaming sites such as iTunes, Amazon and Vudu unless otherwise noted.

Reissue

Caltiki  Immortal Monster: Why did the Mayans abandon the city of Tikal? The answer has been hiding in plain sight for decades in this 1959 Italian horror movie. It was an ancient goddess who resembled a mound of soggy evening dresses, energized and made insatiable by a passing comet. For the archaeologists who discover this secret, the celebration is short-lived. (Note: The movie moves Tikal from Guatamala to Mexico but otherwise seems pretty factual.) (Arrow Video Blu-ray & DVD)

Rent it now

Underworld: Blood Wars: Talk about undead. This vampires vs. lycans (werewolves to you and me) franchise is well into its second decade. In the fifth, largely human-free installment, vampire death dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) returns to her coven to prepare for all-out war, only to contend with betrayal and subterfuge. It's the War of the Roses for ghouls, shot in shades of black and blue.

Also: La La Land

In theaters

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City: Documentary tells the story of Jane Jacobs 1960s battle against powerful New York urban planner Robert Moses, who wanted to raze Manhattan neighborhoods to make way for a highway. Where he saw rental units full of tenants who could pack up and leave, she saw places defined by the people who lived their, which could be lost forever. The movie, says Variety, just about pulses with contemporary resonance  a nod to another well-known New York builder who doesnt like to take no for an answer.
A U.S. aircraft carrier strike group is finally sailing north toward the Korean Peninsula after much confusion about where it is.

A military source on Sunday said the Korean Peninsula "will come within the strike group's 1,000 km radius of operations from around Tuesday," which marks the anniversary of the North Korean Army. It will probably reach the peninsula on Thursday, he added.

During a visit to Australia, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told reporters on Saturday that the "armada" will reach the East Sea "within a matter of days."
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FAIRFIELD  Mark R. Nemec, a dean at the University of Chicago will become Fairfield Universitys ninth president and the first non-Jesuit to hold the office.

Nemec, 47, was chosen by the Universitys board of Trustees who made the announcement on Tuesday.

He starts in July. His salary has not been disclosed.

Rev. von Arx, who left in December, was making $382,935 in compensation according to the universitys 2015 financial documents, the latest available. That same year, Sacred Heart University President John Petillo made $612,255.

Nemec has a foundation in Jesuit education and will also join Fairfields politics department as a professor when he arrives.

I am honored and delighted by the opportunity to lead and to serve Fairfield University at this critical moment in the evolution of higher education, Nemec said in a prepared statement.Im particularly excited to be joining a Jesuit university, having been steeped in and formed by the principles of Jesuit education as a young man.

In a video on the Fairfield U website, Nemec called the university amazing.

Fairfield is clearly rising, accelerating, growing, Nemec said.

A graduate of Loyola High School, Jesuit College Preparatory, in Los Angeles, Nemec earned a doctorate in Political Science and a masters degree in Education from the University of Michigan. His undergraduate degree in English came from Yale in 1991. There he played rugby.

He is the author of Ivory Towers and Nationalist Minds: Universities, Leadership, and the Development of the American Stateand a contributor to The Educational Legacy of Woodrow Wilson.

Nemec has been at the University of Chicago since 2014, and is said to have extended the universitys reach to broader student populations in innovative ways.

Before Chicago, he worked in the private sector, as president and chief executive officer of Eduventures, a Boston-based information services firm and had been a member of the executive team of Forrester Research, a provider of similar services to the technology industry.

"Fairfield was fortunate to have had an extremely strong slate of interested candidates during our national search. Along with the search committee, I am confident that Dr. Nemec is the ideal leader for Fairfield, Andrew McMahon, a university trustee and president of the search committee said in making the announcement. His passion for higher education, commitment to Jesuit values and experiences in academia and business, bring a distinctive set of skills and experiences to this critical role as we begin this new chapter in our history."

Nemec comes to Fairfield as it celebrates its 75th anniversary, having been founded by the Society of Jesus in 1942.

Of paramount importance to all of us at Fairfield is that while we continue to grow and evolve, we also stay true to our traditions as a Jesuit university, Board of Trustees Chairman Frank J. Carroll III said.. We are so fortunate that we have found in Nemec, a leader in higher education who was educated himself in the Jesuit tradition, and is fully committed to ensuring that those traditions will inform all that we do in the future.

Marks appointment at Fairfield is a well-deserved reflection of his successful leadership and accomplishments at the University of Chicago and his extensive work as a political scientist, higher education expert, and business leader, said Robert J. Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago.

Before the search began it was evident that the prospects of finding a new president who was also a Jesuit were uncertain. Many in the campus community seemed ready for a non-Jesuit or even a woman. Lynn Babington, who served as interim president after von Arx departure will be headed to Hawaii this summer to become president at Chaminade University.

In his video, Nemec said he would create new programs and extend its impact of the campus where total enrollment in the fall stood at 5,137 students.

Nemec will join the Fairfield community with his wife, Suzanne, and their four children Alex, Teddy, Philip and Kit. No word if he and his family will live in the presidents house located across the street from campus on Round Hill Road.
NEW MILFORD  The Town Council voted Monday to spend $3,500 on a Vietnam veterans memorial on the town green.

New Milford is very happy to present the plans for Vietnam Veterans Memorial, said a Tuesday news release. Local Veteran Ray Crawford has been working on these plans for a number of months.
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Armed with charts, numbers and data of all kinds, scientists and supporters of the sciences convened on Sam Houston Park on Bagby Street downtown Saturday to send a message to President Donald Trump and about his proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency and other programs that fund scientific research at the federal level.

From the natural sciences like geophysics and molecular biology to computer programing and engineering, people in prominent positions in some of Houston's biggest corporations chanted and marched from the park to Houston City Hall where a number experts in scientific fields addressed the crowd on the steps of the lawn.

"What do we want? Evidenced-based science! When do we want it? After peer-review!" chanted the crowd as organizers yelled through amplifiers to prompt the well-mannered gathering as they made their way.

The normally apolitical professionals said they weren't there to be political, and that science itself is a neutral field.

Two professors in behavior science at University of Houston Clear Lake and one astrophysicist with NASA drove from the Bay Area to add their voices to the rest of the country's as many other major cities join similar marches in the nationwide protest set on Earth Day.

Jennifer Fritz, behavior analyst at UHCL said, "Science does so much and needs to be supported. It's unfortunate science has become partisan, it should be nonpartisan."

Dorothy Lerman, professor at UHCL and director for the autism and developmental disabilities center at the campus believes industry plays a role in governmental funding for the sciences.

"Any research that could reduce the bottom line for a business, that's at risk," she said of the areas of science she feels are most are vulnerable to budget cuts.

Lerman's husband Bob Dempsy, director with the international space station and an astrophysicist at NASA said the type of work done there take years to manifest and benefit the public, which requires long-term investment.

"In my 20 years, I've never seen such a dire attack on science and engineering," he said. He wore a NASA t-shirt with a homemade sign alluding the persecution of Galileo Galilei, the 16th century Italian scientist who was placed under house arrest by the Catholic Church for supporting the Copernican theory that Earth revolved around the Sun. "We're approving pesticides that are not based on science. Right out of the gate (of Trump's administration) we're throwing out the science," said Dempsy.

But there were scientists there too that are still working on their credentials.

Isabella Phelps, 10, loves birds and wants to be an ornithologist. She held up a sign with a picture of her fifteen-month-old brother with tubes in his nose and IVs jutting from his small body. The sign read: "My brother is alive because of science."

Her brother, Beckham Sheiman, was born at 24 weeks and weighed 1.8 pounds. Their mother Maegan Sheiman and her husband had Beckham through a donor egg and a surrogate due to Maegan's health problems she encountered when was pregnant with Isabella.

They're not sure why the surrogate mother went into labor so early, but little Beckham underwent multiple surgeries after birth, had brain bleeds and blood clots. Meagan wrote a heart-felt letter to the staff at Texas Children's Hospital that caught the attention of CNN in March of this year and they wrote a story about her.

Mom and daughter stood among the doctors and lab-coated professionals with a piece of their heart on their sign.

"I got a glimpse of him and have never seen anything so small in my life," Sheiman said in her CNN interview. "I did not know that a human could be that small and look like a human."

One graduate student at Texas A&M Health Science Center in Houston said managers in his lab announced the march in a recent meeting and encouraged staff to participate if they wanted.

Two researches at Baylor College of Medicine waiting in the food truck line said their administrators encouraged them to attend as an individual and a scientist, but not as a representative of Baylor.

Dr. Jeffrey Rosen in the department of molecular and cell biology and the breast center said the 40 percent decrease in breast cancer mortality is a product of basic research funding, and that no private organization could match the level of funding that the government invests through the NIH.

The proposed cut by the President would decrease the organization's funding by 18 percent, around $5.8 billion.

Dr. Yi Li, professor at BCM and the breast center said, "This cut will have a dramatic effect on a whole generation. Life science is not something we can stop for a time until you have money. Like life, like the heart, it keeps going."

Rosen worries the cuts will have a negative impact on Houston in particular.

"This will have a severe impact here, more than oil and gas" he said. "You can never replace government funding for science, private money is a drop in the bucket."
AUSTIN -- The Senate Education Committee considered and quickly approved a measure that its author says will help communities protect kids walking to or from school as they pass through dangerous areas. "Imagine being afraid to walk home from school because you don't know what you'll encounter on your way," said Houston Sen. Sylvia Garcia. "That is the reality for many children across this state."

She recounted the story of the death of 11-year-old Josue Flores, who was stabbed and killed as he walked home from an afterschool science program in Garcia's own Northside neighborhood in Houston. This tragic incident led the community to establish a program to monitor and patrol the common routes that school children use to travel to and from school, but Garcia said that incidents like this happen too often around the state.

In 2016 alone, Garcia says, there have been a number of children attacked on the way home from school. Two 13-year-old girls, Lauren Landavazo and Makayla Smith, were shot on their way home from school in Wichita Falls, killing Lauren and seriously injuring Makayla. She also told of Omar Cabrera, an eighth-grader from Beaumont who was beaten and robbed as he walked home and Hunter Parker, a Humble ISD student who was attacked on the way home while his assailants filmed the incident. Many children, she said, walk home from school every day through dangerous and scary places. "They see drug use on the streets, people sleeping on the sidewalks, petty and violent crimes throughout the neighborhood and in broad daylight," said Garcia. "Unfortunately in some neighborhoods in this great state, dangers like this are more common than not."

Though many communities have stepped up to create neighborhood programs to protect kids on the way home or walking to school, the programs require trained volunteers, as well as time and resources that may not be readily available. Current law allows a district to apply for an additional 10 percent in transportation funds to help transport kids that live within 2 miles of their school campus and would face common transportation hazards like overpasses and railway crossings. Garcia's bill, SB 195, would add areas presenting a high risk of violence to this program. Because even additional state funds might not be enough to hire additional buses and drivers, it would allow this funding to go toward programs that seek to establish safe routes for kids to walk to school and home.

The bill doesn't specify how these safety programs operate, but Garcia pointed to programs like Safe Walk Home, a grass-roots effort that formed in the wake of the death of Josue Flores. These programs work to establish safe corridors for students walking to and from school. "These safe passages are designed to keep kids away from the most dangerous areas of their commute, with volunteers monitoring these corridors on a daily basis," said Garcia. Volunteers would not be armed and would report suspicious people or activity to law enforcement, she said. Garcia believes their mere presence will serve as a deterrent to criminals along the route.

Typically the Education Committee holds bills pending the day they are first heard and votes on them in a subsequent meeting, but committee Chair and Friendswood Sen. Larry Taylor permitted a vote on the measure Tuesday. "We have a number of folks here from Northside and that area and I think it would be fitting for Josue if we do this today," he said. The bill passed the committee 8-1 and will now head to the full Senate for consideration.

The Senate will reconvene Wednesday, April 26, at 11 a.m.
Prosecutors on Tuesday played a harrowing 911 call of a witness who was following Ronald Cooper when he allegedly caused a fatal crash on Texas 105 West in 2015.

Cooper, 69, could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted of the six felony charges he faces in the trial in Judge Kathleen Hamilton's 359th state District Court. The charges stem from a wreck that killed a family of four and injured two teenagers on Sept. 20, 2015. Montgomery County prosecutors claim Cooper was high on prescription medication when the crash occurred, killing Roland Sedlmeier, 49, Melinda Sedlmeier, 42, Harley Sedlmeier, 6, and Sofie Sedlmeier, 4.

Conroe police say Cooper was westbound in a Hyundai car when he hit the back-left bumper of the Sedlmeiers' Toyota car, causing it to spin and roll out of control into the eastbound lanes. Their car was struck by an eastbound Jeep, driven by one of the teenagers.

This happened as Debbie Hayes was on the phone with 911 trying to report Cooper as a reckless driver. Hayes and her husband had been following Cooper on Texas 105 from FM 3083 and saw him narrowly avoid other crashes, she said in court.

"It's extremely waving in and out of the lanes  almost hit a car, did hit a car," Hayes told the 911 dispatcher in the recording as the fatal wreck played out before her eyes. "A three-car accident right in front of us turned over. Oh my God."

Hayes' husband pulled over and ran to the scene to check on the victims as she stayed on the phone with 911 in their truck.

"It's a ball of a car now," Hayes said in the recording. " Nobody is getting out of the vehicle at all."

Cooper was arrested that day and indicted Dec. 8 on four second-degree counts of intoxication manslaughter and two second-degree felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The indictment includes an allegation that Cooper used a deadly weapon on the four second-degree felony counts of intoxication manslaughter, but there is no such law titled "intoxication manslaughter with a deadly weapon."

Although Cooper was prescribed the drugs prosecutors say he was intoxicated on, state law says "the fact that the defendant is or has been entitled to use the alcohol, controlled substance, drug, dangerous drug, or other substance is not a defense" in intoxication manslaughter cases.

In a connected criminal case, a Woodlands doctor was arrested and accused of illegally supplying Cooper with the prescription medications prior to the fatal crash. Rezik Saqer, 62, is facing a first-degree felony charge of engaging in organized criminal activity.

Montgomery County prosecutors claim Saqer committed fraud and theft by submitting false claims to insurance companies for almost five years. Saqer also unlawfully distributed and delivered drugs "in a manner inconsistent with public health," according to an indictment.

Montgomery County grand jurors indicted Saqer on the first-degree felony engaging in organized criminal activity charge Nov. 22, more than a year after the fatal car crash.

In Cooper's case, testimony will begin again at 9 a.m. Wednesday. If convicted, Cooper faces up to 100 years in prison.
The City of Plainview, Hale County, Plainview/Hale County Airport and Parkhill, Smith & Cooper were honored Thursday night at the Texas Department of Transportations awards ceremony at the 35th Annual Aviation Conference in San Marcos, taking home the award for TxDOTs Most Improved General Aviation Airport.

Awards like this realistically take years to win and are a team effort, PSC Transportation Sector Director John Hamilton said. Plainview and Hale County won this award, not because they had more money or the large population of our fellow Texans along the I-35 corridor. It was vision and leadership that won this award.

This award reflects great improvements at an airport and recognizes the related efforts by a community or individual to make significant upgrades to a general aviation or reliever airport. The improvements are funded mostly outside of TXDOT grants and are instituted and implemented mostly by local efforts. This award shows that the airport made significant changes that meet the needs of the area and present a visual appearance that evokes pride from the area served.

It is exciting to have TxDOT Aviation recognize the Plainview/Hale County Airport with this award, says Pete Laney, chair of the Plainview/Hale County Airport Board. We are thankful for the support of TxDOT Aviations staff, the city and county officials and Rocket Aviation as we work toward continuing to improve this asset for our community.

Plainview/Hale County Airport has been serving the Plainview community since 1946, when it shifted from a military training facility during World War II to a commercial/general aviation airport. The airport would expand to commercial air service in the 1950s as the region grew more popular and gained national attention for its agricultural research and Wayland Baptist University.

In 2011, the primary airport stakeholders recognized that a transition needed to be made from one generations leaders to the next. To memorialize the airports rich history and to develop a road map for the future, work began on an airport master plan.

Plainview and Hale County identified a need years ago, built a team to develop a strong, well thought out master plan, then partnered with TxDOT to help execute their plan, Hamilton said. As a result, the community and the region have a plan in place to maintain and enhance a valuable asset that will serve the region for generations to come.

Following the completion of an airport master plan, the Plainview/Hale County Airport project construction consisted of pavement demolition, reconstruction of the tee-hangar apron pavement, Runway 4-22 pavement patching, construction of perimeter road, extension of storm drains, marking of runways and taxiways, pavement rehabilitation, grading, runway lights and signage, and related work. During construction, due to savings realized during construction, three supplemental wind cones and a new rotating beacon and tower were added.

The Plainview/Hale County Airport is a great partnership between the City, County and Rocket Aviation, says Hale County Judge Bill Coleman. I am thankful for TXDOT Aviations support in implementing this vision we have for our airport.

City Manager Jeffrey Snyder echoed those thoughts.

It is an honor to see all the hard work and partnerships recognized for the improvements at the airport, says Snyder, Most importantly, we will continue to have an airport that is vital to our area.
Sales of nuclear shelters and radiation-blocking air purifiers have surged in Japan in recent weeks as North Korea has pressed ahead with missile tests in defiance of UN sanctions.

A small company that specializes in building nuclear shelters, generally under people's houses, has received eight orders in April alone compared with six orders during a typical year.

The company, Oribe Seiki Seisakusho, based in Kobe, western Japan, also has sold out of 50 Swiss-made air purifiers, which are said to keep out radiation and poisonous gas, and is trying to get more, said Nobuko Oribe, the company's director.

A purifier designed for six people sells for 620,000 yen ($5,630) and one designed for 13 people and usually installed in a family-use shelter costs 1.7 million yen ($15,440).

Concerns about a possible gas attack have grown in Japan after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliament session this month that North Korea may have the capacity to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas. "It takes time and money to build a shelter. But all we hear these days, in this tense atmosphere, is that they want one now," Oribe said. "They ask us to come right away and give them an estimate."

Another small company, Earth Shift, based in Shizuoka prefecture, has seen a tenfold increase in inquiries and quotes for its underground shelters, Akira Shiga, a sales manager at the company said. The inquiries began gradually increasing in February and have come from all over Japan, he said.


The U.S., Japan and South Korea have agreed to prepare a "shock therapy package" for North Korea in case it conducts another nuclear or missile test, officials here said Monday.

"Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo are going to discuss concrete ways to take punitive actions against the North in case it carries out a further provocation," a Foreign Ministry official here said. "Talk of shock therapy itself is sends a strong deterrent message."

"Beijing has already given consent to the idea," another Foreign Ministry official claimed. "The key point is to cut off the North's sources of hard currency with the help of China, while the three countries are mulling their own sanctions like the U.S. designating the North as a state sponsor of terrorism and a secondary boycott."

The chief nuclear negotiators from the three countries meet in Tokyo on Tuesday, and their foreign ministers will sit down in New York on the sidelines of the UN Security Council Ministerial Meeting on Friday.
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BOERNE  An overflow crowd is expected for todays City Council meeting, which will tackle a pair of controversial topics: a new City Hall and the appropriate zoning of land near Cibolo Creek where a mixed-use development called 17 Herff is proposed.

Both polarizing issues sparked petition drives during the run-up to the May 6 city elections in which Mayor Mike Schultz is being challenged by Chuck Pena, and District 2 Councilwoman Nina Woolard faces Rick Schroder.

Reviving an issue that generated intense local interest last summer, Schroder is circulating a petition aimed at forcing the city to hold a referendum on whether to issue bonds to finance the new City Hall, rather than have the council proceed with plans to issue $19 million in certificates of obligation.

Schroder, who is employed as the Helotes city administrator, says the project is too expensive and would saddle Boerne with too much debt.

I think the city needs to justify the cost a little more, and a bond election would force them to do that, he said.

On Monday, Schroder was still about 100 signers short of his target of 500 signatures. Hes trying to meet the threshold of 5 percent of local registered voters on the petition to force a municipal bond election in November and submit it before council votes today on issuing the debt.

An online petition last summer by others opposing the new City Hall garnered more than 700 signatures but didnt meet the technical requirements to spur a referendum.

Some at City Hall see a double standard in Schroders opposing the issuance of certificates of obligation by Boerne while regularly using them in Helotes to fund capital projects there.

One hundred percent of the city of Helotes debts are certificates of obligation. That is what he is petitioning against, said Woolard, calling them appropriate for the Boerne project because no city tax rate increase would be needed to pay them off.

Schroder noted the Helotes debt is for road, drainage and flood-control projects, each costing far less than $19 million.

Schultz, who favors leaving the debt decision with the council, noted it has conducted numerous meetings on the project, incurred several hundred thousand dollars in costs and hired an architect, project manager and construction manager at risk.

Hes a city administrator in Helotes doing one thing, and coming here to tell us to do something different, Schultz said about Schroder. Its 5 percent of the population telling the other 95 percent what they should be doing.

To set the zoning for the newly annexed 26.6-acre site at 17 Herff Road, city staff recommended 12 acres be designated R4 residential, allowing for apartments, and 14 acres MU2, for a mix of retail and office uses.

Project critics, fearful the development would pollute Cibolo Creek and exacerbate traffic problems, submitted petitions with more than 1,200 names on April 11, prompting the council to table action then so the petitions could be reviewed.

Schultz said City Secretary Lori Carroll determined the petitions were invalid because they didnt contain signatures or voter identification numbers. He disputed social media commentary portraying the delay of the zoning decision as a strategic move to blunt the opposition.

Legalities say Ive got to accept the petition because it was presented, and we have to table to verify it, Schultz said.

Emily Weiner, who led the petition drive, said it was intended as a reflection of community opposition to 17 Herff, not to force any legal action. It is very difficult not to see tabling the vote  as anything other than a tactic to stall the proceedings and slow down our momentum, she said.

The local business community gave the 17 Herff project strong support at the April 11 meeting, where many attendees were unable to enter the crowded council chambers. Requests to relocate todays meeting to a larger venue couldnt be accommodated, city officials said, because one agenda item is a public hearing whose time and location was set 30 days in advance.

Schroder said he was OK with commercial uses on Herff Road, but was concerned by developer plans for up to 250 luxury apartments overlooking the creek.

Pena, a semi-retired educator in his first political campaign, said he favors postponing development of 17 Herff until nearby Texas 46 is widened.

zeke@express-news.net
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About 7,000 voters cast ballots Monday in Bexar County as the first of seven days of early voting kicked off the May 6 election.

With more than 40 polling places open, the locations might have seemed unexpectedly quiet. But, as elections administrator Jacquelyn Callanen clarified, turnout Monday surpassed the first day of early voting (5,400 ballots) from 2015, the last San Antonio mayoral election.

People may recall the scenes at the polls in November for the presidential election, which traditionally sees a much higher turnout, she said.

I think were seeing what we see every odd-year spring election, Callanen said. The last election that everyone remembers is the presidential, which had 57 percent turnout. Everyone remembers the lines, but this is a slower-paced election. We dont have 10 people working each poll, there arent any lines. That will grow by the last two days of early voting, well see the bigger push then.

One reason there could be higher vote totals this year compared with two years ago is there are simply more candidates running this time. For mayor alone, voters have 14 options, and some San Antonio City Council races are packed. There are also numerous bond issues  for the city, school districts and Alamo Colleges.

Every district has more candidates than weve ever seen before. So just on the friends and family plan, we should have more people voting, she said.

Some voters were confused Monday when Mayor Ivy Taylor didnt show up on the first computer screen listing mayoral candidates, but instead required voters to scroll to the next page to see the complete list. (Candidates names appear on the ballot as determined by a random drawing.)

Chris Quintanilla, a physical therapist who visited a polling place Monday, said she prefers voting early so she doesnt forget and its just always quicker. She thought voting might be slow this week because of Fiesta.

Callanen said her office has fielded the usual phone calls from voters with complaints about wrongly placed signs and campaign workers.

Everyones getting their sea legs today, to see where to campaign and put signs. Everyones remembering how elections work, she said.

Those registered can bring one of seven accepted forms of identification to vote, which include a drivers license, an election identification certificate, a handgun license or a passport. Also, because the states law was found to violate a section of the Voting Rights Act, voters can provide other identification such as a voter registration card, an original birth certificate, a current utility bill, original bank statement or paycheck, if the voter couldnt get one of the preferred methods in time to vote. However, the person also will have to sign a declaration that he or she faced an undue burden in getting one of the accepted forms.

Polls are open this week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. but are closed Friday for the Battle of Flowers parade.

Polls reopen Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., then close Sunday. Polls open again Monday and Tuesday, May 1-2, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Early voters can visit any location to cast a ballot. Election Day is May 6.

frahman@express-news.net
AUSTIN  House and Senate budget chiefs put a happy face on their differences Monday at their first meeting to iron out a spending plan to pay for government services over the next two years.

The hottest point of contention  how each chamber wants to pay for its respective budget proposal  wasnt mentioned by lawmakers, even though its overshadowing the process as they work to reconcile their plans before the legislative session ends on Memorial Day.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Jane Nelson and House Appropriations Committee Chair John Zerwas, leading their negotiating teams on the conference committee, instead cited their years of working together on budget issues and the high stakes for Texans. Both said their budget proposals, whose bottom lines arent too far apart, are closer overall than some have portrayed.

Im absolutely certain that we will crank out a budget thats first and foremost going to be the best thing for the citizens of Texas, said Zerwas, R-Richmond. The citizens of Texas are going to be the big winners. Its not going to be the House. Its not going to be the Senate. Its going to be the citizens of Texas that ultimately win as a consequence of this conference committee.

Nelson emphasized that writing a budget is the most important thing we do, and its the only thing we have to do. We are going to deliver a budget that is worthy of our great state.

Its not Team House, Team Senate, said Nelson, R-Flower Mound. We are Team Texas.

Team Texas to this point has been scrapping, in large part over how to bridge a $2.5 billion gap between the revenue available and the amount each side wants to spend in the upcoming two-year budget period.

The House would take money from the state savings account known as the rainy day fund, which is expected to have $12 billion at the end of the next budget period if left untouched.

Senate leaders, saying they dont want to spend savings on ongoing expenses, instead would free up $2.5 billion by slightly delaying the payment of funds dedicated to transportation. The delay would push the payment into the next fiscal period, which senators say frees up $2.5 billion for general spending in the budget theyre forging.

The Senate approach has been derided as Enron-esque by House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, and Zerwas has suggested its unconstitutional. Nelson went to Attorney General Ken Paxton for an opinion on the matter, and he said a court likely would find the delay constitutional.

But that didnt sway House leaders, who have argued that the state constitution requires the tax funds for transportation to be deposited in the same fiscal year they are collected. They say its wrong for the Senate to double-count the money by using the $2.5 billion for general spending while simultaneously saying the same amount will be spent on transportation.

Zerwas said Friday that Paxtons opinion, which is non-binding, doesnt mean the Senates fiscal approach is legitimate.

There also are other differences to be worked out, including on the chambers spending approaches and amounts for higher education.

While broad differences were laid out for lawmakers by the Legislative Budget Board, no acrimony surfaced in Mondays brief meeting. Nelson said both sides have prioritized issues such as funding for the troubled child protective services system, mental health, border security, transportation and education.

Before negotiators met, however, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick laid out the stakes in an interview on American Can We Talk? late Sunday. If lawmakers dont reach agreement on the budget, they will have to work to do so after the regular session ends.

Im hopeful we can agree to a budget, on how we fund it, by the end of May, Patrick said. Otherwise, well be in a special session.
AUSTIN  Cherie Rineker, a terminally ill cancer patient, tried marijuana to ease her pain and vomiting. But she had to go to Colorado to do it, she said at a press conference here to urge lawmakers to get moving on a trio of medical cannabis bills stalled in Texas House and Senate committees.

I decided to leave my husband and daughter for two months to give cannabis a try outside the state of Texas, and the tingling and stabbing pain of her neuropathy disappeared within a couple of days, Rineker said. I never once had to reach for my opioids.

Back in Texas, though, she had to call an ambulance when every anti-nausea medicine available to her couldnt control her vomiting.

Passage of Senate Bill 269 could bring better quality of life, possibly even an extension of life, Rineker said, and offer some hope that she could be around to watch my daughter graduate from high school.

That bill and others that would widen the use of medical marijuana have stalled in committee, although another measure to reduce criminal penalties for marijuana possession has cleared a House panel.

Authored by Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, SB 269, would authorize the possession, use, cultivation and distribution of cannabis by qualifying patients with a debilitating medical condition. It would allow medical practitioners registered by the Department of Public Safety to recommend  but not prescribe  cannabis to seriously ill patients.

it would require eligible patients to be diagnosed with a medical condition listed on the bill, and allow doctors to determine what strains and dosage of marijuana would be best for each condition.

Rev. Rick Sitton, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Bryan, said Texas has hundreds of thousands of kids who could benefit from cannabis, like his 9-year-old grandson, who is autistic, hits himself, and is non-verbal.

Being pro-life means youre pro all of life. We need them to hear us. They need to schedule a hearing on this, Sitton said. I know (lawmakers) care about people, I just dont think they are aware.

SB 269 was referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, chaired by Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown. A companion bill, House Bill 2107, being carried by Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, went to the House Public Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo.

Neither bill has been scheduled for a hearing, an opportunity for supporters to provide their testimony.

The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, meanwhile, has sent House Bill 81 to the full House for a possible vote. Authored by the panels chairman, Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, it would eliminate any jail time or threat of arrest for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana. The offense would be punishable by a fine of $250.

After hearing testimony late Monday, the same committee took no action on House Bill 2200, which would protect patients possessing marijuana with a defense against prosecution. It also would free licensed physicians in Texas from civil or criminal investigation by a state agency if they discussed marijuana as a treatment option or stated that the potential benefits of medical marijuana would outweigh the health risks for a particular patient.

Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, the bills author, said Texans who suffer from chronic pain can only use medical marijuana at the risk of criminal prosecution.

Testifying in favor of HB 2200, Mark Zartler said marijuana calms his 17-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy. A video of him giving her vaporized marijuana through a mask to keep her from hitting herself went viral in February.

I cant stop. I cant let her hit herself, Zartler said. Everyone tells me that we should just move... Now that all these people saw the video and have seen the treatment, theyre going to move forward to help their children.

Amanda Berard, a nurse, said she has seen adverse reactions, organ damage, and financial and personal turmoil in families from the federally approved pharmaceuticals she administers to her patients, including young children. But she cant discuss the effectiveness and lack of drastic side effects of cannabis with them, she said.

The same theme was sounded at Tuesdays press conference, where Thalia Michelle, director of policy at Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism, said SB 269 could help her autistic son Lance be less aggressive and have a better quality of life if treated with a plant, not pharmaceuticals.

He tantrums, hes aggressive, he hits, he bites, Michelle said. We get reports from school of him breaking skin, hurting other children. All his pharmaceuticals have so many debilitating side effects and potential risks to doing permanent damage to my sons body.

People taking a larger amount of pain medicine develop a tolerance to it while experiencing side effects like severe constipation or drowsiness, and the medicine and doctor visits cost the state in Medicare and Medicaid money, said Dr. Robert Marks, a board certified pain management doctor.

States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8 percent decrease in overdose deaths from opioids, Marks said. It means people are taking less painkillers. It means medical cannabis actually helps with their pain.

A 2015 Texas law allows doctors to prescribe cannabidiol, or CBD, with low amounts of THC, the cannabis component that gives users a high. But only epileptic patients in cases where federally approved drugs failed qualify. Advocates say the laws requirement that doctors prescribe  not recommend  the specific strain of medical cannabis puts their licenses at risk, since the drug is still illegal under federal law.

Nobody testified against either HB 81 or HB 2200, the two bills that did receive a hearing. On Monday, as the jurisprudence committee wrapped up testimony on HB 2200 after hearing about 25 bills before it, the panels vice chairman, Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, gave the audience a pointed reminder.

Its 11:35 p.m. Where is the opposition? Hunter asked. Im going to send the message out that if youre opposed, it doesnt make you any good to show up in two weeks in our office, when people come from all across the state (to testify in support).

elutz@express-news.net

@elenamejialutz
SAN ANTONIO --- Two pedestrians were struck -- one by a train and another by a car -- in separate incidents moments apart Monday near downtown.

In the first incident, San Antonio Police Department Sgt. Patrick Kelly said two men were walking by train tracks at about 8:30 p.m. in the 400 block of Nolan Street.
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Its not an official Fiesta event, but Fiesta 4 Paws, now in its 12th year, has the same kind of colorful, friendly spirit that marks San Antonios favorite party season.

Organized by Dr. Olga Jaimez in the parking lot of her 4 Paws Animal Hospital, 3630 S.E. Military Drive, the festivities bring together dogs and dog lovers of all kinds for a costume contest, hat contest, show us your shoes contest and a general all-around good time.

I grew up on the South Side, said Jaimez, a veterinarian. I know Fiesta can be expensive, so we wanted to have a free event for the community, so everybody can come party with us.

Thelma and Rudy Rodriguez are frequent winners with their creative entries. On April 22, their five small dogs played the parts of the late Selena, her entourage and, in a macabre turn that delighted the crowd, even the woman who was convicted of killing the Tejano star. That dog, wearing a black wig with aplomb, poked his head from jail bars that were on the back side of the stage where Selena posed with a microphone.

Its a fun community event, said Thelma Rodriguez, who recently retired from Lanier High School.

You get to know other people who love dogs. San Antonio needs to get more pet-friendly. Were on a good roll and we need to keep it rolling.

More than 40 dogs were registered for the free contest, which had numerous prizes for the winners. There were free sodas, free nachos and free cake for everybody.

Dottie and Erica Foneseca brought their daughter, 2-year-old Alexandria, and three of their five dogs to the costume contest. They also have two cats at home. The happy little girl and frisky dogs were dressed as yellow-and-black bumblebees.

We love animals, said Dottie Foneseca, 46, a counselor at Southside High School.

Many of the dogs that attended the event were rescues, such as Mary Pitts Jellybean, a tripod who was driving a taco truck for the contest. Pitt, 34, said she had created the highly detailed moving truck, complete with food items and a sink inside, Friday night.

I just got out of the hospital, I had pneumonia, but Ive been looking forward to this all year, Pitt said, beaming. I enjoy meeting other dogs and people who love dogs.

Jellybean is a rescue, she added. When I first looked in her eyes, she had this diva-ness. I just love her. Shes the best thing thats ever happened to me!

Geneva and Paul Baker brought three of their eight Chihuahuas to the party: Sherry was dressed as Frida Kahlo, with a unibrow lined above her eyes; Bailey was wearing a colorful serape; and Champagne had a colorful flower wreath around her neck.

These are my Homeland Security, Geneva Baker, 57, said. They dont let anyone come near the house.

This was the second year that the Bakers brought their dogs to Fiesta 4 Paws.

Its a family event, said Paul Baker, 56. Some people really go all out. You get to see different sizes, different kinds of dogs. Its a lot of fun.
A man accused of fatally stabbing a homeless man twice following an argument over a barking dog Thursday night on the Northeast Side is in jail.

William Gene Vititoe, 47, was charged with murder in the death of 62-year-old Braddock Eugene Taylor, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

San Antonio Police Department officers found Taylor sitting in a pool of dried blood with his back against the wall of an abandoned building at about 5 p.m. Friday in the 1400 block of Austin Highway. A witness told police that the night before, Taylor had confronted Vititoe about his dog barking all the time.

RELATED: SAPD: Teens seen with 'assault-type' rifle after crash

During the argument, Vititoe struck Taylor over the head with a beer bottle, the witness told police. Taylor tried to get back on his feet, but couldnt stand, investigators said. The witness cleaned Taylors wound and left the scene because Vititoe was out of control, police said.

As the witness looked back for a brief moment, Vititoe could be seen making stabbing motion twice in Taylors back, the affidavit said.

The witness fled the scene out of fear of an attack from Vititoe, but returned the next day upon seeing police at the scene, according to the affidavit.

RELATED: Man found dead in Chick-Fil-A parking lot in North S.A.

During an interview with detectives, Vititoe said he didnt remember stabbing Taylor.

He said if he did do it, it was because the complainant wouldnt stop harassing him about his dogs, the warrant states.

jbeltran@express-news.net

Twitter: @JBfromSA
The deployments are intended as a dire warning to North Korea against carrying out another nuclear test or missile launch as the isolated state on Tuesday marks the anniversary of its 1.3-million-strong military.

The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with some 150 guided missiles arrived in Busan on Tuesday while a separate U.S. Navy strike group also makes its way into nearby waters.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview earlier this month, "We are sending an armada, very powerful. We have submarines, very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier, that I can tell you."

The Michigan was commissioned in 1982 and is one of the biggest in operation. It is armed with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of striking targets 1,600 km away, enough fire power to destroy major North Korean nuclear and missile bases.

It can travel up to 46 km/h and remain submerged for three to four months. At the moment it carries around 60 special operations troops as well as mini-subs to assist in clandestine infiltration missions.

The last time the Michigan came to the Korean Peninsula was in June 2015. Officially it will be involved in training exercises in nearby waters.

Meanwhile, Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said South Korea is "currently in talks" about joint drills with the "armada," which is headed by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.


Border patrol officials seized almost $1.5 million in marijuana along the Texas-Mexico border last week, according to a news release.

Officials at the Presidio checkpoint arrested two men April 18 within hours of each other. The men  a U.S. citizen and a Mexican citizen  were allegedly attempting to enter the U.S. carrying loads of marijuana.
The residents of San Antonio have an unprecedented opportunity to make development happen in 12 neighborhoods across the city where such investment has traditionally been lacking.

That is the definition of urban renewal. It is a phrase that is often misunderstood. There is an assumption that urban means downtown only. But the breadth of projects included in the $850 million bond package  and, more specifically, those identified in Proposition 6 for neighborhood improvements  demonstrate that this assumption is deeply flawed.

Seventy percent of the projects laid out in the six bond propositions involve basic infrastructure  streets, bridges, sidewalks and flood control. Only 20 percent of the $850 million bond program involves projects that are specific to downtown.

Proposition 6 will dedicate $20 million among 12 neighborhoods identified in the citys urban renewal plan. Among those 12 neighborhoods, only two partially fall within the boundaries of the central business district. The other 10 address neighborhoods all over the city map.

These 12 neighborhoods and their proposed improvements lie at the heart of what this bond program is all about: an investment plan defined by the residents of San Antonio that will improve quality of life and quality of space, increase economic opportunity and enhance public safety.

The process of identifying these neighborhood investments was the work of a bond committee composed of respected community leaders from each of the 10 council districts. The committee, in turn, held a series of public meetings to obtain additional input from members of the community.

The projects that have come out of previous bond packages stand as proof of what can happen when we make a commitment to invest in the future of all of San Antonio. The $596 million bond program passed by voters in 2012, for example, led to the development of Woodlawn Lake Park, a tremendous community asset on the citys West Side. The 2012 bond also resulted in the construction of a highly popular senior center on the Northeast Side, major improvements to Hausman Road near UTSA and the extension of 36th Street  which has helped spur economic development and create new jobs at Port San Antonio.

What past bonds lacked, however, was a commitment to revitalizing neighborhoods  urban renewal. And over the years, as San Antonio has grown and prospered, some of its older neighborhoods have lacked the investment to maintain the quality of life and space we all want for our community.

The results are well known  a cascading effect of decreased housing and access to jobs, and increased crime. And they are not confined to one area or one part of San Antonio.

The investments that will be made by Proposition 6 will not only make the targeted neighborhoods safer, they will improve public safety for the entire community. They will help demolish blighted properties that have become havens for drug activity, clean up neighborhoods and return vacant properties to the tax rolls.

By creating an environment that is more attractive to investors and entrepreneurs, these neighborhood improvements will also leverage additional private investments and create jobs while preserving the affordability of existing neighborhoods. And they will increase workforce and affordable housing opportunities across the city.

San Antonio is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Over the next two decades, our population will grow by more than 1 million residents. What kind of city we all will live in and what kind of quality of life and space we will enjoy in 20 years will be determined by the investments we make today.

The 2017 bond program is historic not only because of its size but also because a community-driven process has, for the first time in San Antonio, included neighborhood improvement projects as part of those investments. Some people call this urban renewal. I call it an investment in our communitys future.

Eddie Aldrete is senior vice president of IBC Bank and served as a tri-chair of the city of San Antonios 2017 bond program.
The average age of CEOs at Korea's major businesses stood at an elderly 60 years this year as political and economic turmoil terrifies boards.

According to New Management magazine, the average age of 123 CEOs at the top 100 companies is 60.6 years this year, the highest ever and crossing the age of 60 for the first time. The monthly has been keeping a tally for 24 years.

The average age usually rises in financial crises, when board members cling to tried and tested executives, whether or not that is a rational decision.

They are also fully signed-up members of the establishment, with a whopping 41 percent born in Seoul and 25 percent graduates of Seoul National University, the country's most prestigious. Some 22 percent majored in business.

"The average age of CEOs rose significantly right after the foreign exchange crisis, global financial crisis and presidential impeachment," said Byun Hyung-yun of New Management. "In times of uncertainty, companies prefer experienced CEOs and put off changes in executive posts."


Testing site plan in Qingpu for drones

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-04-25 04:29

SHANGHAI Beidou Research Institute is studying plans to set up a site to test technology on drones and ship navigation systems.

Gan Pin, deputy director of Shanghais Science and Technology Commission, said yesterday that the city aimed to promote service platforms on research and commercialization of Chinas Beidou Satellite Navigation System, to promote the industrys development and lower companies innovation costs.

The Beidou system, similar to GPS, is completely developed by China.

Gan said the planned test site in Qingpu would play a role similar to the pilot zone in Jiading that allows companies to test self-driving vehicles.

The test site as a service platform can provide test services that medium and small-sized companies are not able to do, said Gan. The companies therefore can focus on researches on their core technologies.

Yu Wenxian, head of the research institute, said Chinas drones industry was still at a fledgling level, and the real intelligent technology had just started.

Yu said the test sites aimed to provide an environment to measure unmanned systems navigation ability.

There are several possible sites in Qingpu, Yu said.

Gan added that the city planned to set up a satellite industry base in Lingang area, in addition to the existing research base in Zhangjiang.

Chinas top level academic meeting on satellite navigation technology, the 8th China Satellite Navigation Conference, is to be held in Shanghai from May 23.
Counterfeit publications destroyed

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-04-25 04:29

A total of 190,000 illegal publications  including pirated books, software and audio and video products  were destroyed yesterday.

The measures were part of an effort to combat counterfeit publications and protect intellectual property rights, Shanghai Press and Publication Bureau said.

The action was also to mark World Intellectual Property Day, which takes place tomorrow, and to protect a healthy cultural environment for children and teenagers.

The event, which took place at Huangpu Districts Teenagers Technology Center, is part of a national campaign held by Chinas combat pornography and illegal publications office.

In the first three months this year, the city seized 277,000 illegal publications and caught 19 cases of infringement on intellectual property.
A Bulawayo magistrate Friday convicted and fined a 35-year-old United Bulawayo Hospital (UBH) nurse, Jabulani Moyo for assaulting a doctor working at the same health centre following a dispute involving a curvy student nurse.

Magistrate Nomalanga Ndlovu fined Moyo $50 or 20 days in prison for head-butting Raymond Shandare.

In convicting and sentencing Moyo, the Magistrate ruled that it is not in dispute that the three were involved in a love triangle.

While it is clear that the two of you fought over the girlfriend and the complainant came second best in the contest, your violent conduct is not acceptable. That you were provoked is not a defence at law, ruled Ndlovu.

Appearing for the State, Ephraim Manongore told the court that on the 13th of July this year at around 19:30 hours at the referral hospitals post natal ward car park, the complainant saw his girlfriend Moreblessing Gwanzuras Honda fit car registration number AEL 4752 parked in the lot.

The prosecutor told the court that Shandare proceeded to see his girlfriend who is also a student nurse at the hospital.

Complainant noticed that inside the vehicle there was a male adult who was seated on the drivers seat. He then requested to see his girlfriend in privacy of which she complied and she came out of the vehicle, Manongore said.

The prosecutor told the court that after seeing the complainant talking with his girlfriend, the accused came out from the vehicle and confronted the complainant.

He started assaulting him by head-butting him twice on the head and once on the mouth. The complainant fell on the ground and the accused person squeezed him on the ground, said Manongore.

The complainant did not suffer any visible injuries but suffered severe headache.

A medical report was produced in court as part of the exhibit.

The accused had denied the charges insisting that they had fought over the girlfriend.

He told the court that Gwanzura was his girlfriend as well.

In mitigation, Moyo said he is a single father taking care of a minor child. He told the court that he earns $900. In sentencing Moyo, the magistrate said he had taken into considerations that Moyo also sustained head injuries while butt-heading the doctor. She said she also considered that he was a first offender.

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Breaking News via Email
INDIANAPOLIS  Late last week, Indiana lawmakers in both houses approved legislation that would close a loophole that allowed Rickers to obtain a cold beer license, WISH-TV reports. The measure is now headed to Gov. Eric Holcomb.

Jay Ricker, chairman of Rickers convenience stores, said that the passage by the General Assembly was in direct response to his stores selling cold beer. Despite overwhelming support both for Rickers restaurants and an overhaul of our states outdated and outrageous liquor laws, the General Assembly again decided to ignore the will of the people and reward those who have rewarded them. Those of us who believe the free market should offer as many choices as possible for consumers will be watching the General Assembly and will hold its leadership and its members accountable to their pledge of reforming these Depression-era laws, he said in a statement.

The bill would grandfather in any business with a permit issued before November; Rickers received one permit in November. House Speaker Brian Bosma said that the timing in the measure wasnt a coincidence.

Were definitely addressing their permits which are significantly different than the ATC had issued before, Bosma said. But were also treating them fairly by allowing them to extend their permits, at the ATC discretion, through the next legislative session so that we can take a strong look at the entire code and see where we want to go in this regard.

In March, Rickers began selling cold beer at two locations that also sold fresh, made-to-order food. Earlier this month, Ricker took his fresh food concept to the state capitol, offering lawmakers and staffers free burritos, in an effort to convince them his gas stations served restaurant-quality food. Last month, Rickers gas stations started to sell cold beer at two of its locations.
Yves here. Even though some may try arguing that Hillary Clinton was discussing Chinas view of North and South Korea in her Goldman speech, it is naive to think that it is actually different from ours, despite the regular histrionics. As an anonymous reader at DownWithTyranny pointed out:

Again, if you review our (and their) policies since 50 and think about it for only a minute, you realize both we and the Chinese want a split Korea. And we want it for much the same reasons. The North provides an annoyance to the US which inspires fear and stupidity AND billions spent on weapons to keep certain sectors rich and occupied. Now that the south has emerged as an economic and manufacturing behemoth, the need to keep them separate is even more pronounced, for just the reasons enunciated.

By Gaius Publius, a professional writer living on the West Coast of the United States and frequent contributor to DownWithTyranny, digby, Truthout, and Naked Capitalism. Follow him on Twitter @Gaius_Publius, Tumblr and Facebook. GP article archive here. Originally published at DownWithTyranny

We dont want a unified Korean peninsula  We [also] dont want the North Koreans to cause more trouble than the system can absorb. Hillary Clinton, 2013, speech to Goldman Sachs

Our policy toward North Korea is not what most people think it is. We dont want the North Koreans to go away. In fact, we like them doing what theyre doing; we just want less of it than theyve been doing lately. If this sounds confusing, its because this policy is unlike what the public has been led to assume. Thanks to something uncovered by WikiLeaks, the American public has a chance to be unconfused about whats really going on with respect to our policies in Korea.

This piece isnt intended to criticize that policy; it may be an excellent one. Im just want to help us understand it better.

Our source for the U.S. governments actual Korean policy  going back decades really  is former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She resigned that position in February 2013, and on June 4, 2013 she gave a speech at Goldman Sachs with Lloyd Blankfein present (perhaps on stage with her) in which she discussed in what sounds like a very frank manner, among many other things, the U.S. policy toward the two Korea and the relationship of that policy to China.

That speech and two others were sent by Tony Carrk of the Clinton campaign to a number of others in the campaign, including John Podesta. WikiLeaks subsequently released that email as part of its release of other Podesta emails (source email with attachments here). In that speech, Clinton spoke confidentially and, I believe, honestly. What she said in that speech, I take her as meaning truthfully. Theres certainly no reason for her to lie to her peers, and in some cases her betters, at Goldman Sachs. The entire speech reads like elites talking with elites in a space reserved just for them.

Im not trying to impugn Clinton or WikiLeaks by writing this  thats not my intention at all. I just want to learn from what she has to say  from a position of knowledge  about the real U.S. policy toward North Korea. After all, if Goldman Sachs executives can be told this, it cant be that big a secret. We should be able to know it as well.

What Clintons Speech Tells Us about U.S. Korea Policy

The WikiLeaks tweet is above. The entire speech, contained in the attachment to the email, is here. Ive reprinted some of the relevant portions below, first quoting Ms. Clinton with some interspersed comments from me. Then, adding some thoughts about what this seems to imply about our approach to and relations with South Korea.

The Korea section of the Goldman Sachs speech starts with a discussion of China, and then Blankfein pivots to Korea. Blankfeins whole question that leads to the Clinton quote tweeted by WikiLeaks above (my emphasis throughout):

MR. BLANKFEIN: The Japanese  I was more surprised that it wasnt like that when you think of  all these different things. Its such a part of who they are, their response to Japan. If you bump into the Filipino fishing boats, then I think you really  while were in the neighborhood [i.e., discussing Asia], the Chinese is going to help us or help themselves  what is helping themselves? North Korea? On the one hand they [the Chinese] wouldnt want  they dont want to unify Korea, but they cant really like a nutty nuclear power on their border. What is their interests and what are they going to help us do?

Clintons whole answer is reprinted in the WikiLeaks tweet attachment (click through to the tweet and expand the embedded image to read it all). The relevant portions, for my purposes, are printed below. From the rest of her remarks, the context of Blankfeins question and Clintons answer is the threat posed by a North Korean ICBM, not unlike the situation our government faces today.

MS. CLINTON: Well, I think [Chinese] traditional policy has been close to what youve described. We dont want a unified Korean peninsula, because if there were one South Korea would be dominant for the obvious economic and political reasons. We [also] dont want the North Koreans to cause more trouble than the system can absorb. So weve got a pretty good thing going with the previous North Korean leaders [Kim Il-sung and Kim Jung-il]. And then along comes the new young leader [Kim Jung-un], and he proceeds to insult the Chinese. He refuses to accept delegations coming from them. He engages in all kinds of both public and private rhetoric, which seems to suggest that he is preparing himself to stand against not only the South Koreans and the Japanese and the Americans, but also the Chinese.

Translation  three points:

The U.S. prefers that Korea stay divided. If Korea were to unite, South Korea would be in charge, and we dont want South Korea to become any more powerful than it already is.

We also dont want the trouble North Korea causes South Korea to extend beyond the region. We want it to stay within previously defined bounds.

Our arrangement with the two previous North Korean leaders met both of those objectives. North Koreas new leader, ,Kim Jung-un, is threatening that arrangement.

It appears that China has the same interest in keeping this situation as-is that we do. That is, they want South Korea (and us) to have a Korean adversary, but they dont want the adversary acting out of acceptable bounds  coloring outside the lines laid down by the Chinese (and the U.S.), as it were. Clinton:

So the new [Chinese] leadership basically calls him [Kim Jung-un] on the carpet. And a high ranking North Korean military official has just finished a visit in Beijing and basically told [him, as a message from the Chinese]: Cut it out. Just stop it. Who do you think you are? And you are dependent on us [the Chinese], and you know it. And we expect you to demonstrate the respect that your father and your grandfather [Kim Jung-il, Kim Il-sung] showed toward us, and there will be a price to pay if you do not. Now, that looks back to an important connection of what I said before. The biggest supporters of a provocative North Korea has been the PLA [the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army]. The deep connections between the military leadership in China and in North Korea has really been the mainstay of the relationship.So now all of a sudden new leadership with Xi and his team, and theyre saying to the North Koreans  and by extension to the PLA  no. It is not acceptable. We dont need this [trouble] right now. Weve got other things going on. So youre going to have to pull back from your provocative actions, start talking to South Koreans again about the free trade zones, the business zones on the border, and get back to regular order and do it quickly. Now, we dont care if you occasionally shoot off a missile. Thats good. That upsets the Americans and causes them heartburn, but you cant keep going down a path that is unpredictable. We dont like that. That is not acceptable to us. So I think theyre trying to reign Kim Jong in. I think theyre trying to send a clear message to the North Korean military. They also have a very significant trade relationship with Seoul and theyre trying to reassure Seoul that, you know, were now on the case.

Clinton ends with a fourth point:

From the U.S. standpoint, the current problem is now on the Chinese to fix.

Clinton:

So they want to keep North Korea within their orbit. They want to keep it predictable in their view. They have made some rather significant statements recently that they would very much like to see the North Koreans pull back from their nuclear program. Because I and everybody else  and I know you had Leon Panetta here this morning. You know, we all have told the Chinese if they continue to develop this missile program and they get an ICBM that has the capacity to carry a small nuclear weapon on it, which is what theyre aiming to do, we cannot abide that. Because they could not only do damage to our treaty allies, namely Japan and South Korea, but they could actually reach Hawaii and the west coast theoretically, and were going to ring China with missile defense. Were going to put more of our fleet in the area. So China, come on. You either control them or were going to have to defend against them.

The four bullets above (three, and then one) give a very clear definition of longstanding U.S. policy toward the two Koreas. I think the only surprise in this, for us civilians, is that the U.S. doesnt want the Korean peninsula unified. So two questions: Why not? And, do the South Koreans know this? Ill offer brief answers below.

The Great Game In East Asia  Keeping the Korean Tiger in Check

South Korea is one of the great emerging nations in East Asia, one of the Asian tigers, a manufacturing and economic powerhouse thats lately been turning into a technological and innovative powerhouse as well.

For example, one of just many, from Forbes:

Why South Korea Will Be The Next Global Hub For Tech Startups American business has long led the way in high tech density or the proportion of businesses that engage in activities such as Internet software and services, hardware and semiconductors. The US is fertile ground for tech start-ups with access to capital and a culture that celebrates risk taking. Other countries have made their mark on the world stage, competing to be prominent tech and innovation hubs. Israel has been lauded as a start-up nation with several hundred companies getting funded by venture capital each year. A number of these companies are now being acquired by the likes of Apple, Facebook and Google. Finland and Sweden have attracted notice by bringing us Angry Birds and Spotify among others. But a new start-up powerhouse is on the horizon  South Korea. []

In other words, South Korea has leaped beyond being a country that keeps U.S. tech CEOs wealthy  its now taking steps that threaten that wealth itself. And not just in electronics; the biological research field  think cloning  is an area the South Koreans are trying to take a lead in as well.

Its easy to understand Ms. Clintons  and the business-captured American governments  interest in making sure that the U.S. CEO class isnt further threatened by a potential doubling of the capacity of the South Korean government and economy. Let them (the Koreans) manufacture to their hearts content, our policy seems to say; but to threaten our lead in billionaire-producing entrepreneurship  thats a bridge too far.

Again, this is Clinton speaking, Im absolutely certain, on behalf of U.S. government policy makers and the elites they serve: We dont want a unified Korean peninsula, because if there were one, an already-strong South Korea would be dominant for obvious economic reasons.

As to whether the South Koreans know that this is our policy, Id have to say, very likely yes. After all, if Clinton is saying this to meetings of Goldman Sachs executives, it cant be that big a secret. Its just that the South Korea leadership knows better than the North Korean leader how to handle it.
Revolutionary method reveals impact of short circuits on battery safety (Nanowerk News) How lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries behave under short-circuit conditions can now be examined using a new approach developed by a UCL-led team to help improve reliability and safety.

The use of high energy density Li-ion batteries is ubiquitous - from powering portable electronics to providing grid-scale storage - but defects can lead to overheating and explosions.

Although catastrophic failure is extremely rare, recent high-profile cases including the recall of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 smartphone line and the grounding of an aircraft fleet highlight why it's important to understand battery failure.

"In previous work, we've tracked Li-ion battery failure caused by extreme heat in 3D and real-time, but this is the first time we've tracked what happens to the temperature and structure of cells when we short circuit the battery in a controlled way at an internal location of our choosing, initiating a series of potentially dangerous events," explained first author, Dr Donal Finegan (UCL, NASA and NREL).

"This is of particular interest, as short-circuiting is thought to be responsible for a number of high-profile, real world failures. Knowing when and where the cell will fail has allowed us to characterise what happens during catastrophic failure in-depth using high-speed X-ray imaging. This provides us with new insights to help guide the design and development of safer and more reliable Li-ion batteries."

Thermal image showing thermal runaway of an 18650 cell with an implanted internal short circuiting device. (Image: Donal Finegan (UCL, NASA and NREL))

The study published in Energy and Environmental Science ("Characterising thermal runaway within lithium-ion cells by inducing and monitoring internal short circuits") involved researchers from UCL, NASA-Johnson Space Center (USA), the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, USA), WMG University of Warwick, Diamond Light Source (UK), The European Synchrotron (ESRF, France) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL, UK).

To induce failure, the team inserted a device capable of generating an internal short circuit on-demand and at a pre-determined location into commercially available Li-ion batteries, which are commonly used to power portable electronics and electric vehicles.

Designed and patented by U.S. researchers Dr Eric Darcy (NASA) and Matthew Keyser (NREL), the temperature-activated device allows researchers to mimic hidden defects that can occur during the battery manufacturing processes, leading to a dangerous chain reaction of heat generation and battery failure.

The team used the device to gain insight into cell design vulnerabilities by causing cell walls to rupture or cells to burst open. Using high-speed X-ray imaging, researchers monitored what happened to the structure of the cells in real-time, as the short circuit drove the catastrophic failure process which propagated through cells and modules.

Individual cells, as well as small cell modules, were tested under conditions that represented a worst-case battery failure scenario. Short circuits were initiated inside the batteries at ~60 degrees C. During the failure process, cell temperatures reached in excess of 1085 degrees C.

From analysing the high-speed imaging frame by frame, the team looked at the effects of gas pockets forming, venting and increasing temperatures on the layers inside two distinct commercial Li-ion batteries and identified consistent failure mechanisms.

Corresponding author, Dr Paul Shearing (UCL) explained: "It is fascinating to see how quickly the process of thermal runaway can spread throughout these cells, which went from being completely intact to being completely destroyed within around one second.

"This investigation provides the first description of how short-circuit failure propagates inside a cell in real time, this was only possible by combining the novel short-circuiting devices developed by NASA and NREL with ultra high-speed X-ray imaging. We were surprised to learn how susceptible neighbouring cells are to propagation of thermal runaway. This demonstrates the importance of isolating failing cells within larger battery packs and modules, which may be found in a range of applications from space suits to electric vehicles."
Defects in graphene enable selective permeability of gases

(Nanowerk Spotlight) Future electric vehicle technologies literally need a fresh breath of air. Li-O 2 batteries, which store and deliver energy much higher than the present Li-ion technologies by drawing oxygen from air, are touted as the panacea for powering electric vehicles (read more: "New lithium-oxygen battery greatly improves energy efficiency, longevity").

Despite their potential, the practical use of Li-O 2 batteries is seriously limited by the corrosion of Li metal by ambient water vapor from air.

One way to circumvent this issue is to use an oxygen selective membrane that allows only oxygen into the battery while stopping or slowing water vapor intake. The membrane must be mechanically robust and yet sufficiently thin and light so as to not increase deadweight of the battery.

Researchers from the Clemson Nanomaterials Institute and the Ural Federal University (Russia) have collaboratively discovered a way to make the thinnest possible oxygen selective membrane using graphene. Their results have been published in Nanoscale ("Influence of dopants on the impermeability of graphene").

Defects are often written off in materials as performance limiters. Researchers from the Clemson Nanomaterials Institute and the Ural Federal University (Russia) identified specific defect configuration that could be used for tailoring the permeability of graphene. Their work showed that nitrogen dopants can be used to turn otherwise impermeable graphene into an oxygen selective membrane. (Image: Clemson University)

"In its pristine/perfect atomic configuration, graphene is impermeable to all gases (read more: "World's thinnest balloon made of graphene". But, pores in graphene can selectively allow the transport of gas/water molecules," says Sai Sunil Mallineni, a PhD candidate from Clemson Nanomaterials Institute and the lead author on the Nanoscale paper. "We developed an in situ technique to induce pores in graphene by doping it with nitrogen during the growth process."

Graphene, an atom-thick layer of carbon, chemically grown on a copper foil protects it from oxidation by forming an impermeable barrier.

Doping the graphene sheet with nitrogen inevitably breaks some carbon bonds (see the figure above) in graphene opening nanoscopic pores.

The Clemson and Ural team observed that such pores in doped graphene selectively allow oxygen leading to oxidation of the underlying copper foil unlike pristine graphene.

"Conventional protective membrane coatings are usually few microns thick. On the other hand, graphene coatings are extremely thin and yet robust," notes Dr. Ramakrishna Podila, Assistant Professor of Physics at Clemson and a co-author on this project. "We hope to enable new applications such as Li-O 2 batteries using graphene-based oxygen selective membranes."

"We ultimately wish to induce pores of different configurations to selectively filter ions, molecules and gases," hopes Dr. Sriparna Bhattacharya, Research Assistant Professor at CNI who lead this project. "To this end, we are now exploring other dopants such as boron for in situ engineering of the pores to filter specific gases."

Provided by Clemson University as a Nanowerk exclusive
(Natural News) The use of antidepressants during pregnancy is controversial at best. In the past, studies have indicated that using these kinds of prescription drugs during pregnancy can increase the risk of autism, cognitive deficits and other health issues  but other studies have also concluded that antidepressants pose no additional risk. Overall, the general consensus seems to have remained at an impasse, with some scientists recommending that ultimately, the potential risks must be weighed against potential benefits for expecting mothers.

However, a recent press release from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) claims that there is no increased risk of autism or ADHD when antidepressants are used in pregnancy, even though the findings were not truly conclusive. Two studies were featured in the release. The Canadian researchers of the first study wrote, Although a causal relationship cannot be ruled out, the previously observed association may be explained by other factors.

In the study, the researchers found that children who were exposed to serotonergic antidepressants while in the womb were more likely to develop autism at a statistically significant rate. However, after adjusting for confounding factors, which were not described in the JAMA release, this increased risk seemed to disappear. Combined with their statement, its clear that these findings are far from definitive: As the researchers themselves state, a casual relationship (or even a more direct association) may exist. It is quite possible that the confounding factors the researchers adjusted for are merely obscuring that relationship.

The second study JAMA reported relied on self-reported antidepressant use during the first trimester  and as we all know, there are three trimesters in pregnancy.

A babys brain is not fully developed at the end of the first trimester  not even close. While the major parts of the brain are formed, it will continue to develop and transform during the pregnancy. As Modern Mom explains, it is during the second and third trimesters that a developing babys brain begins to connect with other organs, as synapses form and grow. Brain development is still occurring even at the eighth month of pregnancy. So, why would the researchers only look at the first trimester, when it is completely possible for changes in brain development to occur later during pregnancy?

In fact, in 2014, NBC News reported on a study that suggested the brain changes related to the onset of autism occur during the later stages of pregnancy. Eric Courchesne of the University of California, San Diegos Autism Center of Excellence reportedly said of the findings: It supports the idea that the changes that cause autism are happening in the second and third trimester of pregnancy.

And yet, the researchers from the second study reported on by JAMA chose to only look at first-trimester antidepressant use.

Daily Mail also recently reported on a different study (that was also published in JAMA) showed that the offspring of moms-to-be who took antidepressants during pregnancy were 81 percent more likely to be on the autism spectrum. The researchers also found that women who took antidepressants before conceiving a child were 77 percent more likely to give birth to a child with autism. According to Daily Mail, The findings are concerning given the increasing usage of the medications during pregnancy, experts say.

While the French researchers tempered their findings by stating that ceasing antidepressant usage could come with more consequences than continuing to take them, the fact remains that the risk is there, especially as the number of expecting mothers taking antidepressant medications continues to increase. After analyzing data from two other studies, the researchers noted that the increased risk no longer seemed to be present. (RELATED: Learn more about the dangerous effects of prescription drugs at DangerousMedicine.com)

Measuring the risks imposed by any drug during pregnancy is decidedly difficult, due to the presence of confounding factors like maternal illness. Interestingly enough, the reverse of this is also true: Confounding factors like maternal illness could also potentially mask any harmful effects that are caused by these confounding factors.

Is it really possible to measure the true impact antidepressants may have on developing fetuses? Only time will tell.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

Media.JAMANetwork.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

NBCNews.com

ModernMom.com
(Natural News) Bose is selling your personal information to third party mining companies, a new class-action lawsuit claims. The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Chicago accuses the high-end headphone company of distributing their users listening history through their Connect app to third party companies for massive profit. Attorney Chris Dore, who represents the main plaintiff, Kyle Zak, told Yahoo.com that people should be uncomfortable with it. People put headphones on their head because they think its private, but they can be giving out information they dont want to share.

Dore explains that a persons listening history reveals personal and often very identifying details. He gives an example in the lawsuit, stating that if a user listens to a Muslim prayer service, it is more likely that the person is Muslim. Dore further notes that other details, such as sexual orientation and political views, can be gleaned from a persons listening history. In a separate article on NBCNews.com, Dore notes that one of the issues raised by this lawsuit is that its not clear whats happening. The danger with undisclosed and unexplained data collection is, the world is open to these companies to do what they want.

Bose has retaliated by saying these allegations are inflammatory and misleading. In their official response, which was reported on USAToday.com, Bose says, We dont wiretap your communications, we dont sell your information, and we dont use anything we collect to identify you  or anyone else  by name.

The complaint alleges Bose to have broken several federal and state laws including the Federal Wiretap Act, the Illinois Eavesdropping Statute, and the consumer fraud and invasion of privacy laws. In the suit, Zak demands the company to destroy all the user data they have collected. If found guilty, the company stands to face damages exceeding $5 million.

Unaware, untold, and now unapologetic

Kyle Zak paid $350 for his QuietComfort 35 headphones. After reading the users manual, Zak followed Boses suggestion to download the Connect app which asked him for personal data like his name, e-mail address, and headphone serial number. In the same article in Yahoo.com, Zak alleges that Bose had sent all available media information to Segment.io, a third party site that collects customer data. He claims the company is quietly amassing customer data to boost profit. Zak is seeking millions of dollars in damages for users of QuietComfort 35, QuietControl 30, SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, Soundlink Color II, SoundSport Wireless, and SoundSport Pulse Wireless. Dore says that while Bose does have a privacy policy, users are not required to agree to it. The user does not interact with it in any way when signing up for the app. It also doesnt disclose this data collection, notes Dore.

Technology is a double-edged sword

This isnt the first time allegations of the voyeuristic tendencies of tech companies have been made. Only last year, Google was accused of listening to their users conversations via a specially-installed software that came with the downloading of Google Chrome. With this software, remote technicians could hear nearby conversations held near the computers where the browser was installed. Representatives of Google stated in their developer board that while we do download the hotword module on startup, we do not activate it unless you opt in to hotwording. (Related: Are you sure no ones listening? Learn more from articles at PrivacyWatch.news,)

An article on BBC.com noted that there were eerie coincidences that prompted several people to ask whether their smartphones were listening in on them. What started as a half-joke on Reddit.com spurred a slew of responses that caused actual scientists to see if these claims were true. Cybersecurity expert Ken Munro was initially hesitant to test this theory but eventually caved in. He, along with colleague David Lodge from Pen Test Partners, developed a prototype app which used the existing functionality of Google Android. Their rough software proved that listening in to a persons conversation via a downloaded app is possible. Monroe told the author of the BBC.com article, I am not so cynical now. We have proved it can be done, it works, weve done it. Does it happen? Probably.



Sources include:

Yahoo.com

NBCNews.com

USAToday.com

NaturalNews.com

BBC.com

DigitalTrends.com

Bugs.Chromium.org
Caterers set to raise their game

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-04-25 04:29

SHANGHAI Food and Drug Administration will work with the citys labor union to improve food safety by setting up a registration and management system for online catering firms.

Authorities would enhance training for the companies couriers, said a FDA official, who pointed out they had been scolded for being unprofessional, rude, and lacking good hygiene habits.

The FDA had asked two popular online catering service platforms, Meituan and Ele.me, to develop apps to collate consumers comments on unsatisfactory restaurants and report to the FDA and market watchdog, said Zhang Zhunmin, deputy director of Shanghai FDA.

FDA officials had visited online catering service providers several times since 2015, guiding them to establish strict food safety management systems.

The FDA had inspected more than 43,000 restaurants registered on websites and taken 1,400 samples of their food deliveries.

More than 60,000 unlicensed restaurants had been closed and removed from online catering websites.
(Natural News) After years of looking for a way to silence WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose site has been responsible for publishing revelation after revelation about the back-handed deals and illegal activity undertaken by political organizations, public figures and governments, the U.S. government appears set to arrest him and charge him with espionage.

Only, if that happens, the government should also be charging several mainstream media reporters who also published sensitive intelligence information given to them by various Deep State sources.

As reported by CNN, a formal probe of Assange began in 2010 during the Obama administration, which sought some form of legal retribution after WikiLeaks published thousands of documents provided by a former junior U.S. intelligence analyst, then known as PVT Bradley Manning, but who now goes by Chelsea Manning. (RELATED: Are the Feds going to arrest Wikileaks Julian Assange?)

But the problem Obama prosecutors ran into was constitutional: The First Amendment, they believed, prevented the government from going after the publisher of classified data, in part because such information had also, in the past, been published by U.S. newspapers, networks and news sites as well. CNN noted:

During President Barack Obamas administration, Attorney General Eric Holder and officials at the Justice Department determined it would be difficult to bring charges against Assange because WikiLeaks wasnt alone in publishing documents stolen by Manning. Several newspapers, including The New York Times, did as well. The investigation continued, but any possible charges were put on hold, according to US officials involved in the process then.

Now, however, prosecutors in the Trump Justice Department believe they have found a way to proceed against Assange. The view of Assange and WikiLeaks by the U.S. government started to change somewhat after prosecutors claimed to have found collusion between WikiLeaks and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked volumes of classified data about the U.S. intelligence communitys spying on American citizens, as well as other violations of the law.

What role Assange allegedly had has not been made clear, but he has stated on numerous occasions that WikiLeaks is merely a vehicle for such information, a repository and publisher  and does not collude with potential leakers to help steal sensitive data.

That said, last week CIA Director Mike Pompeo was more specific than any previous U.S. official in describing that alleged role, claiming WikiLeaks directed Chelsea Manning to intercept specific secret information, and it overwhelmingly focuses on the United States.

Continuing, Pompeo added: Its time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is: A non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia.

CNN went on to push the discredited fake narrative that Russia used WikiLeaks to push negative information about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton  another charge that Assange has repeatedly denied  but the governments planned prosecution of Assange raises another question: What to do with the reporters who also colluded with the leakers to publish their blockbuster stories?

They would include Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian and his colleague, Ewen MacAskill, who both aided and abetted Snowden by interviewing him and allowing him to pass them the information he stole from the NSA.

It would also include Barton Gellman and Laura Poitras of The Washington Post, who aided and abetted Snowden by publishing top secret details about ongoing NSA programs. They were aided by reporters Aaron Blake and Greg Miller, among others, in subsequent reporting.

For that matter, what about The New York Times Michael S. Schmidt, Matthew Rosenberg and Matt Apuzzo for aiding and abetting the improper and likely illegal unmasking of former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn? (RELATED: If Trump Is A Putin Stooge, Then How Come Russia Benefitted So Much During The Obama Presidency?)

Or CNNs Evan Perez and Jim Sciutto, for also publishing highly sensitive information involving Flynn?

Didnt all of these journalists do what Assange did  serve as a public conduit for sensitive intelligence information that was illegally leaked to them?

What form of collusion did they engage in to get their stories and information? Does anyone seriously think these veteran reporters were chosen at random?

If the Justice Department is going to hold Assange accountable for being an intelligence information clearing house, then they should also hold individual journalists and their publications equally accountable. Theyve both done the same thing.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

CNN.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

WashingtonPost.com

NYTimes.com
(Natural News) A vocal coalition of Michiganders is taking to the streets  and their local city council meetings  to oppose the growing intrusion of privacy and personal safety with state utility companies transitioning to smart meters. Reports indicate that thousands of folks have already opted out, and new legislation is pending to make these opt-outs cheaper and less penalizing.

More than 150 people from across Michigan packed a committee hearing for the new bill, known as H.B. 4220, that would cap the amount of money that utility companies are allowed to charge monthly for customers who choose to keep their old meters. H.B. 4220 would also prohibit utility companies from charging any more than the actual amount it costs to remove a smart meter and convert it back to a traditional meter.

Resident concerns about smart meters range from privacy issues  involving the way the devices track personal energy usage  to safety issues, such as concerns over the radiation thats continuously pulsed from the meters as they monitor energy usage throughout the day and night. Many people simply dont want to be forced to have these devices attached to their homes without their consent, and they certainly dont want to be paying out the nose for the privilege of keeping their old analog meters.

This is an infringement on a homeowners property rights, Michelle Rison, a resident of Spring Lake, near Grand Rapids, told the Detroit Free Press. Smart meters provide a gateway for getting information on activity in the home.

Smart meters are making people sick, and shouldnt be forced on the public

From a privacy perspective, smart meters are an invasive technology that makes it easier for third parties to track and monitors how energy customers choose to live. Every nuance of the way people live, from how often they do laundry to how many television shows they watch per week, are potential data points that can be skimmed from smart meter usage.

But the more pertinent issue, and the one that most people opposed to smart meters seem to be emphasizing, are the potential health risks. The EMF Safety Network outlines a host of reported health problems associated with smart meter use, including chronic fatigue, ringing in the ears, headaches, heart problems, difficulty balancing, sleep deprivation, leg cramps, and even vision problems.

Very little research has been done on the long-term health impacts of smart meter usage, and yet utilities and many legislators insist that the technology is installed for convenience and efficiency purposes. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the type of wireless radiation emitted from smart meters a class 2B carcinogen, meaning it causes cancer.

Like in many other states, the Michigan Public Service Commission says that the scientific data is definitive: Smart meters are perfectly safe and people shouldnt worry about using them or being near them. But this isnt enough reassurance for the thousands of Michiganders, and the tens of thousands of Americans all across the country, who would prefer to stick to their old analog meters.

We know if we get near them [smart meters] our bodies wont cook, but what if we get near 40 of them? asked David Lonier of Auburn Hills, a suburb of Detroit, to the Detroit Free Press.

H.B. 4220 has the support of multiple legislators, including Representative Gary Glenn (R-Midland) who vehemently disagrees with the compulsory nature of the smart meter transition. On the other hand, Rep. John Kivela (D-Marquette) is making the claim that letting some people opt out of getting a smart meter could place an undue burden on other customers to pick up the slack  an ironic position to take for a Democrat who presumably supports other Democratic-socialistic policies that involve forcing some people to foot the subsidy bill of other people.

Sources:

FreeP.com

EMFSafetyNetwork.org
(Natural News) A Russian news outlet claimed the country has an electronic signal jamming weapon that could disable planes, ships, and missiles, according to an article published in TheSun.co.uk. This weapon could erase the entire US Navy with a single, cutting-edge electronic bomb. The Russian Electronic Warfare (REW) troops could detect and neutralize any target from a radar, a ships navigation system, to a satellite. The report also claimed that several years ago, a single Russian war plane flew a few times around the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea. It disabled the American destroyers systems, rendering it useless. The propaganda report even claimed to have high-ranking U.S. General Frank Gorenc saying, Russian electronic weapons completely paralyze the functioning of American electronic equipment installed on missiles, aircraft and ships. A U.S. military spokesperson has denied General Gorenc ever uttering these words.

This news comes after U.S. President Donald Trump dispatched the USS Carl Vinson alongside a score of destroyers, a cruiser, and one submarine, to the Korean Peninsula. USS Carl Vinson is powered by nuclear reactors and carries nearly 100 aircraft.

It is believed that President Trump is boosting the deployment of American troops in the region. President Trump has said he will send the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Nimitz to the Sea of Japan soon. It is thought that Russia along with China have sent a spy ship to the Korean Peninsula to thwart the American forces dispatch amidst the ever-growing tension in the region. The movements of the U.S. battleships in the region were also due to the comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He urged the U.S. to show restraint.

At the brink of World War 3?

Putin has called for restraint as the mounting dispute between the U.S. and North Korea continues to escalate. Even China warned both nations not to take this course of action.

North Koreas Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un has been carrying out a series of nuclear tests and military exercises, which President Trump sees as provocation for war. Senior U.S. intelligence officials have said President Trump is all set to launch a pre-emptive strike if the nuclear tests by North Korea continue. Recently, Russia issued a statement, asking both sides to show restraint. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, urged both countries to refrain from taking any actions that could potentially lead to war. Even Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pleaded both countries to step back from going down an irreversible route.

In case an all-out nuclear war breaks out between the two nations, there would be no winners. Yi urged both sides to stop sending threats and provocations to each other, and take a more civil approach to end the dispute. Related: Follow more developments on WWIII at WWIII.news.

Now that a massive U.S. fleet is in the Korean Peninsula, tensions will continue to rise as long as the threats between the two nuclear-powered nations exist. Trump claims he is ready to deal with the Korean problem. But the secretive North Korea, through Vice Foreign Minister Han Song Ryol, retorted that whatever comes from the U.S., they will cope with it. He further said that they are prepared to handle any situations. Han Song warned they are ready to go to war if they choose.

Sources include:

TheSun.co.uk 1

TheSun.co.uk 2

FoxNews.com
(Natural News) The advent of smartphones has revolutionized cultures across the world, but is that really a good thing? In just the last decade, the pocket-sized devices have changed the way humans interact with each other, and in some cases, even the way we live our lives. Its no secret that many individuals spend more time on their cellphones than they do interacting with real people  and that the quest to capture the perfect selfie has become a deadly endeavor. If the smartphone generation hasnt taken things too far already, there may be no end in sight; even the way people apply for jobs is changing  and it may not be for the better.

Recently, McDonalds announced that they would be using the popular Snapchat app to hire future employees in Australia.

Snapchat enables users to chat with friends via picture, video or text  and it is also considered a social media platform.What makes Snapchat unique is that the content you choose to send to your friends disappears shortly after being sent, which offers users a feeling of being more in the moment compared to other forms of social media. In a sense, Snapchat has changed the way people communicate with their friends; instead of texting or calling, many young people opt to send a photo or video with a snappy caption instead. (RELATED: Read more stories about the tech craze at Glitch.news)

In what appears to be a vain effort at staying relevant amidst the changing landscape of the food industry, McDonalds has decided to join the Snapchat world by introducing what the fast-food giant is calling Snaplications.

If your stomach isnt turning already at the thought, just wait: It gets worse.

Rather than have potential future employees go the traditional route of job applications and interviews, McDonalds has decided that a sending a simple 10-second video of the potential employee wearing the Mickey Ds uniform over Snapchat is a sufficient way to begin the hiring process. While its only the first stage, it is nonetheless disturbing. While most Snapchat users only use it to communicate with friends, when sending a snap to a behemoth industry like McDonalds, you dont really know who is on the receiving end. Coupled with the fact that many employees in the fast food industry are often in their teens, you can see where parents may not approve of this new hiring process.

Shaun Ruming, the chief operating officer of McDonalds Australia, says that the fast-food retailer is looking for applicants with a bubbly personality. And apparently, the traditional hiring process wont fit the bill.

Ruming reportedly told the Australian news website News.com.au, Ive learned a lot about Snapchat recently from my 14-year-old daughter.

Were looking for that positivity, bubbly personality, someone we think would be good in a customer service role. Based on what my daughter sends to her friends, you do get a bit of a glimpse [from a 10-second video], he added.

While its clear that they are trying to stay current and hip to the times, this effort comes across as more creepy and less cool. What teenager wants to send snaps to someone who is quite possibly a middle-aged man? Even if it is for employment purposes, it is just downright strange  and its sad that anyone would see this as a good idea.

Sources:

BusinessInsider.com

LifeWire.com
One organism's apocalypse is another's habitat. Scientists discovered that when an underwater volcano wiped out all forms of life in its vicinity, a bizarre kind of bacteria began to inhabit the space.

According to a report from New Scientist, the colonies of the bizarre organism were first discovered in 2014 during an expedition to Tagoro Volcano off the coast of Canary Islands. The researchers were there to study the effects of an eruption that occurred two years ago, which reshaped a nine square kilometer expanse of the sea floor.

With their robotic submarine, what they found was an unusual mat of "very long white filaments" that was unfamiliar to them. The team named it Venus's hair after Botticelli's painting that depicted the goddess Venus over the sea.

Robert Danovaro of the Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy explained that the organism they found was unlike any other they've previously encountered. It has an extensive variety of metabolic functions that enable it to thrive in the harsh environment surrounding it. The hydrogen sulphide emanating from the rocks is an energy source for Venus's hair, instead of being fatal to it like it is to many organisms.

Both Danovaro and David Kirchman of the University of Delaware believe that the drop in temperature marked the beginning of the bacteria's colonization, particularly when the rocks reached a temperature below 100 degrees Celsius. Kirchman thinks low amounts of Venus's hair are usually present in the water column.

"It's helpful to remember that each drop of seawater contains millions of bacteria and that only one of them, in theory, is needed to colonize a new habitat," says Kirchman. "The Venus's hair bacterium could have been in this 'rare biosphere' and by chance came across the virgin habitat created by the volcanic eruption."

The three-dimensional that Venus's hair created allowed more organisms like crustaceans and worms to move in.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Steps to help domestic violence victims

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-04-24 14:30

City courts have issued 45 restraining orders to victims suffering domestic violence since the countrys first law concerning this matter took effect in March last year, according to Shanghai High Peoples Court.



In total, local courts have handled 140 applications, of which 45 requests were rejected and a further 50 were withdrawn by the victims after the abusers pledged to change their ways, the court said.

Shanghai was in the lead in the nationwide campaign to protect victims from domestic violence, officials said.

The citys first domestic violence shelter was set up in 2009, but so far only 19 people  17 women and two females under the age of 18  have sought help, according to the civil affairs authority.

The facility is equipped with bedrooms, psychological counseling rooms and an activities center. It provides a temporary safety refuge but most women suffering abuse would rather stay with relatives for fear of making a bad situation worse, according to the authority.

Sexual assault and abduction are also major threats to women and children, officials said.

From 2008 to 2016, Shanghai police have been involved in more than 2,800 reports of rape. From 2011 to 2016, police said they had rescued 147 abducted children and women, and caught 183 suspects.

For judicial bodies, a key question is how to approach victims and how to deal with what has happened to them.

In one case, prosecutors of Qingpu District took time to play with a 4-year-old girl to solve a case in the absence of a confession.

In another case, a mentally retarded woman was raped and gave birth to a girl.

The rapist was sent to jail, while the woman and her parents were unable to raise the girl.

So prosecutors of Jinshan District applied to an aid fund for her and appointed the babys aunt to take care of her.
A group of good Samaritans jumped in to stop a road rage assault of a female construction worker Monday in San Francisco, but not before the driver took the woman to the ground while punching her.

The angry driver got out of his car at Haight and Steiner streets and attacked the woman directing traffic. What looked like a street brawl was a crowd of people trying to get an enraged driver away from the worker.

The worker, who did not want to be identified, said words were exchanged, and then the driver got out of his car.

"He shoved me first; I went down, grabbed his T-shirt. After that, swing, swing, swing," she said.

Two men driving by said it looked like a person on the ground needed help. They thought someone was hurt, there was some commotion and then they realized it was a man beating on a woman for no apparent reason.

The two passers-by, identified only as Ryan and Duncan, said it seemed like the construction worker was on her own.

"We were surprised more people weren't helping, and we had to put the car in park to help," they said.

The worker snapped a picture of the man and his car once the crowd got him away from her.

"I have brusies on my back, my ribs and stomach," she said. "That's where he was hitting me."

She said she is grateful for the help and for the hard hat that helped absorb the impact of hitting the pavement. When police arrived, she turned over her photographs to them and then finished her shift.

San Francisco police are investigating the assault. No arrests had been made.
An incoming Trump administration promising big changes lured one former street performer out of retirement and back to his stage for an encore.

Vowing to "make American street theatre great again," performer Jeff Grubler resurfaced to create the Trump Dis-Organization, a political satire group that has been performing dances and skits on the streets of San Francisco.

Their backdrop: groups protesting President Donald Trump for the last few months.

Rebecca Greenway

Laughter rang out at Saturday's Tax March in San Francisco as protesters gathered around to hear Grubler crack jokes at Trumps expense.

"Every cent donated will help Donald Trump pay for more portraits of himself!" Grubler said to an applauding crowd.

The jokes flow for Grubler, who has had a decade of practice roasting conservative administrations.

Grubler said he first began performing in the late 1990s. However, news surrounding the Iraq War in 2003, when President George W. Bush was in the White House, drove more performers to the streets, prompting the demonstrators to form an official group, named Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane.

In the years that followed, the group could be found trolling Wall Street, Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and any number of hot-button issues that sparked protests during the late period of the Reagan era.

"After Trump was elected, we knew there was going to be a lot of difficult times ahead," Grubler said. But this time, he said, the group's performances might actually get a reaction from the commander in chief.

"All these presidents, CEOs, corporations  they're all bothered when they are ridiculed  and humor is so powerful  but they don't usually show it," Grubler said. "But [Trump] goes crazy when he's made fun of, when he's ridiculed, and so its beautiful to actually get a response to it even if he's not responding to us directly."

Rebecca Greenway

Designed to provide comical relief to those struggling with the agenda of the new administration, one member cast as the Trump Wall said it is important to keep the dialogue open.

"I think a lot of us want to turn away and forget about it," said Edna Miroslava Raia, a trained clown, mime and comedian. "But we cant because all of these decisions affect everyone."

Under the groups scrutiny currently are increased deportations, proposals for a Border Wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and even senate confirmation hearings. Grubler's latest skit zeroed in on the announcement that PBS was not slated to receive federal funding.

Rebecca Greenway

Grubler said making light out of the serious topics is no easy feat and planning lineups that feature everyone from Elmo to Betsy Devos keeps him up at night, cutting and gluing together the performers costumes.

The effort is worth it, he said, for a hearty laugh.

With no funding or structure, Grubler says the group is about getting their messages out while having fun.

"Our mission is to bring back the art of street theatre," Grubler said. "People need to laugh so Im glad we can play a small role in that."
A defrocked priest wanted for sexually abusing a child in New York was found in Guatemala and extradited back to the U.S. over the weekend, authorities said.

Augusto Cortez, 53, was wanted for allegedly sexually abusing a girl in 2014 in Southampton, Long Island. He fled to South America when he realized he was being investigated, according to Southampton police.

Cortez ran away to several South American countries before Interpol located him in Guatemala, police say.

He was extradited back to the U.S. with the help of U.S. Marshals and was arrested at JFK Airport on Saturday.

He pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

He was remanded to jail without bail and is set to return to court on May 15.

Cortez is a registered sex offender, according to Suffolk prosecutors. He was expelled from the Vincentian Order after he was convicted of forcible touching in Brooklyn in 2009.
As Seen On
Kevin Keller was working late toward the end of 2015.

Rain dampened the drive to his home off Dascomb Road, a quick hop off Interstate 93.

But just before his exit, as he was switching lanes to the right, he hit a pool of water that collected in the right-most driving lane and the breakdown lane.

Water pools in that spot, about a quarter of a mile south of exit 42 on I-93 northbound at the top of a hill, when it rains hard, Keller said.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation told NBC Boston that it would look into the problem, but declined to make someone available for an interview.

As I was hydroplaning, perpendicular to the road, seeing headlights coming at me while i was in the drivers seat, Keller said.

After he hit that water back in 2015, he spun across three lanes of Interstate traffic and came to rest against the median guardrail facing oncoming cars.

It was one of the most frightening things Ive ever experienced, he said.

Keller wasnt injured, but another car had hit his rear bumper while he was sliding.

In the months since, Keller has stopped in the breakdown lane  only on weekends, though, because the breakdown lane becomes a travel lane during rush hour  and recorded cars driving through inches of water in the rain.

Car after car after car hit that water and they were throwing up rooster tails, spray that was eight to 10 feet high consistently, he said.

According to MassDOT crash data, there were 109 crashes at that spot between 2010 and 2014.

The data did not list the causes of those crashes.

Dr. Daniel Dulaski, a civil engineer and professor at Northeastern University who specializes in transportation design and safety, said one of the top jobs of engineers designing a road is to move water.

As we design a roadway were trying to get that water out of the travel lane as quickly as possible, he said.

Though he didnt inspect the area himself, Dulaski said a clogged drain on the side of the road would be the first place to check.

When you think about catch basins, in the fall, especially in New England, you might have twigs or leaves that clog the catch basins, he said.

But water pooling on the side of the road, like in Kellers video, isnt normal.

Theres a fair amount of water thats pooling in the shoulder, and in some instances making it out to the first or rightmost travel lane, he said.

Keller says storms still bring pools on the interstate, followed by MassDOT crews to fix the guardrail.

MassDOT said it has repaired the guardrail in that spot 18 times in the last year and a half.

Its been an ongoing problem for at least two years and nothings been done, Keller said.
Boost for citys private hospitals

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-04-24 14:31

Private medical facilities in Shanghai are finding it easier to attract specialists from public hospitals after a reform announced by the national government early this month.



The reform reduces the complicated procedures for doctors to work in more than one facility. No longer do doctors need to get their primary employers approval to work in other facilities. They just need to register at the regional health authority.

Shanghai Ren-ai Hospital announced over the weekend that it had signed about 50 specialists from public hospitals this month.

Previously, public hospitals were not happy that their specialists work in private hospitals due to it impacting their own business. So they always refused to give the green light, said Xu Shanshan, president of Ren-ai Hospital.

It means patients dont go all the way to crowded public hospitals. They can see a leading expert in a facility just near their home, Xu added.

Yosemite Clinic, the citys first private ambulatory surgery center, has also benefited from the new policy.

The clinic, which opened at the weekend, has attracted more than 50 top surgeons from leading public hospitals.

Ambulatory surgery is a new thing in China, while it has been popular in the West, said Dr Song Keying, the founder of Yosemite Clinic.

About 80 to 90 percent of surgeries in the United States are done through minimally invasive day surgery.
Michael Galadjiks family always hoped to give him a heros burial.

It would take 75 years, but it finally happened.

The 25-year-old Galajdik died in Pearl Harbor aboard the U.S.S. Oklahoma in December of 1941. After the torpedoed and burning Oklahoma capsized, a few dozen crew members were rescued by workers who were able to cut holes in the hull. But the giant ships story is one of the most haunting in the annals of the Navy. Taps on the hull gave clues to where other crew members were trapped.

But those taps ceased after three days.

Many months later, Galajdiks remains would be buried along with 387 other unidentified sailors and marines in mass graves in a Honolulu cemetery. And there the story ended, for over 70 years.

Its a heartbreaking part of Galadjiks family lore which has spanned decades, births, and deaths. In all, 429 sailors and marines died. Of the 388 unidentified crew from the Oklahoma, 18 were from Illinois.

Two years ago the Department of Defense launched a major effort to disinter all of the unidentified crew from the Oklahoma to apply modern science in hopes of getting positive I.D.s.

They were separated to like body parts, for the most part, Rear Admiral Michael Franken, director of the Defense Departments POW/MIA Accounting Agency told NBC 5 at the time the project was launched. Our task will be to disinter about five graves a week over the course of the next six months, then in the span of five years, make those identifications.

Nephew George Sternisha of Crest Hill and his sister both submitted samples to the Navy lab to help in the efforts to identify their uncle. And in February, he received the phone call he had imagined his entire life: the body of his uncle had been found. And on Sunday, came that hero funeral they had always hoped would happen.

He knew what was on the line when he joined the Navy, Sternisha said. War was there. War was imminent with Japan and Germany. And he knew it!

As Galajdiks hearse made its way to Joliets St. Raymond Nonnatus Cathedral, hundreds lined the route, waving flags, and holding flowers. At the church, the theme of his service was simple: welcome home.

Welcome home to Joliet, said Father Ron Neitzke. After 75 years, welcome home to your family. Welcome home to the community. Welcome home to your eternal place of rest.

That final rest came at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in suburban Chicago, with a full military honor funeral. An honor guard offered a 21 gun salute. A bugler played taps. A Grumann Avenger torpedo bomber performed a flyover.

This was our goal, Sternisha said. This was my mothers goal. This was her wish. And wishes do come true!

Michael Galajdik was finally home.
After months of speculation, the University of Illinois revealed Tuesday that actor Nick Offerman will deliver the colleges 2017 commencement address.

For weeks, the university built excitement surrounding the highly anticipated announcement with a series of tweets teasing who it will be addressing graduates at the ceremony next month. [[420348373, C]]

"May want to pick up extra tickets for Commencement this year ... (sharing who our #ILLINOIS2017 speaker is April 25!)" one tweet read.

The school made the announcement in a video posted to its Facebook and Twitter pages, featuring Offerman, himself a U of I alumnus, addressing students directly. [[420410974, C]]

"The university is called the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, although it's located in the community of Champaign-Urbana," Offerman said. "I hope to explore this and other mysteries when I speak to you at your commencement this year 2017, and thank you in advance for having me."

An actor, author and woodworker, the Minooka, Illinois, native graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre from the school in 1993.

Perhaps best known for his role as Ron Swanson on "Parks and Recreation," Offerman has visited his alma mater several times in recent years, the university said in a release.

He was on campus April 1 for a Whiskey, Wood & Barbecue fundraiser that included a raffle of items from Offerman Woodshop, and he brought his American Ham Tour to the school in 2013 - both to benefit the school's Japan House in honor of his mentor, Professor Shozo Sato, with whom he traveled to Japan as part of Sato's Kabuki troupe.

Nick Offerman found success as an actor and also found a lifelong mentor while an Illinois theatre student, Chancellor Robert Jones said in a release. His story is an example of the power of a U. of I. education to shape the lives of our students and help them find their place in the world. He has maintained close ties with his alma mater, and hes done it all with a sense of humor. Were proud to have him serve as our 2017 commencement speaker.

Many had previously speculated that former President Barack Obama would fill the coveted role after the university officially invited him in March with a video featuring several students asking the Chicago native to deliver their graduation speech. [[420355283, C]]

While the former president never officially issued a response, many on social media expressed excitement over Offerman's appearance Tuesday, with hundreds of responses from students and alumni alike looking forward to the event.

The University of Illinois will hold its commencement on Saturday, May 13, 2017, and the ceremony will be streamed live.
A Texas-bound United Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing after one of its engines overheated while flying over the Pacific Ocean, passengers say.

Flight 1516 departed Liberia, Costa Rica, to Houston, Texas, Monday before the 737 experienced "a maintenance issue," according to United Airlines spokesperson Erin Benson.

The pilot returned to Liberia's Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport for an emergency landing.

Jody Genessy, a passenger on the flight, told NBC News it was one of the most terrifying things he has ever experienced.

"We circled for about an hour dumping fuel and when we went in for a landing, the plane tipped quickly to one side," Genessy said.

"My friends on the other side of the plane said they saw the wings almost touched the tarmac and then went too far back to the other side...and he [the pilot] pulled up. It was about a split second. Then we circled around again and it was wobbly and we were all freaking out."

"It was a pretty horrifying way to end an amazing weekend," Genessy said.

Genessy told NBC News United provided him and his wife meal vouchers and a room at a nearby hotel ahead of their rescheduled flight Tuesday.

"United is getting a lot of grief right now, and Im a Delta guy, but my hats off to the pilot," Genessy added. "As far as Im concerned, he saved our lives."

A new aircraft was dispatched to take passengers to Houston Tuesday.
President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, appeared to violate federal law when he failed to seek permission or inform the U.S. government about accepting tens of thousands of dollars from Russian organizations after a trip there in 2015, leaders of a House oversight committee say.

The congressmen also raised new questions about fees Flynn received as part of $530,000 in consulting work his company performed for a businessman tied to Turkey's government.

The bipartisan accusations that Flynn may have broken the law come as his foreign contacts are being examined by other congressional committees as part of investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential ties between Trump associates and the Kremlin. Congress returned earlier this week from its spring recess, and Tuesday's announcements reflected renewed interest on Capitol Hill.

Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said they saw no evidence that Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, properly disclosed foreign payments he received to military officials or on his security clearance paperwork. Flynn, who headed the military's top intelligence agency, was Trump's national security adviser until he was fired in February.

Among the payments in question was more than $33,000 that Flynn received in 2015 from the Russia Today television network, which has been described by U.S. intelligence officials as a propaganda front for Russia's government.

"That money needs to be recovered," said Chaffetz, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Chaffetz said Flynn was obligated as a retired Army officer to request permission from both the Defense and State departments about prospective foreign government payments before he received them. "There was nothing in the data to show that Gen. Flynn complied with the law," Chaffetz said.

Cummings said Flynn's failure to formally report the Russian payments on his security clearance paperwork amounted to concealment of the money, which could be prosecuted as a felony.

Flynn's attorney, Robert Kelner, said Flynn reported his plans to travel to Russia to his former agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and he briefed officials there after he returned. Kelner declined to answer questions about whether Flynn properly disclosed the payments.

The congressmen spoke after reviewing classified documents regarding Flynn that were provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency. They were also briefed by agency officials. The congressmen declined to describe in detail the materials they reviewed. But Cummings said the documents were "extremely troubling" and he urged the administration to declassify them.

Chaffetz and Cummings said they planned to write to the comptroller of the Army and the Defense Department's inspector general for a final determination as to whether Flynn broke the law and whether the government needs to pursue criminal charges and seek to recover the payments Flynn received.

Cummings also criticized the White House for refusing to turn over documents the committee requested about Flynn's foreign contacts during his three-week stint as national security adviser. In response to a letter to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, an administration official told the committee that documents relating to those contacts likely contained classified and other sensitive information, weren't relevant to the committee's investigation and could not be turned over.

"That is simply unacceptable," Cummings said.

At the White House, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the committee's request for Flynn's security clearance information was referred to the Defense Department, which turned over documents. He said the White House did not release a detailed list of Flynn's contacts with foreign officials, a request he dismissed as "outlandish."

Spicer said that the president was confident in his decision to fire Flynn in February on grounds that Flynn had misled the vice president about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the transition. Spicer declined to say whether the White House believed Flynn had violated the law. He said the conduct occurred before Flynn was appointed national security adviser in January.

Flynn had led the DIA until 2014, when he was forced to retire by the Obama administration.

During his briefings, Flynn "answered any questions that were posed by DIA concerning the trip," said Kelner, his lawyer.

A spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency, Jim Kudla, has said that Flynn briefed the agency in advance about his trip to Moscow "in accordance with standard security clearance procedures." A spokesman for Flynn has said that Flynn also disclosed the RT trip when he last came up for a security clearance review in January 2016.

Chaffetz and Cummings said the documents they reviewed showed no evidence Flynn asked permission for the payments or later detailed the amounts he received to military authorities. Chaffetz added that while "it would be a bit strong to say that Flynn flat-out lied," he should have sought and received permission before accepting any foreign government payments.

Both Cummings and Chaffetz said the committee's investigation into Flynn's foreign payments includes examining consulting work he did for a Turkish businessman last year.

Flynn's firm last month registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department for the consulting work and acknowledged that it may have principally benefited the government of Turkey. Flynn's client, Inovo BV, is owned by a Turkish businessman who is also a member of a committee overseen by Turkey's finance ministry. In government filings, Flynn disclosed that he personally received between $50,000 and $100,000 as part of his stake in Flynn Intel Group, the company that performed the foreign agent work.

Earlier Tuesday, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee announced a public meeting May 8 to hear testimony for the first time from the former acting attorney general, Sally Yates, who played a role in Flynn's firing.

Yates was supposed to testify publicly before the House intelligence committee in March, but that was canceled and has yet to be rescheduled. Some Democrats believe the White House wants to limit what Yates says publicly, but the White House has denied this. Former National Intelligence Director James Clapper is also to testify at the May 8 hearing.

Also Tuesday, there were complaints that the Senate investigation was not moving quickly enough. Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein of California said they believed the committee needed to move at a faster pace.

Preliminary interviews now have been completed with about 27 individuals from multiple intelligence agencies. And there are nine staffers working full-time on the investigation, according to one Senate aide, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity. By contrast, the House Select Committee on Benghazi employed more than 50 congressional staffers.

The aide said the committee has gained access to additional materials at intelligence agencies, including categories and types of intelligence documents that have never been provided to Congress before.

Committee members and staff are reviewing thousands of pages of materials at CIA headquarters and the National Security Agency.
Some Connecticut-based companies looking to hire said there are not enough skilled technical workers to fill open positions.

At a job fair at Norwich Technical High School on Tuesday, instructors told NBC Connecticut theyre training students to walk into skilled trade positions right out of high school. But there aren't enough students to fill a growing demand in the state.

Electrical instructor Jamie Lamitie teaches his students residential and commercial wiring. Lamitie even has his students working in the community.

"I have not enough students for the amount of contractors that are looking for help right now," according to Lamitie.

North Stonington-based A/Z Corporation staff said skilled trade employees are hard to come by, which is why they take full advantage of recruiting students at technical schools, like Norwich Tech.

"By the time they're ready to graduate and have completed the electrical program, we find that's a really good indicator and we end up with really good candidates, electrical operations manager, Steven Lusi, said.

The company's placement manager, Susan Choquette, said in the last five years there's been a shortage of electricians, welders and other trade workers. What many people dont realize is the pay for these jobs is on par with many that come with a four-year degree, she added.

Rebecca Novic graduated last year from Norwich Tech and now is part of the apprentice program at A/Z Corporation where she does pipe fitting and welding.

"In high school I was this cheerleader and a captain, and I was kind of cool. And now I'm a construction worker and it's so awesome, Novic said.

She credits her hands-on education.

Norwich Tech senior, Cameron Crosby, already has a job lined up.

"I work hands-on. I learn better that way. I can't sit in a classroom all day and just read books, Crosby said.

Electric Boat (EB) even relaunched its apprenticeship program in the midst of the companys plan to hit peak employment of 18,000 employees by 2030. Dan Barrett, a spokesperson for the company, said it's hard to say if there is a shortage of trade workers now. But EB wants to make sure there are enough as its demand for employees grows.

Brendan M. Cunningham, an assistant professor of economics at Eastern Connecticut State University, told NBC Connecticut via email that many routine and even non-routine jobs are becoming automated.

This implies that most of the job growth in the future will be in areas with greater educational requirements, Cunningham wrote.
People in one Manchester neighborhood said they haven't gotten their mail in almost a week because of a dog.

Neighbors along a section of Campfield Road are installing mailboxes in front of their homes even though they already have one next to their doors.

"Until I install a mailbox on the side of the road, I guess I have to get my mail from the post office," said neighbor Michael Varni.

Neighbors said after realizing they were no longer receiving their mail, they drove to their local post office and found a notice with their mail. It said that due to, "repeated dog attacks and multiple dog bites to our letter carriers from a dog", at a home on Campfield Road, that the post office will only do curbside delivery for their section, "so our carriers no longer dismount out of the vehicle making them accessible to a dog attack."

NBC Connecticut

"I was pretty upset," said neighbor Allisyn Pentleton. "They told me it was a problem with my neighbor's dog."

The owners of that dog told NBC Connecticut that when the dog was a puppy it ran towards a mailman who kicked their pet and said since then, the animal has acted aggressively towards anyone in uniform.

About a year and a half ago, they say the dog bit a mailman but that it was only a "graze" and last week chased the mail truck. That's when the mail stopped coming.

"It does concern me that someone was bit and apparently maybe even more than once," said Varni.

One neighbor told NBC Connecticut that the dog chased after her once and another neighbor had to use the spray from a hose to keep the dog away, but others said the dog has never bothered them.

Everyone, including the owners, admits the dog escapes the home quite a bit.

"I've seen the dog a million times. The dog jumps on me, is really friendly, wants to lick my face, but now it's just kind of confusing about how to feel about it," said Pentleton.

Manchester police told us they have no knowledge of any incidents involving dog attacks in that location. NBC Connecticut has reached out to animal control and to the post office but have not heard back.
Hartford's North End is a historic Democratic stronghold, but that could take an even more liberal turn after Tuesday's Special House Election.

Rick Pinckney, a Democrat, is going up against Joshua Hall, a Working Families Party Candidate.

The Working Families Party has a small foothold in the General Assembly, with many members of the Democratic Caucus seeing cross-endorsements as the party has viewed their progressive credentials as acceptable.

Sen. Ed Gomes in Bridgeport even won a General Election race as a Working Families Party candidate, even though he had previously and continues to be a Democrat.

Hall, who works for the Hartford Federation of Teachers, says when it comes to budget issues, he's a hawk for making sure the wealthy take care of the poor.

Connecticut has given them a good life, a very good life, and we need to make sure that extends to other people as well.

Hall, too, has pledged to caucus with Democrats.

Pinckney, who's known in Hartford Democratioc circles, describes himself as being familiar to voters in the historically deep blue district.

He's so familiar in fact, and is banking hard on traditional Democratic support, that he put former President Barack Obama on campaign mailers.

The majority of our community are Democrats and they want to see the Democratic member, the endorsed Democratic member go out and vote for us every time.

The seat Hall and Pinckney are vying for was previously held by Douglas McCrory, who vacated his seat when he won a Special Election for the State Senate district that includes the 7th State House District.
If you need any confirmation that tick season is here, a photo from a Connecticut man may be it.

Elijah Romer went for a run at the West Hartford Reservoir on Monday night and took his dog along for some exercise.

After 30 minutes, Romer returned home to find his dog covered in ticks. Romer removed 30 ticks from the pooch. He shared a photo of the ticks with NBC Connecticut.

The state is seeing an increase in the abundance of ticks this spring, according to a release by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, which monitors the tick population in the state.

They have also seen an increase in cases of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

Last week, the state announced a 5-month-old Griswold boy became the first person in Connecticut to contract the Powassen virus.

The illness led to vomiting and seizures and he spent a week in the hospital last November.
Many New London residents are taking extra precautions to protect their pets after multiple reported coyote sightings and a few attacks.

People have noticed coyotes in the streets, following them on walks, and some have reportedly attacked dogs. While coyotes arent new to New London neighborhoods, people said they seem to be too comfortable lately.

Seeing them during the day is a little shocking, said Jonathan Burdick, who lives on Parkway South in New London.

Burdick took a picture of a coyote on Glenwood Avenue, which borders his home. Hes concerned because he has two outdoor cats and three kids, one of which is a toddler.

I was getting the kids ready to put in the car and bring them to school and was shocked to see the coyote out by the back of the car, he said, comparing the size of the animal to a German Shepard.

One resident, Corina, said coyotes had mauled her puppy just a couple of weeks ago.

He had a gash on him, his muzzle was bloodied, his eye  just now he doesnt have a black eye, Corina said.

Jon Colburn works on Glenwood Avenue and said the coyote hes seen dont scare easily and walk right in the middle of the street or on peoples lawns.

Colburn said a woman who lives near his place of work had her dog killed by one.

Said she watched the dog, her little dog, get taken by the coyote right through the backyard and through everybodys yard. She said she chased it, and it wouldnt drop it, Colburn said.

Acting New London Police Chief Peter Reichard said hes hearing complaints about coyotes mostly from the southern end of the city. While officers and animal control are investigating claims, animal control is not able to handle wildlife.

Mayor Michael Passero said the city could hire a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Officer by submitting a permit application through the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), but the city doesnt meet the requirements.

Neighborhoods around Ocean Beach have been posting their sightings and concerns on on-line neighborhood groups.

Phyllis Teeson, who also lives on Glenwood Avenue, said because of the several coyote sightings, shes extra cautious when she takes walks.

(The coyote) came out between houses and I frightened him, maybe, because we just sort of stared each other down. Now I carry a stick with me when I go out walking, Teeson said.

A Wildlife Biologist from DEEP addressed the community concerns Monday night at Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School.

Many New London residents are taking extra precautions to protect their pets after multiple reported coyote sightings and a few attacks.

What going to happen when a child corners this coyote and it rips its face off?," asked New London resident Lisa Darling. She was among a large crowd who was raising concerns to police, the mayor and DEEP officials on Monday night. Several residents are worried about coyotes coming closer, being bolder and even going after family pets.

This thing is clearly not afraid of people. Its not afraid of dogs," said Darling.

Many of the people who attended the community forum at Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School said they wanted to be able to better protect their pets and themselves.

I have her on a leash. My garbage is covered. I dont feed coyotes," said Mamie Bauduccio-Rock, a New London resident. She said she and her small dog had a run-in with a coyote a few days ago.

"I looked behind me, in broad daylight, and one of the coyotes was running after us," said Bauduccio-Rock.

Wildlife officials said much of the coyotes' behavior is based on human behavior. They advised residents not to give coyotes access to any food source - which could include a family pet. Pets should be secured and supervised at all times, a DEEP official said.

City officials urged residents to document the whereabouts and actions of coyotes to give experts a better idea of the locations in which coyotes may have built dens.

Its when through human interaction that they start to change their behavior that they become a problem," said New London Mayor Michael Passero.

Members of the police department present at the community forum said they would respond - with force, if necessary - if someone is threatened by an aggressive or sick coyote.

Dennis Schain, the spokesperson for DEEP, told NBC Connecticut in an email that coyotes are often out during the day and while, its a little unusual to spot them in urban areas, it does happen.

Theyre also not known to attack humans. But to scare one off, act 'big', stomp, yell and bang something until it goes away.
At a media conference at this years two sessions, Premier Li Keqiang put forward a plan for streamlining absurd certifications as a major target to further transform government functions.

Now, Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, has moved quickly to streamline all kinds of absurd certifications.

In 2017, the city has streamlined 313 village- and community-level certifications, of which 298 have been eliminated.

More than 95 percent of the certifications have been abolished, except 15 essential items, such as marriage and birth certificates.

Premier Li recently issued a special instruction requiring all local governments to have the resolution and courage to cut all kinds of unnecessary certifications, bringing more conveniences to companies and citizens.

He also said that related departments should give further guidance on the issue so that efficient methods to streamline certifications can be promoted in a timely manner.

The move in Chengdu city is being carried out in accordance with the policy on streamlining administration, which requires removing redundant certificates and fees.

At a State Council executive meeting in 2015, Premier Li criticized some of the certificates required by government departments around China.

Among them, the most notorious case is to provide materials that prove your mother is indeed your mother. And he also mentioned a similar case in Chengdu.

All departments should be responsible for the certificates that are not only time-consuming and useless, but also may lead to corruption, said Premier Li.

Four days ago, during his inspection trip to Shandong province, Premier Li was told by local officials in Weihai city that various bizarre certificates not only caused inconvenience for citizens, but also increased workloads for local committees that are responsible for issuing the certificates.

The Chengdu municipal government is currently exploring ways to completely eliminate such certificates. From May 1, a list of remaining certificates to be issued by village (community)-level departments in Chengdu city will take effect. The list specifies 15 certificates required by laws and regulations and government departments above provincial level.

Departments at all levels under the jurisdiction of Chengdu will not be allowed to ask citizens to provide certificates not on the list.

During his inspection tour to Shandong province, Premier Li praised Weihai citys online government services. He said, Even large sums of deposit and payment can be handled via the internet, why cant approval procedures? Actually, we must change minds.

Only by shifting from traditional concepts can the government optimize its service, said the Premier, adding that a power list must be released by publicizing information, simplifying procedures, sharing data and reducing powers.

An overall list system to regulate the government was also a goal stated in this years Government Work Report.

As the Premier often stressed, All departments should provide efficient and convenient services of high quality, for the interests of the public instead of their own, thus avoiding phenomenon such as absurd certifications.
Following a wave of bomb threats that shook the Jewish community, 17 local religious organizations took part in active shooter awareness training Monday with FBI and police at a New Haven synagogue.

Rabbi Jon-Jay Tilsen from Congregation Beth-El Kesser Israel quoted a Jewish psalm as leaders from different communities stood in unity against hate crimes at his synagogue.

"How wonderful it is when people  diverse people  can live together as brothers and sisters," Tilsen said.

The NAACP, Bethel AME Church of New Haven and the Sikh Community of Connecticut were some of the groups represented at a joint press conference.

"Threat on any place of worship I consider as a threat on their identity," said Swaranjit Singh Khalsa of the Sikh Community of Connecticut said.

From early January into March, 220 calls threatening bombs or violence were made to Jewish institutions in 43 stages, including the JCCs in Woodbridge and West Hartford, FBI Special Agent in Charge Patricia Ferrick said.

The arrest of 18-year-old dual American-Israeli citizen Michael Kadar in connection to the hoax threats of violence is a relief for local the Jewish community. He is now facing federal charges out of Florida and Georgia.

"We were really living in a state of high alert and anticipating when the next email would come, the next phone call," said Judy Alperin, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven.

The message from Connecticut's U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly is to remain vigilant against threats to any religious community.

"As members of the public out there, I urge you to speak up when you see an incident of violence or an incident of hate, speak up, and if you think that it may actually be a crime, report it," Daly said.

The JCC of Greater New Haven has tightened security procedures and was one of the organizations represented at the active shooter training.

"So that we can be better prepared for what is really the unimaginable," Alperin said.
Even though Aaron Hernandez is gone, many questions about his life remain - especially about his last words, left in notes written before he committed suicide in his cell last week.

Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, remains on lockdown as the investigation continues into "issues" surrounding Hernandez, according to a sidebar comment from the states public safety secretary, Daniel Bennett.

That sidebar took place during a court hearing Monday to have three letters written by Hernandez turned over to this family, which has since happened. Bennett reportedly said that the prison remains locked down "because of issues with Mr. Hernandez. And things that have happened with Mr. Hernandez." The subject of the investigation was not disclosed.

According to the state Department of Correction, a search of the prison is being conducted and it will remain locked down for the duration of the search. "This type of search is done from time to time at the request of the Superintendent based upon the operational needs of the facility," the agency said.

Hernandez, 27, was serving a life sentence for murder and was acquitted in two other killings just days before he hanged himself with a bed sheet attached to his cell window in the early morning hours of April 19.

Drama Inside the Courtroom as Hernandez Verdict is Read

Authorities said investigators found three handwritten notes next to a Bible in Hernandez's cell. Two of the notes were to his 4-year-old daughter and fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins Hernandez. A third note was to fellow inmate Kyle Kennedy.

Kennedy's lawyer released a statement Monday saying his client "...is deeply saddened by the loss of his friend."

Uxbridge police

The contents of the suicide notes have not been made public, but Bennett said in court Monday that Hernandez essentially told people "don't cry for him, he's going to be happy in the afterlife."

Monday's developments happened as Hernandez's funeral was taking place in his hometown of Bristol, Connecticut. Hernandez's family plans to have his remains cremated.

The family's attorneys have pledged to get to the bottom of Hernandez's life in prison. Jenkins Hernandez has also filed court papers indicating that she may sue over the supervision Hernandez received while in prison. The filing argues that authorities had a legal duty to provide safety and protection from personal injury to inmates in state custody.

Hernandez was locked in his cell around 8 p.m. on March 18 and no one entered until a correction officer observed him around 3 a.m. the following day and forced his way in, according to investigators.

SUICIDE PREVENTION HELP: The National Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-8255) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Text HOME to 741741 for a Crisis Text Line.
Gunfire erupted in a Houston-area fast food restaurant Monday night, leaving one person dead and two others wounded.

According to KPRC Houston, a robbery task force tracked several suspected thieves to a Jack in the Box in northwest Harris County.

A sheriff's statement Tuesday said three teenage suspects, wearing hoodies and bandannas, were seen running toward the fast-food restaurant.

Authorities say two of the teens were armed and took money from the cash drawers.

Officers confronted the fleeing teens, who then fired on the officers, according to the sheriff's department. The officers then returned fire, hitting all three teens.

Officials said a 16-year-old died at a hospital and a 15-year-old boy was hospitalized in critical condition. A 17-year-old who suffered lesser injuries and an unharmed 18-year-old were charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

No officers were hurt in the exchange.

Please check back for more on this developing story. As details unfold, elements of this story may change.
South Korea's military said Tuesday that North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military.

The exercise took place as a U.S. guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea and envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo to discuss the growing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles program.

Experts thought North Korea might conduct a nuclear test or a ballistic missile launch to mark the anniversary, but as of Tuesday evening neither had occurred.

Crowds in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, laid flowers and paid respects at giant statues of the country's former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, one day after the minister of defense reiterated that the North was ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any measures it deems necessary to defend itself against "U.S. imperialists."

"The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression," Gen. Pak Yong Sik told a meeting of thousands of senior military and civilian officials.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where it said the drills were being held. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seoul's Defense Ministry couldn't confirm such details.

The streets of Pyongyang were quiet. Flower-laying and bowing at statues and portraits of the leaders is a regular routine on major anniversaries. People also gathered in open spaces to take part in organized dancing, another common way to mark holidays.

"Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day," said Choe Un Byol, who came with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders.

North Korea often also marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea's nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the country's preparation for an ICBM launch is in its "final stage."

The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Cmdr. Jang Wook from South Korean navy public affairs said there was no plan for a drill.

The submarine's arrival comes as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier headed toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea. The U.S. 7th Fleet said two American destroyers were conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.

Despite the buildup, U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Korea's government.

Trump told ambassadors from U.N. Security Council member countries that they must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea.

"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not," Trump said at a White House meeting Monday. "North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it's time to solve the problem."

Nikki Haley, Trump's U.N. ambassador, said the United States is not looking for a fight with Kim and would not attack North Korea "unless he gives us reason to do something." She praised China's increased pressure on North Korea.

Asked about the threshold for U.S. action, Haley told American broadcaster NBC that "if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously we're going to do that."

But asked what if North Korea tests an intercontinental missile or nuclear device, she said, "I think then the president steps in and decides what's going to happen."

The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed Tuesday to put maximum pressure on North Korea, the South's envoy for North Korea said after meeting his American and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo.

"We agreed to warn North Korea to stop any additional strategic provocation and take intolerably strong punitive measures against Pyongyang if it goes ahead with such provocations," Kim Hong-kyun told reporters following his meeting with Joseph Yun of the U.S. and Japan's Kenji Kanasugi.

Kim said they discussed ways to get more cooperation from China and Russia, which they agreed is crucial to applying effective pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. He said they also recognized China's recent steps toward that goal.

Japan's Foreign Ministry announced that China's envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, was arriving in Tokyo on Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi that may take place later this week.

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi, Ken Moritsugu and Matthew Pennington contributed to this report.
The United States has issued 271 sanctions in response to Syrian President Bashar Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons. It's one of the largest sanction actions in U.S. history.

The Trump administration said Monday that it issued sanctions against 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center, the Syrian government agency responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons.

The action was announced in a statement by the Treasury Department, and Treasury Security Steve Mnuchin simultaneously briefed reporters at the White House.

The new sanctions are the latest U.S. response to Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons, most recently in rebel-held northern Idlib, in an attack that killed more than 80 civilians.

The U.S. retaliated earlier this month by launching missiles against a Syrian airfield.
Video shows a shark sinking its teeth into a dead whale that drifted toward a Southern California beach last week before it was towed out to sea.

Shark tagger Keith Poe captured the rare video Saturday about 15 miles off Dana Point. The shark, possibly 18 feet long, appeared to be pregnant, Poe told the OC Register.

Warning: Some may find this Facebook video disturbing

"She looked like she was here to give birth. She was very large in her girth," Poe told the Register. "As she was eating the whale, it was ridiculous how big she got. She was swimming upside-down, just swimming around like she was very happy and satisfied."

The deceased 55-foot whale was first spotted by whale watching boats off Newport Beach pier around 3 p.m. Thursday. Using a rescue boat and rope, lifeguards towed it about five miles out to sea to prevent it from attracting other fish.

The carcass also produces an unpleasant odor and is difficult to dispose of once it reaches shore. It was not immediately clear when the whale died, but it appears to have been decomposing for several weeks, according to lifeguards.

Photographer Mark Girardeau said the whale is known as Scarlet, the same whale seen inside LA Harbor about a week earlier. Scarlet also has been spotted in the Santa Barbara Channel and as far north as Oregon, according to Happy Whale, a marine research group that tracks whales.

In August 2016, she was entangled in rope, but did not appear to be entangled during a sighting last fall off Newport Beach. Girardeau also captured drone video of the whale in December off the Southern California coast.

"You can see the whale from the beach, it's huge," Girardeau told the Orange County Register. "It's just really sad to see a dead whale. I just hope it's from natural causes. I just hope this doesn't happen more and this isn't something we'll be seeing more of."
Water once again flowed into the Silver Lake and Ivanhoe reservoirs Tuesday after having sat dry and empty since 2015.

A ceremony marking the return of water to the reservoirs was held, where the open valve released the first water running into the Silver Lake Reservoir Complex, starting at the smaller Ivanhoe Reservoir. Water will then start filling into the Silver Lake Reservoir in approximately two weeks.

The return of water is possible because of the abundant rain and snow that California received this past winter. The refilling process is expected to take two month and use water from the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The original plan was for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to begin refilling the reservoir in May using local resources over 12 months.

Silver Lake Reservoir is a popular destination for walkers, joggers and sightseers. LADWP emptied the reservoir in late 2015, turning what was a picturesque blue expanse of water into a brown hole.

The reservoir was drained to construct the Silver Lake Reservoir Complex Bypass Project so the department could comply with updated state and federal regulations requiring the LADWP to cover, bypass, or treat water stored in its open reservoirs. The bypass diverts drinking water away from the Silver Lake and Ivanahoe Reservoirs to the Headworks Reservoir, which is a new covered water storage facility.

The LADWP said that once it is filled, the reservoir will be kept at historic levels ranging between 440 and 450 feet above sea level.
Miry Whitehill-Ben Atar saw the graphic images of murdered children in war-torn Syria for months; the families of refugees forced to leave their homes behind and find comfort - if you can call it that - in refugee camps around the world.

But it wasn't until last July that Miry met a Syrian family in person, in Los Angeles of all places, that a light clicked on inside her.

"It's so frustrating because we see this and it's like -- those are kids, the same as our kids," the Eagle Rock resident said. "But we can't do anything because they're there."

She was so moved by the way her youngest child connected with the youngest child of that family that she wanted to do something to help.

"The things we can't do anything about are laws and policy and the hearts and minds of politicians," she said. "But the things we can have power over is, is a family that just got here from Afghanistan going to have beds to sleep on tonight? We can solve that problem and that's what we do."

What started as a call-to-action on her local Eagle Rock Moms Facebook page, became what is now: MirysList.org - a crowd-sourcing non-profit, profiling refugee families from around the world that have come to Los Angeles. The site allows people to click on those profiles to buy essential household items that can be sent directly from the family's Amazon Wish Lists.

"I don't provide the service only for them," Whitehill-Ben Atar said. "The service is for people like me who need to do something."

Miry's List has more than a hundred families, with placements in Northern California, LA and San Diego to name a few. She says 70 percent of those families come from Syria, another 20 percent from Afghanistan, and the rest from Iran, Iraq, Egypt and even Somalia.

And while she's waiting to become an official 501-c3 non-profit with the federal government, she said 30 people volunteer full or part time to seek out families and set up their profiles. And many of those are previous "new arrivals" to the program.

Whitehill-Ben Atar said as a mother, she was most touched not by what these refugee mothers told her, but by what their eyes showed her.

"When I saw a baby that looked just like mine and a mom whose eyes were more tired than mine, it's a face that every single parent can relate to," she said.

One of the latest families Miry's List is helping is the Kashefi family from Afghanistan. Bashir Kashefi, his pregnant wife, and their 2-year-old daughter Hoya arrived in LA on March 6. Kashefi was an interpreter for the U.S. military for nearly a decade. But when the Marines' group mission ended, Kashefi became a target.

"Because my life was in danger," he said. "Everybody knows Afghanistan is not secure, especially with those who were working with coalition forces."

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul granted him and his family a visa to get out and come to the United States, but the first week stateside proved to be just as difficult as home.

"We did not know what to do," Kashefi said of those first few days. They were basically couch-surfing through word of mouth, stressed out in every sense of the word.

Then he met Miry, introduced by another Afghan immigrant.

"All these things is because of what? It's because of Miry," he said. He particularly thanks a woman named Jennifer in the Miry's List organization, and Melinda and David who became the host family for the Kashefis, until late this week when Bashir will move his family in a permanent apartment in Anaheim.

"I'm very thankful for everybody around Miry's List," Kashefi said. "Because nowadays my mind is relaxed."

For Whitehill-Ben Atar, a stay-at-home-mom with no experience in running a non-profit, the experience has been life-affirming.

"I wake up every morning to WhatsApp messages from our families with pictures of kids on bikes and babies in beds and mountains of Amazon boxes in front of their door with heart emoji, happy emoji, love emoji," she said. "That is the most direct, qualitative customer assessment that I can get."

Whitehill-Ben Atar said new families are connected with Miry's List every day and they are constantly updating the families need on its website. If you would like to donate or sponsor a family, you can do so at www.MirysList.org.
Local officials who support so-called sanctuary cities could be ousted from office if a person living in the country illegally injures or kills someone in their jurisdiction.

That penalty is under a bill (HB 697) that passed its last committee stop on Monday. It would require local officials to fully comply with federal immigration laws, including holding detainees past their sentences. The measure passed over the objections of Democrats and members of the public who deem such legislation unconstitutional because it would violate a person's right to due process.

Under the measure, officials supporting local ordinances protecting undocumented immigrants would be punished, from hefty fines to being removed from office. Local governments would also absorb detention costs when holding detainees for immigration authorities.

The Senate version didn't pass a single committee stop.
A white principal of a predominantly black elementary school who told her staff to put white students in the same classrooms is no longer at the Florida school.

Christine Hoffman requested a transfer off the Campbell Park Elementary School campus in St. Petersburg on Monday while district officials review her tenure.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that Hoffman's email included detailed instructions for deciding classroom rosters.

The instructions required classrooms to have students of mixed reading levels to be together, an equal number of boys and girls, no more than two students who are known to misbehave per class and said white students should be in the same class.''

Hoffman later apologized in writing for what she called poor judgment.''

In a letter to parents, Hoffman wrote that she had intended that there not be a class with only one white student. Of the school's 606 students, 49 are white.

I was not asking that all white students in each grade be clustered, as that is not our practice in creating class lists,'' she wrote. I understand how racially insensitive the guideline was.''

Asked by parents during a meeting Monday why she wanted students grouped by skin color, she said she wanted students to feel more comfortable, according to community member Denise Ford.

Parents are responding by calling for her resignation.

The parents said that as black people we are used to being the only black person in the classroom and no one is making sure we are comfortable,'' said Ford, who attended the meeting and recounted Hoffman's conversation with parents. ``The parents were not accepting of any excuse. We accept your apology, but you have to go.''

The Pinellas County School District currently is being investigated by the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Education, which is examining whether the district disproportionately disciplines black students and doesn't give them equal access to teachers, curriculum and other resources.
South Florida Water Management District on Tuesday marked a milestone kill of pythons that have invaded the Everglades. The agencys python elimination program has captured its 50th snake since it launched on March 25. The hunters broadcast the weigh-in of the 50th serpent caught on Facebook Live. The program ends June 1.

Hunter Dustin Crum of Myakka City captured a 14-foot Burmese python. Crum caught the massive snake near the Value Jet Crash Memorial in the Everglades.

"Yeah, Im a snake catcher. I catch everything live, bare handed, Crum said proudly.

He looks the part: a bearded, barefoot snake hunter who has been doing it for years. But, the super serpent was the second catch Monday. Minutes before, the first 14-footer, a no less impressive 10-footer was nabbed. Crum said it was the "grand girl" that put up the fight.

"Did a big pull and pulled him out. And, then it was striking, striking, kinda dancing with the snake for a little while. Then, I finally got the head and he was all over of the place, Crum recalled. The hunter said he got the snakes small tooth stuck in his finger.

"I thought it was a splinter and I started picking it out and ended up being a python tooth, the hunter said.

The two captures netted Crum $525. The elimination program pays $50 for the first four feet of snake and $25 for each additional foot.

The agency picked 25 licensed hunters out of 1,000 applicants. Randy Smith with the South Florida Water Management District says it's a necessary hunt -- of an invasive species that's destroying the ecosystem.

"They basically have eliminated a majority of wildlife that was natural for the Everglades, because they have insatiable appetites and no predators, explained Smith.

No one knows for sure, but the number of pythons slithering the Everglades estimate from 10,000 to 100,000. Crum thinks the hunts, over the years, may be starting to make a difference.

"I have seen some hogs out here lately which is refreshing. I havent seen many hogs out, but theres about a dozen little piglets out there, the hunter said. However, we wont know for sure whether these hunts are paying off for years to come.

So, what happens to all the captured snakes? The hunters are allowed to keep them and do whatever they desire with their catch.
Students and teachers at several Miami-Dade County public and charter schools can boost about being among the nations best, according to the latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

Seven schools ranked among the top 100 nationally, with Design and Architecture Senior High  known as DASH  ranked the highest after coming in No. 22 out of more than 20,000 schools.

Schools also being honored include Little Havanas International Studies Charter High (24th), International Studies Prep Academy in Coral Gables (31st), Young Womens Prep Academy in Little Havana (52nd), Archimedean Upper Conservatory Charter School in Kendale Lakes (81st), Jose Marti MAST Academy in Hialeah (88th) and MAST Academy on Key Biscayne (100th).

Miami-Dade had four of the top 10 schools in the state of Florida by the survey.

Broward County had three schools ranked in the top 500, with Pompano Beach High School coming in the highest at 171st. Cypress Bay High School in Weston and Somerset Arts Conservatory in Pembroke Pines also reached that level.

Rankings are based on several factors, including graduation rates, scores on state standardized tests and the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses and scoring well on the end of year exam. The report does not rank private schools.
A South Florida high school student who was arrested Monday after police accused the teen of threatening to kill a classmate and bringing a knife to school faced a judge Tuesday morning.

The teen suspect, who celebrated a 17th birthday Sunday, was found carrying a knife at Palmer Trinity School in Palmetto Bay, an arrest report said. NBC 6 withholds the identity of the suspect because he is a minor.

The teen was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a weapon on school grounds. He will remain on house arrest pending a trial, allowed to leave only for school and church.

Police got a tip from a parent warning that there was going to be a shooting at the school. Detectives later learned the teen suspect threatened to shoot his classmate and stab him in the neck, according to an arrest report. The threat was made via text message, police said.

When the teen was taken into custody at the school, officers found a spring loaded, black 4 inch pocket knife in his book bag, according to police. The teen suspect allegedly told police that he carries the knife all the time, but never pulls it out.

"We cannot allow these types of cases to escalate to the level of violence where obviously someone gets hurt," said Alberto Zabaleta, Miami-Dade Police spokesman.

"I was sad, wasn't expecting that from this school...knowing all the kids here are very nice and very well behaved, very respectful," said Brock Serrate, a student at the school.

Palmer Trinity School released a statement regarding Monday's incident:

Earlier today, we were made aware of a situation by the Miami-Dade County Police (MDCP) involving one upperclassman.

The student was quickly removed from campus by MDCP. The situation has been resolved and we are cooperating with local authorities.

As always, Palmer Trinity School is dedicated to preserving the safety and well-being of all of our students, faculty, and staff.

"Earlier today, we were made aware of a situation by the Miami-Dade County Police (MDCP) involving one upperclassman. The student was quickly removed from campus by MDCP. The situation has been resolved and we are cooperating with local authorities. As always, Palmer Trinity School is dedicated to preserving the safety and well-being of all of our students, faculty, and staff. "
What to Know The alleged attack happened last month at the CVS Pharmacy on Ditmas Avenue in Kensington, police say

The suspect allegedly had a "non-disclosure agreement" signed by the woman stating she would not speak of the sexual abuse

Police say they found similar contracts and are looking for the other women as part of their ongoing investigation

A security guard at a CVS in Brooklyn is accused of taking a suspected 28-year-old shoplifter into a back office, sexually abusing her and forcing her to sign a "non-disclosure agreement" before he let her go, authorities say.

Jose Ramos, 29, faces charges of forcible touching, coercion and sex abuse in connection with the March 15 confrontation at the pharmacy on Ditmas Avenue in Kensington, police confirmed Tuesday.

According to police, the woman he accused of shoplifting reported the sex attack to authorities a day later. She told police Ramos threatened to call the cops if she didn't let him take photos of her genitals. She obliged out of fear, authorities say she told them.

Ramos also allegedly groped the woman in the back office before letting her go. Police say he made the woman sign a "non-disclosure agreement" stating she would not tell anyone about what Ramos allegedly did to her. If she spoke to anyone of the abuse, Ramos would call the police, the "contract" allegedly said.

Cops found a piece of paper with that "non-disclosure agreement" when they searched Ramos' belongings. Police say they also found similar contracts signed by other women. Authorities are looking for those women, and say their investigation is active and ongoing.

CVS said in a statement it is in the process of firing Ramos.

"The alleged actions of Mr. Ramos are a gross violation of our policies and wholly contrary to our values," the statement said. "We also sincerely apologize to the victims in this matter and we are cooperating fully with the NYPDs Special Victims Division in their investigation."

CVS has stringent policies and procedures to ensure that suspected shoplifters are treated lawfully and with respect," the statement continued. "Employees are not permitted to detain suspects unless they are accompanied by another colleague of the same gender as the suspect."
President Donald Trump will be returning to New York City next month to mark the 75th anniversary of a World War II naval battle by visiting the USS Intrepid.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer says Trump will also meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the floating museum on May 4.

Trump has not returned to his hometown since his inauguration.

U.S. and Australian naval and air forces fought the Japanese during the Battle of the Coral Sea, fought May 4-8, 1942. It was the first battle in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, and the U.S. and Australia halted the advance of Japanese enemy forces.

Trump and Turnbull had a tense telephone conversation in January after Trump took office.

Vice President Mike Pence returned Tuesday from a Pacific Rim trip that included a stop in Australia, where he met with Turnbull.
North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.

North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It so far has carried out five nuclear tests.

Such a move could test the developing North Korea policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increased pressure on North Korea with the help of China, the North's only major ally, instead of military options or trying to overthrow North Korea's government.

Trump spoke by phone with both the Japanese and Chinese leaders Monday. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted President Xi Jinping as telling Trump that China strongly opposes North Korea's nuclear weapons program and hopes "all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump agreed to urge North Korea to refrain from what Abe called provocative actions. "The North Korean nuclear and missile problem is an extremely serious security threat to not only the international community but also our country," the Japanese leader told reporters in Tokyo afterward.

Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea's nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the country's preparation for an ICBM launch is in its "final stage."

South Korea's Defense Ministry has said North Korea appears ready to conduct such "strategic provocations" at any time. South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country's acting leader in place of ousted President Park Geun-hye, who has been arrested over corruption allegations, has instructed his military to strengthen its "immediate response posture" in case North Korea does something significant on Tuesday's anniversary.

There is also a possibility that North Korea, facing potential changes in regional dynamics as Washington presses Beijing to pressure North Korea more aggressively, opts to mark the anniversary with a missile launch of lesser magnitude. North Korea separately fired what U.S. officials said were a Scud-type missile and a midrange missile earlier this month, but the launches were analyzed as failures.

While the U.S. has dispatched what Trump called an "armada" of ships to the region, including an aircraft carrier, U.S. officials have told The Associated Press that the administration doesn't intend to militarily respond to a North Korean nuclear or missile test. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday that South Korean naval ships will conduct a training exercise with the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson.

In a statement released late Friday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry accused Trump of driving the region into an "extremely dangerous phase" with the dispatch of the aircraft carrier and said the North was ready to stand up against any threat posed by the United States.

With typical rhetorical flourish, the ministry said North Korea "will react to a total war with an all-out war, a nuclear war with nuclear strikes of its own style and surely win a victory in the death-defying struggle against the U.S. imperialists."

Adding to the tensions, North Korea detained a U.S. citizen on Saturday, bringing the number of Americans being held there to three. The reasons for the detention of Tony Kim, who taught accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, weren't immediately clear.

Under Kim's leadership, North Korea has been aggressively pursuing a decades-long goal of putting a nuclear warhead on an ICBM capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

Last year, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests, which would have improved its knowledge in making nuclear weapons small enough to fit on long-range missiles. It also launched a long-range rocket last year that delivered a satellite into orbit, which Washington, Seoul and others saw as a banned test of missile technology.

On April 15, North Korea offered a look at its advancing nuclear weapon and missile programs in a massive military parade in Pyongyang honoring late state founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current ruler.

The displayed military hardware included prototype ICBMs and new midrange solid-fuel missiles that can be fired from land mobile launchers and submarines, making them harder to detect before launch.

The parade also featured previously unseen large rocket canisters and transporter erector launcher trucks, or TELs. This indicated that North Korea is developing technologies to "cold-launch" ICBMs, ejecting them from the launch tubes before they ignite in midair, which would prevent its limited number of ICBM-capable launcher trucks from being damaged and also allow the missiles to be fired from silos.

Analysts say North Korea is also likely developing solid-fuel ICBMs, and that some of the canisters might have contained prototypes.

North Korea had earlier shown signs it was working on a new ICBM.

In March, North Korean state media reported that the country successfully conducted a ground test of a new high-thrust rocket engine, which it said was a breakthrough for its space program and efforts to create "Korean-style strategic weapons." Kim was quoted as saying "the whole world will soon witness what eventful significance the great victory won today carries."

While North Korea almost certainly needs more time to create a solid-fuel ICBM, test launches for its existing liquid-fuel ICBMs, including KN-08s and KN-14s, could come much sooner.

Experts say these missiles could one day be capable of hitting targets as far as the continental United States, although North Korea has yet to flight test them.
A lawsuit against the owners and managers of a northwest Washington apartment building claims residents lived with infestations of vermin, mold and contamination.

The Office of the Attorney General is seeking receivership for the building at 2724 11 St. NW, abatement of a public nuisance, restitution of rent payments for tenants and penalties.

Attorney General Karl A. Racine showed News4 photos of a tenant with bed bug bites, black mold on the floor and ceiling, and a hole in the ceiling where water enters when it rains.

Theyve complained about these [issues] for any number of years and the situation hasnt been remedied, he said.

The 26-unit complex has a history of ongoing code violations including bed bug and rat infestations, inadequate heating and safety facilities, and extreme mold contamination due to unidentified leaks.

Additionally, vacant units are susceptible to squatters.

Some of the units are unoccupied and when those units are unoccupied it becomes unsafe, Racine said. People try to get into and reside in these unoccupied units."

Tenants have complained to the Districts Office of Administrative Hearings, but the conditions persisted, according to the attorney general.

Racine said his office took on the case in the interest of the tenants.

No one in the District of Columbia should live in these types of conditions, Racine said.

Residents of the property will not be forced to leave the building. Racine said they're not at the point of condemning the building, but he hopes management will fix the issues or another management company will take over.

News4 contacted the owner of the building and was told the person to speak with was not in the office.
The day started like any other for Catrena Hunter and her children.

Hunter dropped off two of her daughters at the elementary school her youngest attends, leaving her teenage daughter, Katherine Hunter, to walk to her high school up the block.

By 6 p.m., Catrena's world was upside down.

Katherine didn't pick up her sister from school the afternoon of March 20, and the 17-year-old hadn't been seen since her first-period class. At midnight, she was added to the list of missing people in Washington, D.C.

As police searched for Katherine, Catrena conducted a search of her own, worried that something horrible may have happened to her child.

"Thinking that someone has done something to your child and that you will never see them again," Hunter said. "As a mother, I've been dying."

Fortunately, Katherine came home a few days later. But the situation between the mother and daughter remains complicated.

Katherine won't reveal where she was while she was gone, but she says many missing teens just "want out."

"They're leaving. They don't know what they're looking for. They don't know what they're trying to find," Katherine said.

'Cry for Help'

The issue of missing teens in D.C. exploded on social media last month when a post claiming 14 girls disappeared in a single day went viral.

Police confirmed the post was inaccurate. But no matter the number, there's no denying the danger young people who leave home are in.

According to the National Runaway Safeline, problems in the family are the number one reason youth reach out to the hotline.

"It could be something like there's been a divorce in the family, there could be a remarriage, they may feel like, 'Where do I belong in this new family structure?'" said Maureen Blaha, the executive director of the National Runaway Safeline.

In D.C., many young people who leave home are escaping socioeconomic problems, according to Jim Beck, a spokesman for Sasha Bruce, the only youth-specific emergency shelter in the District.

"The young people we see often come from families that are experiencing a lot of stresses, economic stresses, the stress of raising a family in D.C. on a low income," Beck said.

But a number of other issues can factor into a child's decision to leave home.

Blaha said the National Runaway Safeline also gets calls from children who are being bullied at school or feel like they don't belong.

Abuse is also among the top reasons children reach out to the national hotline.

The National Runaway Safeline, which was founded in Chicago, went national in 1974 when the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act was established to create resources to keep young people out of the "criminal justice system" and address their "cry for help," Blaha said.

So far this year, the District has logged a total of 558 cases of missing juveniles, many of them black or Latino, according to the police department. As of March 30, 17 were still missing.

All of the juveniles reported missing in 2017 left voluntarily, police spokeswoman Karimah Bilal said.

"It's a telltale sign that our city has a long way to go to really fix some of the inequality faces some parts of our city," said Markus Batchelor, who started a campaign called Save Our Sisters. "My main concern is that we get to the cause of why young women and some of our young men in our community as well feel like the only option to feel safe is to leave home."

D.C. Police Department

Nationally, the statistics are even more staggering.

Between 1.6 and 2.8 million juveniles will run away from home in a year.

But not much else is known about runaways.

"Here's the reality: There is not a lot of research that goes into this population," Blaha said. "There hasn't been a lot of studies that take a look at that annually."

Runaways at Greater Risk for Human Trafficking

There are 20.9 million victims of human trafficking globally and hundreds of thousands of victims are right here in the United States, according to the International Labor Organization.

While there's no evidence to suggest that any of D.C.'s current missing person cases are related to human trafficking problem, there's no denying the increased risk to teens who run away.

"Homeless youth are most vulnerable of being recruited," Blaha said. "To survive, some will do whatever it takes."

According to the National Network for Youth, 28 percent of youth living on the street and 10 percent of those living in homeless shelters exchange sex for food, shelter or money.

"This is why it's so important to try to help prevent family breakups in the first place and help young people know how to get help," Beck said.

In recent years, the public has become more and more aware that human trafficking is something that can happen in our backyard.

"It's a terrible circumstance, but this awareness may be a silver lining," Beck added.

Getting Help

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced six new initiatives last month to address missing young people in Washington.

She outlined steps to locating the missing people, provide better resources to address issues that cause young people to run away from home and support those who may be considering leaving home.

"One thing that we've done differently is to say that every critical missing person report deserves attention, deserves the public's attention and deserves all of us trying to make sure that these kids are reunited with their families," Bowser said.

The National Runaway Safeline also offers a number of resources to young people who have run away.

"We have a database of resources across the country to help them get in touch with a shelter," Blaha said. "We will offer to make the transfer and stay on the line with them so they know what to expect."

The hotline can also help open the line of communication between a child and a parent and eventually facilitate a reunion. Through a program with Greyhound, the National Runaway Safeline has reunited 16,000 families by providing free bus tickets home.

But the community can also help.

"In order to find out the root cause of this issue and ensure that our runaway numbers decrease, then we have to work together," Commander Chanel Dickerson, the new leader of the Youth and Family Services division, said during a Facebook Live broadcast Friday.

Blaha suggests getting involved at local homeless shelters or donating money to organizations who support runaways and homeless youth.

It's also important that the community educate themselves on the issue.

"People need to understand that this is a serious issue in our country. They need to do what they can," Blaha said. "We need to get the word out that this is an issue that can happen to your child or your child's friends."
A man charged with killing his estranged wife and two other people during a string of shootings over two days in Maryland pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing the two strangers.

Eulalio Tordil, 63, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in court in Montgomery County.

Prosecutors said Tordil killed his estranged wife, 44-year-old Gladys Tordil, May 5 in the parking lot of High Point High School in Prince George's County, where she was a chemistry teacher. Tordil is facing a separate murder charge in that county. Authorities said he also shot and wounded a bystander who tried to help her; that man survived.

The next day, authorities say Tordil shot and killed two strangers during apparent carjacking attempts in Montgomery County: Malcom Winffel, 45, and Claudina Molina, 65.

Winffel was fatally shot outside the Westfield Montgomery mall after he and another man went to help a woman whom police said the suspect was trying to carjack. Both men and the woman were shot; Winffel died and the other two victims survived.

"In an instant, the female victim cried out for help," Montgomery County Police Assistant Chief Russ Hamill said in the aftermath of the crime. "These two men acted selflessly and heroically, not only coming to her aid, but likely saving her life. These men are heroes. Malcom Winffel gave his life for somebody he doesn't know in order to protect her from a predator."

Later on the same afternoon as the mall shooting, Molina was shot and killed outside a Giant grocery store in a shopping center in Aspen Hill.

Her family said she was originally from Bolivia and accomplished the American dream, working 16 hours a day for the past 25 years, only to be killed while resisting what police believe was a second carjacking attempt by Tordil. Molina was a nursing assistant who planned to retire within a year.

The manhunt for the shooter spread fear throughout the D.C. area for hours as the events unfolded.

Tordil, a former officer with the Federal Protective Service, faces life in prison without parole.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in the Montgomery County slayings in July.
A Maryland homeowner only found out she was getting her gas from a third-party supplier after receiving what she felt was an exorbitant bill in January.

Karen Franklin, who has lived in her Fort Washington home for 24 years, said her typical gas bill in winter is $200, but that jumped this winter.

I think the bill was for like $341, and I looked at it and I was like, 'Why is this so much?' she said.

She looked at the back of the bill.

I saw this little, tiny print, she said. It said Smart One Energy.

Franklin immediately called Washington Gas.

And I said, 'Well, who are they? And when did I change? Because I have no recollection of ever signing a contract with them,' she said.

Franklin was told Smart One has been supplying her gas for a year. She also found out the rate she was paying was more than twice what Washington Gas charges.

Furious, she picked up the phone and called Smart One Energy.

They tell me, 'Well, you have to talk to a supervisor. Someone will call you back within 24-48 hours,' Franklin said.

But no one did, she said. Its website has said temporarily unavailable since January, Franklin said.

NBC4 Responds reached out to Washington Gas and Smart One Energy.

All of a sudden now, someone finally calls me after months of not hearing from anybody, Franklin said.

Smart One couldn't find any record of a signed contract from Franklin and agreed to cancel her account. They also offered to send her a check.

He said something about, 'Well, if we give you the $95, you can't make a claim against us,' but once again, there's nothing in writing, Franklin said.

She also heard from Washington Gas.

He told me that he believes that Smart One engaged in the practice they call slamming, and from what he seemed to explain to me, they just grab a list of customers and assign the customers to their company, Franklin said.

In a statement to NBC4 Responds, Smart One denied slamming customers and said it honors cancellation requests in a timely manner.

Washington Gas won't confirm the slamming accusation but said its also heard from other customers having a hard time canceling with Smart One.

Franklins next bill should show she's no longer with Smart One. Washington Gas also offered her a $250 credit. But she hasnt received the $95 from Smart One.

I'll tell you, I'll believe I'll get the $95 when I see the check, Franklin said.

Smart One said it is up to Washington Gas to process the cancellation once a request is made.

Washington Gas said it can take one or two billing cycles for the change to appear on the bill.
Some schools in Maryland are warning parents about a Netflix series many students are binge watching.

The series 13 Reasons Why is based on a young adult novel but is not intended for viewers younger than 17.

"It's about a girl who commits suicide and leaves 13 tapes with a friend to tell why she did what she did, said Asher Fishman, a seventh-grader at North Bethesda Middle School.

Critics say it glorifies suicide.

Asher told his mother about "13 Reasons Why" after he watched it.

I don't think it was a bad thing that he watched it, she said. I don't think it glorifies it.

Asher said it could encourage some kids to do something.

But most people probably wouldn't do it unless they are being bullied, he said.

North Bethesda Middle, Julius West Middle, Herbert Hoover Middle and Pyle Middle sent letters home to tell parents about the series.

We want to be proactive with our community and let them know that students are hearing about this show and watching this show, Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson Derek Turner said. It does have some very adult themes that discuss suicide and romanticizes it.

The North Bethesda Middle School letter states, "Mental health professionals are concerned that adolescents, watching without an adult available to process the themes and their own feelings, could be at an increased risk of self-harm. We would be particularly concerned for any student who may be struggling emotionally and views the series without the opportunity to process the content."

Parents should listen to their children and look for changes in their behavior, said National Foundation of Suicide Prevention Director Ellen Shannon.

If they talk about taking their lives, take them seriously, she said. We never want to diminish a child's feelings.

If you are looking for mental health services and resources in the D.C. area, you can find them on our Changing Minds page.
President Donald Trump has long railed about unfair trade practices of China and Mexico. Now he's drawn a new target  Canada.

The two countries are suddenly sparring openly over inexpensive Canadian timber and Canada's barriers to U.S. dairy products  disputes that go back years but rarely get such a public airing.

Before sunrise Tuesday in Washington, Trump went on Twitter to declare: "Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!"

Hours earlier, his Commerce Department had announced plans to impose duties averaging 20 percent on softwood lumber imports from Canada. U.S. homebuilders quickly warned that the move would drive up the cost of new houses.

The duties on Canadian lumber imports are "a pretty hard blow," Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said of the lumber sanctions. "The message here is that the U.S. not only talks tough, it acts tough."

As a candidate, Trump had vowed to declare China a currency manipulator and to rewrite or withdraw from the North America Free Trade Agreement because, he said, so many American factories had moved jobs to Mexico to exploit low-wage labor. Yet once in office, he softened his stand, deciding not to single out China for its currency policy and offering a draft rewrite of NAFTA that kept much of the original deal intact.

But now, the Trump administration is ramping up the rhetoric against Ottawa.

"People don't realize Canada's been very rough on the United States," Trump said Tuesday. "Everyone thinks of Canada as being wonderful, and so do I. I love Canada. But they've outsmarted our politicians for many years."

In a way, the tensions are surprising. The U.S. and Canada, among the most open economies in the world, enjoy a booming cross-border trade. Last year, the United States sold $267 billion in goods to Canada (led by autos and machinery), more than to any other country. Canada sold $278 billion in goods to the United States, led by fuels, autos and machinery.

The U.S. trade deficit in goods with Canada was just $11 billion last year  a fraction of America's $347 billion trade gap in goods with China.

But dairy and timber have long bedeviled U.S.-Canada commercial relations. U.S. lumber mills have been complaining about cheap Canadian imports since the 19th century. The two countries have patched over their differences on Canada's softwood lumber imports, most recently with a compromise that expired in 2015.

The Obama administration sought a new accord with Canada over softwood lumber. But Obama's U.S. trade representative, Michael Froman, now at the Council on Foreign Relations, says the Canadians decided to gamble on the new administration. Froman suggested that they calculated that they might get a better deal from Trump. As a builder, they perhaps reasoned, Trump might be more sympathetic to anything that would limit the price of lumber.

Instead, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross this week announced duties ranging from 3 percent to 24 percent on softwood lumber imports, arguing that Canada unfairly subsidizes its industry.

"They're generally a good neighbor," Ross said Tuesday. "But they still have to play by the rules."

The U.S. and Canada are also wrangling over dairy. Ottawa shields its dairy farmers from foreign competition, regulating prices and production and taxing imports heavily. But a new American product  a type of unfiltered milk used in cheese  had not been blocked by Canada's trade barriers. Canadian dairy farmers complained about the cheap imports coming across the border. So Ottawa changed its pricing policy, effectively barring unfiltered American milk.

Some American dairy farmers have been devastated.

Tim Prosser, a dairy farmer in Columbus, Wisconsin, was dropped by a buyer after Canada made the change. Prosser says he and his father might have to shut down their business and sell their 100 cows if they can't find a new customer by May 1.

"Even if we keep feeding the cows and milking them, it still costs us money," Prosser said. "If we have to turn around and dump the milk, we'd be looking at a $35,000 loss every month."

On Tuesday, a Wisconsin state official said about half the state's farms affected by Canada's move had found new buyers for their milk or have promising leads.

In a speech last week in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Trump declared that Canada has been "very, very unfair" to dairy farmers and promised to "start working on that."

Laura Dawson, director of the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington, says it's not surprising that Trump would spotlight the issue: "Focusing on dairy while you're giving a speech in Wisconsin  why would you not play to the audience there?"

Dawson, a former economic adviser to the U.S. embassy in Ottawa, says she suspects "the current drama will be forgotten" after U.S. and Canadian negotiators get down to working out compromises.

"Canadians are pretty thick-skinned," she says. "They are used to dairy and softwood being continuing irritants" in relations with the United States.

"There are millions of good U.S. jobs that depend on the smooth flow of goods, services and people back and forth across our border," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a news conference.

He added: "Any two countries are going to have issues that will be irritants to the relationship. Having a good constructive working relationship allows us to work through those irritants."

Dawson says Canadians are worried about their overreliance on the American market: 75 percent of Canadian exports go to the United States.

Hufbauer at the Peterson Institute says he doubts Trump's talk will force Canada to changes its way. It might even have the opposite effect:

"Talking tough will rile the average Canadian and make it harder for Trudeau to make concessions."
A 5-year-old caused a fire that displaced six people Monday in Augusta, Maine, investigators say.

According to the Maine Fire Marshal's Office, the child was playing with matches or a lighter when the fire broke out around 3 p.m. at a three-family home on Mount Vernon Avenue.

The blaze began on the first floor and left the building uninhabitable. Because it is close to the road, steps are underway to demolish it.

No one was injured. The American Red Cross is assisting the displaced victims.

The Augusta Fire Department is reminding parents to keep lighters and matches away from children.
The husband of a New Hampshire woman who was stabbed to death near Paris says she was attacked at random by a homeless man who was deemed unfit to stand trial.

John McDonough, of Rye, recently returned with his wife's remains and possessions after meeting with French authorities and U.S. Embassy representatives. Cathleen McDonough was fatally stabbed from behind on April 6 as she was taking photos of street art in a suburb of Paris. The 52-year-old McDonough was in France visiting her daughter.

John McDonough said Monday police told him the man apparently was angry that she was taking photos. He said he was told the man was from Gambia and had no ID or passport.

A prosecutor said the man was arrested and taken to a psychiatric hospital.
Authorities in Maine are looking for a man accused of ramming his car into a trooper's cruiser over the weekend.

State police say 49-year-old Michael S. Irving was pulled over by a trooper for an inspection sticker violation in Lyman on Sunday.

While the trooper was running Irving's ID, Irving allegedly put his vehicle in reverse and rammed the trooper's cruiser, then drove away. The trooper wasn't injured.

Irving's vehicle was found abandoned along an ATV trail about a half mile away near the Lyman Elementary School.

Irving is described as about 5'11" tall, weighs approximately 150 pounds, and has short, brown hair with hazel eyes. He's described as a transient who is frequently spotted in Portland, Old Orchard Beach and Biddeford.

Authorities plan to charge him with reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, aggravated criminal mischief and eluding a police officer. State police say the cost to repair the trooper's damaged cruiser will be more than $1,000.

Anyone with information on Irving's location is asked to call state police in Gray at 207-657-3030.
A New Hampshire man could spend years in prison for charges stemming from an incident at a school board meeting.

Chris Williams told NBC Boston he was just trying to stop a meeting on October 20, 2016, from being interrupted, but he now faces several charges including a felony. Williams says his life is ruined.

The video recording of the 2016 Newmarket School Board meeting stops at 7:04 p.m. and starts again at 7:07 p.m. According to Jeffrey Clay of Alton, he was assaulted in those three minutes for holding up a sign that accused school board members of lying.

I went right into shock, I didnt understand what was happening, he said in an interview Tuesday.

Clay said that the Newmarket Public Access Television Station Manager at the time, Chris Williams, attacked him.

I was taken, I was shaken side to side, front to back, and the sign ripped out of my hands, Clay recalled.

NBC Boston reached out to Williams in the lobby of his Newmarket apartment building.

He admitted he yanked the sign away from Clay, but hes adamant he didnt assault him.

All of that is complete and total slander, Williams said.

A grand jury recently indicted Williams on two misdemeanors for the alleged assault and a felony for falsifying evidence  that charge stemming from those three minutes of lost video. He says he never intended to falsify evidence.

That portion of the video wasnt saved, Williams said.

He says the accusations have turned his life upside down. After ten years working for the town, he lost his job. He says no one will hire him and his health is deteriorating.

I might have to seek disability benefits just to keep a roof over my head because I am not able to pursue the career I love, Williams said.

Meanwhile, Clay, a well-known local government watchdog, says standing up for free speech isnt easy either.

I feel terrible about whats happened but I have done nothing wrong, Clay said. I have a right to sit there and hold up a sign without being accosted.

Williams has hired a lawyer to represent him. If convicted of the felony charge, he could face up to 7 years in state prison.
The Salem, Massachusetts, town common was once again targeted, but this time, instead a message of hate, it was a message of love.

Hearts and a banner reading "Shalom Salem" were hung up overnight Monday.

Over the weekend, a swastika was painted on there.

"You didn't see people coming out adding swastikas there. They put hearts there because there's a lot more love in the world than there is hate," said Cindy Shapiro, who stopped to admire the new decorations.

Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll said that police are currently reviewing surveillance cameras to determine who is responsible for drawing the swastika, which has since been removed.

"It does look like it may have involved a group during school vacation week," Driscoll said. "So we're trying to figure out was it an organized trip. They're doing a lot of work to narrow down who might be responsible."

Driscoll said she isn't sure if this was just an isolated incident, or if it might be related to similar occurrences in other Massachusetts cities.

New data shows that the number of anti-Semitic incidents reported in Massachusetts soared last year when compared to the prior year.

"In Salem, we strive to be a welcoming and inclusive city, and in the wake of this incident, we will continue our work with our community partners like Salem's No Place for Hate Committee, the ADL, and others to continually educate, advocate and work toward that goal," Driscoll said.

Those who decorated the bandstand wish to remain anonymous, but would like everyone to know the name "Salem" comes from the world "Shalom," which is Hebrew for "peace."
Police in St. Albans, Vermont, say a drug suspect told them he wanted to grow pot on his property in order to be ready for the possible legalization of recreational marijuana in the state.

St. Albans police said they were called to assist game wardens with an investigation into a possible hunting violation Sunday, after wardens confronted a man who then fled into a house.

"Wardens obtained written consent to search the residence and the outbuildings," Lt. Ben Couture of the St. Albans Police Department said. "When they obtained that consent, they ended up seizing 13 marijuana plants and 27 smaller marijuana plants."

The also seized seeds, police said, from 42-year-old Michael "Seth" Marshall of St. Albans.

According to police, the suspect told them he thought marijuana was going to become legalized at the state level soon, so he wanted to get a jump on growing it.

"I've heard, through my 33 years of practicing law, pretty much every comical response somebody would come up with to a police officer who's about to bust them for something," said Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia County, who has voiced support for marijuana legalization. "I got a kick out of that, but the nutshell is  this person knows full well we have no system in place."

However, there was a step toward cannabis reform in Vermont through a vote at the State House in Montpelier Tuesday.

The Vermont Senate approved a proposal to regulate and tax recreational marijuana sales to people 21 and older.

The bill calls for a program establishing state-licensed retailers resembling Colorado's, as well as a state system starting soon in Massachusetts.

A similar Senate bill fizzled out in the Vermont House of Representatives last year, with opponents raising highway safety concerns.

This new legislative push still needs approval from that second chamber, which is unlikely to take it up before next year.

It's worth pointing out that no Vermont lawmaker has suggested seeing home grow operations nearly as large as the one St. Albans police report busting Sunday.

As for Marshall, he was cited to appear in court next month to answer to a charge of cultivating marijuana.
Boston police are investigating a case of sexual assault at a Boys and Girls Club of Boston.

Authorities said they were called to the South Boston location on Saturday and arrested a young boy for indecent assault on another young boy.

The club sent a note home with parents Monday afternoon telling them about the incident over the weekend and said it involved a boy from a partner organization who allegedly hurt a boy of the same age who is a club member.

"I have a little one so it is concerning for me as a parent," said Diana Peguero, who was picking up her daughter.

Another parent, Sydney Best, who was considering sending his daughter to the Boys and Girls Club, said the incident is "mind numbing."

"It just goes to show there was a dark area where something was able to happen, somewhere where the children werent being supervised," Best said.

The Boys and Girls Club issued a statement saying in part, "Child safety and protection is our number one priority, and we apply intense due diligence to all aspects of policy and operations to reduce risk and provide a safe, secure environment."

Some parents say while the allegations are alarming, they're still confident that their children are safe.

"It must have been real serious that they called police. But Im not going to let them spoil it for this place because this place is wonderful," said June Flores.
South Portland city councilors have backed away from a proposal to become Maines first sanctuary city.

City Councilor Eben Rose had proposed amendments that defined the South Portland Police Departments role in Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportations.

While Rose did not use the term sanctuary city in the amendments, he said his proposal would ensure that police officers were not deputized to enforce federal immigration law.

While there appeared to be some initial support for a proposal to keep local police from cooperating with ICE agents, city leaders ultimately drafted a resolution that reiterates current police practices: South Portland Police will not profile, or proactively ask about immigration status.

It essentially codifies in resolution how we already operate, said South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins.

City Councilors will vote on the resolution in an upcoming meeting. Rose said he is satisfied with the revisions to his proposal.

Another councilor, Susan Henderson, said it strikes a compromise.

We can do the spirit of a sanctuary city, and still obey federal and local laws, she said.

Councilors said one factor was the fear of losing $9.1 million in federal funding, should the Trump administration retaliate against sanctuary cities.

The term sanctuary city would open up the city to not receiving federal money, and we dont want to do that, said Henderson.
Ecommerce competition is heating up globally, with giants Amazon, Apple, Alibaba, Tencent and eBay all vying for bigger stakes in the market. Retail sales are expected to surpass $27 trillion by 2020, and ecommerce is expected to account for more than $4 trillion of that figure.

One key area that is becoming the next battleground for these companies is payments. Payments may seem to be an inherent part of ecommerce platforms that facilitates the checkout process. However, the boom of financial technology (fintech) has made payments a major segment in financial services, creating major opportunities for these businesses to tap into wider markets.

Building ecommerce ecosystems

Ecommerce isnt about who has the biggest inventory or who provides overnight shipping anymore. It also isnt simply about a single defining feature or functionality in a website or an app. Its about who can provide the best customer experience. In order to deliver this, retailers need to build up capabilities across all fronts: products, price, user experience, logistics, support and, of course, payments.

Forget platforms. Forget application suites. Its about building ecosystems. Whats emerging as a critical component of todays ecommerce ecosystems is payments. Customers demand a quick, secure and convenient way to pay for purchases. According to marketing automation platform GetResponse, complicated checkout processes, card security and not having enough payment methods are all factors in shopping cart abandonment.

Interestingly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to payments, as each market would have its own take on payment methods. The U.S. relies on cards to fund digital wallets. In China, they transfer funds directly to phone accounts. In some parts of Europe, bank transfers are preferred. In parts of Asia with low banking penetration, cash is still king.

This can be quite the conundrum for cross-border and international ecommerce. While it is ideal to be able to support a wide array of payment methods, displaying all payment options can still affect the flow of the checkout process. Checkout pages need to be deliberately designed to be simple and easy to use. However, in the greater scheme of things, usability is just a minor issue that can be addressed through careful user experience design.

Beefing up payment processing

Of course, offering a variety of payment methods wouldnt be much of an issue if there were one dominant payments service across all markets. Hence, the mad rush to establish footholds for their brands payment services.

eBay has had the greatest success integrating a payments service into its ecommerce business with its acquisition of PayPal in 2002. PayPal has gone on to become a payments processor giant, powering ecommerce platforms besides eBay. Eventually, PayPal spun off as an independent entity in 2015.

While supporting their own ecommerce operations is important, the bigger picture for these ecommerce companies is to be able to offer their services as a platform for use by other businessesmuch like how PayPal is used by thousands of businesses outside of eBay.

However, PayPals years under eBay arguably stunted PayPals growth, allowing other players such as Google and Apple to launch their own digital wallets and even traditional card companies like Visa and MasterCard to make their plays in the growing fintech scene. Alibaba and Tencent also have their own payment services.

All are pushing other ecommerce platforms to use their service, even resorting to buying into these companies. In India, online store Flipkart got a massive boost after getting a new funding round from Tencent, Microsoft and eBay. Amazon, Flipkarts biggest rival in India, is trying to fight this. Amazon recently got approved by the Reserve Bank of India for its mobile wallet service, which means it can process payments beyond the Amazon store.

In Southeast Asia, popular ecommerce platform Lazada was acquired by Alibaba along with it Lazadas payment service HelloPay. And recently, HelloPay announced it will soon be operating as Alipay under Alibabas Ant Financial arm.

It is quite fascinating, to say the least, how aggressive these companies are to shore up their payments services despite the low banking penetration and the preference for cash on delivery as fulfillment method in these markets. But a growing lesson in tech is that theres nothing as too early these days.

Towards a cashless future

Payments isnt simply about facilitating transfer of financial value between merchants and consumers anymore. Payment services have become non-banks, carrying billions of dollars in funds in their systems. Even banks have realized the threat of payment services to the banking industry. With the value of funds stored in their accounts, its possible for payments services to spin off into other financial services, such as lending, foreign exchange and funds.

While a major consideration for ecommerce giants to enhance their payment processing capability is inherent in their needs, their payments service could be spun off for opportunities in financial services. If an ecommerce service becomes the preferred retailer in the market, then there is a good chance for their payment service to be the preferred service, as well. Its a race to establish ecosystem dominance. Imagine the position these ecommerce giants would be in if they could control the goods and the money in the market.
The question occurs: What will happen if I cancel Verizons Non-Published Service, which for a ridiculously unjustifiable fee of $5.25 a month keeps my landline unlisted and my time at home almost entirely uninterrupted by scammers and robocalls.

If I cancel this alleged service, will Verizon really punish me by publishing my number  unlisted now for 10 years  against my will and even if I first ask politely that they not do so?

I know what youre thinking: Of course, they will, theyre not only a cold-hearted corporation, theyre a carrier, for crying out loud. I, too, figure they will treat me like a shop owner who refuses to pay protection money: Nice quiet dinnertimes you have going there; would be a shame if something happened to them. But you never know for sure until you ask, right?

Before I ask, a little background. About five years ago  after paying Verizons privacy extortion fee for five full years  I asked the companys public relations department to explain to me exactly why it charges customers for not providing a service, namely publishing a telephone number in telephone directories. Realtors dont charge for not listing homes for sale. Heres the answer Verizon provided:

"The cost charged to offer unlisted phone numbers is chiefly systems and IT based. Specifically, the costs we incur and factor into the monthly charge involve three things: quality control, data integrity and the interface we have with other carriers and directory publishers. These activities help us protect the feed of customer information we have, and must protect, when customers request that their telephone number remains private when requested."

Thats 69 words worth of bullpucky that could have been boiled down to six simple words of truth: We do it because we can. Verizon charges $5.25 per month to not put my number in telephone directories because thats apparently how much people like me are prepared to pay in exchange for a little peace and quiet. (Actually, its a lot of peace and quiet: I get maybe two or three junk calls a month, whereas a colleague of mine whose landline number is published says thats an average day in his household. This is why I have continued to pay Verizon its protection money.)

Anyway, back to that bullpucky explanation. I knew it was then and remains bullpucky not only because thats obvious, but because Network World readers were quick to chime in, including this from Jeff Wheeler, a former vice president of technology for National Directory Assistance:

At a previous job, I developed directory assistance database software from scratch.  It took me a few weeks to develop all the necessary tools and software to interface with what is today about 90% of independent telephone companies in the U.S. The company is unquestionably an industry-leader in directory assistance data (as well as look-ups, etc.) So I've got a lot of expertise in this matter. I can tell you with 100% certainty that there is no reason for Verizon or Mom & Pop Telephone Co. to have any more expense for handling an unlisted, or unpublished, phone number than a listed one.

Verizon charges the fee because they can (regulators allow it, Wheeler noted) and customers like me pay because not paying would result in a metaphorical brick being tossed through the tranquility of our home lives.

It doesnt have to be that way, though. Perhaps I can cancel the nonexistent service and Verizon will nonetheless honor my request to leave my unlisted number unlisted. After all, all Im asking is that they do nothing. Maybe.

I dial Verizons customer service department. Steve answers. I ask him what will happen if I cancel my Non-Published Service.

Your number will get published.

I explain that I dont want that to happen and ask if theres some way around it.

No.

I mention that Ive already paid $600 to Verizon for the privilege of keeping my telephone number private. Surely that must count for something? I even mention that my roughly $200-a-month total Verizon bill means Ive contributed roughly $24,000 to the companys coffers over the past 10 years.

I dont remember Steves exact reply to that gambit, but the gist was, Sucks to be you.

Actually, Steve was unfailingly polite.

Yet if I had asked that he cancel my Non-Published Service he was sure as hell going to throw that brick.
When Microsoft asked customers last week for feedback on the portal that just replaced the decades-long practice of delivering detailed security bulletins, it got an earful from unhappy users.

"Hate hate hate the new security bulletin format. HATE," emphasized Janelle 322 in a support forum where Microsoft urged customers to post thoughts on the change. "I now have to manually transcribe this information to my spreadsheet to disseminate to my customers. You have just added 8 hours to my workload. Thanks for nothing."

Janelle 322 and others left scathing comments on the support forum Microsoft touted Friday as the place to post comments and questions about the Security Update Guide (SUG), the online portal which took the place of familiar bulletins.

Microsoft announced the demise of bulletins in November 2016, saying then that the new process would debut Feb. 14. Those web-published bulletins had been a cornerstone of Microsoft's patch disclosure policies since at least 1998. The bulletins' thoroughness and transparency were long praised by security professionals, who considered them the benchmark against which all other vendors' efforts were compared.

After a two-month delay, Microsoft dropped bulletins with the April 11 collection of security fixes. A day later, one patch expert said the switch from bulletins to SUG had expanded his workload by about six times.

Customers echoed the added-work theme in comments on the support thread.

"I typically spend 2-3 hours to read through and determine what updates need to go to our systems, document, etc. I spent a solid 8 hours trying to make sense of everything today and get it organized, and I'm not close to being finished," reported Jim24Mac. "What I had to go through today was an abomination. I download[ed] the spreadsheet with 670 lines of exploit info that I'm supposed to somehow find useful to determine what I need and why. It's terrible."

Other critics got more specific.

"While calling out the security issue via CVEs [Common Vulnerabilities & Exposures] is valid, for the system admin/patcher the new format doesn't relate well at all to what we see to approve and patch," wrote Susan Bradley, a noted Windows patch expert who writes for the Windows Secrets newsletter. "While it's appreciated to have a searchable database in the Security Update Guide, it is too cumbersome to use to quickly get the information needed on Update Tuesday. To get the same information took way too many steps and required collaboration with other sources to confirm information.

"Bottom line we have a communication problem," Bradley continued. "You are talking CVEs [but] we're still needing something that showcases what we see needing to be installed on our PCs. If there is any way to better filter down the information and make it better trackable to what we see installed, that would be grand."

"The change did nothing to make our lives easier and made it much more difficult to determine our internal severity based on the attack methods," added J_DDS on the same thread. "I'm all for a searchable database but don't trash the system that worked perfectly in the past."

Microsoft's stock response in the support threads was penned by Chris Wojahn, a senior escalation engineer in the support group. "We understand the concern about the changes made to ... the Security Update Guide replacing the numerous KBs [knowledge base documents] of the past," Wojahn wrote. "The change is to align with the move from individual updates to the cumulative update process."

Wojahn's explanation for the change was contrary to what Microsoft last year claimed had prompted the decision. "Our customers have asked for better access to update information, as well as easier ways to customize their view to serve a diverse set of needs," the Microsoft Security Response Center stated in November when it announced the latest switch.

Microsoft never linked the death of bulletins to its earlier decision to eliminate individual patches and in their stead, provide only cumulative security updates for all versions of Windows. Instead, its vague rationale only mystified customers. "They were all scratching their heads, wondering why Microsoft made it harder to find stuff," said Chris Goettl, product manager with patch management vendor Ivanti, of users who attended an April 12 webinar on the month's patches.

The lack of communication was something another critic focused on in comments to the support forum. "Honestly I know you've communicated random fragments of this ... change across random Microsoft blogs, but Microsoft should have done a better job in making it a bit clearer," said chicaneUK. "I don't understand how this is an improvement of the process, nor how it is saving us time or making things easier."

Microsoft has also posted a FAQ that covers the SUG portal and its dashboard.

This story, "Customers roast Microsoft over security bulletins' demise" was originally published by Computerworld .
Public IaaS cloud providers have been on a dizzying streak of announcing and opening new data centers to power their operations, and according to the CEO of Amazon Web Services Andy Jassy, thats not expected to slow down any time soon.

We are not close to being done expanding geographically, Jassy said at AWSs San Francisco Summit last week. I think virtually every tier one country will have an AWS region over time and I think many of the emergent countries will as well.

+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: A peek inside Amazons cloud, from global scale to custom hardware | Deep dive comparison of cloud storage options from Amazon, Microsoft and Google +

AWS already has 16 regions across the world, with three more in the works in Paris, China and Sweeden. You can check out AWSs global infrastructure here. There are 196 countries in the world. That means AWS has a lot of room to expand.

AWS isnt alone in adding cloud regions around the world. Microsoft Azure has 34 regions with announced plans for four additional ones, two in the U.S. and two in France. Google, meanwhile, has seven regions with plans for 10 more.

These numbers are not all apples-to-apples comparisons. AWS, for example, has a structure where each region is made up of at least two Availability Zones (AZs), which allow customers to spread workloads across multiple discrete data centers with their own power supplies. Google also uses that structure, Microsoft does not. So while AWS has only 16 regions  which may seem small compared to Azures 34 - AWS has 42 AZs.

The broader point is that all three of these providers are dramatically building up their network of cloud data centers to keep up with the tremendous growth of this market. Gartner estimates that cloud market overall was worth $209 billion in 2016, and will be more than $380 billion by 2020. To keep up with demand, it seems that the big cloud vendors are only going to get bigger.
Prepare to run Android at blazing fast speeds on a new Raspberry Pi-like computer developed by Huawei.

Huawei's HiKey 960 computer board is priced at US$239 but has some of the latest CPU and GPU technologies. Google, ARM, Huawei, Archermind, and LeMaker all played roles in developing the board.

The HiKey 960 is meant to be a go-to PC for Android or a tool to develop software and drivers for the OS. The board development was backed by Linaro, an organization that develops software packages for the Android OS and ARM architecture.

Linaro CEO George Grey recently said it was sad that Android developers had to write code on x86 chips. He encouraged the organization's members to build a superfast computer so developers could build ARM software on ARM architecture. Intel has scaled back Android support on x86 PCs and isn't making smartphone chips.

The HiKey 960 can be used to create robots, drones, and other smart devices. But it's mainly intended to be an Android PC or a tool for developers who want to write and test applications.

The board can deliver performance similar to the latest smartphone and tablets. It has a Huawei Kirin 960 octa-core chip, which has four high-performance ARM Cortex-A73 and four low-power Cortex-A53 cores. The Kirin 960 is also used in the Huawei Mate 9 smartphone, which started shipping late last year.

The HiKey 960 has 32GB of storage and 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM. The Mali-G71 GPU is capable of delivering 4K graphics and is based on ARM's latest Bitfrost architecture. However, the board will only have HDMI 1.2a slot, which is a 1080p display output.

Other features include dual-band 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1. The board has a PCIe m.2 slot to add additional storage or wireless capabilities. It also has 40-pin and 60-pin expansion connectors and multiple high-definition outputs so cameras can be connected to the board.

It will ship in the U.S., European Union, and Japan in early May. It will later ship worldwide.

The board will also support multiple Linux versions in the future.

You can load Android 7.1 on the board, but you will need to be technically savvy and have knowledge of command-line operations. Instructions to load Android 7.1 are on Google's website.
Inkpen man assaulted partner after she sold his gifts for cosmetics

AN Inkpen man with a history of domestic violence has been told by magistrates to address his anger management issues before they cause him to commit a very serious offence.

Zak Wiltshire, of Craven Road, appeared at Reading Magistrates Court on Thursday, April 13, after pleading guilty to assaulting his former partner, Lauren Baker, in March this year.

The 26-year-old father-of-two admitted one charge of assault by beating and one of criminal damage, after discovering Miss Baker had sold jewellery he had bought her as a gift, so that she could buy cosmetics.

Prosecuting, Lesley Gilmore said: On the evening of March 20 the defendant arrived home after collecting their three-year-old son.

He came into the house and noticed cosmetics purchased by Miss Baker.

He found the purchase had been made through the sale of items of jewellery, which upset him as they had been of sentimental value to him.

Both parties were saying horrible things to each other.

He was informed she was going to call the police.

He grabbed the phone and threw it and in the process he grabbed her wrists.

The court heard Mr Wiltshire, an apprentice at ATS Euromaster, was remorseful and had replaced Miss Bakers damaged phone, while there were no physical injuries to the victim.

The incident, the latest in a string of violent offences dating back to 2007  including further incidents of domestic violence  also found Mr Wiltshire in breach of a community order imposed by the same court in August last year.

A probation report told how Mr Wiltshire suffered from depression and anxiety and had clear issues with temper control.

Addressing magistrates, the probation officer said: If we dont nip this in the bud, he will appear in court for a very serious offence.

Looking at this probation record, they dont seem to have addressed the issues at hand.

Hes going to need something thats targeted.

The officer added: Hes keen, hes motivated, he wants to address these issues. He knows its now cost his relationship.

In mitigation, Mr Wiltshires solicitor told the court that this latest offence did not meet the custody threshold.

He said: The assault and criminal damage occurred almost at the same time.

He was committed to this relationship and he felt that she was committed.

He buys her a gift, she sold it on for cosmetics.

He added: While there is an element of immaturity, theres also an element of wanting to do the right thing and [he] talks constantly of wanting to be a positive role model for his children.

Magistrates said: He needs to understand whats acceptable in a relationship and what is not.

He also needs to get some therapy.

Sentencing Mr Wiltshire, magistrates told him: The first thing to say is you've got to do a lot of work to address these anger management issues and to look at dealing with domestic issues.

Weve got to draw a line under this or you could end up in prison.

We treat domestic violence very seriously in this court.

The court revoked the existing order, imposing a replacement community order for 24 months with the condition that Mr Wiltshire must complete the Building Better Relationships programme  a groupwork programme for men who have been violent in their relationships.

The court also ordered Mr Wiltshire to pay a 85 victim surcharge and 85 costs.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: HCL Technologies on Monday announced that it would buttress its capabilities in the BPO sector through the acquisition of US-based Urban Fulfilment Services in an all-cash deal for $30 million (Rs 193.43 crore).

As per the agreement, HCL will acquire a 100 per cent stake in the firm.

The acquisition of Urban Fulfillment Services strengthens HCLs capabilities in mortgage BPO services, loan fulfillment and debt servicing space, said Anoop Tiwari, corporate vice-president and global head  Business Services, HCL Technologies.

Combining UFS talent and client portfolio with HCLs deep industry expertise and business acumen, offers us the opportunity to provide platformbased services on our own platform, driving transformation through robotics process automation, he added.

CHENNAI: HCL Technologies on Monday announced that it would buttress its capabilities in the BPO sector through the acquisition of US-based Urban Fulfilment Services in an all-cash deal for $30 million (Rs 193.43 crore). As per the agreement, HCL will acquire a 100 per cent stake in the firm. The acquisition of Urban Fulfillment Services strengthens HCLs capabilities in mortgage BPO services, loan fulfillment and debt servicing space, said Anoop Tiwari, corporate vice-president and global head  Business Services, HCL Technologies. Combining UFS talent and client portfolio with HCLs deep industry expertise and business acumen, offers us the opportunity to provide platformbased services on our own platform, driving transformation through robotics process automation, he added.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced that

governments e-Marketplace (GeM), the one-stop online marketplace for procurement of goods and services, will soon tie up with state governments for their local procurement and help them create a transparent, accountable and efficient public procurement system and expects an estimated transaction at Rs 10,000 crore a year.

Sitharaman said GeM will be offered to state government and that her ministry will actively work with various state governments to promote it. We shall now be going forward to encourage states to have an MoU with the GeM so that their procurement can also go through the transparent process.

The Minister also dismissed setting up of an independent enquiry on the allegation of Congress against GeM. The charges are baseless, motivated and malafide, infact the government has made a saving of over Rs 100 crore in the total procurement of about Rs 450 crore that has taken place through GeM.

The commerce ministry officials said vendors from small towns are getting an opportunity to do business with the government, in contrast to the erstwhile rate contract system where not more than 3500 suppliers were holding a monopoly to supply to the government at fixed rates.

Over 9,000 products from 250 categories including computers, stationery and several services are registered by different vendors on the portal.The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals is working on increasing the number of services by including areas like cleaning, plumbing and digitisation of records.

NEW DELHI: Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced that governments e-Marketplace (GeM), the one-stop online marketplace for procurement of goods and services, will soon tie up with state governments for their local procurement and help them create a transparent, accountable and efficient public procurement system and expects an estimated transaction at Rs 10,000 crore a year. Sitharaman said GeM will be offered to state government and that her ministry will actively work with various state governments to promote it. We shall now be going forward to encourage states to have an MoU with the GeM so that their procurement can also go through the transparent process. The Minister also dismissed setting up of an independent enquiry on the allegation of Congress against GeM. The charges are baseless, motivated and malafide, infact the government has made a saving of over Rs 100 crore in the total procurement of about Rs 450 crore that has taken place through GeM. The commerce ministry officials said vendors from small towns are getting an opportunity to do business with the government, in contrast to the erstwhile rate contract system where not more than 3500 suppliers were holding a monopoly to supply to the government at fixed rates. Over 9,000 products from 250 categories including computers, stationery and several services are registered by different vendors on the portal.The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals is working on increasing the number of services by including areas like cleaning, plumbing and digitisation of records.
Pramod Thomas By

Express News Service

KOCHI: India is the largest producer of spices in the world. But, the country also imports spices in large numbers. In fact, of late, imports have been rising.

Although the quantity of spices reaching Indian shores has not really shot up, the value doubled in just four years. In 2011-12, India imported 1.11 lakh tonnes of spices worth Rs 2,094 crore. It rose to 1.66 lakh tonnes worth Rs 4,466 crore in 2015-16.

The major consuming countries of Indian spices are the US and Europe. India imports mostly from South Asia and Africa.

India consumes 86 per cent of its total production and the rest is exported in original or value-added forms. So, the companies in India which are focused on value-added spice products have to resort to imports. Companies in search of quality spices at cheaper rates have to look overseas for options.

Also, when the same spice is needed in large quantities, it is almost impossible to source the total requirement from within the country, says P J Kunjachan, chairman and managing director, Arjuna Natural Extracts.

Ginger, coriander and clove are the largest imported varieties in terms of quantity, whereas

pepper and clove rule the import basket in value.

All India Spices Exporters Forum Chairman Gulshan John said: In the recent past, many spice varieties were available cheap overseas. This is one of the reasons for increased imports. Value-addition is done to most of the imported spices before they are exported.

In 2015-16, a total of 8,43,255 tonnes of spices and spice products valued Rs 16,238.23 crore have been exported from the country against 8,93,920 tonnes valued at Rs 14,899.68 crore in 2014-15.

KOCHI: India is the largest producer of spices in the world. But, the country also imports spices in large numbers. In fact, of late, imports have been rising. Although the quantity of spices reaching Indian shores has not really shot up, the value doubled in just four years. In 2011-12, India imported 1.11 lakh tonnes of spices worth Rs 2,094 crore. It rose to 1.66 lakh tonnes worth Rs 4,466 crore in 2015-16. The major consuming countries of Indian spices are the US and Europe. India imports mostly from South Asia and Africa. India consumes 86 per cent of its total production and the rest is exported in original or value-added forms. So, the companies in India which are focused on value-added spice products have to resort to imports. Companies in search of quality spices at cheaper rates have to look overseas for options. Also, when the same spice is needed in large quantities, it is almost impossible to source the total requirement from within the country, says P J Kunjachan, chairman and managing director, Arjuna Natural Extracts. Ginger, coriander and clove are the largest imported varieties in terms of quantity, whereas pepper and clove rule the import basket in value. All India Spices Exporters Forum Chairman Gulshan John said: In the recent past, many spice varieties were available cheap overseas. This is one of the reasons for increased imports. Value-addition is done to most of the imported spices before they are exported. In 2015-16, a total of 8,43,255 tonnes of spices and spice products valued Rs 16,238.23 crore have been exported from the country against 8,93,920 tonnes valued at Rs 14,899.68 crore in 2014-15.
Sangeeta Bora By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: The blatant, overnight encroachment of a part of Varthur lake bed has continued to baffle the authorities who are still trying to figure out the mysterious hands responsible for it.

After receiving several complaints from local residents, Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) CEO Vidyasagar and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Assistant Engineer Mallikarjuna inspected the spot on Monday.

The officials, however, said they did not know who is responsible for the encroachment. But they assured that the encroachment will be cleared soon and a criminal case will be registered against the encroachers.

Mallikarjuna said, It is clear that someone is dumping earth on the lake bed with an intention to encroach. We have informed the tahsildar. He will be visiting the spot on Tuesday and identify the level of encroachment and mark it... We have the registration numbers of the trucks. We will find the people responsible and make sure they clear this encroachment. We will also file a criminal case against them.

Close to 100 trucks made their way to Varthur Lake between 9.30pm on Saturday and 6 am on Sunday and dumped earth on the lake bed.

Sources said the encroachment was, in fact, going on for almost two weeks. On Saturday, the situation heightened when lorries passed through narrow lanes all through the night to dump earth on the lake bed.

Jagdesh Reddy, a local resident, said, We are glad that officials came to take note of the situation. They assured us that the encroachment will be removed.

Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, said he has asked the BBMP Commissioner to inquire into the issue. However, it is the responsibility of the DC (of Bengaluru) Urban to look into such matters, he said.

Members of Namma Bengaluru Foundation were surprised by the extent of encroachment of the primary rajakaluve. They said the rajakaluve was not properly demarcated in spite of the May 4, 2016 National Green Tribunal (NGT) order to do so.

Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO of the foundation, said, The primary rajakaluve has not been identified yet. Why are the buffer zones of lakes (75m) and primary rajkaluve (50m) not established? Authorities should implement the NGT order and take action on the encroachers.

BENGALURU: The blatant, overnight encroachment of a part of Varthur lake bed has continued to baffle the authorities who are still trying to figure out the mysterious hands responsible for it. After receiving several complaints from local residents, Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) CEO Vidyasagar and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Assistant Engineer Mallikarjuna inspected the spot on Monday. The officials, however, said they did not know who is responsible for the encroachment. But they assured that the encroachment will be cleared soon and a criminal case will be registered against the encroachers. Mallikarjuna said, It is clear that someone is dumping earth on the lake bed with an intention to encroach. We have informed the tahsildar. He will be visiting the spot on Tuesday and identify the level of encroachment and mark it... We have the registration numbers of the trucks. We will find the people responsible and make sure they clear this encroachment. We will also file a criminal case against them. Close to 100 trucks made their way to Varthur Lake between 9.30pm on Saturday and 6 am on Sunday and dumped earth on the lake bed. Sources said the encroachment was, in fact, going on for almost two weeks. On Saturday, the situation heightened when lorries passed through narrow lanes all through the night to dump earth on the lake bed. Jagdesh Reddy, a local resident, said, We are glad that officials came to take note of the situation. They assured us that the encroachment will be removed. Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, said he has asked the BBMP Commissioner to inquire into the issue. However, it is the responsibility of the DC (of Bengaluru) Urban to look into such matters, he said. Members of Namma Bengaluru Foundation were surprised by the extent of encroachment of the primary rajakaluve. They said the rajakaluve was not properly demarcated in spite of the May 4, 2016 National Green Tribunal (NGT) order to do so. Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO of the foundation, said, The primary rajakaluve has not been identified yet. Why are the buffer zones of lakes (75m) and primary rajkaluve (50m) not established? Authorities should implement the NGT order and take action on the encroachers.
By ANI

HYDERABAD: In a brutal incident, a man hailing from Hyderabad succumbed to burn injuries in Saudi Arabias Riyadh after being allegedly set blaze.

Abdul Qader, who was working in Riyadh, was allegedly set on fire following dispute with a family member of his employer. Qader was set ablaze on March 30 and was undergoing treatment in a hospital.

Shabana Begum, the sister of the deceased, said that Qader, who went to Riyadh in November 2015, was not happy with his job and was also planning to return.

Last on March 28, my elder brother spoke to Qader he said he was not receiving any salary from his employer. He also said that he is not happy there and wants to return to India as soon as possible. Few days back we got to know that my brother has been set on fire on March 30, 2017, and he had been shifted to the hospital with 75 percent burn injuries. Today we got to know that he has died undergoing treatment, Begum told ANI.

She further sought the Central Governments intervention and requested for necessary action in the matter.

Meanwhile, Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) spokesperson Amjadullah Khan said that the Indian embassy has not been informed about the incident.

Few days back I tweeted the Indian embassy in Riyadh... Today they tweeted me that the person died on March 18 and was admitted in the Abdul Aziz Hospital with 75 percent burn injuries after an altercation with some male members of his lady employer, Khan said.

Demanding the Centres intervention, Khan said the matter is still under investigation.

HYDERABAD: In a brutal incident, a man hailing from Hyderabad succumbed to burn injuries in Saudi Arabias Riyadh after being allegedly set blaze. Abdul Qader, who was working in Riyadh, was allegedly set on fire following dispute with a family member of his employer. Qader was set ablaze on March 30 and was undergoing treatment in a hospital. Shabana Begum, the sister of the deceased, said that Qader, who went to Riyadh in November 2015, was not happy with his job and was also planning to return. Last on March 28, my elder brother spoke to Qader he said he was not receiving any salary from his employer. He also said that he is not happy there and wants to return to India as soon as possible. Few days back we got to know that my brother has been set on fire on March 30, 2017, and he had been shifted to the hospital with 75 percent burn injuries. Today we got to know that he has died undergoing treatment, Begum told ANI. She further sought the Central Governments intervention and requested for necessary action in the matter. Meanwhile, Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) spokesperson Amjadullah Khan said that the Indian embassy has not been informed about the incident. Few days back I tweeted the Indian embassy in Riyadh... Today they tweeted me that the person died on March 18 and was admitted in the Abdul Aziz Hospital with 75 percent burn injuries after an altercation with some male members of his lady employer, Khan said. Demanding the Centres intervention, Khan said the matter is still under investigation.
Meera Suresh By

Express News Service

One question that hovered around Prabhas during the interactive session on Sunday evening at Kochi was the expected: Why Kattappa killed Baahubali.

The actor quipped: Maybe Kattappa thought he was killing Bhallala Deva. His tongue-in-cheek reply was met with a huge laughter.

In a witty mood, the actor, the crowds obvious favourite, answered every question about Baahubali 2- The Conclusion.

The actor, along with co-stars Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty and Tamannaah was in Kochi for the promotion of the big release on April 28. Though there is barely a week left, Prabhas says Baahubali hasnt left his system yet.

This was a dream-like journey. I still havent got over Mahishmathi and Amarendra Baahubali. It took a lot of time and hard work, so obviously this is close to me. I may get over it after the movies release, he adds.

The actor says though he knew Baahubali would be a mammoth project, he never expected it to be this monumental. I have known Rajamouli sir for the past 12 years. The project had been in his mind for long and when he told me I am doing the lead role, I didnt expect this magnitude. It has changed me, said Prabhas.

Though Prabhas has portrayed both the characters - Shivudu and Amarendra - with ease, he holds the latter close to his heart. I feel more connected to Amarendra. He knew he has to be the king. His actions were precise. He had a commitment and lived for that, he adds.

However, is he apprehensive about the possible leak of the suspense element? That doesnt matter. Even if it goes out, the people will still see the movie for the respect it deserves. This is a visual feast that has to be enjoyed on screen. We are aware that social media is so powerful, but we expect that people who love this movie can never let it out, he added.

Though Baahubali has redefined the actor in him, Prabhas says he doesnt see the possibility for any more sequels. It is very unlikely. The story concludes here, he adds.

Art director Sabu Cyril and actors Tamannaah, Anushka Shetty and Rana Daggubati also spoke at the meet. The function was also attended by director Faazil who received the Audio CD of the movie from the actors.

One question that hovered around Prabhas during the interactive session on Sunday evening at Kochi was the expected: Why Kattappa killed Baahubali. The actor quipped: Maybe Kattappa thought he was killing Bhallala Deva. His tongue-in-cheek reply was met with a huge laughter. In a witty mood, the actor, the crowds obvious favourite, answered every question about Baahubali 2- The Conclusion. The actor, along with co-stars Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty and Tamannaah was in Kochi for the promotion of the big release on April 28. Though there is barely a week left, Prabhas says Baahubali hasnt left his system yet. This was a dream-like journey. I still havent got over Mahishmathi and Amarendra Baahubali. It took a lot of time and hard work, so obviously this is close to me. I may get over it after the movies release, he adds. The actor says though he knew Baahubali would be a mammoth project, he never expected it to be this monumental. I have known Rajamouli sir for the past 12 years. The project had been in his mind for long and when he told me I am doing the lead role, I didnt expect this magnitude. It has changed me, said Prabhas. Though Prabhas has portrayed both the characters - Shivudu and Amarendra - with ease, he holds the latter close to his heart. I feel more connected to Amarendra. He knew he has to be the king. His actions were precise. He had a commitment and lived for that, he adds. However, is he apprehensive about the possible leak of the suspense element? That doesnt matter. Even if it goes out, the people will still see the movie for the respect it deserves. This is a visual feast that has to be enjoyed on screen. We are aware that social media is so powerful, but we expect that people who love this movie can never let it out, he added. Though Baahubali has redefined the actor in him, Prabhas says he doesnt see the possibility for any more sequels. It is very unlikely. The story concludes here, he adds. Art director Sabu Cyril and actors Tamannaah, Anushka Shetty and Rana Daggubati also spoke at the meet. The function was also attended by director Faazil who received the Audio CD of the movie from the actors.
Aishik Chanda By

Express News Service

KOLKATA: A few months after renaming rainbow to replace Lord Rams name, Bengal textbooks now declared Islamic preacher and leader of the nations first armed peasant uprising against the British, Syed Mir Nasir Ali alias Titumir, as a Muslim fundamentalist, who destroyed temples and killed Brahmins.

However, the controversial parts of the Class X History and Environment textbooks were revoked after bitter protests by historians and academicians that led to the intervention of library minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury. The minister wrote a letter to the West Bengal Board of Higher Education last week which then removed the chapter from the book.

Many of the protesting historians claimed that author Biwajit Bag had distorted the history. Under the leadership of Titumir, Wahabis killed several Brahmins and destroyed many temples. Not only that, Muslims opposing Wahabism also were not spared, the section in chapter Wahabi movement in Bengal (1822-1831) read.

After return from Haj in 1822, Titumir preached Wahabism to rural Muslims of North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts, who followed folk Islam that included aspects of Hinduism and Animism. He also built peoples resistance against taxes on mosques and beard imposed by landlord Krishna Dev Roy, besides protesting against indigo farming of the British. This movement came to be known as Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah.

According to several accounts by historians and authors such as Atis Dasgupta and Mahasweta Devi, Titumir built his bamboo and mud fort in Narkelbaria village of North 24 Parganas in 1831. He had gathered over 15,000 followers by then and trained them to fight with bamboo staffs. However, irked by the resistance to pay taxes, the local zamindars - both Hindus and Muslims - summoned the East India Company forces from Kolkata to put down the rebellion.

The British, led by Lieutenant Colonel Stewart attacked Titumirs fort with a force of 100 cavalry, 300 native infantry and artillery of two canons on November 19, 1831. After pounding his fort with canon fire, the British overpowered Titumirs force that fought with speards, swords and bamboo staffs. Titumir and 50 of his followers were killed in gunfire. His nephew and second-in-command Golam Rasul was hanged to death and 350 other followers were awarded life sentence.

Though the rebellion was brutally out down, it inspired several other peasant movements upto the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Titumir has been named as one of the 20 greatest Bengalis by BBC and has become a folk legend in Bangladesh and West Bengal.

KOLKATA: A few months after renaming rainbow to replace Lord Rams name, Bengal textbooks now declared Islamic preacher and leader of the nations first armed peasant uprising against the British, Syed Mir Nasir Ali alias Titumir, as a Muslim fundamentalist, who destroyed temples and killed Brahmins. However, the controversial parts of the Class X History and Environment textbooks were revoked after bitter protests by historians and academicians that led to the intervention of library minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury. The minister wrote a letter to the West Bengal Board of Higher Education last week which then removed the chapter from the book. Many of the protesting historians claimed that author Biwajit Bag had distorted the history. Under the leadership of Titumir, Wahabis killed several Brahmins and destroyed many temples. Not only that, Muslims opposing Wahabism also were not spared, the section in chapter Wahabi movement in Bengal (1822-1831) read. After return from Haj in 1822, Titumir preached Wahabism to rural Muslims of North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts, who followed folk Islam that included aspects of Hinduism and Animism. He also built peoples resistance against taxes on mosques and beard imposed by landlord Krishna Dev Roy, besides protesting against indigo farming of the British. This movement came to be known as Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah. According to several accounts by historians and authors such as Atis Dasgupta and Mahasweta Devi, Titumir built his bamboo and mud fort in Narkelbaria village of North 24 Parganas in 1831. He had gathered over 15,000 followers by then and trained them to fight with bamboo staffs. However, irked by the resistance to pay taxes, the local zamindars - both Hindus and Muslims - summoned the East India Company forces from Kolkata to put down the rebellion. The British, led by Lieutenant Colonel Stewart attacked Titumirs fort with a force of 100 cavalry, 300 native infantry and artillery of two canons on November 19, 1831. After pounding his fort with canon fire, the British overpowered Titumirs force that fought with speards, swords and bamboo staffs. Titumir and 50 of his followers were killed in gunfire. His nephew and second-in-command Golam Rasul was hanged to death and 350 other followers were awarded life sentence. Though the rebellion was brutally out down, it inspired several other peasant movements upto the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Titumir has been named as one of the 20 greatest Bengalis by BBC and has become a folk legend in Bangladesh and West Bengal.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Afghanistans Envoy to India Shaida Abdali on Tuesday exhorted India and the US  the strategic partner of the war-torn country  to revive the trilateral strategic partnership to counter terrorism.

Speaking at an event organised by the Indian chapter of the US think tank Brookings Institution, Abdali without naming Pakistan also contended that a lot is needed to be done by Islamabad to dismantled the terror infrastructure in the region.

India, the US and Afghanistan are strategic partners. Reviving the strategic partnership, dialogue is highly necessary in war against terrorism, Abdali said in the inaugural Ambassadorial address while appreciating Indias assistance to help capacity building in Afghanistan post conflict.

The Ambassador also made it clear that the Islamic State, referred as Daesh in the country, is creation of splinter groups. It comes from same source from where terror groups come, which impact the region. Abdali said that a three front war needs to be fought to counter terrorism.

The biggest challenge is terrorism. Terrorism is used as tool against India and Afghanistan. We are in a new great game. New great game is at three-levels. One at the level of intelligence agencies, second is ideological and then the actual war, Abdali said while elaborating on the situation in the region.

The Afghanistans envoy also emphasised that the defence cooperation between the two countries has been progressing well and said that it would be better it is not discussed publicly. India has lifted the self-imposed embargo in 2015 to supply lethal military equipment to Afghanistan as it gave four Russian-built helicopters last year. This was the first shift in the Indias foreign policy as it de-linked India and Pakistan. The Afghanistan Armed Forces has a bigger wish list and New Delhi might grant it.

China has also been active in providing military aid to Afghanistan to ensure the security of its multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passing through neighbouring Balochistan region. In July this year, China handed over its first military consignment to the strife-torn country. The delivery had parts of military vehicles, ammunition and weapons besides logistical equipment.

NEW DELHI: Afghanistans Envoy to India Shaida Abdali on Tuesday exhorted India and the US  the strategic partner of the war-torn country  to revive the trilateral strategic partnership to counter terrorism. Speaking at an event organised by the Indian chapter of the US think tank Brookings Institution, Abdali without naming Pakistan also contended that a lot is needed to be done by Islamabad to dismantled the terror infrastructure in the region. India, the US and Afghanistan are strategic partners. Reviving the strategic partnership, dialogue is highly necessary in war against terrorism, Abdali said in the inaugural Ambassadorial address while appreciating Indias assistance to help capacity building in Afghanistan post conflict. The Ambassador also made it clear that the Islamic State, referred as Daesh in the country, is creation of splinter groups. It comes from same source from where terror groups come, which impact the region. Abdali said that a three front war needs to be fought to counter terrorism. The biggest challenge is terrorism. Terrorism is used as tool against India and Afghanistan. We are in a new great game. New great game is at three-levels. One at the level of intelligence agencies, second is ideological and then the actual war, Abdali said while elaborating on the situation in the region. The Afghanistans envoy also emphasised that the defence cooperation between the two countries has been progressing well and said that it would be better it is not discussed publicly. India has lifted the self-imposed embargo in 2015 to supply lethal military equipment to Afghanistan as it gave four Russian-built helicopters last year. This was the first shift in the Indias foreign policy as it de-linked India and Pakistan. The Afghanistan Armed Forces has a bigger wish list and New Delhi might grant it. China has also been active in providing military aid to Afghanistan to ensure the security of its multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passing through neighbouring Balochistan region. In July this year, China handed over its first military consignment to the strife-torn country. The delivery had parts of military vehicles, ammunition and weapons besides logistical equipment.
Aishik Chanda By

Express News Service

KOLKATA: BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday said that no force, not even the ruling Trinamool Congress, can stop the party from making the government in West Bengal in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Commencing a three-day tour of West Bengal with door-to-door visits followed by a public meeting at Naxalbari in Darjeeling district on Tuesday, the BJP president blamed the state government for not letting central schemes reach the rural poor. When central schemes can work so well in Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra, why dont the rural poor of Bengal get the same benefits? he questioned.

They (TMC) think they can stop Narendra Modis chariot with these obstacles. BJP will bloom in the same mud thrown at us by the TMC. No force can stop BJP from making government in West Bengal in 2021 elections. People of Bengal will give answer to bad governance, he added.

Speaking in the backdrop of the Maoist attack in Sukma that claimed lives of 25 CRPF jawans, including three from West Bengal, he said: A fire was lit in Naxalbari 50 years ago. The country is still burning in the flames of that fire. However, in the same Naxalbari, Modijis slogan sabka saath sabka vikaas will bloom.

Shah visited around 34 households in Naxalbari after having a simple vegetarian meal at an Adivasi household. He took a train to Kolkata from New Jalpaiguri station on Tuesday evening and will stay at BJP worker Arati Janas house in Chetla area of Kolkata, not far from Mamata Banerjees residence.

Meanwhile, state chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee urged the people not to fall for the divisive politics of BJP. Speaking at two different rallies in Coochbehar, 158 km from Naxalbari, Mamata Banerjee urged the people to pull the chain of BJPs mammoth rise in the state.

BJP is trying to restrict worship of individuals. I am born Hindu but I can respect and bow down to any god. Who is BJP to tell me whom to worship and what to eat? she said.

The Trinamool supremo made fun of BJP over reports that cows would be given Aadhaar numbers. Next, they will give Aadhaar card to chickens, goat and even to the fishes of pond. We would need Aadhaar card to eat fish, chicken and goat. I urge BJP leaders to consult psychiatrists instead, she said.

The West Bengal Chief Minister announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia and job to one family member each of the three jawans from the state ambushed and killed in Sukma district on Monday. She made the announcement while visiting the house of 27-year-old martyred CRPF jawan from Coochbehar, Krishna Das. Other martyred jawans are Binoy Chandra Barman of Coochbehar and Arup Karmakar of Karimpur, Nadia.

Mamata also reiterated her stand on Teesta water sharing issue. There is no water in Teesta. How can I give water from there? I dont have any problem in sharing water with Bangladesh. I love Bangladesh like my West Bengal. Sankosh is overflowing, take water from there. Take water from Torsha, Mansai and Dhansai rivers. But if I give Teesta water, my people in Siliguri and Jalpaiguri will remain thirsty and fields will become parched. I cant let that happen, she said.

KOLKATA: BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday said that no force, not even the ruling Trinamool Congress, can stop the party from making the government in West Bengal in the 2021 Assembly elections. Commencing a three-day tour of West Bengal with door-to-door visits followed by a public meeting at Naxalbari in Darjeeling district on Tuesday, the BJP president blamed the state government for not letting central schemes reach the rural poor. When central schemes can work so well in Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra, why dont the rural poor of Bengal get the same benefits? he questioned. They (TMC) think they can stop Narendra Modis chariot with these obstacles. BJP will bloom in the same mud thrown at us by the TMC. No force can stop BJP from making government in West Bengal in 2021 elections. People of Bengal will give answer to bad governance, he added. Speaking in the backdrop of the Maoist attack in Sukma that claimed lives of 25 CRPF jawans, including three from West Bengal, he said: A fire was lit in Naxalbari 50 years ago. The country is still burning in the flames of that fire. However, in the same Naxalbari, Modijis slogan sabka saath sabka vikaas will bloom. Shah visited around 34 households in Naxalbari after having a simple vegetarian meal at an Adivasi household. He took a train to Kolkata from New Jalpaiguri station on Tuesday evening and will stay at BJP worker Arati Janas house in Chetla area of Kolkata, not far from Mamata Banerjees residence. Meanwhile, state chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee urged the people not to fall for the divisive politics of BJP. Speaking at two different rallies in Coochbehar, 158 km from Naxalbari, Mamata Banerjee urged the people to pull the chain of BJPs mammoth rise in the state. BJP is trying to restrict worship of individuals. I am born Hindu but I can respect and bow down to any god. Who is BJP to tell me whom to worship and what to eat? she said. The Trinamool supremo made fun of BJP over reports that cows would be given Aadhaar numbers. Next, they will give Aadhaar card to chickens, goat and even to the fishes of pond. We would need Aadhaar card to eat fish, chicken and goat. I urge BJP leaders to consult psychiatrists instead, she said. The West Bengal Chief Minister announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia and job to one family member each of the three jawans from the state ambushed and killed in Sukma district on Monday. She made the announcement while visiting the house of 27-year-old martyred CRPF jawan from Coochbehar, Krishna Das. Other martyred jawans are Binoy Chandra Barman of Coochbehar and Arup Karmakar of Karimpur, Nadia. Mamata also reiterated her stand on Teesta water sharing issue. There is no water in Teesta. How can I give water from there? I dont have any problem in sharing water with Bangladesh. I love Bangladesh like my West Bengal. Sankosh is overflowing, take water from there. Take water from Torsha, Mansai and Dhansai rivers. But if I give Teesta water, my people in Siliguri and Jalpaiguri will remain thirsty and fields will become parched. I cant let that happen, she said.
By Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh (UP) minister Gayatri Prajapati was granted bail under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) Act by the special court of the chief judicial magistrate here on Tuesday.



Prajapati and six accomplices face charges of gangraping a woman corporator (35) from Chitrakoot, and sexually harassing her daughter in 2014. Two accomplices--Vivek Verma and Pintu Singh -- were also granted bail by the same court.



The accused ex-minister was granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh submitted in court.



The case against Prajapati was registered under section 376-D (rape by two or more persons), 376 (rape), 511 (committing offences punishable with life imprisonment), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 3/4 of POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) Act with the Gautum Palli police station in Lucknow on February 18 in compliance with the Supreme Court directives.



Prajapati eluded the police for almost a month after being booked but was arrested in Lucknow on March 15. During its efforts to nab Prajapati, the UP police administration had issued a lookout notice against him besides cancelling his passport and issuing a non-bailable warrant.



The Supreme Court had intervened while taking cognisance of the petition of the victim, who had approached it after being turned away by the State police despite her repeated complaints at every level against Gayatri Prajapati .



While hearing the case, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered UP police to provide security to the victim as she expressed a potential threat to her daughters and her life from the accused.



Gayatri Prajapati's security guard, Chandrapal, was the first named person to be arrested in Lucknow on March 6. It was followed by a series of arrests nabbing all other accused named in the case.



However, Prajapati was held only after the police tightened the noose around his two sons and detained them a day before his arrest.



The case dominated the political discourse of the recently-concluded UP Assembly polls as the ex-ministers action was exposed mid-elections. Prajapati was the SP candidate from Amethi against the two Ranis  BJPs Garima Singh and Congresss Amita Singh.



The tainted leader, who had won from Amethi in the 2012 Assembly election lost to Garima Singh in 2017.

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh (UP) minister Gayatri Prajapati was granted bail under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) Act by the special court of the chief judicial magistrate here on Tuesday. Prajapati and six accomplices face charges of gangraping a woman corporator (35) from Chitrakoot, and sexually harassing her daughter in 2014. Two accomplices--Vivek Verma and Pintu Singh -- were also granted bail by the same court. The accused ex-minister was granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh submitted in court. The case against Prajapati was registered under section 376-D (rape by two or more persons), 376 (rape), 511 (committing offences punishable with life imprisonment), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 3/4 of POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) Act with the Gautum Palli police station in Lucknow on February 18 in compliance with the Supreme Court directives. Prajapati eluded the police for almost a month after being booked but was arrested in Lucknow on March 15. During its efforts to nab Prajapati, the UP police administration had issued a lookout notice against him besides cancelling his passport and issuing a non-bailable warrant. The Supreme Court had intervened while taking cognisance of the petition of the victim, who had approached it after being turned away by the State police despite her repeated complaints at every level against Gayatri Prajapati . While hearing the case, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered UP police to provide security to the victim as she expressed a potential threat to her daughters and her life from the accused. Gayatri Prajapati's security guard, Chandrapal, was the first named person to be arrested in Lucknow on March 6. It was followed by a series of arrests nabbing all other accused named in the case. However, Prajapati was held only after the police tightened the noose around his two sons and detained them a day before his arrest. The case dominated the political discourse of the recently-concluded UP Assembly polls as the ex-ministers action was exposed mid-elections. Prajapati was the SP candidate from Amethi against the two Ranis  BJPs Garima Singh and Congresss Amita Singh. The tainted leader, who had won from Amethi in the 2012 Assembly election lost to Garima Singh in 2017.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday chaired a key security meeting and directed the security agencies to undertake youth counseling and observe maximum restraint and avoid civilian casualties while dealing with law and order situations in the Valley.

Mehbooba chaired a meeting of Unified Headquarters, the highest decision-making body on security affairs, here today to discuss the prevailing situation in the Valley.

The meeting, which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister, Nirmal Singh, top army generals and top officials of police, CRPF, BSF, intelligence and administration, discussed the overall security situation in the State and stone pelting and protests in the Valley.

During the meeting, Mehbooba, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in national capital yesterday, directed the security agencies to improve the public-security force interface and make it a regular affair.

She asked the security agencies to undertake the youth counseling in order to dissuade them from pelting stones and joining militancy.

The holding of counseling sessions for youth would not only help the youth ally apprehensions and misgivings about the system but would also give the security agencies a chance to reach out to people through community policing, the CM said.

Mehbooba directed the security agencies to exercise maximum restraint while dealing with law and order and provocative situations.

Wherever restraint was exercised, it showed positive results on the ground for the government and helped in maintaining peace and order, she said.

She gave clear directions to the security agencies to ensure that no collateral damage takes place while dealing with day to day law and order situations in the Valley. Care should be taken to avoid and minimize all collateral damage while conducting operations.

The Valley has been tense after killing of eight people in security forces firing on protestors during the bypolls to Srinagar parliamentary seat on April 9. The tension has further escalated after security forces raided a college in South Kashmirs Pulwama district during which at least 50 students were injured.

Ever since the raid on the college, students community is agitating and students in Srinagar staged protests and clashed with security personnel on Monday. During the clashes, the city centre Lal Chowk was turned into a battlefield with stones and tear gas shells flying everywhere.

Favouring reached out to youth, who are staging protests and clashing with security personnel, Mehbooba said, Youngsters caught in cycle of misinformation and violence are our own and they ought to be won over with a healing touch.

She said youth engagement should be prioritized rather than viewing it as a routine law and order issue.

The CM also directed security agencies to take parents of youth into confidence as and when there is some complaint about any youth and in no way should the family be held accountable for the deeds of the their wards.

There have been complaints that police has been harassing the family members of youth, who take part in protests.

Many youth, whose family members were harassed, had joined militancy in the past.

On cow vigilantes attack on a nomad family in Reasi district of Jammu, Mehbooba asked the security agencies to ensure that inter community harmony and amity among various sections of society is maintained at all costs.

The culprits found spreading hatred against a section of society or in the name of a social cause should be brought to justice. If need be strict provisions of law should be slapped on such hate mongers, who are found taking law into their own hands, she said.

Source said the army was directed to focus on counter infiltration and anti-militancy operations in view of melting of snow and apprehensions of infiltration of militants from across the Line of Control (LoC).

Apart from CM and DyCM, the key security meeting was attended by Chief Secretary, B R Sharma; Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B B Vyas; Principal Secretary, Home, R K Goyal; J&K Director General of Police, S P Vaid, Northern Command chief, Lt Gen Devraj Anbu; GoC 15 Corps Lt Gen GoC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen J S Sandhu, GoC 16 Corps Lt Gen A K Sharma, senior officers of CRPF, BSF, J&K police and intelligence agencies besides Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu.

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday chaired a key security meeting and directed the security agencies to undertake youth counseling and observe maximum restraint and avoid civilian casualties while dealing with law and order situations in the Valley. Mehbooba chaired a meeting of Unified Headquarters, the highest decision-making body on security affairs, here today to discuss the prevailing situation in the Valley. The meeting, which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister, Nirmal Singh, top army generals and top officials of police, CRPF, BSF, intelligence and administration, discussed the overall security situation in the State and stone pelting and protests in the Valley. During the meeting, Mehbooba, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in national capital yesterday, directed the security agencies to improve the public-security force interface and make it a regular affair. She asked the security agencies to undertake the youth counseling in order to dissuade them from pelting stones and joining militancy. The holding of counseling sessions for youth would not only help the youth ally apprehensions and misgivings about the system but would also give the security agencies a chance to reach out to people through community policing, the CM said. Mehbooba directed the security agencies to exercise maximum restraint while dealing with law and order and provocative situations. Wherever restraint was exercised, it showed positive results on the ground for the government and helped in maintaining peace and order, she said. She gave clear directions to the security agencies to ensure that no collateral damage takes place while dealing with day to day law and order situations in the Valley. Care should be taken to avoid and minimize all collateral damage while conducting operations. The Valley has been tense after killing of eight people in security forces firing on protestors during the bypolls to Srinagar parliamentary seat on April 9. The tension has further escalated after security forces raided a college in South Kashmirs Pulwama district during which at least 50 students were injured. Ever since the raid on the college, students community is agitating and students in Srinagar staged protests and clashed with security personnel on Monday. During the clashes, the city centre Lal Chowk was turned into a battlefield with stones and tear gas shells flying everywhere. Favouring reached out to youth, who are staging protests and clashing with security personnel, Mehbooba said, Youngsters caught in cycle of misinformation and violence are our own and they ought to be won over with a healing touch. She said youth engagement should be prioritized rather than viewing it as a routine law and order issue. The CM also directed security agencies to take parents of youth into confidence as and when there is some complaint about any youth and in no way should the family be held accountable for the deeds of the their wards. There have been complaints that police has been harassing the family members of youth, who take part in protests. Many youth, whose family members were harassed, had joined militancy in the past. On cow vigilantes attack on a nomad family in Reasi district of Jammu, Mehbooba asked the security agencies to ensure that inter community harmony and amity among various sections of society is maintained at all costs. The culprits found spreading hatred against a section of society or in the name of a social cause should be brought to justice. If need be strict provisions of law should be slapped on such hate mongers, who are found taking law into their own hands, she said. Source said the army was directed to focus on counter infiltration and anti-militancy operations in view of melting of snow and apprehensions of infiltration of militants from across the Line of Control (LoC). Apart from CM and DyCM, the key security meeting was attended by Chief Secretary, B R Sharma; Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B B Vyas; Principal Secretary, Home, R K Goyal; J&K Director General of Police, S P Vaid, Northern Command chief, Lt Gen Devraj Anbu; GoC 15 Corps Lt Gen GoC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen J S Sandhu, GoC 16 Corps Lt Gen A K Sharma, senior officers of CRPF, BSF, J&K police and intelligence agencies besides Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu.
Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

SUKMA: The bloody scene at the ambush site near Burkapal in Sukma suggests the fierceness of the gunfight between the CRPF personnel and the outlawed CPI (Maoist) on Monday, that left 25 CRPF jawans dead and 8 others injured.



Blood on the ground and rocks, bullet holes on tree barks, water bottles, uniform hats, soiled bandanas soaked in blood lying near shoes of the security personnel. Explosive-tipped arrows, empty grenade shells, bullets recovered along the "ideal" ambush stretch extending to about a kilometer, suggests the level of preparation by the Red brigade who engaged in an aggressive battle using modern weapons .



The spot is spread with tall wild bushes and small trees reducing visibility beyond 50 metres. Senior officials of Bastar zone and the CRPF, who examined the area to assess what went wrong, concluded that it was a well-planned attack by the ultras.



Additional forces have been deployed in the region to carry out intensified search operations. The Maoists seems to have gathered enough inputs and forced the villagers to act as human shields and to play the role of informers, CRPF DIG D K Upadhyay in south Bastar said.



The officials have not ruled out that Maoists disguised as villagers had observed the forces movement in the region for days before they chose to launch an attack on Monday.

Maoists in the garb of villagers engaged themselves in collecting tendu leaves and mahua flowers as they closely watched the activities of the forces, a senior officer said.



The road opening party (ROP) personnel on Monday split into two groups on either of the road on which they were to ensure protection. The Maoists military wing -- People's Liberation Guerrilla Army-- ambushed a unit of 36 men on the side and trapped the troopers from three sides.

The rebels took on the forces with over a hundred explosive-tipped arrows. Simultaneously they lobbed over 50 hand grenades and opened indiscriminate fire with modern weapons, Upadhyay said.



The rebels placed the villagers who might be jan militia in front and kept forces engaged with gunfire at various points along the 500-metre stretch restricting the other unit, the official said.



The impact of the attack was such that the forces had no time to take defensive positions and retaliate.

The rebels took the advantage of firing from the trees and other elevated spots. One of the rebels mounted a light machine gun on the tree and targeted our men, CRPF jawans searching the area told the New Indian Express.



The Maoists stole 13 AK-47 rifles, 3 INSAS assault rifles and 3 Light Machine Guns (LMG) from the dead CRPF men. In the last few years Maoists have changed their tactics to target ROPs, which appears to be an easy target for the guerrillas.



The Maoist often look for soft targets and attack when they find the enemy at a weak spot, opined guerrilla warfare expert Brigadier (Rtd) B K Ponwar.



The Maoist commander Hidma and his group is suspected to have carried out the attack. Hidma, a hardcore member of south Bastar divisional committee of CPI (Maoist), and heads the battalion number one of the rebel's military wing.

SUKMA: The bloody scene at the ambush site near Burkapal in Sukma suggests the fierceness of the gunfight between the CRPF personnel and the outlawed CPI (Maoist) on Monday, that left 25 CRPF jawans dead and 8 others injured. Blood on the ground and rocks, bullet holes on tree barks, water bottles, uniform hats, soiled bandanas soaked in blood lying near shoes of the security personnel. Explosive-tipped arrows, empty grenade shells, bullets recovered along the "ideal" ambush stretch extending to about a kilometer, suggests the level of preparation by the Red brigade who engaged in an aggressive battle using modern weapons . The spot is spread with tall wild bushes and small trees reducing visibility beyond 50 metres. Senior officials of Bastar zone and the CRPF, who examined the area to assess what went wrong, concluded that it was a well-planned attack by the ultras. Additional forces have been deployed in the region to carry out intensified search operations. The Maoists seems to have gathered enough inputs and forced the villagers to act as human shields and to play the role of informers, CRPF DIG D K Upadhyay in south Bastar said. The officials have not ruled out that Maoists disguised as villagers had observed the forces movement in the region for days before they chose to launch an attack on Monday. Maoists in the garb of villagers engaged themselves in collecting tendu leaves and mahua flowers as they closely watched the activities of the forces, a senior officer said. The road opening party (ROP) personnel on Monday split into two groups on either of the road on which they were to ensure protection. The Maoists military wing -- People's Liberation Guerrilla Army-- ambushed a unit of 36 men on the side and trapped the troopers from three sides. The rebels took on the forces with over a hundred explosive-tipped arrows. Simultaneously they lobbed over 50 hand grenades and opened indiscriminate fire with modern weapons, Upadhyay said. The rebels placed the villagers who might be jan militia in front and kept forces engaged with gunfire at various points along the 500-metre stretch restricting the other unit, the official said. The impact of the attack was such that the forces had no time to take defensive positions and retaliate. The rebels took the advantage of firing from the trees and other elevated spots. One of the rebels mounted a light machine gun on the tree and targeted our men, CRPF jawans searching the area told the New Indian Express. The Maoists stole 13 AK-47 rifles, 3 INSAS assault rifles and 3 Light Machine Guns (LMG) from the dead CRPF men. In the last few years Maoists have changed their tactics to target ROPs, which appears to be an easy target for the guerrillas. The Maoist often look for soft targets and attack when they find the enemy at a weak spot, opined guerrilla warfare expert Brigadier (Rtd) B K Ponwar. The Maoist commander Hidma and his group is suspected to have carried out the attack. Hidma, a hardcore member of south Bastar divisional committee of CPI (Maoist), and heads the battalion number one of the rebel's military wing.
By PTI

LUCKNOW: Pakistan-born liberal author Tarek Fatah, a Shia worship place in Uttar Pradesh and a crowded area in Haridwar in Uttarakhand were among the targets of the four terror suspects held in a multi-state operation last week, police said here today.

The terrorists wanted to target Fateh, a Canadian national who often visits India, to create a sensation across the world, SSP of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Umesh Kumar Srivastava said. He was the target as he is seen as opposing the Shariat law and advocates liberal and progressive form of Islam, Srivastava said.

"However, the self-radicalised terror suspects eventually realised that it was not easy to target the author, so they went ahead with an alternative plan to target other places and persons in order to make their presence felt," he added.

The four terror suspects are Umar alias Nazim (arrested from Mumbai), Mufti alias Faizan (arrested from Bijnor in UP), Zaqwan alias Ehtesham (arrested from Narkatiaganj in Bihar) and Ghazi Baba (arrested from Jalandhar in Punjab).

"The terror suspects had even planned to target a Shia worship place in Amroha (in UP)," a senior UP ATS officer said. Police said an alert has been sounded in Amroha, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar after "revelations" made by Mufti and Zaqwan. The suspects had also planned a bomb attack at a crowded place in Haridwar, a popular pilgrim town in Uttarakhand.

"Plans were also made to eliminate a poice officer in Mumbai and set afire a sugar mill in Narkatiyaganj," he said. Mufti and Zaqwan were on Saturday taken on eight-day remand by ATS for quizzing. Umar and Ghazi Baba were produced in the court of special chief judicial magistrate here yesterday after they were brought to Lucknow on transit remand. The court sent them to judicial custody till May 4, police said.

LUCKNOW: Pakistan-born liberal author Tarek Fatah, a Shia worship place in Uttar Pradesh and a crowded area in Haridwar in Uttarakhand were among the targets of the four terror suspects held in a multi-state operation last week, police said here today. The terrorists wanted to target Fateh, a Canadian national who often visits India, to create a sensation across the world, SSP of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Umesh Kumar Srivastava said. He was the target as he is seen as opposing the Shariat law and advocates liberal and progressive form of Islam, Srivastava said. "However, the self-radicalised terror suspects eventually realised that it was not easy to target the author, so they went ahead with an alternative plan to target other places and persons in order to make their presence felt," he added. The four terror suspects are Umar alias Nazim (arrested from Mumbai), Mufti alias Faizan (arrested from Bijnor in UP), Zaqwan alias Ehtesham (arrested from Narkatiaganj in Bihar) and Ghazi Baba (arrested from Jalandhar in Punjab). "The terror suspects had even planned to target a Shia worship place in Amroha (in UP)," a senior UP ATS officer said. Police said an alert has been sounded in Amroha, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar after "revelations" made by Mufti and Zaqwan. The suspects had also planned a bomb attack at a crowded place in Haridwar, a popular pilgrim town in Uttarakhand. "Plans were also made to eliminate a poice officer in Mumbai and set afire a sugar mill in Narkatiyaganj," he said. Mufti and Zaqwan were on Saturday taken on eight-day remand by ATS for quizzing. Umar and Ghazi Baba were produced in the court of special chief judicial magistrate here yesterday after they were brought to Lucknow on transit remand. The court sent them to judicial custody till May 4, police said.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Family members of martyred soldiers, killed in a naxal ambush in Chhatisgarhs sensitive Sukma district on Monday, have questioned the government on its stand to end the naxalite menace and protect soldiers after a pall of gloom mixed with anger prevailed at their houses.



41- year-old Ram Mehar, a constable with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was among the 25 martyred. His father Puran Chand has expressed his anger with the Union government for doing nothing to finish the naxalites. The enemy is hiding within the country and has been killing our soldiers, and our government is not doing anything. We came to know about my sons death when officials from his company called me on the phone, he said.



Puran Chand alleged that the government had failed to take stringent action against Naxalites. Along with the bereaved family, the villagers demanded the government to give the army and paramilitary forces freedom to deal with such issues.



Ram Mehar, who was to retire soon as he had served over 19 years on active duty, had been posted in Chhattisgarh for the past two years. He is survived by his wife Poonam Rain and two children- a son in Class XII and a daughter who is in Class VIII.



Haryana minister of State for food and supplies, Karan Dev Kamboj, reached Ram Mehars home and expressed his condolences. Mehars mortal remains reached his Kheri Man village, in Karnal district here in the evening.



In neighboring Punjab, Balbir Singh, younger brother of deceased Raghbir Singh; an inspector with the CRPF, from Sathialave village in Amritsar district questioned the governments stand on the issue, and termed it as an intelligence failure.



The intelligence agencies of the government have time and again failed. There was a terror attack in Chhattisgarh some time ago and many of our soldiers were martyred. The government is doing nothing to curb naxalites and should give a free hand to the armed forces to wipe out these elements.

Raghbir Singh is survived by his wife, two children, younger brother and parents. His body reached the village on Tuesday evening and was cremated with full State honours.



Meanwhile, two CRPF personnel from neighboring Himachal Pradesh died in the ambush which was condemned by Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat and chief minister Virbhadra Singh.



Assistant sub-inspector Sanjay Kumar, from Palampur in Kangra district, was killed in Mondays attack. His daughter Ameesha Sharma, a student of class XI said My father has sacrificed himself for the nation, but what has he got from this act.



It was a proud moment for us and for the country, said his father Rajinder Prasad Sharma, who has also served the CRPF. Sanjay Kumar, who was with CRPF for the last 27 years, was cremated on Tuesday evening in Palampur. He is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters.



The second soldier, Surender Thakur (33), head constable with CRPF had joined duty after a two week break since April 10. Hailing from Nerchowk town of Mandi district in the hill State, he had been in Sukma for the past three years.



Surender Thakurs family said that after news of the attack, they called Surender on his mobile phone but it was answered by someone else who delivered the news to them. Surender Thakur is survived by his wife, a three-year-old daughter, mother and an elder brother.



He had joined CRPF in 2003 and had earlier served in Jammu and Srinagar for six years. His body was brought to his native and cremated with full State honours.

Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 5 lakh as compensation for the next inspector Raghbir Singh's next of kin.

Expressing grief at the senseless act of violence, Amarinder Singh urged the central government to work on a comprehensive policy to deal with the Naxal problem.

Singh observed that Naxalite violence has escalated in recent years with security forces often forced to bear the brunt of their actions, he observed. He added that his government would support any efforts to tackle the issue.

The CRPF personnel were ambushed by around 300 naxals in South Bastars Kala Pathar area, close to the Chintagufa-Burkapal-Bheji axis, the hotbed of Naxal violence that has seen a series of such attacks in the past.

CHANDIGARH: Family members of martyred soldiers, killed in a naxal ambush in Chhatisgarhs sensitive Sukma district on Monday, have questioned the government on its stand to end the naxalite menace and protect soldiers after a pall of gloom mixed with anger prevailed at their houses. 41- year-old Ram Mehar, a constable with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was among the 25 martyred. His father Puran Chand has expressed his anger with the Union government for doing nothing to finish the naxalites. The enemy is hiding within the country and has been killing our soldiers, and our government is not doing anything. We came to know about my sons death when officials from his company called me on the phone, he said. Puran Chand alleged that the government had failed to take stringent action against Naxalites. Along with the bereaved family, the villagers demanded the government to give the army and paramilitary forces freedom to deal with such issues. Ram Mehar, who was to retire soon as he had served over 19 years on active duty, had been posted in Chhattisgarh for the past two years. He is survived by his wife Poonam Rain and two children- a son in Class XII and a daughter who is in Class VIII. Haryana minister of State for food and supplies, Karan Dev Kamboj, reached Ram Mehars home and expressed his condolences. Mehars mortal remains reached his Kheri Man village, in Karnal district here in the evening. In neighboring Punjab, Balbir Singh, younger brother of deceased Raghbir Singh; an inspector with the CRPF, from Sathialave village in Amritsar district questioned the governments stand on the issue, and termed it as an intelligence failure. The intelligence agencies of the government have time and again failed. There was a terror attack in Chhattisgarh some time ago and many of our soldiers were martyred. The government is doing nothing to curb naxalites and should give a free hand to the armed forces to wipe out these elements. Raghbir Singh is survived by his wife, two children, younger brother and parents. His body reached the village on Tuesday evening and was cremated with full State honours. Meanwhile, two CRPF personnel from neighboring Himachal Pradesh died in the ambush which was condemned by Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat and chief minister Virbhadra Singh. Assistant sub-inspector Sanjay Kumar, from Palampur in Kangra district, was killed in Mondays attack. His daughter Ameesha Sharma, a student of class XI said My father has sacrificed himself for the nation, but what has he got from this act. It was a proud moment for us and for the country, said his father Rajinder Prasad Sharma, who has also served the CRPF. Sanjay Kumar, who was with CRPF for the last 27 years, was cremated on Tuesday evening in Palampur. He is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters. The second soldier, Surender Thakur (33), head constable with CRPF had joined duty after a two week break since April 10. Hailing from Nerchowk town of Mandi district in the hill State, he had been in Sukma for the past three years. Surender Thakurs family said that after news of the attack, they called Surender on his mobile phone but it was answered by someone else who delivered the news to them. Surender Thakur is survived by his wife, a three-year-old daughter, mother and an elder brother. He had joined CRPF in 2003 and had earlier served in Jammu and Srinagar for six years. His body was brought to his native and cremated with full State honours. Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 5 lakh as compensation for the next inspector Raghbir Singh's next of kin. Expressing grief at the senseless act of violence, Amarinder Singh urged the central government to work on a comprehensive policy to deal with the Naxal problem. Singh observed that Naxalite violence has escalated in recent years with security forces often forced to bear the brunt of their actions, he observed. He added that his government would support any efforts to tackle the issue. The CRPF personnel were ambushed by around 300 naxals in South Bastars Kala Pathar area, close to the Chintagufa-Burkapal-Bheji axis, the hotbed of Naxal violence that has seen a series of such attacks in the past.
Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR/NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday termed the Sukma attack as a cold-blooded murder and declared that the anti-Maoist strategy will be reviewed.

Singh reached Raipur on Tuesday to pay homage to the CRPF personnel killed in Mondays Maoist attack.

He was accompanied by union minister of State for home Hansraj Ahir, Governor Balram Das Tandon, chief minister Raman Singh and the State cabinet, during the wreath laying ceremony.

The Maoists will never succeed in their mission. We have accepted the Sukma attack as a challenge and have decided to review the strategy to counter left-wing extremism. And if needed, we will revise it too. I have called a meeting of top officials in Delhi on May 8, Rajnath Singh told media persons after the homage.

Expressing his condolence to the families of the 25 CRPF personnel killed by Maoists, Singh said that the sacrifices of the brave soldiers will not go in vain. The attack shows the desperation of Maoists. The Centre and the State government will work together to take-up the challenge he said.

The meeting will be attended by the Chief Ministers of 10 Naxal-affected States, their Chief Secretaries, Directors General of Police besides the District Magistrates and Superintendants of Police of 35 districts worst hit by the menace.

Directors General of Central Paramilitary forces like the CRPF and BSF and officials of the Intelligence Bureau will also take part in the meeting. The broader agenda of the meeting is to review and fine tune the strategy relating to security and development in the affected States.

The list of the 108 districts in the Red Corridor will be pruned to 68 as no incidents have been reported in 40 districts in the last three to four years. This will help in diverting the resources to the districts affected by the problem at present and help improve the kill ratio, a senior Union Home Ministry official said.

WATCH VIDEO:

The list of the 35 districts most affected by Naxalism will also come up for review during the meeting and taking into account the improved security scenario, area domination by the security forces and Naxal activities, some of the districts from the category may be dropped, the official indicated.

The strength of the Central paramilitary forces in the most affected districts will be increased in keeping with the requirements and availability of the forces.

The official clarified that there is no plan to deploy the Army for anti-Naxal operations saying the Central paramilitary forces are capable to deal with the problem.

The Union Home Ministry is also concerned over grieving widows of martyred CRPF jawans on television news channels as such videos may demoralise other Force personnel. There is a need to be sensitive while airing such scenes, the official added.

Progress by the affected States on the implementation of the stipulations of the new Naxal policy formulated by the NDA Government will also come up for review during the meeting. CMs of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha among others are likely to attend the meet.

During current acting Director General of CRPF Sudeep Lakhtakias tenure, the Naxals have on an average inflicted a casualty of one paramilitary personnel every two days. Lakhtakia was made the acting DG after former CRPF chief K Durga Prasads retirement from service on February 28. On March 11, the Naxals had killed 11 CRPF personnel in the same district.

On Monday, the premier paramilitary force CRPF lost 25 jawans engaged in a road opening operation (ROP) at Burkapal in Sukma of Bastar district, about 420 km south of Raipur. Eight seriously injured jawans were air-lifted to Raipur and were later visited by Singh at the hospital.

(With inputs from ENS)

RAIPUR/NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday termed the Sukma attack as a cold-blooded murder and declared that the anti-Maoist strategy will be reviewed. Singh reached Raipur on Tuesday to pay homage to the CRPF personnel killed in Mondays Maoist attack. He was accompanied by union minister of State for home Hansraj Ahir, Governor Balram Das Tandon, chief minister Raman Singh and the State cabinet, during the wreath laying ceremony. The Maoists will never succeed in their mission. We have accepted the Sukma attack as a challenge and have decided to review the strategy to counter left-wing extremism. And if needed, we will revise it too. I have called a meeting of top officials in Delhi on May 8, Rajnath Singh told media persons after the homage. Expressing his condolence to the families of the 25 CRPF personnel killed by Maoists, Singh said that the sacrifices of the brave soldiers will not go in vain. The attack shows the desperation of Maoists. The Centre and the State government will work together to take-up the challenge he said. The meeting will be attended by the Chief Ministers of 10 Naxal-affected States, their Chief Secretaries, Directors General of Police besides the District Magistrates and Superintendants of Police of 35 districts worst hit by the menace. Directors General of Central Paramilitary forces like the CRPF and BSF and officials of the Intelligence Bureau will also take part in the meeting. The broader agenda of the meeting is to review and fine tune the strategy relating to security and development in the affected States. The list of the 108 districts in the Red Corridor will be pruned to 68 as no incidents have been reported in 40 districts in the last three to four years. This will help in diverting the resources to the districts affected by the problem at present and help improve the kill ratio, a senior Union Home Ministry official said. WATCH VIDEO: window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[]; window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'OTI1ODgyfHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'}); The list of the 35 districts most affected by Naxalism will also come up for review during the meeting and taking into account the improved security scenario, area domination by the security forces and Naxal activities, some of the districts from the category may be dropped, the official indicated. The strength of the Central paramilitary forces in the most affected districts will be increased in keeping with the requirements and availability of the forces. The official clarified that there is no plan to deploy the Army for anti-Naxal operations saying the Central paramilitary forces are capable to deal with the problem. The Union Home Ministry is also concerned over grieving widows of martyred CRPF jawans on television news channels as such videos may demoralise other Force personnel. There is a need to be sensitive while airing such scenes, the official added. Progress by the affected States on the implementation of the stipulations of the new Naxal policy formulated by the NDA Government will also come up for review during the meeting. CMs of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha among others are likely to attend the meet. During current acting Director General of CRPF Sudeep Lakhtakias tenure, the Naxals have on an average inflicted a casualty of one paramilitary personnel every two days. Lakhtakia was made the acting DG after former CRPF chief K Durga Prasads retirement from service on February 28. On March 11, the Naxals had killed 11 CRPF personnel in the same district. On Monday, the premier paramilitary force CRPF lost 25 jawans engaged in a road opening operation (ROP) at Burkapal in Sukma of Bastar district, about 420 km south of Raipur. Eight seriously injured jawans were air-lifted to Raipur and were later visited by Singh at the hospital. (With inputs from ENS)
Two weeks back, an Indian cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates. After years of calm in the Indian Ocean, there has been a wave of piracy attacks in the past two months. Has piracy made a comeback?

Seas not safe

There were hundreds of attacks from 2008 to 2012. In 2011 alone there were 237 attacks. They declined steeply after ship owners improved security measures and international naval forces stepped up patrols, according to Reuters. Increase in security measures were complemented by aid organisations which came up with alternatives for young men who took to piracy, wrote Pulitzer-winning journalist Jeffrey Gettleman in the New York Times. Then, the seas became safe again. But not for long

Islamic State threat

The funds used by the other organisations were then used to battle other threats, including the Islamic State, adds Gettleman. Coastal towns in Puntland, a semiautonomous region in northwestern Somalia, were recently invaded by the IS. The recent attacks are believed to have been carried by pirates from Puntland or central Somalia

Attacking for food

Somalia, which has been hit by droughts, is also on the verge of famine. Experts say that this could also be one of the reasons for the rise in piracy. Some vessels targeted were carrying food and oil. Apart from that, some citizens feel that the government is colluding with the pirates. Only in February Somalia elected a new president

At the end of the day, analysts said, Somali piracy is a business decision. Rich merchants in central Somalia and Puntland must have decided that after years of being a money-losing operation, there were riches to made again in high-seas piracy

Two weeks back, an Indian cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates. After years of calm in the Indian Ocean, there has been a wave of piracy attacks in the past two months. Has piracy made a comeback? Seas not safe There were hundreds of attacks from 2008 to 2012. In 2011 alone there were 237 attacks. They declined steeply after ship owners improved security measures and international naval forces stepped up patrols, according to Reuters. Increase in security measures were complemented by aid organisations which came up with alternatives for young men who took to piracy, wrote Pulitzer-winning journalist Jeffrey Gettleman in the New York Times. Then, the seas became safe again. But not for long Islamic State threat The funds used by the other organisations were then used to battle other threats, including the Islamic State, adds Gettleman. Coastal towns in Puntland, a semiautonomous region in northwestern Somalia, were recently invaded by the IS. The recent attacks are believed to have been carried by pirates from Puntland or central Somalia Attacking for food Somalia, which has been hit by droughts, is also on the verge of famine. Experts say that this could also be one of the reasons for the rise in piracy. Some vessels targeted were carrying food and oil. Apart from that, some citizens feel that the government is colluding with the pirates. Only in February Somalia elected a new president At the end of the day, analysts said, Somali piracy is a business decision. Rich merchants in central Somalia and Puntland must have decided that after years of being a money-losing operation, there were riches to made again in high-seas piracy
On Friday, some 10 Taliban militants wearing military uniforms sneaked into an Army base in northern Afghanistan, before gunning down soldiers praying in a mosque and others having their lunch. The six hour long battle left at least 140 Afghan soldiers dead, with many more wounded. It was the deadliest attack by the Sunni militant outfit since it was bombed out of Afghanistan in 2011 by a US-led war on terror.

Over the past couple of years, particularly after the Obama administration in Washington announced its plans to drawdown its forces from the country, the Taliban has regained control over large swathes of the countryside, and now threatens several cities, including the capital Kabul. Political indecisiveness, instability and large-scale corruption has ensured that the ill-equipped Afghan National Security Forces suffered massive losses (more than 6,700 in 2016 alone) in attacks by the Taliban and other terror outfits backed by neighbouring Pakistan. The attack on the heavily fortified ANSFs northern headquarters, has sent out a clear message to an already demoralised force.

India, which has extensive historical and economic ties with Afghanistan, which it perceives as a gateway to Central Asia, has been loath to get involved militarily in the country. It does, however, train Afghan officers, and supplies helicopters and armoured carriers to the nation. It also recently agreed to refurbish many ancient Soviet transport aircraft grounded in Afghanistan. But Kabuls wish list of military items remains mostly unfulfilled.

On Tuesday, Dr Shaida Abdali, Afghanistans ambassador in New Delhi, announced that India, Afghanistan and the US would revive the trilateral strategic dialogue on Afghanistan. The US has been strongly urging India to deploy forces in Afghanistan to replace the outgoing US troops. But New Delhi must keep in mind that while weapons and training is one thing, boots on the ground is a totally different ball game which it can ill-afford to play.

On Friday, some 10 Taliban militants wearing military uniforms sneaked into an Army base in northern Afghanistan, before gunning down soldiers praying in a mosque and others having their lunch. The six hour long battle left at least 140 Afghan soldiers dead, with many more wounded. It was the deadliest attack by the Sunni militant outfit since it was bombed out of Afghanistan in 2011 by a US-led war on terror. Over the past couple of years, particularly after the Obama administration in Washington announced its plans to drawdown its forces from the country, the Taliban has regained control over large swathes of the countryside, and now threatens several cities, including the capital Kabul. Political indecisiveness, instability and large-scale corruption has ensured that the ill-equipped Afghan National Security Forces suffered massive losses (more than 6,700 in 2016 alone) in attacks by the Taliban and other terror outfits backed by neighbouring Pakistan. The attack on the heavily fortified ANSFs northern headquarters, has sent out a clear message to an already demoralised force. India, which has extensive historical and economic ties with Afghanistan, which it perceives as a gateway to Central Asia, has been loath to get involved militarily in the country. It does, however, train Afghan officers, and supplies helicopters and armoured carriers to the nation. It also recently agreed to refurbish many ancient Soviet transport aircraft grounded in Afghanistan. But Kabuls wish list of military items remains mostly unfulfilled. On Tuesday, Dr Shaida Abdali, Afghanistans ambassador in New Delhi, announced that India, Afghanistan and the US would revive the trilateral strategic dialogue on Afghanistan. The US has been strongly urging India to deploy forces in Afghanistan to replace the outgoing US troops. But New Delhi must keep in mind that while weapons and training is one thing, boots on the ground is a totally different ball game which it can ill-afford to play.
Pramod Thomas By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Job loss. Pay cut. Uncertainties in the Gulf. None of these seem to have impacted the inflow of Non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits to Kerala. While the future is anybodys guess, the growth so far has been exponential.

Consider this: It took over three decades for the NRI deposit in the state to touch the Rs 1 trillion mark. But it took just two years to add another half-a-trillion rupees. At the same time, only a fraction of the inflow has gone into savings.

On December 2014, the total NRI deposits in Kerala banks were Rs 1.05 lakh crore which increased to Rs 1.48 lakh crore in December 2016, according to data collected by the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC). A year ago, the figure stood at Rs 1.28 lakh crore.

The state received more than Rs 8 lakh crore in the past 14 years as per the Centre For Development Studies (CDS), Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust chairman K V Shamsudheen told Express.

If NRIs could keep 20 pc of the remittances as deposits each year, along with its cumulative interest, there would have been a minimum of Rs 4 lakh crore in the banks as deposits. But the deposit balance is only Rs 1.48 lakh crore. This data shows a very negligible saving mentality in Non-resident Keralites. These figures show all the remittance the state received had been consumed by families non-productive areas like extravagant lifestyle and expenditure like marriages, luxury house-building, cars, expensive healthcare and buying non-productive land. Very little has been saved.

The Kerala Government data shows there are 16.3 lakh NRKs. Unofficial estimates suggest the number is 25 lakh. The maximum number of Keralites reside in the UAE, followed by Saudi Arabia.

The total NRI deposit in public sector banks in Kerala is Rs 81,993 crore while private sector banks account for Rs 66,081 crore. The erstwhile State Bank of Travancore tops the list with Rs 33,936 crore and the total State Bank group has NRI deposits worth Rs 50,159 crore. Federal Bank holds the second largest deposit base in the state at Rs 33,148 crore.

Indicating the NRI deposit base may erode going forward, Industries Minister A C Moideen said: The state had progressed over the past four decades depending mainly on NRI remittances. Considering the present geopolitical circumstances, it is impossible to sustain this model of development. We have to attract investment in order to generate jobs for the youth within the state.

KOCHI: Job loss. Pay cut. Uncertainties in the Gulf. None of these seem to have impacted the inflow of Non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits to Kerala. While the future is anybodys guess, the growth so far has been exponential. Consider this: It took over three decades for the NRI deposit in the state to touch the Rs 1 trillion mark. But it took just two years to add another half-a-trillion rupees. At the same time, only a fraction of the inflow has gone into savings. On December 2014, the total NRI deposits in Kerala banks were Rs 1.05 lakh crore which increased to Rs 1.48 lakh crore in December 2016, according to data collected by the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC). A year ago, the figure stood at Rs 1.28 lakh crore. The state received more than Rs 8 lakh crore in the past 14 years as per the Centre For Development Studies (CDS), Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust chairman K V Shamsudheen told Express. If NRIs could keep 20 pc of the remittances as deposits each year, along with its cumulative interest, there would have been a minimum of Rs 4 lakh crore in the banks as deposits. But the deposit balance is only Rs 1.48 lakh crore. This data shows a very negligible saving mentality in Non-resident Keralites. These figures show all the remittance the state received had been consumed by families non-productive areas like extravagant lifestyle and expenditure like marriages, luxury house-building, cars, expensive healthcare and buying non-productive land. Very little has been saved. The Kerala Government data shows there are 16.3 lakh NRKs. Unofficial estimates suggest the number is 25 lakh. The maximum number of Keralites reside in the UAE, followed by Saudi Arabia. The total NRI deposit in public sector banks in Kerala is Rs 81,993 crore while private sector banks account for Rs 66,081 crore. The erstwhile State Bank of Travancore tops the list with Rs 33,936 crore and the total State Bank group has NRI deposits worth Rs 50,159 crore. Federal Bank holds the second largest deposit base in the state at Rs 33,148 crore. Indicating the NRI deposit base may erode going forward, Industries Minister A C Moideen said: The state had progressed over the past four decades depending mainly on NRI remittances. Considering the present geopolitical circumstances, it is impossible to sustain this model of development. We have to attract investment in order to generate jobs for the youth within the state.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court, on Tuesday, restrained the State Government from reopening or relocating any Tasmac outlet on the National and State Highways, proposed to be re-classified and brought under the purview of respective corporations and municipalities.

Giving a new twist to the raging issue, the first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar granted the injunction while passing interim orders on two public interest writ petitions  from R S Bharathi, the organising secretary of the DMK and the partys Rajya Sabha member and advocate K Balu, president of the Advocates Forum for Social Justice.

It is well settled that the State cannot exercise executive powers citing administrative needs to render a judicial order of the Supreme Court ineffective. Judicial decisions certainly cannot be frustrated by an executive order. Therefore, there will be an order of injunction restraining the State from setting up and or opening and or re-locating any liquor shop along any National Highway or State Highway running through the State or within a distance there from, as prohibited by the SC. The interim order shall remain in force for a period of 3 months or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the bench said, posting the matter to July 10.

The forum was one of the petitioners to move to the SC first and obtain orders on December 15, 2016 and March 31, 2017, directing the State governments to remove all the liquor shops and bars situated on National and State Highways and within 500 metres therefrom.



They sought to quash an order dated April 21 last of the Commissioner of Municipal Administration sent to all Commissioners of Municipal Corporations and Municipalities and consequently to forbear the government from in any manner converting the roads under NHAI, National Highways (NH), State Highways, District Main Roads, Panchayat Roads and other Roads of the District to any other classification under the control or maintenance of any local bodies such as Corporations, Municipalities, with an intention to nullify the orders.

Earlier, Bharathis senior counsel P Wilson told the bench that the State was attempting to circumvent the SC judgment, which cannot be done so even by Legislature. Wilson added that any action of the government to nullify the SC orders will run against Article 144 of the Indian Constitution.

Advocate-General R Muthukumaraswamy defended the State governments move pointing out when the Punjab government wanted to change the nomenclature of the roads, the High Court had upheld its decision.

Strangely, the Municipal Administration Commissioner traced a report issued on November 11, 2016, wherein the difficulties in obtaining No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from national highways for infrastructure were cited and to cut project escalation, it had suggested to the State government to bring the stretches of highways which pass through Corporations and Municipalities under the direct control of the urban local bodies concerned.

Giving resurrection to this report, the Commissioner on April 21 last issued the impugned order directing all the Corporations and Municipalities to adopt resolutions by April 25, to bring such stretches of highways passing through their respective territories under the direct control of the urban local bodies, he said.

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court, on Tuesday, restrained the State Government from reopening or relocating any Tasmac outlet on the National and State Highways, proposed to be re-classified and brought under the purview of respective corporations and municipalities. Giving a new twist to the raging issue, the first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar granted the injunction while passing interim orders on two public interest writ petitions  from R S Bharathi, the organising secretary of the DMK and the partys Rajya Sabha member and advocate K Balu, president of the Advocates Forum for Social Justice. It is well settled that the State cannot exercise executive powers citing administrative needs to render a judicial order of the Supreme Court ineffective. Judicial decisions certainly cannot be frustrated by an executive order. Therefore, there will be an order of injunction restraining the State from setting up and or opening and or re-locating any liquor shop along any National Highway or State Highway running through the State or within a distance there from, as prohibited by the SC. The interim order shall remain in force for a period of 3 months or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the bench said, posting the matter to July 10. The forum was one of the petitioners to move to the SC first and obtain orders on December 15, 2016 and March 31, 2017, directing the State governments to remove all the liquor shops and bars situated on National and State Highways and within 500 metres therefrom. They sought to quash an order dated April 21 last of the Commissioner of Municipal Administration sent to all Commissioners of Municipal Corporations and Municipalities and consequently to forbear the government from in any manner converting the roads under NHAI, National Highways (NH), State Highways, District Main Roads, Panchayat Roads and other Roads of the District to any other classification under the control or maintenance of any local bodies such as Corporations, Municipalities, with an intention to nullify the orders. Earlier, Bharathis senior counsel P Wilson told the bench that the State was attempting to circumvent the SC judgment, which cannot be done so even by Legislature. Wilson added that any action of the government to nullify the SC orders will run against Article 144 of the Indian Constitution. Advocate-General R Muthukumaraswamy defended the State governments move pointing out when the Punjab government wanted to change the nomenclature of the roads, the High Court had upheld its decision. Strangely, the Municipal Administration Commissioner traced a report issued on November 11, 2016, wherein the difficulties in obtaining No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from national highways for infrastructure were cited and to cut project escalation, it had suggested to the State government to bring the stretches of highways which pass through Corporations and Municipalities under the direct control of the urban local bodies concerned. Giving resurrection to this report, the Commissioner on April 21 last issued the impugned order directing all the Corporations and Municipalities to adopt resolutions by April 25, to bring such stretches of highways passing through their respective territories under the direct control of the urban local bodies, he said.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Adding a new twist to the ensuing political crisis in the State, AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran was arrested by the Delhi Police on Tuesday midnight.

Dhinakaran, who was being questioned by the cops for the past four days, was arrested after a court, hearing the bribe charges against him, pulled up Delhi police for not taking action. Dhinakarans friend Mallikarjuna was also arrested for allegedly sheltering him.

Dhinakaran has been accused of attempting to bribe Election Commission officials to reclaim the partys disputed two leaves symbol that was frozen by the department.

The police had arrested Sukesh Chandrasekar, who allegedly operated as Dhinakarans middleman to negotiate with the officials.

Reacting to the arrest, V Pugazhendi, spokesperson of the AIADMK (Amma) said the case was foisted and politically motivated.

Since Dhinakaran is handling the party affairs efficiently, he has been framed. We will take steps to move bail petition and to prove it is a foisted case, he told a news channel.

Earlier on Tuesday, a special court hearing the case questioned police for not taking action against the 53-year-old.

What action has been taken against Dhinakaran? The whole allegation is against him. Why are you not taking action against him? Judge Poonam Chaudhary asked the Delhi polices Crime Branch. The court also extended police custody of Sukesh by another three days for further interrogation into the hawala network.

Earlier in the day, leaders of the partys squabbling camps claimed the ambience was good to hold merger talks.

The ruling faction held a meeting with partys district secretaries, chaired by CM Edappadi K Palaniswami.

This is the first such meeting after the revolt by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. A good ambience is evolving in both the factions for talks, OPS said.

NEW DELHI: Adding a new twist to the ensuing political crisis in the State, AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran was arrested by the Delhi Police on Tuesday midnight. Dhinakaran, who was being questioned by the cops for the past four days, was arrested after a court, hearing the bribe charges against him, pulled up Delhi police for not taking action. Dhinakarans friend Mallikarjuna was also arrested for allegedly sheltering him. Dhinakaran has been accused of attempting to bribe Election Commission officials to reclaim the partys disputed two leaves symbol that was frozen by the department. The police had arrested Sukesh Chandrasekar, who allegedly operated as Dhinakarans middleman to negotiate with the officials. Reacting to the arrest, V Pugazhendi, spokesperson of the AIADMK (Amma) said the case was foisted and politically motivated. Since Dhinakaran is handling the party affairs efficiently, he has been framed. We will take steps to move bail petition and to prove it is a foisted case, he told a news channel. Earlier on Tuesday, a special court hearing the case questioned police for not taking action against the 53-year-old. What action has been taken against Dhinakaran? The whole allegation is against him. Why are you not taking action against him? Judge Poonam Chaudhary asked the Delhi polices Crime Branch. The court also extended police custody of Sukesh by another three days for further interrogation into the hawala network. Earlier in the day, leaders of the partys squabbling camps claimed the ambience was good to hold merger talks. The ruling faction held a meeting with partys district secretaries, chaired by CM Edappadi K Palaniswami. This is the first such meeting after the revolt by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. A good ambience is evolving in both the factions for talks, OPS said.
By PTI

PESHAWAR: Taliban militants today targeted a mini bus with a remote-controlled bomb in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal region, killing at least 14 people including four women and two children.

The improvised explosive device (IED) blast targeted the van in Kontara village in central Kurram Agency. Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehrik- e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. Fourteen people, including four women and two children, were killed in the blast, officials said. Thirteen people were injured in the explosion.

The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital. The military's media wing, Inter Services Public Relations, said a special Mi-17 helicopter has been sent to Kurram Agency headquarters Parachinar to bring the injured to Peshawar for treatment. Security personnel rushed to the blast site and cordoned off the entire area.

A search operation was also conducted. Last month, at least 28 people were killed and 100 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car "rigged with explosives" outside a Shiite imambargah in a busy market in Parachinar, the main town of the Kurram tribal region.

The grisly violence had sparked angry protests by residents in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency, which is prone to sectarian violence.

PESHAWAR: Taliban militants today targeted a mini bus with a remote-controlled bomb in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal region, killing at least 14 people including four women and two children. The improvised explosive device (IED) blast targeted the van in Kontara village in central Kurram Agency. Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehrik- e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. Fourteen people, including four women and two children, were killed in the blast, officials said. Thirteen people were injured in the explosion. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital. The military's media wing, Inter Services Public Relations, said a special Mi-17 helicopter has been sent to Kurram Agency headquarters Parachinar to bring the injured to Peshawar for treatment. Security personnel rushed to the blast site and cordoned off the entire area. A search operation was also conducted. Last month, at least 28 people were killed and 100 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car "rigged with explosives" outside a Shiite imambargah in a busy market in Parachinar, the main town of the Kurram tribal region. The grisly violence had sparked angry protests by residents in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency, which is prone to sectarian violence.
By Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK: Two Arkansas killers set to die Monday in the nation's first double execution in more than 16 years acknowledge they're guilty but fear the lethal injections could subject them to excruciating pain due to their various health problems.

Jack Jones and Marcel Williams say their medical conditions  which include obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure  could complicate their executions. Jones' execution is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and Williams' is slated to begin at 8:15 p.m. in the same execution chamber. They have asked courts to grant them stays, but so far none has. Their appeals are now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

They would be the second and third inmates executed by Arkansas this month. A fourth execution is set for Thursday. Arkansas initially wanted to execute eight men before a drug used to sedate the inmates expires Sunday, but four other inmates have won stays.

Before Ledell Lee's execution last Thursday, Arkansas hadn't put an inmate to death since 2005. In several of the 31 states where executions are legal, drug shortages have often forced delays as manufacturers prohibit their use in executions. Arkansas believes that secrecy it grants to suppliers can solve that problem, though it still has difficulty obtaining the drugs. Courts have also forced rewrites of Arkansas' lethal injection protocols, causing further delays. Jones and Williams committed their crimes more than two decades ago.

In recent pleadings before state and federal courts, the inmates say the three drugs Arkansas uses to execute prisoners  midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride  could be ineffective because of their poor health.

Jones, 52, has lost a leg to diabetes and is on insulin. Williams, 46, weighs 400 pounds, is diabetic and has concerns that the execution team might not be able to find a suitable vein to support an intravenous line.

The poor health of both men, their lawyers claim, could make it difficult for them to respond during a consciousness check following a megadose of midazolam. The state shouldn't risk giving them drugs to stop their lungs and hearts if they aren't unconscious, they have told courts.

In a response filed with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for the state said the inmates had filed an "avalanche" of lawsuits to obtain stays. The men's attorneys countered that the state forced their hands.

"If there was an 'avalanche' of litigation, as the state complains, that's because the state created an avalanche of execution dates," Julie Vandiver wrote.

The 8th Circuit rejected Jones' and Williams' requests for stays Monday, and the Arkansas Supreme Court said Monday it wouldn't reopen the men's cases and refused to issue stays.

The initial eight executions would have been the most by a state in such a short period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The state said the executions needed to be carried out before its supply of the sedative midazolam expires on April 30.

The last state to put more than one inmate to death on the same day was Texas, which executed two killers in August 2000. Arkansas executed four men in an eight-day period in 1960. The only quicker pace included quadruple executions in 1926 and 1930.

Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas.

Authorities said Williams abducted and raped two other women in the days before he was arrested in Errickson's death. Williams admitted responsibility to the state Parole Board last month.

"I wish I could take it back, but I can't," Williams told the board.

Jones was given the death penalty for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. He strangled her with the cord to a coffee pot.

In a letter earlier this month, Jones said he was ready to be killed by the state.

"I forgive my executioners; somebody has to do it," wrote Jones, who had a leg amputated in prison because of diabetes and uses a wheelchair.

The letter, which his attorney read aloud at his clemency hearing, went on to say: "I shall not ask to be forgiven, for I haven't the right."

Seven people have been executed in the United States this year, four in Texas and one each in Arkansas, Missouri and Virginia. Last year, 20 people were executed, down from 98 in 1999 and the lowest number since 14 in 1991, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

LITTLE ROCK: Two Arkansas killers set to die Monday in the nation's first double execution in more than 16 years acknowledge they're guilty but fear the lethal injections could subject them to excruciating pain due to their various health problems. Jack Jones and Marcel Williams say their medical conditions  which include obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure  could complicate their executions. Jones' execution is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and Williams' is slated to begin at 8:15 p.m. in the same execution chamber. They have asked courts to grant them stays, but so far none has. Their appeals are now before the U.S. Supreme Court. They would be the second and third inmates executed by Arkansas this month. A fourth execution is set for Thursday. Arkansas initially wanted to execute eight men before a drug used to sedate the inmates expires Sunday, but four other inmates have won stays. Before Ledell Lee's execution last Thursday, Arkansas hadn't put an inmate to death since 2005. In several of the 31 states where executions are legal, drug shortages have often forced delays as manufacturers prohibit their use in executions. Arkansas believes that secrecy it grants to suppliers can solve that problem, though it still has difficulty obtaining the drugs. Courts have also forced rewrites of Arkansas' lethal injection protocols, causing further delays. Jones and Williams committed their crimes more than two decades ago. In recent pleadings before state and federal courts, the inmates say the three drugs Arkansas uses to execute prisoners  midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride  could be ineffective because of their poor health. Jones, 52, has lost a leg to diabetes and is on insulin. Williams, 46, weighs 400 pounds, is diabetic and has concerns that the execution team might not be able to find a suitable vein to support an intravenous line. The poor health of both men, their lawyers claim, could make it difficult for them to respond during a consciousness check following a megadose of midazolam. The state shouldn't risk giving them drugs to stop their lungs and hearts if they aren't unconscious, they have told courts. In a response filed with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for the state said the inmates had filed an "avalanche" of lawsuits to obtain stays. The men's attorneys countered that the state forced their hands. "If there was an 'avalanche' of litigation, as the state complains, that's because the state created an avalanche of execution dates," Julie Vandiver wrote. The 8th Circuit rejected Jones' and Williams' requests for stays Monday, and the Arkansas Supreme Court said Monday it wouldn't reopen the men's cases and refused to issue stays. The initial eight executions would have been the most by a state in such a short period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The state said the executions needed to be carried out before its supply of the sedative midazolam expires on April 30. The last state to put more than one inmate to death on the same day was Texas, which executed two killers in August 2000. Arkansas executed four men in an eight-day period in 1960. The only quicker pace included quadruple executions in 1926 and 1930. Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas. Authorities said Williams abducted and raped two other women in the days before he was arrested in Errickson's death. Williams admitted responsibility to the state Parole Board last month. "I wish I could take it back, but I can't," Williams told the board. Jones was given the death penalty for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. He strangled her with the cord to a coffee pot. In a letter earlier this month, Jones said he was ready to be killed by the state. "I forgive my executioners; somebody has to do it," wrote Jones, who had a leg amputated in prison because of diabetes and uses a wheelchair. The letter, which his attorney read aloud at his clemency hearing, went on to say: "I shall not ask to be forgiven, for I haven't the right." Seven people have been executed in the United States this year, four in Texas and one each in Arkansas, Missouri and Virginia. Last year, 20 people were executed, down from 98 in 1999 and the lowest number since 14 in 1991, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
By IANS

PARIS: French presidential front-runner representing the far-right National Front (FN) Marine Le Pen said that she would step down as the party's leader to focus on gathering large number of voters ahead of the decisive round in May.



"I have always considered that the President of the Republic is the President of all the French and must gather all the French, but it is necessary to translate words into act," she told France 2 public television on Monday.



"I decided to leave the presidency of the National Front, and I am no longer the President of the National Front. I will be above partisan considerations," Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying.



"We are the ones who will defend the most and the best the democracy. None of my actions will be carried out without the people or against the people. I am the only one who can guarantee the French's protection," she added.



Le Pen brought the anti-establishment FN party into the country's political mainstream on Sunday's first round to elect new president for the next five years.



She came second with 21.30 per cent, or 7.67 million votes, a record number mirroring a growing public support for anti-immigrant party hostile to Europe.



The 48-year-old female presidential contender succeeded her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 to head the NF party. Since then, she has been working to softening the party's image by targeting widespread support of young public and workers.

PARIS: French presidential front-runner representing the far-right National Front (FN) Marine Le Pen said that she would step down as the party's leader to focus on gathering large number of voters ahead of the decisive round in May. "I have always considered that the President of the Republic is the President of all the French and must gather all the French, but it is necessary to translate words into act," she told France 2 public television on Monday. "I decided to leave the presidency of the National Front, and I am no longer the President of the National Front. I will be above partisan considerations," Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying. "We are the ones who will defend the most and the best the democracy. None of my actions will be carried out without the people or against the people. I am the only one who can guarantee the French's protection," she added. Le Pen brought the anti-establishment FN party into the country's political mainstream on Sunday's first round to elect new president for the next five years. She came second with 21.30 per cent, or 7.67 million votes, a record number mirroring a growing public support for anti-immigrant party hostile to Europe. The 48-year-old female presidential contender succeeded her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 to head the NF party. Since then, she has been working to softening the party's image by targeting widespread support of young public and workers.
By AFP

MOSUL: Iraqi forces retook full control of one the largest neighbourhoods of west Mosul Tuesday from the Islamic State group after a week of intense fighting, a top commander said.

"This morning, the heroes of the Counter-Terrorism Service on the western axis succeeded in fully clearing Tenek neighbourhood," Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi told AFP in Mosul.

The elite forces have been spearheading a massive offensive launched in mid-October 2016 to retake Mosul, the country's second city and the last major Iraqi bastion of the jihadists' now crumbling "caliphate".

The eastern side of the city, which is divided by the Tigris river, was recaptured in January, and a push on the west bank of Mosul launched the following month has made steady progress despite fierce resistance.

Tenek, on the western edge of the city, "is one of the largest neighbourhoods on the western side of Mosul," said Saadi, one of the top CTS commanders in Iraq.

"It used to be one of the main strongholds for terrorist groups," he said.

Saadi said the fighting in Tenek was fierce and lasted a full week.

"More than 20 car bombs were destroyed, dozens of terrorist militants were killed. Their bodies are still on the streets and inside houses," he said.

Only a few hundred IS fighters are believed to remain in west Mosul, most of them hunkering down in the Old City amidst several hundred thousand trapped civilians.

Iraqi forces have retaken neighbourhoods to the south, west and north of the Old City, tightening the noose around IS before a high-risk final assault.

The narrow streets of the Old City and its population density will force the Iraqi forces to conduct perilous dismounted operations which observers fear could yet allow holdout jihadists to stage a protracted last stand.

MOSUL: Iraqi forces retook full control of one the largest neighbourhoods of west Mosul Tuesday from the Islamic State group after a week of intense fighting, a top commander said. "This morning, the heroes of the Counter-Terrorism Service on the western axis succeeded in fully clearing Tenek neighbourhood," Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi told AFP in Mosul. The elite forces have been spearheading a massive offensive launched in mid-October 2016 to retake Mosul, the country's second city and the last major Iraqi bastion of the jihadists' now crumbling "caliphate". The eastern side of the city, which is divided by the Tigris river, was recaptured in January, and a push on the west bank of Mosul launched the following month has made steady progress despite fierce resistance. Tenek, on the western edge of the city, "is one of the largest neighbourhoods on the western side of Mosul," said Saadi, one of the top CTS commanders in Iraq. "It used to be one of the main strongholds for terrorist groups," he said. Saadi said the fighting in Tenek was fierce and lasted a full week. "More than 20 car bombs were destroyed, dozens of terrorist militants were killed. Their bodies are still on the streets and inside houses," he said. Only a few hundred IS fighters are believed to remain in west Mosul, most of them hunkering down in the Old City amidst several hundred thousand trapped civilians. Iraqi forces have retaken neighbourhoods to the south, west and north of the Old City, tightening the noose around IS before a high-risk final assault. The narrow streets of the Old City and its population density will force the Iraqi forces to conduct perilous dismounted operations which observers fear could yet allow holdout jihadists to stage a protracted last stand.
By AFP

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to cancel talks set for Tuesday with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over the visiting diplomat's plan to also meet rights groups critical of Israel's government.

An Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed reports that Netanyahu threatened to cancel the meeting if Gabriel also met with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem.

Breaking The Silence seeks to document alleged Israeli military abuses in the Palestinian territories, while B'Tselem has worked on a range of issues and has strongly opposed Israeli settlement building.

Cancelling the meeting between Netanyahu and Gabriel would be a rare step, but in line with the current right-wing Israeli government's stance against groups it accuses of having political agendas.

"We are learning through the Israeli media that Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom I have frequently met, wants to cancel this meeting because we want to meet critical representatives of civil society," Gabriel told German public television station ZDF.

"It is difficult for me to imagine this because that would be extremely regrettable... It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad."

Gabriel added that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met critics of the German government during a visit to Germany.

Such disputes have arisen in the past between visiting foreign officials and Israel's government.

In February, Israel reprimanded the Belgian ambassador after the country's prime minister, Charles Michel, met with B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence during a visit to Israel.

However, there was no public rebuke from the government when British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson met with anti-settlement NGO Peace Now during a visit in March.

Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years and Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian territory has drawn intense international criticism.

Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to cancel talks set for Tuesday with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over the visiting diplomat's plan to also meet rights groups critical of Israel's government. An Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed reports that Netanyahu threatened to cancel the meeting if Gabriel also met with Israeli rights groups Breaking The Silence and B'Tselem. Breaking The Silence seeks to document alleged Israeli military abuses in the Palestinian territories, while B'Tselem has worked on a range of issues and has strongly opposed Israeli settlement building. Cancelling the meeting between Netanyahu and Gabriel would be a rare step, but in line with the current right-wing Israeli government's stance against groups it accuses of having political agendas. "We are learning through the Israeli media that Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom I have frequently met, wants to cancel this meeting because we want to meet critical representatives of civil society," Gabriel told German public television station ZDF. "It is difficult for me to imagine this because that would be extremely regrettable... It is completely normal that we speak with civil society representatives during a visit abroad." Gabriel added that it would be "unthinkable" to cancel a meeting with Netanyahu if he met critics of the German government during a visit to Germany. Such disputes have arisen in the past between visiting foreign officials and Israel's government. In February, Israel reprimanded the Belgian ambassador after the country's prime minister, Charles Michel, met with B'Tselem and Breaking The Silence during a visit to Israel. However, there was no public rebuke from the government when British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson met with anti-settlement NGO Peace Now during a visit in March. Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years and Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian territory has drawn intense international criticism. Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.
By Associated Press

BERLIN: Ivanka Trump's advocacy for women and girls is taking her to a conference in Berlin today. The international outing is aimed at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs.

Back home, the first daughter's plan to push for policies that benefit working mothers is getting less of the spotlight.

Trump, an unpaid White House adviser, has not yet offered specific legislation or publicly revealed how she plans to move forward with the child care and family leave policies she promoted during her father's campaign. But a senior administration official says she and others have been working quietly behind the scenes to revise her campaign proposals and build momentum.

BERLIN: Ivanka Trump's advocacy for women and girls is taking her to a conference in Berlin today. The international outing is aimed at building support for investment in women's economic empowerment programs. Back home, the first daughter's plan to push for policies that benefit working mothers is getting less of the spotlight. Trump, an unpaid White House adviser, has not yet offered specific legislation or publicly revealed how she plans to move forward with the child care and family leave policies she promoted during her father's campaign. But a senior administration official says she and others have been working quietly behind the scenes to revise her campaign proposals and build momentum.
By AFP

YANGON: Myanmar will hold peace talks next month aimed at ending decades-long ethnic wars that have intensified since Aung San Suu Kyi's party took power a year ago, it was announced Tuesday.

Negotiators for the ethnic groups want the talks, which were pushed back from February due to a surge in fighting and political backbiting, to broach the issue of a federal power arrangement.

Ethnic fault lines have fractured the nation since it gained independence from Britain in 1948 and Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has made peace a priority of her new government.

But she has made little progress in sealing a peace deal since the first round of the so-called "21st Century Panglong" talks were held last year.

Clashes between the army and insurgents on Myanmar's eastern borders have since reached their worst point in decades, sending tens of thousands fleeing their homes.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay said the next round of talks would begin on May 24 and last five days.

Col Khun Okka, an ethnic negotiator, said they would aim to flesh out the key issue of what a new national federal system could look like.

"If we can lay out the basic agreement on a federal system, I can say it would help a lot," said Khun Okka, chairman of the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation.

Discontent with Suu Kyi's government has been growing among ethnic minorities, some of whom say she is working too closely with the military that ran the country for almost 50 years.

Under the constitution the army still controls a quarter of parliamentary seats and the ministries of borders, home affairs and defence.

Suu Kyi's NLD party lost several seats to ethnic parties in by-elections last month that were seen as a test of her popularity after a year in office.

"Ethnic people are not interested in the peace process as there has been a lot of fighting since the first meeting," said Sai One Lang Kham, an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy.

Analysts have criticised Suu Kyi for pushing a partial ceasefire deal first touted by the former military-backed government in 2015, which requires groups to lay down their arms before talks.

Several of the most powerful groups, including the China-backed United Wa State Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), have grouped together to reject the agreement and call for international mediation.

"As long as the intentional attacks to the ethnic groups are still going on, all the works by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be lost," KIA spokesman Daung Khar told AFP, using a Myanmar honorific.

YANGON: Myanmar will hold peace talks next month aimed at ending decades-long ethnic wars that have intensified since Aung San Suu Kyi's party took power a year ago, it was announced Tuesday. Negotiators for the ethnic groups want the talks, which were pushed back from February due to a surge in fighting and political backbiting, to broach the issue of a federal power arrangement. Ethnic fault lines have fractured the nation since it gained independence from Britain in 1948 and Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has made peace a priority of her new government. But she has made little progress in sealing a peace deal since the first round of the so-called "21st Century Panglong" talks were held last year. Clashes between the army and insurgents on Myanmar's eastern borders have since reached their worst point in decades, sending tens of thousands fleeing their homes. Government spokesman Zaw Htay said the next round of talks would begin on May 24 and last five days. Col Khun Okka, an ethnic negotiator, said they would aim to flesh out the key issue of what a new national federal system could look like. "If we can lay out the basic agreement on a federal system, I can say it would help a lot," said Khun Okka, chairman of the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation. Discontent with Suu Kyi's government has been growing among ethnic minorities, some of whom say she is working too closely with the military that ran the country for almost 50 years. Under the constitution the army still controls a quarter of parliamentary seats and the ministries of borders, home affairs and defence. Suu Kyi's NLD party lost several seats to ethnic parties in by-elections last month that were seen as a test of her popularity after a year in office. "Ethnic people are not interested in the peace process as there has been a lot of fighting since the first meeting," said Sai One Lang Kham, an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy. Analysts have criticised Suu Kyi for pushing a partial ceasefire deal first touted by the former military-backed government in 2015, which requires groups to lay down their arms before talks. Several of the most powerful groups, including the China-backed United Wa State Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), have grouped together to reject the agreement and call for international mediation. "As long as the intentional attacks to the ethnic groups are still going on, all the works by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be lost," KIA spokesman Daung Khar told AFP, using a Myanmar honorific.
By Reuters

COLOMBO: Workers at Sri Lanka's state-run oil firm Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) called off a strike on Monday less than 24 hours in after the government agreed to consult them before signing an oil tank deal with India.

Thousands of Sri Lankan motorists queued for fuel earlier in the day after the workers went on strike to demand the government scrap the deal which trade unions say would give India too much influence over fuel prices.

CPC Managing Director Nadun Fernando said the unions agreed to call off the strike after six-and-a-half hours of talks that also involved Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"The government has agreed to consider the suggestions and proposals of trade unions and other stake holders before any decision on the operation of Trincomalee oil tank farm is taken," he told Reuters.

A trade union official said they called off their action after Wickremesinghe agreed in writing to consult them about the deal, which would put 99 oil tanks in the hands of Lanka IOC, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation.

Union leaders said there was speculation the deal could be finalised either when Wickremesinghe visits New Delhi on Tuesday or Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes to Sri Lanka on May 11.

Sri Lanka has agreed with India to jointly develop and operate all the tanks in the oil storage facility in the port town of Trincomalee, near the world's second deepest natural harbour.

Lanka IOC already operates 15 of the oil tanks and the rest have not been used for decades.

For its part, IOC has agreed to build a second refinery with a capacity of at least 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Sri Lanka, while Modi pledged in 2015 to establish a petroleum hub in Trincomalee.

Unions at CPC said handing the tanks to Lanka IOC would give it too much influence over fuel stations.

"If they are given, they will have the control to decide the market prices," D.J. Rajakaruna, a CPC union leader told Reuters.

State Enterprise Minister Kabir Hashim said the unions had been given false information, as India and Sri Lanka had agreed to give 10 tanks to CPC while 74 were expected to be developed under a joint venture between CPC and Lanka IOC.

"It will be signed between the governments of India and Sri Lanka," he told reporters in Colombo.

A Lanka IOC official told Reuters that due to trade union pressure CPC would be allowed to use 10 of the 84 tanks earmarked for the joint venture between the two companies.

COLOMBO: Workers at Sri Lanka's state-run oil firm Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) called off a strike on Monday less than 24 hours in after the government agreed to consult them before signing an oil tank deal with India. Thousands of Sri Lankan motorists queued for fuel earlier in the day after the workers went on strike to demand the government scrap the deal which trade unions say would give India too much influence over fuel prices. CPC Managing Director Nadun Fernando said the unions agreed to call off the strike after six-and-a-half hours of talks that also involved Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. "The government has agreed to consider the suggestions and proposals of trade unions and other stake holders before any decision on the operation of Trincomalee oil tank farm is taken," he told Reuters. A trade union official said they called off their action after Wickremesinghe agreed in writing to consult them about the deal, which would put 99 oil tanks in the hands of Lanka IOC, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation. Union leaders said there was speculation the deal could be finalised either when Wickremesinghe visits New Delhi on Tuesday or Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes to Sri Lanka on May 11. Sri Lanka has agreed with India to jointly develop and operate all the tanks in the oil storage facility in the port town of Trincomalee, near the world's second deepest natural harbour. Lanka IOC already operates 15 of the oil tanks and the rest have not been used for decades. For its part, IOC has agreed to build a second refinery with a capacity of at least 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Sri Lanka, while Modi pledged in 2015 to establish a petroleum hub in Trincomalee. Unions at CPC said handing the tanks to Lanka IOC would give it too much influence over fuel stations. "If they are given, they will have the control to decide the market prices," D.J. Rajakaruna, a CPC union leader told Reuters. State Enterprise Minister Kabir Hashim said the unions had been given false information, as India and Sri Lanka had agreed to give 10 tanks to CPC while 74 were expected to be developed under a joint venture between CPC and Lanka IOC. "It will be signed between the governments of India and Sri Lanka," he told reporters in Colombo. A Lanka IOC official told Reuters that due to trade union pressure CPC would be allowed to use 10 of the 84 tanks earmarked for the joint venture between the two companies.
By AFP

BANGKOK: A man in Phuket filmed himself killing his child and then himself on Facebook Live, Thai police said Tuesday, the latest example of the social network's live-streaming function being used to broadcast grisly crimes.

Officers on the southern resort island said they were alerted to the video by friends of the man and rushed to an abandoned hotel near the international airport on Monday afternoon.

"They had already died when I arrived there," Lieutenant Jullaus Suvannin, one of the first on the scene, told AFP, adding a smartphone was found propped up against a wall.

Police said they believed the man had previously argued with the mother of the murdered child, an 11-month girl. The man had hung himself and his daughter, they said.

Channel 3 television broadcast footage of the child's distraught mother, flanked by relatives, picking up both her daughter's body and the man's corpse from the local hospital on Tuesday.

Facebook was not immediately available for comment.

The killing comes just days after Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg vowed to work to keep the world's leading social network from being used to propagate harrowing acts like murder and suicide.

Zuckerberg was responding to pressure after a man in the US state of Ohio used Facebook Live to broadcast footage of himself walking up to a stranger in the street and shooting him dead.

The killer went on to fatally shoot himself after a massive manhunt and police chase.

During a speech last Wednesday Zuckerberg conceded that Facebook had "a lot of work" to do on the issue.

"We are going to work on building common ground, not just getting more opinions out there," he added.

Phuket's governor called on Thais not to share the four-minute clip of the murder and suicide, copies of which could still be found on the social network on Tuesday afternoon.

BANGKOK: A man in Phuket filmed himself killing his child and then himself on Facebook Live, Thai police said Tuesday, the latest example of the social network's live-streaming function being used to broadcast grisly crimes. Officers on the southern resort island said they were alerted to the video by friends of the man and rushed to an abandoned hotel near the international airport on Monday afternoon. "They had already died when I arrived there," Lieutenant Jullaus Suvannin, one of the first on the scene, told AFP, adding a smartphone was found propped up against a wall. Police said they believed the man had previously argued with the mother of the murdered child, an 11-month girl. The man had hung himself and his daughter, they said. Channel 3 television broadcast footage of the child's distraught mother, flanked by relatives, picking up both her daughter's body and the man's corpse from the local hospital on Tuesday. Facebook was not immediately available for comment. The killing comes just days after Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg vowed to work to keep the world's leading social network from being used to propagate harrowing acts like murder and suicide. Zuckerberg was responding to pressure after a man in the US state of Ohio used Facebook Live to broadcast footage of himself walking up to a stranger in the street and shooting him dead. The killer went on to fatally shoot himself after a massive manhunt and police chase. During a speech last Wednesday Zuckerberg conceded that Facebook had "a lot of work" to do on the issue. "We are going to work on building common ground, not just getting more opinions out there," he added. Phuket's governor called on Thais not to share the four-minute clip of the murder and suicide, copies of which could still be found on the social network on Tuesday afternoon.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: The death toll from last week's Taliban attack on an Afghan military base stands at 144, a senior US defense official told AFP on Tuesday.

The exact toll from the assault had been unclear, with Afghan officials ignoring calls to break down the tally it gave of more than 100 soldiers killed or wounded.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the US defense official said that in addition to the 144 killed, about 60 more security forces were wounded.

Friday's attack on the Afghan National Army base outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif is believed to be one of the deadliest-ever Taliban attacks on a military installation.

Ten gunmen dressed in soldiers' uniforms and armed with suicide vests entered the base in army trucks and opened fire at unarmed troops at close range in the mosque and dining hall.

"The reason so many were able to be killed is you can't take weapons into the mosque or dining facility, you had a large group of people in a confined space," the official said.

"We think this was a very well-planned operation, probably four to six months to plan."

About 30 coalition forces were at a different part of the base at the time of the attack, but they were there in a train-and-advise capacity and were not involved in repelling the assault, which lasted about six hours, the official said.

Those coalition troops were likely German or US, though other nationalities may have been present too, the official said.

According to the US government's Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), 6,785 Afghan soldiers and police officers were killed between January 1 and November 12, 2016 with another 11,777 wounded.

WASHINGTON: The death toll from last week's Taliban attack on an Afghan military base stands at 144, a senior US defense official told AFP on Tuesday. The exact toll from the assault had been unclear, with Afghan officials ignoring calls to break down the tally it gave of more than 100 soldiers killed or wounded. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the US defense official said that in addition to the 144 killed, about 60 more security forces were wounded. Friday's attack on the Afghan National Army base outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif is believed to be one of the deadliest-ever Taliban attacks on a military installation. Ten gunmen dressed in soldiers' uniforms and armed with suicide vests entered the base in army trucks and opened fire at unarmed troops at close range in the mosque and dining hall. "The reason so many were able to be killed is you can't take weapons into the mosque or dining facility, you had a large group of people in a confined space," the official said. "We think this was a very well-planned operation, probably four to six months to plan." About 30 coalition forces were at a different part of the base at the time of the attack, but they were there in a train-and-advise capacity and were not involved in repelling the assault, which lasted about six hours, the official said. Those coalition troops were likely German or US, though other nationalities may have been present too, the official said. According to the US government's Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), 6,785 Afghan soldiers and police officers were killed between January 1 and November 12, 2016 with another 11,777 wounded.
By AFP

BEIRUT: Turkish warplanes killed more than 20 Kurdish fighters Tuesday in strikes in Syria and Iraq, where the Kurds are key players in the battle against the Islamic State group.

The deadliest bombardment was on the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), who are leading the US-backed fight for the important IS-held town of Tabqa in northern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Turkish planes carried out "dozens of simultaneous air strikes" on YPG positions in northeastern Hasakeh province overnight, including a media centre.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the strikes killed 18 people, one of the highest death tolls from Turkish air raids on Kurdish militia.

"Three of them are media officials and 15 of them are YPG fighters," Abdel Rahman said.

In a statement distributed to journalists, the YPG confirmed the Turkish bombardment and said there were casualties but did not give a toll.

"Turkish planes carried out a broad offensive on a YPG base that houses media and communication centres and some military installations," the statement said.

Ankara has bombed the YPG across swathes of northern Syria for months, calling it a "terrorist" group because of its ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) based in southeastern Turkey.

It has also targeted positions controlled by PKK-affiliated groups in northern Iraq.

Turkey vows to 'destroy havens'

Turkey's army said it launched air strikes on northeastern Syria and northern Iraq on Tuesday "in order to destroy terrorist havens targeting our country".

"The operations will continue to be carried out from now with the same determination until the very last terrorist is neutralised," the army said.

While the air raids on Syria appeared to hit their intended target, the bombardment in Iraq killed members of Kurdish security forces that are typically allied with Ankara.

"Six people were martyred, five from the peshmerga and the sixth from asayish," Lieutenant General Jabbar Yawar, secretary general of the peshmerga ministry in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government, told AFP.

"Nine others were also wounded by the air strike on the Sinjar mountain," he said, in reference to a northwestern region of Iraq which is the main hub of the Yazidi minority.

The peshmerga are the Kurdish Regional Government's armed forces and the asayish its intelligence service.

Yawar and other officials said the overnight strike apparently targeted a Yazidi militia allied with the PKK.

The peshmerga denounced the strike as "unacceptable" but focused blame on PKK-affiliated groups.

"These problems and tensions are all because of the PKK's presence," it said, accusing the PKK and its affiliates of refusing to withdraw from the Sinjar area.

IS is facing multiple offensives across Syria and Iraq -- often led by governments or forces that are otherwise bitterly opposed to each other.

Turkey launched an unprecedented cross-border operation into Syria in August to fight IS and to keep the YPG in check.

Fighting for IS-held Tabqa

The YPG makes up the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters taking on IS jihadists in Syria.

After chipping away at IS territory across the country's north, the SDF is now locked in clashes against the jihadists inside Tabqa, a key town on the Euphrates River.

Fighting continued inside the town's south and west on Tuesday, backed by heavy US-led coalition air strikes overnight, according to the Observatory.

The SDF entered the town on Monday as part of their flagship offensive for Raqa, the Syrian heart of the jihadists' self-styled "caliphate" since 2014.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria's six-year conflict, which the World Health Organization has called the most dangerous place for health workers.

Air strikes on a rebel-held village in northwestern Syria early Tuesday killed 12 people and put a nearby field clinic out of service, according to the Observatory.

The dead, which included at least two rebel fighters and five civilians, were killed in a first round of raids on the village of Duwayleh in Idlib province.

"As they were bringing wounded people to the clinic in nearby Kafr Takharim, new air strikes hit near the facility," Abdel Rahman said.

An AFP correspondent saw a bloodied stretcher and a wheelchair propped up on a building whose entrance was littered with rubble.

BEIRUT: Turkish warplanes killed more than 20 Kurdish fighters Tuesday in strikes in Syria and Iraq, where the Kurds are key players in the battle against the Islamic State group. The deadliest bombardment was on the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), who are leading the US-backed fight for the important IS-held town of Tabqa in northern Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Turkish planes carried out "dozens of simultaneous air strikes" on YPG positions in northeastern Hasakeh province overnight, including a media centre. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the strikes killed 18 people, one of the highest death tolls from Turkish air raids on Kurdish militia. "Three of them are media officials and 15 of them are YPG fighters," Abdel Rahman said. In a statement distributed to journalists, the YPG confirmed the Turkish bombardment and said there were casualties but did not give a toll. "Turkish planes carried out a broad offensive on a YPG base that houses media and communication centres and some military installations," the statement said. Ankara has bombed the YPG across swathes of northern Syria for months, calling it a "terrorist" group because of its ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) based in southeastern Turkey. It has also targeted positions controlled by PKK-affiliated groups in northern Iraq. Turkey vows to 'destroy havens' Turkey's army said it launched air strikes on northeastern Syria and northern Iraq on Tuesday "in order to destroy terrorist havens targeting our country". "The operations will continue to be carried out from now with the same determination until the very last terrorist is neutralised," the army said. While the air raids on Syria appeared to hit their intended target, the bombardment in Iraq killed members of Kurdish security forces that are typically allied with Ankara. "Six people were martyred, five from the peshmerga and the sixth from asayish," Lieutenant General Jabbar Yawar, secretary general of the peshmerga ministry in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government, told AFP. "Nine others were also wounded by the air strike on the Sinjar mountain," he said, in reference to a northwestern region of Iraq which is the main hub of the Yazidi minority. The peshmerga are the Kurdish Regional Government's armed forces and the asayish its intelligence service. Yawar and other officials said the overnight strike apparently targeted a Yazidi militia allied with the PKK. The peshmerga denounced the strike as "unacceptable" but focused blame on PKK-affiliated groups. "These problems and tensions are all because of the PKK's presence," it said, accusing the PKK and its affiliates of refusing to withdraw from the Sinjar area. IS is facing multiple offensives across Syria and Iraq -- often led by governments or forces that are otherwise bitterly opposed to each other. Turkey launched an unprecedented cross-border operation into Syria in August to fight IS and to keep the YPG in check. Fighting for IS-held Tabqa The YPG makes up the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters taking on IS jihadists in Syria. After chipping away at IS territory across the country's north, the SDF is now locked in clashes against the jihadists inside Tabqa, a key town on the Euphrates River. Fighting continued inside the town's south and west on Tuesday, backed by heavy US-led coalition air strikes overnight, according to the Observatory. The SDF entered the town on Monday as part of their flagship offensive for Raqa, the Syrian heart of the jihadists' self-styled "caliphate" since 2014. More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria's six-year conflict, which the World Health Organization has called the most dangerous place for health workers. Air strikes on a rebel-held village in northwestern Syria early Tuesday killed 12 people and put a nearby field clinic out of service, according to the Observatory. The dead, which included at least two rebel fighters and five civilians, were killed in a first round of raids on the village of Duwayleh in Idlib province. "As they were bringing wounded people to the clinic in nearby Kafr Takharim, new air strikes hit near the facility," Abdel Rahman said. An AFP correspondent saw a bloodied stretcher and a wheelchair propped up on a building whose entrance was littered with rubble.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: The United States has irked its key ally Turkey, criticising the 1915 massacres in Armenia as "one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century," although stopping short of calling them genocide. The issue is a politically fraught one in the United States especially among Armenian Americans.

Estimates say the killings number between half a million and 1.5 million. The largest group is in the Los Angeles area, and includes pop star and actress Cher, and the Kardashians of reality television fame. Former president Barack Obama had promised to recognise the killings as a genocide. But over eight years in office, in need of cooperation from Turkey, he did not follow through.

New President Donald Trump issued a statement saying bluntly that "today, we remember and honor the memory of those who suffered during the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century."

Many of the diaspora landed in countries from France to Argentina to the United States. "Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire," Trump said. "I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by so many. "We must remember atrocities to prevent them from occurring again," he continued.

"We welcome the efforts of Turks and Armenians to acknowledge and reckon with painful history, which is a critical step toward building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future." Amid sharp Turkish criticism for the remarks, the State Department noted that the US president, in fact, had made no mention of genocide.

"The (Trump) statement that was put out is consistent with the statements that have been put out for at least several of the past administrations," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a briefing. "I think if you look back to the language that President Obama, President Bush have used, the language the President used is consistent with all of that," Spicer stressed.

In Istanbul, the foreign ministry said Trump's remarks on the remembrance day were "misinformation" and "false definitions." "We expect from the new US administration not to accredit the one-sided historical narrative of these circles which are known for their tendency to violence and hate speech and to adopt an approach which will take into consideration the sufferings of all sides," it stressed.

Outside the Turkish embassy here, a few hundred protested on each side, separated by the road and police. House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland said that "on this day in 1915, the arrest of Armenian social, political, and intellectual leaders launched a four-year campaign of genocide that took the lives of 1.5 million men, women, and children.

"Not only must we recommit ourselves to the remembrance of the twentieth century's first genocide but also work to prevent ethnic killing in the twenty-first century," he argued.

WASHINGTON: The United States has irked its key ally Turkey, criticising the 1915 massacres in Armenia as "one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century," although stopping short of calling them genocide. The issue is a politically fraught one in the United States especially among Armenian Americans. Estimates say the killings number between half a million and 1.5 million. The largest group is in the Los Angeles area, and includes pop star and actress Cher, and the Kardashians of reality television fame. Former president Barack Obama had promised to recognise the killings as a genocide. But over eight years in office, in need of cooperation from Turkey, he did not follow through. New President Donald Trump issued a statement saying bluntly that "today, we remember and honor the memory of those who suffered during the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century." Many of the diaspora landed in countries from France to Argentina to the United States. "Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire," Trump said. "I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by so many. "We must remember atrocities to prevent them from occurring again," he continued. "We welcome the efforts of Turks and Armenians to acknowledge and reckon with painful history, which is a critical step toward building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future." Amid sharp Turkish criticism for the remarks, the State Department noted that the US president, in fact, had made no mention of genocide. "The (Trump) statement that was put out is consistent with the statements that have been put out for at least several of the past administrations," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a briefing. "I think if you look back to the language that President Obama, President Bush have used, the language the President used is consistent with all of that," Spicer stressed. In Istanbul, the foreign ministry said Trump's remarks on the remembrance day were "misinformation" and "false definitions." "We expect from the new US administration not to accredit the one-sided historical narrative of these circles which are known for their tendency to violence and hate speech and to adopt an approach which will take into consideration the sufferings of all sides," it stressed. Outside the Turkish embassy here, a few hundred protested on each side, separated by the road and police. House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland said that "on this day in 1915, the arrest of Armenian social, political, and intellectual leaders launched a four-year campaign of genocide that took the lives of 1.5 million men, women, and children. "Not only must we recommit ourselves to the remembrance of the twentieth century's first genocide but also work to prevent ethnic killing in the twenty-first century," he argued.
By Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a Trump administration order to withhold funding from communities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities, saying the president has no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued the temporary ruling in a lawsuit against the executive order targeting so-called sanctuary cities. The decision will stay in place while the lawsuit works its way through court.

The Trump administration and two California governments that sued over the order disagreed about its scope during a recent court hearing.

San Francisco and Santa Clara County argued that it threatened billions of dollars in federal funding for each of them, making it difficult to plan their budgets.

"It's not like it's just some small amount of money," John Keker, an attorney for Santa Clara County, told Orrick at the April 14 hearing.

Chad Readler, acting assistant attorney general, said the county and San Francisco were interpreting the executive order too broadly. The funding cutoff applies to three Justice Department and Homeland Security Department grants that require complying with a federal law that local governments not block officials from providing people's immigration status, he said.

The order would affect less than $1 million in funding for Santa Clara County and possibly no money for San Francisco, Readler said.

Republican President Donald Trump was using a "bully pulpit" to "encourage communities and states to comply with the law," Readler said.

In his ruling, Orrick sided with San Francisco and Santa Clara, saying the order "by its plain language, attempts to reach all federal grants, not merely the three mentioned at the hearing."

"The rest of the order is broader still, addressing all federal funding," Orrick said. "And if there was doubt about the scope of the order, the president and attorney general have erased it with their public comments."

He said: "Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the president disapproves."

The Trump administration says sanctuary cities allow dangerous criminals back on the street and that the order is needed to keep the country safe. San Francisco and other sanctuary cities say turning local police into immigration officers erodes trust that's needed to get people to report crime.

The order also has led to lawsuits by Seattle; two Massachusetts cities, Lawrence and Chelsea; and a third San Francisco Bay Area government, the city of Richmond. The San Francisco and Santa Clara County suits were the first to get a hearing before a judge.

San Francisco and the county argued in court documents that the president did not have the authority to set conditions on the allocation of federal funds and could not force local officials to enforce federal immigration law.

They also said Trump's order applied to local governments that didn't detain immigrants for possible deportation in response to federal requests, not just those that refused to provide people's immigration status.

The Department of Justice responded that the city and county's lawsuits were premature because decisions about withholding funds and what local governments qualified as sanctuary cities had yet to be made.

The sanctuary city order was among a flurry of immigration measures Trump has signed since taking office in January, including a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries and a directive calling for a wall on the border with Mexico.

A federal appeals court blocked the travel ban. The administration then revised it, but the new version also is stalled in court.

SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a Trump administration order to withhold funding from communities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities, saying the president has no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending. U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued the temporary ruling in a lawsuit against the executive order targeting so-called sanctuary cities. The decision will stay in place while the lawsuit works its way through court. The Trump administration and two California governments that sued over the order disagreed about its scope during a recent court hearing. San Francisco and Santa Clara County argued that it threatened billions of dollars in federal funding for each of them, making it difficult to plan their budgets. "It's not like it's just some small amount of money," John Keker, an attorney for Santa Clara County, told Orrick at the April 14 hearing. Chad Readler, acting assistant attorney general, said the county and San Francisco were interpreting the executive order too broadly. The funding cutoff applies to three Justice Department and Homeland Security Department grants that require complying with a federal law that local governments not block officials from providing people's immigration status, he said. The order would affect less than $1 million in funding for Santa Clara County and possibly no money for San Francisco, Readler said. Republican President Donald Trump was using a "bully pulpit" to "encourage communities and states to comply with the law," Readler said. In his ruling, Orrick sided with San Francisco and Santa Clara, saying the order "by its plain language, attempts to reach all federal grants, not merely the three mentioned at the hearing." "The rest of the order is broader still, addressing all federal funding," Orrick said. "And if there was doubt about the scope of the order, the president and attorney general have erased it with their public comments." He said: "Federal funding that bears no meaningful relationship to immigration enforcement cannot be threatened merely because a jurisdiction chooses an immigration enforcement strategy of which the president disapproves." The Trump administration says sanctuary cities allow dangerous criminals back on the street and that the order is needed to keep the country safe. San Francisco and other sanctuary cities say turning local police into immigration officers erodes trust that's needed to get people to report crime. The order also has led to lawsuits by Seattle; two Massachusetts cities, Lawrence and Chelsea; and a third San Francisco Bay Area government, the city of Richmond. The San Francisco and Santa Clara County suits were the first to get a hearing before a judge. San Francisco and the county argued in court documents that the president did not have the authority to set conditions on the allocation of federal funds and could not force local officials to enforce federal immigration law. They also said Trump's order applied to local governments that didn't detain immigrants for possible deportation in response to federal requests, not just those that refused to provide people's immigration status. The Department of Justice responded that the city and county's lawsuits were premature because decisions about withholding funds and what local governments qualified as sanctuary cities had yet to be made. The sanctuary city order was among a flurry of immigration measures Trump has signed since taking office in January, including a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries and a directive calling for a wall on the border with Mexico. A federal appeals court blocked the travel ban. The administration then revised it, but the new version also is stalled in court.
The Central Government had on Tuesday intervened to prevent the transfer of the Malayali officer arrested by Equatorial Guinea to Nigeria.
RI Election Day Live Coverage: Election Results and more

In the Nov. 8 election Rhode Islanders will cast their vote for governor, Congressman, and ballot issues. Here's everything you need to know.
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Noelle McGee is a Danville-based reporter at The News-Gazette. Her email is nmcgee@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@n_mcgee).
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Synthetic cannabinoid abuse is a growing problem in the United States, with new versions of the drugs coming on the market every year. New research is examining how the body processes these man-made drugs and the role that genetics might play in their metabolism. The work could reveal genetic factors that increase a person's risk for experiencing the most dangerous effects of these drugs and lead to new treatments to counteract those effects.

Anna Radominska-Pandya, PhD, professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, will present new research examining the toxicity and mechanisms of action for synthetic cannabinoids at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics annual meeting during the Experimental Biology 2017 meeting, to be held April 22-26 in Chicago.

Drugs in the synthetic cannabinoid class-;also known as K2, Spice, synthetic marijuana and many other names-;come in more than 150 chemical forms. Although these drugs produce mind-altering effects by interacting with the same receptors responsible for the psychoactive effects of marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids can act on the brain in a much stronger way and have unpredictable effects that sometimes lead to severe injury and death.

"The growing interest in these products, which are inappropriately labeled as 'synthetic marijuana,' is due to rampant availability, ability to elude detection in standard drug tests, low price and the misconception that these products are not toxic," said Radominska-Pandya. "Due to potentially fatal effects of synthetic cannabinoids, it is important to understand the biological activity and toxicity of these novel compounds so that effective treatments and antidotes can be developed."

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Radominska-Pandya's research group has been at the forefront of synthetic cannabinoid research since the group was one of the first to identify and study synthetic cannabinoids in the United States a decade ago. They have made important discoveries regarding potential molecular mechanisms responsible for the longer-acting and stronger effects of synthetic cannabinoids compared with marijuana, findings that may lead to potential antidotes for counteracting the drugs' most dangerous effects.

Most recently, Radominska-Pandya and her colleagues identified the role of certain enzymes in the metabolism of various synthetic cannabinoids. Results from analyzing synthetic cannabinoid metabolites led the researchers to hypothesize that genetic variation could produce metabolism defects that may cause severe effects when using the drug. This research could eventually lead to a way to identify people who can't metabolize and excrete synthetic cannabinoids and thus have the highest risk for experiencing severe or even deadly outcomes from its use.

As new compounds that are chemically distinct from earlier drugs continue to appear on the market, the researchers plan to investigate the pharmacological effects of these new synthetic cannabinoids and determine how the body's metabolism may contribute to their toxicology.

"Our overall goal is to understand the molecular and behavioral pharmacology and metabolism of these compounds as a means to identify effective therapeutic strategies against their acute and chronic toxic effects in people," said Radominska-Pandya.

Source: http://www.faseb.org/
insights from industry Dr Adam Hill Chief Medical Officer McLaren Applied Technologies

An interview with Dr Adam Hill conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Cantab)

In what ways, could innovation and technological advances in Formula 1 disrupt healthcare?

We've been in Formula 1 now for 51 years. What defines our ability to compete is the fact that we have understood the need to innovate. In addition, we take an incremental rather than disruptive approach to innovation.

Incremental innovation is not something that many people talk about. Disruptive innovation has received quite a lot of coverage over the last decade but to move the needle in healthcare, continuous improvement is often the best way.

What similarities are there between managing the health and performance of a racing car and monitoring patients?

Over 27 years in McLaren Applied Technologies, we have become experts in developing technological systems - platforms that underpin continuous improvement.

If performance can be defined, we can go about measuring it, and on the back of that measurement, analyze the data to drive a decision.

On the pit lane, or in the paddock, those decisions are made by strategists and engineers to optimize your chance of winning, but, of course, many of the same technology platforms can be applied in healthcare.

If we are able to define what health improvement we're trying to achieve, then we can go about measuring the key performance indicators of that health outcome. We go about analyzing the data and driving decisions; but instead of it being engineers and strategists making decisions, it's doctors, patients and healthcare administrators that act upon our insight in order to ultimately continually improve.

It is a very similar approach to continuous improvement, which is translatable from the motor sport environment into the healthcare environment. This spans across all of our domains of expertise in McLaren Applied Technologies, from automotive to public transport.

Can you please give an overview of telemetrics and explain how it was used to monitor a four-and-a-half-year-olds recovery from cardiac arrest?

The case you're referring to came from a cohort of patients at Birmingham Children's Hospital, that is being monitored by our system, in conjunction with some other technology for life-threatening events such as the one that you described.

In order to optimize our chance of winning, we deploy sensors, we measure and analyze things and we drive decisions. That's exactly what you would do in an intensive care or a high-dependency care environment caring for children with a heart defect or who have had a heart operation.

Typically, in one of these environments you would measure four sets of vital signs: heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation. In order to do that continually, a patient typically needs to be in a bed, wired up to a monitor, of course anyone that knows a four-and-a-half-year-old child will tell you that they don't like staying in bed or being wired up to a monitor!

We co-developed a wireless, battery-powered solution to capture these four metrics beyond the hospital bed for example whilst the child goes and plays in the play area.

Secondly, the next innovative step in this situation, is that we applied the same sort of thinking that we apply to making decisions in a Formula 1 race, which is one of running what-if scenarios or probabilistic simulations, allowing us to predict when an event is likely to occur.

The reason for this is that if you're monitoring 30 children on a ward, and there are four parameters per child that are changing second by second, it's very difficult for the clinical staff to pick out trends that may be life-threatening or suggest the child is deteriorating in some way, shape, or form, without the support of what we would call a decision support tool.

We developed one of these tools, which alerts the clinical staff to the deterioration of a child before it has become obvious in the environment. Those are two major innovative steps we've deployed that come out of the Formula 1 environment and into the healthcare space in that scenario you have described.

What impact do you think this technology could have on healthcare moving forward?

It's huge. Healthcare is very reactive, over-utilized and there is an acute need to deploy intelligent technologies that can help you derive insight rapidly from the mass of data that you're presented with, not just on one patient, but multiple patients under your care. It's solutions such as this that are the future of our healthcare systems.

How is real-time data from Formula 1 technology also being used to make better surgeons? In what ways will this impact surgical training?

As part of our partnership with Oxford Medical School, we have developed a technology that is again wireless and battery-powered for measuring the movement of your hands and wrists during a surgical procedure.

The hypothesis here, which has been well tried, tested and proven a number of times, is that the less you move, or the poorer your movement, the better the skills that you've acquired.

When learning to play the piano or violin, at Grade One, you make very large hand movements in order to achieve simple musical compositions. However, people who are experts at playing a musical instrument will make very small movements to achieve very complex musical compositions.

It's exactly the same in surgery. The greater your paucity of movement, the greater the skill that you have acquired in performing a particular surgical procedure.

Using these devices, we can now measure someone's level of skill acquisition. We can also benchmark them against those surgeons of an equal amount of training or seniority within their career to understand whether a trainee surgeon is moving up the training curve as they should be, or indeed whether an expert surgeon is performing a task as they have been trained to.

Can you please outline the collaboration between McLaren Applied Technologies, Stowhealth (a GP surgery based in Stowmarket) and academics at University Campus Suffolk to study whether telemetry technology, developed for Formula 1, could be used to tackle obesity? How is this study being funded and what does it hope to achieve?

This is a piece of work that was funded by Simply Health to support prescribed exercise therapy.

Stowhealth is very forward thinking and, as a result, has developed a gym and rehabilitation environment in their clinical space that patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) that is over a certain threshold can access to lose weight.

However, prescribing exercise and actually carrying out enough exercise to lose weight and bring your BMI down to within a normal range, are two very different things.

When patients are wearing the device that measures their heart rate and the amount of movement they are making, we are able to present each of those patients with an insight into the amount of effort that they put in and the amount of effort that they need to put in to lose weight or the difference between those two.

What are the key benefits of health groups and technology companies working together?

The triple aim of healthcare is to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequality, so that everyone is provided with access to health services, at a cost that we can afford. I think, increasingly, that is not possible if all healthcare interactions are on a one-to-one basis; or human-to-human.

We require technology or digital platforms, to enable expertise to be delivered, not just on a one-to-one basis, which of course will continue to be important, but on a one-to-many basis. Technology companies that develop digital platforms are critical for scaling healthcare services today and, importantly, making healthcare services sustainable into the future.

I think the opportunity that sits in front of us today is the development of technology platforms that support the shift in healthcare from volume-based commissioning (getting a volume discount for the more products that you buy, which is very typical within healthcare systems today), to value-based commissioning.

By that, I mean I'm not really interested in the impact a volume of product might have, but in every single one of those products that I buy having the maximum impact for every one of my patients. I think this shift is critical, again, to make healthcare systems sustainable into the future. We're not going to be able to achieve that without adopting digital platforms such as that that we have, translated from the Formula 1 environment.

Where can readers find more information?

http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/

About Dr Adam Hill

Adam Hill is a dual-qualified Clinician and Mechanical Engineer, with a career built at the interface of Academia, Industry and Health systems. In recent years, he has founded a successful applied research centre, enveloping an R&D programme with expertise in the optimization of novel products and systems, provided strategic advice to global life science companies on behalf of the British Government, and led the medical function in a multinational, publicly-listed Health IT brand.

Recently appointed as the Chief Medical Officer of McLaren Applied Technologies, Adam is focused on applying the companys deep technical expertise to developing human-centric, data-driven solutions to challenging problems that inhibit the realisation of high quality health outcomes for all.

Adam graduated from Imperial College London as a Medical Doctor with gold medal; during this time, he also earned a PhD in Engineering and attended Business School. Having subsequently graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he received his postgraduate clinical training from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and professional engineering qualification from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers while in the British Army.

In addition, Adam has built a portfolio of over 100 publications, in addition to 12 academic awards and patents.
Scientists at KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Belgium, have succeeded in growing three-dimensional cultures of the endometrium, the uterus' inner lining, in a dish. These so-called endometrial organoids promise to shed light onto the processes that occur during the monthly menstrual cycle and open up the possibility of studying diseases of the uterus, such as endometrial atrophy (thinning of the lining) or cancer, in a lab culture system.

Every month, the tissue that lines a woman's womb first thickens, then matures and finally - unless the woman becomes pregnant -- degenerates in a cycle that is regulated by changing levels of the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone. This process is disrupted in diseases such as endometrial cancer, with serious consequences for the patient's fertility. However, we understand little about how these dynamic changes occur or about what goes wrong in disease, mainly because we lack good culture models for endometrial tissue. In a new study published in the journal Development, the KU Leuven researchers show that individual or small groups of cells from uterus biopsies can be made to grow into three-dimensional structures that show many of the features of the womb lining, including the ability to produce mucus. Importantly, these endometrial organoids respond to the female hormones in a way similar to the endometrium in the body, allowing scientists to mimic the menstrual cycle in a dish.

Matteo Boretto, the first author on this study, commented that "we were very excited to see that we could not only robustly grow and amplify endometrial tissue in a dish, but that the tiny structures were also able to reproduce normal responses of the endometrium to hormones: oestrogen makes the tissue thicken, progesterone then induces maturation including folding (see picture), and subsequent removal of both hormones mimics the cell shedding of the menstrual period".

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Although the endometrial organoids produced in the lab only contain a part of the structure that makes up the womb, the researchers hope that it will soon be possible to grow these organoids together with other cells that comprise the uterus, to more accurately model this key reproductive organ.

In the meantime, the new technique will already help scientists to develop a more detailed understanding of how the womb responds to hormones during the menstrual cycle. Importantly, the technique will also make it possible for researchers to grow organoids from diseased endometrium such as in endometrial atrophy or cancer. This approach will allow in-depth study of these diseases and may serve as a valuable system for drug discovery and screening.

Hugo Vankelecom, the lead author on this study, explained that "our new model provides several exciting perspectives. First, it allows the reliable and robust expansion of endometrial biopsies which usually are very small in size, thereby enabling extensive examination which was not possible before. Second, patient organoids will help us to understand malfunctions of the endometrium, which may lead to new and better treatments for uterine diseases and accompanying fertility problems. Simultaneously, the organoids will provide a platform to test the efficiency and toxicity of new drugs. For all these reasons, we also believe that companies will eventually be interested in our accomplishment."

Source: The Company of Biologists
Pacific Islanders are persons who trace their roots to the native peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. Although they make up the third fastest growing racial group in the U.S., their mental health needs and attitudes regarding mental illness are poorly understood. One reason for this is that discussing mental health problems with others is largely taboo in their cultures. Also, stigma, language barriers, and lack of information about available resources and services complicate Pacific Islanders' access to mental health services.

To address this clinical gap, Andrew Subica, Ph.D., an assistant professor of social medicine and population health in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, has received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct one of the first studies of mental health and mental illness among Pacific Islanders.

The two-year $452,000 grant is titled, "Engaging Pacific Islander Perspectives on Mental Illness and Mental Health Service Engagement."

"The goal of the study is to capture the perspectives of community-dwelling Pacific Islanders in two large Pacific Islander communities--Samoans in Los Angeles and the Marshallese in Arkansas--in order to develop the first culturally attuned manualized intervention to promote Pacific Islander engagement in mental health services," said Subica, the grant's principal investigator and a member of UCR's Center for Healthy Communities.

Pacific Islanders have been found to experience severe health disparities, yet have received very little research attention focused on exploring and addressing their unique challenges. Subica said, "Pacific Islanders constitute an invisible, understudied racial group suffering large mental and physical health disparities. Unfortunately, we know less about their mental health needs or how to treat them than perhaps any other U.S. racial group." He further explained that, like indigenous American Indians, many Pacific Islander groups are vulnerable to these health disparities because of their exposure to extensive historical trauma including U.S. colonization.

"For example, in 1893, the U.S. overthrew the Hawaiian Monarchy, an aggressive act that has placed present day Native Hawaiians at perpetual social, economic, and health disadvantage in their own native homelands," he said. "Later, the U.S. military tested thousands of nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands for over a decade, contaminating many Marshallese people, food sources, and lands with radioactive fallout. As a result of these experiences and their own unique cultural perspectives, Pacific Islanders feel reluctant to trust and seek U.S. mental health services."

Pacific Islanders are heavily concentrated in the western United States. According to the World Health Organization, Pacific Island nations suffer a growing rate of alcohol and drug problems. Where available, mental health services are "often extremely limited, poorly distributed and staffed, and under-funded." And more than half the Pacific Island nations have no dedicated mental health budget.

Subica, recently named a National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities Health Disparities Research Institute Scholar, will be joined in the research by Greer Sullivan and Bruce Link at UCR; Nia Aitaoto at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences; and Ann Marie Yamada and Benjamin Henwood at the USC School of Social Work.

The grant begins in May 2017 and ends in April 2019. During the first year, the researchers will conduct surveys and focus groups with Samoan and Marshallese community members to gain a better understanding of their mental health needs, cultural protective factors, and barriers to services. In the second year, the researchers will gather groups of community members to shape existing service engagement strategies to fit their unique cultural perspectives, strengths, and needs. Through this grant, the researchers hope to gain information that will help mental health service systems better engage Pacific Islanders in treatment services.
Anxiety is a common emotion experienced by first-time parents, one that is felt even more so among parents of newborns being treated in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

But the key to improving confidence among parents of ill or premature infants may lie in simulated care, according to new research led by University at Buffalo nursing researcher Deborah Raines.

The study, published in the April issue of The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, found that when parents performed simulations similar to those designed to train health care professionals, they reported a nearly 30 percent increase in confidence in their abilities to care for their children.

The simulations, which used the Premie HAL, an infant simulator that can cry, spit up and demonstrate variations in cardiac and respiratory activity, were developed through Raines' new Neonatal Home Environment Learning Program (HELP). The program is the first to design care simulations for parents of infants in the NICU and is a stark departure from the preparation parents receive in the hospital from nurses.

"When teaching a parent to do something, the nurse doesn't allow the baby to get into trouble because they don't want to hurt the child. So mom has never seen the bad things that could potentially happen or the problems that could develop during the procedure," says Raines, associate professor in the UB School of Nursing.

"The simulations allowed them to experience something going wrong. We could allow the babies to throw up, stop breathing or turn blue. And the parents couldn't turn to the nurse for help."

The study gathered 15 sets of parents who had their child in the NICU at one of four Florida hospitals. Of the group, 13 couples were first-time parents.

The parents were given three half-hour simulations that increased in difficulty. The tasks included moving their child and any medical equipment from the car seat to the crib, preparing and delivering daily medication or treatment, and performing emergency resuscitation after the infant stops breathing.

The activities were performed in an apartment setting to simulate the home environment. Aside from the emergency resuscitation, during which the couples worked together, the parents performed each simulation individually. The simulations were completed within a week of their child's discharge and tailored to each child's health needs. Tasks ranged from delivering tube feedings to suctioning a tracheostomy.

"Parents who are taking babies home from a NICU are not only are taking home a new baby who they need to be parents to, but they are frequently taking home a baby who has health care needs," says Raines. "You're mostly a parent, but you're a little bit of doctor and nurse, too."

Each participant scored their confidence in their ability to perform the activities on a scale between one and 10. The scores were recorded before and after each simulation.

Before the simulation, mothers recorded an average score of 6.93, while fathers averaged 6.06. Confidence rose after the simulations to 9.93 for mothers and 8.8 for fathers.

Scores on the emergency response simulation, where parents were required to perform CPR and call paramedics, were the lowest but expected since parents are typically more anxious. Mothers increased from a score of 4.8 to 6.93 and fathers rose from 4.46 to 6.53.

Parents frequently commented on how the simulations were more difficult than they expected without the aid of a nurse.

"Simulation has become accepted as a method to increase confidence among health care professionals. We felt it might have similar benefits for parents," says Raines. "These simulations allow parents to rehearse and experience behaviors, consequences and outcomes of caring for a child with various health needs."

Raines hopes to bring the HELP simulations to hospitals in Buffalo and believes that simulations could improve care transitions for various types of patients.
This year's edition of the Top Marques Monaco luxury car show was held April 20 to 23 in the principality, setting the stage for some spectacular world premieres.



The Monaco event billed as the world's most exclusive car show, featured a host of exceptional new vehicles and saw four supercars make their worldwide debut: the Donkervoort G8 RTO, the Calafiore C10, a Charlotte Edition of the Asfane by Frangivento and a Mini revisited by David Brown Automotive.



The D8 GTO-RS is the fastest and lightest supercar ever built by Dutch car maker Donkervoort. It is a limited-edition 40-car model (starting at just over 150,000 excl. taxes) that is more powerful than the current range, with improved aerodynamics for even more impressive acceleration. Italian brand Calafiora presented the C10, which has been under development for no less than seven years. It has a lightweight carbon fiber chassis and tops 1,000 horsepower.



Another show highlight was Frangivento's special edition Asfane, the Charlotte Edition, named after the Princess of Monaco. This model is directly derived from the concept car unveiled by the Italian manufacturer earlier this year. Capable of topping 300km/h, it's expected to set buyers back at least 1.8 million. British car maker David Brown Automotive presented an original Mini. The firm's Mini Remastered is particularly modern with its LED headlamps and 7-inch touch screen and uses luxurious materials like leather and aluminum.



In a different style, the show also featured a Bentley Azure painted with two million diamonds from the Jean Boulle Luxury group, and Vanda Electrics revealed a two-seater all-electric Dendrobium concept car capable of topping 320 km/h.



Finally, two futuristic flying cars premiered globally at the event -- the latest AeroMobil and the Pal-V Liberty.


Dear Sadhvi Prachi,



Whoever we say I love you to, we, the Indian Muslim women, will still prefer an Islamic nikah. I will tell you why if you care to listen beyond your rhetorical hate of leave your religion.



In Islam, the marriage is a simple social contract between a man and a woman. The terms of that contract is stated in a nikah-nama. While divorce is discouraged in Islam, but not made into a difficult binary that would tie you down for all your life. It recognises that adults often fall out of love, might face incompatibility and possibly want to go their separate ways in life. No, the Islamic marriage is not a sacrament for saat janam.



Sounds like a lot of burden lifted off the weighed down concept of marriage? Wait there is more.



The nikah-nama like any contract starts with stating who are the two sides entering the agreement. It requires consent from both the bride and groom. That much I am sure Bollywood has educated you with its qubool hai scenes. It also requires two witnesses for the same. What most people do not know, is that like any other modern contract, the nikah-nama can be customised according to the bride and the groom. Hyderabads Asiya Shervani has been a successful corporate professional. She had the clause inserted for Haq-e-talaq in her nikah-nama. This clause grants her equal rights as a man in taking forward a divorce proceeding in three easy sittings. It is totally aligned with my feminist principles. I was only 21 years old and my feminist identity was only beginning to take shape at that stage of my life. I love my nikah-nama, not for sentimental or romantic reasons, but because it is a symbol of my equal relationship with my partner. I would not have it any other way. It has facilitated my self-definition and my self-identity, says Asiya. By the way, she also had a clause for equal respect for each others career ambitions inserted. Dont all we women, irrespective of our religions, wish we had this clause signed by our life partners?



Let's next take the case of author Arif Mohammed Khan. Keeping in view two points: One that sunnah of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) had put the condition of a monogamous relationship at the time of the marriage of his daughter. So its a sunnat to do so. And second that the Quran says marry those among you who are single. Considering both these points, Arif saheb inserted the clause in his sons nikah-nama that he shall never take on a second wife while being married to the first. Did I hear you say polygamy again?



There are innumerable other examples if you care to listen, Sadhvi ji. One can add custody of kids, Mehr or any other mutually decided clause that is not in violation of the Quranic principals. The nikah-nama clauses can effectively put an end to instant triple talaq, halala, polygamy and any other religious misconception that you have that paints the Indian Muslim women as oppressed or victims.



While I do hope our courts rule against Instant Triple Talaq and the government keeps pushing for it, but one has to recognise these as social problems (and not religious) that need to be fought in the long term with education. Will you raise the bugle for that?



It is lovely that you are vocal with a strong voice, but how about using that in the line of service to the nations daughters by educating Muslim women on their own rights instead of instigating them? Not that there are no social problems faced by people of all faiths? Am sure you wouldn't want a debate on the much higher incidence of abandoned wives in your faith. Because it is not about your faith or my faith. This is about Indian daughters. We are all together in this.



Indian Muslim women can easily reclaim their equal spaces in the polity if they are not kept in the dark by the all-boys club that acts as guardians of our faith. Only through exercising her powers through a nikah-nama can women demand and contractually obligate their husband for equal rights in both spirit and legality. I for one, wouldnt have it any other way.



Warmly,

Nazia



(Nazia Erum is a TEDx speaker and author of forthcoming book, Mothering a Muslim by Juggernaut Books. Her views are personal and not that of News18. She can be reached on twitter at nazia_e)
New Delhi: AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran has been called to the Delhi Police Crime Branch for his fourth day of interrogation on Tuesday. The AIADMK deputy secretary general was asked to come in at 5PM, while at the same time his alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrasekar will be produced in court.



Sukesh during his interrogation confessed that Dinakaran offered him money and that most of the meetings took place in Chennai.



Earlier, Dinakaran had confessed to meeting Sukesh, the arrested middleman in the EC bribery case. Dinakaran claims he assumed Sukesh was a high court judge, as Delhi Police grilled the politician for almost seven hours on Monday.



A total of 16 people have been interrogated by the police over TTV Dinakaran's bid to bribe Election Commission officials over the 'two leaves' symbol. One of those questioned by the police was J Jayalalithaa's disproportionate assets case lawyer, B Jayakumar. The advocate has been asked to report back to the Crime Branch office at 11PM on Tuesday.



The police have reached out to the Election Commission to help them understand the process of allotting a party symbol. They are trying to figure out how deep Sukesh was able to get in the EC. The body though has not yet replied to the queries.



Having been appointed as deputy general secretary by jailed AIADMK chief V S Sasikala, Dinakaran has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.



A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK recently revolted against Sasikala-Dhinakaran leadership. The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran as a condition for the merger.



Dinakaran later announced he would stay away from party affairs and that he could be removed only by Sasikala. Sasikala is at present serving a four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a disproportionate assets case.
New Delhi: The Canteen Stores Department, the retailing entity selling consumer goods to armed forces, has suspended sale of a batch of Patanjali Ayurveda's amla juice after it "failed" to clear a laboratory test. When contacted, the company rpt company, promoted by yoga guru Ramdev, said the amla juice is a medicinal product unlike other juices sold in the market and that it is absolutely safe for human consumption.



Defence ministry sources said a show cause notice has been served on the company after the juice "failed" the test. The test was carried out at West Bengal Public Health Laboratory, Kolkata.



The sources said as per procedure, CSD has immediately suspended the sale of the particular batch of the item and sent a show cause notice to the company to examine the deviations and explain about them.



They said "further action" will be taken on receipt of reply from the firm. The CSD had sent samples of 'Amla Juice' having index no.85417 and batch No. GH1502 to the laboratory in Kolkata, they said.



The Patanjali Ayurveda said its amla juice is anayurvedic medicine and test on it should be conducted as per the norms of the AYUSH ministry. The firm said norms prescribed by the country's food regulator--Food Safety and Standards Authority of India-- were not applicable to the juice.



The CSD regularly sends items from its inventory for testing at various government-run laboratories across the country.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, while rejecting a similar plea by Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, in the 2008 Malegaon Blast Case.



Sadhvi Pragya has been ordered to submit her passport with National Investigation Agency and furnish a bail bond of Rs 5 lakh.



In February, a bench of Justices Ranjit More and Shalini Phansalkar had reserved their verdict on Sadhvi Pragyas appeal against the rejection of her bail by the special NIA court last year. The same bench had reserved its verdict in the case of Col. Purohit as well.



Earlier, the NIA had informed the HC that it had no objection if Sadhvi Pragya was granted bail. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for NIA, had said the agency had already held that the provisions of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) are not applicable in the case. NIA had then also stated that the ATS probe was faulty as several witnesses had retracted from their statements.



The counsel for Sadhvi Pragya had argued that although NIA court had rejected her bail application last year, but the circumstances stood changed since NIA filed its chargesheet, dropping charges against her.



ATS in its chargesheet stated that Sadhvi Pragyas bike was used in the blast that killed seven and injured 101 persons, but NIA has not backed these claims and has stated that although the bike was in the name of Sadhvi Pragya, but it was used by someone else, who is still absconding.



NIA still held charges against Purohit under relevant sections of CrPC and the IPC, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act in its charge sheet. NIA had informed the court that Purohit had participated in many meetings organised by right wing organisations such as Abhinav Bharat, where he had delivered instigating speeches.







The blast happened on September 29, 2008 on the eve of Navaratri in Malegaon. Initially, the blast was linked to Muslim extremists, but after Mumbai ATS led by Hemant Karkare got involved in the investigation, it found incriminating evidence against the involvement of Hindu extremist groups. On October 24, 2008, the police made three arrests  Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Shiv Narayan Gopal Singh Kalsanghra and Shyam Bhawarlal Sahu.
In a meeting called by the HRD ministry, Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), Indian School Certificate (ISC), Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) and state boards unanimously agreed to do away with the marks moderation policy.

There were 32 representatives from the state boards, along with the representatives of ICSE and ISC. Schools affiliated to CBSE from the Union Territories and Arunachal Pradesh were also present at the meeting chaired by education secretary Anil Swarup. All stakeholders agreed to scrap the marks moderation policy, said a source at CBSE.

Doing away with disparity in marking system of various education boards, Union Human Resources Development Ministry has asked the boards to scrap the marks moderation policy, under which extra marks were awarded to students in certain papers considered to be difficult.This, in turn, will bring down the high cut offs for admission at prestigious colleges and universities.As per the marks moderation policy, up to 15% extra marks were awarded to students in certain papers, which were considered difficult. CBSE will do away with this policy starting this academic session.The move comes after CBSE, last year, had requested the HRD ministry to create consensus on phasing out of marks moderation policy, which inadvertently led to spike in marks obtained by students of certain boards.The discussion revolved around removing disparity in scores so that commonality is achieved in the declaration of results.The secretaries present also agreed on giving grace marks for students falling short by a whisker.Such cases will be reflected on the website, thus making the entire procedure transparent. The discussion also included the formation of a common curriculum across the country, said the source at CBSE.
New Delhi: Sacrifice of martyrs will not go in vain, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, within hours after Naxals killed 25 men of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Sukma, Chhattisgarh. As the government looks determined to take a decisive action against the Maoists, News18 analyses the option available before the government.



According to experts, a surgical strike is not possible in the dense jungles. And even though targeted attacks will be a preferred choice of the forces, the lack of local intelligence makes them tough to implement.



Deployment of army in the heart of the country is an often talked about option, but even the army has been against it. Army has said in the past that it should not be used for internal law and order problems. However, a committee led by former home secretary L C Goyal had suggested setting up of an army camp at Bastar to instil fear in the hearts of Maoists.



Among the latest suggestion is the use of drones to identify the Naxal camps. But this is easier said than done. While portable drone Netra has fly time of only 30 minutes, hardly enough to scan the vast jungles; the bigger drones, operated by Air Force personnel from Bhillai, would be disrupted by foliage. These drones would send data to Bhillai, which will then be shared with the nearest CRPF camp. One big challenge is that Naxals are extremely mobile. They dont spend more than 2-3 hours at one position.



This brings one back to the question of improving local intelligence. CRPF had earlier suggested that to win over the locals, its camps should be turned into development hubs with ATMs, dispensary, drinking water facility, etc so that locals and tribals have a stake in protecting them. The goodwill among locals would also improve intelligence inputs.



The Mondays attack was against the forces deployed to protect the construction workers who were working on a road project. Three major roads are being built in Naxal-hit areas  Bijapur to Dantewada, North Bastar to Dantewada and Andhra Pradesh to Dwada. These roads go through the heart of Naxal territory. The construction work has been going on since the past 5 years. The CRPF has suggested that these roads be completed quickly.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday reinstated T P Senkumar, the former director general of police in Kerala, who was shunted out by the state government.



Senkumar was transferred by the present Left Democratic Front government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to the Kerala Police Housing and Construction Ltd as its chairman and managing director. Lokanath Behara had replaced him as the new DGP.



Its rare for the apex court to interfere in such appointments and the ruling has led to a debate on judicial overreach.



Though it may be argued that the government has the right to appoint a DGP of its choice, but Senkumar had argued that the case against him reeked of arbitrariness and was a result of his fair and efficient probe in the cases of political murders in the state, wherein some leaders of the present government were found to be accused.



News18 takes a look at reasons why the apex court may have decided to interfere in the matter:



1. Senkumar had approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in June 2016, questioning his removal and had stated that his removal violated the Kerala Police Act, which ensures a two-year term for a DGP. In this case, it was only a year. He also approached the High Court of Kerala. Disappointed by both verdicts, he had gone to the SC. The apex court took his claims into consideration and only interpreted and protected the Rule of Law.



When asked, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave said, Judiciary can interfere in any matter whether it is police or army. If there is illegality or arbitrariness in any department, then the judiciary can completely interfere. The court has clearly talked about the violation of the Kerala Police Act as well.



2. Usually, the judiciary does not intervene in matters of police but in the Prakash Singh case, the court was confronted with a plea from a retired police officer to make the police accountable to the law and also address the issues to bridge the gaps in the functioning of the police. This made SC deliver a verdict on police reforms. That verdict was heavily relied upon by Dushyant Dave, who appeared for Senkumar before the SC

However, a former Additional Solicitor General, who spoke to News18 on condition of anonymity, said, self-imposed restraint must be exercised by the judiciary in such cases.



The apex court certainly has the power of judicial review, but the power is very wide. When there is such a sensitive case, then its best for the judiciary to impose a self-imposed restriction, restraint and also discipline to keep away from interfering in such matters, said the former Additional Solicitor General.



3. Senkumars another contention was that the decision to remove him had an irreparable effect on his career. Dave had said that Senkumars removal had nothing to do with the Jisha Murder Case or the Puttingal Fire Tragedy. He argued Senkumars removal was due to the extensive probe conducted by him into the political killings in the state, which had brought several ruling party leaders under the radar. He specifically pointed out Senkumars investigation into the T P Chandrasekharan Murder Case and the Shukoor Murder Case, both of which were allegedly political murders and where the accused were CPI (M) workers.



4. The SC in its verdict has said that it was disturbed as to how the Temple Fire Tragedy and the Jisha Murder Case were resurrected as soon as the LDF government took charge in the state and ruled that while expectations and public sentiment from the police lay dormant for more than a month, it had suddenly resumed vigour with the new government coming in.



5. Harish Salve, who had appeared for the state of Kerala, primarily submitted that Senkumars handling of the Jisha Murder Case and the Temple Fire Tragedy failed to inspire the public confidence, and thereby brought disrepute to the state police forces. But Senkumar had clearly refuted such claims and had laid down that CM Vijayan had, on March 2017, while addressing the state legislature stated that Senkumar was not removed for the handling of Jisha Murder Case. Even for the temple tragedy, Senkumar said the nine points he had proposed to understand the issues related to the fire were missing from the file, and the same had been submitted again to the SC bench.



6. The apex court also took note of Senkumars statement that the present state government perceived him as a political opponent as the CM himself had called him a member of an opponent political party, and that only buttresses his point that he was a victim of his independent and thorough investigation into the political killings.



7. The apex court also noted that there were always cases of violence and crime being reported in a state and if a DGP was removed for such reasons, there would be no police officers left in the state.
Amid political lobbying against what is being termed as imposition of Hindi, particularly in Dravidian states, the Centre has blamed unfounded media reports for such fears and clarified its position.Referring to the recent resolution by home ministrys department of official language, government said it is in the form of a request and does not entail any form of order or instruction.On MPs and ministers who know Hindi being told to deliver speeches and statements in Hindi, the government said it is in pursuance with constitutional and statutory provisions regarding the use of Hindi as official language.Also, the recommendation is based on the policy of propagation; promotion of official language through motivation and inspiration, which is in line with the governments policy.The Committee of Parliament on Official Language was constituted in 1976 and is working since then. This Committee has submitted 9 parts of its report. The ninth part of the committees report was submitted to the President of India on June 2, 2011.The then Chairman of the Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Committee had given 117 recommendations. As views of all state governments and ministries/departments of the central government were to be invited on the committees recommendations, it took time before the recommendations were considered and accepted by the President.Recommendation number 105 says, All dignitaries including President and all the Ministers especially who can read and speak Hindi may be requested to give their speech/statement in Hindi only.The central government while accepting the above mentioned recommendation has issued a resolution dated March 31, 2017, the statement added.
Raipur: The brazen Maoist ambush, which left 25 CRPF personnel dead and seven wounded, was likely planned by a wanted naxalite commander who was camping in a village barely 7-8 km from the scene of the attack, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.



Maoist commander Situ was camping in Tadmetla village, the place where 75 CRPF personnel and one of the state police were massacred in April 2010, for the last few days, he said.



"We got regular inputs on April 22 that dreaded Maoist commander Situ was camping at Tadmetla village, around 7-8 km from Burkapal, where the ambush took place yesterday," the officer involved in anti-naxal operations told PTI.



"We suspect that the attack was planned by Situ and his group with the support of local lower-rung cadres and militia members," he said.



The 99-strong CRPF contingent came under heavy gunfire and grenade attack from three sides by the guerrillas, who had taken cover behind rocks and trees on the treacherous terrain.



The Maoist rebels also used locally made arrows tipped with explosives, he said.



As the personnel lay sprawled, slain and wounded, the naxalites looted 22 sophisticated weapons, including grenade launchers, AK rifles, light machine guns, besides wireless sets, binoculars and ammunition of different calibre.



The first 'military battalion' of Maoist rebels, suspected to be involved in yesterday's carnage, is headed by Hidma.



It has been active in the Bastar region, particularly Sukma, and launched several attacks on security forces.



The battalion has two companies--one headed by Situ and another helmed by Nagesh, the officer said.



The CRPF personnel were providing security for laying of a 58-km road linking Dornapal to Jargunda. The hilly, forested area is a haven for naxalites.



The summer months are when they prefer to target security forces as the bushes and other vegetation wilt, providing them a clear view of the movement of the troops from hills, the officer said.



On March 11 this year, 12 CRPF personnel of the 219 battalion were killed and three others wounded in a similar attack in Bheji area of Sukma.




Farm loan waiver was one of the major promises in UP where BJP recently won a three-fourths majority.

We have done our bit and all the central help has been disbursed. On loan waiver, however, only the state government can take a call and generate its own resources for the purpose, says a source in the government.

As a matter of policy, the central government in its attempt to maintain fiscal prudence and parity among states is not inclined to bear the burden of any farm loan waiver.There is a view emerging within the current dispensation that populist measures  if anything  do not alleviate an agrarian distress; and states if they wish to emulate the UP waiver will have to generate their own resources.The Yogi Adityanath government in its first cabinet meet approved its implementation, triggering a spate of demands in others BJP ruled states like Maharashtra for a similar bailout to farmers in drought hit districts of the state.In UP, the government however has had to generate its own resources for the scheme which would put an additional burden of more than thirty thousand crores on the exchequer. This would be done by issuing kisaan bonds.ALSO READ | Waiving Agricultural Loans Could Cost 2% of India's GDP, Says Chief Economic Advisor In the case of Tamil Nadu as well, the government concedes that some districts are certainly reeling under severe agrarian distress. Sources in the government indicate that principle demand of the Tamil Nadu farmers protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi was a loan waiver. A request to this effect was in-fact communicated to the government through informal sources - with a state politician playing the interlocutor.But it was clearly impressed upon the emissary that any decision in this regard has to be taken by the state government alone.In-fact, the centre has attempted to empirically assess recent examples of loan waivers implemented by states as a part of the poll promise to electorates. The current TDP regime in Andhra Pradesh, took eighteen months just to frame rules to implement the scheme which was part of their election manifesto. The signs are not very encouraging, says a minister.The Fiscal Consolidation and Budget Management Act also prescribes a certain limits on borrowings by state governments. The breach in the ceiling is allowed only in certain cases, that too for major infrastructure projects. For social sector schemes, it is expected that states would generate and mange expenditure from their annual revenue receipts.
New Delhi: All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Tuesday called for social boycott of a man pronouncing triple talaq in one sitting.



AIMPLB has also given the green signal to a divorce procedure wherein the couple can be separated after 90 days of the pronounce ment of only one talaq by the husband. The board added that once the talaq has been called out, the woman will live in seclusion for 90 days, hoping to rebuild ties with her husband. The marriage stands severed if the husband doesnt contact her during those 90 days, the board said.



AIMPLB has now issued an eight-point code of conduct to regulate the practice of triple talaq, but has maintained an eerie silence on the issues of Nikah Halala and polygamy, issues that are being looked at by the Supreme Court.



The eight-point code of conduct is:



1. In case there are differences between a husband and a wife, both the parties should try to resolve the differences amicably. They should try to understand that there are good and bad qualities in any individual and often good qualities overpower the bad ones; hence they should try to overlook the negative traits.



2. If the above method does not work, then there should be temporary abandonment of the relationship.



3. If both the methods fail, then family members from both sides of the couple should try to mend the strained relationship.



4. If even then the relations do not improve, then the husband can pronounce talaq just once when the wife is not menstruating. After that, the couple must let a period of three months, (period of Iddat) pass. If during these three months, they solve their issues, then the husband can contact the wife again and live with her.



If during the period of Iddat, the husband does not contact the wife and their relations do not improve, the relationship would come to an end after 90 days, and they would no longer be husband and wife. But if the wife is pregnant when the talaq is pronounced, then the period of Iddat will continue till her delivery.



The man must bear the expenses of the wife during Iddat. The man must also pay the Meher (amount paid by the groom to the bride during marriage) to his wife, if it is not paid before during this time.



5. If after the expiry of 90 days, the couple reconciles, there needs to be a new nikah (wedding) along with a new meher.



6. Another way is that the husband pronounces the first talaq when the wife is not menstruating, waits for a period of one month, then pronounces talaq again. He then waits for another month and in the third month pronounces talaq for the third time. If before the third talaq, the couple mends their differences, it can stay together like a lawfully wedded couple.



7. If the wife does not intend to live with the husband then she can end the relationship through Khula.



8. Muslim society should socially boycott men who pronounce triple talaq in one sitting so that such instances slowly reduce.



The code of conduct has not played out well with many within the community. Shaista Ambar, president of All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board, We used to hold AIMPLB regulations in high regard earlier, but its not the case anymore. They should realise that they are not Khap Panchayats. What is this period of 90 days? Its nothing but showing food to a hungry person. None of these regulations are binding and are merely advisory. What we need now is punishment for these men who abandon women at their own whims and fancy. The code of conduct must be trashed and they should let judiciary take a call in this matter.


The Home Minister said Naxals are trying to derail development in the state. "Naxals are using tribals as fodder," he said.

The attack on the CRPF road-opening party moving towards Chintagufa area occurred around 12.25 pm in south Bastar area of the state.



Meanwhile, CRPF Cobra teams have launched a major search operation under the guidance of senior officials to nab the ultras and recover the stolen arms and ammunition.

Terming the attacks on CRPF jawans in Sukma as cowardly and cold-blooded, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday that the Centre will review its strategy to fight left-wing extremism."Yesterdays attack is tragic & cold-blooded murder. The Centre and state government will work in tandem and take evasive action. We have called a meeting of officials of various state governments on May 8. This attack was due to the frustration of Naxals, he said.On the CRPF functioning without a Director General (DG), he said, We will appoint more senior leaders in the state if needed. There is no dearth of leadership.Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh too called the attack "condemnable" and said that development work as well as anti-naxal operations will continue unabated."We will increase our development activities as well as strengthen our operation," he said.Earlier in the day, Rajnath and Raman Singh paid homage to 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who lost their lives in a Naxal attack in the state's Sukma district on Monday."We have lost twenty-five men in the encounter. As of now, we know that these men were out for a road opening task and they came under heavy fire from Naxalites...," CRPF Deputy Inspector General M. Dinakaran said.The six troopers who were wounded and have been warded in hospitals include Assistant Sub-Inspector R P Hembram and Constables Swaroop Kumar, Mohinder Singh, Jitendra Kumar, Sher Mohammed and Latoo Oraon. Mohammed and Oraon were said to be out of danger.Narrating the horrible experience, Constable Sher Mohammed said, "First, villagers traced our location and strength then almost 300 Naxals attacked us. In retaliatory firing, we also killed many of them. At least 3-4 naxals were shot in the chest.""A helicopter has already left for the spot to evacuate the injured. The encounter is still on," a senior officer said. Reinforcements, including CoBRA commandos of the CRPF and its other units, have been rushed to the scene from the nearest camp of the paramilitary force, the officer added.Speaking on the tragic incident, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari on Monday said the government should take action against people who are behind the attack."Extremely unfortunate, hope govt will act with alacrity. Hope government initiates appropriate action against people responsible for the attack," he said.Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked for a detailed report on the Naxal attack on CRPF jawans in Chattisgarh's Sukma district. MoS Home Hansraj Ahir is going to Chhattisgarh to take stock of the situation. Ahir will be accompanied by Joint Secretary (Naxal management) in the home ministry Praveen Vashisht and acting CRPF Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia.This was the second major attack on CRPF personnel in 2017. On March 11, twelve CRPF personnel were killed in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh after the Naxals ambushed a CRPF patrol party in the Maoist hotbed and looted their arms. Four personnel were also injured in the attack.In 2010, in the worst attack on CRPF, 76 men died in Dantewada as they were on an area domination exercise.
The clarion call for the protest was given out by Kashmir University Students Union (KUSU), a banned students body that was born from the Kashmir University (KU).

All members of KUSU have done well academically. Some of us have presented papers at prestigious seminars, have edited international journals and have topped our courses. Let there be no doubt. This is not a group of academic rejects, retorted Misbah.

Our anger was only building up, and there was no backing down. Security forces shot with an intent to kill. They ended up blinding people with pellets. The state has only been tightening screws, and the anger amongst us only grew, says Saqlain.

Schools and colleges in Kashmir were opened on Monday, a week after they were shut to curb the student protests, in hope that normalcy would return. But soon, violence erupted at a school in Srinagars Lal Chowk, and spread across the Valley. The students hurled stones and attacked vehicles of police, who, in turn, used tear gas and water cannon.Among the things that make the current spree of violence in the Valley incomprehensible, the most crucial is the role of student protesters, many of whom don't follow any political party.Last week, over 80 students, including girls, were injured after a clash with police and security personnel at a degree college in Pulwama. Pellets guns were used extensively. The Valley soon echoed with the voices of thousands of students from more than 20 colleges and many schools in Srinagar, Pulwama, Shopian, Tral, Baramulla, Kulgam, Kangan, Sopore and other districts, who had taken to take to the streets to protest the use of violence against their peers.News18 spoke to members of the group that exists in flesh and blood, but functions underground. We are not allowed to assemble in Kashmir University. We are not allowed to write and speak. The university refuses to acknowledge our existence. We are officially unofficial, said Misbah, a KUSU member.By burying dissent, the organisation says, the university only pushed it to new heights. We felt choked. The university denied us space, did not allow us to assemble. They told us not to take to violent means, but when we took to writing, they arrested us for sedition and tortured us. We cant write, we cant share Facebook posts, we cant speak openly. We cant even be seen together. But this has only strengthened our resolve, said Saqlain, another member.Was academics a reason for the university to put a curb on their freedom of speech? Absolutely not, said the group in a monotone.Not just at the hands of the institution, KUSU members say they have had to face persecution at the hands of the police also. Around 40 KUSU members have at least two cases slapped against them. The police dont register cases in the universities, but at the home towns of the students. They have registered cases under attempt to murder and for allegedly waging a war against the state. Our parents are not spared too, adds another member.The mention of students at Jawaharlal Nehru University brings a smile to their faces. When we heard of what happened in Delhi, there were no tears. This is what happens to us on a daily basis. Imagine our plight, says Saqlain.The group, however, is quick to add that the 2016 agitation, after Hizbul Mujahideens commander Burhan Wani was killed, was what turned things around for the youth in the Valley. Before that, students would not step out openly. After Wani was killed, you could see young boys running to the encounter sites, instead of running away from them, says Saqlain. The students started to tighten their own network across the Valley. KUSU started to communicate with other students and increased their scope of action.Has the protest over Pulwama given the group a certain agenda? We will take things as they come. What happened in Pulwama was barbaric, to say the least. We didnt expect the response that we got for the protest, but it did showcase a new wave of agitation, says Misbah.The circle of conflict and struggle seems to have no end in the Valley, and Misbah says the circle will only expand. Violence begets violence and no side looks like its going to relent. Names of all senior KUSU members have been changed
Mumbai: Stunt artists and choreographers should be accorded as much respect as heroes at every award ceremony, actor Akshay Kumar said on Monday.



Introducing a special insurance scheme for all stunt artistes working in Hindi film industry, he said: "I am a stuntman first before an actor. For 10 years, I worked as a stuntman in Hindi film industry before getting the opportunity of acting. So I know how stuntmen risks their lives to earn their bread. I know what it takes to risk their lives to entertain us. So I think they should get equal respect even at the award shows for their work."



The actor along with renowned cardiac surgeon, Dr Ramakanta Panda of Asia Heart Institute, announced the insurance scheme that covers around 380 stunt artists between the age of 18 to 55 with a death compensation of Rs 10 lakhs.



Emphasising the importance of the insurance, Panda said: "Akshay came to me saying how could he help these people who are doing stunts in films and get injured and need treatment. He asked me if I can reserve some beds for them.



"Since they (stunt artists) work across the country, I thought insurance would be a better help. So we manage to collaborate with the insurance company to provide the facilities."


Photo via Google

Photo via Google

On Kannada Superstar Rajkumars 88th birth anniversary, Google decided to honour the late actor with a doodle. The doodle on Google Indias home page has the actor beaming at the cine goers from the silver screen.Interestingly, while the doodle gives a fitting tribute to the veteran actor, there were two other doodles that Google considered before choosing this one.The first two drafts represented the work that the actor did. First draft has Rajkumar singing and holding the white bird from Kasturi Nivasa, a Kannada drama, that remains one of the most important film in Rajkumars cinematic legacy.The second draft depicts an array of iconic characters Rajkumar played over a half century of his acting career.Ultimately the folks at Google chose the third draft for it depicted the larger-than-life persona of the actor.
AIADMK general secretary TTV Dinakaran was under the assumption that Sukesh Chandrasekhar was a High Court judge who could help him influence Election Commission officials to win the partys two leaves symbol, Delhi Police sources told CNN-News18 on Monday.

In a dramatic late-night development, Sasikala's nephew and AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dinakaran, along with his aide Mallikarjuna, was arrested by Delhi Police in cash for symbol case.Dinakaran was questioned by the Crime Branch for the fourth straight day on Tuesday.He had come under scanner after the arrest of alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrasekar.According to sources, Dinakaran's aide Janardhana is to be a witness in the case.Sources said that Dinakarans last phone conversation with Sukesh was 20 hours before his arrest on April 16. Sukesh had reportedly introduced himself to Dinakaran as a HC judge and offered to help him win the party symbol.Dinakaran, who was appointed as deputy general secretary by Sasikala, has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EK Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK (Amma) recently revolted against the Sasikala-Dhinakaran leadership.The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran as a condition for the merger.
AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dinakaran was arrested late in the evening by Delhi Police over his alleged attempt to bribe an Election Commission official for retaining the two leaves party symbol and the related money trail.

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According to political observers, Mamata extending the hand of friendship to KPP was nothing but a carefully planned strategy. In January, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha President Bimal Gurung, who is backed by BJP, met KPPs general secretary Subhas Burman, leading to speculations around a possible alliance.

Slamming the TMC-run government, Shah said, I would like to announce today that in 2019 election, Lotus will bloom in Bengal. Amid mudslinging politics of TMC, I am confident that soon Lotus will bloom here.

West Bengal: BJP president Amit Shah meets locals, party workers at Naxalbari. pic.twitter.com/veZcdWt4WK  ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017

Politics is the art of the possible. Who could have thought of a day in West Bengal politics till a few years ago when Bharatiya Janata Partys national president will launch campaign from Naxalbari, and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will try to win over the communities, whom she had criticised for demanding separate statehood.On Tuesday, both these scenarios turned into reality. West Bengal Chief Minister attended a public meeting of the Kamtapur Progressive Party (KPP) in Cooch Behar and played the Kamtapur-Rajbonshi card to take on the BJPs massive effort to find a platform in northern Bengal.I love Kamtapur, I love Rajbonshi, said Mamata at the KPPs meet. I would like to urge you all not to join BJP because they believe in hatred and violence. BJP is a dangabaaz (rioters) party. They are dividing people, she added.Sharpening her attack on the Saffron party, she said, Now the central government is planning Aadhaar card for cows. I think they have lost their mind. Tomorrow, they will say Aadhaar card is necessary to buy meat, eat fish, to put lip stick, to wear saree and salwar kameez. We are not going to tolerate this. I am sure that people of Bengal will respond to it.Aamar Cholbo Nutun KoreyCholbo Ek Nutun Surey (We will begin a new journey with a new song), she added.On the other side, to tap anti-TMC wave in the hills, BJP National President Amit Shah kicked off his Booth Chalo and Mission Kolkata campaign from Naxalbari, one of the remote villages in Darjeeling district where the Naxal movement had begun in 1960s.I want you to raise your voice so loudly that it can be heard in Kolkata, he said.Shahs three-day Bengal tour is to focus on strengthening the party at the grassroots ahead of crucial panchayat and local body elections.Before addressing the public meet, Shah had lunch at the house of Raju Mahalia  a tribal at South Katiajote village in Naxalbari.Leaving no stone unturned in wooing the villagers, he along with the state BJP president Dilip Ghosh sat on the floor at Rajus hut and had a frugal lunch (rice, dal, papad, parval fry) on a banana leaf.Shah will reach Kolkata by train on Wednesday morning and address a press conference at the Kolkata Press Club at 11 am.When asked, a Trinamool Congress insider said, There is a strong indication that BJP will try to rope in people from outfits like Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, KPP and Rajbonshi. These are the groups against whom Mamata had launched a crackdown in 2011, after becoming the CM because they were demanding separate statehood. Now, after five years, political equation has changed and to appease the people in North Bengal  Mamata Di cant afford to ignore Kamtapuris and Rajbonshis, who are demanding recognition of Kamtapuri language and creation of a separate Kamtapur state. KPP is also planning to meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to build further pressure on the Bengal government. Mamata is yet to accept KPPs demands.Our presence in North Bengal is weak as compared to BJP, and now its time for us to intensify our outreach programme to get full support of indigenous people living in the hills, he added.
Puducherry: The opposition AIADMK in Puducherry on Tuesday termed as "political drama and anti-people," the day-long bandh called in Puducherry by the DMK in support of the drought-hit farmers.



Even as farmers from Tamil Nadu had wound up their agitation in New Delhi, the bandh being observed with the backing of the ruling Congress "is a clear case of people being hoodwinked by the DMK," the AIADMK (Amma) legislature wing leader, A Anbalagan told reporters.



He also said, the bandh "is utterly uncalled for and aimed at disrupting the normal life of the people."



The territorial government led by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy has not taken any steps to relieve the farmers in the Union Territory of their sufferings caused by drought, he alleged.



Anbalagan urged the Centre to take note of the "disturbing scenario" and initiate appropriate steps against the Puducherry government.



On Lt Governor Kiran Bedi's remarks that elected representatives had not turned up during her weekend visits to various areas despite invitations, he said he had not

received any invite from her during her recent visit to his Uppalam constituency.



Anbalagan further said Bedi should abstain from making such "incorrect" comments about the people's representatives.
"There is a colony in Sanjeev Jha's constituency (Burari) where there was 100 per cent voting in the municipal polls. But if they show 50 per cent vote for the BJP then it makes one doubtful," he said.

"If this (BJP sweep) is what the exit polls are saying, it is clear that the EVMs have been tampered with and these fake exit polls are being put out to prepare a ground for the rigged results," he said.

: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday warned he will launch a "movement" if the MCD exit poll results, which predict a mammoth BJP victory, prove to be true, the PTI reported.Addressing a gathering of poll observers at his residence, two days before the counting, Kejriwal said the AAP was born out of a movement, and it will not hesitate going back to its roots."If such results come then it proves that manipulation has happened, like in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Pune, Mumbai, Bhind and Dholpur. We are the product of a movement. We are not here to enjoy the pleasures of power. We will return to movement," he said.Kejriwal added that more than win or loss, it's the "unabated tampering of EVMs" that bothered him.He cited alleged instances of the AAP getting barely two votes in villages in Punjab, "even in places where people booed the Akalis out".The meeting was also attended by senior party leaders including Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas and MLAs. It came against the backdrop of a fallout between Kejriwal and Vishwas."The survival of the AAP is not just to win a few states, it is important for the country. Minorities are in difficulty and fear, people cannot travel with their livestock. To stop their false nationalism, to keep alive the real questions of this country raised at the Jantar Mantar, the AAP has to survive," Vishwas said.AAP Delhi Convenor Dilip Pandey told PTI that the MCD poll results could be "rigged" and the ground for it was being prepared by "floating" exit polls predicting a BJP sweep.Seemapuri MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam said according to the feedback of the observers, most AAP supporters had turned out to vote in large numbers despite heat wave conditions on Sunday."So in this case if there is any manipulation then what we have been saying will be validated," he said.Two exit polls have predicted a landslide victory for the BJP in the MCD polls, giving over 200 of the 270 wards, where the election was held, in the saffron party's kitty.The election was postponed in two wards due to the death of candidates.(With PTI inputs)
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday held his fourth Cabinet meeting at Lok Bhawan, Lucknow, taking some important decisions.



Power Minister and state government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma told the media that the biggest decision was to scrap 15 holidays on the birth anniversaries of great personalities.



The minister further informed that special events will be held on martyrs' birth anniversary, and the government officials will remain at work on the birth anniversaries of great personalities.



The meeting also emphasised the need to stop land grabbing in the name of religion and a new portal will be put in place for people to register their complaints.



To prevent land grabbing, a four-level task force will be formed and strict action will be ensured against those who occupy the government land. Identification of people who have grabbed land in the name of religion will be done in next two months.



If there is no action, the action will be taken against the police station in charge. An anti-land mafia task force will be constituted to keep a check on the menace.



After the Cabinet meeting, Minister Shrikant Sharma announced the help to the families of the soldiers killed in the Naxalite attack. He said that financial assistance of Rs. 30 lakh will be given to the families of the martyrs. On Monday, twenty-four soldiers were killed in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district in a Naxal attack. Two of those martyred were from Uttar Pradesh.



Sharma further said that a special session of the Assembly has been called from May 15, 2017. Besides this, it was decided that an auditorium of Culture Department will be constructed in Gorakhpur. Also, a policy for retailers was finalised in the fourth cabinet meeting.



In the previous Cabinet meetings of the Yogi-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, a surcharge of outstanding electricity bills on farmers was waived off and it was decided twenty new Krishi Vigyan Kendra with the help of the state government. The crop insurance scheme was also approved in the previous meeting giving a major relief to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh.


The Indian Space Research Organisation is trying to increase its capacity to deliver by scaling up the frequency of launches to 12 per year from the seven at present by building more satellites and lowering the cost of access to space.Read more: Flipkart Apple Days: iPhone 6 for Rs 25,999, iPhone 7 for Rs 47,999 and More "Earlier, we were doing 2-3 (launches) per year, then we increased it to 4-5, last few years we have been doing seven launches," space agency Chairman A S Kiran Kumar told PTI."Now, we are trying to go up to 8-9 PSLV per year, two GSLV-Mk II and one GSLV-Mk III. Total about 12 per year," he said.ISRO is trying to increase its capacity to deliver by scaling up the frequency of launches by building more satellites, lowering the cost of access to space and also to do heavier satellite launches, the Chairman said.The space agency is in the process of constructing a second vehicle assembly building to improve the turnaround time and throughput for the PSLV so that with the same launch pad ISRO can do more launches, he said.Kiran Kumar said approval for a proposal to build a space station was yet to come.ISRO plans to undertake the Chandrayaan-2 mission in the first quarter of the next calendar year, he said."It (Chandrayaan-2) is a fully Indian affair. There is no Russian participation in that," Kiran Kumar said."All the developments required for that, all the variable thrust engines, lander, rover....all that work is going on and we are getting ready for this launch," he said."Another Mars mission, Venus mission or Asteroids mission...all these possibilities we are working on; study teams are looking at it, and then we will finalise at some point of time and start getting approvals for them," he said.On reusable launch vehicle, he said ISRO has identified its next steps in terms of air-breathing propulsion system."We are now trying to do an experiment where it will demonstrate that the thrust generated is more than the friction so that you have a net positive thrust."What we have (already) demonstrated is combustion happening with oxygen and hydrogen. The next step is the thrust whatever is generated should be more than the friction that's going to come up because of the surfaces involved," Kiran Kumar explained."Once that is done, then it's a big capability. So we are working towards that now and in terms of reusable launch vehicle I think landing gear system to that and conducting some experiments that is the next step and beyond that we are looking to scale up the model and do the next set of activities," he said.
Peshawar: At least 10 people, including six children and two women, were killed and 13 others injured today when a passenger van was targeted with a remote- controlled bomb in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal region.



The improvised explosive device (IED) blast targeted the van in Kontara village in central Kurram Agency.



Ten people, including six children and two women, were killed in the blast, officials said. Thirteen people were injured in the explosion. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital.



The military's media wing, Inter Services Public Relations, said a special Mi-17 helicopter has been sent to Kurram Agency headquarters Parachinar to bring the injured to Peshawar for treatment.



Security personnel rushed to the blast site and cordoned off the entire area. A search operation was also conducted. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the area is frequently hit by sectarian violence.



Last month, at least 28 people were killed and 100 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car "rigged with explosives" outside a Shiite imambargah in a busy market in Parachinar, the main town of the Kurram tribal region.



The grisly violence sparked angry protests by residents in Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the agency, which is prone to sectarian violence. Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the outlawed Tehrik- e-Taliban Pakistan, had claimed responsibility for that bombing.
New Delhi: In the backdrop of the Naxalite attack on security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma, Israel today emphasised on deepening cooperation with India to combat "terrorism", as it conveyed condolences to the government.



Daniel Carmon, Israel's envoy to India, said there is a "new battlefield, an asymmetric warfare" which the security forces have to face.



"Terrorism is one of the challenges India and Israel face. It is an opportunity to reconvene our condolences to what happened in Chhattisgarh, but there are different facets to this.



"Every life lost due to the terrible attacks by terrorists is really very, very sad and also brings us to be more engaged in fighting terrorism," Carmon said, adding that the two countries signed an agreement on Homeland Security and Anti-Terrorism agreement in 2014.



He was delivering a lecture on 'India-Israel- Enduring Partnership' at the Nehru Memorial Museum here.



Twenty-five CRPF personnel were killed in a Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district yesterday.



"Very saddened and concerned. We have conveyed our condolences to the Indian government," Carmon later told reporters.



He rued that there is no unanimity on the definition of the word 'terrorism'.



He said security forces have to maintain a balance between human rights and the government's obligation towards ensuring its peoples' security.



"There is a fine line between how do we as governments, armies, paramilitaries, police forces or security forces maintain the very high important values of human rights which are predominant in the policies of democracies and how do we safeguard our citizens, which is the most important obligation of government and security forces," Carmon said.



He also attacked Iran for "encouraging terrorism".



The Israeli envoy said the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Jewish nation has "enormous" significance.



He said earlier there were problems of "visibility" in the ties between the two countries, but with the new dispensation in New Delhi there has been a change.



"Things have evolved. It took an effort and now we are at a stage where an Indian President visits Israel and an Israeli President (Reuven Rivlin) visits India for eight consecutive days," Carmon said.



Rivlin visited India in February last year while Indian President Pranab Mukherjee visited Israel in October 2015.



Carmon said also Israel is looking for a "strategic partnership" in the field of water during Modi's visit.



The Israeli envoy said the Jewish community has never suffered from any persecution or racism in India.



India has a very small population of Jews, with a majority of them residing in Mumbai and Pune.
Washington: Any "serious actions" taken by the Trump Administration on the H-1B visa programme would be a cause of "worry" as a majority of Indian exports in the services sector go to the US, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian has said.



"If there are serious actions taken it's something that's going to kind of worry us a lot because, remember that our exports of services are about 40 to 45 per cent of the total exports, Subramanian told an audience here last week.



"Something like 50 to 60 per cent of all our exports of services goes to the United States. So it would worry us quite a bit, he said while responding to a question on the H1-B visa during his visit at the Peterson Institute, a top American economic think-tank.



Subramanian said that India would be "okay" as long as the visa reforms are manageable and it's keeping a close watch on it.



"Anything that is going to interfere with export growth creates anxiety (in India). In the context of the United States, we're all watching very carefully the H1-B visa situation, the Chief Economic Advisor said.



"On the visa side, I don't know but as long as you know we can keep this thing manageable. You know it should be okay, he said.



During his US visit, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also taken up the the H-1B issue with the American side and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy.



President Donald Trump had earlier this month 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, a decision that would impact India's USD 150 billion IT industry.



The Indian IT industry expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America.



The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations.



The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of there venue of the Indian IT industry. Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals.



India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive.
Eeven a narrow Republican House majority would be able to block Biden's priorities while launching politically damaging investigations into his administration and family.
Islamabad: Pakistan army today said that it has contacted Indian army officials to inform them about the movement of census workers near the Line of Control (LoC).



The second phase of countrywide census started on April 25 and would continue for a month.



During this phase, the population in districts near LoC in Kashmir is also being enumerated.



In a statement, the Pakistan army said that Indian army has been approached to inform about the movement of civil and military enumerators to civil populated areas lying close to LOC.



"The step is aimed at ensuring safety and security of civil and military personnel in wake of unprovoked targeting and persistent ceasefire violations by the Indian Army," it said.



The first phase of census started on March 15 and was completed on April 15. More than 118,000 civilian enumerators accompanied by 175,000 army personnel are undertaking the exercise to record the number of houses and total population.
Washington: The Trump administration issued sanctions Monday on 271 people linked to the Syrian agency responsible for producing non-conventional weapons, part of an ongoing US crackdown on Syrian President Bashar Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons.



The sanctions target employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center, which the U.S. says partly enables the use of chemical weapons. The U.S. has blamed Assad for an attack earlier this month that killed more than 80 civilians in rebel-held northern Idlib.



"The United States is sending a strong message with this action: That we will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons by any actor," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters at the White House Monday. He said it was one of the largest such sanctions actions in US history.



President Donald Trump has called Assad "evil" and said his use of chemical weapons "crossed a lot of lines."



Assad has strongly denied he was behind the attack, in which sarin gas was allegedly used.



As a result of Monday's action, any property or interest in property of the individuals' sanctioned must be blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.



As Trump dined this month with China's President Xi Jinping during their highly anticipated summit at Trump's Florida resort, word emerged that Trump took action against Assad by launching missiles against a Syrian airfield. The retaliation was seen as somewhat unexpected for a president that vowed to stay out of lingering wars and conflicts overseas.



This month, Russia vetoed a Western-backed U.N. resolution that would have condemned the reported use of chemical weapons in Syria and demanded a speedy investigation into the attack. China abstained for the first time, a move the White House billed a win for their efforts to isolate Russia.



"On Syria, the Council failed again this month to respond to Syria's use of chemical weapons," Trump said Monday at a White House meeting of U.N. ambassadors from countries on the Security Council. "A great disappointment. I was very disappointed by that."



The U.S. has gradually been expanding its sanctions program against Syria since 2004, when it issued sanctions targeting Syria for a range of offenses, including its support of terrorism, as well as its occupation of Lebanon, efforts to undermine stability in Iraq and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.



More recently, sanctions were expanded in connection with its civil war, now in its sixth year, to target offenses linked to the ongoing violence and human rights abuses.



The U.S. has also issued sanctions for foreign individuals or companies that support Assad's government. A number of Iranian entities have been penalized for supporting the Syrian government or fighters working to undermine peace in Syria.



While Moscow and Washington are continuously at odds over Syria, the U.S. has not imposed any Syria-related sanctions on Russia.
Busan: The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan approaches to join the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in drills near the Korean Peninsula, at Busan port in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. North Korea marks the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday, and South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that it could conduct another nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. (Image: AP/PTI)
Appomattox High School graduate and Concord native Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams has been named acting Surgeon General of the United States.

Trent-Adams, previously deputy surgeon general, was named to the post after President Donald Trump asked Dr. Vivek Murthy to resign from the position, The Associated Press reported Saturday.

Trent-Adams, 50, will serve as acting surgeon general and lead the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps until the Senate confirms a replacement, according to The Associated Press. She may be the first non-physician to be surgeon general, The New York Times reported.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declined a request by The News & Advance to interview Trent-Adams on Monday.

Trent-Adams mother, Alease Trent, was visiting her when her daughter was called into work unexpectedly Friday to learn she would be named acting surgeon general.

Of course, I was proud of her. Shes always been a go-getter. She doesnt back off. She likes a challenge, Alease Trent said in a phone interview Monday.  She loves the job. She loves what shes doing.

Trent-Adams showed early interest in health care by volunteering at Lynchburg General Hospital at about age 14, Alease Trent said.

She likes helping people, you know, said Trent, who lives in Concord.

Teachers and friends, who delighted in Trent-Adams career in phone interviews Monday, described her as hard working and determined.

When Trent-Adams came to class, she was always ready, according to Shirley Eye, her sixth-grade homeroom teacher.

When Sylvia came to your class  she was going to seize every learning opportunity that she could. It was infectious, Eye said.

Trent-Adams graduated from Appomattox High School in 1983.

As a Concord neighbor, Ed Glover helped raise Trent-Adams, including driving to her Hampton University where she studied nursing on an ROTC scholarship, he said. Glover, who keeps in touch with Trent-Adams weekly, later paid for her first pair of nursing shoes, he said.

She always aspired to do good at everything she wanted to do, and she was always encouraged by all of us, especially her mother, that she could do anything she wanted to do, but that shed have to work for it, Glover said.

While working for the federal agency the Health Resources and Services Administration, Trent-Adams played a key role in helping Johnson Health Center in Lynchburg spin off from Centra Health, enabling it to better provide health services to underserved people, according to Lynchburg resident Joseph P.L. Payne.

Trent-Adams served as deputy associate administrator for the HIV/AIDS Bureau for the federal agency, according to the biography.

In her official capacity, Trent-Adams helped write the 2003 grant application leading to Johnson receiving a federal qualified community health center grant, said Payne, who met Trent-Adams at a conference before she helped with the grant. In the two years during which Payne wrote the grant as a Centra employee, Trent-Adams was accessible and helpful, he said. The Johnson Health Center has grown to include locations in Lynchburg and Bedford and Amherst counties.

For me, it was a neat experience to have people in the federal government be that hands-on and that friendly and that supportive, Payne said.  It was just nice to meet a person like that who was really invested in what they were doing and wanting to make sure everybody was successful at it.

Trent-Adams earned a masters of science in nursing and health policy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, according to her biography on the surgeon generals website.

After serving as a nurse officer in the U.S. Army, Trent-Adams joined the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service in 1992, according to the biography.

The Commissioned Corps is an elite team of public health professionals who respond to crises and national emergencies as well as advance public health science, according to the USPHS website.

From November 2013 through May 2016, Trent-Adams served as the chief nurse officer of USPHS, advising the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on issues related to Commissioned Corps nurse professionals. She was then appointed to deputy surgeon general.
Police use of Tasers has dropped in Virginia  in some cases dramatically  in the year since a federal appeals court decision essentially "rewrote policy for every department" in the state, a nationally recognized expert on Tasers and police use of force says.

Nearly all of the largest police agencies in Virginia, as well as some of the smaller ones, reported a significant drop in Taser use by their officers in 2016. In January of that year, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that police are prohibited from using the devices to subdue resisting suspects unless they believe there is a "risk of immediate danger" to themselves or others.

While some experts have hailed the decision that curtails police use of the electrical devices, at least one criminologist who co-authored a major national study on Tasers called the ruling a "major mistake" that could lead to more injuries to officers and citizens alike.

Henrico County police, which historically has used Tasers more than any other department in the Richmond region, saw its numbers drop 83 percent, from 58 on-duty Taser deployments in 2015 to 10 last year.

Chesterfield County police, which was hit with a $95 million lawsuit over a 2015 Taser incident that left a man horribly disfigured after his clothes caught fire, reported a 67 percent drop in officers discharging their Tasers, from 51 in 2016 to 17 last year.

To the south, Petersburg police reported an 82 percent decrease, from 17 Taser deployments in 2015 to 3 last year.

Similar significant declines were reported by police departments across the state, including agencies in northern Virginia, Tidewater and southwest Virginia, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch spot check of nearly 20 different departments.

Norfolk police, which suspended the use of Tasers for nearly five months after last year's appellate court ruling, reported a 95 percent drop in officer Taser use, from 99 incidents in 2015 to just five last year. Virginia Beach police saw its numbers tumble 70 percent, from 64 to 19 incidents over that same period. And Chesapeake police's numbers declined 23 percent, from 26 to 20.

Police in Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun and Spotsylvania reported Taser use declines of 41 percent, 20 percent, 60 percent and 83 percent, respectively. In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Lynchburg police saw a 48 percent decline, while police in Roanoke County and Charlottesville saw incremental drops. Roanoke city police do no equip officers with the devices.

Among the state's largest police departments, only Richmond police reported an increase, from seven incidents in 2015 to 16 last year. But the city's numbers have never risen above 20 a year and 2016's rise likely can be attributed to more officers being trained to use and carry the devices. The number of Tasers issued to officers rose from less than 100 in 2015 to 254 as of last week.

"Here you have a doubling and a half (of Tasers) and only a few more deployments, even with that many officers carrying them," noted Richmond police spokesman Gene Lepley. "Our general order (on Taser use) was already significantly in line with what the 4th Circuit asked for. So the changes we made to our general order were very minor."

In Armstrong v. Pinehurst (N.C.), the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that police use of a Taser amounted to unconstitutional excessive force in a case involving a mentally ill man who died after being stunned five times with the electrical weapon after he clung tightly to a signpost to avoid being taken to a hospital.

The ruling became law in the 4th Circuit, which includes Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina.

"The Armstrong case has rewritten policies for every department in the 4th Circuit," said Dr. Geoffrey Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina who co-authored a major study on the impact of Tasers and injuries to police and civilians funded by the National Institute of Justice. "And you're seeing the results of that. And a lot of other circuits (across the country) are citing that case."

The village of Pinehurst appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in October 2016 declined to hear the appeal, allowing the lower court decision to stand.

"A lot of departments have limited or prohibited Taser use for those minor events that became law in the 4th Circuit," said Alpert said, who in 2016 was hired to conduct a major study of police use of Tasers in Montgomery County, Md., after four people died after being shocked by Tasers since 2009. "They may not be law in these other areas (outside the 4th Circuit), but they're certainly good policy."

While Alpert says Tasers are effective tool for law enforcement, he believes some officers "get lazy" and use the device too often and too early in an encounter with resisting suspects.

"It just becomes second nature to use it," Alpert said. "And I think we're starting to see a backlash where that isn't happening as much  therefore, the fewer usage. And a lot of cops don't want to carry them anymore because it's too much of a hassle to always have to think about it."

But Dr. Michael R. Smith, a criminologist at the University of Texas at El Paso and who co-authored the major Taser study with Alpert, said he regards the 4th Circuit's ruling to be a "major mistake."

Smith said his study on the impact of Tasers related to injuries sustained by officers and civilians showed a significant reduction in injuries to both groups when Tasers were deployed.

The study examined use of force data nationwide from a sampling of law enforcement agencies across the country and "we analyzed it in a lot of different ways," said Smith, who served as a police officer in Richmond and Fairfax in the mid-1980s to early 90s.

"There was a statistically significant reduction in injuries to officers and to citizens when the Taser was used during a use of force incident," he said. "Like any force instrument, it has the capacity to do harm. But in the aggregate  over all  it has a reduction effect in terms of injuries."

"So when you've got three judges who are making legal pronouncements from the safety of their courtroom and in their judicial robes  having never been a police officer  constraining the use of an instrument that our best social science tells us is actually the best tool to use in many cases to reduce the likelihood of injuries, it is a problem," he added.

When the court restricted Taser use only in cases where a suspect poses an immediate threat, "you're taking a whole lot of resistance situations off the table," Smith explained. "So it doesn't surprise me you see a reduction in Taser use under those circumstances. But it would be very interesting for me to see what the effect of injuries have been to citizens and police during that same time period. My guess is that they probably went up."

Smith said 80 percent of incidents involving police use of force are "low level, hands-on stuff where police are wrestling around with somebody trying to get that person under control." And it's precisely those type of incidents that are most likely to result in injuries, albeit minor ones, he said.

"I'm not suggesting the Taser is a panacea and that the police ought to be using it willy-nilly," Smith said. "But if you're going to limit its use to only cases where someone's posing an immediate threat, then what you've done is you've increased the potential for injury."

Aside from the court ruling, incidents of Taser use resulting in a suspect's death and other physical issues that make them potentially dangerous to certain people with conditions like obesity and heart problems  or those under the influence of legal and illegal stimulants  are also causing police to use them less frequency, said William V. Pelfrey Jr., a criminologist and associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth Universitys L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.

"The list of physical issues which correspond to problematic reactions to Tasers continue to grow," Pelfrey said. "The conditions under which a Taser is most useful are unfortunately concurrent with some of the physical issues that make Taser usage most dangerous. An angry, excited suspect who is resisting arrest could easily be under the effect of a stimulant  a condition that makes Taser usage dangerous due to the increased risk of heart attacks."

"Fewer agencies are allowing the use of Tasers in a preventative capacity and now only allow their use in situations where there is a clear threat of violence."
Infosys, the big brand of IT sector announced to open ts first office and delivery center (DC) in Croatia, Eastern Europe.

As per the released release, "In line with the company's strategy to establish global competency centers, offering the best talent in the market and making it available to customers globally, this DC also marks our expansion into Eastern Europe's established heavy engineering sector"

"The new facility will meet near-shoring requirements, support engineering clients worldwide, as well as offer R&D services", it added.

According to the Infosys President and Deputy Chief Operating Officer Ravi Kumar S, "The focus will be on consolidating consulting, IT and engineering skills in the areas of power generation, design and development of large gas and steam turbines, digital solutions for service and maintenance, and development of advanced engineering software tools,"

"As we continue to invest in developing global competency centers, tapping local talent and scaling those centers, we will be looking to partner with local academic institutions, co-innovate with clients and nurture a partner ecosystem to help develop the skilled workforce that will deliver next-generation services," he added.

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Dougla entices fashion lovers

That most beautiful song resounds in my mind and my pores raise as I echo its words...

here every creed and race find an equal place... I smile every time. I cant help myself. Its what were known for...a mix of races and cultures joined in a land of favour which produced the sweetness of Dougla. Really, its a Trini ting! Like a doubles with slight pepper and a red solo! Pegus said of the Dougla concept.

The master designer cleverly used a lot of embossed chiffon, leather on silk chiffon, two-face metallic (sequinned) fabric, embossed mesh and feathers, as well as stretched velvet, striped leather on silk and silk cotton shirts for her new collection. She said most of the base of each piece was made from silk chiffon. The production was directed by Coco Velvet Internationals Christopher Nathan, with styling by Keziah Lendor. Pegus also credited brand manager Hayden Roberts for the creation of the image for the collection. She said he had been fine tuning and steering the image of the brand for several years.

Of the collection itself she told Newsday, Fabulous! Fabulous! Its all about my inspiration as to where I think we should be going in terms of fashion, a sentiment that was echoed by Sharon Rowley. The collection is of the highest quality as usual of Claudia. Claudia has lived up to what she had done in the past and we continue to expect the best from her and she delivers. However, one young man was a little disappointed there were not enough pieces for men, especially as he found the womens designs so fantastic.

In response Pegus said: My fabric took two weeks to get to Trinidad and I had to take night to make day.

The selection was a preview of a collection, therefore the bigger part of the male collection will be in Tobago.

So the men should not feel disappointed. Dougla, the continuation, will be unveiled to the general public at Tobago Fashion Coda on April 27, at the Magdalena Grand Beach Resort.

Before the preview collection was unveiled, Pegus gave a background on the inspiration for her collection. She said: At a Mehndi night in 2016 I encountered the Dougla. A black Trini sister marrying a white Canadian under Hindu rites and given away by an Indian brother.

Like a rare bird, the Dougla captured my imagination, haunting my creativity, teasing me on the what next watch. Dougla kept me awake at night until the concept birthed in runway expression.She continued: The Dougla is not a model.

Dougla is a person with style and attitude.

Dougla is a shopper.

The Dougla buys, wears my designs and transforms my concept into a personalised style. Dougla is a Trini, a pelau of cultures, music, every creed and race; and at CP Designs we embrace our culture and offer you an explosion of notable creatives, a kaleidoscope of colours, a showcase of our red, white and black- and all that these colours can become. The Dougla, she said, symbolises a pepper pot, a Caribbean thing.
STATE OWES $43B

In reply to queries by Chaguanas East MP Fazal Karim, permanent secretary in the ministry Suzette Lee Chee said the countrys debt-to-GDP ratio is now 60 percent and is expected to rise to 63 percent this year. She said the ministrys target is to never exceed a ratio of 65 percent.

We want a zero deficit by 2020, Lee Chee added, explaining that while the State owes significant payments for this year, she hopes for an increase in GDP - a measure of economic activity of which an increase would lower the debt-to-GDP ratio to better levels. Lee Chee noted that the debt-to-GDP ratio excludes the non-guaranteed debt also owed by the State.

Karim asked what are the effects a worsening ratio in future.

Lee Chee replied that this could cause Government to be unable to finance its projects, plus a higher cost of borrowing. You can get to a point where you dont have a level of autonomy and independence.

More and more of your revenue will be constrained to pay for debt servicing. You have less and less to grow your economy. Lee Chee repeatedly emphasised that a Government must look at the quality of its debt, that is, has the borrowing been to pay recurrent (consumptive) expenditure or to invest in capital projects that will generate a revenue.

JSC chairman David Small lamented that the State Enterprises which have created the highest debts among the $19 billion in guaranteed debt do not earn any revenue. He listed these as Udecott ($4 billion owed), Nipdec ($3.1 billion), Nidco ($1.5 billion) and Caribbean Airlines Limited ($825 million).

Earlier Government Senator Dr Lester Henry revealed that BWIA has a debt of $9 million, down from $18 million due to a $9 million payment on principal in November 2016.

Asked of plans to manage this debt, Lee Chee said State companies do not have revenue streams but their projects could stimulate the economy.

Saying the National Gas Company (NGC) is using debt to fund its operations, Small asked if this scenario is an economic red flag.

Lee Chee said this all depends of many factors such as if the borrowing is used to bring a return and or the tenor of the debt such as if it is short-term which tends to be riskier than longer term debts.

She said the ministry is holding preliminary discussions to consider re-financing Petrotrins 2019 bond.

Wed look at a potential partial re-financing on the domestic market, but have taken no decisions as yet. Asked if the debt-to-GDP ratio of 60 percent is okay compared to other nations, Lee Chee replied, We are in a very good position.

We have sufficient buffers.

Amongst these buffers, she listed the US$5 billion Heritage and Stabilisation Fund, some ten months of import cover plus money in a sinking fund. The ministrys director of economic research Hayden Manzano said some Caricom countries have debt-to-GDP ratios of 100 percent and 120 percent.

Lee Chee in reply to Karim said scheduled inflows of revenue from Clico to the State will likely soon help reduce the States need to borrow.

Asked by Newsday if the $34 billion debt was a cause for worry, economist Indera Sagewan-Alli replied, Of course. She said, We should be concerned, just as is reflected in the recent downgrade of TT from Standard and Poors which measures TTs credit worthiness and the level of risk in lending to the country.

The downgrade reflects a very worrying situation regarding accelerated borrowing. On top of the debt itself, Sagewan-Alli said are no signs of anything happening on any front to turn things around economically.

Citing the energy sector as the countrys economic mainstay, she said the ongoing serious shortage of natural gas has affected downstream industries to the extent that two methanol plants have recently had to shut down, even as other petrochemical facilities are operating way below capacity.

Alluding to Venezuelas Dragon Field which is due to supply gas to Point Lisas, she said, We are relying on an arrangement with a very volatile government for gas. It will not come in the short term. Anything could happen.

We could be digging a hole and throwing away our money. She was also concerned for the oil-sub-sector. Even if the world oil-price goes back up, we are not producing. We dont have the volume to benefit from a rebound in price. The energy sector is not a very bright picture, and there is no other sector that is promising.
Attorneys welcome Ayers-Caesar to the bench

Ayers-Caesar began presiding in the Third Criminal Assize Court having served as chief magistrate.

She was appointed a judge by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) along with magistrate Avason Quinlan-Williams and attorney in private practice Kevin Ramcharan.

The appointments were made amidst concerns raised by Senior Counsel Israel Khan and attorney Gerald Ramdeen about magistrates leaving too many part-heard cases in limbo while they were chosen as judges. Ramdeen has since called on Chief Justice Ivor Archie, head of the JLSC, to disclose the criterion used for the appointment of judges to the High Court.

Archie has since hit back with the comment that the highest calibre of judges have been selected to the bench and the Judiciary is the only branch of government that has published and publicly articulated the criterion for appointments.

Ayers-Caesar took her seat at 9.10 am and, before the first case was called, attorney Subhas Panday welcomed her on behalf of attorneys at the criminal bar. He said for a long time during his practice in the courts attorneys have come to have confidence in the justice that is meted out. Even accused persons, he added, may not have liked the verdict and the sentence, but they to came to realise that they have no choice but to be pleased. Panday, a senior attorney, told Ayers-Caesar, All your good work, brilliance and dedication have borne fruit. I am deeply grateful to have you in this jurisdiction. Senior State attorney Shabaana Shah also welcomed the new judge and assured her of co-operation from attorneys from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Ayers-Caesar dealt with three criminal cases, all of which she adjourned due to the unreadiness of attorneys involved.
Smooth reopening of school, says Garcia

We have been monitoring the situation. Officers of the Ministry of Education have been visiting schools, officers of the EFCL (Education Facilities Company Ltd) also have been visiting schools, all in an effort to ensure that every school is opened, and our children will have access to the quality education that this Government and this ministry are determined to provide, Garcia said.

The minister encouraged students and teachers to perform to the best of their abilities while keeping focused for the next 11 weeks.

He reiterated his commitment to ensuring a safe and nurturing environment conducive to the teaching/ learning process. He also wished students well in their SE A, CSE C, CAPE and end-of-term examinations.

The ministry said this is part of Governments national development strategy toward producing a disciplined, caring, and tolerant society comprising healthy, happy and educated people.

The TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) described yesterdays start of the new school term as relatively smooth. According to union president Lynsley Doodhai, reports reaching TTUTA were that almost all of the nations schools opened yesterday. He said the only exception TTUTA was aware of was the Cunupia Government Primary School. Doodhai said the union was informed that a small fire occurred in an air conditioning unit at the school at 3.20 am but it was quickly brought under control.

He said the school was closed yesterday as a result of that incident and a determination will be made as to whether the school opens today.
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President Donald Trump will sign executive orders this week aimed at expanding offshore oil drilling and reviewing national monument designations made by his predecessors, continuing the Republican's assault on Democratic President Barack Obama's environmental legacy. The orders could expand oil drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and upend public lands protections put in place in Utah, Maine, and other states, the AP reports. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes the president to declare federal lands of historic or scientific value to be "national monuments" and restrict how the lands can be used. Obama used his power under the Antiquities Act to permanently preserve more land and water using national monument designations than any other president. The land is generally off limits to timber harvesting, mining and pipelines, and commercial development.

Utah Republicans were infuriated when Obama created the Bears Ears National Monument in December on more than 1 million acres of land that's sacred to Native Americans and home to tens of thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings. Republicans also objected when Obama created the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine last summer on 87,500 acres of donated forestland. The expanse includes part of the Penobscot River and stunning views of Mount Katahdin, Maine's tallest mountain. Republicans have asked Trump to reverse the two designations, saying they add an unnecessary layer of federal control and could stymie commercial development. Trump's staff has been reviewing the decisions to determine economic impacts, whether the law was followed, and whether there was appropriate consultation with local officials. Sources tell the Salt Lake Tribune the review Trump will order was prompted by the Bears Ears designation but will look at designations as far back as Bill Clinton's presidency. (Read more Bears Ears National Monument stories.)
A State Department blog post is making wavesbecause it appears to be promoting Mar-a-Lago, the private Florida club President Trump owns. The post was published April 4, but gained attention Monday after people realized it had been shared on the US Embassy in London's website, and started making headlines particularly after Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden tweeted criticizing it, the AP reports. It originated on the Share America website, a State Dept. project whose stated mission is "sharing compelling stories and images that spark discussion and debate on important topics like democracy, freedom of expression, innovation, entrepreneurship, education, and the role of civil society."

NPR notes that the blog post makes no mention of policy, but does feature "photos of the members-only club's opulent rooms and exterior." CNN calls the blog post, which refers to Mar-a-Lago as the winter White House, "markedly promotional" and says it could "eventually benefit Trump's bottom line." Other Democrats have since criticized it, and some ethics watchdogs are concerned. President Obama's chief ethics attorney called the promotion "exploitation," comparing it to Kellyanne Conway's promotion of Ivanka Trump's fashion line. Even one of President George W. Bush's ethics advisers called the post "use of public office for private gain pure and simple." The State Department has yet to make an official comment on the controversy. (Read more State Department stories.)
Her years in charge of Yahoo haven't been what you would call an unqualified success, but Marissa Mayer still stands to make $186 million if the company's sale to Verizon goes ahead June 8. That figure includes the CEO's Yahoo stock, stock options, and restricted stock units and is based on Monday's stock price, reports the New York Times, which notes that Yahoo shareholders are widely expected to vote yes to the sale. Mayer is also expected to receive a $23 million severance package, bringing her compensation for her five years in charge of Yahoo to well over $200 million.

Despite struggles with the company's core businesses, Yahoo's stock is up 208% since 2012, largely due to its investments in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, the Times notes. Verizon plans to combine Yahoo and AOL in a new entity called Oath. Oath is expected to unveil its management team Tuesday, and sources tell USA Today there has been "house cleaning" and that the new team, led by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, will not include Mayer or many other senior Yahoo execs. (The CEO of the Yahoo remnants not being sold off will receive double Mayer's salary.)
Bill O'Reilly appears to be planning to make his way back to the top, one podcast at a time. The former Fox News host aired his first podcast Monday night, and he made it clear that he plans to build the short daily show into something strongly resembling The O'Reilly Factor, Politico reports. "As we develop the website, we'll have guests and things like that, and this will become longer and longer and longer, into a genuine news program. That's the vision right now," said O'Reilly, who's offering his "No Spin News" on his website for free this week and plans to start charging next week.

In the podcast, O'Reilly dealt with issues including the French election, as well as addressing his firing from Fox News amid sexual harassment allegations. "I am sad that I'm not on television anymore. I was very surprised how it all turned out. I can't say a lot, because there's much stuff going on right now," he said. "But I can tell you that I'm very confident the truth will come out, and when it does, I don't know if you're going to be surprisedbut I think you're going to be shaken, as I am." Mediaite reports that CNN's Jake Tapper had a dig at his fellow newsman Monday night, playing an excerpt from the podcast and quipping: "Oh, how the sleazy have fallen." (O'Reilly is expected to get a hefty severance package from Fox.)
A US guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea on Tuesday and envoys from the US, Japan, and South Korea met in Tokyo, as North Korea marked the anniversary of the founding of its military. Though experts thought a nuclear test or ballistic missile launch might happen, the morning came and went without either, the AP reports. South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean government source, reported that North Korea instead appeared to have held a major live-fire drill in the Wonsan city area. The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged restraint in a call to President Trump, as the Trump administration invited the entire 100-member Senate for a briefing Wednesday on the escalating crisis. Adding to the atmosphere of animosity, officials said North Korea has detained a third US citizen. Trump told ambassadors from UN Security Council members that the status quo in North Korea is "unacceptable" and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions. The US, Japan, and South Korea agreed Tuesday to put maximum pressure on North Korea, the South's envoy for North Korea said after meeting his American and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo. (Read more North Korea stories.)
Conspiracy peddler Alex Jones has another lawsuit to handle. Greek yogurt maker Chobani has sued Jones' Infowars for publishing what it calls fake and defamatory stories related to the company's plant in Twin Falls, Idaho, reports BuzzFeed. Two examples: One video headlined, "Idaho Yogurt Maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists" and a story blaming Chobani for a "500% increase in tuberculosis in Twin Falls." Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya wants the stories pulled and $10,000 in damages, but Jones says he isn't budging. "Im never giving up, I love this," he said in an audio statement, per the Washington Post. "They have jumped the trillion-pound great white shark on this baby." Jones accused billionaire George Soros of being behind the suit, just weeks after accusing him of staging a chemical weapons attack in Syria.

The migrant rape story stems from an incident in June 2016 in which three refugee boys, ages 14, 10, and, 7, sexually assaulted a 5-year-old girl in a laundry room, reports the Idaho Statesman. Details remain sealed, but prosecutors said one boy admitted touching the girl while the others filmed on a phone. The assault later was conflated by right-wing sites into a gang rape at knifepoint by Syrian men. Jones previously called the Sandy Hook shooting a hoax and said the government staged the 9/11 attacks, though in a recent court hearing in a child custody case, his lawyer argued that Jones' public persona is merely performance art. Ulukaya is a Turkish immigrant who has drawn national attention, both praise and scorn, for his advocacy of refugees. He employs more than 300 refugees at the Idaho plant and another in New York. (Read more Alex Jones stories.)
If the Japanese ever receive word that North Korea has launched a missile toward them, they better find shelter quicklybecause the government estimates any warning will be 10 minutes at most, the Japan Times reports. The Japanese seem to be on edge in the wake of chatter that Pyongyang may be prepping for another nuclear test, despite warnings from the US and other countries, Time notes. This nervousness has led to a drastic uptick in people checking Japan's Cabinet Secretariat Civil Protection Portal Site, which offers info on what to do in case an attack: While the site saw just 450,000 views in March, it has hit 2.6 million views this month.

Under the national warning system, news of an impending strike would first be spread to local officials via phone, satellite, and the internet, followed by public warnings issued via cellphone alerts, PA systems, and emergency radio and TV broadcasts. Osaka's mayor notes that detection of a missile launch may be delayed, meaning residents may not have 10 minutes to find shelter, but more like four or five. North Korea, meanwhile, upped its saber rattling Tuesday with long-range artillery drills along its east coast, the New York Times reports. The event marked the founding of the nation's military 85 years ago, with the US and South Korea also carrying out military maneuvers. A North Korean state paper says the entire Korean Peninsula is being brought to the "verge of explosion." (A US guided-missile sub arrived in South Korea.)
There's just one male northern white rhino left in the world, and he's getting some help from Tinder. A Kenyan wildlife conservancy is teaming up with the dating app for a campaign called "The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World," focusing on the rhino named Sudan, reports the AP. They are raising money for research to save the species from extinction.

The 43-year-old Sudan and his last two female companions are unable to breed naturally because of issues that include old age. The campaign by the Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Tinder aims to raise $9 million. The money will be used for ongoing research into methods, including in-vitro fertilization, to assist the rhinos in breeding. (An "extinct" tiger may have been spotted.)
The only thing that has moved slower than Taylor Glacier is progress on solving a 100-year-old mystery about the famous red waterfall nearbyuntil now. Since 1911, when a scientist first stumbled across Antarctica's Blood Falls, researchers have been scratching their heads about a flow of salty water leading from the glacier to what Atlas Obscura refers to as the "five-story, blood-red waterfall." But a study published in the Journal of Glaciology may have unearthed what's behind this "englacial hydrologic system" fueling the falls. The direct reason for why the water is red isn't what's been perplexing us: A press release explains that the water plummeting over the side is filled with iron, which causes the brine to turn red when it makes contact with oxygen. It's where this brine is coming from, however, that has remained an unknown.

That is, until scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Colorado College set to work with radar gear and found evidence of lots of salty water buried beneath the glacier, perhaps for up to 1 million years. Much like the echolocation used by bats, the technique the scientists used to send and receive electrical signals in "grid-like patterns" through the glacier's ice led them to a find previously thought impossible: flowing liquid water existing in a frozen glacier. Co-author Erin Pettit explains that "water releases heat as it freezes," which melts surrounding ice and lets the salty water (with a lower freezing temperature) flow. The discovery now opens the doors to "understanding the role of liquid watersalty or freshin other extremely cold glaciers or permafrost environments," co-author Jessica Badgeley adds, per a Colorado College press release. (This Yosemite "firefall" appears once a year.)
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New Delhi:

In a major decision, the moderation policy under which grace marks are given to students in exams for difficult questions has been scrapped by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting.

The move comes after the CBSE had in December last year requested the HRD Ministry to help develop a consensus among all state boards on completely removing the marks moderation policy which is considered as the reason behind inflated scores in board exam results.

Read more: CBSE gives notice to 5 schools in Delhi, 19 in Haryana for violating norms

Under the moderation policy, examinees are awarded up to 15 per cent extra marks in certain papers if the questions are deemed to be difficult.

However, the practice of awarding grace marks will continue to ensure that a student clears an exam if he or she needs a few marks to do so.

If the states also decide to adopt the policy, then the soaring cut-offs for admission to colleges are likely to godown.

The CBSE has opined that a unilateral scrapping of the policy would put its students at a disadvantage during undergraduate admissions and considered it important that all state boards agree to it.

Read more: NEET Exam 2017: CBSE releases admit card; click here to download it
New Delhi:

Delhi University students in their July session have Chetan Bhagats novel Five Point Someone as part of their English Literature syllabus.

Other than Chetan Bhagats novel, the syllabus includes fiction novels by American novelist and poet Louisa M Alcott, English crime novelist Agatha Christie and British novelist JK Rowling.

Five Point Someone is part of the Popular Fiction paper in the General Elective, offered to second-year undergraduate students pursuing honours and programme courses under the Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS).

Under this paper, other popular fictions to be taught are Alcotts Little Women, Christies Murder on the Orient Express and Rowlings Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.

The writer had earlier posted about the inclusion of his book on Twitter. He has already gotten into argument about whether or not his book is good literature.

Two years ago, CBCS was introduced by DU. CBCS gives students the liberty that they can study elective subjects from any stream other than subject they are doing Honors in.

So, this paper will be available to students from any stream who want to take up an elective subject from the English department. According to English teachers the paper will be taught by the English department, but it wont be offered to those studying BA (honours) English.

CBCS core committee of English department recommended the novel as part of the general elective offered by the department.

The modified syllabus copy has been sent to all colleges by the English department.

Teachers have to give their feedback by May 1.

The recommendations now need approval from Academic Council and Executive Council before these are implemented in the new session.

Well, this is for the first time that a Chetan Bhagats novel is prescribed in English Literature syllabus by any university.
New Delhi:

Ex-Bigg Boss Sofia Hayat has tied the knot with her Romanian boyfriend Vlad Stanescu. Incidentally, a renowned international model Hayat had recently quit her career and declared herself as a nun.



Her friends shared pictures of her royal wedding on Instagram.

The theme of Sofia Hayat's wedding was God, Goddess, Fairies and Angles. To keep up with the royal look of the theme, the bride and groom wore crowns. According to a report, even guests were given crowns to wear. Now that is royal treatment.

Read | Gaia Mother Sofia Hayat to get married in April, introduces fiance in most sensuous way



Sofia, who was recently seen wearing her unique nun robes, dazzled in a golden gown with floral designs. Hayat's boyfriend Vlad Stanescu looked equally regal in an Indian style bandh-gala and churidar, matched with royal leather jutti.



Stanescu is a world-renowned architect and has worked for several royal families across the globe. Two months ago, Sofia had posted a video online in which she revealed that Stanescu proposed her during a private dinner.



Sofia Hayat has been steady in the controversial news, ever since her appearance on the reality show.



First, she shocked the world by turning into a nun shortly after her stint with Bigg Boss.



A few days later, she hurt religious sentiments of Indian people by tattooing a Swastika on her feet.



Recently, she was in news for alleged reports of molestation inside the Mecca complex.





The look of love #sofiavladwedding A post shared by Hana (@hana_180196) on Apr 24, 2017 at 11:34pm PDT

#sofiavladwedding A post shared by Hana (@hana_180196) on Apr 24, 2017 at 11:37pm PDT

#sofiavladwedding A post shared by Hana (@hana_180196) on Apr 24, 2017 at 11:34pm PDT
New Delhi:

AAP MLA Alka Lamba claimed on Tuesday that she was offered a Lok Sabha ticket if she defected to the BJP and blamed that the saffron party is trying to poach AAP legislators by offering them coveted posts.

Lamba said she got a call from a BJP leader who offered her a Lok Sabha ticket and a post similar to the one given to former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi. She, however, did not divulge the name the BJP leader.

The BJP is making its leaders call up AAP MLAs and tell them that the party is coming to an end. You (AAP MLAs) will be given an MP ticket or an important position in the government. We can do this for you by telling (BJP president) Amit Shah.

The BJP leader said Modi-ji will soon impose the Presidents Rule in Delhi just like it did in Arunchal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Lamba said in a series of tweets.

She said the BJP president tried to buy out some Congress leaders, but not everyone can be bought.

Lamba said she spoke to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and handed over details of her conversation with the BJP leader.

Also Read | MCD polls: AAP, BJP, Congress to contest high-octane elections on Sunday; verdict to reshape political equations

Lamba made these claims after AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned of launching a movement if the exit poll prediction of a BJP sweep in the municipal polls come true.

The AAP had made similar claims in 2014 after Kejriwal resigned as the chief minister.

Ilmi, who joined the BJP in 2015, has been appointed as an independent director with Engineers India Ltd (EIL), a Public Sector Undertaking.

She challenged Lamba to provide evidence in support of her claims.

Well I challenge you to prove this or get ready for a another defamation case? Any evidence or just gassing?? (sic) Ilmi tweeted.

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New Delhi:

BJP chief Amit Shah will start his partys expansion drive from Naxalbari on Tuesday, a West Bengal village from where the left-wing extremism had started in the late 1960s.

The Trinamool Congress-ruled state is among the five states, including Odisha and Telangana, where he will spend three-day each as he looks to strengthen the party in the states where it has been traditionally weak, with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Announcing this at a press conference here, Union Minister Smriti Irani also used the occasion to take a dig at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

The workers of a party going through a crisis are looking for their leader, she said targeting Rahul, while the president of another party, which has won one election after another, is not resting on his laurels and working hard to strengthen it.

This is the biggest difference between the BJP and the Congress, she said, adding that the saffron partys leaders believe in leading by example.

She referred to Amethi, a Gandhi family pocket borough where she had lost to him in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, as her constituency, as she has been serving it for the last three years.

Shah had entrusted her with electoral responsibility in all five assembly seats in Amethi during the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and the BJP won four of them while the Congress none, she said.

The textile minister regularly visits Amethi and has taken up welfare work there. The buzz in the BJP is that she will be pitted again from there in 2019 after putting up a strong fight against Gandhi in the last polls.

By starting his drive from booth number 93 at Naxalbari, Shah will give a message of solidarity to BJP workers, who have suffered violence there, Irani said. The party has accused the ruling TMC of unleashing violence on its workers in the state.

Also Read | BJP parliamentary party meet: Top brass sets tone for 2019 Lok Sabha polls

He will also take Prime Minister Narendra Modis message of development for all to a place where a violent movement to uproot Indian state had started, she said.

Besides Shah, top party leaders, including almost every union minister, have been roped in to drive the campaign at booth-level to boost the organisations prospects.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu, two states where it has always been a marginal force, are two other important states in this campaign, she said.

In the birth centenary year of its ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the BJP had asked its volunteers to work full-time for the party while its government at the Centre launched several schemes, declaring it to be garib kalyan varsh (year of poors welfare).

Over 3.68 lakh workers will work for the party across the country for 15 days and over 4,000 for anywhere between six months and a year, she said.

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Mumbai:

The Bombay High Court on Friday reserved its order on an appeal filed by prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case Prasad Purohit, challenging a sessions court direction rejecting his bail plea.

A division bench of justices R V More and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi has been hearing the arguments in the case since last one month.

The court today reserved its order after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) counsel Sandesh Patil completed his arguments.

Patil while opposing the bail plea argued that there was prima facie evidence in the form of audio and video recordings, call data records and witness statements that divulge Purohits involvement in the case.

He argued that Purohit had taken active part in the conspiracy meetings and had even agreed to arrange explosives to be used in the blast.

Purohit on the other hand had argued that NIA was selective in exonerating some accused persons and that the agency had made him a scapegoat in the case.

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Ludhiana:

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was summoned issue by a magisterial court in an income tax case on Monday.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Jaapinder Singh has directed Singh to appear in court on July 20.

He is facing accusations of making false statements, and wilful omission in providing required information to the Income Tax department and obstructing its officials from performing their duties.

These allegations were made by the I-T department in a criminal complaint filed on Monday before the court.

The complaint relates to transactions from 2005 to 2009 when one Jacaranda Trust was created abroad and Singhs son was alleged to have been a settler of the Trust.

Singh has been alleged to be the beneficiary.

The complaint claimed that several notices were sent by the I-T department to Singh but he was evasive in his replies.

The then CM tried to obstruct the functioning of public servant by non-cooperation on one hand and levying baseless and false allegations of malice, arbitrariness and non-application of mind on the officers, which was covered in the purview of section 186 of IPC, said the complaint.

The invalid and improper affidavit filed to query dated March 30, 2016 to avoid answering to the factum of transfer of property P29, Marine Mansions, Dubai & the factum of Jacaranda Trust that he (Amarinder) cant recall the same amounts to false statement made in affidavit which is a punishable offence under section 277 of Income Tax Act and under sections 177, 181, 193 and 199 of IPC, said the complaint.

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New Delhi:

AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dhinakaran has confessed that he met Sukesh Chandrasekhar, the arrested middleman in the EC bribery case, thinking he was a high court judge, police said on Monday.

Dhinakaran, who is being grilled by the Delhi Police for the third consecutive day, had so far maintained that did not know Sukesh nor had he met him.

The leader, who is accused of trying to bribe an Election Commission official in a bid to retain the two-leaves symbol of AIADMK, however, denied having paid any money to Sukesh in this regard, police said.

On Monday, Dhinakaran was questioned for over five hours, with the probe still continuing at the time of filing of this report.

He had reached the Crime Branch Inter State Cell office in Chanakyapuri around 3.30 PM, even as the police started by interrogating his personal assistant Janardhan.

They also quizzed his longtime friend Mallikarjuna, who has been accompanying him everywhere ever since Sukesh was arrested, police said.

It was only around 6 PM that Dhinakarans questioning began, they said.

On sustained quizzing, Dhinakaran said he had met Sukesh, who had posed as a high court judge and sought to help him in the matter, police sources said.

However, he denied paying money to the middleman, the sources said, adding the Crime Branch officers also confronted Dhinakaran and Sukesh.

The leader had come under scanner after the arrest of the alleged middleman Sukesh and had since maintained having no idea about him.

On Sunday, he was grilled by the police for 11 hours.

The controversial leader was earlier summoned by Delhi Police at his Chennai residence in the case.

Having been appointed as deputy general secretary by jailed AIADMK chief V S Sasikala, Dhinakaran has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.

A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK (Amma) recently revolted against Sasikala-Dhinakaran leadership. The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded ouster of Sasikala and Dhinakaran as a condition for the merger.

Dhinakaran later announced he would stay away from party affairs and that he could be removed only by Sasikala.

Sasikala is at present serving a four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a disproportionate assets case.

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Lucknow:

A special court in Lucknow granted bail to former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati and two of his alleged accomplices in connection with a rape case on Tuesday.

Special judge of a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court Om Prakash Mishra granted bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu.

The court asked Prajapati to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount. It held that the complainant had given her implied consent in the incident.

The court observed that since she did not complain to the police or the competent court despite claiming that they had been committing rape on her for last three years, it was an indication that she had given implied consent.

An FIR was registered against Prajapati and six others on February 17 on a Supreme Court directive.

Prajapati (49) was then a minister in the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.

When asked about the bail granted to his former cabinet colleague, Akhilesh said, Its good that he got bail. Please tell me if there is anything wrong in it.

After being on the run for nearly a month, Prajapati (49) was arrested from the Aashiyana area here on March 15 and was sent to jail for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter in 2014.

The six others had been arrested earlier. Prajapati had approached the Supreme Court to get a stay on his arrest.

But the apex court asked him to approach the court concerned.

At the time of his arrest, Prajapati had claimed that he was innocent and the charges were a conspiracy to malign him.

The former minister had said that he was prepared for a narco test to bring out the truth and also demanded a similar test on the minor victim.

The allegations against Prajapati were raked by the BJP during the state assembly elections to attack the then Akhilesh government.

The Supreme Court order to file a police complaint against Prajapati had come just two days before the third phase of polling in the seven-phase state elections which saw Samajwadi Party winning only 47 of the 403 assembly seats while the BJP and its allies bagged 325 seats.

The BJP had accused Akhilesh of shielding his tainted minister, a charge refuted by the Samajwadi Party.

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New Delhi:

A Home Ministry official said on Tuesday that the government has no plans to deploy the army to tackle the Naxals, notwithstanding reverses being faced by paramilitary and police forces.

It is an internal security issue. There is no question of deploying the army in the anti-Naxal operations, the official said.

Since the Naxal violence is considered as a law and order problem, paramilitary and police forces will continue to deal with the Maoists, even though there have been casualties on the part of the security forces, the official said.

The comments of the senior Home Ministry official came in the wake of speculation in sections of the media that the government was considering the option of deploying the army.

However, the Indian Air Force provides logistical support to the anti-Naxal forces by offering chopper sorties for the evacuation of injured, sick, air dropping of food, medicine and other essentials.

As many as 25 CRPF personnel were yesterday killed in an attack by the Naxals in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district.

Also Read: Shaken by Sukma Naxal attack, Modi Govt and Chhattisgarh CM promise to review strategy on battling Left wing extremists

On March 11, 12 paramilitary personnel were killed by the Naxals in the same district of Chhattisgarh.

On April 6, 2010, altogether 75 CRPF personnel and a constable of the state police were massacred by the Naxals in Dantewada of Chhattisgarh.

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New Delhi:

Any "serious actions" taken by the Trump Administration on the H-1B visa programme would be a cause of "worry" as a major part of Indian exports in the services sector go to the US, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian has said.

"If there are serious actions taken it's something that's going to kind of worry us a lot because, remember that our exports of services are about 40 to 45 per cent of the total exports,? Subramanian told an audience here last week. "Something like 50 to 60 per cent of all our exports of services goes to the United States. So it would worry us quite a bit,? he said while responding to a question on the H1-B visa during his visit at the Peterson Institute, a top American economic think-tank.

Subramanian said that India would be "okay" as long as the visa reforms are manageable and it's keeping a close watch on it. "Anything that is going to interfere with export growth creates anxiety (in India). In the context of the United States, we're all watching very carefully the H1-B visa situation,? the Chief Economic Advisor said.

"On the visa side, I don't know but as long as you know we can keep this thing manageable. You know it should be okay,? he said. During his US visit, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also taken up the the H-1B issue with the American side and highlighted the contribution Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy.

President Donald Trump had earlier this month 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, a decision that would impact India's USD 150 billion IT industry.

The Indian IT industry expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields.

Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations. The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry. Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals.

India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive.

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New Delhi:

After the Naxal attack in Sukma which claimed lives of 25 CRPF personnel, Home Ministry has asked the para military force to submit reports at the earliest. According to sources, Home Ministry is anticipating the attack to be failure of leadership and has asked them to submit five reports.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh is slated to visit Chhattisgarh on Tuesday. MoS Home Hansraj Ahir and many senior officials of CRPF is expected to accompany Rajnath Singh.

Rajnath Singh promises strong action against Naxals

The government has taken as a achallengea the killing of CRPF personnel by Naxals in Sukma in Chhattisgarh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said and vowed that ano one will be spareda.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday night briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the attack on a CRPF team in Chhattisgarhas Sukma district in which 25 jawans were killed.

CRPF taking considerable retaliatory action

The paramilitary force on Monday claimed that a considerable number of Maoists are believed to have been killed in retaliatory action by CRPF men after an attack on them in Chhattisgarhas Sukma district, though nobody has been recovered yet.

There were 99 personnel out on the operation. A CRPF company has strength of about 100 personnel. It said the ensuing gun battle was afiercea. The CRPF troops replied in a befitting manner but taking advantage of their geographical position, Maoists succeeded in inflicting loss on the force.

List of 25 CRPF personnel who lost their lives

1. Inspector Raghubir Singh

2. Sub Inspector K.K. Das

3. Asst Sub Inspector Sanjay Kumar

4. Asst Sub Inspector Rameswar Lal

5. Asst Sub Inspector Naresh Kumar

6. Head Constable Surender Kumar

7. Head Constable Banna Ram

8. Head Constable L.P. Singh

9. Head Constable Naresh Yadav

10. Head Constable Padmanabhan

11. Constable Saurabh Kumar

12. Constable Abhay Mishra

13. Constable Banmali Ram

14. Constable N.P. Sonkar

15. Constable K.K. Pandey

16. Constable Vinay Chandra Burman

17. Constable P. Alagupandi

18. Constable Abhay Kumar

19. Constable N. Senthil Kumar

20. Constable N. Thirumurgan

21. Constable Ranjit Kumar

22. Constable Ashish Singh

23. Constable Manoj Kumar

24. Constable Anup Karmakar

25. Constable Ram Mehar (at Raipur)

Pictures of 25 CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #Sukma Naxal attack yesterday pic.twitter.com/o6gnS6bxIR a ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017

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Washington:

After the Trump administrations dismissal of physician Vivek Murthy as the US Surgeon General, a top body of Indian-American doctors has expressed shock and disappointment.

Murthy, 39, the first Indian-American appointed by the Obama regime as the Surgeon General, was dismissed last week to bring new leadership to the vital public health sector.

The American Association of Physicians of Indian-origin (AAPI) in a statement on Monday said it is shocked and saddened by the departure of Murthy as the US Surgeon General, to which he was nominated by the previous Obama Administration and confirmed by the US Senate.

On behalf of the AAPI, I want to applaud the many contributions and initiatives of Dr Vivek Murthy, our AAPI member, in the healthcare sector in very short span of about two years since he became US Surgeon General in 2014, said AAPI president Ajay Lodha.

Murthy played a key role in bringing to the forefront many crucial health issues confronting the nation.

Murthys report on addiction released in November, had said that dependency on opioids and other substances must not be looked on as a character flaw, and was the first publication from a surgeon general that addressed drug and alcohol addiction, the statement by AAPI said.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley in a statement said Murthy has been a dynamic and outstanding surgeon general and is an inspiration, not only to the Indian American community, but to the entire medical and healthcare community.

He said that from speaking out about the need for funding for public health crises to promoting physical fitness and walkable communities, Murthy worked tirelessly to improve the health of the American people.

Ive had the great pleasure of working closely with Murthy, including welcoming him to my district where we met with New York health leaders to discuss Zika, the opioid epidemic, and other key health priorities affecting my constituents, Crowley said.

Murthy is the second Indian-American to be fired by the Trump administration from a senior position. The first one was the US Attorney from New York Preet Bharara who was sacked after he refused to resign.

Also read: Trump administration dismisses Indian-American Surgeon General Vivek Murthy

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New Delhi:

A complaint has been filed on Sunday against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia by the Delhi BJP unit alleging that he had appealed to the people for votes even as polling for the MCD elections was underway.



Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari alleged that their repeated violations of the Model Code of Conduct were proof of the Arvind Kejriwal-led partys anarchic nature.



The BJP alleged that Sisodia, during an interview with a private news channel on Sunday, appealed to the people to vote for the AAP in the MCD elections. Delhi BJP vice president Abhay Verma and legal team member Neeraj immediately filed a complaint with the SEC, seeking legal action against Sisodia, the party said in a statement.

ALSO READ: MCD polls: AAP accepts defeat by moving plea in HC to use VVPAT machines, says BJP



In the statement, Tiwari alleged that the repeated violations of the Model Code of Conduct by AAP leaders, including during the Assembly elections in Delhi, Punjab and Goa, were proof of Kejriwals partys anarchic nature. Polling to elect Delhis municipal councillors ended at 5.30 PM on Sunday with a voter turnout of around 54 per cent.



Polling was held in 270 wards of the three municipal corporations. In two wards, the election was postponed due to the death of candidates. A total of 1,32,10,206 voters were entitled to exercise their franchise to elect the councillors for the 270 wards under the three corporationsNDMC (103 wards), SDMC (104) and EDMC (63).

ALSO READ: MCD polls 2017: Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari releases manifesto, promises to give food for Rs 10

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Ghaziabad:

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday asserted that the NDA government, which marks its third anniversary in the month of May, has worked with complete honesty for the development of all communities, including minorities.

The Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs said the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh will not allow any conspiracy of anarchy to dominate the partys commitment towards inclusive growth, according to a statement.

Naqvi though did not elaborate on the conspiracy.

We have worked with complete honesty to ensure that the fruits of development reached the last person in the chain through our commitment to Antyodaya in the last three years.

This has benefited the minorities equally as well, the statement quoted him as saying while addressing a conference on education for minorities here.

Underlining the importance of education in bringing the minorities into the mainstream, Naqvi listed the initiatives undertaken by his ministry in this regard.

These include the establishment of five world class educational institutions for the communities and the T-3: teacher, tiffin and toilets scheme to boost the literacy rate among the minorities.

Naqvi said his ministry aimed at commissioning the institutions next year and has proposed a 40-per cent reservation for girl students in them.

Stating that the government had allotted Rs 4,195.48 crore to his ministry for the current fiscal, he said over 70 per cent of the funds would be utilised for educational empowerment of and job-oriented programmes for the minorities.

Naqvi said the Centre had set a target of offering scholarships to about 35 lakh students in the current financial year.

Additionally, it will impart employment-oriented training to more than two lakh youth from the minority communities.

He said his ministry had approved more than 20 Gurukul-type (residential) schools in the country.

As regards Uttar Pradesh, the Union minister said the government would launch various welfare schemes for the minorities in the state.

These would include construction of multi-purpose community centres, sadbhavna mandaps in each of the districts, toilets in 15,000 madrasas, over 20 job-oriented skill development centres and various basic infrastructure development programmes.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a jibe at Centres demonetisation step after the home minister asserted that the government would revise its strategy to tackle Naxalism as it had stated that demonetisation move would help in curbing the menace after the note ban.

Reacting to Union home minister Rajnath Singh's statement on the revision of Naxal strategy, the Congress vice-president tweeted that last it heard that demonetisation was the strategy to neturalise Naxalism. He said that he hoped that the 'revised' strategy has little more purpose with impact.

His tweet comes a day after 25 personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed on Monday by Naxals' in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district.

Last heard 'demonetization' was the Govt's strategy to neutralize Naxalism. I hope the 'revised' strategy has a little more purpose & impact https://t.co/fNBGUOHlbT  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) April 25, 2017

Ten chief ministers and top civil and police officers of Naxal-hit states were invited to attend a meeting convened by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on May 8.

Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are expected to take part in the crucial meeting where the anti-Naxal strategy will be reviewed, a senior Home Ministry official had said.

Also Read | Alwar lynching: If a person differs from vision of PM Modi and RSS, he has no place in India, says Rahul Gandhi

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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:

#12:08 AM AIADMK 'two leaves' symbol bribery case: TTV Dinakaran arrested

A Official website of #delhiuniversity hackedhttps://t.co/wVSa5c83mb pic.twitter.com/MIYLMsk7lG

a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) April 25, 2017

#11:05 PM

The IPL match between @SunRisers and @RCBTweets called off without a ball being bowled. #RCBvSRH #IPL2017. - PTI

#10:27 PM

Vigilantes taking up issues of cow, love affairs shouldn't be allowed to take law in their hands, UP DGP #SulkhanSinghA - PTI

#10:27 PM

We condemn this(Sukma) heinous terror attack. Convey our condolences to the friendly people and government of India: Turkey Foreign Ministry - ANI

#10:26 PM

Eman Ahmed's sister Saimma Selim had alleged that doctors were not correct about updates on Eman's health and that Eman had not recovered - ANI

#10:23 PM

Egyptian Eman Ahmed,heaviest woman in the world at 500-plus kg lost 250kg in two months after undergoing surgery at Mumbai's Saifee Hospital - ANI

#10:21 PM

Eman is 75 % better than before.She will never walk as she has deformed legs.Otherwise her main parameters are fine:Dr.Aparna Bhaskar - ANI

#10:17 PM

JD(U) leader @SharadYadavMP meets Cong president #SoniaGandhi amid talk of a joint presidential candidate by Opposition. - PTI



#10:14 PM

Govt has been proved incapable of tackling the situation, for last 2 months DG CRPF post is vacant: Asaduddin Owaisi #sukmaattackA - ANI

#10:13 PM

Guj govt transfers 45 IAS officers, including two principal secretaries and several district collectors - PTI

#9:55 PM

J&K CM #MehboobaMufti directs police to slap stringent provisions of law on 'cow vigilantes' who attacked nomadic family in #ReasiA - PTI

#9:53 PM

If there would have been someone else in my place,I am sure he/she would not have survived till now.Have suffered a lot:Sadhvi Pragya to ANI - ANI

#9:51 PM

A lot of injustice has been done to me,I should have been acquitted instead of being granted bail: Sadhvi Pragya Thakur #MalegaonBlastCaseA - ANI

#9:41 PM

India-Armenia sign 3 pacts: India to help Armenia build satellite & remote-sensing data matters, train its scientists. VP #HamidAnsariA -PTI

#9:38 PM

Last heard 'demonetization' was Govt's strategy to neutralize Naxalism. Hope 'revised' strategy has a little more purpose & impact: R Gandhi - ANI

#9:38 PM

#Naxalism born and grown under Congress regime, Union minister @MVenkaiahNaiduA - PTI



#9:35 PM

The situation looks good for both the factions to initiate talks- O Panneerselvam - ANI

#9:29 PM

At least 10 websites-- including those of DU, AMU, IIT Delhi, IIT BHU-- hacked into; "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans displayed - PTI



#9:27 PM

#AlwarLynching: Raj CM @VasundharaBJP breaks silence, says such incidents won't be tolerated, no culprits will be allowed to get away - ANI

#9:26 PM

Change in weather due to light drizzle in Delhi - ANI

A #9:14 PM

Telangana: Police seized Rs. 61 lakhs in demonitised currency notes from a house in Sultan Bazar area of Hyderabad. - ANI

#9:02 PM

CM Nitish Kumar announced ex-gratia of Rs. 5 lakh as compensation for next of kin of CRPF jawans from Bihar, who lost their lives. #SukmaA - ANI

#8:53 PM

Delhi: Arunachal students protested outside Chinese embassy, earlier today, against China's move of renaming six places in the state - ANI

#8:44 PM

Election Commission does an assessment of Anantnag(J&K) bypoll situation via video conferencing, to make spot assessment later - ANI

#8:39 PM

CM directs security agencies to exercise restraint while dealing with provocative situations as it helps maintaining peace& order:J&K CM PRO - ANI

#8:27 PM

HM Rajnath Singh directs DG CRPF & security adviser to MHA K Vijay Kumar to stay put in Chhattisgarh &frame strategy to tackle Naxals #SukmaA - ANI

#8:25 PM

HM Rajnath Singh directs DG CRPF & senior security adviser K Vijay Kumar to stay put in Chhattisgarh &frame strategy to tackle Naxals #SukmaA - ANI

#8:13 PM

Very saddened and concerned, convey our condolences to Indian Govt and the people: Daniel Carmon,Israel Envoy to India #sukmaattackA - ANI

#8:12 PM

Mortal remains of five CRPF jawans from Bihar, who lost their lives in #Sukma Naxal attack reach Patna. - ANI

#7:34 PM

15 leaves on anniversaries of great personalities in school, govt offices cancelled. 1hr event will be organised on occassions: S Sharma - ANI

#7:22 PM

Police investigating, few arrested;such things won't be tolerated in Rajasthan,wrong-doers won't be spared: CM Raje on Alwar cow vigilantism - ANI

#7:20 PM

A week-long special session of assembly has been called from May 15, because passing GST is important: UP minister Shrikant Sharma - ANI

#7:14 PM

CBI has filed an FIR against former CBI director Ranjit Sinha in a coal blocks allocation case. - ANI

#7:11 PM

Punjab CM announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 5 lakh as compensation for next of kin of Punjab CRPF jawans who lost their lives in #Sukma attack. - ANI

#7:11 Pm

CM Manohar Lal Khattar announces Rs 50 lakh compensation for kin of the 2 CRPF personnel from Haryana, who lost their lives in #Sukma attack - ANI

#7:01 PM

Jaipur: 'Dharohar Bachao Samiti' workers protest against an advertisement film being shot on sets inspired by Pakistani cities.- ANI

#6:53 PM

Mobile version of DU's website & website of AMU were hacked & pro-Kashmir freedom messages were uploaded; both websites were later restored - ANI

#6:24 PM

Today's shutdown was a huge success. We'll continue our efforts until farmers' demands are met: DMK's MK Stalin on TN shutdown - ANI

#6:21 PM

Rubber bullets are also an option, they can be an effective measure for mob control: Ravideep Shahi, IG CRPF #Kashmir

#6:19 PM

Condemn #Sukma Naxal attack; expect State will take note of sacrifice made by CRPF personnel in maintaining rule of law: NHRC - ANI

#6:10 PM

Facility of online viewing of statement of transaction & e-Permanent Retirement Acc No.(e-PRAN) launched for Atal Pension Yojana subscribers - ANI

#6:02 PM

Central Govt says there is no imposition of Hindi language & that recommendation by govt is a request & doesn't entail any order/instruction

#5:58 PM

AAP MLA @LambaAlka claims BJP offered her LS ticket if she defected, accuses it of trying to poach AAP legislators - PTI

#5:57 PM

Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami holds a meeting of district secretaries at AIADMK Party headquarters in Chennai. - ANI

#5:53 PM

Ruling #PDP urges EC to defer #Anantnag LS bypoll till the situation is conducive for the elections there #JammuKashmirA - PTI



#5:49 PM

PM Prachanda spoke to PM Modi about ongoing efforts of his govt to take all stakeholders on board in constitution implementation process - ANI

#5:49 PM

PM Prachanda spoke tp PM Modi about ongoing efforts of his govt to take all stakeholders on board in constitution implementation process - ANI

#5:45 PM

Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal aPrachandaa talks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone - ANI

#5:36 PM

Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami holds a meeting of district secretaries at AIADMK Party headquarters in Chennai. - ANI

#5:26 PM

Yerevan(Armenia): Vice President Hamid Ansari met Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan - ANI

#5:22 PM

Army will not be deployed for Naxal operations: Home Ministry Sources - ANI

#5:21 PM

Police defuse time bomb planted by Naxals in Maharashtra's Gondia. Banners also recovered from the spot - ANI

#4:55 PM

#Wipro to issue bonus shares in 1:1 ratio within two months. - PTI

#4:53 PM

#Wipro consolidated profit marginally up at Rs 2,267 cr for #Mar quarter,total income grows over 5 per cent to Rs 15,034 cr. - PTI

#4:47 PM

A joint operational doctrine for the #Army, the #Navy and the #Airforce to effectively deal with India's security challenges released. - PTI

#4:46 PM

Tamil Nadu Govt announces Rs 20 lakhs each for the 4 CRPF personnel from Tamil Nadu who lost their lives in #sukmaattackA - ANI

#4:44 PM

#NDA has worked for all, including minorities: Union minister #MukhtarAbbasNaqvi. - PTI

#4:44 PM

HRD Minister #PrakashJavadekar condemns killing of 25 #CRPF personnel by #Naxals in Chhattisgarh as an act of cowardice. - PTI

#4:38 PM

Pakistan Prime Minister #NawazSharif may file review petition in #Panamagate judgement. - PTI

#4:35 PM

Those wearing saffron scarves have got licence to beat up cops in UP: #SP chief @yadavakhilesh. - PTI

#4:33 PM

President #PranabMukherjee will arrive on a two-day visit to #Uttarakhand on May 5. - PTI

#4:31 PM

West Bengal: BJP president Amit Shah meets locals, party workers at Naxalbari. - ANI

#4:12 PM

J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti chairs Unified High Command meeting in Srinagar - ANI

#4:06 PM

Security stepped up in #Mathura following terror threat. - PTI

#4:05 PM

Distributed tablets PCs to village revenue officers in Hyd. Want to improve revenue. Created 21 districts in 3 yrs: Mohd Ali,Dy CM Telangana - ANI

#4:00 PM

Mangalam TV Honey trap case: Conditional bail granted to channel CEO Ajith Kumar and reporter R. Jayachandran by Kerala HC - ANI

#3:57 PM

After #NaxalAttack in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh cops issue high alert in the Naxal-affected #Balaghat district. - PTI



#3:39 PM

#Sensex zooms 287.40 pts to end at 29,943.24; #Nifty closes at record 9,306.60, up 88.65 pts. - PTI

#3:37 PM

Suggested Mohan Bhagwat's name,haven't discussed Sharad Pawar, Pawar is Modi's guru,can't say what's in one's heart-U Thackeray on next Pres - ANI

#3:29 PM

Chhota Rajan and three others awarded seven years jail term in a fake passport case, by a Delhi court. - ANI

#3:30 PM

#Narada sting op case: Trinamool Congress MP #AparupaPoddar moves Calcutta HC for quashing CBI FIR. - PTI



#3:28 PM

#Railways: Financial Commissioner's objections can no longer delay projects. - PTI



#3:26 PM

Special court awards 7-yr-jail term to gangster #ChhotaRajan and others in fake passport case. - PTI

#3:26 PM

Court extends by 3 days police custody of man held for allegedly striking deal of Rs 50 cr to help #AIADMK faction keep 2 leaves poll symbol - PTI



#3:25 PM

Special court asks #DelhiPolice what action has been taken against #AIADMK (Amma)leader T T V Dhinakaran in the EC bribery case. - PTI



#3:25 PM

3 die in group clash at the border of #Alwar and #Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan; no FIR registered as police debate jurisdiction. - PTI



#3:22 PM

AIADMK symbol case: aMiddlemana Sukesh Chandrashekhar's police custody extended till April 28 by Tis Hazari court. - ANI

#2:57 PM

Public sector banks merger could help banking system: RBI Governor #UrjitPatel. - PTI



#2:53 PM

President #PranabMukherjee to attend Osmania University's centenary celebration. - PTI



#2:53 PM

Tamil Nadu: HC orders TN govt to not open any Tasmac liquor shops for next 3 months after DMK plea on govt's attempt to circumvent SC order - ANI

#2:38 PM

The two French presidential candidates attend a ceremony for the policeman killed in a jihadist-claimed attack on the Champs Elysees, Paris - AFP

#2:28 PM

West Bengal govt will give Rs. 5 lakh to family, job to a family member (of CRPF jawans who lost their lives): CM Mamata Banerjee #Sukma - ANI

#2:21 PM

Government giving top priority to addressing bad loans issue: Finance Minister #ArunJaitley. - PTI

#2:16 PM

Our forces our committed in fighting most brutal phenomenon in Afghanistan and we have made progress in dealing with Daesh: Shaida Abdali - ANI

#2:15 PM

Cattle smuggling across Bangladesh India border matter: Supreme Court posted the matter for further hearing after summer vacations. - ANI

#2:13 PM

There a number of terror groups,Daesh is most dangerous phenomenon we are facing in the fallouts:Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali - ANI

#2:13 PM

Biggest challenge faced today is terrorism that hinders our efforts towards realizing the vision that we all collectively have:Afghan envoy - ANI

#2:11 PM

I want the family of those Naxals to face the same. Govt doing nothing, these incidents keep repeating: CRPF ASI Naresh Kumar's niece #Sukma - ANI

#2:24 PM

Toll in Turkish strikes on Syria Kurds rises to 18 - AFP

#2:07 PM

Uttar Pradesh: School students in Moradabad pay tribute to CRPF personnel who lost their lives in Sukma naxal attack - ANI

#2:05 PM

NASA's #Cassini probe completes last close flyby of #Saturn's moon #Titan and is beginning its final set of 22 orbits of the ringed planet. - PTI

#1:47 PM

#NaxalAttack: Rs 20 lakh each to families of 4 #CRPF jawans from Tamil Nadu. - PTI

#1:46 PM

#AIADMK faction led by #OPanneerselvam demand removal of #VKSasikala's portraits from the party headquarters in Chennai. - PTI

#1:43 PM

Turkish strike in Iraq kills six Kurdish security forces: Official - AFP

#1:42 PM

J&K Chief Minister #MehboobaMufti chairs security meet amid spiralling protests. - PTI

#1:32 PM

NGT issues notice to Centre and Uttarakhand Government over illegal and unregulated flying of helicopters to Kedarnath dham. - ANI

#1:22 PM

POCSO court Lucknow grants bail to Gayatri Prajapati in a rape case. - ANI

#1:13 PM



Naxals started firing, gheraoed CRPF jawans in a restricted area; firing continued for around 1.5 hours: Bastar IG Vivekanand Sinha #Sukma - ANI

#1:05 PM

#Pakistan hangs 4 'hard core' #TalibanMilitants convicted of terrorism-related offenses by the controversial military courts. - PTI

#1:03 PM



Why should I remove? It is to be removed from May 1st: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on red beacon - ANI

#12:50 PM



Chhattisgarh: Home Minister Rajnath Singh visits Balaji Institute of Medical Science in Raipur to meet injured CRPF personnel #Sukma - ANI

#12:47 PM



Delhi High Court stays the single judge order upholding JNU admission policy for M Phil and PhD courses based on UGC regulations. - ANI

#12:39 PM



Saddened, but at the same time feeling very proud.Not only my son, but many others made this sacrifice:CRPF CT Saurabh Kumar's father #Sukma - ANI

#12:27 PM



Bihar: Family members mourn the demise of CRPF jawan Krishna Kumar Pandey in Rohtas, who lost his life in Sukma naxal attack yesterday. - ANI

#12:25 PM

UPDATE: 10 people, including 6 children and 2 women, killed in blast in #Pakistan's tribal belt. - PTI

#12:25 PM

#Children younger than 14 years of age may lack the judgement and motor skills to safely cross busy roads, new @uiowa study warns. - PTI

#12:21 PM

Himachal Pradesh: Fire breaks out near Auckland Tunnel in Shimla, three fire tenders at the spot. - ANI

#12:18 PM

#NASA successfully launchs #SuperPressureBalloon from #NewZealand, that will help detect cosmic rays from beyond our galaxy. - PTI

#12:14 PM

#Nifty hits record high of 9,279.80 in late morning trade on heavy buying, overnight rally on Wall Street. - PTI

#12:13 PM

Raipur: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh meet injured CRPF personnel, at Ramkrishna Care Hospital #Sukma - ANI

#12:02 PM

#MumbaiIndians skipper Rohit Sharma @ImRo45 fined for code of conduct breach during #IPL clash against @RPSupergiants. - PTI

#12:00 PM

Opposition-backed bandh in Tamil Nadu, #DMK working president #MKStalin held in Cauvery delta region of Tiruvaur. - PTI

#12:07 PM

He was a great person,all his fellow jawans used to like him: Friend of CRPF Insp Raghubir Singh who lost his life in #Sukma - ANI

#12:00 PM

Govt aims record 273 MT foodgrain output for 2017-18 in anticipation of good monsoon: Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh. - PTI

#11:59 AM

Himachal: Bodies of 3 of the 4 youths, who went missing on Apr 15 after their car plunged in Beas Satluj Link Canal in Mandi, recovered. - ANI

#11:59 AM

Home Minister #RajnathSingh says in Raipur, Naxals using tribals as fodder. - PTI

#11:56 AM

Shocked,trying to get in touch with federation&NADA.There has been no official communication in this regard-Subrata Paul to ANI on dope test - ANI

#11:50 AM

Footballer Subrata Paul fails dope test (sample A), letter regarding this has been issued by NADA to All India Football Federation - ANI

#11:48 AM

Victims of Malegaon blast case to challenge the bail given to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the Supreme Court- ANI

#11:45 AM

We have decided to revise our LWE strategy if need be,have called a meeting of officials of various state govts on May 8th: HM Rajnath Singh- ANI

#11:44 AM

Cowardly act, Centre and state Govts will together work and take action. This is an act of desperation:Home Minister Rajnath Singh Sukma

#11:35 AM

Global property consultant A sells India housing brokerage arm to its former country head Anuj Puri- PTI

#11:25 AM

There will be no separate taxes, no service tax/luxury tax/entertainment tax,only one GST on total supply whether goods or services: H Adhia - ANI

#11:22 AM

Cascading of taxes will be done away with the introduction of #GST : Revenue Secretary, Hasmukh Adhia - ANI

#11:14 AM

Pragya Singh Thakur to furnish Rs 5 lakh bail amount,2 sureties of same amt,to also submit passport to NIA & appear on dates in trial court - ANI

#11:13 AM

Percentage of consumers watching shows on #TV drops: survey. - PTI

#11:11 AM

Bombay High Court denies bail to Lt Col Prasad Purohit in Malegaon blast case. - ANI

#11:10 AM

HM Rajnath Singh, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh & MoS Home Hansraj Ahir pay tribute to 25 CRPF Personnel who lost their lives in #Sukma - ANI

#11:06 AM

Water bodies in #Aravallis to be replenished for wild animals. - PTI

#11:05 AM

Bombay High court grants bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in Malegaon blast case - ANI

#10:58 AM

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh at Wreath laying ceremony of 25 CRPF Personnel who lost their lives in #Sukma - ANI

#10:56 AM

5 killed in blast in #Pakistan's tribal belt. - PTI

#10:44 AM

West Bengal: Family mourns the demise of CRPF SI Krishna Kumar Das at his home in Cooch Behar; Das lost his life in #Sukma naxal attack. - ANI

#10:42 AM

Irfan Pathan replaces injured Dwayne Bravo for Gujarat Lions team IPL - ANI

#10:37 AM

Consultation paper on #spectrum auction in about 15 days: #TRAI Chairman R S Sharma. - PTI

#10:32 AM

Indian-American doctors body shocked over physician #VivekMurthy's sacking as the US Surgeon General. - ANI

#10:26 AM

Kenyan police say at least 24 people killed in a road accident - AFP

#10:26 AM

18 IPS, 11 PPS officers transferred in Punjab. - PTI

#11:24 AM

#Uzbek national arrested while allegedly trying to cross over to Nepal without visa papers in Sonauli area on #IndiaNepal border. - PTI

#10:21 AM

Retired BSF personnel surrenders before police in Delhi's Chhawla area after shooting at his wife who has been admitted in a hospital. - ANI

#10:05 AM

VP Hamid Ansari condemns attack on CRPF personnel in Sukma,says " there cant be any justification for heinous acts;perpetrators be punished" - ANI

#9:59 AM

Waiving of farmers' #loans nationwide could increase deficit by 2 per cent of #GDP: CEA Arvind Subramanian. - PTI

#9:54 AM

Where would Apple, Cisco and IBM be if they had not sourced the best products and talent from across the world: #RBI Governor Urjit Patel. - PTI

#9:54 AM

Six-year-old girl who fell into #borewell in #Karnataka dies. - PTI

#9:52 AM

Greatly value investments by Indian companies and want strong economic ties with India: US on #H1B visa issue. - PTI

#9:49 AM

Aamir Khan honoured by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his work in movie 'Dangal' at Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards ceremony in Mumbai, y'dayA - ANI

#9:44 AM

Hyderabad man in Riyadh succumbed to burn injuries after being allegedly set on fire following dispute with a family member of his employer - ANI

#9:41 AM

Sensex up by 142.56 points, currently at 29,798.40. Nifty at 9,258.70 - ANI

#9:30 AM

World Penguin Day: Pew study shows two thirds of the world's 18 penguin species are in decline - AFP

#9:24 AM

US state of Arkansas executes two prisoners in one night: Official - AFP

#8:58 AM

Raipur: Mortal remains of CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #Sukma Naxal attack, brought to CAF camp (Mana) #Chhattisgarh. - ANI

#8:42 AM

My son killed 5 Naxals.Proud of my son, entire village is praying for him: Fareeda, mother of CRPF constable Sher Mohammed injured in #Sukma - ANI

#8:31 AM

Third person killed in Venezuela protests: Government - AFP

#8:30 AM

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu): Opposition parties call for statewide shutdown in support of drought-hit farmers - ANI

#8:08 AM

TTV Dinakaran did not confirm about any deal with the alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar - ANI

#8:05 AM

Federal judge lifts temporary stay she issued that halted Arkansas' 2nd scheduled execution of night. - AP

#8:03 AM

Assam: GRP seized 3 Kgs of gold from Saraighat Express at Guwahati railway station, yesterday. One person arrested. - ANI

#8:01 AM

TTV Dinakaran accepted meeting alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar in yesterday's questioning by Crime Branch - ANI

#7:16 AM

West Bengal: Fire broke out at a factory in North 24 Parganas in early morning hours today, 20 fire tenders at the spot. - ANI

#6:11 AM

Arkansas kills inmate in latest of several planned executions: official - AFP

#5:55 AM

Arkansas executes Jack Jones by lethal injection, the first of what would be the only double-execution in US since 2000. - AP

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Kanpur:

State power minister Shrikant Sharma on Monday said that the Uttar Pradesh government is mulling a strict law to deal with power theft.

His statement came on a day when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that there will be no discrimination in supply of electricity in his regime.

The UP CM on Monday said in Lucknow that it was his governments aim to provide power to the houses of all poor by 2018.

Sharma said that nobody, be it a government official or a VIP, will be spared if found guilty of power theft after June 15 and will attract a five years jail term.

He visited a number of substations in Kanpur on Monday and also held a meeting with electricity officials.

Later, speaking to media persons, he said the state government in determined to provide 24 hours power supply in the urban areas and 18 hours of electricity in villages.

If any person from industrial or commercial background is found guilty, strict action will be taken against him, Sharma said, adding even VIPs will not be spared under this law.

Also read: Mulayam should explain why he imposed Akhilesh on UP after 2012 polls: BJP National Secretary Shrikant SharmaISRO develops android app for computing solar energy potential



The minister further elaborated on the nuisance of power theft, saying the act of tapping electricity by connecting cable wires for personal use is just a common complaint.

The more serious form of theft includes running an industrial unit or enterprise while using a domestic connection, he said.

Sharma said the electrification process under this regime will be a fair process and no particular district will be favoured, like it was in the previous regime.

He also said that the urban consumers can now deposit 25 per cent of their arrears of power bills, a relief that was given to only rural consumers earlier.

The outstanding amount could be deposited in four instalments, he said. Small industries will also benefit under this scheme.



Also read: Rahul Gandhi should first answer who benefited from mota maal in VVIP Chopper scam, says Shrikant Sharma

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Kanpur:

An illegal arms manufacturing unit in Maharajpur area in Kanpur was busted and three persons, including two brothers, were arrested, police said on Monday.

Four countrymade pistols, around half a dozen semi-finished revolvers and equipment used to make those have been seized, they said.

Acting on a tip-off, police raided a house on the bank of Pandu river on Sunday, where the illegal arms manufacturing unit was being run, and arrested two brothers, Rajesh and Rajol, along with a worker, Heeralal, a police spokesperson said.

During the interrogation, the accused confessed to supplying these countrymade arms in the nearby areas of Kanpur, the spokesperson said.

Police is also collecting information about the buyers of these arms and the investigation is on.

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New Delhi:

Chetan Bhagat has always remained one of the top authors Indian Literature has ever had. Although his one book "Five Point Someone" has made its way in Delhi University curriculum, his another bestseller "One Indian Girl" has run into trouble with a Bengaluru based author accusing him of plagiarism.

Anvita Bajpai, an IIT and IIM graduate, said that she has filed a lawsuit in a Bengaluru court which granted temporary injunction restraining sales of the book "One Indian Girl". Bajpai took to social media claiming that "characters, places and emotional flow" of Bhagat's book have been lifted from one of her books "Life, Odds and Ends", a copy of which she had gifted to the author during Bengaluru Literature Festival in 2014.

"I had filed an original suit seeking a permanent injunction restraining Chetan Bhagat and the publisher from selling One Indian Girl and also sought damages worth Rs 1 lakh. The court has granted a temporary injunction restricting the sales," Bajpai said in her Facebook post.

Also Read: Chetan Bhagat's novel 'Five Point Someone' proposed to be included in Delhi University syllabus

Bhagat rubbished the allegations as unfounded and said his book was not based on Bajpai's works in any way. "This is deeply unfortunate. This is for one an absolute surprise for me as I have never read any of this author's works. My stories are always original--including One Indian Girl--and it is unthinkable for me to do anything like what is suggested," he said.

"Surely, alleging anything like this in the current digital age is strange. I write universal stories about everyday issues. This could be a mis understanding and I'm sure will be clarified as what is being suggested is baseless. My publisher's legal team will be taking appropriate steps," headded.

Rupa Publications, which had published the book, six months back, refused to comment on the issue. "One Indian Girl" is Bhagat's seventh novel and is about an investment banker, Radhika Mehta, who is stuck with making a choice between the three men in her life, while trying to keep up a distinctly different image for the sake of her family.

His novel "Five Point Someone" on Monday announced to have been included in the English literature curriculum forunder graduate students at Delhi University.
Islamabad:

Four deadly Taliban militants were convicted of terrorism-related offenses by the controversial military courts in Pakistan on Tuesday. Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that they were hanged in a jail of northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Four hardcore terrorists tried by Military Courts were hanged today, he said. Ghafoor further stated that they were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including killing of innocent civilians, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies.

The four prisoners have been identified by army as Rehman ud Din, Mushtaq Khan, Ubaid ur Rehman and Zafar Iqbal. They were members of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. The timing and place of trial were not known as military courts operate in secrecy due to fear of rebel backlash.

ALSO READ: Blast in Pakistan's north-west tribal belt kills 10, injures 13

Military courts were restored in March for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January. The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment after a terror attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 killed more than 150 people, most of them students.

While Pakistani authorities maintain the military courts are an effective deterrent against terrorism, rights groups question transparency of the trials because of the secrecy surrounding the special tribunals.The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 160 militants.

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BROOKFIELD - For decades, the downtown area at Federal and Station roads has been known as the Four Corners, but officials hope residents start calling it by a different name: Brookfield Town Center.

Hal Kurfehs, chairman of the economic development commission, has long thought this would be a good name for the downtown, which is being revitalized to include sidewalks, apartments and additional businesses.

The new name, he said, suggests not a simple geographic location but a livable, walkable commercial center.

But the concept is not entirely new, First Selectman Steve Dunn said. Zoning laws and the Plan of Conservation and Development refer to the area as the Town Center District.

Four Corners is really kind of a local name, he said. People in Brookfield know what it is, but if you ask someone in Danbury, Hey, go up to the Four Corners, They dont know what youre talking about...The Town Center describes it a little better and its not so colloquial.

Longtime residents also call the area the Iron Works district because of a business that used to be at the intersection, said Bob Brown, president of the Brookfield Museum and Historical Society. Town legend has it that the town built a piece of the chain that the colonists put in the Hudson River to bar British ships during the Revolutionary War.

Those sorts of names are really important to the local history of the town, but we think a name thats a little more encompassing is what well call it, Dunn said.

The name Four Corners only describes the Federal and Station road intersections, Project Manager Greg Dembowski said. But the development area is much larger.

We think it best describes the commercial and residential and mixed used development that we want that area to become, he said.

The town is awaiting bids from contractors for the first phase of the streetscape project that will add sidewalks, planters and other amenities downtown. Twelve contractors attended a pre-bid meeting with officials Tuesday morning, Dembowski said.

The town is very encouraged by the response were getting from contractors around the area, he said.

The town was recently told it will receive an $875,000 state grant for the second phase of the streetscape project, meaning the project is already fully funded with $475,000 the Board of Finance has already approved. Officials hope to start phase two, which will connect the downtown to the Still River Greenway, by the spring of 2019.

As part of phase one, the town hopes to install signs welcoming people to the Brookfield Town Center.

We want people to start to get excited about this and every little bit helps, especially with developers," Dunn said.

Dunn recognizes the name might take some time to stick.

We want a name that people will use, he said. I think local residents will still call it Four Corners, but I think overtime residents will say, Lets go down to Town Center.
RIDGEFIELDA resident who died last year left $10,000 to give scholarships to Ridgefield High School graduating seniors.

The Board of Education accepted a donation to the high school Monday from the estate of Rose M. Antonucci, a resident who died in August 2016. The money will be used to provide scholarships to graduating students.

Antonucci, originally of Massachusetts, worked as a teachers aide for Barlow Mountain Elementary School in Ridgefield, according to her obituary. She then established her own travel agency in Georgetown.

Superintendent Karen Baldwin said Monday that the donation to the high school is one of a few donations Antonucci left to programs in the community.

aquinn@newstimes.com
New Organic Energy Bar Filled With Creamy Nut Butter Now Available in Canada

EMERYVILLE, CA, April 25, 2017 /CNW/ - Clif Bar & Company, a leading maker of nutritious and organic foods, today introduced the category-first CLIF Nut Butter Filled Energy Bar in Canada in four flavours: Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Coconut Almond Butter and Peanut Butter.

Made in Canada with delicious organic ingredients, each bar offers for the first time a creamy nut butter filling inside a nutritious energy bar. Crafted for athletes and adventurers, CLIF Nut Butter Filled Energy Bar combines the fat from nut butters and carbohydrates from multiple sources.

"We're excited to bring CLIF Nut Butter Filled Energy Bar to Canada," said Kevin Cleary, CEO at Clif Bar & Company. "This is a whole new kind of energy bar, made with organic ingredients and filled with an energy food people love  creamy nut butters."

Each recipe contains non-GMO ingredients and does not contain partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavours. All four flavours will be available at select and major retailers across Canada starting now.

Clif Bar & Company is launching CLIF Nut Butter Filled Energy Bar in Canada with a number of strategic partnerships and activations throughout 2017. Some of these include:

An elevated CLIF experience at the World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C. , with a CLIF-inspired coffee shop pop-up during the festival that will pair delicious CLIF Nut Butter Filled Bars with locally sourced Mount Currie Coffee.

in , with a CLIF-inspired coffee shop pop-up during the festival that will pair delicious CLIF Nut Butter Filled Bars with locally sourced Mount Currie Coffee. Lead partner of Toronto Bike Month , the annual celebration of cycling in the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area with hundreds of events, including Bike to Work Day on May 29 that brings together thousands of commuters, families, schools and community groups to celebrate their shared passion for cycling.

, the annual celebration of cycling in the & Hamilton Area with hundreds of events, including on that brings together thousands of commuters, families, schools and community groups to celebrate their shared passion for cycling. Strategic partnership with Trans Canada Trail  the non-profit leading the efforts to connect The Great Trail by 2017. With nearly 24,000 kilometers of recreational trails expected to be fully connected for Canada's 150th anniversary, The Great Trail will be the world's longest recreational trail network. CLIF Nut Butter Filled Bars will be sampled along high-trafficked portions of the trail in Ontario , Quebec , British Columbia and Alberta during summer and fall.

 the non-profit leading the efforts to connect The Great Trail by 2017. With nearly 24,000 kilometers of recreational trails expected to be fully connected for Canada's 150th anniversary, The Great Trail will be the world's longest recreational trail network. CLIF Nut Butter Filled Bars will be sampled along high-trafficked portions of the trail in , , and during summer and fall. Third-year partnership to support National Organic Week , the largest annual celebration of organic food, farming and products across Canada. Organic Week showcases the benefits of organic agriculture and its positive impact on the environment, animal welfare, as well as our well-being.

, the largest annual celebration of organic food, farming and products across Canada. Organic Week showcases the benefits of organic agriculture and its positive impact on the environment, animal welfare, as well as our well-being. Sampling of CLIF Nut Butter Filled Energy Bars at more than 90 CLIF sponsored sporting and lifestyle events throughout Canada.

About Clif Bar & Company

Clif Bar & Company crafts nutritious and organic foods to feed and inspire adventure, including the CLIF BAR, CLIF Kid Zbar, and the all-new CLIF Nut Butter Filled energy bar. Family and employee owned, the company is committed to sustaining its people, brands, business, community and the planet. For more information on Clif Bar & Company, please visit www.clifbar.ca, check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/clifbar and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @clifbar.

SOURCE Clif Bar & Company

For further information: Media Contact: David Dwyer, [email protected], 647-828-0140
VANCOUVER, April 25, 2017 /CNW/ - Eco Oro Minerals Corp. ("Eco Oro" or the "Company") (TSX: EOM) today provided shareholders with an update on recent events in connection with the annual general and special meeting of Eco Oro shareholders (the "Meeting") previously scheduled to be held today.

On April 21, 2017, Harrington Global Opportunities Fund Ltd. and Courtenay Wolfe (the "Dissidents") deposited proxies with the Company's transfer agent and following a tabulation of all proxies at that time, the Company determined that the management nominees received substantially more support from shareholders than the Dissidents' nominees.

On April 24, 2017, the Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") released an order (dated April 23, 2017) setting aside the prior decision of the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") conditionally approving the issuance of common shares to certain shareholders of Eco Oro (the "New Shares"). The OSC further ordered the Company to seek shareholder approval of the issuance of the New Shares and directed that those shares not be considered to be issued and outstanding for the purposes of voting at the Meeting and any adjournment thereof unless and until the New Shares had been ratified by the shareholders of Eco Oro. A copy of the order has been posted to the OSC's website at www.osc.gov.on.ca.

Following the release of the OSC order, the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "Court") dismissed a petition brought by Harrington Global Opportunities Fund Ltd. and Courtenay Wolfe (the "Dissidents"). The Court found in favour of Eco Oro on all matters, and dismissed the petition, with costs, in favour of Eco Oro. In its ruling, the Court found that the issuance of the New Shares was not oppressive and that it does not deny Eco Oro shareholders their right to a fair election.

In its ruling the Court also found that "there is no evidence that the Conversion was not in Eco's best interests. Anna [Stylianides'] affidavit evidence about the process the Board went through with her at the helm is uncontroverted. It is also supported by the other respondents' evidence. The Conversion was permitted under the Investment Agreements. The petitioners purchased their shares and invested in Eco with full knowledge of the Investment Agreements and that the Conversion was possible at any time."

"It is also important to remember that despite the petitioners' requisition for the April Meeting, Eco [Oro] must continue to operate in the normal course and the Board's ability to make decisions on behalf of the company cannot be frozen until the April Meeting."

In a supplementary decision issued the same day, the Court exercising its jurisdiction under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), ordered that the Meeting be adjourned to a date to be set by the board of directors prior to September 30, 2017, to allow the parties an opportunity to take whatever steps they deem appropriate to resolve the conflict between the OSC's decision and the Court's decision.

Eco Oro is conferring with its legal advisors to determine how best to proceed to reconcile the ruling of the Court with the OSC's order to ensure that the Company can conduct a fair and efficient meeting in the interests of all shareholders.

"Eco Oro is gratified by the outstanding support of shareholders in the face of the Dissidents' campaign which has been characterized by false, misleading, and increasingly desperate statements. We are also pleased that the Court, after conducting a thorough review and considering evidence from the Company, shareholders, and the Dissidents, dismissed the Dissidents' petition in its entirety," said Anna Stylianides, Executive Chairman.

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.

For further information: please visit the Company's website at www.eco-oro.com or contact: Mark Moseley-Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tel: +1 604 682 8212, TF: + 1 855 682 8212; Shareholders Please Contact: D.F. King, North American Toll Free Number: 1-800-240-2133, Outside North America, Banks, Brokers and Collect Calls: 1-201-806-7301, Email: [email protected]; Members of the Media Only: Riyaz Lalani, Bayfield Strategy, Inc., [email protected]

Related Links

http://eco-oro.com


OTTAWA, April 24, 2017 /CNW/ - The announcement by Agriculture Canada that they've hired a professional company to capture and relocate coyotes at the Experimental Farm is receiving strong opposition from environmental groups.

"The Experimental Farm is part of federal land holdings in this region that encompass large natural areas. If wildlife is not accepted here, just where are they accepted? Agriculture Canada needs to implement a more progressive and humane approach to coexisting with wildlife. This should include adopting non-lethal conflict resolution and best farm management practices," said Donna DuBreuil, president of the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre.

The group is doubtful about the relocation as it is nearly impossible to live trap a healthy coyote. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act prohibits such relocations. So, it wouldn't be the first time that the reference to 'relocation' ended up with a dead coyote in a kill trap.

"Why would Agriculture Canada remove coyotes from a natural area where they are expected to be found? Where will they be relocated? Ministry regulations require that wild animals be relocated no further than one kilometre from where they were captured," said Liz White, leader of the Animal Protection Party of Canada.

"Removing a coyote with the intent of 'relocation' during the critical pup rearing season is not a sustainable or humane solution", DuBreuil continued. "Coyotes are regularly seen in the large natural areas that are part of federal lands. It is their habitat. Educating tenant farmers on the Greenbelt and agencies like Agriculture Canada is essential to ensure compatibility in protecting the natural environment and promoting sustainable agriculture.

"The City of Chicago, City of Toronto and many other cities across North America, have vibrant coyote populations living within their urban core. Chicago recently passed a by-law protecting coyotes because it values the important role they play in the urban ecology. You would think Ottawa, the nation's capital, with such extensive natural areas, would be at least as progressive", said Liz White.

White and other members of the group opposing the plan to relocate coyotes are hoping that Canada's 150th celebration will prompt Agriculture Canada and other agencies responsible for wildlife management to embrace the increasingly popular concept of learning to enjoy living with wildlife.

SOURCE Animal Protection Party of Canada

For further information: Liz White, Animal Protection Party, Tel: 416-462-9541 - Ext. 23, Email: [email protected]; Donna DuBreuil, Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre, Tel: 613-726-8178, Email: [email protected]
CALGARY, April 25, 2017 /CNW/ - WestJet will hold its quarterly analysts' conference call on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at 8 a.m. MDT (10 a.m. EDT) following the release of its 2017 first quarter financial results.

President and CEO Gregg Saretsky and Executive Vice-President of Finance and CFO Harry Taylor will discuss WestJet's 2017 first quarter results and answer questions from financial analysts and members of the media.

The conference call will be available in Toronto by calling 416-915-3239, in Vancouver by calling 604-638-5340 and across Canada and the United States through the toll-free telephone number 1-800-319-4610. The call can also be heard live through an Internet webcast accessible via the Media and Investor Relations section of westjet.com.

A recording of the call will be available until May 16, 2017, across Canada and the United States by calling the toll-free number 1-800-319-6413 (access code 1329#). The webcast will be archived in the Media and Investor Relations section of westjet.com for 90 days following the call.

Annual meeting of shareholders (AGM)

WestJet will hold its AGM at 10 a.m. MDT (12 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at WestJet's Calgary campus, which is located at 22 Aerial Place NE, Calgary, Alberta. The AGM will be available through an Internet webcast in the Media and Investor Relations section of westjet.com.

About WestJet

We are proud to be Canada's most trusted airline, powered by an award-winning culture of care and recognized as one of the country's top employers. We offer scheduled service to more than 100 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Through our regional airline, WestJet Encore, and with partnerships with airlines representing every major region of the world, we offer our guests more than 150 destinations in more than 20 countries. Leveraging WestJet's extensive network, flight schedule and remarkable guest experience, WestJet Vacations delivers affordable, flexible travel experiences with a variety of accommodation options for every guest. Members of our WestJet Rewards program earn WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Our members use WestJet dollars towards the purchase of WestJet flights and vacations packages on any day, at any time, to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods  even on seat sales. For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.

Recent recognition includes:

2017 Best Airline in Canada and Travellers' Choice Winner Mid-Sized and Low-Cost Airlines  North America (TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards for airlines)

2016 Canada's Most Trusted Airline (Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria)

2016 Canada's most reputable company for Corporate Social Responsibility (Reputation Institute)2016/2015/2014/2013/2012 Ranked top three for Canadian Brands (Canadian Business Magazine)2016/2015/2014/2013 WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard ranked #1 in Canada (MoneySense magazine)

2015/2011/2010/2008/2007/2006/2005 Canada's Most Admired Corporate Culture (Waterstone Human Capital)

2015 Best Employers in Canada (Aon Hewitt)

Connect with WestJet on Facebook at facebook.com/westjet

Follow WestJet on Twitter at twitter.com/westjet

Subscribe to WestJet on YouTube at youtube.com/westjet

Read the WestJet blog at blog.westjet.com

SOURCE WestJet

For further information: WestJet Media Relations, 1-888-WJ-4-NEWS (1-888-954-6397), Email: [email protected], Website: www.westjet.com; WestJet Investor Relations, 1-877-493-7853, Email: [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.westjet.com


New Monster survey reveals only one-third would pursue the same path

TORONTO, April 25, 2017 /CNW/ - After years of hard work and dedication to their studies, college and university graduates are eager to start their careers and put their education to good use. But, will the time and money they invested pay off? A recent survey from Monster Canada found that more than half (52 per cent) of working Canadians would opt to pursue a different degree or diploma, if they could go back in time and begin their post-secondary schooling again.

Even though the majority of working Canadians want a degree/diploma do-over, less than one-third (31 per cent) reported they would stay the course and pursue their same degree/diploma, while one-in-ten would go straight into the workforce.

"If you're not finding satisfaction in your selected industry, it's never too late to course-correct your career," says Sheryl Boswell, Director of Marketing, Monster Canada. "Canadians need to remember there is no age limit to learning and development, whether you want to increase your skills in your current field or pursue new opportunities."

Canadians crave a challenge

The survey, conducted by Leger, found that most working Canadians feel qualified  or overqualified  for their jobs. Specifically, two-thirds (67 per cent) feel appropriately qualified, while one-quarter (26 per cent) report feeling overqualified.

Younger Canadians are one of the groups most likely to feel overqualified for their current position. Three-in-ten (29 per cent) millennials (18-34 years old) say they are overqualified. On the other side of this coin, this sentiment regarding over-qualification is also shared by those in the 55-64 age group (29 per cent).

Millennials are also the group most likely to go straight into workforce if given the choice to start over, with one-in-seven reporting this.

"It's important that employees feel challenged both at the beginning and the end of their careers," says Boswell. "For millennials in their first role, they want to feel valued and challenged, while those on the brink of retirement have years of experience that they are eager to use to contribute to their company's overall success."

Is it worth it?

Six-in-ten working Canadians agree that their most recent/current job is directly related to their education, and 60 per cent say their degree was worth obtaining.

Even though the majority of working Canadians feel their degree was worth it, of those who felt their degree wasn't worth obtaining, one-in-five (21 per cent) said instead of a do-over they would go straight into workforce.

"It's great to see the majority of working Canadians were able to secure a job that directly relates to their studies," says Boswell. "Education can be a great foundation for a successful career, but not all fields require a post-secondary degree. Evaluating your options and the job requirements before you've completed your education are good ways to avoid feeling the need for a degree do-over."

Women more likely to choose a different route

Slightly more working women (54 per cent) report they would pursue a different degree/diploma if given the option for a do-over, compared to 51 per cent of men. Accordingly, working men are more likely to say their most recent/current job relates to their education (63 per cent compared to 56 per cent).

Gender differences also come into play when asked if their degree/diploma was worth obtaining. Forty per cent of women feel their degree/diploma wasn't worth obtaining compared to 36 per cent of men.

"Women may experience a career path that isn't entirely linear due to major life events, such as starting a family, being a caregiver or returning to school at a later age," says Boswell. "While you might feel like your education doesn't directly relate to your current job, a post-secondary education is about more than just the field you studied. It is an opportunity to grow, learn and explore, and even if there isn't a direct connection now, it could help you find better opportunities in the future."

To learn more about the survey and tips or advice on how to find a job that relates to your degree or diploma, visit career-advice.monster.ca.

About Monster Worldwide

Monster Worldwide, Inc. is a global leader in connecting people to jobs, wherever they are. For more than 20 years, Monster has helped people improve their lives with better jobs, and employers find the best talent. Today, the company offers services in more than 40 countries, providing some of the broadest, most sophisticated job seeking, career management, recruitment and talent management capabilities. Monster continues its pioneering work of transforming the recruiting industry with advanced technology using intelligent digital, social and mobile solutions, including our flagship website monster.com and a vast array of products and services. For more information visit http://monster.com/about.

About the Survey

Leger conducted a quantitative online survey of 817 working Canadians. The fieldwork was completed between March 13-16, 2017. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/- 3.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

SOURCE Monster Canada

For further information: Jennifer Williamson, [email protected], 416-969-2826
TORONTO, April 25, 2017 /CNW/ - Street Capital Group Inc. ("Street Capital" or the "Company") (TSX: SCB), today announced that it will host a conference call on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. ET to discuss its 2017 first quarter financial results. The Company plans to release its financial results at 7:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, May 10, 2017.

Conference Call Details



Participant Dial-in Webcast Reference Number Conference Call 647-427-7450; or 1-888-231-8191 http://bit.ly/2q7qPDP

Replay (available for 2 weeks) 416-849-0833; or 1-855-859-2056

13558825

About Street Capital Group Inc. (www.streetcapitalgroup.ca)

Street Capital Group Inc. (TSX: SCB) is a public company operating through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Street Capital Bank of Canada, a federally regulated Schedule I Bank offering residential mortgage loans with the strategic goal of introducing additional retail banking products in the coming years. Street Capital Bank of Canada sources its mortgage products primarily through a network of independent mortgage brokers across Canada with whom it has built relationships. Street Capital Bank of Canada offers a broad line-up of high ratio and conventional mortgages to borrowers and either sells the mortgages it underwrites to top tier financial institutions or holds them on balance sheet. Street Capital Bank of Canada lends throughout all of the Provinces of Canada (other than Quebec) and has offices in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. For more information please visit www.streetcapital.ca.

SOURCE Street Capital

For further information: W.E. Gettings, Chief Executive Officer, Street Capital, [email protected]; Jonathan Ross, LodeRock Advisors Inc., Investor Relations, [email protected],; Tel: (416) 283-0178

Related Links

http://www.streetcapital.ca


Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.

Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.

A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
[April 24, 2017] Sierra Income Corporation Schedules Investor Conference Call

Sierra Income Corporation (the "Company"), today announced that it will release its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 on May 8, 2017 after the close of the financial markets. The Company will host an investor update conference call and audio webcast at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. All interested parties may participate in the conference call by dialing (877) 498-8654 approximately 10-15 minutes prior to the call. Participants should reference Sierra Income Corporation and the conference identification of 12876046 when prompted. To listen to the live call via webcast, please go to the Company's website, http://www.sierraincomecorp.com/newsroom.html, at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to register and download any necessary audio software. For a period of 30 days following the call you may access a replay of the event via audio webcast from the Company's website. Alternatively, the replay can be accessed via phone by dialing (855) 859-2056 and using the conference identification of 12876046 before the end of the day (11:59 PM Eastern Time) on May 16, 2017. About Sierra Income Corporation Sierra is a non-traded business development company that invests primarily in first lien senior secured debt, second lien secured debt and, to a lesser extent, subordinated debt of middle market companies in a broad range of industries with annual revenue between $50 million and $1 illion. Sierra's investment objective is to generate current income, and to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation. Sierra is externally managed by SIC Advisors LLC, which is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. For additional information, please visit Sierra Income Corporation at www.sierraincomecorp.com.



About SIC Advisors LLC SIC Advisors LLC is an affiliate of Medley Management Inc. (NYSE: MDLY, "Medley"). Medley is a credit-focused asset management firm offering yield solutions to retail and institutional investors. Medley's national direct origination franchise, with over 85 people, is a premier provider of capital to the middle market in the U.S. As of December 31, 2016, Medley had in excess of $5.3 billion of assets under management in two business development companies, Medley Capital Corporation (NYSE:MCC) and Sierra Income Corporation, as well as private investment vehicles. Over the past 15 years, we have provided capital to over 350 companies across 35 industries in North America. For additional information, please visit Medley Management Inc. at www.mdly.com.

Medley LLC, the operating company of Medley Management Inc., has outstanding bonds which trade on the NYSE under the symbol (NYSE: MDLX) and (NYSE: MDLQ). Medley Capital Corporation (NYSE: MCC) has outstanding bonds which trade on the NYSE under the symbols (NYSE: MCV) and (NYSE: MCX). Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and regulations. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will" and other similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions and forecasts of future results. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. Although Sierra believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. Sierra undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained herein to conform the statement to actual results or changes in Sierra's expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170424006675/en/

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SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Announces an Investigation Concerning Possible Breaches of Fiduciary Duty by Certain Officers and Directors of CorMedix, Inc.

Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of CorMedix, Inc. (NYSEMKT: CRMD) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty. To obtain additional information, go to:

http://zlk.9nl.com/cormedix

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you.







Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, Connecticut, California, 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 lawsuits and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170424006677/en/
[April 24, 2017] Kemper Corporation Announces Schedule for First Quarter Earnings Call; Estimates First Quarter 2017 Catastrophe Losses

Kemper Corporation (NYSE: KMPR) announced today that after the markets close on Thursday, May 4, Kemper will issue its first quarter 2017 earnings release and financial supplement and will also file its quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC (News - Alert)"). Following their publication, these documents will be available on the investor section of kemper.com. Kemper will host its conference call to discuss first quarter 2017 results on Friday, May 5, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Central). The conference call will be accessible via the internet and by telephone at 844.826.3041. To listen via webcast, register online at the investor section of kemper.com at least 15 minutes prior to the webcast to install any necessary software. A replay of the webcast will be available online at the investor section of kemper.com. Kemper also announced today that it estimates that its first quarter 2017 results will include pre-tax catastrophe losses in the range of $60 million to $70 million. The company does not expect to recover any of these losses under its catastrophe reinsurance program. While the losses were related to a number f storms, the company noted that one hail storm in north Texas on March 28 heavily impacted its policyholders in that area.



About Kemper The Kemper family of companies is one of the nation's leading insurers. With $8 billion in assets, Kemper is improving the world of insurance by offering personalized solutions for individuals, families and businesses. Kemper's businesses collectively:

Offer insurance for home, auto, life, health and valuables

Service six million policies

Are represented by 20,000 agents and brokers

Employ 5,750 associates dedicated to providing exceptional service

Are licensed to sell insurance in 50 states and the District of Columbia Learn more about Kemper. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain or incorporate by reference information that includes or is based on forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give expectations or forecasts of future events, and can be identified by the fact that they relate to future actions, performance or results rather than strictly to historical or current facts. Any or all forward-looking statements may turn out to be wrong, and, accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, and are not guarantees of future performance. Among the general factors that could cause actual results and financial condition to differ materially from estimated results and financial condition are those listed in periodic reports filed by Kemper with the SEC. No assurances can be given that the results and financial condition contemplated in any forward-looking statements will be achieved or will be achieved in any particular timetable. Kemper assumes no obligation to publicly correct or update any forward-looking statements as a result of events or developments subsequent to the date of this press release. The reader is advised, however, to consult any further disclosures Kemper makes on related subjects in its filings with the SEC. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170424006685/en/

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[April 24, 2017] Auction Team Breker: "Take a Byte out of the Apple"

COLOGNE, Germany, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Thomas A. Edison, "genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration". When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak presented their 1st baby, a kit-form computer, to 'Byte-Shop' owner Paul Terrel back in 1976, Terrel was quick to see a potential problem and a gap in the market. "What I needed was an assembled and tested unit that could sell to people that really wanted to use them and not just to the technical audience", he recalled in a 2015 interview. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/492319/Auction_Team_Breker_1.jpg )

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/492320/Auction_Team_Breker_2.jpg ) Convinced, the young entrepreneurs made their first sale of 50 assembled Apple-1 units for $500 each. The 1st ready-to-use PC was born! Wozniak and Jobs contributed genius and pespiration in equal measures while Terrel, as "honorary co-founder", provided the bolt of inspiration at just the right moment.



Apple Aficionados will have a chance to acquire a unique piece of IT history when an original Apple-1 appears at Auction Team Breker in Cologne, Germany, on 20 May 2017. The groundbreaking first personal computer is complemented by a rare white ceramic 6502 microprocessor and a complete set of time-correct chips. In full working condition, the outfit was consigned by its first (and only) owner, a software engineer from Berkeley in California's Silicon Valley.

Accompanying Apple-1 (No. 01-0073) is an archive of historic documents, including receipt of purchase from Nov. 1976, the earliest provisional manual, correspondence with Apple Inc. and even notes of telephone conversations with Wozniak in 1977. - Estimate: 180,000 - 300,000 / US$190,000 - 320,000 World's leading 'Science & Technology' auctioneer traces a fascinating trajectory from the iconic Apple back to the first mechanical writing machine, invented in 1867. The spherical form of Rasmus Malling-Hansen's 'Writing Ball' was to redefine the world of text-input technology forever. - Estimate: 70,000 - 90,000 / US$75,000 - 96,000. An inspiring selection of scientific instruments, vintage toys and mechanical life from 1800 to the present day completes the auction line-up. Auction Team Breker is the two-time world record holder for the highest-priced Apple-1 at auction. Is a new record on the radar this May? Preview the sale at http://www.breker.com and https://www.youtube.com/user/auctionteambreker. Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) - Contact:

Auction Team Breker

Uwe H. Breker

+49-2236-38-43-420

[email protected]





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[April 24, 2017] PHNIX to Launch New High-end Ultra-thin Water Fan Coil Products in the Middle East Market

GUANGZHOU, China, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PHNIX, a leading manufacturer of heat pumps and Ultra-thin Water Fan Coils in China, will release more new energy-saving products to help support local business partners to develop the market in the Middle East, including two high-end water fan coils, according to an interview with Peter Wang, Deputy General Manager in charge of PHNIX global overseas business. Several existing products in some emerging markets in the Middle East area will enjoy a 50% discount when PHNIX Ultra-thin Water Fan Coils are launched. With low noise of 25dB(A), ultra-thin casing of 130mm and a fashionable appearance, the units stand out from the terminal markets. PHNIX product manager Floyd expressed that over the years PHNIX has always attached great importance to cooperation with Middle East business partners, specifically developing new customized produts for Middle East users, such as launching Ultra-thin Water Fan Coils. In fact, previously they had a few successful domestic applications in some countries in the Middle East.



About PHNIX Ultra-thin Water Fan Coils Compared with traditional heating radiators, PHNIX Ultra-thin Water Fan Coils can decrease energy consumption by more than 30%. Thanks to the specialized internal structure design, PHNIX ultra-thin fan coils of 130mm thickness casing save more space for users' room when compared with that of common fan coils (generally of 250mm). The use of cross-flow fans combined with new wind-guiding technology makes the units emit less noise. The advanced control makes well-proportioned temperature distribution and helps people feel more comfortable.

When combined with heat pump units, the fan coil units can meet different heating or cooling requirements. The units are flexible to install wherever the users want because of their varied installation ways. There are three methods for users to choose: ceiling mounted, floor standing or wall mounted. About PHNIX PHNIX, a leading manufacturer of heat pumps and water fan coils in China, is an international enterprise that specializes in the R&D and production of heat pumps, water fan coils and energy-saving solutions. Nearly 50% of PHNIX products are exported to Europe, the United States and other overseas markets. Headquartered in Guangzhou, China, PHNIX has been named a China High-quality Brand and Guangzhou High-tech Enterprise. For more information about PHNIX and its products, please visit www.phnix-e.com. John Zhu

Marketing Manager

Office: +86-20-39067742

E-mail: [email protected]





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[April 25, 2017] Setting Sail to Camp Overseas - ZNV Technology Pakistan Private Limited Officially Established

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The close relationship between China and Pakistan is known as the "Iron Pak" to refer to the unbreakable friendship between the two countries. China and Pakistan have achieved numerous results with all-around and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields between the two sides all the time and brought tangible benefits to both peoples. Both countries are making stable development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a major project of the Belt and Road initiative. Therefore, ZNV has made a decision to set up a "base camp" in Pakistan by virtue of leading technical and product solutions and extensive project experience in a bid to boost local security and services and build smart cities jointly. As a global provider of comprehensive management solutions, ZNV is expanding business around the world, and has made increasing achievements in overseas markets in the past two years. In order to vigorously promote overseas development, ZNV has decided to establish the first overseas subsidiary, ZNV Technology Pakistan Private Limited, in light of international market strategies. ZNV Technology Pakistan Private Limited held an opening ceremony in Ramada Hotel, Islamabad, Pakistan on April 13. ZNV Executive Chairman and CEO Robert Zhu and Pakistan's Cultural and Scientific Counsellor Mr. Zamir Awan attended the ceremony. Almost 100 people including ZNV's VP of Sales Li Dejie and International Business Director Huang Zhigang, ZNV Technology Pakistan Private Limited's General Manager Zhu Kai, officials of local government and Ministry of Culture, related officials of operators and state-owned enterprises as well as local partners participated in the ceremony. <> At the ceremony, Executive Chairman and CEO Robert Zhu said, "As a global provider of comprehensive management solutions, ZNV relies on leading technologies and quality products and services to achieve what we have today and win wide recognition in markets. Our products and solutions have been widely used in telecommunications, IDCs, government, railways, energy, education and many other sectors. ZNV's development has resulted in the success of several important projects in overseas, such as a smart city for Marseille, France , Guinea's Presidential Palace, and network safety for Uruguay . To speed up business development, ZNV has decided to set up the subsidiary in Pakistan and lay a solid foundation for development of local markets and establishment of local sales and customer service teams. ZNV Technology Pakistan Private Limited will not only respond to international market demands more quickly, but also join in local projects more deeply."



As ZNV's first overseas subsidiary, ZNV Technology Pakistan Private Limited will expand its influence on resource sharing and service localization to the neighboring countries and regions, and better fulfill local customers' demands with localized employees, resources and services, so that ZNV can further improve the layout of international markets and realize rapid growth in overseas business.

It is worth mentioning that Pakistan's Cultural and Scientific Counsellor Mr. Zamir Awan was present at the opening ceremony, and extended his warm welcome to introducing ZNV from China to Pakistan and founding the subsidiary to develop local economy. "China and Pakistan have carried out all-around cooperation in various fields between the two sides for a long time and brought tangible benefits to both peoples. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the major project of the Belt and Road initiative, is very conducive to boosting bilateral economic ties. Meanwhile, Pakistan has been dedicated to developing economy and improving people's livelihood, determined to struggle against terrorism and extremism, and committed to national security and social stability. ZNV has rich experience in construction of safe and smart cities. We hope that ZNV's products and solutions will help Pakistan maintain social stability and promote local economy. At last, I wish ZNV every success in the company's business!" Mr. Zamir Awan said in his speech. ZNV is setting sail to camp overseas and poised to provide more high-tech products and services to local customers based on excellent competitiveness and advanced technologies. ZNV is sure to embrace a brighter future in international market expansion! Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170424/1832382-1-a

Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170424/1832382-1-b

Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170424/1832382-1-c

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[April 25, 2017] Transgene and Bristol-Myers Squibb Announce Clinical Research Collaboration to Evaluate TG4010 in Combination with Opdivo and Standard Chemotherapy in First Line Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and Transgene today announced a new clinical research collaboration to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of Transgene's investigational therapeutic vaccine TG4010 in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo (nivolumab) + standard chemotherapy (CT) as a first-line treatment for advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors have low or undetectable levels of PD-L1. The Phase 2 clinical trial will explore the potential of combining Transgene's TG4010, an investigational therapeutic vaccine designed to generate an immune response against MUC1 expressing tumors such as NSCLC, in conjunction with Bristol-Myers Squibb's immune checkpoint inhibitor, Opdivo, designed to alleviate immune suppression. Both therapies will be combined with standard chemotherapy in first line NSCLC patients. The Phase 2 trial will evaluate objective tumor responses, and disease control in patients provided the regimen of TG4010 + Opdivo + CT, whose tumors express low and undetectable levels of PD-L1. In addition, the study will evaluate safety and tolerability of this regimen together with other efficacy metrics. This multi-center single-arm trial is expected to deliver first results in 2018. Under the terms of the agreement, Transgene will be the sponsor of the trial. Bristol-Myers Squibb will provide Opdivo for use in the study. "We are excited to explore the potential benefits of combining Opdivo with an investigational therapeutic vaccine, TG4010, in NSCLC where the need for new therapies is particularly acute," said Fouad Namouni, M.D., head of Oncology Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "As the science around cancer research continues to rapidly evolve, we are building on our leadership in Immuno-Oncology with potential combinations of therapies that may help advance new therapeutic approaches for patients in need of better options." "We are enthusiastic about this new collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb. This trial will assess the potential of Transgene's TG4010, an investigational therapeutic vaccine that is designed to stimulate the immune system, in combination with nivolumab, Bristol-Myers Squibb's immune checkpoint inhibitor, and standard chemotherapy. Based on the results obtained with TG4010 in a large Phase 2b trial (TIME trial) in combination with chemotherapy, we are hopeful that this triple combination regimen could provide a treatment option for patients with advanced NSCLC," commented Philippe Archinard, Chairman and CEO Transgene. About Opdivo Opdivo is a programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor that is designed to uniquely harness the body's own immune system to help restore anti-tumor immune response. By harnessing the body's own immune system to fight cancer, Opdivo has become an important treatment option across multiple cancers. Opdivo's leading global development program is based on Bristol-Myers Squibb's scientific expertise in the field of Immuno-Oncology and includes a broad range of clinical trials across all phases, including Phase 3, in a variety of tumor types. To date, the Opdivo clinical development program has enrolled more than 25,000 patients. The Opdivo trials have contributed to gaining a deeper understanding of the potential role of biomarkers in patient care, particularly regarding how patients may benefit from Opdivo across the continuum of PD-L1 expression. In July 2014, Opdivo was the first PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to receive regulatory approval anywhere in the world. Opdivo is currently approved in more than 60 countries, including the United States, the European Union and Japan. In October 2015, the company's Opdivo and Yervoy combination regimen was the first Immuno-Oncology combination to receive regulatory approval for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and is currently approved in more than 50 countries, including the United States and the European Union. About TG4010 TG4010 is an immunotherapy that has been designed to express the coding sequences of the MUC1 tumor-associated antigen and the cytokine, Interleukin-2 (IL2). TG4010, which is based on a modified vaccinia virus (MVA), induces an immune response against MUC1 expressing tumors, such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The results from the Phase 2b TIME trial with TG4010 immunotherapy associated with chemotherapy in NSCLC have been published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, The Lancet Oncology in December 2015. About Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with an estimated 1.8 million new cases annually. It is also a leading cause of cancer-related deaths, accounting for an estimated nearly 1.6 million deaths in 2012 (Source (News - Alert): GLOBOCAN 2012). Advanced lung cancer remains one of the cancer types with the worst prognosis (five-year survival rate for advanced NSCLC of less than 5%), underlining the still unmet need in this disease. U. S. FDA APPROVED INDICATIONS FOR OPDIVO  OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) as a single agent is indicated for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma. OPDIVO (nivolumab), in combination with YERVOY (ipilimumab), is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on progression-free survival. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving OPDIVO. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received prior anti-angiogenic therapy. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) that has relapsed or progressed after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and post-transplantation brentuximab vedotin. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) with disease progression on or after platinum-based therapy. OPDIVO (nivolumab) is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION WARNING: IMMUNE-MEDIATED ADVERSE REACTIONS YERVOY can result in severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions. These immune-mediated reactions may involve any organ system; however, the most common severe immune-mediated adverse reactions are enterocolitis, hepatitis, dermatitis (including toxic epidermal necrolysis), neuropathy, and endocrinopathy. The majority of these immune-mediated reactions initially manifested during treatment; however, a minority occurred weeks to months after discontinuation of YERVOY. Assess patients for signs and symptoms of enterocolitis, dermatitis, neuropathy, and endocrinopathy and evaluate clinical chemistries including liver function tests (LFTs), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) level, and thyroid function tests at baseline and before each dose. Permanently discontinue YERVOY and initiate systemic high-dose corticosteroid therapy for severe immune-mediated reactions. Immune-Mediated Pneumonitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis. Fatal cases have been reported. Monitor patients for signs with radiographic imaging and for symptoms of pneumonitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or more severe pneumonitis. Permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 and withhold until resolution for Grade 2. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, fatal cases of immune-mediated pneumonitis have occurred. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.1% (61/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 6% (25/407) of patients. In Checkmate 205 and 039, pneumonitis, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in 4.9% (13/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO. Immune-mediated pneumonitis occurred in 3.4% (9/263) of patients receiving OPDIVO: Grade 3 (n=1) and Grade 2 (n=8). Immune-Mediated Colitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated colitis. Montor patients for signs and symptoms of colitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 (of more than 5 days duration), 3, or 4 colitis. Withhold OPDIVO monotherapy for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 or recurrent colitis upon re-initiation of OPDIVO. When administered with YERVOY, withhold OPDIVO and YERVOY for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 or recurrent colitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 2.9% (58/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated colitis occurred in 26% (107/407) of patients including three fatal cases.



In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal (diarrhea of =7 stools above baseline, fever, ileus, peritoneal signs; Grade 3-5) immune-mediated enterocolitis occurred in 34 (7%) patients. Across all YERVOY-treated patients in that study (n=511), 5 (1%) developed intestinal perforation, 4 (0.8%) died as a result of complications, and 26 (5%) were hospitalized for severe enterocolitis. Immune-Mediated Hepatitis

OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated hepatitis. Monitor patients for abnormal liver tests prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater transaminase elevations. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 immune-mediated hepatitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 1.8% (35/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 13% (51/407) of patients. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal hepatotoxicity (AST or ALT elevations >5x the ULN or total bilirubin elevations >3x the ULN; Grade 3-5) occurred in 8 (2%) patients, with fatal hepatic failure in 0.2% and hospitalization in 0.4%. Immune-Mediated Neuropathies In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, 1 case of fatal Guillain-Barre syndrome and 1 case of severe (Grade 3) peripheral motor neuropathy were reported. Immune-Mediated Endocrinopathies OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated hypophysitis, immune-mediated adrenal insufficiency, autoimmune thyroid disorders, and Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of hypophysitis, signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, thyroid function prior to and periodically during treatment, and hyperglycemia. Administer hormone replacement as clinically indicated and corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater hypophysitis. Withhold for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hypophysitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Withhold for Grade 2 and permanently discontinue for Grade 3 or 4 adrenal insufficiency. Administer hormone-replacement therapy for hypothyroidism. Initiate medical management for control of hyperthyroidism. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 hyperglycemia. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypophysitis occurred in 0.6% (12/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, hypophysitis occurred in 9% (36/407) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 1% (20/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, adrenal insufficiency occurred in 5% (21/407) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis resulting in hypothyroidism occurred in 9% (171/1994) of patients. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 2.7% (54/1994) of patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, hypothyroidism or thyroiditis resulting in hypothyroidism occurred in 22% (89/407) of patients. Hyperthyroidism occurred in 8% (34/407) of patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, diabetes occurred in 0.9% (17/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, diabetes occurred in 1.5% (6/407) of patients. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe to life-threatening immune-mediated endocrinopathies (requiring hospitalization, urgent medical intervention, or interfering with activities of daily living; Grade 3-4) occurred in 9 (1.8%) patients. All 9 patients had hypopituitarism, and some had additional concomitant endocrinopathies such as adrenal insufficiency, hypogonadism, and hypothyroidism. 6 of the 9 patients were hospitalized for severe endocrinopathies. Immune-Mediated Nephritis and Renal Dysfunction OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated nephritis. Monitor patients for elevated serum creatinine prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grades 2-4 increased serum creatinine. Withhold OPDIVO for Grade 2 or 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 increased serum creatinine. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 1.2% (23/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction occurred in 2.2% (9/407) of patients. Immune-Mediated Skin Adverse Reactions and Dermatitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated rash, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), some cases with fatal outcome. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 3 or 4 rash. Withhold for Grade 3 and permanently discontinue for Grade 4 rash. For symptoms or signs of SJS or TEN, withhold OPDIVO and refer the patient for specialized care for assessment and treatment; if confirmed, permanently discontinue. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, immune-mediated rash occurred in 9% (171/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, immune-mediated rash occurred in 22.6% (92/407) of patients. In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, severe, life-threatening, or fatal immune-mediated dermatitis (eg, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, or rash complicated by full thickness dermal ulceration, or necrotic, bullous, or hemorrhagic manifestations; Grade 3-5) occurred in 13 (2.5%) patients. 1 (0.2%) patient died as a result of toxic epidermal necrolysis. 1 additional patient required hospitalization for severe dermatitis. Immune-Mediated Encephalitis OPDIVO can cause immune-mediated encephalitis. Evaluation of patients with neurologic symptoms may include, but not be limited to, consultation with a neurologist, brain MRI, and lumbar puncture. Withhold OPDIVO in patients with new-onset moderate to severe neurologic signs or symptoms and evaluate to rule out other causes. If other etiologies are ruled out, administer corticosteroids and permanently discontinue OPDIVO for immune-mediated encephalitis. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, encephalitis occurred in 0.2% (3/1994) of patients. Fatal limbic encephalitis occurred in one patient after 7.2 months of exposure despite discontinuation of OPDIVO and administration of corticosteroids. Encephalitis occurred in one patient receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY (0.2%) after 1.7 months of exposure. Other Immune-Mediated Adverse Reactions Based on the severity of adverse reaction, permanently discontinue or withhold treatment, administer high-dose corticosteroids, and, if appropriate, initiate hormone-replacement therapy. Across clinical trials of OPDIVO the following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred in <1.0% of patients receiving OPDIVO: uveitis, iritis, pancreatitis, facial and abducens nerve paresis, demyelination, polymyalgia rheumatica, autoimmune neuropathy, Guillain-Barre syndrome, hypopituitarism, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, gastritis, duodenitis, sarcoidosis, histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (Kikuchi lymphadenitis), myositis, myocarditis, rhabdomyolysis, motor dysfunction, vasculitis, and myasthenic syndrome. Infusion Reactions OPDIVO can cause severe infusion reactions, which have been reported in <1.0% of patients in clinical trials. Discontinue OPDIVO in patients with Grade 3 or 4 infusion reactions. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion in patients with Grade 1 or 2. In patients receiving OPDIVO monotherapy, infusion-related reactions occurred in 6.4% (127/1994) of patients. In patients receiving OPDIVO with YERVOY, infusion-related reactions occurred in 2.5% (10/407) of patients. Complications of Allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO Complications, including fatal events, occurred in patients who received allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Outcomes were evaluated in 17 patients from Checkmate 205 and 039, who underwent allogeneic HSCT after discontinuing OPDIVO (15 with reduced-intensity conditioning, 2 with myeloablative conditioning). Thirty-five percent (6/17) of patients died from complications of allogeneic HSCT after OPDIVO. Five deaths occurred in the setting of severe or refractory GVHD. Grade 3 or higher acute GVHD was reported in 29% (5/17) of patients. Hyperacute GVHD was reported in 20% (n=2) of patients. A steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, without an identified infectious cause, was reported in 35% (n=6) of patients. Two cases of encephalitis were reported: Grade 3 (n=1) lymphocytic encephalitis without an identified infectious cause, and Grade 3 (n=1) suspected viral encephalitis. Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) occurred in one patient, who received reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic HSCT and died of GVHD and multi-organ failure. Other cases of hepatic VOD after reduced-intensity conditioned allogeneic HSCT have also been reported in patients with lymphoma who received a PD-1 receptor blocking antibody before transplantation. Cases of fatal hyperacute GVHD have also been reported. These complications may occur despite intervening therapy between PD-1 blockade and allogeneic HSCT. Follow patients closely for early evidence of transplant-related complications such as hyperacute GVHD, severe (Grade 3 to 4) acute GVHD, steroid-requiring febrile syndrome, hepatic VOD, and other immune-mediated adverse reactions, and intervene promptly. Embryo-Fetal Toxicity Based on their mechanisms of action, OPDIVO and YERVOY can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with an OPDIVO- or YERVOY- containing regimen and for at least 5 months after the last dose of OPDIVO. Lactation It is not known whether OPDIVO or YERVOY is present in human milk. Because many drugs, including antibodies, are excreted in human milk and because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants from an OPDIVO-containing regimen, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment. Advise women to discontinue nursing during treatment with YERVOY and for 3 months following the final dose. Serious Adverse Reactions In Checkmate 037, serious adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=268). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 42% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse drug reactions reported in 2% to <5% of patients receiving OPDIVO were abdominal pain, hyponatremia, increased aspartate aminotransferase, and increased lipase. In Checkmate 066, serious adverse reactions occurred in 36% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=206). Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions occurred in 41% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent Grade 3 and 4 adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were gamma-glutamyltransferase increase (3.9%) and diarrhea (3.4%). In Checkmate 067, serious adverse reactions (73% and 37%), adverse reactions leading to permanent discontinuation (43% and 14%) or to dosing delays (55% and 28%), and Grade 3 or 4 adverse reactions (72% and 44%) all occurred more frequently in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) relative to the OPDIVO arm (n=313). The most frequent (=10%) serious adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm and the OPDIVO arm, respectively, were diarrhea (13% and 2.6%), colitis (10% and 1.6%), and pyrexia (10% and 0.6%). In Checkmate 017 and 057, serious adverse reactions occurred in 46% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, dyspnea, pyrexia, pleural effusion, pneumonitis, and respiratory failure. In Checkmate 025, serious adverse reactions occurred in 47% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =2% of patients were acute kidney injury, pleural effusion, pneumonia, diarrhea, and hypercalcemia. In Checkmate 205 and 039, among all patients (safety population [n=263]), adverse reactions leading to discontinuation (4.2%) or to dosing delays (23%) occurred. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in =1% of patients were infusion-related reaction, pneumonia, pleural effusion, pyrexia, rash and pneumonitis. Ten patients died from causes other than disease progression, including 6 who died from complications of allogeneic HSCT. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 21% of patients in the safety population (n=263) and 27% of patients in the subset of patients evaluated for efficacy (efficacy population [n=95]). In Checkmate 141, serious adverse reactions occurred in 49% of patients receiving OPDIVO. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were pneumonia, dyspnea, respiratory failure, respiratory tract infections, and sepsis. In Checkmate 275, serious adverse reactions occurred in 54% of patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270). The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in at least 2% of patients receiving OPDIVO were urinary tract infection, sepsis, diarrhea, small intestine obstruction, and general physical health deterioration. Common Adverse Reactions In Checkmate 037, the most common adverse reaction (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=268) was rash (21%). In Checkmate 066, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported with OPDIVO (n=206) vs dacarbazine (n=205) were fatigue (49% vs 39%), musculoskeletal pain (32% vs 25%), rash (28% vs 12%), and pruritus (23% vs 12%). In Checkmate 067, the most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO plus YERVOY arm (n=313) were fatigue (59%), rash (53%), diarrhea (52%), nausea (40%), pyrexia (37%), vomiting (28%), and dyspnea (20%). The most common (=20%) adverse reactions in the OPDIVO (n=313) arm were fatigue (53%), rash (40%), diarrhea (31%), and nausea (28%). In Checkmate 017 and 057, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=418) were fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, cough, dyspnea, and decreased appetite. In Checkmate 025, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=406) vs everolimus (n=397) were asthenic conditions (56% vs 57%), cough (34% vs 38%), nausea (28% vs 29%), rash (28% vs 36%), dyspnea (27% vs 31%), diarrhea (25% vs 32%), constipation (23% vs 18%), decreased appetite (23% vs 30%), back pain (21% vs 16%), and arthralgia (20% vs 14%). In Checkmate 205 and 039, among all patients (safety population [n=263]) and the subset of patients in the efficacy population (n=95), respectively, the most common adverse reactions (=20%) were fatigue (32% and 43%), upper respiratory tract infection (28% and 48%), pyrexia (24% and 35%), diarrhea (23% and 30%), and cough (22% and 35%). In the subset of patients in the efficacy population (n=95), the most common adverse reactions also included rash (31%), musculoskeletal pain (27%), pruritus (25%), nausea (23%), arthralgia (21%), and peripheral neuropathy (21%). In Checkmate 141, the most common adverse reactions (=10%) in patients receiving OPDIVO were cough and dyspnea at a higher incidence than investigator's choice. In Checkmate 275, the most common adverse reactions (= 20%) reported in patients receiving OPDIVO (n=270) were fatigue (46%), musculoskeletal pain (30%), nausea (22%), and decreased appetite (22%). In a separate Phase 3 study of YERVOY 3 mg/kg, the most common adverse reactions (=5%) in patients who received YERVOY at 3 mg/kg were fatigue (41%), diarrhea (32%), pruritus (31%), rash (29%), and colitis (8%). Checkmate Trials and Patient Populations Checkmate 067 - advanced melanoma alone or in combination with YERVOY; Checkmate 037 and 066 - advanced melanoma; Checkmate 017 - squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); Checkmate 057 - non-squamous NSCLC; Checkmate 025 - renal cell carcinoma; Checkmate 205/039 - classical Hodgkin lymphoma; Checkmate 141 - squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck; Checkmate 275 - urothelial carcinoma. Please see U.S. Full Prescribing Information for OPDIVO and YERVOY, including Boxed WARNING regarding immune-mediated adverse reactions for YERVOY. About the Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Collaboration In 2011, through a collaboration agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Ono), Bristol-Myers Squibb expanded its territorial rights to develop and commercialize Opdivo globally except in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, where Ono had retained all rights to the compound at the time. On July 23, 2014, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono further expanded the companies' strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop and commercialize multiple immunotherapies - as single agents and combination regimens - for patients with cancer in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. About Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. About Transgene Transgene S.A. (Euronext:TNG), part of Institut Merieux, is a publicly traded French biotechnology company focused on designing and developing immune-targeted viral-based therapies for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases. Transgene's programs utilize viral vector technology with the goal of indirectly or directly killing infected or cancerous cells. The Company's two lead clinical-stage programs are: TG4010, a therapeutic vaccine for non-small cell lung cancer, and Pexa-Vec, an oncolytic virus for liver cancer. The Company has several other programs, including TG4001, in clinical and preclinical development. Transgene is based in Strasbourg, France, and has additional operations in Lyon, as well as a joint venture in China. Additional information about Transgene is available at www.transgene.fr. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert): @TransgeneSA Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that TG4010 in combination with Opdivo, will be successfully developed or approved for any of the indications described in this release. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170424005995/en/

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[April 25, 2017] PR Newswire to Lead Discussion on the Challenges and Opportunities of Digital Journalism at Indonesia Media Coffee

HONG KONG, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 4, PR Newswire, the premier global provider of news distribution services and multimedia platforms, will host the next in its series of popular Media Coffee events in Jakarta, themed "Digital Journalism: Challenges & Opportunities for PR". The event will feature speakers from the media and PR industries and they will weigh in on the impact of digital journalism and the challenges/opportunities that it offers in today's digital media landscape. Speakers include Johanes Heru Margianto, Assistant Managing Editor at Kompas.com; Putri Silalahi, Product Communication Head at Google Indonesia and Agung Laksamana, Chairman at Perhumas. Indonesia is one of the most internet-penetrated emerging markets in Asia, with more than half of its population online. The internet has made it easy for local audiences to access news and content; at the same time, journalism in Indonesia is also riding the wave of the digital revolution to reach new audiences. What are the implications for marketers, communicators and public relations practitioners? Hw can they adapt the rules of engagement to media and evolving audiences that are growing out of this ever-changing digital media landscape?



This free-to-attend event, which will be conducted in Bahasa Indonesian, is open for registration now. The event will cover pertinent topics including:

The digital-first newsroom

News consumption trends via search engines

Essential digital PR skills Supported by Perhumas, Himpunan Humas Hotel Jakarta, Bubu, and Asosiasi Perusahaan Public Relations Indonesia (APPRI), the event will be structured to foster an engaging and interactive conversation between the speakers and the audience. Attendees, and those who are unable to join in person, will be welcomed to share their thoughts on the topics discussed by using the event's official hashtag, #MediaCoffeeID. The event will also be recorded and the archived video will be available shortly after it concludes. To receive an alert when the archived video is available, please subscribe to our newsletter. About PR Newswire's Media Coffee PR Newswire's Media Coffee events enable communications professionals to gather insights from leading media organizations on how their respective organizations work, provide expertise into their specialist areas, and give advice on achieving coverage, as well as share tips on how to effectively target journalists within their sector and build mutually beneficial relationships. About PR Newswire PR Newswire, a Cision company, is the premier global provider of multimedia platforms and distribution that marketers, corporate communicators, and investor relations officers leverage to engage key audiences. Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry over 60 years ago, PR Newswire today provides end-to- end solutions to produce, optimize and target content -- and then distribute and measure results. Combining the world's largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire powers the stories of organizations around the world. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. For further information, please contact:

PR Newswire's Asia Marketing Team

+852 2572 8228

[email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170425/1833541-1

Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160617/8521603993LOGO-d

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[April 25, 2017] UN-led open design challenge held in Beijing to showcase how tech innovation can tackle social development challenges in China

BEIJING, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China's first ever UN-led open design challenge concluded today in Beijing's 798 Art District, with 10 finalists showcasing innovative tech solutions designed to find solutions for pressing development challenges in China. The Geek for Good Open Design Challenge was co-hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and technology giant Baidu, encouraging people across the country to put forward their innovative concepts, and providing a unique platform for combining advanced technology with the innovative power of Chinese community-led groups. Across the world, prize challenges are designed to galvanize individuals, inspire ambition and provide a platform for innovative solutions. Leveraging on cutting-edge technology and the UN's development expertise, "Geek-For-Good" was the first to focus specifically on promoting sustainable development in China. "This initiative reflects the power of innovation in the technology arena for creating new ideas that can help solve critical development issues," said Agi Veres, Country Director of UNDP China. "By working with Baidu to create a platform where community groups can showcase their ideas, this event clearly highlights a depth of creativity, and the potential innovation has for promoting sustainable development in China." The solutions were required to utilize new technologies and provide innovative methods for addressing challenges in four focus areas: poverty, transport, disaster management and environment. The challenge attracted 2075 applications that were narrowed down to 10 finalists though a two-stage selection process. These finalists pitched their solutions in front of a top-notch judge panel comprised of renowned international and national experts from the technology, investment, and development world at the final competition. "Innovation has no boundaries, and responsibility extends to everyone. We initiated this plan with UNDP to create more opportunities forsocial development, and we are thrilled to be able to contribute Baidu's technological expertise and abilities to support innovators, helping them realize their potential and help people in the process," said Zhang Yaqin, President of Baidu.



The Geek for Good Open Design Challenge showed a wide span in terms of age, ranging from 15 to 63. The finalists' innovations were themselves diverse, ranging from the mechanical spider Arachnobot, deployable in disaster situations where human lives would be at risk, to Smart Med, a cheap, scalable alternative for early identification of lung cancer. By fostering creativity among community-led and youth groups, Geek for Good provides a template for future initiatives that can place innovation and technology at the heart of sustainable development. "I never imagined my project could be incubated from such an inadvertent idea," said Yupeng Zhang, a college student whose submission, SharedPark, provides parking solutions for users to quickly locate parking spaces in the city. "The first time I came across 'Geek for Good' was at the workshop held in the United Nations compound in January. During the workshop, my idea of a sharing app for parking spaces had great responses from the audience. This gave me the confidence to go back to school and begin working with my friends and technical partners. Geek for Good is a great way to help people build their ideas, and I am very thankful to have this opportunity!"

Scientist Zhang Weili and her team from Harvest Genius introduced a mobile based fertilization technology communications platform, easily accessible by farmers working across China, aiming to solve issues with fertilizer overuse that often lead to pollution. She shared her feelings from the competition, "Innovation not only needs creative ideas, but also the experience and expertise to implement. Experienced professionals have a rich network of knowledge, which is a clear advantage for scaling. However, I am very honoured to work and communicate with these young people, as it is a process of learning for me. I can now see that the future of Chinese innovation lies in the ability of platforms such as Geek for Good to proliferate creative ideas." An expert panel discussion also took place during the event, engaging influential people from the technology, academic and development practitioners to share their insights on how tech-based responsible innovation can transform the society and generate public goods. For more information about the competition and the winning teams, please click here, or visit: innovation.baidu.com UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in around 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. www.undp.org Get in touch: UNDP on Weibo | Media Contacts | WeChat ID: undpchina

More resources: Our work | UNDP News

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[April 25, 2017]

Nokia, China Unicom conduct live trial of Virtualized Services Router for residential broadband services

Trial of Nokia Virtualized Service Router (VSR) is crucial to China Unicom's initiative to transform its metro service edge architecture to provide enhanced broadband services to residential subscribers

Upon completion of the project, the network will be able to add new customers and launch services faster and more efficiently

Beijing, China - Nokia and China Unicom are conducting a live trial in China Unicom's commercial network using the Nokia Virtualized Services Router (VSR). The trial involves more than 5,000 residential subscribers and allows China Unicom to simplify and accelerate the delivery of residential broadband using a new, agile and flexible network which is based on virtualized network functions (VNFs). The initial trial is being carried out in the province of Shandong and will expand to the other parts of the country over the next two years as it evolves to the next phase, which will include delivery of IPTV services.

China Unicom is adopting Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) to enhance efficiency, agility, openness and scaling capabilities to evolve to a cloud-ready network. The successful trial of the industry-proven Nokia VSR will increase operational efficiency and enable faster creation and delivery of new services. The trial uses the Nokia VSR as a next-generation, virtualized Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) for residential subscriber management functions and advanced service capabilities. As part of its initiative to transform its metro service edge, China Unicom plans to migrate massive BNG services to the virtualized platform to leverage the opportunities of the cloud era.

Sri Reddy, head of IP Routing and Packet Core business at Nokia, said: "We are proud to be a part of China Unicom's initiative to evolve its metro edge to a cloud-centric architecture. The Nokia VSR provides delivery of broad and rich virtualized IP edge applications with superior performance and enhanced scalability. Upon completion of this network transformation project, China Unicom will ensure increased operational efficiency and deliver a superior customer experience for its subscribers."

Overview of the solution used for trial:

Nokia field-proven VSR delivers high prformance and flexibility for x86 server environments. The vBNG functionality on Nokia VSR is based on Nokia Service Router Operating System (SR OS).

Nokia VSR delivers rich BNG service functions which enhance the end-user experience, and high throughput, which is two-to-four times more than the industry average.

In addition to BNG functions, the Nokia VSR is used to deliver additional functions, such as Network Address Translation (NAT) - to facilitate the migration to IPv6







Nokia's virtualized portfolio was analyzed by the European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC), an international group known for vendor-neutral network performance testing. The results showed that Nokia continues to lead in Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), setting a new industry benchmark for outstanding performance, scalability and resiliency.

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We create the technology to connect the 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. nokia.com

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[April 25, 2017] SES Offers Panoramic Glimpse into the Future of TV with Live Virtual Reality Demo

SES (News - Alert) (Euronext Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), together with Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI and Newtec, will demonstrate an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experience with a live 360-degree Ultra HD VR satellite broadcast this week from the exhibit floor of the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170424006777/en/ SES Offers Panoramic Glimpse into the Future of TV with Live Virtual Reality Demo (Photo: Business Wire) The live VR broadcast will originate from Fraunhofer (News - Alert) HHI's OmniCam-360 camera, which will capture the sights and sounds of the SES event booth at NAB. The 10K x 2K panoramic broadcast signal will be transmitted over an SES satellite to multiple Ultra HD TV screens and VR goggles at the SES booth and other locations throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center. The transmission itself will be optimized using Newtec's (News - Alert) next-generation DVB-S2X modulator and demodulator, designed to drive better bandwidth efficiency and higher performance throughout the broadcast. "Satellites offer the best, most robust distribution platform for the new era of immersive Ultra HD and Virtual Reality television experiences because they can easily manage the huge volumes of video data these services require," said Thomas Wrede, Vice President, Reception Systems for SES. "Using the innovative DVB-S2X transmission standard allows us to optimize bandwidth-efficiency and the service availability of such new services. This is an important milestone for SES and the television industry and shows that we continue to innovate and create new business opportunities for our video customers." "The SES demonstration brings together our Fraunhofer HHI camera systems with the capacity of satellite transmission for a Virtual Reality experience as it is truly meant to be, on Ultra HD screens," said Ralf Schafer, Fraunhofer HHI's Head of Division Video. "VR is a fascinating and promising technology offering full immersion to the user when the conditions are right." "The future-proof and award-winning Newtec MCX7000 Multi-Carrier Satellit Gateway is ideally suited to support innovative ideas," said Hans Massart, Maret Director, Broadcast, Newtec. "The easily upgradeable nature of this DVB-S2X platform allows us to keep optimizing not only efficiency but also the effective use of space segment. Single, multi- and channel-bonded transmission of high bitrate content, such as Ultra HD TV and Virtual Reality programming, can be supported."



Follow us on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/SES_Satellites

LinkedIn (News - Alert): https://www.linkedin.com/company/ses Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SES.Satellites YouTube (News - Alert): 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 About Fraunhofer HHI Innovations for the digital society of the future are the focus of research and development work at the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI. In this area, Fraunhofer HHI is a world leader in the development for mobile and optical communication networks and systems as well as processing and coding of video signals. Together with international partners from research and industry, Fraunhofer HHI works in the whole spectrum of digital infrastructure - from fundamental research to the development of prototypes and solutions. www.hhi.fraunhofer.de View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170424006777/en/

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[April 25, 2017] NEPCON China 2017 to Transform Exhibitors' Experience with Innovative New App

SHANGHAI, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NEPCON China, the prestigious trade platform and exhibition for surface mount technology and electronics manufacturing automation is pleased to announce that in 2017, exhibitors will experience a first-of-its-kind technological breakthrough at the show, as the event introduces the new Reed Connect mobile app. The Reed Connect mobile app is an innovative new solution that will deliver great value to all show participants - exhibitors and visitors - by offering a blend of face-to-face and digital technology integrations. The app has important implications for participants who want to track the return on the investment they make at the event. Visitors and exhibitors can get the full details of suppliers and buyers they are looking to connect with and activate the sales or procurement cycle with the push of a button through the app. For the first time ever, exhibitors are able to scan through the visitors, highlight the ones for follow up and store the contact or purchasing details of customers. This puts valuable real-time insights related to exhibitors and visitors in-show behavior right at participants' fingertips. "We're thrilled for NEPCON China to be the first event in China's exhibition industry to introduce a mobile app with this typeof scan-and-prioritize functionality to enhance customers' experience", said Josephine Lee, Chief Operating Officer of Reed Exhibitions Greater China. "The app allows exhibitors to easily scan through potential customers and store the details of hot and warm sales prospects on their devices. From there, they can take the appropriate follow-up action to improve the buyer-seller relationship - which is what taking part in a trade show is all about. The 'Reed Connect' mobile app represents our on-going commitment to innovation, it offers customers solutions in maximizing their investment on their marketing dollar and enable business to be conducted a lot easier in Reed China's events."



With the app acting as a comprehensive digital catalog, just a couple of clicks will display the full information of exhibitors or product information on the device's screen. "We look forward to continuing our work to bring world class innovation to NEPCON China", added Ms. Lee. "Reed Exhibitions Greater China will keep working tirelessly to optimize the show experience for exhibitors and visitors by offering them highly desirable time savings, valuable insights and a free flow of key show information, throughout every stage of the exhibition experience." About Reed Exhibitions Greater China (RXGC)

Reed Exhibitions is the world's professional events organiser, with a growing portfolio of over 500 events in 30 countries, and a staff of 3,900 exhibition specialists. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of the RELX Group plc, a world provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries. Reed Exhibitions Greater China (RXGC) is a part of Reed Exhibitions. After over three decades of rapid growth, Reed Exhibitions Greater China is the country's professional organizer of definitive trade events. In 2016, RXGC's member companies held over 60 events and brought together more than 1 million visitors, together with over 50,000 conference delegates. Our events hosted nearly 28,000 suppliers whose stands spanned over 1.6 million sqm of show floor space. www.reedexpo.com.cn

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[April 25, 2017] SolarWinds Announces Rani Johnson as Chief Information Officer

AUSTIN, Texas, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SolarWinds, a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, today announced that Rani Johnson has been appointed global vice president and chief information officer (CIO). Under Johnsons leadership, the SolarWinds IT and business applications teams will continue to lead partnerships that align focus on business priorities while leveraging technology to drive operational efficiencies across the company. She will report directly to Joseph Kim, senior vice president and global chief technology officer, SolarWinds.

SolarWinds announces Rani Johnson as chief information officer



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d978074c-5257-486e-ad4d-78d5b3804917 Im honored to be a part of the SolarWinds team and excited for the future of this great company, Johnson said. IT and business applications ar one of the most critical components of business success in todays connected world. Technologyfrom the cloud to hyperconvergence to software-defined infrastructure and everything in betweenprovides many opportunities for companies to better meet the needs of customers. At SolarWinds, were committed to using technology to help ensure our products are easy for our customers to find, buy, use, maintain, and scale.



Johnson brings 20 years of experience in IT, as well as a background in technical sales and product management, to her role at SolarWinds. She previously led the IT function at companies in both the energy and software industries, most recently as the CIO for the Lower Colorado River Authority. Johnson holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science/general engineering from Spelman College and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Rani brings an impressive information technology background combined with unrivaled enthusiasm for the positive impact technology can have on business, Kim said. Im excited to work with her as we do our part to make SolarWinds the best IT management software company.

Connect with SolarWinds THWACK 

Twitter 

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LinkedIn 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 MEDIA CONTACTS: Nicole Fachet Text100 Phone: 212.871.3950 [email protected] Jenne Barbour SolarWinds Phone: 512.498.6804 [email protected]

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[April 25, 2017] YP Supports National Small Business Week by Recognizing Local Business Champions

YP?, the publisher of Yellowpages.com and The Real Yellow Pages Directory, returns as a sponsor of National Small Business Week, a signature event of the U.S. Small Business Administration that celebrates America's small businesses, the jobs they create and the people who champion their success. For more than 100 years, YP has been connecting consumers with local businesses that meet their needs. To demonstrate a long-standing commitment to connect ready-to-help businesses with ready-to-buy consumers, YP will host a webinar on Wednesday, May 3, on the five marketing habits for small business success. In addition, YP will have a presence at local SBA events taking place across the country. "Small businesses are the fabric of the American economy," said Jared Rowe, Chief Executive Officer at YP. "One of the things we're passionate about at YP is really understanding the needs small businesses have every single day and then figuring out how YP can meet those needs through our integrated solutions and our audience of more than 60 million transaction-minded consumers." This year, YP has invested in creating better ways for local businesses to connect with its audience both online and in print. YP recently launched a new business profile page, which appears on yellowpages.com and in the YP app that includes a featured review, photos, videos and special offers. In addition to helping consumers connect with what they need faster, YP also launched the YP Preferred badge on certain busines listings, signifying a business that provides more detail on its business profile page to help consumers make more informed decisions when selecting a service provider. The enhancements have resulted in a six percent drop in cost per lead, on average, for clients in the first quarter of the year compared to the first quarter of last year.



Furthermore, YP has overhauled the look and feel of The Real Yellow Pages print directories. Design updates include bigger font sizes, color ads and in-book coupons. "My goal was that our marketing campaign would produce one to three calls a day, and it has been working," said Thad Condon, co-owner of TLC Plumbing. "YP really helps me get my message out to the community."

To learn more, visit marketingsolutions.yp.com and follow the conversation using the hashtags #ypsmallbizweek and #SmallBusinessWeek. About YP YP is a media company dedicated to connecting local businesses with a ready-to-buy audience. YP's flagship consumer brands include the popular YP? app, yellowpages.com and The Real Yellow Pages Directory, which are used by more than 60 million visitors each month in the U.S. (Internal Data, October 2016). YP offers integrated solutions that are designed to help local businesses build their presence and expand their reach through a variety of print and digital products. YP has a team of marketing experts in local markets across the U.S. with relationships spanning nearly half a million advertisers. For more information on YP, visit us at http://corporate.yp.com. Follow us on Facebook (News - Alert): https://www.facebook.com/ypforbusiness and on Twitter (News - Alert): @yp @ypforbusiness. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005654/en/

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[April 25, 2017] Cmed Shares eSource Expertise at the eSource Data in Clinical Investigations Conference

Cmed, an innovative technology-led CRO, will present "Why eSource and what will it change? Accessing data in clinical trials" at the 4th Annual eSource Data in Clinical Investigations Conference in Philadelphia at 10.30am on Wednesday May 3rd, 2017. Graham Belgrave, Cmed's Chief Operations Officer, and Product Manager Jon Carter, will examine the principles of eSource and how it has the potential to be a real "game changer" for trial conduct and for study team roles. The presentation will explore the benefits of collecting eSource data in real-time and will demonstrate how eSource and real-time clinical data analytics can improve data visibility and reduce the number of protocol violators in a trial. It will also highlight how the capture of eSource can help to reduce study timelines without affecting data quality or patient safety. Attendees will also have the opportunity to visit Cmed in the exhibit hall and discover more about encapsia, Cmed's app-based new generation clinical data suite that has been specifically designed to be hosted in the cloud for the direct capture of source data directly on an iPad. The eSource app is just one of many available in the encapsia suite that fo the first time enables a fundamentally new way of doing things. The eSource app can be used on or offline and supports concurrent data entry by multiple users, as well as multi-media data capture. Powerful, configurable visualizations give live actionable insights and immediate analytics of a trial, allowing issues and trends to be identified and analyzed easily and rapidly.



encapsia eSource is highly intuitive, having been developed with extensive site input, and both reduces the burden on sites and supports their normal clinical workflow. Web EDC and mobile eSource can now also be used together in the same trial, giving sponsors and sites the flexibility they need. To schedule a meeting with the Cmed team during eSource Data in Clinical Investigations, contact Jessi Lanuza, Associate Director of Business Development, at [email protected].

- ends - About Cmed Cmed is an innovative, full service technology-led CRO. Cmed brings together experienced people and technology, providing customers with a friendly, proactive service, and delivers this service using advanced clinical data capture, management and reporting software and processes. Cmed's new generation clinical data suite, encapsia, streamlines the capture, management and reporting of clinical data, saving customers time and money. Clinical data can be captured flexibly by eSource, multi-media and web eDC, while being displayed in live visual insights, providing live analytics, and allowing within suite audit trailed actions. It is fully compliant with regulatory guidelines, and allows integration with existing systems. For more information visit www.cmedresearch.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005764/en/

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[April 25, 2017] Salient CRGT's Martin Gillespie to Address North Carolina Sheriffs' Association Spring Meeting

FAIRFAX, Va., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Salient CRGT, a leading provider of health, data analytics, cloud, agile software development, mobility, cyber security, and infrastructure solutions today announced that Martin Gillespie, Vice President of Product Development will address the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association at their Spring Meeting in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Mr. Gillespie is a recognized industry leader in the mobile application development community, and has been building federal, state and local application software since 1990. His expertise lies in strategically-focused information technology solutions that has helped customers tap into market-leading solutions that provide greater security and efficiencies. With prior experience in building applications across all forms of public safety communities, he will be on-hand to discuss the continual challenges faced in making secure and timely information technology available to enforcement officials out in the field. Mr. Gillespie's team is currently focusing on Mobile, Cyber, Health, and Financial solutions. "New threats surface every day, and we are continually challenged to stay a step ahead of those who seek to do harm," Gillespie said. "Innovative advances in technology greatly affect law enforcement officials' front line duties. As they strive for security, accuracy and responsiveness, we are pleased to have the opportunity to further the dialogue wth the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association in pursuing innovations to help them deal with ever-evolving threats."



Salient CRGT has continued to provide leading-edge mobile technology to the law enforcement community through its Voyager Mobility products: Voyager CommandTRACKER is designed to provide personnel incident, asset management, and situational awareness wherever users are deployed, whether in the office, in vehicles or on foot; Voyager Query for Law Enforcement provides quick, secure and accurate access to criminal justice databases such as the FBI's National Crime Information Center and the International Justice and Public Safety Network (Nlets). The capability to put accurate data securely in the hands of law enforcement officers and providing the ability to run a warrant right from the device saves time, money, hassle and most importantly, lives. About Salient CRGT

Salient CRGT provides federal civilian, defense, homeland, and intelligence agencies with expert depth in health, data analytics, cloud, agile software development, mobility, cyber security, and infrastructure solutions. We support these core capabilities with full life-cycle IT services and trainingto help our customers meet critical goals for pivotal missions. The most innovative talent delivery model in the industry, scientifically providing exactly the right people for the customers' most pressing requirements, fuels these critical capabilities. Salient CRGT has earned a record of success with integration and operations of large-scale, high-volume solutions. On March 1, 2017, Salient CRGT completed its acquisition of Information Innovators, Inc. visit our newsroom. For additional information on Salient CRGT, visit www.salientcrgt.com

Click to Tweet: @Salient_CRGT 's Martin Gillespie Addresses North Carolina Sheriffs' Association Spring Meeting http://bit.ly/1MGSz5l To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/salient-crgts-martin-gillespie-to-address-north-carolina-sheriffs-association-spring-meeting-300444784.html SOURCE Salient CRGT

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[April 25, 2017] Kolkata BizBook - A Business Directory with Numerous Business Listings

KOLKATA, India, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kolkata BizBook is the #1 local search engine which can help in finding the best places in the city within minutes for all needs. It is well equipped with all the necessary listings in its local directory, such as transport and ticketing, hospitality and restaurants, education, beauty and spa, healthcare, courier and cargo services, and much more. The listing in Kolkata BizBook is done so precisely that you can find what you want easily near your location without any hassle. There are more than 20 lakhs customers in Kolkata who visit Kolkata BizBook regularly for any services. Kolkata BizBook not only provides online business listing but also allows any business to reach local and global markets. Kolkata BizBook directory provides a number of online directory services to its global community by bringing the buyers and sellers together under one platform. Listing a business on Kolkata BizBook is very easy since it requires only a few clicks. Kolkata BizBook directory has upgraded to a new system with some additional featres for the business owners to attract more customers both locally and globally. Its features include refine listing, adding photos, videos, refine services, refine location, maps, and many more; thus making things much easier for business owners to assist them in making their business listing very unique and attractive. Kolkata BizBook has reinvented the business directory concept and purpose to bring maximum benefits to users by making the right choice for their needs. This site makes it easier and simpler for anyone to find and locate the local businesses in Kolkata.



Kolkata BizBook is an ideal platform for buyers and sellers to find the required services and conduct the business efficiently with less time and cost. It also has a mobile phone application for ease and convenient use. It is a very cost effective method and it saves a lot of time, as one can just do the search on Kolkata BizBook with particular requirements and all the available service lists in their area will be there in no time. Visit https://www.kolkatabizbook.com/ to learn more.

Impower Solutions Private Limited Launches One-of-a-kind Local Business Directory in Chennai - Great Opportunity for all Small & Medium Businesses. We are also a leading web design company in Kolkata, Chennai and Port Blair. This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kolkata-bizbook---a-business-directory-with-numerous-business-listings-300444880.html SOURCE Kolkata BizBook

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[April 25, 2017] BizBash Live Returns To South Florida On May 4 With The Newest Ideas And Innovations In Events

MIAMI, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 4, BizBash Live returns to the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center with a new roster of industry all-stars, ideas, and inspiration for events. BizBash Live brings together nearly 1,500 event professionals for one day, including hundreds of vendors to be located in the Exhibit Hall, and top speakers in the Event Innovation Forum. Event professionals who come to BizBash, looking for their "AHA" moment will discover new technologies, fund-raising tools, new venues, and more. Eventbots (by Sciensio) will take center stage at BizBash Live with Betty the BizBash Eventbot, who will enhance the attendee's experience with an easy Q&A interface, becoming the "customer service bot." Swell Fundraising, a new software for nonprofits, will showcase the power of peer-to-peer connectivity and social media amplifiation with its new platform, while Gifn will allow attendees to share photobooth pics with their networks. Stormz will demonstrate a new technology that transforms seminars into collaborative environments, while Hurdl will showcase light-up, wearable technology.



The renowned Event Innovation Forum and Workshop Series return with presentations from innovators, including Michael Blatter of Mirrorball; David Sinopoli of III Points: Music, Art, and Technology Festival; Cassandra Clark from Facebook; Christopher Pastor from the Perez Art Museum Miami; Michael Schwartz of Michael Schwartz Events; and DJ Saul from iStrategyLabs. A new "Food for Thought" luncheon, produced by Kelly Murphy of Events on the Loose and featuring Chef Brian Aaron of Aaron's Catering, will discuss the importance of using locally sourced, fresh ingredients. Decor ideas will be presented by leading names, including Fantasy Designers, Totally Mod Event Furnishings, Decora & Imperial Event Rentals, Scenic Elementz, TS Productions, and Events on the Loose. Caterers such as Michael Schwartz Events and Chef David Schwadron Cuisine & Event Design will provide tastings, while PSAV South Florida, Light F/X Pros, and AVER Productions will showcase important audiovisual and lighting tools.

The full list of speakers, exhibitors, and registration information can be found at www.bizbash.com/expofl. BizBash acknowledges the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB: Meet Sunny, the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, Expo Convention Contractors, T. Skorman Production, Boomset, CadmiumCD, SavorCatering, and Swoogo for their support. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bizbash-live-returns-to-south-florida-on-may-4-with-the-newest-ideas-and-innovations-in-events-300444896.html SOURCE BizBash

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[April 25, 2017] IBM and NUS collaborate to promote FinTech and blockchain training in Singapore

SINGAPORE and ARMONK, N.Y., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The National University of Singapore (NUS) School of Computing and the IBM Center for Blockchain Innovation (ICBI), a part of IBM Research, are collaborating to jointly develop a module on financial technology, to better equip students with essential knowledge and skill sets in this area. Blockchain is a fast growing area across the globe, with banking, healthcare and the government leading the way in terms of adoption. According to studies by IBM's Institute of Business Value, these three industries are investing heavily in blockchain and commercial solutions are expected to be in place in the next few years. Leading the pack in blockchain banking: Trailblazers set the pace: Fifteen percent of banks and 14 percent of financial market institutions interviewed by IBM intend to implement full-scale, commercial blockchain solutions in 2017. 65 percent of banks are expecting to have blockchain solutions in production in the next three years.

Healthcare rallies for blockchains: Keeping patients at the center: Healthcare institutions are going all-in  investing heavily in blockchain pilots, with nine in ten respondents planning to invest by 2018 across all business areas IBM surveyed them about.

Building trust in government: Nine in ten government organizations surveyed plan to invest in blockchain for use in financial transaction management, asset management, contract management and regulatory compliance by 2018. The Singapore government's strategic goal to become a Smart Financial Centre1 has put focus on blockchain for Singapore. Through its Financial Sector Technology & Innovation (FSTI) scheme, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has committed S$225 million (US$157 million) over a five-year period to provide support for the creation of a vibrant fintech ecosystem. Among the projects that have been backed by the scheme is a decentralized record-keeping system based on blockchain technology aimed at preventing duplicate invoicing in trade finance. The new module on financial technology is expected to be introduced in January 2018, and will focus on blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. It seeks to equip students with an understanding of the fundamentals of the technology behind distributed ledgers, and its diverse use cses, from banking to digital currencies to supply chain management. NUS faculty members will co-develop the curriculum of the new module with IBM researchers at ICBI to enable students to learn about the latest developments in blockchain technology, and encourage them to contribute to developing the technology further. The module will be co-taught by NUS academic staff and ICBI staff who will use financial technology software such as Hyperledger Fabric, one of the five projects under the Hyperledger umbrella, to deliver the course content. Hyperledger Fabric was initially contributed by IBM. Such software will also be made available to NUS researchers for research purposes. Such software will also be made available to NUS researchers for research purposes.



Blockchain, or distributed ledger technology, is a distributed database of transactions shared across a network of trusted entities. Blockchain helps create greater accountability, transparency and potentially trust for all transactions and is currently being used in business applications across industries including banking and financial services, supply chain and logistics and retail. "Our collaboration with ICBI marks yet another important milestone in our continuous efforts to bring industry relevant knowledge to our classrooms and at the same time inculcate technological responsibility in our students by spearheading the development of financial technology in Singapore, as the nation strives to become one of the world's key digital financial hubs. The new module forms part of the newly enhanced Information Systems degree programme in which a new specialization in Financial Technology has been introduced. We are confident that our graduates will be well-prepared for the wide-ranging career opportunities in this fast-growing sector," said Associate Professor Hahn Jungpil, Head of the Department of Information Systems at NUS School of Computing.

"Blockchain is one of the most disruptive technologies in computing today, and it is impacting many industries including financial services, trade, healthcare and supply chain. This collaboration with the National University of Singapore School of Computing will help prepare a future workforce that is born on blockchain, ready to implement, improve and innovate: core skills required for Singapore to achieve its vision as a Smart Financial Centre and Smart Nation," said Robert Morris, Vice President Global Labs, IBM Research. Under the collaboration, ICBI will provide technology support in the form of access via the IBM Cloud to the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain framework. IBM is an early contributor Hyperledger, a Linux Foundation project, which now contains more than 129 member organizations. About National University of Singapore (NUS) A leading global university centred in Asia, the National University of Singapore (NUS) is Singapore's flagship university, which offers a global approach to education and research, with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise. NUS has 17 faculties and schools across three campuses. Its transformative education includes a broad-based curriculum underscored by multi-disciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. Over 38,000 students from 100 countries enrich the community with their diverse social and cultural perspectives. NUS takes an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach to research, working with partners from industry, government and academia, to address crucial and complex issues relevant to Asia and the world. Researchers in NUS' Schools and Faculties, 30 university-level research institutes and centres, and Research Centres of Excellence cover a wide range of themes including: energy, environmental and urban sustainability; treatment and prevention of diseases common among Asians; active ageing; advanced materials; risk management and resilience of financial systems. The University's latest research focus is to use data sciences, optimisation research and cyber-security to support Singapore's Smart Nation initiative. For more information on NUS, please visit www.nus.edu.sg. About IBM IBM is the leader in secure open-source blockchain solutions built for the enterprise. As an early member of the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger Project, IBM is dedicated to supporting the development of openly-governed blockchains. IBM has worked with more than 400 clients across financial services, supply chains, IoT, risk management, digital rights management and healthcare to implement blockchain applications delivered via the IBM Cloud. For more information about IBM Blockchain, visit http://www.ibm.com/blockchain. Contact:

Hannah Slocum

IBM Communications

[email protected]

+1 978 877 0105

1 Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore Financial Centre, Smart Financial Centre:

http://www.mas.gov.sg/Singapore-Financial-Centre/Smart-Financial-Centre.aspx To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ibm-and-nus-collaborate-to-promote-fintech-and-blockchain-training-in-singapore-300445015.html SOURCE IBM

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[April 25, 2017] Shawcor Renews Agreement with OnX Canada

Global Energy Services Company commits to five-year extension of cloud and data protection engagement TORONTO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OnX Canada, part of the leading global technology services and solutions company OnX Enterprise Solutions, today announced a five-year extension of its managed services relationship with Shawcor, the world's leading integrated energy services company. Shawcor specializes in products and services for the pipeline and pipe services segment of the oil and gas industry and related products for petrochemical and industrial markets. The company operates through a network of fixed and mobile manufacturing and service facilities located around the world and relies on OnX to manage the critical IT infrastructure which powers its business. "Our partnership with OnX allows us to focus on our strategic business initiatives while leaving the day-to-day maintenance and operations of our IT infrastructure to their expertise," said Shawcor's Dean Gibb, Vice President, Information Technology. "OnX consistently brings crative ideas and solutions to the table that allow us to meet our data protection and compliance requirements in a cost-effective manner."



OnX provides fully managed dedicated and multi-tenant cloud services, managed data backup, managed disaster recovery and remote monitoring and management for Shawcor's global operations. The managed services portfolio delivers solutions backed by guaranteed Service Level Agreements. The energy giant is OnX Canada's largest managed services account. "OnX is proud to be the services provider of choice for Shawcor. We've worked well together the past five years and are looking forward to another successful five years," said Tom Signorello, CEO, OnX. "Being a trusted advisor to some of North America's most respected organizations is a privilege. Shawcor's extension is an endorsement of our commitment to their success and satisfaction."

Shawcor's extension is the latest example of OnX Canada's strong growth. "The Canadian market is quickly adopting Managed Services. We are seeing demand, not only from our existing clients, but from new firms as well," said Paul Khawaja, President, OnX Canada. About OnX Enterprise Solutions OnX Enterprise Solutions is a leading technology services and solutions provider. The company assesses, designs, builds, secures and manages comprehensive technology-enabled solutions with specific expertise in cloud and managed services, digital and application services and infrastructure solutions. For more than 30 years, OnX has helped clients overcome business challenges and achieve exceptional business results through technology. OnX's team of more than 500 IT professionals work at OnX offices throughout North America and in the U.K., with global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, and U.S. headquarters in New York, N.Y. For more information about OnX and career opportunities, visit www.OnX.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shawcor-renews-agreement-with-onx-canada-300444416.html SOURCE OnX Enterprise Solutions

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[April 25, 2017] With the stability of an established company and the heart of a start-up, Kinaxis named one of Canada's best small & medium employers for 2017

Supply chain planning software company wins national employer award OTTAWA, April 25, 2017 /CNW/ - Kinaxis (TSX:KXS), provider of RapidResponse, delivering a cloud-based concurrent planning solution, today announced that it has been recognized as one of Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers for 2017. The winners were announced this morning by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which manages the competition. "The defining features of employers on this year's list is their flexibility to adapt quickly to changing conditions and the ease with which they can make improvements," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project at Mediacorp. "Since the competition was founded, we've observed that the leading SMEs have steadily expanded their benefits and HR initiatives  they offer job-seekers an attractive employment proposition combined with a dynamic and fun work environment." "SMEs play a outsized role in Canada's economy," says Anthony Meehan, Publisher at Mediacorp. "Small and medium-sized employers are responsible for a large majority of the jobs created in the past decade, so it's important that job-seekers be aware of the leading eployers in this sector. Many of this year's winners show tremendous year-over-year employment growth, in some cases doubling or even tripling in size."



"As a high-growth public company, we are a proud Canadian success story and honoured to be named one of Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers for the third consecutive year," said Megan Paterson, vice president of human resources at Kinaxis. "Our proprietary software solves the supply chain problems of some of the world's largest companies and we compete against software giants for their business. In this competitive market, we are proud to be Canadian headquartered and strive to offer employees innovative and meaningful work as well as valuable workplace benefits that you would expect to see from larger organizations; we also cultivate a fun work culture that creates high levels of employee satisfaction." For this national competition, the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers adopted the SME definition used by Statistics Canada, limiting the competition to private-sector commercial organizations with fewer than 500 employees. This project recognizes small and medium enterprises across Canada that lead the nation in creating exceptional workplaces with forward-thinking human resources policies. Employers are evaluated on eight criteria: (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.

A full list of recipients, including the reasons why Kinaxis and other companies were chosen, can be found online at canadastop100.com/sme. For more information on career opportunities at Kinaxis, please visit the company's "careers" page here: kinaxis.com/careers. There are a wide variety of opportunities available at Kinaxis including positions in product support, professional services, quality assurance and software development. For more Kinaxis news, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. About Kinaxis Inc.

Offering the industry's only concurrent planning solution, Kinaxis is helping organizations around the world revolutionize their supply chain planning. With RapidResponse, our cloud-based supply chain management software, we connect your data, processes, and people into a single harmonious environment. With a consolidated view of the entire supply chain, you can plan expected performance, monitor progress, and respond to disconnects when reality hits. RapidResponse lets you know sooner and act faster, leading to reduced decision latency, and improved operational and financial performance. We can prove it. From implementation to expansion, we're here to help our customers with every step of their supply chain journey. SOURCE Kinaxis Inc.

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[April 25, 2017] Avast Security Ambassador Garry Kasparov to Speak at re:publica

Garry Kasparov, chess grandmaster, chairman of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation, and Avast Security Ambassador, will discuss propaganda in the digital age, together with Claudio Guarnieri, Security Researcher with Citizen Lab, Senior Technologist with Amnesty Technology and Security without Borders at re:publica 2017 in Berlin. In their session, moderated by Internet politics activist Geraldine De Bastion, Kasparov and Guarnieri will discuss how state and corporate actors use and misuse the Internet for their political and commercial interests, and how this affects human rights, individual freedom, privacy and security. They will also debate how a balance between regulations and individual empowerment could be established. As a Soviet citizen and a pro-democracy leader in Russia, Kasparov has witnessed how governments abuse information to strengthen their own power. Guarnieri has extensively researched and reported human rights violations through digital technology in many countries, including Iran and Azerbaijan, and even the U.S. What: Presentation and discussion: Hacking Democracy: Power and Propaganda in the Digital Age When: Monday, May 8, 2017, 5:15 - 6:15 p.m. CET. Where: Stage 1 at re:publica 2017, STATION Berlin, Berlin-Kreuzberg, Germany Who: Garry Kasparov, Avast Security Ambassador; Claudio Guarnieri, Security ResearcherCitizen Lab and Senior Technologist Amnesty International & Host Geraldine De Bastion, re:publica



Press Conference: Prior to the session, Avast will host a press conference at re:publica, reception room, at 3:00 - 4:00p.m. CET, with Garry Kasparov and Ondrej Vlcek, Avast's CTO, and Executive Vice President and General Manager, Consumer. Kasparov will touch on the session topic, and will talk about man vs. machine interaction. Since Kasparov's historic matches against the IBM (News - Alert) supercomputer Deep Blue, he has been passionate about finding ways humans and intelligent machines could collaborate. Vlcek will then analyze how man vs. machine interaction can work in digital security, how threats can be fought with machine learning and artificial intelligence technology, and where human intelligence is required in security. Vlcek joined Avast as a software developer in 1995, became chief developer in 2003, and has driven artificial intelligence in security since its early days.

Media: If you are interested in joining the press conference, or in an interview with Garry Kasparov or Ondrej Vlcek, please contact [email protected]. About Garry Kasparov Garry Kasparov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in the Soviet Union in 1963. He became the youngest world chess champion in history in 1985 and was the world's top-rated player for 20 years, until he retired in 2005. His matches against arch-rival Anatoly Karpov and the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue popularized chess and machine intelligence in unprecedented ways. Kasparov became a pro-democracy leader in Russia and an outspoken defender of individual freedom around the world, a mission he continues as the chairman of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford-Martin School, where his lectures focus on human-machine collaboration. Kasparov is a provocative speaker who appears frequently before business, academic, and political audiences to speak about decision-making, strategy, technology, and artificial intelligence. His influential writings on politics, cognition, and tech have appeared in dozens of major publications around the world. He has written two acclaimed series of chess books and the bestsellers How Life Imitates Chess on decision-making and Winter Is Coming on Russia and Vladimir Putin. His new book, Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins comes out in May 2017. In 2016, he was named a Security Ambassador by Avast Software, where he discusses cybersecurity and the digital future. He lives in New York City with his wife Dasha and their two children. About Avast Avast (www.avast.com), the global leader in digital security products for businesses and consumers, protects over 400 million people online. Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company's threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, OPSWAT, ICSA Labs, West Coast Labs and others. Avast is backed by leading global private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Summit Partners. # # # View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005905/en/

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[April 25, 2017] Gyros Protein Technologies Signs Distribution Agreement with Luxembourg Bio Technologies for Peptide Synthesis Reagents

Gyros Protein Technologies AB, a pioneer in automated nanoliter-scale immunoassays and leading provider of peptide synthesizers and reagents, announced today it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Luxembourg Bio Technologies for two of its proprietary coupling agents, PyOxim and K-Oxyma, and HDMA on a non-exclusive basis. Gyros Protein Technologies will sell these reagents as part of its PurePep brand. Under the terms of the agreement, Gyros Protein Technologies has the exclusive rights to promote and sell these PurePep products to researchers in North America, and globally on a non-exclusive basis. The addition of the PurePep Coupling Agents to Gyros Protein Technologies' offering further enables researchers to efficiently synthesize simple to complex peptides, by increasing coupling efficiency and reducing racemization. All chemicals are 100% QC tested to deliver consistently high peptide purity and yield. The suite of PurePep Coupling reagents is available in standard and custom pack sizes. Jasmine Gruia-Gray, VP Marketing, Gyros Protein Technologies, commented: "Gyros Protein Technologies takes pride in providing high quality peptide synthesis reagents and platforms. At the core of Gyros Protein Technologies' PurePep product brand is purity, trust and ingenuity in peptide synthesis, supporting the Company's pure reliability solution strategy - synthesizers, software and reagents, which are in turn underpinned by our decades-long track record of providing customers with outstanding service and support. We are pleased to partner with Luxembourg Bio Technologies, given their strong market position as a provider of high quality and innovative peptide synthesis reagents." Gyros Protein Technologies' peptide synthesizer platforms are used in conjunction with PurePep reagents, which include bulk and pre-packed amino acids, resins, coupling agents and solvents. Peptide synthesis optimization using these reagents minimizes down time caused by clogging that can result from using impure and unstable reagents. The platforms ensure that peptides are synthesized correctl the first time, with consistent quality and reduced synthesis variability.



Yoav Luxembourg, CEO of Luxembourg Bio Technologies, said: "We are pleased to have Gyros Protein Technologies as our partner, and our distribution agreement represents an important step to enable more researchers to have access to the highest quality coupling agents designed to provide maximum yield with minimal racemization." Established in March 2016 by the merger of Gyros AB and Protein Technologies, Inc., Gyros Protein Technologies combines Gyros' microfluidics, systems development and immunoassay expertise with Protein Technologies' deep knowledge in developing and manufacturing instruments for peptide synthesis. The Company provides customers an unrivaled range of peptide synthesis and bioanalytical tools for bio therapeutics discovery, development and bioprocessing

ENDS Notes to editors About Gyros Protein Technologies (For more information please click here) Gyros Protein Technologies enables peptide synthesis and bioanalytical solutions that help scientists increase biomolecule performance and productivity in research, drug discovery, pre-clinical and clinical development, and bioprocess applications. Our low to mid-scale peptide synthesizer platforms are the Tribute, Prelude X, Symphony X, and Sonata. These solutions and our chemistries deliver uncompromising purity, flexibility, and quality for discovery and pre-clinical studies of simple to complex multifunctional peptides. Proprietary high performance nanoliter-scale immunoassay platforms, Gyrolab xP workstation and Gyrolab xPlore, are used by scientists in leading pharmaceutical, biotech, CRO, and CMO companies for bioanalytical applications such as pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, immunogenicity, and quantitating bioprocess-related impurities. Our peptide synthesis and bioanalytical solutions accelerate your discovery, development, and manufacturing of safer biotherapeutics. About Luxemburg Bio Technologies (For more information please click here) At Luxembourg Bio Technologies, we specialize in providing products to address your peptide, amides and bond reagents synthesis needs. Many of our coupling reagents, especially our proprietary products, are designed to provide maximum yield with minimal racemization. We are here to help you, whether you are using Boc, CBZ , PNZ or Fmoc chemistry, and solid-phase or solution-phase peptide synthesis. Luxembourg Bio Technologies believes in using green chemistry and sustainable methods whenever possible, and many of our products are designed to be compatible with environmental friendly conditions. We work under the most rigorous quality assurance standards available to provide you with the best possible quality products, such as COMU, HDMC, OxymaPure, PyOxim, PyBOB, DEPBT, and many others. Our products are being applied in a wide range of areas, including peptide and oligonucleotide synthesis. Luxembourg Bio Technologies patented IP materials will provide you with every advantage when facing the needs of an ever-growing pharmaceutical industry, and our sustainable production methods ensure safer products with a smaller ecological footprint. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005788/en/

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[April 25, 2017] ENSO Expands Broker Vote Tool to Offer Leading MiFID II Research Solution Powered by RSRCHXchange

ENSO, a NEX Group business and leading portfolio finance and centralized treasury management solution for the buy-side, announces today that it plans to expand the ENSO Broker Vote tool ("Broker Vote") to include MiFID II research consumption, powered by RSRCHXchange, the MiFID II compliant marketplace for institutional research. The expanded tool will provide buy-side institutions with evidence-based evaluation of research providers and budget setting to comply with upcoming 2018 regulatory requirements. The expanded Broker Vote tool will provide clients with a clear methodology for research payments, fully validating how payments for research were reached based on the quantity and quality of services provided. In addition, ENSO clients will be able to value each research provider based on their total consumption, wallet commissions and overall quality ratings. Broker Vote maintains its industry-wide known broker vote functionality while clearly linking services to payments for research and avoiding any conflicts of interest with execution under MiFID II. Matthew Bernard, Chief Executive Officer of ENSO, said: "MiFID II is a key focus not only for our clients, but for the broader marketplace in 2017. By expanding our Broker Vote tool we are able to deliver an enhanced solution to address the pivotal research requirements for both our sell-side and buy-side clients alike. At NEX, we have a strong history of partnering with bsinesses that are addressing tomorrow's issues. We are excited to collaborate with RSRCHXchange to solve this problem for our clients and the market."



Vicky Sanders, Co-Chief Executive Officer of RSRCHXchange, said: "We are excited to be working with ENSO and enhancing their Broker Vote tool. They are award-winning innovators and they are providing the industry with an evidenced Broker Vote tool, which is not only MiFID II compliant, but also best in breed." RSRCHXchange is the latest company to join Euclid Opportunities portfolio, NEX Group's financial technology investment business. RSRCHXchange launched RSRCHX, its marketplace and MiFID II workflow solution for institutional research in 2015, in anticipation of the unbundling rules which come into force in January 2018.

Pairing ENSO's community of more than $1 trillion in client assets under advisory (AUA) and 14 major broker-dealers with RSRCHXchange's more than 1,000 asset management firms and over 200 bank, broker and boutique research providers, establishes a powerful buy-side and sell-side client base who are actively preparing for MiFID II regulations. ENSO A NEX Group business. ENSO operates within NEX Optimisation which helps clients simplify complexity and optimise resources. We are a leading hedge fund service provider offering clients the ability to use critical business insights to become more competitive while strengthening their broker relationships. Our suite of intuitive, data-driven tools enhances risk and operational transparency and improves transactional efficiency, allowing multi-prime hedge funds and asset managers to optimize structural and variable costs. For more information, go to www.ensofinancial.com RSRCHXCHANGE is the MiFID II compliant marketplace for institutional research, a purpose-built unbundling solution. Designed in consultation with asset management institutions and research providers, the RSRCHX platform enables asset management firms to consume, purchase and monitor research services from banks, brokers & boutique providers in a more efficient and transparent way. RSRCHXchange was founded in 2014 by an experienced industry team and has grown its user base to over 1,000 buyside firms and over 200 research providers. To find out more, please go to www.rsrchxchange.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @rsrchx NEX GROUP PLC offers customers better ways to execute trades and manage risk. Our products and services underpin the entire trade lifecycle pre-, during and post-execution. Our electronic trading platforms are industry standards. Customers use our lifecycle management and information services to optimise portfolios, control risk and reduce costs. We partner with emerging technology companies to bring greater efficiency, transparency and scale to the world's capital markets. NEX is headquartered in London with offices worldwide. For more information, go to www.nex.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005944/en/

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[April 25, 2017] Mity Inc. Acquires XpressPort to Expand High-Capacity Furniture Storage and Transport Offerings Across Commercial Markets

Mity Inc., the parent company to an expansive array of highly durable furniture brands including MityLite and Holsag, today announced it has acquired Orlando, Florida-based company ChairPort Products, LLC conducting business under the name XpressPort. Widely known in the lodging, public assembly and educational trade spaces, the XpressPort brand is recognized for its superior, high-capacity storage and transport offerings for tables, chairs, stanchions and other equipment used in demanding environments. All XpressPort products are made in the United States. According to Mity Inc. CEO and President John Dudash, "This acquisition is a great addition to our growing portfolio of product collections. XpressPort complements our existing chair and table cart lines and will enhance offerings to customers, providing more options for ease of use, maneuverability and protection of their investment." "XpressPort is the 'gold standard' of table and chair portability for a variety of commercial applications," said Ken Hufstater, XpressPort owner and president. "We are excited about the national and global growth potential that the Mity acquisition offers and see a very bright future ahead ofus."



The XpressPort acquisition follows quickly on the heels of Mity Inc.'s procurement of Holsag Canada in January 2017. Dudash added, "As we continue to grow, we further solidify Mity Inc. as a furniture leader in multiple vertical markets. The addition of XpressPort is another strategic step in the right direction."

Headquartered in Orem, Utah, Mity Inc. is the parent company to MityLite, Holsag Canada, BRODA Seating, and the newly acquired XpressPort. MityLite is a manufacturer of award-winning and professionally designed furniture products for the global commercial marketplace. Holsag manufactures chairs and casegoods focused on the senior living, healthcare, education and hospitality markets. BRODA delivers a unique line of tilt-in-space positioning wheelchairs that have been improving people's lives for more than 35 years. As part of a strategic growth plan, Mity Inc. has acquired XpressPort to expand its superior storage and transport product collection. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425005518/en/

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[April 25, 2017] Pennsylvania Superior Court Upholds $55 Million Seat Belt Defect Verdict Eisenberg Rothweiler Secured Against Honda

As reported both nationally and in The Legal Intelligencer, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has affirmed a record-setting $55 million jury verdict against Honda (News - Alert) Motor Company from a product liability lawsuit involving a seat belt defect. The plaintiff in the case, Carlos Martinez, is represented by Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck attorneys Stewart Eisenberg and Daniel J. Sherry, Jr. Following the trial court verdict, Honda appealed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court and contended there should be a new trial for multiple reasons. Honda claimed that the trial court should have allowed Honda to present evidence that the 1999 Acura Integra complied with industry and federal standards. However, the Superior Court rejected that argument, agreeing with the trial court that the evidence was inadmissible. The Superior Court also determined that the trial court properly charged the jury in light of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's ruling in Tincher v. Omega Flex. Furthermore, the Superior Court rejected Honda's contention that te jury was improperly instructed on the correct legal standards pertaining to warnings, and refused Honda's request to reduce the amount of the jury's verdict.



Stewart and Daniel secured the $55 million jury verdict for Mr. and Mrs. Martinez against Honda after a Philadelphia jury determined that the seatbelt installed in the 1999 Acura Integra was defectively designed and caused Mr. Martinez to strike his head on the vehicle's roof during a low-speed rollover. This caused Mr. Martinez, a beloved husband, father, and wage-earner, to become a motorized wheelchair dependent quadriplegic who is now forced to rely on others for all activities of daily living. The jury also determined that Honda failed to adequately warn Mr. Martinez of the dangers associated with the seatbelt, given that Honda knew, since 1992, that that seatbelt would not protect occupants of the Integra in the event of a rollover. When asked for his thoughts on the case, Stewart Eisenberg said, "On behalf of our clients, we are pleased with the unanimous decision by the Superior Court affirming the verdict that was handed down by the jury in Philadelphia almost 3 years ago."

Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck offers free, no-obligation confidential consultations. To set up a consultation, call (866) 569-3400 or fill out an online contact form at http://www.erlegal.com/contact/. Se Habla Espanol. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006174/en/

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[April 25, 2017] MainOne Launches Data Center Project in Sagamu, Ogun State

LAGOS, Nigeria, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- West Africa's leading connectivity and data center solutions provider, MainOne has pledged its commitment to boost Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Ogun State with a data center project in Sagamu. During a recent courtesy visit of the company's Board and Management to the Executive Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and his cabinet, the company's Chairman, Fola Adeola, disclosed MainOne's plans to make investments that will boost ICT development in the state. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/494071/MainOne_Data_Center.jpg )

Affirming the company's commitment to the digital transformation of Nigeria, Mr. Adeola highlighted the untapped investment opportunities in the country, noting that ICT infrastructure investments will support rapid technology proliferation in the State. "Given its market and reputation as haven for manufacturing and other enterprises, growth potential, investment-friendly dispositin and proximity to Lagos State, Ogun State has the potential to become one of the major hubs of industrialization in Nigeria. Technology has a major role to play in that evolution. The focus of the state government on infrastructural development is a welcome development, and technology will be critical to achieve the full potential for economic development," Mr. Adeola said.



In his comments, the Governor highlighted the investor-friendly posture of his administration, and its focus to 'Rebuild the Gateway State', which is already attracting a significant portion of new FDI investments into Nigeria to the state. "We believe that infrastructure development is a vital component for Ogun State's economic growth and have continued to invest in new road and rail infrastructure within the state, which is already transforming the ease of doing business. In addition, Ogun State has a network of 21 tertiary institutions, which guarantees employers a capable indigenous workforce," he said. Corroborating these statements, the Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Funke Opeke explained, "As a pioneering broadband company in Nigeria, we are excited to partner with Ogun State by creating in Sagamu a technology hub, capable of attracting local and international technology companies to do business in the state. This is similar to what we have achieved in Lagos, where we transformed the Yaba area into Nigeria's undisputed 'Silicon Valley' that is now attracting international attention and investments. Yaba is home to a significant number of Nigeria's tech hubs and start up community and has created thousands of direct jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs, by stimulation of the ISP, eCommerce and ICT sectors."

MainOne hopes to start building its Data Center in Sagamu, Ogun State later this year. The facility which is based in the Flowergate Industrial Park is designed to provide services to the burgeoning base of industry in Ogun State and serve as a backup for businesses in Lagos who will enjoy easy access through the Lagos-Ibadan expressway once repairs are complete.

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[April 25, 2017] REV Group Fire Division E-ONE Provides a Preview of the First Metro 100 Quint for Sarasota County

REV Group (NYSE: REVG), a $2+ billion manufacturer of industry-leading motor vehicle brands and leading provider of parts and services, is pleased to announce the delivery of the first E-ONE Metro 100 Quint (News - Alert) to Sarasota County Fire Department in Sarasota County, FL. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006339/en/ FDIC Metro 100 Quint (Photo: Business Wire) Since 1985, Sarasota County Fire Department has been a loyal E-ONE customer, and has purchased over 35 E-ONE fire trucks. The new E-ONE Metro 100 Quint is the latest addition to Sarasota County's fleet, demonstrating their confidence in E-ONE as a buyer of the first unit. E-ONE is featuring a sneak peak of the Metro 100 Quint at the FDIC International 2017 in Indianapolis, IN, April 27-29th, 2017. The Metro 100 Quint features include: 100' ladder on a single rear axle

Compact design with a 235" wheelbase that provides great maneuverability

Choice of LTH 100, HM 100 or 110' aerial device, each featuring a 2.5:1 structural safety factor, which is a 25% increase over NFPA industry standards.

Advanced Aerial Control System (AACS) or direct hydraulic controls

Integral torque box chassis constructed with formed high strength steel

Crisscross under-slung jacks with only 11'spread

24K Dana front beam axle with taper leaf springs

35K Dana rear axle with Link Atlas air suspension

Cyclone  3/16" extruded aluminum cab with roll cage construction

3/16" extruded aluminum cab with roll cage construction Extruded aluminum body with SideStacker TM hosebed, full depth compartments and raised rear body perimeter for improved departure angle

hosebed, full depth compartments and raised rear body perimeter for improved departure angle Up to 2,000 GPM pump

300 or 500 gallon water tank

156' of ground ladders



Cummins  ISX12 500 HP with Allison  EVS4000 transmission

ISX12 500 HP with Allison EVS4000 transmission Severe duty front bumper with two hydraulic reels and tray for hydraulic rescue tools

Split raised roof

Severe duty interior

300 gallon water tank

Three pre-connected handlines over pump

Storage for (8) SCBA bottles in wheelwell

8KW Harrison  hydraulic generator with IHT TM

hydraulic generator with IHT Genesis  PTO / hydraulic driven Mach  III hydraulic rescue tool system

PTO / hydraulic driven Mach III hydraulic rescue tool system HM100 aerial with waterway to 80' and wireless controls for the monitor

AACS with ladder tip controls Sarasota County Fire Department is located on the west coast of Florida and operates 29 Fire/ EMS stations where they run over 60,000 Fire and EMS calls annually.

"Departments that operate in congested areas will find great value in the new Metro 100 single axle Quint," says E-ONE Product Manager, Joe Hedges, "Its compact size gives them the ease of maneuverability while providing a 100' aerial, pump, tank, hosebed and generous ladder complement. As an added bonus the narrow jack spread of only 11' allows the unit to set up in limited space." For more information regarding E-ONE Metro 100 Quint, contact your local dealer or visit www.e-one.com About Rev Group REV (NYSE: REVG) is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of specialty vehicles and related aftermarket parts and services. We serve a diversified customer base primarily in the United States through three segments: Fire & Emergency, Commercial and Recreation. We provide customized vehicle solutions for applications including: essential needs (ambulances, fire apparatus, school buses, mobility vans and municipal transit buses), industrial and commercial (terminal trucks, cut-away buses and street sweepers) and consumer leisure (recreational vehicles ("RVs") and luxury buses). Our brand portfolio consists of 29 well-established principal vehicle brands including many of the most recognizable names within our served markets. Several of our brands pioneered their specialty vehicle product categories and date back more than 50 years. Investors-REVG View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006339/en/

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[April 25, 2017] Hubbell Incorporated Acquires Leading IoT Brand iDevices

AVON, Conn., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- iDevices, the preeminent brand in the connected home industry, announced today that they have been acquired by Hubbell Incorporated of Shelton, Connecticut. iDevices will join Hubbell's large portfolio of brands that manufacture and sell electrical and electronic products for residential, commercial, industrial, and utility applications. The basis for acquisition is clear with the companies' shared focus on innovation, synergistic product portfolios and common paths to market. By joining the Hubbell family, iDevices secures the backing and capabilities of a well-established industry leader, while Hubbell strengthens its innovation engine with iDevices' knowledge and expertise in the connected Internet of Things (IoT) marketplace. Building on a Rich Heritage of Innovation and Invention Since its inception more than a century ago, Hubbell has been known for its creativity and consistent drive toward innovation. Founder Harvey Hubbell created early patents for the "pull chain lamp socket" and "separable plug and receptacle," which pushed his company into an era of creativity; inventing new ways to serve its growing customer base of businesses, manufacturers, utilities and homeowners. Nearly 120 years later, Christopher Allen, CEO and founder of iDevices, found himself in a similar situation, building his company around one of the first app-enabled inventions, the iGrill, a Bluetooth-enabled cooking thermometer. The iGrill was the first of its kind, bringing the company to the forefront of the IoT market, which laid the foundation foriDevices' leadership position in the connected space. Today, iDevices employs more than 65 people and its team of in-house engineers and software developers are transforming the way we interact with our home's power, lighting and climate control systems. iDevices' premium line of smart home products can be controlled via iOS or Android devices and through voice control with products like Amazon's Echo.



"Hubbell was born at the dawn of electricity, iDevices at the dawn of IoT," says Christopher Allen. "We are at the precipice of a revolution in technology that will forever change people's lives and the way they interact with the world around them. Today, we proudly join the Hubbell family and in so doing, solidify iDevices' and Hubbell's place in this revolution." Leveraging Each Other's Strengths Moving Forward

The new iDevices, backed by Hubbell, creates an operating model poised to deliver significant value to customers and shareholders alike. Combining iDevices' experience in developing and designing smart home solutions with Hubbell's extensive expertise in manufacturing and distribution across residential, commercial and industrial markets will lay the perfect groundwork for a partnership in IoT at a significant scale. "Hubbell was built on the designs of visionaries like Harvey Hubbell, and for almost 130 years has been the industry leader in innovation. That is why I am so excited to welcome iDevices to the Hubbell team," said Jim Van Hoof, VP of Growth & Innovation at Hubbell. "The combination of iDevices' cutting edge expertise in connected devices with Hubbell's technology and vast product portfolio will drive the next wave of innovation in our industry." For more information on iDevices and its products, visit www.iDevicesinc.com. About iDevices, LLC iDevices, the preeminent brand in the smart home industry, is making IoT accessible to everyone with their premium line of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled products. With a comprehensive set of both plug-and-play and in-wall solutions, iDevices manufactures connected power, lighting, and climate control solutions for homeowners, professional installers, and builders alike. Their world-class team of in-house engineers and software developers maintain a forward-looking approach to in-field upgrades and platform integration; ensuring their products always remain at the forefront of home automation. iDevices seamlessly connects people to their worlds with sophisticated technology that enhances everyday life. For more information, visit iDevicesinc.com. About Hubbell Incorporated Hubbell Incorporated is an international manufacturer of quality electrical and electronic products for a broad range of non-residential and residential construction, industrial and utility applications. With 2016 revenues of $3.5 billion, Hubbell Incorporated operates manufacturing facilities in the United States and around the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Shelton, Conn. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hubbell-incorporated-acquires-leading-iot-brand-idevices-300445367.html SOURCE iDevices, LLC

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[April 25, 2017] PhishMe CEO Rohyt Belani Selected as Finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017 Award Mid-Atlantic Region

PhishMe (www.phishme.com) today announced that EY has named CEO and co-founder Rohyt Belani as a finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017 Award in the Mid-Atlantic region. The awards program, which is celebrating its 31st year, recognizes entrepreneurs who are excelling in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Rohyt Belani was selected as a finalist by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala event on June 15, 2017 at the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner. As CEO and co-founder of PhishMe, Rohyt has overseen yet another year of record growth in 2016 with an Annual Run Rate (ARR) approaching $50 million and more than 300 employees now serving 1,200 enterprise customers world-wide to defend against cybercriminals, hacktivists and state-sponsored hackers. Under his stewardship, the company's approach to tackling the number one attack vector - phishing - has also earned it a leadership position in the Gartner (News - Alert) Magic Quadrant for Security Awareness Computer Based Training. Instead of relying solely on technology, PhishMe's approach delivers innovative solutions that combine human and technological elements to protect against today's evolving cyber threats. Its platform is interactive and is designed to modify behavior through learning and engagement. "To be recognized two years in a row as an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is an incredible accomplishment, and a testament to the hard work of the entire PhishMe team," said Belani. "I'm especially proud of our company's culture that is built on a foundation of meritocracy, empathy, and transparency." Now in its 31st year, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in over 145 cities and more than 60 countries throughout the world. Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National competition. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced at the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 18, 2017. The awards are the culminating event of the Strategic Growth ForumTM, the nation's most prestigious gathering of high-rowth, market-leading companies.



Connect with PhishMe Follow PhishMe on Twitter (News - Alert): https://twitter.com/phishme

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Founded and produced by EY, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored in the US by SAP (News - Alert) America, Merrill Corporation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the Mid-Atlantic region, sponsors also include Jones Lang LaSalle, PNC (News - Alert), Chatham Financial, Cooley LLP, SolomonEdwardsGroup and the Washington Business Journal. About PhishMe PhishMe is the leading provider of human-focused phishing defense solutions for organizations concerned about their susceptibility to today's top attack vector - spear phishing. PhishMe's intelligence-driven platform turns employees into an active line of defense by enabling them to identify, report, and mitigate spear phishing, malware, and drive-by threats. Our open approach ensures that PhishMe integrates easily into the security technology stack, demonstrating measurable results to help inform an organization's security decision making process. PhishMe's customers include the defense industrial base, energy, financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing industries, as well as other Global 1000 entities that understand changing user security behavior will improve security, aid incident response, and reduce the risk of compromise. About Entrepreneur Of The Year Entrepreneur Of The Year, founded by EY, is the world's most prestigious business awards program for entrepreneurs, chosen from an independent panel of judges including entrepreneurs and prominent leaders from business, finance, and the local community. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global awards program of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in over 145 cities and more than 60 countries. ey.com/eoy About EY's Growth Markets Network EY's worldwide Growth Markets Network is dedicated to serving the changing needs of high-growth companies. For more than 30 years, we've helped many of the world's most dynamic and ambitious companies grow into market leaders. Whether working with international mid-cap companies or early stage, venture-backed businesses, our professionals draw upon their extensive experience, insight and global resources to help your business succeed. For more information, please visit us at ey.com/sgm or follow news on Twitter @EY_Growth. About EY EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006472/en/

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[April 25, 2017] Vehicles for Change to Host Prison Reentry Town Hall Meeting

Baltimore area nonprofit Vehicles for Change, Inc. (VFC) today announced that they will host their second annual Prison Reentry Town Hall Meeting at Full Circle Service Center. The town hall will take place at their Halethorpe location on Wednesday, April 26th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. A Resource Fair for returning citizens and their families will precede the Meeting from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. WBAL-TV's investigative reporter Jayne Miller will moderate the discussion panels made up of reentry experts and representatives from the Maryland Transit Administration, Maryland Correctional Enterprises, Crossroads Freedom Center, Jane Addams Resource Corporation, and other organizations. "It is important to have conversations around returning citizens and their need to become productive in society. The town hall puts all of the resources in one room which is not just beneficial to returning citizens but also to other programs in order to cross provide wrap-around services," said the Director of Vehices for Change's Automotive Reentry Internship Program, Nikki Zaahir.



The town hall topics will emphasize the challenges that ex-offenders experience when re-entering society while searching for ways to address those challenges through various channels. After each panel discussion the floor will be open to the audience for questions and answers. The resource fair has been added this year and will include representatives from reentry assistance organizations that will provide literature and information for ex-offenders and their family members. Zaahir explains, "What makes Vehicles for Change's Center for Automotive Careers special is that they provide paid training. This is important because returning citizens come home to massive bills and responsibilities that are not negated by their prison time."

Vehicles for Change has been providing a second chance to returning citizens since September 2013, through its Center for Automotive Careers. The program offers an automotive internship that provides interns with Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) classroom training as well as hands-on training under the supervision of a master mechanic. The interns work on fixing up donated cars that are awarded to low-income families at minimal cost. Interns also work on cars for the public through Vehicles for Change's Automotive Garage, Full Circle Service Center. Please direct all media inquiries and requests to Monica Johnson at 410-242-9674 or by email at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006664/en/

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[April 25, 2017] Crown Castle Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Stock

HOUSTON, 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI) (Crown Castle) announced today that it is commencing an offering of 4,750,000 shares of its common stock in a registered public offering, subject to market and other conditions. Crown Castle intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, which may include the funding of acquisitions, including the proposed acquisition of Wilcon Holdings LLC (Wilcon Acquisition), discretionary investments and the repayment or repurchase of outstanding indebtedness. This offering is not contingent upon the consummation of the Wilcon Acquisition.

Barclays, RBC Capital Markets, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan are acting as underwriters in connection with the offering.

The offering is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus, copies of which may be obtained by contacting the underwriters using the information provided below. An electronic copy of the preliminary prospectus supplement, together with the accompanying prospectus, is also available on the SECs website, wwwsec.gov.





This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on Crown Castle managements current expectations. Such statements include plans, projections and estimates regarding the proposed offering, including the use of proceeds therefrom. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including prevailing market conditions and other factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. More information about potential risk factors that could affect Crown Castle and its results is included in Crown Castles filings with the SEC. The term including, and any variation thereof, means including, without limitation. Contacts: Dan Schlanger, CFO

Son Nguyen, VP & Treasurer

Crown Castle International Corp.

713-570-3050 UNDERWRITER CONTACT INFORMATION Barclays Capital Inc.,

1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717

Attn: Broadridge Financial Solutions

Toll-free: 1-888-603-5847

[email protected] Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions,

1155 Long Island Avenue,

Edgewood, NY 11717

(Tel: 800-831-9146) RBC Capital Markets LLC,

200 Vesey Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY

10281-8098

Attn: Equity Syndicate

Toll-free: 1-877-822-4089

[email protected]

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions

1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717

Attn: Prospectus Department

Toll-free: 1-866-803-9204

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[April 25, 2017] Glemham Underwriting Implements Majesco CloudInsurer for Their Innovative New Online Bureau

Majesco (NYSE MKT: MJCO), a global provider of core insurance software, consulting and services for insurance business transformation, today announced that Glemham, a UK-based Managing General Agent (MGA), implemented Majesco CloudInsurer as the foundation of their new cloud based bureau processing business. On full roll out, the new bureau business is expected to enable significant reduction in the cost of transacting general insurance in the UK market by reducing operational processing expense ratios by up to 12 percentage points. The platform will deliver Net Rated products to all distribution channels, supporting full cycle processing across the Internet. The initial implementation provides commercial lines insurance to both the broker channel and direct to the small medium enterprise (SME) markets. John Cross, Managing Director of Glemham Underwriting Limited, commented, "We are excited to have our newest Internet related businesses up and running, leveraging the Majesco CloudInsurer platform. Our decision to work with Majesco has been reinforced during every step of the implementation process. We believe Majesco is, as anticipated, proving to be a great strategic partner as we grow our business." "Glemham's Vision will bring an exciting option to the UK general insurance market and we are delighted to be able to contribute to, and be part of, this innovative business model," commented Mike Smart, Director of Business Development Majesco. "This implementation reflects the opportunity for the UK general insurance market to rethink the business with cloud-based insurance platform that can not only eliminate legacy system challenges, but provide a platform designed to enable agility, innovation and speed to compete in a new digital era. We are excited to be their strategic partner and look forward to furthering their vision." Majesco CloudInsurer leverages Majesco's experience with over 30 cloud customers, providing a business platform with broad appeal for all insurers from greenfields, new start-ups and incubators to mid-market and tier one insurers. Majesco CloudInsurer provides a core insurance software platform leveraging Majesco core solutions with a digital, multi-channel platform leveraging Majesco About Glemham Glmham Underwriting Limited was launched in early 2006 and is a prominent MGA in both the broker and online market places, underwriting risks from the sole practitioner to large multinational firms from its offices in London, Framlingham in Suffolk and Fife, Scotland.



About Majesco Insurance business transformation is a journey of change and revitalization, a renaissance of Insurance. Approximately 150 insurance companies worldwide in P&C, L&A and Group/ Employee Benefits are transforming their businesses with Majesco's solutions. Our market leading software, consulting and services uniquely underpin the entire insurance value chain and are designed to empower insurers with the agility, innovation and speed needed to meet their transformation opportunities. Majesco's solutions include policy management, new business / underwriting, rating, billing, claims management, distribution management, BI/ analytics, predictive modeling, digital platform with mobile and portal, testing services, cloud services, bureau and content services, transformation services, consulting services and more. For more details on Majesco, please visit www.majesco.com.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of management, are not guarantees of performance and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. These forward-looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various important factors, including those set forth in Majesco's reports that it files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and which you should review, including those statements under "Item 1A - Risk Factors" in Majesco's Annual Report on Form 10-K. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to: integration risks; changes in economic conditions, political conditions, trade protection measures, licensing requirements and tax matters; technology development risks; intellectual property rights risks; competition risks; additional scrutiny and increased expenses as a result of being a public company; the financial condition, financing requirements, prospects and cash flow of Majesco; loss of strategic relationships; changes in laws or regulations affecting the insurance industry in particular; restrictions on immigration; the ability and cost of retaining and recruiting key personnel; the ability to attract new clients and retain them and the risk of loss of large customers; continued compliance with evolving laws; customer data and cybersecurity risk; and Majesco's ability to raise capital to fund future growth. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as predictions of future events and Majesco cannot assure you that the events or circumstances discussed or reflected in these statements will be achieved or will occur. If such forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. You should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by Majesco or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified timeframe, or at all. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this presentation. Majesco disclaims any obligation to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170425006918/en/

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The President of the African Development Bank (AFDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, says the $280 million approved by the bank would be used to encourage Nigerian youths to go into agro-business.Adesina, represented by Dr Chiji Ojukwu, a Director in AFDB, stated this on Tuesday in Ibadan at the African Youth Agripreneurs (AYA) Forum organised by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that forum was convened to attract youths across Africa into agribusiness as well as mentor them to invest in agriculture.Adesina said with IITA training initiative and the financial support from AFDB, more youths would be interested to go into agribusiness. He said that AFDB was working with 33 countries to give assistance to youths in agriculture.Adesina said Zambia, Sudan, GR Congo, Cameroon and Nigeria had already been given necessary assistance in 2016.He said that the bank was targeting 37,000 youths in Nigeria who would be given $50,000 each as support in agriculture business.The $280m that we have approved for Nigeria cannot be enough; we need $1.8 billion to accommodate the 37,000 youths.This is why we are giving 80 per cent of the money to commercial banks so that they can lend from their own balance sheet and we expect that every dollar we put in would generate five dollars, he said.Adesina said the programme was for young graduates who could easily be trained on agriculture.He said that evidence had shown that youths could become the driving force of agricultural transformation in Nigeria if given access to the agribusiness enterprise.Mr Ken Lohento, the Programme Coordinator, Technical Centre for Agriculture (CTA), highlighted various job opportunities in Agripreneur which may not involve working on the farms.Lonhento said that most youths were not aware of these opportunities, resulting in many of them shunning the agriculture sector.
An Africa without polio is within reach. So is the vision of getting life-saving vaccines to every child. Success will generate more enthusiasm and support from across different sectors, write Aliko Dangote and Bill Gates in this opinion piece circulated from New York:This week, more than 138,000 vaccinators will fan out across five African countries in the Lake Chad area in a push to eliminate polio in Africa and rid the world of this terrible disease forever.They will take boats across fast-flowing rivers, ride jeeps along sandy ravines, walk crowded street in towns and cities and navigate cramped quarters of refugee camps to ensure that every child is immunized. Traveling for hours a day, these dedicated women and men will visit children in homes, schools, train stations, and transit points across Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic.This also marks World Immunization Week, a coordinated effort to make sure that people everywhere understand the importance of getting immunized to protect against vaccine-preventable diseases.And by coincidence, it was almost seven years ago that the two of us first met in a hotel conference room in Abuja, Nigerias capital. We were there as part of a diverse grouppublic officials, religious leaders, business people, polio survivors, and journaliststo discuss how we could work together to stop polio in Nigeria.At the time, Nigeria had done an amazing job tackling polioreducing reported cases by 95 percent in just one year. But it was still circulating in six Nigerian states. While 95 percent might seem like success, as long as a single child remains infected, children across Africa and around the world are at risk.Thanks to the effort of so many, Nigerias Borno State is now the only place in Africa today where polio is still circulating. It will take ingenuity to end polio there, and it will take persistence to continue reaching children in the surrounding area with vaccines to protect them from the disease until it is eradicated. But were confident it can be done. And when that happens, Africa will celebrate one of the biggest victories ever in public health.Since our first meeting in 2010, the two of us have worked together on a range of other projects to help improve health in Nigeria and across Africa.We supported the establishment of emergency operations centers in Nigeria and other countries to keep polio from spreading. This turned out to be a blessing during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. When the disease first appeared in Nigeriaan international travel hub that is home to more than 180 million peoplethe staff of an emergency operations center set up in Lagos jumped into action and stopped the disease in its tracks. Its almost unimaginable to think what would have happened without them.In the state of Kano, we are working with the government to ensure that children can get essential childhood immunizations against tetanus, pneumonia, liver cancer and measles. And when parents bring their children into a clinic for vaccinations, health workers can address other health issues, too, like nutrition, care for pregnant mothers and newborns and malaria prevention and treatment. We have since widened the program to several other states.Vaccines are also one of the best tools to save lives in an epidemic, such as the meningitis C outbreak happening now in Nigeria and other West African countries.And because of the devastating impact malnutrition has on Nigerias children  leading to 300,000 deaths annually and causing stunted growth and development in millions more  we have expanded our partnership to include nutrition programs across 12 states.Earlier this year, we also helped launch the End Malaria Council, a group of influential public and private sector leaders committed to ensuring that malaria eradication remains a top global priority.Underlying all these efforts is our belief that strengthening health systems is the key to breaking the cycle of extreme poverty and diseaseand kick-starting a virtuous cycle of health, productivity, and prosperity.In our work together, we have learned a few important lessons.First, improving the health of communities depends on a successful partnership between government, communities, religious and business leaders, volunteers, and NGOs. This ensures that everyone is rowing in the same direction. And it is essential to building trust so parents have the confidence that vaccines are safe and will protect their children from life-threatening diseases.Second, we must keep innovating to speed up progress. This month, for example, vaccinators will test a new vaccine carrier that keeps the temperature of vaccines stable for up to five days, even in blistering heat. This breakthrough will enable vaccinators to finally reach children in extremely remote areas with life-saving vaccines.Last, accurate and reliable data is central to any effort to improve health. Data can tell a health officer which communities are running low on vaccine supplies, where there are gaps in vaccination coverage, and which new mothers need reminders to take their babies to the health clinic to be immunized.An Africa without polio is within reach. So is the vision of getting life-saving vaccines to every child. Success will generate more enthusiasm and support from across different sectors  government, business, civil society, the media  to tackle other killer diseases and the underlying conditions that affect peoples health, including fixing broken health systems.We know that strengthening health systems takes time and diligence. We are optimistic that Africa can achieve the future it aspires to. That future depends on people working togetheracross national borders and across socioeconomic stratato build the better world we all want.
A Minna High Court on Tuesday ordered the remand in prison custody of former governor of Niger state, Babangida Aliyu, who styled himself the Chief servant, while in office.He is standing trial over alleged N4.568 billion fraud and abuse of office.Aliyu was docked alongside his former Chief of Staff , Umar Nasko, on a six -count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, punishable under Section 97 and 312 of the Penal Code.The defendants were accused of conspiring and dishonestly converting to personal use funds amounting to N4.568 billion , belonging to the Niger State Government.According to the EFCC, the funds are for ecological projects, as well as proceeds realised from the sale of 16 per cent shares of the state in the North-South Power Company.Ayodele Oladeji (SAN) and Mamman Osuman (SAN), who appeared as lead counsel for the 1st and 2nd defendants respectively, applied for the bail of their clients as they pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them.They argued that the defendants were always available when invited by the EFCC, adding there was no evidence they would jump bail.The defence counsel, however, prayed the court to remand the defendants in EFCC custody, if the was going to fix a date for hearing of the bail application.The EFCC prosecutor, Gbolahan Latona, opposed the bail application, arguing that it would jeopardise investigations.The EFCC prosecutor also opposed remanding the defendants in EFCC custody, saying that accused persons were usually remanded in prison custody once the court takes `cognisance of the case.Justice Aliyu Mayaki, ordered that the defendants be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the matter till May 3 for ruling on the bail application.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the two-time governor, who served between 2007 and 2015, had been in the custody of the EFCC since April 4.The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna promptly deployed 30 armed men to Minna prison after the ruling by the court.Mr Philip Ayuba, Commandant of the Corps, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna shortly after the court sitting.Ayuba said that movement of cars, motorcycles and other vehicles to the prison would be closely monitored.We will be patrolling the metropolis along with the Police and the DSS against any unforeseen circumstances, he said.He said the NSCDC personnel deployed would complement the efforts of the prison officers managing the prison against any security threat.The commandant warned residents against any form of demonstration around the prison as anyone caught would be dealt with.
The Federal Ministry of Health has unveiled a Made in Nigeria insecticide treated mosquito nets as part of efforts to eliminate malaria scourge in the country.The locally produced mosquito nets are adjudged to be long lasting insecticides treated nets.Prof. Isaac Adewole, the Minister of Health, unveiled the product on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing newsmen as part of the activities to commemorate the 2017 World Malaria Day.Adewole said he was against using Nigerian money to buy nets from another country and challenged indigenous companies to produce the nets in the country.I am very happy to declare to this gathering that the challenge was taken up and it has yielded result.I was told that there are three companies; one each in Aba, Lagos and Abuja taking up the challenge, he said.The minister said the nets were made in Aba, one of the manufacturing hubs of the country, adding: I can tell you if it is made in Aba, it must be good.Adewole said that there was a good market for the product in the country, stressing that Nigeria needs at least 30 million nets annually.He said Nigeria through the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) has achieved remarkable targets in the implementation of its various interventions put in place to curb the menace of malaria disease.He said that it was noteworthy that the thrust of malaria control in Nigeria was prevention through multiple strategies such as vector control and prevention of malaria in pregnancy.According to Adewole, Nigeria has instituted the policy of testing before treatment with the deployment of the Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kits nationwide.Training and capacities of healthcare providers have been built in both private and public sectors on the use of RDT.Presently diagnostic services for malaria using the test kit can be accessed cheaply at all levels of the healthcare delivery, most especially the community level, he said.Adewole said the ministry and partners had distributed over 58.8 million LLINs during the replacement campaign that was conducted in 22 states between December 2013 and September 2016.The Country Representative of World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Wondi Alemu, said malaria remained one of the public health priorities of WHO in Africa.Alemu, represented by Dr Rex Mpazanje, said malaria had been responsible for the annual death of over 400,000 people globally.He said the theme of the 2017 World Malaria Day, which is `End Malaria for Good, befitted the resolve of the country to accelerate and sustain efforts towards defeating malaria.Alemu, however, noted that countries including Nigeria had been committed on ending malaria by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets.He described the Day as an important occasion to renew the commitment and galvanise continued domestic and external investment for malaria prevention and control.Alemu said WHO had adopted the framework for the implementation of global technical strategy for malaria 2016-2030 and urged Nigeria to domesticate the global strategy.He added that the blueprint described priority interventions and actions for countries, providing strategic approaches to progress towards malaria elimination in Africa.WHO wishes to commit its continued partnership and support to the government of Nigeria in helping the country to overcome challenges of malaria control at all level, he said.
In an action reminiscent of the days of the dreaded Decree 4 of 1984, the Chief security Officer (CSO) attached to President Mohammadu Buhari, Bashir Abubakar yesterday ordered the expulsion and confiscation of the accreditation tag given to The Punch reporter, Lekan Adetayo, barring the journalist from covering the presidential villa.The CSO had earlier barred State House correspondents from driving into the villa in their private cars.But the Presidency yesterday distanced itself from the expulsion of the reporter on the orders of Buharis CSO.The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, said his office was not consulted prior to the expulsion. This is another indication of a lack of cohesion in the presidency. Responding through his twitter handle, the presidential spokesman said: We were not consulted in the media office by the CSO before he expelled The Punch reporter.Stating that his boss was committed to press freedom, the spokesman added that an amicable solution would be found to The Punch reporter matter. President Buhari does not intend to muzzle the media in any way.Apparently miffed by reports, considered unpalatable to the image of the current administration, Abubakar yesterday withdrew the accreditation given to Lekan Adetayo as the reporter covering the Presidential Villa for his medium. He was marched out of the State House by the Officer-in-Charge of the Department of Stare Services (OC DSS).Adetayo was earlier grilled by the CSO for about three hours and forced to write a detailed statement of his knowledge about the content of the published stories before his accreditation tag was seized. He was later led to retrieve his working tools and other personal effects from the council chambers. The facility also serves as a press workroom.It was further learnt that the CSO had issued a stern warning to the expelled reporter in January this year over reports on an accidental discharge from a security personnel which injured a female official of the Villa.Adetayo, who later spoke to State House correspondents via telephone, explained that he had on Saturday and Sunday authored two stories whose content the CSO considered injurious to the president and the nation at large.He said the CSO was particularly irked by the reports which hinted that there was a fresh anxiety over the state of health of President Buhari. The number one citizen returned to the country on March 10 this year after a 49-day medical vacation in London, United Kingdom.On assumption of office, Buhari had ordered the restoration of a Deutsche Welle, a German radio station correspondent, Ubale Musa, expelled by security aides of former President Goodluck Jonathan.Ubale was expelled for daring to ask a visiting Chadian leader a question that was perceived to be embarrassing to the then government. The action was widely criticised by Nigerians who saw the development as a clampdown on the media in the wake of the Freedom of Information (FOI) law.The infamous Decree No. 4, which was drafted on March 29, 1984 during the military era of Buhari was the most dreaded and repressive press law enacted in Nigeria. It was promulgated during the military regime of Major General Buhari who, at the time, did not take kindly to press criticisms.The law was drafted to punish authors of statements and reports that exposed the Buhari administration and or its officials to ridicule or contempt. Section 1 sub-sections (i), (ii) and (iii) of the law  the most formidable section  provided that: 1. Any person who publishes in any form, whether written or otherwise, any message, rumour, report or statement, being a message, rumour, statement or report which is false in any material particular or which brings or is calculated to bring the Federal Military Government or the Government of a State or public officer to ridicule or disrepute, shall be guilty of an offence under this Decree.Through the decree, two journalists of The Guardian, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Iraboh, were jailed on July 4, 1984 by a military tribunal . Buharis security officials, immediately after his declaration as President-elect, barred the African Independent Television (AIT) from covering his activities until further notice. The ban was later lifted after Nigerians mounted pressure on him through the media.The president had during his inaugural speech called on the mass media to exercise restraint in the discharge of its statutory duties. President Buhari who made this call at the Eagle Square, Abuja, immediately he was sworn in as the sixth executive President of Nigeria, maintained that the Nigerian Press was the most vibrant in Africa.
Olalekan Adetayo: back in Aso Villa

Nigerias Presidency has recalled the Correspondent of Punch Newspapers, Olalekan Adetayo, attached to the State House, Abuja, barely 10 hours after his expulsion from the beat.The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, confirmed this development in a message addressed to the Chairman of the State House Press Corps, Malam Ubale Musa.The presidential spokesman revealed that the recall of Adetayo followed the intervention of the Director-General of the Department for State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura.According to him, his office and that of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity will resolve the issue on Tuesday.We just got a clearance from Malam Lawal Daura, the DG SSS, to recall Lekan to the Villa. Please come along with him tomorrow.The Special Adviser on Media, Femi Adesina and I will resolve the issues, he said.It would be recalled Adetayo was interrogated on Monday afternoon by the office of the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the president over a story the presidency considered offensive.The correspondent, who spent about 45 minutes with his interrogators, was later escorted out of the Presidential Villa by security operatives after picking his belongings from the Press Gallery of the Council Chamber.Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, however, posted on his twitter handle on Monday evening that his office was not consulted before Adetayo was expelled from the Villa by the CSO.According to him, an amicable solution to the matter is being worked out by relevant offices in the Villa, adding that President Buhari does not intend to muzzle the media in any way.
Operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, and men of the Nigerian Prisons Service, DSS, returned the leader of the Indigenous P...

Operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, and men of the Nigerian Prisons Service, DSS, returned the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, back to Kuje Prison after he was granted bail by an Abuja Federal High Court.The decision shows that until Kanu meets his bail condition, he cannot be set free.Kanu alongside three other pro-Biafra agitators were whisked away in a green prisons vehicle escorted by four other black hilux vans carrying men of the secret police.Recall that the Justice Binta Nyako-led Court had earlier granted the IPOB leader bail on health grounds.In her ruling, the judge had ordered Kanu to provide three sureties one of who must be a serving senator, a jewish religious leader and highly respected person.She held that they must own property anywhere in Abuja, but put the bail bond at N100 million for each surety.Justice Nyako also ordered the IPOB leader never to grant any press interview pending the outcome of his trial.Noting that Kanu should not be in a gathering of more than 10 persons, the judge warned that the bail granted the IPOB leader would be revoked if any of the orders are flouted.
The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Tuesday described President Muhammadu Buhari as a dictator who is out to manipulate the media...

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Tuesday described President Muhammadu Buhari as a dictator who is out to manipulate the media into telling Nigerians what he wants.Fayose made the claim while condemning the expulsion of State House Correspondent of Punch Newspaper, Olalekan Adetayo, from the Presidential Villa, Abuja.Recall that Adetayo, who was expelled over a report on the Presidents ill health has since been recalled.In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor described the act of expelling Adetayo as a sign of what is to come from a dictatorial government that desires that the media must only tell Nigerians what it wants them to hear and nothing more.Fayose said he warned Nigerians of the emerging dictatorship of the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress, APC, government.The governor noted that it should worry all lovers of democracy and free press that a journalist, who was only doing his job was subjected to humiliating treatment of writing statement by the Chief Security Officer to the President, Bashir Abubakar, before he was escorted out of the Presidential Villa like a common criminal.According to Fayose, Even though the Punch Correspondent was recalled yesterday, owing to public outcry, the dangerous message of intolerance to freedom of expression and of the press was passed loud and clear.When they invaded the Akwa Ibom State Government House with armed men of the Department of State Security (DSS), I raised alarm then and I did warn that Nigeria was being returned to 1984 when President Buhari ruled the country like a maximum ruler.When I said Nigerians irrespective of their political parties should rise in condemnation of the President Buharis government emerging dictatorship, many of our friends in the media opted to keep silent.Some even hailed the Department of State Security (DSS) when the service invaded the Ekiti State House of Assembly and abducted a member of the House.I warned then that no one will be spared by the time this Buharis emerging dictatorship reached its peak. I did say then that by the time they are through with politicians, they will move to the judiciary and then to the media.Now the tyranny has gotten to the media and it will only take fervent prayers from men of the media profession for the country not to descend to that era of closure of media houses, arrest and indefinite detention of journalists.Fayose called on journalists in the country to rise in one voice and protect the democratic rights of freedom of expression.As at today, no one knows how many Nigerians are languishing in detention in APC controlled states for freely expressing their opinions and the media must not close its eyes to this infringement on the rights of Nigerians to freedom of information, he added.
President Muhammadu Buharis media team said on Monday that they were not consulted before a journalist was expelled from the presidential...

President Muhammadu Buharis media team said on Monday that they were not consulted before a journalist was expelled from the presidential villa.Bashir Abubakar, the Chief Security Officer, CSO, to President Muhammadu Buhari expelled the correspondent of Punch Newspapers, Lekan Adetayo, from the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.Mr. Adetayo, who confirmed the expulsion to newsmen on Monday said it was because of a story about Mr. Buharis ill health published by his newspaper on Sunday.The Punch reported that the reporter was summoned by Mr. Abubakar to explain two of his recent stories from the State House.He referred to the lead story of SUNDAY PUNCH of April 23, 2017, titled Fresh anxiety in Aso Rock over Buharis poor health and queried the motive behind itHe also referred to our corespondents column, Aso Rock Lens, published on Saturday, April 22, 2017, and titled Seat of powers event centres going into extinction, The Punch stated in a report Monday evening.The News Agency of Nigeria said in a dispatch from the State House that Mr. Adetayo was grilled for 45 minutes.But President Buharis spokesperson, Femi Adesina, has said his office wasnt consulted before the expulsion.We werent consulted in the media office by the CSO before he expelled The Punch reporter, Mr. Adesina said in a reaction to news reports about Mr. Adetayo on Twitter. President Buhari is committed to press freedom.An amicable solution would be found to The Punch reporter matter, Mr. Adesina said in a follow-up tweet while emphasising that the president would not hinder press freedom.Mr. Adetayos report, which his newspaper led with on Sunday, raised questions about a purported cover-up of the presidents health.It said some State House staffers were allegedly growing increasingly sceptical about Mr. Buharis ill-health, especially as the president had been rarely sighted in public since he returned to the country from a 50-day medical vacation March 10.The report suggested that the presidents fragile health might have prevented him from meeting some of his top officials, including ministers, adding that most of the duties in the presidency have been unloaded on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.Mr. Adetayos expulsion came nearly two years after the State House, under President Goodluck Jonathan, withdrew the accreditation of a reporter for German radio, Deutsche Welle, for allegedly asking embarrassing question during a visit by Chadian president.Ubale Musa has since been reinstated by the Buhari presidency.
Chelsea could have signed Nigerian international Isaac Success in 2014 but they moved too slowly in negotiations.The 21-year-old Super Eagles forward is currently on Watfords player roster, having signed a five year deal when he transferred from Spanish side Granada last year.However, before he became a Granada player, Success was on the books of BJ Foundation in his home country and Chelsea could have snapped him up - had they moved faster.Chelsea were interested in signing Success, they said the Board first have to hold a meeting to approve the transfer. They wanted to pay 1.2 million pounds, that range, BJ Foundation boss Douglas Idahosa told journalists.Michael Emenalo [Chelseas technical director and a former Nigerian international] contacted our agent and a four-year deal was offered. They were slow, they were asking us to hold on and we couldn't wait.Granada were faster and we finalised everything with them within three days.Success spent two years at Granada before signing with Watford for a club record fee in July 2016.
A Yenagoa Magistrates Court in Bayelsa State has freed 44 detained members of the Indigenous People of Biafra.

A Yenagoa Magistrates Court in Bayelsa State has freed 44 detained members of the Indigenous People of Biafra.The Presiding Magistrate, Penawei Mukoro, on Tuesday, dismissed the three counts of conspiracy, breach of public peace and unlawful gathering levelled against them (suspects) by the police.The magistrate, who noted that the case against the detained 44 IPOB members had a no-case submission, subsequently discharged and acquitted the accused persons.The 44 IPOB members were arrested in October 2016 while meeting at a popular bar/lounge in Okaka area of Yenagoa, the state capital, by operatives of the Joint Military Task Force, codenamed Operation Delta Safe.The suspects were later handed over to the police authorities for investigation and prosecution.But the counsel for the IPOB members, Mr. Kingsley Nwosu, had argued a no-case submission before the court, describing the arrest and trial of his clients as a deliberate attempt to intimidate and violate the fundamental rights of people to freedom of assembly.Nwosu said the prosecution, the Nigeria Police, failed to produce a credible witness to substantiate the three counts against the IPOB members.He said, It is a case where there is a serious intimidation. And the prosecution could not produce credible witness, he had told the court.Delivering ruling on Tuesday, Magistrate Penawei Mukoro, struck out the case and discharged and acquitted the accused persons.Mukoro held that all the accused persons had no case to answer as the prosecution was unable to institute a prima facie case against them.
The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has accused the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose of plotting to set Nigeria ablaze.

The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has accused the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose of plotting to set Nigeria ablaze.MURIC made the allegation while reacting to the claim that Fayose sent some bulldozers to demolish some mosques in his state.In a statement its Director, Ishaq Akintola, MURIC said the action of the governor showed that he was bent on removing all Islamic landmarks in the state.Stressing that such action of the governor was capable of causing breach of peace, MURIC said, For reasons best known to him, Fayose wants to set Nigeria on fire. He knows that his action is capable of causing breach of peace yet he appears determined to go ahead.This move is not only irrational but also highly provocative. Governor Fayose is deliberately provoking Muslims in Ekiti state and by inference, in Yorubaland and the country as a whole.Fayose has a phobia for Muslims and an allergy for seeing any Islamic monument in their neighbourhood. Fayose is determined to uproot every single Islamic landmark on Ekiti soil before his tenure expires in 2018.MURIC threatened violence if the governor were to go ahead with the demolition, saying, nobody should blame Muslims for any breakdown of law and order if those mosques are demolished.We are bewildered that the chief security officer of a state can be hell-bent on stoking religious riot in a country heavily beleaguered with religious conflicts.Fayoses belligerence and open display of hostility towards his Muslim citizens belies the perceived atmosphere of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims in south-western Nigeria.Many people, including foreigners in the country, are under the impression that religious intolerance exists only in the northern part of the country.Nay, the truth of the matter is that Muslims in the region have been patiently bearing a long-drawn repression and denial of their Allah-given fundamental human rights.The reality on ground is that while a handful of Christians may be amenable to the idea of religious tolerance, many others like Fayose have a phobia for Muslims and an allergy for seeing any Islamic monument in their neighbourhood.MURIC calls the attention of leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to Fayoses aggression against Muslims. We appeal to Western diplomats in the country to spare a little time to study the religious landscape in Yorubaland, Akintola said.We charge leaders of the national assembly, lawmakers from Ekiti state and all men of goodwill to make Fayose see reason. We invite notable traditional rulers in Yorubaland, particularly the much revered Ooni of Ife and the Alaafin of Oyo to intervene in the matter before it gets out of hand.Finally, we warn that the fragile peace and one-sided religious tolerance being enjoyed in the south-west may come under severe threat if Fayose carries out his threat to destroy those mosques.
The Federal Government has reacted to the decision of a federal high court in Abuja, granting bail to IPOb leader, Nnamdi Kanu.





The Federal Government has reacted to the decision of a federal high court in Abuja, granting bail to IPOb leader, Nnamdi Kanu.Nigeria's Attorney General, Abubakar Malami has said he cannot take a position on the bail granted Nnamdi Kanu until he sees the court ruling.According to Sahara Reporters, Mr. Malami said he awaits court ruling to know next line of action.Justice Binta Nyako on Tuesday granted the leader of the Independent Peoples Of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu bail with strict conditions.The Trial judge ruled that one of the sureties must be a senior and highly recognised Nigerian of Igbo decent, the second surety must be a highly recognised believer in Judaism, while the third must be resident with landed property in Abuja, with N100million each.
A 35-year-old filling station attendant, Moses Omobamijo, who allegedly defrauded his employer of N882,000, was on Tuesday charged before ...

A 35-year-old filling station attendant, Moses Omobamijo, who allegedly defrauded his employer of N882,000, was on Tuesday charged before an Okitipupa Magistrates Court in Ondo State.He was, however, released on N800,000 bail.Mr. Omobamijo, whose address was not provided, is standing trial on a two-count charge of fraud and fraudulent conversion of employers money to personal use.The prosecutor, Zedekiah Orogbemi, told the court that the accused committed the offences between April 2016 and March 2017 at a fuel station on the Okitipupa-Igbokoda Road.According to Mr. Orogbemi, the attendant stole the proceeds from the sale of petrol which he ought to have remitted to his employer, David Kula.He said the fraud was discovered when on March 22, Mr. Kula demanded account of sales for April 2016 to March 21, 2017.The offences violated Sections 383(1) and 390(9) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ondo State, 2006.The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.The Magistrate, Banji Ayeomoni, who granted the bail, also gave the accused a surety in like sum, who must provide evidence of tax payment to the Ondo State Government.He said the surety must also be a landed property owner in Okitipupa area and should be resident within the courts jurisdiction.Further hearing has been adjourned until May 15.
A 33,000 litres tanker laden with diesel crashed on a BMW car with registration number LSD 462 CZ in the Charity area of Oshodi in Lagos o...

A 33,000 litres tanker laden with diesel crashed on a BMW car with registration number LSD 462 CZ in the Charity area of Oshodi in Lagos on Monday.This led to the spillage of the entire content, resulting to the inferno.Kehinde Adebayo, spokesman of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), disclosed this in a statement.Adebayo said the tanker with registration number TUT 258 XA, belongs to Bovas PetroleumHe said no life was lost and that men of the agency had been deployed to the scene of the accident.Two years ago, the administration of Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of Lagos state, restricted the movement of heavy duty trucks because of accidents of this nature.The action had sparked series of protest, forcing the government to suspend the action.
Heart problems RADIATION from cell phones is not only associated with cancer but also with chronic diseases like heart problems. Accord...

Heart problems

RADIATION from cell phones is not only associated with cancer but also with chronic diseases like heart problems. According to a study published in the European Journal of Oncology, radiations emitted by cordless phones, including mobiles, contribute to abnormalities in heart function. Results reported that radiation causes the red blood cells to seep haemoglobin and lead to heart complications.

Infertility

Beware men! Your phone can even make you infertile. As of now, theres enough evidence to show that mobile phone radiation decreases sperm count in male rats. To identify whether the same holds true in humans, Wdowiak and colleagues carried out a research, which revealed that the group of men who used mobile phones had a decreased sperm cell count in their semen, leading to infertility.

Hearing impairment

Today, every alternate person on the street has earphones plugged in. But thats not the only reason why hearing loss is increasing in youths and adults. Your mobile radiation is an additional factor thats making you deaf. Studies report that long-term exposure to electromagnetic field from cell phones contributes to reducing hearing function. A study by Oktay and Dasdag showed that people who spent approximately two hours on phone calls every day were at a higher risk of impaired hearing compared to moderate users who spent 10 to 20 minutes.

Eye problems

A lot of people use their mobiles to read e-books; do web surfing, etc. apart from texting. When you do so, the glaring screen and small font size put a lot of strain on your eyes, especially if youre reading in the dark. Mobile devices have smaller screens so you tend to squint or open up your eyes wide and blink lesser number of times. This can cause dry eyes, irritation and reddening.

Skin allergies

Most mobile phones have a typical metallic sheen to make them look more attractive. Such phones contain potential skin allergens like nickel, chromium and cobalt, which cause cell phone dermatitis. A study by Marcella Aquino and colleagues tested 72 cell phones for the presence of nickel and cobalt. According to the results, about 29.4 per cent of Blackberry models were tested positive for nickel, 90.5 per cent of flip phones were positive for nickel and about 52 per cent of flip phones had cobalt.

Infections

Avoid using your cell phones in the toilet. Cell phones not only serve as a home for your valuable data but also carry millions of infectious organisms. A study found that mobile devices are highly contaminated with organisms from faecal origin. They are a niche for several germs like E.coli (known to cause vomiting and diarrhoea) and Staphylococcus aureus (known to cause skin infections).

Stress

The general desperate nature of people to be available 24/7 on their mobiles is responsible for their increasing stress levels.




Some pan-Igbo groups, on Tuesday, condemned the bail conditions given to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Some pan-Igbo groups, on Tuesday, condemned the bail conditions given to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.The groups  Igbo Women Assembly, Igbo Youth Movement and Eastern Consultative Assembly  in separate reactions to the bail granted Kanu by Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja Federal High Court, were particularly miffed that the IPOB leader was ordered to stay away from rallies and interviews.They said the bail terms were designed to cage Kanu, and make him a prisoner even while he was outside prison.The Igbo Women Assembly, in a statement signed by its leader, Chief (Mrs) Maria Okwor, said it was not excited at the development.The conditionalities of Kanus bail is funny and designed to cage him and imprison him the more, it smacks of paranoia on the side of government. We are not excited.We are happy he is out though; we wonder why they left him alone. The struggle is just beginning.The leader of the Igbo Youth Movement, Evang. Eliot Uko, said the Federal Government intends to weaken IPOB with the bail conditions.Those who packaged the bail conditions are clearly afraid of the big masquerade they have unwittingly created in their mistaken attempt to crush the uprising of the oppressed younger generation.From the bail conditions we can see that the haphazard bail is designed to entrap Nnamdi and weaken IPOB, Uko said.In the same vein, the Eastern Consultative Assembly, in a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary, Rev. John Odey, said the bail conditions were borne out of the fear of Kanus popularity.The fear of the popularity of Nnamdi Kanu has given birth to a laughable bail condition, which looks like imprisonment outside of the prison wall.The government is clearly afraid of the electrifying popularity of Kanu that would have shut down all the markets, schools and offices in Igboland on the arrival of Kanu in Enugu.In fact, the Enugu airport would not have survived the surge of human crowd that would have welcomed Kanu in their millions.The groups also demanded the release of other detained pro-Biafra activists.
The Lagos State Government has said that it would relocate the popular Computer Village in Ikeja to Katangowa in Agbado/Oke-Odo area of th...

The Lagos State Government has said that it would relocate the popular Computer Village in Ikeja to Katangowa in Agbado/Oke-Odo area of the State, just as it also disclosed that an embargo has been placed on approval for construction of filling stations in all parts of the State till further notice.Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Wasiu Anifowose said this on Tuesday while briefing the press in Alausa as part of activities marking the second-year anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambodes administration.Anifowose also said that a definite action would soon be taken on an indiscriminate construction of event centres across the State.
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two suspected drug traffickers who posed as police officers in Nasarawa area of Kan...

The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two suspected drug traffickers who posed as police officers in Nasarawa area of Kano metropolis.Kano State Commandant of NDLEA, Alhaji Hamza Umar, told newsmen in Kano on Tuesday that the suspects were arrested in a brand new escort vehicle with police colour, siren, pilot plate number and in possession of two police caps.According to him, the suspects were arrested blaring the siren and pretending to be police officers while conveying 715 kilogrammes of Indian Hemp to Yobe.Umar said, During investigation by our officers, we discovered that the suspects were from Edo State, while their destination was Gashua, in Yobe State.The two suspects who were arrested along with 715 kilogrammes of Indian Hemp disclosed to us that they normally convey such exhibits once a month.The commandant added that if those people had succeeded in their mission to their destination, Yobe State, where the issue of insecurity is a major concern, only God knows what would have happened.One of the suspects told newsmen that he was offered N200,000 to convey the Indian hemp to Gashua.Meanwhile, the command has also arrested a lorry with Ebonyi State Government plate number on its way to Libya through Kano, loaded with 64 kilogrammes of Indian Hemp hidden in fish packs.The commandant said the lorry was apprehended along with the driver and three other persons.We are still investigating the suspects and I assure you we are getting more information from them that will assist us in getting the real owner of the exhibit.At the end of our investigation, the suspects would be taken to the Federal High Court to face the law, Umar said.The NDLEA boss added that in April alone, the command had intercepted over four tonnes of different illicit drugs and arrested 42 suspects, out of which seven had been convicted.
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has allegedly rejected the bail granted to him on Tuesday.

Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has allegedly rejected the bail granted to him on Tuesday.A source close to him told newsmen exclusively that Kanu had vowed to remain in Kuje prisons with his co-accused persons.The Biafra agitator was granted bail on health grounds by Justice Binta Nyako. However, bail was refused his co-accused persons  Mazi Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Mazi Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.According to the top source, who put a call across to newsmen I just finished speaking with Kanu. He has vowed to remain at Kuje prisons pending when his co-accused persons are granted bail.He made it clear that these other three persons were arrested because of him (Nnamdi) and as such he cant abandon them there.Nnamdi Kanu has, therefore, made it clear that he is ready to stay and die at Kuje Prisons.Meanwhile, IPOB has reacted to the bail conditions, describing them as childish.In a statement by the Media and Publicity Secretary of the group, Comrade Emma Powerful, he said the bail conditions were designed by politicians.The statement reads: The indigenous people of Biafra, IPOB and its leadership worldwide commend those who put pressure on Nigerian Government and her judiciary to release our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention illegally since October 2015.The bail conditions which are most probably designed by politicians who are afraid of our leaders popularity is too inhuman, childish and stringent.The oppressors are afraid of leaders popularity and they hope to cage him through this funny bail condition, we are not excited, we demand the release of our members detained alongside him.It is unacceptable to the entire members of IPOB worldwide that the presiding judge Hon. Justice Binta Nyako attached condition towards the release of our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.The Federal Government and their judiciary through justice Binta Nyako banned Mazi Nnamdi Kanu not to grant press interview, not to sit with more than 10 people or have any gathering.However, granting conditional release to our is unacceptable to us because he committed any crime against humanity or Nigerian state, we wondered why Binta Nyako would prefer to attach conditional release him.Again, justice Binta Nyako refused to grant Mazi Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Mazi Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi bail who has been detained with our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu since almost two years.We also thank the civilise Nations in United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, American Government, Israeli Government, Russian Government, European Union and others who prevail upon the Nigerian Government and her judiciary to grant our leader bail.We also want them to pressure on Nigerian Government and her judiciary to release other three members who are still in Kuje prison Abuja.
Nigerias power generation edges towards 5,000 Megawatts (MW) mark, due to rise in water level at the various dams and cessation of hostil...





Nigerias power generation edges towards 5,000 Megawatts (MW) mark, due to rise in water level at the various dams and cessation of hostilities by militants in the Niger Delta.Daily power generation report released by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Monday, showed that power generation has tremendously improved from the 3,500 MW recorded last week to 4,518MW.Despite the increase in output, many homes and businesses, particularly those under the Ikeja distribution zone, said supply had been very poor in the last couple of weeks, even as the bills remain very high.On the way forward, Prof. Ajanaku Kolawole Oluseyi, of the Mechanical Engineering Department, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, encouraged Nigeria to strive for a well-rounded energy mix, combining the available renewable energy with the non-renewable fossil fuel.Oluseyi, stated this in a paper titled: Nigerias Energy Challenge and Power Development: The Way Forward, urged government needs to develop the infrastructure for harvesting wind for power generation.
The Anambra Youth Movement (AYM) has called on Senate President Bukola Saraki to suspend Andy Uba, senator representing Anambra south, ove...

The Anambra Youth Movement (AYM) has called on Senate President Bukola Saraki to suspend Andy Uba, senator representing Anambra south, over alleged falsification of his West African Examinations Council (WAEC) certificate.In a rally on Tuesday, members of the movement carried placards which read suspend Andy Uba for forgery and perjury, perjury and forgery is equal to 14 years, forgers cannot make our laws, amongst others.Austin Okeke, leader of the movement, said they no longer have confidence in the senator.He called for Ubas removal, saying he is making a means of livelihood through deceit, lies and perjury.We are here to pass a vote of no confidence on one of our sons who have used deceit and forgery for too long there by creating frustration in our region, he said.We are fighting for our heritage as youths and because we believe in the Nigerian project, how can we achieve great ideas when those we are supposed to look upon use deceit, lies and perjury as a form of livelihood.It is our continuous purpose to prevent injustice and assist this administration have good governance. We wish to call out one of our own, by calling the Nigerian Police Force, INEC and the national assembly to disgracefully remove him.By his actions, Mr. Uba has wilfully contravened Sections 463 of the Criminal Code (which provides for three years imprisonment for forgery) and sections 362 to 364 of the Penal Code which stipulates a punishment of up to 14 years imprisonment with option of fine or both.Victor Uwajeh, an Abuja-based private investigator, had claimed that Uba forged his WAEC certificate.
Kaduna's Senator Shehu Sani has warned the Presidency not to make the investigation of suspended SGF Babachir Lawal a private matter.

Kaduna's Senator Shehu Sani has warned the Presidency not to make the investigation of suspended SGF Babachir Lawal a private matter.He was reacting to reports that the Yemi Osinbajo headed a committee investigating Lawal has decided to make its investigations private.If Osinbajo committee has chosen a close session, the senate committee will conduct an open session and provide the general public all the documents which we have and which we used to indict public officials who profited from unwholesome deals," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Sun."I have a fear that Osinbajo committee will end up as in-house or family affair as it is. So, I call on the Federal Government to make everything public for Nigerians to know, he added.Senator Sani is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Humanitarian Crisis in North East which indicted Lawal for allegedly awarding a N200 million contract for the clearing of grass at IDP camp in Yobe State to a company in which he has interest in.
TRENTON -- A Florida man has been sentenced to more than four years in state prison for using fake invoices to defraud a Bergen County company out of $1.5 million.

Jerry Guidice, 57, of Windermere, Fla, was sentenced in federal court in Trenton on Tuesday after pleading guilty to wire fraud in November, acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

Guidice also received three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution.

In July 2015, Guidice used a trucking company that he owned to enter into an agreement with the company, which performs a factoring service, also referred to as accounts receivable financing.

He then used his company to "assign some of its accounts receivable in return for short-term financing," the statement said.

Guidice emailed the fraudulent invoices for trucking services, though they were never actually performed. The factoring company ultimately transferred more than $1.5 million to Guidice's company from September 2015 through February 2016.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.
MOUNT HOLLY -- A New York City man charged with desecrating his sister's husband earlier this year brought the body parts to a friend in Burlington City, who called police because of their foul odor, a report says.

Orville Cousins, of Bronx, N.Y., delivered six bins and a white laundry basket with bags in them to a "childhood" friend, saying they were his girlfriend's belongings, Burlington County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Commentucci said Tuesday, the Burlington County Times reported.

Commentucci discussed the allegations in the case during a detention hearing for Cousins, who a judge ordered to remain jailed.

Adrienne Smith, of Bergenfield, left and Orville Cousins, of Bronx, N.Y. (Police photos)

Cousins and his sister, Adrienne Smith, of Bergenfield, are each charged with desecrating the body of Smith's husband, Randolph Smith.

Both were arrested after the remains were found Jan. 12. Authorities in Bergen County say Randolph Smith is a murder victim, but have not filed murder charges against anyone.

Smith, 44, remains jailed in Bergen County.

Cousins, 40, was jailed in New York until last week, when he was extradited to Burlington County to face a desecration charge related to the transportation of body parts, his lawyer Jonathan F. Marshall said Tuesday.

Cousins was also served with an additional desecration charge Tuesday from Bergen County, alleging he dismembered the body there, Marshall said.

At the Tuesday court appearance, Commentucci also said that human remains, including a humerus and hipbone, were encased in concrete in the bags. A medical examiner determined the remains were Randolph Smith's and that a saw was used to cut them, the Burlington County Times reported.

At a detention hearing Tuesday, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office argued successfully he should be detained, with the judge ruling he was a flight risk, Marshall said.

Marshall said the fact that his client was arrested as he tried to board a one-way flight to Jamaica did not help his arguments.

In her arguments against Cousins being released, Commentucci said Adrienne Smith is also a flight risk. She said Smith switched her kids' school, and looked into cashing out her pension and selling her car, the paper reported.

A photo of Randolph Smith issued by Bergenfield police in early January when he was reported missing.

Adrienne Smith had reported her husband missing to Bergenfield police on Jan. 2, and Bergen detectives learned he was last seen at the couple's home on or about Dec. 25, 2016, authorities have said previously.

Adrienne Smith initially told police her husband left the residence and was not heard from again, authorities have said.

After the remains were located, Bergen and Burlington county detectives learned that Cousins and his sister bought materials on Dec. 26 they say were used in the dismemberment.

The Bergen prosecutor's office has not said what the materials were, but that some were later found in the couple's home.

After arresting Cousins at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, N.Y., detectives found Adrienne Smith on Jan. 19 at a relatives home in North Brunswick. She is also charged with hindering apprehension.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
CAMDEN -- On the second day of testimony in the murder trial of David "D.J." Creato Jr., Delaware River Port Authority Officer Constance Nicholson was collected and matter-of-fact as she described how her K9 partner began to track the scent of a missing boy Oct. 13, 2015.

Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah, left, questions DPRA Officer Constance Nicholson in Camden County Superior Court April 25, 2017.

But several points in her testimony about the death of Creato's son, Brendan, 3, she apologized and fought back tears.

That's what happened when she was describing getting ready to track the scent; considering grabbing a jacket and hoping she was tracking a boy that was alive.

"I thought if we found the child I could put it on him if he was chilly," she said with emotion.

She told jurors how her dog tracked the scent down Cooper Street, into Cooper River Park, across a field and down a path to a creek. That's where her dog went right, while her colleague from the DRPA went left.

Within moments, her coworker got her attention and she went to see what he found.

"I saw a small child lying in the water," Nicholson said, grabbing a tissue. He had brown hair, white and orange pajamas and matched the description of the boy she and the dog had been tracking, she said.

Creato has pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of his son. The lead prosecutor, Christine Shah, told the jury in her opening statements that Creato killed his son and carried him to the side of the stream in Cooper River Park. His motive, she said, was his rocky relationship with his 17-year-old girlfriend, who disliked his child.

Creato denies that. He told police he put his son to bed on the couch at his Cooper Street apartment and in the morning, discovered he was gone. He called 911, telling police that Brendan knew how to unlock the door and must have wandered out overnight.

In a conversation secretly recorded by Brendan's mother a month after his death, Creato said that perhaps "spirits" drew the boy from the house and to the spot by the stream, which he considered sacred.

Also testifying Tuesday morning was Creato's mother, Lisa Creato. She testified that she sometimes visits psychics and, like her son, believes in spirits.

Lisa Creato, mother of David "D.J." Creato Jr. and grandmother to Brendan Creato, wipes her eyes while testifying in Camden County Superior Court April 25, 2017.

She was moved to tears at the sight of photographs of her grandson's pajamas, which his aunt had dressed him in the night before he disappeared.

Lisa Creato testified that earlier on Columbus Day weekend of 2015, days before his death, Brendan spent that Saturday night at her home. She recalled that Creato's girlfriend, Julie Stensky, was visiting him from New York that weekend.

DJ Creato also dropped the boy off again at her home Monday night to have a bath, she testified, because DJ's apartment only had a shower.

Brendan's aunt bathed him and after putting him in his pajamas, they walked with him the block to Creato's apartment, she said. The exterior back door was unlocked, she said, but after dropping Brendan off, she locked it on her way out.

She also testified that she kept a screwdriver handy when going to Creato's because if that exterior back door was locked, she could "pop" the lock with it. There was another interior door from the hallway to his apartment that she testified was not locked when she left shortly before 9 p.m.

In the morning, she said, her son called her to say that her grandson was missing.

"I flew out of my bed," she said, running the block to her son's house to help him look. She told him to call 911. "It's kind of a blur."

On cross examination by defense attorney Richard Fuschino Jr., Lisa Creato testified that Brendan could unlock doors and that when he was at her home, he sometimes let himself into the backyard without permission or supervision. She said it never happened at night, however.

Shah asked Lisa Creato if her grandson was afraid of the dark, as she has of every witness who knew Brendan. They all confirmed that he was and liked to sleep with a light on outside his room.

Shah told the jurors in her opening statement that there is no way a boy who was afraid of the dark would walk to a park at night by himself, notwithstanding the fact that his only footwear, socks, were clean when his body was found.

Lisa Creato stole occasional glances at her son while she was being questioned, giving him a hint of a smile shortly after taking the stand.

The trial is expected to continue Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to the end of May.

The jury is expected to visit the scene where Brendan was found later this week, weather permitting, but Judge John T. Kelley on Monday issued an order banning the media, without explanation, from attending and reporting on the visit.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NEWARK -- Essex County sheriff's officers seized a loaded gun after they pepper sprayed a man during a "violent struggle" in Newark Monday night, officials said.

Terrell James, of Newark (Photo: Essex County jail)

Members of the county patrol division pulled over a Lexus for having illegal blue-tinted headlights on Eagles Parkway, according to Sheriff Armando Fontoura.

Officers said they smelled marijuana coming from the car and saw a leafy residue on the shirt of backseat passenger Terrell James, of Newark.

As James got out of the car, the officers saw the barrel of a handgun sticking out from under the backseat, Fontoura said. Officers went for the gun while James fought with the police.

Despite being hit with two blasts of pepper spray, James continued to flail his arms and legs at the officers, according to the sheriff. He tried to run from the scene, but was soon arrested, Fontoura said.

Officers recovered a loaded .45-caliber, Hi-Point semi-automatic weapon, Fontoura said. Authorities charged James with offenses including possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and resisting arrest. He remained at the Essex County jail Tuesday, records show.

Details on the prior conviction were not immediately available.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
EAST ORANGE -- The city has yanked its money from Wells Fargo and will no longer do business with the bank, citing its foreclosure activity and recent ethics scandal, The Wall Street Journal reported.

City officials said Wells Fargo made East Orange's foreclosure crisis worse by neglecting vacant properties after forcing people out of their homes, according to the report.

The city also pointed to the recent ethics scandal, in which employees were accused of creating 2 million accounts to meet high sales goals, as well as the bank's investment in the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The move was supported by the city's mayor, Lester Taylor, the report said. Officials told the WSJ they are reviewing East Orange's relationship with other banks as well.

Rajeev Dhir may be reached at rdhir@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @googasmammoo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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The City Council is expected to vote on a $1.2 million contract that would privatize animal control services during its meeting on Wednesday night.

(Journal file photo)

JERSEY CITY - The City Council is expected to vote Wednesday on a $1.2 million contract that would privatize the city's animal control services.

The competitively bid two-year contract is expected to be awarded to Liberty Humane Society, which was selected over the only other applicant, Newark-based Associated Humane Society. The city's Health and Human Services Department currently oversees animal control.

According to the resolution, Liberty Humane Society - a nonprofit located on Jersey City Boulevard - would be paid $555,397 for the first year of the contract and will receive an additional $93,000 one-time startup fee. The city would pay $569,281 for the second year of services.

The contract, which would take effect on May 1, would allow the city to renew animal control services with Liberty Humane Society for up to three years.

Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said the eight animal control employees will not lose their jobs, but are being reassigned to other positions in the Health and Human Services Department that have opened from recent retirements or grant openings.

"Over the long-term, this will result in cost-savings for the taxpayers, operational efficiencies, and better animal control services for residents, which are provided on a 24/7 basis," Morrill said. "Nationally and regionally, the most successful and efficient animal control services operate on a multi-city or event multi-county scale, and are staffed by vendors on a contractual basis rather than direct municipal service."

Bayonne hired Liberty Humane Society to provide animal services to the town in 2014, but ended the contract the following year. The non profit currently offers animal control services to Hoboken.

Animals found by Jersey City's animal control are currently brought to Liberty Humane Society. If awarded, the non profit would now be responsible for picking up animals.

The council meeting begins at 6 p.m.

Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
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Mayor Jimmy Davis criticized the Board of Education after learning their budget for next school year had been rejected by the State Department of Education.

(EJA)

BAYONNE -- Mayor Jimmy Davis was critical of both the Board of Education and the district's top administrators in the wake of the state's rejection of the district school budget.

Davis is particularly miffed by what he calls a lack of transparency and accountability as the district deals with a budget shortfall of at least $6 million.

"It is truly upsetting to learn from sources outside of the BOE that they have been unable to get their financial house in order," Davis said in a statement.

He said his office has offered to help solve the budget crisis "only to be rebuked."

The BOE's original proposed budget of $133.1 million included a 3.95 percent tax increase and the elimination of 85 positions in the district. The owner of a home assessed at $175,000 would pay $168 more in taxes this year under the rejected budget. The budget is $4 million more than in 2015-16.

Mayor Davis said Superintendent Patricia McGeehan and Business Administrator Leo Smith should be held accountable and answer the questions everyone is asking -- "How did this happen? Who is responsible? ... How does this affect our children?"

The proposed budget was rejected, at least in part, because the district had planned to use grant money earmarked for school construction projects to fill the budget deficit.

Davis urged all residents to attend the Board of Education meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Bayonne High School auditorium, but board president Joe Broderick says they'll be disappointed if they come to hear discussions on the budget. He said the new spending plan will be presented and discussed at a meeting on May 8.

The board's finance committee met last night behind closed doors to come up with a corrected budget, but questions still remain. Broderick told The Jersey Journal the committee discussed raising the tax hike to nearly 6 percent to compensate for the district's shortfall.

Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti, Broderick, McGeehan, Smith and board Secretary Gary Maita are scheduled to meet with the top state Department of Education officials Thursday to discuss solutions.

"At the end of the day, if the board is not allowed to re-purpose the ROD grant money, that will lead to more layoffs to teachers, larger classroom sizes, incredible increases in property taxes, and I don't think the board will be able to provide a thorough and efficient education for the children of Bayonne," Chiaravalloti said.
One of the surveillance camera images of Jesse Girard that was identified by a co-worker and led to his arrest on sexual assault and aggravated assault charges. (Photo courtesy of HCPO)

JERSEY CITY -- A North Bergen man was sentenced to 15 years today for the rape and brutal beating of a woman in a crime that was cracked when a co-worker saw the rapist's photo in The Jersey Journal.

Jesse Girard, 35, of 43rd Street, must serve nearly 13 years of his sentence for the Feb. 29, 2016 rape committed after he broke into the woman's home in Downtown Jersey City.

The 5-foot-2, 110-pound victim, who was 24 at the time, spent four days at the Jersey City Medical Center recovering the attack that Superior Court Judge John Young acknowledged left her with injuries from "her head to her toes."

When police responded at 3:20 a.m. on the report of a woman screaming for help, the victim gave them a description of the attacker, who was wearing black gloves.

Officers canvassed the area and recovered surveillance video in which they located a "person of interest." The Jersey Journal was provided with the images and posted them in the newspaper and NJ.com/Hudson. An official said today that one of Gerard's co-workers saw the images and called investigators.

The surveillance video shows Girard trying to open doors of several apartment buildings and residences in the Hamilton Park area where the victim lived at the time. Footage shows him entering the victim's apartment building through the front door, although it's unclear how he opened the door.

Girard is later seen leaving the victim's building before she runs into the street screaming.

Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Najma Rana complimented Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit Sgt. Javier Toro and Det. Paola Bolivar for their work on the case leading to Girard's arrest and guilty plea.

The victim did not attend Girard's sentencing before Hudson County Superior Court Judge John Young today, but she was prepared to testify against Girard had the matter gone to trial.

Girard was originally charged with aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault and burglary in March 2016. On Nov. 3, 2016, Girard pleaded guilty before Young to first degree aggravated sexual assault and second degree burglary, with the plea deal calling for a 15-year sentence.

Girard has remained in Hudson County jail in Kearny since his arrest. About 460 days of jail credit will be applied to his sentence.
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Alina M. Lescaille, 54, of Union City, appears in court on the charge of aggravated assault in Jersey City today, April 24, 2017, for allegedly hitting a man in the forehead with a coffee mug. The man died three days later. She has not been charged with causing his death. The investigation is ongoing.

The case of a Union City woman charged with assaulting a man with a coffee mug is being investigated by Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit following his death three days after the incident.

Alina M. Lescaille, 54, of the 4600 block of Broadway, is currently charged with striking 63-year-old Bernardo Maurin on the forehead with the coffee mug causing two cuts on the left side of his head on April 4 in the apartment they shared, officials said.

When Union City police officers responded to the residence that day, they found "the victim and defendant laying on the bed covered in blood."

Alina M. Lescaille, 54, of Union City, appears in court on the charge of aggravated assault in Jersey City today, April 24, 2017, for allegedly hitting a man in the forehead with a coffee mug. The man died three days later. She has not been charged with causing his death. The investigation is ongoing.

Maurin was rushed to an area hospital and he remained hospitalized until his death on April 7, Prosecutor's Office spokesman Ray Worrall said today. Lescaille is currently charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses related to the coffee mug, the complaint says.

Lescaille was charged on the day of the incident and when she made her first court appearance on the charges, the state moved to detain her through her prosecution. At a detention hearing in Jersey City this afternoon, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale ordered her released with conditions of supervision pending her prosecution.

Releasing Lescaille on the charges will likely have no impact on her incarceration. An official at the Hudson County jail in Kearny said this afternoon that she is being held at the jail on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.

Worrall said homicide detectives are continuing to investigate the incident and are awaiting a report from the North Hudson Regional Examination on toxicology tests to be performed on Maurin, and a ruling on the cause and manner of his death.
LEBANON - Firefighters from the Northern Hunterdon Mutual Aid Working Group recently held a joint drill at a borough office park.

The five volunteer fire departments that make up group include Lebanon Borough Fire Department, Clinton Fire Department, Annandale Hose Company, High Bridge Fire Department and Quakertown Fire Company. The drill lasted about three hours and helped firefighters learn how to deal with a low-rise office building.

Firefighters rotated through stations set up during the evening covering topics such as rapid intervention crew team operations, elevator rescue and standpipe and low rise operations. Lebanon's Fire Chief Kevin Saharic did the RIC team operations while Quakertown Fire Chief Bradley Patkochis did standpipe and low rise operations.

Members of the group also recently took part in a Electrical Hazards Awareness table-top drill held in February.
Glenn D. Cunningham, a native son of Jersey City, dared in his lifetime to make history time and time again. The highpoint came on July 1, 2001, when he was sworn in as the first African-American mayor of Jersey City, crossing an inexplicably late historic threshold for a diverse community of the Northeast that many other such cities across the state had long since crossed.

Cunningham, elected in a runoff on June 5, 2001, surrendered his post as United States Marshal for the District of New Jersey, another historic first for the lifetime public servant, to take the helm of New Jersey's second-largest city.

Cunningham began his path of service as a Vietnam-era United States Marine.

That military life included serving as a uniformed usher at the funeral of President John F. Kennedy and was followed by 25 years in the Jersey City Police Department, where he'd rise to the rank of captain.

Cunningham also served as Jersey City council president and a Hudson County freeholder, both elected posts, until leaving the JCPD to become director of the Hudson County Public Safety Office -- a post he'd hold until his selection by President Bill Clinton in 1996 to become U.S. Marshal.

On Sept. 11, 2001, just barely two months into his term as mayor, the nation was attacked at its core. Under Cunningham, Jersey City emerged as a first-responder city, standing as a refuge to fleeing victims and also becoming the lifeline of manpower and desperately needed supplies and food during the rescue and recovery months that followed at Ground Zero.

Jersey City was already a city in the midst of renaissance when Cunningham took office, with his vision for Golden Neighborhoods beyond the waterfront hitting full stride by his establishing fiscal solvency and taking Jersey City out of the state's Distressed Cities Program. He also advocated partnerships with waterfront developers, and his effort led to Goldman Sachs donating a multimillion-dollar residential/commercial development on Martin Luther King Drive that thrives today.

Cunningham's aims to codify state government's acknowledgement and support of Jersey City's efforts to become a first-class city were furthered when he was elected state senator for the 31st Legislative District in November 2003. Winning the seat for the district, which includes Bayonne and portions of Jersey City, was another first for an African-American.

Cunningham emerged as a local and statewide force in overcoming multitudes of challenges and challengers. The history maker who himself was a self-made historian - he filmed and penned "Hidden Footprints, Jersey City's Stops Along the Underground Railroad" - would often quote historic figures such as Frederick Douglass and Fannie Lou Hamer as he championed civil and human rights.

Cunningham's service was cut short when died suddenly on May 25, 2004, at the tender age of 60.

Today, his widow, Sandra B. Cunningham, holds his seat as state senator.

Editor's note: This piece examines one of Hudson County's top 25 news stories since The Jersey Journal's founding in 1867, as selected by the paper's editorial staff and local historians.

NEXT: 9/11 Terrorists attack on the World Trade Center
WOODBRIDGE -- A group of friends playing poker at a house early Sunday overpowered and subdued a masked man who tried to rob them at gunpoint, authorities said.

Jarvis D. McCloud, 37, of Perth Amboy, has been charged with multiple robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and weapons charges, Woodbridge police said.

McCloud was armed with a 9mm handgun and wearing a mask when he broke into the basement of the house on Harrell Avenue at around 3 a.m. and demanded money, according to police.

The group of friends were able to overpower McCloud and restrain him until police arrived, police said.

The incident remains under investigation.

McCloud was taken to the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Facility in North Brunswick while he awaits a bail hearing.

Anyone with information can contact Detective Richard Yanak, of the Woodbridge Police Department, at 732-634-7700 ext. 2347.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.
An Amtrak conductor from New Jersey has filed a federal negligence lawsuit against her employer alleging she suffered spinal injuries, a concussion and fractured several teeth when she fell while entering a baggage car as a train arrived in Philadelphia.

Kim Marie Shiller, 58, of the Fords section of Woodbridge, is seeking more than $150,000 in damages from the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, according to a suit filed in Philadelphia on April 10.

Shiller argues she was hurt when poor lighting, a lack of adequate handholds and an uneven floor surface caused her to trip as she walked between the bulkhead door and the interior door of a baggage car to retrieve luggage on Aug. 1.

Shiller alleges the fall caused injuries to her face, head and neck. She underwent surgery on Nov. 1 to repair damaged discs in her back, according to court papers.

Train 67 left New York Penn Station at 3:15 a.m. and arrived at 30th Street Station around 4:45 a.m. the morning she was hurt.

She has not returned to work since falling, her attorney, Michael J. Olley of Coffey Kaye Myers & Olley said in an email to NJ Advance Media on Tuesday afternoon.

Amtrak doesn't comment on pending litigation, a spokesman said in an email late Tuesday.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The United Airlines passenger who made international headlines after being dragged from a flight earlier this month injured himself by resisting, according to police reports from the incident.

Dr. David Dao hit his mouth on an arm rest after pulling his arm away from a Chicago Aviation Department officer's right hand, police reports obtained by Heavy.com and the Associated Press said.

The 69-year-old doctor was "flailing and fighting," James Long of the Chicago Aviation Department sad in his report.

Dao spent three nights in a Chicago hospital with a concussion, broken nose, sinus injury and two missing teeth, his lawyer said at a press conference on April 13.

Long said he approached Dao to ask the 69-year-old physician to get off the plane, according to the police report. Long said Dao refused and "folded his arms tightly." Long said he reached out to "hold" Dao and was able to pull him away from his window seat on the aircraft and move toward the aisle, the police report said.

"But suddenly the subject started flailing and fighting," Long wrote.

The Kentucky resident was one of four people randomly chosen to be "re-accomodated" from the Louisville-bound flight because United needed seats for employees.

Passengers had been offered $800 to fly the following day, but didn't accept.

A lawyer for Dao said Monday it's too late for the airline's CEO to apologize face-to-face and that his client intends to file a lawsuit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The Guttenberg Federation of Teachers has a major concern that we feel all parents, students, and residents of Guttenberg should be aware of.

The Guttenberg Board of Education set up a committee to look into sending Anna L. Klein 7th and 8th grade students to North Bergen at the start of the 2019 school year. The Guttenberg Federation of Teachers feels that the students, parents, and residents should be aware of this.

The town of Guttenberg is building an addition with state of the art computer equipment, a S.T.E.M. Lab, a gym and additional classrooms which are supposed to be for our middle school students. We are concerned about 1. How economically feasible this is to pay tuition to North Bergen to send our Middle Schoolers and pay for the addition to the Anna L. Klein School. 2. Parents are concerned over our middle schoolers crossing Kennedy Boulevard. 3. Guttenberg and North Bergen are considering this proposed move and many parents and residents are unaware of this.

There will be a Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, April 26th at 5:30. We would encourage all parents, students, and residents to attend this meeting and voice their concerns.

Elaine Heflick, president, Guttenberg federation of Teachers

Gun violence a result of system failure

I am deeply disturbed by the recent random acts of gun violence plaguing the streets of Ocean Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive. Most recently, a young teenager was gunned down and a 10-year-old girl was shot on Ocean and Van Nostrand Avenue.

It seems it's teenagers who are constantly killing one another due to gang violence and poor education in our public schools. I'm not directly attacking teachers or administrators. I'm attacking a system which continues to fail black and brown students with the lack of proper funding and tools to succeed.

As a millennial residing in Jersey City, I have done my research and I believe it's time for Greenville to have a young African-American on the city council that our children can look up to and respect. When our teenagers look to the council and city government, how many individuals look like them? In addition, how many young African American millennials are seen in city government making decisions for Greenville and Bergen-Lafayette? If some of our young people have no respect for city government including our police, why should they respect anyone else?

We have to do more to ensure our young people voices are heard because they matter. Just because they can't vote, doesn't mean they should be pushed to the side. I believe every resident matters.

Demetrius M. Terry, Jersey City
Back when he was running the state for a year, Dick Codey used to tell a joke about asking his wife if, in her wildest dreams, she ever imagined he'd become governor.

"You're not in my wildest dreams," was the punch line.

I got thinking of that after Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno unveiled her plan for property-tax reform last week.

After analyzing it, I am forced to come to this conclusion:

Cutting taxes for middle-class homeowners isn't in her wildest dreams.

Nor is a winning Republican effort at the polls this year.

Imagine a couple with a few kids trying to get by on $100,000 a year in the middle-class Hunterdon County town of Flemington. With commuting expenses, possible college tuition and other costs, this couple should be Exhibit A in any GOP politician's argument for reducing the highest property taxes in the nation.

So how much tax relief would Guadagno's "Property Tax Circuit Breaker" deliver for them? Exactly $0, according to her campaign website.

Under Guadagno's plan, that family is too rich to qualify for tax relief.

You may be as well - assuming you can figure out her convoluted formula.

First get out your property-tax bill. Now sort out how much of the bill goes for school taxes. Now get out your 1040 and see what your income was last year. Now calculate whether the school portion of your tax bill exceeds 5 percent of your income.

If so, Guadagno promises to make up the difference - minus of course any current rebate you receive.

In your wildest dreams can you imagine a gubernatorial candidate sweeping her ticket to victory in November based on that plan?

Neither can Guadagno.

Last week she appeared before a conference of bankers in Trenton and conceded defeat for her party's legislative slate this year. That was reported in brief on the Newsworks website by Phil Gregory, who reports for WBGO-FM in Newark.

I couldn't believe it, so I asked Gregory for the exact quote:

"No matter how hard the Republicans try this year we will not be taking back the Legislature," Guadagno said. "We will take some seats, I hope, and save some seats, I hope, but not enough to stop legislation being passed that will ruin this state and turn the clock back eight years."

Or in other words: "The Titanic is about to sail. Elect me captain and I'll make sure and hit that iceberg nice and hard."

It doesn't seem to have occurred to Guadagno that the candidate at the top of the ticket is supposed to lead the party to victory. She certainly has no chance of doing so with a property-tax plan that would, even if implemented, leave New Jersey with the highest property taxes in the nation.

Codey certainly isn't worried. When I put in a call to the Democratic former governor and current state senator from Essex County, he said Guadagno's plan would do little or nothing to win the Republican Party votes in middle-class suburbs like his own town of Roseland.

"She's gonna have a hard time selling that in my district," said Codey. "I don't think it's gonna be a plus."

Neither do I.

Roseland is one of those middle-class Essex suburbs that have some of the highest property taxes. But as Codey and I did the math in our heads, we concluded the Guadagno tax plan would offer little or no relief to most typical homeowners in his district.

In this, Guadagno is following in Republican tradition. The mainstream Republican Party, from Chris Christie on down, likes to pin the blame for high property taxes on the Democrats. And it's true that a Democrat, Brendan Byrne, was governor in 1976 when the income tax was adopted with the stated goal of solving the state's perennial property-tax crisis.

This worked fine at first. There was a cap on local spending that had a lot of local politicians grumbling. But by the time Byrne left office, property taxes were climbing once again.

That was 36 years ago. Democrats held the governorship for a mere 12 of those years. Republicans have held it for 24 years.

In all that time, the only governor to propose real reform was Christie.

But he waited until after the final legislative elections of his tenure before he stole the "Fair School Funding" formula for equalizing state education aid from Mike Doherty, the Republican state senator who represents part of Hunterdon County.

That plan, which Christie renamed "The Fairness Formula," would offer real relief to homeowners in the middle-class suburbs that could swing this election.

A candidate pushing that plan might offer some hope of leading the party to victory in November.

But Guadagno can't seem to imagine that - even in her wildest dreams.

ALSO: Incredibly, Guadagno admits her plan is not directed at typical middle-class homeowners.

"It's directed at millennials living in their parents' house because they can't afford their own and working families struggling to avoid foreclosure," she said in an interview with Advance Media's Brent Johnson.

Somebody should point out to her that they don't vote in a Republican primary. Someone should also point out to her that her plan is directed more at Democratic voters than Republicans.

Here's another excerpt from Johnson's piece:

For example, Guadagno's campaign says, a family making $50,000 in Fair Lawn -- where the average school tax is $6,412 -- will save $3,000. A family making $140,000 will get no savings.

"Millionaires won't benefit at all," Guadagno said.

Millionaires won't benefit? Why the heck shouldn't they?

They pay in a whole lot more to the Property Tax Relief Fund.

That fund contains the entire revenues of the income tax, all directed to property-tax relief. A millionaire pays in perhaps 20 times as much as that family in Fair Lawn. Why shouldn't he get some tax relief as well?

Guadagno clearly has not the slightest understanding of the problems with the current system. Almost 40 years ago California solved its property-tax problem with Proposition 13, which lowered all property taxes in that state to a maximum of 1 percent.

Here in Jersey, we instead instituted an income tax with the promise of property-tax relief for all. Instead over the years the courts ordered that the bulk of the aid go to a handful of urban districts. Many suburbs, such as her own Monmouth Beach and Christie's own Mendham, get next to noting in state school aid, which is the primary form of property-tax relief.

Our problem is that both the income tax and the state aid formula are progressive. They benefit those at the lower end of the scale vastly more than those in the middle and at the top.

The result is that many suburbanites pay in thousands in income taxes and get back close to zero in state property-tax relief.

Obviously if there is progressivity on the tax-collection side then there should be equality on the state-aid distribution side, as Mike Doherty argues in the video below. Even Christie figured that out after six years.

Guadagno still hasn't figured it out.

No wonder she thinks the GOP will lose with her at the top of the ticket.

BELOW: Mike Doherty explains his Fair School Funding formula - which was rejected by Guadagno:
Tu Youyou Biographical

My Childhood

I was born on December 30, 1930 in Ningbo, a city on the east coast of China with a rich culture and over seven thousand years of history. Although it was a tumultuous age in China when I was a child, I was lucky enough to have completed a good education from primary to middle school.

My father worked in a bank while my mother looked after my four brothers and me, the only girl in our family. According to a recently discovered family tree, my ancestors lived in Ningbo for many generations. Our familys long history of highly valuing childrens education and always considering this as the familys top priority allowed me to have good opportunities for attending the best schools in the region  from the private Ningbo Chongde Primary School (19361941) and later the private Ningbo Maoxi Primary School (19411943) to the private Ningbo Qizheng Middle School (19431945) and the private Ningbo Yongjiang Girls School (19451946).

I unfortunately contracted tuberculosis at the age of sixteen and had to take a two-year break and receive treatment at home before I resumed my study at the private Ningbo Xiaoshi High School (19481950) and Ningbo High School (19501951). This experience led me to make a decision to choose medical research for my advanced education and career  if I could learn and have (medical) skills, I could not only keep myself healthy but also cure many other patients. After graduation from high school, I attended the university entrance examination and fortunately I was accepted by the Department of Pharmacy and became a student at the Medical School of Peking University.

My university life

My choice of learning pharmacy was driven by my interests, curiosity, and a desire to seek new medicines for patients. In 1941, an Institute of Chinese Materia Medica was found at Peking University. The institute late developed into the Department of Pharmacy in the Medical School in 1943. In 1952, the second year of my university training, the Medical School was divided from Peking University and became the independent Beijing Medical College. By that time, significant efforts and investment were made in building the universitys infrastructure and curriculum. Most pharmacy courses such as pharmacognosy, medicinal chemistry and phytochemistry were designed and taught by returnees such as Professors Lin Qishou () and Lou Zhicen () who had received educations and advanced degrees in Western countries. Although pharmacognostical study or called crude drugs was my major, my training was not limited to that field and I had great chances to attend all basic training in the pharmaceutical sciences. In the pharmacognosy course, Professor Lou Zhicen conveyed knowledge on the origins of medicinal plants and trained us how to classify, distinguish and identify these plants based on their botanical descriptions etc. In the phytochemistry course, Professor Lin Qishou gave a comprehensive introduction and hands-on training on how to extract active ingredients from the plants, how to select proper extraction solvents, how to carry out chemistry studies and determine the structures of the chemicals isolated from the plants etc. These courses provided scientific insights into the herbs and plants and more importantly, explained how these herbal medicines work, in a way different from traditional Chinese medicine.

My first job and life-long commitment

This December, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (CACMS). This was also the 60th anniversary of my career. After graduation from the university in 1955, I was assigned to work in the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica of the newly established Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine under the China Ministry of Health. The academy has been growing and expanding rapidly over last sixty years along with change of its name from the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine to the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and now the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. However, its mission of focusing on professional training, research and continuous exploring and development of Chinese medicines for human healthcare through utilization of evolving sciences and technologies has never changed. It is the academys mission and establishment that have provided me with good opportunities to utilize my knowledge, skills and experience while being exposed to new areas of research.

My first research project was on Lobelia chinensis (), an herb commonly prescribed in the traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by Schistosoma type parasitic flat worms. In fact, my first publication was on the pharmacognostical study of Lobelia chinensis, coauthored with my mentor, Professor Lou Zhicen, in 1958. I completed another study on pharmacognostical evaluation of Radix Stellariae (  ) before I went for a full-time training program on Chinese medical theory and practice organized by the Ministry of Health for professionals with a Western (modern) medical background between 1959 and 1962. This training further added in-depth knowledge on traditional Chinese medicines to my Western medical background.

Over the last sixty years, I have held different responsibilities at the academy, from head of the Chemistry Department (19731990) to head of the Artemisinin Research Center of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (1997) and various academic assignments from associate professor (19791985), professor (1985), and now chief professor of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

Western and traditional Chinese medicine  a unique combination

China lacked medical resources in the early 1950s. There were only around twenty thousand physicians and several tens of thousands of traditional Chinese medical practitioners in the country. To fully utilize these limited resources and explore Chinese medicines, the national leadership launched programs in an effort to promote the ideas of enhancing the healthcare services through a combination of Western and traditional Chinese medicines. Medical school graduates or young doctors were encouraged to learn traditional Chinese medicines, while experienced traditional Chinese medical practitioners were asked to enrich their knowledge by attending training courses on Western medicine. This unique combination not only proved beneficial to patients but also enabled further exploration and development of Chinese medicine and its application through modern scientific approaches.

The Ministry of Health of China organized a number of full-time training courses in the late 1950s in which scientists with Western medical backgrounds were given opportunities for systemic training on the traditional Chinese medicine. In my two and a half year training program, I learned traditional Chinese medical theory and gained experience from clinical practice. Another training program I attended was on the processing () of Chinese Materia Medica.

This processing skill is a unique and exclusive pharmaceutical technology and has been widely used for the preparation of Chinese materia medica. The traditional way of processing was developed and summarized from thousands of years of experience in the traditional Chinese medical practices, with a belief that processing could alter the properties and functions of remedies, increase medical potency and reduce toxicity and side effects. In fact, differences in chemical compositions have been detected between herbs treated with different processes. Knowledge of such processing, in combination with the scientific explanation, benefited my work enormously.

Assignment of the antimalarial research task

Malaria is a life-threatening epidemic disease. It was, however, effectively treated and controlled by chloroquine and quinolines for a long period of time until the development of drug-resistant malaria plasmodium parasites, namely plasmodium falciparum, in the late 1960s following the catastrophic failure of a global attempt to eradicate malaria. Resurgence of malaria and rapidly increased mortality posed a significant global challenge, especially in the South East Asian countries. In the 1960s, the Division of Experimental Therapeutics at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) in Washington, DC launched programs to search for novel therapies to support the US military presence in South East Asia. US military force involved in the Vietnam War suffered massive casualties due to disability caused by malaria infection. Up to 1972, over 214,000 compounds were screened with no positive outcomes.

In China, the military institutes started confidential antimalarial research in 1964. In 1967, the Chinese leadership set up a group office for malaria control (abbreviated as the National 523 Office) to coordinate nationwide research. Several thousand compounds were screened between 1967 and 1969 but no useful medicines were found.

In 1969, two directors and another member from the National 523 Office visited the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, seeking help in searching for novel remedies among Chinese medicines.

It was in the middle of the great cultural revolution in China. Almost every institute was impacted and all research projects were stalled. A lot of experienced experts were sidelined. After thoughtful consideration, the academys leadership team appointed me to head and build a Project 523 research group at the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica. My task was to search for antimalarial drugs among traditional Chinese medicines.

As a young scientist, I was so overwhelmed and motivated by this trust and responsibility. I also felt huge pressure from the high visibility, priority, challenges as well as the tight schedule of the task. The other challenge was the impact on my family life. By the time I accepted the task, my elder daughter was four years old and my younger daughter was only one. My husband had to be away from home attending a training campus. To focus on research, I left my younger daughter with my parents in Ningbo and sent my elder daughter to a full-time nursery where she had to live with her teachers family while I was away from home for the project. This continued for several years. My younger daughter couldnt recognize me when I visited my parents three years later, and my elder daughter hid behind her teacher when I picked her up upon returning to Beijing after a clinical investigation.

Traditional Chinese medicine and its relevance to malaria

Our long journey searching for antimalarial drugs began with collection of relevant information and recipes from traditional Chinese medicine.

Malaria was one of the epidemic diseases with the most comprehensive records in traditional Chinese medical literature, such as Zhou Li (), a classical book in ancient China published in the Zhou Dynasty (1046256 B.C.). Other literature includes the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor () published around the time of the Chun Qiu and Qin Dynasties (770207 B.C.), the Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber () published in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C220 A.D.), the General Treatise on the Causes and Symptoms of Diseases () published in the Sui Dynasty (581618 A.D.), the Qian Jin Fang or Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold () and the Wai Tai Mi Yao or Secret Medical Essentials of a Provincial Governor () published in the Tang Dynasty (618907 A.D.), a book on malaria () published in the Ming Dynasty (13681644 A.D.) and the Malignant Malaria Guide () published in the Qing Dynasty (16441911 A.D.), the Prescription for Universal Relief () published in the Ming Dynasty, 13681644 A.D.), etc.

After thoroughly reviewing the traditional Chinese medical literature and folk recipes and interviewing experienced Chinese medical practitioners, I collected over two thousand herbal, animal and mineral prescriptions within three months after initiation of the project. From these two thousand recipes, I summarized 640 prescriptions in a brochure entitled Antimalarial Collections of Recipes and Prescriptions (). I circulated copies of the brochure to other research groups outside the institute for reference through the national project 523 office in April 1969.

A handful of qinghao immersed in two liters of water, wring out the juice and drink it all (, , , )

We started our experiments on dichroine using animal models. The study was soon stopped due to its severe side effects. From May 1969, extracts of over hundred herbs were prepared and tested in rodent malaria, with few promising results found up to June 1971.

After multiple experiments and failures, I re-focused on reviewing the traditional Chinese medical literature. One of the herbs, Qinghao () (the Chinese name for the herbs in the Artemisia family), showed some effects in inhibiting malaria parasites during initial screening, but the result was inconsistent and not reproducible. I repeatedly read relevant paragraphs in the literature where the use of Qinghao was recorded as relieving malaria symptoms.

In Ge Hongs A Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies (), I noticed one sentence A handful of Qinghao immersed in two liters of water, wring out the juice and drink it all (, , , ) when Qinghao was mentioned for alleviating malaria fevers. Most herbs were typically boiled in water and made into a decoction before taken by the patients.

This unique way of using Qinghao gave me the idea that heating during extraction might have destroyed the active components and the high temperature might need to be avoided in order to preserve the herbs activity. Ge Hongs handbook also mentioned wring out the juice. This reminded me that the leaf of Qinghao might be one of the main components prescribed. I redesigned experiments in which the stems and leaves of Qinghao were extracted separately at a reduced temperature using water, ethanol and ethyl ether.

Sample no. 191, a symbolic breakthrough in artemisinin discovery

We produced extracts from different herbs including Qinghao using the modified process and subsequently tested those ethyl ether, ethanol and aqueous extracts on rodent malaria. On October 4, 1971, we observed that sample number 191 of the Qinghao ethyl ether extract showed 100% effectiveness in inhibiting malaria parasites in rodent malaria. In subsequent experiments, we separated the extracts into a neutral portion and a toxic acidic portion. The neutral portion showed the same effect when tested in malaria-infected monkeys between December 1971 and January 1972.

On March 8, 1972, I reported these findings at the National Project 523 meeting held in Nanjing. This encouraging news evoked overwhelming interest from antimalarial drug research teams across the country.

Shen Nong tasted hundred herbs, why couldnt we?

Starting in March 1972, the team started to produce large quantities of Qinghao extract in preparation for clinical studies. Most pharmaceutical workshops were shut down during the great cultural revolution. Without manufacturing support, we had to extract herbs ourselves using household vats etc. The team worked very long hours every day including the weekends. Due to lack of proper equipment and ventilation, and long-term exposure to the organic solvents, some of my team members included myself started to show unhealthy symptoms. This, however, did not stop our efforts.

Some conflicting information was seen from the animal toxicological studies. It was already in the middle of the summer and very limited time was available to us before the malaria epidemic season would end. We would have to delay the study for at least a year if we continued our debate on toxicity. To expedite the safety evaluation, I asked to take the extracts voluntarily. The leaders at the institute approved my request. In July 1972, two other team members and myself took the extracts under close monitoring in the hospital. No side effect was observed in the one-week test window. Following the trial, another five members volunteered in the dose escalation study. This safety evaluation won us precious time and allowed us to start and complete the clinical trial in time.

Traditional Chinese medicine started with a story: Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs. Shen Nong was an ancient Chinese medical practitioner. To understand the efficacy and toxicity of the herbs, he tasted over a hundred herbs himself and recorded all the details, which left us with a lot of precious information. Although Qinghao was prescribed as an herbal medicine for thousands of years, the dose of the active ingredients in these prescriptions was much lower than that in the Qinghao extract we tested. Our desire to get the clinical trial completed and have the medicine for our patients as soon as possible was the real driving force behind our action.

Success in the first clinical trial

The first clinical trial on the Qinghao extract was carried out in Hainan province between August and October 1972. We treated a total of twenty-one local and migrant malaria patients, nine infected by Plasmodium falciparum, eleven infected by Plasmodium vivax and one with mixed malaria infections.

The patients were divided into three groups with different dose regimens. We closely monitored the patients body temperature and the changes in the numbers of parasites in their blood specimens. The trial was successful: all patients recovered from the fevers and no malaria parasites were detected after treatment. Nine malaria patients were also successfully treated with the Qinghao extract in Beijing No. 302 hospital.

The results from the first clinical trial in Hainan and Beijing No. 302 hospital were reported in the National Project 523 meeting held in Beijing in November 1972. The success of the first clinical trial and previous evidence observed in rodent malaria and monkey studies steered nationwide antimalarial drug research toward Qinghao.

Artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin

We started isolation and purification of neutral Qinghao ethyl ether extract parallel with the clinical trial in 1972. Between April and June of 1972, a few crystals were isolated from the extract. The team finally isolated several crystals using silica gel column chromatography in November 1972, of which one showed effectiveness against malaria. The compound was later named artemisinin, or Qinghaosu () in Chinese.

We carried out a clinical trial of artemisinin between August and October 1973 using artemisinin tablets, which however did not yield the desired results. We examined the tablets returned from the clinical center and found that the tablets were too hard to disintegrate. We resumed the study using artemisinin capsules at the end of September 1973. Since it was already toward the end of the epidemic season, we only treated three patients and all of them recovered after administration of artemisinin capsules.

Dihydroartemisinin was found in September 1973 in an experiment where I tried to derivatize artemisinin for a structural activity relationship evaluation. The carboxyl group related peak disappeared and was replaced by the hydroxyl group related peak in the IR spectrum after a reduction reaction using sodium borohydride. This experimental result was verified in a repeat experiment carried out by team members. In a subsequent test in rodent malaria, we noticed that a significantly reduced dose was sufficient to achieve the same efficacy as artemisinin when dihydroartemisinin was administered.

We completed a series of development activities on the chemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, stability, and clinical trials on artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin according to regulatory requirements. The China Ministry of Health granted an Artemisinin New Drug Certificate to the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica in 1986 and a Dihydroartemisinin New Drug Certificate in 1992, respectively. Dihydroartemisinin is ten times more potent than artemisinin clinically, again demonstrating the high efficacy, rapid action and low toxicity of the drugs in the artemisinin category.

Bench to bedside  collaboration expedited translation from a discovery to a medicine

We started to determine the chemical structure of artemisinin in December 1972. The first thing we verified was that the compound did not contain nitrogen. This gave us a hint that the compound we found could be a new chemical different from quinolines. The team late confirmed that the compound was a new sesquiterpene lactone containing a peroxy group with a formula of C15H22O5 and a molecular weight of 282.

In the 1970s, instruments and capabilities were very limited at each individual institute. The team at the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica collaborated with the Institute of Materia Medica, China Academy of Medical Sciences, who confirmed the formula of the artemisinin molecule. We started collaboration with the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry and the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on artemisinin chemical structure analysis in 1974. The stereo structure was finally determined using X-ray crystallography at the Institute of Biophysics. This was one of the first applications reported in China in determining an absolute molecular configuration utilizing the scattering effects of oxygen atoms by X-ray diffraction technique.

No doubt, collaboration and collective efforts expedited the translation from discovery to new medicine. Colleagues from the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Shangdong Provincial Institute of Chinese Medicine, the Yunnan Provincial Institute of Materia Medica, the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and many other institutes made significant contributions in their respective areas of responsibility during the development process. The leadership team from the National 523 Office played an important role in ensuring logistic support and coordinating nationwide collaboration.

Qinghao and artemisia annua l.

The herb Qinghao was frequently mentioned in the traditional Chinese medical literature for various clinical applications besides alleviating malaria symptoms. These applications include relieving itches caused by scabies and scabs, treating malignant sores, killing lice, retaining warmth in joints, improving visual acuity, etc. However, little explanation was given on either the species or effective parts of the plant in the traditional Chinese medical literature.

According to plant taxonomy, there are at least six species in the Artemisia family: Artemisia annua L., Artemisia apiacea Hance, Artemisia scoparia Waldst. et kit., Artemisia capillaries Thunb., Artemisia japonica Thunb., and Artemisia eriopoda Bunge. The traditional Chinese medical literature only mentioned Qinghao (the general name of Artemisia in Chinese). By the time that our research on artemisinin was being carried out, two Qinghao (Artemisia) species were listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and four others were also being prescribed.

We carried out a thorough investigation and confirmed that only Artemisia annua L. (sweet wormwood) contains artemisinin. In addition to identification of the right species, we also verified the best regions for growing Qinghao, the best collection season and the officinal part of the plant.

Our discovery saves patients lives while scientific communities recognize our contributions

I always feel that nothing can be more rewarding than the fact that artemisinin, since its discovery, has saved many malaria patients lives. Over the past several decades, more than two hundred million malaria patients have received artemisinin or artemisinin combination therapies.

The scientific community never forgets any significant contribution to healthcare. I appreciate the numerous awards granted by the government and organizations in China. This includes the Award for Progress in Antimalarial Research Achieved by the Project 523 Scientific Team by the China National Science Conference in 1978, the National Scientific Discovery Award for the Antimalarial Drug Qinghaosu by the China Ministry of Science and Technology in 1979, the Invention Award (as the first inventor) by the China National Congress for Science and Technology in 1982, the Award for Young and Middleaged Experts with Outstanding Contributions by the China State Council in 1984, the Highest Honorary Award of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1992, the Top Ten National Achievements for Progress in Science and Technology award from the China State Scientific and Technological Commission in 1992, the First-rate Award of National Achievements in Science and Technology by the National Award Committee for Advances in Science and Technology in 1992, the National Model Worker award from the China State Council in 1995, the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Traditional Chinese Medicine by the Guangzhou Zhongjing Award Foundation for Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1995, the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award by the Hong Kong Qiu Shi Science and Technologies Foundation in 1996, the Top Ten Healthcare Achievements in New China by the China Ministry of Health in 1997, the Woman Inventor of the New Century award by the China National Bureau of Intellectual Property in 2002, the Golden Medal of the 14th National Invention Exhibition by the China National Bureau of Intellectual Property in 2003, the Award for Development of Chinese Materia Medica by the Cyrus Chung Ying Tang Foundation in 2009 and the China GlaxoSmithKline Award for Outstanding Achievements in Life Science in 2011.

I sincerely thank the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation (Thailand) for presenting me with the 2003 Prince Mahidol Award, the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation (USA) for presenting me with the 2011 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award and the Warren Alpert Foundation and Harvard Medical School (USA) for awarding me the 2015 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (co-recipient). I am, once again, sincerely grateful to the Nobel Foundation (Sweden) for awarding me the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine as a co-recipient.

Research efforts continue

The discovery of artemisinin inspires us to approach research through the integration of diversified disciplines. Exploring the treasury of traditional Chinese medicine has provided us with a unique path leading to success, while utilizing modern scientific techniques and approaches are no doubt an effective and efficient way of realizing and expediting discoveries.

We are continuing our research efforts on artemisinin to understand its action mechanisms and to prevent or delay the development of artemisinintolerant or -resistant malaria. Expanding the clinical applications of artimisinin is also of interest to public health. We know what it can do, but we need to know why and how it does this, what else it can do and how it can do better 

From The Nobel Prizes 2015. Published on behalf of The Nobel Foundation by Science History Publications/USA, division Watson Publishing International LLC, Sagamore Beach, 2016

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les Prix Nobel/ Nobel Lectures/The Nobel Prizes. The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted by the Laureate.

Copyright  The Nobel Foundation 2015

To cite this section

MLA style: Tu Youyou  Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Wed. 9 Nov 2022. 
Experience in public office or the need for change. Voters in District 9 are being asked at Tuesdays election to judge what they value more when it comes to who will represent them on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board.
What RTA bus can I take to get to Jazz Fest 2017?
The Iowa West Foundation has awarded the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation a $400,000 grant to help fund an incentive for donors plus PCCF initiatives and expenses.

This is a new special grant that funds the application we submitted called, Building Endowments for Community Betterment, said Jerry Mathiasen, president and CEO of PCCF. The initiative shows a commitment of both Iowa West and PCCF to grassroots philanthropy throughout Pottawattamie County.

Half of the money will go toward a 10 percent incentive PCCF offers to donors who start or contribute to an endowment fund at the community foundation, Mathiasen said. The other half will help with expenses and initiatives.

The incentive is the key part of the grant, because it can spark potential donors who want to give back to the community to establish endowment funds and benefit communities in Pottawattamie County for generations and generations, Mathiasen said.

However, the 10 percent incentive applies when someone donates to an existing fund.

For example, if an individual, family, business or nonprofit starts a fund or contributes to a fund, the PCCF will add 10 percent of that donation on top of the gift, he said. So if somebody contributes $10,000 to an endowment fund, its actually $11,000, thanks to Iowa West  and if the fund is qualified under the Endow Iowa law, the donor also gets $2,500 (25 percent) off their Iowa taxes.

The endowment fund, in turn, can generate grants that benefit the community in the future.

Pete Tulipana, IWF president and CEO, said the Iowa West Board believes the health of the PCCF is important, as it is linked to the culture of philanthropic giving in the community.

We see firsthand the significant difference that donors from Pottawattamie County Community Foundation have on the projects we are involved with, he said.

Said Mathiasen, Community foundations are the philanthropy of the future, but we cant do it alone. Its why we really appreciate the grant from the Iowa West Foundation, as well as the funds donors establish here.

Community foundations accept other types of gifts besides cash, he said. Those include real estate, securities, grain, and livestock. Recently, PCCF received a house with sale proceeds going to a local charity, as well as two recent sales of livestock from a local stockyard auction.

For more on the tax credit, go to ourpccf.org or call Mathiasen at 712-256-7007. For more on Iowa West, go to iowawestfoundation.org.
An Omaha man pleaded guilty Monday to stealing thousands of dollars worth of prescription drugs while he was an employee at a Council Bluffs pharmacy.

Justin Gardner, 23, pleaded guilty to possession of hydrocodone with intent to deliver. He was ordered to two years of probation  though he remains in jail for a separate charge of sexual abuse.

Police said Gardner admitted to authorities that he stole $3,000 worth of sedative and painkiller pills while he worked at Walgreens, 2508 West Broadway, and then sold the pills.

Gardner also faces a separate charge of third-degree sexual abuse, punishable by up to 10 years in prison if convicted. According to a police report filed Feb. 27, the alleged victim told police Gardner had sex with her without her consent on Feb. 25.

The woman told police while she and some friends were going to some bars in downtown Council Bluffs and Omaha, they met with Gardner. She told investigators that Gardner grabbed her by the hair and pulled her down a sidewalk. She also told police she had been drinking that night, and her memory was fuzzy.

Later that night, she woke up at her friends apartment while Gardner was sexually assaulting her, she told police. She told Gardner to stop but he did not, according to the police report.

Gardner denied to police that he grabbed the womans hair forcefully. He also denied assaulting her, and he said the sex was consensual. Gardner said the woman was really drunk, at the time.

Gardner has pleaded not guilty to the sexual abuse charge, and his next court date is in May.
DES MOINES  After being threatened with elimination, a state board that handles public transparency questions will emerge from the Iowa legislative session with a small funding increase.

Iowa lawmakers had planned to scrap funding for the Iowa Public Information Board. But, in the waning days of the legislative session, they decided the nine-member volunteer panel actually saved the state more money than it cost.

The Legislature approved a $323,198 budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, an increase over the current $273,198 the board could spend after mid-year reductions cut into its initial authorization.

The funding means the board can continue its work to investigate and help resolve disputes about open meetings and public records, but it still will have to leave one of its three paid positions vacant. The board offers an alternative for transparency disputes that could otherwise result in lawsuits and incur legal fees.

Sen. Dennis Guth, a Republican from Klemme, supported the move to keep the board open because he said it saves money by avoiding lawsuits against state and local governments.

Thats an essential service for Iowa, and we dont want to close that board, Guth said. It would actually cost us money in the long run because they help us save legal fees.

Margaret Johnson, the boards interim executive director, said in 2016 the board received 107 formal complaints and 768 informal, informational inquiries.

Johnson said the board, created in 2013, has struggled to keep up with calls from the public and requests to decide possible violations of public meeting and records laws.

Ill do everything possible to keep us going, Johnson said. But, on the other hand, we could use more people. I get interns as often as I can, just anybody to be of service.

Randy Evans, executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, called the board one of the most efficient units of government given its small staff and budget.

Its unfortunate that the board is facing financial problems because of what it does and what it contributes, he said. When you look at the volume of cases they act on, it is staggering.
DES MOINES  Fresh off their success in pushing through a conservative agenda in the session that ended Saturday, Iowa Republicans said theyre already looking ahead to next year.

Lawmakers adjourned the 2017 session Saturday morning after passing GOP-led legislation that reduced public unions power, added abortion restrictions and expanded gun rights. They said theyll return next year to unfinished business that includes tax cuts, immigration enforcement and the use of public education money for private instruction.

Weve made tremendous strides this year, said Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel. Thats just the beginning.

Throughout the last days of session, GOP lawmakers repeatedly said cutting taxes would be a priority when they return in January.

Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who will succeed Gov. Terry Branstad if hes confirmed as the next U.S. ambassador to China, said comprehensive tax reform is on her to-do list.

She emphasized the goal of making Iowa competitive by lowering corporate tax rates and possibly reducing individual income taxes, though she didnt offer specifics.

I want it to be significant, but I want it to be sustainable, she said.

Another issue that gained attention this year but failed to advance was immigration enforcement. Bills proposed banning so-called sanctuary cities, which are self-designated communities that focus on ensuring immigrants in the country without legal status understand their rights. There are no sanctuary cities in Iowa.

A bill that passed in the Senate but wasnt taken up in the House would have added penalties to communities that didnt comply with federal immigration enforcement. Advocacy groups said the measure could have faced legal challenges.

Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola, said hes hopeful theyll tackle the issue again in 2018. He added, We dont want to see people taking advantage of their fellow Iowans by disobeying the law.

Republicans may also push legislation that uses public education money for expenses like private tuition. House Education Committee Chairman Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, said he plans to further study education savings accounts, which would give individual students flexibility to spend education-designated dollars.

Critics said such effort would hurt public schools by redirecting state funding.

I still get a lot of emails and input about that issue, he said. Its something that our caucus wants to pursue.

A major win for Republicans this year was an all-encompassing gun bill, which Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, called the largest pro-gun step in Iowa. It included a stand-your-ground provision, which permits the use of deadly force anywhere if someone feels a risk to their life or safety, even if that assessment of danger is incorrect.

The next priority, Windschitl said, is an addition to the Iowa Constitution to reaffirm gun rights.

We absolutely need to make sure that our constitution has the protections in it that will protect Iowans Second Amendment rights now and for generations to come, he said.

After a failed effort to advance the most restrictive abortion legislation in the country, Republicans passed a ban on most abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy. Next session, some hope to at least revisit a so-called heartbeat bill, which would ban abortion around six weeks of pregnancy, likely leading to legal challenges.

Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, said she anticipates legislation that further limits abortion, but is unsure which restrictions her caucus will unite on.

I think a logical next step is to look at legislation that continues to restrict abortions after we know a baby is formed and its a viable human being, she said. Theres a certain point when that baby has a beating heart.

Republicans likely will also return to water quality issues after proposals in the closing days of the session failed to pass.

Democrats, who continue to be in the minority, say theyre willing to work with Republicans on some issues like tax reform. They will push back on any legislation they consider extreme, said Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids.

If they continue this very destructive path, doing the work of out-of-state special interests, its going to make 2018 as bad a legislative session as it has been in 2017, he said.

House Majority Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, praised her party for enacting polices in a historic session that she believes will encourage economic development.

Time will tell if what we hope and what we think will happen genuinely does, she said.
DES MOINES  A plan to spend nearly a half-million dollars remodeling the interior of the newest state office building in Des Moines is moving ahead despite budget cuts that are slicing an array of state programs and services.

The Iowa Utilities Board is planning to demolish and redo much of the customer service area in its award-winning, six-year-old building, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Planning documents obtained under the open records law call for extensive renovations, including new glass walls and doors, ceilings, woodwork, paint and even a 75-inch Samsung television. A transaction counter and information kiosk would be demolished and replaced with a customer greeting desk. Conference rooms would be added.

The two-story, $10 million building is considered among the nicest in the Capitol Complex, where many date to the 1970s or earlier. It opened in 2011 to much fanfare on the site of a former landfill, winning praise for its energy-efficiency and elegant design.

As lawmakers finished a $7.2 billion budget that cuts everything from crime victims services to childhood obesity prevention, state officials met Thursday with companies interested in bidding on construction, glazing, mechanical and electrical work. Bids are due May 3.

The board is using $330,000 left over from its 2016 budget and a $250,000 appropriation that lawmakers approved last year to fund the project, a priority of Chairwoman Geri Huser. It has spent $91,000 on design and bid documents, including 130 pages of specifications by BNIM Architects detailing everything from new interior finishes to light fixtures. The budget is currently $464,000.

The project comes as Huser faces questions about her extensive outside work as a private attorney, revealed this month by the AP.

The Iowa Senate recently voted 44-4 to confirm Huser for a second two-year term as chairwoman, despite a law that requires the boards three members to devote their whole time to state duties. Huser said shes been working full-time even as shes been awarded more than $177,000 in legal fees.

The notice to bidders states the project consists primarily of interior remodel work but state documents do not make clear why its necessary.

Board spokesman Don Tormey said the changes will give the public more space to meet privately with staff to discuss complaints against utilities or comment on cases, sit down to research docket files and review consumer information such as brochures. The 75-inch TV will replace a projector used for presentations in the conference room, Tormey said.

Asked why the project wasnt delayed or scaled back, he said the board has the funding and is following the process for renovations established by the Department of Administrative Services.

Lawmakers could block the project and reroute the money to fund other programs facing cutbacks, but they have said they have no plans to do so.

Sen. Dennis Guth, R-Klemme, who was on a subcommittee that approved the renovation project money, was surprised to learn from the AP last week that the funding hadnt already been spent.

Guth said Husers request would not have earned support this year, when lawmakers have delayed anything thats not super essential due to lower-than-expected revenues. But he said the board made a legitimate case at a time when the budget had ample funding and should be able to finish the project.

Its not like Im going to take away money that theyve already begun a process with, he said, even though lawmakers have cut millions from universities and other agencies mid-year.

Sen. Liz Mathis, D-Cedar Rapids, said the building appeared to have a great amount of space for customer service when she went on a recent tour that highlighted its state-of-the-art energy features. She questioned the spending given that our budget is in trouble and other buildings are in far worse shape.

There are other buildings where people are having issues with even breathing the air, and were not addressing those, she said. I find it kind of interesting theyd be wanting to do upgrades already.

The building houses 60 board employees and 16 who work for the Office of Consumer Advocate, which will not be affected by the project. Thats about 15 fewer than when the building opened, due mostly to unfilled vacancies.

The plan calls for contracts to be awarded next month and work to begin in July, when four employees are expected to be temporarily displaced until a completion date of Oct. 30.
Despite what we see as significant evidence opposing the sale of raw milk, a practice that is currently illegal in eight states, including Iowa, raw milk advocates efforts to expand the products availability across the U.S. have not slowed.

Health officials point to the dangers of drinking milk that hasnt been heated to kill bacteria. Ignoring those warnings, efforts to legalize raw milk sales in some form have succeeded in 42 states, and expansion pushes are ongoing this year in states including Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Rhode Island, North Dakota and Texas.

Iowa will almost certainly be added to the list at some point.

We are concerned that increases in legislation of raw milk can certainly lead to increases in outbreaks of illness in those states, Dr. Megin Nichols with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Associated Press.

The CDC warns against drinking raw milk, especially by children under age 5, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems. Illnesses are most commonly caused by bacteria including campylobacter, E coli and salmonella and the microscopic parasite cryptosporidium.

Underscoring the danger associated with raw milk, a CDC study released in 2015 found 81 percent of raw milk outbreaks from 2007 to 2012 occurred in states with legalized sales.

I think what were seeing now is an increasing trend in the number of outbreaks of illness as we see increased sale, increased consumption, Nichols said.

Raw milk advocates argue heating milk to kill bad bacteria also damages beneficial enzymes and milk proteins.

State raw milk laws vary widely, from outright bans in eight states to allowing retail sales in at least 10 others. Still others permit sales only on the farm that milks the animals. A few states recently have allowed herd-sharing arrangements that let people buy raw milk from individual animals. Some only allow it to be sold for pet consumption.

When the Food and Drug Administration began requiring milk pasteurization in 1987, the agency prohibited raw milk sales across state lines, but that hasnt stopped the transactions. Unfortunately, Iowa is not immune from the illegal importation of raw mile.

Rachel Moser who runs Be Whole Again Family Farm with her husband, Scott Moser, north of Kansas City, Missouri, told the Associated Press that many of her customers drive up to three hours from Iowa to purchase raw milk.

Lacking solid, scientific evidence showing the benefits of raw milk outweigh the potentially harmful consequences, Iowa should continue its ban.
The following editorial was published in the Sioux City Journal on April 19.

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 1-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.

Thats 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 infrastructure challenges remain for the local school district. For example, more elementary schools await replacement and by the time the tax sunsets, Sioux Citys 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 1-cent school infrastructure sales tax to passage during next years legislative session.
The following editorial was published in the Des Moines Register on April 17.

Iowa lawmakers are pulling the plug on a state-required summer reading program for illiterate third-graders  before it has been implemented. They cite a shortage of state funding and questions about the initiatives effectiveness.

Since there will be no program, struggling students will not be required to complete it before advancing to fourth grade.

If lawmakers are ditching this effort to improve early literacy, they should offer an alternative to replace it.

After all, it was the Iowa Legislature that added the reading requirements to state law only a few years ago as part of Gov. Terry Branstads quest to create world-class schools in Iowa. It is difficult to be a global education leader when 25 percent of third-graders cannot read at grade level.

The governor knows this. Thats why his 2011 blueprint for education reform specifically advocated ending social promotion for third-graders who read poorly. Advancing children through school who are unable to read puts them at a huge disadvantage for the rest of their lives.

Yet the final law was weak, allowing many students to be exempted from participating in a summer program and allowing schools to continue promoting to fourth grade those who did not make progress. Then lawmakers delayed implementation of the whole thing, refused to fund it and are now abandoning it.

While a lack of funding is no excuse to pull the plug on the summer reading program, there are concerns about whether it is effective. The governor drummed up money to pay for a pilot program and study last year that recruited students from dozens of school districts across the state. None of the approaches significantly improved reading proficiency, according to an analysis from the Iowa Reading Research Center. The challenges included a lack of qualified, experienced teachers and low student participation rates.

Public dollars should not be spent on efforts that do not work, but it is up to state officials to figure out what does.

And policymakers should not altogether abandon the idea of holding back third graders who cannot read.

Though opponents of mandatory retention are concerned about damaging a childs self-esteem, its hard to imagine anything more damaging to self-esteem in the long run than being illiterate. Fear of repeating a grade may prompt families to take more seriously the importance of early reading skills, because those must be cultivated at home. Parents can buy books instead of video games, visit libraries and read with children instead of watching television.

A solid majority of Iowans, nearly 70 percent, believe third-graders with significant reading deficiencies should be required to repeat the grade, according to a 2016 Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. People understand reading is the foundation for all learning and must be mastered to move forward in education.

Iowa cannot ignore what amounts to a literacy crisis in this state and simply allow students to move along through school. They will struggle with all subjects and be more likely to drop out altogether.

If lawmakers abandon their own plan for improving reading skills, they must set forth and actually fund another one.
The Nebraska Cooperative Republican Platte Enhancement Project filed valuation protests on 44 parcels of land.

On Monday, the Lincoln County Board of Equalization denied the protests on the land itself. However, the taxable values of buildings on four of the parcels were lowered because they are being used by N-CORPE and no longer being leased to outside parties.

Lincoln County Assessor Julie Stenger gave some background on the process concerning N-CORPE.

Weve been in this same situation for several years now, Stenger said. This is for 2017 now.

Stenger said she mails out the Intent to Act letters on all properties by all government entities that are not being used for public purpose.

The N-CORPE project is to pump water back down to Kansas to fulfill the water obligation Nebraska has with Kansas, Stenger said. I do recognize the water was public purpose, so back in 2014 we removed all the irrigation off this property, except for the first three parcels.

Those three parcels are being used as cropland and not for the water augmentation project, so they are still being taxed accordingly.

I feel the land is serving no public purpose, so therefore I have to send them the letter to notify them I intend to tax this land as grassland for 2017, Stenger said.

The board then went through the 44 parcels one by one.

The valuations of the buildings on the previously mentioned four parcels were all reduced.

Individually the buildings were being valued for tax purposes at $200,505, $595,055, $24,825 and $27,180. Those valuations were reduced to $0, $39,565, $0 and $0. The total valuation for the 44 parcels is $15,420,475.

Chuck McCarty of North Platte spoke against giving N-CORPE any tax breaks.

They dont need any relief from taxes, McCarty said. They need to pay taxes on what they paid for the land when they bought it.

McCarty added that he wanted to be treated as well as N-CORPE is by the Board of Equalization when his property comes up for valuation.

If its not in the best benefit for Lincoln County and the state of Nebraska, then Im going to want my house devalued, McCarty said.

Commissioner Joe Hewgley pointed out the position of the board.

Whether you are aware of it or not, our position is somewhat what yours is, Hewgley said. Its a legal battle right now going on with us as the defendant and N-CORPE as the plaintiff.

In other business:

 The commissioners approved the purchase of 13 automated external defibrillators from Heart Smart for a total of $10,335. At the last meeting, the board asked Deputy County Clerk Terry Heessel and Highway Superintendent Carla ODell to gather informal bids for the AEDs. As representatives of the county safety committee, Heessel and ODell came back with five bids ranging from a high of $12,987 to the low bid from Heart Smart.

 A application for a Victims of Crime Act grant was approved that included the addition of Keith County, which offered a $5,000 match for its portion of the grant. Cindy Korf, director of the Lincoln County Victim Witness Unit, presented the application to the commissioners. While previous grants were for one year, this one will be for 21 months, Korf said.

 The commissioners approved an application for a Class K catering license submitted by Pals Brewing Co.
A man will spend time in prison for threatening his then-girlfriend with pipe bombs and later repeatedly contacting the woman from jail.

Weve been dealing with this case for several months now, said Martin Troshynski, the lawyer for Michael Jara Sr.

Jara, 44, was arrested in October after Lincoln County sheriffs deputies found at least four pipe bombs in his rural home. One of the bombs was destroyed on scene because it was too unstable to be transported. Jaras son, Michael Jara Jr., 19 also was arrested.

Deputies began investigating after the senior Jaras live-in girlfriend reported being verbally and physically abused, reporting that he threw her to the ground and threatening her by sending her pictures of the bombs.

While in jail, Jara wrote the victim letters as recently as the week before he took a plea deal, Deputy County Attorney Tanya Roberts-Connick told the court.

Jara pleaded no contest to third-degree domestic assault, terroristic threats, possession of methamphetamine and violation of a protection order. The last charge was added after his initial arrest.

Jara also called the victim and had other inmates call her, until her number was blocked by the jail, Roberts-Connick said.

On Monday, Troshynski said Jara has turned into a very reasonable person throughout the case, adding that he has sought help for addiction and has taken responsibility for his actions.

I think the guys done what you hope people do, he said.

Troshynski said that many of Jaras messages to the victim were more suicidal than threatening violence toward her. He added that Jaras plea saved the victim from enduring a trial.

But the victim remains extremely fearful of Jara, Roberts-Connick said as she asked for a prison sentence.

Judge Donald Rowlands noted both Jaras past  including charges of drug possession, driving under suspension, impersonation and probation violation that go back to 2010  and his very high risk to re-offend. The high risk was determined by a doctor.

For the assault, possession and violation charges, Rowlands sentenced Jara to 340 days in the Lincoln County Detention Center, giving him credit for 179 days served.

However, he said, I do view terroristic threats as the most serious offense.

He sentenced Jara to two years in prison, to be served at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services after he completes his jail sentence.

The younger Jara was sentenced last month to time served after pleading guilty to attempted possession of methamphetamine.
The Nebraska Liquor Control Commissions decision to deny four beer licenses in Whiteclay has unmuted the silent voices. The announcement echoed down through the corridors of time and will be felt throughout our state and across the Sioux Nation. The wounds inflicted on the Oglala Sioux at Whiteclay can begin to heal.

Charles Sitting Bull once told me, You cannot understand the pain experienced at Whiteclay unless you understand the historical trauma of the Sioux people. It is the broken promises of yesterday gone by. It is the unsolved homicides, like that of Sherry Wounded Foot in August 2016, that haunt all of us.

Russell Means once told the victims of Whiteclay, Look at yourselves, a people that were the greatest warriors of all time. Defeated without firing a shot. Activist Means words would not go unheeded. His daughter, Tatewin Means, would become the attorney general of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. It would be her powerful testimony that would expose the lawlessness of Whiteclay.

Closing down these four stores will not solve all of the problems on Pine Ridge. But it will curb fetal alcohol syndrome that has reached epidemic proportions. It will end Nebraskas complicity in the profiteering of alcohol sales to local residents And the battle won, like the defeat, was accomplished without firing a shot.

It is a new day in Whiteclay. We have made good on our promise. Not just to the residents of Whiteclay but to ourselves. Our Good Life Integrity was at stake. Nebraska The Good Life will be known as a way of life worthy of fighting for.

Whiteclay will be remembered, not for the four beer stores that sold 3.5 million cans of alcohol to the residents of the dry Pine Ridge Reservation every year. It will be known for the place Nebraskans made a stand for justice. We hope the Oglala Sioux will remember it as a place of mending broken promises.

Alan Jacobsen

Lincoln
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#jobless rate S. Korea's on-year job additions slow in Oct. amid uncertainties South Korea added jobs for the 20th straight month in October, data showed Wednesday, but the growth continued to slow for the fifth month in a row as the country braces for a poss...

#mine collapse Ministry to check 35 mines over recent collapse case South Korea will carry out special inspections into 35 mines across the country that are deemed to have relatively high chances of accidents by the end of this year in the wake of ...
More than just Strack & Van Til is up for sale.

The grocery chain's parent company, the century-old Central Grocers Inc. cooperative, listed its main warehouse in Joliet as up for sale on Commercial Cafe, a national commercial listings website. The listing says to contact the seller for pricing.

Joliet-based Central Grocers, a $2 billion company which bought Strack & Van Til in the late 1990s, supplies 400 independent grocery stores throughout the Chicago area, including with Centrella brand products, but counts Strack & Van Til as its largest customer.

Central Grocers is selling off 22 Strack & Van Til supermarkets and closing nine Ultra Foods the yet-unnamed buyer isn't interested in. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union Local 703 is suing the co-op to block Central Grocers from selling itself or parts of its business off to an unknown buyer.

A Central Grocers spokesman declined to comment on the pending sale.

Citing unnamed sources, Reuters has reported Central Grocers has been exploring the possibility of bankruptcy amid a difficult market for independent grocers.

The company has listed its 934,490-square-foot warehouse at 2600 W. Haven Ave. in Joilet. It constructed the "state-of-the-art dry, refrigerated and frozen food distribution" building in 2011.

At the time Central Grocers employed 400 workers there, but employment has fallen to around 300, according to the union. Strack & Van Til also warned the state of Indiana it will lay off 174 workers when it closes its Gary and Merrillville Ultra Foods this summer.

Overall layoffs will likely exceed 1,000 after 14 Strack & Van Til or Ultra Foods supermarkets close this year.
Retail stores have been closing left and right in Northwest Indiana, but a cellphone company has been expanding.

T-mobile, the third largest mobile phone company in the United States with more than 67 million customers, has been making a push into northern Lake County amid a national expansion plan.

The German-based telecommunications company, known for its bright pink branding, recently opened new modern-looking stores at 1418 119th St. in downtown Whiting and at 4601 Indianapolis Blvd. in downtown East Chicago.

The wireless carrier sells cellphones, accessories, data plans and Internet devices at the stores.

T-Mobile already has multiple Northwest Indiana locations, including in Crown Point, Dyer, Hobart, New Chicago, Lake Station, Hammond, Munster, St. John, Griffith and Valparaiso.

The fast-growing company said in a news release that it planned to open 3,000 stores in 2017, including 1,500 T-Mobile stores and 1,500 MetroPCS stores. T-Mobile increased its first-quarter revenue by 11 percent to $9.6 billion, which is the 15th quarter in four years it has led the cellular industry in revenue percentage growth.
If you've got valuable antiques, you could end up on a popular cable television show.

"American Pickers" will return to Indiana to film in June. The popular documentary series on antique picking  the quest for "rusty gold"  on the History Channel is scouting for filming locations in Northwest Indiana.

Hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz have gotten as many as 5.3 million viewers per episode for the A&E Television Networks-produced show, which started out in 2010 as a companion to "Pawn Stars." They most recently came to shoot in Indiana in summer 2015.

"The hit show follows Mike and Frank, two of the most skilled pickers in the business, as they hunt for Americas most valuable antiques," producers said in a news release. "They are always excited to find sizeable, unique collections and learn the interesting stories behind them. As they hit the back roads from coast to coast, Mike and Frank are on a mission to recycle and rescue forgotten relics. Along the way, the Pickers want to meet characters with remarkable and exceptional items. The pair hopes to give historically significant objects a new lease on life, while learning a thing or two about Americas past along the way."

Anyone with a large collection of privately owned antiques or collectibles can apply to appear on the show, which is now in its 17th season.

"Mike and Frank have seen a lot of rusty gold over the years and are always looking to discover something theyve never seen before," the producers said. "They are ready to find extraordinary items and hear fascinating tales about them. 'American Pickers' is looking for leads and would love to explore your hidden treasure."

If interested, send your name, phone number, location, description of the collection and photos of the antiques to americanpickers@cineflix.com or call 855-OLD-RUST.
Beatles fans will want to twist and shout! Paul McCartney is on his way back to the Chicago area.

McCartney will bring his One On One tour to Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park on July 25. The Tinley Park show and other concerts were announced Tuesday. His last appearance in the Chicago area was at Lollapalooza in 2015.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday for the McCartney show.

The One On One tour began April 13, 2016, in Fresno, California, and has traveled the world, including dates in the UK, Europe, North and South America and Japan.

McCartney's concert features songs from The Beatles' catalog, Wings' favorites and solo hits.

To purchase tickets online, visit livenation.com. Citi card members will have a pre-sale opportunity beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday and running through 10 p.m. Friday. Visit citiprivatepass.com for information on the pre-sale.
HAMMOND  The Hammond Academy of Science and Technology juniors and seniors listened closely as the Court of Appeals hosted an oral argument on a 2012 LaPorte County murder case.

Called "Appeals on Wheels," the process helps Hoosiers learn more about the judiciary's role in Indiana government. It also provides opportunities for the Court of Appeals judges to meet and talk with a broad range of residents in relatively informal settings.

Appeals on Wheels typically occurs at high schools, colleges, law schools and courtrooms, but they've also been held at conference centers, tourist sites and even retirement centers. The court has conducted more than 450 Appeals on Wheels since 2001.

This case was the state of Indiana vs. John B. Larkin. In 2012, Larkins wife, Stacey, was found dead from multiple gunshots in their Long Beach home.

At the police station, a conversation between Larkin and his attorneys was recorded. Larkin was later charged with voluntary manslaughter.

The case revolves around the issue of whether the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing a voluntary manslaughter charge against Larkin.

There are 15 members of the court, however the scheduled panel members were Judges Patricia Riley, Margret Robb and Michael Barnes. The attorneys were Stanley Levco representing the state and Stacy Uliana representing the defendant.

Riley made it clear to students they could not ask questions about the case, and the case would be taken under advisement with a written decision forthcoming later.

The gym was converted into a makeshift courtroom with the judges sitting at a bench several feet away from the bleachers where the students sat watching them. Other local attorneys and judges watched from the sidelines.

The questions ranged from whether judges know if they will have any questions during a case to who makes up the court rules.

HAST senior Jaquan Reed asked whether a witness is ever badgered.

Riley said no one is ever badgered, but "we do encourage a witness to answer the question."

Barnes jokingly said, "I may have badgered a client to get him to answer the question."

Some of the attorneys in the room laughed and whispered on the side, "these kids have seen a lot of 'Law and Order' on television."

HAST junior Derrick Swart said he thought it was interesting to see how the court worked and how trials are held.

"It was interesting to see how the attorneys fight for their side, whether it's for the prosecution or the defense," he said.
VALPARAISO  Theresa Kessler, Ph.D., RN, ACNS-BC, CNE, a faculty member at Valparaiso Universitys College of Nursing and Health Professions for more than two decades, has received the universitys Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Work for 2017.

Kessler, a professor of nursing, teaches courses throughout the colleges bachelors, masters and doctoral nursing programs, emphasizing the importance of research and creating opportunities for students to engage in research projects.

"Terry has an extensive record of scholarly work and professional presentations," said Janet M. Brown, RN, Ph.D., dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions. "While her record is remarkable in itself, her history of involving students in her work is extraordinary."

In her teaching, Kessler specializes in adult health, management/leadership and advanced practice. Her clinical area of expertise is adult health nursing, and she is certified as an Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Kessler has an active consulting practice, is a parish nurse and is a certified nurse educator through the National League of Nursing.

Kessler was inducted as the Kreft Endowed Chair for the Advancement of Nursing Science in December 2015.

Her research interests include cognitive appraisal and quality of life for individuals facing cancer, the health status of under-served adults and smoking cessation among under-served pregnant women and college students.

The Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Work recognizes a tenured faculty member who has made significant scholarly achievements to his or her discipline or to public discourse. The award winner is engaged in the national or international conversation within his or her domain of study, demonstrating notable accomplishments and recognition in scholarly, artistic or other relevant communities. The award comes with a $3,000 prize.
MICHIGAN CITY  A former Michigan City police officer has been charged with four counts of felony rape.

Thomas K. Jackson, 51, of Trail Creek, was arrested Tuesday at a convenience store in Trail Creek.

Michigan City Police Chief Mark Swistek requested the LaPorte County Sheriff's Department initiate an investigation in March after receiving a report of inappropriate sexual contact between Jackson and the adult daughter of a LaPorte County woman.

The daughter was reported to have diminished mental capabilities and could not consent to such activity, according to a press release from the LaPorte County Sheriff's office.

After police and prosecutors presented evidence to a court on Monday, the judge issued a warrant for Jackson's arrest.

Jackson was taken into custody Tuesday morning without incident and is being held at LaPorte County Jail on a $25,000 cash bond.

Jackson resigned from the Michigan City Police Department on March 14.
GARY  Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson will be among a handful of major city officials meeting Tuesday morning in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions about violent crime and immigration.

They are prepared to discuss a range of public safety issues, including reducing violent crime, strengthening police-community relations, criminal justice reform and immigration enforcement.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors arranged the meeting, which is scheduled to take place 10:30 a.m. at the Department of Justice. Sessions took office earlier this year.

Freeman-Wilson will attend as co-chairwoman of the conference's immigration reform commission.
MICHIGAN CITY  The police officers have been named in the weekend officer-involved shooting at a Michigan City hospital.

The two officers were working off-duty security at Franciscan Health in Michigan City just before 4 p.m. Saturday when they were called by the family of Thomas J. Walsh III, 46, of Michigan City, who was refusing to leave his pick up truck in the hospital parking lot to seek medical assistance.

A preliminary investigation by the Indiana State Police indicated Walsh drew a handgun from within the truck and pointed it at Sgt. Ken Havlin, a 30-year veteran of the department, who was standing by the driver's side door.

Officer Charles Henderson, a 20-year veteran, who was standing on the passenger side, pulled his weapon and shot Walsh four times in fear of injury or death to Havlin, according to a press release from the Indiana State Police Tuesday.

Michigan City Police Chief Mark Swistek said Monday that Henderson has been put on paid administrative leave and Havlin has returned to work.

Walsh, who was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, remains in critical condition.
INDIANAPOLIS  An Indianapolis police officer shot in the line of duty cannot seek financial damages from the retailer who sold the gun through a "straw" purchaser to a convicted felon who was prohibited from buying it.

In a 3-2 decision, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the state's gun seller immunity statute bars all lawsuits against retailers for damages arising out of the misuse of a firearm  "regardless of the seller's culpability."

Justice Geoffrey Slaughter, a Crown Point native writing for the high court, said the immunity protection, as crafted by the legislature, is clear, unambiguous and applies to both legal and illegal gun sales.

"On its face, this provision forecloses damages claims when a third party's misuse of a firearm injures the plaintiff," Slaughter said. "Nothing in the statute limits its application to situations where a third party obtained the firearm, directly or indirectly, from a lawful sale."

He observed that the federal government and other states, including Colorado, deny gun sellers immunity from financial damages when the retailer knowingly sells a gun in violation of a state or federal law, such as through a straw purchaser.

"These passages reflect a clear legislative judgment to subject firearms sellers that violate the law to tort liability  which is notably absent from Indiana's statute," Slaughter said.

Justice Robert Rucker, a Gary native, dissented from the court's decision in an opinion joined by Chief Justice Loretta Rush.

Rucker said despite Slaughter's reading of the statute, lawmakers certainly did not plan to immunize gun retailers under all possible circumstances, such as when a purchaser directly tells the gun shop clerk that he's buying a weapon to go on a shooting spree and does.

"It appears to me the statute was designed to protect innocent and unknowing gun sellers from the acts of third parties," Rucker said. "The legislature could not have intended to protect gun sellers from their own illegal acts."

Slaughter said the court's role is not to evaluate the wisdom or folly of the law; only to interpret it consistent with the plain meaning of the words used in the statute.

"The legislature's policy choices, so long as they are constitutional, are beyond our purview," Slaughter said.
INDIANAPOLIS  Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law Tuesday new abortion restrictions that make it more difficult for pregnant Hoosiers under age 18 to obtain an abortion without parental involvement.

Senate Enrolled Act 404, which takes effect July 1, reinforces Indiana's requirement that a parent consent to a minor's abortion by mandating that parents still receive notice, under most circumstances, if a pregnant teen seeks a judge's permission to bypass parental approval.

The new statute also authorizes parents to file civil lawsuits against an adult who poses as the parent of a pregnant girl to consent for her abortion.

In addition, any child who is a ward of the state is completely barred from having an abortion, unless a doctor certifies, in writing, that it is "necessary to avert the pregnant minor's death or a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function."

The Republican governor said he approved the measure because it is a "common sense" parental rights issue.

Mike Fichter, president of the anti-abortion group Indiana Right to Life, said he anticipates the first-year chief executive is just getting started.

"This law is the first of many pro-life advances we expect to see during Gov. Holcomb's tenure," Fichter said.

It passed the Republican-controlled General Assembly by a vote of 31-10 in the Senate and 75-23 in the House.
INDIANAPOLIS  Gov. Eric Holcomb is eager to sign legislation funding the double-tracking of the South Shore Line between Gary and Michigan City.

The Republican said Tuesday that he considers the $180 million Indiana will spend over the next 30 years to expand commuter rail service in the Region to be a vital investment in the state's future, as well as a top accomplishment of the 2017 General Assembly that adjourned Saturday.

"This is not just about economic development, but equally importantly it's also about attracting talent from the nation's third biggest economy in Chicago and getting folks to move to this side of the border," Holcomb said.

The governor plans to sign his approval for House Enrolled Act 1001, the two-year state budget that includes the South Shore funding, on Thursday.

Holcomb said he's still reviewing a related measure, House Enrolled Act 1144, that puts the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority in charge of attracting transit-oriented residential and commercial projects near existing and future South Shore stations.

When asked by reporters, Holcomb did not in any way indicate that he's considering vetoing the measure, which passed with near-unanimous support in the General Assembly, only that he hasn't yet had time to fully digest it.

"I'm still looking at every angle," he said. "This is just a methodical process with me where I carve out time each and every day to go over each and every bill, and I'm not there yet."

The governor said he has decided that he will sign into law Senate Enrolled Act 567, putting a state-appointed emergency manager in charge of the finances and academic program at the cash-strapped Gary Community School Corp.

"Operating on good faith, we will step in as a state and usher this to a good conclusion and get this school back on track," Holcomb said.

Holcomb also plans to sign House Enrolled Act 1002, sponsored by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, that hikes the gas tax by 10 cents per gallon, creates new vehicle registration fees and opens the door to widespread highway tolling to pay for road improvements throughout the state.

"Indiana now truly has a 20-year, sustainable, fully-funded maintenance program in hand," Holcomb said. "This is really going to make us pop off the map."

Overall, the first-year governor said he's very pleased the Republican-controlled General Assembly saw fit to implement nearly every component of his "Next Level Agenda," including measures to strengthen Indiana's economy, fund infrastructure, improve the workforce, attack the drug epidemic and deliver great government service at a great value.

"Now it's time for us to take these tools, and our new resources, and put them to work," Holcomb said. "It's time to pivot and execute the plans that we have in hand."
CROWN POINT  A church currently operating out of Crown Point High School plans to purchase the vacant Chicago Title Insurance Co. building at 2200 N. Main St. across the street from the Lake County Government Complex.

Representatives for Momentum Church laid out their plans for the new church while seeking a special use permit on Monday at the city's Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.

The church, which has about 200 members, also has a location in Schererville.

Pastor Charlie Arms said the church averages about 80 to 120 people at its 10 a.m. Sunday service. Its other busiest time takes place during Bible study on Tuesday nights.

The building the church plans to move into currently has 96 parking spaces (requirement for the church is 50) but there was concern by some board members and neighbors of the site over what impact church parking could have on the residential neighborhood.

Arms said adding an additional service on Sunday could mitigate parking challenges if needed.

The board in a unanimous 5-0 vote forwarded a favorable recommendation for the special use permit to the City Council. Stipulations include the church having a fence or thick vegetation screening no less than 5 feet high on or along any side yards, which is required by ordinance.

Board member John Marshall said the church is a good fit for the vacant building.

Board member Christopher Meyers said he can foresee a problem in the neighborhood by changing the site from a business use that had less parking to church use. Meyers represents some of the area residents as their City Council liaison.

"If there is a problem I will personally bring it back to this body and have it addressed," he said.

Representatives for the church must appear before the City Council meeting on May 1 for approval of the special use permit.
WASHINGTON  Congressional negotiators on Tuesday inched toward a potential agreement on a catchall spending bill that would deny President Donald Trump's request for immediate funding to construct a wall along the Mexico border. The emerging measure would increase the defense budget and eliminate the threat of a government shutdown on Trump's 100th day in office this Saturday.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said Republican negotiators were following the lead of Trump, who signaled Monday evening that he would not insist on $1 billion worth of wall funding now as an addition to the $1 trillion-plus spending bill. Trump told a gathering of conservative media reporters that he might be willing to wait until September for the funding.

Other stumbling blocks remain, but the decision by Trump and his GOP allies to back down on the wall steered the talks on the spending measure in a positive direction.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he was optimistic the talks would produce "an agreement in the next few days."

An existing temporary funding bill expires Friday at midnight and all sides anticipated that another stopgap measure would be required to buy time for the House and Senate to process the massive spending bill, which would wrap together 11 unfinished agency spending bills through September.

Trump campaigned throughout the country last year promising a wall across the entire 2,200 mile southern border, promising that Mexico would pay for it. But while the idea is a priority of Trump's most fervent supporters, it is resolutely opposed by Democrats and even many Republicans, who see it as wasteful and who prefer other steps like new technologies and additional border agents to curb illegal immigration.

"I support additional border security funding," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a GOP critic of Trump who dined with the president Monday at the White House. "But a 2,200-mile wall, I don't think there's a whole lot of support for it."

Trump vowed to fight for the wall.

"The wall is going to get built," he said at the White House Tuesday. Asked when, he said, "Soon."

Democrats vowed not to give up, either, and look forward to the fight.

"It's not a negotiation," Schumer said. "No wall."

Meanwhile, Trump appeared poised to procure about $15 billion to boost the military. Democrats said they were satisfied with the emerging outlines of the measure, which stick closely to versions of the legislation that were being negotiated late last year.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., observed that GOP negotiators "have simply ignored" a roster of "$18 billion in extreme cuts" offered by White House budget director Mick Mulvaney to lower the measure's cost. The measure would also maintain foreign aid accounts that Trump has targeted, along with a series of grant programs popular with lawmakers in both parties, such as community development block grants.

Several issues remain unresolved. Democrats, with McConnell's help, were pushing to extend health benefits for 22,000 retired Appalachian coal miners and their families whose medical coverage is set to expire at the end of April. Democrats faced White House opposition in an uphill battle to give Puerto Rico help with its Medicaid commitment, while Republicans are pressing policy "riders" to undo new Obama-era financial regulations.

Another potential stumbling block involved a recent threat by Trump to scuttle a portion of former President Barack Obama's health law that helps low-income people afford insurance policies.

Democratic votes are invariably needed to pass catchall spending bills, which typically are resented by many tea party Republicans. That gave Democratic leaders like Schumer and Pelosi significant leverage, and the top Democrats had earlier this month taken a hard line in response to Trump's threats to deny the Obamacare payments for out-of-pocket costs for the poor, injecting the issue into the spending bill talks. Schumer, however, backpedaled on Tuesday and would no longer insist that the issue be addressed in the catchall bill and the White House sent conciliatory signals as well.

Meanwhile, House lawmakers returned to Washington Tuesday evening and faced a renewed push from the White House to revive their beleaguered health care bill in hopes of attracting enough votes to finally push it through the House.

Leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus met to consider a proposal to change the GOP legislation to let states get federal waivers to ignore coverage requirements imposed by President Barack Obama's health care law. These include a prohibition against insurers charging higher premiums for seriously ill customers.

The plan "has real merits worthy of consideration for all the Freedom Caucus folks," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., leader of that group. He helped craft the idea with Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., a leader of a group of GOP moderates.

Meadows and numerous conservatives and moderates opposed an initial version of the bill, forcing House leaders to withdraw the measure before a planned vote last month. GOP leaders are trying to determine if the proposed changes can gain enough votes to pass, but that remains uncertain.
It's human nature to dwell on the negative, and at times our Region has excelled at it.

But definitive signs keep showing the lion's share of Northwest Indiana as a desirable place to live, play and work.

One of the most recent pieces of evidence can be found in one of the strongest Porter County housing markets in a decade.

"It's a seller's market," Peter Novak, chief executive officer with the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors, told The The Times recently.

That should be music to our collective Region's ears.

The median selling price of existing Porter County homes rose to $179,899 last year, up from $163,125 in 2012 and a 5.2 percent from 2015's numbers.

The number of existing home sales also rose to 2,460 in 2016, up from 1,806 in 2012, the county's real estate figures show.

The number of single-family residential home building permits, which held steady at 163 in both 2015 and 2016, is on pace to eclipse those numbers so far this year, according to Robert Thompson, Porter County's director of development stormwater management.

All of Porter County's townships are seeing housing-market growth so far this year, and new home construction is helping fuel higher assessments and values in some townships.

These are not the signs of a Region down on its luck. They're clear evidence of an area growing in its desirability to new residents and poised for additional growth and development.

Porter County's figures are confirming what many longtime Northwest Indiana residents have known for years: Our Region  with its lower taxes, proximity to Chicago and potential for growth  can only grow in demand with the right leadership, planning and direction.
Police have released new photos of two men wanted for questioning after a shooting near the Battery in Lower Manhattan left two people wounded Monday.

The two men reportedly were arguing over selling tickets to the Statue of Liberty when shots rang out shortly after 3 p.m.

A 35-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man who were walking near Battery Place and Washington Street were hit by gunfire.

The woman was shot in the knee, while the man was grazed in the torso.

Both were taken to the hospital and are expected to recover.

"We're looking into everything right now. We're interviewing witnesses, we're looking for video and I believe that within a relatively short period of time, we're gonna have more facts in this case and we're gonna be able to solve it," said William Aubry, chief of Manhattan South detectives.

Polcie say both suspects are 30 to 40 years old. One is described as having a heavy build and was last seen wearing a black hat, black jacket, red plaid shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.



The second man is bald and was last seen wearing a blue sweat shirt, blue jeans, multi-colored sneakers and carrying a tan backpack.

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.


The winner of a prestigious fellowship awarded to immigrant students who are poised to change the world has roots in the borough. NY1's Shannan Ferry filed the following report.

Lorenzo Sewanan will have to make room for yet another award on this wall.

He's one recipient of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. It honors immigrants & children of immigrants poised to make a big impact on the world.

"There's so many outstanding immigrants, and just being recognized as you know, being also part of that is, is, really great," said Sewanan.

Sewanan's family left the South American country of Suriname in 2008 and moved to Queens seeking a better life. His parents opened a jewelry businesses, and Sewanan attended Hillcrest High School in Jamaica. He said that's when his passion for science and medicine really took off.

"My dream is really to use my research to help people with inherited heart conditions," said Sewanan.

In fact, he hopes his research will help prevent cardiac diseases before they even develop.

Sewanan is now a graduate student at the Yale School of Medicine. As a fellowship recipient he will be awarded $90,000 to continue his academic journey.

Out of roughly 1800 applicants, coordinators said Sewanan was an obvious choice. In addition to his work in science, he's also a published poet.

"There's often the sense that immigrants are coming here to take things away from the country and we're here to sort of stand as an example that immigrants and new Americans are here to contribute to society," said Director Craig Harwood.

Sewnanan is one of 30 students who won the fellowship this year. The recipients are studying at some of the nations top graduate schools.

"And this is just the tip of the iceberg, um, for every one fellow that we have there are a 100 hard working young immigrants that are trying to make a difference," said Sewanan.

That's the idea. To acknowledge immigrants making a difference, one fellowship at a time.
Auburn University aviation students love flyingespecially on a school day field trip to Textron Aviation headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, where they were presented with a new Cessna Skyhawk aircraft.

Seventeen students along with Auburn University Aviation Center personnel recently boarded an American Eagle jet, operated by Envoy Air, at the Auburn University Regional Airport and made the 1 hour 45-minute flight to Kansas.

After a tour of Textron Aviations manufacturing facility, junior Hampton McDonald and recent graduate Ashley Tucker took the controls of the Auburn-logoed Skyhawk and piloted it six hours back to Auburn.

I am really happy to fly this plane back to Auburn, said McDonald of Atlanta, a professional flight management major and a flight instructor with the Auburn University Aviation Center. Having this aircraft will allow us to better advertise our program and it will support our efforts to recruit students. From an employment standpoint, there is a huge demand for aviation professionals.

Textron Aviation, home to the Cessna brand, is providing the Skyhawk for six months for educational events and pilot training through its Top Hawk partnership with top university aviation schools. The Skyhawk holds four people and is equipped with the latest Garmin G1000 NXi avionics, Garmin Virb Camera and Bose A20 Aviation Headsets.

We plan to take this aircraft to air shows, career fairs and as many events as we can to share aviation with young people, said Bill Hutto, director of the Auburn University Aviation Center. We are very grateful to Textron Aviation for the plane and to Envoy Air [a subsidiary of American Airlines] for providing the jet and crew which allowed us to bring our students to Wichita.

Three to five educational stops are scheduled monthly for Auburn aviation students and the Skyhawk, including the Smoky Mountain Air Show in April in Knoxville, Tennessee; Thunder in the Valley Air Show in Columbus, Georgia, also in April; Tuskegee Fly-In in May; Auburn University Aviation Camp in June; and the Pensacola Air Show in July.

As an alum, it is very exciting to be asked to fly this plane to Auburn, said Tucker, a native of Birmingham who graduated in December with a degree in media studies and minors in aviation and German.

I grew up in an aviation household, so I was very familiar with aviation, but I had never wanted to do it on my own. Once I found out there was an Auburn program, and I was already here, I thought that sounds like a great thing to get into. So I minored in it, and I ended up deciding thats what I wanted to do for my career.

Textron Aviations Top Hawk program began in 2015.

Our goal is to promote general aviation and the next generation of pilots, said Jennifer Harden, Textron Aviation regional sales director for professional flight training. We are honored to have such a great university like Auburn as one of our Top Hawk partners for this year.

Charles Martin is an employee of Auburn University.
Chambers County sheriff's deputies arrested a 26-year-old Five Points man early this morning and charged him with shooting into a vehicle occupied by his wife and two children.

Brandon James Osteen was arrested Tuesday after Chambers County deputies responded to a call at about 5 a.m. in the 2000 block of County Road 281, according to a Chambers County Sheriff's Office release.

Deputies were told a female and her two toddlers were in distress and the woman's husband was on his way to assault her. The first deputy arrived on the scene in less than two minutes.

The suspect, later identified as Osteen, fled from the deputy in a vehicle, then on foot, but was taken into custody.

Investigation revealed that Osteen had fired a gunshot into a vehicle occupied by his wife and children.

Osteen was arrested and charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle, third-degree domestic violence and attempting to elude an officer. He is being held at the Chambers County Detention Facility.

The case remains under investigation.
Members of the community will be able to sample food from area restaurants at The Museum of East Alabamas fifth annual Taste of the Town from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at its site at 121 S. 9th St in Opelika.

The event will feature food from 17 restaurants, wine and a silent auction to benefit the museum.

This years sponsors are Alligare, AuburnBank, East Alabama Medical Center, Henry J. Stern Family Foundation, Opelika Observer, S&S Termite and Pest Control and Smith T Building Supply. Proceeds from the fundraiser provide for repairs and upkeep of the museum.

Restaurants participating in the tasting include Acre, Amsterdam Cafe, Cafe 123, Irish Bred Pub, Jeffersons, La Cantina, Longhorn Steakhouse, Martha Hicks Southern Hospitality Catering, Niffers, O Town Ice Cream, Outback Steak House, The Cup and Saucer, Sweet Malisas, Ursulas Catering, Toomers Drugs, Zazu and Zoes Kitchen. The Warm Springs Winery and Hodges Vineyards will provide samples of their wines. Sodas, coffee and bottled water will be provided by the museum.

Tickets are $25 and are available online or at the museum.

The museums hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The museum is closed Sundays and Mondays.

To purchase tickets, visit the museums website at www.eastalabama.org.
The story of Sindhutai Sapkal is one of incredible determination in the face of adversity, rebirth and love of children who nobody else wanted. The 68-year-old has raised over 1,400 orphans, offering them not just food and shelter, but also the love of a real family. Her amazing work has earned her over 750 awards, and the nickname Mother of Orphans.

Sapkal runs four orphanages in her home town of Prune, Indias Maharashtra state  two for girls and two for boys  with the help of her biological daughter, Mamta, and her eldest adopted children, some of whom have become lawyers, doctors and professors. The children under her care were found trying to fend for themselves in railway station, abandoned in dustbins, or even dragged by stray dogs in the streets. New ones are brought to her orphanages all the time, and as long as they are eligible for adoption, she never turns them away. But unlike state-run orphanages, the Mother of Orphans doesnt give her children up for adoption with other families, and doesnt turn them away when they turn 18.

Even after turning 18, the children are with me. I even get them married and help them establish their families, Sindhutai told Barcroft TV. The Government says that once the child is 18, he or she should be asked to leave. But just because that are 18 doesnt mean that they are wise. In fact, that is the time when they need more love and support, to be told about the dangers of life. Thats what I do. I give them wisdom to live. Just because a bird has feathers, doesnt mean it can fly.

Sindhutai Sapkals activism was inspired by her own hardships growing up. Born into a poor family, she had to abandon her education at age 9, and was married to a 20-year-old man when she was just 10-years-old. Ten years later, when she was nine months pregnant, she was thrown out of the house by her husband, and because everyone, even her family, turned her away, she had to give birth in a cowshed.

I delivered in a cowshed. I cut Mamatas umbilical cord using rocks that I found lying there. I went to my relatives, to my mother, but no one supported me. Everyone threw me out, the 68-year-old recalls.

To support herself and her newborn daughter, Sapkal had to beg and sing in train stations for food. It was during these difficult times that she met many other abandoned youths that were struggling just like she was. She would share her food with them and provide as much care as she could. Some of them started following her around, and that, she says, is how her large family started to form without her even realizing.

But life was tough, and at one point, the young woman decided that it was too much for her. She had hit rock bottom and was ready to take her own life. She ate until her stomach was full, because she didnt want to die hungry, wrapped her baby close to her body and was ready to end it all. But then she heard a beggar asking for a bit of water. He seemed in a lot of pain, and Sindthuai told her self that if she was going to die, she might as well do one last good deed and give the man some water.

So I stopped, went to him and realized that he was burning with fever. I fed him the food I had and gave him water. He looked at me and joined his hands thankfully, she remembers. Thats when I realized that I should learn to live for others. I told myself.

Photo: Vinay Sapkal/Facebook

And thats exactly what she did. She started taking care of homeless and unwanted children using the food she collected by begging and singing, but also gave speeches, asking people for donations to help her fast-growing family or orphans.

Over the last 40 years, Sindhutai Sapkal has traveled to countless villages, giving speeches until her throat was dry, trying to collect donations to provide a better life for her adopted children. She managed to build four orphanages, where many abandoned children have grown into respectable members of society. She makes it a priority to keep the kids on the right path in life and offer them the love and care of a real family.

Photo: Utsav/Facebook

I was raised believing that blood relations dont really mean much. For me, my understanding of a home was based on what I had seen  my mother and her large family, Sindhutais daughter, Mamata, says. When I grew up and started seeing the families of my friends, I realized that home means parents, siblings and all these relations. I would see my mother and the satisfaction that she derived from her life. The drive that she had indirectly influenced me. I graduated in Psychology and then pursued Masters in Social Work. After completing my degrees, I have been working with Mai (mother).

There are so many children who turn to crime, who make their life worthless. I have completed my law degree and Mai recently got me married, 26-year-old Vinay Sakal, who was adopted by Sindhutai from a railway station when he was a baby, said. The family that I have today is with the blessings of Mai. I was able to become so much, achieve so much, only because of Mai. Had she not been there, I would have been a big zero.

Photo: Mind Orbit/Facebook

Not only me, she has raised thousands like me with so much love and care. I am not the only one. There are so many who were found on railway stations, in dustbins, babies dragged by stray dogs and discarded have been brought by Mai and taken care of. Everyone here gets the love of a family, of a mother, father, brother and sister, Vinay added.

Having raised over 1,400 children in her orphanages, its no wonder that the Mother of Orphans has received hundreds of awards -over 750 of them  over the last four decades. She was honored by three Indian presidents and her story has received international media coverage. And yet, instead of offering her support, the Government is only trying to humiliate Sindhutai.

MoneyLife reports that last year, the Maharashtra Department of Women and Child Development (WCD), started pressuring Sindhutai Sapkal to hand over her children to state-run orphanages, because her were technically illegal. They argue that because her institutions are not registered with the WCD, they dont have a right to operate. What they dont mention is that Sapkal, her daughter and her eldest adopted son have been desperately trying to have them registered ever since 2011.

Whats even more ironic about the whole situation is that in 2010 the government of Maharashtra honored the Mother of Orphans with the Ahilyabai Holkar Award, for her outstanding work in the field of woman and child welfare. Her orphanages were apparently ok then, but six years later they are claiming that she is operating illegally.

The real tragedy is that when a person, following a certain principle, powered by immense confidence and grit, creates a world for orphans; takes utmost care of them, nourishing them by continuously asking for alms; that motherly figure is (leave alone being given a government grant) being denied recognition, by the government, Vinay Sakal told Money Life.

Our Mai is tired of sending proposals to this department to get recognition since last five years, i.e., year 2011. The government, that is, the officers and members of the department of women and child development, have constantly denied us recognition, under one pretext or the other, referring to irrelevant points as mistakes in an unreasonable manner.

Despite these problems, the Mother of Orphans still travels around Maharashtra giving speeches and raising money for her orphanages. She often leaves villages with 2-3 new children that she gladly takes into her care.

After the speech is done, the village head would tell me that there is one child who parents are dead and he or she has no one. So I take the child with me. The village head gives me in writing that the child belongs to the village and that there is no one to take care of him and that the village is giving the childs custody to me. Then the child is mine, the amazing woman said.

I am a mother to those who have nobody. I take them under my refuge, take care of them, raise them on the right track  that is where my happiness lies.
Blair Broussard

As my colleague, pointed out in her most recent article, the public relations industry is celebrating its birthday. One hundred and twenty years after Ivy Lee founded PR were at a crossroads. This $14B global industrys future is uncertain as other industries and new subsectors take over our very mission of reaching and persuading target audiences.



Merriam Webster defines PR as the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm or institution. While I do believe that public relations is still about influencing, engaging and building relationships with key stakeholders to contribute to the way an organization is perceived, this outdated definition doesnt go far enough in todays digital, big-data and multi-platform world.

Today, brands demand hard ROI in the form of numbers versus public opinion. No longer are PR firms measured by loose numbers like ad value equivalency, rather our clients want to see how we go a step further than perception and goodwill. Bottom line, they want to know how were actually getting them revenue. Therefore, the age-old definition of PR is entirely too broad  causing confusion and giving our competition leeway to begin to take over pieces of the pie that are rightfully ours.

The Controversy: What IS PR?

If you feel like you are always being asked this question and dont have a good enough answer, or heck, if you dont even really know how to answer it at all anymore  you are not alone. In fact, only 27% of agency leaders believe that by 2020 the term public relations will adequately describe their work. Even back in 2012, the problem was evident as the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) sought to redefine the definition of PR.

The organization began a huge campaign to solicit new definitions from industry organizations, professors, students, professionals and even the public at large. In just two weeks, it received almost 1,000 definitions. The initiative seemed to cause quite the stir, and after what the New York Times described as contentious conversation, the winner was chosen. Public relations had a new definition according to its leading trade association: Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.

Clearly this new definition didnt hit the nail on the head. Since then, annual operating profits have consistently fallen, dropping from 18.6% to 15.3% in 2016.

Just ask Old Spice and Apple circa 1997  when their profits were falling. They aggressively repositioned their brand within the marketplace to ensure long-term success. Maybe the PR industry should eat our own dog food and do the same thing?

Where did it all go wrong?

I wont bore you with an entire timeline of this industry. According to the Museum of PR the earliest signs of public relations date back as far as 37000 B.C. But the age of mass media could be thought of as PRs golden age  from swaying the public opinion during the Great Depression to the mass adoption of televisions, leading to a whole new medium to communicate to the public. And who could forget the cyanide-laced Tylenol deaths, when Johnson & Johnson set the crisis communication standards in the early 1980s. Throughout it all, PR was there to prove itself useful. It solved a very clear pain point. Times were simpler, and public opinion was easier to gauge as people were only accessing a few mediums to receive information about everything from world news and popular culture to consumer products.

Enter the rise of integrated media in the early 2000s. You know, that time when agency players like Edelman, Weber Shandwick, FleishmanHillard, and others flourished, expanding their communications scopes and markets during the early 20th century as they purchased and conglomerated many advertising, marketing and public relations firms.

Then, to shake things up even more, a few short years later and social media became even more prevalent. This is about the same time that other, smaller agencies cowered and allowed new subsectors to take over our very mission. Lucky for me, during the 2000s recession I couldnt find a traditional PR job, but rather, I filled a digital marketing role. My employer didnt know where social media fit, and since I was the only millennial on staff, they handed these channels over to me. It was evident from the start, as I was feigning for PR work, that social media DID indeed belong in PR. This medium was yet another way to create long lasting relationships between businesses and buyers, not to mention it was capable of providing a two-way conversation. WHY DIDNT ANYONE ELSE AGREE? A few years later when I was working at an agency, I watched as social media was spun out as its own department  rather than being an integrated service offering. The client results after that departments creation were lackluster, to say the least.

Now, social media specialty shops are a dime a dozen. A simple Google search reveals there are 20+ social media agencies on the first page in ARPRs hometown of Atlanta alone. And, there are an additional 40+ full-service marketing and advertising agencies on that same search that proclaim social media as a core capability. Who can blame them though as AdAges 2016 State of the Agency Report shows that despite total revenue and growth declining, digital revenue for U.S. agencies surged 13.5% in 2015 to $19.3 billion.

That said, more and more agencies are jumping on the digital bandwagon. Yesterday it was social media, today its content marketing and lead generation. But these tools, strategies and channels arent the solution, they are just a means to the end that should not have been thrown so hastily to the wayside by PR practitioners. After all, weve always been the ones directly and authentically communicating with audiences, weve just been hesitant at embracing new tech to do so.

The New Definition of PR

First, I believe we all need to agree this definition should be timeless and have the ability to withstand any additional technological advancements. Next, I believe we need to stop shortchanging ourselves  why are we limiting our area of expertise and allowing other industries and subsectors to take over and own anything that has to do with technology, analytics and hard ROI?

And before you traditional marketing folks get upset and think we are encroaching on your territory, I also firmly believe we can all play nice and share the stage. PR, marketing and sales teams all have a significant role in communicating and influencing key audiences, yet they often lack understanding of the core functions and value of the other teams. Technology can help close the gap to create common goals, giving all three teams a holistic picture. For example, marketing automation software can provide the insights needed to track a users journey from a companys top-tier headline to its blog all the way to a solid conversion via one of its gated landing page where the sales team then takes the lead to nurture and ultimately close the sale. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing - to help our businesses or clients achieve their overall goals and objectives.

I do still have faith that this beloved industry of ours can change, but it has to happen now. I am calling on industry leadership to revisit our definition. Trade associations, academia, practitioners and more  lets all gather and put a stop to the guessing, confusion and constant revisions. I cant think of a better time than the 120th year of our industry to move beyond this crossroads, choosing a path that is concise, timeless and enables us to continue to innovate and grow. PR truly is fun and flexible. It's quantifiable and trackable. It's collaborative. It's lucrative. And it's really, really impactful.

***

Blair Broussard is senior VP of AR|PR.
The success of the Jeep brand is inextricably hitched to a single nameplate  Wrangler. And as Wrangler sales have exploded, so too have Jeeps. Consider that Wrangler sales have increased in 12 of the last 15 years, while Jeeps overall U.S. sales have doubled from 460,000 to 920,000 over the same period.

Wrangler is a sales enabler, making it worth far more to Jeep than simply its sales totals. This unique lifestyle product is both a high-volume seller and an aspirational halo vehicle. Jeep cannot afford to deliver the redesigned 2018 Wrangler as anything less than what the market has come to expect, a modestly priced open-topped fun machine with a range topping trim capable of tackling the most challenging off-road terrain.

Here are 10 must have features that will ensure Wranglers appeal to both lifestyle and off-road shoppers, as well as maintain Wrangler as the branding platform upon which all other Jeeps are built. Plus one feature Jeep can let go.

1. Removable Top

A fixed top Wrangler does not a Wrangler make. And the MySky style removable window panels that work in the Jeep Renegade simply will not do. The 2018 Wrangler requires a fully removable soft top with a hard top option. Based on early spy photography, it looks like Jeep understands this and may be updating the current multi-panel Freedom Panel Hard Top with an even more flexible arrangement.

2. Hose-Out Interior

Most owners do not take a hose to their interior, but unlike just about any other vehicle, they can. Take out the carpet in a current Wrangler, remove the drain plugs, either cover or avoid spraying the dash, and you can in fact spray down the interior. Like many features on modern automobiles, its not their use but rather their availability that counts for lifestyle buyers. And for the legitimate off-roaders among us, cleaning your rig after hard use is a legitimate chore thats made a little easier and more entertaining if you can take a hose to it.

3. Live Axles

Most committed off-roaders value the robust simplicity of solid front axles, front and rear. And while live rear axles remain common, live front axles are a dying breed. A live front axle offers improved articulation versus IFS and is easier to lift. Moreover, its simple compact packaging is easier and less expensive to manufacture. Lifestylers would not understand or care if Wrangler were to abandon its traditional live front axle, but such a move would degrade its off-road cred and corrupt its value as a branding platform. Despite rumors to the contrary, we believe Wrangler will retain its coil sprung live axle set up front and rear.

4. Seven-Slot Grille

Jeep will not abandon its iconic seven-slot grille. In fact, they have fought to establish the exclusive right to it for decades, going so far as to sue GM over its use of seven slots on the H2 grille. They may have lost that battle, but they won the war when GM killed the Hummer brand and the chance to bring the Wrangler-fighting H4 to market. The seven-slot grille is here to stay because it is a significant branding tool used to connect the entire Jeep lineup with Wrangler. Editor Josh Burns noted of the recent Safari concept at Easter Jeep Safari that its grille in particular might tease the design well see on the new Wrangler JL.

MORE: 2017 Easter Jeep Safari Coverage

5 . Manual Transmission

We all know the manual transmission is dying. According to Edmunds, fewer than three percent of new vehicles sold in the United States last year had a stick. However, a quick search on Autotrader shows that of the 29,000 2017 Wranglers sitting on dealer lots across America, 9.3 percent have three pedals. Wrangler buyers have spoken  they demand manuals 3 to 1 versus auto buyers in general. And Wrangler buyers abroad are likely even more keen to shift themselves. Based on consumer demand, along with images of Wrangler development mules equipped with six-speed manuals, we believe Jeep will make the new Wrangler available with a manual transmission.

6. Front & Rear Lockers (Rubicon)

When the Rubicon was first released in 2003, its electronically locking front and rear Dana 44 differentials and 65.92:1 crawl ratio were groundbreaking for a stock rig. Combined with its two-speed NVG241OR transfer case and 31-inch Goodyear MT/R rubber there was nothing that could touch Rubicon for its modest $25,000 price tag. The Rubicon catapulted the Wrangler to cult status in the off-road community and further enhanced Jeeps go-anywhere credibility. Using Autotrader data once again, 16 percent of current new Wrangler inventory is made up of Rubicons. Demand for this range-topping off-road rig has not only been sustainable but its backcountry prowess now defines the vehicle. The Rubicon, with its selectable front and rear locking diffs, is a pillar of the Wrangler lineup.

7. Optional Engines

The Pentastar V6 is a capable engine but is underpowered for the aftermarket upgrades owners pile on. Likewise, its 285 horsepower exceeds what many lifestyle owners need. And its 16 city 21 highway fuel economy is putting a dent in FCAs already poor CAFE results. Jeep now sells around 200,000 Wranglers annually  it cannot afford to continue offering Wrangler with one compromise engine. We dont know what exactly will be offered, but a smaller displacement turbocharged gasoline power plant, such as the rumored TigerShark 2.0 that was photographed inside a test mule, would likely suit the lifestyle set, while the torque-heavy VM Motori 3.0-liter diesel presently used in the Ram 1500 and Grand Cherokee would appeal to off-roaders.

8. Light Weighting

Of course the 2018 Wrangler will be body-on-frame, which is an inherently heavy architecture. And weight, as well as drag, are the enemy of fuel economy. Jeep has already confirmed it will use steel for the body and frame, so look for aluminum in the doors, hood, and elsewhere. Wrangler will shed weight anywhere it can economically be eliminated. And as for drag-reducing measures, check the leading edge of the hood where it meets the grille as well as the fenders, trailing edge of the hard top, and under-body for subtle aerodynamic enhancements (like more angle to the windshield  something weve seen in photos and was also displayed on the Safari concept at EJS).

9. Two-Doors

The death of two-door SUVs and now trucks is well documented. Few two-door SUVs remain and both GM and Toyota elected to kill the single cabs in their latest generation mid-size trucks. Consumers simply were not buying them. But the two-door Wrangler has a committed following. Autotrader indicates almost 25 percent of all 2017 Wranglers available on dealer lots are two-door. Even if that overstates the true take rate on two-door Wrangler, 40,000 units a year is plenty to justify retaining the original Wrangler form factor.

10. Improved Storage

The paucity of storage in both the two- and four-door Wranglers is well known to every Wrangler owner. Jeep can address this shortfall through a variety of measures. First, it can simply make Wrangler larger, which it did in a big way when it launched the JK in 2007 with five-inches more girth. Dont look for similarly significant growth with the next generation, but modest increases in wheelbase and overall length are likely. Second, Jeep can provide more binned and locking storage front, middle, and rear through improved packaging and more aggressive use of the space available. And then of course there will be the pickup variant for those in need of a greater hauling capacity.

Folding Windshield

This holdover feature has been passed down through the decades across generations of CJs right up to todays JK. It was inherited from the original military requirement for compact transportability and litter carriage. Few Wrangler owners use their rigs to carry injured comrades and even fewer transport them by CH-53. Not only that, eliminating the folding mechanism reduces weight, improves strength, and decreases drag. This feature is both unnecessary and highly unlikely to be part of the 2018 Wrangler.

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A 48-year-old Offaly man has been placed on probation after he threatened to knock a gardas head off.

Raymond Spencer (48), Birr Road, Shinrone, Co Offaly, was convicted at the district court back in February, of being intoxicated in a public place and using threatening or abusive behaviour.

Inspector Maria Conway gave evidence that at 5.55pm on April 3 last year, at Topaz, Abbeyleix Road, Portlaoise, the accused was discovered in a highly intoxicated state in the courtyard of the filling service.

He was slurring his words and was very unsteady on his feet.

He became very aggressive toward the gardai, threatening to knock a gardas head off.

As he was a danger to himself and others he was arrested.

The accused had 24 previous convictions, all for public order offences.

Defence, Mr Barry Fitzgerald said that alcohol featured heavily in his clients life.

The matter was adjourned to April 6 for a probation report, but the accused failed to appear in court on that date and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

When the case returned to court last week, Judge Catherine Staines imposed a 12-month probation bond on the accused.

You cant drink. If you go back drinking and come back before this court I will have to sentence you, Judge Staines warned him.
Before two Oscar winners sat down for a conversation about movies and Nebraska, one had quite a compliment for the other.

Among American actresses, Alexander Payne said of Julianne Moore, she is by now  I hope shell take this the right way  our other Meryl Streep.

As Moore took her seat next to Payne for a 60-minute conversation on the stage of the Holland Performing Arts Center, she reassured him: I dont take it the wrong way, the Meryl Streep thing. I like it. I love it.

Moore visited Omaha for Film Streams annual Feature event, a fundraiser for the nonprofit cinema. Ahead of the conversation, Film Streams director Rachel Jacobson said the event was our most successful ever. She also revealed that Film Streams has raised 85 percent of its $8.3 million capital campaign for renovating and reopening the Dundee Theater and is now taking public donations at filmstreams.org/dundee.

Moore was charmingly down-to-earth as she and Payne covered all manner of topics throughout the evening. They discussed some of her most famous roles, her love of literature and furniture design, and a brief stretch of her childhood she spent in Omaha.

Moore lived in Omaha for one year when she was in grade school while her father attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha. They later moved to Lincoln, where her father attended law school.

Four years in Nebraska, Moore said. Before the evenings event, she said, she drove by her old house, a duplex near 46th and Farnam Streets.

Moores family bounced around a lot during her childhood. She later moved to New York City to become an actress and struggled for years. She landed soap operas and regional theater. But no films.

I could not book a movie, she told Payne. I was like, a movie career is not going to happen for me. Movies in the 80s were, they were doing things in the 80s like, whats that one with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover? Lethal Weapon. Those were the years, 80s movies were like that.

Payne: It was a grim time for movies.

Moore: So I was not an 80s movie person. I thought, well, Im going to have a career in theater and maybe some television. Suddenly, independent film happened.

And independent film had a place for Moore. She starred in a quick succession of acclaimed films: Robert Altmans Short Cuts, Louis Malles Vanya on 42nd Street and, in her first starring role, Todd Haynes Safe.

It was like this whole world opened up, Moore said. When those three movies came out at the same time, I went from being a TV actress to suddenly being a film actress.

After that, it was on to Boogie Nights and The Big Lebowski.

Moore had a Boogie Nights story for Payne: I met Paul (Thomas Anderson) at a party. A friend of mine said, This guy wants to meet you, this young director. Hes got a script for you. He was 26, and we had this conversation, and hes like, Youre going to be in my movie, man. 

Boogie Nights would lead to Moores first Oscar nomination. She would later win best actress in 2015 for Still Alice.

And Moore had a Big Lebowski story: She was pregnant when she made the Coen Brothers film, and I was so sick. So sick, the entire time. That whole bowling sequence with the dancing, I could barely move.

Payne  the Omaha-born director of such films as Nebraska and the upcoming Matt Damon movie, Downsizing  took Moore through a freewheeling conversation, touching on her upbringing and exploring how it influenced her film career. He played clips of Moores scenes in The Big Lebowski, Safe, Still Alice and Game Change.

Payne expressed his fandom of Moore throughout the evening, Moore always giving a generous, modest response.

Payne: Youve been in such wonderful movies.

Moore: Ive been lucky. Ive been really lucky.
Drea Hubbards parents know where her birthday parties will be every year.

Were going to the zoo, Dreas father, Justin Hubbard, said a day after Drea was born at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium. Were planning on having (her birthday) annually at the zoo.

Kymica Hubbard was on the zoo train Sunday afternoon when she went into labor. She told her mother she didnt think she could make it to the car before giving birth.

She was right. She had Drea about 3:30 p.m. near the Holland Meadowlark Amphitheater, which opens this summer just north of the Desert Dome.

Kymica, 24, and her husband, 27, spoke with reporters Monday afternoon at the Nebraska Medical Center. Newborn Drea  5 pounds, 5 ounces and 19 inches long  was with them.

Justin said Kymica was trying to speed things along by walking at the zoo Saturday and Sunday. Her due date, he said, was Mothers Day.

We were on the train, and I was telling my husband and my mother that I was having contractions, and they were getting closer and closer together, Kymica said. He kept telling me Im over-exaggerating: Just calm down and relax. 

Kymicas mother took two of Justins other children to get ice cream. Kymica started walking up a hill with Justin, who was holding their 1-year-old son, when her water broke.

I got, like, five more steps and I was, like, Her head, her head,  Kymica said. And he said What do you mean her head? ... Then he was, like, Oh, my gosh, shes having the baby. 

Kymica still was standing when Drea emerged from the womb. Justin, a customer service specialist for a commodities broker, caught the child and wrapped her in a sweater.

I mean, I went to (certified nursing assistant) classes, but I wasnt set up for this, Justin said. But prior to that she had been telling me Youre going to deliver this baby at home. 

The birth took about two minutes from the time the water broke, the Hubbards said. A woman who said she is a nurse rushed over to help, but it was a done deal, Kymica said.

A man stepped up and helped Kymica lie on the ground. Someone notified the first-aid station, and nurse Krystal Hartmann responded.

Hartmann, a registered nurse from Childrens Hospital & Medical Center, said she has staffed the medical centers zoo station for 17 years. Drea, she said, was the first human baby she had seen delivered there.

We got a call from the radio stating there was a lady in labor down at the north gate, Hartmann said. I showed up, but they had taken care of it. So my job was waiting until 911 got there and making sure the baby and mom were safe.

Justin said his daughter started cooing immediately after birth as he cradled her in his arms. Her arrival, he said, was the most beautiful thing a man can see.

The birth attracted quite a crowd. Neither parent noticed they had become the center of attention until Drea was safely wrapped up.

When I looked up, Justin said, I could see tons of people. I saw people from the side, like, videotaping. It was unique. Just the love that surrounded it made it even better.

The story will be one the Hubbard family tells over and over, the parents said.

Im going to have to tell it wherever I go, Justin said. Im still in that A-ha moment, like, this didnt happen. But it did. Im still in that shock phase.

Drea had been chosen as the babys name beforehand, the parents said. But her nickname is appropriate: Pooh Bear.

The family received a years pass to the zoo in a gift basket with stuffed animals and other commemorative items. Childrens Hospital also delivered a basket to the Hubbards, with items for both mother and child.

Drea is expected to go home Wednesday. Her dad stared down into her tiny face on Monday and called the child a precious gift from God.

It was a crazy experience, Justin said. I wouldnt trade it for the world.

As for mom?

I never thought Id be having a baby in a public place, Kymica said with a laugh.

World-Herald staff writer Chris Peters contributed to this report.
Warren Buffett is well-known for his long-term, optimistic economic outlook.

Now, a computer analysis of his annual shareholder letters shows just how positive the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. can be.

Only five times in the past 40 years have the words in Buffetts annual shareholder letters been more negative than positive, according to sentiment scores designed to measure the average positive or negative content of written material.

Buffetts words tipped to the scales negative side only during times of economic or social crisis, and to a significant degree only twice  in the report for 2001, when terrorists attacked the United States, and in the report for 2008, the start of the Great Recession. Each years report is published early the following year, so the one for 2001 came out in early 2002, for instance.

Michael Toth, a New York City data scientist, wrote in a blog that he ran Buffetts shareholder letters through a series of computer programs to analyze the sentiment behind the letters words, using a system invented by Bing Liu, a computer scientist at the University of Illinois.

Among Buffetts words scored as negative: loss, debt, risk, liability, casualty, bad, fail, difficult and unusual.

Among the positive words: free, top, competitive, extraordinary, significant, goodwill, outstanding, worth and gain.

Toth said the word analysis isnt perfect, noting that in Buffetts case, casualty usually refers not to an injury or death but to the property and casualty insurance businesses that are part of Berkshire.

Even so, Toth said, the positive tone of Buffetts letters may be especially significant because he writes not only about the business matters of Berkshire, but also about his views on business in general, on investing and other topics. That means his outlook applies not only to Berkshire, but also to the broader U.S. economy.

Buffetts optimism and the broad appeal of his letters to Berkshire shareholders are well-known, said Laura Rittenhouse, a Buffett author, entrepreneur and management consultant from New York City who has been analyzing CEO letters for 20 years and ranking them for candor.

This is a critical quality in business, to have a positive, opportunistic mindset, Rittenhouse said in an interview Monday. But its got to be realistic positivity. Without context, it doesnt mean anything.

A positive mindset can bring value to a company, she said.

Something happens thats not good, if you dwell on the negatives of that, youre not going to be able to make much progress, she said. Some CEOs have no relationship to opportunity. They dont think about it. Then there are CEOs that are passively related to opportunity. They see the opportunity out there.

Then there are CEOs that are actively thinking about opportunity. They talk about taking advantage, seizing the opportunities that we see ahead of us.

She said Buffett is one of those opportunistic CEOs.

He has transformed his business model over the years to reflect change in the environment, she said.

His optimism let him see the possibilities in buying into heavily regulated businesses, such as utilities and transportation, as well as making investments and forming partnerships that he wouldnt otherwise consider, Rittenhouse said.

Hes always able to see the glass as half-full, which allows him to see things that most other people cant, she said.

Besides 2001 and 2008, Toths analysis showed net negative sentiment in the reports for 1987, the year of a stock market crash; 1990, when oil prices and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait triggered a recession; and 2002, in the aftermath of the bursting dot-com investment bubble.

Buffetts most positive year, according to the analysis, was 1978, when Berkshires insurance operations were especially profitable and the companys stock value had tripled in three years. His 2014 letter celebrated his 50th year as head of Berkshire, and included essays by Buffett and Berkshires vice chairman, Charlie Munger, on the companys future.

For 2016, in the letter inviting shareholders to meet on May 6 at the CenturyLink Center, the wording was somewhat more positive than average, overall. Among comments by Buffett in the latest letter:

Charlie and I have no magic plan to add earnings except to dream big and to be prepared mentally and financially to act fast when opportunities present themselves.

Rittenhouse said business leaders who are pessimistic about the future may not see changes in their industries as opportunities.

They dont realize the disruption thats in the business world now, so that legacy-heavy companies, those who arent able to see the opportunities of change, theyre going to be disadvantaged, she said.

Rittenhouses analysis of CEOs letters to shareholders shows that about 25 percent have clear language and candor  honestly and truthfully discussing their businesses. About 25 or 30 percent, she said, are incomprehensible and so riddled with jargon that its hard to understand what theyre communicating.

The others are somewhere in between.

More important, she said, is that investors would have outperformed the market significantly over the past decade if they had invested in companies that rank highest in candor.

Buffetts letter shoots the lights out, she said. Warren gives so much context in explaining what has happened and why its important.

Buffett himself has said that when he reads a shareholder letter, he wants to see that the CEO understands the business, Rittenhouse said. Investors want to see what has changed in a business and whether theres something that should cause them to alter their view of the business.

Buffett intends his letters to build trust among shareholders and others who deal with Berkshire, Rittenhouse said.

What I think is important, from an investment perspective, is how trustworthy is the communication, she said.

The Omaha World-Herald is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
A joint operation involving federal officials and Lancaster County authorities has led to the arrest of four people in connection with a drug case in eastern Nebraska.

Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Stuart said the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Lincoln/Lancaster County Drug Task Force arrested the four people on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, Stuarts office said.

Stuarts office said the men were a 43-year-old, a 37-year-old and a 39-year-old, all from Alamo, Texas; and a 44-year-old from Lincoln.

The joint operation also led to 11 search warrants being served in the Lincoln and Omaha areas, according to Stuarts office.

Authorities said firearms, cash drug proceeds and several pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana also were recovered.
Two southwest Iowa teenagers were seriously injured Saturday night when their all-terrain vehicle overturned in rural Page County.

At 7:55 p.m., Page County Sheriffs Office deputies reported to a location about a mile south and west of New Market.

The Sheriffs Office said its investigation indicated that Brody Mattes, 13, of Shenandoah, was operating a 2015 Polaris ATV.

The boy told deputies he had attempted a turn at a high rate of speed and the brakes locked. The ATV then rolled, and he and passenger Blas Rendon, 15, also of Shenandoah, were tossed from the vehicle.

Brody was taken to Clarinda Regional Health Center in Clarinda and then transferred by medical helicopter to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha with undisclosed injuries, the Sheriffs Office said.

On Monday evening he was in fair condition, according to a spokeswoman from the Nebraska Medical Center.

Blas was taken to Clarinda Regional Health Center, also with undisclosed injuries. Information on his condition was unavailable Monday evening.

The accident remains under investigation, the Sheriffs Office said.

World-Herald staff writer Susan Szalewski contributed to this report.
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers wrestled Monday over a proposal to let teachers use physical force or restraint to subdue violent students.

But debate ended without a vote on advancing Legislative Bill 595, and the measures prospects appear doubtful.

State Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, who introduced the bill, said he doesnt know if he can find the 33 votes needed to cut off a filibuster.

Only 23 senators joined Groene in voting against a motion to send LB 595 back to the Education Committee.

The motion failed but the no votes fell short of the number needed to end a filibuster, raising questions about the strength of support for the bill.

During Mondays debate, supporters said the proposal would help Nebraska teachers keep control of their classrooms without fear of lawsuits. Opponents argued that it would open the door for abuse and could harm students.

Groene said he introduced the proposal because teachers and administrators are not clear what state law allows. As a result, he said, Nebraska schools have a growing problem with violent or unruly students.

As evidence, he cited numerous calls and emails from teachers who welcomed his proposal, including one from Chris Proulx, former president of the Omaha Education Association.

The veteran teacher wrote about his fear of being sued for breaking up a student fight and about how demoralizing it is to send a student to the office, only to have that student return a few minutes later with a smug smile.

This provision is long overdue and very necessary, Proulx wrote.

Along with allowing some use of force, LB 595 would strengthen the hand of teachers in removing students from their classrooms.

Opponents of the bill acknowledged the frustrations of teachers but questioned whether LB 595 represents the best answer to their concerns.

Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, a former teacher, said the bill would do nothing to address the behavioral health and social problems that are at the root of classroom discipline issues.

She also said it would give teachers too much leeway in determining what types of physical violence and physical restraints are acceptable.

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, who got legislation passed banning corporal punishment in Nebraska schools, condemned the proposal.

He countered stories of student misbehavior with examples of teachers crossing the line. In one case, he said a teacher in his daughters school put a girls chewing gum on her nose and pushed her head down on her desk.

Chambers said the bill would create an adversarial situation in the classroom that is going to get somebody hurt.

Sen. Roy Baker of Lincoln, a former school superintendent, said that passing LB 595 would be ill-advised for several reasons, including its possible effects on children with disabilities.

He also said the bill is unneeded because a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling already allows teachers to use physical contact, short of corporal punishment, to the degree necessary to control their classrooms.

But Sen. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft said the ruling has not eased the concerns of teachers, who tell her: You dont know what its like in our classrooms.

She said LB 595 would give teachers some liability protection but would not allow them to injure students.

Its not a wild card to hurt a child, Brasch said.

Several senators drew lessons from a 2014 incident in North Platte, in which a veteran teacher was threatened with termination over how he dealt with a third-grader who had been misbehaving in gym class.

The student refused to go to the schools timeout room and kicked at the teacher. The teacher ended up dragging the boy 93 feet by his ankles into the room.

Groene said LB 595 would have given the teacher an alternative to losing it as he did.

This has nothing to do with corporal punishment, he said. This has to do with that moment in time when physical violence takes place. Nobody here wants to abuse children.

But Chambers cited the case as another example of a teacher using excessive force with a child and doing so in front of other students.

What do you think that shows the children? he asked.

As advanced from the Education Committee, LB 595 would allow teachers or administrators to use physical force or restraint against violent students. It would allow the use of physical restraint on students who are damaging school property.

The bill specifies that neither type of action is to be considered corporal punishment, which is prohibited by state law in Nebraska schools.

In addition, the bill makes clear that teachers can remove from their classrooms students who have been repeatedly or seriously unruly, disruptive or abusive. Teachers would have to consent to the students return, unless remaining in the classroom is part of the students special education plan.

A student would also be allowed to return following a conference with the teacher, parent or guardian, and principal. The conference is to be held within two days of the students removal.

LB 595 would bar legal action or administrative discipline against teachers who use physical means to deal with students or who bar students from their classes if the teacher is acting in a reasonable manner.

Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer of Norfolk is requiring sponsors of controversial bills to show that their proposals can advance before he will schedule them for more than three hours of discussion.
LINCOLN  Gov. Pete Ricketts took one of three options off the table Tuesday when he said he wont sign a bill that allows Nebraska felons to vote in elections after completing their sentences.

The Legislature voted 27-13 on Monday to pass the bill, which ends the two-year waiting period for felons before they can exercise their right to vote.

Ricketts declined to say whether he will veto the bill, which would require a vote of 30 senators to override.

If the governor simply does not sign the legislation, it will become law after five days.

Frankly I think waiting two years to demonstrate that you can be a productive member of society, that you can keep your nose clean, is not too much to ask of convicted felons, Ricketts said Tuesday. So I dont have any intention of signing that bill.

Legislative Bill 75 is the priority measure of State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha. After hearing about the governors statement, Wayne said hes hopeful Ricketts will allow the bill to become law.

Wayne said, if necessary, hell work to secure the votes to overturn a veto.

If we have to go to an override, I believe this body wont want to walk into the dark shadows of the past, he said.

History shows that felon voting bans were supported by those who sought to disenfranchise the rights of minorities, particularly freed slaves in the years following the Civil War, Wayne said. Records of debate during Nebraskas statehood era show that some elected officials did not want blacks to have voting rights, he added.

Wayne also argued that allowing felons to more quickly exercise their right to vote helps them reintegrate back into society, which in turn can help reduce criminal reoffense rates. Lower recidivism directly benefits taxpayers, he said.

The current law requiring a two-year waiting period was adopted in 2005 after the Legislature overrode the veto of then-Gov. Dave Heineman. Before that, a felon had to receive a state pardon before the right to vote was restored.

Last year, lawmakers overrode a Ricketts veto of a bill that would require the state to issue professional licenses to immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children. The Legislature overrode three vetoes in 2015, which was Ricketts first year in office. Those vetoes involved another immigration-related bill along with measures that raised the gas tax and repealed the death penalty.
LINCOLN  A bill requiring Nebraska schools to adopt policies in support of parenting and pregnant students will need to negotiate a detour if its still going to cross the finish line.

Legislative Bill 427, sponsored by Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha, was scheduled for a third and final vote Monday when an unfriendly amendment was filed by Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard. The amendment resulted in the bill being skipped over for the day because of a procedural rule.

Erdman said rural schools already find ways to take care of pregnant or nursing students without being told to do so by the Legislature. His amendment would limit the requirement to school districts in Omaha and Lincoln.

Its not relevant for us, Erdman said Monday. School board members are calling me saying We dont need it. One size does not fit all. 

When the bill returns to the agenda, Erdman will file a motion to return the bill to second-round debate, where his amendment could be discussed and voted upon. However, if the motion to return the bill fails, the bill would remain on final-round consideration for a vote.

Erdman tried to amend the bill during second-round debate to make the bills requirements optional for schools. The amendment received 21 votes, four fewer than it needed.

Vargas said he opposes Erdmans latest amendment. He said he doesnt think the real challenges facing parenting students fall along an urban-rural divide.

All kids in Nebraska deserve policies that support them so they can finish school, he said.

The measure says K-12 schools must accommodate student mothers who breast-feed. They must provide an appropriate place for students to pump breast milk and store it.

The bill also requires the State Department of Education to put out a model policy for accommodating pregnant and parenting students that local districts could adapt.

Vargas said statistics show that 70 percent of teen mothers leave school and do not return after having a child.

Nebraska school districts have varied policies about pregnant and parenting students, according to surveys done by the ACLU of Nebraska. Only 17 percent have formal policies that address the breast-feeding needs of students, although many work with students on a case-by-case basis.
Nebraska lawmakers will begin debating the budget package advanced by the Appropriations Committee this afternoon. Debate is expected to last into Wednesday and, possibly, Thursday. Here are a few points to watch:

Budget increase. The Appropriations Committee package calls for a total of $8.9 billion of spending for the two years ending June 30, 2019. Some have questioned the size of the increase, which works out to an average of 1 percent annually.

Rainy day fund. The budget package would draw $173 million from the cash reserve fund to balance. Some senators have questioned the amount of the transfer, but any smaller transfer would force other changes in the budget.

Corrections officers. Gov. Pete Ricketts criticized the package for funding only half the new corrections officers he sought. Committee members said they would fund the positions if the Department of Correctional Services makes progress on filling its 148 officer vacancies.

Spending cuts. Some state services would be cut below levels approved for the current year. Among the largest cuts, the university's general fund budget would be reduced $13 million and Medicaid payment rates for hospitals, doctors and some other health care providers would be cut 3 percent, or nearly $25 million.

Revenue forecast. The state board that sets the tax revenue figures used in the budget package will meet Wednesday to update its projections. Most observers expect the board will lower its projections, which means lawmakers will have to do more spending cuts or fund transfers or find another way to balance the budget.

* * * * *

Follow along as World-Herald reporter Martha Stoddard tweets from the Legislature during this afternoon's budget debate.
Drive by Anna Lemieuxs house near 27th and Newport Avenues and youll see a box that, at first glance, looks like a little free library  those cabinets meant for the free exchange of books.

But the shelves arent filled with reading material. Peer inside and youll see what looks like a kitchen cupboard  full of jars of peanut butter, cans of tuna, boxes of cereal and canned vegetables.

This wooden box in the Minne Lusa neighborhood is Omahas first little free pantry.

But it wont be the last, said Steve and Vicki Holcomb, the couple who brought the idea to the metro area and built the pantry in Lemieuxs yard.

As co-founders of Little Free Pantry of Omaha, the couple already have been flooded with phone calls and emails from people who want to add a pantry to their yard or neighborhood.

Weve really just watched this idea snowball over the last few months, Steve said.

Vicki first heard of little free pantries when some of them popped up in Arkansas about a year ago. Since then, several communities have created similar programs.

This idea certainly isnt about replacing any sort of food programs in the city, Steve said. But this is a way to eliminate any limitations someone might have to getting to those, Steve said, adding that some food pantries have limited hours or require clients to bring a photo ID.

After years of teaching and working with at-risk youth, Vicki said she just didnt want to imagine children going without a meal. As real estate agents for CBSHome, Vicki and Steve said they had had clients and visited neighborhoods that could benefit from a little free pantry.

Plus, we also just really needed a project, Vicki said.

With their two daughters both in college, the empty nesters decided to go big or go home, Vicki said. We just said, Weve had this idea, lets do it. 

So Steve picked up some wood from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and started crafting a pantry.

He had grown up learning from his dad, who had worked in the kitchen cabinet industry. And for years he had worked in cabinet sales himself.

I probably am spending too much time on these because with that experience, I just really want them to look nice, he said.

For now, hes got three pantries assembled and sitting in his garage, just waiting to be put in the ground. More than 10 people have already requested one, including a person in Lincoln.

The Holcombs are meeting with the city and with neighborhood associations and churches to find the locations that would have the greatest need.

We just want to community to come around this, Steve said.

Vicki said she already has seen that Omaha is embracing the idea.

The support has been overwhelming, she said. But Im not shocked. People in Omaha are very giving.

For more information about Little Free Pantry of Omaha and how to donate, visit www.littlefreepantryofomaha.com.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Bipartisan bargainers are making progress toward a budget deal to prevent a partial federal shutdown this weekend, a major hurdle overcome when President Donald Trump signaled he would put off his demand that the measure include money to build his border wall with Mexico.

Republicans are also vetting proposed changes to their beleaguered health care bill that they hope will attract enough votes to finally push it through the House.

Both efforts come with Congress back from a two-week break just days before Trumps 100th day in office, an unofficial measuring stick of a new presidents effectiveness. With little to show in legislative victories so far, the Trump administration would love to claim achievements on Capitol Hill by that day  this Saturday.

The same day, federal agencies would have to close unless lawmakers pass a $1 trillion spending bill financing them or legislation keeping them open temporarily while talks continue. Republicans hope to avoid the ignominy of a government shutdown while their party controls Congress and the White House.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that administration negotiators including Trumps budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, feel very confident that a shutdown wont occur.

Democrats, whose votes are needed to pass the budget measure, had a less charitable version of negotiations. In a conference call with reporters aimed at criticizing Trumps first 100 days as ineffective, party leaders said the biggest shutdown threat was from Trumps demand that the spending bill include funds for the barricade along the Mexican border.

That threat appeared to be lifting Monday evening when Trump told a gathering of reporters from conservative media that he would be willing to return to the funding issue in September. Two people in the room described his comments to The Associated Press.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., approved of Trumps apparent shift. The presidents comments this evening are welcome news given the bipartisan opposition to the wall, and the obstacle it has been to the continuing bipartisan negotiations in the appropriations committees, she said in a statement late Monday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, Its good for the country that President Trump is taking the wall off the table in these negotiations. Both Democratic leaders had criticized Trump earlier Monday.

Trump had told supporters Mexico would pay for the wall, but with Mexico refusing to foot the bill he now wants Congress to make a down payment. The walls cost estimates range past $20 billion. Republicans are seeking an initial $1.4 billion in the spending bill, but many question the wisdom of an enormous wall.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said there was a need to boost border security funds, adding, But a 2,200-mile wall, I dont think theres a whole lot of support for it.

The other major budget stumbling block involved a Democratic demand for money for insurance companies that help low-income people afford health policies under President Barack Obamas health law, or that Trump abandon a threat to use the payments as a bargaining chip. Supporters of the health law warn its marketplaces could collapse if those funds are taken away.

Separately, the White House and congressional Republicans are gauging whether a plan to revise the GOPs stalled health care bill would garner enough converts to rekindle hopes for House passage of the legislation.

Their initial bill would repeal some coverage requirements under Obamas law, offer skimpier subsidies for consumers to buy care and roll back a Medicaid expansion. GOP leaders avoided a planned House vote last month, which would have failed due to opposition from GOP moderates and conservatives alike.

The proposed changes would retain several requirements imposed by Obamas 2010 statute, including obliging insurers to cover seriously ill customers.

But states could obtain federal waivers to some of those requirements. Those include mandates that insurers charge healthy and seriously ill customers the same premiums and cover specified services like hospitalization and emergency room visits.

Supporters say the proposal is significant because it would retain guaranteed coverage for people with costly illnesses. Critics say it would effectively weaken that assurance because insurers in states getting waivers could charge sky-high rates.

Those waivers may not help win moderate support. They have opposed the underlying GOP bill because of its cuts in Medicaid and to federal subsidies Obamas law provides many people buying individual policies.

But it might persuade conservatives who felt the earlier Republican bill didnt erase enough of the statute, though its unclear it will win over enough of them to achieve House passage.

The proposed changes were negotiated by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., a leader of the centrist House Tuesday Group. Vice President Mike Pence also participated, Republicans say.

Those two groups plan to meet separately this week to consider the proposal.

Copyright 2017, the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Pete Ricketts' time as governor is coming to an end, but after spending over $3.8 million in the last 11 months, he will likely have an influence on the future of state leadership for years to come.
The United States and Japan have a historic opportunity to forge a strengthened partnership to confront Asias mounting security and economic challenges, senior officials here say.

But the Trump administration risks missing this opportunity because of its failure to embrace the need for a broader strategy.

The administrations of President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe share basic interests, common values and political objectives in a way that sets the stage for the closest bilateral cooperation since World War II.

The two allies need to work together to deal with a rising China, confront a dangerous North Korea and manage explosive economic growth in Southeast Asia.

But while the Japanese government envisions a strategic plan that would look over the horizon and account for the entire Asia-Pacific region, for now the Trump team is only talking about the North Korea crisis and specific bilateral issues.

On both security and economics, the Japanese are asking the United States to think bigger and more broadly about what could be accomplished.

On security, both sides agree that Japan should take a more assertive role and fulfill its decades-long drive to become a more normal, independent and self-reliant nation. Vice President Mike Pence, visiting Tokyo last week, told me that the Trump administration wholeheartedly supports Abes push for Japan to do more.

The president would like to see Japan and our other allies in the world who have an ability to play a greater role in our common defense play that role and to bear that burden and I think thats consistent with that aspiration of the Japanese people, Pence said, adding he raised the issue of sharing the financial burden directly with Abe in their meeting.

For Japan, paying more money for hosting U.S. troops is only one part of the discussion. As Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso noted after meeting Pence, Japan already pays a far greater percentage of the cost of hosting U.S. forces than any European ally does.

In fact, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in Tokyo in February that Japan is a model country in that respect.

What Abe wants is for Japan to build military capabilities needed to counter North Korea and also China, for example, by acquiring an offensive-strike capability and expanding Japans missile defenses.

Thats politically difficult for him domestically and could require financial commitments the Japanese budget cant bear. But the project would benefit from more support from Washington.

Tokyo also wants to join with Washington to strengthen the rules-based international order in the face of Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, as well as Chinese military expansion throughout the Western Pacific. Maritime security is paramount for Japan.

The Trump administration is pursuing a warming of U.S.-China relations, and theres a concern that relationships with key allies, including Japan, could become subservient to that drive.

Theres also a risk that by placing too much emphasis on getting Beijing to fix the North Korea problem, the United States could lose sight of the regional dynamic and also acquiesce to a wide range of Chinas bad behaviors.

Japan and the United States should jointly address these issues, Kentaro Sonoura, Japans vice foreign minister, told me. What kind of actions will the United States be willing to take? Will the United States be willing to stand on our side or not? These are indeed very important points of interest and concern for us.

Several Japanese officials told me that they simply dont have interlocutors in the Trump administration yet. But their message to the United States is clear: While the short-term crisis is North Korea, the long-term challenge is China, and the alliance must not sacrifice the future for the present.

On economics, similarly, the United States is thinking more narrowly than Japan is. Pence and Aso kicked off a new bilateral dialogue and agreed on a basic framework.

Following Trumps withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, theres no clear message about what Washington wants the end result to be. Pence indicated there could be a bilateral trade agreement sometime in the future. The Japanese want to think bigger.

The broader region is experiencing massive growth, especially in Southeast Asia, and the United States and Japan share an interest in ensuring that trade and investment are based on a rules-based system, as was envisioned by the TPP.

By preserving the core of that agreement, free economies that value labor and other standards can compete, Sonoura said.

Trump and Abe have formed a good personal relationship, and there is trust that both sides can build on. But if the alliance doesnt know where it is going strategically, there cant be a clear path to get there.

The Japanese have their ideas. Now the Trump team has to step up.
Are you awake?: EAM Jaishankar recalls when he got a call from PM Modi at midnight

Afghan envoy warns of IS spreading beyond S Asia

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 25: The threat of the quasi state terror outfit Islamic State may spill over the South Asian region and beyond, Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali warned on Tuesday.

" Although we have a number of fresh terrorist groups, our focus will be on a new phenomenon called Daesh (as the IS is also called)," Abdali said while delivering a lecture "Strengthening India-Afghanistan Strategic Relations in an Uncertain World" organised by the think tank Brookings India.

"This is the most dangerous phenomenon we are facing. This most brutal, brutal phenomenon is growing in Afghanistan and its effects are being felt by the people of Afghanistan," he said.

Abdali expressed the hope that the countries of the region and the rest of the world would help Afghanistan in dealing with "this most dangerous group that we face today that can literally spill over the rest of the region and beyond."

His comments come after the US dropped the massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) or the "mother of all bombs," also dubbed as the most powerful non-nuclear bomb, on April 13 targeting an IS tunnel network in Afghanistan.

Without naming Pakistan, the Ambassador said that terrorism was being used as a tool "against Afghanistan, against India and other countries of the world."

Stressing that there should be no duplicity in dealing with terrorism, he said that one should not differentiate between the IS and the Taliban.

However, he was wholesome in his praise for India for its role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Recalling that New Delhi and Kabul had upgraded the bilateral relationship into a strategic relationship, Abdali said that India was the first strategic ally of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.

"We are grateful to India for being the largest donor in the region and the fifth largest donor in Afghanistan's reconstruction," he said..

He said that the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his country twice in the last couple of years showed the importance India gave to Afghanistan.

Modi visited Kabul in December 2015 to jointly inaugurate with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani a new building of the country's parliament built with Indian aid and then again in June last year to inaugurate the India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam.

"India has contributions in each of the achievements of Afghanistan in the last 16 years," Abdali said.

From almost no education in 2001, there are now millions of students going to school in Afghanistan, he said, adding that there are over 16,000 Afghan students studying in India.

According to the Ambassador, in a country of 30 million people, there are over 20 million mobile users, over 60 TV channels and over 200 newspapers.

"We had presidential and parliamentary elections," he said.

"From no army and no police, today we have 352,000 army and police personnel," he added.

Abdali said that the role of all countries was necessary in the reconstruction of Afghanistan in this new world order of multi-polarity.

"A better Asia and a peaceful Asia can be achieved by learning from past mistakes," he said.

The Ambassador also called for operationalising the India-Afghanistan-US trilateral partnership for peace and stability in Afghanistan.

IANS
After Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh, MP cops issue high alert for Balaghat

India

pti-PTI

Bhopal, April 25: In the wake of the Maoist attack in which 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed, the Madhya Pradesh police has issued a high alert in the Naxal-affected Balaghat district, a senior official said on Tuesday.

"The areas under Balaghat police range are bordering with the Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. So, we have put the security forces on high alert," Inspector General (Balaghat Range) G Janadan told a news agency.

He said the patrolling along the borders has been intensified to check the activities of Naxals.

[Maoist attack on CRPF jawans: Who said what]

"This area has also been Naxal-affected and the police has intensified patrolling at the borders of Kawardha and Rajnandgaon districts of Chhattisgarh and Gondia district of Maharashtra," Janardan added.

In the fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions, at least 25 CRPF personnel were killed and seven wounded on Monday.

[26 CRPF jawans martyred in Sukma: Nation pays tribute]

The Naxalites mounted the assault in the Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, where Left-Wing extremism is rampant. This was the deadliest guerrilla attack on security forces in the state so far this year.

PTI
BJP chief Amit Shah to visit all states by September

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 25: BJP chief Amit Shah will visit all states by September end as part of his campaign to strengthen the party as it readies for another round of assembly polls and the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

He will spend 95 days, as announced by him in the recent national executive in Bhubaneswar, during the drive, which starts from Jammu and Kashmir. He will spend two to three days in each of the states and union territories. This programme is different from his 15-day tour of five states, which started today with a three-day stay in West Bengal, as the BJP aims at toning up the organisational structure and will not involve much public contact.

"This is for the first time that the president of a party as big as the BJP will be touring all states of the country to strengthen the organisation. We want to make the birth centenary year of Deen Dayal Upadhyay a memorable period in our history," party general secretary Arun Singh said.

Upadhyay is one of the two ideological stalwarts, another being Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, of the saffron party and it has launched a series of nation-wide activities from September 25, 1916 to observe his birth centenary year.

The entire exercise underlines Shah's ambitious plans to increase the party's footprints across the country, especially in electorally important states where it has always been a fringe player, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

He is especially focusing on Odisha, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and Telangana, which together send 141 MPs to the Lok Sabha of 543 members, excluding two nominated members. Despite notching up an unprecedented majority in 2014 Lok Sabha polls by winning 282 seats, the BJP could win only five seats in these states.

As it will likely find it a difficult task to repeat its massive sweep of the west India and states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Shah wants it to win more seats in these six states to make up for any fall in its tally in other states.

PTI
Chhattisgarh CM, BJP had deal with Maoists: Digvijaya Singh

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 25: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday stirred a controversy by reiterating that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and the BJP had a "deal and understanding" with the Maoists in the state. He called for talks with all stakeholders to bring Maoist violence under control.

"Chief Minister Raman Singh ji and the Bharatiya Janata Party win elections from there because they had a deal and understanding with the Maoists. I have said this before, and I am stating it again," Singh told reporters here.

His statement came after Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday dubbed Monday's massacre of 25 CRPF personnel by Maoists in an ambush in Chhattisgarh as "cold-blooded murder" and said the Centre will review its anti-Maoist strategy.

The Congress leader also paid homage to the Central Reserve Police Force men killed in the ambush. Digvijaya Singh said unless the state's tribal villagers are taken into confidence, Maoist violence cannot be brought under control. "The government should talk to all the stakeholders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government only believe in 'jumlas' and have been indulging in it since May 2014," he said.

IANS
Chhattisgarh Maoists attack: 70% attackers were women

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

Chhattisgarh, April 25: A CRPF soldier, who was injured during a gunbattle with Maoists in Kalapathar area of south Bastar district of Chhattisgarh on Monday had said 70 per cent of the Maoists were women.

A soldier who refused to be named said that women Maoists were more when compared to men who attacked the soldiers with AK-47.

Another soldier said that after killing the soldiers the women stole the weapons and ran away.

At least 26 CRPF jawans lost their lives on April 24 during a fierce gunbattle with Maoists in Kalapathar area of south Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.

The incident took place around 12.25 pm on Monday, when the CRPF troops belonging to the 74th battalion of the force were providing security for road construction work.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and CRPF Additional Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia on Tuesday arrived in Raipur at around 10.30 am and directly headed to the headquarters of the 4th battalion of Chhattisgarh Armed Force in Mana camp area where the wreath-laying ceremony was held.

OneIndia News
No one has guts...: Junior defence minister's reply to China question

China bans strongly religious names for babies in Xinjiang

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Beijing, April 25: China has banned Islamic names for babies in Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, home to the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, the Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

According to the move, children with the banned names like Saddam or Midina will not be able to get a residence permit called "hukou," which is required for access to medical and educational services, it said in a statement.

"This is just the latest in a slew of new regulations restricting religious freedom in the name of countering religious extremism," the HRW said.

The Xinjiang government claims the names were banned because of their religious connotation, which can "exaggerate religious fervour," Efe news reported.

On April 1, the authorities in Xinjiang had also imposed new rules banning "abnormal" beards or a full veil and warned people of punishments for refusing to watch state TV or radio programmes.

Conflicts between the Uighur and the Han, the majority ethnic group in China and who also control the government, are common.

Beijing usually attributes the violence to Islamist groups and secessionists, whereas Uighur groups in exile consider the conflict to be a result of repression by the Communist regime.

"Violent incidents and ethnic tensions in Xinjiang have been on the rise in recent years, but the government's farcically repressive policies and punishments are hardly solutions," said HRW.

"They are only going to deepen resentment among the Uighurs," it added.

IANS
Colonel Purohit's bail plea in Malegaon blasts case rejected

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Bombay high court has denied the bail plea filed by Lt Colonel S Purohit in connection with the Malegaon blasts case. The same court that granted Sadhvi Pragya Singh bail in the case refused to entertain the application filed by Purohit.

The National Investigation Agency had opposed Purohit's plea for bail and submitted that there existed adequate prima facie evidence in the form of audio and video recordings, call detail records and witness statements. All this suggests that Purohit had played a major role in the case, the NIA contended. The NIA said that he had taken part in the conspiracy.

Purohit contended through the previous hearings that NIA had been selective in exonerating some accused persons and that the agency had made him a scapegoat in the case. He had also claimed that the evidence against him was manufactured by the ATS, and that he had already spent eight years in custody as an undertrial.

OneIndia News
Delhi HC issues notice to CBI on plea against Chidambaram's kin

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, April 25: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the CBI's response on a plea alleging that a woman, related to former Union Minister P Chidambaram, has grabbed a hotel in Tamil Nadu in collusion with the officials of a public sector bank.

The petition filed by K Kathirvel, a doctor by profession who was running the hotel in partnership with his associates, accused Padmini, sister of Chidambaram's wife Nalini, of grabbing the property in collusion with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) officials.

Justice R K Gauba issued notice to the CBI and sought a status report by July 25 with regard to the complaint lodged by Kathirvel, who has alleged arm-twisting by the bank and Chidambaram's wife Nalini to grab the hotel for Padmini.

The court asked the probe agency to inform it about the action they have taken so far. CBI's standing counsel Rajdeepa Behura accepted notice for the agency and said she will file a response on the averments made in the petition.

Kathirvel alleged in his plea that he had filed a complaint with CBI in September 2016 against Chidambaram, his family members and top officials of IOB for grabbing his hotel, but the agency has not yet taken any step.

The petitioner said he had filed the complaint with the CBI director after CBI's Tamil Nadu unit showed reluctance to entertain it. According to his complaint, in 2007, the "Comfort Inn" hotel in Tirupur, in which he was a partner, was grabbed by them with the help of the top management of IOB.

Arguing for Kathirvel, his counsel Yatinder Chaudhary, said this was a clear case of abuse of power by the former Union Minister's family using banks to grab the properties they wished. He contended that even after clearing the dues, the bank went on with a "mock auction" to allot the hotel to Padmini.

The hotel was worth more than Rs 10 crore and had a loan due of Rs 2.5 crore with the IOB and the bank had declared the loan as non-performing asset and announced an auction, the complaint said. Kathirvel said he had approached the Madras High Court and later the Debt Recovery Tribunal, besides paying Rs 64 lakh ($96,000) to the IOB to avoid auction.

After receiving the amount, the bank promised cancellation of the auction, he claimed. He alleged that the bank cheated him and conducted a "farce auction" and allotted the hotel to Padmini at a very cheap rate of Rs 4.5 crore.

PTI
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: Arrangements made for poll results on April 26

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 25: Elaborate arrangements have been made for the counting of votes cast in Delhi's municipal elections at 35 centres on Wednesday, an election official said.

The ballot counting will begin at 8 am and the trends would be available within an hour, he added.

"We have made elaborate arrangements. Counting will take place at 35 centres across Delhi. Trends and results will be announced from the counting centres," Delhi's State Election Commissioner S K Srivastava told a news agency.

Srivastava said 16 ballot counting centres have been set up for the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, six for the East Delhi Municipal corporation, and 13 for the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

Voting to pick three new municipal corporations in Delhi took place on Sunday, in which 54 per cent of the 1.32 crore electorate exercised their franchise till 5.30 p.m. when polling ended in 270 wards of the three municipal corporations.

Polling did not take place in two wards -- Maujpur in east Delhi and Sarai Pipal Thala in north Delhi -- where a candidate each of the Samajwadi Party died.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were the three main contenders in the fray.

A total of 2,537 candidates were in the fray for the 104 seats each of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and the South Delhi Muncipal Corporation, and 64 seats of the East Delhi Municipal Congress.

The three civic bodies cover 68 of the 70 constituencies of the Delhi assembly. Two other smaller civic bodies are the Delhi Cantonment Board and the New Delhi Municipal Council.

IANS


Delhi MCD Election 2017: Kejriwal warns of movement if exit poll predictions come true

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi, April 25: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday warned of launching a 'movement' if the exit polls forecasting Bharatiya Janata Party win come true in Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls.

Two days before the counting, the Aam Aadmi Party supremo said that the party leaders and elected representatives are in touch with people on daily basis and they know the ground reality.

In a video that went viral on social media, the AAP chief said that if the predictions of the exit polls claim the BJP's victory again as shown on Sunday then he would launch a 'movement' to protest.

Senior AAP leaders such as Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, and other party legislators were also seen in the video.

After the party's defeat in Punjab and Goa elections, Kejriwal has been raising Electronic Voting Machines tampering. The party had also raised questions EVMs without voter-verifiable paper audit trail being used in MCD polls. It had demanded the state Election Commission to use ballot papers instead of EVMs.

Delhi Labour Minister Gopal Rai said that EVMs would be the only reason for the kind of results predicted by the pollsters.

He said that if EVMs are at play then these surveys are 100% correct and added that if the polls are fair then AAP will win with the majority.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 14:16 [IST]
Drive safe: Madras HC stops denotification of highways to avoid booze ban

India

oi-Anusha

The Madras High court on Tuesday pulled up the Tamil Nadu government for moving to denotify all highways. Following the Supreme Court's order to shut down all liquor shops along state and national highways, the Tamil Nadu government proposed to denotify highways to ensure that they come under the purview of the municipal corporations. The Madras high court applied brakes on the government's move by staying the process. The order came on a plea filed by the DMK that accused the government of attempting to circumvent the Supreme Court's order.

Further, the court directed the government not to open any new liquor shops in the next three months. With this, the Madras high court essentially dashed Tamil Nadu government's hopes of reopening TASMAC shops along highways that were shut following the Supreme Court's order.

The Tamil Nadu government, which controls the liquor business in the state, is on the verge of losing more than Rs 10,000 crore following the Supreme Court order to close liquor shops along the state and national highways. The state in a bid to avoid losses wanted to denotify highways to ensure that liquor shops can remain open. The government told the court that by denotifying highways, the municipal corporations can carry out works, repairs faster without the centre's nod. This argument was rejected by the High court.

"It has been proposed to shift the state and national highways to the control of the municipalities so that various civic works, including water and sewage pipe laying operations along the highways, especially during a calamity, could be carried out immediately without awaiting permission from various state and central government departments," municipal administration Commissioner K Prakash had said in an order.

OneIndia News
ECI bribery case: TTV is main accused, why isn't he arrested, asks Sukesh

India

oi-Anusha

Counsel for Sukesh Chandrasekhar the alleged middleman in the ECI bribery case asked why TTV Dinakaran was not arrested. The counsel, while presenting his arguments, against police's plea to extend custody asked, "TTV Dinakaran is the main accused in the case. Why hasn't he been arrested? Why is the police seeking an extension for Sukesh's custody?"

The counsel who spoke for Sukesh Chandrasekhar also said that he was tortured in custody. "I do not know who is questioning me. Those questioning me should bear name tags," he said on Sukesh's behalf. The counsel also told the court that despite being allowed to meet his parents and collect clothes from them, Sukesh's parents were denied a meeting with him.

Justice Poonam Chowdhary who rejected the argument extended Sukesh Chandrasekhar's police custody till April 28. The judge maintained that the offence was big and that the sanctity of the electoral process was undermined. The Delhi crime branch police submitted call records between TTV Dinakaran and Sukesh Chandrasekhar to the court. The police claimed that further investigation was required into the case.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the Delhi police would bring Sukesh Chandrasekhar and TTV Dinakaran face-to-face as part of the inquiry. The Delhi police have also submitted to the court that Hawala operator, Shah Faizal has identified Sukesh Chandrasekar. In a submission to the court, the Delhi police said that the hawala operator recognises Sukesh for receiving the money sent from Chennai.

OneIndia News
Go to Pakistan: This is how youngsters abused an elderly Muslim man in Delhi Metro

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, April 25: Metros, the popular mode of transportation across the world, are considered as melting pots where commuters irrespective of their class, creed, religion and gender, travel together.

The cosmopolitan culture of Delhi metro got a jolt recently, when a group of young men hurled abuses and threatened an elderly Muslim man for requesting them to give him a seat. The case reportedly took place in the violet line of Delhi Metro.

The shocking part was that the youngsters asked the elderly man, who was sporting a beard and wearing a skull cap, to 'go to Pakistan if he wants a seat in the metro'.

The incident has come to light at a time when India is witnessing several cases of persecution of people belonging to the minority community in the name of protecting cows by alleged cow vigilantes.

A witness to the case, Santosh Roy, told reporters that he decided to intervene when he saw an old man being abused and threatened by a group of youths. In fact, Roy asked the men to apologise to the elderly gentleman. Afterwards, the youngsters physically assaulted Roy and also asked him to 'go to Pakistan'.

Later, a metro guard at the Khan Market Station decided to take everyone to the Pandara Road police station to file a complaint against the alleged accused. However, a few days later the elderly man decided to withdraw his police complaint after the youths tendered an apology to him.

OneIndia News
Delhi brokers tried to bribe four TRS MLAs: KCR targets BJP

Hyderabad should remember Sardar Patel the most: Kishan Reddy

RRR box office collection in Japan: SS Rajamouli's flick likely to beat '3 Idiots' record

Hyderabad man succumbs to injuries in Saudi after being set ablaze by employer

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

A 26-year-old man from Hyderabad died in Saudi Arabia after being allegedly set ablaze by his employers.

Mohd Abdul Qader, who had gone to Saudi in November last year, worked as a car driver at a house in Riyadh. Qader died in a hospital due to burn injuries on April 18 after an alleged altercation with his employer.

Hyderabad man in Riyadh succumbed to burn injuries after being allegedly set on fire following dispute with a family member of his employer pic.twitter.com/18A3kXQjmB  ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017

Qader had spoken to his brother Mohammad Abdul Qayum last month during which he had expressed the desire to return.

A few days back, Qayum had received a phone call saying that Qader had sustained burn injuries and was in critical condition.

Qader's sister told the media that they were informed that he had sustained injuries due to a cylinder blast.

"We were not informed or given details as to what had happened. We were earlier told that cylinder blast took place there," she said.

The Indian Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia have visited the hospital and police station. The police informed Embassy officials that Abdul Qader had an altercation with a Saudi national.

They said the case was under investigation.

According to reports, Qader was also not paid his salary for the past six months.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 10:33 [IST]
India is losing its tigers fast, poachers on prowl

India

oi-Anusha

While wildlife enthusiasts were ecstatic over rise in tiger population across the country in 2016, there is a lot of reason to worry this year. Just four months into 2017, Karnataka alone has lost 12 tigers already. A report from the ministry of forests and environment paints a grim picture of how poachers and natural causes are killing India's tigers. While the statistics are for 2014-2016, the unofficial numbers for 2017 are already worrying.

Apart from being the 'Tiger capital' of the country, Karnataka is on its way to become the 'poachers capital' as well if an alert given by National tiger conservatory authority is anything to go by. The alert warns that poachers from central and northern parts of the country are migrating down south. Despite the Karnataka forest department's vigilance, rate of tiger mortality is only increasing.

"Analysis of tiger deaths across the country in the last three years due to poaching, excluding seizures, shows that the average number of tiger deaths due to confirmed poaching is 9 and the confirmed poaching cases in 2016 alone if 12," said Anil Madhav Dave, minister for forest and environment while maintaining that the number was quite high.

Madhya Pradesh lost 16 tigers due to poaching and natural causes in 2014, the number rose to an alarming 32 in 2016. Karnataka stood second in tiger deaths with 17 casualties out of which 3 were confirmed cases of poaching and 4 are under scrutiny. In 2017, Karnataka has already lost 12 tigers and is all set to overtake its 2016 number. The numbers have got environmentalists worried.

OneIndia News
Take call over tax relief for school vehicles: HC to Punjab govt

Government needs more taxes, it is poor says Chidambaram

Cabinet approves agreement between India, Saint Vincent for exchange of info on taxes

Indians pay a whopping 153 % tax on petrol over its basic cost

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Consumers are paying around 153 percent in taxes for a litre of petrol over the price at which it is sold by refineries to oil companies, said a report.

Rs 29.54 per litre is the price of petrol at which the oil companies get fuel from refineries. Adding central excise duty, state VAT, octroi, cess and commission for petrol pump owners to it, the consumers in Mumbai end up paying Rs.77.50 per litre.

This accounts for over 153 percent in taxes.

A Times of India report quoted an economist as saying that the government wants to boost its revenues by hiking cess on petrol.

Some say that high price of fuel will also discourage people from using private transport and push them towards availing public transport.

It also needs to be noted that among all the other neighbouring countries, the cost of petrol in India is highest. A report says that in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh the fuel costs are Rs 43.68, Rs 50.98, Rs 64.24 and Rs 70.82, respectively.

OneIndia
Interpol rejects RCN against arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari citing political vendetta

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Delhi police has failed to secure a Red-Corner Notice from the Interpol against arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari. This comes close on the heels of the Interpol refusing to issue an RCN against Lalit Modi.

The Delhi police through the Central Bureau of Investigation had moved the Interpol to get an RCN issued against Bhandari who is currently in London's Mayfair area. The Interpol in its statement said that the case registered under sections of the Official Secrets Act appeared to be of 'political nature' and did not fulfil the necessary criteria for issuance of a red notice.

Bhandari, according to the Delhi police, had fled India through Nepal. He had gone missing in November 2016 after an FIR was registered against him under the OSA. The case was registered after the police had recovered confidential documents relating to the defence ministry at his home in Defence Colony.

The documents according to investigators contained weapon procurement plans and also purchase of six mid-air refuelling aircraft for the Indian Air Force. These documents had been placed before the Defence Acquisition Council.

OneIndia News
Its brick bath

As three J&K policemen take position to face the protesters on a street in Srinagar, pieces of bricks on the ground tell us how stone (rather brick) pelting by students continues unabated in the Valley.

Picture credit: PTI

Burning streets

A fire burns in the middle of a road in Srinagar, as CRPF men patrol an area during the protests.

Picture credit: PTI

Finally, we caught you!

A student being whisked away by policemen after he was caught from the premises of a college in Srinagar.

Picture credit: PTI

A stone for a stone

CRPF men and students throw stones at each other during clashes in the vicinity of Lal Chowk in Srinagar.

Picture credit: PTI

Run students, run

Security men chase away students during clashes in the vicinity of Lal Chowk in Srinagar.

Picture credit: PTI

Raising hell

A girl student pelts a stone at security personnel during protests in Srinagar.

Picture credit: PTI

Smoke of anger

Girl students run for cover as police burst tear gas shells during clashes in Srinagar.

Picture credit: PTI
Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan: India salutes martyred CRPF men; supports agitating farmers

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, April 25: Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan (Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer) was a slogan coined by former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1965 to honour the two biggest pillars--soldiers and farmers--of the Indian democracy.

On Tuesday, a day after 25 brave soldiers of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed in a barbaric attack by Naxals in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, India paid rich tributes to the jawans during the wreath laying ceremony at Raipur, which was attended by home minister Rajnath Singh and chief minister Raman Singh.

Life came to a standstill in Tamil Nadu as the state observed a complete shutdown on Tuesday in solidarity with the drought-hit farmers, who were protesting in the national capital till last week. The bandh was supported by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Congress, multitude of trade unions, farmer bodies and even the film fraternity.

Farmers across TN, Maharashtra and Karnataka, to name a few states, have been struggling due to drought. Since last year, drought has severely hit farmers across the country. The agriculture sector is witnessing one of its worst crises, as farmers have lost their crops due to severe weather conditions.

Moreover, because of crop loss the farmers have no means to pay back their loans. Although states like Uttar Pradesh have given loan waiver to small farmers, farmers of Maharashtra and TN are agitating to get drought relief funds.

On the micro-blogging sites, Twitter, hashtags like #Strike4Farmers and 25 CRPF, were trending to showcase India's support for the farming and armed forces communities.

OneIndia News
Accession Day: Valley lights up on this day when J&K became part of India

AAP "merely a party of UT Delhi", only Cong can challenge BJP in Gujarat, HP: Azad

Kashmir unrest: CM Mehbooba chairs top security meeting

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Srinagar, April 25: A crucial meeting of the unified headquarters chaired by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti began on Tuesday to review the deteriorating security situation in the valley.

Comprised of top brass of army, police, paramilitary, state and central intelligence agencies, the unified headquarters is the apex anti-militancy grid in the state.

Students unrest that has been surfacing in the valley coupled with sped up militant activities, as per sources, will be on the top of agenda in the meeting being held at Sher-e-Kashmir international convention centre SKICC on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar.

Having assured the media that the situation would be brought under control within the next three months, the Chief Minister will have to painstakingly chalk out a strategy with the security agencies to realise the promise.

This is the first meeting of the unified headquarters in Srinagar after last year's summer unrest that left more than 100 persons dead in the Valley.

IANS

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 13:25 [IST]
Man who got Siddaramaiah from JD(S) set to quit Congress

India

oi-Anusha

Former MP and senior Congress leader A H Vishwanath is all set to quit the party. The man who was instrumental in bringing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the Congress has alleged that he has been sidelined by the party. While Vishwanath is expected to join the JD(S) soon, no official statement has been made. Vishwanath, a prominent Kuruba leader, played a key role in convincing Siddaramaiah another Kuruba strongman to join the Congress after his ouster from the JD(S).

Much like S M Krishna, Vishwanath claimed that he was upset over being sidelined in the party, including when the Gundlupet and Nanjangud assembly bypolls were underway. The 67-year-old politician, who has been a Congressman for four decades, is currently in talks with former Prime Minister H D Devegowda. Vishwanath is said to have already held the first round of talks with H D Kumaraswamy and Madhu Bagarappa as well. While he has remained tight-lipped over which party he intends to join, he has already made up his mind to quit the Congress.

Vishwanath had been critical of Siddaramaiah and his governance in public over the last few months. His move to quit from the party comes even as Congress is in the process of retaining its leaders. Siddaramaiah had successfully managed to convince Ambareesh to not quit from the party last week.

OneIndia News
Maoist attack on CRPF jawans: Who said what

India

oi-Preeti Panwar

Raipur, April 25: At least 26 CRPF personnel were martyred and seven wounded in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Monday, the deadliest ambush by Naxalites of security forces this year.

The nearly 100-strong CRPF patrol providing security for road construction work came under fierce gunfire from Maoist guerrillas occupying vantage positions, inflicting heavy casualties on the personnel, sources in the paramilitary said. The Naxalites mounted the assault around 12:25 PM in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Left-wing extremism in the country.

[Also Read: 26 CRPF jawans martyred in Sukma: Nation pays tribute]

The area is close to the Chintagufa-Burkapal-Bheji axis, the hotbed of Naxal violence, which has seen a number of such attacks in the past resulting in high casualties.

The Naxals were believed to have also looted over a dozen weapons of the slain personnel, the officer said. All the troops belonged to the 74th battalion of the force depolyed in the area for anti-Maoist operations.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and various politicians condemned the brutal attack. Here are the reactions:

President Pranab Mukherjee "Strongly condemn attack on CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh; condolences to families of deceased and prayers for injured." Prime Minister Narendra Modi "Attack on @crpfindia personnel in Chhattisgarh is cowardly & deplorable. We are monitoring the situation closely. We are proud of the valour of our @crpfindia personnel. The sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain. Condolences to their families." Home Minister Rajnath Singh "Extremely pained to know about the killing of CRPF personnel in Sukma. My tributes to the martyrs and condolences to their families. It is a very sad and unfortunate incident. We have taken the attack as a challenge." Congress President Sonia Gandhi "The sacrifice of 24 brave men is a big loss to the nation. Such mindless and ruthless attacks will never deter (us) in the fight against extremism." Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi "My sincere condolences to the families of CRPF personnel martyred in the attack in #Sukma. We salute the sacrifice & courage of our bravehearts. This thoughtless violence will never succeed in weakening our resolve to fight forces of extremism." Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala "Our salute to brave soldiers and condolences to families. Is it not a clear case of intelligence failure on the part of central and state governments? How does the present government propose to tackle Naxalites? Prime Minister should take decisive action against the anti-national forces, who are directly challenging the might of the nation." Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi "I am distressed to hear of the tragic loss of 26 brave CRPF personnel in Sukma (Chhattisgarh) in a Naxal attack." West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "Saddened at the tragic death of CRPF jawans in Sukma, Chhattisgarh. Strongly condemn violence. My sympathies with the bereaved families." Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje "Martyrdom of the CRPF jawans will not go waste."

SALUTE. RESPECT. AWE...

For them who give their today - for our tomorrow...

25 #CRPF Jawans who attained martyrdom in #Sukma Maoist attack pic.twitter.com/pfCI2SdBYm  Sushil Kumar Singh (@SushilSinghMP) 25 April 2017

These 25 CRPF jawaans had their children,their homes & their dreams.We have let these soldiers down.Hope we tackle this in the way, it works pic.twitter.com/a1FryYFltI  Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) 25 April 2017

Am in Raipur for the wreath laying ceremony for the 25 CRPF jawans who were killed yesterday. Ceremony begins at about 10:30 am. pic.twitter.com/r8wicnzeyh  Vishnu Som (@VishnuNDTV) 25 April 2017

The killing of 25 CRPF men is a national tragedy .those responsible for this ambush should not get away with this heinous crime  Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) 25 April 2017

Names & Ranks of 25 CRPF Martyrs.Dear Politicians Mere condemning on twitter won't bring Justice & Cheers on face of their families. Plz Act pic.twitter.com/awvqQzD18w  Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) 24 April 2017

Maoists slaughter 25 CRPF Jawans. Yet no one calls this terrorism. That's a term reserved for Muslims in this country!  Salman Nizami (@SalmanNizami_) 24 April 2017

Brutal murder of 25 CRPF jawans is horrific. Nearly 1k lives - police, paramilitary- r lost yearly. Deepest condolences to families&friends.  Jayaprakash Narayan (@JP_LOKSATTA) 24 April 2017

25 CRPF jawans massacred. Govt needs a comprehensive strategy 1st 2 identify these Maoists & then 2 have a firm dialogue or surgical strike.  shravan mission (@MissionShravan) 24 April 2017

25 CRPF jawans martyred in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district in an encounter with Maoists.Salute our martyrs pic.twitter.com/TfojLKwRZR  FAZLUR  (@ifazlur) 24 April 2017

This blame-game politics won't take us anywhere. 25 #CRPF jawans died & we r merely making a moment outrage. Nothing to crush the Naxalites.  Abhishek Kumar Singh (@ensutra) 24 April 2017

OneIndia News
Mathura: Boy drowns in swimming pool of ISKCON-run school

India

pti-PTI

Mathura, April 25: A 13-year-old boy drowned in the swimming pool of a boarding school run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place yesterday when Kartik, a 7th class student in Delhi, was taking a bath in the pool of the Bhakti Vedanta Gurukul and International School (BGIS), Vrindavan station incharge Uday Pratap Singh said.

The victim's friends alerted the school staff when they spotted him struggling in the waters, he said, adding the boy was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

"Prima facie it is a case of negligence on part of the school management as no trainer was deployed near the pool at the time of the incident. Only, the school vice principal, who is not a trained swimmer, was present at the spot," Singh said.

The body has been sent for postmortem, he said. The police added that no FIR has been registered in the case so far, as no one has come forward with a complaint. Meanwhile, ISKCON PRO Ravilochan said the school management has ordered a probe into the incident.

PTI
MP: Dalit father defies bizarre diktat on bands to give daughter a grand wedding

India

oi-Anusha

A determined bride and her father broke an age-old diktat stopping Dalits from having a band during wedding processions in Mana village of Madhya Pradesh. Chander Meghwal, 45, and his daughter, Mamata, a student of class XII defied all odds to reject a decree imposed by the upper castes. With police protection and vigilant district administration, the Dalit family welcomed their daughter's groom with a grand band and all the makings of marriage procession.

The wedding that took place on Sunday created a new tradition in the village where the dominant upper caste community has decreed that no family of 'low social status' should have a band as part of their marriage procession. The diktat also audaciously states that "at best, they could have a dhol for musical accompaniment." Unwilling to compromise on his daughter's happiness, Chander Meghwal sought the district administration's help.

The family claims that some members of the upper caste threatened Chander of dire consequences if he tried to 'become their equal by hiring a full-fledged band'. The bride, Mamta stood her ground and refused to bow down to oppression. Reiterating their right to celebrate happy occasions in ways they deemed proper, she suggested that the family approach the district administration for help.

GS Dabar, the sub-divisional magistrate who received the family's petition told the leaders of the village's upper caste community that it was illegal to prevent anybody from hiring a band for their marriage procession. When threats continued to haunt the family, police were asked to provide protection. The family was then threatened of social ostracism. Unrelenting, the family hired a full-fledged band. The wedding took place with three inspectors and a dozen policemen keeping vigil.

While the bride said that she hoped for her sisters also to get a grand wedding like hers, the family fears social ostracism. They have defied an oppressive tradition and fear repercussions.

OneIndia News
Naxal bloodbath: Here is why Left extremists in JNU won't speak up

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A gruesome attack on the Central Reserve Polie Force personnel by Left-Wing extremists or terrorists or Naxalites and the so-called epicentre of a democratic voice, the JNU is silent. Over the past many years, we have heard complaints about a Naxal ideology brewing on the JNU campus. In this context, one also needs to mention that it was at the same campus that Bharat ki barbaadi, slogans were raised.

Without getting into commentary and personnel opinions, let us cut to the chase straight. Year 2016, month May and date 20th. Residents of the Naxal-hit Bastar in Chhattisgarh had approached the police alleging that some professors of the "PRESTIGIOUS JNU," had instigated them against the government.

The complaint was filed at the Darbah police station. The villagers stated in their complaint that these professors from Delhi had instigated them against the government and also asked them to support the Naxalites. "Around five people from JNU had visited the village and had a conversation with us," they stated in their complaint.

"The government and the administration will do nothing for you. Hence you must support the Naxalites," the villagers also alleged in their complaint. "They also told us to bring back the people who have surrendered before the police. The people also told us not to allow the police to set up their camps in the village," they alleged.

OneIndia News
Naxal terror only next to Taliban, Islamic State says US report

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Naxal violence is ranked fourth in the world after the Taliban, Islamic State and the Boko Haram. Following the bloodbath at Chhattisgarh on Monday, the death toll of security personnel since 2004 has shot up to 1,914. Looking at the statistics, it is clear that Naxal violence has claimed more lives of security personnel in India when compared to other attacks in states such as Jammu and Kashmir.

The South Asia Terrorism Portal states that since 2004, 3,912 security personnel have been martyred in both terrorist and Naxal violence. If one were to include Monday's attack then 1,914 security personnel have been killed in Naxal violence alone since 2004.

From 2014 onwards if one were to look at the statistics for Jammu and

Kashmir, the number of security personnel who have lost their lives is at 1,369. In the case of the North Eastern states, the number of security personnel who have lost their lives since 2004 stands at 609.

The US Department of State has said that the CPI-Maoist is the deadliest terror outfit in India. Looking at the casualty rate and number of lives Naxal violence has claimed, then it is behind the deadly Taliban, the IS, and Boko Haram.

OneIndia News
No beacon on his vehicle, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sees red

India

oi-Anusha

When he sat in his car on Monday morning, it had a red beacon but by evening, Karnataka Chief minister Siddaramaiah lost his cool after he realised that the red beacon had been removed.

While the media in Karnataka was hailing Siddaramaiah for removing the red beacon from his vehicle on Monday, it came as a disappointment that he had no role to play in it. In fact, when reporters asked the Chief Minister if removing the red beacon meant that he supported the centre's order, he was taken aback. He looked back at his car and found the red beacon missing.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had no clue that the red beacon from his car had been removed following the union government's order to curb VIP culture. Siddaramaiah visited the freedom park in Bengaluru on Monday when he noticed that the red beacon was missing from his car. The Chief Minister without acknowledging that the central government had banned the beacon, lashed out at his staff for removing it without his knowledge.

Following the centre's order to remove red beacon from all official vehicles, his security staff got rid of it but it angered Siddaramaiah who asked his staff to reinstate the red beacon. When questioned by the media, the Chief Minister said he had no knowledge of any such ban on red beacons. Siddaramaiah had earlier been criticised for his convoy causing traffic snarls in the city of Bengaluru.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 11:06 [IST]
UP: Five dead after bus hits dozen vehicles

2 dead, dozen injured in a bus-tanker collision in UP

UP ATS picks up two more accused in Al-Qaeda radicalisation case

UP: 4 dead, 4 severely injured in road accident on Yamuna Expressway

Prajapati granted bail by POSCO court in rape case

India

oi-PTI

Lucknow, Apr 25: Former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati and his two accomplices were on Tuesday granted bail by a Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses court in Lucknow in connection with a rape case.

Special judge of POCSO court Om Prakash Mishra granted the bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu.

The court asked him to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount.

The FIR was registered against Prajapati and six others on the directive of the Supreme Court.

Prajapati, 49, was arrested in Lucknow on March 15 and sent to jail for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 16:30 [IST]
President to address Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy convocation on May 5

India

pti-PTI

Dehradun, April 25: President Pranab Mukherjee will arrive on a two-day visit to Uttarakhand on May 5 during which he will address a convocation function at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy in Dehradun.

The president will address the IGNFA convocation on May 5 and visit the Himalayan shrine a day later on May 6 to pay obeisance, an official release said.

Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul held a high-level meeting with officials, including Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy and DGP MA Ganpati, to review administrative preparedness for the presidential visit.

Paul asked the officials to make all security arrangements as per the norms for the visit, right from the president's arrival at the Jollygrant airport to his departure for Delhi the next day after paying obeisance at the Himalayan shrine.

The president will arrive at the Jollygrant airport on May 5 and head straight to the IGNFA to address its convocation. He will then go to the Raj Bhawan where he will stay at night. The president will leave for Badrinath the following morning, where he will offer prayers before returning to New Delhi on the same day.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 17:29 [IST]
Probe against T T V Dinakaran widens: Jaya's lawyer called in for questioning

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The probe into the EC bribery case in which T T V Dinakaran is an accused is widening. B Kumar, Jayalalithaa's advocate has reached the office of the Delhi Crime Branch at Chanakyapuri and is being questioned. Delhi police sources were however mum on the exact role that Kumar had played.

Kumar who handled almost all Jayalalithaa's cases was present at the crime branch on Monday as well. Kumar had gone into the room when Dinakaran was being questioned. On Tuesday Kumar, Dinakaran, Janardhana, Mallikarjuna and Sukesh Chandrasekar will be questioned by the crime branch. Janardhan and Mallikarjuna are friends of Dinakaran.

Dinakaran was questioned at around 6 pm on Monday during which he confessed to have meeting Sukesh who had posed as a high court judge. Sukesh had promised to get him the AIADMK symbol by bribing EC officials.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 11:21 [IST]
Burqa clad woman who hurled bomb at CRPF camp is member of rabid Asiya Andrabi headed Dukhtaran-e-Milat

X, Y, Z, Z+ and SPG: The whys and hows of security categories in India

In a first, CRPF appoints 2 women cadre officers as IG of RAF, Bihar sector

Proud mother prays for injured jawan son, who killed 5 Naxals, in Chhattisgarh

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

A day after India lost 25 'brave sons', who were killed by Naxals, in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, mother of injured Central Reserve Police Force constable Sher Mohammed said that she was proud of her son, who had killed five Naxals in the attack, on Tuesday.

"My son killed five Naxals. I am proud of my son and the entire village is praying for him," Fareeda, mother of Sher, told ANI.

My son killed 5 Naxals.Proud of my son, entire village is praying for him: Fareeda, mother of CRPF constable Sher Mohammed injured in #Sukma pic.twitter.com/IuV1QwzWWh  ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017

Talking about the attack, an injured Sher spoke to reporters from his hospital bed on Monday. He said the ultras sent villagers to trace the location of the CRPF men.

"First Naxals sent villagers to trace our location. Then almost 300 Naxals attacked us. We also fired and killed many. They were around 300 and we were around 150, we kept firing. I shot 3-4 Naxals in the chest," Sher added.

They were around 300 & we were around 150, we kept firing. I shot 3-4 Naxals in the chest: CRPF constable Sher Mohammed injured in #Sukma pic.twitter.com/9LUK7ENRMX  ANI (@ANI_news) April 24, 2017

Meanwhile, the mortal remains of the CRPF personnel, who lost their lives in the Sukma Naxal attack, were brought to the CAF camp (Mana) in Chhattisgarh.

Raipur: Mortal remains of CRPF personnel who lost their lives in #Sukma Naxal attack, brought to CAF camp (Mana) #Chhattisgarh. pic.twitter.com/3ukEhDJmiA  ANI (@ANI_news) April 25, 2017

OneIndia News
Naxal who executed Sukma attack was trained by LTTE in ambush tactics

Rajnath Singh calls Sukma attack a 'cold-blooded murder'

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

After paying tribute to 25 CRPF jawans who lost their lives in Sukma attack, Union Home Minister Rajnath on Tuesday dubbed the attack as an act of desperation by the Naxalites.

"Left wing extremism groups are anti development and they do not want development in the area. We are working to root out the problem of Left wing extremism," said.

Singh further said it was a cowardly act and a 'cold blooded' murder, adding that Centre will review its strategy in dealing with the Left extremists.

The Home Minister said that there would be meeting of affected states on May 8.

Twenty five CRPF personnel lost their lives in an encounter with 300 naxalites in Chhattisgarh. An encounter had broken out with the naxalites at Sukma in Chhattisgarh after the patrolling party of the CRPF was fired upon.

Pranab Mukherjee on Monday strongly condemned the attack on CRPF personnel in Chattisgarh.

He also offered condolences to families of deceased and prayers for the injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the attack on CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh is cowardly & deplorable. '

'We are monitoring the situation closely. We are proud of the valour of our CRPF personnel. Sacrifice of martyrs will not go in vain. Condolences to their families,'' Modi said.

OneIndia News
Portals of Gangotri shrine close for winters, devotees can worship at Mukhba village now

Anand Mahindra's tweet about UPI at country's 'last tea shop' is every Indian's emotion

Rawat meets Irani, demands NIFT for state

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, April 24: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Monday met Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani and demanded that a National Institute of Fashion Technology, NIFT be set up in the state.

"I have demanded an NIFT for Uttarakhand. We also had discussions over possible textile-related projects that could be started in the state," Rawat told reporters after the meeting in Delhi.

Earlier in the day, Rawat met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh. During the meeting, he sought a Rs 500-crore assistance package from the Centre on the lines of the compensation given to Jammu and Kashmir, citing the massive damage caused by a cloudburst in 2013 as well as by droughts and rains.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 9:27 [IST]
Sadhvi Pragya Singh gets bail in Malegaon blasts case

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Bombay High Court has granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the Malegaon blasts case. The bail order comes a few weeks after the National Investigation Agency had given her a clean chit. Sadhvi Pragya has been directed to furnish a bail bond of Rs 5 lakh and surety of the like sum. She has also been directed to surrender her passport to the NIA and appear on the trial dates.

It may be recalled that a special court in Mumbai had questioned the NIA for dropping charges against her. The court had said that it is difficult to accept her bail plea merely on the ground that the NIA has given her a clean chit. Following this she moved the Bombay High Court where she got relief.

It may be recalled that the NIA had also given her a clean chit in the Ajmer Dargah blasts case. The closure report submitted in the NIA court said that there was not enough evidence to proceed against them in order to build a case.

OneIndia News
Municipality alone knows why bridge work handed to firm repairing watches, says former dy CM

School wall collapse: 3 dead, 4 injured in Gujarat

India

oi-PTI

Ahmedabad, April 25: Three persons including two children were killed and four others injured when a wall of a government primary school in Tapi district of Gujarat collapsed on Tuesday, the officials said.

"Two children and one woman staffer of a primary government school died when a wall of a classroom collapsed on them this morning," the district officials said.

The incident took place in Mirkot village of Ucchal taluka of Tapi district in South Gujarat, around 325 kms from Ahmedabad.

Four other children injured in the incident have been admitted to the local hospital, they said adding further details are awaited.

"An inquiry has been ordered into the incident and action will be taken on those found guilty," a statement quoting Rupani said.

Soon after the incident, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered an inquiry into the incident and also announced financial aid for the kin of the deceased.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 14:53 [IST]
Explained: Why did the ECI freeze the symbol of the Shiv Sena

Not just future of Sena but democracy at stake, says Uddhav

Shiv Sena now suggests Sharad Pawar for President

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The Shiv Sena has now suggested NCP chief Sharad Pawar's name for the next President. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut described Pawar as a 'worthy leader' with the 'right credentials'.

The Shiv Sena had earlier backed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for the post of President. Raut had then said that the BJP should consider Bhagwat's name.

Bhagwat, however, rubbished such reports and said he would not accept it even his name is put forth.

Reports suggest that even the JD (U), Left and the Congress were considering Pawar's name for the President.

After its historic win in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is comfortably placed to push someone of its choice for President.

The JD (U), Left, Congress and other opposition parties are holding hectic parleys to put up their own candidate to challenge the NDA proposal.

A second term for President Mukherjee is also being discussed, but reports say that he would agree only if PM Modi agrees to re-nominate him and all parties back him.

President Mukherjee's term comes to an end in July.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 9:16 [IST]
Shiv Sena suggests Bhagwat's name for President's post

India

oi-PTI

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the RSS headquarters has become the "second seat of power" in the country and it does not deem anybody fit for the president's post except Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party, which has had strained ties with ally BJP, had earlier also suggested that Bhagwat be made the next President of India. However, Bhagwat had dismissed such suggestions and asserted that even if his name is proposed, he "will not accept it."

The Sena said that the ambitions of some strong contenders for the president's post may have got derailed post the apex court order in Babri case and wondered if some "new calculations" were made when senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi called on Bhagwat last week.

Notably, top BJP leaders L K Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the Supreme Court last week allowed a CBI plea for restoring the charge against them. The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece "Saamana," today said, "Advani and Joshi are BJP veterans. Their contribution in the formation and rise of the party is immense."

"Though they may not have much work in the party after a new generation of BJP leaders have taken over but there are attempts being made to gauge if they have any importance left in the upcoming presidential polls," the editorial said. Referring to the meeting between Joshi and Bhagwat, it said anything can happen if the RSS chief wishes it.

"Thus, did the meet between the two mean that Joshi was making some new calculations with Bhagwat? Anything can happen if the RSS chief wishes so. The RSS headquarters has become the second seat of power in the country today," the Sena said. The party also said that as of now it does not deem anybody fit for the president's post except Bhagwat.

The apex court had last week clubbed the trial in the Babri Masjid demolition case pending against the leaders and "karsevaks" and ordered day-to-day trial with the proceedings to be completed in two years.

PTI
Cong targets BJP, says no one apologised or resigned for Morbi tragedy

Fact Check: Video shared with false claim on BJPs take on Maharana Prataps father

Stalin raking up anti-Hindi issue to stay relevant: BJP

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Days after DMK working president MK Stalin alleged the Union government of imposing Hindi on non-Hindi speaking citizens, BJP leader S Prakash on Tuesday said such remarks were 'unnecessary' attempts to tarnish the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

Prakash told news agency ANI that Centre has no intention to impose Hindi on the non-Hindi speaking people.

He said Stalin was playing a 'clever game' to remain relevant in Tamil Nadu politics and woo the people.

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that there is no question of imposing Hindi on anyone and learning Hindi is useful. But some people are playing politics, he added.

On Saturday, Stalin said the Centre was betraying the non-Hindi speaking residents. In a video post on Twitter, Stalin slammed the government for making Hindi a compulsory subject in CBSE schools across the country.

[No question of imposing Hindi on anyone: Venkaiah Naidu]

He urged Modi to give up these efforts of side-lining non-Hindi speaking citizens. Referring to the history of the Dravidian Movement, Stalin warned the Union Government against sowing seeds of a third-generation anti-Hindi imposition protests.

He also criticised the proposal of the Parliamentary committee to make it mandatory for MPs and central ministers who know Hindi to use it as their official language.

OneIndia News
This poor tribal woman in Tripura forced to sell her 11-day-old son for husbands treatment

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Agartala, April 25: Imagine the plight of a woman who had to give away her son to a family in exchange for money for the treament of her ailing husband. Yes, a tribal woman at Rangia Tilla of Haldia ADC village in West Tripura had no other option but to sell her 11-day-old son to a couple so that she can have some money for the treatment of her husband.

The tribal woman and her daily wage labourer husband took the decision to sell their infant as no help came for them from the government authorities, in spite of their repeated requests. The husband of the woman told the media that he was unwell for several days.

A childless couple paid Rs 5,000 to the woman as a price for her son. Speaking to ANI, the biological father of the infant said, ""I am very ill and so demanded financial help from the government for my treatment. I gave my child to someone and got Rs. 5,000 for it. I request the government for help."

This is the third such case-- where poor parents were forced to sell their children--in two years reported from Tripura. After the case came to light, authorities took the child to a state-run home.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has slammed the ruling Left government for the large-scale presence of poverty and government negligence in the state. Reports say the BJP is likely to use the case as a poll issue in the forthcoming assembly elections in the state, due in a few months from now.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 8:12 [IST]
Tone up network, facilitate immediate action: UP govt tells DMs, SPs

India

oi-PTI

Lucknow, Apr 25: District magistrates and police chiefs in Uttar Pradesh have been asked to activate their information network by the Yogi Adityanath government, which has taken exception to their failure in getting prompt reports about incidents in their area.

In a letter to all the district magistrates and police chiefs, Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar said that "it has been observed that district administrations have not been getting prompt information about crime, accidents and incidents of sensitive nature in their areas which often impede immediate action."

"In many cases it has been seen that before the administration, it is the electronic and print media which come to know of the incidents and administrative officials also get to know about them from the media," he said in the letter on Monday, adding this reflected the failure of their information network, he added.

"Remaining vigilant and alert is most essential for the administration," the letter said, directing bureaucrats to make their network strong and get prompt information to facilitate immediate action in adherence with the priorities of the government.

PTI
TTV Dinakaran arrested for attempting to bribe ECI over AIADMK symbol row

India

oi-Anusha

The Delhi crime branch arrested Sasikala Natarajan's nephew TTV Dinakaran in the Election commission bribery case on Wednesday. Dinakaran was arrested after four days of questioning.

Dinakaran's aide Mallikarjuna was also arrested by the sleuths who already have alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar in their custody till April 28. The Delhi police on Tuesday had told the Tis Hazari court that Dinakaran would be arrested soon. Within hours of submitting call details of Dinakaran and Sukesh, the police arrested him.

Dinakaran is accused of conspiring with Sukesh and attempting to bribe officials of the Election Commission of India to get a favourable verdict in the AIADMK symbol row. Officials had questioned many in the case, including Jayalalithaa's advocate Kumar.

OneIndia news
No news about 2 Arunachal youths who went missing from near China border in August

Were not Chinese, were hardcore Indians, Arunachalis speak against Chinese claim

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Itanagar, April 25: On Monday, Arunachalis (as the people of Arunachal Pradesh are known), came out in the open to tell the world that they are 'hardcore and patriotic Indians' and were 'never part of China'.

A protest rally was hosted by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union in the capital city, Itanagar, to send out a clear message to China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh, the border state of India, as its own.

In recent times, India and China saw some heated exchange over Arunachal Pradesh after the former gave a red carpet welcome to the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in the border state.

Thereafter, China announced that it had 'standardised' official names for six places in the state and termed the move a 'legitimate action'. India, on its part, opposed the latest Chinese action of renaming places.

The Itanagar protest against China saw a huge crowd, in spite of heavy downpour in the city on Monday. Protesters shouted slogans like 'Khoon bhi denge jaan bhi denge, desh ki mitti kabhi nahin denge (We will give our blood and life as well but in no way give away our land) and Bharat Mata ki jai'.

The agitating crowd was also seen holding placards with anti-China and pro-India messages. The protesters also burnt an effigy of Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Hawa Bagang, the president of the students' union, addressed the media and condemned Beijing's move to rename six places in the state. He said, "China is unnecessarily interfering in the internal affairs of a sovereign state such as India."

"We are not Chinese, nor were we ever. The Arunachalis are patriotic people and hardcore Indians. We speak Hindi here, not Chinese," added Bagang. The protesters also demanded that the Centre should act tough on the issue.

"The Centre should take China's claim seriously and come out with an early solution. The state government should also be vocal on this subject," said Bagang.

OneIndia News
BJP means stability, priority to development, says PM Modi in Himachal rally

AAP loses deposit, Cong on Yatra: Malviya after BJP emerged victorious in 3 seats

Cong targets BJP, says no one apologised or resigned for Morbi tragedy

West Bengal: Amit Shah visits tribal's house, has lunch

India

pti-PTI

Siliguri (WB), Apr 25: BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday had lunch at the house of a tribal in Darjeeling district.

Shah sat on the floor of Raju Mahali's house at Dakkhin Katiajote village in Naxalbari area and had rice, moong dal, 'potol' fry, squash curry, salad and 'papad', served on a banana leaf.

BJP West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh accompanied Shah. The BJP president is on a three-day tour of West Bengal.

Shah plans to spend three days each in the TMC-ruled West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, Telangana and Lakshadweep in an attempt to strengthen his party's prospects in elections.

The BJP is buoyed by the by-election result earlier this month for the South Kanthi Assembly seat. The Trinamool won the seat as expected, but the BJP was a strong second with 31 per cent votes, pushing main opposition party the CPM to a poor third.

PTI
X, Y, Z, Z+ and SPG: The whys and hows of security categories in India

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee visits slain CRPF jawan's house

India

pti-PTI

Cooch Behar, April 25: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday visited the house of CRPF jawan K K Das who was killed in the Naxal attack at Sukma in Chhatisgarh and said that the state government would give Rs 5 lakh to the family of the slain jawan.

"Of the 26 CRPF jawans killed in the attack, three hailed from West Bengal. Two were from Cooch Behar and another was from Nadia district. We have decided to give financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the three slain jawans. We will also provide jobs to them", she told reporters.

"K K Das was only 27-year old and got married recently. We will stand beside them", she said.

26 CRPF personnel were killed in an ambush by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Monday. Banerjee had condemned the attack on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

West Bengal govt will give Rs. 5 lakh to family, job to a family member (of CRPF jawans who lost their lives): CM Mamata Banerjee #Sukma pic.twitter.com/Xu92nzWnp8  ANI (@ANI_news) 25 April 2017

Saddened at the tragic death of CRPF jawans in Sukma, Chhattisgarh. Strongly condemn violence. My sympathies with the bereaved families  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) 24 April 2017

PTI
Why are rights activists maintained baffling silent on Naxal attack? asks Naidu

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 25: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday accused human rights activists of adopting double standards for being silent over the deadly Naxal attack but raising a hue and cry when extremists are killed by security forces.

"These (human rights) activists raise voice and react violently if an extremist or a terrorist is killed by the police but take shelter in silence when large number of jawans and innocent people get killed by those who operate underground," Information and Broadcasting Minister Naidu said in a statement.

He said the dastardly killing of 25 CRPF jawans who were clearing roads for development works in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, has shocked the nation and is highly deplorable. His comments also assume significance in the backdrop of security forces coming under intense pressure in Kashmir as they are faced with almost daily protests and stone-pelting by the locals.

"While the nation was shocked by this killing and violence, the so-called sympathisers and proponents of human rights have maintained baffling silence since yesterday (when CRPF men were killed)," Naidu said. Why are human rights activists silent when such inhuman acts are mindlessly committed by outlawed elements?, Naidu asked.

He said such motivated acts of violence are being resorted to with tacit support from the so-called human rights advocates in desperation to derail the development works of the Central and the state governments. The minister called for an urgent need to build strong public opinion against such attacks and the so-called rights activists who adopt "double standards".

He said the families of jawans who were killed and injured while in uniform would get the highest consideration from the Central and state governments. "Both the governments would work with renewed commitment to bring such dastardly acts of violence to an end," the minister said.

PTI
Yasin Bhatkal records statement before magistrate in 2008 case

India

pti-PTI

Surat, Apr 25: Indian Mujahideen operative Yasin Bhatkal, currently in custody of police in connection with a bomb planting case of 2008, on Tuesday gave his statement before the court. The statement was recorded under section 164 of the CrPC under which any metropolitan magistrate or judicial magistrate may, whether or not he has jurisdiction in the case, record any confession or statement made to him in the course of an investigation. This is the first case when an alleged terrorist has given a confessional statement under Section 164 of the CrPC.

The statement was recorded in close door proceedings held in the court of principal sessions and district judge, Geeta Gopi, here. In a statement, Surat police claimed that Bhatkal had expressed his willingness to record his statement under section 164 of CrPC yesterday, following which he was given a day's time by the court and subsequently produced today for the purpose of recording the statement.

Earlier on March 31, Ahmedabad city crime branch had brought Bhatkal from Tihar jail in Delhi through a transfer warrant in connection with the July, 2008 serial blasts case, in which, 56 people were killed in Ahmedabad. Bhatkal was arrested by NIA in August 2013.

Upon completion of his remand in Ahmedabad, Surat police took his custody on April 18, as Bhatkal was also accused of planting 29 bombs in different parts of Surat city during 2008. However, due to some technical reasons, none of these bombs went off. During his remand period, which will end on April 27, Bhatkal gave full cooperation to Surat police and showed them the rented house where he stayed during his visit, the police statement said.

He also took the police to all those places where he had planted the bombs, said a release by Surat police. Yesterday, Bhatkal requested the police that he wants to record his statement before the court. After hearing his request, the court gave him 24 hours time to think over his decision, said the release.

Upon completion of the time limit today, Bhatkal was produced before the court, which recorded his statement in a close door proceedings, said the release. According to Surat police, Bhatkal is facing around 100 such cases of bomb blasts across the country. Among these, he was given death sentence for Hyderabad blast case.

PTI
Yes, I met Sukesh: How TTV Dinakaran cracked before the Delhi police in EC bribery case

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

After three days of questioning, Sasikala Natarajan's nephew T T V Dinakaran has finally confessed to having met Sukesh Chandrashekar. The Delhi police is questioning Dinakaran in connection with the Election Commission bribery case in which he was alleged to have offered Rs 50 crore for the AIADMK's two leaves symbol.

He was blatant in his denial for the first two days. However on day three he cracked and told the police that he had met Sukesh once. He told me he was a high court judge and hence I met him, Dinakaran also told the police.

There was a meeting that had been fixed. I went for that meeting and that is when I met Sukesh first. He told me he was a high court judge, Dinakaran also told the police.

Delhi police sources say that Sukesh had confessed to us immediately upon his arrest about his meeting with Dinakaran. However TTV continued to give us contradictory statements. For the first two days he was evasive and contradicted himself. However on day three after we continued to hand out evidence, he cracked and confessed to meeting Sukesh, the officer also said.

Call records:

Delhi police sources also say that the calls between Dinakaran and Sukesh were made on WhatsApp. The digital evidence that we have suggests that the two were in touch with each other. However for the police to retrieve these calls will be hard. We have sent out all digital evidence we have for forensic analysis and are awaiting the results, the officer further noted.

The police also say that Sukesh had received payment of Rs 10 crore. We managed to seize Rs 1.3 crore from him. The total deal that was struck amounted to Rs 50 crore, the police also say.

How Dinakaran was trapped:

I am a high court judge and I have good influence with Election Commission of India officials. I can get you the AIADMK's two leaves symbol, if you cough up Rs 50 crore. This was what Sukesh Chandrashekar, ace conman had to tell Sasikala's nephew T T V Dinakaran.

Sukesh realised that Dinakaran was desperate and he decided to fool him by making an offer he could not resist. Delhi police officials who have questioned Dinakaran for two days in a row tell OneIndia that Sukesh was sure that Dinakaran would bite the bait. Sukesh was very convincing and this helped him earn the trust of Dinakaran.

OneIndia News
Amid visa row, US says 'greatly value' Indian investments

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Washington, April 25: In the context of current fears about possible tightening of the US visa regime, the American administration has said that it greatly values investments by Indian companies and wants strong Indo-US economic ties.

"We want to see US-India business-to-business ties remain strong," US State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner told reporters here at his daily press briefing on Monday.

He was responding to questions on the controversy following recent executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump which indicate a possible tightening of the H-1B visas.

"We greatly value Indian companies' continued investment in the US economy, which also, of course, supports thousands of US jobs," Toner said.

"With respect to any new requirements on visas, I'd have to check and see if that's been updated," he said.

"It's important to remember that this is always a part of how our consular bureau works and our consular officers work overseas, and our embassies and missions work overseas, and that is we're always reviewing the processes that are in place to issue these visas and finding ways to strengthen them, because we want to ensure the security of the American people," he added.

The issue of the Trump administration mulling curbs in H-1B visas was taken up by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with the American authorities during his just concluded visit to the country.

The issue was raised by Jaitley during his meetings last week in Washington with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as well as with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

"Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue of H-1B visas for skilled professionals from India and highlighted the contribution which Indian companies and professionals are making to US economy," an Indian Finance Ministry statement said.

IANS
IRCTC update: 136 trains cancelled on Nov 08; here is the complete list

Delhi enveloped in thick smog with 'very poor' air quality

'Kejriwal ji, if my claims true, you'll resign and retire': Sukesh writes a new letter

Solving Delhi's air pollution problem little difficult but not impossible: Gadkari

Nepal to hold local elections in 20 years; requests for India's help

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Kathmandu/New Delhi, April 25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday discussed India-Nepal ties with his Nepalese counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda over telephone.

"The Prime Ministers discussed recent developments in India-Nepal relations, including the recently concluded highly successful state visit of President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari to India," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Bhandari was in India from April 17 to 21 in what was her first foreign visit abroad after assuming office in October 2015.

"Prachanda spoke about the ongoing efforts of his government to take all stakeholders on board in the constitution implementation process," the PMO statement said.

"Prachanda also spoke about Nepal holding the first local elections in nearly 20 years and requested for India's assistance in this connection."

According to the statement, Modi conveyed the good wishes of the people and government of India to Nepal in its national efforts to achieve peace, stability and socio-economic transformation.

He assured Prachanda that India will extend all possible assistance for local elections.

"The two Prime Ministers reiterated their commitment to advance multi-faceted India-Nepal cooperative ties for the benefit of the two peoples," it said.

IANS


Ayman al-Zawahiris profile changes from most wanted to deceased

How the Hellfires took Ayman al-Zawahiri out

No information about al-Zawahiri: Afghan envoy

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 25: Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali on Tuesday said that he has no information about the reported presence of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Pakistan.

"I have no information in this regard," Abdali said in response to a question after delivering an address on "Strengthening India-Afghanistan Strategic Relations in an Uncertain World" organised by the think tank Brookings India.

Newsweek magazine reported that al-Zawahiri is living under the protection of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence in the port city of Karachi after surviving a drone strike at a remote area near the border with Afghanistan.

Al-Zawahiri, an Egypt-born and trained surgeon, has been protected by the ISI since US forces evicted Al Qaeda from Afghanistan in late 2001, the report quoted sources as saying.

IANS


Obama stays clear of naming President Trump in first speech since leaving office

International

oi-Prabhpreet

By Prabhpreet

Making his first public speech since leaving office, Barack Obama did not mention president Trump, who is closing in on his 100th day in office, even once.

Talking to students and young professionals at a forum organised by the university where he was a lecturer earlier, Obama focussed his talk on the growing polarisation in American politics and encouraging young people to engage more in politics and shaping policy.

He steered clear of either commenting or criticising the current president even though Trump has accused him, both personally and professionally, since taking office.

These include calling Obama "a bad guy," to unsubstantiated allegations of him ordering illegal wire tapping of Trump towers, the office and home of Trump in New York, before the 2016 US elections, his mismanagement of the country's intervention in the Middle east, among others.

The president has also tried to roll back Obama's signature health bill, tighten immigration laws and throw out the environment regulation brought in by him.

Though many of his supporters were expecting and even hoping for the former president to comment on these issues, he did not mention any of them.

Instead, he focussed on how increasing participation of young people can lead to solving modern day problems such as climate change, unequal oppurtunities for certain communities, and bringing changes to the judicial system.

"The one thing that I'm absolutely convinced of is that, yes we confront a whole range of challenges," Obama was reported to have said. He added, "All those issues are serious and daunting, but they are not insoluble. What is preventing us from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our politics and civil life."

He conveyed to the audience that planned to focus his immediate post-White House life working with young people and guiding them "to take up the baton and take their crack at changing the world."

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 10:48 [IST]
Imran Khan discharged from hospital, to resume long march from same point where he was shot

Pakistan hangs 4 'hardcore' militants convicted by military courts

International

oi-PTI

Pakistan on Tuesday hanged four 'hardcore' Taliban militants convicted of terrorism-related offenses by the controversial military courts in northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

"Four hardcore terrorists tried by Military Courts were hanged on Tuesday," he said. Ghafoor further stated that they were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including killing of innocent civilians, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies. The four prisoners have been identified by the army as Rehman ud Din, Mushtaq Khan, Ubaid ur Rehman and Zafar Iqbal. They were members of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The timing and place of trial were not known as military courts operate in secrecy due to fear of rebel backlash. Military courts were restored last month for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January. The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment after a terror attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 killed more than 150 people, most of them students.

While Pakistani authorities maintain the military courts are an "effective deterrent" against terrorism, rights groups question the transparency of the trials because of the secrecy surrounding the special tribunals. The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 160 militants.

PTIPakistan on Tuesday hanged four "hard core" Taliban militants convicted of terrorism-related offenses by the controversial military courts in northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

"Four hardcore terrorists tried by Military Courts were hanged today," he said. Ghafoor further stated that they were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, including the killing of innocent civilians, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforcement Agencies. The four prisoners have been identified by the army as Rehman ud Din, Mushtaq Khan, Ubaid ur Rehman and Zafar Iqbal. They were members of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The timing and place of the trial were not known as military courts operate in secrecy due to fear of rebel backlash. Military courts were restored last month for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January. The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment after a terror attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 killed more than 150 people, most of them students.

While Pakistani authorities maintain the military courts are an 'effective deterrent' against terrorism, rights groups question the transparency of the trials because of the secrecy surrounding the special tribunals. The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 160 militants.

PTI
Pakistan's new envoy to US presents credentials to Trump

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Apr 25: Pakistan's new Ambassador to the US Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry has called on President Donald Trump and presented him his credentials. "I presented my credentials to the US President Donald Trump," Chaudhry was quoted by Geo News as saying.

"I conveyed best wishes to the US president on behalf of Pakistan's leadership and people and expressed the desire that the ties between the two countries continue to strengthen," Chaudhry said.

"President Trump also expressed his good wishes, especially for the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," he said. Prior to this, Chaudhry served as the country's foreign secretary.

Chaudhry, a Foreign Service officer with over 36 years of bilateral and multilateral experience in the field of diplomacy, was appointed the ambassador to the US in February this year.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 17:50 [IST]
RBI to soon launch e-rupee on pilot basis for specific use cases

RBI rate hikes to contain price rise; inflation to fall below 6 pc next year

RBI governor in favour of merging public sector banks

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New York, April 25: Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel says that merging public sector banks and having fewer of them would be better for the sector and also help deal with problem of non-performing assets.

Do we need so many public sector banks, he asked while delivering the Kotak Family Distinguished Lecture at Columbia University on Monday. It is better to consolidate them into fewer banks, he said.

Some of these banks can be merged in return for government assistance in taking care of the NPA problem and this would also make them more efficient, he said.

There was already a trend in that direction, according to him.

"The weaker banks are losing market share and that is a good thing," Patel said.

"The stronger banks are gaining market share, which is a good thing, particularly the private sector banks. In a way it is working; those who need to shrink are shrinking. Lenders who are stronger are gaining more market share," he added.

"I think there is a nice shift happening and we need to work with that to resolve this," he said.

The merger of banks would lead to savings through consolidation of bank branches and operations, he said.

Some of the employees could be offered buyouts, he said adding that younger, digital-savvy personnel can be hired to further expand digital banking operations.

Patel also said that divestment in public sector banks would have a positive role for the sector.

"Divestment measures would improve overall banking sector health," he said.

Improved market valuations would create an opportune time for the government to divest some of the ownership in the restructured banks and this would reduce the overall amount that the government needs to inject into them to deal with the NPA problem, he added.

IANS

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 11:34 [IST]
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Green energy poverty week By Paul Driessen

April 22 was Earth Day, the March for Science and Lenins birthday (which many say is appropriate, since environmentalism is now green on the outside and red, anti-free enterprise on the inside). April 29 will feature the Peoples Climate March and the usual Climate change is real inanity. The Climate March website says these forces of The Resistance intend to show President Trump they will fight his hated energy agenda every step of the way. Science March organizers say they wont tolerate anyone who tries to skew, ignore, misuse or interfere with science. After eight years of government policies that killed jobs and economic growth  and skewed, ignored, misused, obstructed, vilified and persecuted science and scientists that strayed from alarmist talking points, to advance a climate chaos, anti-fossil fuel, anti-growth agenda  that piety is arrogant hypocrisy. But their theater of the absurd gets worse. Some March for Science leaders were outraged that the recent MOAB bomb dropped on ISIS terrorists shows how science is weaponized against marginal people. The rhetoric also recalls the annual Earth Hour, when people in rich countries are supposed to turn off their lights for 60 minutes, to repent for the sin of using fossil fuel, nuclear and hydroelectric power to electrify our homes, businesses, schools and hospitals. I personally promote Human Achievement Hour, by turning on extra lights, to celebrate humanitys incredible innovations and advancements these past 150 years, our modern living standards, and the right of all people to improve their lives and life spans. I was a campus organizer for the very first Earth Day, in 1970, when we had serious pollution problems. But since then weve cleaned up our act, air and water. Environmentalist groups, modelers and Obama regulators ignore these advances, real climate science and the Real-World climate outside their windows. Far worse, while claiming to care deeply about the poorest among us, they ignore the harm their policies inflict: soaring electricity prices, fewer jobs, lower living standards in the West  and perpetual poverty, disease, malnutrition and premature death in developing countries. We pay more and more each year for de minimis further improvements in environmental quality, combined with ever-expanding government and activist control of our lives, and steadfast opposition to reliable, affordable energy in the Third World. Thats why some folks who actually care about poor, minority, elderly, working class and developing country families again designated April 17-23 as Green Energy Poverty Week. For industrialized nations, green energy poverty refers to households in which 10% or more of family incomes is spent on natural gas and electricity costs  due to policies that compel utilities to provide ever increasing amounts of expensive, less affordable, politically preferred green energy. Its a regressive tax that disproportionately affects low and fixed income families which have little money to spend beyond energy, food, clothing, rent and other basic needs. Every energy price increase hammers them harder. Beyond our borders, the concept underscores the lot of families that enjoy none of the living standards we take for granted. They have no electricity or get it a few hours a week at random times, burn wood and dung for cooking and heating, and spend hours every day collecting fuel and hauling filthy water from miles away. Corrupt, incompetent governments and constant pressure from callous environmentalist pressure groups in rich countries perpetuate the misery, joblessness, disease, starvation and early death. In the United States, green energy policies affect the poorest households three times more than the richest households. In fact, rising electricity prices affect all goods and services, for all electricity users: homes, offices, hospitals, schools, malls, farms and factories. With 37 million American families earning less than $24,000 per year after taxes, and 22 million households taking home less than $16,000 post-tax, its pretty obvious why wind and solar mandates are unfair, unsustainable and inhumane. Unbelievably, one million mild-weather California households now live in green energy poverty, the Manhattan Institute reports. In fact, the once-Golden State now has the USAs highest poverty rate, thanks largely to government requirements that one-third of the states electricity must come from renewable sources by 2020, and one-half by 2030. No wonder Californias rising rates are already nearly double those in Kentucky and other states that use coal and natural gas to generate electricity. Tesla electric cars also reward wealthy buyers: with free charging stations, access to HOV lanes, and up to $10,000 in combined tax rebates. They require batteries made from lithium dug out under horrendous or nonexistent environmental, health, safety and child labor rules in Africa. The batteries cost $325 per kilowatt-hour  equal to $350 per barrel for oil (seven times the April 2017 $50.40-a-barrel price). Spreading California policies across the United States would send the cost of heat, lights, AC, internet, and all goods and services soaring. Jobs would disappear, living standards decline, depression rates increase, drug and alcohol abuse climb, and more people die from poor health, drugs and suicide. Over in Europe, electricity prices are double Californias current rates: 30-45 cents per kWh! Green energy policies are hammering jobs, industries, healthcare, family budgets and future prospects. British families pay a whopping 54% more for electricity than average Americans. Nearly 40% of UK households are cutting back on food and other essentials, to pay for electricity. One in three UK families struggles to pay energy bills. Up to 24,000 elderly Brits die from illness and hypothermia each winter, because they cannot afford proper heat; many are forced to choose between heating and eating. In Germany, 330,000 families had their electricity cut off in 2015, because they could not pay soaring bills. In Bulgaria, 50% of average household income is spent on energy. Greeks are cutting down trees in protected forests because they cannot afford heating oil; hundreds of thousands of acres are being destroyed across Europe for the same reason. A tenth of all EU families are now in green energy poverty. Its infinitely worse for billions of parents and children in Earths poorest regions. In Africa, India and other impoverished regions, more than two billion people still burn firewood, charcoal and dung for cooking. Millions die from lung infections caused by pollution from these open fires, millions more from intestinal diseases caused by bacteria-infested food and water, more millions because medicines are spoiled and healthcare is primitive in clinics that dont have electricity, refrigeration or window screens. In Uganda, entrepreneurs burned a village down, killing a sick child in his home, to turn the area into new forest so that the country could claim carbon credits to prevent climate change. Chads government banned charcoal, the mainstay for cooking in that nation, out of absurd concerns about climate change. Africas desperate families hunt and cook anything that walks, crawls, flies or swims, endangered or not. They have cut down trees and brush for miles around cities and villages  turning cheetah and chimpanzee habitats into firewood and charcoal. Poverty is undeniably the worst environmental pollutant. For the wealthy and increasingly powerful radical environmentalist movement, it is no longer about addressing real pollution problems, protecting the environment or improving human health. As UN climate officials have proudly proclaimed, its really about ending fossil fuel use and capitalism, redistributing the worlds wealth, and controlling peoples livelihoods, living standards and liberties. Of course, its all meant to save people and planet  from exaggerated or fabricated climate cataclysms and resource depletions. But ponder the Real-World consequences during Green Energy Poverty Week. Environmentalists profess to care deeply about Americas and the worlds poor and middle classes. But their policies and actions too often speak far more loudly than their words. We might be forgiven for asking, With friends and protectors like these, do the worlds poor really need enemies? Paul Driessen is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green power - Black death. Home
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Just when you though Kaitlyn Bristowe revealed everything one could know about her, she does it again. When she joined Chris..
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As the leaves turn and the crisp autumn chill seeps into the air, one thing becomes crystal clear: It's Over the Garden Wall..
























The Prime Minister, Hon. Peter ONeill CMG MP, has formally nominated as the candidate for





Ialibu-Pangia in the upcoming election.

Speaking at the nomination on Friday, Leaders from the Ialibu-Pangia constituency have confidently announced that they will support Peter ONeill to return as their MP.





Before around 25,000 people, Peter ONeill signed his nomination documents and promised that he would continue to deliver change for his electorate, and to lead the Peoples National Congress Party to form Government again.

We will talk with the people of our nation, in every province and in every district, and we will ask them to let us continue with the positive change we are delivering for Papua New Guinea. PM ONeill said.





Our policies are changing the nation for the better, and our Government has proven that we can deliver free education, universal healthcare, better law and order, and better infrastructure.

Some other parties might be trying to copy our policies, and good on them, these are very good polices but only our Government has proven that we can deliver for our people.

The Prime Minister said an important priority for the Government is to continue rebuilding rural infrastructure.





In the next term of Government, PNC is going rural in a big way and delivering infrastructure and services that have never been seen in our country.

I promise you that in the next five years we will fix the Highlands Highway. We have had enough of roads that are not maintained for so many years.

We will continue to rebuild the Highlands Highway so that our people can have access to better services and business.





Our record of delivery is there for all to see.

We promised free education for our children, and we delivered free education. In the next five years we will deliver more technical and university places and we will not ask students to pay upfront.

We will continue to deliver and expand access to healthcare, we will train more police and appoint more judges. This is what a PNC-led Government will continue to deliver for Papua New Guinea.

The President of East Pangia LLG, Danial Piapo, who was appointed by the people of both the Ialibu and Pangia districts to speak at the nomination, said the people of Ialibu-Pangia have great confidence in their Member.





For many years, no elected members of Ialibu and Pangia, have delivered services in the way that Peter O'Neill has delivered in just 15 years as our Member of Parliament.

His remarks were met applause by the thousands of people who had travelled from around the electorate and from neighboring provinces including the Hela and Western Highlands.

"We will bring you back as our MP for the fourth time!" Mr Piapo told PM O'Neill.

The people of Ialibu-Pangia believe in you and have undying confidence in your Leadership.

"Go out there and campaign for your PNC Party candidates so they can bring you back as the Nations Prime Minister.

"Your true leadership, through your government's firm working policies and political stability, have proven worthy enough for you to continue as our Prime Minister," President Piapo said.

I thank you for your strong leadership and ongoing delivery of services to the people of Ialibu-Pangia.

I wish you well during your campaign for other PNC party candidates nationwide.
Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

Hedge funds which bought Puerto Rico's distressed debt bonds are facing the prospect of a long road ahead to recover their investments as the Caribbean island is attempting to use a U.S. Congress-approved rule that allows it to exploit a bankruptcy-like proceedings to have some of its $70 billion debt written off in court.

This latest development has caught many hedge funds which started buying Puerto Rico's general-obligation bonds and sales-tax debt in 2013 by surprise, reported Bloomberg.

Maglan Capital LP was one of those funds which bought the bonds in 2013 but has had the foresight to sell them before things went bad. Maglan president and co-founder David Tawil told Bloomberg, "It's been a really long trade. I don't think when they first got into this they bargained for this type of length of trade. There's been a lot more twists and turns and not to any substantial progress point between then and now."

To save their investments, the bondholder and insurance companies are trying to negotiate a restructuring deal through mediation. However, they have to finish the negotiations in time because the temporary hold that is protecting Puerto Rico from the impact of creditors lawsuit is scheduled to expire on May 1.

If a deal is not reached before the deadline, Puerto Rico Governor Ricard......................

To view our full article Click here
In times of national anxiety, many of us take comfort in the fact that the U.S. has endured political crises even more severe than those at hand. History can be a teacher and a guide, and so too can poetry, as Walt Whitman reminds us again and again. Whitman witnessed some of the greatest upheavals and revolutionary changes the country has ever experienced: the Civil War and its aftermath, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the failure of Reconstruction, the massive industrialization of the country at the end of the 19th century.

Perhaps this is why we return to Whitman when we make what critics call a poetic turn. His expansive, multivalent verse speaks for us when beauty, shock, or sadness exceed the limits of everyday language. Whitman contained the nations warring voices, and somehow reconciled them without diluting their uniqueness. This was, indeed, his literary mission, to create a unified whole out of disparate parts, argues Karen Swallow Prior at The Atlantic. For Whitman, poetry wasnt just a vehicle for expressing political lament; it was also a political force in itself. Poetrys importance as a binding agent in the fractious, fragile coalition of states, meant that for Whitman, the countrys Presidents shall not be their common referee so much as their poets shall.

Whitman wrote as a gay man who, by the time he published the first edition of Leaves of Grass in 1855, had gone from being an ardent Free-Soiler to fully supporting abolition. His poetry proclaimed a radically egalitarian vision, writes Martin Klammer, of an ideal, multiracial republic. A country that was, itself, a poem. The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem, wrote Whitman in his preface. The nations contradictions inhabit us just as we inhabit them. The only way to resolve our differences, he insisted, is to embody them fully, with openness toward other people and the natural world. Understanding Whitmans mission makes filmmaker Jennifer Crandalls project Whitman, Alabama all the more poignant.

For two years, Crandall crisscrossed this deep Southern state, inviting people to look into a camera and share part of themselves through the words of Walt Whitman. To the question Who is American?, Crandalljust as Whitman before heranswers with a multitude of voices, weaving in and out of a collaborative reading of the epic Song of Myself, beginning with 97-year-old Virginia Mae Schmitt of Birmingham, at the top, who reads Whitmans lines, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin / Hoping to cease not till death. No one watching the video, Crandall remarks, should ask, Why isnt a thirty-seven year old man reading this? To do so is to ignore Whitmans design for the universal in the particular.

When Whitman penned the first lines of Song of Myself, the country had not yet Unlimberd the cannons to begin the red business, as he would later write, but the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act had clearly lain the foundation for civil war. The poets many revisions, additions, and subsequent editions of Leaves of Grass after his first small run in 1855 continued until his death in 1892. He was obsessed with the hugeness and dynamism of the country and its people, in their darkest, bloodiest moments and at their most flourishing. His vision lets everyone in, without qualification, constantly rewriting itself to meet new faces in the ever-changing nation.

As Mariam Jalloh, a 14-year old Muslim girl from Guinea, recites in her short portion of the reading further up, every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. Jollah quite literally makes Whitmans language her own, translating into her native Fulani the line, If they are not just as close as they are distant, they are nothing. Jalloh may seem like a surprising conduit for the writing of Whitman, a long-dead queer socialist poet from Brooklyn, writes Christian Kerr at Hyperallergic, but such incongruity is the active agent in Whitman, Alabamas therapeutic salve. It is also, Whitman suggested, the matrix of American democracy.

See more readings from the project above from Laura and Brandon Reeder of Cullman, the Sullivan family of Mobile, and by Demetrius Leslie and Frederick George, and Patricia Marshall and Tammy Cooper, inmates at mens and womens prisons in Montgomery. Whitmans voice winds through these bodies and voices, settling in, finding a home, then, restless, moving on, inviting us all to join in the chorus, yet alsoin its contrarian waytelling us to find our own paths. You shall no longer take things at second or third hand., wrote Whitman, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books, / You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, / You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.

Find many more readings at the Whitman, Alabama website. And stay tuned for new readings as they come online.

Also find works by Walt Whitman on our lists of Free Audio Books and Free eBooks.

via Hyperallergic

Related Content:

Iggy Pop Reads Walt Whitman in Collaborations With Electronic Artists Alva Noto and Tarwater

Walt Whitman Gives Advice to Aspiring Young Writers: Dont Write Poetry & Other Practical Tips (1888)

Walt Whitmans Unearthed Health Manual, Manly Health & Training, Urges Readers to Stand (Dont Sit!) and Eat Plenty of Meat (1858)

The Civil War & Reconstruction: A Free Course from Yale University

Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness
Rising Demand for Global Palm Oil Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021)

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"The Report Global Palm Oil Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021) provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Palm oil is extracted from the flesh of the palm fruit, which is primarily found in the tropical climate of Africa, South America and South East Asia. It is used in preventing vitamin A deficiency, cancer, brain disease, aging; and treating malaria, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cyanide poisoning. Palm oil is one of the world's most produced and consumed oils. Palm oil is a very productive crop. It offers a far greater yield at a lower cost of production than other vegetable oils. The global production and demand of palm oil is increasing rapidly. Plantations are spreading across Asia, Africa and Latin America.View Report @The major factor that contributes in the growth of the industry includes rising global population, accelerating economic growth and rising demand for biofuels. The key trends observed within the industry include red palm oil supplementation and increasing demand for sustainable palm oil. However, the industry is also witnessing many hindrances including loss of critical habitat for endangered species and adverse weather conditions.The report Global Palm Oil Market provides in-depth analysis of the palm oil market on a global scale with detailed information regarding the key regional markets which includes Indonesia and Malaysia. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the industry are being presented in this report. The four major players in the industry, PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk, Sime Darby, IOI Corporation Berhad and Wilmar International Limited are being profiled.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Table of Content1. Vegetable Oil  An Overview1.1 An Introduction1.2 Types of Vegetables Oils1.3 Use of Vegetable Oil2. Palm Oil  An Overview2.1 An Introduction2.2 Palm Oil  Supply Chain Analysis3. Global Vegetable Oil Market Analysis3.1 Global Vegetable Oil Production Forecast by Volume3.2 Global Vegetable Oil Production by Type3.3 Global Vegetable Oil Production by Region3.4 Global Vegetable Oil Consumption Forecast by Volume3.5 Global Vegetable Oil Consumption by Region3.6 Global Vegetable Oil Import and Export Trend3.7 Global Vegetable Oil Import by Country3.8 Global Vegetable Oil Export by Country4. Palm Oil Market Analysis4.1 Global Palm Oil Production Forecast by Volume4.2 Global Palm Oil Production by Region4.3 Global Palm Oil Consumption Forecast by Volume4.4 Global Palm Oil Consumption by Region4.5 Global Palm Oil Import and Export Trend4.6 Global Palm Oil Imports by Country4.7 Global Palm Oil Exports by Country5. Regional Analysis5.1 Major Palm Oil Producing Countries5.1.1 Indonesia Palm Oil Production and Consumption by Volume5.1.2 Indonesia Palm Oil Exports by Volume5.1.3 Indonesia Palm Oil by Area5.1.4 Malaysia Palm Oil Production and Consumption by Volume5.1.5 Malaysia Palm Oil Planted Area5.1.6 Malaysias Oil Palm Planted Area by States5.1.7 Malaysias Palm Oil Planted Area by Category5.1.8 Malaysia's Crude Palm Oil Production by Volume5.1.9 Malaysias FBB (Fresh Fruit Bunches) Yield5.2 Major Palm Oil Consuming Countries5.2.1 EU Palm Oil Consumption by Volume5.2.2 EU Palm Oil Imports by Volume5.2.3 India Palm Oil Consumption by Volume5.2.4 India Palm Oil Imports by Volume6. Market Dynamics6.1 Growth Drivers6.1.1 Growing Global Population6.1.2 Accelerating Economic Growth6.1.3 Rising Demand for Biofuels6.2 Market Trends6.2.1 Red Palm Oil Supplementation6.2.2 Increasing Demand for Sustainable Palm Oil6.3 Challenges6.3.1 Loss of Critical Habitat for Endangered Species6.3.2 Adverse Weather ConditionsAbout 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
Sole Source Of Nutrition For Baby Drinks Market In Asia Pacific Over The Period 2017 - 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Sole Source Of Nutrition For Baby Drinks Market In Asia Pacific Over The Period 2017 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Baby drinks include baby juice and infant formula. Baby Juice refers to all fruit juice based drinks designed for consumption by children under three years old. Examples include Heinz All Ages and Gerber Ready-To-Drink Pear Juice. Infant Formula can be defined as dried milk product designed for infant consumption following rehydration with water, which is designed to duplicate the nutrient content of natural human breast milk. Examples include Hipp organic first infant milk, Pasteur Baby Milk and Nutrica Infant Formula.Asia Pacific baby drinks market is expected to undergo several changes as different patterns are expected in different baby drinks categories. Consumers mainly prefer infant formula due to changes in lifestyle and rise in the number of working women. Moreover, infant formula is considered the sole source of nutrition for babies. Busy lifestyles, infant formula as a breast milk substitute, high nutrition content, and doctor preference towards baby drinks are expected to boost the demand for baby drinks in the major countries of Asia Pacific including China, India, Japan and Australia among others in the forecast period. The demand for baby juice is declining across Asia Pacific as it is not very popular. Baby juice has low penetration rate as it is not available everywhere. Moreover, baby juice is also not preferred due to its high sugar content.Increasing varieties of products, health and wellness trends and active promotions by baby drinks manufacturers are the drivers contributing to the growth of the baby drinks market in Asia Pacific. Among different types of baby drinks, infant formula is estimated to have the most significant growth over the forecast period, as it is the best substitute for breast feeding and consumers are more interested to have quick meals due to their busy life style.The Asia Pacific Baby Drinks market by product type is segmented into infant formula and baby juice. Baby juice market is further sub categorized into concentrated and ready to drink. In terms of volume market for ready to drink baby juice is comparatively larger compared to concentrated baby juice. The market for infant formula is comparatively larger as compared to the baby juice. Infant formula is expected to dominate the Baby Drinks market throughout the forecast period of 2014 to 2020.The report also provides an understanding of volume (Kg million) and value (USD million) of Baby Drinks. The study also provides forecast from 2014-2020 and highlights current and future market trends. The report also provides an understanding of distribution channel and brand shares of baby drinks in China , Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Rest of Asia Pacific.Make an Enquiry of this report @By geography, the market has been segmented into China , Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Rest of Asia Pacific. India is expected to witness fastest growth in the baby drinks segment during the forecasted period .High nutrition content of baby drinks and growing preference for branded baby drinks is mainly driving the baby drinks market as parents in India are anxious to provide balanced and proper nutrition for babies. In addition, change in lifestyle and rise in the number of working mothers is also expected to increase the demand for baby drinks. Breast milk alone does not provide all the nutrients that a growing child needs. This is expected to increase the demand for baby drinks as these drinks contain all the nutrients essential for a growing child. Moreover, the report also provides the company market share analysis of key players and suppliers in these regions. Furthermore, the report also covers the Baby Drinks type in China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Rest of Asia Pacific.The leading players in the baby drinks market are Nestle S.A., Heinz Co. and Nutricia among others. Baby drinks in Asia Pacific is mainly distributed through hypermarkets, supermarkets, pharmacies and convenience stores.Chapter 1 Preface1.1 Report Description1.1.1 Market segmentation1.2 Research MethodologyChapter 2 Executive Summary2.1 Asia Pacific Baby Drinks Market Snapshot, 2014  2020 (USD million)2.2 Asia Pacific Baby Drinks Market, 2013  2020 (USD million)2.3 Asia Pacific Baby Drinks market, 2013  2020 (Kg million)Chapter 3 Asia Pacific Baby Drinks Market, by Country- 2014-20203.1 China3.1.1 Baby Drinks Market: By Type3.1.2 China Baby Drinks Company Share3.1.3 China Baby Drinks Distribution Channel, share, 2013 (%)3.2 India3.2.1 Baby Drinks Market: By Type3.2.2 India Baby Drinks Company Share3.2.3 India Baby Drinks Distribution Channel, share, 2013 (%)3.3 Australia3.3.1 Baby Drinks Market: By Type3.3.2 Australia Baby Drinks Company Share3.3.3 Australia Baby Drinks Distribution Channel, share, 2013 (%)To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Phenylbutazone Market - The Biggest Trends to Watch out for 2017 - 2025

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Global Phenylbutazone Market: OverviewPhenylbutazone is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meant to provide short-term relief from fever and pain. The drug is currently banned in the U.S. and the U.K. for human use, and therefore is largely meant for animal uses. The ban on phenylbutazone was approved due to its severely debilitating side-effects such as reducing the rate of production of white blood cells and causing aplastic anemia. It was originally used in humans for the treatment of gout and rheumatoid arthritis till 1949 and is now commonly used on horses for the treatment of antipyresis and analgesia.Phenylbutazone can be administered intravenously or orally but is essentially should only be injected into a vein or administered intramuscularly. Edema and tissue damage may occur if the drug is injected repetitively into the same vein. Side-effects also include oral lesions, blood dyscrasia, kidney damage, GI ulcers, and internal hemorrhage. The drug should also not be used in combination with vitamin K antagonists including warfarin due to the amplifying nature of phenylbutazone on the anticoagulant effect of the antagonists.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Phenylbutazone Market: Key Trends and Growth ProspectsThe growth in end users in the global phenylbutazone market is expected to occur at an optimistic rate over the coming years, owing to an increase in the consumption of the drug in the growing veterinary medicine industry. In addition, the rising demand for NSAIDs in the emerging economies of Asia Pacific and Latin America is also expected to boost the demand for phenylbutazone over the coming years. However, the high availability of substitutes and the heavy restrictions imposed on the use of phenylbutazone could hamper the growth of this market. Harpagophytum can replace phenylbutazone for treatment of fever and pain in horses.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Phenylbutazone Market: Geographical PerspectiveAsia Pacific is expected to be the leading consumer of phenylbutazone in the world, followed by North America and Europe. China and India are the top consumers of phenylbutazone in Asia Pacific due to presence of highly established end users. Phenylbutazone manufacturers from developed economies are also shifting their base to emerging ones due to the greater availability of government subsidies, land, cheap labor, and a more relaxed regulatory framework. Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand are expected to be key consumers of phenylbutazone in the future. North America and Europe are expected to experience a moderate rate of growth in demand. The demand for phenylbutazone is also expected to increase in Latin American nations due to an increasing demand for veterinary drugs, namely in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.Read Complete Report @Global Phenylbutazone Market: Players Mentioned in the ReportSome of the leaders in the global phenylbutazone market so far, have been Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Hangzhou Hyper Chemicals Limited, Baoji Guokang Bio-Technology Co., Ltd., Wuhan Yitongtai Science and Technology Co., Ltd., Afine Chemicals Limited, Shanghai Win-Win Biochemical Co., Ltd., Shaanxi TOP Pharm Chemical Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Hyper Chemicals Limited, Hangzhou Ruijiang Chemical Co., Ltd., Dalian Launcher Fine Chemical Co., Ltd., Croma Life Science Pvt. Ltd., Swati Chemicals, Suchem Laboratories, Uni-med India, Afton Pharma, and Hefei TNJ Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.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
Classification & Applications Of Global Data Conversion Modules Market For 2017 | Professional Survey Report

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ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "Classification & Applications Of Global Data Conversion Modules Market For 2017 | Professional Survey Report".This report studies Data Conversion Modules in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2011 to 2015, and forecast to 2021.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringADLINK TechnologyB+B SmartWorxPhoenix ContactBy types, the market can be split intoAnalog Input CardsData AcquisitionsBy Application, the market can be split intoIndustrialnetworkingothersBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaMake an Enquiry of this report @Table of ContentsGlobal Data Conversion Modules Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Data Conversion Modules1.1 Definition and Specifications of Data Conversion Modules1.1.1 Definition of Data Conversion Modules1.1.2 Specifications of Data Conversion Modules1.2 Classification of Data Conversion Modules1.2.1 Analog Input Cards1.2.2 Data Acquisitions1.3 Applications of Data Conversion Modules1.3.1 Industrial1.3.2 networking1.3.3 others1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Data Conversion Modules2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Data Conversion Modules2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Data Conversion Modules2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Data Conversion Modules3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Data Conversion Modules3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Data Conversion Modules Major Manufacturers in 20153.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Data Conversion Modules Major Manufacturers in 20153.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Data Conversion Modules Major Manufacturers in 20153.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Data Conversion Modules Major Manufacturers in 2015To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Phthalocyanine Pigments Market by Segmentation Based on Product, Application and Region

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Global Phthalocyanine Pigments Market: OverviewThe global phthalocyanine pigments market comprises metallic complexes with a diverse array of applications. The five polymorphic crystal types are beta phthalocyanine, epsilon phthalocyanine, alpha phthalocyanine, gamma phthalocyanine, and delta phthalocyanine. Only beta and alpha phthalocyanine pigments have so far been commercialized. Phthalocyanine pigments form coordination complexes with a lot of elements. These complexes are intensely colored and are commonly used as dyes or pigments. However, phthalocyanine pigments consist of smaller primary particles that have a tendency to flocculate, resulting in a loss of overall color strength.Global Phthalocyanine Pigments Market: Leading ApplicationsPhthalocyanine pigments have applications in photovoltaics, ink manufacture, and quantum computing. They can also be used in coatings and plastic coloring due to their excellent chemical stability. It is currently a standard pigment in the packaging industry and in the manufacture of printing inks. Phthalocyanine pigments have low solubility rate in organic solvents and many of their compounds are thermally stable. They do not melt but can be sublimed in the presence of inert gases. Phthalocyanine pigments are structurally similar to porphyrins and other macrocyclic pigments. Either pigment types hold four pyrrole-like subunits that are joined together to form a ring with 16 members. Phthalocyanine pigments can also be used for organic solar cell research in photovoltaic industry or even in quantum computing due to the length of time its electrons can exist in a state of quantum superposition.Request a Brochure of the Report @The global phthalocyanine pigments market ultimately depends on its principal end user, the textiles industry, for revenue. The demand can also come from a growing consumer preference for environmental friendly color pigments as well as the capability of phthalocyanine pigments to meet the increasingly stringent government regulations and performance standards. The increasing demand from emerging economies of Asia Pacific is expected to boost consumption of phthalocyanine pigments over the coming years. However, the global phthalocyanine pigments market is currently being stifled by raw material price volatility and high production costs.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Phthalocyanine Pigments Market: Regional AnalysisAsia Pacific is expected to lead the global phthalocyanine pigments market in terms of growth rate in revenue generation and demand in the coming years, due to a rapidly expanding manufacturing base and a thriving economy. There has been a migration of manufacturing facilitates from the U.S. and Europe to the emerging markets of Asia Pacific due to the stringent environmental regulations in the former regions. China is likely to continue to be an exceptionally fruitful market for phthalocyanine pigments players due to its high consumption rate in the local textile industry. Over the years, China has emerged as the leader in manufactur and consumption of phthalocyanine pigments. India is expected to come second in the Asia Pacific phthalocyanine pigments market due to government concessions to small and medium sized establishment. In addition, the industry has witnessed massive export opportunities because of shutting down of manufacturing facilities in the Europe and U.S. following strict enforcement of environment regulations by the government.Read Complete Report @Global Phthalocyanine Pigments Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the key players in this market are Vibfast Pigments Pvt. Ltd., Sinocolor Chemical, BASF, Kiri Industries Ltd., CPS Color AG, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Flint Group, Huntsman Corporation, LANXESS AG, Rockwood Holdings Inc., Unilex Colours & Chemicals Limited, Sudarshan Chemicals, ECKART GmbH, Clariant International Ltd., Jagson Colorchem Limited, Royce Associates, and Atul Ltd.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 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022

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This report studies the global Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems market, analyzes and researches the Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeAccentureAndesa ServicesConcentrixCSC (CyberLife)CSC (Wealth Management Accelerator)EXLFAST TechnologyInfosys McCamishInsPro TechnologiesMajescoMDIMphasis WydeOracleSapiens and Vitech Systems GroupTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems1.1 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market Overview1.1.1 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems 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 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market by Type1.3.1 On-premises1.3.2 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)1.4 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Life Insurance Policy Management1.4.2 Insurance CompanyTo Browse a Complete Report with TOC Visit @2 Global Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems 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 Accenture3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Andesa Services3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Concentrix3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 CSC (CyberLife)3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 CSC (Wealth Management Accelerator)3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments4 Global Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market Size by Type (2012-2017)4.2 Global Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.3 Potential Application of Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems5 United States Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market Size (2012-2017)5.2 United States Life Insurance Policy Administration Systems Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Airport Lighting Market Trends and 2017 Forecast

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This report studies Airport Lighting in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2011 to 2015, and forecast to 2021.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringSiemensHoneywellATG AirportsVoslaAbacus LightingCarmanah TechnologiesADB Airfield SolutionsSafegatePhilips Lighting HoldingAvlite SystemsHella KGaA Hueck & CoAstronicsEatonOSRAMGEFor more information about this report atBy types, the market can be split intoElevated LightsIn-Pavement LightsSolar LightsApproach LightObstruction LightOther lightsBy Application, the market can be split intoOutside the airportInside the airportBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaRequest a sample copy atTable of Content1 Industry Overview of Airport Lighting2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Airport Lighting3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Airport Lighting4 Global Airport Lighting Overall Market Overview5 Airport Lighting Regional Market Analysis6 Global 2011-2017E Airport Lighting Segment Market Analysis (by Type)7 Global 2011-2017E Airport Lighting Segment Market Analysis (by Application)8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Airport Lighting8.1 Siemens8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Elevated Lights8.1.2.2 In-Pavement Lights8.1.2.3 Solar Lights8.1.3 Siemens 2015 Airport Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Siemens 2015 Airport Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 Honeywell8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Elevated Lights8.2.2.2 In-Pavement Lights8.2.2.3 Solar Lights8.2.3 Honeywell 2015 Airport Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 Honeywell 2015 Airport Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis9 Development Trend of Analysis of Airport Lighting Market10 Airport Lighting Marketing Type Analysis11 Consumers Analysis of Airport Lighting12 Conclusion of the Global Airport Lighting Market Professional Survey Report 2017Purchase Complete Report at. And get,Discount on report purchase atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb 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.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Forecast upto 2023, For Solid Tumor Market : New Research Report

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Solid tumors are formed due to aggregation of a group of abnormal tissues that do not comprise of any cyst or liquid areas within. Solid tumors can be of both types, i.e. benign (non-cancerous) as well as malignant (cancerous) in nature. Solid tumors majorly comprise of lymphomas, carcinomas, sarcomas and melanomas; whereas, all forms of leukemias usually do not cause solid tumor formation. The treatment of these solid tumors is a complex task and it requires coordinated actions of many healthcare professionals, such as, radiologists, surgeons, oncologists, radiation specialists, nurses and other professionals. Hence, most of the solid tumors are treated via radiotherapy, chemotherapy and/or surgery. However, at present, surgery is the most preferred choice of treatment for cancerous solid tumors. Chemotherapy is often utilized along with other modes of solid tumor treatment i.e. radiation and/or surgery. Several chemotherapeutic drugs are available along with a ripe pipeline of drugs that will soon be commercialized in the global market. Solid tumor market can be classified into five major segments, based on the site of origin, namely, prostrate cancer, ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer and other cancers.Some of the major driving factors for the growth of this market include increasing incidences of several cases of solid tumors, rising prevalence of different forms of metastatic cancers, increasing demand for highly effective chemotherapeutic agents and ripe pipeline of drugs which is available in the global market. According to World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 8.2 million people died due to different types of cancers worldwide in 2012. Among them lung, colorectal, breast and liver cancers were among the leading causes of cancer deaths. Most common forms of solid tumors include brain tumors (medulloblastoma and glioma) and neuroblastoma; other less common solid tumors include rhabdomyosarcoma and osteosarcoma.Some of the major drugs that available in the global market are Avastin (bevacizumab), Afinitor (everolimus), Jevtana (cabazitaxel), Sutent (sunitinib), Tarceva (erlotinib), Taxotere (docetaxel), Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), Carboplatin, Cisplatin, Doxorubicin, Gemcitabine and Paclitaxel among others. Also, major promising drugs that are in different stages of clinical trials include Abraxane (albumin-bound paclitaxel), AMG 386 (trebananib), Votrient (pazopanib) and Xtandi (enzalutamide) among others. These drugs will soon be commercialized in the global market, which will further boost this market in future.Browse full report on Solid Tumor Market -Geographically, North America holds the leading position in solid tumor market followed by Europe. Major factors responsible for their dominance in this market include high incidence rate of various solid tumor cases along with very well developed healthcare infrastructure of these regions. These regions also comprise of high geriatric population, which contribute heavily towards the solid tumor patient population in the region. However, Asia Pacific is considered to be the most lucrative market for solid tumor market due to recent advancements in healthcare infrastructure and growing medical tourism in these regions. The region also accounts for high cancer patient population and increasing awareness and affordability of the people of this region will contribute heavily towards the future growth of this market in the region.Some of the major players operating in this market are AstraZeneca plc, Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Amgen, Inc., Biogen Idec, Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Baxter International, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., and Sanofi among others.This research report analyzes this market on the basis of its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report includeNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeMiddle East and AfricaLatin AmericaThis report provides comprehensive analysis ofMarket growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for upcoming yearsRequest for brochure of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.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:
Oral Cancer Rapid Test Kit Market Research Report : : Analysis & Trends 2024

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Oral cancer is one of the largest group of cancers, which comes under category of Head and Neck cancer. It includes lips, tongue, throat, sinuses, and floor of the mouth. About 90% of the oral cancers are squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). According to oral cancer foundation in 2016, around 48,250 people are diagnosed with oral cancer in the U.S. and has relatively low survival rates. The death rates due to oral cancer are relatively higher due to lack of proper diagnosis test, which can detect oral cancer at the early stage. Hence, early stage diagnosis is an alternative solution that helps prevent the deaths of people infected by oral cancer. The Conventional diagnostic tests available in the market are time-consuming and costly. Currently, very few technologies are available in the market for routine screening of the oral cancers. Hence, companies are trying to develop the Oral Cancer Rapid Testing Kit (OCRTK), which can detect the stage of cancer effectively in less time to perform test at home/clinic. Vigilant biosciences developed OncAlert Oral Cancer LAB Test, which is accurate, cost effective, and uses non-invasive technology. This technology also got the CE mark in Europe that enables this product to sell all over Europe. Various companies and universities are trying to develop the rapid detection technology for oral cancer kits to detect oral cancerThe increase in usage of tobacco, which includes smokeless tobacco, HPV-induced cancers, and consumption of alcohol are major factors that drive the growth of the market. Furthermore, increase in awareness and aging population also contribute to the prevalence the oral cancers. According to the cancer research center in U.K, globally over 3, 00,000 persons were diagnosed with oral cancer. Smoking is a major factor that is turning many men and women into victims of Oral cancer. In U.S., black males are having high incidence rate than their whiter counterparts because of cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol consumption. Lack of new diagnostic technologies in the market is a major factors that is limiting the growth of the OCRTK market.Segmentation by ProductOncAlert Oral Cancer LABLab on ChipInsilixa testPrevo-CheckSegmentation by PrincipleSensor basedColorimetryImmunoassayOthersSegmentation by End UserHospitalsDiagnostic centersResearch centersConsumerBrowse full report on Oral Cancer Rapid Test Kit Market OCRTK will have higher impact in the Oral cancer diagnosis market because currently there very few rapid test kits available in the market to diagnose the Oral cancer. Government organizations are actively funding companies that are operating in OCRTK. This highlights the importance of this domain. Factors like low cost, easy process, and instant results are expected to drive the growth of the market.On the basis of product segmentation, OncAlert Oral Cancer LAB is expected to hold major market shares of the OCRTK market as it is the only available product in the market with clinical effectiveness. On the basis of principle, sensor-based devices will have a relatively higher share due to its highly sensitive nature and precision results.On the basis of End User, hospitals, and diagnostic centers hold major market share comparatively than the research centers and consumers as mainly all the operations are carried out in hospitals and diagnostic centers. However, in future the end user is expected to shift their preference towards the consumer as companies are developing techniques to perform tests easily at home.OCRTK market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to hold relatively high market share due to factors such as growing awareness about the disease and rise in the aging population. However, Asia Pacific region and European regions also might have good market due to increase in incidence of oral cancer.Some key players in the market are Vigilant Biosciences, Abviris Deutschland GmbH, Insilixa, and University of Sheffield.On the basis of development of the OCRTK market, startups and universities are more actively working on this domain as compared to the major market players. Hence, there are possibilities of acquisitions and collaborations to take place within these companies/institutes in the near future.The report covers exhaustive analysis on:Oral Cancer Testing Market SegmentsOral Cancer Testing Market DynamicsHistorical Actual Market Size, 2013 - 2015Oral Cancer Testing Market Size & Forecast 2016 to 2024Oral Cancer Testing Market Current Trends/Issues/ChallengesCompetition & Companies involvedOral Cancer Testing Market Drivers and RestraintsRegional analysis includesNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East & AfricaRequest for brochure of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.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:
Protein Labeling Market Research Report: : Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment

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Major players operating in the protein labeling market are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Merck KGaA, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Promega Corporation, SeraCare Life Sciences, Inc., and LI-COR, Inc.Labeling of specific protein or protein of interest by chemical and/or other biological material for detection, identification, and activity determination, and to identify its physicochemical properties is known as protein labeling. Chemical labels such as fluorescent dyes, biotin, radioactive isotope, and enzymes are used for labeling of proteins. These help generate a detection signal, which are increasingly utilized in key biotechnology applications. The labeled secondary antibodies are readily available in the market, but unique and more specific probes are witnessing increasing demand in research applications. These labels can be conjugated to antibodies and other specific probes using various crosslinking technologies.Three types of tags are utilized in protein labeling processes: mass tags, stable isotopes, and fluorophores. Mass spectrometry is utilized for labeling and separation of mass tags and stable isotopes, while fluorescence imagers are used for detection of fluorescence labels. Protein labeling is becoming essential for proteomic profiling prior to separation and analysis of proteins or amino acids. However, the main purpose of protein labeling is specific detection and quantification of isomers, protein modifications in multiplexed samples, and monitoring of biological processes. Protein labeling enhanced the detection sensitivity as well as simplifies the detection workflow. Proteins can be labeled in biological fluids during cell growth by incorporation of amino acids containing isotopes, tissue samples by attaching specific group or other residues.The protein labeling market can be segmented based on product type, labeling method, end-user, and region. In terms of product type, the market can be segmented into instruments, kits and reagents, and services. The instruments segment comprises fluorescence microscopy, protein microarrays, and mass spectrometry. Reagents can be further segmented into enzymes, monoclonal antibodies, probes or tags, proteins, and other reagents.Browse full report on Protein Labeling Market -Based on labeling method, the protein labeling market can be segmented into in vivo labeling and in vitro labeling. In vivo labeling or metabolic labeling is a method to label all proteins or nucleic acids in a cell by culturing them with amino acids or nucleotides, respectively. In vivo labeling is further segmented into radioactive labeling and photo-reactive labeling. In vitro labeling involves chemical method of protein labeling by covalent attachment of label to amino acids using label conjugates to chemical group that react with specific amino acids. In vitro labeling is further segmented into nanoparticle labeling, dye-based labeling, enzymatic labeling, and site-specific labeling. In vitro labeling is expected to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period.In terms of end-user, the protein labeling market can be categorized into pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, contract research organizations, and academic and research institutes. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies is expected to be the fastest growing segment due to increasing R&D spending in pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector globally.Geographically, the protein labeling market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe are likely to dominate the protein labeling market. Rising number of proteomics research studies in the region is the key driver of the protein labeling market in North America and Europe. Asia Pacific is expected to be the most progressive market for protein labeling. Increasing health care spending and growing medical tourism are projected to drive the market in Asia Pacific. Rising adoption of personalized medicine therapy is another factor propelling the market in the region. Increasing research and development expenditure and health care expenditure by government is likely to contribute to the growth of the market. However, lack of skilled professionals and high degree of market consolidation could negatively impact the growth of the market during the forecast period.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:
Veterinary Surgical Instruments Market Research Report : : Key Growth Factors and Forecast 2024

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Veterinary surgical instruments are designed in a special way to perform surgical procedures on animals. The surgical instruments are selected based on their function that includes holding, pulling, clamping, cutting, crushing, and closing a wound. Surgical instruments are classified into different types based on design and function. They are made of austenitic or martensitic stainless steel. Austenitic stainless steel is mostly used to make retractors and suction tips. All surgical instruments need to be inspected for pitting, corrosion, and rust. Veterinary surgical technicians are specially trained and certified to assist veterinarians with surgical procedures. This training is usually part of a curriculum in the veterinary technician program. The goal of veterinary surgery is quite different in farm animals and pets. In case of pets, more complex surgeries are performed with sophisticated anesthesia techniques like in human beings. In case of farm animals, the cost of the surgery must not exceed the economic benefit in treating the illness surgically. Different types of surgery require different surgical instruments. The common surgery types include sterilization surgery, dental surgery, surgical oncology, ophthalmic surgery, and orthopedic surgery. Other common procedures include caesarean section, bloat surgery, cystotomy, wound repair, foreign body removal etc.Driving factors such as growing demand for animal-derived food products, growing companion animal market, rising animal health expenditure, increasing pet insurance coverage, increasing number of veterinary practitioners, and increasing per capita expenditure in developed regions will fuel the global veterinary surgical instruments market. Due to a competitive market environment, product innovation is another driving factor which will add value to the global veterinary surgical instrument market. On the other hand, factors such as lack of animal health awareness and shortage of skilled veterinarians in developing countries will hinder the growth of the veterinary surgical instruments market globally.Browse full report on Veterinary Surgical Instruments Market -The veterinary surgical instruments market has been segmented by product type, animal type, application, end-users, and geography. In term of product type, the market is classified into forceps, surgical scissors, needle holders, retractors, electrosurgery instruments, dental instruments, orthopedic, and others. In terms of animal type, the market is classified into canine, equine, feline, and large animal. In terms of application, the market is classified into soft tissue surgery, gynecology, orthopedic surgery, and dental surgery. In terms of end-users, the market is classified into veterinary clinics, veterinary hospitals, and veterinary diagnostic laboratories.Geographically, the veterinary surgical instruments market is classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa.Geographically, North America dominates the veterinary surgical instruments market due to rising animal healthcare expenditure, growing number of veterinary practitioners, rising companion animal adoption and rising demand for pet insurance and a well-established animal healthcare market. North America market is followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Europe is the second largest market for veterinary surgical instruments due to increasing pet adoption, and research and development activities. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a higher rate due to growing per capita animal health expenditure in this region, growing demand for animal-derived food products in China and India, progressive urbanization and rising pet adoption. Emerging markets such as Brazil, South Africa, India, and China will create opportunities for the veterinary surgical instruments market.The major players operating in this market include STERIS, plc, DRE Medical, Inc., B. Braun Vet Care GmbH, DRE Medical, Inc, World Precision Instruments Inc., Surgical Holdings, Neogen Corporation, Integra LifeSciences Corporation, Antibe Therapeutics Inc., and Germed USA Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Request for brochure of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.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:
Neuropathic Pain Market Research Report: : Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment

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Global Neuropathic Pain Market: OverviewNeuropathic pain refers to a condition of chronic pain that is caused by a primary lesion such as trauma, infection, or other dysfunction in the nervous system. Prominent syndromes of neuropathic pain include root avulsions, postherpetic neuralgia, painful traumatic mononeuropathy, painful polyneuropathy, postsurgical pain syndromes, central pain syndromes, and complex regional pain syndrome. Some of the usual medications prescribed for neuropathic pain are anesthetics, anticonvulsants (also called neuroleptic medications), and antidepressants (also known as tricyclic antidepressants). Common antidepressants include amitriptyline and nortriptiline whereas valproic acid, carbamazepine, felbamate, phenytoin, and clonazepam a few of the most common anticonvulsants used for the treatment of neuropathic disorders. Tocainide or Mexiletine and Idocaine are some of the major anesthetics used to reduce neuropathic pain.This report on global neuropathic pain market is a thorough study of the market in its current scenario and based on all the major factors that may impact the growth rate in the near future, it estimates the state of the market until 2024. It also notes and explores some of the trends of the market as well as highlights a few opportunities available. Among the key features of the report is the section on company profiles, wherein several key players in the global market have been analyzed for their product portfolio, market share, global presence, and recent developments including mergers, acquisitions, and collaborations.The global market for neuropathic pain can be segmented on the basis of drug class, by indication, distribution channel, and region. By drug type, the market can be divided into tricyclic antidepressant, anticonvulsants, local anaesthesia, opioids, steroids, and others. On the basis of indication, the market can be categorized into diabetic neuropathy, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, and others. By distribution channel, the market can be segmented into retail pharmacies, drug stores, and online pharmacies. Geographically, the report studies the opportunities available in the regions of Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World.Browse full report on Neuropathic Pain Market -Global Neuropathic Pain Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe report observes that diabetes is the usual indication of neuropathic pain, while cancer comes second. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 422 million people were suffering from diabetes in 2014 and this number will continue to expand in the near future, especially among the middle to low-income countries. This vast population is the primary driver in the global neuropathic pain market. Moreover, rising geriatric population, who commonly suffer from neuropathic pain, is another driver for this market. In addition to that, factors such as approval of novel treatment options, increasing demand for neuropathic pain, improving healthcare infrastructure in emerging economies, increased investment by pharmaceutical companies for research and development of improved drugs, and rising number of pain management centers will further fuel the market in positive direction. Conversely, side effects of opioids and steroids as well as cost of branded drugs are some of the factors that will hinder the growth rate of the market during the forecast period.On the basis of drug class, the segment of anticonvulsants are most popular whereas the demand for tricyclic antidepressant is expected to expand at the best CAGR. By indication, diabetic neuropathy segment serves maximum demand while chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy is projected for most prominent growth rate. In terms of distribution channel, retail pharmacies are most profitable and is expected to remain the leading segment during the forecast period.Global Neuropathic Pain Market: Region-wise OutlookNorth America currently is the most lucrative regional market, owing to strong healthcare infrastructure and higher buying ability of the consumers. However, Asia Pacific is projected for the most significant growth rate, due to increasing prevalence of diabetes in countries such as China and India.Companies mentioned in the research reportSome of the key companies currently operating in global neuropathic pain market are Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., Depomed Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb and Company, Sanofi S.A., Biogen Idec Inc., Eli Lily and Company, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, and Baxter Healthcare Corporation.Request for brochure of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.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:
Automotive Steering Wheel Market Trends, and Forecast by 2023

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The automotive steering wheel market in India is anticipated to experience steady growth during the forecast period of 2015 to 2023. The rapid expansion of the automotive sector in India is the primary factor responsible for the robust growth of the automotive steering wheel market.The automotive sector in the country is presently driven by the increasing disposable income of the middle-class populationand the rising investment on automobiles by manufacturers. Initiatives taken by the government under the Make in India campaign has also encouraged the development of the automotive sector. Considering the direct impact of the growth of the automotive sector in Indiaon the demand for automotive steering wheels, the market is poised for a stable future ahead.Obtain Report Details:The value of the automotive steering wheel market in India was pegged at INR 634.9 Cr in 2014 and this is expected to rise to INR 1,214.6 Cr by 2023. The market is expected to record a 7.1% CAGR from 2015 to 2023.Depending on the diameter of the steering wheel, themarket in India is led by the small diameter steering wheel and this segment accounted for a share of 77% in 2014.The surging demand for smaller passenger cars is the key factor driving this segment.Among the variousmaterials used for making steering wheels, polyurethane led the automotive steering wheel market in India in 2014. The demand for polyurethane from various steering wheel manufacturers in the country stems from the fact that it is cheaper than other materials and also highly durable. The leather segment in the India automotive steering wheel market is anticipated to record the highest growth during the forecast period owing to the increasing demand for steering wheels with better grip and a sleek look.Passenger Cars Most Sought After Vehicle Type for Automotive Steering Wheel CompaniesFill the form to gain deeper insights on this market:By application, the automotive steering wheel market in India is driven by the passenger car segment. The dynamic outlook of the Indian economy and the growing purchasing power of the consumer are two of the most important factors responsible for the rising demand for passenger cars in India. This, in turn, is predicted to drive the automotive steering wheel market at an exponential growth rate during the forecast period.Controls-embedded steering wheels and normal steering wheels are the two main types based on technology. Normal steering wheels without airbags led the automotive steering wheel market in India in 2014 owing to extensive demand from the light and medium commercial vehicles segment.Controls-embedded steering wheels with airbags present a highly lucrative option for players owing to the rising demand for high-end passenger cars and the increasing awareness of vehicle safety among drivers in India.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:
Retail Clinics Market: Trends, Opportunities and Forecasts 2024

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Retail clinics are a convenient way for patients to visit a walk-in health care clinic. These clinics are located inside retail stores such as supermarkets and department stores. They are sometimes referred to as convenient care clinics. These clinics offer benefits similar to that offered by traditional clinics. They are usually staffed by nurses and physician assistants. Retail clinics provide medical services such as treatment for flu, cold, dehydration, fever, cough, diagnostic services, vaccination, laboratory tests, physiotherapy, and treatment for injuries.Download The Full Brochure of Report :Major players operating in the retail clinics market include Kroger, Rite Aid, Doctors Care, Clear Balance, CVS Healths MinuteClinic, NEXtCARE, RediClinic, Target Brands, Inc., The Little Clinic, U.S. HealthWorks, Inc., Urgent Care MSO, LLC, and Walgreen Co. Growth of retail clinics and the companies are related to initiatives aimed at patients satisfaction. With growing experience, companies are expanding their services and experiment with new methods such as telemedicine integration, point-of-care technologies, and offering new services. For example, Minute Clinic (CVS) launched a digital tool in May 2016 which helped patients to estimate the wait time at several locations.The first retail clinic was opened in 2001 in Minnesota. Retail clinics are experiencing a commendable growth due to patient preference for convenient care options, cost effectiveness, easy accessibility, and multiple services offered. Furthermore, factors contributing to the growth of this market are increase in shortage of primary care physician, growth in health care expenditures, and rise in incidence rate of communicable diseases. Also, several retail clinics are providing treatment and management for chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol disorders. This factor is likely to propel the market growth during the forecast period. However, retail clinics are a secondary choice for many patients, which limits customer volume in these clinics. Low patient population visiting retail clinics and regulations in some countries are impacting the growth of the retail clinics market.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The retail clinics market can be segmented on the basis of location, types of suppliers, and geography. Based on location, retail clinics are further segmented into stores, malls, and other retail locations. Geographically, this market is further divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East Asia and Africa. North America accounted for a significant growth rate due to factors such as large population base turning toward convenience care, adoption of electronic medical and chart records, and introduction of digital tools. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 18 million adults suffered from asthma in 2012, which was one of the factors that had driven the growth of the retail clinics market. South East Asia, Middle East, and Latin America are projected to be the potential markets in the near future due to higher adoption rate of retail clinics, rise of disposable income, increase in disease burden, shortage of physicians, and ease of usage. Star Dental Care, a U.S. based institute, is aiming to open up retail dental clinics in India by 2017, which is estimated to enhance the growth of the market in this country.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.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:
Bioprocess Technology Market: Technological Advancements, Evolving Industry Trends and Insights 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.Download The Full Brochure of Report :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: 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.Browse Global Strategic Business Report: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.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.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:
Hot And Cold Therapy Packs Market Research Report 2024

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Key players in the hot and cold therapy packs market include 3M Company, Breg, Inc., Cardinal Health, Inc., Carex Health Brands, Halyard Health, Medline Industries, Inc., Medtronic plc, and Pfizer, Inc.Download The Full Brochure of Report :Geographically, the hot and cold therapy packs market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. North America dominates the market due to large pool of patients with musculoskeletal disorders in the region. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 53 million people in the U.S. are currently affected by arthritis. It is a primary cause of disability in the country and affects more than 1 in 5 people, making it one of the most common chronic conditions in the nation. Additionally, launch of new and advanced products by key players coupled with growing online promotion and sales of these products by customers is expected to drive the market. Developing nations in Asia Pacific are expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. Rising patient pool, growing public awareness about home care, and increasing affordability are the major drivers of the market in these regions.Hot and cold therapies are considered one of the easiest, effective, and least expensive treatment to relieve pain and swelling in different parts of the body. These are rational, passive, non-invasive forms of therapy to manage pain. Heat therapy leads to vasodilation, which in turn increases the blood flow in the affected tissues. The rise in blood flow in the target area provides required oxygen and other nutrients, thus accelerating the healing process, while the heat reduces muscle spasm and relaxes stretched muscles leading to pain relief. Heat or thermotherapy is generally used to treat chronic pain such as low back pain, spinal, neck pain, neuropathic pain, and other muscular spasms. Cold therapy or cryotherapy calms down damaged tissues, causes vasoconstriction, which reduces blood circulation and also numbs the nerves decreasing inflammation, pain, and muscle spasm. Cold or cryotherapy is generally used to treat acute pain caused due to injuries such as runners knee and freshly pulled muscle.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The global hot and cold therapy packs market is anticipated to be driven by a number of factors such as steep growth in chronic musculoskeletal disorders, increase in global trauma and accident cases, and rise in inclination for non-invasive pain management approaches. Increase in the geriatric population vulnerable to chronic illnesses is also escalating demand for hot and cold therapy packs globally. A report published by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (UN) in 2013 stated that the number of elderly persons (aged 60 years and above) is estimated to more than double, from 841 million in 2013 to over 2 billion in 2050. In addition, growing stress and unhealthy lifestyles leading to increase in number of patients with neck, back, shoulder, and spinal problems is expected to drive the market. Furthermore, increasing research and development activities by key players to develop new products is likely to boost market growth.In terms of product, the hot and cold therapy packs market can be divided into dry and moist hot and cold packs or compresses, gel packs, and instant electric hot/cold packs. These are used to manage various conditions including back/spinal problems, neck problems, joint problems, arthritis, neuropathic pain, and surgery. Increasing incidence of lifestyle related disorders is one of the major drivers of the hot and cold therapy packs market. Moreover, increasing inclination toward home care products and growing online marketing of such products is expected to boost the market during the forecast period. Advancements in product technology such as cold/hot wrap fused with knee braces or back support belts are also expected to increase demand in the near future.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:
Medical Manifolds Market: Key Players, Trends, Size, Share, Analysis, Estimations and Forecasts to 2024

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Major players operating in the global market for medical manifolds include Praxair, Inc., BeaconMedaes LLC, Merit Medical Systems, Inc., Smiths Group plc, Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Pattons Medical, Genstar Technologies, and Gascon Systems Pty Ltd.Download The Full Brochure of Report :Manifolds are pipeline systems with several openings. Manifolds are specially fabricated structures wherein two or more cylinders are connected to a single pipeline to increase the availability of gas at the source. Medical manifolds offer the function of reducing the pressure from cylinders with high pressure to the required pressure, which is feasible to use in the hospital pipeline. In hospitals, medical gases are largely used to provide long-term support to patients in intensive care units (ICUs). Medical air is used in hospitals in large quantities and hence, it is feasible to produce it on site, rather than storing it in gas cylinders. Medical gas supply in a hospital needs to fulfill the stringent requirements of the installation standards and safety of all patients in the hospital. The need for medical manifolds primarily arises from strict rules and requirements for the medical gas supply systems. For instance, in July 2012, the U.S. Congress passed a bill putting into effect the Food & Drug Safety & Innovation Act. This act provides selected gases as approved medications for common medical gas mixtures; provides manufacturers with the protection of their intellectual property rights for new products; and establishes a certification process for medical gas production. These factors serve as a driver for the market.Based on the region, the global fermented ingredients market has been segmented into: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America accounts for a significant share of the global market for medical manifolds, owing to presence of industry-friendly organizations such as CGA and GAWDA. These associations consist of industry experts working in reputed organizations. The members of these associations work continuously to make value additions to the market by understanding the market trends and implementing the policies that eventually work out in favour of the market. Europe is considered to be the second largest market for medical manifolds, due to enhanced health care processes and growing health concerns in the region. Moreover, rising geriatric population with the need for hospitalization augments the market in the region. Major factors that would drive the market in Asia Pacific include rapid development of health care infrastructure and presence of large population in the region. High prevalence of pulmonary diseases and emergency medical conditions provides countries such as India and China with multiple untapped opportunities. Latin American countries such as Mexico and Brazil are expected to have considerable growth potential for the medical manifolds market due to evolving health care infrastructure, and increasing medical expenditure.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Increasing awareness regarding the medical gas safety amongst manufacturers and consumers is a major factor that drives the global medical manifolds market. Growth of the health care infrastructure has led to rise in the number of hospitals, which acts as a driver for the global medical manifolds market. In addition, the establishment of industry-friendly associations such as Medical Gas Association (MGA), Compressed Gas Association (CGA), and Gases & Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA) is fueling the market. Constant efforts made by the members of CGA and GAWDA have rendered the actualization of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. These associations help in chalking out strategies that would ultimately help the market thrive and flourish. Therefore, establishment of such associations acts as a driver for the market.The global medical manifolds market has been segmented by product type and geography. In terms of product, the medical manifolds market has been categorized into simplex manifold systems, cradle pack manifolds, dual manifold systems, semi-automatic manifold systems, automatic manifold systems, digital automatic manifold systems, 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.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:
Anesthesia Endotracheal Tubes Market By Technological Development, Applications and Forecast 2024

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Anesthesia endotracheal tube is a tube implanted in trachea to administer anesthesia, maintain the airway passage of lungs, prevent aspiration into the lungs, and allow mechanical ventilation. It also establishes the aspiration of secretions and anticipation of the pathway of extraneous material into the tracheobronchial tree. The endotracheal tube is of two types: orotracheal tube and nasotracheal tube. The orotracheal tube is rooted through the mouth, while the nasotracheal tube is rooted through the nose into the trachea. Both are used for anesthesia management.Download The Full Brochure of Report :Some players operating in the global anesthesia endotracheal tubes market are Medline Industries, Medtronic, C. R. Bard, ConvaTec, GE Healthcare, Smiths Medical, KindWell Medical, ROYAX, Fuji Systems, Teleflex, Neurovision Medical, and Intersurgical.With the advancement of health care facilities and modern technologies, surgery of vital organs such as lungs has become easy. Anesthesia endotracheal tubes make it easy for the surgeons to sedate the patient and perform the surgical procedure. Also, these tubes are accepted and used by the patients of all age groups with breathing or lung problems. This is a major factor driving the market for anesthesia endotracheal tubes. Growing industrialization leading to rise in air pollution and habits such as smoking are responsible for increasing incidence of respiratory diseases. This can be considered as a factor propelling the anesthesia endotracheal tubes market. Rising incidence of other respiratory diseases, lung diseases, and breathing disorders also drives the market.. Introduction of advanced technology in the medical field, which enables easy performing of critical surgeries and usage of high-quality consumables in the field are the recent trends in the global anesthesia endotracheal tubes market. However, availability of an increased number of alternative disposable devices and upcoming better options may act as a barrier for the anesthesia endotracheal tubes market. The anesthesia endotracheal tubes market has been segregated into organized and unorganized as well as global and regional players. The unorganized local market in developing countries may give a tough competition to the global players by maintaining high quality standards at reasonable pricing. The dealers in the developed market are targeting back with product innovations.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Based on the product type, the global anesthesia endotracheal tubes market can be segmented into: orotracheal tubes and nasotracheal tubes. Orotracheal tubes are implanted in the patients trachea through the mouth. Nasotracheal tubes are implanted in the trachea through the nose. These tubes are employed in the cases wherein the patients mouth needs to be operated.Based on the end-user, the anesthesia endotracheal tubes market can be segmented into: hospitals & clinics and ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs).High demand for home-based therapy and modernization in video laryngoscopes also drive the global anesthesia endotracheal tubes market. However, complications in the anesthesia delivery system, availability of a small number of skilled medical practitioners to perform critical surgeries with perfection, and growing preference to laryngeal masks over anesthesia endotracheal tubes are likely be major factors restraining the growth of the market during the forecast period.Based on the geographical region, the anesthesia endotracheal tubes market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is a major market for anesthesia endotracheal tubes, due to respiratory disorder-prone lifestyle of people in the region and a large number of elderly population. Asia Pacific is an expanding market due to increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases in the region.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:
Cholesterol Screening/ Cholesterol Lab Testing Services Market Development, Key Opportunity, Application & Gross Revenues 2024

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Global Cholesterol Lab Testing Services Market: OverviewThe prevalence of sedentary lifestyles of people is expected to boost the demand for cholesterol lab testing services worldwide. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance present in the bloodstream, nerve fibers, and bodily organs. A persons level of cholesterol is determined by factors such as heredity, consumption of food with high amounts of saturated fats (for example, animal products), and metabolic conditions such as diabetes, age, gender, and so on. In 2008, about 39% of adults aged 25 and above were diagnosed with high cholesterol levels, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).Download The Full Brochure of Report :The report incorporates complete information about the factors driving market growth as well as those restricting it. The key trends, opportunities, and leading segments of the present and projected periods have been studied. The major players in the global market for cholesterol lab testing services have been analyzed, wherein their market shares, key market strategies, recent developments, and product portfolios are discussed.Global Cholesterol Screening Market: Regional OutlookBased on geography, the global market for cholesterol lab testing services can be segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. North America is slated to emerge as a key market over the forecast period, with the U.S. at the lead. However, Europe also has a great potential for expansion, due to high number of people with high cholesterol.Asia Pacific is also expected to expand at a significant rate, displaying a promising CAGR during the forecast period. The growth of this region can be attributed to the rising number of cholesterol lab testing services, ever-increasing population, higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases, and increase in healthcare expenditure.Companies Mentioned in the ReportSome of the major companies operating in the market for cholesterol lab testing services are Eurofins Scientific, SYNLAB International GmbH, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp), Spectra Laboratories Inc., and Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. A new service was introduced by Quest Diagnostics in November 2016. Under this service  called QuestDirect, patients can manage their health more efficiently through self-tests, wherein a physician is not required to conduct tests.Global Cholesterol Lab Testing Services Market: Drivers and RestraintsRaised cholesterol levels pose health hazards such as heightened risk of stroke and heart diseases, accounting for a large number of deaths. Cholesterol lab testing services enable early detection of problems, preventing complications and raising the survival chances of patients. This is expected to fuel the growth of the cholesterol lab testing services market.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Some other major growth drivers of the market are gradual awareness about the dangers posed by cholesterol and education about the importance of these tests, rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and other heart diseases, growing healthcare expenditure, government initiatives, increasing geriatric population, and technological advancements in the area of cholesterol lab testing services. Low fruit and vegetable intake, unhealthy eating habits such as preference for convenience foods and fast foods, and lack of physical inactivity have also been driving the growth of this market.As the deposits of cholesterol layer up the inner lining of arteries, atherosclerosis is developed. Obesity is another condition related to high cholesterol levels. As the number of such cholesterol-induced diseases increases, the need for these tests will also increase, thereby expanding the market for global cholesterol lab testing services.On the contrary, the presence of home or self-testing kits might hinder growth, apart from the restriction imposed by the introduction of non-invasive cholesterol testing procedures.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:
Cell-Free Protein Expression Market: Global Markets & Advanced Technologies

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Cell-free protein expression, also called in vitro protein synthesis, involves the production of the desired recombinant proteins in cell lysates without using cell culture or living cells. Cell lysates produced via the breakdown and use of cellular components (eukaryotic or bacterial cells of humans or insects). Cell-free protein expression is carried out using different cell extracts such as those of E. coli (prokaryotic), rabbit reticulocytes, wheat germs eukaryotes), and insect cells. This system has many significant advantages over protein expression in living cells including the shorter duration of the process, expression of toxic proteins, isotopic labeling of proteins, optimization of protein complexes, incorporation of non-natural amino acids, optimization of protein production, and cost-effectiveness. Cell-free protein expression also allows the co-expression of multiple proteins and is easily employed for automation.Download The Full Brochure of Report :The global cell-free protein expression market is divided into the following product types on the basis of lysates used: mammalian, E. coli, wheat germs, and insect membrane. Among these, E. coli cell lysates are highly used. In terms of the expression mode, CFPS are categorized into the continuous and batch modes. The three major end-users of CFPS systems are the pharmaceutical & biotechnological industry, contract research institutes, and academic & research institutes, of which pharmaceutical companies are dominant, followed by contract research institutes.The global CFPS market is driven by the key advantages of this system over in vivo protein synthesis such as the shorter duration required to receive the desired recombinant proteins, advanced applications in enzyme engineering, protein purification, and modification. Other factors projected to propel the market during the forecast period include the increasing demand for protein synthesis, rising activity of outsourcing pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies, and the growing number of research and academic institutes. New developments such as Protein Synthesis Using Recombinant Elements (PURE) offer opportunities for specialized applications such as in vitro protein evolution, protein micro-arrays, and protein labelling. The high cost of CFPS & reagents and low protein production rates are anticipated to restrict the global CFPS market.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Based on geography, global CFPS market is distributed over North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. North America dominates the market owing to the high expenditure on R&D activities and increasing demand for protein synthesis in the region. Europe and APAC are likely to display high growth rates during the forecast period as a result of the surge in R&D, biopharmaceutical companies, and demand for recombinant proteins.Key players operating in the global CFPS market include New England Biolabs, Inc., TAKARA BIO INC., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Promega Corporation., CellFree Sciences Co., biotechrabbit GmbH, Bioneer Corporation, Jena Bioscience GmbH, and Cube Biotech GmbH etc. Among these, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., biotechrabbit GmbH, and New England Biolabs, Inc. are the leaders. The New England Biolabs, Inc. has developed the technology PURE for CFPS and is promoting its use and application across the globe.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:
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Medical Aesthetic Devices Market: Increasing Aesthetic Consciousness among Consumers to Boost Growth, says TMR

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The Middle East and North America medical aesthetic devices market is characterized by the intense rivalry between the leading players, states a new research report by Transprency Market Research (TMR). The market demonstrates a highly consolidated marketplace as the top five players, namely, Allergan Plc, Mentor Worldwide, Merz Inc., ZELTIQ Aesthetic Inc., and Fosun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., collectively accounted for 68.3% of this market in 2015.With a large number of participants, constantly competing with each other, the market is likely to remain highly competitive over the next few years. The leading companies are likely to move to product innovation and differentiation in the near future to enhance the marketability of their products, notes the research study.Download The Full Brochure of Report :As per the report, the Middle East and North Africa market for medical aesthetic devices was worth US$275.0 bn in 2015. Expanding at a CAGR of 12.20% during the period from 2016 to 2024, the opportunity in this market is projected to reach US$755.8 mn by the end of the forecast period. The demand for these devices has been higher in facial and body contouring treatment. Researchers expect the segment to continue as the dominant application area over the forthcoming years.Middle East to Retain DominanceIn this research report, the Middle East and North Africa market for medical aesthetic devices has been broadly classified into two geographical segments: The Middle East and North Africa. Between the two, the Middle Eastern market the bigger one. It dominated the overall market in 2015 with a share of more than 58% and is anticipated to remain doing so throughout the forecast period.Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the Rest of the Middle East have been recognized as the main geographical segments of the Middle East medical aesthetic devices market in this study. Among these Saudi Arabia has surfaced as the leading domestic market for these devices in this region.The report further analyzes the Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic devices market on the basis of the products available in this market, which are aesthetic laser and energy devices, skin tightening and body contouring devices, aesthetic implants, and facial aesthetic devices. The demand for skin tightening and body contouring devices is higher than others, thanks to the increased beauty consciousness, product innovations, and the rising awareness among consumers. The scenario is likely to remain so over the next few years, states the research report.Rise in Cosmetic Surgical Procedures to Drive GrowthThe increasing consciousness among consumers regarding their looks and personality is the main factor behind the growth of the Middle East and North Africa market for medical aesthetic devices, says an analyst at TMR. With the rising disposable income in this region, the purchasing power of consumers has increased significantly, which has shifted their focus towards beauty and personal grooming, leading to a substantial surge in cosmetic surgical procedures. This, as a result, has been fueling the demand for medical aesthetic devices in the Middle East and North Africa.According to the study, the future of this market is teeming with opportunities, making it highly lucrative. However, the competitive pricing and equipment costs and unfavorable reimbursement policies may hamper the markets growth in the near future.The study presented here is based on a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), titled Medical Aesthetic Devices Market (Product - Aesthetic Laser and Energy Devices, Skin Tightening and Body Contouring Devices, Aesthetic Implants, and Facial Aesthetic Devices; Application - Facial and Body Contouring, Facial and Skin Rejuvenation, Breast Enhancement, Scar Treatment, Congenital Defect Repair, Reconstructive Surgery, Tattoo Removal, Hair Removal, and Vaginal Rejuvenation and Tightening; End User - Hospitals, Dermatology Clinics, and Cosmetic Centers) - Middle East and North Africa Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic device market is segmented into:By ProductAesthetic Laser and Energy DevicesAblative Skin Resurfacing DevicesNon-Ablative Skin Resurfacing DevicesSkin Tightening and Body Contouring DevicesLiposuction DevicesSkin Tightening DevicesCellulite Reduction devicesAesthetic ImplantsBreast ImplantsSoft Tissue ImplantsAesthetic Dental ImplantsOthersFacial Aesthetic DevicesMicrodermabrasion DevicesBotulinum ToxinDermal Fillers (e.g. Teoxane fillers, etc.)Threads (e.g. Normal, PDO, etc.)By ApplicationFacial and Body ContouringFacial & Skin RejuvenationBreast EnhancementScar TreatmentCongenital Defect RepairReconstructive SurgeryTattoo RemovalHair RemovalVaginal Rejuvenation and TighteningBy End UserHospitalsDermatology ClinicsCosmetic CentersBy GeographyMiddle EastSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)QatarOmanKuwaitBahrainIraqLebanonSyriaJordanRest of Middle EastNorth AfricaEgyptAlgeriaMoroccoTunisiaRest of AfricaAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Report 2017

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Ask a sample or any question, please email to: lynne@qyresearch.comThe United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) industry.The report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) 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 Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.Main Chapter Showed:United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Report 20171 Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2)1.2 Classification of Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) by Product Category1.2.1 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Size (Sales Volume) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Size (Sales Volume) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 0.05g1.2.4 0.1g1.3 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Size (Consumption) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Hospital1.3.3 Medical Center1.4 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market by Region1.4.1 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 The West Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Southwest Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 The Middle Atlantic Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 New England Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 The South Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 The Midwest Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 United States Market Size (Value and Volume) of Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) (2012-2022)1.5.1 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.3 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Average Price by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.4 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Concentration Rate2.4.2 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Players/Suppliers2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion in United States Market2.5 United States Players/Suppliers Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Type3 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Price by Region (2012-2017)4 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type (Product Category) (2012-2017)4.1 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales and Market Share by Type (Product Category) (2012-2017)4.2 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.3 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Price by Type (2012-2017)4.4 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales Growth Rate by Type (2012-2017)5 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales (Volume) by Application (2012-2017)5.1 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)5.2 United States Azacitidine (CAS 320-67-2) Sales Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)5.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities.......Note:We also offerGermany/Korea/Australia/Brazil/Russia/India/Indonesia/Malaysia/Europe/Asia/Asia-Pacific/North America/Latin America/South America/AMER/EMEA/Africa etc Countries/Regions and Sales/Industry Versions RespectivelyContact me:QYRESEARCH CO., LTDVILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District Guangzhou ChinaLynne - QYResearch Report Global SalesEmail: lynne@qyresearch.com 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. Through the companys years of effort and a lot of customer support, QYResearch consulting group creative design method of many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch brand has become the consulting industry with quality assurance consulting brand. The company has 2500 global well-known customers, covering energy automobile pharmaceutical chemical agriculture more than 30 industries, services from the data analysis and recommendations-Consulting landing one-stop solution, and research regions cover China,US,EU,Asia,Middle East and Africa,South America,Australia,etc Global all regions,and also built research or marketing center in China USA UK France Hongkong etc regions. currently, QYResearch has become the first choice and worth trusted consulting brand in Global and China business consulting services.QYRESEARCH CO., LTDVILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District Guangzhou ChinaLynne - QYResearch Report Global SalesEmail: lynne@qyresearch.com Web:
United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Report 2017

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Ask a sample or any question, please email to: lynne@qyresearch.comThe United States Carboplatin Crystal Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Carboplatin Crystal industry.The report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Carboplatin Crystal 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 Carboplatin Crystal industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.Main Chapter Showed:United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Report 20171 Carboplatin Crystal Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Carboplatin Crystal1.2 Classification of Carboplatin Crystal by Product Category1.2.1 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Size (Sales Volume) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Size (Sales Volume) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Pharmaceutical Grade1.2.4 Industrial Grade1.3 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Size (Consumption) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Carboplatin Injection1.3.3 Others1.4 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market by Region1.4.1 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 The West Carboplatin Crystal Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Southwest Carboplatin Crystal Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 The Middle Atlantic Carboplatin Crystal Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 New England Carboplatin Crystal Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 The South Carboplatin Crystal Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 The Midwest Carboplatin Crystal Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 United States Market Size (Value and Volume) of Carboplatin Crystal (2012-2022)1.5.1 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 United States Carboplatin Crystal Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 United States Carboplatin Crystal Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.3 United States Carboplatin Crystal Average Price by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.4 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Concentration Rate2.4.2 United States Carboplatin Crystal Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Players/Suppliers2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion in United States Market2.5 United States Players/Suppliers Carboplatin Crystal Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Type3 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 United States Carboplatin Crystal Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 United States Carboplatin Crystal Price by Region (2012-2017)4 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type (Product Category) (2012-2017)4.1 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales and Market Share by Type (Product Category) (2012-2017)4.2 United States Carboplatin Crystal Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.3 United States Carboplatin Crystal Price by Type (2012-2017)4.4 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales Growth Rate by Type (2012-2017)5 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales (Volume) by Application (2012-2017)5.1 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)5.2 United States Carboplatin Crystal Sales Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)5.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6 United States Carboplatin Crystal Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales Data6.1 Teva6.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors6.1.2 Carboplatin Crystal Product Category, Application and Specification6.1.2.1 Product A6.1.2.2 Product B6.1.3 Teva Carboplatin Crystal Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.2 Fresenius Kabi6.2.2 Carboplatin Crystal Product Category, Application and Specification6.2.2.1 Product A6.2.2.2 Product B6.2.3 Fresenius Kabi Carboplatin Crystal Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview6.3 Mylan6.3.2 Carboplatin Crystal Product Category, Application and Specification6.3.2.1 Product A6.3.2.2 Product B6.3.3 Mylan Carboplatin Crystal Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)6.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview.......Note:We also offerGermany/Korea/Australia/Brazil/Russia/India/Indonesia/Malaysia/Europe/Asia/Asia-Pacific/North America/Latin America/South America/AMER/EMEA/Africa etc Countries/Regions and Sales/Industry Versions RespectivelyContact me:QYRESEARCH CO., LTDVILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District Guangzhou ChinaLynne - QYResearch Report Global SalesEmail: lynne@qyresearch.com 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. Through the companys years of effort and a lot of customer support, QYResearch consulting group creative design method of many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch brand has become the consulting industry with quality assurance consulting brand. The company has 2500 global well-known customers, covering energy automobile pharmaceutical chemical agriculture more than 30 industries, services from the data analysis and recommendations-Consulting landing one-stop solution, and research regions cover China,US,EU,Asia,Middle East and Africa,South America,Australia,etc Global all regions,and also built research or marketing center in China USA UK France Hongkong etc regions. currently, QYResearch has become the first choice and worth trusted consulting brand in Global and China business consulting services.QYRESEARCH CO., LTDVILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District Guangzhou ChinaLynne - QYResearch Report Global SalesEmail: lynne@qyresearch.com Web:
FRANKFURT: Daimler Trucks, which is being spun off by its parent group later this year, should invest much of a 1.5 billion euro ($1.8 billion) fund for cleaner technologies in Germany, works council chief Michael Brecht said on Saturday.



Daimler announced the fund on Feb. 3 alongside plans to spin off the worlds largest truck and bus maker, as it seeks to increase its appeal to investors as a focused electric, luxury cars business.



Daimler Trucks has operations around the world and last April announced a fuel joint venture with Swedens Volvo Trucks .



In an interview with the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper, Brecht was asked how the German staff he represents would benefit from the fund.



We will develop proposals for new projects for individual sites, with which we can support additional employment and the change to new drive technologies, he replied.



Asked whether the money could be used for investments such as US autonomous driving software start-ups, Brecht said: The money is not for any old acquisitions.



As for potential spending in Sweden for the Volvo venture, he said: The fuel cell drive system will have to be produced at one of our (German) sites. There is no doubt about that.



Daimler Trucks chief executive Martin Daum told Reuters on Tuesday that a full line of zero-emission commercial vehicles could be ready by 2027, but deploying them needed fresh investments. He also highlighted growth opportunities in China, India and other markets such as Indonesia.Reuters




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Trends in the Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market 2015-2025

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An automotive natural gas vehicle uses compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative to the diesel or petrol. A natural gas is widely used in lift trucks, buses, light and heavy duty trucks, motorcycles, cars, vans and locomotives.A natural gas provides an economical and environmental friendly option over diesel or petrol. Currently, the penetration of automotive natural gas vehicle is less globally, but due to its operational advantages, in future the penetration is expected to increase globally.Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Drivers and ChallengesAround the world, the governments have issued stringent regulations regarding the emissions and fuel efficiency. The global fossil fuel price has seen an increasing trend over the past 5-10 years. Due to these reasons, there is a growing demand for cheap and environmental friendly fuel alternative. Original equipment manufacturers of vehicles are promoting their products by showcasing the fuel efficiency and emission free features. This factor is fueling the demand for automotive natural gas vehicle market.Request Report Sample@High upfront purchase cost, low awareness in many countries are some of the factors which are inhibiting the growth of automotive natural gas vehicle market.Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: OverviewCurrently, the automotive natural gas vehicle market is still in the nascent state, thought the market experienced growth in sales in last 3-4 years.The global automotive natural gas vehicle market by volume is expected to expand at a CAGR of around 5-7% during the forecast period (2015-2025), due to stringent government emission regulations and growing demand for fuel efficient vehicles.Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: SegmentationThe global automotive natural gas vehicle market can be segmented by fuel type, by vehicle type and by regionsBased on Fuel Type, the global automotive natural gas vehicle market is segmented as:Compressed Natural GasLiquefied Natural GasBased on Vehicle Type, the global automotive natural gas vehicle market is segmented as:PassengerCommercialAutomotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global automotive natural gas vehicle market is expected to register a single-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global automotive energy recovery market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.In terms of market revenue, Asia Pacific automotive energy recovery market is projected to register a significant CAGR during the forecast period. Stable economic growth, growing automotive production, stringent government emission norms, changing consumer preferences, are some of the factors which are fueling the growth of automotive natural gas vehicle market in Asia Pacific. The significant demand for natural gas is from commercial vehicle segment in Asia Pacific. India, China and Iran are forecast to register a significant growth in the Asia Pacific automotive natural gas vehicle market, as these countries have significant network of gas infrastructure and CNG fueling network.In Europe, countries like Russia and Ukraine have a high demand for natural gas in trucks and buses. The Europe automotive natural gas vehicle market revenue is currently dominated by commercial vehicles. The government policies, subsidies, increasing fossil fuel prices, stringent environmental regulations are fueling the demand for automotive natural gas vehicle in Western and Eastern Europe.In North America and Latin America, compressed natural gas is seeing the high demand. Currently, U.S.A. is dominating the North America automotive natural gas market by value, on the other hand, Columbia is dominating the Latin America automotive natural gas market by value.Visit For TOC@Automotive Natural Gas Vehicle Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global natural gas vehicle market are Ford Motor Company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors, Honda Motor Company, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor Group, etc.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 Bonded Abrasives Market Research,Analysis - Forecast to 2022

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Market HighlightsBonded abrasives are in various shapes such as wheels, segments, sticks, and many other. Bonded abrasives are divided into vitrified, rubber products and thin wheels and are manufactured by mixing grains with bonding material, molding them to shape and then subjecting the output to firing or baking in high temperature and finishing the same to desired dimensions.Bonded abrasives contain abrasive grains held together in a form of resin, glass, rubber, or other materials and used as grinding wheels and stones and sticks forms. They are used to remove surface materials such as metal, ceramics, glass, plastics, and paint. Bonded abrasives found in various type according to their requirement such as depressed center wheels, cup-shaped wheels, recessed or relieved, wheels, tapered body wheel. Depressed center wheels used in weld grinding, weld spatter removal descaling, heavy deburring and operations requiring rapid stock removal. Cup-Shaped Wheels type bonded abrasives applications include weld removal, flame-cut grinding, flash, and gate and riser removal. Recessed Or Relieved, Wheels used in Suitable for all metal cutting applications. Examples includes sheet metal cutting, pipe and rods sectioning, Gate removal and tapered body wheel have a thicker cross-section at the bore, which becomes thinner or tapers toward the outer diameter.Request a Sample Copy @Commenting on this report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said, Global Bonded Abrasives market size is expected to grow at USD ~18.1 billion by 2022. The market witnessed a significant growth over the forecasted period owing to growing applications such as precision grinding, cutting, rough grinding, fabrication, polishing, and others across various industries.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Bonded Abrasives Market Research Report- Forecast to 2022Browse full report @Key Players Saint-Gobain Abrasives (US), 3M Manufacturing company (US), Buffalo Abrasives Inc(US), Abrasivos Manhattan SA (Spain), Marrose Abrasives (U.K), Grinding Techniques (Pty) Ltd (South Africa), SAK Abrasives Limited (India), sia Abrasives Industries AG (Switzerland), Flexovit (U.S), Carborundum Universal Limited (India) Others.Bonded abrasives can be segmentedon the basis of end user industry into the following categories including automobile, shipbuilding, construction, general metalworking, and others.On the basis of application bonded abrasives segmented in to precision grinding, cutting, rough grinding, fabrication, polishing, and others.The growing automobile industry is expected to boost the overall growth of the bonded abrasives market specifically in APAC region. Bonded abrasives are widely used in the required surface finish such as lapping, grinding, honing, and polishing and the appropriate design to the automobiles.Table of Content1 Executive Summary2 Scope Of The Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations2.3 Markets Structure3 Market Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Secondary Research3.3 Primary Research3.4 Forecast Model4 Market Landscape4.1 Five Forces Analysis4.1.1 Threat Of New Entrants4.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Buyers4.1.3 Threat Of Substitutes4.1.4 Segment Rivalry4.2 Value Chain/Supply Chain Of Global Bonded Abrasives Market5 Industry Overview Of Global Bonded Abrasives Market5.1 Introduction5.2 Growth Drivers5.3 Impact Analysis5.4 Market Challenges5.5 Impact Analysis6 Market Trends6.1 Introduction6.2 Growth Trends6.3 Impact Analysis7. Global Bonded Abrasives Market By Region8. Global Bonded Abrasives Market By TypeContinue.Related ReportGlobal Coated Abrasives Market Information- by grain type (Aluminum oxide, Silicon carbide, Zirconia alumina, Ceramic), by backing materials (Paper, Cloth, Fiber, Polyester film, others ), by end user industry (Transportation, Metal Fabrication, Consumer Goods, Automotive, Others) and by Region - Forecast till 2022.Know more about this report @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Organic Drinks Market Trends, Top Manufacturers, Market Challenges, Growth Rate by Forecast to 2022

Organic Drinks Market

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Market Highlights:The increasing sale of organic drinks is driven by the changing consumers preference and adoption of healthy lifestyle. Increasing consumption of healthy drinks is directly supporting the sale of the product. The natural and chemical-free property has raised the consumption of organic drinks amongst various regions of North America.The sale of healthy organic drinks is high amongst the population of spots persons. North America is one of the major markets for organic drinks holding a major share. The non-GMO product consumption has a direct positive impact on the increasing share of organic drinks.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Organic Drinks MarketMajor Key Players: Hain Celestial Group (U.S.) Suja Life, LLC (U.S.) Organic Valley (U.S.) Coca-Cola (U.S.) Parkers Organic Juices PTY LTD (Australia) Groupe Danone (France), Purity Organic, LLC (U.S.)Request a Sample Report @Market Forecast:Globally the organic drinks market share in beverage industry is estimated to escalate at a higher growth rate which is supported by the rising consumption of low-calorie, natural and healthy drinks in the developed countries. The developing economic conditions of various regions are fueling up the market demand for organic drinks. The high anti-oxidant content of the organic beverage helps in the proper functioning of the body and hence the popularity is increasing in various regions. The instant powder segment of organic drinks are estimated to grow at a higher growth rate based on the convenience usage and high shelf-life. Based on the high health benefits, the consumption of organic drinks is anticipated to increase at a steady CAGR.All these factors contribute to the calculated CAGR of 12% of organic drinks market during 2016-2022.Downstream Analysis:Consumption of instant organic drinks is increasing at a steady rate. Also, with the increase in consumption of instant drinks, the sachets segment is found to grow at a steady rate. The on-the-go drinks popularity has increased the sale of ready-to-drink organic drinks amongst the population. New innovations as anticipated to take place in the organic drinks manufacture as the demand of the product is raising globally.Competitive Analysis:The major key players in organic drinks market are Hain Celestial Group (U.S.) Suja Life, LLC (U.S.) Organic Valley (U.S.) Coca-Cola (U.S.) Parkers Organic Juices PTY LTD (Australia) Groupe Danone (France) Purity Organic, LLC (U.S.) The Better Drinks Co (New Zealand)Established players from North America and Europe are following strategies innovations in their-product line to expand their business in other regions due to increasing demand of organic drinks in the beverage industries. They are mainly focused on increasing their supply to established industries that have high demand of organic products. In the Europe region, Germany is one of the dominating countries for organic drinks manufacture and exports the product in various other countries of Europe which include Netherlands, France, U.K., Belgium and Austria.Market Segmentation-:Global organic drinks market is segmented by source, product-type, packaging, distribution channel and regionAccess Report Details @Regional Analysis:The global organic drinks market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). Among these North America region has the major market share followed by Europe. U.S. is amongst the major producers of organic drinks. Raising consumption of on-the-go products is supporting the growth of the market in developed countries of North America and Europe region. Netherlands, U.S., Germany, France and U.K. are the major importers of organic drinks.Table of Contents1 Executive Summary2 Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Markets Structure2.4 StakeholdersContinued.List of TablesTable 1 Pestle Analysis - U.S.Table 2 Pestle Analysis- FranceTable 3 Pestle Analysis- AustraliaContinued.List of FiguresFigure 1 Research MethodologyFigure 2 Primary Data Analysis ApproachFigure 3 Secondary Data Analysis ApproachContinued.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 the prime objective to provide optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies depending on products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments enables our clients to know more consequently do more, which gives them answer for their each and every important question.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureMarket Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Gasoline Turbochargers Market Revenue, Opportunity, Segment and Key Trends 2016-2026

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Gasoline Turbochargers is expected to unlock the potential of market due to cutting-edge technologies in turbocharger market. Which enables spur new opportunities to market players involved in turbochargers business. Gasoline Turbocharger is a device which increases internal combustion of engines efficiency and power out -put by forcing extra air in to the combustion chamber. The performance of an engine can be enhanced by addition of turbocharger. It enables compress the air and more oxygen flows in to the combustion chamber. According to fuel the power output of an engine increases. Turbochargers can shape the characteristics of engine and it effects engines economy, emission characteristics. Gasoline Turbochargers used for synergy effects, and it is mostly used in commercial vehicle sector. The fuel economy can be increased with turbochargers by maintains a specific torque and power density. Whilst maintaining the vehicles performance. The turbo charging standard technology used to boost the engines. However, waste gate controlled turbines have standard for gasoline turbochargers. The technological advancements and innovations in the gasoline turbochargers creates new opportunities for the companies which are striving in Gasoline Turbochargers industry across the globe. Global Gasoline Turbochargers market is expected to exhibit a significant CAGR as well as annual growth over the forecast period.Gasoline Turbochargers Market: Drivers and restraintsGlobal Gasoline Turbochargers market can be influenced by following factors, Gasoline Turbochargers gaining importance across the globe due to increasing trend of emission reduction along with increased engine economy. Increased awareness among the people regarding the innovative technologies which enables drive the global gasoline turbochargers market. Growing disposable income of consumers in advanced countries is expected to boost the Gasoline Turbochargers Market. This, in turn, would lead to increase in demand for gasoline turbo charger. The high quality of turbocharges offeres at affordable price is major roadblock for market.Request Report Sample@Gasoline Turbochargers Market: SegmentationGlobal Gasoline Turbochargers Market can be segmented as following typesBy Vehicle TypePassenger CarLow Commercial Vehicle (LCV)High Commercial Vehicle (HCV)By TechnologyVariable Geometry Turbo Chargers (VGT/VNT)Waste Gate Turbo ChargersTwin Turbo ChargersGasoline Turbochargers Market: OverviewGlobal Gasoline Turbochargers market is rapidly evolving across the globe due to increased awareness among automobile industry as well as people. Which enables change the trend towards advanced and novel technologies in Gasoline Turbochargers market. Technological advancements in the Gasoline Turbochargers market enables make significant changes in the market. The global Gasoline Turbochargers market expected to account for significant CAGR and witnessed for lucrative market over the forecast period.Gasoline Turbochargers Market: Region-Wise OutlookGlobal market is segmented into seven key regions: Those are North America, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia pacific excluding japan, Japan, Middle East and Africa.North America region is accounted for majority of the market share due to increased awareness among the people towards the innovative technologies followed by Europe and Asia. Asia-Pacific region, which includes the greater China, India, Japan, Korea are fastest growing economies across the globe. Japan and China is leading in automobile industry, which enables offers majority of market share in Asia-Pacific region. However, Gasoline Turbochargers market in Asia-Pacific region becoming matured. Asia-Pacific region market is considered to rapidly evolving infrastructure, is witnessed for create robust opportunities for Gasoline Turbochargers market.Visit For TOC@Gasoline Turbochargers Market: Key playersSome of the key players are Honeywell International, Inc., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Turbo Energy Private Limited, Ningbo Weifu Tianli Turbocharging Technology Co., Ltd., Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems, Eaton Corporation Plc, Continental AG, Borg Warner Turbo Systems.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:
VapeKart announces itself as the largest-selling online e-liquid store in India

Raniganj, West Bengal, India, 25th Apr, 2017 With a good number of users and with three types of e-juices launched, VapeKart, the leading e-juice suppliers of India, has been recognized as one of the most demanded sole online e-liquid stores in India. Under the supervision of a single manufacturer, it produces e-juices that satisfy the demand of its clients. Upgrading its service and manufacturing processes on the basis of the customers feedbacks, reviews, and suggestions, this online e-juice supplier organization has already launched its three flavors i.e., the Nebula, the Cosmos & the Pure Leaf respectively. The dexterity, hard work and years of experience of the manufacturer have helped him to become a successful solo online trader of e-juices within a few years.VapeKart owner Mr. Samarth Shaw considers the flavor and absence of tobacco as the major reasons behind this success. Smoking is no doubt, injurious to health as per the warning, but vaping is 90 times safer than it. Different types of sweet flavors of e-liquids have made vaping much more acceptable than mere smoking. We try to optimize these flavors to lessen the chance of smoking and to replace it with vaping, he says.In a recently made survey, it has been proved that smoking is one of the common habits among the Indians. But with a rapid hike of death due to oral cancer, the consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco related products face a prohibition across the nation. In this situation, the smokers find the solution of their problems in vaping. India has a good number of vapers, but most of them are smoker turned to vapers. I, myself, am one of them, says Samarth Shaw. Targeting these vapers, VapeKart has made a huge client base who are really satisfied with its products.VapeKart is the leading e-liquid store in India that stands alone for its unique e-juices. Its single owner manufactures it in his own lab with natural ingredients. The juices produce sweet smoke that provides a soothing feeling along with a throat hit to its customers across the nation. The clients can freely opt any of the three kinds of e-liquids. It also provides DIY vaping kit and accessories along with the e-liquids.37 N.S.B Road , Raniganj-713347 , West BengalContact No:+91-9474699066Email:- samarthshaw@gmail.com
Regenerative Braking Systems Market Volume Forecast and Value Chain Analysis 2014-2020

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Increasing demand for fuel efficient vehicles, increasing efforts for mitigation of carbon emissions and rising cost of fuels, are pushing the Automakers to seek for development of energy efficient systems. This changing dynamics has significantly led to developments in regenerative braking systems market. Nowadays, energy recovery systems in vehicles are increasingly getting employed in passenger as well as commercial vehicles to improve fuel economy and reduce vehicular emissions.As a result for the need of better fuel-economy the regenerative braking systems market has evolved, which is gaining a significant growth in global automotive industry because of energy saving application.Nowadays, regenerative braking systems have become an important feature in hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. In these type of vehicles, regenerative braking systems are used to generate electricity by convertingmomentum loss during application of brakes. The amount of recoverable energy depends upon the vehicle speed and stopping pattern, 5% to 20% of transmitted energy can be saved by using regenerative braking systems. This energy is then transferred to on-board auxiliaries or comfort functions such as climate control. This energy can also be stored as electricity and then returned to the drive train during acceleration or whenever required. This energy can either be stored in batteries or banks of super capacitors. The energy saving features are one among the latent drivers of regenerative braking systems market.Request For Report Sample@The factors driving the growth of global regenerative braking systems market are growing concern for controlling vehicular emission, rising fuel cost and growing concern for advance technology. Although, factors such as increased overall cost of car and maintenance are the major challenges.The global regenerative braking systems market is geographically segmented intosevenkey regions which are, North America, South America,Eastern Europe, Western Europe,Asia Pacific, Japan andMiddle East & Africa. As of 2013, North America dominates the overall global regenerative braking systems market value, followed by Asia Pacific, Europe and others. Asia Pacific is projected to register a significant CAGR for the forecast period in global regenerative braking systems market. This growth is fuelled by increasing penetration rate of hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in regions like Japan, South Korea and China.Growing concern for controlling vehicular emission in Europe region is also expected to drive the growth of global regenerative braking systems market for forecast period.On the basis of passenger vehicle type, the regenerative braking systemsmarket is segmented into three sub-segments, which are, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The hybrid vehicle sub-segment of global regenerative braking systems market is the predominant in terms of market value dueincreasing adoption of hybrid vehicles in regions like North America and Europe. The hybrid vehicle passenger sub-segment is forecast to have higher growth rate in regenerative braking systems market, followed by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles.Request For TOC@Some of the key players in the global regenerative braking systems market include Continental AG, Delphi Automotive PLC, Denso Corporation, Robert Bosch GMBH and TRW automotive. Acquisitions and mergers are key strategies adopted by major companies to expand their geographical presence and market share in global regenerative braking systems market along with an enhanced customer base.In future, deployment of advanced regenerative braking systems with more efficiency and less prone to energy loss during transmission will provide a completive edge for automotive OEMs.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:
Dengue Vaccine Market Poised for Robust CAGR of over 17.4% through 2027

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Burdening occurrence of dengue fever across the Asia-Pacific region has prompted the demand for effective vaccines and medications to supress this viral malaise. While several pharmaceutical companies are striving to develop a cure for dengue, the fevers incidence rate in Asia-Pacific is rising at an alarming rate. A recent report published by Future Market Insights predicts that in 2017, an estimated 70.3% of global dengue vaccines market will be dominated by Asia-Pacific. Through 2027, the region will continue to be the largest market for dengue vaccines, procuring a majority revenue share and projecting revenue growth at a 17.4% CAGR.Future Market Insights also observes Latin America as the second-largest market for dengue vaccines, and is expected to rake in US$ 288.7 Mn towards the end of 2027. The report, titled Dengue Vaccines Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2017-2027, expects that more and more pharmaceutical giants from across the globe will be partaking in the markets growth in the years to come. Currently, the market is witnessing active participation of French drugmaker, Sanofi S.A., while vaccines being formulated by companies such as Biological E. Limited, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Merck & Co. Inc., Vabiotech, Butantan Institute, and Panacea Biotech Ltd. are under multiple phases of development.Request For Sample@The report further reveals that government institutes will remain the largest end-users of dengue vaccines in the world. Through 2027, a little less than US$ 650 Mn worth of revenues is expected to arise from sales of dengue vaccines across government institutes. Meanwhile, hospitals will also dominate the market by registering a 17.3% revenue CAGR. The market, at present, will witness sales of the sole of vaccine, Dengvaxia, developed by Sanofi. Furthermore, factors shaping up the dynamics of global dengue vaccines market, also compiled in the report, are:Apart from the burdening outbreak of dengue in several countries, the economic turmoil in Latin America is projected to impact the global markets growth at a macroeconomic levelLive attenuated vaccines are being developed & produced economically, thereby comforting vaccine makers as well as patientsHowever, lack of skilled professionals and unavailability of optimum diagnostic systems has given rise to cases where dengue fever is being treated as an undistinguished febrile diseaseThe global market for dengue vaccines holds an opportunistic breakthrough when drugmakers will be able to successfully develop effective vaccines for all age groupOn the long run, the global market for dengue vaccines, which is presently valued at close to US$ 250 Mn, will soar vigorously to rake in US$ 1,250.6 Mn revenues by the end of 2027.Send An Enquiry@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:
Acute Coronary Syndrome Market to Perceive Substantial Growth by 2021

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Acute coronary syndrome is one of the serious medical conditions characterized by sudden and reduced flow of blood to the heart. The symptoms of acute coronary syndrome are the same as those of a heart attack. The most common symptoms of acute coronary syndrome includes chest pressure which patients feel during heart attacks and pressure in chest at the time of rest or doing light physical activities.A sample of this report is available upon request @Treatments of acute coronary syndrome depend on their symptoms and overall health condition. Acute coronary syndrome is often diagnosed in hospital. It is a treatable disease if diagnosed quickly. If acute coronary syndrome isnt treated quickly, heart attacks will occur. It is important to diagnose and treat acute coronary syndrome at its earlier stage. This is due to it reduces flow of blood and hampers normal functioning of the heart.Based on evidence of heart muscle damage, the acute coronary syndrome is divided into three main types: unstable angina (UA), ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). UA occurs when heart doesnt get enough blood flow and oxygen which leads to heart attacks. STEMI occurs when the coronary artery is completely blocked off by the blood clot. NSTEMI occurs when a coronary artery suddenly becomes partly occluded by blood clot.The global acute coronary syndrome market is categorized based on various antihypertensive, antithrombotic and statins drugs.In terms of geographic, North America and Europe dominates the global acute coronary syndrome market. This is due to increased awareness about acute coronary syndrome in these regions. The U.S. represents the largest market for acute coronary syndrome market followed by Canada in North America. In Europe, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and France holds major share of acute coronary syndrome market. However, Asia is expected to show high growth rates in the next five years in global acute coronary syndrome market. This is due to many companies constructing their manufacturing facilities in the region. In addition, increasing awareness about acute coronary syndrome is also supporting in the growth of the market in the region. Japan, China and India are expected to be the fastest growing acute coronary syndrome markets in Asia.In recent time, increasing aging population is key driver of the global acute coronary syndrome market. Increased pharmaceutical R&D investment and introduction of innovative drugs have fueled the growth of global acute coronary syndrome market. Extensive pipeline drugs with properties, such as high patient compliance and improved safety, are also supporting in the growth of global acute coronary syndrome market.Increasing prevalence of diabetes and rising number of obese or over-weight people holds immense potential to the growth of global acute coronary syndrome market.However, stringent regulations hamper the growth of global acute coronary syndrome market. Moreover, less number of approved drugs for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome also obstructs the growth of the market. Increasing mergers and acquisitions between drug manufacturing companies and rapid number of product launches are some of the major trends of the global acute coronary syndrome market.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the major companies operating in the global acute coronary syndrome market are Boehringer Ingelheim, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Portola Pharmaceuticals, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Amgen, Bayer, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, Regeneron, Novartis and Merck.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:
Food Additives Market size worth $55.8bn by 2022

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Food Additives Market Size By Product [Sweeteners (HFCS, High Intensity), Flavors & Enhancers (Artificial, Natural), Emulsifiers (Mono, Lecithin, Di-Glycerides, Sorbitan Esters, Stearoyl Lactylates), Enzymes, Fat Replacers (Starch, Protein), Shelf-life Stabilizers], Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2015  2022Food Additives Market size may reach USD 55.8 billion by 2022; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc.Positive indicators for packaged & frozen foods consumption owing to hectic lifestyle particularly in the U.S, Germany, France and UK, should promote global food additives market size. These ingredients are used with the primary intention to impart flavor, nutritional and color characteristics. Primarily used packaged foods include ready-to-eat meals, frozen meals, cake mixes, and snacks.Europe food additives market size may observe 4.8% growth with Germany and France being the major contributors. Growing popularity of alcohol-free beer, savory snacks and sugar free confectionaries should provide an impetus to Germany food & beverage industry growth and also provide a scope for local manufacturers to increase production capacity.Request for a sample of this research report @Flavors & fragrances was the largest revenue generating segment in 2014 and accounted for over 30% of the total share. Majorly used flavors & enhancers include monosodium glutamate (MSG), calcium inosinate, glutamic acid and natural extracts such as herbs and neem. Natural flavors market may witness above average industry gains at over 5% CAGR.Enzymes based food additives market may witness over 5.5% growth up to 2022. Carboxylase, protease, lipase, polymerase and xylanase are major enzyme types majorly incorporated in formulation of baked products to improve organoleptic properties and crust appearance. Moreover, price advantage over its counterparts is projected to favor product demand.High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) market size was close to USD 500 million in 2014. Rising preference over conventional sugar due to its comparatively less pricing should favor HFCS demand. In addition, increasing availability of farmland meant for corn production coupled with agriculture industry growth in China and India should promote HFCS market size.Phospholipids, glycerol, yeast, lactic acid, sorbitol soybeans and oil seed derived chemicals are major raw materials used in manufacturing process. Raw material supply deficit should put pressure on supplier margins and affect food additives market price trend.Regulatory inclination towards promoting the consumption and production of naturally derived products have enhanced the importance of bio based chemicals namely sorbitol, oleochemicals and lactic acid. Their availability is restricted with tight raw supply situation from soy and oilseed industry.Strategic alliances and collaborations with raw material suppliers is an attractive approach to maintain feedstock supply. Mandatory food safety registrations may result in high manufacturing cost and act as entry barriers for small scale producers.Browse key industry insights spread across 125 pages with 119 market data tables & 12 figures & charts from the report, Food Additives Market:Key insights from the report include:China food additives market size may witness more than 5% growth and surpass USD 5 billion by 2022. Strong sales outlook for China based processed products such as noodles and sauces in Europe and North America should drive regional industry growth.Lecithin based emulsifiers in U.S. food additives market may observe significant gains at over 5% CAGR. Technological innovation for incorporating functional ingredients product formulation may fuel regional industry growth.Starch based fat replacers market was generated over USD 1 billion revenue in 2014. Carbohydrates and starch are incorporated as fat replacers and may witness high demand from formulators in light of low price.Sorbitan esters based emulsifiers may should observe strong growth rate at over 6%. They are used in formulation of shortenings, coffee whiteners, toppings, confectionery coatings and chocolates.MEA flavors & enhancers industry is largely driven by meat consumption in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and South Africa may result in significant gains.Global food additives market share is competitive. Key industry players include ADM, DuPont, Novozymes and Ingredion. Some companies are fully integrated to attain avoid raw material uncertainty and maximize profitabilityOther industry participants include Tate & Lyle, Chr. Hansen, Cargill, BASF, Ajinomoto, Bio Springer and Adani Wilmar.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Table of contents for Food Additives Market is as given below: -Chapter 1 Methodology & Scope1.1 Research Methodology1.1.1 Initial data exploration1.1.2 Statistical modeling and forecast1.1.3 Industry insights and validation1.2 Data SourcesChapter 2 Executive Summary2.1 Food additives industry 360 synopsis, 2012 - 2022Chapter 3 Food Additives Industry Analysis3.1 Industry Segmentation3.2 Industry Size and forecast, 2012 - 20223.3 Industry ecosystem analysis3.3.1 Vendor Landscape3.4 Raw material outlook3.5 Technology Overview3.6 Regulatory framework3.7 Industry Impact forces3.7.1 Growth drivers3.7.1.1 Food & beverage industry growth3.7.1.2 Rising packaged foods demand3.7.2 Industry pitfalls & challenges3.7.2.1 Growing organic foods market3.8 Growth potential analysis3.9 Porters analysis3.10 PESTEL analysis3.11 Food additives Pipeline Overview3.11.1 Recent Food additives approval U.S. FDA3.11.2 U.S. FDA approved food additives under GRAS NoticeBrowse Related Reports:Aquafeed Market Size By Application (Crustaceans, Mollusks, Carp, Salmon, Catfish, Tilapia), Aquaculture Additives Market Size By Product (Amino Acids, Antibiotics, Vitamins, Feed Acidifiers), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 - 2023Animal Feed Additives Market Size By Livestock (Poultry, Aquaculture, Pork/Swine, Cattle), By Product (Vitamins, Antibiotics, Amino Acids, Antioxidants, Feed Acidifiers, Feed Enzymes), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Price Trends, 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:
Global Ice Crushers Market 2017 - Dole Yonanas, Caple, Philips, Kasrrow, Hamilton Beach, Nathome

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The Global Ice Crushers Market 2017 Industry Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Ice Crushers industry. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Ice Crushers market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis and major regions development status. Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (North America, Europe, China and Japan) and other regions can be added.In this report, the global Ice Crushers 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 Ice Crushers in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Ice Crushers market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingKOLD-DRAFTDole YonanasCaplePhilipsKasrrowHamilton BeachNathomeRosenstein & SohneZOKUHERPUSINostalgia ElectricsKENWOODFackelmannRiKONHatsuyukiAccess 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 intoManual Ice CrushersAutomatic Ice CrushersOn 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 Ice Crushers for each application, includingCommercial UseHousehold UseOthersIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About 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:
Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Estimated to Flourish by 2027

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Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market: IntroductionMobile virtual network operator (MVNO) represents service providers who resell wireless network communication services by using the infrastructure of a mobile network operator (MNO). The model gives benefit to both MVNO and MNO. MNO have extra unused network bandwidth which they provide to MVNO at a low price, and thus make optimum utilization of the unused network bandwidth. MVNO, in turn, offer these services to end users without having any support infrastructure and without paying the license fee to the government.A sample of this report is available upon request @Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market: Market DynamicsMVNO provide support to MNO by aiding in the increase in revenue by offering optimum utilization of network and by launching and marketing sub-brands. MVNO also provide benefits to end users by providing cheaper mobile options to different markets and aids in optimized resource allocation and improved quality of service to the end users, supported by improved service and follow which helps MNO to retain their customer base.Supported by telecommunication spectrum increasing from 3G, 4G and now towards 5G, MVNO are expected to provide value-added services with higher speed to the customers. In addition, increasing mobile subscribers across the globe are expected to drive the market for the forecast period.Regional OverviewOn the basis of geography, mobile virtual network operator market can be segmented into seven key markets namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, APAC, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. APAC is expected to dominate the market of mobile virtual network operator, supported by growing telecom industry in the region, higher GDP growth rate, and high population of countries such as India and China. APAC is expected to be followed by North America and Europe regions.The increase in data and value-added services supported by increasing mobile subscribers across the globe is expected to drive the market of mobile virtual network operator. Intense competition among network operators and demand for cheaper mobile services is expected to support the demand. MVNO being able to provide customized services to end customers, is an advantage over MNO and thus will provide a competitive advantage over them. However, the lack of operational expertise among mobile virtual network operators will affect the demand.Request to view Table of content @Competitive LandscapeMajor players in the field of mobile virtual network operator include AT&T, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Verizon Communications Inc., Truphone Limited, Virgin Mobile USA, T-Mobile US Inc., TracFone Wireless, Inc. etc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Market Growth Report 2017- 2020 : Research Trades

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Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR market- Size, Share, Trends, Forecast, Growth 2022 added by Research Trades to its database.In this report, the global Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR 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 this report @Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingPhysio-Control Inc.Michigan InstrumentsZOLLResuscitation InternationalSchillerBrunswick Biomedical TechnologiesLandswickHuazhong MedicalTianjin AnBeiBangvo?PuruiHuanyu MedicalSunLifePurchase a single user copy of this report for $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 intoBattery drivenPneumatic drivenOn 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 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR for each application, includingIn pre-hospital transportIn the emergency roomOthersTable of Contents1 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR1.2 Classification of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR by Product Category1.3 Global Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Market by Application/End Users1.4 Global Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Market by Region1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR (2012-2022)2 Global Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.2 Global Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR (Volume and Value) by Type2.3 Global Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR (Volume and Value) by Region2.4 Global Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR (Volume) by Application3 United States Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.2 United States Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationView Complete TOC @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:
ATM Market to Witness Exponential Growth by 2022

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ATM is the abbreviation used for Automatic Teller Machine, which is a product of technological advancement developed to enhance the financial services such as cash withdrawals, funds transfer, cash deposit, transactions as payment of bills by credit card or debit card, mini statements and other financial enquiries. ATM does all these processes by an accessing personal identification number (PIN) & a plastic card having a magnetic strip over it containing the customer identity. A decade ago, ATM were used only as a cash dispenser machines, means were used only to withdraw cash and for balance enquiry. Now days every financial institution is using this system to attract their customers & to serve them even outside the banking hall. Before some years banking processes and transaction was very easy tasks of walk in the bank venue & deposit or withdraw the cash through a manual counter without much congestion and queues by cheque books or cash books, but in recent time it is becoming tedious and time consuming process as the complexity of human demand & business demand force customers to go in and out of banking halls frequently & hence ATM is becoming a good substitution for it.A sample of this report is available upon request @The global ATM market is progressively growing in a developing regions and with addition of smart ATM s, Solar ATM s enhancing the market size of Global ATM market.The key trends responsible for the growth of the Global ATM market are the transition of a class banking to mass banking as well as customers have been more interested in the self-service channels for last some years. The key drivers of ATM market driving its market are tremendous growth of retail automation for last some years, robust security standards, Banks are focusing on increasing the number of ATM s globally, advancement in the wireless communication. On the flip side, the key restraints inhibit the growth of global ATM market which are mentioned below; some security threats, major risk linked with the ATM machines as theft, rise in skimming activities, hacking of customers personal information and transactional details, connectivity and operational issues are limiting global ATM market.The segmentation of Global ATM market is done on the basis of; solution or service type, product type & Geography. On the basis of solution type or service type, Global ATM market is segmented into following types as; installation solution, Managed services & ATM card solution. Installation solution is further segmented into On-site ATM, Off-site ATM, mobile ATM & worksite ATM . Managed service is sub segmented as cash management, network management, currency management, security management and retail & enterprise solution.Segmentation of Global ATM market by its product type is done as; Conventional/Bank ATM, Solar Powered ATM, self-cashed or fully serviced ATM, smart ATM, cash dispenser ATM, free standing ATM, through-the-wall ATM, brown label ATM & others. With the addition of Smart ATM and white label ATM the growth of Global ATM market has been increasing tremendously.Geographical segmentation of ATM market is done into seven regions which are; North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Presently North America is a global leader of ATM market and is expected to maintain the leadership throughout forecasting period.Request to view Table of content @The key players of global ATM market are GRGBanking, Hitachi Payment Services Pvt. Ltd, DIEBOLD INC., NCR Corporation, Triton Systems of Delaware LLC, Wincor Nixdorf AG & 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.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Micro-Needling Unit Market Premium Forecast & Analysis for 2017-2022

Micro-Needling Unit

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https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-micro-needling-unit-2017-forecast-to-2022-market

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bigmarketresearch.com include new market research report Global (North America, Europe And Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East And Africa) Micro-Needling Unit Market 2017 Forecast To 2022 to its huge collection of research reports.Micro needling is based on the use of tiny needles to create micro channels (tiny holes) in the skin. The process stimulates your skins natural ability to heal itself and in the process produces collagen and elastin.Request for customization @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Micro-needling Unit in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversEdge SystemsDermapenMcureWeyergans High CareBomtech ElectronicsEclipse AestheticsUNION MEDICALLay eyes on complete report @Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversManual TypeAutomatic TypeMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoCommercial UseHousehold UseKey Chapters to deeply display the global Micro-needling Unit market :Chapter 1, to describe Micro-needling Unit Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Micro-needling Unit, with sales, revenue, and price of Micro-needling Unit, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Micro-needling Unit, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Request sample report @About Company :Big Market Research uniqueness lies in its highly ethical reports at economical rates because we value your relationship and growth more than money. Your growth is our aim. 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.Contact Us :5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesDirect :+ 1-503-894-6022Toll Free : + 1-800-910-6452Email: help@bigmarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Auto Glass Cleaner Market 2017 : Wurth, Turtle, Prestone, SONAX, BOTNY, CHIEF, Bluestar

Auto Glass Cleaner

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A market study based on the "Auto Glass Cleaner Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Auto Glass Cleaner Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Auto Glass Cleaner industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Auto Glass Cleaner market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This Research Report3MWurthTurtlePrestoneSONAXBOTNYCHIEFBluestarTEECThe report studies the industry for Auto Glass Cleaner across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Auto Glass Cleaner market & dynamics of demand and supply of Auto Glass Cleaner into consideration. The 'Auto Glass Cleaner' research study covers each and every aspect of the Auto Glass Cleaner market globally, which starts from the definition of the Auto Glass Cleaner industry and develops towards Auto Glass Cleaner market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Auto Glass Cleaner market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Auto Glass Cleaner market. The geographical segmentation of the Auto Glass Cleaner industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Auto Glass Cleaner is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Auto Glass Cleaner market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Auto Glass Cleaner market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Auto Glass Cleaner market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Auto Glass Cleaner production volume, data regarding demand and Auto Glass Cleaner supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Auto Glass Cleaner across the globe.About Us :Worldwide Business are a trusted brand in the research industry with capability of commissioning complex projects within a short span of time with high level of accuracy. At Worldwide Business, we believe in building long term relations with our clients. Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries such as Automotive and Aerospace, Medical Devices, Technology, Machinery & Manufacturing.Contact Us :Worldwide BusinessUnited States
Micro Server Market to Record an Exponential CAGR by 2022

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Servers have been the most important general purpose workhorses for the datacenters designed to perform all tasks for organizations of any shape and size. Micro server is a server which is stripped down as much as possible. Now a day some businesses want machines which are specially designed to perform some specific tasks. As micro server is super-efficient at one particular task so it is used in business not as a replacement of large servers but as a supporting server along with those, because it is wastage of power as well as time to ask large servers to do small task . Micro servers are becoming more popular as they help in saving companies space, they are more efficient servers than the traditional big servers in terms of data usage as well as money.A sample of this report is available upon request @There is high chances of growth for global micro server market during the forecast period especially in the technological advanced regions. The global micro server market is expected to grow with tremendous CAGR till the end of 2022.The key industry trend of micro server market is the increased growth rate of infrastructure for cloud and data centers especially in the technological emerging region as Asia Pacific and Western Europe as compare to North America. The key growth drivers of micro server market the advantages provided by micro server over the traditional large servers as lower power consumption and companies space saver, For last some years cloud computing and web hosting market is continuously growing, which in turn drive the growth of micro server market. Also with increased growth of hyperscale data centers architectures, global microserver market is been driven. On the other hand usage of microserver is limited only to small and medium enterprises, lack of awareness & standard specification are some of the restraints hindering the growth of global micro server market.Segmentation of micro server market is done on the basis of component, application, processor type, end user & Geography. Based on the component, segmentation of micro server market is done as hardware, software and operating system. On the basis of processor type, global micro server market is segmented as ARM processors, AMD processors, Intel processors & others. The efficiency of server depends upon the processor type, which is been used in server. Intel core processor and AMD processors are most popular processor & has the highest market share contribution for the segment in the global market.By applications, global micro server market is segmented into following two segments; cloud computing technologies & datacenters.On the basis of end users, global micro server market is segmented into three segments; small scale enterprises, medium scale enterprises & large scale enterprises. Geographically, micro server market is segmented into seven regions which are ; North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Among all the seven region North America is the highest contributor in term of revenue in global micro server market which covers about 40% of global market, and Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market for micro server solution providers across the globe.Request to view Table of content @The key players of global micro server market are ARM Ltd., Hewlett Packard Co., Dell Inc., Intel Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices, Marvel Technology, Penguin Computing, Inc., Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Tilera Corp., MiTac International Corp, Penguin Computing, Inc. & 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.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global HVAC Market Industry Key Players, Share, Trend, Applications, Segmentation and Forecast to 2027

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https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/heating-ventilation-air-conditioning-market

Market HighlightThe global Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market is influenced with growth drivers such as technological advancements which drive demand of the market with high growth rates, extreme weather conditions, the growth of population and steady urban development also play a major role in the growth of the Global Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market.Energy usage is on a gradual increase and thus, due to this reason, many companies have started manufacturing and promoting the air conditioners which are running on renewable energy sources like geothermal and solar energy.Request a Sample Report @Based on percentage of growth ongoing non-residential construction recovery and stable growth in replacement, is estimated that this market would achieve a good growth in 2016 and 2017 respectively. 2015 was a strong recovery year for non-residential construction while 2016 could most probably witness some slowing. While most HVAC players' revenue have recovered on regulatory change and pricing, commercial HVAC volumes are still below peak, which means there are still some room to run in this market.Key Players Daikin Johnson Controls Zamil Air Conditioners Lennox International Honeywell International Ingersoll Rand Gree Electric Appliances Inc Samsung Electronics Fujitsu General Siemens Building TechnologiesRegional Analysis Middle East region it is usage for HVAC units and in Africa region air conditioners products are expected to be the leader over the forecasted period (2016- 2027) HVAC market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is primarily driven by the rising infrastructure projects in the region. The Middle East and Africa (MEA) is expected to grow at a good rate of CAGR and is expected to slice up a larger market share. The European and the North American market is expected to be the largest market globally and is expected to have a considerable market share with a healthy rate of CAGR. China is a dominant player. Given its size and landscape, China covers an extensive territory of climate zones. This acts as a key factor for the growth of the HVAC market. Japan acquires the second largest market share in the Asia Pacific region for the HVAC market.Regions CoveredAmericas North America US Canada Latin AmericaEurope Western Europe Germany France Italy Spain U.K Rest of Western Europe Eastern EuropeAsia Pacific China India Japan South Korea Rest of AsiaMarket SegmentsFor the Better understanding of this report the Global Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market is has been segmented on the basis of types of air conditions which include Split Residential Air Conditioners, Window or through the wall air conditioners, Packaged Air Conditioners, Central Air Conditioning. The market has different application which includes commercial, residential, institutional, hospitality and others.Global Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market - Overview:The global Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market is expected to grow at a significant rate of CAGR and is expected to have a large global market share.Global Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market is getting impacted by such multiple elements and however is projected to grow at a considerable amount of CAGR. Confirms the Scholar in an exclusive Market Study Report - Global Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market presented by Market Research Future. The report takes you through the full Market Analysis, Opportunities, Price, Growth, Trends and Featuring the market Predictions right up to the years 2021 and helps you to find out: How the market revenue is progressing globally. What are the key driving or affecting factors for the market growth? How the market revenue is progressing in various segments & geographies. Who are the emerging Players, current players & the Key Players (Leaders) of the market? Get yourself acquainted with their trends. What are the current main market trends responsible for shaping up the Market AcquisitionsTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 85 market data tables and figures spread in 150 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market Report - Forecast to 2027"Browse full HVAC Market@Utility Aspects of the Report The report provides detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market Offers insights about factors affecting the market growth. Enables to Analyze the Global Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. Provides 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) Offers country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective Provides country level analysis of the market for segments and sub-segments Offers strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market Enables 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 Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Market Research Future Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312
Global Yarn Market  Share, Size, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017-2025

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IndexBox has just published a new report "World: Yarn Of Man-Made Filaments - Market Report. Analysis and Forecast to 2025" (This report has been designed to provide a detailed analysis of the global yarn market. It covers the most recent data sets of quantitative medium-term projections, as well as developments in production, trade, consumption and prices. The report also includes a comparative analysis of the leading consuming countries, revealing opportunities opened for producers and exporters across the globe. The forecast outlines market prospects to 2025.Countries coverage: WorldwideProduct coverage: Yarn of man-made filaments, multiple or cabled (other than sewing thread, high tenacity yarn of polyamides, polyesters or viscose rayon, or textured yarn), not put up for retail sale; man-made filament yarn (other than sewing thread), put up for retail sale.Data coverage: Yarn market size and volume; Yarn market trends and prospects; Global yarn production and its dynamics; Per capita consumption; Breakdown of production by region and country; Medium term outlook; Yarn trade (exports/imports); Prices for yarn; Profiles of the main manufacturers.The report will help you: Get a bigger picture of the market; Rewire your business around market trends; Devise your marketing strategy; Operate with increased effectiveness.TABLE OF CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION1.1 REPORT DESCRIPTION1.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2.1 KEY FINDINGS2.2 MARKET TRENDS3. MARKET OVERVIEW3.1 MARKET VOLUME AND VALUE3.2 CONSUMPTION BY COUNTRY3.3 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BY COUNTRY3.4 MARKET FORECAST TO 20254. PRODUCTION4.1 PRODUCTION IN 2007-20154.2 PRODUCTION BY COUNTRY5. IMPORTS5.1 IMPORTS IN 2007-20155.2 IMPORTS BY COUNTRY5.3 IMPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY6. EXPORTS6.1 EXPORTS IN 2007-20156.2 EXPORTS BY COUNTRY6.3 EXPORT PRICES BY COUNTRY7. PROFILES OF MAJOR PRODUCERSDownload a free sample of the report now!IndexBox is a leading market research publisher in the world. We conduct market research and publish reports.You can find more than 25,000 research reports in our web store, which cover global industries and regional markets. All the worldwide marketing data you need is at your fingertips.We collect this data from hundreds of highly reliable sources, verify it and carry out market analysis, uncovering new business opportunities and empowering you with actionable insights.The structure of our reports is intuitive and clear. We do our best to allow you to make strategic decisions and take immediate action. If you want to go further and be a step ahead of the market, just tell us your goals and we will tailor a report to your needs.Company Name: IndexBoxContact Person: Kirill BezverhiEmail: kirill.bezverhi@indexbox.co.ukPhone: +44 20 3239 3063Adress: United Kingdom, 44 Main Street, Douglas, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, ML11 0QWWebsite:
Cyber Security Market Report 2017 Receives a Rapid Boost in Economy due to High Emerging Demands

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Global Cyber Security Market  OverviewCyber Security market is expected to grow with the CAGR of ~8% - 11% during 2016 to 2021, owed to which it is predictable to cross USD $150 billion by 2021, assures the Market Research Future in one of its recently published study report - Global Cyber Security Market Research Report Forecast 2017- 2021With growing industries and preference for centralization amongst the organizations; the computer based systems have become an indispensable part of the business processes. Thus, cyber security has become the most critical concern for organizations to protect their data from the fast-rising incidences of cybercrimes. Cyber security systems are used in computers connected to the internal as well as external networks.Cyber security is one of the foremost concerns around the globe. The cyber security enables protection from attacks such as unauthorized access, hacking, instillation of codes such as virus and other threats. As the technology is growing and new applications are emerging in in to the market, hackers too are finding the different loopholes through which they steal the important and confidential data from the servers tactfully and sell it to the other countries or in black market., states the MRFR research analyst while commenting upon this deep diving study report, presented through more than 100 market data tables and figures and widely spread over 145 pages.Global Cyber Security Market is driven by the increasing cyber threats, lack of focus in security systems, dependency on information technology and stringent government rules and policies.Global Cyber Security Market  Key PlayersThe report includes a study of strategies of major market players along with their product portfolios, developments and trends. Cisco Corporation (U.S.) Mcafee Corporation (U.S.) Fortinet Inc. (U.S.) Trend Micro Inc. (Japan) Cassidian Cybersecurity Company (France) Computer Science Corporation (U.S.) Booz Allen Hamilton Corporation (U.S.) Kaspersky Lab (Russia) Fireeye Inc. (U.S.) Symantec Corporation (U.S.)Request a Sample Report @Cyber Security Market  Report SegmentationThe report also helps in studying the target segments by providing views on emerging & high-growth segments and market conclusion. For an easy grasp, cyber security market is segmented in to 3 dynamics.Segmentation by Solutions: Network Security, Endpoint Security, Content Security, Application Security, Industrial Control System Security and Cloud Security.Segmentation by Services: Risk Assessment services, Consulting Services, Design Services Training Service and Others.Segmentation by Application Verticals: BFSI, Manufacturing, Telecommunications, Aerospace & Defense, Healthcare & Others.Cyber Security Market  Synopsis & ScenarioWhile providing the market insights, on various levels of industry analysis and market share in whole, this study report comprises and discusses the basic assessments on the competitive scenarios & strategies, of the global cyber security market, including the high-growth regions, countries and their political, economic and technological environments. Furthermore, the market report also provides the views over the historical market values as well as, pricing and cost analysis of the same.Cyber Security market is expected to grow with the CAGR varying between ~8%-11% during 2016 to 2021, and is expected to cross over USD 150 billion by 2021.BFSI, Manufacturing and Healthcare are among the largest consumers of Cyber Security MarketBFSI (Banking, Financial services and Insurance) is the main target of attackers as this industry deals with various products which can be traded for cash. Credit Card, Internet Banking are some major products and services on which the attackers are targeting.Manufacturing and Healthcare industry suffers crucial and confidential data loss whenever any cyber-attack takes place. These data are sold in black market for billions of dollars.The growing online banking malware to obtain financial information of debit/credit card and bank account passwords has given rise to cyber security market in BFSI sector.The need for cyber security in aerospace and defense sector is expected to grow at high CAGR in the forecast periodBrowse Report @Cyber Security Market  Regional AnalysisNorth America is leading in the market of Cyber Security. Countries like the US and Canada are well developed in the field of technology and also some of the major players who provide cyber security options are located in the North America.Europe is accounted for the second largest market share in the Cyber Security Market. The main reason behind this is some countries of Europe have good command over the technology and most of the company in Europe region update their cyber security model periodically.Asia Pacific and MEA have emerged are fastest growing market for the cyber security. Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate cyber security market surpassing the revenues of North America during the forecast period. Since China and India are in developing phase and becomes easy target for the attackers to steal the data in the initial stage of development.Key Findingso Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate cyber security market surpassing the revenues of North America during the forecast period.o The growing online banking malware to obtain financial information of debit/credit card and bank account passwords has given rise to cyber security market in BFSI sector.o The need for cyber security in aerospace and defense sector is expected to grow at high CAGR in the forecast periodRelated ReportVideo Surveillance Market Information by Application (Infrastructure, Commercial, Institutional, Defense), By Component (Equipment, Software, and Service), and By Region - Forecast 2016-2021About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Vibration Sensor Market to Register Substantial Expansion by 2022

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Vibration sensor can also be termed as vibration transducer that converts vibrations into an electrical equivalent output (such as voltage). Vibration means any motion of object from its mean position. It can be caused due to number of reasons such as external excitation, unbalanced centrifugal force, friction between surface and wind. Vibration has various advantages as well as disadvantages. It is used to detect any catastrophic events and to take preventive measures. However, in industrial and commercial sector this vibration is undesirable as it causes damage to machines. Furthermore, excess damage is also unsafe for human beings. Hence, to avoid this dangerous situation vibration level should be measured with the help of vibration sensor.A sample of this report is available upon request @The global vibration sensor market is expected to witness significant growth over the period of forecast. Factors which are driving the growth of global vibration sensor market are wide range of frequency, self-generating capability and long service life. Furthermore, rapid improvement and customization options are few additional drivers of global vibration sensor market.On the other hand, major factor hindering the growth of global vibration sensor market is maturity of end-user segmentThe global vibration sensor market can be segmented on the basis of product type, technology, material and application. On the basis of product type, the global vibration sensor market can be segmented into accelerometers, electrodynamic velocity transducer and non-contact displacement transducer.On the basis of technology, the global vibration sensor market can be segmented into piezoresistive, strain gauge, variable capacitance, hand probe, tri-axial sensorsOn the basis of material, the global vibration sensor market can be segmented into doped silicon, quartz and piezoelectric ceramics.On the basis of application, the global vibration sensor market can be segmented into automobile, aerospace, consumer electronics, coal & quarry sector, oil & gas, machine & structure monitoring, medical & pharmaceuticals and others. The global vibration sensor market growth is accelerated because of high adoption of vibration sensors in aerospace industry. Furthermore, vibration sensors are used in wide areas such as vibration in shock treatment, breathing monitoring, measuring machine vibrations and other applications. Vibration sensors are also used in digital displays and touch screens.On the basis of region, the global vibration sensor market can be seven regions which include - North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and Middle East & Africa. North America is dominating the global vibration sensor market and expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. However, Asia Pacific is expected to expand at highest compound annual growth rate over the forecast period.Request to view Table of content @Key players in global vibration sensor market are ASC GmbH, Dytran Instruments, Inc., TE Connectivity Ltd., Honeywell International Inc., FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology Inc., National Instruments Corporation, Colibrys Ltd., Hansford Sensors Ltd., Robert Bosch GmbH and others. Key players are focusing on development of new technologies in order to gain competitive advantage. For example, in November 2015, Hansford Sensors Ltd. launched new compact vibration switch to protect machinery against unexpected shutdown and repair cost. In July 2015, Colibrys Ltd., released its new vibration sensor, The VS1000  the second generation vibration sensor of the Colibrys VS family. The market is also witnessing a trend of customization of vibration sensor as per its size, frequency range and load capacity. Therefore market players are focusing on providing the vibration sensors as per the need of different applications.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Industry: 2017 Overview And Worldwide Strategy - Bruker Daltonics, Abbott

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.The global Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies is the core objective of examination in this research report recently added to our extensive database. The report to a great degree is a spellbinding and savvy archive that helps chalk out a careful and comprehensive investigative Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies, covering all key classifications and their market segments, alongside the elements that have the capability of being powerful sooner rather than later. The report accordingly displays a 360-degree examination of the present condition of the Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies market to its reader.The market has been unearthed from a ground-up manner, where simple information and key, industry-particular meanings of the Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies components are portrayed in the outline. The report then moves into the complete examination of Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies, adhering to viewpoints, including arrangements, industry chain structure, applications, approaches, industry diagram, and recent market improvements.Get sample report @The enormous volume of market information incorporated into the report has been collected after some time with the assistance of various essential and optional research systems. This information is additionally limited to utilizing standard industry-based systematic procedures so that the vital areas of subjective and quantitative data are offered to the report's clients.The competitive and administrative scene of the Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies are also broken down and examined in the research report. The different levels of elements on the standards, controls, arrangements, and arrangements are likewise incorporated into the expansion to an investigation of their effect on the markets general development prospects. The report additionally incorporates a point by point inspection of the market players business profiles ranging in the top categories.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Table of ContentsGlobal Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies1.1 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Market Overview1.1.1 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies 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 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Market by End Users/Application1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 22 Global Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies 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 Bruker Daltonics3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Abbott3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Agilent3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 BDI3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 OncoThyreon3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Biomoda3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Asuragen3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Beckman Coulter3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 BioCurex3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.9.5 Recent Developments4 Global Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.2 Potential Application of Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies in Future4.3 Top Consumer/End Users of Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies5 United States Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Market Size (2012-2017)5.2 United States Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Market Size and Market Share by Players (2015-2016)6 EU Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Development Status and Outlook6.1 EU Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies Market Size (2012-2017)6.2 EU Biomarker Technology Platforms for Cancer Diagnoses and Therapies 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
Growth of Anti-Aging Market Driven by Advancements in Technology

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The global anti-aging market has witnessed positive growth owing to advancements in technology along with a steady rise in aging population and increasing disposable income of consumers. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% during 2017-2021.IMARC Groups new report, titled Global Anti-Aging Market Report and Forecast (2017-2021), finds that the global anti-aging market reached a value of US $ 43.66 Billion in 2016, growing at a CAGR of 7.2% during 2009-2016. With increasing focus on physical appearance, both young and old consumers are seeking out anti-aging and preventive skin and hair care solutions. This trend coupled with the rising consumer base for quick and effective anti-aging solutions has boosted the demand for anti-aging products. As a result, various firms are making large investments in research and development of innovative technology, and in manufacture of diverse anti-aging products. According to the report, the global anti-aging market is expected to reach a value of 63.48 Billion by 2021, growing at a CAGR of around 8% during 2017-2021.Get Sample of Report:Highlights of the Global Anti-Aging Market:Technological advancement and steady growth in aging population are driving the anti-aging market.People belonging to the high-income group account for the majority of consumption.Skin-care industry represents the largest industry, accounting for almost three-fourths of the global output.One of the major factors driving the global anti-aging market is the rising population of people above the age of 35 years. People belonging to this age group account for a significant part of the total population and contribute to the rising demand for these products. Owing to the technological advancements, and introduction of safer and effective anti-aging cosmetics in the market, the consumer base of these products has expanded. Nowadays, middle class consumers are also going for premium personal care products due to an increase in disposable incomes. Brand and product endorsements by celebrities have also played a crucial role in influencing consumers and establishing the anti-aging industry.The anti-aging market has been segmented on the basis of key demographic factors like age, gender and income group. People belonging to the age group of 35-55 year account for about half of the total consumption. Moreover, this market is dominated by females and people belonging to high-income group. On the basis of industry, the skin care industry accounts for about three-fourths of the global production, followed by the hair care and dental care industries. The market has been further segmented on the basis of key product categories, and key devices and technology. On the basis of region, the US accounts for the majority of the global anti-aging market, followed by Japan, France, Brazil, Germany, China, South Korea and Italy. Some of the major players operating in this market include Allergan, LOreal, Beiersdorf, Estee Lauder, Procter & Gamble, Shiseido and Unilever.Browse full report with TOC @The report by IMARC Group has examined the Global Anti-Aging Market on the basis of:Demography:Age groupGenderIncomeIndustry:Skin careHair careDental careKey product categories:Anti-wrinkle creamsBotulinum Toxin A InjectionsDermal fillersAnti-pigmentation productsChemical peelsSunscreen productsHair care productsKey devices and technology:Microdermabrasion devicesAesthetic energy devicesRadio frequency devicesUltrasound devicesRegion:FranceGermanyItalyUnited KingdomRussiaSpainUnited statesBrazilJapanSouth koreaChinaThailandIndiaKey players:AllerganLOrealBeiersdorfEstee LauderProcter & GambleShiseidoUnileverFind more reports related to Healthcare Market Research Reports @IMARC Group is a leading market research company that offers management strategy and market research worldwide. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses.IMARCs information products include major market, scientific, economic and technological developments for business leaders in pharmaceutical, industrial, and high technology organizations. Market forecasts and industry analysis for biotechnology, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, travel and tourism, nanotechnology and novel processing methods are at the top of the companys expertise.IMARC Group610 North Randolph StreetArlingtonVA 22203Tel no: +1-631-791-1145Email: sales@imarcgroup.comWebsite:Follow us on twitter: @imarcglobal
Global Authorized Generics Market Trends & Industry Forecast by 2016 - 2024

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A generic drug is a duplicate copy of original branded drug, which has same dosage form, active pharma ingredients (API), strength, route of administration, and also same intended use as the branded one. Regulatory authorities and governments have mandated that an authorized generic drug has to medicinally correspond to the branded drug and sanctioned as an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). An authorized generic is the branded companys individual product, but repackaged and marketed as generic drug either via subsidiary or third party. These are already approved as a New Drug Application by the FDA, only they are promoted via private label. The authorized generics market grew rapidly in the past few years as these provide consumers with branded quality drugs at generic prices. Presently, there is a growing trend of original maker giving approvals to a subsidiary or a private label distribution company to sell its brand name drug as a generic drug at a subsequently low price.Obtain Report Details @An example of authorized generic drug is Azithromycin Pak which is sold under by the company name Greenstone. Pfizers original branded drug Z-pak was approved by the FDA. Before patent expiry of Z-pak, Pfizer allowed Greenstone to sell Z-pak using authorized generic name Azithromycin Pak. Greenstone is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer.The global authorized generics market is expected to witness strong growth. Authorized generic drugs are priced at significantly discounted rate i.e. 50% to 70% as compared to branded counterparts. Additionally, many of the popular branded drugs of pharma companies are losing patent protection rights, which is also termed as patent cliffs. This would pave the way for entry of new complex generics in the market. These factors are likely to drive the authorized generics market in the near future. Other factors driving the market are health care plans by governments across the world, rapidly increasing cost of branded drugs, and aging populations. On the other hand, possibility of side effects, and lack of regulatory awareness about products and quality management are factors likely to restrain the global authorized generics market.The global authorized generics market can be classified based on product type, application, end-user, and region.In terms of product type, the global authorized generics market can be segmented into biosimilars, simple generic, super generic, and others. Based on applications the market can be classified into cardiovascular, anti-infective, anti-arthritis, central nervous system, anti-cancer, respiratory, and others.Geographically, the global authorized generics market can be divided into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America accounted for the largest share of the market, primarily due to technological advancements, rise in demand for generic drugs, increase in overall cost of branded drugs, and presence of key players. Europe held a significant share of the market attributed to advancements in generic drugs, rise in various types of cancer, and blood related disorders. Asia Pacific, however, has been exhibiting high growth rate on account of growing demand for generic drugs, rise in geriatric population, increase in disposable income, and government initiatives to support generic drugs. Rapidly rising population in the region has increased demand for better health care and induced both private and government players to meet the demand. Developing economies such as India and China have also made a significant contribution to the rise of the global authorized generics market by focusing on establishing a better health care infrastructure.Key players in the market are Teva Pharmaceuticals, Sandoz, Allergan, Mylan, Sun Pharmaceuticals, and STADA Arzneimittel. Other prominent vendors in the market are Abbott, Amgen, Apotex, Aspen, AstraZeneca, Aurobindo Pharma, Baxter, Berlin-Chemie, Biocon, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celltrion, Cipla, Coherus Biosciences, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly and Company, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Eurofarma Laboratories, Gedeon Richter, Gilead Sciences, and GlaxoSmithKline.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:
Sedatives Market | Global Industry Outlook Analysis Report 2015-2022 Release By DecisionDatabases

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DecisionDatabases.com offers Sedatives Market Research Report. This Report covers the complete Industry Outlook, Growth, Size, Share and Forecast Till 2022.The report on global sedatives market evaluates the growth trends of the industry through historical study and estimates future prospects based on comprehensive research. The report extensively provides the market share, growth, trends and forecasts for the period 2015-2022. The market size in terms of revenue (USD MN) is calculated for the study period along with the details of the factors affecting the market growth (drivers and restraints).Highlighted below are some prominent market drivers and restraints:A. Market Drivers> Rising the development of new drugs> Increasing geriatric populationB. Market Restraints> Strict healthcare regulatory bodiesGet FREE Sample Report Copy @Furthermore, the report quantifies the market share held by the major players of the industry and provides an in-depth view of the competitive landscape. This market is classified into different segments with detailed analysis of each with respect to geography for the study period 2015-2022.The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.The report covers following company profiles (can be customized as per requirement):Advicenne PharmaAstraZeneca PlcConcert Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Drawbridge Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd.Jiangsu Nhwa Pharma CorporationNanoMedex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Paion AGTakeda PharmaceuticalThe Medicines Company...See the complete TOC and segmentations @The report classifies the market into different segments based on type. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.SEGMENTATIONS IN THE REPORT:1. By Type:> Barbiturates> Benzodiazepines> Non-Benzodiazepine Sedative-Hypnotics> Anesthetics> Antihistamines> Opioid Narcotics> Herbal Compounds2. By Geography:> North America (NA)> Europe (EU)> Asia Pacific (APAC)> Latin America (LA)> Middle East & Africa (MEA)Purchase Complete Global Sedatives Market Research Report At:About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
Increasing Prevalence of HIV/AIDS Testing Industry Trends and Forecast Report 2017

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"The Report Global HIV/AIDS Testing Industry 2017, Trends and Forecast Report provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"HIV/AIDS Testing Report by Material, Application, and Geography Global Forecast to 2021 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, united Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).View Report @The report firstly introduced the HIV/AIDS Testing basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) basic information;2.) the Asia HIV/AIDS Testing Market;3.) the North American HIV/AIDS Testing Market;4.) the European HIV/AIDS Testing Market;5.) market entry and investment feasibility;6.) the report conclusion.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Table of ContentsPart I HIV/AIDS Testing Industry OverviewChapter One HIV/AIDS Testing Industry Overview1.1 HIV/AIDS Testing Definition1.2 HIV/AIDS Testing Classification Analysis1.2.1 HIV/AIDS Testing Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 HIV/AIDS Testing Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 HIV/AIDS Testing Application Analysis1.3.1 HIV/AIDS Testing Main Application Analysis1.3.2 HIV/AIDS Testing Main Application Share Analysis1.4 HIV/AIDS Testing Industry Chain Structure Analysis1.5 HIV/AIDS Testing Industry Development Overview1.5.1 HIV/AIDS Testing Product History Development Overview1.5.1 HIV/AIDS Testing Product Market Development Overview1.6 HIV/AIDS Testing Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.1 HIV/AIDS Testing Global Import Market Analysis1.6.2 HIV/AIDS Testing Global Export Market Analysis1.6.3 HIV/AIDS Testing Global Main Region Market Analysis1.6.4 HIV/AIDS Testing Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.5 HIV/AIDS Testing Global Market Development Trend AnalysisChapter Two HIV/AIDS Testing Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend AnalysisPart II Asia HIV/AIDS Testing Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)Chapter Three Asia HIV/AIDS Testing Market Analysis3.1 Asia HIV/AIDS Testing Product Development History3.2 Asia HIV/AIDS Testing Competitive Landscape Analysis3.3 Asia HIV/AIDS Testing Market Development TrendChapter Four 2012-2017 Asia HIV/AIDS Testing Productions Supply Sales Demand Market Status and Forecast4.1 2012-2017 HIV/AIDS Testing Capacity Production Overview4.2 2012-2017 HIV/AIDS Testing Production Market Share Analysis4.3 2012-2017 HIV/AIDS Testing Demand Overview4.4 2012-2017 HIV/AIDS Testing Supply Demand and Shortage4.5 2012-2017 HIV/AIDS Testing Import Export Consumption4.6 2012-2017 HIV/AIDS Testing Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginChapter Five Asia HIV/AIDS Testing Key Manufacturers Analysis5.1 Company A5.1.1 Company Profile5.1.2 Product Picture and Specification5.1.3 Product Application Analysis5.1.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.1.5 Contact Information5.2 Company B5.2.1 Company Profile5.2.2 Product Picture and Specification5.2.3 Product Application Analysis5.2.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.2.5 Contact Information5.3 Company C5.3.1 Company Profile5.3.2 Product Picture and Specification5.3.3 Product Application Analysis5.3.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.3.5 Contact Information5.4 Company D5.4.1 Company Profile5.4.2 Product Picture and Specification5.4.3 Product Application Analysis5.4.4 Capacity Production Price CostAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Duodenoscope Market | Global Industry Growth, Trend & Forecasts Research Report 2015-2022

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DecisionDatabases.com offers Duodenoscope Market Research Report. This Report covers the complete Industry Outlook, Growth, Size, Share and Forecast Till 2022.The global duodenoscope market research report provides detailed information about the industry based on the revenue (USD MN) for the forecast period. The research study is a descriptive analysis of this market emphasizing the market drivers and restraints that govern the overall market growth. The trends and future prospects for the market are also included in the report which gives an intellectual understanding of the duodenoscope industry. Furthermore, the report quantifies the market share held by the major players of the industry and provides an in-depth view of the competitive landscape. This market is classified into different segments with detailed analysis of each with respect to geography for the study period.Highlighted below are some prominent market drivers and restraints:A. Market Drivers> Increasing incidences of pancreatic, bile duct cancer tumors and various gastrointestinal conditions> Risk factors for transmission of infectious agents with duodenoscopes and developing new solutions to minimize patient exposureB. Market Restraints> Increasing FDA recalls for duodenoscopes owing to challenging cleaning and high-level disinfection proceduresGet FREE Sample Report Copy @The report offers a value chain analysis that gives a comprehensive outlook of the duodenoscope market. The attractiveness analysis of this market has also been included so as to evaluate the segments that are anticipated to be profitable during the forecast period.The report covers following company profiles (can be customized as per requirement):Fujifilm Holdings CorporationKARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG.Olympus CorporationPENTAX Medical CompanyHoya Corporation...See the complete TOC and segmentations @Geographically, the duodenoscope market has been segmented into regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. The study details country-level aspects based on each segment and gives estimates in terms of market size.SEGMENTATIONS IN REPORT:1. By Product Type:> Flexible Video Dueodenoscopes> Flexible Non- Video Dueodenoscopes2. By End-User:> Hospitals> Pediatric Centers> Clinics> Ambulatory Surgical Centers3. By Geography:> North America> Europe> Asia Pacific> Latin America> Middle East And AfricaTable Of Contents - Overview1. Introduction2. Executive Summary3. Market Analysis Of Duodenoscope4. Duodenoscope Market Analysis By Product Type5. Duodenoscope Market Analysis By End-User6. Duodenoscope Market Analysis By Geography7. Competitive Landscape Of Duodenoscope Companies8. Company Profiles Of Duodenoscope IndustryPurchase Complete Global Duodenoscope Market Research Report At:About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
Global IT Robotic Automation Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "IT Robotic Automation Market (RPA Tools and RPA Services) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Robotic automation involves a practice in which a machine or computer software mimics human actions in order to complete rule-based tasks. In context of IT industry, robotic automation is accomplished by using automation software, which utilizes the Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Some basic processes in IT, which can be managed through robotic process automation include access management, request management, availability management, monitoring, incident management, and problem management. Robotic automation helps reduce the operating costs while additionally supporting agility in order to meet the customers varying and evolving needs. The robotic automation software tools help automate existing user actions and thereby, facilitate IT companies in incurring cost savings as robotic software can replace the employees performing similar repetitive tasks.Key factors driving the global IT robotic automation market include cost benefits and improved efficiency over manual process handling, ability to leverage other application software without integration, increasing adoption in finance and accounting (F&A) sector and potential alternative to offshore outsourcing among others. The robotic process automation reduces the need for human intervention in routine repetitive tasks and thus creates a virtual workforce capable of handling large number of repetitive tasks. Further, the automation occurs at the GUI layer thereby eliminating the need of integration with other systems. Moreover, robots can work 24x7x365 eradicating the constraints of human labor to work for limited hours. Thus, significant reductions in cost, time and labor can be achieved by implementing robotic process automation.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The IT robotic automation market has been segmented by type into tools and services. The RPA tools are further segmented into model-based application tools and process-based application tools. The RPA services are further studied based on professional and training services. Professional services are further segmented into consulting, integration and development, and BPO services. The market size and forecasts in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) for each of these segments have been provided for the period 2014 to 2020, considering 2012 and 2013 as the base years. The report also provides compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for each segment of the market for the forecast period 2014 to 2020. Geographically, the IT robotic automation market has been segmented into five regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Latin America.The report includes market dynamics, opportunity assessment and the impact analysis of robotic automation on the IT industry. It also includes ecosystem analysis to recognize key participants in the IT robotic automation along with their role in the ecosystem. We have included future trends that will impact the demand. The study provides market estimation in terms of revenue and forecast for the period 2014 to 2020.The IT robotic automation market comprises RPA technology providers and RPA service providers. Some of the key technology providers for RPA include Blue Prism, IPSoft, Inc., Be Informed B.V., Appian Corporation, and Automation Anywhere Inc. whereas RPA service providers include Sutherland Global Services, Tata Consultancy Services, Accenture plc, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Infosys Limited, and Hewlett Packard Company.The report analyzes the global IT robotic automation market in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). The market has been segmented as follows:IT Robotic Automation Market, by Type:- Tools- ServicesIT Robotic Automation Market, by Tools:- Model-based Application Tools- Process-based Application ToolsIT Robotic Automation Market, by Services:- Professional- Consulting- Integration and Development- Application Management- Infrastructure Management- BPO- Application Management- Infrastructure Management- TrainingIT Robotic Automation Market, by Geography:- North America- Europe- Asia-Pacific- Middle East and Africa (MEA)- Latin AmericaMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global Wearable Sensor Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Wearable Sensor Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Wearable sensors are Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMs) based sensors which can sense and process the surrounding environment. Wearable sensors are embedded in wearable devices to monitor bodily activities which include blood pressure, body temperature and heart rate. The market is primarily driven due to the rising awareness of health and fitness, where wearable sensors play a major role. Moreover, the falling price of the components used to manufacture the wearable sensors is making the wearable devices affordable. In addition to this, the wearable sensors are also being used to monitor patients in the healthcare industry as it enables remote data access.The global wearable sensors market is expected to witness a significant growth during the forecast period. This is due to its increasing demand across various application sectors such as wearable technology for fitness, healthcare and security. The increase in demand of wearable technology is also driving the wearable sensors market. In addition, the growing market of smartphones and tablets is also enabling the integration of wearable devices with the smartphones. Presently, wrist wear segment holds the majority of the market share and is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. The introduction of smart watches from companies like Samsung, Sony and Nike among others has given a boost to this market. Furthermore, the foot wear application market is also expected to grow rapidly during the forecast period.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Adoption of high end technologies such as smart wearables is also creating new opportunities for the wearable sensors manufacturers globally. However, the case of security concerns such as important data being shared is acting as a restraint. The rising awareness and concern over health and fitness is also helping the market to grow. With the introduction of fitness band that can be worn and connected with smart phones to display the data is also supporting the growth of the market. Geographically, North America has the highest penetration for wearable sensors as they are the early adapters of newer technology. However, the Asia Pacific region is expected to show the highest rate due to the presence of developing nations like India and China.This market research study analyzes the bearing market on a global level and provides estimates in terms of revenue (USD million) from 2014 to 2020. It recognizes the drivers and restraints affecting the industry and analyzes their impact over the forecast period. Moreover, it identifies the significant opportunities for market growth in the coming years.The market is segmented on the basis of geography as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and Rest of the World (RoW) and these have been estimated in terms of revenue (USD million). In addition, the report segments the market based on the product type, which include motion sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensor, image sensors, position sensors, medical based sensors and others. Wearable motions sensors are most widely used in wearable technology. On the basis of application, the market is segmented by wrist wear, eye wear, foot wear, body wear and others. All these segments have also been estimated on the basis of geography in terms of revenue (USD million).For better understanding of the wearable sensors market, we have given a detailed analysis of the supply chain. A detailed Porters five forces analysis has been given for a better understanding of the intensity of the competition present in the market. Furthermore, the study comprises a market attractiveness analysis, where the applications are benchmarked based on their market scope, growth rate and general attractiveness.The report provides company market share analysis of various industry participants. The key players have also been profiled on the basis of company overview, financial overview, business strategies and the recent developments in the field of wearable sensors. Major market participants profiled in this report include STMicroelectronics, Texas Instrument, Freescale Semiconductor Inc. and InvenSense, among others.Wearable Sensors Market: By geography- North America- Europe- Asia Pacific- Rest of the WorldWearable sensors Market: By product type- Motion sensors- Pressure sensors- Temperature sensors- Image sensors- Position sensors- Medical based sensors- OthersWearable sensors Market: By application- Wrist wear- Eye wear- Foot wear- Body wear- OthersThe report provides a cross-sectional analysis of all the above segments with respect to the following regions:- North America- Europe- Asia Pacific (APAC)- Rest of the World (RoW)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 @
Get Captivating Ideas to Celebrate Mother's Day 2017 at Mothersdaycelebartion.com!!

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Mothersdaycelebration.com is one of such informative websites which has been designed particularly to inspire people about the essence of Mothers day. Whether you want to find information on Mothers day 2017 or Mothers day celebration in various parts of the world, this platform is one of the most sought after spaces to rely on.New Delhi, Tuesday, April 25, 2017: A Mother in herself is a celebration for her child. She is the one who gives us everything from shelter to food to other important things that we need to be happily alive. She arises to raise her children. The fragrance of love that she spreads in peoples life is indubitably the most precious fragrances of the Universe. And therefore, its important to celebrate the efforts she puts in to make her childrens life a celebration. Mothers day celebration has gradually become a global affair, for, its significance.Those who want to know more about Mothers day and its significance can without feeling panicked go to the website to get the complete and authentic information. Mothersdaycelebration.com has been exclusively designed for making people aware of the nitty-gritty of the celebration. Mothers day 2017 is around the corner and is all ready to ones again instil the zeal of celebrating the existence of Mother.Talking on the exclusive page of Mothers day 2017, the official delegate of the website said that, The first thing that we feel when we are born is the feel of the Mothers lap. Its indeed an out-of-the- world feeling and theres nothing that can beat this feeling. Right from the day she takes care of all of the needs of her child. She understands everything even when the child cannot speak it out. Thats quite an interesting fact. There are a lot of other fascinating facts related to mother-child relationship that will inspire people to shower upon love on their mother on the coming Mothers day 2017.Theres lot more to discover about mothers day apart from the Mothers day 2017 celebration and to inform people on that, the website has added many other pages for peoples reference. Some of those pages include Mother's Day Art, Mother's Day History, Mother's Day story, Mother's Day celebration, Mothers Day date, Mother's Day Proclamation and many more.Speaking further on Mothers day 2017, the official representative proclaimed that, Since Mothers day is such a celebration of purity and sanctity, it, for sure, needs a grand celebration. And to make everyone aware of the significance of a mother in a persons life our team has worked extensively to search for most of the related information. Those who are keen to discover more can visit the website Mothersdaycelabrtion.com and get inspired for a grand celebration.Just like the above pages of mothers day there are many other pages on the website to read through some which include Mother's Day quote @, Mother's Day SMS, Mother's Day Messages, Mother's Day gifts, Mothers Day Essay @, Mother's Day around the world and many more.Contact Us:scfifestivalnetwork@gmail.comAbout the Website:The website Mothersdaycelebration.com has been made to inform people on Mother, her courage and the Mothers Day. The website will educate people on every diminutive detail of the celebration and its significance around the world. In addition to being informative the website is equally simple to browse through. To get knowledge on the same people can visit the website.Delhi - India
Electric Vehicle Plastics Market Estimated to Experience a Hike in Growth by 2025

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Electric Vehicle Plastics Market: IntroductionWhile metal is the go-to material when it comes to manufacturing of various components for automobiles, the resultant increase in weight of vehicles have led the automobile manufacturers to look out for alternatives in order to improve the overall efficiency of vehicles. Hence, plastics are common materials after metals that are utilized currently to build various parts of a vehicle. From the perspective of electric vehicles, higher quantity of plastic material is used than the conventional vehicles owing to inclusion of larger battery pack, smaller size of internal combustion engine and demand for lightweight materials to improve fuel efficiency. Electric vehicle plastics are those raw materials, which are prominently used to manufacture parts and supplies that make up an electric vehicle. Electric vehicle plastics made components can be found in the interior, exterior, luggage section and bonnet section of an electric vehicle. Inclusion of plastic based parts is advantageous as it can cover over half the volume of the electric vehicle alongside contributing less than 15% of the weight of the electric vehicle. Rise in sales and production of electric vehicles coupled with Government regulations on automobile emissions are some of the key factors attributing to the growth of electric vehicle plastics market in the coming years.A sample of this report is available upon request @Electric Vehicle Plastics Market: DynamicsWith a move towards manufacturing automobiles that contribute less greenhouse gases emissions and highly fuel efficient, electric vehicles and its variants are being manufactured by almost all the major automobile manufacturers owing to improving year on year sales of electric vehicles directly influencing the growth of the electric vehicle plastics market. Another factor that drives the growth of the market is the decrease in the prices of raw materials used in the manufacture of electric vehicles. The increasing involvement of plastics as raw materials to build automotive parts and supplies is also one of the major factors attributing to the growth of the electric vehicle plastics market.Electric Vehicle Plastics Market: Regional OutlookThe electric vehicles market in North America and Western Europe region are flourishing at a healthy rate as a result of increasing adoption of non-polluting vehicles as a means of transportation, thereby rendering an attractive prospect for the growth of electric vehicle plastics market. Close on the heels of the above two regions, Asia Pacific region along with Japan has also witnessed a healthy sales of electric vehicles especially in China further improving the demand of such vehicles paving a way for the growth of the electric vehicle plastics market. In contrast, the market in Latin America and Middle East & Africa region may witness a slower growth rate of electric vehicle plastics due to lower demands and sales of electric vehicles, but may improve in later years when the demand for fossil fuels increases.Request to view Table of content @Electric Vehicle Plastics: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the participants involved in the manufacture of Global Electric Vehicle Plastics are: Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) BASF SE Formosa Plastics Corporation, U.S.A. LyondellBasell Industries Holdings B.V. Evonik Industries INEOS I. du Pont de Nemours and Company The Dow Chemical Company Air Liquide S.A. Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. Hexion Inc. Momentive Performance Materials Hanwha Azdel, Inc.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:
eZee launches a new version of cloud based hospitality solutions

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Global hotel solutions provider announces much awaited updates and new integrations in latest versions of cloud hotel PMS, online booking engine and channel manager along with new mobile App for hotel PMS.eZee Technosys, all-in-one hospitality solutions provider, announced release of new versions for cloud based product trio, viz. eZee Absolute Property Management System, eZee Centrix Channel Manager and eZee Reservation Booking Engine. Hundreds of hoteliers using eZee software will benefit from this immediately available update.We kept in mind customary requirements for our products that improve ease of use and convenience. eZee engineers have focused on addressing pain areas of hoteliers and introduced newer ways to do more with our systems. These feature updates and integrations will enable them with optimized operations and easier than ever business management, said eZees CTO Harshdeep Khatri.Keeping up with customer oriented approach, eZee has covered the extra mile by identifying what 21st century users require and developing those characteristics in systems. Below given are more details.Hoteliers can do more with eZees online PMS and its mobile appeZee Absolute hotel PMS optimizes all guest operations right from check-in of a guest to his check-out and a lot more. In this new version, complex folio operations are simplified to easier one-step process. Besides, advanced housekeeping keeps hotel staff up-to-date with their to-dos and they will even stay vigilant for assigned tasks through SMS alerts. The notifications generated from system are reflected in mobile app for eZee PMS as well. Hotelier using this app gets push notifications for every received or updated booking and more. Additionally, the app facilitates printing too.Users from UK will be able to utilize integrated payment gateway SagePay with eZee Absolute. Front desk managers willing to assign a complimentary room to guests can perform task in just a click. There are myriad of new additions made to this version. Interested hoteliers can find more details here.Whats new in online Booking Engine eZee ReservationHold and release booking is a feature that a hotelier frequently uses; and it gets more convenient when you get a timely reminder to release any held up booking. Users can even add a custom CSS to extensively customize look and feel of booking engine in your website. There is a price widget that gives a comparison of room rates on different OTAs to the booker, making it easier to decide and go ahead with the booking. Other updates include French language notation, chat script plugin, filter options, keeping track of guests coming from Google Hotel Ads and much more. Here is more about booking engine updates.eZee Centrix adds 5 More OTAs and develops interface with ChaletmanagereZee Centrix Channel Manager gets integrated with PMS ChaletManager and various OTAs such as Atlantis, Busyrooms (Europe), Xcaliber (Thailand), DirectWithHotels (Malaysia) and Tiket.com (Indonesia).About eZee TechnosyseZee Technosys is one of the few complete hospitality IT solutions providers in the world. Offering solutions that cover hotel management, Booking management, online room distribution, restaurant management, guest feedback and hotel mobile apps. eZee offers on-premise along with cloud based solutions as well as mobile applications for eZee solutions. Founded in 2005, eZee Technosys today serves more than 6000 clients in more than 140 countries across the globe.eZee Technosys Pvt. Ltd.D-113, International Trade Center, Majura Gate, Surat - 395002, Gujarat, India.Aeijaz Sodawala+ 91 -99788-64598aeijaz@ezeetechnosys.com
Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales Market Report 2017

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Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Industry 2017 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2017-2020.This report on global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices market is a research study that is meant to armor existing and emerging players to gain shares. It does so by presenting a comprehensive analysis of the market in terms of revenue (US$ Mn), and also includes a figurative forecast estimation, both for the global as well as regional markets. The report contains an elaborate executive summary, which includes a snapshot that provides information about various segments and sub-segments of the market. Estimated and expected valuation of each of these segments has been included to highlight the opportunity available.The study includes factors that are primed to drive and hinder the growth rate of the global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. Additionally, the study identifies emerging trends and includes various opportunities available in the field. Detailed value chain analysis has been included to provide a comprehensive view of the Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices market. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-users and countries are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate, and general attractiveness.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @One of several key aspects of this report on global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices market is the section on company profiles. Here, major business strategies adopted by key players and future roadmap, key developments, their market positioning, competitors, and product offerings, and revenue have been identified in the research report.This market study is a combination of primary and secondary research, built on proven methodologies. Primary research formed the bulk of research efforts along with information collected from interactions via e-mails and telephonic interviews. Secondary research involved study of company websites, stock analysis presentations, annual reports, press releases, and various international and national databases.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Table of ContentsGlobal Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales Market Report 20171 Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices1.2 Classification of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.3 Application of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.4 Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.4 Global Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices (Volume) by Application3 United States Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 United States Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Application4 China Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 China Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 China Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Application5 Europe Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 Europe Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Sales and Market Share by ApplicationList of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty DevicesTable Classification of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty DevicesFigure Global Sales Market Share of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices by Type in 2015Figure Type I PictureFigure Type II PictureTable Applications of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty DevicesFigure Global Sales Market Share of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices by Application in 2015Figure Application 1 ExamplesFigure Application 2 ExamplesFigure United States Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure India Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty Devices Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)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
US Onychomycosis Market is Expected to Witness High Growth Due To Rise in Healthcare Expenditure

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Market ScenarioThe US Onychomycosis market has been assessed as steadily growing market in the coming future and it is expected that the market will have high demand in US. The US Onychomycosis market is expected to witness high growth due to rise in healthcare expenditure, Health care expenses have been increasing considerably than the average income in the U.S., furthermore in developing nations as well. In the U.S., for instance, Health care expenditures as a share of GDP have boosted from the year 1950 onwards, starting from 5% up to 15% currently.Request a Sample Report@The per capital income of US is also increasing at the rate of approximately 5.3% which will help the population to improve their spending on healthcare expenditures, personal care, and other expenditures relating to healthcare. As per National Healthcare Expenditure (NHE) it was predicted that in 2015 the healthcare expenditure in US was roughly US$ 3.2 trillion. The US populations are presently hovering nearby a healthcare expenditure of US$ 10,000 per person. By this we can understand that the US healthcare industry is going to face tremendous growth, hence the market for onychomycosis treatment drugs and therapies is expected to grow rapidly and the US market for onychomycosis treatment drugs and therapies is projected to be a healthy market.Key Player Anacor Pharmaceuticals Johnson and Johnson Novartis Valeant PharmaceuticalsSegmentationUS Onychomycosis market has been segmented on the basis of types which comprises of Distal Subungual Onychomycosis (DSO), White Superficial Onychomycosis (WSO), Proximal Subungual Onychomycosis (PSO), Endonyx Onychomycosis (EO), Total Dystrophic Onychomycosis and others.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 20 market data tables and figures spread over 30 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Onychomycosis Market Research Report US Forecast to 2021.Intended Audience Onychomycosis drug manufacturers Onychomycosis drug Suppliers Pharmaceutical companies Research and Development (R&D) Companies Medical Research Laboratories Academic Medical Institutes and UniversitiesBrowse Full US O-Market @Table of Content1 Introduction2 Research Methodolgy2.1 Primary Research2.2 Secondary Research3 Market Dynamics3.1 Growth Drivers3.2 Challenges4 US Onychomycosis4.1 US Onychomycosis Market4.2 US Jublia Drug Market4.3 US Kerydin Drug market4.4 US Generic Drugs Market5 Competitive Landscape5.1 Market Share Analysis6 Company Profile6.1 Novartis6.2 Anacor Pharmaceuticals6.3 Johnson and Johnson6.4 Valeant PharmaceuticalsAbout 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
Worldwide Feature Phone 2017 Market by Revenue, Major Players, and Forecast To 2021

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Publisher's Feature Phone market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.Global Feature Phone Market: Application Segment AnalysisTravelersChildren & ElderlyCompanies & OrganizationsGlobal Feature Phone Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaFor More Information About This Report:The Players mentioned in our reportHuaweiSamsungZTELGLetvHaierHTCMotorolaDaXianNokiaOPPOSONYSharpUniscopeNoAINASUSTANGWEIGioneeRequest Sample Copy At:Table of ContentChapter 1 About the Feature Phone IndustryChapter 2 World Market Competition LandscapeChapter 3 World Feature Phone Market shareChapter 4 Supply Chain AnalysisChapter 5 Company ProfilesChapter 6 Globalization & TradeChapter 7 Distributors and CustomersChapter 8 Import, Export, Consumption and Consumption Value by Major CountriesChapter 9 World Feature Phone Market forecast through 2021Chapter 10 Key success factors and Market OverviewInquire For This Report At: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
Flavored Powder Drinks Market 2017 Trend, Analysis and Forecast to 2021

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There are many drivers contributing to the growth of the global flavored powder drinks market. The primary factor contributing to the growth of the market is the increasing awareness about the health benefits of flavored powder drinks. The growth in the organized retail also increases the product availability for the consumers, which will, in turn, drive the market.Publisher's analysts forecast the global flavored powder drinks market to grow at a CAGR of 8.16% during the period 2017-2021.For more information about this report:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global flavored powder drinks market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of flavored powder drinks.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAPublisher's report, Global Flavored Powder drinks Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- Abbott- Associated British Foods (ABF)- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)- Mondelez International- Nestle- PepsiCoRequest Sample Copy atOther prominent vendors- Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico- Danone- Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF)- Rasna- SensoryEffects- VV Food & Beverage- Zydus WellnessMarket driver- Rising awareness about the health benefits of flavored powder drinks- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Competition from RTD flavored drinks- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- Growing preference for online shopping- For a full, detailed list, view our reportInquire for Report 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
Commercial Gas Fryer Market 2017 Trend, Analysis and Forecast to 2021

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A commercial gas fryer is a kitchen appliance used for deep frying with the help of heat sources such as natural gas and propane gas. These come in two forms: countertop and floor standing models. The market is primarily driven by the increasing number of foodservice establishments providing fried food items, which largely include breaded poultry and fish items, as the profit margins in fried food items are high. Also, the globally growing foodservice market is influencing various foodservice establishments to invest significantly in the expansion of various emerging markets.Publisher's analysts forecast the global commercial gas fryer market to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% during the period 2017-2021.For more information about this report:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global commercial gas fryer market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAPublisher's report, Global Commercial Gas Fryer Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- Illinois Tool Works- Henny Penny- Ali- Middleby- WelbiltRequest Sample Copy atOther prominent vendors- Admiral Craft Equipment- Alto-Shaam- Avantco Equipment- Electrolux Professional- FUJIMAK- Grindmaster-Cecilware- Standex InternationalMarket driver- Increasing demand for gas fryers compliant with international standards.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Shifting consumer preference toward healthier food items.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- Growing preference for gas fryers with built-in filtration systems.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportInquire for Report 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
Flavored Powder Drinks Market Geography Segments(Americas, APAC, EMEA) And Key Vendors (Abbott, Associated British Foods (ABF), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK))

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About Flavored Powder DrinksThere are many drivers contributing to the growth of the global flavored powder drinks market. The primary factor contributing to the growth of the market is the increasing awareness about the health benefits of flavored powder drinks. The growth in the organized retail also increases the product availability for the consumers, which will, in turn, drive the market.Ask For Discount @The analysts forecast the global flavored powder drinks market to grow at a CAGR of 8.16% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global flavored powder drinks market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of flavored powder drinks.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC EMEAThe report, Global Flavored Powder drinks Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors Abbott Associated British Foods (ABF) GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Mondel?z International Nestl PepsiCoEnquire About This Report @Other prominent vendors Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico Danone Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Rasna SensoryEffects VV Food & Beverage Zydus WellnessMarket driver Rising awareness about the health benefits of flavored powder drinks For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Competition from RTD flavored drinks For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Growing preference for online shopping For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Read Complete Report With Toc @Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesTELEPHONE: +1-971-202-1575Email: help@bigmarketresearch.comWith 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.Our strength is in our research analysts who with their proactive approach are able to source best and correct information which can be detrimental in organizations success. We follow six sigma standards leaving no scope or error.Big Market Research uniqueness lies in its highly ethical reports at economical rates because we value your relationship and growth more than money. Your growth is our aim.5320 SW Macadam Avenue, Suite 100, Portland, OR 97239,
Global Radiation Monitoring and Dosimeter Badges Market Share by Industry Research 2016 - 2024

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Radiation monitoring is a process that measures the radiation dose or number of radioactive particles reaching a particular surface or area. The radiation monitor device calculates the quantity of radiation present in a given space or received by an individual. The monitors are sensitive and possess properties such as speed counting, spatial resolution, and energy resolution. Radiation monitoring instruments or radiation monitors are used for both individual monitoring and area monitoring. The radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges market is growing significantly worldwide owing to increase in rate of cancer, rise in awareness among the people working in radiation prone environments, growth in number of CT scans, and cumulative threats of nuclear terrorism.Obtain Report Details @The radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges market is projected to witness dynamic market situations worldwide due to globalization and technological advancements. Rise in chronic diseases leading to increase in number of diagnostic procedures and radiation therapies, advancement in the field of radiation oncology, nuclear medicines, and pain free radiation based diagnostic methods are factors propeling the growth of the global market. Escalating use of radiation in various industries such as food industry, food irradiation, energy generation in form of nuclear power, and radiography and rising risk of leakage and exposure to radiation are projected to boost the market globally. However, stringent government regulations regarding the growing usage of radiation and the associated concerns are expected to hamper the growth of the market. Moreover, lack of skilled professionals to handle the procedure is another setback for the growth of the market.The global radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges market can be segmented on the basis of product type, detection type, end-user, and region. By product type, the market can be segmented into personal dosimeter, area process monitor, environment radiation monitor, surface contamination monitor, and radioactive material monitor. The personal dosimeter can be sub-segmented into passive or non self-reading dosimeter and active or self-reading dosimeter. Passive dosimeter is further divided into film badge, thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD), and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeter. Active dosimeter comprises of pocket electroscope and self-reading pocket dosimeter. In terms of detection type, the market can be segmented as gas-filled detector, solid-state detector, and scintillator. Gas-filled detector is sub-segmented into ionization chamber, Geiger-Muller counter, and proportional counter. Solid-state detector can be further divided into semiconductor detector and diamond detector. Scintillator is further segmented into inorganic and organic scintillators. On the basis of end-user, the market can be segmented into hospitals, industries, nuclear power plants, defense, homeland security, and others.Geographically, the radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges market is distributed over North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Globally, North America is likely to continue its market dominance, which is attributed to increase in awareness about radiation hazards and safety, rise in number of cancer, growth in number of nuclear power plants and government initiatives to exchange knowledge. The Europe and Asia Pacific regions are expected to expand the market in the near future with technological advancements, increase in number of nuclear plants, and rise in installation of radiation detection systems to monitor exit and entry ports.Key players operating in the radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges market are Amray Radiation Protection, Canberra Industries Inc., Mirion Technologies Inc., Landauer, Fuji Electric Co. Ltd., Arktis Radiation Detectors Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Centronic Limited, Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., and SE International Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.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:
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Market to expand at 4.4% CAGR from 2016 to 2023

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According to the research report Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Market Size by Procedure (Fresh Donor, Fresh Nondonor, Frozen Donor, Frozen Nondonor, Egg/Embryo bank), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2023 by Global Market Insights, Inc., Global Assisted Reproductive Technology Market size is expected to reach USD 31.4 billion by 2023. Key driving factors include increasing prevalence of infertility owing to increase sedentary lifestyle, obesity, and stress.Frozen nondonor procedures accounted for USD 4.9 billion in 2015, and is expected to exhibit a significant growth up to 2023. As reported by U.S. CDC in 2012, 97% women younger than age 35 used their own eggs (nondonor) while about 3% of women used donor eggs. Delayed parenthood decisions and increased patient awareness about advanced contraceptives and adoption of ART services expected to boost assisted reproductive technology market.Request for a sample of this research report -According to WHO, one in every four couples in developing countries have been found to be infertile and overall infertility prevalence in women has remained similar from 1990 to 2010. As reported by U.S. CDC, infertility prevalence rate is 10.9% in 2010. ART industry is also projected to witness substantial growth due to cultural shift of infertile patients towards advanced procedures such as IVF, ICSI, GIFT, ZIFT.As per the Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Europe assisted reproductive technology market size isapproximately 55% of all reported ART cycles. Over 600,000 cycles were reported from 33 EU countries in 2014. Regulatory trends, particularly in Europe and the U.S. will play a critical role in industry evolution and penetration.U.S. assisted reproductive technology market share accounted for 95% of total North America revenue in 2015. Advanced healthcare facilities in and education among the patients enables propel demand.Browse key industry insights spread across 73 pages with 33 market data tables & 30 figures & charts from the report Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Market in detail along with the table of contents:Key insights from the report include: Global assisted reproductive technology market size generated revenue of USD 22.3 billion in 2015. North America is driven by favorable reimbursement policies on advanced ART procedures and high infertility prevalence. Asia Pacific is expected to witness lucrative growth over the forecast period due to increase in disposable income, increase in the health care infrastructure. APAC is led by Japan, China, India. Japan assisted reproductive technology market, accounting for more than 45% of sales revenue in 2015. Increasing infertility prevalence is a key driver for Europe, led by UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Germany reproductive technology market size was responsible for over 28% of regional sales in 2015, with more than 5% growth anticipated by 2023. Brazil reproductive technology market share was USD 0.62 billion in 2015, which is set to continue being the fastest growing industry in LATAM. Key industry players include Irvine Scientific, Origio a/s, Vitro Life, Esco Micro Pte. Ltd., IVFtech ApS, Cook Medical, Research Instruments, Genea Limited, Smiths Medical, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. etc.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Global Market Insights has segmented the assisted reproductive technology (ART) industry on the basis of procedure, and region: Assisted Reproductive Technology Procedure Analysis (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2023)o Fresh Donoro Fresh Nondonoro Frozen Donoro Frozen Nondonoro Egg/Embryo bank Assisted Reproductive Technology Regional Analysis (Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2023)o North America U.S. Canadao Europe Germany France UK Italy Spaino Asia Pacific India China Japano Latin America Brazil Mexico MEAo South AfricaBrowse Related Reports: Contraceptives Market Size By Product (Drugs [Oral Contraceptive Pills, Injectable, Topical]), By Devices (Condoms, Diaphragms, Sponges, Vaginal Rings, Subdermal Implants, Copper IUD, Hormonal IUD), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, Japan, China, India, Brazil, South Africa), Application Potential, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2023About 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: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:
Acetate salt market trends, drivers, industry pitfalls, challenges and growth by 2024

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Acetate salt market covers major application in pharmaceutical industry, Therefore. its market has grown at a significant pace in recent years. Pharmaceutical manufacturing is booming in developing countries like China and India due to favouring government policies for their establishment. Collaboration of different companies with established organisations such as Emcure, Centaur, Ranbaxy, Cipla had developed this industry with regards to technological advancements. Thus, enhancing pharmaceutical industry is the major driving factor for acetate salt market.Request for table of contents of this research report@Biotechnology industry has emerged extensively in last decade and continuous research and development activities are being carried out in this field. Acetate salt is used in this industry to manufacture protein based drugs. Moreover, biotechnology is the need of the day due to its application in various fields like agriculture, chemical laboratories, botany etc. This technology is used in agriculture to improve the yield of crops and soil fertility. Further, growing biotechnology industry leads to the upliftment of acetate salt market.The Acetate salt Market Report Consists of,1. Methodology and Scope2. Executive Summary3. Acetate salt Industry Insights3.1 Industry segmentation3.2. Industry size, forecast and growth expectations, 2012 - 20233.3. Industry ecosystem analysis 3.4. Raw material insights3.5. Technology insights3.6. Regulatory framework3.7. Industry dynamics3.8. Key growth opportunities3.9. Porter's analysis3.10. Company market share, 20153.11. PESTEL analysis3.14. Regional price trends4. Acetate salt Product Insights5. Acetate salt Application Insights6. Acetate salt Regional Insights7. Competitor ProfilesInquire about to purchase this research report@Asia Pacific accounts for significant share in terms of volume in acetate salt market owing to its flourishing textile, paints, agriculture and chemical industry. Countries such as India and China are developing in chemical and pharmaceutical industry due to the establishment of numerous foreign companies. Positive outlook of these industries will keep the region dominant in coming years. North America is a substantial contributor in the global acetate salt market due to its well established pharmaceutical industry.The key players manufacturing acetate salt are Amresco LLC, Avantor Performance Materials, J.M. Loveridge Ltd., Alfa Aesar, Solvay, Merck Millipore. There are many other manufacturers in the market that includes Dow Chemicals, Allan Chemical Corporation, NOAH Technologies Corporation, CABB GmbH, Niacet Corporation, Chang Shu Nan Hu Chemical Co., Ltd., Jost Chemicals.Browse complete summary of this report @Contact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:About Global Market Insights, Inc.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.29L Atlantic Avenue, Suite L 105Ocean View, Delaware
Electroactive Polymers Market to Grow at a CAGR 7.45% During 2017-2021

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Electroactive Polymers Market Report offered by Market Size Forecasters gives a market overview of the Electroactive Polymers industry which covers product scope, market revenue, opportunities, growth rate, sales volumes and figures. The report also explores the worldwide players of the market and is segmented by region, type and application with forecast to 2021.The Report Announces the Publication of its Research Report  Global Electroactive Polymers Market 2017-2021The Report recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global electroactive polymers market: 3M, Agfa-Gevaert, Celanese, Covestro, Merck, and Parker Hannifin.Request a sample copy of Global Electroactive Polymers Market Research Report @Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: Sumitomo Chemical, Arkema, Solvay, KEMET Corporation, and Optotune.Commenting on Global Electroactive Polymers Market, an analyst team said: One trend in market is use of EAP for generating electricity. The UN estimated that tidal waves could generate 29,500 terawatt-hours of energy each year. Research projects regarding energy harvesting from tidal waves using EAP-based systems are under progress. Using EAP-based systems will lower the production costs and improve the durability of the system. They are based on deformation of EAP, which absorbs energy from the tidal waves and converts them into electricity. They are also free of any mechanical absorbers, which was a reason for the failure of many Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) devices in the past. In addition, the power generators used for the generation of electricity from tidal waves require an energy transduction technology that operates efficiently over a range of frequencies.The Report analysts forecast the global electroactive polymers market to grow at a CAGR of 7.45% during the period 2017-2021.Further, Global Electroactive Polymers Market states that one challenge in market is limitations associated with dielectric polymers. The use of polymers with high dielectric constants and application of high electric fields cause large forces and strains. Dielectric EAP actuators require large electric fields (~100 V/mm) and can induce significant levels of strain of up to 10%-200%. The voltages used are close to the breakdown strength of the material. Therefore, a safety factor that lowers the potential of breakdown must be used. Dielectric polymers have a low elastic modulus and tend to exhibit deformation when subjected to an intense electric field. Using such high field levels for achieving a definite polymer thickness can be disadvantageous for many applications. Therefore, polymers with high dielectric constant are required to reduce the effect of the driving electric fields. Therefore, the low elastic modulus of dielectric elastomers hinders their applications in various fields.According to Global Electroactive Polymers Market, one driver in market is increased use of touchscreens. Haptic technology in electronic devices allows the users to perceive touch sensations. An actuator made of EAP, which is embedded in the device, helps in creating this touch sensation and making it more realistic. Many consumer devices are equipped with this technology. This technology is gaining prominence due to the increase in competition among the vendors catering to the hand-held device market. This is because it helps in creating differentiation and enhances customer loyalty.The listed pricing for this Global Electroactive Polymers Market report starts at $ 3500. Request Discount for Global Electroactive Polymers Market Research Report @Table of Contents in Global Electroactive Polymers Market Research Report:PART 04: IntroductionKey market highlightsOverviewCharacterization of EAPAdvantages and disadvantages of types of EAPPART 05: Global Electroactive Polymers Market landscapeGlobal EAP marketPART 06: Market segmentation by typeOverview: Global EAP market by typeGlobal market for conductive plasticsGlobal market for ICPsGlobal market for IDPsGlobal market for other EAPPART 07: Global Electroactive Polymers Market segmentation by applicationOverview: Global EAP market by applicationGlobal EAP market for ESDGlobal EAP market for antistatic packagingGlobal EAP market for EMIGlobal EAP market for plastics coated with electrostatic paintsGlobal EAP market for other applicationsPART 08: Geographic segmentationOverview: Global EAP market by geographyEAP market in North AmericaEAP market in EuropeEAP market in APACEAP market in ROWGlobal Electroactive Polymers Market 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.Browse full table of contents and data tables For Global Electroactive Polymers Market Report @Related Reports: -China Relay Market by Manufacturers, Regions (Province), Type and Application, Forecast to 2022A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to mechanically operate a switch, but other operating principles are also used, such as solid-state relays. Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a low-power signal (with complete electrical isolation between control and controlled circuits), or where several circuits must be controlled by one signal. The first relays were used in long distance telegraph circuits as amplifiers: they repeated the signal coming in from one circuit and re-transmitted it on another circuit. Relays were used extensively in telephone exchanges and early computers to perform logical operations.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:
Middle East and Africa Wireless Healthcare Market-By Regions and Vendors-Growth, Trends and Forecasts 2017-2022

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Many companies like Philips, Qualcomm and UC-Wireless are offering Wireless Healthcare Systems in Africa and Middle East region. The healthcare system in Africa needs a boost because in many regions, basic healthcare is still unavailable. There are cases, where the nurses and doctors do not get access to life saving information to help their patients. To help ease such difficulties, wireless healthcare systems should come into existence in this particular region.Place Purchase Order for Wireless Healthcare Market Report@IT and automation have grown in a big way in the last few years and have helped various other sectors also with its innovations. Recently, both of these technologies have entered the healthcare market together in the form of wireless healthcare market. This has shown the patients and the people associated in the healthcare sector a glimpse of the future and how the healthcare in the future will be.The healthcare industry currently requires the patients to come to the doctors and get their check-up done regularly to find out if there is any problem or not. Wireless Healthcare System will help the doctors handle their patients remotely. It will help the hospitals to discharge patients faster and can still get information about the patient when discharged. In this technology the patients will be having various types of sensors depending on their condition like heart monitors, electromyogram sensor, electroencephalogram sensors, blood monitors, etc. attached.Browse Full Report with TOC:The sensors attached will be collecting various data from the patient at regular intervals. The data will be connected to the hospitals servers and records by wireless personal or body networks. This will be sent by internet and will be responsible for data sharing and also data retrieval. Once the data has been uploaded on the medical records of the hospital, the doctor will be able to understand the condition of the patient and will be able to make decisions and send instructions back to the patient. The ageing of the population is becoming a problem in many regions of the world and healthcare systems are getting overloaded by the sheer volume they are handling every day. This wireless healthcare system will help the present healthcare system to handle more patients efficiently.Enquire about this Report@DRIVERS The wireless healthcare market is going be in demand in the near future as this system will help ease the burden of visiting hospitals and medical centers and also, one can with chronic health issues can get regular checkups done without having to worry about visiting the doctor in person. The upcoming new technologically forward sensors and apps can help a great deal in the functioning of this system.RESTRAINTS The market restraints for the wireless healthcare market would be the high level of energy consumed by these very devices, the cost, security and privacy issues associated with the same.WHAT THE REPORT OFFERS1. Middle East and Africa Wireless Healthcare Market Overview with information on drivers and restraints2. Wireless Healthcare Market Analysis and its applications in the industry3. Identification of factors responsible for changing the market scenarios, rising prospective opportunities and identification of key companies which can influence the market on global and regional scale4. Extensively researched competitive landscape with profiles of major companies along with their market shares5. A comprehensive list of key market players along with the analysis of their current strategic interests and key financial informationTable of Content:1. Introduction1.1 Report Guidance1.2 Markets Covered1.3 Key Points Noted2. Executive Summary3. Market Overview3.1 Introduction3.2 Market Definition3.3 Premium Insights4. Drivers, Constraints and Opportunities4.1 Drivers4.1.1 Help ease the burden from hospitals and medical centres4.1.2 Keep regular checkups on patients with chronic diseases4.2 Constraints4.2.1 Energy consumption will be high4.2.2 Cost issues4.2.3 Security and Privacy issues4.3 Oppurtunities4.3.1 New sensors4.3.2 Mobile apps5. Middle East and Africa Wireless Healthcare System, by Region5.1 Introduction5.1.1 Overview5.1.2 Market Trends and Opportunities5.1.3 Market Demand to 20216. Competition6.1 Overview6.2 Market Share of Key Companies, by Geography6.3 Market Share of Key Companies, by control system7. Company Profiles7.1 AT&T Inc.7.2 Cisco Systems Inc.7.3 Motorola Solutions Inc.7.4 Philips Healthcare7.5 Qualcomm Inc.7.6 Samsung Group7.7 Verizon Communications Inc.7.8 Apple Inc.7.9 Intel Corporation7.10 Allscripts Healthcare Solutions inc.8. Competitive Landscape8.1 Deal Summary8.1.1 Acquisition8.1.2 Private Equity8.1.3 Equity Offerings8.1.4 Debt Offerings8.1.5 Partnerships8.1.6 Asset Transactions8.2 Recent Developments8.2.1 New Technology Inventions8.2.2 New Contract Announcements9. Appendix9.1 Sources9.2 Abbreviations9.3 Market Definition9.3.1 Methodology9.3.2 Coverage9.3.3 Secondary Research9.3.4 Primary Research9.3.5 Expert Panel Validation9.4 Contact Us9.5 DisclaimerOrbis 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
Mini Data Center Market to Worth at a CAGR 17.17% to 2021: Growth Factors & Trends

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Mini Data Center Market 2017 Market Research Report was a professional and depth research report on Mini Data Center Market industry that you would know the world's major regional market conditions of Mini Data Center Market industry, the main region including (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa).The Report Announces the Publication of its Research Report  Global Mini Data Center Market 2017-2021The Report recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global mini data center market: Canovate, Emerson Network Power, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Huawei, Instant Data Centers (EMS), Rittal, and Schneider ElectricRequest a sample copy of Global Mini Data Center Market Research Report @Commenting on Global Mini Data Center Market, an analyst team said: Infrastructure in traditional data center environments consists of hardware and devices. SDDC refers to a data center where infrastructure is delivered as a service through virtualization of the physical infrastructure. In this scenario, the hardware infrastructure is managed through intelligent software systems. An SDDC supports both legacy applications and cloud computing services. It improves efficiency, lowers costs, provides applications quickly, ensures high availability and better security, and delivers workloads in the cloud.Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: Advanced Facilities, ALTRON, CANCOM, Cannon Technologies, CELESTE (Datacenter Marilyn), DATAPOD, DartPoints, dataracks, Gardner DC Solutions, Hanley Energy, ICTroom, Inspur Technologies, Minkels (Legrand), NTR Inzeniring, Panduit, smartcube, Workspace Technology, ZTE, ZELLABOX, TSI-STULZ, Rahi Systems, and RZ-ProductsThe Report analysts forecast the global mini data center market to grow at a CAGR of 17.17% during the period 2017-2021.Further, Global Mini Data Center Market states that the need for data center infrastructure is growing among enterprises worldwide. However, a significant number of SMEs are incapable of making substantial investments in the construction of traditional data center facilities. The establishment of a traditional data center can cost up to $6 million for a 1MW facility. Compared to these facilities, mini data centers are cost-effective, flexible, and scalable. Technological innovations have led to the emergence of mini data centers that can serve as an alternative to server rooms. The capabilities of these data centers are also extended from the one-single rack with integrated power and cooling components to multiple racks that can be installed in existing offices and commercial spaces. These data centers involve a single rack or up to 20 racks of sizes varying from 7U to 47U.According to Global Mini Data Center Market, the need for data center infrastructure is growing among enterprises worldwide. However, a significant number of SMEs are incapable of making substantial investments in the construction of traditional data center facilities. The establishment of a traditional data center can cost up to $6 million for a 1MW facility. Compared to these facilities, mini data centers are cost-effective, flexible, and scalable. Technological innovations have led to the emergence of mini data centers that can serve as an alternative to server rooms. The capabilities of these data centers are also extended from the one-single rack with integrated power and cooling components to multiple racks that can be installed in existing offices and commercial spaces. These data centers involve a single rack or up to 20 racks of sizes varying from 7U to 47U.The listed pricing for this Global Mini Data Center Market report starts at $ 3500. Request Discount for Global Mini Data Center Market Research Report @Table of Contents in Global Mini Data Center Market Research Report:PART 06: Global Mini Data Center Market segmentation by productMicro data centersContainerized data centersPART 07: Geographical segmentationAmericasEMEAAPACPART 08: Market driversPART 09: Impact of driversPART 10: Global Mini Data Center Market challengesPART 11: Impact of drivers and challengesPART 12: Global Mini Data Center Market trendsPART 13: Vendor landscapeCanovateEmerson Network PowerHewlett Packard EnterpriseHuaweiInstant Data Centers (EMS)RittalSchneider ElectricOther prominent vendorsThe 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.Browse full table of contents and data tables For Global Mini Data Center Market Report @Related Reports: -North America Retail E-commerce Software Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022Retail E-commerce Software is a series of Software used for e-commerce activity. E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic network, primarily the internet. These business transactions occur either as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer (C2C) or consumer-to-business (C2B). The terms e-commerce and e-business are often used interchangeably. The term e-tail is also sometimes used in reference to transactional processes for online shopping.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:
thismo messenger comes up with a messenger for customer retention

thismo messenger combines inquiries from the connected messenger channels

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The german startup thismo messenger simplifies customer communication by combining all relevant messenger services in a consistent system.Stuttgart, 25. April 2017  thismo messenger comes up with a solution that eases the communication between companies and their customers by connecting different messaging services to one central platform. Businesses can message with their customers on all the connected channels with only one common web or mobile app.Today, a new level of communication is reached because messaging has become the new standard in talking to friends and family  so why not to businesses, too? According to an international study, over 5 billion users own a mobile phone, of these 2 billion use messaging and the other still communicate via SMS. Facebook Messenger announced this week, that they recorded over 1.2 billion monthly active users. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to use messaging to talk and connect with their clients and stakeholders.The consistent solution of thismo allows companies to get in touch with their customers in many different messaging channels with a minimized effort. Tassilo Bestler, founder and CEO of thismo messenger, explains: This means a considerable simplification for companies. Customers are now using a great number of different messaging services, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and SMS. With a selective integration of individual messaging channels, a sufficient solution for all customers cant be given. Businesses using thismo, are reachable via Facebook Page and Messenger, SMS as well as in the mobile app of thismo messenger itself. An integration into the business websites, similar to live chat tools is available, too. Soon, also WhatsApp and Amazons Alexa will be integrated for a large selection of messaging services that can be managed at once.thismo messenger briefly explained:About thismo messengerthismo messenger is usable in many different industries like the hotel business or retail sector and enables companies to communicate with their customers by messaging easily. Thereby companies are able to make their services and offers available for clients, convenient and mobile. Besides booking and appointment requests, thismo messenger can also be used for reservations, customer service or even job applications.Press contactTassilo Bestlerpr@thismo.com+49 711 47704360Contactthismo GmbHHauptstatter Str. 5970178 StuttgartTel.: 0711 47704360Fax: 0711 47746366E-Mail: info@thismo.com
Global Sapphire Technology Market Demand is Increasing Rapidly in Recent Years!!

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Sapphire is basically aluminum oxide in its pure from which has no porosity or boundaries, and hence dense in nature. Low dislocation and high purity have led to adoption of sapphire as an ideal material to be used in wide range of electronic substrates. Thin sapphire wafers are used as an insulating substrate in high-frequency and high-power CMOS integrated circuits. These integrated circuits are known as silicon on sapphire (SOS) chip. These chips are primarily used for high-power radio-frequency (RF) applications which include satellite communication systems, cellular telephones, and others. In SOS chip both analog and digital circuitry integration takes place. Since, sapphire has higher conductivity for heat and lower for electricity; sapphire provides good insulation and even balances the generated heat in the circuit.Request to view Sample Report @Owing to these advantages, sapphire has evolved as a versatile material that is used specifically in semiconductor industry, which is characterized by requirement for cost effective, time saving, and efficient operational solutions. Incorporation of sapphire technology for fabrication of components for use in end-use products across industries such as consumer electronics, aerospace and defense, power, and other sectors can help device manufacturers, achieve efficient performance. There is huge potential for sapphire technology in different devices and applications required across different end-use industries. Thus, demand for sapphire technology is directly influenced by trend across these industries. For instance, a Silicon-on-Sapphire chip, which is formed by depositing a very thin layer of silicon in a sapphire wafer at high temperature, has profound use in consumer electronics sector majorly for LED technology market. There are primarily two ways to make SOS wafer which include epitaxial SOS semiconductor technology and bonded SOS technology. .Factors such as high cost effectiveness as compared to other substrate materials, increased demand for LED technology are expected to drive demand for sapphire technology in future. Moreover, improved manufacturing processes resulting in use of silicon on sapphire for wafer processing is further expected to fuel demand for sapphire technology.. n addition, manufactures are also keen on developing solutions using sapphire technology, which would result in less operational cost and maximize profits. This is due to the benefits of insulating substrate, which includes low power consumption, low parasitic capacitance resulting in increased speed, and better isolation, and high linearity as compared to bulk silicon. Furthermore, there are low entry barriers for players to invest in this market resulting is high degree of competition.The sapphire technology market is segmented on the basis of various parameters which include technology, substrate wafer and orientation type, and by application. Sapphire technology comprises of sapphire substrate technology and process, different production methods, and other growth methods for sapphire. The sapphire technology process is further classified as slicing, die polishing, lapping, and chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP). Different production methods for the same include kyropoulos method, Heat Exchanger Method (HEM), Czochralski Crystal Pulling Method, and Edge-Defined Film-Fed Growth (EFG) Method, among others. The market is further classified on the basis of silicon substrate wafer and orientation type which includes different sapphire types such as Silicon Carbide on Sapphire, Gallium Nitride on Sapphire, Silicon on Sapphire (SOS), and others. Based on the wafer size, classification includes 12 inch, 24 inch, 36 inch, and others. Moreover, varied plane orientations such as a-plane, c-plane, r-plane, and others are used to define orientation of sapphire substrates. Sapphire technology market classified on the basis of devices comprises of power semiconductor market and opto-semiconductors. The power semiconductor segment includes market for power discrete devices such as diodes, switches, Radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), Monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), and others. Sapphire technology has wide applications across consumer electronics, power, aerospace and defense, industrial, automotive, and others.Request to view Table of content @The prominent players of this market include ACME Electronics Corporation, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Monocrystal Inc., Kyocera Corporation, Rubicon Technology Inc., DK Aztec Co., Ltd., GT Advanced Technologies Inc., Sapphire Technology Co., Ltd., Namiki Precision Jewel Co., Ltd, Tera Xtal Technology Corporation, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. among 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.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global Optical Transceivers Market to Witness Exponential Growth by 2021

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Transceiver is a device that performs both transmission and reception of signals with a common circuitry over a network. An optical transceiver, also called as fiber optic transmitter and receiver, completes the operation of transmission by converting the electrical signal in light pulse and vice versa at the receiving end. In case of fiber optics, the information is sent in the form of light pulses. The light pulses need to be converted into electrical signals in order to be used by an electronic device. This photoelectric conversion is carried by the optical module equipped at the end terminals of the network. The light from the end of connecting cable is coupled to the receiver, where a detector carries the conversion of the light signal back into an equivalent electrical signal. A laser diode or a light emitting diode (LED) is used as the light source for transmission of information. There are numerous optical transceiver modules available in the market differing in the type of data transmission speed, connections and packing forms. Some of the types of optical transceivers available in the market include SFP, SFP+, X2, XFP, Xenpak, GBIC and others. Furthermore, as per the type of connection, there are single mode (SM), multi-mode (MM) and Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) modules.Request to view Sample Report @Optical transceivers are the modernized components for the efficient use of network. The major factor bolstering the adoption of optical transceiver components is their low cost transport of information over the network. Additionally, optical transceivers are preferred over conventional transceiver devices as they require low maintenance cost as compared to conventional devices. Optical transceivers support large bandwidth and hence, are widely used in high speed network infrastructure such as broadband internet connections. These are used as both carriers and data centers. Optical transceivers are deployed to update the communication networks and data center networks for efficient traffic management with higher speeds. Optical networks are the backbone for mobile communication network. With growing demand for reliable and high speed mobile communication, optical transceivers are increasingly being used for the communication network infrastructure.Geographically, North America is seen as highly attractive market for the optical transceivers due to increasing demand for sophisticated communication network. In addition, the rising deployment of 100G transceivers for high speed networks is another factor contributing to high demand for optical transceivers. Europe is equally fast in adoption of 100G transceivers and follows North America in terms of demand for optical transceivers. Moreover, the combined use of 40G and 100G modules in Europe and North America is expected to show steady growth in demand for optical transceivers in near future. In Asia-Pacific, China is expected to be the fastest growing market for optical transceivers owing to its increasing demand for deployment of 100G equipment. The updating of the existing communication networks in this region is another factor which is expected to boost the growth of optical transceivers market in near future.Request to view Table of content @In North America, JDS Uniphase Corporation, Oclaro Inc., Finisar Corporation, Cisco Systems, Alcatel-Lucent and others are the manufacturers of optical transceivers. In Asia-Pacific, Avago Technologies and Wuhan Telecommunications Devices Co. Ltd. are some of the leading manufacturers of optical transceivers.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
E-Beam Wafer Inspection System Market Future, Trends Estimate 2025

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Global E-beam Wafer Inspection System Market: SnapshotWafer inspection systems are required for timely detection of physical and technological defects present within wafers. Currently, both e-beam and optical technologies are used in the detection of defects in wafers. With the application of e-beams manufacturers of compact devices are able to timely detect faults in wafers, thus saving the additional expenditure, which otherwise they would incur on re-inspection. The technology therefore ensures long-term usage of wafers across various industrial verticals. This has emerged as a key reason, positively impacting the overall trajectory of the global e-beam wafer inspection system market.Increasing applications of thin wafers in manufacturing small or miniaturized devices used in micro-electro mechanical systems, laptops, and smartphones among others have bolstered the demand for e-beam wafer inspection system. Also the market is forecast to gain from the persistently rising activities in the semiconductor industry. These industrial activities will continue rising over the forecast period, delivering the e-beam wafer inspection system market with ample opportunities to gain from.Browse The Report :Spurred by the aforementioned factors, the global e-beam wafer inspection system market is forecast to exhibit a CAGR of 17.5% between 2015 and 2025. Rising at this rate, the market will reach US$1.06 bn by the end of 2025, from US$248.3 million in 2016.Detection Imaging to Remain Dominant Segment Based on ApplicationBased on type, the global e-beam wafer inspection system market is segmented into less than 1 nm, 1 to 10 nm and more than 10 nm inspection resolution system. In 2016, e-beam wafer inspection system market was dominated by more than 10 nm wafer inspection systems, followed by the other two segments. However, during the forecast period the less than 1 nm segment will showcase a higher CAGR.On the basis of application, the global e-beam wafer inspection system market has been segmented into defect imaging, lithographic qualification, bare wafer OQC/IQC, wafer dispositioning, reticle quality inspection, and inspector recipe optimization. Of these, defect imaging formed the largest application segment with a share of 38.5% in the market in 2016. It is expected to remain dominant through the course of the forecast period. Besides this, inspector recipe optimization followed by bare wafer OQC/IQC have emerged as the application segments exhibiting strong prospects for the market.Asia Pacific Exhibits Most Lucrative OpportunitiesRegionally, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa constitute the key segments in the global e-beam wafer inspection system market. Among these nations, Asia Pacific emerged dominant holding a little short of 60% share in the global market in 2016. In addition, North America and Europe have been demonstrating lucrative market opportunities over the last few years. These regions boast high investment in the research and development, which has led to extensive application of high quality wafers across diverse industries. With this, the use of e-beam wafer inspection system has also risen to detect any faults, thus giving significant impetus to the market.Make an Enquiry @Since Asia Pacific has showcased tremendous growth in the last few years, it offers lucrative opportunities for the market. Especially in emerging economies, the pace of industrialization is considerably bolstered. This has created attractive opportunities for the e-beam wafer inspection system market, as rising industrialization will mean increasing investment in miniaturization thereby boosting the scope of application for e-beam wafer inspection systems.Some of the leading players in the global e-beam wafer inspection system market are Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), ASML Holding N.V. (Netherlands), KLA Tencor Corporation (The U.S.), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Taiwan), NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Netherlands), Lam Research Corporation (The U.S.), Renesas Electronics Corporation (Japan), Integrated Device Technology Inc. (The U.S.), Applied Materials Inc. (The U.S.), and Synopsys Inc. (The U.S.) among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Enterprise Storage Systems Market to Garner Brimming Revenues by 2026

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With the increased focus on virtualization and cost of operations; simplicity and convergence; and the cloud, enterprises are moving from traditional enterprise storage system to software-defined storage and cloud storage to provide cost effective real-time storage services. Therefore, it has been observed that traditional Enterprise Storage Systems market has declined over the past few years.Request to view Sample Report @Most of the enterprises are implementing cloud based storage systems due to low cost and greater agility and it also observed that there are companies which follow the hybrid cloud strategy where traditional and cloud storage are used together. This approach fuel the demand for traditional enterprise storage system and cloud storage system where critical workloads can be managed securely.Enterprises are seeking for more efficient storage systems, as increasing focus on digitization creates huge amount of data which fuel the demand for innovative storage solutions. It has been observed that smaller enterprises drive the cloud storage market and large enterprises drive hybrid approach storage.Due to the rise in the volume of structured and unstructured data and the need to backup and archive the files at reduced costs also propel the market growth for enterprise storage systems.By offering a better price and reducing infrastructure and management costs and providing the enhanced security features enterprise storage systems market witness with the growth in future.Enterprise storage systems market is segmented on the basis of type of storage and regions.One the basis of type of storage the enterprise storage market is segmented to Direct Attached Storage (DAS), Network Attached Storage (NAS) and Storage Area Network (SAN).Request to view Table of content @On basis of region Enterprise storage systems market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and The Middle East and Africa (MEA).Presently North America dominates the Enterprise storage systems market as large number of major big corporates headquartered in North America. However, as Asia-Pacific region is expected to be witness highest growth rate.Some of the key players in Enterprise storage systems market include Dell EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), NetApp, Seagate and Hitachi.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
eScan warns about Kelihos

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Kelihos botnet was first discovered in 2010 and since then it has been taken-down by various entities a number of times, however it has always managed to surfaced back.Kelihos is a spam-bot which has a very unique hybrid peer-to-peer structure, wherein all the bots communicate with the Command and Control Servers by routing the requests through other nodes in the botnet and they themselves have the capability to function as a Command and Control Server. Under normal circumstances, a botnet is rendered useless by taking down the Command and Control Server, however, Kelihos, mitigates the risks associated with such take-downs due to its inherent design structure.A bit about Kelihos:The root of all Kelihos begins with a spam campaign containing the malware links which trigger the download of a Trojan horse. During its initial days, Kelihos was used for initiating Denial of Service attacks and for sending spams. Later on it also started stealing bitcoins and bitcoin mining. The later versions of Kelihos propagated through Social Networking Sites viz. Facebook.For the success of any Trojan / Exploit Kit / Botnet, it is imperative for the creators to provide regular updates to their Malware, so as to ensure that they stay ahead of their competitors and the security researchers.Similar to Ransomware, Malware viz. info stealers, bots, Trojans have a very huge market in the Darkweb and the competition is very tough, since the objective is to ensure that1: Resiliance  should be able to overcome the take-down and detection by various Security Products.2: Should be better than their competitors viz. the features and the pricing.Malwares, be it of any category, are taken-down on regular basis so as to either render it non-functional or to put an end to an on-going campaign. However, it is very rare when the creators / authors of these malwares are apprehended. Way back in December 2013, Paunch - the creator of the infamous Black-Hole Exploit Kit (BHEK) was arrested, which resulted in ensuring that BHEK will never get updated with the latest vulnerabilities.A couple of days back, the creator of Kelihos, who incidentally is a Russian National, was arrested in Spain and Court Proceedings were initiated against him in the US Courts. The US Government also initiated a take-down of the botnet, which requires the authorities to implement peer-poisoning so as to effectively pull down the entire botnet.When we take a look at the history, it has been observed that a take-down is successful only after the arrest of the creator. And as of this moment we too expect the same with Kelihos. However, the entire process of arresting the creator is fraught with cross-border legalities, since the jurisdiction of the crime is diversified and the perpetrator might be residing in a different country. In these scenarios, the Law Enforcement Agencies have a crucial role to play since; they have to interact with their counter-parts who are governed by different set of Laws.For ages, since the advent of Internet and the subsequent rise of cyber-crime, every country has adopted Cyber-Laws in some form or the other and these Laws are applicable for their respective states. However, when cases are International in nature, the only factor which plays an important role in apprehending the perpetrators is the relationship between the two countries vis-a-vis the treaties related to tackling such cases.Criminals are well aware of these facts and have always tried maintaining their anonymity and most of the times try to operate from countries from where the victim countries would find it impossible to conduct any tangible action.As most of the cross-border arrests of High Profile Cyber-Criminals have been done by US and many a times, US Law Enforcement has lured the perpetrators to fall into their traps. However, when the perpetrators are state-sponsored then there is nothing that anyone can do.As long as, borders exist, cyber-criminals would reap huge benefits.For more information, visiteScan is an ISO (27001) certified pure play enterprise security solution company with over 2 decades of expertise in developing IT security solutions. eScan today has a presence in 12 countries through its offices and subsidiaries. It also boasts of a robust channel partner network of more than 50, 000 partners spread across 190 countries worldwide. It has trusted by more than 6,500 enterprise and corporate users spread across various industry segments such as, Government, BFSI, Education, Defense, Telecom, IT & ITeS, Infrastructure, Hospitality, and Healthcare worldwide.It is powered by some of the latest and innovative technologies, such as Proactive Behavioral Analysis Engine (PBAE) Technology, MicroWorld Winsock Layer (MWL) Technology, Domain & IP Reputation Check (DIRC) Technology, Non-Intrusive Learning Pattern (NILP) Technology, and sophisticated Anti-Virus Heuristic Algorithms that not only provide protection from current threats, but also provides proactive protection against the ever evolving cyber threats. eScan provides 24x7 free remote support facility to help its esteemed users to provide real time solutions for security related issues.MicroWorld Technologies Inc.39555 Orchard Hill PlaceSuite 600Novi, MI 48375Tel: +1 248 374 5020
Synthetic And Bio Based Butadiene Market - Global Industry Analysis and Recent Study By 2023

Synthetic And Bio Based Butadiene Market

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Butadiene is a key petrochemical product, used commonly as a monomer in the manufacture of multiple chemicals. Some of the leading uses of butadiene include the manufacture of polymers such as plastics, resins, and synthetic rubbers. Butadiene is also used as a primary monomer when combined with other monomers such as styrene. The manufacture of synthetic butadiene involves the process of steam cracking paraffinic hydrocarbons, ethanol dehydration, or butane and butene dehydrogenation. 1,3-butadiene, one of the two key isomers of butadiene, holds a massive scope in several industrial applications. At the moment, bio-based butadiene is being used to reduce the global dependency on fossil fuels.The global synthetic and bio-based butadiene market is projected at a CAGR of 4.9% in terms of revenue, within a forecast period from 2015 to 2023. The market is expected to be expanding at a CAGR of 3.9% for the same forecast period, in terms of volume. The global synthetic and bio-based butadiene market was valued at US$16.66 bn by the end of 2016 and is expected to reach US$23.44 bn at the end of 2023.Browse Market Research Report @APAC to Retain Leading Share in Global Synthetic and Bio-based Butadiene MarketIn terms of geography, the global synthetic and bio-based butadiene market can be segmented into the core regions of North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the MEA, and Latin America. In 2014, the market was largely dominated by Asia Pacific with a share in value of over 50%. This region is expected to continue showing a massive upswing in demand through the rapid rate of industrialization in China and Southeast Asia. This region is expected to show an equally high demand for both types of butadiene, with a tendency to lean towards synthetic butadiene more.North America and Europe, on the other hand, are expected to show a fall in the overall demand for butadiene over the coming years, especially for synthetic butadiene. Both regions are beginning to show a strengthening of regulatory governance over the use of petrochemicals. Meanwhile, the Middle East and Africa region is expected to show a leading growth rate in the global synthetic and bio-based butadiene market over the coming years, thanks to a growing demand for automobiles, which is spurring the demand for automotive tires.For more information on this report, fill the form @Synthetic Butadiene Demand Continues to RiseBetween synthetic and bio-based butadiene, the global market is expected to show a greater production rate of butadiene through synthetic means. Synthetic butadiene was the leading segment in 2014, and current status of the market suggests that it will remain in the lead for the immediate future. Synthetic butadiene is manufactured using C4 feedstock mixtures and can be used to generate valuable derivatives, including SB latex, SB rubber, and ABS. Most of these derivatives are of high use in the manufacture of tires and other components in the automotive industry.Over the coming years, bio-based butadiene is expected to witness a huge boost in demand and production, owing to the increasingly stringent regulations being applied to the oil and gas industry around the world. More and more countries are aligning themselves with ecofriendly initiatives, including cutting down on fossil fuel and fossil fuel byproducts consumption. While bio-based butadiene is more expensive than its synthetic variant, increasing competition in this field is expected to cut down prices of products over time.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insights for decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, TMR employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog:
Control Foot Switches Market 2017 - Stryker, Siemens, Ojiden, CHINT, Lema, LEXDA

Control Foot Switches Market

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A market study based on the "Control Foot Switches Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Control Foot Switches Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Control Foot Switches industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Control Foot Switches market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This Report1. Schneider Electric2. Steute Schaltgerate3. Herga Technology4. SSC Controls5. BERNSTEIN6. ABB7. AMETEK8. Linemaster9. MarquardtThe report studies the industry for Control Foot Switches across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Control Foot Switches market & dynamics of demand and supply of Control Foot Switches into consideration. The 'Control Foot Switches' research study covers each and every aspect of the Control Foot Switches market globally, which starts from the definition of the Control Foot Switches industry and develops towards Control Foot Switches market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Control Foot Switches market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Control Foot Switches market. The geographical segmentation of the Control Foot Switches industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Control Foot Switches is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Control Foot Switches market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Control Foot Switches market worldwide.Enquire Before Buying @The global Control Foot Switches market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Control Foot Switches production volume, data regarding demand and Control Foot Switches supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Control Foot Switches across the globe.About UsWe provide global enterprises and businesses across different industry verticals comprehensive market research services from off-the-shelf research reports to customized research conducted by our highly experienced industry analysts.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development HeadEmail id - sales@apexresearch.bizWebsite -
Biodegradable Stents Market: New Market Research Report Announced; Global Industry Analysis 2016 - 2024

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The global biodegradable stents market, in terms of its competitive landscape, is expected to continue showing a consolidated nature over the coming years. The companies Biotronik, Boston Scientific, Inc., and Abbott Laboratories, led the global biodegradable stents market in 2015, through a wide array of diverse products and a generally high reliability quotient. The above three names held a whopping 61.5% of the global biodegradable stents market in 2015, thanks to their infallible research and development efforts. Their expansion strategies have also allowed them to retain their leadership in the global biodegradable stents market. Meanwhile, over the coming years, the market is expected to show a greater deal of investment in the more sophisticated products and technologies.As stated in a research report recently published by Transparency Market Research, the global biodegradable stents market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 30.1% within a forecast period from 2016 to 2024. The market was valued at US$18 mn in 2015 and is expected to rise till US$1.7 bn by the end of 2024.Read Full Report:CVD Count Rises, Spurs Demand of All Types of StentsThe CDC had stated that nearly 370,000 people have died of coronary heart disease in the U.S. alone, per year. The global biodegradable stents market has been expanding at an extremely swift pace within this context of growing CVD patients, and not just in developed economies, but emerging ones as well. The demand for biodegradable stents  which was till now considered a relatively niche branch  is witnessing an even greater upsurge in demand. Biodegradable stents are being considered a highly rated option due to the fact that they are easier to implement and get completely absorbed into body fluids, which makes it highly convenient for patients as well, states a TMR analyst.The global biodegradable stents market is one of the markets related to the overall stenting procedures in the world that as a whole is witnessing an extremely high rate growth in demand. The demand and preference for stenting procedures is also expected to surpass conventional bypass surgeries due to their relative ease of use, further giving the global biodegradable stents market scope of growth. In comparison to bypass procedures, stenting procedures are faster, cheaper, and allow the patient to heal faster and lead a much healthier life during recovery.Download exclusive Sample of this report:German Demand for Stenting Procedures Puts Europe Ahead in Global Biodegradable Stents MarketIn terms of geography, the global biodegradable stents market is distributed into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. The report states that Europe is expected to arise as the dominant region in the global biodegradable stents market over the coming years. Europe is expected to surge at a CAGR of 27.2% from 2016 to 2024 in the global biodegradable stents market, a growth rate primarily attributed to the high demand and government support shown for the market in Germany.Unaffordability of Biodegradable Stents Dissuades PatientsAlthough the global biodegradable stents market is showing a high growth rate, it is currently being restrained by the high cost of the most product offerings. As a result, the rewards of using biodegradable stents are getting overlooked. The high pricing of these stents is expected to restrain the overall markets growth in the coming years. Furthermore, the slow adoption rate of these stents in regions and countries where medical awareness is relatively low is also hampering the progress of the global biodegradable stents market.The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, Biodegradable Stents Market (Stent Type - Coronary Artery Stent and Peripheral Artery Stents; Material - Polymer Based and Metal Based; End Users - Hospitals, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories, and Ambulatory Surgery Centers) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Positive Airway Pressure Devices Market Will Reflect Significant Growth Prospects during 2016-2024

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Positive airway pressure devices keep pressured air flowing through the airways of the throat and is one of the common treatments for sleep apnea. The patient wears a face mask which is attached with a tube and a machine that blows pressurized air through the mask into the airway to keep it open. The air acts like a balloon holding the relaxed muscles of the throat open. Positive airway pressure (PAP) is a treatment method that uses mild air pressure to keep the airways sufficiently open. PAP devices are specially used by patients that have breathing issues, such as sleep apnea. These devices are broadly categorized as continuous positive airway pressure devices (CPAP), bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP), and automatic positive airway pressure devices (APAP). The growing prevalence of sleep apnea and co-morbidities related to PAP have propelled the use of positive airway pressure devices. The global positive airway pressure devices is anticipated to witness a trend of devices that are compact and comfortable through 2024.Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic medical condition requiring night application of therapy to efficiently limit the number of apneas and hypopneas that would occur without intervention. The gold-standard treatment for OSA is continuous positive airway pressure therapy (PAP), which offers a pneumatic splint of the soft tissue in the upper airway. PAP devices can measure and record airflow and pressure levels whenever the device is worn. They contain internal, proprietary algorithms that identify breathing disturbances and whether these disturbances are due to persistent obstructive or non-obstructive events. Generally, the average duration of CPAP use is approximately five hours per night across numerous studies. Studies indicate that greater than six hours per night results in normal levels of objectively measured and self-reported daytime sleepiness, as well as significantly improved memory and daily functioning.Variable positive airway pressure (VPAP) or bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP), is a newer type of machine that reduces the amount of pressure when a person breathes out. The device uses an electronic circuit to monitor the person's breathing. Having less pressure in the moment when a person is exhaling may make it more comfortable for the person with sleep apnea. This type of machine is used for people who have other breathing problems or who can't sleep if they have to breathe out against a stream of air.Download exclusive Sample of this Report:The U.S. accounted for the largest market share in positive airway pressure devices market. This is due to the increasing healthcare awareness for sleep apnea, improving healthcare infrastructure, rising disposable incomes, increasing obesity adding to the pool of sleep apnea patients and economic growth favored by broadening insurance coverage. Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides cover for sleep apnea products, including a capped rental on CPAP/BiPAP equipment and other supplies. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 36% of the adults in the U.S. were obese in 2010, and nearly 42% will be obese by the year 2030. Furthermore, according to National Sleep Foundation, in 2012, around 40 Mn Americans were reported to suffer from chronic sleep disorder.Geographically, North America occupies the substantially larger market share, which is followed by Europe. The high attentiveness level in this region will lead the expansion of positive airway pressure devices market significantly. However, affordability has become a restraining factor for the global market in developing regions such as, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Asia Pacific is expected to demonstrate healthy CAGR in the global positive airway devices market. Increase in disposable income, rising aging population, and growing awareness level are some of the key factors driving the Asia Pacific market. The Asian market is expected to witness entry of higher number of new players compared to those in developed regions.Request For Custom Research:Some of the market players who are competing to bring new technologically advanced products in the market are CareFusion Corporation, GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, ResMed, Inc., Teleflex, Inc., and othersThe report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Enterprise WLAN Market Analysis, Manufacturing Cost Structure, Growth Opportunities and Restraint to 2025

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Global Enterprise WLAN Market: OverviewWith a continuously rising adoption of mobility and the growing demand among people across the world to be connected to the internet regardless of their location, wireless networks are gaining popularity. A wireless LAN (WLAN) controller combines multiple access point protocols to manage them in large through network operations centers or network administrators. The controller has the ability to automatically handle the configuration of wireless access points. Enterprise WLAN helps maintain organizations seamless workflow and security. The different types of verticals where these networks are used, include telecom and IT, healthcare, banking, education, retail, hospitality, and logistics.Global Enterprise WLAN Market: Key TrendsThe emergence of cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies is providing a fillip to the global enterprise WLAN market. IoT and cloud solutions provide an edge to enterprise wireless networks by improving their efficiency and reliability. Moreover, the growing trend of bring your own device (BYOD) is stoking the growth of the market. The proliferation of smartphones and devices is also augmenting the market.Request a Brochure of the Report @On the flip side, the lack of awareness and dearth of workforce with high technical acumen are keeping the market from realizing its utmost potential. However, technological advancements are estimated to increase WLAN applications across numerous industry sectors, which will work in favor of the market.Global Enterprise WLAN Market: Market PotentialRecent trends in the global enterprise WLAN market indicate that the market participants are focusing on mergers and acquisitions to improve their offerings. The introduction of advanced technologies is rendering the market highly lucrative. In September 2016, Extreme Networks announced the acquisition of Zebra Technologies Wireless LAN (WLAN) business unit. The deal was worth US$55 mn. With this acquisition, the company announced that the combination will work towards delivering superior Enterprise Asset Intelligence solutions, that will provide customers with real-time visibility into their operations. Similarly, Hewlett-Packard acquired Aruba Networks in May 2015 for US$3 bn in an attempt to enhance its role in the WLAN market.Request for TOC of the Report @Several players are also involved in expanding their outreach in emerging regions. They are pouring funds into research and development to introduce innovative and disruptive solutions for end to end networking requirements of enterprises. For instance, AXILSPOT, in December 2016, flagged off its operations in Indias enterprise wireless marketplace by launching Rscan range of products.Global Enterprise WLAN Market: Geographical SegmentationOn the basis of geography, the segments reviewed in the report are Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. North America will be a prominent market for enterprise WLAN. The high consumer awareness regarding the merits of these networks and early introduction of advanced technologies due to the presence of many key players are driving the growth of the region.Asia Pacific, on the other hand, will offer numerous promising prospects to global vendors. The widening pool of working population and emerging technology hubs is largely benefiting the market in the region. The escalating development and adoption of cloud-based services and growing investments in the IT and telecommunication sector are fuelling the growth of the region.Read Complete Report @Global Enterprise WLAN Market: Competitive LandscapeThe majority of players in the global WLAN enterprise market are focusing towards technological advancements and product innovation to enhance their visibility in the market. Key players are looking upon mergers and partnerships as viable growth strategies to stay ahead in the market. Some of the prominent vendors in the market are Cisco Systems, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprises, Extreme Network, Dell Inc., ZTE Corporation, Ruckus, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Huawei, and Juniper Networks.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
Global Advanced HVAC Control Market 2017 - Trends, Opportunities and Forecasts (2017-2022)

Global Advanced HVAC Control Market

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The motive of this strategic research report entitled Global Advanced HVAC Control Market 2017 is to provide company officials, industry investors and industry members with consequential insights to enable them make reliable strategic decisions regarding the opportunities in the global Advanced HVAC Control market.Key Notes On Advanced HVAC Control Market:Global Advanced HVAC Control Market 2017 offers crucial insights into the global Advanced HVAC Control market along with the market size and estimates for the duration 2017 to 2023.This industry report lists the dominant competitors and provides the consequential industry Analysis of the key terms influencing the market. The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of trending industry facts, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the prominent industry Players.Do Inquiry Before Purchasing Report Here:Most of the Key Players Functioning in the Advanced HVAC Control Market follow the strategy of operational extension in order to boost the production capacity, market existence, client base.Dominant players in Advanced HVAC Control market:1 Delta Controls2 Distech Controls3 Ecobee4 Emerson5 Honeywell6 Johnson Controls7 KMC Controls8 Lennox9 Nest10 Ojelectronics11 Regin12 Salus13 Sauter14 Schneider15 Siemens16 TraneGet Sample Copy Of Report From Here:This Report scrutinize the global Advanced HVAC Control market in terms of product type, applicaion service, client and geography. The global Advanced HVAC Control market covers major continents.Analysis of Advanced HVAC Control Market based on Regions:1 USA2 Europe3 Japan4 China5 India6 South East AsiaThe global Advanced HVAC Control market gets segmentized into two parts product and application.Analysis based on Product Segment:1 Programmable HVAC Control2 Smart HVAC Control3 OthersAnalysis based on Application Segment:1 Commercial2 Residential3 OthersIn addition, this research study covers thorough analysis of multiple market segments based on applications, study across different geographies and products. The report also includes competitive profiling of the leading Advanced HVAC Control vendors, their expansion plans, market status and latest trends and developments in order to help strategic decision makers.Overall the Advanced HVAC Control report offers complete consequential analysis of the parent market, key tactics followed by leading industry Players, upcoming segments, former, current and forecast market analysis in terms of volume and value along with entire research conclusions.The Report serves as a valuable guide for the industry players and other individuals who are interested in studying the Advanced HVAC Control market.About Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Market.Biz has access to the worlds most comprehensive and up-to-date databases in your business sector, including countless market reports that can provide you with valuable data relating to your business. We understand the needs of our clients, and keep our reports updated as market requirement changes.Contact US:GlobeMetrixJames JohnsonS No. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, Pune,Maharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Email: inquiry@market.bizWebsite:Blog:
Practice Management Systems Market: 2016 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2024

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Practice Management Systems Market: OverviewMedical practice is defined as the science and the art of healing in accordance with scientific diagnosis of the disease. Medical practice therefore, requires significant volume of patient data which is difficult to maintain in the long run especially if its recorded in the physical form of documents and files. The entry of computer software and software systems like SaaS (Software as a Service) has greatly assisted in the overall process of patient data and medical practice data management. Medical Practice Management System (PMS) is a software that helps medical organization (or clinic) to record patient data, fix appointments with practitioners, maintain record of insurance payment companies (and contacting them when required), perform billing related tasks and generate final reports. PMS nowadays are integrated with Electronic Medical Records (EMR) that deals strictly with patient medical data (medical and treatment history) as an all inclusive data management system.Obtain Report Details:PMS is designed according to the volume of data that needs to be maintained, the size of the organization and their financial capacity. Generally PMS are classified as; desktop variants for limited computers, client-server (physical servers) for large institutions with strong finance and requirement for easy access to patients confidential data, and internet server (virtual/cloud servers) for institutions that require cost saving alternatives. Software companies offer services in different price ranges varying from few hundreds to thousands of dollars depending upon aforesaid parameters. Integrated systems (EMR and PMS) are more expensive in comparison to standalone services. Some companies that provide these services are Acrendo Softwares, Allegiance MD, WRS Health, Practo Ray and Athena Health to name a few.Practice Management Systems Market: Opportunities and TrendsPMS have a great future ahead, as medical institutions worldwide see it as a better alternative to physical document records which have a very high error rate bringing into light the nature of human incompetency, that are minimized to a great extent in PMS. Also, medical errors result in severe adverse events and death, this is efficiently tackled by the presence of automated programmed software. Cost saving is another financial reason for a shift into PMS, it reduces data management costs and as a result the overall medical treatment costs. Medical insurance claims and payouts also see a positive change with fast processing times. Countries like the U.S. also offer subsidies to hospitals opting for such systems.Practice Management Systems Market: RestraintsPMS however, is useful only as long as the personals are trained in the dynamics of the software, this requires training and practice. Many countries also have strict patient confidentiality laws, any breach or leak patient records may pose a great threat to the integrity of the whole process and shall render an institution liable for prosecution by the law. In such a situation, PMS becomes more of a liability than assistance. However, with entry of Asian software companies like Practo Ray who have developed portable android based software systems can be easily accessed and require minimum training. Cost effective alternatives are on the rise along with better algorithms to integrate the complete process of medical practice.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:Practice Management Systems Market: Regional InsightPMS market is expected to increase owing to the presence of virtual/cloud based service systems, these enable companies far offshore to provide services at competitive prices. Service providers are at present largely based in the North America and European region, where the demand is the highest owing to large population patients with health insurance. The PMS market in Asia-Pacific is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR owing to more number of companies establishing business in this region coupled shift in service providers from the North American region to emerging economies. Also, with greater returns on investment a large number of Asian medical institutions are now opting for PMS.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
MyAssignmenthelp.com Offers Custom Essay Help At Best Price In The Industry

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UK, April, 25, 2017: MyAssignmenthelp.com has been providing custom essay help for a decade. We are recognized as the leading essay help service provider. We have writers from every academic discipline.Students who are interested in availing custom essay help() from our scholars are required to undergo three easy steps. Initially, they need to fill up and submit the order form. They are asked to mention all their essay related specifications. They will get a quote after submitting the order form. They can process the payment for confirming their orders. We prefer to accept payment through PayPal. We accept payment through bank transfer or debit or credit card.Students who often hop over to Google and type make my essay online() should contact us. Our essay experts will provide them step-by-step assistance. Our scholars will guide them in the following steps.Topic selectionData collectionStructuring the essayPreparing the reference listEditing and proofreading the copyOur experts provide guidance for the following types of essays.Narrative essayExpository essayArgumentative essayPersuasive essayScholarship essayCollege admission essayWe offer the below mentioned perks to our customers.1. Top quality solutionsThe quality of the essay help materials provided by us is top-notch. We never compromise with the quality. Our experts compose the solutions from scratch. They do an extended research before drafting the help materials. All the solutions undergo three stages of quality check.2. 100% original contentWe have zero tolerance policy against plagiarism. Our writers are instructed to produce original content. We use genuine plagiarism detecting tools for checking the help materials.3. On time deliveryWe deliver the help materials on the promised dates. Our writers complete drafting the solutions before the deadline. Our operation team ensures whether all the orders are delivered on the promised dates.4. 3000+ PhD expertsWe consider the factors knowledge, experience and creativity before hiring writers. We boast a team of more than 3000 PhD experts. They have pursued their doctorate degrees from acclaimed universities. They have excellent writing skills.5. Best price assuredWe offer our exclusive essay writing help services at the best price in the industry. State of the art infrastructure, orders throughout the year and team of in-house writers are the factors that permit us to do so.If students are not happy with any part of the solutions delivered by us, they can ask for revision. We provide unlimited revision facility. Our writers are always willing to accommodate the requirements of the students. We assure 100% privacy as well. It is our ethical duty to keep our customers personal details confidential.MyAssignmenthelp.com provides custom essay help at affordable rates. We keep on uploading samples written by our experts in our website. Students can read those samples for having an idea about the quality of the help materials provided by us. Students can call us at +61-2-6100-3843 for further assistanceMyassignmenthelpLytchett House, 13 Freeland Park Wareham Road Lytchett Matravers,Poole Dorset,Uk, BH16 6FAPhone +441212854112Email id: contact@myassignmenthelp.com
Building Automation System Market: Evolving Technology, Trends and industry Analysis  2025

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Global Building Automation System Market: OverviewWith escalating population and rapid urbanization across the world, the need to conserve energy is paramount. It is estimated that buildings consumer nearly 40% of the Worlds energy consumption. In this scenario, new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) has paved a way for building automation system, with which energy consuming facilities including heating, lighting, air conditioning, and ventilation can be efficiently managed. The concept of building automation system is application not only for the new constructions but for the existing residential buildings too, and promises to prove as a highly useful concept for commercial buildings as well as revolutionize the healthcare sector. Consequently, the demand in the global building automation system is anticipated to increment at a healthy growth rate during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Building Automation System Market: Key TrendsOne of the primary property of building automation system is that they can be customized according to the need of the end-user, which can be either cost-efficiency with minimal automation or premium automation with a long-term goal. This factor is expected to augment the demand in the global building automation system market. In addition to that, several governments in developed as well as developing economies are offering lucrative subsidies for processes that conserve energy, and thereby encouraging the residential and commercial building owners to choose for these system. For instance, with building automation system, residential buildings can monitor and control security, HVAC, and lighting. Conversely, high implementation cost, long duration of return of investment, and lack of awareness among the consumers are some of the key factors challenging the market for building automation system from achieving its full potential.Global Building Automation System Market: Market PotentialIncrease in the use of personnel assistant in residential buildings, growing use of the Internet of Things, rising popularity of LED lights, and increased reliance on wireless technologies are some of the key factors favoring the global market for building automation system. In addition to that, growing security concerns is escalating the need to add strength to security, control personnel access, and monitor activity. With IoT, building automation system can also provide real-time medical help, which is opening various new opportunities for the players in this market. On the other hand, commercial applications such as shopping complexes, public transport areas such as airports and railway stations, and corporate office buildings are other targetable avenues for the participants of the global building automation system market.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Building Automation System Market: Regional OutlookDeveloped countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, and Germany currently offer most of the demand for building automation system and makes North America and Europe as the most lucrative regions. However, Asia Pacific resides several emerging economies such as India, Japan, China, South Korea, and Malaysia. These countries are investing heavily towards improving their infrastructure and consequently, the construction industry is thriving. Increasing disposable income among the urban population in Asia Pacific region is adding to the demand for secure and efficient residential and commercial environment and hence is expected to expand the demand at most robust rate during the forecast period.Read Complete Report @Global Building Automation System Market: Competitive LandscapeDue to the presence a large number of players who operate at regional or international level, the global market for building automation system is fragmented in nature with high degree of competition. However, as the demand to conserve energy escalates across the world, there is enough fodder for everyone. Some of the leading players in the global building automation system market are Automated Logic, Honeywell, Johnson Controls International, and Schneider Electric, whereas other prominent vendors including Bosch Sicherheitssysteme GmbH, Dwyer, Emerson Electric, Beckhoff Automation, ABB, DELTA CONTROLS, CONTROL4, Distech Controls, Evon Technologies, Itron, and LegrandAbout 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
Fillings and Toppings Market : Volume Analysis, Segments, Value Share and Key Trends 2017

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Global Fillings and Toppings Market: OverviewThe global fillings and toppings market could draw a whole lot of demand from Asia Pacific countries such as Australia, Japan, China, and India and New Zealand, although Europe is prophesied to be crowned as a dominant region. With the help of preferred strategies such as new product launches, expansions, and acquisitions, some of the leading players in the global fillings and toppings market could look to tap into new grounds for profit-making opportunities. The demand in the global fillings and toppings market is expected to augment on the back of a spiraling number of research and development activities performed to bolster product portfolio and its enhancement.The fruit flavor fillings and toppings market is expected to set the tone for a lucrative demand by accounting for a larger share. Fruit flavors carry an irresistible appearance, a sumptuous texture, bright colors, and fresh tastes. As a result of heightened health awareness in the U.S. and other developed nations, the want for fruit flavor fillings and toppings could rise to a new high. Owing to their extensive usage in frozen and dairy, confectionery, and bakery products, fruits and nuts are prognosticated to attain a wider share in the global fillings and toppings market.Request a Brochure of the Report @By application, confectionery products could win a strong share in the global fillings and toppings market because of the mushrooming usage of natural ingredients and product innovation based on color, taste, and flavor. In 2015, this market was anticipated to secure a bountiful share.Global Fillings and Toppings Market: Brief AccountDue to their functional properties, fillings and toppings are largely used in beverages, convenience food, desserts and other dairy products, bakery products, and confectionary products. Fillings and toppings help in determining specific attributes such as flavor, appearance, texture, mouth feel, and taste in food and beverages products. The pastes, syrups, and variegates segment is expected to account for the leading market share in the Fillings & Toppings Market over the coming years owing to their widespread applications in confectionery & bakery products, dairy products, and beverages. These are usually used as toppings or fillings to improve the visual charm of the food products.Request for TOC of the Report @This industry research report is a brief review of the growth trail in terms of existing, past, and future scenarios of the global fillings and toppings market. It deals with the evaluation of the aspects that are expected to influence the development of the market and the primary trends have also been specified in the research study. The research study also offers a broad lookout on the vendor landscape of the market through Porters five forces analysis. The research report offers references of the research and development activities, mergers and acquisitions, and specifics on licensing and collaborations. The report probes into the strategies related to publicity, shares, and product range of the key participants in the global fillings and toppings market.Global Fillings and Toppings Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe sales of toppings and fillings is expected to escalate over time owing to the robust rise in the demand for bakery products and confectionary products, growing urbanization, and incessant growth in the disposable income along with increasing expenditure power across the globe. The changing lifestyles of consumers is also expected to trigger the demand for toppings and fillings in the near future. The manufacturers of toppings and fillings can expect to gain from the progress opportunities in emerging economies and the growing income of the middle class in many developing countries of Europe. The growing consciousness on health in developed countries is also expected to intensify the demand for fillings and toppings in the near future.The market is expected to be negatively impacted by the strict international quality regulations and standards and a significant rise in the prices of raw materials. The manufacturers are also anticipated to face major challenges from the rising demand for clean label products and health consciousness among consumers across the globe.Read Complete Report @Global Fillings and Toppings Market: Regional AnalysisRegions such as Asia Pacific and Europe are expected to emerge as lucrative regions for the market for fillings and toppings. Growing industrialization, developed technologies, niche consumers, increasing food chains, and growing population are the factors to which the growth of the market in these regions is attributed to.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
Pharmaceutical Bottles Market 2017:Overview, Opportunities, In-Depth Analysis and Forecasts

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Spain Pharmaceutical Bottles Market: OverviewThis report provides forecast and analysis of the Spain pharmaceutical bottles market. The study provides historic data of 2016 along with forecast from 2017 to 2024 based on volume (Mn units) and revenue (US$ Mn). It includes drivers, restraints and the ongoing trend for the pharmaceutical bottles market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of opportunities available in the Spain market for pharmaceutical bottles. It includes value chain analysis with list of raw material manufacturers, plastic bottles manufacturers, packaging manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and end users in the value chain.Browse Market Research Report @In order to provide the users of this report with comprehensive view of market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis and company players. The competitive dashboard provides detailed comparison of pharmaceutical bottles manufacturers on parameters such as companys revenue, unique selling propositions and key strategic developments.Spain Pharmaceutical Bottles Market: Research MethodologyThe study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by bottle type, application, material type and end user. Market statistics have been estimated based on average consumption and weighted average pricing of pharmaceutical bottles and the revenue is derived through regional pricing trends. Market size and forecast for each segment have been provided in the context of the Spain markets. The pharmaceutical plastics bottles market has been analyzed based on expected demand. Prices considered for the calculation of revenue are average regional prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous pharmaceutical bottles manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors. All key end users have been considered and potential applications have been estimated on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents.Regional demand patterns have been considered while estimating the market for various end users of pharmaceutical bottles in Spain. Top-down approach has been used to estimate the Spain pharmaceutical bottles market. Market numbers for the Spain bottle type, application, material type and end user segments have been derived using the bottom-up approach, which is cumulative of regions demand. The market has been forecasted based on constant currency rates.For more information on this report, fill the form @A number of primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study. Secondary sources include Factiva, World Bank, Packaging Digest, Plastic Manufacturers Association, Society of the Plastics Industry, and Hoovers, and company annual reports and publications.Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe report provides detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of key participants operating in the Spain market. Key players in the Spain bottle type, application, material type and end user market include, Gerresheimer AG., Amcor Limited, Alcion Plasticos, Maynard and Harris Plastics Ltd, Industrias Plasticas Puig, and Pont Europe.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Prostate Cancer Therapeutics Market to 2024: Trends, Business Strategies and Opportunities with Key Players Analysis

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Global Prostate Cancer Therapeutics Market: SnapshotProstate cancer is a serious health issue among men and has a large socioeconomic impact on the society. It is the most common cancer diagnosed among men in developed regions, while it is the fourth-most common cancer diagnosed globally. Routine screening, early diagnosis, and recent treatment options have enabled increased survival of prostate cancer patients. Prostate cancer is an abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in prostate gland of a male individual.Approximately 75% of prostate cancers are developed sporadically, in which genetic changes occur after birth. Although, the real cause of prostate cancer is largely unknown, some of the prime factors associated with the disease include obesity, overweight, and past history of certain cancers. The global prostate cancer therapeutics market was valued at US$8.78 bn in 2015. Rising at a CAGR of 8.1% between 2016 and 2024, the market is expected to reach US$17.53 bn by the end of 2025. The overall market is segmented on the basis of therapy type, and distribution channel segments.Obtain Report Details:Hormone Therapy to Remain Dominant Segment Based on Therapy TypeBased on therapy type, the global prostate cancer therapeutics market is segmented into hormone therapy, chemotherapy, biologic therapy, and targeted therapy. Of these, the hormone therapy segment dominated global prostate cancer therapeutics market with a share of 82.7% in 2015. Hormone therapy offers excellent efficacy in castration resistant prostate cancer patients, which is a chief factor fuelling its demand in the treatment of prostate cancer patients. The dominance of the segment is thus forecast to remain unaffected through the forecast period.Besides this, the targeted therapy segment is anticipated to gain market share during forecast period due to expected new product launches in this segment. The biologic therapy segment is expected to have a moderate market share and is likely to expand with a high CAGR during the forecast period due to introduction of novel therapy products in prostate cancer therapeutics market and increase in prevalence of prostate cancer globally.Based on distribution channel, the global prostate cancer therapeutics market is segmented into hospital pharmacy, online sales, retail pharmacy, and others. Of these, the hospital pharmacy segment emerged dominant in 2015. The segment is gaining momentum on account of the rising incidence of prostate cancer around the world and advancements in diagnosis techniques. As an increasing number of patients seek medical care in hospitals, the hospital pharmacy segment will witness accelerated pace of gains in response. In addition, the online sales segment is forecast to witness significant growth over the forecast period. This segment will gain from the rising use of mobile based applications for placing online orders for medicines.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:North America and Europe Cumulatively Hold Leading Market ShareRegionally, North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa constitute the key segments in the global prostate cancer therapeutics market. Among these, North America and Europe cumulatively held the leading market share in 2015. This trend is likely to continue through the forecast period. While in 2015, North America emerged dominant holding a marginally higher share of 39.8% as compared to Europe, in the coming years the table is expected to turn in favor of Europe.The rising diseased population and a sophisticated healthcare infrastructure will support growth of the prostate cancer therapeutics market in North America and Europe. Besides this, Asia Pacific and Latin America are expected to emerge as promising market owing to the increasing awareness about prostate cancer and the available treatment and diagnosis options. The rising healthcare spending will also support the markets expansion in Asia Pacific and Latin America.Pfizer, Inc. dominated the global prostate cancer therapeutics market in 2015. Major factors attributed to its dominance are acquisition of leading brand, and widespread market presence. Other players in the global prostate cancer therapeutics market include Amgen, Inc., Johnson & Johnson (Janssen Biotech, Inc.), AstraZeneca, AbbVie, Inc., Bayer AG, Ipsen Group, Sanofi, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Dendreon Corporation (Sanpower Group Co. Ltd.) and othersTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Hydrazobenzene Market Analysis, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2025

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Global Hydrazobenzene Market: SnapshotHydrazobenzene is chemically studied to be a crystalline and colorless compound that when heated to decomposition discharges virulent nitrogen oxide fumes. It could find application in the manufacture of various pharmaceuticals while functioning as an intermediate. The dye manufacturing sector could engage hydrazobenzene primarily as an antecedent of benzidine, which is a dye intermediate. Based on experimental findings that prove the carcinogenicity of hydrazobenzene, it is rationally predicted to be a human carcinogen. Moreover, if humans are exposed to this compound, it can cause brain, kidney, and liver damage while irritating the lungs, throat, nose, and skin.Each country in the global hydrazobenzene market could have its own list of key suppliers. In both the U.S. and Europe regions, Chemos GmbH & Co. KG has been making its mark with more than 25 years of quality experience in the fine chemical industry. With a robust network incorporating chemical producers and custom manufacturing firms, Chemos operates as a strong support to the chemical companies and research institutions positioned in the aforementioned regions. Likewise, there could be Hangzhou Dayangchem Co. Ltd. and IBIS Chemie International operating as top companies in the Peoples Republic of China and India respectively.Request a Brochure of the Report @According to the globally harmonized system of classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS), hydrazobenzene is very toxic to the aquatic environment with enduring effects to face and may even lead to cancer. Therefore, as per the laboratory chemical safety summary (LCSS), manufacturers and end users of this substance are required to follow certain regulations related to storage and handling, cleanup and disposal, exposure limit, first aid, and health and symptoms.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 for TOC 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.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 clientsContact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Interconnects and Passive Components Market : Insights, Business Opportunities and Competitor Analysis 2017 - 2025

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Global Interconnects and Passive Components Market: OverviewAn interconnect component refers to an optical or electric connection or cable connecting two or more devices. A broad range of interconnect parts such as board to board connectors, electronic cable connectors, and DIN connectors used in a broad range of applications are offered by a number of manufacturers. Cellular phones, hubs, HVAC equipment, routers, mp3 players, GPS devices, Ethernet and other high speed connectivity applications, digital cameras, and video connections are some of the key applications that deploy interconnects components. Passive components, on the other hand, are used in applications such as computers, wireless communication, security systems, 3D printers, medical instruments, power supply circuits, handheld devices, digital thermostats, and several household appliances.Request a Brochure of the Report @Global Interconnects and Passive Components Market: Key TrendsThe rising demand for interconnects and passive components in the thriving consumer electronics industry is a primary catalyst of the global market. Used in the production of devices and machines deployed in automobiles, healthcare, data processing, and telecommunication, these components are likely to witness greater adoption over the next few years. The market is also receiving a significant boost from the continual technological advancements in the consumer electronics industry. Moreover, the growth of the interconnect segment creates further scope of expansion for the market. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the preference for high speed bandwidth in data processing, emergence of robotics and automation across numerous sectors, and development of compact electronic components and devices.Global Interconnects and Passive Components Market: Market PotentialThe competitive scenario of the global interconnects and passive components market is marked by unceasing product launches. For instance, in March 2017, AVX Corporation announced the release of its new low pass integrated thin film SMD filter, which can be an ideal solution for various wireless applications such as global positioning systems (GPS), mobile communications systems, and wireless large area networks (LANs). The new FHC1 and FHC2 series feature low parasitics, low insertion loss, conducive heat dissipation properties, and a wide frequency range.Request for TOC of the Report @Partnerships, acquisitions, and collaborations are focused on by several companies. For example, in Ixia announced its partnership with Foxconn Interconnect technology (FIT) and Cisco for demonstrating 400 Gigabit Ethernet traffic at The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) 2017 in Los Angeles, USA.Global Interconnects and Passive Components Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, the global interconnects and passive components market is segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. Asia Pacific exhibits colossal growth opportunities, springing from factors such as easy availability of cheap labor, raw material, along with low costs of production. The booming consumer electronics industry in the region, and particularly in China, is aiding steady growth of the market for interconnects and passive components. Moreover, with increasing per capita incomes of the middle class, the standard of living of the people has improved. This has resulted in more demand for smartphones, LED and LCD displays, and other electronic devices. North America and Europe are also slated for extensive growth, encouraged by beneficial policies of the government.Read Complete Report @Global Interconnects and Passive Components Market: Competitive AnalysisPanasonic Corporation, Guangzhou Copper Factory Co., Ltd., TT Electronics Plc., AVX Corporation, Celtic Chemicals Ltd, JST Mfg. Co. Ltd., E Connectivity Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., and Cisco Systems, Inc. are some of the prominent players operating in the global market for interconnects and passive components.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
Lubricant Packaging Market - Report, Trends, Size, Share, Analysis, Estimations and Forecasts to 2024

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GCC Lubricant Packaging Market: OverviewThis report provides forecast and analysis of the GCC lubricant packaging market. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 based on volume (Mn units) and revenue (US$ Mn). It includes drivers, restraints and the ongoing trend for the lubricant packaging market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of opportunities available in the GCC market for lubricant packaging. It includes value chain analysis with list of raw material manufacturers, packaging manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and end users in the value chain.Obtain Report Details @In order to provide the users of this report with comprehensive view of market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis and company players. The competitive dashboard provides detailed comparison of lubricant packaging manufacturers on parameters such as companys revenue, unique selling propositions and key strategic developments. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by packaging type, lubricant type, material type and end use type.Market statistics have been estimated based on average consumption and weighted average pricing of lubricant packaging and the revenue is derived through regional pricing trends. Market size and forecast for each segment has been provided in the context of the GCC markets.GCC Lubricant Packaging Market: SegmentationThe lubricant plastics packaging market has been analyzed based on expected demand. Prices considered for the calculation of revenue are average regional prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous lubricant packaging manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors. All key end users have been considered and potential applications have been estimated on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Regional demand patterns have been considered while estimating the market for various end users of lubricant packaging in GCC. Top-down approach has been used to estimate the GCC lubricant packaging market. Market numbers for the GCC packaging type, lubricant type, material type and end use type segments have been derived using the bottom-up approach, which is cumulative of regions demand. The market has been forecasted based on constant currency rates.A number of primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study. Secondary sources include Factiva, World Bank, IMF reports, Philips Capital and company annual reports and publications.Companies Mentioned in this ReportThe report provides detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of key participants operating in the GCC market. Key players in the GCC packaging type, lubricant type, material type and end use type segments market include, Duplas Al Sharq, Takween Advanced Industries, Saudi Can Manufacturing Company Ltd, Zamil Plastics Industries Ltd, Mold Tek Packaging Ltd, Neelkamal Plastics Factory LLC, First Press Plastic Moulders Ltd.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Proteins in Oncology Market - Recommendations for 2017; Emerging Trends and New Technologies Research 2016 - 2023

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Global Protein in Oncology MarketOncology is the branch of medical science dealing with cancer research and treatment. There are several research facilities and universities identifying unique proteins in oncology for developing diagnostics. Several studies are underway to discover new proteins that play a role in cancer. Currently there are a number of companies and/or their collaborators engaged in developing several protein drugs in cancer. Surgical treatments and radiation therapy, though effective at treating primary tumors, are not found to be successful in detecting metastatic tumor cells and those flowing in the bloodstream, making treatment of these cancer cells very difficult. Cancer is one of the largest causes of death worldwide and finding leads to cure or control the disease is one of the primary goals of governments globally.Global Protein in Oncology Market: SegmentationObtain Report Details:The global proteins in oncology market has been segmented based on protein type and geography. Protein types include recombinant non-glycosylated proteins, recombinant glycosylated proteins and recombinant peptides. Geographically, North America and Europe lead the global proteins in oncology market thanks to the very stringent regulatory environment for clearing the products. Asia-Pacific countries such as China and India are estimated to be the fastest-growing markets. South Korea and Brazil are also poised to register high growth in the coming years due to boost in biosimilars market. The services that can be provided in the global proteins in oncology market include contract research organizations and contract manufacturing organizations.Global Protein in Oncology Market: Drivers and RestraintsWorldwide increase in the prevalence of cancer and the rising awareness of the therapeutic and commercial opportunities offered by new oncology treatments have provided a major incentive for the pharmaceutical industry to pursue the development of new agents for the treatment of cancer. Proteins or peptide drugs are usually required to be administered only by injection due to their large and labile nature. Peptide drugs are used effectively in monitoring various tumors and related therapies. They selectively are known to bind responsive versus unresponsive tumors. Therefore, this advantage associated with the use of peptides assists their use in assessing tumor response and evaluating its effectiveness in cancer therapy. The main challenge for the newer generation of recombinant drugs seems to be the new route of administration, new formulations and consequently even higher efficiency and safety. Though the parenteral route of administration is the most common, there are advances being made to deliver medicines through the oral route, which is considered to be the most preferred one due to better patient compliance.Recently new research has demonstrated that attaching a cancer killer protein to white blood cells annihilates metastasis. Isolation of a protein named as TRAIL by researchers at Cornell University in the U.S. demonstrated killing of cancer cells on contact. The TRAIL protein is binded with leukocytes (white blood cells) that are present across the bloodstream. The cancer cell is essentially known to kill itself when it comes in contact with TRAIL protein. The mechanism has been surprising and unexpectedly effective as compared to targeting the cancer cells with liposomes.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:Global Protein in Oncology Market: Competitive Landscape AnalysisThe key players contributing to the global proteins in oncology market include Actavis, Inc., Biocon Ltd., Celltrion, Inc., Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd., Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Hospira, Inc., Merck, Mylan, Inc., Roche Holding Ltd., Sandoz, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Wockhardt Ltd. Expansion of product portfolio enables these companies to gain a competitive advantage over other players in the market. Strengthening of market position by extensive investments in research and development is also one of the business strategies undertaken by the key players. A lot of research is still to be carried out in the protein recombinant drugs in oncology market which will come along with years of efforts and high risk.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Why Military Laser Designator Market is growing exponentially?? Study Growth Factors, Trends, Key-Players and Forecasts!!

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Global Military Laser Designator Market Research Report 2017 Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.The latest intelligence on the Military Laser Designator market is available in the Global Military Laser Designator 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 Military Laser Designator industry made available in the report helps readers to understand the key drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities that are shaping the global Military Laser Designator 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 Military Laser Designator market. Forecasts for these technology sectors are presented in the report. Integration is the key to advancement in technology in the global Military Laser Designator market. Companies that offers the latest integrated technologies at an affordable cost are expected to thrive in the Military Laser Designator market. The dominating technologies in the Military Laser Designator market along with the upcoming technologies that are expected to revolutionize the market are explained in the reportGet Sample Copy of this Report:The report also elaborates on the opportunities the emerging markets of Asia Pacific and Latin America offer. Furthermore, the cost of raw materials in these nations is low, while the availability is high. This has turned the heads of several major international companies to the emerging countries of Asia Pacific.The key companies operating in the Military Laser Designator 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 Military Laser Designator market.The report, titled Military Laser Designator presents an in-depth study of the Military Laser Designator 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 Military Laser Designator market.Get Discount on this report:The report studies the different product segments and end-user applications segment of the Military Laser Designator 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 Military Laser Designator 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.Major players in the Military Laser Designator 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 Military Laser Designator market. Key strategies of growth adopted by leading industry players are also analyzed in detail by the report.Table of Content:-Global Military Laser Designator Market Research Report 20171 Military Laser Designator Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Military Laser Designator1.2 Military Laser Designator Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Military Laser Designator Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Military Laser Designator Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Vehicle-Mounted Military Laser Designator1.2.4 Portable Military Laser Designator1.2.5 Other1.3 Global Military Laser Designator Segment by Application1.3.1 Military Laser Designator Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Air Force1.3.3 Land Army1.4 Global Military Laser Designator Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Military Laser Designator Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Military Laser Designator (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Military Laser Designator Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Military Laser Designator Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Military Laser Designator Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Military Laser Designator Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Military Laser Designator Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Military Laser Designator Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Military Laser Designator Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Military Laser Designator Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Military Laser Designator Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Military Laser Designator Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Military Laser Designator Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Military Laser Designator Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Military Laser Designator Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Military Laser Designator Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Military Laser Designator Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America Military Laser Designator Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Military Laser Designator Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Military Laser Designator Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Military Laser Designator Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Military Laser Designator Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Military Laser Designator Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Military Laser Designator Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Military Laser Designator Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Military Laser Designator Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Military Laser Designator Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Military Laser Designator Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Military Laser Designator Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Military Laser Designator Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Military Laser Designator Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Military Laser Designator Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 L3 Technologies7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 L3 Technologies Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Leonardo7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Leonardo Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Northrop Grumman7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Northrop Grumman Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Thales7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Thales Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 UTC Aerospace Systems7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 UTC Aerospace Systems Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Elbit Systems7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Elbit Systems Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 FLIR Systems7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 FLIR Systems Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 General Atomics7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 General Atomics Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Gooch & Housego7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Gooch & Housego Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 RPMC Lasers7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Military Laser Designator Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 RPMC Lasers Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Military Laser Designator Manufacturing Cost Analysis8.1 Military Laser Designator Key Raw Materials Analysis8.1.1 Key Raw Materials8.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials8.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials8.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials8.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure8.2.1 Raw Materials8.2.2 Labor Cost8.2.3 Manufacturing Expenses8.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Military Laser Designator9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9.1 Military Laser Designator Industrial Chain Analysis9.2 Upstream Raw Materials Sourcing9.3 Raw Materials Sources of Military Laser Designator Major Manufacturers in 20159.4 Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10.1 Marketing Channel10.1.1 Direct Marketing10.1.2 Indirect Marketing10.1.3 Marketing Channel Development Trend10.2 Market Positioning10.2.1 Pricing Strategy10.2.2 Brand Strategy10.2.3 Target Client10.3 Distributors/Traders List11 Market Effect Factors Analysis11.1 Technology Progress/Risk11.1.1 Substitutes Threat11.1.2 Technology Progress in Related Industry11.2 Consumer Needs/Customer Preference Change11.3 Economic/Political Environmental Change12 Global Military Laser Designator Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.1 Global Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production, Revenue Forecast (2017-2022)12.1.1 Global Military Laser Designator Capacity, Production and Growth Rate Forecast (2017-2022)12.1.2 Global Military Laser Designator Revenue and Growth Rate Forecast (2017-2022)12.1.3 Global Military Laser Designator Price and Trend Forecast (2017-2022)12.2 Global Military Laser Designator Production, Consumption , Import and Export Forecast by Region (2017-2022)12.2.1 North America Military Laser Designator Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.2 Europe Military Laser Designator Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.3 China Military Laser Designator Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.4 Japan Military Laser Designator Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.5 Southeast Asia Military Laser Designator Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.2.6 India Military Laser Designator Production, Revenue, Consumption, Export and Import Forecast (2017-2022)12.3 Global Military Laser Designator Production, Revenue and Price Forecast by Type (2017-2022)12.4 Global Military Laser Designator Consumption Forecast by Application (2017-2022)For 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)
Global Charging Equipments Market 2016: Focuses on top players AeroVironment Inc, GE Co, SchneiderElectric SA, Charge Point, Chargemaster PLC, Eaton Corp

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The Charging Equipments research report by QY Research represents an inclusive evaluation of the Global Charging Equipments 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 Charging Equipments market and its corresponding segments that are based on technology, geography, and applications.The examination on value chain of Charging Equipments 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 Charging Equipments 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 Charging Equipments 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 Charging Equipments 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 Charging Equipments 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 Charging EquipmentsRevenue, means the sales value of Charging EquipmentsThis report studies Charging Equipments 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, coveringAeroVironment IncGE CoSchneiderElectric SACharge PointChargemaster PLCEaton CorpLeviton Manufacturing CompanySiemens AGAbout 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
Xanthan Gum Market - 2017 - 2025: Challenges, Trends & Drivers

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Global Xanthan Gum Market: OverviewXanthan gum, refers to a polysaccharide made by fermenting corn sugar with a bacteria, xanthomonas campestris - the same bacteria that leads to the creation of black spots on vegetables such as cauliflower and broccoli. The strain of xanthomonas campestris used for obtaining xanthan gum is non-toxic and non-pathogenic for humans and animals. It is therefore preferred over several other emulsifiers in food products. Xanthan gum is actually one of the worlds 30 most used popular products used in the food industry.Global Xanthan Gum Market: Drivers and RestraintsDemand across the food and beverages industry is expected to continue to remain one of the key forces driving the global market for xanthan gum in the next few years. Of late, the increased global demand for packaged, ready-to-eat, and convenience foods has significantly increased the uptake of xanthan gum in the food and beverages industry. The food and beverages industry presently accounts for over half the global consumption of xanthan gum and the industry is expected to drive the market owing to high demand across food products such as salad dressings and sauces and dairy products such as ice creams.Request a Brochure of the Report @The inherent superiority of the product over other common hydrocolloids is also a key driver of the global xanthan gum market. However, the market is presently struggling to cope up with the reinforced policies regarding anti-dumping across a number of developed economies and restrictions on the import of xanthan gum from China and Austria. The rising mistrust regarding the quality of xanthan gum by suppliers in China, which is presently the leading producer of the product on the global front, is also expected to hamper the overall growth prospects of the market to a certain extent.Global Xanthan Gum Market: Market PotentialLooking at the significant rise in demand for xanthan gum from across the globe, key producers of the product are focusing on the expansion of their existing production sites, strengthening their distribution channels, and exploring new regional territories to add to their customer bases. In February 2013, CP Kelco, one of the worlds dominant producers of xanthan gum, announced the expansion of its production facility in San Diego by around 40% so as to meet the heightened demand owing to a clampdown by the U.S. government on imports by Chinese and Austrian companies owing to quality issues. The company announced its plans to build a new manufacturing plant in North America for the production of and specialty xanthan gum and gellan gum.Request for TOC of the Report @Global Xanthan Gum Market: Regional OverviewThe global market for xanthan gum has been predominantly led by Asia Pacific. The region accounts for a significant share of the global market for xanthan gum and is expected to show growth at a promising pace over the next few years as well. The massive demand for xanthan gum from China is expected to help the Asia Pacific market for xanthan gum remain dominant from a geographical perspective. The thriving market for food and beverages in China and other emerging economies in the region such as India is leading to the high demand for xanthan gum in the region.North America is another promising market for xanthan gum and is expected to become a matured market in the next few years owing to the increased use of the product for a number of industrial applications. The demand for xanthan gum is expected to witness rise at a slower pace in regions such as Middle East and Africa and Latin America.Read Complete Report @Global Xanthan Gum Market: Competitive DynamicsThe global market for xanthan gum features a largely consolidated competitive landscape, with the leading few companies accounting for a massive share in the global market. Some of the leading vendors operating in the global xanthan gum market are Archer Daniels Midland Company, MeiHua Holdings Group Co., Ltd, Fufeng Group Company Limited, Hebei Xinhe Biochemical Co., The Aurora Chemical, CP Kelco, The Zoranoc Oilfield Chemical, DuPont-Danisco, Deosen, Jungbunzlauer Suisse AG, Ltd., Cargill, Inc., FMC BioPolymer, and Solvay S.A.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
Global Chemical Mechanical Polishing Machines Market 2016: Focuses on top players Kemet, Alpsitec, HKC VietNam, EBARA

Chemical Mechanical Polishing Machines

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The Chemical Mechanical Polishing Machines research report by QY Research represents an inclusive evaluation of the Global Chemical Mechanical Polishing 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 Chemical Mechanical Polishing Machines market and its corresponding segments that are based on technology, geography, and applications.The examination on value chain of Chemical Mechanical Polishing 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 Chemical Mechanical Polishing 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 Chemical Mechanical Polishing 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 Chemical Mechanical Polishing 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 Chemical Mechanical Polishing 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 Chemical Mechanical Polishing MachinesRevenue, means the sales value of Chemical Mechanical Polishing MachinesThis report studies Chemical Mechanical Polishing 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, coveringKemetAlpsitecHKC VietNamEBARAAbout 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
Radio Transmitter Market 2017- R&S, Syes, GatesAir, Egatel(COMSA), Nautel

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A radio transmitter is an electronic device which, when connected to an antenna, produces an electromagnetic signal such as in radio and television broadcasting, two way communications or radar. Heating devices, such as a microwave oven, although of similar design, are not usually called transmitters, in that they use the electromagnetic energy locally rather than transmitting it to another location.Request for sample(No Cost for sample) @Major players in the global Radio Transmitter market :-HarrisBroadcast ElectronicsR&SSyesGatesAirEgatel(COMSA)NautelThomson BroadcastHitachi Kokusai ElectricNECRIZ TransmittersBTESAContinentalBeijing BBEFTongfang GigamegaChengdu ChengGuangThis report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Radio Transmitter from 2012-2017 and provides extensive market forecasts 2017-2022 by region/country and sub sectors. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Radio Transmitter market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Radio Transmitter, and the opportunities/challenges faced by industry participants. It also acts as an essential tool to companies active across the value chain and to the new entrants by enabling them to capitalize the opportunities and develop business strategies.Global Radio Transmitter Market Outlook 2017-2022, has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the global Radio Transmitter market collected from specialized sources. The report covers key technological developments in the recent times and profiles leading players in the market and analyzes their key strategies. The competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players.Detail Info & Enquiry for Buying Report @The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Rest of World. In this sector, global competitive landscape and supply/demand pattern of Radio Transmitter industry has been provided.About Us:"MarketInsights.Biz offer reports from top publishers and update to serve you with immediate on-line access to professional insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends. Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact US:Frank ValadezDirector of Business DevelopmentWebsite:Email:sales@marketinsights.biz
Beverage Blender Market Global 2017 Size, Share, Trend Split by Application, Regions

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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 Beverage Blender Market is confident in meeting their needs and expectations. The 2017 market research report on Global Beverage Blender 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 Beverage Blender Market report is a noteworthy.Request a sample of this report @The Global Beverage Blender 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 Beverage Blender 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 Beverage Blender Industry. Accurate forecasts and expert opinion from credible sources, and the recent R&D development in the industry is also a mainstay of the Beverage Blender 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 Beverage Blender 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 Beverage Blender 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: Beverage Blender Market OverviewChapter Two: Global Beverage Blender Market Competition by Manufacturers/BrandChapter Three:Global Beverage Blender Sales (K Units), Revenue (Million USD) by Regions (2012-2017)Chapter Four: Global Beverage Blender Sales, Revenue, Price Trend by TypesChapter Five: Global Beverage Blender Market Analysis by ApplicationsChapter Six: Global Beverage Blender Manufacturers Profiles/AnalysisChapter Seven: Beverage Blender Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter Eight: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter Nine: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter Ten: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter Eleven: Global Beverage Blender Market Forecast (2017-2022)Chapter Twelve: Research Findings and ConclusionChapter Thirteen: Methodology and Data SourceAbout 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
Flame Retardant Fabric Market Report 2017 Market Segments, Size, Trend, Analysis

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The Flame Retardant Fabric market 2017 research offers a feasibility analysis for investment and returns supported with data on development trend analysis across important regions of the world.Global Flame Retardant Fabric Industry 2017 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current trends and Future Forecast.Flame retardant fabric Market is specialized fabric designed to resist burning when exposed to open flame, explosions and arc flashes without melting. It is designated based on the time it takes for the fabric to burn. Flame retardant fabric Market may be naturally fire resistant because of its natural fiber weave, or treated with a fire-resistant chemical to resist heat and flames. These fabrics find major application in protective clothing industry.Request a sample copy of Global Flame Retardant Fabric Market Research Report @Scope of the Report: This report focuses on the Flame Retardant Fabric in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers - Milliken, Tencate, Dupont, Mount Vernon, SSM Industries, Carrington, Klopman, TreviraThe lisetd pricing for this Flame Retardant Fabric market report starts at US $3480. Request Discount for Global Flame Retardant Fabric Industry Research Report @Table of Contents in Global Flame Retardant Fabric Research Report8 South America Flame Retardant Fabric by Countries8.1 South America Flame Retardant Fabric Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries8.1.1 South America Flame Retardant Fabric Sales by Countries (2012-2017)8.1.2 South America Flame Retardant Fabric Revenue by Countries (2012-2017)11 Global Flame Retardant Fabric Market Segment by Application11.1 Global Flame Retardant Fabric Sales Market Share by Application (2012-2017)11.2 Clothing Sales Growth (2012-2017)11.3 Home Textiles Sales Growth (2012-2017)12 Flame Retardant Fabric Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.1 Global Flame Retardant Fabric Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)12.2 Flame Retardant Fabric Market Forecast by Regions (2017-2022)12.2.1 North America Flame Retardant Fabric Market Forecast (2017-2022)Browse full table of contents and data tables For Global Flame Retardant Fabric Report @Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers - North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Related Reports: -2016 Global Coated Fabrics Market Status, 2011-2022 Market Historical and Forecasts, Professional Market Research ReportThis New Version Coated Fabrics Market Research Report is a deep market research report in this market.This report focused on global and regional market, major manufacturers, as well as the segment market details on different classifications and applications.Centralize market research purchases across your entire organization in one place.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.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
Aviation Actuator Systems Global Market Trend, Research Approach, Data Analysis and Forecast to 2022

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According to Publisher, the Global Aviation Actuator Systems Market is valued at $779.2 million in 2015, and is projected to register a CAGR of 6.8% to reach $1238.9 million by 2022. Increasing demand for additional electric aircraft & automation, increasing passenger traffic across the globe and mounting profitability of airliners are some of the major factors driving the market growth. However, existing backlogs in aircraft deliveries is constraining the aviation actuator systems.For more information about this report:By End User, Commercial aviation segment is expected to witness the largest market share owing to increased demand for commercial aircrafts from emerging regions. North America is expected to register highest market share during the forecast period.Major players in this market include Woodward Inc., Moog Inc., Rockwell Collins, Inc., Ge Aviation, Arkwin, Beaver, United Technologies Corporation, Cesa, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Electromech Technologies, Honeywell International Inc., Parker Hannifin Corp., Eaton, Saab AB and MerrillApplications Covered:- Auxiliary Control- Flight Control- Landing GearProduct Types Covered:- Electro-hydraulic actuator- Pneumatic Actuator- Electromechanical Actuator- Electric Actuators- Electro-Hydrostatic actuators (EHAs)- MechanicalAircraft Types Covered:- Wide Body Aircraft- Very Large Aircraft- Transport Aircraft- Narrow Body Aircraft- Helicopters- Fighter AircraftRequest Sample Copy atEnd Users Covered:- Defense- Commercial AviationRegions 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 Aviation Actuator Systems Market, By Application6 Global Aviation Actuator Systems Market, By Product Type7 Global Aviation Actuator Systems Market, By Aircraft Type8 Global Aviation Actuator Systems Market, By End User9 Global Aviation Actuator Systems Market, By Geography10 Key Developments11 Company Profiling11.1 Woodward Inc.11.2 Moog Inc.11.3 Rockwell Collins, Inc.11.4 GE Aviation11.5 Arkwin11.6 Beaver11.7 United Technologies Corporation11.8 Cesa11.9 Curtiss-Wright Corporation11.10 Electromech Technologies11.11 Honeywell International Inc.11.12 Parker Hannifin Corp.11.13 Eaton11.14 Saab AB11.15 MerrillInquire 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 Waterborne Coating Sales Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2017

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Waterborne Coating Sales Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the global Waterborne Coating 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 MT), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Waterborne Coating for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Waterborne Coating market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Waterborne Coating sales volume, Price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingAkzo NobelAxalta Coating SystemsBASFPPG IndustriesRPM InternationalSherwin-WilliamsJotunKansai PaintNippon PaintSikaValsparOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K MT), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/MT), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPolyesterAlkydEpoxyPolyurethaneOthersOn 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 Waterborne Coating for each application, includingArchitecturalAutomotiveGeneral IndustrialOthersTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Waterborne Coating Sales Market Report 20171 Waterborne Coating Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Waterborne Coating1.2 Classification of Waterborne Coating by Product Category1.2.1 Global Waterborne Coating Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Waterborne Coating Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Polyester1.2.4 Alkyd1.2.5 Epoxy1.2.6 Polyurethane1.2.7 Others1.3 Global Waterborne Coating Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Waterborne Coating Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Architectural1.3.3 Automotive1.3.4 General Industrial1.3.5 Others1.4 Global Waterborne Coating Market by Region1.4.1 Global Waterborne Coating Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Waterborne Coating Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Waterborne Coating Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Waterborne Coating Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Waterborne Coating Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Waterborne Coating Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Waterborne Coating Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Waterborne Coating (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Waterborne Coating Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Waterborne Coating Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Waterborne Coating Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Waterborne Coating Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Waterborne Coating Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Waterborne Coating Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Waterborne Coating (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Waterborne Coating Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Waterborne Coating Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Waterborne Coating (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Waterborne Coating Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Waterborne Coating Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Waterborne Coating (Volume) by Application3 United States Waterborne Coating (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Waterborne Coating Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Waterborne Coating Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Waterborne Coating Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Waterborne Coating Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 China Waterborne Coating (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Waterborne Coating Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Waterborne Coating Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Waterborne Coating Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Waterborne Coating Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Players4.3 China Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.4 China Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Application5 Europe Waterborne Coating (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Waterborne Coating Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Waterborne Coating Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Waterborne Coating Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Waterborne Coating Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Players5.3 Europe Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Application6 Japan Waterborne Coating (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Japan Waterborne Coating Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.1 Japan Waterborne Coating Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.2 Japan Waterborne Coating Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.3 Japan Waterborne Coating Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)6.2 Japan Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Players6.3 Japan Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by Type6.4 Japan Waterborne Coating Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationMake 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 Chlor-alkali Equipment Market 2016: Focuses on top players Chlorine Engineer, ThyssenKrupp Uhde, De Nora S.p.A., Asahi Kasei, ChemChina, 3k, Zibo Shuihuan

Chlor-alkali Equipment

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The Chlor-alkali Equipment research report by QY Research represents an inclusive evaluation of the Global Chlor-alkali Equipment 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 Chlor-alkali Equipment market and its corresponding segments that are based on technology, geography, and applications.The examination on value chain of Chlor-alkali Equipment 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 Chlor-alkali Equipment 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 Chlor-alkali Equipment 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 Chlor-alkali Equipment 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 Chlor-alkali Equipment market report is a helpful source which assists manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, customers, and individuals and investors who have interest in this market.Notes:Sales, means the sales volume of Chlor-alkali EquipmentRevenue, means the sales value of Chlor-alkali EquipmentThis report studies sales (consumption) of Chlor-alkali Equipment in Global market, especially in United States, China, Europe and Japan, focuses on top players in these regions/countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these regions, coveringChlorine EngineerThyssenKrupp UhdeDe Nora S.p.A.Asahi KaseiChemChina3kZibo ShuihuanHangzhou ZhenxingAbout 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 Drug Delivery Technologies - Innovation Driven by Rapidly Expanding Injectables Market and Increasing Usage of Complex Biologics during the Forecast Period | Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Drug Delivery Technologies - Innovation Driven by Rapidly Expanding Injectables Market and Increasing Usage of Complex Biologics during the Forecast Period" to its huge collection of research reports.Latest report, ""Global Drug Delivery Technologies Innovation Driven by Rapidly Expanding Injectables Market and Increasing Usage of Complex Biologics during the Forecast Period"" discusses the drug delivery technologies and trends in the market and the evolving business strategies being adopted and leveraged by companies globally. The ultimate goal of drug delivery research is to develop formulations and devices that can be used in clinical applications to treat various diseases. Delivering a drug with the desired release kinetics requires an understanding of the underlying physicochemical properties of the drug, which determine the type of delivery material and drug release mechanism. Numerous parameters need to be considered, and their inter-dependence has to be taken into account to develop successful drug delivery systems for the intended applications. It is important to understand the complexity associated with the development of a drug delivery system that can ultimately be used in human patients. The report covers the currently available drug delivery technologies and recent advances in the field, with granular analyses of the different types of delivery systems, their advantages, disadvantages and opportunities for future development. The report provides global market forecasts by revenue for the market until 2020. Additionally, forecasts by revenue for key geographical markets and supporting analyses of the main factors driving or restraining growth are included. The market for drug delivery technology is poised for strong growth in the coming years. Key factors promoting growth include the rapidly expanding injectables market, the growing incidence of chronic diseases and the expected significant increase in the use of complex biologic drugs that necessitate novel delivery systems. Drug delivery companies have had to adapt to challenging times in the same way as pharmaceutical companies have had to over the past decade. These companies have achieved this by adopting new business strategies that allow them to take better control of their commercial and financial future. The report analyzes how business models in this dynamic industry have evolved over the last couple of decades and how new companies with improved product portfolios and propositions are emerging.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Scope- What are the drug delivery technologies used in the market and how have they evolved in recent years?- What will be the market value, by revenue, of the market over the coming years?- Drivers and restraints in the drug delivery industry:- What are the most important factors promoting growth in the market at a global level?- What are the most important factors restraining growth in the market?- What is the impact of novel delivery systems on the management of a products lifecycle?- Will emerging markets contribute significantly to the growth of the global market?- How will regulatoryand reimbursement-related challenges hinder the market?- Technologies based on drug vehicle/carriers:- What are the various advantages, limitations and applications of the currently available drug carriers?- Technologies based on route of administration:- How can lifecycle management strategies reposition existing drugs by changing their route of administration?- What are the advantages, limitations and applications of the different drug delivery technologies, based on their route of administration?- What are the prospects for revenue growth for the latest technologies, including metered-dose inhalers and hydrogels?- Technologies for injectables:- Which technologies in the injectables market have contributed to overall growth?- What is the market forecast for needle-free injectors in the coming years?- What is driving the need for novel delivery systems for injectable drugs?Reasons to buy- Gain insightful analyses and understanding of market dynamics. The report comprehensively describes and assesses the most important factors driving and restraining the drug delivery technology market.- Evaluate a granular assessment of the pipelines for the various drug delivery technology segments and the prospects and revenue forecasts for the upcoming delivery technologies until 2020.- Evaluate the strategies and business models used by companies to achieve their full commercial potential.- Gain insight on upcoming trends and factors influencing the global market for drug delivery technology.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 @
Bread Mix Market - Sees a Steady Growth Ahead

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Bread Mix Market Introduction:Bread mix is a mixture, made from flour, yeast, baking soda, salt and other ingredients. It is used in the baking of bread with less time and efforts. Types of bread mixes are available in the market includes wheat, rice, oat, and corn. The combination of two or more with more ingredients is also available. It is available as commercially manufactured or homemade. Food companies are more focused on satisfying the customer needs includes fast and convenient, variety, and nutritional benefits. Gluten free bread mix is available for health conscious consumers is expected to register an increase in the market. Consumers nowadays with their daily busy routine is the target group to boost the demand for bread mix market in forecasted period.Obtain Report Details @Bread Mix Market Segmentation:Bread Mix market is segmented on the basis of ingredients, product type, distribution channels, and regions.Based on its ingredients, it is segmented as grain based mixes include wheat, rice, oats, corn, and others. Among all of these, wheat flour based mixes hold the major share and expected to dominate the market during the forecasted period. Other ingredients like salt, sugar, cheese, vegetables, fruits, and toppings are added as an accompaniment to a variety of ethnic food in the market. Based on the product type available in the market is segmented into two segments, Organic and Conventional. Among both of these, the organic segment registers a major share in bread mix market. Conventional type includes gluten free bread mix, driving the market for health conscious consumer and is expected to boost an increase in demand over the forecast period.On the basis of distribution channels, the global bread mix market segments include online retailing, supermarkets, and departmental stores. Among all of these, the online retailing is expected to gain major revenue shares over the forecast period.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Bread Mix Market Regional Outlook:On the basis of regions, the bread mix market is segmented into following key regions; North America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and The Middle East & Africa.North America grabs the major share of global bread mix market. Consumption of products like bread, cake, and pizza have more demand in North America regions and it is expected to grow at a steady rate. Followed by Western Europe regional market is expected to grow at a relatively medium growth rate over the forecast period. Developing regions including India, china, and others is expected to register a higher growth rate in bread mix market due to globalization.Bread Mix Market Drivers and Trends:Healthy ingredients with nutritional value drive an increase in demand for bread mix in the food industry. High demand for bread base in pizza industry serving worlds population is a driving factor for an increase in demand for bread mix market. Rising market demand for bread products in the food industry is becoming another market driver for bread mix. Automatic machine available in the market with less sophistication to make bread without wasting any ingredients is preferred by consumers and is expected to fuel the market during the forecasted period. Preference for different variety in cuisine, taste, and convenience is expected to be a driving factor for bread mix market.Bread Mix Market Key Players:Bread mix is gaining acceptance at a growing rate and some of the key players participating in the global bread mix market includes IREKS U.K. Ltd., G. R. Wright and Sons Ltd., ACH Food Companies, Inc., Continental Mills, Inc., Laucke Flour Mills, Dr. Schar Foodservice UK Ltd., General Mills, Inc., Origins HealthCare Pte Ltd, Well and Good Pty Ltd., and Anchor Foods.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:
Clinical reference Laboratories Market to Exceed Industry Evolution in coming Years with Trends, Innovations & Opportunities by 2027

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Market Highlights:The global Clinical reference laboratory market has been evaluated as progressively growing market and it is expected that the market will continue to grow similarly in the near future. The adoption of the value based services has gained the pace as the hospitals nowadays have started outsourcing some part or even all of their pathology and radiology diagnostic services. One of the reason for increased outsourcing by hospitals is that the hospital budgets are becoming constrained as a result of declining Medicare reimbursements. The cut down in clinical lab reimbursement rates under Medicare have a profound impact on the U.S. lab industry. It was not limited to the direct billings, but the U.S. clinical labs that depend on Medicare for close to 20% of billings and for certain communities it is as high as 80% of business that got affected. In continuous efforts to protect the hospitals bottom line, many hospital CEOs are turning to outsource various value based services, various companies are rising to offer these diagnostic outsourcing contracts from hospitals. Hence, the increasing value based outsourcing from hospitals has enhanced the market for these independent reference laboratory services.Furthermore investments in laboratory services have demonstrated lucrative in enhancing patient care as well as in delivering the much preferred 'efficiencies'. Technology capable of performing repetitive activities at moderately high speed has developed to improve quality, consistency and effectiveness. The result of tests on samples that used to take hours to process can now be found in a matter of minutes. Automation in the laboratory has a significant impact in microbiology and histopathology. The most significant innovation is the development of genetics and molecular technologies into mainstream medicine which will have substantial impact on the health of the population, clinical practice and the management of patientsRequest a Copy of Sample Report @Major Key Players: Laboratory Corporation of America, KingMed Diagnostics, Aurora Diagnostics, Sonic HealthCare Limited, Synlab International GmbH, Bioreference Laboratories, Unilabs, Clinical Reference Laboratory, ARUP Laboratories, Quest DiagnosticsRegional Analysis:Depending on geographic region, Clinical reference laboratory market is segmented into four key regions: America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Globally America is the largest market for Clinical reference laboratory. North American region is the leading market in the America region with countries like United States and Canada playing a major role in the industry. Europe is the second-largest market globally for Clinical reference laboratory which is expected to continue its growth in the near future. Asia pacific region is expected to be fastest growing region in Clinical reference laboratory market.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 130 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Clinical reference Laboratories Market Research Report- Forecast To 2027Access Full Report Details @Commenting on the report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said: The market for Clinical reference laboratory is growing at tremendous speed and expected to continue its growth in a rapid pace in near future. Since 1980s, the laboratory atmosphere has been characterized by ongoing rapid and dramatic innovation in order to provide better applications of automated technology to their customers and healthcare providers. There has been a remarkable growth in the range and complexity of available tests and services which are expected to grow. Laboratory technology innovation is frequently at the front line of medicinal advances. At times, testing strategies to analyze a specific condition are accessible before successful treatment. Innovation in laboratory technology which includes both advances in equipment and testing techniques has made testing more efficient and automated. These lab automations are increasingly playing an integral role by making it sure that patients receive the right treatment and eliminate the risk of human errors. The major advantage of this lab automation is that it has helped scientists and technicians achieve complex processes in comparatively little time with lower operating costs. However, the increasing automation in the technology has elicited the growth of the clinical reference laboratories. Adding to this Cost and time savings for hospitals and clinics due to increase in outsourcing by independent laboratories, and Increasing value-based outsourcing from hospitals will boost the market for clinical reference lab services.Make an Enquiry @Market Segments:Segmentation by applications Tumor genetics/Oncology Neurology Cardiovascular disorders Clinical chemistry Dermapathology Microbiology pathologySegmentation by Service providers Hospital/Clinic based clinical reference laboratories Autonomous clinical reference laboratoriesThe report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regionsBrowse Related ReportGlobally the market for micro-pump is increasing rapidly. Micro-pumps have been playing a crucial role in the pharmaceutical industry for last few years. Especially in the processes such as drug discovery, development and delivery.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Resistance Strain Gauge Market 2017 - Trends, Opportunities and Forecasts (2017-2022)

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The motive of this strategic research report entitled Global Resistance Strain Gauge Market 2017 is to provide company officials, industry investors and industry members with consequential insights to enable them make reliable strategic decisions regarding the opportunities in the global Resistance Strain Gauge market.Key Notes On Resistance Strain Gauge Market:Global Resistance Strain Gauge Market 2017 offers crucial insights into the global Resistance Strain Gauge market along with the market size and estimates for the duration 2017 to 2023.This industry report lists the dominant competitors and provides the consequential industry Analysis of the key terms influencing the market. The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of trending industry facts, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the prominent industry Players.Do Inquiry Before Purchasing Report Here:Most of the Key Players Functioning in the Resistance Strain Gauge Market follow the strategy of operational extension in order to boost the production capacity, market existence, client base.Dominant players in Resistance Strain Gauge market:1 HBM2 HPI3 HYCSYQ4 KYOWA5 NMB6 Piezo-Metrics, Inc7 TML8 Vishay9 Yiling10 ZemicGet Sample Copy Of Report From Here:This Report scrutinize the global Resistance Strain Gauge market in terms of product type, applicaion service, client and geography. The global Resistance Strain Gauge market covers major continents.Analysis of Resistance Strain Gauge Market based on Regions:1 USA2 Europe3 Japan4 China5 India6 South East AsiaThe global Resistance Strain Gauge market gets segmentized into two parts product and application.Analysis based on Product Segment:1 Foil strain gauge2 Wire strain gauge3 Semiconductor strain gauge4 Special epoxy resin5 PolyimideAnalysis based on Application Segment:1 Load cells2 Preure transducer3 Torque transducer4 OthersIn addition, this research study covers thorough analysis of multiple market segments based on applications, study across different geographies and products. The report also includes competitive profiling of the leading Resistance Strain Gauge vendors, their expansion plans, market status and latest trends and developments in order to help strategic decision makers.Overall the Resistance Strain Gauge report offers complete consequential analysis of the parent market, key tactics followed by leading industry Players, upcoming segments, former, current and forecast market analysis in terms of volume and value along with entire research conclusions.The Report serves as a valuable guide for the industry players and other individuals who are interested in studying the Resistance Strain Gauge market.About Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Market.Biz has access to the worlds most comprehensive and up-to-date databases in your business sector, including countless market reports that can provide you with valuable data relating to your business. We understand the needs of our clients, and keep our reports updated as market requirement changes.Contact US:GlobeMetrixJames JohnsonS No. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, Pune,Maharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Email: inquiry@market.bizWebsite:Blog:
Global Walkie Talkie Market 2017 - BFDX, Kirisun, Quansheng, HQT, Neolink, Lisheng, Abell

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A walkie-talkie (more formally known as a handheld transceiver, or HT) is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald L. Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, and engineering teams at Motorola. Similar designs were created for other armed forces, and after the war, walkie-talkies spread to public safety and eventually commercial and jobsite work. Major characteristics include a half-duplex channel (only one radio transmits at a time, though any number can listen) and a "push-to-talk" (PTT) switch that starts transmission. Typical walkie-talkies resemble a telephone handset, possibly slightly larger but still a single unit, with an antenna mounted on the top of the unit. Where a phone's earpiece is only loud enough to be heard by the user, a walkie-talkie's built-in speaker can be heard by the user and those in the user's immediate vicinity. Hand-held transceivers may be used to communicate between each other, or to vehicle-mounted or base stations.Request For Sample Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Walkie Talkie in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversMotorolaJVCKENWOODIcomHyteraSepuraTaitCobraYaesuEntel GroupUnidenMidlandBFDXKirisunQuanshengHQTNeolinkLishengAbellWeierweiMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversAnalog Walkie TalkieDigital Walkie TalkieAccess Full Report With TOC @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoGovernment and Public SafetyUtilitiesIndustry and CommerceOthersThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Walkie Talkie market.Chapter 1, to describe Walkie Talkie Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Walkie Talkie, with sales, revenue, and price of Walkie Talkie, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Walkie Talkie, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Walkie Talkie market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Walkie Talkie sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceAbout 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:
Global and Chinese Pediatric Hearing Aids Industry, 2017 | ResearchMoz

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global and Chinese Pediatric Hearing Aids Industry, 2017 | ResearchMoz" to its huge collection of research reports.The 'Global and Chinese Pediatric Hearing Aids Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Pediatric Hearing Aids industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Pediatric Hearing Aids 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. Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the global and Chinese total market of Pediatric Hearing Aids 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 Pediatric Hearing Aids 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 Pediatric Hearing Aids Industry before evaluating its feasibility.Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2012-2022 global and Chinese Pediatric Hearing Aids industry covering all important parameters.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table Of ContentChapter One Introduction of Pediatric Hearing Aids Industry1.1 Brief Introduction of Pediatric Hearing Aids1.2 Development of Pediatric Hearing Aids Industry1.3 Status of Pediatric Hearing Aids IndustryChapter Two Manufacturing Technology of Pediatric Hearing Aids2.1 Development of Pediatric Hearing Aids Manufacturing Technology2.2 Analysis of Pediatric Hearing Aids Manufacturing Technology2.3 Trends of Pediatric Hearing Aids Manufacturing TechnologyChapter Three Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers3.13.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Product Information3.1.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.1.4 Contact Information3.23.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Product Information3.2.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.2.4 Contact Information3.33.2.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Product Information3.3.3 2012-2017 Production InformationMake 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 Wood Tar Market 2017 - Shuanghui Active Carbon, Albert Kerbl, S.P.S. BV, Eco Oil, Bashles

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Wood tar is produced from a variety of natural materials through destructive distillation. Wood tar can be extracted from straw, wood, etc. Wood tar is type of tar with a mixture of free carbons and hydrocarbons.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Wood Tar in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Request For Sample Report @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversAusonSkandian GroupXinzhongxing BiomassVerdi LifeKemetLacqFusheng CarbonShuanghui Active CarbonAlbert KerblS.P.S. BVEco OilBashlesMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversResinous TarsHardwood TarsOther TarsAccess Full Report With TOC @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoConstruction CoatingsShip CoatingsAnimal HusbandryOther ApplicationsThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Wood Tar market.Chapter 1, to describe Wood Tar Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Wood Tar, with sales, revenue, and price of Wood Tar, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Wood Tar, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Wood Tar market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Wood Tar sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceAbout 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:
Global Sound Sensors Market 2017, Global Industry Status & Growth Prospects, 2021

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Big Market Research has added a new report, titled, Global Sound Sensors Market Professional Survey Report 2017. The report offers an extensive analysis of sales, capacity, growth rate, import, export, and consumption of the industry for the historic period, 20122017 and the forecast period, 20172022. Moreover, manufacturing cost structure and technical data analysis are provided with the help of tables and figures. Key manufacturer analysis and marketing strategy analysis are offered to outline competitive intensity and steps to be taken to gain edge in the global industry. The study presents a thorough understanding of the global industry to help manufacturers, investors, and new entrants to devise strategies for growth.Enquire About Report:An industry overview of sound sensors is provided in the research based on definitions, specifications, and detailed segmentation. A table offers specification and classification of the industry. Dynamic microphone, condenser microphone, ribbon microphone, and carbon microphone are classification of the industry. A table enlists manufacturers of each type and a figure offers analysis of market share of each type for 2016. Application of the sound sensors are analyzed in the study with the help of figure offering insights on consumption market share for 2016. Daily life, military, medical, and industrial are applications enlisted in a tabular format. The study offers insights on geographies including North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, and India. Figures offer detailed analysis market share of each region for the period, 20122022.The report offers a comprehensive analysis of manufacturing cost structure based on raw material, suppliers, manufacturing process analysis, and industry chain structure. Tables offer insights on raw materials, manufacturing cost structure, and suppliers. Figures offer insights on manufacturing process and industry chain structure. Technical data and manufacturing plants analysis of sound sensors is offered based on capacity, manufacturing plants distribution, R&D status, and commercial production dates of major manufacturers with the help of tables. The market overview for the historic period is offered based on capacity, sales, sales price, and growth rate.Also Request for Discount:The research offers a market overview of each region based on local supply, import, export, local consumption, and sales price analysis for the historic period. Tables offer detailed analysis on each parameter to help market players determine emerging markets and untapped regions. This information is also helpful to determine strategies of expansion and widen customer base. In addition, driving factors of growth for each type and application of sound sensor are outlined with the help of tabular format.The report offers an extensive analysis of major manufacturers operating in the global sound sensors market. Insights on sales, ex-factory price, revenue, price, and gross margin of each manufacturer for 2016 are provided with the help of tabular representation. GE Digital Solutions, Siemens, Sensor Technology, Cetacean Research Technology, Rockwell Automation, MaxBotix, Blatek, Bosch, and others are manufacturers analyzed in the study.Development trend analysis of the global sound sensors market is offered in the study based on market size, sales price, and consumption for the forecast period. Aforementioned parameters are analyzed based on each region for the forecast period with the help of tabular format. Marketing type analysis is discussed based regional marketing, international trade, and information on traders & distributors. Consumer analysis is provided in the research to help manufacturers gain insights on changing consumer preferences. Conclusions of the study are mentioned in the end.With the arsenal of different search reports, Big Market Research helps 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.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesDirect :+ 1-503-894-6022Toll Free : + 1-800-910-6452help@bigmarketresearch.com
Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Market Market Size, Share, Trends Analysis and Growth Forecast by Regions, Type and Application to 2022

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This report studies the Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Market status and outlook of global and major regions, from angles of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top manufacturers in global and major regions, and splits the Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) market is valued at XX million USD in 2016 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Request for Sample Copy of Global Flow Cytometry Market Report @Topmost Leading Manufacturer Covered in this report:1. Age UK2. Comfort Keepers3. SureSafe4. Medical Guardian5. Life Fone6. Bay Alarm Medical7. Alert18. Rescue Alert9. Life Station10. Phillips Lifeline11. Mobile Help ADT12. Call Alert13. Mylively14. TunstallBrowse The Complete Report with Full TOC @Some Major Key Points Covered in this report: This Report Studied on the basis of types, application, products, technology, etc. The Report Covered Market Segments by region:1. North America2. EU3. China4. Japan5. Southeast Asia6. India7. South America8. Middle East and Africa This Market Research Report of 2017 Flow Cytometry provides market demand, market size and forecast for different regions. This Report Divides by product type, with production, revenue, price, consumption, market share and growth rate of each type can be divided into:1. Mobile Type2. Landline Type3. Other Types This Report Divides by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Flow Cytometry in each application, can be divided into :1. Home Use2. Hospital Use3. OthersPlace Direct Purchase Order of this Report:Some Major Points Covered In List Of Tables:Chapter One: Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Market OverviewChapter Two: Global Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter Three: Global Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Production by Regions (2012-2017)Chapter Four: Global Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Consumption (K Units) by Regions (2012-2017)Chapter Five: Global Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypesChapter Six: Global Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Market Analysis by Applications Chapter Seven: Global Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Manufacturers Profiles/AnalysisChapter Eight: Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter Nine: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter Ten: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter Eleven: Market Effect Factors Analysis Chapter Twelve: Global Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS) Market Forecast (2017-2022)Chapter Thirteen: Research Findings and ConclusionChapter Fourteen: Methodology and Data SourceReason to Purchase this Report:1. The report of Flow Cytometry Market provides the detailed segmentation in terms of types, applications, manufacturers and regions.2. The current market scenario and future growth has also covered in this report.3. The research also offers manufacturing cost analysis, industry chain analysis in terms of upstream raw material sourcing and downstream buyers.4. Moreover, an extensive analysis of production, consumption, and revenue for each segment is offered for the forecast period.About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.comFollow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:For More PRs Visit @
Arak Market Manages Steady Growth with Rising Demand for Food

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Global Arak Market: SnapshotThe global arak market has been growing at a steady pace due to its rising popularity amongst the younger generation. The report states that the global market is likely to benefit from the adoption of arak as a key ingredient in a variety of cocktails in the coming years. Additionally, increasing production of arak and efforts put in by producers to preserve the ethnic drink are also expected to benefit the global market. Owing to these reasons, the global arak market is expected to be worth US$27.6 mn by 2024 end from US$20.8 mn in 2016. Between the forecast years of 2016 and 2024, the global market is projected to rise at a CAGR of 3.6%.Obtain Report Details @The research report states that the rise of bars, pubs, restaurants, and gourmet joints are expected to boost the growth of the global arak market in the coming years. The introduction of new brands and revival of this traditional drink with brilliant marketing strategies is expected to play an important role in the development of the overall market. Analysts predict that changing lifestyles, increasing disposable incomes, and emerging hospitality industry in countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Palestine is also expected to make a significant contribution to the soaring profits of the global arak market. The launch of types of arak such as delicate premium green, premium red classic, and premium black are also anticipated to lure in a new consumer base.Volatile Political Climate Increases Cost of ArakThe biggest challenge in the global arak market is the volatile political situation in Syria, which has considerably raised the prices of raw materials required for manufacturing arak. Thus, the high production costs have rendered higher selling prices, thereby creating a negative impact on the sales. The poor licensing policies and lack of regulatory norms governing the production of arak have also hampered the profits of arak market as it has allowed the production of homemade and unlabeled arak. Collectively, these factors are expected to restrain the global market in the coming years.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @In terms of the distribution channel, the global arak market is segmented into the supermarket, travel retail, liquor shop, and bar or pub. Analysts have high hopes from supermarkets to drive the sales of arak across the globe. The wide reach of supermarkets, ability to provide a broader range of products, and bulk storage are anticipated to work in favor of this segment. As of 2015, the supermarket segment was worth US$13.0 mn. The report concludes, that this distribution channel will continue to dominate the global market in the coming years.Middle East to Remain Key Consumer of ArakIn terms of geography, the global arak market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. The report indicates that the high demand for arak from the Middle Eastern countries is expected to keep this geographical segment at the forefront in the coming years. As of 2016, the Middle East and Africa held a share of 64.5% in the global market. Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon are expected to be the key consumers of arak in the near future.The key players operating in the global arak market are Lebanese Arak Corporation, Abi Raad Group Sarl, Kawar Arak, Eagle Distilleries Co, Haddad Distilleries, Chateau Ksara, Lebanese Fine Wines Ltd., and Domaine des Tourelles. These players are expected to strengthen their partnerships to expand businesses. Furthermore, companies are also expected to focus on product innovation and launch of new flavors to appeal to the younger population in the coming years.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Research of Smart and Mobile Supply Chain Solutions Market in Global Industry : Technology, Applications, Growth and Status 2017

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ALBANY, NY, April 25, 2017 : Supply chain management (SCM) is one of the critical components in todays global supply chain market. It enables manufacturing companies, wholesalers, and retailers to provide value to their customers through lower costs and superior products. As supply chain management is becoming one of the significant factors in the success of any business, the demand for advanced supply chain solutions is anticipated to grow significantly in the next few years. Thus, supply chain management software and services would continue to grow at a significantly higher rate when compared to other software companies providing higher return on investment to its investors.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @SCM is defined as the management of flow of goods within the supply chain. It majorly includes the storage and movement of raw materials, inventory management, and management of finished goods from point of production to consumption point. Interlinked and interconnected channels, networks, and node business are involved in the management of products and services which are required by the end customers in the supply chains. However, smart and mobile supply chain software and services majorly deal with the information generated within the supply chain. Smart and mobile supply chain management solutions help in collecting and managing the collected information. The product manufacturers and retailers use this information in demand forecasting, studying consumer behavior, and changing preferences of consumers.The research report on smart and mobile supply chain solutions market provides a detailed analysis of different components involved in the smart and mobile supply chain ecosystem and helps in understanding the driving forces behind the growing popularity of these solutions. It also provides an analysis of major segments of the smart and mobile supply chain solutions market for the period from 2012 to 2020. The report includes extensive analysis of the industry drivers, restraints, opportunities, and market trends. The study provides comprehensive assessment of the stakeholder strategies and imperatives for succeeding in the business. This research study focuses on providing market data and insights, including the size and growth of the smart and mobile supply chain solutions market. The report provides thorough analysis of the emerging industry trends and the current state of the market. It offers a comprehensive coverage of underlying technological and economic factors influencing the supply chain solutions business. The prevalent competition in the market is highlighted through the market share analysis of key players in the market. Additionally, the report includes profiles of major market participants for better understanding of their contribution. The company profiles include pointers namely overview of the company, revenue, strategies followed by them for gaining competitive advantage, and recent developments.The report segregates the global smart and mobile supply chain solutions market based on component and end-use application. Components in the smart and mobile supply chain solutions market have been categorized into software and services. Software segment include various software such as connected transportation management systems (TMS), connected warehouse management systems (WMS), connected sourcing and procurement, connected supply chain planning (SCP), connected manufacturing execution systems (MES), and connected analytics. The services segment comprises consulting, management and integration services. Further, the study also includes categorization of smart and mobile supply chain solutions market on the basis of end-use application into retail, IT and telecommunication, manufacturing, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), government, energy and utility, healthcare, logistics and transportation, and others (aerospace, hospitality, etc.). The report also provides cross-sectional analysis of the component (software and services) and end-use application segments across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).The global smart and mobile supply chain solutions market is categorized into the following segments:Smart and Mobile Supply Chain Solutions Market, by ComponentSoftwareConnected TMSConnected WMSConnected Sourcing and ProcurementConnected SCPConnected MESConnected AnalyticsServicesConsultingManagementIntegrationMake an Enquiry of this report @Smart and Mobile Supply Chain Solutions Market, by End-use ApplicationRetailIT and TelecommunicationManufacturingBFSIGovernmentEnergy and UtilityHealthcareLogistics and TransportationOthers (Aerospace, Hospitality, etc)Smart and Mobile Supply Chain Solutions Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMoz90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States
Powertrain Market Drivers and Challenges Report 2022

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Powertrain Market report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Powertrain from 2011-2017, and provides extensive market forecasts (2017-2022) by region/country and subsectors. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Induction Stove market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Induction Stove, and the opportunities/challenges faced by industry participants.Powertrain Testing is undergoing radical change, driven by the challenges that global society faces today. The need for reduced dependence on fossil fuels and improved carbon footprints is driving advances in the technologies used in all vehicles. Powertrain Market in turn has a direct impact on approaches to testing of powertrain components and systems.Scope of the Report: Powertrain Market report focuses on the Powertrain in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Complete Global Powertrain Market of 119 pages having tables and figures is available for purchase atPowertrain Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers -AKKA Technologies, Ricardo, FEV, ThyssenKrupp, Horiba, Applus+ IDIADA, Intertek, IAV, MAE, A&DThe lisetd pricing for this Powertrain Market report starts at US $3480. Request Discount for Global Powertrain Industry Research Report @Table of Contents in Global Powertrain Research Report10 Global Powertrain Market Segment by Type10.1 Global Powertrain Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)10.1.1 Global Powertrain Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)10.1.2 Global Powertrain Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)10.2 Engine Test Sales Growth and Price11 Global Powertrain Market Segment by Application11.1 Global Powertrain Sales Market Share by Application (2012-2017)11.2 Automotive Powertrain Components Manufacturers Sales Growth (2012-2017)11.3 Automotive Manufacturers Sales Growth (2012-2017)12 Powertrain Market Forecast (2017-2022)12.1 Global Powertrain Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)12.2 Powertrain Market Forecast by Regions (2017-2022)12.2.1 North America Powertrain Market Forecast (2017-2022)Browse full table of contents and data tables For Global Powertrain Report @Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers - North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers - Engine Test, Gearbox Test, Turbocharger Test, Powertrain Final Tests, OtherRequest a sample copy of Global Powertrain Market Research Report @Related Reports: -World Automotive Wire and Cable Market Research Report 2021(Covering USA, EU, China, South East Asia, India, Japan and etc)The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.Centralize market research purchases across your entire organization in one place.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.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
Network Accelerator Market Global Analysis & 2016-2020 Forecast Report

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This market analysis includes a detailed segmentation of the Global Network Accelerator Market by development trend and by application.The report covers the present year 2017 scenario and the growth prospects of the Global Network Accelerator Market for 2016-2020.The report Global Network Accelerator Market 2016-2020 has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The report also covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years.The Network Accelerator Market By Geography North America Asia-Pacific EuropeRequest a sample of Global Network Accelerator Market Research Report @The Global Network Accelerator Market research report is a complete study of current trends in the market, industry growth drivers, and restraints. It provides market projections for the coming years. It includes analysis of recent developments in technology. The report also includes a review of micro and macro factors essential for the existing market players and new entrants along with detailed value chain analysis.Global Network Accelerator Market key players are: Company A Company B Company C Company DBrowse the full Global Network Accelerator Market Research Report @The report provides an extensive analysis of current and future market status of the world Network Accelerator market.Some of the points from table of content:Industry Overview Definition Classification Share Analysis Application AnalysisMarket Analysis Product Development History Process Development History Competitive Landscape AnalysisIndustry Development Trend Capacity Production Overview Production Market Share Analysis Demand OverviewMarket Status and Forecast Supply Demand and Shortage Import Export Consumption Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginReasons for Buying this Global Network Accelerator Market Research Report This report helps to analyzed the world's main region market conditions It provides product manufacturing processes It provides industry policies and plans It provides overview of product specification It provides cost structures & so on.The Report Contains: 157 Pages.Price of the report: 2850$ (single user license)Check discount @About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Follow us on G+ :
Global PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors Market 2017 - Ion Science, MSA Safety, Industrial Scientific, Detcon

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PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors are portable vapor and gas detector that detects a variety of organic compounds. Photo ionization occurs when an atom or molecule absorbs light of sufficient energy to cause an electron to leave and create a positive ion.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Request For Sample Report @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversHoneywell Analytics (RAE Systems)Ion ScienceMSA SafetyDr?gerIndustrial ScientificRKI Instruments (RIKEN KEIKI)Tyco Gas & Flame DetectionDetconPID Analyzers LLC (HNU)Shenzhen Nuoan EnvironmentalMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversFixed PID Sensors and DetectorsPortable PID Sensors and DetectorsMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoEnergyIndustrialEnvironmentGovernmentAccess Full Report With TOC @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors market.Chapter 1, to describe PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors, with sales, revenue, and price of PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe PID (Photoionization Detection) Sensors and Detectors sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceAbout 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 ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
HELSINKI-An exhibition, The Forbidden City - Life in the Court of Chinese Emperors, opened on Friday in Tampere, in southwestern Finland.

This is the first time that Chinese historical relics from the Palace Museum in Beijing are being exhibited in the Nordic region.

The Chinese red is the predominant color at the exhibition venues, which are decorated with Chinese elements such as lanterns, wood carvings and columns.

The relics on show include Emperor Qianlong's throne and robe, Emperor Kangxi's helmet and cotton amour, as well as incense burner tables and screens.

Marjo-Riitta Saloniemi, the exhibition manager at the Museum Center Vapriikki in Tampere, says in addition to local residents, visitors from Sweden, Estonia and neighboring countries are also expected to visit the exhibition.

The vice-president of the Palace Museum, Song Jirong, says even though the exhibition is not as large as previous ones held in other European countries, the exhibits are exquisite objects, with some being displayed abroad for the first time.

Xinhua
Cheese Sauce Market 2017 - Casa Fiesta, Funacho, Tatua, McCormick, Kewpie, Kerry Gruop

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A market study based on the " Cheese Sauce Market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Cheese Sauce Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Cheese Sauce industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Cheese Sauce market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This Report1. Gehl Foods2. Prego3. Knorr4. Ricos5. Kraft Foods6. Ragu7. Southeastern Mills8. Conagra9. Berner Foods10. AFP advanced food products11. Nestle12. Bay Valley13. California CreameryThe report studies the industry for Cheese Sauce across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Cheese Sauce market & dynamics of demand and supply of Cheese Sauce into consideration. The ' Cheese Sauce ' research study covers each and every aspect of the Cheese Sauce market globally, which starts from the definition of the Cheese Sauce industry and develops towards Cheese Sauce market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Cheese Sauce market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Cheese Sauce market. The geographical segmentation of the Cheese Sauce industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Cheese Sauce is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Cheese Sauce market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Cheese Sauce market worldwide.Enquire Before Buying @The global Cheese Sauce market 2017 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Cheese Sauce production volume, data regarding demand and Cheese Sauce supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Cheese Sauce across the globe.About UsWe provide global enterprises and businesses across different industry verticals comprehensive market research services from off-the-shelf research reports to customized research conducted by our highly experienced industry analysts.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development HeadEmail id - sales@apexresearch.bizWebsite -
Top Baby Monitor Market Research Report, Monitor Sale, Review in Global Industry

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A baby monitor is a device used to remotely listen to sounds made by a baby as well as track its movements. It comprises transmitter and a microphone. The baby monitor industry witnessed consistent growth since past few years. These monitors are most popular in the developed countries, such as U.S., Canada, and Western Europe. Introduction of high-end baby monitors with advanced features and improved online retailing have propelled the growth of the market in these regions.Enquiry About report:Key point from Table of content7. Company profiles7.1. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.7.1.1. Overview- baby monitor sale statistics7.1.2. Financials and business segments7.1.3. Recent developments7.2. Dorel Industries Inc.7.2.1. Overview- baby monitor market analysis7.2.2. Financials and business segments7.2.3. Recent developments7.3. LOREX Technology Inc. (FLIR Systems, Inc.)7.3.1. Overview7.3.2. Financials and business segments7.3.3. Recent developmentsMarket Players:The top players in the global baby monitor market include Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Dorel Industries Inc., Angelcare Monitors Inc., LOREX Technology Inc., VTech Holdings Ltd., ShenZhen Foscam Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd, Summer Infant Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V, Nest Lab. Inc., and Withings Inc.Request Sample:Market Dynamics:Drivers: (baby monitor sales statistics) Increase in the number of nuclear families Rise in number of working parents Growth in awareness about baby safety Increase in disposable incomeRestraints: Decline in birth rate due to sedentary lifestyle Safety concerns associated with these productsMARKET LANDSCAPE By Type Audio VideoThe global baby monitors market is segmented based on type, mode of connection, and geography. Based on type, baby monitors are categorized as audio and video baby monitors. Market is categorized as wired and wireless baby monitors depending on mode of connection.Discount on report:By Mode of Connection (baby monitor market size) Wired WirelessBy Geography North Americao U.S.o Canadao Mexico Europeo UKo Germanyo Franceo Spaino Italyo Rest of EuropeWireless baby monitors offer the advantage of portability as well as ease of installation and connection as these can be easily connected to WLAN. The global baby monitors market is analyzed based on geographical regions, which include North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.About us:Progressive Markets is the answer to every possible business query. It is a market research and business consulting firm, headquartered in U.S. that aims to deliver conversant executive support to foster overall growth of an organization in its domain.The company was found with an initiative to bridge the gap between enterprises and global opportunities. It is driven by the sole motive to build an effective channel to communicate up-to-date qualitative and quantitative market intelligence with all-scale participants.Contact us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220,United States.Int'l: +1-971-202-1575Toll Free: ++ 1-800-910-6452Fax: +1-800-792-5285help@progressivemarkets.com
Alternative Healthcare Providers Market Scope and Trends Report by 2023

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Complementary or Alternative medicine(CAM) refers to different medical therapies and systems outside of conventional healthcare to improve and treat the mental and physical illness.CAM therapies are based on the knowledge, practices and skills derived from theories, experiences and philosophies to improve and maintain health, as well as to diagnose, prevent, and treat various disorders. Alternative healthcare providers offer a variety of medical and healthcare systems, products and practices used by patients without medical supervision. CAM therapies are particularly used by people with chronic illnesses and pain, such as liver disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancer. Alternative system of healthcare include Ayurveda, unani medicines, yoga, acupuncture, homeopathic medicines and others systems of healthcare.Browse the Complete Report Details at:Complementary or Alternative medicine can be categorized on the basis ofIntervention> Alternative medical systems> Mind-body interventions> Biologically based therapies> Physical manipulation> Energy therapies.Types> Ayurveda> Yoga> Naturopathy> Homeopathy> Unani> Siddha> Acupressure> Acupuncture> OthersNow a days, people are evidently looking for more gentle and natural methods of healing and thus are increasingly supporting different types of CAM therapies within existing healthcare systems that will subsequently lead to the growth of alternative healthcare providers market. According to an article published by the EUROCAM, an association of European CAM organizations, currently, CAM is practiced by around 145,000 doctors trained in conventional medicine and a particular CAM modality. The rising awareness and interest of healthcare professionals in CAM therapies is expected to drive the market of alternative healthcare providers market. Moreover, the World Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organization WHO has urged its member states to integrate CAM and traditional medicine within national healthcare system. This would further boost the market for alternative healthcare providers.The global alternative healthcare providers market is witnessing an admirable growth due to medical advancements, high number of research activities in this segment and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. The increasing prevalence of different cancers in developed as well as developing countries has resulted in a significant growth in alternative healthcare providers market. According to WHO, 14.1 million new cases of cancer were observed and 8.2 million deaths occurred throughout the world in 2012. This significant rise in cancer incidence has driven the growth of CAM therapies. However, lack of awareness and unregulated market may hinder the growth of alternative healthcare providers market.In terms of geography, alternative healthcare providers market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East. Among these regions, North accounts for the largest share of alternative healthcare providers market due to increasing awareness about various CAM therapies among people and rising prevalence of chronic disorders such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer. Europe accounts for the second largest market for alternative healthcare providers owing to high acceptability of various CAM therapies, rising incidence chronic diseases and high disposable income. However, Asia Pacific market is expected to witness positive growth due to high rate of development in healthcare industry, rising demand for herbal and natural medicines and growing medical tourism industry.Obtain the Sample Report Containing the Future Analysis for this Market at:The global alternative healthcare providers market is highly fragmented due to the participation of mid-sized and small sized manufacturers. Some of the major players in alternative healthcare providers market includes Allen Labratories Ltd. Baidyanath Herbal, Dabur Limited, Hamdard Laboratories, Medisynth Ch. Pvt. Ltd., and SBL Homeopathy Medicines.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:
Long Term Care Market Growth and Regional Forecast by 2023

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Long term care (LTC) service contains a variety of services provided by nursing homes, day care centres, home health agencies and from family or friends. Long term care service comprises a broad range of personal care, healthcare and supportive care services. It is required for geriatrics people and adult who are unable to take self care due to injury, cognitive or mental disability and chronic illness. Long term care service provides support to people in regain quality of life and in improving an optimal level of physical functioning of life.Browse the Complete Report Details at:The global market for long term care can be segmented as follows:Based on Services provided> Social work services> Mental health or counseling services> Therapeutic services> Skilled nursing or nursing services> Pharmacy or pharmacist services> Hospice servicesIn the United States social work services are provided by nursing homes and home health agencies. In addition, Medicare certification is required for providing social work services in the United States. Whereas, mental health and counseling services are provided by nursing homes and residential care communities while very few adult care centers are offered this kind of services. Likewise, therapeutics services are offered by mostly all home health agencies and nursing homes in the U.S. Majority of the adult day service centers in the U.S. are offered only therapeutic services. Pharmacy and pharmacist services are offered by nursing home and residential care communities in the U.S. while fewer adult care centers provided this kind of service. Moreover, hospice services are offered mostly by residential care communities while a small percentage (5.6%, CDC 2013) of home health agencies offered hospice services.The global market for long term care is witnessing a significant growth due to rapid increase of geriatric population worldwide. Moreover, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases also supported the market growth of global long term care. As an instance, people with 85 years of age or above are expected to reach 17.9 million by 2050 in the U.S. stated by U.S. Census Bureau in the year 2012. Moreover, extensive government support is the major factor for the market growth of long term cares in developed nations such the U.S. and U.K. For instance, Medicare and Medicaid is a national social insurance programme governed by the U.S. federal government which pays the major portion of long term care cost of an individual (CDC report 2013). Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also published that the long term care service cost of the U.S. in the year 2013 was around USD 210.9 billion.15 million people in the U.S. used long term care service in 2000 and it is expected to increase and reach 27 million by 2050 stated by Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. This is due to growth in older adult population, because long term care services increases with increase in age. Two third of the individual who has crossed 65 years of age need long term care for the rest of life in the U.S. stated by Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in 2013.Obtain the Sample Report Containing the Future Analysis for this Market at:North America and Europe are observed to be the largest long term care market due to growing geriatric population and extensive government support for long term care. Moreover, Asia - Pacific is considered as an emerging market due to strong economic growth forecasted in some Asian countries such as India, China, Japan and Malaysia.Some of the major market players contributing in the global market share of long term care includes AARP Long Term Care, American General Life (AIG), Lincoln Financial Group, New York Life Insurance Company, State Farm Insurance, Thrivent For Lutherans and others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Radome Market 2016 Industry, Analysis, Research, Share, Growth, Sales, Trends, Supply, Forecast to 2021

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Qyresearchreports include new market research reportGlobal Radome Market 2016 Industry, Analysis, Research, Share, Growth, Sales, Trends, Supply, Forecast to 2021 to its huge collection of research reports.This market intelligence report examines extensively the trends in the global Radome 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.Get Report Sample and Customization:The publication further presents a valuation of the facets that are likely to prevent or encourage the expansion of the global Radome market. The global Radome 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 Radome market. The estimated revenue and volume valuation of the global market for Radome 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 Radome 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.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Radome1.1 Definition and Specifications of Radome1.1.1 Definition of Radome1.1.2 Specifications of Radome1.2 Classification of Radome1.3 Applications of Radome1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Radome1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Radome1.5.1 Industry Overview of Radome1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Radome1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Radome1.7 Industry News Analysis of RadomeOrder a copy of complete Research Report @2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Radome2.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Radome2.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Radome2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Radome2.4 Other Costs Analysis of Radome2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Radome2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Radome3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Radome3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Radome Major Manufacturers in 20153.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Radome Major Manufacturers in 20153.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Radome Major Manufacturers in 20153.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Radome Major Manufacturers in 20154 Capacity, Production and Revenue Analysis of Radome by Regions, Types and Manufacturers4.1 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Radome by Regions 2011-20164.2 Global and Major Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of Radome 2011-20164.3 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Radome by Types 2011-20164.4 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Radome by Manufacturers 2011-20165 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Radome by Regions, Types and Manufacturers5.1 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Radome by Regions 2011-20165.2 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Radome by Types 2011-20165.3 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Radome by Manufacturers 2011-2016Explore New Reports on Semiconductor market @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Building Information Modeling (BIM) Market - Advancements, Scope Of Market, Market size and Growth, Global Industry Report 2025

Building Information Modeling (BIM) Market

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Building information modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of a construction project used by architects, engineers, and other construction professionals. It helps in planning, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining the diverse physical infrastructure coupled with speedy data exchange among the involved entities. BIM is a computer-aided workflow that utilizes various software, solution, and services to deliver effective planning of construction project.BIM has been popular among end users, owing to its lucrative advantages such as increased return on investments (ROIs), time and money saving. Rapidly increasing number of construction projects globally, rising awareness of BIM & associated benefits, and growing demand for automated models in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry are the major factors boosting its adoption in the construction industry, especially for commercial and infrastructure projects. Moreover, government mandates regarding the use of BIM in building constructions are expected to boost its adoption worldwide.Global Building Information Modeling Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 22.0% from 2017 to 2025.Market By Solution Software ServiceRequest Sample Report:Market Dynamics:Drivers: Enhanced productivity through interoperability Government mandates for BIM usage Growing construction industryRestraints: High cost of BIM software Lack of trained professionalsMarket By Deployment Type On-premise Cloud-basedMarket Players:The key players profiled in this report include Beck Technology, Ltd., Autodesk, Inc., Dassault Systemes SA, Trimble Navigation Ltd., Synchro Software Ltd., Pentagon Solutions Ltd., Bentley Systems, Inc., Cadsoft Corporation, Nemetschek AG., and Asite Solutions Limited.Market By End User Architect/Engineer Contractor Others (owners and consultants)Enquire About Report:Market By Industry Vertical Commercial Residential Infrastructure Institutional IndustrialMarket By Geography North Americao U.S.o Canadao Mexico Europeo UKo Germanyo Franceo Spaino Italyo Rest of Europe Asia-Pacifico Chinao Japano Indiao Australiao South Koreao Rest of Asia-Pacific LAMEAo Brazilo Saudi Arabiao South Africao Rest of LAMEACustomized Report:Table of Content Contain1. Executive summary1.1. Key findings1.2. Market attractiveness and trend analysis1.3. Competitive landscape and recent industry development analysis2. Introduction2.1. Report description2.2. Scope and definitions2.3. Research methodology3. Market landscape3.1. Growth drivers3.1.1. Impact analysis3.2. Restraints and challenges3.2.1. Impact analysis3.3. Porters analysis3.3.1. Bargaining power of buyers3.3.2. Bargaining power of suppliers3.3.3. Threat of substitutes3.3.4. Industry rivalry3.3.5. Threat of new entrants3.4. Global building information modeling (BIM) market shares analysis, 2014-2025ContinuedList of TablesContain 47 TablesList of FiguresContain 50 FiguresDiscount on Full Report:About UsProgressive Markets is the answer to every possible business query. It is a market research and business consulting firm, headquartered in U.S. that aims to deliver conversant executive support to foster overall growth of an organization in its domain.Reach Us5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220,United States.Int'l: +1-971-202-1575Toll Free: ++ 1-800-910-6452Fax: +1-800-792-5285help@progressivemarkets.com
Global Power Line Carrier System Sales Market Report 2017

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Qyresearchreports include new market research reportGlobal Power Line Carrier System Sales Market Report 2017 to its huge collection of research reports.This report on the global Power Line Carrier System market is a rich data repository assembled with the aim of presenting before the reader a new viewpoint on the markets present state and estimated future growth. The report compiles vast data quantitative as well as qualitative insights into the key elements of the market. The report is intended to impart decisive data on the global Power Line Carrier System market so as to enable the reader formulate effective growth strategies, take informed decisions, and stay ahead of the competition.The report includes a discussion of the key market trends of the past and present times affecting consumer choices and having a significant influence on the overall development of the Power Line Carrier System markets growth. A detailed analysis of the key drivers and restraints is also included in the report, along with an analytical overview of the prospective impact of these factors on the future growth prospects of the market.Get Report Sample and Customization:Through detailed analysis of historical data pertaining to current market trends and the key market elements, the report presents an accuracy-driven forecast for the Power Line Carrier System market. This forecast on the Power Line Carrier System market also includes all factors that could influence it in the near future.The report also gives a thorough overview of all the key factors that are a part of the structural foundation of the market. An overview of the regulatory scenario of the global Power Line Carrier System market has also been included in the report, wherein details pertaining to key rules, policies, regulations, and plans are discussed.The report also gives an insight into the competitive landscape of the market by providing detailed business profiles of some of the key vendors operating in the global Power Line Carrier System market and other relevant business details pertaining to the key players in the market.Table of ContentsGlobal Power Line Carrier System Sales Market Report 20171 Power Line Carrier System Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Power Line Carrier System1.2 Classification of Power Line Carrier System1.2.1 Broadband1.2.2 Narrowband1.3 Application of Power Line Carrier System1.3.1 Smart Grid1.3.2 Indoor Networking1.3.3 M2M1.3.4 Others1.4 Power Line Carrier System Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)Explore Full Report with TOC in Detail @2 Global Power Line Carrier System Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Power Line Carrier System Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Power Line Carrier System Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Power Line Carrier System (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Power Line Carrier System Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Power Line Carrier System (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Power Line Carrier System Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.4 Global Power Line Carrier System (Volume) by Application3 United States Power Line Carrier System (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Power Line Carrier System Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Power Line Carrier System Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Power Line Carrier System Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Power Line Carrier System Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 United States Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Application4 China Power Line Carrier System (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Power Line Carrier System Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Power Line Carrier System Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Power Line Carrier System Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Power Line Carrier System Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 China Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 China Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Application5 Europe Power Line Carrier System (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Power Line Carrier System Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 Europe Power Line Carrier System Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 Europe Power Line Carrier System Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 Europe Power Line Carrier System Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 Europe Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 Europe Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Power Line Carrier System Sales and Market Share by ApplicationRead More @QYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
4th International conference on Brain Disorders and Brain Injury

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Dear Members,I hope you are doing wellThis is Karlin Zoe; we would like to invite at our upcoming 4th International Conference on Brain Disorder and Brain Injury on August 14-16, 2017 at Toronto, CanadaParticipate at this conference and earn up to 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits TMMark your calendar as busy on August 14-16, 2017; they are the official dates for the Brain Injury 2017.Participation benefits:Claim CME Credits approved by AMA and ACCMEClaim CPD Credits by CPD Standards Office, UKWill be felicitated with IOCM CertificateHandbook & conference KitAbstracts will be published with DOI number by Cross RefTheres Lot more fabulous things will be scheduled at the conference, so Im sure youll find the perfect fit for you.We have so many great things planned for this year Conference, with advance research oriented presentations, as well as R&D and academic sessions in a great mix, which quite possibly makes Brain Injury 2017 as the great conference in the arena.You can get a lot more information towards our event at:Hurry up and enrol your members participationRegardsKarlin ZoeConference managerBrain Injury 2017T: 702 508 5200 Ext 8034E: braininjury@alliedconferences.orgMeet Inspiring Speakers and Experts at our 1000+ Global Events comprehensive of 300+ Conferences, 500+ Workshops and 200+ Symposiums consistently on Pharma, Medicine, Science and Technology.85 Great Portland St, Marylebone, London W1W 7LT, UKUSA/Canada Toll Free: 1-800-858-2189UK Toll Free: 0-800-086-8979E-mail: contact@alliedacademies.com
RTI Connext Conference Munich, May 9-10

The third RTI Connext Conference takes place on May 9-10 in Munich, Germany.

https://www.rti.com/munich-connext-con-2017

www.rti.com

www.lorenzoni.de

SUNNYVALE (USA)/London, April 2017  How to design smarter and more secure systems that connect the Industrial Internet of Things? On this topic, Real-Time Innovations (RTI), the IIoT connectivity platform company, is bringing its third annual Connext Conference to Munich. This two-day conference is the worlds largest gathering of DDS users and experts, which will take place on May 9-10 at the Munich Airport Marriott Hotel.The Connext Conference delivers information on developing smarter, more secure systems that connect the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The event will include hands-on workshops, keynotes by RTI customers and executives, as well as interactive demos. Participants will also get an inside look into the latest news about RTIs Connext DDS software. Featured speakers, like Dr. Stan Schneider, CEO at RTI, Dr. Gerardo Pardo-Castellote, Chief Technology Officer at RTI, and Ken Brophy, Principal Applications Engineer at RTI, will share the basics of building and updating a system's architecture to meet the changing demands of the IIoT.Attendees will gain a better understanding of the software framework, learn how to minimize the risk of data in motion in IIoT systems and accelerate development processes for IIoT applications in various industries, such as Autonomous Driving, Energy and Healthcare.We are thrilled to welcome partners and customers to our annual users conference for a third year, said Stan Schneider, CEO at RTI. Our users are a diverse group, offering invaluable insight and expertise on the Industrial Internet across a wide range of platforms and applications.To register for this event, please visit:Real-Time Innovations (RTI) is the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connectivity company. The RTI Connext databus is a software framework that shares information in real time, making applications work together as one, integrated system. It connects across field, fog and cloud. Its reliability, security, performance and scalability are proven in the most demanding industrial systems. Deployed systems include medical devices and imaging; wind, hydro and solar power; autonomous planes, trains and cars; traffic control; Oil and Gas; robotics, ships and defense.RTI is the largest vendor of products based on the Object Management Group (OMG) Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard. RTI is privately held and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.Real-Time Innovations (RTI)London Barbican 88 Wood StreetLondon, EC2V 7RSUnited Kingdominfo@rti.comPress contact:Agentur Lorenzoni GmbH, Public Relationsinfo@lorenzoni.de
Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Market 2017 - Honeywell, SGL Group, Mersen, Rubin Aviation Corporation JSC

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Report covers Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc global sales and global Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market growth rate [2011 to 2021]. Below is the list of some key points of Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market report.The Apex Research study convey remarkable naturalistic facts and statistics of the worldwide Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market. The report presents a deep study of the market growth factors and drivers. In-depth research of the Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Market limitations and the opportunities enable the user to make the future projection. The report also covers proceeding Market trends depends on the technological advancements, innovations and manufacturing procedure.Get Free Sample of Report:Worldwide Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Manufacturers Analysis/Key Competitors :-1. Safran Landing Systems2. UTC Aerospace Systems3. Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems4. Honeywell5. Rubin Aviation Corporation JSC6. SGL Group7. Hunan Boyun New Materials Co., Ltd8. Mersen9. Lantai Aviation Equipment10. Xian Aviation Brake Technology Co., Ltd11. Luhang Carbon Materials12. CFC CARBON CO., LTD13. Xian Chaoma Technology Co., Ltd14. Beijing Baimtec Material Co., LtdGlobal Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Market 2017 report also has a explanation of Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in % value for the particular period for Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market that will assist the user to conclude the decision based on a futuristic chart. The Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Market report also contains detail information of the key Manufacturers along with suppliers as well as vendors. The report also focuses on the geographical distribution of the Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market across the globe with the analysis done by our qualified researchers.The Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market report provides an in-depth overview of various segments based on product type, technology, end-users and application. The regional analysis of the Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market is developed by considering the performance of the Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc industry in the particular region. Thus, the similar analysis is used to estimate the upcoming forecast of the global Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market.A] Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Market by Regions:-1. North America Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market Status, Prospect (2011-2021)2. China Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market Status, Prospect (2011-2021)3. Europe Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market Status, Prospect (2011-2021)4. Japan Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market Status, Prospect (2011-2021)5. South east Asia Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc market Status, Prospect (2011-2021)6. 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Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Marketing Strategy Analysis,2. Distributors/Traders of Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc ,3. Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Market Positioning,J] Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Market Effect Factors Analysis also covered.K] Worldwide Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Sales, Revenue Forecast:-1. Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Sales Forecast (2017 to 2021) by Regions,2. Global Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Sales Forecast (2017 to 2021) by Type,3. Aircraft Carbon Brake Disc Sales Forecast by Application.About UsWe provide global enterprises and businesses across different industry verticals comprehensive market research services from off-the-shelf research reports to customized research conducted by our highly experienced industry analysts.Contact UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development HeadEmail id - sales@apexresearch.bizWebsite -
The Balkan country sees China's 'new Silk Road' as a means of achieving growth via greater involvement in its home region and across the globe.

With a population of 7 million, roughly the same as a number of Chinese cities, Serbia will enjoy rapid economic growth, climbing from last year's 2.8 percent to 3.5 percent in 2019, according to the World Bank.

The bank's latest updates suggest the Balkan country's prospects are even rosier than those of the European Union economies, which will average about 2 percent a year.

The promising outlook is partly a result of the country's plan to become a regional transportation hub, which has seen Serbia deepen investment in roads, rails, the expansion of urban infrastructure and even construction of high-tech business parkssimilar to the growth engines used in a number of cities in China.

Chinese investors have contributed to the rising level of investment.

"The scale of China's investment in ongoing projects and in the pipeline totals about $10 billion," Li Manchang, China's ambassador to Serbia, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily in Belgrade, the capital.

Li said the developments are mainly the result of the Serbian leadership's recognition of the significance of the Belt and Road Initiative. The two sides signed a memorandum of cooperation in 2015.

Citing Serbia's President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who is also president-elect, Li said they have repeatedly emphasized that the initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, will help the world economy emerge from stagnation after the 2008 global financial crisis.

"So, Serbia's top leaders urged their country to grasp the opportunity to find synergies with the initiative," he said.

Ivica Dacic, Serbia's first deputy prime minister and foreign minister, confirmed that Vucic will head the country's delegation at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing next month.

"This speaks volumes about the importance Serbia attaches to this significant initiative of global character," he said.

Nikolic paid a state visit to China earlier this year, following President Xi's visit to the Balkan country in June. He also attended a ceremony in Beijing in 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

Dacic is looking forward to the start of direct flights between Serbia and China, which are under discussion, while special prominence has been given to the construction of a high-speed rail link between Belgrade and Budapest, the Hungarian capital, which will form a pioneering transportation network along the land-sea link between China and Europe.

"This is an opportunity for regional development, the greater sale of goods and the flow of goods and people," he said.

He added that Serbia aspires to have the closest possible connections with the world: "In that context, we want to see even stronger cooperation momentum with China in infrastructure investment to make Serbia the regional transportation hub."

In response, Li referred to several "firsts" in bilateral cooperation. He noted that the first bridge built by the Chinese in Europe is located on the Serbian stretch of the River Danube, and the high-speed railway linking Belgrade and Budapest will be the first on the continent to be built by the Chinese. The project is expected to be started within the year, once the European Commission completes supervision of loan agreements. Moreover, Serbia was the first country to grant Chinese passport holders visa-free entry for stays of up to 30 days.

According to Li, Chinese companies are building highways and electricity generation plants in Serbia, and Chinese investors have already signed a contract with Belgrade's municipal government for construction of a ring road in the city.

Chinese companies are also working to improve Belgrade's wastewater treatment facilities and heating network. Meanwhile, a number of Chinese businesses are vying to win a contract to construct an electricity generation project, which has total investment of $900 million.

China will also help to construct an industrial park covering 300 hectares in its first phase, Li said, adding that having signed the memorandum of cooperation, both sides are hoping to sign an agreement by the end of the year to pave the way for ground to be broken next year.

"Some other Balkan countries have shown 'envy' towards Serbia, which has taken the opportunity of enhancing cooperation with China," he said. "I think Serbia has taken the lead in that regard, and other European countries may follow suit."

According to Branislav Djordjevic, director of the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, given the political and economic situation in the Balkans, it is easy to see how important participation in the Belt and the Road Initiative is, not only for Serbia but for all countries in the region.

He said the institute has long been interested in China, but interest really surged after the conclusion of a strategic partnership between the two countries in 2009. Now, great attention is being focused on the Belt and Road Initiative, which consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

"It is an old truth that prosperity brings peace and stability," he said, adding that the initiative has helped Serbia become more qualified as an EU member. "Since many countries are looking for EU membership, it would be easier for them to be absorbed as economically and politically stable entities. With certain necessary adjustments, combined with the synergies of the Belt and Road Initiative, Serbia could be an engine of progress."

Radosav Pusic, dean of the Confucius Institute in Belgrade, was in full agreement with that view. He said Serbia is a small Balkan country and at critical moments in history, it has been a hostage to fortune.

"When great powers play games, small countries suffer. Belgrade has been destroyed more than 40 times, and we even suffered wars in the 1990s," he said.

The country's economy stagnated for several years after NATO's military action against Serbia ended in the late 1990s, and the 2008 global financial crisis made things even harder. Those difficulties resulted in many young people leaving the country.

Pusic said this is a "historic moment" for Serbia because the country's economic and investment activities with China have become more frequent than ever, thanks to the cooperation framework for the Belt and Road Initiative.

"This is the result of a firmer political and strategic partnership between the countries, which has laid solid foundations for other encounters," said Pusic, a renowned scholar who has written or translated 30 books about classic Chinese literature, poetry and philosophy. He is currently writing a book about the history of ancient Chinese philosophy.

"Against this background, many people in Serbia have shown an interest in the Belt and Road Initiative," he said. "But if it had been raised 10 years ago, recognition would not have been that easy."

Greater efforts will be required, especially on the cultural and publicity fronts, he said.

"The initiative is a concept with tremendous significance, and it offers another perspective to learn more about China. I will do more to help Serbians understand China's traditional culture."

Zheng Jinqiang in Brussels contributed to this story

Contact the writer at fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
Explore the Cyber security Industry Global Market Trends, Share, Size and 2022 Forecast Report

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Research Beam has added a report, titled, Cyber security Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecasts, 2014-2022Cyber security incorporates the safety of assets from cyber-crime and terrorism and other network service interruptions that affect daily operations. Cyber security can be accomplished through active monitoring, exposure of outages or malicious movement, and timely response to disruptions.With the proliferation of cloud, mobility, and bring your own device (BYOD), endpoint protection is crucial for all security departments. Cyber security threats and vulnerabilities can change from day to day, and even hour to hour. Effective steps for managing cyber risks today are unlikely to suffice for very long, and thus maintaining security in a wireless environment is challenging for most vendors in the ecosystem.Cyber threats affect more than just the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure of a company. These threats cause disruptions to the entire network that impact principal business functions and mission. Moreover, organizations evaluate cyber security in terms of direct influence to the successful execution of an organizations primary mission.For further inquiries & request sample >>>The growth in volume and sophistication of cyber-attacks majorly drive the market growth. Partnerships and acquisitions were the key strategies adopted by the market players to enhance their market share. For instance, Tenable Network Security collaborated with Thycotic, a provider of Privileged Account Management solutions. AurionPro Solutions, a global leader in enterprise security acquired Spikes Security, a network-based web malware provider. This acquisition enabled AurionPro to expand its customer base and develop a broader product portfolio by leveraging low cost R&D.Based on solutions, global cyber security market is segmented into risk and compliance management, security incident management, Unified Threat Management (UTM), Identity and Access Management (IAM), encryption, intrusion prevention systems, and others. The UTM trend is expected to increase as these are typically purchased as cloud services, and include advanced features such as identity based access control, intrusion prevention, and Quality of Service.Browse Report with TOC at -KEY BENEFITS The study provides an in-depth analysis of the cyber security market along with current and future trends to elucidate the imminent investment pockets. Information regarding key drivers, restraints, and opportunities along with their impact analysis on the cyber security market is discussed. Porters Five Forces analysis illustrates the potency of buyers and suppliers in the cyber security market. The value chain analysis of the cyber security market signifies the key intermediaries involved, and elaborates their roles & value additions at every stage. The quantitative analysis of the market from 2014 to 2022 is provided to elaborate the market potential.KEY MARKET SEGMENTSThe cyber security market is segmented on the basis of solutions, services, deployment type, user type, industry verticals, and geography.Ask for Discount @KEY MARKET PLAYERS PROFILED IN THE REPORT Cisco Systems IBM Corporation Intel Corporation Symantec Corporation HPE Trend Micro FireEye Sophos Verizon Communications Dell EMC (RSA Security)COMPANIES MENTIONED IN THE REPORTCato Networks, Fireglass, A10 Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Check Point Software Technologies, Forescout Technologies, Rapid7, Zimperium, Linoma Software, InsideSecure, Coresec, and SecuEra Technologies.About Us:With the arsenal of different search reports, Research Beam helps 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.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive, #205, Portland, OR 97220Web:
Global PET Packaging Market is expected to cross USD 75.4 Billion at CAGR of approximately 5.6% by 2022

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Market Synopsis of PET Packaging MarketThe key drivers of PET packaging are increasing foreign investment and rapid industrialization in the emerging nations. The global plastics industry is observing a continuous shift of production. Asia has become the largest and the fastest growing market for plastics in the world. The packaging industry is highly application driven. Industries such as pharmaceuticals, food & beverages, consumer goods among other utilize PET packaging in a big way. However, Food and beverages is the dominant industry due to increasing demand for packaged food items from all across the globe. The demand from the healthcare industry is also expected to drive the global PET packaging market to a large extent, after food & beverages. Plastic leads the market by material. It is the most preferred material when it comes to packaging due to its properties such as durability, firmness, and light-weight. On the basis of region, Asia Pacific region accounts for the fastest growing market, followed by North America and Europe. The region has seen an increased consumption of PET packaging from all major industries. The global PET packaging market size was valued at around USD 53 billion in 2015 and is expected to cross USD 75.4 Billion at CAGR of approximately 5.6% by 2022.Market Segmentation By Type; Rigid and Flexible By Product; Bottles & jars, Bags & pouches, Lids/caps & closures, Trays By Application; Food & Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Consumer goods, Personal careRequest a Sample Report @Study Objectives of PET Packaging Market To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 6 years of various segments and sub-segments of the Global PET Packaging Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the Global PET Packaging Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, product, application, and regions To provide strategic profiling of the key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global PET Packaging MarketBrowse Report Details @Key PlayersThe key players of global pet packaging market report include Amcor Limited Berry Plastic Group Inc., Graham Packaging CCL Industries Inc. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Smurfit Kappa Group PLC Gerresheimer AG Huhtamaki Group KG Resilux NV Klockner Pentaplast Company GTX Hanex Plastic Sp. z o.oTarget Audience Manufactures Raw Materials Suppliers Aftermarket suppliers Research Institute / Education Institute Potential Investors Key executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerRequest Table of Contents for this Report @Regional Analysis of Global PET Packaging MarketAPAC is the fastest growing market for PET packaging, followed by North America and Europe. The share of APAC is attributed to the rapid urbanization and population growth. The emerging nations of APAC are seen as low cost regions which induces the industrial growth. This further fuels the demand for such packaging across various industries. The demand for packaged food has gone up in Asian countries due to changing lifestyles and thus the demand for packaging materials in the sector has increased. After the economic liberalization the growth in the plastic industry was boosted in India. Asia has become the largest and the fastest growing market for plastics in the world.Product AnalysisProduct matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product typesAdditional Information Regulatory Landscape Pricing Analysis Macroeconomic IndicatorsGeographic AnalysisGeographical analysis across 15 countriesCompany Information Profiling of 10 key market players In-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report title Competitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companiesAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Conveyor System Market - Detailed Analysis of Current Industry Figures and 2022 Foresight Report

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Market Scenario:A Conveyor System is one of the most used & preferred equipment all over the world and can be used in wide range of applications. It is equipment which is used to handle and transport materials within industry premises and used in several industries including automotive, manufacturing, retail, food and beverage, and transportation Conveyors system refers to numerous products such as belt conveyors, roller, and pallet among others. The use of conveyors system ensures handling larger volume of goods & efficiency. Moreover, Factors such as growing industrialization, need of automation to reduce manufacturing costs and waste and growth of e-commerce moving them towards adoption of conveyor systems, Fluctuating raw material prices, environmental regulations, as well as uncertainty of final products hampers the growth of the market significantly.Request a Sample Report @Study Objectives of Conveyor System Market To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Conveyor system markets Market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the Conveyor system markets market based porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, applications and sub-segments To provide strategic profiling of key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Conveyor system.Browse Report Details @Market Segmentation: By Type; Belt Conveyors, Roller, Pallet, Overhead By Application; Automotive, Retail, Food & Beverages, AirportKey PlayersThe major player operating in the market of Global Conveyor system are- Daifuku, Dematic Group Emerson Electric Siemens AG Allied Conveyor Systems Caterpillar Dorner Conveyors Dynamic Conveyors Fives Group FMC technologies Interroll and IntelligratedTarget Audience Packaging Organizations Manufacturer Research Institute / Education Institute Potential InvestorsRequest Table of Contents for this Report @Regional AnalysisConveyor System Market is highly application driven and such conveyor systems are gaining popularity across the end user industries like automotive, retail, Food & beverages, airport which is referred as one of the major driving factors for market. Furthermore, increasing FDI investments in automotive sector, material safety concerns and other factors is also augmenting the growth of the market. Currently, America region is the largest market for conveyor systems, U.S. accounted for a majority of the market share Because of presence of developing countries such as Mexico and Brazil has enhanced the conveyor systems market.Asia Pacific is referred as fastest growing region for conveyor belts and North America is the second largest market for conveyor belt. The increase in the modernization and construction of new airports, distribution centers, and warehouses, the development of environment friendly and cost-effective conveyor systems will enhance the market for conveyor systems in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Country level analysis of Intelligent Pills market for segments by application, by prescription type-Forecast to 2027

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Market Synopsis of Intelligent Pills Market:Market Scenario:The intelligent/smart pills systems works on the foundation of IEM Ingestible Event Markers that can either be integrated into pills or plow into pharmaceuticals as a feature of the assembling process. In this method the sensor will be installed in a placebo to be taken along with medicine. Many leading pharmaceutical companies hope to make this framework which will be marketed to people with chronic conditions.Market SegmentationGlobal Intelligent Pills market has been segmented as: On the basis of applications which consist of boost in sleeping disorders, capsule endoscopy, Reflux Monitoring, Mobility Monitoring, Stress Management and others. By prescription type which includes prescription smart drugs and others.Request a Sample Report @Key Players for Intelligent Pills Market:Some of the key players in this market are: CapsoVision, Inc. (US), Given Imaging Ltd. (Israle), Medimetrics (Mexico), (Bio-Images Drug Delivery) BDD LTD (UK), Proteus Digital Health (US).Browse Report Details @Regional Analysis of Intelligent Pills Market:Globally North America is the largest market for Intelligent Pills. The North American market for Intelligent Pills is expected to grow by the end of the forecasted period. Europe is the second-largest market for Intelligent Pills which is expected to grow.Request Table of Contents for this Report @Study Objectives of Intelligent Pills 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 Intelligent Pills Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To Analyze the Global Intelligent Pills Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia, and RoW To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospectiveThe 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 AsiaPacificThe 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
Bio-Alcohol is growing with high pace and is Expected to reach ~110 billion by 2022 with CAGR of ~8.8% between 2016-2022

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Global Bio-Alcohol Market Information-by Type (Bioethanol, Biomethanol, Biobutanol, And BDO), by Application (Infrastructure, Transportation, Medical, Power Generation, Others) and by Region - Forecast to 2022Synopsis of Bio-Alcohol Market:Bio-Alcohols market is expected to grow at a faster pace owing to increase in scarcity of non-renewable resources and fluctuating prices of crude oil. Growing need of vehicles with increase in population has driven the demand for Bio-fuels in emerging economies along with opening opportunities for bio-alcohol market. Bio-alcohol is ecofriendly, renewable and helps in reducing carbon footprint as compared to conventional fuels. Bio-alcohols are sustainable chemicals extracted from fermentation of cellulose or sugar. Manufacturer of Bio-alcohol are using feedstock such as biomass to produce bio-alcohols. With development of advanced technology, cellulosic biomass is increasing it usage in industries which is expected to support the growth of bio-alcohol market. in order to accelerate the growth of bio-alcohol market, these technologies need to be made available across the globe. The strategic and competitive market of bio-alcohol is growing with high pace and is expected to reach ~110 billion by 2022 with CAGR of ~8.8% between 2016-2022Get a Sample Report @The major environmental problem is emission of carbon-di-oxide and greenhouse effect. With such problems, the need for bio-alcohol is growing with uses of its various types such as bio-ethanol, bio-butanol, bio-methanol across industries. Bio-alcohol is growing demand in transportation industry as it is alternative to gasoline. Bio-ethanol is leading segment owing to less atmospheric reactivity and is highly octane fuel alternative to gasoline. Reducing oxidation formulations, bioethanol is highly preferable in power generation industry. Bio-methanol is second leading segment owing to growth in production of bio-methanol from waste or biomass. Bio-methanol remains unchanged during composition in petrol. Thus, it is highly preferable in applications like trucks, buses, medical industry etc. Furthermore, Bio-butanol segment is expected to witnessed lucrative growth owing to less compatibility with existing automobile engines.Competitive Analysis:Key players of the global high bio-alcohol market are BASF SE, Fulcrum Bioenergy Inc, Cool Planet Energy Solutions, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Harvest Power, Inc., Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Myriant Corporation, Mascoma LLC, Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC, Red Rock BioFuels LLC and others.Competitive Insights:BASF SE, Fulcrum Bioenergy Inc, Cool Planet Energy Solutions, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Harvest Power, Inc. has dominated the global Bio-Alcohol market share in 2016.Fluctuating prices of crude oil and rising energy prices have challenged many manufacturers to tackle with suitable cost-pricing policies. Low purchasing cost of ethanol and inadequate supply is constraint to achieve blending targets for many players. The key players are expected to exert pressure on exports especially in middle east countries to increase the supply of bio-based chemicals.Regional Analysis:Geographically, Europe being largest consumer of bio-alcohols followed by US. These is attributed owing to stringent regulations by government regarding carbon emission and sustainable greener environment. Automobile industries in Germany and U.S are highly focusing on bio-based fuels to increase the fuel efficiency. Thus, low supply of raw materials is hampering the bio-alcohol market growth.U.S held second position owing to government regulations in supporting loan guarantees to those manufacturers that are using high performance bio-based chemicals for production. Other developing regions like China and India are expected to witnessed a stable growth owing to lenient regulations in using non-conventional resources. Increase in use of bio-ethanol to sustain rapid industrialization is driving the market in South America.Study Objectives of Bio-Alcohol Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 7 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Bio-Alcohol Market To understand the supply and demand dynamics including supply and consumption concentration mapping To provide region level market analysis and future outlook for North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) and their countries To provide competitor positioning of the market To provide company profiling of major players in the market along with their production and capacity To provide regional trade analysis To evaluate historical market trends, patents and technologies, and current government regulatory requirements that are relevant to the marketIntended Audience: Bio-Alcohol manufacturers Traders and distributors of Bio-Alcohol Type industries Potential investors Raw material suppliers Nationalized laboratoryGet a Browse Report @Geographic Analysis:The report covers brief analysis of geographical region such as:North AmericaUSCanadaEuropeGermanyFranceItalyNetherlandsU.K.Rest of EuropeAPACChinaIndiaJapanRest of Asia-PacificRoWSouth AmericaMiddle EastAfricaThe report about Global Bio-Alcohol Market by Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with detail analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts and key opinion leaders to gain a deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives a clear picture of the current market scenario which includes past and estimated future market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report further provides detail information about strategies used by top key players in the industry. It also gives a broad study about different market segments and regions.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Fiber Intermediates Market: Evolving Technology, Trends and Industry Analysis  2022

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Market ScenarioFiber Intermediates are produce from intermediate product range. They are used in manufacturing of synthetic fiber like polyester and nylon, disinfectants, fabrics and plastic cards and other products. Fiber Intermediates application are found as raw material in industries like textile, plastic, pharmaceutical, petrochemical and automobile. Fiber intermediates have found large application in plastic industry. Chemicals like Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) and Polyethylene are used in producing plastic bottles and debit/credit cards. Ethylene, benzene and other chemicals are used in petrochemical product manufacturing. The major raw material polyester contributes to largest earning revenue product in this segment. With growth in polyester market, equal driving force will be seen in forecasted period.Geographically, largest polyester consuming market is APAC region. Emerging economies like India, China, South Korea contribute major in fiber intermediates. North America and Europe show a stable growth. With huge application in end user industries, Fiber Intermediate Market is flourishing industry in coming years if we look at application industry growth individually. Investors have a good opportunity for having a profitable businessRequest a Sample Report @Market SegmentsGlobal Fiber Intermediates Market can be segmented as follows: Segmentation by Type: Paraxylene, Polyethylene, acrylonitrile, ethylene glycol Segmentation by Application: Textile, Automobile, Petrochemicals, Plastic Industry Segmentation by End Users:Fabrics, Plastic cards, Disinfectants, synthetic fibersStudy Objective of Fiber Intermediates Market To study market overview of the Fiber Intermediates. To estimate market size by product type, by application and by end user. To provide insights about market drivers, restrains and opportunities. To provide geographically market analysis and future outlook for North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) and their countries. To analyze the Global Fiber Intermediates Market based on various factors- supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide strategic profiling of the key players in the market, broadly analyzing their core competencies. To evaluate competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global Nutrition ChemicalsBrowse Report Details @Key Players:The key players profiled in Fiber Intermediates are- DSM Fiber Intermediates Reliance industries Ltd Invista Fiber Intermediate Products Company (FIPCO) BASF DOW Diacel Chemical industries Nylacast Limited Company Indian Petrochemical Corporation Ltd Dalian Richfortune Chemicals CompanyReasons to buy This report includes in-depth study analysis of Fiber Intermediates market It covers market segmentation by type, by application and by end user. It helps in identifying region-wise major suppliers and understand consumption patterns. The report will provide useful and premium insights that will support in investments of Fiber Intermediates and allied companies providing details on the fast-growing segments and regions. In addition, it will provide key findings that will help the companies to improve profitability by using supply chain strategies, cost effectiveness of various products mentioned in the report. The data used in the report is primarily based on primary interviews with the major producing companies and industry experts and supported by authentic industry data from secondary sources.Intended Audience Fiber Intermediates manufacturers. Textile and Plastic industries Potential investors Raw material Suppliers Key executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerAbout 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.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
North America Plant Growth Regulators Market will register the CAGR of more than 3.4% during the forecast period.

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North America : Plant Growth Regulators Market Research Report, By types (Cytokinins, Gibberellins, Ethylene, Abscisic Acid), By crop types- (Pulses & Oilseeds, Grains & Cereals, Fruits & Vegetables, Turf & ornamentals and others), By region (North America)- Forecast to 2021North America Plant Growth Regulators Market Report: IntroductionThe Market research future delivers a detailed analysis of 5 years forecast between year 2016 to 2021 and it is expected that North America Plant Growth Regulators Market will register the CAGR of more than 3.4% during the forecast period.The Plant Growth Regulators are chemical compounds, other than nutrients, that help in modifying plant physiological processes. As new products are coming from the R&D centers of companies in order for better growth in agriculture sector and higher productivity, demand for plant growth regulators are also increasing with same pace. Plant growth regulator helps to prevent the diseases of plants as well as in better and effective growth. This market has huge opportunities in the upcoming years as new developments for effective farming is coming.Europe is the leading player in the market of Plant growth regulators due to demand for organic foods and new revolutionary technologies in the field of agriculture. North America is also a big player due to technological advancement in their countries. The US which is the most high-tech country on the globe is helping in the advancement for plant growth market products. Countries located in APAC region like China and India which is the two biggest populated countries in the world. The most of population of these countries are dependent on agriculture which creates the enormous opportunities for the new players.Get a Sample Report @Furthermore the report comprises the detailed analysis of the leading players including- BASF SE, Bayer, The Dow Chemical, Nufarm Ltd, FMC Corporation, Syngenta AG, Marrone Bio, Tata Chemicals and others with respect to their strategies, SWOT analysis, financials, and key developments.Moving forwards, the report comprises broad analysis of industry overview of Plant growth regulators Market which includes market drivers, restrains, opportunities, burning issues, winning imperatives on scale.his report also covers geographical analysis. Furthermore, the report has been segmented on the basis By types (Cytokinins, Gibberellins, Ethylene, Abscisic Acid), By crop types- (Pulses & Oilseeds, Grains & Cereals, Fruits & Vegetables, Turf & ornamentals and others), By regions (North America). The Plant Growth Regulators market research report provides detail analysis of market in terms of value market. The report also gives the future outlook of the market till 2021. Moreover, on whole region as well as market share in different countries. Lastly, the report provides company profiles of major players in the market.Research MethodologyTo calculate Plant Growth Regulators market size, we have considered top players in the market and to offer accuracy, our research is supported by industry experts who offer insight on industry structure and technology assessment, competitive landscape, penetration, emerging products and trends. Their analysis is based (80 to 85%) on primary & (15 to 20%) on secondary research as well as years of professional expertise in their respective industries. In addition to analyze current and historical trends, our analysts predict where the market is headed over the next five to ten years. It varies by segment for these categories geographically presented in the list of market tables. Top-down and bottom-up are important strategies of processing the information and knowledge ordering, used in a variety of fields including humanistic, software and scientific theories and management and organization. In practice, they can be seen as a style of thinking, teaching, or leadership.Get a Browse Report @Scope of the ReportThis market research report covers the North America Plant Growth Regulators Market which has been segment asGeographical RegionsAmericaNorth America (US & Canada)By typesAuxinsCytokininsGibberellinsEthyleneAbscisic AcidBy Crop typesCrop basedPulses & OilseedsGrains & CerealsFruits & VegetablesNon-Crop BasedTurf & ornamentalsOthersAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Electrical Insulation Materials Market by Product & Data Validation, Analysis and Forecast 2022

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According to Publisher, the Global Electrical Insulation Materials market accounted for $7.2 billion in 2015 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.64% to reach $11.2 billion by 2022. The market has experienced a robust growth fuelled by huge requirement of electrical insulation materials. Some of the key drivers impacting the market growth include, rising demand for electricity, advancements in technologies, growth in renewable energy and rapid developments in distribution networks. However, huge cost of raw materials will negatively impact the market.For more information @Composite Materials is the fastest growing segment in electrical insulation materials market due to high mechanical strength & electrical resistance and more effective voltage staying power in cruel climatic conditions. By geography, Asia Pacific witnessed highest market share during the forecast period owing to rapid industrialization in the region.The market key players include Teijin Dupont Films Japan Limited, Nitto Denko Corporation, Haysite Reinforced Plastics, Krempel GmbH, Elantas Electrical Insulation- Altana AG, Tesa SE, Vitar Insulation Manufacturers Ltd, 3M Company and others.Material Covered:- Ceramics- Plastics- Epoxy Resin- Glass- CompositesVoltage Covered:- High Voltage- Medium Voltage- Low VoltageApplication Covered:- High Voltage Circuit Breakers- Transformer Components- Circuit Boards- Cables and Transmission Lines- Other ApplicationsEnd User Covered:- Manufacturing- Infrastructure- Transportation- Other End UsersRequest Sample CopyRegions 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 Teijin Dupont Films Japan Limited11.2 Nitto Denko Corporation11.3 Haysite Reinforced Plastics11.4 Krempel GmbH11.5 Elantas Electrical Insulation- Altana AG11.6 Tesa SE11.7 Vitar Insulation Manufacturers Ltd11.8 3M Company11.9 ITW Formex11.10 E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company11.11 BASF SE11.12 Huntsman Corporation11.13 Knauf Insulation Group11.14 Owens Corning11.15 Fletcher Insulation11.16 GAF Materials CorporationMake 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
Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) market is expected to reach US$ 4.65 billion by 2022

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Market Synopsis of Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Market:Market Scenario:Durable medical equipment also known as home medical equipment provides therapeutic benefits to patients. They are very useful for patients who are ill or undergoing some medical procedures. They are widely used by hospitals and clinics. These devices can also be managed by a caregiver or a family member of the patient. Medical professional recommend these devises according to present condition of patients. Due to increasing chronic diseases, high number of geriatric population and accident disability, the demand for durable medical equipment is increasing.Middle East and Africa represents about 2% of global healthcare expenditure since countries in these regions bear a heavy burden of disabilities. Durable medical equipment manufacturers are investing huge amount of money to develop more innovative products. Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) market is growing moderately at a CAGR of 4.2% and expected to reach US$ 4.65 billion by 2022.Market SegmentationMiddle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment market has been segmented On the basis of product type which comprises of blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors, ventilators, personal mobility devices, traction equipment, wheel chairs, respiratory devices, and others. On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into hospitals and clinics, healthcare institutions, research centers, home healthcare and others.Request a Sample Report @Key Players for Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Market:Some of the key players in this market are: Invacare Corporation (US), Medical Depot, Inc. (US), The Braun Corporation (US), Sunrise Medical (Germany), Permobil (Sweden), Medline Industries, Inc. (US), Compass Health Brands (US), ArjoHuntleigh (Sweden), Hill-Rom (US), GF HEALTH PRODUCTS, INC. (US)Browse Report Details @market-2676Intended Audience Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) manufacturers Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) suppliers Government and independent regulatory authorities Research and development (R&D) companies Independent research laboratories Market research and consulting service providers Medical research laboratoriesRegional Analysis of Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Market:Considering the Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment market scenario, Saudi Arabia is believed to be the largest market. Moreover UAE market is also growing and is the second largest market for DME in ME&A region. On the other hand, Egypts market is expected to grow at a steady pace in the Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment market during the forecasted period. Rest of the Middle East and Africa region is likely to have a limited but steady growth of the market till 2022.Study Objectives of Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Market: To provide detail analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 5 years of various segments and sub-segments of the Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the Middle-East and Africa Durable Medical Equipment (DME) market based on various analyses which includes price analysis, supply chain analysis, Porters Five Force analysis etc. To provide past and estimated future revenue of the markets segments and sub-segments with respect to Middle East & Africa.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.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Military Smart Weapons Market Drivers and Challenges Report 2021

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Global Military Smart Weapons Market Report 2016 Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.The Global Military Smart Weapons Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Military Smart Weapons industry.The report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Military Smart Weapons market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.The Global Military Smart Weapons Market Research Report Forecast 2017-2021 is a valuable source of insightful data for business strategists. It provides the Military Smart Weapons industry overview with growth analysis and historical & futuristic cost, revenue, demand and supply data (as applicable). The research analysts provide an elaborate description of the value chain and its distributor analysis. This Military Smart Weapons market study provides comprehensive data which enhances the understanding, scope and application of this report.Visit on this link to get a sample of report:This report provides comprehensive analysis of Key market segments and sub-segments Evolving market trends and dynamics Changing supply and demand scenarios Quantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecasting Tracking current trends/opportunities/challenges Competitive insights Opportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughsThis study provides an evaluation of aspects that are expected to impact growth of market in an undesired or constructive method. The Military Smart Weapons market has been consistently examined with respect to the corresponding market segments. Each year within the mentioned forecast period is concisely considered in terms of produce and worth in the regional as well as the global markets respectively.The Military Smart Weapons industry has made research and come up with a report that focuses on the key players in the Military Smart Weapons maker market throughout the world.Get Up to 30% Discount on this report:Imperative information like company profiles, product specification, product picture, production, capacity, contact information, cost and revenue is included in this market research report. Similarly, equipment and upstream raw materials as well as downstream demand analysis is also worked upon.Purchase this Report on this link:Divided by region, this study report is segmented into numerous key sections, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and progress rate of Military Smart Weapons in these regions, from 2017 to 2021, covering Global and China , United States , Europe and Japan.Reasons for Buying this Report This report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics It provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growth It provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future It provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitors It helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segments In order to adduce this market research report, press releases, conscientious information from number of journals, paid databases, presentations has been taken into account.Acquire full report on the same using the below link. You will be redirected to the site.Also, the research study gives a complete list of all the leading players working in the global Military Smart Weapons market. Moreover, the financial status, company profiles, business strategies and policies, and the latest expansions in the global Military Smart Weapons market have been mentioned in the research study.ResearchnReports has released a new market research report to its comprehensive collection of research studies. This market research report, titled " Global Military Smart Weapons market professional survey report 2016", provides an in-depth analysis of this market, zeroing on the key dynamics estimated to influence the growth of the market throughout the forecast period. The product segmentation, important geographical segments and competitive prospect of the global market are also mentioned in this research study.In this Military Smart Weapons market research report the core driving factors of this market were identified and the business partners & end users were elaborated. The structure of the business sector, patterns and challenges affecting the market globally are also a part of this extensive analysis. Various interviews and talks were conducted with the prominent leaders of this industry to obtain reliable and updated information pertaining to the market.Research N Reports10916, Gold Point, Dr,Houston, TX,Pin - 77064.Sunny Denis(Sales Manager)sales@researchnreports.com+1 888-631-6977
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Time Switch Market Trends and Opportunities 2021

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Global Time Switch Market 2016 Industry Trends, Sales, Supply, Demand, Analysis & Forecast to 2021 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Time Switch market. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2016 through 2021. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets.The report provides a basic overview of the Time Switch industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. And manufacturing processes and cost structures are discussed.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, Revenue, price, Production, market share and contact information. What's more, the Time Switch industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.This report studies Time Switch focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production value and market share for each manufacturer, coveringIntermatic IncorporatedlevitonLegrandHoneywellHagerHavells India LtdTheben GroupEatonOMRONLutron Electronics Co., IncSangamoHugo MullerPanasonic JapanFinder SPAEnerlitesAny Electronics Co.,LtdPujingFor more information about this report atMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with Production value, sales revenue, Import and export, market share and growth rate of Time Switch in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOthersSplit by Product Types, with production, production revenue, price, revenue market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoDigital Time SwitchAnalogue Time SwitchSplit by applications, this report focuses on consumption and market share of Time Switch in each application, can be divided intoLightingsAppliancesIndustrial DevicesOthersFinally, overall research conclusion is offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Request a sample copy atTable of Content1 Industry Overview of Time Switch 12 Global Time Switch Market Competition by Manufacturers 113 Global Time Switch Production, Revenue (Value) by Regions (2011-2016) 224 Global Time Switch Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016) 275 Global Time Switch Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Types 316 Global Time Switch Market Analysis by Applications 367 Global Time Switch Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis 407.1 Intermatic 407.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Contact Information 407.1.2 Time Switch Product Types, Application and Specification 417.1.3 Intermatic Time Switch Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016) 487.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview 487.2 Leviton Manufacturing 497.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Contact Information 497.2.2 Time Switch Product Types, Application and Specification 507.2.3 Leviton Manufacturing Time Switch Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016) 527.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview 527.3 Legrand 537.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Contact Information 537.3.2 Time Switch Product Types, Application and Specification 547.3.3 Legrand Time Switch Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016) 567.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview 577.4 Honeywell 577.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Contact Information 577.4.2 Time Switch Product Types, Application and Specification 587.4.3 Honeywell Time Switch Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016) 607.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview 61Ask for Discount at8 Time Switch Manufacturing Cost Analysis 1149 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers 12410 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders 12811 Market Effect Factors Analysis 13212 Global Time Switch Market Forecast (2016-2021) 13913 Research Findings and Conclusion 14214 Appendix 143Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb 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.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts Market Research Report: Forecast 2024

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Coronary artery bypass graft is a type of surgery used to treat coronary heart diseases. This surgery improves blood flow and oxygen supply to the heart. According to the National Health Service (England), every year in the U.K., about 20,000 coronary artery bypass grafts are carried out. About 80% of the surgery is used to treat people aged 60 years and above. This surgery is carried out under general anesthetic. The coronary artery bypass graft is performed depending on the severity of the coronary heart disease and the narrowing of coronary blood vessels. Traditional bypass surgery involves a process where the function of the heart is taken over by a heart-lung bypass machine, the patient's breastbone is split, and the chest is cut open. In minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting, only a single three-inch incision is performed over the patient's left chest between the ribs, with no incision over the breastbone. Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting, a form of coronary artery bypass graft, is commonly known as beating heart bypass graft because it involves the opening of the chest bone but the heart beat is not stopped. According to the Texas Heart Institute, more than 200,000 procedures are performed in the U.S every year.Factors such as growth in number of geriatric population, increase in prevalence of cardiovascular disorder, and change in lifestyle are projected to drive the global coronary artery bypass grafts market during the forecast period. According to the WHO, 17.5 million people die each year due to cardiovascular disease, which is equal to 31% of all estimated deaths worldwide. Technological advancement is another fueling factor, which is likely to add value to the global market. On the other hand, stringent government guidelines are estimated to hinder the market growth.Browse full report on Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts Market -The global coronary artery bypass grafts market has been segmented by procedure type, product type, end-user, and geography. In terms of procedure type, the market is classified into traditional coronary artery bypass grafting, off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting, and minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting. The traditional coronary artery bypass grafting is performed when a major artery needs to be bypassed. In terms of product type, the market is classified into saphenous vein graft, left internal thoracic artery graft, and other arterial grafts such as radial artery, ulnar artery, gastroepiploic artery, and inferior epigastric artery. In terms of end-user, the market is classified into hospitals, specialty clinics, and ambulatory centers.In terms of geography, the coronary artery bypass grafts market is classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.Geographically, North America dominates the market due to product availability, technological advancement, presence of top players, and growth in number of geriatric population, which in turn is expected to drive the market during the forecast period. The geriatric population represents about 14.5% of the U.S. population. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, by 2060, the number is projected to grow to 98 million which is twice of the 2014 geriatric population in the U.S. Europe is the second leading market due to increasing number of coronary heart diseases among the population. The Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at a higher rate in the near future due to presence of high target patient pool, growth in adoption of western lifestyle, increase in government initiatives, and rise in awareness among people.The major global players operating in this market include Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic Inc., B. Braun Melsungen AG, C.R. Bard, Cordis Corporation, St. Jude Medical, Inc., Terumo Corporation, Sorin Group, and Ethicon US.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:
Dental Chairs Market Research Report: Analysis & Trends 2024

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Major players operating in this market include Danaher Corporation, Midmark Corporation, Planmeca Oy, Sirona Dental Systems, Inc., SMTmax, and Ritter Dental.Dental procedures demand optimum co-operation from patients. Dental chairs enable adjustment of height, back rest, and arm rest that provide complete support to patient as well as health care professional. The two types of dental chairs currently available in the market are hydraulic and electromechanical chairs. Electromechanical chairs offer integration of a variety of engines such as computer equipment, which results in increased adoption of these chairs in practice. In addition, modern dental chairs offer systems to hold hand pieces and other dental equipment such as mouth mirror, periodontal probe, and gauze that reduce extra box clutter.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Considering the increasing prevalence of obesity in developed countries, manufacturers such as Diaco, Ltd. offer dental chairs that have working load limit of up to 500 kg. In addition, manufacturers offer dental chairs specially designed for wheelchair patients, which enable efficient working for orthodontists. Hence, increasing benefits of modern dental chairs are fueling the growth of the dental chairs segment. Beaverstate Dental Systems, DCI Equipment, and Takara Belmont USA, Inc. are the key players operating in the dental chairs segment.According to the World Health Organization, in 2012, dental caries was reported to be a major public health problem in most high-income countries such as the U.S. The disease affected 60% to 90% of school-age children and majority of adults in the country. Several high-income countries with established preventive programs demonstrate a systematic decline in dental caries in children and improved status in the adult population.Dentistry in the U.S. is in a state of transformation, with increasing baby boomer generation having periodontal diseases. The health care delivery system is changing rapidly with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons found that 69% adults aged between 35 years and 44 years have lost at least one permanent tooth to an accident, gum disease, failed root canal, or tooth decay. Three out of four persons in Canada visit a dental clinic; one of the highest rates among OECD countries. A study by the Montreal Economic Institute in 2013 indicated that private dental clinics are preferred to public clinics in Canada. Demand for private dental clinics is primarily driven by easy access, less waiting period, and better treatment offered to patients.The dental chairs market can be segmented based on chairs delivery systems, end-user, and geography. In terms of chairs delivery systems, the dental chairs market can be classified into over-the-patient delivery, rear delivery, and side delivery. Over-the-patient delivery systems are most commonly used in dental clinics, as these are easy to use and meet the requirements of time and motion concepts and promotes good ergonomic positioning. Based on end-user, the market can be segmented into hospitals, dental clinics, and research and academic institutes.View Report @Geographically, the dental chairs market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Europe is likely to be the largest market for dental chairs due to high number of laboratories and high patient pool for dental related treatment. According to Oral Health Platform, in 2012, over 50% of the population of Europe was suffering from some form of periodontal diseases, which were relatively higher among people aged 60 years and above. The British dental technician trade has declined sharply in the past few years as many practices outsource their lab work to overseas laboratories. Over 12,000 qualified dental technicians operated in the U.K. a decade ago. Currently, this figure is approximately 5,000 and is decreasing by 200 qualified technicians every year. The dental chairs market in North America is expected to witness strong growth during the forecast period driven by increasing baby boomer generation having periodontal diseases. The market in Asia Pacific is driven by increase in geriatric population and surging demand for dental restoration due to rise in oral health awareness.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.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:
Dental Suction Systems Market: Key Players, Trends, Size, Share, Analysis, Estimations and Forecasts to 2024

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Major players operating in the dental suction systems market include Becker Pumps Australia, W&H Dentalwerk, KUGEL Medical, Unimicro Medical Systems, DURR DENTAL AG, and DENTAS.Dental suction utilizes a rotary vane and a pump to provide suction for procedures performed in the dental operatory. Suction units are used to remove dental waste material from the oral cavity during procedures. Dental suction systems are used for two main reasons: high volume suction for debris left over during procedures and saliva ejectors. The saliva ejector functions by sucking saliva out of the mouth. The other main type of dental suction, high volume suction, is held by the dental hygienist close to where the dentist is working and it sucks the nearby debris such as cleaning paste, amalgam fillings and surplus water from dental drills. Suction is also used to keep the tooth dry during restorative procedures. Market growth has been positive, but limited in the suction system segment due to its high penetration rate, as every practice in operation must already have a suction system. There has also been little incentive for practices to replace or upgrade their functioning systems since there has been little technological advancement in this area. High market penetration and limited technological advancements will continue to limit growth in this area.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Vacuums allow doctor and staff to retain the oral cavity clean to work during dental surgical procedure. Having a well-made and operational vacuum system also offers ease to the patient as saliva and other liquids can easily be emptied from the mouth throughout procedures. If vacuum system goes down, performing dental surgery procedure becomes difficult. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17.5% children aged five years to 19 years and 27.4% adults aged 20 years to 44 years were with untreated dental caries in 2012. According to the American Dental Association and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), average annual dental expenditure among those with a visit was US$ 685 in 2013. Among those with a visit to a GP dentist, average expenditure was US$ 514. Among those with a visit to a dental specialist, average dental expenditure was US$ 1,755. As an example of dental services provided by specialists, average dental expenditure for services provided by orthodontists was US$ 1,440.Increasing dental surgical procedures globally is expected to drive the dental suction systems market. However, certain challenges faced by the market include lack of voluntary visits to dentists by patients for routine check-ups and lack of awareness among patients. These factors would restrain market growth.View Report @Geographically, Europe and North America are the two major regional markets for dental suction systems, as awareness about dental issues is high in Europe, followed by North America. Presently, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa are lucrative markets for investment. Europe was the second largest market for dental suction systems attributed to enhanced health care processes and increased dental procedures. Moreover, rising geriatric population is likely to boost the market in the region. Improving health care infrastructure and increasing patient awareness levels about substitute treatment options are the major factors likely to drive the market in Asia Pacific. Rising medical tourism in the region would also boost market growth. Growth of the market can be attributed to investments by leading players to improve the present health care infrastructure in developing countries such as China and India. Countries in Latin America such as Mexico and Brazil are expected to have considerable potential in the market due to evolving medical structure and high disposable income.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.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:
Fetal Doppler Monitoring System Market: Key Players & Global Industry Analysis 2024

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The major players operating in the global fetal doppler monitoring system market include Medline Industries, Inc., Bionet Co., Ltd, Huntleigh Healthcare Limited, Promed Group Co., Ltd., ELCAT, Hadeco, Inc., Shenzhen Biocare Bio-Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Advanced Instrumentations, and SonoScape Medical Corp.Fetal doppler monitor, commonly known as baby heartbeat monitor, is a handheld ultrasound transducer used to detect the fetal heartbeat for prenatal care. Fetal doppler monitor provides information about the fetus, which is similar to that of fetal stethoscope, and it acts as an indicator of stress. The stress usually occurs during birth and labor period, which can be detected using the ultrasound probe and electrocardiography. Over the counter sale and use of Doppler ultrasound heartbeat monitors are used for listening to the heartbeat of a fetus. These are legally marketed as prescription devices and should be used under supervision of health care professionals. Doptone is a type of handheld portable ultrasound tool used for fetal monitoring. The tool is beneficial due to its waterproof technology. However, fetal monitoring increases the risk of C-section due to high rate of technological uses, which can develop many complications for the fetus and the mother during pregnancy.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Increase in number of childbirth, awareness program for preventing the complications in childbirth, and demand for at-home fetal heart monitors are important driving factors of the global fetal doppler monitoring system market. In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared the usage of Doppler ultrasound heartbeat monitors and fetal ultrasound imaging should be by trained health care professionals, and they are not intended for over the counter sale or use. Cost of treatment or ultrasonography and sensitivity of child toward ultrasound devices are expected to hamper the fetal doppler monitoring system market growth.The global market has been segmented based on monitoring process type, end-user, and geography. In terms of monitoring process type, the fetal doppler monitoring system market is classified into electronic fetal monitoring, external fetal monitoring, and internal fetal monitoring. In terms of end-user, the market for fetal doppler monitoring system is classified into diagnostic laboratories, hospitals, and research & development. In terms of geography, the market is distributed over North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.Geographically, North America dominates the global market due to increase in advent of technology of ultrasound monitoring devices and growth in child development plan. Early-phase diagnosis and treatment of disease during pregnancy is driving the medical biotechnology market which in turn is expected to drive the fetal doppler monitoring system market in North America. Europe is the second leading market for fetal doppler monitoring system as there are favorable government policies regarding health care infrastructure and awareness of population development. The Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at a higher rate due to rise in population, changing lifestyle, rise in awareness between patients, and increase in per capita expenditure. In addition, economic growth is supporting the health care infrastructure improvement in developing countries such as India and China.View 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 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:
Pediatric Ultrasound Market By Current & Upcoming Trends Analysis 2024

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Global Pediatric Ultrasound Market: Competitive LandscapeThe top players operating in the global pediatric ultrasound market are General Electric Company, Siemens AG, Analogic Corporation, Fujifilm Corporation, Mindray Medical International Limited, Toshiba Corporation, Samsung Medison Co. Ltd, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Esaote SpA, Hitachi Ltd., and Samsung Medison Co. Ltd.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Key players in this market are focused on the development of advanced products to stay competitive in the pediatric ultrasound market. For instance, the increasing demand for compact handheld devices has compelled top players to focus on niche product segments to reap sustainable returns.Global Pediatric Ultrasound Market: OverviewPediatric ultrasound is a safe, noninvasive test that uses high frequency sound waves to generate precise images of the blood vessels and internal organs of childrens abdomen. Ultrasound does not use involve radiation, is painless, and is particularly useful for evaluating pelvic, abdominal, or scrotal pain in children. It is carried out to obtain a complete view of congenital as well as acquired diseases in children.As per statistics of Center for Disease Control and Prevention, blunt trauma is the leading cause of death and disability among children in the U.S. Due to the increased risk of radiation-induced scanning such as computed tomography, the use of abdominal ultrasound for blunt abdominal trauma among children has increased.Global Pediatric Ultrasound Market: Key TrendsThe pediatric ultrasound market is developing mainly due to technological advancements such as 3D and 4d imaging for ultrasound systems, increased prevalence of pediatric diseases that need imaging for diagnostic purposes, increasing awareness about early diagnosis. Additionally, vast untapped opportunities in developing and less-developed countries are also expected to fuel the markets growth over the next few years.Conversely, lack of skilled personnel for operating imaging devices and carrying out imaging on children is restraining the growth of the pediatric ultrasound market. The limitations of ultrasound diagnostics is also hindering the growth of this market to some extent.Global Pediatric Ultrasound Market: Market PotentialThe scope of ultrasound for diagnostics is more than for abdominal areas of the body. In a recent industry development, high intensity ultrasound was utilized for collapsed intervertebral discs, which would otherwise need invasive surgery.Developed at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Oxford University, the technology allows ultrasound to be targeted at a precise point on the spine. High-intensity focused ultrasound is being considered as the probable new approach for the treatment of chronic back pain that overcomes the limitations of predecessor techniques such as partial disc replacement. High-intensity focused ultrasound involves liquefying the core of the disc, which is advantageous over partial disc replacement that has chances of leaking of the implant through the wall of the disc.Global Pediatric Ultrasound Market: Regional OutlookThe global pediatric ultrasound market can be analyzed with respect to the regional segments of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Amongst these, Asia Pacific contributed the highest revenue to the overall market in the recent past and is expected to be the fastest growing region over the fastest period. In this region, healthcare reforms for wider reach, high incidence of pediatric cardiac diseases, and unmet healthcare needs in developing countries such as China and India are favoring the growth of this market. Europe is expected to be the second-largest regional market as pediatric; while the region is matured for the use of ultrasound devices for pediatric cardiology, the use of technologically advanced devices is at a nascent stage, which is expected to bode well for the markets growth.View 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 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:
Hospital Beds Market: Competitive Dynamics & Global Outlook 2026

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Global Hospital Beds Market: OverviewBeds are among the most essential equipment required in a hospital, as patients are generally not in mobile condition to receive the treatment, and rest is often necessary for them. For the critical conditions that patients are admitted into the hospital, beds are required to be designed in such a manner that provides ideal support and comfort. With growing prevalence of several diseases, the healthcare industry is at an all-time peak and consequently, the global hospital beds market is projected for a healthy growth rate during the forecast period of 2016 to 2024.Get Sample Copy of this Report @This report on global market for hospital beds is an in-depth examination of all the factors that are expected to impact the growth rate in the near future, and presents estimations on the future state of the market until 2024. The report is a summation of interviews and discussions with a wide range of key industry participants and opinion leaders. Some of the key players have also been profiled in the report, exploring their market share, product range, regional presence, and recent strategic developments such as mergers, collaborations, acquisitions, and other announcements.The global hospital beds can be segmented on the basis of type, treatment, power, and geography. By type, the market can be divided into general beds, pediatric beds, pressure relief beds, bariatric beds, and birthing beds. By treatment, the market can be categorized into acute care beds, long term care beds, and critical care beds. By power, the market can be segmented into electric beds, manual beds, and semi-electric beds. Geographically, the report studies the opportunities available in the regions of North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World.Global Hospital Beds Market: Trends and OpportunitiesRising geriatric population is one of the prominent factors of this market, as the people aged over 65 generally suffer from several diseases such as arthritis, heart disease, respiratory diseases, Alzheimers diseases, osteoporosis, and diabetes. According to the National Institute on Aging, global geriatric population will rise to 1.5 billion, which makes for a strong demand for hospital beds. Increasing number of hospitalization cases and technological advancements in the field, and improving healthcare infrastructure in emerging economies are other important factors positively influencing the market. According to the report, rising demand for advanced and selective features of hospital beds is a trend that urges investment in research and development of advanced beds. Conversely, high cost of these beds is seen as the primary restraint over the growth rate of the global hospitals beds market.View Report @Global Hospital Beds Market: Region-wise OutlookEurope is expected to remain most lucrative regional market during the forecast period, which is a reflection of increasing expenditure in Europes medical industry and healthcare organizations. North America forms the second most profitable region due to robust healthcare infrastructure, whereas Asia Pacific is projected for most robust growth rate, which is a result of vast population base and improving healthcare infrastructure in the emerging economies such as India, China, Japan, Australia, and South Korea.Companies mentioned in the research reportParamount Bed Co. Ltd., Getinge Group, LINET spol. s r.o., ArjoHuntleigh, Stryker, Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., Invacare Corporation, and Medline Industries, Inc. are some of the key players currently operational in the global hospital beds market. Most of these companies have sub-divisional production units in order to meet the demand coming from medical establishments that are replacing their outdated hospital beds with the advanced ones.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a 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:
North America Cyber Security Market - estimated to grow with rapidly growing CAGR  Know about key players, in-depth analysis, challenges, innovative developments in New Research Report 2017

Cyber Security Market, Security surveillance Market,

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North America Cyber Security Market: Analysis & Forecast: 2016-2022"Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.The report is presented in a clear and concise manner so that readers can understand the market structure and dynamics effectively. Recent trends and developments in the North America Cyber Security market have been analyzed. Opportunities leading to the growth of the market have been analyzed and stated.The North America cyber security market is estimated to grow over $67 billion by the end of 2022. Currently, cyber security solutions are acquiring a major share of the market because of increasing cyber-attacks in this region. The U.S. is acquiring a major market value because of continuous cyber-attacks on application verticals such as healthcare, banking and financial services and manufacturing, among others.Get Sample Copy of this Report @:The research on the North America Cyber Security market will be useful to investors, regularity authorities, and policy makers, state the analysts. Independent research institutions, commercial entities, and non-profit organization in this sector can also benefit from the report. Key companies operating in the North America market are profiled by considering factors such as capacity production, products/services, applications, cost, gross, and revenue.Companies Profiled in this Report: IBM Cisco Dell Intel Fire Eye Symantec And, Many MoreIncreasing cyber-attacks from Iran, Russia and China, among others are also posing serious threats to this region. Cyber-attacks on the U.S. government have witnessed a 10% rise as compared to 2014. The attacks on government organizations and telecom operations caused a breach of 21.5 million personal information records and affected 15 million customers. In Canada, there has been a huge increase in spear phishing emails and computer network breaches over the recent years. The financial sector has always been the target of cyber-attacks in Mexico. Moreover, cyber criminals are now targeting healthcare, manufacturing, government and retail sectors as well.North America Cyber Security Market Report 2017The answers to the following key questions can be found in the report: What are the important Cyber Security solutions in the North America region with their market statistics? What are the different types of cyber attacks prevalent in the North America region? What are the key market trends and developments in the North America Cyber Security market? What is the Cyber Security technological overview in the North America region? What are the key drivers, challenges and opportunities for the Cyber Security market in the North America region with respect to their impact analysis? Which North America country will lead the Cyber Security market by the end of the forecast period? Which key application vertical is utilizing Cyber Security in the North America region with their market statistics? What are the important Cyber Security services in the North America region with their market statistics? Who are the key players in the North America Cyber Security market?Get Discount on This Report @:Reasons for Buying Cyber Security Market Research Report:Throughout this report, the core driving factors of the Cyber Security market were identified and the business partners, end users were also worked out. The business sector structure, business patterns and challenges of this market globally are also a part of this extensive analysis. Numerous interviews and talks were conducted with the prominent leaders of the industry to gain reliable and updated information relevant to the market.With the rate of internet penetration reaching up to 87%, the U.S. has become one of the best connected countries in the world, and acquires the second position globally with regard to online business- consumer transactions; moreover, these factors have led the country to be the centre point for cyber-attacks. Cyber-crimes cost have reached around $100 billion in the country. Canada and Mexico globally stands at the 13th and 17th position respectively as major sources of cybercrimes. North America needs to build a strong resilience system for managing cyber-crimes.Cyber space is continually expanding with new and innovative developments like Internet of Things and Big Data, which will add to more levels of complexities and security challenges with regard to the various networks and systems. Therefore, cyber security will prove to be an important element of any organization and will attempt to provide a range of opportunities to a number of vendors to foster cyber security solutions in the North America region.Complete Report Available @: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 North America 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.Research N Reports10916, Gold Point, Dr,Houston, TX,Pin - 77064.Sunny Denis(Sales Manager)Phone:+1 888-631-6977E-mail:sales@researchnreports.com
This still shot was taken from dash cam footage provided by the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. The footage is from Deputy James Vansant's SUV just seconds before his vehicle clips a motorcycle Vansant is chasing in downtown Summerville on April 19, investigators have said.
Delta College Board of Trustees has awarded contracts to four local companies in connection with a multitude of facility improvements that will cost the school about $1.1 million dollars.

Topping the list of upgrades is a $522,000 project to replace aging air handling units that cover the schools Lecture Theater and G-wing offices.

Bay Citys Macmillan Associates Construction Consulting Engineers has been hired for $404,000 to design a replacement system and develop bidding and construction documents for the air handling replacement project.

All of this equipment is between 47 and 57 years old and although it has been well maintained, it is now at the end of its useful service life, explained Larry Ramseyer, Deltas facilities management director.

Ramseyer said the new units will be more efficient and provide a more comfortable work environment. The project is expected to be completed in time for the fall semester.

Another Bay City firm, Serunus Johnson Construction, provided the low bid of $181,000 and was selected over Pumford Construction ($218,000) for an exterior plaster and roof painting project. The job targets areas above the science wing corridor and also calls for painting of the librarys metal roof. Ramseyer said Serunus Johnson will begin the work immediately.

They have a clear scope of the project and we expect it to be completed in about four months, Ramseyer said.

Another low bid contractor, Nuechterlein Electric Inc. of Frankenmuth, was awarded a $227,000 contract to upgrade pedestrian walkway lighting on campus. The company bested five other contractors for the job that, when finished in about three months, will begin reaping energy savings for the college, officials said.

Ramseyer said the college anticipates saving about $11,600 annually in maintenance and energy costs with the new LED lights and motion sensor system that are key elements of the project.

Low bidder A.T. Frank Co. of Saginaw, at a cost of $84,000, has been hired to install new carpeting in various classrooms. The work involves about 15,000 square feet of space and is part of normal life cycle replacement of flooring and carpeting, Ramseyer said.

Trustees approved each of the projects at the April meeting.
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Two mangled cars. A white cloth draped over a dead body. A young man performing sobriety tests. Firefighters using the Jaws of Life to free a crash victim. A grieving mother.

All of which the student body of Meridian Early College High School saw Monday as part of the S.K.I.D. program, a graphic dramatization of the consequences of drunken driving. S.K.I.D. stands for Stop Kids Impaired Driving.

Its about as real as it gets, Sheriff Scott Stephenson told students after the simulation, in which four high school seniors portrayed students who had gone to a party.

The simulation began with an audio recording explaining one of the students chose not to drink, and was texting while getting into a car, which distracted her from buckling up. She also opted to ride with a driver who had been drinking.

After leaving the party, that drivers vehicle struck another car, resulting in the sober front seat passenger going through the windshield.

She died immediately.

A 9-1-1 call summoned first responders, and they descended  multiple fire trucks and ambulances, plus sheriffs deputies, driving with lights flashing and sirens wailing across the back of Meridians campus  quickly removing injured people, interviewing those who could be, and administering sobriety tests to a young man whose white shirt was covered in fake blood.

A helicopter landed to rush one severely injured victim to medial treatment, while a mother learned her daughter had perished. Later, the students lifeless, prom dress-clad body was turned over to a funeral home.

I know I did the right thing, mom, said the voice of a girl reading a poem that was played over the sound system. I didnt even drink mom, so why am I the one to die?

You have to think not only about yourself, Stephenson explained to the students. You have to think about everybody who cares about you.

Chief Assistant Midland County Prosecutor Geoffrey K. Rettig said prosecutors dont typically go to crash scenes, but deal with them as 20- to 30-page reports and autopsy photos collected by investigators.

Theres nothing worse than a corpse in a prom dress, he said.

Rettig said he has two sons, one in college and one who is a high school junior, and seeing the simulation made it possible to put their faces on anyone involved in the crash.

This can happen to anyone, he said, adding the culprit doesnt have to be alcohol.

Rettig held up his cell phone.

This can be your biggest enemy in a car.

His point was not lost upon senior Alexis Jones, who was a backseat passenger in the portrayal. Still wearing a prom dress with fake blood pouring down the front from her face, she said drunken driving is dangerous but using a cell phone while driving is an everyday danger.

Texting and driving happens all the time, and can have the same results, she said, adding you can do all the right things and still get hit. Be aware of whats going on around you.

Rettig also reminded students that at age 17, state law holds them responsible as an adult in criminal cases. There were 52 drunken driving crashes in the county, Stephenson said. One of them resulted in a death, and there were more than 200 arrests for drunken driving.

We want to get the message across to these students that the community cares about them and we want them to have a safe and happy prom, Stephenson said.

It was very surreal, Jones said of participating in the simulation. You dont realize these things can happen.

This is the fourth time that Amanda Oster, president of the Midland County Sheriffs Office Community Awareness Team, has organized the program.

I am proud to live in a community that cares, Oster said of the many first responders who helped. They put their hearts into it.

This years participants included the Midland County Sheriffs Office, Mid-Michigan Medical Center EMS, Chief Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Dennis Wagner, St. Marys of Michigan FlightCare, the Jerome, Lincoln, Edenville and Hope township fire departments, the Midland County Prosecutors Office, Ware Smith Woolever Funeral Directors and Beehrs Towing.
Robert M. Pirsig, the author of has died at the age of 88 . That photo shows him with his son Chris, and the pair are the main protagonists in the book. Like many I was influenced byat the time of its publication in 1974 and I have re-read it many times. The quasi-autobiography is enlightening and thought-provoking, but the little-known codicil is deeply disturbing. In later editions Robert M. Pirsig added an afterword , from which the following is taken:

The receding Ancient Greek perspective of the past ten years has a very dark side: Chris is dead.

He was murdered. At about 8:00 P.M. on Saturday, November 17, 1979, in San Francisco, he left the Zen Center, where he was a student, to visit a friend's house a block away on Haight Street.

According to witnesses, a car stopped on the street beside him and two men, black, jumped out. One came from behind him so that Chris couldn't escape, and grabbed his arms. The one in front of him emptied his pockets and found nothing and became angry. He threatened Chris with a large kitchen knife. Chris said something which the witnesses could not hear. His assailant became angrier. Chris then said something that made him even more furious. He jammed the knife into Chris's chest. Then the two jumped into their car and left.

Chris leaned for a time on a parked car, trying to keep from collapsing. After a time he staggered across the street to a lamp at the corner of Haight and Octavia. Then, with his right lung filled with blood from a severed pulmonary artery, he fell to the sidewalk and died.

I go on living, more from force of habit than anything else. At his funeral we learned that he had bought a ticket that morning for England, where my second wife and I lived aboard a sailboat. Then a letter from him arrived which said, strangely, "I never thought I would ever live to see my 23rd birthday."

His twenty-third birthday would have been in two weeks.
BLOOMINGTON  A Wisconsin man was charged Monday in connection with an April 15 fight at a Bloomington apartment in which he and another man were stabbed.

DeMarques Greene, 30, of Oshkosh was charged with home invasion and two counts of criminal trespass to a residence and jailed in lieu of posting $5,035.

Prosecutors said Green entered a residence in the 500 block of Valley View Circle through an unlocked patio screen door around 10:15 a.m. and began fighting with a man who was identified as the ex-husband of the homeowner.

That man grabbed a knife and began stabbing Greene to break up the fight, and Greene fled the residence, according to court documents.

When officers arrived, they also found the ex-husband, 28, with a stab wound to his hand. He was transported to a Twin City hospital for a non-life-threatening injury.

A short time later, officers were called to the nearby Wal-Mart in the 2200 block of West Market Street for a report of a man who had been stabbed. Prosecutors said Greene was found slumped over the wheel of his vehicle with multiple stab wounds.

He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Greene was arrested by Bloomington police Saturday and appeared before McLean County Associate Judge David Butler via a video link from the jail on Monday. Greene had bandages over his left hand and arm.

Greene is scheduled for an arraignment on May 4.
IWU to host Hungry Games fundraiser

BLOOMINGTON  The Hungry Games will be 4 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on Illinois Wesleyan University's Eckley Quad, in front of State Farm Hall.

A minimum $2 donation is requested to take part in activities such as egg races, apple-bobbing and "cookie face." The event is open to the public and was organized by the Perspectives in Global Health class at IWU to raise money to support a fish pond program through World Vision, a humanitarian organization the helps children in nearly 100 countries.
BLOOMINGTON  Central Illinois congressmen expressed optimism Monday that a shutdown of the federal government can be avoided.

Authorization for continued government spending runs out at midnight Friday. Without passage of a new spending bill, a partial shutdown could be triggered.

Noting that Congress has been in recess for two weeks and members are just returning, U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, a Republican from Dunlap, said, I'm optimistic that a package can be put together to avoid a shutdown.

We have an obligation to do that, he said.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a Republican from Taylorville, said, Both sides (Democrats and Republicans) are doing what they can  to avoid a shutdown.

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger was unavailable for comment. But the Manteno Republican's communications director, Maura Gillespie, said, He doesn't think a shutdown is likely.

Gillespie said, His hope is that Senate Democrats will be open to and willing to compromise.

Disputes over President Donald Trump's border wall and health care funding are seen as potential holdups to passage of the spending bill.

LaHood said, There is a need to secure our southern border, but he thinks it can be done with a combination of secure fencing and other barriers, as well as patrols and use of military technology.

I'm not convinced that a $20 billion wall  or whatever it costs  is the right answer, he said.

Davis said, There's always funding for border security in the annual spending bill.

Asked specifically whether Trump's border wall should be part of the bill, Davis said, Let's not speculate on what the package is going to look like.

Davis noted that Congress approved 700 miles of fencing when Democrat Bill Clinton was president and many Democrats still in the Senate supported more border security under Republican President George W. Bush.

Democrats are going to have to make a choice whether to shut down government by opposing something similar to what they've supported in the past, said Davis.

Border barriers are not a new issue, he said.

Davis said he would work with both sides to see if a commonsense solution can be found.

Gillespie said Kinzinger also believes we need better border security, but she does not think he has specifically addressed the wall envisioned by Trump.

Davis was in Congress in 2013 during the last federal government shutdown and doesn't want to see another one.

I've always voted to keep government open, he said.

Davis said Republicans at that time were blamed for trying to block a priority of President Barack Obama: the Affordable Care Act. He wondered whether Democrats will face similar blame for trying to block a priority of Trump.

Davis said it is important to put together a spending plan for the rest of the year, not only to avoid a government shutdown but also so Congress can turn its attention to debating next year's appropriations, which we should be doing now.

LaHood said, There is no reason to have that (a shutdown) happen.  The ramifications of doing that are too high. We can't let that happen.
LEXINGTON  The ParkLands Foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary with guided interpretive hikes at its flagship nature preserve and a gathering of environmental groups on May 13.

The public is asked to meet at the Money Creek Township Building, 25397 N. 1925 East Road, Lexington, northeast of Lake Bloomington, for the open house event from 9 a.m. to noon. Shuttle buses will leave about every 15 minutes to take participants to the nearby Merwin Nature Preserve.

It's an opportunity for us to show off our prized nature preserve, said Julie Elzanati, the foundation's secretary and a member of the celebration organizing committee.

Board members and volunteers will lead the hikes and professional biologists and other specialists will be located at various spots along the way to provide detailed information about what people see and hear: migratory birds, wildflowers, the restored oak savanna and aquatic species, such as mudpuppies and mussels.

With 50 years, we really want to get people into our preserves and show them why they're so spectacular, said Jessica Chambers, the foundation's outreach chair. Every time I go out, I learn something new, whether it's a bird or a plant or something about the river.

Established in 1967 by Loring Merwin, then publisher of The Pantagraph, the foundation's mission is to preserve the Mackinaw River watershed and protect declining open space in Central Illinois.

Working with area community leaders and local government agencies, the group has protected more than 3,200 acres of habitat along the Mackinaw River Valley in McLean and Woodford counties.

Visiting places such as the Merwin Nature Preserve is a way for people to learn more about Central Illinois, said Chambers.

People only think it's corn and soybeans, she said. There's a lot more than that.

The savanna and hill prairie at Merwin was designated by the state of Illinois as a dedicated Illinois Nature Preserve. The Merwin site also includes upland and bottomland forest and the Mackinaw River runs through it.

Among groups scheduled to have information tables at the township building are the Ecology Action Center, the John Wesley Powell Audubon Society, Master Naturalists and Wild Ones.

More information is available at www.parklandsfoundation.org.
NORMAL  A labor official involved in anti-discrimination efforts and other community activities has been named this year's recipient of Illinois State University's Grabill-Homan Peace Prize.

Mike Matejka of Normal, governmental affairs director for the Great Plains Laborers District Council, was recognized for his work with Not in Our Town.

The 1974 ISU graduate also is a member of the Normal Planning Commission and former member of the Bloomington City Council. He serves on the boards or committees of the Autism Friendly Community, Easterseals, McLean County Museum of History, the Illinois Labor History Society, the Children's Christmas Party for Unemployed Families and Secretary of State Jesse White's Life Goes On organ donation effort.

He also is a member of the Humanitarian and Social Aspects Committee of the town of Normal's 2040 Planning Commission. He was a founding member of the Central Illinois Food Bank.

Noha Shawki, director of Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies at ISU, said Matejka has impressed me with his empathy, his compassion, his leadership and his commitment to peacemaking and to community service.

The award was presented Monday at ISU's Alumni Center. First given in 2011, the annual prize goes to a member of the Bloomington-Normal community who has demonstrated commitment to community peace and justice activities.

Previous recipients have been Kelley Becker, Mary Campbell, Tina Sipula, Rick Heiser, Barbara Stuart and Deborah Halperin.

The peace prize is named in honor of history professors Joseph Grabill and Gerlof Homan, co-founders of the Peace Studies Program at ISU.
BLOOMINGTON  A self-proclaimed fan of Beer Nuts, Gov. Bruce Rauner took a guided tour of the Bloomington plant on Tuesday, followed by a meeting with employees where he touted the state's economic potential.

Its great to be back in Bloomington-Normal, Rauner said during a news conference after the tour and meeting. Beer Nuts is one of the iconic companies anywhere in the country and its a great business for Illinois. Our number one priority is to help grow our economy. We need to grow our businesses and create more good-paying jobs.

"Through all of the challenges we have, whether it is funding pensions or education, every challenge requires economic growth. We cant cut our way out of our problems because we are $185 billion in debt and we cant tax our way out of this, either. The key is growth.

The Beer Nuts meeting was the second of the day for Rauner. In the morning, he was at Illinois State University where he met with about 30 eighth-graders. He also met with The Pantagraph's editorial board.

"ISU is an awesome school and I was telling them how wonderful ISU is and I was encouraging them to think about where they would like to go to college and what they would like to be when they grow up, he said. The key is that they can be anything they want, but we want to make sure they do that in Illinois because we know there are a lot of great careers in Illinois.

About 50 Beer Nut employees attended the town hall-style meeting with Rauner, who took questions, mostly about the states economy.

We should be one of the fastest growing states in America, he said. We should be the place where businesses come to grow, but we really are not, and we havent been for a long time. Its very sad and its very frustrating. We have the hardest-working people in America. You guys are part of the best work force in America. We have hard-working people. We have great location. We have great transportation and infrastructure.

Rauner stated that Illinois hasnt had a net gain in the labor force in 17 years and said during that time, government spending had increased 66 percent.

The political system is broken and rigged and we have to fix it, he said. We have people in elected office who have been there 20 years, 30 years or 40 years. They are making a lot of money. They arent working for you, they are working for themselves. The political class is doing well. The middle class, not so much.

Rauner said term limits will help with that, adding that eight or 10 years in one position should be enough. He also renewed his call for fair map legislation to eliminate the practice of gerrymandering districts, noting that two-thirds of the races in the General Assembly in the last general election had only one option to choose from.

There was no opponent, and that is because nobody would run in that district because it was gerrymandered to keep an incumbent in, he said. These are the things we are trying to change as we move forward.
PPC Opens Submissions for 74th Annual Folding Carton Competition The 2016 Competitions Folding Carton of the Year, M&M's Mini 4 Pack Stocking Stuffer, manufactured by The Ellis Group. (Board: 18pt SBS Everest from International Paper). April 25, 2017 - The Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC) has opened submissions for its 74th annual North American Paperboard Packaging Competition. Recognizing masterful folding carton and rigid box manufacturing, the competition will be adjudicated by a panel of packaging experts in July at PPC headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts. The winning packages will be revealed at PPC's 2017 Fall Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. A rigorous, standard-setting contest, PPC's Carton Competition highlights the best paperboard packaging manufactured over the past year. In evaluating each entry, judges examine finished cartons loaded with product, carton blanks, as well as detailed write-ups that reveal customer specifications, design solutions, board type, converting techniques, and more. Judging criteria include concept and design, converting, distribution, fulfillment, retail, and end-user experience. In addition to a general category, the competition features two special categories. The Innovation category ranks cartons that were converted using new and unique techniques or with innovative substrates, inks, laminates, or coatings. In the Eco category, cartons are evaluated on how they replaced less sustainable substrates or how they decreased waste, utilized recycled/recyclable materials, or promoted clean production processes. Each carton may be given a Gold, Silver, or Boxmaker award in its respective category. The competition's top awards include Paperboard Package of the Year, Folding Carton of the Year, Rigid Box of the Year, the Innovation Award, and the Eco Award. For almost 75 years, the paperboard packaging industry has looked to the PPC's North American Paperboard Packaging Competition, not only to honor the best of the best in converting, but also to discern upcoming trends and production techniques, said Ben Markens, president of PPC. I'm looking forward to another dynamic competition in 2017! The 2017 panel of judges includes packaging experts with a wide variety of backgrounds from technical converting to branding and marketing. The panel includes: Joanne Grennille, senior packaging scientist at Mars Chocolate NA; Sandra A. Krasovec, packaging design professor at FIT; Bill Wynkoop, adjunct packaging professor at RIT; John Lyons III, former associate publisher of Package Design magazine; retired packaging executives Gary Miller and Richard DePaul; and Lynsie Gibson, packaging engineer at Performance Health/Hygenic Corp. PPC members should submit entry forms before June 1, 2017. For more information, visit: paperbox.org/cc. Now in its 88th year, PPC is the leading industry association serving suppliers and converters of all forms of paperboard packaging. To learn more, please visit: paperbox.org. SOURCE: Paperboard Packaging Council
Who can forget America's prettiest inmate, "hot felon" Jeremy Meeks, made famous by a mugshot that went viral for being just too damn lovely?

The viral mugshot from 2014 (posted by California police after Meeks had been arrested on gun charges), garnered so much attention that he was signed to the White Cross Management modeling agency upon his release from jail in 2016. It was a rags-to-riches story that made even the most cynical among us smile. After spending some time with his family and readjusting to civilian life, the 32-year-old father was on his way to London this week for a series of magazine cover shoots, according his manager Jim Jordan.

Sadly, the Daily Mail Online reports that Meeks never even got to leave the airport, as he was detained by border police at Heathrow and promptly put on a plane back to America just eight hours after his arrival.

Jordan claims that though Meeks had all proper travel documents with him, he was still detained, interviewed, searched and fingerprinted before being denied entry to the UK and escorted onto a flight back to New York.

"We went into the UK and we went through immigration and they detained Jeremy," Jordan said. "He wasn't arrested but they deported him out of the country."

Though the exact reason for Meeks' deportation remains unclear, a video he posted to Snapchat indicates that it may have been due to his criminal record.

"It was his first time in London and he was all excited, it was his big debut," Jordan said. "He was on the right track for what we feel was going to be his new life. Now he's very sad. Hopefully this is just a setback and he will be able to come back from this."

Watch Meeks document the incident below:



[h/t Dazed]

Image via Instagram
Health care professionals struggle as they look for treatment options for recovering opioid addicts after a surgery. Opioid-related deaths continually increase as the years progress creating a health care epidemic.

Every nineteen minutes, a person dies of an opioid overdose. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raises alarm as the opioid epidemic is said to be underestimated, as reported by CNN.

More than a million individuals die of opioid overdose each year. As of the latest update in regards to the opioid epidemic, health care providers explain that 2 people die of overdose each day in Ontario alone, according to News 1130.

What weve seen is that fentanyl, hydromorphone and even heroin involvement in opioid-related deaths really started to rise at that point in time, lead author of the study, Tara Gomes said during an interview. Thats a bit concerning because it means that simply changing access or the formulation of one type of opioid isnt actually leading to the ultimate goal of reducing the rate of opioid-related deaths in the province.

Aside from the increasing number of opioid overdose across the United States, doctors also worry about the possible post-surgery treatments to be given to recovering opioid addicts. More than one million American are undergoing opioid addiction treatments in 2015 and the numbers are still on the rise.

Max Baker, a recovering opioid addict, made the news after dying due to overdose. Barker was already living a sober life until he underwent an accident that leads him to his OD, as featured on NPR.

Max's father explained his son's tragic death that led hospitals into considering the advice of an addiction specialist post-surgery, considering the patient's background. Prescribing opioids to a recovering addict post-surgery could potentially end up with a relapse and might even cause a fatal overdose.

Dr. Stuart Gitlow, past president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, pointed out the importance of having an addiction specialist on board. Surgeons and doctors should have a specialist in a given field considering the patient's medical history prior to the operation.
Madeleine McCann disappeared from her bed during a vacation with her parents on the evening of May 3, 2007. Years after she disappeared, new evidence emerged stating that she was snatched and smuggled after witnesses claimed that they saw an identical looking girl in Morocco.

Madeleine McCann's disappearance 10 years ago became a huge mystery as some claimed that she's already dead. There were those who suggested that the girl was actually kidnapped and sold. Forensics experts claimed that her body is impossible to find, if she was in fact, killed, as the people responsible for her death can easily hide her body due to their isolated location.

It might be solved if Madeleines body is found and there is evidence either on the body or in the location where the body is found that would point to somebody but otherwise," Professor Dave Barclay told Sunday Night Live during an interview, according to News AU. "I dont think it will ever be solved. There is just no physical evidence whatsoever that we can use at this time, even to eliminate some of the theories.

Contrary to the reports that Madeleine's already dead, there are those who are optimistic that the girl was just kidnapped and is still alive. McCann might have been kidnapped and sold to a well-off family, as reported by Daily Mail. Madeleine was abducted in Pria da Luz, Portugal, which is near Morocco, a place where she was sighted, according to witnesses.

McCann was spotted three times since her disappearance. People that saw her shared similar details, where it was mentioned that she wanted to see her mom already.

Child abduction cases continually increase over the years. More than 2000 children are reported missing each day, as cited by Child Rescue Network. Eighty-Two percent of the abduction is usually done by a family member, according to the statistics.
Midnight quick fixes sound interestingly different in the University of California Davis. Instead of tasty snacks and thirst-quenching drinks, condoms and morning after pills are available on vending machines in case someone needs them handy.

The unusual vending machine called "Wellness to Go" was a brainchild of student Parteek Singh. The senior told KCRA that his initiative of building the machine came from a friend's experience when she needed Plan B pills but could not get one anywhere, Mashable reported.

"Wellness to Go" was designed to help students as such, especially during times when the university's health center is closed. The vending machine operates almost the entire day; it is open until 1 a.m. or until the building closes and resumes at 5 a.m.

Aside from condoms and pills, Singh's vending concept consists of pregnancy tests and feminine hygiene products. The vending machine also provides emergency medications like pain relievers and allergy pills.

Buying contraceptives over-the-counter gives an awkward feeling for almost everyone, if not all, who tries to get one. Singh says the aim of "Wellness to Go" is to change that since it's just a machine and it would not give anyone a stare.

UC Davis now has a vending machine selling Plan B, pregnancy tests, and condoms pic.twitter.com/fP4X7x9QcD  Tom Miller (@KCRAMiller) April 22, 2017

Initially, Singh's proposal to set up the vending machine was declined twice but now, the university supported Singh's initiative. UC Davis housed one of the four campus vending machines of its kind across the entire nation.

Singh, who was a part of UC Davis Student Council in 2015, also aimed to address the fast-rising number of pregnancy in the university. The senior told Sacramento Bee that these are just basic commodities that will help since college students are particularly sexually active.

A survey finds that majority of college students are sexually active, although they are not really engaged in it as much as everyone thinks. Per New York Magazine's own-conducted survey collaborated with SurveyMonkey, less than half of the students  41 percent of women and 49 percent of men  believed that they were not having as much sex contrary to popular belief that college is a sex fest.

The survey added that 60 percent of some 700 students are non-virgins. Seventy-three also said they have been in love at least once.
The man who defended a mother against an American Airlines flight attendant is speaking up about the controversial incident. Tony Fierro discloses the real reason he chose to call out the airline staff during a tense moment inside the plane last Friday, April 21.

Fierro witnessed the American Airlines flight attendant upsetting the mother with a baby in her arms. They were discussing a stroller and passengers saw the flight attendant grabbing this hard while nearly hitting the baby.

"That's what just fired me up, so that was it," Fierro said, as per People. Fierro stood up and confronted the flight attendant for nearly hitting the baby and they exchanged heated words. The captain pacified the fight and the airlines issued a statement after a video went viral.

"The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care," American Airlines management said in its released statement, as per Telegraph. "In short, we are disappointed by these actions." The airline suspended the said employee.

Fierro is a Texas native who was on his way home from a San Francisco trip. He works as the president of K&S Insurance Agency and heads the Crosspoint Community Church, as per Opposing Views.

The woman he defended was a foreigner who understood and spoke English, according to other witnesses. The Argentinian mother apparently forgot to check in her baby's stroller so she looked for a cabin space to store it when she encountered the flight attendant.

As they discussed airline rules regarding strollers, the flight attendant took the equipment. One witness said the employee might have accidentally grabbed too violently, thus nearly hitting the baby. Some viewers of the video, however, observed the mother's cries appeared exaggerated and fake, as per Mom.Me.

Meanwhile, Bob Ross of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said facts about what happened were incomplete. He appealed to the public to hold off any judgments. "All passengers deserve to be treated with respect. We also must assure that our flight attendants are treated respectfully and safely on board," he said, as per Inc.
Chelsea Clinton did not let a joke about her mom, Hillary Clinton, pass. The former presidential daughter snapped back at comedienne Vanessa Bayer during a New York luncheon last week.

Observers also noted the younger Clinton is making her voice heard loudly in recent weeks. Her visibility sparked speculations she's setting her sights on a White House return.

SNL's Bayer cracked a joke when she introduced the honorees for Variety's Power of Women New York luncheon which included Clinton. Bayer said the honorees "had one thing in common. None of their moms is president," as per Hello Giggles.

When Clinton took her turn to speak, she did not forget about Bayer's quip. Before leaving the stage, she snapped back at the comedienne's joke.

"Vanessa, we may be able to say in this room today that no one's mother is currently president, but some day, someone's will be," Clinton said. Watch how it played out in the video below.

Variety honored Clinton for her work against childhood obesity with Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Her increasing public presence had tongues wagging she's planning to run for office in the next elections and she's marking her return to the White House, Telegraph reported.

In her teenage years, Clinton was a White House resident for eight years after her father, Bill Clinton, took office as the president. "Some people say she has political blood and she'd be a great future politician," Bloomberg's Toluse Olorunnipa told Telegraph.

Not everyone, however, welcomes the idea of Clinton as a public servant despite her pedigree. Vanity Fair's T.A. Frank cited while Clinton had an advantage due to her name, she has yet to prove herself in public service and governance.

Clinton, however, stated she's not running for public office, as per her exclusive with Variety. Observers said it's not hard to change her mind considering the next election is still in 2020 and she has enough time to prepare for her campaign.
A president's daughter ignited a national debate after she posted her breastfeeding photos online. Aliya Shagieva, the youngest daughter of President Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan, received some praises but also mostly criticisms, especially since 75 percent of the country's population is Muslim.

Shagieva welcomed her son, Tagir, with husband Konstantin in September 2016. As with many new moms these days, the 20-year-old often shared photos of her pregnancy and baby online, as per Daily Mail.

Last March, however, Shagieva posted a photo where she breastfed Tagir. Critics lashed out in the comments and cited her for "immoral inappropriateness."

Some bashers also slammed the new mom for embarrassing her father but a few defended her for normalizing breastfeeding. Mothering reported Shagieva deleted her posts on social media following the backlash.

In case you missed her Facebook posts - #Kyrgyzstan president's daughter Aliya Shagieva #CentralAsia https://t.co/ycyUsMz6AA  Navbahor Imamova (@Navbahor) April 17, 2017

This wasn't the first time critics hounded the young mom. When Shagieva revealed her pregnancy, she posted a photo of her baby bump while only wearing her underwear.

Commenters said her provocative photo brought shame to her family. Some gave her unsolicited advice about covering herself up more.

She, however, defended she wasn't sexualizing her pregnancy and motherhood. She pointed out it's her critics who have the problem in how they saw her images.

Shagieva also said because some women wrote to her to say she inspired them, she decided she will continue posting photos of nursing her baby. Despite the strong wave of opposition coming from conservatives, the mom said she's grateful to those who see the normal act between a mom and a baby.

Kyrgyzstan, located in Central Asia near the Chinese and Russian borders, is a staunchly conservative country where women aren't afforded equal treatment despite its progressiveness, as per The Guardian. There are several women's group and women's causes in the country but due to politics and religious beliefs, the female population remains disadvantaged.
Ive always had an odd relationship with Beltane. On one hand, its a beautiful, joyous, sexy celebration of life and love. Its always struck me as the most pagan of Pagan holidays.

On the other hand, its kinda hard to have a beautiful, joyous, sexy celebration when youre a solitary practitioner, as I was for the first nine years of my Pagan journey. Even after I found a group, public ritual has constraints that are at odds with Wicker Man-ish frolicking in the fields.

This will be our thirteenth year doing a Maypole Dance, but the closest weve come to anything sexy was a Great Rite in token in 2008. It was beautiful, but its heteronormative, gender-binary, and pair-oriented. That doesnt speak to a group that includes gay couples, asexuals, and transgender people. Plus its a Wiccan thing, and most of us arent Wiccan.

Im not saying dont do the Great Rite  if it works for you, wonderful. But it doesnt work for us.

So if we skip the sexy theme, whats left?

In ancient times Beltane was the beginning of summer, the year being divided into two seasons. That makes it a good time to celebrate beginnings of all sorts.

It was on Beltaine, the first day of May, that the Tuatha De Danann, the people of the gods of Dana, came through the high air to Ireland. Although they landed in north-west Connacht, the Firbolgs, that were in Ireland before them, saw nothing but a mist lying on the hills where they landed. adapted from Gods and Fighting Men

This is the coming of the Tuatha De Danann to Ireland. How  or if  They left Ireland is a matter of speculation. Some say They went into the Otherworld, some say They went underhill and became the Fae, and some say They never left  people just stopped seeing Them. I think the answer varies from deity to deity. Whats most relevant to contemporary polytheists is that They are once again active in our world.

And thats a good thing, because our need for Them is growing.

Were living in Tower Time. Were living in an era when Empire is crumbling but is still trying to hold on to power at all costs, no matter how many humans and other beings they destroy in the process. Fundamentalist monotheisms are losing in the public square, which has only made the remaining fundamentalists that much more reactionary, and in some cases, violent.

Our Gods will not save us. Simply saying the right prayers and pouring the right offerings will not make everything OK. It is up to us to respond to these challenges. But we need not face this alone  we have allies.

We can align ourselves with the currents of Nature. We can call upon the power of our beloved ancestors. And we can ally ourselves with the Gods who call to us. We can join in Their great work and be a part of something much bigger  and much stronger  than ourselves.

Many of us who have close relationships with various deities are hearing and feeling a sense of urgency. A certain Battle Goddess is becoming even more demanding, but so are other deities who are generally considered patient and peaceful. I do not know Their plan, or if They have many plans, or if They have no plans at all (though I have my suspicions).

I do know that in times of trouble, focusing on the values and virtues of the Mighty Gods is a very helpful approach. They have never steered me wrong. While being in Their service is challenging, it is also deeply meaningful.

My distaste for proselytizing and my commitment to respecting everyones free and responsible search for truth and meaning limit the imperativeness with which I can make this call. It limits the intended audience of this post to those for whom individual Gods and Goddesses with Their own agency is a reality, or at least a considered possibility. I cannot preach the Gospel of the Old Gods on a street corner, nor would I if I could. If this call doesnt fit the reality of your world, feel free to go back to planning a nice sexy Beltane.

But Tower Time is here.

When the Tuatha De Danann came to Ireland They did not find it empty. The Firbolgs were already there, and negotiations to share the island proved unsuccessful. There were several battles and many setbacks before the Tuatha De Danann finally won.

I do not imagine our struggles will be any easier. But with the skill of Lugh, the strength of the Dagda, and the cunning of the Morrigan, we can prevail.

It was at Beltane when the Tuatha De Danann first came to Ireland. Perhaps this Beltane They will come to your celebration, particularly if you invite Them.

And perhaps this Beltane you will respond.
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Germany's Volkswagen picks local partner in bid to cement foothold in Iran

04/25/17

Source: Press TV

Germany's Volkswagen says it has picked a local Iranian auto company to represent it in one of the biggest markets of the Middle East.



A classic beetle in Iran

(source: Imgrum)



Volkswagen in a statement named the Iranian company as Khodro Sazi Sina (KSS) which it said had been chosen after "thorough and intense studies". The company emphasized that the KSS' closest rival - Mammut Group - was only a few points behind.



It added that the KSS had gone through a comprehensive restructuring and that this was significantly instrumental in its success to become Volkswagen's representative in Iran.



"We realized from the beginning that the KSS had been able to change its position inside the Iranian auto market as a result of the same restructuring campaign.



Volkswagen said it was satisfied over a plan by the Iranian company to provide as much as around 20 million Euros for getting its business in the country off the ground.



It also stressed that it expected the KSS commitments toward representing Volkswagen should be maintained and the required investments should be to the same degree made.



"There is the opportunity to acquire a market access for Volkswagen to one of the largest markets in the Middle East. The cooperation will not only provide several hundred jobs in Iran but will also be a basis for export from Iran such as ambulances or special vehicles," said the major German auto player in its statement sent to Press TV.



The first vehicles would be supplied to the Iranian market through the KSS later this year, Volkswagen emphasized in its statement.



Last April, Iran's Ambassador to Germany Ali Majedi had said that a deal with an Iranian company to cooperate with Iran's auto industry was close.



Majedi said the company's management have been specifically studying the capabilities of several local carmakers and are now trying to choose between only two companies.



Volkswagen announced last September that it is grooming its Skoda brand for the Iranian market.



"Iran is a very interesting market with great opportunities," Volkswagen brand R&D chief Heinz-Jakob Neusser said at the time.



Reuters further quoted a company source as saying that the German company was considering a move into Iran with the mass-market Skoda and Seat brands.



Volkswagen's last venture in Iran involved its production of the Gol compact with Iran's Kerman Khodro before withdrawing under US pressures in 2011.
(Recasts with stock rise, adds comments from conference call on Grasberg development plans, permit talks, analyst comment)

By Susan Taylor

TORONTO, April 25 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Inc missed earnings expectations, cut its outlook and warned on Tuesday it would be difficult to secure a long-term Indonesian mining permit, but investors sent its stock soaring on relief over a temporary export resumption.

Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport said a months-long export ban by the Indonesian government at its massive Grasberg mine in the country had been costly, clipping production and sales, with more challenges ahead.

Still, shares of the world's biggest publicly listed copper miner gained as much as 9 percent, before edging back to $12.98, a 6 percent gain.

Freeport is ramping up output and copper concentrate shipments from Grasberg, the world's second biggest copper mine, after gaining a six-month export permit Friday that coincided with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's state visit.

"The market is used to bad news on the Indonesian front, so anything that can be construed as optimistic is what the market is focusing on," said Clarksons Platou analyst Jeremy Sussman of the temporary permit.

New rules in Indonesia require miners to divest a 51 percent stake, relinquish arbitration rights and pay new taxes and royalties. Freeport says it will only agree to a new permit with the fiscal and legal protection in its current contract.

Chief Executive Richard Adkerson said the cost of failure would be high for Freeport and its Grasberg joint venture partner Rio Tinto. Speaking on a conference call with analysts, he said Indonesia would also be hurt, noting the government lost almost $500 million in taxes and royalties from the export ban starting Jan. 12.

Separately in an SEC filing on Tuesday, Freeport said Adkerson's total compensation for 2016 was about $16 million versus $8.6 million in 2015.

Freeport has cut about 10 percent of its 32,000 Grasberg workforce and spending on underground expansion by one-third.

Story continues

It will "significantly" cut Indonesian spending, planned at about $1 billion annually for the next five years, if it does not gain a permit. Some $700 million of its $1.6 billion 2017 capital budget is earmarked for Grasberg's underground expansion.

In the first quarter, consolidated sales of 809 million pounds of copper and 182,000 ounces of gold lagged Freeport's January forecast of 1 billion pounds of copper and 460,000 ounces of gold.

Freeport said it deferred sales of 190 million pounds of copper and 280,000 ounces of gold under the ban.

It also cut its 2017 sales forecast to 3.9 billion pounds of copper and 1.9 million ounces of gold, from 4.1 billion pounds of copper and 2.2 million ounces of gold.

Freeport's adjusted profit of 15 cents a share and revenue of $3.34 billion trailed analyst estimates of 16 cents and $3.46 billion. (Reporting by Susan Taylor; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Diane Craft)
A group of networking engineers and vendors is making progress toward an API that would help enterprises merge SD-WANs from different vendors.

The Open SD-WAN Exchange (OSE) initiative was launched last year by the Open Networking User Group (ONUG) to solve a shortcoming of software-defined wide-area networks: They often cant talk to each other. On Tuesday at the ONUG Spring 2017 conference in San Francisco, OSE will make public the work its done so far.

SD-WANs control links to branch offices and remote sites with software, which ultimately should eliminate proprietary hardware and dedicated routing schemes. They also allow companies to use regular broadband connections instead of more expensive MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) services.

But most SD-WANs built with different vendors products cant communicate with each other, said Snehal Patel, a member of ONUGs board and a network architect at the retail company Gap.

That could be a problem after a merger or acquisition between two companies with separate SD-WANs. A lot of the agility and labor savings won through SD-WAN will be lost if the IT department has to go back to traditional networking to connect the two systems.

ONUG, a group of enterprise IT leaders advocating for technologies that better meet users needs, has been working on this issue for several years and launched the initiative to solve it at the ONUG Spring 2016 conference. IT executives from companies such as Gap, Bank of America, BNY Mellon and FedEx are working with vendors including Cisco Systems and Huawei Technologies.

SD-WANs can interpret and carry out policies for things like when a branch-office connection should switch from the internet to a private link to maintain performance. Theyre based on industry standards, but vendors interpret those standards differently, so their network controllers cant communicate policies and commands, Patel said.

Those controllers may someday talk directly to each other. But for now, OSE wants vendors to build a policy orchestration layer that can talk to all of them.

Developing the API is one part of this effort. It will define things like whether there needs to be a persistent connection between the controllers and the orchestrator and what happens if a controller loses contact with the orchestrator.

The group has already finished most of its work, according to OSE Co-Chair Steve Wood, a principal engineer at Cisco. Its defined the requirements for the API, the architecture it will use, and other elements. OSE plans to publish the technical specifications during the summer for review by ONUG members, who include networking experts from hundreds of enterprises.

At last years spring conference, ONUG also launched three other initiatives, which have had different trajectories.

The Open Traffic Management Format group pushed for a way to bring together management data from different physical and virtual network devices so it could be analyzed together. This could help determine the effects of system failures. Another project, the Open Network State Format, would be for data about the current state of network devices, so big-data techniques could be used for better real-time management. Those two efforts have been merged into a Monitoring and Analytics initiative.

The other project, for an Open Interoperable Control Plane, didnt fare so well. The OICP would work within data centers, connecting different parts of the infrastructure that are built on different architectures, such as OpenStack and VMware vCenter. Vendors and users met at workshops last year, but the effort is now on hold, according to Nick Lippis, co-founder and co-chairman of ONUG. He blamed stiff competition among vendors.

On that one, we pushed the pause button, because the vendors dont want to play with each other, Lippis said.
The Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) is to construct an onshore 278-kilometre natural gas pipeline infrastructure from the Takoradi Aboadze enclave to the power enclaves of Tema in the Greater Accra Region.



This follows the signing of a project implementation contract with the Chinese multinational oil fields service conglomerate, the Yantai Jereh Group.



The signing of the agreement signifies the revival of the project, which was conceived last year.



Start of work



The Chinese company is expected to start site work, such as topographical/geotechnical site surveys and front-end engineering designs (FEED), which are already underway, as well as on-site civil construction activities which will commence within the next 10 days.



The financial structure of the project includes an innovative 15-year build, operate and transfer (BOT) model in which the Yantai Jereh Group, along with its investment partners, will fully pre-finance all construction activities related to the project, with absolutely no upfront cost being borne by the Ghana government.



A statement issued by Ghana Gas said the entire investment made by the Chinese conglomerate would be recouped by charging transportation fees based on the volumes of gas being moved through the pipeline during the 15-year period.



It said the ownership of the entire infrastructure would then be transferred to the Ghana government, completely free of any recurring charges or financial encumbrances.



The proposed gas transportation charge of approximately $1.56 per MMBtu (a standard unit of measurement used to denote the amount of heat energy in fuels and the ability of appliances) is a fraction of the $4.05 per MMBtu historically charged by the offshore West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) for similar natural gas transportation services, it said.



Advantages



The statement said other advantages of the onshore pipeline included the fact that it would enable Ghana Gas to secure transportation of natural gas energy resources generated from oil fields located in the Western Region to the east of the country, while traversing multiple regions along the coastline of Ghana.



Multiple regional natural gas distribution stations will be constructed between the two major load centres of Takoradi and Greater Accra, with stations being located in Takoradi, Cape Coast, Winneba, Nsawam and Tema earmarked for phase one, as well as a potential station in the Volta Region in phase two of the project, it said.



It said those stations would enable manufacturers wishing to construct factories to connect directly to the infrastructure to receive cost-effective natural gas to power their industrial operations.



The statement said the project marked a momentous milestone for the new New Patriotic Party (NPP) government that had pledged massive infrastructure development and industrialisation initiatives, such as one district, one factory, to spur economic growth.



This project represents a massive opportunity of growth for both Ghana and the Yantai Jereh Group. We have been highly impressed by the new administration and their ability to get things done quickly and professionally, Yantai Jerehs Ghana-based Senior Vice-President for West Africa, Gao Yong, who will take responsibility for the implementation of the project, said.







Source: Daily Graphic









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Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has demanded the immediate halt to the charging of unapproved fees by public universities without parliamentary approval.



He has threatened legal action over the matter.



The MP, who is the Chairman of Parliaments Subsidiary Legislation Committee, has also written to the Minister of State In Charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah on the matter.



According to Mr Ayariga, the countrys laws require that various public universities, including the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Ghana must submit their proposed fees to Parliament for approval but that hasnt happened since 1992.



In a two-page letter, he said the imposition of fees on students without prior approval by Parliament is contrary to the law. He noted that with the exception of Wa Polytechnic, all other tertiary institutions are in breach of the law.



Speaking in an interview with Joy News, the MP demanded that the sector minister should take steps to rectify this or face a court action.



They must come to Parliament for approval that gives parliamentarians the opportunity to scrutinize the amount being charged and also get to appreciate the justification for charging that amount because the public is already financing the institution by paying the salaries of lectures and by providing infrastructure, he noted.



Mr Ayariga also asserted that per Article 25 (1) of the Constitution, the State must work towards a system that makes higher education free.



He demanded that the Minister presents a clear framework similar to what has been with the case of free SHS.



The constitution also insists that we should arrange to provide progressively free tertiary education and there has not been any clear indication by all governments of a programme to provide for a progressively free tertiary education system, the MP stated.



Mr. Ayariga also claimed that the practice of fee-paying and non-fee paying in the admission system is unconstitutional as it is discriminatory and reprehensible. According to him, this must end.



He laments that some of these demands eventually become a burden on parliamentarians with such high fees.



He is calling for a bipartisan discussion of these issues with critical stakeholders to resolve this, or they will head to the courts to enforce the demands as economic and social rights.

Source: myjoyonline.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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Former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, Rachel Appoh has donated items worth GHC12,000 to nursing mothers at the Winneba Trauma Hospital on Easter Sunday.



The items included; washing powder, clothes, washing bowls, mosquito nets and babies outfit.



The former Deputy Gender Minister in an interview with Peacefmonline.com says the donation is part of her social responsibility to the community.



According to her, she is keen on putting smiles on the faces of nursing mothers after advising them on good breastfeeding.



She also advised the nursing mothers to adhere strictly to medical advice, observe the six months exclusive breastfeeding and regularly attend hospital for post natal care.



About 40 fresh mothers who benefited from Rachel Appohs gesture were grateful.



The Medical Director in charge of the Trauma Hospital, Dr. George Kwame Pra thanked her and the Obaa Sima Foundation for the support.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Pressure group, The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), has petitioned the Royal Institute of International Affairs of the U.K against rewarding chairperson of the Electoral Commission Charlotte Osei with the 2017 Chatham House Prize.



The EC boss was nominated in April by the award committee for her role in ensuring a peaceful and transparent electoral process in Ghana in December 2016, further consolidating Ghana's 24-year long democratic journey.



Other dignitaries in contention for the award are Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia and Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO.



The Chatham House Prize is awarded to the person, persons or organization deemed to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.



But in a petition to the Royal Institute of International Affairs of the UK, AFAG stated that the processes leading to the 2016 general elections was fraught with a series of courts cases, and a high level of tension which could have plunged the nation into chaos.



According to AFAG, Mrs. Osei is not deserving of the award adding that the 2016 elections was only successful due to the peace loving nature of Ghanaians.



Below is the full letter by AFAG





THE PRESIDENT

THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS,

CHATHAM HOUSE,

10 ST JAMES SQUARE,

LONDON SW1Y 4LE



25TH APRIL 2017





Dear Sir,





MRS. CHALLOTTE OSEI, GHANA'S ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER UNFIT FOR CHATHAM HOUSE PRIZE



The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), Ghana, is a keen follower of your activities. We appreciate your mission to "help build a sustainably secure, prosperous and just world." In Ghana, we are a Civil Society Organization, independent of the state to ensure that we contribute to the well functioning of our democracy and enlightening the Ghanaian public.



In October 2008, we were, as most Ghanaians, delighted that the Chatham House honoured President John Agyekum Kuffuor with the Chatham House Prize. His achievements were quiet obvious and celebrated across the globe.



However, AFAG, with much of the civil society community in Ghana are alarmed to the news that Mrs. Charlotte Osei has been shortlisted for the prestigious award in her short and unimpressive stay at the helm of Electoral Commission of Ghana. AFAG is a champion of democratic processes, supportive of any actor in the electoral space that deserves to be rewarded for their work but we have strong reservation on Mrs. Charlotte Osei.



We respectfully states our reservations as follows:



1. The Electoral Commission was dragged to court on a record 12 times under her leadership in less than 24 months. Mrs. Charlotte Osei was on the wrong side of all significant court litigation prior to the election, including those she initiated {such as the correct interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling on ridding the voter roll of ineligible persons, grounds for disqualifying presidential aspirants}. The impunity with which she acted on several occasion and her blatant disregard for Supreme Court rulings against her outfit makes her unfit and undeserving for your noble Prize.



2. Significant omissions in the provision of C1 94 leaving huge gaps in election transparency and independent poll results validation contrary to the recommendations contained in the Supreme Court on the 2012 presidential election petition. This had to be corrected through litigation. An example is the Electoral Commission's returning officers' mandatory signature on the official poll results and party agent access to the same document.



3. Developments between the closing of the polls on December 7 and announcement of final election results on December 9, which brought the country to a state of apprehension and created needless tension, could have been completely avoided. This was caused by;



a. Delay in releasing of presidential polls on the grounds that the EC IT department had been "compromised";



b. Alleged over-voting in Ashanti region that ostensibly being investigated before official certification. This proved to be a delay tactic and false.



c. Putting out a blatantly wrong figure of 49% as interim voter turn-out for the presidential poll, which was later debunked.



4. Credible intelligence that the EC had set up two lines to transmit presidential election results {a super high-speed line and regular speed line} without disclosure to all the presidential contestants or their representatives at Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).



5. Enforcement of electoral rules by the EC and political party accountability remains weak. What is more worrying is her blatant refusal to take advice and consider opinions from stakeholders. As we know, Ghana is not a dictatorship to warrant dictatorial tendencies.



6. The EC did not have any plan towards setting up the National Collation Centre in a more spacious location on Election Day to accommodate many stakeholders. This made it difficult for many stakeholders to follow certified results as and when the EC received them.



7. The EC under Mrs. Charlotte Osei failed to capture two sources of internally generated funds {IGF} in their 2017 Budget Estimates presented to Ghana's parliament in April 2017. This is a clear case of graft distasteful in all intents. These funds were from journalists (GHC10.00 as accreditation fee for Election 2016, something unknown in Ghana's election history. She further charged GHC5.00 for every application for a misplaced/lost voter cards).



8. The European Union Observation Mission in its report on Ghana 2016 election had this to say; "The Registration process for Presidential Candidates in the 2016 elections (under Mrs. Charlotte Osei) was problematic. The process was not sufficiently inclusive and the spirit of the law was not fully respected."



9. That Mrs. Charlotte Osei has brought disunity into the 7 member Commission which does not augur well for the well being and image of the Commission.



10. A report on 30th March 2017, from Ghana's Special Budget Committee of Parliament had concluded that as a result of Mrs. Charlotte Osei's leadership the Commission do not trust themselves. There is gross distrust amongst the 7 member Commission under her leadership, and that they are not on good terms with each other. (See www.starrfmonline.com/2017/03/30/ec). This was never the case under the former Chairman of the Commission.



11. The Electoral Commission's own in-house software had such a weak security protocols that in the word of Mrs. Osei; "we were forced to ignore the software and use manual collations." Clearly this is not a hallmark of an award winning performance. If any actor to the electoral process had raised a concern, in concert with other issues raised, it might have been unnerving for the nation, considering that primarily post-election activities are key trigger to election violence.



12. Mrs. Osei faulted profoundly when she refused to given access to the secured transmitted results, even as a read only access. Many of the political party representatives found this behaviour unacceptable since it appears to be shrouded in secrecy and lacked transparency.



13. It is worth noting that, Mrs. Charlotte Osei's bizarre posture not to allow for a transparent process before the elections, led to some Ghanaian citizens registering their displeasure through peaceful demonstrations. One of such peaceful demonstrations turned violent when the police (allegedly on the instruction of powerful persons in the then government) visited brutal attacks on ordinary Ghanaian demonstrators, most especially on women who took part in the demonstration. During the course of the brutality, one gentleman lost an eye as a result of fired rubber bullets by the police. There is pictorial evidence available: http://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/2015/September-16th/photos-violence-mars-let-my-vote-count-demo.php



14. Finally, the EC had no instant social media update for which many Ghanaians who are on the move can rely on for trustworthy updates. So the reportage that such system was up and running should be disregarded and not counted as an achievement.



In conclusion, Mrs. Charlotte Osei may have announced historic presidential elections results on the 9th on December but the many issues surrounding her administration could have occasioned unfortunate and regrettable occurrences. She fought and misrepresented many meaningful suggestions towards the peaceful elections, which caused major embarrassment for her outfit.



The peaceful outcome of the 2016 general elections was the collective effort and tolerant the political parties had for each another and goodwill that Ghanaians have enjoyed since the birth of the 4th Republic in 1992.



We, respectfully, strongly implore your distinguished organisation to ponder on your final consideration. It is time to ignore and punish public officials who acts with complete disdain for the constitution and disregard court rulings but turn round to hypocritically and opportunistically seek for honours they have not earned.





Yours faithfully,







. 

DR NANA AYEW AFRIYIE HENRY ASANTE

(CHAIRMAN) (VICE CHAIRMAN)





ARNOLD BOATENG

(GENERAL SECRETARY)



CC: HE JOHN BENJAMIN,

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER,

ACCRA GHANA

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Australians turned out in massive numbers to ANZAC Day dawn services this morning, with the nation taking time to reflect on the service of our nations armed forces.

An estimated 20,000 attendees at the North Bondi service covered the foreshore. Those looking to pay their respects banked up in the precinct as wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph.

An actual sea of people down at bondi for dawn service #lestweforget ?? A post shared by Bronwyn Mccahon (@bronwynmccahon) on Apr 24, 2017 at 2:40pm PDT

A post shared by Michael Banak (@michaelbanak) on Apr 24, 2017 at 4:10pm PDT

A post shared by Dan Packham (@danpackham1) on Apr 24, 2017 at 4:22pm PDT

Similar scenes played out on the other side of the country, with Western Australians taking to Perth in order to demonstrate their appreciation for Australias current and former military members.

A post shared by Thom Davidson (@shotbythom) on Apr 24, 2017 at 4:39pm PDT

#anzacday2017 A post shared by Bradles McBell (@beefybrad) on Apr 24, 2017 at 4:55pm PDT

Those at Melbournes Shrine of Remembrance dealt with inclement weather during the service.

Solo ride to the Dawn service. Incredibly moving. So important to stop & remember & give thanks & gratitude to all those affected by the horror of war A post shared by Rob Granter (@robbieg53) on Apr 24, 2017 at 4:41pm PDT

A post shared by Emma-Kate Ottens (@eko1) on Apr 24, 2017 at 3:49pm PDT

A post shared by Joanne (@msjoj0) on Apr 24, 2017 at 3:41pm PDT

Adelaide residents took to the North Terrace War Memorial in order to show their thanks.

A post shared by @chiobe1 on Apr 24, 2017 at 4:25pm PDT

Lest we forget.

Source: The Daily Telegraph.

Photo: @_alanarose_ / Instagram.
I swear to God, something in its geography or the magnetic field or some shit just makes New Zealand inherently much more adorable than the rest of the world. I dont know what it is  maybe theres something in the water  but that place is magical.

I can just tell in my bones that if this story were to have happened in Australia and two Australians figured out that they both thought they owned the same cat, it would have immediately turned into a Neighbours From Hell-style A Current Affair story. But, luckily, this took place in NZ, where everything is a delightful fairytale.

Meet Mychaela Groombridge and Shirley Bishop, who for nine months have been unknowingly sharing a cat. The cat, which Groombridge knows as Crazy Horse and Bishop knows as Simba, had been leaving between the two households for nine months.

While Bishop is the original owner, Groombridge adopted him, believing him to be stray:

He just started hanging around [] so we started feeding him. He was really smoochy and crying, like talking to you. And, he just made himself at home. Just jumped up on the couch, curled up and pretty much moved in.

Bishop was under the impression that Simba was just off doing his own thing:

Hed go away and go to the bush across the street, quite often go away for a couple of days. Hell just go wherever he wants to go. He usually comes back to our place at night, about dinner time, has a cuddle, has a feed, wanders around and then goes back out.

This incredible double life all came undone for Crazy Simba when he came home to Groombridge with an injury. After taking him to the vet to get the wound treated, they also scanned him for a microchip  finding none.

Bishop, however, was a bit alarmed to find her cat returned to her with stitches and a bald spot:

I went down the vet to see if they could shed any light on it. But because of the Privacy Act, they werent allowed to tell me who took him, all they could tell me was the name of the street.

After posting a callout to social media for info about the identity-confused cat, Groombridge got in contact with Bishop and they discovered that, in addition to sharing a cat, they had also worked together in the past:

Shirley used to work upstairs in the office. She phoned me this morning and I told her what happened, where hed been and he was at our house.

Like absolute legends, they amicably decided to continue sharing Simba / Crazy Horse, each continuing to call him the name they know him by:

Its fine. Im sure hell answer to both. Just to know hes safe and hes loved. Then well share him. Thats fine. Its turned out to be a happy ending.

Amazing.

Source: Stuff.co.nz.

Photo: Fairfax / Simon OConnor.
Mark Latham, a man whose public perception has taken a trajectory NASA would describe as catastrophic, has been invited to speak / gurgle at a University of Sydney Politics Society event. The reaction thus far is Well, we could have seen this coming.

The former Labor leader, who has spent the past few years hanging shit on survivors of domestic violence and feminist students, among others, is scheduled to attend tomorrows subtly-titled Mark Latham, Please Explain! session.

Only a matter of hours after being announced, the event  which has been billed as an interesting insight into an individual who confuses, inspires, and angers many  has definitely confused and angered. Well let you decide if you call the reactions inspired:

FWIW, the Society has issued a post of its own to reassert its impartial nature. It also includes a reminder to everyone seriously worked up by Lathams appearance that we do not condone violence.

That warning rests against a backdrop of similar campus events in the United States, where the planned appearance of right-wing commentator / hellish President Trump sycophant Ann Coulter at UC Berkeley is stoking demonstrations.

If youre dead keen to learn more about the event, check it out here.

Source: Sydney University Politics Society / Facebook.

Photo: Jonathan Wood / Getty.
Shouldnt you be giving hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding immigrants like us a fair go?



That was the question posed by a British migrant to Assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on last nights Q&A, in regards to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls announcement that Australia will be shaking our citizenship requirements right the hell up.

ICYMI, the proposals have been questioned across the board. Prospective citizens, like last nights questioner, are worried they may have to wait even longer  years longer, in some cases  to take a swing at the test.

Hawke said anyone who applied before the surprise April 20 announcement will be filed through under the old system, before praising the more intense testing the new system will implement. Of course, thats all under the guise of improving national security.

Labor MP Tony Burke had a somewhat less rosy take on the whole deal, though. In his view, the announcement was pretty curiously timed to coincide with a public opinion poll, mirroring last years announcement that asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat will be permanently refused entry to the country.

As such, Burke straight up said in fairness to you no, its not about you. The announcements not about you. Its about Newspoll.

As for that previous piece of proposed legislation? Welp, Burke seemed pretty peeved that the whole ban-asylum-seekers-from-even-being-tourists thing was never heard of again. The government never returned to it. Just disappeared.

This one, we have another Newspoll weekend coming up, and so we have a week leading up to it of a series of immigration and citizenship announcements.

At its most lenient, it was a pretty concise rebuke of the governments supposedly cynical timing  and, at worst, a charge that the powers that be are merely stoking fears about the character of migrants in an attempt to gain public support.

For what its worth, the Coalition government did experience a slight improvement in public perception after the latest announcement. Fancy that.

Catch the full exchange below:

Source and photo: ABC / Q&A.
FILE PHOTO: The Fresenius SE headquarters are pictured in Bad Homburg near Frankfurt, Germany February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

By Ludwig Burger

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German healthcare conglomerate Fresenius SE & Co KGaA (FREG.DE) revved up the pace of its deals by acquiring U.S. generic drugmaker Akorn Inc (AKRX.O) for $4.75 billion (4.37 billion euros), and in a separate agreement, the biosimilars unit of German peer Merck KGaA (MRKG.DE).

While in keeping with its focus on drugs that have lost patent protection, the deals mark a foray into new dosage forms, new therapeutic areas and into biotech drugs for Fresenius's Kabi unit, a maker of generic infusion drugs, tube feeding and blood transfusion equipment.

Akorn will add products such as medical creams, ophthalmic drugs, oral liquids, ear drops, nasal sprays and respiratory drugs, where competition is relatively benign when compared with standard pills and tablets.

The deal with Merck, in turn, marks the entry into biosimilar copies of complex biologic drugs made from living cells, which Fresenius has previously shunned.

"We've always said the regulatory environment would have to clear up before we invest in biosimilars. A lot has been done in that area in the recent past," Fresenius Chief Executive Stephan Sturm told Reuters.

Reuters earlier on Monday reported that Fresenius was close to acquiring Akorn.

In a deal that has the backing of Akorn's management and its largest shareholder, Fresenius will pay $34 per share and take on Akorn's net debt of about $450 million for a total price tag of $4.75 billion, Fresenius said in a statement late on Monday.

It will be financed by a broad mix of euro- and dollar-denominated debt instruments, it added.

In the separate agreement with Merck KGaA, Fresenius will pay an initial 170 million euros ($185 million) and up to 500 million euros in future milestone payments tied to achievements of drug development targets as none of Merck's biosimilar drugs have been launched yet.

Fresenius said it expects first revenues towards the end of 2019 and it is prepared to spend and invest an extra 1.4 billion euros to build up the business over the years through 2022.

Story continues

It will pay single digit percentage royalties to Merck based on sales.

Fresenius, with a market capitalization of more than 40 billion euros, runs businesses in areas ranging from kidney dialysis and drug manufacturing to hospital management.

Fresenius CEO Sturm, had signaled that acquisitions would be a hallmark of his leadership after he took over the top job in July last year.

In September, the company made its biggest deal ever with the acquisition of Spain's private hospital chain Quironsalud for 5.8 billion euros to expand the international presence of its hospital business Helios.

Group net debt as a multiple of core earnings will temporarily increase to about 3.3 after closing of both transactions but the ratio is expected to return to about 3 at the end of 2018.

Fresenius has for years enjoyed low borrowing costs because of its diversified businesses in an industry that is largely immune to swings in the business cycle.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Grant McCool)
trump wall

Whether the federal government shuts down on Friday could hinge on whether Congress includes funding for President Donald Trump's proposed border wall in legislation to keep the government funded.

Trump and administration officials have in recent days talked up the possibility of including funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border. That could set up a showdown with Democrats and even members of his party as the clock ticks toward a shutdown.

Asked by The Associated Press on Friday whether he would sign a bill that did not include funding for the wall, Trump was noncommittal.

"I don't know yet," Trump said. "People want the border wall. My base definitely wants the border wall. My base really wants it  you've been to many of the rallies. OK, the thing they want more than anything is the wall."

The president also used Twitter over the weekend and on Monday to lay the groundwork for a push to fund the wall.

"The Democrats don't want money from budget going to border wall despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS 13 gang members," Trump tweeted on Sunday. He followed that up with a tweetstorm on Monday about the importance of the wall.

Trump also mentioned his campaign promise to require Mexico to pay for the wall, a proposition Mexican officials have flatly refused.

"Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall," Trump tweeted.

....the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be!#BuildTheWall  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2017

Administration officials who made the rounds on the Sunday political talk shows sounded more cautious about including border-wall funding in the spending bill.

Story continues

Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told NBC's "Meet the Press" that if there were "enough as far as flexibility for the border wall and border security" in the spending bill, the administration would "be OK with that."

On the other hand, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told CNN's "State of the Union" that Trump had been "pretty straightforward about his desire and the need for a border wall" and that funding for it was a vital element of the president's negotiations on the shutdown.

"So I would suspect he'll do the right thing for sure, but I would suspect he will be insistent on the funding," Kelly said.

Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, has proposed a deal  the Trump administration would include in the bill $1 in funding for Obamacare's cost-sharing reduction payments, which help mitigate losses for insurers, for every $1 in funding for the wall.

"Right now, that's the offer that we've given to our Democratic colleagues," Mulvaney said.

Trump also seemed to hint at this idea in a tweet on Sunday.

"Obamacare is in serious trouble," Trump said. "The Dems need big money to keep it going - otherwise it dies far sooner than anyone would have thought."

Democrats, however, blasted the idea. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office said the White House's suggestion was a "gambit to hold hostage healthcare for millions of Americans."

"The US government is supposed to take care of its citizens, and, according to the president, Mexico is supposed to pay for the wall," a representative for Schumer said. "If the administration would drop their eleventh-hour demand for a wall that Democrats, and a good number of Republicans, oppose, congressional leaders could quickly reach a deal."

While Schumer and Democrats alone cannot block a funding bill, budget hawks in Congress' conservative factions, like the House Freedom Caucus, could balk at increasing the deficit to fund the wall.

Given the GOP's inability to pass its bill to overhaul Obamacare because of intraparty disagreements, the passage of the spending bill is questionable. Thomas Block, a Washington policy analyst at Fundstrat, described the problem in a note to clients on Monday:

"In the House, there is a group consisting of Tea Party and Freedom Caucus Republicans who believe that almost any spending bill is too large for them to support. Therefore, Speaker Ryan is likely going to need some Democratic support to get a bill passed. The problem is that no Democrats will support a bill that contains the president's stated priorities.

"Furthermore, many Republicans want to use the spending bill to stop all funding for Planned Parenthood, a clear poison pill as far as most Democrats are concerned."

NOW WATCH: Former State Department official: Evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia would create a 'constitutional crisis'





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South Korea's GS Caltex buys Russian Urals, U.S. crude amid ongoing oil glut

SEOUL

Petroleumworld 04 25 2017

South Korea's GS Caltex has bought Russian Urals crude for the first time and also ordered large volumes from the United States, taking advantage of ample supplies despite pledges by OPEC and Russia to cut output and tighten the market.

GS Caltex, a unit of GS Holdings Corp, purchased 700,000 barrels of Russian Urals crude and 500,000 barrels of U.S. Eagle Ford crude, both for delivery in June, a company spokesman said on Monday.

"We bought the Russian crude in the spot market as it has become more economical and as a way to diversify our crude supplies," the spokesman said.

The orders are part of a trend in Asia as refiners buy more oil from Europe and the Americas as supplies became more competitive against Middle East oil after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some other producers, including Russia, cut output.

"Following OPEC-led output cuts, the price of crudes from the Atlantic has become relatively cheaper than that of Middle Eastern crudes," Lee Dal-sok, senior research fellow at state-run Korea Energy Economics Institute said.

The cargo is on the supertanker Gener8 Miltiades which is estimated to arrive at Yeosu on June 4, oil trade flows data on Thomson Reuters Eikon showed.

GS Caltex, the country's second-largest refiner, is not the only Korean company ordering Russian Urals crude.

In February, South Korea's top refiner SK Energy bought 1 million barrels of the Urals grade for the first time in 10 years.

RECORD SUPPLIES

The orders from South Korea underscore a rise in global oil shipments, which have never been higher despite efforts by OPEC and Russia to cut production.

This is because many countries that pledged to cut have reduced output by less than agreed levels. Meanwhile, other producers, like the United States, have increased exports.

Eikon data shows that OPEC shipments to Asia - the world's biggest and fastest growing oil consuming region - hit 17.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, up 8 percent since December, before the cuts were implemented.

"The reality is... that the world is awash in oil," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage OANDA.

Russian shipments to Asia have jumped around 30 percent since December, to 1.19 million bpd, and U.S. exports to Asia soared more than six-fold to 0.63 million bpd between December and April.

Global oil shipments in April stood at 49.5 million bpd, up by almost 10 percent since the output cuts were implemented.






German power plant projects stalled, producer lobby BDEW says

FRANKFURT

Petroleumworld 04 25 2017

German power companies are calling into question the economic viability of over 90 percent of planned gas-to-power plants in Europe's largest economy, German energy industry association BDEW said, demanding policymakers clarify the role of gas.

"Investment in gas-fired power plants will only materialise if the politicians ensure that gas as a feedstock and gas infrastructure have a political future," BDEW managing director Stefan Kapferer said in a statement on Monday.

The association cited a lack of profitability at gas-fired power stations.

Their margins are not competitive due to competing energy supply from subsidised renewable power. Germany also runs a high share of coal-fired power thanks to a relatively relaxed carbon emissions regime.

But both gas-fired and pumped storage hydro plants are flexible and therefore a good counterbalance to the growing share of renewables, BDEW said, adding that it knew of pent-up investment plans for 4,660 MW of pumped storage.

Germany is headed for a permanent exit from nuclear power by 2022.

The lobby issued its statement along with plant data at a news conference on the first day of the Hanover trade fair, the showcase for Germany's industry.

It warned that if current plant closure plans were compared with the low volume of new constructions, Germany could fall short of 24-hour supply of power in future years.

Wind and solar energy have been expanding to a share of over 30 percent of power supply but cannot guarantee supply at all times, while 6,623 MW of conventional plants have been retired over the last four years.

BDEW called on future governments to put in place "capacity mechanisms" like in Britain and France.

These pay unprofitable plants for offering certain volumes at certain times, to alleviate stress on the power transport grid.

BDEW represents around 1,800 companies active in the production, transport and sale of power, gas, water and heat.




Trump shovel ready infrastructure projects coming soon, but face delays due transition

NEW YORK

Petroleumworld 04 25 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump reassured manufacturers gathered in the White House Roosevelt room on March 31 that a massive infrastructure program was coming soon.

We're going to make it happen this year, he said, according to Drew Greenblatt, the president of Marlin Steel in Baltimore, who was present. That was actually the first thing that he talked about behind closed doors with us, Greenblatt added.

But putting a trillion-dollar infrastructure program to work could be easier said than done, as some of the projects suggested to the administration underscore.

Project lists submitted by the North America's Building Trades Unions and by an outside developer who helped with the transition both contain projects that infrastructure builders call shovel ready.

But, for a range of reasons, shovel ready does not always mean ready for shovels to break ground. That means any effort to jump-start projects, put people to work and inject economic stimulus could drag on Trump's promise for a 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure project

After North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) president Sean McGarvey met with Trump on January 23, the group submitted a total of 26 bridge, pipeline and water projects. A second list of 51 projects was assembled by Ohio developer Dan Slane, who assisted with the transition, including everything from inland waterways to ports to a new FBI headquarters.

While details on Trump's plans are scant, a senior administration official said they're looking for ways to shorten the lengthy permitting process.

The current system has just lost its way, he said.

Nine projects have garnered the support of both Slane and the NABTU, appearing on both lists; of those, seven have yet to start construction, and one has only done preliminary construction, highlighting how hard it is to launch infrastructure projects as quickly as Trump wants to do.

The shovel ready moniker that they put on projects, it's just rarely applicable, said Bill Miller, president and chief executive of two companies that overlap the two lists. The Power Company of Wyoming LLC is building the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project, and TransWest Express LLC is developing the TransWest Express Transmission Project, crossing Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Nevada.

The Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind project, which is being built in part on federal land, took eight years and tens of millions of dollars before it could recently start construction. The TransWest Express transmission project is still waiting for several state-level permits, Miller said.

To be shovel ready is incredibly expensive and time consuming, Miller added.

The administration says it wants to get ground broken fast. But some of that just might be out of the president's hands, such as state-level permitting.

A significant part of the president's infrastructure plan will focus on streamlining regulating and permitting so that it is easier for all viable projects to move forward in a timely manner. These reforms might not be driven by the hurdles facing a single project, but rather will create more certainty in the process overall, a White House spokesperson told Reuters.

SEAWATER TO DRINKING WATER PLANT HITS THE ROCKS

The delays that have beset a desalination plant proposed by Poseidon Water, a developer of water-related infrastructure, in Huntington Beach, California illustrate how clashing interests and regulations can hold up projects.

Poseidon first proposed the idea of a plant to turn salt water into drinking water for Orange County in the late 1990s and started permitting in the early 2000s, said Scott Maloni, a vice president at Poseidon and the Huntington Beach project manager.

The city of Huntington Beach originally approved the project in February 2006. But Poseidon still needed to secure 24 permits from state agencies, such as approval from the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board for the plant's national pollutant discharge elimination system, which is required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

After the city issued the necessary local approvals in 2006, project builder Poseidon was able to apply to the California Coastal Commission.

That application was amended several times over the years as the project evolved. For example, the plant had to alter its design after the state began phasing out power plants that use seawater for cooling purposes. Poseidon had planned to desalinate that wastewater, and changed its design to instead take in water directly from the ocean instead.

In 2013, Poseidon shelved the permit application after the state's coastal commission directed the company to look into concerns about the effects of the operation on fish larva in the area.

The application was resubmitted in 2015, and then withdrawn yet again in September 2016, because the commission wanted proof the plans complied with new, 2015-passed rules from the State Water Board on desalination plants.

That compelled Poseidon to redesign the plant's seawater intake and discharge technologies.

The project still needs three more approvals, from the State Lands Commission, the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California Coastal Commission.

Poseidon says they're confident they'll secure the last approvals soon. But even then, construction might not start until the second quarter of 2018, Maloni said.

And the objections from environmentalists haven't stopped.

The plant is far from a done deal, said Mandy Sackett, the California policy coordinator for the Surfrider Foundation. The foundation argues that the plant is unnecessary, expensive and energy-intensive, putting marine life at risk. Sackett said the foundation will continue to fight the project.

There's still several opportunities for public input and important regulatory review that is yet to be completed, she said.






Oil rises on Tuesday ahead of U.S. inventory data

NEW YORK

Petroleumworld 04 25 2017

Oil prices edged up in choppy trade on Tuesday as U.S. crude inventory data that was forecast to show a drawdown faced doubts about OPEC's ability to reduce a global glut.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 23 cents at $51.83 a barrel by 1:17 p.m. EST, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 12 cents to $49.35 a barrel.

Analysts polled ahead of inventory reports from the industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated, on average, that U.S. crude stocks fell 1.6 million barrels last week, the third consecutive weekly draw. [EIA/S]

The API data is due at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

Brent is down about 5 percent since early December, when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of the year.

With oil supplies still around record highs, Stephen Schork of the Schork report said on Tuesday that "OPEC has failed miserably in its endeavor to balance the oil market."

Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData in Louisville, Kentucky said global crude loadings are at record levels.

"We still see that continue to tick higher," Smith said. "Until we see the loadings drop, until we see the oil on the water falling, we are unlikely to see the market materially moving toward rebalancing."

Russia said on Monday its oil output could climb to the highest rate in 30 years if OPEC and non-OPEC producers do not extend their supply reduction deal beyond June 30.

And on Tuesday, the Interfax news agency quoted Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvokovich as saying Russia may increase oil production if it feels prices are unlikely to fall as a result.

To reduce the supply overhang, JPMorgan said OPEC "will be forced to renew, and possibly deepen the agreement if they wish to keep prices much above $50 per barrel."

But ClipperData's Smith said there was a lot of posturing ahead of the May 25 meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers.

"We have a month before the meeting in Vienna," he said, "Between now and then we're going to get a lot of contrasting rhetoric."

SEB commodities strategist Bjarne Schieldrop said the current climate will be uncertain until the May 25 meeting. "It doesn't make sense to sell down to $45 ahead of that," he said.






BRASILIA, April 24 (Reuters) - HNA Airport Holding Group Co Ltd will buy out the stake that engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA has in Brazil's second-busiest international airport in order to help solve an impasse with a government agency over licensing rights, a Brazilian Cabinet minister said on Monday.

The Chinese company, which is part of HNA Group Co Ltd, has already bought the stake that an Odebrecht subsidiary had in the Rio de Janeiro international airport, or RIOGaleao, Wellington Moreira Franco, secretary-general for President Michel Temer's office, told reporters in Brasilia.

Representatives for HNA could not be immediately contacted for comment. Reuters reported on April 17 that HNA was in advanced talks to buy out Odebrecht from RIOGaleao.

RIOGaleao was 51 percent-owned by the Odebrecht subsidiary and Singapore's Changi Airport Group Pte Ltd. The government's civil aviation infrastructure watchdog owns the remaining stake.

Brazil's government wanted Odebrecht's exit from the consortium to settle the airport's licensing problems and stem it from the impact of Odebrecht's involvement in the country's worst corruption scandal ever, people familiar with the deal told Reuters earlier this month.

The scandal has almost fully shut Odebrecht's access to credit and new contracts in Brazil and almost a dozen countries.

Last week, the consortium running RIOGaleao won permission from Brazil's government to restructure 4.5 billion reais ($1.43 billion) worth of licensing payments over the next three years, paving the way for the entry of a new partner. (Reporting by Leonardo Goy; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Bill Trott)
SANTIAGO, CHILE--(Marketwired - Apr 25, 2017) - ITAU CORPBANCA (NYSE: ITCB) (SSE: ITAUCORP) announced today that it filed a Material Event Notice with the Chilean Superintendencia de Valores y Seguros informing that Mr. Joao Lucas Duchene resigned from his position on the board of directors of Itau Corpbanca. The board of directors will appoint Mr. Duchene's replacement on a future board of directors' meeting. The Material Event Notice is also available on the company's corporate website at itau.cl/investor-relations.

About Itau Corpbanca

ITAU CORPBANCA (NYSE: ITCB) (SSE: ITAUCORP) is the entity resulting from the merger of Banco Itau Chile with and into Corpbanca on April 1, 2016. The current ownership structure is: 35.71% owned by Itau Unibanco, 31.00% owned by CorpGroup and 33.29% owned by minority shareholders. Itau Unibanco is the sole controlling shareholder of the merged bank. Within this context and without limiting the above, Itau Unibanco and CorpGroup have signed a shareholders' agreement relating to corporate governance, dividend policy (based on performance and capital metrics), transfer of shares, liquidity and other matters.

The merged bank has become the fourth largest private bank in Chile and will result in a banking platform for future expansion in Latin America, specifically in Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Central America. Itau Corpbanca is a commercial bank based in Chile with operations also in Colombia and Panama. In addition, Itau Corpbanca has a branch in New York and a representative office in Madrid. Focused on large and medium companies and individuals, Itau Corpbanca offers universal banking products. In 2012, the bank initiated a regionalization process and as of the date hereof has acquired two banks in Colombia -- Banco CorpBanca Colombia and Helm Bank -- becoming the first Chilean bank having banking subsidiaries abroad. The merger with Banco Itau Chile and the business combination of our two banks in Colombia, represent the continued success of our regionalization process.

As of February 28, 2017, according to the Chilean Superintendency of Banks, Itau Corpbanca was the fourth largest private bank in Chile in terms of the overall size of its customer loan portfolio, equivalent to 11.3% market share.

As of January 31, 2017, according to the Colombian Superintendency of Finance, Corpbanca Colombia was the sixth largest bank in Colombia in terms of total loans and also the sixth largest bank in Colombia in terms of total deposits, as reported under local regulatory and accounting principles. As of the same date, its market share by loans reached 5.4%.
The Trump administration's approach to the deadly serious problem of North Korea is the worst of all possible formulations. It is Teddy Roosevelt, turned upside down  "Speak loudly, and pretend to carry a big stick."

What the administration wants is absolutely the ideal objective, to prevent North Korea from acquiring the capability to launch nuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missiles at the United States. This has been the "red line" objective of the last several administrations. And they have all wished to do this without using force.

But the means being discussed, such as putting North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism ("sticks and stones may break my bones"), banning the North Korean airline from flying places it will never fly anyway, and banning the import of North Korean seafood (seriously?), are almost comically insufficient to the problem. Then there's the "armada," 3,500 miles away, but, maybe, on the way. These things, and other non-military options which might be considered, all pale by comparison to both the carrots and sticks that have already been used by prior presidents.

The hope that President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson can persuade China to exercise maximum leverage against North Korea  perhaps shutting off energy supplies, or stopping the regime from reaching nuclear ICBM capability through sanctions-backed diplomacy, while also preventing it from "going out with a bang" if it thought it would be stopped  is almost certainly a mirage. Likewise, even the best offensive cyber-wafare operations can do little more than slow down the march toward nuclear capability against us.

Even limited preemptive military action won't work. How could merely wounding and cornering a fierce animal not lead to a rageful last gasp of dreadful retaliation?

There is a good reason none of these are viable options. It's because, from the North Korean point of view, only achieving that most fearsome military capability can provide reasonable assurance of this regime's long-term existence. The North Korean leader wants there to be a parade for him, like the one we recently saw for his elders, on the 105th anniversary of his birth, and he must have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them against the United States to maximize the chance of that happening. Under any scenario in which his, and his regime's, survival is in doubt, he can be counted on to take with him as many of his enemies as he has any means to do.

So here is the truly horrible truth about North Korea. There are only two choices.

The first is that we acknowledge and accept, as we have done with Russian and Chinese ICBM capabilities for decades, and then try to deter and contain, and to defend against, a North Korea able to strike us with nuclear weapons.

If this is, however, literally unacceptable  because we believe these weapons to be far more likely to be used offensively by the North Koreans than we have ever feared their use by the Russians and Chinese  then the alternative, the only alternative, is war. War waged to victory, not stalemate. War waged and won before the North Koreans achieve their weapons development goal. War waged with both sufficient force and tactical surprise, so as to not leave the opponent wounded, cornered, and still able to lash out.

This means the WWII notion of war, one aimed at toppling the enemy regime and destroying its capacity for harm, not limited "surgical strikes" aimed to send messages or merely degrade the other side. In the case of North Korea, limited war would almost certainly lead to total war, which would likely include the North's use of nuclear weapons. So if any use of force will very probably lead to total war, it needs to be total war from the outset, on the most advantageous terms from our perspective.

There are very many, right across our otherwise highly polarized polity, who, if they believe this description of the real alternatives is correct, would opt for the acceptance of a long-term North Korean nuclear threat to the United States, rather than the undoubtedly terrible costs and consequences of war.

There are others who argue that a sincerely believed American commitment to as decisive a war as we waged in WWII, including all necessary preparations and all necessary sacrifices to fulfill that commitment, would cause the Chinese and Russians to ally with us, as indeed they both did in WWII. Better, as powers craving space in the global sun, to be part of a world police force, than bystanders to the reemergence of American hegemony, or to start World War III, seeking to stop American hegemony.

Such a course of events, with the world's three leading military powers joining together to preempt aggression by a rogue state, would amount to the more than 70-year delayed birth of the U.N. Security Council, as it was intended to work.

Frightful though it surely is, there is a clock ticking on this decision, and sound judgments cannot be made on the basis of false premises. Our choices are both bad and difficult. Our choices are acceptance or war.

Craig Snyder is president of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. csnyder@wacphila.org
Wordsworth Academy, the treatment center for children with behavioral problems where at least 12 rapes and an alleged murder occurred, has been closed since October, but questions concerning its operation and other facilities regulated by the state of Pennsylvania remain.

The death of David Hess, 17, was ruled a homicide. Hess reportedly got into a fight with Wordsworth staffers who entered his room to search for a stolen iPod. Hess began gasping for air, witnesses said, as one staff member held him down and another repeatedly hit him.

A subsequent investigation by the state Department of Human Resources led it to close Wordsworth 11 days later, citing it for "gross incompetence, negligence, and misconduct." But as more information about the condition of Wordsworth was revealed to the public it became apparent that it should not have taken the death of a teenager for the state to step in.

In fact, an investigation by staff writers Nancy Phillips and Chris Palmer revealed at least 49 sex crimes had been reported at Wordsworth in the last decade, including a dozen rapes and 23 accounts of sexual abuse. In 2015, three underage girls were sexually assaulted by a counselor who promised them money and gifts.

Police were summoned to Wordsworth more than 800 times in the past 10 years, for incidents ranging from tripped fire alarms to the 12 rape cases, two cases of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, seven reports of indecent exposure, and four of corruption of the morals of a minor. "Nobody believes you," said one former Wordsworth resident.

As if living on edge in fear of being assaulted were not enough, Wordsworth residents had to endure unsafe, unsanitary conditions that made the environment a living hell. The heating and air-conditioning often didn't work, bathrooms had standing water, hallway lights were broken, electrical wires were exposed, and walls were filled with holes.

The state has never adequately explained how it could license Wordsworth year after year while knowing such conditions existed. Only about 20 of its 82 residents came from Philadelphia, most of them sent to Wordsworth by the courts because of behavioral problems so severe they could not stay home. But what happened at Wordsworth suggests institutions like it are not the right answer.

The city medical examiner's office report ruled Hess died from suffocation. But that wasn't the only cause of his death. The teenager died at Wordsworth because his parents felt they had no other option than to send him there after a residential treatment center in Pittsburgh said it couldn't handle him. Hess died because Wordsworth staffers were not properly trained to restrain residents who became agitated. And he died because the state didn't step in earlier to shut down a facility that had no business being open.
A life of luxury  and disaster

The obituary of Dorrance "Dodo" Hamilton, the billionaire Campbell Soup Co. heiress, detailed the many philanthropic causes she supported (" 'A woman of vision' and many causes," Wednesday).

But noticeably absent was her role in the Pier 34 collapse that killed three young, promising women, including our daughter, DeAnn White, 25. On May 18, 2000, DeAnn was celebrating her upcoming birthday at Club Heat, when the pier collapsed.

Hamilton's company, HMS Ventures, operated the nightclub. She helped fund the inadequate and cheaper repairs instead of a more expensive, safer option. In the months leading up to the collapse, Hamilton was on the pier more than 100 times, including two days before it collapsed. A widening gap on the pier was a clear sign of the impending doom.

Hamilton was not charged with any wrongdoing, but she paid for the criminal defense of the nightclub operator and the pier owner, who ultimately pleaded guilty or no contest to involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment.

Hamilton and others agreed to pay to settle the civil claims. She never told us she was sorry and went on to live a long life of privilege.

We will never forget the Pier 34 collapse that killed our daughter.

 Clyde and Blanche Toole, Atlantic City

Sanctuary city will hurt police

Mayor Kenney's decision to keep Philadelphia as a sanctuary city will cost us money ("Phila. gets U.S. order on 'sanctuary cities,' funding," Saturday).

When I became a Philadelphia police officer (now retired), I swore to uphold the constitutions of the United States and Pennsylvania and to enforce the laws of our city. Could you see Kenney telling a cop to do something and the cop replying, "I am not going to do it; I do not think it is fair"?

The cop would be gone in a heartbeat.

Kenney will hurt police by losing millions of dollars in federal grant money. As he says, we have the best police force, so he shouldn't jeopardize that money.

Instead, he wants to take $54 million from new property-tax revenue and put it in a reserve account in case we lose the money that we should get from the U.S. Department of Justice.

 Bob McCann, Philadelphia

Families denied their rights

Why are the justices in Berks County, Pa., and the Supreme Court Of the United States denying the right of habeas corpus in seeking to remove 28 unfortunate Central American women and 33 children from this country ("Families denied rights by justices," Sunday)? Is this what America has come to? Where are all the mainstream churches that should be protesting this terrible injustice?

President Trump wants to build a wall to keep illegal immigrants out  what happened to the words on the Statue of Liberty? I wouldn't be here, nor would many Americans, if this kind of treatment were in place before and during World War II.

I am calling on Congress, especially Republicans, to stop this craziness. God bless the USA.

 Janet McGill, North Wales

Deny permits to stop pipelines

With all the pipelines threatening New Jersey and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission being a rubberstamp for them, there's still a way to stop these projects. PennEast may have gotten its final environmental impact statement from FERC, but we can still stop the pipeline by pressuring the state Department of Environmental Protection and Gov. Christie to deny a 401 water-quality permit. That is how New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has stopped two pipelines.

Pipelines such as PennEast and Southern Reliability Link cannot meet the permit's requirements. They would cut through high-quality streams, wetlands, and in the case of PennEast, the Delaware River. Many of these waterways carry anti-degradation criteria.

We can block the permits through grassroots organizing and getting environmental experts and data from locals on the pipelines' impacts. Other groups are undermining these efforts by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on radio ads, media consultants, and meaningless reports.

We need to hold Christie and the DEP accountable to deny the certifications. The DEP needs to stand up to FERC to do its job and stop these dangerous and dirty pipelines that threaten our water supply by denying them the permits.

 Jeff Tittel, director, New Jersey Sierra Club, Trenton

Not all vets have choice of doctors

I'm appreciative of the letter writer's husband who flew fighter jets for 20 years ("Thanks to Trump for veterans' care," Sunday). But let's not go overboard with praise to Trump for extending a bill that was already in existence. Extending it was a no-brainer.

The bill allows some veterans to use private doctors under certain circumstances, not all veterans. For example, I'm a veteran of the Korean War who lives two miles from a veterans' facility. I'm not eligible to use a private medical facility in lieu of a veterans' facility.

 Thomas Skudlarek, Lansdale
Sols 1600-1601 update by Lauren Edgar: Celebrating Sol 1600 with Whiskey and Rye (3 February 2017)

Wow, 1600 sols on Mars  that is quite an accomplishment! And were at an exciting point in the traverse as we approach the next segment of the Bagnold Dunes. Curiositys weekend plan includes more contact science and driving as we continue to investigate the Murray formation and prepare for observations at the active sand dunes. This Saturday is a soliday (a day without planning to allow Earth and Mars schedules to sync back up), so well transition from a late slide sol today to early slide sols next week. The plan begins with additional imaging of Ireson Hill to document the bedding geometry and cap rock from a different viewing position. Well also take a Mastcam tau, a Navcam dust devil movie, and a Mastcam image to monitor the rover deck. Then Curiosity will acquire MAHLI images of two targets: Whiskey and Rye (hmmm, perhaps some Sol 1600 celebrations are in order), with a short APXS integration on Whiskey and a longer overnight integration on Rye. Both targets were selected to study the stratification and chemistry of the Murray formation here. On Sol 1601, Curiosity will carry out some drill diagnostics, followed by a drive and post-drive imaging. Well also take a Mastcam 360-degree mosaic, which should be very scenic from this site  looking out over the dunes and capturing features like Ireson Hill. And finally, Curiosity will wake up early on Sol 1602 for a suite of environmental monitoring observations. Stay tuned for the second investigation of the Bagnold Dunes next week!

Sol 1602 update by Ryan Anderson: Bagnold Dunes 2: Electric Boogaloo (7 February 2017)

The weekend plan went well and today we begin the second half of the campaign to study the Bagnold Dunes. The Sol 1602 plan starts off with two Mastcam mosaics of the dunes which will be repeated several times later in the sol to watch for changes. Navcam also has a dust devil monitoring observation in the morning science block. Around midday, Mastcam will do a couple of measurements to determine the amount of dust in the atmosphere, and ChemCam will do an active LIBS observation of the soil target Mapleton as the final step in the diagnostics that will allow it to return to active duty! In addition to change detection, Mastcam has a stereo image of some bedforms at Flume Ridge, a 9x2 mosaic of the interesting nearby dune field, and a 3x2 observation in support of the campaign to watch for dust devils. Later in the sol, MAHLI will have a field day, observing the targets Scarboro, McKenny, Matagamon, Flume Ridge, The Forks, and West Branch. The rest of the sol involves repeating the Mastcam change detection observations, going all the way until 7:30 in the evening.

Sol 1603 update by Ryan Anderson: Finishing at Stop 1 (9 February 2017)

Yesterdays plan went well, and ChemCam has run all of the planned diagnostics and will be back in action tomorrow! Similar to yestersols plan, the Sol 1603 plan begins with a pair of Mastcam observations which will be repeated throughout the day to look for any changes in the nearby sand. Mastcam also has multispectral observations of targets Matagamon, Scarboro, and Flume Ridge. Next, Mastcam has a mosaic of some interesting sand ripples. We will wrap up the early afternoon science block with Mastcam atmospheric observations and a Navcam dust devil movie.

After that, MAHLI will take a look at Matagamon, West Branch, Flume Ridge, Dry Wall and McKenny. That will be followed by an engineering test with APXS and an overnight APXS measurement of the target Flume Ridge. If all goes according to plan today, that will wrap up our observations at this location and we will move on to stop #2 of this second campaign to study Bagnold dunes.

Sol 1604-1605 update by Ryan Anderson: Toward Ireson Hill (10 February 2017)

On Sol 1604 we wrapped up at the first stop of this second phase of the Bagnold Dune campaign. The plan started off, as usual for the dune campaign, with a pair of Mastcam images that were then repeated throughout the day to look for changes. ChemCam had an RMI of the target Mapleton and then Mastcam had a whole series of images of nearby sand formations. Once that was taken care of, we decided to drive back toward Ireson Hill so that we can take a closer look at some of the geology there. The drive was about 55 meters, followed by post-drive imaging.

In the 1605 plan, ChemCams laser is back in action with an analysis of the target Carys Mills. Mastcam will take a supporting image of the same target, as well as a small mosaic of the target Calderwood. We will then continue driving around the east side of Ireson hill toward our targets of interest, ending at a rock that may be part of the hills capping layer.

Sols 1606-1608 update by Ryan Anderson: Studying Ireson Hill (10 February 2017)

Our drive on Sol 1605 was successful, putting us in a good position for weekend science on the northeast side of Ireson Hill. The sol 1606 plan starts off with ChemCam observations of Quimby, which appears to be a piece of cap rock that has tumbled down from the top of the hill, and a bedrock target Quoddy. Mastcam will take an image to document the ChemCam dataset that was automatically collected at the end of the Sol 1605 drive, as well as a mosaic of an area called Castine. APXS will then do an overnight analysis on Quoddy and Pogy.

Sol 1607 is not too busy: the main activity is a short science block with atmospheric observations using Navcam, ChemCam, and Mastcam. Sol 1608 makes up for it though. It starts off with ChemCam of the targets Cushing and Bucksport. Mastcam will document those two targets and then do some multispectral observations of Quoddy, Quimby, and Jemtland. We will wrap up Sol 1608 with some workspace images and a MARDI image of the ground under the rover.

Sol 1609 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Passagassawakeag and other challenges (13 February 2017)

MSL drove a little over 9 meters on Sol 1608, to get the vehicle closer to Ireson Hill and the dark blocks that have rolled down from the top of the hill. Two of these blocks are within reach of the arm, but both are challenging targets. Even the name chosen for the dark block at the left side of the image above is difficult: "Passagassawakeag." It's pointier that we would like for contact science, and the other dark block, dubbed "Perry" (at lower right in the image above), is close enough to the rover that there is a risk of collision with the arm. Complicating the plan further, the best time to take MAHLI images of these targets is late in the afternoon, when they won't be shadowed by the arm. But the last chance to send data to Earth in time to make them available for planning tomorrow is earlier in the afternoon, making it difficult to return all of the data needed to respond to a possible arm fault. Therefore, we decided to acquire a single MAHLI image of Passagassawakeag from a safe distance of 5 cm before the critical communications opportunity, and send it in case the full suite of MAHLI images of Perry planned later in the afternoon is not successful. We would then be better able to plan contact science on Perry tomorrow if necessary.

The Sol 1609 plan starts with ChemCam and Right Mastcam observation of Passagassawakeag, a typical Murray bedrock exposure named "Spurwink," and a more distant dark block called "Wassataquoik" (another tongue-twister). Then the Right Mastcam will acquire a 3x1 mosaic of the Perry area, single images of rocks near the top of the hill named "Gonic," "Kineo," and "Edmunds," followed by an 8x4-frame mosaic of the right side of the hill. Just before the MAHLI imaging of Perry, a full suite of MAHLI images, plus extra stereo frames, is planned on Spurwink. After all of the MAHLI activities have been completed, the APXS will be placed on Perry for a pair of short integrations, then placed on Spurwink for an overnight integration. Of course we are hoping that this complicated plan goes well!

Sol 1610 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Finishing up at Ireson Hill (14 February 2017)

The activities planned for Sol 1609 went well, and MAHLI focus data indicate that high-resolution images of Perry were successfully acquired. So we're ready to drive away from Ireson Hill after some more remote sensing of the rocks in front of the rover. The Sol 1610 plan starts with some more drill diagnostic tests, then the arm will be moved out of the way for remote sensing. ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe a bedrock exposure named "Fogelin" that shows subtle color variations, and Mastcam will acquire multispectral sets of images of yesterday's contact science targets Perry and Spurwink. As more Sol 1609 data were returned during planning this morning, the Mastcam team noticed that the Right Mastcam image of Edmunds was blocked by the arm, so this activity will be repeated on Sol 1610 with the arm out of the way. Mastcam will also measure dust in the atmosphere before the drive and standard post-drive imaging. Later in the afternoon, Navcam will search for dust devils and clouds, and ChemCam will acquire some calibration data. REMS will take a break from the usual environmental monitoring to update their flight software.

Sol 1611 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Patch Mountain (15 February 2017)

MSL drove almost 27 meters on Sol 1610 to a location with several potential targets, so the planning team spent some time discussing priorities. A dark patch of bedrock, appropriately named "Patch Mountain" was chosen for ChemCam, Right Mastcam, and MAHLI observations. The MAHLI imaging was moved after the ChemCam observation so that the LIBS impact spots would be visible. An additional MAHLI image was added to the standard full suite, to provide a 3-image mosaic from 5 cm. Then the rover will drive again, and take images afterward to enable planning more activities on Sol 1612. Just before sunset, Navcam will search for dust devils and REMS will complete the second part of their flight software update.

Sols 1612-1613 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Planning challenges (16 February 2017)

After a 23-meter drive on Sol 1611, MSL again ended up in an area with many bedrock blocks partly covered by dark sand. We're planning two sols today to get a head start on planning for the holiday weekend, with the first sol strategically planned to allow the "touch and go" option. But there's a ridge about 30 meters ahead that we can't see over, and we would like to be able to drive up onto it on Sol 1612 to allow a drive past it to be planned this weekend. There isn't enough time before the "decisional" telecommunications opportunity to fit both contact science and a 30-meter drive into the plan, so we had to pick one of these two options. Based on images taken from orbit and by the rover, lots of bedrock is exposed at the crest of the ridge 30 meters away, so we picked the longer drive at the expense of contact science today, hoping that the rover will be in a better place for contact science this weekend. Before the drive, ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe a bright/dark boundary on a block at the left side of the image above (dubbed "Frenchville"), and Right Mastcam will acquire a 2x2 mosaic of another block named "Third Lake." After the drive, we're planning fewer images to support weekend planning because the expected downlink data volume is much less than usual. We therefore spent more time than usual carefully prioritizing the post-drive images for downlink, and may not receive all of the data we need to plan contact science and a drive this weekend.

Later in the afternoon of Sol 1612, ChemCam will again use AEGIS to autonomously select a LIBS target and acquire a 3x3 set of chemical measurements. The REMS software upgrade went well, so REMS environmental monitoring is being planned again today! On Sol 1613, ChemCam will acquire passive calibration data, and Navcam will search for dust devils and clouds. Finally, the rover will sleep overnight in preparation for what we hope will be a busy weekend plan. The issues described above made for a challenging day for me as SOWG Chair!

Sols 1614-1616 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Delayed planning (17 February 2017)

The Sol 1612 drive went well, and there is a nice bedrock block in the arm workspace. We received a bit more data than expected before planning started, but not enough to finalize drive plans and contact science targets. As expected, we received more data during planning, including color images of the arm workspace that were very useful in selecting contact science targets. The late arrival of the necessary data caused delays in the standard uplink planning timeline, but the tactical team did a great job and we have an excellent weekend plan. It's good to see REMS extended blocks back in the plan after the successful software upgrade.

On Sol 1614, ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe bedrock targets named "Columbia Falls," "Spider Lake," and "Loon Stream." Mastcam will measure dust in the atmosphere and acquire a 3x3 mosaic of a layered block dubbed "Aroostook River." Late that afternoon, MAHLI will image the REMS UV sensor and acquire mosaics of another bedrock target named "Chain Lakes" and of Spider Lake. The APXS will then measure the chemistry of the Spider Lake area at overlapping locations to look for spatial variations in composition. Early the next morning, Mastcam will again measure dust in the atmosphere and Navcam will search for clouds. Later on Sol 1615, more drill diagnostic tests are planned, then the APXS will be placed on its calibration target for an overnight integration. A short drive to the dark dunes south of the rover is planned on Sol 1616, followed by unstowing the arm and post-drive imaging. Another busy (sometimes hectic) day for me as SOWG Chair!

Sol 1617 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Re-attempt the drive (21 February 2017)

The drive planned for Sol 1616 halted early, apparently because the right rear wheel got stuck between two rocks. The mobility team concluded that it is safe to continue, so the drive planned for Sol 1617 is essentially the same as the previously-planned drive. Before the drive, ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe a sand target named "New Sweden" and Right Mastcam will acquire mosaics of a layered bedrock outcrop dubbed "Hobbstown" and of the dunes that are the target of the drive. Mastcam will also measure dust in the atmosphere before the drive begins. After the drive and more testing of the drill, along with post-drive imaging to support planning on Wednesday, ChemCam will use AEGIS to select a target for chemical analysis.

Sol 1618 update by Lauren Edgar: A second stop at the dunes (22 February 2017)

The drive on Sol 1617 went well, and Curiosity drove 20 m to the south, which put us in a good position for another stop at the Bagnold Dunes. This site was selected to enable comparison of the leading and trailing edges of the dunes. Todays plan includes ChemCam observations of disturbed and undisturbed soil, at targets named Tomhegan and Macworth. Well also acquire a Mastcam multispectral observation on Macworth, along with systematic deck monitoring. A number of environmental monitoring activities are planned in the first science block, including two dust devil surveys, a Mastcam tau, and a crater rim extinction observation to monitor atmospheric opacity. In the afternoon we have three MAHLI targets planned: Waweig (undisturbed ripple crest), Tomhegan (undisturbed ripple flank) and Seboomook (disturbed sand). APXS will also acquire data on Tomhegan, with an overnight integration on Waweig. Throughout the plan, Mastcam will also perform several change detection experiments at two different locations to monitor sand movement. Looks like quite the day for investigating the Bagnold Dunes!

Sol 1619 update by Ryan Anderson: Wrapping up dune stop #2 (24 February 2017)

We are wrapping up our observations at stop #2 of the second Bagnold dunes campaign. In the Sol 1619 plan, we start off with Navcam and Mastcam atmospheric observations, followed by a ChemCam observation of the sandy target Leighton. Mastcam will then document Leighton and the autonomously identified ChemCam target from the post-drive science block on Sol 1617. Throughout the day, there will also be a number of repeated Mastcam change detection observations. Afterward, well drive away toward stop #3 and collect our standard post-drive imaging.

Sols 1620-1622 update by Lauren Edgar: A weekend full of remote sensing (24 February 2017)

On Sol 1619, MAHLI experienced a fault and did not finish its planned imaging, so unfortunately the subsequent arm and mobility activities did not execute. That means that the weekend plan is devoted to MAHLI recovery activities and a lot of remote sensing. I was the GSTL today, and although it was a challenging start to the day, we were able to put together a very full plan. The first sol starts by retracting the arm. Then Curiosity will acquire several environmental monitoring observations to measure atmospheric opacity and characterize spectral properties. ChemCam will then assess the composition of typical bedrock and veins, at targets Chase Brook, Aziscohos, and Chandler Ridge. On the second sol, Curiosity will wake up early for environmental monitoring, including a ChemCam passive sky observation, Mastcam tau, Mastcam crater rim extinction observation, and several Navcam movies to look for clouds. Later in the afternoon, ChemCam will assess the composition of a ripple crest at the target Depot Mountain, followed by another passive sky and Mastcam tau. Overnight, SAM will conduct an electrical baseline test to monitor instrument health, and on the third sol, APXS will carry out a thermal characterization test. Throughout the plan Mastcam and MARDI will acquire a number of images to monitor the movement of sand. So I guess the day turned into a bonus plan for the second stop at the Bagnold Dunes, enabling a lot of change detection activities!

Sols 1623-1624 update by Lauren Edgar: MAHLI diagnostics and remote sensing (27 February 2017)

Todays two-sol plan is devoted to MAHLI diagnostics and remote sensing. Its another late slide sol, so planning started three and half hours later than usual. The plan kicks off with arm activities to better understand the fault that MAHLI experienced last week. Then ChemCam will investigate Dunn Brook, a target that is just above Chase Brook from the weekend plan, and is shown in the above Mastcam image. The target shows some interesting color variations so ChemCam will be used to investigate changes in composition. Well also acquire a ChemCam observation of Leighton, to study the coarse sand grains at the crest of a ripple. Then Navcam will look for dust devils and clouds, in response to orbital observations that suggest recent increasing atmospheric opacity. On the second sol, Mastcam will acquire a multispectral observation on Dunn Brook, and will be used to document the previous APXS locations at Tomhegan and Waweig. Well also acquire a Mastcam image for deck monitoring to assess the movement of fines, and an upper tier Navcam mosaic to enable us to target features on Mt. Sharp. The second sol includes a number of environmental monitoring observations, using both Mastcam and Navcam to monitor the color and opacity of the atmosphere and search for dust devils. The plan also includes an APXS thermal characterization test and a number of change detection observations.

For more on Curiositys recent findings, check out this press release.

Sols 1625-1626 update by Lauren Edgar: Change detection and additional remote sensing (1 March 2017)

Were still at the second stop of the Bagnold Dune campaign, running a few more MAHLI diagnostics and focusing on targeted remote sensing. I was the GSTL today and it was still a pretty busy day for the GEO theme group. The first sol includes a ChemCam observation of a ripple crest (similar to the observation from Sol 1621 shown in the above Mastcam image) and a long distance RMI to look for changes on the slope of Mt. Sharp. Well also use Navcam to search for dust devils, and Mastcam will survey the color and opacity of the atmosphere. The second sol includes ChemCam observations of Allagash and Hersey to investigate some bedrock with interesting color variations. Mastcam and Navcam will also be used to monitor the atmosphere and search for dust devils. In the afternoon of both sols, APXS will continue to collect data for thermal characterization. Throughout the plan, well repeat several Mastcam and MARDI images to monitor changes in sand movement. These change detection observations have produced a great dataset that shows some awesome ripple activity.

Sols 1627-1629 update by Lauren Edgar: Driving again (3 March 2017)

Good news: the MAHLI cover was successfully opened and the instrument is marked healthy again. That means its time to close the cover, and if thats successful, drive away toward the next stop in the Bagnold Dunes Campaign. I was the GSTL again and it was a pretty straightforward planning day. On the first sol, well acquire ChemCam observations on Swanback and Rangely to assess the composition of a ripple crest and a bright patch of bedrock. Well also use Mastcam to image the rover deck to monitor the movement of fines. In the afternoon, well close the MAHLI cover and run a few more diagnostics. The second sol starts with an early science block for environmental monitoring, including Navcam and Mastcam observations to look for clouds and monitor the amount of dust in the atmosphere. Later in the day well use Navcam to search for dust devils. Then Mastcam will acquire a large mosaic of the stratigraphy exposed beneath the hematite ridge, and ChemCam will target Thorofare to assess the composition of veins in the local bedrock. Well also acquire a long distance ChemCam RMI mosaic to monitor the slope of Mt. Sharp and look for changes. Throughout the first and second sols, well continue to take Mastcam images to monitor changes in sand movement. Then Curiosity will drive further to the south, and take post-drive imaging to prepare for targeting next week. The third sol is devoted to a few more environmental monitoring activities, an autonomously selected ChemCam target, and some ChemCam calibration activities. Looking forward to driving again and getting a new view!

Sols 1630-1631 update by Ryan Anderson: Early Morning Planning (7 March 2017)

We had an early-morning (6 AM on the west coast!) start to planning today, which was a bit painful but with the help of lots of caffeine we put together another plan full of good science! The exciting news from the weekend plan is that the MAHLI dust cover closed as planned, so were back in business with MAHLI.

The Sol 1630 plan will start with ChemCam observations of a vein called Temple Stream, a soil target called Mattawamkeag, and the bedrock target Vassalboro to coordinate with an APXS observation of Sangerville. MAHLI will also observe Sangerville, and Mastcam will document each of these targets. After that, the plan is to drive about 40 meters and collect some post-drive imaging.

Since were driving on sol 1630, sol 1631 will be dedicated to untargeted science. ChemCam has an AEGIS observation, as well as some calibration observations. This will be followed by Navcam and Mastcam atmospheric observations, including several observations to watch for dust devils.

Sols 1632-1633 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Contact science on "Spring Point" (8 March 2017)

The MSL rover drove a little over 40 meters on Sol 1630, to a place with bedrock blocks surrounded by dark sand. There's a bright block with parallel linear features in the arm workspace, so the tactical team decided to plan contact science on those features. This made for an exciting day for me as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead! The MAHLI image through the closed dust cover that was planned for Sol 1630 was successfully acquired, so we're planning to acquire a similar image of the APXS target "Spring Point" on Sol 1632. MAHLI diagnostic images of its calibration target and more drill diagnostic tests are also planned for Sol 1632, along with ChemCam and Right Mastcam observations of Spring Point and a nearby target named "Nine Lake." Right Mastcam will also take an image of a laminated rock dubbed "Grand Pitch" before the rover drives away.

On Sol 1633, Navcam will search for dust devils and ChemCam will again use AEGIS to autonomously select and observe a target in the rover's new location. Finally, MARDI will take another image during twilight. If all goes well, we'll be able to return to normal MAHLI operations this weekend!

Sols 1634-1635 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Back to nominal MAHLI planning (10 March 2017)

MSL drove about 29 meters toward the south on Sol 1632, and is in a good position for weekend activities. The MAHLI images taken on Sol 1632 look good, and the dust cover is working properly, so MAHLI is ready to return to nominal operations! The tactical planning team therefore selected contact science targets on a block right in front of the rover that shows interesting color variations. This bedrock block is too close to the rover to allow ChemCam data to be safely acquired, so a nearby exposure was selected for an analogous measurement and named "Hurricane Mountain." I helped plan ChemCam observations today, and picked a nearly-vertical layered bedrock target that we called "Hardwood Mountain." Right Mastcam will image these targets and take a 4x3 mosaic of another bedrock block dubbed "Rocky Mountain." Mastcam will also acquire a multispectral set of images of "North Haven," a collection of pebbles near Hurricane Mountain, and survey the sky in the afternoon. Then MAHLI will take 5 images of "Canada Falls" from various distances before the APXS is placed on the first of 3 closely-spaced Canada Falls targets. After sunset, APXS data will be gathered on all 3 spots, using the arm to reposition the instrument between integrations.

Early on Sol 1635, Navcam will search for clouds and Mastcam will measure the dust in the atmosphere. Later in the day, more drill diagnostic tests are planned, followed by another set of Mastcam dust observations. Then the rover will drive toward the nearby dune and acquire data that will be used to select a target for the next drive, which will hopefully position the rover well for contact science on the dune sand.

Sol 1636 update by Ryan Anderson: Another Early Morning (13 March 2017)

Thankfully I wasnt actually on duty today, because with daylight savings time Arizona is now on West-coast time, and planning started at 6:30am! In any case, the weekend plan was successful, and put us close to the third stop of the current campaign to study the Bagnold Dunes.

The Sol 1636 plan starts off with a ChemCam passive observation of Vera Rubin Ridge, with a supporting Mastcam mosaic. ChemCam will also analyze the bedrock targets Buck Cove Mountain and Smyrna Mills. After that, we will do a short bump to Stop 3 of the dune campaign, with post-drive imaging. In the afternoon after the drive, ChemCam will do an automated AEGIS observation (likely to hit sand) and Navcam has a few atmospheric observations. We will also unstow the arm to prepare for contact science activities tomorrow.

Sol 1637 update by Ryan Anderson: Stop 3 (14 March 2017)

Yesterdays short drive was successful, so we started today with the rover parked at stop #3 of the dune campaign and the rovers arm up in the ready out position. The Sol 1637 plan starts out with a couple of Mastcam atmospheric observations, followed by ChemCam analysis of two targets on a nearby sand ripple. The target Spragueville is in the ripple trough and Ripogenus is on the ripple crest. Mastcam will document both targets, and will take a couple of small mosaics of the sand ripples that are visible from our new location. Mastcam also will document the ChemCam AEGIS target from sol 1636, and collect some multispectral images of an area where the rovers wheel disturbed the sand, called Hildreths.

In the afternoon, MAHLI will take pictures of the targets Ripogenus, Spragueville, and the small ripple crest Shin Brook. APXS will then analyze Spragueville and Ripogenus. Throughout the day, Mastcam will also periodically be taking images of the target Holmes Hole to watch for any changes.

Sol 1638 update by Ryan Anderson: Busy Day for MAHLI (15 March 2017)

Today we are continuing our investigation of Stop #3 of the Bagnold Dune campaign. We start off with some MAHLI images of the APXS targets Ripogenus and Spragueville from yesterday. For these images, the MAHLI dust cover will stay closed. Then ChemCam will analyze the bedrock target Holmes Hole and the sand target Spragueville, with Mastcam support images. MAHLI will then come back to Ripogenus and Spragueville for some very close (2 cm and 1 cm, respectively) images, followed by some 25cm and 5cm images of the targets Ash Island and Greenvale Cove. APXS then will do a short analysis of Ash Island and a longer observation of Greenvale Cove. Also, as usual for our dune campaign stops, Mastcam will be taking change detection images throughout the day.

Meanwhile, many of us on the science team are busy preparing our posters and presentations for the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) which is next week!

Sol 1639 update by Ryan Anderson: Onward to Ogunquit Beach (16 March 2017)

Planning was challenging this morning because of some network issues at JPL, but the team figured out how to work around the problem and still managed to put together a good plan! Weve been at Stop 3 of the dune campaign (now known as Southern Cove) for a couple of sols, so in todays plan its time to move on.

On Sol 1639 the rover will begin by retracting the arm and doing some drill diagnostics before taking MAHLI images of the targets Greenvale Cove and Holmes Hole. After that, we have a remote sensing science block with a Navcam movie to watch for clouds above the crater rim, followed by a Mastcam change detection observation of Holmes Hole and a ChemCam observation of the disturbed sand at Greenvale Cove. Mastcam will also document Greenvale Cove. After the remote sensing is done, Curiosity will drive toward Stop 4 (Ogunquit Beach) and collect some post-drive images.

Sol 1640-1642 update by Ryan Anderson: Better Late than Never! (21 March 2017)

Sorry for the delayed posting! In the rush to get ready for the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), I forgot to post about the sol 1640-42 plan. Better late than never!

The weekend plan started with some Navcam atmospheric observations, followed by ChemCam on the bedrock target Big Moose Mountain. Mastcam documented the ChemCam target and then did some deck monitoring and atmospheric dust observations. Then MAHLI and APXS analyzed the excellently-named targets Junk of Pork Island and Uncle Steves Point.

On Sol 1641, ChemCam analyzed Dram Island and Frye Island. Mastcam documented those targets and the APXS targets with a couple of small mosaics, and also observed the target Anasagunticook. We also ran some drill diagnostics. On Sol 1642 our main activity was a drive with typical post-drive imaging and MARDI.

Now, back to LPSC! If you want to hear the latest in planetary science, I and many others are "microblogging" the sessions on twitter, using the hashtag #LPSC2017!

Sol 1643 update by Ken Herkenhoff: First half of long-baseline stereo (20 March 2017)

MSL drove about 28 meters toward the south on Sol 1642 and again is in an area with Murray Formation bedrock blocks surrounded by dark sand. I helped plan ChemCam observations today, and we settled on a target called "Vinalhaven" at the left side of the layered bedrock exposure seen at upper left in this image. Right Mastcam will image Vinalhaven and coarse material to the right of that bedrock block, at targets named "Rindgemere" and "Hurd Mountain." Then Right Mastcam will image more distant targets, with a 3x1 mosaic of a layered rock about 11 meters away dubbed "Saint Daniel" and a 28x1 mosaic of the hematite-bearing "Vera Rubin Ridge" in the distance. This latter mosaic is the first half of a long-baseline stereo observation that should allow the topography of Vera Rubin Ridge to be measured more accurately than is possible using standard Mastcam stereo images. The long baseline will be achieved by moving the rover between Mastcam observations.

Another drive is planned for Sol 1643, followed by the standard post-drive imaging plus Left Mastcam imaging of the arm workspace to support possible contact science in the next plan. Later in the afternoon, Navcam will search for dust devils and clouds, and ChemCam will again use AEGIS to autonomously select a target and acquire data.

Sol 1644 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Staying put (21 March 2017)

The Sol 1644 plan focuses on arm activities, because the volume of data expected to be relayed via the MRO and Mars Odyssey orbiters in time for planning tomorrow is too small to allow both a drive and drill diagnostic tests. So the tactical science team took advantage of the opportunity for contact science by planning APXS and MAHLI observations of bedrock targets named "The Hop" and "The Horns." But first, ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe The Hop, then Right Mastcam will image the target AEGIS selected yesterday and examine rocks named "Heald Mountain," "Caucomgomoc Lake," and "Mooselookmeguntic Lake." Mastcam will also search for late-morning dust devils. After the drill diagnostics and full suites of MAHLI images of The Hop and The Horns, the APXS will be placed on The Hop for an overnight integration. Early the next morning, Navcam will search for clouds and Mastcam will measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere.

Sol 1645 update by Michael Battalio and Ken Herkenhoff: Searching for dust devils (22 March 2017)

The APXS will still be deployed on The Hop early on Sol 1645, and to avoid using battery power to heat up the arm, we'll wait until early afternoon to move it out of the way. So we had to pick ChemCam and Right Mastcam targets that would not be obscured by the arm: A bright vein named "Snows Point" and a knobby-looking rock dubbed "Clam Ledge." Navcam will then search for clouds and dust devils before the APXS is retracted from The Hop and more drill diagnostic tests performed. The Navcam surveys are part of an ongoing Environmental Science Theme Group (ENV) campaign to meticulously search for dust devil activity in Gale Crater. It is important to maintain a regular cadence, because as the location of the rover and thus surface topography changes, the size and number of dust devils can change. In concert with the imaging, simultaneous REMS measurements can detect pressure drops if vortices travel over or near the rover. This set of observations is needed to constrain model simulations and is an excellent example of two different instruments working together to improve our understanding of the meteorology of Gale Crater and dust lifting processes on Mars as MSL traverses up Mount Sharp. ENV also plans to repeat the Mastcam optical depth measurement and Navcam cloud movies that will be taken early in the morning of Sol 1645, to check for diurnal variability. A Mastcam afternoon sky survey is also planned, to characterize dust in the atmosphere. Today's drive will be followed by the post-drive imaging needed to plan contact science and another drive this weekend.

Sol 1646 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Traction control driving (23 March 2017)

MSL drove a little over 20 meters on Sol 1645, toward the big sand dune to the east that is the subject of a science campaign that will hopefully start next week. Another drive toward the east is planned for Sol 1646, with post-drive imaging to set up for contact science. The drive will include the first use on Mars of traction control software that's been tested and fine-tuned in JPL's Mars Yard since last April. This new software allows the rover to drive "softer," meaning that when the rover detects that a wheel is driving over a rock, it slows the other five wheels to avoid pushing the wheel into the rock while the wheel climbs over the rock. Curiosity's first use of traction control has been planned for months to begin about now and is intended to validate the new software for optional use in future drives.

Before the Sol 1646 drive, ChemCam will observe targets "Bald Rock Ledge" and "Porcupine Dry Ledge" on one of the layered outcrops to the right of the rover. Then Right Mastcam will acquire mosaics of both of the layered outcrops shown in the picture above. After the drive, Navcam will again search for dust devils and ChemCam will observe a target selected by AEGIS. Finally, Navcam will search for clouds and SAM will perform an engineering baseline test.

Sols 1647-1649 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Approaching the dune edge (24 March 2017)

The traction control test went well, and MSL drove over 30 meters on Sol 1646. The rover will be busy this weekend with lots of remote sensing, arm work, and a drive onto the edge of the dune. On Sol 1647, Left Mastcam will take a 360-degree panorama and Right Mastcam will acquire a 17x3 mosaic of the edge of the sand dune, which was named "Ogunquit Beach." Then ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe bedrock targets "Damariscotta Lake," "Mount Katahdin," and "Boothbay Harbor." Late that afternoon, the arm will be unstowed for drill diagnostic tests and a full suite of MAHLI images on another bedrock target dubbed "Halftide Ledge." APXS will then be placed on the same target for an overnight integration.

On Sol 1648, the arm will be stowed after more drill diagnostic tests and Navcam will search for dust devils while REMS acquires environmental data. Then the rover will drive onto the dune, toward a target near the center of the image above. After the drive, the arm will be unstowed to allow Mastcam and Navcam to acquire stereo images of the arm workspace to support planning next week. Early the next morning, Mastcam will measure the dust in the atmosphere and Navcam will search for clouds. In the afternoon, Right Mastcam will repeatedly take pictures of 3 areas near the rover to look for changes due to winds. Mastcam will also search for dust devils and measure atmospheric dust at two different times of day. Finally, the rover will sleep through the night to recharge in preparation for what will likely be a busy week.

Sol 1650 update by Lauren Edgar: Let the scooping begin! (27 March 2017)

Over the weekend, Curiosity bumped to our scooping location at Ogunquit Beach. We have a wheel scuff in the left side of our workspace and a sinuous ripple crest in the right side of the workspace, which according to todays Geology Science Theme Lead Michelle Minitti is everything a dune lover could want! Todays plan is focused on imaging the ripple crest, the interior of the scuff, and two of the scoop targets, along with APXS of the scuff interior.

The plan starts with slip assessment imaging and vibe checkout to prepare for sampling activities. Then well acquire MAHLI images of two of the planned scoop targets to characterize the sites before we scoop them. Well also acquire MAHLI images of the interior of the scuff, now known as the Flanders Bay target, to assess the disturbed sand, and the ripple crest, now known as Avery Peak. Then well place the APXS over Flanders Bay for an overnight integration. SAM will also perform some preconditioning heating activities to prepare for upcoming solid sample analysis. This is a very power intensive plan, so we had to trim back a couple of science activities to accommodate the sampling-related activities. Looking forward to a very complex and exciting scooping campaign!

Sol 1651 update by Lauren Edgar: Scoop #1 at Ogunquit Beach (28 March 2017)

Sol 1650 activities completed as expected, so its time to start scooping. Todays plan is focused on acquiring Scoop #1 and dropping off a portion of the sample to SAM. This is the first of four intended scoops at this location, aimed at sampling different grain sizes and their composition. The plan begins with a Mastcam mosaic of Kennebago Divide to document some possible layering exposed by the wheel scuff on the right side of the workspace. Well also take several Mastcam images for change detection to monitor active sand movement. Then the arm backbone starts by retracting the arm and a vibe to clean APXS. After that well take a few MAHLI documentation images of the Flanders Bay and Scoop #1 locations (prior to scooping), and a very close-up image of the Avery Peak ripple crest. Next up, well acquire Scoop #1! The sample will be sieved, and the fine-grained portion (great view.

Sol 1652 update by Lauren Edgar: CheMin drop-off and SAM Analysis (29 March 2017)

Sol 1651 activities executed nominally, so todays plan is focused on dropping off the fine-grained portion of Ogunquit Beach Scoop #1 (now named OG1) to CheMin, and SAM analysis of OG1. The plan kicks off with Mastcam multispectral imaging of the right and left wheel scuffs, as well as Mastcam change detection imaging. Then ChemCam will investigate Tumbledown Mountain, Elephant Mountain and Canoe Point, to characterize the composition of sand in different parts of the left wheel scuff. Navcam will also acquire an image to look at line-of-sight dust loading within the crater. Later in the afternoon, part of the OG1 sample will be dropped off to CheMin. Curiosity will stay busy overnight, with a SAM solid sample evolved gas experiment to analyze the fine-grained portion of OG1. Im busy on the other side of the planet working operations for the Opportunity rover today, but its fun to hear many members of both rover teams jumping back and forth between telecons to help plan lots of great science activities for our hardworking robots.

Sol 1653 update by Lauren Edgar and Michael Battalio: Targeted science at Ogunquit Beach (30 March 2017)

Yesterday afternoon the downlink included some results of ongoing drill feed diagnostics that warrant a further look before proceeding with the dune campaign, so the arm activities from Sol 1652 were pulled from the plan and we did not drop-off to CheMin. But we did receive some beautiful images of scoop OG1, as shown in the above Mastcam image. Todays plan is a great opportunity to do some targeted remote sensing activities that we havent been able to accomplish due to power constraints earlier in the week. The first science block includes ChemCam observations of North Brother and Avery Peak to investigate undisturbed sand and to look for changes in sand composition along a ripple crest. Then Mastcam will document the ChemCam targets and take several change detection observations. Later in the day, the GEO theme group requested a ChemCam observation of Baxter Peak to investigate changes in composition along another large ripple crest. We also planned two Mastcam mosaics to document sedimentary structures and changes in the Murray formation at nearby outcrops.

Meanwhile, the ENV theme group used the remote sensing sol to catch up on normal cadence activities, which had been partially suspended to provide as much time as possible for the dune campaign. ENV added a Navcam supra-horizon movie to try to capture cloud activity above the crater rim. Additionally, Mastcam was planned to capture a mid-week tau, to continue tracking changes in atmospheric dust between the usual weekend observations. The plan also includes a four-frame, Navcam dust devil survey to cover as wide an area across Gale as possible, and REMS and DAN observations were included as usual.

Sols 1654-1656 update by Lauren Edgar and Michael Battalio: MAHLI imaging of OG1 and remote sensing (31 March 2017)

Todays three-sol plan starts with MAHLI imaging of the first scoop location (OG1). The first sol also includes Mastcam and MARDI imaging for change detection. The second sol involves a number of remote sensing activities, starting with a long morning imaging suite for environmental monitoring observations. The imaging suites are special observations that include Navcam cloud movies and dust opacity measurements from both Navcam and Mastcam at an early morning time, when the rover is usually asleep and recharging. The sol 1655 imaging suite is a long version which also includes a ChemCam passive sky measurement, which seeks to determine the chemical composition of the air near MSL. All of these measurements are duplicated in the afternoon to check for diurnal variability. Later in the afternoon well also take a large Mastcam mosaic of Vera Rubin Ridge, for both stereo and multispectral analysis of the prominent ridge at the base of Mt. Sharp. Well also acquire a multispectral Mastcam image of the area observed by the Ground Temperature Sensor (GTS) to help with thermal modeling and grain size determination. The plan includes the usual REMS and DAN measurements, and additional REMS observations were added to determine if the REMS GTS is affected by an increase in winds in the afternoon. The second sol also includes more Mastcam change detection observations, and a large Navcam 15-frame dust devil movie to attempt to capture movement in individual dust devils and to estimate the amount of dust lifted by a range of vortex sizes. On the third sol, ChemCam will perform some calibration activities and analyze targets Kamankeag and Hamlin Peak to assess the composition of Murray bedrock and a small ripple. Ill be on duty next week, so Im getting caught up and looking forward to more dune campaign activities.

Sols 1657-1658 update by Ryan Anderson: April Fool's Day, or Groundhog's Day? (4 April 2017)

Over the weekend there was a problem with the Deep Space Network that we rely on to transmit commands to Curiosity, so the rover didnt receive its instructions and instead went into runout mode, where it patiently waits for commands and does some basic environmental monitoring in the meantime. That means todays plan was a do-over trying to cram everything from our weekend plan into two sols.

The Sol 1657 plan starts with a busy remote sensing science block. Navcam will take a couple of images of the workspace, then Mastcam will do a large multispectral mosaic of Vera Rubin Ridge and its interesting iron oxides. This is then followed by a multispectral observation of the target Fivemile Brook and an image to monitor the rover deck. Mastcam also has the first of several change monitoring observations in the science block. These observations are repeated throughout the day to see if any sand moves. Once Mastcam is done, ChemCam has a couple of passive calibration activities, followed by a long-distance RMI observation of Mt. Sharp that I requested.

Later in the Sol 1657 plan, MAHLI has a couple of documentation images of the scoop location at Ogunquit, and MARDI has a twilight observation of the ground under our wheels. SAM also has an engineering activity.

On Sol 1658, the plan starts off with some morning atmospheric observations using Navcam and Mastcam, as well as the start of another set of Mastcam change detection images. The main targeted science block on Sol 1658 has ChemCam observations of the targets Kamankeag and Hamlik Peak with accompanying Mastcam images. Navcam also has a dust devil movie and a cloud movie in this science block.

A little bit later in the afternoon, Mastcam will repeat its change detection image and do another couple of observations to measure the dust in the atmosphere. The change detection images will continue on into the evening, and MARDI will also take another image to see what has changed beneath the rover.
By Alexander Cornwell

DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar Airways will finalise a long-negotiated agreement to buy 49 percent of Italy's Meridiana in the coming days, and soon apply with Qatar's sovereign wealth fund to start an Indian airline.

Qatar Airways will sign the agreement with Italy's second biggest airline in the next "few days", Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker told reporters in Dubai on Monday.

The airline has been negotiating to buy a stake in Meridiana for more than year, a deal that could help the loss-making Italian carrier's ability to compete in Europe.

Meridiana would operate as a full-service carrier to destinations in Europe and beyond, al-Baker said, with the airline taking delivery of 20 Boeing 737 MAXs from the second quarter of 2018.

The 737s will come from a Qatar Airways order of Boeing jets announced last October. Al-Baker declined to say how much Qatar Airways would invest in the Italian carrier.

Meridiana, which offers flights to and from the island of Sardinia and other destinations in Italy, is owned by the Aga Khan, a businessman and spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims.

Qatar Airways will also apply with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) for a domestic Indian airline operating licence in the next few weeks, al-Baker said.

The Indian carrier would be majority owned by QIA, with Qatar Airways controlling a minority interest, he said.

Manufacturers Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer would be welcome to bid for orders from the Indian carrier, al-Baker said.

Qatar Airways has said it plans to operate a domestic Indian carrier with around 100 jets.

The Doha-based airline also announced on Monday 12 new destinations to start in 2018, including direct flights to San Francisco in the United States.

The U.S. expansion contrasts with rival Emirates, which said this month it would cut flights on five U.S. destinations from May due to a "significant deterioration" in bookings. This followed U.S. President Donald Trump's attempts to restrict travel from some Muslim countries, which has hit demand from the Middle East.

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"We didn't have massive declines like other carriers," al-Baker said. "We will continue our expansion."

The airline has seen "some decline" in passenger demand on U.S. routes, but he said this was manageable.

Qatar Airways has delayed plans to start flights to Las Vegas until the second quarter 2018, from the first quarter of that year, "mainly due to technical reasons," al-Baker said without explaining further.

The airline, like Emirates and Etihad Airways, has faced more than two years of opposition in the United States led by major carriers American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines .

The three U.S. carriers have lobbied the U.S. government to investigate claims the Middle East rivals have received billions of dollars in state aid, which those airlines deny.

"We create jobs, we buy American, We invest in the United States and I think we outweigh whatever job creation these three American carriers are doing," al-Baker said.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)
City officials and the public "really need to be concerned," about the shrinking police force, interim Dallas Police Chief David Pughes said Monday.

Pughes told the City Council's public safety committee that the department is down to a nearly critical level of 3,077 officers. That's the smallest force the city has had in about 10 years. Another 100 would-be officers are training in the police academy.

The chief said he's concerned that the department, which peaked at nearly 3,700 officers about six years ago, will be short-handed while entering the summer months, when crime generally increases.

Consternation about the failing Dallas Police and Fire Pension System seems to have caused officers to quit and retire much faster than the department can hire and train new ones, the Dallas Morning News reports.
The National Rifle Association is honoring Officer Jason F. Falconer of the Avon (MN) Police Department as the 2016 NRA Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for his acts of valor and heroism in his quick, life-saving action during an attack at the Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud/Waite Park, Minnesota in September 2016.

I am humbled to join the 5 million members of the National Rifle Association in honoring Officer Falconer as the 2016 NRA Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for bravery, quick-thinking and heroism, said NRA President Allan D. Cors. Officer Falconer is the ultimate example of a law enforcement professional and responsibly armed citizen defending himself and protecting those around him from harm.

On the evening of September 17, 2016, Officer Falconer was off duty in plain clothes at the Crossroads Mall, co-located in the City of St. Cloud and City of Waite Park.

While shopping, Officer Falconers attention was drawn to two loud, sharp noises and saw some shoppers running and screaming. An individual dressed in a security uniform then walked up to him and asked him if he was Muslim. Officer Falconer answered no and as the individual turned Officer Falconer could see that he had a large knife in each hand. Without hesitation or regard for his personal safety, Officer Falconer immediately drew his concealed off-duty handgun, announced he was a police officer and ordered him to drop the knives.

Unbeknownst to Officer Falconer, the subject had started a stabbing spree outside the mall. The suspect then entered the mall and continued his attack, stabbing 10 shoppers and punching many others in the head, back, neck and face.

Rather than dropping the knives, the knifeman turned and ran through the mall and into a crowded major department store with Officer Falconer in pursuit. For some reason the suspect abruptly turned, stopped and then laid down as instructed by Officer Falconer. Seeing that the knifeman had not dropped the knives, Officer Falconer continued ordering him to do so. Just as abruptly as the suspect had stopped, he jumped up and charged Officer Falconer with the knives.

Coming under immediate attack, Officer Falconer fired his pistol several times at the suspect while backing up to create distance between them. The knifeman fell after being struck, but did not drop the knives.

Witnesses confirm that Officer Falconer continued to issue commands to the attacker to stay down and drop the knives while identifying himself as an off-duty officer verbally and displaying his police badge, keeping the knifeman covered at gunpoint.

Just as the incident seemed to be over, the knifeman suddenly recovered and began moving between clothing racks, circling as Officer Falconer continued to order him to drop the knives and get down. The suspect charged, and Officer Falconer fired additional rounds at him head-on. The suspect turned and walked backwards towards the officer, acting as though the rounds could not strike him if he was not facing the officer.

Surveillance videos and witnesses confirmed that after several additional hits the knifeman fell to the floor on his stomach, whereupon he began crawling on his hands and knees towards Officer Falconer, still wielding a knife. The knifeman finally dropped completely to the floor, and Officer Falconer moved to a position to block the knifeman from the open area of the mall until responding police arrived.

Officer Falconers heroic actions while off-duty saved lives. His actions are a credit to his department and the community he serves, and are in keeping with the noble profession of our men and women in law enforcement.

The NRA will present the 2016 NRA Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award to Officer Falconer at the NRA Board of Directors Meeting during the 2017 NRA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia later this month.

For more information about NRAs Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award and its Law Enforcement Division, call (703) 267-1632 or e-mail [email protected].
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Even though Donald Trump repeatedly promised to be the president for coal miners, he has spent his first 100 days in office abandoning these Americans in favor of pro-Wall Street policies.

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown isnt letting it go unnoticed, though, saying on MSNBCs All In with Chris Hayes that he plans to raise hell until coal miners get the help they were promised from candidate Trump.

Video:

Brown said:

[Coal miners] are just perplexed, a number of coal miners voted for candidate Trump. They heard him talk about bringing coal jobs back, and they are simply saying government should do what its done since the days of Harry Truman, and that is provide health insurance to coal mine retirees and the widows of coal miners. It doesnt cost taxpayers, its simple, you take money from the abandoned mine fund, put it into this health care. This expires at the end of April, and its just immoral to talk about tax cuts for Wall Street, cutting the corporate tax  and not take care of the coal miners  Were really raising hell about this and were going to make sure this week that, if theres going to be a continuing resolution, it better have permanent health care for coal miners in it.

To make matters worse, Trump isnt even pretending to care about these Americans anymore. Instead, he has surrounded himself by special interests and Wall Street fatcats and is now proposing a massive tax handout to corporations. The president wants to cut the corporate tax rate by more than half, from 35 percent to 15 percent.

Meanwhile, voters in rural and middle America who thought Trump would be their president are beginning to realize that theyre victims of one of the biggest political cons in American history. Trump may have been effective at convincing certain voters that he would help the forgotten men and women of the country, but words can only get a president so far.

As Vice President Joe Biden frequently said, Dont tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and Ill tell you what you value.

Its becoming increasingly clear what Trump cares about, and its not the lower- and middle-class Americans who helped fuel his Electoral College victory last fall.

Now its up to the Democrats to step up, as Sherrod Brown did on Monday night, and show the forgotten men and women of America which party is looking out for them.
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Donald Trump has officially committed an impeachable offense by using taxpayer resources to promote his private Florida club.

The State Departments Share America website published an article that was nothing but a commercial for a Trump-owned property.

Check out this quote, and remember that this is an article on a taxpayer funded government website, That opened the way for Trump, a real-estate magnate, to purchase the property in 1985. When he acquired the house, Trump also bought the decorations and furnishings that Post had collected over the years, preserving Mar-a-Lagos style and taste. After refurbishing the house and adding an events space, Trump opened the estate to dues-paying members of the public in 1995 as the Mar-a-Lago Club.

The reason why this an impeachable offense is simple. Mar-a-Lago is not open to the public. Trump used taxpayer resources to promote his private club for the purpose of personal enrichment. Congressional Republicans and Democrats are asking questions about Trumps conflicts of interest and threatening investigations into the presidents conflicts.

Donald Trump is not above the law.

A president is not allowed to abuse taxpayer resources to promote his own personal financial interests. Donald Trump better hope and pray that Democrats dont win back any part of Congress, because if they do, one of their first priorities will be to launch a full investigation into Donald Trumps conflicts of interests.

There are many reasons to suspect that Trump could be impeached, but one of the clearest illegal acts that he is committing is on a government-run website for everyone to see.
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Trump is intentionally trying to manipulate what the American people see by telling those who meet with him to go on television and lie about how good the meeting was.

The Washington Post had a perfect example of how Trump is trying to use television to manipulate the American people:

Either way, Trumps viewing habits have seeped into the ether of both the White House and the nations capital. During the Republicans failed health-care push last month, Trump invited a small group of conservative activists to meet with him in the Oval Office. When the meeting was over, said someone with knowledge of the gathering, the president made a plea to the participants: I know you have already said its a bad deal, but Kellyanne is going to walk you out to the microphones and Id love it if you could say its great, Trump said.

Trump is trying to craft a perception of his entire presidency that is based on using television, and especially cable news to mislead. The vast majority of Americans get their news from television, so if Trump can put out enough false information and misleading perceptions, he believes that he can become a popular president.

The presidents obsession with cable news and his attempts to get people to lie to make him look good are part of the pattern of behavior that has experts warning about his mental health. The President Of The United States is encouraging people to lie to make him look good, which is dangerous behavior that seems destined to come back to haunt the nation.
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Upset at media reports that he has flip-flopped on his wall, Donald Trump tweeted this morning that these are lies from the fake media and that he hasnt changed his position on the WALL, as he calls it.

It has been reported that Trump is now content to wait until fall to get money for the WALL, leading to a tweet from Toronto Star fact-checker Daniel Dale mocking him as The Closer.

Trump felt the sting to his ego and this is his response:

Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

The truth is that when Donald Trump says he hasnt changed his position on the WALL that he is changed it. A LOT. And Dale was ready with the facts:

The Trump presidency in three tweets. pic.twitter.com/FIhVvCLfwk  Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 25, 2017

There you have it, as Dale says, in three tweets. To paraphrase Trumps evolving position on the WALL:

Mexico will pay for the wall, PERIOD. Well, maybe at a later date. In some form yet to be determined. But I have not changed my position!

But hey, he has the virtue at least of being consistently inconsistent on the WALL Mexico may or may not pay for possibly at a later date to at least reimburse American taxpayers who will be paying for the WALL because Mexico refuses to pay for the WALL.
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There is no indication that Trumps former National Security Adviser General Mike Flunn complied with the law by properly disclosing payments he received from Russia, Republican House Oversight Chair Jason Chaffetz said Tuesday.

Ranking Member Democrat Elijah Cummings further said, There is no evidence anywhere in these documents that Flynn reported the funds he received for his trip to Moscow.

I see no data to support the notion that Gen. Flynn complied with the law, Chaffetz said according to CNN.

Chaffetz also said in a video provided by MSNBC, It was inappropriate (Flynn taking money from Russia), and there are repercussions for the violation of law.

Chaffetz says it appears Mike Flynn took money from Russia: it was inappropriate, and there are repercussions for the violation of law pic.twitter.com/quQq6niPjB  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) April 25, 2017

This is significant in regards to Donald Trump and the Russia investigation for many reasons, but especially because Trump knew about Flynns ties to Russia before he chose him as his National Security Adviser.

CNN also reported according to a letter they obtained that the Trump White House declined to provide documents related to Flynn that the panel investigating him had requested.

Cummings said they had grave concerns, These docs are troubling. We have grave concerns. I believe these documents should be declassified. The White House has refused to provide us with a single piece of paper in response to our request. Unacceptable. We need a thorough and robust investigation.

As all of this is going on, the Republican-led Senate is doing all that it can to ignore their responsibility to their country and constituents, by essentially quashing the Senate investigation into the Trump Russia scandal through sabotage. They used 46 staffers to investigate Benghazi, but are using just 7 to investigate an attack on our country by a hostile foreign aggressor.

Heres Donald Trump denying any contact between his advisers and Russia:

#POTUS denied any contacts between #Trump advisers and #Russians but the list keeps growing. What in the world is going on? pic.twitter.com/6wQttVDZ6O  Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) March 4, 2017

But now the White House is refusing to turn over documents requested by Congress and it appears as if Mike Flynn broke the law by not disclosing the payments from Russia.

No contacts with Russia; also known as Flynn, Sessions, Ross, Tillerson, Page, Manafort, Donald Jr, Ivanka, Cohen, Stone and Kushner.

The Oversight Committees investigation is looking into Flynn Trump/Russia, while the House Intelligence Committee is investigating the Russian interference in the 2016 election, and Trump Russia  including the campaign and possible collusion.

Theres a lot of Russia smoke swirling around the Trump White House. The only question is will the Republican-led Congress actually do something about it.

Chaffetz, who has his eye set on higher office, made a smart move for his long term career today when he called out Flynn for appearing to have violated the law.
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In a scathing takedown this morning of Republican leadership, former Guantanamo prosecutor Col. Morris Davis, U.S. Air Force (Ret) tweeted that Republican leadership has less backbone than Gumby:

.@GOP leadership, with less backbone strength than Gumby, has tossed morals, integrity & patriotism out the window in their lust for power. https://t.co/QobDgeBOp3  Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) April 25, 2017

Trumps decision to abandon hopes for immediate funding for his wall may have, as Politicos Burgess Everett noted, eased pressure on Congress, but it has no eliminated the GOPs central problem, which is the lack of a spine.

Eager to finally attain the holy grail of their conservative agenda, Republicans have, as Davis observed, leaped at the chance to sell their morals and integrity to do Donald Trumps will, even to the point of again shutting down the government.

Their unpatriotic failure to investigate Trumps collusion with Russia is a mark of shame that will linger for a long time. Using 46 staffers to investigate a sham scandal surrounding Hillary Clinton and the Benghazi attack while using only 7 to investigate Trump and Russia leaves no doubt about where their loyalties lie, and its not with their constituents or to the Constitution they swore to uphold.
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Ivanka Trumps propaganda about her fathers support for women and families did not go over well at the W20 Summit. When she tried to sell her dad as a champion of family issues like paid leave, she was met with boos and groans from the audience.

Video:

Trump said, The United States one of the only countries in the world. The only developed country in the world not to have a paid leave policy for families, so thats something Im very proud of my fathers advocacy. Long before he came to the presidency, but during the campaign and in the primaries, hes been a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them.

The audience booed, grumbled, and groaned.

The moderator said, You hear the reaction from the audience. I need to address one more point, some attitudes toward women your father has displayed might leave one questioning whether hes such an empowerer for women.

Ivanka Trump retreated to the rhetoric of the 2016 campaign, Ive certainly heard the criticism from the media, thats been perpetuated. As a daughter, I can speak on a very personal level. I grew up in a house where there was no barriers to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and tenacity. Thats not an easy thing to do, he provided that for us. There was no difference.

Its not the media that is criticizing Donald Trump. The President is a self-admitted serial sexual assaulter. The excuse that her dad was never bad to her has never explained away how Trump admitted that he takes pleasure in sexually assaulting women.

Ivanka Trump deserved to be booed for trying to float that BS in front of a global audience. Trump recently a bill that would allow states to defund Planned Parenthood. On a personal level, Trump has been married three times and has shown no regard for the value of family.

Actions speak louder that words. Trump gave one speech on family leave compared to accusations that he sexually assaulted or harassed dozens of women. That math doesnt add up to a president who is a champion of women and families.
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When the White House refused to turn over documents that were requested by the House Oversight Committees investigation, they were engaging in a criminal cover-up that could be the beginning of the end of this administration.

The White House letter in response to the committees request for Flynn related documents was a textbook example of a cover-up:

As you can see, the letter is a greatest hits collection of presidential cover-ups. The excuses range from we dont have those documents to those documents are classified, and you cant have them to we dont think those documents are relevant to your investigation.

If the Oversight Committee really wants these documents, they can always sue the president for their release, but the Russia scandal has shifted today. It is no longer about what Trump and his campaign circle might have done. It is about information that Trump is hiding about what they did do.

The White House has maintained that they knew nothing about Flynns illegal activities, but if this is the case, why wont they turn over documents? If Gen. Flynn was acting alone with no direction from the White House, the president should want to turn over the information ASAP.

By refusing to provide the House committee with what it needs, this president is obstruction a criminal investigation into his White House.

The adage is true. It the cover-up not the crime that gets you in the end.

Trump has moved firmly into cover-up territory, which means that this administration is well on the way to sowing the seeds of its own demise.
Pizza has been a constant in Brian Kesslers life, from the time he got a job in a pizzeria as a teenager until the day he met his wife in a pizza joint. Read moreIggy's Pizza Shop is now open in Mount Pleasant
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Mainly cloudy. Low 53F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy. Low 53F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.
With just a small fraction of votes counted hours after the polls closed it was too close to call the winners. Read moreElection could flip control of Charleston County Council, with votes still to be counted
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Spanish airline Iberia could open a new early retirement programme for 1,000 workers by June, depending on the outcome of prior talks with unions, Chief Executive Officer Luis Gallego said on Monday.

Iberia, which is owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (ICAG.L), is not considering adding capacity in Brazil at the moment, even as the country's outlook seems more promising, Gallego told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Sao Paulo.

(Reporting by Brad Haynes; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
Here's a tip for those airplane watchers who track the large international flights into the Rochester International Airport.

A Ceiba Intercontinental Boeing 777 from the Republic of Equatorial Guinea landed in Rochester today and remains parked on the tarmac.

In the past, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea, has been a regular visitor to Mayo Clinic. So that's probably the simple explanation for the plane's presence

He took the office of president in 1979 with a military coup that overthrew his uncle. Since then, he has had an on and off relationship with the U.S. due to concerns about human rights abuses and him once accusing the U.S. of supporting a coup to get him out of power.

He is currently longest serving in Africa as well as the world.

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Here's some from an article I wrote on him in September 2007:

Mayo Clinic, known for treating international leaders, saw the president of a central Africa country in its halls this week.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, was in Rochester for a checkup, clinic officials confirmed.

Security officers and limousines  not an uncommon sight in Rochester  signaled his visit earlier this week.

Nguema Mbasogo assumed the leadership of his country in 1979 with a coup that overthrew his uncle.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  Alexander Hamilton never visited the home of archrival Thomas Jefferson. But the nation's first Treasury secretary  and namesake of the hit musical  rules the house during the new Hamilton Tour Takeover at Monticello.

The after-hour visits are part history class and part civics lesson  with 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, Monticello's 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.

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"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 setting"  with the help of his slave, Paris-trained chef James Hemings.

Tonight's 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 Hamilton's nation today or Jefferson's? 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; www.monticello.org.

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ST. PAUL  When Courtney Lawson's mental health struggles began, she had no idea what was wrong.

She would start gasping for air so much that her chest would hurt the next day. Desperate to escape the anxiety, she started drinking alcohol to avoid the pain. Later, depression set in making it difficult for her to simply get off the couch or take a shower. Finally, family and friends urged her to get help and she got a diagnosis  bipolar disorder.

"I consider myself the luckiest person on earth  truly. The fact that I'm alive after all the unsafe, impulsive decisions I made where my only virtue was being in the right place at the right time with the right people and that I have a squeaky clean criminal record astounds me," Lawson said.

Nearly a decade later, Lawson is executive director of the southeast Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness. She traveled to St. Paul on Monday to urge lawmakers to support $80 million to build supportive housing and regional treatment centers across the state to help people struggling with mental illness. The major proposal is being pushed by Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester.

How would the $80 million be used?

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Senjem has introduced two bills this session. The first provides $50 million in funding to build supportive housing for individuals with mental illness. The second bill sets aside $30 million in grants for regional behavior health crisis facilities to be built across the state. Applicants could apply for up to $5 million.

Why is Senjem pushing this proposal?

The Rochester Republican said addressing the state's mental health crisis has become a priority for him. During Monday's hearing before the Senate Capital Investment Committee, Senjem shared that both his father and mother struggled with mental illness. His father took his own life when Senjem was 12 years old.

"Many, many families across Minnesota today are experiencing exactly what I grew up with," Senjem said.

Wow, $80 million sounds like a lot of money. Is that level of funding really needed?

Experts testifying in support of Senjem's bill say yes. Dr. Bruce Sutor, clinical practice chairman for Mayo Clinic's Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, told lawmakers that people in mental crisis often show up in the emergency room. A lack of inpatient psychiatric beds in the state means these patients can end up spending days in the ER waiting for a bed. While there, they are not getting the mental health treatment they need and are in a place that can make their condition worse. ERs are hectic places where the lights are kept on 24 hours a day.

"If somebody has an illness such as schizophrenia or if they are suicidal or if they are in some crisis, the emergency room is a very destabilizing place for them," Sutor said.

How would the regional health crisis centers be different?

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These facilities would be a step down from the emergency room. They would have mental health professionals on staff to help people in crisis and short-term stabilization beds. Also on hand would be people who have struggled with mental illness in the past who could provide peer support to patients. Olmsted County is among those interested in building one of these facilities.

What about the $50 million for housing?

Another major issue is after people complete their hospitalization for a mental illness, they often have nowhere to go. These dollars would build supportive housing to help these individuals stabilize and continue to get better.

Was anybody opposed to Senjem's $80 million proposal?

No. However, NAMI Minnesota's Executive Director Sue Abderholden did request a change to Senjem's regional crisis center bill to make sure the facilities go beyond just providing screening and assessments and also offer stabilization, crisis and short-term residential housing. Sen. Dan Schoen, DFL-St. Paul Park, said he supports the proposal but wants to make sure these regional treatment centers will be equipped to deal with patients in crisis that law enforcement officers and paramedics otherwise would take to the ER.

So what happens now?

Senjem is chairman of the Senate Capital Investment Committee  the group of lawmakers that craft a construction borrowing bill that funds projects across the state (also known as a bonding bill). He said he is going to push hard to get the mental health funding included in a bonding bill this year. But it still remains to be seen whether lawmakers will move ahead with a bonding bill. The House has yet to release their bonding plan. The Senate already has passed a $1 billion bonding bill that is largely modeled after one that failed to pass last year. But Senjem said he remains hopeful his mental health proposals can be negotiated as part of a final bonding deal.

He told committee members, "Let's get started. This is so important. We need to step up. We need to do something about it, and we will."
A U.S. District Court in California has declared 75-year-old veteran Robert Rosebrock not guilty of violating federal law in a prosecution for allegedly displaying two four-by-six inch American flags above a Veterans Affairs fence on Memorial Day 2016. Rosebrock had been charged with hanging the two napkin-sized American flags on a section of the fence adjacent to the entrance to the VA facility in violation of a VA regulation prohibiting the displaying of placards or posting materials on VA property without authorization.

The court found that the VA failed to meet its burden of proving that Rosebrock lacked permission to post the flags or even that he was the person who displayed them. The VAs case apparently fell apart when the court concluded that the VA violated Rosebrocks Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

According to Judicial Watch, which successfully defended Rosebrock, the court also dismissed before trial two separate charges that Rosebrock illegally photographed VA police on the ground. It ruled that the VA regulation at issue was not reasonable even under the most lenient First Amendment standard.

Appearing on Fox and Friends, Rosebrock explained, I just wanted to display [the flag] in honor of all the veterans who have served our country over the last 240 years and also in honor of veterans who are inside that VA trying to heal from defending the American flag. He added that for years he and other veterans have placed flags on a fence near the entrance to the facility to draw attention to the VAs mistreatment of homeless vets.

On Memorial Day 2016, a VA police officer issued him a citation for placing the two napkin-sized flags on the fence. He ended up in federal court for his patriotic gesture. Had Rosebrock been convicted, he faced up to six months of imprisonment.

It blows my mind that Rosebrock would be prosecuted for what he was charged with doing. Perhaps it also blew the mind of Steve Kim, the U.S. Magistrate Judge who heard the case. In any event, Judge Kim tossed the case, and we should all be happy that he did.

As Judicial Watch said in announcing its legal victory:
Heres a student protest that makes some sense to me. Resident advisers (RAs) at Scripps College went on strike seeking more dough (and I dont mean play-doh). Sophie Mann, a junior at Scripps, writing in the Wall Street Journal, reports:

In a new twist on student protests, a group of resident advisers at Scripps College went on strike last week after issuing a list of demandsmostly for more money. Other students working in the admissions office threatened to wreak havoc during special tours for newly admitted students who are trying to decide whether to enroll. Essentially, the tour guides threatened to trash-talk their own college.

According to Mann, most of the resident advisers are African-American or Latina. They receive free room and board worth, which is worth almost $16,000 a year.

Yet, they feel (or claim) that their labor is worth more. According to Mann, who attends Scripps, that labor largely consists of opening dorm doors for residents who forget keys, asking students to turn down music on weekend evenings, and so forth.

The Scripps RAs also want compensation for the emotional cost of their labor. They acknowledge that Scripps already subsidizes students private, off-campus therapy. But the school only pays $75 a session. Even if students can get insurance to cover the rest they must front the cost. The RAs complain that this financial burden should not be put on any student who seeks to improve their [sic] mental health.

As I said, its understandable that the RAs want to squeeze more money and benefits out of Scripps. Its harder to understand why Scripps gave in to their demands, though for those who have been paying attention, its not surprising that Scripps did.

I also have trouble understanding why Scripps would want to use RAs who admit to needing mental therapy. As Mann suggests, theres something odd about a college providing therapy to RAs whom it pays to be the mature authorities in its dorms.

Scripps gave in to all of the RAs demands except for one. It refused to fire Charlotte Johnson, the dean of students, whom the RAs find insufficiently sympathetic.

Johnson is African-American. Her name will be familiar to some of our readers. She was the Dean of the College at Dartmouth before leaving for Scripps. Our friend Joe Asch wrote about her here (among other places).

Many who knew Charlotte Johnson at Dartmouth will be surprised to hear that she has been accused of lack of sympathy towards minority students. The Scripps administration is probably surprised too. When Scripps hired Johnson it stated: She has built an impressive career as a student affairs professional, educator, and sought-after presenter on diversity and pipeline issues. (Emphasis added)

But sympathy in this context is an endlessly inflatable concept. Thus, it can be turned against those who have made their way, in part, by being sympathetic to minorities and to considerations of diversity.

Mann concludes by wondering how the Scripps RAs, who are receiving an elite liberal arts education at pennies on the $68,000-a-year price, acquire such a deep sense of grievance. She writes:
I just left the reception for conservative news media held in the Roosevelt Room of the White House late this afternoon. I will write up a fuller account later. For the moment I want to report President Trumps announcement that he would be imposing a 20 percent tariff or tax on softwood lumber imported from Canada. President Trump was accompanied by Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. He invited Ross to elaborate. Ross explained that the tariff was intended to address a long-simmering problem created by the provincial ownership of softwood stumps that are sold at discounted prices amounting to some $5 billion per year. President Trump characterized the pending tariff as a countervailing duty that would be imposed retroactively for 90 days from today (because theyre on notice, he explained). He added that dairy might be next.

President Trump took questions from his media guests for 30 minutes. We were told going in that the event was on background. We were told on the way out by Sarah Huckabee that everything the president said was on the record  a good decision. To say he turned in an impressive performance would be a considerable understatement.
Omaha attorney Dave Begley covered the appearances of presidential candidates in Iowa and Nebraska for us over the past two years. Last week he reported here on the appearance of Keith Ellison and Bernie Sanders in Omaha. Today he follows up with the counterprogramming of Mayor Jean Stothert, reported here by the Omaha World-Herald:

Scott Walker was brought to Omaha in response to the visit of Bernie Sanders last week. Governor Walkers message was the traditional Republican one brought to a local level: economic growth, lower taxes and public safety. Governor Walkers best line was that the Democrat candidate for mayor of Omaha had to be a liberals liberal to get Bernie Sanders here. Nice use of guilt by association. The man from Madison also noted that Heath Mello flip-flopped on abortion. Apparently a Democrat can no longer be pro-life.

When Mayor Jean Stothert spoke she raised the issue that her opponent is falsely trying to portray Omaha as a sanctuary city. That was the only national issue she raised.

Watching Scott Walker speak I recalled the early days of the campaign when he was near the top in national polls. I then thought of all of Donald Trumps primary opponents. I think it is fair to say that none of them except Chris Christie, Ben Carson and Rick Perry are really Trump boosters. Put another way, has Donald Trump remade the Republican party as his own? How many in the GOP Congress will back him in a tough spot? Has the GOP fully bought into his America First and populist message? I think the jury is still somewhat out on this and Trumps results over the next four years will be the deciding factor. It is also fair to say that Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse has kept his distance from President Trump, as he was an early and is now a persistent critic.

The other item to note is that none of the GOP speakers at the rally adopted any of candidate Trumps rhetorical style. In retrospect, Low energy Jeb and Crooked Hillary were very effective for the Trump campaign. Trump is sui generis, but some form of his speaking style could work for GOP candidates as it conveys a toughness and bluntness that the Republican party has lacked.

Mayor Stothert, perhaps unwittingly, might prevail with the votes of Trump Democrats. The Omaha firefighters union is strongly opposed to her but the police union is neutral. The fact that she has hired new policemen probably has something do with that.

There were more people outside protesting than there were inside at the rally. The crowd at the Democrat rally was 100 times bigger than the crowd at the GOP rally. Enthusiasm clearly favors the Democrat candidate and we saw what enthusiasm did for candidate Trump. The average age at the Stothert rally was twice that of the Sanders rally. The GOP needs to fix its apparent demographic problem.

If Jean Stothert loses this race the headline in the New York Times will be Trump opponent wins in Omaha. In order to avoid that problem I could see President Trump tweeting out support for Mayor Stothert or doing a robocall for her even though she wrote-in John McCain in last years election. That would be a classic win-win from the man who wrote The Art of the Deal. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts is on good terms with the President and I can see him exercising his influence here. This race will come down to turnout and right now I am not optimistic.
Judge William Orrick, III, appointed by President Obama after he raised at least $200,000 for his fellow left-liberal, has issued an order blocking President Trump from withholding funds to communities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities. Judge Orrick ruled that the president has no authority to attach new conditions to federal spending.

The ruling sounds high-minded and principled. However, as someone said in an email, if a city wanted to exempt itself from federal gun laws or the Endangered Species Act, its extremely likely that Orrick would have have ruled differently on the question of presidential power to attach conditions.

Judge Orrick sits in San Francisco. Thus, an appeal of his ruling would be heard by the strongly left-leaning Ninth Circuit. Further review by the Supreme Court would remain a possibility.

Congress, of course, has the power to attach conditions to federal spending. It should do so through a budget that blocks funding for sanctuary cities. Republicans should be willing to go to the mat for this.

If Judge Orricks name sounds familiar, it may be because he issued favorable rulings for Planned Parenthood when it sued the Center for Medical Progress over the release of videos showing Planned Parenthood officials engaging in unethical and/or illegal behavior involving the sale of fetal body parts. In less than four years on the bench, Orrick is repaying Obama in full. Judges appointed by Democrats almost always do.
At the time the rotten Iran deal was announced in January 2016 reader Don Burden wrote to comment on one of the convicted Iranians released by the Obama administration in exchange for the four or five American hostages who were returning home. We posted Mr. Burdens message in A note on the hostage deal.. Mr. Burden wrote, he said at the time, because this is something I have a lot of personal knowledge about as a result of business litigation his software company was pursuing. We thought that Mr. Burdens note added an important dimension missing from reports on the price we paid for the release of the American hostages involved in the deal, as it does now to Josh Meyers investigative piece for Politico today. This is what Mr. Burden wrote for us last year:

One of the seven Iranians the United States is sending back to the Islamic Republic of Iran is the convicted hacker Nima Golestaneh. He was convicted in December 2015 on a guilty plea to various charges of hacking in what must have represented some sort of plea bargain. I believe his formal sentencing had not been set yet. He would likely have been sentenced to a substantial term.

He hacked/stole software from a Vermont aerospace/defense company (the name of the company is one of several things that is difficult to find out from the prosecutors who pursued the charges against him). He was the subject of a massive manhunt a couple of years ago when he stole this software. The CIA, FBI, Interpol and the Turkish police all cooperated in setting up a sting operation in Turkey by offering to buy this software for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Golestaneh was captured in Turkey and held until last spring when he was finally extradited to the United States (one can only imagine what was involved there) after about a year-and-a-half or more. While being held by the Turks, he actually escaped and was recaptured at the Iranian border. Now wouldnt you think that this would be somewhat of a coup for the administration and a great story, unless of course what he stole and how he did it would be of great embarrassment to the current administration?

Golestaneh is an Iranian national but has been working in Germany, possibly Sweden, and possibly the United States. Why is he high on the Iranian want-back list? It is hard to believe that he doesnt have a copy of that Vermont software some place where he can recover it. How long do you think it will be before the Iranians have a copy of that software? One or two days?

He also seems to know quite a bit about hacking into American defense companies. Why would we let someone this capable return to the Iranians? Even if he doesnt shoot people up or finance terrorism he can obviously do great long-term damage. So just because the State department whitewashes these guys doesnt mean they arent dangerous and capable of enormous harm to the United States.

Then of course maybe he has Hillarys e-mails.

The Vermont company hacked by Golestaneh was Arrow Tech, whose site indicates it has developed software for:

Design and simulation of Projectiles, both guided and unguided

Extraction of the Drag coefficient and Roll Damping from radar data

Reduction of spark range data

System lethality simulation

Mr. Borden concluded with a question: Do you think maybe there is a slight chance that the Iranians might be interested in software like this????
A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Chukwuma Soludo, has charged the apex bank to reduce the difference between the official and parallel market exchange rates of the Naira to between three to five per cent.

Mr. Soludo, who spoke as a guest at an Economic Discourse organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in Lagos on Monday, said the CBN must also eliminate multiple exchange rates regime in the market.

Nigeria must get out of multiple exchange rates and we must eliminate the premium, get it back on track at a competitive exchange rate regime, Mr. Soludo said.

The uncertainty that is created by that is so enormous; and with the oil price rising and with the increase in oil earnings, this is the time to take bold steps and do the needful.

Nigerias local currency, the Naira, currently has about five exchange rates, analysts said.

But Mr. Soludo, who commended steps taken by the CBN to restructure the foreign exchange market, stressed that the apex bank still had a long way to go to get the economy back on track.

The former CBN boss pointed out that policymakers were expected to take bold steps that would navigate the country away from crude oil dependency to a non-oil economy.

With regards to exchange rate, I can see quite some changes in the last few weeks. I think some steps are beginning to be taken, but it is still quite a long way to go to get to a stable and predictable level that eliminates the premium among the multiplicity of exchange rates, he said.

On bold steps, the template is not too far. We have done it before and it is just going back to it. If it is not broken, why mend it? Get back and eliminate the multiple exchange rate regime, eliminate the premium, or at least significantly reduce it to not more than between three to maximum of five per cent premium between the parallel and official exchange rates.

On what it takes to do it, that is basically known. Get the public finance okay; I can tell you that with the momentum of what is going on in the rest of the world, by the end of this year, we should actually be having stocks of reserves in the range of about $50bn or $60bn.

Mr. Soludo, however, noted that getting the country out of the current economic recession is not as herculean a task as bringing it back to growth, adding that in spite of government policies, the country would come out of the current recession.

And getting Nigeria structured and reengineered towards non-oil economy, that again will require a lot more serious work. The recession is not the issue. We will get out of it in spite of government policy, he said.

I think this is a time Nigeria should actually be making hard decisions to transit away from an oil revenue economy. And thats the serious work.

In his remarks, the Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, who was the guest speaker at the event, stated that the nations Gross Domestic Product would expand this year by 2.19 per cent and it would go through a stage of 4.62 per cent before getting to seven per cent by 2020.

Mr. Rewane, however, said that this would be based on the assumptions that Nigeria would remain an exporter of oil, produce 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, and create six million jobs within the period.

It also means we will increase the overall tax to GDP ratio, which is about five per cent now, to about 15 per cent, and the tax policy will be more efficient and the revenue will increase to about N350bn annually, he added.



On his part, Titus Soetan, the ICAN President, noted that years of mismanagement of resources brought the country to its present situation.

Other participants at the event include the Managing Director of Economics Associates, Ayo Teriba; Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Muda Yusuf; a former Deputy Governor, CBN, Obadiah Mailafia; and Partner, PwC, Taiwo Oyedele.

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Spanish police arrested eight people and raided 12 properties in Barcelona, in an operation against suspected militants carried out in conjunction with Belgian police, police said on Tuesday.

Some of those arrested were suspected of links to the Belgian suicide bombings in March of last year, which killed 31 people at the Brussels airport and on a metro train, a police spokesperson said.

The detained were all Moroccans aged between 21 and 39, he said.

The raids follow an eight-month investigation of a group of suspected militants with links to organised crime in the Barcelona area, the police said in a statement.

The investigation remains open.

Not including Tuesdays arrests, Spain has detained 22 people in 16 separate operations this year in connection with Islamist extremism, according to Interior Ministry figures.

(Reuters/NAN)

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Punch Newspapers has demanded for apology from the Chief Security Officer, CSO, to President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Abubakar, over Mondays expulsion of its State House correspondent, Lekan Adetayo.

Mr. Abubakar expelled Mr. Adetayo from the Villa allegedly over two articles regarding the state of health of President Buhari.

The presidents media office who said they were not consulted before the decision was taken also told the press corps that they have secured the nod of the Director General of the State Security Service, SSS, Lawal Daura to restore Mr. Adetayos accreditation.

The spokespersons of the president, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, also asked Mr. Adetayo to come along with the chairman of the press Corps, Ubale Musa, for a meeting on Tuesday.

However, Punch newspaper in an article published Tuesday said its reporter would not attend the meeting.

Instead, it said what this situation requires is not a soft landing for a security operative who acted beyond his brief.

What Abubakar deserves is a stinging reprimand from his superiors, heavy censure from his principal and the outrage of all right-thinking members of the society.

See the full response by Punch below:

Aso Villa Expulsion: Our Stand

On Monday, President Muhammadu Buharis Chief Security Officer, Bashir Abubakar, conducted a bizarre, one-sided summary trial in his office.

Abubakar was the complainant, prosecutor and the judge. The defendants were The PUNCH and its State House Correspondent, Olalekan Adetayo, whom Abubakar accused of writing a sponsored story and penning an ill-motivated opinion article on the Presidents health.

It was in vain that Adetayo tried to explain to the CSO that the said story, Fresh anxiety in Aso Rock over Buharis poor health, and his column, Seat of powers event centres going into extinction, were done in the ordinary course of his duties, and without any ulterior motive.

Thereafter, events took a strange turn. The CSO left the dock where he was the complainant, donned the wig of a prosecutor and levelled more false allegations against our reporter. Then he quickly adorned himself in the robe of a judge and pronounced, with misguided magisterial flair, that our reporter should be thrown out of the Villa.

Abubakars judgement was then enforced by one of his minions who seized our reporters State House pass, marched him to the gate of the Villa and paraded him before a platoon of security operatives who were ordered to bar him from entering the Villa in the future.

Abubakars harassment and humiliation of our reporter are unwarranted, unjustified and, therefore, condemnable. His reckless display of power is an abuse of his office and an affront to our newspaper.

This sordid event would have been comical if not for its tragic implications for our democracy, the freedom of the press and the inalienable right of every Nigerian citizen to the freedom of expression.

As our paper went to bed last night, we were made aware of the efforts of saner and less-emotive heads within the presidency to convene a parley to resolve the issue.

We are happy to inform the authorities that our reporter will neither attend the meeting planned for today nor subject himself to yet another Kangaroo trial.

We hold that besides presidential introspection, what this situation requires is not a soft landing for a security operative who acted beyond his brief. What Abubakar deserves is a stinging reprimand from his superiors, heavy censure from his principal and the outrage of all right-thinking members of the society.

We are aware that, only recently, Abubakar usurped some of the functions of the Presidents battery of media aides and convened a meeting where he sought to teach State House correspondents how to slant, spin and scribble stories on the President and the Presidency.

Our demands are simple: a full and unqualified apology from Abubakar and the presidency, and the unconditional restoration of the reportorial access and privileges withdrawn from our reporter. The apology should be addressed to our reporter and our newspaper.

In this dispensation, vindictive and overbearing security operatives, like Abubakar, ought to bear three things in mind as they carry out their duties. One, Nigeria is a democracy, the martial antecedents of its current president notwithstanding. Two, those who hold positions of authority do so at the pleasure of the public. Three, public servants, no matter how influential, are mere tenants in the corridors of power.

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The police raid on the Abuja residence of the chairman of the Senate appropriations committee, Danjuma Goje, may be part of proceedings when the Senate resumes plenary on Tuesday, PREMIUM TIMES has been told.

During the raid, Thursday evening, police officers from the Force Headquarters took away N18 million, $19,000 and 4,000 Riyal from the residence of Mr. Goje located at Asokoro, one of the Abuja enclaves of the Nigerias rich and powerful of the.

Apart from the cash, an aide to the lawmaker said the police also carted away 18 files containing details of the budget estimates.

Following the police action, three senators have told PREMIUM TIMES the Senate would deliberate on the development when the lawmakers reconvene on Tuesday.

Apart from the senators who preferred anonymity, a source close to Mr. Goje, a former governor of Gombe State, told this newspaper Senate President Bukola Saraki had asked his embattled colleague not to address journalists or make any public statement in respect of the raid as it is expected to be a Senate concern.

Senate spokesperson, Aliyu Abdullahi, could not be reached for comment.

When contacted Friday night, police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, declined to speak in detail about the raid, saying further investigation had commenced.

Investigation is currently ongoing, Mr. Moshood, a chief superintendent of police, told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone.

After the raid, the police still needed to do further investigation.

Upon completion, the findings of the police will be made public, the spokesperson said.

PREMIUM TIMES confirmed from Mr. Gojes aide that he had not received any communication from the police on what the raid was about.

However, 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.

PREMIUM TIMES confirmed from top police officers on Friday that the directive for the raid was from the police headquarters.

A police source said the team that carried out the raid commenced investigation shortly thereafter, adding that a preliminary report might be ready by Monday. No such report has been made public by the police.

Depending on how the Senate handles it, the raid on Mr. Gojes residence may have implications for the executive-legislature relationship.

The Federal Executive Council recently constituted a committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to discuss with the National Assembly leadership so as to resolve the frosty relationship between both arms of government.

But more importantly, the fears are there that the development could delay the passage of the 2017 budget proposal which is currently being worked on by Mr. Gojes appropriations committee, if claims by his aides that files pertaining to the budget were carted away are valid.

The current 2016 budget, based on the provision of the 2016 Appropriations Act, expires May 5, 2017, before which the National Assembly had pledged to pass the 2017 budget.

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Justice Surajudeen Onigbangbo of the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, has postponed judgement in the suit by residents of Otodogbame community.

The repeated demolition of the rural waterfront settlement by Lagos government agents has been condemned by local and international right groups.

On Tuesday, the judge said he was postponing the judgement because issues of jurisdiction raised by the respondents should be addressed.

He adjourned the case to May 25, 2017 for final judgement.

Mr. Onigbanjo had, on April 12, adjourned the matter for judgement today.

While I was going through the court processes, I discovered that issues of jurisdiction were raised, the judge said.

The applicant will have seven days to file their relevant court processes while the respondents also have seven days to file their court processes in response to the applicant.

The judge frowned at a letter sent to him by Megan Chapman, an Otodogbame community advocate, details of which he didnt make public.

Details later

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday withdrew a motion before a Federal High Court Lagos for stay of execution of a judgment which unfroze the account of a former first lady, Patience Jonathan.

The Skye Bank account is believed to contain about $5.8 million.

Justice Mojisola Olatoregun had on April 6 ordered that the account be unfrozen after Mrs. Jonathans lawyer, Ifedayo Adedipe, challenged the propriety of EFCCs action.

He challenged the commission for joining her in a suit, which he said, she was not a party to, and urged the court to unfreeze Mrs. Jonathans account.

Dissatisfied with the unfreezing order, EFCC had filed an application for a stay of execution of the order as well as a notice of appeal challenging the judgment.

The two applications, according to EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, were dated April 6 and filed on April 7.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Tuesday, Mr. Oyedepo informed the court of his agencys intention to withdraw the two applications.

He did not give reasons for the withdrawal.

Following the withdrawal of the applications, Mr. Adedipe confirmed service of the application for withdrawal on the defendants.

He equally informed the court of his intention to withdraw Form 48 (notice of Committal to prison) and Form 49 (Committal to prison), which he said, was filed against Skye Bank in anticipation of a failure to obey the order of the court.

After the submissions of both counsel, Mrs. Olatoregun granted the withdrawal of both the EFCCs two applications and Patience Jonathans Form 48 and Form 49 respectively.

Mrs. Olatoregun had in 2016 following the application of EFCC, ordered that the account of the former first lady which housed about $5.8 million be frozen on the grounds that the money was suspected to be proceeds of a crime.

Also affected by the order were five liability companies harbouring a total sum of N7.4 billion.

The five companies are Finchley Top Homes Ltd, Aribawa Aruera, Magel Resort Ltd, AM -PM Global Network Ltd, Pansy Oil and Gas Ltd.

Also, affected was an account belonging to one Esther Oba having the sum of $429,000.

The freezing order was sequel to a further and better affidavit in support of an ex-parte originating summons deposed to by Abdulahi Tukur, an investigating officer of the EFCC.

Mr. Tukur had averred that there was urgent need for the court to direct the managers of the bank accounts contained in the schedule to in the interim forfeit the money contained to prevent further dissipation.

While granting the freezing order, the judge had ordered the anti-graft agency to file an undertaking as to damages if it turned out that the order should not have been made.

With the withdrawal of the application and the notice of appeal by the EFCC, the coast now appears clear for Mrs. Jonathan to have access to the funds.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how Skye Bank refused to release the money to the former first lady despite the court order. The bank said its action was because the EFCC had notified it of the commissions application and notice of appeal.

(NAN)

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A Minna High Court on Tuesday ordered the remand of former governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, in prison custody.

Mr. Aliyu is standing trial for alleged N4.568 billion fraud and abuse of office.

Mr. Aliyu was docked alongside his former Chief of Staff, Umar Nasko, on a six-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, punishable under Section 97 and 312 of the Penal Code.

Mr. Nasko was the Niger State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2015.

The defendants were accused of conspiring and dishonestly converting to personal use funds amounting to N4.568 billion, belonging to the Niger State Government.

According to the EFCC, the funds are for ecological projects, as well as proceeds realised from the sale of 16 per cent shares of the state in the North-South Power Company.

Ayodele Oladeji and Mamman Osuman who appeared as lead counsel for the 1st and 2nd defendants respectively, applied for the bail of their clients as they pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them.

They argued that the defendants were always available when invited by the EFCC, adding there was no evidence they would jump bail.

The defence counsel, however, prayed the court to remand the defendants in EFCC custody, if the was going to fix a date for hearing of the bail application.

The EFCC prosecutor, Gbolahan Latona, opposed the bail application, arguing that it would jeopardise investigations.

Mr. Latona also opposed remanding the defendants in EFCC custody, saying that accused persons were usually remanded in prison custody once the court takes `cognisance of the case.

The judge, Aliyu Mayaki, ordered that the defendants be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the matter till May 3 for ruling on the bail application.

Mr. Aliyu, who was Niger governor between 2007 and 2015, had been in the custody of the EFCC since April 4.

Apart from being a former chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum, Mr. Aliyu was considered one of the most influential governors during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

He was one of the PDP governors who initially opposed Mr. Jonathans candidacy in the build-up to the 2015 elections saying the former president signed a pact with them that he would only use one term in office.

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The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has denied a media report that he rejected the bail granted him on Tuesday by the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.

Mr. Kanu and three others, David Nwawuisi, Benjamin Madubugwu and Chidiebere Onwudiwe, are facing trial before the court on allegations of treason, among other charges.

Mr. Kanu was granted bail on health grounds with 12 conditions attached to the bail by the presiding judge, Binta Nyako.

Although the request for bail was by all four defendants, only Mr. Kanus bail was approved, with the listed conditions.

There have since been media reports that Mr. Kanu rejected the bail because his co-defendants were not allowed bail.

But in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Kanus lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said the report that his client rejected the bail was all rumours.

Its all rumours. Were you not in court? Mr. Ejiofor asked PREMIUM TIMES. How could he have rejected the bail, when he didnt do that in open court? Its rumours. Know that now!

Regarding the bail, Mr. Ejiofor said Mr. Kanu will meet the conditions within 48 hours but warned that any attempt by government to afterward deny his client bail would be vehemently resisted.

Nnamdi Kanu was granted bail. The court has listed a number of terms and conditions that we believe will be complied with within 48 hours.

Any attempt by government to flout this court order must be resisted. In fact, it will bring to an end this trial. Because we will opt out. We will not allow him to continue with the trial.

And the court has made it quite clear that its orders must be obeyed. You saw what happened today how the court made an order for Nnamdi Kanus wedding ring to be given to him along with his eyeglasses; which was complied with.

So that time (of rejecting bail conditions) has passed, we believe, Mr. Ejiofor said.

An order for Mr. Kanu to be given his wedding ring and his eye glasses was immediately complied with by the authorities on Tuesday.

A lot of Mr. Kanus supporters were seen jubilating outside the courtroom, following the ruling.

The Nigerian government has not spoken on whether or not it would honour the bail if the conditions are met. The government has in the past refused to honour bails granted some politically exposed persons including ex- National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki and Shiite leader Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

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President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian government to rid the nations waters of pirates and their nefarious activities.

Mr. Buhari made this known at a workshop organised by the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) for the Heads of Maritime Administrations.

According to a communique issued at the end of the event, which held in Abuja over the weekend, the theme of the workshop was Sustainable Use of Africas Oceans and Seas.

Mr. Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, noted that Heads of State and Governments of the African Union have resolved to make the maritime sector a major driver for economic development.

He added that the Nigerian government recently approved a new maritime architectural framework that will effectively make the waters of Nigeria free from pirates.

This, he said, would also improve international trade, adding that the government will also strengthen defence to protect and safeguard business.

According to a communique issued at the end of the conference, some of the issues discussed by maritime experts at the conference include how to combat the menace of piracy and maritime crimes in Africa; the role of African Maritime Administration in institutionalisation of the Africa of the Seas and Oceans; how to facilitate training of cadets and building of human capacities.

Other issued discussed include regional initiatives for sustainable exploitation of maritime resources and countries initiative for effective implementation of international maritime instruments.

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The Lagos State Government on Monday urged hotel and club owners to voluntarily register with the state government to facilitate the ongoing classification and grading of hotels or risk their businesses being shut down.

The states Acting Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Adebimpe Akinsola, who said this at the ongoing ministerial press briefing in Alausa as part of activities marking the second-year anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambodes administration, said it was important for the practitioners in the sector to key into the vision of the present government to scale up the tourism potentials of the state.

She commended hotel owners that had already registered, saying others should emulate such practitioners for government to have proper records, which according to her, would facilitate proper planning and classification.

I want to tell you that all the hotels that have registered with us, we are monitoring them. And for those hotels that have not registered with us and have not taken steps to register, after today, just come to our Ministry, ask questions and let us put you on our register, the spokesperson for the ministry, Ganiu Lawal, quoted the acting commissioner as saying.

Let us come and inspect your establishment, let us grade you and then you continue to do what is expected of you by the law. If you have not done that, the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture will be after you. We have begun to close all these illegal establishment, she said.

Speaking on efforts to change the aesthetics of the State with special focus on tourism, Ms. Akinsola said four projects were currently ongoing at the National Stadium, Ojuelegba, Falomo and Ikeja, while others were being planned to beautify under bridges across the state for relaxation activities, which would go a long way in driving miscreants who hitherto hibernate in such areas.

She also revealed that the State Government had intensified efforts on tourism mapping of the state, while a tourism university is being planned to train people who would man the infrastructures being put in place across the State.

Ms. Akinsola said in the last one year, the state government has installed new and renovated existing historical monuments such as the Tinubu Square Fountain, King Ados Statue (The First Crown King of Lagos), Prince Olofin Atekoyes Statue, Maami Statue, Ojuloge Statue, New Moshood Abiola Statue, and New Gani Fawehinmi Statue.

She also revealed that work had reached 60 per cent completion on the restoration and remodeling of the Badagry Heritage Museum, while other projects in the axis have reached various completion stages.

The projects are Slave Route to Point Of No Return at Gberefu Island, Attenuation Wall at Gberefu Island, Ark of Point Of No Return at Gberefu Island, Block of Toilets at Slave Port, Exclusive Bar at Slave Port, Mini Theatre and Performance State at Slave Port, Tourist Information Centre, renovation of former District Officers residence at Marina Street, Vlekete Slave Market Museum, Baracoon at Slave Market, restoration and preservation of Toyimi Well and shoreline reclamation and protection at Marina, among others.

Speaking on plans for the tourism sector, Ms. Akinsola said aside the plan to construct six theatres and museum, the Presidential Lodge in Marina, Onikan, recently given to the State Government by the Federal Government would be converted to Leadership Heritage Centre, while the Lagos House at Marina would be converted to Yoruba History Museum, as well as Welcome Centre and Multi-story Car Park.

This axis will be connected to the National Museum, the new JK Randle Arcade Complex and the Freedom Park on Broad Street by a magnificent sky walk and when completed, these projects will transform the economy and boost tourism in the state, she said.

Besides, Akinsola said in the last one year, the Film and Video Censors Board of the State Government carried out enforcement in some parts of the State including Ikorodu and Ijora where pirated and unclassified local and international movies and duplicating machines worth N10million were destroyed.

She added that the Board arrested 12 suspects, out of which eight were prosecuted before Agege Magistrate Court and sentenced to six months imprisonment without option of fine.

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An Osun High Court on Tuesday in Osogbo sentenced four persons to death for conspiracy and armed robbery.

The convicts, Joseph Moses, 24, Samuel Job, 19, Gideon Ode, 25, and Daniel Abraham, 24, were brought to the court on a four-count charge of armed robbery and conspiracy.

The prosecutor, Abdulrahman Temitope, had told the court that the convicts committed

the offense on October 14, 2013 at about 8:00 p.m. along Kajola expressway in Osogbo.

Temitope said the convicts conspired among themselves to rob one Abubakar Rauf of his motorcycle with registration number BDG 896 QB.

The suspects conspired to attack the complainant with a knife and dangerous weapons collecting his motorcycle.

They injured the complainant and also carted away his Bajaj motorcycle to their house before they were apprehended, the prosecutor said.

Mr. Temitope said the crime committed had been a serial occurrence within the vicinity which had led to the death and missing of some persons.

The prosecutor said the offences contravened Section 6 and is punishable under section 1 of the Robbery and Fire Arm (Special Provision) Cap R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Counsel to the accused, Jimmy Jones, however, pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy in her judgment.

Delivering judgment, Justice Olubunmi Ayoola sentenced the convicts to death due to the magnitude of their crime, adding that the prosecutor had proved his case beyond any reasonable doubt.

(NAN)

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The Police Service Commission (PSC) on Monday approved the promotion of a Commissioner of Police to the next rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police and promoted 24 other senior officers to their next ranks.

The promotion appeals of eight other officers were also upheld by the commission.

A statement by the PSC Public Relations head, Mr Ikechukwu Ani, said that the promoted Commissioner of Police is former Commissioner of Police, Imo Command, Taiwo Lakanu.

He was a former deputy commissioner of police, Delta Command, before he was promoted commissioner of police, Ekiti Command.

Mr. Lakanu also had a brief service as commissioner of police in charge of the Nigeria Airport Command before his posting as commissioner of police, Imo.

The statement disclosed that other officers promoted are include three assistant commissioners of police to deputy commissioners, one chief superintendent of police to assistant commissioner and two superintendents of police to chief superintendents.

Others are four deputy superintendents of police to superintendents, six assistant superintendents of police to deputy superintendents and eight inspectors of police to assistant superintendents.

It added that the commission also considered and upheld the promotion appeals of eight senior officers and approved their promotion to the next rank.

The affected officers included one assistant commissioner of police, one superintendent of police, three deputy superintendents of police and three assistant superintendents of police.

The statement quoted the Chairman of the commission, Mike Okiro, as urging the officers to continue to rededicate themselves to the service of their fatherland.

It said Mr. Okiro reiterated the commissions commitment to the promotion of officers and men based on merit, seniority and availability of vacancies.

The commissions decision has been conveyed to the Inspector- General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, for implementation.

(NAN)

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For allegedly beating a 14-year-old female student to a pulp, two teachers were on Tuesday brought before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates Court.

The accused, Afolabi Ademola, 44, resides at 35, Olawale Cole St., Abule Egba, a Lagos suburb, while Oshomah Oiseta, 41, lives at Paradise Estate, Ota, Ogun State.

Mr. Ademola and Ms. Oiseta, a female, are being tried for conspiracy and assault.

The prosecutor, Clifford Ogu, told the court that the offences were committed on December 13, 2016 at a secondary school in Abule-Egba.

The accused alleged that they saw the girl with a male student alone at a secluded place within the school premises.

The two accused asked the girl to lie on the staff room table and took their turns in canning her.

The girl was beaten to a pulp. The case was reported immediately at the police station by the girls parents when she got home, he said.

Mr. Ogu said since the case could not be settled amicably following the Divisional Police Officers intervention, the police decided to charge the case to court.

The offences contravened Sections 173 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Chief Magistrate, Taiwo Akanni, granted each of the accused N50,000 bail with two sureties each in like sum.

The case was adjourned until May 15 for mention.

(NAN)

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Wisdom Ihejieto, the Deputy Secretary of the Guild of Medical Directors, FCT chapter, said about 20 million Nigerians were infected with hepatitis in Nigeria.

Ihejieto disclosed this when the National President of the Guild, Tony Philips, paid a courtesy visit to the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Bayo Onanuga, on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to him, hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, commonly caused by a viral infection.

The deputy secretary said those living with the disease cut across different parts of the country, mostly health workers who are exposed to sharp objects in hospitals as well as those indulging in promiscuity.

According to him, the figure is collated from all public and private hospitals across the country.

He said that hepatitis was usually transmitted through oral, sharp objects and sexual intercourse.

There is need to create awareness; as I speak to you now, 18 to 20 million Nigerians are infected with hepatitis, he said.

The deputy secretary noted that the rate of hepatitis infection had reached an alarming stage and adequate attention should be given before it becomes an epidemic.

Earlier, the national president said that he led the delegation to NAN to seek for collaboration with the guild to combat the menace in the country through awareness creation.

Mr. Philips described hepatitis as a silent killer, worse than HIV and AIDS that could destroy the liver in the body.

He said that it was important for the guild to partner NAN because of its wide reach across the country and beyond.

The president disclosed that the guilds members were mainly owners of private hospitals with 10 years post-graduation experience.

He added that the association had scheduled an annual conference on May 27 to create more awareness on hepatitis.

Responding, Mr. Onanuga pledged to support and partner with the guild to fight the spread of hepatitis in the country.

He said that NAN had the capacity to create such awareness or sensitise Nigerians all over the country to the dangers of hepatitis.

NAN is the engine of the media in the country because 70 per cent of news on the media are NAN contents.

We shall deploy all our platforms like news stories, multimedia, photos and SMS, among others, to collaborate with you to sensitise Nigerians to the disease.

As deadly as hepatitis, I am happy your association is bringing it to the front burner to create that awareness it deserves, he said.

(NAN)

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President Donald Trump and First Daughter Ivanka Trump are scheduled to place a 20-minute call to the International Space Station from the Oval Office at 10 a.m. EDT on Monday morning to congratulate NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson on breaking the U.S. record for most time in space.

As of Monday, Whitson had logged 534 days, two hours, and 49 minutes (and counting) away from Earth, the most ever by an American, according to NASA.

Fortune readers can watch the call here live at 10 a.m. EDT, and NASA is providing live coverage of the call through several channels:

The NASA App for iOS, Android, Amazon Fire and Fire TV, and Apple TV will also broadcast the call.

Whitson is currently on her third long-duration stay at the International Space Station. She launched last November and is expected to finish her mission in September. When she returns to Earth, she will have spent more than 650 days in space throughout her groundbreaking career. In 2008, Whitson became the first woman to command the space station, and on April 9 became the first woman to command it twice. In March, she claimed the record for most spacewalks by a woman. And at 57, Whitson is the oldest female astronaut.

Subscribe to The Worlds Most Powerful Women, Fortunes daily must-read for global businesswomen.

President Trumps call to the ISS will come two days after thousands of protesters celebrated Earth Day by participating in the March for Science, a worldwide demonstration in support of scientific funding and research that carried by a blatant anti-Trump undercurrent.

At the March for Science on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., space exploration was a major theme. Retired NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, a veteran of two space shuttle missions (and well known for his official NASA photo featuring his two dogs), spoke to the crowd about the value of science and told the Huffington Post about how his trips into orbit play into his perspective.

Story continues

Ive seen the planet from the vantage point of space, he said. Its a beautiful planet, but there are a lot of things that are going on and, without the data, without the science, were going to decimate our planet. Were also going to eradicate our civilization.

Nancy Grace Roman, the first female executive at NASA, also appeared with scientist and television personality Bill Nye at the march in Washington.

Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, the first female executive at @NASA, appears with @BillNye at the Science March. For more: https://t.co/zW8fvpyyCM pic.twitter.com/yrDeGxaDwe - PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) April 22, 2017

The White House defended Trumps record on science on Saturday, releasing a statement from the president. Rigorous science is critical to my administrations efforts to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection, Trump said. My administration is committed to advancing scientific research that leads to a better understand of our environment and environmental risks.

This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com
The presidency has dismissed as sheer mischief, the attribution of the expulsion of the Punch reporter, Lekan Adetayo from the Villa, to the person of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated this in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr. Shehu, who was reacting to the Guardian Newspapers headline report entitled; Memories of Decree 4, said it was wrong and improper to use the isolated incident to judge the character of the president as if he was responsible for what happened.

According to him, the president has not and would never approve the oppression and humiliation of any journalist in the course of carrying out their legitimate duties.

The presidential aide explained that the Guardian was behaving like someone waiting eagerly to attack the President at the slightest opportunity in order to portray the incident as evidence of his alleged dislike of the media.

He added that despite the President dissociating himself from the unfortunate incident and the affected journalist being recalled, the Guardian still chose to go for the Presidents jugular, holding him personally responsible for an action he knew nothing about.

Mr. Shehu noted that such headline was misleading and mischievous because it was seeking to portray the president personally in bad light, with the sinister purpose of making him look like an enemy of the media.

According to Mr. Shehu, since he was sworn into office, Mr. Buhari has not oppressed any media house or journalist on account of writing unfavourable reports about him or his government.

He reiterated the presidents respect for the freedom of the press and his commitment to protect their liberties at all times.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the State House correspondent of the Punch Newspapers, Olalekan Adetayo, who was earlier expelled from the beat by the presidents chief security officer on Monday, had since been recalled by the presidency.

Mr. Shehu in a statement on Monday night revealed that the recall of Mr. Adetayo followed the intervention of the Director-General of the Department for State Services, DSS, Lawan Daura.

However, the management of the Punch Newspapers on Tuesday gave conditions which must be met before the resumption of Adetayo to the Villa beat.

Our demands are simple: a full and unqualified apology from (CSO to the President) Abubakar and the presidency, and the unconditional restoration of the reportorial access and privileges withdrawn from our reporter.

The apology should be addressed to our reporter and our newspaper, the newspaper said in its editorial on Tuesday.

(NAN)

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The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, has urged Nigerians to stop using chloroquine, or Artemisinin as a monotherapy in treatment of malaria, as he listed steps that Nigerians need to take to combat the killer disease in the country.

Mr. Adewole, a professor of Medicine who was speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at an event to mark the 2017 World Malaria Day, also advised pregnant women during antenatal visits to always ask for Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) doses for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTP), to save mother and child.

The minister said every Nigerians has a role to play in the elimination of malaria in the country and as such should ensure that they live in a clean environment and drain stagnant water.

He stressed that patients must also challenge healthcare providers on drugs administered at hospitals and always ask for diagnosis before treatment.

There is a need for every Nigerian and health partners to support the Federal Ministry of Health in its bid to eliminating malaria from the country, he added.

The World Health Organization has set aside April 25 every year as World Malaria Day to sensitise the populace and assess government efforts at stemming the scourge of malaria and mobilise efforts against the disease.

The theme for this year celebration is End Malaria for Good, with an accompanying slogan What is Your Role.

The minister said the theme underscores the call to action for concrete steps to be taken individually and collectively towards ending malaria scourge in order to safeguard the physical, economic and social existence of Nigerians.

He said about 90 per cent of the population in the country is at risk, while children and pregnant women are more vulnerable to the disease.

Statistics on Nigeria indicates that malaria is responsible for around 60 per cent of out-patient visits to health facilities, 30 per cent of childhood deaths, 25 per cent of deaths of children under one year and 11 per cent of maternal deaths.

Similarly, about 70 percent of pregnant women suffer from malaria which contributes to maternal anaemia, low birth weight, stillbirth, abortions and other pregnancy-related complications.

Mr. Adewole said this years Malaria Day provides a clarion call for all Nigerians to advocate and solicit support for more resources, commodities and requisite policies that will enable them defect malaria, as reducing and eliminating malaria create healthier, more equitable and prosperous societies.

Nigeria financial loss due to malaria is estimated to be about N300 billion ($ 797 million) annually in form of treatment costs, prevention cost and loss of man-hours, he noted.

Evelyn Ngige, the Director Public Health at the Federal Ministry of Health, said malaria though preventable has remained a major public health problem in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

Malaria constitutes a major barrier to social and economic development as it is the greatest public health challenge in Nigeria and we need to change our attitudes and the way we have been doing things to work towards a way we can eliminate the disease from the country, she said.

Also speaking at the event, Obi Adigwe, Chairman of Malaria Planning Committee, said malaria needs to be in the forefront of engagement across board.

We need to reappraise our approach in the fight against malaria and what to do best in elimination of the disease from the country. If Morocco can do it then we can too. Health workers need to know best practices in medicine and how to treat malaria, what drugs to use and the easy accessibility of the rapid malaria test kits for diagnosis to give quick results for treatment.

The legislatures also need to commit more money to the health sector as the government needs to invest more in health and manufacturers too need to do more, especially in terms of contextual researches in drug manufacturing to combat malaria.

There is a need for more advocacy on malaria prevention and effective treatment so as to be able to successfully eliminate malaria in the country by 2020 in accordance to the millennium development goal, he added.

Globally, 3.4 billion people are at risk of malaria, with 1.2 billion people at higher risk.

In 2012, malaria was responsible for the death of approximately 482,000 under-five children, even though an estimated 136 million insecticide treated nets (ITNs) were distributed to endemic countries the same year.

The minister assured Nigerians that the socio  economic effects of malaria is not lost on this administration and that this has prompted the restructuring presently going on within the health sector with the sole aim of ensuring effective service delivery nationwide.

Mr. Adewole said the federal government through the National Malaria Elimination Programme, NMEP, in line with the global standard, has instituted the policy of testing before treatment with the deployment of Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kits nationwide as a vector control and prevention of malaria in pregnancy.

He added that presently, diagnostic service for malaria using the test kit can be accessed cheaply at all levels of health care delivery, most especially at community levels.

We have also encouraged the manufacturing of mosquito nets locally. As of now, we have three companies in Nigeria producing the nets and we are still trying to encourage more local production in order to reduce the cost spent on importation. At least 30 million nets are bought in Nigeria every year, he said.

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In a push to eliminate polio in Africa and rid the world of the disease, Aliko Dangote and Bill and Melinda Gates foundations have engaged more than 138,000 vaccinators to conduct vaccinations across five African countries in the Lake Chad area.

In a joint press statement on Tuesday to mark the World Immunization Week (April 24 to 30), the two foundations reiterated their commitment towards improving health in Africa by coordinating their efforts to making people everywhere understand the importance of getting immunised against vaccine-preventable diseases.

According to the statement, vaccines are one of the best tools to save lives in an epidemic, such as the Meningitis C outbreak happening now in Nigeria and other West African countries.

The foundations said they expect the vaccinators to go the extra mile in ensuring that every child across Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic is immunised.

On polio eradication, Nigeria has recorded 95 percent success in reducing the disease in the country, with Borno state the only place in Africa where polio is still circulating, the foundations said.

Mr. Dangote said while 95 per cent might seem like success, as long as a single child remains infected, children across Africa and round the world are at risk.

He said: It will take ingenuity to end polio there, and it will take persistence to continue reaching children in the surrounding area with vaccines to protect them from the disease until it is eradicated.

We are confident it can be done and when it happens, Africa will celebrate one of the biggest victories ever in public health, he added.

Both NGOs began working together on various projects to help improve health in Nigeria and across Africa in 2010 and have also been working in collaboration with different state governments in Nigeria.

According to the statement, the groups are working in Kano State, in collaboration with the state government, to ensure that children get essential childhood immunizations against tetanus, pneumonia, liver cancer and measles.

And when parents bring their children into a clinic for vaccinations, health workers can address other health issues, too, like nutrition, care for pregnant mothers and newborns and malaria prevention and treatment. We have since widened the program to several other states, they said.

Mr. Dangote also said that because of the devastating impact malnutrition has on Nigerias children, leading to 300,000 deaths annually and causing stunted growth and development in millions more, Dangote and Gate foundations have expanded their partnership to include nutrition programmes across 12 states in Nigeria.

Earlier this year, we also helped launch the End Malaria Council, a group of influential public and private sector leaders committed to ensuring that malaria eradication remains a top global priority.

He added that underlying all these efforts is their belief that strengthening health systems is the key to breaking the cycle of extreme poverty and disease and kick-starting a virtuous cycle of health, productivity, and prosperity.

In our work together, we have learned a few important lessons, he said.

Mr. Gates said the NGO recognizes that improving the health of communities depends on a successful partnership between government, communities, religious and business leaders, volunteers, and NGOs.

This ensures that everyone is rowing in the same direction. And it is essential to building trust so parents have the confidence that vaccines are safe and will protect their children from life-threatening diseases.

We must keep innovating to speed up progress. This month, for example, vaccinators will test a new vaccine carrier that keeps the temperature of vaccines stable for up to five days, even in blistering heat. This breakthrough will enable vaccinators to finally reach children in extremely remote areas with life-saving vaccines, Mr. Gates stated.

He also added that accurate and reliable data is central to any effort to improve health.

Data can tell a health officer which communities are running low on vaccine supplies, where there are gaps in vaccination coverage, and which new mothers need reminders to take their babies to the health clinic to be immunized, he said.

The NGOs however said they have hope that an African without polio is within reach. So is the vision of getting life-saving vaccines to every child, Mr. Gates said.

Success will generate more enthusiasm and support from across different sectors of government, business, civil society, and the media to tackle other killer diseases and the underlying conditions that affect peoples health, including fixing broken health systems.

We know that strengthening health systems takes time and diligence. We are optimistic that Africa can achieve the future it aspires to.

That future depends on people working together across national borders and across socioeconomic strata to build the better world we all want, he stated.

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A former junior minister of defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, has identified citizen apathy as the major problem facing the country.

Mr. Obanikoro stated this at a public lecture Constitutional Restructuring: An Exercise in Perpetuity? organised on Tuesday by the United Action for Change in Lagos.

Reacting to an earlier comment that Nigerians should see themselves first as Nigerians before their ethnic groups, Mr. Obanikoro said there is a need to differentiate between a citizen and a resident.

In Lagos, for instance, if you want to be a Lagosian, I think theres an admission process like living here for at least one year, paying your tax, and so on.

On this issue of ethnic nationality, I want to say that Im a proud Yoruba man and it does not belittle the fact that Im a Nigerian, so dont let us bring confusion here.

The number one problem in Nigeria as far as Im concerned is citizen participation. The British, when they were here, played by what suited their business here, and since their departure we are worse off.

If the citizens are more alive to their responsibilities, I believe the society will be better for it.

Nsongurua Udombana, the guest speaker, while delivering a lecture titled Constitutional Restructuring in Nigeria: An Impact Assessment, said Nigeria cannot have an enduring Constitution until issues like shared common values are resolved.

A Constitution cannot be foisted on a people, any more than one can force a marriage on two incompatible partners, or take an unwilling horse to a river bank and force it to drink water, said Mr. Udombana, a professor of International Law at Babcock University, Ogun State.

A people must mutually agree to live together and mutually agree on the terms of that compact before translating that agreement into a written code.

When we invoke We the people in a Constitution, there is an assumption of a commonality of purpose and destination. What holds people together is not the thread of a Constitution, but certain beliefs common to most members of a society, what the Germans call the Volksgeist or national consciousness.

Thus, the making of a constitution is based on, or presupposes, a priori agreement on some fundamental principles which, even if unwritten, make possible and precede the peoples consent to the written code.

Mr. Udombana said one of Nigerias major problem is that the 1999 Constitution does not have its origin from the sovereign will of the people.

These dictatorial tendencies probably explain why the political class find it difficult to respect the sovereign rights of Nigerians to determine the countrys political leadership through free and fair elections, said Mr. Udombana.

It is an open secret that elections in Nigeria have historically been akin to organised crime, with multiple actors pursuing pre-determined outcomes through common enterprise.

When rigging answers to the name of election, it casts a big showdown on our republic.

Earlier, Muiz Banire, the Convener of the United Action for Change, said the need to restructure Nigeria is a discourse that has perpetually dominated the public space.

Mr. Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, described the country as an amalgamation of various ethnic compositions the type which is doubtful if it exists elsewhere.

The 1957-58 Constitutional conferences paved way ultimately for the independence of the nation in October 1960 and since then several efforts have been made to bring about a constitutional structure that would be satisfactory to all, said Mr. Banire.

This has rather been a mirage and it seems the more we try, the less we succeed.

The more recent effort of the 2014 National Conference aimed at producing a fair balance has hit the rocks.

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A Cameroonian military tribunal on Monday sentenced a journalist to 10 years in prison on terrorism charges, including for failing to report acts of terrorism to authorities.

The court had been told that evidence was found in Ahmed Abbas computer showing he had been in contact with Boko Haram Islamist militants and that they had communicated information to him about future attacks.

Mr. Abba, a Cameroonian journalist for Radio France International, had been convicted for non-denunciation of terrorism and laundering of the proceeds of terrorist acts and could have been sentenced to death under a controversial anti-terrorism law of the country.

Judge Edou Mewoutou also ordered him to pay a fine of 55 million CFA Francs ($90,000) and barred him from speaking to the media about the trial.

Mr. Abba, who spent over 633 days in detention, had denied having any links with the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group.

His lawyer said he would appeal the conviction and sentence that has attracted heavy criticism from rights groups.

London-based rights group, Amnesty International, said Mr. Abbas unfair trial was a travesty of justice.

Ahmed Abbas conviction, after torture and an unfair trial, is clear evidence that Cameroons military courts are not competent to try civilians and should not have jurisdiction in these cases, said Ilaria Allegrozzi, the Amnesty Internationals Lake Chad researcher.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, Africa programme coordinator, Angela Quintal, said the outrageous sentence signalled the lengths that Cameroon authorities were willing to go to intimidate the media and thwart freedom of the press.

Ahmed Abba should never have been detained, prosecuted, and convicted for his journalismlet alone ordered to spend a decade behind bars, said Ms. Quintal.

Abba, who reported for RFIs Hausa language service from Cameroons Boko Haram-prone far north, was arrested in July 2015 on suspicion of having collaborated with the jihadist group and withholding information in connection with his coverage of insurgencies by the group from Cameroonian authorities.

Three other local journalists were standing trial in the same court over similar charges.

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The presidency has condemned a recent statement by a retired colonel, Dangiwa Umar, against the ongoing anti-corruption campaign of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

A presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, made the condemnation in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.

Mr. Shehu was reacting to a statement issued by Mr. Umar in which he accused the government of President Muhammadu Buhari of being unfair in the war against corruption.

In his statement on Sunday, the retired colonel commended President Buhari for suspending two officials enmeshed in scandals, but criticised other actions of the administration.

The decision by the Federal Government of Nigeria to suspend the SGF Mr David Babachir Lawal and the DG NIA Mr Ayodele Oke while they are being investigated is a welcome development in its war against corruption, Mr. Umar said. It is also remarkable and commendable that the Government has decided not to detain the duo while they are being investigated.

Mr. Umar faulted the continued detention of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, despite various court judgements.

The only explanation one can find for Col. Dasukis lengthy detention without trial is that he belongs to the wrong camp. He has also the misfortune of having served as National Security Adviser to the much vilified Nigerian President of Ijaw extraction, he said, while accusing the federal governments anti-corruption war of being a President Buhari personal struggle.

In his reaction on Monday, Mr. Shehu said the Buhari administration would neither succumb to media attacks nor would it be deterred by false accusations.

The war against corruption is here to stay. As long as President Buhari is in power, Nigerians can rest assured of that.

It will not succumb to media attacks. It will not be deterred by false accusations. It will not be quenched by disgruntled elements.

The spokesperson said President Buharis administration is quite familiar with the barrage of verbal attacks that have accompanied the administrations determined war against corruption.

A number of Nigerias elite, uncomfortable with the disruption of business as usual, have fought viciously, usually via the media.

However, this comment, coming from Umar, is highly disappointing. Because he is not in a position to label accusations. He should, instead, allow others to do this.

Curiously, despite the various accusations and media attacks, no one has so far come forth with any evidence of President Buharis selectiveness in the war against corruption, he said.

Mr. Shehu challenged anyone or organisation with any evidence of bias or partiality in the fight against corruption to make it public

He stated that all the agencies involved in the war against corruption were allowed freedom to carry out their responsibilities, without any interference whatsoever from the Presidency.

He said, If Umar or anyone else feels that they have any evidence to the contrary, they are encouraged to make this public.

Ultimately, the final frontier of the war against corruption is the judiciary.

After the anti-graft agencies have gathered proof of corruption and made arrests, they present the accused before competent courts of the land, who have the final say on who is guilty of corruption and who is not.

Mr. Shehu maintained that President Buhari had never interfered with the judicial process, despite publicly expressing his frustration with how slowly corruption cases were handled.

Again, anyone with a shred of evidence to the contrary is encouraged to go public with it.

A number of Nigerian elites have over the years benefitted from various forms of corruption, including monthly payouts from the office of previous National Security Advisers.

Let me clarify that this is not in reference to Colonel Umar in particular.

The Buhari administration has offended so many of our greedy elite by putting a stop to this, plugging many of the holes through which our countrys resources, belonging to each and every one of us, were looted by a few.

Naturally, these elites are frustrated. But we shall not allow them to frustrate the war against corruption, he said.

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The first military administrator of Bayelsa State, Philip Ayeni, is dead.

Mr. Ayeni, a retired naval officer, died on Thursday after a protracted illness.

The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has already sondoled with the family of the victims.

Read the statement from Mr. Dicksons aide below:

The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has condoled with the immediate family, the government and people of Ekiti State over the untimely passing of Retired Navy Captain Philip Oladipo Ayeni.

Retired Navy Captain Ayeni, who was the pioneer Military Administrator, MILAD, of Bayelsa State when it was created by the administration of Late Head of State, General Sani Abacha in October, 1996, died in the early hours of last Thursday, after a protracted illness.

The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, described Mr. Ayenis death as painful and devastating, coming at a time, when the state he laid the foundation for its development, was beginning to reap the benefits of the policies he initiated as the administrator.

According to him, even though, the tenure of Captain Ayeni was cut short by his health challenges, it was clear that he meant well for the state and had genuine intentions to put the state on a sound, progressive and worthy pedestal.

Governor Dickson noted that the pioneer Bayelsa State MILAD initiated most of the plans, policies and programmes, which every successive administration had built upon to give Bayelsa State its pride of place in the comity of States in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Bayelsa State Governor recalled that, it was in appreciation of his pace-setting role and sacrifice that, the State Government recently built, furnished and presented a befitting residential accommodation building to Retired Captain Ayeni at his country home in Ekiti State.

To us in Bayelsa State, Retired Navy Captain Philip Ayeni remains one of our heroes, because it takes a lot of courage, sacrifice, commitment and genuine love for a people, to be able do the little, he did at the time, and from the available facts and records, he would have done a lot more, but for the health challenges that abruptly ended his tenure and clearly his good intentions too for our State

So, for a such a leader and personality, my government and indeed, the people of Bayelsa State will stand shoulder to shoulder with his family and the government and the people of Ekiti State

He pointed out that, the beautiful and wonderful story of Bayelsa State would never be complete, without the pioneering legacies and efforts of Late Captain Ayeni, stressing that, the Government and people of the State will remain ever grateful to him.

While assuring the family, the Government and people of Ekiti State of the continued support of Bayelsans, Governor Dickson prayed for the peaceful repose of his soul.

He also prayed for Gods grace to continue to guide, protect and strengthen the family as well as the courage to bear the painful loss.

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There was a mild drama at the Federal High Court II, Jos, on Tuesday when a counsel, Solomon Umoh, withdrew from representing an accused, Ibrahim Suleiman, being tried for allegedly laundering N400 million belonging to a bank.

Mr. Umoh, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has been defending the accused since 2007, when he was arrested by EFCC and arraigned before Justice Ayo Emmanuel of the Federal High Court.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the accused had, in June 29, 2007, allegedly hacked into the system of the defunct First Inland Bank plc, transferred and distributed the amount into his private account and different others without the knowledge of the bank.

The bank only came to know about the racket after sometime and reported the matter to EFCC, which arrested and arraigned him before Justice Emmanuel on October 28, 2007.

Mr. Suleiman is currently being tried on seven-count charge on money laundering contrary to Money Laundry Prohibition Act of 2004, among others.

When the case came up for hearing on Tuesday, Umoh, through one of his associates, Mr Nanfwang Gwanson, announced his withdrawal.

He said at this stage, my hands are tied and I cant continue with this case.

Trouble began for the defence counsel, when two of his vital witnesses failed show up in court to testify and the alleged ill health of the accused which made him unable to testify in his own case.

The defence counsel, EFCC prosecution counsel and the trial judge, who always travelled to Jos from Ibadan, had agreed in February to adjourn for April 24 and 25 to sit and listen to all three defence witnesses, including the accused, to complete the 10-year old case.

But when the case came up, only one witness showed up and was taken; thereafter, Gwanson lamented the absence of the remaining two witnesses.

The Judge then asked the counsel to take on the accused, Suleiman, to make up for the efforts and time taken for the trip from Ibadan but Gwanson declined, saying it was not possible.

The defence counsel produced and tendered a medical report from a hospital, Victoria Memorial Hospital, which said that the accused had been granted five days excuse duty and so not in good health to testify.

My Lord, right now the accused has just reported to me that he is having a split headache and cannot testify before the court today.

As you can see on the medical report on the health condition of the defendant, he wont be able to testify today; we hereby urge the court to subpoena the remaining two witnesses to appear before your lordship on the next adjourned date.

My lord, we dont have the coercive power to drag them to court, but we believe the court has such power and should subpoena them to come by force; we also wish to call one Bindawa before the other witness, to wrap up, he told the court.

It was at that stage that the EFCC counsel, Comas Egwu, opposed the application for adjournment, describing the application as delay tactics which should not be entertained or granted.

My lord, we did all agree at the last sitting to take all witnesses today, including the defendant, and for them to start telling us stories that they cant bring them today is unacceptable.

The witnesses are their people and they know where they are; the onus lies with them to bring them and not to keep delaying this case.

The defence, in this matter, has continued to be unfair to us; we came all the way outside this jurisdiction to take just a witness is very unfair, Mr. Egwu said.

The prosecution said the grouse on the adjournment is completely immaterial and doesnt add up at all.

My Lord, last time we sat, it was one excuse to the other and today again the defence is talking about medical report and subpoena for another adjournment.

I hereby urge the court to refuse the application of the defence counsel and urge them to be serious for us to continue with the case as expected, Mr. Egwu urged the court.

In his ruling, Justice Emmanuel declined the application for an adjournment.

The last adjournment was at the instance of the defence counsel and today again, they are asking for another adjournment after we all agreed to be serious with the business of the day.

The two medical reports of the defendant are contradictory as one is Mercy Crest Medical and the other from Victoria Memorial Hospital and have to show lack of seriousness on the side of the defence.

The medical reports and the desire to introduce One Mr Bindawa as witness and the request for adjournment are but ploy to delay this case as the reasons are most untenable and hereby refused and I urge the defence to continue with their case, the judge ruled.

It was at this stage that Mr. Gwanson announced to the court that I am constrained to withdraw representation for the defendant.

We would have taken step to continue but the witnesses are not here and the defendant is not in good health to testify and we have no option but to withdraw from this case, Mr. Gwanson said.

The judge, however, asked the accused person what he intended to do since his counsel had withdrawn their service from him.

Mr. Suleiman said he would need time to get another lawyer that would represent him in court.

The judge then adjourned the case till tomorrow for continuation of hearing.

(NAN)

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The gross statutory revenue rose by about 14.28 per cent as the three tiers of the Nigerian government shared a total of N467.81 billion for March.

At the end of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting in Abuja, the Accountant General of the Federation, AGF, Ahmed Idris, said gross revenue for the month was about N331.6 billion, against N290.16 billion realised the previous month.

Mr. Idris said the figure was about N41.42 billion, or 14.28 per cent more than what was realised in February.

Despite the increase in average unit crude oil price from $44.74 per barrel to $52.86, the AGF said the federation export sales dropped by about $6.4 million.

He attributed the drop in crude oil revenue to the decrease in crude oil export volume, with production suffering significant cuts during the period, due to leakages in pipelines.

The leakages followed sabotage activities in the Niger Delta, shut down of export terminals for routine turn around maintenance, TAM and force majeure declared at Forcados and Brass terminals.

The AGF said significant revenue increases came from oil royalty, companies income tax, CIT, import and excise duties and value added tax, VAT.

Details of the distributable revenue included statutory revenue of N299.9 billion; N6.33 billion refund by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to the Federal Government for the N450 billion unremitted oil revenue since 2011; excess petroleum profit tax, PPT of N22.26 billion and exchange gain of N66.97 billion.

At the end of the meeting, the federal government got N136.51 billion, or 52.68 per cent; states, N69.24 billion, or 26.72 per cent; local government N53.38 billion, or 20.6 per cent, while the oil mineral states got N25.13 billion as 13 per cent derivation.

The share of the VAT distribution was federal government, N11.33 billion or 15 per cent; states, N37.75 billion, or 50 per cent; and local governments, N26.43 billion, or 35 per cent.

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EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Apr 24, 2017) - Wavefront Technology Solutions Inc. (Wavefront or the Company), (TSX VENTURE:WEE)(WFTSF) an Oil Field Service ("OFS") provider focused on enhancing hydrocarbon recovery through the lifecycle of a production asset is pleased to announce that broader field deployment of Wavefront's core fluid injection technology, Powerwave, will be undertaken in the Sultanate of Oman.

A Powerwave-driven waterflood targets stranded or bypassed oil in a reservoir which is very difficult to produce due to various physical limitations. Based on positive results from a limited field trial of Powerwave Wavefront's distribution partner in Oman was awarded the approximate US $500,000 contract for expanded Powerwave use. This previously anticipated Powerwave program was delayed due to lower and volatile oil prices over the past few years. Powerwave deployment is in the client's scheduling phase and is anticipated to commence in the second half of calendar 2017.

"Wavefront is confident it can replicate or better initial field pilot results which saw oil production decline rates fall by approximately 4% and overall oil production rates within the field pilot area improve by up to 47%," said Wavefront President and CEO Brett Davidson. "We believe that demonstrating Powerwave efficacy on a broader scale across varied geological settings will result in general commercialization of Powerwave with this client."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

WAVEFRONT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS INC.

D. Brad Paterson, CFO & Director

About Wavefront:

Wavefront is a technology based world leader in fluid injection technology for improved/enhanced oil recovery and groundwater restoration. Wavefront publicly trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol WEE and on the OTCQX under the symbol WFTSF. The Company's website is www.onthewavefront.com.

Cautionary Disclaimer - Forward Looking Statement

Certain statements contained herein regarding Wavefront and its operations constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, assumptions or expectations or future performance, are "forward-looking statements". In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "believe", "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. We caution that such "forward-looking statements" involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such factors include fluctuations in the acceptance rates of Wavefront's Powerwave and Primawave Processes, demand for products and services, fluctuations in the market for oil and gas related products and services, the ability of Wavefront to attract and maintain key personnel, technology changes, global political and economic conditions, and other factors that were described in further detail in Wavefront's continuous disclosure filings, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Wavefront expressly disclaims any obligation to up-date any "forward-looking statements", other than as required by law.

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2017 Wavefront Technology Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bit To Last Drop, WaveAxe, Powerwave and Primawave are registered trademarks of Wavefront Technology Solutions Inc., or its subsidiaries, or affiliates.

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.
We see a great opportunity for Polish business development in Mexico, President Andrzej Duda said Monday closing the Polish-Mexican Business Forum in Mexico City.

Latin American macroeconomic stability, open trade and investment policies and growth of local consumers' purchasing power are factors fostering mutual economic relations, President Duda said.

"This creates an attractive market for services and goods produced in Poland", Andrzej Duda said.

He emphasized that according to financial forecasts, Mexico and Brazil would become one of eight largest economies in the world by 2050 and that Poland expected the global agreement between the EU and Mexico to be renewed relatively quickly.

He added that Polish exports to Mexico recorded a steady increase. "We are confident that we still have a lot to offer and our dormant potential is not fully taken advantage of".

The President pointed out that Poland was particularly interested in cooperation in areas such as electromobility, information and communication technologies, green economy, pharmacy and biotechnology.

Poland also wants to deepen mutual investment cooperation with Mexico, Andrzej Duda said. In his opinion Mexican investors' presence in Poland is a result of the country's comprehensive support for entrepreneurship and investment, "which made Poland an undisputed leader in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of inflows of foreign direct investment."

"If one looks at the recent economic results of our country, which sum up 1.5 years of the Polish government's work, the dynamically growing internal demand associated with the social policy pursued by the Polish government, you can say that Poland is one of the European tigers among the countries with good prospects for investing", President Duda said.

The president said he hoped that events such as the forum in Mexico city would contribute to the establishment of many favourable contracts, and in the near future would bring measurable results to both economies.

Andrzej Duda appreciated the importance of the agreement (strengthening bilateral economic ties) signed Monday between the Polish Ministry of Development, Finance and the Mexican Ministry of Economy as well as opening of the PAiH (Polish Investment and Trade) Foreign Office in Mexico City. (PAP)
New Jersey is headed for a doctor shortage within the next decade unless experts come up with solutions to avoid that outcome.

Efforts are already underway to make colleges, medical schools and residency programs more attractive. Meanwhile, international students and doctors have been quietly filling some of New Jerseys health care gaps.

There are about 280,000 international medical graduates in the United States, or about one in every four doctors, according to the American Medical Association.

International medical graduates, whether they are U.S. or foreign citizens, graduate from medical colleges outside the United States.

The typical international medical graduate is more likely to serve underserved areas for a number of reasons, said John Slotman, vice president of graduate medical education policy and teaching hospital issues at the New Jersey Hospital Association.

Many international medical graduates also become primary physicians.

New Jersey is on course to be short about 2,500 of these physicians in the next couple years, experts estimate.

Dr. Yaser Mourad was part of the international graduate community when he came to Atlantic City from his home country, Syria, to practice medicine.

America is one of the best countries in the world for medicine and continues to be the best, Mourad said. When I finished medical school in Syria, I had always dreamed to come here to do a sub-specialty.

Mourad entered a residency program in 1990 at Atlantic City Medical Center, now AtlantiCare. He moved on to a nephrology fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, only to return to Atlantic City as a hospital attending physician.

Now AtlantiCares chief medical quality officer, Mourad said he wanted to give back to the community that welcomed him to this country by returning and serving patients in the Atlantic County area.

With all this diversity, it gives us strength, because people bring different things to the table, he said. We came here as immigrants and, while big cities are always attractive, its more serene here, and giving back to the country and communities that accepted us is extremely important.

The 2016 New Jersey Survey of Medical Students, published by the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, reported 45 percent of the states medical residents and fellows planned to work in suburban locations, while 27 percent planned to go to inner cities or rural areas.

Slotman said international graduates such as Mourad were more likely to work in underserved and rural areas after they recognized the shortages that often exist in those communities.

In 2014, there were 2,099 patients for every one primary care doctor in Cumberland County, one of the largest ratios in the state, according to this years County Health Rankings report. Data continue to show demand for health care outpaces the production of primary and general physicians.

The countrys dependence on international medical graduates, both domestic and foreign, was exposed more publicly this year when President Donald Trump attempted to pass stricter immigration laws that have made it difficult for some professionals who hold J-1 visas.

Quite a few of our teaching hospitals have physicians on staff who originate in parts of the world that were identified in that executive order, Slotman said. People rely on those physicians who come from all over the world. Anything that impacts the ability of residency programs to recruit holds a potential impact.

Dr. Fred Jacobs, a New Jersey physician and executive vice president at St. Georges University in Grenada, said that while foreign students and doctors add to the physician population in New Jersey, the state needs to focus on creating better incentives for all medical students to stay and work in local communities.

Some ideas already in development include debt-forgiveness programs, more in-state medical schools and a push for additional residency positions at hospitals.

A high cost of living and lower salary offers hurt the states retention rates, but Jacobs said with more work, people who grew up in New Jersey may be more inclined to study, train and work in their hometowns. People abroad may be encouraged to plant roots in the state as well.

Every time I speak with someone on their way to becoming a doctor, I encourage them to come and apply to all our hospitals here in this country, Mourad said. I know they will do well and be a great asset to whatever community they come to.
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.
FILE PHOTO: A man walks by a bank machine at the Wells Fargo & Co. bank in downtown Denver, Colorado, U.S. April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) has presented the Federal Reserve with a satisfactory plan on how to unwind its business in case of bankruptcy, the U.S. central bank said on Monday.

The resolution plan, or "living will", is required of the nation's largest banks and is meant to help prevent a future financial crisis.

In December, the Fed and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation notified Wells Fargo that the bank's plan fell short. In its Monday announcement, the regulators said Wells Fargo has "adequately remedied the deficiencies."

Living wills for banks were conceived in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown when the downfall of several Wall Street banks sent shockwaves through global markets.

U.S. taxpayers had to prop up banks that were deemed "too big to fail" and Congress vowed that such a rescue would not happen again.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Sandra Maler)
It should include an audit of all NJ Transit expenses to explain why they have to charge such high fares.

Ben Smith

via Facebook

Booker, Christie call for U.S. investment in Northeast Corridor

Shes being fired for tipping the chair back?

Roger Zavacki

via Facebook

Linwood school district moves

to dismiss teacher charged with assault

The real leaders are those who solve the problems and are still able to work within their budget.

Dotty Jenkins

Atlantic County residents face

tax increase after proposed city budget

Seems like being a police officer is going from being a career to a job.

Mike Materio Jr.

via Facebook

CRDA to fund 45 Class II officers

for Boardwalk and Pacific Avenue

I guess they finally realized they need to help spur economic development, not stand in the way of it.

Jeff Breeden

CRDA votes on master plan amendments

Why isnt this getting the national outrage like the cemetery in Philly that was vandalized?

Beth Be

via Facebook

New Jersey police investigating cemetery vandalism

How can you put a shooting range in EHT? Do you know how bad guns are?

Derrick Ross

via Facebook

Shooting range, grocery store

hearings in EHT

We cant afford to shut any power plants down. If people dont want a gas line, burn that coal, we have plenty.

David Kelley

via Facebook

B.L. England power plant to operate

as-is for two more years

Bad weather cant sink this ship. Its the theme of the boat.

Michael Porcaro

via Facebook

Sinking of Perfect Storm ship delayed due to bad weather

A lot of municipalities are starting to offer these now.

Brent Waldo

via Facebook

Stafford Police creates safe zone for online shopping exchanges

I have many happy memories of taking our son there when he was little.

Patricia Bocklage

via Facebook

Storybook Land: 60 Years of Family and Fun

It used to be such a big deal!

Sharon Molly

via Facebook

Past Easter Parades in Atlantic City

I have lived in this area all my life and have never heard of or seen a seal on our beaches!

Shari Okee

via Facebook

Gray seal draws on-lookers in front of Lucy the Elephant in Margate

Fantastic news. Now the crowds need to come back like between 1980 to 2007.

John Altilio

via Facebook

Atlantic City casino revenue jumps 17 percent

You can plan all you want but Atlantic City will loose many visitors because of the crazy cuts coming.

Judy Rivera

via Facebook

A.C. planner Terenik, credited with helping the city rebuild, leaving for another job

I hope he does open it on June 15th, just to show everybody that hes not giving up.

Aundrea Wallace

via Facebook

Atlantic City former Revel may open June 15, owner Glenn Straub says

They had the infrastructure built to be a mini Vegas but didnt encourage surrounding businesses around the casinos.

Richie Campbell

via Facebook

CRDA approves master plan amendments

Politicians make MS-13 look like Sesame Street.

Dan Toth

via Facebook

Sessions plans crackdown on violent gangs, especially MS-13
U.S. leadership insane

Every day I feel challenged as to where to start. I do not support using taxpayer money to build a stupid wall. I dont support President Donald Trump congratulating Turkeys leader for victory in a referendum that moves the country to greater authoritarianism. I dont agree with a draft, in general, and I detest the idea that the GOP can take away womens reproductive rights.

I support nutritious school lunches, improving public education, keeping religion and prayer out of schools, funding special education etc. I support common sense and the First Amendment  all people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as long as those rights dont encroach on others. Denying climate change and deregulating banking and environmental standards encroaches on the rights of everyone.

I feel like the leadership in this nation has gone completely insane. And nuclear war with North Korea? Russian planes flying near Alaska? The world knows this country is unstable and is taking advantage of this fact. Its time for America to become sane again.

Angela Bardoe

Pittsgrove Township

Lessons in poverty

Re: the March 27 story, How this A.C. family survives amid poverty:

The story featuring the impoverished woman living in Atlantic City with six children should be developed into a lesson plan for all junior high school students health classes in an effort to teach the importance of staying in school and waiting until youre married or at least are able to support yourself before bringing any children into the world.

I am not naive and understand unplanned pregnancy happens, but after dropping out of high school, getting pregnant then divorced and living on welfare at some point, a woman decides its a good idea to have two or three more children she is unable to support. Now she bemoans her difficult life living on limited government assistance.

I do have compassion for the children. Probably more compassion than the woman has common sense.

Everyone should know having a child out of wedlock is the biggest impediment for a young womans ability to join the middle class.

One more thing in the story left me scratching my head. The government provides a monthly allowance for the death of a father figure? Not a biological father. Not a step-father who adopted and was raising a child, but a father-figure. Unbelievable.

Michael Mason

Egg Harbor Township
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

(All amounts in US$ unless otherwise specified)

Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") (TSX: CS) today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. Cash flow from operating activities was $22.0 million or $0.06 per share. The net loss for the period was $7.4 million or $0.02 per share and the adjusted net loss was $2.0 million or $0.01 per share after adjusting for certain non-cash and non-recurring charges. Copper production for the quarter totalled 20,950 tonnes (20,230 tonnes of payable copper) at a C1 cash cost[1]of $1.98 per payable pound produced with copper sales for the quarter of 21,582 tonnes at a C1 cash cost[1] of $1.69 per payable pound sold.

Capstone will hold a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time (8:30 a.m. Pacific time) to discuss these results; call-in details and information on associated slides are provided at the end of this release. This release should be read in conjunction with Capstone's consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, which are available on Capstone's website at http://capstonemining.com/investors/financial-reporting/default.aspx and on SEDAR. An updated corporate presentation, including results to March 31, 2017, in addition to the Q1 2017 year-end webcast slides, will also be available at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.

Overview

Q1 2017 Q1 2016 Revenue ($ millions) 128.0 126.2 Copper produced (tonnes) 20,950 24,547 Payable copper produced (tonnes) 20,230 23,694 C1 cash cost per payable pound produced[1] ($/lb) 1.98 1.72 All-in cost per payable pound produced[1] ($/lb) 2.64 2.23 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound produced[1] ($/lb) 2.80 2.36 Copper sold (tonnes) 21,582 27,985 Realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb)* 2.68 2.19 Adjusted realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb) ** 2.44 2.35 C1 cash cost per payable pound sold[1] ($/lb) 1.69 1.77 All-in cost per payable pound sold[1] ($/lb) 2.31 2.22 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound sold[1] ($/lb) 2.46 2.33 Net loss ($ millions) (7.4) (12.8) Net loss attributable to shareholders ($ millions) (7.5) (12.7) Net loss per common share ($) (0.02) (0.03) Adjusted net loss[1] ($ millions) (2.0) (1.5) Adjusted net loss[1] attributable to shareholders ($ millions) (2.1) (1.5) Adjusted net loss[1] per common share ($) (0.01) (0.00) Cash flow from operating activities $22.0 $32.2 Cash flow from operating activities per common share ($) 0.06 0.08 Operating cash flow before changes in working capital[1] ($ millions) 24.2 18.9 Operating cash flow before changes in working capital per common share[1] ($) 0.06 0.05 Cash and cash equivalents ($ millions) 109.4 121.1 Net debt[1]($ millions) 199.5 228.2

* Q1 2017 includes a provisional pricing adjustment of $5.2 million (2016 - negative $5.6 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to $0.11 per pound (2016 - $(0.09) per pound) of copper sold during the quarter. ** Q1 2017 adjusted realized copper price includes the provisional pricing adjustments noted above and realized loss of $13.9 million (2016 gain - $9.6 million) equivalent to $(0.29) per pound (2016 gain - $0.16 per pound) related to copper derivative contracts exercised during the quarter.

"In the first quarter of 2017 we generated $22 million of operating cash flow despite challenging operating conditions at Pinto Valley," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "All three of our mines generated positive net earnings for the quarter, supported by higher realized metal prices."

"We also recently announced a two year extension of our credit facility, to 2021, giving Capstone significant financial flexibility to meet our current and anticipated operating requirements," continued Mr. Pylot. "In addition, at current copper prices, we anticipate the continuation of operations at Minto until mid-2020 with a potential mine life extension beyond 2020."

Financial and Operational Highlights for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2017

Net loss of $7.4 million included: Earnings from mining operations of $27.0 million , Realized copper price of $2.68 per pound Production costs included a $1.1 million non-cash charge related to the write-down of inventory at the Pinto Valley mine A commodity derivative loss of $13.9 million , comprising a realized loss of $11.6 million combined with an unrealized loss of $2.3 million , An income tax expense of $3.9 million .

included: Operating cash flow before changes in working capital [ 1] of $24.2 million or $0.06 per common share.

of or per common share. Working capital decreased $22.8 million to $148.3 million at March 31, 2017 from $171.1 million at December 31, 2016 . Cash decreased to $109.4 million at March 31, 2017 from $130.4 million at December 31, 2016 largely as a result of a $20.0 million debt repayment made in January, 2017.

to at from at . Cash decreased to at from at largely as a result of a debt repayment made in January, 2017. Production of 20,230 tonnes of payable copper at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $1.98 per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost [ 1] of $2.80 per pound of payable pound copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost of per pound of payable pound copper produced. Revenue of $128.0 million generated primarily from the sale of 21,582 tonnes of copper.

Production and Additional Highlights for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2017

Pinto Valley Mine:

Produced 11,300 tonnes of copper during Q1 2017 at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $2.18 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost [ 1] of $2.77 per pound of payable copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. Copper production at Pinto Valley was lower quarter over quarter for a number of reasons. First, it was affected by a 7-day planned shutdown in January to complete repairs in the fine ore bins and the tailing thickener distribution system and then by considerable rain in the first quarter. Pinto Valley received five inches of rain over a two day period in late January, followed by additional rainfall in the following weeks. This rain reduced mining productivity and slowed the primary crusher intake, delaying the return to full operations from the planned shutdown. Mine plan sequencing also had to be changed to address high moisture in the bottom of the pit. Following this shutdown, the saturated fine ore placed additional stress on the primary crusher mainframe. As a result, the lower frame replacement, originally deferred from Q2 2016, was done over 11 days in late February and early March. Temporary primary crushing units allowed for production at reduced rates. Full production resumed on March 9, 2017 and since then throughput has averaged above 59,000 tonnes per day as of April 24 .

Cozamin Mine:

Produced 4,130 tonnes of copper during Q1 2017 at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $1.33 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost [ 1] of $1.94 per pound of payable copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. During Q1 2017, grade and throughput both improved for the quarter, with recovery comparable to Q1 2016. This is in part due to the significant progress made in development rates since the process and contractor changes which were made in 2016.

Subsequent to quarter end, on April 4, 2017 , the precious metal streaming arrangement with Silver Wheaton Corp. expired. After this date, the full silver by-product credit is earned by Cozamin. As included in our guidance, this is expected to increase our by-product credits by approximately $0.40 per pound.

Minto Mine:

Produced 5,520 tonnes of copper during Q1 2017 at a C1 cash cost [ 1] of $2.05 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost [ 1 ] of $2.10 per payable pound of copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per payable pound of copper produced. During Q1 2017, grade for the quarter was lower than originally planned due to mine plan sequencing changes. These were made to optimize the mine plan in anticipation of the extension of operations at Minto beyond 2017 and to reduce re-handling costs. As a result, more low grade, partially oxidized ore was directed to the mill causing recoveries to be slightly behind plan. This was partially offset by higher throughput.

beyond 2017 and to reduce re-handling costs. As a result, more low grade, partially oxidized ore was directed to the mill causing recoveries to be slightly behind plan. This was partially offset by higher throughput. At current copper prices, Capstone anticipates the continuation of operations at Minto until mid-2020, subject to permitting and regulatory approvals. Capstone is also evaluating further deposits for re-inclusion into reserves, which may support additional mine life beyond 2020.

Additional highlights:

Effective April 19, 2017 , the Company amended its Senior Secured Corporate Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") to provide for an extension to April 19, 2021 and a reduction in the credit available under the facility. The amendment: Extends the maturity of the Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement from January 16, 2019 to April 19, 2021 ; Reduces the credit limit to $350 million on April 19, 2017 and requires an annual $25 million reduction on each anniversary of the facility to $275 million on April 19, 2020 ; Maintains the current pricing grid (starting at LIBOR + 2.5% and increasing to LIBOR + 3.5% based on the total leverage ratio) until March 31, 2019 , after which date pricing increases to LIBOR + 3.0% (adjustable to LIBOR + 4.5% depending on the total leverage ratio); and Cancels the accordion feature of $60 million .

, the Company amended its Senior Secured Corporate Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") to provide for an extension to and a reduction in the credit available under the facility. The amendment:

All other material terms and conditions of the existing RCF remain in place.

In addition to the amendment described above, Capstone repaid $10 million on April 19, 2017, reducing drawn debt to $298.9 million.

Operating Outlook

Capstone's 2017 production guidance for 94,000 tonnes (5%) of copper at C1 cash cost[1 ]of $1.60 to $1.70 per pound of payable copper produced and All-in cost[1 ]of $2.15 to $2.25 per pound of payable copper produced remains unchanged. Minto and Cozamin are expected to complete the year on, or slightly above, plan and Pinto Valley is expected to attain higher run rates for the remainder of 2017 since the major planned maintenance activity was completed in the first quarter.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

Date: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 Time: 11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time) Dial in: North America: 1-888-390-0546, International: +416-764-8688 Webcast: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1383293&s=1&k=8C2CB279A9CAA1477A4D9A6573F75350 Replay: North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677 Replay Passcode: 472544#

The conference call replay will be available until Wednesday, May 3, 2017. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within approximately 48 hours of the call at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.

About Capstone Mining Corp.

Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, focused on copper. We are committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our three producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in Arizona, US, the Cozamin polymetallic mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects; the large scale 70% owned copper-iron Santo Domingo project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned Kutcho copper-zinc project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile and US. Capstone's strategy is to focus on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable, mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at http://www.capstonemining.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This document may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Capstone does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable securities legislation.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect our expectations or beliefs regarding future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production and capital expenditures, the success of our mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses and title disputes. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. In this document certain forward-looking statements are identified by words including "anticipate", "guidance", "plan" and "expected". By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, amongst others, risks related to inherent hazards associated with mining operations, future prices of copper and other metals, compliance with financial covenants, surety bonding, our ability to raise capital, Capstone's ability to acquire properties for growth, counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals, use of financial derivative instruments and associated counterparty risks, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation, compliance with governmental regulations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, reliance on approvals, licences and permits from governmental authorities, impact of climatic conditions on our Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto operations, aboriginal title claims and rights to consultation and accommodation, land reclamation and mine closure obligations, uncertainties and risks related to the potential development of the Santo Domingo Project, increased operating and capital costs, challenges to title to our mineral properties, maintaining ongoing social license to operate, dependence on key management personnel, potential conflicts of interest involving our directors and officers, corruption and bribery, limitations inherent in our insurance coverage, labour relations, increasing energy prices, competition in the mining industry, risks associated with joint venture partners, our ability to integrate new acquisitions into our operations, cybersecurity threats, legal proceedings and other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause our results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that our forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.

National Instrument 43-101 Compliance

Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents.

The technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). The disclosure of the Technical Information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Technical Information related to mineral exploration activities has been reviewed and approved by Brad Mercer, P. Geol., Senior Vice President, Exploration. Both are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.

Alternative Performance Measures

The items marked with a "[1]" are alternative performance measures and readers should refer to Alternative Performance Measures in the Company's Consolidated Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 as filed on SEDAR and as available on the Company's website.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

This news release contains disclosure that has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Without limiting the foregoing, this news release may refer to technical reports that use the terms "indicated" and "inferred" resources. US investors are cautioned that, while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian securities laws, the SEC does not recognize them. Under US standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. US investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of indicated resources will ever be converted into reserves. US investors should also understand that "inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of "inferred resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Therefore, US investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred resources exist, or that they can be mined legally or economically. Accordingly, information concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources contained in this news release may not be comparable to information made public by US companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.

Please contact: Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor Relations and Communications, +1-604-637-8157, cburnett@capstonemining.com

SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.
HELSINKI, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Caverion has signed an agreement with general contractor 5E-BYG in Denmark on the delivery of building systems for Aabenraa Hospital, phase two. The agreement includes Project Execution for the technical disciplines of Electricity, Heating & Sanitation, Ventilation, Cooling and Security systems, including Fire Protection System and Warning, Intruder Alarm System, Access Control System and Patient Call. The value of the contract is approximately EUR 14 million. This is Caverion's fourth project at the hospital.

In phase two, the acute hospital in Aabenraa, Southern Denmark will expand with a new construction of 22,280 square meters. The project will start in June and includes the creation of new wards and outpatient clinics in a number of specialties, including intensive care. After the expansion, the hospital will also have additional laboratory facilities, improved services, additional parking and a helipad with direct access to the emergency department.

"We are very proud of this assignment that has been in the pipeline ever since we completed the previous three projects at the hospital in Aabenraa. We have good experience in solving complex tasks in hospitals throughout Denmark," says Knut Gaaserud, Executive Vice President & CEO of division Denmark-Norway of Caverion.

Caverion's three former projects at Aabenraa Hospital phase one were finished in 2014-2015. The project now announced will start in June 2017 and will be completed in September 2020. The project belongs to Caverion's public sector client segment.

The functional objective of the project is to create a coherent whole where the new construction is optimally integrated in the existing structure and where buildings, interior design and logistics support future activities for the benefit of patients and staff. The hospital building in Aabenraa is a quality fund project funded by the state.

Read more about our work for public health care

For further information, please contact:

Louise Wilhelmsen

Communications Consultant

Caverion Denmark-Norway

louise.wilhelmsen@caverion.com

+45-61-89-58-83

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/caverion/r/caverion-awarded-with-new-project-contract-for-aabenraa-hospital-in-denmark,c2249855

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Caverion
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150730/250177LOGO )



(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493998/Routes_Europe_Handover.jpg )



Routes Europe brings together airlines, airports, tourism authorities, governments and other stakeholders to plan future air routes. The 2018 event will be hosted by the Basque Government and Basquetour at Bilbao Exhibition Centre.

Bilbao is the gateway to the Basque Country, an autonomous region of northern Spain which includes the Basque Mountains, the Rioja Alavesa wine region, the resort town of San Sebastian and the beaches, estuaries, cliffs and villages that run along the Basque Coast.

The city's emergence as a leading tourism destination began with the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in 1997. The museum of modern and contemporary art was the catalyst for the modernisation of the Biscay area and draws 1.2 million visitors a year.

The growth in tourism is reflected in the rising traffic levels at Bilbao Airport which handled 4.58 million passengers in 2016 (7.3% more than 2015). Traffic is also growing at the region's smaller airports, San Sebastian and Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Routes Europe 2018 will give the hosts a platform to showcase the Basque Country's attractions to some of the most influential people in the aviation industry.

Around 1,200 route development professionals from 116 airlines, 270 airports and 36 tourism authorities attended Routes Europe 2017 in Belfast, and Bilbao can expect similar attendance next year.

Steven Small, brand director of Routes, said: "Bilbao has been studied all over the world as destinations attempt to replicate its regeneration programme. Our delegates will be excited to explore the aviation opportunities in Bilbao and the wider Basque Country."

The Basque Country's Minister of Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Alfredo Retortillo said: "We are going to offer you our genuine hospitality, ancient traditions, modernity reflected in the titanium shields of the Guggenheim Museum and last but not least some of the most starred gastronomy all over the world.

"I hope you will agree that this will be a good environment for businesses and route development."

More information about Routes Europe can be found at routesonline.com

Routes Europe 2018, 22-24 April 2018, Bilbao Exhibition Centre, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

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 visit http://www.ubm.com for 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



SOURCE Routes
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493456/The_IFC_1_building_in_Jersey.jpg )



The IFC 1 building has been completed as part of the overall master plan that will deliver 470,000 sq ft office space across six standalone buildings with private car parking spaces beneath the buildings and 520 public parking spaces on three levels below a public park.

IFC Jersey forms a new extension to the existing central business district and will establish a clear identity for the island's premier industry and strengthen the connection between the historic town centre and the waterfront.

Waterman was appointed to deliver building services, environmental, sustainability and structural engineering design. Our sustainability experts provided advice to optimise the proportion of glazing and carefully considered solar shading that has been seamlessly integrated into the facade design.

The building will be one of the first in the Channel Islands to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating. Furthermore, its carbon performance will be 19% better than the minimum requirement with 20% reduction in energy by using low and zero carbon technologies, including air source heat pumps. The offices have also been designed to use the latest Low energy LED lighting with daylight dimming control.

The specification of the building is based on Central London BCO 2014 standards and will provide tenants with flexible column free space with natural light on all four sides.

Lee Henry, Managing Director of the States of Jersey Development Company, commented; "The building will provide Jersey's important financial services industry with premium, column free Grade A office space. Its distinctive appearance and efficient layout, together with its progressive, flexible and sustainable environmental strategy, sets a new standard for office development in Jersey."

Richard Whitehead, Regional Director of Waterman Structures, commented; "IFC 1 provides exceptional Grade A office accommodation and the success of the project is demonstrated by the tenants it has attracted. The project stands out in its class through its sustainable design and it has been a pleasure working under the lead of MJP Architects who have designed an exemplary building working with our multidisciplinary teams."

Reza Schuster, Director MJP Architects, said; "MJP are proud to be part of the team delivering a world class new financial district for Jersey's premier industry. IFC 1 has an important place in the overall development, as the first link in the chain between the Waterfront and the Historic Town, and by setting a gold standard for future phases."

A substantial part of the IFC1 building has already been let - UBS will occupy the 4th and 5th floors whilst BNP Paribas will be based on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

The construction of the remaining buildings has been split into phases and is being delivered on a building by building basis in response to demand.

The IFC 5 building is currently under construction with completion anticipated early 2018.

About Waterman Group

Waterman Group is a multidisciplinary consultancy providing sustainable solutions to meet the planning, engineering design and project delivery needs of the property, infrastructure, environment and energy markets. Founded in 1952 and listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1988, Waterman has grown into a leading engineering and environmental consultancy with offices throughout the UK, Australia and Europe. Waterman works with government agencies, local authorities, government-regulated industries and private sector clients to provide innovative, sustainable and economic solutions across a wide spectrum of business activities. The firm has extensive experience in property and buildings, environmental consultancy, power and energy, roads, highways and rail infrastructure, urban and regional planning. Award winning teams provide professional consultancy services throughout the complete life cycle of the asset starting from initial surveys and concept planning, through to design, delivery, project management, supervision and on-going maintenance. See more information on http://www.watermangroup.com.

SOURCE Waterman Group Plc
MASON CITY, Iowa, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ground has been broken for a $12 million, 11,700-square-foot expansion at Cargill's innovative cooked egg facility in Mason City, Iowa, resulting in 44 jobs being added to the more than 250 existing positions. Popularity of the products made at the facility, especially baked or cooked egg entrees and patties, necessitated the expansion to meet foodservice and food ingredient customers' needs and satisfy consumer demand.

"Producing innovative, protein-rich, egg-based foods at our Mason City facility continues to create excitement in the marketplace and generate growth for our customers and Cargill," said Jessica Reith, facility general manager. "Helping our customers deliver high-quality, nutritious, delicious and affordable egg protein to consumers has led to multiple expansions since the facility opened in 2001 with three dozen employees and the desire to successfully grow the business."

Cargill's Mason City facility produces refrigerated liquid pasteurized eggs, pre-cooked frozen entrees and pre-cooked frozen scrambled eggs. It is one of four egg processing facilities owned by the company, with two in Minnesota and another in Michigan, where a $27 million expansion was completed in May 2016.

"We continue to invest in our business and in the community," stated Reith. "The community also continues to invest in us, making it a win-win situation. We know that, for Cargill to prosper, our customers and the communities where we have a presence must thrive. Helping communities flourish has been part of our cultural fabric dating back to Cargill's founding more than 150 years ago. Our goal is to continue nourishing people, animals and the planet in a safe, responsible and sustainable way for another 150 years."

About Cargill

Cargill provides food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services to the world. Together with farmers, customers, governments and communities, we help people thrive by applying our insights and 150 years of experience. We have 150,000 employees in 70 countries who are committed to feeding the world in a responsible way, reducing environmental impact and improving the communities where we live and work. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.

SOURCE Cargill

Related Links

http://www.cargill.com


GREENWICH, Conn., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- An investor group, led by Chirisa Investments in partnership with Lumerity Capital LLC and Longboat Advisors LLC, announced today that it has acquired 365 Data Centers, a leading provider of data center solutions for carrier, content and cloud customers in eight strategic markets. Bob DeSantis, previously Co-founder and Managing Partner of Xand, has assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer at 365 Data Centers.

The acquired facilities are located in Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Nashville, Philadelphia, New York, and Tampa. 126,000 square feet of floor space and 9 MW of power are in place to serve customers in these markets, where the enterprise percentage of the data center spend exceeds the national average. The carrier, content, and cloud centric customer ecosystem residing within these eight facilities include 25 major carrier customers, which have 122 network PoPs providing access to national and international core internet nodes and peering points and 20 million households, and many of the nation's top cable operators and other content providers. The Nashville and Tampa facilities also host their regions' internet exchanges while the Buffalo facility serves as a dominant carrier gateway to Canada. In addition, the Tampa facility is the primary carrier hotel in its region.

"This initial acquisition provides us with a proven carrier neutral platform in predominantly edge markets that can realize internal growth from added content provider and enterprise market share and be enhanced by additional data center and managed services investments," noted DeSantis. "We intend to grow the company for our customers, employees and investors by significantly increasing our sales team, investing in new product offerings, and broadening our target market to leverage our exceptional carrier, content, and cloud centric ecosystem and the available space and power at each of the facilities."

The company's Customer Service Center/NOC in Tampa, the 365 brand, all operating, monitoring, and administrative systems, and all operations, customer service center, and sales and marketing employees will remain in place. The corporate office is being moved from Emeryville, CA to Fairfield County, CT.

DeSantis added that, "The transaction will be seamless to existing customers and vendors as Jason Kiser, who has had responsibility for the eight data center facilities and customer service center for over a decade, will continue as Vice President, Operations of the company, and Steve Weaver, who has spearheaded the company's carrier, content and cloud customer strategy, will stay on as Vice President, Sales & Marketing. Kalindi Bhatt, who has worked with me in senior roles in communications, power, and data center businesses, has been appointed Vice President, Finance & Controller to round out the senior management team."

The investors formed 365 Data Centers Holdings, LLC to acquire 365 Data Centers and to identify and make investments in other colocation and managed services assets. Chirisa Investments is a Dublin-based private investment firm headed by Colm Piercy, the former CEO of Viatel, an international connectivity and colocation provider, and current Chairman of Dataplex, a wholesale data center, company based in Dublin. Lumerity Capital, LLC, a Connecticut based private equity investment firm was founded by Matt Kim, a 20-year veteran of the TMT sector. Lumerity's portfolio companies include Tricore Solutions, an ERP application managed services provider, and Datavail Corporation, a provider of data and database managed services. Connecticut-based Longboat Advisors LLC was founded by DeSantis, who has been a leader in acquiring, building and growing technology, power, and communications businesses, including Xand, which become the largest privately owned data center operator in the Northeast prior to its sale to Tierpoint.

Piercy, who will serve as Chairman of 365 Data Center Holdings, stated that, "This investment provides Chirisa with a solid foundation to execute on its strategy to broaden its data center, managed services, and real estate reach into the US market. Chirisa is pleased to have joined forces with partners that have successful track records, significant experience, and meaningful contacts in the technology, communications, and data center industries."

"We are enthusiastic about our investment in 365 Data Centers, which embodies key attributes of Lumerity's targeted investments, including proven management with deeply-relevant experience, a unique asset that is difficult to replicate by virtue of its high carrier density, and a go-forward strategy with multiple avenues of growth," added Kim.

The Bank Street Group LLC served as 365 Data Centers Holdings LLC's financial advisor, and Greenberg Traurig served as the purchaser's legal counsel for this transaction. The credit facility for the transaction was provided by the Specialty Lending team at Crestline Investors, Inc.

Pacific Crest Securities, Technology Specialists of KeyBanc Capital Markets, served as financial advisor to the sellers, including 365 Parent LLC and its investors. Alston & Bird served as legal counsel to the sellers in this transaction.

About 365 Data Centers

365 Data Centers is a leading provider of data center solutions in strategic edge markets. Our robust, carrier neutral ecosystem and secure, reliable edge colocation services help organizations reduce costs, drive innovation and improve their customer experience. 365 Data Centers supports mission-critical application infrastructure by providing 100% uptime and adhering to industry standards such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, SSAE 16, SOC 2, and ISAE 3402. 365 Data Centers is based in Connecticut, and operates eight geographically diverse US data centers. Visit 365datacenters.com for more information.

SOURCE 365 Data Centers

Related Links

http://www.365main.com


NEEDHAM, Mass., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AccuFund, Inc., provider of financial reporting and accounting software for nonprofit, municipal and government organizations, today announced the recipients of its annual Partner Leadership Awards for sales and marketing success in the previous year. Presented at a special dinner during AccuFund's annual reseller meeting, held March 24  26, the awards recognize the volume sales leaders for the AccuFund Accounting Suite.

AccuFund bestowed Partner Leadership awards for overall volume sales leadership, volume sales leadership in the government and nonprofit sectors, volume leadership in add-on sales and total unit sales, volume leadership in cloud/online sales, marketing excellence and customer installation and support excellence.

The 2016 AccuFund Partner Leadership award recipients were as follows:

ComputerWorks NFP, volume sales leader overall and volume leader in government sales, total unit sales and add-on sales;

Waypoints, LLC, second volume sales leader overall and volume leader in nonprofit sector sales;

EMK, Inc., third volume sales leader overall;

Inventive Software Systems, volume leader in cloud/online sales;

Brisbane Consulting Group, partner leader in marketing excellence;

BW Consulting, partner leader in marketing excellence; and

Mountaineer Computer Systems, partner leader in installation and support excellence.

"We've assembled a team of resellers who are among the best in the government and nonprofit financial management solutions market," said Peter Stam, president of AccuFund, Inc. "These proven sales leaders are driven to provide their customers with the best solutions in the market. We are proud that they are dedicated to solving their customers' problems and addressing their finance management needs with the implementation of our products."

"We are very proud to receive this recognition as the volume sales leader for the second year in a row," said Jeff Durante, President at ComputerWorks NFP Solutions. "It is our pleasure to offer AccuFund's powerful and feature-rich accounting solution and to work with its dedicated team of developers and support people, who share our focus for addressing customers' needs and requests."

"AccuFund provides us with a product that is extremely well-suited for our nonprofit customers and meeting their specific accounting needs as well as their budget requirements," said Pate Williams, President at Waypoints, LLC. "AccuFund is a perfect fit for my government customers as well, as it provides them with an easy to use product that handles their complex finance management needs. Working with a superlative solution such as the AccuFund Accounting Suite supports our standing as a top reseller in these markets."

"Receiving this recognition from AccuFund for our sales achievement is very meaningful, as few vendors show their appreciation in this way," said Elisa Kearny, president, EMK Consulting. "AccuFund provides us with financial management solutions that are very easy for us to sell, implement and train our customers to use. More importantly, AccuFund's products provide our customers with greater simplicity and convenience with managing their finances, helping them to be more efficient and productive and better serve their constituents."

The AccuFund reseller meeting was held March 24 -26, 2017 at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to the presentation of the AccuFund Partner Leadership awards, the meeting provided attendees with technical updates, training on new software, and sales techniques. The company has resellers across the United States who attend the annual reseller meeting each year.

About AccuFund

AccuFund, Inc. is a nonprofit financial improvement systems specialist. AccuFund uses award-winning financial software, consulting services and industry best practices to help organizations streamline processes, improve efficiency and lower costs. Their nonprofit financial solutions are available on-premise or cloud-based.

AccuFund provides scalable accounting software systems to nonprofit organizations and government agencies. AccuFund's products are available exclusively through Value Added Resellers (VARs) located throughout the United States. The VARs provide AccuFund's customers with cost-effective onsite training and installation assistance.

For more information, call 877-872-2228 ext. 231, email [email protected] or visit www.accufund.com.



Contact:

Kristen Faiola, Marketing & Media

AccuFund, Inc.

400 Hillside Ave.

Needham, MA 02494

Phone: 781-433-0233 ext. 231 Fax: 781-453-0460

[email protected]

SOURCE AccuFund
SAN DIEGO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson & Weaver, LLP (J&W) has launched an investigation into whether the board members of AdvancePierre Foods Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: APFH) breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the proposed sale of the Company to Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN).

On April 25, 2017, AdvancePierre announced it had signed a definitive merger agreement with Tyson. Under the terms of the agreement, AdvancePierre shareholders will receive $40.25 in cash for each share of common stock held.

The investigation concerns whether the AdvancePierre board failed to satisfy their duties to the Company shareholders, including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for AdvancePierre shares of common stock. Nationally recognized Johnson & Weaver is investigating whether the proposed deal price represents adequate consideration.

If you are a shareholder of AdvancePierre and believe the proposed buyout price is too low and you're interested in learning more about the investigation or your legal rights and remedies, please contact lead analyst Jim Baker ([email protected]) at 619-814-4471.

About Johnson & Weaver, LLP:

Johnson & Weaver, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonandweaver.com. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Contact:

Johnson & Weaver, LLP

Jim Baker, 619-814-4471

[email protected]

SOURCE Johnson & Weaver, LLP

Related Links

http://johnsonandweaver.com


MEXICO CITY, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Aeromexico S.A.B. de C.V. ("Aeromexico") (BMV: AEROMEX), today reported its unaudited consolidated results for the first quarter 2017.

KEY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER 2017

Grupo Aeromexico's first quarter 2017 revenues reached $14.2 billion pesos, a 17.5% year on-year increase. During the quarter, Revenue per ASK (RASK) increased by 8.9% compared to the same period of 2016.

First quarter 2017 financial results reflect the negative impact of a 64.4% increase in fuel prices and a 12.5% depreciation of the Mexican peso against the US dollar. CASK in pesos increased by 18.0%, year-on-year, while CASK in dollars increased 4.9%. CASK excluding fuel in pesos increased by 8.5%, year-on-year, while CASK excluding fuel in dollars decreased 3.6%, highlighting Grupo Aeromexicos ongoing focus on optimizing unit costs.

Grupo Aeromexico reported an operating profit of $533 million pesos with operating margin reaching 3.8%. This represents the 28th consecutive quarter of positive EBIT results.

During the quarter, EBITDAR reached $3.6 billion pesos a 16.4% increase compared to the prior year. EBITDAR margin amounted to 25.3%, a 0.2 percentage point decrease compared to the same period of 2016.

Aeromexico reported a net loss of $258 million pesos with a negative margin of 1.8% margin for the first quarter of 2017.

These financial results include a non-recurrent (net of deferred taxes) $561 million peso benefit derived from a non-monetary transaction associated with an agreement to develop Aeromexico's new Corporate Headquarters in Mexico City .

The total cash balance at the end of the quarter reached $9.1 billion pesos, equivalent to 16.2% of annual revenues.

During the quarter, the Company added three aircraft to its fleet: one Boeing 787-9 and two Embraer-190s. At the end of the quarter, Grupo Aeromexico's operating fleet comprised 133 aircraft.

MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

All figures are expressed in millions of pesos unless otherwise indicated. Grupo Aeromexico's financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The International Accounting Standard 1 (IAS 1) "Presentation of Financial Statements" establishes that in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income additional items, headings and subtotals can be presented when they are relevant to understanding the financial performance of the entity.

The following information provides an overview of selected consolidated financial and operating results, comparing the Company's unaudited consolidated financial statements for the first quarter 2017 with those of the first quarter 2016.

To access the full text of this earnings release, please visit Aeromexico's Investor Relations website at: http://www.aeromexico.com/investors/welcome.html

CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS

DATE: Grupo Aeromexico will hold its 1Q17 results call on April 26, 2017



TIME: 11:00 am ET/10:00 am Mexico City & Central Time



DIAL-IN: US Toll Free: 1-866-682-6100





International Toll: 1-862-255-5401



SPEAKERS: Andres Conesa Labastida, CEO

Ricardo Sanchez Baker, CFO



Registration is required; please dial in at least ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

The conference call will be available for replay until May 26, 2017 at 11:59 PM:

Toll Free US 1-877-481-4010 Toll International 1-919-882-2331

Replay Conference ID Number: 10330

The conference call replay can also be accessed via Grupo Aeromexico's Investor Relations website: http://aeromexico.com/investors/welcome.html

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company's results and business prospects. The readers should know that the results obtained may differ from that stated on this release. Past performances do not guarantee the behavior of future performances. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of these statements, either as a result of new information, future actions or other related events.

About Grupo Aeromexico

Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. is a holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in commercial aviation in Mexico and the promotion of passenger loyalty programs. Aeromexico, Mexicos global airline, operates more than 600 daily flights and its main hub is in Terminal 2 at the Mexico City International Airport. Its destinations network features more than 80 cities on three continents, including 45 destinations in Mexico, 17 in the United States, 15 in Latin America, 4 in Canada, 4 in Europe, and 3 in Asia.

The Group's fleet of more than 130 aircraft is comprised of Boeing 787, 777 and 737 jet airliners and next generation Embraer 145, 170 and 190 models. In 2012, the airline announced the most significant investment strategy in aviation history in Mexico, to purchase 100 Boeing aircraft including 90 MAX B737 jet airliners and 10 B787-9 Dreamliners.

As a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, Aeromexico offers customers more than 1,000 destinations in 177 countries served by the 20 SkyTeam airline partners rewarding passengers with benefits including access to 636 premium airport lounges around the world. Aeromexico also offers travel on its codeshare partner flights with Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines and WestJet, with extensive connectivity in countries like the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia and Peru.

www.aeromexico.com

www.skyteam.com

http://disfrutaam.tumblr.com/

SOURCE Grupo Aeromexico S.A.B. de C.V.

Related Links

http://www.aeromexico.com


CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Alacrita, the life sciences consulting firm, today announced that medical imaging expert and Alacrita Partner, Colin G Miller PhD, will present a poster at the upcoming Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) Annual Meeting in Las Vegas from 27th to 30th April.

Colin is the co-author of a poster presentation entitled, "Standardization of imaging reads for eligibility assessment of patients - Component of a risk mitigation strategy in the Tanezumab Clinical program." This has part of a major anti-Nerve Growth Factor program being conducted by Pfizer for which Colin has been consulting for over 4 years. Colin is an experienced medical imaging consultant and specializes in optimizing the use of medical imaging to evaluate the safety and efficacy of novel pharmaceuticals.

Colin will participate in the inaugural workshop in "Clinical Trials in Osteoarthritis," which is designed to equip investigators and industry sponsors with an understanding of the complexities of running patient-oriented randomized clinical trials in osteoarthritis. Colin is a member of the organizing committee and a Corporate advisor to the conference.

"The OARSI meeting is the premier meeting for preclinical and clinical research in the field of osteoarthritis," stated Colin Miller. "I have participated in OARSI for over 10 years and am delighted to accept the invitation to participate on the organizing committee for the workshop on clinical trials in osteoarthritis. The treatment of osteoarthritis represents a significant unmet medical need and there are several therapies in development for disease modification, so this workshop comes at a key time."

Rob Johnson, Managing Partner at Alacrita, said: "The Alacrita team consists of high calibre individuals to provide world-class pharma consulting services. Dr Miller has co-authored over a dozen publications in the conduct of clinical trials in osteoarthritis and the challenges of imaging endpoints, is a recognized expert in medical imaging and a respected consultant in the osteoarthritis field. This level of contribution exemplifies the Alacrita approach and that we continue to have impact in our respective areas of expertise."

About Alacrita

Alacrita is a rapidly growing, transatlantic life science consulting firm providing expertise-based services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life science sectors. The firm is supported by an unrivalled team of experts who operate across the spectrum of life sciences. They combine extensive international industry experience (product development, commercialization, business development), broad functional capabilities and a track record of success across the industry.

Media Contact:



Alacrita Europe:

London BioScience Innovation Centre

2 Royal College Street

London, NW1 0NH

Tel: +44-207-691-4915

Alacrita USA:

One Broadway, 14th floor

Kendall Square

Cambridge, MA 02142

Tel: +1-617-714-9696



www.alacritaconsulting.com

For further information, please contact:

Colin G Miller, Partner

[email protected]



SOURCE Alacrita
SEATTLE, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines and Virgin America today announce plans to move into Terminal 7 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The move, which will be complete by October 2017, relocates the airlines' two operations from Terminal 8 and Terminal 4, respectively, and will offer guests a better airport experience while laying the groundwork for future growth at JFK.

"Our focus is on integrating Alaska Airlines and Virgin America operations at JFK to enable future growth while continuing to deliver low fares and award-winning service for guests," said Andrew Harrison, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Alaska Airlines. "JFK is a key airport where guests connect to fly on our global partners to Europe and beyond. Having convenient connections and a streamlined operation are keys to delivering a positive guest experience."

Together, Alaska and Virgin America operate 14 flights a day to JFK from key West Coast international gateways including Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco. Alaska and Virgin America fly 28 nonstop flights from 10 destinations to New York City area airports, including Newark, where the two airlines are co-located in Terminal A.

The airlines will join Alaska Global Partners British Airways, Qantas and Icelandair in Terminal 7, providing guests convenient access to a combined 13 daily flights to top global destinations across Europe and Australia. Alaska allows Mileage Plan members to travel and earn miles to more than 900 destinations around the globe through a unique network of international partners, with many flying out of JFK.

Alaska recently announced it will build an airport lounge at JFK, which will open in early 2018. Additional enhancements to the Terminal 7 airport experience, funded by an investment from British Airways, will help increase the efficiency of TSA security screening and provide new concessions for guests within the terminal.

Steve Clark, Executive Vice President of British Airways, North America, said "We're excited to have Alaska Airlines and Virgin America join us at JFK Terminal 7. We are investing $65 million to modernize the terminal, offering enhanced food and retail concession experience as well as new seating areas near the gates for improved customer comfort. British Airways and Alaska Airlines have been frequent flyer program partners and we are delighted to have them co-locate at JFK and extend this partnership."

Alaska Airlines, together with Virgin America and its regional partners, flies 40 million customers a year to 118 destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba. With Alaska and Alaska Global Partners , customers can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 900 destinations worldwide. Alaska Mileage Plan ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Airline Loyalty Rewards Programs" in the J.D. Power Airline Loyalty/Rewards Program Satisfaction Report for the last three consecutive years. Learn more about Alaska's award-winning service and unmatched reliability at newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).

SOURCE Alaska Airlines

Related Links

http://www.alaskaair.com


BOISE, Idaho, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Albertsons Companies today announced that Geoff White has been appointed to the new position of President of the company's Own Brands organization. In this new role, White will lead the Own Brands team, including the Culinary Kitchen and Technical Center. He will be responsible for furthering the growth, development, and innovation of the company's Own Brands products, including O Organics, Lucerne, Open Nature and the extensive line of Signature products.

"Geoff is a visionary merchant who understands the evolution of our company's Own Brands and the significant role they play in our overall strategy," said Shane Sampson, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing & Merchandising Officer. "Our Own Brand items are integral to how we earn customer loyalty. We've developed a nimble process that responds quickly to consumer trends with popular products over the last two years, and I'm excited to see how our team and brands further their development under Geoff's leadership."

White started as a general clerk in Burnaby, British Columbia in 1981 and held positions of increasing responsibility over the next 17 years, culminating in being named Director of Canadian Produce Operations, where he was responsible for all Produce sales, marketing, and merchandising, spanning western Canada with 210 stores. In December 2004, White was named to a Group Director position at the Safeway corporate office and was eventually promoted to Vice President of Produce. In 2010 he was named Senior Vice President, and over the next five years led several functions including Dairy, Frozen, Deli/Food Service, Branded Concepts, Produce and Floral. In 2015, he was named the SVP of Marketing and Merchandising for the Northern California Division.

White will be located at the company's Pleasanton, CA campus.

About Albertsons Companies

Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, with both a strong local presence and national scale. We operate stores across 35 states and the District of Columbia under 19 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2016 alone, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the company gave nearly $300 million in food and financial support. These efforts helped millions of people in the areas of hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, programs for people with disabilities and veterans outreach.

Contact: Christine Wilcox

[email protected] | 208-395-4163

SOURCE Albertsons Companies
WALTHAM, Mass., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alere Inc. (NYSE: ALR), a global leader in rapid diagnostics, today announced the launch of its Alere Malaria Ag P.f, a major technological breakthrough in high-sensitivity rapid testing versus currently available malaria RDTs (rapid diagnostic tests).

The Alere Malaria Ag P.f offers a greater than tenfold improvement in the detection of histidine rich protein II (HRP-II) antigen of Plasmodium falciparum, which will enable better identification of individuals with very low parasitemia, many of whom may be without evident symptoms of malaria infection. This highly sensitive diagnostic will help healthcare workers screen individuals who are asymptomatic but may be carrying the parasite, and thus can aid the implementation of surveillance and mass screen-and-treat programs that are critical for accelerating malaria elimination.

The development of the Alere Malaria Ag P.f was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has identified a test to uncover the asymptomatic reservoir as a key component of its malaria strategy. Alere and the Gates Foundation are partnering to generate field data to demonstrate the public health value of the test, particularly in elimination settings. Clinical evaluation and technical support was also provided by PATH and FIND.

"Breaking the cycle of malaria transmission requires identifying all infected individuals, but until now point-of-care diagnostic tests have not been sensitive enough to reliably detect asymptomatic infections," said Avi Pelossof, Alere Global President of Infectious Disease. "The Alere Malaria Ag P.f represents a game-changing tool to empower healthcare workers to identify asymptomatic individuals in even the most remote settings, contributing to a reduced malaria reservoir in communities  key strategies in eliminating this devastating disease."

"We are excited by the potential for this product to address one of the barriers identified on the path to malaria eradication  the non-acute disease reservoir that complicates efforts to stop transmission," said Dr. Bruno Moonen, Deputy Director of the Malaria program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Until now, we haven't had a tool to tackle this challenge in low-transmission settings. Added to existing RDTs, prevention methods and treatments that reduce disease burden in high- and medium-transmission settings, this test will add a new tool to the fight against malaria."



"Improving our ability to detect and define the transmissible reservoir of malaria in a community is critical to inform evidence-based strategies to eliminate malaria. A test that can produce immediate sensitive results even in rural and remote settings represents a significant advance in our ability to do this for Plasmodium falciparum malaria and as such is a valuable tool for malaria elimination," said Gonzalo Domingo, Scientific Director and lead of malaria diagnostics, PATH. "We now have an opportunity to better understand where and how this test can best impact the reduction of the malaria burden world-wide."

"Elimination of malaria rests on our ability to identify asymptomatic malaria infections," noted Catharina Boehme, CEO of FIND. "This test is a valuable addition to the malaria elimination toolkit. Looking forward, we are excited to see the results of our forthcoming demonstration studies, as these will provide valuable insights into how this test can have the biggest positive impact."

The Alere Malaria Ag P.f was granted CE marking in December 2016, and was evaluated during Round 7 of the WHO FIND Malaria RDT Evaluation Program.

About the Alere Malaria Ag P.f

The Alere Malaria Ag P.f is a highly sensitive test that detects histidine-rich protein II (HRP-II) antigen of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in human whole blood within 20 minutes. The test has a greater than tenfold sensitivity improvement over currently available rapid tests, while offering improved time to result, portability and ease of use compared to molecular assays. The Alere Malaria Ag P.f has the potential to support elimination programs that actively seek and treat infections to reduce the malaria reservoir in the community and thereby drive down transmission, and will help to significantly increase the detection of P.f infection in screening programs. The test also has potential for use in the detection of malaria during pregnancy and in surveillance programs. For more information on the Alere Malaria Ag P.f, see www.alere.com/malaria-POC.

About Malaria

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. According to the World Health Organization, nearly one half of the world's population is at risk of malaria. In 2015, 91 countries and areas had ongoing malaria transmission, leading to 212 million cases and 429,000 deaths.[i] A significant portion of infected individuals have minimal or no symptoms and these may not be detected by existing RDTs or microscopy but may continue to transmit the disease. Global efforts to eliminate malaria, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "From Aspiration to Action" (http://www.endmalaria2040.org/) have identified diagnosing malaria infection in asymptomatic people as a key principal for elimination.[ii]

About Alere

Alere believes that when diagnosing and monitoring health conditions, Knowing now matters. Alere delivers on this vision by providing reliable and actionable information through rapid diagnostic tests, enhancing clinical and economic health outcomes globally. Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., Alere focuses on rapid diagnostics for infectious disease, cardiometabolic disease and toxicology. For more information on Alere, please visit www.alere.com.

[i] World Health Organization (WHO). Malaria. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs094/en/.

[ii] Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Malaria: strategy overview. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Health/Malaria

SOURCE Alere Inc.

Related Links

http://www.alere.com


DETROIT, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DementiaWise, a proprietary curriculum of best practices and activities for home caregivers created by ComForCare, a premier provider of in-home care, was officially reviewed by the Alzheimer's Association.

The signature program employs evidence-based behavioral interventions to help people living with dementia to optimize their remaining abilities. It is designed to serve clients at all stages of dementia, through the end of life, and allows them to remain in their own homes, where they are most comfortable and content.

The DementiaWise program meets the Alzheimer's Association Dementia Care Practice Recommendations in the areas of Alzheimer's and Dementia Disease Awareness, Strategies for Caring for the Person with Dementia, Communications and Understanding Behavior, Social Needs and Activity and Eating Well.

"As a leading provider of in-home care, our top priority is making sure our caregivers have the most effective tools and training so they can best serve our clients," said ComForCare CEO Mark Armstrong. "We sought the Alzheimer Association's review of our DementiaWise program to be sure we are doing all we can to create better days for our clients and their family members."

DementiaWise is a person-centered approach that teaches caregivers to put clients first and to provide care with them, rather than to them. The curriculum also incorporates meaningful activities based on a client's interests, skills and abilities. In addition, DementiaWise provides support and information to family members through support groups, monthly videos and blogs on dementia.

Resources for families are available at http://content.comforcare.com/resources.

About ComForCare

ComForCare/At Your Side Home Care (in Houston, Texas) is a premier provider of in-home care with nearly 200 independently owned and operated locations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., helping seniors live independently in their own homes and continue to do all the things they love. Its compassionate caregivers can assist with personal care, companionship, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, transportation and errands. ComForCare also offers special programs for people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, and it can provide services to individuals with disabilities or those recovering from an illness or surgery. More information is available at www.comforcare.com.

Media Contact:

Paige Carter

[email protected]

817-329-3257

SOURCE ComForCare

Related Links

http://www.comforcare.com


SAN DIEGO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With so many law firms out there, it can be difficult for attorneys to stand out enough to increase their discoverability. The first page of a Google search is prime real estate that many lawyers are vying forand very few will ever get. That's where Search-Attorneys.com comes in. Owned and operated by the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA), the already high-ranking, high-traffic directory was recently relaunched after a redesign that will further allow attorneys to get the search engine visibility they need to attract clients online.

The high-ranking Search-Attorneys.com directory helps attorneys generate clients by being on Google's first page The attorney directory is sponsored by the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

Since the mid-1990s, Search-Attorneys.com has gained a reputation as a trusted platform where consumers can easily and quickly find excellent representation in practice areas such as estate planning, criminal defense, family law, personal injury, and intellectual property, among others. As a result, the site has been rewarded with "high domain authority" status from search engineswhich has helped propel attorneys listed in the directory to top spots when people search for lawyers in their local area.

Lawyers can take advantage of Search-Attorneys.com's high traffic and search engine placement by creating a listing for free. Users can produce robust profiles that really sell their expertise by including information about their current practice, firm, past work experience, and education. In addition, attorneys are able to further attract more consumer activity by including photographs, videos, and links to their blog.

Search-Attorneys.com members also receive access to free resources, educational guides, ebooks, and webinars provided by the AAEPA.

For more information, visit Search-Attorneys.com or email [email protected].

About the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.

The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA) is a premier professional organization devoted to furthering the practice of estate planning around the country. Since 1993, the AAEPA has been helping attorneys build more successful practices through exclusive resourcessuch as research, education opportunities, and practice management systemsthat were pioneered by the Academy's founders.

The Academy currently boasts over 125 member firms in 45 states. For more information, visit http://www.aaepa.com and http://www.aaepa.com/blog/.

Contact:

Nikki Nassiri

Marketing Coordinator

American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.

800-846-1555

[email protected]

SOURCE American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aaepa.com


WASHINGTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of State and IREX are pleased to announce their support of more than 50 Reciprocal Exchange projects in 2017 as part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. More than 50 Americans will travel to Sub-Saharan Africa this year to collaborate with 2016 Mandela Washington Fellowship alumni on projects that address critical challenges.

These Americans, who are leaders in many professional fields and young African leaders are joining forces to collaborate on important issues and to deepen their partnerships, thereby contributing to mutual understanding between the United States and African countries.

"From my time in Mauritius, I've learned that with hard work, determination, and a creative spirit of collaboration, anything is possible," said Alexander Lopez, a 2016 Reciprocal Exchange awardee from New Hampshire, who worked on waste management. "The program encourages people to be the most innovative versions of themselves. It helps you bring an idea into a reality through a network of Fellow entrepreneurs and curious minds, and a spirit of collaboration and hard work."

The Reciprocal Exchange component awards up to $5,000 to each American to help fund ongoing projects between 2016 Mandela Washington Fellows and U.S. professionals. American awardees and projects were competitively selected from hundreds of applications and showcase an array of local and global challenges being tackled with innovative approaches. Chosen Americans include:

Latisha Bracey from Delaware , advocating for women's participation in politics in Botswana

from , advocating for women's participation in politics in Scotty Dossett from Illinois , promoting environmental stewardship in Madagascar

from , promoting environmental stewardship in Smita Patel from Georgia , advancing agriculture and entrepreneurship in Burkina Faso

View the full list of more than 50 awardees.

Many of the American awardees will be traveling to Africa for the first time. While the exchange itself is short in duration  up to two weeks  the results are expected to be long lasting in both the United States and Africa.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). The Fellowship brings young leaders to the United States for academic coursework and leadership training and creates unique opportunities in Africa for Fellows to put new skills to practical use in leading organizations, communities, and countries. Two thousand young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Fellowship.

For more information about the Mandela Washington Fellowship, visit yali.state.gov/washington-fellowship. You can also get updates at Facebook.com/MandelaWashingtonFellowship and Twitter.com/WashFellowship. Press inquiries may also be directed to [email protected].

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is a program of the U.S. Department of State and is supported in its implementation by IREX.

CONTACT: Erin Powell, 202-628-8188, [email protected]





SOURCE IREX

Related Links

http://www.irex.org


MIAMI, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Androvia LifeSciences announced today that an oral presentation at the 42nd Annual Conference of the American Society of Andrology (ASA) offered scientific evidence of cellular changes in sperm that correlate with clinical male fertility. The findings demonstrate the scientific basis of the Cap-Score Sperm Function Test (Cap-Score SFT). A laboratory developed test, the Cap-Score SFT is the only test that indicates the percentage of sperm that can actually fertilize an egg, and compares each man's results to a normal, fertile population.

In the oral presentation offered at the meeting, Dr. Alexander Travis, associate professor, Cornell University and chief scientific officer, Androvia LifeSciences, provides details of how molecular studies of sperm function in mice led to clinical studies and the development of the Cap-Score Sperm Function Test for humans. Specifically, the discovery that in order to fertilize an egg, the sperm cell must undergo a process called capacitation, in which the ganglioside G M1 , a lipid, localizes on the head of the sperm, where it regulates the influx of calcium through a particular channel known as Ca V 2.3. He discovered that different localization patterns of G M1 in the sperm head could be used to quantify the percentage of sperm undergoing capacitation. These scores are compared to those from a population of fertile men, providing the basis for the Cap-Score.

These data come on the heels of the publication of two papers presenting clinical and technology validation studies in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Reproduction and Development. The two papers provide scientific evidence of the clinical utility and value of this technology, the Cap-Score Sperm Function Test. One paper validated the underlying technology, demonstrating the accuracy, reproducibility and precision of the test, and the other offered clinical data demonstrating that the Cap-Score strongly reflects fertility status, and can provide value as a general screening test for men questioning their fertility.

The oral presentation offered at ASA is titled "Lipid regulation of sperm function: from basic sciences to a clinical test of male fertility." The company also presented data in a poster session at the conference titled "Localization patterns of the ganglioside G M1 identify sperm capable of undergoing capacitation and acrosome exocytosis."

An overview of the oral and poster presentations at ASA is included in the conference schedule which is published on the ASA website and available to conference registrants and ASA members at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/andr.2017.5.issue-S1/issuetoc#content.

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 Androvia LifeSciences

Located in Mountainside, NJ, Androvia LifeSciences is a CLIA registered laboratory. The company's first product, the Cap-Score Sperm Function Test, has been scientifically 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 Sperm Function Test please visit www.androvialifesciences.com.

SOURCE Androvia LifeSciences

Related Links

http://www.androvialifesciences.com


The Patriot Award reflects the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide-range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families, and granting leaves of absence if needed.

"It's an honor to receive this award. Angel MedFlight does our best to support all of our associates in a meaningful way. We are fortunate to have so many amazing associates - many of which serve or have served our country," Jason Siegert said. "Our company's support of our military members pale in comparison to the support they provide our country."

Since 2014, Jason has led the Angel MedFlight executive team serving as President and most recently Chief Executive Officer. His commitment to excellence in patient care and safety guides the organization and drives continual process improvement.

Prior to joining Angel MedFlight, Jason served as the Director of Operations Finance at Health Management Associates (HMA), a publicly traded, $6 billion net revenue, integrated acute care delivery system with 71 hospitals across 15 states in the United States. Jason helped facilitate the sale of HMA to Community Health Systems, CHS.

Jason has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Florida Gulf Coast University. He is married and the proud father of two children.

To celebrate the Patriot Award, Angel MedFlight honored current associates in the organization that have served and those that continue to serve our armed forces.

"Learning about Jason's recent recognition validates the type of leader that he is to this organization. He measures himself by the development of those around him," said Astronaut Mark Kelly, a member of Angel MedFlight's Board of Directors and retired United States Navy Captain. "His ability to lead has always been about giving those around him the tools to succeed. I commend him for supporting those associates that choose to serve."

ABOUT ESGR:

ESGR, a Department of Defense program, was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve Component Service members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee's military commitment. ESGR is supported by a network of more than 4,500 volunteers in 54 committees located across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam-CNMI (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Volunteers, hailing from small business and industry, government, education, and prior military service bring a vast wealth of experience to assist in serving employers, Service members, and their families.

ESGR has served our country for more than 40 years, fostering a culture in which all employers support and value the employment and military service of members of the National Guard and Reserve in the United States. Find more information at http://www.esgr.mil

About the Patriot Award:

Our Nation has relied heavily on Guard and Reserve Service members since entering continuous operations more than 15 years ago. Employer support enhances retention rates in the Armed Forces and, in the end, strengthens our national security. To recognize employers who support their Guard and Reserve employees, ESGR grants a series of Department of Defense awards.

The first in ESGR's series of awards is the Patriot Award. An employee serving in the National Guard or Reserve, or the spouse of a Guard or Reserve member, may nominate individual supervisors and bosses for support provided directly to the nominating Service member and his or her family. The Patriot Award reflects the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide-range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families, and granting leaves of absence if needed.

About Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance

Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance provides domestic and international air medical transportation services with a fleet of medically-configured Learjet aircraft. Built on a One Touch Promise, Angel MedFlight's compassionate team of medical, aviation, and insurance professionals simplify the coordination of air ambulance transfers for patients, their families and the healthcare professionals who care for them.

Available around the clock, the award-winning Angel MedFlight team coordinates every detail of Bedside-to-Bedside patient transfers to ensure seamless service on the ground and in the air. Exceeding industry standards, Angel MedFlight's medical crew hold advanced care credentials for flight: the CFRN or FP-C. Angel MedFlight's operational excellence in air medical transport is accredited by NAAMTA, an ISO 9001:2008 organization.

Find more information at www.angelmedflight.com, Facebook or on its blog at http://www.angelmedflight.com/blog/.

Learn more about at Angel MedFlight and on Facebook.

Interested in astronaut Mark Kelly? Click Here: www.angelmedflight.com/mark-kelly-astronaut.html

Contact: Kim Halloran

Office: 877.264.3570

Cell: 602.696.9269

17851 N. 85th St.

Suite 350

Scottsdale, AZ 85255

Website: http://www.angelmedflight.com

SOURCE Angel MedFlight Worldwide Air Ambulance

Related Links

http://www.angelmedflight.com


CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals, a privately held biotechnology company focused on RNA binding proteins for neurodegenerative disease, announced today that two additional pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV), have invested in Aquinnah's work to treat ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. This $10 million adds to an earlier $5 million investment made by Takeda Pharmaceuticals in December 2015.

"We are excited to have the support of three world-class pharmaceutical companies to expand our drug development efforts from ALS into new RNA binding proteins known to modulate Tau, one of the hallmark pathological proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease," said Glenn Larsen, Ph.D., Aquinnah's President and Chief Executive Officer.

While the scientific community has spent years studying neurofibrillary tangles and b-amyloid plaques, Dr. Ben Wolozin, M.D., Ph.D., Aquinnah's Chief Scientific Officer, believes the newly discovered role for RNA binding proteins in the biology of Tau protein provides an essential, previously undetected key to better understand Alzheimer's disease. "We discovered that RNA binding proteins play a critical role in brain deterioration, cognitive loss and life expectancy reduction in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Targeting these pathways are expected to yield new therapies for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease."

"There continues to be a substantial need to combat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and ALS," said Scott Brun, M.D., Head, AbbVie Ventures, AbbVie. "Aquinnah's research approach, developed by world-class scientific and drug development leaders, could offer valuable advances to treat these debilitating, progressive brain diseases and complements AbbVie's ongoing neuroscience research efforts."

"We believe Aquinnah's novel approach to ALS and Alzheimer's disease is one of the most promising developments in neurodegenerative disease today. We see the potential for multiple approaches to these diseases based on the company's work. Neurodegenerative disease remains one of Pfizer's top priorities and we are committed to supporting Aquinnah's research," said Morris Birnbaum, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer of Internal Medicine, Pfizer.

Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals is committed to restoring the health of people with ALS, Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. The company has developed a revolutionary approach that has the potential to arrest, and possibly reverse these diseases. Aquinnah was chosen as the Most Innovative Neurodegenerative Research Company in 2016 by New Economy Magazine. To learn more, please visit: aquinnahpharmaceuticals.com.

SOURCE Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals

Related Links

http://www.aquinnahpharmaceuticals.com


GREEN BAY, Wis., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) ("Associated") today announced the results of the actions taken at its 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

The following directors were re-elected:

William R. Hutchinson , chairman, Associated Banc-Corp, and president, W.R. Hutchinson & Associates, Inc.

, chairman, Associated Banc-Corp, and president, & Associates, Inc. Philip B. Flynn , president and chief executive officer, Associated Banc-Corp

, president and chief executive officer, Associated Banc-Corp John F. Bergstrom , chairman and chief executive officer, Bergstrom Corp.

, chairman and chief executive officer, Bergstrom Corp. R. Jay Gerken , director of 20 mutual funds associated with Sanford C. Bernstein Fund, Inc.

, director of 20 mutual funds associated with Sanford C. Bernstein Fund, Inc. Robert A. Jeffe , co-chairman and co-founder, Hawkwood Energy

, co-chairman and co-founder, Hawkwood Energy Eileen A. Kamerick , adjunct professor of law and consultant

, adjunct professor of law and consultant Gale E. Klappa , non-executive chairman and former CEO of WEC Energy Group

, non-executive chairman and former CEO of WEC Energy Group Richard T. Lommen , chairman, Courtesy Corp.

, chairman, Courtesy Corp. Cory L. Nettles , founder and managing director, Generation Growth Capital, Inc.

, founder and managing director, Generation Growth Capital, Inc. Karen T. van Lith, consultant

John (Jay) B. Williams , past chairman, Milwaukee Public Museum

Also elected to the Board for the first time was Judith P. Greffin, former chief investment officer at the Allstate Corporation.

Shareholders also (1) approved the Associated Banc-Corp 2017 Incentive Compensation Plan, (2) approved named executive officer compensation, and (3) ratified the selection of KPMG LLP as Associated's independent accounting firm for 2017.

The Associated Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.12 per common share, payable on June 15, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 1, 2017.

The Board of Directors also declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.3828125 per depositary share on Associated's 6.125% Series C Preferred Stock payable on June 15, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 1, 2017.

The Board of Directors also declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.3359375 per depositary share on Associated's 5.375% Series D Perpetual Preferred Stock payable on June 15, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 1, 2017.

ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of over $29 billion and is one of the top 50 publicly traded U.S. bank holding companies. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from over 200 banking locations serving more than 100 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, and commercial financial services in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "should", "will", "intend", "outlook", or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference.

Investor Contact:

Jessica Vanden Heuvel, Vice President, Director of Investor Relations

920-491-7059

Media Contact:

Jennifer Kaminski, Vice President, Public Relations Manager

920-491-7576

SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp

Related Links

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RIVERSIDE, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Zulu Ali of the Law Offices of Zulu Ali in Riverside, California has been named Top 10 Best Lawyers in Criminal Law, Personal Injury, and Immigration Law by the American Institute of Legal Counsel. The American Institute of Legal Counsel is an invitation only legal organization recognizing excellence of practitioners in their respective areas. Each lawyer must be formally nominated, have attained the highest degree of professional achievement in his or her field, and have an impeccable client satisfaction rating.

Attorney Zulu Ali Attorney Zulu Ali

Attorney Zulu Ali, a native of Shelbyville, Tennessee, is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served with the Marine Security Forces. After graduating from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy, Attorney Ali served as a sworn police officer with the City of Shelbyville, City of Lewisburg, and Vanderbilt Police Departments, respectively.

Attorney Ali earned a Juris Doctorate (law degree) from Trinity International University Law School and a liberal arts degree with an emphasis in African Studies from Regents College through a consortium with Tennessee State University.

Attorney Ali has been admitted to the California State Bar; United States District Courts for the districts of Central California, Southern California, Northern California, and Colorado; United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits; and the United States Supreme Court.

In 2007, inspired by civil rights attorneys Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and Avon Williams, Jr., who used the law and courts as a vehicle to make change and protect all people against injustice, Attorney Zulu Ali opened the Law Offices of Zulu Ali with a focus on representing persons accused of crimes and seeking criminal justice, immigrants, victims of discrimination, and persons seeking civil justice. Attorney Ali and his law firm take on extremely difficult cases and matters that provide an opportunity to make changes in the law, through the courts, when the law is unjust.

Attorney Ali serves as Director of the American Committee for United Nations Oversight, an advocacy group lobbying the United Nations for police reform; Director of the Stop and Frisk Academy, which trains at risk youth and others to deal with police encounters; Director of the Southern California Veterans Legal Clinic, a legal clinic offering no cost and low cost legal services to military veterans; and a member of the National Conference of Black Lawyers.

Attorney Ali has been Honored Top 100 Lawyers by the National Black Lawyers-Top 100; Top 100 Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers-Top 100; Premier 100 Trial Lawyers by the American Academy of Trial Attorney; and Top 10 Criminal Defense Attorneys by the American Jurist Institute.

Attorney Ali had been named Top 10 Best Lawyers in Criminal Law and Personal Injury by the American Institute of Legal Counsel in 2016, making 2017 the second consecutive year to be honored in these categories.

Media Contact:

Zulu Ali

[email protected]

951-782-8722

http://zulualilaw.com/

SOURCE Law Office of Zulu Ali

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of the West today announced that its mortgage program is now available to international clients who meet certain employment and financial requirements, but have no credit history in the United States. The Global Mobility platform is a significant expansion of the bank's mortgage programs and illustrates its ongoing desire to offer dedicated programs to Bank of the West international clients moving to the U.S. in pursuit of a new life.

"People who move to the U.S. will often face a high cost of living, particularly in Californiaand their lack of credit history may seriously limit their ability to borrow. This program is designed to help meet their needs," said Thierry Gabadou, Head of International Banking at Bank of the West. "At Bank of the West we are focused on our clients and their ever-evolving needs. Our local presence combined with our global capabilities, through our parent company BNP Paribas, positions Bank of the West in a prime spot to help those, coming from abroad, who are looking to settle and establish credit here in the U.S."

The International Banking Group's team of specialists has a diverse background and an array of language skills that allow them to bring their expertise to international clients within the U.S. The Group is experienced in providing these clients with a customized approach and meeting international clients' unique needs. This expanded mortgage program is the latest in the International Banking Group's suite of programs and services dedicated to international communities living within its footprint.

"We understand the difficulties that individuals without U.S.-based credit history face when they arrive here," said Joel Eckhause, Head of Residential Lending Product and Strategy at Bank of the West. "Through our new platform, these individuals can finance their homes and achieve other financial goals in the U.S."

Applicants interested in the mortgage program for international clients can visit Bank of the West branch locations or email [email protected] for more information. To learn more about the Global Mobility platform and other new programs visit https://www.bankofthewest.com/personal-banking/international-clients.html

About Bank of the West

Bank of the West is a regional financial services company headquartered in San Francisco with $83.8 billion in assets as of December 31, 2016. Founded in 1874, Bank of the West provides a wide range of personal, commercial, wealth management and international banking services through more than 600 branches and offices in 23 states and digital channels. Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, which has a presence in 74 countries with more than 190,000 employees.

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 74 countries, with more than 190,000 employees, including more than 146,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets and International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors. The Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realize their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail-banking model in Mediterranean countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific.

Deposit and loan products offered by Bank of the West, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender. All loans subject to credit approval, standard mortgage qualifications, and underwriting requirements. Doing business in South Dakota as Bank of the West California.

Visit us on:

SOURCE Bank of the West

Related Links

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The strategic union of Bay Sotheby's International Realty, with seven offices throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties, now connects the East Bay with Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty's Silicon Valley and Marin County markets.

Bill Bullock, President and CEO of Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty, toasted the crowd of over 200 agents and staff with a resounding message of unity and growth. "Our expanding brokerage provides unparalleled service and access throughout the San Francisco Bay region. The addition of Bay Sotheby's International Realty marks a significant moment in our vision to unify Bay Area affiliates within the Sotheby's International Realty network."

"Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty will combine the best talent in the industry, creating an extensive network of real estate professionals who are committed to providing the highest level of service for our clientele," said Attarha. Nahid Nassiri, co-founder of Bay Sotheby's International Realty, continues: "Our synergistic approach will position us to expand locally, regionally, and internationally, while embracing the wealth of knowledge and expertise of the combined management and staff at Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty."

Heidi Pay, COO and General Manager states: "The global reach and extensive resources provided by Sotheby's International Realty attracts and retains the most talented agents in the region. We are pleased to welcome more than 200 of the finest agents in the Bay Area to our new brand."

Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty recently combined Dreyfus Sotheby's International Realty in Silicon Valley with Decker Bullock Sotheby's International Realty in Marin County under a new iconic brand. Together with Bay Sotheby's International Realty, there are over 400 agents in 18 offices throughout the San Francisco Bay Area serving the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma and San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.WeAreGoldenGateSIR.com

For media inquiries, please email [email protected]

About Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty:

Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty has approximately 400 agents in 18 offices throughout the San Francisco Bay Area serving the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma and San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.GoldenGateSIR.com

SOURCE Golden Gate Sothebys International Realty

Related Links

http://www.goldengatesir.com


BOSTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BioBridges, a Career Portfolio Management company providing integrated services to the life sciences community, proudly announces the launch of a new, redesigned version of its website, www.biobridges.com. Key features of the site include a cleaner and more attractive design, a more engaging user experience, animation, and rich content designed for both BioBridges clients and professionals.

BioBridges

The site's refreshed and simplified look, combined with enhanced content, and optimization for mobile devices allows site visitors to better interact with BioBridges and understand the mission of the organization  from the perspective of both clients and professionals. Blogs and interactive video deliver stories and news in an easily digestible format.

The new animation, Experience that Works, features the benefits of the BioBridges Career Portfolio Management model. Animated stories showcase the conscious choice exceptional professionals make to work for BioBridges, supporting clients' programs to make an impact that matters.

As part of BioBridges' objective to provide strategic and hands-on expertise to help growing pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies successfully achieve their clinical and business goals  visitors can now gain greater insights into the functional expertise that BioBridges professionals offer clients.

"The inspiration for the site's design and content came directly from the powerful experiences our professionals and clients have shared with us over the years. The messaging is focused on bringing clarity to the conscious choice professionals make in growing their career through the work at BioBridges and what that impact means for our client programs," said Jason Falchuk, Founding Partner. "As a Career Portfolio Management company, we wanted a platform that highlights the importance of the work and outcomes of our professionals and clients within the life science industry."

The new www.biobridges.com allows for more client and professional content, including blogs, news articles, animation, functional expertise, and leadership profiles.

About BioBridges

BioBridges helps exceptional pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device professionals pursue the work that inspires them. The company's scalable Career Portfolio Management model allows highly skilled professionals to focus on the work they are passionate about while collaborating with clients to advance science and produce therapies for patients who need them. For more information, please visit www.biobridges.com.

Media Contact

Amy Steinberg

Phone: 781-591-4740

Email: [email protected]

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This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE BioBridges

Related Links

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Company's robotic solutions contributing to care of neurological disorders in 20 countries and more than 200 hospitals

TORONTO and BOSTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bionik Laboratories Corp. (OTCQX: BNKL) ("Bionik" or the "Company"), a robotics company focused on providing rehabilitation and mobility solutions to individuals with neurological and mobility challenges from hospital to home, announced today it has shipped its 250th interactive robotic therapy system, an important milestone as it continues to penetrate the rehabilitation industry and bring its innovative technology to a broader patient-base.

Bionik's robotic solutions are currently providing effective and affordable patient care with respect to treatment of neurological disorders in 20 countries and in over 200 hospitals. Bionik has seven robotic products, of which three are FDA-cleared and in the market globally, and four products that are in various stages of development. Its InMotion ARM, InMotion HAND, and InMotion WRIST interactive robotic therapy systems sense a patient's movement and respond to a patient's continually-changing ability, all in real time.

"We are excited to reach this milestone as a company and to bring our robotic systems into medical facilities to provide innovative rehabilitation solutions for patients across the country," said Michal Prywata, co-founder, chief technology officer and director of Bionik Laboratories. "Neurological disorders afflict millions of people each year, but current physical therapy methods are simply too limited to help patients regain the mobility they have lost. We believe our robotic systems offer the best in patient care and our continued penetration into the market showcases that."

Neurological disorders affect a person's brain, spine, or nerves and can be characterized by paralysis, muscle weakness, poor coordination, loss of sensation, and a number of other symptoms. A major cause is stroke  approximately 15 million people suffer from stroke each year  with one third remaining permanently disabled in some form. Other instances of injuries occur from traumatic events such as car accidents or battlefield injuries, leaving patients with partial or full paralysis.

"Medical treatment options are changing as technology continues to evolve. Bionik is at the forefront of a shift in the way neurological disorders are managed, utilizing robotics, artificial intelligence, and real time data and analytics to provide a significantly enhanced form of patient care," Prywata continued. "With our InMotion systems and additional products in development, we feel that the Company is uniquely positioned to revolutionize the industry and become the standard of rehabilitation care."

About Bionik Laboratories

Bionik Laboratories (OTCQX:BNKL) is a robotics company focused on providing rehabilitation and mobility solutions to individuals with neurological and mobility challenges from hospital to home. The Company has a portfolio of products focused on upper and lower extremity rehabilitation for stroke and other mobility-impaired patients, including three products on the market and four products in varying stages of development. The InMotion Systems  the InMotion ARM, InMotion Wrist, InMotion Hand and InMotion AnkleBot  are designed to provide intelligent, patient-adaptive therapy in a manner that has been clinically verified to maximize neuro-recovery. Bionik is also developing a lower-body exoskeleton, ARKE, designed to allow paraplegics as well as other wheelchair users the ability to rehabilitate through walking. ARKE is designed to continually adapt to a patient's ability and provide real-time feedback to the physiotherapist.

For more information, please visit www.bioniklabs.com and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding (i) the plans and objectives of management for future operations, including plans or objectives relating to the design, development and commercialization of human exoskeletons and other robotic rehabilitation products, (ii) a projection of income (including income/loss), earnings (including earnings/loss) per share, capital expenditures, dividends, capital structure or other financial items, (iii) the Company's future financial performance, and (iv) the assumptions underlying or relating to any statement described in points (i), (ii) or (iii) above. Such forward-looking statements are not meant to predict or guarantee actual results, performance, events or circumstances, and may not be realized because they are based upon the Company's current projections, plans, objectives, beliefs, expectations, estimates and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and other influences, many of which the Company has no control. Actual results and the timing of certain events and circumstances may differ materially from those described by the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. Factors that may influence or contribute to the inaccuracy of the forward-looking statements or cause actual results to differ materially from expected or desired results may include, without limitation, the Company's inability to obtain additional financing, the significant length of time and resources associated with the development of our products and related insufficient cash flows and resulting illiquidity, the Company's inability to expand the Company's business, significant government regulation of medical devices and the healthcare industry, lack of product diversification, volatility in the price of the Company's raw materials, and the Company's failure to implement the Company's business plans or strategies. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in the Company's filings with the SEC. The Company does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Bionik Laboratories Corp.

Related Links

http://www.bioniklabs.com


MIAMI, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 4, BizBash Live returns to the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center with a new roster of industry all-stars, ideas, and inspiration for events. BizBash Live brings together nearly 1,500 event professionals for one day, including hundreds of vendors to be located in the Exhibit Hall, and top speakers in the Event Innovation Forum. Event professionals who come to BizBash, looking for their "AHA" moment will discover new technologies, fund-raising tools, new venues, and more.

Eventbots (by Sciensio) will take center stage at BizBash Live with Betty the BizBash Eventbot, who will enhance the attendee's experience with an easy Q&A interface, becoming the "customer service bot." Swell Fundraising, a new software for nonprofits, will showcase the power of peer-to-peer connectivity and social media amplification with its new platform, while Gifn will allow attendees to share photobooth pics with their networks. Stormz will demonstrate a new technology that transforms seminars into collaborative environments, while Hurdl will showcase light-up, wearable technology.

The renowned Event Innovation Forum and Workshop Series return with presentations from innovators, including Michael Blatter of Mirrorball; David Sinopoli of III Points: Music, Art, and Technology Festival; Cassandra Clark from Facebook; Christopher Pastor from the Perez Art Museum Miami; Michael Schwartz of Michael Schwartz Events; and DJ Saul from iStrategyLabs. A new "Food for Thought" luncheon, produced by Kelly Murphy of Events on the Loose and featuring Chef Brian Aaron of Aaron's Catering, will discuss the importance of using locally sourced, fresh ingredients.

Decor ideas will be presented by leading names, including Fantasy Designers, Totally Mod Event Furnishings, Decora & Imperial Event Rentals, Scenic Elementz, TS Productions, and Events on the Loose. Caterers such as Michael Schwartz Events and Chef David Schwadron Cuisine & Event Design will provide tastings, while PSAV South Florida, Light F/X Pros, and AVER Productions will showcase important audiovisual and lighting tools.

The full list of speakers, exhibitors, and registration information can be found at www.bizbash.com/expofl. BizBash acknowledges the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB: Meet Sunny, the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, Expo Convention Contractors, T. Skorman Production, Boomset, CadmiumCD, SavorCatering, and Swoogo for their support.

SOURCE BizBash

Related Links

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Ontario and Quebec post another year of strong activity

States in the region pick up alongside broader U.S. momentum

Maintaining trade relationship would be a clear positive for the region

TORONTO, CHICAGO and DETROIT, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence economy is poised to accelerate in 2017 after posting sturdy growth in recent years, according to a new report from BMO Economics. The report, Driving North American Growth and Trade, was released today during a keynote address by BMO Chief Economist Doug Porter at the the Council of the Great Lakes Region's third Great Lakes Economic Forum in Detroit.

"The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region is a vital driver of North American economic output, jobs and exports," said Mr. Porter. "With economic output estimated at US$6 trillion in 2016, the region accounts for 30 per cent of combined Canadian and U.S. economic activity and employment."

Mr. Porter noted that the U.S. economy is expected to accelerate this year, growing at a 2.3 per cent clip in 2017, up from a 1.6 per cent pace last year. Meanwhile, Canada is expected to outperform slightly after lagging in recent years; its economy is expected to grow 2.5 per cent as Central Canada remains strong, while the oil-producing provinces emerge from recession. Ontario is seeing sturdy growth around the 2.6 per cent mark, topping the national average on a sustained basis for the first time in more than a decade, while Quebec is piercing through the 2 per cent thresholdboth mark well above-potential economic growth.

Mr. Porter stated that trade within the Great Lakes region is relatively balanced, with Ontario and Quebec running a modest surplus with the U.S. states. "The North American Free Trade Agreement has certainly helped to spur the trade relationship in the region, and recent policy rhetoric is concerning given how integrated the supply chain has become. Measures by policymakers to maintain the trade relationship and further facilitate the flow of goods in the region would be a clear positive for economies on both sides of the border."

Mr. Porter also observed that the region's highly diverse economy drives employment across a wide range of manufacturing and service industries. "While manufacturing employment is down 15 per cent from pre-recession levels, education & healthcare (+21 per cent) and professional services (+16 per cent) have helped make up the shortfall. In fact, education, healthcare and professional services alone have added 2.5 million jobs over the last 10 years, dwarfing the near-1 million manufacturing job losses."

The full report can be downloaded at bmocm.com/economics.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817, and currently marking its 200th year of operations, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. With total assets of $692 billion as of January 31, 2017, and more than 45,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

Web: www.bmo.com Twitter: @BMOmedia

SOURCE BMO Financial Group
LAKEWOOD, Colo., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bristlecone Shooting, Training, and Retail Center will be hosting its Membership Appreciation Day on Sunday, April 30th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Bristlecone will be open for its members and their guests only that day. The event will include sale items, giveaways on shooting gear, tips for firearms training at Bristlecone's state-of-the-art indoor shooting range, a Lifetime Membership benefits seminar, and much more.

"We're excited to host our Members and their guests on this special day and to showcase the best of what we offer at Bristlecone. We take pride in providing our Members with exceptional customer service, and we enjoy this opportunity to get know them better," explained Jacquelyn Clark, owner of Bristlecone.

Bristlecone, a premier indoor shooting range, retail, and training center in the Denver area, offers flexible membership packages for its customers. For recreational shooters who enjoy coming to the range often, these memberships offer numerous perks, including members' only sales and events.

To purchase a Membership and reserve your spot at Bristlecone's Membership Appreciation Day on April 30th or to learn more about Bristlecone Shooting, Training, and Retail Center, visit http://www.bristleconeshooting.com/ or call 303-985-0989.

About Bristlecone Shooting, Training, and Retail Center

Bristlecone Shooting, Training, and Retail Center in Lakewood, Colo., is the premier indoor shooting range in the Denver area. We cater to recreational shooters of all levels, from first-timers to life-long enthusiasts. Not your typical Colorado indoor shooting range, Bristlecone offers many of the great services that you would expect from a traditional shooting range but in a bright, welcoming atmosphere with an emphasis on customer service. It's our mission to make everyone feel welcome and help you have An Extraordinary Recreational Experience. To learn more about Bristlecone Shooting, Training, and Retail Center call 303-985-0989.

SOURCE Bristlecone Shooting, Training, and Retail Center

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LONDONDERRY, N.H. and SILVER SPRING, Md., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Can a cow save a penguin? Stonyfield, the country's leading organic yogurt maker, is confident that it can and wants to inspire families to find out how they can help endangered species too. Today, on World Penguin Day, Stonyfield YoKids is pleased to announce its support of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (AZA) SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction program which fosters conservation efforts for 10 endangered species, including the African penguin. As a proud supporter of AZA SAFE, Stonyfield has committed funds that will be used to help reverse the decline of the African penguin and drive conservation awareness. As part of a year-long effort, Stonyfield will not only be contributing funds to fieldwork but will also aim to encourage kids and their families to see animals and conservation projects first hand at zoos, aquariums, and on the ground where the research is happening.

Stonyfield YoKids Organic Smoothie

"AZA SAFE's conservation work is keenly aligned to Stonyfield's longstanding mission of healthy food, healthy people, healthy planet," says Andy Sundberg, Stonyfield YoKids Senior Brand Manager. "Each year Stonyfield keeps over 185,000 pounds of toxic persistent pesticides out of the environment, helping to safeguard species and their ecosystems, but we know there is always more to be done. More than ever before, we want kids to learn about these animals so they can become better stewards for generations to come. That's why we're thrilled to work together with AZA to help foster passion and an interest in saving endangered species like the African Penguin."

The lovable African Penguin and other endangered species will be featured prominently on various Stonyfield YoKids packaging this year (kids can collect them all!), along with an on-pack offer to get families out to visit AZA member zoos and aquariums in their communities. Now through the end of September, families who buy two YoKids yogurt packs can visit azasafe.stonyfield.com to get a free kid's admission to a participating AZA-accredited zoo or aquarium with the purchase of a full-price adult ticket.

"African penguins decreased in population size and are listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Support for conservation projects from brands like Stonyfield YoKids is essential to our success," says Dan Ashe, President and CEO of AZA. "People are more willing help what they love, so the earlier we can nurture that innate sense of wonder and appreciation for animals through visits to zoos and aquariums, the more we inspire the next generation to save them."

#ImagineHow: Can a Cow Save a Penguin?

That's the question Stonyfield YoKids asked over 25 kids and their parents in a video series that found both humor and heartwarming answers to showcase the optimism and imagination of children, but also the need for meaningful action to save endangered species.

"Stonyfield believes that engaging children's curiosity can help fuel a lifetime of ecological awareness and the belief that they can help save these amazing animals," continues Sundberg. "As symbolized in these videos by our brand mascot the cow, we believe we can all be planet heroes. We want people to be inspired by the possibility they see in these videos as well as the spirit and creativity found in the minds of the Earth's young stewards."

The videos and resources for families to learn more about AZA SAFE are available beginning today at http://www.stonyfield.com/azasafe. Additionally, Stonyfield will be asking fans to join in the campaign and submit videos to their own social platforms using the hashtag #ImagineHow.

"The support Stonyfield is providing to the AZA SAFE African penguin project will help advance scientific discovery and our knowledge about the birds," said Ashe. "There is no question that their support will help with the recovery of the species."

Live from Mystic Aquarium!

To commemorate World Penguin Day, kids and their parents can get a firsthand look at these majestic seabirds, as well as the conservation work being done to save them, with a Facebook Live broadcast today, direct from Mystic Aquarium's Penguin Encounter. During the broadcast a penguin trainer will provide insight into the care, behavior and conservation of African penguins, and viewers will also have the opportunity to see real African penguins firsthand as well as ask the trainer questions in real time. Consumers should tune into the @Stonyfield Facebook page at 12:00 PM EST today to catch the broadcast.

For more information, please visit: http://www.stonyfield.com/azasafe and http://www.aza.org/aza-safe.

About Stonyfield

As the leading organic yogurt maker, Stonyfield takes care with everything it puts into its yogurts and everything it keeps out. By saying no to toxic persistent pesticides, artificial hormones, antibiotics and GMOs, Stonyfield has been saying yes to delicious, healthy food for more than 30 years. With their direct milk supply program, Stonyfield helps to grow the number of organic dairy farms in New England  and through their support of the Wolfe's Neck Dairy Farmer training program, Stonyfield works to train the next generation of organic farmers. To learn more about all Stonyfield products and more, visit www.Stonyfield.com.

About AZA

Founded in 1924, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, animal welfare, education, science, and recreation. AZA is the accrediting body for the top zoos and aquariums in the United States and eight other countries. Look for the AZA accreditation logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things. The AZA is a leader in saving species and your link to helping animals all over the world. To learn more, visit www.aza.org.

About SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction

SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction combines the power of zoo and aquarium visitors with the resources and collective expertise of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums and partners to save animals from extinction. Together we are working on saving the most vulnerable wildlife species from extinction and protecting them for future generations. To learn more, visit http://www.aza.org/aza-safe.

SOURCE Stonyfield

Related Links

http://www.Stonyfield.com


PETACH TIKVA, Israel, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Barzilai Medical Center in Israel ready to enroll patients

IRB approvals in European and Canadian medical centers expected to follow

Can-Fite to conduct Investigator Meeting in Europe with approximately 100 doctors from participating clinical sites

Piclidenoson being evaluated as first line therapy and replacement for current standard of care Methotrexate

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE MKT: CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address cancer, liver and inflammatory diseases, announced today that Barzilai Medical Center's Institutional Review Board (IRB) has approved the Phase III ACRobat trial protocol and patient enrollment for the study at the 627-bed hospital in Ashkelon, Israel. This marks the first of several expected IRB approvals in medical centers in Israel, Europe and Canada.

Piclidenoson is being developed as a first line therapy for rheumatoid arthritis and replacement for the current standard of care, Methotrexate (MTX). MTX is the most widely used drug for rheumatoid arthritis, with approximately 90% of rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving MTX at some point in their disease, according to the Arthritis Foundation of America.

However, 40-50% of patients stop taking MTX after five years, primarily due to the presence of serious side-effects, as indicated in some published studies. Other studies show that between 10% and 30% of patients are intolerant of MTX, creating a significant need in the market for a new, safe and effective treatment option.

The primary endpoint of ACRobat is low disease activity after 12 weeks of treatment in patients dosed with Piclidenoson compared to those dosed with MTX. Piclidenoson at 1 mg and 2 mg, or placebo, will be administered twice daily, and MTX or placebo will be administered once weekly. The total study duration will be 24 weeks in order to provide more data on long term efficacy and safety. This randomized, double-blind, active and placebo-controlled study will enroll approximately 500 patients through clinical sites in Israel, Europe and Canada. On May 24, 2017, Can-Fite plans to conduct an Investigator Meeting in Europe. During the meeting, approximately 100 doctors participating as clinical investigators in the global study will partake in a series of educational sessions regarding Piclidenoson and the ACRobat protocol.

"Piclidenoson has demonstrated its safety profile in over 1,000 patients and prior clinical data show its potential to be as effective, or more effective, than MTX in treating rheumatoid arthritis. Our ACRobat trial is powered to demonstrate Piclidenoson's potential as a first line therapy and superior alternative to MTX, which unfortunately can have severe side effects for patients who need a long-term treatment solution," stated Can-Fite CEO Dr. Pnina Fishman.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a treatment market forecast to reach $34.6 billion by 2020.

About Piclidenoson (CF101)

Piclidenoson is a novel, first-in-class, A3 adenosine receptor agonist (A3AR) small molecule, orally bioavailable drug with a favorable therapeutic index demonstrated in Phase II clinical studies. Piclidenoson is currently under development for the treatment of autoimmune inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, both set to commence Phase III.

About Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE MKT: CANF) (TASE: CFBI) is an advanced clinical stage drug development Company with a platform technology that is designed to address multi-billion dollar markets in the treatment of autoimmune-inflammatory indications, oncology and liver diseases as well as sexual dysfunction. The Company's lead drug candidate, Piclidenoson, is headed into Phase III trials for two indications, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Can-Fite's liver cancer drug Namodenoson is in a Phase II trial for patients with liver cancer and is slated to enter another Phase II for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the precursor to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Namodenoson has been granted Orphan Drug Designation in the U.S. and Europe and Fast Track Designation as a second line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Namodenoson has also shown proof of concept to potentially treat other cancers including colon, prostate, and melanoma. CF602, the Company's third drug candidate, has shown efficacy in the treatment of erectile dysfunction in preclinical studies These drugs have an excellent safety profile with experience in over 1,000 patients in clinical studies to date. For more information please visit: www.can-fite.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, about Can-Fite's expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding, among other things, market risks and uncertainties and Can-Fite's ability to satisfy all the conditions to the closing of the proposed offering, its product development efforts, business, financial condition, results of operations, strategies or prospects. In addition, from time to time, Can-Fite or its representatives have made or may make forward-looking statements, orally or in writing. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "plan," "may," "should" or "anticipate" or their negatives or other variations of these words or other comparable words or by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. These forward-looking statements may be included in, but are not limited to, various filings made by Can-Fite with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, press releases or oral statements made by or with the approval of one of Can-Fite's authorized executive officers. Forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause Can-Fite's actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Many factors could cause Can-Fite's actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the factors summarized in Can-Fite's filings with the SEC and in its periodic filings with the TASE. In addition, Can-Fite operates in an industry sector where securities values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond its control. Can-Fite does not undertake any obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact

Can-Fite BioPharma

Motti Farbstein

[email protected]

+972-3-9241114

SOURCE Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.can-fite.com


(All amounts in US$ unless otherwise specified)

VANCOUVER, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") (TSX: CS) today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. Cash flow from operating activities was $22.0 million or $0.06 per share. The net loss for the period was $7.4 million or $0.02 per share and the adjusted net loss was $2.0 million or $0.01 per share after adjusting for certain non-cash and non-recurring charges. Copper production for the quarter totalled 20,950 tonnes (20,230 tonnes of payable copper) at a C1 cash cost1 of $1.98 per payable pound produced with copper sales for the quarter of 21,582 tonnes at a C1 cash cost1 of $1.69 per payable pound sold.

Capstone will hold a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time (8:30 a.m. Pacific time) to discuss these results; call-in details and information on associated slides are provided at the end of this release. This release should be read in conjunction with Capstone's consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, which are available on Capstone's website at http://capstonemining.com/investors/financial-reporting/default.aspx and on SEDAR. An updated corporate presentation, including results to March 31, 2017, in addition to the Q1 2017 year-end webcast slides, will also be available at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.

Overview







Q1 2017 Q1 2016 Revenue ($ millions)



128.0 126.2









Copper produced (tonnes)



20,950 24,547









Payable copper produced (tonnes)



20,230 23,694 C1 cash cost per payable pound produced1 ($/lb)



1.98 1.72 All-in cost per payable pound produced1 ($/lb)



2.64 2.23 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound produced1 ($/lb)



2.80 2.36









Copper sold (tonnes)



21,582 27,985 Realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb)*



2.68 2.19 Adjusted realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb) **



2.44 2.35 C1 cash cost per payable pound sold1 ($/lb)



1.69 1.77 All-in cost per payable pound sold1 ($/lb)



2.31 2.22 Fully-loaded all-in cost per payable pound sold1 ($/lb)



2.46 2.33









Net loss ($ millions)



(7.4) (12.8) Net loss attributable to shareholders ($ millions)



(7.5) (12.7) Net loss per common share ($)



(0.02) (0.03)









Adjusted net loss1 ($ millions)



(2.0) (1.5) Adjusted net loss1 attributable to shareholders ($ millions)



(2.1) (1.5) Adjusted net loss1 per common share ($)



(0.01) (0.00)









Cash flow from operating activities



$22.0 $32.2 Cash flow from operating activities per common share ($)



0.06 0.08 Operating cash flow before changes in working capital1 ($ millions)



24.2 18.9 Operating cash flow before changes in working capital per common share1 ($)



0.06 0.05









Cash and cash equivalents ($ millions)



109.4 121.1 Net debt1 ($ millions)



199.5 228.2

* Q1 2017 includes a provisional pricing adjustment of $5.2 million (2016  negative $5.6 million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to $0.11 per pound (2016  $(0.09) per pound) of copper sold during the quarter. ** Q1 2017 adjusted realized copper price includes the provisional pricing adjustments noted above and realized loss of $13.9 million (2016 gain  $9.6 million) equivalent to $(0.29) per pound (2016 gain - $0.16 per pound) related to copper derivative contracts exercised during the quarter.

"In the first quarter of 2017 we generated $22 million of operating cash flow despite challenging operating conditions at Pinto Valley," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "All three of our mines generated positive net earnings for the quarter, supported by higher realized metal prices."

"We also recently announced a two year extension of our credit facility, to 2021, giving Capstone significant financial flexibility to meet our current and anticipated operating requirements," continued Mr. Pylot. "In addition, at current copper prices, we anticipate the continuation of operations at Minto until mid-2020 with a potential mine life extension beyond 2020."

Financial and Operational Highlights for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2017

Net loss of $7.4 million included:

included: Earnings from mining operations of $27.0 million ,

,

Realized copper price of $2.68 per pound

per pound

Production costs included a $1.1 million non-cash charge related to the write-down of inventory at the Pinto Valley mine

non-cash charge related to the write-down of inventory at the Pinto Valley mine

A commodity derivative loss of $13.9 million , comprising a realized loss of $11.6 million combined with an unrealized loss of $2.3 million ,

, comprising a realized loss of million combined with an unrealized loss of ,

An income tax expense of $3.9 million .

. Operating cash flow before changes in working capital 1 of $24.2 million or $0.06 per common share.

of or per common share. Working capital decreased $22.8 million to $148.3 million at March 31, 2017 from $171.1 million at December 31, 2016 . Cash decreased to $109.4 million at March 31, 2017 from $130.4 million at December 31, 2016 largely as a result of a $20.0 million debt repayment made in January, 2017.

to at from at . Cash decreased to at from at largely as a result of a debt repayment made in January, 2017. Production of 20,230 tonnes of payable copper at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.98 per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost 1 of $2.80 per pound of payable pound copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and fully-loaded all-in cost of per pound of payable pound copper produced. Revenue of $128.0 million generated primarily from the sale of 21,582 tonnes of copper.

Production and Additional Highlights for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2017

Pinto Valley Mine:

Produced 11,300 tonnes of copper during Q1 2017 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $2.18 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost 1 of $2.77 per pound of payable copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. Copper production at Pinto Valley was lower quarter over quarter for a number of reasons. First, it was affected by a 7-day planned shutdown in January to complete repairs in the fine ore bins and the tailing thickener distribution system and then by considerable rain in the first quarter. Pinto Valley received five inches of rain over a two day period in late January, followed by additional rainfall in the following weeks. This rain reduced mining productivity and slowed the primary crusher intake, delaying the return to full operations from the planned shutdown. Mine plan sequencing also had to be changed to address high moisture in the bottom of the pit. Following this shutdown, the saturated fine ore placed additional stress on the primary crusher mainframe. As a result, the lower frame replacement, originally deferred from Q2 2016, was done over 11 days in late February and early March. Temporary primary crushing units allowed for production at reduced rates. Full production resumed on March 9, 2017 and since then throughput has averaged above 59,000 tonnes per day as of April 24 .

Cozamin Mine:

Produced 4,130 tonnes of copper during Q1 2017 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $1.33 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost 1 of $1.94 per pound of payable copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per pound of payable copper produced. During Q1 2017, grade and throughput both improved for the quarter, with recovery comparable to Q1 2016. This is in part due to the significant progress made in development rates since the process and contractor changes which were made in 2016.

Subsequent to quarter end, on April 4, 2017 , the precious metal streaming arrangement with Silver Wheaton Corp. expired. After this date, the full silver by-product credit is earned by Cozamin. As included in our guidance, this is expected to increase our by-product credits by approximately $0.40 per pound.

Minto Mine:

Produced 5,520 tonnes of copper during Q1 2017 at a C1 cash cost 1 of $2.05 per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost 1 of $2.10 per payable pound of copper produced.

of per pound of payable copper produced and all-in cost of per payable pound of copper produced. During Q1 2017, grade for the quarter was lower than originally planned due to mine plan sequencing changes. These were made to optimize the mine plan in anticipation of the extension of operations at Minto beyond 2017 and to reduce re-handling costs. As a result, more low grade, partially oxidized ore was directed to the mill causing recoveries to be slightly behind plan. This was partially offset by higher throughput.

beyond 2017 and to reduce re-handling costs. As a result, more low grade, partially oxidized ore was directed to the mill causing recoveries to be slightly behind plan. This was partially offset by higher throughput. At current copper prices, Capstone anticipates the continuation of operations at Minto until mid-2020, subject to permitting and regulatory approvals. Capstone is also evaluating further deposits for re-inclusion into reserves, which may support additional mine life beyond 2020.

Additional highlights:

Effective April 19, 2017 , the Company amended its Senior Secured Corporate Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") to provide for an extension to April 19, 2021 and a reduction in the credit available under the facility. The amendment:

, the Company amended its Senior Secured Corporate Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") to provide for an extension to and a reduction in the credit available under the facility. The amendment: Extends the maturity of the Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement from January 16, 2019 to April 19, 2021 ;

to ;

Reduces the credit limit to $350 million on April 19, 2017 and requires an annual $25 million reduction on each anniversary of the facility to $275 million on April 19, 2020 ;

on and requires an annual reduction on each anniversary of the facility to on ;

Maintains the current pricing grid (starting at LIBOR + 2.5% and increasing to LIBOR + 3.5% based on the total leverage ratio) until March 31, 2019 , after which date pricing increases to LIBOR + 3.0% (adjustable to LIBOR + 4.5% depending on the total leverage ratio); and

, after which date pricing increases to LIBOR + 3.0% (adjustable to LIBOR + 4.5% depending on the total leverage ratio); and

Cancels the accordion feature of $60 million .

All other material terms and conditions of the existing RCF remain in place.

In addition to the amendment described above, Capstone repaid $10 million on April 19, 2017, reducing drawn debt to $298.9 million.

Operating Outlook

Capstone's 2017 production guidance for 94,000 tonnes (5%) of copper at C1 cash cost1 of $1.60 to $1.70 per pound of payable copper produced and All-in cost1 of $2.15 to $2.25 per pound of payable copper produced remains unchanged. Minto and Cozamin are expected to complete the year on, or slightly above, plan and Pinto Valley is expected to attain higher run rates for the remainder of 2017 since the major planned maintenance activity was completed in the first quarter.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

Date: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 Time: 11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time) Dial in: North America: 1-888-390-0546, International: +416-764-8688 Webcast: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1383293&s=1&k=8C2CB279A9CAA1477A4D9A6573F75350 Replay: North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677 Replay Passcode: 472544#

The conference call replay will be available until Wednesday, May 3, 2017. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within approximately 48 hours of the call at http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx.

About Capstone Mining Corp.

Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, focused on copper. We are committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our three producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in Arizona, US, the Cozamin polymetallic mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects; the large scale 70% owned copper-iron Santo Domingo project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned Kutcho copper-zinc project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile and US. Capstone's strategy is to focus on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable, mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at www.capstonemining.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This document may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Capstone does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable securities legislation.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect our expectations or beliefs regarding future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production and capital expenditures, the success of our mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses and title disputes. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. In this document certain forward-looking statements are identified by words including "anticipate", "guidance", "plan" and "expected". By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, amongst others, risks related to inherent hazards associated with mining operations, future prices of copper and other metals, compliance with financial covenants, surety bonding, our ability to raise capital, Capstone's ability to acquire properties for growth, counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals, use of financial derivative instruments and associated counterparty risks, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation, compliance with governmental regulations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, reliance on approvals, licences and permits from governmental authorities, impact of climatic conditions on our Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto operations, aboriginal title claims and rights to consultation and accommodation, land reclamation and mine closure obligations, uncertainties and risks related to the potential development of the Santo Domingo Project, increased operating and capital costs, challenges to title to our mineral properties, maintaining ongoing social license to operate, dependence on key management personnel, potential conflicts of interest involving our directors and officers, corruption and bribery, limitations inherent in our insurance coverage, labour relations, increasing energy prices, competition in the mining industry, risks associated with joint venture partners, our ability to integrate new acquisitions into our operations, cybersecurity threats, legal proceedings and other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause our results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that our forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.

National Instrument 43-101 Compliance

Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents.

The technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). The disclosure of the Technical Information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Technical Information related to mineral exploration activities has been reviewed and approved by Brad Mercer, P. Geol., Senior Vice President, Exploration. Both are Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.

Alternative Performance Measures

The items marked with a "1" are alternative performance measures and readers should refer to Alternative Performance Measures in the Company's Consolidated Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 as filed on SEDAR and as available on the Company's website.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

This news release contains disclosure that has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Without limiting the foregoing, this news release may refer to technical reports that use the terms "indicated" and "inferred" resources. US investors are cautioned that, while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian securities laws, the SEC does not recognize them. Under US standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. US investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of indicated resources will ever be converted into reserves. US investors should also understand that "inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of "inferred resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Therefore, US investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred resources exist, or that they can be mined legally or economically. Accordingly, information concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources contained in this news release may not be comparable to information made public by US companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.

SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.

Related Links

www.capstonemining.com


An avid G-SHOCK fan since the late 1980s, STASH will breathe new life into his signature graffiti design through this first-ever partnership with G-SHOCK. "The community embraced G-SHOCK way early on because of the style, the ruggedness," said STASH . "They started in the early 80's so they have a history and a legacy that has always resonated deeply with me."

Available on May 4th, 2017, the watch will be exclusively sold in CONCEPTS, Concepts, a premium lifestyle boutique heralded for their collaborative products and curation with brands like Nike, adidas, New Balance and Canada Goose.

"CONCEPTS is proud to provide our long-time friend and collaborator, STASH with a blank canvas to present his newest endeavor with G-SHOCK," said Deon Point, Creative Director for Concepts. "STASH and G-SHOCK are both heritage staples in our industry and will continue to create important products for years to come."

The GA100ST-2A comes equipped with G-SHOCK's renowned shock resistant and 200M water resistant structure, as well as magnetic resistance, an auto LED light, world time (48 cities + UTC), 4 daily alarms and 1 snooze, 1/1000 second stopwatch, a speed indicator, countdown timer, and 12/24 hour formats  all in a 51.2mm case.

The GA100ST-2A will retail for $170 and will be available for purchase at CONCEPTS NYC and Boston store locations May 4th-5th, before its global release on May 6th.

For the launch of the new G-SHOCK x STASH timepiece, a video was created to showcase the versatility of the watch. Take a look: http://bit.ly/GSHOCKStash.

About G-SHOCK

CASIO's shock-resistant G-SHOCK watch is synonymous with toughness, born from the developer Mr. Ibe's dream of 'creating a watch that never breaks'. Over 200 handmade samples were created and tested to destruction until finally in 1983 the first, now iconic G-SHOCK hit the streets of Japan and began to establish itself as 'the toughest watch of all time'. Each watch encompasses the 7 elements; electric shock resistance, gravity resistance, low temperature resistance, vibration resistance, water resistance, shock resistance and toughness. The watch is packed with Casio innovations and technologies to prevent it from suffering direct shock; this includes internal components protected with urethane and suspended timekeeping modules inside the watch structure. Since its launch, G-SHOCK has continued to evolve, continuing to support on Mr. Ibe's mantra "never, never give up." www.gshock.com

About Casio America, Inc.

Casio America, Inc., Dover, N.J., is the U.S. subsidiary of Casio Computer Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, one of the world's leading manufacturers of consumer electronics and business equipment solutions. Established in 1957, Casio America, Inc. markets calculators, keyboards, mobile presentation devices, disc title and label printers, watches, cash registers and other consumer electronic products. Casio has strived to realize its corporate creed of "creativity and contribution" through the introduction of innovative and imaginative products. For more information, visit www.casiousa.com.

About Stash

Stash was born in Long Island, New York in 1967. He is considered one of New York's graffiti legends, pivotal to the East Village scene of the early 1980's. He exhibited his first canvases alongside popart pioneers Keith Haring and Jean-Michael Basquiat when he was only 17. While his contemporaries turned to Pop Art, Stash stayed true to the subway, working on trains until 1987 when he created his last underground piece alongside Zephyr. His early works on canvas demonstrate a loyalty to his early career in the use of subway mapcollages and signature bold outlines and clean shapes. By the late 1990's, Stash had pioneered the use of graphic elements of graffiti on streetwear through high-profile collaborations with companies such as Nike, Burton , Medicom toy and A Bathing Ape. The move ensured his work reached a much wider audience than the gallery visitor and played a key role in the widespread understanding of and eventual public acceptance of graffiti. Stash is now widely regarded as an innovator in the world of urban design. His fascination with the urban environment is evident in his perfectly executed photographic work, which features a combination of city motifs alongside the latest lighting and printing techniques.

About Concepts

Concepts opened its first store in 1996 in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. From our early beginnings in footwear, street and skate culture, Concepts has sought to develop an original and diverse point of view as original retail curators.

Through retailing emergent products from opinion leading brands and collaborating with the largest names in sneakers and clothing, we've continued to push the Concepts brand globally. Surpassing 20 years in business, Concepts now has flagships in Dubai and New York City, and continues to be a leading presence among boutique retailers.

FOR MEDIA INQURIES CONTACT:

Erica Mapa / Kellyn Slone

Cornerstone

(212) 741-7100

[email protected]

[email protected]

Sue Vander Schans / Alli Colasacco-Sharpe

CASIO AMERICA, INC.

(973) 361-5400

[email protected]

[email protected]

SOURCE Casio America, Inc.

Related Links

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MINNEAPOLIS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Christopher & Banks (C&B) Corporation, a women's specialty retailer, is proud to celebrate women across the country with "Celebrating You and Her" events at all retail locations on Saturday, April 29. The events will include in-store opportunities to recognize mothers, daughters, sisters and friends leading up to Mother's Day.

"Women inspire us every day and we are thrilled to take this opportunity to pause and commend the role that they play in our lives," said Joel Waller, Christopher & Banks President and CEO. "The 'Celebrating You and Her' events will recognize the generations of women we turn to for supportfrom mothers and daughters, to colleagues and mentors, to the female friends who will always lend a listening ear. Our customers deserve to be treated to a day of fun and style with C&B."

In-Store "Celebrating You and Her" Events

All C&B retail locations will celebrate women on Saturday, April 29 with the following offers and activities:

Discounts: A 40 percent discount on all full price purchases when shopping with a friend.

A 40 percent discount on all full price purchases when shopping with a friend. Complimentary Gift: A celebratory flower will be waiting for each shopper at check-out (while supplies last).

A celebratory flower will be waiting for each shopper at check-out (while supplies last). Recognition: Shoppers can share inspiring stories and read about other influential women through recognition cards placed throughout the store.

Shoppers can share inspiring stories and read about other influential women through recognition cards placed throughout the store. Style Shopping: Shop new arrivals and see the latest style tips, while enjoying complimentary refreshments with friends. Photos from the day will be shared across Facebook and Instagram using #CBCelebratesYou.

Expanded Tradition of Giving

C&B is proud to partner with shoppers this spring to raise funds to honor the mission of St. Jude Children's Hospital - finding cures and saving children battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases. With a $3.00 donation to St. Jude, customers will receive an exclusively designed card, featuring artwork from St. Jude patients. This partnership expands C&B's ongoing commitment to St. Jude; over $6 million has been donated on behalf of the retailer, its customers and associates over the last four years. The cards will be unveiled at the "Celebrating You and Her" events and will be available through May 14, or as supplies last.

About Christopher & Banks

Christopher & Banks is a Minneapolis-based specialty retailer of women's clothing. Our mission is to provide our customers with style, value and service that help her look fabulous and feel amazing, every day and for life's special moments. Christopher & Banks sells missy, petite and women's sized clothing in about 477 stores nationwide and online at www.christopherandbanks.com.

SOURCE Christopher & Banks

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Two new directors join CN's board

REGINA, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today that the director nominees listed in the management proxy circular dated March 7, 2017, were elected as directors of CN. The detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at CN's Annual Meeting of Shareholders on April 25 in Regina are set out below.

Election of Directors

On a vote by ballot, each of the following 13 nominees proposed by management was elected as a director of CN:

Nominee Votes For % For Votes

Withheld % Withheld Shauneen Bruder 529,111,130 99.87 704,964 0.13 Donald J. Carty 524,329,111 98.96 5,486,983 1.04 Ambassador Gordon D. Giffin 517,940,878 97.76 11,875,216 2.24 Julie Godin 529,024,233 99.85 791,861 0.15 Edith E. Holiday 516,126,753 97.42 13,689,341 2.58 Luc Jobin 527,698,116 99.60 2,117,978 0.40 V. Maureen Kempston Darkes 514,678,191 97.14 15,137,903 2.86 The Hon. Denis Losier 521,382,053 98.41 8,434,041 1.59 The Hon. Kevin G. Lynch 528,829,987 99.81 986,107 0.19 James E. O'Connor 526,447,258 99.36 3,368,836 0.64 Robert Pace 522,594,343 98.64 7,218,957 1.36 Robert L. Phillips 520,111,109 98.17 9,704,985 1.83 Laura Stein 526,397,093 99.35 3,419,001 0.65

Shauneen Bruder, of Ontario, and Julie Godin, of Quebec, join the board as independent directors. Ms. Bruder is the executive vice-president, operations at Royal Bank of Canada, and Ms. Godin is vice-chair, chief planning and administration officer of CGI Group Inc.

Robert Pace was unanimously re-elected by the board of directors as board chair. Mr. Pace, who joined CN's board in 1994, is president and chief executive officer of The Pace Group Ltd., based in Halifax, N.S., which is engaged in radio broadcasting, real estate and environmental services.

Biographical information on all directors is available at http://www.cn.ca/en/investors/regulatory-filings

Final voting results on all matters voted on at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held earlier today will be filed with the Canadian and U.S. securities regulators.

CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN  Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries  serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information about CN, visit the Company's website at www.cn.ca.

SOURCE CN

Related Links

http://www.cn.ca


As part of the agreement, UTAS will collaborate with the university's Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology, [email protected] , the Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems and the Center for Power Electronics Systems. The collaboration reflects a growing relationship between UTAS and Virginia Tech, and follows a 2015 donation of $100,000 from the company to support similar scholarships and experiential learning opportunities in the university's College of Engineering.

"We are excited to collaborate with one of the world's leading suppliers of aerospace and defense products," said Virginia Tech Vice President for Research and Innovation Theresa Mayer. "We have promising joint research underway. This master research agreement sets forth an efficient process to foster additional collaboration."

Virginia Tech's agreement with UTAS comes amid a push by the Commonwealth's leading research university to deepen its relationships with industry. Virginia Tech recently announced the creation of a business engagement center to help advance this goal.

"Our collaboration with Virginia Tech will help us execute against two of our company's most important objectivesdeveloping the most advanced technologies in the world and training the next generation of engineers," said UTAS Vice President of Engineering & Technology Geoff Hunt. "With its leading capabilities in wireless systems and power electronics, and its proximity to key federal agencies, the university is uniquely positioned to help us achieve these goals."

"We appreciate UTC Aerospace Systems' generosity and engagement," said College of Engineering Interim Dean G. Don Taylor, the Charles O. Gordon Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering. "Industry relationships enhance the education we provide. They enable us to be a valuable pipeline of talent to leading companies. They help fuel our research  and increase the likelihood that discoveries will be applied."

About UTC Aerospace Systems

UTC Aerospace Systems is one of the world's largest suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and defense products. UTC Aerospace Systems designs, manufactures and services integrated systems and components for the aerospace and defense industries, supporting a global customer base with significant worldwide manufacturing and customer service facilities. For more information about the company, visit our website at www.utcaerospacesystems.com or follow us on Twitter: @utcaerosystems

About United Technologies Corporation

United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries. By combining a passion for science with precision engineering, the company is creating smart, sustainable solutions the world needs. For more information about the company, visit our website at www.utc.com or follow us on Twitter: @UTC

SOURCE UTC Aerospace Systems

Related Links

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"Todd's deep trial and litigation experience, combined with his dedication to pro bono work, make him a great fit for Jenner & Block," said Terrence J. Truax, the firm's managing partner. "His commitment to professional excellence and public service mirror the core values that distinguish us as a firm."

Mr. Toral focuses his practice on matters involving investment funds, domestic and foreign federal tax disputes, financial services, insurance, and contract claims. He also handles claims for violations of multiple state and federal schemes, including disputes arising out of the California Unfair Competition Law, Lanham Act, and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Rule 10b-5).

He serves as restructuring and litigation counsel to national and international banks, insurance holding companies, and private equity funds concerning various credit and equity investment vehicles. Mr. Toral has more than a decade of first-chair trial experience in high-profile tax shelter disputes with the California Franchise Tax Board, the Internal Revenue Service, and promoters of tax-advantaged products involving complex financial derivatives and hedge transactions, European put/call options, and OID bonds. He has also handled tax and financial services controversies for various financial institutions and private equity funds throughout the United States and abroad.

Mr. Toral joins the firm from DLA Piper, where he was chair of cross-border litigation for the Americas. Working in private practice since 1998, Mr. Toral previously served for eight years in the US Marine Corps as an infantry officer, achieving the rank of captain.

"Todd's varied practice and experience add excellent resources for our clients in the banking, insurance and finance industries, whose businesses require the sophisticated litigation counsel he provides," said Craig C. Martin, chair of Jenner & Block's Litigation Department. "His joining in our Los Angeles office also continues to build upon our strong and growing litigation presence across the United States and overseas."

Rick Richmond, the managing partner and a co-founder of the Los Angeles office, said that Mr. Toral's addition continues the firm's West Coast growth. The office began with just two lawyers in 2009 and has more than 50 today. "Our office has quickly become known for its success in handling the most complex litigation and Todd's addition strengthens our ability to provide this level of service," Mr. Richmond said.

Mr. Toral is a co-chair of the Privacy and Information Security Subcommittee of the ABA Section of Litigation Consumer Litigation Committee. A board member of Bet Tzedek and Crystal Stairs, Inc., he maintains an active pro bono practice. He has served as an appellate panelist for the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program and has represented the American Legion and Swords to Plowshares, which both serve the needs of veterans, in litigation against the city and county of San Francisco. He currently represents the International Rescue Committee on Syrian refugee issues.

"Jenner & Block is a top-tier trial firm whose lawyers provide the highest levels of excellence in the practice of law and public service. I am excited to be part of this tradition," said Mr. Toral. "I look forward to working with my new colleagues to further expand the firm's footprint in Los Angeles and beyond."

Mr. Toral earned his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he was an editor for the Maritime Law Journal, and his LL.M in Tax from the New York University School of Law. He served as an extern for California Supreme Court Associate Justice Ming Chin and US Bankruptcy Court Judge Randall Newsome.

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK'S COMPLEX COMMERCIAL LITIGATION PRACTICE

Clients from around the world rely on Jenner & Block for their most complex and challenging business cases. Our trial prowess in high-profile litigation is well known. The BTI Litigation Outlook 2014, an in-depth analysis of the litigation market, ranked Jenner & Block as "A Powerhouse in Complex Commercial Litigation," one of just five law firms that clients see as best in that area. The American Lawyer previously selected us as one of the top five litigation departments in the US. Citing our impressive business victories for Fortune 500 clients, the magazine singled out Jenner & Block for our "astonishing" trial results and "hard fought" settlements. Chambers Global legal directory has described Jenner & Block as a firm with "bedrock strength in trial work," while reporting that our clients "remain steadfast in their support, describing the group as 'absolutely outstanding.'"

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK

Jenner & Block (www.jenner.com) is a law firm with global reach, with more than 500 lawyers and offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. The firm is known for its prominent and successful litigation practice and experience handling sophisticated and high-profile corporate transactions. Firm clients include Fortune 100 companies, large privately held corporations, financial services institutions, emerging companies and venture capital and private equity investors. In 2016, The American Lawyer named Jenner & Block to the A-List, which recognizes the top 20 US law firms. The American Lawyer also recognized the firm as the #1 pro bono firm in the US six of the past nine years; the firm has been ranked among the top 10 in this category every year since 1990.

SOURCE Jenner & Block

Related Links

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NEW YORK, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CommonBond, a leading financial technology company that helps students and graduates pay for higher education, today announces the launch of student loans for undergraduate and graduate students. This launch makes CommonBond the first and only company in the country to offer a full suite of student loan solutions, including loans for current students, refinance loans for graduates, and employer student loan benefits for employees.

"Since CommonBond first helped pioneer student loan refinancing nationwide, we've seen very little innovation in the student loan industry," said David Klein, CEO and co-founder of CommonBond. "The student loan experience we're launching today is one I wish I had when I was in school. It was the frustration with my own student loan experience  dealing with high rates, poor service, and a confusing process  that led me to start CommonBond in the first place. We're excited to provide students across the country with the transparent and affordable student loan options they deserve."

CommonBond's new in-school loans provide:

Competitive interest rates: CommonBond's rates are among the most competitive in the industry, with variable rates starting at 2.87% APR with autopay discount 1 and fixed rates starting at 5.50% APR with autopay discount.

and fixed rates starting at 5.50% APR with autopay discount. Flexible repayment options: CommonBond offers four different repayment options for students in school: deferment, fixed monthly payment, interest-only payment, and full monthly payment.

Award-winning customer service: CommonBond knows that paying for college is the first major financial decision that many students make, and provides best-in-class care for prospective and current members. In 2016, the company was awarded a People's Choice Stevie  Award for Favorite Customer Service.

Award for Favorite Customer Service. An industry-first social mission: CommonBond enables its members to drive social good when taking out a student loan. For every student loan funded by CommonBond, the company also funds the education of a child in need through a partnership with Pencils of Promise.

Before today, CommonBond's loans for current students were only available to MBA students. The company quickly became the largest private lender at many business schools, due to its affordable options, easy online experience, and friendly customer service. Customer response to the product demonstrated a critical need for CommonBond to play a larger part in an industry that lacks tech-enabled, customer-centric options.

"Getting my MBA was a huge financial decision, so I decided to research several different lenders," said Alex Kubo, a CommonBond member. "CommonBond offered me the most competitive rates, had an easy signup process, and even invited me to travel to Ghana last year to see its Social Promise in action. Paying for school can be stressful and hectic, but the care taken by CommonBond throughout both the application process and the term of my loan is proof that it doesn't have to be."

CommonBond is also introducing an interactive tool that helps students understand the financial impact over time of different student loan options, enabling them to make informed financial choices. Developed after extensive input from financial aid officers, students, and parents, this educational tool provides personalized guidance for what types of loans families can consider, and how different repayment decisions made now can affect monthly payments later.

"With the price of higher education increasing every year, it's really important that students, and their parents, get the resources that they need to make informed financial choices," said Klein. "That's why CommonBond is offering a comprehensive set of repayment options as well as transparent, easy-to-use tools to help families choose the option that's right for them."

CommonBond has funded more than $1 billion in loans to date. The company was also recently named a 2017 Benefit Technology Innovator for its CommonBond for Business platform, which helps employers offer student loan repayment as an employee benefit.

About CommonBond

CommonBond is a financial technology company on a mission to give students and graduates more transparent, simple, and affordable ways to pay for higher education. By designing a better student loan experience that combines advanced technology with competitive rates and award-winning customer service, CommonBond has funded $1 billion in loans for its tens of thousands of members. The company's enterprise platform, CommonBond for Business, enables employees to receive a suite of student loan repayment benefits from their employer. CommonBond is the first and only finance company with a "one-for-one" social mission: for every loan it funds, CommonBond also funds the education of a child in need, through its partnership with Pencils of Promise. For more information, visit www.commonbond.co.

1 Variable rates may increase after obtaining a loan.

SOURCE CommonBond

Related Links

http://www.commonbond.co


DALLAS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Compass Datacenters has been recognized with an Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve ("ESGR") Patriot Award for its commitment to providing career opportunities for members of the U.S. Armed Forces when they transition to civilian careers. ESGR, a Department of Defense program, seeks to foster a culture in which all employers support and value the employment and military service of members of the National Guard and Reserve in the United States. The award was accepted by Compass Datacenters CEO Chris Crosby on behalf of the company in a ceremony held on April 24 with Colonel (R) James Hogan.

"It's an honor for Compass to receive this award," said Chris Crosby. "It's essential that employers make good on the unpayable debt of gratitude to our veterans, who are the highest quality of employee. Their training, commitment and desire to excel make them exceptional employees in any industry, and that has clearly proven to be the case in Compass Datacenters' operations. Compass has and will continue to provide opportunities to those who are retired from their military careers or who continue to serve as reservists and guardsmen."

"The Patriot Award was created by the ESGR to recognize the committed individuals and organizations that show their patriotism through supporting and cooperating with their active and former military employees. The support that our National Guard and Reserve service members receive from their civilian employers is vital to the National Security Strategy," said Colonel (R) Hogan. "It's the backing of these military employees by organizations like Compass that strengthens the preparedness of our nation's military and provides a bridge to civilian life for our servicemen and women."

For more information about ESGR outreach programs or volunteer opportunities, call (800) 336-4590 or visit www.ESGR.mil.

About Compass Datacenters

Compass Datacenters was founded in 2011 with the goal of providing enterprises, service providers and hyperscale customers with solutions that reflect a dramatic change from conventional alternatives like wholesale colocation or traditional construction build-to-suits. Compass' investors are Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and RedBird Capital Partners, who bring a long-term perspective and significant financial resources to support growth. Compass' executive team has built more than $3 billion of data centers and operated over 6 million square feet of raised floor around the world. The Compass team specializes in delivering build-to-order solutions that are superior to competing alternatives through the provision of more features and personalization options at competitive price points in every market regardless of size. For more information, visit www.compassdatacenters.com.

SOURCE Compass Datacenters

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RICHMOND, Va., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Craft + Estate, a member of The Winebow Group, is pleased to announce that it is the exclusive U.S. importer of Figuiere, a 210-acre Provencal estate owned by the Combard family and organically farmed in the Cotes-de-Provence La Londe AOP.

"This innovative estate adds further depth to our fine wine French portfolio," said Liz Mathews, Senior Vice President of Craft + Estate. "Figuiere's commitment to growing and sourcing quality grapes, as well as their focus on expressing a unique schist soil terroir, has made the estate a natural fit for Craft + Estate."

The Combard family's winegrowing story began in Burgundy in the 1970s when Alain Combard joined his friend and partner Michel Laroche in developing Domaine Laroche of Chablis. After two decades of experience in Burgundy, Combard began to search for a new endeavor closer to his Southern French roots. In 1992, Combard settled on the Saint-Andre de Figuiere estate which sits within two miles of the Mediterranean Sea and has been farmed organically since 1979. Over time, Combard expanded his ownings to the current size of 210 acres of vineyard certified organic by ECOCERT.

Initially, Combard focused on Rolle (Vermentino) as very few wineries in the 1990s were bottling rose. With cool sea breezes and schist soils, the ex-Chablisien employed his experience in Burgundy to produce fine, structured whites, full of mineral expression. Today, the second generation of the Combard family carries on their father's pioneering spirit, applying the same knowledge to a multi-tiered range of whites, roses and reds. With Magali and Delphine managing the business and Francois as the winemaker, the estate has recently been renamed Figuiere to reflect the new generation at the helm.

Craft + Estate will import eleven wines from Figuiere: from the Le Saint Andre range, a white, rose and red; from the Signature Series, Valerie White, Magali Rose, Francois Red; from the estate range, Premiere White, Premiere Rose and Premiere Red; from the estate flagship range, Confidentielle Rose; and from the Vin de France range, Atmosphere Sparkling Rose.

About Craft + Estate

Craft + Estate offers a portfolio of fine wines, craft spirits and artisanal sake that is guided by the belief that quality is the result of passion, talent and terroir. Representing centuries-old producers, modern visionaries and a growing international community of artful distillers, Craft + Estate invites discovery and guarantees a memorable experience. For more information, please visit www.craftandestate.com.

SOURCE Craft + Estate

Related Links

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TORONTO, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CrowdRiff today announced the release of the first visual marketing platform for both UGC and owned visuals. Speaking at the annual Destination International CMO Summit, CEO and CoFounder Dan Holowack also shared news of the company's rapid growth and expansion of its customer base into Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

CrowdRiff

CrowdRiff is a visual marketing platform for sourcing user-generated and owned visuals and publishing them to digital and offline marketing channels. Its customers include Destination BC, Colorado Tourism and Visit Franklin. To date, the company has processed over 100 million photos and videos for travel and tourism brands.

"Authentic visuals are key in attracting visitors to Winnipeg," says Cody Chomiak, Director of Marketing for Tourism Winnipeg. "CrowdRiff is an integral part of this strategy by allowing us to curate amazing photos and videos that are generated by our locals and our visitors, and share them on multiple platforms. We now have the power to tell the destination story through the eyes of a tourist, while keeping our digital properties updated with a constant stream of new visual assets. I especially love their new 'Uploaded Assets' library. For any DMO that is looking to move to a cloud-based keyword search library, this is it. Now any team member can easily and quickly search for photos and download the best that we have to offer in our collection."

Marketers today are building their tech stack from multiple technologies rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. CrowdRiff's new platform publishes visuals to an ecosystem of apps, from content management systems to digital asset managers and social media management tools, so marketers can use the best visuals across every marketing channel, from websites to digital ads.

"Visuals are the language of the digital era, and marketers increasingly need photos and videos to connect with their audiences," says Dan Holowack, CEO. "Our newest platform gives marketers the ability to source, manage and publish all their visuals from one central place  from the Instagram video posted by a traveler to the perfect beach photo commissioned from a professional photographer. I want to say thank you to each and every customer for allowing us to serve you, and for making CrowdRiff the visual marketing platform of choice for travel and tourism brands."

About CrowdRiff: CrowdRiff is the leading visual marketing software for destination and travel brands. They make it easy for marketing teams to source, organize and publish UGC and owned visuals that resonate with today's consumers. CrowdRiff customers include Colorado Tourism, Travel Portland, Destination British Columbia, and the Royal Ontario Museum. Visit CrowdRiff.com for more information.

For more information, contact:

Amrita Chandra

Head of Marketing

[email protected]

Related Images

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CrowdRiff Visual Marketing Platform overview

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE CrowdRiff

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http://www.crowdriff.com


DENVER, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA), a leading independent medical group and a leading provider of kidney care services in the United States, today announced that it will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss first quarter results on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The company plans to release its results after market close the same day.

This call is also being webcast and can be accessed at the DaVita investor relations web page. You can join this call as follows:

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Starting at 5:00 p.m. EDT

Dial in number: 877-918-6630

International dial in: 517-308-9087

Webcast: investors.davita.com

When calling in, please provide the operator the password "Earnings" and provide your name and company affiliation. Investors unable to listen to the conference call will be able to access a replay via our website at investors.davita.com. There will be no telephone replay.

About DaVita Inc.

DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500 company, is the parent company of DaVita Kidney Care and HealthCare Partners, a DaVita Medical Group. DaVita Kidney Care is a leading provider of kidney care in the United States, delivering dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. As of December 31, 2016, DaVita Kidney Care operated or provided administrative services at 2,350 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 188,000 patients. The company also operated 154 outpatient dialysis centers located in 11 countries outside the United States. HealthCare Partners manages and operates medical groups and affiliated physician networks in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, Colorado and Washington in its pursuit to deliver excellent-quality health care in a dignified and compassionate manner. As of December 31, 2016, HealthCare Partners provided integrated care management for approximately 749,000 patients. For more information, please visit DaVita.com/about.

Investor Contact:

Jim Gustafson

310-536-2585

[email protected]

SOURCE DaVita Inc.

Related Links

http://www.davita.com


BEACHWOOD, Ohio, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DDR Corp. (NYSE: DDR) today announced operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

"DDR's new management team is excited to continue positioning the Company for future success. We are pleased to report ongoing progress lowering leverage, as well as organizational streamlining to fit the Company's current operating scale and to partially mitigate an expected modest decline in property profitability this year. Our best-in-class leasing team is making progress refilling vacancies from recent larger scale tenant bankruptcies, and I am confident DDR will emerge from a challenging 2017 well positioned to take advantage of an environment rich with opportunities arising from the current dynamic retail real estate markets," commented David R. Lukes, president and chief executive officer.

Financial Highlights

First quarter net loss attributable to common shareholders was $59.8 million , or $0.16 per diluted share as compared to net income of $40.0 million , or $0.11 per diluted share, in the year ago-period. The year-over-year decline in net income attributable to common shareholders is primarily attributable to a $76 million valuation allowance recorded on the Company's preferred investment in two joint ventures in addition to an aggregate charge of $11.5 million associated primarily with executive management transition and a recent staff restructuring, partially offset by a $38.1 million gain on the sale of real estate assets.

, or per diluted share as compared to net income of , or per diluted share, in the year ago-period. The year-over-year decline in net income attributable to common shareholders is primarily attributable to a valuation allowance recorded on the Company's preferred investment in two joint ventures in addition to an aggregate charge of associated primarily with executive management transition and a recent staff restructuring, partially offset by a gain on the sale of real estate assets. First quarter operating funds from operations attributable to common shareholders ("Operating FFO") was $108.5 million or $0.30 per diluted share, compared to $114.2 million or $0.31 per diluted share in the year ago-period. The year-over-year decrease in OFFO is primarily attributable to the dilutive impact of deleveraging through asset sales.

Significant Quarterly Activity

DDR's key operating results in the first quarter include:

Reported a decrease in same store net operating income, including Puerto Rico , of 0.1% on a pro rata basis; presentation has been adjusted to include bad debt expense on a comparable basis

, of 0.1% on a pro rata basis; presentation has been adjusted to include bad debt expense on a comparable basis Executed 285 new leases and renewals for 1.8 million square feet

Generated new leasing spreads of 2.8% and renewal leasing spreads of 6.3%, both on a pro rata basis and including Puerto Rico for the quarter and new leasing spreads of 14.0% and renewal leasing spreads of 6.9%, both on a pro rata basis and including Puerto Rico for the trailing twelve-month period

for the quarter and new leasing spreads of 14.0% and renewal leasing spreads of 6.9%, both on a pro rata basis and including for the trailing twelve-month period Achieved a portfolio leased rate of 94.3% at March 31, 2017 , compared to 95.0% at December 31, 2016 , on a pro rata basis

, compared to 95.0% at , on a pro rata basis Increased the annualized base rent per occupied square foot by 5.5% on a pro rata basis to $15.67 at March 31, 2017 , from $14.86 at March 31, 2016

at , from at Sold 10 assets and two land parcels for $123.7 million during the quarter, totaling $118.5 million at DDR's share

during the quarter, totaling at DDR's share Acquired 3030 North Broadway in Chicago, Illinois , a 131,748 square foot Company-owned gross leasable area ("GLA") grocery-anchored shopping center for $81 million pursuant to a contract executed in 2016

Significant Financial Activity

Established $76 million in valuation allowances associated with the Company's preferred equity investment in its two joint ventures with Blackstone . The investments were impaired to reflect management's expectation that the securities are likely to be only partially repaid in the event of a full redemption in advance of the Company's redemption rights in 2020 and 2021. As a result, the Company will no longer recognize the non-cash portion of the interest income going forward. These charges are non-cash in nature and the Company's cash distributions from the securities remain unchanged.

in valuation allowances associated with the Company's preferred equity investment in its two joint ventures with . The investments were impaired to reflect management's expectation that the securities are likely to be only partially repaid in the event of a full redemption in advance of the Company's redemption rights in 2020 and 2021. As a result, the Company will no longer recognize the non-cash portion of the interest income going forward. These charges are non-cash in nature and the Company's cash distributions from the securities remain unchanged. Recorded a separation charge aggregating $11.5 million which is comprised of $9.4 million related to the March 2, 2017 , management transition and $2.1 million related to other staffing reductions announced on April 3, 2017 . These charges are included in General and Administrative expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 . Management expects to record an additional $5 million charge in the second quarter of 2017 reflecting the remaining separation costs associated with the restructuring announced on April 3, 2017 .

Guidance

DDR is withdrawing its previous guidance for net income applicable to common shareholders, Funds From Operations ("FFO") and Operating FFO given the unpredictable timing and magnitude of potential transactional activity in 2017. However, management has updated its 2017 operating assumptions as follows:

Expected annual growth in same store net operating income has been reduced from a total portfolio range of 1%-2% previously expected to a range as follows:







DDR Share US Portfolio (1.0%)  0.5% Total Portfolio (1.5%)  0.0% Expected leased rate at year end of 93.0% to 93.5%, reduced from a 25 to 50 basis point increase previously expected

Expected General and Administrative expenses have been reduced to a range of $72 million to $75 million from $77 million to $80 million previously reported, reflecting staffing reductions announced on April 3, 2017

from to previously reported, reflecting staffing reductions announced on Expected Fee income of $30 million to $33 million

Expected Interest income has been reduced to a range of $26 million to $29 million from a range of $33 million to $36 million previously expected, as the Company does not currently expect to record any non-cash interest income for the remainder of 2017 as a result of the valuation allowance as discussed above

from a range of previously expected, as the Company does not currently expect to record any non-cash interest income for the remainder of 2017 as a result of the valuation allowance as discussed above Expected redevelopment activity placed in service of $80 million (approximately $40 million of incremental same store NOI) weighted towards the second half of the year at high single-digit yields

About DDR Corp.

DDR is an owner and manager of 309 value-oriented shopping centers representing 103 million square feet in 35 states and Puerto Rico. The Company owns a high-quality portfolio of open-air shopping centers in major metropolitan areas that provide a highly-compelling shopping experience and merchandise mix for retail partners and consumers. The Company actively manages its assets with a focus on creating long-term shareholder value. DDR is a self-administered and self-managed REIT operating as a fully integrated real estate company, and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DDR. Additional information about the Company is available at www.ddr.com.

Conference Call and Supplemental Information

The Company will hold its quarterly conference call today at 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time. To participate with access to the slide presentation, please visit the Investors portion of DDR's website, www.ddr.com/events or dial 877-249-1119 (domestic) or 412-542-4143 (international) at least ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call. A replay of the conference call will also be available at www.ddr.com/events for one year after the call. A copy of the Company's Supplemental package is available on the Company's website at www.ddr.com.

Non-GAAP Measures

FFO is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure used as a standard in the real estate industry and is a widely accepted measure of real estate investment trust ("REIT") performance. Management believes that both FFO and Operating FFO provide additional indicators of the financial performance of a REIT. The Company also believes that FFO and Operating FFO more appropriately measure the core operations of the Company and provide benchmarks to its peer group.



FFO is generally defined and calculated by the Company as net income (loss), adjusted to exclude: (i) preferred share dividends, (ii) gains and losses from disposition of depreciable real estate property and related investments, which are presented net of taxes, (iii) impairment charges on depreciable real estate property and related investments and (iv) certain non-cash items. These non-cash items principally include real property depreciation and amortization of intangibles, equity income (loss) from joint ventures and equity income (loss) from non-controlling interests and adding the Company's proportionate share of FFO from its unconsolidated joint ventures and non-controlling interests, determined on a consistent basis. The Company's calculation of FFO is consistent with the NAREIT definition. The Company calculates Operating FFO by excluding certain non-operating charges and gains. Operating FFO is useful to investors as the Company removes non-comparable charges and gains to analyze the results of its operations and assess performance of the core operating real estate portfolio. Other real estate companies may calculate FFO and Operating FFO in a different manner.

The Company also uses net operating income ("NOI"), a non-GAAP financial measure, as a supplemental performance measure. NOI is calculated as property revenues less property-related expenses. The Company believes NOI provides useful information to investors regarding the Company's financial condition and results of operations because it reflects only those income and expense items that are incurred at the property level and, when compared across periods, reflects the impact on operations from trends in occupancy rates, rental rates, operating costs and acquisition and disposition activity on an unleveraged basis.

The Company presents NOI information herein on a same store basis or "SSNOI." The Company defines SSNOI as property revenues less property-related expenses, which exclude straight-line rental income and expenses, lease termination income, management fee expense, fair market value of leases and expense recovery adjustments. The Company presents SSNOI both with and without provisions for uncollectible amounts and/or recoveries thereof. SSNOI also excludes activity associated with development and major redevelopment and single tenant assets and includes assets owned in comparable periods (15 months for quarter comparisons). SSNOI excludes all non-property and corporate level revenue and expenses. Other real estate companies may calculate NOI and SSNOI in a different manner. The Company believes SSNOI provides investors with additional information regarding the operating performances of comparable assets because it excludes certain non-cash and non-comparable items as noted above.

FFO, Operating FFO, NOI and SSNOI do not represent cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP, are not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash needs and should not be considered as alternatives to net income computed in accordance with GAAP as indicators of the Company's operating performance or as alternatives to cash flow as a measure of liquidity. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in this release and the accompanying financial supplement.

Safe Harbor

DDR Corp. considers portions of the information in this press release to be 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, both as amended, with respect to the Company's expectation for future periods. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including, among other factors, local conditions such as supply of space or a reduction in demand for real estate in the area; competition from other available space; dependence on rental income from real property; the loss of, significant downsizing of or bankruptcy of a major tenant; redevelopment and construction activities may not achieve a desired return on investment; our ability to buy or sell assets on commercially reasonable terms; our ability to complete acquisitions or dispositions of assets under contract; our ability to secure equity or debt financing on commercially acceptable terms or at all; our ability to enter into definitive agreements with regard to our financing and joint venture arrangements or our failure to satisfy conditions to the completion of these arrangements; the success of our deleveraging strategy; any impact or results from the Company's portfolio transition or any change in strategy; and the finalization of the financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2017. For additional factors that could cause the results of the Company to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

DDR Corp. Income Statement: Consolidated Interests

$ in thousands, except per share









1Q17

1Q16 Revenues:













Minimum rents (1)







$167,229

$177,367 Percentage rent







1,699

1,936 Recoveries







57,476

61,599 Other property revenues (2)







4,577

5,343









230,981

246,245 Expenses (3):













Operating and maintenance







32,991

37,258 Real estate taxes







34,329

35,784









67,320

73,042















Net operating income







163,661

173,203















Other income (expense):













Fee income







9,440

8,178 Interest income







8,392

9,050 Interest expense







(51,827)

(57,897) Depreciation and amortization







(90,884)

(96,902) General and administrative (4)







(31,072)

(17,876) Other income (expense), net







(4)

1,773 Impairment charges







(21,973)

0 (Loss) income before earnings from JVs and other







(14,267)

19,529















Equity in net (loss) income of JVs







(1,665)

14,421 Reserve of preferred equity interests







(76,000)

0 Tax expense







(223)

(458) Gain on disposition of real estate, net







38,127

12,381 Net (loss) income







(54,028)

45,873 Non-controlling interests







(213)

(300) Net (loss) income DDR







(54,241)

45,573 Preferred dividends







(5,594)

(5,594) Net (loss) income Common Shareholders







($59,835)

$39,979















Weighted average shares  Basic  EPS







366,430

364,691 Assumed conversion of dilutive securities







0

351 Weighted average shares  Diluted  EPS







366,430

365,042















Earnings per common share  Basic & Diluted







($0.16)

$0.11













































DDR Corp. Reconciliation: Net (Loss) Income to FFO and Operating FFO and Other Financial Information

$ in thousands, except per share









1Q17

1Q16 Net (loss) income attributable to Common Shareholders







($59,835)

$39,979 Depreciation and amortization of real estate







88,649

94,854 Equity in net loss (income) of JVs







1,665

(14,421) JVs' FFO







6,582

6,150 Non-controlling interests







76

76 Impairment of depreciable real estate







21,973

0 Gain on disposition of depreciable real estate, net







(36,898)

(12,096) FFO attributable to Common Shareholders







$22,212

$114,542















Reserve of preferred equity interests







76,000

0 Separation charges







11,471

0 Transaction, debt extinguishment, litigation, other, net







(1)

(29) Joint ventures - transaction, currency, other







80

0 Gain on disposition of non-depreciable real estate, net







(1,229)

(285) Total non-operating items, net







86,321

(314) Operating FFO attributable to Common Shareholders







$108,533

$114,228















Weighted average shares and units  Basic  FFO & OFFO







366,976

365,697 Assumed conversion of dilutive securities







89

351 Weighted average shares and units  Diluted  FFO & OFFO







367,065

366,048















FFO per share  Basic & Diluted







$0.06

$0.31 Operating FFO per share  Basic & Diluted







$0.30

$0.31 Common stock dividends declared, per share







$0.19

$0.19















Certain non-cash items (DDR share):













Straight-line rent, net







$433

$1,355 Amortization of (above)/below-market rent, net







3,851

397 Straight-line ground rent income (expense)







230

(94) Debt fair value and loan cost amortization







(990)

(757) Capitalized interest expense







398

1,244 Stock compensation expense







(1,908)

(1,608) Non-real estate depreciation expense







(2,135)

(2,001) Non-cash interest income







1,283

1,944















Capital expenditures (DDR share):













Development and redevelopment costs







15,924

24,472 Maintenance capital expenditures







824

1,017 Tenant allowances and landlord work







12,076

7,456 Leasing commissions







638

904















































DDR Corp. Balance Sheet: Consolidated Interests

$ in thousands























At Period End









1Q17

4Q16 Assets:













Land







$1,987,849

$1,990,406 Buildings







6,338,139

6,412,532 Fixtures and tenant improvements







738,741

735,685









9,064,729

9,138,623 Depreciation







(2,004,413)

(1,996,176)









7,060,316

7,142,447 Construction in progress and land







120,808

105,435 Real estate, net







7,181,124

7,247,882















Investments in JVs







76,047

60,793 Receivable  preferred equity interests, net







319,315

393,338 Cash







19,715

30,430 Restricted cash







46,587

8,795 Notes receivable, net







49,895

49,503 Receivables, net (5)







117,559

121,367 Other assets, net (6)







282,724

285,410 Total Assets







8,092,966

8,197,518















Liabilities and Equity:













Revolving credit facilities







90,000

0 Unsecured debt







2,914,186

2,913,217 Unsecured term loan







398,516

398,399 Secured debt







1,118,224

1,182,352









4,520,926

4,493,968 Dividends payable







75,402

75,245 Other liabilities (7)







369,391

382,293 Total Liabilities







4,965,719

4,951,506















Preferred shares







350,000

350,000 Common shares







36,667

36,630 Paid-in capital







5,497,660

5,487,212 Distributions in excess of net income







(2,761,977)

(2,632,327) Deferred compensation







10,083

15,149 Other comprehensive income







(3,432)

(4,192) Common shares in treasury at cost







(10,300)

(14,957) Non-controlling interests







8,546

8,497 Total Equity







3,127,247

3,246,012















Total Liabilities and Equity







$8,092,966

$8,197,518























DDR Corp. Financial Statement: Footnotes

$ in thousands









1Q17

1Q16











Revenue items:









(1) Ground lease revenue



$ 10,892

$ 10,100 (2) Lease termination fees



178

1,229











(3) Operating expenses:







Recoverable expenses



(62,117)

(66,115) Non-recoverable expenses



(4,280)

(5,900) Bad debt expense



(923)

(1,027)











(4) General and administrative expenses:









Separation charges



(11,471)

(0) Internal leasing expenses



(1,592)

(2,082) Construction administrative costs (capitalized)



2,388

1,952











(5) Straight-line rents receivable, net (at quarter and year end)



64,772

65,072











(6) Intangible assets, net (at quarter and year end)



236,372

241,598











(7) Below-market leases, net (at quarter and year end)



142,372

147,941











Additional financial information (DDR share):









Est. value of land owned adjacent to existing centers



27,306



Cost basis of headquarters (non-income producing)



40,917













DDR Corp. Reconciliation of Net Income Attributable to DDR to Same Store NOI (1)

$ in thousands



























At DDR Share (Non-GAAP)



1Q17

1Q16

1Q17

1Q16 GAAP Reconciliation:















Net (loss) income attributable to DDR

($54,241)

$45,573

($54,241)

$45,573 Fee income

(9,440)

(8,178)

(9,440)

(8,178) Interest income

(8,392)

(9,050)

(8,392)

(9,050) Interest expense

51,827

57,897

51,827

57,897 Depreciation and amortization

90,884

96,902

90,884

96,902 General and administrative

31,072

17,876

31,072

17,876 Other expense

4

(1,773)

4

(1,773) Impairment charges

21,973

0

21,973

0 Equity in net loss (income) of joint ventures

1,665

(14,421)

1,665

(14,421) Reserve of preferred equity interests

76,000

0

76,000

0 Tax expense

223

458

223

458 Gain on disposition of real estate

(38,127)

(12,381)

(38,127)

(12,381) Income from non-controlling interests

213

300

213

300 Consolidated NOI

163,661

173,203

163,661

173,203 DDR's consolidated JV

0

0

(410)

(426) Consolidated NOI, net of non-controlling interests

163,661

173,203

163,251

172,777

















Net (loss) income from unconsolidated joint ventures

(52,377)

47,305

(5,237)

11,192 Interest expense

30,130

33,322

4,883

5,298 Depreciation and amortization

45,096

49,035

5,548

5,549 Impairment charges

52,657

0

6,260

0 Preferred share expense

8,128

8,264

406

413 Other expense, net

6,573

5,811

1,073

983 Loss (gain) on disposition of real estate, net

173

(53,483)

8

(10,695) Unconsolidated NOI

90,380

90,254

12,941

12,740

















Total Consolidated + Unconsolidated NOI

254,041

263,457

176,192

185,517 Less: Non-Same Store NOI adjustments

(16,684)

(27,191)

(15,410)

(24,588) Total SSNOI (including bad debt expense)

$237,357

$236,266

$160,782

$160,929

















Less: Puerto Rico Same Store NOI

(23,077)

(23,853)

(23,077)

(23,853) Total SSNOI excluding Puerto Rico (including bad debt expense)

$214,280

$212,413

$137,705

$137,076

















Add: bad debt expense

1,245

1,515

1,008

1,112 Total SSNOI (excluding bad debt expense)

$238,602

$237,781

$161,790

$162,041

















SSNOI % Change (including bad debt expense)

0.5%





(0.1%)



SSNOI % Change excluding Puerto Rico

0.9%





0.5%



SSNOI % Change (excluding bad debt expense)

0.3%





(0.2%)







(1) Excludes major redevelopment activity; see Investments section for additional detail. See calculation definition in the Non-GAAP Measures section.

SOURCE DDR Corp.

Related Links

http://www.ddr.com


In conjunction with the brand's expansion across the south, the company also announced a brand restage initiative that takes Mayfield back to its roots, including restoring the name of the 94-year-old brand to Mayfield Creamery, the original trademark. To bring this update to life, Mayfield Creamery has completely overhauled its packaging graphics to showcase the brand's core values, reflected in classic iconography and its heritage as a family dairy. The new packaging prominently features a classic Mayfield delivery truck set against the foothills of the Smoky Mountains highlighting the brand's authentic southern roots. The new Mayfield Creamery logo has been adapted from the iconic circular Mayfield Dairy Farms logo recognized by generations of loyal fans.

"In celebration of the brand's new look and classic name, we're launching a 360-marketing campaign that honors Mayfield Creamery's enduring values," said Mark Schneider, Ice Cream Marketing Director for Dean Foods. "Mayfield Creamery celebrates timeless traditions large and small, and we're proud to focus on the brand's storied heritage, unique signature flavors, and multi-generational commitment to producing the finest quality ice cream using fresh cream from our own dairy, with no artificial growth hormones."

In May, Mayfield will return to the airwaves across multiple markets with a new TV commercial featuring Scottie Mayfield, a third-generation Mayfield family member who started working at the creamery when he was only 11 years old and has served as a brand spokesperson for decades. In addition to the TV campaign, the relaunch also includes digital advertising, social media and a mobile sampling tour. In Atlanta, Mayfield has renewed its longstanding partnership as the official ice cream of the Atlanta Braves as they move into their new home at SunTrust Park. In its new Texas market, Mayfield Creamery will be partnering with MiLB's Frisco RoughRiders as official ice cream and exclusive ice cream provider at Dr. Pepper Stadium. The brand also boasts a new Mayfield Creamery website and social media channels.

Mayfield Creamery ice cream can be found in the freezer aisle at grocery stores across southern United States. Visit MayfieldCreamery.com for more information, and follow the brand on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @MayfieldScoop.

ABOUT DEAN FOODS

Dean Foods is a leading food and beverage company and the largest processor and direct-to-store distributor of fluid milk and other dairy and dairy case products in the United States. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the Dean Foods portfolio includes DairyPure, the country's first and largest fresh, white milk national brand, and TruMoo, the leading national flavored milk brand, along with well-known regional dairy brands such as Alta Dena, Berkeley Farms, Country Fresh, Dean's, Garelick Farms, Friendly's, LAND O LAKES* milk and cultured products*, Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms, Mayfield, McArthur, Meadow Gold, Oak Farms, PET**, T.G. Lee, Tuscan and more. In all, Dean Foods has more than 50 local and regional dairy brands and private labels. Dean Foods also makes and distributes ice cream, cultured products, juices, teas, and bottled water. Almost 17,000 employees across the country work every day to make Dean Foods the most admired and trusted provider of wholesome, great-tasting dairy products at every occasion. For more information about Dean Foods and its brands, visit www.deanfoods.com.

*The LAND O LAKES brand is owned by Land O'Lakes, Inc. and is used by license.

**PET is a trademark used by license.

SOURCE Dean Foods Company

Related Links

http://www.deanfoods.com


Taking place in Singapore until Thursday, 27 April, Sea Asia 2017 brings together leaders of the maritime and offshore industries to discuss, debate and analyse challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, said that with the advent of digitalisation in the industry, the Government is taking steps to help companies in Singapore develop capabilities to succeed in the future.

For example, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) enhanced Maritime Cluster Fund now provides more co-funding for companies that want to use technology to optimise their processes or transform their business models.

Mr Khaw also highlighted the importance of preparing the local workforce for transformations driven by digitalisation in the industry, adding that the jobs of tomorrow will be markedly different from today.

"We have to ensure that our maritime manpower is equipped to handle transformation, and for some of them, to drive the transformation," said Mr Khaw.

Experts on the panel of the Sea Asia Global Forum commented on the need to provide an enabling environment that allows for the maritime workforce to learn and be comfortable with the idea of digitalisation in the industry.

"When it comes to digitalisation, the word to think about is not disruption, but transformation. There are many opportunities that come with the transformations that digitalisation brings to the industry and hence, we have to learn to change the way we're thinking about it. The maritime industry needs to create an environment that allows for its people to experiment with new technologies and learn how to use them.

"It's all about changing people's mind-sets on digitalisation and making them confident that they can work with the changes," said Mr Piyush Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of DBS Group who was one of the panellists of the Sea Asia Global Forum.

Despite this, industry leaders still recognise the ongoing need for a more human element in the industry.

Mr Oskar Levander, Vice President Innovation, Engineering & Technology - Marine, Rolls-Royce, said at 'The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Threat or Opportunity?' session: "Digitalisation is changing everything in the industry, from the way ships are run to how business models are shaped. With digitalisation, I believe there will eventually be remote and autonomous shipping; but this is not to say that all ships will be unmanned and that no crew is needed."

With expanded technology also comes added risk -- another factor companies need to consider when adopting a more digital approach.

Speaking at the same session, Mr Michael Montoya, Chief Cybersecurity Advisor, Microsoft Asia, said: "Companies must embrace technology but as you expand your digital footprint, you do open yourself to risks in the form of cybersecurity. However, there are ways to protect yourself from that risk, and there are smart ways that you can implement that will allow you to continue on that maturity journey to put much better services and systems in place."

The industry leaders also highlighted the importance of coming together to discuss and analyse new trends such as digitalisation at a regional platform such as Sea Asia.

Seatrade Chairman Chris Hayman said: "Since the first event in 2007, Sea Asia has trebled in size and we are expecting more than 16,000 participants from around 80 countries for this year's edition.

"This event gives us all the opportunity to hear from the leaders of the industry in this region, and their counterparts from around the world," he said.

For more information, please contact:

Disha Gurnani Caroline Leeming

Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Mobile: +65-9789-1655 Mobile: +65-8742-3266

DID: +65-6239-4105 DID: +65-6239-4102

Notes to Editors

About Sea Asia 2017

Sea Asia, the premier maritime and offshore conference and exhibition in Asia is returning for the 6th edition on 25 - 27 April 2017 at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Co-organised by Seatrade and the Singapore Maritime Foundation, Sea Asia is well-attended by trade professionals and some of the most influential and respected leaders in the industry, delivering an unparalleled reach of key decision-makers.

Alongside an international exhibition, the highly acclaimed and interactive Sea Asia conference complements and puts Sea Asia at the forefront of regional maritime events. International thought-leaders will address the latest topics, debate on key trends, and discuss opportunities and challenges facing the maritime and offshore businesses from a commercial perspective.

For a full list of sponsors and exhibitors, and more information on the conference programme, please visit www.sea-asia.com/.

About Seatrade

Founded in 1970, Seatrade was acquired in 2014 by UBM, the world's second largest media and event organiser across a wide variety of industries. Seatrade's publications, events, management training, research and award schemes cover every aspect of the cruise and maritime industries. The company's principal strength is its ability to bring key people together, encouraging innovation and facilitating better communication within the industry. Seatrade is headquartered in Colchester, UK, with regional offices in Dubai, Singapore, as well as representatives in all major maritime centres and cruise destinations across the globe.

For more information, please visit www.seatrade-maritime.com.

About the Singapore Maritime Foundation

Established in 2004, the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) is a private sector-led organisation that seeks to develop and promote Singapore as an International Maritime Centre (IMC). As the representative voice for the commercial players of the maritime industry, SMF seeks to forge strong partnerships with the public and private sectors of the maritime industry. SMF spearheads initiatives to promote the diverse clusters of the maritime industry in Singapore and at international frontiers, and to attract young talents to join the sector. SMF is directed by its Board of Directors which comprises prominent leaders in the Singapore maritime community.

For details, please visit www.smf.com.sg.

About the Singapore Maritime Week 2017 (22nd -- 28th April 2017)

Sea Asia 2017 is held in conjunction with the Singapore Maritime Week 2017 (SMW). SMW is the leading maritime event in Singapore driven by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. SMW gathers the international maritime community in Singapore for a week of conferences, dialogues, exhibitions and social events in celebration of all things maritime. These events reflect the vibrancy and diversity of Singapore as a major international maritime centre.

SOURCE Seatrade Communications

Related Links

http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/


BUFFALO, N.Y., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Local educational charity, Educators of America, wished a safe journey to one of their own this week. Director and Business Development Specialist, Brett Claydon, embarked on a 2 year tour of duty with the US Peace Corps to Namibia, Africa where he will serve as an economic development volunteer. It is a tremendous honor to be selected to represent our country abroad in the Peace Corps, and Educators of America is privileged to have one of their very own selected to serve.

At an event to help raise funds for Brett's transition to Namibia held on April 7th at the Pearl Street Grill, Executive Director of Educators of America, Mike Lynch, made an announcement to those in attendance: "In honor of Brett's commitment to the service of others, and in accordance with our non-profit mission of connecting teachers with the tools they need to increase achievement, and with the support of our partners at the Joe Lang Foundation, Gaston Middle School, and all of our other valued stakeholders... Educators of America is sending a 10 member delegation to Africa in July of 2019. We are going to bring the hope and confidence that can only come from a free and public education to a local community... by building a school... to serve as a place of learning and community development, a place where true hope lives."

"Africa is our world's most youthful continent, with more than 50% of the population under 15 years old. Our world's major challenges will be solved by people that are in middle school today and it behooves us all to guide students toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers."

Educators of America is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting teachers with the training and technology they need to increase student achievement. To learn more about our projects in the USA or to make a donation, please visit www.educatorsusa.org.

Media Contact:

Michael Lynch

716.703.8368

[email protected]

Related Files

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This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Educators of America Inc

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http://www.educatorsusa.org


WILMINGTON, Del., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

First-Quarter Highlights

GAAP 1 earnings per share increased 9 percent to $1.52 from $1.39 in prior year. Operating earnings 2 per share increased 30 percent to $1.64 from $1.26 in prior year.

Sales of $7.7 billion increased 5 percent on a 4-percent benefit from volume and a 1-percent benefit from local price. Sales grew in most segments, led by Agriculture, Performance Materials, and Electronics & Communications.

Agriculture sales increased 4 percent reflecting benefits from local price and volume. Pricing growth was driven by double-digit gains in Latin America , the launch of new soybean varieties in North America and increased sunflower seed sales in Europe . Volume growth was driven by the change in timing of seed deliveries and increased insecticide and sunflower seed volumes, partially offset by lower expected corn acreage in North America .

Total company gross margin expanded by more than 80 basis points. Segment operating margins expanded by about 250 basis points, led by improvements in Electronics & Communications, Performance Materials and Agriculture.

Free cash flow 3 improved over $200 million .

DuPont expects first-half 2017 GAAP1 earnings per share of about $2.42 , a decrease of about 5 percent versus prior year. First-half 2017 operating earnings2 per share are expected to be about $2.90 , an increase of about 16 percent versus prior year.

DuPont (NYSE: DD), a science company that brings world-class, innovative products, materials, and services to the global marketplace, today announced first-quarter 2017 GAAP1 earnings of $1.52 per share and operating earnings2 of $1.64 per share. Prior year GAAP1 and operating earnings2 were $1.39 per share and $1.26 per share, respectively. Refer to Schedule B for details of significant items excluded from operating earnings per share.

1 Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) 2 See schedules A, C, and D for definitions and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures. 3 Free cash flow is defined as cash used for operating activities less purchases of property, plant and equipment. See schedule A for reconciliation of non-GAAP measure.

First-quarter sales were $7.7 billion, up 5 percent versus prior year on a 4-percent benefit from volume and a 1-percent benefit from local price. Volume grew in almost all segments, led by Performance Materials, Electronics & Communications and Agriculture. Agriculture sales were positively impacted by the change in timing of seed deliveries which benefitted first quarter sales by approximately $140 million. This timing change benefitted total company net sales by 2 percent in the quarter.

"Our team delivered strong operational performance in the first quarter, growing operating EPS by 30 percent," said Ed Breen, Chairman and CEO. "The strength of our new product introductions and increased demand in key markets together resulted in top-line increases in almost every business. We also made significant progress on key milestones in the merger with Dow, including receipt of conditional approval from the European Commission and an agreement with FMC to divest certain crop protection assets and acquire substantially all of its Health & Nutrition segment. We continue to expect to close the merger in August of this year and quickly begin working on the 500-plus projects already identified to deliver the targeted $3 billion in cost synergies."

Global Consolidated Net Sales  1st Quarter





Three Months Ended



















March 31, 2017

Percent Change Due to:







%

Local Price and









Portfolio /



$

Change

Product Mix

Currency

Volume

Other

























(Dollars in millions)





















U.S. & Canada

$ 3,576

-

1

-

(1)

- EMEA *

2,110

5

1

(3)

8

(1) Asia Pacific

1,451

13

(1)

(1)

16

(1) Latin America

606

14

7

11

(3)

(1)

























Total Consolidated Sales $ 7,743

5

1

-

4

-

























* Europe, Middle East & Africa













Segment Net Sales  1st Quarter



Three Months Ended

















March 31, 2017

Percent Change Due to:









Local Price and









Portfolio /

$

% Change

Product Mix

Currency

Volume

Other (Dollars in millions)





















Agriculture $ 3,928

4

2

1

2

(1) Electronics & Communications 510

13

-

(1)

15

(1) Industrial Biosciences 368

5

2

(1)

4

- Nutrition & Health 789

(1)

-

(1)

-

- Performance Materials 1,368

10

-

(1)

11

- Protection Solutions 747

2

(2)

(1)

5

- Other 33



















Consolidated Net Sales 7,743

5

1

-

4

-

Operating Earnings  1st Quarter











Change vs. 2016 (Dollars in millions) 1Q17

1Q16

$

% Agriculture $ 1,236

$ 1,101

$ 135

12% Electronics & Communications 89

59

30

51% Industrial Biosciences 75

63

12

19% Nutrition & Health 121

104

17

16% Performance Materials 355

273

82

30% Protection Solutions 177

176

1

1% Other (62)

(59)

(3)

-5% Total segment operating earnings (4) 1,991

1,717

274

16%















Exchange gains (losses) (5) (59)

(121)

62

nm Corporate expenses (4) (69)

(86)

17

-20% Interest expense (84)

(92)

8

-9% Operating earnings before income taxes (2) 1,779

1,418

361

25% Provision for income taxes on operating earnings (2) (4) (338)

(303)

(35)



Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 8

6

2



Operating earnings (2) $ 1,433

$ 1,109

$ 324

29%















Operating earnings per share (2) $1.64

$ 1.26

$ 0.38

30% GAAP (1)earnings per share $1.52

$ 1.39

$ 0.13

9%















(4) See Schedules B and C for listing of significant items.















(5) See Schedule D for additional information on exchange gains and losses.

The following is a summary of business results for each of the company's reportable segments comparing first quarter with the prior year, unless otherwise noted.

Agriculture  First-quarter 2017 operating earnings of $1,236 million increased $135 million, or 12 percent, on local price and volume growth. Pricing growth was realized by double-digit increases in Brazil driven by the company's newest corn hybrids and increased sunflower seed sales in Europe. Volume growth was driven by an approximately $140 million benefit from the change in timing of seed deliveries, increased insecticides and sunflower seed sales partially offset by a decrease in expected corn acreage in North America. Operating margins expanded by about 240 basis points.

Electronics & Communications  First-quarter 2017 operating earnings of $89 million increased $30 million, or 51 percent, on volume growth and the absence of a $16 million prior year litigation expense. Volume growth was driven by increased demand in consumer electronics and semiconductor markets, as well as stronger photovoltaic material sales. Operating earnings included a gain on the sale of a business offset by costs associated with a legal matter. Operating margins expanded by 440 basis points.

Industrial Biosciences  First-quarter 2017 operating earnings of $75 million increased $12 million, or 19 percent, on volume growth, improved joint venture performance and cost savings, partially offset by declines in CleanTech. Volume growth reflected increased demand for biomaterials in apparel and carpeting and bioactives in the grain processing market. Operating margins expanded by about 250 basis points.

Nutrition & Health  First-quarter 2017 operating earnings of $121 million increased $17 million, or 16 percent, on plant productivity, mix enrichment and cost savings. Volume growth in probiotics and emulsifiers was offset by declines in protein solutions and systems and texturants. Operating margins expanded by 235 basis points.

Performance Materials - First-quarter 2017 operating earnings of $355 million increased $82 million, or 30 percent, driven by higher volumes and cost savings. Increased demand for polymers in automotive markets, specialty copolymers growth in packaging and timing benefits from the second quarter 2017 drove increased volumes. Overall volume growth was constrained by lower ethylene sales as the business prepares for a planned turnaround of the ethylene cracker in the second quarter. Operating margins expanded by about 410 basis points.

Protection Solutions  First-quarter 2017 operating earnings of $177 million increased $1 million, or 1 percent, as volume growth and cost savings offset higher raw material costs, unfavorable mix and lower plant productivity. Volume growth reflected improved demand for Nomex thermal-resistant fiber in oil and gas and mass transportation markets partially offset by declines in Kevlar high-strength materials, Tyvek protective materials and surfaces. Operating margins contracted by 45 basis points.

First-Half 2017 Outlook

The company expects first-half 2017 GAAP1 earnings per share of about $2.42, a decrease of about 5 percent from prior year. First-half 2017 operating earnings2 per share are expected to be about $2.90, an increase of about 16 percent versus prior year primarily driven by sales growth. The increase in sales is due to the impact of the change in timing of seed deliveries, primarily related to the southern U.S route-to-market change in Agriculture, and strength in global automotive markets. These benefits are anticipated to be partially offset by the expected reduction in planted corn acres in North America and higher product costs in Performance Materials and Agriculture.

The company's first-half 2017 GAAP1 earnings includes an expected net charge of about $0.32 per share for significant items primarily related to transaction costs associated with the planned merger with Dow. Prior year GAAP1 earnings included a net benefit of $0.20 per share from significant items, primarily due to a gain on the sale of an entity.

DuPont will hold a conference call and webcast on Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2017, at 8:00 AM ET to discuss this news release. The webcast and additional presentation materials can be accessed by visiting the company's investor website (Events & Presentations) at www.investors.dupont.com. A replay of the conference call webcast will be available for 90 days by calling 1-630-652-3042, Passcode 6328583#. For additional information see the investor center at http://www.dupont.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

This earnings release includes information that does not conform to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and are considered non-GAAP measures. These measures include the company's consolidated results and earnings per share on an operating earnings basis, which excludes significant items and non-operating pension and other post employment benefit costs (operating earnings and operating EPS), total segment pre-tax operating earnings, operating costs and corporate expenses on an operating earnings basis. Management uses these measures internally for planning, forecasting and evaluating the performance of the company's segments, including allocating resources and evaluating incentive compensation. From a liquidity perspective, management uses free cash flow, which is defined as cash provided by/used for operating activities less purchases of property, plant and equipment. Free cash flow is useful to investors and management to evaluate the company's cash flow and financial performance, and is an integral financial measure used in the company's financial planning process. Management believes that these non-GAAP measurements are meaningful to investors as they provide insight with respect to ongoing operating results of the company and provide a more useful comparison of year-over-year results. These non-GAAP measurements supplement our GAAP disclosures and should not be viewed as an alternative to GAAP measures of performance. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to GAAP are provided in schedules A, C and D. Details of significant items are provided in schedule B.

About DuPont

DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit http://www.dupont.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "see," "will," "would," "target," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words.

Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, such as statements about the consummation of the proposed merger of equals transaction with The Dow Chemical Company (the "DowDuPont Merger") and the proposed transaction with FMC and the anticipated benefits thereof. These and other forward-looking statements, including the failure to consummate the DowDuPont Merger or the proposed transaction or to make or take any filing or other action required to consummate such transactions in a timely manner or at all, are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Important risk factors that may cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, (i) the completion of the DowDuPont Merger and the proposed transaction on anticipated terms and timing, including obtaining regulatory approvals, anticipated tax treatment, unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, synergies, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses, future prospects, business and management strategies for the management, expansion and growth of the new combined company's or the Health and Nutrition business's operations and other conditions to the completion of the DowDuPont Merger and the proposed transaction, (ii) the possibility that the DowDuPont Merger and the proposed transaction may not close, including because the various approvals, authorizations and declarations of non-objections from certain regulatory and governmental authorities with respect to either the DowDuPont Merger or the proposed transaction may not be obtained, on a timely basis or otherwise, including that these regulatory or governmental authorities may not approve of FMC as an acceptable purchaser of the Ag business in connection with the proposed transaction or may impose conditions on the granting of the various approvals, authorizations and declarations of non-objections, including requiring the respective Dow, DuPont and FMC businesses, including the Health and Nutrition business (in the case of DuPont) and the Ag business (in the case of FMC), to divest certain assets if necessary to obtain certain regulatory approvals or otherwise limiting the ability of the combined company to integrate parts of the Dow and DuPont businesses and/or the DuPont and Health and Nutrition businesses, (iii) the ability of DuPont to integrate the Health and Nutrition business successfully and to achieve anticipated synergies, (iv) potential litigation or regulatory actions relating to the DowDuPont Merger or the proposed transaction that could be instituted against DuPont or its directors, (v) the risk that disruptions from the DowDuPont Merger or the proposed transaction will harm DuPont's business, including current plans and operations, (vi) the ability of DuPont to retain and hire key personnel, (vii) potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships resulting from the announcement or completion of the DowDuPont Merger or the proposed transaction, (viii) uncertainty as to the long-term value of DowDuPont common stock, (ix) continued availability of capital and financing and rating agency actions, (x) legislative, regulatory and economic developments, (xi) potential business uncertainty, including changes to existing business relationships, during the pendency of the DowDuPont Merger or the proposed transaction that could affect DuPont's financial performance, (xii) certain restrictions during the pendency of the DowDuPont Merger or the proposed transaction that may impact DuPont's ability to pursue certain business opportunities or strategic transactions and (xiii) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism or outbreak of war or hostilities, as well as management's response to any of the aforementioned factors. These risks, as well as other risks associated with the DowDuPont Merger or the proposed transaction, are or will be more fully discussed in (1) DuPont's most recently filed Form 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K reports, (2) DuPont's subsequently filed Form 10-K and 10-Q reports and (3) the joint proxy statement/prospectus included in the Registration Statement filed with the SEC in connection with the DowDuPont Merger. While the list of factors presented here is, and the list of factors presented in the relevant Form 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K reports and the Registration Statement are, considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third parties and similar risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on DuPont's consolidated financial condition, results of operations, credit rating or liquidity. DuPont assumes no obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Consolidated Income Statements (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

SCHEDULE A







Three Months Ended March 31,

2017

2016 Net sales $ 7,743



$ 7,405

Cost of goods sold 4,371



4,242

Other operating charges (1) 204



185

Selling, general and administrative expenses (1) 1,260



1,128

Research and development expense 416



418

Other income, net (1) (306)



(372)

Interest expense 84



92

Employee separation / asset related charges, net (1) 152



77









Income from continuing operations before income taxes 1,562



1,635

Provision for income taxes on continuing operations (1) 224



406

Income from continuing operations after income taxes 1,338



1,229

(Loss) income from discontinued operations after income taxes (217)



3









Net income 1,121



1,232









Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 8



6









Net income attributable to DuPont $ 1,113



$ 1,226









Basic earnings per share of common stock:





Basic earnings per share of common stock from continuing operations $ 1.53



$ 1.40

Basic loss per share of common stock from discontinued operations (0.25)





Basic earnings per share of common stock (2) $ 1.28



$ 1.40









Diluted earnings per share of common stock:





Diluted earnings per share of common stock from continuing operations $ 1.52



$ 1.39

Diluted loss per share of common stock from discontinued operations (0.25)





Diluted earnings per share of common stock (2) $ 1.27



$ 1.39









Dividends per share of common stock $ 0.38



$ 0.38









Average number of shares outstanding used in earnings per share (EPS) calculation:





Basic 866,516,000



873,546,000

Diluted 871,083,000



877,251,000

































Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures









Summary of Earnings Comparison











Three Months Ended March 31,

2017

2016

% Change Income from continuing operations after income taxes (GAAP) $ 1,338



$ 1,229



9% Less: Significant items (charge) benefit included in income from continuing operations after income taxes (per Schedule B) (36)



160





Non-operating pension/OPEB costs included in income from continuing operations after income taxes (67)



(46)





Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest from continuing operations 8



6





Operating earnings (Non-GAAP) (3) $ 1,433



$ 1,109



29%











Earnings per share from continuing operations (GAAP) $ 1.52



$ 1.39



9% Less: Significant items (charge) benefit included in EPS (per Schedule B) (0.04)



0.18





Non-operating pension/OPEB costs included in EPS (0.08)



(0.05)





Operating earnings per share (Non-GAAP) (3) $ 1.64



$ 1.26



30%













E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

SCHEDULE A (continued)







March 31, 2017

December 31, 2016 Assets







Current assets







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 3,347



$ 4,605

Marketable securities

2,570



1,362

Accounts and notes receivable, net

7,272



4,971

Inventories

5,287



5,673

Prepaid expenses

574



506

Total current assets

19,050



17,117

Property, plant and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation (March 31, 2017 - $14,994; December 31, 2016 - $14,736)

9,084



9,231

Goodwill

4,172



4,180

Other intangible assets

3,624



3,664

Investment in affiliates

687



649

Deferred income taxes

3,382



3,308

Other assets

1,851



1,815

Total

$ 41,850



$ 39,964











Liabilities and Equity







Current liabilities







Accounts payable

$ 3,038



$ 3,705

Short-term borrowings and capital lease obligations

2,279



429

Income taxes

185



101

Other accrued liabilities

4,308



4,662

Total current liabilities

9,810



8,897

Long-term borrowings and capital lease obligations

8,099



8,107

Other liabilities

11,911



12,333

Deferred income taxes

395



431

Total liabilities

30,215



29,768











Commitments and contingent liabilities

















Stockholders' equity







Preferred stock

237



237

Common stock, $0.30 par value; 1,800,000,000 shares authorized; Issued at March 31, 2017 - 953,937,000; December 31, 2016 - 950,044,000

286



285

Additional paid-in capital

11,354



11,190

Reinvested earnings

15,704



14,924

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(9,423)



(9,911)

Common stock held in treasury, at cost (87,041,000 shares at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016)

(6,727)



(6,727)

Total DuPont stockholders' equity

11,431



9,998

Noncontrolling interests

204



198

Total equity

11,635



10,196

Total

$ 41,850



$ 39,964



E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows (Dollars in millions)

SCHEDULE A (continued)



Three Months Ended March 31,

2017

2016 Total Company













Net income $ 1,121



$ 1,232

Adjustments to reconcile net income to cash used for operating activities:





Depreciation 230



238

Amortization of intangible assets 51



122

Net periodic pension benefit cost 109



146

Contributions to pension plans (82)



(88)

Gain on sale of businesses and other assets (192)



(374)

Asset-related charges 119



78

Other operating activities - net 78



180

Change in operating assets and liabilities - net (3,058)



(3,340)

Cash used for operating activities (1,624)



(1,806)

Investing activities





Purchases of property, plant and equipment (330)



(357)

Investments in affiliates (22)



(1)

Proceeds from sale of businesses and other assets - net 283



193

Net (increase) decrease in short-term financial instruments (1,205)



282

Foreign currency exchange contract settlements (15)



(78)

Other investing activities - net (46)



(12)

Cash (used for) provided by investing activities (1,335)



27

Financing activities





Dividends paid to stockholders (331)



(334)

Net increase in borrowings 1,844



958

Proceeds from exercise of stock options 160



36

Other financing activities - net (32)



(35)

Cash provided by financing activities 1,641



625

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash 60



20

Decrease in cash and cash equivalents (1,258)



(1,134)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 4,605



5,300

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 3,347



$ 4,166









Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measure





Calculation of Free Cash Flow - Total Company







Three Months Ended March 31,

2017

2016 Cash used for operating activities (GAAP) $ (1,624)



$ (1,806)

Purchases of property, plant and equipment (330)



(357)

Free cash flow (Non-GAAP) $ (1,954)



$ (2,163)









(1) See Schedule B for detail of significant items. (2) The sum of the individual earnings per share amounts from continuing operations and discontinued operations may not equal the total company earnings per share amounts due to rounding. (3) Operating earnings and operating earnings per share are defined as earnings from continuing operations excluding significant items and non-operating pension/OPEB costs. Non-operating pension/OPEB costs includes all of the components of net periodic benefit cost from continuing operations with the exception of the service cost component.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Schedule of Significant Items from Continuing Operations (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

SCHEDULE B



















SIGNIFICANT ITEMS





































Pre-tax

After-tax (6)

($ Per Share)



2017

2016

2017

2016

2017

2016 1st Quarter





















Transaction costs (1) $ (170)



$ (24)



$ (122)



$ (21)



$ (0.14)



$ (0.02)

Restructuring charges, net (2) (152)



(77)



(100)



(48)



(0.11)



(0.06)

Gain on sale of business / entity (3) 162



369



86



214



0.10



0.24

Income tax items (4) 47







100







0.11





Customer claims adjustment/recovery (5) 



23







15







0.02

1st Quarter - Total $ (113)



$ 291



$ (36)



$ 160



$ (0.04)



$ 0.18





























(1) First quarter 2017 and 2016 included charges of $(170) and $(24), respectively, recorded in selling, general and administrative expenses related to costs associated with the planned merger with The Dow Chemical Company and related activities. For first quarter 2017 and 2016, the effective tax rate for the total of pre-tax charges was 28.2% and 12.5%, respectively. A significant portion of the transaction costs are in the US; however, those costs are not always tax-deductible.



(2) First quarter 2017 included a $(152) restructuring charge recorded in employee separation/asset related charges, net, primarily associated with actions to improve plant productivity. The charge included $(33) of severance and related benefit costs and $(119) of asset-related charges. The asset-related charges mainly consists of accelerated depreciation associated with decision to close the Company's Protection Solutions Cooper River manufacturing site located near Charleston, South Carolina. Additional charges for accelerated depreciation are expected in 2017, the majority of which will be recognized in the second quarter.





First quarter 2016 included a $(75) restructuring charge recorded in employee separation / asset related charges, net related to the decision not to re-start the Agriculture segment's insecticide manufacturing facility at the La Porte site located in La Porte, Texas. The charge included $(41) of asset-related charges, $(18) of contract termination costs, and $(16) of employee severance and related benefit costs.





First quarter 2016 included a $(2) charge in employee separation/asset related charges, net associated with the 2016 Global Cost Savings and Restructuring Program. This charge was primarily due to the identification of additional projects in certain segments, offset by reduction in severance and related benefit costs due to workforce reductions achieved through non-severance programs.



(3) First quarter 2017 included a gain of $162 recorded in other income, net associated with the sale of the company's global food safety diagnostic business, a part of the Nutrition & Health segment. The effective tax rate for the gain on sale was 46.9% due to unfavorable tax consequences of non-deductible goodwill.





First quarter 2016 included a gain of $369 recorded in other income, net associated with the sale of the DuPont (Shenzhen) Manufacturing Limited entity, which held certain buildings and other assets. The gain is reflected as a Corporate item.



(4) First quarter 2017 included a tax benefit of $53, as well as a $47 benefit on associated accrued interest reversals (recorded in other income, net), related to a reduction in the company's unrecognized tax benefits due to the closure of various tax statutes of limitations.



(5) First quarter 2016 included a benefit of $23, in other operating charges for reductions in the accrual for customer claims related to the use of the Imprelis herbicide.



(6) Unless specifically addressed in notes above, the income tax effect on significant items was calculated based upon the enacted tax laws and statutory income tax rates applicable in the tax jurisdiction(s) of the underlying non-GAAP adjustment.































E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Consolidated Segment Information (Dollars in millions)

SCHEDULE C











Three Months Ended March 31, SEGMENT NET SALES

2017

2016 Agriculture

$ 3,928



$ 3,786

Electronics & Communications

510



452

Industrial Biosciences

368



352

Nutrition & Health

789



801

Performance Materials

1,368



1,249

Protection Solutions

747



729

Other

33



36

Consolidated net sales

$ 7,743



$ 7,405















Three Months Ended

March 31, SEGMENT OPERATING EARNINGS (1)

2017

2016 Agriculture

$ 1,236



$ 1,101

Electronics & Communications

89



59

Industrial Biosciences

75



63

Nutrition & Health

121



104

Performance Materials

355



273

Protection Solutions

177



176

Other

(62)



(59)

Total segment operating earnings

1,991



1,717

Corporate expenses

(69)



(86)

Interest expense

(84)



(92)

Operating earnings before income taxes and exchange losses

1,838



1,539

Exchange losses(2)

(59)



(121)

Operating earnings before income taxes (Non-GAAP)

$ 1,779



$ 1,418

Non-operating pension/OPEB costs

(104)



(74)

Total significant items before income taxes

(113)



291

Income from continuing operations before income taxes (GAAP)

$ 1,562



$ 1,635















Three Months Ended

March 31, SIGNIFICANT ITEMS BY SEGMENT (PRE-TAX) (3)

2017

2016 Agriculture

$ 



$ (73)

Electronics & Communications

(5)



7

Industrial Biosciences

(6)



1

Nutrition & Health

160



1

Performance Materials

(11)



(4)

Protection Solutions

(124)



3

Other





(3)

Total significant items by segment

14



(68)

Corporate expenses

(127)



359

Total significant items before income taxes

$ (113)



$ 291



E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Consolidated Segment Information (Dollars in millions)

SCHEDULE C (continued)









































Corporate Expenses











The reconciliation below reflects GAAP corporate expenses (income) excluding significant items.



















Three Months Ended March 31,







2017

2016 Corporate expenses (income) (GAAP)





$ 196



$ (273)

Less: Significant items charge (benefit) (3)





127



(359)

Corporate expenses (Non-GAAP)





$ 69



$ 86















(1) Segment operating earnings is defined as income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes excluding significant pre-tax benefits (charges), non-operating pension/OPEB costs, exchange gains (losses), corporate expenses and interest. (2) See Schedule D for additional information on exchange gains and losses. (3) See Schedule B for detail of significant items.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

SCHEDULE D







Reconciliations of Adjusted EBIT / EBITDA to Consolidated Income Statements











Three Months Ended March 31,



2017

2016 Income from continuing operations after income taxes (GAAP)

$ 1,338



$ 1,229

Add: Provision for income taxes on continuing operations

224



406

Income from continuing operations before income taxes

$ 1,562



$ 1,635

Add: Significant items charge (benefit) before income taxes(1)

113



(291)

Add: Non-operating pension/OPEB costs

104



74

Operating earnings before income taxes (Non-GAAP)

$ 1,779



$ 1,418

Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests from continuing operations

8



6

Add: Interest expense

84



92

Adjusted EBIT from operating earnings (Non-GAAP)

$ 1,855



$ 1,504

Add: Depreciation and amortization

281



360

Adjusted EBITDA from operating earnings (Non-GAAP)

$ 2,136



$ 1,864





Reconciliation of Operating Costs to Consolidated Income Statement Line Items GAAP operating costs is defined as other operating charges, selling, general and administrative expenses, and research and development expense. The reconciliation below reflects operating costs excluding significant items and non-operating pension/OPEB costs.









Three Months Ended March 31, 2017

Three Months Ended March 31, 2016

As Reported (GAAP) Less: Significant Items (1) Less: Non-Operating Pension/OPEB Costs (Non-GAAP)

As Reported (GAAP) Less: Significant Items (1) Less: Non-Operating Pension/OPEB Costs (Non-GAAP) Other operating charges $ 204

$ 

$ 

$ 204



$ 185

$ (23)

$ 

$ 208

Selling, general and administrative expenses 1,260

170

31

1,059



1,128

24

30

1,074

Research and development expense 416



16

400



418



11

407

Total $ 1,880

$ 170

$ 47

$ 1,663



$ 1,731

$ 1

$ 41

$ 1,689





Reconciliation of Operating Earnings Per Share (EPS) Outlook The reconciliation below represents the company's outlook on an operating earnings basis, defined as earnings excluding significant items and non-operating pension/OPEB costs.

















Six Months Ended June 30,





2017 Outlook

2016 Actual EPS from continuing operations (GAAP)



$ 2.42



$ 2.55













Significant items (1)









Transaction costs



(0.30)



(0.09)

Gain on sale of business / entity



0.10



0.24

Restructuring charges / adjustments



(0.23)



0.01

Income tax items



0.11





Customer claims adjustment/recovery







0.04













Non-operating pension/OPEB costs - estimate



(0.16)



(0.15)













Operating EPS (Non-GAAP)



$ 2.90



$ 2.50



E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

SCHEDULE D (continued)

















Exchange Gains/Losses on Operating Earnings







The company routinely uses forward exchange contracts to offset its net exposures, by currency, related to the foreign currency denominated monetary assets and liabilities of its operations. The objective of this program is to maintain an approximately balanced position in foreign currencies in order to minimize, on an after-tax basis, the effects of exchange rate changes. The net pre-tax exchange gains and losses are recorded in other loss, net and the related tax impact is recorded in provision for (benefit from) income taxes on the Consolidated Income Statements.













Three Months Ended

March 31,



2017

2016 Subsidiary Monetary Position Gain (Loss)







Pre-tax exchange gains

$ 26



$ 33

Local tax benefits

36



13

Net after-tax impact from subsidiary exchange gains

$ 62



$ 46











Hedging Program Gain (Loss)







Pre-tax exchange losses

$ (85)



$ (154)

Tax benefits

30



55

Net after-tax impact from hedging program exchange losses

$ (55)



$ (99)











Total Exchange Gain (Loss)







Pre-tax exchange losses

$ (59)



$ (121)

Tax benefits

66



68

Net after-tax exchange gains (losses)

$ 7



$ (53)











As shown above, the "Total Exchange Gain (Loss)" is the sum of the "Subsidiary Monetary Position Gain (Loss)" and the "Hedging Program Gain (Loss)."











E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures (Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

SCHEDULE D (continued)













Reconciliation of Base Income Tax Rate to Effective Income Tax Rate Base income tax rate is defined as the effective income tax rate less the effect of exchange gains (losses), as defined above, significant items and non-operating pension/OPEB costs.









Three Months Ended

March 31,

2017

2016 Income from continuing operations before income taxes (GAAP) $ 1,562



$ 1,635

Add: Significant items - charge (benefit) (1) 113



(291)

Non-operating pension/OPEB costs 104



74

Less: Exchange losses (59)



(121)

Income from continuing operations before income taxes, significant items, exchange losses, and non-operating pension/OPEB costs (Non-GAAP) $ 1,838



$ 1,539









Provision for income taxes on continuing operations (GAAP) $ 224



$ 406

Add: Tax benefits (expenses) on significant items 77



(131)

Tax benefits on non-operating pension/OPEB benefits/costs 37



28

Tax benefits on exchange losses 66



68

Provision for income taxes on continuing earnings, excluding exchange losses (Non-GAAP) $ 404



$ 371









Effective income tax rate (GAAP) 14.3 %

24.8 % Significant items and non-operating pension/OPEB costs effect 4.7 %

(3.4) % Tax rate, from continuing operations before significant items and non-operating pension/OPEB costs 19.0 %

21.4 % Exchange gains (losses) effect 3.0 %

2.7 % Base income tax rate from continuing operations (Non-GAAP) 22.0 %

24.1 %







(1) See Schedule B for detail of significant items.



SOURCE DuPont

Related Links

http://www.dupont.com


NEW YORK, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit that focuses on local conservation and global health issues, announced today that it will honor L'Oreal at the organization's upcoming annual benefit  "Investigate. Educate. Eradicate.  an Evening to Benefit EcoHealth Alliance"  on April 27, 2017. EcoHealth Alliance commends the leadership L'Oreal has shown in addressing sustainability and environmental issues. The annual fundraising event will be held at Guastavino's, located at 409 East 59th Street in New York City. The event will begin at 6:30pm with a cocktail reception and silent auction followed by an award ceremony, seated dinner, and live auction. Proceeds from the benefit will support EcoHealth Alliance's global public health and local conservation programs around the world. "The respect and protection of biodiversity is one of the guiding principles of our strategy 'Sharing Beauty With All,' and it shepherds our policies on Zero Deforestation and the sustainable sourcing of our ingredients. We're honored to accept this award from EcoHealth Alliance whose valuable work supports the need to protect ecosystems," said Alexandra Palt, Chief Sustainability Officer at L'Oreal.

L'Oreal has devoted itself to beauty for over 100 years. With its unique international portfolio of 34 diverse and complementary brands, L'Oreal is present across all distribution networks: mass market, department stores, pharmacies and drugstores, hair salons, travel retail, branded retail and e-commerce.

As the world's leading beauty company, L'Oreal is committed to sustainable beauty. L'Oreal's sustainability commitment for 2020 "Sharing Beauty With All" sets out ambitious sustainable development objectives across the Group's value chain. L'Oreal reduced its CO2 emissions in 2016 by 67% in absolute terms from a 2005 baseline while the Group's production volume rose by 29%. L'Oreal is one of only two companies in the world to have achieved the best score, an 'A', in each of all categories: actions against climate change, sustainable water management and actions against deforestation. "We are thrilled to honor L'Oreal this year for its sustainability commitment and focus on creating positive environmental and social impacts," said Dr. Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance.

As a leading cause of human fatalities worldwide, infectious diseases lead to the deaths of 14 million people per year. Additionally, over three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases are a result of viruses that originate in wild or domestic animals that can spillover to people. EcoHealth Alliance scientists and our partners are actively working in 30+ countries to identify potential infectious disease threats through wildlife field research and cooperation with local communities. "Human-induced changes to the planet including deforestation, unsustainable agricultural production and global wildlife trade create negative impacts for both wildlife and human health. Our innovative science and research would not be possible without the generous contributions and support of individual donors, government agencies, and leading companies like L'Oreal," said Dr. Daszak.

About EcoHealth Alliance

Building on over 45 years of groundbreaking science, EcoHealth Alliance is a global, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wildlife, environmental and public health from the emergence of disease. Approximately 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases like Ebola, HIV, Zika, SARS, MERS, and West Nile virus have all originated in animals before spilling over to human populations. Using environmental and health data covering the past 60 years, EcoHealth Alliance scientists created the first-ever, global disease hotspots map that identified at-risk regions to determine where research and boots on the ground are needed to help predict and prevent the next pandemic crisis. That work is the foundation of EcoHealth Alliance's rigorous, science-based approach working in more than 30 countries worldwide. EcoHealth Alliance's strength is founded on innovations in research, training, global partnerships, capacity building and policy initiatives.

For more information, please visit www.ecohealthalliance.org.

SOURCE EcoHealth Alliance

Related Links

http://www.ecohealthalliance.org/


The firm also received a regional nomination for North America in the US West category, as well as nominations for the following categories:

Best gender diversity initiative by international firm

Best international firm Latin America practice

practice Most innovative international firm

Best international firm for work-life balance

Best international firm for pro bono work

Best international firm for talent management

Best international firm for women in business law

The awards will be announced at a ceremony in New York on June 8.

About Milbank

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a leading international law firm that provides innovative legal services to clients around the world. Founded in New York 150 years ago, Milbank has offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, DC. Milbank's lawyers collaborate across practices and offices to help the world's leading commercial, financial and industrial enterprises, as well as institutions, individuals and governments, achieve their strategic objectives. For more information please visit www.milbank.com.

From: Jocelyn De Carvalho, Public Relations Manager; 212-530-5509; [email protected]

SOURCE Milbank

Related Links

https://www.milbank.com


AUSTIN, Texas, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Engine Yard, provider of the best cloud platform & support for Ruby on Rails, today announced that Crossover, the leader in cloud-based Ruby development teams, has acquired the company to develop the world's best full-stack Ruby on Rails platform.

"Engine Yard has a decade of deep Ruby experience at the platform & support level and Crossover is the largest provider of Ruby developer cloud teams," said Andy Tryba, CEO of Crossover & the new Engine Yard, and added: "By combining these two  we can now move up the stack and create a full stack Ruby on Rails experience to be a one-stop shop for the 1M+ Ruby applications out there."

Earlier this month, Engine Yard announced it sold Deis, a provider of open-source tools to manage Kubernetes deployments, to Microsoft to refocus on Ruby on Rails. The company stated that it sold Deis to Microsoft after realizing the technology is better served as a feature in Azure and distracted Engine Yard from the original focus on Ruby on Rails.

"Engine Yard's roots are in Ruby and we are looking forward to reinvesting in that space. We are excited in our new combined offering that leverages our decade of Ruby experience and our world-class support team to offer an optimized solution that is up to 50% lower cost than going to Amazon directly and up to 50% faster with our optimized Ruby stack. We invite the 1M Ruby application owners to try out our new full stack," said Shawn Hermann, General Manager of Engine Yard.

About Engine Yard

Engine Yard is the leading Ruby on Rails full-stack platform empowering developers and DevOps teams provision, manage, monitor and control applications on top of Amazon. Engine Yard specializes in deep partnerships with customers to provide mission-critical support and uptime. Engine Yard has thousands of customers across 58 countries and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information about Engine Yard, please visit www.engineyard.com

About Crossover

Crossover specialize in finding, testing, assembling and managing cloud-based Ruby teams. Crossover is currently in 108 different countries and is one of the fastest growing cloud talent marketplaces. Crossover is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information about Crossover, please visit www.crossover.com

Contact Info: [email protected]

SOURCE Engine Yard

Related Links

http://www.engineyard.com


SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The global eubiotics market is expected to reach USD 9.4 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing meat consumption coupled with rising awareness regarding meat quality is expected to drive global eubiotics market growth.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371361LOGO )



Eubiotics influence the gut microflora and confer health benefits on the host. They maintain a correct balance of the microbial activity in the gastrointestinal tract of animals. This results in benefits such as enhanced nutrient absorption, better immunity and increase in overall performance. Such advantages are expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period.

Probiotics emerged as the largest product segment in 2016 and was valued at USD 2.5 billion in 2016. Broad product portfolio, rising awareness and efficacy in animal feed usage are the major attributed reasons for this scenario

Gut health dominated the application segment in 2016 and is expected to grow at an anticipated CAGR of 8.2% from 2017 to 2025. Eubiotics efficiency in treating gut related disorders and search for viable alternative to antibiotics are expected to drive market growth. Immunity is expected to observe the fastest growth among applications.

Fodder and water shortage, decreasing grazing lands has put pressure on livestock farmers to optimize feed utilization. Eubiotics cater to this demand by enhancing feed utilization, and increasing yield in comparatively less feed. Such trends are expected to fuel market growth over the next eight years.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Eubiotics Market Analysis By Product (Probiotics, Prebiotics, Organic Acids, Essential oils), By Form (Liquid, Solid), By Application (Gut Health, Immunity, Yield), By End-use (Cattle, Poultry, Swine, Aquatic), And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/eubiotics-market

Further key findings from the report suggest:

The global eubiotics market worth is expected to be 9.4 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% from 2017 to 2025

Solid form dominated the form segment and was valued at USD 2.9 billion in 2016. Liquid form is expected to grow at an anticipated CAGR of 8.0% over the next eight years

in 2016. Liquid form is expected to grow at an anticipated CAGR of 8.0% over the next eight years The U.S. market worth for eubiotics used in poultry end use was USD 264.6 million in 2016. Rising demand for poultry meat and eggs, demand for high quality meat and concerns over antibiotics have resulted in an increased preference for usage in poultry end use.

in 2016. Rising demand for poultry meat and eggs, demand for high quality meat and concerns over antibiotics have resulted in an increased preference for usage in poultry end use. Asia Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth rate over the next eight years. Strong demand from countries such as China and India , growing meat consumption in the region and rising concerns over antibiotics usage is expected to fuel market growth

is expected to witness the highest growth rate over the next eight years. Strong demand from countries such as and , growing meat consumption in the region and rising concerns over antibiotics usage is expected to fuel market growth Companies are focusing on developing regions such as Asia Pacific to increase market share. Key industry participants include Calpis, DSM, Novus, Lesaffre Group, Lallemand Inc., and E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company.

Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Acid And Nutrient In Animal Nutrition Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/acid-nutrient-in-animal-nutrition

Nutritional Ingredients in Animal Feed Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/nutritional-ingredients-in-animal-feed

Animal Feed Protein Ingredients Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/animal-feed-protein-ingredients-market

Feed Pigment Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/feed-pigment-market

Grand View Research has segmented the global eubiotics market on the basis of product, form, application, end use and region:

Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Probiotics Prebiotics Organic Acids Essential Oils

Form Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Liquid Form Solid Form

Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Gut health Immunity Yield Others

End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Cattle feed Dairy Meat Poultry Swine Aquatic Others

Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North America U.S Europe Germany UK France Spain Asia Pacific China India Japan Central & South America Middle East & Africa



Read Our Blog: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/blogs/food-and-beverages

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.



Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc

Phone: +1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: +1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]



Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Across the US, food waste accounts for one quarter of all water used. In California, that's around 8000 million gallons a day, over half of all the water used by residents and businesses in Los Angeles county in a month (1).

To spotlight the issue of food waste, and its massive climate and environmental impacts, organisations across LA are coming together on May 4 to host Feeding the 5000, a festival which invites thousands to join us in Pershing Square for a delicious meal made from top quality ingredients that would otherwise have gone to waste.

Hosted by Feedback (2) as part of the Los Angeles Times 'Food Bowl' festival (3), Feeding the 5000 LA will prove that while there's no shortage of delicious food in the City of Angels, there's plenty to do to take food waste off the menu. It is estimated 40% of food across the US is wasted (4). While food - and water - is thrown away in vast quantities, Los Angeles also has the largest population of food insecure people in the United States (5).

Coming a week after Earth Day 2017 celebrations, Feeding the 5000 offers Angelinos a chance to come together and discover how to take food waste off the menu across their city and help meet the national target to halve food waste by 2030 (6). Action to target food waste has already begun, with a recent Los Angeles city council commitment to sustainable waste management through Zero Waste LA (7).

Carina Millstone, Executive Director of Feedback said:

"Every piece of food that is never eaten represents an item on a growing environmental cheque - and with 40% of food never reaching human mouths and going to waste instead, that's adding up to a sizeable bill the planet simply cannot afford to pay. Putting an end to food waste is one of the most straightforward and single greatest step businesses and residents can take to help preserve the environment and conserve precious water. That's why Feedback is delighted to join together with partners across LA to support the city's plans to take food waste off the menu, now and in the future."

With the participation of partners across LA, the support of The Rockefeller Foundation, and hosted by Feedback, an environmental non-profit organization based in London dedicated to ending food waste at every level of the food system, the event will showcase city-wide solutions to food waste, such as urban agriculture and composting, as well as hosting chefs and speakers, including Tristram Stuart, founder of Feedback and international food waste campaigner. Feedback has previously hosted Feeding the 5000 events in cities across the US, including New York City, Denver, Portland (Maine), Washington DC and Oakland.

"Wasted food is everyone's problem, which means we all have a role to play in reducing it. Events like Feeding the 5,000 and the Los Angeles Food Bowl help people understand their potential for big impact, even by making small changes in their everyday lives," said Devon Klatell, Associate Director, The Rockefeller Foundation. "We're going to need that kind of community-wide engagement for cities around the country to meet ambitious waste reduction targets like Los Angeles' Zero Waste plans."

Join us downtown in Pershing Square on May 4, 11am-4pm, for the chance to celebrate the delicious solutions to food waste, LA-style.

Notes to editor:

One quarter of all freshwater used in the US is accounted for by food waste (Hall KD, Guo J, Dore M, Chow CC (2009) The Progressive Increase of Food Waste in America and Its Environmental Impact. PLoS ONE 4(11): e7940. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007940). California accounts for 10% of US freshwater withdrawals. Feedback is a non-profit environmental organization (UK Registered Charity No: 1155064) that campaigns to end food waste at every level of the food system. Feedback catalyzes action on eliminating food waste globally, working with governments, international institutions, businesses, NGOs, grassroots organizations and the public to change society's attitude toward wasting food. http://www.feedbackglobal.org The Los Angeles Times has a major new food festival in May 2017 . FOOD BOWL will celebrate L.A.'s dynamic and influential food scene while promoting awareness about food waste and hunger. See more at https://lafoodbowl.com/ Statistic from 'Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill', by the Natural Resources Defense Council: https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/wasted-food-IP.pdf Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap 2015 On September 16, 2015 the United States Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency announced the first ever domestic goal to reduce food loss and waste by half by 2030: https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/united-states-2030-food-loss-and-waste-reduction-goal Zero Waste LA is a new public private partnership designed to address the 3-million tons of waste disposed annually by businesses, consumers and residents. http://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/los-angeles-zero-waste-la-franchise/

Feeding the 5000 partner details:

Hosted by Feedback, the meal will be prepared by L.A. Kitchen, with ingredients sourced by Food Forward and Alma Backyard Farms, and the event is produced and features partners including:

LA Food Policy Council, Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Food Finders, Kiss the Ground, Waste Not Want Not Now, Hunger Action Los Angeles, So Cal 350, Fallen Fruit, Tree People,St. Francis Center, L.A. Compost, Downtown Women's Center, Don't Waste L.A., Swipe Out Hunger, Alma Backyard Farms and Council member Jose Huizar.

Additional Events:

Monday 1st May

Gleaning, 11-12.30am - Alma Backyard Farms

Volunteers will head to Alma Backyard Farms, where the formerly incarcerated are empowered and reintegrated through programs in urban farming, food sharing with families in need and horticultural therapy. There they'll glean fruit and vegetables to be part of the Feeding the 5000 feast, while learning about the work of Alma.

Tuesday 2nd May

Disco Chop, 3-10pm - L.A. Kitchen

Join us to chop (fruit and veg) and bop (to the beat) at Feeding the 5000 LA's fun-filled Disco Chop, where volunteers join the organisers to prepare the delicious ingredients for cooking the next day while dancing to some great tunes from our in-house DJ. Meet the organisers, volunteers and chefs.

Wednesday 3rd May

Food preparation - L.A. Kitchen

Chef Ryan Stewart at L.A. Kitchen will lead the preparation of a delicious vegetarian pozole to feed thousands at Pershing Square the next day.

Thursday 4th May

Feeding the 5000 LA - Pershing Square, 11am-4pm

For more information and schedule visit: http://www.feedingthe5000usa.org/losangeles/

@feedbackglobal #f5kUSA #offthemenu

To arrange interviews or for more information:

Ciara Low - [email protected] - +1-401-601-5249

Jessica Sinclair Taylor - [email protected] - +44-77878-26709

SOURCE Feedback
IRVINE, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Netwrix Corporation, provider of a visibility platform for user behavior analysis and risk mitigation in hybrid environments, today announced that Peoples Savings and Loan Company uses Netwrix Auditor to gain control over access to sensitive data, minimize the risk of security compromise and pass IT audits with far less effort.

Peoples Savings and Loan Company is an Ohio-based firm that provides financial services. The company has to comply with federal and state government regulations because it stores and processes personally identifiable information (PII), including financial information about loans, transactions, credit history, etc. The company undergoes external IT exams every 18 months and IT audits every 12 months. Failure to comply with the required security controls could lead to a breach and expose the company to liability risks, so it was critical to gain visibility into all user activity across the IT environment.

After carefully evaluating a number of solutions, the company opted for Netwrix Auditor due to its powerful functionality and simplicity. The software enabled the company to achieve the following results:

Robust security of sensitive data. The software delivers visibility into what is happening across the IT infrastructure and who has access to which files. With this information at hand, the IT team can quickly follow up on suspicious activity, such as numerous failed access attempts or manipulation of files during non-business hours, and ensure that users have access to only the data they need to do their jobs.

Control over privileged users. When vendors access the internal systems for maintenance or employees do something outside their normal responsibilities or prohibited (for example, change settings, use the command prompt or launch a program that they do not typically run), the software records those sessions for later review by the IT team.

Streamlined audit checks. Simply by printing out the reports and email notifications generated by Netwrix Auditor, the IT team can provide auditors with sufficient evidence that controls are in place and regularly monitored. Predefined reports and Interactive Search make it easy to address specific questions.

"With Netwrix Auditor, it takes me only 3040 minutes per day to go through the reports to see if security policies are being followed and if anything requires my attention. Exams and audits go very smoothly. I can provide any required audit data and prove that information security controls have been in place at all times. It's an easy-to-use solution that enormously simplifies security and compliance tasks," said Bryan Baynes, Network Administrator at Peoples Savings and Loan Company.

"Keeping the IT infrastructure running and staying compliant is an incredibly effort-intensive task. Without profound visibility into user activity across the IT environment, it's like trying to survive in a dark forest full of dangerous creatures  you simply don't know what is happening around you, and you can't assess your risks and be proactive," said Michael Fimin, CEO and co-founder of Netwrix. "A comprehensive and precise view of the entire IT environment empowers organizations with knowledge about security gaps and suspicious activities, enabling them to act before an incident turns into a disaster."

To read the complete case study, please visit:

http://www.netwrix.com/go/peoplessavingsandloancompany

About Netwrix Corporation

Netwrix Corporation was the first vendor to introduce a visibility and governance platform for hybrid cloud security. More than 160,000 IT departments worldwide rely on Netwrix to detect insider threats on premises and in the cloud, pass compliance audits with less effort and expense, and increase productivity of IT security and operations teams. Founded in 2006, Netwrix has earned more than 100 industry awards and been named to both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 lists of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. For more information, visit www.netwrix.com

CONTACT:

Erin Jones

Avista PR for Netwrix

P: 704.664.2170

E: [email protected]

SOURCE Netwrix Corporation

Related Links

http://www.netwrix.com


Nabarro (and subsequently the merged firm) will work with Fineqia Limited and any of their third party service providers in relation to the structuring of the crowdfunding platform, debt and equity placements as well as all legal matters related to client on-boarding and compliance.

"Nabarro's recent merger with fellow legal leaders CMS and Olswang, show us its commitment to provide its clients with the best and broadest legal experience possible," said Fineqia CEO Bundeep Singh Rangar. "Nabarro's world-class standard, global perspective and innovative thinking gives us a lot of confidence in appointing the firm as our legal advisers."

Sam Robinson, Nabarro's head of Financial Services Regulation said, "We're proud Fineqia Limited has appointed us as their legal advisers. Their work in opening up financial management via crowdfunding platforms is at the forefront of the market. We're really pleased to be able to support them."

Nabarro's transformative merger is the largest in the UK legal services market on record. With Nabarro, CMS and Olswang combined, the new entity will constitute 4,500 lawyers in 38 countries worldwide, with combined revenue of approximately 450 million (C$778.1 million) in the UK along with revenue well in excess of 1.2 billion (C$1.74 billion) globally.

About Fineqia International Inc

Fineqia International Inc.'s business model is to provide an online platform and associated services for the placement of debt and equity securities, initially in the UK, via its subsidiary, Fineqia Limited. The platform will transparently highlight the risks and objectively outline opportunities involved. For more information, visit www.fineqia.com.

About Nabarro LLP

Nabarro is a leading international commercial law firm with headquarters in London and offices in Manchester, Sheffield, Brussels, Dubai and Singapore. The firm is a limited liability partnership (or LLP) incorporated under English law. Nabarro LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the governing body for solicitors in England and Wales. For more information, visit www.nabarro.com.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATORY SERVICE PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact that address activities, events or developments that Fineqia ("the Company") believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company to complete the Change of Business, failure to obtain sufficient financing, and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made except as may be required by applicable securities laws. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE Fineqia International Inc.

Related Links

www.fineqia.com


First Resource Bank Announces Most Profitable Quarter To Date; 2017 First Quarter Net Income Grew 60% Over The Prior Year
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fish & Richardson announced today that together with the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, it has helped win a $3.2 million award in a housing discrimination class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 180 disabled individuals against the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara (HACSC). The case set an important legal precedent stating that housing authorities cannot adopt a blanket policy considering a living room as a bedroom when reviewing a reasonable accommodation request for an extra bedroom for a disabled household member.

The Court also awarded $712,500 in attorney's fees and costs. Fish handled the case pro bono and is donating its share of the fee award to the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.

The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley filed the case in April 2014 and Fish joined as co-counsel in September 2015. The lawsuit alleged that HACSC had adopted a blanket policy whereby anyone who asked for a reasonable accommodation for an extra room for a disabled household member was told to use the living room as a sleeping area. The Court held that if the HACSC had adopted such a blanket policy, it would violate several federal and state anti-discrimination statutes, including the Fair Housing Amendments Act, the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the California Disabled Persons Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

However, the question of whether or not the HACSC had in fact adopted such a blanket policy was left unresolved. A settlement was reached on the eve of trial, requiring the HACSC to change its policies regarding reasonable accommodation requests for persons with disabilities through an amended "Administrative Plan." Under this plan, when considering a request for reasonable accommodation for an additional bedroom that results in an adjustment to a household's subsidy size, HACSC will not consider the living room as a bedroom. HACSC also agreed to review the files of all class members to determine whether each member's file reflected a current, disability-related need for an additional bedroom, and take appropriate action.

"We are thrilled with the outcome of this case and hope that the financial settlement and amended Administrative Plan will help these individuals and their families feel more stable and secure in their homes, and in their futures," said Jon Lamberson, a principal at Fish & Richardson who served as lead counsel for Fish on the case.

The 180 disabled individuals in the lawsuit will each receive between $916 and $25,406 in damages based on how HACSC's discriminatory practices impacted their subsidy disbursements. The settlement also provides for $695,560 in emotional distress damages for class members who experienced homelessness as a result of the discrimination. Each of the five named plaintiffs in the lawsuit was awarded $10,000 for the substantial time they devoted to the case. Significantly, these named plaintiffs risked retaliation by participating in the lawsuit because HACSC had the power to reduce their subsidies or otherwise adversely affect their living situations. As the judge noted, this was an even more serious threat than the potential for workplace retaliation typically found in class action litigation.

"Fish was very thorough and detailed in calculating damages for each class member, which provided a strong rationale for substantial monetary damages," said Kyra Kazantzis, directing attorney at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. "They addressed not only the impact of discrimination against disabled persons in allocating housing funds, but also addressed the effects on those who became homeless. We couldn't have accomplished this settlement without them."

Kyra Kazantzis led a team from the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley that included Nadia Aziz, Kara Brodfuehrer, Annette Kirkham, Melissa Morris, Thomas Zito, Judy Wong, and Matthew Warren.

In addition to Jon Lamberson, the Fish team included principal Michael Headley and associates Bryan Basso, Emily Garff, Alana Mannige, and Meghana RaoRane. Since 2015, Fish has dedicated nearly 2,000 pro bono hours to the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, handling multiple litigation matters and participating regularly in its pro bono eviction clinic.

The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley advances the rights of under-represented individuals and families in its diverse community through legal services, strategic advocacy, and educational outreach.

Fish & Richardson is a global patent prosecution, intellectual property litigation, and commercial litigation law firm with more than 400 attorneys and technology specialists in the U.S. and Europe. In addition to its expertise in intellectual property law, Fish boasts a robust pro bono program, and encourages all of its legal professionals to take on pro bono matters as part of their professional lives. In 2016, Fish lawyers contributed an average of 56 pro bono hours representing clients on a range of public interest matters, leveraging its greatest resource  Fish attorneys  to address unmet civil justice needs. For more information, visit https://www.fr.com/pro-bono or follow us at @FishRichardson.

Contact: Amy Blumenthal

Blumenthal & Associates

617-879-1511

[email protected]

or

Kelly Largey

Fish & Richardson

800-818-5070

[email protected]

SOURCE Fish & Richardson

Related Links

https://www.fr.com/pro-bono


GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sodexo, the world leader in Quality of Life Services and student nutrition partner to nearly 500 school districts throughout the U.S., today announces the five student finalists in the 2017 Sodexo Future Chefs Challenge. This year, elementary school students from Sodexo-served school districts across the United States were tasked with creating healthy comfort food options that children or adults will enjoy. Beginning today, the public is invited to view student video submissions and vote for their favorite recipe on Sodexo Insights. Voting closes midnight on April 30th.

Now in its seventh year, the Sodexo Future Chefs Challenge encourages healthy eating habits by actively involving students in good nutrition. Sodexo is renowned for its work in advancing childhood nutrition, health and well-being and understands that engaging youth in the creation of nutritious meals is one of the best ways to improve health, fuel minds and improve academic outcomes.

Out of nearly 2,500 entries from students, the recipes from these five Sodexo Future Chefs: Healthy Comfort Food Challenge national finalists rose above all the rest:

Tylee Creps , Academy School District ( Colorado ) [Recipe: Tylee's Famous Granola Cups]

, Academy School District ( ) [Recipe: Tylee's Famous Granola Cups] Kayla Kilincoglu, Shelton Public Schools ( Connecticut ) [Recipe: Zucchini Waffles]

Public Schools ( ) [Recipe: Zucchini Waffles] Greydyn Gildroy, Helena Public Schools ( Montana ) [Recipe: Pretend Soup]

Public Schools ( ) [Recipe: Pretend Soup] Madison Bigej , Canby School District ( Oregon ) [Recipe: Cauliflower Tots]

, School District ( ) [Recipe: Cauliflower Tots] Emily Dustin , Richland School District ( Washington ) [Recipe: Apple Sushi]

Each of the five finalists made videos of their recipes, which can be viewed and voted on at Sodexo Insights from April 24  30th.

Students participating in the program represent more than 1,300 Sodexo-served elementary schools in 256 school districts and 30 states. A panel of judges reviewed the recipes and evaluated them based on the originality, healthy attributes, ease of preparation, kid-friendliness and plate presentation. Programs like the Sodexo Future Chefs Challenge are part of Sodexo's commitment to health, well-being and support for the school districts and communities in which it serves and operates.

Sodexo is committed to taking measurable sustainable actions that ensure a brighter future in the areas of health and wellness, environmental stewardship and community development. The Future Chefs program is one of the many ways Sodexo shares its health and well-being expertise with the clients, customers and communities it serves. Another example is Sodexo's use of research-based principles recommended in the Smarter Lunchroom Movement  developed by the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs  to equip primary and secondary school lunchrooms with tools to improve the eating behaviors of children.

Sodexo delivers more than 100 services across North America that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life. The Fortune Global 500 company is a leader in delivering sustainable, integrated facilities management and foodservice operations.

Learn more about Sodexo at its corporate blog, Sodexo Insights. You can also join the Sodexo Future Chefs social media conversation by using the hashtag #SDXFutureChefs in related Tweets and posts.

SOURCE Sodexo

Related Links

http://www.sodexoUSA.com


NEW ORLEANS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nation's community colleges educate nearly half of all undergraduate students. As students' needs change, so do these institutions, always working to help students reach their educational and career goals. Five community colleges were honored for their work advancing the student success agenda on April 24 at the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Awards of Excellence Gala, part of AACC's 97th Annual Convention in New Orleans, La.

Community colleges serve larger percentages of diverse student populations than any other sector of higher education. This year's winner in the Advancing Diversity category has been at the forefront of addressing the needs of minority students for more than a decade. Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Florida, led by President Ken Atwater, serves as a preeminent national voice in addressing issues facing Black and Hispanic/Latino males through its Black, Brown, and College Bound National Summit. The summit draws more than a thousand higher education professionals, faculty, and students from more than 25 states. HCC also developed the HOPE Scholars program that was specifically designed to improve retention, graduation, and the four-year college transfer rate of African American and Hispanic males. HOPE Scholars benefit from faculty mentors, targeted workshops and seminars, tutorial services and tours of four-year colleges and universities. In the last four years, more than 85 percent of students enrolled as HOPE Scholars have graduated from HCC and transferred to four-year institutions.

Edie Carter of Amarillo College (Texas) won in the Faculty Innovation category. Carter leads the college's Developmental Math Team. She and her team produce positive and effective change in an environment where funding is tight and expectations are high. Carter led the redesign of the developmental math course sequence and the creation of new developmental math courses that prepare students for college-level course work. Under Carter's leadership since 2010, completion rates in developmental math courses have been on the rise and drop-out rates have declined. During the 2015-16 academic year, more than 75 percent of students in developmental math completed courses. She's also invested in supporting junior faculty. She implemented "Math Mania Mondays" mini-workshops for faculty, which feature topics such as test taking tips, proportions and graphic calculators. Amarillo College is led by President Russell Lowery-Hart.

Partnerships between community colleges and industry are vital to preparing a skilled workforce. Washington's Olympic College, led by President David Mitchell, was named the winner in the Outstanding Corporate/College Partnership category. Olympic College and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS and IMF) collaborated on three training programs that have raised the skill and education levels of the regional workforce, boosting the local economy. PSNS and IMF employ more than 12,000 civilian workers. About a quarter of their collective personnel are graduates of this program, which is one of the largest and most successful federal apprentice programs in the nation. Students are given a pathway to a degree in industrial trades and can earn a position as a skilled trade worker or shop supervisor at PSNS. The 2015-2016 enrollment for the program logged 811 apprentices in 24 different trades, and 1,354 entry-level employees enrolled in classes. There's also a training program for entry-level employees at the shipyard, and an after-hours program targeted at increasing employees' skills.

Halifax Community College (North Carolina) has demonstrated a firm commitment toward campus and community safety. The college, led by President Michael Elam, won in the College Safety and Planning category. The college conducts trainings, such as air ambulance demonstrations, weapons of mass destruction classes, and CPR and first aid training. A comprehensive college safety, emergency and prevention plan is widely accessible. Routine campus inspections and drills are conducted, and the college has implemented a campus-wide public announcement system, security cameras, electronic locks, back-up generators and emergency call boxes. Safety trainings also are available to the community.

The end goal of every new program or initiative at a community college is to help students succeed. The 2017 Student Success award went to Alabama's Wallace Community CollegeDothan (WCCD), led by President Linda C. Young. The fasted growing community college in Alabama, WCCD serves a large percentage of first-generation, low-income and underprepared students. The college implemented the I-CAN (Improvement, Constant And Never Ending) instructional initiative to help close the socioeconomic achievement gap and increase completion rates. I-CAN is faculty-driven, and is aimed at creating a more active and engaging learning environment at WCCD. Strategies have included replacing the instructional model of lectures with detailed unit objectives and lecture videos, frequent assessments and early interventions, and faculty mentoring and professional development opportunities focused on student success. The result? A 27-percent increase in retention rates and a 67-percent increase in the number of associate degrees conferred in 2014-15. Data for 2015-16 show a 49-percent increase in the "150% time" graduation rate over the two previous years. Plans are in place to incorporate the I-CAN program throughout the entire Alabama Community College System.

Award winners were selected by a committee of the AACC Board of Directors. Eighteen finalist colleges also were recognized at the Awards of Excellence Gala.

As the voice of the nation's community colleges, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), delivers educational and economic opportunity for 12 million diverse students in search of the American Dream. Uniquely dedicated to access and success for all students, AACC's nearly 1,200 member colleges provide an on-ramp to degree attainment, skilled careers and family-supporting wages. Located in Washington, D.C., AACC advocates for these not-for-profit, public-serving institutions to ensure they have the resources and support they need to deliver on the mission of increasing economic mobility for all.

SOURCE American Association of Community Colleges

Related Links

http://www.aacc.nche.edu


"In addition to being a seasoned counselor, particularly in the areas of crisis communications, brand marketing and reputation management, Bilbrough will bring a renewed focus on operational excellence in all aspects of the business. His promotion supports the growth of the Hong Kong office and FleishmanHillard's evolution into a fully integrated communications company in Greater China," said Catanach.

FleishmanHillard in Hong Kong has also received numerous industry awards for its creative campaign work across a diverse portfolio of clients. In 2015, its excellence in corporate affairs was recognized when it received PublicAffairsAsia's Gold Standard award for In-Country Consultancy. In 2016, Marketing magazine named the office B2B Agency of the Year (Gold).

"Geoff has been integral to the success of our Hong Kong office over the past four years and is highly respected as a senior counselor, team leader and mentor," added Catanach.

Before joining FleishmanHillard, Bilbrough served as group operations director and then managing director (London) for Metia  formerly Write Image  a leading global digital marketing agency. While at Metia, he focused on general management, overseeing the company's international offices in New York, Seattle and Singapore. Prior to this position, Bilbrough was Group Account Director at an agency in Wellington, New Zealand for 10 years. He also held roles in government, an industry lobby group and worked as press secretary for a minister in the New Zealand Parliament.

"Geoff is an impressive leader and superb at cultivating client relationships, securing new business and providing clients with strategic skills-based training and support. His new role is a very natural progression and leaves the Hong Kong office in excellent hands as we evolve into the region's leading agency," Catanach concluded.

To support Bilbrough, Patrick Yu is promoted to deputy general manager. Yu joined the firm in 2005 and has risen through the ranks to become senior vice president and partner, and the lead of the region's financial and professional services offering. Yu has a broad range of experience in strategic communications including reputation management, corporate marketing, media relations and managing international communications programs for financial institutions in the region.

In 2011, he was awarded FleishmanHillard's prestigious John D. Graham Award of Excellence, which is given to counselors who demonstrate outstanding leadership and exemplify the firm's values.

"In more than 10 years with the company, Patrick has worked his way up to be the agency lead for financial and professional services in the region, where he has built strong and valuable relationships with key members of the business and financial industry, including media. He will continue to play this essential role in addition to his new responsibilities as deputy general manager," said Catanach. "I congratulate both Geoff and Patrick as they take the helm at this exciting stage of the company's development."

About FleishmanHillard

FleishmanHillard specializes in public relations, reputation management, public affairs, brand marketing, digital strategy, social engagement and content strategy. FleishmanHillard was named Agency of the Year at the 2017 North American Excellence Awards, PRWeek's 2014 Global Agency of the Year and 2014 Asia Pacific Network of the Year, "Standout Agency" on Advertising Age's 2013 A-List; NAFE's "Top 50 Companies for Executive Women" for 2010-2017; and among PRWeek's 2013 "Best Places to Work." The firm's award-winning work is widely heralded, including at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity. FleishmanHillard is part of Omnicom Public Relations Group, and has more than 80 offices in 30 countries, plus affiliates in 43 countries. Visit us at www.fleishmanhillard.com.

About Omnicom Public Relations Group

Omnicom Public Relations Group is a global collective of three of the top global public relations agencies worldwide and specialist agencies in areas including public affairs, marketing to women, fashion, global health strategy and corporate social responsibility. It encompasses more than 6,000 public relations professionals in more than 330 offices worldwide who provide their expertise to companies, government agencies, NGOs and nonprofits across a wide range of industries. Omnicom Public Relations Group is part of the DAS Group of Companies, a division of Omnicom Group Inc., that includes more than 200 companies in a wide range of marketing disciplines including advertising, public relations, healthcare, customer relationship management, events, promotional marketing, branding and research.

SOURCE FleishmanHillard

Related Links

http://www.fleishmanhillard.com


CLEVELAND, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) today announced that is has named Ketan Patel, an experienced legal, compliance and ethics professional with significant expertise in real estate, as Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel.

"We are excited to have an individual of Ketan's caliber and background join our senior management group and lead our legal team," said David J. LaRue, president and chief executive officer. "His diverse, senior-level experience, including with a national real estate investment trust, makes him an excellent fit for Forest City."

Patel was most recently Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Chief Ethics Officer of FirstEnergy Corp., a major Midwestern electric utility, were he served as a primary liaison to FirstEnergy's board and managed a team of 150 associates across the company's Real Estate & Facilities, Corporate, and Records & Information Compliance departments.

Previously, Patel was Associate General Counsel at DDR Corp., a national real estate investment trust, based in Beachwood, Ohio, where he oversaw the Corporate & Transactions Group with responsibility for acquisitions and dispositions, capital markets transactions, joint ventures and tax, as well as other general corporate matters. He began his legal career with McDonald, Hopkins, Burke & Haber, LPA, a super-regional law firm with office in the Midwest and Florida. He received his Bachelor's degree from Princeton University, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School.

Patel is expected to assume his responsibilities with Forest City in mid-May. He succeeds Geralyn A. Presti, who stepped down as General Counsel in the first quarter of 2017 to become President and Chief Executive Officer of The Music Settlement of University Circle, a 104-year-old Cleveland non-profit organization.

About Forest City

Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $8.2 billion in consolidated assets. The company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.forestcity.net.

SOURCE Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.forestcity.net


TORONTO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Format, the world's most loved portfolio-building site, today revealed a rebrand centered around a bold message: Few Can Do What You Do.

"Being an inspiring artist is both a noble pursuit and prestigious accomplishment. Our new sloganFew Can Do What You Dois about acknowledging this greatness; the greatness of those who have chosen to pursue their dreams by working in a creative industry. We want to empower visual artists, celebrate their uniqueness and help them succeed," explains CEO Lukas Dryja.

A tongue-in-cheek video series calls out the all-too-familiar truism that creatives think they're better than everyone else.

To bring this message to life, the company has launched a quirky multilayered campaign that reflects the vast creativity of its community. A tongue-in-cheek video series calls out the all-too-familiar truism that creatives think they're better than everyone else, simultaneously poking fun at and applauding the tribe. Each of the five shorts spotlights a boastful creative and a bizarre set of activities that they're better at than most, because, few can do what they do.

In the same vein, the team's built a straight-faced chatbot named Dr. Luova Dahl, "the leading simulated expert on chat-based research for creative thinking", that offers to uncover the source of one's creative greatness. Is your creativity harnessed from your heart? Do you sparkle with short bursts of brilliance? Or do you feel ideas to fruition? Only chatting with the doctor will tell.

With the campaign comes a new logo, visual identity and redesign of Format's portfolio-building platform, its most significant update to date. Hundreds of hours were spent gathering user feedback, designing and coding to deliver a more intuitive and powerful platform that looks and feels sharper, cleaner and simplified.

"Within Format, we made a conscious choice to pull back on branding to push forward user contentbut don't expect a result that's devoid of personality," says Creative Director Marshall Lorenzo. "Over the last seven years, Format's cultivated a highly intelligent, tuned-in audience and matured as a brand, developing its own distinct voice and style to match. Our new visual identity is much more confident and contemporary, as is our tone."

"I'm looking forward to expanding upon the language we use in communication with our community and to, ultimately, deepening our relationship with creatives around the world," he concludes.

About Format

Format makes it easy to build, design and manage a professional online portfolio. Tens of thousands of creative professionals in over 190 countries use the platform to beautifully showcase their work, attract clients and grow their careers. Founded in 2010 in Toronto, Canada, Format is a self-funded company dedicated to empowering the freedom of artists. format.com

Discover Talent on Format

format.com/spotlight

Follow Format Online

twitter.com/useformat

facebook.com/useformat

instagram.com/useformat

Press Contact

For images, additional information and/or interview requests, contact:

Marianne Litman

Content Marketing Specialist

[email protected]

Related Images

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Related Links

Few Can Do What You Do video series

Dr Luova Dahl chatbot

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Format

Related Links

http://format.com


Founder, Chris Buckley, aims to disrupt the upstream sector with products that outperform

HOUSTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chris Buckley, renowned engineer and former vice president at Weir Oil & Gas, has launched Houston-based ST9 Gas + Oil. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of high-performance products, systems and services that support drilling, well completion, and production for upstream operations across the globe. The company is making its public launch during the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2017) in Houston on May 1-4.

"ST9 Gas + Oil was founded with the goal of disrupting the well service & completion industry," said Chris Buckley, owner and founder of ST9 Gas + Oil. "Well service companies are constantly challenged and frustrated by the system of timeworn practices and technologies, and so ST9 was born out of proven success in the gas & oil industry and with the purpose of winning the field by outperforming. We want to take down what is not working and replace it with products that have revolutionary function and values that retain."

ST9 plans to rollout several new products throughout 2017, all of which are designed to significantly outperform traditional brands and maximize return on investment, enabling well service operators to achieve lower total cost of ownership. These include:

Well service pumps

Well stimulation pumps

Fluid ends

Seats & valves

Plungers

Packing

High pressure flow control products

Safety products

Prior to ST9's formation, Mr. Buckley served as vice president of pressure pumping for Weir Oil & Gas, where he oversaw engineering  including new product development, quality, cost control, field service, testing and marketing of its global $1B+ Oil & Gas business unit. Prior to Weir, Buckley worked at Caterpillar, Inc., where he oversaw key aspects in both its Well Stimulation and Hydraulics business units.

ABOUT ST9 GAS + OIL

ST9 Gas + Oil was founded with the goal of disrupting the well service & completion industry. Launched in 2017 by renowned engineer Chris Buckley, it offers a comprehensive portfolio of products, systems & services that support drilling, well completion and production for upstream operations around the world. For more information, visit:

On the web: www.ST9GO.com

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/ST9GasOil

On Twitter: www.twitter.com/ST9GasOil

On LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ST9GasOil

Media Contact:

Claire Armstrong; 817-546-8322

[email protected]



SOURCE ST9 Gas + Oil

Related Links

http://www.ST9GO.com


JACKSON, Mich., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers Energy has selected an experienced firm to demolish and redevelop two of its former coal-fired power plants.

Citing the successful track record of Forsite Development Inc. with repurposing industrial property, Consumers Energy tapped the North Carolina company to redevelop its 115-acre B.C. Cobb Generating Plant in Muskegon and 248-acre J.R. Whiting Generating Complex in Luna Pier, near Monroe.

Today, Consumers Energy filed a request with the Michigan Public Service Commission seeking approval to have Forsite acquire the two sites. The MPSC has up to 180 days to act on the request. It is anticipated the sites will be demolished within two years of the transaction being finalized, pending a positive outcome with the MPSC review. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Consumers retired those two plants, comprised of five generating units and two other units, in April 2016.

Led by founder and President Tom McKittrick, Forsite was selected to acquire both sites on the strength of its plan to improve the properties and return them to productive use. Forsite's initial vision for both sites includes plans to:

Convert the B.C. Cobb property into a deep-water marine terminal on the east end of Muskegon Lake for cross-lake shipping. Additionally, Forsite has begun working with Muskegon -area economic development officials to identify land for a sister industrial park designed to attract new industries that can take advantage of a cross-lake logistics route.

-area economic development officials to identify land for a sister industrial park designed to attract new industries that can take advantage of a cross-lake logistics route. Develop the J.R. Whiting property into an inland intermodal terminal, offering rail-to-truck facilities utilizing the site's extensive rail infrastructure. The site's immediate access to I-75 and rail capabilities has potential to create spin off economic development opportunities, specifically heavy manufacturing and distribution.

"These properties powered homes and businesses for many decades, and we are pleased that they will generate new economic growth under the stewardship of Forsite," said Dan Malone, senior vice president of energy resources for Consumers Energy. "We want to leave it better than we found it, and having Forsite, a successful redeveloper with a proven track record, acquire the sites will allow the communities of Muskegon and Luna Pier to see new life for these properties."

Charlotte-based Forsite has already redeveloped more than 7 million square feet of facilities on 3,000+ acres over the past decade-and-a-half. Forsite's projects have created or retained more than 1,000 jobs.

Forsite's most prominent project was the adaptive re-use of a shuttered 667-acre dye manufacturing complex along the Catawba River in Charlotte, North Carolina, now known as ReVenture Park (www.reventurepark.com). ReVenture is now the thriving home of numerous sustainable and renewable energy companies.

For the B.C. Cobb site, McKittrick has selected Verplank Dock Co. to operate the port terminal and help develop the cross-lake deep-water shipping market.

For the J.R. Whiting site, McKittrick plans to begin marketing and pre-development activities for the intermodal terminal concurrent with demolishing the plant, which he expects will take two years.

"Both sites have the benefit of existing heavy infrastructure which we intend to repurpose in a manner to attract new industry," said McKittrick, who founded Forsite in 2004. "We're honored and humbled that Consumers Energy chose us to create a new use for these sites. We look forward to working with community leaders in Muskegon and Luna Pier."

The board of directors of CMS Energy, the parent company of Consumers Energy, has approved the agreements with Forsite with the final transactions needing approval by the MPSC.

About Forsite Development

Tom McKittrick founded Charlotte-based Forsite Development, Inc. in 2004. The privately held firm has since redeveloped 7 million square feet of facilities on 3,000+ acres in North Carolina and South Carolina, and created or preserved more than 1,000 jobs. Its largest project is ReVenture Park in Charlotte, a 667-acre former brownfield Superfund site that is now home to a thriving collection of renewable energy companies and was named "Business Conservationist of the Year" for 2016 by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.

About Consumers Energy

Consumers Energy, Michigan's largest utility, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and electricity to 6.7 million of the state's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

SOURCE Consumers Energy

Related Links

http://www.consumersenergy.com


HANOVER, Germany, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The expanding FuelPlus Group, a leading provider of aviation fuel management software to airlines and fuel suppliers, has today signaled its commitment to the US market with the opening of a new US office in Marlborough, Massachusetts. It has also released new features aimed at the US market in its product for airlines, Airline.One.

"We want to offer more direct support to US airlines," says FuelPlus Group CEO, Klaus-Peter Warnke. "We can help them to streamline their fuel management process, saving them time and money. We are already doing this extensively in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region - over 50 airlines use our software and 25% of the world's aviation fuel is managed within it - so we thought that it was time for the US carriers to benefit."

The Airline.One software brings together fuel data from all of an airline's systems and teams into one specialist platform. "This enables airlines to more effectively plan, source, monitor and correctly account for their largest expense: fuel," says Mr Warnke. Airline.One contains a number of modules designed to automate specific fuel processes, such as strategic and operations planning, tendering, replenishment, operations monitoring and accounting.

Features of particular interest to the US market include the Inventory and Logistics Module, aimed at airlines that buy fuel for self-supply - a large proportion of US carriers. This module helps airlines to ship fuel - by pipeline, truck or any other means of transportation - and monitor where their fuel is at any one time so they can keep the inventory accurate and up-to-date. FuelPlus' developers have also made sure that other features work for the US market - a new Taxation Module for example, can handle US tax jurisdictions and support tax codes on all different levels. A future release will also integrate with US tax data providers.



Airline.One follows the Software As A Service (SAAS) model and can be hosted in the Cloud or in a data center. Carriers can subscribe to a standalone module to automate a specific process or subscribe to multiple modules that work together to streamline an airline's complete fuel management operation. A centralized fuel data repository and standardized workflows are also key features of the system, which promises to reduce costs and increase efficiencies and compliance.

The software is already used by leading airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, British Airways, Etihad, Japan Airlines, ANA and Cathay Pacific. FuelPlus is also an IATA strategic partner and has been working with the industry for almost 20 years to improve business efficiency. The company is currently part of the IATA task force that is standardizing the jet fuel tender process.

For more information about Airline.One and the FuelPlus Group, visit http://www.fuelplus.com

Notes to editors:

The FuelPlus Group operates worldwide with a global development center in Romania and regional offices in America, Europe and Asia. The Group currently employs over 50 people and is expanding globally.

FuelPlus was established in 2000 by the current CEO, Klaus-Peter Warnke, who had seen a real need for a comprehensive, centralized fuel management system while working as an IT consultant for major airlines in the 1980s and 90s.

The FuelPlus platform is now the world's number 1 provider of aviation fuel management software. More than 50 airlines, managing around 25% of the world's commercial aviation fuel consumption, use FuelPlus products and services. More large and mid-size airlines trust FuelPlus than any other fuel software company. FuelPlus was also awarded 'Best Aviation Fuel Management Software' at the Transport Awards 2017.

For more information about this press release, please contact Mike Charalambous, Chief Marketing Officer, at [email protected]

SOURCE FuelPlus Group
SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

News facts:

The lightest-ever Fujitsu notebook, LIFEBOOK U937, offers maximum ultra-mobile portability

International edition of flagship LIFEBOOK model weighs just two pounds, yet delivers all-day battery performance plus embedded biometric authentication and full connectivity

Fujitsu America, Inc. today introduces its new flagship notebook - Fujitsu Notebook LIFEBOOK U937  in North America. With a starting weight under two pounds (1.76 lbs, 799 grams), the lightest ever ultra-mobile model in the Fujitsu line-up joins an exclusive club of sub-1kg 13.3-inch clamshell notebooks that can also provide up to 15.5 hours of battery performance.

The LIFEBOOK U937 is no lightweight when it comes to performance, power and connectivity. It features the latest, 7th generation Intel Core i7 processor, solid-state drives, and runs Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, making it the perfect choice for the busy executive who needs more than a tablet while on the move. With a full-size keyboard, choice of black or red colors, and 13.3-inch FHD display with optional touchscreen, the LIFEBOOK U937 provides the freedom to work anywhere, anytime.

Nor is there any compromise on security for the LIFEBOOK U937, with biometric security included as standard, with the choice of either fingerprint reader or palm vein authentication. Further protection comes with an integrated SmartCard reader and enterprise-class TPM 2.0 encryption. A solid magnesium housing ensures the 15.5mm thin LIFEBOOK U937 is tough on the outside, too.

In many cases, shorter battery life, lower performance or limited connectivity  for example the necessity of using dongles for external ports  have been the trade-offs for a lightweight notebook. There is no need to make these compromises with the LIFEBOOK U937, with up to 15.5 hours of battery life and boasts a full set of interfaces including full-size LAN and HDMI connector, plus embedded WLAN connectivity and Bluetooth. For additional convenience, Fujitsu also offers a USB Type-C port replicator, allowing connection to an external display, mouse, keyboard, and other peripherals.

Kevin Wrenn, senior vice president, Fujitsu America, Inc., said: "Previously, CIOs had to balance weight, performance, battery life and security when selecting notebooks for their staff. The new LIFEBOOK U937 was purpose-built to deliver these first-rate features in a 13.3-inch clamshell notebook, so IT executives can deliver powerful notebooks that offer the freedom to work from anywhere, anytime. Weighing in well under two pounds, the new flagship LIFEBOOK model is equipped with best-in-class components and biometric security as a standard, as well as a battery that can easily last throughout standard and extended workdays."

Availability

The first shipments of LIFEBOOK U937 models are expected in North America on May 16, 2017

Notes to editors

Weight varies according to system configuration.

Key features of the LIFEBOOK U937 include:

7th generation Intel Core processor

Ergonomic anti-glare, 13.3-inch FHD display with an optional touchscreen

PCIe interface in order to process data faster

Best-in-class connectivity with embedded WLAN, Bluetooth

Super secure, biometric authentication with either embedded palm vein technology or fingerprint sensor and Integrated SmartCard reader

Up to 15.5 hours battery runtime

USB Type-C port replicator facilitates workplace sharing

Full-sized interfaces eliminate the need for adapters

Solid magnesium housing ensures durability

Ultra lightweight, starting from 799g and only 15.5 mm thin

Online resources

Find out more on our Website: http://www.shopfujitsu.com/view/lifebook-u937-notebook

Read the Fujitsu blog: http://blog.ts.fujitsu.com

Follow Fujitsu on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/FujitsuAmerica

Follow us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/fujitsu-america

Find Fujitsu on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Fujitsu

Fujitsu pictures and media server: http://mediaportal.ts.fujitsu.com/pages/portal.php

For regular news updates, bookmark the Fujitsu newsroom: http://www.fujitsu.com/us/about/resources/news/

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 156,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$41 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.

About Fujitsu Americas

Fujitsu America, Inc. is the parent and/or management company of a group of Fujitsu-owned companies operating in North, Central and South America dedicated to delivering the full range of Fujitsu products, solutions and services in ICT to our customers in the Western Hemisphere. These companies are collectively referred to as Fujitsu Americas. Fujitsu enables clients to meet their business objectives through integrated offerings and solutions, including consulting, systems integration, managed services, outsourcing and cloud services for infrastructure, platforms and applications; data center and field services; and server, storage, software and mobile/tablet technologies. For more information, please visit: http://fujitsu.com/us and http://twitter.com/fujitsuamerica.

Fujitsu, the Fujitsu logo, LIFEBOOK, and "shaping tomorrow with you" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. Intel and Intel Core are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Bluetooth js a trademark or registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. in the United States and other countries. USB Type-C is a trademark or registered trademark of the USB Implementers Forum, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.

Media contacts

Fujitsu America, Inc.

Bryan Hollar

408-746-6412

[email protected]

Finn Partners

Andrew Corcione

415-249-6775

[email protected]

SOURCE Fujitsu America, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.fujitsu.com/us


SAN DIEGO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GenomeDx Biosciences today announced the publication of interim results from an ongoing prospective clinical study of the impact of the Decipher Prostate Cancer Classifier Post-Op test (Decipher test) on physician and patient decision making after prostate surgery. The interim results showed that knowledge of Decipher test results was associated with a change in both physician and patient treatment decisions, as well as improved decision effectiveness for men with prostate cancer considering adjuvant radiation therapy (ART) or salvage radiation therapy (SRT) after radical prostatectomy (RP). The article, titled "Decipher Test Impacts Decision-Making among Patients Considering Adjuvant and Salvage Treatment following Radical Prostatectomy: Interim Results from the Multicenter Prospective PRO-IMPACT Study," was published online this month ahead of print in the journal Cancer.

Approximately 50% of patients will have one or more adverse tumor pathology features after prostate cancer surgery and will be at increased risk of recurrence, metastasis and death. In these men, a multi-modal treatment is often followed by combining surgery with radiation, and either with or without hormone therapy. While known to improve health outcomes, multi-modal therapy poses potential significant harm to the patient's quality of life, including impeding sexual and urinary functional recovery. The Decipher test provides a genomic assessment of the aggressiveness of the patient's tumor, and is used by physicians to determine the need for and timing of additional therapy after surgery.

"Making additional treatment decisions for men with adverse pathology after surgery is difficult. Prior to the development of genomic assessment for prostate cancer patients, there was a lot of uncertainty around which patients might benefit from postoperative radiation and when to begin treatment," said John Gore. M.D., M.S., Associate Professor of Urology at the University of Washington and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. "This study demonstrates that Decipher is important to guiding the shared decisions physicians and patients need to make after surgery and provides more confidence in those decisions. We have now completed the trial and look forward to the final study analyses to determine whether the treatment recommendations led to actual treatment decisions and how the use of Decipher has impacted patients' health-related quality of life."

The study included a total of 265 patients who enrolled at 19 community and academic practice settings. At baseline, prior to receipt of Decipher test results, physicians recommended primarily a 'wait-and-see' approach for most patients, irrespective of established clinical risk factors. With knowledge of Decipher test results, 96% and 74% of men with low genomic risk in the adjuvant and salvage arms, respectively, as indicated by Decipher test results, were recommended to observation. Among men whose Decipher test results showed a high genomic risk of metastasis, 37% and 69% of men in the ART and SRT arms, respectively, were recommended to receive intensification to multi-modal therapy. The study also indicated that decision quality was improved for patients considering post-surgery radiation therapy when exposed to Decipher test results, and that the fear of prostate cancer recurrence in the adjuvant and salvage arms decreased among low-risk patients.

"The clinical utility of Decipher seen in this interim analysis demonstrates that knowledge of Decipher test results can influence treatment recommendations and improve decision quality among men with prostate cancer," said Doug Dolginow, M.D., chief executive officer of GenomeDx. "As men in our society are living longer than ever before, determining the appropriate treatment of prostate cancer, which may save or extend life, is important. We believe incorporating Decipher into clinical practice will allow for better stratification of risk, improve decision-making and allow patients to be more confident with the difficult choices they may have to make."

About Decipher GRID and Decipher Prostate and Bladder Cancer Classifier Tests

GenomeDx's Decipher Genomics Resource Information Database (GRID) contains genomic profiles of thousands of tumors from patients with urological cancers, and is believed by GenomeDx to be the largest shared genomic expression database in urologic cancer as well as one of the world's largest global RNA expression databases using cloud-based analytics. GRID is a platform for interactive research collaboration, and may enable more rapid discovery, development, commercialization and adoption of new genomic solutions for key clinical questions in cancer treatment.

Derived from GRID, GenomeDx's Decipher Prostate and Bladder Cancer Classifier tests are commercially available genomic tests that provide a genomic assessment of tumor aggressiveness for individual patients. Decipher Biopsy is indicated for men with localized prostate cancer at diagnosis, Decipher Post-Op is indicated for men after prostate removal surgery and Decipher Bladder is indicated for patients being considered for neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to radical cystectomy. The Decipher tests are used by physicians to stratify patients into more accurate risk groups than determined by traditional diagnostic tools and to better determine which patients may be more likely to benefit from additional treatment. Each tumor analyzed with a Decipher test adds new data points to the GRID database, which is compiled into a Decipher GRID Profile that may reveal additional biological characteristics of the tumor for ongoing research purposes. Going beyond risk stratification, Decipher and GRID makes accessible genetic information for researchers to potentially better predict responses to therapy and more precisely guide treatment.

More information is available at www.deciphertest.com and www.deciphergrid.com

About GenomeDx Biosciences

GenomeDx has reimagined the use of genomics as a platform for mass collaboration to improve treatment and outcomes of people with cancer. GenomeDx has built Decipher GRID, a large and fast-growing genomics database in urologic cancer that provides a foundation for open and interactive research collaboration and knowledge creation. Using Decipher GRID and machine learning to analyze vast amounts of genomic data, GenomeDx develops and commercializes proprietary clinical tests that are intended to provide more accurate and useful diagnostic information than traditional diagnostic tools or existing genomic tests. GenomeDx's Decipher Biopsy, Decipher Post-Op and Decipher Bladder are commercially available prostate cancer genomic tests that provide an assessment of tumor aggressiveness based on a patient's unique genomic profile. GenomeDx is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and operates a clinical laboratory in San Diego, California.

Learn more at www.GenomeDx.com

SOURCE GenomeDx Biosciences

Related Links

https://www.GenomeDx.com


LONDON, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This expansion is attributed to the increasing cases of trauma and rising number of hospital and trauma care centers facilitating emergency treatments. This creates a need to procure blood to suffice the demand, thus, boosting the market for immunohematology tests and products.



A deeper analysis on the report at https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4523071/



In April 2016, The Indian Red Cross Society launched an application (app) to facilitate blood banking facility. The app is expected to address the shortage issue in the region. Moreover, in 2011, the first type of this application was launched by Hemo bioscience, Inc., a U.S.-based company. The company made the app available for free for apple users.



Further Key Findings from the Study Suggest:



 In December 2013, Sysmex Corporation received the German Design Award for its XN-2000 hematology reagent. Almost 1,900 products were nominated for the award.



 In 2015, North America dominated the market with a revenue share of more than 40%. In the U.S., there is a patient requiring transfusion every 2 seconds. The daily consumption of blood is approximately 36,000 units per day. This indicates the huge opportunity of growth in this region.



SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


DUBLIN, Apr. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems Market Analysis By Product (Hardware, Software, Services), By Technology (Barcodes, RFID), By End Use, By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, MEA), And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025" report to their offering.

The global surgical instrument tracking systems market is expected to reach a value of USD 442.9 million by 2025

Increasing incidence of surgical instruments being left behind after surgery is the most significant factor anticipated to boost the market growth during the forecast period. Annually in the U.S, around 4,500 to 6,000 surgical instruments are left in the surgical sites, which results in the need of additional surgery for removal of retained devices from the body. This in turn results in the need for operating instrument tracking products.

Rising adoption of medical devices and instrument tracking products by private and public hospitals is another major factor contributing to the growth of the market. The inventory management and tracing of medical devices and instruments during work cycle, such as during sterilization procedures, surgery, and post-surgery, is a major problem faced by the hospitals. Thus, the need of medical devices and instrument tracking systems is growing at high rate, which is expected to propel the growth of the sector.



Further key findings from the study suggest:



As a result of low installation cost and ease of handling, barcode technology was the largest grossing segment of the surgical instrument tracking systems market in 2015.

The software solutions segment was the highest revenue-generating segment in 2015, owing to increasing technological advancement in software solutions.

In 2015, hospitals segment held the largest revenue share in the market, owing to the increasing adoption of track-and-trace for inventory management and surgical instruments tracing to provide better patient safety.

North America held the largest share of the surgical instrument tracking systems market in the year 2015. This region is expected to uphold its dominance during the forecast period.

held the largest share of the surgical instrument tracking systems market in the year 2015. This region is expected to uphold its dominance during the forecast period. Highly developed healthcare infrastructure and availability of advanced products is anticipated to drive the demand for medical device and instruments tracking products in North America during the forecast period

during the forecast period Some of the key players include Censis Technologies, Inc.; Materials Management Microsystems, Inc.; Haldor Advanced Technologies. Ltd.; Xerafy; B. Braun Melsungen AG; Getinge Group; and Becton, Dickinson and Company

Key Topics Covered:



1 Research Methodology



2 Executive Summary

2.1 Market Snapshot



3 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems Market Variables, Trends & Scope

3.1 Market Segmentation & Scope

3.2 Market Driver Analysis

3.2.1 Increasing incidence of retained surgical instrument cases

3.2.2 Escalating need for surgical instrument inventory management

3.2.3 Technological advancement

3.3 Market Restraint Analysis

3.3.1 High cost associated with implementation of surgical instruement tracking system

3.4 Key Opportunities Prioritized

3.4.1 Key opportunities prioritized, by product

3.4.2 Key opportunities prioritized, by technology

3.4.3 Key opportunities prioritized, by end-use

3.5 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems - SWOT Analysis, by Factor (Political & Legal, Economic and Technological)

3.6 Industry Analysis - Porter's

3.7 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems Market: Heat Map Analysis, 2015



4 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems: Product Estimates & Trend Analysis

4.1 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems Market: Product Movement Analysis

4.2 Hardware

4.3 Software

4.4 Services



5 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems: Technology Estimates & Trend Analysis

5.1 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems Market: Technology Movement Analysis

5.2 Barcodes

5.3 RFID



6 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems: End-Use Estimates & Trend Analysis

6.1 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems Market: End-Use Movement Analysis

6.2 Hospitals

6.3 Others



7 Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis, by Product, Technology, End-Use



8 Competitive Landscape



Censis Technologies, Inc.

Xerafy

Getinge Group

Haldor Advanced Technologies. Ltd.

Materials Management Microsystems, Inc.

B. Braun Melsungen AG

Becton, Dickinson and Company

Applied Logic, Inc.

FingerPrint Medical Ltd.

SpaTrack Medical Ltd.

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3nrx3f/surgical

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


ATLANTA, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OurPrayer, the online prayer ministry of Guideposts, and Team Jesus Magazine, the digital Christian playbook and media outlet, announced today a strategic partnership to integrate Christian content and prayer services across their mutual platforms. The synergy between the two organizations provides their respective communities with increased access to uplifting and informative Christian articles and unifies users under the banner of prayer.

Guideposts OurPrayer and Team Jesus Magazine Expand the Gospel Through Content and Prayer.

Guideposts-OurPrayer and Team Jesus Magazine will co-develop and co-market Christian content and campaigns across all digital platforms. As Team Jesus Magazine integrates the OurPrayer online prayer request service on its site, their community will now have the ability to submit prayers 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, as well as the opportunity to unite in prayer for others. As OurPrayer promotes and shares Team Jesus Magazine's content, the 60-year-old non-profit enhances its portfolio of quality Christian content and expands its reach into new demographics.

"It's always exciting to partner with ministries like Team Jesus Magazine who are like-minded in encouraging the hearts of God's people. We look forward to the joy of communities collaborating to expand the gospel through content and prayer," said Ty'Ann Brown, Manager of OurPrayer.

"It's an honor to grow up on Guideposts' content and now call them a valued partner in Christian media," said Team Jesus Magazine publisher, Kim J. Bright. "The opportunity to share OurPrayer's expertise in prayer ministry complements every section of our magazine  we all need prayer to be effective members of Team Jesus."

Guideposts-OurPrayer and Team Jesus Magazine look forward to sharing and engaging with both communities through their digital and social media presence. Follow Team Jesus Magazine and OurPrayer on social media to stay informed of upcoming announcements. For more information about OurPrayer or to submit a prayer request, visit OurPrayer.org. For more information about Team Jesus Magazine or to read today's featured "play call," visit TeamJesusMag.com.

ABOUT GUIDEPOSTS-OURPRAYER

For over sixty years, caring individuals in the OurPrayer community have volunteered their time to support those in need  offering prayers of hope and inspiration in response to the millions of requests received annually. OurPrayer, a service of Guideposts, is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year online at www.ourprayer.org. You can also find OurPrayer on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Guideposts is a non-profit organization that touches millions of lives every day through products and services that inspire, encourage, and uplift. Through magazines, books, prayer network and outreach programs, Guideposts helps people connect their faith-filled values to their daily lives. For more information on Guideposts and OurPrayer, please visit www.guideposts.org.

ABOUT TEAM JESUS MAGAZINE

Team Jesus Magazine is the digital Christian playbook created to honor God, and uplift and inform the body of Christ. As a playbook, its content instructs, exhorts, and encourages Christian living through practical, actionable, Biblically-based articles, news, and events affecting the Christian community. Visit Team Jesus Magazine at www.TeamJesusMag.com, and follow Team Jesus Magazine on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @TeamJesusMag.

Media Contact:

Kim J. Bright

Phone: 470.222.6080

Email: [email protected]

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Related Links

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Team Jesus Magazine

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Team Jesus Magazine

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Leading industries, investors and climate advocates set out achievable pathways to limit global warming to well below 2C while stimulating economic development and social progress.

LONDON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Governments, investors and businesses must seize the opportunity to halve global carbon emissions by 2040 while ensuring economic development and energy access for all, but they must act now to accelerate clean electrification, decarbonization beyond power and energy productivity improvement, says the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC).

The ETC today launched its "Better energy, Greater prosperity" report which argues that it is technically and economically feasible to grow economies and provide affordable, reliable, clean energy for all while meeting the Paris objective of limiting global warming to well below 2C.

Key conclusions of the report include :

Falling costs of renewables and batteries make cost-effective, clean electricity unstoppable and essential to the transition to a low-carbon, energy-abundant world.

There is still untapped potential to improve energy productivity  i.e. the energy-intensity of GDP. Growth of 3% per annum could be achieved with the right policies effectively implemented.

Rapid progress is now required on other technologies, including bioenergy, hydrogen and all forms of carbon capture and sequestration, to drive complete decarbonization. But even with large scale CCS deployment, which is currently not on track, fossil fuels use must fall 30% by 2040, with rapid decline of unabated coal.

"We are ambitious but realistic. Despite the scale of the challenges facing us, we firmly believe the required transition is technically and economically achievable if immediate action is taken," says Adair Turner, Chair of the ETC.

To put the world on a well below 2C pathway, we must decarbonize power generation and extend electrification to a wider set of activities in the transport and buildings sectors. Clean electrification alone could deliver half of the carbon emissions reductions required to reach 20 gigatonnes (Gt) of emissions by 2040.

But we must also decarbonize all the activities which cannot be cost-effectively electrified  such as aviation, shipping, and heavy industries like steel, cement or chemicals  and achieve a revolution in energy productivity. On both of these dimensions, progress is far too slow. To accelerate improvement requires stronger public policies and large-scale public and private investment, urges the ETC.

The transition to low-carbon energy systems would deliver important social benefits  with for instance dramatically improved air quality leading to longer and healthier lives  and economic opportunities related to the development of technologies and innovative business models, says the report.

"This is not just another plan; it's a better plan. We show how the world can remove barriers to transform challenges into opportunities, not only in advanced economies, but also in emerging countries," says Ajay Mathur, co-Chair of the ETC.

The report reflects a unique collaboration between the diverse members of the ETC, which brings together fossil fuels, power and industrial companies, alongside investors, environmental NGOs and researchers, from both developing and developed countries. These diverse allies are agreed not only on the importance of cutting global carbon emissions to meet the Paris objectives, but also on how that transition can be achieved while fostering social and economic progress.

Pathways to low-carbon energy systems

The report describes how to cut annual carbon emissions from 36 Gt today to 20 Gt by 2040 (compared to 47 Gt expected by 2040 in a business as usual scenario), and set the stage for the further emissions reductions that will be required in the second half of the century, while ensuring universal access to 80-100 GJ of affordable, reliable and sustainable energy per capita per annum. This can be achieved through four interdependent pathways, says the ETC.

Clean electrification - By 2040, half of emissions reductions compared to a business as usual scenario could come from the combination of the decarbonization of power generation and the electrification of a wider set of activities in the transport and buildings sectors. Provided appropriate policies are put in place, it will be possible within 15 years to build power systems that rely on variable renewables for 80/90% of power supply and that can deliver electricity at an all-in cost (including back-up and flexibility needs) of less than $70 per MWh, which is likely to be competitive with fossil fuels based power generation. This reflects the dramatic reductions in the cost of renewables and batteries now being achieved and most likely to continue. Clean electricity should then be used in an increasing range of economic activities, with growing potential to substitute clean electricity for fossil fuels in light vehicle transport and heating.

Decarbonization of "hard-to-electrify" sectors  In addition, we will need to cut carbon emissions from activities that cannot be electrified cost-effectively in transport, industry and buildings. This will become increasingly important as the potential for additional clean electrification is exhausted. But the technologies to do that  including bioenergy, waste heat, hydrogen, and the multiple forms of carbon capture and sequestration  are not yet achieving the cost reductions and scale deployment seen in renewables and batteries. Governments and companies need to make significant R&D and initial deployment investments to ensure that these technologies become cost effective.

A revolution in the pace of energy productivity improvement - Energy productivity improvement could deliver a third of required emissions reductions by 2040, but this would demand greatly accelerated energy efficiency progress across the buildings, transport and industry sectors, as well as structural changes in the economy to deliver more economic growth with less energy-intensive goods and services.

Optimization of remaining fossil fuels use - These transitions would result in a 30% decrease in fossil fuels use by 2040, but fossil fuels would still represent up to 50% of final energy demand. Meeting climate objectives therefore also requires a ramp-up in all forms of carbon capture and sequestration (conversion into products, underground storage, natural carbon sinks). In this context, fossil fuels use should be concentrated in highest value applications, which implies a rapid decrease in unabated coal consumption, a peak of oil in the 2020s and a continued role for gas provided methane leakages are reduced significantly.

Achieving accelerated progress

The transition to low-carbon energy systems across the world will require faster improvement than in the past 20 years and faster than the INDCs promise. Each year, energy productivity needs to increase by 3% and the share of energy from zero-carbon sources needs to rise at least one percentage point.

Strong public policies will be essential to achieve this. The ETC believes that these must include meaningful carbon pricing, phase-out of fossil fuels subsidies, R&D and deployment support for low-carbon technologies, robust standards and regulations, appropriate market design, and public investment in transport and urban infrastructure.

In addition, the progress implies a major shift in the mix of investments in the energy system: investments in fossil fuels over the next 15 years could be about $3.7 trillion lower than in a business as usual scenario, while investments in low-carbon technologies and more energy-efficient equipment and buildings could increase by $6 trillion and $9 trillion respectively.

This would mean an extra $300-600 billion in annual investment. This does not pose a major macroeconomic challenge in a world where global savings and investment reach $20 trillion annually. But public policies that reduce risk are needed to reduce the cost of capital for long-term sustainable infrastructure investment and extra support will be required for developing countries with the greatest investment requirements and more limited access to capital.

The Energy Transitions Commission

The Energy Transitions Commission (ETC) brings together a diverse group of individuals from the energy and climate communities: investors, incumbent energy companies, industry disruptors, equipment suppliers, energy-intensive industries, non-profit organizations, advisors, and academics from across the developed and developing world. Our aim is to accelerate change towards low-carbon energy systems that enable robust economic development and limit the rise in global temperature to well below 2C. See below the list of ETC Commissioners.

The "Better Energy, Greater Prosperity" report was developed by the Commissioners with the support of the ETC Secretariat, provided by SYSTEMIQ and McKinsey & Company. It draws upon a set of analyses carried out by Climate Policy Initiative, Copenhagen Economics and Vivid Economics for the ETC, which are available on the ETC's website.

To read the full report, visit the ETC website.

Media Contacts

Europe - Simos Piperidis

[email protected] & +32 485 286 594

India - Rishabh Sharma

[email protected] & +91 9999 073158

UK - Lizzy Roberts, UK

[email protected] & +44 (0) 20 2734 3332

US - Natalie Jones

[email protected] & +1 (202) 585-2163

ETC Commissioners

The Energy Transitions Commission is a diverse group of people and organizations from energy and climate communities: investors, energy companies, industry disruptors, equipment suppliers, non-profit organizations, and research institutes from across the developed and developing world. The ETC's aim is to accelerate change towards low-carbon energy systems that enable robust economic development and limit the rise in global temperature to well below 2C. The full list of our Commissioners includes:

Poppy Allonby , Managing Director, Natural Resources, BlackRock Laurent Auguste , Senior Executive Vice-President, Innovation and Markets, Veolia Tony Cudmore , Head of Sustainability and Public Policy, BHP Billiton Bernard David , Chairman, The Global CO2 Initiative Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, CEO, Saint-Gobain Al Gore , Chairman, Generation Investment Stuart Gulliver , Group Chief Executive, HSBC Chad Holliday , Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell Jules Kortenhorst, CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute Rachel Kyte , Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General; CEO, Sustainable Energy For All Alex Laskey , President and Founder, OPower Auke Lont , President and CEO, Statnett Ajay Mathur , Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute Philip New , CEO, Catapult Energy Systems Riccardo Puliti , Senior Director, Energy and Extractives Global Practice, World Bank Mukund Rajan , Chairman, Tata Global Sustainability Council Purna Saggurti , Chairman, Global Corporate and Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Lorenzo Simonelli , CEO, General Electric Oil & Gas Andrew Steer , President and CEO, World Resources Institute Nicholas Stern , Professor, London School of Economics Peter Terium, CEO, innogy Laurence Tubiana , CEO, European Climate Foundation Nigel Topping , CEO, We Mean Business Adair Turner , Chair, Energy Transitions Commission Jean-Pascal Tricoire , Chairman and CEO, Schneider Electric Timothy Wirth , Vice Chair, United Nations Foundation Kandeh Yumkella , Former CEO, Sustainable Energy For All Changwen Zhao, Director General, Department of Industrial Economy, Development Research Center of the State Council of China Cathy Zoi, President, Odyssey Energy

SOURCE Energy Transitions Commission

Related Links

http://www.energy-transitions.org


WALNUT CREEK, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Heffernan Insurance Brokers, one of the largest full-service, independent insurance brokerage firms in the United States, has been recognized as 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.

Select employers from the Bay Area were recognized at the awards program held on April 18, 2017. These winning organizations were honored for having created exceptional workplaces that their employees highly value.

Award applicants were evaluated and ranked across five categories according to the number of Bay Area employees. The ranking identified companies whose employees give them the highest ratings on such values as fun, collaborative culture, solid compensation and benefits offerings, management practices, and other amenities.

"We're honored to be recognized among the top employers in the Bay Area," said Jennifer Mahoney, Chief Operating Officer of Heffernan Insurance Brokers. "We prioritize our employees, our clients, and our community, and we will continue to foster a workplace of respect and fun to help our team thrive."

About Heffernan Insurance Brokers

Heffernan Insurance Brokers, formed in 1988, is one of the largest independent insurance brokerage firms in the United States. Heffernan provides insurance and financial services products to a range of businesses and individuals. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., Heffernan has offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Irvine, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Portland, OR; and St. Louis, MO.

Employee-owned, Heffernan Insurance Brokers was named the Top Mid-Sized Broker in the United States to work for in 2009 by Business Insurance Magazine. The firm has been among the Top Greater Bay Area Philanthropists since 2003, donating more than 11 percent of profits to charity in 2016.

For more information, visit www.heffins.com. License #0564249

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.

SOURCE Heffernan Insurance Brokers

Related Links

http://www.heffins.com


KENNESAW, Ga., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hicks Roofing Inc. announces a roof giveaway contest for active and retired military in the Atlanta metro area. The contest entails giving a new roof to any veteran who submits their story through the hicksforlife.com website. Their story will be featured and ultimately voted on through a social media platform designed to bring attention to the service men and women who protect the United States. The Hicks Roofing Veterans Roof Giveaway will be awarding a new roof to a veteran on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day. The Veterans Roof Giveaway is part of the Hicks for Life community outreach program which also actively supports the Susan G. Komen Foundation

"We are honored and so appreciative for the service and dedication of our military. It is our hope that we can show our gratitude through doing what we do best," said Jason M. Webb, Vice Chairman, Hicks Roofing.

www.hicksroofing.net

770-432-1169

About Hicks Roofing

Hicks Roofing is a family owned and operated business. Since 1980, their long history of customer satisfaction and traditional values has been coupled with modern techniques and business acumen making them the top commercial and residential roofer in both the Atlanta metro area as well as Middle Georgia. Customer satisfaction is truly engrained in their everyday business behavior. Hicks Roofing puts their customers at the center of their business which allows them to give their customers an experience that is uniquely positive and satisfying. Their expertise is unrivaled in commercial roofing and residential roofing applications.

CONTACT: Jay Garrity

678-389-6443

[email protected]

SOURCE Hicks Roofing Inc.

Related Links

http://hicksroofing.net


CHICAGO, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HighTower announces the launch of Resolute Investment Advisors, LLC, the 7th new individual team to join HighTower in 2017. The team is located in Colorado Springs, Colo., manages approximately $500 million in total client assets, and includes:

Todd Baker , Managing Partner, Baker Wealth Management, Inc.

, Managing Partner, Baker Wealth Management, Inc. Bradley S. Harvey , Managing Partner, Harvey Investment Management, Inc.

, Managing Partner, Harvey Investment Management, Inc. Jack T. York , Founding Advisor, Senior Vice President, York Asset Management, Inc.

, Founding Advisor, Senior Vice President, York Asset Management, Inc. James R. Young III , Founding Advisor, Senior Vice President, Young Capital Management, Inc.

Baker, Harvey and York were previously with UBS and Young was with Merrill Lynch.

"The HighTower platform supports entrepreneurial advisers who want to leverage our sophisticated investment solutions and the collective wisdom of our community," said Kimberly Papedis, Managing Director, Head of National Sales at HighTower. "Resolute Investment Advisors exemplifies one type of business that the HighTower model is built to serve."

Members of the Resolute Investment Advisors team will each operate their own financial advisory practice within the larger team.

"The Resolute Investment Advisors team conducted comprehensive due diligence and ultimately selected the HighTower platform to support the launch of their business," added Jim Zahradnick, Executive Director, Business Development, HighTower. "We look forward to their continued success."

"HighTower presented us with the opportunity to build and grow a business where our clients' best interests come first," said Mr. Baker. "We are very proud to be independent business owners in the Colorado Springs community, and to be part of the HighTower community as well."

HighTower added a recording-breaking number of new teams during the first quarter of 2017. Prior to Resolute Investment Advisors, HighTower kicked off the second quarter with the acquisition of Houston-based WealthTrust, adding $6.4 billion in client assets, and the launch of HighTower Buffalo.

For media inquiries, please contact Melinda Brodbeck, JConnelly, at 973-850-7348 or [email protected] .

About HighTower

HighTower is a national firm built by and for elite financial advisors. HighTower advisors commit to the fiduciary standard: a binding promise to put our clients' interests first. Powered by a proprietary technology and investment platform, HighTower embraces bold change to create a culture of collaboration and growth and to meet the evolving needs of sophisticated investors. For more information, see www.hightoweradvisors.com and www.byadvisorsforadvisors.com.

Melinda Brodbeck

JConnelly

973-850-7348

[email protected]

SOURCE HighTower

Related Links

http://www.hightoweradvisors.com


BATESVILLE, Ind., Apr 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE: HI) will hold a conference call and simultaneous webcast Thursday, May 4, 2017, at 8:00 a.m. ET. They will discuss the results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2017, which ended March 31, 2017. The live webcast, including a slide presentation, will be available at http://ir.hillenbrand.com under the "Events & Presentations" tab and will be archived on the company's investor relations website through Thursday, June 1, 2017.

To access the conference call, listeners in the United States and Canada may dial +1 (877) 201-0168, and international callers may dial +1 (647) 788-4901. Please use conference call ID number 6255022. A replay of the call will be available until midnight ET, Thursday, May 18, 2017, by dialing +1 (800) 585-8367 toll free in the United States and Canada or +1 (416) 621-4642 internationally and using the conference ID number 6255022.

Hillenbrand will issue a press release reporting its results after the market closes on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. The full text of the release and financials will be available at http://ir.hillenbrand.com.

About Hillenbrand

Hillenbrand (www.hillenbrand.com) is a global diversified industrial company with multiple market-leading brands that serve a wide variety of industries across the globe. We pursue profitable growth and robust cash generation in order to drive increased value for our shareholders. Hillenbrand's portfolio is composed of two business segments: the Process Equipment Group and Batesville. The Process Equipment Group businesses design, develop, manufacture and service highly engineered industrial equipment around the world. Batesville is a recognized leader in the North American death care industry. Hillenbrand is publicly traded on the NYSE under "HI".

SOURCE Hillenbrand, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.hillenbrand.com


WASHINGTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nation's Report Card: 2016 Arts shows that Hispanic eighth-grade students scored higher in music in 2016 than in 2008 and that score gaps narrowed between Hispanic and white eighth-graders in both music and the visual arts. In the visual arts specifically, students eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) scored higher in 2016 compared with 2008, narrowing the difference in scores between those students and their higher-income peers. And while The Nation's Report Card, also known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), shows no overall score changes in music and the visual arts since the last arts assessment of eighth-graders in 2008, it does reveal changes in access to and participation in music and visual arts activities, varying by gender, income and region.

On the NAEP music assessment, students were asked to analyze, describe or critique pieces of music. In the visual arts, students analyzed and described works of art and design, demonstrating their knowledge of media and techniques as well as visual organization. In both music and the visual arts, students were asked to describe and show an understanding of aesthetic, social, cultural and historical context. For the visual arts, additional questions assessed students' ability in creating works of art. The average responding scores reported in the 2016 Arts Report Card involve students responding to visual art and music.

"The visual arts and music have always been vital components to students' well-rounded education, which is why they are included in NAEP. NAEP shows us that how students respond to music and to visual arts can be assessed and can provide reasonable and objective information about the state of arts education in America," said Dr. Joe Willhoft, a testing and measurement expert and a member of the National Assessment Governing Board. "And as a former art teacher, I've seen firsthand how the arts  music, visual arts, drama and dance  are an essential part of a student's learning and development."

The Nation's Report Card includes not only performance data but also responses from students and school administrators on students' experiences with music and the visual arts both inside and outside of school. These contextual data show that there are differences in students' access to opportunities in the arts and in overall student participation in music and the visual arts by gender, income and region.

The average scores in music declined for male students and stayed about the same for female students in 2016 compared with 2008. In the visual arts, the average responding scores for both male and female students were not significantly different from the 2008 scores. The score differences by gender remained unchanged from 2008 to 2016 in both music and the visual arts. In 2016, female students were more likely to sing in a chorus or choir at school than their male peers. Female students were also more likely than male students to participate in music and visual arts activities outside of school, such as playing instruments, taking art classes and taking private music lessons.





In music, the difference in scores by eligibility for NSLP has remained unchanged since 2008, but in the visual arts, NSLP-eligible students scored 5 points higher than their ineligible peers in 2016, narrowing the difference significantly compared with 2008. The results also reveal that students eligible for NSLP were less likely than ineligible students to play a musical instrument or take music lessons outside of school, or to visit an art museum or exhibit on their own. However, they were more likely than their higher-income peers to keep a journal or sketchbook.

While the percentages of schools with full-time specialists and curriculum requirements for either music or the visual arts in 2016 have not changed since 2008, access to the arts varies by the region of the country where students go to school. In the Northeast, 93 percent of students attend schools that have full-time music specialists on staff, compared with 74 percent of students in the West. Nearly 90 percent of students attend schools in the Northeast that have full-time visual arts specialists on staff, but two-thirds in the West and in the Midwest do.

"The arts have a significant impact on student academic progress," said Alberto Carvalho, a Governing Board member and the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the nation's fourth-largest school system. "Music and visual arts have a powerful influence, enriching students' lives and encouraging students who otherwise may be reluctant to participate fully in the school experience."

The Nation's Report Card also illuminates the availability of arts-related resources in schools and how exposure to music and the visual arts at school correlates with test scores. The results indicate that 63 percent of students had enrolled in a music class in 2016 and that those who had taken a music class scored an average of 12 points higher on NAEP than students who had not taken music. Compared with 2008, a smaller percentage of students listened to musical performances at school in 2016. Students who heard a musical performance at school scored an average of 25 points higher on the music assessment than students who did not hear a performance.

In 2016, 42 percent of students had taken a visual arts class  unchanged from 2008. But in art classes, students were less likely to be asked by their teachers to draw or paint every day in 2016 compared with 2008. Students who took an art course at school and students who painted or drew in class at least once a week scored an average of 10 points higher on visual arts questions than students who did not take an art course or draw as often.

In addition, there were fewer opportunities for arts exposure outside of school, with smaller percentages of students playing a musical instrument on their own in 2016 than in 2008. Similarly, for visual arts, smaller percentages of students took arts classes outside of school or made their own artwork.



"Every student should have access to arts education to develop the creativity and problem-solving skills that lead to higher success both in and out of school," said Ayanna Hudson, director of arts education at the National Endowment for the Arts. "Arts education can be especially valuable for our nation's underserved students, leading to better grades, higher graduation rates and increased college enrollment. That's why NAEP is an important tool, providing a national snapshot of student achievement in the arts, including serious gaps in access, so we can know how best to assist our students."

See the full arts report card here: https://nationsreportcard.gov/arts_2016.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the largest nationally representative, continuing evaluation of the condition of education in the United States. It has served as a national yardstick of student achievement since 1969. Through The Nation's Report Card, NAEP informs the public about what American students know and can do in various subject areas and compares achievement among states, large urban districts and various student demographic groups. Follow NAEP on Facebook and Twitter.

NAEP is a congressionally authorized project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. The National Center for Education Statistics, within the Institute of Education Sciences, administers NAEP. The commissioner of education statistics is responsible by law for carrying out the NAEP project.

The National Assessment Governing Board is an independent, nonpartisan board whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988 to oversee and set policy for NAEP. Follow the Governing Board on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE National Assessment Governing Board
KRAKOW, Poland, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the current information from the AngelList[1], today in the world, there are 2,927,871 startups. Only a minority survive beyond 3 years. Luckily, there are ways to increase the likelihood of making it long-term. hub:raum (the Deutsche Telekom start-up incubator) has recently launched the WARP Future Communication program for start-ups, offering unique opportunities in the area of communications.

There are four well-known pillars for building a successful tech start-up:

1: an innovative idea,

2: a broad range of knowledge,

3: technical and financial resources, and

4: execution.

It seems simple - but in reality, it's a true challenge to combine creativity with knowledge and experience in a wide range of areas. A successful company needs to consider management, going-to-market, sales, customer service, as well as having a well-functioning technical platform and support. Taking into account that 80% of successful start-ups have multiple founders[2], involving a large, well-established corporation with appropriate resources, plus a start-up accelerator with unique knowledge, can not only successfully bring the idea to life  but even more importantly  bring that idea to the market.

hub:raum and Deutsche Telekom are inviting start-ups from across Europe to a new program: WARP Future Communication. The program aims to develop innovative communication services by offering companies the opportunity to accelerate their business and go to market with strong corporate partners.

WARP Future Communication is designed for start-ups with innovative ideas in communications and related areas such as speech recognition, parental control, artificial intelligence (AI), voice-based messaging, digital life and generally enriched voice and video communication experience. The program provides a mixture of all the tools and resources start-ups need to develop, scale, and commercialize their services, including both technical and business support. WARP Future Communication offers the technical platform, network, and know-how for start-ups  and provides a unique opportunity to go to market.

Accelerate your business by applying online today: https://warpaccelerator.com/futurecommunication/apply/

About hub:raum

hub:raum, the incubator of Deutsche Telekom, offers various programs and formats that aim to create business opportunities between the startup eco-system and Deutsche Telekom. In addition hub:raum selectively invests in early-stage startups that have a strategic fit to Deutsche Telekom's business and innovation priorities.

[1] https://angel.co/companies

[2] http://www.go-globe.com/blog/startups/

Contact & more information:

Konrad Mroz

Corporate Communication Expert

phone: +48 22 413 30 67

https://warpaccelerator.com/futurecommunication/

https://www.hubraum.com/

[email protected]

SOURCE hub:raum

Related Links

https://www.hubraum.com


OAKLAND, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Human resources' role in shaping the future of work is the focus of presentations and working sessions at Bersin by Deloitte's IMPACT 2017. Themed "Unleashing the Power of Digital: A New World for HR," IMPACT 2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the industry's premier conference for HR, learning and talent leaders and their teams. It takes place May 22-25 at the Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida.

Executives and senior leaders from Airbnb, Athleta, Atlassian, Danfoss, Hasbro, IBM, Mastercard, Patagonia, and The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company will be among the 30-plus senior-level presenters at the conference. They will share leading organizational, talent and HR models and practices to address the disruptive transformation sweeping organizations worldwide.

"Ten years after the launch of IMPACT we are entering a new world of work  one transformed by digital tools and AI, creating new jobs, new careers and new organizational models." said Josh Bersin, principal and founder, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Almost 90 percent of HR and business leaders surveyed in the '2017 Global Human Capital Trends' research cite a need to re-engineer their entire organizational model. This involves rethinking leadership, management, careers and jobs."

The ultimate goal in this new world of work, Bersin said, " is to create a designed work experience that fosters innovation and sharing, productivity, well-being and a sense of purpose."

Once viewed as a support function that delivered employee services, HR leaders are being pushed to take on larger roles and help drive the organization to "be digital," not just "do digital," said David Mallon, head of research, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

"'Digital' can refer to always-on technology, information and access to people at our fingertips, and content everywhere," he said. "But it goes much further. Digital really means technology-based solutions that give us the power to 'meet people where they are.' Digital is about creating personalized customer and employee experiences that help make life better, improve productivity and enable people to work, learn and progress anywhere, anytime."

Bersin by Deloitte analysts will unveil new research findings in several key areas, including core HR, diversity and inclusion, learning and people analytics.

IMPACT 2017 special sessions, research presentations, case studies and panels will include:

"The Role of HR in the Future of Work  A Town Hall," Josh Bersin , principal and founder, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Nicola Vogel , senior director of human resources, Danfoss; Frank Mllerop, chief executive officer, Questback; David Mallon , head of research, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP

, principal and founder, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP; , senior director of human resources, Danfoss; Frank Mllerop, chief executive officer, Questback; , head of research, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP "Performance Management: Stories from the Front Line," Dean Carter , vice president, human resources and shared services, Patagonia; Michael S. Lopez , head of HR and communications, Gap Inc., Athleta; Stacia Sherman Garr , vice president, and talent and workforce research leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP

"High-Impact People Analytics 2017," Madhura Chakrabarti , Ph.D., people analytics research leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP

"Reimagining Learning: Rewiring the House While the Lights Are On," Dani Johnson , vice president and learning and development research leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Barry Murphy , global learning lead, Airbnb

"Accelerating Leadership Growth: Applying the High-Impact Leadership Maturity Model," Andrea Derler , Ph.D., manager, leadership and succession management research, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP ; Eunyun Park, Ph.D., manager, research methods and data, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Christina Rasieleski , senior consultant, member advisory services, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP

"Building the Platform: The Technologies of Digital HR," Christa Manning , vice president and HR solution provider research leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP

"Understanding the Digital Potential: Changes Ahead for Mid-Market HR," Larry McAlister , vice president, global talent management, Equinix Inc.; Denise Moulton , mid-market HR and talent research leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Five finalists selected from more than 230 applications for Bersin by Deloitte's WhatWorks award program also will present their stories about outstanding talent-related innovations that drive business impact. Session attendees will vote to select the ultimate award recipient.

IMPACT attendees also are invited to participate in five special workshops following the conference Thursday, May 25:

"Digital Learning or Learning in the Digital Age: Promises versus Realities," Josh Bersin , principal and founder, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Bill Pelster, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP

, principal and founder, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Bill Pelster, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP "The Refreshed High-Impact HR Operating Model: Familiar, Sustainable, Revolutionary," Gary Johnsen , specialist leader, human capital, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Art Mazor , principal and global leader for HR service delivery and HR transformation strategy, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Joanne Stephane , senior manager and business HR offering manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP

, specialist leader, human capital, Deloitte Consulting LLP; , principal and global leader for HR service delivery and HR transformation strategy, Deloitte Consulting LLP; , senior manager and business HR offering manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP "The Simply Irresistible Organization: Transforming Employee Engagement," Alyson Daichendt , managing director, human capital, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Stephen Redwood , principal, human capital, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Madhura Chakrabarti , Ph.D., people analytics research leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP

, managing director, human capital, Deloitte Consulting LLP; , principal, human capital, Deloitte Consulting LLP; , Ph.D., people analytics research leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP "Does Your Job Architecture Support Your Talent Management Goals and Priorities?," Lynda S. Phenix , actuarial, rewards and advanced analytics, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Sheila C. Sever, CCP, senior manager, compensation strategies, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Greg Stoskopf , managing director, U.S. compensation practice leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP

, actuarial, rewards and advanced analytics, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Sheila C. Sever, CCP, senior manager, compensation strategies, Deloitte Consulting LLP; , managing director, U.S. compensation practice leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP "Creating a Compelling Candidate Experience," Bill Cleary , senior manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Denise Moulton , mid-market HR and talent research leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP

, senior manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP; , mid-market HR and talent research leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP The IMPACT 2017 Sponsor Showcase features leading solution providers in the HR, learning and talent management markets including:

Signature sponsors: Questback Inc., BetterCompany, Good & Co.

Premiere sponsors: CallidusCloud, Cornerstone OnDemand; CrossKnowledge Group Ltd.; Culture Amp Pty Ltd., Degreed; Glint

General sponsor: Avature; BTS USA ; BetterUp, BetterWorks, Confirmit, CultureIQ, EdCast Inc., GuideSpark Inc.; Harvard Business Publishing, Corporate Learning; HighGround Inc.; HireVue, kununu, NeuroLeadership Institute; O.C. Tanner ; Panopto; Phenom People; Saba Software Inc.; Scout Exchange; ServiceNow; SmartRecruiters; Study.com; SumTotal Systems, LLC, a Skillsoft Company; TINYpulse(hr); TotalTalentSolved; Tribridge; Visier; Zugata.

Conference details, including the full agenda, session descriptions, speakers and information about the workshops are available at http://impact.bersin.com/. Bersin by Deloitte research members can register for IMPACT 2017 for $1,595. Non-members can register for $1,795. Special hotel room rate are available to registrants on a limited basis. Attendees should register early to receive discounted room rates.

Bersin by Deloitte delivers research-based people strategies designed to help leaders and their organizations in their efforts to deliver exceptional business performance. A Bersin by Deloitte membership gives HR professionals the information and tools they need to design and implement leading practice solutions, benchmark against others, develop their staff, and select and implement systems. A piece of Bersin by Deloitte research is downloaded on average approximately every minute during the business day. Those interested in learning more about Bersin by Deloitte or its WhatWorks membership can email [email protected] or call +1 510 241 4400.

About Deloitte

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 6,000 private and middle market companies. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to make their most challenging business decisions with confidence, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

SOURCE Bersin by Deloitte

Related Links

http://www.deloitte.com/about


CLEVELAND, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (NYSE: HY) will release 2017 First Quarter financial results and will file its 2017 First Quarter 10-Q before the market opens on Tuesday, May 2, 2017.

The Company will also host a conference call on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 to discuss its results for the 2017 first quarter.

Conference Call:

Tuesday, May 2, 2017 Time:

10:30 a.m. (Eastern Time) Telephone:

(877) 201-0168 (Toll Free) or (647) 788-4901 (International)



Conference ID: 4083300



(Call in at least five minutes before start time) For Replay Call:

(800) 585-8367 (Toll Free) or (416) 621-4642 (International)



Conference ID: 4083300

This call will also be broadcast live and available for replay over the Internet. To access the call, go to www.hyster-yale.com. Please allow 15 minutes to register, download and install any necessary software.

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, offers a broad array of solutions to meet the specific materials handling needs of customers' applications. The Company's wholly owned operating subsidiary, Hyster-Yale Group, Inc., designs, engineers, manufactures, sells and services a comprehensive line of lift trucks and aftermarket parts marketed globally primarily under the Hyster and Yale brand names. Subsidiaries of Hyster-Yale Group include Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC, an alternative-power technology company focused on fuel-cell stacks and engines, on-site hydrogen production and dispensing systems, and Bolzoni S.p.A., a leading worldwide producer of attachments, forks and lift tables under the Bolzoni Auramo and Meyer brand names. For more information about Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. and its subsidiaries visit the Company's websites at www.hyster-yale.com and www.bolzonigroup.com.

SOURCE Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.hyster-yale.com


For small business owners, managing employee expenses is time-consuming and prone to problems, such as lost receipts, expense leaks, and employee theft. Providing employees with cash, personal credit cards, or signed checks for business expenses involves a high degree of risk and hassle and makes spending difficult to track and control.

"Managing employee expenses is an important but time-consuming process for small business owners whose time could be better spent focusing on growing their business," said Farhan Ahmad, founder and CEO at Bento for Business. "Our partnership with i2c has allowed us to accelerate innovation. The i2c processing platform allows us to deliver a feature-rich expense card solution with all the tools and real-time controls to make administration easy."

With Bento, small business owners can easily control where, when, and how much employees can spend by setting limits on dollar amounts or selecting specific spending categories where the card can be used. Unauthorized transactions are automatically declined, and cards can be switched on and off with a single click. Real-time interactive dashboards and two-way alerts allow small businesses to instantly track and monitor expenses and help employees stay on budget. With full digital and mobile integration, employees can also keep track of their receipts on their smartphones.

"Bento for Business and i2c share a philosophy and culture of innovation, and the Bento card is proof of how innovative prepaid card solutions can make payments easier and more efficient," commented i2c's founder and CEO Amir Wain. "The flexibility and reliability of i2c's single, global platform enables Bento to give small businesses a full-circle expense solution that is easy for employees to use and simplifies an important part of their day-to-day operations."

About i2c Inc.

From its Silicon Valley headquarters, i2c provides smarter payments and integrated commerce solutions that financial institutions, corporations, brands, and governments around the world rely on to deliver high impact, personalized experiences today's consumers expect. i2c's single, global cloud-based platform supports virtually any card payment program in plastic, virtual, or mobile form. Our customers use the i2c Agile Processing platform to deliver profitable credit, debit, and prepaid solutions that meet the highly differentiated needs of cardholders in 216 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.i2cinc.com.

About Bento for Business

Bento for Business provides financial solutions that fit small businesses, combining the security of a bank with the ease and convenience of a modern technology company. The first product on the Bento platform, the Bento Prepaid Commercial MasterCard, provides small business owners with much needed controls and better features than more expensive and cumbersome enterprise solutions. The company's founders have their roots in large financial services firms such as Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Blackhawk Network, and Discover Card. Based in San Francisco and Chicago, Bento is venture backed. Learn more at www.bentoforbusiness.com.

SOURCE i2c Inc.

Related Links

http://www.i2cinc.com


FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- iBASEt , a leading provider of manufacturing, MRO and quality software solutions to complex, highly regulated industries, announced today the company will exhibit (booth #219) and lead Smart Manufacturing discussions at IndustryWeek's Manufacturing & Technology Conference, May 8-10 in Cleveland, OH.

During the Manufacturing & Technology Conference, iBASEt will display its new Manufacturing Intelligence (MI) solution alongside the company's industry leading Solumina Software Suite. The highly-anticipated Manufacturing Intelligence display will showcase how raw data from Solumina is aggregated, delivering a faster, more intuitive reporting solution. With MI manufacturers can now interpret their data to align decision making with business performance targets.

Co-located with the conference, Conrad Leiva, iBASEt's VP of Product Strategy and Alliances, will moderate at the Smart Fix Event as part of MESA International's North American Conference. MESA's Smart Fix Event offers attendees a forum to seek resolution to their specific manufacturing issues through group discussions from peers and industry experts who have shown real, quantifiable business value through "Smart" approaches.

For a more in-depth look at the Solumina software suite, MI or to review best practices and innovative Smart Manufacturing solutions, set up a one-on-one introduction with iBASEt.

About iBASEt

iBASEt is a leading provider of software solutions to complex, highly regulated industries, like Aerospace and Defense, Medical Devices, Nuclear, Industrial Equipment, Electronics, and Shipbuilding. iBASEt's Solumina software streamlines and integrates Manufacturing Execution Systems and Operations Management (MES/MOM), Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO)and Enterprise Quality Management Systems (EQMS) for operations and Supplier Quality Management. Solumina is implemented by many industry leaders in the Aerospace and Defense sector, including agencies of the U.S. Government. For more information, visit www.iBASEt.com.

Marketing Contact

Andrea Ramirez, Marketing Specialist

949-958-5200

[email protected]

SOURCE iBASEt

Related Links

http://www.ibaset.com/


LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lundin Law PC , a shareholder rights firm, announces a class action lawsuit against Patriot National, Inc. ("Patriot National" or the "Company") (NYSE: PN) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws between August 15, 2016 and March 3, 2017 inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares during the Class Period should contact the firm prior to the May 15, 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 [email protected].

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.

According to the Complaint, throughout the Class Period, Patriot National made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: the Company's special committee was beholden to CEO Steve Mariano, therefore the special committee was operating for the benefit of Mariano and not Patriot National or its shareholders; that the special committee did not independently assess the merits of the Ebix transaction; that the special committee was not exploring strategic alternatives in order to maximize shareholder value; and that as a result of the above, Patriot's statements about its business, operations, and prospects were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. When this information was released to the investing public, shares of Patriot National dropped in value materially, which harmed investors according to the Complaint.

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 certain jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

SOURCE Lundin Law PC

Related Links

http://lundinlawpc.com


CALI, Colombia, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Inca Worldwide (QEDN) announces the completion of a growing agreement with three Afro-Colombian communities to execute a pilot project of 2,300 Hectares of Sacha Inchi. Ultimately, this project can grow to 55,000 Hectares. 100% of the funding will be provided by El Banco Agrario. Kate Bahnsen, CEO, states "We are thrilled to complete this transaction. This group has the total support of the United Nations, the European Union, and the USA Embassy in Colombia. This relationship will be our key component to getting funding through USAid. Based on this development the company will posting new projections." For more information email [email protected] or visit the company website.

About Inca Worldwide (QEDN)

Inca Worldwide is a public listed company on the OTC under the symbol QEDN. Our project offers an alternative to Farmers in Colombia to grow crops like Inca Seeds (Sacha Inchi) instead of Coca Plants. Our Inca Seeds (Roasted Sacha Inchi) a complete protein with all 9-essential amino-acids rich in Omega 3, 6 & 9 and an antioxidant. A real Super-food. Sold to private brands and our own brand Inca Snacks.

www.incaworldwide.com

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements:

Our public communications and SEC filings may contain "forward-looking statements"  that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "see," "will," "would," or "target."

Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, such as statements about our announced plan to reduce the size of our financial services businesses, including expected cash and non-cash charges associated with this plan and earnings per share of QED retained businesses (Verticals); expected income; earnings per share; revenues; organic growth; growth and productivity associated with our Digital business; margins; cost structure; restructuring charges; acquisition-related synergies; cash flows; returns on capital and investment; capital expenditures, capital allocation or capital structure; and dividends.

[email protected]

SOURCE Inca Worldwide

Related Links

http://www.incaworldwide.com


Cruisers are very concerned about an illness or injury affecting a trip

Medical issues are a top reason for filing a travel insurance claim

Cruise itinerary is a key deciding factor during the booking process

The Caribbean and Europe are preferred destinations for cruisers

Getting sick or injured tops concerns

Cruisers are more concerned about an illness or injury affecting a trip than bad weather or terrorism. Nearly half polled (49%) worry most about a family member or themselves getting sick or injured. Twenty-six percent worry most about bad weather affecting a cruise. Twenty-six percent also experienced seasickness or a stomach illness during a voyage.

Tip: When comparing travel insurance, look for a comprehensive travel insurance plan that includes emergency medical coverage and trip interruption.

Unexpected schedule change is common

During a voyage, 46 percent experienced an unexpected itinerary change. Despite these types of disruptions, cruisers are generally pleased with their overall experience, with 62 percent stating a cruise always met their expectations.

Tip: When comparing travel insurance, look for a comprehensive travel insurance plan geared for cruisers. Some offer itinerary change coverage.

Itinerary, reputation is deciding factor when choosing a cruise

The cruise itinerary is the top reason why travelers choose to book a particular cruise. Other top factors included reputation or reviews (59%) followed by price (14%).

Trip cancellations, medical issues top claims

Travelers, who voluntarily participated in this survey, had all researched or purchased travel insurance within the past 24 months. Out of those polled, 25 percent had filed a travel insurance claim for a cruise-related issue. Here are common reasons for filing a claim:

Medical care required during a cruise Medical issue forced a trip cancellation Bad weather forced a delay or cancellation of cruise Missed flight led to a delay or cancellation of cruise Items stolen or lost during a trip

Tip: Comprehensive travel insurance provides a variety of benefits including emergency medical coverage, emergency travel services, baggage protection, and trip cancellation and interruption coverage.

Many unclear on domestic health insurance abroad

A surprising number of travelers are unclear whether their health insurance works outside the US. Over 36 percent polled were not sure whether their domestic health insurance plan would cover any doctor or hospital visits while traveling out of the country.

Thirty-five percent said their domestic health insurance would provide coverage, while 28 percent believed their insurance plan would offer no coverage.

Tip: It is important for travelers to know about any limitations of domestic health insurance for emergency medical coverage while out of the country. In most cases, there are gaps in coverage. Some gaps are significant. Travel insurance is recommended because it can act as supplemental or primary coverage and also provide emergency medical evacuation coverage.



River cruising gains more speed

Eighty-two percent of those polled have either been on a river cruise or would like to go on a river cruise. Seven percent have no desire to go, while 11 percent prefer larger cruise ships.

The Caribbean and Europe are hot spots

The Caribbean and Europe are tied as favorite cruise destination while 11 percent chose Alaska as a top place to visit.

35% Caribbean

35% Europe

11% Alaska

19% Other

Carnival tops cruise lines

Based on travel insurance purchases so far in 2017, Carnival Cruise Line is the most popular cruise line.

1. Carnival Cruise Lines

2. Royal Caribbean International

3. Norwegian Cruise Line

4. Celebrity Cruises

5. Holland America Line

6. Princess Cruises

7. Disney Cruise Line

8. MSC Cruises

Topic Expert:

Lynne Peters

401-773-9210

[email protected]ytrip.com

Methodology

The data presented in this analysis comes from internal data and customer survey results. For more information on the methodology or to request additional research, contact the IMT Research team.

InsureMyTrip

It's simple. InsureMyTrip finds you the right travel insurance plan, every time.

InsureMyTrip is the authority on travel insurance. We are committed to empowering travelers to make the best possible insurance decisions by leveraging our technology, data intelligence, and expertise.

SOURCE InsureMyTrip

Related Links

http://www.insuremytrip.com


LAKE COMO, Italy, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ccilu Footwear has taken top honors at this year's A' Design Awards, the world's largest international design competition. The honors are bestowed as Ccilu prepares to launch its Horizon Collection, and as it establishes a full-time presence in North America via its subsidiary, Ccilu USA. Horizon captured the Platinum A' Design Award in the Footwear, Shoes and Boots Design Category, succeeding last year's winner, Under Armour. Ccilu's Diffusion Functional winter boots won the Golden A' Design Award in the same category.

"We believe that your intelligent and diligent contributions to arts, science, design and technology through creation of superior products, projects and services makes the world a better place," said the competition's Makpal Bayetova, offering congratulations to Ccilu Founder/CEO Wilson Hsu and his team. The awards were voted on by the International Design Academy, a grand jury panel consisting of influential press members, established designers, leading academics and prominent entrepreneurs worldwide.

"On behalf of our talented and hard-working team, I am honored to accept these awards," said Hsu. "Whether designing Ccilu's or wearing them, our mantra is to liberate yourself."

The distinctive black-and-white outsole design of Ccliu's award-winning Horizon collection bears the legendary "ICHIMATSU MOYO" pattern, an elite fashion symbol in the Golden Age of Japanese history. It is a beautiful coincidence that this illustrious pattern has been adopted by the Tokyo Olympics Committee to be the official logo of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. The design is backed up by its CCILUCELL technology, which is green, low-carbon and at the core of the collection.

About Ccilu USA

Ccilu USA is a merging of cultures based on the notion that quality and technology are universal values. CEO Wilson Hsu, known for his leap from banker to award-winning shoe designer, puts an emphasis on proper podiatric design, including Ccilu's revolutionary SKIVE-ON and eco-friendly CCILUCELL technologies. Founded in Japan in 2011, Ccilu's first product, "Amazon Summer," won the Silver Award of the Best Designed Products in the 72nd Tokyo International Gift Show. By 2017, Ccilu was being sold in more than 60 countries. This commitment to style and structure spans the Ccilu Footwear brand and its licenses of top brands in Japan, Europe and Asia Pacific region. www.Ccilu.com

SOURCE Ccilu USA

Related Links

http://www.Ccilu.com


In his new role, Gallo will work closely with J.P. Galaris, Vice President, New York, to develop and implement growth strategies for Savoy's broker, carrier and vendor partners.

"Savoy is focused on providing brokers with the expertise, resources and overall support needed to address challenges in the healthcare and employee benefits industry and grow their business," said Gallo from Savoy's Manhattan office. "By expanding client services for employee benefits, human resources, technology and compliance, brokers have an exciting opportunity to expand their business and increase revenue."

Gallo has worked in various leadership roles in commercial sales and account management at both the carrier and broker levels, leading teams with over 90 staff members and managing segments with over $300 million in annualized premiums. With over 20 years' experience in the health insurance industry, he brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership experience to Savoy in the areas of business development, sales and account management and revenue growth.

Gallo graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Business Administration from Pfeiffer University. Gallo received the Wall Street Journal Achievement Award for Economics and was highlighted in Who's Who in America for Academic Achievement.

About SAVOY

Savoy is an innovative benefits consulting firm and general agency. With over 30 years' experience, Savoy's strategic partnerships bring continued growth to brokers, carriers and vendors. Savoy tactically provides best-in-class products and services including comprehensive health and specialty benefits, compliance, HR services, technology solutions, research, education and other employer-related services.

SOURCE Savoy

Related Links

http://www.savoyassociates.com


TOPEKA, Kan., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kansas Bankers Association (KBA) has announced the endorsement of CalTech to promote technology services designed specifically for community bankers. The KBA is the leading advocate for the banking industry in Kansas, providing services to assist banks in maximizing both their profitability and their accountability.

CalTech specializes in optimizing technology for financial institutions by offering unique business-aligned IT strategies and support. With over 25 years of experience in the financial industry, CalTech's services and solutions can increase a financial institution's profitability, productivity, and efficiency while ensuring the security and prosperity of the business. "The KBA is delighted to endorse such a robust, customer service oriented company as CalTech," said Chuck Stones, President of the KBA. "They have been exceptional supporters of the banking industry in Kansas during their time as Associate Members in the past. Entering into an Endorsed relationship was a natural next step for both of our companies."

"We are thrilled to be endorsed by the Kansas Bankers Association. The KBA is a special group of people supporting one of the nation's greatest industries community banking," said Will Welch, CEO of CalTech. "We are defined by our ability to provide consistent, genuine, and personalized service that leaves customers with the feeling of a true partnership and we are looking forward to building lasting relationships with the community bankers in Kansas."

About the Kansas Bankers Association: Organized on Feb. 22, 1887, in Topeka, the Kansas Bankers Association was one of the first five state bankers' associations in the country. Now in its 130th year, the KBA continues to be the leading advocate for the banking industry in Kansas, providing services to assist banks in maximizing both their profitability and their accountability.

About CalTech

Committed to providing best in class service, CalTech specializes in optimizing technology for financial institutions by designing unique business-aligned IT strategies. We do this by fulfilling our vision of delivering exceptional technology service, creating loyal and enthusiastic customers, and being known as the employer of choice. With over 25 years of experience in the financial industry, CalTech's services and solutions are designed to increase your financial institution's profitability, productivity, and efficiency while ensuring the security and prosperity of your business.

CONTACT: Sharon Iverson, VP of Communications, Kansas Bankers Association

Office: 785.232.3444

email: [email protected]

SOURCE CalTech
PITTSBURGH, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT) today reported results for its fiscal 2017 third quarter ended March 31, 2017, with earnings per diluted share (EPS) of $0.48, compared with the prior year quarter earnings per diluted share of $0.20. Adjusted EPS were $0.60 in the current quarter compared with adjusted EPS of $0.37 in the prior year quarter. Operating margin was 11.0 percent compared to 5.5 percent in the same quarter last year, while adjusted operating margin was 12.8 percent in the current period and 7.8 percent in the prior year period.

The current period reported results included restructuring and related charges of $0.12 per share. The prior year quarter reported results included restructuring and related charges of $0.18 per share, a net gain on divestiture of $0.03 per share and a tax impact of $0.02 per share related to prior year second quarter asset impairment charges.

"This quarter's results exceeded our expectations by almost every metric," commented Ron De Feo, Kennametal President and CEO. "Simply stated, revenue grew and costs declined, reflecting continuing progress with the work we began nine months ago. Revenue grew 6 percent, of which 5 percent was organic growth, and every region grew. The Widia segment posted quarterly profit for the first time with an adjusted operating margin of 2.3 percent. The Industrial and Infrastructure segments posted adjusted operating margins of 15.1 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively. These are strong numbers, and we are pleased to see the improvements in both sales and margins this quarter."

De Feo continued, "Very little of this progress reflects the structural benefits from the modernization and End-to-End initiatives that we have planned, nor the benefits from the ongoing product and process simplification initiatives. The results of those programs will accrue to the Company over the next two to three years. This is a time of real change at Kennametal and we are excited to continue the work of improving the Company."

This earnings release contains non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of all non-GAAP financial measures are set forth in the tables attached to this earnings release, and corresponding descriptions are contained in the Company's report on Form 8-K, to which this news release is attached.

Fiscal 2017 Third Quarter Key Developments

Sales were $529 million , compared with $498 million in the same quarter last year. Sales increased by 6 percent, driven by 5 percent organic growth and a 2 percent increase due to more business days, partially offset by a 1 percent unfavorable currency exchange impact.

, compared with in the same quarter last year. Sales increased by 6 percent, driven by 5 percent organic growth and a 2 percent increase due to more business days, partially offset by a 1 percent unfavorable currency exchange impact. Pre-tax restructuring and related charges were $10 million , or $0.12 per share, and pre-tax benefits were approximately $30 million , or $0.32 per share in the quarter. In the same quarter last year, pre-tax restructuring and related charges were $14 million , or $0.18 per share, and pre-tax benefits were approximately $10 million , or $0.11 per share.

, or per share, and pre-tax benefits were approximately , or per share in the quarter. In the same quarter last year, pre-tax restructuring and related charges were , or per share, and pre-tax benefits were approximately , or per share. Operating income was $58 million , compared to $27 million in the same quarter last year. Adjusted operating income was $68 million , compared to $39 million in the prior year quarter. The increase in adjusted operating income reflects incremental restructuring benefits, organic sales growth, higher absorption and productivity and favorable mix, partially offset by higher performance-based compensation and the negative effects of higher raw material costs. Adjusted operating margin was 12.8 percent in the current period and 7.8 percent in the prior year period.

, compared to in the same quarter last year. Adjusted operating income was , compared to in the prior year quarter. The increase in adjusted operating income reflects incremental restructuring benefits, organic sales growth, higher absorption and productivity and favorable mix, partially offset by higher performance-based compensation and the negative effects of higher raw material costs. Adjusted operating margin was 12.8 percent in the current period and 7.8 percent in the prior year period. The reported effective tax rate (ETR) was 19.0 percent and the adjusted ETR was 15.3 percent. The difference between reported and adjusted ETRs is attributable to restructuring and related charges. For the third quarter of fiscal 2016, the reported ETR was 24.7 percent and the adjusted ETR was 9.9 percent. The increase in the adjusted effective tax rate was driven primarily by a favorable impact in the prior year quarter related to a U.S. provision to return adjustment that did not repeat in the current year, partially offset by earnings in the U.S. that cannot be tax affected in the current year due to a full valuation allowance on our domestic deferred tax assets.

EPS were $0.48 , compared with $0.20 in the prior year quarter. Adjusted EPS were $0.60 in the current quarter and $0.37 in the prior year quarter.

, compared with in the prior year quarter. Adjusted EPS were in the current quarter and in the prior year quarter. Year-to-date free operating cash flow was negative $10 million compared to positive $67 million in the same period last year. The decrease in free operating cash flow was primarily attributable to an increase in primary working capital, higher restructuring payments and capital expenditures, partially offset by higher cash earnings and lower tax and pension payments.

compared to positive in the same period last year. The decrease in free operating cash flow was primarily attributable to an increase in primary working capital, higher restructuring payments and capital expenditures, partially offset by higher cash earnings and lower tax and pension payments. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were $82 million , compared with $56 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA were $91 million in the current quarter and $67 million in the prior year quarter.

Segment Developments for the Fiscal 2017 Third Quarter

Industrial segment sales of $289 million increased 6 percent from $274 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting organic growth of 5 percent and a 3 percent increase due to more business days, partially offset by 2 percent unfavorable currency exchange. Excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased approximately 18 percent in energy, 9 percent in general engineering, 6 percent in aerospace and defense and 3 percent in transportation. General engineering sales benefited from growth in the indirect channel, due in part to the strengthening of oil and gas in the U.S. and growth in the China automotive market. Oil and gas in the Americas likewise contributed to overall growth in energy, coupled with increases in power generation globally. Transportation experienced growth in Asia with tiered suppliers and truck OEMs which was tempered slightly by lower project sales in the Americas. Conditions continue to be favorable in the aerospace sector, with engine growth being supplemented by increasing demand related to frames. On a segment regional basis excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased 17 percent in Asia , 6 percent in Europe and 4 percent in the Americas.

increased 6 percent from in the prior year quarter, reflecting organic growth of 5 percent and a 3 percent increase due to more business days, partially offset by 2 percent unfavorable currency exchange. Excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased approximately 18 percent in energy, 9 percent in general engineering, 6 percent in aerospace and defense and 3 percent in transportation. General engineering sales benefited from growth in the indirect channel, due in part to the strengthening of oil and gas in the U.S. and growth in the automotive market. Oil and gas in the Americas likewise contributed to overall growth in energy, coupled with increases in power generation globally. Transportation experienced growth in with tiered suppliers and truck OEMs which was tempered slightly by lower project sales in the Americas. Conditions continue to be favorable in the aerospace sector, with engine growth being supplemented by increasing demand related to frames. On a segment regional basis excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased 17 percent in , 6 percent in and 4 percent in the Americas. Industrial segment operating income was $39 million compared to $26 million in the prior year. Adjusted operating income was $44 million compared to $31 million in the prior year quarter, driven primarily by incremental restructuring benefits, organic sales growth and higher absorption and productivity, partially offset by higher performance-based compensation and unfavorable mix. Industrial adjusted operating margin was 15.1 percent compared with 11.2 percent in the prior year.

compared to in the prior year. Adjusted operating income was compared to in the prior year quarter, driven primarily by incremental restructuring benefits, organic sales growth and higher absorption and productivity, partially offset by higher performance-based compensation and unfavorable mix. Industrial adjusted operating margin was 15.1 percent compared with 11.2 percent in the prior year. Widia segment sales of $46 million increased 10 percent from $42 million in the prior year quarter, driven by organic growth of 9 percent and a 1 percent increase due to more business days. On a segment regional basis excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased 14 percent in Asia , 11 percent in the Americas and 3 percent in Europe .

increased 10 percent from in the prior year quarter, driven by organic growth of 9 percent and a 1 percent increase due to more business days. On a segment regional basis excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased 14 percent in , 11 percent in the Americas and 3 percent in . Widia segment operating income was $1 million compared to a loss of $2 million in the prior year. Adjusted operating income was $1 million compared to adjusted operating loss of less than $1 million in the prior year quarter, primarily driven by organic growth and incremental restructuring benefits. Widia adjusted operating income margin was 2.3 percent compared with adjusted operating loss margin of 1.0 percent in the prior year.

compared to a loss of in the prior year. Adjusted operating income was compared to adjusted operating loss of less than in the prior year quarter, primarily driven by organic growth and incremental restructuring benefits. Widia adjusted operating income margin was 2.3 percent compared with adjusted operating loss margin of 1.0 percent in the prior year. Infrastructure segment sales of $193 million increased 6 percent from $181 million in the prior year quarter, driven by organic growth of 4 percent and a 2 percent increase due to more business days. Excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased by approximately 22 percent in energy, 3 percent in earthworks and 1 percent in general engineering. Key energy markets, particularly in North America , showed strong growth during the quarter with average quarterly land U.S. rig counts up 37 percent year-over-year. On a segment regional basis excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased 12 percent in Asia and 6 percent in the Americas, while Europe remained flat.

increased 6 percent from in the prior year quarter, driven by organic growth of 4 percent and a 2 percent increase due to more business days. Excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased by approximately 22 percent in energy, 3 percent in earthworks and 1 percent in general engineering. Key energy markets, particularly in , showed strong growth during the quarter with average quarterly land U.S. rig counts up 37 percent year-over-year. On a segment regional basis excluding the impact of currency exchange, sales increased 12 percent in and 6 percent in the Americas, while remained flat. Infrastructure segment operating income was $20 million compared to $4 million in the same quarter of the prior year. Adjusted operating income was $24 million compared to $10 million in the prior year quarter. The change in adjusted operating results was primarily due to incremental restructuring benefits, higher absorption and productivity and favorable mix, partially offset by higher raw material costs. Infrastructure adjusted operating income margin was 12.3 percent compared with 5.2 percent in the prior year.

Fiscal 2017 Year-to-Date Key Developments

Sales were $1,493 million , compared to $1,577 million in the same period last year. Sales decreased by 5 percent, driven by divestiture impact of 5 percent and 1 percent unfavorable currency exchange impact, partially offset by 1 percent organic growth.

, compared to in the same period last year. Sales decreased by 5 percent, driven by divestiture impact of 5 percent and 1 percent unfavorable currency exchange impact, partially offset by 1 percent organic growth. Operating income was $73 million , compared to operating loss of $200 million in the same period last year. Adjusted operating income was $126 million in the current period, compared to $79 million in the prior year. Adjusted operating income increased due to incremental restructuring benefits, better absorption and productivity and lower raw material costs, partially offset by unfavorable mix and higher employment-related costs. Adjusted operating margin was 8.4 percent, compared to 5.3 percent in the prior year.

, compared to operating loss of in the same period last year. Adjusted operating income was in the current period, compared to in the prior year. Adjusted operating income increased due to incremental restructuring benefits, better absorption and productivity and lower raw material costs, partially offset by unfavorable mix and higher employment-related costs. Adjusted operating margin was 8.4 percent, compared to 5.3 percent in the prior year. EPS was $0.30 in the current year period, compared with loss per diluted share (LPS) of $2.00 the prior year period. Adjusted EPS were $0.95 in the current year period and $0.68 in the prior year period.

Restructuring Programs

Restructuring programs are currently expected to produce combined annual ongoing pre-tax permanent savings of $165-$180 million. In total, pre-tax charges for these initiatives are expected to be approximately $165-$195 million.

Restructuring and related charges and savings (pre-tax)



Estimated Charges Current Quarter Charges Charges To Date Estimated Annualized Savings Approximate Current Quarter Savings Expected Completion Date Headcount reduction initiatives $60M-$70M $5M $42M $90M $13M 12/31/2017 Other $105M-$125M $5M $83M $75M-$90M $17M 12/31/2018 Total $165M-$195M $10M $125M $165M-$180M $30M



Outlook

The Company now expects consolidated adjusted EPS for the full fiscal year to be in the range of $1.50 and $1.60 per share, an increase from previous outlook of $1.20 to $1.50 per share. The improvement is driven primarily by expectations of sales being at or near the higher end of the most recent announced guidance for fiscal 2017. The Company now expects free operating cash flow to be in the range of $60 to $80 million, a decrease from the previous outlook of $90 to $110 million. This decrease is due primarily to our expectation that more working capital will be required to meet higher demand trends in most of our end markets.

Dividend Declared

Kennametal also announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share. The dividend is payable May 31, 2017 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 16, 2017.

The company will discuss its fiscal 2017 third quarter results in a live webcast at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, Wednesday, April 26, 2017. This event will be broadcast live on the company's website, www.kennametal.com. To access the webcast, select "About Us", "Investor Relations" and then "Events." A recorded replay of this event also will be available on the company's website through May 26, 2017.

Certain statements in this release may be forward-looking in nature, or "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 are statements that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. For example, statements about Kennametal's outlook for earnings, sales volumes, and cash flow for fiscal year 2017 and our expectations regarding future growth and financial performance are forward-looking statements. Any forward looking statements are based on current knowledge, expectations and estimates that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, our actual results could vary materially from our current expectations. There are a number of factors that could cause our actual results to differ from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. They include: economic recession; our ability to achieve all anticipated benefits of restructuring initiatives; our foreign operations and international markets, such as currency exchange rates, different regulatory environments, trade barriers, exchange controls, and social and political instability; changes in the regulatory environment in which we operate, including environmental, health and safety regulations; potential for future goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges; our ability to protect and defend our intellectual property; continuity of information technology infrastructure; competition; our ability to retain our management and employees; demands on management resources; availability and cost of the raw materials we use to manufacture our products; product liability claims; integrating acquisitions and achieving the expected savings and synergies; global or regional catastrophic events; demand for and market acceptance of our products; business divestitures; energy costs; commodity prices; labor relations; and implementation of environmental remediation matters. Many of these risks and other risks are more fully described in Kennametal's latest annual report on Form 10-K and its other periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We can give no assurance that any goal or plan set forth in forward-looking statements can be achieved and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements, which speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements as a result of future events or developments.

About Kennametal

At the forefront of advanced materials innovation for more than 75 years, Kennametal Inc. is a global industrial technology leader delivering productivity to customers through materials science, tooling and wear-resistant solutions. Customers across aerospace, earthworks, energy, general engineering and transportation turn to Kennametal to help them manufacture with precision and efficiency. Every day approximately 11,000 employees are helping customers in more than 60 countries stay competitive. Kennametal generated nearly $2.1 billion in revenues in fiscal 2016. Learn more at www.kennametal.com.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (UNAUDITED)





Three Months Ended March 31, Nine Months Ended March 31, (in thousands, except per share amounts) 2017

2016 2017

2016 Sales $ 528,630



$ 497,837

$ 1,493,343



$ 1,577,212

Cost of goods sold 342,365



340,484

1,015,926



1,127,828

Gross profit 186,265



157,353

477,417



449,384

Operating expense 116,939



121,004

347,808



373,827

Restructuring and asset impairment charges 7,169



7,142

44,230



128,498

Loss on divestiture 



(2,557)





130,750

Amortization of intangibles 4,245



4,429

12,665



16,315

Operating income (loss) 57,912



27,335

72,714



(200,006)

Interest expense 7,331



7,113

21,475



20,895

Other expense (income), net 1,626



(1,938)

2,470



(1,582)

Income (loss) before income taxes 48,955



22,160

48,769



(219,319)

Provision (benefit) for income taxes 9,301



5,465

22,401



(61,499)

Net income (loss) 39,654



16,695

26,368



(157,820)

Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 764



695

1,873



1,634

Net income (loss) attributable to Kennametal $ 38,890



$ 16,000

$ 24,495



$ (159,454)

PER SHARE DATA ATTRIBUTABLE TO KENNAMETAL SHAREHOLDERS





Basic earnings (loss) per share $ 0.48



$ 0.20

$ 0.31



$ (2.00)

Diluted earnings (loss) per share $ 0.48



$ 0.20

$ 0.30



$ (2.00)

Dividends per share $ 0.20



$ 0.20

$ 0.60



$ 0.60

Basic weighted average shares outstanding 80,398



79,871

80,219



79,814

Diluted weighted average shares outstanding 81,381



80,224

80,965



79,814



CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)

(in thousands) March 31, 2017

June 30, 2016 ASSETS





Cash and cash equivalents $ 100,817



$ 161,579

Accounts receivable, net 376,956



370,916

Inventories 490,212



458,830

Other current assets 75,061



84,016

Total current assets 1,043,046



1,075,341

Property, plant and equipment, net 728,775



730,640

Goodwill and other intangible assets, net 487,384



505,695

Other assets 75,534



51,107

Total assets $ 2,334,739



$ 2,362,783

LIABILITIES





Current maturities of long-term debt and capital leases, including notes payable $ 1,591



$ 1,895

Accounts payable 190,841



182,039

Other current liabilities 234,367



243,341

Total current liabilities 426,799



427,275

Long-term debt and capital leases 694,631



693,548

Other liabilities 233,738



246,159

Total liabilities 1,355,168



1,366,982

KENNAMETAL SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 945,962



964,323

NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS 33,609



31,478

Total liabilities and equity $ 2,334,739



$ 2,362,783



SEGMENT DATA (UNAUDITED) Three Months Ended March 31, Nine Months Ended March 31, (in thousands) 2017

2016 2017

2016 Outside Sales:











Industrial (1) $ 289,455



$ 274,123

$ 825,990



$ 812,892

Widia (1) 46,297



42,249

130,186



127,696

Infrastructure 192,878



181,465

537,167



636,624

Total outside sales $ 528,630



$ 497,837

$ 1,493,343



$ 1,577,212

Sales By Geographic Region:











North America $ 245,558



$ 232,183

$ 684,448



$ 718,979

Western Europe 128,675



130,914

367,004



432,477

Rest of World 154,397



134,740

441,891



425,756

Total sales by geographic region $ 528,630



$ 497,837

$ 1,493,343



$ 1,577,212

Operating Income (Loss):











Industrial (1) $ 38,535



$ 26,371

$ 62,138



$ 59,855

Widia (1) 606



(1,679)

(7,797)



(8,053)

Infrastructure 19,770



3,748

22,457



(242,417)

Corporate (2) (999)



(1,105)

(4,084)



(9,391)

Total operating income (loss) $ 57,912



$ 27,335

$ 72,714



$ (200,006)



(1) Amounts for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2016 have been restated to reflect the change in reportable operating segments (2) Represents unallocated corporate expenses

In addition to reported results under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP), the following financial highlight tables include, where appropriate, a reconciliation of adjusted results including: sales; gross profit and margin; operating expense; operating expense as a percentage of sales; operating income (loss) and margin; net income (loss); diluted EPS (LPS); effective tax rate; Industrial sales, operating income and margin; Widia sales, operating income (loss) and margin; Infrastructure sales, operating income and margin; free operating cash flow and E(L)BITDA and margin (which are non-GAAP financial measures), to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. For those adjustments that are presented 'net of tax', the tax effect of the adjustment can be derived by calculating the difference between the pre-tax and the post-tax adjustments presented. The tax effect on adjustments is calculated by preparing an overall tax calculation including the adjustments and then a tax calculation excluding the adjustments. The difference between these calculations results is the tax impact of the adjustments.

Management believes that investors should have available the same information that management uses to assess operating performance, determine compensation and assess the capital structure of the company. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the most comparable GAAP measures. Investors are cautioned that non-GAAP financial measures utilized by the company may not be comparable to non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. Reconciliations of all non-GAAP financial measures are set forth in the attached tables and descriptions of certain non-GAAP financial measures are contained in our report on Form 8-K to which this release is attached.

THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2017 (UNAUDITED)

(in thousands, except

percents and per share data) Sales Gross profit Operating expense Operating income Effective tax rate Net income(3) Diluted EPS Reported results $ 528,630

$ 186,265

$ 116,939

$ 57,912

19.0 % $ 38,890

$ 0.48

Reported margins

35.2 % 22.1 % 11.0 %





Restructuring and related

charges 

1,644

(809)

9,623

(3.7)

9,961

0.12

Adjusted results $ 528,630

$ 187,909

$ 116,130

$ 67,535

15.3 % $ 48,851

$ 0.60

Adjusted margins

35.5 % 22.0 % 12.8 %





(3) Represents amounts attributable to Kennametal Shareholders.



Industrial Widia Infrastructure (in thousands, except percents) Sales Operating income Sales Operating income Sales Operating income Reported results $ 289,455

$ 38,535

$ 46,297

$ 606

$ 192,878

$ 19,770

Reported operating margin

13.3 %

1.3 %

10.3 % Restructuring and related

charges(4) 

5,142



466



3,974

Adjusted results $ 289,455

$ 43,677

$ 46,297

$ 1,072

$ 192,878

$ 23,744

Adjusted operating margin

15.1 %

2.3 %

12.3 % (4) Excludes pre-tax restructuring related charges recorded in Corporate of $41.

THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2016 (UNAUDITED)

(in thousands, except

percents and per share data) Sales Gross profit Operating expense Operating income Effective tax rate Net income(3) Diluted EPS Reported results $ 497,837

$ 157,353

$ 121,004

$ 27,335

24.7 % $ 16,000

$ 0.20

Reported margins

31.6 % 24.3 % 5.5 %





Restructuring and related

charges 

1,456

(5,400)

13,998

(4.9)

14,242

0.18

Tax effect of prior asset

impairment charges 







(5.8)

1,251

0.02

Loss on divestiture 





(2,557)

(4.1)

(1,902)

(0.03)

Adjusted results $ 497,837

$ 158,809

$ 115,604

$ 38,776

9.9 % $ 29,591

$ 0.37

Adjusted margins

31.9 % 23.2 % 7.8 %









Industrial (1) Widia (1) Infrastructure (in thousands, except percents) Sales Operating income Sales Operating loss Sales Operating income Reported results $ 274,123

$ 26,371

$ 42,249

$ (1,679)

$ 181,465

$ 3,748

Reported operating margin

9.6 %

(4.0)%



2.1 % Restructuring and related

charges 

8,091



1,255



4,652

Loss on divestiture 

(3,677)







1,117

Adjusted results $ 274,123

$ 30,785

$ 42,249

$ (424)

$ 181,465

$ 9,517

Adjusted operating margin

11.2 %

(1.0)%



5.2 %

NINE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2017 (UNAUDITED)

(in thousands, except percents) Sales Operating

income Net income(3) Diluted EPS Reported results $ 1,493,343

$ 72,714

$ 24,495

$ 0.30

Reported operating margin

4.9 %



Restructuring and related charges 

53,064

51,469

0.63

Australia deferred tax valuation allowance 



1,288

0.02

Adjusted results $ 1,493,343

$ 125,778

$ 77,252

$ 0.95

Adjusted operating margin

8.4 %





NINE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2016 (UNAUDITED)

(in thousands, except percents) Sales Operating

(loss)

income Net (loss) income(3) Diluted (LPS) EPS Reported results $ 1,577,212

$ (200,006)

$ (159,454)

$ (2.00)

Reported operating margin

(12.7) %



Restructuring and related charges 

37,970

31,978

0.42

Goodwill and other intangible asset impairment

charges 

108,456

81,487

1.02

Loss on divestiture and related charges 

130,750

98,448

1.22

Operations of divested businesses (82,512)

1,912

1,358

0.02

Adjusted results $ 1,494,700

$ 79,082

$ 53,817

$ 0.68

Adjusted operating margin

5.3 %





FREE OPERATING CASH FLOW (UNAUDITED) Three Months Ended March 31, Nine Months Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2017

2016 2017

2016 Net cash flow from operating activities $ 33,443



$ 40,870

$ 80,021



$ 145,414

Purchases of property, plant and equipment (23,522)



(22,110)

(94,095)



(83,285)

Proceeds from disposals of property, plant and equipment 343



700

3,852



5,102

Free operating cash flow $ 10,264



$ 19,460

$ (10,222)



$ 67,231



EBITDA (UNAUDITED) Three Months Ended March 31, Nine Months Ended March 31,

(in thousands) 2017

2016 2017

2016 Net income (loss) attributable to Kennametal $ 38,890



$ 16,000

$ 24,495



$ (159,454)

Add back:











Interest expense 7,331



7,113

21,475



20,895

Interest income (306)



(310)

(759)



(1,112)

Provision (benefit) for income taxes 9,301



5,465

22,401



(61,499)

Depreciation 22,375



22,868

68,369



73,297

Amortization of intangibles 4,245



4,429

12,665



16,315

E(L)BITDA $ 81,836



$ 55,565

$ 148,646



$ (111,558)

Margin 15.5 %

11.2 % 10.0 %

(7.1) %













Adjustments:











Restructuring and related charges 9,623



13,998

53,064



37,970

Goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges 









108,456

Operations of divested businesses 









1,912

Loss on divestiture and related charges 



(2,557)





130,750

Adjusted EBITDA $ 91,459



$ 67,006

$ 201,710



$ 167,530

Adjusted margin 17.3 %

13.5 % 13.5 %

11.2 %

SOURCE Kennametal Inc.

Related Links

http://www.kennametal.com


LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DropIn Auto (DropIn), provider of an on-demand, live video platform for the insurance and automotive industries, announces expansion with Keyes Automotive dealerships after their initial pilot program yielded a 30% conversion rate (nearly double from what is currently being offered on the market).

Spanning a total of 15 dealerships, based primarily in Southern California, Dealer.com has ranked Keyes Automotive 6th in the US in 2016 with an average per dealership revenue of over $142 million.

"We're excited to be a part of the future," says General Manager Larry West, of Keyes Van Nuys. "Consumer behavior has changed; the days of the uneducated consumer coming down to the local lot because it's their only option are long gone. They are currently spending an average of 21 days researching the car they want before we ever talk to them. It's our job to provide them with not only the best service and best price available on the exact vehicle they want. We must provide the consumer with options to engage the dealership the way they want and when they want."

Speaking at Digital Dealer, (hosted in Tampa, FL earlier this month) West commented on the lead processing system and its slow adaption to the current buyer expectations. He noted that from a recent case study of sales calls to a Southern California A tier import brand over the last quarter, there were 34,000 inbound calls and of those, over 21,000 called a second dealership within 6-9 minutes. "That means two things. One, we didn't engage at a high enough level to capture the consumer's interest (in spite of the fact that the caller had already invested as much as 15 hours of research into selecting the brand, make, model). Two, by the time the salesperson/management team has physically entered the lead into the system, the consumer has already moved onto another dealership. The system is broken, doesn't positively engage the consumer, and hasn't adapted fast enough," says West.

During the initial pilot program offered in December of last year, West observed that DropIn has allowed his sales team to experience the success and results from near face to face dialogue, that has been driven out of automotive sales with a nearly 15 year focus on leads, form submissions and the purchase of high funnel, low converting third party leads, all with the hope of increasing sales.

"DropIn allows unparalleled access to the customer. Yes, we're enabling them to preview a car before ever stepping foot onto the lot, but it's so much more than that. We're developing trust and engagement with the customer from the moment we've accepted the live stream request. We're letting the salespeople be great salespeople again."

"We couldn't be happier with the conversion rate Keyes saw with their initial pilot program," says DropIn Auto founder and CEO Louis Ziskin. "This expansion is coming at just the right time since we've brought on a new team to help with onboarding (due to demand stemming from Digital Dealer)."

DropIn will continue to onboard more dealers starting May 15th. Dealers are encouraged to sign up at http://DropInAuto.com/contact for more info, and to speak with a dealer representative.

DropIn, Inc. (DropIn) provides an on-demand, live video platform for the insurance and automotive industries. For automotive, they connect online customers to dealers via live video. No login required, the customer remains anonymous as they receive a private tour of their vehicle before going down to the dealership. DropIn also enables more precise underwriting risk assessments, speeds claim resolution, enhances damage estimate accuracy, and reduces indemnity and loss adjustment expenses (LAE). For more information about DropIn, please visit http://www.dropinauto.com.

Press contact: Jen Friel 424.333.0709, [email protected]

SOURCE DropIn, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.dropininc.com


LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kentucky Fried Chicken announced today the selection of Delaget Guard and Envysion as KFC's preferred and fully-supported loss prevention suite for the company's more than 4,100 outlets nationwide.

The announcement comes after a 120-day pilot spearheaded by KFC's Technology Committee to determine best-in-class loss prevention solutions and to enhance support for franchisees. During the pilot, users experienced Delaget's new integration with Envysion, KFC's DVR system vendor, as part of a loss prevention suite.

The Delaget and Envysion partnership is the new best practice for loss prevention, as it helps franchisees leverage advanced analytics to quickly find substantive theft, use video surveillance to validate and fully understand the context of those suspicious activities, and help guide restaurant managers on the immediate actions to take with prescriptive intelligence.

"Choosing our preferred loss prevention suite was not something we took lightly," said Chris Caldwell, chief information officer for KFC U.S. "We selected Delaget for their extensive experience in the quick service restaurant industry, ability to handle the security demands of a large operation, and because their solution, Delaget Guard, is exceptional at identifying loss and prescribing action. With the combined capabilities of Delaget and Envysion, KFC franchisees will have access to powerful loss prevention tools, saving them time and helping them run more efficient operations. We saw excellent results with the pilot and are excited to roll it out to our franchisees."

Franchisees around the country have already started using Delaget Guard, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that reduces loss from theft and error by using proprietary algorithms to find exceptions in restaurant data, prioritizing those exceptions by monetary impact, and recommending specific actions restaurant managers can take to reduce loss. When operators use Delaget and Envysion together, they can easily compare side-by-side views of the transactional data with the corresponding video.

"Having ticket-level details side-by-side with video footage is a game-changer for my team. Instead of spending hours reviewing footage or analyzing reports, they're now able to easily isolate and identify issues and make quick responses. With a combined solution, it's easier to determine if a situation is theft or a training issue," said Jason Zakaras, owner of Zak Foods, a 27-unit KFC franchise.

"Instead of losing money to theft, those dollars are re-invested in our business for new technology and equipment, raises, and bonuses," said Heath Harrison, director of loss prevention at JRN Inc., a 154-unit KFC franchise. "That money is so beneficial when it goes to our bottom line."

"We're extremely proud to partner with an innovative QSR like KFC. Their expertise leveraging technology to focus on continuous improvement, employee training, and operational efficiencies aligns with our mission to help restauranteurs run smarter, more profitable restaurants," said Jason Tober, Delaget CEO.

To learn more about Delaget's new integration with Envysion and to get started today, visit www.envysion-delaget.com.

About KFC

KFC Corporation, based in Louisville, Ky., is the world's most popular chicken restaurant chain. KFC specializes in Original Recipe, Extra Crispy, Kentucky Grilled Chicken and Extra Crispy Tenders, Hot Wings, Go Cups, KFC Famous Bowls, Pot Pies, freshly hand prepared chicken sandwiches, biscuits and homestyle side items. There are over 20,000 KFC outlets in more than 125 countries and territories around the world. KFC Corporation is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., Louisville, Ky. (NYSE: YUM). For more information, visit www.kfc.com. Follow KFC on Facebook (www.facebook.com/kfc), Twitter (www.twitter.com/kfc) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/KFC).

About Delaget, LLC

For more than 15 years, Delaget has helped multi-unit operators run smarter, more profitable restaurants by serving up actionable guidance each day to increase profits and reduce loss. The company's advanced loss prevention, unit-level analytics, and enterprise reporting services, along with expert payroll and accounting support, empowers those in the restaurant business to improve the guest experience, optimize operations and to take control of their margins and maximize profits. Clients include Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Hard Rock Cafe, IHOP, KFC, Panda Express, Hardee's, Sonic, and more.

Contact:

Renee Munro

Director of Marketing

(763) 489-3074

About Envysion

Envysion is a leading video-based business intelligence solutions provider that provides retail operators with instant and actionable insight and enabling them to increase profitability 10-15% through broad utilization of powerful video-based business intelligence. Envysion has transformed video surveillance into a strategic management tool that provides instant and unfiltered business insights to users across operations, loss prevention, marketing and human resources. Envysion's award winning platform quickly scales to 1,000s of locations and 10,000s of users without straining the IT department or network. Learn more at envysion.com.

Contact:

Lisa Harris

Senior Director, Marketing

(303) 381-4790

SOURCE Delaget, LLC

Related Links

http://www.delaget.com


NEW YORK, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kidfresh, the fast-growing brand of better-for-you frozen kids meals announced today that it has closed on its Series B equity round of funding led by Monogram Capital Partners, alongside existing institutional investors Emil Capital Partners and AccelFoods.

Founded by Matt Cohen and Gilles Deloux, two fathers frustrated by the lack of better-for-you food choices for their children, New York based Kidfresh has grown into a nationally distributed line of frozen meals. The Kidfresh platform offers a line of reinvented children's favorite meals enriched with vegetables, made with wholesome ingredients and no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. This round of funding will be used to accelerate growth and continue to disrupt the category, expand the Kidfresh team, drive brand awareness and support its rapid expansion into new growth channels.

"We want children to have better food choices than we had as kids," says Kidfresh Co-Founder Matt Cohen. "Today's parents are saying no to processed foods and yes to nutritious and convenient meals for their children. We are creating a solution for them and a destination in the frozen food aisle. Monogram, Emil Capital and AccelFoods constitute the dream team for Kidfresh and are simply the best partners in the industry. We are thrilled!"

"We are incredibly excited to join the Kidfresh team," said Monogram Founder and Partner Jared Stein. "In today's often crowded consumer landscape, Matt and Gilles have built a brand with a strong reason to exist in a category of frozen food that is starved for innovation. At its core, Kidfresh is on an authentic mission to provide parents with food offerings that are equal parts healthy and convenient at an approachable price point. We believe the next generation of moms will increasingly look to Kidfresh as a trusted partner in feeding their families, and look forward to supporting the team in this exciting next phase of growth."

"As a Venture Capital firm focusing on the new American consumer and its desire and demand for 'better and healthier choices', Kidfresh has been a perfect fit for us since our first investment a few years ago," commented Founding Partner Andreas Guldin. "And we are so excited to further support the vision, the brand and the exceptional management of Kidfresh on the journey to provide just better food and real solutions to consumers who care about what their families eat!"

AccelFoods Co-Founder and Managing Partner Jordan Gaspar added, "In partnering with Kidfresh, we see tremendous opportunity in investing behind a company that addresses an underserved market, children. As working moms, we have been looking for a platform focused on nutrition for young families since we launched AccelFoods. It is time for innovation in our children's meal solutions. We look forward to supporting a banner year for Kidfresh as it continues its mission to transform the food that working parents offer their families." The early-stage investment fund is known for curating innovative brands in food & beverage and positioning them for high growth.

ABOUT KIDFRESH

Created by parents for parents with the help of pediatric nutritionists and top chefs, Kidfresh has grown from its initial concept store in New York City to become a pioneer in frozen kid's meals packed with goodness and hidden vegetables. Kidfresh is the solution to today's busy moms and parents that want convenient and better-for-you kid's meal options, now available in over 9,000 grocery stores nationwide. For more information visit the Kidfresh website and follow @KidfreshFoods on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

ABOUT MONOGRAM CAPITAL PARTNERS

Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA and founded in 2014, Monogram Capital focuses exclusively on investing in emerging consumer and retail brands through both minority growth and control transactions. The firm looks for opportunities to partner with founders and strong management teams, investing $5-30 million of equity per transaction. Kidfresh represents the firm's seventh investment in three years.

ABOUT EMIL CAPITAL PARTNERS

Headquartered in Greenwich, CT, and founded in 2012, Emil Capital Partners focuses on investing in early stage companies in the sector of consumer goods, internet enable services and digital media. Since its inception, the fund has made 27 investments including key brands in their respective sectors like UBER, Cheribundi, Goodbelly, Chef's Plate and Kidfresh. Emil Capital Partners has been rated numerous times as one of the most active investors in the space of consumer goods and continues to look for disruptive opportunities in changing "big food to good food".

ABOUT ACCELFOODS

AccelFoods is an investment fund fueling innovation in the food and beverage industry with access, community, expertise, and infrastructure. The Fund works with founders to bridge the gap between their innovative thinking and the resources needed to scale to the highest levels of growth. To learn more please visit the AccelFoods website at:http://www.accelfoods.com.

SOURCE Kidfresh

Related Links

http://www.kidfresh.com/


KOLKATA, India, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kolkata BizBook is the #1 local search engine which can help in finding the best places in the city within minutes for all needs. It is well equipped with all the necessary listings in its local directory, such as transport and ticketing, hospitality and restaurants, education, beauty and spa, healthcare, courier and cargo services, and much more. The listing in Kolkata BizBook is done so precisely that you can find what you want easily near your location without any hassle. There are more than 20 lakhs customers in Kolkata who visit Kolkata BizBook regularly for any services.

Kolkata BizBook not only provides online business listing but also allows any business to reach local and global markets. Kolkata BizBook directory provides a number of online directory services to its global community by bringing the buyers and sellers together under one platform. Listing a business on Kolkata BizBook is very easy since it requires only a few clicks.

Kolkata BizBook directory has upgraded to a new system with some additional features for the business owners to attract more customers both locally and globally. Its features include refine listing, adding photos, videos, refine services, refine location, maps, and many more; thus making things much easier for business owners to assist them in making their business listing very unique and attractive. Kolkata BizBook has reinvented the business directory concept and purpose to bring maximum benefits to users by making the right choice for their needs. This site makes it easier and simpler for anyone to find and locate the local businesses in Kolkata.

Kolkata BizBook is an ideal platform for buyers and sellers to find the required services and conduct the business efficiently with less time and cost. It also has a mobile phone application for ease and convenient use. It is a very cost effective method and it saves a lot of time, as one can just do the search on Kolkata BizBook with particular requirements and all the available service lists in their area will be there in no time.

Visit https://www.kolkatabizbook.com/ to learn more.

Impower Solutions Private Limited Launches One-of-a-kind Local Business Directory in Chennai - Great Opportunity for all Small & Medium Businesses. We are also a leading web design company in Kolkata, Chennai and Port Blair.

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

SOURCE Kolkata BizBook

Related Links

https://www.kolkatabizbook.com


DALLAS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- La Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe kicks off its Recipes for Hope monthlong fundraising drive in partnership with Children's Hunger Fund May 1, with the hope of raising $350,000 to provide 1.4 million meals for children in need.

The Recipes for Hope campaign starts Monday, May 1, with A Meal for A Meal. For every guest who dines at la Madeleine that day, the restaurant will donate 25 cents  the equivalent of one meal  to Children's Hunger Fund.

Through May 31, the company will donate $1 to Children's Hunger Fund every time a guest purchases a jar of la Madeleine Tomato Basil Soupe, Jam or Caesar Dressing. Guests also can donate $5 and receive a Recipes for Hope limited edition card with exclusive offers on meals, bakery treats and beverages. Last year, the company sold more than 50,000 cards, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to provide meals to hungry children.

"Over the past five years, our generous guests have helped us provide 5 million meals through our ongoing partnership with Children's Hunger Fund," said la Madeleine President John Cahill. "By working together to deliver our Recipe for Hope, we are able to further the mission to put an end to childhood hunger one meal at a time, and we hope our guests will join us once again in our annual effort."

Every dollar raised provides four meals to hungry children in the U.S. and throughout the world. Since its founding in 1991, Children's Hunger Fund has distributed more than $1 billion in aid to children in need.

"Partnerships with companies like la Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe do more than raise money  they inspire the hope that together, we can solve the problem of childhood hunger," said Children's Hunger Fund Executive Director, Relationship Development Michael Richards. "With la Madeleine's ongoing support, we have been able to build a Dallas distribution center that provides a cost-efficient way to get food to families in need, and through campaigns like Recipes for Hope, purchase the food itself."

As part of their personal commitment to the Recipes for Hope campaign, Cahill and the la Madeleine corporate team will be at Children's Hunger Fund's Dallas distribution center on May 1 to fill "Food Paks"  boxes filled with about 20 pounds of staple foods designed to feed a family of four for about a week.

About la Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe

Dallas-based la Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe was established in 1983 by self-described "French country boy" Patrick Esquerre to fulfill his dream of bringing classic French country fare to America. From its signature fireplace to its crave-worthy food, la Madeleine offers a warm, welcoming atmosphere where guests can enjoy French-inspired fare served throughout the day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner feature handcrafted entrees, sandwiches, salades and soupes, as well as freshly baked breads, artisan patisserie and more. La Madeleine currently has more than 80 corporate and franchised cafes across Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C. For more information on menu items, cafe locations and hours of operation, visit www.laMadeleine.com.

About Children's Hunger Fund

Children's Hunger Fund was established in 1991 by president and founder Dave Phillips. Since then, CHF has distributed more than $1 billion in food and other resources, serving the needs of more than 20 million children throughout the U.S. and in 72 countries worldwide.

MEDIA CONTACT

Katie McKenzie or Mary Kate Jeffries

817-329-3257

[email protected]

[email protected]

SOURCE La Madeleine

Related Links

http://lamadeleine.com


ARDEN HILLS, Minn., April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Land O'Lakes, Inc. today announced that Bill Pieper has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, reporting directly to Chris Policinski, president and CEO. Pieper, a 12-year veteran of Land O'Lakes, will assume responsibility on May 1, 2017, for corporate finance, accounting, audit and treasury for the enterprise.

"Bill brings deep financial experience both within our farmer-owned cooperative and across related industries, and we are pleased to have him assume the CFO role," said Chris Policinski, president and CEO. "Bill's strategic financial management mindset has and will continue to support Land O'Lakes' strong growth trajectory."

Pieper joined Land O'Lakes in 2005 as vice president, finance and accounting for Purina and has had progressive roles across the businesses to move into his current role of vice president, chief accounting officer and treasurer. Prior to joining Land O'Lakes, he held senior finance roles at ADC Telecommunications and NRG Energy. He also spent seven years at KPMG earlier in his career.

Pieper steps into the role of CFO following the announcement of pending retirement for Land O'Lakes' long-time Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Dan Knutson, who has served as CFO since 2000.

About Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Land O'Lakes, Inc., one of America's premier agribusiness and food companies, is a member-owned cooperative with industry-leading operations that span the spectrum from agricultural production to consumer foods. With 2016 annual sales of $13 billion, Land O'Lakes is one of the nation's largest cooperatives, ranking 215 on the Fortune 500. Building on a legacy of more than 95 years of operation, Land O'Lakes today operates some of the most respected brands in agribusiness and food production including LAND O LAKES Dairy Foods, Purina Animal Nutrition and WinField United and Land O'Lakes SUSTAINTM. The company does business in all 50 states and more than 60 countries. Land O'Lakes, Inc. corporate headquarters are located in Arden Hills, Minn.

SOURCE Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.landolakesinc.com


PHILADELPHIA, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE: LCI) today announced that it will report financial results for its fiscal 2017 third quarter on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, after the market closes. Lannett management will host a conference call that same afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to review the company's performance and answer questions.

The conference call will be available to interested parties by dialing 800-446-1671 from the U.S. or Canada, or 847-413-3362 from international locations, passcode 44816037. The call will be broadcast via the Internet at www.Lannett.com. Listeners are encouraged to visit the website at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the scheduled presentation to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A playback of the call will be archived and accessible on the same website for at least three months.

About Lannett Company, Inc.

Lannett Company, founded in 1942, develops, manufactures, packages, markets and distributes generic pharmaceutical products for a wide range of medical indications. For more information, visit the company's website at www.lannett.com.

Contact: Robert Jaffe

Robert Jaffe Co., LLC

(424) 288-4098

SOURCE Lannett Company, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.lannett.com


KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Office of Will M. Helixon announced today that former United States Army Judge Advocate Jessica Linney (Duffy) has joined the firm as "Of Counsel." Jessica will focus on military and litigation matters at Fort Bragg and the surrounding military installations in North Carolina and South Carolina. Currently, the military affairs and court-martial defense section of the firm represents military clients worldwide, and civilian criminal defense clients in Kansas, Missouri and Texas.

Joins the Law Office of Will M. Helixon as military law "of counsel."

"Jessica adds a dynamic element to our team. She is the consummate litigation professional with unmatched dedication to courtroom advocacy," said Will M. Helixon, the firm's founder. "I had the opportunity to try several cases against Jessica in Germany from 2010 to 2012, and we are extremely fortunate to have her join our team."

A graduate of The George Washington University and the Saint John's University School of Law, Jessica has focused on military law as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps since 2008. Whether defending soldiers facing court-martial or assisting them with representation before a Medical Evaluation Board or the Veterans Administration, Jessica brings a compassionate yet aggressive tenacity to the table.

Jessica joins Will M. Helixon, the firm's founder, Jon M. Stanfield, partner and director of business affairs, Ted Houdek, senior litigation counsel, and Mr. Tom Hurley and Mr. Terry Rees, both "Of Counsel" with the firm.

"I am incredibly excited to be joining the Law Office of Will M. Helixon. The members of the firm have unsurpassed experience both inside the courtroom and out," said Jessica Linney. "I am honored to join the team and begin serving clients in the Southeast and throughout the world in courts-martial defense. I am eager to get to work protecting the freedom, families, and financial futures of our clients."

"We are excited to add Jessica's experience to the firm, particularly with her knowledge of the MEB/PEB (Medical Evaluation Board/Physical Evaluation Board) process. So many veterans today face complicated medical issues. Having that expertise in the firm will be invaluable to our clients," said Jon M. Stanfield.

The Law Office of Will M. Helixon was established in 2016, and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. It was established to defend members of the military in courts-martial, adverse administrative proceedings and other criminal proceedings. The firm's members have handled multiple complex and high-profile military cases in their over 71 years of combined military law experience. The firm now handles most military matters, business and securities law, trusts and estate planning, and family law including juvenile matters, adoption and guardianship issues.

In addition to being licensed in all military courts, the firm's members are licensed in Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, New York and Florida.

Media Contact: Mr. Grant Trahant, Phone (913) 839-9762 or (816) 482-9310.

Related Images

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Related Links

www.helixongroup.com

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H4_MiC8Jss

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SOURCE Law Office of Will M. Helixon
NEW YORK, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LendKey, the leading lending-as-a-service provider for banks and credit unions, today released its Student Loan Refinance Report, its second in a series that highlights borrower trends across banks and credit unions. This latest report focuses on the state of student refinancing including the borrower demographic, their lending preferences and loan performance. Key findings show that the student refi market is healthy for banks and credit unions, as well as borrowers, who save an average of 2.2% in annual interest expense after refinancing.

"The LendKey report found that students who refinance significantly reduced their student loan debt over the life of the loan, a substantial amount considering the average student debt is $37,000 for the class of 2016," said Salil Mehta, SVP of Credit Risk & Analytics, LendKey. "The overall health of the student refi industry proves how beneficial such products are to financial institutions and their millennial customers.

The report leverages data from LendKey's network of 275 bank and credit union partners nationwide, and examines a seven-year span of borrower data from 2011  2017. Key highlights of the report include:

Loan originations: LendKey's clients totaled $770+ million in originations; outstanding loan balance was close to $620 million .

LendKey's clients totaled $770+ million in originations; outstanding loan balance was close to . Borrower savings increased: Borrowers saved an average of 2.2% in annual interest expense over the life of each loan.

Borrowers saved an average of 2.2% in annual interest expense over the life of each loan. Borrower age increased: Average age of a borrower has increased slightly over the years; in 2016 the average age at the time of refinance was 28.7 years for a borrower with an undergraduate degree and 34.3 years for a borrower with a graduate degree.

Average age of a borrower has increased slightly over the years; in 2016 the average age at the time of refinance was 28.7 years for a borrower with an undergraduate degree and 34.3 years for a borrower with a graduate degree. More graduate students are refinancing: In 2016, borrowers with a graduate degree represented close to 30% of originations compared to 20% in 2011.

In 2016, borrowers with a graduate degree represented close to 30% of originations compared to 20% in 2011. Delinquency rates have dropped: Loan performance has improved over the past seven years as delinquency and default rates have dropped. The report found that 30-89 and 90+ day delinquencies are currently 2.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Student loan debt now exceeds $1.3 trillion and is the largest non-real estate debt among US consumers. LendKey partners with banks and credit unions to offer a complete online lending solution, including a customized refinancing product. LendKey's services include loan acquisition, loan origination and loan servicing through a white-labeled platform hosted by the financial institution.

To access the full report, please visit: http://business.lendkey.com/2017-student-loan-refinance-report/

ABOUT LENDKEY

LendKey is changing the way financial institutions do business through the market's most advanced lending platform and network. Lenders and asset managers are partnering with LendKey to bring borrowers a powerful, white-labeled lending platform that has redefined Lending-as-a-Serviceand gives financial institutions of all sizes the ability to attract new business, grow relationships, manage liquidity, and mitigate risk. LendKey was founded in 2009, in a difficult market for financial institutions that still needed to compete and grow without adding capital or operational costs. Based in New York and Cincinnati, LendKey is at the center of the lending ecosystemproviding institutional investors, banks, credit unions, affiliates, and borrowers with access, efficiency, and speed. For more information on LendKey, visit business.lendkey.com.

Media Contact:

Melissa Barto

JCUTLER media group

[email protected]

SOURCE LendKey

Related Links

http://www.lendkey.com


"Partnering with Life is Good to design this line is exciting, because their brand is based on using the power of optimism to help people live their best lives, something I believe in wholeheartedly," said Raisman. "The line is a vehicle to help share values like kindness, courage, and authenticity, in order to empower the girls and women who inspire me every day. As simple as it sounds, I think everyone struggles with just being themselves, especially at a young age with so many unfair pressures. Embracing your uniqueness and just being kind are values I hope to support through this line and beyond."

The new Aly Tee Collection features three designs for women ($32) and girls ($20):

Power in Kindness - Celebrates our strongest muscle, kindness, with silhouette artwork in Dusty Orchid

Be Yourself - Celestial design with "Be yourself - everyone else is taken" in Night Black reminds women and girls that they are unique and beautiful in their own way

in Night Black reminds women and girls that they are unique and beautiful in their own way The Bravest - Pastel American flag print with "Land of the free because of the brave" in Bright Teal is a subtle nod to Aly and Life is Good's USA pride, while also celebrating courage

"According to a recent study*, a girl's self-esteem peaks when she is 9 years old, and 7 in 10 girls believe that they are not good enough or don't measure up in some way. Life is Good and Aly want to help change that. Our brand has always been about using art to get positive, meaningful messages across," said Lisa Tanzer, President of Life is Good. "Aly is such a positive role model, so to partner with her to inspire values that are central to our brand and also to her personal mission is really exciting for us. As Captain of the U.S. Gymnastics squad, Aly set a wonderful example for women of all ages, showing that positivity, kindness, and teamwork are a win for everyone. The messages on Aly's T-shirts share these same important sentiments."

To learn more about the collection, visit: www.LifeisGood.com/Aly

*CAROL MCGRAW, "Media, hormones, peer pressure do a number on girls' confidence", The News-Sentinel, Mon, Jul. 31, 2006

ABOUT THE LIFE IS GOOD COMPANY

The Life is Good Company is a $100 million lifestyle brand dedicated to spreading the power of optimism. The company donates 10 percent of its net profits to help kids in need through the Life is Good Kids Foundation. To date, the foundation has positively impacted 8,000 childcare providers who care for over one million kids every year, many of whom are facing early childhood trauma. Life is Good is a registered trademark of The Life is Good Company. Please visit LifeisGood.com for more details, and follow Life is Good on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

ABOUT LIFE IS GOOD KIDS FOUNDATION

The Life is Good Kids Foundation is an accredited 501(c)(3) that partners with organizations serving the most vulnerable children to improve the quality of their care. The Foundation's Playmaker program connects with schools, hospitals, camps, and a variety of social service agencies to give childcare professionals the resources they need to make a positive, life-changing impact at a pivotal time in a child's development. For more information, please visit LifeisGood.com.

About Aly Raisman

Aly Raisman, who is represented by Octagon, is the two-time team captain of the gold medal winning U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Teams in 2012 and 2016. The first American gymnast to win gold in the floor exercise, Raisman is the second most decorated American gymnast of all-time with six total Olympic medals and one of two U.S. gymnasts to make back-to-back teams in more than 15 years. A native of Needham, Massachusetts, Raisman is a leader on and off the floor as an advocate for positive body image and empowering everyone to be comfortable and confident in their own skin. Follow Aly on Twitter: @Aly_Raisman and Instagram/Facebook: @AlyRaisman

MEDIA CONTACT

Kelsey Cycan

Harmonica

[email protected]

SOURCE Life is Good Company

Related Links

http://LifeisGood.com


SAVANNAH, Ga., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LJC Investments III, LLC, an investment vehicle controlled by Littlejohn Capital, LLC ("Littlejohn Capital"), today announced the acquisition of Maysteel Industries, LLC ("Maysteel") from Revolution Capital Group, LLC.

Maysteel specializes in designing, engineering and manufacturing custom, precision, OEM sheet metal enclosures, electrical cabinets and metal fabricated assemblies. The company's product solutions are widely used in the alternative energy, kiosk, gaming, security, medical, utility, industrial drive and automation, and self-serve/vending machine industries and are also found in a variety of other applications. Maysteel strives to provide the lowest total product cost by employing design for manufacturability (DFM) solutions throughout the product lifecycle. Maysteel was founded in 1936 and today has manufacturing locations in Allenton, Wisconsin and Monterrey, Mexico.

"This is very exciting news for the company, its employees, and customers," said Kevin Matkin, Chief Executive Officer of Maysteel. "The Littlejohn Capital team has a long and successful track record of building industrial companies like ours. They understand our business and share our vision of building an even stronger company and we are confident we have the right partner to support our strategic growth initiatives."

Angus C. Littlejohn Jr., founder and Chairman of Littlejohn Capital, said: "Maysteel and its management team has differentiated itself as a value-added supplier and we look forward to investments in the company that will leverage its metal fabrication engineering technology. The company operates in a fragmented market and we look forward to expansion in its core segments as well as adjacent markets with new products."

Revolution Capital Group's Founder and Managing Partner, Robert Loring Jr. said, " Since our acquisition in 2013, Maysteel has experienced significant growth, which is a testament to our ability to partner with management teams and commit to sustained financial and operational improvements." Aman Bajaj, Managing Director, led the transaction for Revolution Capital Group.

Morrison Cohen LLP served as Littlejohn Capital's legal counsel.

About Littlejohn Capital

Littlejohn Capital is the family office of Angus C. Littlejohn Jr., co-founder of Littlejohn & Co., where he currently serves as Chairman. The platform seeks to make control investments in small to mid-sized private companies that are undergoing strategic, operational or generational transition.

Contact: Chris Tofalli

Chris Tofalli Public Relations LLC

914-834-4334

SOURCE Littlejohn Capital, LLC
PHOENIX, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lloyd Claycomb, who is among President Trump's top donors, has announced his ongoing support for the Trump administration. The CEO of Colorado-based United Builders Service, Inc., was appointed to President Trump's Transition Finance Committee and Inauguration Committee following an appointment to the 2016 State Victory Finance Chairs.

Lloyd Claycomb, showes his support for president Trump

Mr. Lloyd Claycomb played a leading role in campaigning for President Donald Trump during the Republican campaign and was named as one of the most generous contributors. Lloyd Claycomb was one of only 250 Americans to donate $100,000 or more to Trumps inauguration

Raising nearly twice as much as Barack Obama's 2009 record of $53 million, President Trump has seen the ongoing financial support of wealthy individuals like Lloyd Claycomb - a prominent American philanthropist and businessman. Mr. Claycomb, who has been an outspoken Trump supporter since the beginning of the Election campaign, is the current CEO and Chairman of the Board of United Builders Service and AviBree Real Estate Holdings, Inc.

More recently, Claycomb increased his involvement in Arizona politics. Apart from meeting last week privately with Congressman Scott Taylor, Lloyd Claycomb was also named National Director of the Navy League of the United States. Now, Mr. Claycomb has reiterated his support for President Trump despite growing turmoil in the administration. His generous contribution of $100k to President Trump's 2017 Inauguration, as well as Trump's Election campaign, saw Lloyd seek increasing involvement in American politics in an on-going effort of bridging the gap between American politics and social service.

In line with Lloyd Claycomb's continuous involvement with President Trump's campaign and facilitating his transition to power, the Arizona-based businessman has been an outspoken supporter of the Republican agenda. Having dinner at a private event last week with Gov. Ducey and Gov. Walker, Mr. Claycomb agreed to become a Round Table Supporter with the RGA, (Republican Governors Association). Round Table Supporters are required to make a minimum $25,000 donation. Along with his recent meeting with Congressman Scott Taylor, this indicates a clear demonstration of Lloyd's commitment to facilitating Republican & President Trump's political causes that support the American people.

Lloyd Claycomb's participation in the Cleveland 2016 Convention, where he met the then RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, and discussed policy changes, the Trump campaign, and funding for the Republican Party, resulted in increased exposure for Cleveland as a business hub to be developed. As a local businessman, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, Lloyd Claycomb is committed to continuing to support other fellow politicians, who share the same values, ideals, social, and political goals as himself.

Lloyd Claycomb is a major financial supporter and involved in many local charitable organizations such as SARRC, a nonprofit Phoenix based Autism Research & Resource Center, as well as a Board Member for the Maricopa County Youth Assistance Foundation. Lloyd will be once again at the SARRC annual fundraiser held on April 28th, 2017 at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel.

Media Contact:

Zach Daly

Email: [email protected]

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Lloyd Claycomb
BETHESDA, Md., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today reported first quarter 2017 net sales of $11.1 billion, compared to $10.4 billion in the first quarter of 2016. Net earnings from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2017 were $763 million, or $2.61 per share, compared to $806 million, or $2.61 per share, in the first quarter of 2016. Cash from operations was $1.7 billion in both the first quarter of 2017 and 2016.

First quarter 2017 net earnings from continuing operations includes a $120 million charge, recorded at Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS), for a loss program to design, integrate, and install an integrated air missile defense C4I system for an international customer and a $64 million charge, which represents the Corporation's portion of a noncash asset impairment charge recorded by an international equity method investee. These charges had the effect of reducing net earnings by $114 million, or $0.39 per share. Net earnings from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2016 included a special charge of $80 million for workforce reductions at the Corporation's Aeronautics business segment, which decreased net earnings $49 million, or $0.16 per share.

"Our team delivered strong performance for our customers in the first quarter that resulted in sales growth in every business segment," said Chairman, President, and CEO Marillyn Hewson. "While our net earnings were impacted by certain adjustments, we increased our outlook for full year cash from operations by $300 million to at least $6.0 billion and we continue to position the company to deliver outstanding value to customers and shareholders."

Summary Financial Results

The following table presents the Corporation's summary financial results.



(in millions, except per share data)1







Quarters Ended





















March 26,



March 27,





















2017



2016





Net sales

















$ 11,057



$ 10,368











































Business segment operating profit2

















$ 1,051



$ 1,114





Unallocated items1



































FAS/CAS pension adjustment



















217





224





Special item - severance charges3

























(80)





Other, net4



















(119)





(100)





Total unallocated items



















98





44





Consolidated operating profit

















$ 1,149



$ 1,158











































Net earnings from



































Continuing operations

















$ 763



$ 806





Discontinued operations

























92





Net earnings

















$ 763



$ 898











































Diluted earnings per share from



































Continuing operations1,2,3,4,5

















$ 2.61



$ 2.61





Discontinued operations1

























0.30





Diluted earnings per share

















$ 2.61



$ 2.91











































Cash from operations1,5

















$ 1,666



$ 1,667





1 On Aug. 16, 2016, the Corporation completed the divestiture of its Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) business. Accordingly, the operating results of IS&GS have been classified as discontinued operations in the first quarter of 2016. However, cash from operations in the first quarter of 2016 includes the cash flows generated by IS&GS as the Corporation retained this cash as part of the divestiture. Certain items have been reclassified between Unallocated items in continuing operations and net earnings from discontinued operations as a result of the divestiture of IS&GS. See the "Unallocated items" section of this news release for additional information related to these reclassifications. 2 In the first quarter of 2017, the Corporation revised its estimated costs to complete a program to design, integrate, and install an air missile defense command, control, communications, computers  intelligence (C4I) systems, EADGE-T, for an international customer. As a result of the change in estimate, the Corporation recorded an additional reserve of $120 million at the RMS business segment. This charge reduced net earnings by $74 million, or $0.25 per share. 3 Severance charges in the first quarter of 2016 consist of amounts associated with the elimination of certain positions at the Aeronautics business segment. These charges reduced net earnings by $49 million, or $0.16 per share. 4 In the first quarter of 2017, the Corporation recognized a $64 million charge, which represents the Corporation's portion of a noncash asset impairment charge recorded by an international equity method investee, and had the effect of reducing net earnings by $40 million, or $0.14 per share. 5 In the second quarter of 2016, the Corporation adopted a new accounting standard that changed the accounting for certain aspects of employee equity awards, including the classification of tax benefits or expenses upon vesting. As a result, the Corporation has adjusted its results for the first quarter of 2016 to recognize additional income tax benefits of $104 million ($0.34 per share) as an increase to net earnings from continuing operations and cash from operating activities.



2017 Financial Outlook

The following table and other sections of this news release contain forward-looking statements, which are based on the Corporation's current expectations. Actual results may differ materially from those projected. It is the Corporation's practice not to incorporate adjustments into its financial outlook for proposed acquisitions, divestitures, ventures, changes in law and restructuring activities until such items have been consummated or enacted. For additional factors that may impact the Corporation's actual results, refer to the "Forward-Looking Statements" section in this news release.



(in millions, except per share data)

Current Update

January 2017

















Net sales

$49,500  $50,700

$49,400  $50,600

















Business segment operating profit

$4,985  $5,105

$5,015  $5,135



FAS/CAS pension adjustment

~880

~880



Other, net

~(350)

~(300)



Consolidated operating profit

$5,515  $5,635

$5,595  $5,715

















Diluted earnings per share

$12.15  $12.45

$12.25  $12.55

















Cash from operations

 $6,000

 $5,700









Cash Deployment Activities

The Corporation's cash deployment activities in the first quarter of 2017 consisted of the following:

repurchasing 1.9 million shares for $500 million , compared to 2.4 million shares for $501 million in the first quarter of 2016;

, compared to 2.4 million shares for in the first quarter of 2016; paying cash dividends of $544 million , compared to $533 million in the first quarter of 2016; and

, compared to in the first quarter of 2016; and making capital expenditures of $170 million , compared to $151 million in the first quarter of 2016.

Segment Results

The Corporation operates in four business segments organized based on the nature of products and services offered: Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control (MFC), Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) and Space Systems.

During the third quarter of 2016, the Corporation increased its ownership interest in the AWE Management Limited (AWE) venture from 33 percent to 51 percent and began consolidating AWE. Consequently, the Corporation's operating results for the first quarter of 2017 include 100 percent of AWE's sales and 51 percent of AWE's operating profit. Prior to increasing its ownership interest, the Corporation accounted for its investment in AWE using the equity method of accounting. Under the equity method of accounting, the Corporation only recognized its share, or 33 percent, of AWE's earnings or losses. Accordingly, the Corporation's operating results for the first quarter of 2016 do not include any sales generated by AWE and only 33 percent of AWE's net earnings. AWE has been aligned under the Corporation's Space Systems business segment.

Operating profit of the business segments includes the Corporation's share of earnings or losses from equity method investees as the operating activities of the equity method investees are closely aligned with the operations of the Corporation's business segments. United Launch Alliance (ULA), which is part of the Space Systems business segment, is the Corporation's primary equity method investee. Operating profit of the Corporation's business segments excludes the FAS/CAS pension adjustment, which represents the difference between total pension expense recorded in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (FAS) and pension costs recoverable on U.S. Government contracts as determined in accordance with U.S. Government Cost Accounting Standards (CAS); expense for stock-based compensation; the effects of items not considered part of management's evaluation of segment operating performance, such as charges related to significant severance actions and certain asset impairments; gains or losses from divestitures; the effects of certain legal settlements; corporate costs not allocated to the Corporation's business segments; and other miscellaneous corporate activities.

Changes in net sales and operating profit generally are expressed in terms of volume. Changes in volume refer to increases or decreases in sales or operating profit resulting from varying production activity levels, deliveries or service levels on individual contracts. Volume changes in segment operating profit are typically based on the current profit booking rate for a particular contract.

In addition, comparability of the Corporation's segment sales, operating profit and operating margin may be impacted favorably or unfavorably by changes in profit booking rates on the Corporation's contracts accounted for using the percentage-of-completion method of accounting. Increases in the profit booking rates, typically referred to as risk retirements, usually relate to revisions in the estimated total costs that reflect improved conditions on a particular contract. Conversely, conditions on a particular contract may deteriorate resulting in an increase in the estimated total costs to complete and a reduction in the profit booking rate. Increases or decreases in profit booking rates are recognized in the current period and reflect the inception-to-date effect of such changes. Segment operating profit and margin may also be impacted favorably or unfavorably by other items. Favorable items may include the positive resolution of contractual matters, cost recoveries on restructuring charges, insurance recoveries and gains on sales of assets. Unfavorable items may include the adverse resolution of contractual matters; restructuring charges, except for significant severance actions which are excluded from segment operating results; reserves for disputes; certain asset impairments; and losses on sales of assets.

The following table presents summary operating results of the Corporation's business segments and reconciles these amounts to the Corporation's consolidated financial results.



(in millions)







Quarters Ended





















March 26,



March 27,





















2017



2016





Net sales



































Aeronautics

















$ 4,106



$ 3,799





Missiles and Fire Control



















1,489





1,434





Rotary and Mission Systems



















3,101





3,004





Space Systems



















2,361





2,131





Total net sales

















$ 11,057



$ 10,368











































Operating profit



































Aeronautics

















$ 436



$ 420





Missiles and Fire Control



















219





221





Rotary and Mission Systems



















108





229





Space Systems



















288





244





Total business segment operating profit



















1,051





1,114





Unallocated items



































FAS/CAS pension adjustment



















217





224





Special item - severance charges

























(80)





Other, net



















(119)





(100)





Total unallocated items



















98





44





Total consolidated operating profit

















$ 1,149



$ 1,158











The Corporation's consolidated net adjustments not related to volume, including net profit booking rate adjustments, represented approximately 28 percent of total segment operating profit in the first quarter of 2017, compared to approximately 32 percent in the first quarter of 2016.

Aeronautics



(in millions)







Quarters Ended





















March 26,



March 27,





















2017



2016





Net sales

















$ 4,106



$ 3,799





Operating profit

















$ 436



$ 420





Operating margin



















10.6 %



11.1 %



Aeronautics' net sales in the first quarter of 2017 increased $307 million, or 8 percent, compared to the same period in 2016. The increase was primarily attributable to higher net sales of approximately $355 million for the F-35 program due to increased volume on aircraft production and sustainment activities; and about $60 million for the F-16 program due to higher volume on aircraft modernization programs. These increases were partially offset by a decrease of approximately $100 million for the C-5 program due to one less aircraft delivery and lower sustainment activities.

Aeronautics' operating profit in the first quarter of 2017 increased $16 million, or 4 percent, compared to the same period in 2016. Operating profit increased approximately $60 million for the F-35 program due to increased volume on aircraft production and sustainment activities and higher risk retirements. This increase was partially offset by a decrease of about $25 million for various programs due to lower profit booking rate adjustments and establishment of a reserve; and approximately $10 million due to lower equity earnings from investees. Adjustments not related to volume, including net profit booking rate adjustments, were about $15 million higher in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.

Missiles and Fire Control



(in millions)







Quarters Ended





















March 26,



March 27,





















2017



2016





Net sales

















$ 1,489



$ 1,434





Operating profit

















$ 219



$ 221





Operating margin



















14.7 %



15.4 %



MFC's net sales in the first quarter of 2017 increased $55 million, or 4 percent, compared to the same period in 2016. The increase was attributable to higher net sales of approximately $60 million for air and missile defense programs due to increased deliveries on certain programs (primarily Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3)); and about $60 million for fire control programs (primarily LANTIRN and SNIPER) due to increased deliveries. These increases were partially offset by a decrease of $50 million for tactical missiles programs (primarily Precision Fires) due to fewer deliveries.

MFC's operating profit in the first quarter of 2017 was comparable to profit in the same period of 2016. Operating profit decreased approximately $25 million for tactical missiles programs due to lower risk retirements and fewer deliveries (primarily Precision Fires). This decrease was partially offset by an increase of about $25 million for higher risk retirements and increased deliveries on fire control programs (LANTIRN and SNIPER) and air and missile defense programs (PAC-3). Adjustments not related to volume, including net profit booking rate adjustments, in the first quarter of 2017 were comparable to the same period in 2016.

Rotary and Mission Systems



(in millions)







Quarters Ended





















March 26,



March 27,





















2017



2016





Net sales

















$ 3,101



$ 3,004





Operating profit

















$ 108



$ 229





Operating margin



















3.5 %



7.6 %



RMS' net sales in the first quarter of 2017 increased $97 million, or 3 percent, compared to the same period in 2016. The increase was primarily attributable to higher net sales of about $280 million due to certain adjustments recorded in 2016 required to account for the November 6, 2015 acquisition of Sikorsky. This increase was partially offset by a net decrease of approximately $100 million primarily driven by fewer deliveries of helicopters; and a decrease of about $65 million at C4ISR and Undersea Systems and Sensors (C4USS) programs and training and logistics services programs due to volume.

RMS' operating profit in the first quarter of 2017 decreased $121 million, or 53 percent, compared to the same period in 2016. Operating profit decreased about $110 million for C4USS programs due to a $120 million charge for performance matters on the international contract, EADGE-T; and about $25 million for training and logistics services programs due to lower risk retirements. These decreases were partially offset by an increase of about $35 million for Sikorsky due to certain adjustments recorded in the first quarter of 2017 and 2016 required to account for the November 6, 2015 acquisition of Sikorsky and amortization of intangible assets, partially offset by a decrease of about $20 million primarily driven by fewer deliveries of helicopters and lower equity earnings from investees. Adjustments not related to volume, including net profit booking rate adjustments, were about $115 million lower in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.

Space Systems



(in millions)







Quarters Ended





















March 26,



March 27,





















2017



2016





Net sales

















$ 2,361



$ 2,131





Operating profit

















$ 288



$ 244





Operating margin



















12.2 %



11.5 %



Space Systems' net sales in the first quarter of 2017 increased $230 million, or 11 percent, compared to the same period in 2016. The increase was attributable to approximately $325 million due to net sales from AWE, which the Corporation began consolidating in the third quarter of 2016. This increase was partially offset by a decrease of $35 million for the Orion program due to lower volume; and a decrease of $25 million for government satellite programs (primarily Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) and Mobile User Objective System (MUOS)) due to decreased volume.

Space Systems' operating profit in the first quarter of 2017 increased $44 million, or 18 percent, compared to the same period in 2016. Operating profit increased about $40 million due to increased equity earnings from an investee (ULA). Adjustments not related to volume, including net profit booking rate adjustments, were about $25 million higher in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.

Total equity earnings recognized by Space Systems (primarily ULA) represented about $80 million, or 28 percent, of this business segment's operating profit in the first quarter of 2017, compared to approximately $50 million, or 20 percent, in the first quarter of 2016.

Unallocated items



(in millions)







Quarters Ended





















March 26, 2017



March 27, 2016





Unallocated items



































FAS/CAS pension adjustment

















$ 217



$ 224





Special item - severance charges

























(80)





Other, net



















(119)





(100)





Total unallocated items

















$ 98



$ 44











































Consistent with the manner in which the Corporation's business segment operating performance is evaluated by senior management, certain items are excluded from the business segment results and are included in "Unallocated items." For a description of the items excluded from business segment results, refer to the "Segment Results" section in this news release.

On Aug. 16, 2016, the Corporation completed the divestiture of its former IS&GS business. Accordingly, the operating results of IS&GS have been classified as discontinued operations in the first quarter of 2016. General corporate overhead costs that were historically allocated to and included in the operating results of IS&GS in the first quarter of 2016 have been reclassified into "Unallocated items" and included in the results of the Corporation's continuing operations because they were not directly attributable to IS&GS and the Corporation continues to incur these costs subsequent to the divestiture.

The amount of general corporate overhead costs previously included in the operating results of IS&GS that have been reclassified to and included in the results of the Corporation's continuing operations were $35 million in the first quarter of 2016. These costs are included in the "Other, net" line.

Additionally, the Corporation retained all assets and obligations related to the pension benefits earned by former IS&GS salaried employees through the date of divestiture. Therefore, the non-service portion of net pension costs (interest cost, actuarial gains and losses and expected return on plan assets) for these plans in the first quarter of 2016 have been reclassified to and included in the results of the Corporation's continuing operations because the Corporation continues to incur these costs. The non-service portion of net pension costs previously included in the operating results of IS&GS that have been reclassified to and included in the results of the Corporation's continuing operations were $22 million in the first quarter of 2016. These costs are included in the "FAS/CAS pension adjustment" line.

In the first quarter of 2017, the Corporation recognized a $64 million charge, which represents the Corporation's portion of a noncash asset impairment charge recorded by an international equity method investee, which had the effect of reducing net earnings by $40 million, or $0.14 per share. This charge is included in the "Other, net" line.

Income Taxes

The Corporation's effective income tax rate from continuing operations was 23.3 percent in the first quarter of 2017, compared to 18.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016. The rates for both periods benefited from tax deductions for U.S. manufacturing activities, dividends paid to the Corporation's defined contribution plans with an employee stock ownership plan feature, tax benefits for employee equity awards, and the research and development tax credit. For the first quarter of 2017 and 2016 the tax benefits of employee equity awards reduced our effective tax rate by 6.2 and 10.4 percentage points, respectively.

Conference Call Information

Lockheed Martin will webcast live its first quarter 2017 earnings results conference call (listen-only mode) on Tuesday, April 25, at 11:00 a.m. ET. The live webcast and relevant financial charts will be available for download on the Lockheed Martin Investor Relations website at www.lockheedmartin.com/investor.

For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com.

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.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that, to the extent they are not recitations of historical fact, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, and are based on Lockheed Martin's current expectations and assumptions. The words "believe," "estimate," "anticipate," "project," "intend," "expect," "plan," "outlook," "scheduled," "forecast" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially due to factors such as:

the Corporation's reliance on contracts with the U.S. Government, all of which are conditioned upon the availability of funding and can be terminated by the U.S. Government for convenience, and the Corporation's ability to negotiate favorable contract terms;

budget uncertainty and the potential for a government shutdown; affordability initiatives; the implementation of automatic sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011 or Congressional actions intended to replace sequestration;

risks related to the development, production, performance, schedule, cost and requirements of complex and technologically advanced programs including the Corporation's largest, the F-35 program;

economic, industry, business and political conditions (domestic and international) including their effects on governmental policy;

our success expanding into and doing business in adjacent markets and internationally; the differing risks posed by international sales, including those involving commercial relationships with unfamiliar customers and different cultures; that in some instances our ability to recover investments is dependent upon the successful operation of ventures that we do not control; and changes in foreign national priorities, and foreign government budgets;

the competitive environment for the Corporation's products and services, including increased pricing pressures in the Corporation's remaining services businesses, competition from outside the aerospace and defense industry, and increased bid protests;

planned production rates for significant programs; compliance with stringent performance and reliability standards; materials availability;

the performance and financial viability of key suppliers, teammates, ventures, venture partners, subcontractors and customers;

the timing and customer acceptance of product deliveries;

the Corporation's ability to continue to innovate and develop new products and to attract and retain key personnel and transfer knowledge to new personnel; the impact of work stoppages or other labor disruptions;

the impact of cyber or other security threats or other disruptions to the Corporation's businesses;

the Corporation's ability to implement and continue capitalization changes such as share repurchase activity and payment of dividends, pension funding as well as the pace and effect of any such capitalization changes;

the Corporation's ability to recover certain costs under U.S. Government contracts and changes in contract mix;

the accuracy of the Corporation's estimates and projections and the potential impact of changes in U.S. or foreign tax laws;

movements in interest rates and other changes that may affect pension plan assumptions, equity, the level of the FAS/CAS adjustment and actual returns on pension plan assets;

realizing the anticipated benefits of acquisitions or divestitures, ventures, teaming arrangements or internal reorganizations, and the Corporation's efforts to increase the efficiency of its operations and improve the affordability of its products and services;

the ability to realize synergies and other expected benefits of the Sikorsky acquisition; remediation of the material weakness in internal control over financial reporting related to Sikorsky;

risk of a future impairment of goodwill, investments or other long-term assets, including the potential impairment of goodwill, intangible assets and inventory, recorded as a result of the Sikorsky acquisition, if Sikorsky does not perform as expected, or if demand for Sikorsky's products is adversely impacted by global economic conditions including oil and gas trends;

risks related to the achievement of the intended benefits and tax treatment of the divestiture of the Corporation's former IS&GS business;

the adequacy of the Corporation's insurance and indemnities;

the effect of changes in (or the interpretation of): legislation, regulation or policy, including those applicable to procurement (including competition from fewer and larger prime contractors), cost allowability or recovery, accounting, taxation, or export; and

the outcome of legal proceedings, bid protests, environmental remediation efforts, government investigations or government allegations that we have failed to comply with law, other contingencies and U.S. Government identification of deficiencies in the Corporation's business systems.

These are only some of the factors that may affect the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. For a discussion identifying additional important factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, see the Corporation's filings with the SEC including, but not limited to, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" in the Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016. The Corporation's filings may be accessed through the Investor Relations page of its website, www.lockheedmartin.com/investor, or through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.

The Corporation's actual financial results likely will be different from those projected due to the inherent nature of projections. Given these uncertainties, forward-looking statements should not be relied on in making investment decisions. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of the date of its filing. Except where required by applicable law, the Corporation expressly disclaims a duty to provide updates to forward-looking statements after the date of this news release to reflect subsequent events, changed circumstances, changes in expectations, or the estimates and assumptions associated with them. The forward-looking statements in this news release are intended to be subject to the safe harbor protection provided by the federal securities laws.

Lockheed Martin Corporation









Consolidated Statements of Earnings1, 2









(unaudited; in millions, except per share data)





































Quarters Ended

















March 26,

2017

March 27,

2016













Net sales

$ 11,057

$ 10,368













Cost of sales

(9,904)

(9,273)













Gross profit3

1,153

1,095













Other (expense) income, net

(4)

63













Operating profit3,4,5

1,149

1,158













Interest expense

(155)

(165)













Other non-operating income, net

1

1













Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes 995

994













Income tax expense6

(232)

(188)













Net earnings from continuing operations

763

806

Net earnings from discontinued operations

-

92













Net earnings6

$ 763

$ 898













Effective tax rate

23.3 % 18.9 %











Earnings per common share









Basic









Continuing operations2,3,4,5,6

$ 2.63

$ 2.65

Discontinued operations2

-

0.30

Basic earnings per common share

$ 2.63

$ 2.95













Diluted









Continuing operations

$ 2.61

$ 2.61

Discontinued operations

-

0.30

Diluted earnings per common share

$ 2.61

$ 2.91













Weighted average shares outstanding









Basic

290.0

304.5

Diluted

292.8

308.7













Common shares reported in stockholders' equity at end of period 288

303













1 The Corporation closes its books and records on the last Sunday of the calendar quarter to align its financial closing with its business processes, which was on March 26 for the first quarter of 2017 and March 27 for the first quarter of 2016. The consolidated financial statements and tables of financial information included herein are labeled based on that convention. This practice only affects interim periods, as the Corporation's fiscal year ends on Dec. 31.











2 On Aug. 16, 2016, the Corporation completed the divestiture of its Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) business. Accordingly, the operating results of IS&GS have been classified as discontinued operations in the first quarter of 2016.











3 In the first quarter of 2017, the Corporation revised its estimated costs to complete a program to design, integrate, and install an air missile defense command, control, communications, computers  intelligence (C4I) system, EADGE-T, for an international customer. As a result of the change in estimate, the Corporation recorded an additional reserve of $120 million at the RMS business segment. This charge reduced net earnings by $74 million, or $0.25 per share.











4 In the first quarter of 2017, the Corporation recognized a $64 million charge related to the Corporation's portion of a noncash asset impairment charge recorded by an international equity method investee, which had the effect of reducing net earnings by $40 million, or $0.14 per share.











5 Severance charges in the first quarter of 2016 consist of amounts associated with the elimination of certain positions at the Aeronautics business segment. These charges reduced net earnings by $49 million, or $0.16 per share.











6 In the second quarter of 2016, the Corporation adopted a new accounting standard that changed the accounting for certain aspects of employee equity awards, including the classification of certain tax benefits or expenses upon vesting. As a result, the Corporation has adjusted its results for the first quarter of 2016 to recognize additional income tax benefits of $104 million ($0.34 per share) as an increase to net earnings from continuing operations and cash from operating activities.

Lockheed Martin Corporation















Business Segment Summary Operating Results











(unaudited; in millions)





































Quarters Ended











March 26,

2017

March 27,

2016



% Change Net sales















Aeronautics

$ 4,106

$ 3,799



8 % Missiles and Fire Control

1,489

1,434



4 % Rotary and Mission Systems

3,101

3,004



3 % Space Systems

2,361

2,131



11 % Total net sales

$ 11,057

$ 10,368



7 %

















Operating profit















Aeronautics

$ 436

$ 420



4 % Missiles and Fire Control

219

221



(1) % Rotary and Mission Systems1

108

229



(53) % Space Systems

288

244



18 % Total business segment operating profit 1,051

1,114



(6) % Unallocated items















FAS/CAS pension adjustment

217

224







Special item - severance2

-

(80)







Other, net3,4

(119)

(100)







Total unallocated items

98

44



123 % Total consolidated operating profit

$ 1,149

$ 1,158



(1) %

















Operating margins















Aeronautics

10.6 % 11.1 %





Missiles and Fire Control

14.7 % 15.4 %





Rotary and Mission Systems

3.5 % 7.6 %





Space Systems

12.2 % 11.5 %





Total business segment operating margins 9.5 % 10.7 %























Total consolidated operating margins

10.4 % 11.2 %























1 In the first quarter of 2017, the Corporation revised its estimated costs to complete a program to design, integrate and install an air missile defense command, control, communications, computers  intelligence (C4I) system, EADGE-T, for an international customer. As a result of the change in estimate, the Corporation recorded an additional reserve of $120 million at the RMS business segment. This charge reduced net earnings by $74 million, or $0.25 per share.

















2 Severance charges in the first quarter of 2016 consist of amounts associated with the elimination of certain positions at the Aeronautics business segment. These charges reduced net earnings by $49 million, or $0.16 per share.

















3 As a result of the Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) divestiture in Aug. 2016, the Corporation reclassified $35 million of general corporate overhead costs incurred in the first quarter of 2016 and previously allocated to the IS&GS business segment. These costs were not reported as discontinued operations because they were not directly attributable to the IS&GS business and will continue to be incurred by the Corporation.

















4 In the first quarter of 2017, the Corporation recognized a $64 million charge related to the Corporation's portion of a noncash asset impairment charge recorded by an international equity method investee, which had the effect of reducing net earnings by $40 million, or $0.14 per share.

Lockheed Martin Corporation







Consolidated Balance Sheets







(unaudited; in millions, except par value)









































March 26,

2017

December 31,

2016 Assets







Current assets







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 2,216

$ 1,837 Receivables, net

8,869

8,202 Inventories, net

5,074

4,670 Other current assets

427

399 Total current assets

16,586

15,108









Property, plant and equipment, net

5,481

5,549 Goodwill

10,773

10,764 Intangible assets, net

4,019

4,093 Deferred income taxes

6,489

6,625 Other noncurrent assets

5,488

5,667 Total assets

$ 48,836

$ 47,806









Liabilities and equity







Current liabilities







Accounts payable

$ 2,718

$ 1,653 Customer advances and amounts in excess of costs incurred 6,572

6,776 Salaries, benefits and payroll taxes

1,647

1,764 Other current liabilities

2,660

2,349 Total current liabilities

13,597

12,542









Long-term debt, net

14,276

14,282 Accrued pension liabilities

13,908

13,855 Other postretirement benefit liabilities

861

862 Other noncurrent liabilities

4,609

4,659 Total liabilities

47,251

46,200









Stockholders' equity







Common stock, $1 par value per share

288

289 Additional paid-in capital

-

- Retained earnings

13,087

13,324 Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(11,892)

(12,102) Total stockholders' equity

1,483

1,511 Noncontrolling interests in subsidiary

102

95 Total equity

1,585

1,606 Total liabilities and equity

$ 48,836

$ 47,806

Lockheed Martin Corporation





Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows 1





(unaudited; in millions)























Quarters Ended









March 26,

2017

March 27,

2016







Operating activities





Net earnings $ 763

$ 898 Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operating activities





Depreciation and amortization 285

296 Stock-based compensation 44

44 Severance charges -

99 Changes in assets and liabilities





Receivables, net (667)

(558) Inventories, net (404)

(310) Accounts payable 1,111

751 Customer advances and amounts in excess of costs incurred (204)

(146) Postretirement benefit plans 345

246 Income taxes 175

225 Other, net 218

122 Net cash provided by operating activities 1,666

1,667







Investing activities





Capital expenditures (170)

(151) Other, net 4

4 Net cash used for investing activities (166)

(147)







Financing activities





Repurchases of common stock (500)

(501) Dividends paid (544)

(533) Proceeds from stock option exercises 31

28 Other, net (108)

(152) Net cash used for financing activities (1,121)

(1,158)







Net change in cash and cash equivalents 379

362 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 1,837

1,090 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 2,216

$ 1,452







1 Cash flows includes cash flows generated by the IS&GS business segment through the closing of the divestiture of this business segment on Aug. 16, 2016, as the Corporation retained this cash as part of the divestiture.

Lockheed Martin Corporation

























Consolidated Statement of Equity

























(unaudited; in millions)































































































Accumulated

















Additional





Other

Total

Non-





Common

Paid-In

Retained

Comprehensive

Stockholders'

controlling

Total

Stock

Capital

Earnings

Loss

Equity

Interest

Equity























































Balance at Dec. 31, 2016 $ 289

$ -

$ 13,324

$ (12,102)

$ 1,511

$ 95

$ 1,606



























Net earnings -

-

763

-

763

-

763



























Other comprehensive income, net of tax1 -

-

-

210

210

-

210



























Repurchases of common stock (2)

(29)

(469)

-

(500)

-

(500)



























Dividends declared2 -

-

(531)

-

(531)

-

(531)



























Stock-based awards and ESOP activity 1

29

-

-

30

-

30



























Increase in non-controlling interests in subsidiary -

-

-

-

-

7

7























































Balance at March 26, 2017 $ 288

$ -

$ 13,087

$ (11,892)

$ 1,483

$ 102

$ 1,585























































1 Primarily represents the reclassification adjustment for the recognition of prior period amounts related to postretirement benefit plans.



























2 Represents dividends of $1.82 per share declared during the first quarter of 2017.

Lockheed Martin Corporation Operating Data (unaudited; in millions, except aircraft deliveries)





























Backlog

March 26,

2017

Dec. 31,

2016 Aeronautics

$ 32,000

$ 34,200 Missiles and Fire Control

14,500

14,700 Rotary and Mission Systems 27,500

28,400 Space Systems

19,500

18,900 Total backlog

$ 93,500

$ 96,200













Quarters Ended Aircraft Deliveries

March 26,

2017

March 27,

2016 F-16

2

2 F-35

15

6 C-130J

5

6 C-5

1

2 Government helicopter programs 32

41 Commercial helicopter programs -

5 International military helicopter programs 1

-

SOURCE Lockheed Martin

Related Links

http://www.lockheedmartin.com


MORRISTOWN, N.J., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Louis Berger recently received the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Partnership Award for the Most Innovative Engagement Partner. The award honored Louis Berger's ability to create innovative and unique opportunities for NJIT students.

"This recognition is special for Louis Berger. It demonstrates our company's ongoing commitment to investing in quality education for engineering professionals," said Bob Nardi, Louis Berger principal associate, planning and economics. "We are proud to support NJIT and its students through our company's various career programs."

In 2014, the company, in cooperation with the public research university, established the Louis Berger Graduate Internship and Fellowship Program. This six-year program gives students the opportunity to complete and fund their master's degree while performing professional work with Louis Berger during summer internships in one of its global offices.

In addition, the company also supports students through the Louis Berger International Scholar Award and the Louis Berger Group Endowed Scholarship. Many NJIT graduates are current or former Louis Berger employees, including the company's chief executive officer (CEO) Jim Stamatis.

The award was presented at the NJIT Recruiting Partner Awards and Recognition Event, held on Tuesday, April 11, in New Jersey. The ceremony acknowledged organizations that actively participate in campus professional development activities, resulting in successful recruiting and employment outcomes for students.

Click here to see an image of John Booth (left), human resources director for Louis Berger's U.S. operations, accept the Most Innovative Engagement Partner Award from Sotirious Ziavras, NJIT assocaite provost for graduate studies and dean of the graduate faculty.

About Louis Berger

Louis Berger is a $1 billion global professional services corporation that helps infrastructure and development clients solve their most complex challenges. We are a trusted partner to national, state and local government agencies; multilateral institutions; and commercial industry clients worldwide. By focusing on client needs to deliver quality, safe, financially-successful projects with integrity, we are committed to deliver on our promise to provide Solutions for a better world.

Louis Berger operates on every habitable continent. We have a long-standing presence in more than 50 nations, represented by the multidisciplinary expertise of 6,000 engineers, economists, scientists, managers and planners.

Contact:

Regine de la Cruz

[email protected]

+1.202.303.2791

SOURCE Louis Berger

Related Links

http://www.louisberger.com


FAIRFAX, Va., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MainStreet Bancshares (OTCQB: MNSB), the holding company for MainStreet Bank, reports net income of $1.03 million for the first quarter of 2017, which is 18% higher than first quarter 2016 net income of $914 thousand. Note: first quarter 2017 numbers include $241 thousand of interest expense for newly issued subordinated debt. Earnings per share for the first quarter 2017 were $0.24 versus $0.22 for first quarter 2016.

Net interest income of $4.7 million for first quarter 2017 improved $262 thousand over net interest income for first quarter 2016. The first quarter 2017 net interest margin is 3.75% compared with 3.84% for the first quarter of 2016.

Non-interest income is up 200% for first quarter 2017 versus 2016. Non-interest income (no securities gains) is $647 thousand in 2017 compared to $216 thousand (net of securities gains) for 2016. This increase is attributable to the new payment systems group, increased fee income on deposit accounts and income attributable to bank-owned life insurance.

Non-interest expense for first quarter 2017 is $3.7 million compared to $3.3 million for first quarter 2016. This is primarily due to an increase in employees and salaries in support of balance sheet growth. The efficiency ratio held steady at 69% for the first quarter of 2017 compared to 70% for first quarter 2016.

The Company's March 31, 2017 balance sheet experienced a temporary decline of 1.29% from year-end totals. MainStreet President Chris Brockett indicated that, "this is not indicative of expected future performance as MainStreet anticipates good growth year-on-year. The loans-in-process pipeline is currently very robust and balance sheet metrics should be back on-track at the time of second quarter reporting." Asset quality is strong, as non-performing loans represent an infinitesimal two basis points of total gross loans on March 31, 2017.

Total deposits as of March 31, 2017 were $464 million. Non-interest deposits represent 25% of total deposits.

The book value per common share is $11.09 as of March 31, 2017. According to OTC Markets, the share price closed on March 31, 2017 at $16.55 per common share, or 149% of book value. During the first quarter there were 328 trades for a total volume of 309,699 common shares totaling $5.1 million.

QUOTES: "We have a good year of growth and opportunity in front of us." says Jeff W. Dick, Chairman and CEO of MainStreet Bancshares, Inc. and MainStreet Bank. "Our earnings are strong and the local market is robust. Two well-respected local community banks were recently acquired by larger institutions, which provides opportunities for MainStreet for new customers as well as new employees who prefer the local community bank model. "

ABOUT MAINSTREET BANK: MainStreet operates five branches in Herndon, Fairfax, Fairfax City, McLean and Clarendon. In addition, MainStreet has 55,000 free ATMs and a fully integrated online and mobile banking solution. The Bank is not restricted by a conventional branching system, as it can offer business customers the ability to Put Our Bank in Your Office. With robust and easy-to-use online business banking technology, MainStreet has literally "put our bank" in well over 800 businesses in the Metropolitan area.

MainStreet has a full complement of payment system services for third party payment providers. MainStreet has a nationally known and leading market expert on-staff ready to help payment providers create a solution perfect for their needs.

MainStreet has a robust line of business and professional lending products, including government contracting lines of credit, commercial lines and term loans, residential and commercial construction and commercial real estate. MainStreet also works with the SBA to offer 7A and 504 lending solutions. From mobile banking and Apple Pay to instant-issue Debit Cards, MainStreet Bank is always looking for ways to improve its customer experience. Additionally, MainStreet released Aircharity in 2012. Aircharity is a unique solution that empowers people and organizations to raise money via email, websites and social media. The product allows a customer to open an account and accept donations from debit cards, credit cards and electronic checks.

MainStreet Bank was the first community bank in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area to offer a full online business banking solution. MainStreet Bank was also the first bank headquartered in the Commonwealth of Virginia to offer CDARS  a solution that provides multi-million-dollar FDIC insurance. Further information on the Bank can be obtained by visiting its website at mstreetbank.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements, including our expectations with respect to future events that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations include: fluctuation in market rates of interest and loan and deposit pricing, adverse changes in the overall national economy as well as adverse economic conditions in our specific market areas, maintenance and development of well-established and valued client relationships and referral source relationships, and acquisition or loss of key production personnel. Other risks that can affect the Bank are detailed from time to time in our annual reports. We caution readers that the list of factors above is not exclusive. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release, and we may not undertake steps to update the forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of any circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements are made. In addition, our past results of operations are not necessarily indicative of future performance.

MainStreet Bancshares, Inc.

BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) (In thousands, except ratios)



Consolidated Consolidated Consolidated Unconsolidated Unconsolidated

3/31/17 12/31/16 9/30/16 6/30/16 3/31/16 ASSETS









Cash and cash equivalents









Cash and due from banks $ 11,867 $ 17,273 $ 13,142 $ 17,483 $ 9,463 Federal funds sold 4,856 797 797  805 Total cash and cash equivalents 16,723 18,070 13,939 17,483 10,268 Investment securities available for sale, at fair value 29,889 36,354 26,434 25,869 33,111 Investment securities held to maturity 26,664 27,714 26,518 24,357 21,955 Restricted equity securities, at cost 3,892 3,426 3,423 3,420 3,843 Loans, net of allowance for loan losses 461,768 463,926 441,335 417,640 412,685 Premises and equipment, net 12,132 12,309 12,500 12,339 12,449 Other real estate owned, net 135 135 135 135 135 Accrued interest and other receivables 2,363 2,261 2,265 2,194 2,076 Bank owned life insurance 13,308 10,202 8,126 8,051  Other assets 1,388 1,314 1,234 1,437 1,286 Total Assets $ 568,262 $ 575,711 $ 535,909 $ 512,925 $ 497,808











LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY









Liabilities:









Non-interest bearing deposits $ 114,044 $ 106,050 $ 114,128 $ 98,505 $ 81,072 Interest bearing DDA deposits 17,443 41,611    Savings and NOW deposits 44,697 44,833 41,896 40,243 38,877 Money market deposits 79,704 75,670 76,152 59,906 54,455 Other time deposits 207,854 205,402 214,636 224,753 228,819 Total deposits 463,742 473,566 446,812 423,407 403,223 Securities sold under agreements to repurchase   2,736   Federal Home Loan Bank advances and other borrowings 40,179 40,192 40,204 44,409 50,229 Subordinated Debt 14,726 14,019    Other liabilities 2,011 1,539 872 957 1,209 Total Liabilities 520,658 529,316 490,624 468,773 454,661











Stockholders' Equity:









Common stock 16,792 16,650 16,645 16,634 16,624 Capital surplus 22,126 22,152 21,995 21,913 21,814 Retained earnings 8,827 7,801 6,724 5,712 4,839 Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (141) (208) (79) (107) (130) Total Stockholders' Equity 47,604 46,395 45,285 44,152 43,147











Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity $ 568,262 $ 575,711 $ 535,909 $ 512,925 $ 497,808











Other Financial Highlights









Annualized return on average assets 0.72% 0.76% 0.75% 0.73% 0.76% Annualized return on average equity 8.74% 8.72% 8.52% 8.25% 8.56% Annualized net interest margin 3.75% 3.78% 3.79% 3.82% 3.84% Efficiency ratio 69.40% 69.47% 71.09% 71.02% 70.06% Gross loans to deposits 100.02% 98.58% 99.16% 99.74% 103.52% Allowance for loan losses to total loans 0.87% 0.85% 0.82% 0.87% 0.88% Past due loans 30-89 days to total gross loans 0.02% 0.07% 0.02% 0.01% 0.01% Past due loans 90 days or more to total gross loans 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% Non-accrual loans to total gross loans 0.02% 0.04% 0.09% 0.09% 0.17% Quarterly net loan charge-offs (recoveries) $ 111 $ 30 $ 109 $ 111 $ 97 Book value per share $ 11.09 $ 10.85 $ 10.65 $ 10.39 $ 10.16 Closing stock price $ 16.55 $ 14.20 $ 12.60 $ 11.90 $ 11.95











Regulatory Capital Ratios









Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio 11.78% 11.74% 9.67% 10.02% 10.22% Common equity tier 1 capital ratio 11.78% 11.74% 9.67% 10.02% 10.22% Total risk-based capital ratio 12.57% 12.53% 10.46% 10.86% 11.09% Leverage ratio 10.69% 10.95% 8.66% 8.91% 8.98%

MainStreet Bancshares, Inc.

STATEMENTS OF INCOME (Unaudited) (In thousands, except share data)





Year-to-Date Three Months Ended

Consolidated 3/31/17 Unconsolidated 3/31/16 Consolidated 3/31/17 Consolidated 12/31/16 Consolidated 9/30/16 Unconsolidated 6/30/16 Unconsolidated 3/31/16 INTEREST INCOME:





























Interest and fees on loans $ 5,353 $ 4,845 $ 5,353 $ 5,267 $ 5,111 $ 4,969 $ 4,845 Interest on investment securities 396 305 396 351 339 292 305 Interest on federal funds sold 40 24 40 19 29 21 24 Total interest income 5,789 5,174 5,789 5,637 5,479 5,282 5,174















INTEREST EXPENSE:













Interest on interest bearing DDA deposits 41  41 11    Interest on savings and NOW deposits 43 39 43 44 43 41 39 Interest on money market deposits 116 59 116 96 83 62 59 Interest on other time deposits 536 554 536 579 605 589 554 Interest on Federal Home Loan Bank advances and other borrowings 84 56 84 74 71 65 56 Interest on Subordinated Debt 241  241     Total interest expense 1,061 708 1,061 804 802 757 708 Net interest income 4,728 4,466 4,728 4,833 4,677 4,525 4,466 Provision for loan losses 195 85 195 335 90 135 85 Net interest income after provision for loan losses 4,533 4,381 4,533 4,498 4,587 4,390 4,381 OTHER INCOME:













Deposit account service charges 192 130 192 183 205 218 130 Gain on securities available for sale        Bank owned life insurance income 106  106 76 75 51  Other fee income 349 86 349 194 156 153 86 Total other income 647 216 647 453 436 422 216 OTHER EXPENSES:













Salaries and employee benefits 2,372 2,101 2,372 2,038 2,208 2,241 2,101 Furniture and equipment expenses 286 278 286 301 297 267 278 Advertising and marketing 31 40 31 56 102 78 40 Occupancy expenses 171 173 171 158 200 203 173 Outside services 129 110 129 202 167 136 110 Administrative expenses 90 69 90 89 93 99 69 Other operating expenses 653 509 653 595 571 534 509 Total other expenses 3,732 3,280 3,732 3,439 3,638 3,558 3,280















INCOME BEFORE INCOME

TAXES 1,448 1,317 1,448 1,512 1,385 1,254 1,317 Income tax expense 421 403 421 436 373 381 403 NET INCOME $ 1,027 $ 914 $ 1,027 $ 1,076 $ 1,012 $ 873 $ 914































Net income per common share, basic and diluted $ 0.24 $ 0.22 $ 0.24 $ 0.25 $ 0.24 $ 0.20 $ 0.22 Weighted average number of shares, basic and diluted 4,304,852 4,244,104 4,304,852 4,260,232 4,260,232 4,261,118 4,244,104

Contact: Jeff W. Dick

(703) 481-4567

SOURCE MainStreet Bancshares, Inc.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketo, Inc., the leading provider of engagement marketing software and solutions, announced that it will be releasing free training courses for all marketers via Marketo University. The company also announced a partnership with GreenFig University, a micro university offering micro degrees in applied business science, to develop and deliver a digital marketing course to students and professionals across the United States. Both initiatives underscore Marketo's commitment to ensuring all marketers, regardless of their background or level of expertise, have the resources they need to succeed in the Engagement Economy.

"Opening Marketo University to all marketers is a major milestone in ensuring that everyone has access to the knowledge needed to master the most innovative platform in marketing," said Steve Lucas, chief executive officer, Marketo. "Furthermore, we are thrilled to partner with GreenFig University to get these tools in the hands of tomorrow's marketing leaders, doing all that we can to help aspiring marketers progress and achieve in their careers."

The new Marketo University and GreenFig University partnership were unveiled on stage in front of thousands of marketers at the Marketing Nation Summit in San Francisco. It is the second major education announcement that Marketo made this year, following the release of its redesigned curriculum, new courses, and new certification exam in March.

The New Marketo University

On May 15, marketers will have access to seven free, self-paced training modules from Marketo University, which cover everything from setting up a Marketo instance to building engaging content. More than 35 modules are planned for release by the end of 2017. To access the courses, marketers can simply visit the Marketo University section of Marketo's website. Previously, Marketo trainings were only available to Marketo customers and partners.

Each training module typically contains four core components to help any marketer, regardless of background or skill level, learn engagement marketing concepts and see how they are executed through the Marketo Engagement Platform. These components include:

A LEARN video to introduce the concept, what it is, why it's important, and key considerations for success.

A WATCH video that provides instructions on how to approach and execute the topic within the Marketo Engagement Platform.

DO resources, which provide step-by-step written instructions on how to accomplish tasks in Marketo.

A CHECK assessment, which is a short quiz to assess whether someone has learned the core concepts of the training module.

"As more organizations identify Marketo as the best platform to help them drive digital engagement, current and future customers have been demanding greater access to our curriculum," said Toby Emerson, vice president, education services, Marketo. "The new Marketo University training program has been carefully developed by our experts to introduce digital marketing concepts and provide easy-to-follow instruction on how to use Marketo, helping us meet the growing demand for Marketo-certified marketers."

Marketo's instructor-led courses, which offer deep-dive and hands-on training in the Marketo Engagement Platform, will still be available through Marketo University for a fee, as will the Marketo Certified Expert Exam, and newly added Marketo Specializations available to certified experts to extend their Marketo certification.

Partnership With GreenFig

Bruce Cleveland, chairman and co-founder of GreenFig University, joined Lucas on stage at the Marketing Nation Summit to share details on the university's first micro degree, which focuses on digital marketing science and will be awarded in partnership with Marketo. It will provide students with fundamental Marketo skills, digital marketing strategy, basic digital marketing work experience, and a formal digital marketing science certification process.

"We are extremely proud to be a valued partner to the Marketing Nation," said Cleveland. "Marketo's support for our tried, tested, and proven approach is a testament to the quality program we have developed, and we intend to work closely with Marketo to help produce skilled digital marketing scientists in demand by organizations around the world."

The key elements of the partnership include:

A GreenFig Micro Certificate in digital marketing science.

in digital marketing science. A comprehensive marketing curriculum designed by Marketo and GreenFig University to provide students with the knowledge and experience they need to understand the science of end-to-end digital marketing, such as content management, SEO/SEM, account-based marketing, and more.

Graduates of the program can continue with more advanced certification through additional Marketo University training programs.

"We are very fortunate to have the leading engagement marketing company as our strategic partner to deliver digital marketing science courses," said Libby Unger, CEO and co-founder, GreenFig University. "Companies seek trained people who possess formal Marketo certification. Our core mission is to produce people with job-ready skills. Our partnership with Marketo is designed to satisfy that market demand."

The first GreenFig University Digital Marketing Science course leading to a GreenFig Micro Certificate will be offered during the 2017 fall semester in Bend, Ore., Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. The program will be physically broadcast over the GreenFig University Education Broadcasting Network and delivered in real-time to students located in several selected cities.

Only 20 candidates will be accepted for any one location. To apply, applicants should go to www.greenfiguniversity.com and fill out the online application form by July 31. Courses begin August 16.

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 GreenFig University

GreenFig University is a micro university that offers micro degrees in applied business science. Its current course offering is in digital marketing science. GreenFig is developing additional courses for delivery in 2018. GreenFig combines experiential learning from industry experts with business application software instruction and provides practical work experience where students can apply their newly acquired skills. GreenFig's micro degrees can be achieved in 200 hours or less and when completed, students can be confident they possess the subject matter proficiency and basic work experience industry demands. GreenFig University is headquartered in Bend, Oregon and delivers its programs across the U.S. using the GreenFig University Education Broadcasting Network. To learn more about GreenFig University's applied business science programs, visit www.greenfiguniversity.com.

SOURCE Marketo, Inc.
COLUMBUS, Ga., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) announced today that Masatoshi Koide, who currently serves as deputy president of Aflac Japan, will be promoted to president and chief operating officer of Aflac Japan. Hiroshi Yamauchi, who currently serves as president and chief operating officer of Aflac Japan, will assume the role of vice chairman of Aflac Japan. These changes will become effective July 1, 2017.

Koide originally joined Aflac in 1998 and remained with the company until March 2006, after which time he worked for Nikko Asset Management. He rejoined Aflac again in 2008 as vice president, was promoted to senior vice president in 2012 and to first senior vice president in 2013. In 2015, he was promoted to executive vice president, Planning, Government Affairs & Research, Corporate Communications, Legal, Risk Management, Investment, Compliance, Customer Services, and General Affairs, and in 2016 he was promoted to deputy president of Aflac Japan. He earned his bachelor's degree from Tokyo University and his LL.M. degree from Cornell Law School, and he is a member of the New York State Bar.

Yamauchi joined Aflac Japan in 1976 in the Actuarial Department, where he served in positions of increasing responsibility and subsequently advanced through the ranks of various other operational areas. He was promoted to vice president in 1999, to first senior vice president in 2002 and to the additional role of chief administrative officer from 2005 to 2009. He assumed the role of executive vice president in 2012, with oversight responsibilities for Planning, Government Affairs & Research, Legal, Corporate Communications, Human Resources and IT, and was promoted to president and chief operating officer of Aflac Japan in 2015.

Commenting on the announcement, Aflac Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel P. Amos said: "In his 41 years with Aflac, Yamauchi-san has contributed greatly to our company in so many ways, including his leadership and dedication to enhancing our framework for creating products and the customer-driven service we provide. He has enhanced vital aspects of our company with his results-oriented approach, enabling us to deliver on our promises to our policyholders. We will appreciate his support of Aflac Japan from a broader perspective. At the same time, I know Koide-san will continue to do an exceptional job in his new role. He has demonstrated dedicated and effective leadership. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work even more closely with him as we advance Aflac's ability to reach more and more Japanese citizens throughout Japan."

About Aflac

When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For six decades, Aflac insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In the United States, Aflac is the leading provider of voluntary insurance at the worksite. Through its trailblazing One Day PaySM initiative, Aflac U.S. can receive, process, approve and disburse payment for eligible claims in one business day. In Japan, Aflac is the leading provider of medical and cancer insurance and insures 1 in 4 households. Aflac individual and group insurance products help provide protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. For 11 consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2017, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the 19th consecutive year and included Aflac on its list of Most Admired Companies for the 16th time. In 2015, Aflac's contact centers were recognized by J.D. Power by providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience" for the Live Phone Channel. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac and One Day Pay, visit aflac.com or espanol.aflac.com.

Forward-Looking Information

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" to encourage companies to provide prospective information, so long as those informational statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. We desire to take advantage of these provisions. This report contains cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected herein, and in any other statements made by Company officials in communications with the financial community and contained in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Forward-looking statements are not based on historical information and relate to future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments. Furthermore, forward-looking information is subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. In particular, statements containing words such as "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "goal," "objective," "may," "should," "estimate," "intends," "projects," "will," "assumes," "potential," "target", "outlook" or similar words as well as specific projections of future results, generally qualify as forward-looking. Aflac undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements. We caution readers that the following factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements: difficult conditions in global capital markets and the economy; exposure to significant interest rate risk; concentration of business in Japan; foreign currency fluctuations in the yen/dollar exchange rate; risks relating to the conversion of the Japan branch to a subsidiary; limited availability of acceptable yen-denominated investments; deviations in actual experience from pricing and reserving assumptions; ability to continue to develop and implement improvements in information technology systems; governmental actions for the purpose of stabilizing the financial markets; interruption in telecommunication, information technology and other operational systems, or a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data residing on such systems; ongoing changes in our industry; failure to comply with restrictions on patient privacy and information security; extensive regulation and changes in law or regulation by governmental authorities; defaults and credit downgrades of securities in our investment portfolio; ability to attract and retain qualified sales associates and employees; decline in creditworthiness of other financial institutions; subsidiaries' ability to pay dividends to Aflac Incorporated; decreases in our financial strength or debt ratings; inherent limitations to risk management policies and procedures; concentration of our investments in any particular single-issuer or sector; differing judgments applied to investment valuations; ability to effectively manage key executive succession; significant valuation judgments in determination of amount of impairments taken on our investments; catastrophic events including, but not necessarily limited to, epidemics, pandemics, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, acts of terrorism and damage incidental to such events; changes in U.S. and/or Japanese accounting standards; loss of consumer trust resulting from events external to our operations; credit and other risks associated with Aflac's investment in perpetual securities; increased expenses and reduced profitability resulting from changes in assumptions for pension and other postretirement benefit plans; level and outcome of litigation; and failure of internal controls or corporate governance policies and procedures.

Analyst and investor contact  David A. Young, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667; FAX: 706.324.6330 or [email protected]

Media contact  Catherine H. Blades, 706.596.3014; FAX: 706.320.2288 or [email protected]

SOURCE Aflac Incorporated

Related Links

http://www.aflac.com


PADUCAH, Ky., April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The McCracken County Cooperative Extension will host a free, interactive storybook activity day from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Friday, April 28 at its new location at 2025 New Holt Road in Paducah, Kentucky.

During StoryWalk, children can walk through life-size pages of the colorful children's book "Construction" by Sally Sutton and take part in activities along the way.

McCracken County Cooperative Extension

The StoryWalk is perfect for kids ages 2-5, and snacks are provided. At the end of the StoryWalk, participants will receive a free copy of the book to take home.

More information can be found online at www.mccrackenextension.org/events/storywalk or by calling the extension office at 270-554-9520.

Welcome to McCracken County Cooperative Extension. We're part of the University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University off-campus information network. Let us connect you to UK, KSU and the world. We deliver information, education, and solutions. And we grow ideas into better communities, stronger local economies, and healthier lives. Contact us today and see how we can make a difference in your life.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE McCracken County Cooperative Extension

Related Links

http://mccrackenextension.org


CALGARY, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - WestJet will hold its quarterly analysts' conference call on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at 8 a.m. MDT (10 a.m. EDT) following the release of its 2017 first quarter financial results.

President and CEO Gregg Saretsky and Executive Vice-President of Finance and CFO Harry Taylor will discuss WestJet's 2017 first quarter results and answer questions from financial analysts and members of the media.

The conference call will be available in Toronto by calling 416-915-3239, in Vancouver by calling 604-638-5340 and across Canada and the United States through the toll-free telephone number 1-800-319-4610. The call can also be heard live through an Internet webcast accessible via the Media and Investor Relations section of westjet.com.

A recording of the call will be available until May 16, 2017, across Canada and the United States by calling the toll-free number 1-800-319-6413 (access code 1329#). The webcast will be archived in the Media and Investor Relations section of westjet.com for 90 days following the call.

Annual meeting of shareholders (AGM)

WestJet will hold its AGM at 10 a.m. MDT (12 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at WestJet's Calgary campus, which is located at 22 Aerial Place NE, Calgary, Alberta. The AGM will be available through an Internet webcast in the Media and Investor Relations section of westjet.com.

About WestJet

We are proud to be Canada's most trusted airline, powered by an award-winning culture of care and recognized as one of the country's top employers. We offer scheduled service to more than 100 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Through our regional airline, WestJet Encore, and with partnerships with airlines representing every major region of the world, we offer our guests more than 150 destinations in more than 20 countries. Leveraging WestJet's extensive network, flight schedule and remarkable guest experience, WestJet Vacations delivers affordable, flexible travel experiences with a variety of accommodation options for every guest. Members of our WestJet Rewards program earn WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Our members use WestJet dollars towards the purchase of WestJet flights and vacations packages on any day, at any time, to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods  even on seat sales. For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.

Recent recognition includes:

2017 Best Airline in Canada and Travellers' Choice Winner Mid-Sized and Low-Cost Airlines  North America (TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards for airlines)

2016 Canada's Most Trusted Airline (Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria)

2016 Canada's most reputable company for Corporate Social Responsibility (Reputation Institute)2016/2015/2014/2013/2012 Ranked top three for Canadian Brands (Canadian Business Magazine)2016/2015/2014/2013 WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard ranked #1 in Canada (MoneySense magazine)

2015/2011/2010/2008/2007/2006/2005 Canada's Most Admired Corporate Culture (Waterstone Human Capital)

2015 Best Employers in Canada (Aon Hewitt)

Connect with WestJet on Facebook at facebook.com/westjet

Follow WestJet on Twitter at twitter.com/westjet

Subscribe to WestJet on YouTube at youtube.com/westjet

Read the WestJet blog at blog.westjet.com

SOURCE WestJet

Related Links

http://www.westjet.com


With summer soon approaching, April is the month where most people typically get their summer vacation plans in place. Travel search engine momondo asked 23,149 people from 23 different countries about their travel habits and analyzed more than 400 million searches* done on their site.

Americans are in it for the Long Haul

For travel loving Americans, planning in advance and traveling with their partner/spouse made it to the top of travel wish lists.

"Americans prefer to travel with their spouse/partner (61%) and they buy flight tickets 71 days in advance from their trip. In comparison, when it comes to accommodation, Americans book hotels at home just 22 days before the trip and 44 days in advance when travelling abroad. What set Americans apart from the global data was that the typical vacation length is 14 days, opposed to the global average of 7. So, Americans plan far in advance, commit to traveling with their love-interest, and travel for longer," says MaryBeth Lauro, spokesperson for momondo. She continues;

"We also can't get enough of freshly made beds and pre-fluffed pillows as 59% of us still choose hotels over any other kind of accommodation."

Other American Travel Trends: Sharing and Saving

Americans also like to share vacation memories and discoveries while we are still exploring the destination. More than a third of travelers share photos from vacation on social media while they are still away  which puts Americans as one of the most likely nationalities to post photos.

When it comes to saving money on trips, Americans were the only country out of the 23 surveyed to list meals and snacks as the area they prefer to save money on most while traveling.

London Remains an American Vacation Darling  but Barcelona is on the Rise

momondo also looked into the most sought after destination among Americans. And the most wanted vacation in 2017 calls for playful trips in Europe.

"London remains the most searched international destination among Americans, as this city with its famous sights, history, and local accents is almost always on an American's bucket list. For travels in 2017 however, another European destination is on the rise; Barcelona", says MaryBeth Lauro.

* These statistics were obtained from more than 400 million searches made on momondo's sites between January 1st 2016-March 5th 2017 and based on momondo's global travel survey, which in 2017 cover travel habits among 23,149 people, including 1,040 Americans matching the population of the US regarding age, gender, and geography.

To learn more about the Most wanted vacation across countries visit: http://www.momondo.com/inspiration/the-vacation-everyone-wants/

About momondo:

momondo.com is a free and global travel search site that compares billions of prices on flights, hotels and car rentals. Headquartered in Copenhagen, momondo serves travelers across more than 30 international markets. momondo's mobile applications are available for free for iPhone and Android.

SOURCE momondo
MEM compiles its annual ranking of high-performing mortgage lenders based on total yearly loan volume. In 2016, New America Funding closed more than $11.7 billion in home loans , which totaled over 40 thousand loans.

"It's exciting when Mortgage Executive Magazine identifies your company as one of the top in the nation for six years in a row," said COO Christy Bunce. "We couldn't be more thrilled by this recognition or the fact that our leaders, Rick and Patty, have been named as top influencers in the industry. Their dynamic leadership combined with a hard-working mortgage team continues to drive us forward."

Rick orchestrates overall growth and led New American Funding into record-breaking profitability over the past year; while Patty manages operations and sales for the headquarters, 130+ branches, and 2300+ employees. Due to their progressive business approach, Ernst and Young, named both Rick and Patty as EY Entrepreneurs of the Year  in 2016.

Both are actively involved within the mortgage industry on a national level. Earlier this year, Rick began serving a two-year term as Chairman for the Mortgage Bankers Association Political Action Committee. Patty maintains an advocacy role by serving on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Consumer Affairs Advisory Council for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

About New American Funding

New American Funding is a national mortgage banker licensed in 48 states with 130+ branch locations offering a variety of home loan options including: Conventional, FHA, Cash Out, Fixed Rate and Adjustable Rate Mortgages, VA, HARP 2.0, Jumbo, and Reverse Mortgages. The company is a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae Direct Seller/Servicer, FHA Direct Endorsement, and VA Automatic mortgage lender.

SOURCE New American Funding

Related Links

http://www.newamericanfunding.com


GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cornell William Brooks, President and CEO of the NAACP, will deliver the 21st annual W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture at Bard College at Simon's Rock on Wednesday, April 26, at 7:00 p.m. in the Daniel Arts Center.

This talk will be live streamed, view here: https://simons-rock.edu/naacp.

The annual W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture at Simon's Rock celebrates the legacy of Great Barrington native, civil rights activist, and NAACP founding member, W.E.B. Du Bois. With the renewed visibility and voice President Brooks has brought to the NAACP, it is particularly fitting for him talk with students and the community about issues crucial for Du Bois and for our democracy. This year's lecture will be presented in partnership with The Center for Early College at Bard College, the Berkshire County Branch of the NAACP, Multicultural BRIDGE, and the Town of Great Barrington.

Since assuming the role of president in 2014, Brooksa civil rights attorney, social justice advocate, fourth-generation ordained minister, and coalition builderhas led the Association in its fight for equality for all American citizens. Under his leadership, the NAACP has increased its membership, strengthened partnerships, and initiated alliances, building critical support for its civil rights agenda, including education reform, criminal justice regulatory reform, and voting rights.

"I am pleased to welcome Cornell William Brooks to Simon's Rock and to Great Barrington, the hometown of W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois was instrumental in founding the NAACP, and he was a champion for the liberal arts and sciences as essential for democracy," said Simon's Rock Provost Ian Bickford. "President Brooks has been an important voice in renewing Du Bois's legacy in the fight for social justice and economic equalityan especially important legacy in today's political climate, and especially meaningful for Simon's Rock students seeking to create change."

ABOUT SIMON'S ROCK

Bard College at Simon's Rock, the Early College is the only college in the country specifically designed for bright, highly motivated students ready to enter college after the 10th or 11th grade. Simon's Rock offers a challenging program in the liberal arts and sciences, taught exclusively in small seminars by a supportive, highly trained faculty, who are leading scholars in their fields. The College grants degrees in more than 35 majors. The Princeton Review's Best 380 Colleges rates academics at Simon's Rock higher than Harvard and Princeton.





Contacts:

Karen Anderson

Associate Director of Marketing and Communications

[email protected]

413-528-7209

SOURCE Bard College at Simon's Rock

Related Links

http://www.simons-rock.edu


This spring and summer, there are even more reasons to visit Connecticut. Here are just a few top seasonal highlights:

New this spring and summer:

Experience luxury at the Delamar West Hartford this June, Connecticut's newest boutique hotel, offering a full-service spa, fine dining and even complimentary bicycle rentals. Other unique lodging experiences, including B&Bs, inns and campgrounds, are featured on www.CTvisit.com along with special travel deals.

at the Delamar West Hartford this June, newest boutique hotel, offering a full-service spa, fine dining and even complimentary bicycle rentals. Other unique lodging experiences, including B&Bs, inns and campgrounds, are featured on www.CTvisit.com along with special travel deals. Get up close and personal with wildlife at the Connecticut Science Center's new exhibit, "Butterfly Encounter," opening this June in Hartford ; see an exotic array of species at Mystic Aquarium's "Weird and Wonderful" exhibit, opening Memorial Day Weekend; explore the Maritime Aquarium's expanded jellyfish exhibit in Norwalk , opening this summer; and, visit Changbai, a female Amur tiger on exhibit now at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport .

with wildlife at the Connecticut Science Center's new exhibit, "Butterfly Encounter," opening this June in ; see an exotic array of species at Mystic Aquarium's "Weird and Wonderful" exhibit, opening Weekend; explore the Maritime Aquarium's expanded jellyfish exhibit in , opening this summer; and, visit Changbai, a female Amur tiger on exhibit now at Beardsley Zoo in . Reach new heights at Skydive Danielson thanks to its new airplane that allows skydivers to jump from 14,000 feet; visit Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury , where youngsters can experience two new rides this spring; or, try the two new 75-foot-high zip lines at Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park in Portland , opening Memorial Day Weekend.

at Skydive Danielson thanks to its new airplane that allows skydivers to jump from 14,000 feet; visit Quassy Amusement Park in , where youngsters can experience two new rides this spring; or, try the two new 75-foot-high zip lines at Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Park in , opening Weekend. Pick your own bouquet at Lavender Pond Farm in Killingworth on select dates this summer, to be announced; and, use the new "See & Sip Itineraries," designed by the Connecticut Wine Trail and Connecticut Art Trail, to pick and pair wine tasting locations with local museums.

bouquet at Lavender Pond Farm in on select dates this summer, to be announced; and, use the new "See & Sip Itineraries," designed by the Connecticut Wine Trail and Connecticut Art Trail, to pick and pair wine tasting locations with local museums. Learn something new at Mystic Seaport by visiting the Thompson Exhibition Building, currently showing its inaugural exhibit, "SeaChange;" and, learn all about minerals at Nature's Art Village's new state-of-the-art miniature golf course opening this summer, joining the 40 life-sized dinosaurs, pristine nature trails and indoor activity center.

Timeless favorites:

Explore 216 miles of Connecticut shoreline : soak in the rays at public beaches, including Hammonasset Beach State Park, home to the Meigs Point Nature Center; kayak around the Thimble Islands; take a lighthouse boat tour; and, devour a hot-buttered lobster roll at one of Connecticut's legendary seafood shacks.

: soak in the rays at public beaches, including Hammonasset Beach State Park, home to the Meigs Point Nature Center; kayak around the Thimble Islands; take a lighthouse boat tour; and, devour a hot-buttered lobster roll at one of legendary seafood shacks. Hit the hiking and biking trails that crisscross Connecticut for hundreds of miles, including those in The Last Green Valley, a National Heritage Corridor that runs through 26 towns in Connecticut's northeast corner.

that crisscross for hundreds of miles, including those in The Last Green Valley, a National Heritage Corridor that runs through 26 towns in northeast corner. Hunt for treasures along the Connecticut Antiques Trail. Make your first stop the town of Woodbury , the "Antiques Capital of Connecticut ," with more than two dozen shops to discover.

along the Connecticut Antiques Trail. Make your first stop the town of , the "Antiques Capital of ," with more than two dozen shops to discover. Play and stay at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket and Mohegan Sun in Uncasville ; enjoy gaming as well as renowned hotels, restaurants, spas, shopping, and live entertainment.

Don't-miss events:

Enjoy the blooms at any one of Connecticut's major flower festivals, including the Meriden Daffodil Festival ( April 29-30 ) and Dogwood Festival in Fairfield ( May 12-14 ).

at any one of major flower festivals, including the Meriden Daffodil Festival ( ) and Dogwood Festival in ( ). Cheer on the pros at the Northeast's only PGA tour event, Travelers Championship, in Cromwell ( June 19-25 ) or the Connecticut Open in New Haven ( August 1-4 ), featuring tennis great Martina Navratilova; and, music fans won't want to miss the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz in Hartford ( July 14-16 ), the largest free jazz event in New England, and the Litchfield Jazz Festival in Goshen ( August 5-6 ).

at the Northeast's only PGA tour event, Travelers Championship, in ( ) or the Connecticut Open in ( ), featuring tennis great Martina Navratilova; and, music fans won't want to miss the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz in ( ), the largest free jazz event in New England, and the Litchfield Jazz Festival in ( ). Experience the arts at the Greenwich International Film Festival ( June 1-4 ) and take in more than 60 events, screenings, premiers and educational panels; then, enjoy the work of more than 180 nationally recognized craft artists at the Guilford Art Center's Craft Expo ( July 14-16 ).

at the International Film Festival ( ) and take in more than 60 events, screenings, premiers and educational panels; then, enjoy the work of more than 180 nationally recognized craft artists at the Guilford Art Center's Craft Expo ( ). Indulge in seasonal delights at the Milford Oyster Festival ( August 19 ), featuring the largest variety of oysters at any festival in the United States ; and, don't miss all the special events at breweries along the renowned Connecticut Beer Trail.

at the Milford Oyster Festival ( ), featuring the largest variety of oysters at any festival in ; and, don't miss all the special events at breweries along the renowned Connecticut Beer Trail. Try something new on Connecticut Open House Day ( June 10 ), when Connecticut residents enjoy discounted or free admission, giveaways or special offers at 150+ attractions.

"Connecticut's prime New England location makes it the perfect destination for visitors looking for a quick weekend escape from metro areas like New York and Boston, or an extended vacation," said Randy Fiveash, director of the Connecticut Office of Tourism. "We welcome visitors to come and experience Connecticut for the first time, and encourage those who have visited before to discover what's new."

To learn more about all there is to see and do in Connecticut, visit www.CTvisit.com. For additional travel inspiration, follow Connecticut on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

SOURCE Connecticut Office of Tourism

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LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- First Division Press is excited to announce the release of their newest publication, 'Green Day Rising: Before the Dookie Flew'. Through never-before-seen photographs and on-the-scene reporting, the book chronicles Green Day's 1994 farewell to the San Francisco Bay Area's small club scene.

On July 5, 1994, Green Day was poised to emerge from the punk cocoon of 924 Gilman Street and develop into a band that has delivered a decades-long run of bird-flipping, thought-provoking and hit-making music.

Cover Photo

Before they grabbed headlines by inciting a mass mud fight at Woodstock '94 and ignited the charts with blistering punk salvos like "Welcome to Paradise" and "When I Come Around," Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool bid one last goodbye to the small-club scene of the Bay Area, playing an intimate show at San Francisco nightclub Slim's to host a bon-voyage party that still rattles the minds of the lucky few who attended.

"It's was one of those moments in life when you realize you're witnessing history in the making," says Mike Sharon, co-author of Green Day Rising: Before the Dookie Flew. "We didn't need to wait for Woodstock '94 to happen  it was going down right in front of our eyes."

Green Day Rising: Before the Dookie Flew captures the band at the cusp of mainstream success with dozens of never-before-seen photos and eyewitness reporting, delivering an intimate portrait of a phenomenon-to-be that obscurity couldn't confine, genre couldn't define and the world had no idea was coming.

"The amazing thing about Green Day during this period was that, even though they were in their very early twenties, they were already incredibly evolved and self-aware," says Tim Kenneally, co-author of Green Day Rising: Before the Dookie Flew. "Like the Beatles, who had also honed their craft for years in less-than-ideal circumstances, Green Day was fully ready to take on the world -- even if the world didn't realize it yet."

For more information, visit:

www.greendayrising.com/media

Media Contacts:

Michael Sharon

First Division Press, East Coast Office

[email protected]

704.726.8307

Tim Kenneally

First Division Press, West Coast Office

[email protected]

704.421.0840

For regular updates, follow us on:

Facebook: facebook.com/GreenDayRising

Twitter: twitter.com/greendayrising

Instagram: instagram.com/green_day_rising

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SOURCE First Division Press
ASHBURN, Va., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Flossy Brush, a new start-up company, has just launched their innovative toothbrush and flossing aid combination in one. The new toothbrush goes by the same name as the company and provides a simple, clean and compact design that combines the toothbrush on one end and the flossing aid on the opposite end. Flossy brush offers a complete cleaning and removes significantly more plaque than a regular manual brush. The company has set up a page on Fundable that details more information about the product and investor opportunities.

Flossy Brush

Although the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in an August 2016 statement said that "flossing is an important oral hygiene practice," studies show that less than 50 percent of people actually floss on a daily basis. Some 20 percent don't floss at all. Many note dexterity issues with wrapping floss around their fingers and navigating around teeth to floss properly. Others note the time and inconvenience.

Flossy Brush addresses both issues. The integrated floss holder offers simple and quick placement and replacement of any kind of floss on the market. There are no removable parts or replacement cartridges to purchase. Further, the design is curved and flexible, allowing the user to easily reach the hardest places around teeth. The American Dental Association recommends flossing at least once a day to prevent cavities and gum diseases. Because Flossy Brush is a toothbrush and flossing aid in one, it's already at the user's fingertips as they brush, saving time. Flossy Brush also offers a compact head design that is flexible with ultra-soft bristles (tapered 0.01 tip) to reach below the gum. The Tynex-soft rounded bristles also make for a more conventional feel.

"Flossy Brush is not just another toothbrush. It is far more effective at removing plaque and simple and convenient to use," says Dr. Zoltan Rusznak, CEO of Flossy Brush. "Our aim is to sell this widely in the U.S market, and as we grow, expand into European and Japanese markets. Right now, we are looking for investors who have an interest in helping launch the product into the next phase."

Flossy Brush has already achieved much in its first two years in development. The company has secured manufacturing as well as warehousing and transportation. Flossy Brush has also created an initial stock of 35,000 retail-ready toothbrushes. Investors who want to learn more about the company, its accomplishments and future goals should visit the Fundable page for more information.

To learn more and be one of the first to order this new and innovative toothbrush, visit FlossyBrush.com.

Flossy Brush

Flossy Brush is a start-up company specialized in designing and producing a revolutionary toothbrush. To learn more, visit FlossyBrush.com.

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SOURCE Flossy Brush

Related Links

http://flossybrush.com


LAS VEGAS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- New public opinion research finds the overwhelming majority of Americans see public television as an effective channel for educating children and underserved populations about responding to emergency situations like tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes or terrorist attacks. Commissioned by Eagle Hill Consulting and America's Public Television Stations (APTS), the research finds that:

91 percent of Americans believe that public television could be an effective channel to educate children about responding to emergencies.

87 percent say public television could be an effective channel to educate underserved populations (including low income communities, individuals with disabilities, and rural communities) about responding to emergencies.

80 percent of Americans are aware that government agencies use public television to distribute alerts during emergencies.

"Public broadcasting increasingly plays a fundamental role in keeping America safe," says Eagle Hill's John McCoskey. "Public broadcasting isn't just about popular programming. Emergency agencies and law enforcement rely on the public television system to communicate with Americans during emergencies."

"This new research tells us that Americans are aware that the public television system is an information source in crisis situations, which can be vital if other communication networks are taken down in a natural disaster or terror attack. Moreover, Americans see a growing safety role for the public television system  to educate children and underserved communities about responding to emergencies," McCoskey explained.

America's public television stations are committed to three essential public service missions: education, public safety and civic leadership. As the last locally-controlled media in America, public television reaches nearly 97 percent of Americans. Public television stations are uniquely positioned to provide these services, not only on television but also in the classroom, online, as part of the emergency response network and in the community.

"Public television stations are proud to partner with local law enforcement and first responder agencies to use the power of public television to ensure all Americans are safe," said Lonna Thompson, APTS executive vice president and chief operating officer. "Emergency management agencies can use public television's technology to communicate with one another and with the public during times of crisis. We are delighted that this new research shows the public's trust and value of public television's essential services, which they depend on every day."

Public media has cultivated considerable expertise in public safety, emergency communications and spectrum management over the past decade, gaining a reputation as a trusted and reliable resource with federal agencies, commercial entities and the public.

Public television and radio stations have created effective partnerships with state and local law enforcement and federal agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to communicate with the public in crises situations. In addition, public television stations have committed 1 Mbps of their spectrum data stream to support the new federal FirstNet public safety network built for first responders to improve communications coverage, reliability and redundancy, as well as to better serve rural and underserved communities. The public television station system will complement FirstNet by providing high-speed data broadcast services used for distribution of video, images, and blueprints in emergency situations.

Both Vegas PBS and Houston Public Media are true pioneers in public safety. They have taken the decade-long promise of public safety datacasting and put it to work in their local communities. Vegas PBS has expanded and built partnerships with a wide variety of government entities to respond in emergency situations. The station also created a K-12 emergency data center that is regarded as the nation's most comprehensive school safety training, alerting and response system. Houston Public Media has created a powerful network of public safety and first responder organizations, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, that meets both high-profile security challenges like the recent Super Bowl and the everyday requirements of keeping millions of citizens of Houston safe.

The new research findings will be discussed on Tuesday, April 25th as part of a National Association of Broadcasters panel on utilizing the public broadcast network for public safety. Moderated by Eagle Hill's John McCoskey, the session will feature Roger Stone Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistant Administrator, for National Continuity Programs; Lonna Thompson, America's Public Television Stations Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer & General Counsel; Tom Axtell, Vegas PBS General Manager; Lisa Trapani Shumate, Houston Public Media Associate Vice President and General Manager; and Dana Golub PBS Public Programs Senior Director.

The research was conducted by Ipsos in April 2017 as an online survey of 1004 Americans. The results were weighted to reflect U.S. demographic factors, including age, income, the four national census regions, and gender.

America's Public Television Stations is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.

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. More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com.

SOURCE Eagle Hill Consulting LLC

Related Links

http://www.eaglehillconsulting.com


In the paper, titled "Addressing the Real Crisis of Free Expression on Campus," (link to PDF) Herbst contends universities should be a forum for the free exchange of ideas, but instead, they are becoming places where speech is censored, sometimes forcefully, by students. Recent incidents in which student protesters prevented conservative thought-leaders from speaking at college campuses, reflect a widely-shared perspective among young adults that there are exceptions to the rule of free speech.

Herbst identifies a surprising source for this new understanding of the First Amendment, and identifies factors in students' development that could reinforce it as students move from high school to college. Citing research from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Newseum Institute, PEN America, the Pew Research Center and other sources, Herbst paints a comprehensive picture of student free expression issues that goes beyond episodic analysis of campus speech incidents.

The paper provides a set of recommendations for increasing student tolerance of offensive speech, and helping them become stronger advocates for free expression. Among Herbst's recommendations: first and secondary schools must educate students on the First Amendment; colleges and universities must make an absolutist case for free speech; and schools must continually make the case that free speech helps minorities and those who are alienated.

Now, when the younger generations make up the largest age demographic in America (Millennials now outnumber Boomers), it is more critical than ever to educate students on the First Amendment  and the full rights it affords. The danger in not doing so, writes Herbst, would lead to nothing less than restrictions on our core freedoms.

Generous support for this project was provided by the Knight Foundation.

ABOUT THE NEWSEUM

The Newseum promotes, explains and defends free expression and the five freedoms of the First Amendment: religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. Headquartered on historic Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., the Newseum's compelling, dynamic and engaging exhibits, programs and education initiatives help ensure that these fundamental freedoms remain strong and protected both today and for future generations. The Newseum Institute promotes the study, exploration and education of the challenges confronting freedom through its First Amendment Center and the Religious Freedom Center. The Newseum is a 501(c)(3) public charity funded by generous individuals, corporations and foundations, including the Freedom Forum. For more information, visit newseum.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

SOURCE Newseum

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DALLAS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NexPoint Residential Trust, Inc. ("NXRT" or the "Company") (NYSE: NXRT) today announced that the Company is scheduled to host a conference call on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. ET (10:00 am CT), to discuss first quarter 2017 financial results.

The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing (888) 298-3465 or, for international callers, (719) 325-2111, and using passcode 2243429. A live audio webcast of the call will be available online at the Company's website, http://www.nexpointliving.com (under "Investor Relations"). An online replay will be available shortly after the call on the Company's website and continue to be available for 60 days.

A replay of the conference call will also be available through Tuesday, May 9, 2017, by dialing (888) 203-1112 or, for international callers, (719) 457-0820 and entering passcode 2243429.

The Company plans to issue a press release with first quarter 2017 financial results before market open on Tuesday, May 2, 2017.

About NexPoint Residential Trust, Inc.

NexPoint Residential Trust, Inc. is a publicly traded REIT, with its shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NXRT," primarily focused on acquiring, owning and operating well-located middle-income multifamily properties with "value-add" potential in large cities and suburban submarkets of large cities, primarily in the Southeastern and Southwestern United States. NXRT is externally advised by NexPoint Real Estate Advisors, L.P., an affiliate of Highland Capital Management, L.P., a leading global alternative asset manager and an SEC-registered investment adviser. More information about NXRT is available at http://www.nexpointliving.com.

For Further Information:

Investor Relations

Marilynn Meek

212-827-3773

SOURCE NexPoint Residential Trust, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.nexpointliving.com


WASHINGTON, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With Congress on the brink of another government shutdown, the co-chairs of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus this morning released a joint statement calling for the passage of a "clean" continuing budget resolution, free of the hot-button partisan provisions that threaten to grind D.C. to a halt. As reported by CNN, this official position was adopted with the approval of more than 75% of both parties' members of the Caucus, which features 40 members equally divided between the parties.

No Labels lauds the bold bipartisan stand being taken by Problem Solvers Caucus membersand is calling on others in Congress to follow the Caucus' lead.

"The last thing Washington needs right now is another government shutdown. Neither party will win and the American people will lose," said No Labels co-chair Sen. Joe Lieberman. "It takes real leadership to do what Caucus members did this morningto reject the most intransigent voices in their own party and to instead come together around a common sense bipartisan solution. The Problem Solvers Caucus has created an opening for a compromise and now it's time for others in Congress to follow their lead."

The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucuswhich is co-chaired by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D) and Rep. Tom Reed (R)was created in January and features equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans who are committed to forging bipartisan cooperation across the aisle. The Caucus represents a model for the kind of leadership that No Labels has long advocated for and a necessary step toward the creation of a true bipartisan bloc that is able to cooperate on key issues and counter the fringes of each party.

The congressional budget process is once again breaking down because some in Congress want to jam ideological "riders" into spending bills that have little or nothing to do with funding the core functions of government. With their public statement today, No Labels believes that Problem Solvers Caucus members are offering a sensible and achievable way out of this budget impasse.

"Everyone should recognize how unusualand welcomeit is for the Problem Solvers Caucus to release this joint bipartisan statement," said No Labels cofounder Tom Davis. This is a moment when many in both parties are angling for maximum partisan advantage. But the Problem Solvers Caucus members recognize that allowing another government shutdown would just further undermine the public's already low trust in Washington. Someone has to stop this endless cycle of polarization and that's exactly what this Caucus is trying to do."

Although No Labels commends the Problem Solvers Caucus for its bold bipartisan statement this morning, No Labels continues to believe that Congress must embrace more far reaching reforms to the congressional budgeting process. According to the Congressional Research Service, the average spending bill is 100 days late. This week's continuing resolution vote is necessary only because Congress has once again proven unable to pass budget and spending bills in an orderly fashion.

That's why No Labels advocates for far-reaching reforms like No Budget, No Pay, two-year budgets, capital budgeting and other budget reforms that can be found in a framework recently released by No Labels that can be found here. No Labels cofounder Bill Galston and Ryan Clancy are available today to discuss the outlines of these reforms and No Labels' perspective on the continuing resolution.

SOURCE No Labels

Related Links

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HONG KONG, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Nord Anglia Education, Inc. (NYSE: NORD) ("Nord Anglia Education" or the "Company"), the world's leading premium schools organization, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger (the "Merger Agreement") with Bach Finance Limited ("Parent") and Bach Acquisitions Limited ("Merger Sub"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent, pursuant to which Nord Anglia Education will be acquired by Parent in a transaction valued at approximately $4.3 billion, including the repayment of debt. Immediately following the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement (the "Closing"), Parent will be beneficially owned by a consortium (the "Buyer Consortium") led by funds affiliated with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPPIB") and funds affiliated with Baring Private Equity Asia ("BPEA").

Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, at the effective time of the merger, each ordinary share of the Company issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the merger (each a "Share") will be cancelled and cease to exist in exchange for the right to receive $32.50 in cash without interest, except for (a) (i) 69,613,389 Shares beneficially owned by Premier Education Holdings Ltd or its transferee and (ii) Shares held by Parent, the Company or any of their subsidiaries, each of which will be cancelled and cease to exist without any conversion thereof or consideration paid therefor, (b) certain shares of restricted stock granted under the 2014 Equity Incentive Award Plan of the Company, which will be converted into rights to receive shares in Bach Manco Limited, an indirect majority shareholder of Parent, and (c) Shares held by shareholders who have validly exercised and not effectively withdrawn or lost their rights to dissent from the merger, or dissenter rights, in accordance with Section 238 of the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands (the "Dissenting Shares"), which will be cancelled and cease to exist in exchange for the right to receive the payment of appraised fair value of the Dissenting Shares in accordance with Section 238 of the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands.

The merger consideration per Share represents a premium of 18 percent over Nord Anglia Education's closing share price of $27.62 on April 24, 2017 and a premium of approximately 33 percent over the average closing share price during the 90 calendar days ended April 24, 2017.

The board of directors of Nord Anglia Education (the "Board"), acting on the recommendation of a special committee of independent and disinterested directors unaffiliated with CPPIB or BPEA (the "Special Committee"), has authorized and approved the Merger Agreement and resolved to recommend that the Company's shareholders vote to authorize and approve the Merger Agreement and the merger. The Special Committee negotiated the terms of the Merger Agreement with the assistance of its financial and legal advisors.

The merger agreement provides for a socalled "goshop" period, during which the Special Committee will actively solicit, receive, evaluate and potentially enter into negotiations with parties that offer alternative proposals. The initial go-shop period is 30 days, following which period, the Special Committee will be permitted to continue discussions and enter into or recommend a transaction with any person or group that submitted a qualifying proposal during such 30-day period.

The transaction will be financed through a combination of cash contributed by CPPIB and BPEA and third party financing underwritten by a group of financial institutions. There is no financing condition to the Closing.

The transaction is subject to customary conditions including the approval of the Merger Agreement and the merger by the affirmative vote of holders of Shares representing at least two-thirds of the voting power of the Shares present and voting in person or by proxy at a meeting of the Company's shareholders convened to consider the Merger Agreement and the merger. Premier Education Holdings Ltd, an affiliate of BPEA that currently holds approximately 67 percent of the Company's Shares, has agreed to vote all of such Shares in favor of the authorization and approval of the Merger Agreement and the merger. The transaction is currently expected to close before the end of Nord Anglia Education's fiscal year ending August 31, 2017. If completed, the merger will result in the Company becoming a privately-owned company and its Shares will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In connection with the merger, Houlihan Lokey is serving as financial advisor to the Special Committee; Kirkland & Ellis is serving as U.S. legal counsel to the Special Committee; Maples and Calder is serving as Cayman Islands legal counsel to the Special Committee; and Latham & Watkins is serving as U.S. legal counsel to the Company.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is serving as U.S. legal counsel to the Buyer Consortium; and Walkers is serving as Cayman Islands legal counsel to the Buyer Consortium.

Ropes & Gray is serving as U.S. legal counsel to CPPIB.

Nord Anglia Education will furnish to the SEC a report on Form 6-K regarding the proposed transaction described in this announcement, which will include the merger agreement.

About Nord Anglia Education, Inc.

Nord Anglia Education (NYSE: NORD) is the world's leading premium schools organization. Our 43 international schools are located in China, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and North America. Together, they educate more than 37,000 students from kindergarten through to the end of secondary education. We are driven by one unifying philosophy - we are ambitious of our students, our people and our family of schools. Our schools deliver a high quality education through a personalized approach enhanced with unique global opportunities to enable every student to succeed. We primarily operate in geographic markets with high foreign direct investment, large expatriate populations and rising disposable income. We believe that these factors contribute to high demand for premium schools and strong growth in our business. Nord Anglia Education is headquartered in Hong Kong SAR, China. Our website is www.nordangliaeducation.com.

About Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to pay current benefits on behalf of 20 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, CPPIB invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, Sao Paulo and Sydney, CPPIB is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. At December 31, 2016, the CPP Fund totalled $298.1 billion. For more information about CPPIB, please visit www.cppib.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

About Baring Private Equity Asia

Baring Private Equity Asia is one of the largest and most established independent alternative asset management firms in Asia, with a total committed capital of over USD10 billion. The firm runs a pan-Asian investment program, sponsoring buyouts and providing growth capital to companies for expansion or acquisitions, as well as a private credit and a pan-Asian real estate private equity investment program. The firm has been investing in Asia since its formation in 1997 and has over 140 employees located across offices in Hong Kong, China, India, Japan and Singapore. Baring Asia currently has over 41 portfolio companies active across Asia with a total of 178,000 employees and sales of approximately $35 billion in 2016. For more information, please visit www.bpeasia.com.

For further information, please contact:

Investors:

Vanessa Cardonnel

Corporate Finance and Investor Relations Director  Nord Anglia Education

Tel: +852 3951 1130

Email: [email protected]

John Rouleau

Managing Director, Investor Relations  ICR

Tel: +1-203-682-8342

Email: [email protected]

Media:

Sarah Doyle

Head of Brand - Nord Anglia Education

Tel: +852 3951 1144

Email: [email protected]

Forwardlooking Statements

Any statements in this press release about future events or future results, the expected timing of the completion of the proposed merger and the ability to complete the proposed merger, and other statements containing the words "estimates," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and similar expressions, other than historical facts, constitute forwardlooking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Factors or risks that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results we anticipate include, but are not limited to: (1) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement; (2) the inability to complete the proposed merger due to the failure to obtain shareholder approval for the proposed merger or the failure to satisfy other conditions to completion of the proposed merger; and (3) the failure to obtain the necessary financing arrangements set forth in the debt and equity commitment letters delivered pursuant to the merger agreement.

Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forwardlooking statements. In addition, the forwardlooking statements included in this press release represent our views as of the date hereof. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change and while we may elect to update these forwardlooking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so. These forwardlooking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof. Additional factors that may cause results to differ materially from those described in the forwardlooking statements are set forth in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

The Company will furnish to the SEC a report on Form 6-K regarding the proposed transactions described in this announcement, which will include the merger agreement. All parties desiring details regarding the merger are urged to review these documents, which will be available at the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov).

In connection with the merger, the Company will prepare and mail a proxy statement to its shareholders. In addition, certain participants in the merger will prepare and mail to the Company's shareholders a Schedule 13E-3 transaction statement. These documents will be filed with or furnished to the SEC. Investors and shareholders are urged to read carefully and in their entirety these materials and other materials filed with or furnished to the SEC when they become available, as they will contain important information about the Company, the merger and related matters. In addition to receiving the proxy statement and Schedule 13E-3 transaction statement by mail, shareholders also will be able to obtain these documents, as well as other filings containing information about the Company, the merger and related matters, without charge, from the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition, these documents can be obtained, without charge, by sending an e-mail to [email protected], along with complete contact details and a mailing address.

The Company and certain of its directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees may, under SEC rules, be deemed to be "participants" in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders with respect to the merger. Information regarding the persons or entities who may be considered "participants" in the solicitation of proxies will be set forth in the proxy statement and Schedule 13E-3 transaction statement relating to the merger when it is filed with the SEC. Information regarding certain of these persons and their beneficial ownership of the Company's ordinary shares as of November 18, 2016 is also set forth in the Company's Form 20-F filed with the SEC on November 29, 2016. Additional information regarding the interests of such potential participants will be included in the proxy statement and Schedule 13E-3 transaction statement and the other relevant documents filed with the SEC when they become available.

This announcement is neither a solicitation of proxy, an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities and it is not a substitute for any proxy statement or other filings that may be made with the SEC should the merger proceed.

SOURCE Nord Anglia Education, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.nordangliaeducation.com


KENOSHA, Wis., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OFFSITE, an innovative cloud computing and data center hosting company, is integrating Palo Alto Next Generation Security Platform and firewalls into its network and private cloud infrastructure. This security platform will offer the industry leading threat protection with deep visibility and predictive analytics for OFFSITE network infrastructure and all clients that utilize it.

"Our approach to IT is to provide the best and most innovative platforms to serve our clients. As network threats increase, the Palo Alto Security Platform was the clear choice to continue providing our clients with the very best infrastructure available," said OFFSITE president, Steve Borucki. He added, "We build highly customized solutions for each client and the rich feature set of the Palo Alto platform allows us to deliver customizable and unique security solutions one client at a time."

Anthony Portee, OFFSITE chief technology officer said, "The fully customized private cloud solutions being envisioned and commissioned by our client base demand a highly scalable and efficient NGFW solution which can satisfy a wide range of business and security needs. From application inspection and content enforcement to executive reporting and traffic visibility, the Palo Alto solution satisfies all of the unique and challenging technical requirements our customers look to OFFSITE to resolve. The high performance and tightly integrated ecosystem provided by the Palo Alto product family fulfills a critical role for OFFSITE's customers."

About OFFSITE

OFFSITE redefines the data center experience for mid-tier IT organizations with its high performing environment for managing data operations. Operating since 2001, OFFSITE offers private cloud services, IaaS, colocation services, disaster recovery services, network operations center (NOC) services, and hosted and managed solutions. OFFSITE's spacious facilities and customized services enable mid-market businesses to solve their IT challenges and discover new managed services, hosting and private cloud computing solutions. OFFSITE is a privately held company headquartered at its own 50,000 square foot facilities in Southeastern WI with redundant data center operations in Chicago, Illinois. For additional information about OFFSITE, call 262-564-6400, email [email protected], or visit http://www.off-site.com

SOURCE OFFSITE, LLC

Related Links

http://www.off-site.com


DALLAS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC ("Oncor") has scheduled a conference call on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at 9 a.m. Central Time to discuss its first quarter 2017 operational and financial results. Oncor's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission prior to the conference call.

The call will be webcast live at www.oncor.com under the "Investors" tab in the webcast section. The following information is provided for investors who wish to participate in the conference call.

US/Canada Dial-in Number: 1.877.674.6428 International Dial-in Number: 1.315.625.3074 Conference Code: 11862403

Participants should use the conference code to access the call.

For those unable to participate in the live event, a replay of the call will be available later that day on Oncor's website, www.oncor.com. To access that call, visit the "Investors" section of the site and select the "Webcasts" archive.

Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC ("Oncor") is a regulated electricity distribution and transmission business that uses superior asset management skills to provide reliable electricity delivery to consumers. Oncor operates the largest distribution and transmission system in Texas, delivering power to more than 3.4 million homes and businesses and operating more than 122,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines in Texas. While Oncor is owned by a limited number of investors (including majority owner, Energy Future Holdings Corp.), Oncor is managed by its Board of Directors, which is comprised of a majority of independent directors.

SOURCE Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC

Related Links

http://www.oncor.com


JERUSALEM, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The Be a Mensch Foundation is proud to announce the selection of OurCrowd and its CEO Jonathan Medved as the Be a Mensch "Organization of the Year."

The decision is based on OurCrowd's dedication to invest in Israel's greatest asset, its people.

Israel has become synonymous with startup technologies that change industries and improve people's lives throughout the world. This is largely due to the tireless efforts of entrepreneurs such as Medved, who has spearheaded OurCrowd to become one of the single largest investors in the Israeli tech ecosystem.

To date, OurCrowd has raised over $400M in 110+ companies, 70% of them Israeli.

In June 2013, OurCrowd became the first fund to require its Israeli companies to commit equity to a charitable cause, demonstrating its commitment to the nonprofit world in a notable way.

"OurCrowd's organizational leadership and practical application manifest the mission of the Be a Mensch Foundation, and make our efforts easier by the incorporation of positive values along with their investment goals," says Moshe Kaplan, M.D, CEO of the Mensch Foundation.

"I am honored to receive this award," says OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved. "I believe in what the Be a Mensch Foundation teaches: tolerance, respect, integrity, consideration, and human dignity as life goals. Their programs are committed to helping heal any rifts in Israeli society so that Israel can be a technologically as well as socially advanced population."

About Be A Mensch: The "Be A Mensch" organization beamensch.com is dedicated to bringing Israeli society together and infusing it with the positive values that are the key to personal and societal success. The "Be A Mensch" organization works towards a responsible, just, considerate, and integrity driven society, collaborating with partners across the social, political and religious spectrum in a variety of programs.

The Mensch Foundation dialogue program is based on the book "Be a Mensch-Why Good Character is the Key to a Life of Health, Happiness, Wealth and Love" (Gefen Press).

To learn more visit beamensch.com

About OurCrowd: OurCrowd is the leading global equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors. Managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd vets and selects opportunities, invests its own capital, and brings companies to its accredited membership of global investors. OurCrowd provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies, assigns industry experts as mentors, and takes board seats. The OurCrowd community of almost 17,000 investors from over 110 countries has invested over $400M into 110 portfolio companies and funds. OurCrowd already has thirteen exits to date, two IPOs and eleven acquisitions. To join OurCrowd as an accredited investor visit http://www.ourcrowd.com and click Join.

Press contact: Moshe Kaplan, M.D, CEO of the Mensch Foundation

SOURCE The Be a Mensch Foundation
DUBLIN, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Perrigo Company plc (NYSE; TASE: PRGO), a leading provider of Quality, Affordable Healthcare Products, today announced that the Company's Board of Directors, after consultation with management and discussion with Ernst & Young LLP, the Company's independent accounting firm ("EY"), and following the recommendation of the Company's Audit Committee, concluded that the Company's previously issued financial statements (and any related audit reports of EY) for the following periods (collectively, the "Relevant Periods") should no longer be relied upon:

the fiscal years ended June 28, 2014 and June 27, 2015 ;

and ; the transition period from June 28, 2015 to December 31, 2015 ; and

to ; and the quarterly periods ended December 28, 2013 , March 29, 2014 , September 27, 2014 , December 27, 2014 , March 28, 2015 , September 26, 2015 , April 2, 2016 , July 2, 2016 and October 1, 2016 .

This determination follows a correction in accounting under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP") related to the Tysabri royalty stream. After an extensive evaluation of the facts and circumstances and the judgments required to determine the appropriate classification, it was determined that, under U.S. GAAP, the Tysabri royalty stream should be recorded as a financial asset, rather than an intangible asset, on the date of acquisition, and the Company adopted this change. In addition, in connection with the financial closing for the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company identified certain deferred tax assets that existed at the time of the acquisition of Omega Pharma Invest N.V. ("Omega") on April 1, 2015, in the amount of approximately $220 million. The resulting balance sheet reclassification will require a reduction of goodwill, offset by a corresponding reduction to net deferred tax liabilities at the date of the Omega acquisition. Further, the Company has evaluated the accounting effect subsequent to the acquisition date related to the identified deferred tax assets, including the impairments of Omega goodwill recorded in fiscal 2016, and has also concluded that a correction of accounting is required in certain Relevant Periods.

The Company has determined that it is necessary to restate certain previously issued financial statements to address these issues. However, the Company does not expect these changes to have a material impact on net cash flows and does not expect an impact on the previously closed sale of Tysabri.

The Company has elected to account for the Tysabri financial asset using the fair value option model, which requires the Company to adjust its financial statements for the Relevant Periods to (1) remove the Tysabri royalty stream from net sales in its income statement, (2) remove the amortization expense (reflected in cost of goods sold) associated with recording the Tysabri royalty stream as an intangible asset, and (3) include the quarterly changes in fair value of the Tysabri royalty stream as a component of other income/expense. The change in accounting may affect the amount and timing of noncash income or expense associated with the Tysabri asset, and the Company's Statements of Cash Flows for the Relevant Periods will reflect the cash received from the Tysabri royalty stream as cash from investing activities, rather than as cash from operating activities.

Select Preliminary Unaudited First Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Perrigo also announced today that preliminary unaudited first quarter 2017 consolidated net sales were approximately $1.2 billion comprised of Consumer Healthcare Americas (CHCA) nets sales of $0.58 billion, Consumer Healthcare International (CHCI) net sales of $0.37 billion and Rx net sales of $0.22 billion. These results do not include any contributions from Tysabri.

Select Guidance Metrics to Exclude Tysabri 

The Company is issuing select guidance metrics to exclude Tysabri and expects 2017 net sales to be in the range of $4.6 billion to $4.8 billion and cash flow from operations of greater than $575 million.

Credit Amendment and Redemption of Outstanding Debt

The Company has entered into amendments to its term loan agreement and its revolving credit agreement to remain in compliance with these agreements. Further information about the amendments can be found in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed today.

Separately, on April 7, 2017, the Company issued a notice of redemption to redeem all of the $600 million in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding 2.300% senior notes due in 2018. The Company expects to redeem all of these notes on May 8, 2017 using available cash on hand.

Perrigo CEO John T. Hendrickson stated, "While the finance team is focused on filing the restatements as soon as practical, I and the Perrigo leadership team remain focused on driving our business and creating value for shareholders. This focus is illustrated by a busy first quarter. We have closed the sale of Tysabri for $2.2 billion in cash plus up to $650 million in potential milestone payments, and consistent with our investment grade philosophy, we have initiated our debt pay down strategy. Our cost optimization program is well underway to achieve greater than $130 million in savings by mid-2018. I am pleased that our consolidated first quarter 2017 top line results were consistent with our plan and continue to anticipate 2017 will be a year of execution to reestablish our foundation, with a projected return to consolidated growth in 2018. I look forward to capitalizing on our unique business model and focusing on Perrigo's core strengths in providing Quality, Affordable Healthcare Products to customers and patients around the globe."

Quiet Period

As the Company continues to address these matters, Perrigo is in a quiet period regarding all matters until the filing of its financial statements.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call at 5:00 p.m. ET (2:00 p.m. PT), April 25, 2017 to provide a business update. The conference call will be available live via webcast to interested parties in the investor relations section of the Perrigo website at http://perrigo.investorroom.com/events-webcasts or by phone at 877-248-9413, International 973-582-2737, and reference ID #10739525. A taped replay of the call will be available beginning at approximately 9:00 p.m. (ET) Tuesday, April 25, until midnight Thursday, May 25, 2017. To listen to the replay, dial 800-585-8367, International 404-537-3406, and use access code 10739525.

About Perrigo

Perrigo Company plc, a leading global healthcare company, delivers value to its customers and consumers by providing Quality Affordable Healthcare Products. Founded in 1887 as a packager of home remedies, Perrigo has built a unique business model that is best described as the convergence of a fast-moving consumer goods company, a high-quality pharmaceutical manufacturing organization and a world-class supply chain network. Perrigo is the world's largest manufacturer of over-the-counter ("OTC") healthcare products and supplier of infant formulas for the store brand market. The Company also is a leading provider of branded OTC products throughout Europe and the U.S., as well as a leading producer of "extended topical" prescription drugs. Perrigo, headquartered in Ireland, sells its products primarily in North America and Europe, as well as in other markets, including Australia, Israel and China. Visit Perrigo online at (http://www.perrigo.com).

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements." These statements relate to future events or the Company's future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of the Company or its industry to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While the Company believes these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, including the time, effort and expense to complete the restatements, future impairment charges, the ability to achieve its guidance, the completion of announced acquisitions or dispositions, the ability to execute and achieve the desired benefits of announced initiatives, and the timing, amount and cost of any share repurchases. In addition, the Company may identify and be unable to remediate one or more material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting, may encounter unanticipated material issues or additional adjustments that could delay the completion of the restatements or the filing of required periodic reports with the SEC, or may be unable to regain compliance with the NYSE continued listing rules. Furthermore, the Company and/or its subsidiaries may incur additional tax liabilities in respect of 2016 and prior years as a result of any restatement or may be found to have breached certain provisions of Irish company legislation in respect of prior financial statements and if so may incur additional expenses and penalties. These and other important factors, including those discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-KT for the six-month period ended December 31, 2015, as well as the Company's subsequent filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made only as of the date hereof, and unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Perrigo Company plc

Related Links

http://www.perrigo.com


LONDON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

PharmaBoardroom today releases its new 42-page Healthcare & Life Sciences Review Greece 2017.

This report offers companies, investors, policymakers, and stakeholders crucial insight into Greece; a country with an admirable and long-standing history in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, but one that is still struggling to find its way out of a national debt crisis. The interviewees from government, associations, MNCs and local players featured in the report discuss the various issues and barriers to growth created by economic austerity policies, but also how innovative and quick-thinking players have found opportunity in crisis and are adapting to the new reality.

The report features in-depth exclusive interviews with leading figures from public institutions and private companies, comprehensive articles, and up-to-date facts and figures on Greece's macroeconomic situation, as well as its healthcare and pharma sectors.

Features

Featured topics include:

Reimbursement

Market Access

Generics Penetration

Cuts and Clawbacks

Clinical Trials

Pharma Logistics

Interviews

The report features in-depth interviews with:

Bersimis Sotirios, EOPYY

Mihalis Himonas , SFEE

, SFEE Theodore Tryfon , PEF

, PEF Vassilios Katsos , Pharmathen

, Pharmathen Sophia ROmboli & Konstantinos Karakostas , ZeinCRO

& , ZeinCRO John Kandylis, Olympias Logistics

John Bouros , Alvion

, Alvion Evi Christofilopoulou, MP for Labour, Social Insurance and Health

Quotes

"It is important to recognize the extent to which the Greek market has been disfigured by the country's financial and banking woes. Prior to the crisis, Greek pharma could legitimately claim to be the sixth largest market in Europe" - Christos Dakas, Shire

"The government's commitment to capping the public pharma budget to one percent of GDP is absolutely nonsensical that particular metric only works when a country's GDP is at its peak and stable, and enjoys the potential for growth" - Harry Nardis, Astellas

"In every civilized country, the trend has been for healthcare and pharmaceutical expenditure to increase every year as costlier, new generation sophisticated products enter the market. This regressive trend is thus clearly unsustainable." - Philippe Lambrinos, Pierre Fabre

"Regardless of the challenges posed by the financial squeeze, most actors are perceptive of the underlying potential of this important market and acknowledge that there are no shortages of patients with inelastic needs that need responding to" - Konstantinos Kofinas, Merck

Click here to register and download the report.

SOURCE PharmaBoardroom
"We've always enjoyed outstanding beers from Fremont, Stoup, Wicks and Still Hill," said Dr. Bill Mitchell, PicoBrew's CEO, "and it's exciting that now our customers will be able to brew them at home on Pico. These top craft beer breweries join the Pico Brewers Network at a time when our platform appears to be gaining considerable momentum, following the addition of recently announced award-winning brewing partners in Colorado like Upslope Brewing, and still more partners in California like Mike Hess Brewing."

"We're excited to be able to share our award-winning beers on Pico with customers worldwide," said Matt Lincecum, founder of Fremont Brewing.

Fremont Brewing (Seattle, WA), which was founded by Matt Lincecum in 2009, has been exploding in popularity inside of Washington and now on the West Coast, with popular beers such as Summer Ale, Interurban IPA, The Sister and The Brother, both Imperial IPAs, and more. Fremont Brewing plans to bring one of their most popular beers, Fremont Summer Ale, to the new Pico platform as a PicoPak so that customers from around the world may enjoy Summer Ale fresh on tap in their own homes, anytime.

Dr. Mitchell adds, "As a cheers to Pico Model C Kickstarter backers, we're also excited to offer Fremont's Summer Ale as a Spring Backer Reward; I mean, who doesn't love free beer?"

Stoup Brewing (Seattle, WA) is where craftsmanship is a testament to their commitment to the art and the science of beer. Their first choice for a PicoPak is their award-winning Robust Porter. The beer has hints of dark chocolate, roasted coffee and a light malty sweetness, the result of a complex malt profile, including chocolate malt, roasted barley, roasted wheat and roasted rye.

Wicks Brewing's (Riverside, CA) first PicoPak will be the Paladin Pale Ale. Paladin is a liberally hopped pale ale that brought home bronze at the World Beer Cup in 2016, and back-to-back gold at the 2015 and 2016 Los Angeles International Beer Competitions. Copious amounts of Citra and Cascade hops impart layers of tropical fruit notes and grapefruit aromatics in this brew.

Freetail Brewing Co.'s (San Antonio, TX) first PicoPak will be Soul Doubt - Third Coast IPA, which exemplifies both the pioneering spirit of American craft brewing tradition and the stubborn ideals of Texas rebellion in one beer. Minimal early hop additions lend a clean, subversive bitterness with massive late additions of Amarillo and Cascade hops providing a bounty of citrus, orchard fruit, lost pine and wildflower flavor and aroma in the finished brew.

Still Hill Brewery (Rocky Hill, CT) joins the Pico program as the first brewery representing Connecticut. Their first PicoPak will be Red Storm Ryesing Amber ale, a balanced American red ale featuring spiciness from rye grain blended with Mt. Hood hops. Dark crystal malts provide hints of plum and black cherry in this brew.

All Kickstarter customers who pledge for the new Pico Model C by April 30th will receive a free Fremont Summer Ale PicoPak, in addition to the following previously announced "Stretch Goals":

Free PicoPak from Mike Hess Brewing 2014 World Beer Cup Gold Winning Habitus Double IPA ( $1M Stretch Goal)

Stretch Goal) Free Lemon Kombucha PicoPak ( $1.2M Stretch Goal)

Stretch Goal) Built-in sous-vide capabilities (Fully Funded Reward)

Additional incentives will be announced throughout the campaign.

In honor of this recently announced partnership with Fremont Brewing and the Spring Backer Reward, PicoBrew will hold a special event on Wednesday, April 26th starting at 5 p.m. PDT at Fremont Brewing in Seattle to allow customers to enjoy some Summer Ale while they check out the new Pico Model C and PicoStill that are the focus of PicoBrew's current KickStarter Campaign. Those attending will also be eligible to receive custom pint glasses, T-shirts, tasting paddles or other promotional items and can enter to win a Pico stainless steel model giveaway. For those who can't join in the fun locally, the PicoBrew team will also host a Kickstarter Live broadcast from the event at 7 p.m. PDT.

PicoBrew hosts fan events all across the country throughout the year, celebrating its local brewery partners. To stay current on all events, sign up for the PicoBrew e-newsletter at PicoBrew.com.

For a list of current PicoBrew brewery partners from around the world, visit the BrewMarketplace and select "Breweries." Select "PicoPaks" to view the most current PicoPaks available for purchase. Breweries interested in joining the Pico program, can learn more here.

Pico Model C is the new, easier-to-use countertop Pico model that uses the same innovative technology as the earlier stainless steel Pico to brew fresh craft beer automatically in about two hours. It has a sleek, black powder-coated exterior and high-contrast two-line OLED display. It also includes the new Pico C Brew Keg, which features a simplified hose connection and is dishwasher-safe for easy cleanup. Pico Model C will retail for $549 when it hits stores in fall of 2017 and will include the brewing appliance, Pico C Brewing Keg and 5L serving keg. PicoPaks and the CO2 carbonation kit will be sold separately. The Pico Model C Kickstarter campaign offers early backers a chance to purchase the new model at prices starting at just $329.

To contribute to the Pico Model C Kickstarter campaign, visit:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1708005089/pico-c-craft-brewing-for-all

For hi-res images and video, visit:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lwp5b07t35hrnpa/AACbXm_K6uArfuXTG41tUjqVa?dl=0

About PicoBrew

PicoBrew was founded in Seattle in 2010 by brothers Bill and Jim Mitchell, a former Microsoft executive and food scientist, along with engineer Avi Geiger. Combining their food science and technology expertise with their passion for homebrewing, they set out to improve the craft beer brewing process for small producers and homebrewers. PicoBrew introduced its flagship product, the award-winning Zymatic automatic beer-brewing appliance for beer brewing professionals and homebrewers, in 2013. The Pico, designed for consumer craft beer enthusiasts, followed in 2016. Both machines are designed to improve the precision, repeatability and overall quality of the brewing process to create consistently delicious craft beer. For more information, visit www.picobrew.com or follow PicoBrew on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

SOURCE PicoBrew

Related Links

http://www.picobrew.com


MONONA, Wis., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix Nuclear Labs (PNL) has signed a long-term agreement to be the exclusive supplier of high current proton accelerators to California-based Rayton Solar to produce low cost, high efficiency solar panels. Under the terms of the agreement, PNL will deliver the first system to Rayton at the end of 2017, followed by several additional units in 2018 and 2019.

Rayton Solar has developed a technique that they expect will reduce the cost of solar panel manufacturing and increase energy efficiency. "We are capable of making up to 100 times as many solar panels with the same amount of silicon that our competitors use to make just one panel," said Rayton Solar CEO Andrew Yakub. "The high current, high voltage proton accelerator developed by PNL is critical for our process, and we are thrilled to have them onboard as a long-term partner."

Traditional solar panel manufacturing utilizes diamond wire saws to cut thin layers of silicon, a process that results in a substantial amount of wasted silicon. The Rayton process utilizes high current ion beams produced by the PNL technology to cleave thin layers of silicon with zero waste. The process uses 50-100 times less silicon than the traditional method. "Implementing this new manufacturing process will represent a revolutionary step for the solar industry," Yakub said.

"Rayton Solar's technology has the potential to increase the availability and decrease the cost of clean, renewable solar energy. We are excited to partner with Rayton to provide a technology vital to their process," said Evan Sengbusch, VP of Business Development for PNL. "This collaboration is a perfect example of advancing the PNL mission by customizing and deploying our technology in ways that better humanity."

PNL's prototype proton accelerator will be delivered to Rayton Solar's headquarters in Santa Monica, CA in late 2017. Rayton is currently raising additional equity capital via the crowdfunding platform Start Engine to support the scale up to a larger manufacturing facility in which additional PNL systems will be installed for higher volume solar panel manufacturing.

About Phoenix Nuclear Labs

Founded in 2005 in Middleton, Wis., Phoenix Nuclear Labs has developed a proprietary, particle accelerator-driven, nuclear fusion technology that has applications ranging from medicine to national defense. The company is focused on commercializing its core accelerator technology for near-term applications, including neutron radiography imaging for the nondestructive evaluation and quality control of military and aerospace components, medical isotope production, semiconductor processing, and the detection of explosive devices. For more information, visit: http://phoenixnuclearlabs.com.

About Rayton Solar

Rayton Solar, Inc. is comprised of entrepreneurs and professors with extensive backgrounds as world leaders in their field. The company aims to implement technology that will make solar energy cheaper than fossil fuels and allow the United States to manufacture solar panels domestically, helping to guarantee energy independence and a thriving US economy. For more information, visit: http://www.raytonsolar.com.

CONTACT: Katie Rittenhouse

Director of Sales

[email protected]

(608) 210-3060

SOURCE Phoenix Nuclear Labs

Related Links

http://phoenixnuclearlabs.com


LAS VEGAS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SUITEWORLD 2017 -- Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit (GBU), the industry's leading provider of cloud financials / ERP, HR and omnichannel commerce software suites, today announced that PODS Enterprises, LLC, the leading provider of portable container-based moving and storage solutions, chose NetSuite SuiteSuccess to support its business expansion. PODS will be using NetSuite to manage mission-critical business processes including financials, inventory management, multi-subsidiary management for 16 subsidiaries and multi-currency management for the U.S., Canadian and Australian dollars. SuiteSuccess is the culmination of a multi-year transformation effort to combine the NetSuite unified suite, 20 years of industry leading practices, a new customer engagement model, and business optimization methods into a unified, industry cloud solution. SuiteSuccess is NetSuite's new purpose-built, unified cloud solution tailored for each industry.

"I was amazed how closely NetSuite worked with us to ensure we had good process alignment with the fewest possible gaps," said Bill Tingle, CIO of PODS. "We need to get a system up and running quickly to meet our strategic objectives and SuiteSuccess seems to fit the bill perfectly."

PODS transformed the moving business when it invented the concept of portable storage in 1998 and now counts a network of more than 170,000 PODS storage containers and 230 PODS Storage Centers in North America alone. In 2016, leadership reevaluated the business and IT strategy and determined the need to move onto a new software platform to support the company's growth and development plans moving forward. After a rigorous evaluation process, PODS selected NetSuite OneWorld for its flexible platform, strong partner ecosystem and its commitment to customer success.

"Before we had even made the decision to purchase NetSuite, they had a detailed engagement plan with very specific steps on how we would implement the solution," said Tingle. "We felt comfortable knowing we wouldn't be starting from scratch and would have a robust solution with NetSuite's years of experience baked into the product."

PODS is using SuiteSuccess to ensure a successful deployment of NetSuite OneWorld across its 16 subsidiaries and a complex franchise model with 230 PODS Storage Centers. NetSuite OneWorld will give PODS a flexible, scalable system for growth. With support for 190 currencies, 20 languages, automated tax compliance in more than 100 countries, and transactions in more than 200 countries.

SuiteSuccess was engineered to solve unique industry challenges that historically have limited a company's ability to grow, scale and adapt to change. Most ERP vendors have tried to solve the industry solution problem with templates, rapid implementation methodologies, and custom code. NetSuite took a holistic approach to the problem and productized domain knowledge, leading practices, KPI's, and an agile approach to product adoption. The benefits of this are faster time to value, increased business efficiency, flexibility, and greater customer success.

For more information about SuiteSuccess, please visit: http://www.netsuite.com/portal/services/suitesuccess.shtml

Other expected features and benefits include:

Rapid deployment . Backed by SuiteSuccess, PODS expects to launch NetSuite OneWorld in less than three months, a huge difference from its experience with the previous system that took nearly four years.

. Backed by SuiteSuccess, PODS expects to launch NetSuite OneWorld in less than three months, a huge difference from its experience with the previous system that took nearly four years. A powerful development platform . The SuiteCloud development platform provides unprecedented flexibility that enables businesses to tailor the system to meet their unique requirements and industry-specific needs.

. The SuiteCloud development platform provides unprecedented flexibility that enables businesses to tailor the system to meet their unique requirements and industry-specific needs. A robust partner ecosystem . NetSuite's wide array of partner solutions will allow PODS to extend NetSuite to meet its current and future business needs. PODS plans to leverage NetSuite's comprehensive partner ecosystem for solutions in warehouse management, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) integration and financial planning.

. NetSuite's wide array of partner solutions will allow PODS to extend NetSuite to meet its current and future business needs. PODS plans to leverage NetSuite's comprehensive partner ecosystem for solutions in warehouse management, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) integration and financial planning. Centralized order and inventory management . NetSuite OneWorld can provide real-time inventory visibility across the business for better forecasting and optimization of more than 170,000 PODS containers moving throughout North America .

. NetSuite OneWorld can provide real-time inventory visibility across the business for better forecasting and optimization of more than 170,000 PODS containers moving throughout . Built-in business intelligence. With NetSuite OneWorld, PODS will have real-time insights into key business performance indicators for a unified view of the organization and a single version of truth.

With NetSuite OneWorld, PODS will have real-time insights into key business performance indicators for a unified view of the organization and a single version of truth. A highly scalable system for growth. NetSuite's scalable infrastructure will enable PODS to easily expand to support growing business volumes.

Bill Tingle is sharing PODS' story at SuiteWorld 2017, the number one cloud ERP event of the year, this year being held in Las Vegas from April 24-27. Watch all keynotes live here.

About PODS Enterprises, LLC

PODS is a leader in the moving and storage industry providing both residential and commercial services in 46 U.S. states, Canada, Australia and the UK. Founded in 1998, PODS pioneered the portable moving and storage industry now preferred by many customers' increasingly active and mobile lifestyles. To date, the PODS network has completed more than 700,000 long-distance moves, exceeded 3 million deliveries and has more than 170,000 PODS containers in service.

About Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit

Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit pioneered the Cloud Computing revolution in 1998, establishing the world's first company dedicated to delivering business applications over the internet. Today, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit provides a suite of cloud-based financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), HR and omnichannel commerce software that runs the business of companies in more than 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.netsuite.com.

Follow Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit's Cloud blog, Facebook page and @NetSuite Twitter handle for real-time updates.

About Oracle

Oracle offers a comprehensive and fully integrated stack of cloud applications and platform services. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), visit www.oracle.com.

Trademarks

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit
ORLANDO, Fla., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), announced its new EngineWise service brand that illustrates the company's commitment to helping airlines and lessors run their businesses efficiently.

"Our EngineWise brand is all about sharing our engine expertise and fleet intelligence with Pratt & Whitney customers so they can optimize engine performance and keep their operations running smoothly," said Chris Calio, president, Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines. "EngineWise better represents what we offer, and how we're evolving to improve the predictability, reliability and health of our customers' fleets."

Pratt & Whitney EngineWise services provide a number of advantages, including:

State-of-the art data analytics and real-time intelligence to help predict and prevent operational disruptions before they occur,

Significant investments in new technology and resources to increase responsiveness and flexibility,

A growing portfolio of service offerings to provide smarter, more straightforward solutions, and

Improved customer communications to drive more transparency and connectivity with our customers.

Through EngineWise, Pratt & Whitney is unifying its aftermarket service portfolio and will introduce new offerings to support customers' evolving needs. Major offerings under the Pratt & Whitney EngineWise Service brand include:

Fleet Management Programs  A customized, comprehensive dollar-per-flight-hour agreement to optimize cost of ownership over the life cycle of an engine.

Engine Overhaul Services  For operators that prefer the assurance of a fixed price or time and material engine maintenance solution.

Material Solutions  New and serviceable parts and part repair services provided by the engine OEM designed to extend part life and improve residual value.

New service offerings will continue to be added over time, based on customer needs.

To learn more about a career with Pratt & Whitney, visit www.pw.utc.com/careers or visit Pratt & Whitney at the MRO Americas Conference in Orlando, Florida from April 25-27 at booth #2217.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries. To learn more about UTC, visit its website at www.utc.com, or follow the company on Twitter: @UTC.

Note to editors: Photos and additional information can be found at: http://www.pw.utc.com/Press_Kits

Visit Pratt & Whitney's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/prattandwhitney

Pratt & Whitney

860-565-9600

[email protected]

SOURCE Pratt & Whitney

Related Links

http://www.pw.utc.com


TOKYO, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit (GBU), the industry's leading provider of cloud financials / ERP, HR and omnichannel commerce software suites, announced today that PreXion Corporation has selected NetSuite OneWorld to fuel its global business expansion plans. PreXion will use NetSuite OneWorld to manage mission-critical business processes including global financial consolidation for subsidiaries in Japan and the USA, multi-currency transactions in U.S. Dollar and Japanese YEN, multi-language capabilities for Japanese and English and CRM to manage the complete customer lifecycle.

PreXion's state-of-the-art medical imaging diagnostics technology, which visualizes dental-related images not visible to the naked eye, has been key to increasing patient satisfaction with doctors. In January 2017, the company announced a change to its business model from direct sales to wholesale through a dealer network and its product, the PreXion 3D Excelsior CBCT scanner, was launched to the dental market in the US.

This prompted the company to review its core business systems. After careful evaluation, the company selected NetSuite OneWorld to support its growth plans and new business model. Implemented in May 2016 in six months, NetSuite OneWorld now manages mission-critical business processes at PreXion's Japanese and North American business operations. The speed of implementation of NetSuite OneWorld was crucial to maintaining a high level of customer service and offered a seamless transition from direct to wholesale, enabling the company to effectively serve both its new and existing customers.

"As part of our global business growth strategy, we wanted to implement a cloud ERP system to provide a platform that could give us the real-time business visibility needed to grow our company," said PreXion Executive Vice President Yasutoyo (Jeff) Imada, who served as the Project Director for the implementation. "We selected NetSuite OneWorld because it can be implemented quickly and without high upfront investments in hardware assets. In addition, NetSuite OneWorld's global multi-currency capabilities helps us overcome monetary and tax compliance challenges. It was a natural choice for us, not only to aid our expansion into the United States but also to support our future worldwide expansion plans."

Supporting 190 currencies, 20 languages, and capable of handling tax reports for over 100 countries, NetSuite OneWorld not only supports financial accounting, customer management, business management and reporting in both Japanese and English, it allows for the successful integration of global subsidiary companies through multi-currency accounting.

After a rigorous evaluation of software solutions including Microsoft Dynamics, PreXion chose NetSuite OneWorld for the following reasons:

Rapid implementation without significant investments in hardware and IT resources with the ability to expand and grow rapidly using NetSuite OneWorld.

Access at anytime from anywhere and on any device allows for improved productivity coupled by a high level of automation through an intuitive user interface that requires minimal training for staff.

The ability to transact in a multi-language, multi-currency and in a multi-tax environment.

Real-time visibility with one single unified financial system of record and financial reporting across the entire global organization.

A single database supports a 360-degree view of customer activity, ensuring ongoing and high levels of customer satisfaction.

NetSuite OneWorld has contributed significantly to the changes at PreXion Corporation.

"The efficiency and speed at which we can now execute tasks have improved dramatically," Imada said. "We can now make business decisions in real-time from anywhere in the world, at any time using any type of device. Not only has our overall productivity improved significantly, but our ability to notice changes to our business in real-time has also greatly contributed to prompt and informed decision-making. The confidence of our staff who use NetSuite, particularly the four project managers who have never had any experience with an implementation of ERP, has increased significantly. Having invested in a core system infrastructure that we trust has given us the confidence to continue to grow and expand our business in the United States and beyond."

Learn about NetSuite's customer and partner success at SuiteWorld17 on April 24-27, watch webcast here.

About NetSuite Global Business Unit

Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit pioneered the Cloud Computing revolution in 1998, establishing the world's first company dedicated to delivering business applications over the internet. Today, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit provides a suite of cloud-based financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), HR and omnichannel commerce software that runs the business of companies in more than 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.netsuite.com.



Follow Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit's Cloud blog, Facebook page and @NetSuiteAPAC Twitter handle for real-time updates.

About Oracle

Oracle offers a comprehensive and fully integrated stack of cloud applications and platform services. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), visit www.oracle.com.

Trademarks

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit
BRUSSELS, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Today, Tuesday 25th April, PROMPERU's brand 'SUPER FOODS PERU' officially launched at Seafood Expo Global 2017 in Brussels. At 12pm the ribbon was cut to inaugurate the PROMPERU stand in the presence of the Ambassador of Peru to Brussels and Peru's Minister of Production, as well as other authorities and private sector representatives.

PROMPERU, through its brand SUPER FOODS PERU, promotes the offering and sustainable development of Peru's unique species of fish, placing them on the radar of international seafood suppliers and media. This brand will be promoted in over forty activities during 2017, including the best gastronomy, tourism and export fairs worldwide.

Seafood Expo Global 2017 features SUPER FOODS PERU, after Peru's successful participation in fairs from the sector in Berlin and Boston.. As Seafood Expo Global is the most important fair in the world specialising in seafood products, it was chosen by PROMPERU as an ideal platform for launching its new fish and seafood brand within SUPER FOODS PERU.

PROMPERU, the Commission for the Promotion of Peru's Exports and Tourism, participates as a major sponsor and exhibitor in the 2017 edition of Seafood Expo Global, and has high expectations in terms of interacting and generating commercial ties with leading buyers from the fish sector worldwide. In this 25th edition of the fair more than 1,700 exhibitors are expected from seventy-five countries.

According to PROMPERU, "as an economic block, Europe is one of the major destinations for exports in the rank of fish and agriculture products for direct human consumption. During the Seafood Expo Global 2017 special guests will be offered a cocktail reception at the PROMPERU stand; a declaration of intentions will be signed regarding sustainability for fishing pota and giant squid, Peru's main export product, along with a visit to the Port of Antwerp."

In 2016, Peruvian fish exports to Europe came close to USD$521 million. Of these products, 34% were giant squid (pota), 20% were scallops, 13% were langoustines and 13% were anchovies.

SUPER FOODS PERU celebrates the power of its healthy and nutritious foods, which are rich in vitamins and antioxidants. These include not only vegetables and grains like quinoa but also fish products like giant squid (pota), tuna, scallops, anchovies, langoustines and mackerel. All these products have great potential in the international market.

http://www.peru.info

Press Contact: Rodolfo Milesi | [email protected] | Mob: +44-7919-020847

SOURCE PROMPERU
NEW YORK, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Q BioMed Inc. (OTCQB: QBIO) and ASDERA LLC today announce a licensing agreement that provides Q Biomed with the worldwide exclusive rights to ASDERA's ASD-002, which is being developed to treat a rare pediatric nonverbal disorder. Under the terms of the agreement, Q Biomed receives global rights to develop and commercialize the drug in the rare pediatric disease market.

Among the more than 60,000 US children who develop autism spectrum disorders (ASD) every year, 20,000 become nonverbal or lose the ability to speak. The numbers are similar in Europe and this nonverbal group will have to rely on assisted living for the rest of their life.

Denis Corin, CEO of Q Biomed said, "Given the severity of this disorder, and the immense emotional toll on these children and their families, our goal is to move the product forward quickly by using all the regulatory tools available to us to expedite the advancement of this drug candidate."

The cost for treatment and assisted living in the US alone can equal or exceed ten million dollars per patient over a lifetime. The estimated cost to the US healthcare system and lost productivity is estimated at 200 billion dollars each. Currently there is no treatment for this disorder. EEG, behavioral, and genetic testing can identify a very targeted population of children in their second year of life that we believe would respond to this treatment.

Research published in 2014 by Wittkowski et al in the Nature journal Translational Psychiatry and independently confirmed in 2015 by Gugliemi et al indicated that certain ion channels were not active enough in this targeted population. ASD-002 is designed to ameliorate this age-specific condition by activating these ion channels. If the second year of life treatment window is missed, many of these children may lose the ability to speak while others may never start to speak at all.

"We are very excited about the potential of ASD-002 and hopefully this will allow thousands of children each year to develop speech and live independent and productive lives," added Corin.

"ASDERA's mission is to focus on developing targeted therapies for diseases where there is a high unmet need," said Dr. Knut Wittkowski. "We are grateful to be working with Q Biomed, which immediately saw the potential of ASD-002 and are committed to ensuring that ASD-002 reaches its intended target patient population."

About This Rare Pediatric Nonverbal Disorder

Early physiological and behavioral signs of becoming nonverbal appear around nine months of age and include: excessive crying, abnormal eye tracking, and epileptiform EEG. These children may never speak or might begin speaking a few words and then "regress" and lose their ability to speak, while developing on the autism spectrum. Pathological symptoms manifest at the age of 24 months, at which age post-mortem scans reveal patchy regions of disorganization in cortical brain regions.

Research Papers:

Wittkowski KM, Sonakya V, Bigio B, Tonn MK, Shic F, Ascano M, Nasca C, Gold-Von Simson G. A novel computational biostatistics approach implies impaired dephosphorylation of growth factor receptors as associated with severity of autism. Transl Psychiatry. 2014;4:e354. PMCID: 3905234. Available from: http://www.nature.com/articles/tp2013124.

Guglielmi L, Servettini I, Caramia M, Catacuzzeno L, Franciolini F, D'Adamo MC, Pessia M. Update on the implication of potassium channels in autism: K(+) channelautism spectrum disorder. Front Cell Neurosci. 2015;9:34. PMCID: 4345917. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2015.00034

About ASDERA

ASDERA is a privately held biotech company, whose mission is to provide solutions for diseases with high unmet needs. The results leading to ASD-002 were derived using a proprietary discovery platform that uniquely analyzes genetic data to identify collections of functionally related genes and, thus, possible drugs to modulate these functions. This platform has also been successfully applied to analyze clinical trials to identify targeted patient populations more likely to respond to therapy.

Q Biomed Inc.

Q BioMed Inc. is a biomedical acceleration and development company focused on licensing and acquiring biomedical assets across the healthcare spectrum. It is dedicated to providing these target assets the strategic resources, developmental support, and expansion capital needed to ensure they meet their potential, enabling them to provide products to patients in need.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release may 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. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our growth strategy and product development programs and any other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition and stock price. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated are: risks related to our growth strategy; risks relating to the results of research and development activities; our ability to obtain, perform under and maintain financing and strategic agreements and relationships; uncertainties relating to preclinical and clinical testing; our dependence on third-party suppliers; our ability to attract, integrate, and retain key personnel; the early stage of products under development; our need for substantial additional funds; government regulation; patent and intellectual property matters; competition; as well as other risks described in our SEC filings. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.

Contact:

Denis Corin

CEO

Q BioMed Inc.

+1-888-357-2435

SOURCE Q BioMed Inc
PITTSBURGH, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, manufacturer of the Rachael Ray Nutrish line of pet food and treats is proud to share that Euromonitor International Limited has determined that, "Rachael Ray Nutrish is the fastest growing US Pet Food brand among brands in excess of $200 million in annual sales in 2016."

The claim comes after the brand accomplished its most successful year to date, with sales up 49 percent in 2016 vs. the previous year.

"Before we launched Nutrish in 2008, consumers were hard pressed to find a super premium brand of pet food that was convenient, affordable, healthy, and enjoyable for their pets," said Jeff Watters, President and CEO of Ainsworth Pet Nutrition. "We're thrilled that the Nutrish brand resonates so well with pets and pet parents alike."

Mr. Watters went on to explain that a portion of proceeds from each sale of Nutrish is donated to the Rachael Ray Foundation, which helps animals in need through Rachael's Rescue. "The best part about Nutrish's growth is that we're able to improve the lives of more pets throughout the country, a cause that is close to our hearts and at the center of everything we do." Mr. Watters concluded.

Rachael Ray Nutrish offers a full line of super and ultra premium pet food and treats for dogs and cats, including its most recent line of treats for dogs inspired by recipes from Rachael Ray's kitchen, and its new dry dog food formula, PEAK from Rachael Ray Nutrish, a nutrient dense recipe designed to meet dogs' instinctual cravings. Nutrish recipes can be found in grocery, mass and online retailers nationwide.

About Rachael's Rescue and Nutrish

In 2008, Rachael Ray partnered with nutrition experts from Ainsworth Pet Nutrition to develop a line of super premium recipes for pets called Rachael Ray Nutrish. Every Nutrish pet food recipe is natural, made with simple, wholesome ingredients plus essential nutrients, and never contains any artificial preservatives, flavors, or poultry by-product meal. Available at grocery, mass, and online retailers nationwide, the line also features real meat-first varieties and recipes for pets with ingredient sensitivities. A portion of proceeds from each sale is donated to the Rachael Ray Foundation, which helps animals in need through Rachael's Rescue (www.rachaelsrescue.org). So, not only are Nutrish products great for your pet, they're great for countless other animals, as well.

About Ainsworth

Founded in 1933, Ainsworth Pet Nutrition is a fifth generation, primarily family-owned and operated company headquartered in Western Pennsylvania and focused entirely on pets. With a goal of changing the way consumers shop for Super Premium pet food, Ainsworth's mantra is "Pet Store Quality. Supermarket Easy." They achieve this promise by providing consumers with the high-quality pet food where they currently shop for the rest of their families. The company makes multiple brands and types of dog and cat food, including the Rachael Ray Nutrish line, as well as Super Premium retailer specific brands. Ainsworth Pet Nutrition is committed to food safety and prepares all of its dry pet food in the United States using high-quality, natural ingredients with added vitamins and minerals. To learn more, visit www.ainsworthpets.com.

(Editors note: Source Euromonitor International Limited; Pet Care 2018 edition; all retail channels, 2015/2016 value growth at rsp.)

Media Contact: Samantha Bridger: 724-272-1757

SOURCE Ainsworth Pet Nutrition

Related Links

http://www.ainsworthpets.com


Technology has dramatically changed our lives over the last 50 years, except for when we need it most. Over 240 million 911 calls 1 are made each year, all reliant on a voice connection with less data than was originally transmitted through the first trans-Atlantic cable in 1858 2 . The FCC estimates that improved information flow to 911 and first responders could save over 10,000 lives annually 3 .

"For the last 50 years  we've relied on a voice-only connection when our lives were on the line  whether from us or through a home security, medical alert, or roadside assistance call center," said Dan Nova, Partner at Highland Capital Partners and RapidSOS Board Member. "RapidSOS' technology eliminates the need for clunky third-party call centers  providing a transformative platform for safety, security, and wellness."

RapidSOS spent four years working closely with thousands of public safety officials across the United States to develop a universal data link into 911 and first responder networks. The result is a transformation from a voice-only system into a rich data link connecting millions of smartphones, wearables, connected cars, and home IoT products directly to 911 and first responders.

Wearables powered by RapidSOS automatically detect health emergencies  transmitting rich data to responding ambulances.

Connected cars provide key telematics data to 911 and responders.

Connected homes linked through RapidSOS inform firefighters with real-time data including smoke density, temperature, and location of trapped occupants.

"Over the past four years I've witnessed the incredible heroism of public safety officials who manage millions of emergencies with little more than a distraught caller's voice," said Michael Martin, CEO of RapidSOS. "I'm excited to be partnering with thought leaders across public safety, telecom, and technology to link any device with rich data directly to 911 and first responders."

"Working with RapidSOS brings a new dimension to our portfolio of integrated software solutions for the public safety command center," said Eduardo Conrado, Executive Vice President, Strategy & Innovation Office, Motorola Solutions. "Our work together creates end-to-end emergency data connectivity, enabling third-party data to flow through Motorola Solutions' emergency response systems to personnel in the field. It provides critical information that can accelerate response times and improve outcomes."

"Having served as State Controller and CFO of California, I know firsthand that 911 centers face significant funding and technological challenges impacting lives," said Steve Westly, Founder and Managing Partner at The Westly Group. "We are thrilled to work with the top engineers at RapidSOS to solve this global challenge."

RapidSOS' technology platform, originally developed by Martin, Nick Horelik and a team of engineers out of MIT and Harvard University, provides a rich data link into any 911 dispatch system and a platform for advanced emergency analytics. "We've already seen how emergencies are often predictable and preventable," said Horelik, RapidSOS CTO. "In the future, our users will get advanced warning about car accidents and potential medical emergencies before they occur."

"AAA is constantly looking for innovative ways to serve its 56 million members across the United States and Canada," said Dillon McDonald, Managing Partner at A3 Ventures, the innovation subsidiary of AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah. "We couldn't have asked for a better company to be the first investment from the newly formed A3 Ventures. It is only fitting that we are working with RapidSOS not only as an investor, but also as a partner to bring unprecedented safety, security, and wellness to millions of our members."

"I spent much of my career as Chairman of the FCC working to strengthen public safety and make improvements to our nation's 911 system," said Tom Wheeler, Former Chairman of the FCC. "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work directly with RapidSOS as they deploy their emergency platform to enhance the data available to 911 and first responder systems nationwide."

"We are humbled to be collaborating with such thought leaders across public safety and technology," said Martin. "Every day 650,000 emergency calls are placed across the United States, in partnership with the public safety community we are transforming the outcomes of millions of these emergencies."

About RapidSOS

RapidSOS is an advanced emergency technology company. RapidSOS is developing technology to predict and preempt emergencies before they occur, dynamically warn people in harm's way, and link data from any connected device directly to first responders in an emergency. The result is faster, more effective emergency response leading to a projected 2-10% reduction in mortality, 6.9% reduction in healthcare treatment costs, and 20% reduction in property damage4. Formed in 2013 and backed by some of the world's top technologists, RapidSOS was named "2016 Start-Up of the Year" by the Consumer Technology Association, a Top Innovation of 2015 by MIT News, and Top 3 Innovative World Technologies by SXSW. Learn more at www.RapidSOS.com.

Contact:

RapidSOS

Regina Jaslow

[email protected]

(347) 879-0024

1 National Emergency Number Association. https://www.nena.org/?page=911Statistics.

2 911's infrastructure today relies on a voice connection, accommodating only 512 characters of information that are minimally used; the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable from the Queen of England to the President of the United States in 1858 transmitted 619 characters.

3 Federal Communications Commission. https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-15-9A1.pdf.

4 Based on actuarial analysis for life threatening emergencies conducting with leading academic researchers from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

SOURCE RapidSOS

Related Links

http://www.RapidSOS.com


Achieving new heights in patient-centered innovation, AirMini packs ResMed's clinically proven CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) technology along with its comfort and ease-of-use features into a sleek, portable, pocket-sized device ideal for traveling. The AirMini is available with ResMed's proprietary AutoSet functionality as well as an innovative, built-in humidification system for patient comfort.

AirMini weighs a mere 0.66 pounds (300 grams) and measures just 5.4 x 3.3 x 2 in (13.6 x 8.4 x 5.2 cm).

"The ResMed AirMini has redefined CPAP therapy  providing patients with peace of mind, knowing they can easily get ResMed-quality therapy wherever they are," said Mick Farrell, ResMed CEO. "CPAP is now more portable and accessible than ever before. I have been traveling all over the world with a prototype of the AirMini system, using AutoSet, humidification, and an AirFit P10 pillows mask, and it has changed my travel life. I am so excited to see that this technology is now available to many millions of sleep apnea patients."

In a recent survey, 65% of CPAP users said device size is the #1 reason they don't take their CPAP every time they travel, breaking the cycle of adherence and exposing themselves to sleep apnea's chronic effects: they stop breathing repeatedly throughout the night, unconsciously transitioning between moments of sleep suffocation and jolts of awakening to resume breathing. This may cause dangerous levels of daytime fatigue and raise the risk of developing other fatal conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart failure.

AirMini's comfort and ease-of-use features are ideal for patients and for home medical equipment providers who will benefit from the device as a growth driver for their business:

A phone app (iOS and Android) for patients to change comfort settings and track their own nightly usage data, a practice that's shown to increase compliance and health outcomes

Portable and convenient waterless humidification to maximize comfort, capturing a patient's exhaled heat and moisture with a HumidX humidifier in the mask tube and redelivering it to them

Compatibility with ResMed's AirFit N20 nasal and F20 full face masks, easy for home medical equipment providers to fit on a wide range of patients (an unprecedented 99 and 97 percent of patients, respectively) as well as a special AirMini version of the award-winning AirFit P10 nasal pillows mask.

Availability

AirMini will be available to U.S. CPAP users through their home medical equipment (HME) providers. ResMed will take preorders from HMEs beginning on May 3, 2017, and AirMini will begin shipping by May 31. It will also be available at initial launch in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom, with other countries to follow.

Patient and Customer Testimonials

"As a healthcare professional and a person with sleep apnea, I am in love with the AirMini. Traveling with my CPAP machine has been a hassle, given its weight and size. I look forward to being able to carry my AirMini in my purse."

Vickie B., a CPAP user in Green Bay, Wisconsin

"There is huge demand for a CPAP that's easier to travel with. Not only have my patients asked me for it, they already trust the therapy they get from ResMed, so I know AirMini is going to be hugely popular. It'll benefit my patients as well as our business."

Samantha Romsos, respiratory therapist at HME Home Medical in Green Bay, Wisconsin

For more information, including a product fact sheet, photos, patient and customer testimonials and scientific claims made above, please visit newsroom.resmed.com/airmini-press-kit

About ResMed

ResMed (NYSE: RMD) changes lives with award-winning medical devices and cutting-edge cloud-based software applications that better diagnose, treat and manage sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other chronic diseases. ResMed is a global leader in connected care, with more than 2 million patients remotely monitored every day. Our 5,000-strong team is committed to creating the world's best tech-driven medical device company  improving quality of life, reducing the impact of chronic disease, and saving healthcare costs in more than 100 countries. ResMed.com | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Participants in ResMed's AirMini prelaunch evaluation program received gift cards in consideration of their time and product feedback.

SOURCE ResMed Inc.

Related Links

http://www.resmed.com


AUSTIN, Texas, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 27, Marbridge will host the fifth annual CoAct Project, a national executive symposium to discuss best care practices, industry challenges, and building relationships to better care for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Author chronicles his family's journey in connecting with their autistic son through animated films, a story told in the Academy Award-nominated documentary, Life, Animated.

Best-selling author Ron Suskind and his autistic son, Owen, will serve as keynote speakers; they are the subject of this year's Academy Award-nominated documentary Life, Animated. Together, they will share their astonishing story of how Owen, following a diagnosis of regressive autism at 3 years old, slowly learned language and emotional dynamics by studying animated Disney movies. And how, through a series of startling breakthroughs, the family began to communicate with their lost son in movie dialogue.

"Autism now affects one in every 68 children in the United States[i]. Currently at Marbridge, the autism diagnosis represents 25% of our resident population. We are eager to learn more from Mr. Suskind, and to explore the unknown capacities of the human mind," states Scott McAvoy, Vice President of Operations at Marbridge. "It is an honor to have Ron speaking at the CoAct Project this year, and to consider the impact this knowledge could have on so many individuals, their families and caregivers."

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences. There is not one autism but many types, caused by different combinations of genetic and environmental influences.

Autism occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, but is almost five times more common among boys than among girls.[ii]

April is Autism Awareness Month

This year will serve as the 5th annual symposium of its kind at Marbridge, bringing together leadership, organizations and professionals in the field of intellectual disability, including Autism, Down Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, seizure disorder and traumatic brain injury. "In our conversations with industry partners, it is apparent that there are a host of topics and concerns we share," said James Stacey, President of Marbridge. "In 2013, we decided it was time to establish a forum where we could discuss our commonalities and share best practices. We are committed to this collaboration moving forward, and to enhancing the lives of individuals with special needs."

ABOUT MARBRIDGE

Founded in 1953, Marbridge is a non-profit residential community for adults with intellectual disabilities (www.marbridge.org). Located on 170 acres in south Austin, Texas, the campus consists of three interconnected communities providing varying levels of carefrom semi-independent care, to assisted living, to skilled nursing and physical rehabilitation services. With over 250 residents, the population represents a diversity of diagnoses, including Autism, Down Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, seizure disorder and traumatic brain injury. With the unique Life Options Program, Marbridge provides a distinctly different lifestyle that ensures that each individual has the opportunity to learn, experience and achieve a whole new life at Marbridge.

Contact: Scott McAvoy, Vice President of Operations, Marbridge Foundation

512-282-1144, 512-845-4237 (mobile), [email protected]

[i] In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) reported that approximately 1 in 68 children in the United States has been identified with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This rate remains the same as in 2014, which is the first time it has not risen.

[ii] On March 27, 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data on the prevalence of autism in the United States. This surveillance study identified 1 in 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Related Files

LIFE-ANIMATED-Curriculum Guide.pdf

Marbridge Life Options Program.pdf

Related Images

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image2.png

image3.jpg

image4.jpg

Related Links

Marbridge - Who We Are

Life, Animated 2017 Oscar Nominated Documentary

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY5wsdfgjXg

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Marbridge Foundation
NEW YORK, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Evercore (NYSE: EVR) announced today that Roopesh Shah will join the Firm's Investment Banking business as a Senior Managing Director in its Restructuring and Debt Advisory Group. Mr. Shah, who will be based in New York, will focus on providing corporate restructuring and financing advice to companies, creditors, and other stakeholders in both North America and Europe.

Mr. Shah was most recently a Managing Director and Global Head of the Restructuring Finance and Advisory Group at Goldman Sachs & Co. From 2012 to 2015, Mr. Shah was based in London, where he was Head of EMEA Restructuring Finance and Advisory. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2006, he was with Miller Buckfire & Co. and Wasserstein Perella & Co. Mr. Shah has 20 years of experience in a broad range of corporate finance activities, including restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity financings. He has completed distressed advisory and financing transactions across numerous industries, including engagements for Alcatel-Lucent, Arcapita, Associated Materials, ATU, California Resources, Chesapeake Energy, Claire's Stores, Cobalt International Energy, Comverse Technologies, Edcon, hibu, Imtech, Isola, Keystone Automotive, Movie Gallery, Norske Skog, Pfleiderer, Sea Island, Select Staffing, Selecta, Sequana, Spectrum Brands, Targus, Tronox, Wastequip, Zekelman Industries, and The Yellowstone Club.

Ralph Schlosstein, Evercore's President and CEO, said, "We are extraordinarily pleased to have a banker of Roopesh's experience and reputation join Evercore's world-class restructuring and debt advisory platform. He embodies the Evercore culture of providing commitment, dedication, and creativity to help our clients navigate their most challenging strategic and financial situations. Roopesh's global expertise advising on and arranging financing for a broad array of complex restructuring transactions will further enhance our restructuring business."

Roger Altman, Evercore's Founder and Senior Chairman, said, "Evercore has one of the truly leading restructuring and debt advisory practices in the world and Roopesh will strengthen these capabilities even further. He brings an extensive network of relationships, along with substantial restructuring and debt advisory experience across a wide range of industries and geographies, and an impeccable reputation for providing creative advice and high-quality execution."

Mr. Shah has a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is currently an Associate Fellow of Finance at the Said Business School of the University of Oxford.

About Evercore

Established in 1995, Evercore is a leading global independent investment banking advisory firm. Evercore advises a diverse set of investment banking clients on a wide range of transactions and issues and provides institutional investors with high quality equity research, sales and trading execution that is free of the conflicts created by proprietary activities. The Firm also offers investment management services to high net worth and institutional investors. With 28 offices and affiliate offices in North America, Europe, South America and Asia, Evercore has the scale and strength to serve clients globally through a focused and tailored approach designed to meet their unique needs. More information about Evercore can be found on the Company's website at www.evercore.com.

Investor Contact: Robert B. Walsh

Chief Financial Officer, Evercore

+1.212.857.3100



Business Contact: Timothy LaLonde

COO, Investment Banking, Evercore

+1.212.857.3131



Media Contact: Dana Gorman

The Abernathy MacGregor Group, for Evercore

+1.212.371.5999

SOURCE Evercore

Related Links

http://www.evercore.com


"We continued our rapid expansion in cloud, accelerating to 49% growth in new cloud bookings. This outstanding achievement further validates our investment decisions to drive future growth. We're off to a good start to reach our full year targets and we are confident that we will grow our profitability in 2018 and beyond." - Luka Mucic, CFO

Business Highlights

Financial Highlights

First Quarter 2017

SAP's rapid cloud expansion continued in the first quarter. New cloud bookings1 surged 49% (44% at constant currencies) in the first quarter and reached 215 million. IFRS cloud subscriptions and support revenue grew 34% year-over-year to 905 million. Non-IFRS cloud subscriptions and support revenue grew 34% year-over-year (30% at constant currencies) to 906 million. IFRS software revenue grew 13% year-over-year to 691 million. New cloud and software license order entry2 grew by more than 30% year-over-year in the first quarter. IFRS cloud and software revenue was 4.33 billion, an increase of 12% (9% non-IFRS at constant currencies). Total cloud subscriptions & support revenue and software support revenue was 69% of total revenue.

IFRS operating profit was down 17% to 673 million. Non-IFRS operating profit grew 8% to 1.20 billion (2% at constant currencies). IFRS earnings per share decreased 9% to 0.43. Non-IFRS earnings per share increased 15% to 0.73. The IFRS operating profit and EPS were primarily impacted by an increase in share-based compensation expenses, which increased due to the strong development of SAP's share price and an increase in employee participation. Nearly 65% of SAP employees have participated in SAP's most recent stock program OWN SAP.

Operating cash flow was 2.87 billion, an increase of 16% year-over-year. Free cash flow increased 12% year-over-year to 2.58 billion. As a result, the company continues to deleverage its balance sheet ending the quarter with net debt of 460 million, an improvement of 2.8 billion year over year.

SAP S/4HANA

With S/4HANA customers can massively simplify their IT landscape, run live and reinvent their business model for the digital economy across both cloud and on-premise deployments. S/4HANA adoption grew to more than 5,800 customers. In the first quarter approximately 400 additional customers signed up of which almost 50% were net new SAP customers. Innogy selected S/4HANA in the first quarter. S/4HANA Cloud brings next generation intelligent ERP to the cloud with speed and ease of deployment. Citrix and iColor chose the S/4HANA Cloud edition in the first quarter.

SAP Cloud Platform

SAP Cloud Platform is a platform as a service (PaaS) designed to help customers become digital enterprises. It offers a broad set of services to build new fast-paced applications and extensions for existing applications as well as to integrate across on-premise and cloud landscapes. SAP Cloud Platform is instrumental in empowering enterprises to create new Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and Big Data solutions by intelligently connecting processes with people, things and businesses. C&J Energy Services, a leading provider of oil and gas services selected SAP Cloud Platform to help build digital field ticketing applications, that allows rig supervisors to accurately capture job information and synchronize to the back-end SAP S/4HANA Finance system.

Human Capital Management

With SuccessFactors and Fieldglass, SAP delivers total workforce management across both permanent and contingent labor, localized for more than 80 countries and more than 40 languages. Top industry analysts recently gave SAP SuccessFactors the highest rankings in Cloud HCM for Core HR and Talent Management for global organizations with more than 5,000 workers as well as for mid-market European-headquartered enterprises. SuccessFactors Employee Central, which is the core of our HCM offering, had close to 1,700 customers at the end of the first quarter. Companies like Dolce & Gabbana selected SAP's workforce management solutions in the first quarter.

Customer Engagement and Commerce

SAP's next generation customer engagement solutions enable businesses to manage their front office across the entire spectrum from marketing to sales to services  seamlessly and in real-time. Businesses get a single view of their customer  be it social, retail or e-commerce. SAP's CEC solutions serve both B2C and B2B across a wide range of industries, including retail, telco, financial services, manufacturing and the public sector. Top industry analysts recently named SAP Hybris a leader for B2C and B2B Digital Commerce and Multichannel Marketing Campaign Management. SAP's CEC solutions once again achieved strong double-digit cloud subscriptions and support revenue growth as well as double-digit growth in software revenue.

Business Networks

Each of SAP's business network solutions provide a rich, open, global platform that connect a large ecosystem of customers, suppliers, partners and developers delivering ever expanding content and innovation. On the Ariba Network, more than 2.7 million companies in over 180 countries collaborate and trade more than $900 billion in goods and services annually. Concur helps more than 47 million end users effortlessly process travel and expenses. With SAP Fieldglass customers manage over 3.3 million contingent workers in approximately 140 countries. Cloud subscriptions and support revenue in the SAP Business Network segment was up 24% in the first quarter.

Regional Revenue Performance in the First Quarter 2017

In the EMEA region, cloud and software revenue increased 10% (IFRS). Cloud subscriptions and support revenue grew 43% (IFRS) with an especially strong quarter in Germany, France and Italy. SAP had triple-digit software revenue growth in South Africa and the Netherlands.

The Company had a strong performance in the Americas region with cloud and software revenue growing by 12% (IFRS). Cloud subscriptions and support revenue was up 27% (IFRS), driven by a strong performance in Canada and Mexico with high double-digit growth. In North America, SAP had double-digit growth in software revenue. In Latin America Brazil was a highlight with strong software revenue growth amidst a difficult macroeconomic environment.

In the APJ region SAP also had an exceptional performance in both cloud subscription and software revenue. Cloud and software revenue was up 21% (IFRS), with cloud subscriptions and support revenue growing by 65% (IFRS). Japan and India were highlights in the quarter with strong results in both cloud subscriptions and software revenue. SAP also had strong double-digit software revenue growth in Greater China3 and South Korea.

Financial Results at a Glance

First Quarter 20171)

IFRS Non-IFRS2)  million, unless otherwise stated Q1 2017 Q1 2016  in % Q1 2017 Q1 2016  in %  in %

const.

curr. New Cloud Bookings3) N/A N/A N/A 215 145 49 44 Cloud subscriptions and support 905 677 34 906 678 34 30 Software licenses and support 3,422 3,172 8 3,422 3,173 8 5 Cloud and software 4,328 3,850 12 4,328 3,851 12 9 Total revenue 5,285 4,727 12 5,285 4,728 12 8 Share of predictable revenue (in %) 69 69 0pp 69 69 0pp

Operating profit 673 813 17 1,198 1,104 8 2 Profit after tax 530 570 7 887 763 16

Basic earnings per share () 0.43 0.48 9 0.73 0.64 15

Number of employees (FTE) 85,751 78,230 10 N/A N/A N/A N/A



1) All figures are unaudited. 2) For a detailed description of SAP's non-IFRS measures see Explanation of Non-IFRS Measures online. For a breakdown of the individual adjustments see table "Non-IFRS Adjustments by Functional Areas" in this Quarterly Statement. 3) As this is an order entry metric, there is no IFRS equivalent.

Due to rounding, numbers may not add up precisely.

Business Outlook 2017

The Company reiterates the following 2017 outlook:

Based on the continued strong momentum in SAP's cloud business the Company expects full year 2017 non-IFRS cloud subscriptions and support revenue to be in a range of 3.8 billion to 4.0 billion at constant currencies (2016: 2.99 billion). The upper end of this range represents a growth rate of 34% at constant currencies.

The Company expects full year 2017 non-IFRS cloud & software revenue to increase by 6% to 8% at constant currencies (2016: 18.43 billion).

The Company expects full year 2017 non-IFRS total revenue in a range of 23.2 billion to 23.6 billion at constant currencies (2016: 22.07 billion).

The Company expects full-year 2017 non-IFRS operating profit to be in a range of 6.8 billion to 7.0 billion at constant currencies (2016: 6.63 billion).

While the Company's full-year 2017 business outlook is at constant currencies, actual currency reported figures are expected to continue to be impacted by exchange rate fluctuations. If exchange rates remain at the March 2017 average level for the rest of the year, the Company expects its non-IFRS cloud and software revenue growth rate as well as its non-IFRS operating profit growth rate to experience a currency benefit in a range of 2 to 5 percentage points for the second quarter 2017. For the full year 2017, we expect to have a benefit in a range of 1 to 4 percentage points.

The full Q1 2017 Quarterly Statement can be downloaded from http://www.sap.com/investors/sap-2017-q1-statement

Additional Information

Changes to the SAP Executive Board

The Supervisory Board of SAP SE has decided to expand the responsibilities of the Executive Board members Robert Enslin and Bernd Leukert as of May 1, 2017. Robert Enslin will lead the new Cloud Business Group. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board has named Adaire Fox-Martin and Jennifer Morgan to the Executive Board. They will be co-presidents of Global Customer Operations and oversee all SAP regions.

Steve Singh, the Executive Board member responsible for Business Networks and Applications, will leave SAP SE on April 30, 2017.

The aforementioned changes to SAP's Executive Board will also change SAP's segment reporting from the second quarter of 2017 onwards. SAP has already started the process of redefining its management reporting under the changed Executive Board structure, which the segment reporting will follow.

General Remarks about this Quarterly Statement and the SAP Integrated Report

Since Q1 2016, we issue a quarterly statement for each of the four fiscal quarters. Additionally, we issue a half year report and a full year integrated report. SAP's 2016 Integrated Report, and 2016 Annual Report on Form 20-F were published on February 28, 2017, and are available for download at www.sapintegratedreport.com.

For a more detailed description of all of SAP's non-IFRS measures and their limitations as well as our constant currency and free cash flow figures see Explanation of Non-IFRS Measures online.

Webcast

SAP senior management will host a financial analyst conference call at 2:00 PM (CET) / 1:00 PM (GMT) / 8:00 AM (Eastern) / 5:00 AM (Pacific). The call will be webcast live on the Company's website at www.sap.com/investor and will be available for replay. Supplementary financial information pertaining to the first quarter results can be found at www.sap.com/investor.

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device  SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 350,000 business and public sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

For more information, financial community only: Stefan Gruber +49 (6227) 7-44872 [email protected], CET Follow SAP Investor Relations on Twitter at @sapinvestor.







For more information, press only: Nicola Leske +49 (6227) 7-50852 [email protected], CET Daniel Reinhardt +49 (6227) 7-40201 [email protected], CET Rajiv Sekhri +49 (6227) 7-74871 [email protected], CET





For customers interested in learning more about SAP products: Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24

United States Only: +1 (800) 872-1SAP (+1-800-872-1727)

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

 2017 SAP SE. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP SE. The information contained herein may be changed without prior notice.

Some software products marketed by SAP SE and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors. National product specifications may vary.

These materials are provided by SAP SE and its affiliated companies ("SAP Group") for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. Please see http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark for additional trademark information and notices.

1 New cloud bookings is the total of all orders received in a given period the revenue from which is expected to be classified as cloud subscription and support revenue and that result from purchases by new customers and from incremental purchases by existing customers. Consequently, orders to renew existing contracts are not included in this metric. The order amount must be committed. Consequently, due to their pay-per-use nature, business network transaction fees which do not include a committed minimum consumption are not reflected in the bookings metric (e.g. SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass transaction-based fees). Amounts included in the measures are generally annualized (annualized contract value ACV).

2 New cloud and software license order entry is the total of new cloud order entry and software license order entry. The new cloud order entry metric is identical to the new cloud bookings metric defined above except that it considers the total contract value (TCV) of the orders where the new cloud bookings metric considers the orders' annualized contract value (ACV). Software license order entry is the total of all orders received in a given period the revenue from which is expected to be classified as software license revenue. The support services commonly sold with the software licenses are not included in the software license order entry metric.

3 SAP's Greater China region includes China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

SOURCE SAP SE

Related Links

http://www.sap.com


WASHINGTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pledged today a $150 million donation to support the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) in Yemen.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah the supervisor general for KSRelief, issued the announcement during the Geneva aid conference, a day-long meeting of international donors focused on responding to Yemen's humanitarian crisis.

Dr. Al-Rabeeah explained that the new donation comes as part of the $8.2 billion committed by the Kingdom within its humanitarian and developmental assistance to Yemen since April 2015. Saudi Arabia remains the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Yemen.

Established in May 2015, KSRelief has provided health, nutrition and sanitation aid and relief to 17 million people impacted by the conflict in Yemen. Partnering with international humanitarian organizations, KSRelief has established more than 100 health facilities, provided emergency food aid and supplied more than 350,000 gallons of fuel to medical facilities.

SOURCE Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office
WASHINGTON, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon will kick off the 2017 National SBIR Conference on May 16 at the Gaylord Hotel and Conference Center in Washington, D.C. In her keynote address, Administrator McMahon will highlight the vital role America's small businesses play in strengthening the economy and driving innovation.

"It's our mission at the SBA to empower small business owners and offer them the opportunity to compete and succeed," Administrator McMahon said. "The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs open opportunities in STEM fields to all entrepreneurs. These are incredible resources for enabling economic opportunity and revitalizing the spirit of entrepreneurship in America. Our small business owners drive innovation each and every day, and the SBA is committed to lifting them up and propelling them forward."

The Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs are the nation's largest source of early stage/high risk R&D funding for small businesses. The SBIR/STTR programs fuel thousands of innovative high-growth companies through non-dilutive funding totaling almost $2.5 billion a year.

The highly competitive SBIR/STTR programs together account for more than 150,000 awards totaling approximately $40 billion. These awards have helped U.S. innovators advance new technologies that help make the U.S. more globally competitive. The SBIR/STTR programs have provided seed funding to companies including Qualcomm, iRobot, Symantec and Genzyme.

Conference attendees will learn how to compete for funding and participate in these two programs, which encourage small businesses to access Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) and to commercialize technological innovations.

The National SBIR Conference is co-located with the National Innovation Summit , which draws 3,000+ attendees representing small businesses, entrepreneurs, and research institutions from across the globe. The National SBIR/STTR Conference offers a platform for small businesses and research institutions to interact with government program managers and industry leaders to learn how to be successful in the SBIR and STTR programs.

The National SBIR Conference is just one of the SBA's SBIR outreach events. Now in its third year of the Small Business Innovation National Road Tour, it aims to encourage high growth R&D and connect innovators with money available from the 11 other SBIR participating federal agencies.

The details for the 2017 National SBIR Conference are as follows:

May 15-17, 2017

National Innovation Summit

Gaylord National Harbor

201 Waterfront Street,

Oxon Hill, MD 20745

Small technology firms, innovators, scientists or researchers seeking more information on the SBIR Road Tour, including a schedule of states for the road tour and participating agencies, should visit: www.sbirroadtour.com.

For more information about SBIR/STTR programs, please visit www.sbir.gov .

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and since January 13, 2012, has served as a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

Release Number: 17-26

Contact: Tiffani S. Clements (202) 401-0035

Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news

SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration

Related Links

http://www.sba.gov


LONDON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Condor Gold Plc (AIM:CNR; OTCQX: CNDGF), a gold exploration and development company whose flagship La India Project in Nicaragua hosts a high grade mineral resource of 18.08 Mtonnes at 4.0 g/t for 2.31 Moz gold, is pleased to announce it has qualified for and expects trading to commence from 7.00am Eastern Time (ET) today on the OTCQX Best Market in the U.S.

Mark Child, Chairman and CEO, commented:

"I am delighted that Condor Gold has qualified to trade on the OTCQX market in the United States following almost 11 years of being listed on AIM, the junior market of the London Stock Exchange. This will allow for greater exposure, accessibility and liquidity in our shares from the U.S. investment community. It makes sense to cross-trade in North America when Condor's flagship asset is in Nicaragua, Central America. Condor's twin strategy of permitting and constructing a base case 2,800tpd processing plant with capacity to produce 100,000 oz gold p.a., while continuing to increase the resource and demonstrate a major gold district, will resonate with a new pool of capital in the U.S. that invests in gold exploration and development companies."

The Company will trade on the OTCQX under the symbol "CNDGF." U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the Company on www.otcmarkets.com.

The OTCQX market, operated by OTC Markets Group Inc., is reserved for established, investor-focused U.S. and global companies that meet high financial standards, provide timely news and disclosure to investors, and are sponsored by a professional third-party advisor. OTCQX is considered by the SEC as an "established public market" for the purpose of determining the public market price of securities for resale in equity line financings.

The Company has undertaken to limit the percentage of its issued share capital represented by American Depositary Receipts or Depositary Securities that will trade on the OTCQX to no more than 25% existing at any such time.

About Condor Gold plc

Condor Gold plc was admitted to AIM on 31st May 2006 and is cross-traded in the U.S. on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol CNDGF. The Company is a gold exploration and development company with a focus on Nicaragua in Central America.

Condor completed a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) and two Preliminary Economic Assessments (PEA) on La India Project in Nicaragua in December 2014. The PFS details an open pit gold mineral reserve of 6.9 Mt at 3.0 g/t gold for 675,000 oz gold producing 80,000 oz gold p.a. for 7 years. The PEA for the open pit only scenario details 100,000 oz gold production p.a. for 8 years whereas the PEA for a combination of open pit and underground details 140,000 oz gold production p.a. for 8 years. La India Project contains a total attributable mineral resource of 18.08 Mt at 4.0 g/t for 2.31 M oz gold and 2.68 M oz silver at 6.2 g/t to the CIM Code.

The resource calculations are compiled by independent geologists SRK Consulting (UK) Limited for Nicaragua.

For further information please visit www.condorgold.com or contact:



Condor Gold plc

Mark Child, Executive Chairman and CEO

+44-(0)-20-7493 2784



Beaumont Cornish Limited

Roland Cornish and James Biddle

+44-(0)-20-7628-3396

Numis Securities Limited

John Prior and James Black

+44-(0)-20-7260-1000



Glenridge Partners LLC

John LaPorta

+1-(404)-255-9348



Burns Figa & Will PC

Victoria Bantz

+1-(303)-796-2626



Farm Street Media

Simon Robinson

+44-(0)-7593-340107



Disclaimer

Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

SOURCE Condor Gold plc
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Secretary of State Pedro A. Cortes today encouraged Pennsylvanians to submit requests for primary election absentee ballots before the deadline of May 9.

Under the state election code, applications for absentee ballots must be submitted no later than one week before Election Day. For this year's May 16 primary election, the deadline falls on Tuesday, May 9. Absentee voters must return their voted ballot to their county election office by Friday, May 12.

"The statutory deadlines have become increasingly unrealistic due to changes in service by the U.S. Postal Service," Secretary Cortes said. "Anyone who is planning to return the completed absentee ballot by mail risks missing the deadline."

Completed ballots must be received in county elections offices by 5 p.m. the Friday before the election. A timely postmark is not sufficient.

"Absentee balloting allows eligible Pennsylvanians to exercise their right to vote even if they are unable to go to the polls on Election Day," Secretary Cortes said. "By requesting and returning an absentee ballot well before the deadline, the voter ensures that his or her votes will be fully counted."

Absentee ballots may be cast by deployed members of the military, Pennsylvania students attending out-of-state colleges or universities, individuals with illnesses or disabilities, and individuals who will be away from their municipality on business on Election Day. Comprehensive information about absentee ballots, including a downloadable request form, can be found at the Department of State's website votesPA.com.

Applicants will be asked to supply basic voter registration information and to specify a reason for applying to vote absentee.

Pennsylvanians applying for an absentee ballot must provide their driver's license or PennDOT ID number. If they do not have a driver's license or PennDOT ID, they must give the last four digits of their Social Security number. If a voter has neither, he or she must present a copy of an acceptable photo ID. A list of approved alternative types of identification is available at votesPA.com.

Once an absentee ballot has been completed, voters may return them by mail or deliver them in person to county election offices.

An absentee voter can designate someone else to deliver the absentee application and ballot if he or she is physically unable to do so. Certification of Designated Agent forms are also available online.

For additional information, call 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772) or visit votesPA.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: (717) 783-1621

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of State

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us


MARYVILLE, Tenn., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau, Tennessee's eldest baby boomer age range has had the highest growth rates in the last few years. With this growing population to serve, Brookdale Sandy Springs AL felt a need to remodel and expand its assisted living and dementia care services.

The local senior living community has invested nearly $5 million to add 16 more assisted living apartments and the Clare Bridge memory care program, including 32 apartments for those living with Alzheimer's and dementia.

The Alzheimer's and dementia care community will feature the Clare Bridge program developed by Brookdale, the nation's largest senior living provider. Clare Bridge focuses on providing meaningful and purposeful daily life for those in dementia's middle to later stages through activities and events tailored to individual interest.

"When new residents move in, we learn as much as possible about their life stories," said Juliet Holt Klinger, Brookdale's senior director of dementia care program development. "We design activities that meet their interests, stir their memories and match their current abilities so they can be successful in their daily lives. This provides our residents with a sense of purpose and accomplishment that raises self-esteem."

Besides the additional apartments and services provided, other changes include an all new, state of the art kitchen, new cafe, resident internet lounge, spa and new carpet, counters and furnishings to match other Brookdale communities across the country. The property will have a fresh coat of paint to help bring new life to the existing community.

"We are very excited about this change," said Amy May, executive director of Brookdale Sandy Springs AL. "We are expanding our services so we can serve more seniors and provide a greater range of services. We are engaged in Brookdale's nationwide mission to provide seniors with the highest quality care, service and living accommodations."

The public and media are invited to the Grand Opening event on May 4th, 2017, from 4  7 p.m. Brookdale Sandy Springs AL is located at 511 Pearson Springs Road in Maryville.

About Brookdale

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is the leading operator of senior living communities throughout the United States. The Company is committed to providing senior living solutions primarily within properties that are designed, purpose-built and operated to provide the highest-quality service, care and living accommodations for residents. Brookdale operates independent living, assisted living, and dementia-care communities and continuing care retirement centers, with approximately 1,055 communities in 46 states and the ability to serve approximately 103,000 residents as of December 31, 2016. Through its ancillary services program, the Company also offers a range of outpatient therapy, home health and hospice services.

Contact: Heather Hunter, 615-564-8622, [email protected]

SOURCE Brookdale Senior Living Inc.
SEOUL, South Korea, SAN FRANCISCO and STRASBOURG, France, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SillaJen, Inc., (KOSDAQ:215600), a clinical-stage, biotherapeutics company focused on the development of oncolytic immunotherapy products for cancer, and Transgene (Euronext: TNG), a French biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing immune-targeted immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases, have enrolled the first European patient in the ongoing multinational randomized Phase 3 open-label study of Pexa-Vec (formerly JX-594), in patients with advanced liver cancer, also known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The trial is evaluating the use of Pexa-Vec to treat HCC patients who have failed locoregional therapies and are eligible for treatment with sorafenib (Nexavar), the only approved systemic treatment for advanced HCC. The European patient was enrolled at Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Hospital in Parma, Italy.

The enrollment of the first European patient triggers a $4 million USD milestone to be paid to SillaJen by Transgene.

The study, named the PHOCUS trial, started in January 2016 and is now active in North America, Asia, Australia and Europe. It is designed to enroll 600 patients who have not received prior systemic treatment for their cancer, and they will be randomized to one of two treatment groups: one which will receive Pexa-Vec followed by sorafenib and one which will receive sorafenib alone. The randomized study will be conducted at approximately 140 sites worldwide. SillaJen reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for this global Phase 3 clinical trial. The primary objective of the study is to determine the overall survival of patients treated with Pexa-Vec. Secondary objectives include safety as well as assessments for tumor responses between the two groups as measured by the following endpoints: time to progression, progression-free survival, overall response rate and disease control rate. To learn more about the trial, please visit: http://www.pexavectrials.com/.

"We are pleased with the progress in our PHOCUS trial and are happy to report that we are now enrolling patients in 11 countries across the globe," stated Eun Sang Moon, chief executive officer of SillaJen. "This trial, which is actively enrolling patients with HCC, is being conducted at some of the most highly regarded institutions for cancer in the world, and we are grateful to be working with such an exemplary team of physicians."

"The enrollment of the first patient in Europe in the PHOCUS trial is an important step forward in the development of Pexa-Vec in association with the current standard of care in advanced liver cancer," said Philippe Archinard, chairman and chief executive officer of Transgene. "This trial is part of a broad clinical development plan that will allow us to position this promising oncolytic virus in all relevant settings to improve the clinical outcome of patients with advanced solid tumors such as HCC, in which there still is a very high unmet medical need."

At the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Parma, a multidisciplinary team, coordinated by Dr. Gabriele Missale, collaborates to provide the best treatment decisions for patients with HCC. "Indeed we need new options for patients with advanced HCC and the immunotherapeutic approach with Pexa-Vec is a new weapon and a great opportunity for our patients. Having enrolled, here in Parma, the first European patient into the PHOCUS Trial, testifies our commitment to expanding options to fight HCC," stated Dr. Missale.

Pexa-Vec Clinical Development Program and SOLVE Platform

Pexa-Vec is the most advanced product candidate from SillaJen's proprietary SOLVE (Selective Oncolytic Vaccinia Engineering) platform. The vaccinia strain backbone of Pexa-Vec has been used safely in millions of people as part of a worldwide vaccination program. This strain naturally targets cancer cells due to common genetic defects in cancer cells; Pexa-Vec was engineered to enhance this by deleting its thymidine kinase (TK) gene, thus making it dependent on the cellular TK expressed at persistently high levels in cancer cells. Pexa-Vec is also engineered to express the immunogenic GM-CSF protein. GM-CSF complements the cancer cell lysis of the product candidate, leading to a cascade of events resulting in tumor necrosis, tumor vasculature shutdown and sustained anti-tumoral immune attack.

About SillaJen's Regional Partners for Pexa-Vec

About Transgene

Transgene S.A. (Euronext: TNG), part of Institut Merieux, is a publicly traded French biotechnology company focused on designing and developing immune-targeted viral-based therapies for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases. Transgene's programs utilize viral vector technology with the goal of indirectly or directly killing infected or cancerous cells. The Company's two lead clinical-stage programs are: TG4010, a therapeutic vaccine for non-small cell lung cancer, and Pexa-Vec, an oncolytic virus for liver cancer. The Company has several other programs, including TG4001, in clinical and preclinical development. Transgene is based in Strasbourg, France, and has additional operations in Lyon, as well as a joint venture in China. Additional information about Transgene is available at www.transgene.fr.

Follow us on Twitter: @TransgeneSA

About Lee's Pharmaceutical

Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited is a research-based biopharmaceutical company listed in Hong Kong with over 20 years operation in China's pharmaceutical industry. It is fully integrated with strong infrastructures in drug development, manufacturing, sales and marketing. It has established extensive partnership with over 20 international companies and currently has 15 products in the market place. Lee's focuses on several key disease areas such as cardiovascular, oncology, gynecology, dermatology and ophthalmology. Lee's development program is lauded with over 40 products stemming from both internal R&D efforts and collaborations with US, European and Japanese companies, including promising compounds to treat diseases such as liver cancer and pulmonary hypertension. The mission of Lee's is to become a successful biopharmaceutical group in Asia providing innovative products to fight diseases and improve health and quality of life. Additional information about Lee's Pharmaceutical is available at www.leespharm.com.

About SillaJen

SillaJen, Inc. is a South Korean based biotechnology company headquartered in Busan South Korea, with satellite offices in Seoul, South Korea and San Francisco, CA. The company is focused on the development and commercialization of oncolytic immunotherapy products using the SOLVETM platform, including its lead product Pexa-Vec, which is currently in Phase 3 trials for the treatment of advanced primary liver cancer. Additional information about SillaJen is available at www.sillajen.com.

Disclaimer Language:

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding the Company's financial position, results of operations, market position, product development and business strategy. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statements can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from such statements. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and SillaJen undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE SillaJen, Inc.

Related Links

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NEW YORK, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SintecMedia today announced a significant update to OnBoard, the first unified linear and digital proposal management system available for media companies worldwide. A direct outcome of the SintecMedia acquisition of Operative, SintecMedia's OnBoard is the key element in a presales yield framework for profitable cross-platform media sales. OnBoard offers complete access to linear and digital products, proposal creation and integration with delivery systems in a single, intuitive solution. With OnBoard, media sellers are empowered to sell audience targeted media across channels and platforms at scale, and to create accurate, detailed proposals across their entire product catalogue quickly and easily. The front-end system works for direct and programmatic sales as well as self-service, streamlining processes significantly across the media sales organization.

"Unifying linear and digital proposal management empowers media companies to deliver audience targeted products and cross-platform products like never before," said Mitch Oscar, televisual thought leadership consultant. "SintecMedia's OnBoard proposal system, built on a universal product catalogue and open architecture is a unique offering on the market that will drive growth and profitability for media companies."

Media companies from NCBU to Turner, Viacom and Fox are focused on creating audience targeted media products, which require new capabilities to scale successfully with buyers. OnBoard is built to meet these demands, allowing sellers the flexibility to cater to buyer needs, maximize prices and deliver across each platform with the right metrics and rates. OnBoard offers a universal product catalogue across linear, digital and audience data, a single Insertion Order creation system, and integration with digital and linear delivery systems that can easily convert across metrics such as GRPs and impressions. OnBoard is the only front-end system developed to scale as audience targeting unites linear and digital sales across major media organizations.

"The launch of OnBoard for unified sales across linear, digital and audience targeting is the first step in our vision for the new SintecMedia," said Amotz Yarden, CEO of SintecMedia. "With OnBoard, sellers and empowered access their entire product catalogue, create profitable proposals and deliver to any systems they need to with ease."

Learn more about OnBoard at sintecmedia.com.

About SintecMedia

SintecMedia is the preferred broadcast management for linear and digital, and a software partner for over 300 of the world's top media brands, including NBCU, CBS, ABC, AT&T, STARZ, Star India, Seven Australia and Sky. No other software company brings a comparable depth of experience to create truly innovative software that performs across all platforms, revenue models, and business units. Since 2000, SintecMedia has grown to over 1300 employees in 14 offices around the world and processes more than $40 billion in linear and digital advertising revenue for the best-known companies in the industry. For more information, visit www.sintecmedia.com .

SOURCE SintecMedia

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Great success for Austrian technology company LightGlass. The patented ALED Privacy-Plus technology by the smart glass company was honored with the most renowned American architecture award, the Architizer A+Award. Paul Brettschuh, CEO of LightGlass Technology GmbH: "The Architizer A+Award is confirmation for us that we are moving in the right direction. As a result of all this attention, we have already been able to book several development orders from the automobile, glazing, yacht building, room division and facade industries. We will use this awareness to become even stronger internationally."

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493495/LightGlass_Technology_Architizer_Award.jpg )



The Architizer A+Award recognizes the best architectural projects and products every year. As the largest award of its kind, it has a worldwide audience of more than 400 million people. The top-class jury, consisting of industry icons like Denise Scott Brown, Bjarke Ingels and Tom Kundig as well as architecture personalities like Tony Hsieh (Zappos), Yves Behar (Fuseproject), John Edelman (Design Within Reach), Cameron Sinclair (Architecture for Humanity) and Barry Bergdoll (MoMA), evaluated numerous submissions from over 100 countries. The winners include renowned industry greats such as Gluckman Tang, Zaha Hadid Architects, IwamotoScott, Studio Gang Architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Alison Brooks Architects, Hiroshi Nakamura + NAP and many more.

Privacy, transparency and daylight quality - what ALED Privacy-Plus offers

Austrian technology company LightGlass convinced with its patented technology ALED Privacy-Plus, the new generation for self-illuminating glass with increased visual protection. Architectural glass with integrated ALED technology offers artificial light in daylight quality at the push of a button even in darkness, which is not only of interest in northern latitudes, but also when it comes to living and working comfortably. ALED Privacy-Plus, the new technology from LightGlass, also offers adjustable visual protection and the unique chance to fulfill both the need for complete transparency and absolute privacy.

LightGlass for the first time at LightFair, the largest annual architecture and lighting trade show in the USA

The world's largest annual architecture and lighting trade show LightFair will take place in Philadelphia from May 9 to 11, 2017 and the Austrian company will be there to present its smart glass technology to an international audience, along with over 550 other exhibitors. "We have already worked very successfully with different international partners, such as JELD WEN and SWISSPACER from the Saint-Gobain group. The co-operation with AAMSCO is now another strategic collaboration with a US company," explains Brettschuh. This year, LightGlass will be announcing new industry co-operation partnerships in the automobile, windows & doors, branding & elevator construction areas.

About LightGlass Technology GmbH

The Vienna-based technology company LightGlass Technology GmbH develops and licenses self-illuminating glass in daylight quality as well as glass with integrated technical modules for the international industry.

The patented product technologies with their unique selling points are suitable for use in all architectural glass processing industries and are licensed to companies in the areas of windows and doors, facade and dry construction, elevators, hospital technologies, partition wall systems, retail architecture and smart home applications as well as generalists for architectural glass, light and electronics. Another business segment is contract research for major international companies.

LightGlass technologies have unique selling points and have been recognized for this several times internationally:

Architizer A+Award 2017 - Glazing Systems & Products (US)

Iconic Award 2015 - Building Technologies "Best of Best" (D)

German Design Award 2016 - Special Mention - Architectural Products (D)

Architizer A+ Awards 2016 - Finalist - Material Glass (US)

Houskapreis 2016 - Awardee - R&D in SME (A)

Glass Magazine Award 2016 - Most Innovative Glass Product (US)

Company contact:

Claus Steinau

International Marketing & Sales

LightGlass Technology GmbH

M +43 688 602 17 486

F +43 1 947 59 06

E-mail: [email protected]

http://www.lightglass.net

Press contact:

Karin Brotzner

The Skills Group GmbH

Tel.: +43-1-505-26-25-60

E-mail: [email protected]

http://www.skills.at

SOURCE LightGlass Technology GmbH
The auction's winning bid "substantially exceeded" its $2m Reserve price, according to Enriquez. As is customary, the sales price will be released upon closing, which is scheduled to occur within thirty days. Platinum also reported that its marketing campaign generated more than 18,940 international website hits for the property during a 5-week period, a rate of more than 541 visits per day, on average.

With this transaction, Platinum is now five-for-five in auction sales in the Wellington marketplace, a flawless streak that began in the winter of 2013. "It's certainly a market wherein we are looking into more active efforts," stated David Ashcroft, Platinum's director of business development. The sales we've done there to date have come to us organically, and we have yet to really point our nose firmly in that direction in terms of new business development. Area sellers would be wise to review Ms. Gustafson's case study and tremendous success, given the soft market in Wellington at present."

"I'm a believer in the auction process - as I've always said to both real estate peers and friends, and I'm thrilled to have a non-contingent sale for my own farm during what has been a challenging market for the upper-tier properties in Wellington this year," Gustafson added.

The property offers 5.5 acres of manicured grounds within Wellington's prestigious Palm Beach Point community, a location that allows for a relatively modest hack to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, the host venue of the world-famous Winter Equestrian Festival, or "WEF." Its 5,400-sf residence offers 4 bedrooms and 4 full baths. Features include an enclosed pool, bar, and an oversized master suite with a private veranda. The grounds include a 12-stall barn, 7 paddocks, and a 130-ft by 210-ft riding arena with new footing.

Additional information on the recent sale is available at EquestrianLuxuryAuction.com, or by contacting a Platinum associate at 800.262.5132.

About Platinum Luxury Auctions

Platinum Luxury Auctions specializes in the non-distressed sale of multimillion-dollar properties within and beyond the United States. The Platinum team has closed more than $669 million in luxury real estate auction sales to date, while consulting on more than $2 billion in additional luxury properties worldwide. The firm is responsible for developing the luxury auction model for high-priced real estate auctions.

SOURCE Platinum Luxury Auctions LLC

Related Links

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PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Craig Zinn Automotive Group, South Florida's Premier Auto Group, held a Check Presentation Ceremony and presented The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Southern Florida Chapter with a donation check amounting to $150,938, from proceeds raised through the Subaru of Pembroke Pines Share the Love campaign.

Duane Massa, General Manager at Subaru of Pembroke Pines, Lydia Rodriguez, Campaign Manager at LLS, Craig Zinn, CEO, Zachary, Sales Manager, and Martine Zinn, Corporate Relations Executive at the Craig Zinn Automotive Group, and DeAnn Hazey, Executive Director at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Held at the end of each year, Subaru donates $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased to one of several national or local charities. For the last three years, Craig and Martine Zinn and the Craig Zinn Automotive Group (CZAG), which owns and operates Subaru of Pembroke Pines, have participated in the Share the Love Program, raising funds for local charities. This year, Subaru of Pembroke Pines selected The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Southern Florida Chapter as their beneficiary. The gift will help fund The LLS mission to cure Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, Myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

It was an extraordinary day for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Zinn Family, Subaru of Pembroke Pines and the Subaru of America leadership team. Many local business and community leaders were in attendance, as well as Brayden, a three-year-old survivor who came to the event with his parents to personally thank the (CZAG). Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief presented Martine and Craig Zinn with a Proclamation declaring "Subaru of Pembroke Pines Day" in Broward County. Mayor Frank Ortis presented a Proclamation declaring "Craig Zinn Day" in the City of Pembroke Pines, and U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's District Director gave Mr. and Mrs. Zinn a Congratulatory Note from U.S. Congress District 23.

Since the inception of the local Share the Love Promise three years ago, the Subaru of Pembroke Pines and the Zinn family's financial contributions have culminated in a donation total of $337,509 serving local South Florida charities.

"Love. It's What Makes a Subaru, a Subaru  and at Subaru of Pembroke Pines, we want to Share the Love with everyone in our community. We want to do our part to help empower the mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and be the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care," said Craig Zinn, President, and CEO at Craig Zinn Automotive Group.

"Our partnership with Subaru Pembroke Pines through the "Subaru Share the Love" program will greatly impact our patients and their families in Broward County with medical co-pay assistance and other free resources. We are grateful to President & CEO, Craig Zinn, General Sales Manager, Duane Massa, and the Subaru of Pembroke Pines Team for helping The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society serve and provide support for our cancer community in their greatest time of need." said DeAnn Hazey, Executive Director of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Southern Florida Chapter.

Follow Subaru of Pembroke Pines

Follow The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

About Subaru of Pembroke Pines - Your Pembroke Pines, Florida Subaru Dealership: At Subaru of Pembroke Pines, we offer new Subaru cars in Pembroke Pines, along with used cars, trucks, and SUVs by top manufacturers. Our sales staff will help you find that new or used car you have been searching for in Pembroke Pines. We proudly serve new and used car shoppers from all over the south Florida communities of Kendall, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Dade County. For years, our financial staff at Subaru of Pembroke Pines has offered expert advice for those seeking a great Subaru car loan or lease. Our service doesn't stop there. Pembroke Pines customers can come in and take advantage of our knowledgeable Subaru car repair technicians and a fully stocked inventory of Subaru auto parts. You can reach Subaru of Pembroke Pines any time by filling out the contact form on our website, subaruofpembrokepines.com, by calling us, (888) 821-9697, or simply visiting our Pembroke Pines Subaru dealership at 16100 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines, FL.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS): The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care. Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Rye Brook, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit LLS.org

MEDIA CONTACT:

Rixys Alfonso

305.558.8877

[email protected]

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SOURCE Subaru of Pembroke Pines

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RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, California, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SweeGen Inc., a nature based sweetener company, today announced that a major global food and beverage company has started production of a new consumer product using SweeGen's Bestevia Reb-M sweetener. After successfully completing all product trials in March 2017, the customer decided to accelerate the introduction of Bestevia Reb-M sweetener into the current production runs to meet its planned product launch later this year.

SweeGen's BESTEVIA Reb-M sweetener is a non-caloric and high purity stevia sweetener with a clean, sweet, sugar-like taste. Starting with the stevia leaf, a proprietary production pathway is used to produce the stevia Reb M sweetener. The global consumer demand is increasing for healthy alternatives to sugar and artificial sweeteners without sacrificing taste. SweeGen's Bestevia Reb-M sweetener is the obvious choice for food and beverage manufacturers, as well as consumers, to satisfy this demand.

SweeGen started commercializing its Bestevia Reb-M sweetener in January 2017 and has received the U.S. FDA no-objection letter as well as approval for use in Canada. Regulatory approval in nine countries is expected by the end of 2017, with the majority of the remaining global approvals expected in 2018.

ABOUT SWEEGEN

SweeGen (OTC: SWEE) is dedicated to the development, production and distribution of non-caloric, non-GMO sweeteners for the food, flavor and beverage industries. SweeGen's robust product pipeline, intellectual property portfolio, and dedicated manufacturing capacity and R&D provide the Company its foundation for innovation and delivery of high-quality sweetener products. For more information please contact [email protected] and visit SweeGen's website, www.sweegen.com.

Ingredion is SweeGen's exclusive distribution partner outside of China, and excluding SweeGen's House Accounts.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements including statements regarding the future outlook and performance of SweeGen, Inc., and other statements based on current management expectations, estimates and projections. These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, are not guarantees and are inherently subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those that may be discussed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are only made as of the date of this release, and SweeGen, Inc. disclaims any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE SweeGen, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.sweegen.com


BEAVERTON, Ore., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tektronix, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, today introduced the TTR500 Series USB Vector Network Analyzer, adding to the growing Tektronix portfolio of disruptive USB-based RF test instruments. Like Tektronix' highly successful USB-based spectrum analyzers, the new TTR500 Series delivers an unmatched combination of low price and performance  40 percent lower cost than alternatives capable of matching its 122 dB dynamic range and 6 GHz frequency range. It also includes advanced features including new VectorVu-PC analysis software and the only built-in bias tee for testing active devices in this category.

The new Tektronix TTR500 Series USB VNA offers a full 2-port, 2-path S-parameter VNA for such applications as measuring passive/active components, antennas and matching networks, RF modules, test cables, adapters and more. It features a solid set of specifications including 100 kHz to 6 GHz frequency range, 122 dB dynamic range, less than 0.008 dB trace noise, and -50 to +7 dBm output power, all in a compact package weighing less than 4 pounds.

Among the markets with a critical need for an affordable VNA are Internet of Things (IoT) design and education. VNAs help IoT designers match Bluetooth, WLAN, RFID and other radios to antennas. In many cases, designers must rent or borrow VNAs, adding time and expense to projects. In education, the high cost of VNAs means students get little to no hands-on time with an important instrument. The TTR500 Series dramatically lowers the barrier to entry and features an easy-to-use user interface for common tasks. The TTR500's small, compact form factor eliminates the need to roll around a shared VNA.

"With its innovative architecture and disaggregated design, the TTR500 Series achieves the same level of performance as a benchtop VNA, but at 40 percent lower cost and one-seventh the size and weight of units with comparable performance," said Jim McGillivary, general manager of RF and Component Solutions at Tektronix. "This new architecture also reduces component count and complexity for more reliability compared to benchtop VNAs. The RSA306 disrupted the spectrum analyzer and I'm confident the TTR500 Series will have the same impact for the VNA."

The TTR500 Series offers a full 2-port, 2-path S-parameter VNA for such applications as measuring passive/active components, antennas and matching networks, RF modules, test cables, adapters and more. It features a solid set of specifications including 100 kHz to 6 GHz frequency range, 122 dB dynamic range, less than 0.008 dB trace noise, and -50 to +7 dBm output power, all in a compact package weighing less than 4 pounds.

An important feature of the TTR500 is the built-in bias tee that is accessible on both ports and allows for active devices, such as amplifiers, to be easily DC biased. No longer will users need to contend with an external bias tee or pay a premium for an instrument with an optional internal bias tee. The TTR500's built-in bias tee allows for 0 to  24 V, and 0 to 200 mA on both ports for active devices.

The TTR500 works with any Windows PC or laptop and the VectorVu-PC software delivers a traditional look and feel for controlling and calibrating the instrument. It offers full point and click usability with the ease of PC-based networking for saving and sharing files. For automated test systems in design or manufacturing, VectorVu-PC offers programmatic support for SCPI commands, including command compatibility with common legacy VNAs for easy integration into existing test systems. In addition, the software offers an offline mode for data analysis with an output file format compatible with common EDA simulation tools.

Rounding out the solution, the TTR500 Series is available with a robust set of accessories including a rugged carrying case, rack mount kits, rugged phase-stable cables, attenuators, adapters and calibration kits.

Pricing & Availability

The TTR500 Series vector network analyzer is available now and pricing starts at $9,000 US MSRP for a 3 GHz instrument and $12,000 for a 6 GHz instrument. To learn more, go to www.tek.com/TTR500 or contact your local Tektronix account manager.

Wondering what else Tektronix is up to? Check out the Tektronix Bandwidth Banter blog and stay up to date on the latest news from Tektronix on Twitter and Facebook.

About Tektronix

Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix delivers innovative, precise and easy-to-operate test, measurement and monitoring solutions that solve problems, unlock insights and drive discovery. Tektronix has been at the forefront of the digital age for over 70 years. Join us on the journey of innovation at TEK.COM.

Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Tektronix, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.tektronix.com


MALVERN, Pa., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TELA Bio, Inc., a surgical reconstruction company leading the development and commercialization of Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) for soft tissue repair, today announced the company has initiated a post-market clinical study, BioScaffold Reconstruction of Abdominal wall and Ventral hernia defects with Open or laparoscopic repair (BRAVO), of its OviTex Permanent 1S device.

OviTex RBSs represent the next step in hernia repair, integrating polymer and biologic materials in a unique embroidered construction. The biologic material, derived from ovine rumen, allows for functional tissue remodeling, while the polymer provides additional strength and improved handling. OviTex devices are available with either polypropylene polymer (permanent) or polyglycolic acid polymer (resorbable). TELA Bio commercialized OviTex RBSs in July 2016 and has completed over 400 implantations to-date in a wide range of hernia patients using a variety of surgical techniques.

"We are committed to providing surgeons with the advanced soft tissue repair materials they need, and that means we must continue to innovate and tailor OviTex products based on real-world experience," said Maarten Persenaire, MD, chief medical officer of TELA Bio. "Surgeon feedback on OviTex performance and surgical handling has been positive so far, and we are excited to initiate a formal clinical data collection program that will support future efforts to refine surgical mesh design and develop new clinical protocols for hernia repair."

The single-arm, prospective BRAVO study is designed to evaluate the clinical performance of OviTex Permanent 1S in 100 ventral hernia patients. Investigators will initially monitor the incidence of early post-operative surgical site occurrences, wound-related events, and other complications within the first three months following surgery. Further endpoints include the incidence of true hernia recurrence at 90 days, 12 months, and 24 months follow-up and post-operative surgical site occurrences and other complications occurring more than three months after surgery. In addition, patient reported outcomes such as quality of life and pain assessments will also be evaluated.

"Many of the biologic materials available today have the flexibility I need, but lack consistent long-term durability that is required for success in soft tissue reconstruction," said principal investigator George DeNoto III, MD, FACS, director of general surgery at St. Francis Hospital in New York. "OviTex RBSs are an exciting advance because they feature the benefits of both polymer and biologic materials, strength and safety in one. I applaud this young company for taking the right approach to post-market research."

The first patient in the BRAVO study enrolled at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California.

"We are pleased to be the first clinical site to enroll a patient in the post-market study," said Salvatore Pacella, MD, MBA, FACS, division head of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Scripps Clinic and Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, California. "OviTex RBSs are a promising new technology for hernia repair and we look forward to learning more about how this mesh design can impact the lives of our patients."

About TELA Bio, Inc.

TELA Bio, Inc. is a privately-owned company focused on bringing innovative, cost-effective, surgical reconstruction solutions to surgeons, hospitals and patients. The company's OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) products, designed for hernia repair and abdominal wall reconstruction procedures, integrate polymer and biologic materials in a uniquely embroidered construction using novel engineering design principles. The OviTex portfolio is supported by high-quality, data-driven science and extensive pre-clinical research that has consistently demonstrated the advantages of an RBS over commercially available products. OviTex RBSs are commercially available in the U.S., and TELA Bio plans to launch OviTex RBSs in the European Union. The company is collaborating with leading surgeons to drive rapid product development and establish TELA Bio as a leader in surgical reconstruction. To learn more about TELA Bio visit http://www.telabio.com.

About OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds

OviTex Reinforced BioScaffolds (RBSs) are intended for use as a surgical mesh to reinforce and/or repair soft tissue where weakness exists. Indications for use include the repair of hernias and/or abdominal wall defects that require the use of reinforcing or bridging material to obtain the desired surgical outcome.

Do not use OviTex RBSs in patients known to be sensitive to materials of ovine (sheep) origin. For additional important safety information, please see the OviTex RBSs Instructions for Use.

Caution: Federal (US) law restricts this device to sale by or on order of a physician.

TELA Bio, Inc. owns or has applied for the following trademarks or service marks: OviTex, TELA Bio.

Media contact

Adam Daley

Berry & Company Public Relations

212-253-8881

[email protected]

SOURCE TELA Bio, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.telabio.com


SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association ("ACC/AHA") published guidelines on lower extremity peripheral artery disease and syncope, along with the supporting systematic review on syncope. These jointly developed guidelines were simultaneously published in both Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). Doctor Evidence, a software and services technology company that finds, categorizes and synthesizes data from published sources, assisted in the process.

Pacing as a Treatment for Reflex-Mediated (Vasovagal, Situational, or Carotid Sinus Hypersensitivity) Syncope: A Systematic Review for the 2017 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Syncope was published in both JACC and Circulation. Paul D. Varosy, MD, FACC, FAHA, FHRS chaired the joint Evidence Review Committee which worked closely with Doctor Evidence teams for the comprehensive and systematic search and rigorous analyses. In addition to the innovative technology platforms, Doctor Evidence provided methodology, library, data integrity, ontology management, and other services to support the performance of this evidence review.

The accompanying guideline, the 2017 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Syncope, chaired by Win-Kuang Shen, MD, FACC, FAHA, FHRS and a writing committee of 15 others, along with the joint guideline taskforce of 17 other distinguished cardiology researchers, was also published in both JACC and Circulation. The authors based the clinical recommendations on the results of the systematic review.

"We are proud to be the evidence partner for the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guideline development teams to bring evidence-informed recommendations to patients and cardiologists," stated Robert Battista, CEO and co-founder of Doctor Evidence. "The mission of Doctor Evidence's GROWTH initiative is to spread evidence-based medicine and methods widely and deeply, which is facilitated through the excellent collaborations we have with these well-respected guideline developers, along with many other medical professional societies, academic medical centers, and healthcare provider organizations."

The 2016 AHA/ACC Guideline on the Management of Patients With Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines was jointly published in JACC and Circulation in November 2016, with corrections appearing March 21, 2017. There was no need for independently produced systematic review because existing reviews met the criteria for the Evidence Review Committee. Doctor Evidence assisted with the identification and appraisal of the existing reviews.

The ACC and AHA have been members of GROWTH (Guidelines & Research Organizations Worldwide for Transparency & Harmonization) since 2014, when they selected GROWTH, a Doctor Evidence initiative, to assist in their guideline modernization efforts, to be compliant with the 2011 standards as set forth by the Institute of Medicine reports on trustworthy guidelines and systematic reviews. Both organizations have utilized the expertise and resources of Doctor Evidence for other evidence-based guideline projects during this time, including several that are still in development.

About Doctor Evidence and GROWTH

Doctor Evidence, LLC, founded in 2004 and headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, is a leader in technological solutions for Evidence-Based Medicine with a mission to provide stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem with the most timely and relevant medical evidence and related analytics to make and inform the best clinical decisions. The Guideline & Research Organizations Worldwide for Transparency & Harmonization (GROWTH) initiative is committed to improving the health and quality of life of patients by encouraging the development of evidencebased clinical recommendations through collaboration and resourcesharing across the spectrum of evidencebased medicine. GROWTH utilizes Doctor Evidence's cuttingedge platform technologies and services to synthesize high quality data from a broad variety of sources including databases of published clinical studies (e.g., PubMed or EMBASE), clinical trials.gov, clinical practice guidelines, health technology assessments, systematic reviews, and epidemiological data. The resulting knowledge sets are leveraged, utilizing rigorous and transparent methodologies employing sophisticated analytic capabilities, to perform direct metaanalyses, network metaanalyses, metaregressions, cohort analyses, and sensitivity analyses. These reliable results then support transparent and trusted reviews informing clinical trial designs, guidelines and protocols for patient care, healthcare policy decisions, and ongoing research to identify the most efficacious and safe interventions for specific patients and populations.

For more information on the company and its products and services, please visit www.drevidence.com. Visit http://growthevidence.com/ to learn about GROWTH.

SOURCE Doctor Evidence

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NEW YORK, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging to barricade the growth of the illicit drugs market

Anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging has comparatively high demand, attributed to increasing demand for safe packaging to combat the illicit drug market. The Mass Encoding Technology segment is estimated to account for a market share of 32.2% in the global anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging market by 2016 end and is expected to witness a further rise of 40 basis points to account for 32.4% by 2026.

Highlights

Track & Trace Technologies segment will be a game changer in the anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging market.

Anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical has different Market segments that are differentiated in terms of usage, ranging from an array of features such as convert features, tamper evidence, forensic markets, divert features, and trace & trace technologies (sterilization and identification system). --The track & trace technologies foresees a growth to approximately US$ 2742.5 Million .

. At a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 13.1% by 2026.



With the projection of estimated to rise the value of share to more than 40%.

In 2015, the covert feature segment of the global anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging market recorded US$249.1 Million by 2026.

by 2026. The market segment is expected to reach a value of US$871.8 Million by 2026.

by 2026.

at a CAGR of 12.3% within 2016 to 2026,

Convert features is projected to target US$599.7 Million .

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04598110/Anti-counterfeit-Pharmaceutical-Packaging-Market-APEJ-Regional-Market-to-Register-Healthy-CAGR-During-the-Forecast-Period-Global-Industry-Analysis-and-Opportunity-Assessment.html



Owing to an astonishing CAGR of 13.1%, coupled with the current market share of over 40%, the Track and Trace Technologies segment is projected to be the most attractive segment in the global anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging market over the forecast period.



A slew of restrictive measures to combat the rise of counterfeit medicines is cementing the growth of the global anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals packaging market



Counterfeit medicines are fake medicines. These may be contaminated or contain wrong ingredients. It is estimated that globally, around 10% - 15% of medicines are counterfeit. This poses a threat to the global pharmaceuticals market. Counterfeit pharmaceutical products affect both, i.e. patients as well as pharma companies with their brand reputation. The rampant counterfeiting of drugs has pushed pharma producers to opt for secure solutions. Anti-counterfeiting packaging is one of the measures that pharma majors are relying on. Pharmaceutical companies have been incorporating anti-counterfeit solutions with their product packages; of these, hologram, bar code, and water is common and considered as a conventional option for the same. However, with advancement in technology, pharmaceutical manufacturers are also integrating new and innovative options with conventional solutions such as integrating authentication overt features with covert elements, forensics, and track & trace elements. These measures have translated into fruitful results for pharmaceutical companies and tier II pharma companies also prefer similar approaches. These effective measures considered by pharma companies resulted in the sudden increase in demand for anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging across the globe.

Smart technologies to push the anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging market ahead during the forecast period



Anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging is segmented on the basis of technology as RFID [active tags, passive tags, semi-active tags], security inks and coatings, security printing and graphics, hologram, mass encoding [Barcode Application, Digital Mass Serialization, Digital Mass Encryption] and others [Electromagnetic, Surveillance Technologies]. The RFID technology segment of the global anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging market was valued at US$ 331.8 Mn in 2015 and is projected to reach a market value of US$ 1,146.8 Mn by 2026, registering a CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period. The segment is expected to create incremental $ opportunity of US$ 786.8 Mn between 2016 and 2026.



Big players in the segment are all set for an African safari



On the basis of region, North America region is projected to remain dominant in the global anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging market throughout the forecast period. North America was the largest market for anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging, accounting for over 34.0% share of the global market in terms of revenue in 2015. Growth is primarily attributed to North America being the largest pharmaceuticals and biologics research hub, which exports bio-pharma products across all geographies. Furthermore, companies are making significant investments in R&D which is likely to boost growth of the pharmaceutical sector in the region.



Latin America is projected to be the fastest-growing market over the forecast period, with a CAGR of 12.7%. In MEA region the changing economic profile of Africa is influencing local as well as international players to expand in the region. The anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical market in the Middle East & Africa is estimated to expand at a fast-paced CAGR of 11.5% by 2026 owing to the growth in the economy of the region.



3M Track & Trace Solutions and Avery Dennison to lock horns to earn the major share of the market



Some of the major players in the industry such as 3M Track & Trace Solutions are predicted to squash out other contenders and will dominate almost 4.5% share of the entire market. Though Avery Dennison and Sicpa Holdings will give tough competition to the projected market leader during the projection period. This massive and fragmented market is packed with competitors who are offering anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging. In the present scenario targeted companies are likely to cover 12% of the market share and the rest will contribute to 82% of the global anti-counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging market.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04598110/Anti-counterfeit-Pharmaceutical-Packaging-Market-APEJ-Regional-Market-to-Register-Healthy-CAGR-During-the-Forecast-Period-Global-Industry-Analysis-and-Opportunity-Assessment.html



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The premier edition of IFSEC Philippines will showcase more than 120 world-renowned brands in CCTV, access control and biometrics, fire alarms, detection and protection, cyber security, home automation, physical security, perimeter protection and other product categories. Some of the leading participating brands are Axis Communications, Axxonsoft, Honeywell, Seagate, Dahua, Nemtek, Allied Telesis, Assa Abloy, HID Global, Kedacom, Microsoft, Samsung and more.

With cutting-edge products available on the show floor, IFSEC Philippines expects to receive around 5,000 trade visitors and professionals during the three-day event. Aside from the wide range of products and brands, visitors will enjoy free seminars and learning sessions during the event. IFSEC Philippines 2017 is offering more than 18 free-to-attend sessions on the show floor.

Visitors will have the opportunity to listen to hot topics presented by leading experts such as Undersecretary Catalino S. Cuy -- Officer in Charge of Department of the Interior and Local Government, Mr Raymund Liboro -- Chairman of the National Privacy Commission, Police Supt. Marni C. Marcos Jr -- Acting Director of the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the Philippine National Police, General Tan Sri Dato' Seri Admiral Mohamad Azumi (Rtd) -- Chairman of CyberSecurity Malaysia, and more.

Philippine industry players, trade buyers, government officials and corporations are invited to visit IFSEC Philippines 2017. Admission to both the exhibition and conferences is free. For more information on IFSEC Philippines 2017, conference programme, list of exhibitors, product categories and to register, visit www.ifsecphilippines.com.

We hope to meet you at IFSEC Philippines 2017 from 3 to 5 May 2017 at the SMX Convention Centre.

See you there!

About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com)

Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia is the largest trade show organiser in Asia and the largest commercial organiser in China, India and Malaysia. Established with its headquarters in Hong Kong and subsidiary companies across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia has a strong global network of 30 offices and 1,300 staff in 24 major cities. We operate in 20 market sectors with 230 exhibitions and conferences, 23 trade publications, 20 online products for over 1,000,000 quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world.

SOURCE UBM Asia (Malaysia)

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(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493868/Johnnie_Walker.jpg )

This is the test the ingenious blending team at Johnnie Walker, the world's number one best-selling Scotch Whisky brand[1], set themselves in crafting Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish. The limited edition new blend is the second and latest innovation in the Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch portfolio - a series of experimental Scotch Whiskies that challenge convention and lift the lid on the skill and never-ending pursuit of flavour that has driven the small team of expert blenders at Johnnie Walker for over 200 years.

Inspired by the time master blender Dr Jim Beveridge, whose personal journey making whisky began over 40 years ago, spent blending bourbons and ryes in Kentucky in the 1990s, Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish pushes the boundaries of blending like never before.

It took more than 50 experiments exploring over 200 whisky samples to hit upon the blend - Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish - which features whiskies from just five distilleries including Dufftown and the now closed Port Dundas. The final blend, which is rich and warming with an intense honeyed sweetness, is aged in first-fill bourbon casks and finished for up to six months in former rye casks. It is available only in a small number of selected markets, including Travel Retail.

The magic, creativity and experimentation brought to life in the whisky making process, is what drives the blending team at Johnnie Walker to experiment with new and surprising taste experiences, resulting in this latest addition to the Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch series. The on-going flavour experiments that Beveridge and his team study at the brand's home in Scotland are a crucial part of their work, focussing on developing and understanding alternative flavours including wine, coffee and chocolate.

"Experimentation is the key to innovation," says Dr Beveridge. "It's something that has been at the heart of Johnnie Walker from the very beginning and which has enabled us to consistently create perfect whiskies like Johnnie WalkerRed Label and Johnnie Walker Black Label for generations.

"What we're doing today is what we've done for almost 200 years, experimenting with flavours and flavour influences to make sure that the whisky we make every day is the very best it can be. Right now, interest in whisky is higher than it's ever been and it's the right time to let people try some of the innovative - sometimes seemingly weird - things we're experimenting with. We think people will love these whiskies and more than that, they'll love knowing the story of how they came about."

Dayalan Nayager, Managing Director of Diageo Global Travel, said: "Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish is the perfect purchase for travellers looking for new and surprising taste experiences, Johnnie Walker fans or those seeking to explore the category.

"Travellers are looking for brands that have discovery, authenticity, craftsmanship and real human stories behind them. Johnnie Walker has a truly unique story to tell and we are thrilled to offer shoppers a glimpse into the world of flavour exploration from the world's biggest Scotch Whisky brand. As this is also a limited edition product, it is truly an exciting addition to the Johnnie Walker range in duty free."

When making whisky, the blenders at Johnnie Walker think 'from the bar back,' ensuring bartenders and whisky fans at home have the perfect liquids at hand to serve neat, on the rocks, or as the foundation of a flawless Scotch-based cocktail.

Inspired by the recent success of Johnnie WalkerSelect Casks - Rye Cask Finish, travellers can pick up a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish in selected duty free stores worldwide now.

Notes to Editors:

Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish has a RRP of $52.50/32.00

Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish has an ABV of 40%

Johnnie Walker Blenders' Batch Bourbon Cask & Rye Finish is available in 1L bottle.

Johnnie Walker Expert Blenders

Our blenders' passion, skill and commitment to innovation has enabled them to consistently create perfect whiskies like Johnnie Walker Red Label and Johnnie Walker Black Label for generations.

Our blenders can choose from more than eight million casks of carefully crafted Scotch Whisky drawn from more than 30 distilleries across Scotland, meaning that Johnnie Walker is crafted from a flavour palette that none of our competitors can match.

For almost two centuries, six generations of our blenders - starting with John Walker himself - have been bold visionaries, playing and experimenting with flavour not out of duty or necessity but because they love what they do. It's this skill and vision that has enabled our blenders to consistently create perfect whiskies like Johnnie Walker Red Label and Johnnie Walker Black Label for generations. This latest expression comes from a brand that has always been committed to the importance of innovation to drive sales globally.

--------------------------------------------------

1. IWSR, 2015

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits, beer and wine categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Buchanan's and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff and Ciroc vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO). For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at http://www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, http://www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

SOURCE Diageo Global Travel
GAINESVILLE, Fla., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TradePMR released today its agenda and lineup of speakers for the 2017 Synergy conference, an annual gathering for independent registered investment advisors (RIAs). This year's theme, Gratitude, Giving and Growth, will inspire the three-day agenda that focuses on the tools and resources needed to fuel growth of an advisor's business through technology and automation. Synergy will take place Wednesday, May 3 through Friday, May 5 at the Eden Roc Resort, Miami.

The event will feature a robust line-up of speakers, including keynote remarks from author, comedian, and world-class guitarist Mike Rayburn. He will focus on the topic of innovation and pose the question, "What If?" Advisors will also hear from TradePMR's founder, president and CEO, Robb Baldwin, and other members of TradePMR leadership. Numerous sessions are dedicated to the evolution of EarnWise, the firm's web-based technology platform.

"Since launching EarnWise at Synergy in 2016, we have had countless conversations with advisors seeking to elevate their business strategy with a robo-solution," said Baldwin. "TradePMR is known for delivering cutting-edge technology tools to RIAs. Advisors attending this year's conference can expect to see even more leading edge solutions. The enhancements we are rolling out at the conference are revolutionary  in fact, this is the biggest thing we have ever done. We are very proud of our custom-built solution for advisors."

Joel Bruckenstein, producer of the T3 Technology conferences and T3 Technology Hub, had this to say: "I am excited to be attending the TradePMR conference again this year and look forward to seeing all of the new and innovative things that Robb and his team will be revealing. I expect some significant vendor announcements as well. TradePMR has built a very impressive custodial interface. EarnWise promises to harness the best of traditional and robo-advisor business strategies in a single, easy-to-implement, online solution. TradePMR's culture of innovation continues to impress me."

FIRST-CLASS EVENT

This year's conference will kick off with an opportunity for independent RIAs to network with TradePMR's leadership, staff and fellow advisors during a four-hour morning cruise touring Miami Beach on The Venetian Lady, a 130-foot luxury yacht. A slate of educational sessions will be the focus of the two main conference days. The conference will close on Friday with a robust panel discussion featuring a handful of TradePMR's top advisors.

Details about Synergy, including the complete list of speakers, full agenda and event registration, are available at https://synergy.tradepmr.com. For breaking news and conference updates, follow the official Twitter hashtag #SynergyMIAMI.

Sponsoring companies include: FirstClearing^, AdvisorEngine, Aetna Capital Management, Ascendant Compliance Management, LifeCare Funding, JBV Financial, First Trust Portfolios, PPC Loan, SumRidge Partners, CalSurance, CION Securities, Probabilities Fund, Millennium Trust Company, Riskalyze, Resource Real Estate, Lincoln Financial Group, Cedar Capital, Sound Income Strategies, Great American Insurance Group, YCharts and FinMason.1

Members of the media may request a press pass via [email protected].

ABOUT TRADEPMR

For nearly two decades, TradePMR has addressed the technology and support demands of financial advisors with solutions that are easy to implement and user-friendly. The privately held introducing brokerage firm (Member FINRA/SIPC), founded and located in Gainesville, Florida, has maintained a singular focus of providing brokerage and custody services and support to independent registered investment advisors (RIAs) and their clients. The firm delivers an integrated cloud-based workstation that enables RIAs to efficiently run their practices and be more effective.

More information is available at tradepmr.com. Follow TradePMR on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.

^ First Clearing is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

1The companies listed are not affiliates of TradePMR. Securities are offered through TradePMR.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jessica Taylor

Impact Communications

913-649-5009

[email protected]

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE TradePMR

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VANCOUVER, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Trilogy Metals Inc. (TSX, NYSE-MKT: TMQ) ("Trilogy Metals" or "the Company") is pleased to announce its Mineral Resource estimate on its high-grade copper deposit at Arctic as of April 25, 2017.

HIGHLIGHTS

In-fill drilling results in a 50% increase in resource tonnes in the Indicated category at substantially the same average grades as the previous estimate, and contains over 40% more copper and zinc metal.





in the Indicated category at substantially the same average grades as the previous estimate, and contains over 40% more copper and zinc metal. At the ranges investigated, the resource is not sensitive to cut-off grade (and assumed metal prices) - where a 300% increase in cut-off grade results in less than a 1% decrease in contained copper and zinc metal at higher average grades.





At a base case 0.5% copper equivalent cut-off grade, the Arctic deposit is estimated to contain in-pit Indicated Resources of 36.0 million tonnes at 3.07% copper, 4.23% zinc , 0.73% lead, 0.63 g/t gold and 47.6 g/t silver for 2.4 billion pounds of contained copper and 3.4 billion pounds of contained zinc (see Table 1 for details).





, 0.73% lead, 0.63 g/t gold and 47.6 g/t silver for 2.4 billion pounds of contained copper and 3.4 billion pounds of contained zinc (see Table 1 for details). At a base case 0.5% copper equivalent cut-off grade, the Arctic deposit is estimated to contain in-pit Inferred Resources of 3.5 million tonnes at 1.71% copper, 2.72% zinc, 0.60% lead, 0.36 g/t gold and 28.7 g/t silver (see Table 1 for details).

Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, President and CEO of Trilogy Metals commented, "We are very pleased to see that in-fill drilling of the Arctic open pit has demonstrated both continuity and expansion of the known mineralization and successfully upgraded Inferred resources to the Indicated classification. The updated resource has resulted in a 50% increase in the Indicated tonnes containing approximately 40% more metal when compared to the previous resource estimate in the marketplace. Furthermore, the resource is not sensitive to cut-off grade or metal prices at the ranges investigated, since a 300% increase in cut-off grade results in less than a 1% decrease in contained metal at higher average grades. That is a robust deposit."

Mr. Van Nieuwenhuyse continued, "In combination with recently completed structural, hydrological, geotechnical and metallurgical work, we are well poised to kick-off the 2017 plan and budget, and complete a Pre-Feasibility study on Arctic in Q1 of 2018."

Table 1. Estimate of Mineral Resources for the Arctic Deposit





Average Grade: Contained metal: Class M

tonnes Cu % Pb% Zn% Au g/t Ag g/t Cu Mlbs Pb Mlbs Zn Mlbs Au koz Ag Moz Indicated 36.0 3.07 0.73 4.23 0.63 47.6 2,441 581 3,356 728 55 Inferred 3.5 1.71 0.60 2.72 0.36 28.7 131 47 210 40 3

Base Case cut-off grade of 0.5% CuEq is highlighted in table.

Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted into Mineral Reserves. See "Cautionary Note to United States Investors."

Resources stated as contained within a pit shell developed using metal prices of US$3.00 /lb copper, US$0.90 /lb lead, US$1.00 /lb zinc, US$1300 /oz gold, US$18 /oz silver, mining costs of US$3.00 /tonne, milling and G&A costs of US$35 /tonne, metallurgical recoveries of 92% for copper, 77% for lead, 88% for zinc, 63% for gold, 56% for silver and an average pit slope of 43 degrees.

/lb copper, /lb lead, /lb zinc, /oz gold, /oz silver, mining costs of /tonne, milling and G&A costs of /tonne, metallurgical recoveries of 92% for copper, 77% for lead, 88% for zinc, 63% for gold, 56% for silver and an average pit slope of 43 degrees. Inferred resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be assumed that all or part of the Inferred resources will ever be upgraded to a higher category.

The sensitivity of mineral resources, contained within the resource limiting pit shell, is demonstrated by listing resources at a series of cut-off thresholds as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Sensitivity of Mineral Resources to Cut-off Grade





Average Grade: Contained metal: Cut-off

CuEq% M

tonnes Cu % Pb% Zn% Au g/t Ag g/t Cu Mlbs Pb Mlbs Zn Mlbs Au koz Ag Moz Indicated 0.25 36.0 3.07 0.73 4.22 0.63 47.61 2,441 582 3,356 729 55 0.5 36.0 3.07 0.73 4.23 0.63 47.62 2,441 581 3,356 728 55 0.75 35.9 3.08 0.73 4.23 0.63 47.72 2,440 582 3,355 728 55 1.0 35.7 3.09 0.74 4.26 0.63 47.97 2,436 581 3,353 728 55 1.5 35.5 3.11 0.74 4.28 0.64 48.22 2,432 580 3,349 727 55 Inferred 0.25 3.8 1.58 0.56 2.52 0.34 26.76 133 47 212 42 3 0.5 3.5 1.71 0.60 2.72 0.36 28.69 131 47 210 40 3 0.75 3.0 1.93 0.65 3.04 0.36 31.99 129 44 203 35 3 1.0 2.5 2.29 0.73 3.52 0.37 37.04 124 39 192 29 3 1.5 2.3 2.46 0.76 3.71 0.39 39.32 122 38 184 28 3

Table 3 compares the new resource with the previous estimate from July 2013. Main contributors to the increase in resources are mostly due to:

New drilling data added since 2013 has upgraded the majority of previous Inferred to Indicated within the pit shell.





New drilling has identified additional resources and provides a better understanding of the shape and location of mineralization in the deposit.

To some degree, differences are also due to changes to the geological interpretation of the mineralization domains, which now capture more of the mineralization present in the deposit, as well as minor changes to the optimization parameters used to generate a resource-limiting pit shell, changes to the estimation strategy, and changes to the reporting of resources at a 0.5% copper equivalent cut-off in 2017 ($33 NSR value) vs. $35 NSR in 2013.

Table 3. Comparison of Mineral Resources for the Arctic Deposit





Average Grade: Contained metal: Resource M tonnes Cu % Pb% Zn% Au g/t Ag g/t Cu Mlbs Pb Mlbs Zn Mlbs Au koz Ag Moz Indicated April 2017 36.0 3.07 0.73 4.23 0.63 47.6 2,441 581 3,356 728 55 July 2013(1) 23.8 3.26 0.76 4.45 0.71 53.2 1,713 401 2,338 550 41 Inferred April 2017 3.5 1.71 0.60 2.72 0.36 28.69 131 47 210 40 3 July 2013(1) 3.4 3.22 0.58 3.84 0.59 41.5 239 43 285 60 5



Note 1  See the Company's press release dated July 30, 2013 titled NovaCopper Announces Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Arctic Open-Pit Polymetallic Project and the Preliminary Economic Assessment Report on the Arctic Project, Ambler Mining District, Northwest Alaska effective September 12, 2013 ("2013 PEA").

Mineral resource estimates are made from a 3D block model based on geostatistical applications using commercial mine planning software (MineSight v11.60-2). The block model has a nominal block size measuring 10 x 10 x 5 m and utilizes data derived from 152 drill holes in the vicinity of the Arctic deposit. The resource estimate was generated using drill hole sample assay results and the interpretation of a geological model which relates to the spatial distribution of copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver. Interpolation characteristics were defined based on the geology, drill hole spacing, and geostatistical analysis of the data. The effects of potentially anomalous high-grade sample data, composited to two metre intervals, are controlled by limiting the distance of influence during block grade interpolation. The grade models have been validated using a combination of visual and statistical methods. The resources were classified according to their proximity to the sample data locations and are reported, as required by NI 43-101, according to the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. Model blocks estimated by three or more drill holes spaced at a maximum distance of 100 metres are included in the Indicated category. Inferred blocks are within a maximum distance of 150 metres from a drill hole. The estimate of Indicated and Inferred mineral resources is within a limiting pit shell derived using projected technical and economic parameters. Additional information on the known legal, political, environmental and other risks that could materially affect the potential development of the mineral resource can be found in the 2013 PEA.

Qualified Persons

Mr. Bruce Davis, FAusIMM, the president of BD Resource Consulting Inc., and Mr. Robert Sim, P.Geo., of Sim Geological Inc., have reviewed the technical information related to the Arctic deposit in this news release and approve the written disclosure contained herein as independent "qualified persons", within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).

Neither Bruce Davis of BD Resource Consulting Inc., nor Robert Sim of Sim Geological Inc., nor any associates employed in the preparation of the Arctic Project resource estimation have any beneficial interest in Trilogy Metals. These Consultants are not insiders, associates, or affiliates of Trilogy Metals. The information in this press release is not dependent upon any prior agreements concerning the conclusions to be reached, nor are there any undisclosed understandings concerning any future business dealings between Trilogy Metals and the Consultants. The Consultants were retained by Trilogy Metals to prepare the Arctic Project resource estimate and are to be paid a fee for their work in accordance with normal professional consulting practices.

About Trilogy Metals

Trilogy Metals Inc., formerly NovaCopper Inc., is a metals exploration company focused on exploring and developing the Ambler mining district located in northwestern Alaska. It is one of the richest and most-prospective known copper-dominant districts located in one of the safest geopolitical jurisdictions in the world. It hosts world-class polymetallic VMS deposits that contain copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver, and carbonate replacement deposits which have been found to host high grade copper mineralization. Exploration efforts have been focused on two deposits in the Ambler mining district - the Arctic VMS deposit and the Bornite carbonate replacement deposit. Both deposits are located within the Company's land package that spans approximately 143,000 hectares. The Company has an agreement with NANA Regional Corporation, Inc., a Regional Alaska Native Corporation that provides a framework for the exploration and potential development of the Ambler mining district in cooperation with local communities. Our vision is to develop the Ambler mining district into a premier North American copper producer.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including, without limitation, statements relating to the mineral resource estimate, future operating or financial performance of the Company, anticipated activity at the UKMP Projects, the potential timing and preparation of a PFS on the Arctic deposit, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding perceived merit of properties; exploration plans and budgets; mineral reserves and resource estimates; work programs; capital expenditures; timelines; strategic plans; market prices for precious and base metals; or other statements that are not statements of fact. Forward-looking statements involve various 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include the uncertainties involving the need for additional financing to explore and develop properties and availability of financing in the debt and capital markets; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and geological tests and the estimation of reserves and resources; the need for cooperation of government agencies and native groups in the development and operation of properties as well as the construction of the access road; the need to obtain permits and governmental approvals; risks of construction and mining projects such as accidents, equipment breakdowns, bad weather, non-compliance with environmental and permit requirements, unanticipated variation in geological structures, metal grades or recovery rates; unexpected cost increases, which could include significant increases in estimated capital and operating costs; fluctuations in metal prices and currency exchange rates; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended November 30, 2016 filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and in other Company reports and documents filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. The Company's forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

The Arctic Preliminary Economic Assessment and the Bornite Technical Report have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates included in this press release have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and resource and reserve information contained therein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the term "resource" does not equate to the term "reserves". Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. The SEC's disclosure standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information concerning "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" or "inferred mineral resources" or other descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not constitute "reserves" by U.S. standards in documents filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. U.S. investors should also understand that "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty 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, estimated "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" exists or is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. The requirements of NI 43-101 for identification of "reserves" are also not the same as those of the SEC, and reserves reported by the Company in compliance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as "reserves" under SEC standards. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth in this press release or the Bornite Technical Report may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with U.S. standards.

SOURCE Trilogy Metals Inc.

Related Links

www.trilogymetals.com


SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Twistlock, the leading provider of cloud container security solutions, today announced it raised $17 million in Series B funding, led by Polaris Partners, designed to support continued innovation and market leadership in the container security space. Twistlock's venture capital investment to date totals $30 million. In addition to new lead investor Polaris Partners, existing investors YL Ventures, TenEleven and Rally Ventures participated in the round, and Brendan Hannigan of Polaris has joined the Twistlock Board of Directors as Chairman.

"As containers gain mainstream momentum and cloud-native applications surge, practices such as DevOps culture, continuous delivery, cloud development and containerization require a reinvention of security," said Brendan Hannigan, Twistlock chairman and venture partner at Polaris Partners, "Twistlock has leapt to the leadership of container security by delivering rapid innovation and customer growth and is spearheading new ways to secure applications which address persistent flaws in old security solutions that have haunted customers for years."

Announced earlier this month, the release of Twistlock 2.0 brings enhanced visibility and compliance to containerized environments and was built to handle even the most stringent of enterprise security requirements. Twistlock's unique approach to application security uses machine learning to automatically create and enforce security models, giving developers the agility they need to deliver software in the modern world.

Twistlock's Series B funding continues strong momentum for the company. Since the release of Twistlock 1.0 in November 2015, Twistlock's customer base has grown over 325 percent, with over 40 customers worldwide as of early 2017. The company opened its Portland, OR office in Q4 2016, which has experienced more than 200 percent growth in the first few months of 2017 as the company continues to scale with offices in New York, Portland, San Francisco and Herzliya, Israel. In addition to this global expansion, Twistlock continues to demonstrate its commitment to industry leadership by collaborating with industry partners and NIST on developing recommendations for container security.

"We are pleased to bring Polaris and Brendan's expertise into the fold, especially given his track record of leadership success both in the security startup scene as well as significantly scaling the security practice at IBM," Ben Bernstein, CEO and co-founder at Twistlock. "This investment and partnership with all participants in the round validates Twistlock's success in product delivery and customer adoption, while providing us instrumental support as we continue to scale our team and deliver innovative security solutions."

Additional Resources:

Learn more about Twistlock 2.0

Read the Twistlock blog

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

About Twistlock

Twistlock is the industry's first enterprise security suite for container security. Twistlock's technology addresses risks on the host and within the application of the container, enabling enterprises to consistently enforce security policies, monitor and audit activity and identify and isolate threats in a container or cluster of containers. Twistlock's mission is to provide a full, enterprise-grade security stack for containers, so organizations can confidently adopt and maximize the benefits of containers in their production environment. For more information, please visit www.twistlock.com

Twistlock Contacts

Jeannie Christensen

415.341.6713

[email protected]

Media Relations

Tracey Workman

781.366.1789

[email protected]

SOURCE Twistlock

Related Links

http://www.twistlock.com


Involvement in the Rewards program allows users to consistently have access to data, ultimately showing higher engagement rates and interaction with mobile carriers and reducing the amount of churn. No longer does a lack of credit stop mobile subscribers from using their device, but rather offer users a cash free option to access more data simply by participating in the program.

Mobile airtime can be earned for free when users provide their opinions by taking online surveys, entering sweepstakes and filling out online quotes across a range of topics. In addition to this, users will also be able to earn extra mobile airtime by ordering food, booking tickets or shopping online.

"Close to half of UK consumers are registered on a pre-pay mobile service plan so the opportunity to earn additional airtime without having to spend money is very appealing," says Paul Harkins, CEO of Billaway. "In addition to the UK, Billaway has seen great success in the U.S. and South Africa showing engagement rates of over 20 per cent across areas where pre-pay plans are prevalent. It's all about providing greater value to the mobile user, globally."

Consumers see the blwy.io/ee link promoted through messages on receipts from selected UK convenience stores. Participants receive a bonus 3 sign up bonus.

The Billaway app is available for download at the Apple store and via Google Play.

Visit the blwy.io/ee mobile friendly site to see the list of mobile carriers applicable to the rewards program.

About Billaway

Billaway is a cloud-based marketing technology platform that seamlessly enables the conversion of global currencies, earned by consumers through their everyday activities, directly into free mobile airtime. Billaway's turn-key integration connects mobile operators with advertisers and brands. This creates a more meaningful relationship with their customers. The company is based in New York City and operates in multiple countries including the United Kingdom and South Africa. For more information, go to www.billawayglobal.com

SOURCE Billaway

Related Links

http://www.billawayglobal.com


LOS ALTOS, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Univfy CEO Mylene Yao, M.D., was honored with MM&M's Top 40 Healthcare Transformer Award, joining the 2017 class of leading biopharma and health technology innovators.

"I'm thrilled to be part of the Top 40 Healthcare Transformers Program," said Yao, board-certified OB-GYN, former NIH-funded scientist and Stanford University faculty member. "It's an honor to be recognized as part of an accomplished group of pioneers working to revolutionize healthcare through innovative technology."

Each year, MM&M selects 40 innovators - industry veterans and startup founders alike - to be part of its Healthcare Transformers Program. On May 1, Yao and the other members of the 2017 class will be honored at an induction dinner at MM&M's Transforming Healthcare Conference in New York.

Yao founded Univfy in 2009 on the basis of patented technology that uses machine learning to predict personalized probabilities of IVF success. She developed the technology at Stanford University with her colleague and cofounder, Dr. Wing H. Wong, Stephen R. Pierce Family Goldman Sachs Professor in Science and Human Health and Professor in the Departments of Statistics (former Chairman), Biology, and Health Policy at Stanford University.

Today Univfy supports IVF providers to counsel each patient with a personalized, easy-to-understand and scientifically validated report outlining her chance of successful pregnancy with IVF.

"At Univfy," Yao said, "we are helping women and couples realize their dream of having a baby by applying state-of-the-art predictive analytics to provide transparency and personalized prognosis to patients and providers in the IVF field."

Many patients need more than one IVF treatment to have a baby. In addition to medication side effects and stress, the cost of IVF is a major factor in a patient's decision to pursue multiple treatments. Univfy responded to patients' requests to make IVF more affordable by dramatically expanding eligibility to enroll in refund warranty programs offered by providers, making it financially feasible for patients to pursue several IVF treatments, if needed, to maximize their chances of success.

Using machine learning, providers powered by Univfy can offer more than 50% of patients to enroll in refund warranty or special pricing programs. Across the country, progressive fertility centers sharing Univfy's vision are participating with Univfy to make IVF a more affordable and realistic option for patients considering fertility treatment.

Today in the United States, one in eight couples struggle to conceive. Univfy is proud to support National Infertility Awareness Week, April 23-29, an awareness-raising movement founded in 1989 by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association.

"At Univfy, we strive to reduce the stigma of infertility and bring transparency and informed decision-making to patients trying to conceive," said Yao. "The MM&M Top 40 Healthcare Transformers award couldn't have come at a better time to raise awareness about infertility as a medical condition."

About Univfy

Univfy Inc. is dedicated to helping women realize their dream of having a baby. We are IVF and fertility analytics experts passionate about empowering women to choose IVF with greater confidence, success and cost-success transparency. We power fertility doctors to provide accurate, personalized IVF treatment success prediction to help more women qualify for IVF refund programs so that they can have several tries of IVF without adding financial risks. The company was founded in 2009 by a research team from Stanford University.

Learn more about Univfy at https://www.univfy.com.

For more information, please contact Yin Zhu at [email protected].

SOURCE Univfy Inc.

Related Links

http://www.univfy.com


WASHINGTON, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced a preliminary determination in response to a petition filed in November 2016 by the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations (COALITION). The United States government ruling substantiates that Canada subsidizes softwood lumber production, distorting the U.S. softwood lumber market to the detriment of U.S. sawmills, their employees and communities.

Under U.S. trade laws and its international trade agreements, the U.S. industry has a right to offsetting duties. The Department of Commerce found the following rates of subsidization: Canfor, 20.26 percent; J.D. Irving, 3.02 percent; Resolute, 12.82 percent; Tolko, 19.50 percent; West Fraser, 24.12 percent; All other producers/exporters, 19.88 percent.

The Department of Commerce is still considering U.S. industry claims that Canadian lumber is also dumped in the U.S. market. Dumping duties are added to countervailing duties imposed to offset subsidies. A preliminary antidumping ruling is scheduled for June 23, 2017.

"Today's ruling confirms that Canadian lumber mills are subsidized by their government and benefit from timber pricing policies and other subsidies which harm U.S. manufacturers and workers," said Coalition Legal Chair Cameron Krauss, Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs of family-owned Seneca Sawmill in Eugene, Oregon.

"We appreciate today's actions by the Department of Commerce, which has examined massive amounts of evidence presented by the COALITION, the Canadian industry and the Canadian Federal and provincial governments. The COALITION is hopeful that the duties imposed by today's decision will begin the process of creating a level playing field for the future and allow for U.S. manufacturers to make essential investments and expand the domestic lumber industry to its natural market and protect and grow the jobs that are so essential to our workers and our communities," added Krauss.

The COALITION is an ad hoc association composed of the U.S. Lumber Coalition, a number of domestic softwood lumber manufacturers in their individual capacity, timberland owners, and the Carpenters Industrial Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. The petition was supported by producers accounting for nearly 70 percent of all softwood lumber produced in the United States (excluding companies that are related to Canadian producers).

About the U.S. Lumber Coalition

The U.S. Lumber Coalition is an alliance of large and small lumber producers from around the country, joined by hundreds of thousands of their employees, and tens of thousands of woodland owners. The Coalition is united in opposition to Canada's unfair lumbertrade practices, including the gross under pricing of timber on governmentowned lands. For more information, please visit the Coalition's website at www.uslumbercoalition.org.

SOURCE The U.S. Lumber Coalition

Related Links

http://www.uslumbercoalition.org


LONGVIEW, Texas, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Two verdict wins by the East Texas law firm of Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC, are recognized among the nation's Top 100 Verdicts for 2016, according to VerdictSearch and The National Law Journal. The verdicts occurred within two weeks of each other and both involved patent infringement claims against tech giant Apple Inc.

A jury award of $302 million to VirnetX Holding Corp. against Apple Inc. on Sept. 30, 2016, was the fourth largest intellectual property verdict and ninth largest verdict overall in the U.S. in 2016. After a one-week trial before Judge Robert W. Schroeder III in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Tyler, firm founder Johnny Ward helped to convince a jury that Apple infringed on four of VirnetX's internet security patents. The jury award was based on what Apple owes VirnetX in royalties.

Just two weeks earlier, name partner Wesley Hill successfully obtained a $22 million verdict for Cellular Communications Equipment LLC., which ranked as the 10th largest intellectual property verdict. The jury found that Apple willfully infringed a wireless communications patent owned by Cellular and used in iPhones and iPads.

"We work hard to ensure our clients' intellectual property is protected," said Mr. Ward. "In both of these cases, we collaborated with other legal teams to ensure our clients' success. It's an honor to be recognized for our work."

Ward, Smith & Hill is nationally known for its trial work in patent infringement cases. To learn more about the firm, click here: http://wsfirm.com/practice-areas/patent-litigation/.

Editors with The National Law Journal and Verdict Search research court records, consult with practitioners and additional ALM Media LLC publications to identify the nation's largest verdicts. The Top 100 Verdicts list is being published in the May 2017 edition of The National Law Journal.

Longview, Texas-based Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC, has tried more than 350 cases to verdict, earning a national reputation in high-stakes claims involving complex commercial litigation, intellectual property law, oil and gas matters, bad faith insurance claims, and serious personal injury claims. The firm frequently assists lawyers nationwide in complex cases before Texas juries. To learn more about the firm, visit http://www.wsfirm.com.

For more information, contact Sophia Reza at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].

SOURCE Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC

Related Links

http://www.wsfirm.com


- Rich product content publishing platform reports 32% increase in new client and new service sign ups

- New executive team help drive 50% growth in overseas (non-US) business

NEW YORK, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Webcollage, the rich product content publishing platform used by the world's leading brands and retailers, today announced a 32 percent YOY rise in new client and new service sign ups in 2016.

International expansion has also been a key source of growth for New York based Webcollage in 2016. The cloud-based platform saw 50 percent growth in overseas (non-US) business and expects that percentage to increase further in the year ahead.



Webcollage CEO John Federman says: "As our industry continues to grow and innovate  so does Webcollage. Our Q1 2016 broke records and we closed out last year with a 32 percent increase in bookings and 50 percent growth in global retailers. We've also opened this year on another high note. These results are a great validation of the investments we've made in our platform, and make us incredibly excited to see what this year will bring.



"Today's brands must be able to engage and connect with customers better than ever before. Webcollage remains steadfastly focused on our customers' success as we work together to shape the content that sells more products."



Under the leadership of Federman, Webcollage has built a world-class executive team, who are focused on product innovation and global expansion to help the business meet the growing demand for its shopper marketing solutions. Webcollage announced four additional executive appointments in 2016 to round out its world-class leadership team.



Ed Carroll joined as Vice President, Global Sales. He was most recently Group Vice President at InContext Solutions.

joined as Vice President, Global Sales. He was most recently Group Vice President at InContext Solutions. Gil Nadav was promoted to Vice President of Engineering to focus on product innovation and development.

was promoted to Vice President of Engineering to focus on product innovation and development. Chris Bosworth was promoted to Vice President of Client Services to lead the team that supports Webcollage's 1,000+ customers.

was promoted to Vice President of Client Services to lead the team that supports Webcollage's 1,000+ customers. Uana Coccoloni was appointed as Vice President of Marketing, having spent her career building awareness of innovative technology businesses.

Webcollage is a pioneer in rich product content publishing, and its SaaS platform has a global retail library of over 118,000 products across more than 1,000 brands. It established the industry standard for publishing rich product information to retailer websites.



More than 1,000 manufacturers now use the Webcollage platform to syndicate rich product content to a network of global retailer partners that includes more than 600 ecommerce websites, including Walmart.com, Target.com and Best Buy. Content published through the Webcollage platform has been viewed by over 2.2 billion consumers across the globe and its video content has been played over 41 million times.



2016 saw Webcollage announce several product updates, including the introduction of Product Selectors  a customizable, interactive way for retailers to guide shoppers through a series of personalized lifestyle questions to create a clear path to purchase.



Webcollage was also proud to provide leadership and support to several local initiatives in Israel this year. The Webcollage R&D teams are based in Israel and team activity has included sponsoring events for young female software developers.



Marco Sawrey, Director of International Retail Development for Webcollage, built a dedicated team to lead the company's recent expansion across Europe. The business increased its global retailer network by 50 percent (from March 2016  Dec 2016). Retail partners were also added in the following new markets:



Argentina

Peru

Finland

Turkey

Israel

Norway

For editors

For more information about Montage visit http://www.webcollage.com/montage/, or contact: [email protected]



For more information about Webcollage, Montage or to organize an interview with John Federman, please contact: [email protected].



Further information



About Webcollage: Webcollage is the leading cloud-based content management platform for managing rich product information, and syndication across retail sites globally. Webcollage provides brands with the tools they need to deliver consistent content  from rich product detail pages, comparison charts, images galleries, interactive tours and product selectors  to power online sales conversions and improve the customer experience. Webcollage's syndication platform and global retailer network is trusted by more than 1,000 brands and 600+ retailers worldwide. Webcollage is headquartered in New York City with offices in Ann Arbor, Cleveland, New York City, Silicon Valley, Rotterdam, Warsaw and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit www.webcollage.com.



Twitter: @webcollage

Facebook.com/webcollage

LinkedIn.com/webcollage

SOURCE Webcollage

Related Links

http://webcollage.com


PHOENIX, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- RisMedia recently announced the inclusion of West USA Realty, Inc. in the Top 500 national ranking of real estate brokerage firms in RISMedia's 29th Annual Power Broker Report. West USA Realty, Inc. ranked #15 reporting 19,635 closed residential transactions and a total sales volume of $3.345 Billion in 2016.

West USA Realty 30 + Year Shield

"Now in our 31st year, West USA Realty has long honored the incredible business feats of remarkable real estate sales peopleand talented company leaderswho continue to shape our firm and drive our industry. We are honored to be included once again as one of the top brokerages in RisMedia's Top 500 Power Broker Rankings. Our success is driven by our agents. Our mission is to provide our agents with the best brokerage support, services and technologies in the industry. We believe this focus is why we continue, year after year, to be included in this elite list of real estate brokerages", said Todd Menard, COO of West USA Realty, Inc.

RISMedia Founder & CEO John Featherston congratulated West USA Realty, Inc. for their prestigious ranking in this year's Power Broker Report. "The firms represented are the nation's most elite brokerage firms serving literally millions of consumers with their real estate needs," Featherston said. "Today's homebuyers and sellers need a trusted, credible real estate professional to help them understand the opportunities in today's market and how to overcome the obstacles that may be holding them back. Being ranked in RisMedia's Power Broker Report validates your firm's reputation as a trusted resource for today's real estate consumers."

About West USA Realty, Inc. - Arizona

West USA Realty is a full-service real estate brokerage including residential real estate, a property management division, new homes division, commercial division and luxury homes division. For more information on the company, please visit www.westusa.com or call (602) 942-4200.

Sources: Ris Media

Media Contact:

Bree Kruger

Communications Director

West USA Realty, Inc.

602-942-4200

[email protected]

SOURCE West USA Realty

Related Links

http://www.westusa.com


PUYALLUP, Wash., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Western IRB (WIRB), the world's largest provider of ethical research review serving 2,300 academic medical centers (AMCs) and hospitals, announced today an alliance with Huron, a global professional services firm serving the health care, higher education, life sciences, and commercial sectors.

WIRB's and Huron's combined strengths can help institutions improve the effectiveness of clinical research for the development of new pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The alliance will provide clients with a wide range of administrative and clinical services that are integrated with empowering technologies to ease the financial, regulatory, and operational responsibilities of performing essential clinical research.

"Today, a number of factors have combined to make the conduct of clinical research challenging for many AMCs, hospitals, and their researchers. These programs are facing a reduction in government-sponsored research grants, coupled with an increase in regulatory requirements," said Donald Deieso, PhD, chairman and chief executive officer of WIRB-Copernicus Group. "They must respond by attracting external research funding, conducting research with improved financial management, and streamlining administrative burdens. By combining the extensive experience of WIRB and Huron in serving this community, we intend to provide comprehensive solutions that will have a positive impact for our clients at this important moment of change."

Huron assists AMCs, cancer centers, health systems, and community hospitals in managing their research programs. Huron has helped 99 of the nation's top 100 research universities and more than half of the largest U.S. health systems achieve meaningful improvements.

Currently, more than 70 percent of AMCs and hospitals in the U.S. have named WIRB as their IRB-of-record for industry-funded research and regulatory advice and oversight.

"WIRB is quite simply the most trusted independent IRB partner to academic medical centers and hospitals," said Stuart Horowitz, PhD, MBA, president of institutions for WIRB-Copernicus Group. "WIRB's gold standard reputation with institutions, coupled with its deeply connected client base of industry research partners, provides a tremendous platform upon which institutions can grow their research programs.

"When you combine WIRB's capabilities with those of Huron, institutions now have a complete solution to address all their research administration challenges," Horowitz added.

For more information about WIRB, visit www.wirb.com.

About Western IRB

Founded in 1968, was the first independent review board and the pioneer of ethical review. It is now the trusted partner for more than 2,300 institutions in the U.S. alone. Western IRB is a member of the WIRB-Copernicus IRB Group, one of the divisions of WCG, Inc.  the world's leading provider of solutions that measurably improve the quality and efficiency of clinical research. WCG enables biopharmaceutical companies, CROs and institutions to accelerate the delivery of new treatments and therapies to patients, while maintaining the highest standards of human subject protections.

SOURCE Western IRB

Related Links

http://wirb.com


BOSTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Whistleblower Law Collaborative attorneys frequent speakers on the False Claims Act  will be featured at two upcoming programs in Boston.

On May 11, 2017, Suzanne Durrell will speak at the Downtown Harvard Club for the Directors Roundtable Institute, a not-for-profit that organizes programming for Boards of Directors and their Advisors. The event, titled The False Claims Act: What Companies Should Know to Avoid Liability & Defend Claims, will address recent issues involving the federal and state FCAs and steps companies can take to prevent and defend against false claims. Ms. Durrell will be joined by speakers from the United States Attorneys' Office, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, Grant Thornton, and Goodwin.

On May 18, 2017, Bob Thomas will speak at Ropes & Gray Boston on Hot Topics in Life Sciences: Whistleblower Insights & Trump's FDA. He will address The False Claims Act: Perspective of a Qui Tam Plaintiff's Lawyer and be joined by Ropes FCA defense lawyers who will share their insights and reactions. Additionally, Ropes FDA regulatory attorneys will discuss recent FDA-related developments and their implications for life sciences companies.

These programs cap off a year of exciting speaking and educational engagements for the Whistleblower Law Collaborative, including:

Mr. Thomas' sixth year of teaching Health Care Fraud and Abuse at Boston University School of Law, covering the substantive areas of health care fraud prosecuted by government and plaintiff's attorneys.

School of Law, covering the substantive areas of health care fraud prosecuted by government and plaintiff's attorneys. Ms. Durrell speaking at the Boston Bar Association's Healthcare Fraud Conference in May, the Federal Bar Association's program, Implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's June Escobar Ruling on False Claims Act CasesPerspectives From all Sides of the Issues in July, and the BBA's program, "Off-Label Prescription Drug Use" in November.

Mr. Thomas participating in the American Bar Association's National Institute on the Civil False Claims Act & Qui Tam Enforcement, in June, speaking on Settlement of an FCA Healthcare Case.

Enforcement, in June, speaking on Settlement of an FCA Healthcare Case. Ms. Durrell serving on the Planning Committee for the Taxpayers Against Fraud Educational Fund Annual Conference held in September.

Attorneys Suzanne E. Durrell of Durrell Law Office, Robert M. Thomas, Jr. of Thomas and Associates, and David W.S. Lieberman of Powderhouse Law, LLC, represent whistleblowers under the umbrella of the Whistleblower Law Collaborative. The Collaborative is recognized nationwide for its successful representation of whistleblowers in a wide variety of contexts, handling cases involving the federal and state false claims acts, as well as the SEC and IRS whistleblower programs. Successes for its clients include Amgen ($762 million), International Nephrology Network ($15 million), Elan/Eisai ($214.5 million), Forest Labs ($330 million) (co-counsel), Pfizer ($2.3 billion), Serono ($704 million), Amedisys ($150 million) (co-counsel), and WellCare Health Plans ($137.5 million).

SOURCE Whistleblower Law Collaborative

Related Links

http://www.WhistleblowerLawCollaborative.com


MILAN, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Winelivery is the first Italian startup that delivers wine and other alcoholic beverages to your doorstep at the right consumption temperature, and in less than 30 minutes.

In less than 60 days on the crowdfunding platform Crowdfundme the business reached and passed the target of 50k euros fundraising, collecting more than 100k euros. Another 25k euros are passing through the finalization process.

More than 100 people demonstrated their belief in winelivery by investing in the "bottle pret a boire" service.

Because of the success in raising funds due, the crowdfunding platform decided to lengthen the campaign for another 30 days (since May 15), targeting 150k. The data are stunning; Last week saw more than 50k euros invested by privates who choose to believe in Francesco Magro's and Andrea Antinori's project.

The choice to collect funds through crowdfunding was successful under many aspects. By communicating the crowdfunding campaign through press and social media, the awareness of the existence of winelivery spread through all Italy and abroad.

Orders increased, as did the opportunity to find partners in Italy. "Not only the flow on both app and website increased, but also the awareness in all Italy. Many people contacted us proposing themselves to be an active part in opening winelivery in other cities in Italy," says Francesco Magro, CEO at Winelivery.com

This means there should be the opportunity to open in other cities. Winelivery was projected to be a scalable business: Wines delivered by winelivery will reach more houses.

Being the first app in the last-mile delivery field that deals exclusively with winehouse products, winelivery takes advantage of its knowledge of the marketplace. This allows the business to evolve following the mood of a marketplace that winelivery might have created: the platform and the app are in the process of continuous evolution in order to guarantee a top class service with the best products.

More info about winelivery

Winelivery is the best portal for the last-mile delivery of high-quality wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages. It has a fast delivery, less than 30 minutes, and guarantees the right temperature of the products delivered: wines are ready to be opened and enjoyed.

Winelivery was launched at the very end of the year 2015 in Milan, and now it's ready to land in other Italian cities and abroad. It was born from the idea of two young Italian entrepreneurs with the aim to innovate the world of wine through new distribution methods that include fast delivery, an online sommelier and the opportunity to personalize wine bottles. Thanks to a wide offer that includes more than 1,500 references, it's possible to receive at home the preferred wine or drink in less than 30 minutes at the right consumption temperature. No delivery fees are added.

It's possible to order a bottle with winelivery from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. through the web portal or downloading the app, for both iOS and Android devices.

Website: winelivery.com

Social: Facebook: facebook.com/winelivery o @winelivery | Instagram: @winelivery | #winelivery | #startup

Media Contact: e-mail: [email protected] | mobile: +39 3391607913

Crowdfunding: http://www.crowdfundme.it/projects/winelivery/

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WASHINGTON, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After three days of simulated congressional hearings that tested their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, three schools took top honors at the 30th Annual We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National Finals.

The National Winner: Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies, Virginia Teacher: Samuel Ulmschneider Second Place: Grant High School, Oregon Teacher: Jeremy Reinholt Third Place: Cathedral High School, Indiana Teacher: Jill Baisinger

56 classes representing 42 states came to the nation's capital to participate in the academic competition where students demonstrate their knowledge of the Constitution before simulated congressional committees made up of state supreme court judges, constitutional scholars, lawyers, public officials and We the People alumni.

The panel of judges tested the expertise of the classes on the six units of the "We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution" textbook: What Are the Philosophical and Historical Foundations of the American Political System? How Did the Framers Create the Constitution? How Has the Constitution Been Changed to Further the Ideals Contained in the Declaration of Independence? How Have the Values and Principles Embodied in the Constitution Shaped American Institutions and Practices? What Rights Does the Bill of Rights Protect? and What Challenges Might Face American Constitutional Democracy in the Twenty-first Century?

More information on the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution program is available at http://www.civiced.org/programs/wtp and http://www.civiced.org/national-finals-2017

The We the People Program is administered by the Center for Civic Education. More information about the Center can be found at http://www.civiced.org

The 2017 We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National Finals is partially funded by the tremendous effort of teachers, students, parents, and We the People state coordinators to secure community sponsors. Funding is also provided by the Center for Civic Education, state donors, and the Fund for Freedom and Democracy in honor of the Honorable Patricio M. Serna, retired justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court.

The competition results were announced at an awards ceremony Monday evening before an audience of more than 1,700 students, teachers, coordinators, judges and other program participants.

For a list of all the awards and winning schools please visit: http://www.civiced.org/2017-finals-awards

SOURCE The Center for Civic Education

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The conference focuses on the future of healthcare under the new administration, connecting and preparing healthcare and business leaders for the healthcare transformation that will happen over the next four years. To support Health Plan leaders embrace this change, Newgen team members will share insights on how Health Plans can leverage technology to enhance member engagement, increase employee productivity and significantly reduce backlogs in their current business processes.

"Newgen is excited to participate at this event and share our expertise in healthcare payer solutions with Health Plan leaders," said Sonali Nigam, Director - Healthcare & Lifesciences Strategy at Newgen. "Health Plans are undergoing rapid change and their internal business processes can be a key lever in driving for success. We look forward to connecting with them and sharing insights on how business process transformation can enable them."

Health Plan leaders can meet the Newgen team during the conference at Booth #504 to see demos of Newgen's comprehensive healthcare solutions that demonstrate compliance, create operational excellence and help attain market competitiveness.

Newgen's booth will showcase the following healthcare technology solutions built on its award-winning configurable, unified platform:

- Appeals and Grievances Management

- Provider Contracting and Network Management

- Mobile Medicare Enrollment

- Customer Communication Management

About Newgen Software

Newgen Software Inc. is a leading global provider of Business Process Management (BPM), Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Customer Communication Management (CCM) and Case Management. It has a global footprint of 1300+ customer installations in over 61 countries with large, mission-critical solutions deployed at world's leading Banks, Insurance Firms, Healthcare Organizations, Governments, Shared Service Centers, BPO's and Telecom Companies.

For more information, visit http://www.newgensoft.com



Media Contact:

Asif Khan

Corporate Marketing

[email protected]



SOURCE Newgen Software Inc.
NEW YORK, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolf Popper LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors in HCSB Financial Corporation (OTCQB: HCFB), concerning the proposed acquisition of HCSB Financial by United Community Banks, Inc. According to Carl Stine, who is a partner at Wolf Popper LLP, "Based on HCSB Financial's stock price in the months prior to the announcement of the deal, the proposed transaction appears to be unfair to HCSB's public shareholders."

Under the terms of the proposed acquisition, HCSB Financial's shareholders will receive 0.0050 shares of United Community common stock for each share of HCSB Financial. The proposed offer has a preliminary equity value of $66 million, or $0.13 per share. However, the proposed offer price is nearly 62% below HCSB Financial's closing price on April 13, 2017, and below HCSB Financial's 52-week high of $0.50 per share.

Wolf Popper is investigating claims on behalf of investors in HCSB Financial concerning the transaction. HCSB Financial's shareholders seeking more information about the transaction or Wolf Popper's investigation can contact Mr. Stine at (212) 759-4600 or [email protected].

Wolf Popper has extensive experience representing investors in mergers and acquisition lawsuits and has successfully ensured that investors receive the maximum compensation. Twelve Wolf Popper attorneys were named Rising Stars or Super Lawyers in the 2016 Super Lawyers New York City Metro Edition, including Wolf Popper partner Carl Stine, who was included in the Super Lawyers Top 100 List for the New York City Metro area. View Wolf Popper attorney biographies at www.wolfpopper.com.

Attorney Advertising: Prior Results Do Not Guarantee A Similar Outcome.

Wolf Popper LLP

845 Third Avenue

New York, New York 10022

Telephone: 212-759-4600

Toll Free Tel: 877-370-7703

Toll Free Fax: 877-370-7704

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Wolf Popper LLP

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IRVINE, Calif., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Proove Biosciences, Inc. announces that its Proove Nexus platform is the World's Largest DNA Pain Biobank and Big Data Clinical Data Set in Chronic Pain as it has surpassed the milestones of 100,000 specimens archived and 28 billion clinical outcome data points at the end of 2016.

Precision medicine is far more than genetics, because it involves genetic, lifestyle, environmental and behavioral information. Proove has already used its big data set to discover algorithms that have been commercialized in clinically-proven precision medicine profiles, and Proove continues to invest in research as the leader in the field. Proove Nexus is a patented system that collects, archives, and analyzes DNA specimens, along with well-characterized phenotypic data involving prospective patient-centered outcomes data on patients suffering from chronic pain (longer than 3 months). It is bigger than all of the NIH-funded registries combined, and includes genetic data.

Dr. Svetlana Kantorovich, Proove's R&D Director, explains, "Proove's research protocols and activities are approved by institutional review boards licensed by the Office of Human Research Protections at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Our protocols have been approved and listed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine's web site, www.ClinicalTrials.gov." She explains further, "To implement these studies and collect this high-quality data, Proove deploys Patient Engagement Representatives to medical practices, where they enroll patients, receive informed consents, collect data prospectively, and help clinicians with non-medical, study-related paperwork. Each PER's training far exceeds recently upgraded standards for NIH-Awardees involved in NIH-funded clinical trials as PERs are trained in HIPAA, NIH Clinical Research Training, and Good Clinical Practices (GCP)."

Discussing the potential of Proove Nexus, Associate R&D Director, Dr. Ashley Brenton explains, "Recognizing this milestone, we're now providing researchers with access to collaborate. Our big data set is unique because we don't use unreliable data from EMRs or insurance claims that don't track outcomes well. We collect quality phenotypic data, and Proove Nexus grows by thousands of DNA specimens and over 3 million data points monthly. We hope to create even more collaborations that build on our existing relationships with some of the leading researchers in pain genetics."

About Proove Biosciences: Proove Biosciences is the leader in precision medicine for the condition that lies at the nexus of health  pain. Proove delivers precision medicine solutions for the nation's most prevalent and expensive health condition by investing heavily in research that has won awards from leading medical societies and been published in peer-reviewed journals. Discovered by NIH-funded scientists, Proove has translated into clinical practice the genetic variants and phenotypic factors contributing to pain sensitivity and chronic pain risk. Proove's medical advisory board is led by those NIH-funded researchers and the company has licensed some of its technology from leading academic centers, such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Utah, and other institutions. Positioned as The Healthcare Decision Company, Proove's patented technology platform combines genetic, clinical, environmental and lifestyle information to help clinicians better evaluate pain sensitivity, assess risk for opioid use disorder, predict therapeutic response to pain medications, and assess drug metabolism for the many medications used in chronic pain patients. Based in Irvine, California, Proove has been recognized on the Inc. 500 and the Deloitte Technology Fast500 as one of the fastest growing companies in North America. For more information, please visit www.proove.com or call toll free 855-PROOVE-BIO (855-776-6832).

SOURCE Proove Biosciences, Inc.

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BOZEMAN, Mont., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- XY Planning Network today opened the application window for the 2nd annual FinTech Competition, hosted at #XYPN17, the industry's only financial planning conference exclusively for advisors serving the Gen X and Gen Y markets. Prizes will be awarded for the best innovation, and the competition will be hosted by advisor tech expert, Bill Winterberg of FPPad. This year's #XYPN17 conference will be held August 28-31st in Dallas, Texas.

XY Planning Network is committed to supporting the development of technology innovation in business-to-business advisor solutions by promoting the newest tech startups in the industry.

Six finalists will be chosen among applicants, and those selected will each have an opportunity to introduce, promote, and garner interest in their offerings via a live full-audience presentation at the #XYPN17 conference, with winners selected by an elite panel of judges  including Michael Kitces, Bill Winterberg, and representatives from conference sponsors, Betterment for Advisors and Quovo.

To enter, technology must be used to support financial advisors who serve Gen X and/or Gen Y clients. Companies who enter must either have been launched in the last 12 months, or have less than $1 million in revenue, or be an existing company launching an entirely new product that is substantively different from its existing offerings. Interested companies can apply here.

"We've come to a point in the financial services industry where advisors now recognize that a strong technology foundation is a requirement, not an option, for staying competitive in an increasingly crowded marketplace," said Alan Moore, co-founder of XY Planning Network. "We strongly feel that it is our responsibility, as advocates for the next generation of advisors and clients, to connect them with the most innovative, groundbreaking technologies in the industry. #XYPN17 breaks down the cost barrier so anyone with an advisor technology solution has an even playing field to showcase their work."

All finalists in the XYPN FinTech competition will receive free passes and a free booth to exhibit at the #XYPN17 conference, and the winner will also receive substantial additional visibility and exposure, including coverage on the popular Nerd's Eye View blog, a promotional video feature, press release, and podcast interview opportunities.

The inaugural winner of last year's Fintech Competition, which received 19 applications, was Snappy Kraken, a marketing technology platform for financial advisors that provides a single source for personalizing, deploying, managing, and tracking a suite of ready-made marketing campaigns and business processes.

"Entering the XYPN FinTech startup competition was a turning point for our business," said Robert Sofia, founder and CEO of Snappy Kraken. "Within the first three months of winning, we went from zero to over $700,000 in sales, landed two large enterprise accounts, and attracted significant investor interest. Hands down, the XYPN Fintech Conference can be a game changer and, at the very least, an incredible networking opportunity for a new business."

To learn more about the XYPN Fintech Competition or to register for the #XYPN17 Conference, visit http://xypn17.com/fintech.

About XY Planning Network

The XY Planning Network, with over 400 advisors, is the leading turnkey financial planning platform for fee-only financial advisors who want to serve their Gen X and Gen Y peers, providing comprehensive financial planning services for a monthly subscription fee and without product sales or asset minimums. The Network offers a virtual community for new and established financial advisors who want to serve a younger clientele, and provides its members compliance support services, marketing support, business tools and templates, and a wide range of technology solutions. http://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/

About FPPad

FPPad is the leading source of technology-centric news and information for financial professionals. Founded in 2008 by Bill Winterberg, FPPad publishes online content, podcasts, and videos covering financial technology trends, and also produces the weekly FPPad Bits and Bytes broadcast, the only free video broadcast dedicated to the coverage of technology for financial advisors.

FPPad is an independent company and is unaffiliated with the XY Planning Network.

SOURCE XY Planning Network

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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
Damascus, April 20 : 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.
Colombo, April 20 : 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.
Washington, April 21 : The vexed issue of restrictions on American H-1B visas has been taken up with the US administration by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during his ongoing visit to the US, an Indian official said on Friday.

The issue was raised by Jaitley at his meeting here on Thursday with AUS Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, an Indian Finance Ministry statement said.

"Finance Minister raised the issue of recent executive orders which indicate a possible tightening of the H-1B visa regime," it said.

"He outlined the significant contributions the skilled Indian professionals have made to the US economy and expressed the hope that the US administration will take this aspect into consideration while taking any decision," it added.

Jaitley is on a five-day visit to the US to attend the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Speaking to the media in New Delhi on the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on H-1B visas, Indian Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday that 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."
Washington, April 21 : US President Donald Trump's daughter and special counsellor Ivanka Trump said she will donate the unpaid portion of her advance for writing a book called "Women Who Work" to charitable groups that help children in urban areas, a media report said.

She will also forgo a book publicity tour to avoid using her government perch to promote her private product, the New York Times reported.

In announcing her plans to donate $100,000 each to the National Urban League and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Ivanka Trump released a statement calling the book part of a continuing effort to empower women that "has been central to my mission throughout my career".

Trump said her book aims to supply advice and tips on leadership, entrepreneurship, juggling work and family and building cultures where multidimensional women can thrive now and in the future.

"Like many other professional women, I have juggled the demands that come with growing my family and building my businesses, and I realize that I am more fortunate than most," she said in the statement.

She said she chose to donate to the Urban League and the Boys & Girls Clubs because both have "made it a priority to promote entrepreneurship and educational opportunities for women and girls in underserved communities", the New York Times reported.

Trump has come under intense scrutiny over potential overlap between the policies she plans to promote in office and any potential benefit to her businesses. She recently became an official government employee, which requires her to adhere to strict ethics rules.
Washington, April 21 : Chinese air force land-attack, cruise-missile-capable bombers were put on high alert as Beijing is preparing to respond to a potential situation in North Korea, a US defence official said.

The official told CNN that the US had also seen an extraordinary number of Chinese military aircraft being brought up to full readiness through intensified maintenance.

These steps by China were being assessed as part of an effort to "reduce the time to react to a North Korea contingency", the official said.

Such a contingency could include the risk of an armed conflict breaking out as tensions on the peninsula have increased in the wake of multiple North Korean missile tests, the official added.

The US and Pyongyang have ratcheted up their rhetoric, with the latter's state media warning that a pre-emptive strike by North Korea would result in Washington and Seoul being "completely destroyed in an instant".

Several senior administration officials told CNN that China was now the focus of President Donald Trump's North Korea strategy.

"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 administration official said.

It is estimated that some 85 per cent of North Korea's economic trade is dependent on China.
Washington, April 23 : A top US official said he believes that President Donald Trump "will be insistent" that lawmakers include funds for the Mexico border wall in a spending bill that his administration needs to pass to avoid a government shutdown, the media reported.

In a CNN interviews, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Saturday said he was confident that Trump will "do the right thing".

"I think it goes without saying that the President has been pretty straightforward about his desire and the need for a border wall...So I would suspect he'll do the right thing for sure."

Kelly said he thought Trump "will be insistent on the funding" for the wall, a lingering question ahead of the spending battle lawmakers face as they work this week to avoid the shutdown on April 28.

But a senior administration official told CNN on Saturday that the White House would not let the government shut down over the issue.

"The White House is not going to allow the government to shut down," the official said, adding "We've been clear about what our priorities are. Leadership in both chambers understands that."

Kelly also commented on the timing of the wall's construction."

"We hope to begin construction by the end of the summer," the official added.

During a tour of the border, Kelly and Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday met with law enforcement personnel from several federal agencies in El Paso, Texas.

Kelly said he spoke with local and state lawmakers willing to share their views on the best way to build the wall.

Putting up a wall along the US-Mexico border was one of Trump's key campaign promises, and he issued an executive order in January directing that construction begin, reports CNN.

The Trump administration has already asked Congress for money to start building the wall, but Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats oppose the wall and say adding any money to the spending bill for it is a "non-starter".
London, April 23 : A fur coat worn by a stewardess when the famous passenger liner Titanic sank in 1912 was auctioned in Britain for 181,000 pounds ($232,000).

It went under the hammer on Saturday for more than double the estimated price of 80,000 pounds, and was bought by a British collector, Xinhua news agency reported.

Mabel Bennett, wearing a nightdress, grabbed the full length coat for protection from the harsh elements of the North Atlantic as a lifeboat arrived to rescue her.

She survived, and died in 1974 aged 96. Bennett had given the coat to a great niece in the 1960s.

The coat has been on display until recently in the US where it was shown in a recreation of a Titanic first-class stateroom.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described the garment as one of the most visual items to go on sale in recent years.

The coat came with a letter of provenance, which reads: "This coat was worn by my Great Aunt Mabel who was a stewardess.

"On her rescue from the Titanic she was in her nightdress and this coat was the first garment she snatched for warmth. My aunt gave me the coat in the early 1960s," added the letter.

Bennett, who worked in the first class section of the Titanic, also wore the coat aboard the Red Star Line SS Lapland, which was used to transport the surviving Titanic crew back to Britain.

More than 1,500 passengers and crew died when the so-called unsinkable Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in April 1912, on its maiden voyage from Southampton in England to New York.
Tokyo, April 23 : Two Japanese destroyers began joint naval drills on Sunday with the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group in the Pacific Ocean as it nears waters off the Korean Peninsula.

According to Japan's Defencee Ministry, the destroyers "Ashigara" and "Samidare", which set sail on Friday, joined the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier near the Philippine archipelago, Efe news reported.

The US and Japanese vessels were set to conduct drills based on various scenarios for several days, ministry sources told public broadcaster NHK.

Washington announced two weeks ago that it had ordered the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula amid rising tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear arms development programme.

Reports suggest Seoul and Washington may also be discussing the possibility of conducting joint naval drills involving the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered ship.

Tensions have escalated in the region since the beginning of April, when Washington hinted at a preemptive strike against Pyongyang, which was followed by a failed missile test by North Korea on April 16.

Observers fear the Kim Jong-un regime is preparing to conduct a new underground nuclear test over the next few days, following the release of satellite photos that appeared to show heightened activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear test centre.
Washington, April 23 : The vexed issue of the Trump administration mulling curbs in H-1B visas has been taken up with by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with the American authorities during his ongoing visit, an Indian official said on Sunday.

The issue was raised by Jaitley during his meeting with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin here on Saturday, an Indian Finance Ministry statement said.

"Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue of H-1B visas for skilled professionals from India and highlighted the contribution which Indian companies and professionals are making to US economy," it said.

The issue stems from recent executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump which indicate a possible tightening of the H-1B visas.

"Issues related to terror funding were also discussed and the US Treasury Secretary appreciated the role of India in this regard, including Indo-US cooperation in FATF (Financial Action Task Force)," the statement said.

"Critical economic issues like Indo-US Investment Initiative, infrastructure collaboration, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, collaboration with USA for smart cities development, etcetera, were deliberated upon during the meeting," it added.

Jaitley is on a five-day visit to the US to attend the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

According to the Finance Ministry, Jaitley also held bilateral meetings with the Finance Ministers of Sweden, France and Bangladesh, as well as with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Meanwhile, the US, in turn, has alleged that Indian IT companies were unfairly cornering the major share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system, which the current US administration wants to replace with a more merit-linked immigration policy.

"The top recipients of the H-1B visa are companies like Tata, Infosys, Cognizant -- they will apply for a very large number of visas, more than they get, by putting extra tickets in the lottery raffle, if you will, and then they'll get the lion's share of visas," a senior US official said at a White House briefing last week, according to transcripts posted on the White House website.

"And those three companies are companies that have an average wage for H-1B visas between $60,000 and $65,000. By contrast, the median Silicon Valley (US) software engineer's wage is probably around $150,000," the official said.
New Delhi, April 23 : Farmers from Tamil Nadu, holding a protest at the Jantar Mantar here from the last 41 days to draw attention to their plight, on Sunday suspended their protests till May 25 after state Chief Minister K. Palaniswami assured them that he will take up their demands including that of loan waiver with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, the agitation would be resumed if promises are not fulfilled, said P. Ayyakannu, president of the National-South Indian Rivers Linking Farmers Association, who was leading the protest.

These farmers had held a rally from the India Gate to the Jantar Mantar before the announcement.

"We have been holding protests here from 41 days, during which we met the President, (Union) Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister, and Minister of State for Transport. They all assured us that our case will be considered. However, we have not received any help so far. Today, Chief Minister said he will write off our loans, taken from both nationalised and cooperative banks. So we have decided to suspend our agitations till May 25," Ayyakannu told media.

He also said that DMK Working President M.K. Stalin had asked these farmers to return to the state.

The farmers were on protest sit-in seeking loan waivers, drought relief packages and formation of a Cauvery Management Board to resolve their irrigation issues.

Ayyakannu threatened to restart the agitations from May 25 if their demands are not met with by then.

"We will review the situation after a month. If the government fails to fulfill its promises, we will agitate again," he said, adding that farmers from several states, including Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Assam, and Odisha have extended their support to their agitation.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas visited these farmers and assured them of all support. He said that Prime Minister Modi was sensitive to such issues so he "will react" to it.

On Friday, these farmers had collected their urine in plastic bottles and threatened to consume it if the Union government fails to respond to their demands, including a loan waiver, drought relief package and formation of a Cauvery river management board.

From wearing human skulls to conducting mock funerals and even stripping at Raisina Hill here, the farmers have been grabbing eyeballs for the last 40 days with their startling ways of protest.
New Delhi, April 24 : Vice President Hamid Ansari on Monday leaves on a visit to Armenia and Poland, official sources said.

"Continuing the momentum of high-level interactions," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted, announcing Ansari's upcoming maiden visits to the two countries.

Ansari will remain in Armenian capital Yerevan on April 25 and 26, and will hold meetings with the country's President, Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister.

He will reach Poland on April 26 and spend the next two days there, meeting its political leadership.

Ansari's visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations with Armenia and 60th anniversary of setting up of the Indian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland.

The Indian Vice-President 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 and members of Parliament Sitaram Yechury, D.P. Tripathi, Vivek Tankha and Thupstan Chhewang.
New Delhi/Nainital, April 24 : In a first, the Uttarakhand Forest Department has launched a drone for real-time monitoring of the forest fire and to take preventive measures, officials said here on Monday.

The drone was launched by the state's Forest and Wildlife Minister Harak Singh Rawat from a remote location in Nainital district that falls under the western circle -- a big part of the vast Terai region of the state located outside the tiger and forest reserves.

The Forest Department has dedicated three drones for monitoring the forest fire, according to the officials.

"We are using drones for real-time monitoring of the forest fires. This is for the first time in India," Dr Parag Madhukar Dhakate, Conservator of Forests, western circle and in-charge of the monitoring and usage of the unmanned aerial vehicle, told IANS.

Already in field, the drone on Sunday and Monday did the real-time aerial monitoring and showed the department workers developing a fire-line in the western circle forest to check fire from spreading.

Uttarakhand faces maximum incidents of forest fires in the country.

This year, 236 cases of forest fires affecting 333.34 hectare area has already been reported by the government officials.

"Uttarakhand is very sensitive in terms of forest fire. Forest Department tries to take preventive measures and tackle it using the traditional methods and with the help of satellite images. But it's very difficult to know about the forest fire in the Terai and Bhabar regions," Dhakate told IANS.

The Terai region includes the fertile lowlands of the southern Himalayan, Shivalik foothills and north of Indo-Gangetic plains, while the Bhabar region lies along the foot of the Shivaliks and runs parallel to the north side of Terai.

Dhakate added that besides the real-time monitoring of fire, drones are already being used in wildlife conservation for nest status, aviation ethology, crocodile and water birds counting and monitoring.

In 2016, about 4,500 hectares of forest land was destroyed in 2,000 incidents of forest fires in Uttarakhand. Himachal Pradesh -- the second most forest fire-prone state -- in 2016 lost 3,500 hectare forest land.

According to official figures, in both states taken together there were 20,667 incidents of forest fires in 2016 compared to 15,937 incidents in 2015.

The Forest Survey of India (FSI) estimates that 1.45 million hectares of forest land is affected by fires annually, with 6.17 per cent of the forests prone to severe fire damage.

Uttarakhand has about 71 per cent of total geographical area (38,139 square km) under forest cover.
Istanbul, April 25 : Ali Agca, the Turkish assassin who tried to kill Pope John Paul II, says he would like to meet Pope Francis during his visit to Egypt this week.

"If Pope Francis so wishes, I will go to Egypt to meet him," Agca told AKI in a phone interview.

Agca said he hoped the visit to Cairo by Francis on Friday and Saturday would help "peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians".

"I hope the Pope's visit to Egypt can help peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians who endure shared suffering due to capitalism and unregulated liberalism," he said.

Agca attacked economic disparity in a world where "the 60 richest possess the wealth of three billion human beings".

"This grotesque divide has killed the spirit of the all the world's regions," he said.

Francis knows that "no war of religion exists in the world but rather....an attempt to kill poor Muslims and Christians to ensure the survival of uncontrolled capitalism," Agca claimed.

Francis has asked to travel in a non-armoured car during his two-day trip to Egypt, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said on Monday.

The visit is aimed mainly at reaching out to Egypt's minority Catholics and boosting dialogue between Christians and Muslims and among the country's various Christian sects, Burke said.

It comes after 47 people died in blasts at St George's Coptic church in the northern city of Tanta and St Mark's Coptic cathedral in Alexandria on 9 April, attacks claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Soon after John Paul II's canonisation, on December 27, 2014, Agca went to the Vatican to lay white roses on his tomb in St Peter's Square and said he wanted to meet Pope Francis - a request that was denied.

John Paul II met Agca while he was in prison in Italy, forgave him for the May 13, 1981 assassination attempt and later met Agca's mother and brother.

Agca was pardoned by then-Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at the John Paul's request and was deported to Turkey in June 2000.
Washington, April 25 : The US slapped sanctions on 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in response to Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons, media reports said.

The employees of SSRC, a Syrian government agency, are designated for their role in "developing and producing non-conventional weapons and the means to deliver them," Xinhua news agency cited a statement by the US Treasury Department on Monday.

"These 271 SSRC employees have expertise in Chemistry and related disciplines and/or have worked in support of SSRC's chemical weapons program since at least 2012," it added.

As a result of the action, any property or interest of the designated persons in the US must be blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.

The sanctions are part of Washington's response to what it believed the April 4 sarin attack on innocent civilians in Khan Sheikhoun in east Syria by the Syrian government.

Two days after the alleged chemical attack, the US launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase to neutralize its chemical weapon arsenal.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that with Monday's sanctions, the US is sending a strong message that it would "hold the entire Assad regime accountable for these blatant human rights violations".
Tokyo, April 25 : Actress Zoe Saldana says she gets insecure and conscious as soon as camera starts rolling.

When asked her about other genres she wants to explore, Saldana said that she wants to try her hand at comedy.

"It is so funny because whenever the camera are not on, I am much more comfortable with being myself. I get so insecure and self-aware when the cameras are on," Saldana told IANS during a Disney press meet for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" here.

She added: "I think too much. But I would like to to see whether or not I will be able to be funny in a movie or play."

The Disney film will release in India on May 5.
Washington, April 25 : The White House has announced that it would host an unusual private briefing on North Korea for the entire Senate amid escalating tensions, a media report said.

Press secretary Sean Spicer told the media on Monday that the lawmakers would be briefed on Wednesday by several senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, The Washington Post reported.

He emphasised that the meeting plan had been convened by Senate leadership and that the White House was serving "as the location".

A senior administration official said the meeting with senators will take place in the auditorium at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the building next to the White House that houses most of the National Security Council.

The auditorium will be temporarily turned into a "sensitive compartmented information facility", which is the term for a room where sensitive national security information can be shared, the official said.

Such facilities are configured to withstand eavesdropping or other technical snooping.

David Popp, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said: "The President (Donald Trump) offered to host the meeting and the Majority Leader agreed."

Other Senate leadership staffers signalled that most, if not all, senators in both parties are expected to attend the White House briefing, The Washington Post reported.

However, the unusual location left many staffers confused.

During debates surrounding Syria's civil war, terrorist attacks in Europe and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's into Russian interference in US elections, Cabinet secretaries and senior law enforcement officials have travelled to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers.

A senior aide, said it was President Trump's idea to hold the meeting at the White House.

"I heard this came from Trump himself, that in a nutshell he said, 'Why don't we have them up here instead?'" he added.
Kolkata, April 25 : Despite muted demand from consumers, downgrading of mines and challenges from the renewable energy sector, the sales outlook of Coal India, the country's largest miner, for 2017-18 looks positive with an expected growth of around 4-6 per cent, analysts and stakeholders say.

They also hold the miner, now contributing 84 per cent of the country's coal production, is better placed to meet the summer demand that is likely to pick up along with power demand.

"Coal India ended the last financial year with around year-on-year 1.6 per cent growth in sales, but in February and March, this was around 5-6 percent. This indicates sales are picking up.

"This trend is expected to be intact at least in the first (April-June) quarter of the current fiscal. It is likely to dip in the monsoon season, but overall, around 4-5 per cent sales growth is at least expected," Emkay Global's Research Analyst Gautam Chakraborty told IANS.

According to a report prepared by investment services company Motilal Oswal, apparent coal demand growth has seen a decline of 2.4 per cent in 2016-17 on de-stocking, efficiency gains, substitution (pet coke) and rise in the generation of renewable power. However, the real consumption growth still remains at five per cent in the power sector.

"Coal India's dispatches will see an estimated growth of 6.8 per cent to 580 million tonnes (mt) in 2017-18 and by 6.6 per cent to 618 mt in 2018-19, driven by end of de-stocking and substitution of coal and pet coke imports, despite a rising share of renewable energy in power generation," Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd's Senior Vice President of Institutional Research, Sanjay Jain, told IANS.

Seventy-five per cent of the miner's demand comes from thermal power plants. Therefore, the overall coal demand is largely guided by that. The power demand in India has grown at 6-7 per cent in the last two years, but that includes a handsome contribution from the renewable energy sector.

If the trend continues, thermal power demand would witness a lower demand growth in 2017-18 than the overall power demand growth.

"Coal demand growth from thermal power plants, however, may be even lower, since coal stock at such plants has been increasing, which will affect offtake. Overall, we expect coal demand from thermal power to witness a growth rate of 4-5 per cent in the current fiscal unless demand conditions improve materially," ICRA Ltd's Group Head for Corporate Sector Ratings, Jayanta Roy, told IANS.

Coal India, too, is betting on thermal power generation.

"The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data suggested that thermal power generation was 5.34 per cent higher during the April-February period of the last fiscal over the same period of the previous year. In the current fiscal, the positive trend will continue and we hope for reasonable growth in our dispatches," a Coal India official told IANS.

During 2016-17, production growth of Coal India was low at around three per cent due to slower offtake caused by both muted demand and stockpiles at power plants.

"However, the miner should be in a position to grow its production at a faster rate if demand condition improves. Therefore meeting higher demand in summer should not be a problem for the company," Roy said.

Echoing Roy, other analysts also said supply should not be a constraint.

"Coal India has proved that it could stretch to over 60 million tonnes of production a month, as it did in March, if required," Chakraborty noted.

Apart from power, the other important demand drivers are the steel and cement sectors.

"Steel production in the last fiscal increased at a healthy double digit rate, but that is unlikely to be repeated in the current year. On the other hand, the cement sector would be able to report healthier growth in 2017-18 than in the last fiscal, when demand was adversely affected by the note ban," Roy said.

Chakraborty noted the capacity utilisation of plants for cement, steel, sponge iron and aluminium is on the higher side, which, in turn, would push up the demand for coal.

"It is difficult to judge real consumption in the non-power sector due to absence of inventory data at the consumer end. However, we don't see reasons for a slowdown. Production of cement, sponge iron, aluminum and the like has all increased. The decline of apparent demand can largely be attributed to destocking," Jain said.

However, the miner is likely to face some challenges on its revenue front after the Coal Controller's Organisation downgraded 40.76 per cent of 871 sidings at the company's 386 mines.

Following the reset of the coal grades, the miner said its impact on revenue could only be assessed after coal sampling and analysis over a reasonable period of time.

The miner's net sales realisation (NSR) on FSA (fuel supply agreement) volumes has been disappointing due to stricter enforcement of GCV (gross calorific value) measurements. Thus, despite a price hike of 6.9 per cent in May 2016, the NSR of FSA volumes were broadly flat in the second and third quarter, said the report cited above.

"E-auction coal prices are inching up due to higher international prices. It will increase the net sales realisation in 2017-18 despite no further price hike," Jain said.

He also said the employee cost would not be an alarming factor as it is expected to increase by less than 2 per cent in 2017-18 after rising 14 per cent in the last fiscal.

(Bappaditya Chatterjee can be contacted at bappaditya.c@ians.in)
New Delhi, April 25 : Aiming to bring a billion people online and make the web more useful for them, Google India on Tuesday unveiled new products on advancement in machine learning for Indian languages.

Google also announced that the neural machine translation is now available for nine Indian languages -- Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

"Google wants to extend internet for every Indian. We have identified gaps that bar Indians from accessing the internet. There are 400 million internet users in India and the number is expected to reach 600 million by 2020," Rajan Anandan, Vice President, India and SouthEast Asia, Google, told reporters here.

He added that 300 million Indians access internet on smartphones. Anandan also spoke about Google's tie-up with RailTel to provide high-speed internet at Railway stations.

The neural machine translation is available in Chrome and Maps to make the translation process seamless and refined.

The company said it does one billion translations everyday and 95 per cent of Google Translate has its usage outside of the US.

"Of over 500 million people who use Google Translate, most of the users are in India, Indonesia, Brazil and Thailand," it said.

According to Google, neural networks initially took 10 seconds to translate but the company worked on it and brought down the time to 0.2 seconds in two months.

The company also launched "Gboard" in 22 scheduled languages in India. The users can now search words, meanings and even emojis in local language.

The keyboard now has a new feature by which text editing can be done on the go easily.

The new Gboard comes with a feature that makes it easy to resize and reposition the keyboard according to a user's need.

Goggle also unveiled Hindi dictionary in Google Search in collaboration with Oxford University Press.

It also shared findings from a new report by Google and KPMG India, titled "Indian Languages-Defining India's Internet".
Kasauli, April 25 : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's aunt Shobha Nehru died at her residence here on Tuesday morning owing to age-related complications, her family said. She was 108.

She was married to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cousin B.K. Nehru, an Indian diplomat who nearly succeeded Dag Hammarskjold as United Nations Secretary General.

Rahul Gandh regularly headed to the picturesque hill station of Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh to meet his aunt.

Born in Budapest in Hungary, Shobha Nehru married into the Nehru family in 1935 after she met B.K. Nehru at Oxford University as a student.

B.K. Nehru, one of India's most distinguished civil servants of post-independent India and former trustee of The Tribune Trust of Publications, died on October 31, 2001 at the age of 92.
Jeddah, April 25 : The bodies of two Indian workers who died in Riyadh are lying in a Saudi mortuary for weeks as their former employer are not ready to bear the cost of transporting them to India.

Jaswinder Singh (56), from Kapurthala district in Punjab, died on February 21. Ponnam Satyanarayana (48), from Jagtial district in Telangana, passed away on March 11.

Since then, their mortal remains are in Riyadh, the Saudi Gazette reported on Tuesday. Both used to work for a now defunct construction company.

Sending back a dead body by making exit papers and bearing the cost is the responsibility of the employer.

The deceased were in Saudi Arabia for over 20 years but had no job for some time as their employer had abandoned them along with scores of other workers, according to the report.

Both Indians were waiting to receive their end of service benefits and planning to leave for good, the daily said.

The company where the men used to work is not ready to bear the embalming and cargo charges.

The chemical embalming of coffin box is mandatory under the International Air Transport Association (IATA) rules.

"Without salary for over a year and half, penny less, we are passing through extremely difficult times and the tragic death of our colleagues have saddened us," colleagues of the deceased men told Saudi Gazette.

"We have spent long years in the company of each other; in bad and good times. We were ... like brothers. Contributing some amount for repatriation is not a matter for us but we have no money," they said.
New Delhi : The government has sought custody of liquor baron Vijay Mallya from the UK, but Indias success rate at extradition has been no more than 36 per cent over 15 years, according to a report by Factly.in, a data journalism portal. This means India managed one extradition of every three sought.

While 62 fugitives have been extradited to India from a foreign country between 2002 and 2016, 110 fugitives are yet to be extradited though a formal request has been made by India, according to an answer to the Lok Sabha on December 6, 2016, Factly reported.

Mallya was arrested by the Scotland Yard -- and released on bail -- on April 18, 2017, in connection with an extradition request filed by India on February 8, 2017. The UK government has sent the request to the concerned court, and the arrest marks the beginning of the extradition process.

Mallya is wanted in several cases related to economic offences in India. The now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines that he set up owes over Rs 9,000 crore ($1.5 billion) to state-owned and private banks, it has been widely reported.

There were 16 extradition requests pending with UK as of July 2016, according to an answer to the Lok Sabha. Only one fugitive has been extradited from the UK -- Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, an Indian citizen, for murder; the extradition came in October 2016, 23 years after India's extradition treaty with the UK came into force in 1993.

The highest extraditions happened from the UAE (18), followed by the US (9). While four each were extradited from Canada and Thailand, three have been extradited from Germany and South Africa.

India has extradition treaties with 47 countries, among them Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, Oman, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

India also has extradition arrangements with nine countries -- Croatia, Fiji, Italy, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Sweden and Tanzania.

What is the process of extradition?

A request for extradition can be initiated against a fugitive criminal who is formally accused of, charged with or convicted of an extradition offence. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) takes up extradition requests with the concerned foreign countries when a request for extradition is received from the relevant law enforcement agencies in India.

All extradition requests should be supported by documents and information as prescribed by the MEA guidelines. It has to be noted that each extradition request is different and the request is dependent on the specific treaty/agreement signed with a country. The offence should also be defined in the list of the extradition offences.

What are the offences defined in the extradition treaty with UK?

The extradition treaty signed in 1993 with the UK defines the scope of the extradition offence as one which is punishable by law for a term of imprisonment of at least one year. The treaty does not classify political offences as extradition offences but it provides an exhaustive list of offences that will not be treated as a political offence.

Most fugitives extradited in 2005

The most (8) fugitives were extradited in 2005 followed by seven each in 2003 and 2004. Six fugitives were extradited in 2015 during the rule of the current government.

Most people extradited for murder & terrorism-related offences

Out of the 62 fugitives extradited since 2002, 14 were for murder-related offences and 10 for offences related to criminal conspiracy.

As many as nine fugitives were extradited for terrorism-related offences, including three from the UAE, in relation to the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Rakesh Dubbudu has been working on issues related to the Right to Information for a decade. Factly.in is dedicated to making public data meaningful. The views expressed are those of Factly. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)
Cooch Behar (West Bengal), April 25 : Terming the BJP as a party that endorses the ideology of polarisation and riots, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee on Tuesday urged people not to join the party at any cost.

"I will urge everyone, whatever you do, do not join BJP. This political party creates polarisation among people, fuels violence and riot, and makes people fight with each other," Banerjee said at a public meeting in West Bengal's Cooch Behar.

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of defaming the Hindu religion, the Trinamool Congress supremo said the people of Bengal, who believe in the ideals of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, would not accept the brand of Hinduism promoted by the party.

"They are not Hindus. They defame the Hindu religion in the name of practising Hinduism. We believe in the Hinduism of Ramakrishna Dev and Vivekananda that talks about religious tolerance and not in BJP's brand of Hinduism that teaches people to polarise and riot among each other," she said.

Banerjee also appealed to the Scheduled Castes and the non-Bengali locals present at the meeting not to be inclined to the saffron party, saying whoever joined them has repented the decision later.

"I would request our Scheduled Caste brothers and sisters and the Hindi -peaking people present here to let me know what they require. I will do whatever I can. But remember BJP is a party that endorses riots. Do not go with them. Whoever joined them, repented later on," she added.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 25 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan met officials here on Tuesday, a day after the Supreme Court told his government to reinstate T.P. Senkumar as the police chief.

Vijayan met both legal experts and leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on what needs to be done.

According to informed sources, a final decision was expected at the weekly cabinet meeting to be held here on Wednesday.

While some wanted the state government to file a revision petition in the apex court, others advised that it would be counter productive.

The decision to remove Senkumar as Director General of Police was taken on the day Vijayan assumed office on May 25, 2016.

The government then claimed that he was moved out for poor performance over the manner he handled the Puttingal Devi temple cracker blast and the Jisha murder cases.

Senkumar is set to retire on June 30.
London, April 25 : More than half of small UK firms employing workers from the European Union (EU) are worried that the Brexit will stop them recruiting sufficiently skilled staff, a report revealed on Tuesday.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in a report said it has found that only 21 per cent of small firms currently employ staff from an EU country, the BBC reported.

But of those, 59 per cent are concerned they will not be able to recruit the right staff in the future.

The FSB said securing the right of EU staff to remain in the UK was vital.

Without that, said FSB's Chairman Mike Cherry, small firms feared they would lose skilled staff who would be difficult to replace.

"EU workers are a vital part of our economy, helping to plug chronic skills gaps across a wide range of sectors, and filling jobs in an already tight labour market," the BBC reported Cherry as saying.

"From packers, to mechanics, to graphic designers, small employers need to be able to hire the right person, for the right job at the right time."
Washington, April 25 : French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's campaign has been targeted by what appear to be the same Russian operatives behind hacks of Democratic campaign officials before last years US presidential poll, a cyber security firm said.

Tokyo-based cyber security firm Trend Micro said it discovered four phoney Web domain names that were very similar to the domain names of the Macron campaign -- presumably to try to trick campaign workers into accidentally compromising their email accounts, the New York Times reported on Monday.

The group, believed to be a Russian intelligence unit, set up fake domains like onedrive-en-marche.fr and another mail-en-marche.fr to mimic the name of Macron's political party, En Marche, the daily reported.

Those websites were registered to a block of web addresses that Trend Micro's researchers said belonged to the Russian intelligence unit they refer to as Pawn Storm, but is alternatively known as Fancy Bear, APT 28 or the Sofacy Group.

American and European intelligence agencies and American private security researchers said that the group was responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee last year.

Macron's digital campaign manager Mounir Mahjoubi confirmed there had been attempted hacks, but said they weren't successful.

"No sensitive data ever leaked from our apparatus," Mahjoubi said, adding that he had no proof of a Russian role in it.

However, he said that the nature and timing of so-called phishing attacks and web assaults on the Macron campaign had stirred worries that Russia was repeating in France what American intelligence agencies said was a concerted effort to undermine Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Macron, a centrist candidate, won the first round of the French Presidential election Sunday with 23.9 per cent of the vote.

He will face off on May 7 against anti-immigrant, anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen, who came second with 21.4 per cent, beating establishment candidates from France's two largest political parties.

The Kremlin scoffed at the report.

Dmitri S. Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin, said on Monday in Moscow that "this all recalls the accusations that came from Washington and which are still suspended in thin air."

In remarks to Russian news media, he added that Russia had "never interfered" in foreign elections.

Putin denied any interest in interfering with the elections in France.

But analysts said Putin would have good reason to favour conservative nationalist Le Pen over centrist Macron in the upcoming poll.

Le Pen, criticised the European Union sanctions on Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014 and voiced support for Moscow's intervention in Syria to prop up President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Kolkata, April 25 : Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) should consider the "different levels of development" while engaging in mutually beneficial areas for cooperation under BCIM Economic Corridor, an official said on Tuesday.

After the two rounds of meeting hosted by China at Kunming in 2013 and by Bangladesh at Cox's Bazaar in 2014, the third edition of the two-day meeting of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor Joint Study Group (BCIM-EC-JSG) began here on Tuesday.

"I wish to also flag for your consideration that even as we explore greater connectivity between BCIM countries, we should be mindful of different domestic circumstances and developmental aspirations in our respective countries.

"While forging ahead on our respective development paths, our four countries at present are at different levels of developments, and this should be an important consideration while we engage in mutually beneficial areas for cooperation," External Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary A. Gitesh Sarma said at the inaugural address of the meeting.

The JSG is currently working on a joint study report covering all aspects related to development of BCIM-EC.

According to the delegates, this report would be based on the synthesis of individual country reports prepared by the respective countries and once prepared, would offer comprehensive details on development of BCIM-EC.

Sarma said increased connectivity would naturally lead to expanded trade.

"While we focus on expanding trade volumes, equal attention should also be paid to its sustainability. Greater access to each other's markets is desirable to achieve more viable and sustainable trade cooperation in our region," he said.

Wang Xiaotao, Vice Chairman of National Development of Reform Commission of China who is leading the Chinese delegation, called for an inter-governmental cooperation mechanism.

According to the Bangladesh delegation led by the country's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka M. Riaz Hamidullah, the increased integration and connectivity in the region will play a vital role in strengthening cooperation among these countries to achieve development objective.

The Myanmar delegation is led by U Win Lwin, Chief Engineer of the Road Department inn the Ministry of Construction.

Former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Rajeet Mitter, who headed Indian JSG (Joint Study Group), said the group made a good progress as the respective countries finalised their reports and circulated these reports.

India considers BCIM as an important instrument for its Act East Policy, he added.
New Delhi, April 25 : The threat of the quasi state terror outfit Islamic State (IS) may spill over the South Asian region and beyond, Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali warned on Tuesday.

" Although we have a number of fresh (terrorist) groups, our focus will be on a new phenomenon called Daesh (as the IS is also called)," Abdali said while delivering a lecture "Strengthening India-Afghanistan Strategic Relations in an Uncertain World" organised by the think tank Brookings India.

"This is the most dangerous phenomenon we are facing. This most brutal, brutal phenomenon is growing in Afghanistan and its effects are being felt by the people of Afghanistan," he said.

Abdali expressed the hope that the countries of the region and the rest of the world would help Afghanistan in dealing with "this most dangerous group that we face today that can literally spill over the rest of the region and beyond".

His comments come after the US dropped the massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) or the "mother of all bombs", also dubbed as the most powerful non-nuclear bomb, on April 13 targeting an IS tunnel network in Afghanistan.

Without naming Pakistan, the Ambassador said that terrorism was being used as a tool "against Afghanistan, against India and other countries of the world".

Stressing that there should be no duplicity in dealing with terrorism, he said that one should not differentiate between the IS and the Taliban.

However, he was wholesome in his praise for India for its role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Recalling that New Delhi and Kabul had upgraded the bilateral relationship into a strategic relationship, Abdali said that India was the first strategic ally of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.

"We are grateful to India for being the largest donor in the region and the fifth largest donor in Afghanistan's reconstruction," he said..

He said that the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his country twice in the last couple of years showed the importance India gave to Afghanistan.

Modi visited Kabul in December 2015 to jointly inaugurate with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani a new building of the country's parliament built with Indian aid and then again in June last year to inaugurate the India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam.

"India has contributions in each of the achievements of Afghanistan in the last 16 years," Abdali said.

From almost no education in 2001, there are now millions of students going to school in Afghanistan, he said, adding that there are over 16,000 Afghan students studying in India.

According to the Ambassador, in a country of 30 million people, there are over 20 million mobile users, over 60 TV channels and over 200 newspapers.

"We had presidential and parliamentary elections," he said.

"From no army and no police, today we have 352,000 army and police (personnel)."

Abdali said that the role of all countries was necessary in the reconstruction of Afghanistan in this new world order of multi-polarity.

"A better Asia and a peaceful Asia can be achieved by learning from past mistakes," he said.

The Ambassador also called for operationalising the India-Afghanistan-US trilateral partnership for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
New Delhi, April 25 : Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Abdali on Tuesday said that he has no information about the reported presence of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Pakistan.

"I have no information in this regard," Abdali said in response to a question after delivering an address on "Strengthening India-Afghanistan Strategic Relations in an Uncertain World" organised by the think tank Brookings India.

Newsweek magazine reported that al-Zawahiri is living under the protection of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence in the port city of Karachi after surviving a drone strike at a remote area near the border with Afghanistan.

Al-Zawahiri, an Egypt-born and trained surgeon, has been protected by the ISI since US forces evicted Al Qaeda from Afghanistan in late 2001, the report quoted sources as saying.
Washington, April 25 : In the context of current fears about possible tightening of the US visa regime, the American administration has said that it greatly values investments by Indian companies and wants strong Indo-US economic ties.

"We want to see US-India business-to-business ties remain strong," US State Separtment acting spokesman Mark Toner told reporters here at his daily press briefing on Monday.

He was responding to questions on the controversy following recent executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump which indicate a possible tightening of the H-1B visas.

"We greatly value Indian companies' continued investment in the US economy, which also, of course, supports thousands of US jobs," Toner said.

"With respect to any new requirements on visas, I'd have to check and see if that's been updated," he said.

"It's important to remember that this is always a part of how our consular bureau works and our consular officers work overseas, and our embassies and missions work overseas, and that is we're always reviewing the processes that are in place to issue these visas and finding ways to strengthen them, because we want to ensure the security of the American people," he added.

The issue of the Trump administration mulling curbs in H-1B visas was taken up by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with the American authorities during his just concluded visit to the country.

The issue was raised by Jaitley during his meetings last week in Washington with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as well as with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

"Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue of H-1B visas for skilled professionals from India and highlighted the contribution which Indian companies and professionals are making to US economy," an Indian Finance Ministry statement said.
New Delhi, April 25 : A CBI court here on Tuesday sentenced underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan to seven years in jail for holding a fake passport.

It is the first of the nearly 85 cases in which Rajan has been held guilty.

Besides Chhota Rajan, the other convicts sentenced to a seven-year jail term by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal are then Passport Officers Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Lakshmanan.

The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 15,000 on each of the convicts.

Rajan, who was present via video-conferencing, was held guilty of possessing the fake passport.

The court said the passport officials abused their position by issuing the fake passport to Rajan.

All the four were also convicted of cheating, using as genuine a forged document, forgery for purpose of cheating, cheating by impersonation and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and the Passport Act.

The court also convicted them for criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

On June 8, 2016, the court had framed charges against Chhota Rajan as well as Rahate, Shah and Lakshmanan.

The CBI chargesheet alleged that Chhota Rajan got a fake passport issued in the name of Mohan Kumar from Bengaluru in 1998-99 in connivance with Rahate, Shah and Lakshmanan.

Rajan is accused in nearly 85 cases relating to crimes like murder, extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking. He has cases pending against him in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and those registered by the CBI.

The don was arrested in Indonesia in October 2015 and deported to India the next month.
New Delhi, April 25 : Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday stirred a controversy by reiterating that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and the BJP had a "deal and understanding" with the Maoists in the state.

He called for talks with all stakeholders to bring Maoist violence under control.

"Chief Minister Raman Singh ji and the Bharatiya Janata Party win elections from there because they had a deal and understanding with the Maoists. I have said this before, and I am stating it again," Singh told reporters here.

His statement came after Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday dubbed Monday's massacre of 25 CRPF personnel by Maoists in an ambush in Chhattisgarh as a "cold-blooded murder" and said the Centre will review its anti-Maoist strategy.

The Congress leader also paid homage to the Central Reserve Police Force men killed in the ambush.

Digvijaya Singh said unless the state's tribal villagers are taken into confidence, Maoist violence cannot be brought under control.

"The government should talk to all the stakeholders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government only believe in 'jumlas' and have been indulging in it since May 2014," he said.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said on his Twitter account: "Malady and inability of the BJP government of Chattisgarh in fighting Naxalism lies in Chief Minister Raman Singh's lack of will."

Surjewala also took a dig at BJP President Amit Shah and said: "Amit Shah ji starts BJP expansion plan from Naxalbari today (Tuesday). Instead, please plan with the Prime Minister on how to stop Naxalism and don't put the party before nation."

Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi asked how will the Prime Minister commit himself to ensure that such intelligence lapses do not recur and that there is better coordination between the state and the Centre.

"Will the Prime Minister hold the Chief Minister accountable? Will he ask the Chief Minister to step down by taking moral responsibility for mindless acts?" asked Chaturvedi.

"We will also like to ask the Home Minister (Rajnath Singh) why the post of DG, CRPF, has been lying vacant since February 1 and nothing has been done in this regard?

"If we are so serious and if we are so committed to handling terrorism, we should be serious about handling the challenge on the border as well as from our own homegrown terrorists," she said.
New Delhi, April 25 : India and Armenia on Tuesday signed three agreements after Vice President Hamid Ansari held a bilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan in Yerevan.

"Vice President reviews entire gamut of bilateral relationship with Prime Minister of Armenia; #IndiaArmenia sign three agreements," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on peaceful uses of outer space, another MoU on cooperation in youth matters and a programme of cultural cooperation for the years 2017-2020.

Ansari reached the Armenian capital on Monday. On Wednesday he will leave for Poland on the second and last leg of his visit abroad.
Srinagar, April 25 : Hundreds of Muslims on Tuesday offered prayers at the Hazratbal shrine here to celebrate "Mehraj-e-Alam" -- Prophet Mohammad's journey to heaven.

Devotees spent the whole night praying at the shrine that houses the Holy Relic of the Prophet. The devotees came from across the Kashmir Valley.
Mumbai, April 25 : Actor Emraan Hashmi says it is important for people to undergo early cancer detection tests.

"While people are fairly aware about cancer as a disease, there is a dire need for people to undergo early cancer detection tests as a precautionary measure," Emraan said in a statement.

Emraan and wife Parveen Shahani's first child Ayaan, born in February 2010, was diagnosed with first stage cancer at the age of four in early 2014.

To help raise awareness about the disease and share their story, Emraan came out with a book titled "The Kiss of Life: How A Superhero and My Son Defeated Cancer" last year. It chronicles his career, family, the birth of his son, cancer and treatment thereafter.

The actor will attend the seminar "Every Life Matters - Ek Jeevan, Swasth Jeevan", an initiative undertaken by Lokmat Group and Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, in Nagpur on Wednesday.

He feels detecting the disease early is the "key to cure".

On the work front, Emraan will be seen in Milan Luthria's action-thriller film "Baadshaho", which is set to release on September 1.
Mogadishu, April 25 : The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) on Tuesday began an emergency campaign to immunise 30,000 children against measles in Baidoa, one of the hardest-hit areas in Somalia.

Steven Lauwerier, Unicef's Representative in Somalia, said the children have never been immunised before and come from remote areas. Health workers often cannot reach them because of decades-old conflict that has ravaged the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The only way to prevent sickness and death from measles is to make sure all children receive the vaccine," Lauwerier said.

"A child suffering from severe acute malnutrition is nine times more likely to die from a disease like measles than a healthy child. We have no time to lose," he said.

Conducted in partnership with the Health Ministry, WHO, and several non-governmental organisations, the campaign also includes a vitamin A supplement to boost immunity as well as de-worming tablets.

About 5,700 cases of suspected measles have so far this year been reported across the country, more than the total number of cases in 2016.

Measles, a viral respiratory infection that spreads through air and contact with infected mucus and saliva, thrives in congested, unsanitary displacement camps.

More than 100,000 people have come to Baidoa in search of assistance, including at least 70,000 in March alone.

"We know only too well from the 2011 famine that measles, combined with malnutrition and displacement, is an especially lethal combination for children," said Lauwerier.

The Baidoa campaign is part of an effort to vaccinate about 110,000 displaced children below five years old in hotspots across south central Somalia, plus 250,000 children in Somaliland, against the deadly contagious disease, by the end of May.
Dhaka, April 25 : US oil giant Chevron Corporation has announced that its subsidiary, Chevron Global Ventures Ltd., has entered into an agreement to sell the shares of its subsidiaries in Bangladesh to a Chinese consortium, a media report said.

The Chinese consortium is Himalaya Energy, owned by China ZhenHua Oil Co and CNIC Corporation Ltd. The financial deal has not been disclosed, the Daily Star reported.

Chevron Bangladesh operates Block 12 (Bibiyana Field) and Blocks 13 and 14 (Jalalabad and Moulvibazar fields). The closing of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions.

Chevron is currently responsible for more than half of Bangladesh's daily gas production. Whereas Bangladesh daily produces around 2,600 million feet per day (mmcfd) gas, Chevron provides more than 1,400 mmcfd from these three fields. Of them, the Bibiyana field provides more than 1,100 mmcfd.

Besides, Chevron also daily produces around 9,000 tonnes of condensate - a liquid fuel by-product found in some gas fields. The remaining gas fields of the country produce around 1,500 tonnes of condensate.

Chevron's earlier operations -- that includes discovery of the massive Bibiyana field in the late nineties -- were spearheaded by Unocal, which was globally acquired by Chevron in 2005. The company invested around $3 billion, while it currently has 538 employees.

Chevron operates under two Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) under which it gets a maximum of $3 dollars for per thousand cubic metres of gas -- while Bangladesh gets a proportionally bigger chunk of gas as free share -- making the deals very profitable for the country.

Chevron announced selling its assets in different countries -- including Bangladesh -- last year, due to the oil price slump. Since Chevron decided to sell its Bangladesh asset, the government had made an offer that Chevron did not accept. Since then Chevron was negotiating with Chinese company ZhenHua Oil, the Daily Star reported.

Chevron Corporation is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies. Through its subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide, the company is involved in virtually every facet of the energy industry.

Chevron (previously Unocal) introduced three-dimensional seismic survey in Bangladesh for the first time in the late nineties while surveying the Bibiyana field area.
New Delhi, April 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday discussed India-Nepal ties with his Nepalese counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda over telephone.

"The Prime Ministers discussed recent developments in India-Nepal relations, including the recently concluded highly successful state visit of President of Nepal Bidhya Devi Bhandari to India," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Bhandari was in India from April 17 to 21 in what was her first foreign visit abroad after assuming office in October 2015.

"Prachanda spoke about the ongoing efforts of his government to take all stakeholders on board in the constitution implementation process," the PMO statement said.

"Prachanda also spoke about Nepal holding the first local elections in nearly 20 years and requested for India's assistance in this connection."

According to the statement, Modi conveyed the good wishes of the people and government of India to Nepal in its national efforts to achieve peace, stability and socio-economic transformation.

He assured Prachanda that India will extend all possible assistance for local elections.

"The two Prime Ministers reiterated their commitment to advance multi-faceted India-Nepal cooperative ties for the benefit of the two peoples," it said.
Kasauli, April 25 : Shobha Nehru, wife of Jawaharlal Nehru's cousin B.K. Nehru, died at her residence in Kasauli town of Himachal Pradesh early on Tuesday due to age-related complications, her family said. She was 109.

Members of the Gandhi family are expected to attend her cremation here on Wednesday.

Shobha, who is survived by three sons, was married to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cousin B.K. Nehru, an Indian diplomat who nearly succeeded Dag Hammarskjold as United Nations Secretary General.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi used to visit the picturesque hill station of Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh to meet her regularly. The last time he visited his great grandaunt was in May 2016.

Born in Budapest in Hungary, Shobha Nehru married into the Nehru family in 1935 after she met B.K. Nehru at the University of Oxford as a student.

B.K. Nehru, one of India's most distinguished civil servants of post-independent India and former trustee of The Tribune Trust of Publications, died on October 31, 2001 at the age of 92.

Justice (retd) S.S. Sodhi, former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court and currently The Tribune Trust President, visited her residence here on Monday to inquire about her well-being.
Cooch Behar (West Bengal), April 25 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday visited the houses of two CRPF troopers killed by Maoists in Chhattisgarh and announced Rs 5 lakh and government jobs to their next of kin.

Twenty-five Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel lost their lives in Sukma district on Monday. Three of the troopers were residents of West Bengal.

"Three jawans from Bengal were martyred in Sukma. Bengal's jawans have always worked for the service of the nation," Banerjee tweeted.

The Chief Minister, now on a tour to northern West Bengal, visited the houses of the two troopers - Krishna Kumar Das and Binay Chandra Barman - who hailed from Cooach Behar and announced financial aid for their families.

"The death of CRPF jawans in Sukma is very sad. We have decided to give financial assistance of Rs five lakh & govt job to families," she said.

Meeting media persons at Das's house, the Chief Minister said the 27-year-old youth had married only recently.

"What has happenned is unfortunate. But one who has passed away cannot be brought back.Our responsibility is to stand by the bereaved families and help them in every was possible."

Banerjee said she has asked a senior minister to visit the house of Arup Karmakar, the other deceased trooper from the state who hailed from Nadia district, and stand by the bereaved family.

"I have asked my minister Jyotipriyo Mullick to reach Kolkata airport to receive the body of Karmakar. He would also attend the funeral ceremony in (Nadia district's) Karimpur. All the three families would get the financial assistance and a government job if they need it," Banerjee added.
Lucknow, April 25 : Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Gayatri Prajapati was on Tuesday granted bail in a case pertaining to gang rape of a minor.

His two accomplices, Vikas and Pintoo, were also granted bail by the special court for Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (Pocso) cases.

Special Judge O.P. Mishra, hearing the application, granted the bail to the former Mining and Transport Minister on two personal bonds of Rs 1 lakh each. A case against the minister for alleged rape and on charges of violating Posco Act was filed in the Gautampalli police station here in February.

On Monday, the state government submitted a status report to the Supreme Court in this matter, apprising it that the former minister has been arrested along with all the other accused and that the matter is being investigated.

The Supreme Court was also told by the state government that with the progress registered in the case, it should now stop hearing the matter. The apex court, meanwhile, directed the state government to hand over a copy of the status report to the victim.

Prajapati was a powerful minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government, who despite being charged in many cases, could not be arrested and became a major embarrassment for the Samajwadi Party government during the assembly elections. The BJP used his case to hit out against "lawlessness" in the state under the Samajwadi Party rule.
Siliguri, April 25 : BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that the West Bengal government was not letting the benefits of central developmental schemes percolate down to the grassroots.

"The Bengal government is not letting (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji's schemes to percolate down to the grass roots. The (Pradhan Mantri) Ujjawala Yojana is working well in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. But we are facing difficulties in Bengal in delivering its benefits to the poor," Shah said here.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that the Mamata Banerjee government thought it will be able to stop Modi ji's chariot in the eastern state.

"I want to tell Trinamool Congress leaders that the more they try to dominate, the more you carry out injustice, the lotus (BJP's poll symbol) will bloom," he told party workers in Naxalbari block in West Bengal's Darjeeling district.

He said Bengal is becoming poorer day by day and had plunged into chaos due to the prevailing unemployment, violence and appeasement politics.

Describing Naxalbari as one of the last frontier villages in India, sharing borders with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Shah asserted that the central government had been working to reach out to all such villages through its developmental programmes.

Shah on Tuesday kick-off his three-day political campaign in the state, holding booth-level public interactions and visiting some houses to interact with residents at Naxalbari, from where the Maoist movement in India was launched half a century back.

Shah is scheduled to visit Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's constituency Bhowanipore in south Kolkata on Wednesday.
Chennai, April 25 : The Madras High Court on Tuesday restrained the Tamil Nadu government from opening/reopening or relocating liquor shops along or abutting the national or state highways in the southern state for three months.

The Supreme Court in December 2016 banned liquor shops within 500 metres on either side of national and state highways. It also banned hotels and restaurants along these highways from serving liquor.

Following the Supreme Court verdict, the Tamil Nadu government closed all its state-run liquor shops located within the said limit.

With liquor sales accounting for a major chunk of state revenues, the government was said to be keen on opening/reopening liquor outlets and sent out a circular to local bodies to reclassify the state highways and bring them under their direct control.

The court was hearing Public Interest Litigations filed in the matter.

"Like an alcoholic wanting a peg (of liquor), the state government is bent upon opening liquor outlets," remarked PMK leader K.Balu, one of the petitioners who challenged the government move to reclassify the state highways.

Reacting to the court's decision, PMK founder S. Ramadoss said it is a "major victory" for his party that has been campaigning for prohibition in the southern state.

He said the party has been fighting legally for the past five years on the issue, resulting in the apex court ordering the closure of over 94,000 outlets across the country, including 3,321 in Tamil Nadu.

In a statement issued here, Ramadoss said while the state government counsel argued that highway reclassification is not to facilitate opening of liquor outlets, he was unable to give an undertaking that no liquor outlet will be opened on reclassified stretch.

The PMK founder said people were agitating over proposed move to open liquor shops in residential areas of Tamil Nadu.
New Delhi, April 25 : CRPF trooper Abhay Mishra, killed in the Sukma Maoist attack on Monday, was the only breadwinner of the family. His father doesn't regret losing his son for the nation, but is pained because he died fighting "our own people".

Speaking to IANS over phone from Bihar's Tulsi Harigaon village, some 80 km west of Patna, Gajendra Mishra said he would have felt more proud had his son laid down his life fighting enemies on the border.

"It is a matter of regret that my son lost his life fighting our own people," he said, intermittently breaking down.

Constable Abhay Mishra, 24, was one of 25 troopers killed in one of the deadliest Maoist attacks at a place between Burkapal and Chintagufa in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh when 300 to 400 heavily armed Left Wing insurgents ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch on Monday.

The eldest of two sons was the main source of regular income of an impoverished peasant family in Bihar. He had joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) three years ago and was still serving his first posting. He was scheduled to return home next month to attend a wedding.

Gajendra, in his late 50s, said the death of his son had destroyed the family.

But that doesn't stop his younger son, Amit, from dreaming about a profession his elder brother opted for.

"I want to join the Army and serve the nation. Live and die for it," Amit told IANS.

He, however, revealed that his brother was previously injured in his thigh a month and a half ago but was denied permission to return home.

"I spoke to my brother when he was hit by a bullet in his thigh. But he was denied leave and was admitted in a hospital in Raipur," Amit said.

The father said the government's anti-Maoist strategy wasn't apparently working, making troopers like his son sitting duck targets for leftist insurgents.

The security forces are equipped with modern warfare weaponry, much bigger in number in comparison to insurgents, but the father wondered how Maoists killed so many troopers in a gunbattle that last for three hours.

He questioned that if the US could kill Osama bin Laden "by entering into Pakistan and India can conduct surgical strike across in Pakistan, why don't our forces have the permission to carry out attacks on Maoists" deep inside their territories?

He said he had little hope from the government on its strategy to tackle the Maoist insurgency.

"Earlier also, a number of soldiers died but they (government) didn't do anything. In future too the government won't do anything..."

The father claimed that Abhay when he visited his home last year had shared the "pathetic condition" of the forces fighting the rebels.

"He (his son) mentioned how his senior officials had ordered them to back off after the forces had almost surrounded a group of Maoists."

(Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, April 25 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday condemned the massacre of 25 CRPF personnel in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh on Monday and paid tribute to them.

Condemning the incident, AAP leader Kapil Mishra said this was a "cowardice" act and the country would "not tolerate" it.

"It is a tragic incident. We all are deeply pained. We pay tribute to these martyrs. May God give strength to the families of the deceased soldiers to bear the loss," Mishra, who also holds the portfolio of Delhi Tourism Minister, told reporters.

"The country will never forget these soldiers' supreme sacrifice for the nation."

He also urged Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to "take revenge" for the "cowardice" attack.

"We will not tolerate anyone hitting our soldiers like sitting ducks. We urge the Home Minister and the Chhattisgarh administration to take such a revenge for this attack that generations of the perpetrators may remember," Mishra said.

He added that this was not the first time when troopers were attacked. "The government should take the people of the country in confidence and tell the nation what policy they have prepared to tackle terrorism."

On Monday, around 300 Maoists, including women, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, killing the troopers and escaped with their AK-47 assault rifles.
New Delhi, April 25 : Websites of Delhi University (DU), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Delhi) were hacked on Tuesday, allegedly by some Pakistan-based groups.

The portals of the educational institutions, when opened, did not show the usual information and were smeared with messages and videos about alleged atrocities by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

The hackers, who called themselves PHC, also posted some pro-Pakistani slogans on the websites.
Washington, April 25 : Robert M. Pirsig, author of the influential 1970s philosophical novel "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", has died at the age of 88.

Pirsig died on Monday at his home in South Berwick, Maine, and his death was announced by his publisher William Morrow, who said Pirsig's health had been failing.

Pirsig had been living in Maine for the last 30 years.

Pirsig was a college writing instructor and freelance technical writer when the novel -- "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values" -- was published in 1974 to critical acclaim and explosive popularity, the New York Times reported.

The semi-autobiographical novel told the story of a father-son motorcycle trip across the western United States.

The book sold more than five million copies around the world but was originally rejected by more than 100 publishers.

Part road-trip novel, part treatise, part open letter to a younger generation, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" unfolded as a fictionalised account of a cross-country motorcycle trip that Pirsig took in 1968 with his 11-year-old son Christopher and two friends.

He released a second novel in 1991 "Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals", which picked up where "Zen..." left off.

The follow-up book was nominated as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992.

After his death was announced, fans of Pirsig's books took to Twitter to pay tribute to the author.

US radio host Glynn Washington said: "A long time ago, everyone kept telling me to read this book. Everyone was right. One love, Robert Pirsig."

"Here's to your next road trip across the heavens, my inspiration. RIP Robert Pirsig," wrote one user.

Another user tweeted: "As cliche as it sounds/is, Robert Pirsig shifted my paradigm as a young person struggling with adolescence. Thank you for your book."

Born in Minneapolis on September 6, 1928, Pirsig had a high IQ and graduated high school at the age of 15.

Serving in the army before the start of the Korean War, he visited Japan on a leave and became interested in Zen Buddhism, and remained an adherent throughout his life.

After his army service, he returned to the university and received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in journalism.

He later studied philosophy at the University of Chicago and at Banaras Hindu University in India and taught writing at Montana State University in Bozeman and the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Times reported.

He also did freelance writing and editing for corporate publications and technical magazines, including the first generation of computer journals.

His first marriage, to Nancy Ann James, ended in divorce. He married Wendy Kimball in 1978.

Pirsig is survived by Wendy, two children and three grand-children. His son Chris died in 1979.
Lucknow, April 25 : The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to set up a task force to tackle the menace of land grabbing in the state.

State Power Minister and spokesman of the state government Srikant Sharma said the task force will identify land grabbers and land mafias within two months from its formation and that the responsibility of every official, including police has been fixed.

"The idea is to rein in the land mafia and provide immediate relief to the people of the state," Sharma added.

The decision was taken at the fourth cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday.

Action will be taken against policemen if they fail to thwart the attempts by such elements to grab the land of innocent people, the Minister warned.

"At any cost people will not be allowed to grab public land in the garb of any religion," Sharma said.

The state government will also create a web portal where people can register their complaints about land grabbing.

The cabinet also decided to hold the first session of the new state assembly from May 15. The special session will be a week long.

It was decided that public holidays in the name of eminent and great personalities of India will be stopped now onwards and in schools programmes will be held to commemorate the great work of such leaders instead.
Shimla, April 25 : Two CRPF men killed in an ambush by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district were cremated on Tuesday with full state honours at their native places in Himachal Pradesh.

Ameesha Sharma, whose father and CRPF Assistant Sub-Inspector Sanjay Kumar was cremated at his native village Chechian near Palampur town in Kangra district, said: "My father sacrificed his life for the nation, but what did he get (from this act)?"

A crying Class 11 student told reporters present at the cremation that the family only received a phone call about her father's death.

Sanjay Kumar, who served with the Central Reserve Police Force for 27 years, is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters.

"It is a proud moment for us and for the country," the trooper's father Rajinder Prasad Sharma, however, said. He too had served in the CRPF.

CRPF Head Constable Surender Thakur, 33, too was cremated at Nerchowk town in Mandi district.

He had rejoined duty after a break of two weeks on April 10.

His family said after hearing of the ambush on news channels, they tried to contact him on phone. Someone who answered their call informed them of his death in the ambush.

Thakur is survived by his wife, a three-year-old daughter, an elder brother and mother.

He was posted in the CRPF in 2003 and served in Jammu and Srinagar for six years. In Chhattisgarh, he was posted for three years.

Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh have condemned the Maoist attack.

State Bharatiya Janata Party leader Prem Kumar Dhumal stressed the need to strengthen intelligence to prevent recurrance of such incidents.

Twenty-five troopers of the CRPF were massacred on Monday by Maoists in Chhattisgarh.
Raipur, April 25 : A day after 25 CRPF troopers were massacred by Maoists in Chhattisgarh, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the strategy to root out left-wing extremism will be reviewed and a meeting of affected states has been convened on May 8 for the purpose.

The Home Minister, who visited the state to pay tributes to the 25 Central Reserve Police Force troopers killed at their camp, termed the massacre as a "cold blooded murder" and said that their sacrifice won't go in vain.

"The attack in Sukma is a cold blooded murder... It is an act of cowardice. The attack was out of desperation," he told reporters after paying homage to those killed.

"We are working to root out the problem of LWE (left-wing extremism). The LWE groups are anti-development. They do not want development in the area. The Centre and state governments will work together," he added.

Rajnath Singh said he had convened a meeting of states affected by Maoism on May 8. "We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it."

He also accused the Maoists of using tribals as cannon fodder.

On Monday, around 300 Maoists, including women, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch in Chhattisgarh, killing the troopers and escaping with their AK-47 assault rifles.

Rajnath Singh, who reached Raipur with Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir and CRPF's Additional Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia, said the government would not let the sacrifices of the troopers go in vain.

"We have accepted it as a challenge. It will be answered appropriately."

"We have lost precious lives of our soldiers... Left-wing extremists are trying to impede the progress (of the region)... They are the biggest enemy of the poor," he added.

Responding to a query over alleged intelligence failure in the incident, Rajnath Singh said, "This is not the time for a blame game."

Rajnath Singh also visited a hospital and enquired about the health of the CRPF personnel injured in the Maoist ambush. He said that all the injured soldiers are now out of danger.

Later, attending a function in Bihar, Rajnath Singh again accused the Maoists of using tribals as a shield and dared them to face the security forces from the front. He also threatened tough action against the rebels of they continue to attack security forces.

In Raipur, Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who also addressed the media with Rajnath Singh, said that fight against Maoists would continue with "more vigour".

"The fight against Maoists in Sukma is the biggest operation against LWE in the country. We have decided to enhance our activities and construction work in the region," he said.

But, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh stirred a controversy by reiterating that Raman Singh and the BJP had a "deal and understanding" with the Maoists in the state.

He called for talks with all stakeholders to bring Maoist violence under control.

"Chief Minister Raman Singh ji and the Bharatiya Janata Party win elections from there because they had a deal and understanding with the Maoists. I have said this before, and I am stating it again," he told reporters.

Digvijaya Singh said unless the state's tribal villagers are taken into confidence, Maoist violence cannot be brought under control.

"The government should talk to all the stakeholders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government only believe in 'jumlas' and have been indulging in it since May 2014," he said.

Condemning the attack, the Communist Party of India (CPI) objected to the term "red terror" for Maoist violence.

"The CPI strongly condemns the killings... in Sukma... Paying its respect to the jawans, the party conveys its deep condolences to their families," it said in a statement.

But it objected to the "attempt to term it as red terror".

"There are several Left parties in Chhattisgarh, including the CPI, which are working in defence of tribal people. They do not agree with Maoists -- politically and ideologically and also with their form of struggle."

The CPI said that both central and state governments "need to do serious introspection in the larger context and perspective" to find out why it has been "failing to handle the situation in the region".
Bengaluru, April 25 : Incessant rain played spoilsport, delaying the toss in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium here on Tuesday.

After a devastating outing in Kolkata on Sunday night against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Bangalore will look to dust themselves up while Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim for their first away win in the league.
New Delhi, April 25 : To discuss the future of the India-US energy partnership, one of the first Trump administration officials to visit India from the Department of Energy (DOE) held a roundtable meet here with the think tank CEEW on Tuesday.

The Council of Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is an advisor the the Indian government.

Beth Urbanas, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at the office of International Affairs in the US, DOE, discussed the issues including energy access, renewables and energy efficiency, energy security, and energy technologies.

The discussion was held among the US official and the adviser to the Minister of Power and top officials from think tanks, including Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy, Clean Energy Access Network and others.

"Urbanas is one of the first Trump administration officials to visit India and is responsible for managing DOE's bilateral and multilateral engagement with Asian and American countries," said Sitanshu Noarad from CEEW.

Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW, guided the discussion on measures to preserve the trusted close partnership that has developed between India and United States over the years.

"The discussion focused on the next steps in the India-US Energy Partnership, identifying key energy priorities and potential areas of convergence between the two countries," CEEW said in a statement.
Siliguri, April 25 : BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday lunched at a tribal's house, and knocked on the doors of the locals here as part of an intensive booth-level mass contact programme in Naxalabari block -- the cradle of the 50-year-old Maoist movement in India -- in northern West Bengal's Darjeeling district.

Shah held a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in booth number 93 of the Naxalbari assembly constituency at the house of the party's only panchayat member in the area -- Sadhana Mandal, to mark the start of his 15-day 'Vistar Yatra' to expand the party's base.

The BJP president, who arrived here at 11 a.m., had lunch at the house of party activist Raju Mahali -- a tribal daily wager, who makes a living by painting apartments and buildings.

Shah sat on the floor at Mahali's spartan house in Dakkhin Katiajote village, and was served vegetarian fare on a banana leaf. The menu was rice, moong dal, 'potol' (a small gourd) fry, squash curry, papad and salad.

At the workers' meeting, Shah accused the Mamata Banerjee-led state government of not letting the central government's developmental schemes percolate down to the grassroots.

"The Bengal government is not letting Modiji's schemes to percolate down to the grassroots. A (Pradhan Mantri) Ujjawala Yojana is working well in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana. But we are facing difficulties in Bengal in delivering the benefits of Modiji's scheme to the poor and the under-privileged people," Shah said.

"The Bengal government thinks they will be able to stop Modiji's chariot. I want to tell the leaders of Trinamool Congress that the more you try to dominate, the more you carry out injustice, the lotus will bloom," he said.

Shah said Bengal is becoming poorer by the day and the state, which once led the nation, has now plunged into "chaos due to the prevailing unemployment, violence and appeasement politics" pursued by the Banerjee regime.

"After observing the public enthusiasm,, I am confident that the lotus will bloom. The progress of BJP in Bengal is a certainty. No one can block its way forward," he said.

Alluding to the recent Kanthi Dakhsin assembly by-poll, where the BJP finished second by pushing the Left Front to the third spot, Shah said the huge support for the BJP is an indication of "Bengal's yearning for change from TMC's misrule and politics of appeasement".

Describing Naxalbari as one of the last frontier villages in the country, sharing borders with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Shah asserted that the central government led by Narendra Modi has been working to reach out to all such villages in the country through its developmental programme.

"I Will spread the message of PM Modi's pro-poor governance and Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas (development for all with all) from Naxalbari, once known for violent Red Revolution," he said, referring to the area which was the stage for an armed peasant uprising in 1967 led by the local tribals that inspired the Maoist movement which over time spread to various other states.

The BJP chief also praised the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes by the Modi government, arguing that the policy has benefitted the country and played a "big part" in the recently-held assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, which the party swept.

Shah is scheduled to visit Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's constituency Bhowanipore in south Kolkata on Wednesday.

The eastern state forms the first leg of Shah's 'Vistar Yatra', during which he would spend three days each in four states and a Union Territory, in an effort to strengthen the party organisation at the grassroots.

After West Bengal, Shah would move to Odisha, Telangana, poll-bound Gujarat and the Union Territory of Lakshwadeep.

Shah is scheduled to visit select booths in each port of his call, holding workers' meetings, going to some houses as part of an intensive mass contact programme, and addressing intellectuals, besides interacting with senior party leaders.
New Delhi, April 25 : A day after a deadly ambush in Chhattisgarh's Sukma killed 25 CRPF personnel and left several injured, the opposition on Tuesday flayed the BJP-led central and state governments for their failure to contain Maoist violence.

The opposition leaders, while condemning the attack on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) party, blamed both governments for poor coordination.

"We want to ask the state government and the central government as to who would take the responsibility for those who will now have to live a life without their men at home?" Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said.

She said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had made strong claims about wiping out terror and zero-tolerance to terrorism after coming to power at the Centre in 2014, but in 2017 in Chhattisgarh alone, there had been "highest number of 72 deaths of our armed men, paramilitary forces".

"So, our question to them is, when you talk about zero tolerance to terror, what effective steps are you taking both from the Centre and in the state, considering there are BJP governments both at the Centre and in Chhattisgarh?" she said.

Janata Dal United (JD-U) Spokesman K.C. Tyagi called it a "government failure" and "intelligence failure".

"We strongly condemn the attack on our paramilitary jawans. But it is evident that there was no coordination between the local police and the CRPF. As you can see, not a single state policeman has been killed in this incident. It is totally the state and the central governments' failure," Tyagi said.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) pointed out that the CRPF did not have a regular chief and also objected to the violence being termed as "red terror".

"There are several Left parties in Chhattisgarh, including the CPI, which are working in defence of tribal people. They do not agree with Maoists -- politically and ideologically and also with their form of struggle," the CPI said.

It said the governments (central and state) "need to do serious introspection in the larger context and perspective" to find out why they had been "failing to handle the situation in the region".

"It is surprising to know that CRPF does not have a regular head and proper intelligence inputs, otherwise such violence could have been avoided," the Left party observed.

On Monday, nearly 300 heavily armed Maoists, including women, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch in Sukma in Chhattisgarh.
New Delhi, April 25 : Minister for Commerce and Industries Nirmala Sitharaman will on Wednesday inaugurate orientation programme for establishment of Spices Farmers Producers Companies (SFPCs) in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, said a statement on Tuesday.

According to the ministry, the event will be attended by more than 100 spice farmers, NGOs, farmers' associations and primary processors from the state.

"35 big exporters from across the country will be coming together for a one-day orientation programme and the buyer-seller meet organised by Spices Board at the Banquet Hall of the city," said the statement.

It also added that officials from the concerned departments/organisations of the state as well as the central government will also be a part of the programme.

The objective of the programme is to operationalise SFPC on pilot basis in three districts -- Ziro and Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh for ginger and large cardamom, and in the West district in Sikkim for large cardamom.

Each SFPC will have 500 farmers as members in a sub-division or district.

The farmers will be identified on cluster basis in a village, taluk or district by forming Farmer Interest Group (FIGs), each consisting of 20 farmers. Twentyfive such FIGs will be formed to establish an SFPC, the statement added.
Bengaluru, April 25 : Four persons were arrested for possessing demonetised currency notes worth Rs 1 crore and allegedly attempting to exchange them for new notes, said police on Tuesday.

"On a tip-off, the City Crime Branch arrested the accused and seized the banned notes kept in a vehicle near Mayo hall to exchange for new notes," Deputy Commissioner of Police Chandra Gupta told reporters here.

A case has been registered against the accused -- Lakshmipathi, Kantharaja Gowda, Byappa Reddy and Shyam -- for holding the banned notes under Section 41(D), 102 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act 2017.

All the accused are aged between 25 to 35.'

"We have also seized the vehicle in which the illegal cash was stashed and four mobiles from the accused. We are on the lookout for the fifth accused - Rajeev Gupta, who is at large," said Gupta.

The government had demonetised old currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination on November 8, 2016 but allowed the people to exchange them in banks for new notes up to December 31.
Siliguri, April 25 : BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday lunched at a tribal's home, and met local residents here in northern West Bengal's Naxalabari block -- the cradle of the 50-year-old Maoist movement in India - while launching a stinging attack on the ruling Trinamool Congress.

Marking the start of his 15-day 'Vistar Yatra' spread over five states to expand the party's base, Shah held a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in booth number 93 of the Naxalbari assembly constituency in Darjeeling district, after flying in here at 11 a.m.

He also went to five houses of voters at the booth, beginning the campaign from the home of a Muslim Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter Mohammed Sabiruddin.

The BJP President had lunch at the house of party activist Raju Mahali -- a tribal daily wager, who makes a living by painting apartments and buildings.

Amit Shah sat on the floor at the spartan house in Dakkhin Katiajote village, and was served vegetarian fare on a banana leaf by Mahali's wife Geeta. The meal comprised rice, roti, moong dal, 'potol' (a small gourd) fry, squash curry, papad and salad.

At the booth workers' meeting, and later addressing a gathering of intellectuals, he minced no words in slamming the Trinamool and its supremo cum state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Amit Shah accused the state government of not letting the Union government's developmental schemes percolate down to the grassroots, and dubbed the Trinamool as "even worse" than the state's erstwhile Left Front regime.

"I want to tell the Trinamool Congress leaders that the more you try to dominate, the more you carry out injustice, the lotus will bloom.

"Trinamool government is even worse than the Left Front regime," he said.

Taking pot shots at the Trinamool over the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada video sting footage, Amit Shah said the state government has only indulged in corruption and vote bank politics.

Continuing his verbal assault, Shah pilloried the Trinamool over fake currency, crude bomb manufacture and Bangladeshi infiltrators.

"Through Malda, the entire country's fake currency note industry is being run in Bengal. One after another, manufacturing industries have shut down. There are no industries left... only bomb making factories are working... crude bombs are being manufactured.

"The entire state is reeling under the problem of Bangladeshi infiltrators. Jobs of youths of Bengal are being snatched away by the infiltrators," he alleged.

Amit Shah said Bengal is becoming poorer by the day and the state, which once led the nation, has now plunged into "chaos due to the prevailing unemployment, violence and appeasement politics" pursued by the Banerjee regime.

Describing Naxalbari as one of the last frontier villages in the country, sharing borders with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Shah asserted that the central government led by Narendra Modi has been working to reach out to all such villages in the country through its developmental programme.

"I have started the tour from Naxalbari. This is not random. This is a huge indication. Communist Party and the Leftists had unleashed violence from Naxalbari. Today I am here to say, where there was beginning of violence, there in the same village, Modi's 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' mantra is echoing through."

The area was the stage for an armed peasant uprising in 1967 led by the local tribals that inspired the Maoist movement which over time spread to various other states.

Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Banerjee's constituency Bhowanipore in south Kolkata on Wednesday.

The eastern state forms the first leg of Shah's 'Vistar Yatra', during which he would spend three days each in four states and a Union Territory, in an effort to strengthen the party organisation at the grassroots.

The Trinamool lost no time in countering Shah.

Trinamool Secretary General Partha Chatterjee rubbished his claim that the BJP would become a formidable force in the state by the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"They should be more concerned about their position in Delhi, not Bengal. They should worry about whether they would be able to stay in power at the centre in 2019. The people of India have decided that no matter what happens, BJP will have no place in the nation after 2019," he retorted.
Jerusalem, April 26 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a meeting with Germany's Foreign Minister after he decided to meet with NGOs opposed to the occupation of Palestinian territories, an official said.

Netanyahu canceled his meeting with Sigmar Gabriel after the German statesman met with representatives of the Breaking the Silence NGO, an activist group composed of former Israeli soldiers critical of the government's actions in Palestinian territories, Efe news reported on Tuesday.

"I can confirm that the meeting has been cancelled," said spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister's office Ofir Gendelman.

Speaking to German TV earlier, Gabriel said that it would be lamentable if the Israeli head of government were to cancel a meeting in reaction to his decision to hold talks with the NGOs.

Further, he said it would be inconceivable that a German minister would ever cancel a meeting because an Israeli statesperson had decided to meet a group of people critical of the German government.

He added, however, that if Netanyahu did cancel the meeting, it would not be a catastrophe or change Israeli-German relations.

Israel's president Reuven Rivlin did meet with Gabriel, saying that "relations between Germany and Israel had never been easy, nor would they ever be".

According to Israeli TV, Netanyahu had warned Gabriel not to hold discussions with Breaking the Silence.

Gabriel did not heed the warning, and also met with activists from the NGO Betselem.
Tokyo, April 26 : Japan and the US began a specific seaborne joint military exercise within the ongoing joint naval exercises that began on Sunday amid heightened tensions with North Korea, media reports said.

The USS Fitzgerald and the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Forces destroyer JMSDF Choukai on Tuesday, participated in the Sea of Japan exercises, involving ships equipped with the Aegis anti-missile system, Efe news cited a statement by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.

Participating in these exercises, the ships have confirmed their response readiness against any ballistic missile launches by Pyongyang, also rehearsed a data exchange on missile interception and other matters.

USS Fitzgerald homeport during its deployment is the Yokosuka naval base (southeast of Tokyo), while the Chokai is based at the Sasebo naval base, in the Nagasaki prefecture (southeast Japan).

The joint US-Japan military drill took place simultaneously as Pyongyang celebrated the 85th anniversary of the North Korean Army's foundation by conducting large-scale artillery exercises -- in the presence of Kim Jong-un, according to Seoul.

Additionally, a US nuclear submarine has also arrived to the Korean peninsula.

Recent events have worsened the growing tension in the region in the face of persistent weapon tests by North Korea -- the most recent took place early April -- to which the US reacted by dispatching its nuclear aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula.

This stokes fears that North Korea might be preparing for another nuclear test, given that recent satellite imaging shows activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear testing grounds -- where Pyongyang has carried out its previous nuclear trials.
The insight and experience that these highly accomplished individuals bring will advance our ability to redefine the worlds energy equation, advancing clean electric power generation for the global community.

MTPV Power Corporation, a clean energy company that converts waste heat to electricity using semiconductor chips, today announced the appointment of five widely respected industry experts to its newly formed Board of Advisors.

MTPVs Board of Advisors will serve as a strategic panel providing independent advice and recommendations on science, technology and business initiatives, assuring that MTPVs research and development investments maintain a clear focus on technical quality and embrace leading edge energy innovation emerging from external academic, research, and commercial laboratories in addition to MTPV developed advances.

We are honored to have five leading experts in the field of materials, energy and semiconductors join our Board of Advisors, said David Mather, President and CEO of MTPV. The insight and experience that these highly accomplished individuals bring will advance our ability to redefine the worlds energy equation, advancing clean electric power generation for the global community.

Composed of eminent academics, scientists, and business leaders who have made significant contributions to the advancement of their field, the diverse membership of the Board reflects the breadth of MTPV's scientific and technological interests. The Board is co-chaired by MTPV founder, Bob DiMatteo, and MTPVs VP of Product & Business Development, Brian Hubert.

The Board of Advisors will help MTPV continue to develop and build upon the most significant advances in clean electric power generation world-wide, said Bob DiMatteo, Board of Advisors co-Chair and member of MTPVs Board of Directors.

The initial Board of Advisors is comprised of the following members: -

Clifton Fonstad, Ph.D.

Vitesse Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Clifton Fonstad has been a faculty member at MIT for more than 40 years, and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in semiconductor devices and technology. He is the Vitesse Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Shaffiq Jaffer, Ph.D.

VP of Corporate Science and Technology Projects

Total S.A.

Shaffiq Jaffer is the Vice President of Corporate Science and Technology Projects for Total S.A. in North America, with the mission to find novel ideas and technologies across the research community: academia, government including defense research organizations and private research companies, that will lead to breakthroughs in energy (production, conservation, efficiency), materials (PV, Catalysts, biomaterials) and manufacturing processes.

Clark Jernigan

CEO

VUV Analytics Inc.

Clark Jernigan is the CEO of VUV Analytics, the leader in vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) absorption spectroscopy and has a successful track record in leading and developing early stage ventures, specializing in hardware, clean tech, and technology service companies.

Rakesh R Kapoor, Ph.D.

General Manager

Materials Outovation LLC

Rakesh Kapoor incubates and grows profitable businesses relying on innovation in materials technologies. He has served as a global executive at a Fortune 100 company successfully delivering with positions in R&D, manufacturing, global sales and marketing, corporate venturing, and in acquisitions. Most recently, as business head for Saint-Gobain Engineered Ceramics, he turned around a set of mature businesses relying on materials innovations, customer co-development and galvanizing international teams. He is currently helping a several organizations meet their needs in materials innovation.

Sam Kogan, Ph.D.

CEO

Gen5 Group

Sam Kogan is CEO of GEN5 Group, a leading provider of innovation consulting services and the CEO of Powermers, a venture-based company that is developing new technologies to enhance performance of various energy storage and energy producing devices.

About MTPV Power Corporation

MTPV creates semiconductor chips that convert heat directly into electricity. Much like a solar panel will convert sunlight into electricity, MTPV chips are able to convert any source of heat into electricity with breakthrough efficiency and power. For more information, visit: https://www.mtpv.com and connect with MTPV on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
Broadband is extremely competitive and the providers who offer the best customer service will ultimately be the most successful, said Ian Collins, CEO and co-founder of CrowdCare. These days, it simply doesnt make sense to have multiple single-channel bots in the background answering questions for different groups of subscribers. With artificial intelligence and machine learning, it is possible for a single solution to serve all customers across different business lines and multiple digital care channels. This is efficient, cost effective and ensures that subscribers are delighted each time they ask a question, regardless of the way they connect or the services to which they subscribe.

Wysdom was engineered from the ground up to support the full spectrum of telecom subscriber inquiries. As the industrys most advanced solution, it has analyzed millions of questions from customers over the years and identified more than 80,000 that are asked most often. With an experienced AI training team and the largest database in this space, Wysdom combines natural language with big data to deliver the best answers directly to subscribers.

CrowdCares broadband/cable module was built based on the experiences of a large, full-service provider. The carrier began offering digital care powered by Wysdom to its wireless customers and was also receiving questions about its cable television and high-speed Internet services via those same channels. Wysdom was already listening to questions and being trained in these additional market segments before the broadband/cable module was completed. A new type of support was required with the launch of new over-the-top content, which is accessible via mobile devices and set-top boxes such as AppleTV, Chromecast and Roku.

Demand for digital care and bots began in wireless but quickly expanded as subscribers began asking questions about their broadband and cable services. Extending Wysdom to serve this customer segment was a natural evolution of our product, adds Collins. MSOs and broadband providers are seeing an increase in call centre questions and queries as they launch more and more connected services like home security and automation. As subscribers increasingly turn to digital channels to ask questions and resolve issues, providing quick, personalized and accurate responses through a single voice and solution is critical.

About CrowdCare

CrowdCare offers the worlds most mature multi-channel enterprise digital care solution to deliver fast, effective and personalized answers to customer questions. Telecommunications companies around the world rely on CrowdCares Wysdom solution to deliver exceptional automated answers to their customers while increasing satisfaction and loyalty and reducing customer care expenses. With millions of actual customer questions analyzed over many years, Wysdom is the most effective enterprise digital care solution in the market today.
EagleClaw Midstream recently awarded Saulsbury Industries the overall construction contract for its second 200MMSCFD gas processing train located at the East Toyah Natural Gas Cryogenic Processing Facility located in Reeves County, TX. This will bring the total capacity at the facility to 460MMSCFD. This project will involve the installation of a cryogenic plant, refrigeration, amine, stabilization, residue compression, and all associated equipment. Saulsbury previously completed the first two trains (60MMSCFD and 200MMSCFD) at this facility.

EagleClaw and Saulsbury have built a solid relationship over the last three years through the outstanding execution and dedication of the construction management and field teams. The first 60MMSCFD project was awarded the Dick Saulsbury Project Excellence Award for the excellent execution by the Saulsbury project team helped by the support provided by EagleClaw and their project team.

"We are extremely pleased to have been awarded the third cryogenic plant project for EagleClaw Midstream. This award marks Saulsburys 38th Natural Gas Cryogenic Processing Facility project and 25th 200MMSCFD project in the last 10 years. We look forward to the successful execution of this project with EagleClaw Midstream and their many more projects on the horizon." said Bubba Saulsbury, Shareholder and SVP of Business Development of Saulsbury Industries.

About Saulsbury Industries

Family-owned Saulsbury Industries is a full-service Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Maintenance contractor headquartered in Odessa, Texas, that provides engineering, general construction, electrical & instrumentation, fabrication and maintenance services to heavy industrial markets. Saulsbury Industries is celebrating its 50th year anniversary in 2017.

Contact: Courtney Wardlaw

VP Marketing and Communications

Saulsbury Industries

432-363-6425

cwardlaw(at)saulsbury(dot)com
Ralph Robertson, Chairman of the Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement's Board of Directors We received applications from 130 students, each with a unique story to tell. Ive never felt more confident that the future of agriculture lies in very capable and passionate hands.

The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement has announced the winners of their 2017 scholarship program. This was the first year of the Foundations program, awarding ten students $10,000 each to pursue their careers in the agriculture industry. The recipients are:



Shara Allman of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, a senior at Donegal High School

Allyson Balmer of Manheim, Pennsylvania, a junior at Penn State University

Kenneth Fest of New Hope, Pennsylvania, a sophomore at Cornell University

Ariana Gaston of Townsend, Delaware, a senior at Middletown High School

William Horning of Denver, Pennsylvania, a senior at Garden Spot High School

Glenn Jones of Silver Spring, Maryland, a senior at Paint Branch High School

Karoline Kent of Lititz, Pennsylvania, a sophomore at Penn State University

Jared Schrader of Earleville, Maryland, a senior at Bohemia Manor High School

Hanum Wensil-Strow of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a junior at University of Pennsylvanias School of Veterinary Medicine

Ashley Yanego of Strasburg, Virginia, a freshman at Virginia Tech University

We are excited to announce the winners of the Foundations first annual scholarship program, says Sandy Wieber, spokesperson for the Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement. Each of these incredibly talented students did a wonderful job conveying what agriculture means to them, and how they plan to make a difference in the industry after they graduate from college. We were impressed by their academics and involvement in their local communities, and look forward to seeing what lies ahead for them.

This was a very difficult decision for us to make, adds Ralph Robertson, a Maryland farmer and chairman of the Foundations board. We received applications from 130 students, each with a unique story to tell. Ive never felt more confident that the future of agriculture lies in very capable and passionate hands.

The non-profit Foundation was formed in 2015, funded by participating association MidAtlantic Farm Credit. The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancements scholarship program awards ten scholarships, each valued at $10,000. This program is open to high school seniors or students currently enrolled in an advanced educational program. The applicants must be planning to pursue a career in agriculture and reside in a county within MidAtlantic Farm Credits five-state territory.

For more information about the Foundation and scholarship program, please visit fcfoundationforag.org.

About Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement

The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement is a $3M non-profit foundation formed in 2015, created to help advance the future of agriculture. This is the inaugural year of the Foundations scholarship program, which is open to all students residing in MidAtlantic Farm Credits five-state territory who fit the eligibility requirements. The scholarships were announced as part of Farm Credits 100th anniversary, held in 2016.
It is going to be easier for our teachers and administrators to dig deeper into the data, create interventions if needed, and monitor progress of student growth using PowerSchools Unified Classroom.

Regional School Unit 10 (ME) expanded its partnership with PowerSchool to centralize instruction, learning, assessment, and analytics. The Unified Classroom simplifies classroom management by eliminating the need for teachers and school administrators to manage student data in several different software solutions. This streamlined efficiency is expected to increase instructional and learning time, and provide district educators with an intuitive platform to monitor student growth.

We wanted to have one program in place that met all of our needs, stated Reinette Chenard, Data Manager at Regional School Unit 10. Our district has been using the PowerSchool Student Information System for more than 14 years. Having one platform that seamlessly integrates the SIS, LMS, assessment and analytics solutions, will give us greater insight into student data to better drive curriculum decisions.

The school district is excited to offer its school community a web presence for monitoring student progress. In addition to the access families currently have through the parent portal to attendance, schedules, and grades, the Unified Classroom will provide parents and students with accessibility to class content, assignments, and assessments, as well as blended and digital learning.

When teachers have to search for information in multiple platforms, it creates a barrier to successfully assessing, evaluating, analyzing, and providing recommendations on student performance, noted Chenard. It is going to be easier for our teachers and administrators to dig deeper into the data, create interventions if needed, and monitor progress of student growth using PowerSchools Unified Classroom.

About Regional School Unit 10

RSU 10 is a public school district located in Oxford County, Maine. 260 classroom teachers educate students in Pre -k through 12th grades. RSU 10 includes 10 schools and covers the towns of Buckfield, Byron, Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, Hanover, Hartford, Mexico, Peru, Roxbury, Rumford, and Sumner.

About PowerSchool Group LLC

PowerSchool is the leading K-12 education technology provider of solutions that improve the education experience for 100 million students, teachers, and parents in over 70 countries around the world. We provide the industrys first Unified Classroom experience, empowering teachers with best-in-class, secure, and compliant online solutions, including student information systems, learning management and classroom collaboration, assessment, analytics, behavior, and special education case management. We streamline school office and administration operations with online solutions for student registration, school choice, and finance/HR/ERP. We drive student growth through digital classroom capabilities and engage families through real-time communications across any device. Visit https://www.powerschool.com/ to learn more.
Texans for Voter Choice released a new study of Texas ballot access laws that shows the Lone Star state ranks among the worst in the nation with respect to protecting voter choice.

The study, OUTDATED, OVER-REGULATED AND JUST PLAIN COMPLICATED: How Ballot Access Laws Deny Texas Voters A Free Choice At The Polls, shows how the Texas Election Code limits voter choice by imposing a range of barriers to the ballot for non-major party candidates. Read the Report: http://texasvoterchoice.org

Texans for Voter Choice State Director Carly Rose Jackson said: Texas is among the worst when it comes to ballot access laws. While Texans are usually proud to stand out, our general petitioning burdens and outrageous barriers for independent presidential candidates and new parties are nothing to be proud of.

Texans for Voter Choice analyzed ballot access laws across the country based on two basic criteria:

1. The extent to which they protect the states legitimate regulatory interests in ensuring fair and honest elections and;

1. Maximize voter choice by ensuring that all candidates have an equal and fair opportunity to participate in the electoral process.

"Texas loves its mavericks, its wildcatters, and its competitive free-market business environment," said Mark Miller, Vice-chair of the Libertarian Party of Texas. "It's time for our great state to allow those same energies to be expressed at the ballot box ... and Texas voters the political diversity they clearly crave.

The results of the study reveal a cumbersome process, making it difficult for qualified candidates to complete the necessary steps to appear on the ballot. Texas voters ultimately bear the consequences of the states burdensome ballot access scheme, because it often denies them a meaningful choice of candidates at the polls. In 2016, for example 44 percent of the races for Texas State Senate and 54 percent of the races for State House had only one candidate running unopposed, according the Texas Secretary of State.

Electronic Frontier Foundation-Austin Political Director Josh Cohn suggested a partial solution to the Texas ballot access barrier crisis. Texas has the opportunity to show how government can use technology to offer smart solutions to difficult issues. A secure online petitioning process, maintained by the Secretary of State, could remove ballot access barriers for voters across the state."

Texans for Voter Choice is supporting HB 3068, the Texas Voter Choice Act which offers a solution to these problems. The legislation establishes reasonable requirements for all non-major party candidates, while eliminating outdated regulations that impose unnecessary barriers to the ballot. One key provision authorizes minor party and independent candidates to collect and submit nomination petition signatures online, through a secure portal maintained by the Secretary of State, thus eliminating the waste, inefficiency and expense of submitting paper nomination petitions.

A majority of people want new political movements, but Texas laws won't allow any of us to become viable," katija gruene, Secretary of the Green Party of Texas and coalition member stated. "We spend so much time & money just trying to exist in this system, there is little left for campaigns and community building."

Enacting the Texas Voter Choice Act, HB 3068, would place Texas among the best states for protecting voter choice, by modernizing the process and setting the standard for best practices in ballot access regulation.

-End-
Only the right implementation transforms the potential into a real force. In todays world technologies give us amazing opportunities on paper, but when the theory meets reality, it turns out that the majority of businesses dont know how to apply it for their good. There is a vicious circle: some tools dont cover all your needs; some complicate things too much. As the result, it is hard to combine them properly, achieving maximum efficiency. So how to provide your customers with the best personalized experience while optimizing your business processes? The answer is  Integration.

NEW ORLEANS, LA: Recently, Maven Ecommerce, Ukrainian Tech Startup specializing in integration of software and tools for business, won the ALPHA Programme and will attend two largest IT-conferences in the world: Collision and Web Summit. Over the years, Maven has gained a reputation of professional integrators. By executing dozens of ambitious projects, including integration for Dutch Royal Airlines KLM and one of the biggest European fashion retailers MS Mode, the company expanded its presence and approached the next logical step of growth. Maven will present its unique integration experience on the Americas fastest growing tech conference on May 2-4.

Andrii Korolov, CEO at Maven Ecommerce:

Statistics show that more than 45% of people think that the main tech barrier, when expanding an online business, is a lack of integration and its totally understandable. I think that nowadays main eCommerce challenge is not about the creation of something new, but making it all work together, while being highly personalized and customizable at the same time. Considering our experience and knowledge, we expect that the event will be interesting and productive for us.

About Maven Ecommerce: Since the very beginning Mavens focused on being in the avant-garde of customization and integration. By using knowledge and expertise of world-class web-developers, Maven makes a full use of features various automation tools offer to help business enhance workflow and utilize opportunities they dont even know about. Every single project is individual and based on the clients needs and deep analytics. The main benefit of Mavens approach is the ability to integrate all the needed functionality without adding excess features and breaking internal business processes.
Cornwell Quality Tools and CRKT limited edition Ken Onion designed Outrage.

In keeping with the distinctive Ken Onion style, it features a modified drop point blade, with a black corrosion resistant coating, thats ready to take on a variety of cutting tasks and claim victory. An IKBS ball bearing pivot system deploys the blade quickly and smoothly while a locking liner provides security when the knife is open and in use. The royal blue aluminum handle has a low profile clip that keeps the whole thing tight and snug in your pocket.

Ken Onion is no stranger to stylish folders that win awards for their good looks and solid build. The Outrage is destined to share the stage with some of his favorite designs.

Sometimes you come up with a design that just works, says Onion, And this one works hard on everything from twine to boxes and ropes to hoses.

When there's a tough job to get through, the Outrage fits the bill.

This limited edition Outrage is offered at a special list price of $59.99.

Available exclusively through Cornwell Quality Tools.

http://www.cornwelltools.com

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

SKU: CKTK320GXPCB

Blade: Length: 3.190 (81.0 mm)

Edge: Plain

Steel: 8Cr13MoV, 58-60 HRC

Finish: Black Corrosion Resistant Coating

Thickness: 0.130 (3.2 mm)

Closed: 4.670 (119.0 mm)

Open: 7.880 (200.0 mm)

Weight: 4.5 oz. (125.0 g)

Handle: Aluminum

Style: Folding Knife w/Locking Liner

Founded in 1994, CRKT is the industrys premier brand of knives, tools, and lifestyle accessories, with a reputation for innovative design. For more information, call: (800) 891-3100, email: info@crkt.com, on the web: http://www.crkt.com.

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The Stephen J. Wampler Foundation today announced they have reached an agreement to purchase a new home for Camp Wamp, a unique outdoor wilderness adventure camp for children with physical disabilities. The money to purchase land, located at Deer Lake in the High Sierras near Lake Tahoe, California, was donated by an anonymous couple from Arizona. The campsite was previously home to the Girl Scouts of Northern California. The sale of the camp is expected to close in July 2017, pending final inspections.

After operating for 15 years at another Northern California site, the Wampler Foundation will spend the summer of 2017 retrofitting and renovating the newly acquired 129-acre property that hosts 13 buildings and a 34-acre lake. The camp will host its inaugural group of campers in the summer of 2018, servicing children with conditions such as Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy and Spina Bifida.

Saying goodbye is never easy, but knowing Camp Deer Lake will continue to be a magical place for children who otherwise have limited access to camp experiences eases the sadness, said Marina Park, Chief Executive Officer at Girl Scouts of Northern California. Once the sale is completed, we look forward to working with Camp Wamp to explore opportunities for Girl Scouts with disabilities to attend the camp, and as well as the potential for Girl Scouts to volunteer at the camp.

Stephen Wampler, founder of the Wampler Foundation and Camp Wamp, has been afflicted by cerebral palsy since birth and uses an electric wheelchair for mobility on a daily basis; he has no use of his legs and only minimal use of one his arms. But even as a child, his disability never prevented him from fully participating in life.

Being able to be a normal kid and do things like camp, hike, fish and swim during the summer showed me early on it is ok to dream the way all children should, said Wampler. This new campsite gives us the opportunity to expand access to this important life experience to campers from all over the United States and the world, and we especially look forward to welcoming Girl Scouts in the very near future.

The new camp is the latest endeavor for the Wampler Foundation to inspire the world. In September 2010, Steve took on what is widely considered one of the greatest challenges in rock climbingeven for an able bodied climberand summited El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Due to his disability, Steve utilized a specially designed climbing chair and a pulley system to tackle the vertical rock face that is twice the height of the Empire State Building. With each tug on a pull up bar, Steve lifted himself two to six inches. Steve suffered greatly for six days and five nights from extreme temperatures, seizures, hallucinations, severe dehydration and periods of unconsciousness, alongside gross mental and physical fatigue. In 2013, a documentary titled, Wamplers Ascent, was released detailing the climb and the incredible love story between Steve and his filmmaker wife, Elizabeth. The film has a 100 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 8.2 on IMDb.

For corporate sponsorship of the new camp or the Wampler Foundation, please contact info(at)wamplerfoundation.org. The Wampler Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3).

About The Wampler Foundation

Founded in 2000, The Wampler Foundation provides outdoor recreation programs for children with physical disabilities, such as Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy and Spina Bifida, at no cost to their families. To find out more about The Wampler Foundation, and to make a donation, please visit http://www.wamplerfoundation.org/.
Inspired by continued capacity additions and investments in biochemical and bioplastics industry in Asia, especially with Thailand announcing the 10-year bio-economy scheme, 6th Biobased Chemicals and Plastics summit taking place on 19-22 June presents two dedicated tracks  7th Biobased Chem Asia and 11th Bioplastics Markets.

7th Biobased Chem Asia welcomes PTT Global Chemical as a key speaker with Dr. Chaya Chandavasu, Senior VP  Science & Innovation sharing the groups biochemical plan  with focus on its upcoming biochemical hub in Thailand. Also speaking is Reliance Industries Dr. Vidhya Rangaswamy, VP presenting on ChemBio Route to Produce 1, 3-Butadiene from Sugars. The biochemical market discussions are further enriched with a session on Bio-MEG  A growth driver for Bio-PET segment by Rajesh Marwaha, SBU Head (International Business), India Glycols and paper on Feedstocks for Biobased Chemicals: Which will be Competitive? by Henna Poikolainen, Senior Consultant, Poyry Management Consulting.

11th Bioplastics Markets track is led by 2 key players Natur-Tec and Total Corbion  each presenting opportunities in two major markets  India and China respectively. Dr. Sunder Balakrishnan, Director, Natur-Tec shares the Market Demand for Bioplastics in India  as several Indian cities have banned the use of plastic bags  presenting a big opportunity for bioplastics producers. Dr. Jim Jem, Greater China GM, Total Corbion provides details of Chinas Emerging PLA production and how Chinas corn surplus presents a business opportunity for the bioplastics market. He also talks about Total Corbions PLA venture in Thailand. Finally, bioplastics producer  NatureWorks APAC Commercial Director  Ian Toh shares details of the Role of Bioplastics in the New Plastics Economy, and one of the largest end users  Nestles Head of Packaging - Ms. Kasma Torrarit showcases Nestles Packaging Innovation and Materials Optimisation.

Other key discussions at the summit are:



Bio Propylene Market and Supply/Demand Outlook  Toyota Tsusho

Biobased Chemicals in Asia: Opportunities and Trends  Nexant Asia

Latest Production of CO2-based Polyols Building Block  Covestro Polymers

Latest E-Certification to Monitor Bio-based Materials in the Chemical Industry  Advanced Biochemical Thailand

Thailand Bioeconomy& Bioplastics Development: Implication  Thai Bioplastics Industry Association (TBIA)

Asian Markets for Biobased Chemical Building Blocks and Polymers  Wobaltexpedition Consultancy

Availability and Prospects of Cassava for Bioplastics Production  Enviplast

Strategies and Sources to Attract Private Equity for Bio-Based Projects  Capricorn Venture Partners

PEF Polymer and PEF Film  100% Biobased Gas Barrier Material  Toyobo Co.

Prospect of Bamboo Fiber-PP Composites for Automotive & Construction Applications  Kasetsart University

Latest PBAT Trends and Application in Courier Delivery  JinHui ZhaoLong High Technology Co.

BioPBS Drop in Polymer Applications Growth Potential  PTT MCC Biochem Co.

Packaging Material, Recycling Potential and End of Life Options - Total Corbion PLA

Organizer Centre for Management Technology has also added a Site Visit to Total Corbion PLA plant in Thailand on 22 June.

Visit event website or call Ms. Grace Oh at +65 6346 9147 for more details.
Macadamian, proud supporter of girls and STEM education Macadamian is proud to support this initiative given the historical under representation of women in technology.

On April 28th, a team of four girls aged 16 to 17, sponsored by Macadamian, will be participating in Hacking Healths #HIP613 HACKATHON. Hacking Health is a nonprofit that aims to break down the barriers to healthcare innovation. They are hosting Ottawa's first healthcare hackathon. Over the course of 3 days healthcare professionals, IT, designers, policy analysts, entrepreneurs and students will be brought together to create solutions to improve healthcare.

Macadamian is proud to support both girls in STEM and women in technology. In our efforts to design and build healthcare solutions that both empower and improve people's lives, we recognize the need for a diversity in contributions. Women have historically been underrepresented in technology which is why we feel so strongly about supporting this initiative," says Lorraine Chapman, Senior Director Healthcare, Macadamian.

As part of a program from Technovations called Girls for a Change, the team of girls will be working with Mark Walker, a software development mentor from Macadamian to help them dream up and create a solution to a real world healthcare problem. The winning team will be awarded the Macadamian Girls CAN hack award and will also have the potential opportunity to work with Macadamian and CHEO to bring their concept to life.

We're excited to support the development of the next generation of female STEM leaders with Macadamian this weekend by exposing them to real world problems and the technology to help solve them. Diversity in our workforce is a major driver of creativity and innovation, said Haidee Thanda, Founder and Lead, Hacking Health Ottawa.

Technovation is a global program that offers girls around the world the opportunity to learn the skills they need to emerge as tech entrepreneurs and leaders. Teams of girls are invited to identify a problem in their community, and are challenged to solve it. Girls work to build both a mobile app and a business plan to launch that app, supported by mentors and guided by the curriculum. Technovation takes students through 4 stages of launching a mobile app startup, inspired by the principles of design thinking.

About Macadamian (http://www.macadamian.com)

Macadamian is a full service user centred software design and development firm. From product ideation to market ready  and everything in between, we provide a complete range of usability, design and engineering services. From healthcare to mid size enterprises; our solutions are founded in research-informed design first while leveraging the cloud, big data, and Internet of Things to deliver context-aware and adaptive experiences. Macadamian is headquartered in Gatineau, Canada and also has offices in the United States, Armenia, and Romania. Visit http://www.macadamian.com or contact via phone at +1 877 779 6336.
Shatterbox Logo

Russ Hensley, CEO of Shatterbox announced that the American Advertising Federation awarded Shatterbox a silver Addy for Online Interactive Website design. This, for their work with Apiary Fine Catering and Events.

Apiary Fine Catering and Events, located in Lexington, KY, worked with the Shatterbox team to execute an elegant website that epitomizes the catering and fine dining company. The subtle charm of Central Kentucky is accurately depicted through their website and the events Apiary provides their customers.

"From the start of The Apiary our team at Shatterbox has been thrilled to work with this Flagship business", said Shatterbox CEO Russ Hensley

Shatterbox is a multidisciplinary design firm specializing in creative brand strategy, identity development, and award-winning interactive and print design. Shatterbox has been designing websites since 1995 and branding start-ups since 1998. Shatterbox won more than 120 gold Addy Awards from American Advertising Federation, including 3 Best of Shows, and 4 Judges Choice Awards as well national and regional awards. Shatterbox is a winner of the HOW International Design Award for 2013. The studio is also recognized in GDUSA and Logo Lounge for their branding and logo design efforts. Shatterbox was also featured in the 2013 and 2014 PRINT Magazines Regional Design Annual as one of the premier design studios in the United States.
Harkcon, Inc. wins the strategically sourced Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Program Management Administrative, Clerical and Technical Services (PACTS II) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Vehicle in Functional Category 1. PACTS II is a DHS service disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB) set aside contract vehicle providing DHS Components with management, administrative, operations, and technical support services. Harkcon leads an impressive team of large and small businesses as well as other SDVOSBs on this five year indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contract. The Harkcon Team is already providing these same services in both the public and private sector, helping clients with strategic planning, program assessment, program and project management, logistics support, contingency planning, resource management, change management, acquisition support, engineering services, environmental, technical, and other scientific consulting services, and risk assessment.

Keith Curran, Harkcons Chief Operating Officer stated We look forward to working with all DHS Components to help DHS accomplish mission objectives and cross-Component missions through the delivery of outstanding program management and technical services. We have assembled a team of outstanding companies with the depth and breadth of skills and experience to meet the Departments needs as the Department continues to evolve to meet new and different threats.

ABOUT HARKCON, INC.

Harkcon, Inc. provides a wide range of comprehensive organizational and workforce performance analysis and customized, innovative solutions in the public and private sectors. Focusing on analysis and solutions that improve worker, workplace, and organizational performance, Harkcon specializes in identifying the needs of a workforce and the appropriate organizational, leadership, and management interventions required to bring motivation and performance to unprecedented levels.

A service-disabled, veteran-owned small business founded in 2005 and based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Harkcon was named to the Inc. 500/5000 List for the seventh consecutive year (2016) and has been named to Diversity Business's "Top Veteran Owned Business" and the Virginia Business and Virginia Chamber of Commerce's "Fantastic 50" list. Harkcon works on a variety of government and private industry projects across the country and around the world. For more information on Harkcon, Inc. and the services they provide, please visit http://www.harkcon.com.
This allows fleet organizations to choose not only from a wide-variety of vehicles with the lowest cost of ownership, but also from a number of winners that have demonstrated consistent success in their segments over the years

The 12th annual Vincentric Best Fleet Value in America awards were announced today with Nissan North America leading the way with eight winning vehicles. Ford Motor Company also performed well, earning seven Vincentric fleet awards. When combined, Nissan and Ford earned nearly half of the 2017 Vincentric Best Fleet Value in America awards.

The Nissan success included three winning vehicles from its NV Van lineup, along with a strong performance in passenger car segments with the Versa, Altima, and Leaf earning awards. Ford showed success with the Taurus winning its seventh Vincentric fleet award and the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid winning its fourth. Additionally, the F-150 took top honors in the popular fleet  ton pickup segment for the fifth time, while the F-250 also laid claim to a spot in the winners circle.

Other strong performances included General Motors with its heavy duty Express and Savana vans continuing to deliver value to the fleet industry and Volvo with multiple luxury sedan winners. Toyota also showed success with three winners, including the Tacoma which took top honors for a record-setting 11th time. BMW, Hyundai, and Mercedes-Benz also performed well, each taking home three Vincentric awards.

We saw significant consistency between prior year winners and the 2017 winning vehicles, said Vincentric President, David Wurster. This allows fleet organizations to choose not only from a wide-variety of vehicles with the lowest cost of ownership, but also from a number of winners that have demonstrated consistent success in their segments over the years.

To determine the 2017 Vincentric Best Fleet Value in America awards, Vincentric performed a cost of ownership analysis measuring over 2,500 vehicle configurations based on typical fleet use. Using eight different cost factors  depreciation, fees & taxes, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, opportunity cost, and repairs  each vehicle was evaluated in all 50 states plus D.C. for 28 different lifecycle cost scenarios. Winners were identified by determining which vehicles had the lowest fleet lifecycle cost in the most scenarios for its segment.

Further information regarding all of the winners of the Vincentric Fleet Best Value in America Awards for the 2017 model year and the Vincentric methodology is available at http://www.vincentric.com.

ABOUT VINCENTRIC

Vincentric provides data, knowledge, and insight to the automotive industry by identifying and applying the many aspects of automotive value. Vincentric data is used by many organizations including AOL, BMW, Business Fleet Magazine, Cars.com, Hyundai, Fleet-Central.com, Mercedes-Benz, NADA Guides and Toyota as a means of providing automotive insight to their clientele. Vincentric, LLC is a privately held automotive data compilation and analysis firm headquartered in Bingham Farms, Michigan.
Nebraska Methodist College invites Minne Lusa Elementary School students and their families to the fourth annual Community Health Fair on Tuesday, April 25.

Nursing students from NMC again will host this important community event, which provides a free hot meal, raffle prizes and fun activities. Participants also will have a chance to interact and participate with many healthcare and community organizations. Last years event drew more than 500 people.

This year, the event has been coordinated by Bachelor of Science in Nursing students Ashley Coffiel and Emily Rollag.

"Our primary objectives of the health fair are to offer health-related education, health screenings and free, healthy meal for the students, families and surrounding neighborhood community, said Casey Shapiro, a junior Bachelor of Science in Nursing student at NMC.

The NMC students are coordinating a drive to send food and care packages home with families. Minne Lusa has one of the highest free and reduced school lunch rates in Omaha Public Schools at over 87.8 percent. The NMC Mobile Diabetes Center also will be in attendance to offer free health screenings.

Community members can support the students and their families before or after the event by making a donation through Nebraska Methodist College's Clark Center at 720 N. 87th Street. Toiletries, clothing, nonperishable food and raffle prizes, such as toys, are needed.

EVENT DETAILS

Date: Tuesday, April 25

Time: 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Cost: Free, open to the public Where: Minne Lusa Elementary School (2728 Ida Street, Omaha)

Activities: Health screenings, free meal, music, games and meet and greet with firefighters and police officers.

ABOUT NEBRASKA METHODIST COLLEGE

Nebraska Methodist College  the Josie Harper Campus, based in Omaha, has been teaching the meaning of care for 125 years and counting. An affiliate of Methodist Health System, NMC offers certificate, bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees both on campus and online. Nebraska Methodist College is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Thousands of elementary students from across the U.S. will travel virtually to Washingtons Penrose Point and Lime Kiln Point state parks in May to see orcas and other aquatic life in their natural habitats through Journey to the Parks, a series of high-tech distance learning experiences.

The free, interactive events, funded by the Washington Parks Foundation, facilitated by Inspired Classroom and provided by the experts at Killer Whale Tales and Harbor WildWatch will leverage a state-of-the-art satellite-based mobile classroom from GCI, Alaskas largest telecom, to connect students with wildlife and experts. The Penrose Point experience will be held May 9-11, with the Lime Kiln Point experience held May 15-17.

To virtually transport students from across the country to remote state parks in Washington, strong, reliable broadband connectivity is key said Dr. Pam Lloyd, vice president of GCI Education and Healthcare. Our mobile classroom gives students the opportunity to visit far-away places theyd never experience otherwise. Its exciting to see technology and education come together to offer students a one-of-a-kind learning experience.

In addition to GCI, technology partners Polycom and VisionNet will empower classrooms to connect remotely to the events.

Participating classrooms will get to see biologists hard at work, take virtual park tours and learn about orca identification and research including: the specific criteria that whale researchers use to identify whales; and why tracking whales is an important part of whale research.

Students will also participate in a hands-on/minds-on activity where they will experience what it is like to communicate using only sound. During the event at Penrose Point State Park, students will take a close look at marine invertebrate using a virtual microscope. Naturalists and Marine Biologists will discuss the shoreline ecosystem near the park.

Our intention is to expand this educational service by utilizing the signature experience of state parks as learning platforms and, as a result, bring state parks within reach of a wider range of children and families, said John Floberg, executive director of Washington State Parks Foundation.

Classrooms interested in participating in can register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbQBbGGrJXdfKs3jQpLPn3yXfh3A9NB7ivJVHo7f691U7zwQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Inspired Classroom, an interactive distance learning company, will record the content and provide it to classrooms around the globe.

About GCI

GCI is the largest communications provider in Alaska, providing data, wireless, video, voice, and managed services to consumer and business customers throughout the nation. Headquartered in Alaska, GCI has delivered services for nearly 40 years to some of the most remote communities and in some of the most challenging conditions in North America. Learn more about GCI at http://www.gci.com.

Media Contact

Heather Handyside

GCI 907-301-3481

hhandyside(at)gci(dot)com
Perky Jerky, a leading next generation premium meat snacks brand, is launching a new line of 100 percent grass-fed beef sticks in the same bold flavors that make the brands jerky offerings a favorite amongst athletes, outdoor lifestyle enthusiasts and millennials alike. As the meat snack category continues to grow in popularity, Perky Jerky has entered the market with a unique product offering. Filling the void for all-natural meat stick products, Perky Jerky now offers a premium option for consumers that also successfully delivers on taste.

The Perky Jerky stick line is the perfect on-the-go snack for millennials  an important demographic that currently serves as the national driver behind snack sales. Studies have shown that 76 percent of meat snack purchases are made by millennials, who prefer to eat small meals or snacks throughout the day. As millennial consumers are drawn to snacks containing simple, clean ingredients, Perky Jerkys products align perfectly as a snack option that doesnt just taste better, but is actually better for you. Made from 100 percent grass-fed beef, Perky Jerkys sticks are 59 percent lower in fat and 36 percent lower in sodium than other options on the market.

Consumers look for convenient snacks that will fuel their bodies throughout the day without compromising their health, said Brian Levin, CEO and Founder of Perky Jerky. Our new 100 percent grass-fed beef stick product line is all about bringing consumers a product that they can feel confident about eating and also feel good about giving their children to eat. Were excited to offer beef sticks in our signature jerky flavors with clean ingredient lists, providing customers with a new and convenient meat stick in a class of its own."

Since 2009, Levin has positioned Perky Jerky as an upscale product that has a taste and texture thats delightfully unexpected. With a 36 percent increase in consumption of the brands traditional beef and turkey jerky options over the past year, the beef sticks launch is expected to draw incremental consumers to this segment as a healthier option for consumers on the go. With 94 percent of Americans choosing to snack at least once a day and 33 percent reaching for healthier snacks, Perky Jerky has gained a loyal fan base because of the practicality of protein-packed snacks.

"We saw an opportunity to create grass-fed beef sticks that can pack in bold flavor and still deliver on healthful attributes," said Levin. "Were helping evolve the stick form so theyre perceived in a more positive light.

Perky Jerkys 100-percent grass-fed beef sticks are available in the following flavors: More than Just Original, Tasty Teriyaki, Brewmasters Pale Ale and Jammin Jamaican. The sticks are available for purchase now at perkyjerky.com and Amazon, with distribution at additional retailers starting this month for $1.99 - $2.29 per stick.

Perky Jerky can be found online at perkyjerky.com. For details on the product guarantee, please visit perkyjerky.com/guarantee.

ABOUT PERKY JERKY

Perky Jerky, the Best Tasting Jerky on Earth, is widely known for its bold flavors, unique tender texture and healthy nutritional perks. Distribution in the U.S. exceeds 40,000 locations nationwide and includes retailers such as Whole Foods, Kroger, Target, Wal-Mart, Costco,The Home Depot, CVS, and many others. For more information, visit http://www.perkyjerky.com or follow @PerkyJerky on Twitter for new product releases and deals.
Carii, the award-winning collaboration and communication platform, announced today that it is now offering branded digital ecosystems for creating complex networks of internal and external communities with integrated functionality for communication, collaboration and content.

Organizations use Cariis community building platform to increase ROI and deepen their relationships with members, partners and customers, said Denise Hayman-Loa, CEO, Carii. Digital communication is still a fragmented process with organizations cobbling together multiple silo-ed platforms, such as email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, WebEx, Slack and others. With many of those tools, trust is an issue as organizations dont own or control their data, and most importantly, their relationships.

Added Mary Wardley, Program Vice President, Loyalty and Customer Care, IDC: According to IDC's 2017 Loyalty Marketing and Advocacy Marketing Barometer Survey conducted in February 2017, 'communities' was reported to be the #1 marketing tactic currently used among marketing professionals surveyed as part of their loyalty marketing efforts.

In its latest video (https://youtu.be/S9ND8UnXl9s), Carii demonstrates the power of its platform to help grow these proprietary online communities. Added Gabriel Gheorghui, Founder, Questions Consulting, "What I liked about Carii is not only the fact that they get collaboration and community management, but also their openness to demonstrate the solution in an authentic and transparent manner. Carii provides robust functionality and sound business logic, which make the platform a good alternative to the main players in the collaboration software market.

Nurture Connections

Carii makes managing communication more efficient and streamlined and is engineered to make sharing, chatting, and collaborating as easy as opening the app on your smartphone. And now, Cariis most popular product is available in a white label version that can be fully branded for an organization with its own URL, providing data ownership in a private, secure environment.

We are getting a lot of feedback from businesses that they want more control over their online relationships, and having their own branded platform solution provides them with the ability to maintain their own brand, added Hayman-Loa. The Carii model is also effective for franchises, and we are starting to focus on that market as well.

With the increase in demand for branded, targeted communities, Carii goes beyond traditional CRM with a broader set of features.

Carii continues to defy categories by demonstrating marketplace leadership among its competitors in the mobile and collaboration space, said Richard Bohn, President, Sell More Now. Carii is a true innovator, delivering the next generation of collaboration and community, and by providing its customers with a superior multidimensional platform.

The ability to easily customize a unique end to end solution for a business or organization is one of Cariis key features.

Our experience is that you cant fit everyone in one box, continued Hayman-Loa. We can walk into a business and look at whether it requires additional features, a custom look and targeted advertising. We ask what is going to engage their audience most effectively and then rapidly create a unique branded solution for them, leveraging our platform technology.

Accelerate Business

Carii is the first end to end digital platform for creating branded connected communities and deepening engagement and relationships - on both web and mobile apps. Carii's clients enjoy a complete digital eco-system, facilitating social and chat style communications -- one to one, private groups, community to community, communities to multiple communities, public or private.

We understand that brand strategy has evolved significantly over the last several years, said Carii Executive Chairman, Chris Davino. The marketing funnel that existed since the advent of radio and TV has been inverted. Brands of every type are now prioritizing engaging with their core consumer or audience. And people across all demographics are demanding a different form of relationship with the brands they follow or admire. They want to participate back. They are demanding engagement. Carii is the only platform in the market that facilitates the creation of a dynamic, branded digital ecosystem around a company and its audience, creating an ever growing cauldron of connectedness and engagement.

Using Carii, we will have a robust, game-changing solution to connect our community so that they can learn and collaborate together, said Angela Maiers, Founder, Choose2Matter. Carii will allow us to create meaningful connections with people all over the world that share a common belief or purpose in a secure and private environment.

Modern Femme Movement, a global educator to professional women and female entrepreneurs, previously struggled to organize internal team dialogues and consistently engage community members in an environment that fueled collaboration and active learning.

"Discovering Carii was a dream come true for the functional scalability of our business. With Carii, we can now eliminate the frustration and confusion our community was experiencing by providing an integrated platform that meets all of their needs seamlessly - no more hopping from the website to the mobile app to Facebook to Slack and back again. We now have an elegant solution that is driving growth and success for our members, partners and industry peers," said Katy Blevins, Co-Founder and CEO, ModernFemme.

Carii's compelling benefits for CapStack West, which is a private social community portal providing companies access to a variety of financial options, were speed to market and flexibility of customization, said Ken Hubbard, Founder & CEO.

Industry Accolades

Carii recently received an AOTMP Mobility Award at the 2017 International CES trade show in Las Vegas. Carii was selected as a winner for the Director's Award category, along with tech titans Microsoft and Apple. Carii has gathered other accolades, including Aragon Research Hot Vendor in Social Collaboration and Work, V3 Technology Awards 2016 Finalist for Best Mobile App for Business, and Compass Intelligence CES 2016 Innovative Application of the Year.

About Carii

Founded in 2013, award-winning Carii connects communities and leverages collaboration to create a completely new, mobile-enabled sharing platform that nurtures connections and accelerates business. Reach your customers, your fans, your partners, your team and gather them together in to a trusted, vibrant community. Located in Philadelphia with offices in Indonesia, Carii is in the new heart of the networking community. Please join the Carii conversation at http://www.carii.com.

PR Contact:

Brenda Christensen

Stellar Public Relations

brenda.christensen(at)stellar-pr(dot)com

818.307.9942
A helpful and focused book about NNN 1031 passive investment properties is published today on Amazon. It is available in eBook and paperback formats.

Today the new book about NNN (or Triple Net Passive Income Properties) launches on Amazon, written by Kathy Heshelow. It is available in both Kindle eBook and paperback.

Heshelow has 17 years of experience in this specialized investment niche, and shares her knowledge.

"These properties are quite favored by investors in the know," says Heshelow, "and often go hand in hand with a 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange. I explain the mechanics of the 1031 as well as acquiring NNN properties."

Heshelow is giving away an audio download explaining triple net deals as well as a worksheet on the taxes. See the inside cover of the eBook for information.

Many want passive income and diversification today. These types of investments can be a good fit for many investors, since there is no active management, yet the leases are long-term and the tenants can be corporations with strength like Walgreens, Advance Auto, McDonald's or Starbucks.

ABOUT: Heshelow is founder, broker and president of Legacy NNN Real Estate & Investments, acting as a Buyer's Broker and guide for purchasers. She is an Amazon Best Selling author of numerous books as well.
It is through NACHAs varied programs, coupled with our steadfast support for inclusive engagement and collaborative self-governance, that we are seeing customer service enhancements and evolution on every level in this vibrant payments industry.

NACHAThe Electronic Payments Association President and CEO, Janet O. Estep, provided the roadmap for Innovating to Enhance the Customer Experience today in a keynote address during the opening session of PAYMENTS 2017. The conference, which is the definitive destination for faster payments education, is being held now through April 26 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.

It is through NACHAs varied programs, coupled with our steadfast support for inclusive engagement and collaborative self-governance, that we are seeing customer service enhancements and evolution on every level in this vibrant payments industry. At this event, we are here to not only talk about friction and risk  but all of us here at Faster PAYMENTS are also here to cheer payments successes, so others can learn from them, she told a PAYMENTS audience of 2,300 attendees.

During her speech, Estep provided an update on the payments industry, and new payments solutions, including Same Day ACH; discussed how NACHA is working with the industry to address pain points with the help of APIs; and highlighted new NACHA programs, including the launch of NACHA Certified for Third-Party Senders and the new Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP) program for individuals focused on managing payments risk.

Estep also touched on what is becoming a very familiar theme for anyone in the payments industry: the continued robust volume growth of ACH transactions.



Last year saw four consecutive quarters of more than 5 billion electronic payments and a 5.4 percent growth rate in ACH transactions over 2015. That translates into more than 25 billion ACH payments with a value of $43 trillion.

2016s upward trend for ACH transactions also has carried over into 2017. With more than 5 billion transactions, first quarter ACH volume has increased by nearly 7 percent over the same quarter last year.

As overall ACH volume continues to grow, so does the adoption and implementation of Same Day ACH. This faster payment solution saw more than 13 million payments totaling more than $17 billion in the first quarter of 2017 . These numbers represent a 13.6 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2016.

The ability to provide faster payments and enhance the customer service experience contributed in large part to the successful launch of Same Day ACH for credits and is just one of the reasons NACHA is excited about the potential of Same Day ACH for debits, which will be introduced in September.

Esteps full remarks are available on NACHA.org.

Follow NACHA on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. The conference hashtag is #PAYMENTS2017.

About PAYMENTS 2017

PAYMENTS 2017, the definitive destination for faster payments, is taking place April 23-26 at the Austin Convention Center in Texas. The conference is a proven, well-respected, and powerful event that provides attendees with the latest research, insights, trends and forecasts to support and drive payments innovation. This year, NACHA introduces the Faster Payments Experience, a consummate educational opportunity encompassing sessions and solutions that focus on real-time, same-day and other faster payments initiatives. Additional content is organized along five tracks  ACH; Risk & Compliance; Trending Now; Corporate & End-User Perspectives; and Payments Evolution  to address the topics of today that are impacting the payments space. The conference also offers a dynamic Exhibit Hall featuring top products and services shaping the future of payments. To learn more about PAYMENTS, visit payments.nacha.org. Next years conference will be held April 29-May 2, 2018, in San Diego, California.

NACHAThe Electronic Payments Association

Since 1974, NACHAThe Electronic Payments Association has served as trustee of the ACH Network, managing the development, administration and rules for the payment network that universally connects all 12,000 financial institutions in the U.S by moving money and information directly from one bank account to another. Financial institutions exchange 25 billion ACH payments valued at $43 trillion annually. Through its collaborative, self-governing model, education, and inclusive engagement of ACH Network participants, NACHA facilitates the expansion and diversification of electronic payments, supporting Direct Deposit and Direct Payment via ACH transactions, including ACH credit and debit payments, recurring and one-time payments; government, consumer and business transactions; international payments, and payments plus payment-related information. Through NACHAs expertise and leadership, the ACH Network is now one of the largest, safest, and most reliable systems in the world, creating value and enabling innovation for all participants. Visit nacha.org for more information.
Example of the new wordless safety label format option allowed by ISO 3864-2:2016. (Label design Clarion Safety Systems. All rights reserved.) Its important to be aware that the changes made in ISO 3864-2 are significant. They open up new format possibilities that can help companies to better warn their product users about potential hazards associated with their products. Past News Releases RSS Interview with Clarion Safety...

Clarion Safety Systems Expands...

Clarion Safety Systems Launches...

Clarion Safety Systems, a leading designer and manufacturer of safety signs and safety labels, has been featured in the latest issue of In Compliance Magazine, a leading resource for electrical engineering professionals.

In Compliance delivers the latest news, standards updates, technical explanations and guidance, as an aid for engineers to turn to for education, information and inspiration. Clarion Safety Systems provides insight for the magazines On Your Mark series. On Your Mark is a regular column that readers have enjoyed for six years running, discussing the best practices and cutting-edge trends in product safety labeling.

The latest column, published in the magazines April 2017 edition, is the second installment in a four-part series. The article shares insight on the latest updates to the ANSI and ISO product safety label standards.

For domestic use, the primary standard for product safety labels is ANSI Z535.4 Standard for Product Safety Signs and Labels. Internationally, its ISO 3864-2 Graphical symbols  Safety Colours and safety signs  Part 2: Design principles for product safety labels. Both of these standards are revised regularly according to ANSI and ISO procedures, typically every five years. The latest revision cycles occurred recently, falling in late 2016 and early 2017, respectively.

Clarion is an active member of both the ANSI and ISO standards committees. The companys CEO, Geoffrey Peckham, is chair of the ANSI Z535 Committee for Safety Signs and Colors and of ANSIs U.S. TAG to the ISO standards committee responsible for safety signs, labels, colors and symbols (ISO/TC 145). ISO/TC 145 is responsible for writing and revising ISO 3864-2. In the article, Angela Lambert, Clarions Director of Standards Compliance, explains the latest changes to the ANSI and ISO standards, and the implications for product manufacturers and their labeling.

Your legal obligation as a product manufacturer is to meet or exceed the current versions of standards related to your products when theyre placed into commerce. Using the principal product safety label standards  ANSI Z535.4 and ISO 3864-2  for the design and layout of your labels is key to fulfilling that requirement. Legally, when a standard is revised, your duty to warn in the U.S. obligates you to making sure your labels are still in compliance with the latest updated standard, says Lambert.

ANSI Z535.4 is in the process of being balloted for reaffirmation without changes. If that occurs, the new version will be identical to the 2011 standard. The revised ISO 3864-2 standard was published in December 2016 and it includes several significant changes to the label formats it allows.

As part of Clarions standards role, Lambert attended the ISO/TC 145 standards meeting in Berlin in fall 2016 when the final version of the new ISO 3864-2 standard was affirmed for publication after several years of revision work.

The revised standard includes two major changes to ISO label formats: 1) the safety label format that used a single safety symbol without an ISO-colored surround shape was removed from the standard and 2) a new wordless format that conveys risk severity was added to the standard.

Its important to be aware that the changes made in ISO 3864-2 are significant. They open up new format possibilities that can help companies to better warn their product users about potential hazards associated with their products, says Lambert.

Because the ISO standard changed, its time to reevaluate your labels to see if they continue to meet your markets requirements, and whether or not the wordless format makes sense for some or all of your labeling. The bottom line is that, as the standards develop, they provide product manufacturers with better tools to meet their safety label program objective of better protecting people from harm.

The full article is available through In Compliance Magazines website. To learn more about the latest developments in product safety labeling, visit Clarions online safety label Learning Center or watch its short, educational videos on Effective Safety Symbols, Signs and Labels and ISO Symbols for Safety Signs and Labels. Clarion also offers safety label assessments, where they work with companies to evaluate their labels, including reviewing the latest OSHA, ANSI and ISO standards.

ABOUT CLARION SAFETY SYSTEMS

Clarion Safety Systems, LLC, is the leading designer and manufacturer of visual safety solutions that help customers in more than 180 industries worldwide to make their products and premises safer. Clarion offers a full range of standard and custom products including machinery safety labels, environmental and facility safety signs, pipe and valve identification markings, lockout/tagout products, and safety-grade photoluminescent egress path-marking escape systems. Founded in 1990, the company continues to play a leading role in the development and writing of international and national standards for safety signs, labels, and markings. Clarion is headquartered at 190 Old Milford Road in Milford, PA, 18337, and online at http://www.clarionsafety.com.
Improper alignment of compensation program design or governance can increase an organizations financial, operational, regulatory and reputational risks, said Andrej Suskavcevic, CAE, President and CEO of FEI and FERF.

Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), the independent, non-profit research affiliate of Financial Executives International (FEI), and Grant Thornton LLP, a leading professional services firm released today The Financial Executive Compensation Report 2017. The report found that senior-level financial executives at public and private companies alike reported consistent trends in the levels and sources of their compensation in 2016, with average salary increases of 4.1 percent, up from 4.0 percent last year.

This years report discusses compensation trends for senior financial leaders and the risk management implications of incentive programs, while also examining the growing recognition of the relationship between compensation programs and organizational risk.

Improper alignment of compensation program design or governance can increase an organizations financial, operational, regulatory and reputational risks, said Andrej Suskavcevic, CAE, President and CEO of Financial Executives International and Financial Executives Research Foundation.

Suskavcevic stresses the importance of properly managing risks in incentive programs. Whether from misaligned incentives prompting inappropriate behavior that exposes a company to financial risk, regulatory concerns or negative publicity, an organizations compensation program can have significant effects on its risk profile.

Its key for organizations to properly incentivize the behaviors theyd like their executives to exhibit, said Ken Troy, a director in Grant Thorntons Human Capital Services practice. An incentive plan can be looked at as a communications plan in that it outlines the expectations and goals an organization has for its executives. If executives are out of alignment with strategy or with common practice, you tend to get behaviors that can lead to risk issues.

The report also found that only half (55 percent) of respondents are satisfied their organizations incentive programs reflect risk considerations appropriately, and nearly two-thirds (61 percent) say their risk management or finance function has not undertaken a comprehensive risk-focused review of their compensation programs.

Other key findings include:



To attract and retain top talent, 33 percent of respondent companies offer sign-on bonuses, with the most common offering a cash bonus, followed by a combination of cash and restricted stock or options.

Forty-four percent of respondent companies indicated that their board of directors makes pay decisions for all senior executives.

The report, based on survey responses from FEI members, examines self-reported salaries, staffing levels, variable pay, benefits and other key compensation-related benchmarks. The report can be found at http://www.ferf.org/reports and http://www.grantthornton.com/feicomp2017.

About Financial Executives Research Foundation, Inc.

Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF) is the non-profit 501(c)(3) research affiliate of Financial Executives International (FEI). FERF researchers identify key financial issues and develop impartial, timely research reports for FEI members and nonmembers alike, in a variety of publication formats. FERF relies primarily on voluntary tax-deductible contributions from corporations and individuals, and publications can be ordered by logging onto http://www.ferf.org/reports.

About FEI

Financial Executives International is the leading advocate for the views of corporate financial management. Its more than 10,000 members hold policy-making positions as chief financial officers, treasurers and controllers at companies from every major industry. FEI enhances member professional development through peer networking, career management services, conferences, research and publications. Members participate in the activities of more than 65 chapters in the U.S. and a chapter in Japan. FEI is located in Morristown, NJ, and Washington, D.C. Visit http://www.financialexecutives.org for more information.

About Grant Thornton LLP

Founded in Chicago in 1924, Grant Thornton LLP (Grant Thornton) is the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd, one of the worlds leading organizations of independent audit, tax and advisory firms. Grant Thornton, which has revenues in excess of $1.6 billion and operates 59 offices, works with a broad range of dynamic publicly and privately held companies, government agencies, financial institutions, and civic and religious organizations.

Grant Thornton refers to Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd (GTIL). GTIL and the member firms are not a worldwide partnership. Services are delivered by the member firms. GTIL and its member firms are not agents of, and do not obligate, one another and are not liable for one anothers acts or omissions. Please see grantthornton.com for further details.
Oliver shooting suspect twice ordered deported from Canada

Lengthy criminal record and can't deport because he will be killed in Iran.. to ****ing bad.. one way ticket.. not our problem.

A man who sparked a wild police chase Saturday in Princeton while wanted for attempted murder has twice been ordered deported from Canada, The Herald has learnedAfshin Maleki Ighani, 45, is due Monday in provincial court in Penticton to face eight charges from an incident last Wednesday in Oliver that left a man with a non-fatal gunshot wound. More charges are expected from events that followed in Princeton.Ighani, who normally resides in Oliver, is no stranger to the Penticton courthouse, where he has appeared many times over the past 14 years on assorted drug, weapons and assault charges that prompted efforts to remove him from the country.He was first ordered deported in 2002 after being convicted of possessing a restricted firearm. Ighani fought that order, however, and was granted a reprieve with strict conditions, including that he not commit any further criminal offences, according to a decision of the appeal division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.That reprieve was revoked in July 2007, according to the same decision, after Ighani was convicted following trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Penticton and sentenced to 42 months in prison for eight offences in connection with a drug bust in Oliver.He wasnt deported that time, though, because he was facing the death penalty in his native Iran, according to a source with knowledge of the matter who is not permitted to speak publicly about it.The federal department responsible for immigration didnt return a request for comment Sunday.On Saturday, Ighani was the subject of a Canada-wide arrest warrant when he was spotted in a vehicle outside a restaurant in Princeton with another man and woman, the RCMP said in a press release.Ighani then allegedly forced the other man out and drove off with the woman against her will, according to police.The other man gave chase on a stolen motorcycle, which was later recovered in Okanagan Falls after it blew through a police road block in Keremeos.Ighani, meanwhile, had gone east towards Manning Park, before turning around and heading back to Princeton.Officers later corralled him in a trailer park and fired shots in an attempt to end the chase. Ighani managed to get away on foot, but was nabbed a short distance away.At the time of his arrest, Ighani was free on bail while awaiting trial this summer in Port Coquitlam on a three-year-old charge of assault causing bodily harm.Last summer, he was acquitted following trial in Penticton on a charge of aggravated assault.The judge in that case ruled Ighani acted in self-defence when he punched another man, who suffered a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage when he fell and hit his head in an Oliver park as a result of the blow.
A Touch Of France In Utah The home uses the highest-quality materials throughout and has touches reminiscent of the Old World

Decaro Auctions International announces that a luxurious French chateau located in Santa Clara, Utah will be offered at auction on-site on May 13, 2017, at 11:00am Mountain Time. Nestled in 16 stunning acres along the river bottoms of Santa Clara at 250 LeGrande Circle, the chateau affords luxury, privacy and elegance.

With four bedrooms, three bathrooms and approximately 8,564 well-appointed square feet of living space, this home offers all of the features that a discerning buyer might want. It has an oversized three-car garage, indoor theater and gorgeous landscaping. The property's resort-style saltwater swimming pool offers a beach entry and is 12 feet deep, allowing plenty of room to swim and to play. The home uses the highest-quality materials throughout and has touches reminiscent of the Old World as evidenced by limestone walls around the property, turrets and landscape features such as waterfalls and a private courtyard. The front door is around 200 years old, and the home offers authentic details inside and out.

Prior to the auction, open house previews will be held beginning on Saturday, April 22 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Additional open houses will be held every Saturday and Sunday from 1:00pm to 4:00pm until the auction. A final open house will be held on the day before the auction - Friday, May 12 - from 1:00pm to 4:00pm The auction will be held on-site on Saturday, May 13 at 11:00am Mountain Time. It is an absolute auction without a reserve.

About Decaro Auctions International: Founded nearly 40 years ago by Daniel DeCaro, the company's president, licensed real estate broker and auctioneer, Decaro Auctions International is one of the biggest and most successful luxury real estate auction companies in the U.S. The company has a strong reputation for integrity, and it was the pioneer of the luxury real estate auction industry. It is headquartered in Naples, Florida, and it handles the auctions of luxury real estate across the U.S. and the world.
Thought For Food & Son, LLC, a leading creative boutique that specializes in the food industry announced today that their turn-key Blogger Recipe Challenges are producing tremendous results for food companies nationwide. Thought For Food & Sons Blogger Recipe Challenges are an excellent way for food companies to introduce consumers to their products, but more importantly, how to use their products in the comfort of their own homes. Thought For Food & Sons Blogger Recipe Challenges enhance food companies existing social media platforms, drive user generated content and create BUZZ of their products and brand across multiple social media platforms.

Thought For Food & Sons Blogger Recipe Challenges are a complete turn-key program where Thought For Food & Son tracks each blogger from start to finish. Each challenge has between 50-75 bloggers competing for prize money by developing original recipes using the participating food companys products. Each blogger recipe must be posted on their blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram platforms. Thought For Food & Son has a proprietary database of over 800 bloggers segmented by topical content of individual blogs. Thought For Food & Son has implemented blogger recipes challenges for leading food companies such as JSL Foods, Cape Cod Select, CFE International, Steviva and Stirrings Cocktail Mixers.

In a 3 month period of time, Thought For Food & Sons Holiday Blogger Recipe Challenge for Cape Cod Select produced enormous amounts of user generated content and BUZZ creating a strong group of brand advocates for Cape Cod Select and its frozen cranberries. The results from the Cape Cod Select Holiday Blogger Recipe Challenge were:



14 Million Impressions

3.9 Million Unique Visitors

207 Total Blog Comments

1,919 Facebook Likes & Shares

7,291 Re-Pins

883 Re-Tweets

20,659 Instagram Likes & 837 Comments

419 Yummly Shares

125 Recipes and Product Photos

Our clients have been extremely excited about our blogger recipe challenges and how successful they have been, said Ethan Casucci, Director of Client Services at Thought For Food & Son. Not only do these programs create an enormous amount of brand awareness and user generated content for our clients products, it also helps with their website SEO.

Thought For Food & Son also offers its clients a range of social media programs that include Blogger Outreach for Product Launches and/or Product Reviews, Twitter Parties, Recipe Videos for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Brand Ambassador Research & Paid Sponsorship Programs and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Daily Maintenance and Paid Advertising.

We are thrilled about our new blogger recipe challenge program and how successful it has been for our clients. We are excited to be taking the lead of using a more in-depth approach and perspective to help increase our clients social media presence and authority. added Casucci.

Thought For Food & Son has worked with such fine companies as Sea Watch International, famous Hollywood actor Paul Sorvino Foods, Fonterra Brands, Cape Cod Select, Bakery On Main, New York Ravioli & Pasta Company, New England Natural Bakers, SuperSeedz, Paesana Italian Products, Northern Wind, 505 Southwestern Sauces & Salsas, Big League Chew, Stirrings Cocktail Mixers, Steviva, JSL Foods, Plockys Fine Snacks and Dells Maraschino Cherries.

About Thought For Food & Son, LLC

Founded in 2005, Thought For Food & Son, LLC is a leading creative boutique that specializes in the food industry. We offer our clients a combination of expertise and value that is unsurpassed within the food industry. Were a communications company without the traditional agency BS. Thought For Food & Son operates as a Strategic Resource for its clients offering public relations, advertising, packaging design, social media, recipe videos and brand development. Our focus is to create communication strategies using our proprietary PR FOOD MEDIA INDEX for clients who believe in powerful thinking. Thinking that demands notice. The kind of thinking that inspires people to take action and enables our clients to grow and prosper. For more information about Thought For Food & Son e-mail alan(at)tffandson.com
On April 25, 2017, Hyundai Motor America and the MIND Research Institute announces that a $300,000 grant has been awarded to the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) schools, that will allow 20 schools to experience the transformative power of ST Math.

As part of Hyundais commitment to better and the ongoing efforts to support STEM education, Hyundai has invested over $2.0 million since 2011 in its efforts to improve academic success in STEM fields by funding this math program at schools nationwide. With this latest donation to Oakland Unified School District, the program will allow for more than 20 additional K-6 schools to join the program. OUSD joins Hyundai funded schools in East Los Angeles, CA, Fountain Valley, CA, New York City, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Pinellas, FL, Spring, TX and Washington, D.C. as part of the ST Math Initiative.

The Hyundai ST Math Initiative (Hyundai Math Labs) was launched in 2011 in partnership with The MIND Research Institute, a leading educational resource organization. It brings the research-proven ST Math program developed by MIND to thousands of students across the country. The goal of the Hyundai effort is to help increase math proficiency and educational outcomes. Research shows that early math skill proficiency is proven to be a leading predictor of later academic success.

The Hyundai-Mind ST Math Initiative provides students with a stimulating and different approach to education to cultivate a deeper and more personalized learning. Academic advancement, particularly in the STEM fields is of critical importance in todays economy and were pleased to continue to offer this proven program to students that will greatly benefit from it. At Hyundai, our vision is to be a better company. Better with our products and services, better with our employees, better for our customers, and better in helping society, says Jerry Flannery, President and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. This act of better supports students in society through this innovative program to ensure all students are prepared for success.

The Hyundai ST Math Initiative is led by an advisory board made up of Hyundai and MIND executives. STEM education is part of Hyundais larger CSR strategy, which consists of four pillars: childrens health (pediatric cancer), education, volunteerism and arts & culture.

To follow the success of Hyundais ST Math Initiative, visit http://www.mindresearch.org/hyundailovesjiji.

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through 835 dealerships nationwide. All new Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program, which includes a 5-year/60,000-mile fully-transferable new vehicle limited warranty, Hyundais 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty and five years of complimentary Roadside Assistance.

For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit http://www.HyundaiAssurance.com

Please visit our media website at http://www.hyundainews.com

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook

About MIND Research Institute

MIND Research Institute is a neuroscience and education social benefit organization, dedicated to ensuring that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the worlds most challenging problems. MIND's distinctive visual approach to math and problem-solving is the basis of its innovative, research-proven ST Math programs for elementary and secondary schools. The visually-based ST Math program has been shown to double or triple schools growth rates in math proficiency. MIND's programs currently reach 1,038,421 students and 44,342 teachers in 3,281 schools in 45 states. For more information, visit http://www.mindresearch.org.

Connect with MIND Research Institute on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+.

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Carnegie Council Pacific Delegates to Indonesia, October 2017 Amid growing Islamophobia and populism in Europe and the U.S, a more complete picture of Islam is crucial, and Indonesia can serve as an ideal case study to provide such a broader view.

In October 2017, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is conducting a fact-finding trip to Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Led by Senior Fellow Devin Stewart, director of the Asia Dialogues program, the purpose of the trip is to investigate religion and tolerance.

As the largest Muslim nation, Indonesia has the potential to shape the way the world's fastest growing and most contentious religion is perceived worldwide. While Indonesia has decided not to join the Saudi-led military alliance against terrorism, Indonesian Muslims are adding their own voice to the global, multifaceted narrative by promoting peace and tolerance via the activities of Nahdatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization. Nahdatul Ulama was founded as a counterforce to Wahhabism, which has been promoted in Java by Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Islam has been called a possible "counter-narrative" to radical Islam, and President Joko Widodo has spoken of the aspiration that Indonesia serve as a "leading light" in the Islamic world. Amid growing Islamophobia and populism in Europe and the United States, a more complete picture of Islam is crucial, and Indonesia can serve as an ideal case study to provide such a broader view.

Drawn from a variety of professional, regional, and academic backgrounds, the group of Pacific Delegates selected to join this trip are as follows:

Gullnaz Baig (Singapore) is a Ph.D. candidate in international history at the London School of Economics. She was formerly a senior policy analyst in Singapore.

Philip Caruso (U.S.) is a candidate for JD and MBA degrees at Harvard University, where he is a Tillman Scholar. He serves as the secretary of The COMMIT Foundation, a non-profit organization helping veterans transition from military service, and is a member of the Truman National Security Project.

Daniil Davydof (U.S.) is manager of global security intelligence at AT-RISK International and director of social media for the World Affairs Council of Palm Beach.

Darlene Machell de Leon Espena (Philippines) received her Ph.D. in history from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and specializes in Southeast Asian films, politics, and history.

Alicia Izharuddin (Malaysia) is a senior lecturer in gender studies at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Yukari Kayama (Japan) is an associate at the Mitsubishi Corporation, engaging in the investment of electric power projects in Latin America.

Jiyoung Kim (South Korea) is a research associate at University of California, San Diego focusing on evidence-driven development policy in developing countries.

Nyi Nyi Kyaw (Myanmar) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore.

Carolyn Nash (U.S.) is the founder and executive director of the Myanmar Center for Civic Leadership, a non-profit dedicated to supporting the next generation of community and political leaders in Myanmar.

Tammy Nguyen (U.S.) is a multimedia artist working with geopolitics, science, and less-known histories. She is an artist-in-residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Process Space program and teaches art at the Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn.

Ronnie Saha (U.S.) is a management consultant in Deloitte's Strategic Risk practice, where he helps organizations spot, assess, and manage the impacts of disruptive innovation, macroeconomic trends, and geopolitical shifts on their corporate strategies.

Nazneen Uddin (U.S.) is a family medicine physician in California's Bay Area. She is passionate about refugee health and volunteers her time with medical trips aiding Syrian refugees.

ABOUT CARNEGIE COUNCIL

Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1914, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an educational, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that produces lectures, publications, and multimedia materials on the ethical challenges of living in a globalized world. Go to http://www.carnegiecouncil.org.
We are living in a connected world and employees expect information and services to be delivered on demand in a mobile-friendly format, said Jeff Torczon CEO & founder at Infinity Software Solutions.

InfinityHR, a leading provider of cloud-based HCM solutions, today announced the release of the InfinityHR mobile app, an extension of the popular HCM platform that allows employees on the go to access human resource information they need wherever they are. The InfinityHR mobile app is available for download in the Apple App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Shop for Android devices.

InfinityHR is a cloud-based, HCM system spanning the entire employee life cycle  giving human resource execs and admins everything they need in one, convenient place. InfinityHR is designed for businesses of all sizes to manage, maintain, communicate, and automate HR processes including applicant tracking, benefits management, time and labor management, performance management, time off tracking, workflow management and payroll.

We are living in a connected world and employees expect information and services to be delivered on demand in a mobile-friendly format, said Jeff Torczon CEO & founder at Infinity Software Solutions. HR departments and businesses focused on delivering innovative HCM, must meet their employees in the mobile space to stay relevant. Launching our mobile app allows our clients to connect and engage with their employees on the go.

Mobile technology is disrupting the HR market. Look around wherever you are, and youre likely to see people glued to their smartphones. In fact, your phone is probably sitting on your desk or in your pocket right now. Human resources is no exception as the workforce is already turning to mobile solutions.

The modern employee expects that core workplace functions are accessible through mobile technology, said Jacob Coulter, Product Manager at Infinity Software Solutions. This release not only meets that need but allows us to be creative in the solutions we continue to deliver to our diverse customer base.

InfinityHR is taking advantage of this tremendous opportunity to connect and engage through mobile technology. The InfinityHR mobile app gives employees access to Time and Labor Management, Benefit Management, and Employee Self Service functionality. The mobile app, ensures you always have the most up to date information wherever you are.

InfinityHR mobile app  HR Where you are.

Time and Labor Management  Request time off and view your PTO summary directly from the mobile app. Employees on the go now have the convenience of clocking in and out through the app and managers have the visibility to review time cards.

Benefit Management  Employees can review their benefit statements and download PDF statements.

Employee Self Service  The employee directory offers the convenience of searching for employees by name, department, or position from wherever you are with ease. Phone numbers and emails are linked within the search results to pull up email or call functions on the users phone when tapped. The mobile app also makes it easy to view and download your latest paycheck stub details.

About Infinity Software Solutions, Inc.

InfinityHR is the flagship product of Infinity Software Solutions, Inc., demonstrating the companys ability to combine strong technological expertise and years of HR and Payroll experience into the best software currently on the market.

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Infinity Software Solutions, Inc. earns the loyalty of its customers by providing the most complete and affordable web-based solution for HR process management and payroll.

For more information on Infinity Software Solutions and InfinityHR, visit http://www.infinity-ss.com or call 1-866-TRY-HRMS (1-866-879-4767). Follow Infinity Software Solutions on Twitter: @InfinityHR1 and on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/infinityhr.
Clear Logo "[In CPG], an estimated $108 billion of category value is at risk from insurgent brands in the US alone." - Ruth Ingrum, Sr. Director of CPG, Clear US

A recent study from Clear M&C Saatchi found that brand loyalty isnt what it once was. In extensive interviews with over 2,500 consumers in 2 countries, focusing on 19 categories and 200 brands, Clear found that 86% of US consumers (83% in the UK) seek out brands based on their attributes rather than their status  regardless of category. This is approximately a 15% (11% in the UK) increase over the last 6 years.

The report details how insurgent brands are disrrupting markets and putting even the most established brands at risk for losing a significant share of their consumer base.

Clear US Managing Director, Michael Weber, said, Grow or die is no longer a mantra thrown around by organizations, its a reality. Category disruption is an everyday occurrence, in many cases due to more artisanal, local, and craft brands. Now, more than ever, large, global brands facing consumer-led challenges must have a clear strategy to recognize vulnerability and use it to their advantage.

The overall study helps big brands in every category view their level of risk from insurgent brands. For instance, Clears report values the chocolate industry to be at risk of losing $8.8 billion in the US and 3.3 billion in the UK, to these small, more nimble brands, to cite one example.

In the rapidly fragmenting world of consumer goods, how can big retain its appeal? By isolating categories most vulnerable to disruption from insurgents, this report helps identify tools that category giants have at their disposal to fight back. With an estimated $108 billion of category value at risk from insurgent brands in the US alone, category Giants can no longer be passive when it comes to on-going relevance in the eyes of their consumers, said Ruth Ingram, Senior Director of CPG, Clear US.

Highlights of the report can be found in two articles on the Clear blog (https://www.clearstrategy.com/thinking), and a free copy of the detailed study can be obtained by contacting Clear.
I am very excited that they are creating a new business unit that is focused on their core strengths which is in integrating different parts of the CX - Mark Moseley, Vice-President of IT, Rosetta Stone

Lister Technologies has reached a milestone this April, celebrating 15 years of business of supporting Digital Marketing. The company has grown from the dreams of founder/CEO, Gopal, to a global services provider with over 300 employees. As part of its growth strategy, the company also announced that it has organized its Customer Experience (CX) business practice into its own business unit, Lister Digital (http://www.listerdigital.com) under the leadership of current President Ashok Rajan.

It gives me immense pride in joining Lister employees, clients and business partners in celebrating the companys 15th anniversary of supporting Digital Marketing & Commerce and the formation of Lister Digital. We have come a long way since our first digital client in 2002 and are very excited about our future, said Gopal. There has been significant growth at Lister Technologies originating from the CX practice with offerings spanning marketing, e-commerce, service and sales. Placing technology, services and staff under a single entity, Lister Digital, will enable a pure focus on solving for the complexity and platform fragmentation that exists in todays world of CX. Lister Digitals strategic partners include Oracle, Big Commerce and Salesforce.com.

Lister has been a valued partner of Rosetta Stone since 2007 driving global transformational programs across various technology stacks, said Mark Moseley, Vice-President of IT, Rosetta Stone. I am very excited that they are creating a new business unit that is focused on their core strengths which is in integrating different parts of the CX (e-Commerce, Digital Marketing and Services Cloud). Rosetta Stone has been in the forefront of this unified CX vision and Lister continues to be a key collaborator to make this a reality. Rosetta Stone looks forward to continue to leverage Lister in enhancing our core marketing, sales and product engagement strategy.

Relevant Customer Experience (CX) holds great promise for organizations looking for competitive advantage, and Lister Digital is committed to support the realization of such promise. Our goal within each of our practice areas is to accelerate and heighten our clients current CX investments  both directly and in support of our strategic partners, said Ashok Rajan, President of Lister Digital.

Ajit Sivadasan, VP/GM Global e-Commerce, Lenovo, said, We have been working with Lister for over a year and brought them in to help us with challenges we were facing with email marketing campaigns. Lister has helped optimize and standardize processes, implemented best practices and progressively automated our marketing campaigns. Thanks to their efforts and initiatives, we have been able to shift focus from managing campaign execution to driving campaign effectiveness. This has given us the confidence to engage Lister to help us with building out a more comprehensive and integrated approach to email marketing and making email a key marketing channel for growth in online revenue.

About Lister Technologies

Lister Technologies (http://www.listertechnologies.com) is a global technology services provider enabling customers to make their enterprises adaptable, integral and efficient. The company also has service offerings that include Application Engineering and KPO including Revenue Cycle Management and E-Publishing.

Lister Technologies is headquartered in Chennai, IN

About Lister Digital

Lister Digital (http://www.listerdigital.com) is a CX Consulting and Solutions provider with Digital Marketing, e-Commerce and CRM practice areas. The company is uniquely positioned to help organizations cut through the clutter of marketing noise and tools and connect the dots between Strategy, Technology and Execution in an intelligent, practical and hands on manner.

Lister Digital is headquartered in the SF Bay Area with additional offices in Seattle and Chennai.
By adding connectivity to our wide range of hardware, virtual and Cloud devices, we are expanding our reach and solutions offering for both our clients and reseller network.

Elfiq Networks, leader in link balancing and bandwidth optimization solutions, and SD-WAN pioneer, has announced a new strategic partnership with Utah-based sales agency Telarus to add connectivity to its current SDWAN portfolio.

This is exactly the type of technology partnerships that Elfiq Networks has been looking for, said Robert Vincent, CEO of Elfiq Networks. By adding connectivity to our wide range of hardware, virtual and Cloud devices, we are expanding our reach and solutions offering for both our clients and reseller network.

Elfiq Networks returns from Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, where the company announced new SD-WAN centric features for both clients and channel partners.

Elfiq Networks has been offering multiple link management and APIs since as early as 2004, and Hybrid WAN compatibility since the early 2010s, said Frederick Parent, CTO at Elfiq Networks. With this new partnership with Telarus, were now able to build a full-encompassing offer to our clients -- equipment, links and monitoring included, all the while offering a great Return on Investment.

With increases in bandwidth demands and the growing popularity of SD-WAN, a market predicted to reach USD 9 billion by 2021, organizations are increasingly complementing  or even replacing  costly MPLS circuits with alternate and affordable links.

Telarus has a game plan to help partners see what others cant, said Patrick Oborn, Telarus co-founder. The tools and suppliers we offer partners help them differentiate themselves from their competitors. We are excited about partnering with Elfiq Networks to solidify our commitment to delivering the highest level of service. Its a team effort to provide exceptional products for our customers.

Elfiq Networks is currently expanding its SDWAN offering and developing new technology partnerships around the world to provide clients with a robust and scalable model to modernize their network infrastructure.

About Elfiq Networks

Elfiq Networks (Elfiq Inc.) enhances network performance and business continuity through innovative link balancing, cloud computing and bandwidth management technologies. Using Elfiq Networks Link Balancers, companies can leverage simultaneous ISPs, mix public and private links for added flexibility, seamless failover, increased throughput and smarter WAN path selection. Every day, local and global organizations of all sizes and verticals rely on Elfiq Networks Link Balancers and advanced network solutions. For more information, visit http://www.elfiq.com/SDWAN.

About Telarus

Telarus is a technology services master agent who holds contracts with over 80 data, voice, and cloud providers. To help our partners See What Others Cant, we have created a set of tools to help them win more business. We are proud to offer our partners performance monitoring of all circuits ordered, patented pricing tools aide in carrier selection/optimization and cloud engineers to aid partners in complex network design. Our project management team ensures the services ordered are turned up properly. Account management to allow partners to focus on selling while our team manages the renewal process and upsells on their behalf. Telarus was voted the best master agent by the members of the Telecom Association for over five years in a row and is a top three channel partner for nearly all providers it represents. For more information on the Telarus partner program, please visit http://www.telarus.com/partners or call 877-346-3232.
We look forward to the unique perspective Mr. Chertoff will provide regarding the growth of cyber security within the government and corporate environments."

The Honorable Michael Chertoff, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary and Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of the Chertoff Group, will deliver the keynote speech at the 2017 Cyber Investing Summit Tuesday, May 23rd at the New York Stock Exchange.

The Cyber Investing Summit is an all-day conference focused on the investment opportunities and strategies in the cyber security industry. Panels will be offered throughout the day highlighting publicly traded firms and privately owned entities. Speakers include prominent cyber security professionals, venture capitalists, private equity managers, chief information security officers, technology analysts, and government experts.

As Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009 under President George W. Bush, Mr. Chertoff spearheaded a national cyber security strategy, developed and implemented border security and immigration policy, and promoted homeland security regulations. He also transformed FEMA into an effective organization following Hurricane Katrina.

At the Chertoff Group, Mr. Chertoff provides high-level strategic counsel to corporate and government leaders on a broad range of security issues, from risk identification and prevention to preparedness, response and recovery.

Michael Chertoffs vast national experience along with his current role advising companies and government officials on cyber security risk management makes him an excellent fit to deliver the Cyber Investing Summit keynote address, said Cyber Investing Summit Co-Founder Lindsey Lachman. We look forward to the unique perspective Mr. Chertoff will provide regarding the growth of cyber security within the government and corporate environments.

Before heading up the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Chertoff served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Prior to that, Mr. Chertoff served as a federal prosecutor investigating and prosecuting cases of political corruption, organized crime, corporate fraud and terrorism.

Mr. Chertoff is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. From 1979 to 1980 he served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, Jr. In addition to his role at The Chertoff Group, Mr. Chertoff is also senior of counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, and a member of the firms White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group.

About the Cyber Investing Summit

The Cyber Investing Summit is an all-day conference focusing on the financial opportunities and trends in the rapidly growing cyber security industry. Panels will explore investment strategies, market forecasts, merger and acquisition potential, fallout from high profile security breaches, expectations for new presidential cyber security policies, seeding for startups, and more. Immediately following the panels, a cocktail reception will be held on the floor of the iconic New York Stock Exchange.

Additional information regarding the Cyber Investing Summit can be found at http://www.cyberinvestingsummit.com.

About the Chertoff Group

The Chertoff Group is a premier global advisory firm focused on security and risk management. The Chertoff Group helps clients grow and secure their enterprise through risk management, business strategy, and merchant banking advisory services. The Chertoff Group, and its investment banking subsidiary Chertoff Capital, have advised on multiple M&A transactions totaling nearly $7 billion in deal value. Headquartered in Washington D.C., the Firm maintains offices in Menlo Park and New York.

For more information about The Chertoff Group, visit http://www.chertoffgroup.com.
National Roofing Partners new home page We are committed to providing a technology level experience for our customers.

National Roofing Partners (NRP), the leading network of commercial roofing contractors in North America, is proud to announce the launch of their new mobile enhanced website. Offering ease of use for customers to find roofing information along with customer portals, the new site continues NRPs focus on technology efficiency for the contractor network and national customers alike.

The site provides an excellent user experience making it easy for customers to find valuable information including roofing terminologies and NRP customer service while also offering a customer portal with 24/7 access for facility managers, purchasing agents and all levels within national account facility management teams. The site also features an industry leading blog and podcasts sharing ongoing education for the building envelope space and overall trends.

We are committed to providing a technology level experience for our customers, stated Dale Tyler, president of National Roofing Partners. Our network of tier one contractors provides the best roofing services in the industry. At the NRP home office, it is our job to connect leading national corporations with these top tier contractors by utilizing technology that makes it seamless. We continue to focus on that experience understanding that the roofing the NRP network supplies is the best available.

For NRP customers, the portals accessed through the website offer a 24/7 glimpse onto the roof with imagery, inspections, work orders and budgeting features. The portals also provide around the clock service support making emergency calls as easy as clicking a button. Additional information on the use of portals for roofing services is available at http://www.nationalroofingpartners.com.

About National Roofing Partners

National Roofing Partners (NRP) was founded with the mission of continually improving the facility management capabilities of its customers by analyzing existing roof conditions, recommending and providing high quality single-source roofing replacements and services with dedicated support and technology. Building on the strong expertise of tier one commercial roofing contractors with over 120+ service locations and 8,000 employees nationwide, the network provides exceptional roofing and building envelope service and maintenance for customers. For more information, visit http://www.nationalroofingpartners.com.
Discussion on tax reform is underway in the Legislature. Last week, senators started debate on LB461, the 2017 Nebraska Taxpayer Reform Act. The discussion on the floor was thoughtful with many senators voicing support for dealing with Nebraskas high tax problem. This bill would make the most significant changes to our states property and income tax system in a generation by changing how we value ag land for taxation purposes and cutting income taxes for working families and Main Street businesses. If you want to see tax relief this year, contact your senator. You can find their information at www.NebraskaLegislature.gov.

As the Legislature began consideration of this proposal, there was a significant focus on what the proposal does to relieve high ag land property taxes. Right now, ag producers across the state are feeling the impact of high property taxes and low commodity prices. LB461 proposes to move assessments for ag land from a market-based system to an income-potential approach, helping valuations to better reflect the income of Nebraskas ag producers. This is major structural change that would have reduced total ag land property valuations by 12 percent statewide if it had been in effect in 2017. If levies had stayed the same, this would have resulted in $147 million of property tax relief for Nebraska farmers and ranchers in 2017.

This builds on the work the Legislature and I have done the last two years on property taxes. Working with senators in 2015, we increased the property tax credit relief fund by over 45 percent, and returned over $400 million in direct property tax relief to taxpayers. In 2016, we added an additional $40 million over two years directly targeted at ag property taxpayers, and provided incentives for responsible budgeting by our school districts. Late last year, the Revenue Department issued guidance on how to identify property sales that distort market information used for tax purposes.

Some special interest groups have argued that LB461 should not include any income tax relief. I believe that doing both property tax and income tax reform is key to bringing together urban and rural senators in the Legislature. Right now, you can see the urban and rural divide playing out. Some urban interests want farmers and ranchers to give up tax breaks the Legislature has granted them in the past. Others believe the Legislature should solely focus on property tax relief without doing anything on income tax to help Main Street.

While this bill is not everything that urban or rural senators may want, it contains reforms that are key to growing Nebraska. Right now, USA Today ranks us fifth highest in the nation for property taxes, and the Tax Foundation ranks Nebraska 14th highest in the nation for income tax collections per capita. The 2017 Nebraska Taxpayer Reform Act will not only put more money back into the pockets of working Nebraskans and small businesses, but it will also make Nebraska more globally competitive. It is important that urban and rural policymakers come together and do whats best for the whole state.

In the coming days, senators will have a choice when they vote on LB461. When it comes down to it, a vote on tax reform will separate taxpayer advocates versus lobbyists. Lobbyists and special interests will try to block tax reform because they want to spend more of your money. Getting tax reform done wont be easy. If you want to see tax relief this year, call your senator and let them know. They need to hear from you right away. You can find all their contact information at www.NebraskaLegislature.gov. As always, I hope that youll contact me with your concerns. You can reach my office by emailing pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or calling 402-471-2244.
CampusLogic

Financial aid pioneer CampusLogic, today, announced the release of a new Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature which will enable financial aid offices to seamlessly extract critical information from tax documents and streamline the federal aid process. Now widely used in the financial services industry to enable real-time deposit of checks from ATMs or smartphones, integration of OCR technology into the companys popular StudentForms product will help financial aid staff nationwide provide more timely service to students during the financial aid process.

Last month, the federal government announced that the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) would be down through the fall application season due to security concerns. The DRT allows students and parents to access IRS tax return information needed to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and transfer the data directly into their FAFSA from the IRS Web site. Without the DRT, students must obtain a copy of their Tax Transcript directly from the IRS, making the process time-consuming and cumbersome. The outage is expected to significantly impact colleges and universities across the country by increasing the volume of paperwork and manual processing to verify FAFSAs along with an increase in comment codes showing conflicting info.

Enterprise technology allows colleges and universities to automate cumbersome parts of the financial aid process, making it possible to weather issues, like the DRT outage, with ease. Financial aid offices using our platform already see dramatic improvements in financial aid processing times, said CampusLogic COO Chris Chumley. The new OCR functionality will reduce data entry errors and save administrators even more timewhile ensuring data security and freeing staff to counsel students through the financial aid process.

The OCR feature was first developed to simplify the process of FAFSA verification; nearly 30 percent of all applicants are flagged by the Department of Education for verification  for students who couldnt use the DRT, even when it was functioning. With OCR, the documents are scanned, and compared to students records. Conflicts are automatically highlighted for the financial aid professional to review, and corrections are then sent back to ED with just the push of a button.

For current CampusLogic partners, implementation of the OCR function requires no IT or additional training. Its a free, simple feature that financial aid offices can opt-in to start using.

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About CampusLogic

CampusLogic transforms the way colleges and universities deliver financial aid with the firstand onlystudent financial aid engagement platform. Easy. Mobile. Personalized. Our cloud-based technology helps schools increase accessibility, reduce student borrowing, and decrease the cost of financial aid administration. More than 400 customers improve enrollment yield, process efficiencies, and student satisfaction by engaging students from the initial college search through graduation. For more information visit http://www.campuslogic.com.

Follow CampusLogic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/campuslogic

Blog: http://campuslogic.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/campuslogic
Detroit-headquartered, minority-owned construction firm, RBV Contracting, is being recognized as one of Michigans 50 Companies to Watch, and will receive the Government Contractor of the Year Award at the 2017 Michigan Celebrates Small Business Awards Ceremony on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 6 p.m. at The Lansing Center in Lansing, Mich. The thirteenth annual awards ceremony is presented by Michigan Celebrates Small Business (MCSB), in partnership with the Michigan Small Business Development Center (MSBDC).

When founding RBV, our leadership team agreed on the basic principal of offering clients the best practices in construction management, derived from over 100 years of combined team experience. This foundation has proven successful in our industry, helping us establish ourselves positively with government clients and leading to excellent feedback, said Rodolfo Rudy Villarreal, President of RBV Contracting. As a result, we have been directly awarded federal contracts totaling $9 million, and we are trusted to handle projects involving complex installations on active airfields and renovations of secure areas.

Michigans 50 Companies to Watch honorees are known for their entrepreneurial leadership, innovative techniques, creativity in the workplace and sustainable competitive advantage.

For us, innovation means working towards transforming the traditional thoughts about construction contractors. RBV strives to innovate simply by doing the right things everyday even when no one is watching, said Jim Foucher, RBV Contracting Vice President.

RBV Contracting has grown in recent years due to its hands-on approach towards assisting in the revitalization of Detroits comeback. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wayne County is currently experiencing a 7.0 percent unemployment rate, which is the countys lowest rate in years.

Professional and business services had the largest increase in annual employment out of all employment sectors within Detroit, adding a total of 18,400 jobs to the city since September 2015. Specifically, jobs within the technical services industry, such as RBV Contracting, added nearly 11,000 jobs to the city since September 2015, alone. This increase equates to a 5.3-percent rise in employment within the professional and business services supersector.

RBV primarily looks to hire Detroit and HUBZone residents, in order to contribute to the citys comeback and to provide local jobs. Because of their devotion to the city of Detroit, RBV has received support from the Small Business Administration (SBA), Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), and PNC Bank.

Clients rely on a direct relationship with our team, as RBV typically self-performs over 75% of the work on site. We offer each client a consistent RBV leadership presence on every project, including longer distance projects. We preach quality not quantity, said Foucher.

To be recognized as one of Michigans 50 Companies to Watch, businesses must:



Be a privately held commercial enterprise that has not received the award in the past

Be past the startup stage

Employ 6 to 99 full-time employees

Have between $750,000 and $50 million in annual revenue or working capital from investors or grants

Have headquarters in Michigan

Demonstrate the intent and capacity to grow

Michigans 50 Companies to Watch honorees were selected by Michigan-based judges from the banking, economic development, entrepreneurship development and venture capital communities.

In order to receive the Government Contracting Award, recipients must be a client of the Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) of Michigan. Award criteria includes profitable product or service niche and previous awards received.

Receiving these awards signify that patience, persistence and proficiency produces results, said Villarreal.

For information on the 2017 Michigan Celebrates Small Business Awards Ceremony, or to purchase tickets, visit: michigancelebrates.biz. For more information on RBV Contracting, visit: rbvcontracting.com.

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About RBV Contracting, Inc.

Established in March of 2011, RBV Contracting is a full-service, 8(a) certified minority and HUBZone construction contractor, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. RBV provides a wide variety of services from construction management, site development, underground utilities, landscaping and rehabilitation for commercial, retail, governmental and industrial projects. RBV serves a growing list of federal agencies including USACE, Air Force, National Guard Bureau and GSA.

About Michigan Small Business Development Center (MSBDC)

The Michigan Small Business Development Center is the managing partner of Michigan Celebrates Small Business in 2017. Michigan Celebrates Small Business was founded by the Michigan Small Business Development Center, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, U.S. Small Business Administration - Michigan, Edward Lowe Foundation, Chris Holman - Small Business Advocate, and the Small Business Association of Michigan. Michigan Celebrates Small Business presents Michigan 50 Companies to Watch.

Sources:

https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/summary/blssummary_detroit.pdf

https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/news-release/areaemployment_detroit.htm
Members of Team CheapOair clean Morningside Park in Harlem Not only are we glad to clean up our city, but we are thrilled to support the New York Cares mission of meeting critical needs in the community, said Corissa Leong, Senior Vice President of People and Culture at Fareportal.

Fareportal, the travel technology company powering CheapOair and OneTravel, sent a team of volunteers this weekend to help clean Morningside Park in Harlem, New York City in celebration of Earth Day.

The volunteer event was one of the bi-annual city clean up events hosted by New York Cares, each of which can draw up to 4,000 volunteers across all five boroughs. For this event, Team CheapOair dedicated their time to removing invasive species and also to clearing branches, leaves, and litter from the park to get it ready for the summer months.

It was great to see so many of our employees come out on their day off to help clean up Morningside Park, said Kathi Moore, Vice President of Branding for Fareportal. We are very appreciative of our employees dedication to making a positive impact in the local community.

As a global company, we are involved with charity organizations all over the world, but it feels good to work with charities doing amazing work right here in our hometown, said Corissa Leong, Senior Vice President of People and Culture at Fareportal. Not only are we glad to clean up our city, but we are thrilled to support the New York Cares mission of meeting critical needs in the community.

Fareportal has a longstanding commitment to helping communities in need through charitable donations and volunteer work. The company is always seeking out new opportunities to get involved with charity organizations both at home and abroad.

About Fareportal

Fareportal is a high-tech, high-touch travel company that powers a next generation travel concierge service. Utilizing its innovative technology and company-owned and operated global contact center, Fareportal has built strong industry partnerships; providing access to over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels, and hundreds of car rental companies that serve millions of customers every year. With a portfolio of consumer travel brands, including CheapOair and OneTravel, Fareportal provides its airline partners with access to a broad customer base that books high-yield international travel and add-on ancillaries.
Im proud our team was able to showcase our ability to deliver a hybrid solution that would truly meet Premium Waters needs.

OneNeck IT Solutions announced today the signing of a multi-year contract with Minneapolis-based Premium Waters. As part of the contract, Premium Waters will be leveraging OneNecks ReliaCloud hosted and managed services solution with integration into their Uptime Institute Tier III Design Certified data center in Eden Prairie, Minn. They will also be leveraging OneNecks professional services team to help move from an on-premises data center to the cloud.

We looked for quality, said Mike Hesse, director of IT for Premium Waters. Pricing was also important, but quality and partnership were the most critical to us. From the beginning, OneNeck demonstrated a commitment to both. As we went through the process, we recognized few companies have the experience the OneNeck team has. Their employees are super knowledgeable. They listened and understood our needs. It was clear this was not the first time they were having this type of conversation. They were obviously comfortable in this role in addition to being very helpful and professional.

As a company, Premium Waters made a strategic decision to move their IT from on-premises to the cloud. With seven primary offices, and nearly 30 other locations with varying IT requirements, the company needed a redundant system that would allow for testing their IT platform without impacting the overall business. Premium Waters initially reached out to OneNeck for support of their JD Edwards platform a few years ago after moving to a newer version. Once the ERP platform was updated and stable, the company was ready to explore moving their data center to the cloud.

Our office is in a historic Minneapolis building that lacks redundancy in power and internet, Hesse said. Our infrastructure and equipment were no longer adequate. Updating them would require a major capital investment. Coupled with the fact that we have a small IT staff and summer is our busiest time of year, we needed more bandwidth.

It was time for a permanent solution, with flexibility, stated Greg Nemec, president of Premium Waters. Rather than become experts in lots of areas, we really wanted our IT group to focus on managing our systems. Then, we could hire experts to manage our infrastructure.

Multiple vendors, including OneNeck, were invited to provide a quote on moving Premium Waters data center and services to the cloud. Hesse stated, And OneNecks proposal quickly rose to the top.

Im proud our team was able to showcase our ability to deliver a hybrid solution that would truly meet Premium Waters needs, says Terry Swanson, president and CEO at OneNeck. We established how our ReliaCloud service would enable them to leverage a fully-managed solution. Our group also successfully demonstrated our flexibility and interest in becoming a partner by showcasing our drive and commitment to deliver the right services. While the team at Premium Waters IT now focuses on their core business, our team cares for managing the solution.

ReliaCloud is an enterprise-level hosted, private cloud that delivers the power and flexibility of a public cloud solution. However, it provides the security and performance required by enterprises with mission-critical computing needs. Built with industry-leading Cisco, EMC and VMware capabilities, ReliaCloud is ideal for traditional applications requiring reliable and scalable computing infrastructure.

OneNeck IT Solutions offers a full suite of hybrid IT solutions including cloud and hosting solutions, managed services, ERP application management, professional services and IT hardware. In addition to their state-of-the-art data center in Minnesota, OneNeck also has facilities in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Oregon and Wisconsin. Visit oneneck.com for more information.

About Premium Waters

When it comes to bottled water quality, Premium Waters means business. The company maintains high standards with protected sources, rigorous purification processes, reliable sanitization and testing procedures, and strict quality control measures. All of the plants operate under HACCP plans as defined by Codex Alimentarius Commission and the United States Food and Drug Administration. All sources and products are approved by/meet or exceed the 21CFR 110, 21CFR 129, and 21 CFR 165.110 and any other prescribed state laws. The goal is to continuously improve Food Safety Management Systems and Quality Systems to ensure confidence in the delivery of safe food to customers and consumers. Visit premiumwaters.com.

About OneNeck

OneNeck IT Solutions LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, employs nearly 550 people throughout the U.S. The company offers hybrid IT solutions including cloud and hosting solutions, managed services, ERP application management, professional services, IT hardware and local connectivity via top-tier data centers in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin. OneNeck's team of technology professionals manage secure, world-class, hybrid IT infrastructures and applications for businesses around the country. Visit oneneck.com.

TDS Telecommunications Corporation (TDS Telecom/TDS), headquartered in Madison, Wis., operates OneNeck IT Solutions LLC and BendBroadband, which is part of TDS Broadband Service LLC. Combined, the company employs more than 3,400 people. Visit tdstelecom.com.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. [NYSE: TDS], a Fortune 500 company, provides wireless; cable and wireline broadband, TV and voice; and hosted and managed services to approximately six million customers nationwide through its businesses U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecom, OneNeck IT Solutions LLC, and TDS Broadband Service LLC. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. employs 10,300 people. Visit tdsinc.com.
One of our objectives has been to launch Cyrcadias early breast cancer monitoring technology in Asia, where breast cancer is accelerating at twice the pace of the rest of the world

Cyrcadia, Inc.(CI) announced this week a strategic expansion to accelerate operations and market launch into Asia for early breast cancer monitoring. CI has entered into a License and Cooperation Agreement Cyrcadia Asia, Ltd. (CA), a newly formed company in Hong Kong which will serve as the base for the Asia market launch of CIs proprietary iTBraTM technology expected to commence in late 2017 or early 2018 under the global CI brand of Cyrcadia Health.

Under the License and Cooperation Agreement, Cyrcadia Asia has exclusive marketing rights to the iTBra technology and products in Asia. CA will assume and fund certain further product development and other activities with respect to the iTBra technology and products for the benefit of both CI and CA. The License and Cooperation Agreement also provides for certain other financial terms between the two parties intended to enable the launch of the technology and products in Asia. CI retains exclusive marketing rights to the United States, Mexico and Canada, with the marketing strategy for the iTBra technology and products in other countries to be further discussed by the parties.

Having obtained U.S. FDA 510(k) Class II approval for its iTBra technology, CI has conducted clinical trials in the U.S. with its newly developed scalable product, which demonstrates greatly improved outcomes, beyond historical product results. CIs predictive analytic artificial intelligence (AI) based technology now demonstrates 80%+ accuracy with a two-hour wear when compared with the original trials which required 48-hour wear and achieved 74% accuracy. CI and CA expect this greatly improved performance to support the use of the 510(k) approval to launch the technology and products into regulated countries in the near term.

CIs proprietary early breast cancer monitoring technology is based on wearable sensor patches that are placed under a womans own garments and worn for two hours. The sensor data results processed through CIs artificial intelligence (AI) lab, are automatically communicated to the patient, her physician and insurance company. Powered by this machine-learning process, the greater the population served by the CI AI technology, the more accurate the results become for future patients.

Cyrcadias 80%+ accuracy also compares very favorably to mammography which has a published accuracy of less than 50% for the densest of breast tissue. Tissue density, which leads to a higher propensity for cancer, affects 40% of the western population and up to 70% of the Asian population.

To ensure a successful launch in the Asia market, CIs former CI CEO, Rob Royea has now assume the role of CEO for CA. CIs co-founder, Matt Benardis, who has been serving in an operational role for CI, has assumed the role of CEO of CI, and initially will focus on the U.S. market with the launch by CI of the iTBra technology and products in the U.S., which CI expects to commence in the near term.

One of our objectives has been to launch Cyrcadias early breast cancer monitoring technology in Asia, where breast cancer is accelerating at twice the pace of the rest of the world, said Rob Royea, CEO CA. With a much higher breast density population, virtually no nationalized screening initiatives, and the average age for breast cancer incident rate being approximately 20 years earlier than for those women in Europe and the U.S., a wearable technology such as Cyrcadias is addressing a clear and urgent need in Asia. There is great interest by several global insurance providers to partner with Cyrcadia Health in delivering our wearable monitoring to Asia expected by late 2017.

The License and Collaboration Agreement between CI and CA brings advantages for both parties, said Royea. The opportunity for early market entry and funding from the Asian operations brings additional funding into CI to exercise its option, under an Intellectual Property Asset Option Agreement with the technologys developer to acquire directly certain patents which previously had been licensed to CI. Those patents are in the process of transferring to CI to be fully owned by CI, and they are licensed to CA under the License and Collaboration Agreement. Furthermore, the License and Collaboration Agreement allows for CI and CA to cooperate on global expansion of the intellectual property portfolio.

Under the License and Collaboration Agreement, CI and CA have also established a joint venture, Cyrcadia Data Services, Ltd. to fund and develop the Cyrcadia health predictive analytics core lab. This entity will ensure improved accuracy in the technology as the companies feed in large volumes of data from their respective regions.

CIs CEO Matt Benardis, sees the new structure as a win-win for all parties. The new partnership with Cyrcadia Asia, Ltd. provides an accelerated speed to market globally, said Benardis. The Cyrcadia Health brand recognition that we can achieve together in large populations, along with the significant expansion of powerful intellectual property, is intended to maximize CI shareholder value as we move to our planned market launch here in North America. The joint venture of our unified predictive analytic core lab is intended to provide the highest possible accuracy for patients and providers of our technology throughout the world.

About Cyrcadia

Cyrcadia, Inc. is a Nevada corporation, which uses the brand Cyrcadia Health with respect to its technology and products. The company was founded as First Warning Systems, Inc. in 2008, and is based in Reno, NV. The company's product line is a device and software service originally licensed from Lifeline Biotechnologies, Inc. (OTC PINK: LLBO), that detects breast tissue abnormalities to enable health risk assessment and management including early breast cancer identification. Historic and current clinical testing has allowed proof of concept of the companys iTBra technology and superior outcomes when compared to other diagnostic protocols. Cisco Systems, Inc. is underwritten the filming of a documentary about the evolution of the iTBra technology by Ironbound Films called "Detected Movie" to be released in Boston, MA on April 27, 2017. For further information, please visit http://www.DetectedMovie.com and Cyrcadia Health at http://www.cyrcadiahealth.com.

Cyrcadia Asia, Ltd., a corporation incorporated in Hong Kong, is a licensee of Cyrcadia, Inc. with the exclusive right to use Cyrcadia Health branding in connection with, and to commercialize, the iTBra technology and products in Asia.

Cyrcadia Data Services, Ltd.is a joint venture between Cyrcadia, Inc. and Cyrcadia Asia, Ltd., as an Ireland-based corporation, the globally unified core lab operations of which will benefit from the data generated by iTBra technology patient screening populations into a single artificial intelligent database leading to ever-improving accuracy for the iTBra technology.
Georgetown Law's Center on Poverty and Inequality releases new research report on trauma, gender and yoga Trauma-informed yoga is a powerful tool to help girls build a brighter future.

A report released today by Georgetown Laws Center on Poverty and Inequality calls for specialized yoga programs to be offered widely to girls in the juvenile justice system amidst growing evidence that they can help them overcome the harmful effects of pervasive childhood trauma.

The first-of-its kind report  which draws on original pilot studies in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, an extensive literature review, and interviews with experts and girls around the country  finds that tailored forms of yoga and mindfulness programs can be uniquely effective in supporting traumatized girls.

Benefits include better coping skills, increased emotional regulation, improved neurological and physical health outcomes, and healthier parenting practices and relationships, the report finds.

GIRLS MOST VULNERABLE

Children in the juvenile justice system have experienced disproportionately high rates of childhood trauma, which has long-term harmful effects on physical and mental health. Girls in the system are more likely than boys to have experienced all forms of abuse  but particularly sexual violence.

In light of evidence that trauma affects girls differently than boys, yoga interventions offer the juvenile justice system a cost-effective opportunity to address girls specific needs, the new report says.

Girls in the juvenile justice system deserve support in healing and overcoming the devastating effects of childhood trauma that so many of them have experienced, said lead author Rebecca Epstein, executive director of Georgetown Laws Center on Poverty and Inequality. Trauma-informed yoga is a powerful tool to help girls build a brighter future.

Studies have shown that:



Nearly two thirds of girls in the juvenile justice system (65%) show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Nearly twice as many girls as boys in the juvenile justice system reported past physical abuse (42% vs. 22%).

More than a third of girls reported past sexual abuse (35%), as compared to 8% of boys.

YOGA AND GIRLS' UNIQUE NEEDS

The Georgetown Law report finds that the proven benefits of yoga are well- positioned to mitigate the unique effects of trauma on girls. For instance:

Yoga practice can restore neurological pathways in a region of the brain that processes emotion awareness and decreases in size among female trauma survivors.

Trauma-informed yoga can help girls overcome a feeling of disconnection to their body that is common among survivors of sexual violence.

The report emphasizes that yoga interventions should be trauma-informed and gender-responsive to be successful in the juvenile justice system. That can include instructors using invitational language to allow girls to feel in control of their practice, asking permission before engaging in physical contact and not approaching girls from behind.

FEWER NIGHTMARES, MORE HOPE

Pilot studies conducted by Georgetown Laws Center on Poverty and Inequality and results from programs in the juvenile justice system showed that after girls practiced trauma-informed yoga, they:

Reported greater levels of self-esteem, self-respect and general wellbeing.

Showed declines in anger, depression, flashbacks, nightmares and anxiety.

Improved their ability to identify negative behavior patterns and resolve conflicts.

Used breathing techniques to avoid aggressive responses to provocations by peers and to manage the stress of appearing in court.

Reported past incidents of sexual violence to staff.

Additionally, the report finds that trauma-informed yoga is cost-effective and sustainable. It cites successful and innovative regional programs developed in Palo Alto, Calif. and Brookline, Mass.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to have the greatest impact on girls in the juvenile justice systems, the reports authors provide these recommendations:

Build on existing law. Interpret existing health laws to allow yoga and mindfulness programs to be introduced into juvenile justice settings. The report cites promising laws in Louisiana and Nebraska.

Expand access. Evaluate existing programs and develop new ones that are geared to the unique needs of girls in the juvenile justice system who have experienced trauma. Also include sensitivity to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity in their design.

Increase funding and research. Support effective yoga and mindfulness programs with funding and continue to build the research base.

Yoga is already helping girls in custody manage their emotions, build resilience and recognize the potential they have to improve their own lives, said Thalia Gonzalez, the reports coauthor. By expanding the reach of these powerful, low-cost programs, the juvenile justice system could help many more struggling girls overcome the harrowing pasts they have endured.

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Georgetown University Law Center is a global leader in legal education and the preeminent U.S. law school based in the nations capital. More than 20 centers and institutes forge cutting-edge research and policy resources across fields including health, the environment, human rights, technology, national security and international economics. Georgetown Law equips students to succeed in a rapidly evolving legal environment and to make a profound difference in the world, guided by the school's motto, Law is but the means, justice is the end.
The De Angelis Group We are excited to be able to help such a tremendous group of people as they build their company and increase the ways they help patients relieve pain and restore function. Said Drue De Angelis, Managing Partner of The De Angelis Group.

The De Angelis Group, an Executive Search Firm focused exclusively in Orthopedics, Spine and Orthobiologics, was recently retained on a search to assist an innovative orthopedic implant company in hiring their most senior leader for Regulatory and Clinical Affairs. The client has developed combination medical device and biologic products that are typically used in patients with early signs of arthritis but before they need a total joint replacement. With revenues of over $100mm in sales, their strategy thus far has been to partner with Regulatory and Clinical consultants, but their product development pipeline is now so flush with innovation that it requires broad and complex innovative strategies to obtain approvals from regulatory bodies globally. They have decided that now is the time to expand the executive team by creating this new Vice Presidents role.

The new executive will have a seat at the table strategically to influence new product development innovations that leverage the current IP portfolio as well as adding new products to the pipeline. This role is based in the New England area and requires the executive to live within a commutable distance from the companys headquarters.

We are excited to be able to help such a tremendous group of people as they build their company and increase the ways they help patients relieve pain and restore function. Said Drue De Angelis, Managing Partner of The De Angelis Group.

If you know of someone that should be considered for this role or would like to learn more, please send inquiries to The De Angelis Group (info(at)thedeangelisgroup(dot)com).



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About The De Angelis Group:

The De Angelis Group (http://www.orthospinesearch.com) is a national retained search firm which focuses primarily in the acquisition of executive leadership in Orthopedic Industry. Founded in 2000, The De Angelis Group is a leader in executive search, attending many trade shows and specialty meetings throughout the year and around the US.



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Our existing courseware has been tremendously successful. In fact, 98% of the students agreed that the EMA training they received would greatly improve their work performance, and 9 out of 10 confirmed the class they attended exceeded their expectations.

EMA Design Automation (http://www.ema-eda.com), a full-service provider and innovator of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) solutions, has just released a new E-Learning training platform and an OrCAD certification program to help OrCAD users improve their proficiency with the toolset and earn a certification to demonstrate their level of knowledge. Quite often, customers will ask me if I know of any qualified engineers that they could hire and put to work immediately, said Manny Marcano, president and CEO of EMA. Because of this certification program, with a simple web search and a review of LinkedIn certification credentials, hiring managers can easily find qualified OrCAD engineering candidates.

The new E-Learning platform allows students to learn at their own pace. The E-Learning modules cover the same material as their classroom counterparts, providing comprehensive training resources which include both videos and labs. Students use their own computers and access the guided training via the internet.

All EMA training includes the opportunity to take the OrCAD certified exam for the tool covered in the course. However, taking the course isnt required to take the exam. Experienced OrCAD users can purchase an exam for a small fee if they believe they already possess the knowledge required for the particular subject. Anyone who does not pass an exam can continue studying and retake the exam when they feel they are ready. They can also apply the cost of the exam to an EMA training course. Students who pass the exam will receive an OrCAD Certified certificate for the tool they have mastered, as well as being able to list the certification on their LinkedIn page, business cards, resumes, and biographies. The certificate will also include the software version of the tool that was passed to help identify those with the latest expertise.

Our existing courseware has been tremendously successful, added Marcano. In fact, 98% of the students agreed that the EMA training they received would greatly improve their work performance, and 9 out of 10 students confirmed the class they attended exceeded their expectations. With the addition of the OrCAD certification exams, OrCAD aficionados can proclaim their proficiency, and hiring managers have an added tool to ensure that they get the best candidates available.

For more information about the EMA E-Learning and OrCAD Certification, visit go.ema-eda.com/orcad-certified. To learn more about EMA, go to http://www.ema-eda.com or call 585.334.6001.

About EMA Design Automation, Inc.

EMA Design Automation is a trailblazer in product development solutions offering a complete range of EDA tools, PLM integrations, services, training, and technical support. EMA is a Cadence Channel Partner serving all of North America. EMA develops Ultra Librarian, TimingDesigner, CircuitSpace, CIP, EDABuilder, and a host of custom solutions to enhance the OrCAD products, and all are distributed through a worldwide network of value added resellers. EMA is a privately held corporation headquartered in Rochester, New York. Visit EMA at http://www.ema-eda.com for more information.

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EMA Design Automation, TimingDesigner, CircuitSpace, EDABuilder, Ultra Librarian and the EMA logo

are registered trademarks, and Component Information Portal is a trademark of EMA Design Automation, Inc.

Cadence and OrCAD are registered trademarks of Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

All other trademarks in this release are the property of their respective owners
Predictive Machine Learning in Somnoware Somnoware uses EMR, questionnaire, and prior visit data to build a machine learning model of the patient. This model is used to make sleep apnea therapy compliance predictions even before the patient goes on therapy.

Somnoware, a leading provider of digital health technology, announces the addition of predictive analytics to its patient care management module. Using this new feature, sleep physicians can now predict the likelihood of 90-day therapy compliance even before a patient has been initiated on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), oral, or other forms of sleep apnea therapy. The Somnoware platform uses predictive machine learning to estimate a patients probability of therapy compliance at any time in future -- and dynamically updates it on a daily basis. This feature can significantly enhance a physicians ability to provide patient care and improve therapy adherence.

Sleep apnea is a serious disease that can reduce a patients lifespan by 5-7 years; doubling the likelihood of heart failure and stroke. Unfortunately, 40% of diagnosed patients completely stop using the prescribed therapy within the first year. Even for patients who continue use, masks are often not changed at the ideal 3-month interval and supplies are not restocked. As a result, there is a significant drop in the efficacy of therapy over time. Somnoware arms sleep physicians with rich data and insights that enable them to take proactive actions to improve therapy adherence. Instead of having to wait several months to ascertain short-term compliance, physicians can now start taking actions based on the patients predicted compliance right after they are put on therapy.

When a new patient is set up for a diagnostic sleep test, the Somnoware platform automatically pulls detailed patient data from their electronic medical records, patient questionnaires, and prior lab visits. This data includes socio-demographic characteristics, indicator variables, comorbidities, and past patient behavior. Somnoware uses this data to build a machine learning model of the patient, and makes short and long-term predictions of compliance even before the patient goes on therapy. As more data comes in, the model automatically updates its predictions. Hence, physicians can easily monitor trends in patient compliance and the likely impact of their interventions on both immediate and long-term outcomes. This brings patients closer to physicians during long-term therapy.

The new predictive machine learning feature in Somnoware is yet another example of our commitment to provide sleep physicians with actionable, data-driven insights, says Dr. Raj Misra, Chief Data Scientist of Somnoware. Our goal is to bring valuable information to physicians early, so it can be used for proactive patient care management.

To learn more about this press release, please contact Raj Misra at media(at)Somnoware(dot)com.

About Somnoware

Somnoware is transforming sleep health management by accelerating diagnostics and increasing therapy adherence. It automates sleep testing processes, provides actionable data and predictive insights to physicians, and drives patient engagement. The company's customer base includes leading health systems, independent sleep centers, and sleep services companies. Somnoware is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. For more information, please visit http://www.somnoware.com or follow us on twitter @somnoware.
Causecast, a B Corporation based in Burbank, California, is convening their second annual conference for corporate giving and volunteering professionals who seek to transform and scale their social impact.

Causecast, a B Corporation based in Burbank, California, is convening their second annual conference for corporate giving and volunteering professionals who seek to transform and scale their social impact.

+IMPACT is hosted by Causecast, a SaaS technology provider of innovative workplace giving and volunteering solutions for visionary leaders who know that highly engaged employees are the engine for business growth and enduring social change.

The +IMPACT East 2017 theme is Innovating in Times of Change and will be held May 15 and 16 in Washington, D.C. The event is designed for practitioners responsible for areas including:



Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Impact

Employee Giving and Volunteering

Company-Wide Days of Service

Corporate Grants Management and Foundations

Employee Engagement

Diversity & Inclusion

Why now?

As management guru Peter Drucker said, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." Outstanding cultures incorporate strong social impact programs, which leading companies know is key to the employee experience. Employee engagement through social impact improves meaning and connection at work, is key to talent attraction and retention, and is intimately tied to productivity and the bottom line.

"We're hosting +IMPACT East in Washington, D.C. because now more than ever, it's time to come together and stand up for what we believe in," says Ryan Scott, Founder and CEO of Causecast. "We're excited to be convening leaders from Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits and civic leaders who are creating more business and social impact in their work."

Speakers at +IMPACT East include:

Carla Perlo, Founding Director, Dance Place

Danielle Holly, CEO, Common Impact

Erica Tavares, Senior Director, Institutional Advancement, International Medical Corps

Gary Bagley, Executive Director, New York Cares

Greg Kearns, VP, Institutional Business Development, Heifer International

Jessica Feingold, Senior Development Manager, East Coast & Europe, Kiva.org

Jim Starr, President & CEO, America's Charities

Julie Smith, Chief Administrative Officer, The Bozzuto Group

Linda Gornitsky, President, LBG Associates

Marshawn Wolley, Lecturer, Public Affairs & Director of Community Engagement, Indiana University

Matt Comanda, Director, VolunteerMatch

Mauricio Garcia, Deputy Director, Cities of Service

Nate Hurst, Global Director, Sustainability and Social Innovation, HP

Nzinga Blake, Actress, Filmmaker and Content Director

Roger Wong, CSR Manager, Marsh

Susan McPherson, Founder & CEO at McPherson Strategies

Social impact is a growing area of focus, and corporate leaders must continue to evolve and grow in order to meet the rising demand. Corporate commitment to giving and volunteering is steadily growing. As Double the Donation notes, 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs. CECP also found that companies that increased total giving by at least 10% between 2013 and 2015 saw increases in median giving as a percentage of revenue and pre-tax profit.

Causecast believes that bringing professionals from multiple sectors together is key to addressing the world's biggest challenges and making the most impact. Causecast aims to promote diverse, collaborative and cooperative working models, and, in so doing, eliminate barriers for skills development. They envision a time when companies, and the employees who power them, are able to quickly and seamlessly mobilize as forces for lasting change. Practitioners in this space have historically struggled to feel they are making the highest level of contribution they are here to make.

+IMPACT exists to support these professionals and unite them around their shared passion for community service and a kinder, more equitable world. Causecast aims to transform the way companies engage in the business of giving back by building new levels of professional capability, capacity and cooperation so that causes, communities and companies receive the full benefit from their program and partnership investments. The +IMPACT conference is designed to educate, inspire, and celebrate authentic stories that support ongoing cause-centric efforts.

For more information and to register, see: http://innovation.causecast.com/impact2017/

About +IMPACT

The +IMPACT conference series occurs annually and focuses on continuing Causecast's commitment to helping corporate professionals build new skills and develop enhanced programming that achieves unprecedented impact for the causes and communities that employees are most passionate about.

About Causecast

Causecast is the leading provider of corporate cause integration technology solutions, helping organizations become more effective corporate citizens. Through its Community Impact Platform, Causecast automates and enhances systems for employee volunteering, giving, matching, rewarding and disaster relief. Causecast's vision is to foster a cutting-edge social ecosystem that elevates corporate social responsibility to a whole new level, where sustainable and measurable accomplishments move the needle on an organization's social mission, employee engagement, culture, and bottom line. See http://www.causecast.com for more information.
Searching for some soulful illustrations? Monarch | Arredon Contemporary is honored to present Visual Jazz by San Diego County native Chor Boogie. The one-of-a-kind solo exhibition will feature over 20 original works on canvas, with an opening reception on Saturday April 29th 2017 from 5p to 8pm at the La Plaza La Jolla.

Critically acclaimed spray paint artist Chor Boogie, a.k.a. Joaquin Lamar Hailey returns to his roots after circling the globe to share his latest body of work: Visual Jazz. Chor Boogie was recently honored by Societe Perrier as being number three among the Top Ten U.S. Street Artists. His visionary murals and art exhibitions have appeared all over the world including venues such as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Smithsonian, Museum of Public Arts in Baton Rouge, Museum of Art Puerto Rico, LA Art Fair, Scope Art Fair Miami Beach, Torrance Art Museum in Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Museum of Man in San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art, Childrens Museum in San Diego, Syracuse University Museum, and the Vision Arts Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

In October, 2010 Chor Boogie's The Eyes of the Berlin Wall, sold for 500,000 euro, making history for the street art genre. Clients include Google, Ritz Carlton, MTV Arabia, Anthony Robbins, Heineken, the Blackstone Group, Zazzle.com, Playboy, Rock the Bells, and the TJ Martell Foundation.

Chor Boogie is recognized for having achieved a groundbreaking level of technical and emotional virtuosity in the medium of spray paint. He is primarily a self taught artist, though he was first nurtured by the local street art culture of San Diego and Oceanside.

Visual Jazz celebrates the creative power of the human spiritand art as the intersection between the physical and the metaphysical. Vivid colors and multidimensional designs reverently embrace classic figures of jazz maestros. The composition and forms are unpredictable and yet harmonious, like jazz itself. The audience is invited to feel the music through the works.

A percentage of the sales will go to benefit Writerz Blok, a youth arts and social enterprise program of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, where Chor Boogie found community, support, and inspiration as an emerging artist. See JacobsCenter.org for more info. Visual Jazz will be on display at Monarch | Arredon Contemporary from April 29th to June 3rd, 2017.

MONARCH | ARREDON CONTEMPORARY is La Jolla's small and exclusive gallery founded on respect, passion and trust. The Gallery represents emerging and mid-career artists, offering high-quality crafted artworks along with the expertise and individual-focused approach to collectors, art professionals, and art enthusiasts. Monarch | Arredon Contemporary is located at 862 Prospect St, Suite A, La Jolla, CA 92037. We are open Thursday through Sunday 11 am to 5 pm, and by appointment Monday through Wednesday. For more information, please contact the gallery at info(at)monarchfineart(dot)com or 858-454-1231.
Income benefits paid to Indianas injured workers through workers compensation claims rose nearly 5 percent between 2014 and 2015, a recent Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) study found.

The recent increase in Indianas indemnity benefits per claim may partly reflect the income benefit provisions of 2013s House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1320, which phased in annual indemnity benefit increases over a three-year period beginning on July 1, 2014, said Ramona Tanabe, WCRIs executive vice president and counsel. The growth was in contrast to the trends in earlier years when indemnity benefits were fairly stable.

Indianas maximum statutory weekly indemnity benefit has risen 20 percentto $780 from $650since June 30, 2014. These indemnity benefits are generally paid to those who qualify for either temporary total disability (TTD) or permanent partial (PP) impairment. In Indiana, PP is paid to compensate an injured worker for a permanent loss of a physical function, typically known as permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits in other states. The legislation also increased the PP dollars paid based on the impairment rating.

The study, CompScope Benchmarks for Indiana, 17th Edition, compared Indiana with workers compensation systems in 17 other states and found that, despite the recent increase, Indianas indemnity benefits per claim remained among the lowest of WCRIs 18 study states.

One in six injured workers in Indiana had their weekly benefits limited by the statutory maximum indemnity payout as of 2015 (mostly reflecting the first of the three benefit increases), compared with about one in nine workers in the typical study state, said Tanabe. In Indiana, an injured worker is much more likely to hit the statutory cap.

For the study, WCRI analyzed workers compensation claims with experience through 2016 for injuries up to and including 2015.

The following are among the studys other findings:



Indianas costs per claim were fairly stable from 2010 to 2015, with slower growth than in many study states.

Costs per claim in Indiana were fairly typical of the study states, resulting from offsetting factorshigher medical payments per claim but lower indemnity benefits and expenses.

Indiana saw its medical payments per claim decrease nearly 10 percent from 2014 to 2015, the first decrease in this category in over a decade.

HEA 1320 partly addressed the higher-than-typical medical payments by enacting a hospital fee schedule effective in July 2014.

To learn more about this study or how to purchase it, click on the following link: http://www.wcrinet.org/reports/compscope-benchmarks-for-indiana-17th-edition.

The Cambridge-based WCRI is recognized as a leader in providing high-quality, objective information about public policy issues involving workers' compensation systems.

ABOUT WCRI:

The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Cambridge, MA. Organized in late 1983, the Institute does not take positions on the issues it researches; rather, it provides information obtained through studies and data collection efforts, which conform to recognized scientific methods. Objectivity is further ensured through rigorous, unbiased peer review procedures. WCRI's diverse membership includes employers; insurers; governmental entities; managed care companies; health care providers; insurance regulators; state labor organizations; and state administrative agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Since we introduced Nitro cold brew to Columbus in 2012, its become one of our most popular products. We couldnt think of a better way to celebrate than to share this innovative beverage with the community thats done so much for us. Past News Releases RSS Crimson Cup Welcomes The Office...

Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea...

Barista Magazine Names Crimson...

To celebrate its 26th anniversary, on May 1 Columbus coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea will offer craft Nitro cold brews for $1 at its coffeehouses in Clintonville and Upper Arlington. The company also has released a new video that highlights its commitment to creating sustainable relationships with coffee farmers and independent coffee houses.

Founded by Greg Ubert in Columbus in 1991, Crimson Cup has grown from a one-man operation into a nationally recognized leader in the $26 billion specialty coffee industry. The company was named the 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year by coffee trade publication Roast magazine. Its award-winning coffees include Ethiopian Kossa Kebena, which won a 2017 Good Food Award.

Since we introduced Nitro cold brew to Columbus in 2012, its become one of our most popular products, Ubert said. We couldnt think of a better way to celebrate than to share this innovative beverage with the community thats done so much for us.

To create Nitro, Crimson Cup infuses craft cold brew concentrate with nitrogen gas under pressure. Dispensed from a tap, this frothy beverage has the mouth feel of a fine milk stout and normally sells for $4.25. The $1 special on any regular-sized Nitro cold brew is good May 1 only at the Crimson Cup Coffee Houses at 4541 North High Street in Clintonville and 2468 Northwest Boulevard in Upper Arlington.

In honor of its anniversary, Crimson Cup also engaged local agency Serif Creative to develop a video that highlights its partnerships with coffee farmers and independent coffee houses.

Our motto is Coffee and Community, Ubert said. Our vision is to establish meaningful relationships that inspire healthy communities locally and globally.

We work with local coffee businesses in 29 states, Guam and Bangladesh to create spaces where people can gather over coffee, he said. We also travel thousands of miles each year to seek out the worlds finest coffees and forge relationships with coffee farmers and their workers.

What usually is called a supply chain, we call a relationship chain, he added. We believe that we succeed only when our partners succeed.

About Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea

Columbus, Ohio coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea is Roast magazines 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year. Since 1991, Crimson Cup has roasted sustainably sourced specialty and craft coffee in small batches, which it sells directly to consumers and as wholesale coffee beans. The company also teaches entrepreneurs to run successful coffee houses through its coffee franchise alternative program, which includes a coffee shop business plan. Crimson Cup coffee is available through a community of more than 350 independent coffee houses, grocers, college and universities, restaurants and food service operations across 29 states, Guam and Bangladesh, as well as the companys own Crimson Cup Coffee Houses. To learn more, visit crimsoncup.com.
Details of Dry Creek Valley's new premier event series The Winemakers in Conversation events begin with a seated, classroom-style tasting in which the four winemakers will each share and discuss a cellar selection wine, contextualizing it within the characteristic qualities unique to Dry Creek Valley.

Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley will follow up their 28th annual Passport event with the launch of a new event series called Winemakers in Conversation. The series is comprised of three different immersive experiences, Zealous about Zinfandel, Cult Cabernets and Zintopia. Each experience, which is designed for just 50 attendees, will feature four Dry Creek Valley winemakers, one winegrower, and will be moderated by a wine industry icon. All tickets are $125 and go on sale today.

The Winemakers in Conversation events begin with a seated, classroom-style tasting in which the four winemakers will each share and discuss a cellar selection wine, contextualizing it within the characteristic qualities unique to Dry Creek Valley. After the panel, the event breaks into a social, open tasting format with eight food pairings and passed hors d'oeuvres.

The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, July 15, 2017 - 10:00a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Zealous About Zinfandel at Quivira Vineyards and Winery

The first tasting in the series is moderated by San Francisco Chronicle Wine Editor Esther Mobley. Guests will take a deep dive into the world of Dry Creek Valleys most historic grape, with Ridge Vineyards Winemaker John Olney, Pedroncelli Winemaker Montse Reese, Seghesio Vineyards Winemaker Ted Seghesio and Quivira Vineyards Hugh Chappelle.

Saturday, July 22, 2017 - 10:00a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Cult Cabernets at Passalacqua Winery

The second tasting in the series is moderated by Virginie Boone of Wine Enthusiast. Guests will explore Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with winemakers Jennifer Higgins of Lambert Bridge Winery, Tim Bell of Dry Creek Vineyard, Ed Sbragia of Sbragia Vineyards and Jessica Boone of Passalacqua. Also joining the discussion is grower Ryan Petersen from Petersen Management.

Sunday, July 30, 2017 - 10:00a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Zintopia at Preston Vineyards

The final tasting in the series is moderated by the Chef and Author John Ash, the father of wine country cuisine. Guests will savor fine examples of Dry Creek Valley zinfandel from winemakers/owners Erik Miller of Kokomo Winery, Clay Mauritson of Mauritson Wines, Joe Healy of Bella Vineyards and Wine Cave and Lou Preston of Preston Farm and Winery. Chef Ash will be crafting pairings for this event, utilizing ingredients from Preston Farm.

Getting here:

Dry Creek Valley is located in the heart of Sonoma County, just 15 minutes from Sonoma County Airport (STS) and 70 miles north of San Francisco and Bay Area international airports SFO and OAK. Direct flights into STS are available on Alaska Airlines from Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle and Portland; visitors on these flights can check a case of wine for free on their flight home. American Airlines flies from Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) to STS. A complete list of lodging options can be found at http://www.drycreekvalley.org.

Tickets can be found at: drycreekvalley.org/events/winemakers-in-conversation

About Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley:

Dry Creek Valley is a premium winegrowing region in northern Sonoma County, California, anchored by the charming town of Healdsburg. Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley (WDCV) is a 501c6 non-profit trade association of over 60 wineries and 150 winegrape growers. Formed in 1989, the association represents a multi-generational family community of vintners and growers committed to growing high-quality fruit, producing world-class wines, and welcoming visitors to experience Wine Paired with Life. Being good stewards of the land means that we are preserving the quality of our wines and the unparalleled beauty of Dry Creek Valley for future generations to discover. For more information, visit http://www.drycreekvalley.org.

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Katzenworld is all about being a fun, informative place that promotes all things cats and this year they are going to be at the National Pet Show in London this May to showcase some of their cat lover / cat owner products as well as introduce new readers to the world of cats.

The main focus of the online publication are:



Insight on cat care

Cat Welfare

Top cat events

Cat Cafes - a cafe where cats are watched and played with for a cover fee.

On-line shop selling exclusive cat products

Katzenworld welcomes its cat-loving community with open arms and provides a forum where stories, hints and tips are shared.

Theyve carefully listened to their followers, and through their suggestions and feedback, fun-themed posts such as the Friday Art Cat, Tummy Rub Tuesday and Purrsday Poetry have been introduced. They have now become popular permanent editions to the regular schedule.

Katzenworld has close relationships with International Cat Care too. They provide support in ensuring that their cat care topics are accurate. They also help to promote one anothers cat welfare campaigns.

Katzenworld is especially proud to offer a large range of high quality valerian and catnip toys by 4cats from Germany. Visit the stall at the show to grab some exclusive toys.

The history behind the creation of Katzenworld:

Katzenworld was founded by Marc-Andre Runcie-Unger and his close friends Yuki Chung & Laura Haile.

It all started over a board game one evening at Marcs place back in 2014. He and his partner had just adopted two shelter cats (Oliver & Nubia), and as Yuki was already looking after her own cats, the chat soon turned into a great discussion about cats. Back then there werent many community-focused online publications so a plan was developed to change all that!

Many people wonder where the name came from. Well, Marc is German, and Katzen means Cats, so in English the blog means Cats World though many people think it means Cat Zen World!

Yuki is a professional illustrator and produced the original Katzenworld artwork as well as the iconic Katzenworld logo.

As with many great new ideas, what started out as a small group of people soon became a large community project. Today, Katzenworlds team consists of Lisa, Carol (US), Marc & Iain, Zoey and Rachel (UK), Charlotte (Finland), Ann-Kristin (Germany) and Laura (Japan). To learn more about them and their cats, check out the About Us page.

But the growth of this cat-loving community hasnt stopped there. In addition to the actual Katzenworld team, there are currently 85 active contributors from countries all across the world. They submit content on a regular basis plus many more guest bloggers who also submit content from time to time.

And their latest venture is a little online shop offering people some of their own Katzenworld merchandise and high quality cat toys that they identified as brilliant through their reviews and tests.

The team hopes to see many familiar faces at the show but also to introduce new people to their Blog and Online shop portal.
Missaukee County joins MITN Purchasing Group Vendors interested in doing business with Missaukee County and other nearby government agencies are encouraged to register at www.mitn.info.

Today, Missaukee County announces it has joined the MITN Purchasing Group, a regional purchasing community by BidNet. Local government agencies throughout Michigan utilize the purchasing group for bid and vendor management. Missaukee County invites all potential vendors to register online with the MITN Purchasing Group to access its upcoming solicitations.

Missaukee County joins the MITN Purchasing Group and the community of 173 participating local government agencies located throughout Michigan. Along with a variety of bid and vendor management solutions, Missaukee County gains access to a bid library to help with bid creation, a shared pool of vendors, and association with like-minded purchasing professionals in the area.

Collaboration is important to us, says Precia Garland, Administrator of Missaukee County. We think the bid library will really help us save time in drafting more effective bids and access specifications, Garland continued. Plus it makes it easier for our vendors to access our bids.

Vendors interested in doing business with Missaukee County and other nearby government agencies are encouraged to register at http://www.mitn.info. Benefits of joining the MITN Purchasing Group include:



Centralized location for bids from all 174 participating agencies

Bid alerts customized to the vendors products or services

Reliable and timely delivery of notifications, addendums and documents

Advanced notice of Term Contract expiration

E-Bid and E-Quote Submission

The MITN Purchasing Group is one of BidNets regional purchasing groups throughout the country. It provides Missaukee County a bid and vendor management solution, document and addendum distribution, and tracking of all activity throughout the procurement process.

About Missaukee County:

Established in 1871, Missaukee County is located in the central part of northern lower Michigan. With a population of approximately 15,000 Missaukee County is rural in nature and enjoys a strong agricultural sector, with ample farmland supporting dairy, livestock, Christmas tree, and other crop farming. The pristine countryside also makes Missaukee County very attractive for tourism, with its Inland lakes and rivers providing opportunities for outstanding hunting and fishing. Located on the eastern shore of Lake Missaukee, Lake City serves as the county seat and it is here that the Missaukee County offices operate in the interest of the people of Missaukee County.

About MITN Purchasing Group:

MITN Purchasing Group is a part of BidNets regional purchasing groups available at no cost to local government agencies. With years of input from Procurement Professionals, BidNet specifically developed the bid system to fill the need for a robust bid and supplier management solution for local government agencies. BidNet runs regional purchasing groups throughout the country used by over 1,100 local government agencies. To learn more about the features and module available to government agencies, please visit http://www.SourceSuite.com.
Browse Tani USA's Spring/ Summer collection online at www.taniusa.com.

Men's upscale basics and luxury loungewear brand Tani USA launched it's new Spring/ Summer collection, introducing two new premium collections. The new Bond Collection uses the latest hot, bonding technology from Italy. The new Lisbon Collection features ultra-soft pima cotton with a subtle drop needle pinstripe.

These new collections are currently available online at TaniUSA.com

The new Bond Collection takes our FreeForm raw edge undershirt to a new level with the addition of the latest bonding technology from Italy. The sleeves and neck are heat bonded for a clean, sharp look and profile. The hem is a free form cut that is absolutely seamless. The collection includes a V-Neck undershirt ($65) and a muscle tank top undershirt ($60) both available in black and white sizes S-XXL.

The Lisbon Collection inspired by the picturesque city of Portugal, is a new line of mens pima cotton loungewear and underwear. The richest, finest pima cotton is knitted with a subtle drop needle creating a both a visible and textural pinstripe in the fabric. This sophisticated collection is ideal for lounging at home or on a quick jaunt to the neighborhood store. Available in lounge shorts with pockets ($95) and simple trunks ($45) both available in azure and slate and available in sizes S-XXL.

Our best selling SilkCut Collection uses the worlds finest modal fibre to date. Thinner and finer than silk our SilkCut garments are lightweight and breathable. The Spring/Summer collection includes new seasonal colors and patterns to complement its basics assortment. Azure blue and palm tree prints add pops of color that are easy to mix and match. Available in briefs($40), boxers with a button fly ($45), trunks and boxer briefs ($45), lounge shorts ($95), tank tops ($40) and T-shirts ($45).

About Tani USA

Tani USA is a premium Mens loungewear and upscale basic brand founded to meet the demands of the growing population of consumers who appreciate the very best in quality and performance fabrics. We use the most advanced technology to create super soft fabrics that are innovative, sustainable & extremely comfortable.

Our singular mission is to set a new standard in upscale basics and luxury loungewear. We aim to create the worlds best and most comfortable undergarments that change the way you think and feel about underwear.
As President Trump challenges the status quo in Washington, D.C., CEOs, CFOs and HR decision-makers are preparing for how his administration could impact the employee benefits industry. James Slotnick, AVP, Government Relations, for Sun Life Financial will provide insight into what changes are most likely to make it through Congress. His discussion will focus on the current state of repealing and replacing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the likelihood of corporate and individual tax reform, how federal paid family leave could become a reality, and other important issues.

To help HR professionals and business owners get prepared for any potential changes to the employee benefits industry, United Benefit Advisors (UBA), in conjunction with Sun Life Financial, will host a webinarThe Trump Effect: Potential Changes on the Employee Benefits Horizonon Wednesday, May 3, at 2:00 p.m. EDT. To receive complimentary access to the webinar, enter code SLMayWWW at registration. This webinar has been submitted for 1.25 re-certification credit hours from the Human Resource Certification Institute.

While it seems less likely that we will see a full repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act in 2017, the laws future remains in question. Employers need insight more now than ever in order to make the right decisions for their workforce and cost management, says James Slotnick, Assistant Vice President, Government Relations at Sun Life Financial.

ABOUT the Presenter

James Slotnick, JD, Assistant Vice President, Government Relations at Sun Life Financial

For over a decade, James Slotnick has helped employee benefit brokers, financial advisors, and the end-consumer understand the ever-changing insurance industry. Leveraging his sales and legal backgrounds, James is able to break down complex insurance topics into understandable concepts that help both brokers and end-consumers make informed decisions. Most recently, he has been providing education about the impact that health care reform will have on the employee benefits industry. James also frequently speaks about the legislative climate in Washington, Social Security Disability planning, disability plan design, and income tax planning. From 2002 to 2012, James held numerous sales and management roles at Sun Life Financial. After leaving Sun Life in 2012, James became a Director for Prudential Annuities' Advanced Planning Team. James returned to Sun Life in 2013 to become AVP of Advanced Markets and Broker Education. James holds a BA from Saint Anselm College, an MBA from Suffolk University's Sawyer School of Management, and a JD from Suffolk University Law School. He is an active member of the Massachusetts Bar.

ABOUT Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individuals and corporate Clients. Sun Life Financial has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2016, Sun Life Financial had total assets under management of C$903 billion. Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF. In the United States, Sun Life Financial is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving more than 60,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces across the country. Sun Lifes broad portfolio of products and services in the U.S. includes Disability and Absence Management, Life, Dental and Vision, Voluntary and Stop-Loss insurance. This includes the acquisition of the U.S. Employee Benefits business of Assurant, Inc., in Q1 2016. For more information, please visit http://www.sunlife.com/us.

ABOUT United Benefit Advisors

United Benefit Advisors (UBA) is the nations leading independent employee benefits advisory organization with more than 200 offices throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. UBA empowers more than 2,000 Partners to both maintain their individuality and pool their expertise, insight, and market presence to provide best-in-class services and solutions. Employers, advisors and industry-related organizations interested in obtaining powerful results from the shared wisdom of our Partners should visit http://www.UBAbenefits.com.

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Black Box Intelligence, a TDn2K company, has partnered with leading SaaS location intelligence technology platform SiteZeus. Black Box Intelligence average unit volume data will integrate and enhance the SiteZeus platform, making it easier than ever for brands, brokers and developers to screen markets based on actual restaurant revenue performance.

Were very pleased to announce our partnership with SiteZeus. Their state-of-the-art system brings powerful market planning capabilities to a wide variety of organizations. Its an ideal application for our Black Box Intelligence Market Index, which is powered by sales and traffic data from more than 26,000 restaurant units and reflects $67 billion in annual sales revenue, said Bob Rycroft, Managing Director at TDn2K.

The partnership brings the most extensive set of sales data for restaurants to a best-in-class location technology. Through this partnership, restaurant owners and developers can build modules allowing them to make the best business decisions for future expansion.

This partnership with TDn2Ks Black Box Intelligence is an example of two organizations working together to maximize their value and deliver it to the end user. This represents the first partnership of its kind for Black Box Intelligence and we are honored to be the location intelligence technology platform to distribute their analytics, added Keenan Baldwin, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of SiteZeus.

Black Box Intelligence joins a list of other leading data providers that includes: INRIX, UberMedia, Applied Geographic Solutions, CAP Locations and others as part of the SiteZeus Data Exchange.

The integration of Black Box Intelligence into the SiteZeus technology will help brands answer three key questions: Which markets are associated with higher or lower average unit volumes? What percentage of brands exceed their national AUV in each market? And, by market, how do my units compare to competitors from an average volume standpoint?

For more information, visit http://www.sitezeus.com/black-box-intelligence

Attend a demonstration webinar on May 18th, 2017 at 1 pm CT for a walk through of the platform: Click Here To Register.

About TDn2K

TDn2K (Transforming Data into Knowledge) is the parent company of People Report, Black Box Intelligence and White Box Social Intelligence. People Report provides service-sector human capital and workforce analytics for its members on a monthly basis. Black Box Intelligence provides weekly financial and market level data for the restaurant industry. White Box Social Intelligence delivers consumer insights and reveals online brand health. TDn2K membership represents 38,000 restaurant units, 2.3 million employees, and $67 billion in sales. They are also the producers of leading restaurant industry events including the Global Best Practices Conference held annually each January in Dallas, Texas.

About SiteZeus

SiteZeus is the leading SaaS cloud-based location intelligence technology platform available, building higher intelligence around location based decisions by pioneering the use of firsthand machine learning and artificial intelligence. Combining your expertise, the power of big data, and a data agnostic database architecture, with a truly unique and interactive user experience, SiteZeus allows individuals and organizations to mitigate risk, discover efficiencies, and interpret actionable insight from technology that analyzes more data points than humanly possible. For more information, visit http://www.sitezeus.com.
Keene Memorial Library is beginning the process of expanding its facility. The Expansion Project Committee Chair, Jeff Hoffman, and Keene Memorial Library Director, Tina Walker, invite the citizens of Fremont to attend town hall meetings to share their dreams and desires for the future of the library.

Expansion of the current facility is needed to increase the capacity of the library for collections, provide space for programs, and a venue for meetings, classes and events requiring technological needs. The Fremont City Council has approved fundraising efforts to begin the project.

Town hall meetings are planned for noon to 1 p.m. and 5-6 p.m. Wednesday in the large meeting room at Keene Memorial Library. A light lunch will be provided at the noon meetings and refreshments at the 5 p.m. meeting.

An overview of the project to date will be given with a majority of the time given to receiving input from the community.
Kelly and Chris Copeland There are great pet food brands out there, but most of the ones you see at the pet store really more focused on marketing than on nutrition ... At Pet Wants, we live up to our ingredients and wed love to talk to you about what goes into our food.

Chris and Kelly Copeland are excited to bring a new kind of fresh, high-quality pet food to the West Cobb region with their new business  Pet Wants West Cobb.

Pet Wants carefully developed proprietary pet food is slow-cooked in small batches with fresh, high-quality ingredients once per month, so every kibble is guaranteed to be fresh and packed with nutrition. Pet Wants West Cobb is a mobile business and free, personal delivery is available in Acworth, Marietta, Kennesaw and the surrounding communities.

We were looking to start our own business and, since weve always loved animals, we were drawn to Pet Wants. The more we learned about the business and the food, the more excited we got, Kelly said.

We recently had to put down our 12-year-old dog after the vet found a mass in his abdomen. When I went back and looked at the food we were feeding him, I realized it was all junk. Ill always wonder, if wed fed him Pet Wants, would he have lived a longer, healthier life? Were hoping, as Pet Wants owners, well be able to educate people about the differences in pet food so they can make the best decision for their family, Chris said.

In addition to being made fresh monthly, Pet Wants only sources the best salmon, chicken, lamb, brown rice and other ingredients available. Theres no sugar added, no fillers and no animal by-products and Pet Wants never uses corn, wheat, soy or dyes, which makes the food great for animals with allergies. Pet Wants West Cobb  which offers multiple blends of dog food and cat food  also offers healing salve, calming balm, anti-itch spray, paw wax and more.

There are great pet food brands out there, but most of the ones you see at the pet store really more focused on marketing than on nutrition. The bags look great  they have chicken and salmon and vegetables on the bag next to a healthy, happy animal  but their ingredients just dont match up with that marketing. At Pet Wants, we live up to our ingredients and wed love to talk to you about what goes into our food, Chris said.

The Copelands recently adopted a new family member, Bailey, an Aussie/Husky/Lab mix. Theyre looking forward to getting involved with animal shelters and rescues  like the one they got Bailey from  through Pet Wants philanthropic programs.

Were looking forward to getting involved in our community and giving back with programs like Buy, Match, Give, which enables us to donate pet food to local rescues and shelters. Eventually wed like to partner with a new group every month and help their animals by providing fresh, high-quality food, Kelly said.

We are proud to be a part of the pack and excited to provide a new, fresh, high-quality pet food option to families in our community, she added.

Pet Wants originally launched in Cincinnati in 2010. Owned by Michele Hobbs, the business was built to provide proprietary crafted, fresh, slow-cooked, high-quality pet food delivered to customers through a retail store and a convenient home-delivery service. Hobbs, now the company founder, turned the business into a franchise in 2015 with the help of Franchise Funding Group, an investment and franchise-development company designed to help entrepreneurs scale their companies nationally as franchise systems.

To learn more about Pet Wants or to get a free pet food sample, call (678)876-0005, email CCopeland(at)PetWants(dot)com or KCopeland(at)PetWants(dot)com, or visit http://www.PetWantsWestCobb.com.

About Pet Wants: Pet Wants was started by Michele Hobbs out of love for her pets and frustration. Veterinarians were unable to help relieve her dogs painful skin allergies. After doing much research, Michele discovered the national dog food brand she trusted was not fresh and lacked sufficient nutrition and, when pet food sits in warehouses and store shelves for months and months, it loses even more nutritional value. She was committed to developing a better solution for all dogs and cats. Pet Wants food is exclusively crafted  fresh, healthy, and slow-cooked with no sugar added, no fillers, and no animal by-products. Pet Wants sources only the best salmon, chicken, lamb, brown rice, and other ingredients. Fresh ingredients make for better food, which translates into better health for pets. And, since Pet Wants never use corn, wheat, soy or dyes, the common pet health problems associated with these ingredients are no longer worries. Pet Wants fresh food is conveniently delivered to the customer within weeks of production, not months. Learn more at PetWants.com.
No matter where you want to go on vacation, there is always a better, greener way to travel.

In the spirit of this months Earth Day on April 22  celebrated annually to demonstrate support for environmental protection  three of Protravel Internationals best-in-class expert travel agent advisors specializing in eco-tourism and sustainable travel shared their tips and best practices that can be incorporated into each environmentally-conscious travelers plans. With a strong commitment and responsibility to foster more sustainable tourism, Protravels agents are recommending how travelers can reduce their impact on the environment while still enjoying unforgettable vacations to some of the worlds most pristine and even at-risk destinations, including many places in the U.S., as well as Indonesia, Africa, Iceland, and Thailand.

Stay Local  National Parks

Since an essential part of conservation is defending what is already there, travelers should plan to visit our National Parks this year. With so many from which to select  including Yosemite, Olympic, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Big Bend, Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Great Smoky Mountain, Boundary Waters, Everglades, Acadia, and many more  our National Parks, Monuments, and Seashores offer some of the world's most spectacular back-to-basics yet breathtaking experiences.  Robert Becker, one of Protravels most renowned environmentally-conscious New York-Based travel agents.

Eco-Friendly Staycation

Travelers can certainly travel green without having to cut back on a magnificent experience. You can find eco-friendly properties near you for a beautiful staycation. In New York City as well as South Beach, I recommend the 1 Hotel properties known for their eco-luxury philosophy, and natural, pure eco-conscious designs focusing on sustainable practices. The 1 Hotel by the iconic Brooklyn Bridge  right at the waterfront  offers great service and unmatched views of the Manhattan skyline. Make sure you go to Brooklyns farmers markets and do it like a New Yorker by walking or Citi-biking everywhere.  Patricia Serrano Chungsathaporn, another New York-based Protravel expert focusing on sustainable travel.

See the Solar Eclipse  Leaving No Trace Behind

Sometimes taking action and making a statement is simple: travelers can choose from any number of national eco-festivals this summer  one of the biggest of them is going to revolve around the total solar eclipse on August 21. For this unique natural event, you can have a very specific, committed wilderness experience. I have previously created such a trip and personally accompanied my clients showing them how to obtain fresh water and use it, along with how to observe specific no trace left behind principles.  Robert Becker

Protect the Orangutans  Indonesia

Several times a year, I take groups to Kalimantan, Indonesia, for an unforgettable experience and to support the habitat for endangered orangutans. Just last year, Indonesia has been recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) affirming Indonesias commitment to promote sustainable tourism.  Irene Spencer, one of Protravels San Diego-based eco-tour and sustainable tourism specialists personally committed to helping the endangered orangutans by donating a set U.S. dollar amount to the Orangutan Foundation International for each traveler who books a tour with her.

Iceland  Leading by Example

Iceland has not only become one of Europes most popular vacation destinations, but also a global leader in renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction. The country offers a unique natural landscape and phenomenon like the northern lights and provides innovative best practices for preserving cultural heritage for tourism, while protecting natural resources.  Patricia Serrano Chungsathaporn

Ecolodges in Africa

Ecolodges in Africa offer a unique vacation experience, while emphasizing high value on preservation and reducing their environmental impact by striving to be self-sustaining. Some lodges charge an additional conservation fee benefitting its local community or wildlife, others are built only with local materials, use solar power for heating, recycle their water, and/or educate and employ locals with a variety of projects revolving around conservation, research, and sustainable living.  Irene Spencer

Volunteer Tourism  Voluntourism

One way of making a difference is to volunteer during your vacation. You can work with specific initiatives such as reef restoration in the Bahamas, programs in Indonesia and Honduras, or local community programs like the Appalachian Mountain Club maintaining the Appalachian Trail. Some of the largest volunteer-organized groups are the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, and World Wildlife Fund.  Robert Becker, who will work with a University of Arizona study on how the annual cycle of monsoon rains affects the local jaguar corridor just south of Tucson.

Thailand is known for its beautiful beaches, vibrant colors, friendly people, ancient ruins and temples, and magnificent palaces. You can enjoy all of that and still make a change by volunteering in local projects, such as home staying with the hilltribes in the north or picking up plastics and other trash while snorkeling its otherwise beautiful waters and stunning coral reefs.  Patricia Serrano Chungsathaporn, who has recently volunteered for a week in Thailand, herself.

Start with Small Changes

No matter where you want to go on vacation, there is always a better, greener way to travel. I encourage my travelers to ask the right questions, deal with responsible tour operators giving back to the community, choose organic and ecologically sustainable products for personal use, and bring reusable water bottles on all of their trips.  Irene Spencer

Choose destinations and properties that are committed to supporting local agriculture efforts which strengthen local economies and communities. It also helps local farmers, benefits the environment and guarantees that community farms will still be there tomorrow. Another benefit: the taste of locally grown food cant be topped.  Patricia Serrano Chungsathaporn

Let Protravels expert travel agents work for you and help you travel green by calling 800-227-1059. With an award-winning reputation, Protravel International is a recognized leader in corporate and luxury travel. Protravel was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in New York City. With annual sales reaching close to $1 billion last year, it has grown into 20 locations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, plus a network of hosted agents throughout the U.S.

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About Protravel International LLC:

Protravel International LLC is a Travel Leaders Group company. Founded in 1984, Protravel International LLC is a full-service, dynamic travel company with an award-winning reputation. With annual sales reaching close to $1 billion, Protravel is headquartered in New York City and supports 20 locations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, plus a network of hosted agents in all corners of the U.S. Today, approximately 1,000 people make up the Protravel organization. Our expertise in destination, international faring and competitive products  coupled with our superior network of contacts in the airline, hotel, cruise and hospitality industry  makes Protravel one of the most powerful selling forces in the travel industry.

Protravels diversity of products, size of annual sales and nationally recognized stature permits them to leverage these strengths to bring the most competitive pricing and aggressive negotiations for our highly diverse client base. It is a company-wide commitment to search for the best possible travel options for our customers. Travel arrangements are personally tailored to take optimum advantage of the most up to the minute changes in the industry.

For many years, a dedicated team has guided Protravel with innovative ideas and skills. By incorporating the latest technologies and carefully monitoring industry developments, the finest products and highest levels of service are maintained. The continued success of Protravel is a testament to our sound operation and well-planned development.

http://www.protravelinc.com
W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. (Gore) announced today that GORE-FLIGHT Microwave Assemblies and GORE Microwave/RF Assemblies for military aerospace applications have successfully passed stringent U.S. Army flight qualifications on the MH-47 Rotorcraft. Gore provided a complex harness that included more than 100 of their rugged assemblies for the ALQ-211 SIRFC  a critical aircraft survivability system used by the 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment). Gore also provided a similar microwave/RF solution for ASE on the MH-60 Rotorcraft that is expected to pass U.S. Army flight qualifications in the next several months.

Steve Blasey, Director of the Aviation Maintenance Support Office, said, These guys jumped in and supported us when we were having some serious maintenance issues with these cables. We are impressed that we have yet to have a failure on a cable set that was routinely failing us. ASE is a mission requirement, and improved reliability equates to improved availability.

It has been a great honor working with these elite warfighters, said Renee Burba, Product Line Manager for Gores Microwave Assemblies. My team and I are pleased that our solutions not only met but also surpassed the high standards set forth by the U.S. Army for all of their products. We are also happy that our products met the Armys expectations and helped solve the issue with the alternative cables frequently failing in their ASE system.

Gore is also working with the U.S. Army to provide high-speed data interconnects for future APR-39 D(V) 2 Radar Warning Receivers on the Apache D model. Brian Tallman, Product Manager for Gores North American Aerospace Team, said, Future systems will require higher data rates that are more sensitive to signal integrity issues during routing and installation. The Army recognizes that providing electrical margins and installed performance requires new technologies to avoid solutions that add weight.

The 6 Series of GORE-FLIGHT Microwave Assemblies recently earned the highest recognition with a platinum award for product innovation by the Military & Aerospace Electronics 2016 Innovators Awards Program. Gore offers an extensive portfolio of advanced cables, cable assemblies, and materials designed specifically for the harsh conditions military personnel routinely encounter during critical missions. Products include microwave/RF assemblies, high data rate cables, high power delivery cables, aircraft sealants, and shielding materials that are significantly smaller and lighter weight yet more durable for long-lasting performance.

For more information about Gores entire line of products for military applications, visit gore.com or contact a Gore applications specialist at electronics.usa(at)wlgore(dot)com.

About W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Gore is a technology-driven company focused on discovery and product innovation. Well known for waterproof, breathable GORE-TEX fabric, the companys portfolio includes everything from high-performance fabrics and implantable medical devices to industrial manufacturing components and aerospace electronics. Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Newark, Delaware, Gore employs more than 10,000 associates with manufacturing facilities in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and China, and sales offices around the world. Gore is one of a select few companies to appear on all of the U.S. 100 Best Companies to Work For lists since the rankings debuted in 1984. The company also appears regularly on similar lists around the world. Learn more at gore.com.

GORE, GORE-FLIGHT, GORE-TEX and designs are trademarks of W. L. Gore & Associates.
SOAP Report Cover These iconic birds are canaries in the coal mine. They provide critical insights into the dramatic changes taking place in the Antarctic. Whats happening to penguin populations can have important implications for all of us.

The inaugural State Of Antarctic Penguins 2017 (SOAP) report was released today for World Penguin Day, and the findings indicate at least two species of Antarctic penguin, Adelie and chinstrap, have declined significantly where vast warming has occurred on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Oceanites, a leading international science-based NGO studying penguins and other Antarctic seabirds and analyzing impacts on these species, reveals these findings and identifies other important trends about the keystone Antarctic penguin speciesAdelie, chinstrap, emperor, and gentoonoting future concerns about these populations.

The groundbreaking report summarizes for the first time in more than two decades the best available, up-to-date Antarctic penguin population data--aggregating data from 660 or more sites across the entire Antarctic continent and drawing on current scientific data, including 3,176 records from 101 sources of on-the-ground colony counts and satellite photo analyses.

Downloadable SOAP 2017 report and press assets:

A full copy of the State Of Antarctic Penguins 2017 report is available online for free at the Oceanites website: https://oceanites.org/soap/. A PDF copy of the report, along with photographs, maps, graphics, and videos available for use in connection with todays announcement, are available for download here.

The results of the first-of-its-kind report are both significant and alarming, according to Oceanites founder and president Ron Naveen, who presented the findings with key collaborative research partner Heather Lynch at a Press Conference in New York City on World Penguin Day, held at Cinema Village from 3:00-5:00 pm EDT.

In one generation, I have personally witnessed the precipitous decline of once abundant Adelie and chinstrap penguin populations, said Ron Naveen. These iconic birds are canaries in the coal mine. They provide critical insights into the dramatic changes taking place in the Antarctic. Whats happening to penguin populations can have important implications for all of us.

We can now use advanced satellite technology and data analyses to better understand how these penguin populations are changing, said associate professor Heather Lynch, who directs The Lynch Lab for Quantitative Ecology at Stony Brook University, which provides critical scientific expertise for the report. By integrating expert biological field surveys, satellite imagery analyses, and citizen science, we can further enhance our ability to understand the changes taking place in an incredibly important world we are just learning about.

With NASA, Dr. Lynch and her lab developed for Oceanites the Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD), a unique open-ended scientific support tool intended to provide one-stop shopping for scientists studying penguin populations in the Antarctic.

The SOAP report establishes new baselines to monitor these penguin populations in the future, utilizing Oceanites new MAPPPD tool, and incorporates advances in satellite imagery analytical techniques. The report presents findings both continent-wide and per key Antarctic fishing areas designated by Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

Oceanites, through MAPPPD, now has available more on-the-ground censuses than ever before and, importantly, the rapidly developing satellite photo analytical techniques have greatly increased our knowledge and revealed even more colonies. The State Of Antarctic Penguins 2017 report carefully sets forth numbers about Antarctic penguin populations as they now stand, based mostly on what is in Oceanites MAPPPD database. The new satellite analyses are providing new baselines and MAPPPD will have peer-reviewed predictive models available for Oceanites to describe more particularly what the trends will be for the SOAP 2018 report and beyond.

Key findings outlined in State of Antarctic Penguins 2017 report:



Over the past 60+ years in the vastly warmed Antarctic Peninsula, gentoo populations have increased significantly; Adelie penguin populations have, in general, declined significantly; and chinstrap penguin populations have declinedat some locations significantly.

By contrast, in East Antarctica and the Ross Sea, regions that have not experienced a warming trend, Adelie penguin populations appear to be increasing.

The SOAP 2017 report notes various concerns, all related to climate, potentially affecting these penguin populations--most importantly, perhaps, ice sheet collapse both in West and East Antarctica.

Key implications combining SOAP 2017 report findings with other realities



Clearly, in the vastly warmed Antarctic Peninsula, there are winners (rising numbers of gentoos) and losers (decreasing numbers of Adelies and chinstraps), foreboding concerns on whether humans will be able to adapt to warming trends.

Limiting warming to no more than 2C. has become the de facto target for global climate policy; yet the Antarctic Peninsula already has warmed by more than that over the last 60 years  by 3C. / 5F. year-round and by 5C. / 9F. in the austral winter.

Ongoing studies are underway to ascertain whether penguins can maintain the four vitals necessary for adaptation and survival: food, habitat, health (disease-free environment), and reproduction (future generations).

Two species are in decline in the Antarctic Peninsula and another is adapting. Food might be an explanation; all the penguins can eat both krill and fish, but gentoos, at this point in time, appear to have adapted better to reduced krill availability by eating more fish.

Funding to assist in the design, production, and dissemination of State Of Antarctic Penguins 2017 report has graciously been provided by: The Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation, The Elissa and Herbert Epstein Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

For more information on penguins, Antarctica, climate change or the data and research of the Antarctic Site Inventory, please visit the Oceanites website (http://www.oceanites.org). To interact on social media, go to Facebook.com/oceanites, connect on Twitter @Oceanites, or follow the conversation using #StandWithPenguins.

Ron Naveen and the team of Oceanites' biologists are the subject of a new documentary, "The Penguin Counters," which follows the group on its vigorous scientific quest to monitor and map penguin colonies in the frozen Antarctic. Directed and produced by Peter Getzels and Harriet Gordon, the award-winning film is providing video clips for media use in conjunction with the SOAP 2017 report announcement to coincide with the theatrical release of the film in New York City by First Run Features for World Penguin Day, and there will be a special screening with filmmakers following the press conference. To learn more information about "The Penguin Counters," visit http://www.penguincountersmovie.com.

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About Oceanites

Oceanites has been the leading NGO research organization for over 23 years studying penguins and other Antarctic seabirds and analyzing the impacts of climate change. Oceanites and the Antarctic Site Inventory are the only non-governmental science projects working in Antarctica and the only projects monitoring and analyzing change across the vastly warming Antarctic Peninsula and effects on penguins, wildlife, land, ice, and surrounding Southern Ocean. Oceanites is an invited expert group invited to meetings of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and regularly contributes papers to Antarctic Treaty Commission Meetings. Oceanites founder Ron Naveen is a reformed lawyer turned researcher and frequent author who has been to the Antarctic for 31 of the last 34 years, working with key international governmental, scientific and private sector organizations. Oceanites is the subject of the award-winning documentary, The Penguin Counters, released in New York City in April 2017 to coincide with the first State Of Antarctic Penguins 2017 report and World Penguin Day. For more information, visit http://www.oceanites.org.

Media Contacts:

Eileen Campion, Roslan & Campion PR / 212.966.4600 (x.102) / Eileen(at)rc-pr.com

Eddie Ward, Roslan & Campion PR / 212.966.4600 (x.104) / Eddie(at)rc-pr.com
June 24 - 28, 2017 Zika emergence is a wake-up call to bring together the best of team science to understand the biology of Zika infections, its control and prevention.

As Spring reignites vigilance against Zika virus-carrying mosquitoes, scientists leading the way in unveiling cutting-edge birth defects research related to Zika virus during pregnancy, as well as other prenatal exposures like cocaine, are being recognized by the worlds premier society for this important science.

The Teratology Society is an international and multidisciplinary group of scientists including researchers, clinicians, epidemiologists, and public health professionals from academia, government and industry who study birth defects, reproduction, and disorders of developmental origin. Through its 2017 Teratology Society Awards and Special Lectures, more than a dozen scientists will be recognized for advancing the science of birth defects research.

Among the honorees will be Jose Cordero, MD, MPH, a Patel Distinguished Professor of Public Health at the University of Georgia College of Public Health. Hes a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Assistant Surgeon General of the Public Health Service who currently conducts Zika virus research in Puerto Rico. Zika emergence is a wake-up call to bring together the best of team science to understand the biology of Zika infections, its control and prevention, explained Dr. Cordero. Hell present the Josef Warkany Lecture, Preventing Congenital Zika Syndrome: Lessons Learned from Rubella Elimination, at the Teratology Societys Annual Meeting June 24  28, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. Joining the Teratology Society was transformational. It became my main source of research ideas and the best venue to present research findings, he added.

Other scientific accomplishments being honored this year include research in prenatal cocaine exposure, as well new data illustrating the continued worldwide prevalence of neural tube defects, malformations that could be prevented through proper folic acid supplementation during pregnancy.

The 2017 Teratology Society award recipients and special lecturers include:

Robert L. Brent Lecture: Teratogen Update

Jan M. Friedman, MD, PhD, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Scheduled presentation: In Bed with the Devil: Recognizing Human Teratogenic Exposures.

Josef Warkany Lecture

Jose F. Cordero, MD, MPH, University of Georgia, Atlanta, GA

Scheduled presentation: Eliminating Congenital Zika Syndrome: Lessons Learned from Rubella Elimination.

F. Clarke Fraser New Investigator Award

Evi Struble, PhD, US Food and Drug Administration, Washington D.C.

Scheduled presentation: Antibody Therapeutics: Structure, Function, and Placental Transfer.

Patricia Rodier Mid-Career Award for Research and Mentoring

Sonia Minnes, PhD, MA, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Scheduled presentation: Project Newborn: What We Have Learned from 20 Years of Research on Prenatal Cocaine Exposure?

James G. Wilson Publication Award for the best paper published in the journal Birth Defects Research

Vijaya Kancherla, MD, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Scheduled presentation: A 2015 global update on folic acid-preventable spina bifida and anencephaly.

Agnish Fellowship

Elaine Z. Francis, Sandcastle Toxicology Associates, Ventnor City, NJ

Scheduled presentation Why and How We Must Be Lifelong Educators-Even if Its Not in Our Job Titles.

Edward W. Carney Distinguished Service Award

John M. DeSesso, PhD, Exponent, Alexandria, VA

Edward W. Carney Trainee Award

Marie McKenzie, MS, University of Georgia, Athens GA

Birth Defects Research Distinguished Scholar Awards

Lorenzo D. Botto, MD, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Robert E. Chapin, PhD, New London, CT

Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Travel Awards

Alaeddin Abukabda, West Virginia University

Bhavesh Ahir, The University of Illinois at Chicago

Shaukat Ali, The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

Jesse Argueta, California State University, San Bernardino

Malia Ashley, University of New Mexico

Karen Boschen, University of North Carolina

Desire Buckley, University of Texas at Austin

Kai Craenen, SCK-CEN and KUL

Andreas Giannakou, Division of Intramural Population Health Research, NICHD

Brian Johnson, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Allyson Kennedy, Virginia Commonwealth University

Laetitia Laurent, INRS

Valerie McDonald, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

Marie McKenzie, University of Georgia

Haley Meade, Virginia Tech

Hoang Nguyen, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

Nelson Pace, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Krystal Rychlik, Texas A&M

Katerine Saili, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency

Shikhar Shrestha, University of New Mexico

Nicole Sparks, University of California, Riverside

Teresa Ubina, California State University, San Bernardino

Yislain Villalona, Northern Kentucky University

Sara Vliet, University of California, Riverside

Lauren Walker, University of California, Riverside

Penghua Yang, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Jianxiang Zhong, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Todd Zurlinden, US Environmental Protection Agency

For a full list of Teratology Society awards and recipients, please visit:

http://www.teratology.org/meetings/2017/awards.asp

About the Teratology Society

The Teratology Society is made up of nearly 700 members worldwide specializing in a variety of disciplines, including developmental biology and toxicology, reproduction and endocrinology, epidemiology, cell and molecular biology, nutritional biochemistry, and genetics as well as the clinical disciplines of prenatal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, neonatology, medical genetics, and teratogen risk counseling. Scientists interested in membership in the Teratology Society are encouraged to visit http://www.teratology.org.

More information on the annual meeting program may be found on the 57th Annual Meeting website.

The societys official journal, Birth Defects Research, is published by John Wiley & Sons in partnership with the Teratology Society.

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Media Contact: Nicole Chavez, 619-368-3259, nchavez(at)teratology.org
Second-Year Scholarship Program Flyer 2017

Account Control Technology Foundation (herein ACT Foundation), a non-profit, charitable foundation established by the founders of Account Control Technology Holdings, Inc., is now accepting applications for its annual scholarship programs, which provides $2,000 individual awards to students nationwide.

The ACT Foundation Second-Year Scholarship Program is for current college first-year students who plan and qualify to enroll as sophomores in a four-year college or university in the fall of 2017. A total of six $2,000 scholarships will be awarded to students nationwide.

The ACT Cares Community Scholarship Program is for graduating high school seniors from specific communities who will attend a four-year college or university beginning in the fall of 2017. Applicants must be current seniors at high schools within select counties surrounding our ACT Holdings, Inc. offices, including Kern and Los Angeles counties in California; Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties in Ohio; Dallas, Denton, Collin, Harris and Tom Green counties in Texas; Fulton, DeKalb and Augusta-Richmond counties in Georgia; Palm Beach County in Florida; Prince William County in Virginia; Montgomery County in Alabama; Peoria County in Illinois; Maricopa County in Arizona; King County in Washington and Westchester County in New York. A total of six $2,000 scholarships will be awarded.

The application deadline for both programs is June 1, 2017. The scholarship selection process will be administered independently by Scholarship Management Services. Application guidelines and past winners lists are available on the ACT Foundations website at http://www.accountcontrolfoundation.org.

In addition to providing information on its scholarship programs, the ACT Foundation website offers content and links to help students plan and pay for college, as well as gain tips to improve their financial wellness.

About the ACT Foundation

The Account Control Technology Foundation is a charitable organization established by Dale and Debbie Van Dellen with a stated mission to improve the future of students and the greater community by offering financial literacy and debt management education, mentorship and support to those in need. For more information, email marketing(at)accountcontrol(dot)com or visit http://www.accountcontrolfoundation.org

About Account Control Technology Holdings, Inc. (ACT Holdings)

Account Control Technology Holdings, Inc. provides comprehensive business process outsourcing and financial services to diverse industries. Our companies partner with clients to help them run the business behind their operations so they can focus on what they do best  whether its serving customers, educating students, caring for patients, or keeping communities moving forward. ACT Holdings companies include Account Control Technology, Inc. and Convergent, Inc. and have 18 offices with more than 4,800 employees. For more information, visit http://www.accountcontrolholdings.com
With ServiceNows latest Istanbul release, the ability to offer integrated communications within the ServiceNow framework has never been easier or more timely.

3CLogic, a leading provider of cloud communication as a service, today announced its Silver sponsorship of ServiceNows annual Knowledge17 conference. The conference will take place May 7th-11th, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

This marks the third consecutive year sponsoring the event as 3CLogic showcases its ServiceNow certified call center and Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), including intelligent Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), Click-to-call, Skills-based Routing, configurable Call Recording, Chat, Social Media, Real-time Reporting & Analytics, Dynamic Scripting, and more. With a fast growing customer base, the platform addresses multiple verticals within the ServiceNow ecosystem, such as ITSM, Customer Service Management (CSM), and HR, with a specific focus on optimizing agent efficiency, providing greater change control across communication channels, and improving administrative visibility into what drives successful customer engagements and outcomes.

With ServiceNows latest Istanbul release, the ability to offer integrated communications within the ServiceNow framework has never been easier or more timely, explains Denis Seynhaeve, CEO at 3CLogic. Our rapidly growing number of ServiceNow clients proves that the key to customer satisfaction resides in providing multiple choices for customer interactions, while using data and advanced workflow orchestration to manage and streamline the customer experience.

In addition to its advanced integration with ServiceNow, enterprises across four continents have also enjoyed 3CLogics flexible deployment options, available in either pure or hybrid cloud, hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The flexibility has allowed organizations and departments to leverage existing on-premise or legacy systems (i.e: Cisco, Avaya, etc.) or fully migrate to cloud depending on their business requirements.

Now in its eleventh year, Knowledge17 is typically branded as the worlds largest gathering of service management professionals using enterprise cloud services and is expected to host over 15,000 attendees this year. As a sponsor 3CLogic will be exhibiting at booth #509.

About 3CLogic

3CLogic is a leading provider of cloud call center software, offering a seamlessly integrated multichannel and Computer Telephony Integrations (CTI) platform for todays enterprise businesses. Designed to complement existing operational workflows and/or on-premise legacy systems, 3CLogic provides a unified 360-degree view to optimize and analyze client interactions for either sales, customer support, or call center organizations. Built on a unique architecture hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), 3CLogic provides both a pure or hybrid cloud solution while delivering market-leading security, scalability, system flexibility, and reliability. For more information, please visit http://www.3clogic.com or blog.3clogic.com.
Ace Technology Partners, one of the most respected public sector technology providers in the U.S., just announced that National Sales and Business Development Director Jaime Albizures was named to CRNs prestigious SLED Board of Advisors.

Ace Technology Partners CEO John Samborski said, We are very pleased that Jaime received this recognition for his hard work and achievement in this sector. He is a key member of our management team and we consider CRN a top industry publication.

The SLED market represents five levels of government (state, city, local, education and special districts) representing about 30,000 purchasing agencies buying products and services for roughly 90,000 different entities. SLED organizations spend over $1.5 trillion annually.

Ace Technology Partners and its affiliate Ace Computers have been technology industry leaders for more than 30 years with deep roots in the SLED market. The companies are regarded as top custom system integrators globally and major technology solutions providers for the federal government, education, and state and local governments as well as enterprises.

One of the reasons we have been so successful in this market is that we maintain a continually evolving, but robust strategy centered on growing key relationships, Albizures said. We are not just technology providers, more importantly we are problem solvers that understand each clients missions, goals, initiatives and budgets.

Albizures began his sales career in 1999 with Creative Computers (now PCM). He was a key member of the Public-Sector Sales Division and held the position of Government Sales Director for 15 years. Prior to his sales career he spent seven years as the IT Operations Manager and Director for Morgan Stanley in the West Coast.

CRN parent, The Channel Company, is hosting an XChange SLED event May 23-24 in Buckhead, Ga., with Platinum Sponsors Lenovo and Oracle. The series of events constitutes the largest independent gathering of ISVs, integrators, consultants, contractors, suppliers, customers and vendors in the public sector IT channel.

Acknowledged as one of the finest custom technology resellers in the U.S., ISO 9001 Certified Ace Technology Partners currently holds the following contracts: NETCENTS 2, SEWP V, NASPO ValuePoint (formerly WSCA), and CMAS (Calif.). It is a Woman-Owned Small Business operating in both the public sector and commercial sector. Channel partners include Intel, Supermicro, NVIDIA, Mellanox and Samsung among others. Ace Technology Partners is an authorized Microsoft Surface Partner. The company has been an industry leader since 1983. In addition to some of the finest academic institutions in the U.S., long-term clients include the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defense. Its principal, recognized industry expert John Samborski, is an alumnus of Intels prestigious board of advisors. In addition to its Greater Chicago headquarters, Ace Technology Partners has locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Nevada. To contact Ace Technology Partners, call 1-877-223-2667 or 1-847-952-6900 or visit http://www.acetechpartners.com. For media inquiries, contact Jeanna Van Rensselar at Smart PR Communications; 630-363-8081; jeanna(at)smartprcommunications.com.
10 Best Water recently released the names of the winners of its Best Water Brand awards. The top position in the winners roster for April 2017 went to Tibet 5100, followed by Waiakea.

The convenience and beneficial nature of bottled water has helped it become one of the most vital resources for the modern world, and there are a number of popular bottled water brands on the market. However, some of those brands are nothing more than municipal tap water that has been packaged into a pretty bottle. Why pay more for tap water that does not provide any additional benefits? Consumers need to be careful when they select their premium bottled water, but how can they know which brands are worth the price?

10 Best Water has started a new monthly ranking system that weighs the most popular bottled water brands against each other. Only the top brands are included in the top ten ranking that is released every month by 10 Best Water, so consumers can rest assured they are getting a quality product when they select one from this list. The first three winners for April of 2017 are outlined below, and the full list of all ten winners can be viewed online.

With more than 10 years of experience in the bottled water field, Tibet 5100 has certainly earned the distinction of being the best water brand for the month of April. Tibet 5100 is a leading water brand that collects water from high in the secluded Tibetan mountains, and every drop is superbly protected against modern pollution. Only the purest water is bottled in Tibet 5100, and even the bottling facility itself is kept sterile.

It only took Waiakea a few years to go from the newest bottled water brand in America to the most awarded. Waiakea is the top water label from Hawaii, and they were the first brand of bottled water in America to earn a carbon-neutral rating. That rating is due to their efforts to combat deforestation. Their water comes from the naturally-filtered springs of Hawaii, and it is filtered through porous volcanic sediment for a crisp, smooth taste.

Fiji Water also emerged as one of this months best water brands. Fiji Water is collected from a vast aquifer located in its namesake island nation of Fiji. It has a consistent pH of 7.7, which is ideally suited for human consumption, and it provides a soft, nearly sweet taste on the tongue that is the result of the alkalinity found within.

To learn more about the award winners for this month, visit http://www.10bestwater.com.
Flight Guru lets clients browse, shop and book cheap business and first class flights via a proprietary online booking engine within minutes.

Flight Guru, a sister company of the established international business and first class discount fare service, Alpha Flight Guru, is proud to announce its website launch. Flight Guru is an online flight search engine that lets visitors search, browse and book cheap business and first class airfare instantly.

The goal of Flight Guru is to work symbiotically with Alpha Flight Guru. The two entities are complementary to each other, explained Alex Scoble, Chief Marketing Officer of Flight Guru. Alpha Flight Guru specializes in offering a personalized white-glove booking service which gives clients the ability to work with a concierge agent when booking flights. On the other hand, Flight Guru lets clients browse, shop and book cheap business and first class flights via a proprietary online booking engine within minutes.

Consumers as well as journalists and bloggers are encouraged to try out Flight Guru at https://flightguru.com/, and begin a search for the lowest business class and first class fares to cities as diverse as London or Frankfurt in Europe, or Tokyo or Beijing in Asia. Those who are frequent travelers are encouraged to use the 'subscribe' button to subscribe for last-minute deals in airfare.

Flight Guru: a Unique Service for Business and First Class Discount Airfares

Flight Guru specializes in finding the cheapest business class and first class flights. Flight Guru is similar to Priceline, Orbitz, and Kayak, but the major difference is access to inventory not listed on those other sites. The service can offer much deeper discounts, especially on last minute flights from major airlines. Although competitors claim to do the same, Flight Guru's unique flight search algorithm improves the chances of finding the cheapest unpublished airfare rates. Depending on a flights retail value, the service usually saves at least $1,000 off a published fare from top airlines.

With Flight Guru, a customer can simply run his or her own flight search for flight deals via the website. Select preferred departure and return dates for business class or first class flights. Then, complete the secure checkout. After the customer buys first class or business class tickets, Flight Guru then contacts the airlines directly to secure the cheapest available airfare.

Flight Guru's sister company, Alpha Flight Guru (https://alphaflightguru.com/), is an industry leader in white-glove luxury travel. For over 7 years, AFG has been focused on getting the best flight deals for customers. While Alpha Flight Guru provides customers with a one-on-one booking approach, Flight Guru allows flyers to use an online booking engine to search for flights, get comparative information from multiple airlines, and book online with just a few clicks.

About Flight Guru

Flight Guru specializes in finding the cheapest business class and first class flights online. With Flight Guru, customers can simply run their own flight search for flight deals via the website. Select a preferred departure and return dates for business class or first class flights. Then, complete the secure checkout.

Web. https://flightguru.com/

Tel. 855-475-0257
U.S. Senator Ben Sasse has announced that a member of his staff will be hosting a mobile office from 2-4 p.m. Friday at Keene Memorial Library in Fremont.

These office hours will provide Nebraskans with a face-to-face opportunity to speak with a member of Senator Sasses staff about federal government-related issues. A constituent services representative will be on hand to offer guidance and aid to Nebraskans who require help navigating Washingtons federal bureaucracy.

The same services are offered by Sasses staff in each of his state offices. Constituent services representatives can be reached at 402-476-1400.
Chandler's Roofing has become an active member of the WSRCA This new partnership will provide much needed employment opportunities for youth and women, with an opportunity to join a highly respected workforce field.

In an effort to help tackle some of the challenges faced by the roofing and solar industry, longtime National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) member and GAF Master Elite Presidents Club awarded contractor, Chandlers Roofing of San Pedro, CA recently joined the Western States Roofing Contractors Association (WSRCA) and partnered with non-profit organization Women In Non Traditional Employment Roles (W.I.N.T.E.R.).

The roofing industry is facing several key challenges that requires the focus of industry leading contractors, manufacturers and distributors to overcome, including an aging work force and workforce gap, technology / solar / robotics advancements, immigration reform and stifling regulations.

We can all sit and gripe about the issues that the industry will face over the coming years, or we can come together as industry business leaders, roll up our sleeves and help solve the challenges, commented Chandlers Roofing partner and president, Trevor Leeds. We have been a member of the NRCA on a national level since 2006 and we felt there were western region focused issues and even more specifically, Los Angeles and Orange County roofing and solar matters that we could potentially help solve which led us to the WSRCA and WINTER. We are excited to work closely with both organizations.

Chandlers Roofing expects to get involved in WSRCA events and committees while getting more entrenched in helping communicate with local, state and federal politicians on issues the roofing industry faces. We are excited to have Chandlers Roofing as part of the Western States family. Chandlers president, Trevor Leeds was introduced to us, with the highest recommendations, as one of the most progressive thinkers in our industry. We love it when members fully engage with the association, and utilize the resources WSRCA offers. They'll be great to work with, stated WSRCA Director of Membership, Alec Ward.

Through WINTER, Chandlers Roofing is looking to build a partnership within the greater Los Angeles community to help bring women and at risk youth into the roofing industry with the help of Chandlers industry, manufacturing, distribution and contractor relationships in the region. There is a huge workforce gap in our industry right now and an aging workforce that will soon be retiring out of roofing, states Leeds. Additionally we have a real problem getting women into the roofing industry while concurrently some of our local public high schools are seeing elevated dropout rates. Getting involved with WINTER gives us an ability to help educate our youth on the many opportunities that the roofing industry provides, while preparing these young women and men with the skills necessary to enter the roofing workforce.

Women In Non Traditional Employment Roles is excited to work with Chandler's Roofing in San Pedro. This new partnership will provide much needed employment opportunities for youth and women, with an opportunity to join a highly respected workforce field, shared Alexandra Torres Galancid, Executive Director of W.I.N.T.E.R.

The roofing industry in the US is a multi-billion dollar industry comprised of many different channels including residential and commercial contracting, manufacturing, distribution and ancillary technology service companies that support the industry. Additionally, solar and other leading technologies will play a greater role within the roofing industry over the coming years.

We must stay ahead of the curve and keep focused on how technology advancements will change our industry over the coming decades to remain competitive as a company and as an industry, commented Leeds.

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About Chandlers Roofing:

Originally established in 1942, Chandler's Roofing has been recognized both regionally in Southern California and nationally, earning leading roofing industry awards such as 2011 Roofing Contractor of the Year, 2010-16 Angie's List Super Service Awards and the prestigious Master Elite Presidents Club award status with America's largest roofing manufacturer, GAF from 2013-16. With a long history in high quality craftsmanship, Chandler's Roofing is skilled in multiple residential, commercial and industrial roofing applications, providing complete, solar, rain gutter, insulation, skylight and custom sheet metal solutions to its clients. For more information about Chandler's Roofing visit http://www.chandlersroofing.com.

About WSRCA:

Western States Roofing Contractors Association is a non-profit regional association of roofing, roof deck and waterproofing contractors and industry related associate members. The WSRCAs purpose is to provide assistance to enable its members to operate successfully and competitively, and is vital to the successful operation of member companies. For more information about WSRCA visit http://www.wsrca.com.

About W.I.N.T.E.R.:

W.I.N.T.E.R. YouthBuild Program offers students an opportunity to become new contributors in the community with students receiving the necessary life skills and job readiness training to successfully transition into a career. W.I.N.T.E.R. is committed to community transformation through education, life skills training, employment training, violence prevention strategies, and family advocacy.

W.I.N.T.E.R. YouthBuild Program champions the spirit of progressive education by providing a rigorous, standards-based education and the opportunity to experience the world around us.

In addition to core academic classes, W.I.N.T.E.R. provides a rich elective and innovating program that offers our students a chance to explore construction and the public utilities industry. W.I.N.T.E.R. students can test drive a career and learn about the skills and earning potential these careers offer. For more information about W.I.N.T.E.R. visit http://www.winterwomen.org.
Colby Crib and Dresser from Carter's by DaVinci Collection Were proud to draw upon both Carters and Million Dollar Baby Co's histories of providing outstanding products at great value. Monika Shah, Brand Director, Million Dollar Baby Co

Popular juvenile furniture brand DaVinci and manufacturer Million Dollar Baby Co announced today that they have collaborated with childrens apparel leader Carters on a co-branded furniture line. Consisting of cribs, dressers and toddler rails, the line will be available in June at Target, Amazon, buybuy BABY, Walmart and other large retailers.

We see a lot of alignment with Carters values and brand, said Monika Shah, Brand Director, Million Dollar Baby Co. Were proud to draw upon both companies histories of providing outstanding products at great value.

The line is consistent with Carters style and includes cribs and dressers. All cribs in the introductory line are 4-in-1 convertible cribs, meaning they can be converted to toddler beds, daybeds, and full-sized beds. Future product launches will include mini-cribs and additional storage options such as changing tables.

Pricing for the line is competitive with cribs starting at $179. All cribs will also be GREENGUARD Gold certified for low chemical emissions, contributing to improved air quality in the rooms in which the products are used. The cribs will be among the most affordable GreenGuard GOLD certified cribs in the market, consistent with both brands commitment to providing outstanding value.

While Carters gets many requests for licensing concepts, we have to be very selective. said Kendra Krugman, Sr. Vice President, Carters Brands and Licensing. With every single one, we make sure were entering into a partnership with a company that shares Carters brand values and operates with the same integrity we do.

She continued, By teaming up with Million Dollar Baby Co, Carters is able to offer a natural extension of our existing product line, providing parents with baby furniture thats thoughtfully designed and made to the same quality standards we set for all our products.

Were very excited about this new opportunity, and look forward to offering our customers this exceptional product line.

ABOUT DAVINCI

DaVinci has been dedicated to providing the best in quality, safety and design to parents for more than 25 years. Each product is thoughtfully designed and thoroughly tested in part through active partnerships with the leading authorities on safety. DaVinci seeks to provide parents with peace of mind at an excellent value. To date, the brand has served over one million families with its award-winning products. Additional info may be found at http://www.davincibaby.com

ABOUT MILLION DOLLAR BABY CO

Million Dollar Baby Co designs and manufactures juvenile furniture ranging from best-selling DaVinci cribs to iconic, award-winning Nursery Works designs. Based just east of downtown Los Angeles, Million Dollar Baby Co boasts a small yet savvy and diverse team that designs products in-house for seven established brands including: Nursery Works, Babyletto, Million Dollar Baby Classic, DaVinci, Franklin & Ben, Ubabub and Capsule. Additional info may be found at http://www.milliondollarbabyco.com

ABOUT CARTERS

Carters, Inc. is the largest branded marketer in the United States and Canada of apparel and related products exclusively for babies and young children. The Company owns the Carters and OshKosh B'gosh brands, two of the most recognized brands in the marketplace. These brands are sold in leading department stores, national chains, and specialty retailers domestically and internationally. They are also sold through nearly 1,000 Company-operated stores in the United States and Canada and online at http://www.carters.com, http://www.oshkoshbgosh.com, and http://www.cartersoshkosh.ca. The Companys Just One You, Precious Firsts, and Genuine Kids brands are available at Target, and its Child of Mine brand is available at Walmart. The Company also owns Skip Hop, a global lifestyle brand for families with young children. Carters is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Additional information may be found at http://www.carters.com.
DrayNows true potential lies in the way it utilizes technology to truly harmonize intermediaries, carriers and truck drivers.

The Genacast Ventures backed startup, DrayNow, founded by trucking industry veterans, announces its launch today aiming to harmonize the Intermodal Industry and eliminate barriers between stakeholders. The DrayNow Marketplace is set to go live in the Chicago market in May with additional markets to launch in the coming months.

Today, the North American intermodal industry is a $40 billion dollar market that is complex and outdated in design. Even with 60 million intermodal drayage moves made annually (Source: IANA), the growing space still lacks flexibility, simplicity and speed. With increased interdependence between carriers, intermediaries and their shippers, increased efficiencies are being demanded to maintain capacity, service, visibility and profitability, but the industry lags behind in technology solutions until now.

DrayNow is led by founders Mike Albert, Brad Frith, and Craig Probe, who have made it their mission to drive opportunity in the Intermodal space using their operational expertise supported by technology. After more than a year of development, they are excited to bring a technological and operational solution and service to market. The DrayNow Intermodal Marketplace provides flexible, dependable work to truck drivers and efficient, timely access to drayage capacity. The Marketplace is accessed by 3PLs, IMCs and brokers through a desktop interface where users can view truck capacity in real-time, post loads, track load status and obtain electronic documents immediately. With DrayNows mobile application, truck drivers can browse loads, compare rates and details, select loads, deliver loads and get paid fast.

From behind the wheel to behind a desk, all parts of the intermodal industry need to seamlessly work together, says DrayNows CEO and co-founder, Mike Albert. As industry veterans, my partners and I understand that drivers wish for a world where they can balance a home life and a career  3PLs, IMCs, and brokers wish for an efficient way to find capacity to carry their loads  and railroads have a constant concern that the supply of truck drivers will be insufficient to achieve revenue growth.

Beyond technical features, DrayNow provides stakeholders a way to turn stress into profit. DrayNows true potential lies in the way it utilizes technology to truly harmonize intermediaries, carriers and truck drivers, adds Albert. As technology makes communication and data transfer easier, DrayNow is focused on improving the overall relationship between carriers, intermediaries and their shippers, giving all parties increased ease of doing business, while improving cash flow.

Gil Beyda, Founder and Managing Partner of Genacast Ventures, explains his investment thesis: "As we researched the shipping space we found that transporting containers from rail yards to warehouses is the critical last 200 miles of the shipping chain, yet is lacking technology to bring much needed efficiencies. We invested in DrayNow because the team brings decades of experience and solves this inefficiency with ground-breaking technology. We are excited to work with DrayNow to help revolutionize intermodal shipping."

As Albert explains, DrayNow creates a competitive advantage in the marketplace. We recognize that most carriers dont have the luxury of large internal staff to optimize operations, and intermediaries are burdened with the back office expense of chasing capacity and rates, so we have removed the barriers and provided a marketplace to support and connect them directly.
HomeMetry.com HomeMetry.com allows home buyers and property investors to easily learn the complete sales and rental activity in any market. Past News Releases RSS HomeMetry.com Expands Property...

HomeMetry, the national address and property directory, has released a new real estate market activity overview for every neighborhood in the country. The overviews have been added to each property listing in the directory. This means that in addition to the individual property records, users can now easily learn the complete sales and rental activity on the street or across the entire neighborhood.

Frequently during the home buying process, purchasers and investors seek out similar and nearby properties for comparison to better understand the market trends. These similar property comps are incredibly valuable to buyers in evaluating the amount of their offer to purchase. The information in these recent sale and rental records can greatly affect the ability to afford a new home or find a profitable investment. Historically, this information has been held by real estate agents in private systems leaving potential property purchasers at their whim.

The new real estate market activity overviews available, only on HomeMetry, put the property buyers and investors in control of their research and evaluation. The overviews include every available property listing, home and commercial property sale and rental from the past two years. Real estate agents no longer control the information that allow buyers to make better, more informed decisions. Home buyers and property investors can find all the relevant properties and important information in this free, easy to use resource.

Take control of real estate research today with the new market activity overviews available only on HomeMetry.com.

About HomeMetry

HomeMetry (https://homemetry.com/) provides information about every property in the country. Each listing contains all property related records needed in making a decision: home values, sales history, taxes, size, structure characteristics, neighborhood information, local organizations, and other valuable information.

Contact: HomeMetry America, Inc.

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City Toyota partner of Loyalty app We see many potential benefits arising from this new partnership with Loyalty app. The program is an excellent way to provide additional value to each of our guests and has the power to help specific dealerships improve customer retention.

City Toyota is the latest partner to join Loyalty app, the Western Australian mobile rewards program with points as good as cash.

Under the partnership, City Toyota will award loyalty points to every guest who uses Loyalty app to make a purchase at one of its three dealerships.

City Toyotas Guest Experience Coordinator Barry Evans recognizes the advantages of aligning these dealerships with a local loyalty program.

We see many potential benefits arising from this new partnership with Loyalty app. The program is an excellent way to provide additional value to each of our guests and has the power to help specific dealerships improve customer retention.

Loyalty app Director Ronnie Elhaj welcomes City Toyota to the program.

As Toyota is such a significant brand, we see this partnership as a strong endorsement for the program and the value it can provide to West Australians.

Loyalty app is a true coalition program and is the first of its kind in Australia. It offers local businesses the opportunity to reward customers for purchasing big ticket items such as homes, furniture and now cars as well. Unlike other loyalty programs, users can earn points faster on every dollar they spend. Users can also pay with points and refer friends to earn even more points.

For more information on Loyalty app, visit http://www.loyaltyapp.com.au.
Retina Group of New York The Low Vision/Technology Fair is a unique opportunity for patients with low vision to obtain information about many low vison and non-visual aids and support services in one location

Retina Group of New York (RGONY) is pleased to announce support as an exhibitor for SEE FOR YOURSELF 2017, a Low Vision/Technology Resource Fair for people who are blind or visually impaired, at the Suffolk Cooperative Library System (SCLS) on Friday, May 5, 2017 any time between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. Admission is free. It is recommended to leave at least 90 minutes to visit all the exhibitors.

The "SEE FOR YOURSELF" Low Vision/Technology Fair will be held at The Suffolk Cooperative Library, 627 North Sunrise Service Road, (Exit 55), Bellport, New York 11713, (East of Route 101, Patchogue-Yaphank Road). Information is available by calling 631-286-1600 (voice) or TTY: 631-286-4546. Please contact them in advance if reasonable accommodation for a disability is required. Transportation cannot be provided.

Vendors will provide hands-on demonstrations of assistive technology, while representatives from several non-profit organizations, county agencies and service providers will offer information that will enhance the lives of people living with vision loss including:



Magnification devices

Reading machines

Computers with voice, large print, braille

Devices for daily living

Service Providers & County Agencies

Also, look for representatives from your public library to learn about the resources that they offer.

James M. Maisel, MD, Chairman and Founder of Retina Group of New York, served on the American Academy of Ophthalmology Low Vision Committee and is a recognized expert in diagnosis and treatment of many of the leading causes of blindness including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal degenerations. According to Dr. Maisel, The Low Vision/Technology Fair is a unique opportunity for patients with low vision to obtain information about many low vision and non-visual aids and support services in one location. The Retina Group of New York will be providing educational information for patients with visual impairment regarding newer procedures, technologies and medications to diagnose, prevent or regain vision.

About Retina Group of New York

The Retina Group of New York has provided tertiary vitreoretinal care to patients in Nassau and Suffolk Counties since 1986 at its offices in Hicksville and Hauppauge. The practice is limited to medical and surgical retinal problems. These commonly include diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion, retinal detachment, macular pucker, macula hole, surgery complications, uveitis, Plaquenil toxicity, retinal degenerations and second opinions. For more information on The Retina Group of New York, visit http://www.rgony.com, or call 516-939-6100 or 631-273-1818 for appointments.

About Outreach Services, Suffolk Cooperative Library System

Founded in 1961, the Suffolk Cooperative Library System exists to help local public libraries provide the best in traditional and innovative public library service to all the people of Suffolk County at numerous branches throughout Suffolk County. The Suffolk Cooperative Library System is also the home of the Long Island Assistive Technology Center. This area of the library system is dedicated to assistive technology for individuals who cannot use traditional print materials. The Center offers free demonstrations of Adaptive hardware and software for people living with a visual or a learning disability. Demonstrations in the center are by appointment only.
Our teams drive for innovation has propelled our growth, enabling us to hire additional staff, invest in their development, and purchase leading edge equipment and technology to better serve our customers.

Strouse, along with the Carroll County Department of Economic Development, is pleased to announce plans to construct a manufacturing facility in the Westminster Technology Park in Carroll County, Maryland.

The construction of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is a significant milestone and opportunity for Strouse. Our employees are a talented team of professionals, engineering and manufacturing complex adhesive components for global companies like 3M, Ford, and Medtronics, says Sue Chambers, President and CEO at Strouse. Our teams drive for innovation has propelled our growth, enabling us to hire additional staff, invest in their development, and purchase leading edge equipment and technology to better serve our customers.

The new 60,000 square foot facility which will be expandable to 80,000 square feet, is scheduled to break ground for construction in the Spring of 2017 and tentatively scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2018.

Jack Lyburn, Director of Economic Development stated: My first priority is ensuring that our resident industries, when considering expansion options, stay here in Carroll County. Strouse truly is a home-grown business, establishing Carroll County roots in 1986. This made it even more important to ensure the company remained here. Strouses decision to expand and create new employment opportunities in Carroll County is a testament to our supportive business environment. I am grateful for their contributions to our local community.

About Strouse

Strouse is a die cut adhesive manufacturer with over 30 years of industry experience. Serving the medical, automotive, electronics, military, and appliance industries, Strouse continues to innovate by engineering adhesive tape solutions. With a quality management system registered to ISO 9001:2008 standards, Strouse not only has a commitment to quality but excellent customer service. A full team of design and development engineers allows Strouse to invest the necessary time and resources for each and every project. Located in Westminster, Maryland, Strouse can be contacted directly at 1-800-410-8273 or visit our website for more info at https://www.strouse.com/

About Carroll County Department of Economic Development

The Carroll County Department of Economic Development is a results-oriented team that creates competitive business solutions. To learn more about the programs or opportunities available in Carroll County email info(at)carrollbiz(dot)org, visit http://www.carrollbiz.org, follow @CarrollEconDev on Twitter or call 410-386-2070.
DuPage County Attorneys at MKFM Law Administered by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company, each stage of Leading Lawyers nominations involves the recommendation of a trusted peer, discussions with nominees, pre-selection for membership, and advisory board review.

The Wheaton, Illinois, law firm of Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC (MKFM Law) is proud to announce that attorneys Lynn M. Mirabella and George S. Frederick have each been awarded as 2017 Leading Lawyers. In addition, attorneys Christa M. Winthers, Lindsay C. Stella, and Joshua D. Bedwell have been recognized as 2017 Emerging Lawyers.

The Leading Lawyer award process consists of a four-phase research process. Administered by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company, each stage involves the recommendation of a trusted peer, discussions with nominees, pre-selection for membership, and advisory board review. Lawyers cannot nominate themselves or anyone at their law firm, and upon filtering through all four steps, a winner is chosen and awarded.

The Emerging Lawyer award is open to candidates under the age of 40 years old who have demonstrated professionalism, integrity, and knowledge in the early part of their careers. The Law Bulletin Publishing Company mails annual surveys to all Leading Lawyers in each state. The survey recipient can nominate a partner within or outside of his or her firm. Upon anonymous recommendation from another Leading Lawyer, a winner is selected and notified.

MKFM Law Partner Lynn M. Mirabella is a respected family law attorney who has been practicing for nearly 30 years. She has received multiple accolades, besides Leading Lawyers, such as Top Attorneys in Illinois by Chicago Magazine, Super Lawyers, and pro bono service awards from the DuPage Legal Assistance Foundation.

Partner George S. Frederick practices divorce, family law, and represents employees in discrimination and sexual harassment litigation. Mr. Frederick has an Avvo rating of 10.0 and is now a second-time recipient of the Leading Lawyers award. He also been honored with a Board of Directors Award from the DuPage County Bar Association, recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer, and received pro bono awards from the DuPage Legal Assistance Foundation.

Emerging Lawyer honoree Christa M. Winthers practices divorce, criminal, and family law, along with sexual harassment litigation. She has previous experience as a DuPage County Public Defender and has received previous honors from the Illinois Super Lawyers organization and the DuPage County Bar Association. Attorney Lindsay C. Stella focuses in all areas of family law and is a contributing member of numerous local bar associations. She has held the distinction of Rising Star by Illinois Super Lawyers for three years running. Attorney Joshua D. Bedwell has received various awards and offers pro bono work through the Constitutional Right Foundation. He is a member of the DuPage County Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, American Bar Association, and the Chicago Bar Association.

MKFM Law congratulates these five recipients on their prestigious achievements. Their service to others is valued, remarkable, and selfless. Each one of these individuals takes pride in advocating for the person in need of legal representation and defending his or her constitutional rights.

About Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC:

Established in 1949, MKFM Law operates a comprehensive legal practice with offices in St. Charles and Wheaton, Illinois. The attorneys have over 50 years of experience handling cases involving divorce, family law, criminal law, employment discrimination, civil litigation, and sexual harassment litigation. To receive an initial consultation in DuPage, Kane, Will, or Kendall Counties, call 630-665-7300 or visit http://www.mkfmlaw.com.
Former childrens bookseller and childrens librarian turned bestselling author Jenny Han is the author of Shug and numerous young adult titles. Her forthcoming novel, Always and Forever, Lara Jean, completes a trilogy that began in 2014 with To All the Boys Ive Loved Before. In this final installment, college-bound Lara Jean must decide where she wants to go to college and what her choice will mean for her relationship with her boyfriend, Peter. Han spoke with PW about writing this unplanned follow-up to P.S. I Still Love You, the importance of detail in grounding the story, and the challenging shift that Lara Jean and Peter experience in this final chapter.

How did you come to writing for children?

I came to it very intentionallyI started my first book, Shug, when I was in college, and from there, I went on to get my MFA in Writing for Children at the New School.

Youve written one book for middle grade readers, but have mostly published young adult titles. What draws you to writing for teens?

I think that teenaged life is so fertile. Its a time of firsts, and the first time is almost always the most interesting time, to me, anyway!

Do you approach writing for a middle grade audience differently from writing for a young adult audience?

Not at all, and I dont think I would approach writing for adults any differently either. I just write the story as it comes to me, and my main objective is always to tell the truth.

Your published titles have all been realistic fiction. Are you interested in potentially exploring other genres?

Absolutely. Ive been working on something different for years now; I just dont know what it is yet. I have to unlock it still, but it isnt contemporary and it isnt quite realistic either. Its still all the same things that I love to write about thoughfeasts, and finery, and first love!

What is your relationship with your editor like? Have you had the same editor over your entire career?

I adore my editor, Zareen Jaffery. Zareen is particularly good at asking questions, and probing, and then letting me come to answers my own way. Shes a sensitive, smart, truth-telling kind of person, and those are the kinds of qualities that make for a good editor. My first editor was Emily Meehan, who moved over to Hyperion years ago. Emily is still a cherished friend of mine. We were both young and at the beginnings of our careers when we started working together, but its been lovely to track where she is and see all the amazing things shes been up to.

How long did it take to write Always and Forever, Lara Jean in comparison to the first two books?

It took a year. To All the Boys, Id been working on off and on for yearsI think I first had the idea maybe five or six years ago, and I would work on it in between the Burn for Burn trilogy I co-wrote with Siobhan Vivian. I had the least amount of time to work on P.S. I Still Love You, because it was a sequel and it came out a year after the first book.

You did not originally plan for Lara Jeans story to span three books; in fact, the third book was a happy surprise for many readers. Why did you decide to write a third installment? Are you certain this is the end to her story?

I did only intend to write two books. Ive always thought of the first two books as two halves of a heart, but, when I was starting my next book, I kept thinking about Lara Jean and what would happen next. There were things that couldnt fit in P.S. I Still Love You that could be explored in a third book.

Ultimately, I want readers to feel satisfied with the trilogy as a whole. I think of Always and Forever, Lara Jean as dessert. I want it to be enjoyable.

How does it feel to be leaving Lara Jean behind after telling her story for so many years?

This time around, it doesnt feel too sad, because I thought I was saying good bye two years ago. This just feels like a bonus.

Has knowing that this will be the final book affected your writing process or approach to this novel?

It always feels difficult to finish a trilogy because youre working with a time constraint. I prefer not to have a deadline, but for Always and Forever, Lara Jean, we had to make room in the schedule because it was unplanned.

I actually worked on the book without letting anyone know, not even my editor, until I was certain there was a story to tell. I loved being able to come full circle with Lara Jean, arriving at a place where she was experiencing the changes and choices Margot did in the first book.

Did you grow up in Virginia? Did that shape your writing of Lara Jeans story? What other aspects of Lara Jean and her story are autobiographical?

I did grow up in Virginia, and I have a sister, and were very close. My sister is my very favorite person, and I dedicated To All the Boys Ive Loved Before to her.

Did you conduct any research while writing Always and Forever, Lara Jean?

Yes. I wanted Lara Jean and Peters transition to college to feel very realistic. I visited the University of Virginia campus and spoke to a lacrosse player to better understand Peters experience. It doesnt feel realistic when every character goes to Harvard or Brown, especially when there are often so many excellent state schools to consider. I wanted to be truthful to that experience.

In the previous books, the central romantic relationship between Lara Jean and Peter was primarily challenged by other potential partners. In this third book, things have shifted. Can you speak about this shift?

In many ways, I think Lara Jean and Peter face a bigger challenge in Always and Forever, Lara Jean. When two people love each other but are challenged by life and circumstances, rather than other people, thats a harder pill to swallow. Every choice leads you somewhere, but it might not be where you truly want to be if the decision is based on someone else. It could lead to regrets and what ifs, but that doesnt mean you wouldnt still have valuable experiences.

Descriptions of food, crafts, and fashion, especially Lara Jeans creations, are always a highlight in your novels. Who or what inspires these elements?

I really love to write about food, crafts, and fashion, so those details will always be a part of my books. I think they inject stories with color and flavor, providing a tactile experience. Food is a way to explore culture and ground the story in a specific time and place. I still remember the meals and snacks from my first novel, Shug: pork chops and applesauce and Coca-Cola and peanuts, which are very Southern. When a character has roots elsewhere, food is a way to connect with home and another culture.

Can you tell us about what youre working on now?

Not yet. I am working on something, but I havent unlocked it yet. Now that Always and Forever, Lara Jean is done, I can really start thinking about it.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean (To All the Boys Ive Loved Before #3) by Jenny Han. Simon & Schuster, $17.99 May 2 ISBN 978-1-481-43048-7
Quarto Publishing Group, the global illustrated book publisher and distribution group, is launching two new U.S. childrens book imprints this season: Seagrass Press and words & pictures. Helmed by publisher Josalyn Moran, Seagrass Press will publish a selection of environmentally focused titles for young readers. Words & pictures, which debuted in the U.K. in 2012, has expanded across the pond under the direction of Maxime Boucknooghe.

Seagrass Press: Books for Growth

The name and editorial mission of Seagrass Press emerged from Morans experience clipping seagrass in the Bahamas with her daughter, a marine biologist. The plants many life-sustaining functions brought to mind the role of books in child development. Seagrass provides a nursery, protection, and a source of foodmuch in the way that books serve a childs emotional and intellectual development, Moran said. She envisions the Seagrass imprint consisting of mostly nonfiction books, with a few informative fiction titles. Her goal in building the list is to introduce to children information about themselves, their families and communities, and the wider world.

Prior to joining Quarto, Moran held executive positions at a number of companies, including Barnes & Noble, Albert Whitman, Chronicle Books, and Scholastic. Having had the opportunity to work in publishing and bookselling, I found that perhaps there are areas that havent been covered before, or that we can cover with a new angle or twist, she said of her new project.

Additionally, Moran served as interim director of the Childrens Book Council and Every Child a Reader in 2016, and brings a passion for literacy to her current work at Seagrass. Books are part of the way we help children feel safe in their development, she said. Moran has also been informed by the experience of reading with her family. Some of [my work] is based in watching childrenhow they live and grow. Its fun to see what resonated with my daughter and now with her daughter.

The Seagrass launch list this spring features five titles for children in grades pre-K5, with the primary focus on animals and nature. Susan Grigsbys Open Wide: The Ultimate Guide to Teeth is the first in a science series on the human body, inspired in part by Morans visits to first and second grade classrooms. Another science title out in May is How Could We Harness a Hurricane? by InkThinkTank founder Vicki Cobb and illustrated by Theo Cobb, which examines how engineers work to minimize damage from storms. Moran turned to Kathleen M. Hanes, her marine biologist daughter, to write Seagrass Dreams: A Counting Book, an aquatic counting book illustrated by Chloe Bonfield. Rounding out the list are two reissues by Thornton W. Burgess, The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk and The Adventures of Peter Cottontail. Moran estimates the imprints annual output at 20 titles per year.

The marketing plans for Seagrasss debut list include social media campaigns, a partnership with the Nonfiction Minute blog, and posters and other giveaways at national trade shows. Through educator outreach, Moran hopes to learn about trends in the market and to publish the books that are needed in classrooms.

Words & Pictures: Books for the Imagination

Also launching this spring, Quartos words & pictures imprint will focus on illustrated childrens titles that celebrate imagination and creativity. Boucknooghe, who is also publisher of QED/QEB Publishing in London, believes that the U.S. expansion is a natural step forward for us and an opportunity to build upon the success of the U.K. list. The idea is to bring a fresh list with illustrators from around the world and from the U.S., he said.

Boucknooghe stated that whereas QED/QEB is focused on the world around us, words & pictures is about escaping this world and learning something that you dont normally seeand then coming back to the world and enriching it. Working with group publisher Zeta Jones, Boucknooghe said he is seeking out innovative illustrations and stories with unique formats. We want children to discover new worlds and atmospheres, he said.

The 13 titles on the launch list include The Street Beneath My Feet by Charlotte Gullian and Yuval Zommer, a foldout picture book exploring the layers of the Earth; two picture book titles from Polish collaborators Przemyslaw Wechterowicz and Emilia Dziubak, Hug Me, Please! and The Secret Life of a Tiger; and It Starts with a Seed, a rhyming picture book about the life-cycle of a sycamore tree, by Jennie Webber and Laura Knowles. Boucknooghe plans to limit the words & pictures list to no more than 2025 titles annually.

Marketing plans for the words & pictures launch include national advertising and online promotion; The Street Beneath My Feet will be featured in the imprints Earth Day social media campaign and new STEAM initiative. While attending the recent Bologna Childrens Book Fair, Boucknooghe noted the popularity of The Street Beneath My Feet in the U.K., and books with the vintage, 1960s feel of Bobbys got a brand-new car, another launch title. Though he is confident that there is a big demand for imaginative and creative titles in the U.S. market, he believes the challenge will be in finding the right time and place [to publish] the right title.
The annual Greater Houston Teen Book Convention took place on April 1 at Alief Taylor High School in Houston, bringing together 25 YA authors and more than 2,000 attendees. The festival was created by Lisa Stultz and Aria Tatelman, and is chaired by a larger committee of librarians. Blue Willow Bookshop provides book sales and coordinates author selection. This years convention was packed with author talks, readings, panels, signings, book swag, and more. See highlights from the event below.

Laini Taylor delivered the opening keynote address.

Button-making, sponsored by the Houston Public Library, is always a popular activity at the festival.

Teens check out the Poetry Tree put together by the Teen Advisory Panel for Writers in the Schools.

(From l.): Authors Lance Rubin, Fonda Lee, Katharine McGee, and Laini Taylor at the Past Is Prologue panel.

Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give) signs a book for a fan.

Teens checking out some of the many activity booths at the festival.

(From l.): Authors Zoraida Cordova and Adi Alsaid choose an excerpt to read aloud during their panel sessions. Bookseller Valerie Koehler suggested this addition after seeing it used to great effect during the American Booksellers Associations Indies Introduce panel.

A reader waits in line at the Blue Willow pop-up store.

Benjamin Alire Saenz (The Inexplicable Logic of My Life) poses with a fan.

A reader shares her thoughts at one of the Tell Your YA Story booths sponsored by the Fort Bend Public Library.

Teens get into costume at the photo booth.

The 3D printer from the Harris County Public Library is always a hit.

Fans take a selfie at the TeenBookCon photo booth. This year, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers created a special Strange the Dreamer snapchat filter that Laini Taylor fans could use during the festival.
Alvin Plantinga, an American philosopher and author, is the 2017 Templeton Prize winner. The award, which recognizes living individuals for their contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, either through insight, discovery, or practical works, was announced online on April 25.

Alvin Plantinga has been awarded the Templeton Prize because his scholarship made theismor the belief in a divine reality or goda serious option within academic philosophy, said Heather Templeton Dill, president of the John Templeton Foundation, in a statement.

The Foundation cited Plantingas ability to recognize that religious beliefs do not have to conflict with philosophical work; instead, Plantinga has argued, faith can provide crucial contributions to philosophy.

Plantingas work to put theism back on the philosophical map began in the late 1950sa time when many in the field were rejecting religious viewpoints. Plantinga is also credited with challenging other Christian philosophers to pursue work on a theistic vision while engaging with the broader philosophical community. He is the author of 13 books, including Warranted Christian Belief (Oxford Univ., 2000), and, most recently, Knowledge and Christian Belief (Eerdmans, 2015).

Upon receiving the prize, Plantinga, who is the John A. OBrien Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, said he hoped the honor will encourage young philosophers, especially those who bring Christian and theistic perspectives to bear on their work, towards greater creativity, integrity, and boldness.

Awarded annually since 1972, the Templeton, which comes along with a purse of 1.1 million (about $1.4 million), is named after American philanthropist and investor John Templeton. The prize is one of the world's largest annual monetary awards given to an individual. Previous Templeton winners include the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Billy Graham.

This article has been updated with corrections.
Female Anatomy Book Draws European Bidders

The Wonder Down Under, by Norwegian medical students Nina Brochmann and Ellen Stokken Dahl, has become a hot title in Europe. Originally published by Aschehoug in Norway in January, the book has now sold in over 20 foreign rights deals to publishers including Luitingh (the Netherlands), Fischer Verlag (Germany), and Peoples Press (Denmark). Oslo Literary Agency, which controls all rights, said the book "explains everything you wanted to know about the vagina but didn't dare to ask. The book delivers detailed information about female genitalia in an accessible and humorous way, covering topics ranging from cervical cancer to STIs (sexually transmitted infections).

Swedish Childrens Gets Hot in Europe

The Magical Heart, the new book by Kristina Ohlsson, has sold to Mlada Fronta (Czech Republic), Alvilda (Denmark), and Lilla Piratforlaget (Sweden). Julia Angelin of the Salomonsson Agency, who is handling foreign rights for the book, confirmed that German rights just sold to Fischer after a three-bidder auction. The childrens book, for ages 9-12, is about Roberta, whose best friend Charlotte, needs a new heart because hers is failing. Ohlsson is a top-selling author of crime fiction and children's books, including the children's suspense trilogy, The Glass Children.

Italian Trilogy Catches Fire

Matteo Righetto's The Soul of the Frontier, a coming of age novel which we reported on last month, has collected a number of new sales, including to Pushkin Press (U.K.), Text Publishing (Australia New Zealand), and House of Anansi (Canada). (All sales were three-book deals.) Italys Piergiorgio Nicolazzini Literary Agency controls rights, and Mondadori (Italy) will publish the novel in June. A previous foreign deal was made to Atlas in the Netherlands. Set in the 19th century, the book is about a young girl who, after her father has disappeared, must carry on his work as a tobacco smuggler.

Swedish Romance Author's Latest Nabbed in Germany

The new book by Simona Ahrnstedt, All Or Nothing, has sold to German publisher Lyx/Lubbe for publication next spring. Originating publisher Forum, in Sweden, will publish the novel in October. Swedens Nordin Agency controls all rights, and described the book as an office romance set in the world of advertising. The novel follows a young woman who hits on a man at a bar, without realizing that he is her new boss. Ahrnstedt is a pioneering author of Swedish romance; her book All In was published last year in the U.S. by Kensington.
A Davenport man accused of robbing a Davenport Boost Mobile store has entered a guilty plea.

Roy Lee Roberson, 44, pleaded guilty Thursday in Scott County District Court to second-degree robbery, according to court records. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors will dismiss one count of first-degree theft and two counts of assault while participating in a felony. A sentencing hearing is set for May 31.

According to a Davenport police affidavit, around 3:13 p.m. Dec. 27, Mr. Roberson entered Boost Mobile at 114 Myrtle St., Davenport, wearing all black clothing and a mask. He displayed an airsoft handgun to two victims and demanded money, fleeing with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Davenport Police said that, when Mr. Roberson was arrested within four blocks of the business, he was wearing clothing identified by the victims. He also had "a large amount of cash." police said, and an airsoft handgun.

The victims identified Mr. Roberson as the man who robbed them, police said, with video footage capturing the incident.
A unique Premium Hotel Classification scheme for Muslim-friendly accommodation has been launched at this years Arabian Travel Market (ATM), currently taking place in Dubai, UAE. The global initiative, launched by Malaysias Minister of Tourism & Culture, Dato Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, aims to improve quality standards and transparency for Muslim travelers and enhance the visibility of accommodation that meets their faith-based needs.

Properties or hotel groups will be subject to rigorous checks to ensure they meet the required criteria, with audits conducted by a highly-qualified committee of Islamic tourism experts, including Salam Standard representatives.

The Salam Standard Premium Hotel Classification system sets new standards for Muslim-friendly accommodation across the globe, said Salam Standard Co-Founder and CEO Faeez Fadhlillah. It cements Salam Standards position as the number one go-to resource for Muslim travelers seeking accommodation that is sensitive to their faith-based needs, providing them with complete clarity and assurance on the facilities and services provided.

Any licensed accommodation provider can apply online for Salam Standard Premium Hotel Classification.

Once their application is reviewed and accepted, the expert committee will conduct an audit of the property/properties. The committee will reserve the right to reject applications if they do not meet the minimum criteria.

The Salam Standard Premium Hotel Classification scheme rates hotels according to four tiers  Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum  considering the number and standard of Muslim-friendly facilities and services they offer.

For example, at Bronze-rated properties, all rooms have a shower and toilet or bath tub and toilet and a prayer mat and praying direction (Qibla/Kibblat), or they are available on request, whereas Platinum-rated accommodation offers several additional benefits including halal food that is certified by a recognised body, while the entire premises is alcohol free.

This four-tier system will simplify the user experience for travelers searching for Muslim-friendly accommodation on Salam Standard or booking it online with sister company, Tripfez, providing them with clear guidelines on what is offered, safe in the knowledge it has been checked and audited.

The committee will also conduct ongoing inspections of properties awarded Salam Standard Premium Hotel Classification to ensure standards are upheld.

The travel industry has welcomed the new auditing process, a move it says will further boost Salam Standards credentials as a global online information tool for Muslim-friendly accommodation.

The Pacific Asia Travel Associations (PATA) CEO, Dr Mario Hardy, has also congratulated Salam Standard for introducing a valuable resource for travelers and hoteliers.

The global Muslim travel sector is a multi-billion-dollar niche market to which few have paid attention up until now, he said. The Salam Standard Premium Hotel Classification system is a great initiative that will help Muslim travelers identify hotel properties that can meet their requirements and assist property owners in providing a quality and transparent experience to Muslim guests.
MOLINE -- An executive session related to the search for a new city administrator is scheduled ahead of the aldermen's regular meetings Tuesday.

Lewis J. Steinbrecher, city administrator since 2004, retired in November with Public Works Director J.D. Schulte named interim administrator in January. Moline plans to spend up to $20,200 with GovHR USA, of Northbrook, to help recruit a new administrator, with the goal of having the person hired by June.

The search began with roughly 50 candidates drawn nationally and was narrowed down to six interviewed earlier this month, according to Ald. Mike Waldron, 7th Ward.

One of those candidates is scheduled to visit with aldermen at a closed session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday; no names have been released. There will be a public comment session before the meeting is closed.

"There is a chance that the council could act Tuesday night on a candidate," said Ald. Waldron, the council's liaison with GovHR USA.

Regular city council and committee of the whole meetings also are scheduled Tuesday night.

At the regular city council, aldermen are expected to take action on:

 A $53,000 contract with GovHR USA to develop a study on employee compensation and classification to help the city compare its offerings with other cities.

 Adopting Moline's police and fire pensions actuarial reports that recommend an increase of $236,814 for Moline's contribution to the police pension and $279,140 for the fire department pension.

During the committee of the whole, aldermen are scheduled to discuss a contribution of city resources to the replacement of the Bass Street fountain. Currently not working as designed, the fountain is in one of the city's special service areas, according to Moline Centre Director Adam Holland. Moline Centre oversees Moline's SSAs.

The proposed total cost is about $82,000. The SSA board already has approved up to $45,000 for the fountain repair. If the item receives final approval, the city will provide up to $29,500 in financial support and commit city staff to the demolition at an estimated cost of $7,500.

The committee also will hear a presentation on the boards and committees that operate within in the city. Actions at committee of the whole are usually tentative; measures must be presented at a city council for final action.
ROCK ISLAND  Opioid addiction is an epidemic in Illinois, according to Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti. On Monday, she got an up-close look at the treatment provided at the Robert Young Center in Rock Island.

Lt. Gov. Sanguinetti toured the facility at UnityPoint Health-Trinity Rock Island to learn about and highlight an innovative program called Safe Passage, created by Dixon (Ill.) Police Chief Danny Langloss, now spreading to other states. The program offers treatment to opioid addicts without fear of arrest if they voluntarily turn in their drugs.

She also learned of the center's "telehealth" services and other programs.

Opioids are a group of powerful, highly addictive narcotic pain relievers that include prescription drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin and the illegal drug heroin. Dependence on the prescription drugs can lead to heroin addiction, Chief Langloss said.

"Opioid addiction knows no neighborhood, no class, no education level," Lt. Gov. Sanguinetti said. "It's even attacking our seniors, and it starts as early as childhood," with kids who find unused prescription drugs in their parents' medicine cabinets.

She said that, as the chair of the Governors Rural Affairs Council, she has toured every Illinois county, focusing particularly on rural health services. That put her in touch with Chief Langloss and the Safe Passage program,which partners with several treatments facilities to help Lee County addicts.

The Robert Young Center is the closest treatment facility to Dixon, Chief Langloss said. Since 2015, Safe Passage has sent 20 addicts to the center for help.

Lt. Gov. Sanguinetti interviewed a Robert Young patient during her visit and, afterward, said he provided an "eloquent" example of how opioid addiction can start. She did not give his name out of privacy concerns.

"He had a workplace injury and he was given Vicodin, and that was the beginning of the end," she said. "He only needed it for six months during his surgery and his physical therapy. But at that point, he was addicted.

"And so he knew what doctors to shop for, and he knew how many times he could go to the emergency room and continue to get those drugs," Lt. Gov. Sanguinetti said. "This patient was even telling me, 'I really wish my doctors would have told me more about pain management. At some point, I would have really liked to transition to pain management and go drug-free.'

"This is something that's facing Illinois," she said. "It's a big problem. We need to limit this availability."

Lt. Gov. Sanguinetti said opioid overdoses have increased significantly in Illinois and the rate of death by drug overdoses across the country has more than doubled since 2000.

Drug overdose is the No. 1 cause of accidental death in the United States, Chief Langloss said. It has well surpassed vehicle accidents, well surpassed any accidents in industry at work. It is most definitely preventable, and more has to be done.

The Safe Passage began after three heroin addicts died in Dixon within two weeks in early 2015. The program  the second of its kind in the country and the first in Illinois, Chief Langloss said  is spreading. Chief Langloss said he was in Rock Island County two weeks ago to discuss the program with local officials.

Under the program, heroin users are fast-tracked into treatment if they ask police for help. Police dispose of drugs and paraphernalia without pressing charges for possession. Treatment costs are left up to private insurance, state funds or Medicaid; rehab centers sometimes pay for it.

"We really need to reshape the war on drugs," Chief Langloss said. "We can't arrest our way out of this problem.

"Addiction is a disease, not a crime," he said. "Punishment is not a deterrent. All it does is increase recidivism, and that isn't getting people the help they need."

Chief Langloss asked the Robert Young Center to become one of 16 treatment partners for the program. Riverside Chemical Dependency Services, a subsidiary of the center, treated the program's first participant in 2015. It provided care for 14 more people in the programs first year.

Lt. Gov. Sanguinetti on Monday also praised the center's telehealth services, which use technology to help deliver off-site services. The center was recently honored by the Illinois Hospital Association for its telehealth services, center officials said.

In 2016, Robert Young Center provided more than 2,700 services via telehealth to people in need, said Dennis Duke, the center's president. "Our telehealth sites include 12 emergency departments in Iowa and Illinois and five additional sites, including two school districts and the Rock Island County jail.

"I learned a lot from today's tour, and the Robert Young Center is doing God's work," Lt. Gov. Sanguinetti said. "Addiction, there is a stigma attached to that. And in this center, they are working toward getting rid of that stigma so that people can get appropriate treatment."
NEW YORK (AP)  Karen Oliveto clutched a friend's hand, closed her eyes and wept when she learned last year she had been elected a bishop of the United Methodist Church. Oliveto, who is married to another woman, had become the denomination's first openly gay bishop.

Within minutes, a formal complaint was filed challenging her election as contrary to the church ban on clergy who are "self-avowed practicing homosexuals"  a petition that the highest Methodist judicial authorities agreed to consider. On Tuesday, the court will take up the closely watched case, the latest flashpoint over LGBT rights in a denomination splintering over the Bible and homosexuality.

"It highlights very greatly that we are two different churches and that the real difference is whether or not we're going to live by the covenant that we each have agreed to," said the Rev. Rob Renfroe, who leads Good News, a caucus of evangelical Methodists that has lobbied to uphold current teaching. Said Oliveto, "I'm in deep prayer, reminding myself of what God has called me to do."

Oliveto, who is based in the Denver area, will attend the hearing in Newark, New Jersey, accompanied by fellow bishops from the church's Western Jurisdiction, her wife, mother and childhood pastor. LGBT clergy and their supporters plan to pray outside and wear T-shirts listing the first names only of gay clergy who would risk losing their ministerial credentials by coming out.

The goal is to underscore the human cost of church policy, said the Rev. Lea Matthews of the LGBT advocacy group Methodists in New Directions. Prayer vigils are planned in the Methodist Mountain Sky Area region, which Oliveto leads, while others will join a prayer vigil online.

The court, or Judicial Council, is expected to issue a ruling a few days later.

The 12.8 million-member church, the third-largest in the U.S., was already in turmoil over same-sex relationships when Oliveto was elected. Methodists approved language in 1972 calling same-gender relationships "incompatible with Christian teaching." The top church policy-making body, or General Conference, has upheld that policy ever since, even as LGBT rights gained acceptance and other mainline Protestants, including the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), approved same-sex marriage. In recent years, the Methodists have seen their greatest growth overseas, especially in Africa, among more theologically conservative people, who have been standing with U.S. evangelical Methodists against recognizing same-gender relationships.

Deeply frustrated, Methodist LGBT advocates have stepped up pressure for new policies, holding same-sex weddings in defiance of church prohibitions and coming out as gay and lesbian from the pulpit. Conservatives responded by intensifying demands for church discipline over such actions. In one high-profile case, the Rev. Frank Schaefer was tried by a church court and defrocked for presiding at the wedding of his son to another man. Schaefer was later reinstated as a minister on an appeal of the ruling.

These divisions erupted dramatically last year at a meeting of the General Conference, which was rife with talk of a possible schism. At one point, LGBT advocates on the perimeter of a session lay on the floor with rainbow-colored duct tape over their mouths. In a narrow 428-405 vote, the conference delayed consideration of LGBT-related proposals and instead created a panel, called the Commission on a Way Forward, to review all church policy on human sexuality, aiming to find a way to keep the church together.

Renfroe said he was more focused on the outcome of the commission's work than the Oliveto hearing, although he said her election has made it harder to persuade conservative congregations to stay with the denomination while the commission conducts its review. Two large Mississippi congregations recently voted to move toward a split from the church.

In making a ruling, the high court will consider technical aspects of church law, contained in the Methodist Book of Discipline, said William Lawrence, a professor at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and a former member of the Judicial Council. Potential outcomes range from a technical decision on procedure alone that keeps Oliveto in place to a decision that would void her election, Lawrence said. "There is an extraordinary range," Lawrence said.

Ahead of the hearing, Oliveto released a video message to her church region in which she expressed some anxiety. "I find myself holding my breath in this time of uncertainty," she said. But she said she felt assured that "God is working God's purpose out."

"I love being your bishop," she said, then asked Methodists to pray.
LATRUN, Israel (AP)  Two years after Israel's prime minister vowed to complete the establishment of a museum honoring Jewish World War II veterans, funds have dried up and an abandoned construction site is all that remains of the grand project.

The story of the 1.5 million Jews who fought the Nazis  and the 250,000 who died in battle  has long been lost in Israel amid the larger tragedy of the Holocaust and the Nazi genocide of Europe's Jews. The museum aims to rectify that oversight, but the remaining warriors, thought to number no more than 5,000, worry they won't live long enough to see it materialize and accuse the government of stalling because of petty political considerations.

"The picture is not complete if we don't understand that together with the 6 million victims, the Jewish people also had a decisive role in defeating the Nazis," said Yitzhak Arad, a 90-year-old former Soviet partisan fighter who blew up 16 German supply trains as a teenager during the war. "I hope to see this museum before I leave this world and that is the wish of the fighters who are still alive."

With the backing of then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the Israeli government first committed to the museum in 2002 and vowed to match any funds raised from donors. Successive governments have renewed the pledge and roughly $6 million already poured into the project has gone toward collecting artifacts and testimonies and to erect a 2,200 square-meter (23,500-square-foot) structure in Latrun, near the site of one on the most significant battles in Israel's 1948 war of independence.

Two years ago, after more than a decade of bureaucratic stalemate, both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin attended the official ceremony marking 70 years since Victory Day in Europe and acknowledged that the contributions of Jewish veterans who fought with the U.S., British, Soviet and other country's militaries have often been overlooked.

They vowed to find the remaining $10 million needed to complete the museum.

But later that year, Netanyahu transferred responsibility for the project to Cabinet Minister Zeev Elkin's office, and the government did not renew its matching funds commitment. Repeated pleas from aging veterans for Netanyahu to keep his word have gone unanswered, and critics accuse Elkin  who was born in Ukraine  of stalling because he favors securing funds from oligarchs who want to disproportionately recognize the actions of Jews in the former Soviet Union.

Elkin denied the accusations and said that as a grandson of a veteran himself he has a great incentive to see the museum come to fruition. He said the association tasked with establishing the museum had failed in its mission and the government's hands were legally tied. He called on the association to either quickly find a donor or step aside and let the government handle the project instead.

"They got on a track that is stuck and they keep hoping that someone will bail them out," he told The Associated Press. "That is not going to happen."

The prime minister's office declined several requests for comment.

Chaim Erez, a retired military general and chairman of the association, believes Jewish organizations abroad should participate in the financing, but ultimately it was up to the government to make it happen. "This is a national project that the state has to establish and has to take pride in," he said.

The bad blood has put a damper on efforts to correct the historically distorted narrative of Jews being mere victims of the Nazis who sheepishly marched to their death.

On Monday, Israel marked its annual memorial day. Officially, the day is called "Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day." But over the years the emphasis has turned almost exclusively toward the Holocaust part rather than the heroism.

The 550,000 Jewish-American soldiers who fought with the Allies, for instance, are often overlooked, including those who were among the first to liberate the Nazi death camps, often comforting the dazed, emaciated prisoners in Yiddish.

"The way that the Jewish people are remembered today from the Second World War is, of course, the Holocaust and doubtless this is the main chapter of our history," said Arad, a former director of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, who lost his parents and 40 close relatives in the war. "But still, parallel to this, we should emphasize that we participated in the war. We did our part in the victory and we paid heavily."

There are no museums devoted solely to Jews who fought the Nazis. Individual memorials exist in Israel, and a dwindling population of Soviet veterans still struts out on Victory Day, their medals pinned on old uniforms. The Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem also has exhibits devoted to the partisans and rebels in the various ghettos.

But veterans say these are just snippets, and the museum in Latrun will be the one place that will serve as their legacy.

"This is also the story of the Jews. We participated massively," said Peter Arton, 95, a Czech navigator in Britain's Royal Air Force, who said a third of his squadron was Jewish.

Currently, the Museum of the Jewish Soldier in World War II stands as a white elephant facing American, British and Soviet tank models used in the war. The vacant interior is silent but for flapping wings of pigeons that have taken shelter inside.

Baruch Shub, who headed the Organization of Partisans until it shut down last year due to lack of funding, said the museum's status was indicative of the Israeli government's approach. He accused the government of diverting away Holocaust compensation funds and neglecting survivors, veterans and projects aimed at benefiting and memorializing the victims.

"They cheated us," said Shub, 93. "I look in the mirror and say 'what would my friends who died in the forest say about the behavior of the state of Israel that we fought to establish?'"
Start dreaming again because Holland America Line has introduced a new Elite Beverage Package that features premium beverage selections for its travelers. For many guests, theres nothing better than relaxing with a handcrafted cocktail before dinner or after a long day of exploring in a port of call, said Orlando Ashford, president, Holland America Line. Our various beverage packages offer an array of choices and are a great value as well as a convenient way to enjoy this aspect of the cruise experience.

With this new package, guests may now also enjoy libations from Master Mixologist Dale DeGroffs collection of unique, classic cocktails, such as The Ritz Cocktail, The Hemingway Daiquiri and Midnight Sun, his latest masterpiece created to celebrate Holland America Lines 70th year of exploring Alaska.

The Elite Beverage Package features any premium spirits, cocktails, wines, beers, coffees, nonalcoholic beverages, bottled water and sodas up to a value of $15 each. On ms Koningsdam, the package also includes the Coca-Cola Freestyle program, where guests can enjoy more than 100 unique Coca-Cola flavors. The price for the Elite Beverage Package is $54.95 per person, per day.

Holland America Line has also introduced discounted pricing for its existing Signature Beverage Package, where guests save five dollars when they purchase the package online for $44.95 per person, per day, before their cruise; the same package when purchased aboard ship is priced at $49.95 per person, per day. The Signature Beverage Package includes standard selections of wine, beer, spirits, sodas, coffees and cocktails up to a value of $8 each.

In addition to the Elite and Signature beverage packages, Holland America Line also offers two nonalcoholic beverage options and a Water package.

Quench Beverage Package features unlimited nonalcoholic beverages that include any juices, bottled water, nonalcoholic cocktails, nonalcoholic beers and specialty coffees for a price of $17.95 per person, per day.

The Coca-Cola Package includes unlimited fountain sodas for $8.00 per person, per day. On ms Koningsdam this package also includes the Coca-Cola Freestyle program with more than 100 unique Coca-Cola flavors.

The Water Package offers 12 liter bottles for a price of $32.

Wine enthusiasts will enjoy the Cellar Master Package, consisting of a choice of five wine bottles, a standard and a premium winetasting, one Pinnacle Grill dinner, a wine accessory gift set and a Holland America Line commemorative bottle of wine. Cellar Master Package prices begin at $252 per person.

From that first latte in the morning until a nightcap before retiring to the stateroom, the premium lines beverage packages and convenient beverage cards give guests the convenience to pay a one-time value-added fee to enjoy a variety of beverages during a cruise.

All beverage packages and cards can be purchased online in advance of sailing or as gifts for other sailing guests. Unless otherwise noted, beverage packages must be purchased for the duration of the cruise and for all occupants of a stateroom. A 15 percent service charge is automatically added to all beverage purchases.

The new package brings the total beverage package options to five, including the Signature Package, Quench Beverage Package, Coca-Cola Package and Cellar Master Package.

For more information about Holland America Line, consult a travel professional, call 1-877-SAIL HAL (877-724-5425) or visit hollandamerica.com.
If Laura Kipnis thought she was under fire in 2015 after writing an essay for The Chronicle of Higher Education criticizing an emergent "sexual paranoia" on college campuses, then her new book will surely catapult her into public-enemy No. 1 status in the eyes of legions of angry feminists.

Kipnis' aforementioned essay earned her a 72-day Title IX investigation after two students at Northwestern University -- where Kipnis is tenured -- complained that her writing was, in itself, a violation of the federal act that states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

She was exonerated. "Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus" is her reaction and an inquiry into a culture of infantilizing women and making men the default perpetrators in she-said-he-said campus complaints of sexual impropriety.

Seemingly every page is a condemnation of a university culture where students are no longer treated as consenting adults and investigations into alleged abuses proceed like 17th-century witch trials, requiring a trigger warning for any sensitive souls who dare brave its contents.

For instance, Kipnis writes: "The idea of rape culture has become the campus equivalent of 9/11: in both cases, horrible real events take on mythic proportions, becoming resistant to precise analysis. On campus, the term rape culture, like the term terrorism, has become the rhetoric of emergency. Fear becomes the guideline, promulgating more fear. The problem is that fear rhetoric obfuscates more than it explicates; nevertheless, officialdom leaps to action."

This is just from the prologue, before she's really gotten going.

Kipnis attempts throughout the book to examine how out of control the sexual politics on campus have gotten -- such that some professors' professional reputations and lives are being ruined while others' are cowed and censored for fear of ever running afoul of paying customers (read: students).

She does this by describing her own investigation; the case of her colleague, philosophy professor Peter Ludlow, whose career was ruined by accusations of sexual assault and the ensuing Title IX investigation; and some of the countless stories shared with her from people who also got tangled up in baseless accusations of misconduct.

Her conclusion is that universities today are multibillion-dollar international businesses with brand promises to uphold and donors to placate. And in such a landscape, it is expeditious to plow money into handling accusations of sexual misconduct under the lax -- for the accused -- standards of the on-campus Title IX adjudication process. Potentially scandalous incidents are made to go away through a combination of dismissal of professors and cash payouts to students.

"The reality is that the more that colleges devote themselves to creating 'safe spaces,' that new campus watchword, the more dangerous campuses have become for professors, and the less education itself becomes anyone's priority."

As a result, sociology professors live in fear of discussing abortion, law professors are afraid to lecture on rape law, and on and on.

But this aspect of "Unwanted Advances" is just the tip of the iceberg. More chilling, Kipnis writes, is how campus administrators, and the special-interest groups they bow to, are rolling back hard-won feminist markers of dignity.

Women on campus are now, Kipnis says, by default, "virtuous maidens," ready-made victims in "a system devoted to persuading a generation of young women that they're helpless prey" and convincing everyone else that "accusers don't lie."

Throughout her book, Kipnis bends over backward to repeatedly and vehemently note that she is (a) a certified left-wing feminist and (b) absolute in her belief that women should be safe from harm on campus, at work and everywhere else.

But, she says, there needs to be a focus on self-understanding and personal responsibility that schools and society are reluctant to address: "What would happen if we stopped commiserating with one another about how horrible men are and teach students how to say, 'Get your [expletive] hand off my knee'? Yes, there's an excess of masculine power in the world, and women have to be educated to contest it in real time, instead of waiting around for men to reach some new stage of heightened consciousness -- just in case that day never comes."

For some women, this will be an article of faith. For others, well, consider this fair warning that you won't enjoy Kipnis' book.
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InsureMyTrip, the travel insurance authority, announced the results of its travel survey of 568 U.S. respondents. A vast majority of cruisers have experienced some kind of travel itinerary disruption during a trip. Many cruisers are more concerned about an illness or injury affecting a trip than bad weather or terrorism.

During a voyage, 46 percent experienced an unexpected itinerary change. Despite these types of disruptions, cruisers are generally pleased with their overall experience, with 62 percent stating a cruise always met their expectations.

Nearly half polled (49%) worry most about a family member or themselves getting sick or injured. Twenty-six percent worry most about bad weather affecting a cruise. Twenty-six percent also experienced seasickness or a stomach illness during a voyage.

The cruise itinerary is the top reason why travelers choose to book a particular cruise. Other top factors included reputation or reviews (59%) followed by price (14%).

Travelers, who voluntarily participated in this survey, had all researched or purchased travel insurance within the past 24 months. Out of those polled, 25 percent had filed a travel insurance claim for a cruise-related issue. Here are common reasons for filing a claim:

Medical care required during a cruise Medical issue forced a trip cancellation Bad weather forced a delay or cancellation of cruise Missed flight led to a delay or cancellation of cruise Items stolen or lost during a trip

A surprising number of travelers are unclear whether their health insurance works outside the US. Over 36 percent polled were not sure whether their domestic health insurance plan would cover any doctor or hospital visits while traveling out of the country.

35 percent said their domestic health insurance would provide coverage, while 28 percent believed their insurance plan would offer no coverage.

River cruising gains more speed

Eighty-two percent of those polled have either been on a river cruise or would like to go on a river cruise. Seven percent have no desire to go, while 11 percent prefer larger cruise ships.

The Caribbean and Europe are hot spots

The Caribbean and Europe are tied as favorite cruise destination while 11 percent chose Alaska as a top place to visit.

35% Caribbean

35% Europe

11% Alaska

19% Other

Carnival tops cruise lines

Based on travel insurance purchases so far in 2017, Carnival Cruise Line is the most popular cruise line.

1. Carnival Cruise Lines

2. Royal Caribbean International

3. Norwegian Cruise Line

4. Celebrity Cruises

5. Holland America Line

6. Princess Cruises

7. Disney Cruise Line

8. MSC Cruises
The 250km/h trains will support the ongoing integration of Guangxis regional high-speed lines into the national high-speed network.

The trains will be manufactured at BSTs plant in Qingdao, and will feature the Bombardier Mitrac propulsion and control system supplied by the Bombardier CPC Propulsion System join venture. Bombardier owns 50% of the shares in BST but the joint venture is controlled by CRRC Sifang.

This is Bombardiers fourteenth contract for high-speed trains in China and increases the total number of vehicles delivered to China to more than 3000.

For data on rolling stock orders from around the globe, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
Russia is doing itself no favors on Syria. Its leadership defends the regime of Bashar al-Assad and denies strong evidence that it attacked civilians with sarin gas on April 4 in Idlib province.

This bluster makes it harder for Moscow to obtain the Western and regional help it needs to secure its interests in Syria. The West should require that Russia deliver concessions from Assad on chemical weapons before renewing negotiations on cease-fires and a political settlement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims the attack was the work of anti-Assad rebels, who he said may be planning a similar provocation elsewhere in Syria. This allegation recalls Assad's August 21, 2013, gassing to death of over 1,300 civilians in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta. Putin dismissed suggestions of an Assad role in that attack as utter nonsense. Yet afterward, Russia clamped down on Syria as President Barack Obama was promising a targeted military strike. Two weeks after the Ghouta attack, Russia and the United States announced an accord requiring Syria to provide a comprehensive listing of its chemical weapons arsenal and facilitate its complete elimination.

Russia, the United States and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ensured the removal and destruction of those weapons that Assad declared. The Idlib attack, however, makes clear that Assad secretly hoarded some sarin and is violating the international Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and precursors.

Idlib was the fourth confirmed use of sarin in warfare and the second for Assad.

As with Syrian and possibly Russian airstrikes last fall on hospitals and other civilian targets in opposition-held eastern Aleppo, the Idlib attack has led to strong criticism. President Trump called it a heinous action and British Prime Minister Theresa May said she was appalled.

Dropping barrel bombs on civilians is abhorrent, but chemical weapons use is widely considered to be beyond the pale. Despite blaming rebels, the Kremlin implicitly took Assad to task by calling the Idlib attack a monstrous crime and warning that support for him was not unconditional.

Moscow has made heavy investments in Syriaso far without gaining the influence it wants. This CIA assessment ( PDF ) from 1969 may also be true today: The Kremlin seems more interested than Assad in finding a political settlement to end Syria's tragedy.

In December 2015, Putin declared, There is no solution other than a political one. To set the stage for negotiations on a settlement, Russia and the United States negotiated multiple cease-fires in 2016, but none stuck. As the last was agreed in September, Assad declared his apparent opposition: The Syrian state is determined to recapture every area from the terrorists.

The U.S. must be careful of inadvertently empowering violent non-state actors, including Salafi groups like ISIS and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, Al-Qaeda's representative in Syria.

In the zero-sum game of the Syrian conflict, weakening Assad could have devastating second-order effects, from state failure to the consolidation of territory by jihadist groups. Russia could be indispensable to any prospects of finding a political transition done in an orderly way, to use Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's words, from conflict to post-conflict in Syria.

Moscow may want a political solution that reduces risks to its investments in substantial naval and air bases in western Syria, at Tartus and Khmeimim. These bases would be jeopardized if multiple insurgencies continued to plague the Assad regime.

Jordan's King Abdullah II may be correct in saying, Putin has to find a political solution sooner rather than later. Otherwise, Russia could risk further embarrassment from a client who has seemingly gone rogue.

Russia will not want to be left as the only great power in warring Syria after ISIS is defeated in Raqqa. On its own, Moscow lacks the strength, legitimacy and support to lead an international peace process. Russia has enraged Sunnis by backing the Shiite axis of the Assad regime, Iran and Hezbollah, and could not afford to fund substantial post-conflict reconstruction.

Thus, the West has cards to play. It could clarify to Moscow that the price of coleading a revived Geneva peace process is that Russia must induce Assad to cede all chemical weapons and abide by a newly negotiated cease-firea key prelude to a political settlement.

At an April 12 press conference in Moscow with Tillerson, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia was putting as much pressure as possible on the Syrian cabinet. This suggests Russia feels vulnerable to Western pressure to get Assad to give up his remaining chemical weapons. Lavrov added that Russia is committed to completing this work.

Moscow has achieved tactical successes in Syria, but without Western and regional help that leads to a political solution, Russia's long-term strategic interests could be at risk. And the internecine conflict in Syria could drag on.

Colin P. Clarke is a political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. William Courtney is an adjunct senior fellow at RAND and was U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, Georgia and the U.S.-Soviet commission that implemented the Threshold Test Ban Treaty.

This commentary originally appeared on Newsweek on April 24, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
Dalia Dassa Kaye directs the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy . Its goal: to inform policy in ways that help improve the security and well-being of people living in the region. Recent reports have focused on hot topics from the Syrian civil war and the Iran nuclear deal to less-covered (but vitally important) crises such as the educational shortfalls faced by refugee children.

What are the major Middle East storylines you anticipate over the next few years?

The daily headlines are terrorism and ISIS. But the day-to-day worries of people in the region are education for their children, failing health care systems, access to water, good jobs for young people, government accountabilitymatters that do not always make the headlines. But those are the big issues that are going to really shape the region's future. And the more that countries fail to address those domestic demands, the more vacuums that exist for extremists to exploit.

The more that countries fail to address domestic issues, the more vacuums for extremists to exploit.

The other big storyline is the ongoing friction between the Iranians and the Saudis, and I would add Turkey into the mix now, too. This is not a dynamic that will resolve any time soon. And unfortunately, the unstable situation that you see in so many placesparticularly Syria, but also Yemen and Iraqwill continue to be difficult arenas where this conflict plays out, with dangerous spillover across the region and beyond.

Those two big storylines are going to clash at some point. The question will be, Can these states continue with these regional power plays, and at the same time respond to their own domestic pressures? When is that going to give?

What is RAND's role here?

Most of these countrieseven the oil-rich countriesunderstand the need to diversify; they can't live on oil forever. They need to reform their education systems. They need to improve their infrastructure. Basically, they need to improve their societies, improve the well-being of their citizens.

Our work for the Kurdistan Regional Government is a good example of what we bring to the table. We worked on education, health, and unemployment issues there. We have a very good bench of experts who know the region well, speak fluent Arabic and other languagesand we can combine them with our survey analysts, our methodologists, all of our technical experts, to really assist these countries in major transformations that are underway.

This is a real moment for RAND, when our policy analysis can play a major role in helping people in the region.

We also give guidance to U.S. policymakers on how to bring more stability to this region and de-escalate these conflicts. RAND published a peace plan for Syria that I think is a good example of that. That's the best thing we can do: Create an environment of de-escalation so that we can then directly work on these very important socioeconomic challenges.

What drove RAND's recent decision to launch an Arabic-language website?

There's been a real dearth of objective analysis in the region, so RAND is really filling a need. There is a hunger for it, as demonstrated by the many thousands of downloads of translated RAND studies over a short time.

The site also helps explain to decisionmakers in the region who we are. We're not some mysterious force in U.S. policy; we're a transparent and open organization that makes our research and analysis available for free. It's about the public good.

What are some recent projects that spotlight the center's work in the region?

Philanthropic contributions have really allowed us to do innovative research on issues that might not otherwise be funded. We're looking at the regional impact of the water crisis in Gaza; at food security; at Iran after the nuclear deal; at the costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; at regional displacement; at emerging relations between China and Israel; and at Russia's role in the region. We're currently trying to raise support for a new RAND Israel program.

This is a real moment for RAND, when our policy analysis can play a major role in helping people in the region. We see that in the Israeli-Palestinian arena, in Jordan, in Tunisia, in Lebanon, and in the Arab Gulf. Those are all places where we think we can have an impact, where we hope we can make a difference.
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.
Millions of people regularly take part in conferences, meetings and other events every year. Only in the US, the number of attendees amounts about 225 million. A new study in the UK finds out that 57% of attendees find it difficult or very difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle at events, signifying there is a need for healthier food choices.

30 Euston Square recently revealed statistics of its survey with delegates and organizers at 428 events hosted during the summer of 2016. The statistics revealed a 72% increase in requests for healthier menu choices compared to the same period in 2015. In response, the venue has refreshed its hospitality offering, with a focus on more creative healthier options.

30 Euston Square monitors both internal and national trends in the food and hospitality market to create varied, healthy and balanced menus for their events  fundamental parts of the 30 Euston Square food philosophy. In particular, healthy swaps are available across much of its offering, whilst heathy options in its latest menus are highlighted with the use of a green leaf motif. Whilst the new menus include a variety of creative, flavoursome, rich and filling canapes, bowl food, private dining and international options.

30 Euston Square, home of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), is a conference, meetings and events venue in the heart of London. Conveniently situated next to a major transport hub, 30 Euston Square is an ideal venue for both domestic and international delegates travelling to London for business.

On the other hand, in another survey we published earlier, food and beverage pricing is third important factor for planners when selecting a property, after location and room rate. Additionally the importance of food and beverage options to planners remained constant year over year.

Many international events cause health issues through travel and unhealthy habits during the days of attendance. Promoting health and well-being within Conference Venues is therefore something that both delegates and venues should put more focus on.
Russian authorities seek to establish special ecological prosecutors office in Arctic

MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI)  Russian General Prosecutors Office is working to establish specialized prosecutors office for supervision over the implementation of ecological legislation in the Arctic, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday citing the report of Prosecutor General Yury Chaika on the state of justice in 2016.

According to the Prosecutor General, the department pays close attention to implementation of environmental legislation in the Arctic.

The greatest problem of the Arctic is accumulated environmental damage, the Prosecutor General said. This damage includes industrial and municipal waste, contaminated with oil and oil products. Russian Ministry of Emergencies states that critical level of ecological contamination was registered on 15% of the Russian Arctic zone. Prosecutor Offices inspections revealed that regional authorities, municipal authorities and economic entities are not complying with the requirements for collection, reprocessing and neutralization of emissions and wastes in the Arctic, the report reads.

Prosecutor General believes that authorities should enforce regional supervision over handling of waste and consumption products. The General Prosecutor's Office has already informed the President about the situation with environmental protection and nature management in the Arctic.
Russian Prosecutor Generals Office freezes abroad assets amounting to 900 mln

MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI)  Russian Prosecutor Generals Office became more active in return of assets acquired through criminal means in 2016 and froze funds amounting to 600 million and property worth 300 million abroad, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday citing the report of Prosecutor General Yury Chaika on the state of justice in 2016.

The Prosecutor Generals Office notes that under current currency exchange this sum amounts to 60 billion rubles.

In Switzerland authorities froze 35 million on accounts of Evgeny Puzikov and Andrey Turunov found guilty of embezzling money of MOESK company. The Office also froze 1.8 million on accounts of the defendant in fraud criminal case Vasily Smirnov and 12 million CHF on accounts of former Agriculture Minister Alexey Bazhanov charged with embezzlement of funds belonging to Rosagroleasing company and some other Russian banks.

The Office maintained freezing of assets in banks of Switzerland, Finland and Monaco, the report reads.
Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) announces powerhouse line-up for 2017s annual boutique hotel investment conference that will take place on June 7. The Times Center in New York will be the backdrop for this years acclaimed conference that will bring together the industrys most elite hoteliers, investors and developers.

BLLA is the leading Boutique & Lifestyle Association aimed at globally connecting independent, upscale hoteliers with fellow industry innovators, discerning travelers and hospitality educators.

At the helm of over 50 speakers will be keynoter CEO Ted Teng of Leading Hotels of the World, Arianna Huffington who will be interviewed by Digital Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich of CNN Money, and Ian Schrager, who returns to the event for his fifth year. Additional notable C-Level executives including CEO Christopher Norton of Equinox Hotels, Principle David Bowd of West Elm Hotels, CEO Jonathan Falik of JF Capital Investors, President Andrew Fay of The Gettys Group, Owner Jason Pomeranc of Sixty Hotels, Co-Founder Chris Pardo of Arrive Hotels and CEO Robert Swade of Grace Hotels, to name a few, will be discussing the value of the boutique hotel industry today.

This is our biggest and best year yet for our annual Hotel Investment Conference, as we continue to connect the whos who in the boutique industry, says BLLA Founder and CEO Frances Kiradjian. We have the best talent in the space that will be in attendance from around the world to teach, inform and advise on the latest in the boutique and lifestyle world.

Panels will include getting into the boutique hotel game, boutique and lifestyle hotel development and investment, luxury brands, New York market snapshot, debt and equity market briefing, all topped off with the latest industry forecasts and 2018 trends.

This esteemed event is not to be missed, with the opportunity to participate in extensive networking sessions with the most sought after financiers and hotel luminaries. A welcome breakfast, gourmet lunch by Jody Pennette and closing cocktail reception by LDV Hospitality will also be included in ticket registration.

Top level sponsors include: DUXIANA, JF Capital Advisors, Greenberg Traurig, GroupRevMax, Ideawork, Porcelanosa, The Gettys Group, SuiteLife by Venture Insurance, Charlestowne Hotels, DH Hospitality Group, JMBM, Trunk Archive, Interactive Sites, SocialTables and more.

For tickets and additional information, please register here.

ftnNEWS is a media partner of Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA).
Kishore Mahbubani is a former Singaporean diplomat who served twice as ambassador to the United Nations. Currently, he is the dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He is the author of The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World. This piece is part of a special RCW series on the U.S.-China geopolitical relationship. The views expressed here are the authors own.

In a 2005 speech before the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, former World Bank President Robert Zoellick famously called upon the Chinese government to become a responsible stakeholder in the global system, and to work with other international powers to maintain stability and security around the world. One can assume that when Zoellick delivered his speech on that fall day in New York, there was no doubt in his mind -- nor in the minds of most American leaders and policymakers -- that the United States was in fact the responsible stakeholder in the international system, and that China was not.

However, last years election of Donald Trump has spurred a remarkable reversal in global perceptions of the United States and China. President Trump has loudly proclaimed that he will pursue unilateralist America First policies, and he has also threatened to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization. In a 2016 interview with NBCs Meet the Press, Trump said, "[W]ere going to renegotiate or were going to pull out. These trade deals are a disaster. The World Trade Organization is a disaster." By contrast, after the two brilliant speeches delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Davos and in Geneva in January 2017, China has projected itself as a defender of the prevailing multilateral order. Zoellick would not be able to deliver his 2005 speech in 2017. The roles have reversed.

Clinton's Subtle Warning

This need not and should not have happened. As a power that is, by the presidents own admission, in relative decline, it is increasingly in the national interest of the United States to strengthen multilateral rules and processes. Articulating this truth in a visionary 2003 speech at Yale University, Former President Bill Clinton said:

if you believe that maintaining power and control and absolute freedom of movement and sovereignty is important to your countrys future, theres nothing inconsistent in that. Were the biggest most powerful country in the world now weve got the juice and were going to use it  But if you believe that we should be trying to create a world with rules and partnerships and habits of behavior that we would like to live in when were no longer the military political economic superpower in the world, then you wouldnt do that. It just depends on what you believe.

His audience mightnt have been aware at the time, but this was a cunning bit of advice from the once president. Clinton was telling them to prepare for a world in which the United States is the number two global power, and China is number one. As the worlds second power, America would prefer to live with a number one power that supports a world with rules and partnerships and habits of behavior that would make the world a more orderly place. Even more cunningly, Clinton was suggesting that the United States could slip the handcuffs of multilateral rules and processes more effectively onto China if America slipped those very same handcuffs on itself while it was still the worlds pre-eminent power.

However, Clintons speech would have been more effective had he honestly admitted that it has been a consistent American policy to weaken, rather than strengthen, multilateral rules and institutions. This was a dirty little secret I discovered while serving twice as Singapores ambassador to the United Nations, from 1984 to 1989 and again from 1998 to 2004. This policy was also made plain when the United States walked away from the World Court in 1985, refused to ratify the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, and tried to undermine the International Criminal Court in 2002. America has also consistently tried to pick weak and spineless U.N. secretaries-general to head up the global body. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton admitted this publicly in his memoirs when he quoted then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said, Im not sure we want a strong secretary-general. Unfortunately, such candor is a rarity from U.S. leaders.

Paradoxically, Trump may emerge as the most honest and forthright American president on the issue of multilateralism. He has made public his disdain for multilateral rules and institutions. He has denounced the Trans-Pacific Partnership and threatened to walk away from commitments that the United States had made on climate change. At a White House briefing earlier this year, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said, As to climate change, I think the president was fairly straightforward: Were not spending money on that anymore.

Multilateral China

Such rhetoric should have been music to Beijings ears. As a rising power poised to become the worlds largest economy within a decade or so, it would be in Chinas interest, one might argue, to see international institutions such as the United Nations weakened and marginalized. This is, after all, exactly what the United States has done for decades.

But China chose a different tack. Its decision to take the opposite course of strengthening rather than weakening multilateral institutions should be seen as a surprising, even shocking, decision. Why is China not following the footsteps of the prevailing number one power? One possible reason why China is not emulating America in undermining multilateralism is that the two countries have very different conceptions of their respective roles in the world. The United States sees itself as an exceptional country, hence it believes that it has a global responsibility to transform the world. It refuses to be constrained by multilateral rules when it interferes in the internal affairs of other countries. It has promoted many so-called color revolutions, including the 2005 Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan and the 2011 Arab Spring revolution in Egypt. No other country shares this messianic impulse of the United States.

By contrast, China is only interested in improving the livelihoods of its 1.4 billion citizens (or one-fifth of the worlds population). After a century and a half of hell -- from the First Opium War in 1839 through to the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 -- China experienced heaven and enjoyed the worlds fastest economic growth, especially after joining the global multilateral order that the West gifted to the world after the Second World War. No country has benefitted more from the WTO than China has. This is why China is now the worlds number one trading power.

Having enjoyed many remarkable benefits by walking away from Maos isolationist policies and toward Dengs integrationist policies, China knows from first-hand experience that integration into a rules-based multilateral order has served China well. In another remarkable reversal, the values and benefits of free trade have been documented and explained by American, not Chinese, thinkers. Yet today, it is politically toxic in the United States to defend free trade agreements like NAFTA or TPP. By contrast, China is enthusiastically signing more and more free trade pacts. Since it joined the WTO in 2001, it has signed 14 FTAs with countries as diverse as Australia, South Korea, and Peru, and in 2002 it agreed to a broader free trade area with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Can Washington Follow Beijing?

It was therefore a mistake for American pundits and policymakers to pooh-pooh the two speeches made by Xi earlier this year. They reflect a well-considered position that China benefits from a stronger rules-based multilateral order. Similarly, it was also unwise of the American media to excoriate Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for characterizing the U.S.-China relationship as a very positive one built on non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, as is common in Chinese policymaking circles. Article 2 of the U.N. Charter, after all, spells out the principles of international cooperation, and Tillersons statements were only a reiteration of these principles.

Sadly, Tillerson was accused in the West of kowtowing to China. The clear assumption behind these criticisms is that America is pursuing the correct international policies while China is pursuing the wrong ones. However, the United States clearly remains committed to weakening and undermining multilateral rules and processes, while China still believes that it is in its national interest to do the opposite.

As Bill Clinton wisely advised, it is now in the national interest of the United States to change course and strengthen multilateral rules and institutions. In an atmosphere of global financial crises and climate change, of pandemics and terrorism, and numerous other international challenges such as famine and cyber-security, it is high time that the United States embraced global institutions and became a responsible stakeholder in the global system once more.
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Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry together with 49 companies take part at the Middle Easts leading travel and tourism event  Arabian Travel Market  in Dubai, UAE. Celebrating 24 years of industry milestones, ATM welcomes over 2,600 confirmed exhibitors  with 100 exhibiting for the first time  representing more than 150 countries, across 65 national pavilions.

In addition to Turkish Culture & Tourism Ministry's 800sqm stand, many Turkish tour operators are attending the event in their own stands.

Visit Turkey stand EU8120

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was joined by dignitaries including HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai; HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and CEO of the Emirates Group; and His Excellency Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) for the opening of Arabian Travel Market which takes place 24-27 April 2017 at Dubai World Trade Centre.
A mere 72 hours before SHOT Show 2015, the BATFE released an open letter determining that shouldering and firing a pistol with brace constituted a redesign and may fall under the purview of the National Firearms Act (NFA). The letter reads, in part:

These items are intended to improve accuracy by using the operators forearm to provide stable support for the AR-type pistol. ATF has previously determined that attaching the brace to a firearm does not alter the classification of the firearm or subject the firearm to National Firearms Act (NFA) control. However, this classification is based upon the use of the device as designed.When the device is redesigned for use as a shoulder stock on a handgun with a rifled barrel under 16 inches in length, the firearm is properly classified as a firearm under the NFA. The pistol stabilizing brace was neither designed nor approved to be used as a shoulder stock, and therefore use as a shoulder stock constitutes a redesign of the device because a possessor has changed the very function of the item. Any individual letters stating otherwise are contrary to the plain language of the NFA, misapply Federal law, and are hereby revokedAny person who intends to use a handgun stabilizing brace as a shoulder stock on a pistol (having a rifled barrel under 16 inches in length or a smooth bore firearm with a barrel under 18 inches in length) must first file an ATF Form 1 and pay the applicable tax because the resulting firearm will be subject to all provisions of the NFA.

[Entire letter here]

This letter was a reversal of a previous determination and caused a considerable amount of uproar in the firearms community. Previous letters indicated the way in which an item is used, regardless of the original intent, did not constitute a redesign. Here's an excerpt from May 2014, in a letter addressed to Sergeant Joe Bradley of the Greenwood Police Department in Colorado:

Firing of a weapon from a particular position, such as placing the receiver extension of an AR-15 type pistol on the users shoulder, does not change the classification of a weapon. Further, certain firearm accessories such as the SIG stability brace have not been classified by the FTB as shoulder stocks and, therefore, using the brace improperly does not constitute a design change.

So, in May of 2014 the BATFE considered it legal to do this:



And when the BATFE sent out it's January, 2015 determination, it was not.

Except now there's a new letterwith yet another reversal.

This time instead of 72 hours before SHOT Show we learn about it 72 hours before the 2017 NRA Annual Meeting from arm brace-maker SB Tactical. In January of this year, Mark Barnes, outside counsel representing SB Tactical, sent a letter to Thomas Brandon, the acting Director of the BATFE asking the agency to reconsider is 2015 reversal. Barnes received a response and it's one we should all be pleased with.

According to the BATFE's response to Brandon, the assistant director of Enforcement Programs and Services, Marvin G . Richarsdon, says merely shooting a brace from the shoulder is no longer considered a redesign. He state's in the letter that any steps taken to configure a brace as a stock, however, would constitute a redesign. From the BATFE's written response to Brandon:

With respect to stabilizing braces, ATF has concluded that attaching the brace to a handgun as a forearm brace does not make a short-barreled rifle because in the configuration as submitted to and approved by FATD [Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division], it is not intended to be and cannot comfortably be fired from the shoulder. If, however, the shooter/possessor takes affirmative steps to configure the device for use as a shoulder stockfor example, configuring the brace as to permanently affix it to the end of a buffer tube, (thereby creating a length that has no other purpose than to facilitate its use as a stock), removing the arm-strap, or otherwise undermining its ability to be used as a brace  and then in fact shoots the firearms from the shoulder using the accessory as a shoulder stock that person has objectively redesigned the firearm for purposes of the NFA. This conclusion is not based upon the mere fact that the firearm was fired from the shoulder at some point. Therefore, an NFA firearm has not necessarily been made when the device is not re-configured for use as a shoulder stock  even if the attached firearm happens to be fired from the shoulder

[Emphasis Added]

Check out the entire letter here

SB Tactical released this statement along with the :

Saint Petersburg, Fla. (April, 25, 2017)  SB Tactical, inventors and manufacturers of the Pistol Stabilizing Brace, is excited to announce that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has issued SB Tactical a reversal letter containing a sensible clarification of the Bureaus position on the lawful use of SB Tactical braces. The new clarification of opinion letter states, an NFA firearm has not necessarily been made when the device is not re-configured for use as a shoulder stock  even if the attached firearm happens to be fired from the shoulder. To the extent that the January 2015 Open Letter implied or has been construed to hold that incidental, sporadic, or situational use of an arm-brace (in its original approved configuration) equipped firearm from a firing position at or near the shoulder was sufficient to constitute redesign, such interpretations are incorrect and not consistent with ATFs interpretation of the statute or the manner in which it has historically been enforced. SB Tactical, along with the law offices of Mark Barnes & Associates, have worked tirelessly for more than two years to correct what they believed to be an inaccurate interpretation of redesign, related to the Pistol Stabilizing Brace. It has always been our belief that the addition of our Pistol Stabilizing Brace benefits shooters, both disabled and able-bodied, and that neither strapping it to your arm nor shouldering a brace equipped pistol would constitute redesign of a pistol to a NFA firearm, said Alex Bosco, inventor, founder and CEO of SB Tactical. We are strongly encouraged by the ATFs reversal of opinion and commend their willingness to continually review policy, including their own opinions, to ensure public safety and the fulfillment of their mission. Both SB Tactical and Mark Barnes & Associates are proud to be at the forefront of protecting and preserving the Second Amendment rights of law abiding Americans. Mark Barnes echoed Boscos praise of the ATFs new guidance and stated that its clear that the Bureau has no intention or desire to prosecute law abiding citizens using SB Tactical Pistol Stabilizing Braces. Their decision to act should be commended.

These letters and reversal letters are a salient demonstration of the absurdity surrounding NFA laws, but for now it seems you can shoulder and shoot an unmodified brace freelyat least until a reversal of the reversal of the reversal comes out.

Now pardon us while we go head to the range to shoulder some braces.
Pegasus Airlines is launching five new destinations from London Stansted, including Grozny, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod and Volgograd in Russia and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With the addition of the new flights, Pegasus will now fly to seven Russian destinations including its current Russian routes to Moscow, Krasnodar and Mineralnye Vody.

Its Middle Eastern network will now extend to 5 destinations with the addition of Abu Dhabi to its current Gulf destinations of Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha and Dubai. The total Pegasus network now extends to 103 destinations in 40 countries

Pegasus new thrice weekly routes from London Stansted via Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen include the launch of Grozny on the 12th April, as well as the new flights to Samara and Volgograd launching on the 19th June and flights to Nizhny Novgorod and Abu Dhabi launching on the 20th June.

Grozny flights via Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, which launched on the 12th April, will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays; Samara flights, launching on the 19th June, will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Also launching on the 19th June are flights to Volgograd, operating on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays. Nizhny Novgorod flights are launching on 20th June and will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Prices to the new Russian destinations start from just 130 one-way including taxes and charges.

With the addition of its new route of Abu Dhabi, Pegasus now flies to two destinations in the UAE including its current route of Dubai. Flights from London Stansted to Abu Dhabi via Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with the return from Abu Dhabi operating on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. One-way prices start from just 118 one-way including taxes and charges.

For more detailed information on Pegasus wide network of destinations visit www.flypgs.com/en
University Council met Wednesday for their final meeting of the semester and passed several key changes to the curriculum for the coming year.
Some people said they dislike the idea of online retailers keeping track of their buying habits, while others said receiving targeted advertisements can be useful to consumers.
Delays in promised service delivery were earlier settled between client and service provider. More organisations now opt for a legal settlement to save cost and protect investor sentiment, analysts tell Ayan Pramanik and Gireesh Babu.

IMAGE: Indian IT firms have seen also lawsuits for various reasons, apart from delay in implementation. Photograph used for representational purpose only: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters.

Indian information technology (IT) services companies are facing more litigation over alleged breaches of contract and disputes on project implementation timelines.

Delays in promised service delivery were earlier settled between client and service provider. More organisations now opt for a legal settlement to save cost and protect investor sentiment, say analysts.

Last week, Conduent, a United States-based business process outsourcing company spun off from Xerox, filed a lawsuit in New York against Cognizant Technology Solutions for breach of contract. It is seeking to recover $150 million (Rs 1,000 crore).

The dispute is over a contract under which Cognizant prepared a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Conduent to replace legacy Medicaid management information systems with a new one called Health Enterprise. Conduent hired Cognizant as a subcontractor for its implementation.

It has now alleged that while it relied on Cognizant's expertise in preparing these estimates and in scoping the level of effort required to deliver the project to the state of New York, "Cognizant's estimates were materially deficient and grossly understated".

"The lawsuit is the result of an ongoing contractual dispute between the two companies stemming from that project, including Conduent's failure to pay Cognizant for much of the work that it performed," said a Cognizant spokesperson. He said the company would vigorously defend itself and counter-claim damages.

In another Rs 665 crore ($100 million) lawsuit last month, HCL Technologies was sued by a Chicago-based client, MillerCoors, which contended breach of contract and delay in transformation of technology systems across business locations.

"Lawsuits are pretty common in the US. It is often part of their strategy. We are now seeing it in the IT services industry. In the current environment, where performance is evaluated quarterly, organisations do not want to hold on to any issue for long," said Pareekh Jain, analyst at HfS Research India.

Today, he added, Indian IT firms were answerable for delays in project implementation with disruption in technology like cloud-based delivery. "Earlier, organisations tried to solve disputes amicably, but the dynamics of businesses have changed," he said.

Another sector analyst said it would not be right to compare the lawsuit against Cognizant with recent cases such as the one involving HCL, as one was a business dispute between a contractor and a subcontractor and the others were client versus company disputes.

Stricter regulations, coupled with emergence of digital technologies, force customers of IT vendors to seek faster resolution

"Regulations and compliance are becoming more stringent and investor communities are after clients for a technology transformation. On the other hand, things like automation and use of digital technologies prompt investors of these clients to ask questions on faster technology implementation," said Rajesh Gupta, India partner at research firm ISG.

In many cases, clients also appear to be rigid.

"Due to dynamic business situations on the client's side, service providers often are not able to finish certain implementations on time. While targeted operational efficiencies are promised, workloads also increase on the client's side. Clients often stick to the agreement, irrespective of the change in real business. As a result, we are seeing more lawsuits. It could happen across Indian and global IT vendors," he added.

Indian IT firms have also seen lawsuits for various reasons, apart from delay in implementation.

About a year ago, US-based Epic sued Tata Consultancy Services, claiming "improper access to an Epic portal by a TCS employee".

And TCS was told to pay $940 million to Epic in "an intellectual property infringement suit".

In 2011, a US national, Jack Palmer, sought an investigation into Infosys's visa practices, claiming violations by the company. Later, he filed another lawsuit against the company when he lost the previous case, demanding "reappointment and compensation" for wrongful termination of employment.

Infosys paid $34 million after a federal investigation on visa fraud and hiring process errors.

In another incident in 2015, an American employee sued TCS, claiming the company favoured workers with South Asian links.
Number of stocks trading above 50 times and 100 times earnings are at record highs.

When this happened in 2015 and 2016, the Sensex fell 22.6 per cent in a little over a year's time after peaking in January 2015, while it fell by 11.3 per cent in two months from its peak in September 2016.

Vishal Chhabria and Sheetal Agarwal report.

Indian stock markets have not looked back since their low on December 26, 2016, and have emerged as the top performer among major markets globally in 2017.

In a bull market such as this, almost all stocks tend to run up, irrespective of their fundamentals, which is reason enough for investors to be careful.

A key measure to identify a potential risk or reward is a stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple.

This ratio is arrived at by dividing the stock price with its earnings per share or by dividing the company's market capitalisation with its net profit.

The higher the multiple, the more the price an investor is paying to buy the stock and vice versa.

At present, 81 stocks in the BSE 500 universe are trading at a P/E of 50 or more, based on their financials for the trailing 12 months ended December 2016.

Within these, 20 command a P/E of 100 to 640 times; three are trading at more than 1,000 times their earnings.

Another 56 stocks have a negative P/E, as the companies have posted a loss.

The current scenario is similar to what was seen in January 2015 and September 2016, when markets had made tops comparable to current levels.

The S&P BSE Sensex peaked at 29,682 on January 29, 2015, and at 29,045 on September 8, 2016, and at that time their P/E was 20.13 and 21.45, respectively.

The latest Sensex value is 29,461 and P/E is 22.62.

In January 2015, 75 stocks were trading at a P/E of 50 or more, while those over 100 were at 23.

Comparable numbers when Sensex peaked on September 8, 2016, were 74 and 18, respectively.

Notably, the Sensex fell 22.6 per cent in a little over a year's time after peaking in January 2015, while it fell by 11.3 per cent in two months from its peak in September 2016.

An unreasonably high P/E multiple means the stock price has run up, but the company's earnings are yet to catch up.

Most of these 100-plus P/E stocks have outperformed the BSE 500 index, with gains of 20 to 100 per cent since December 26.

One reason for the gains could be that markets tend to react first in hope of an improvement or deterioration in any company's prospects.

But it is only in hindsight that investors come to know whether the market was right or wrong.

There are many examples to prove this. Investors should, thus, be cautious while dealing in the highly valued scrips.

Coming to valuations, a caveat here is that the P/E ratio tends to vary across sectors and growth cycles.

For example, consumer food companies usually trade at a multiple of over 20, due to steady growth prospects.

We have also seen the swing in valuations of information technology and pharmaceutical companies -- from high P/E when growth rates were strong to the current low P/E due to slowdown and other concerns.

Likewise, commodity producers typically trade in single-digit P/E ratios.

This time, even as metal companies (Tata Steel, Vedanta) have posted losses in recent times, the stock returns have been phenomenal.

Nischal Maheshwari, head of institutional equities at Edelweiss Securities, explains: "Cyclicals are at the bottom of the cycle when industrials slow down; hence, they post losses. Investors should, thus, look at their enterprise value to Ebitda (operating profit) ratio; most of them are inexpensive on this front. We like Vedanta and other cyclical stocks, as recovery will be very strong."

One way of lowering the risk is by filtering out the undeserving stocks.

While there is no certainty in equity markets, the parameters to consider include the estimated earnings growth for the next one to two years, quality of company management, long-term potential to scale up a business and so forth.

A closer look at the 100-plus P/E companies reveals that earnings of 16 companies are estimated to grow by over 20 per cent annually during FY16-19.

Another 21 are expected to post profit in FY19 as compared to loss in FY16, by Bloomberg consensus data.

However, in cases where earnings estimates are available, a majority of the stocks still trade at over 20 times the two-year forward (FY19) earnings, which is not cheap. So, too, for stocks with a P/E between 50 and 100.

For stocks trading at 50-plus PEs, Gautam Sinha Roy, senior vice-president at Motilal Oswal Asset Management, has sound advice.

"Investors should only hold on to these stocks if they have very strong earnings growth visibility," Sinha Roy says. "The ones that don't deliver healthy earnings growth are more likely to witness time or price correction in their valuations."

Interestingly, there are many prominent names in the list. Many of them could be justifiably commanding high valuations, due to strong growth prospects.

Thus, experts suggest investors go a step ahead of P/E and look at the P/EG ratio, of price/earnings to growth.

This is a stock's P/E divided by the growth rate of its earnings for a specified time period.

Rakesh Arora, managing partner, Go India Advisors, says, "High-growth stocks are also valued using the P/EG ratio. This factors in the pace of growth these stocks are building into. Theoretically, if the P/EG ratio is below one, it is fine to invest at those valuations."

Image only published for representational purposes. Photograph: Reuters
'The anonymous electoral bonds means that political affiliations will be even harder to ascertain for the voter or the minority shareholder.'

'The government of the day will, of course, know, exactly which corporate is making donations to which party.'

'Hence, the government will be in a wonderful position to exert "moral pressure" on corporates which make donations to Opposition parties,' points out Devangshu Datta.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

A recent debate involved a post-modernist interpretation of the meaning of 'only' in the context of what defines a Money Bill in Parliament.

According to the finance minister, 'only' is not open to only one definition.

Another ongoing debate could lead to redefinition of 'transparent' in the context of political funding.

As things stood, political funding was somewhat opaque and difficult to track.

As things will stand in the future, funding patterns will become clearer for the government of the day, while becoming utterly opaque to the common voter.

As of financial year 2016-17, political parties could accept anonymous cash donations up to a limit of Rs 20,000 per donation.

They could accept donations from overseas, after retrospective legislation was pushed through on that front.

Corporates could donate to political parties. But corporate donations had been capped at 7.5 per cent of average net profits for the past three years.

The corporate concerned also had to make a declaration in its statement of accounts, naming the political party (or parties) to which donations were made.

There were several ways to game such rules.

First, a political party could receive a continuous stream of cash handed over by anonymous people donating in sub-multiples up to the cash-limit.

Second, corporates do have a certain leeway to show profits. Many business groups set up multiple companies to juggle profits and losses.

Given corporate taxation (and labour laws to some extent), this is efficient.

The politically-inclined entrepreneur who owned multiple companies could funnel donations by using such dabba entities.

The new rules cut the anonymous cash funding limit to Rs 2,000/donation. But the funding cap on corporates has been removed.

A corporate can donate as much as it likes, without any reference to profits.

Corporates are also no longer required to disclose any political funding -- they don't have to name the recipient party.

A convoluted system of 'electoral bonds' has also been set up. A corporate can buy these bonds and hand the bonds over to the political party of choice.

The reduction in the anonymous cash limit is an eyewash.

There are multitudes of under-employed and unemployed people in the country. If required, they can be gainfully employed, to line up and hand over Rs 2,000 each.

More pragmatically, political parties will just have to print more receipts, so I guess, the printers will be grateful for the extra quantum of business.

Entrepreneurs will heave large sighs of relief. They need to make political donations to run businesses.

The removal of the link to profits means that shell companies can now be set up more easily to make donations.

Those shell companies could even be owned by trusts, or bodies corporate, obscuring the trail further.

Since overseas donations are allowed, the shareholders could perhaps even be obscure entities from Panama, or the Cayman Islands.

The anonymous electoral bonds means that political affiliations will be even harder to ascertain for the voter or the minority shareholder.

The government of the day will, of course, know, exactly which corporate is making donations to which party.

Those bonds are issued against payments received and the government can then reconcile the bond issues against the accounts submitted by political parties receiving the bonds.

Hence, the government will be in a wonderful position to exert 'moral pressure' on corporates which make donations to Opposition parties.

(There is unlikely to ever be a political debate on the definition of moral pressure in this context).

It may be possible for corporates to build up a war chest of electoral bonds, to 'reward' political parties.

For example, a business group may be negotiating for some sops or concessions, or bidding for some major tender or contract.

A shell company could be set up to buy bonds. These bonds could be deployed to 'reward' the political party in power as a quid pro quo.

Variations on such actions could generate fascinating riders and lemmas on the theorems of game theory.

But it is hard to slot this concept into any definition of 'transparency.'

As the Hinglish aphorism goes, 'We are like this only.'

MUST READ features in the RELATED LINKS BELOW...
'By taking fingerprints, iris scans and other details of citizens, the State is becoming the custodian of its people.'

'The State can use this data according to its whims and fancies, which is not good in a democracy.'

'When the State looks at all the activities of its citizens, it becomes a police State.'

IMAGE: By taking fingerprints, iris scans and other details of the citizens of the country, the State can use this data according to its whims and fancies, which is not good in a democracy, says Binoy Viswam. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

Communist Party of India leader Binoy Viswam has moved a petition in the Supreme Court questioning the introduction of Section 139 AA of the IT Act to link Aadhaar cards with PAN cards.

He also questioned the government's decision to introduce the amendment as part of a Money Bill, thereby curtailing a discussion in the Rajya Sabha.

In hearings on March 27 and April 21, the Supreme Court came down hard on the government for making Aadhaar compulsory -- in violation of a previous Supreme Court ruling.

'How can you make Aadhaar mandatory despite a clear order to make it optional? Is making Aadhaar by force the only way to tackle fraud?' the nation's highest court asked the Centre.

Binoy Viswam, who does not have an Aadhaar card, explains to Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier why he considers the Aadhaar card undemocratic and an intrusion into a citizen's Constitutional Right to Privacy.

Why did you file a petition in the Supreme Court against the government's decision to link Aadhaar with PAN?

The Supreme Court had said earlier that Aadhaar is not mandatory.

Till now, it was optional for all Indian citizens. You had the right to decide whether you want to have the card or not. But the new Finance Bill has made it mandatory for a tax payer.

Till now, to pay your tax, you need to have only your PAN number, but by linking Aadhaar to your PAN number, the government is making it mandatory.

It was not right on the part of the government to introduce the amendment as a part of a finance bill, as a Money Bill.

By doing so, it curtailed a discussion in the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of Parliament can neither reject, nor amend a Money Bill; it can only make recommendations).

Can the executive overturn what the judiciary says?

Here, the executive is trying to play a very active role, which they are not supposed to do.

The government in its affidavit told the court that it would not make Aadhaar mandatory. But now, they are making it obligatory even for something like the mid-day meal scheme. It is needed for taxation and all the financial activities.

Slowly, they are making it compulsory for all citizens.

Aadhaar is intruding into a citizen's Right to Privacy, something the Constitution guarantees every citizen.

Why do you think the same party that opposed Aadhaar when it was introduced by the UPA now wants to make it compulsory for every citizen?

It shows the BJP has two faces. It is not a party that has a genuine and sensible political ideology.

The party has no qualms in changing its colour according to the needs.

When in Opposition, they criticised the UPA and now in power, they say one of the best UPA initiatives was introducing Aadhaar. This exposes the double standards followed by the BJP.

They realise now that this card gives the State the power to peep into the lives of every citizen in the country.

When the State looks at all the activities of its citizens, it becomes a police State.

It is like Big Brother is watching everyone and this negates the basic spirit of democracy.

When I interviewed Dr Usha Ramanathan, she said Aadhaar could be a threat to national security since the data is not safe.

The government itself admitted recently that personal data of many citizens had been leaked.

Do you feel there is a cause for concern?

Definitely, it is a matter of concern.

When the data related to crores of Indians was taken by private agencies and when they have access to it, how safe is it?

It can affect the security, integrity and sovereignty of the nation.

IMAGE: Schoolgirls at a government-run primary school in New Delhi collect their free mid-day meal.

Effective July 1, a student without Aadhaar won't get the midday meal.

Photograph: Mansi Thapliyal/Reuters

The Supreme Court itself says Aadhaar is not mandatory, yet a person who doesn't want to take the card is being forced to take it now...

I have not taken the Aadhaar card till now. But I know many people who don't support Aadhaar have been forced to take it. You can say they have taken it out of fear.

In a democracy, you can't coerce, you can't pressure people to do such things.

The government has no right to say that without Aadhaar you cannot have certain benefits given by the government.

Is it necessary for every citizen to have a unique ID in a democracy? Can't we exist without an ID?

When you have a voter id, a ration card, a passport, a PAN card to pay taxes, what is the need to have an ID where all your information is stored?

The data of so many citizens of this country is with an agency that is not supposed to keep it.

This is very dangerous for the Indian nation.

Do you think only the judiciary can do something about this?

The judiciary is one of the forums that can do something, but it's not the only forum.

I am a democrat and in my opinion, people are the biggest force. But sometimes, the judiciary also can play a role.

You said you don't have an Aadhaar card. Will you ever take it?

Right now, no, I will not take an Aadhaar. I cannot be forced to take it.

If the court also does not come to my rescue, and I have no other option, I will have to, now that the government has linked Aadhaar to PAN. Then I will be forced to do something by the coercive government.

If that happens, it will be an insult to the citizen.

Do you feel there will be a fundamental shift in the State-citizen relationship when the State forces a citizen to do something s/he doesn't want to?

Then, it is not democracy.

In a democracy, the will of the people is supreme.

Here, the citizens are becoming instruments in the hands of the State.

By taking fingerprints, iris scans and other details of the citizens of the country, the State is becoming the custodian of its people.

The State can use this data according to its whims and fancies, which is not good in a democracy.

When the State asks a hungry child for an Aadhaar card to have his mid-day meal, when the State asks a poor MNREGA worker for the card to get the pay for his work, where is democracy at work?

Such a State talking about democracy is nothing but hypocrisy as they are fooling the people.
'It is an ambush, no IEDs were used, which means it is more tactical, more technical and more intelligent.'

'CRPF has got tremendous resilience. It will come back, it will not be sitting forever.'

'Since CRPF is the major security force in this area, they are the major targets.'

Image: An injured CRPF jawan is being taken to hospital at Sukma, Chhattisgarh, on April 24, 2017. Photograph: PTI Photo.

Former Central Reserve Police Force director deneral and senior security advisor in the home ministry K Vijay Kumar, who has rushed to Chhattisgarh following the killing of 25 CRPF men in Sukma on Monday, speaks with Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore about the morale of the jawans after the Maoist attack and explains with statistics why the Naxals are fighting a losing battle.

He, however, refused to comment on why the CRPF is without a DG for the last two months, a period in which Naxals ambushed CRPF jawans twice in Sukma, on March 11 and April 24, killing 37 jawans.

Do you see any lapses on the part of the CRPF while entering an area dominated by Naxals? Isn't it becoming routinly easy for the Naxals to ruthlessly massacre CRPF jawans in an ambush and escape without suffering much damage themselves?

When you say 'lapses', you are prejudging the issue.

CRPF is bound to be the major target because, willy-nilly, 90 per cent of the force that acts against the Naxals in the Naxal-affected area is the CRPF.

In terms of numbers they are proportionately likely to be hit.

The CRPF is the one in charge of road construction, and road construction is the major threat to Maoism now more than anything else because roads will connect these areas to hospitals, schools, BDs (block development offices), which are about 20 km away, and this will reduce the travelling time by whatever it is now to one-fourth or even one-tenth.

So now if people (from the inaccessible areas in the region) are struggling to go to these facilities, these roads will help them reach faster.

These roads will also help the security forces reach faster inside the deep, remote areas much more easily and that is the reason they (the Maoists) are focusing on stopping road construction (in these areas).

For your information, apart from these two incidents (March 11, when Naxals killed 12 CRPF jawans, and the April 24 ambush where Naxals killed 25 CRPF jawans), there were several incidents which were not noticed because (the CRPF) lost lives in ones or two in a period of one and a half years.

If you go to the Jagargunda-Dornapal road you will find the number of amputations (of CRPF jawans) that have happened because of IED explosions and sniper firing, the security personnel in 95 per cent of these cases belong to the CRPF.

Since the CRPF is the major security force in this area, that explains they are the major targets.

In terms of calling it a 'massacre', one really doesn't know if there is a failure, that is matter of further probe. My job, now that I am in Raipur, will be honouring the deceased.

I will be going to that area and try to figure out and then spend some time (there). Though I am not part of the investigating agency, I will try to figure out what could have gone wrong and what can be done (to prevent such killings).

Do you think the Naxals in India are fighting a losing battle and that explains their desperate, cowardly acts?

Absolutely, they are, there is no doubt about it.

You look at the curve (of CRPF victories against Naxals)...

Our curve has bee very gentle and it is going on, and the curve which is not steep but is gentle and plateauing down is a better curve in counter-insurgency, according to international experts, and we are typically doing a classical pattern and declining steadily.

Last year to this year there has been a decline of 42 per cent (in the number of CRPF casualties) from 2015 to 2016, and this decline is very healthy and favourable for the CRPF.

The attrition ratio has improved from 1:1 (read as 'one is to one') to 1:3.5 (read as 'one is to three point five'), which means we are losing one (jawan) and we are taking 3.5 (naxals) from their ranks, which is the most favourable (ratio) in the last 15-20 years.

The only thing is when they hit you, and its is quite typical when the insurgency is finally fading away, there will always be sparks like that (like the two ambushes on March 11 and April 24), like a flicker of the lamp before it goes off. There will always be a lot of such incidents.

Do you expect more Naxal attacks on the security forces in the region?

It is reasonable to anticipate more of such attacks because in their desperation the easiest thing to do is use more IEDs... But this (the April 24 Sukma attack) should not be dismissed as a desperate attack because (in) this (attack) IEDs were not used.

It is an ambush, which means, it is more tactical, more technical and more intelligent, and we have to be more careful while handling it (dealing with such attacks).

Will you be visiting the spot where the ambush took place?

I may. I am already in Raipur so after honouring the deceased and speaking with those injured I may go there.

What is the morale of the CRPF jawans like right now? Have you met any of the injured jawans?

Whenever such major attacks happen there will be immediate, instantaneous shattering of the thing (morale) but CRPF is a force that has got tremendous resilience; it will come back; it will not be sitting forever.

This has happened before, this may happen again, but CRPF is a force with tremendous resilience; we have excellent commanders and officers in the force and I am sure they will take it (the battle against the Naxals) forward.

The CRPF is without a DG for almost two months and in these two months the paramilitary force has lost 37 jawans.

I am not in charge of nominating DGs; that is not my area. So, you will have to take this up with the people concerned.

What gives the Naxals strength in this region, especially Sukma where they have undertaken major ambushes and killed a lot of CRPF jawans?

When you say that, remember that the jan-militia is not a thousand-strong standing army.

It is all scattered across many villages, where they can assemble in hundreds at a short notice.

So, it is not a standing army; it is broken into bits and pieces like People's Guerrilla Army and will always have platoons and companies; they will never have a battalion, though they call themselves a battalion it is not a battalion.

What they do is they mobilise their men from neighbouring two-three villages and in such kind of attacks (as the one at Sukma on April 24), they will have 100-200 men or a maximum of 300.

Out of these, maybe one-third will be armed with lethal weapons and the rest will possess non-lethal weapons.
The ATS was investigating this case from a particular viewpoint. The situation changed in 2011 when NIA took over the case.

IMAGE: Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, accused in the Malegaon blast case, has been in jail for the past nine years and according to her lawyer suffers from cancer. Photograph: PTI Photo.

Prima facie there is no case made out against Sadhvi Pragya, said Justice Ranjit More of the Bombay high court while granting bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused of plotting the 2008 Malegaon blast on Tuesday.

Soon after the verdict on Tuesday, Sadhvis lawyer Shyam Dewani spoke to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf on what were the circumstances under which she got bail.

What happened today (Tuesday) at the Bombay high court?

The honourable court observed that prima facie no was case was found against Sadhvi Pragya, and that is based on the investigation by the National Investigation Agency.

We came up with the argument that there is no case against Sadhvi Pragya in the Malegaon blast. In addition to that, we argued that she is suffering from cancer and has been kept in jail for nine years.

But there were serious charges against Sadhvi Pragya, like her scooter was used in the blast?

There was material evidence on record that she sold her scooter back in 2004 (to Sunil Joshi, another accused in the Malegaon blast. He was shot dead on December 29, 2007, following which Sadhvi Pragya was accused of the murder. However, she was released in that case in February this year).

Theres another charge levelled against Sadhvi Pragya, that she attended a meeting in Faridabad where the conspiracy for the blast was hatched. However, there is no material evidence that she participated in that meeting.

Another allegation levelled is that she attended the Bhopal meeting where the Malegaon blast was planned, but again there is no evidence that she was part of the conspiracy.

When she sold the scooter in 2004, did she follow all proper documentation?

There is material evidence on record that she transferred the scooter to the sellers name and she repaid the loan amount of the scooter in advance. The delivery note she took and the deal was done through a broker. All this was collected by the Anti-Terrorism Squad.

What about the terror meetings then?

In respect to the Faridabad meeting, the prosecution was trying to connect her with the Malegaon blast through these meetings which she did not attend. That was our argument in the case.

What has changed in the case after it was taken over by the NIA from ATS that she has now got bail?

It is our argument that the ATS was investigating this case from a particular viewpoint. The situation changed in 2011 when the NIA took over the case. The NIA took into consideration the same material which was not considered by the ATS for whatever reasons. The NIA submitted the chargesheet last year and that was changed the circumstances in the case.

The case was initially being investigated by the ATS under the leadership of Hemant Karkare, who was martyred in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

That is the unfortunate part of it. It is better I do not comment on it. The trial is still pending and it is improper on my part to make any comment. Several things will come out during the trial.

So let us wait and see what comes out of the trial.

In June 2015, public prosecutor Rohini Salian had stated that the government was trying to pressure her to go soft on Sadhvi Pragya. What do you have to say?

It is better we go by what is on record rather than going by what someone is saying. It is not proper on my part to speak on anybodys comment.

IMAGE: A damaged cycle at the Malegaon blast site. The blast killed at least 32 people and wounded more than 70 others. Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters

Nine years is a long time to be denied bail, and now suddenly she gets bail?

It is unfortunate. I feel Sadhvi Pragya has bad destiny.

What is the condition that has been set up for bail?

She has been released on a bail of Rs 5 lakh surety in cash. She has also been asked to deposit her passport and told to not to tamper with the evidence, which are usual conditions for bail.

What is her health like?

I could not meet her because she was in Bhopal jail. I have been told that Sadhvi is in poor health and suffering from the dreaded disease (cancer).

How long do you think this case will go on?

Framing of charges is still going on.

Its been nine years and charges are still being framed?

What can be done, unfortunately? First chargesheet, second chargesheet, supplementary chargesheet, then NIA chargesheet and the hearing on framing of charges is still going on. It is unfortunate.

Why did Lt Colonel Shrikant Purohit not get bail then? What was the observation by the court?

The court has unfortunately found that he is not entitled to bail.
'The size or economic potential of no event can be a valid excuse to break the law of the land.'

IMAGE: Army soldiers paint railings on a pontoon bridge laid in the waters of the Yamuna river to reach the venue of the World Culture Festival on the banks of the river in New Delhi. Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters

"Make sure the truth is on your side," says environmental activist Manoj Mishra who went up against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his organisation, Art of Living, in a bid to protect the Yamuna river.

Mishra, convenor of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, an organisation that helps to preserve and protect the river and its floodplain, filed a petition in February 2016 against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Cultural Festival, which was scheduled to be held on the banks of the river on March 11 to 13 that year.

The culmination came on April 18, 2017, when the National Green Tribunal reprimanded Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for his 'irresponsible' remarks.

In an e-mail interview, Mishra tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf about the plight of the Yamuna and his tussle with Art of Living.

NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar has said that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has 'no sense of responsibility'. Do you agree with his views?

No comments.

How serious is the environmental damage to the Yamuna because of this event and how long do you think it will take to recover from the damage?

This issue has already been settled by the report of the NGT-appointed seven-member expert committee. Please peruse the report.

Do you think compensation of Rs 42 crore, recommended by a 7-member expert committee, is enough to restore the Yamuna?

No comments.

When did you first come to know of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's plan to organise the World Cultural Festival on the banks of the Yamuna?

I first came to know that an event was being held in early December 2015.

What action did you want the administration to take against the event? Cancel it, or impose conditions?

We immediately wrote to the honourable lieutenant governor of Delhi (Najeeb Jung) to not permit any such event.

If the administration gave a thumbs-up to the event, it would be a direct contradiction of the National Green Tribunal's January 13, 2015 judgment.

What was the response to your complaint?

We received no response. However, at a later date it was learnt during the case hearing that our letter had been forwarded to Art of Living for its information.

IMAGE: The World Culture Festival. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

What made you file the petition?

The fact that despite clear directions from the NGT prohibiting any construction activity or dumping of any material in the Yamuna floodplain, large-scale clearing, levelling and dumping of debris and construction activity was taking place there.

Did you ever approach Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to request him not to hold the event as it would endanger the Yamuna?

Yes. Thrice (twice in January and once in February 2016) we requested the chief of Art of Living to desist from their plans to hold the event in the river floodplain.

To hold such a huge event Sri Sri Ravi Shankar must have obtained a clearance from the environment ministry and the Delhi Development Authority. How come they gave permission for it?

When we filed the petition on February 8, 2016, there was no information of any such permissions taken in the public domain.

How the institutions gave permissions, if any, is for them to respond.

Do you feel that the central government ministers, including the prime minister, may have been unaware of the magnitude of damage the event could cause to the Yamuna?

No comments. This is a hypothetical question.

Why do you feel that despite your intervention, the event could not be cancelled?

Again, how can we have an answer to this question?

When you approached the NGT with your petition against the Art of Living event, what was its reaction?

The petition was admitted and notices were given.

Didn't you feel a sense of pride that this mega event was being held in India?

More than 3.5 million people were coming from abroad to attend the event.

Pride? It was a purely private celebratory event, no matter its size or potential.

And the size or economic potential of no event can be a valid excuse to break the law of the land or prohibitory directions issued by a court of law.

IMAGE: Manoj Mishra, convenor, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan. Photograph: Kind courtesy Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan/Facebook

Is it not true that the Yamuna was neglected? It is not as if the river was in pristine condition which was ruined by this event.

It was in a poor condition even before the Art of Living event. So why single AoL out?

Wasn't the damage already done by an insensitive, unresponsive, administration?

The honourable NGT after a prolonged hearing spread over three years had delivered on January 13, 2015, a 98-page judgment which set a clear comprehensive road map for the rejuvenation of the river Yamuna.

The road map included the manner in which the floodplain of the river in the city should be restored.

The offending act by violating the said judgment not only made a mockery of the efforts of the NGT, but also put back the whole effort back by years.

So to now, on hindsight, for anyone to claim that what happened was immaterial in light of an already battered river Yamuna is a lame excuse to say the least.

In retrospect, how do you feel this event could have been handled better?

No comments. This is not for us to introspect. We did all that we thought was necessary in the matter.

That is to first approach the executive, then the honourable chief of the AoL and then finally the court.

When the NGT ordered Rs 5 crore as an interim fine to be paid by Art of Living, were you happy with the decision? Did AoL pay up that fine?

To the best of our best knowledge, the said amount has been paid. There is nothing to be happy or sad about this fact.

With AoL digging in its heels and refusing to own up, how do you see this matter playing out?

Will you succeed in bringing it to book?

The case continues to be adjudicated at the honourable NGT. The next date of hearing is May 9, 2017.

Are you a member of any political organisation, or aligned with one of them?

No. Never.

Finally, what lessons must the common man learn from you while taking on powerful personalities?

Make sure the truth is on your side.
Etihad Aviation Group announced the appointment of Robin Kamark as Chief Executive Officer, Airline Equity Partners.

Mr. Kamark will be responsible for leading and developing the Groups minority equity investment strategy, which includes stakes in airberlin, Alitalia, Jet Airways, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Etihad Regional and Virgin Australia.

Reporting to the Group President and CEO, Robin Kamark takes over from Bruno Matheu, who has held the role since May 2016, and is leaving for personal reasons.

Mr. Kamark is a 17-year veteran of the airline industry, rising through a range of strategy, commercial and general manager roles at SAS Group to become Chief Commercial Officer. For the last five years, he has been Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Storebrand ASA, a leading Nordic financial services business.

Mr.Kamarkholds Bachelor and Master of Business Administration qualifications from the Norwegian School of Management. Hebegan his career in finance roles in the manufacturing sector, following his military service, before joining SAS in 1995.

Mr.Kamarkwill take up his new position inOctober2017. He said: I am grateful to the Board of Etihad Aviation Group for their confidence in me. This is an exciting role, offering the opportunity to develop and refine an important element of the Groups strategy.

Mr.Kamarkwill become one of the fivekey business unit executiveswithin the Etihad Aviation Group, joiningPeter Baumgartner, CEO of Etihad Airways; Jeff Wilkinson, CEO of Etihad Airways Engineering; and ChrisYoulten,Managing Directorof Airport Services. Hala, the companys destination marketing and global loyalty unit, will announce a permanent CEO shortly.

The EAG Board is currently involved in a search for a new Group CEO. Long-serving President and CEO James Hogan announced that he would step down from the company later this year.
Bereaved families of Sukma bravehearts have demanded justice and questioned the government inaction.

IMAGE: Daughter of CRPF martyr Sanjay Kumar wails during his funeral at his native village Chechain Nagri near Dharamsala on Tuesday. All Photographs: PTI Photo



It was only nine days ago when Surender Kumar was home on leave and had taken his wife and four-year-old daughter on a trip to the Golden Temple in Amritsar and Wagah border.

Today, his distraught family is struggling to come to terms with the news of his demise in the Sukma naxal attack on Monday, clueless as they are about their lives without him.

Surender was among the 25 Central Reserve Police Force personnel who were in the Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarhs Sukma, one of the deadliest in years.

Pushpraag Thakur, who learnt of his brother-in-laws death at 5.45 am on Tuesday, said he was proud of Surenders martyrdom, but had no expectations from the government.

"We have no expectations from the government because we know that they will do nothing. They will bring in no new initiatives for the CRPF personnel or those in the army. I would like to question our defence minister and our prime minister that for how long this will continue.

IMAGE: Daughter of CRPF martyr Inspector Raghbir Singh salutes her father during his funeral in village Sathiala near Amritsar.

"My brother-in-law and 24 other men died, but nobody is affected. All they do is put a garland on the martyrs photos to be in the news. My brother-in-law has given his life for the country and I am proud of him, but why do we never see a ministers son becoming a martyr on the border?" Pushpraag said.

Surender was the sole earning member in the family that lives in a three-room house in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.

IMAGE: Sunita Devi, wife of martyred CRPF jawan Ranjeet Kumar, shows his photograph in Sheikhpura.

A phone call to Sanjay Kumar's home in Palampur, also in Himachal Pradesh, elicited wails of his inconsolable elder daughter who demanded nothing but justice for her father.

"Papa ko justice dilao.. papa ki kya galti thi (Do justice to my father, what was his fault)?" was all that was to be heard from the distressed daughter.

Sanjay's elder brother, Vijay Sharma said he was proud of his sacrifice but his voice mirrored Pushpraags hopelessness and lack of trust in the government.

"They say they will avenge the killings, but these are hollow words. They will forget everything in 10 days," Vijay said.

IMAGE: Wife of of CRPF martyr Surender Thakur mourns during his funeral at his native village Ner Chowk in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh.

In Kamarajar colony in Needamangalam town of Tamil Nadu, Sendhil Kumar has left behind a hapless mother, a distraught wife and an eight-year-old son.

"I want my husband...I only want my husband back," his wife Vidhya said.

The father of Saurabh Kumar from Danapur in Bihar is proud of his son and all others who fought bravely.

"Yes, I am sad and hurt because he was my eldest son. He also has a 7-month-old baby. But, what can we do? This was decided by the almighty," he said.

IMAGE: District Magistrate Neha Arora pays floral tribute to CRPF jawan Ashish Kumar Singh in Garhwa, Jharkhand.

However, he also insisted that the Naxal problem be resolved with compassion, and one must resort to violence only when everything else has failed.

"The government's stand is not clear on this issue. Either they should talk to Naxals and bring them to the mainstream, or they must do whatever they did in Punjab and Sri Lanka...what happened to Veerappan must be done to the Naxals.

IMAGE: A CRPF officer consoles Baljit Kaur, wife of slain CRPF Inspector Raghbir Singh at their village Sathiala near Amritsar.



"Par pyaar se bahut kuchh jeeta ja sakta hai (But a lot can be won with love). Violence must be the last option," he said.

Meanwhile, there is hope for the family of constable Sher Mohammad, hailing from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. He was wounded in the encounter that followed the ambush and is recuperating in a hospital.

IMAGE: Jawans give gun salute to the martyred CRPF personnel at Patna airport.

"My son killed five Naxalites and was injured. Now, he is in hospital. I am proud of my son. He has done a brave job. I am praying to Allah that my son can meet me in a good state. Every villager is praying for him. He has been a good son," Mohammad's mother said.

Death of my husband should be avenged", said a tear eyed wife of CRPF jawan Banmali.

With a year-and-a-half-old daughter in her lap, Banmali's widow Jiteshwari has nothing to say but all she wants is justice.

IMAGE: Wife, daughters and family members of CRPF martyr Sanjay Kumar during his funeral at his native village Chechain Nagri near Dharamsala.



"Death of my husband should be avenged. Who will do it I don't know, but justice should be done," she said.

Banmali's father, who is utterly shocked with the news of demise of his son, recalls their last conversation.

"I spoke with Banmali three days back. He was going to apply for leave but then this happened. He has a year and half old daughter. I have nothing to say," said Ratha Ram.

A similar gloomy scene can be witnessed in Sikar village of Rajasthan post the killing of local hero and CRPF jawan Banna Ram.

IMAGE: CRPF officers pay tributes to slain jawans in Patna.

Slain Raghbir Singh's aggravated family and friends question the intelligence failure and government inaction.

"He was a great man. All of us are shocked. I would like to ask, what were the intelligence people doing? Sleeping? I have never seen that such attacks are ever answered by the government," Raghbir's childhood friend Vikram Singh said.

"The government is not doing anything. They should take steps in the regard," said the sister-in-law of Raghbir.

IMAGE: Family members and relatives mourn the death of CRPF jawan Ashish Kumar Singh in Garhwa, Jharkhand.



Holding his head high, Martyr Saurabh Kumar's father said, "Saddened, but at the same time feeling very proud. Not only my son, but many others made this sacrifice."

Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government has taken as a challenge the killing of CRPF personnel and vowed that no one will be spared.

He said that the Centre and state government would work together to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.

IMAGE: Family members and relatives mourn the death of CRPF jawan Saurabh Kumar at Danapur Cantt in Danapur.

Singh, who paid homage to the jawans during a wreath laying ceremony in Raipur along with his deputy Hansraj Ahir and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, described the attack as cowardly and unfortunate act exposes desperation and frustration.

"It is a cold blooded murder by the extremists. The Centre and state governments will work together and take action in this regard," Rajnath told a joint press briefing with the chief minister.

The Chhattisgarh chief minister has called for concrete strategy to counter such attacks, while expressing grief over the death of jawans.

"It's high time that we need to adopt some strategies to counter such attacks in future. I offer my condolence to the families of deceased jawans," Raman said.

With inputs from ANI.
In a disturbing revelation, the worlds heaviest woman Eman Ahmeds sister Saimma Selim has alleged that Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, who has been treating the former, is not correct about his updates about Emans health and recovery, adding that her sister has not recovered at all.

Dr Muffazal Lakdawala is a liar and is not giving right/factual updates about Emans recovery. Eman has not recovered one bit, Saimma said.

However, when Dr Lakdawala was approached to know the other side of the story, he denied all the allegations levelled against him by Saimma.

In fact, the doctor said that Eman is doing well and a CT scan is to be done to ascertain her neurological condition.

Turning the tables, the doctor also said that Saimma is creating a scene because she does not want to take her sister back to Egypt due to financial reasons.

Eman is fine and is doing good. She has recovered well and only a CT scan is to be done to ascertain her neurological condition. Actually, everything was right with Saimma for initial 15 days after Emans treatment started but when she recovered and we suggested that she can be taken back to Egypt, Saimma started to create all this drama as she doesnt want to take her sister back to Egypt due to financial reasons, he said.

The doctor also said they would be moving Eman from her ward to the CT scan room where one can see the stark difference between what Saimma is claiming and what the reality is.

Earlier on April 21, 36-year-old Egyptian Eman Ahmed, who was the heaviest woman in the world at 500-plus kg until a few months ago, had lost 250 kg in two months after undergoing a surgery at Mumbais Saifee Hospital.

Eman has done miraculously well. We actually didnt expect her to do this well because we had estimated that in six odd months she would lose around 200 kg, Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, obesity surgeon, said.

The weight loss has also dramatically improved her health. Emans heart, kidneys and lungs are functioning better and her water retention levels are also under control, said the doctor.

Shedding light on the challenges he and his team faced, Dr Lakdawala said, More than a challenge, we took it as a humanitarian cause. We just couldnt see her lying like that, so helpless, simply waiting for death to come. The risks of this case were 99 per cent. I think now, we have given her a chance to live. If she gets physiotherapy done properly and wants to be able to walk, Eman will have to put in the efforts.

Well now weigh her after three-four weeks and are hoping shell come under the 200 kg mark. She is a fighter and she has a will to fight this, he added.
The AIADMK leader, however, told cops he believed that the arrested middleman -- Sukesh Chandrasekhar -- was a high court judge.

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Amma leader TTV Dinakaran has confessed to meeting Sukesh Chandrasekhar, the arrested middleman in the Election Commission bribery case, under the impression that he was a high court judge, police said.

Dinakaran, who is being grilled by the Delhi Police for the third consecutive day, had so far maintained that did not know Sukesh nor had he met him.

The leader, who is accused of trying to bribe an Election Commission official in a bid to retain the two-leaves symbol of AIADMK, however, denied having paid any money to Sukesh in this regard, police said.

On Monday, Dinakaran was questioned for over five hours.

He had reached the Crime Branch Inter State Cell office in Chanakyapuri around 3.30 pm, even as the police started by interrogating his personal assistant Janardhan.

They also quizzed his long-time friend Mallikarjuna, who has been accompanying him everywhere ever since Sukesh was arrested, police said.

It was only around 6 pm that Dinakarans questioning began, they said.

On sustained quizzing, Dinakaran said he had met Sukesh, who had posed as a high court judge and sought to help him in the matter, police sources said.

However, he denied paying money to the middleman, the sources said, adding the Crime Branch officers also confronted Dinakaran and Sukesh.

The leader had come under scanner after the arrest of the alleged middleman Sukesh and had since maintained having no idea about him.

On Sunday, he was grilled by the police for 11 hours.

The controversial leader was earlier summoned by Delhi Police at his Chennai residence in the case.

Having been appointed as deputy general secretary by jailed AIADMK chief V S Sasikala, Dinakaran has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.

A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK-Amma recently revolted against Sasikala-Dinakaran leadership. The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded the ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran as a condition for the merger.

Dinakaran later announced he would stay away from party affairs and that he could be removed only by Sasikala.

Sasikala is at present serving a four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a disproportionate assets case.

Image: Dinakaran arriving to appear before Delhi police for questioning in connection with an alleged attempt to bribe an EC official for retaining the two leaves party symbol. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo
The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and in jail for over eight years, holding that prima facie no case was made out against her.

The court, however, rejected the bail plea of co-accused Prasad Purohit, a former army lieutenant colonel, saying the charges against him are of "serious and grave" nature.

Six persons were killed and nearly 100 others injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle had exploded in Malegaon town of Nashik district, about 270 km from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008.

Sadhvi Pragya, 44 , was arrested in October that year and Purohit, 44 , the next month and both were charged with plotting the blasts as part of what the prosecution said a plan by Hindu right wing group Abhinav Bharat. They are in jail since their arrests. Nine others were also arrested and are behind bars.

Welcoming the order, Sadhvi's brother-in-law Bhagwan Jha said the family will celebrate the relief granted to her. He distributed chocolates outside the court premises.

"Prima facie there is no case made out against Sadhvi. But there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations made against Purohit are prima facie true," a division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi said.

The court also asked Sadhvi Pragya to furnish a cash surety of Rs 5 lakh and surrender her passport to the National Investigation Agency.

It also directed her not to tamper with the evidence and to report to the NIA court as and when required.

Sadhvi Pragya, who is suffering from cancer, is currently undergoing treatment at a Madhya Pradesh hospital, while Purohit is lodged in Taloja jail in Maharashtra.

The NIA, which took over the probe from the ATS, had given a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya and told the high court that it had no objection if she was released on bail.

The agency had, however, opposed Purohit's bail plea.

"In our considered opinion, if both the reports of ATS and NIA are considered conjointly, so far as Sadhvi is concerned, it cannot be said that there are reasonable grounds for believing that accusations made against her are prima facie true," the judges observed.

"Once it is held so, then the benefit of bail cannot be withheld to the appellant, even if the offences alleged against her by ATS are grave and serious ones," they said.

The court, in its 78-page order on Sadhvi's plea, said the accused is a woman who is languishing in jail since 2008 and is suffering from cancer.

While rejecting Purohit's plea, the court said, "In our considered opinion, there is, prima facie, more than sufficient material on record against Purohit so as to hold that there are reasonable grounds for believing that accusations made against him are prima facie true."

The bench noted that the charges levelled against Purohit are of serious and grave nature.

"It is of waging war against the integrity and unity of the state and, that too, by violent means like exploding the bomb, so as to create terror in the minds of the people," the judges said.

Referring to the report (charge sheet) filed by the NIA, they said, "Purohit was the one who prepared a separate 'Constitution' for 'Hindu Rashtra' with a separate saffron colour flag. He also discussed about taking revenge for the atrocities committed by the Muslims on Hindus."

The high court refused to accept Purohit's contention that he had attended the meetings as part of a "covert military intelligence operation."

The court referred to the statements of the witnesses that it was Purohit who said their right-wing group Abhinav Bharat should not be just a political party but should work as an organisation of extremists, having the capacity to eliminate persons opposing the same.

"If Purohit's contention that he used to attend the meetings merely as a part of his duty while working as a 'Military Intelligence Officer' is to be accepted then there was no reason for him to express such views to the witness," the judges said in their 118-page order on Purohit's plea.

On Sadhvi's plea, the HC noted that several witnesses, who had initially told the ATS that they attended the meetings in Bhopal where the blast conspiracy was hatched by Purohit and Sadhvi, later retracted their statements.

The witnesses alleged that they were tortured by the ATS to give false statements, the court observed.

"Two witnesses, who have not yet retracted their statements recorded by the ATS, do not disclose any objectionable and incriminating material against the appellant (Sadhvi)," the judges said.

The court further held that although the motorcycle, which was used in the blast, was registered in Sadhvi's name, the same was in possession of absconding accused Ramji Kalsangra since two years prior to the blast.

Bhagwan Jha said the Sadhvi was in jail for nine years without evidence.

"Finally, we have won. Nine years she was in jail without evidence. Now we will celebrate nationwide," he told reporters outside the court.

Sadhvi Pragya's lawyer said, "There were two allegations against her. One was that her scooter was used in the blast, although there was evidence that the scooter was sold off in 2004 and the blast happened in 2008.

"The second allegation was that she was part of two meetings in Bhopal and Faridabad. In the Faridabad meeting, the entire conspiracy of Malegaon blast was planned. However there was no evidence of her participating in the meeting, and there was no such conspiracy in the Bhopal meeting. Barring that there was nothing absolutely against her."

Sadhvi Pragya and Purohit had filed appeals in the HC against an earlier order of a special court rejecting their bail pleas.

The families of the victims, who had filed an intervening application challenging Sadhvi Pragya's bail plea, on Tuesday sought from the court a stay on its order so that they can appeal against it in the Supreme Court.

The high court, however, refused to stay its order.

According to the investigating agencies, the blast was allegedly carried out by right-wing group Abhinav Bharat.

In her appeal, Sadhvi Pragya argued that the lower court failed to take cognisance of the change in circumstances in her case considering that NIA had declared in its charge sheet that it had not found any evidence against her and that prosecution against her be dropped.

The NIA had opposed Purohit's bail plea and argued there was evidence in the form of audio and video recordings, call data records and the statements of the witnesses which prove his involvement in the case.

According to NIA, Purohit had allegedly taken active part in the conspiracy meetings and even agreed to arrange explosives to be used in the blast.

Purohit had argued that the NIA was "selective" in exonerating some accused persons and that the agency made him a "scapegoat" in the case.
The Naxals, who killed 25 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in an ambush in Sukma district on Monday, had sent some villagers to the forest to distract the troops minutes before attacking them, said a CRPF constable injured in the fight.

The Maoists attacked the 100-member CRPF patrol, providing security to the road-building workers in Chintagufa area, killing 25 jawans and injuring seven.

CRPF jawan Sourabh Kumar Malik, undergoing treatment at Balaji Hospital in Raipur for bullet injuries, said around 100 jawans were out on a regular road security operation since Monday morning to facilitate the ongoing construction of the Chintagufa-Jagargunda road.

He recalled seeing some villagers in the area just before the attack.

"One of them was wearing a black scarf around his face. When we stopped him, he replied he had come to relieve himself, Malik said, adding that villagers usually visit the forest in the region for picking up Mahua fruits and tendu leaves.

"Therefore, we considered that their movement yesterday (Monday) too was for the same purpose," he said while narrating the sequence of events.

"Within minutes after the villagers left, the CRPF team came under fire from three sides of the forest at around 12.40 pm. We immediately took positions and retaliated but by then some of our buddies were hit by bullets," Malik said adding they started retrieving the injured personnel.

He recalled some villagers, who were present at the spot, started making noise to distract the jawans.

"While replying to the firing by the Naxals who had surrounded us, I also sustained bullet injuries. The strength of the Naxals was around 300 while we were just 100 divided in two teams. The exchange of the fire lasted for around three-and-half hours, Malik said.

He said in most of the Naxal attacks, it has been noticed that villagers were used as human shields by the insurgents during the gun battle.

"We cannot do anything to the unarmed villagers as we have been asked that they should not be harmed at any cost, said Malik who sustained bullet injuries on his left shoulder and legs in the encounter.

Malik said he and his colleagues are ready to take on the insurgents again.

"Given a chance, we will go and fight again. We are still ready to fight," said the CRPF constable from his hospital bed.

He demanded that the state police too should be involved in providing security to the road construction works along with the CRPF.

Another CRPF constable Manoj Kumar, who was also part of the patrolling party, said he was feeling disappointed because even after helping the villagers with medical aid several times, they supported the ultras and not the jawans.

While speaking to the media at the Burkapal camp of the 74th battalion of CRPF on Tuesday, Manoj said, I have administered treatment to several injured villagers many a times, but they never supported us. They give us some information at times but that too later proves wrong. It is really disappointing that they supported the Naxals.

He said besides triggering an improvised explosive device blast and resorting to indiscriminate firing, the ultras also shot explosive-laden arrows at the security personnel during the ambush.

Attack planned and executed by local Naxal commander

The deadly ambush was planned and executed by a local Naxal commander.

The Naxal commander was reportedly camping in the area for the last few days, said the official.

The incident took place in the same base region of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist where 75 CRPF personnel and one state policeman were massacred in April, 2010 in Tadmetla.

"We got regular inputs on April 22 that dreaded Maoist commander Situ was camping at Tadmetla village, around 7-8 km from Burkapal where the ambush took place yesterday," a senior police official involved in anti-Naxal operations told PTI.

We suspect that the attack was planned by Situ and his group by taking the support of local lower-rung cadres of Maoists like Sangham and militia members, he said.

When the paramilitary troops were around 1.5 km away from their camp towards Chintagufa at around 12.40 pm, Maoists surrounded them apparently from three sides taking cover of rocks and trees and unleashed attack by resorting to random firing, he said.

Besides indiscriminate firing, the Naxals also lobbed grenade through under-barrel grenade launcher and locally made explosive-headed-arrows on security personnel, he said.

It was the deadliest attack on security forces in the recent years in the state, the official said.

The first military battalion of Maoists, headed by Naxal commander Hidma, which is active in Sukma has been involved in several deadly attacks on security forces in the past.

The battalion has two military companies of Maoist, of which, one headed by Nagesh and another by Situ, he said.

Notably, the Chintagufa-Jagargunda patch is part of the strategically important road being built from Dornapal to inaccessible Jagargunda (58 km long), around 450 km from the state capital of Raipur.

The official said security forces were put on alert fearing Maoist offensive activities in view of annual tactical counter offensive campaign (TCOC) being observed by rebels from March to June.

The summer season proves to be favourable period for carrying out Maoist attacks when long grasses and bushes dry up, providing clear view of the force movement in the vast jungle terrain, he said, adding, during this period they step up their activities.

On March 11 this year, as many as 12 CRPF personnel, belonging to the 219th battalion, were killed and three others injured in Sukmas Bhejji area.

In the wake of that attack, security forces deployed in different parts of Bastar were asked to be extra cautious while carrying out operations as well to beef up security around police stations and their camps in remote areas, he added.

IMAGE: CRPF officer pay tributes to martyred jawans at Patna airport on Tuesday. Photograph: PTI Photo
Pakistan-born liberal author Tarek Fatah, a Shia worship place in Uttar Pradesh and a crowded area in Haridwar in Uttarakhand were among the targets of the four terror suspects held in a multi-state operation last week, police said in Lucknow on Tuesday.

The terrorists wanted to target Fateh, a Canadian national who often visits India, to create a sensation across the world, Senior Superintendent of Police of anti-terrorism squad Umesh Kumar Srivastava said.

He was the target as he is seen as opposing the Shariat law and advocates liberal and progressive form of Islam, Srivastava said.

"However, the self-radicalised terror suspects eventually realised that it was not easy to target the author, so they went ahead with an alternative plan to target other places and persons in order to make their presence felt," he added.

The four terror suspects are Umar alias Nazim (arrested from Mumbai), Mufti alias Faizan (arrested from Bijnor in UP), Zaqwan alias Ehtesham (arrested from Narkatiaganj in Bihar) and Ghazi Baba (arrested from Jalandhar in Punjab).

"The terror suspects had even planned to target a Shia worship place in Amroha (in UP)," a senior UP ATS officer said.

Police said an alert has been sounded in Amroha, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar after "revelations" made by Mufti and Zaqwan.

The suspects had also planned a bomb attack at a crowded place in Haridwar, a popular pilgrim town in Uttarakhand.

"Plans were also made to eliminate a poice officer in Mumbai and set afire a sugar mill in Narkatiyaganj," he said.

Mufti and Zaqwan were on Saturday taken on eight-day remand by ATS for quizzing.

Umar and Ghazi Baba were produced in the court of special chief judicial magistrate in Lucknow on Monday after they were brought to Lucknow on transit remand.

The court sent them to judicial custody till May 4, police said.
A dawn-to-dusk shutdown called in support of drought-hit farmers is being observed in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, with Dravida Munnetra Kazagham working president M K Stalin courting arrest in the Cauvery delta region of Tiruvaur.

Stalin, along with cadres of the DMK and other parties, came in a procession in Tiruvarur and was detained in a marriage hall, police said, adding they will be let off later.

Senior DMK leader and former Union Minister T R Baalu was among those who took part in the agitation in Tiruvarur.

In Chennai, farmers leader P Ayyakannu, who staged a protest in the national capital for 41 days, and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Su Thirunavukkarasu took part in a demonstration held at Egmore.

Bank employees staged a protest on the arterial Anna Salai, led by All India Bank Employees Association C H Venkatachalam and Centre of Indian Trade Unions leader A Soundararajan.

The state secretaries of Communist Party of India-Marxist and CPI, G Ramakrishnan, and R Mutharasan respectively, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi chief Thol Thirumavalavan, and Congress leader KV Thangabalu went in a procession in Saidapet.

A series of protests, including a rail roko, were held in some parts of the state including Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore, Madurai and Kanchipuram.

Shops, local vegetable markets and a section of private establishments were shut down, partially affecting normal life in response to the bandh call.

While auto-rickshaws and a section of private taxi services kept off the roads, state government-run transport corporations operated their services as usual.

Thousands of police personnel have been deployed in the state to maintain law and order.

Opposition parties including DMK, Congress, CPI-M, CPI, VCK and Indian Union Muslim League apart from trade unions affiliated to them, farmers bodies and the film fraternity have pledged support to the shutdown.

However, both factions of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Bharatiya Janata Party, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Tamil Maanila Congress-M are not participating in it.

On April 16, a meeting of the opposition parties chaired by Stalin gave the bandh call.

According to the DMK, the bandh is to urge the central and state governments to fulfil the demands of farmers and farm labourers which includes adequate relief and setting up of the Cauvery Management Board.

Image: Shops remain shut in Chennai as the state witnesses a bandh in support of the drought-hit farmers. Photograph: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com
The agitation saw the participation of 147 farmers when it started, which number swelled to 325 by the time it ended.

The Tamil Nadu farmers who held a 47-day long agitation in New Delhi demanding the waiver of their loans, returned to Chennai on Tuesday morning by train.

They had suspended their agitation following an assurance from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, who belongs to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Among those who received them at the railway station was AIADMK spokesperson C R Saraswathi, DMK office-bearers as well as farmers association members, all armed with shawls and garlands, as is the norm in Tamil Nadu. Jayalalithaas niece Deepas husband Madhavan, who recently floated a political party, was a surprise presence.

The media was there in full strength as well, their numbers crowding the platform and even making it difficult for the farmers to come out of the train compartment. After all, it was an agitation that had caught the imagination of the public back home.

Through it all the farmers had held rats and snakes in their mouth, shaved half their head, stripped naked, whipped themselves, and finally even drank urine. While all this was good enough to get them media attention and public sympathy, it was not enough to get their demand fulfilled.

One farmer, hailing from Nagapattinam district, said he had borrowed Rs 6.5 lakh from Canara Bank to tend to his six acres of land, which he was unable to pay back because of the drought.

Asked where the farmers got rats and snakes in Delhi, the farmer said, You know, like we have Narikuravas (a Scheduled Tribe) in Tamil Nadu, there are similar tribes in Delhi too. They would bring live rats and snakes, even killing them for us. They were living with us.

Another farmer, from Tiruchirappalli, said he had 20 acres of land and had taken a Rs 40 lakh loan from a nationalised bank. We get loans at 4% interest but even that we cannot repay as the rains failed and Karnataka did not give us sufficient water. Cannot blame them, for the rains failed there too.

Asked about the state government writing off cooperative bank loans, the farmers said the loans were written off by the high court following a writ petition filed by their farmer-lawyer leader Ayyakannu, and the government had no role to play in it.

One of the farmers, who travelled back from Delhi dressed in a langot, said, This is all I can afford because of the drought.

The agitation saw the participation of 147 farmers when it started, which number swelled to 325 by the time it ended. Its a huge number to get railway reservations during peak summer season. The government got our seats reserved as they were very happy to see us go, a farmer said with a smile.

Tuesday was a bandh in Tamil Nadu called by the to protest against the governments handling of the drought. While public transport plied as usual, shops and commercial establishments downed their shutters.

Image: AIADMK spokesperson C R Saraswathi and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa's husband Madhavan, who recently launched a political party, pose with the farmers at Chennai's Central railway station on Tuesday morning. Photograph: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com.
Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Candidate for Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has rejected the call by Zambia on behalf of the African Union for him to withdraw from the race for Secretary-General of the UNWTO.

"The African Union has never imposed Zimbabwe on Africa, they endorsed them and the democratic right of Member States is to choose who they want. The UN remains a Democratic Institution and we all need to respect this. The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) with four African Union Members on their part endorsed Seychelles" said St.Ange in Bangkok earlier today to the Press.

"All along our campaign we did not speak of other candidates, but continued to present ourselves to Member States as the credible candidate. It is deplorable to see acts of trying to impose a candidate on Africa knowing full well that just in the recent elections for the Head of the same African Union how promises for votes were manipulated even as late as the night before forgetting all dignity of undertakings made and now we see this veil attempt to force a candidate on to member States. As some Candidates were sure of a win only to see their African Colleagues changing sides and breaking all promises made" St.Ange said before adding that on so doing the African Union is shooting their 'Coup de Grace' on Africa and are ensuring that the 2017 Elections does not have an African Representative coming out victorious.

South America has two Candidates and we do not see such running about, but instead a cordial dialogue in civility with respect is evident.

"Africa knows that Zimbabwe cannot pull off a win at this coming election. The sanctions in place, the state of the economy, the existing political situation and the reprinting of money all do not auger well for any votes apart from Africa wanting to sink with its ship" a political analyst added at this press meeting that brought but a candid smile to St.Ange's face.

Candidates in this coming UNWTO election know full well that they need to pull votes from the four corners of the world for a win.

The elections are set for the 12th May and will be held in Madrid.

Africa has two Candidates (Seychelles and Zimbabwe), South America has two as well (Brazil and Columbia) over and above Georgia and Korea. These are the countries set to be on the Ballot Paper on the 12 May where the best candidate will win. The Candidates are representing a Country on this election.

"I am going into the elections content that I carried a clean and open campaign. I know that the Seychelles Tourism for All campaign platform has resounded well because the world is tired of discrimination and the lack of respect for people. Respect for colour of the skin, religion, politics, those with different sexual orientation, those with a disability or another, gender etc need to be an undertaking made openly by all candidates. How can a United Nations Body tolerate to have one of its key organisation led by a person who discriminates. The women groups, the disabled, the LGBT stand up today. I was attacked because I am white and yet we want to still be tolerating this for our United Nations Organisation. This is what the press must be calling for" a smiling St.Ange said in Bangkok.

* Mea culpa is a Latin phrase that means "through my fault" and is an acknowledgement of having done wrong.
Afghan officials say a senior commander of the Islamic State (IS) militants has been killed in the southern Afghan province of Zabul.

Gul Islam Siyal, a spokesman for the governor of Zabul, told Radio Free Afghanistan on April 25 that IS commander Ahmadullah Akhundzada and three associates were killed during a joint offensive by the Afghan special forces and members of NATOs Resolute Support Mission late on April 24.

Late last night, the joint operation unfolded in Zabuls Khak-e Afghan district. Most of the activities revolve around sorties and airstrikes, he said. We have received reports that four IS fighters including commander Ahmadullah Akhundzada were killed in the attack.

It was not possible to independently verify Siyals claims.

Earlier this year, officials in Zabul claimed disparate fighters associated with IS have established camps in Zabul.

Provincial police chief Mirwais Noorzai said the group, which controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq, was training new recruits in the remote mountainous districts of Zabul to deploy them to new front lines across Afghanistan.

We have some of the worlds nastiest militants here. These include Uzbeks and Kazaks [from Central Asia] and Punjabis [from Pakistan], he told Radio Free Afghanistan. Their training camps are outside the areas we control. We are now talking to the central government to launch an offensive against them.

Afghan officials say IS fighters, mostly former Central Asian members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Pakistanis, have been operating in Khak-e Afghan, Daichopan, and Argahndab districts. Kabul has little control over the three mountainous and sparsely populated districts.

IS first emerged in Afghanistan in early 2015. It soon overran many districts in the eastern province of Nangarhar. Afghan officials say nearly two years of operations against the group has forced it to take shelter in remote Nangarhar mountains.

Last week, Mohammad Radmanish, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said a massive U.S. bomb dropped on an IS cave complex in Nangarhars Achin district early this month killed IS fighters from Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, India, and other countries.

Pentagon and Afghan officials said the GBU-43 bomb killed 96 IS militants including four key IS leaders on April 13. The bomb is nicknamed MOAB, for "massive ordnance air blast" or "mother of all bombs," for its destructive potential.

-- Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Mohammad Sadiq Rashtinai reported this story from Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Freedom in the World 2017 - United States

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - United States, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e167.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 89/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 1/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 1/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 1/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 323,900,000

Capital: Washington, DC

GDP/capita: $56,116

Press Freedom Status: Free

Net Freedom Status: Free

OVERVIEW

The United States is arguably the world's oldest democracy. Its people benefit from a vibrant electoral system, a strong rule-of-law tradition, robust freedoms of expression and religious belief, and a wide array of other civil liberties. The United States remains a major destination point for immigrants and has largely been successful in integrating newcomers from all backgrounds. However, in recent years the country's democratic institutions have suffered some erosion, as reflected in legislative gridlock, dysfunction in the criminal justice system, and growing disparities in wealth and economic opportunity.

Key Developments

Wealthy businessman Donald Trump, the Republican Party nominee, defeated Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party in the November presidential election. Although Clinton received the most votes at the national level, Trump won the presidency by securing a decisive majority in the state-based Electoral College.

Beginning in October, U.S. intelligence agencies officially accused Russia of interfering in the election process, in part by hacking into the computer systems of the Democratic Party and leaking its internal communications.

Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia died in February, but Republican leaders in the Senate refused to hold confirmation hearings for outgoing president Barack Obama's nominee to replace him, arguing that the next president should make the appointment. The vacancy remained open at year's end.

Executive Summary

Celebrity real-estate developer Donald Trump, an outsider candidate with no previous political experience, won the November presidential election after a year-and-a-half campaign. He secured the Republican Party's nomination in July after defeating a large field of opponents, including several seasoned politicians, in the primary elections. He then scored a major upset in the general election against Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton, a former first lady, senator, and secretary of state. Republicans also maintained their majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives, meaning one party would control both the presidency and Congress for the first time since 2010.

The hard-fought electoral campaign reflected a country that is deeply polarized, not only along party lines, but also along lines of race, gender, geography, and education. Trump ultimately prevailed by winning over white working-class voters in key states, defeating a Clinton coalition that relied more on college-educated white voters and racial and ethnic minorities.

The campaign was also notable for Trump's use of a personal social media account, live rallies, and other means of communicating directly with voters instead of costly television advertising, the typical centerpiece of campaign messaging in recent elections. The news media challenged the veracity of many of Trump's campaign statements, most notably his assertion that the election system was rigged in Clinton's favor.

The election was marred by alleged Russian interference, with U.S. intelligence officials citing strong evidence that hackers tied to the Kremlin had stolen documents from the Democratic Party and leaked them over the course of the campaign period. Clinton's bid was separately hampered by a federal investigation into her improper use of a private e-mail server during her tenure as secretary of state, though investigators eventually decided against filing charges.

Throughout 2016, President Barack Obama's legislative agenda continued to be stymied by Republican opposition in Congress. As a result, Obama used executive authority to advance his priorities in areas including the environment, foreign policy, and health and labor standards. Senate Republicans refused to hold confirmation hearings for Obama's nominee to replace Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February, leaving the court with eight members.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: : 36 / 40

A. Electoral Process: : 11 / 12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

The United States is a presidential republic, with the president serving as both head of state and head of government. Cabinet secretaries and other key officials are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, the upper house of the bicameral Congress. Presidential elections are decided by an Electoral College, making it possible for a candidate to win the presidency while losing the national popular vote. Electoral College votes are apportioned to each state based on the size of its congressional representation. In most cases, all of the electors in a particular state cast their ballots for the candidate who won the statewide popular vote, regardless of the margin. Two states, Maine and Nebraska, have chosen to divide their electoral votes between the candidates based on their popular-vote performance in each congressional district. In 2016, Trump won the Electoral College vote, 304 to 227, while finishing nearly three million votes behind Clinton in the popular ballot. The 2016 election marked the second time since 2000 that the candidate with the most popular votes lost in the Electoral College.

The Senate consists of 100 members  two from each of the 50 states regardless of population  serving six-year terms, with one-third coming up for election every two years. The lower chamber, the House of Representatives, consists of 435 members serving two-year terms. All national legislators are elected directly by voters in the districts or states that they represent. In a practice known as gerrymandering, the boundaries of House districts, and those for state legislatures, are often drawn to maximize the advantage of the party in power in a given state. The capital district, Puerto Rico, and four overseas U.S. territories are each represented by an elected delegate in the House who can perform most legislative functions but cannot participate in floor votes.

In the 2016 congressional elections, Republicans retained control of the Senate with 52 seats. Democrats hold 46 seats, and there are two independent senators who generally vote with the Democrats. Republicans also retained their majority in the House, taking 241 seats, versus 194 for the Democrats. Republicans currently control the majority of state governorships and legislatures. Turnout for the 2016 general elections was approximately 55 percent of voting-age citizens, roughly in line with past elections.

In some states, citizens have a wide-ranging ability to influence legislation through referendums. Such direct-democracy mechanisms, often initiated by signature campaigns, have been hailed by some as a reflection of the openness of the U.S. system. However, they have also been criticized on the grounds that they can lead to incoherent governance, undermine representative democracy, and weaken the party system. In 2016, referendums in various states resulted in the legalization of recreational use of marijuana, curbs on plastic shopping bags, and increases in the state minimum wage, among many other topics.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: : 14 / 16 (-1)

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

The intensely competitive U.S. political environment is dominated by two major parties, the right-leaning Republicans and the left-leaning Democrats. The country's "first past the post" or majoritarian electoral system discourages the emergence of additional parties, as do a number of specific legal and other hurdles. However, the two parties' primary elections allow for an array of views and candidates to enter the political system. Trump, himself an unorthodox Republican, defeated not only mainstream politicians but also opponents whose positions ranged from libertarian to Christian conservative. Clinton won her party's nomination after a powerful challenge by Senator Bernard Sanders, a socialist who subsequently secured changes to the party platform.

On occasion, independent or third-party candidates have significantly influenced politics at the presidential and state levels, and a number of newer parties, such as the Green Party or groups aligned with organized labor, have modestly affected politics in certain municipalities in recent years. In the 2016 presidential election, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson received 3.3 percent of the popular vote, while Jill Stein of the Green Party received 1 percent.

Election campaigns in the United States are long and expensive. The two main parties and the constituency and interest groups that support them have used an array of methods to circumvent legal restrictions on campaign spending, and the Supreme Court on several occasions has struck down such restrictions, finding that they violated free-speech rights. In the 2016 campaign, Clinton and her supporters spent more than $1 billion, about twice the amount spent by Trump and his allies, according to some estimates. In previous campaigns, candidates relied heavily on television advertising, especially in states where competition was expected to be close. Trump relied less on such expensive purchases, instead conveying his message by attracting television news coverage and issuing regular, provocative statements through social media, especially his personal Twitter account.

The theft and disclosure of Democratic Party communications, which U.S. intelligence agencies attributed to hackers linked to the Russian government, attracted ample media attention and was believed to have damaged the campaigns of Clinton and other Democratic candidates, though there was no firm evidence that it actually shifted voter allegiances. Trump, who advocated a more cooperative policy toward Russia, repeatedly expressed doubt that Moscow was to blame for the hacking.

A number of important laws are designed to ensure the political rights of racial and ethnic minorities. However, in 2013 the Supreme Court invalidated portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a measure adopted to deal with entrenched racial bias in the political process. Subsequently, many states enacted laws that required voters to present certain forms of identification, rolled back innovations like early voting that contributed to high rates of minority participation, or altered polling locations in ways that could disproportionately harm minority voters. Some of these state laws were struck down by federal courts, but 14 states had new restrictive voting laws in place for the 2016 elections  the first presidential vote since the 2013 ruling. There were 868 fewer polling stations in states formerly subject to special scrutiny under the Voting Rights Act, with one county in Arizona providing a single polling place for every 21,000 voters. Sponsors of such legislation say the intent is to cut expenses or combat voter fraud, though studies by experts and the bipartisan testimony of election officials indicate that election fraud is a negligible problem in the United States.

Religious groups and racial or ethnic minorities have been able to gain a political voice through participation in the two main parties. Leaders of both parties have traditionally made an effort to appeal to all segments of the population and address issues of concern to each, or at a minimum to avoid alienating any major demographic group. The 2016 elections stood out for the unusually divisive rhetoric of the Republican presidential nominee. Trump made statements that were widely seen as offensive to Latinos, Muslims, people with disabilities, and women, among others. His ability to do so without suffering significant political repercussions raised fears that these groups' interests would not be represented in the new administration.

C. Functioning of Government: : 11 / 12 (+1)

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

Federal policymaking and government have been hampered in recent years by partisan gridlock in Congress, and between Congress and the executive branch. Impasses over taxation, federal debt, and spending bills have repeatedly threatened to halt government operations or trigger a default on public debt. During six of his eight years as president, Obama faced a dominant Republican opposition in Congress that rejected the overwhelming majority of his legislative proposals. In response, he sought to push through his agenda through various executive and regulatory actions, bypassing Congress. Obama issued significant changes in environmental standards, health and safety regulations, and the treatment of undocumented immigrants. Some of these actions were invalidated by federal courts.

American society has a tradition of intolerance toward government corruption, and the media are aggressive in reporting on such malfeasance. Cases of corruption at the federal level have been relatively rare or small in scale in recent years. The most serious abuses have instead been uncovered among state and local officials.

The United States was the first country to adopt a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A substantial number of auditing and investigative agencies function independently of political influence. Such bodies are often spurred to action by the investigative work of journalists. Federal agencies regularly place information relevant to their mandates on websites to broaden public access.

Early in his administration, Obama instructed federal agencies to adopt a cooperative attitude toward public information requests. During much of his tenure, however, he encountered criticism for engendering an environment of excessive secrecy. The Justice Department initiated nine prosecutions of leakers or whistle-blowers, more than in all previous administrations combined. Prosecutors have at times sought to compel journalists to reveal the sources of leaked national security information, and the administration was accused of implementing an aggressive policy to discourage government officials from having contact with the media.

In a change over the last two years, the administration has refrained from efforts to compel testimony from journalists in leak cases and issued guidelines to limit such actions. While federal agencies' responses to FOIA requests remained problematic, according to data for the 2015 fiscal year, Obama signed the FOIA Improvement Act in June 2016, codifying a presumption of disclosure and reducing procedural barriers for requesters, among other reforms.

Civil Liberties: : 53 / 60 (-1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: : 16 / 16 (+1)

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

The United States has a free, diverse, and constitutionally protected press. While newspapers have been in economic decline for a number of years, the media environment retains a high degree of pluralism. Internet access is widespread and unrestricted, and news websites now constitute a major source of political news, along with cable television networks and talk-radio programs. News coverage has also grown more polarized, with particular outlets and their star commentators providing a consistently right- or left-leaning perspective. Several journalists were arrested while covering demonstrations during 2016, including four who faced serious charges after filming incidents linked to protests against an oil pipeline in North Dakota; those charges were later dropped. In October, the Committee to Protect Journalists declared Trump a threat to media freedom, citing his verbal attacks on individual reporters, his campaign's denial of credentials to critical outlets, and his call to expand the scope of U.S. libel laws. Other freedom of expression groups issued similar statements of concern about the incoming administration. After the election, Trump stepped back from his proposal on libel laws.

The United States has a long tradition of religious freedom. The constitution protects the free exercise of religion while barring any official endorsement of a religious faith, and there are no direct government subsidies to houses of worship. The debate over the role of religion in public life is ongoing, however, and religious groups often mobilize to influence political discussions on the diverse issues in which they take an interest. The Supreme Court regularly adjudicates difficult cases involving the relationship between church and state.

The academic sphere features a substantial level of intellectual freedom. In one potential threat to freedom of expression on campus, university officials have been criticized for giving in to pressure from student activist groups that object to speakers who have been invited to campus events. Speakers have regularly been disinvited or decided to withdraw from appearances after protests were launched. Students have also mounted protests over issues related to gender, race, ethnicity, and other identity categories, sometimes demanding changes to teaching and hiring practices.

Americans generally enjoy open and free private discussion, including on the internet. Civil libertarians, many lawmakers, and other observers have pointed to the real and potential effects of National Security Agency (NSA) data collection and other forms of government monitoring on the rights of U.S. citizens. However, the USA Freedom Act of 2015 banned the bulk collection of citizens' telephone and internet records, and in 2016 the FBI abandoned a controversial attempt to force the technology firm Apple to break through its own security features  designed to protect user communications  as part of a terrorism investigation. A broader debate about possible restrictions on encryption technology remains unresolved. Concerns about state surveillance were displaced during 2016 by new attention on foreign hacking as well as user intimidation on social media.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: : 10 / 12 (-1)

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

In general, officials respect the right to public assembly. Demonstrations against government policies are frequently held in Washington, New York, and other major cities. In response to acts of violence committed in the course of some past demonstrations, local authorities often place restrictions on the location or duration of large protests directed at meetings of international institutions, political party conventions, or targets in the financial sector. During 2016, a number of protesters attending Trump campaign rallies were intimidated or physically attacked by Trump supporters, at times with the encouragement of the candidate. The year's major demonstrations  focused on improper police use of force against black civilians, a controversial oil pipeline near indigenous land in North Dakota, and Trump's election victory  were largely peaceful but featured episodic clashes with police or security guards, leading to scores of injuries and arrests.

The United States gives wide freedom to trade associations, nongovernmental organizations, minority rights advocates, and issue-oriented pressure groups to organize and pursue their civic or policy agendas.

Federal law guarantees trade unions the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining. The right to strike is also guaranteed. Over the years, however, the strength of organized labor has declined, and just 6.4 percent of the private-sector workforce is currently represented by unions. While public-sector unions have higher rates of membership, with 34.4 percent in 2016, they have come under pressure from officials concerned about the cost of compensation and pensions to states and municipalities. The overall unionization rate in the United States is 10.7 percent. The country's labor code and decisions by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) during Republican presidencies have been regarded as impediments to organizing efforts, although the board was sympathetic to unionization during the Obama presidency. Union organizing is also hampered by strong resistance from private employers. In 2016, West Virginia became the 26th state to adopt "right to work" legislation, which weakens unions by allowing workers who benefit from union bargaining efforts to opt out of paying union dues or fees.

F. Rule of Law: : 12 / 16 (-1)

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

Judicial independence is respected. Although the courts have occasionally been accused of intervening in areas that are best left to the political branches, most observers regard the judiciary as one of the country's strongest democratic institutions. Concern has been raised about a trend toward the politicization of judicial elections in some states. Much attention has also been paid to the ideological composition of the Supreme Court, which has issued a series of major decisions by a one-vote margin and is currently seen as having a conservative majority. In 2016, the Republican majority in the Senate refused to hold hearings or schedule a confirmation vote on Merrick Garland, a federal judge named by President Obama to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February. The Republicans asserted that Obama's successor should fill the vacancy, with some arguing that Scalia, a staunch conservative, should be replaced with another conservative. The delay left the court with eight justices, meaning it was unable to reach majority decisions on a number of issues during the year.

While the United States has a strong rule-of-law tradition, the criminal justice system's treatment of minority groups has long been a problem. Black and Latino inmates account for a disproportionately large percentage of the prison population. Civil liberties organizations and other groups have also argued more broadly that there are too many Americans in prison, that prison sentences are often excessive, that too many prisoners are relegated to solitary confinement or other maximum-security arrangements, and that too many people are incarcerated for minor drug offenses. A broad left-right political coalition calling for reform on the last issue has emerged despite increased partisan rancor on other matters. Although the U.S. incarceration rate has declined somewhat in recent years, it remains easily one of the highest in the world. Additional calls for prison reform have focused on the incidence of violence and rape behind bars.

Many critics of the incarceration problem point to abuses and deficiencies at other stages of the legal process. Media reports and analyses in recent years have drawn new attention to the extensive use of plea bargaining in criminal cases, with prosecutors employing the threat of harsh sentences to avoid trial and effectively reducing the role of the judiciary; the practice of imposing court fees or fines for minor offenses as a means of raising budget revenues, which can lead to jail terms for those who fail to pay; deficiencies in the parole system; and long-standing funding shortages for public defenders, who represent low-income criminal defendants.

The increased focus on the criminal justice system has coincided with a series of widely publicized incidents in which police actions led to the deaths of black civilians. A number of the confrontations were captured on video, and some recordings appeared to show unjustified use of force by the officers in question. Even as more cases emerged in 2016, individual black gunmen shot and killed police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge in July, in what were seen as revenge attacks. The Justice Department has launched investigations into police practices and imposed reforms in a number of municipalities. Because officers often avoid indictments for controversial shootings, critics have called for sweeping changes to the grand jury system and the appointment of special prosecutors for such cases. Some jurisdictions have enacted policies requiring police to wear body cameras and record interactions with civilians.

Use of the death penalty has declined significantly in recent years. There were 20 executions, in five states, in 2016  the lowest number in a quarter century. The death penalty has been formally abolished by 19 states; in another 16 states where it remains on the books, executions have not been carried out for the past five years or more. The most recent federal execution was in 2003. Of particular importance in this trend has been the exoneration of some death-row inmates based on new DNA testing, as well as legal challenges to the constitutionality of the prevailing methods of lethal injection. The Supreme Court has effectively ruled out the death penalty for crimes other than murder and in cases where the perpetrator is a juvenile or mentally disabled, among other restrictions. In 2012, the court further decided that juvenile offenders could not be subjected to mandatory sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Among Obama's principal goals on assuming office in 2009 was the closure of the offshore U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which has been used to hold terrorism suspects captured abroad in the early 2000s, in many cases without formal charge or trial. While Obama succeeded in repatriating or resettling 179 people, reducing the population of detainees to 59 by the end of 2016, he was unable to shut down the facility, largely because Congress expressly forbade the transfer of detainees to the U.S. mainland.

Islamist terrorist attacks and other mass shootings remained a concern during 2016, as did rising murder rates in certain cities, especially Chicago. However, the overall homicide rate, 4.9 per 100,000 inhabitants as of 2015, remains relatively low by regional and historical standards. The country's most deadly attack in 2016 occurred in June, when a gunman who declared allegiance to the Syria-based Islamic State militant group killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

The United States is one of the world's most racially and ethnically diverse societies. In recent years, residents and citizens of Latin American ancestry have replaced black Americans as the largest minority group, and the majority held by the non-Latino white population has declined. An array of policies and programs are designed to protect the rights of minorities, including laws to prevent workplace discrimination. However, the black population and some other groups continue to suffer from disparities in overall economic standing, educational attainment, and other social indicators. In 2016, the Supreme Court again confirmed the constitutionality of considering race or ethnicity as one of many factors in university admissions to ensure student diversity, but several states have banned the practice outright through referendums.

Federal antidiscrimination legislation does not include LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people as a protected class, though many states have enacted such protections. The government bans discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in federal employment and among federal contractors. The rights of transgender people became a subject of court battles and national debate in 2016 after North Carolina passed a law requiring individuals in public buildings to use restrooms that correspond with the gender on their birth certificate. The Obama administration issued legal guidelines in May that instructed school districts to allow transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity, but enforcement was blocked as federal courts considered challenges to the rule.

The United States has generally maintained liberal immigration policies in recent decades. Most observers believe that the country has struck a balance that both encourages assimilation and permits new immigrants to maintain their religious and cultural customs. Many Americans remain troubled by the large number of immigrants in the country illegally, however, and the government has responded by strengthening border security and stepping up deportation efforts. The Obama administration focused its enforcement policies on criminals and other high-priority categories of migrants while explicitly sparing groups like those who entered the country illegally as children. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to build a "wall" along the southern border and accelerate deportations. Responding to concerns about terrorism and the Obama administration's efforts to take in greater numbers of Syrian refugees, Trump also publicly considered a variety of measures to limit or monitor the presence of refugees, Muslim immigrants, or Muslims in general.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: : 15 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

Citizens of the United States enjoy freedom of movement and a high level of personal autonomy. The right to own property is protected by law, and business entrepreneurship is encouraged as a matter of government policy.

Women have made important strides toward equality over the past several decades. They now constitute almost half of the American workforce and are well represented in professions like law, medicine, and journalism. In 2015, the Defense Department announced that all combat roles in the military were open to women. Although women with recent university degrees have effectively attained parity with men, the average compensation for female workers is roughly 80 percent of that for male workers. In the past several years, a number of new state laws have been designed to restrict women's access to abortion without breaching prior court decisions, and some have survived initial judicial scrutiny, adding to state-by-state variation in access.

In 2015, the Supreme Court found that all states must allow same-sex marriage. The practice had already become legal in most states through court decisions, legislative action, or referendums, but the new ruling invalidated laws in a minority of states that still barred same-sex couples from marrying.

The "American dream"  the notion of a fair society in which hard work will bring economic and social advancement, regardless of the circumstances of one's birth  is a core part of the country's identity, and voters tend to favor government policies that enhance equality of opportunity. Recently, however, studies have shown a widening inequality in wealth and a narrowing of access to upward mobility. One key driver of inequality is the widening gap between Americans with university degrees and those with a high school degree or less. A number of states and municipalities have enacted substantial hikes in the minimum wage, but wages overall have remained stagnant for many years, and the number of well-compensated jobs for the less-educated have fallen steeply.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - United Kingdom

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - United Kingdom, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e17a.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 95/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 1/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 1/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 1/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 65,600,000

Capital: London

GDP/capita: $43,876

Press Freedom Status: Free

Net Freedom Status: Free

OVERVIEW

The United Kingdom (UK)  comprised of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales  is a stable democracy that regularly holds free elections and is home to a vibrant free press. While the government enforces robust protections for political rights and civil liberties, recent years have seen concerns about increased government surveillance of residents, as well as rising Islamophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment. In a 2016 referendum, UK voters narrowly voted to leave the European Union (EU), in a development that will have political and economic reverberations both domestically and across Europe in the coming years.

Key Developments

In a June referendum that sent shockwaves across the continent, voters chose to leave the EU by a margin of 51.9 percent, in what became known as "Brexit," a word coined to capture Britain's exit from the union. A desire to reduce immigration was a critical concern among "Leave" voters.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the "Remain" campaign, resigned following the Brexit vote and was replaced by Theresa May, who was appointed following a Conservative Party leadership contest.

Street crime and harassment against immigrants and Muslims increased in the wake of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris and continued throughout the contentious campaign surrounding the EU referendum, during which elements of the Leave side blamed immigrants for economic woes and stress on social services.

Jo Cox, a Labour MP who supported the Remain campaign, was murdered by a far-right extremist a week before the referendum. The attacker was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in November.

Executive Summary

The referendum in June 2016 to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the EU resulted in a 51.9 percent vote to leave, upending UK politics. The Leave campaign centered in large part on the issue of immigration, with proponents arguing that the sizable number of EU nationals living and working in the UK had done harm to the economy and overburdened its network of social services. The Remain campaign had emphasized economic benefits of immigration and EU membership, and the UK's commitment to the liberal democratic values the EU embodied. However, the Remain campaign was widely described as listless and hampered by divisions between Cameron and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Cameron, whose Conservative Party had won general elections held in 2015, announced his intention to resign the day after the vote, triggering a Conservative Party leadership election that resulted in the appointment of Prime Minister Theresa May in July. Prime Minister May quickly vowed to curb immigration.

The Brexit campaign and the vote's results, as well as the political aftermath of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, brought about widespread concerns of rising anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment in the country, with the Council of Europe expressing concerns about hate speech among politicians and in popular tabloid newspapers. Police in December also recorded an 18.2 percent increase in racist and religious hate crimes over the previous year. Additionally, days before the Brexit vote, Labour MP Jo Cox  who had campaigned for the Remain side  was killed by a far-right-wing extremist. The assailant was convicted of murder in November, with the presiding judge imposing a life sentence for what he described as a crime committed to advance Nazi ideology.

Mass surveillance by the security services, including the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), remained a concern during the year. In December, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled, in a case concerning the 2014 Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIPA), that "general and indiscriminate" retention of emails and electronic communications by the government was illegal unless it was targeted in order to fight cases of serious crimes, including terrorism. However, DRIPA was replaced in November 2016 by the new Investigatory Powers Act, which permitted even greater surveillance. At year's end, UK courts were set to decide how to implement December's ECJ ruling under domestic laws. The ruling could prompt legal cases against the new legislation  though if the UK leaves the EU, it will no longer be bound by ECJ decisions.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 40 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

Each of the members of the House of Commons, the dominant, lower chamber of the bicameral Parliament, is elected in a single-member district. Executive power rests with the prime minister and cabinet, who must have the support of the Commons. The House of Lords, Parliament's upper chamber, can delay legislation initiated in the Commons. The Commons must reconsider any measure defeated by the Lords, but it can ultimately overrule the upper chamber. The Lords' approximately 800 members consist mostly of "life peers" nominated by successive governments. There are also 90 hereditary peers (nobles) and 26 bishops and archbishops of the Church of England. The monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, plays a largely ceremonial role as head of state. Elections in Britain are consistently free and fair.

The Conservative Party, which had been ruling in coalition with a smaller party, the Liberal Democrats, won an unexpected victory in the 2015 general elections, taking 36.9 percent of the popular vote and increasing its share of Commons seats by 24 for a total of 330, an outright majority. The second-ranked Labour Party took 30.4 percent of the vote and 232 seats, a loss of 26. The Scottish National Party (SNP) won 4.7 percent of the vote and 56 seats, an increase of 50. The Liberal Democrats won 7.9 percent of the vote and lost 49 seats, leaving them with just 8. The Euroskeptic, populist United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), campaigning on an anti-immigration platform, secured only one seat, despite having won the country's 2014 European Parliament elections and taken two Commons seats in 2014 by-elections. Turnout for the 2015 voting was 66.1 percent. Local elections in England took place on the same day, with the Conservatives winning control of 163 of 279 councils; Labour placed second with control of 74 councils.

In February 2016, Prime Minister Cameron scheduled a June referendum on membership in the EU, fulfilling a years-old pledge to hold a vote on the issue. He led the Remain campaign. The referendum resulted in a 51.9 percent vote to leave the EU, against 48.1 percent who voted to remain. The results revealed deep divisions within the UK: England and Wales voted to leave by 53.4 percent and 52.5 percent, respectively; while voters in Scotland chose to remain by 62 percent, as did voters Northern Ireland, by 55.8 percent. Cameron resigned the day after the vote, triggering a Conservative Party leadership election that resulted in the appointment of May as Prime Minister in July. She proclaimed that "Brexit means Brexit" and assembled a team to prepare for the negotiations to leave the EU. Meanwhile, the main opposition Labour Party embarked on a protracted leadership battle that resulted in the incumbent Jeremy Corbyn being reelected in September. Nigel Farage, head of the UKIP  which claimed much of the credit for the Brexit vote's results  resigned in July, saying he had fulfilled his political ambitions. Paul Nuttall was elected the UKIP's new leader in November.

In the wake of the referendum result both Scotland and Northern Ireland began exploring political solutions to maintain their membership in the EU. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon suggested that Scotland might seek a new referendum on independence if the UK pursued "hard Brexit" policies that could reintroduce strict border controls and lead the UK to leave the EU's common market. In Northern Ireland, the referendum's result gave rise to politically sensitive questions about how to resolve the Brexit vote with provisions of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.

In May 2016, regional elections to the Northern Ireland and Welsh Assemblies, as well the Scottish Parliament, took place. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) remained the largest party after elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Sinn Fein and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) lost votes, coming in second and fourth, respectively. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) was the third biggest party. In the Welsh Assembly, Labour remained the largest party, while UKIP won seats in the Assembly for the first time. In Scotland, the governing SNP remained the largest party, with the Conservatives surpassing Labour to become the second-largest party.

In December 2016, the government announced that it would soon begin requiring voters to produce identification in order to vote, drawing criticism that such a requirement would discourage participation among poorer voters. Officials also said they would prevent political activists from distributing absentee ballots.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 16 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

The Conservative Party and Labour Party have dominated British politics for decades, though several other parties regularly win seats in Parliament. The SNP supplanted the Liberal Democrats as the third-largest party in the 2015 elections. Smaller parties, such as UKIP and the Greens, fare better in races for the European Parliament, which feature proportional-representation voting.

Under Britain's system of "devolution," the UK Parliament has granted certain powers to subnational legislatures, augmenting the political representation of regional populations as well as parties like the SNP. In Wales, Plaid Cymru champions Welsh nationalism. A 2011 referendum increased the Welsh Assembly's autonomy, giving it authority to make laws in 20 subject areas without consulting Parliament.

The 2016 Scotland Act, approved in March, transferred further powers to the Scottish Parliament in areas such as taxation, welfare, and abortion law, in line with a pledge made by the main British parties ahead of the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, which had been defeated.

In Northern Ireland, the main Catholic and republican parties are Sinn Fein and the SDLP, while the leading Protestant and unionist parties are the UUP and the DUP. The armed struggle between unionists and Irish nationalists over governance in Northern Ireland largely ended with the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, which established the Northern Ireland Assembly.

C. Functioning of Government: 12 / 12

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

Britain's freely elected officials make and implement national policy, and corruption is not pervasive, though high-profile scandals have damaged political reputations under both Labour and Conservative governments. The Bribery Act, which is considered one of the most sweeping pieces of antibribery legislation in the world, came into force in 2011. In 2015, then first minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson was accused of accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks to sell assets managed by the Republic of Ireland's National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) to the U.S. investment firm Cerberus. An investigation of the sale was ongoing at year's end.

Parties in the United Kingdom are financed through membership fees, donations, and state funding (if they are in opposition), and there have been scandals over donations to political parties. A lobbying register established in 2015 was criticized for its narrow scope and lack of enforcement mechanisms.

A 2013 World Bank study concluded that Britain's freedom of information laws are "reasonably successful." Civil liberties groups and the press have criticized government-proposed reforms to limit freedom of information requests.

Civil Liberties: 55 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 14 / 16 (+1)

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

Press freedom is legally protected, and the media are lively and competitive. Daily newspapers span the political spectrum, though economic pressures and rising internet use have driven some smaller papers out of business. On rare occasions, the courts have imposed so-called superinjunctions that forbid the media from reporting on certain information or even the existence of the injunction itself.

The state-owned British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is editorially independent and competitive with its counterparts in the commercial market. A series of scandals have plagued the broadcaster in recent years, including the convictions of several employees and former employees for sexual and verbal abuse in 2013, and a controversy involving senior managers who were given inordinately high severance payouts and executive pay.

In the wake of a 2011 scandal in which reporters at the News of the World were accused of hacking the voicemails of hundreds of public figures and crime victims, a 2013 royal charter created a special panel that would certify an independent regulatory body for the press. Press freedom advocates have questioned the independence of the Press Recognition Panel established by the charter, suggesting that it is too closely linked to the government. In October 2016, a regulator known as Impress received recognition under the royal charter and was later endorsed by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). With the establishment of a royal charterapproved regulator, officials may invoke Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act, through which tough financial penalties can be imposed on publications that fail to register with it.

The 2013 Defamation Act overhauled the country's plaintiff-friendly libel laws, introducing a "public interest" defense, setting more stringent requirements for claimants, and making it more difficult for foreigners to file complaints in cases with little connection to Britain. The number of problematic defamation cases has decreased in recent years.

The government does not restrict internet access. New online criminal offenses were introduced in 2015 under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act, including the dissemination of images of a naked person without the subject's consent, also known as "revenge porn."

Although the Church of England and the Church of Scotland have official status, freedom of religion is protected in law and practice. A 2006 law bans incitement to religious hatred, with a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. Nevertheless, minority groups, particularly Muslims, report discrimination, harassment, and occasional assaults. The Muslim community has come under threat and Muslims have faced occasional violence from far-right groups like the English Defence League. In the weeks following the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, the Metropolitan Police reported that Islamophobic hate crimes in London tripled; in 2016, the police recorded an 18.2 percent increase in racist and religious hate crimes over the previous year.

Academic freedom is generally respected. However, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act of 2015 requires schools and universities to prevent students from being drawn into terrorism and to vet the remarks of visiting speakers as part of that effort. The new legal obligation raised concerns that open debate and academic inquiry could be stifled. A Private Member's Bill was presented to Parliament in June 2016 to repeal provisions in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act that require teachers and those caring for children to report evidence of extremism among children in preschool or primary school settings. Its second reading will take place in early 2017.

The effects of mass surveillance on free and open private discussion are also a growing concern. In 2015, a government-commissioned report on surveillance by British security agencies held that although the power to collect bulk communications data on British citizens may be justified, privacy concerns must be considered early in the collection process. It also stated that judges, rather than ministers, should authorize warrants for the collection of data related to criminal matters, and that there should be judicial review of warrants related to national security that are authorized by ministers.

DRIPA, the 2014 law governing intelligence agencies' authority to monitor communications data, was replaced in November 2016 by the Investigatory Powers Act, known by critics as the "snooper's charter." DRIPA had been ruled unlawful by the High Court in 2015, in part because it allowed the agencies to conduct surveillance without judicial oversight. It was also struck down in December 2016 by the ECJ, which held that the government could use "bulk data" or "mass surveillance" collection only to deal with serious crime and that there should be restrictions on access to data to protect against violations of citizens' privacy.

The new Investigatory Powers Act requires communications companies to store metadata on customers' activity for 12 months and, in some cases allows this information to be accessed by police and other security officials without a warrant. However, judicial commissioners must review ministerial authorization of warrants for the actual interception of communications, including their content. The new law could be subject to legal challenges as a result of the ECJ ruling, although if the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU, it will not be bound by rulings of the ECJ.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 12 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

Freedoms of assembly and association are respected, though police have been criticized for certain crowd-control tactics in recent years. A number of demonstrations and assemblies were organized during 2016, including rallies across the country against a British exit from the EU, following the June referendum result.

Civic and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operate freely. Groups identified as terrorist organizations can be banned, and there are concerns that the legal definition is broad enough that it could be interpreted to encompass legitimate associations and activism. Surveillance of NGOs has also drawn criticism. In 2015, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) disclosed that Amnesty International was among the groups whose data GCHQ had accessed and illegally retained. The U.S.-based NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) filed a complaint in 2015 with the tribunal alleging that its communications had also been the target of such surveillance, which had entailed cooperation with the U.S. National Security Agency. In May 2016 the IPT ruled in the HRW case that data collected on persons "situated outside" the United Kingdom cannot give rise to a claim of infringement of the right to privacy under UK law and the European Convention on Human Rights. In November, HRW filed a challenge with the European Court on Human Rights to force the IPT to state whether or not the group had been subject to GCHQ surveillance, and if so, whether such surveillance was illegal.

A lobbying law adopted in 2014 was heavily criticized for limiting the amount of money organizations can spend during election years; opponents assert that the law's ambiguous language could lead to self-censorship and hinder the work of smaller groups.

Workers have the right to organize trade unions, which have traditionally played a central role in the Labour Party. The rights to bargain collectively and strike are also respected.

F. Rule of Law: 14 / 16 (-1)

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

A new Supreme Court began functioning in 2009, transferring final judicial authority from the House of Lords. In 2015, the Criminal Justice and Courts Act, a sweeping legal reform law, came into effect. Among other things, it increased maximum prison sentences for terrorists and pedophiles, made certain kinds of extreme pornography illegal, and introduced measures to reduce recidivism.

The police maintain high professional standards. While prisons generally adhere to international guidelines, an increase in violence and suicides in jails was reported after recent austerity cuts resulted in reduced prison staffing, and the Prison Governors Association in October 2016 called for a public inquiry into the problem. Inmates are banned from voting. Although the European Court of Human Rights has ruled on several occasions that this is a violation of prisoners' rights, an EU court ruled in 2015 that voting bans can be legal for prisoners convicted of serious crimes.

Britain's strict antiterrorism laws allow authorities to control the movement of terrorism suspects when the evidence against them is insufficient for prosecution or deportation. The 2015 Counter-Terrorism and Security Act has been criticized for giving excessive powers to police, including the authority to seize travel documents of individuals attempting to leave the country if they are suspected of planning to engage in terrorist-related activities abroad, and to forcibly relocate terrorism suspects within the country up to 200 miles away from their homes.

Anti-immigrant rhetoric surrounding the EU referendum campaign appeared to fuel a spike in harassment of and physical attacks against foreigners in the UK, many of which targeted immigrants from Poland. In an attack that shook the country's politics days before the referendum, Labour MP Jo Cox, an advocate for the Remain campaign, was murdered by a far-right extremist who had shouted "Britain first" as he shot and stabbed her. The assailant was convicted of murder in November, with the presiding judge imposing a life sentence for what he described as a crime committed to advance Nazi ideology. There have also been concerns about rising Islamophobia in the wake of the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks.

Immigrants and their descendants receive equal treatment under the law, but generally face living standards below the national average. The Immigration Act 2016, which took effect in July, requires landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants, obliges banks to perform background checks before opening an account, and makes it a criminal offense for migrants to obtain jobs without appropriate paperwork. It also allows police to seize vehicles belonging to illegal migrants and allows authorities to electronically track those released on bail while awaiting deportation.

In 2015, the High Court found that the government's fast-track procedure for asylum seekers  under which failed applicants were detained while their appeals were processed in an expedited manner  unlawfully prioritized speed over fairness. The Court of Appeal confirmed the ruling later that year and the system was suspended, although it is not yet clear what kind of system has replaced it. Meanwhile, in January 2016, former prisons and probation ombudsman Stephen Shaw submitted to Parliament a series of recommendations to improve the welfare of vulnerable asylum-seekers in detention. The "Shaw Report," commissioned by the government in 2015, said too many asylum-seekers were being detained, and among other things recommended a ban on the detention of pregnant asylum-seekers and limits on the amount of time other asylum-seekers may be detained.

The authorities actively enforce a 2010 law barring discrimination on the basis of factors including sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 15 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

Citizens generally enjoy freedom of travel and choice of residence, employment, and institution of higher education. Economic activity is not excessively influenced by the government.

A government-commissioned report by Dame Louise Casey on social integration in the United Kingdom released in December 2016 expressed concern about the social and economic isolation of many members of ethnic and religious minorities and of the poor. The report also criticized "regressive religious and cultural practices" in segments of some communities.

While women receive equal treatment under the law, they remain underrepresented in top positions in politics and business. The number of women in the House of Commons rose to 192, or 30 percent, as a result of the 2015 elections, from about 23 percent before the elections. Gender discrimination persists in the workplace in practice. Abortion is legal in Great Britain, though heavily restricted in Northern Ireland, where it is allowed only to protect the life or the long-term health of the mother.

Same-sex marriage became legal in 2013. Religious organizations are permitted to refuse to conduct same-sex marriages.

The Modern Slavery Act, which increases punishments for human traffickers and offers greater protections for victims, became law in 2015. Children and migrant workers are among those most vulnerable to forced labor and sex trafficking.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - Ukraine

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - Ukraine, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e18c.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 61/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 3/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 3/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 3/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 42,700,000

Capital: Kyiv

GDP/capita: $2,115

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: Partly Free

OVERVIEW

Ukraine continues to recover from the disorder that surrounded the ouster of Viktor Yanukovych from the presidency in 2014, as well as the related crisis sparked by Russia's occupation of Crimea and military support for separatists in the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine. The authorities' failure to prosecute extensive high-level corruption has undermined the popularity of the government and affected reform efforts in a wide range of sectors. In the sphere of civil liberties, political pressure and attacks on journalists have threatened freedom of the press.

Key Developments

Amid extended political deadlock over reform and anticorruption efforts, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk resigned in April at the request of President Petro Poroshenko. Volodymyr Groysman, a close Poroshenko ally, replaced Yatsenyuk.

The front lines in the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk remained largely unchanged during the year, with only minor outbreaks of combat between government forces and Russian-backed separatists, and significantly fewer casualties than in 2014 or 2015.

In July, a car bomb killed prominent journalist Pavel Sheremet in Kyiv, heightening concerns about the safety and freedom of journalists. Several other media professionals and organizations  in both government-controlled and separatist-held areas  faced violence, threats, and harassment during the year.

Strong protection from security forces ensured that a Kyiv LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) pride parade could proceed without violence in June, though some other LGBT events outside the capital were threatened or attacked.

Executive Summary

Political infighting consumed much of the early months of 2016. President Poroshenko requested the resignation of Prime Minister Yatsenyuk in February, but failed to gather the necessary support in the parliament, where Yatsenyuk's People's Front is the second-largest party. Yatsenyuk resigned in April, along with many ministers who were outspoken advocates of reform, and was replaced by Groysman. The Yatsenyuk government had achieved notable reforms in the gas and banking sectors, and Groysman moved ahead with changes in the electricity sector, eliminating some opportunities for corruption. In June, the parliament passed long-promised legislation aimed at increasing independence and reducing malfeasance in the judiciary. Nevertheless, other anticorruption efforts moved slowly throughout the year.

The Minsk II agreement, a cease-fire deal brokered by France and Germany in early 2015, remained formally in effect in 2016, but low-intensity combat continued along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine. In a December 2016 report, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) noted that at least 9,733 people had been killed and more than 22,000 wounded in Ukraine from the outbreak of the conflict in April 2014 to November 2016. In April, the Ministry of Social Policy reported that it had registered approximately 1.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Crimea and the Donbas. IDPs continued to experience difficulties in accessing public services in 2016.

The situation in the Donbas separatist entities, the self-styled Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) and Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), remained unstable, with several killings and arrests among the rebel leadership. Following an alleged coup attempt against Luhansk leader Igor Plotnitsky in August, the separatist leaders purged dozens of political and military personnel. In October, a bomb killed Arsen Pavlov, a Russian national and one of the most prominent separatist military leaders in Donetsk. Local elections and administration in these two regions remained contentious issues. In October, despite some preparation by separatist authorities in both Donetsk and Luhansk, the regions' leaders announced the cancelation of voting, which had been scheduled for November. Details about the framework and conduct of future elections in separatist-held areas were still unclear at year's end.

The Ukrainian government made little progress in meeting domestic and international demands to investigate and prosecute crimes committed during the last months of the Yanukovych administration in late 2013 and early 2014, which included the shooting of protesters.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 25 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 9 / 12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

The president is elected to a maximum of two five-year terms. After Yanukovych fled the country in February 2014, a snap presidential election was held that May. Poroshenko won 54.7 percent of the overall vote and majorities in regions across the country. The process was largely considered free and fair by international observers, although voting could not take place in Crimea and some districts in the east.

Citizens elect delegates to the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council), the 450-seat unicameral parliament, for five-year terms, according to a system in which half of the members are chosen by closed-list proportional representation and half in single-member districts. The early parliamentary elections held in October 2014 produced a legislature with a reformist majority. Petro Poroshenko's Bloc won 133 seats, former prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's People's Front took 81, Self-Reliance 33, the Opposition Bloc 29, the Radical Party 22, and Fatherland 19. Several smaller parties and 96 independents divided the remainder. While the elections were generally deemed free and fair, voting was again impossible in Crimea and separatist-held parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, where many citizens would likely have voted against the winning reformist parties. As a result of the occupation, the elections filled only 423 of the parliament's 450 seats.

In October 2015, Ukraine held elections for more than 10,000 mayors and 155,970 local, district, and regional council members, with 132 political parties participating. Turnout was 46.6 percent. Petro Poroshenko's Bloc and its allies won more than 16,500 seats, while former prime minister Yuliya Tymoshenko's Fatherland party placed second with over 8,000 seats. The Opposition Bloc, a successor to Yanukovych's Party of Regions, did well in some of the eastern and southern regions, taking over 4,000 seats.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 10 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

Since the fall of Yanukovych, Ukraine's political party system has experienced extreme volatility. The Communist Party was banned in 2015, and other older parties have all but disappeared, while a variety of new groups have formed and won important offices. A key problem has been that the parties often rely on the country's politically connected business magnates, or oligarchs, for their funding. A new law that came into force in July 2016 subjects party funding and expenditures to public reporting and oversight requirements and provides parliamentary parties with state funding beginning in 2017. The latter provision effectively favors established parties over newcomers. The party landscape continued to evolve in 2016, with the small Democratic Alliance party growing thanks to defections by high-profile reformists. A fledgling far-right party, the National Corps, was created in October by the Azov Battalion  a nationalist volunteer paramilitary unit that has been incorporated into Ukraine's National Guard.

Russia maintained a powerful influence over the course of Ukrainian political life through its occupation of Crimea, involvement in the fighting in the east, imposition of economic sanctions on the rest of the country, and manipulation of the price Ukraine pays for natural gas. Concerns about national security and Russian influence have contributed to a shrinking space for criticism of the Ukrainian authorities and military, and for discussions on resolving the conflict in the east through political means. Journalist Ruslan Kotsaba, arrested in early 2015 and charged with treason for his calls to resist military conscription, was convicted in May 2016 of "obstructing the activities of Ukraine's armed forces" and sentenced to three and a half years in prison, though he was then acquitted on appeal and released in July. Lawmaker and military veteran Nadiya Savchenko faced widespread criticism for meeting with separatist leaders in Minsk and advocating a political dialogue to end the fighting.

Ethnic minorities are able to participate freely in political affairs in Ukraine. However, their voting and representation has been hindered by factors including the conflict in the Donbas, illiteracy and lack of identity documents for many Roma, and rules against running as an independent for many local, district, and regional offices.

C. Functioning of Government: 6 / 12

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

Poroshenko's removal of Yatsenyuk has considerably strengthened the power of the president. Yanukovych in 2010 had overseen the restoration of the 1996 constitution, which featured a dominant presidency, but a 3860 vote by the parliament in 2014 reversed that move, reviving the 2004 charter. The latter, the product of a compromise during the Orange Revolution, had shifted power to the prime minister and cabinet and made them responsible to the parliament, though the president retained control over the foreign and defense ministers and the head of the security service. This division of power had led to infighting between the president and prime minister between 2004 and 2010, and similar rifts began to emerge in 2015. However, in April 2016, Poroshenko secured a dominant position by placing a close ally in the prime minister's office.

Aside from the conflict in the east, the main obstacle to effective governance in Ukraine is corruption, and the vast majority of citizens have been deeply disappointed with the government's slow progress in combating it since Yanukovych's departure in 2014. No major figures have been arrested, and the government has recovered almost none of the billions of dollars in assets that were allegedly looted under previous administrations.

Oligarchs continue to exert considerable influence over Ukrainian life through their control of some 70 percent of the economy, much of the media, and the financing of political parties. Poroshenko, a wealthy businessman who is counted among them, remains at the center of controversy. Former member of parliament Oleksandr Onishchenko, after fleeing abroad, accused him of offering bribes to lawmakers and extorting money from state companies. Odesa governor Mikheil Saakashvili resigned from his post in November 2016, claiming that the president and other high-level officials were taking advantage of the system for personal gain. Poroshenko has not honored campaign promises to sell most of his extensive assets, and his son Oleksiy Poroshenko is now a member of parliament and an increasingly powerful businessman, drawing comparisons to Yanukovych, whose sons also became power brokers.

Another key problem is pervasive corruption among Ukraine's prosecutors and judges. Under intense pressure from his critics and civil society, Poroshenko in February initiated the removal of Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was seen as blocking anticorruption reforms, and replaced him in May with loyalist Yuriy Lutsenko, who lacks legal training. Before his removal by the parliament in March, Shokin sacked his deputy, corruption fighter Davit Sakvarelidze; another reformist deputy prosecutor general, Vitaliy Kasko, had resigned earlier. Although the parliament adopted a lustration law in 2014, it has not been used against prosecutors and judges.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), set up to investigate corrupt officials, began operating in 2015, but critics warned that it would be ineffective without reforms in the prosecutor's office and judiciary. It lacks sufficient personnel and powers, according to NABU head Artem Sytnyk, and faces institutional resistance to its work. In August 2016, for example, NABU officials conducting a criminal investigation into a department of the Prosecutor General's Office were detained and allegedly beaten by members of the targeted unit. Poroshenko's administration is seen as supporting the prosecutors over NABU.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) focused on combating corruption complained in June that they were not properly included in the process of choosing the new leaders of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAZK), as required by law. Also during the year, one prominent anticorruption NGO was targeted by prosecutors with an intrusive criminal investigation in apparent retribution for its work.

Ukraine has made some progress in advancing transparency, requiring that banks publish the identity of their owners. Under pressure from the European Union (EU), the parliament in March 2016 passed a law obliging politicians and bureaucrats to file electronic declarations of their assets by October 31. The measure exposed large amounts of property and cash held by Ukrainian officials who had no obvious means of earning such wealth. While the disclosures received significant media attention and bolstered civil society anticorruption efforts, critics warned that the NAZK lacked the capacity to properly investigate the declarations, and few criminal cases had been reported by year's end.

Civil Liberties: 36 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 11 / 16

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

The constitution guarantees freedoms of speech and expression, and libel is not a criminal offense. The media landscape features considerable pluralism and open criticism of the government. However, business magnates with varying political interests own and influence many outlets. Poroshenko owns the television network Fifth Channel and has rebuffed press freedom groups' calls to honor his earlier promise to sell it. Among other key media owners are Ihor Kolomoysky (1+1), Dmytro Firtash (Inter), Rinat Akhmetov (Ukraine), Viktor Pinchuk (Novy Kanal, STB, ICTV), and Andriy Podshchypkov, whose cable and satellite broadcaster 112 Ukraine is often critical of Poroshenko. In 2014, the Interior Ministry banned the broadcast of over a dozen Russian channels, arguing that the country's information space had to be protected from Russia's "propaganda of war and violence."

Despite the pluralism of the Ukrainian media, many problems persist. In September 2016, VoxUkraine published a two-year analysis showing that the top four weekly television news programs only made negative references to President Poroshenko in 1 to 2 percent of their reports. At a June news conference, Poroshenko asked journalists not to write negative stories about Ukraine. He has also sought to block coverage of Onishchenko's corruption accusations by threatening lawsuits.

Journalists continue to face the threat of violence and intimidation. In July, a car bomb killed prominent journalist Pavel Sheremet, who wrote for the independent online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda. In September, intruders set fire to the offices of Inter, which many Ukrainians view as having a pro-Russian bias. In May, Myrotvorets (Peacemaker), a website whose stated goal is to identify Ukraine's enemies, listed the names, employers, and contact information of more than 4,000 Ukrainian and foreign journalists who had received press credentials from separatist forces to report on fighting in the east. The website claimed that the journalists were supporting the separatists by seeking and receiving such accreditation, though many journalists stressed their need to receive accreditation in order to operate safely in separatist-controlled areas. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov defended the website's action. Other journalists who are critical of the government have been threatened and beaten. Deputy Information Policy Minister Tetyana Popova resigned in August, protesting the authorities' failure to prosecute attacks against journalists and defend free speech.

The constitution and a 1991 law define religious rights in Ukraine, and these are generally respected. However, the conflict has increased friction between rival branches of the Orthodox Church, and smaller religious groups continue to report some discrimination. In the DNR and LNR, separatist forces have reportedly persecuted Protestant and other nonRussian Orthodox denominations, forcing them to flee or operate underground churches.

A June 2014 law dramatically reduced the government's control over education and allowed universities much greater freedom in designing their own programs. Universities also gained an expanded ability to manage their own finances, and faculty members were permitted to devote more of their time to research activities.

Ukrainians generally enjoy open and free private discussion, although the polarizing effects of the conflict have weighed on political expression, and intimidation prevails in the separatist-held areas.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 9 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

The constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly but requires organizers to give the authorities advance notice of any demonstrations. While officials generally create an open environment for public gatherings in practice, Ukraine lacks a law governing the conduct of demonstrations and specifically providing for freedom of assembly. Moreover, threats and violence by nonstate actors sometimes prevent certain groups from holding events, particularly those advocating equal rights for LGBT people.

Civil society has flourished since 2014, as civic groups with a variety of social, political, cultural, and economic agendas have emerged or become reinvigorated. Trade unions function in the country, but strikes and worker protests are infrequent, as the largest trade union, stemming from the Soviet-era labor federation, lacks independence from the government and employers in practice. Factory owners are still able to pressure their workers to vote according to the owners' preferences.

F. Rule of Law: 6 / 16

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

Ukraine has long suffered from politicized courts, and judges were subject to intense political pressure under Yanukovych. An April 2014 judicial reform law sought to weaken the top-down power of court chairmen, who assign cases to specific judges and often make decisions about judges' salaries and other work conditions. Despite these reforms, Poroshenko has been unwilling to give up his control of the judicial branch. The senior prosecutors and law enforcement officials he has appointed are frequently criticized for failing to arrest high-level suspects on corruption charges.

In June 2016, the parliament approved constitutional amendments that changed Ukraine's system for appointing judges. They will be chosen by a judicial council rather than the parliament, which should help shield them from political influence. The amendments also call for specialized anticorruption courts that will be independent of the existing system. However, before the courts are created, a new law must be enacted to clarify their operations and the selection process for their judges. Full implementation could therefore be delayed until 2019.

In 2015, Ukraine introduced new patrol police in several cities. Though the police were initially popular, they came under attack from the unreformed prosecutor's office. First Deputy Interior Minister Eka Zguladze, who was in charge of the new police force, resigned after the downfall of Yatsenyuk government and warned that the patrol police could not survive as an "island" amid corrupt institutions.

Due to the ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine, substantial parts of the population face extensive violence  including inaccurate or indiscriminate shelling by both sides. The separatist rulers of the DNR and LNR have "undermined the human rights of the estimated 2.7 million people residing under their control," according to the OHCHR. Meanwhile, there has been insufficient progress in bringing to justice the individuals responsible for political violence in Kyiv and Odesa in 2014 that killed some 150 people.

A July 2016 report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch alleged that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was illegally holding and torturing suspected separatist fighters in unlawful detention facilities. The groups detailed alleged abuses in the cases of nine individuals held by the SBU, mainly in 2015 and the first half of 2016, as well as nine individuals held by the Russian-backed separatists. The SBU reacted to the document by releasing 13 prisoners; no similar response by the separatists, whose violations were reportedly much greater in number, was reported.

Although the national government has generally protected the legal rights of minority groups, the Romany population continues to suffer from discrimination. In one high-profile incident in 2016, dozens of Roma fled the village of Loshchynivka in southern Ukraine in August, when villagers blamed them for the rape and killing of a nine-year-old girl. Roma often live in substandard housing in marginal areas.

The LGBT community also faces bias and hostility in Ukraine. A June 2016 pride parade in Kyiv proceeded without violence thanks to strong protection from the security forces, though the heavy police presence made the march almost inaccessible. Public events on LGBT issues were disrupted in Zaporizhya, Odesa, and Lviv, through either violence or pressure by right-wing groups. Incidents of homophobic and transphobic violence are rarely investigated or prosecuted by the authorities, and there is no effective hate-crime legislation in place.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 10 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

The ongoing conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the east has displaced many residents from their homes and hampered freedom of movement within the country.

The separatist-controlled territories are largely lawless, with armed groups controlling public buildings and looting local businesses for supplies. Numerous reports indicate that separatist commanders force local residents to perform menial tasks. In the rest of Ukraine, private businesses continue to suffer at the hands of corrupt bureaucrats, tax collectors, and corporate raiders.

Gender discrimination is prohibited under the constitution, but government officials demonstrate little interest in or understanding of the problem. Human rights groups have reported that employers openly discriminate on the basis of gender, physical appearance, and age. Women currently make up about 12 percent of the parliament. A new local elections law, adopted in 2015, includes a 30 percent quota for women on the party lists, but there are no sanctions for parties that do not comply. The new law on party financing provides financial incentives for parties to achieve gender equality.

The trafficking of women domestically and abroad for the purpose of prostitution remains a major problem. The IDP population is especially vulnerable to exploitation for sex trafficking and forced labor. Separatist forces have reportedly recruited children as soldiers and informants.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - Tunisia

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - Tunisia, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e1af.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 78/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 2/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 1/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 3/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 11,300,000

Capital: Tunis

GDP/capita: $3,873

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: Partly Free

OVERVIEW

Since ousting a longtime autocrat from power in 2011, Tunisia has transitioned to a functioning, if precarious, democracy in which citizens enjoy unprecedented political rights and civil liberties. Corruption, economic challenges, and security threats remain obstacles to full democratic consolidation.

Key Developments

In March, dozens of gunmen with links to the Islamic State (IS) militant group attacked the town of Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border. The ensuing battle left 36 militants, 7 civilians, and 12 members of the Tunisian security forces dead.

In June, the parliament adopted a robust gender parity law for candidates in local elections, though officials indicated that the next elections, set for March 2017, would be postponed.

Amid increasing concerns about security threats and a weak economy, Prime Minister Habib Essid lost a July confidence vote in the parliament, and his government stepped down. A new national unity government took office in late August.

In November, the Truth and Dignity Commission held two public hearings on national television and radio, offering victims of human rights abuses under the former regime a chance to share their testimony.

Executive Summary

Tunisia took important, if modest, steps in 2016 toward preserving the democratic gains of the previous five years and improving civil liberties, even as ongoing economic stagnation and security challenges threatened the system's stability. New legislation established the Supreme Judicial Council, a body charged with ensuring the independence of the judiciary and appointing Constitutional Court judges, and council members were elected in October. In September, the parliament approved a long-awaited investment code that was expected to help attract foreign direct investment and reduce state interference in economic activity. And in June, the parliament adopted a gender parity law to ensure greater representation of women in local elections, though the elections planned for March 2017 were postponed.

In a sign of ongoing frustration with the lack of economic progress, protests broke out across the country in January. Police met the demonstrations with greater restraint than in recent years, when security forces had sometimes responded to protests with excessive or even deadly force. A major attack on the town of Ben Guerdane in March by militants affiliated with IS highlighted ongoing security threats that have triggered successive states of emergency.

At the start of the year, a number of parliament members with the leading political party, the secularist Nidaa Tounes, broke away after two years of growing internal disagreements. The development left Nidaa Tounes with 64 seats and handed a plurality to the moderate Islamist party Ennahda, which held 69. In July, the government of Habib Essid, an independent who had initially enjoyed the backing of both Nidaa Tounes and Ennahda but had struggled to address security threats and the faltering economy, was forced to step down after failing to win a vote of confidence. A national unity government assumed office in August, with Youssef Chahed of Nidaa Tounes as prime minister.

A controversial bill that would grant amnesty to individuals implicated in economic crimes under the former regime in exchange for their return of stolen assets to the state continued to meet resistance in civil society during the year, with activists claiming that it would undermine existing reconciliation programs. However, leading factions in the parliament indicated their intention to approve the measure.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 37 / 40 (1)

A. Electoral Process: 11 / 12 (1)

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

Tunisia's 2014 constitution established a unicameral legislative body, the Assembly of the Representatives of the People (ARP), and a semipresidential system in which the majority party in the parliament selects a head of government, while a popularly elected president serves as head of state and exercises circumscribed powers. The ARP consists of 217 representatives serving five-year terms, with members elected on party lists in 33 multimember constituencies.

Parliamentary elections held in October 2014 featured high turnout, with 67 percent of registered voters participating. Nidaa Tounes, established two years earlier with the goal of blunting the momentum of Ennahda, won a plurality of the vote and 86 seats. Ennahda placed second with 69 seats, 20 fewer than in 2011. Three other parties won enough seats to play significant roles in government formation: the populist-centrist Free Patriotic Union (UPL) won 16 seats, the leftist Popular Front garnered 15, and the center-right Afek Tounes won 8. Eleven other parties each obtained between one and four seats, and two seats went to independents.

A presidential election was held in November 2014, with 64 percent of registered voters casting ballots in the first round. Beji Caid Essebsi, the leader of Nidaa Tounes, won 40 percent of the vote, followed by incumbent Mohamed Moncef Marzouki of Congress for the Republic, with 33 percent. Essebsi then defeated Marzouki in the runoff, 55 percent to 44 percent. International and local observers concluded that the 2014 elections were free and fair.

Essebsi tasked Essid, an independent technocrat, with forming a government. The ARP's approval of Essid's cabinet in February 2015 completed the transition to a fully democratic system at the legislative and executive levels under the new constitution. Essid's government, comprising members of Nidaa Tounes, Ennahda, UPL, and Afek Tounes, remained in office through the first half of 2016.

In January 2016, 22 representatives from Nidaa Tounes resigned from the party to form a new bloc, Al-Horra, reducing Nidaa Tounes to 64 seats and leaving Ennahda as the largest party. That development, combined with growing concern over the government's handling of security threats and widespread frustration with a lack of economic progress, prompted Essebsi to call for a new national unity government in June. The following month, Essid lost a vote of confidence in the parliament, and his government stepped down. Essebsi tapped Chahed, an agricultural economist and Nidaa Tounes member, to serve as prime minister. His government, comprising members of Nidaa Tounes, Ennahda, and five smaller parties, plus two figures close to the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), took office in August.

The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), a neutral nine-member commission, is tasked with supervising parliamentary and presidential elections. The constitution also calls for a system of local governance based on municipal, district-level, and regional elections. Those votes have been repeatedly postponed, due in part to a lack of resources and disagreements as to whether members of the security forces should participate. The government has pledged that the polls will be held in 2017, though a plan to hold them in March of that year was abandoned in 2016.

Observers praised the 2014 electoral law for providing a credible framework that would reflect the will of the voters. However, the law's gender parity provisions, which required men and women to alternate within each party list but stopped short of requiring that men and women alternate at the head of lists across regions, attracted criticism. In June 2016, the ARP adopted an amendment to legislation governing municipal and regional elections that mandated horizontal and vertical parity, meaning parties must have equal numbers of men and women at the head of their lists, in addition to alternating between men and women within each list.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 16 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

Seventy parties participated in the 2014 elections. The two dominant parties were Nidaa Tounes, a secularist coalition of leftists, trade unionists, businesspeople, and members of the former government of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali (who was ousted as president in a popular revolution in 2011), and Ennahda, a moderate Islamist party that had been banned under Ben Ali's regime. Throughout 2015, a power struggle played out within Nidaa Tounes between the leftist faction, led by the party's secretary general, Mohsen Marzouk, and ancien regime elements led by Hafedh Caid Essebsi, the current president's son. In March 2016, Marzouk announced the formation of a new party, the Tounes Movement Project, which was expected to contest the next elections. Al-Horra, the parliamentary bloc that departed Nidaa Tounes in January, supported Marzouk.

The Tunisian military, historically marginalized by the political leadership, remained politically neutral in 2016. The military's budget has significantly expanded in the past several years, and it has established its own intelligence and security services. While generally viewed as positive developments aimed at correcting long-standing internal dysfunction, these changes have led some experts to caution against an unwarranted increase in the military's powers. Concerns over the military's potential politicization emerged in September 2016, following a controversial proposal to amend the electoral law to extend voting rights to members of the armed forces and police. The proposal had not been approved by year's end, but unions representing the security forces campaigned vigorously in favor of the amendment.

The government and both domestic and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have worked to increase the political participation of marginalized groups, including disabled Tunisians, and ensure their inclusion in elections.

C. Functioning of Government: 9 / 12

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

Freely elected officials determine and implement laws and policies without interference in Tunisia, and the 2011 removal of Ben Ali and his close relatives and associates, who had used their positions to create private monopolies in several sectors, represented an important step in combating corruption and eliminating conflicts of interest. The 2014 constitution called for the eventual creation of a Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Commission, but few prosecutions have occurred to date, with the exception of in absentia trials for members of the Ben Ali and Trabelsi clans  the families of the ousted president and his wife. Petty corruption continues to plague the country, with tax evasion, falsification of documents, and bribery rampant in the civil service.

A proposed "reconciliation law" approved by Essid's cabinet in 2015 would suspend all legal proceedings and investigations into public corruption committed under the Ben Ali regime in exchange for implicated individuals' agreement to return stolen assets to the state. In 2016, the bill continued to face resistance from civil society and some factions in the parliament, with representatives claiming that its enactment would undermine existing reconciliation programs. The leading political parties indicated that they would support the measure, though the bill had not come up for a vote by year's end.

Since the revolution, Tunisia has improved its record on government transparency. A 2011 decree requires internal documents of public institutions to be made available to the public. The 2014 constitution established the right of access to information, along with an independent commission to monitor compliance. In March 2016, the ARP adopted a freedom of information law, though it was criticized by watchdog groups for its security-related exemptions.

Civil Liberties: 42 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 13 / 16

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

The constitution guarantees freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information, and publication, subject to some restrictions. However, journalists continued to face obstacles in 2016. In February, political cartoonist Lotfi Ben Sassi alleged that he had received threats of administrative sanctions and pressure from the editor in chief of the state-run newspaper La Presse over cartoons mocking Tunisia's reliance on foreign assistance, particularly from the United States. In September, officials at the private television station Attessia said government officials had pressured them not to air a prerecorded interview with former president Marzouki, though it broadcast the interview anyway.

Article 91 of the military justice code criminalizes "insulting the flag or the army," and a number of bloggers and journalists have been prosecuted under the provision. In October 2016, a military court issued a warrant for the arrest of Mohamed Haj Mansour following his online newspaper's publication of an article alleging that Israel was behind the army's recent purchase of defective military equipment. Independent journalist Jamel Arfaoui and Rached Khiari, editor of the newspaper Al-Sadaa, were charged under the military justice code in September and November for separate articles; at year's end both were free pending trial.

Authorities do not restrict access to the internet or illegally monitor users' online activity.

The constitution calls for freedom of belief and conscience for all religions, as well as for the nonreligious, and bans campaigns against apostasy and incitement to hatred and violence on religious grounds. While the constitution identifies Islam as the state religion and requires the president to be a Muslim, no constitutional provision identifies Sharia (Islamic law) as a source of legislation. The state retains influence over the internal affairs of religious institutions, particularly at mosques, where it continues to appoint local imams and bans unauthorized activity.

Article 33 of the constitution explicitly protects academic freedom, which continues to improve in practice. Private discussion is largely open and free.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 9 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

The constitution guarantees the rights to assembly and peaceful demonstration. Public demonstrations on political, social, and economic issues regularly take place, although a controversial counterterrorism law adopted in 2015, and successive states of emergency issued in response to terrorist attacks, have imposed constraints on public demonstrations. In January 2016, protests over soaring unemployment erupted in Kasserine Governorate and spread to cities around the country after a jobless man was electrocuted while standing on top of a power pole to protest his removal from consideration for public-sector jobs. The protests subsided by late February, and observers credited the police with demonstrating greater restraint than in previous years.

The constitution protects the freedom to establish political parties, unions, and associations. Tens of thousands of new civil society organizations began operating after the revolution, and NGO conferences were held throughout the country during 2016.

The constitution guarantees the right to form labor unions and to strike. The Tunisian economy has been rocked by continuous strikes across all sectors since the revolution, with participants demanding labor reform, better wages, and improved workplace conditions. In August 2016, Chahed announced that his government would penalize labor actions aimed at disrupting production, but offered assurances that the constitutional right to strike would be upheld. In November, the country's largest trade union, the UGTT, called for a strike of public-sector workers following a wage dispute with the government. However, the planned action was canceled in December after the government agreed to increase civil service salaries.

F. Rule of Law: 9 / 16

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

The constitution calls for a robust and independent judiciary. Judicial reform since the revolution has proceeded slowly, with numerous Ben Aliera judges remaining on the bench and successive governments regularly attempting to manipulate the courts. Legislation adopted in March 2016 established the Supreme Judicial Council, a body charged with ensuring the independence of the judiciary and appointing Constitutional Court judges. Council members were elected in October by thousands of legal professionals.

In June 2014, Tunisia established a Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC) to examine political, economic, and social crimes committed since 1956. The TDC's director, Sihem Ben Sedrine, reported in February 2016 that she still had not been granted access to Interior Ministry archives, though she did obtain access to the presidential archives after initially being blocked the previous year. In November, the TDC broadcast its first two public hearings on national television and radio. By December, the commission had registered over 62,000 complaints and heard 11,000 testimonies documenting cases of economic corruption and human rights violations such as torture and sexual abuse against men, women, and children.

Security issues, particularly threats from violent groups within the Salafi Muslim community, are a major concern for the government. A 2015 antiterrorism law gives police expanded surveillance and detention powers, allows terrorism suspects to be tried in closed-door hearings, and permits witnesses in such trials to remain anonymous. In March 2016, dozens of militants with links to IS attacked the town of Ben Guerdane near the Libyan border, targeting police and army outposts before being repelled by security forces. The initial attack left 36 militants, 7 civilians, and 12 members of the armed forces dead, and security forces killed 14 more militants in operations over the next several days to secure the town.

The constitution refers to state protections for persons with special needs, prohibiting all forms of discrimination and providing aid for their integration into society. It also calls for the state to create a culture of diversity. However, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people continue to face discrimination in law and society, and the penal code calls for a three-year prison sentence for "sodomy." In January 2016, a court in Tunis ordered the LGBT rights group Shams to suspend activities for 30 days. The decision was reversed on appeal in February, although Shams activists continued to face harassment by the police. In March, a judge acquitted eight youths charged with same-sex sexual acts, the first such acquittal in Tunisian history, though they remained in jail on separate drug charges.

Tunisia has no asylum law, leaving the United Nations as the sole entity processing claims of refugee status in the country. Irregular migrants and asylum seekers are often housed in informal detention centers, where they suffer from substandard living conditions. Delays in the issuance of residency permits make it impossible for many to work legally, forcing them to take informal jobs with no labor protections. A draft law that would normalize the status of asylum seekers and increase their rights and protections had yet to be passed at the end of 2016.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 11 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

Freedom of movement has improved substantially since 2011. The constitution guarantees freedom of movement within the country, as well as the freedom to travel abroad. Unlike in some other countries in the region, women do not require the permission of a male relative to travel. In 2016 the border with Libya was closed on numerous occasions in response to terrorist attacks, and a nationwide curfew was imposed following the demonstrations that broke out in January. The curfew was lifted in February, though a state of emergency has been repeatedly renewed since late 2015 and remained in place throughout the year.

The protection of property rights continued to be an area of concern, closely linked to high levels of corruption as well as a large backlog of property disputes. The 2014 constitution introduced new protections for property, including intellectual property, but their implementation has yet to be seen. In September 2016, the parliament approved a long-awaited investment code that was expected to help attract foreign direct investment and reduce state interference in economic activity.

Tunisia has long been praised for relatively progressive social policies, especially in the areas of family law and women's rights. The constitution guarantees equality before the law for men and women, and the 1956 personal status code, which also grants women equality with men, has remained in force. The code provides women with equal rights in divorce, and children born to Tunisian mothers and foreign fathers are automatically granted citizenship. Medical abortion is legal. Currently, 68 women serve in the parliament, and 8 of the 40 ministers and secretaries of state in Chahed's government are women.

Areas of ongoing concern for women's rights include social discrimination, domestic abuse, and unequal inheritance laws. A proposed law introduced in the parliament in May 2016 would allow families to manage their estates as they wished, in an effort to establish equity for women and men in matters of inheritance. The bill elicited opposition from various factions in the parliament, as well as from the Mufti of the Republic, the country's leading religious authority. It had not passed by year's end.

Tunisian women and children are subject to sex trafficking and forced domestic work in both Tunisia and abroad. Refugees and other migrants are also susceptible to exploitation by traffickers.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - Saudi Arabia

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - Saudi Arabia, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e1cc.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 10/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 7/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 7/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 7/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 31,700,000

Capital: Riyadh

GDP/capita: $20,482

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

OVERVIEW

Ruled by the Saud family since its founding in 1932, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia restricts almost all political rights and civil liberties through a combination of oppressive laws and the use of force. No officials at the national level are elected. The regime extends some authority to clerics who follow the austere Wahhabi interpretation of Sunni Islam in exchange for affirmation of the monarchy's religious legitimacy. Ruling elites rely on extensive surveillance, the criminalization of dissent, appeals to sectarianism, and public spending supported by oil revenues to maintain power.

Key Developments

In January, the regime executed one of the kingdom's most prominent Shiite Muslim clerics as part of its ongoing crackdown against the religious minority.

More than 150 people were executed during 2016, the second consecutive year in which the total passed that threshold. Defendants are generally denied due process, and many are executed for crimes other than murder.

In April, against a backdrop of low oil prices and a struggling economy, the deputy crown prince announced an economic reform package called Saudi Vision 2030, without promising any significant political reforms.

As the Saudi military continued its controversial bombing campaign against rebel forces in neighboring Yemen, cross-border attacks by the rebels occasionally caused deaths and injuries in the kingdom.

Executive Summary

Beleaguered by a second full year of low oil prices, Saudi Arabia's leaders struggled to manage a weak economy in 2016. In January, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, son of King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, announced that the state was planning to privatize a minority stake in the national oil company; subsequent statements indicated that the sale would be held by 2018. In April, the prince mapped out an ambitious economic strategy called Saudi Vision 2030 that aimed to overhaul the country's economy, including by "Saudiizing" the labor force to reduce unemployment among citizens, diversifying away from oil, privatizing more of the state-controlled economy, and cutting state spending and subsidies. The plan did not address political reform or offer to expand heavily restricted political rights and civil liberties. Meanwhile, Saudi officials in November agreed to an oil production cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the first in eight years, as part of a bid to shore up prices.

With significant logistical and political support from the United States and Britain, Saudi Arabia continued its destructive military campaign in neighboring Yemen, where groups loyal to Saudi-backed president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi were locked in a civil war against Houthi rebels and allied forces linked to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saudi leaders maintained that the Houthis, who sometimes launched raids or missile attacks across Saudi Arabia's southern border, were proxies for Shiite-ruled Iran, the kingdom's regional rival.

Saudi internal security forces continued their oppression of the Shiite religious minority. In January, the authorities executed a prominent Shiite cleric and outspoken critic of the regime, Nimr al-Nimr. Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, the cleric's nephew, remained on death row for his participation as a teenager in 2011 protests that led to clashes with security forces. In June, a Saudi court sentenced 14 Shiites to death for alleged attacks on security personnel during the same wave of protests, which the regime characterized as terrorism.

As in previous years, Saudi human rights and political activists were systematically persecuted and imprisoned in 2016. Despite its poor record, Saudi Arabia was reelected to its seat on the UN Human Rights Council in October. In a modest reform in April, the government announced that the religious police no longer had the authority to pursue or detain civilians, and that they could operate only during business hours, reporting violations to the civil police. The religious police had faced public criticism for abusive behavior in recent years.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 3 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 0 / 12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

The 1992 Basic Law declares that the Koran and the Sunna (the guidance set by the deeds and sayings of the prophet Muhammad) are the country's constitution. The cabinet, which is appointed by the king, passes legislation that becomes law once ratified by royal decree. The king also appoints the 150 members of the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Council), who serve in an advisory capacity, for four-year terms. Limited elections for advisory councils at the municipal level were introduced in 2005, though these bodies exercise little real power. In municipal elections held in 2015, women were able to vote and stand as candidates for the first time  a right granted by a 2011 royal decree. Two-thirds of the seats on the 284 councils were open to voting, while the minister of municipal and rural affairs held responsibility for filling the remainder through appointment. Women won approximately 1 percent of contested seats.

In May 2016, King Salman announced significant changes to the cabinet. Most importantly, a series of moves resulted in the dismissal of longtime oil minister Ali al-Naimi. He was replaced by Khalid al-Faleh, chairman of the state oil company Aramco, who assumed control over a renamed Ministry of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources. The cabinet reshuffle signaled the king's support for the new economic strategy overseen by his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the defense minister. The move also raised questions about whether the prince's rapid rise and influence would unsettle the line of succession. Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef, the current crown prince, is widely seen as a rival to Mohammed bin Salman, his younger cousin.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 0 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

Political parties are forbidden, and organized political opposition exists only outside the country. Political dissent is criminalized. Activists who challenge the kingdom's record on political inclusion or call for constitutional changes are treated harshly. Raef Badawi, a human rights activist and founder of the website Liberal Saudi Network, remained behind bars in 2016 after being sentenced in 2014 to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for "insulting Islam." Badawi was subjected to a first round of flogging in early 2015, and a report that surfaced in October claimed that a second round was imminent. The kingdom's crackdown on one of the country's most prominent political rights organizations, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), continued in 2016. In April ACPRA founding member Issa al-Hamid was sentenced to nine years in prison, extended later in 2016 to 11 years. In June his colleague and fellow ACPRA member Abdulaziz al-Shubaili was sentenced to eight years in prison. Several other ACPRA members remained imprisoned in 2016. In January Samar Badawi, wife of the imprisoned activist Waleed Abu al-Khair and sister of Raef Badawi, was briefly detained by police in Jeddah.

The Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist political organization, and Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based and Iranian-backed Shiite militia group, have been designated as terrorist organizations in Saudi Arabia since 2014, reflecting official concerns about the domestic popularity of both entities, which are considered threats to the regime.

C. Functioning of Government: 1 / 12

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

The kingdom's few elected officials have little or no influence over national laws and policies. Corruption remains a significant problem, despite some earlier moves to hold certain officials accountable, and the functioning of government is largely opaque. Following a deadly stampede during the hajj in 2015, which drew international criticism of the infrastructure and safety measures provided by Saudi authorities, the government refused to amend its official death toll of 769, despite estimates by international news organizations that exceeded 2,400.

The Saudi state also remains notably opaque in its financial practices. Although the government generates massive revenue from the sale of oil, which it redistributes through social welfare programs and as patronage, little is known about its accounting or the various direct ways in which the state's wealth becomes a source of private privilege for the royal family and its clients. Anticipating ongoing economic pressure from low global oil prices, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced his reform plan, Saudi Vision 2030, in April 2016. The strategy is intended to reduce the kingdom's dependence on oil and, in the short term, begin dismantling long-standing elements of the welfare state as part of a push for greater austerity. Saudi Vision 2030, which also sought extensive privatization of government-owned sectors of the economy, to reduce youth unemployment, and to develop new industries, was considered largely aspirational by some analysts. Previous leaders had attempted to introduce similar measures, only to face political blowback and stubborn patterns of corruption. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia agreed to a first round of oil production cuts among global oil producers in late November 2016, with the goal of bolstering prices and generating more revenue.

Additional Discretionary Political Rights Question A: 2/4

For traditional monarchies that have no parties or electoral process, does the system provide for genuine, meaningful consultation with the people, encourage public discussion of policy choices, and allow the right to petition the ruler?



1. Is there a non-elected legislature that advises the monarch on policy issues?



2. Are there formal mechanisms for individuals or civic groups to speak with or petition the monarch?



3. Does the monarch take petitions from the public under serious consideration?

In addition to drawing advice from the Consultative Council, the monarchy has a tradition of consulting with select members of Saudi society. However, the process is not equally open to all citizens. From the king to local governors, royal family officials periodically host meetings for citizens to air grievances and seek access to money or power. These meetings are irregular, and while they afford some citizens rare opportunities to meet with the powerful, the outcomes reinforce the personalized nature of authority.

Civil Liberties: 7 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 3 / 16

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

The government tightly controls domestic media content and dominates regional print and satellite-television coverage, with members of the royal family owning major stakes in news outlets in multiple countries. Government officials have banned journalists and editors who publish articles deemed offensive to the religious establishment or the ruling authorities. A 2011 royal decree amended the press law to criminalize, among other things, any criticism of the country's grand mufti, the Council of Senior Religious Scholars, or government officials; violations can result in fines and forced closure of media outlets.

The regime has taken steps to limit the influence of online media, blocking access to large numbers of websites that are considered immoral or politically sensitive. A 2011 law requires all blogs and websites, or anyone posting news or commentary online, to have a license from the Ministry of Information or face fines and possible closure of the website.

Authorities continue to target writers and activists who use the internet to express their views. In December 2016, Issa al-Nukhaifi, an activist critical of corruption and the government's conduct of the war in Yemen, was arrested for his posts on Twitter.

Islam is the official religion, and all Saudis are required by law to be Muslims. A 2014 royal decree punishes atheism with up to 20 years in prison. The government prohibits the public practice of any religion other than Islam and restricts the religious practices of the Shiite and Sufi Muslim minority sects. The construction of Shiite mosques is constrained through licensing rules and prohibited outside of Eastern Province, where most Shiites live. Although the government recognizes the right of non-Muslims to worship in private, it does not always respect this right in practice.

Online commentary that touches on religion can be harshly punished. In February 2016, a Saudi court sentenced a man to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for embracing atheism in postings on social media. In March, journalist Alaa Brinji was sentenced to five years in prison for insulting the regime and criticizing the country's crackdown on Shiites in Eastern Province.

Academic freedom is restricted, and informers monitor classrooms for compliance with curriculum rules, including a ban on teaching secular philosophy and religions other than Islam. Despite changes to textbooks in recent years, intolerance in the classroom remains a significant problem, as some educators continue to espouse discriminatory and hateful views of non-Muslims and Muslim minority sects.

Saudis are able to engage in some degree of private discussion on political and other topics, including criticism of certain aspects of government performance, both online and offline. However, severe criminal penalties deter more direct criticism of the regime and free discussion on topics like religion or the royal family.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 0 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

Freedoms of assembly and association are not upheld. The government frequently detains political activists who stage demonstrations or engage in other civic advocacy. While no massive protests have taken place in the kingdom, smaller demonstrations have become more common. The largest of these occur in Eastern Province. In 2016, protests broke out in the province after prominent Shiite cleric and political dissident Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who was arrested in 2012 for leading antigovernment demonstrations and calling for an end to sectarian discrimination, was executed in January. His nephew Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, arrested at age 17 in 2012 for participating in protests, also faced execution in 2016, but his sentence had yet to be carried out at year's end.

Saudi Arabia has no associations law and has historically approved licenses only for charitable organizations. No laws protect the rights to form independent labor unions, bargain collectively, or engage in strikes. Workers who engage in union activity are subject to dismissal or imprisonment.

F. Rule of Law: 2 / 16

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

The judiciary, which must coordinate its decisions with the executive branch, is not independent. A special commission of judicial experts writes law that serves as the foundation for verdicts in the court system, which is grounded in Sharia (Islamic law). While Saudi courts have historically relied on the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence, the commission incorporates all four Sunni Muslim legal schools in drafting new guidelines.

Defendants' rights are poorly protected by law and not respected in practice. Detainees are often denied access to legal counsel during interrogation, and lengthy pretrial detention and detention without charge are common. Capital punishment, usually carried out by beheading, is applied to a wide range of crimes; juvenile offenders are not exempt from the penalty. According to international media reports, Saudi authorities carried out more than 150 executions in 2016.

The penal code bans torture, but allegations of torture by police and prison officials are common, and access to prisoners by independent human rights and legal organizations is strictly limited. A sweeping new antiterrorism law, which includes lengthy prison sentences for criticizing the monarchy or the government, went into effect in 2014. Among other provisions, it expanded the power of police to conduct raids against suspected antigovernment activity without judicial approval.

Local affiliates of the Islamic State (IS) militant group carried out several terrorist bombings and bombing attempts in 2016. Attacks on a Shiite mosque in Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province that killed four people in January were attributed to IS. In July, a suicide bombing in Medina also killed four people. Two other attacks were attempted the same day in the Shiite community of Qatif and near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. In May, security forces reportedly broke up an IS cell in a suburb of Mecca. Separately, Yemeni rebel forces continued to fire missiles and other ordnance into Saudi territory in 2016, killing small numbers of Saudi civilians.

Substantial prejudice against ethnic, religious, and national minorities prevails. Shiites, who make up 10 to 15 percent of the population, are underrepresented in senior government positions, and Shiite activism has faced repression by security forces. Shiites have also been subject to physical assaults by both state and nonstate actors.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 2 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

Freedom of movement is restricted in some cases. The government punishes activists and critics by limiting their ability to travel outside the country, and reform advocates are routinely stripped of their passports.

While a great deal of business activity is connected to members of the government, the ruling family, or other elite families, officials have given assurances that special industrial and commercial zones are free from interference by the royal family.

Women are not treated as equal members of society, and many laws discriminate against them. They are not permitted to drive cars, despite the advocacy efforts of a civic movement aimed at lifting the ban, and must obtain permission from a male guardian in order to travel within or outside of the country. According to prevailing interpretations of Sharia in Saudi Arabia, daughters generally receive half the inheritance awarded to their brothers, and the testimony of one man is equal to that of two women. Moreover, Saudi women seeking access to the courts must be represented by a male.

The religious police enforce a strict policy of gender segregation and often harass women, using physical punishment to ensure compliance with conservative standards of dress in public. However, an April 2016 government decree revoked the religious police's authority to pursue or arrest suspects or ask for their identification  meaning they must report alleged violations to regular police instead  and requires them to work only during specified office hours. In December, a Twitter user in Riyadh, Malak al-Shehri, posted a photo of herself on the street without the obligatory hijab or abaya. She was subsequently arrested for "violations of general morals."

Same-sex marriage is not legal. All sexual activity outside of marriage, including same-sex activity, is criminalized, and the death penalty can be applied in certain circumstances. A 2013 law defines and criminalizes domestic abuse, prescribing fines and up to a year in prison for perpetrators. However, according to analysis by Human Rights Watch, the law lacks clarity on enforcement mechanisms.

Education and economic rights for Saudi women have improved somewhat in recent years. More than half of the country's university students are now female, although they do not enjoy equal access to classes and facilities. Women gained the right to hold commercial licenses in 2004. In 2008, the Saudi Human Rights Commission established a women's branch to investigate cases of human rights violations against women and children, but it has not consistently carried out serious investigations or brought cases against violators.

A 2005 labor law that extended various protections and benefits to previously unregulated categories of workers also banned child labor and established a 75 percent quota for Saudi citizens in each company's workforce, though a series of government policies have since set more modest interim "Saudiization" goals due to the difficulty of reaching such a high target. Foreign workers  of whom there are more than seven million in the country, making up more than half of the active labor force  have historically enjoyed virtually no legal protections and remain vulnerable to trafficking and forced labor, primarily through the exploitation of the visa-sponsorship system. In 2014, the Ministry of Labor ruled that expatriate workers who are not paid their salaries for more than three consecutive months are free to switch their work sponsors without approval. A number of amendments to the labor law that went into effect in 2015 contained broader rights and protections for workers in the private sector. The labor law does not apply to household workers, who remain particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
BANNU, Pakistan -- First Al-Qaeda bombs, Taliban suicide attacks, Uzbek assassins, U.S drone missiles, and Pakistani airstrikes and artillery barrages haunted them for more than a decade.

Now unwieldy security procedures trouble civilians in a northwestern Pakistani tribal region as they attempt to pick up the pieces following years of exile and harsh extremist rule.

Residents of North Waziristan, one of the seven districts in western Pakistans Federally Administered Tribal Areas, are sick of long queues, unending questions, lengthy paperwork, and long delays to visit their homeland or even leave it.

Every day, scores of men, women, and children throng in Saidgai, a stony scorching desert, north of Pakistans northwestern Bannu city.

They are either trying to return or visit their homes and villages in neighboring North Waziristan or are returning or visiting Bannu, where many have lived since a 2014 military offensive in their homeland forced more than 1.5 million North Waziristan residents to flee.

Our suffering is unending. We have to wait at least three hours to get through the Saidgai checkpoint, Hanifullah, a young man from North Waziristans Ghulam Khan village, told Radio Mashaal. Our women and children are forced to sit under the blazing sun for hours.

Hanifullah, who goes by one name only, says that even after crossing through Saidgai, he is often stopped and grilled at 11 additional checkpoints that dot the nearly 60-kilometer road from Saidgai to Ghulam Khan, a border crossing with neighboring Afghanistan.

We are stopped everywhere and frisked, despite carrying Watan [ID] cards, he said. If peace has truly returned to our homeland, they should have a little mercy.

What makes the wait and humiliation at the checkpoint particularly painful is the fact that all North Waziristan residents are required to obtain Watan or Homeland cards even before attempting the journey to their homeland.

Obtaining these cards involve lengthy waits, paperwork, and biometric details such as fingerprints. Locals say authorities only issue the cards to those who are cleared after background checks.

Still, the Watan Card, locally nicknamed the Waziristan Visa, is no guarantee of a smooth journey to the beleaguered region.

Gul Aslam, another North Waziristan resident, attributes the delays to the presence of fewer security personnel to deal with the movement of travelers in Saidgai. Currently, only two security officers check and register each individual in Saidgai. They are mandated to match the cards with records on computer databases.

They can simplify the procedure by simply looking at the Watan cards, he said. There used to be eight computer operators here, but now few are available. A delay here stretches my one-hour journey to three.

Noor Islam runs a local charity, Youth Of Waziristan. He, too, wants the authorities to add people and employ more technology to ensure quick transit though Saidgai.

The holdover in Saidgai really ruins a whole day, he says. It is really painful for women, children, and the elderly. Authorities need to act soon.

An army official involved in overseeing the security arrangements in Saidgai says they are taking steps to address complaints. The official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, says they will soon triple the number of security personnel in Saidgai.

It will take only 15 minutes even in peak rush hours, he said.

From 2004 to 2014, North Waziristan was the epicenter of an Islamist insurgency that saw Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and their Central Asian allies from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan effectively rule the region.

Their terror campaign and the ensuing Pakistani military offensive killed more than 50,000 civilians in North Waziristan as well as in other parts of FATA and across Pakistan.

Hundreds of U.S. drone strikes killed scores of senior militant leaders in North Waziristan but were also alleged to have killed civilians.

A Pakistani military offensive in 2014 dislodged the militants from North Waziristan but also displaced an estimated 1.5 million civilians.

While a large number have returned with some government assistance, rebuilding their lives and livelihoods is expected to take decades.

Abubakar Siddique wrote this story based on reporting by Radio Mashaal correspondent Umar Daraz Wazir in Bannu, Pakistan.
Freedom in the World 2017 - Russia

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - Russia, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e1da.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 20/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 6.5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 7/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 6/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 144,300,000

Capital: Moscow

GDP/capita: $9,093

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

OVERVIEW

In Russia's authoritarian government, power is concentrated in the hands of President Vladimir Putin. With loyalist security forces, a subservient judiciary, and a legislature dominated by his United Russia party, Putin is able to manipulate elections and inhibit formal opposition. The government also has strong control of the media environment, and has been able to retain domestic support despite an ongoing economic slump and strong international criticism. The country's rampant corruption is one notable threat to state power, as it facilitates shifting links among bureaucrats and organized crime groups.

Key Developments

Amid historically low turnout, elections in September produced a supermajority for the ruling United Russia party in the State Duma, the lower legislative house.

In July, Putin created the National Guard of Russia, a force devoted to maintaining public order; critics noted that the body is likely to be used to prevent unwanted public protests.

Space for independent voices in the media continued to diminish, particularly after a series of politically motivated personnel changes at the RBC media group.

The Levada Center, among many other organizations, was added to the list of "foreign agents" by the Justice Ministry during the year; the authorities continued requiring groups that receive foreign funding and engage in loosely defined political activities to adopt the label.

Executive Summary

Russia's economic downturn continued in 2016, and the Kremlin worked to preempt potential domestic discontent through several means, including focusing public attention on foreign interventions. Authorities continued incorporating Crimea into the administration of the Russian Federation, maintained support for separatist militants in eastern Ukraine, and expanded military support for Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

Historically low turnout marked the Duma elections in September, in which United Russia captured 343 of 450 seats, solidifying its grip on the legislative branch of government. Voters also cast ballots in a number of regional races, which United Russia dominated. The restrictive political atmosphere  characterized by the state's grip on the flow of information, limitations on activism, and hostility to opposition  undercut competition and freedom of choice. In October, the Levada Center, a local independent research organization, published the results of its post-election polling, noting that approximately a third of respondents believed the elections to have been unfair. Nevertheless, half of those polled expressed satisfaction with the electoral results. Following the elections, legislators approved the nomination of Vyacheslav Volodin, a close Putin ally and his former first deputy chief of staff, to the position of Duma speaker. The move, part of a broader reshuffle of the political elite, was perceived to bolster executive control over the legislature in preparation for presidential elections in 2018.

In September, the Federal Antimonopoly Service reported that the state controls 70 percent of the economy either directly or through state-owned enterprises. Throughout the year, the Kremlin utilized its vast resources to pressure opposition entities and critical voices. Authorities continued to restrict the activities of civil society groups, increasing pressure on independent groups  including the Levada Center  by declaring them "foreign agents." The regime also intensified its grip on the country's media environment, saturating the landscape with nationalist propaganda while suppressing remaining sources of independent information. The editorial leadership of RBC came under fire in May in connection to reporting on the president's family and friends. Three editors at outlets owned by the media group were pushed out amid rumors of pressure from the Kremlin, and replaced in July by recruits from the state-owned TASS news agency; many RBC reporters resigned in protest.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 5 / 40 (-2)

A. Electoral Process: 0 / 12 (-1)

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

The 1993 constitution established a strong presidency with the power to dismiss and appoint, pending parliamentary confirmation, the prime minister. Putin served two four-year presidential terms from 2000 to 2008, and remained the de facto paramount leader while working as prime minister until 2012, violating the spirit if not the letter of the constitution's two-term limit. In the 2012 presidential election, Putin benefited from advantages including preferential media treatment, numerous abuses of incumbency, and procedural irregularities during the vote count. He won an official 63.6 percent of the vote against a field of weak, hand-chosen opponents. Communist Party leader Gennadiy Zyuganov took second place with 17.2 percent. Under a 2008 constitutional amendment, Putin is now serving a six-year term, and will be eligible for another in 2018.

The Federal Assembly consists of the 450-seat State Duma and an upper chamber, the 170-seat Federation Council. Half the members of the upper chamber are appointed by governors and half by regional legislatures, usually with strong federal input. Since 2011, only locally elected politicians have been eligible to serve in the Federation Council; the change was designed to benefit United Russia, as most local officeholders are party members.

The 2008 constitutional amendment extended Duma terms from four to five years. Following the 2011 State Duma elections, when the ruling United Russia party scored just less than 50 percent of the vote in flawed elections that sparked street protests, the Kremlin rewrote the electoral law, restoring the mixed system abandoned after the 2003 elections, under which half of Duma members are elected by proportional representation and half in single-member districts. The reform also moved elections from December to September.

The changes had the desired effect in September 2016, when United Russia won 343 seats in the 450-seat State Duma, gaining a supermajority that allows it to change the constitution without the support of other parties. Kremlin-approved parties won the bulk of all remaining seats. The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) reported a turnout of 48 percent, the lowest in Russia's post-Soviet history.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights noted that "democratic commitments continue to be challenged and the electoral environment was negatively affected by restrictions to fundamental freedoms and political rights, firmly controlled media and a tightening grip on civil society." The election monitoring group Golos deemed the elections "far from being truly free and fair." The group also noted that there were half as many independent election observers in 2016 as in 2011. Reported violations included ballot stuffing, pressure on voters, and illegal campaigning. A number of opposition candidates were simply not permitted to register, so the outcome of many races was clear even before election day. Statistical analysis of the results conducted by Sergei Shpilkin  a physicist and independent election monitor  suggested irregularities in the voting consistent with systematic cheating, with high turnout areas backing United Russia.

A 2012 law restored gubernatorial elections, ending a system of presidential appointments that dated to 2004. The new rules allowed federal and regional officials to screen the candidates for governor, and United Russia candidates have dominated almost every subsequent election. The party swept gubernatorial and regional legislative races in 2016. Ramzan Kadyrov won a reported 98 percent of the vote in Chechnya.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 3 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

Legislation enacted in 2012 liberalized party registration rules, allowing the creation of hundreds of new parties. However, none posed a significant threat to the authorities, and many seemed designed to encourage division and confusion among the opposition.

Opposition politicians and activists are frequently targeted with fabricated criminal cases and other forms of administrative harassment. Opposition leader Aleksey Navalny's brother was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on trumped-up fraud charges in 2014, and he remained behind bars in 2016 in an apparent attempt to limit Navalny's activities. In December, Navalny announced plans to challenge Putin in the 2018 presidential election, although a protracted embezzlement case  ongoing at the end of 2016  could bar him from competing if it results in a conviction.

Five individuals went on trial in October for the February 2015 assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. The trial was ongoing at year's end, and it remained unclear who had ordered the killing.

The formation of parties based on ethnicity or religion is not permitted by law. In practice, many ethnic minority regions are carefully monitored and controlled by federal authorities. Most republics in the restive North Caucasus area and some autonomous districts in energy-rich western Siberia have opted out of direct gubernatorial elections; instead, their legislatures choose a governor from candidates proposed by the president.

C. Functioning of Government: 2 / 12 (-1)

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

There is little transparency and accountability in the day-to-day workings of the government. Decisions are adopted behind closed doors by a small group of individuals  led by Putin  whose identities are often unclear, and announced to the population after the fact. Numerous structural and personnel changes within the government occurred in 2016 as Putin sought to preserve his power in an atmosphere of declining resources, as well as to plan ahead for the 2018 presidential race. The president broke with past practices and dismissed a number of loyal subordinates; among those affected was his chief of staff Sergei Ivanov, whom Putin replaced with Ivanov's own deputy, Anton Vaino.

Corruption in the government and business world is pervasive, and a growing lack of accountability enables bureaucrats to act with impunity. Many analysts have argued that the political system is essentially a kleptocracy, in which ruling elites plunder public wealth to enrich themselves. In September, Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation published an expose of an extravagant country home tied to  but not directly owned by  Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, detailing a number of suspicious transactions involved in the compound's acquisition, expansion, and renovation.

In a shocking case in September 2016, authorities arrested Dmitry Zakharchenko, a senior anticorruption official in the Ministry of the Interior, after discovering that he possessed some $120 million in cash and 300 million in foreign bank accounts; investigators reported that he had hidden the cash at the home of his sister and used accounts registered in his father's name. Many political analysts suggested that the arrest was a reflection of infighting within the Russian elite, and a breach in the complex networks that support corrupt activities. Separately, in November, the arrest of Economy Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev on bribery charges signaled that even sitting ministers could now be prosecuted on corruption charges, breaking with a tradition of immunity. These events did little to change the extent of overall corruption in the system, however.

Civil Liberties: 15 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 3 / 16

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

Although the constitution provides for freedom of speech, vague laws on extremism grant the authorities great discretion to crack down on any speech, organization, or activity that lacks official support. The government controls, directly or through state-owned companies and friendly business magnates, all of the national television networks and many radio and print outlets, as well as most of the media advertising market. These media effectively serve as vehicles for Kremlin propaganda, which vociferously backs Putin's actions in Ukraine and Syria and denounces foreign and domestic opponents.

Only a small and shrinking number of radio stations and print outlets with limited reach offer a diverse range of viewpoints. The government regularly pressures media houses and workers for investigating or reporting on corruption. In one such case, three top editors at RBC outlets  Roman Badanin, Yelizaveta Osetinskaya, and Maksim Solyus  were dismissed in May 2016 amid rumors of government pressure. Watchdogs and the independent media community noted that the dismissals were tied to articles about Putin's immediate family as well as a close friend of the president's whose offshore accounts appeared in the Panama Papers. Editors from TASS, the state news agency, were recruited as replacements.

Separately, in a case brought by Rosneft head Igor Sechin against Novaya Gazeta, a Moscow court ruled in favor of Sechin, who had filed the suit over an article linking his wife to a luxury yacht. The court ruled that the paper had improperly implied wrongdoing and ordered the offending article to be redacted, although Novaya Gazeta announced plans to appeal. Sechin also successfully sued the parent company of Vedomosti as well as a journalist working for the daily over a July article connecting Sechin to a luxury development outside of a Moscow. The court ordered the destruction of all remaining copies of Vedomosti containing the story.

In September, authorities detained Roman Sushchenko, a Paris-based correspondent for Ukraine's state news agency, and claimed that he was an intelligence officer collecting information on the Russian military  a claim that his employer denied. Sushchenko remained in custody at year's end. Also in September, award-winning journalist Denis Korotkov was arrested while investigating voter fraud during the parliamentary elections. A St. Petersburg court ultimately dismissed the case against him.

Violations of media freedom, including violence against journalists, generally go unpunished. Although five men were sentenced in 2014 for the 2006 killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the identity of those responsible for arranging her murder remained unclear in 2016.

Freedom of religion is respected unevenly. A 1997 law on religion gives the state extensive control and makes it difficult for new or independent groups to operate. The Russian Orthodox Church has a privileged position, working closely with the government on foreign and domestic policy priorities. In 2009, the president authorized religious instruction in public schools. Regional authorities continue to harass nontraditional groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. The so-called Yarovaya Law, ostensibly targeting terrorism, includes new powers that the authorities can use to repress religious groups in Russia on the grounds of fighting extremism.

The education system is marred by bureaucratic interference, international isolation, and increasing pressure to toe the Kremlin line on politically sensitive topics, though some academics continue to express dissenting views. The appointment of Olga Vasilyeva to the post of minister of education and science in August raised worries from critics, particularly regarding her strong support for the Russian Orthodox Church and her claim that estimates of the number of people who suffered under Stalinism have been exaggerated.

Pervasive, hyperpatriotic propaganda and political repression over the past two years have had a cumulative impact on open and free private discussion, and the chilling effect is exacerbated by growing state efforts to control expression on the internet. More than 70 percent of Russians have internet access, and penetration continues to increase. Discussion on the internet had been largely unrestricted until 2012, but following large antigovernment demonstrations in 2011 and 2012, the Kremlin adopted a series of laws that gave it more power to shut down critical websites. The independent research group Roskomsvoboda reported that by year's end, more than a million websites had been blocked through unlawful means. The Kremlin also employs numerous "trolls" to disrupt online discussions and intimidate users.

Individuals continued to face legal repercussions for exercising freedom of expression online, particularly under anti-extremism legislation. In December 2016, a court in Tyumen sentenced Aleksei Kungurov to two years in a penal colony for "justifying terrorism" in a blog post in which Kungurov criticized Russia's actions in Syria. In a separate case, Sochi resident Oksana Sevastidi received a seven-year sentence in March for texting about the location of Russian military equipment in the lead-up to the 2008 Russo-Georgian war. Sevastidi was only arrested in 2015 and tried in a secret court in the southern Krasnodar region without adequate counsel, raising serious questions about the nature of the charges as well as due process.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 3 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

The government has consistently reduced the space for freedoms of assembly and association. Overwhelming police responses, the use of force, routine arrests, and harsh fines and prison sentences have discouraged unsanctioned protests, though pro-Kremlin groups are able to demonstrate freely. In July, Putin signed the Yarovaya Law, two pieces of counterterrorism legislation that strengthen punishments for terrorism and extremism, increase Russia surveillance capabilities, criminalize withholding information about certain crimes from the authorities, and ease state monitoring of phone and internet communications. Critics claimed that the law would make it easier for the authorities to stifle dissent.

The government continued its relentless campaign against nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in 2016. By the end of 2016, the Justice Ministry had included 154 Russian organizations on its list of "foreign agents." On the eve of the State Duma elections, the authorities added the Levada Center, Russia's most prominent independent pollster, to the roster. Among other prominent additions in 2016 were Memorial International and the Environmental Watch on North Caucasus, both of which conduct independent research about Russian policies. Among others, the Justice Ministry also gave the label to volunteer firefighters in Krasnodar. The designation and related requirements  such as marking all published works with the "foreign agent" label  makes it extremely difficult for groups to pursue their objectives.

While trade union rights are legally protected, they are limited in practice. Strikes and worker protests have occurred in prominent industries, such as automobile manufacturing, but antiunion discrimination and reprisals for strikes are not uncommon, and employers often ignore collective-bargaining rights. The largest labor federation works in close cooperation with the Kremlin, though independent unions are active in some industrial sectors and regions.

F. Rule of Law: 2 / 16

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

The judiciary lacks independence from the executive branch, and career advancement is effectively tied to compliance with Kremlin preferences. A 2014 law merged the Supreme Arbitration Court, which headed the system of courts handling commercial disputes, into the Supreme Court, which oversees courts of general jurisdiction and will now also supervise the arbitration courts. The Supreme Arbitration Court had been widely respected as one of the most independent of Russia's courts. In April 2016, a Russian court ruling on a dispute over prisoners' voting rights was the first to use a 2015 law that allows the Russian judiciary to reject international court decisions; in this case, the international ruling had come from the European Court for Human Rights. In November, Putin withdrew Russia from the International Criminal Court after the body issued a report of preliminary findings calling the fighting in Crimea and eastern Ukraine an "international armed conflict" between Ukraine and Russia.

Ildar Dadin, an activist sentenced in 2015 to two and a half years in prison for participating in multiple unsanctioned protests within a period of 180 days, claimed that he was being tortured and beaten while in custody. A letter detailing Dadin's experiences, smuggled out of the penal colony housing him, caused national and international uproar when it was picked up by the media in November 2016, and focused attention on numerous other cases of severe mistreatment in Russian prisons.

In April, Putin ordered the creation of a new force devoted to maintaining public order, the National Guard. After its establishment under the formal control of the presidency in July, Putin appointed his former chief bodyguard, Viktor Zolotov, as head of the new force, which is set to have a membership of 350,000400,000 individuals, many of them former security personnel. Although the National Guard is ostensibly devoted to combatting terrorism and extremism, critics fear that it could be used to block popular protest and serve as a tool for disciplining the Russian elite.

Parts of the country, especially the North Caucasus area, suffer from high levels of violence. Hundreds of officials, insurgents, and civilians die each year in bombings, gun battles, and assassinations. In Chechnya, Kadyrov imposes tight control over his republic with the support of a militia and a flow of generous subsidies from Moscow. The result is superficial peace and prosperity that mask personalized and arbitrary rule, fierce repression and intimidation, economic inequality, and impunity for abuses.

Immigrants and ethnic minorities  particularly those who appear to be from the Caucasus or Central Asia  face governmental and societal discrimination and harassment. LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people are subject to considerable discrimination as well. A 2013 law banned dissemination of information promoting "nontraditional sexual relationships," putting legal pressure on LGBT activists and encouraging harassment.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 7 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

The government places some restrictions on freedoms of movement and residence. Adults must carry internal passports while traveling and to obtain many government services. Some regional authorities impose registration rules that limit the right of citizens to choose their place of residence, typically targeting ethnic minorities and migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia. More than four million employees tied to the military and security services were banned from traveling abroad under rules issued during 2014.

State takeovers of key industries and large tax penalties imposed on select companies have illustrated the precarious nature of property rights in the country, especially when political interests are involved.

Women are underrepresented in politics and government. They hold less than a fifth of seats in the State Duma and the Federation Council. Only 3 of 32 cabinet members are women. Domestic violence against women continues to be a serious problem, and police are often reluctant to intervene in what they regard as internal family matters.

Migrant workers are often exposed to exploitative labor conditions. Both Russians facing economic hardship and migrants to Russia from neighboring countries are subject to sex and labor trafficking.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - Poland

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - Poland, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e1efd.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 89/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 1.5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 1/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 2/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 38,400,000

Capital: Warsaw

GDP/capita: $12,555

Press Freedom Status: Free

OVERVIEW

Poland's democratic institutions took root at the start of its postcommunist transition in 1989. Rapid economic growth and other societal changes have benefited some segments of the population more than others, contributing to a deep divide between liberal, pro-European parties and those purporting to defend national interests and "traditional" Polish Catholic values. Since taking power in late 2015, the conservative PiS party has enacted measures that increase political influence over state institutions, raising serious concerns about Poland's democratic trajectory.

Key Developments

In January, the European Commission (EC) initiated its first-ever probe into a European Union (EU) member state's commitment to the rule of law, focusing on the PiS government's moves to curb the powers of the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) and alter its composition.

Several key pieces of legislation, including one that increased government influence over public broadcasters, were enacted through fast-tracked procedures that did not allow for significant consultation or debate.

In December, attempts to limit media access to the parliament triggered protests by opposition lawmakers on the lower chamber's floor, as well as mass demonstrations outside the building. PiS deputies then passed the 2017 budget in a separate room with only a few opposition deputies present; journalists were barred from entering.

Throughout the year, the government attempted to silence or discredit academics, journalists, and others whose work challenged PiS's preferred historical narrative.

Executive Summary

During its first full year in power, PiS worked to increase its influence over state institutions and discredit the previous coalition government and its perceived allies in the media and the courts. Throughout 2016, controversial PiS initiatives prompted mass demonstrations and denunciations from domestic and international human rights groups.

In response to PiS's attempts to alter TK procedures and interfere with the appointment of its judges, the EC in January initiated an official review of Poland's commitment to EU standards for adherence to the rule of law. A standoff between PiS and the TK continued over the course of the year and appeared to draw to a close with the December expiration of the term of TK president Andrzej Rzeplinski, who was appointed in 2007 by the previous government and had resisted PiS's legislative attempts to curb the TK's authority. The PiS government subsequently approved a measure granting the state president greater influence over the appointment of a new TK president. Julia Przylebska, a PiS ally, was tapped for the job, clearing the way for PiS-appointed judges to form a majority on the tribunal. A day after Przylebska's appointment, EC vice president Frans Timmermans declared that there were "persistent problems with the rule of law" in Poland, and gave the government two months to address EC criticism, but declined to specify consequences for failure to do so.

In October, tens of thousands of women and many men took to the streets to protest a citizen-backed initiative that would have eliminated most of the exceptions to Poland's ban on abortion. Lawmakers, under public pressure, ultimately voted down the initiative. A major opposition-led protest in December followed the government's decision to limit journalists' access to the parliament. The protest movement continued in the wake of PiS's contentious approval of the 2017 budget, which was conducted by a show of hands in a side chamber that media representatives were barred from entering. Many critics called the procedure illegal.

Citing a need to "depoliticize the airwaves," PiS moved rapidly after taking power in late 2015 to pass a controversial amendment to Poland's media law, which took effect in January. The measure ended the mandates of the heads of Poland's public television and radio broadcasters and empowered the treasury minister to appoint their successors. A series of dismissals at public media channels followed, while a number of managers who expected to be sacked chose to resign.

A new civil service law that lowered the standards for recruitment to senior posts and allowed for arbitrary dismissal also took effect in January, raising concerns about politicization.

Separately, PiS worked throughout the year to suppress the dissemination of information detailing the involvement of Polish people in World War IIera atrocities, both by putting pressure on Holocaust historians and by creating avenues for greater government involvement at national institutions that focus on Polish history. The efforts prompted sharp criticism from the academic community.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 37 / 40 (1)

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

The president of Poland is directly elected for up to two five-year terms, and members of the bicameral National Assembly are elected for four-year terms. The president's appointment of a prime minister must be confirmed by the 460-seat Sejm, the National Assembly's lower house, which is elected by proportional representation. The 100 members of the Senate, the upper house, can delay and amend legislation, but have few other powers. While the prime minister is responsible for most government policy, the president also has influence, particularly over defense and foreign policy matters.

Andrzej Duda of PiS won the second round of Poland's May 2015 presidential election with 52 percent of the vote, defeating popular incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski. Duda's victory was interpreted by many observers as a protest vote against the ruling center-right Civic Platform (PO), which had led Poland's government since 2007, and with which Komorowski was associated.

PiS won a landslide victory of 37.5 percent in the October 2015 parliamentary elections, increasing its representation in the Sejm to a total of 235 seats. It was the first party in postcommunist Poland to win an outright parliamentary majority, allowing it to rule without coalition partners. Beata Szydlo was elected prime minister, though her role was soon eclipsed in practice by that of PiS's chairman, former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski. PO came in second with slightly more than 24 percent of the vote and 138 seats. Third and fourth place both went to new parties: Kukiz'15, a right-wing, antiestablishment party led by former rock musician Pawel Kukiz, which took 42 seats; and the probusiness party Modern, led by economist Ryszard Petru, which won 28. The agrarian Polish People's Party (PSL) won 5 percent of the vote and 16 seats. A representative of the ethnic German minority received the remaining seat. In the Senate, PiS took 61 seats, PO 34, and PSL 1.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 16 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

Poland's political parties organize and operate freely. PO and PiS have dominated the political scene since 2005, with relations between the two parties becoming increasingly polarized.

PiS won a narrow parliamentary majority in 2015, so it requires the support of other parties to obtain the two-thirds supermajority needed for any constitutional changes. Following the United Left (ZL) alliance's failure to cross the 5 percent electoral threshold for representation in 2015, there are now no left-leaning parties in the parliament. Voter turnout for the 2015 parliamentary elections was low, at 51.6 percent.

Ethnic, religious, and other minority groups enjoy full political rights and electoral opportunities. Their political parties are not subject to the minimum vote threshold for parliamentary representation.

C. Functioning of Government: 9 / 12 (1)

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

Freely elected officials can determine and implement laws and policies without interference in Poland, but anticorruption laws are not always effectively enforced. Several notable corruption probes that emerged in 2016 pointed to ongoing problems in state institutions. In October, a Defense Ministry official, Bartlomiej Misiewicz, came under investigation after Newsweek Polska accused him of attempting to bribe opposition politicians to switch allegiances by offering them jobs at state-run companies. The case was assigned to district attorney Magdalena Witko, the wife of a former PiS deputy, prompting opposition claims of a conflict of interest. The inquiry followed revelations that Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz had appointed Misiewicz, his former assistant, to a position on the board of a state-owned defense company for which he had few qualifications. Opposition parties argued that Misiewicz was just one of many unfit appointments to state companies based on cronyism and party loyalty. In September, Szydlo announced plans to make personnel and systemic changes to address the problem, saying "we did make some mistakes." It was unclear at year's end if changes to recruitment standards had been adopted.

In November, prosecutors charged the head of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, a former PO senator and justice minister, with influencing the office's recruitment process. Separately, Jozef Pinior, a leader of Poland's Solidarity trade union movement who represented PO in the Senate from 2011 to 2015, was arrested the same month along with 10 others in connection with bribery allegations.

PiS has employed opaque practices to pass laws, including fast-tracking procedures that leave little time for public comment on proposed legislation. Fast-tracked amendments to the Civil Service Act that took effect in January 2016 lowered the standards of recruitment for higher civil service posts, and allowed for arbitrary dismissal. Similarly fast-tracked media legislation, which gave the government greater control over the public broadcasters, took effect the same month.

Civil Liberties: 52 / 60 (3)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 14 / 16 (2)

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

The constitution guarantees freedom of expression and forbids censorship. Libel remains a criminal offense, though a 2009 amendment to the criminal code eased penalties. A person may be found guilty of blasphemy, punishable by a fine of 5,000 zloty ($1,250) or up to two years in prison, even if the offense was unintentional. Poland's media are pluralistic and mostly privately owned. The government does not restrict internet access.

PiS has drawn sharp criticism from the EU and press freedom advocacy groups for its move to increase the government's authority over public broadcasters. On the last day of 2015, PiS deputies in the Sejm passed an amendment to Poland's media law that ended the mandates of the heads of the public television and radio broadcasters and empowered the treasury minister, rather than an independent body, to appoint their successors. PiS defended the move as an attempt to depoliticize the airwaves. The leadership of the public broadcasters was quickly replaced with PiS appointees; several managers at the influential public television station, TVP, resigned in protest before they could be fired. The new TVP president was the deputy minister of culture and former parliamentarian Jacek Kurski, who once described himself as the PiS founders' "bull terrier." He was officially appointed to a four-year term in October, though TVP toed the government line throughout 2016. Meanwhile, large state-owned companies have redirected their advertising spending to progovernment media, effectively penalizing private outlets that were seen as sympathetic to the opposition.

While journalists are not allowed in the main parliament chamber, they have traditionally waited in the halls, where they were able to interview lawmakers. In December 2016, PiS deputies decided to limit this access, starting in January 2017, to preapproved journalists. In protest, opposition lawmakers occupied the speaker's podium to block a vote on the 2017 national budget. The ruling party responded by passing the budget with a show of hands in a side chamber that media representatives were barred from entering. Many critics called the procedure illegal.

Separately, in April 2016, conservative weekly Do Rzeczy publicized an audio recording of what it described as a 2014 conversation between an aide to former PO prime minister Donald Tusk and the late Jan Kulczyk, then Poland's wealthiest businessman, about coverage critical of Tusk's family by the popular tabloid Fakt. Kulczyk agreed to discuss the matter with Fakt's owner; according to Do Rzeczy, the conversation took place weeks before Fakt's editor was removed.

The state respects freedom of religion. The PiS government is aligned with the Roman Catholic Church, which has significant influence in the country. Religious groups are not required to register with the authorities but receive tax benefits if they do. There is a formal ban on state funding for church construction, but a church can obtain Culture Ministry funding in practice if it includes a museum  as does the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw. In September 2016, the government, which contributed about $10 million to the Catholic temple's construction from 2007 to 2014, agreed to continue financing the institution as a comanager.

The ruling party has sought to discredit academics who challenge its preferred historical narrative, which largely omits the involvement of Poles in World War IIera atrocities. In April 2016, prosecutors questioned Holocaust historian and Princeton University professor Jan Gross for five hours over allegations that he had publicly insulted the nation. The claims stemmed from a 2015 article in which he had stated that more Jewish people were killed during World War II by Polish citizens than by Nazis. Duda's office had also considered stripping Gross of the Order of Merit he was awarded in 1996. His questioning and the president's proposal drew sharp criticism from intellectuals in Poland and abroad. In December 2016, the director of the Polish Culture Institute in Berlin was fired after Poland's ambassador to Germany called for her departure in connection with "too much Jewish-themed programming."

Separately, new legislation governing the state's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), a body formed in 1998 to investigate crimes committed under both the Nazi occupation and communist rule, entered into force in June 2016. Among other changes, the law, drafted by PiS, cut short the mandate of the IPN's governing council, which was replaced with a nine-member panel selected by the Sejm, the Senate, and the president. In July, the panel recommended Jaroslaw Szarek, a historian who has expressed views in line with the government's preferred narrative, to serve as the institute's new head. The planned opening of a new World War II museum in Gdansk was delayed in 2016 as the government sought to replace the collection's global perspective with a narrower focus on Polish suffering and sacrifice, prompting criticism from historians.

In December 2016, the Sejm approved a PiS-authored overhaul of the education system, which eliminated middle schools in favor of eight years of primary school, followed by high school or trade school. Critics have expressed concern that the shift could usher in new curriculum and staff changes aimed at indoctrinating students with the ruling party's brand of patriotism. Among other laws passed during the same parliamentary session, held without opposition deputies present, was one that allows the government to appoint directors and deputy directors of state research institutes without a competitive hiring process. The new legislation, condemned by the Polish Academy of Sciences and the academic community at large, also eliminated the requirement that directors speak a second language.

People are free to engage in private discussions on political and other matters without fear of harassment or detention by the authorities.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 12 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

Freedom of association is generally respected in law and in practice. Poles hold public demonstrations with some regularity, though local authorities can limit demonstrations in their districts on grounds of maintaining public order.

In a late-night parliamentary vote in December 2016, the Sejm passed legislation that gives priority to repeated rallies organized in the same place on predictable dates, and requires separate gatherings to keep a distance of at least 100 meters. PiS, which sponsored the bill, said its intention was to prevent conflicts between demonstrators, but critics called the measure a restriction on freedoms of assembly and speech. Duda referred the legislation to the TK, and it had not been signed at year's end.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) generally operate without government interference. However, in November 2016, Szydlo announced plans for a new, centralized civil society department that some observers said could allow the government to pressure NGOs. Human rights advocates have charged that progovernment media frame NGOs  particularly those receiving foreign funding  as working against the country's interests. Several news stories broadcast on TVP during the year appeared intended to discredit NGOs and protest movements that were critical of the government.

Poland has a robust labor movement, though certain groups  including the self-employed, private contractors, and those in essential services  cannot join unions. Complicated legal procedures hinder workers' ability to strike.

F. Rule of Law: 12 / 16 (1)

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

Since taking office, the PiS government has faced criticism from the United States, the EU, and rights groups for working to curb the powers of the TK and to alter its composition in ways that hamper its ability to serve as a check on the political branches. The EC in January 2016 initiated an official review of Poland's commitment to EU standards for adherence to the rule of law in connection with the matter.

The year was marked by legal wrangling between the PiS-led legislature, which passed a series of laws that created inefficiencies in the TK and otherwise interfered with its functioning, and the court itself, which ruled most of the changes unconstitutional. However, the government refused to publish some of those rulings, meaning they technically never became binding. As a result of a dispute over the appointment of TK judges, which began during the 2015 parliamentary election campaign, the TK had only 12 out of 15 seats filled for most of 2016.

The term of TK president Rzeplinski, who was appointed in 2007 by the previous government and resisted PiS's legislative attempts to curb the court's authority, ended in December. That day, Duda signed into law additional changes to TK procedures that gave him increased influence over court appointments. Przylebska, whom many consider unqualified, was named TK president, prompting further membership changes that left PiS-appointed judges with a majority on the tribunal. (In accordance with existing TK law, the court had convened a general assembly earlier in the month to choose Rzeplinski's successor, but PiS-backed judges called in sick to prevent a quorum.) A day after Przylebska's appointment, EC vice president Timmermans declared that there were "persistent problems with the rule of law" in Poland, and gave the government two months to address EC criticism, but declined to specify consequences for failure to do so.

Separately, in March 2016, the government merged the office of the justice minister with that of the public prosecutor general, a move that gave the government greater influence over prosecutions. Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who thus became public prosecutor general, was known for pursuing corruption and cronyism cases against political opponents when he had held both posts between 2005 and 2007.

In June 2016, Duda signed new antiterrorism legislation that gave authorities more leeway to monitor the movements of foreign citizens without prior court approval, and permitted suspects to be held without judicial review for up to two weeks. The legislation was submitted to the TK by the national ombudsman, who said ambiguous provisions on collecting individuals' data, arresting civilians, prohibiting demonstrations, and blocking internet access violated the constitution as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.

Pretrial detention periods can be lengthy, and prison conditions are poor by European standards.

Ethnic minorities generally enjoy generous legal rights and protections. Some groups, particularly the Roma, experience employment and housing discrimination, racially motivated insults, and occasional physical attacks. Members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community continue to face discrimination. Data released in November 2016 by the National Prosecutor's Office showed a 13 percent increase in hate crimes during the first half of 2016. Approximately half of all reported incidents related to hate speech on the internet, but the category of "physical violence or threats" (14 percent of the total) increased by over 40 percent compared with the same period in 2015. The most frequent targets of such attacks were Muslims, or people believed to be Muslim by their attackers. In April, the government abolished the Council for the Prevention of Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 14 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

Citizens enjoy freedom of travel and choice of residence, employment, and institution of higher education. Citizens have the right to own property and establish private businesses.

Women hold senior positions in government and the private sector, including about 27 percent of the seats in the Sejm. Both PO and PiS fielded female candidates for the position of prime minister in the 2015 elections.

Under Polish law, abortion is permissible through the 12th week of pregnancy only if a woman's health or life are jeopardized, if the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act such as rape, or if the fetus is severely damaged. Legislation proposed in September 2016 would have removed most of these exceptions to the ban and made illegal abortions punishable by five years in prison. Following mass protests, PiS leaders distanced themselves from the legislation, which failed to pass. In November, the Sejm adopted legislation that provided financial incentives for women to carry fetuses with severe disabilities or terminal illnesses to term.

Domestic violence against women remains a serious concern, as does trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of prostitution. In May 2016, the government withdrew funding from the Women's Rights Center (CPK), which has provided support to victims of domestic violence for over 20 years. The state's justification was that the CPK offers help only to women, rather than to all victims of abuse.

The U.S. State Department's 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report noted an uptick in labor trafficking throughout Poland, with Romany children in particular being subjected to forced begging.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - Myanmar

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - Myanmar, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e1fc.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 32/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 52,400,000

Capital: Nay Pyi Taw

GDP/capita: $1,161

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

OVERVIEW

Myanmar's transition from military dictatorship toward democracy is ongoing, with relatively free parliamentary elections in 2015 ushering in a peaceful transfer of power to the National League for Democracy (NLD). However, ethnic peace remains elusive as military offensives and other violent conflicts offset a government push for more comprehensive negotiations with ethnic armed groups. Persecution of the country's mostly Muslim Rohingya minority has created sustained refugee outflows.

Key Developments

Following the NLD's overwhelming victory in 2015 parliamentary elections, the ruling Union and Solidarity Development Party (USDP) and military representatives accepted the results, setting the stage for a peaceful transfer of political power. The NLD-led parliament held its opening session in February and elected the country's new president in March.

Over the military's objections, in April the parliament installed NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi  who was constitutionally barred from the presidency  in the newly created post of state counselor, granting her authority to direct policies not under military jurisdiction.

The government took several steps that signaled an opening of associational and organizational space, including scrapping the restrictive Emergency Provisions Act, releasing dozens of students who had been arrested the previous year on unlawful assembly charges, and engaging with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

The NLD government's push for the creation of a more comprehensive peace mechanism was hampered by military offensives against various ethnic rebel groups, attacks by such groups against security forces, and continued divisions among signatories and nonsignatories to a 2015 national cease-fire agreement.

Executive Summary

The USDP and military representatives accepted the results of parliamentary elections held in 2015, permitting a historic transfer of political power to an NLD-dominated parliament, which opened its first session in February 2016. In March, Htin Kyaw, the NLD's primary presidential candidate, won the presidency with 360 of the 652 parliamentary votes cast in the country's first relatively free presidential election. Days later, NLD lawmakers approved a bill that elevated party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was constitutionally barred from running for the presidency because members of her immediate family hold foreign citizenship, to the newly created and powerful position of state counselor. The USDP condemned the move as an improper consolidation of power.

The NLD government in 2016 took a series of actions that indicated an opening of associational and organizational space following decades of military dictatorship. Government representatives made efforts to engage with civil society groups, in particular by holding consultations regarding the implementation of laws on NGO registration. In April, a court ordered the release of 69 students who had been arrested the previous year on unlawful assembly charges, and in October, the government repealed the Emergency Provisions Act, which the military government had frequently employed to jail political activists. However, concerns about freedom of expression persisted amid a spike in prosecutions for online defamation under the 2013 Telecommunications Law.

Separately, while corruption remained rampant at both the national and local levels, the new NLD government took modest steps to address the problem. In April, Aung San Suu Kyi issued an official regulation banning civil servants from accepting gifts worth more than 25,000 kyat ($21).

The NLD government struggled to negotiate a more comprehensive peace agreement with the many ethnic armed groups in Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi convened a high-profile peace conference in August, though officials later downplayed it as a trust-building exercise for the hundreds of delegates who attended. Military offensives against various ethnic rebel groups, and attacks by such groups against security forces, continued. In October, armed men attacked police posts in Rakhine State, killing nine officers; officials blamed the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), a militant group that was active in the 1980s and 1990s. Security forces subsequently launched violent reprisals against the local Rohingya Muslim population, which reportedly included torture and rape, worsening the community's already dire humanitarian situation and causing a new outflow of refugees to Bangladesh. Separately, activists continued to report abuses by the military against civilians in Northern Shan and Kachin States, where fighting between armed groups and state forces has increased in recent years.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights:

A. Electoral Process:

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

Under the 2008 constitution, whose drafting was controlled by the military, the bicameral Assembly of the Union consists of the 440-seat House of Representatives, or lower house, and the 224-seat House of Nationalities, or upper house. Representatives serve five-year terms. A quarter of the seats in both houses are reserved for the military and filled through appointment by the commander in chief, an officer with broad powers who is selected by the military-dominated National Defense and Security Council (NDSC).

The legislature elects the president. Military members have the right to nominate one of the three presidential candidates, and the elected members of each chamber nominate the other two. The candidate with the largest number of votes in a combined parliamentary vote wins the presidency; the other two candidates become vice presidents. The NLD selected Htin Kyaw as its primary presidential candidate, and he won the presidency with 360 of the 652 parliamentary votes cast in the March 2016 election. The first vice president was Myint Swe, the military-nominated candidate, and the second vice president was Henry Van Thio, also of the NLD.

Unlike with the 2010 parliamentary elections, international electoral observers concluded that the 2015 polls were generally credible and that the outcome reflected the will of the people, despite a campaign period marked by anti-Muslim rhetoric, the exclusion of Muslim candidates, and the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, most of whom are Muslim. The NLD won 135 of the 168 elected seats in the upper house, 255 of 330 elected seats in the lower house, and 496 of 659 seats across 14 state and regional legislatures. The military-backed USDP placed second with 12 seats in the upper house, 30 in the lower house, and 76 in the states and regions. (Myanmar's first-past-the-post system allowed the NLD to translate its popular vote margin into a much larger majority in terms of seats; it took 57 percent of the popular vote, compared with the USDP's 28 percent.) The remaining seats were captured by ethnic minority and other parties as well as independents. While ethnic parties fared poorly overall, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and the Arakan National Party (ANP) performed well in their respective states.

After the elections, commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing, former military ruler Than Shwe, and outgoing president Thein Sein each met with Aung San Suu Kyi and agreed to support a smooth transition. However, constitutional provisions barred the NLD leader from becoming president due to the foreign nationality of her immediate family members. Changes to the constitution require a three-quarters parliamentary supermajority, meaning military support would be required in practice. To circumvent these restrictions, the NLD used its parliamentary majority to create the new post of state counselor, a powerful role akin to that of a prime minister, which Aung San Suu Kyi assumed in April 2016 amid military objections.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation:

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

New political parties were generally allowed to register and compete in the 2015 elections, which featured fewer restrictions on party organization and voter mobilization than the 2010 vote. Only sporadic interference from government officials was reported. Ninety-one parties competed in the elections, and many of them, including the NLD, convened meetings and large rallies throughout the country.

The government has allowed members of the parliament to speak about democratic rights since 2011. While the legislators' time to speak has often been severely limited, many of their speeches receive coverage in the domestic media. Since winning a seat in 2012 by-elections, Aung San Suu Kyi has gained political influence, as demonstrated by the NLD's dramatic 2015 electoral victory. However, critics argue that she has failed to strongly challenge incumbent interests or alter state policy. She and her aides have notably downplayed the plight of the Rohingya minority.

The military retains considerable power over political affairs, though the 2015 results and subsequent transition talks suggested a waning ability or determination to influence electoral outcomes. The 2008 constitution allows the military to dissolve the civilian government and parliament and rule directly if the president declares a state of emergency. The military has the right to administer its own affairs, and members of the former military government received blanket immunity for all official acts.

Minority groups face restrictions on their political rights and electoral opportunities. A 2014 amendment to the Political Parties Registration Law prohibited residents without full citizenship from forming political parties or contesting elections. The measure effectively curbed political participation by Rohingya, who were rendered stateless by a 1982 law and lack full citizenship documents. A sitting Rohingya lawmaker from the USDP was barred from running in 2015. That year, under pressure from Buddhist nationalists, the president issued a decree revoking the temporary identification cards, or "white cards," that had allowed Rohingya to vote in previous elections. A Constitutional Tribunal ruling later in 2015 then found that voting by white-card holders was unconstitutional. Nearly all Rohingya were consequently left off the voter rolls for the 2015 elections. Other Muslims with citizenship documents were able to vote, but of more than 6,000 candidates on the final list, only about 28 were Muslim. A total of 75 candidates were disqualified by election officials, including a number of Rohingyas and other Muslims.

C. Functioning of Government:

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

Though the NLD has begun to lay out plans for policy changes among its various ministry portfolios, the military remains a dominant force in policymaking, particularly through its constitutional control over the Defense, Home Affairs, and Border Affairs Ministries. The military effectively controls at least six seats on the powerful 11-member NDSC. Over one-fifth of the total budget is devoted to the military. Although the military budget remains opaque and the 2011 Special Funds Law allows the military to circumvent parliamentary oversight to access additional funds, details on part of the budget were shared publicly for the first time in 2015 and faced limited parliamentary scrutiny.

Corruption is rampant at both the national and local levels. In a first step to address the problem, Aung San Suu Kyi in April 2016 issued an official regulation banning civil servants from accepting gifts worth more than 25,000 kyat ($21). An Anti-Corruption Commission established in 2014 has only penalized a handful of people in connection with its investigations. Privatization of state-owned companies and other economic reforms in recent years have allegedly benefited family members and associates of senior officials. The government has ignored tax evasion by the country's wealthiest companies and individuals.

Additional Discretionary Political Rights Question B: -3/0

Is the government or occupying power deliberately changing the ethnic composition of a country or territory so as to destroy a culture or tip the political balance in favor of another group?



1. Is the government providing economic or other incentives to certain people in order to change the ethnic composition of a region or regions?



2. Is the government forcibly moving people in or out of certain areas in order to change the ethnic composition of those regions?



3. Is the government arresting, imprisoning, or killing members of certain ethnic groups in order change the ethnic composition of a region or regions?

The government has long used violence, displacement, and other tactics to alter the demographics of states with ethnic unrest or insurgencies. The Rohingya in Rakhine State have faced particularly harsh restrictions for decades, including limits on family size and the ability and right to marry. Hundreds of Rohingya remain imprisoned for dubious offenses such as marrying an unapproved spouse. Children born to unrecognized couples or beyond a two-child limit imposed on Rohingya in some areas are often denied legal status and services. The 2015 revocation and confiscation of temporary identification cards led to the disenfranchisement and loss of citizenship rights for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya. Human rights experts have continued to label the abuses against the Rohingya as crimes against humanity, while some analysts have argued that they constitute either genocide or a precursor to genocide.

In August 2016, the NLD government created a joint advisory panel led by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan to help develop conflict-resolution mechanisms to address tensions between Buddhists and Muslims (mainly Rohingya) in Rakhine State, and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid there, among other tasks. However, the group failed to include a single Rohingya representative, nor was it mandated to investigate human rights abuses.

In October, armed men attacked police posts in Rakhine State, killing nine officers; officials blamed the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), a militant group that was active in the 1980s and 1990s. Security forces launched a severe crackdown on Rohingya communities in the northern part of the state, which reportedly included torture and rape, worsening already dire humanitarian conditions and causing a new outflow of refugees to Bangladesh.

Civil Liberties:

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief:

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

Media freedoms have improved substantially since the official end of government censorship and prepublication approval in 2012. However, other restrictions limit journalists' freedom. Existing media laws allow authorities to deny licenses to outlets whose reporting is considered to have insulted religion or endangered national security, and the threat of prosecution under criminal defamation laws has encouraged a climate of pervasive self-censorship.

In 2016, there was a notable increase in the number of defamation cases brought against journalists and social media users, some of which were initiated in response to criticism of government or military authorities. Those involving online commentary were generally filed under the broadly worded 2013 Telecommunications Law, which allows penalties of up to three years in prison. The editor in chief of the independent Daily Eleven and the chief executive of its parent company were imprisoned on defamation charges in November, in connection with an article implicating the chief minister of Yangon in illegal business dealings with a drug trafficker. Separately, a journalist fired from the English-language Myanmar Times claimed that the government had pressured the paper to dismiss her following the October publication of an article on allegations that the security forces had raped more than two dozen women in Rakhine State.

Reporters covering sensitive topics risk harassment and physical violence. In December, journalist Soe Moe Tun was found beaten to death after reporting on the illegal logging industry. The Myanmar Journalists' Association reported that another journalist had relocated to a different town after being threatened by individuals in the logging industry.

Previous constraints on internet access have largely unraveled, and the proliferation of smartphones has rapidly increased usage, but internet activity is still subject to criminal punishment under broadly worded legal provisions. The Electronic Transactions Law, which has been used to criminalize political activism on the internet, mandates fines or prison terms of three to seven years for "any act detrimental to" state security, law and order, community peace and tranquility, national solidarity, the national economy, or national culture, including "receiving or sending" related information. Journalists and others have faced cyberattacks and attempts to infiltrate their e-mail accounts by both state and nonstate actors.

The 2008 constitution provides for freedom of religion. It distinguishes Buddhism as the majority religion, but also recognizes Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and animism. The government occasionally interferes with religious assemblies and attempts to control the Buddhist clergy. Authorities have also discriminated against minority religious groups, refusing to grant them permission to hold gatherings and restricting educational activities, proselytizing, and construction of houses of worship. Influential Buddhist monks in Karen State have built pagodas in church and mosque compounds, increasing tensions within diverse communities.

Anti-Muslim hate speech and discrimination continued to spread during 2016. In April, the newly appointed religious affairs minister suggested in a radio interview that members of the country's Muslim and Hindu minorities were not full citizens, sparking both criticism and strident statements of support. Social media and some state institutions and mainstream news websites have amplified such communal tensions. Ma Ba Tha, or the Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion, agitates for the protection of Buddhist privileges, urges boycotts against Muslim-run businesses, and disseminates anti-Muslim propaganda. In September, three Muslim men were arrested and imprisoned for illegally importing cows for the Eid al-Adha celebration.

In 2015, the parliament approved a revised version of a controversial education law, initially passed in 2014, that failed to meet student demands concerning decentralization, access to instruction in local languages, curriculum reform, and a clear role for student unions in setting education policy, among other issues. Opponents of the new law said it perpetuated the country's authoritarian approach to academic freedom, and student leaders pledged to continue pressing their demands.

The ability to engage in open and free private discussion without criminal repercussions has increased markedly since political reforms began under the previous administration. However, general surveillance by local security officials, under the purview of the military-controlled Home Affairs Ministry, remains a common practice. In September 2016, a parliamentary committee submitted draft legislation that would offer better protections from state surveillance.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights:

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

Under the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, as revised in 2014, holding a demonstration without government "consent" is punishable with up to six months in prison; a variety of other vaguely worded violations can draw lesser penalties. Authorities arrested a number of demonstrators under the law during the 2015 election campaign. However, in April 2016, the president pardoned 69 students arrested the previous year. A new Peaceful Assembly and Procession Bill proposed in the legislature still includes criminal penalties for vaguely worded offenses.

The 2014 Association Registration Law features simple, voluntary registration procedures for local and international NGOs and no restrictions or criminal punishments for noncompliance. Although the law was seen a positive development, in 2015 the Home Affairs Ministry issued implementing regulations that required NGOs to obtain government approval prior to registration, drawing sharp criticism from civil society leaders. However, consultations between civil society and the relevant committee in the new NLD government were held in 2016 to draw attention to the law and provide clarity on implementation rules.

Independent trade unions were banned until 2011, and union organizers continue to face retaliation for their work. In recent years, factory workers have held strikes in Yangon with fewer repercussions than in the past, though arrests for striking and other labor activism persisted in 2016. A 2013 law allowed for a minimum wage, and in 2015, after two years of heated negotiations, the figure was set at $2.80 per day.

F. Rule of Law:

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

The judiciary is not independent. Judges are appointed or approved by the government and adjudicate cases according to its decrees. Administrative detention laws allow individuals to be held without charge, trial, or access to legal counsel for up to five years if deemed a threat to state security or sovereignty. According to a report by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), at the end of November 2016 there were 195 political prisoners in the country, of whom 87 were currently serving sentences, 24 were in pretrial detention, and 84 were awaiting trial outside of prison. In October the parliament repealed the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, which the previous military government had invoked frequently to silence and imprison dissidents.

Some of the country's worst human rights abuses, commonly committed by government troops, are against ethnic minorities, especially the Kachin, Shan, Chin, Karen, and Rohingya. Riots and mob violence against Rohingya and other Muslims have killed hundreds of people, displaced thousands of residents, and destroyed hundreds of properties, including religious sites, since 2012. The government's failure to protect victims, conduct investigations, and punish perpetrators is well documented. The anti-Muslim Ma Ba Tha and the similar 969 movement have been accused of stoking outbreaks of violence with inflammatory sermons, leaflets, and other materials, and local government officials have actively sought out administrative loopholes to destroy Muslim schools and houses of worship.

The government continued to negotiate with armed ethnic minority groups in 2016, but a comprehensive agreement regarding federalism and adherence to the 2008 constitution remained elusive. Discussions were hampered by persistent fighting in some regions, including military offensives in Kachin State and in Shan State.

A number of laws create a hostile environment for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people. Same-sex sexual conduct is criminalized under the penal code, and police subject LGBT people to harassment, extortion, and physical and sexual abuse.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights:

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

Freedom of internal travel is generally respected outside of conflict zones. Numerous exiled activists who returned to the country have experienced substantial delays and evasion from government authorities when attempting to renew visas and residency permits, despite the call for exiles to return to work for the country's development. Illegal toll collection by state and nonstate actors has been a problem in some areas. The parliament voted in September 2016 to repeal a long-standing rule requiring overnight houseguests to be registered with local authorities, which particularly affected low-income people and activists and created opportunities for harassment, extortion, and invasions of privacy. Guests staying for more than a month must still be registered.

Contentious disputes over land grabbing and business projects that violate human rights continued in 2016. Instances of forced eviction and displacement, lack of sufficient compensation, and direct violence by state security officials abound. As of June 2015, the parliament's Farmland Investigation Commission reported that it had heard about 20,000 of the 30,000 cases submitted since 2013, and decided in favor of compensation for claimants in only 4 percent of the cases heard  a number that activists generally view as much too low. The NLD government's newly formed Central Committee on Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands has been accused of including members who were themselves involved in land grabs.

Women of some classes have traditionally enjoyed high social and economic status, but women remain underrepresented in the government and civil service. Notwithstanding the prominence of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose father led Myanmar's independence struggle, few women have achieved recognition in politics, and she remains the only woman of ministerial rank in the current NLD cabinet. Sixty-four women were elected to the new parliament in 2015, up from 28 in the outgoing body.

Laws protecting women from violence and exploitation are inadequate, and violence against women is a persistent problem. The army has a record of using rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minority women, and security personnel typically enjoy impunity for sexual violence. Human trafficking is also a concern; the country was designated in June 2016 as one of the worst performers in the U.S. State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report due to the prevalence of child soldiers and forced labor.

Child labor is endemic in Myanmar. The International Labour Organization estimated in 2015 that nearly 1.1 million children, almost 10 percent of all children in the country, engaged in child labor. To address international concerns and improve childhood development, the government in 2014 had announced plans for a policy to end child labor. Various commercial and other interests continue to use forced labor despite a formal ban on the practice since 2000.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - Mexico

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - Mexico, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e20c.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 65/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 3/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 3/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 3/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 128,600,000

Capital: Mexico City

GDP/capita: $9,005

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Partly Free

OVERVIEW

Mexico has been an electoral democracy since 2000, and alternation in power between the leading parties is routine at both the federal and state levels. However, the country suffers from severe rule-of-law deficits that limit full citizen enjoyment of political rights and civil liberties. Violence perpetrated by organized criminals, corruption among government officials, human rights abuses by both state and nonstate actors, and a climate of impunity are among the most visible of Mexico's many governance challenges.

Key Developments

Corruption accusations against government officials, particularly at the state level, contributed to multiple losses for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in gubernatorial elections in June.

Little progress was made in the investigation of the 2014 disappearance of 43 students, an event that continues to generate outrage and protests. In April, international investigators released a report questioning key elements of the government's narrative.

Criminal violence rose sharply during the year, and by October, homicide cases had reached their highest levels since the current government took office in late 2012.

Executive Summary

The administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto, head of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), began its term in December 2012 with a promising set of reforms accompanied by slowing homicide rates, generating optimism about Mexico's economic and social direction. However, starting in 2014 the government's narrative of progress has been undermined by corruption scandals and rights abuses. The problems continued in 2016, with an increase in homicide rates, corruption scandals implicating high-level PRI officials, and tension with international rights observers over the government's investigation of the 2014 disappearance of 43 college students in Iguala, Guerrero.

The results of gubernatorial elections in 12 states in June illustrated the effects of mounting corruption scandals involving government officials. PRI candidates lost races in several states in which incumbents had been accused of graft, including the populous states of Veracruz and Chihuahua; notably, the elections also marked the first time in the PRI's history it lost the governorship of Veracruz, as well as those of Quintana Roo and Tamaulipas. In the fall, arrest warrants were issued for outgoing Veracruz governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa of the PRI and outgoing Sonora governor Guillermo Padres Elias of the National Action Party (PAN); Padres turned himself in to authorities in November, while Duarte remained at large at the year's end.

Weak accountability for human rights violations also generated political discontent throughout the year. Judicial processes surrounding the Iguala disappearances continued against scores of local police, drug gang members, and the mayor of the city and his wife, but as of year's end no convictions had been achieved. In June, government cooperation with a group of international experts backed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), ended when the government opted not to renew the agreement governing the group's mission. In April, the experts had released the latest of a series of reports assailing investigative and procedural lapses in the government's investigation; the report cast renewed doubt on the government's conclusion that the students' remains had been burned in a municipal dump, and alleged that the testimony the government's description of the crime rested on had been extracted by torturing suspects. The state agreed in July to an accord that authorized a reduced presence by the investigative group.

Other manifestations of accountability shortcomings included the May dismissal of charges against soldiers accused of murder following a 2014 confrontation between criminals and an army unit in the State of Mexico that left 22 people dead. In August, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) accused the federal police of covering up extrajudicial executions following a 2015 raid that resulted in the deaths of 42 alleged gang members and a police officer. Rights watchers also decried the slow pace of investigations into the June deaths of eight protesters at the hands of the federal police during violent teachers' protests in Oaxaca. The steadily rising violence throughout the year undermined the message of security improvements that the government had broadcast during the initial years of the Pena Nieto administration.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 28 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 9 / 12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

The president is elected to a six-year term and cannot be reelected. The bicameral Congress consists of the 128-member Senate and the 500-member Chamber of Deputies. Senators are elected for six-year terms through a mix of direct voting and proportional representation, with at least two parties represented in each state's delegation. In the Chamber of Deputies, 300 members are elected through direct representation and 200 through proportional representation, each for three-year terms. Under 2013 electoral reforms, current members of Congress are no longer barred from reelection and candidates are permitted to run as independents. As of 2018, elected senators will be eligible to serve up to two six-year terms; deputies will be permitted to serve up to four three-year terms. In Mexico's federal system, the elected governor and legislature in each of the 31 states have significant governing responsibility, including oversight of most of the country's beleaguered police forces.

Pena Nieto won the 2012 presidential election with 38 percent of the vote, followed by veteran Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador with 31 percent. Although Lopez Obrador initially refused to accept the results, alleging infractions such as widespread vote buying, overspending, and media bias, the Federal Electoral Tribunal found insufficient evidence to invalidate the election. In 2015 midterm elections, the PRI and allied parties overcame poor government approval ratings to garner a 260-seat majority in the lower chamber. The right-wing PAN won 108 seats, while left-wing parties (the PRD, the Lopez Obrador-led National Regeneration Movement [MORENA], and the Citizens' Movement) won 120. No coalition commands a majority in the Senate, where the PRIGreen Party alliance won 61 seats in 2012, the PAN took 38, and the PRD won 22.

Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE) supervises elections and enforces political party laws, including strict regulations on campaign financing and the content of political advertising  although control is weaker in practice. Both the 2012 and 2015 elections were generally considered free and fair, but complaints persisted. The primary accusations in 2012  which concerned alleged instances of vote buying and collusion between the PRI and dominant broadcaster Televisa  were instrumental in sparking a significant anti-PRI student movement. At the state level, allegations of misuse of public resources to favor specific gubernatorial candidates are frequent. The 2013 political reform broadened the INE's power to oversee state elections, and the agency was generally considered to have competently managed balloting in the 2015 midterms and 2016 state races. However, political analysts fault the INE's unwillingness to adequately punish campaign violations. Numerous irregularities were reported in the 2016 elections, including carousel voting and destruction of ballots, with the most reports coming from Veracruz State.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 12 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

Mexico's multiparty system features few official restrictions on political organization and activity. Power has changed hands twice at the national level since 2000, and opposition parties are also competitive in many states. However, in states with lower levels of multiparty contestation, locally dominant political actors often govern in a highly opaque manner that limits political activity and citizen participation, and opens the door to corruption and organized crime.

The PRI returned to national government in 2012 after losing two consecutive presidential races to the right-leaning PAN. The PRI ruled Mexico without interruption from 1929 to 2000, and many Mexicans still question its commitment to full democracy. Its ally the Green Party is viewed as a particularly feckless seeker of control over public funds. The left, which had previously been dominated by the PRD, fragmented prior to the 2015 midterms, with Lopez Obrador forming his own party, MORENA, which in 2016 won 22 of the 60 elected seats on the constituent assembly tasked with drafting a constitution in Mexico City; the remaining 40 deputies are appointed by the PRI-dominated legislative branch and Pena Nieto.

Politicians and municipal governments have been subject to significant pressure from criminal groups in recent years. Six mayors were assassinated in 2016, adding to a tally of over 80 mayors and ex-mayors killed since 2006.

Indigenous Mexicans are not blocked from participating in the political process, and federal and state laws prescribe procedures for the integration of traditional community customs. However, indigenous groups remain underrepresented in formal political institutions.

C. Functioning of Government: 7 / 12

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

Organized crime and related violence have limited the effective governing authority of elected officials in some areas of the country. Members of organized crime groups have persisted in their attempts to infiltrate local governments to ensure their own impunity. The mass student disappearance in Iguala in 2014 has been linked to a deeply corrupt local government working in conjunction with a drug gang. In the most violent regions, the provision of public services has become more difficult, as public-sector employees such as teachers face extortion.

Official corruption remains a serious problem. Billions of dollars in illegal drug money  as well as large quantities of powerful firearms  enter the country each year from the United States, and such funds affect politics, particularly at the state and local levels. Attempts to prosecute officials for alleged involvement in corrupt or criminal activity have often failed due to the weakness of the cases brought by the state. Punitive measures have generally focused on low- and mid-level officials, with lower pressure on high-ranking elected officials. The extent of state-level corruption uncovered in Veracruz  where the governor and his cronies are accused of pilfering hundreds of millions of dollars in 2015 alone by robbing the pension fund and channeling government contracts through shadow companies  led to a sharp outcry and the October 2016 resignation of Veracruz governor Duarte, who was charged with corruption and subsequently fled from authorities.

Pressure for reform has intensified since 2014, when it was revealed that the president's wife and the finance minister had purchased multimillion-dollar houses from an active government contractor. In 2015, all were cleared of wrongdoing following a widely derided investigation; however, the civil society outcry about lack of progress in combatting corruption contributed to the 2015 passage of constitutional amendments creating a new National Anticorruption System that grants more autonomy to auditors and prosecutors. These were followed in June 2016 by a set of bills to implement the reforms, which notably featured intensive cooperation with civil society groups. However, a provision giving the sitting prosecutor general a nine-year term once the autonomy provisions take effect yielded controversy when PRI senator and government ally Raul Cervantes Andrade was appointed prosecutor general in October 2016.

Despite some limitations, a 2002 freedom of information law has successfully strengthened transparency at the federal level, though implementation has slowed and enforcement is uneven across states. A new and more extensive transparency law passed in 2015 was mostly praised by good governance advocates, although controversies over denial of access to files pertaining to abuses by state security forces persisted.

Civil Liberties: 37 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 13 / 16

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

Legal and constitutional guarantees of free speech have been improving gradually, but the security environment for journalists remains highly problematic. While some major media outlets have reduced or eliminated their dependence on the government for advertising and subsidies, the distribution of government advertising still affects coverage, particularly at the local level. Broadcast media are dominated by a corporate duopoly composed of Televisa and TV Azteca, which together control approximately 95 percent of the free-to-air market. Televisa has faced accusations of supporting specific politicians over the years, usually from the PRI. A 2013 telecommunications law established a new telecommunications regulator, strengthened the Federal Economic Competition Commission, and resulted in the creation of two new free-to-air channels, the first of which arrived on the airwaves in October 2016. However, civil society groups have criticized the limited scope of the reforms, and the winners of the auctioned airwaves  one of which subsequently was stripped of its frequency for nonpayment  were not considered likely to offer significant new competition.

Reporters probing police issues, drug trafficking, and official corruption face an increasingly high risk of physical harm. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), nine journalists were murdered in 2016, and the organization confirmed that two of the journalists were killed for reasons connected to their jobs. Self-censorship has increased, with many newspapers in violent areas avoiding publication of stories concerning organized crime. Press watchdog groups hailed the 2012 federalization of crimes against journalists as well as a 2015 law in Mexico City aimed at protecting journalists and human rights defenders, but they have decried the slow pace of the federal government's special prosecutor for crimes against freedom of expression since the office gained authority in 2013. Despite improvements in legal status, community radio stations continue to face occasional harassment from criminals and state authorities.

Mexico has been at the forefront of citizen-led efforts to ensure internet access. The government amended Article 6 of the constitution in 2013 to make access to the internet a civil right. However, gangs have targeted bloggers and online journalists who report on organized crime, issuing threats and periodically murdering online writers.

Religious freedom is protected by the constitution and is generally respected in practice. The government does not restrict academic freedom, though university students are sometimes threatened for their political activism. While there are no formal impediments to free and open discussion, fear of criminal monitoring restricts citizens' willingness to converse publicly about crime in some areas of the country.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 8 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

Constitutional guarantees regarding free assembly and association are largely upheld, but political and civic expression is restricted in some regions. The most extensive and controversial protests in 2016 were carried out by teachers' unions; the events paralyzed economic activity in several southern states for months. In June, a federal policeled effort to clear a highway in Oaxaca being blocked by teachers' union members and local residents led to the deaths of eight protesters, with scores more injured, under circumstances that remained murky months later.

Although highly active, nongovernmental organizations sometimes face violent resistance, including threats and murders. Activists representing indigenous groups contesting large-scale infrastructure projects have been particularly vulnerable. In 2012, civil society pressure prompted the government to create a Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. As of mid-2016 it had offered protection to 333 people since its inception, but has also been critiqued by rights groups as slow and suffering from insufficient governmental commitment. On multiple occasions in early 2016, government officials or their allies verbally attacked prominent human rights advocates, baselessly describing them as members of a "mafia" group reaping financial gains from criticism of the government.

Trade unions, long a pillar of the PRI, have diminished significantly, but independent unions still face interference from the government. Informal, nontransparent negotiations between employers and politically connected union leaders often result in "protection contracts" that govern employee rights but are never seen by workers. Several large unions are considered opaque and antagonistic to necessary policy reforms. Longtime teachers' union leader Elba Esther Gordillo  widely perceived as extremely corrupt  was arrested in 2013 and charged with embezzling more than $150 million; she remained in detention throughout 2016, though since January she has been held at a Mexico City hospital due to health concerns.

F. Rule of Law: 6 / 16

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

Mexico's justice system is plagued by delays, unpredictability, and corruption, leading to pervasive impunity. A 2008 constitutional reform replaced the civil-inquisitorial trial system with an oral-adversarial one. Although it was expected to strengthen due process while increasing efficiency and impartiality, human rights groups raised concerns about the weak protections it affords to those suspected of involvement in organized crime. Implementation of the new system was technically completed in June 2016, but analysts noted that absent more thorough training at all levels, from police to judges, the credibility of the new system would be at risk.

Abuses during criminal investigations are rife; in 2015, a UN special rapporteur released a report characterizing torture as "generalized" within Mexican police forces, generating a diplomatic spat. The government has also faced domestic and international pressure to confront the problem of forced disappearance, which affects an unknown portion of the more than 28,000 Mexicans listed as disappeared in a national registry. The weakness of forensic investigations was notably highlighted when experts from the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI)  a body established in an agreement between the IACHR, the Mexican government, and organizations representing the Iguala victims' family members  produced evidence that the head of the federal criminal investigation unit had made an unregistered appearance at the San Juan River shortly before the only identifiable remains of the murdered Iguala students were found there. The official, Tomas Zeron de Lucio, resigned from his position in September 2016 following months of criticism, though shortly afterward he was appointed technical secretary of the National Security Council. The GIEI report, released in April, also cast doubt on the government's claims that the students' remains were incinerated at a Cocula dump, and alleged that the testimony the government's description of the crime rested on had been extracted through torture. The government declined to renew the GIEI's mission weeks after the report was released, but later agreed to allow it to continue working in a reduced capacity.

Coordination among Mexico's many federal, state, and local law enforcement entities has long been problematic, and the Pena Nieto administration has pursued streamlined chains of command. In zones plagued by crime, federal troops have temporarily replaced local police forces. Critics contend that federal intervention decreases incentives for governors to undertake systemic reforms, and in practice implementation of such reforms at the local level has been largely unsuccessful. Despite a 2009 law ordering all members of the police to be vetted, thousands of police who failed to meet requirements have remained on the job.

Lower courts  and law enforcement in general  are undermined by widespread bribery and suffer from limited capacity. According to a government survey released in September 2016, over 93 percent of crimes committed in 2015 went unreported because the underpaid police are viewed as either inept or in league with criminals. Even when investigations are conducted, only a handful of crimes end in convictions. Prisons are violent and overcrowded, and it is not uncommon for prisoners to continue criminal activity while incarcerated. In February 2016, 49 prisoners died in a riot in a state prison in Monterrey. The 2015 escape of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman from a high-security federal prison illustrated the depth of corruption in the criminal justice system; Guzman was recaptured in January 2016. The CNDH, long maligned due to its perceived passivity in the face of rampant rights abuses, began to regain some credibility following the appointment of a new director in 2014, and in August 2016 it issued a report accusing the federal police of covering up extrajudicial executions following a 2015 raid outside the city of Guadalajara that resulted in the deaths of 42 alleged gangsters and a police officer.

Presidential authority over the armed forces is extensive, but the military has historically operated beyond public scrutiny. Human rights advocates for years have expressed concern about a lack of accountability for rights abuses including torture, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions. Military personnel are generally tried in military courts, but a bill passed in 2014 shifted the venue of trials for violations of civilians' rights to civilian courts. While a handful of soldiers have been convicted of crimes including torture and murder, the status of many processes remains unclear. Rights watchers viewed the May 2016 dismissal of charges against three soldiers indicted for the 2014 State of Mexico massacre as a grave setback in an emblematic case. In November 2016, several bills to allow the military to perform police-like tasks in order to "safeguard internal security" were introduced in Congress; they remained pending at year's end.

The number of deaths attributed to organized crime rose sharply each year between 2007 and 2011, declined from 2012 to 2014, and subsequently began trending upward. Violence in 2016 spiked in Colima, Zacatecas, Tijuana, and Mexico City, while remaining acute in Guerrero. Gang murders continue to feature extreme brutality designed to maximize the psychological impact on civilians, authorities, and rival groups.

In recent years, the government has taken a number of steps to curb violence and ease popular frustration with the problem. These include engaging in consultations with civic leaders, the continued deployment of troops, the reformation of the federal police and development of the National Gendarmerie, and the decriminalization of possession of small quantities of drugs. The Pena Nieto administration has been less vocal on matters of public safety than its predecessor, but it has maintained many of the former administration's strategies, including use of the military. However, after three straight years of declines, the murder rate increased by more than 8 percent in 2015, and an additional 22 percent in 2016, generating renewed pressure for strategic changes in state efforts to contain the carnage.

Mexican law bans discrimination based on ethnic origin, gender, age, religion, and sexual orientation. Nevertheless, the large indigenous population has been subject to social and economic discrimination, and 70 percent of the indigenous population lives in poverty. Southern states with high concentrations of indigenous residents suffer from particularly deficient services. Indigenous groups have been harmed by criminal violence; in recent years, a series of communities in Guerrero and Michoacan have formed self-defense groups, some of which were subsequently legalized. In addition, disputes over land issues within indigenous groups have occasionally become violent, particularly in the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 10 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

Criminals have impeded freedom of movement by blocking major roads in several states in recent years, and ordinary citizens avoid roads in many rural areas after dark. Rights groups frequently detail the persecution and criminal predation faced by migrants from Central America, many of whom move through Mexico to reach the United States. Despite government initiatives to improve protections, pressure from the United States to crack down on migration pathways generated ongoing accusations of abuses against migrants in 2016. Separately, in late 2014 the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center estimated that there were more than 280,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mexico, many of whom had fled cartel-related violence.

Property rights in Mexico are protected by a modern legal framework, but the weakness of the judicial system, frequent solicitation of bribes by bureaucrats and officials, and the high incidence of criminal extortion harm security of property for many individuals and businesses. Large-scale development projects have been accompanied by controversy in recent years, and in September 2016 the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights urged greater consultation with indigenous groups to minimize the damaging effects of such projects.

Women play a prominent role in social and political life, and female representatives increased their share of seats in the Chamber of Deputies to 42 percent in the 2015 elections. However, sexual abuse and domestic violence against women are common, and perpetrators are rarely punished. Implementation of a 2007 law designed to protect women from such crimes remains halting, particularly at the state level, and impunity is the norm for the killers of hundreds of women each year. As of the end of 2016, authorities in the State of Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Chiapas, Nuevo Leon, Veracruz, and Jalisco had issued "gender alerts," thereby triggering greater scrutiny and an influx of resources to combat an epidemic of violence against women. Abortion has been a contentious issue in recent years, with many states reacting to Mexico City's 2007 liberalization of abortion laws by strengthening their own criminal bans on the procedure.

Mexico has taken significant steps toward LGBT equality, courtesy of Supreme Court rulings in 2015 that struck down state laws defining the purpose of marriage as procreation. However, implementing the jurisprudence in all Mexican states will take time, as the court's rulings do not apply in blanket form. In May 2016, Pena Nieto proposed a constitutional amendment legalizing same-sex marriage, but the project encountered opposition from the Catholic Church and was shelved in November.

Mexico is a major source, transit, and destination country for trafficking in persons, including women and children, many of whom are subject to forced labor and sexual exploitation. Organized criminal gangs are heavily involved in human trafficking in Mexico and into the United States. Government corruption is a significant concern as many officials are bribed by or aide traffickers.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - Hong Kong

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - Hong Kong, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e22c.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 61/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 3.5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 2/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 7,300,000

Capital: N/A

GDP/capita: $42,328

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

The people of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, have traditionally enjoyed substantial civil liberties and the rule of law under their local constitution, the Basic Law. However, the chief executive and half of the Legislative Council are chosen through indirect electoral systems that favor pro-Beijing figures, and the territory's freedoms and autonomy have come under threat in recent years due to growing political and economic pressure from the mainland.

Key Developments

Ahead of Legislative Council elections in September, Hong Kong authorities refused to register a new pro-independence political party and invalidated the nominations of six "localist" candidates in connection with their views on self-determination for the territory.

In November, the National People's Congress in Beijing issued an unsolicited interpretation of Hong Kong's Basic Law that requires oaths of office to be given "sincerely and solemnly," effectively barring two newly elected localists from taking their seats in the Legislative Council and prompting legal challenges against the status of four other lawmakers.

Five Hong Kong booksellers, known for their publication and distribution of books that were critical of the Chinese leadership, resurfaced in early 2016 after their disappearance in late 2015, confirming that they had been in the custody of mainland police and issuing statements that raised suspicions of coercion.

Executive Summary

Hong Kong voters turned out in large numbers for the September 2016 Legislative Council (Legco) elections, which featured the emergence of a localist movement alongside existing pro-Beijing and prodemocracy camps. The new movement, which grew out of the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests, emphasizes greater autonomy or independence from mainland control, as opposed to the prodemocracy camp's push for direct elections as promised in Hong Kong's Basic Law under the current "one country, two systems" framework for Chinese rule. The localists faced major obstacles from Hong Kong authorities, including refusal to register a newly formed localist party and the invalidation of the nominations of some localist candidates due to their political views. Nonetheless, other localist candidates won 6 of the 70 Legco seats. Pro-Beijing parties won 40 seats, prodemocracy parties won 23, and the remaining seat went to an independent.

After some winning localist and prodemocracy candidates altered their oaths of office as a form of protest, the National People's Congress in Beijing issued an unusual interpretation of the Basic Law in November, declaring that such oaths must be given "sincerely and solemnly" to be valid. Unlike previous interpretations, it was issued while local courts were still considering the case at hand, and without a request from the Hong Kong government. Two localists were consequently barred from taking their seats, and Hong Kong authorities challenged the validity of the oaths of four other lawmakers who had already been seated. While the former case was awaiting a final appeal at year's end, the courts had yet to rule on the latter.

Separately, five Hong Kong booksellers who disappeared in late 2015 resurfaced in early 2016, officially confirming that they were in the custody of mainland authorities. Their company had been known for publishing and distributing books that were critical of China's leaders. Each made public statements through state and Hong Kong media in which they "confessed" to wrongdoing, though observers cast doubt on the authenticity of the statements given China's record of obtaining forced confessions. One of the detainees, after returning to Hong Kong in June, spoke out against the circumstances of his detention and said his confession had been forced and scripted. The case raised concerns about civil liberties and the rule of law in Hong Kong, as it suggested that residents were vulnerable to punishment in the mainland's politically controlled justice system for actions taken at home.

Hong Kong press freedom advocates continued to criticize the creeping growth of pro-Beijing pressure on journalistic expression, accusing media owners of encouraging self-censorship to favor the central government's interests. Meanwhile, students and scholars staged demonstrations against increasing pro-Beijing influence on academic administration.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 16 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 3 / 12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

Hong Kong's 1997 Basic Law calls for the election of a chief executive and a unicameral Legislative Council. Under 2010 electoral reforms, the chief executive, who serves a five-year term, is chosen by a 1,200-member election committee. Some 200,000 "functional constituency" voters  representatives of elite business and social sectors, many with close Beijing ties  elect 900 of the committee's members, and the remaining 300 consist of Legco members, Hong Kong delegates to China's National People's Congress (NPC), religious representatives, and Hong Kong members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an advisory body to the Chinese government.

In 2012, the election committee chose CPPCC member Leung Chun-ying as the chief executive. He won 689 of the 1,050 valid votes cast following an unusually competitive race against two other candidates  Henry Tang, a high-ranking Hong Kong civil servant who took 285 votes, and Democratic Party leader Albert Ho, who secured 76. China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong reportedly lobbied election committee members to vote for Leung and pressured media outlets to remove critical coverage of him ahead of the balloting.

Of the 70 Legco seats, 30 are elected by functional constituency voters, 35 are chosen through direct elections in five geographical constituencies, and the remaining 5 are directly elected after nominations by Hong Kong's 18 district councils from among their own members. All Legco members serve four-year terms.

In the months before the September 2016 Legco elections, the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) announced a measure requiring all candidates to sign a form confirming their belief that Hong Kong is unquestionably a part of China, based on certain Basic Law provisions. The move was seen as an attempt to exclude localist candidates. The EAC ultimately invalidated the nominations of six localist candidates, either for refusal to sign the form or, in the case of some who ultimately did sign, because the EAC was nonetheless unconvinced that they were sincere in changing their previous views on independence. A number of other candidates were approved despite failing to sign the declaration. In October, one of the six disqualified candidates filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the EAC's actions. A hearing was expected in 2017.

Despite the initial obstacles, localist candidates won six seats in the September elections, which featured turnout of 58 percent. Moreover, localist candidates collectively garnered 19 percent of the votes cast in the five geographical constituencies.The results confirmed their status as a small but growing political force, complicating the traditional division between pro-Beijing parties, which won 40 seats, and prodemocracy parties, which won 23 seats. An independent took the remaining seat.

In October, after a number of newly elected localist and prodemocracy Legco members used their swearing-in ceremonies to make political statements, in some cases altering the wording of their oaths, the oaths of two localists  Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching  were rejected. Amid calls for their disqualification, the Legco was eventually adjourned, blocking the two from retaking their oaths. In November, the NPC Standing Committee issued an official interpretation of Basic Law provisions concerning oaths of office, stating that all oaths must be taken "sincerely and solemnly." Subsequently, a court of first instance disqualified Leung and Yau, and the ruling was upheld by the High Court. In December, the two petitioned the Court of Final Appeal. Meanwhile, based on the NPC interpretation, Hong Kong authorities filed cases aimed at disqualifying four prodemocracy Legco members who had already been sworn in and seated.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 7 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

Hong Kong residents' political choices are limited by the semidemocratic electoral system, which ensures the dominance of pro-Beijing interests. While the Basic Law states that universal suffrage is the "ultimate aim," only incremental changes have been permitted to date.

Some 18 political parties are currently represented in the Legco. The largest pro-Beijing party is the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. The main parties in the prodemocracy camp are the Civic Party and the Democratic Party, and key localist groupings include Youngspiration and Civic Passion. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not formally registered in Hong Kong but exercises considerable influence. In March 2016, the Hong Kong Companies Registry refused to register the new Hong Kong National Party on grounds that its proindependence platform constituted illegal activity.

While there are no legal restrictions on ethnic minorities participating in politics or running for office, the Legco had no ethnic minority members as of 2016.

C. Functioning of Government: 6 / 12

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

Directly elected officials have little ability to set and implement government policies under the territory's political system, and mainland authorities are highly influential. The Basic Law restricts the Legco's lawmaking powers, prohibiting legislators from introducing bills that would affect Hong Kong's public spending, governmental operations, or political structure. Most policymaking authority rests with officials who are appointed or indirectly elected in ways that protect Beijing's interests.

Hong Kong is generally regarded as having low corruption rates, and high-ranking officials have been successfully prosecuted for graft-related offenses.

Civil Liberties: 45 / 60 (-2)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 12 / 16

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

The Basic Law upholds freedoms of speech, press, and publication. Residents have access to a variety of print and broadcast news sources. Foreign media generally operate without interference. The mainland's internet censorship regime does not apply in Hong Kong, and residents enjoy unrestricted access to a wide range of sites. However, in recent years the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, as well as businesses with close ties to Beijing, have increased political and economic pressure on media independence.

In December 2015, the mainland e-commerce giant Alibaba acquired the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper, adding to fears that its editorial independence was eroding. The new ownership took effect in April 2016.

In another sign of China's influence, a number of local news outlets appeared to participate in well-established Chinese government tactics of publicly airing dubious "confessions" of guilt without trial. In July and August, for example, the South China Morning Post and Oriental Daily newspapers respectively published "confessions" by legal assistant Zhao Wei and rights defense lawyer Wang Yu, both of whom had been detained in a massive 2015 crackdown against mainland lawyers and activists. Observers questioned the authenticity of the "confessions," and neither newspaper explained how the interviews were arranged, prompting criticism that they had compromised their independence by serving as Chinese government mouthpieces.

The disappearance of the five Hong Kong booksellers in late 2015, and their reemergence in Chinese custody in early 2016, had a chilling effect on expression in the territory, with several vendors declining to distribute books that were critical of Chinese authorities, even though such activity is legal in Hong Kong.

Religious freedom is generally respected in Hong Kong. Adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is persecuted in mainland China, are free to practice in public. However, in recent years they have been confronted and harassed by members of the Hong Kong Youth Care Association (HKYCA), which has ties to the CCP.

University professors can generally write and lecture freely, and political debate on campuses is lively. However, a series of incidents in recent years have stoked concerns that Beijing is putting greater pressure on Hong Kong's academic sphere. In January 2016, student demonstrations and boycotts erupted at the University of Hong Kong to protest the chief executive's appointment of a pro-Beijing official to head the university's governing council. The students' concerns were echoed during the year by a number of public figures and former officials who warned of growing interference by the Hong Kong government and mainland authorities with Hong Kong's colleges and universities.

Private discussion is open and free in Hong Kong, though mainland security agencies are suspected of monitoring the communications of prodemocracy activists.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 8 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

The Basic Law guarantees freedoms of assembly and association. The Public Order Ordinance requires organizers to give police seven days' notice before protests and to obtain official assent, which is rarely denied. However, prosecutions against leading participants in the Umbrella Movement have raised concerns about shrinking space for public assembly and association in Hong Kong. Drawing more than 100,000 people at its peak, the 2014 movement featured long-term encampments that paralyzed key commercial and government districts. Police made only sporadic and partial attempts to break up the camps. Nevertheless, their increased use of baton charges, pepper spray, and arrests to clear the last groups of protesters that year drew fresh criticism. The encampments also faced assaults by counterdemonstrators, many of whom were later found to have links with criminal gangs.

Most of the hundreds of people arrested during the Umbrella Movement were quickly released, although about 160 were later charged. In July 2016, student leaders Joshua Wong and Alex Chow were found guilty of participating in an "unlawful assembly," while colleague Nathan Law was found guilty of "inciting others to take part in an unlawful assembly" under the Public Order Ordinance. However, their sentences were light, ranging from community service to a suspended jail term of three weeks.

Prior to and during a May 2016 visit by Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, authorities took steps to make it difficult for demonstrators to confront the official. Protesters could congregate only in specified areas a long distance away from meeting venues, and prodemocracy protesters were arrested for trying to hang banners demanding universal suffrage.

Also in 2016, annual mass demonstrations on June 4 and July 1, marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China, drew tens of thousands of people without major incident.

Hong Kong hosts a vibrant and largely unfettered nongovernmental organization (NGO) sector, including a number of groups that focus on human rights in mainland China. Trade unions are independent, but collective-bargaining rights are not recognized, and protections against antiunion discrimination are weak.

F. Rule of Law: 12 / 16 (-2)

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

The judiciary is largely independent, and the trial process is generally fair. However, the NPC reserves the right to make final interpretations of the Basic Law, effectively limiting the power of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal. The NPC's November 2016 interpretation regarding oaths of office was unusual in a number of respects, particularly the fact that it was issued without a request from the Hong Kong government and before the local courts had ruled on the matter in question. It was therefore seen as a blow to the independence of the territory's legal system. Critics also noted that the interpretation introduced subjective concepts like "sincerity" and "solemnity" that could lead to politicized enforcement.

Police are forbidden by law to employ torture, disappearance, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other forms of abuse. They generally respect this ban in practice, and complaints of abuse are investigated. However, the case of the five booksellers cast doubt on Hong Kong's capacity to protect its residents from similar abuses by mainland authorities.

Before their disappearances in late 2015, one of the five men was last seen in Thailand, three were last seen in mainland China, and the fifth was apparently abducted directly from Hong Kong by Chinese agents. In January 2016, letters purportedly from one of the men stated that he was willingly cooperating with authorities in China, and that there was no need for concern. Chinese authorities confirmed his detention later that month. Also in January, a second bookseller was paraded on China's state television, where he "confessed" to his involvement in an unrelated fatal car accident years earlier. In February, the remaining three men appeared on Hong Kong's Phoenix TV, admitting to distributing unlicensed books on the mainland and confirming that they too were detained by Chinese authorities.

Eventually, four of the five booksellers were allowed to return to Hong Kong, but three stayed only briefly, and one  Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen  remained detained on the mainland under suspicion of unnamed "criminal activities." Gui's family and the Swedish government were not told of his whereabouts or any charges against him, rendering him forcibly disappeared under international law. One of the returnees, Lam Wing-kee, held a news conference in June to describe his detention by Chinese authorities on the mainland. He said they interrogated him about his company's activities, including information about both authors and consumers of certain politically sensitive books, and forced him to read a scripted public "confession." He refused to return to mainland China despite orders to do so from Chinese police.

Hong Kong authorities insisted that they were not informed by mainland authorities about the circumstances of the disappearances, prompting concern about the system of reciprocal notification of cross-border detentions that is supposed to be in place between Hong Kong and the mainland. Officials emphasized that it is not legally possible to hand a Hong Kong resident over to Chinese authorities without an extradition agreement. However, police dropped an investigation into the abduction of Lee Bo, the bookseller who was allegedly seized in Hong Kong and smuggled across the border to the mainland, at the request of Lee and his family.

Citizens are generally treated equally under the law, though South Asian minorities face language barriers and de facto discrimination in education and employment. Antidiscrimination laws do not specifically protect LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people.

More than 11,000 refugees were thought to be in Hong Kong as of June 2016, with most coming from South or Southeast Asia. While the government does not accept refugees for settlement, it does offer protection from refoulement, and those deemed eligible can be referred to UN officials for third-country resettlement. However, only 52 of more than 8,000 claims have been approved by authorities since 2009, raising serious doubts about the fairness of the process.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 13 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

Hong Kong residents generally enjoy freedom of movement, though authorities periodically deny entry to visiting political activists and Falun Gong practitioners, raising suspicions of a Beijing-imposed blacklist. While property rights are largely respected, collusion among powerful businessmen with political connections is perceived as an impediment to fair economic competition.

Women in Hong Kong are protected by law from discrimination and abuse. However, they continue to face de facto inequality in employment opportunities, salary, inheritance, and welfare. Only 11 of the 70 Legco members are women, and there are no women on the Court of Final Appeal.

Hong Kong remains a destination and transit point for human trafficking linked to sexual exploitation and forced labor. The territory's roughly 330,000 foreign household workers are vulnerable to abuse. They are often required by recruitment agencies to pay exorbitant fees, and since they may face deportation if dismissed, many are reluctant to bring complaints against employers. There have been reports of abuses against sex workers by law enforcement officers, including entrapment and other misuses of police powers. There are also reports of discrimination by police and correctional officers against sex workers who identify as transgender, and an overall unwillingness of sex workers to report assaults out of fear of prosecution for solicitation.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - France

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - France, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e2334.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 90/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 1.5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 1/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 2/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 64,600,000

Capital: Paris

GDP/capita: $36,206

Press Freedom Status: Free

Net Freedom Status: Free

OVERVIEW

The French political system features vibrant democratic processes and generally strong protections for civil liberties and political rights. However, due to a number of deadly terrorist attacks in recent years, the government has been increasingly willing to curtail constitutional protections and empower law enforcement to act in ways that impinge on personal freedoms. Anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments have also become features of the political community.

Key Developments

Multiple incidents of terrorist violence, including a July attack in Nice that killed 86 people, led to repeated extensions of a state of emergency, in place since November 2015.

Beginning in late July, around 30 municipal governments issued short-term bans on the burkini, a full-body swimsuit, citing fears about the garment's links to Islamist extremism; the bans, as well as continuing concerns about terrorism, fueled public debate about French policies toward immigration and Islam.

In November, the Republican Party conducted its first primary campaign ever, and voters selected former prime minister Francois Fillon to be the party's nominee for president in the 2017 election.

Executive Summary

Several terrorist attacks took place in France in 2016, and security concerns continued to influence political discussions and decisions. In June, a man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) killed a police commander and his wife in Magnanville. In July, a man drove a truck through a crowd that had gathered for a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, killing 86 people and injuring more than 300. Although IS claimed responsibility for the attack, police had not uncovered definitive evidence of operational links between the driver and the terrorist group at year's end. Also in July, two men claiming affiliation with IS stormed a Catholic church in Normandy during a mass, taking multiple hostages before brutally murdering the priest.

These and other attacks led the government to repeatedly extend France's state of emergency, first declared in November 2015 after a string of coordinated attacks in Paris. Local and international rights groups have criticized the extensions, voicing concerns with the French authorities' power to conduct raids, make arrests, block websites, and restrict free expression with little judicial oversight under the state of emergency. As part of its international campaign against terrorism, France continued its participation in a military coalition against IS, conducting air strikes and ground operations against targets in Iraq and Syria.

Political parties began laying the groundwork for the 2017 presidential election. Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front (FN) and a strong proponent of anti-immigration and Euroskeptic views, was widely expected to perform strongly in the vote. In December, incumbent president Francois Hollande announced he would not seek reelection, creating an open contest for the Socialist Party (PS) nomination. Against a backdrop of terrorist attacks, continuing migration flows from the Middle East and North Africa, and preparations for the election, public discussion was dominated by concerns about security, religion, and immigration during the year. In July and August, the mayors of more than two dozen towns issued short-term bans on the burkini based on security concerns, citing fears about the garment's links to Islamist extremism. In August, the Council of State, the highest administrative court in the country, ruled that the bans violate fundamental freedoms.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 38 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

The French president and members of the lower house of Parliament, the 577-seat National Assembly, are elected to five-year terms. The upper house, the 348-seat Senate, is an indirectly elected body whose members serve six-year terms. The prime minister is appointed by the president, who is elected by direct, universal suffrage in a two-round system. In the 2012 presidential election, Hollande  a PS candidate  won the first round with 28.6 percent of the vote, beating incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), who took 27.2 percent. Le Pen, leading the FN, placed third with 17.9 percent of the vote. Hollande won the election in the runoff, taking 51.6 percent of the vote to Sarkozy's 48.4 percent, and became France's first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995.

In 2012, the center-left PS and its allies won an absolute majority of 314 seats in the National Assembly, while the UMP and its allies took 229 seats. In the 2014 Senate elections, the PS lost its majority to the UMP and the center-right Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), while the FN won two seats  its first ever in the upper chamber.

In regional elections held in 2015, the FN led the first round of voting in 6 of the 13 regions at stake. The PS then withdrew from some races to encourage its supporters to vote for the Republicans  the successor of the UMP, which changed its name in May  in order to block the FN, which failed to win any regions in the second round.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 15 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

Parties organize and compete on a free and fair basis. The PS and the Republicans are the largest parties. Since taking over the FN in 2011, Le Pen has sought to normalize the party by toning down its more extreme rhetoric, but its politics remain anchored in anti-immigration, anti-Islam and antiEuropean Union (EU) sentiments.

In November 2016, the Republicans organized a primary to choose their candidate for the 2017 presidential election. Fillon beat Bordeaux mayor and former prime minister Alain Juppe decisively in the second round, after Sarkozy was eliminated in the first round. The PS scheduled its primary for January 2017.

In August, Emanuel Macron announced his resignation from the position of economy minister in order to mount a bid for the presidential election. Macron is set to run under the banner of his newly established political party, En Marche! (Forward!).

The 2012 parliamentary elections yielded a record of eight new members from immigrant backgrounds. Nevertheless, they comprised less than 2 percent of the National Assembly, prompting renewed calls from minority rights groups for a law ensuring ethnic diversity in politics.

C. Functioning of Government: 11 / 12

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

A number of corruption cases linked to Sarkozy's presidency continued in 2016. In February, prosecutors brought charges against him for exceeding the legal spending limits on his 2012 reelection bid. The charges alleged that Sarkozy colluded with a public relations firm, Bygmalion, to falsify invoices that hid the extent of the company's spending on his campaign. Thirteen others, including Bygmalion executives and former Sarkozy aides, were also charged in connection to the case. In September, prosecutors recommended that the charges proceed to a full trial, though a final decision was not reached by year's end. Separately, in December, Christine Lagarde, a managing director at the International Monetary Fund and France's finance minister under Sarkozy, was convicted of negligence in the use of public funds. However, the court did not impose a sentence, leaving Lagarde without a penalty or a criminal record.

France was ranked 23 out of 176 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index. In December 2016, Transparency France released a positive assessment of the country's anticorruption efforts under Hollande, including the establishment of new anticorruption bodies and a special prosecutor's office focusing on tax evasion. Many of these efforts were inaugurated following revelations in 2013 that France's budget minister, Jerome Cahuzac, had engaged in tax fraud. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in December 2016.

French law provides for public access to government information. France ranked 7 out of 102 countries assessed in the 2015 Open Budget Index, indicating very high levels of budgetary transparency and financial disclosure.

Civil Liberties: 52 / 60 (-1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 14 / 16

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

The media operate freely and represent a wide range of political opinions. Though a law from 1881 forbids "offending" various personages, including the president and foreign heads of state, the press is lively and critical in practice.

A 2014 counterterrorism law empowered authorities to block websites and bring criminal charges for incitement or glorification of terrorism, with penalties reaching seven years in prison. France's state-run privacy commission reported that between November 2015 and April 2016, French authorities used the law to take down more than 1,000 pieces of content from the internet, delist nearly 400 web addresses from search results, and block 68 websites. By the end of 2016, France had blocked more than 800 websites and delisted nearly 2,000 from search results, mostly over alleged support for terrorism.

The constitution protects freedom of religion. Strong antidefamation laws prohibit religiously motivated attacks, and Holocaust denial is illegal. France maintains the policy of laicite, whereby religion and state affairs are strictly separated, though the government maintains relationships with organizations representing the country's three major religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). France's relationship with its Muslim community has grown increasingly fraught in the wake of terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016. Islamophobic rhetoric from prominent politicians on both the left and right is not uncommon. Domestic monitors recorded numerous offenses against Muslims in 2016. These included more than 400 cases of discrimination, nearly 40 physical assaults, 25 attacks on mosques and other religious buildings, and nearly 100 instances of verbal harassment. However, the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, a domestic organization, noted that the total number of recorded incidents was lower in 2016 than in previous years.

There are no restrictions on academic freedom in France. Private discussion is open and vibrant. However, in 2015, Parliament approved a new law granting the government expanded powers to conduct domestic surveillance, including bulk collection of communications data as well as wider authority to use hidden cameras and microphones. The law authorizes the use of sophisticated intelligence technology to intercept all telephone conversations, text messages, and emails in targeted areas. The law only prescribes limited judicial oversight of these activities.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 11 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

Freedoms of assembly and association are normally respected, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can generally operate freely. However, in September 2016, the FN mayor of the town of Hayange ordered the local branch of the major NGO Secours Populaire Francais (French Popular Relief) to vacate its offices for allegedly engaging in pro-immigrant political activities. The group refused and continued to operate despite the eviction order, prompting the town to cut off utilities to the premises. The standoff had not been resolved at year's end.

Trade unions are strong despite declining membership and a lack of legal protections relative to more corporatist European countries. Beginning in March, thousands protested at recurrent demonstrations against changes to the country's labor code, which would have reduced protections for workers. Violent clashes with police led to a number of individuals receiving serious injuries, including a student who lost an eye in April and a man who was put into a coma in May. Only 48 cases of misconduct were opened against officers in subsequent months, a figure that watchdogs judged to be too low given the scale of the police response.

F. Rule of Law: 13 / 16

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

France has an independent judiciary, and the rule of law generally prevails in court proceedings. However, the state of emergency imposed after the November 2015 attacks in Paris has allowed authorities to take extraordinary measures, including conducting raids, detentions, and house arrests of suspects without warrants or judicial oversight. The order was extended multiple times in 2016. In December, Parliament voted to keep it in place until the conclusion of the 2017 presidential election. According to Amnesty International, by the end of 2016, authorities had conducted more than 4,000 raids, upwards of 600 house arrests, and nearly 1,700 identity checks or car searches under the state of emergency. The report noted that these efforts have produced only 20 judicial investigations of terrorism-related crimes, leading many to criticize the maneuvers as too expansive.

In May 2016, the UN Committee against Torture criticized France over its use of excessive force during police operations conducted under the state of emergency. It also condemned the difficulty victims encountered in filing complaints, the failure to collect statistical data related to excessive force complaints, and inadequate consequences for officers who commit such actions.

Migrants and refugees in France continue to suffer both from societal discrimination and abuse by government officials. In October, authorities dismantled the makeshift migrant camp at Calais, which had grown notorious for its squalid conditions. The camp's residents  who by some estimates numbered as high as 9,000  were transported to alternative shelters. Surging immigration and refugee flows from Muslim-majority countries have exacerbated anti-Muslim sentiment, vandalism of mosques, verbal assaults, and xenophobic graffiti.

French law forbids the categorization of people according to ethnic origin, and no official statistics are collected on ethnicity. Discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited by law. New legislation, passed in October 2016, scrapped the requirement that transgender people undergo sterilization in order to legally change their gender.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 14 / 16 (-1)

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

There are normally no restrictions on freedom of travel or choice of residence or employment in France, but a number of exceptions have been made in recent years. A 2014 counterterrorism law imposed a travel ban on anyone suspected of planning to become a jihadist; the passports of such individuals can be confiscated for a period of six months to two years. Separately, under the state of emergency still in force, authorities are empowered to place individuals under house arrest, require them to report to police stations, and confiscate their passports without prior judicial authorization. Hundreds of individuals have been confined to house arrest since the order was first implemented

Private businesses are free to operate. In 2015, the government pushed through measures to liberalize multiple sectors of the economy; these measures aim to ease entry to certain professions, simplify the firing of employees, and allow businesses to open on Sundays in areas frequented by tourists. In August 2016, major reforms to the labor code were enacted, further shifting power over hiring, firing, and working conditions to businesses and away from labor.

Gender equality is protected in France, and constitutional reforms in 2008 institutionalized economic and social equality. After the 2012 elections, women held a record 27 percent of seats in the National Assembly. France legalized same-sex marriage in 2013.

A number of French laws on dress disproportionately affect women. A 2004 law bans "ostentatious" religious symbols in schools; Muslim girls' headscarves were widely seen as the main target of this law. In July 2016, more than 30 municipalities instituted short-term bans on burkinis, a type of full-body swimwear used by some Muslim women. In August, the country's highest administrative court struck down one town's ban on constitutional grounds. However, some mayors have refused to abide by the ruling, claiming that the decision does not apply to towns that were not parties in the suit.

Civil rights groups and scholars have reported evidence of labor market discrimination against women, French Muslims, immigrants of North African decent, and others outside the traditional elite. While France's government takes actions against human trafficking, the problem persists in the commercial sex trade; some victims are also forced into domestic labor.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - Crimea

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - Crimea, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e264.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 9/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 6.5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 7/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 6/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 2,300,000

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

OVERVIEW

In early 2014, Russian forces invaded the autonomous Ukrainian region of Crimea, which was then quickly incorporated into the Russian Federation through a referendum that was widely condemned as having been conducted in violation of international law. The occupation government severely limits political and civil rights, has silenced independent media, and employs antiterrorism and other laws against political dissidents. Some members of the peninsula's indigenous Tatar minority continue to vocally oppose the annexation, despite the risk of imprisonment.

Key Developments

In November, the International Criminal Court stated in preliminary findings that the annexation of Crimea constituted a violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and was "equivalent to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."

In September, elections for the Russian State Duma were held in Crimea. Local rights activists reported that some residents were threatened with dismissal from their jobs if they failed to vote, or were pressured to attend a preelection rally for Russian president Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.

Crimean Tatar activist Ervin Ibragimov was abducted in May, and his whereabouts were unknown at year's end.

Executive Summary

Russian occupation authorities enforced their control over Crimea for a third year in 2016, notably repressing Crimean Tatar activists, further limiting the media available to Crimean residents, and pressuring local voters to participate in Russia's State Duma elections in September. In August, President Putin claimed that Russia had thwarted an incursion into the territory by Ukrainian saboteurs planning terrorist acts, though he provided little evidence to support the allegations, which Ukrainian authorities said were fabricated. The following day, Putin accused Ukraine of attempting to provoke violence in Crimea, and Russian officials announced naval exercises in the Black Sea. Separately, Russian authorities banned the Mejlis, the official but nongovernmental representative body of the Crimean Tatar people, purportedly because its members engaged in "extremist activity." Both episodes reflected Russian authorities' strategy of pointing to the alleged presence of extremists as justification for tightening their grip on the territory.

In addition to the Mejlis closure, occupation authorities  whose leadership was largely imposed by Moscow and included individuals with ties to organized crime  continued to harass members of the Crimean Tatar minority, with the most outspoken activists facing political persecution. Since the 2014 invasion, Tatar media outlets have been shuttered and many Tatar-owned businesses arbitrarily closed.

While some Crimeans hoped that the Russian occupation would improve their standard of living, prices for many goods have soared, wages and pensions have not kept pace, and the important tourism and agriculture industries are under heavy strain.

The international community continues to oppose the Russian occupation of Crimea. In late 2016, the United States imposed new sanctions against Russian firms and individuals doing business in Crimea  particularly those involved in the construction of a bridge connecting the peninsula to the Russian mainland  and against a number of officials in the occupation government.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: -1 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 0 / 12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

Under the administrative system established by Russia, the Crimean Peninsula is divided into the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol, a port of roughly 380,000 residents that had also been governed separately under Ukrainian control. Sevastopol's political institutions largely mirror those of Crimea proper.

The head of the Republic of Crimea is elected by its legislature, the State Council of Crimea, for up to two consecutive five-year terms. Lawmakers choose the leader based on a list of nominees prepared by the Russian president. In October 2014, they unanimously elected Sergey Aksyonov as the head of the republic, and he simultaneously served as prime minister. Aksyonov had been the acting leader of Crimea since February 2014, when a group of armed men forced legislators to elect him prime minister at gunpoint. He had reputedly been involved in organized crime during the 1990s.

The State Council consists of 75 members elected for a term of five years.Two-thirds of the members are elected by party list and one-third in single-member districts. Legislative elections under the Russian-organized Crimean constitution took place in September 2014, on the same day as Russia's regional elections. All of the parties allowed to participate supported the annexation, pro-Ukraine parties were excluded, and the Tatar minority boycotted the voting. The ruling party in Russia, United Russia, took 70 seats, while the ultranationalist LDPR (formerly known as the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) secured the remaining 5 seats. No other parties crossed the 5 percent vote threshold to enter the legislature. The elections received little international recognition.

In September 2016 the occupation authorities conducted elections for the Russian State Duma in Crimea. Local rights activists reported that public- and private-sector workers were threatened with dismissal from their jobs if they failed to vote, and some municipal officials were pressured to attend a preelection rally for United Russia.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 0 / 16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

The occupation authorities use intimidation and harassment to eliminate any public opposition to Russia's annexation of Crimea and to the current government. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the local police, and "self-defense" units made up of pro-Russian residents enforce this political order. Ukrainian political parties are not able to operate, and the Crimean Tatars  the only group that has continued to openly oppose the Russian occupation  have faced considerable political persecution. The headquarters of the 33-member Mejlis, the Tatars' representative body, was seized and closed by the authorities in 2014. The incumbent chairman of the body, Refat Chubarov, and Tatar leader have been banned from the territory since then. In April 2016, the Russian Justice Ministry suspended the Mejlis for "extremist activity." A week later, Crimea's Supreme Court formally banned the Mejlis, and the Russian Supreme Court confirmed the decision in September.

Political dissidents are subject to harassment, arrest, and persecution. Tatar activist Ervin Ibragimov was abducted in May 2016, and his whereabouts were unknown at year's end. Ilmi Umerov, a former Mejlis deputy chairman who has vocally rejected the annexation, was forced into a psychiatric hospital in August. He was released three weeks later, but faced charges under a section of the Russian criminal code allowing authorities to prosecute public opposition to the annexation. Several Tatar activists were arrested in October and charged with belonging to the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia.

C. Functioning of Government: 0 / 12

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

All major policy decisions are made in Moscow and executed by Putin's representatives in Crimea or the local authorities, who were not freely elected and are beholden to Moscow. The collapse of the territory's key tourism and agricultural sectors following the occupation has left Crimea heavily reliant on Russian subsidies. International sanctions and the lack of a land connection to Russia put the region under severe logistical stress.

Bureaucratic infighting, corruption scandals, and tensions between federal and local authorities interfered with governance in 2016, particularly as various Russian companies sought access to Crimea's assets. The FSB has arrested a number of Crimean officials as part of an ostensible campaign against the territory's widespread corruption. Many of the arrests were related to allegations that local authorities embezzled Russian funds meant to support the occupation.

Additional Discretionary Political Rights Question B: -1/0

Is the government or occupying power deliberately changing the ethnic composition of a country or territory so as to destroy a culture or tip the political balance in favor of another group?



1. Is the government providing economic or other incentives to certain people in order to change the ethnic composition of a region or regions?



2. Is the government forcibly moving people in or out of certain areas in order to change the ethnic composition of those regions?



3. Is the government arresting, imprisoning, or killing members of certain ethnic groups in order change the ethnic composition of a region or regions?

Russian and local pro-Russian officials' policies and actions in Crimea have led to an influx of 30,000 to 35,000 Russian troops and additional civilian personnel, an outflow of many ethnic Ukrainians, and the persecution of ethnic Tatars. The Russian occupation also represents a major setback to Tatars' long-term campaign to reestablish property and other rights that were lost in a Soviet-era mass deportation of the group.

Civil Liberties: 9 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 3 / 16

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

Free speech is severely limited in Crimea. In addition to other restrictive Russian laws, an amendment to the Russian criminal code that took effect in 2014 banned public calls for action aimed at violating Russia's territorial integrity, meaning statements against the annexation, including in the media, can be punished with up to five years in prison.

The Russian telecommunications agency Roskomnadzor required all media outlets to seek registration under Russian regulations by April 2015. Before the annexation, there were approximately 3,000 outlets in Crimea. After the 2015 deadline, Roskomnadzor reported that 232 outlets were registered and authorized to operate. The occupation authorities have essentially cut the territory off from access to Ukrainian television, with armed men seizing the transmission centers in 2014 and imposing Russian broadcasts. Independent and pro-Ukraine media no longer function in Crimea, nor do outlets serving the Tatar community.

Crimea's internet service providers must operate under Russia's draconian media laws. In April 2016, journalist Mykola Semena of the news website Krym.Realii, the Crimean service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was taken into custody in connection with an article in which he expressed support for a civic blockade of the peninsula imposed by Ukrainian activists. He faced a possible five-year prison sentence for extremism. Also during the year, the authorities took steps to block online news outlets including Krym.Realii, Sobytiya Kryma, ATR, and Chernomorskaya TRC.

The occupation authorities have forced religious organizations to reregister. At the time of annexation, there were approximately 1,400 registered religious groups in Crimea and 674 additional communities operating without registration. As of August 2015, there were only 53 locally registered religious organizations, in addition to a few groups registered through an alternative procedure in Moscow. Mosques associated with Crimean Tatars have been denied permission to register. Followers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has not been banned, face pressure from occupation authorities. In October 2016, a Ukrainian Orthodox official was briefly detained upon returning to Crimea after attending a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), at which he condemned the repression of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians and of the Ukrainian language in Crimea.

Schools must use the Russian state curriculum. Instruction in the Ukrainian language has been almost completely eliminated, and authorities have also drastically reduced the availability of education in the Tatar language.

The FSB reportedly encourages residents to inform on individuals who express opposition to the annexation, and a climate of fear and intimidation seriously inhibits private discussion of political matters.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 1 / 12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

Freedoms of assembly and association are restricted. The de facto authorities, including the FSB, repress all independent political and civic organizations. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are subject to harsh Russian laws that enable state interference and obstruct foreign funding.

Trade union rights are formally protected under Russian law, but limited in practice. As in both Ukraine and Russia, employers are often able to engage in antiunion discrimination and violate collective-bargaining rights. Pro-Russian authorities have threatened to nationalize property owned by labor unions in Crimea.

F. Rule of Law: 0 / 16

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

Under Moscow's rule, Crimea is subject to the Russian judicial system, which lacks independence and is effectively dominated by the executive branch. Russian laws bar dual citizenship for public officials, and Crimean judges were required to receive Russian citizenship in order to return to their positions after the annexation.

Crimes attributed to "self-defense" units and other pro-Russian forces since 2014  including the alleged murder of some activists, abductions and disappearances, and arbitrary expropriations  have gone unpunished. Russia continues to imprison prominent dissidents such as Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who actively opposed Russia's annexation of Crimea, and his codefendant, activist Oleksandr Kolchenko, both of whom received lengthy prison sentences in 2015. Sentsov has reported abuse in custody, and many international leaders and human rights organizations designated the two as political prisoners.

After the annexation, Crimea became subject to Russia's 2013 law banning dissemination of information that promotes "nontraditional sexual relationships," which tightly restricts the activities of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people and organizations.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 6 / 16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

The occupation authorities have sought to compel Crimea's residents to accept Russian citizenship and surrender their Ukrainian passports. Those who fail to do so face the threat of dismissal from employment, loss of property rights, inability to travel to mainland Ukraine and elsewhere, and eventual deportation as foreigners.

Property rights are poorly protected, and the Russian invasion has resulted in a redistribution of assets in favor of Russian and pro-Russian entities. The occupation authorities have seized Ukrainian state property, and a law passed by the Crimean legislature in 2014 allows the government to condemn and purchase "strategic" assets.

Same-sex marriage is not legal under Russian law. Government officials demonstrate little interest in or understanding of gender-equality issues. Domestic violence against women remains a serious problem in Crimea, and Russian laws do not offer strong protections. Discrimination on the basis of gender, physical appearance, and age is not uncommon. Women hold 14 of the 75 seats in the State Council of Crimea.

As in both Ukraine and Russia, migrant workers, women, and children are vulnerable to trafficking for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2017 - China

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 15 April 2017 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2017 - China, 15 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58ff3e276.html [accessed 9 November 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 15/100 (0 = Least Free, 100 = Most Free)

Freedom Rating: 6.5/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Political Rights: 7/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Civil Liberties: 6/7 (1 = Most Free, 7 = Least Free)

Quick Facts

Population: 1,378,000,000

Capital: Beijing

GDP/capita: $8,028

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

OVERVIEW

The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has tightened its control over the media, religious groups, and civil society associations in recent years. A renewed push for party supremacy and ideological conformity has undermined rule of law reforms and curtailed civil and political rights. The state president and CCP leader, Xi Jinping, is consolidating personal power to a degree not seen in China for decades. Faced with a slowing economy, the leadership continues to cultivate nationalism, including hostile anti-Western rhetoric, as a pillar of legitimacy. China's budding civil society and human rights movements have struggled in the midst of a multiyear crackdown.

Key Developments

In February, Xi Jinping held a series of meetings in which he demanded renewed loyalty to the CCP and ideological conformity from both official and commercial media outlets, and challenged them to take more innovative approaches to shaping public opinion.

A new law on foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), adopted in April, was expected to significantly constrict the activities of groups working on politically sensitive issues by imposing stringent registration requirements and granting supervisory authority to public security agencies, though it also helped clarify the nebulous regulatory system for NGOs.

A party work conference on religion held in April, the first since 2001, laid out the leadership's plans to tighten control over religious organizations and activities.

The authorities' crackdown on civil society continued throughout the year, with arrests and criminal prosecutions of bloggers, activists, and human rights lawyers.

Executive Summary

Xi Jinping, who took office as general secretary of the CCP in November 2012, continued to concentrate personal power in 2016 to an extent not seen in China for decades. The slowing economy made the leadership's promotion of nationalism, with an increasingly hostile anti-Western tone, a key CCP strategy for continued legitimacy. The authorities also stepped up efforts to suppress growing independent labor activism linked to the country's economic situation.

Official rhetoric and propaganda presented party supremacy as essential to the "rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" and to China's national security. The latter was increasingly cited to justify criminal prosecutions of civil society and democracy activists, human rights lawyers, and bloggers. Xi took his vision of ideological conformity to new heights during the year, demanding that cadres demonstrate absolute loyalty to the party line and doubling down on media censorship. Online speech deemed politically sensitive by the authorities was punished with imprisonment.

Prominent human rights lawyers and democracy proponents arrested in a sweeping crackdown that began in July 2015 received especially harsh prison terms in 2016, signaling the leadership's intolerance for their activism. Limited reforms to prevent miscarriages of justice continued to be implemented, but they were critically undermined by the CCP's intensified efforts to retain political control over the judiciary.

A plan for "comprehensive management" of all religious activity and organizations and the "Sinicization" of religion in China, laid out at an April party conference, further restricted the scope for religious freedoms. The government continued to impose conditions approaching martial law in Tibetan- and Uighur-populated regions of the country, refusing to reassess failed policies of repression for these ethnic minority groups.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 1/40

A. Electoral Process: 0/12

A1. Is the head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections?

A2. Are the national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

A3. Are the electoral laws and framework fair?

The CCP has a monopoly on political power, and its Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) sets government and party policy. At the 18th Party Congress in 2012, a new PSC  headed by Xi Jinping  was announced, the outcome of opaque intraparty politics. Xi, the CCP general secretary, also holds the position of state president, and serves as chairman of the state and party military commissions. He heads an unusually large number of "leading groups" that give him direct supervision over domestic security, economic reform, internet management, ethnic relations, and other policy areas. Xi was expected to consolidate his power further at a party congress planned for 2017, when five of the PSC's seven incumbent members were due to retire.

The 3,000 members of the National People's Congress (NPC) are formally elected for five-year terms by subnational congresses, but in practice candidates are vetted by the CCP. The NPC formally elects the state president for up to two five-year terms, and confirms the premier after they are nominated by the president. However, only the NPC standing committee meets regularly, with the full congress convening for just two weeks a year to approve proposed legislation; party organs and the executive State Council effectively control lawmaking. The current NPC was seated in March 2013 and named Xi as state president that month.

Although independent candidates who obtain the signatures of 10 supporters are by law allowed to run for seats on the lowest, county-level people's congresses, in practice they are prevented from getting their names on the ballot through intimidation, harassment, and in some cases detention, and only a very small number of independent candidates have actually gained office in elections. Nevertheless, dozens of individuals sought office as independent candidates in 2016. Elections for village committees are also supposed to give residents the chance to choose their representatives, but in practice they are frequently undermined by fraud, corruption, and attacks on independent candidates and their supporters. Lin Zuluan  who was popularly elected in 2012 as head of the Guangdong Province village of Wukan after leading widely publicized protests against land grabs by local officials  was sentenced in September 2016 to three years in prison on corruption charges that were seen as retaliation for his continued activism.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 1/16

B1. Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

B2. Is there a significant opposition vote and a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections?

B3. Are the people's political choices free from domination by the military, foreign powers, totalitarian parties, religious hierarchies, economic oligarchies, or any other powerful group?

B4. Do cultural, ethnic, religious, or other minority groups have full political rights and electoral opportunities?

The CCP seeks to monopolize all forms of political organization and harshly punishes democracy activists. Democracy advocate and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo remained behind bars in 2016, having been sentenced in 2009 to 11 years in prison for his role in organizing the prodemocracy manifesto Charter 08. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under strict extralegal house arrest since 2010.

The scope for political participation narrowed further in 2016 as NGOs came under intensified pressure, particularly policy advocacy groups, including those working in areas that were previously not considered sensitive, such as the environment and women's rights. The continued imprisonment of Xu Zhiyong and others associated with his New Citizens Movement  a loosely affiliated network of individuals seeking to promote the rule of law, transparency, and human rights that was targeted in a 2013 crackdown  signaled the leadership's persistent intolerance of autonomous civic initiatives.

Restrictions on political activity remain especially harsh for ethnic minorities, including Tibetans, Uighurs, and Mongolians. Even the organization of seemingly benign social activities among such groups is perceived as threatening by the authorities. Hada, a prominent Mongolian activist, remains under de facto house arrest after 15 years in prison and four years of extralegal detention; he had been imprisoned on "separatism" and "espionage" charges in apparent retaliation for his advocacy for the rights of ethnic Mongolians. Ilham Tohti, a peaceful advocate for Uighur human rights now serving a life sentence following a 2014 separatism conviction, has been denied family visits; his wife reports that he has been held in solitary confinement, and supporters have expressed concern about his health.

C. Functioning of Government: 2/12

C1. Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government?

C2. Is the government free from pervasive corruption?

C3. Is the government accountable to the electorate between elections, and does it operate with openness and transparency?

The continuing concentration of power in Xi Jinping's hands, an emerging Mao-like cult of personality, and Xi's calls for greater ideological conformity and party supremacy have elicited criticism, even from within the establishment.

Since becoming CCP leader in 2012, Xi has pursued one of the most extensive and relentless anticorruption campaigns since the beginning of the reform era. Scores of senior state and party officials had been investigated and punished by the end of 2016, including from the security apparatus, the military, the Foreign Ministry, state-owned enterprises, and state media. Former high-ranking general Guo Boxiong was sentenced to life in prison in July, and General Wang Jianping, deputy chief of the Central Military Commission's Joint Staff Department, was put under investigation in December. However, the anticorruption effort remains selective and opaque, and authorities have failed to adopt basic reforms that would address corruption more comprehensively, such as requiring officials to publicly disclose their assets, creating genuinely independent oversight bodies, and allowing independent media and civic activists to function as watchdogs.

Since open-government regulations took effect in 2008, more official documents and information have been made available to the public. However, resistance on the part of government organs to providing specific information requested by citizens has dampened initial optimism. Local experiments aimed at increasing the transparency of budget-making processes have remained limited in scope, and officials have yet to disclose budgets at all levels of government. Citizens who were part of the movement to make officials disclose their assets have been arrested and monitored.

Additional Discretionary Political Rights Question B: -2/0

Is the government or occupying power deliberately changing the ethnic composition of a country or territory so as to destroy a culture or tip the political balance in favor of another group?



1. Is the government providing economic or other incentives to certain people in order to change the ethnic composition of a region or regions?



2. Is the government forcibly moving people in or out of certain areas in order to change the ethnic composition of those regions?



3. Is the government arresting, imprisoning, or killing members of certain ethnic groups in order change the ethnic composition of a region or regions?

The government continued to pursue policies, including large-scale resettlement and work-transfer programs, that have altered the demography of ethnic minority regions, especially the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia, contributing to a steady increase of Han Chinese as a proportion of the regional populations. Cash incentives encourage Uighur families to have fewer children than the permitted three-child limit for ethnic minorities, and in some locales authorities have intensified crackdowns on "unauthorized births." Marriages between Uighurs and Han Chinese are also supported with cash rewards. Ostensibly bilingual education programs promote the use of Mandarin Chinese as the language of instruction and discourage the use of the Uighur language, with the result that increasing numbers of Uighur children are unable to speak Uighur fluently. [Note: Tibet is examined in a separate report.]

Civil Liberties: 14/60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 3/16 (-1)

D1. Are there free and independent media and other forms of cultural expression?

D2. Are religious institutions and communities free to practice their faith and express themselves in public and private?

D3. Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

D4. Is there open and free private discussion?

Citizens continued to be punished, often harshly, for publicizing critical views of the authorities online or to foreign media in 2016. Writer and activist Zhang Haitao was sentenced in January to 19 years in prison on charges of "incitement to subvert state power" for criticizing the government's record in Xinjiang in online articles and interviews with overseas media. Citizen journalists are routinely detained, harassed, and in some cases criminally charged. Wang Jing, a citizen reporter for the human rights website 64 Tianwang, was sentenced in April in Jilin Province to four years and 10 months in prison. The founder of 64 Tianwang, Huang Qi, was formally arrested in December on the charge of "illegally supplying state secrets overseas." Also that month, a citizen journalist and founder of Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch, Liu Feiyue, was formally arrested for "incitement to subvert state power." Lu Yuyu and Li Tingyu, who had documented tens of thousands of protests throughout China, were criminally detained in June and remained behind bars at year's end. The Committee to Protect Journalists identified 38 journalists in prison in China, the second-largest figure worldwide after Turkey's, as of December 2016.

Harassment of foreign journalists continued during the year, including physical abuse, detention to prevent meetings with certain individuals, intimidation of Chinese sources and staff, withholding or threatening to withhold visas, surveillance, and hostile editorials in state media. Whole regions of the country, including Tibet and Xinjiang, remain virtually off-limits to foreign journalists except through officially controlled visits.

Internet service providers are required to block websites and delete content as instructed by censors. Thousands of websites have been blocked, many for years, including major news and social media hubs like the New York Times, Le Monde, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Xi Jinping increased pressure on official and commercial media to ramp up censorship efforts and strictly adhere to party directives in 2016. During February visits to the headquarters of the People's Daily, Xinhua news agency, and China Central Television (CCTV)  the main party mouthpieces  he called on the media to demonstrate absolute loyalty to the CCP, and on other occasions he stressed that the media must serve as a tool of the party. Xi also exhorted state media workers to produce more dynamic, technologically sophisticated media products that would shape public opinion.

In June, a prohibition against the independent gathering or dissemination of original news was extended to all social media applications, while in July the Beijing branch of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) reinforced rules to prevent Chinese internet portals from producing any original news content, restricting them to repackaging content provided by a small number of authorized sources. In August the CAC imposed tough new censorship requirements on internet providers, including continuous monitoring of news content and a provision holding editors in chief personally responsible for content.

Additional regulations that took effect in August required all mobile applications to use real-name user registration and to store 60 days of activity, preventing anonymous online postings, and the NPC in November adopted a cybersecurity law that will require companies to store user data in China and submit to potentially intrusive security reviews.

A new rule called the "Regulation on Collecting and Using Electronic Data as Evidence," which went into effect in October, allows authorities to collect and use private digital messaging information, text messages, e-mail, personal photos, videos, text documents, and online blog and forum posts to prosecute an individual for criminal wrongdoing, including speech-related offenses. Authorities had already begun engaging in such practices prior to the new regulation, and closed group chats on the popular messaging app WeChat have regularly been shut down by censors for discussion of topics deemed sensitive by authorities.

The space for autonomous religious practice narrowed further during the year as the government restricted and harassed a wide range of religious communities and laid out plans for tighter management of religion during the first National Conference on Religious Work in 15 years. At the April meeting, authorities asserted that religion must serve as an instrument for national unity and social stability, and called on religious groups to "Sinicize" by "endorsing the political system, conforming to Chinese society, and embodying Chinese culture."

The regime's 17-year campaign against the Falun Gong spiritual group continued in 2016, marking one of the longest and harshest campaigns of religious persecution since the CCP took power. While Falun Gong practitioners are no longer sent in large numbers to "reeducation through labor" camps, which were abolished in 2013, many are still criminally prosecuted, in some cases receiving long prison terms, or arbitrarily detained in "legal education centers," where they can face torture to force them to abandon their beliefs. Once released, they typically experience constant monitoring and harassment.

Curbs on the practice of Islam among the Uighur population of Xinjiang remained intense, affecting the wearing of religious attire, attendance at mosques, fasting during Ramadan, and other basic religious activities. Separately, an ongoing campaign against Protestant churches in Zhejiang Province, considered the heartland of Christianity in China, has resulted in the demolition of over 1,200 crosses and numerous churches in recent years, and congregations across the region remain under pressure. In August 2016, Hu Shigen, who led a number of underground churches, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in Tianjin for supposedly spreading subversive ideas.

Academic freedom is restricted with respect to politically sensitive issues. The CCP controls the appointment of top university officials, and many scholars practice self-censorship to protect their careers. Political indoctrination is a required component of the curriculum at all levels of education. The space for academic discussion of democratic concepts has shrunk further since 2015 amid top-down pressure on universities to shun "Western" ideals.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 3/12

E1. Is there freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion?

E2. Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations?

E3. Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

China's constitution protects the right of citizens to demonstrate, but in practice protesters rarely obtain approval and risk punishment for assembling without permission. Spontaneous demonstrations have thus become a common form of protest, with a state-affiliated research center counting around 100,000 "mass incidents" annually in recent years, some of which are met with police violence. In September 2016, police used force to end protests in the village of Wukan against the prison sentence of elected leader Lin Zuluan. Separately, according to the NGO Chinese Human Rights Defenders, 118 people around China were detained, jailed, or charged between September 2014 and September 2016 for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" or "inciting subversion of state power" by expressing support for prodemocracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Hundreds of thousands of NGOs are formally registered, often as companies due to gaps in the relevant laws, though many operate more as government-sponsored organizations. A large number of NGOs operate without formal registration. A government crackdown on civil society that began several years ago has focused on NGOs working on policy advocacy, which are considered more politically sensitive than those dedicated to various types of service delivery. In January 2016, the Beijing Zhongze Women's Legal Counseling and Service Center, founded by Guo Jianmei in 1995, was shut down after experiencing increased harassment in recent years. Also during the year, the authorities drafted revisions of a number of laws that would further strengthen party oversight of domestic social organizations.

A new law on management of foreign NGOs was adopted in April, to take effect in 2017. It was expected to bring about the closure of some foreign NGOs and significantly impede the activities of others that work on sensitive topics. The law prohibits foreign NGO activities that the government deems to "endanger China's national unity, security, or ethnic unity" or "harm China's national interests and the public interest." Foreign NGOs operating in China would be required to register with the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and to find a "professional supervisory unit"  a government or state organ willing to act as sponsor. The new law also vests authority for foreign NGO management in the MPS, rather than the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which has historically been tasked with managing civil society organizations in China. The changes give the police the authority to enter an NGO's premises at any time to conduct searches without a court warrant, to seize property, to detain personnel, and to initiate criminal procedures.

While workers in China are afforded many protections under existing laws, violations of labor and employment regulations are widespread. Local CCP cadres have long been incentivized to prioritize economic growth over the enforcement of labor rights. The authorities have increasingly cracked down on labor activists and NGOs. Three prominent activists who were detained in December 2015 received suspended prison sentences ranging from 18 months to three years in September 2016; one of them, Zeng Feiyang, is the director of the well-known labor NGO Panyu Migrant Workers Center, which operates in Guangdong Province. The only legal labor union is the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions, which has long been criticized for failing to properly defend workers' rights. A rise in strike incidents has coincided with slowing economic growth in recent years, and nearly 2,700 were documented in 2016 by the China Labour Bulletin.

F. Rule of Law: 2/16

F1. Is there an independent judiciary?

F2. Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Are police under direct civilian control?

F3. Is there protection from political terror, unjustified imprisonment, exile, or torture, whether by groups that support or oppose the system? Is there freedom from war and insurgencies?

F4. Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?

The crackdown on human rights lawyers that was launched in July 2015 continued in 2016, further calling into question the government's professed commitment to move toward the rule of law. Judicial reforms introduced over the past decade or more have sought to exclude evidence obtained through torture, guarantee better access to lawyers, allow witnesses to be cross-examined, and establish other safeguards to prevent wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice.

However, the CCP still dominates the judicial system, with courts at all levels supervised by party political-legal committees that have influence in the appointment of judges, court operations, and verdicts and sentences. While citizens can expect a degree of fair adjudication in nonpolitical cases, those that touch on politically sensitive issues or the interests of powerful groups are subject to decisive "guidance" from political-legal committees.

Close to 300 lawyers and activists have been detained or interrogated since mid-2015 as part of the government's campaign to quash the "rights defense" movement. Some were held in secret detention for months, without access to legal counsel or their families. The first trials of those detained in 2015 were held in August 2016. Zhou Shifeng  head of the Fengrui Law Firm, which employed a large number of lawyers working on politically sensitive cases  received a seven-year prison sentence. In September, Xia Lin, who had represented high-profile clients such as the dissident artist Ai Weiwei and the human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, having already spent nearly two years in pretrial detention. Among other pending cases against prominent human rights lawyers, Li Heping was formally arrested in January and remained in incommunicado detention under unknown charges at the end of the year, while Jiang Tianyong was held in an unknown location while police investigated him for "incitement to subvert state power." As in previous years under Xi, various human rights lawyers and activists were shown on television giving what are widely assumed to be forced confessions, drawing comparisons to tactics employed during the Mao era.

Police and public security agents generally enjoy impunity for abuses. In December 2016, a court decided not to press charges against five policemen involved in the May death in custody of Lei Yang, who worked at a state-sponsored environmental NGO. This was despite the court's conclusion that the policemen had broken the law by misusing force, delaying medical treatment, and lying about the circumstances of Lei's death. Torture is widely used to extract confessions or force political and religious dissidents to recant their beliefs. Despite the abolition of "reeducation through labor" camps at the end of 2013, tens of thousands of people are still held in other forms of arbitrary detention. In February 2016, an official recanted his confession and claimed torture under "shuanggui" detention, an extrajudicial system for party members that has been used extensively during Xi's anticorruption campaign.

Conditions in places of detention, which are estimated to hold three to five million people in total, are harsh, with reports of inadequate food, regular beatings, and deprivation of medical care. While the government has gradually reduced the number of crimes carrying the death penalty, currently at 46, it is estimated that thousands of inmates are executed each year; the government treats the true figure as a state secret. While the government stated that it would end the use of organs from executed prisoners by January 2015, the number of transplanted organs has apparently not diminished, despite the virtual absence of voluntary organ donations from citizens. Allegations of involuntary organ harvesting, including from prisoners of conscience, remained a matter of international concern during 2016.

Chinese laws formally prohibit discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, or health condition, but these protections are often violated in practice. Ethnic and religious minorities, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people, the disabled, and people with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, or other illnesses face widespread discrimination in employment and access to education. Legal remedies remain weak, though a court ruled in favor of a transgender man in a landmark wrongful-dismissal case in December 2016.

Despite China's international legal obligation to protect the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, Chinese law enforcement agencies continue to seek out and repatriate North Korean defectors, who face imprisonment or execution upon return.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 6/16

G1. Do individuals enjoy freedom of travel or choice of residence, employment, or institution of higher education?

G2. Do individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, political parties/organizations, or organized crime?

G3. Are there personal social freedoms, including gender equality, choice of marriage partners, and size of family?

G4. Is there equality of opportunity and the absence of economic exploitation?

In early 2016, Premier Li Keqiang reiterated a government plan to gradually reform China's hukou system  the personal registration rules that restrict China's roughly 270 million internal migrants from enjoying full legal status as residents in the cities where they work. The approach is to gradually expand the benefits of urban residency to 100 million migrants based on their education, employment record, and housing status, with the most stringent requirements in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing. The plan will still leave a large majority of migrants without equal rights or full access to social services such as education for their children in local schools.

Millions of people are affected by restrictions on foreign travel and passports, many of them Uighurs and Tibetans, and overseas Chinese nationals who engage in sensitive activities are at risk of being prevented by the authorities from returning to China, or choose not to return for fear of being arrested. In October 2016, the government announced that all residents of Xinjiang are required to hand in their travel documents to police for "safekeeping" and to apply for permission to leave the country. Many Chinese citizens also face restrictions on internal freedom of movement. While China's constitution gives individuals the right to petition the government concerning a grievance or injustice, in practice petitioners are routinely intercepted in their efforts to reach Beijing, forcefully returned to their hometowns, or extralegally detained in "black jails," psychiatric institutions, and other sites, where they are at risk of beatings, psychological abuse, or sexual violence.

The authorities dominate the economy through state-owned enterprises in key sectors such as banking and energy, and through state ownership of land. Chinese citizens are legally permitted to establish and operate private businesses. However, those without strong informal ties to powerful officials can find themselves at a disadvantage in legal disputes with competitors or in dealings with regulators. Foreign companies can similarly face arbitrary regulatory obstacles, demands for bribes and other inducements, or negative media campaigns.

Property rights protection remains weak. Urban land is owned by the state, with only the buildings themselves in private hands. Rural land is collectively owned by villages. Farmers enjoy long-term lease rights to the land they work, but they have been restricted in their ability to transfer, sell, or develop it. Low compensation standards and weak legal protections have facilitated land seizures by local officials, who often evict the residents and transfer the land rights to developers. Corruption is endemic in such projects, and local governments rely on land development as a key source of revenue. In October 2016, authorities eased limits on the transfer of land-use rights by farmers in an effort to facilitate more efficient agricultural enterprises.

A legal amendment allowing all families to have two children  effectively abolishing the long-standing one-child policy  took effect in January 2016. Ethnic minorities are still permitted to have up to three children. While the authorities will continue to regulate reproduction, the change means that fewer families are likely to encounter the punitive aspects of the system, such as high fines, job dismissal, reduced government benefits, and occasionally detention. Abuses such as forced abortions and sterilizations are less common than in the past.

Despite passage of the country's first law designed to combat domestic violence in 2015, domestic violence continues to be a serious problem, affecting one-quarter of Chinese women, according to official figures. Several laws bar gender discrimination in the workplace, and gender equality has reportedly improved over the past decade, but bias remains widespread, including in job recruitment and college admissions. Women remain severely underrepresented in important CCP and government positions.

Exploitative employment practices such as wage theft, excessive overtime, student labor, and unsafe working conditions are pervasive in many industries. Forced labor and trafficking are also common, frequently affecting rural migrants, and Chinese nationals are similarly trafficked abroad. Forced labor is the norm in prisons and other forms of administrative detention.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Tampa, FL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/25/2017 --The Florida legislature is currently considering a bill which would enable plaintiffs who are successful in negligence actions to recoup prejudgment interest on economic and non-economic damages. Under the current law, interest is only charged on damages following the date that a legal decision is entered; the proposed legislation would allow interest to accrue from the date that the tort or injury occurred. If enacted into law, this legislation could significantly increase judgment amounts against defendants in personal injury lawsuits across the state.



As introduced by State Sen. Greg Steube (R-Sarasota), Senate Bill 334 would require Florida courts to add prejudgment interest to any monetary award granted to a plaintiff who is recovering both non-economic and economic damages. Both court costs and attorney fees would be included in the amount on which interest is calculated. For economic damages, interest would begin as of the date when the plaintiff lost the economic benefit; interest on non-economic damages would start to accrue from the date when the defendant was provided with notification of the plaintiff's claim. For court costs, prejudgment interest would begin accruing at the beginning of the next month after the court costs were paid.



If passed into law by both the Florida Senate and House, the new legislation would only affect cases after July 1, 2017.



State. Sen. Steube's proposed bill is proving somewhat controversial across the state and has received strong opposition from the Florida business community as well as groups such as the Florida Justice Reform Institute (FJRI), the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida (AIF), Florida Retail Federation (FRF), American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. According to the bill's opponents, the proposed legislation could carry high costs for Florida employers. On the other hand, the plaintiffs' bar is strongly in support of the proposed legislation.



According to prominent Florida personal injury attorney Armando Edimston, "If this bill passes and becomes a law, it will be revolutionary for Plaintiffs. The bill will help even the playing field between ordinary people, who are injured in a car accident, and the powerful insurance companies. The average car accident case takes between 6 months and 1 year in pre-suit and then another 1218 months once suit has been filed. This bill acts as a sword to allow Plaintiff's attorneys one more arrow to use against the dominant insurance companies. I am not surprised that all of the business associations are against it. Unfortunately, I believe it is because they feel the insurance companies will just increase premiums to help offset the added expense. However, what is often overlooked by these associations when trying to change the status quo, is the opportunity of insurance companies to simply take responsibility when their client is at fault, and not contribute to needless litigation."



Mr. Edmiston goes on to say, "This bill is only powerful when the insurance company does not want to take responsibility and makes the plaintiff prove the case through trial. Anything short of trial this bill would not affect the practice of law as it is today. Post-trial the recovery would increase at the statutory rate allowed per year, which as of July 2016 was 4.84 per annum. I believe this bill will make insurance companies do the right thing more often and help reduce unnecessary litigation an expense."



After being approved by the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee with a vote of 6 to 2 at the end of February, the bill cleared the Senate Rules Committee and is now poised for a floor vote by the entire Senate. The parallel bill in Florida's House of Representatives, HB 469 as sponsored by State Rep. Shawn Harrison (R-Tampa), is preparing for a vote by the Florida House Judiciary Committee after passing the House Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee by a vote of 11 to 4. Before the proposed legislation can become law, both chambers of the Florida legislature must come into agreement on the bill's final language.



About Armando Edimston of Ask2Amigo Law Firm

Founding attorney Armando Edmiston is a Tampa FL based lawyer specializing in personal injury law. The personal injury attorneys at Ask2Amigo Law Firm have over 25 years of experience handling immigration, criminal defense, family, and personal injury law. Call to schedule a complimentary consultation.
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Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan have postponed the subversion trial of rights lawyer Xie Yang after his supporters, foreign diplomats, and family members of fellow lawyers showed up to support him on Tuesday.



Xie, who has made a long and detailed report of torture in detention, was due to stand trial at the Changsha Intermediate Peoples Court on charges of "incitement to subvert state power" and "disrupting court order."



Xie's wife Chen Guiqiu has been resettled in the United States after fleeing China with the couple's two young daughters to seek political refugee status with the United Nations in Thailand.



The postponement came after dozens of supporters and foreign embassy officials flocked to the court on Tuesday in the hope of witnessing the trial from the public gallery.



But the authorities suddenly announced the trial date had been changed, without giving any reason, and all supporters and would-be observers were ordered to leave, activists at the scene told RFA.



Xu Qin of the China Rights Observer group said there was no police cordon around the court buildings in the Hunan provincial capital Changsha.



"There wasn't a single police vehicle, nor were there any police at the roadside, and they allowed us to go in, just saying they didn't know which court Xie Yang's trial was in," Xu said.



"They wouldn't allow any foreign journalists or embassy human rights observers in ... They were stopping journalists and taking them into the court building, where they interviewed them for about 20, 30 minutes, before taking them to the hotel across the road. It took more than a hour to confirm the journalists' identities," he said.



Xu said plainclothes officers from China's state security police were also mingling with the crowd of Xie's supporters, asking for their names.



Not surprised by decision



Meanwhile, Wang Qiaoling, wife of detained rights lawyer Li Heping, said she was unsurprised by the decision to postpone the trial.



"I don't think it's surprising that the trial didn't happen today," Wang told RFA from the scene. "A similar thing played out last year in Tianjin last August as well."



"We came here to show our support for Xie Yang, because we know he is a good lawyer, just like our loved ones who were also detained in the crackdown," she said. "They are all good lawyers."



Xie's former defense attorney Lin Qilei said the court should give three days' notice at least of any trial date.



"This explains why [they] didn't issue a definite statement that the trial would be today," Lin said. "I think the government deliberately let the news leak out ... but we thought it might not go ahead because the April 25 date was never announced through official channels."



"But people will go to show support whenever the trial takes place," he added.



Xie's case has attracted widespread concern among international governments, although China's official media has dismissed reports of his torture as "fabrications."



"We are following this case very closely and our human rights counselor is in Changsha today," a Beijing-based EU spokesman told reporters.



According to Chen Guiqiu, the authorities had prevented Xie's defense lawyers from working on the case after they made detailed reports of Xie's torture in detention public, substituting a government lawyer in their place.



Chen said New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith had pledged continuing interest in the plight of China's detained rights lawyers, law firm staff, and associated activists, amid reports that the administration of President Donald Trump is considering bringing the Magnitsky Act to bear on Chinese officials linked to a nationwide crackdown on human rights lawyers.



The Magnitsky legislation, which originally targeted the Russian officials responsible for the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009, has been welcomed by Chinese activists as the best chance of holding Chinese officials to account for rights abuses.



Reports of torture



Rights activists have repeatedly called for Xie's immediate release in recent months, detailing his lawyers' reports of his torture in a police-run detention center in the central province of Hunan.



Initially detained on July 11, 2015, Xie was held under "residential surveillance at a designated location" in a government guesthouse belonging to the National University of Defense Technology in Hunan's provincial capital, Changsha.



Subjected to abuse including deprivation of food and water, Xie was tortured again after being moved to the police-run Changsha No. 2 Detention Center following his formal arrest on Jan. 9, 2016.



Xie was subjected to confinement in a "hanging chair" made of plastic chairs stacked high above the ground for hours at a time, so that his legs swelled up and he was in excruciating pain, he told his lawyers.



He was also deprived of sleep and repeatedly beaten, humiliated, and taunted with death threats against his family, according to copious and detailed notes made public from meetings with his lawyers.



In Hong Kong, activists demonstrated outside the ruling Chinese Communist Party's Central Liaison Office in the city over the plight of free-speech activist Wu Gan, nicknamed "The Butcher," alongside dozens of other lawyers, associated activists, and law-firm staff in a police operation launched in July 2015.



Fuzhou rights activist Zhuang Lei said Wu's elderly father Xu Xiaoshun has also been detained on public order charges after he spoke out about his son's detention.



Wu is among around a dozen detainees in the crackdown now facing subversion charges.



No evidence



Xu's lawyer Lin Hongnan said there is no evidence against his client.



"The police should drop this case because they don't have any evidence," Lin told RFA. "The prosecution should never have pursued it in the first place, and the court should find him not guilty."



Fellow rights activist You Jingyou said the authorities have been holding Wu for more than a year, with no indication of a trial date, probably because he is refusing to provide a "confession."



"I don't think that this is guilt by association; I think that they are using [Wu's father] as a hostage," You said. "The Butcher has always been innocent, but they want him to 'confess' to his 'crimes'."



"That's why they are detaining his relatives."



Reported by Yang Fan for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wen Yuqing and Lam Kwok-lap for Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.




Authorities in China have issued an emergency security alert as thousands of military veterans were expected to converge on Beijing ahead of a key conference in May in a bid to highlight grievances like unpaid pensions, campaigners told RFA on .



People's Liberation Army (PLA) veterans have staged repeated mass protests in recent months over pensions, healthcare and other demobilization benefits they said were promised but not delivered.



Wearing their uniforms from units and division across the PLA's three services, the veterans have previously gathered en masse outside the party's military arm, and the graft-busting Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), calling on President Xi Jinping to address their grievances.



"We have been advised by the stability maintenance office of the [Tianjin] municipal council that former PLA volunteers will be gathering for a mass petitioning event in Beijing up until ," two separate versions of the urgent alert leaked online from Tianjin's Ninghe district and from Chengcheng county in the northern province of Shaanxi warned.



"We are asked to work with this group to achieve a target of zero [petitioners] going to Beijing," one notice warned.



"We must implement strongly effective measures and carry out stability maintenance work," the other said. "Secrecy will be maintained." The measures were dated and hold effect until , when China hosts a regional forum on its Central Asia land bridge known as One Belt, One Road.



Some veterans told RFA they had already arrived in Beijing, however, while rights groups said dozens have already been detained.



"I saw a large group of disabled veterans in Beijing , where security is extremely tight," a veteran who declined to be named said.



"The Beijing police have stepped up their controls, and several dozen veterans were taken away from Changping, where a lot of the veterans stay," he said. "A lot of them are incommunicado so I think something has happened to them, that they have been locked up."



"There was some talk of getting to Beijing ahead of the International Workers' Day celebrations on , but I haven't seen that many people here," he said.



Some 60 soldiers taken to detention center

China announced last week that 28 countries will send their heads of government to its Belt and Road conference on -15 in Beijing.



According to the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch rights website, at least 60 PLA veterans were taken to the Jiujingzhuang unofficial detention center on the outskirts of the capital on , with many more out of contact after being taken to local police stations in various suburbs of Beijing.



A veteran surnamed Shao said the veterans are calling on the authorities to abide by promises made to them before they signed up to fight in China's short border war with Vietnam in 1979.



Clause 3 of the Military Pensions Priority Regulations requires governments to ensure that the standard of living and social situation of demobilized PLA soldiers doesn't fall below the national average.



"I am disabled, and I have been left with nothing," Shao told RFA. "Most of the veterans are disabled because of injuries sustained on active duty."



"The youngest of them are about 50 now, while the oldest are in their sixties and seventies," he said. "They have arms and legs missing, and they are all in great hardship when it comes to meeting their medical bills and their accommodation costs."



"Some are in dire poverty, with no support net whatsoever," he said.



A second veteran who asked to remain anonymous said the authorities appeared to be censoring social media platforms for any posts linked to veterans' protests.



"We were discussing what to do [via social media] and we got shut down by the government," the veteran said. "If there are too many people, they won't let you go."



"Some people have already been escorted home by interceptors [from their hometowns]," he said. "The authorities have already figured out what is going on from reading our posts and listening to our phone calls."



"A lot of people tried to get to Beijing but didn't make it."

House arrest for some soldiers



Shandong veteran Ling Zaifu said he is stuck at home under virtual house arrest with his telephone calls being monitored.



"Anyone who goes to lodge a complaint will find themselves under surveillance," Ling told RFA. "I even saw the relatives of a comrade of mine who is a veteran of nuclear testing being watched and followed."



"I have been under round-the-clock surveillance for several years now, and they follow me if I go out," Ling said. "But they shut down my QQ [chat account] a week ago, as they have with anyone who tries to stand up for their rights."



"Anyone who calls me on the phone gets a visit from their local stability maintenance office for a 'chat'," he said.



And Qingdao veteran Xinggan said he doesn't know if he will make the mass petitioning event on .



"There is tight security everywhere now, so they won't let me go," said. "We are all under restrictive measures, and we have to file a report whenever we leave or arrive back in town."



"People follow me everywhere."



Veterans have staged a string of silent protests over their retirement benefits since a mass protest on Oct. 11 shocked the authorities, who ordered provincial chiefs to Beijing to begin escorting the disgruntled protesters home.



A protest last February outside the CCDI also highlighted local governments' failure to deliver promised pension, medical and social security benefits to demobilized PLA soldiers, regarded by Beijing as one of the country's most politically sensitive groups.



While officials from the Central Military Commission (CMC) ordered provincial and city leaders to Beijing to address the crisis, the veterans say promises that changes would begin to be implemented from Jan. 1 haven't been kept.



Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Xin Lin for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says new media technologies make censorship more difficult, but are also increasingly utilized by repressive governments as the number of journalists imprisoned and killed continues a recent upsurge.

"This is, in fact, the most dangerous and deadly time for journalists ever documented," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon told RFE/RL.



Simon wrote in Attacks On The Press 2017, published on April 25, that despite such things as omnipresent social-media sites and the pervasive use of smartphone cameras, undemocratic governments have stepped up their efforts to crack down on media outlets and journalists.



CPJ said there were 259 journalists imprisoned around the world in 2016 -- the most ever documented by the New York-based media watchdog since it began keeping records in 1990.

The group also reports that more journalists (332) have been killed in the last five years than in any other five-year period in the past 28 years.

"If you look at the composite figures over the last five years, we've seen a spike, really, over the last 10 years, even," Simon said. "We had a period in the late '90s, early 2000s when the number of journalists killed [annually] around the world averaged in the 20s, the 30s, into the 40s. But really going back in the last decade, we've had numbers that have consistently been in the 50s, [and even the] 70s."

'Frontal Assaults' On Free Speech



Simon said repressive states around the world are devoting more time and money to muffle and subdue the media.

"Governments are becoming increasingly sophisticated as they recognize the power -- the disruptive power -- of information, and that's why you're seeing both frontal assaults on free expression and the rights of journalists but also increasingly sophisticated strategies that allow governments to manage, control, and manipulate information," he said.

Simon pointed out that, despite incredible advances in new technology that some experts predicted would make "censorship obsolete," the job of repressing or even shutting down media outlets has only become more complicated, and the gains in technology used by journalists can also be used by governments against the media.



He divided the strategies used by governments to control or manage information into three categories: Repression 2.0, Masked Political Control, and Technology Capture



The first category, Repression 2.0, is defined as a renewal of the worse aspects of state censorship and the imprisonment of opposing voices.



Simon described masked political control as a "systematic effort to hide repressive actions by dressing them in the cloak of democratic norms." As an example, he offered a government justifying the blocking of the Internet by saying it is necessary in order to prevent hate speech or an incitement to violence when such threats were not actually present.



Technology Capture is simply using the latest technology advancements that have led to the explosion in the access to and proliferation of the Internet around the world to disrupt journalists or deny media access to people.

'Overwhelmed' By Information

The CPJ report also addresses the use of propaganda and fake news by state-run media organizations and other news outlets.



"It's precisely because there is so much information that people are overwhelmed and they have difficulty determining what's real, what's not real, what's meaningful, what impacts their lives," Simon told RFE/RL.

"If you can succeed in making a lot of noise, you can get people's attention and get them to focus on [certain] information," he added. "Governments are becoming increasingly adept at this strategy. Essentially you promulgate something that is outrageous, that attracts people's attention. Sometimes that information is real, but it serves government interests. Sometimes it is not real and there are various strategies for getting this information in front of consumers using social media or using real media that is manipulated."

Simon said propaganda and bogus news stories can have "a tremendous impact on how people around the world understand global events, how they perceive them, and what they deem to be their interests."

This creates a complex information environment, he said, but it is becoming more complex as governments enter directly and seek to manipulate and manage information in ways that advance their own interests.



Emily Parker, a former Wall Street Journal correspondent and author of Now I Know Who My Comrades Are, wrote for the CPJ report that, when compared to China, Russia failed in the beginning to fully understand the political threat posed by the Internet. But she wrote that, as Moscow has caught up in its ability to block online dissent and opposition voices, it has developed sophisticated "offensive capabilities" to distribute propaganda via the Internet and manipulate both domestic and world opinion.



CPJ concludes in its report that the "landscape of new censorship is bleak and the challenges significant."



It notes that the enemies of a free media have "attacked the new global information system at every level" and have repressed media outlets with violence against journalists and attempted to control the various platforms used to distribute news while also "sowing confusion and disinformation so that critical information" cannot be accessed by the public.



Simon noted, however, that this upsurge in attacks and suppression of the media is a response to all of the new technological and journalistic developments we have witnessed in recent years and the "liberating power of independent information."


A massive disinformation campaign didn't do the trick.

A series of cyberattacks didn't do the trick.

Injecting money into the campaign didn't do the trick.

So now, is the Kremlin actually hoping that a terrorist attack might just do the trick?

Is Vladimir Putin's regime actually openly rooting for this?

It appears so.

Despite all the Kremlin's efforts, pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron appears set to handily defeat pro-Moscow nationalist Marine Le Pen in the second round of France's presidential election on May 7.

And he's doing so with a campaign that is appealing to voters' hopes and aspirations rather than exploiting their darkest fears.

But speaking on state television yesterday, Vladimir Solovyev, one of the Kremlin's favorite propagandists, made the case that fear and division could still win the day in France.

Solovyev said that terrorist acts could yet play a role in the campaign and help Le Pen win. After all, he added, two weeks is a long time.

And he actually appeared to be rooting for this to happen.

It was one of those revealing moments when the mask comes off.

It was one of those revealing moments when a deeply cynical regime got caught telling the truth.

It was one of those revealing moments when Putin's Kremlin and its surrogates showed their true colors.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
The U.S. Air Force's newest and most advanced fighter jets trained in Estonia, a show of force within a NATO country bordering Russia. The visit of the F-35A fighter jets on April 25 follows other recent joint military exercises and the deployment of advanced equipment in NATO's allied Baltic countries. (Reuters)
Russian state media and Kremlin-connected political pundits are hammering home a nearly identical talking point about France's presidential election -- French candidates and the Fifth Republic ain't what they used to be.

In the run-up to and aftermath of the April 23 first-round vote, Kremlin-loyal media outlets joined in remarkable unison to declare the candidates unworthy of comparison to former French leaders such as Charles de Gaulle, Francois Mitterrand, and Jacques Chirac.

In what resembles a coordinated messaging campaign, television personalities and political analysts have been delivering variants of the same thought and phrasing.

"France looks adrift," news anchor and state media executive Dmitry Kiselyov, famous for his colorful anti-West diatribes, declared on election day. "There is no one among the current politicians of the stature of de Gaulle, Mitterrand, or Chirac."

The first-round vote sent the centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen into a May 7 runoff. Opinion polls show Macron, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow's interference in Ukraine, is favored to defeat Le Pen.

Le Pen has spoken positively about Putin and backed lifting EU sanctions against Moscow over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on April 24 that suggestions that the Kremlin wants Macron -- whose campaign has accused Russian media and hackers of trying to undermine his election chances -- to lose are "completely untrue" and "primitive."

"We will approach whomever the French choose with respect," Peskov was quoted by the state-run TASS news agency as saying.

But Russians who stick exclusively to a Kremlin-friendly outlets might get the impression that France has no one worth voting for.

'New Page In History'

Echoing Kiselyov, Vyacheslav Prokofyev of the government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta wrote on April 24 that "the current candidates don't compare to the political figures of the not-so-distant past, like Presidents de Gaulle, Mitterrand, and Chirac."

A report by state-run Rossia-1 said the same day that Macron had "rejected many decades of French culture" and constituted "a new page in the history of the Fifth Republic."

"The golden age -- de Gaulle, [Georges] Pompidou, [Valery] Giscard d'Estaing, Mitterrand, Chirac -- has been relegated to the history books," the report said. "They have been replaced by politicians of a different stature -- Nicolas Sarkozy and [current French President] Francois Hollande."

Will Vernon, a senior producer with BBC News in Moscow, noted similar language delivered by journalist Vadim Glusker of the national NTV network and by the prominent Rossia-1 news anchor Ernest Matskyavichyus.

Meanwhile, Frants Klintsevich, a senior member of Russia's upper house of parliament, told Rossiiskaya Gazeta on election day that "the time of colossal figures like General Charles de Gaulle, it seems, is gone for good."

And political analyst Aleksei Martynov, who backed Putin's election in 2012, wrote in an op-ed for the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper that France was waiting for its "new de Gaulle."

"But he doesn't exist," Martynov wrote on April 24. "There is no such person, no such figure of that stature among the candidates."

One of the first examples of this talking point over the past week came from political analyst Timofei Bordachev, program director with the government-sponsored Valdai Discussion Club. He wrote on the Lenta.ru website on April 21 that the French are disappointed there is "no clear figure on the horizon who could compare with the stature of the great presidents of the past -- de Gaulle, Pompidou, Giscard d'Estaing, Mitterrand, and even Chirac," he wrote.

Bordachev, an associate professor with the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment about whether he was working from a talking point prepared for him.

'Hands-On Approach'

The Kremlin has long denied that it dictates how state-owned media outlets should cover major stories, most recently when Putin's spokesman dismissed reports that it had ordered news outlets to tone down its positive coverage of U.S. President Donald Trump as "complete nonsense."

Numerous veterans of Russian state media outlets, however, have publicly described the Kremlin's hands-on approach to influencing news coverage, including at purported regular meetings with senior editors and media executives.



Vladimir Frolov, a well-connected political analyst in Moscow, told RFE/RL that this talking point is hitting the wrong notes and that the Kremlin would be wise to prepare for a potential Macron presidency.

"They need to open a back channel to Macron through the business lobby," Frolov said. "Perhaps they are shooting already for the parliamentary election in June in the hopes of creating a right-of-center-majority."

Frolov added, however, that he has "no idea" what the "actual thinking is" behind the messaging.
French presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron's campaign has been targeted in cyberattacks bearing the hallmarks of an aggressive hacking outfit that intelligence officials say is a branch of Russia's espionage apparatus, an Internet security firm says.

Discussing a report issued on April 25, researchers at Trend Micro said they think a hacking group called Pawn Storm used "phishing" techniques to try to steal personal data from Macron and members of his campaign.

The revelations are likely to deepen concerns that Moscow is seeking to sway elections in Europe after what U.S. intelligence officials say was an influence campaign ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to interfere in the U.S. presidential vote in 2016.

They come as Macron, a pro-European Union politician and critic of Putin's government, heads into a May 7 runoff against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, an EU foe who has praised Putin and met with him in the Kremlin on March 24.

Tokyo-based Trend Micro said it discovered the attempted intrusions into Macron's campaign by monitoring the creation of rogue, lookalike websites often used by hackers to trick victims into giving up their passwords.

'Nothing Compromised'

The Macron campaign's digital director, Mounir Mahjoubi, confirmed the attempted cyberattacks but said the hackers had been thwarted.

Several staffers had received e-mails leading to the fake websites, but the phishing e-mails were quickly identified and blocked, and it was unlikely others went undetected, Mahjoubi said.

"We can't be 100 percent sure," Mahjoubi said, "but as soon as we saw the intrusion attempts, we took measures to block access."

"It's serious, but nothing was compromised," he said.

Macron won the most votes in the April 23 first round of the presidential election, which has been closely watched for signs of digital intrusion.

Of the four top candidates, the 39-year-old centrist independent was seen as being the candidate least favored by Putin's government, which analysts say is eager to see election outcomes that would undermine EU unity on sanctions against Moscow.

The EU and the United States have imposed a series of punitive measures on Russia over its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and its support for separatists in a war that has killed more than 9,900 people in eastern Ukraine.

Opinion polls give Macron a substantial edge -- more than 20 percentage points -- over Le Pen in the runoff.

'Pixel Perfect' Fake Sites

Trend Micro researcher Feike Hacquebord said the firm recently found four Macron-themed fake sites being set up on web infrastructure used by Pawn Storm, an extraordinarily prolific group that is also known as Fancy Bear, APT28, and Sofacy.

Trend Micro has stopped short of accusing any country of being behind Pawn Storm's actions, but U.S. spy agencies and intelligence firms say that it is a branch of Russia's intelligence apparatus.

Mahjoubi confirmed that at least one of the sites had recently been used as part of an attempt to harvest campaign staffers' passwords.

"The phishing pages we are talking about are very personalized web pages to look like the real address," Mahjoubi said. "They were pixel perfect."

"Its exactly the same page. That means there was talent behind it and time went into it: talent, money, experience, time and will, he said.

Mahjoubi said the attempts to penetrate the Macron campaign date back to December. In February, the campaign complained publicly of being targeted by Russia-linked electronic spying operations, although it offered no proof at the time.

Revealing the identities of groups behind cyberespionage campaigns is one of the most difficult tasks of cybersecurity, but Hacquebord said he was confident that Pawn Storm was responsible for the hacking attacks.

"This is not a 100 percent confirmation, but it's very, very likely," Hacquebord said, adding that the political nature of the targeting was "really in line with what they've been doing in the last two years."

Mahjoubi told The New York Times that he had no proof of Russian involvement, but that the nature and timing of Internet assaults on the Macron campaign stoked concerns that Russia was repeating in France what U.S. intelligence agencies say was a concerted effort to undermine the 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton -- who was widely seen as likely to take a tough stance on Russia if elected.

U.S. and European intelligence agencies and American private security researchers say Fancy Bear was responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee and other political operatives last year. Stolen documents subsequently appeared on WikiLeaks and other websites, creating problems for what turned out to be Clinton's losing campaign against Republican rival Donald Trump, who was elected on November 8.

Attacks On Merkel

Trend Micro said that the same hacker group appeared to have attacked the computer systems of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, as well as two German political think tanks, in recent weeks. Germany accused Russia last year of directing hacker groups to attack the country's lower house of parliament.

Merkel -- who is staunchly pro-EU, backs the sanctions against Russia, and is seeking to retain power in a general election in September -- said last year that there were signs of Internet attacks and misinformation campaigns from Russia.

Germany's domestic intelligence agency has expressed concern that Russia may try to interfere in the September elections.



Putin, a former KGB officer and ex-head of Russia's domestic intelligence agency, has denied accusations of state-sanctioned hacking or any interference in elections abroad.

His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, rejected accusations of meddling in the French election.

"It resembles the accusations made by Washington which to this day remain hollow, and they do no honor to the people making them," said Peskov, who claimed that Russia has "never interfered" in foreign elections.

Trend Micro's report was produced independently of the Macron campaign and lists 160 electronic espionage operations across a series of targets.

With reporting by AP, AFP, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and motherboard.vice.com




BRUSSELS -- The rector and president of the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Michael Ignatieff, has urged Brussels to support his institution and back EU legal action against Budapest.

Speaking on April 25 at an open event in the European Parliament in Brussels hosted by five political groups, Ignatieff said he needed the support of Europe in an ongoing dispute that the CEU has with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government -- a dispute that could force the CEU to shut down its program in Budapest.

"I have support in Washington. I have support in Berlin, I have support in Budapest, as I have said. I have got support in Munich," Ignatieff said. "It is now time to get some support in Brussels."

Speaking to RFE/RL after the event, Ignatieff said he specifically wanted two things from political leaders in Brussels.

"I would like the members of the center-right coalition in the European Parliament to say, 'You know, shutting down a university is a very bad thing and you are crossing a red line.' I would like them to say that, frankly," Ignatieff said.

"I would like the commission to give serious consideration, as I think they are doing, to a legal case against Hungary for violating some fundamental elements of the European single act," Ignatieff said. "If we can get those two things, it would help."

Orban is due to debate the situation in Hungary at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels on April 26.

He is expected to face criticism from members of his own political faction in the European Parliament, the European Peoples Party (EPP).

According to RFE/RL sources, however, the EPP is unlikely to expel Orban's conservative Fidesz party from the Brussels-based EPP despite growing calls to do so from other political parties within the transnational organization.

On April 26, the European Commission may also launch infringement procedures against Hungary on a number of issues, including its recently adopted law concerning higher education.

In March, a bill was rushed through the Hungarian parliament that requires foreign universities in Hungary to have a campus and to provide similar courses in their country of origin.

The bill, which was signed into law on April 10, could force the CEU to leave the country.

On April 24, Ignatieff told top EU officials in Brussels that Orban was carrying out a "politically motivated attack" against free institutions like the CEU -- essential taking the university hostage -- in order to serve a political agenda.

Speaking at the Free University of Brussels, Ignatieff said he had very little interest in Orbans own political agenda. But he said Orban should "leave us the hell alone."

The CEU, which was founded by U.S. billionaire George Soros, has recently become the focal point of political debate in Hungary.

Orban has accused Soros of interfering in Hungarys internal affairs and has launched a crackdown on organizations connected to him.

Ignatieff said the CEU's academic freedom meant it must remain independent not only from Hungarys government but also from Soros. "I don't take orders from George Soros," he said.

With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels and dpa
The accusation came out of the blue.

Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, made the dramatic claim last week that Montenegro was responsible for inflaming "anti-Russian hysteria" and for the "unacceptable treatment of Russians, who may expect provocations and detentions" while visiting that southern Balkan state.

The Montenegrin Foreign Ministry promptly responded by pointing to the absence of any reported incidents of Russian businessmen or tourists being harassed in Montenegro or experiencing any hostility from local residents.

"This is therefore nothing but manipulation and the continuation of a media war that Moscow has been waging against Montenegro, aimed at blocking its accession to NATO," the ministry said.

Moscow's warning to Russians follows reports in Russian state media that cast Montenegro as a country of "crime, minefields, and dirty beaches."

This marks a distinct change of tone toward a country long regarded by Russian authorities as an unobjectionable tourist destination, and many have been quick to link the shift to Montenegro's determination to join NATO.

Montenegro is indeed set this spring to become NATO's 29th member, marking the end of a long and often arduous road to accession. The government in Podgorica has had to face down a steady stream of rhetoric against NATO expansion from opponents both domestic and foreign, and an alleged coup attempt in October was seen by some as yet another attempt to change the political landscape and keep Montenegro away from Euro-Atlantic integration.

Muddled Affair

The court case surrounding that muddled affair is expected to be resolved by September, and the suspects include Montenegrin, Serbian, and Russian nationals.

But the warning to Russian citizens by their government made waves because the tourism season is approaching in Montenegro. Tourism is a major source of revenues, and former Foreign Minister Branko Lukovac told RFE/RL in Podgorica that interest in vacationing there remains high among Russians despite the media campaign in Russia.

Asked about the security of Russian citizens in Montenegro, a Podgorica correspondent for the Russian daily Kommersant told RFE/RL that he was unaware of any problem.

"If any Russian citizens in Montenegro had experienced some unpleasantness, it would have become public knowledge immediately, at least through social media," Gennady Sysoyev said.

Montenegrins Bewildered

Russian fans of Montenegro reacted with bewilderment on social media to Zakharova's comments, he added. "Hundreds were simply incredulous. Those who have spent time in Montenegro have never experienced any such treatment."

An "I was in Montenegro" Twitter hashtag (#) campaign has commenced on social media and attracted pics of some of the country's most scenic places...

...as well as videos, this one pretty polished:

Travel agencies are meanwhile busily booking vacations for Russians, who traditionally make up around one-third of all summer-holiday visitors to Montenegro.

A Montenegrin tourism-industry insider, Zarko Radulovic, predicts that the coming season will be Montenegro's best since it declared independence from Serbia 11 years ago, due in part to Russian customers.

"As long as they are not forbidden from doing so, Russians will keep returning to Montenegro. Since they are footing the bill for their own vacations, they -- and not the government -- will choose their destination, and many of them will choose to come here," he says. "It's not [Russian President Vladimir] Putin who pays for them, and he can't decide where they spend their leisure time."

Talking to RFE/RL in Podgorica, Radulovic -- who manages one of the most popular hotels on Montenegro's roughly 70 kilometers of Adriatic beachfront -- says he is optimistic that bad publicity in Russia won't have major adverse effects because so many Russians live in Montenegro and spread the good word among their compatriots.

"I can only welcome both in Montenegro," he adds, "NATO and Russian tourists."

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL
The head of Russian natural-gas company Gazprom says a new pipeline across the Baltic Sea to Germany will boost its share of the European market and decrease the amount of gas it pumps westward via Ukraine.

Gazprom chief executive Aleksei Miller spoke in an interview with the Reuters news agency, which published a report on his remarks on April 25.

The European Union is way of overreliance on Russian gas, which many in the West believe the Kremlin seeks to use as a lever of influence abroad.

But state-controlled Gazprom's plan to deliver more gas to Europe starting in 2019 got a boost when its Western partners agreed on April 23 to provide half of the financing for the 9.5 billion euro ($10.3 billion) Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Gazprom sold a record 179 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Europe in 2016, a figure that was pushed up by lower prices and cold weather.

Miller said that "we can expect new records this year and Gazprom's European market share is poised to rise."

He also said that "Russia's market share will be rising" in the longer term, with domestic output in Europe decreasing and Nord Stream 2 expected to begin operating.

Eastern European and Baltic countries say the new pipeline will make the European Union a hostage to Moscow.

Critics also say that Russia wants to punish transit nation Ukraine, which has become its geopolitical foe following Moscow's seizure of Crimea in 2014.

Gazprom has threatened in the past to cut all supplies to Europe via Ukraine once Nord Stream 2 is built and when its transit agreement with Kyiv expires in 2020.

Miller told Reuters that supplies via Ukraine might not stop entirely, saying that Gazprom was "ready for talks" on the possibility of delivering volumes of "around 15 bcm a year for countries which border Ukraine."

With reporting by Reuters
Activists in the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk have mounted a petition campaign against plans to build a Russian Orthodox church in the city center on the bank of the Yenisei River.

Yelena Ulyashova, an activist in Krasnoyarsk, told RFE/RL on April 25 that the petition will be handed to the authorities in the Siberian city soon.

The petitioners have collected more than 1,000 signatures online and about the same number from people who have signed it in person.

The activists say the site, which was approved by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in 2012, is too close to an area where many residents of the city of 1 million spend leisure time. They are calling for a referendum to find another site for the new church.

Since the collapse of the communist Soviet Union, the resurgent Russian Orthodox Church has built or restored many churches across the country.

Residents have opposed construction is some cases, contending that there are enough churches in their cities or towns to serve the faithful and that the land would be better used in a different way.

In March, residents of the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals protested against a site for a new church. Earlier in April, similar protests were expressed in the Siberian city of Tomsk.

Polls indicate that more than two-thirds of Russians consider themselves Orthodox Christians, but only a small fraction attend church regularly.
A woman who was found shot dead in the northwestern state of Oregon had arrived in the United States last month from Russia and was having a relationship with the man arrested in connection with her death, authorities say.

The identity of Anna Repkina, 27, was released on April 24, a week after her body was found in a remote logging area some 180 kilometers southwest of Portland.



A Facebook page bearing Repkina's name said she was from Moscow and had moved to Corvallis, Oregon.



Prosecutors believe she was in a "love-triangle relationship" with murder suspect William Chase Hargrove and another woman.

Hargrove, 27, is being held without bail on a murder charge.



Repkina entered the United States on March 1, authorities said.

Authorities said they believe she came to Oregon "for the relationship," but they are seeking more details in the unusual case.

A probable cause affidavit in the case was sealed. Authorities declined to release further information.

The next court hearing in the case is set for June 26.

Based on reporting by AP and oregonlive.com
Russian warplanes last week flew near Alaska and Canada several times, prompting North American air-defense forces to scramble jets for the first time in more than two years, the Pentagon said on April 24.

Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were spotted in international airspace three times -- twice near Alaska's Aleutian Islands and once near mainland Alaska and Canada, the Pentagon said.

The flybys occurred April 17, 18, and 20, prompting on two occasions the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to launch fighters to conduct intercepts, it said.

NORAD spokeswoman Lori O'Donley said a number of Il-38 antisubmarine aircraft were also spotted in international airspace in the same vicinity on April 19.

The White House has dismissed the importance of the flybys, saying "this is not highly unusual."

"They were all conducted safely, professionally, and with respect for U.S. territorial airspace," said Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis.

But Davis said such flybys have not occurred off Alaska for years, possibly because the large, propeller-powered Tu-95s were grounded for maintenance.

"This was the first time in about 2 1/2 years that we have seen Russia conduct long-range bomber missions like this in and around Alaska," Davis said.

Based on AFP and RUAviation.com
Relatives of the Uzbek man that Swedish authorities accuse of ramming a truck into a crowd in Stockholm earlier this month say that his brother has been arrested in Uzbekistan.

Relatives told RFE/RL on April 24 that Alim Akilov, the 44-year-old brother of deadly truck-attack suspect Rakhmat Akilov, was detained in his native city of Samarkand the previous day.

They said that he has been held incommunicado since then and that the authorities have given them no explanation for his arrest.

Uzbek officials have not commented on the matter.

Rakhmat Akilov, 39, is in custody in Sweden, where investigators say he plowed a hijacked beer truck into pedestrians on a crowded street in downtown Stockholm on April 7, killing four people.

Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov claimed on April 14 that Rakhmat Akilov had been recruited by the extremist group Islamic State (IS) after he left Uzbekistan in 2014 and settled in Sweden.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says there will be no end to the fighting in Syria until President Bashar al-Assad gives up power.

Erdogan told Reuters in an interview in Ankara on April 25 that "Syria should be liberated from Assad so that a solution could emerge" that would end the six-year-old war in the country.

"Assad killed hundreds of thousands of people and I have 3 million refugees in my country, 1.5 million refugees are currently in Lebanon, and there are about 1 million refugees in Jordan and these people have fled their motherlands" because of the Syrian ruler, Erdogan said.

Erdogan also said that "we can no longer speak about a solution with Assad or our efforts will be in vain."

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin -- who has supported Assad with military strikes since 2015 -- told him he is "not an advocate for Assad, I'm not his lawyer."

Russia and Iran are Assad's two biggest foreign supporters and have worked with Syrian troops against the opposition that is fighting to oust the Syrian leader.

Turkey and a multinational coalition led by the United States has mainly supported an umbrella opposition group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces.

However, Turkey also has fought against Syrian Kurdish fighters that are battle against both Assad's regime and Islamic State (IS) militants -- with the latest such attack being Turkish air strikes on April 25 that targeted the headquarters of Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northeastern Syria.

Those attack prompted the U.S. State Department on April 25 to voice "deep concerns," with Washington noting that Turkey did not consult the coalition before carrying out the strikes.

Erdogan on April 25 said that "right now Putin, [U.S. President Donald] Trump, us, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, we have all assumed an active role in the effort to create a solution in Syria. We can get together and we can help the people of Syria to make up their own minds."

He also insisted the IS group would not replace Assad and that there were "many ideal names who can be the next leader [of Syria]."

Erdogan said he will discuss Syria with Trump during a meeting scheduled for mid-May.

"We are going to talk about these aspects and we are going to invite them to take the next step forward with us so that the fate of Syria can be identified by the people of Syria," Erdogan said.

Syria's conflict began in 2011 as a civil war. Now, with international forces drawn into the conflict, there are several opposition groups and Islamic extremists who are fighting against Assad's forces and against each other.

At least 250,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has caused the world's worst refugee crisis since World War II.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon held talks with the visiting commander of the United States Central Command, General Joseph Votel, on April 25.

Rahmon's office said they discussed "prospects for cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres" with an eye to bolstering "regional security and stability." The term "military-technical" usually refers to weapons sales and servicing.

Rahmon and Votel also discussed "effective proposals for broadening cooperation on strengthening the capabilities" of Tajik border forces on the long frontier with war-torn Afghanistan, the statement said. It did not give details.

The talks were held less than two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Rahmon and said they agreed to "step up joint efforts to defend the Tajik-Afghan border, using the capacities of the Russian military base" in Tajikistan.

About 7,000 troops from Russias 201st Motor Rifle Division are stationed at three facilities that are considered part of a single Russian base in the Central Asian country.

The U.S. Central Command is responsible for U.S. military activities in the Middle East, the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, and Pakistan.


WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump reaffirmed U.S. support for efforts led by Germany and France to negotiate a resolution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the White House said on April 24.

In a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump endorsed her efforts along with French President Francois Hollande to negotiate with their counterparts in Russia and Ukraine "a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Ukraine on the basis of the Minsk agreement."

The Minsk agreement established a cease-fire between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in the east and outlined a process for attaining peace, but it has never fully been followed.

In addition to Ukraine, Trump and Merkel discussed the conflicts in Syria and Yemen and the "urgent security challenge posed by North Korea" during their phone conversation, the White House said.
The U.S. State Department has expressed "deep concerns" about Turkish air strikes against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and northern Iraq, saying the strikes were not approved by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) extremists.

The State Department said it had communicated its concerns directly to the Turkish government on April 25.

The air strikes have led to calls from Syrian Kurdish members of the U.S.-led coalition to call for U.S. aerial protection against Turkish air strikes.

Iraqi Kurdish authorities also demanded the withdrawal of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters from northern Iraq's Sinjar region after the attacks.

Turkey confirmed that its warplanes bombed Kurdish militants in Iraq's Sinjar region and in northeastern Syria.

A Turkish military statement said the strikes in Sinjar were aimed at preventing the PKK from sending weapons and explosives for attacks inside Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late on April 25 that he will not allow the Sinjar region to become a base for PKK militants.

But the U.S. State Department said on April 25 that the Sinjar air strikes killed members of the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces, considered an important ally in the U.S.-led coalition against IS militants.

A senior Kurdish military commander, General Seme Bosali, said five Peshmerga fighters were killed in Sinjar.

While the Peshmerga and Syrian Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) are part of the anti-IS coalition, the PKK has been designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.

The PKK established a presence in the Sinjar region during the summer of 2014 when its fighters helped tens of thousands of Yazidis escape Mount Sinjar, which was encircled by IS militants at the time.

Turkey has regularly bombed the border area between Iraq and Turkey where PKK militants are based, but the April 25 air strikes marked the first time Turkey has targeted Kurdish fighters in the Sinjar region.

Meanwhile, the air strikes in northeastern Syria targeted Syrian Kurdish fighters from the YPG, a key component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are backed by the United States and have been closing in on the IS stronghold of Raqqa.

The YPG said in a statement that parts of its headquarters in Mount Karachok were hit near Syria's border with Turkey, including a media center, a local radio station, communications facilities, and military institutions.

YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said 20 YPG fighters were killed and 18 were wounded, three of them critically.

Reuters reported that a U.S. military officer accompanied YPG commanders on a tour of the targeted sites later on April 25, a visit that demonstrated the close partnership between the U.S. military and the YPG.

Ilham Ahmed, a senior Kurdish politician who co-chairs the political wing of the SDF, said on April 25 that the SDF had called on Washington provide protection against Turkey.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, APF, and The Wall Street Journal
Ukraine's state power company says it has cut electricity supplies to the parts of the Luhansk region that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists, citing debts.

Vsevolod Kovalchuk, head of the power distributor Ukrenergo, said on Facebook on April 25 that "the power supply to territory in the Luhansk region that is temporarily not controlled [by the government] was completely halted" overnight.

Russia reacted angrily, claiming that the supply cuts were politically motivated and violated a peace deal for conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.

The war between Ukrainian government forces and the Russia-backed separatists, who hold parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, has killed more than 9,900 people since April 2014.

Ukraine also cut gas supplies to separatist-held parts of the Luhansk region in 2015, also citing unpaid debts.

Kyiv has accused the area of accumulating 2.6 billion hryvnyas ($97.67 million) in unpaid electricity charges.

Ukraine imposed a trade blockade on the separatist-held areas in March.

With reporting by Reuters and Interfax
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has launched an internal investigation into a car explosion that killed an OSCE observer in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.

The OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier said on April 25 after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that other investigations will also be launched to find out who is responsible for the April 23 explosion.



American paramedic Joseph Stone was killed and two other OSCE monitors -- a German woman and a Czech man -- were wounded when the car they were traveling in drove over a landmine on April 23.



"I'm now setting an internal investigation. There will be also a criminal investigation to understand who is responsible for this outcome," Zannier told reporters.

"A mine was left on a road which is also used by civilians, and there could have been other victims as well."

Lavrov said Moscow favors tightening the security measures for the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission in eastern Ukraine.

The OSCE's mission has been set up to monitor the conflict between Ukraine's government forces and Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

The conflict in Ukraine has killed more than 9,900 people since April 2014.

Based on reporting by Interfax and TASS
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An El Salvadoran citizen who illegally entered the U.S. several times pleaded guilty Monday to illegal re-entry after an earlier deportation.

According to court documents, Mario A. Macias-Maldonado, 29, admitted entering the U.S. illegally in 2006. In 2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents found him at the Chesterfield County Jail.

He was deported in 2010 after he was convicted in Chesterfield of forgery, driving while intoxicated, grand larceny, obstructing justice, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

But he came back again, and last summer Chesterfield police charged him with rape. He was convicted in February of sexual battery and sentenced to one year in prison.

He faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced July 13 on the federal conviction.
Affluent residents were the dominant voice in two surveys that played a critical role in crafting Chesterfield Countys budget proposal.

In one survey conducted by Chesterfield called Blueprint, the results leaned toward more prosperous residents.

Residents in households earning between $50,000 and $99,000 were the prevalent voice in another survey that Chesterfield paid an outside company called the National Research Center to complete.

The demographics of the respondents in the National Research Center survey closely mirrored that of the U.S. Census Bureau, and three survey researchers said its methodologies seemed sound.

For example, households with that income range made up 35 percent of all survey respondents, the same percentage of those households countywide.

Blueprints 6,200 responses were much higher than the National Research Center survey, but the way it gathered responses was much different. Respondents were those who came to community events and filled out the survey or completed it online. County spokeswoman Susan Pollard said the county had no control over how many people from each ZIP code filled out Blueprint.

Because (Blueprints type of sample) does not truly represent a population, we cannot make valid inferences about the larger group from which they are drawn, said Mary Moore, the interim director of the Survey and Evaluation Research Laboratory at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The results leaned toward the affluent, who didnt always live in heavily populated areas of the county.

I think the county is ignoring a huge population of our county, said Shelia Bynum-Coleman, a Chesterfield native and real estate agent who is hoping to represent the 62nd District in the Virginia House of Delegates. You should have an even divide as to who you are going to survey. They shouldve done everything they can to reach out to the poorer areas. Because those people have less services.

Several researchers did say surveys have their limits, and the county may have to use different methods of outreach to communicate with lower-income communities that may not have traditional households or that tend to be more transient.

Pollard defended Blueprint.

That was a statistically valid random sample, Pollard said of the National Citizen Survey. Our survey from Blueprint Chesterfield, which with 6,200 respondents was not a random sample, also yielded results similar to the National Research Centers survey. Therefore, supporting that these are the priorities of our residents.

Blueprint respondents ranked education, roads and public safety as the three top areas the county should prioritize. They asked county officials to de-emphasize residential sprawl, student standardized testing and oversaturation of strip malls.

The county paid $16,812 for the National Research Center survey, in which 93 percent of the 435 respondents rated Chesterfield as an excellent or good place to live.

The county rated higher compared to hundreds of other communities when it came to affordable quality housing, variety of housing options, employment opportunities and as a place to work.

Residents were less impressed with mobility within the county. Availability of paths and walking trails, ease of walking and ease of travel by bicycle were awarded positive ratings by less than one-third of residents and were rated lower than the benchmarks.
In the shadow of a gubernatorial race and a glut of contested House of Delegates competitions, a lesser-known local race in Henrico County could produce the first modern Democratic majority on the countys Board of Supervisors.

The bid to fill the Brookland District supervisor seat after the February death of longtime supervisor Dick Glover comes during a time where voters in the historically conservative county have showed an increasing inclination to vote for Democrats. For the first time in a presidential election, the majority of voters in all five magisterial districts voted for the Democratic nominee in 2016.

In the Brookland race, two Democrats are vying for the partys nomination  Courtney Lynch, the founder of a leadership development firm, and Danny Plaugher, the executive director of the advocacy group Virginians for High Speed Rail. A nominee will be chosen during a caucus at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Absentee voting took place on Monday.

The winner of Saturdays contest will be placed on the November ballot and will go on to face a Republican challenger nominated during the June 13 primary. The next supervisor will serve the rest of the term, which ends in 2019.

In their own words, heres why each of the Democratic candidates is running and where they see the county headed. Responses were edited for length.

QUESTION: Why are you running for election to the Henrico County Board of Supervisors?

Lynch: While our schools in Brookland are good, they can be better. We must ensure that resources are sufficient, class sizes are limited, and our teachers are adequately compensated. Our children, who will become the workforce of the future, need to have sufficient technological and STEM training to succeed. Plus, excellent schools keep real estate values strong for all.

Our county continues to become more diverse, particularly in Brookland. We need to create a welcoming and inclusive environment where newcomers have opportunities to become productive citizens, adding to the strong fabric of our community.

While much of Brookland has had new opportunities, we still have areas in need of revitalization. Certain corridors in Brookland, including much of Staples Mill east of Parham Road, are struggling. We need to make decisions in support of these areas so they can thrive.

Plaugher: I want to be our customer service supervisor who makes sure the potholes get filled and the trash gets picked up on time. I am also running to make sure that every child in Henrico has access to great schools, and to help maintain our quality of life by modernizing the county, which includes investing in 21st-century amenities such as sidewalks, streetlights, crosswalks, bike paths and reliable transit while supporting our world-class park and library systems.

QUESTION: What are the most pressing issues currently facing Henrico and, more specifically, Brookland? How would you look to work on finding solutions to those issues?

Lynch: We need to continue to foster an environment where good jobs are continually created and ensure folks are paid living wages. The way we work locally and nationally is changing. There are creative ways we can attract virtual workers and new employers to the area.

Our first responders need to be sufficiently compensated. They need up-to-date equipment. My husband has been a firefighter and is a former Henrico police officer, so I personally know the risks they take every day to keep our communities safe. I plan to stay in constant contact with first responders so I can best represent and advocate for their needs. The spiraling opioid crisis and mental health issues touch Brookland also. We need to ensure these issues are addressed in a proactive manner and that sufficient funding is available.

Disparity remains a problem in Henrico with the west end flourishing economically and more struggle in the east end. Schools are an example of this. Some schools in the far west end are among the best in the state, while schools in the east struggle to receive accreditation. The entire community benefits when all our schools meet the bar. Ill work with the School Board, the Henrico Education Foundation and other key stakeholders to close gaps for the benefit of all.

Lastly, yet perhaps most importantly, we must continue the fiscal prudence that Henrico County is known for. If elected, Id like to maintain a high level of budget diligence while evolving spending plans to best meet current and future needs.

Plaugher: The developer of the new apartments in Innsbrook said it best, Innsbrook was created to provide a better working environment for companies. The world is changing and the markets changing, and were seeing companies pulled to follow the millennials. ... Its absolutely stunning what people want today. 

The Brookland District is home to some of Henricos more established neighborhoods that are perfect for younger families, but they lack the modern amenities that millennials seek. Further, a lot of our older shopping centers were built to outdated standards. Imagine if we could update our economic corridors and original neighborhoods without putting an undue burden on our citizens by implementing best practices for redeveloping our communities and shopping centers.

How do we update and modernize our county in an intelligent and fiscally responsible manner is one of the most pressing issues facing Henrico and Brookland and something that I will work with everyone regardless of political party to find the best solutions for our community.

QUESTION: Have there been any actions undertaken by the countys Board of Supervisors that you disagree with? If so, what were they and why did you disagree with them?

Lynch: I strongly believe in diversity for the value it adds to the decision-making process. It concerns me that there is not a mother of school-age children on the current board. As a small-business owner, attorney, veteran and mom of three kids in public schools, Id like to have an opportunity to bring a diverse vantage point to the board.

We need to create a welcoming environment for our new residents. We need to respect religious freedoms and have a county where all people flourish and have the opportunity to participate in the American dream.

I will be a fresh voice on the board, willing to work positively with anyone to improve Henrico and Brookland.
Only two years ago, Richmond witnessed a remarkable RPS: Better with Bedden petition drive to recapture the heart of Superintendent Dana T. Bedden during his flirtation with the Boston school district.

Bedden withdrew from that search but the honeymoon was brief, and now a divorce is pending. Soon, well find out if public education here will be better without Bedden.

The prospect has his detractors gleeful, his supporters furious, and others ambivalent about Bedden but appalled at how the Richmond School Board went about this.

On a stormy Friday evening, this board went behind closed doors for more than three hours. When members emerged, they took no action and had precious little to say. (Neither has Bedden, who declined to comment Monday.)

On Saturday, the school district sent out a passively worded email announcing that the board and Bedden have discussed a mutual agreement that Dr. Beddens term as division superintendent will end on June 30, 2017. The parties are working to negotiate the specific terms of the separation. The board wished him well.

I dont know what the inner workings of the situation are, said Julian Maxwell Hayter, an assistant professor of leadership studies at the University of Richmond and the parent of an RPS student. But I will say this: The lack of transparency in Beddens firing weakens the already threadbare faith that people have in Richmond Public Schools.

Strong mayors want control of education. Perhaps Levar Stoney wants his guy. Could it be Dallas Dance, an energetic millennial with copious local ties whose abrupt resignation as Baltimore County schools superintendent has brains working and tongues wagging?

If this is part of some grand plan, Stoney has pulled off a feat neither of his predecessors could achieve, despite one of them having a son on the School Board and the other evicting the school districts offices from City Hall.

Stoneys response to Beddens demise could hardly have been more anodyne.

We all know Richmonds school division faces many challenges, and the School Board acted in what it believes will serve the best interests of our students, Stoney said in a statement over the weekend. I support the boards decision, and thank Dr. Bedden for his service to Richmond Public Schools.

Any ambitious politician who wants to control public education should be mindful of the so-called Pottery Barn rule: You break it, you own it.

Actually, RPS has been broken for a long time. Its fate was sealed in 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court  amid white flight to the suburbs  effectively killed a plan that would have consolidated the school districts of the city and its surrounding counties.

The problem with Richmond Public Schools was not created overnight. And its abundantly clear that the compression of poverty in this city has had a profound influence on the nature of Richmond Public Schools, Hayter said. Theres no silver bullet strategy to fix Richmond Public Schools. Continuity matters.

Since 1976, Richmond has had nine permanent school superintendents. Beddens successor will be our 10th.

Weve seen these ebbs and flows, these hirings and firings, and the situation stays the same. In fact, it gets worse, Hayter said.

Richmond Public Schools is not unlike a hamster on a wheel, running in place despite constant turnover.

I wonder how something as significant as this happens as suddenly and surprisingly as it did, said Joe Notarnicola, a PTA member at Fox Elementary School. Most of the people that Ive spoken to around town seem to share that sentiment.

Given this inexperienced board and mayor, the timing is lousy for this change.

Wasnt it just a few months ago that the Stoney administration established its education compact to smooth over the often rocky working relationship between the mayors office and the school district?

That compact looks increasingly like a distraction to bring Beddens guard down before he got clocked.

The extroverted Stoney may be a novice as mayor, but he has a Ph.D. in politics. School Board member Liz Doerr is the wife of Stoney fundraiser Mike Doerr.

Bedden, on the other hand, lacks the instincts of a political infighter and has managed to alienate despite being low-key. His blunt assessments  particularly about substandard facilities  made for harsh medicine in a town accustomed to putting off critical school needs.

He also has been less than adept at poker, telegraphing his unease over vocal critics on the previous School Board. His security blanket unraveled with the resignation of board member Don Coleman, the elections of Kim Gray and Kristen Larson to City Council, and the elevation of Jeff Bourne to the House of Delegates.

But hey, its not paranoia if theyre really out to get you. The School Boards opaqueness about this move smacks more of power politics than whats best for public education.

Really, good luck finding a quality superintendent who would risk their reputation coming here at this point, with that School Board in place, Gray said Saturday. Its going to be challenging.

Beddens relationship with the board might have soured over his administrations failure to disclose in a timely manner $8.3 million left over from the previous year. The failure to report the money rankled the School Board after it learned about it in March, weeks after it had adopted a budget.

Bedden said division officials were reluctant to discuss the estimate as a courtesy to the incoming mayor because it would draw attention to the citys perennially tardy financial report. But if Bedden was indeed taking one for the team, it backfired when the Stoney administration professed to have only recently learned about the money.

Its the boards prerogative to hire and fire its superintendent. Bedden has not been perfect, and perhaps the board in fact had ample cause. But if anyone thought he or any superintendent could turn RPS around in three years, they need to be drug-tested. He has been given neither adequate time nor tools.

Hayter said people like himself want to be committed to Richmond Public Schools. But he likened it to being stuck in a bad relationship.

Until we get transparency and continuity, this school district will be hard to embrace. And better will remain elusive.
A man was killed Monday afternoon after a two-car collision on the Powhite Parkway bridge, Richmond police say.

Charles L. Foster, 61, of the 9700 block of Paragon Drive in Richmond, was the sole occupant of a Chevrolet van headed north in the right lane of the bridge when around 4:50 p.m. Monday, the van struck a Ford truck in front of him, police said in a statement. Foster's van veered to the right after the collision and struck the concrete barrier at the right edge of the bridge.

The Richmond Fire Department extricated Foster from the van, and he was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The driver of the truck sustained minor injuries.

No charges are expected, police said.

The two northbound lanes on the right-side of the roadway were closed while the Richmond Police Department's Crash Team investigated.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has endorsed Tom Perriello in the Virginia governor's race.

Warren's endorsement means Perriello now has two of the leading progressive voices in the Senate backing his campaign. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont endorsed Perriello earlier this month.

Perriello is running an insurgent campaign against the state party's establishment pick, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, and has sought support from prominent national Democrats. The two will face off in a June primary. Virginia and New Jersey are the only states set to elect governors this year.

Warren made her endorsement in an interview with The Huffington Post on Monday.

Both Perriello and Northam have been critics of President Donald Trump, but Perriello has made opposition to Trump a focal point of his campaign.
MATHEWS  Frank Wagner, Republican candidate for governor, is not pitching a tax cut.

He's worried about the state budget, the dwindling rainy day fund, and a lagging transportation network in Virginia - on which he wants to spend more money.

What kind of Republican candidate doesn't run on tax cuts?

That would be Wagner, the state senator from Virginia Beach who says his 25 years in the legislature - nine in the House of Delegates and 16 in the Senate - give him an insight into the budget and bureaucracy that his two GOP opponents in the June 13 primary lack.

Wagner hasn't received anywhere near the free media of rival Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, whose social media antics and devotion to Confederate symbols regularly land him on TV. On CNN.com, two recent online stories about Stewart say he's challenging Ed Gillespie in the GOP primary and don't even mention Wagner.

Wagner doesn't have the money of Gillespie, the longtime political strategist and former Republican National Committee chairman who leads the others in GOP polls.

Shoe-leather campaign

What Wagner does have is the ability to campaign the old-fashioned way. A handshake and a smile, and some talk about what he thinks would really boost Virginia's economy. This isn't a platform that can be described in a tweet or a soundbite.

Wagner has ideas for raising gas tax revenue and building a highway network to rival North Carolina's. If Virginia does, he said, the return on the investment economically will be worth it.

With that in mind, he visited the old courthouse in Mathews, Va. last Thursday for a meeting of the local Grand Old Party. Surrounded by pictures of court clerks from long ago, Wagner spent an hour with 20 people trying to earn their votes in the primary.

Wagner outlined his time in the U.S. Naval Academy and career as a Navy diver and then shipyard operator and owner.

He grew up in Arlington County. "Don't hold that against me," he said. One person laughed.

As an underdog, he has little choice but to attack Stewart and Gillespie. Among his talking points: He's the only veteran in the GOP primary and the only true businessman. "One has a Washington, D.C. lobbyist-type business and one is a lawyer," Wagner says.

Stewart is a trade attorney; Gillespie has stopped taking clients at his consulting business in Alexandria while he runs for governor.

"I've worn a hard hat all my life," Wagner said.

On education, he said, he's a proponent of the career and technical. Working with hands is not a dead end.

The gas tax

But transportation is where Wagner really wants to focus. He is the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee in Richmond.

One person at the meeting had heard Wagner wanted to "double" the gas tax.

And Wagner admits, this next idea is a bit controversial for a Republican. He wants a sliding gas tax statewide that would fall when gas prices go up and rise when gas prices go down.

He's pitched the idea in the legislature. The proposal has passed the state Senate, but not the House.

North Carolina has pristine highways. They did it by spending money, he said. But the economic benefits for cities like Greensboro and Winston-Salem makes the payoff worth it, he said.

Virginia's transportation network doesn't foster economic growth, he said, the state will fall further behind North Carolina without major improvements. For one, North Carolina is planning a highway to connect Raleigh and the Research Triangle to Norfolk and the port.

"Because they have the money to make that investment, they're going to get a return on that investment," Wagner said. "And that's what business people do. They make strategic investments and expect a return on that investment."

Gillespie is calling for a 10 percent income tax cut - but only if revenue is sufficient. A Virginia family earning the median household income of $69,945 would keep an extra $56 a month. Stewart also calls for tax cuts.

For a state that is bleeding state troopers and struggled to give them a raise this year, these proposals, to Wagner, are irresponsible. Virginia's legislature and Gov. Terry McAuliffe just closed a $1.2 billion shortfall in the current two-year budget, and a rainy day fund with capacity for $2.4 billion recently dropped to $235 million and is expected to be at $273 million by June 30, 2018.

Balanced budget

"This is not the federal government. We cannot print money. We have to balance budgets day in and day out every day," he told the group in Mathews. "And I just have to be honest with you. And I have to tell people what I think is right, and then leave it up to you."

Richard Hicks, treasurer of the county Republican committee, asked Wagner when Richmond was going to start cutting.

Lawmakers just helped cut $1.2 billion, Wagner replied.

Hicks' reply: Why not make it 4?

Lawmakers will keep watching the budget, Wagner said.

At the start of the Q&A he took off his sport jacket, draped it over an old courtroom rail, and rolled up his sleeves. Toward the end, his jokes had more impact.

"Somebody told me ahead of time, when you come out here, be prepared for drainage questions," he said. This time, the entire room laughed.

Dominion

One issue Wagner didn't talk about: His 2015 legislation, now a law being challenged at the Supreme Court of Virginia, that temporarily stopped the State Corporation Commission from reviewing base electricity rates of Dominion Virginia Power and Appalachian Power company.

Opponents say it could allow the energy monopolies to keep hundreds of millions in excess profit that should be returned to customers. Wagner and Dominion have defended the freeze as keeping rates stable.

Mathews County Supervisor Jack White, a Republican, knows the budget challenges in Richmond. Starting pay for teachers in his county is too low. The board planned a Tuesday vote on raising its property tax rate. "We didn't have the money for the rescue squad on an employee raise."

He said he wishes every candidate for public office was required to first establish business credentials. He told Wagner he backs him, later adding that he also likes Stewart and Gillespie but will vote for Wagner.

"I think that he could be an excellent governor," White said.
Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam is highlighting gay marriage, gun violence and opposition to President Donald Trump in the first TV commercial of Virginias gubernatorial primary season.

The ad buy seven weeks ahead of the June 13 primary, described by the Northam campaign as a substantial, six-figure buy across Virginia, underscores Northams financial advantage over Democratic rival Tom Perriello and the changing tone of Democratic campaigns in a purple state trending blue. The Northam campaign said the ad is believed to be the first in a gubernatorial race to mention marriage equality.

The ad features a testimonial from Tim Bostic and Tony London, a gay couple who successfully sued to end Virginias ban on same-sex marriage.

He supported marriage equality before it was popular to do so, Bostic says in the ad after noting that Northam read a Bible verse at the couples 2015 wedding in Norfolk.

Were going to keep making progress every day, Northam says as the ad concludes. And were not going to let Donald Trump take us backwards.

Northam, endorsed by Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, is locked in a close battle with Perriello, a former congressman, diplomat and activist endorsed by national progressive figures like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Perriello picked up another big-name endorsement this week from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, who in an interview with The Huffington Post called Perriello aggressive on consumer issues and said she had tried to recruit him to work with her at the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after he lost his 5th District seat in Congress in 2010.

Perriellos surprise entry into the race in January has pushed Northam, a mild-mannered pediatric surgeon, to more actively highlight his credentials as a supporter of Democratic principles.

The ad also features gun-control advocate Lori Haas saying Northam stood up to the NRA after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings in which her daughter, Emily, was shot.

For decades, gun rights were a somewhat tricky subject for Democrats running in what used to be a red state, but demographic shifts and the voting power of populous Northern Virginia has allowed Democrats to make calls for tighter gun restrictions a key part of their platform, even if it means risking the ire of the politically powerful gun-rights group headquartered in Fairfax. In the 2013 governors race, the NRA donated $500,000 to Republican Ken Cuccinelli, who lost to McAuliffe.
Two years ago Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Dana Bedden was a finalist to run the school system in Boston. When word got out that he might leave Richmond, a grassroots campaign urging him to stay blossomed. A Better With Bedden petition drive sprang up and collected nearly a thousand signatures. Even Gov. Terry McAuliffe made a personal plea.

Bedden opted to stay; city residents breathed a sigh of relief. The Boston Globe tipped its hat, acknowledging after Bedden withdrew his candidacy that its southern competitor had scored a victory: Going into the final phase of the search for a new superintendent, it was clear that Dr. Dana Bedden had been singled out as the favorite  many students, parents, and union members had expressed their full support. But Bedden withdrew as a candidate less than an hour before the committee meeting was slated to start, announcing he had decided to stay in his current position as superintendent of Richmond Public Schools in Virginia. Beddens candidacy for the Boston post had caused the community in Richmond to mobilize. Richmond, you win.

Now, all of a sudden, Bedden is out. And nobody cares to explain why.

On Friday, the members of the Richmond School Board sequestered themselves away from public view for secret talks about Bedden. When they emerged, they said little and conveyed even less. The school system has announced his tenure will end June 30. Thats it.

Only two of the seven members responded to press inquiries. Scott Barlow said he would have preferred to see Bedden stay but he would respect the boards decision. Cindy Menz-Erb said she wouldnt have anything to say.

This is outrageous. Richmonds children, parents, and taxpayers deserve better. They deserve to know where each member stood on the decision, for starters. And they deserve to know what led to Beddens ouster. Was it simply the failure of the school system to raise academic performance? If so, how will Beddens leaving improve the situation?

Did Bedden commit some sort of infraction, or fall short of some yardstick, that the public doesnt know about? If the board has a good reason to give him the boot, disclosing it would allay suspicion.

Did the board  composed entirely of new members  decide to fire Bedden as a way to signal that a new day had dawned and a new direction had been set?

Did the board face pressure from other power centers  such as the mayors office, the business community, or the teachers guild? If so, why?

Is Bedden being offered up as a sacrificial goat to appease the federal Department of Educations Office of Civil Rights? The OCR is investigating claims that black students with disabilities are punished at rates far higher than the rate for white students without disabilities. Its not clear why that is an apt comparison  why not compare disabled students of one race against disabled students of another?  or whether the claim takes into account, as it should, socioeconomic factors. White students make up less than 10 percent of the student population, and many of those students come from well-to-do families. Since low income is a strong predictor of classroom misbehavior, any comparison that doesnt adjust accordingly is probably missing the mark.

Finally, what kind of candidate does the board expect to apply for the job after treating the incumbent this way?

Its theoretically possible that Bedden has since shed the star qualities Richmonders found so appealing just two years ago and become an impediment to progress. But theres little evidence of such a transformation or that the public has soured on his leadership. His ouster is extremely puzzling.

But the way the decision was dumped in the citys lap  after hush-hush meetings and with no explanation  is intolerable. It could hardly have been bungled any more. The only way for the board to redeem itself is to explain itself.
Richmond saw measurable rain for the seventh day in a row on Tuesday, officially the city's longest spell of rainy days since July 2015.

But instead of getting drenched, the daily totals have been relatively modest.

As of noon on Tuesday, Richmond International Airport had picked up 1.35 inches of rain since April 19.

That's still welcome in light of the ongoing precipitation deficit, which is now approximately 1.8 inches for the year.

On Friday, it looked like a system slowly spinning through the Southeast would bring 2 inches of rain to the Richmond area over the weekend, with 1 inch at the very least.

Even a 1-inch amount was hard to come by on Saturday and Sunday. The rain forecast underperformed in central Virginia. Storms soaked the Carolinas and western Virginia, however, leading to flash flooding and swollen rivers.

The system will finally release Virginia from its cloudy and damp grip on Wednesday.

Last weekend of April will feel like early summer

Instead of persistent clouds and unseasonably cool weather, expect the opposite conditions to end the week. Prepare to use the air conditioner.

The lingering moisture may yield some fog on Wednesday morning, but the rest of the day will feature clearing skies and a seasonable high in the mid-70s.

Highs will peak in the mid- to upper 80s from Thursday to Sunday. Saturday might see Richmond push into the 90s for the first time this year.

And unlike the warm spells so far this year, the air will be much more humid over the weekend.

With dew points in the upper 60s and lower 70s, the air will have a June-like quality and a few degrees of heat-index factor on top of the actual temperature.

A random, pop-up storm isn't out of the question this weekend, but any organized areas of rain and storminess should stay to the west of Virginia.

That next cold front could bring storms to central Virginia on Sunday night or Monday.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
John Fishwick no longer relies on Justice Department press releases to speak out the way he did as U.S. attorney.

He has his own Facebook page.

And citizen Fishwick, free from the strictures of public service, has used it to criticize corporate America.

Fishwick, who resigned three and a half months ago as the Western District of Virginias top federal prosecutor, says he sees a debacle of corporate waste unfolding at CSX railroad. Speaking out as a CSX shareholder, he registered a Facebook page to rally shareholders against a proposed CEO pay plan that he likens to a scourge of the American Old West.

The page is titled Stop the CSX Train Robbery.

Fishwick knows something about railroading. His late father ran Norfolk & Western Railway, which merged with Southern Railway in 1982 to create Norfolk Southern Corp. The younger Fishwick, after a nearly 30-year career as a private attorney, worked as U.S. attorney for about a year, leaving in January just before the change of administration in Washington, D.C. He returned to private practice.

Among his personal investments, the former U.S. attorney said he has long owned stock in CSX, Norfolk Southerns chief competitor in markets east of the Mississippi.

In March, CSX hired a new CEO, Hunter Harrison, the former CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway. Hunter conditioned the deal on his eventually receiving $84 million in compensation he forfeited to leave Canadian Pacific in January. Before it takes action, the companys board has scheduled an advisory shareholder vote on the extraordinary payment June 5. Hunter has said he will quit if he doesnt receive the $84 million.

I was bothered by it, Fishwick said of the deal. The $84 million is for work he did for a competitor of CSX, he added.

Fishwick added: This is just something Im doing personally. I think Im freer as a private citizen to do things like this.

U.S. attorneys are presidential appointees sworn to a period of public service but free to resume being private citizens afterward, with a few restrictions. They cant comment on past legal matters they handled or get involved in litigation they had overseen, said Ronald Bacigal, a law professor at the University of Richmond. He estimated that a slight majority of ex-U.S. attorneys stay quiet after they leave office and dont want to be in the limelight, kind of like [former President Barack] Obama is doing.

Some of them are very active, Bacigal said.

John Edwards, who served as U.S. attorney in Roanoke from 1980 until 1981, later ran successfully for the Roanoke City Council and the Virginia Senate. He has been a state senator for 21 years. Former U.S. Attorney John Brownlee, who held the prosecutors post from 2001 until April 2008, five years later defended Gov. Bob McDonnell against criminal allegations that were tried before a jury.

In rallying against CSX management, Fishwick has questioned the cost, ethics and legality of paying Hunter $84 million. CSX also proposes to pay the income taxes that Hunter, a 72-year-old industry veteran, would owe on the $84 million, a plan Fishwick termed a horrific example of corporate waste, according to a Facebook posting.

CSX also agreed to pay Hunter $2.2 million a year.

Fishwick contends CSX could find a different CEO as effective as Hunter at less cost. Fans of Fishwicks Facebook page have posted negative comments about Hunter and urged Fishwick on. He plans to attend the CSX meeting in June and hopes to speak before the vote, he said.

CSX did not immediately respond to a request for a comment Tuesday.

The company has argued for paying Harrison, citing his reputation as a turnaround expert in railroading. In addition, the company has acknowledged that the deal is high-cost and that Hunter could be ineffective at CSX or die, become disabled or leave for other reasons before the end of his four-year contract.

Global investment firms such as Vanguard and BlackRock, which own chunks of the companys more than 923 million shares, have expressed no opposition to the pay plan. Fishwicks campaign wont succeed without scores of small shareholders like him voting no.

I own 6,957 shares and theyre all voting no, Fishwick said.
CHRISTIANSBURG  Montgomery County has closed its dog pound forever.

Last week, with a bigger staff and a new mission, the county opened a $4.3 million, 16,300-square-foot no-kill Animal Care and Adoption Center just down Cinnabar Road from the 1970s-era pound. But more than the location will be different.

Were moving toward an entire different mindset, said Executive Director Eileen Mahan. No healthy, adoptable animal will be euthanized.

The county offered tours of the new building and staff answered questions in advance of a grand opening event scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday.

County and Christiansburg officials are set to hold a ribbon cutting that day, and there will be tours and activities for the public, county spokeswoman Jennifer Tatum Harris said.

Visitors will find an animal shelter nearly four times bigger than the old facility, volunteer and education coordinator Marilyn Wheaton said. And it will be open seven days a week.

Wheaton, who was a volunteer at the old pound, described the new facility as more sanitary, better equipped and less stressful for the animals. The new building can house up to 64 dogs, or about double the number as the old facility. It provides areas for veterinary care and bathing of dogs, among other services.

The new shelter will also take cats surrendered by their owners, something the county has not done in the past. There is space for up to 68 cats.

Feral and stray cats will not be accepted, however. They are not adoptable, Mahan said.

The new shelter will continue to support the community in reducing the feral cat population through spay and neuter and getting them vaccinated, Mahan said. That solves the problem long-term.

Before becoming shelter director, Mahan was an animal control officer for seven years. She said volunteer efforts and the opening of the Mountain Valley Humane spay and neuter service have, over the past five years, reduced the feral cat population and will continue to make a difference.

The facility does not accept stray cats because they might not actually be homeless, Wheaton said.

While it is illegal for residents to let their dogs roam in the county, no such law applies to cats. What appears to be a stray might actually belong to someone, Wheaton said.

The new building has office space for seven employees, up from the one staff member employed at the old facility. The countys three animal control officers also have desks there. A new community room can be used for dog training classes and other activities, Wheaton said.

Community requests for a different approach to animal welfare led to the new facility and the no-kill, adoption mindset behind it, Mahan said.

For many years, overcrowding and conditions at the old pound drew criticism from elected officials and animal welfare groups.

From 2012-15, 327 animals that came to the old pound were euthanized, according to Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services statistics. In the same time period, 998 were reclaimed by their owners and 920 were adopted.

At the new shelter, euthanasia will be rare, according to Mahan.

Animals with major health problems or those deemed dangerous by the courts could still be put down. The shelter has a special section set aside for dogs deemed dangerous, or those that are the subject of pending bite cases. A handful of such dogs were being held there Tuesday.

According to the countys 2018 proposed budget, the shelters annual operating budget, including employee costs, will be $467,920, with $214,109 coming from grants and donations.

Mahan said part of her job will be fundraising. She pointed out a dog that needs a leg amputation for which she is currently raising money.

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 in 2015 to approve the construction of the shelter, and building began in December of that year. Chris Tuck, now board chairman, cast the lone no vote at the time, saying he was concerned about the cost.

Supervisor Mary Biggs was a leading proponent of the shelter project.

Neither attended Tuesdays tour with reporters, but Biggs was quoted in a county news release as saying the project had been near and dear to my heart for nearly two decades.

Im honored to have been a part of the design of the center and to have helped facilitate the true mission and intent of this project  a place for adoptable cats and dogs to find care, aid and forever homes.

For now, county adoption fees will remain $10 for all dogs with required prepaid spay and neuter fee of $65 for females and $60 for males. No cats had been accepted to the shelter as of Tuesday. Dogs and staff moved in late last week, Wheaton said.

The shelter has also instituted new volunteer processes, including a mandatory training session for dog walkers. Wheaton said in addition to dog walkers, volunteers are needed to work the front desk and do laundry and cleaning.

For more information on the shelter, visit www. montgomerycountyva.gov/acac. To sign up as a volunteer, visit http://signup.com/go/4dG3i7.
DES MOINES  Two days after bleary-eyed lawmakers adjourned their 2017 session and headed home, governor-in-waiting Kim Reynolds offered a partial agenda for an election-year session in 2018.

Water quality, tax reform and a study of the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System are among the issues the lieutenant governor talked about at Gov. Terry Branstads weekly news conferences on Monday.

Reynolds is poised to move into the governors office when Branstad is confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be ambassador to China. Hell be in Washington, D.C., again this week to meet with members of the Foreign Relations Committee and indicated his confirmation hearing could be next month. Branstad expects to be in office for at least the 30 days the governor has to deal with bills recently approved by the Legislature.

WATER QUALITY

Water quality is going to continue to be a priority, Reynolds said, and she hopes to work with lawmakers to build consensus based on separate bills approved in the House and Senate. While programs in those bills are similar, the funding mechanisms are different. The Senate plan would have raised $744 million over 13 years, funneling the funds into pots for specific programs.

The House plan would raise $513 million over 13 years and give the Iowa Finance Authority the ability to sell bonds to provide additional funds for water quality projects. The House plan would give preference to collaborative projects involving cities, rural landowners, industry and other entities.

We had a bill pass both chambers, Reynolds said.  ... It has been a priority of our administration and will continue to be a priority of mine.

She wouldnt speculate on the possibility of calling a special session of the Legislature to deal with water quality, but didnt rule it out.

First of all, lets get this session wrapped up, she said.

She believes the state has the right strategy  the Nutrient Reduction Strategy  in place. The goal now is a long-term, sustainable source of funding so we can put some money behind best practices so we can reach our goal, Reynolds said. I feel confident well figure out a path forward.

Neither of the bills lawmakers passed included a sales tax increase for natural resources and Reynolds showed no interest in going in that direction.

The Senate rejected a sales tax increase for water quality 34-16, so I dont think there is support for that in the Legislature. There never has been (including) the time when Democrats controlled the Senate, Branstad said.

TAX REFORM

Tax reform again is going to be a priority, Reynolds said, adding, We didnt have the revenue this year to implement comprehensive tax reform.

She didnt endorse proposals by Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, to cut taxes by $500 million or Rep. Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, to rein in tax credits. Specifically, she advised caution on Grassleys plan to make changes to the refundable research and development tax credit, which results in the state writing checks to large corporations.

She wants to put everything on the table, bring in stakeholders, the Department of Revenue and others with expertise to look at whats possible.

As we work over the interim to implement comprehensive tax reform we need to take a look at everything, Reynolds said. That means maybe tweaking. That means making some changes. We need to look at what makes Iowa more competitive and how can we utilize not only a lower and more competitive tax rate, but some of the incentives we have in place to encourage companies to invest in Iowa?

She also called on working with existing companies so they can grow and expand, and most importantly ... hire Iowans for quality careers so we can continue to grow the economy.

RETIREMENT SYSTEM

Reynolds promised action on studying IPERS, the state public employee retirement system, but didnt offer a timetable. Branstad has promised a study of the pension program to make sure that it is sustainable over the long-term.

I want to start with saying any talk of pension reform moving forward means that we honor the commitments already made, Reynolds said. Thats the place we start from.

She doesnt know what pension reform is going to look like, but it could be a hybrid or going from a defined benefit to defined contribution.

We dont know what that looks like. It means bringing all stakeholders to the table and talking about whats possible, she said.
Roanoke officials were mere hours from acquiring the last half-mile of land needed to complete the Roanoke River greenway Friday.

But Norfolk Southern Railways abandonment of a half-mile of rail bed through Walker Machine & Foundrys land was stayed by the federal Surface Transportation Board in response to a claim by Walker that it, not the railroad, actually owns the rail bed.

Walker and the city have been at odds for three years or so because of the foundrys unwillingness to grant the city property rights to allow the greenway to cross its land along the river in the Norwich neighborhood. Walker officials have said allowing a park near their heavy industrial plant where metal castings are made will imperil the plants environmental permits and therefore the entire business.

The city hinted at using eminent domain to take the land  the last piece needed to complete the 10-mile paved pathway through the city  and Walker promptly hired the best-known eminent domain attorney in Virginia.

Last month, the city seemed to have found a checkmate maneuver when it reached a deal with the railroad to abandon the rail bed for its nearly 130-year-old Belt Line. The Belt Line passes through the Walker Foundry property. Norfolk Southern sought to abandon the rail bed and sell it to the city.

City Engineer Phil Schirmer has said the city could build the greenway on the rail bed, or use the rail bed as leverage to get Walker to part with land closer to the river, which is the preferred site for the greenway.

The abandonment was to have taken effect Saturday.

But last week, Walker President Glenn Muzzy sent the Surface Transportation Board a letter disputing the railroads claim that it has fee simple title interest to the right-of-way for the Belt Line, along with two other claims. That prompted the stay of the abandonment by the federal board.

Muzzy claims in his letter that the foundry owns the land, and cites a June 15, 1891, deed between the railroad and the Roanoke Development Co.

City officials cite that same deed as proof that the railroad in fact owns the land.

Theres no question about it, City Attorney Dan Callaghan said this week.

The faded, handwritten deed, on file in Roanoke County, says the development company grants with general warranty to Norfolk & Western Railway the land for the Belt Line where the tracks have since sat.

Walkers attorney, Joe Waldo of Norfolk, said the city is trying to pull ... a fast one.

Theres something going on between the railroad and the city, he said. What is the city trying to accomplish with the railroad and vice versa? Are there any other quid pro quos we dont know about?

Waldo contends the general warranty deed is proof that the development company really only granted an easement to the railroad. Theres nowhere where it said fee ownership in there, he said of the deed. Thats easement language.

Walker subsequently acquired the larger parcel owned by the development company, and all of the rights with it  including the land where the tracks are.

If the railroad abandons the right of way, Waldo argues, it will revert to Walker.

Callaghan had no response other than to say he reads the deed as proof that the railroad bought the land nearly 126 years ago.

For its part, the railroad responded in a letter to the Surface Transportation Board on Monday that all of the claims in Muzzys letter deal with state property or contract law and Walker should pursue them in state court, but they arent part of what the board should consider. The letter asks the board to allow the abandonment to take effect.

Muzzy also claims in his letter that the right of way, described by Norfolk Southern as 50 to 100 feet wide is actually 40 feet, and that the abandonment would affect a 77-year-old agreement the foundry has with the railroad that allows workers to cross the tracks to access property on the other side of them.

That crossing agreement, dated 1940, gave Walker permission to cross the tracks, but adds that the railroad can terminate the agreement with 60 days notice.

Schirmer said recently that the citys purchase of the right of way from Norfolk Southern is contingent upon the railroad terminating that crossing license.

That would cut off the foundrys access to its own land on the other side of the tracks  and perhaps give the company incentive to bargain with the city.

But Waldo said the crossing license cant just go away so easily at this point.

He said foundry workers for decades have crossed the tracks at all points, not just in a designated area. The railroad, he claims has known that, and by not objecting has acquiesced.

By implication, youve given us the right to cross that in perpetuity, he argued.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Surface Transportation Board had not lifted its stay.

It was unclear what might happen next, particularly should the board allow the abandonment and the city acquire the land.

Waldo predicted the already protracted battle will continue.

The citys got one heck of a legal battle on many fronts, he said.
Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner will introduce a resolution Tuesday commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings.

The resolution by the two Democrats from Virginia recognizes the 32 victims who died, the 17 who survived with gunshot wounds and the resiliency of the university.

Congress passed a similar resolution 10 years ago, shortly after the tragedy.

Kaine decided to introduce a new resolution after he returned to Blacksburg for the 10th anniversary April 16 and after one of his staffers found the previous resolution.

This is an effort to keep the names of the victims alive, he said.

I just want to continue to bring them up and talk about them because I think they were really notable and what we lost that day was really incalculable, Kaine said Monday.

Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, attended the 10th anniversary events on Techs campus. The couple visited with families who lost loved ones and reunited with survivors from that day.

The day was both emotional and moving for Kaine, who was governor when the shooting occurred in 2007. He often refers to April 16, 2007, as the worst day of his life.

Im not ready to let it go, he said.
By Harry Childress

Childress is the president of the Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance based in Lebanon.

Many Americans have already forgotten about the Clean Power Plan (CPP), the Obama administrations signature effort to reduce carbon emissions from the nations power plants. But not the nations coal communities. Theyve lived with this regulation as an ever-present threat even after its implementation was stayed by a federal court.

Virginias coal communities saw the CPP for exactly what it was: a thinly-veiled assault on their livelihood  and one that would cripple an already reeling industry while providing little environmental benefit.

Fortunately, the Trump administration has done just what it promised. By executive order, President Trump has axed the CPP along with another vestige of the Obama administrations anti-coal policy, the moratorium on all new leases of federal coal reserves.

Just a few months ago, those waging the War on Coal felt like they were on the precipice of victory. Now, they are in full retreat. The industry can finally compete again without having both of its arms tied behind its back by an overzealous Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Interior.

Weve been told that coal plant retirements, falling coal demand, and lost mining jobs were all the result of market competition from cheap natural gas. While lower natural gas prices have played a role, the elephant in the room has been the regulations designed to close coal plants while making it more expensive to mine coal.

To understand just how dangerous the CPP and coal leasing moratorium were, simply look at the numbers. The moratorium on the leasing of federally controlled coal was designed to keep Americas largest source of coal firmly in the ground. Roughly 41 percent of U.S. coal production comes from public lands, providing a major source of electricity generation nationwide. An indefinite moratorium on this resource would have proved crippling, potentially jeopardizing many of the 14,000 miners whose livelihoods depend on federal coal.

The CPPs impact would have been worse. By the U.S. Energy Information Administrations own calculation, the regulation would have meant the unnecessary and premature closure of many of our remaining coal power plants. With reduced demand for coal, production would have fallen by roughly 240 million tons per year, affecting 100,000 jobs in the supply chain.

Consumers across the country would have paid for this folly, too. Replacing so much generating capacity would have cost $64 billion. And because this low-cost power would have been replaced with more expensive alternatives, wholesale electricity prices would have soared.

Energy Ventures Analysis, a leading consulting firm, calculated that electricity prices would have experienced double digit percentage increases in more than 40 states. The average American household would have paid an additional $680 per year in electricity costs compared to 2012. These are staggering numbers. And for what?

Environmental activists were willing to sacrifice Americas coal industry, and the affordable power it provides, even as coal demand continues to rise overseas. China now consumes as much coal as the rest of the world combined.

The Trump administration has thankfully restored some common sense to our energy policy.

Instead of viewing the coal industry as a problem in need of fixing, the country again can embrace an all-American resource that provides one-third of our electricity and supports hundreds of thousands of good jobs.

Sometimes its easy to overlook near misses, damage nearly avoided. But we would be wise not to make that mistake with the War on Coal.

The president may not have ended it, but at least it will no longer be waged by our government.
MASON CITY | Mason City will be featured in an upcoming CNN Travel segment focusing on the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The show is being done in commemoration of 150th anniversary of Wright's birth on June 8, according to Lindsey James, executive director of Visit Mason City.

She said a CNN crew will arrive in Mason City Wednesday evening, eat dinner at the 1910 Grille and stay overnight at the Historic Park Inn.

On Thursday, their day will start with breakfast at the SuzieQ and continue with a stop at the Stockman House before heading off to other cities with ties to Frank Lloyd Wright.

James said the SuzieQ does not have a Frank Lloyd Wright connection but is a unique downtown diner that she thought the crew would enjoy.

The Historic Park Inn is the last remaining hotel designed by Wright who also designed the Stockman House.
Business News We Went To The Macy S Flagship Store In New York City And Saw Firsthand How The Brand Is Transforming Into A Discount Retailer | RobinsPost News & Noticias

of the Toys R Us flagship shop at ... to the Toys R Us shop at Macy's Herald Square store can take a photo with Geoffrey in a ... [+] replica of a New York City taxi. (Photo by Eugene Gologursky ... Read More Toys R Us has found second life as new in-store locations have ... New locations include the flagship Macys location in Herald Square, New York City. So far only Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa ... Read More Beloved New York City pride brand New York ... meaning we can finally pick up its classy NYC merch in person. On October 22, NYONs 1,000-square-foot flagship store will open in downtown ... Read More While the once-mighty toy giant may not have its own locations just yet, the brand will live on in toy sections in Macy's ... to flagship locations in cities like Atlanta, Houston, New York ... Read More The popular activewear brand has ... of its first New York City flagship. The store, located in the coveted SoHo neighborhood at 106 Spring Street, stands as the brand's first East Coast flagship ... Read More Children and those young at heart can be ToysRUs kids once again. Iconic toy brand ToysRUs has partnered with Macy's to reopen locations across the country. While the once-mighty toy ... Read More On Friday, Los Angeles, California, contemporary label Staud is opening the doors to its first New York City flagship at 45 Greene Street in SoHo. It was always the vision for the brand to ... what ... Read More
Consumer News Study Finds Seafood Mislabeling At Six Washington Dc Restaurants | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The study raises questions about the sustainability of seafood, finding that it has an outsize impact on shore as well as off our coasts. While aquatic systems produce 1.1 percent of the worlds ... Read More Tiny, meaty clams from Totten Inlet in Washington state were covered in a sweet mango relish ... Rather than your more traditional presentation of oyster accouterment, the seafood at the Lonely Oyster ... Read More This week the FDA announced it will initiate a study on the role of seafood in child safety, growth and development. The Food and Drug Administration has enlisted the National Academies of ... Read More A variety of signage types can sway consumer purchasing as well. Situating a blackboard on the wall behind the seafood counter with messaging in chalk, for instance, is a subtle way to communicate ... Read More Pearls Aren't the Only Surprise Found in Seafood Restaurants By TIANA KENNELL ... Klingel most often finds pea crabs tucked inside Blue Point oysters. They sneak in there when the oyster ... Read More As part of the study, an ad hoc committee of the NASEM will: Evaluate dietary intake and seafood composition data provided by the sponsors (i.e., Department of Commerce, HHS, EPA, and USDAs ... Read More Seafood from Alaska includes five species of wild salmon, cod, halibut, Alaska pollock, sablefish, rockfish, sole/flounder, crab and more that are available at restaurants and retailers nationwide. Read More Visit local restaurants and review local menus online, as up to 70% of seafood dollars goes to restaurants. ... Read More PORTSMOUTH, N.H. , Oct. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Throughout the month of October, the Global Seafood ... positively influences consumer perceptions of retailers and restaurants. Read More "We're very rich on seafood in Mexico, but not many people know," he said. Though he left for the United States over a decade ago, his hometown dishes are still with him. "Every time I remember my ... Read More The building where they are launching the seafood restaurant previously housed The Standard Plate & Pour and Gospel Bird restaurants, other Brand Hospitality Group-owned concepts. The Halls are ... Read More PORTSMOUTH, N.H. , Oct. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Throughout the month of October, the Global Seafood Alliance's (GSA) first consumer marketing campaign, "Healthy Fish, Healthy Planet, Healthy You! Read More
Politics News Bill Would Identify Illinois Lawmakers Who Fail To File Tax Returns | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The 2022 midterm election is only weeks away, with control of Congress and key statehouses at stake. Our reporters are covering contests across the nation. Read More With five days until Election Day, President Biden is campaigning in New Mexico and California. Election officials are warning of widening efforts to intimidate voters. Read More
Politics News Lindsay Graham President Trump Won T Let North Korea Build Missile That Could Hit U S | RobinsPost News & Noticias

CNNs John King said Mehmet Oz might be able to pick up votes in western Pennsylvania that eluded former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. King said Trump was unable to win over some voters ... Read More Donald Trump teased the crowd with his expected presidential candidacy at a Sioux City event where he stumped for Chuck Grassley and Kim Reynolds. Read More
Potus News Trump Pushes For New U N Sanctions Against North Korea | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The Biden administration is expanding sanctions against the aviation sectors of North Korea and Myanmar as it continues to punish the two countries for weapons-related violations of U.S. and United Na ... Read More
Science News Ripple Effects Of New Zealand Earthquake Continue To This Day | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Ripple Effect is an ongoing video series looking at the varying levels of impact COVID-19 has had across our region. View more in the series here. Together, we can create a more connected and informed ... Read More WGBH News and CNN contributor, Juliette Kayyem, teaches crisis management, risk reduction, and homeland security at Harvards Kennedy School of Government. She joined us remotely to talk about how the ... Read More A 5.7 magnitude earthquake has rattled central New Zealand, waking many people early ... told Newstalk ZB the quake happened during the 3am news bulletin. She says it felt like quite a good ... Read More In this episode of Science Digest, hosted by Dr Michelle Dickinson, she is joined by New Zealand Herald science reporter Jamie Morton, to discuss his recent reporting in this area, and University ... Read More Nov. 3, 2022  A new method to treat sewage can efficiently convert leftover sludge to biogas, an advance that could help communities lower their waste treatment costs while helping the ... Read More New Zealand is also considering whether supplements that have had success abroad can be adapted locally. Much of the science overseas focuses on altering barn animals food and is harder to ... Read More Hundreds of pilot whales are dead after two mass stranding events occurred days apart in New Zealand, conservation officials announced on Wednesday. The strandings continue a deadly trend that has ... Read More WELLINGTON, New Zealand ... the company could continue to stay afloat. Professor James Renwick, a climate scientist at the Victoria University of Wellington, told The Associated Press last week that ... Read More Many of them are telling their stories in a new documentary called Trigger ... said the conversation reveals the lasting ripple effects of this epidemic. You have a lot of young ... Read More Reality quickly set in as stronger economic news, chiefly in the form of employment ... s inflation target remains much lower  2%. We continue to believe that headline inflation is unlikely ... Read More WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  Some 477 pilot whales have died after stranding themselves on two remote New Zealand beaches over recent days, officials say. None of the stranded whales could be ... Read More Video / NZ Herald A 5.7 magnitude earthquake has rattled central New Zealand, waking many people ... told Newstalk ZB the quake happened during the 3am news bulletin. Read More
Science News Modeling Reveals How Policy Affects Adoption Of Solar Energy Photovoltaics In California | RobinsPost News & Noticias

A new computer visualization reveals the ... 2021 International Science and Engineering Fair, an annual competition run by the Society for Science, which publishes Science News. Read More To meet its 2050 decarbonization goals, the United States will need to install up to 20 times more solar photovoltaic (PV) modules than are installed today. While any approach will require a vast ... Read More A team led by photovoltaics researchers at Sandia has completed a five-year degradation study of 834 fielded photovoltaic modules, representing 13 types of modules from seven manufacturers in three ... Read More Two solar power providers stand to gain as the alternative energy ... from a California tax credit step down, Perincheril said. The move toward electric vehicles will in turn help adoption of ... Read More Carbon pollution from Californias 2020 wildfires erased 16 years of the states greenhouse gas emission cuts, according to a new UCLA study. The fires were the states most destructive on ... Read More making it a useful complement to solar power during the day. In Californias case, there may be an added bonus. Average offshore wind speeds in the Morro Bay wind energy area  which sits in ... Read More On the brink of blackouts this summer, California's demand for power set ... It is when lakes are used to save excess solar and win power saved for when it's needed the most. Read More Clean energy industrial policy at the state ... When it comes to solar, large projects with rows of panels in the desert represent only about half of Californias solar market. Read More But the worlds energy ... solar power because, despite having the official nickname the Sunshine State, the place can be partly cloudy sometimes. But heres some good news: Those ... Read More As part of implementing the above agreement, the government and development partners set out to work together to put in place a solar energy policy. The policy was to harmonise and streamline off ... Read More MONDAY, Oct. 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Some children struggle to read ... "Our findings show that common genetic differences have very similar effects in boys and girls, and that there is ... Read More First induced pluripotent stem cell model ... how PTSD affects other types of brain cells, helping to broaden opportunities for therapeutic discovery. A Study Enabled by Team Science "What's ... Read More
Technology News Young And Talented There S One Week Left To Apply For The T500 | RobinsPost News & Noticias

There are only eight days ... where well first announce this years cohort of the prestigious MCV/DEVELOP 30 Under 30 to the public. If youre one of the 30 that made the cut, youve ... Read More ParetoHealth has achieved a significant milestone with the 2000th employer joining its captive program, marking Ernest D. Menold, Inc. was contracted for a wide array of miscellaneous metals on ... Read More Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc. Cogent Bank Ranked by C. Fla. employees Ranked by C. Fla. employees Ranked by C. Fla. employees Nuveen Green Capital is a national leader in ... Read More Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your ... I couldnt resist including this news because its not the production floor thats benefitting ... Read More The objective of Altos is to tame this phenomenon, understand it, and eventually apply ... expect its possible to discover chemical pills that do the job. One proponent of the technology ... Read More NBC Bay Area business and tech reporter Scott Budman found one area that is actually still hiring. Watch his report in the video player above. Read More The Windy City tech scene was busy last week, as companies raised funds, announced acquisitions and tested new technology. Catch up on the latest tech news with the Built In ... The company launched ... Read More Moreover, there ... The world's biggest tech companies will be put under the microscope this week when they report earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Got a confidential news tip? Read More A roundup of the week's most newsworthy technology industry press releases from PR Newswire NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week ... Read More Last week after their win over Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech got recognized as one of the top-performing teams of the week by ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit. Herbstreit is one of the top (if not the top ... Read More Then there are the photos and videos you ... My popular podcast is called "Kim Komando Today." Its a solid 30 minutes of tech news, tips, and callers with tech questions like you from all ... Read More
Technology News Google To Offer Rides In Self Driving Vehicles In Arizona | RobinsPost News & Noticias

A global autonomous driving technology company will open its first Arizona location in Tucson to test its vehicles ... Family Foundation, self-driving cars offer potential for reducing ... Read More Sky Harbor International Airport is becoming the first airport in the world to offer Waymos autonomous (self-driving) ride-hailing service.Phoenix leads the nation in demonstrating autonomous ... Read More By Matt McFarland, CNN Business For over a decade, companies from Google to General Motors have poured billions of dollars into the pursuit of what was seen as the Holy Grail of driving technology: ... Read More He seems to further support this point by citing the tragic Uber fatality in Arizona in 2018, which involved a self-driving car ... to offer services to the public. According to Automotive News ... Read More Development of autonomous technologies is attracting billions of dollars, but industry executives say remote operators will likely always be needed ... Read More Trimbles precise GPS technology enables a vehicle to maintain its lane position in a variety of environments, including inclement weather conditions, including rain, snow, fog and more, which often ... Read More Waymo says it plans to launch its ride-hailing ... and public that the technology was coming rapidly, even back in 2012 when it was still known as Googles self-driving car project. Read More Both Ford and Volkswagen were in a joint venture to become two of the world's largest automakers to push to develop self-driving vehicles. That has ended. Read More Lyft's president, John Zimmer, previously said a majority of the company's rides would be in self-driving vehicles by 2021. Zimmer still believes his company can help bring about revolutionary ... Read More After spending years as a regular ol' car ... ride-hailing service to the Los Angeles area. A specific timeline was not offered, with Waymo's blog post only saying that its vehicles will "begin ... Read More
Travel News Travel Agent Defrauds Ghanaians Stranded In Libya Airport | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Another batch of 137 stranded Nigerians, on Monday, arrived from Libya ... Airport, Lagos. The stranded Nigerians were received by the officials of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency ... Read More The National Emergency Management Agency on Thursday in Lagos received 126 Nigerians who had been stranded in Libya as they returned ... confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria ... Read More The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday in Lagos received 126 Nigerians stranded in Libya. The citizens ... Ibrahim Farinloye spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Read More Les 3 Vallees Travel will become a comprehensive holiday booking portal as follows: A one-stop-shop to simplify the customer journey. At launch, accommodation can be booked, as well as ski ... Read More The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that almost 3,000 Nigerians have been evacuated from Libya since January. It also reports that on Sunday, NEMA received 542 stranded Nigerians from the ... Read More To make the process somewhat easier, we asked travel agents about common issues travelers encounter on their journeys. Here's what they said. Nina Byrd, owner of Kissimmee, Florida-based ... Read More Travel agents saw the largest spend growth per customer at almost 95% last month, followed by airlines at 60%, the latest Barclays UK consumer spending report revealed. People are more confident ... Read More Travelport has added the NavAgent workload optimization and personalization tool to its Smartpoint agent desktop tool, the travel technology company announced. NavAgent, a collaborative project ... Read More The Institute pointed out that the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Outlook for travel agents is, in fact, pointing toward growth in the space. Travel agent employment is likely to grow 20% from ... 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 Licensed agents can help you navigate policies and prices and determine which protections you need. Get started today! Fill out your trip information, including the dates of travel and destination ... Read More Capital One is opening a new "chef-driven" lounge concept in both New York's LaGuardia Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the bank holding company announced. The Capital One ... Read More
Travel News Tripping The Complete Travel Guide To Tuscany Italy | RobinsPost News & Noticias

If youre wondering how to spend 10 days in Italy, Ive got you covered with these 5 itineraries! How to Spend 10 Days in Italy: 5 Amazing Itinerary Ideas ... Read More That trip not only kick-started my ardour for Italy, but for travel itself. Back then (dont even think to ask when) there were no cruise ships clogging Venice, nor indeed many tourists. Read More Editor's Note  Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel's weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations ... On the shores of Italy's Lake Garda, there's a fishing village with a secret ... Read More Tuscany in the autumn is all about celebrating ... Image The train station in the town of San Miniato, another day trip from Florence.Credit...Dario Garofalo for The New York Times Here are ... Read More Influencer Rob Kenny shares a step-by-step guide to a two-week road-trip around Italy. When we Irish hear of our friends travelling to Italy, it's generally always the same few places. We throw ... Read More Recruiting for Good just launched a meaningful travel ... Tuscany!' The staffing agency is rewarding referrals to companies hiring professional staff with an exclusive all-inclusive trip to Italy. Read More We met our guide ... set up a spread complete with tablecloth, napkins, utensils and plates and some supplementary goodies. Also: Eating your way through Italys Abruzzo region Adjacent to ... Read More "People often overlook how stress can negatively affect the body," McKitish shared with Travel + Leisure. "Planning, coordinating, and packing for a trip can be more stressful than you think ... Read More Depending on the type of travel insurance you purchase, you could end up saving hundreds (if not thousands) if you run into certain situations, like a medical emergency, trip delay, cancellation ... Read More There are several different types of travel insurance options to pick from - from trip cancellations to interruptions and delays. If you run into issues while traveling, depending on your plan ... Read More
Us News Raw Heavy Rain Floods Charleston Sc Streets | RobinsPost News & Noticias

South Carolina shorelines could see the effects of Nicole, now a tropical storm, as early as Nov. 8 with high surf. Charleston Harbor is under a tropical storm watch, which ... Read More Forecasters say Subtropical Storm Nicole is gaining strength in the Atlantic and the Carolinas will likely see impacts this week as the storm nears tropical ... Read More Due to heavy rainfall, flooding may occur in certain areas. Current flooding concerns. Please avoid these areas. US 1/Beach Rd ... Thursday because of the heavy rain. WPTV First Alert Chief ... Read More Heavy rain swamped portions of Miami Thursday, flooding streets and stalling cars whose drivers attempted to drive through high water. Videos posted to social media showed stalled cars in the area ... Read More A heavy downpour flooded parts ... in to help get cars out of the flooded street. Downtown Miami floods, drivers stranded after deluge of afternoon rain Sky 10 overhead captured water-filled ... Read More Heavy rain prompted flash flood warnings in Doral, Florida, on Sunday, October 9. This footage, uploaded to Twitter, shows cars driving through a flooded street in Doral on Sunday. The National ... Read More Australia's East Braces for More Heavy Rain, 'Life-Threatening' Floods SYDNEY (Reuters) -Large swaths of Australia's southeast were under flood evacuation alerts on Saturday as the nation's ... Read More Heavy Rain Eases in Australia's East, Flood Threats Remain SYDNEY (Reuters) - Heavy rains eased across Australia's east on Monday, a slight relief for flood-weary residents but authorities warned ... Read More Flood warnings were issued, hundreds of homes were evacuated, thousands more lost power and a man was missing as heavy rain lashed southeast ... issued an order for 17 streets including the ... Read More Video released by Cork City Council shows water spilling into the River Lee from North Mall as vehicles drive through flooding. Met Eireann warned of heavy rain causing localised spot flooding ... Read More Flood warnings have been issued, hundreds of homes have been evacuated, thousands more have lost power and a man is missing as heavy rain lashes ... an order for 17 streets including the central ... Read More bringing heavy rains. The Bureau of Meteorology warned severe flooding was possible from Sunday in northern New South Wales, including the Northern Rivers, which takes in the regional centre of ... Read More
Us News Wearable Devices Help Crack Complex Cases Such As Connecticut Woman S Murder | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The global wearable computing devices market is expected to be worth US$ 37,557 Mn in 2022 ... prevention of mortality caused by illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and asthma. Read More Wearable devices - with their routine usage are crafting a revolutionary change in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. The FDA has recently cleared a device for routine use and more similar ... Read More Wearables, however, have also been linked to risks and problems, such ... technology businesses than to individual users. Overall, the study findings discussed various wearable technology's ... Read More But since June, 50 workers have also been donning a wearable tech ... heat in a persons blood and internal organs. Created by American company Kenzen, this device could help prevent workers ... Read More China, Italy, Iran, Spain, the Republic of Korea, France, Germany, and the US are among the worst-affected countries in terms of positive cases ... Wearable Devices in Healthcare market such as U ... Read More Health officials in the U.S ... news briefing that waning immunity, increasing gathering and a return to pre-COVID activity was leading to a surge in Europe. "This should be a clear warning for us ... Read More in Disneyland, and other shows can experience illumination and vibration in sync with those displays as one of several features included with the MagicBand+ wearable device. Sign up for our Park ... Read More Its VR-enabled headset could be used to help ... monitoring such as walking, to digital healthcare," Suma said. Oura What it does: Oura is perhaps Europe's best-known wearable technology startup ... Read More The global wearable medical devices market was valued at US$ 29.9 Bn in 2021 ... Surge in chronic pain cases is augmenting the demand for wearable medical devices such as transcutaneous electrical ... Read More Samsung's own version will apparently include key health-tracking features commonly found on many of the best smart rings, such as the ... right direction. The wearable device is said to be ... Read More
Us News Man Dies Son Injured In Connecticut Plane Crash | RobinsPost News & Noticias

A man has serious injuries ... Stay informed about local news and weather. Get the NBC Connecticut app for iOS or Android and pick your alerts. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Read More A Massachusetts man was among two men killed ... plane hit a multi-family building at 661 Main St., which started a fire. The eight people living in the building were not injured. Video: Fatal ... Read More An 82-year-old man was severely injured after his aircraft crashed Friday afternoon, just northeast of an airport. Richard H. Coles, 82, of Girard, the small planes only occupant, was flown ... Read More Firefighters attempt to douse the flames on a plane that crashed at Pioneer Buick GMC in Reno Tuesday morning. Two people, including a Parkersburg man, died in the crash ... to take us to Fort ... Read More A suburban Detroit man and his son were killed in a rollover ... in the moments before the crash. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing ... Read More The pilot involved in the Southington plane crash Friday afternoon has died, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol. Read More New Mexico State Police said alcohol was a factor in a crash that killed 39-year-old Brian Steven ... and the driver of the truck was not injured in the incident. State Police said they are ... Read More TOPSFIELD  A man was killed and his wife was seriously injured in a one-car crash on Rowley Road in Topsfield ... Access customers of The Salem News get deals for restaurants, hotels ... Read More A Saratoga County man is dead after a crash Tuesday night ... It happened just before 8:30 p.m. The crash killed the driver, 48-year-old Eric McFarlane. His passenger, 45-year-old Dennis Mason ... Read More The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a two-vehicle fatal crash on US 23 at Blackwater Road. On November 8, 2022, at approximately 4:48 P.M. a 2012 Toyota Camry, driven by Maged Gerges, 56, ... Read More (WNEM) - A man was killed, and a woman was injured in a crash involving multiple vehicles in Isabella County Monday morning. It happened shortly after 7 a.m. on northbound US-127 near Broomfield ... Read More BALTIMORE -- A person died in a crash that left I-95 in Howard County backed up for hours early Tuesday morning, according to Maryland State Police. Multiple cars were involved in the crash ... Read More
Us News Thailand Father Films Himself Killing 11 Month Old Daughter On Facebook Live Before Committing Suicide | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Two children under the age of three were abducted from their Louisiana home and shot to death by a man who then killed himself in a double murder-suicide ... as 10-month-old Lillian Rose Marter ... Read More According to Sylvania Police, Anthony Genna ,20, was arrested for aggravated murder in the homicide of his five-month-old daughter Aria ... Like us on Facebook to see similar stories Please ... Read More A one-month-old baby in India was killed ... her husband for the inhuman act. Last week, a father was accused of killing his 14-year-old daughter as part of an occult ritual in India. Read More Attorneys for Cole did not dispute that he killed his infant daughter, 9-month-old Brianna Cole ... General John O'Connor said in a statement before the execution that he was confident Cole ... Read More A mother allegedly admitted to intentionally killing her 5-year-old daughter before taking her to the ... privacy and respect for [the victims] father, James, and our family as we all figure ... Read More The man accused of killing ... 12-year-old daughter Angel Ahearn and his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself inside a home on Celestial Run in Winder. Both Angel and her father died. Read More A mother fatally shot her 23-year-old daughter, then killed herself ... According to a news release from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, the murder-suicide occurred Tuesday morning ... Read More Attorneys for Cole did not dispute that he killed his infant daughter, 9-month-old Brianna Cole ... General John OConnor said in a statement before the execution that he was confident Cole ... Read More Grim details of a mum's terrible mental state have been revealed after she allegedly killed her five-year-old daughter ... she killed her daughter at Spring Creek Park before driving to the ... Read More The child died after being treated for bleeding on the brain, and her father ... his 23-month-old daughter in the head, causing a brain injury that killed her last week on the day before her ... Read More Police say a mother killed her 2-month-old daughter and is facing a murder charge today. San Diego Police Homicide Defectives responding to a call in the 10300 block of Mission Road at 11:33 a.m ... Read More A DeKalb County father has been arrested after police say he shot and killed his 3-year-old son. The father ... but rushed his son to the hospital himself in his work truck. Read More
World News For Turkey S Erdogan New Powers Present Fresh Challenges | RobinsPost News & Noticias

In this case, a news ... Erdogan, an Islamist autocrat, brooks no criticism and cannot abide a free press. Turkey reportedly imprisons more journalists than any other nation in the world ... 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 While the others, flabbergasted and annoyed, finished their dinners, Mr. Erdogan fulminated at a news conference ... and Turkey, both NATO members, now threaten to add a difficult new dimension ... Read More ISTANBUL, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said he will meet Sweden's new prime minister ... but they ran into objections from Turkey. Ankara accuses them of harbouring ... Read More Officials from Erdogans office could not immediately be reached for comment. Turkeys state-run news agency however, quoted Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez as saying on Wednesday that it ... Read More Turkey's Parliament ... news," or disinformation. The law, proposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party, comes eight months before the country's general election. "With this new ... Read More Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has agreed to meet with Swedens new prime minister in Ankara to discuss the Scandinavian countrys bid to join NATO ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish ... Read More By Ben Hubbard and Safak Timur ISTANBUL  Turkeys Parliament has passed sweeping new ... fake news, was approved on Thursday night with votes from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Read More Turkey's parliament ... spreading "fake news". The new rules cement the government's already-firm grip on the media eight months before elections that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enters ... Read More The new law means those found guilty of intentionally publishing disinformation or fake news ... MPs. Turkey currently ranks 149 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders world ... Read More ANKARA, Turkey  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he has agreed to meet with Sweden's new prime minister in ... and Erdogan as positive news. "We believe that close dialogue and ... Read More
World News Turkey Cabinet Overhaul Coming As Erdogan Eyes Party Return | RobinsPost News & Noticias

In this case, a news ... Erdogan, an Islamist autocrat, brooks no criticism and cannot abide a free press. Turkey reportedly imprisons more journalists than any other nation in the world ... Read More "Turkey has long been hell for journalists. It's one of the largest prisons for journalists in the world ... news. The law, proposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party, comes ... Read More Turkey houses the worlds largest refugee population ... President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it would facilitate the return of 1 million refugees from Turkey. Erdogan has recently signaled ... Read More AK Party Group Deputy ... Private NTV news channel claim a number of workers have already been brought out of the mine alive. President Tayyip Erdogan said he would go to Bartin on Saturday. Read More By Ben Hubbard and Safak Timur ISTANBUL  Turkey ... fake news, was approved on Thursday night with votes from President Recep Tayyip Erdogans governing party and its allies, who ... Read More Turkey's Erdogan to Meet Swedish PM Kristersson to Discuss Extraditions, NATO Bid ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said he will meet Sweden's new prime minister, Ulf ... Read More Erdogan often refers to the ban's lifting as an example of how his party represents devout Muslim Turks against secular parties that ruled Turkey before his party's arrival in 2002. "If you have ... Read More "Because Turkey will not bow down to such acts. Turkey will take necessary steps in Cyprus." President Erdogan earlier in the year confirmed Turkey's plans to increase its military presence in ... Read More The controversial bill, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP ... he told MPs. Turkey currently ranks 149 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders world press ... Read More
World News U S North Korea Flex Military Muscles As Tensions Remain High | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Seoul's "overwhelming conventional advantage" at sea is why North Korea focuses on "asymmetric capabilities" like special forces, one expert said. Read More North Korea ... take "overwhelming military countermeasures" against what it called deliberate provocations by South Korea, as tensions remained high following the North's ballistic missile ... Read More Air Force military trainings took place in both North and South Korean airspaces as the two nations continue to ratchet up tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Read More If North Korea is supplying arms, it's a direct violation of U.N. resolutions that ban them from trading weapons with other countries. Read More South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) on Friday said it strongly condemns North Korea escalating military tensions with hostile acts, adding North Korea's provocations must come at a price. Read More The U.S. and South Korean militaries conducted a joint river-crossing drill Wednesday, the latest exercise in a large-scale operation designed to counter North Korea's own escalating military drills. Read More North Korea on Monday demanded that the United States and South Korea stop large-scale military exercises, calling them a provocation that may draw "more powerful follow-up measures" from Pyongyang. Read More North Korea said Monday its recent missile tests were simulations of nuclear strikes on South Korean and U.S. targets ... agreement on reducing tensions, South Koreas military said. Read More READ MORE: North Korea confirms simulated use of nukes to wipe out South Korean and U.S. enemies South Koreas military detected ... made in 2018 to reduce tensions, according to the ... Read More South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) condemned the North for escalating tensions, calling its ... of force against joint South Korean and U.S. military drills involving an aircraft ... Read More
World News North Korea Marks Founding Of Military With Live Fire Drill | RobinsPost News & Noticias

(South Korean Ministry of National Defense) North Korea has conducted an unprecedented series of live-fire drills using warplanes ... state-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that ... Read More The United States and South Koreas Vigilant Storm air force drills are scheduled to continue through Friday. Read More A malfunctioning South Korean ballistic missile blew up during a live-fire drill ... by rival North Korea. Their concern that it could be a North Korean attack only grew as the military and ... Read More North Korea's pursuit of an ability to fire missiles ... North Korea's KCNA news agency reported on Monday local time. Kim vowed to strengthen the country's military operations going forward ... Read More The U.S. military ... South Korea and the United States held joint maritime exercises on Friday, a day after Seoul scrambled fighter jets in reaction to an apparent North Korean bombing drill. Read More Seoul  North ... military drills under the simulation of an actual war" that gamed out hitting South Korea's ports, airports and military command facilities, the Korean Central News Agency ... Read More SEOUL, Oct 14 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday it took "strong military countermeasures" after South Korea staged artillery fire, state news agency ... 9:28 AM UTC World at Work Analysis ... Read More A TV screen showing a news programme reporting about North Korea's missile launch with file footage. North Korea's military said it has ordered its troops to fire more artillery shells off its ... Read More South Korea  North Korea on Friday launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters and flew warplanes near the border with South Korea, the Souths military said, further raising ... Read More South Korea ... Norths state-run Korean Central News Agency said the actions were in response to 10 hours of South Korean live-fire artillery exercises near the border. The South Korean ... Read More
MASON CITY -- The proposed Gatehouse hotel project was the main topic of discussion Monday night at a City Council Listening Post at the First Presbyterian Church.

Councilmen Bill Schickel, Travis Hickey and Paul Adams fielded questions from an audience of about 30 and most of them had the same message for city officials.

They want answers.

"You need to get ahead of the fake news," said David Clayton. "Mason City is on the cusp of doing something really worthwhile. But the people need to feel they've been dealt a fair hand."

John Groninga said, "A bunch of people have dug in their heels on this without seeing anything, which is predictable. Having real numbers would help," he said.

Many people wondered if the city had alternate plans if the current ones don't pan out.

City Administrator Brent Trout, who attended, said the development agreement with Gatehouse is still being negotiated so many of the numbers are not firm yet.

Former Councilman Max Weaver said the city's numbers don't add up, the projected revenues from the conference center/ballroom at the hotel are inflated and that the ice arena downtown can be built much cheaper than the city is projecting in the bond issue to be voted on in November.

Others in the audience urged the city officials to provide the public with as much information as possible as soon as possible.

Councilman Adams said he'd like to have town meetings to give as many people as possible the chance to learn what is going on and to get their questions answered.

Other topics touched on included the quiet zones, the Alliant Energy project at Pierce Avenue, Highway 65 improvements, and city salaries.
World News Acrobat Joins Venezuelans Staging Massive Sit In To Protest Government | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Cuicas was one of some 1,700 Venezuelans that U.S. authorities expelled ... it still suffers inflation that is among the highest in the world and its economy continues to be precarious. Read More (RNS)  Responding to a tide of Venezuelans crossing the ... agencies that work with the U.S. government are faith-based. They include Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministries ... Read More Migrants will no longer be able to join their families ... still heading north, Venezuelans deported over the past week have received a notice from the Mexican government upon their arrival ... Read More But Sandu and her government, backed by a big parliamentary majority ... including Moldova's Communists, joined in the protest for the first time. Activists set up an encampment of several ... Read More 10 (UPI) --A massive art collection owned by the British government will receive its ... launched Friday. World News // 34 minutes ago Philippines authorities accuse corrections head in death ... Read More With his extraordinary handstand capabilities, Mexican acrobat Nicolas Montes de Oca has established two new World Records. According to the Guinness World Records, "Mr Oca holds titles for the ... Read More British human rights activist Peter Tatchell was stopped by Qatari police today for staging a public LGBT protest, 26 days before the start of the 2022 World ... for the Qatari government said ... Read More CONAKRY (Reuters) - At least five people were injured after security forces fired at anti-government protesters in Guinea's capital Conakry on Thursday, an opposition coalition said. Demonstrators ... Read More Ahead of the result of the 20th National Congress meeting, the protest against Chinese President ... According to The Geneva Daily, the Chinese government used its internet censor to silence ... Read More a massive trove of art and cultural artifacts looted from the Kingdom of Benin by the British empire in 1897, launched Friday. World News // 28 minutes ago Philippines authorities accuse ... Read More The government said it would be a world first, and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products. Because farming is so big in New Zealand  there ... Read More
World News Fears Of Military Grade Weapons In Wrong Hands Amid Venezuela Unrest | RobinsPost News & Noticias

In a move widely lambasted by Republicans, President Biden recently sought to resume Venezuelan oil imports in exchange for a promise of free and fair elections in 2024, a move which critics argue ... Read More The evolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has brought back the fear of ... the world is still far from a situation of total disarmament. Thankfully these weapons are not in ... Read More KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin, facing military ... of weapons and supplies for Russian troops, stressing the need to gain higher tempo in all areas. Russian news ... Read More Mexican President Hints at Venezuela-U.S. Accord Amid Migration Rise MEXICO CITY ... Venezuela need to be restored," Lopez Obrador told a news conference. "I know they're working towards an ... Read More CARACAS, Venezuela  Rescuers worked to clear rocks and mud from the streets of a north-central city in Venezuela on Tuesday, three days after it was hit by a massive and deadly landslide ... Read More Amid the continuing demonstrations, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price recently described efforts to create a road map to restore Iran's tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers as ... Read More And weve made that concern very clear. WATCH: Ukraine warns Russia may be plotting dirty bomb attack The Russian military says it has readied its forces for the possible use of a dirty bomb ... Read More President Joe Biden told CBS News' "60 Minutes" in September that if Russia were to use a tactical nuclear weapon, "they'll become more of a pariah in the world than they ever have been. Read More For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Officials and employees said they are providing services amid fear, unable to find an alternative place to work. Around 200 ... Read More DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  As protests rage at home, Iran's theocratic government is flexing its military muscle abroad: Tehran has supplied drones to Russia that killed Ukrainian ... Read More
World News Ivanka Trump In Germany First Daughter Leaves Some Women Scratching Their Heads | RobinsPost News & Noticias

lashing out against First Daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner in some aggressively colorful language. Stone was convicted of seven counts of lying to Congress and the FBI and ... Read More The filmmaker said the 'f*** you and your abortionist b**** daughter,' referenced Ivanka, who served as a senior White House advisor to Trump and was viewed as untrustworthy by some figures in ... Read More Republicans generally oppose early voting, voting by mail, or doing anything to make participating in democracy slightly easier for people. So why did Ivanka brag about it? Read More Unidentified participants are first heard chatting ... He then tells his daughter: Go back to work now. After Ivanka Trump seemingly leaves the conversation, Eric Metaxas, a conservative ... Read More That time when he told the women on The View, in 2006, that if Ivanka wasnt his daughter, hed be dating her. First off ... the outing Donald Trump's daughter shared some scenic Instagram ... Read More Kim and Ivanka are seen leaving the club after dinner. (affinitypicture / BACKGRID) Both the women bundled up in their coats as they ... Kim was looking to get some space from her ex-husband. Read More Ivanka Trump on Madison Ave. was the brands first flagship retail store ... She then introduced a line of womens work wear, which generated $100 million in annual revenue. Read More
World News Iraq Forces Retake Large Mosul Neighbourhood From Is | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Kurdish Peshmerga forces liberated seven villages bordering Mosul Monday, as the battle to reclaim Iraq's second city from Islamic State forces draws ever closer to its borders. The Peshmerga ... Read More Ancient rock carvings that are believed to be more than 2,700 years old have been unearthed by a team of archaeologists in Iraq's northern city of Mosul ... told NBC News on Thursday. Read More east of Mosul, by a joint US-Iraqi excavation team completing reconstruction work on the Mashki Gate, which ISIS militants destroyed in 2016. Iraq was home to some of the world's oldest cities and ... Read More BAGHDAD, Iraq -The Islamic State caliphate, which held large swaths of territory in Syria ... an Iraq-based expert on terrorist groups, told Fox News Digital. He said that while the organization ... Read More Three rockets were fired at the base, located about 6 miles (10km) from the village of Bashiqa in Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq, on Saturday, a security source told Shafaq News ... of Turkish ... Read More 2017  Abadi announces that Mosul has been recaptured from ISIS. October 3, 2017  Talabani, Iraqs first non-Arab president, dies at the age of 83. October 5, 2017  Iraqi forces retake ... Read More A British dad jailed in Iraq for debt last month has lost two stone and is living in a rat-infested cell with 40 other men, including killers and members of the Taliban. Brian Glendinning was ... Read More 14 (UPI) --Iraq's Parliament has elected ... that paints a grim picture concerning the world's fight to curb climbing temperatures. World News // 6 hours ago 35 adult migrants denied entry to ... Read More
World News U N Conference Seeks 2 1b For Yemen Humanitarian Aid | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The conflict created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world while becoming ... Nonetheless, Msuya said that while the U.N. appeal for Yemen has received $2 billion  more than half ... Read More The U.N. food agency has cut rations for millions of people due to critical funding gaps and soaring global food prices. The World ... its humanitarian response plan for Yemen secured $2 billion ... Read More It's an effort to quell ongoing violence fueling a humanitarian crisis in Haiti. The U.N. sanctions resolution ... killing at least 19 people. World News // 2 hours ago Russian judge in Ukraine's ... Read More U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield negotiated for weeks to amend the original draft, obtained by CBS News ... bad actors and allow humanitarian aid to reach civilian populations ... Read More and the U.N. is calling for support. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told Reuters that any discussions on providing humanitarian aid to Venezuelans is being led by ... Read More E3 Seeks U.N. to Probe Russia's Alleged Use of Iranian ... whether it's in the Middle East or beyond," he said at a news conference with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. Read More "Colleagues, if there was ever a moment to come to the aid of Haitians in dire need, it is now," U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told world powers. According to the U.N., a ... Read More The U.S. government ... a U.N. resolution proposing specific sanctions and additional measures to address the many challenges Haiti faces. The officials declined to say how the upcoming aid ... Read More World News // 6 hours ago U.N. leader calls out U.S., China for climate failures at COP27 summit in Egypt Nov. 7 (UPI) -- United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on rich nations ... Read More The worker was delivering lifesaving humanitarian aid to women ... said. A World Food Program spokesperson in Ethiopia said in a statement to The Associated Press that the U.N. agency received ... Read More While some Americans had Monday off to celebrate Indigenous Peoples or Columbus Day, depending on their geography and regional politics, the country simultaneously joined the United Nations to ... Read More
World News United Airlines Plane Makes Terrifying Emergency Landing | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Earlier in the month, it was reported that a man caused a commotion after taking magic mushrooms on a United Airlines flight on October 4. Cherruy Sevilla allegedly yelled, exhibited disturbing ... Read More Two-hundred-fifty passengers are deplaned as an Aer Lingus flight emergency landed at the Daytona Beach International Airport Tuesday night.The flight was from Orlando to Dublin.P ... Read More An American Airlines flight departing from Miami was forced to make an emergency landing Wednesday evening ... A source familiar with the situation told CBS News the odor was coming from nail ... Read More An American Airlines flight was forced to make ... Last month, a United Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency nighttime landing in Newark after circling over the Atlantic to burn fuel. Read More The American Airlines flight took ... were taken to the hospital after the emergency landing An American Airlines flight heading to Barbados was forced to make an emergency return to Miami after ... Read More American Airlines flight forced to return to Miami International Airport 00:29 MIAMI - An American Airlines flight departing from Miami was forced to make an emergency landing. The flight was ... Read More MIAMI - An American Airlines flight departing from Miami was forced to make an emergency landing. The flight was ... for likely last public hearing: CBS News Flash Oct. 13, 2022 Supreme Court ... Read More An American Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Miami Wednesday evening ... according to a source who spoke with CBS News. A passenger who did not get sick told WSVN the smell was pretty ... Read More An American Airlines flight departing from Miami was forced to make an emergency landing Wednesday evening ... A source familiar with the situation told CBS News the odor was coming from nail ... Read More
World News Turkish Jets Bomb Us Backed Forces In Iraq Syria Us Officials Say | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The Turkish government has in the past rejected accusations of forcibly returning refugees to Syria. Turkey houses the worlds largest ... researchers that Turkish officials arrested them ... Read More "No US or partnered forces were killed ... and transporting it to northern Iraq, is a piracy and an attempt to return to the colonial era, Foreign Ministry said on its Twitter account, according to ... Read More Advertisement The interviewed refugees said they were then driven to a border checkpoint with northern Syria where they were forced to cross back ... its forces. Advertisement Turkish officials ... Read More Central Command did not say who it believed ... Syrian Democratic Forces. There are about 900 US troops in Syria, most of them in the east. Still, Washington has blamed Iran-backed militias ... Read More
World News Macron Campaign Hit By Hackers With Possible Russia Links | RobinsPost News & Noticias

U.S. and U.K. authorities charged Russian state-backed hackers ... [Macron's] 'La Republique En Marche!' political party in connection with Macron's 2017 presidential campaign," the indictment said. Read More The move comes as Russias war against ... The accusations of possible ties to Russian intelligence, which were reported this month by a German satirical news show, have permanently damaged ... Read More They were convinced that there were threats, that the rest of the world, the Western world, at least, would have tried to destroy Russia, he said. Macron ... an election campaign in which ... Read More French President Emmanuel Macron has responded to claims made by a Russian security official that Ukraine joining NATO would lead to a world war. Alexander Venediktov told the state TASS news ... Read More But the world has changed ... buffeted by Russias war in Ukraine and threats from one leftist leader to outdo the 1789 revolution, Mr. Macron seems hesitant. But despite everything, he has ... Read More "We do not want a world war," Macron tweeted ... as soon as possible, all parties will return to a negotiating table and there will be peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia," he said. Read More France would not respond to a "tactical" nuclear strike by Russia with nuclear weapons as it is not "our doctrine", Emmanuel Macron has said ... the groundwork for a possible nuclear attack. Read More More info At least three explosions have hit the centre ... and as soon as possible. "We have no time for slow actions. DON'T MISS: WATCH Ukrainian forces obliterated one of Russia's main battle ... Read More Russia Says It Continued to Hit Ukrainian Energy and Military Sites Over Last 24 Hours (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Thursday its forces continued to hit military and energy ... Read More ROME  French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday its up to Ukraine to decide the time and terms of peace with Russia ... would mean accepting the world order of the strongest, and I ... Read More Rome (AP)  French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday it's up to Ukraine to decide the time and terms of peace with Russia, and he cautioned that the end of war can't be the consecration ... Read More
World News Cameroon Journalist S Attorneys File Appeal On Terrorism Charges In Military Court | RobinsPost News & Noticias

But Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, reacting to the judgement of the Court of Appeal ... news of Nnamdi Kanus discharge of terrorism charges. Read More Ifeanyi Ejiofor, one of the lawyers in Kanus legal team ... out of the 15-count terrorism charge against him. He had prayed the Court of Appeal to quash the entire charges and set him free ... Read More ABUJA (Reuters) -Nigeria's Court of Appeal ... charges of terrorism and knowingly broadcasting falsehoods, which are linked to social media posts he issued between 2018 and last year. His lawyers ... Read More Turkish Opposition Calls New Media Law 'Censorship', Will Appeal to Top Court ... of journalists have been jailed in a crackdown following a 2016 coup attempt, mainly on terrorism charges. Read More Get any of our free daily email newsletters  news headlines ... The Nigerian Court of Appeal dismissed the government-filed charges against Nnamdi Kanu in Abuja, the nation's capital, after ... Read More Philippine authorities have filed murder complaints against the countrys top prisons official and an aide, accusing them of masterminding the killing of a radio commentator. They say the elaborate cr ... Read More We are very disappointed, Griners attorneys said in a statement to the New York Times after the ruling. The verdict contains numerous defects and we hoped that the court of appeal ... Read More Griners attorneys, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, said in a statement Tuesday that they were surprised by the court's decision to deny her appeal ... aware of the news out of Russia ... Read More ABUJA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Nigeria's Court of Appeal on Thursday dropped terrorism charges against separatist ... A spokesman for Nigeria's attorney general said the government was considering ... Read More He said the party would file an application to the Constitutional Court as soon as the "Law ... journalists have been jailed in a crackdown following a 2016 coup attempt, mainly on terrorism charges. Read More ABUJA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Nigeria's Court of Appeal on Thursday dropped terrorism charges against ... Inc. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest ... Read More
MASON CITY | A Mason City man has been indicted on federal charges of dealing methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Those charges against Bradley Loren Fransen, 39, are from a Jan. 23 incident in which meth, a loaded Glock handgun and cash were allegedly found in an SUV he was driving that crashed into a snowbank after he tried to flee sheriff's deputies, officials say.

Meth, loaded handgun found in Mason City chase suspect's SUV MASON CITY  Methamphetamine, a loaded handgun and cash were allegedly found in an SUV that 

Fransen sped away when a Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's deputy attempted to stop him in the 2100 block of South Taft Avenue in Mason City, according to a sheriff's office statement.

The deputy chased Fransen's SUV on Taft Avenue, 15th Street Southwest, South Benjamin Avenue, 21st Street Southwest to South McKinley Avenue.

Officials say that's where Fransen lodged the SUV into a snowbank.

He was in possession of 50 grams or more of pure meth, according to the indictment in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

Fransen and a passenger, Arone Joseph Goretska, 41, of Mason City, were arrested without incident.

Fransen was charged in Cerro Gordo County District Court as an habitual felony offender with possession of meth with intent to deliver, a tax-stamp violation, possession of a firearm by a felon and eluding while participating in a felony.

Those charges are being dismissed due to the federal indictment, but they can be refiled if federal prosecution stops.

Goretska has pleaded guilty in district court to felony possession of meth  third offense. His sentencing is set for May 8.

When Goretska was getting out of the vehicle, a deputy saw a small plastic bag containing meth fall off his lap or off the seat where he was sitting, according to the criminal complaint.

Goretska admitted to handling the bag during the chase, the complaint states.
Botswana to host KP permanent secretariat The Kimberley Process (KP), a multilateral tool for the prevention of conflict diamonds, unanimously elected Botswana to host its permanent secretariat. The secretariat is scheduled to become operational by 2024, according to Reuters.

Zimbabwes artisanal miners depend on forests to survive Hordes of artisanal gold miners throng parts of Mazowe village in Zimbabwes Mashonaland Central Province, where they have cut down thousands of trees to process gold ore. They are some of the miners who mine without a permit, says a report in IPS.

Shanta Gold posts high-grade results at Kenyan gold project East Africa-focused gold producer, developer and explorer Shanta Gold has reported high-grade results at its West Kenya project. Company chief executive Eric Zurrin said visible gold was identified across several of the intersections.

Petra suspends operations at Williamson after wall breach at tailings storage facility Petra Diamonds says the eastern wall of the tailings storage facility at its 75%-owned Williamson mine in Tanzania was breached, resulting in flooding away from the pit into certain areas outside of the mine lease area. Petra said mine production...
(thediamondloupe.com) - In April 2017, a symposium called, Synthetic Diamonds: Are Watchmaking and Jewelry in Danger? was held in Geneva, specifically to address the issue of synthetic diamonds in the domain of watchmaking and how it is possible to differentiate natural from lab-grown stones.

Developments over the past ten years have led to the critical point where the price of synthetic diamonds fell below that of natural diamonds, increasing the incentive for less-than-well-intentioned people to mix man-made simulants with natural diamonds. The risk increases significantly when it comes to melee diamonds, and has the watch industry - and ultimately consumers - worried.

Diamond Producers Association CEO Jean-Marc Lieberherr says, "The worst thing that can happen is that people lose confidence in diamond because they are not entirely sure that the product they are buying is what they think they're buying. That is the number one challenge."

Dr. Philip Martineau, Head of Physics at De Beers Research Centre, says, "Consumers should be able to buy what they want without fear of things being misrepresented. What we are seeing is synthetic diamond prices falling very rapidly, and the price differential between natural and synthetic is growing very rapidly. That will increase the incentive for dishonest people to try to sell synthetic diamonds as though they are natural. To counteract that we have to develop very cost-effective technology that can test to stones and protect the consumer."

The conference was attended by leading representatives from the Association Romande des Metiers de la Bijouterie (ASEMBI), the diamond department of the Swiss Gemological Institute (SSEF), GGTL Laboratories in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Gemological Institute of America, Diamond Producers Association, the Responsible Jewellery Council, the Societe Suisse de Gemmologie (SSG) and the Union Francaise de la Bijouterie, Joaillerie, Orfevrerie, des Pierres et Perles.




The world's top diamond producers will try to spur demand in India with the launch of their Real is Rare slogan in September, as per a report in Reuters.The marketing slogan was launched in the United States in 2016 by the Diamond Producers Association (DPA), which includes the biggest producers De Beers, Russia's ALROSA and Rio Tinto.

DPA Chief Executive Jean-Marc Lieberherr said early indications were that the slogan was effective and diamonds had captured the interest of the millennial generation.

The Real is Rare slogan is intended to be international, but marketing campaigns will be tailored to specific markets with a DPA budget that Lieberherr said would see "a large increase" this year compared with last year's $12 million.

Demand for diamonds in India slowed late last year following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to scrap high-value banknotes as part of a crackdown on tax evasion and counterfeiters.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished




Botswana Diamonds said its joint venture company with Alrosa, Sunland Minerals, has been six new prospecting licenses in Botswana.

It said in a statement emailed to Rough & Polished that the prospecting licenses were issued for a period of three years ending on 30th March 2020.

Four were in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) covering 3,135 square kilometres, while the other two were in the Orapa kimberlite province covering 482 square kilometres.

The CKGR area was close to the Gem Diamonds Gope Mine as well as high interest projects held by the Maibwe Joint Venture, where Botswana Diamonds was a partner.

The Orapa area, North-East of Debswanas Letlhakane Mine was also selected as there also unexplained anomalies.

I am delighted that we have been awarded this highly prospective ground in Botswana, said company chairperson John Teeling.

This will allow us to work with Alrosa to deploy advanced exploration technology to areas which have not been looked at through this lens before.

Botswana Diamonds said there are 85 kimberlites in the Orapa kimberlite province of which 8 are current diamond mines, or had been active diamond mines previously.

Meanwhile, the company said that an Alrosa team of geologists and mineralogists recently arrived in Botswana to begin the 2017 field exploration programme.

The team, it said, would focus on sampling and geophysical studies on four licences, PL 260 in Orapa and PL 135, 235 and 234 in the Gope area.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Indias Supreme Court will not make attempts to bring back the historical Koh-i-Noor diamond which is now part of the British crown jewels, as it cannot interfere in the diplomatic process nor can it direct another country to not auction the gem.

The 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond, which came into British hands in the mid-19th Century, has been on display at the Tower of London for years. But ownership of the famous rock is an emotional issue for many Indians, who believe the British stole it.

Koh-i-Noor, one of the worlds largest diamonds, has been at the centre of a diplomatic row between New Delhi and London, with India arguing for decades that it should get it back.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modis administration told the Supreme Court that the diamond was neither "forcibly taken nor stolen" by the British, but given as a "gift" to the East India Company by the rulers of Punjab.

The government, however, has revealed that it is still trying to bring the diamond back, likely based on agreements with the UK, as there is no concrete evidence to show Koh-i-Noor was validly gifted to Queen Victoria.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished




MASON CITY | A Mason City woman accused of making her children sleep in a feces-covered room was given a deferred judgment and put on probation Monday.

Alexis Rae Martinez, 26, pleaded guilty in February to one felony count of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. The state agreed to dismiss two additional counts of that charge.

Martinez was put on probation for four years. If she successfully completes probation, the conviction will be stricken from her record.

She was ordered to complete all recommended mental health treatment.

A $1,000 civil penalty was suspended, but Martinez was ordered to pay court costs. Victim restitution will be determined at a later date.

The maximum penalty under Iowa law for neglect of a dependent person is up to 10 years in prison.

Martinez forced three children, ages 2, 4 and 6, to sleep for a week in a room with feces on the walls and floors toward the end of August, according to court documents.

The children were placed in this room and the door was then locked from the outside, the documents state.

-- Mary Pieper
Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of PJSC ALROS, the world leader in diamond mining, will be held on June 30, 2017.

At its recent meeting, the Supervisory Board of ALROSA approved the agenda of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, which included, among others: approval of the annual report and annual accounting statements; profit distribution, approval of the amount, procedure, form and payout period for the dividend on the Companys shares; election of members of the Supervisory Board and Auditing Committee of ALROSA.

In particular, the Supervisory Board approved recommendations on the distribution of net profit for 2016. The amount of dividend recommended to be paid is RUB 65,769 billion, based on RUB 8.93 per one share of RUB 0.5 par value. The date when the persons entitled to a dividend are to be defined is July 20, 2017.

The list of persons entitled to participate in the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of ALROSA to be held at the address: 6, ul. Lenina, Mirny, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is made based on the data from the Shareholder Register of ALROSA as of June 6th, 2017.




STOP PRESS: The petition will now close at midnight on 2 May

The illegal hunting of birds in Mediterranean countries has again been highlighted in the media recently, with our Vice President Chris Packham experiencing first-hand the situation in Malta.

But Malta isnt the only place where large-scale illegal hunting takes place.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is responsible for looking after two Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus  at Dhekelia and Akrotiri. These are UK Overseas Territories, but they arent fenced-off, razor-wired fortresses  the bases include some villages and the British territory blends into the surrounding countryside.

Illegal bird trappers take advantage of this situation and kill hundreds of thousands of migrant songbirds each year. The trappers plant Australian acacia trees and hide their nets amongst them.

And this is large-scale, organised crime - last year, our partner BirdLife Cyprus estimated that 800,000 birds were killed at Dhekelia in autumn 2016. The birds are sold on the black market to local restaurants - to some they are considered a delicacy.

RSPB supporter Harriet Allen told us shed been compelled to take action, after hearing Chris discuss the topic on BBC Radio 2s Jeremy Vine Show. So now, thanks to Harriet, you can express your views by signing a UK Government petition, challenging the MoD to take action against trapping on its land in Cyprus.

There is hope. Our colleagues at BirdLife Cyprus met with the Base Authorities at the beginning of April. The new Base Commander has asked if he can see the worst trapping black-spots for himself and affirmed his commitment to tackling the problem, while a three-year strategy to deal with illegal bird-killing is underway. We look forward to working with the Base Authorities to remove the acacia trees, planted by the trappers to enable them to catch and kill the birds.

Rest assured that we wont let this issue drop, and well keep going until this industrial-scale slaughter comes to an end.

Sign the petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/191485
Santa Ana Police Dept.

Carlos Rojas has been named chief of police for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).

Rojas brings 27 years of extensive experience and leadership in community policing. Rojas comes to BART from the Santa Ana Police Department, where he served his last five years as chief. He is an advocate and educator in community oriented policing practices, having taught the practices to national police forces in Central America and mentored college students.

The police department has been moving in the right direction, and I am confident that our new chief will accelerate our efforts to increase the visibility of police officers on our trains and in our stations, said BART General Manager Grace Crunican. I have asked the new chief to focus attention on our police recruitment practices to ensure the department is able to hire a full complement of officers.

Rojas is a recipient of multiple law enforcement Medals of Valor, and is bilingual in English and Spanish. He holds a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Chapman University, and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from California State University, Long Beach, with additional professional training at the FBI National Academy. He is BARTs first Latino Chief of Police.

BARTs offer is contingent upon Rojas successful completion of psychological exams and a satisfactory background check, which could take up to 30 days to complete. His start date is still to be determined but will likely be sometime in late May or early June.
WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has named Thomas Gibson Vice President and Western Regional Manager of its Transit and Rail practice, based in Sacramento. Gibson is responsible for technical and operational management, project delivery, staff acquisition and business growth.

Gibson has 37 years of experience in rail systems projects throughout the U.S. and internationally, including implementation of systems and track work for a major light rail transit extension in St. Louis, procurement and manufacturing of light rail vehicles under a contract for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), and implementation of systems for the Seoul, Korea subway lines 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. In addition, he was responsible for management and oversight of general engineering consultant services for a Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Administration (MARTA) five-year track and systems project.

Gibsons expertise includes the integration of large, complex rail programs that include track work, traction power and power distribution systems (overhead contact systems and third rail), communication, signaling, centralized traffic control and vehicle systems projects. Prior to joining WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff. Gibson was Vice President and Director of Transit Rail Systems Services at AECOM (12 years); Project Director at Railworks; Senior Consultant at R. V. Bravo & Associates; Director of Projects at Siemens Transportation Systems; Senior Project Manager at Day & Zimmerman; AVP International Sales and Marketing at Harmon Industries; and Director of International Sales & Marketing at Union Switch & Signal.

Gibson earned a bachelors degree in business management from Penn State University. He is a member of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).
Lyle Leonard was born on April 28, 1939, in Marble Rock, the son of John A. and Della D. Schrader Marker. He graduated from Rockford Senior High in 1958. He was a baptized and confirmed member at Zion Lutheran. Timm did not have any siblings so he became brothers with Bob and Chuck Greenman and Rodney Ritter as they grew up together. Following his graduation he began his long career as a machinist for 35 years with the Oliver plant and White Farm Equipment. For a brief stint he served his country honorably with the U.S. Army for two years from 1961 until 1963. After White closed he held various jobs in North Iowa, from installing satellite dishes in Charles City, to working with Paine Plumbing in Mason City and then eventually Auto-Mate until his retirement in June 2001. In his formative years his hobby was working with his dad on balsa wood airplanes, racing go-karts, and riding motorcycles. He also took his boys with him to the Annual Fly-In located in Oshkosh, WI, for numerous years, spanning from 1976-2004. Each summer they would go to Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota to spend time fishing with the family. In his later years he enjoyed working with model trains and watching NASCAR races.
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) announced, for the full-year 2017, as a result of temporary integration challenges in the EMEA region, the company now expects GAAP earnings per share of $12.65 to $13.40 and ongoing earnings per share of $14.75 to $15.50. For the full-year 2017, the company continues to expect to generate cash from operating activities of $1.7 to $1.75 billion and free cash flow of approximately $1 billion.

Jeff Fettig, CEO, said: "As we continue to execute our plans and work through the elevated complexity of our European integration, we remain confident in our ability to deliver both $1 billion of free cash flow and record earnings per share in 2017. We remain confident in the strength of our business, and we will continue returning strong levels of cash to our shareholders through share repurchases and increased dividend."

First-quarter GAAP net earnings of $153 million, or $2.01 per share, compared to $150 million, or $1.92 per share, reported for the same prior-year period. First-quarter ongoing business earnings per share totaled $2.50 compared to $2.63 in the same prior-year period.

First-quarter net sales were $4.8 billion, compared to $4.6 billion in the same prior-year period. Excluding the impact of currency, sales increased 3 percent.

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Business News
Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff have confirmed plans to reconnect for a run of European tour dates. The pair scored mega hits in the 1980s with tracks like "Parents Just Don't Understand," "Summertime" and "Boom! Shake The Room."

Now the pair have confirmed two rare live appearances together on August 26th in Croatia, and August 27th in the U.K. The latter will come at the beloved Livewire Festival in Blackpool. Tickets for both events go on sale on April 25 at 10am.

Smith also made recent headlines when he spent some time reconnecting with his fellow cast mates from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Alfonso Ribeiro, who played Carlton Banks, shared an image of the cast all together and added the caption:

"Always amazing to spend an afternoon with my Fresh Prince family. Wishing that James Avery was still with us to make this complete."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Entertainment News
IBM Corp. (IBM) on Tuesday announced a collaboration with Lanka Bell, a Sri-Lankan telecommunications service provider, to provide cloud services to enterprises, start-ups, developers and government bodies via the IBM Cloud.

Under the deal, both companies will jointly market and sell new offerings for public, private and hybrid cloud deployments, including workload migrations, disaster recovery and capacity expansion solutions via the IBM Cloud.

With its agreement with IBM, Lanka Bell will expand its portfolio to include a wide range of cloud solutions.

Prasad Samarasinghe, Managing Director, Lanka Bell, said, "This partnership is an extension of our 20+ year relationship with IBM and demonstrates our shared vision that will help enterprise customers in the country to embrace cloud offerings quickly and easily. We anticipate customers will benefit from this collaboration and expansion of Lanka Bell's cloud offerings."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The New Zealand dollar weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday.

The NZ dollar fell to a 6-1/2-month low of 1.5547 against the euro and a 1-week low of 1.0816 against the Australian dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.5484 and 1.0786, respectively.

Against the U.S. dollar and the yen, the kiwi dropped to 4-day lows of 0.6985 and 76.84 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7016 and 77.00, respectively.

If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.57 against the euro, 1.10 against the aussie, 0.69 against the greenback and 75.00 against the yen.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Forex News
Public sector finance data from the UK is due on Tuesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.45 am ET, the French statistical office Insee publishes manufacturing sentiment survey data. The manufacturing confidence index is forecast to rise to 105 in April from 104 in March.

At 3.00 am ET, Spain's INE releases producer prices for March. Prices had advanced 7.5 percent on year in February.

At 3.30 am ET, Sweden's unemployment data is due. The jobless rate is forecast to fall to 7.3 percent in March from 7.4 percent in February.

At 4.30 am ET, the Office for National Statistics releases UK public sector finance data. The budget deficit is forecast to widen to GBP 1.5 billion in March from GBP 1.1 billion in February.

At 7.00 am ET, Hungary's central bank is set to announce the outcome of the monetary policy meeting. The bank is expected to keep its base rate at 0.9 percent.

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Economic News

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.
Editors Pick

Package delivery and logistic major Deutsche Post DHL Group Tuesday raised fiscal 2022 EBIT guidance after reporting higher third-quarter profit with strong revenues. The company also maintained its mid-term outlook for 2024. CEO Frank Appel said, "The first three quarters of the year were the most successful in our company's history thanks to the international DHL business..."

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is planning to begin large-scale layoffs this week, mostly starting Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. The layoffs are likely to impact many thousands of employees, and the social media platform is preparing to notify employees of the job cuts, the report said. Employees already have been informed to cancel nones

German biotechnology company BioNTech SE reported Monday sharply lower profit in its third quarter reflecting weak revenues. Looking ahead, BioNTech has raised the lower end of its fiscal 2022 COVID-19 vaccine revenue estimate. In pre-market activity in Nasdaq, BioNTech shares were losing around 3.2 percent.
The Canadian dollar declined against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Tuesday, after the U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imported softwood lumber from Canada, worsening relations between the two nations.

"We're going to be putting a 20% tax on softwood lumber coming in -- tariff on softwood coming into the United States from Canada," Trump said at a gathering of conservative journalists at White House.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reiterated Trump's remarks in a statement afterward, saying his department will impose new anti-subsidy duties averaging 20 percent on Canadian softwood lumber imports, as they are unfairly subsidized.

Canadian government condemned the decision and said that it would vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood lumber industry, including through litigation.

Meanwhile, Asian are trading higher following the global rally on Monday after encouraging results from the French presidential election helped ease worries over political instability in Europe.

The loonie showed mixed performance on Tuesday. While the currency dropped against the euro and the aussie, it rose against the yen. Against the greenback, it held steady.

The loonie fell to a 5-1/2-month low of 1.4753 against the euro and a 4-day low of 80.86 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.4666 and 81.31, respectively. Continuation of the loonie's downtrend may see it challenging support around 1.49 against the euro and 78.00 against the yen.

The loonie dropped to nearly a 4-month low of 1.3566 versus the greenback and nearly a 4-week low of 1.0253 versus the aussie, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.3498 and 1.0215, respectively. The next possible support for the loonie may be found around 1.38 against the greenback and 1.04 against the aussie.

Looking ahead, U.K. public sector finance data for March is set for release in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller home price index and Federal Housing Finance Agency's house price index for February, new home sales for March and consumer confidence for April are due.

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Business News
The United States of America imported $2.25 trillion worth of goods from countries around the world in 2016, a slight fall of 2.4% from the figure in 2015. This small decline did not stop the nation from being the largest importer among all the countries in the world. Over the long term U.S. imports have shown a continuous uptrend: they grew by 41% since 2009.

So where do all these imports into the U.S. come from? In 2016, 46% by value of total U.S. imports were purchased from Asian countries. About half of these came from China, whose exports to America amounted to $482 billion or 21% of total imports.

North American trade partners, namely Mexico and Canada, supplied 26% of the imports, with both the countries exporting nearly equal amounts to the U.S. During the year 2016, 22% of U.S. imports originated from Europe. Of this, Germany's exports amounted to $116 billion, or 5% of overall U.S. imports.

Moving on to another continent, imports from Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for a smaller proportion of imports at 5% in 2016.

If one were to divide the total $2.25-trillion import bill over the total U.S. population of 324 million people, it would translate to approximately $6,900 in imports per capita (from every person in the country). This was about a fifth of the U.S. gross domestic product per capita at $34,610 in 2016.

CLICK HERE for the list of the top ten imports into the U.S. by dollar value. Together, these ten categories accounted for two-thirds (66.8%) of the total value of U.S. imports.

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Business News
Canadian stocks look to extend recent gains at the opening bell Tuesday, as risk appetite continues to rise despite slumping oil prices.

A flurry of earnings news will keep investors on their toes today, overshadowing commodities weakness and news of a tariff on Canadian lumber into the U.S.

WTI light sweet crude oil was down near $49 at a monthly low, while gold futures tumbled near $1270 an ounce.

However, Bay Street may take its cue from Wall Street, where the major averages are poised to surge for a second day.

In coporate news, Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) announced a profit for its first quarter that gained 28% from last year.

The company now expects full-year gold production of 5.3-5.6 million ounces, down from previous range of 5.6-5.9 million ounces, after the sale of 50 percent of Veladero.

Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO) revealed a profit for its first quarter that climbed 11% from last year, in line with estimates.

Metro (MRU.A.TO) beat second quarter estimates despite lower food prices.

Mining giant Teck Resources Ltd (TCK.b.TO) reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on rising production costs.

Kinder Morgan's Canadian arm has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise funds for its $6.8bn Trans Mountain expansion project. Reuters said the expension will nearly triple the size of Kinder Morgan's existing pipeline.

U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imported softwood lumber from Canada.

"We're going to be putting a 20% tax on softwood lumber coming in -- tariff on softwood coming into the United States from Canada," Trump said at a gathering of conservative journalists at White House.

Ottawa condemned the decision and said that it would vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood lumber industry, including through litigation.

The TSX Composite rose 97.98 points, or 0.63 percent, to 15,712.46 Monday.

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Market Analysis
FOREST CITY | A teenager driving an all-terrain vehicle near Forest City died Sunday after the vehicle rolled over.

Colby Lynn Schleuger, 14, Forest City, was killed in the crash.

The UTV, a 2013 Polaris, was headed north on 130th Street, about a quarter of a mile south of County Road A-42, at 6 p.m. Sunday when the driver lost control for an unknown reason, according to a report from the State Patrol.

The vehicle entered the east ditch, hit a farm drive and rolled over.

The Winnebago County Sheriff's Office and Forest City Fire and Ambulance assisted at the scene.

Visitation is 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Forest City. Schleuger's funeral will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the church, with burial in Oakland Cemetery in Forest City.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family.

This is the second time this month a young person has been killed in an accident in the Forest City area.

Carter Trunkhill, 11, of Woden, was killed in an UTV rollover April 8 south of 350th Street on 100th Avenue, west of Forest City and north of Crystal Lake.

His father, Matthew Trunkhill, was injured.

-- Mary Pieper
Greek yogurt giant Chobani has filed a lawsuit against Alex Jones, alleging that the radio host published false news about the company.

Alex Jones is a high-profile conspiracy theorist and the host of a popular right-wing radio show The Alex Jones Show.

According to Chobani, Jones and his website Infowars defamed the company by falsely linking Chobani and owner Hamdi Ulukaya to child rape and a tuberculosis outbreak near its plant in Twin Falls, Idaho.

The suit was filed on Monday in district court in Twin Falls County, Idaho. The company is seeking $10,000 in damages.

The reports were published on April 11 on InfoWars.com and on "The Alex Jones Channel" on YouTube. They A tweet from Infowars read "Idaho Yogurt maker Caught Importing Migrant Rapists."

(Jones) is no stranger to spurious statements. He has claimed that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut," Chobani's attorneys wrote. "Mr. Jones has now taken aim at Chobani and the Twin Falls community."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
MASON CITY | A growing faith-based K-12 school in Mason City says a implementation of a state school choice program would allow it to expand its top-level educational program.

North Iowa Christian School has about 60 students this year, and would likely have more if tuition wasn't a setback for some families, said Steve VandenBerg, who handles public relations for the school, which was founded in the mid-1980s in Clear Lake before moving to Mason City in 2003.

The school this fall settled into a new location, 680 Sixth St. S.E., with room to grow. VandenBerg said North Iowa Christian plans to start a capital campaign within the next month to add extra classrooms and a gym.

"In our relatively small school, a voucher system would certainly help us grow and be able to provide high-level education with a Christian worldview," VandenBerg said. "This would be a great opportunities for students and families to make their own choices for how their education comes about or where to go (to school)."

Republicans, who hold the majority at the state Capitol through at least 2018, have said they'd like to approve a school choice program next legislative session. School choice programs allow parents to use taxpayer money to put their children in non-public schools.

Tuition at North Iowa Christian School this academic year is $2,189 for kindergarten, $3,502 for grades 1-8 and $3,685 for high school, according to the school's website. Discounts are offered for additional children, with family tuition capped at $9,452.

"We do have financial aid that helps a number of students and families, we're able to help that way, but we have limited funds," VandenBerg said.

VandenBerg said North Iowa Christian distributes about $35,000 in aid each year, mostly through a School Tuition Organization, which the state Department of Education defines as a "charitable organization that raises tuition grant funding for eligible students who enroll in accredited nonpublic schools in Iowa."

Those grants are then given to eligible students  whose families' income is no more than 300 percent of federal poverty guidelines  to be used at a qualified private or parochial school of their parents' choice.

VandenBerg said North Iowa Christian works with Newman Catholic and Mason City Schools. "We all have something to offer," he said.

Rep. Sharon Steckman, a former Mason City elementary teacher and Title I reading specialist, said she believes implementing a voucher system would "really hurt our rural school districts."

"I think the kids should have school choice, but not with money taken away from public education," said Steckman, D-Mason City, a ranking member on the Iowa House Education Committee.

"Iowa has always prided itself on strong public schools," said Steckman, as she called public education "the great equalizer."

"This would not be helpful."

Steckman said she thought vouchers or educational savings accounts would equate to choosing winners and losers and would be "very expensive." Under ESAs, parents would use a government-authorized savings account for taxpayer funding, which could be used for tuition at a parochial or private school, homeschooling costs or private tutoring.

Tony Adams, K-12 administrator for Newman Catholic Schools, said ESAs would "help families and students best use tax funds."

"I think choice is always good, and the choice of how to best use our own money is a good option," Adams said.

Tuition at Newman this academic year ranges from $2,995 to $4,405 for grades K-8 and $3,765 to $5,125 for high school, depending if students are in-parish or out of parish, according to the school's website. Discounts are also offered for additional children.

Adams said the amount of aid varies from student to student and is based on need. "We do give out a substantial account," he said of the school, which has 526 students this academic year.

Newman's website says its families have received more than $300,000 in STO scholarships and over $45,000 in local scholarships.

Rep. Tedd Gassman, R-Scarville, said he'd like the Legislature to move forward with ESAs, but noted there are caveats.

"It will cost significant dollars to do that, and we can't right now," said Gassman, who is a member of the Iowa House Education Committee. "It will have a cost  some say it won't, and I don't know where they get that idea."

Much like open enrollment, Gassman said he didn't think school choice would affect rural North Iowa schools.

"The little schools will hold their own," he said. "There are a lot of good rural schools in my district. Two are working on consolidating, which is a good thing."

The state would ideally offer opportunities for school choice, Speaker of the House Linda Upmeyer said, but she noted she doesn't foresee that happening immediately.

"I don't see a path to do it right now, with the state budget what it is," said Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake. "That would be a little ways away."

Upmeyer said she thought "much conversation will need to take place" before school choice moves forward in Iowa.
By SA Commercial Prop News- I-Net Bridge

Cape Town Deputy mayor Ian Neilson said the release of this land is part of the city's commitment to creating opportunities that allow the economy to grow and jobs to be created, particularly in areas that were previously deprived of development.



The City of Cape Town is placing a number of its properties on the market to stimulate economic development, deputy mayor Ian Neilson said on Monday.

"The release of this land is part of the city's commitment to creating opportunities that allow the economy to grow and jobs to be created, particularly in areas that were previously deprived of development," he said in a statement.



Six vacant plots with industrial zoning were released in Atlantis after parties looking to establish or expand their businesses expressed interest in buying them.



Three vacant plots with business development zoning were released in Strandfontein, Mitchells Plain, and Macassar.



Neilson said eight vacant plots for single residential purposes were released in Constantia, Kensington, Lansdowne, Mitchells Plain, Surrey Estate, and Heathfield.



"These areas form part of the City's integrated development plan that sets out to use, where available, undeveloped municipal properties to increase growth and sustainable development in poorer communities," Neilson said.



The official tender documents for the land can be obtained from the civic centre.
In a huge setback to the Pinarayi Vijayan government, the Supreme Court on Monday directed Kerala to reinstate T.P. Senkumar as the state police chief.

Senkumar was removed as Director General of Police on the day that Vijayan assumed office on May 25, 2016.



Reinstating Senkumar, the bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta in their judgment said that the Senkumar was dealt with "unfairly and arbitrarily" and it was post the Puttingal Temple tragedy and the Jisha murder and not the two tragedies themselves that led to it.



Speaking for the bench, Justice Lokur said, "We are also a little disturbed with the view expressed ... (by the Kerala government) ... that the appointment of the appellant (Senkumar) was irregular if not illegal. If that is so and the State Government of Kerala is bent upon making irregular or illegal appointments to sensitive posts, then no one can help God's own country."



The court said that it also a "little disturbed" by resurrection of both cases as soon as the present government in Kerala assumed office.



"Suddenly, these issues resurfaced as soon as the present government assumed office. This might perhaps be a coincidence but it might also be politically motivated, as suggested by .... appellant."

Brushing aside the state government's submission that its subjective satisfaction in removing Senkumar could not be gone into, the court said: "The subjective satisfaction of the state government must be based on some credible material, which this Court might not analyze but which can certainly be looked into.



"Having looked into the record placed before us we find that there is no material adverse to the interests of the appellant except an expression of opinion and views formed, as far as he is concerned, as late as on 26th May, 2016."



"This make-believe prima facie satisfaction by itself cannot take out judicial review of administrative action in the garb of subjective satisfaction of the State Government," it added.



The DGP has won a moral victory as he is set to retire on June 30 and now it has to be seen if the Vijayan government reinstates him quickly or delays it.



In removing Senkumar, the Left government had said this was because he did not do a clean job in the Puttingal Temple cracker blast and in the Jisha murder cases.



Not one to be put down easily, Senkumar approached the Kerala High Court, but failed to get a favourable verdict.



He then approached the apex court.



Expressing his happiness, Senkumar, presently the Director of the state-owned Institute of Management in Government, told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that justice has prevailed and this is a huge boost for people who do their job with utmost commitment.



"I take this opportunity to thank my advocates, the media and all those who stood by me in the pursuit of my fight for justice. This verdict will now become good for others also," said a beaming Senkumar.



Incidentally in the floor of the assembly, Vijayan had come down heavily on Senkumar and informed the house that he is not an officer who merits to head the state police force, when the Congress-led-opposition had raised the issue in the assembly in 2016.



"Now I will wait for the state government to make the next move and also I am waiting for the papers from the Supreme Court," said Senkumar as he was asked when he would take over as the state police chief.



Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy under whom Senkumar served told reporters that this was a huge morale booster for the officer and the verdict now proves that the cases that he probed were investigated in the best possible manner.



Vijayan's office told the media a decision will be taken on what needs to be done after all the papers are received from the Supreme Court.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed the Maoist attack on CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh, which left 25 troopers dead, as a "cold blooded murder", saying the government will take strong action against those responsible.

Singh, who visited the attack site in Sukma district earlier on Tuesday, told the media here that a joint meeting of various state government officials will take place on May 8 to strengthen the strategy against the Maoists.



"The attack was out of desperation. They (Maoists) are against the ongoing development in the tribal areas. But we will not let them succeed, " he said.

"If needed, we will revive the strategy."



Hundreds of Maoists massacred the Central Reserve Police Force personnel on Monday in the bloodiest attack in the state since 2013.
A crucial meeting of the unified headquarters chaired by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti began in Srinagar on Tuesday to review the deteriorating security situation in the valley.

Comprised of top brass of army, police, paramilitary, state and central intelligence agencies, the unified headquarters is the apex anti-militancy grid in the state.



The meeting is being held after Mehbooba returned from Delhi where she discussed situation in the Kashmir Valley with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.



Students unrest that has been surfacing in the valley coupled with sped up militant activities, as per sources, will be on the top of agenda in the meeting being held at Sher-e-Kashmir international convention centre (SKICC) on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar.

Having assured the media that the situation would be brought under control within the next three months, the Chief Minister will have to painstakingly chalk out a strategy with the security agencies to realise the promise.



This is the first meeting of the unified headquarters here after last year's summer unrest that left more than 100 persons dead in the Valley.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday termed the Maoist attack on CRPF personnel in Chattisgarh, which left 25 troopers dead, a "cold blooded murder". He added the government will take strong action against those responsible.

Singh, who visited the attack site in Sukma district earlier on Tuesday, told the media here that a joint meeting of various state government officials will take place on May 8 to strengthen the strategy against the Maoists.

"The attack was out of desperation. They (Maoists) are against the ongoing development in the tribal areas. But we will not let them succeed."



"We will... review the strategy. If needed we will revive it," Singh said.



He also said that Maoists were using tribals as fodder. This was one of their deadliest attack since 2013.



On Monday, 300 to 400 heavily armed Maoists, including women, ambushed a Central Reserve Police Force contingent in a forested patch in Chhattisgarh, killing the troopers and escaping with their AK-47 assault rifles.



Singh, who reached Raipur with the Additional Director General of CRPF Sudeep Lakhtakia, said that the government would not let the sacrifices made by the soldiers go in vain.





"We have accepted it as a challenge. It will be answered appropriately. Will review strategy, if necessary we will revisit it. It was a cowardly act. Centre and state government will work together," said Singh.



"We have lost precious lives of our soldiers... Left Wing Extremists are trying to impede the progress (of the region)...They are the biggest enemy of the poor," added Singh.



The media briefing was also attended by the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday termed the massacre of 25 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh "cold blooded murder" and said the government will review its anti-Maoist strategy.

Singh, who visited the state capital to pay tributes to the dead Central Reserve Police Force troopers at their camp, also said that Maoist outfits were against development.

He met Chief Minister Raman Singh and senior officials.

"The attack in Sukma is a cold blooded murder... It is an act of cowardice. The attack was out of desperation," Singh told reporters after paying homage to the dead men.

"We are working to root out the problem of LWE (Left Wing Extremism). The LWE groups are anti-development. They do not want development in the area. The Centre and state governments will work together," he added.

Rajnath Singh said he had convened a meeting of states affected by Maoism on May 8. "We will review the strategy and if necessary we will revisit it."

The Minister accused the Maoists of using tribals as fodder.

On Monday, 300 to 400 Maoists, including women, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch in Chhattisgarh, killing the troopers and escaping with their AK-47 assault rifles.

Singh, who reached Raipur with Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir and CRPF Additional Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia, said the government won't not let the sacrifices by the soldiers go in vain.

"We have accepted it as a challenge. It will be answered appropriately.

"We have lost precious lives of our soldiers... Left Wing Extremists are trying to impede the progress (of the region)... They are the biggest enemy of the poor," added Singh.

Singh also visited a hospital and enquired about the health of the CRPF personnel injured in the Maoist ambush.
Websites of Delhi University ' title=' Delhi University '>Delhi University ' title=' Delhi University ' title=' Delhi University '>Delhi University '>Delhi University (DU), Aligarh Muslim University ' title=' Aligarh Muslim University '>Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Indian Institute of Technology -Delhi and some other educational and training institutions were hacked allegedly by some Pakistan-based groups on Tuesday.

The portals of DU, AMU, IIT-Delhi and IIT-BHU, when opened, did not show the usual information and were posted with messages and videos about alleged atrocities by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

The hackers, who called themselves PHC, also posted some pro-Pakistani slogans on the websites, and said: "Nothing deleted or stolen. Just here to deliver my message to Indians."

The message asked Indians if they were aware of what their soldiers were doing in Kashmir. The hacked portals also had "Pakistan zindabad" slogans.

Websites of University of Kota, Army Institute of Management and Technology, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, and National Aerospace Laboratories did not open or could not be reached.

When contacted, educational institutions said they were linked to Ernet India Server which hosted their websites.

Afsar Khan, former Registrar and a member of AMU ' title=' AMU '>AMU ' title=' AMU ' title=' AMU '>AMU '>AMU website management team, told IANS that the website for admissions was hosted locally and was working fine.

"Ernet (Education and Research Network) India Server that hosts websites has been hacked. They are working on it and it will be restored within 3-4 hours. Our website for admissions, which is hosted locally, is working fine and we won't face any problem on that front," he said.

DU, in its statement, said the website of the university was inaccessible from outside the campus for some time "due to some problems in the domain name servers pointing incorrectly to another site".

"The problem was detected and immediately rectified by contacting ERNET, who has provided the domain name for University of Delhi," the statement said.

IIT-Delhi spokesperson Kalyan Bhattacharjee told IANS that there was nothing wrong with their server and it was Ernet that was hacked.

"Our server is intact. We are registered with the ERNET -- under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. They have a DNA server and has our addresses," he said.

"It is this address location that was tampered with by some external agency," Bhattacharjee said, adding that the ministry is investigating the matter.
In one of the deadliest attacks, 300 to 400 heavily armed Maoists, women included, ambushed a CRPF contingent in a forested patch in Chhattisgarh on Monday, killing 25 troopers and escaping with their AK-47 assault rifles.

Seven Central Reserve Police Force personnel were airlifted to Raipur in critical condition. An injured trooper, Sheikh Mohammed, claimed that the subsequent gun battle lasted about three hours.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the deadly ambush on the 74th Battalion at a place between Burkapal and Chintagufa in Sukma district as "cowardly and deplorable" and said the deaths won't go in vain.



The CRPF said the ambush began at 12.30 p.m. Troopers who survived the horror said the attackers used hand grenades, automatic rifles and rocket launchers as they launched the attack "from all sides".



"The troopers replied in a befitting manner but taking geographical position to their advantage, the Maoists succeeded in inflicting loss to the CRPF," a CRPF statement said. "A considerable number of Maoists are believed to have been eliminated."

One account said local tribes passed on vital real-time inputs on the movement of CRPF men to the Maoists.



"It's a major tragedy. We will hit back with full intensity," Vivekanand, the Inspector General of Police of Bastar region, said in Sukma after returning from the site of carnage.



The dead included an Inspector, a Sub-Inspector, three Assistant Sub-Inspectors, six Head Constables and 14 Constables.

Chief Minister Raman Singh flew back from New Delhi and presided over an emergency meeting with top officials to re-strategize moves against the Maoists who have shown signs of revival in recent months.



"The entire Chhattisgarh is pained by the CRPF men's killing," a visibly shocked Raman Singh said after landing in Raipur. "The Maoists are feeling a lot of heat in Sukma with increased presence of security forces."



CRPF officials initially said 11 troopers were killed before scaling up the figure to 25.



The 99-member CRPF patrol was on foot on the interior road, providing security to road construction activity, when it came under sudden attack.

Once the fighting died down, Air Force helicopters evacuated the wounded to Raipur hospitals.



Security forces later launched a major search operation to track down the Maoists.



This was the worst attack by Maoists in Chhattisgarh since 2010 when 76 CRPF troopers were killed. Twelve CRPF men were killed in a similar Maoist attack in Sukma early this year.



Modi saluted the CRPF.



"We are proud of the valour of our CRPF personnel. The sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain," he tweeted. "Condolences to their families. May those injured in (the) attack recover at the earliest."



Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he was "extremely pained" by the killings and offered tributes to the dead and condolences to their families.



Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi also condemned the killings.



"The sacrifice of brave men is a big loss to the nation. Such attacks will never deter our fight against extremism," Sonia Gandhi tweeted.



Former Home Secretary R.K. Singh blamed the massacre on "complete intelligence failure on the ground level".



Raman Singh said it was premature to comment on intelligence failure. He, however, vowed to unleash a full-blown offensive against Maoists in the entire Bastar region, mainly in Sukma district.



He urged security personnel in Bastar to be more cautious and alert as the Maoists could engineer more such attacks in a bid to retain their hold over the sprawling area.



Maoists aligned to the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist have been active in Chhattisgarh's tribal-dominated interiors for decades, running a virtual parallel state.
A day after civic polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday asked his party workers to be ready for a "movement" if exit poll results of the municipal elections prove to be true.

Kejriwal made the remarks in a meeting of the poll observers at his residence in Civil Lines here.

According to sources Kejriwal in the meeting said that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was born out of a movement and the party would not hesitate to return to it.

"Kejriwal told the AAP workers to be ready for a movement if exit poll results for the MCD elections come true," a party source told IANS.

The exit poll by ABP News-C Voter claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has ruled the three MCDs for 10 years, would make a clean sweep in municipal elections in Delhi, while the AAP and the Congress would lag far behind.

The exit poll predicted a landslide victory for the BJP in all three municipal corporations, winning 218 of the total 270 seats for which polls were held on Sunday.

Kejriwal, who had demanded that the polling for MCD polls should take place through ballot papers, told IANS in an interview on Saturday that he feared "5 to 10 per cent" EVM tampering in Delhi's civic polls.

The Delhi State Election Commission, however, asserted that the EVMs were "completely safe".

Senior party leaders, including Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh and several MLAs, attended the meeting.
A minor girl trapped in a dry borewell for nearly 54 hours was found dead on Monday night at a village in Karnataka's Belagavi district, said a rescue team official early Tuesday.

"The rescue team members found six-year-old Kaveri dead and buried in mud around 11.50 p.m. at about 30 feet in the borewell pipe. She fell and remained stuck since Saturday evening," a member of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) told reporters at Jhunjarawadi village in Athani taluk, where the tragic accident occurred in this northern district, 640km from the state capital Bengaluru.



The Pune-based NDRF team retrieved Kaveri's bruised body from the dreaded borewell through a parallel tunnel it dug for two days after drilling the rocky terrain.



"We have shifted the body in an ambulance to a state-run hospital at Athani for autopsy before handing it over to Kaveri's parents," said the official.



Kaveri accidentally slipped and fell on Saturday evening into the open borewell in a farm while playing with friends near her house in the village, 145km from Belagavi.



"We have registered an FIR (First Information Report) against the absconding owner (Shankarappa) of the borewell and the farm land on which it was left abandoned after it dried up due to drought and scorching summer," Belagavi Superintendent of Police Ravikanthe Gowda told reporters at the accident spot after midnight.



Karnataka Small-Scale Industries Minister Satish Jarkiholi, who hails from the district, lamented that Kaveri could not be saved despite all efforts by the NDRF team and the fire brigade personnel.



"It's a tragic incident which should not have occurred. Our heart-felt condolences to her bereaved family even as the entire state mourns for her," Jarkiholi told reporters here.



Kaveri's grieving and inconsolable mother Savita told news channels that no other child should meet the fate of her young child.



"We appeal to the state government to shut all open and dry borewells anywhere in the state so that no other child will die like my dear Kaveri," said Savita.
The Odisha government on Monday ordered the closure of schools till June 18 in view of the prevailing heat wave in the state.

All government and private schools in the state will close from Tuesday and reopen on June 18.



"All the schools in the state have been asked to suspend the classes from tomorrow till June 18. Extra classes would be taken after the summer vacation to compensate the loss," said School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra.



The decision of the government came after normal life continued to remain affected in several parts of the state following the intense heat wave.



The mercury hovered over 40 degrees Celsius at 14 places in the state on Monday.

While Titilagarh town registered the highest day temperature at 45.5 degrees, Angul 44.1, Hirakud 43.8, Talcher and Balangir 43.6, Bhawanipatna 43.5, Jharsuguda 42.6, Sambalpur 42.2, Malkangiri 42, Sonepur 41.6, Keonjhar 41.5, Phulabani 40.6 and Dhenkanal 40.4 degrees Celsius.



The rising heat has led to increasing number of deaths due to sunstroke.



The office of Special Relief Commissioner has received 19 reports of deaths allegedly due to sunstroke till date but has only confirmed the death of two persons due to heatwave so far.
The Uttar Pradesh government has asked the administration to be extra vigilant and ensure that incidents based on trivial things do not blow up into major incidents that catch media attention.

In a missive to all district magistrates and district police chiefs, the state's Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar has said an intelligence system should be in place so that such happenings, crimes, mishaps and other incidents are reported immediately to the state government.

This, he said was in pursuance of the directives issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

According to the local intelligence units, Bhatnagar said officials should promptly go to such scenes of crimes or mishaps and take necessary action.

He said the police officials should be sympathetic towards the affected families and ensure rescue and relief at the earliest.

In case any such incident requires the intervention of the state government the matter should be brought to his notice immediately, the chief secretary said.

He warned officials of any laxity with regard to this directive and said stringent action will be taken against such officials.
After defending integrity of Kansas elections, Scott Schwab wins reelection

Kansas Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab won the 2022 election campaigning on defending the integrity and security of elections.
He didn't mince words, and those words have landed the editor at a small Iowa newspaper the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, putting him in the company of winners from the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Art Cullen, the winning editorial writer from the Storm Lake Times, caught the notice of many media and their followers this week for being the little guy who made the big time. His prize was tied to opinion pieces he wrote for the 3,000-circulation newspaper that helped unveil the corporate donors behind a lawsuit over nitrate pollution in local rivers. The topic is a familiar one in farming country, and taking on big ag as Cullen did is not for the faint of heart.

Aside from prompting journalists who work at small newspapers to stand up taller, Cullen's award stresses the crucial importance of local journalism. His editorial writing was based on impressive expertise that came from lots of solid reporting.

It is the public that suffers if reporters aren't poring over data, attending meetings, and combing through court documents. Not knowing what's going on in your community because no one is paying attention or bothering to dig below the surface hurts society in general on a number of levels, including economic.

Years ago when Blue Earth County was filling its landfill at an alarming rate because its low fees attracted haulers from elsewhere, this newspaper covered the issue and the practice stopped. When the county fell behind on updating its property assessments and expensive houses weren't on the tax roll, this newspaper wrote about it and the problem received attention.

When the project to improve Highway 14 from North Mankato to Nicollet was passed over repeatedly because government officials argued it wasn't a high priority, this newspaper challenged those assumptions and proved the stretch was one of the most dangerous highways in the state. The report drew notice and legislators approved the Corridors of Commerce program; the $40 million project from North Mankato to Nicollet received corridor program funding.

Community newspapers the size of Storm Lake's or Mankato's don't have a corps of investigative reporters who can spend a year on one topic. But they know their communities and the serious publications, no matter what their size, aren't afraid to shed light on the good, the bad and the ugly.

This editorial appeared in the April 14 edition of the The Free Press of Mankato (Minnesota).
Freedom of expression is one thing. Abusing people and making unfounded allegations under the guise of freedom of expression, especially when the writer is a faceless ghost, is something else.

Folks, lets not confuse the two. They are worlds apart and they must never be muddled together.

Whereas freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, which allows people to speak their mind freely and access information so they can hold the powers that be to account, the latter is damaging and must never be tolerated.

We say this because it destroys innocent people, families, communities, countries and eventually makes a mockery of the very freedom our forebears shed their blood and tears over so we can live and enjoy such fantastic freedom today.

Speaking of which, Samoa paused for a moment yesterday to honour ANZAC Day. Once a public holiday on these shores, the commemoration of ANZAC is yet another reminder about the sacrifice and the price our forebears paid for our freedom  including the very freedom to opinion and beliefs.

These are critical components in our democracy. Without free speech and a right to believe, democracy will wither and die. Its that simple.

But freedom comes with boundaries and responsibility.

In other words, freedom can never be absolute. It must always be governed by rules and laws which protect and guard people who are vulnerable to being hurt and abused by that very freedom.

Sad to say, some of what we have witnessed online in Samoa today is nothing but malicious and extremely vengeful.

The manhunt for a certain online blogger is well known.

From our standpoint, its an eye opener in terms of just how little we know about the power of the internet.

The irony is that here we have a government espousing the need to have faster internet connection with multiple benefits, and yet on the other hand it is slowly finding out just how much of a monster it is unleashing into the lives of our people.

Mark my words; this is only the beginning. Online abuse through similar blogs is only going to get considerably worse as more and more people learn how.

While the internet is a wonderful tool, it is just as deadly and venomous as most other useful tools we have when it is misused. A vehicle for instance is god-send tool when it is used correctly. But it is a lethal weapon in the hands of a wrong person. The Internet and the freedom it affords people is no exception. Welcome to the age on online media.

Now getting back to freedom expression and the traditional media, the basic guide to free speech is that if you have an opinion  especially one where you are accusing someone else  you should be brave enough to put your face there and your name.

Thats what responsible people do. And this is what this newspaper encourages.

In fact it is what we do through the editorial section of your newspaper every day of the week. We know some people agree with us, some dont agree and some people will absolutely hate us for it. But that is the beauty of freedom of different views and opinions. It allows us to agree to disagree.

Looking at the world today and its problems, there is no one size fit all kind of solution. There are different solutions depending on who, where and the circumstances.

The same goes for the court of public opinion. Its the variety and the quality of different opinions that enriches and enhances lives. It allows us to grow as people, a nation and it helps us become better at whatever we do.

Think about it this way. By expressing your constructive opinion, you are contributing to your countrys gradual development. Believe it or not, your views help shape that development because they are widely read by the people who matter. They are read by people on the streets, people in different offices and even the most powerful in the land.

Keep in mind that developments begin with an idea. Thats how freedom was conceived in the first place; it began with a single idea by people yearning to be free.

Today, we want to say your opinions help preserve that freedom. Your opinions help strengthen democracy. Your views are the lifeblood of free Samoa.

It goes without saying that the Samoa Observer Newspaper Group assure the Samoan public that letters to the editor, opinions are welcomed and encouraged. Readers views are subjected to the usual editing process. Letters found unsuitable for public consumption will be heavily edited and there will be letters that cannot be published. Although pseudonyms are accepted, we emphasise that real full names, addresses and telephones are also needed. All information is treated with strict confidence.

And lastly, if you feel really strongly about an issue, we encourage you to put your name to your opinion or letter. You might be hated, criticised and get the odd glance from here and there but if you stand for the truth, in the end when what you say comes to pass, they will respect you. Trust me, we know. Thats what freedom of expression is all about.

But then thats what we think anyway. What about you?

Write and share your thoughts with us!

Have a wonderful Wednesday Samoa, God bless!
The Last Post sounded loud and clear on Beach Road yesterday morning where hundreds of people had gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealanders, known as ANZAC.

Samoans joined with Australians and New Zealanders around the world with the ceremonial dawn service and parade held at the centre of Apias Township.

The Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese, the Masiofo, Her Highness Filifilia Tamasese, Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi joined members of the diplomatic corps from Australia and New Zealand for the ceremony.

Australian High Commissioner, Sue Langford, spoke about the significance of the day.

ANZAC Day goes beyond the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli in 1915, she said.

It goes beyond the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942."

On ANZAC Day we remember those who served in the Australian and New Zealand defence forces on active service from the Boer War to Afghanistan, including those currently serving with United Nations missions."

We remember service personnel and civilians of every nation who suffered or continue to suffer through war.

ANZAC Day is a day for us to stand together to remember and thank in our own way all those who lost their lives or suffered injuries as they fought courageously for their country and their families back home. We remember their sacrifice and their bravery and we honour them with utmost respect today, she continued.

Through this remembrance, their memories will live on,. Lest we forget.

Following Ms. Langfords speech, was the wreath laying procession at the town clock where his Highness Tui Atua alongside Prime Minister Tuilaepa and members of the diplomatic core paid their respects.

From there, the ceremonial The Last Post bugle call, One Minute silence, The Rouse bugle call, were completed. As the sun began to shine, formalities and refreshments were completed inside the R.S.A. building."
Samoa needs to capitalise on the United States market. And American Samoa provides a window for that to happen.

This is the opinion of the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Laauli Leuatea Polataivao.

We have a lot of offer for American Samoa and the U.S. markets, and we need American Samoa to do that, he told the Samoa Observer.

They are our gateway through to the United States and while we have submitted applications directly to the federal agencies, we still need to maintain the relationship with American Samoa as they are the ones that will open the door."

Their recommendations will make it easy for us.

The Minister made the comment in response to questions from the Samoa Observer at the end of his meetings with American Samoa Government (ASG) officials as part of the Inter Samoa Talks.

According to the Minister, they are steps away from exporting Samoas meat back to Pago Pago.

Regarding our meat, the American Samoa Government during the initial negotiation suggested that we file our application with the U.S.D.A (United States Department of Agriculture) and we did. The process is lengthy."

We have to go through seven Federal agencies in order to complete the requirements process and then we wait for the final decision."

However during our meeting over the weekend I was informed that American Samoa has the discretion to allow meat into their country.

He said that is good news and Samoa has so much to offer when it comes to meat.

The Minister pointed out that Samoa used to export meat over to Pago, dating back to 1989 but with the tragedy of the 9/11 (2011), the door was closed for foreign countries to export anything to U.S. territories and U.S.A. markets.

To move the planning forward, the Minister said a delegation headed by Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga would be in Samoa next month with a representative from U.S.D.A to inspect Samoas facilities, machines, equipment and how things are done in Samoa.

This is the opportunity to showcase what we have to offer, and its not just our meat, we have our frozen taro, fresh taro, fish, our own oil products and so much more.





FROZEN TARO

Laauli said they are looking at exporting frozen taro to the U.S. and they will go directly to several states where there is a large population of Samoans.

This covers Utah, Alaska, Hawaii and California.

But that can be done once the U.S.D.A allows the importation of our produces so once American Samoa allows our meat, then this is the next step.

He said that their promotional trip will be sometime next year.

He also told Samoa Observer that next month they would be sending their container of frozen taro to New Zealand.

Frozen taros freshness span is up to six months and we want New Zealand to have a taste of Samoas taro, as Australian residents have given awesome feedback on the frozen taros that was sent to them earlier this year.
Teachers have limited capacity and skills to effectively teach literacy and numeracy.

This was one of the many problems the Pacific Benchmarking for Education Results (PaBER) report noted about Samoa, according to a copy obtained by the Samoa Observer.

The PABER programme was introduced in 2012 to improve the quality of education and student performance across the Pacific, in particular to respond to low levels of literacy and numeracy.

The report, which was released last year, is a damning indictment on the overall quality of teachers and the ability levels of students in the Samoan education system.

PaBER provides education ministries in the Pacific with systematic and reliable evidence and analysis of their own systems, benchmarked against high performing systems globally.

There were five domains noted in the report. They are: Teacher Quality, Student Assessment, Curriculum and Materials, School Governance and Management, and Education Management Information Systems.

According to the report, global research indicates the central importance of teacher quality in ensuring improved student learning.

PaBER research aimed to assess how the Samoan education system recruits and deploys good quality teachers, equips them with the skills and knowledge they need, and keeps them motivated, performing and improving over time.

Three key findings and the underpinning evidence are as follows:

The report says that there is an absence of clear guidelines for the implementation and monitoring of school- based professional development programme limiting the effectiveness of support to teachers to improve instruction.

Furthermore the, National Teacher Development Framework stipulates that all teachers in Samoa must receive professional development and that improvement of teaching-learning outcomes in the classroom will be at the core of education, training, and staff development programmes.

However, the framework does not specify the kinds of activities that would be most effective to improve teaching practice at school level, how to carry them out, how much professional development teachers should take part in, and how often.

According to the report teachers are required to participate in professional development but PaBER research findings revealed that the majority of teachers do not receive this on an on-going basis.

For those teachers who participated in such training, there is little evidence to suggest that skills learnt have translated to improved teaching.

It is also likely that the lack of structured training and mentoring programmes for school principals is limiting their ability to provide instructional leadership and support to teachers.

One of the key findings under teacher quality has it that teachers themselves have limited capacity and skills to effectively teach literacy and numeracy.

There are no specific requirements set out in policy or teacher education frameworks for the teaching of literacy and numeracy, the report reads.

The report points out that while teachers receive in-service training, most of the training does not specifically address the targeted areas required for literacy and numeracy and there is little or no evidence that these trainings are planned in advance.

Furthermore, most teachers are not able to fully utilise literacy and numeracy resources claiming the language used in the curriculum is too difficult.

Another finding is that teachers are not able to effectively implement classroom assessment due to lack of capacity to plan and develop classroom assessment and use results to improve teaching and learning.

The report notes that in Samoa, teachers are now required to have at least a degree to enter into teaching profession and practical classroom experience is part of the requirements in pre-service training.

As part of this, it is expected that teachers are to have the necessary skills to carry out classroom assessment. Teachers in Samoa are also provided with a variety of training opportunities to develop competencies with classroom assessment.

However, findings from PaBER research indicate that teachers lack these competencies. The majority of the teachers, based on the research finding, use summative not formative assessment and are unable to develop and use assessment tools to guide teaching strategies.

The Samoa Observer will publish other aspects of the report in later editions.
Shinya Aoki is the new Ambassador of Japan to Samoa.

He was greeted and welcomed with an ava ceremony at the residence of the Head of State at Tuaefu yesterday.

Mr. Aoki then presented his letters of credence to His Highness, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi.

Samoa has enjoyed a close partnership with Japan in the development of many sectors of Samoas economy including education, health environment, agriculture, human resource development and the infrastructure, His Highness Tui Atua said.

I take this opportunity to express through you, to the Government of Japan our sincere appreciation for the valuable assistance Japan has made to the development aspirations of our country.

I am particularly pleased that you will be the first Ambassador to be taking up a posting in Samoa, a further development to testify to the mutual goal of further strengthening relations between our two countries.

His Highness went on to say that the two countries would continue to work closely on issues and ensure there is always a climate of goodwill.

I am confident that during your tenure as Ambassador to Samoa, the close friendship and partnership that presently exists continue to be strengthened, the Ambassador said in response.

The Ambassador re-affirmed Japans recognition of the importance of strengthening the friendship and cooperation with Samoa.

He said he would like to advance the people-to-people relationship and seek appropriate measures to intensify bilateral cooperation in economic, agriculture, tourism and trade.

Ambassador Aoki is a career diplomat.

After graduating from Chulalongkorn University with M.A in International Relations, he entered Japans Foreign Ministry.

He has served overseas in several posts in Thailand, U.S.A and Australia and his most recent posts as a diplomat where he was the Consul at the Consulate-General of Japan in Sydney, Australia in 2002.

In 2009, he was the Counselor of Japan in Thailand. In 2013, he served as the Deputy Chief of Protocol and Director of the Official Guests Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and later in 2015 he became the Consul-General, Consulate General of Japan in Chiang Mai.

Ambassador Aoki takes over the post from former Ambassador Tuimaugaoalii Kazumasa Shibuta.
The San Diego Unified Port District is proposing to demolish the now-closed Anthonys Fish Grotto building that has stood on the downtown waterfront for more than 50 years.

The board delayed action Tuesday until its May 16 meeting as it continues to negotiate with the California Coastal Commission over Anthonys replacement, the Brigantine restaurant groups Portside Pier.

The demolition cost, estimated at up to $1.7 million, would be covered by Anthonys, which remains in business in La Mesa but also is thinking of opening a new restaurant downtown, according to the companys president, Anthony Ghio, whose grandmother founded the popular eatery in 1946.

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The port also delayed action on a revised design of Brigantines $13 million three-restaurant project.

Anthonys opened the present building at 1360 N. Harbor Drive in 1964 and its Star of the Sea white-tablecloth restaurant was a prime place for fancy dates and family celebrations.

But in recent years, business shifted to other venues and Anthonys closed the formal dining room while keeping the more informal Fish Grotto restaurant and outdoor Fishette fast-food service.

The port put the property out for bid hoping for a world-class replacement and Anthonys, in partnership with another developer, lost out to locally based Brigantine last year. The last meals were served Jan. 31 to overflow crowds and the port took over the building March 15.

The port erected a fence around the building but now expresses concerns over security and vandalism because of the unexpected delays in building Portside Pier. The staff says it could take from six months to two years before the new project could get under way.

The district has longer-term public safety and health concerns about leaving the vacated building as-is, including the potential creation of an attractive nuisance, possible trespassing and criminal activity at the site and the structures disrepair, said Wileen C. Manaois, a principal in the ports development services department, in the staff report.

Melody Lasiter, a coastal commission program analyst, said her agency likely has no objection to the demolition but had not yet analyzed the port staff report that came out Friday.

Brigantine proposes to build a two-story, 34,069-square-foot replacement that would include Brigantine on the Bay, Miguelos Cocina and Ketch Grill & Taps, plus a gelato and coffee bar. Also new would be a 3,711-square-foot upper deck and enlarged dock-and-dine facility accommodating up to 12 boats.

But last month the coastal commission asserted its right to review the project, even though the port continues to argue that state law does not allow appeals of restaurant projects to the commission. Two commissioners appealed the project but next months expected hearing in San Diego has been postponed.

Coastal staff raised a number of design issues, most of which have been settled, the port said. They include less lighting and signage, more public access to the upper deck, including a newly added public walkway, clearer parking arrangements and general boating access to the dock-and-dine facility even for those sailors not dining at Portside Pier.

But three issues remain unresolved and it is those that port staff hope to iron out in coming weeks, a district spokeswoman said.

They include the continued dispute over coastal commission authority over restaurants, the amount of fill for new pilings and amount of water surface that will be shaded by the new development.

Brigantine had hoped to be open in the summer of 2018 but that target date now may be in jeopardy. The company also needs permits from federal and state agencies to build over San Diego Bay.

Lasiter said the commission staff believe Portside Pier should occupy no bigger a platform than Anthonys 23,285 square feet; the Brigantine proposes a 24,960-square-foot platform, a 7.2 percent increase. She said the larger platform was justified by a public walkway on the first level. But now that the walkway has been moved upstairs, the staff wants the lower level to occupy no more area than the Anthonys building.

That would make a smaller restaurant and they would also have to redesign the restaurant, she said.

Lasiter said the agency also does not want the fill area on the bay bottom where the new pilings will go to be any bigger than Anthonys, even though there will be 13 fewer but bigger pilings than currently exist.

The coastal act is pretty clear  only certain uses are allowed to result in (filling) of coastal waters and a restaurant is not one of them, she said.

Taken together, the larger building platform and dock-and-dine facility would cover 28,330 square feet of water area, up 18.8 percent from the present 23,850 square feet.

But the biggest issue continues to be the commissions power to review restaurants. Port lawyers believe state law does not empower such review while the state lawyers say it does.

That has always been our view, Lasiter said.

She said the commission staff encouraged the port to delay Tuesdays action so these final issues could be resolved. The commission also delayed the May appellate hearing on Portside Piers original coastal development permit.

When we appealed the project, we had talked to the port and decided if the port could modify its (permit) in order to be in line with the coastal act, maybe we would drop the appeal, Lasiter said.

The port could fight the commission in court but that could take years to resolve and delay and perhaps kill Portside Pier and the money it was going to generate for the port in lease revenues  not to mention, an updated place for the public to dine on the bayfront.

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roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley
San Diegans will meet their counterpart business and city leaders Tuesday and Wednesday in a city-to-city jam session on homelessness, affordability, big-city data and planning.

Organized by 5-year-old Canadian-based CityAge Media, the conference is expected to draw about 175 to all-day sessions at the Central Library downtown. There is a $300 registration fee.

Speakers will include officials from San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Las Vegas with San Diego represented by former Mayor Jerry Sanders, his successor, Kevin Faulconer, Navy Mayor Rear Adm. Yancy Lindsey and a variety of business and government leaders.

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Seven sessions and keynoters from business and academia will mix case studies from other cities with a focus on San Diego accomplishments and challenges.

With more than 30 such sessions held so far around the U.S., CityAge cofounder Marc Andrew said several themes are common to all.

The first thing that jumps to mind, affordability, is an issue everywhere, Andrew said in an interview Monday, and with it, homelessness. Its something a lot of cities are trying to wrestle with. Its a huge topic in L.A., a mental health issue, and a big topic in Seattle.

A special session focuses on data, called the new imperative, and what new technologies and tools are available to deal with health problems and economic development. The city managers of Las Vegas and Santa Monica are set to share how they integrate data into policy decisions.

Andrew said infrastructure is another common issue, especially in how to leverage city assets to generate money for improved roads, parks and other public amenities.

The city has land assets and how does it work smartly with the private sector to encourage economic development that drives value for the city as an owner, he said.

He cited current attempts by the San Diego Unified Port District to redevelop tidelands and generate more income from hotels and other development to fund its operations. The expansion of the San Diego Convention and reuse of Qualcomm Stadium property offer similar opportunities, he said.

Fred Ellermeier, vice president of smart and integrated infrastructure for the Black and Veatch engineering company in Kansas City, will focus on that topic Tuesday afternoon.

Cities invite CityAge to organize local sessions and San Diegos resulted from the attendance at San Franciscos meeting last year by David Graham, San Diegos deputy chief operating officer for neighborhood services, Andrew said. (The Union-Tribune is a sponsor of San Diegos program.)

Andrew, 36, previously was chief of staff to British Columbias finance minister and helped plan for Vancouvers 2010 Winter Olympic Games. He cited his own personal circumstances of thinking about homeownership and other obligations as emblematic of what millennials will be facing in coming years. Despite talk of a recession, he said growing demand from that up-and-coming generation could counteract any economic slowdown.

Theres a lot of optimism in U.S. cities despite talk of recession, he said.

Cofounded with former Canadian journalist Miro Cernetig, CityAge will hold eight sessions this year with the next one in the Ontario rust belt city of Hamilton and another in June in Washington, D.C.

Andrew said the sessions do not produce reports but help establish networks of local leaders who then go on to share findings and best practices in their cities.

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roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley
After a five-year hiatus, Fourth of July fireworks are coming back to Lake Murray.

A group of residents and businesses have joined organizer Tracy Dahlkamp in raising money to bring back the popular fireworks show and music festival to the reservoir on the border of La Mesa and San Diego on Independence Day.

The event is planned for 2 to 9 p.m. at Lake Murray Community Park, 7001 Murray Park Drive in San Diego.

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Dahlkamp and a group of other community fireworks fans started an organization late last year that has already raised $56,000 toward the Lake Murray Fireworks and MusicFest.

Local businesses have chipped in $33,500 of that, with the title sponsor, Dr. Kurt Stormberg of Stormberg Orthodontics in La Mesa, donating $15,000.

Anything families can do together, I am all for, Stormberg said. One of the goals every city has is to see what they can do locally so people dont have to drive far away. Parents dont want to drive (to the beach) and have to sit two hours in traffic, especially when they can be close by at Lake Murray with fireworks going over them.

The Dahlkamp camp has been busy going door-to-door in La Mesa, San Carlos and Del Cerro with requests to residents to help cover not just the fireworks and band but also the costs of permits, portable toilets, and fire fighters and other public safety personnel.

La Mesa City Councilmembers Guy McWhirter and Kristine Alessio say they have been approached by the fireworks group and have given their support.

Theres been an online push for fundraising at gofundme.com/lakemurrayfireworks, an informational website at lakemurrayfireworks.org and a Facebook page at facebook.com/lakemurrayfireworks/.

Theres also a dedicated post office box for people to mail checks in support of the effort at Lake Murray Fireworks Committee, c/o SCAC, attn: Tracy Dahlkamp, P.O. Box 19246, San Diego, CA 92159.

Dahlkamp also helped spearhead a five-year effort that went into bringing a new playground to Lake Murray in October 2012. She took a breather after that, but said she had been itching to do something else to help the community since last year.

I had a really great experience raising funds and building the playground, Dahlkamp said. I approached the team that worked on the playground and most everybody involved wanted to be part of bringing back fireworks.

She said she noticed increasing online chatter on NextDoor.com about fireworks at the lake and asked for advice and partnership with Jay Wilson of Del Cerro, executive director of the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation.

Wilson has handled the logistical and governmental sides of the fireworks show needs.

In addition to my personal desire to do something, i just found past election cycle to be very divisive, so my hope was to bring community together in an apolitical way, Dahlkamp said. I cant change the world, but we can make the community a little better.

Fireworks at Lake Murray started in 1997 but were stopped after 2011 because of concerns about contamination of the chemicals from the displays going into the reservoir, which provides drinking water in the region. The pyrotechnics were challenged in lawsuits filed against the city of San Diego by the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation.

A settlement was reached that set up a mechanism to handle needed environmental impact reports before a fireworks permit is granted.
I only have one first show on my first-ever arena tour! Chance The Rapper told the sold-out audience Monday at San Diegos Valley View Casino Center. Thank you.

The name of this multi-Grammy Award-winning young music phenomenons 2017 concert trek is the Be Encouraged Tour. Accordingly, he offered plenty of encouragement  and thanks  to his listeners during a show that mixed gospel fervor, hip-hop swagger and arena spectacle in almost equal measure.

Its not often you get to meet people  for the first time  who are, literally, your foundation. So thank you, for holding me up, Chance told the cheering audience near the conclusion of his too-short, 82-minute show.

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His concert included 25 songs (the full set list appears below). But some were so truncated and fleeting they seemed to end almost in the blink of an eye.

1 / 16 Fans take photos as Chance the Rapper performs at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 16 Fans look on as Chance the Rapper performs at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 16 Jonelle Arntzen of Irvine looks at her phone before Chance the Rapper took the stage at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 16 Fans look on as Chance the Rapper performs at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 16 Fans look on as Chance the Rapper performs at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 16 Chance the Rapper started his spring tour at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 16 Fans look on as Chance the Rapper performs at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune) (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)

His best songs Monday  including the sinewy Everybodys Something, the gently hopeful Same Drugs and the buoyant No Problem  gave him ample time to build up the dynamic tension and release so essential to elevating a live performance.

Along the way, Chance also paid homage to one of his mentors, Kanye West, by performing his original version of Waves from Wests The Life of Pablo album, which Chance played a major role in helping to craft. (West ultimately dropped Chances version from the final album in favor of a different take on the song that features Chris Brown.)

To the delight of the nearly 9,900-strong crowd, Chance followed Waves with an audience sing-along on another Pablo song, Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1.

He followed that by performing his part from Ultralight Beam, giving the audience a Pablo-fueled musical trifecta. If Chance continues his artistic growth at his current rate, in a few years he may challenge fellow Chicagoan West for hip-hops crown.

Chance, whose real name is Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, turned 24 on April 16. Expectations for his tour are sky high, and for multiple reasons. But if the charismatic Chance had any opening-night nerves, he did a good job of disguising them.

In February, he won Grammys for Best New Artist, Best Rap Album (for his third release, Coloring Book) and Best Rap Performance (for No Problem, which provided one of the highlights at Mondays concert).

Coloring Book, incidentally, set a historical precedent. It is the first album to ever be nominated for a Grammy  let alone fuel any victories  that was available, free of charge, only via online streaming on SoundCloud.

Chances aversion to making his fans pay for his recorded music  and his disdain for record companies  was made clear in several instances Monday. Sometimes, he did so in the same breath as making declarations of his faith.

In Blessings 1. Chances second number of the night, he declared: I dont make songs for free, I make em for freedom.

At the end of Blessings, the projection of an animated wall on the video screen behind Chance crumbled. The allusion to the biblical tale of the walls of Jericho was further heightened by the prominent role in Chances band of trumpeter Nico Segal, who also goes by the name Donnie Trumpet.

In No Problem, whose lyrics target the creative timidity and money-lust endemic to some major record labels, Chance used the enormous video screen at the center of the stage to playfully but pointedly lampoon his targets.

The names and logos for faux record companies left no doubt who their intended targets were on the video screen  and in the song itself. Phony was substituted for Sony; A Titanic for Atlantic; Villain for Virgin; Dont Join for Def Jam; No Crown for Motown; and the list went on.

When a rendering of three Grammy Awards also appeared on the screen, it was unclear whether Chance was patting himself on the back or poking fun at the Grammys, which were strongly criticized this year for the infrequency with which Album of the Year honors go to hip-hop artists. Given the way Chance likes to turn convention on its head, he may have been doing both at the same time.

His tour, which resumes Wednesday in Oakland, represents both an opportunity and a challenge for Chance, who repeatedly thanked the San Diego audience for its support.

Gone were the large, Muppet-like puppets that periodically joined him on stage when he performed last year at the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU. In their place were three video screens, a climactic burst of confetti, a hydraulic lift, an elevated metal walkway that ran the length of the arena floor, and enough pyrotechnics to fuel a Kiss concert.

Chance received solid support from his well-oiled three-man band and four singers, whose exquisite harmonies at times brought to mind the jazzy gospel vocal group Take 6.

He is not a great singer, but the soulful emotion of Chances delivery was unmistakable. When he launched into some rapid-fire raps, his linguistic dexterity was impressive. Moreover, the sheer force of his personality enabled him to gain considerable traction even when doing a lesser song.

Alas, the sound quality Monday was too often muddled and greatly over-amplified  so much so that even some of Chances between-song comments were indecipherable, at least from this attendees vantage point.

The resulting din suggested Chances audio crew may need some time to make the transition into cavernous sports arenas like Valley View Casino Center.

But the sonic lapses didnt deter the enthusiastic audience from singing along to many of Chances selections and cheering him on with well-deserved gusto. And his uplifting messages of hope and salvation had even more of an impact when juxtaposed with such gritty numbers as Pusha Man and Paranoia.

Those two songs appear back-to-back on Chances 2013 album, Acid Rap. On Monday, they almost book-ended the concert, with the Curtis Mayfield-referencing Pusha Man coming early in the show and Paranoia being performed as the second-to-last selection.

It was a savvy move to separate them.

The songs that came in between at Chance The Rappers tour-opening concert provided a vivid musical journey, courtesy of an ascendant hip-hop star who spends nearly as much time singing songs of praise and salvation as nearly any gospel-music veteran.

Twitter @georgevarga

george.varga@sduniontribune.com
Got the hots for Mexican food? Of course! What respectable San Diegan wouldnt? You likely have your favorite taco joints like Las Cuatro Milpas or El Indio. Or you seek out the most sublime version of guacamole  perhaps Galaxy Tacos or Puestos. You may even make traditional Mexican dishes at home  certainly salsa or ceviche; if youre ambitious, tamales or enchiladas or pozole. But do you have the right tools for the job?

I got to thinking about this during a conversation with San Diego chef Sara Polczynski. Shes been a longtime culinary educator, working as an associate professor for the Baking and Culinary Arts programs at San Diego Community Colleges Continuing Education. Her passion for Mexican food started with a culinary tour of Mexico several years ago with Rick Bayless. This trip turned her career around. Notably, she took a position as consultant executive chef with The Blind Burro in East Village. Over the years, Polczynski has continued to travel regularly to Mexico  and a journey last year to Oaxaca again changed her life. There she met chef Susana Trilling of Seasons of My Heart. Trilling, an American who has lived in Oaxaca since 1988 and owns a cooking school of the same name, led a 10-day culinary extravaganza marking Day of the Dead that Polczynski joined. The two chefs stayed in touch, and, after a series of conversations, Polczynski decided to launch her own online culinary import business, Sabor Imports (www.saborimports.com), which sells Trillings artisan handcrafted moles, pepper jellies, sea salt and chocolate.

While chatting about the products, it occurred to us that a lot of people on our side of the border dont have or know how to use some of the kitchen tools that are so commonplace in Mexican kitchens. The ones that immediately stood out to us were the molinillo, the comal and the molcajete. Each is available at local Mexican markets, in Tijuana, or online. And theyre very affordable.

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A molinillo is a traditional Mexican wooden whisk used in the preparation of hot beverages, including hot chocolate. (Howard Lipin / U-T)

The molinillo is a clever gadget used to create a rich, frothy pot of traditional Mexican hot chocolate. Youve probably seen these wooden stirrers; about 13 inches long, they have a long, slender handle and a flat tip with holes at the bottom that functions like a pestle to grind and soften the chocolate in the hot water or milk. In between are loose rings that whip air into the hot chocolate to create the froth.

Theyre made on a lathe from one piece of wood, Polczynski explained. The black design you see on them is burned on, not painted.

To make traditional Mexican hot chocolate, you bring milk and chocolate just to the boil and remove from the stove. Then, Polczynski showed me, you place the molinillo in the pot and roll the stem between your palms vigorously to get whisking movement and create foam.

Theres an old wives tale that a good woman is judged by her foam, Polczynski said. The more foam you can make, the better woman you are.

Originally, hot chocolate was made with water, not dairy, she explained. Today in Mexico you can choose between milk and water to mix with the chocolate  itself a unique blend of roasted cocoa beans, coarse sugar and cinnamon. You can also use the molinillo to make other drinks that need frothing.

A comal is really something every household should have. Its a smooth, flat metal griddle, often cast iron but also a flat metal or even clay, used to heat up tortillas, toast spices or roast peppers and other vegetables. You may also see it identified as a plancha. Its traditionally cooked on over an open wood fire, but it works perfectly well on a conventional stove. It does heat up quickly, so you need to control it while cooking to prevent your ingredients from burning.

Treat the comal like cast iron, Polczynski advised. If you get something sticky on it, wash it, but then dry it thoroughly to keep it from rusting and then rub some oil on the cooking surface  but try to avoid cooking juicy foods on it.

I love using mine to make quesadillas. Polczynski used hers on a day I visited to char tomatillos, chilies, zucchini, shrimp, red bell pepper strips and spring onions, to both make a roasted tomatillo salsa and prepare vegetables for a shrimp molcajete dish.

A molcajete is an ancient Mexican version of a mortar and pestle. (Howard Lipin / U-T)

Yes, you read that right  a shrimp molcajete dish. See, a molcajete is both a culinary dish and an object  an ancient Mexican version of a mortar and pestle (actually the pestle is known as a tejolote) commonly carved out of a single block of basalt or lava rock. I first came upon it many years ago when I went with friends down to Puerto Nuevo during lobster season. We ate at a wonderful little place called Puerto Nuevo 2. Yes, they served grilled lobster, but I ordered what they called the Molcajete  a Mexican version of cioppino. The dish came out roaring hot in the molcajete, its dark bowl filled with a bubbling fragrant stew of seafood, including lobster, in a rich tomato broth. In fact, there are many varied dishes called molcajete. What they have in common is the vessel theyre cooked in.

Its primary function, though, is as a cooking tool to grind chilies and spices, really pulverizing the ingredients to blend the flavors in a way an electric blender cant. Compared with blenders or other smoother mortar/pestle combinations youll find, the lava rock molcajete works so well because of its rough surface.

The molcajetes coarse texture helps to grab and shred ingredients, Polczynski explained.

And you can use it to crush and blend ingredients to make salsa or guacamole. You can also use it as a serving or cooking dish that is fine going into the oven and keeps food hot for a long time.

But, a word of caution.

You need to prep that surface, because little grains of the basalt or lava rock can loosen and get into your food. There are all sorts of tips for doing it, but the most common seems to be the one I used. Grind a handful of hard rice into the molcajete bowl until you turn it into flour. Remove and repeat with fresh rice until there are no visible signs of black basalt grains. Then youre ready to use it. Over time, like cast iron, itll season and take on the flavors of what youve prepared in it.

While the molinillo is pretty much a single-task tool, I find I use my comal and molcajete to make all sorts of dishes, some Mexican, others not. Theyre the essence of functional and make the Mexican food we love that much tastier.

Golden is a San Diego freelance food writer and blogger.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Drinking Mexican Hot Chocolate is not just an indulgent custom in Mexico but a way of life. Many natives drink it with water, but the creaminess created by adding milk makes it a favorite for all, young and old alike. The health benefits of cacao are numerous, and the flavors of the pure ground and roasted cocoa beans are enhanced by fresh cinnamon and coarse sugar.

Serves 4

4 cups milk

3 bars (approximately 9 ounces) Seasons of My Heart Oaxacan Chocolate or other Mexican chocolate

In a 2-quart saucepan, heat the milk just until it begins to boil. Remove from heat.

Chop the chocolate into small pieces while the milk is heating. Add the chocolate into the hot milk and stir with a molinillo (chocolate frothing tool) or a wire whisk.

Whisk the mixture vigorously to melt the chocolate and create a layer of froth on top. When the chocolate is fully dissolved, pour into 4 mugs and enjoy.

Shrimp Molcajete, prepared by Sara Polczynski. (Howard Lipin / U-T)

Shrimp Molcajete

Makes 1 serving

1 package banana leaves (available in Mexican markets)

6 ounces poblano sauce (see recipe below)

3 ounces cubed panela (-inch cubes)

2 ounces red bell pepper, sliced in strips

4 ounces summer squash (like zucchini), sliced in strips

2 spring onions

2 jalapenos

5 U12 Shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail on

Sprig of fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the molcajete on a sheet pan to make it easier to handle coming in and out of the oven. Then put both in the oven for at least 20 minutes to get hot. When the molcajete is hot, remove it from the oven and line it with banana leaves. Keep the oven on.

While the molcajete is heating up, grill the spring onions and jalapenos and shrimp until just cooked through and heat the poblano sauce. Pour 3 ounces of the sauce in the bottom of the hot molcajete. Add the cheese, red pepper and squash in the sauce and top with remaining sauce. Place back in oven to cook vegetables, approximately 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Remove the molcajete from the oven and arrange the grilled shrimp, onions and and jalapenos over the vegetables. Garnish with cilantro sprig and serve with tortillas.

Poblano Sauce

Makes 4 cups

1 ounces butter

5 ounces white onion, diced

 ounce garlic, minced

1 pound poblano peppers, seeded and roughly chopped

2 cups chicken stock

 bunch cilantro, stem ends removed

1 teaspoons salt

In a large saucepan, saute the onion in butter about 5 minutes to soften (do not brown). Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the poblanos and saute for 3 minutes.

Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer to soften the peppers, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Let cool slightly and blend with the cilantro in a blender until completely smooth. (For best results use a Vitamix blender.)

Season with salt.

Smoked Tomatillo Salsa

Smokey, spicy, sophisticated and simple. ... Serve as the quintessential Oaxacan table sauce with just about anything! Substitute all or a portion of the roasted tomatillos with roasted tomatoes for a slightly different take on this delicious salsa.

Makes approximately 1 cup

8 ounces tomatillos, husks removed

 medium white onion, cut into 1-inch wedges

1 to 2 garlic cloves, with skin on

1 to 2 teaspoons Seasons of My Heart Chintestle Paste (smoked mole paste; see note)

1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt

On a hot comal or cast-iron griddle, dry-roast the tomatillos, onion and garlic until they are slightly charred and are soft. Do not use oil in this process. Peel the garlic.

In a blender, place 1 to 2 teaspoons (to taste) of Seasons Of My Heart Chintestle Paste. Add the roasted tomatillos, onion and garlic and blend well.

Add water as needed to make it fluid. Season to taste with salt.

Note: Seasons of My Heart ingredients are available online at saborimports.com.

Recipes from Sara Polczynski.
Annual Event Connects Global Leaders of the World's Most Innovative Companies

25 April 2017 - YPO, the world's premier chief executive leadership organization, today announced that Hong Kong will host the Disruptive Business Models event on 12 May as part of YPO Innovation Week 2017, a series of more than 50 events around the world designed to bring together the world's most dynamic innovators for a chance to connect, challenge conventional thinking and gain actionable, applicable insight.

YPO Innovation Week offers YPO global business leaders networking and learning opportunities to infuse innovation into their companies, form strategic partnerships, and positively affect their businesses and the communities in which they work. YPO leaders will be able to leverage new partnerships in innovation, integrate innovation into their company culture, and convert ideas into actionable plans.

YPO Innovation Week 2017 finale event, Disruptive Business Models in Asia, will address the unique and evolving needs of businesses today with a unique focus on the innovation in the Asia Pacific region. Members will learn from industry experts about cutting-edge innovation in finance and private equity while being hosted at The Hong Kong Stock Exchange and experiencing an exclusive inside look at the exchange with Chief Executive Officer Charles Li.

Disruptive Business Models in Asia also will provide YPO global innovators with the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge disruption, focusing on the groundbreaking innovation in Asia, as well as the chance to network with the top minds in innovation and entrepreneurship.

"Investing in innovation is critical to securing long-term economic growth," notes Vincent C H Chan, Head of Asia of Samena Capital and a member of YPO since 2005. "YPO Innovation Week will provide hundreds of opportunities for YPO members to learn from each other and from the most well respected global innovators, disrupters and inventors around the world. Combining research, technology and business leadership, Innovation Week is the one place where the world's most innovative companies share their inspiration and insights."

"YPO Innovation Week is a platform to share insights about trends and technologies that can transform your business and your industry. And, this is the first time YPO Innovation Week will host one of its signature events in Hong Kong," said Mergen Chuluun, Founder of Togtokh Trade and a member of YPO since 2013. "As Hong Kong, and China at large, are recognized as innovators on the world stage, we hope to provide useful takeaways for our members, while also helping to increase the profile of Asia as a hub for innovation within the YPO community."

Key event speakers include:

Charles Li, Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx)

Nicholas W Yang, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Jignesh Bhate, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Molecular Connections Private Limited

Herman Lam, Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited

Zhu Bo, Founder of Fund for Dream Chasers-Inno Valley

Zeth Hung, Managing Director of Credit Suisse and Co-Head of Greater China, Investment Banking and Capital Markets based in Hong Kong

Dr. Song Li, for Chairman and CEO for Zhenai.com

Keith Alper, Founder and CEO of GenieCast and YPO Innovation Week Chair, highlighted the significance of the events at this critical time focusing on innovation. "Every business leader needs to focus on innovation to grow and thrive. YPO's global network of young chief executives are interested in, and actively involved with, innovative solutions that can positively impact their businesses. The valuable insight, key connections and respected expertise provided during YPO Innovation Week will leave leaders across Asia inspired and equipped with the tools to infuse innovation in their companies and communities."

YPO Innovation Week 2017 will feature events in innovation hotspots around the world, including Tel Aviv, New York, Toronto, Silicon Valley, Melbourne and more the week of 8-12 May 2017. The mission of YPO Innovation Week is to drive innovation across a diverse range of industries through signature events, live two-way interactive video casts, global conference calls, and "idea jams" as well live two-way video broadcast discussions across more than 30 countries.

For more information, visit the YPO Innovation Week website.

###

ABOUT YPO

The premier leadership organization of chief executives in the world.

YPO is the global platform for chief executives to engage, learn and grow. YPO members harness the knowledge, influence and trust of the world's most influential and innovative business leaders to inspire business, personal, family and community impact.

Today, YPO empowers more than 24,000 members in more than 130 countries, diversified among industries and types of businesses. Altogether, YPO member-run companies employ more than 15 million people and generate USD6 trillion in annual revenues.

Leadership. Learning. Lifelong. For more information, visit YPO.org.

Contact:

YPO

Linda Fisk

Office: +1 972 629 7305 (United States)

Mobile: +1 972 207 4298

press@ypo.org

Note: While the majority of events are member-only, portions are open to the media. Please contact press@ypo.org to arrange interviews.
North Korea has vowed to sink a Navy flattop, but the carrier Carl Vinson is too far away in the Philippine Sea to fear an attack.

They have anti-ship missiles but theyd be much, much shorter (range), said Bruce Klinger, the senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundations Asian Studies Center.

He added: Right now, with the Vinson still being so far away from the Korean peninsula, North Korea has no ability to hit the battle group far away from the shores. And when the Vinson gets near the peninsula, it will be operating far offshore.

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The San Diego-based Vinson concluded bilateral training on Monday with a pair of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers north of the Philippines. The carrier is now sailing toward the Korean peninsula, according to Third Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Ryan Perry.

The routine exercise is designed to improve combined maritime response and defense capabilities, increase combined maneuvering proficiency and ensure maritime forces remain ready to defend the region when called upon, he said.

The Philippine Sea is about 1,000 miles south of North Koreas coastal missile batteries. The farthest operational reach of most North Korean anti-ship weapon is under 100 miles, Klinger said. And to blunt the longer variants potentially facing the Vinson and her guided-missile escorts  the cruiser Lake Champlain and destroyers Michael Murphy and Wayne E. Meyer  the strike group can simply move farther out to sea, he added.

Navy warships boast a layered defense screen. The Evolved SeaSparrow interceptor forms the outer layer of the anti-missile shield  dozens of miles from a warship but the range remains classified  while the Phalanx Close-In radar-guided Gatling gun handles inbound enemy missiles within the last two miles.

Navy warship defenses are getting stronger, too. Defense titan Raytheon is fine-tuning a new Navy Rolling Airframe Missile  the SeaRAM  to blast everything from jets and missiles to attack boats, but its range remains classified.

SeaRAM is designed to identify and destroy both supersonic and subsonic threats that approach a ship, Raytheon Missile Systems, based in Tucson, Arizona, said in a statement to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Those can include cruise missiles and helicopters. SeaRAM combines the sensor systems of the Phalanx close-in weapon system with the multi-round Rolling Airframe Missile system. RAM missiles use active infrared seekers to find and destroy a wide variety of threats that could come from miles away and approach the ship at extremely high speed.

With distance and increasingly sophisticated high-tech defense systems on the Navys side, Heritages Klinger said North Koreas ongoing tests of nuclear weapons and increasingly advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles reveal the real threat to the United States and allies in Tokyo and Seoul.

They already can hit our allies with nukes, said Klinger, who served in the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency before joining the conservative, Washington, D.C.-based think tank in 2007. Theyre working on the ability to hit Guam, which is a key node in the defense of the Pacific, including a defense of the Korean peninsula. And they continue to work on their ICBMs to directly target the U.S. homeland.

The entire Senate has been invited to a Wednesday White House briefing on North Korea by top national security figures.

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cprine@sduniontribune.com
President Donald Trump is expected to tap another former U.S. general for his administration, and again its a Marine Corps general with ties to San Diego.

Retired Maj. Gen. Randolph Alles, who led Miramar Marine Corps Air Station units in Iraq, is the choice to lead the U.S. Secret Service, Politico reported last night.

Randolph Alles may be memorable to San Diegans as the public face of the 2008 University City jet crash investigation.

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Alles commonly briefed the press and the public about the Marine Corps response to that accident, which killed four residents in a University City home.

The former aviator was assistant commander of Miramars 3rd Marine Air Wing at the time of the investigation. Just prior to that, he was commanding general of the Marines deployed aircraft in Iraq.

Welcome to The Intel, a blog examining the hot military news of the day

Since retiring in 2011 with two stars, he took executive jobs in U.S. Customs and Border Protections office of air and marine. The office oversees the federal agencys fleet of aircraft and boats.

In January, he became acting deputy commissioner of the entire Customs and Border Protection agency, a job that is considered the same as chief operating officer.

Alles joins a growing list of former military brass in the Trump upper echelon.

Retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, who served many roles at Camp Pendleton during his career, is now defense secretary.

Retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly is secretary of homeland security.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

jen.steele@sduniontribune.com

Facebook: U-T Military

Twitter: @jensteeley
Amid escalating tension with North Korea, a San Diego Navy destroyer started two days of exercises with South Koreas navy off the Korean peninsula.

The Wayne E. Meyer -- which left San Diego in January as part of the Carl Vinson carrier group  is operating with the South Korean destroyer Wang Geon in waters west of the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. Navy said in a statement released today.

Meanwhile, the U.S. submarine Michigan docked in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Navy officials said the guided-missile submarine is getting a scheduled port visit during a regular deployment.

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Welcome to The Intel, a blog examining the hot military news of the day

The two ships are part of whats a growing show of U.S. naval forces around Asia as North Korea threatens to test more of its missiles and even sink an aircraft carrier.

The U.S. destroyer Fitzgerald is also doing exercises for the next couple days with the Japanese destroyer Chokai in waters west of Japan.

Two days ago, the Vinson and the San Diego-based cruiser Lake Champlain commenced exercises with two Japanese navy ships while traveling through the Philippine Sea.

On April 11, President Donald Trump said he was sending an armada toward Korea as a muscle-flexing move during an escalation in tension over nuclear weapon capabilities.

The Vinson group was said to change plans and rush toward Korea. However, the Vinson group surprised the world by first heading to the Indian Ocean for planned exercises with Australia.

The confusion has been chalked up to crossed wires between the military and the White House,

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jen.steele@sduniontribune.com

Facebook: U-T Military

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A man who struck and killed a teenager while fleeing Los Angeles police at speeds approaching 90 miles per hour was sentenced Monday to more than 27 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Paul Brumfield Jr., 50, was convicted of second-degree murder, car theft and negligent manslaughter last month in connection with the death of 15-year-old Jack Phoenix, who was hit by a stolen car Brumfield was driving through Palms in November 2015, according to the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.

The vehicle struck Phoenix with such force that the teen was decapitated. Brumfield escaped but was arrested the next day on suspicion of an unrelated car burglary. Prosecutors said DNA and witness statements linked him to the teenagers death.

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Several days after the arrest, police found the stolen vehicle with the victims severed head inside, prosecutors said.

Los Angeles police began following Brumfield, who was driving a stolen Buick LeSabre, in Mid-City and tailed him into Palms, according to testimony delivered at a preliminary hearing in Brumfields case. One officer testified that she called for backup and a police helicopter to aid in Brumfields capture but continued to follow him along a stretch of the 10 Freeway and back onto city streets, where she trailed the car at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour without turning on the cruisers lights or sirens.

The officers did not attempt to stop Brumfield as he sped along Venice Boulevard, the officer testified. Phoenix was crossing the street at Venice Boulevard and Hughes Avenue when Brumfield struck him.

The teens family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the L.A. Police Department last year, claiming the city failed to follow its vehicle pursuit guidelines during the incident. LAPD officials told The Times last year that the department does not consider the incident a police pursuit because officers did not attempt to stop the vehicle. State laws make it very difficult for civilians to sue police over pursuits.

The department does not generally comment on pending litigation. The LAPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

In 2015, the year Phoenix was killed, 78 bystanders were injured during LAPD chases. The number marked the most bystanders hurt in LAPD pursuits in at least a decade, eclipsing the previous highest tally of 61 in 2005, according to a Times review of pursuit data reported to the California Highway Patrol.

LAPD chases in 2015 injured bystanders at four times the rate of police pursuits in the rest of the state, according to the data. From 2006 to 2014, 334 bystanders were injured during LAPD pursuits one for every 10 car chases, according to a separate Times review of pursuit data.

The departments pursuit policy, regarded by experts as one of the most permissive in the state, has been undergoing revisions since 2015, but officials have yet to make any proposed changes public.

At least nine bystanders have been killed during LAPD pursuits since 2005, though officials do not count Phoenixs death among the tally because they did not classify the incident that led to his death as a pursuit.

The victims father, Nick Phoenix, said Monday that though he was satisfied with the sentence, he still holds city police officers partially responsible for his sons death.

I feel like justice was done. They did a good job with the courts and the prosecutor and the investigators and the judge and everyone  Were pleased with the outcome, I guess, he said. But there is another dark side to this case, and it concerns what the LAPD did.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.
Mum was the word when Brad Paisley and John Fogerty shot a music video for the hard-hitting lead song of Paisleys new album, Love and War, aboard the Midway aircraft carrier two weeks ago.

The museum gag order was lifted when the album was released last Friday. Two days later, it had attracted more than a million views.

Brad Paisley himself suggested the Midway be the backdrop for the video that condemns mistreatment of military vets, confirmed Vanessa Ruiz, a Midway Museum spokeswoman. It also included footage by the adjacent larger-than-life statue of a soldier and nurse kissing at the end of World War II as well as Embarcadero footage.

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Everything happened really fast. We got a call (in the) first part of April, did one walk-through with the photographer, shot the entire video on April 10,, and the video was released on Friday the 21st, Ruiz added.

When Paisley posted the video on Facebook, he called it, one of the most important things Ive ever said ...

Several museum volunteers and staffers were photographed. While there, Paisley and Fogerty met with docents Ev Southwick and Jack Ensch, both former Vietnam POWs. They also made a special recording for honorees at the Midways upcoming American Patriot Award Gala.

Paisley himself responded to the Midways tweet about the video, calling it a billion dollar backdrop video location.

Despite the Science Channel title of its new series, Mysteries of the Abandoned, that premiered April 20 with a segment on the Goat Canyon Trestle in southeastern San Diego County, the railway trestle is not truly abandoned. It is out of service, with major repairs needed. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / U-T)

For the record: Filming was a challenge, say producers of the Science Channels Mysteries of the Abandoned episode on Goat Canyon railway trestle in southeast San Diego County. It aired April 20.

The biggest problem was the harsh environment  the remoteness, the searing heat, no roads to speak of, filming at altitude and the constant threat of landslides, notes producer Henry Scott, of Like A Shot Productions, which worked with the Science Channel. Access involved a six-hour drive, followed by a two-hour hike with all our equipment.

Pacific Southwest Railway Museum folks escorted them for 17.5 miles in their service train engines, says Scott. Even on that rail journey, our trains had to stop and clear away fallen rocks from the tracks.  We were constantly worried that another slide could start at any moment.

Nevertheless, Richard Pennick, a volunteer with the Southwest Railway Museum in nearby Campo, wants to correct a few inaccuracies.

The trestle, which contains some nails and is actually 633 feet long with a 15-degree curve, may not be the largest wooden trestle in the world, as the Science Channel and others claim, Pennick says.

While that likely is true among all of Americas public common-carrier railroads, Pennick explains, the list does NOT include private industrial railroads such as logging railroads that often built immense wooden trestles.

Plus, contrary to the TV series title, the trestle isnt truly abandoned, he and other railway historians point out.

The trestle portion of the line is out of service because the current freight train contractor, Pacific Imperial Railroad, hasnt done the necessary restoration work.

Also, the trestle wasnt part of the railways original link to Arizona but, due to a rock slide and tunnel blockage, was constructed in 1932 as a more reliable pathway across the canyon.

Despite their filming hardships, the project was well worth it, Scott concludes, because they have captured one of Americas most amazing bridges on film should anything happen to it in the near future.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

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The suspected driver of an SUV filled with unauthorized immigrants appeared to crash his vehicle on purpose in Chula Vista while being pursued by a Border Patrol agent, a rollover that sent him and six others to the hospital, a passenger told authorities.

The claim is included in a complaint filed in San Diego federal court Tuesday that provides new details about the late Sunday chase and crash.

The suspected driver, Miguel Angel Tejada Loaiza, 21, is being charged with transportation of unauthorized immigrants. He has no prior criminal record, although he is a Mexican citizen without permission to be in the U.S., according to statements made by attorneys in court Tuesday.

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The incident began when a sensor went off in an area known as the Triple Nickel, about a mile east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry and 2 miles north of the Mexico border, according to the complaint. A Border Patrol agent went to check it out on his all-terrain vehicle about 11:42 p.m. and saw the lights of a dark Ford Expedition parked along Alta Road.

The vehicle, which had moved slowly, finally stopped, and the agent could hear yelling. While he couldnt hear what was being said, he assumed the driver was telling people to get inside. Other agents, using a night vision thermal scope and surveillance equipment, saw the SUV turn onto Otay Mesa Road.

Supervisory Agent Contreras, whose first name was not provided, was driving east on Otay Mesa and saw the Expedition coming west. He made a U-turn and started to follow it. The SUV started to speed up and drift toward the center median in an erratic manner, and about 11:45 p.m. Contreras tried to stop the vehicle with his emergency lights and siren, the complaint said.

The driver continued to make erratic moves, such as tapping his brakes as though he would stop but then making a hard right turn onto state Route 125 north, the complaint said. The agent radioed that the SUV was driving about 75 mph toward the toll booths. He requested a helicopter but one was not available.

Before the SUV reached Birch Road, the driver made a sharp right turn that kicked up a dust cloud, the complaint stated. The SUV crashed into the end of a guard rail and dropped down an embankment.

Contreras requested paramedics, and he and other arriving agents searched the ditch for victims. Two suspected unauthorized immigrants were found face up complaining of injuries, while others were leaning against the wreckage or standing nearby. A boy, whose age is unknown, was found by the SUV with cuts to his face and neck.

All were treated at various hospitals, including two who suffered major injuries, the California Highway Patrol said. The boy and another passenger remained hospitalized Tuesday.

Some of the passengers, who are being held as material witnesses in the case, admitted to being Mexican citizens in the country illegally. They told authorities they were going to pay from $1,000 to $5,000 to be smuggled into the United States. Two of the passengers identified Tejada as the driver and said he had told the group to get into the SUV.

One of the passengers said that when Tejada saw the Border Patrol agents lights behind him, Tejada deliberately sped up and purposely jerked the wheel of the vehicle to cause it to roll over, the complaint said.

A magistrate judge authorized Tejadas release from custody on a $30,000 bond.

Supervisory Agent Mark Endicott said there was nothing to suggest the pursuing agent violated policy during the chase.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis

UPDATES:

3:45 p.m.: This article was updated with details from Tuesdays federal court hearing on the case.

This article was originally published at 2:30 p.m.
Despite a low turnout from the public, there was energy and enthusiasm in the room Monday night as members of San Diegos Citizens Advisory Board on Police/Community Relations got to work.

A dozen appointed members met at the Skyline Hills Public Library for the first meeting of the newly revived board, the purpose of which is to review police policies and programs with an aim toward improving the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the people theyre sworn to protect.

Brian Pollard, the boards chairman, kicked things off by telling his fellow board members and a dozen or so people in the audience that he was excited to get started.

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I think its going to be a pretty active conversation, said Pollard, a human relations expert, as he explained some of the preliminary work that needed to be done. I want this board to be very transparent. I want this board to be effective. I want it to be equitable, he said.

He then invited City Council President Myrtle Cole to speak. Cole was instrumental in reviving the long-defunct advisory board, in light of the concerns expressed both locally and nationally about racial profiling in communities of color.

Trust me, trust me when I say Im excited, said Cole as she walked back and forth in front of the board members. Im glad that were doing this.

Cole, an African-American whose district includes Oak Park, Paradise Hills and Skyline, congratulated and thanked the board members  who were appointed in February  for volunteering their time to this effort.

My council colleagues and I will look to you for ideas on how to improve and strengthen police and community relations, she said. The community will also look to you to provide a safe place where they can share their ideas on how to improve the relationship between the community and the Police Department, as well as their concerns related to mistrust of our Police Department.

Cole said she wanted the board to look into the findings of a San Diego State University analysis of police traffic stop data that found some evidence of racial bias.

In the report released last year, the researchers concluded that although race and ethnicity arent significant factors in determining who police pull over, blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be searched and questioned in the field after being stopped.

Cole said she also wanted the board to look into concerns raised by the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union after the report was released. The ACLU had urged the city to accept the reports recommendations and change some of its policies regarding how people who get pulled over are asked to submit to searches or field interviews.

At Mondays meeting, Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman also expressed her thanks to the board members for volunteering and said she hopes the discussions will lead to better understanding.

There is nothing more important than having the trust of our community, she said. Public safety is a shared responsibility. We all have a role to play in it.

After the opening remarks, much of the discussion on Monday was procedural. The only real action taken was to create a subcommittee to review the bylaws and bring them back for approval at the next meeting.

When all of its seats have been filled, the advisory board is expected to have 15 members, each of whom will serve two-year terms. The board is distinct from another group, the Community Review Board on Police Practices, which evaluates complaints from residents and reviews officer-involved shootings.

Kate Yavenditti with the community group Women Occupying San Diego asked the new board members if they would clarify how their role will differ from the existing review board, which she believes should operate independent from city government.

I think that this is another P.R. thing, she said later, referring to the new board. It, again, is only advisory. Theres no guarantee as to what is going to happen to these recommendations.

The boards next meeting is May 22 at the Skyline library at 7900 Paradise Valley Road.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
Swimmers are still wading into the water at La Jolla Cove, despite a county health advisory warning of high bacteria levels at the popular beach.

Warning! Contact with this water may cause illness, signs posted at the cove stated. Bacteria levels exceed health standards.

The county issued the warning after tests showed high levels of enterococcus, a type of intestinal bacteria found in humans and animals that flags the potential presence of other harmful microbes, county spokesman Gig Conaughton said.

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The spike in bacteria isnt uncommon, but may be lasting longer than usual. The warning took effect April 21, and has continued for two weeks.

Historically, weve seen one or two water quality advisories at La Jolla Cove a year, which last a few days, he said.

Recent water quality analysis found as many as 831 live bacteria per 100 milliliters of water  about eight times the state health standard of 104, Conaughton said. Thirty-day averages also rose above the permitted level, he said.

The bacteria could come from sea lions that haul out on the beach, as well as from birds, human water contact and urban runoff. Rain is expected through Saturday and beach water quality often worsens after a storm.

The health advisory highlights the tension between humans and wildlife in the picturesque spot, where local business owners have complained for years that odor from sea lions and birds drives away customers. Efforts to scrub the cliffs with an enzyme solution to neutralize bird droppings, or open the bluffs to foot traffic to discourage sea lions, have been only partially successful.

We continue to have days when you can smell the effect of whats going on at the cove, now going on for four years, said Mark Dibella, managing director of the nearby La Valencia hotel. That has not been resolved.

Nonetheless, he said, he received no notice or complaints about the health advisory.

Were pretty attuned to the seal and sea lion odor problem, but we havent noticed anything affecting our business, Dibella said.

The warning also coincides with a court order to lift a seasonal closure of nearby Childrens Pool, a swimming area popular with people and harbor seals that has also been an ongoing source of controversy.

Still, the warning didnt appear to scare visitors from the Cove, which boasts a rich array of marine life and is popular for swimming, diving, snorkeling and sight-seeing.

At midday Thursday the area was bustling, as dozens of tourists and locals snapped photos next to the 50 or so sea lions that napped on the beach. Few braved the chilly weather to swim, but those who did said they either didnt know or didnt care about the health advisory.

Im aware of it, said Steve Dillard, 62, of La Jolla, who said he swims at the cove three to five days a week.

Youve got a whole ocean that washes in and out twice a day, he said, as he approached the water in a swimsuit and yellow swim cap for his customary hour-long dip. As long as Im not eating the sand, I think Im OK.

Jason Lucas, a former San Diego resident who now lives in Texas, said he would consider taking a dip if the weather were warmer.

I put my feet in, he admitted.

Two divers could be seen in the water in dive gear and wetsuits. The area between La Jolla Cove and nearby La Jolla Shores is contained within state marine protected areas, and harbors an extraordinary range of habitat and animals.

Dense kelp forests adjoin shallow boulder reefs in the cove, extending into sandy beaches, seagrass beds and a submarine canyon at La Jolla Shores, said Ed Parnell, a research oceanographer with Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

You have all the marine mammals that are hauling out, he said. Its a biological hotspot of activity there. And its beautiful too, for people who want to enjoy the kelp forest, and kayaking around. And the fact that its protected makes some of the species more abundant.

Bright orange garibaldi nest in the kelp forest of the cove, swimming alongside kelp bass, California sheephead, rock wrasse and giant seabass.

Ed Harris, a lifeguard sergeant for the area and San Diego mayoral candidate, said hes concerned about the health effects of high bacteria on lifeguards, who must work in the water even during health advisories, as well as the risk to the general public. He said the city of San Diego should clean the beach as it does at other locations, and find a way to filter the animal waste from the sand.

Its unfortunate, Harris said. Because certainly the water is polluted, and the sand is polluted. La Jolla Cove is a world-class swimming destination. But if we allow the feces to percolate through the sand, it leads to contamination.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com (750) 529-4941
Elmcroft of La Mesa, an assisted-living facility, has been put on probation for three years  but has avoided being shut down after regulators had threatened to do so.

The probation comes after the state put 48 assisted-living centers on probation and closed 46 for a range of infractions last year, according to Michael Weston, a spokesman for the California Department of Social Services. More of these disciplinary actions have occurred in 2017.

The agency licenses such facilities.

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Elmcroft of La Mesa came under scrutiny after a string of fights between its residents, who suffer from dementia. Those altercations occurred in 2015, including one that ended in the death of a 92-year-old woman who was found in her room with blood-filled contusions on her head. The injuries were apparently inflicted by her neighbor, a man found in an adjacent room naked and crawling on the floor yelling, Get the hell out.

The county medical examiner listed the womans death as a homicide.

State investigators later found, in a petition to revoke the facilitys operating license, that Elmcroft of La Mesas staffing levels were too low to ensure that residents with memory loss  who can be easily agitated by their mental condition  did not come into conflict with each other.

The hearing on whether Elmcroft of La Mesa would lose its operating license was originally scheduled for Aug. 29. Records show the session was delayed twice before an administrative law judge at the state Office of Administrative Hearings heard the case in mid-February.

Elmcroft Senior Living, the Kentucky-based company that operates 83 senior living communities in 18 states, agreed to a probation program that took effect in late March for its La Mesa location. The deal specifies that state inspectors can conduct unannounced compliance visits and that Elmcroft La Mesas staff would undergo two hours of additional training on dementia patients tendency to wander off.

The facility is required to verbally report any unusual incident on the first weekday after each occurrence, and in writing within seven days.

The probation agreement also calls for a qualified skilled professional to conduct behavioral reviews of all the facilitys residents and to record their specific locations once per hour. Security cameras are now required in outdoor courtyards, and recordings of outdoor activities must be kept safe and available to inspectors for three years.

Ed Ward, a divisional vice president for Elmcroft, said in a statement: We are pleased to have the support of (the) state in the resolution of this matter and look forward to continuing to serve our residents.

Last year, the San Diego County District Attorneys Office said it was investigating the death of the 92-year-old resident, Norma Desick.

In an update, the office said no charges were filed in the case. We do not discuss our charging decisions, except to say we can only file charges when we believe we can prove them beyond a reasonable doubt, said Tanya Sierra, a spokeswoman for the office.

Desicks family filed a civil lawsuit against Elmcroft La Mesa alleging negligence, wrongful death and breach of contract. Natalie Holm, the attorney who represented the family, said the case has been resolved but didnt elaborate.

Meanwhile, Holm and several other attorneys have represented other former residents of Elmcroft La Mesa in lawsuits against the facility, alleging various types of deficient care.

After looking at the probation agreement, Mary Ball, chief executive of the nonprofit group Alzheimers San Diego, said she felt a bit conflicted.

She noted that some of the its requirements, such as the mandates for more training and unannounced inspections, are positive but not necessarily punishment against Elmcroft La Mesa. Those policies will be required of all residential care facilities for the elderly starting on July 1, due to changes in state law.

Ball said in the end, its important to strike a balance between providing critically needed services for the elderly and making sure that people with Alzheimers disease or related dementias dont hurt each other when they become confused or frightened while living close together.

There is a great need out there for memory care facilities, but we need them to be good and high-quality. Im hopeful that meaningful changes have taken place at Elmcroft of La Mesa, but only time will tell. The accountability for the tragic incidents that happened at this facility really lies with the staff and the larger organization for not providing the necessary oversight, Ball said.

Facility inspection reports posted on the states enforcement web site indicate that Elmcroft of La Mesa had an incident on Feb. 7 where a caregiver put a hand over the mouth of a resident who was yelling while being bathed. The incident was reported by a fellow staffer who heard a muffling sound and the resident stopped yelling for a moment.

According to the report, the staffer who reportedly put his hand over the residents mouth was terminated from the facility.

People who want to check a state-licensed assisted living homes performance record can visit bit.ly/CAassistedliving. Select assisted living from the long list of facility types on the sites search page and then enter the desired facilitys name, address or license number.

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ATLANTA, April 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) will present at Oppenheimers 12th Annual Industrial Growth Conference. The presentation will take place Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 8:45 a.m. local time in New York.



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Former San Diego Mayor and Congressman Bob Filner has written a new book, Trumping Trump: Making Democrats Progressive Again.

On sale on Monday, the self-published paperback discusses Filners career in public service and politics, and what he still wanted to accomplish before he left public life in 2013. Filner resigned less than a year into his term as mayor after he was accused by several women of sexual harassment and making unwanted advances. He was sentenced to home detention and probation after pleading guilty to charges in connection with some of the acts.

A copy of the book was not immediately available Monday, and Filner declined an interview until a reporter could read the publication. Official reviews on Amazon.com say that the book talks about Filners personal problems as well as how progressives can make their values resonate with voters.

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Bob Filner is the first to acknowledge his fall, Shad Meshad, president of the National Veterans Foundation, wrote in a review. That said, what follows in these chapters is a look at his first-hand experience in how government on a local, really local, level can serve the people.

Carl Stein, another reviewer, wrote that Filners experience and the lessons drawn are all the more compelling given Dr. Bobs personal struggles and coming to terms with the disorienting effects of power. His willingness to frankly confront these issues stands as an important benchmark in the current political conversation.

The book, which is on sale on Amazon for $17.95, also appears to focus on how priorities are set in Congress, where Filner served for two decades, and was one of the organizers of the Progressive Caucus in the House of Representatives.

Although they continued to meet throughout his term in the House, it didnt take long to realize that legislative power is held securely in the hands of the party leadership, the books official summary says.

The possibility of radical changes in key issues that are important to progressives is bound up in an arcane process  hemmed in by rules and controlled by powerful congressmen who are heavily influenced by persuasive, well-financed special-interest groups,

Its Filners first published book, but he has also written the preface to Filipino World War II Soldiers: Americas Second-Class Veterans, a collection of pictures and stories. Filner had served as chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841
A report of a gunman on the roof of a National City condominium complex forced authorities to lock down a charter school and Southwestern College satellite campus Monday, police said.

No threats were discovered, and no one was arrested, police said.

Someone called police to report seeing a male with a gun on the roof of the Bayview Tower Condominiums on National City Boulevard about 1:20 p.m., National City police Sgt. Christopher Sullivan said.

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The complex is across from Southwestern Colleges Higher Education Center at National City and a block away from Integrity Charter School, where third- to eight-grade students attend.

Police placed both schools on lockdown as a precaution.

Officers, aided by a sheriffs helicopter, searched the condominium complex and surrounding areas, including parking structures and lots, Sullivan said. Police did not find a gunman and gave the all-clear shortly before 3 p.m.

The satellite campus cancelled classes for the remainder of the day, while students at the charter school were released to parents.

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Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
The remains of a Lemon Grove teen who has been missing for three years were found in January and, on Monday, sheriffs officials said she had been killed.

Kimberly Arteagas decomposed body was located on Jan. 13 by a man who was walking his dog in the Otay Valley Regional Park, which straddles Chula Vistas southern border with San Diego, officials said. The remains were near the Otay River bed, which runs through the park and is surrounded by thick brush.

Family members reported the teen missing on Jan. 7, 2014.

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The Medical Examiners Office was able to determine the 16-year-old had been a victim of homicide and that she was killed around the time she went missing, but no other details were released. Her autopsy has been sealed.

RELATED: Why some missing teens are at risk while others simply missing

Determining Kimberly was the victim took weeks, sheriffs Lt. Kenn Nelson said. DNA collected from the remains was submitted for analysis, and was ultimately matched to genetic material collected from family members and the teens belongings after she went missing.

Sheriffs officials were informed of her identity at the end of March, Nelson said.

The lieutenant said the public wasnt informed when Kimberly went missing because investigators believed she was a runaway and not at risk. He wouldnt say whether she had run away before her January 2014 disappearance.

Investigators believe the public may be able to help them catch Kimberlys killer.

Were asking anyone who has information about the case, no matter how trivial they think it might be, to contact us or Crime Stoppers, Nelson said.

Anyone who believes they have information about the death can call detectives at (858) 974-2321 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at (888) 580-8477. Tipsters may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Twitter: @LAWinkley

(619) 293-1546

lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com
Why have sightings of unidentified flying objects around the nation more than tripled since 2001? Why is July the busiest month for U.F.O. sightings? Why did they spike in Texas in 2008, or in New Mexico in September 2015?

These questions and many others emerge from the first comprehensive statistical summary of so-called close encounters: 121,036 eyewitness accounts, organized county by county in each state and the District of Columbia, from 2001 to 2015.

The unlikely compendium, U.F.O. Sightings Desk Reference, is the work of a couple in Syracuse, who crunched unruly data on U.F.O. reports collected by two volunteer organizations: the Mutual U.F.O. Network, or Mufon, and the National U.F.O. Reporting Center, or Nuforc.

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It is the reference U.F.O. researchers dreamed of having, Gordon G. Spear, emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at Sonoma State University in California, writes in the foreword.

The book contains no narrative or anecdotal accounts, just 371 pages of charts and graphs that slice and dice the geography and timing of the incidents and the various shapes that witnesses reported: flying circles, spheres, triangles, discs, ovals, cigars.

Many of the sightings turn out to be explainable, the authors say, but a small percentage defy resolution.

The authors are Cheryl Costa, 65, a former military technician and aerospace analyst, and her wife, Linda Miller Costa, 62, a librarian at Le Moyne College and a former librarian at the National Academy of Sciences, NASA and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Working on PCs amid sewing tables in the upstairs parlor  the warmest room in their hundred-year-old house  the two spent weekends for the last 16 months extrapolating figures from sightings reports and laying out the graphics.

Cheryl Costa was writing New York Skies, a U.F.O. blog for The Syracuse New Times, when the Costas decided to expand their tallies of U.F.O. sightings nationwide. We wanted to do our bit for disclosure, she said. Its something the government should have been doing.

The Costas realize some might find this a strange way to spend weekends. But both say they have spotted U.F.O.s themselves and want to detoxify the subject.

Were doing scientific research, Cheryl Costa said. Whats crazy is not being willing to look at research.

She came to the collaboration roundabout, having served as a cable lineman in the Air Force in Vietnam, and afterward in the Navys submarine service, as a man before undergoing gender-reassignment surgery in the 1980s. Ordained as a Buddhist nun, she was running a theater group in Maryland when she met Linda. They wed in 2011.

U.F.O. trackers welcomed their publication.

With this compendium, Cheryl and Linda Costa have reminded the public and the media the extraterrestrial phenomenon continues unabated, said Stephen Bassett, founder and executive director of the Paradigm Research Group, which lobbies for disclosure of official U.F.O. records.

Rebutting a common perception that U.F.O. sightings are on the wane, the Costas book shows that sightings have risen in waves, to 11,868 nationwide in 2015 from 3,479 in 2001. Only a small fraction of sightings are actually reported to Mufon or Nuforc.

Their labor of love is about the numbers, just the numbers, and the Costas refrain from speculating on what exactly is happening. We really dont know, Linda Costa said. But all these people are seeing these things.

The government officially quit the U.F.O. business in 1968, with the finding in the Condon report from the University of Colorado that there was nothing significant to investigate, although some 30 percent of the incidents were unexplained.

Mufons 500 volunteer investigators, however, continue to check out many of the sightings reported to the group. Roger Marsh, a Mufon spokesman, said that of the 270 cases his group investigated in Manhattan from 2002 through 2016, 44 eluded explanation and remained unknown.

One of the most intriguing occurred on the afternoon of Sept. 17, 2011, when a man on the roof terrace of the New Museum on the Bowery photographed a fast-moving diamond-shaped object with windows and flashing blue and red lights against the TriBeCa skyline.

According to Mufon, it resembled an unknown flying object photographed in Round Rock, Tex., two weeks earlier.

The Costas listed 426 sightings in New York County from 2001 to 2015, second in the states tallies only to Suffolk County, on the tip of Long Island, with 554. How so many sightings in the nations densest core and around its toniest beach resorts have escaped wider notoriety is just part of the mystery.

For the U.F.O. enthusiast, the pages of graphs and charts are a treasure trove of hard-to-find detail.

The District of Columbia, with 9,856 people per square mile, had the fewest sightings: 154. (A political snub from deep space?) Wyoming, with 5.8 people per square mile, had more than twice as many: 337.

Fireballs made up nearly 8 percent of the sightings in Indiana (230) and fewer than 5 percent in Colorado (157).

California, the most populous state, led the nation in U.F.O. reports (15,836, more than the next two states, Florida and Texas, combined). Los Angeles County alone had more sightings than 40 states, followed by Maricopa County, Ariz., which includes Phoenix.

Population fails to explain the figures conclusively, the Costas said. Washington State, with 6.7 million people according to the 2010 census, ranks No. 4 in sightings, ahead of Pennsylvania, with 12.7 million people, and New York State, with 19 million.

Rather, the Costas theorize, the figures may reflect good West Coast weather, which draws more people outside where they may spot U.F.O.s. Nationwide sightings peak in July, they found, and drop off between December and February.

Still, in Mississippi, U.F.O. reports spike in January and November; in New Mexico, in September.

The arduous breakdown by the nations more than 3,000 counties was notable for revealing clusters of sightings in remote regions, places where U.F.O.s are almost never mentioned. But every county in the United States appears to have seen at least one U.F.O.

In the end, the Costas noted, the spikes may have a lot to do with media coverage.

Blumenthal writes for The New York Times.
The California State Auditor issued a scathing report Tuesday on spending by the University of California Office of the President, concluding the office failed to disclose tens of millions of dollars in surplus funds and that its budget practices are misleading.

State auditors said university President Janet Napolitanos office did not tell regents, lawmakers or the public about $175 million held in reserve. They also said executive and administrative salaries are significantly higher than comparable state salaries.

The 177-page review also said university officials interfered with our audit process by improperly screening campus survey responses and by revising statements critical of the office to make them more positive.

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The rising cost of higher education in the state and nationwide places an important responsibility on public universities to make fiscally prudent decisions that best serve the financially burdened students and families who help to provide for their support, the audit said.

Nonetheless, over the past five years, the University of California Office of the President has made decisions that redirected funds away from the universitys fulfillment of its role as the states primary academic research institution and toward other priorities.

The audit focused on spending by the Office of the President, not the University of California system at large. The review included more than 40 separate recommendations to administrators, the Board of Regents and to state lawmakers.

The Office of the President and regents agreed with most of the recommendations and said they are planning changes to improve oversight and transparency within the office and university system.

But both the Board of Regents and President Janet Napolitano rejected the recommendation that state lawmakers directly appropriate funding for the presidents budget.

This is deeply troubling for many reasons, key among them the undermining of the constitutional autonomy of the university, Regents Monica Lozano and Charlene Zettel wrote in their response to the audit findings.

The regents also opposed a suggestion that a third-party entity be brought in to manage the corrective plan, stating that doing so would undermine the boards oversight.

In a statement to U-T Watchdog, the Office of the President said the uncommitted reserves were $38 million -- not $175 million  and roughly 10 percent of the offices operating and administrative budget..

The statement also said no one interfered with the audit. Instead, the office facilitated responses that had been broadly sent across multiple campuses.

As for higher-than-average salaries, the Office of the President said housing and other costs are higher across the San Francisco Bay area, although administrators plan to review compensation.

UCOPs budget and financial approaches reflect strategic, deliberate and transparent spending and investment in UC and state priorities, the statement said.

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jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald
In yet another grotesque use of social media, a Thai man used Facebook Live to broadcast the hanging death of his baby daughter before he took his own life.

Thailand authorities said Wuttisan Wongtalay, 21, tied a rope around the neck of his 11-month old daughter Natalie on Monday and then dropped her from the roof of a deserted hotel in Phuket.

According to those who saw the horrific video, the baby, who was clad in a bright pink dress, briefly cried before her father pulled her tiny body to the roof where she was seen crying one more time before she died.

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He then committed suicide by hanging himself, which was not broadcast.

The video stayed on his Facebook page for 24 hours until it was taken down. The babys mother became aware of the video  some reports say she watched it  and she contacted authorities who found the pairs lifeless bodies.

Thai police said the man had an argument with the mother of the child and accused her of cheating on him.

He was having paranoia about his wife leaving him and not loving him, police officer Jullaus Suvannin said to Reuters.

Facebook officials condemned the posting of the video which was seen by almost 400,000 people before it was removed from the site.

This is an appalling incident and our hearts go out to the family of the victim, a Facebook spokesman said. There is absolutely no place for content of this kind on Facebook and it has now been removed.

The incident comes on the heels of other crimes that been broadcast live on the social media giant.

On April 16, Cleveland resident Steve Stephens killed 74-year-old Robert Goodwin in cold blood as the elder man was walking down a street. The clip showed the terrified man raising a bag to cover his face as the barrel of the gun came into focus. Stephens later committed suicide as police closed in.

Thailand authorities said it was that case that may have influenced the fathers act.

It could be influenced by behavior from abroad, most recently in Cleveland, said deputy police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen.

Other murders, suicides, torture and gang rapes have all been broadcast live on the social media giant.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said last week that his company has a lot more to do in addressing the live broadcasts of crimes. We have a lot of work and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening, he said.

619-293-1710

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Great Britains vote to leave the European Union and the United States election of Donald Trump last year represented such blanket rejections of establishment conventional wisdom that many observers are seeing the results of Sundays first round of the French presidential election as a welcome return to normalcy in the Western world.

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Last week, it seemed possible that the outcome would be a May 7 runoff pitting far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon against Marine Le Pen of the hard-right, harshly anti-immigrant National Front. Instead, the runoff will pit Le Pen against heavily favored Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old former economic minister who finished first after running as a moderate who could hold France together.

But Macrons success isnt a reflection of satisfaction with French establishment politics. He ran as the leader of a brand new party and found success because, as a recent analysis in The New York Times noted, Frances two major parties, on the right and the left, are in self-inflicted ruin.

After decades of economic stagnation and heavy youth unemployment, and an increasingly fraught relationship between Muslim residents and French society, it is hardly surprising that French voters want to throw the bums out, The Economist observed. Both Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen tap into that frustration.

As noted by Christophe Guilluy  a French intellectual consulted by French leaders of all ideological stripes  France, like America and Britain, is roiled by economic inequality driven by globalization that has concentrated economic gains among a relative handful of people. The economic have-nots, meanwhile, resent elites and at times minorities as well. Macron, while rejecting the white nationalism and isolationism of Le Pen, presented himself as deeply sympathetic to the have-nots concerns.

Could his rapid rise offer a lesson for U.S. politics about the attractiveness of moderation in an era of polarization? Perhaps. America is now two decades into a poisonous media-driven cycle in which many conservatives and liberals grow ever more contemptuous of each other. On the right, the tea party movement has been as bent on discarding Republican moderates as it was in trying to undermine and belittle President Obama and other leading Democrats. On the left, especially since Trumps surprise election, there seems such an eagerness to war with the president that in the process his tens of millions of supporters still get dismissed as deplorables.

The result? Political parties which have little or no crossover appeal  and even turn off many of their own members. A weekend poll in The Washington Post found 62 percent of Americans  and 30 percent of Republicans  thought the Republican Party was out of touch with the concerns of most people. The same poll found 67 percent of Americans  and 44 percent of Democrats  thought the Democratic Party was similarly out of touch.

In less polarized times in 1992, a billionaire who ran as an independent can-do moderate (Ross Perot) got 19 percent of the presidential vote. In 2020, its not hard to imagine a wealthy Macron type, also running as an independent can-do moderate, getting twice that much support  and winning.

Many Americans are polarized. But others want to elect someone who can meet them in the middle.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
The Huffington Post has a new, shorter name  HuffPost  and a new [insert adjective here] website. Not everyone is a fan.

After naming former New York Times associate masthead editor and editorial director of NYT Global Lydia Polgreen as its new editor-in-chief last December, the online publication has undergone a radical makeover  switching up everything from its logo to its mission.

The publications overhaul was unveiled as Monday night turned into Tuesday morning and quickly caught the attention of readers and journalists alike. This is the HuffPosts biggest rebranding effort since former editor-in-chief and namesake Arianna Huffingtons departure last year.

Polgreen wrote in a letter that the new design reflects our bold promise to help readers know whats real and what really matters.

The new logo

First things first, lets talk about the new logo.

In an effort to merge HuffPosts past and post-Arianna future, head of product and designer of the logo, Julia Beizer said she opted to ditch the iconic green H for a post-modern slash or an abstract H.

Beizer said that the logo symbolizes the companys movement forward into the future, and subtly pays homage to our heritage as the first scaled digital-only news brand by evoking the forward slash found in URLs.

Of course, people on Twitter blindsided by HuffPosts rebranding were disoriented.

Beizer also wrote in a HuffPost article that the logo could be interpretive and that everyone sees something different, and we embrace all the possibilities.

Predictably, people used the logo against HuffPost  a move they probably anticipated ahead of time.

The new name

For years, people have engaged in a trivial, but nonetheless agonizing, debate about The Huffington Posts nickname: is it HuffPost? is it Huffpo? Is it HP?

The new name, HuffPost, puts a definitive end to the debate as the publication adopts it as its official moniker. The new truncated name also highlights how the publication will engage its audience.

Polgreen said, Sometimes its a good idea just to embrace the name that your audience has chosen. Its shorter, its snappier and gets us a more compact look.

People, most notably journalists, had a lot of feelings about Polgreens decision.

The new website

Huffposts new website format, aside from the new color scheme and logo, is not that radically different from its previous iteration. However, according to Polgreen, the new website is designed to highlight one of HuffPosts biggest strengths: their famous (or infamous) tabloid-inspired homepage splashes.

HuffPosts homepage splash headlines have long circulated Twitter in the form of memes. However, Beizer told Neiman Labs Shan Wang that they want to use their splash pages to further HuffPosts new voice.

The splash is really the best of our editorial voice. Its funny, immediate, bold, of the moment. In thinking about who we are, this is the best reflection of it from a product perspective.

HuffPost will start releasing splash cards for HuffPost stories for users to share and further extend the brand across social media. Polgreen said that she hopes these splash headline images will become meme-like artifacts.

She elaborated further:

Its not just heres what the news is, its heres the news with a dollop of humor, a dollop of outrage, a dollop of emotion. That feels so core to our storytelling, so we wanted to make that something that could travel with it anywhere.

Already, it seems HuffPosts splash pages are going to be an aggressive part of their product strategy.

Yet one graphic designer is bemoaning the lack of precision in the websites design.

The sites namesake, former editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington  who left her position last August after a reportedly rocky history at HuffPost  is excited to see the publications bold new approach.

Ariannas drive and wit still flow through HuffPost, chief executive, Jared Grusd told The Wall Street Journal. The new name is a real homage to her legacy, but it also sort of moves us forward. The site is almost 12 years old, and is bigger than just one person. Our identity now means a lot of things to a lot of people. So this is sort of us saying, Heres what we are doing in the new world order.

Do you think Huffposts new look is bold, bland  or more of the same?

Twitter: @anthonyberteaux
At a summit in Berlin Tuesday to discuss female entrepreneurship and empowerment, first daughter Ivanka Trump found herself defending her father as she faced tough questions about his attitudes toward women and questions about her role as a White House adviser.

Her remarks about paid family leave drew noticeable reactions after she said she was proud of her father, President Donald Trump , for being a tremendous champion of supporting families and enabling them to thrive.

Groans can be heard in this video, and other reports  from BuzzFeed News and The Huffington Post said the audience booed and hissed at her.

W20 Summit moderator Miriam Meckel, the editor in chief of the German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche, asked Trump to acknowledge the crowds negative feedback.

You hear the reaction from the audience, Meckel told Trump. I need to address one more point  some attitudes toward women your father has displayed might leave one questioning whether hes such an empowerer for women.

Trump said shes heard the criticism from the media  a reference to the media firestorm that followed his campaign when allegations of sexual misconduct and that infamous Access Hollywood hot mic video surfaced last year. But she pushed back on the premise of the question, saying that the many women who have worked with and for her father are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women.

In reaction to this response, Huffington Post politics reporter Elise Foley made the point that in defending her father, criticism about her is fair game.

The summit was Trumps first public appearance since being assigned to an official White House role. So it was inevitable that questions about her role would also surface.

The German audience is not that familiar with the concept of a first daughter, Meckel again turned to Trump. Id like to ask you, what is your role, and who are you representing, your father as president of the United States, the American people, or your business?

The New York Times reported that while she is working for her father, she has also grown her clothing and jewelry brand in other countries; China and Japan recently approved trademarks for her apparel brand.

Trump tip-toed around the question with this: Im rather unfamiliar with this role as well. ... It has been a little under 100 days, and it has just been a remarkable and incredible journey.

So what was the reaction outside the W20 summit? Criticism followed Ivanka Trumps remarks about her fathers attitude toward women and her evolving role in the White House. Here are some examples that captured the mood on Tuesday.

Others were less inclined to criticize Trump for failing to criticize her father, as CNNs Chris Cillizza put it in a post he shared on Twitter with the tagline In defense of Ivanka Trump.

In that post, Cillizza argued that Trump is not new to the criticism and that, like any other daughter in a close-knit family, its assured that she will defend him at whatever cost.

But to expect Ivanka Trump to publicly condemn her father or his record on women's issues is a bridge too far. It's impossible for us to know what Ivanka Trump does (or doesn't do) to influence her father's views behind the scenes, Cillizza wrote. And, because of that  and the fact that she is his daughter!  booing her for defending her dad is poor form.

Does Ivanka Trump deserve the criticism she receives for defending her father? Is she fair game for tough questions and criticism for her role as White House adviser? Tell me what you thought of her remarks and the conversation around this story.

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

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Sen. Ted Cruz may have just found a way to pay for Donald Trump s border wall.

On Tuesday, the Texas Republican introduced a bill that proposes to use $14 billion worth of assets that U.S. prosecutors are looking to seize from former Mexican drug cartel leader Joaquin El Chapo Guzman for the construction costs for the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

He tweeted about it several times in the day using his official Senate account and his personal one.

Under the bill  more precisely, the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order Act, or EL CHAPO Act  the money would come from criminal forfeiture of drug proceeds and illicit profits as a result of Guzmans prosecution in the U.S.

Sen. Cruzs proposal comes on the heels of a showdown between Democrats and Republicans over President Trumps warnings that he would allow the government to partly shut down Saturday if a bill that authorized federal spending didnt include some funds to begin construction of the border wall. Trump moved away from that idea but said he remained committed to the wall, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates the wall could cost some $21.6 billion. And Mexico has repeatedly said it would not pay for the wall, as Trump repeatedly claimed during his campaign.

Enter El Chapo.

Once Americas most wanted drug lord, Guzman had made a pair of escapes from Mexican prisons before he was recaptured. On Jan. 19, he was extradited to the U.S. where he is currently jailed at a federal facility in New York.

Guzman awaits prosecution for numerous charges related to drug manufacturing and trafficking, use of firearms, money laundering and running a criminal organization as head of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The size of Guzmans empire remains to be seen, but some reports have offered clues. In 2014, for example, Forbes reported that Mexican authorities seized a number of his possessions -- including 43 vehicles, 16 houses and four ranches.

Sen. Cruz appears certain that the government can seize $14 billion worth of Guzmans assets and put it to good use, but it remains unclear how much the U.S. government has seized from the drug kingpin or whether Mexico would allow the U.S. to sell the assets it seizes.

How does the idea of spending $14 billion worth of assets from a drug kingpin sound to the average American? Those who support the construction of a border wall  heck, even some who dont support the wall  applauded Sen. Cruzs idea on Twitter.

After the proposal came to light, Guzmans attorneys told the New York Daily News the captured drug lord has no assets.

"The government is seeking forfeiture of 14 billion dollars but has yet to demonstrate that Mr. Guzman has any assets at all," Guzmans attorneys told the Daily News. "Additionally, under the Constitution, the government has to prove that someone is guilty of a crime before it can take his property."

Good idea? Let me know what you think.

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

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SEPHORA inside JCPenney Stores Offer Same-Day Pick Up of Online Orders

Growth Spurs Expanded Assortment Online and the Hiring of Over 800 Beauty Consultants

PLANO, Texas - (April 25, 2017) - JCPenney [NYSE: JCP] and SEPHORA are making beauty accessible to even more customers across the country with the addition of 70 new SEPHORA inside JCPenney locations and 32 expansions beginning May 5. Introduced in 2006, SEPHORA inside JCPenney is an exclusive beauty destination offering a curated selection of leading makeup, fragrances, skin and haircare brands that will be available in nearly 650 JCPenney stores in 2017.

"Creating a best-in-class beauty experience in stores is one of our biggest advantages over the competition. Since establishing the first Sephora inside JCPenney over 10 years ago, beauty has become a formidable growth strategy that makes our brick and mortar stores a dynamic and inspiring place to shop," said Marvin R. Ellison, chairman and CEO of JCPenney. "We are also taking an omnichannel approach to shopping Sephora inside JCPenney by strengthening our technology and infrastructure to reach new beauty customers through JCPenney.com. We've launched the ability for customers to purchase Sephora online and pick up their order at a JCPenney store the same day. This is one example of how we're delivering on the customer's expectations for accessibility and convenience."

With new innovations inspiring constant demand for beauty, JCPenney has significantly expanded its SEPHORA offering to include a broader assortment of products, tools, shades, colors and fragrances available at JCPenney.com. And soon, JCPenney will also introduce a new online feature that will enable clients to book a comprehensive custom makeover with a SEPHORA beauty consultant.

SEPHORA inside JCPenney shops feature a unique open-sell environment encompassing up to 2,600 square feet of cosmetics, skincare, fragrance and beauty accessories. In addition to the 70 new locations opening over the next few months, 32 existing SEPHORA inside JCPenney shops will expand in size by nearly 50 percent to accommodate more products and client services, such as Benefit Brow Bars, which will be introduced to 25 new and existing SEPHORA inside JCPenney locations. A key component of the SEPHORA inside JCPenney experience are the beauty consultants who provide unbiased expert advice on color trends, skincare and grooming solutions. As part of the beauty expansion, the Company will hire an additional 800 consultants nationwide.

SEPHORA inside JCPenney features an expansive array of more than 50 brands including Origins, SEPHORA Collection, Kat Von D, Make Up For Ever, Nars, Urban Decay and Kate Somerville. Starting this spring, Clinique, one of America's leading cosmetic brands, as well as, Anastasia Beverly Hills, belif, Laura Mercier, Caudalie, Farmacy, Fresh and Tarte will expand to additional SEPHORA inside JCPenney locations. SEPHORA inside JCPenney also has new haircare brands such as Dry Bar, Living Proof and Bumble and bumble now available in stores. To discover which brands meet their needs, clients are encouraged to try and test product samples as specially trained beauty consultants provide recommendations.

"We are exceptionally proud of our SEPHORA inside JCPenney partnership. JCPenney is a powerhouse retailer, and we are excited to share the SEPHORA experience with even more JCPenney customers this year," said Satish Malhotra, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Sephora Americas. "As we celebrate 10 years together, we look forward to serving more markets that we have not yet reached, inspiring our new and existing clients to learn, play and get inspired by beauty."

JCPenney is one of the only retailers to offer a comprehensive beauty and fashion solution that addresses women's aspirations for a pulled together head-to-toe look. To encourage cross-promotion within the store, JCPenney salons and SEPHORA inside JCPenney will support a special "Love Mom" event planned for May 6, in participating stores. The dedicated Mother's Day event will provide complimentary skin and hair consultations, including Xpress Bar salon touch-ups.

For a complete list of SEPHORA inside JCPenney 2017 openings, expansions and images, please visit jcpnewsroom.com/SephorainsideJCPenney.

JCPenney Media Relations

972-431-3400 or jcpnews@jcp.com

@jcpnews

About JCPenney:

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), one of the nation's largest apparel and home furnishings retailers, is on a mission to ensure every customer's shopping experience is worth her time, money and effort. Whether shopping jcp.com or visiting one of over 1,000 store locations across the United States and Puerto Rico, she will discover a broad assortment of products from a leading portfolio of private, exclusive and national brands. Supporting this value proposition is the warrior spirit of over 100,000 JCPenney associates worldwide, who are focused on the Company's three strategic priorities of strengthening private brands, becoming a world-class omnichannel retailer and increasing revenue per customer. For additional information, please visit jcp.com.

About SEPHORA Americas

Bold, Boundless, addictive - SEPHORA. A revolutionary beauty retailer, SEPHORA has been changing the face of prestige cosmetics since its industry-shaking debut in 1970s Paris. SEPHORA was acquired by leading luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 1997 and launched its innovative concept stateside in 1998, where its dynamic, open-sell atmosphere evolved by merging the freedom of experimentation and product discovery with the expertise of personal consultants. Today, stores are home to a curated assortment of 200 world-class brands - including classics, cult favorites, emerging collections and SEPHORA's own private label, SEPHORA COLLECTION - and feature more than 14,000 unique products across makeup, skincare, perfume, haircare, body, professional tools, and more. Powered by SEPHORA University, SEPHORA is the beauty education hub, offering customized consultations at the Beauty Studio, a variety of complimentary classes and one-on-one service from Personal Beauty Advisors, along with exclusive retail technology including SKINCARE IQ, COLOR IQ and Scentsa, resulting in the most expansive educational services in beauty retail. With over 1,780 locations in 29 countries - including 370 in North America and 546 SEPHORA inside JCPenney locations - SEPHORA is an international force in beauty. Adding to its global retail network, SEPHORA's award-winning website, SEPHORA.com, and its every-growing presence on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, make it the world's premier digital beauty destination. SEPHORA's vibrant, interactive online community, Beauty Talk, amplifies the in-store experience by offering clients exclusive access to personalized beauty advice from SEPHORA's PRO Artistry Team and provides a platform for open dialogue with beauty aficionados from around the world. For the latest in beauty, please visit SEPHORA.com.

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EXCERPTS Portions of the recording released yesterday by the Federal Aviation Administration: FAA air traffic controller: Nature of emergency? Lt. Dan Neubauer: Yes, sir. One soul on board. I'm down to a single engine (and) possibly a problem with the other engine Controller: Straight into Runway 36 (at North Island)? Neubauer: I'm actually going to try to take it to Miramar, if possible. Controller: OK, just let me know what you want to do. Neubauer: Thank you. I'm coordinating with people on the ground to figure out what we're doing. Controller: Just let me know if you want to change to North Island. I'm going to keep you on a heading that will run you right by North Island and it's going to be a shortcut to Miramar. Neubauer: Roger. Military air traffic controller: (Neubauer) has crashed, actually. FAA supervisor: You're kidding me. Online: To hear a recording between the pilot and an air traffic controller, view a photo gallery and see video of yesterday's news conference at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, go to uniontrib.com/more/marinecrash

A military jet's deadly December crash in University City could have been averted if the pilot and ground crew had followed emergency rules for landing at North Island Naval Air Station, and if the plane had been removed from service when mechanics found a fuel problem, Marine officials said in strikingly candid remarks yesterday.

Lt. Dan Neubauer's decision to bypass North Island and head toward Miramar Marine Corps Air Station over populated areas has been criticized by many, including residents near the crash site.

The Dec. 8 crash killed a woman, her two young daughters and her mother.

Half an hour before the crash, Neubauer shut down one of the jet's two engines because of low oil pressure. (Editor's note: earlier version incorrectly said fuel wasn't flowing.) Marine officials defended the decision at first, saying no one could have expected the second engine to fail.

They reversed their stance yesterday.

Landing at North Island was the prudent and correct decision to make, said Col. John Rupp, operations officer for the Miramar-based 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Unfortunately, that decision was never made.

No criminal charges are pending, but four officers from the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101  the squadron commander, squadron operations officer, standardization officer and maintenance officer  were relieved of their duties in the past two weeks. The move basically ends their military careers.

That is all the senior leadership of the command. They're gone, said retired Navy Capt. Charles Nesby of Mira Mesa, a former aircraft-wing commander who flew 17 years out of Miramar.

Eight other Marines and one sailor have been reprimanded.

Marine officials have grounded Neubauer while they review his flight status. The pilot, new to the F/A-18D Hornet, was practicing his first rounds of takeoffs and landings on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln on the day of the crash.

Aviation tradition assigns full responsibility for safe operation of an aircraft to the pilot. But Maj. Gen. Randolph Alles, assistant wing commander for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, attributed the crash to supervisory error and a chain of wrong decisions.

The F/A-18D suffered engine trouble shortly after Neubauer's 11:11 a.m. takeoff from the carrier about 60 miles southwest of San Diego. He was told to open his safety checklist but didn't do so, Rupp said, and instead relied on guidance from Marines at Miramar who had incomplete knowledge of his situation.

Steve Diamond, a former naval aviator who witnessed the crash and spoke with Neubauer moments after the crash, was stunned to learn that the pilot  as well as his superiors  had neglected to use the checklist.

Checklists are the most essential things, Diamond said. It's almost like a doctor going into surgery and forgetting to wash. It's that basic.

Even though Neubauer shut down his right engine about 17 minutes into the flight, the fuel transfer problem persisted and activated a low-fuel warning light.

A civilian air traffic controller offered to direct Neubauer's jet  with the call sign SHUTR25  toward Runway 36 at North Island, according to an audio recording released yesterday by the Federal Aviation Administration. That approach would have kept the aircraft over water until it touched down.

I'm actually going to try to make it to Miramar if possible, Neubauer replied as he flew at an altitude of about 13,000 feet nearly 20 miles south of North Island.

By 11:49, Neubauer again turned down the civilian controller's suggestions to land at North Island.

About two minutes later, Neubauer asked the controller to route him toward Miramar's Runway 6, an approach over La Jolla and University City that is rarely used.

Because his right engine had been shut off, he made a 270-degree turn to the left instead of a shorter turn to the right. That maneuver wasted precious time and fuel, Rupp said.

The controller asked whether the pilot would need emergency-response units at the airfield.

Affirm, Neubauer replied.

In his last transmission, Neubauer told the controller that he had the Miramar runway in sight.

He emerged from the cloud cover, Rupp said, and moments later slowed to landing speed. At 11:57, Neubauer radioed that he had lost his second engine, which flamed out because fuel was still not flowing correctly.

At less than 1,000 feet and nearly three miles short of the runway, the jet's electrical systems died.

Rupp said Neubauer tried to aim the faltering jet toward a canyon. The pilot ejected 17 seconds later near the Genesee Avenue and Governor Drive.

He stayed with the aircraft until the last possible moment, Rupp said.

The jet clipped a tree and plunged into Cather Avenue near Huggins Street west of Interstate 805. Nose down, its wheels and left wing hit the ground first at 11:58 a.m. The Hornet plowed through two homes and damaged three others.

A few minutes later, a military air traffic controller at the Miramar tower contacted the FAA traffic-control supervisor, who also is at Miramar.

SHUTR25 has crashed, actually, the military controller said.

You're kidding me, the FAA supervisor responded.

The post-crash investigations showed that mechanics had noted the jet's faulty fuel system in July. But Marine pilots flew 146 more sorties  166 flight hours  without repairs being made, Rupp said. Neubauer and those in his squadron knew of the problem when he climbed into the cockpit.

Rupp said ambiguous maintenance requirements allowed the squadron to keep using the plane without fixing it. The practice is no longer tolerated.

After the crash, the Marine Corps issued a fleetwide hazard report about the potential fuel problem. Forty F/A-18s, including some in Iraq, were grounded after being identified as needing a closer look.

The Marine Corps has paid 11 families affected by the crash a total of $147,000, and it's working with those households on further claims, said Joe Kasper, spokesman for Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Lakeside. Kasper attended a Marine Corps briefing yesterday morning with Hunter and other lawmakers.

It is of great concern that I learned the outcome of the report, said Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego. Not only could this tragedy have been avoided had proper procedures been followed, but this plane should not have even been in use.

The four crash victims  Youngmi Lee, 36, a nurse; her daughters Grace, 15 months, and Rachel, 2 months; and her mother, Seokim Kim, 60  were part of a family of Korean immigrants.

The plight of grocer Don Yoon, Lee's husband, touched many people in San Diego and elsewhere. Yoon publicly forgave Neubauer during a news conference the day after the tragedy.

I don't have any hard feelings, Yoon said at the time. I know he did everything he could.

Yesterday, Yoon's family members referred inquiries to their attorney, Raymond Feldman in Santa Monica.

Feldman said the victims' family was briefed on the findings. The Yoon and Lee families appreciate the candor and sensitivity shown to them as they continue to mourn for their loved ones, Feldman said in a statement.

Tina Neubauer of Yorba Linda, the pilot's mother, sounded close to tears when asked how her son was coping in the aftermath of the crash.

This is a tough time, she said.

Residents were startled that the Marine Corps readily took responsibility for the crash.

The Marines aren't trying to hide from it or duck it. They took it on the chin, said Bob Johnson, who lived behind the Yoons and barely escaped the crash with his wife, daughter and 2-year-old grandson.

Ron Belanger, a retired Navy transport pilot who lives less than a block from the crash site, said he was surprised to learn the safety violations were more serious than the Marine Corps first revealed.

Belanger and other neighbors formed a group called Citizens Advocating Safe Aviation to push the Marines into investigating thoroughly and limiting future flights over University City. He, too, was impressed by the Marines' honesty.

After the general's briefing today, he said, I think we're out of business.

Staff writer Tony Manolatos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Apple co-founder Steve Jobs became renowned for conjuring a reality distortion field that made people believe whatever he wanted.

If he were still around, its easy to imagine that Jobs would be summoning all his powers of persuasion to protect a legacy thats getting muddied with each cinematic take on his fascinating life.

Steve Jobs, which opened Friday, is the latest movie to examine a charismatic visionary who mesmerized the masses with his trendsetting gadgets while alienating his subordinates and friends with an almost-inhumane cruel streak.

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Its the second movie about a Silicon Valley icon written by Aaron Sorkin, who won an Academy Award in 2011 for The Social Network, a dramatization of the friends and enemies that Mark Zuckerberg made while building Facebook into an Internet power.

Zuckerberg, now 31, ridiculed that movie as mostly fiction and publicly lamented, I just wished that nobody made a movie of me while I was still alive.

Jobs supporters probably wont be happy with Sorkins posthumous interpretation of Jobs either, even though previously released movies have drawn similar portraits depicting him as an acid-dropping hippie turned megalomaniacal genius who berated and betrayed people.

Heres a look at how the latest biopic compares with some of its predecessors:

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STEVE JOBS (2015)

This is the most provocative and best acted of the bunch, spearheaded by Michael Fassbender, who stars as Jobs. The story unfolds in a much different format, but the overriding message is the same: Jobs was a tortured soul who tortured those around him while striving to design machines that were made better than he was.

The film, based loosely on a best-selling book by Jobs hand-picked biographer Walter Isaacson, unfolds in three acts that take place before three presentations orchestrated by Jobs: the 1984 debut of the Macintosh computer; a 1988 showcase for the NeXT computer; and the 1998 unveiling of the iMac.

None of the pre-event scenes or dialogue actually occurred, but the drama is designed to capture the relentless drive and haunting demons that made Jobs who he was. Director Danny Boyle describes the movie as a heightened version of real life while Sorkin calls it a painting and not a photograph.

The story is told through Jobs interactions with six central figures in his life: his former marketing chief, Joanna Hoffman; his former girlfriend Chrisann Brennan; Apple co-founder and friend Steve Wozniak; former Apple engineer Andy Hertzfeld; former Apple CEO John Sculley; and Lisa, the daughter that Jobs refused to acknowledge for many years.

Wozniak (played by Seth Rogen) delivers two of the films pivotal lines when he tells Jobs, Your products are better than you are, and You can be decent and gifted at the same time.

___

JOBS (2013)

Ashton Kutcher didnt get an Oscar nomination for his interpretation of Jobs like some critics are already predicting Fassbender will get, but give Kutcher credit for nailing a lot of the real mans mannerisms, including the loping way he walked.

The movie picks up on Jobs life as a bare-foot, shaggy dropout at Reed College in Oregon and follows the path that led to him teaming up with Wozniak to start Apple in 1976, recruiting Sculley to become CEO, leaving Apple in a power struggle, and returning to engineer the greatest comeback story in corporate history.

Along the way, the movie features scenes showing Jobs ripping off Wozniak on a job for video-game maker Atari; denying stock to early Apple employees who were once his friends; and berating Apple workers.

Shortly before Sculley ousts Jobs from Apple, a tearful Wozniak (played by Josh Gad) wonders what happened to the friend he knew when they were making illegal boxes to make free long-distance phone calls. You are the beginning and end of your own world, Wozniak tells Jobs.

This movie ends on an upbeat note, with Kutcher, as Jobs, narrating Heres To the Crazy Ones, a famous TV commercial that ran as part of Apples Think Different campaign. (Although Jobs did record a version of this bit, Apple wound up airing a version narrated by actor Richard Dreyfuss.)

___

STEVE JOBS: MAN IN THE MACHINE (2015)

This documentary from another Academy Award winner, Alex Gibney, leaves viewers with an appreciation for Jobs achievements and a disdain for his often boorish behavior.

Its a particularly damning portrait because its told through clips of Jobs himself and interviews with some of the people who knew him best. The list of participants includes: Brennan, Lisas mother, and Daniel Kottke, who befriended Jobs at Reed College and became one of Apples early employees only to be denied stock when the company went public.

What the movie lacks is the perspective of Jobs admirers, including Apple executives who still lionize him. Among that group is Eddy Cue, the companys senior vice president of Internet software and services, who blasted the film in a March tweet as an inaccurate and mean-spirited view of my friend.

___

PIRATES OF SILICON VALLEY (1999)

This made-for-TV movie came out before Jobs transformed Apple and society with the release the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Jobs, played by Noah Wyle, shares top billing with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in this movie, based on the book Fire In The Valley. It covers Jobs staunch refusal to recognize Lisa as his daughter and his caustic attitude toward people.

Although the movie depicts Jobs as the hipper of the two men, the more nerdy Gates ends up outmaneuvering his rival to get the technology that became Windows and helped turn Microsoft into the worlds most valuable company at one point. The movie closes with Gates looking down at Jobs from a giant video screen during a 1997 conference announcing that Microsoft had invested $150 million in Apple at a time it nearly declared bankruptcy.

If that is how the story had really ended, there probably would have never been another movie made about Jobs.
CAIRO (AP)  Arab officials gathered in a tent in the Mauritanian capital Monday, in the most poorly attended Arab League summit in years, a sign of the regions disarray.

Just a handful of leaders from the Arab Leagues 22 member states turned up, pointing to the pan-Arab organizations struggles under the strain of various regional crises  including the conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya.

Past initiatives  such as last years plans for a joint Arab military force to fight Islamic militancy and confront Irans aspirations  have failed to gather steam. This year, an Egyptian attempt to encourage the region to push for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks has garnered little attention  even Egypts president, Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, decided to forgo the summit.

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Among the influential leaders who were also absent were: Saudi King Salman and his powerful son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Jordans King Abdullah II, the leaders of Tunisia, Algeria and Tunisia and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

A spat broke out between Lebanon and Mauritania after one Lebanese minister described the host country as miserable.

They dont have the infrastructure and its miserable, Lebanese Health Minister Wael Abu Faour told a local TV station.

The summit will be held inside a tent, he added, apparently comparing it to previous summits that were held in five-star hotels or luxury conference centers.

In response to his remarks, Lebanese officials were attacked by journalists and on social media.

Prominent Palestinian journalist Abdul-Bari Atwan criticized Lebanese politicians in a column he wrote in his online Rai Al-Youm newspaper. We dont understand the arrogance by leaders who claim they are Arabs, toward a country like Mauritania whose only guilt is that it is a poor country that does not have oil or gold, Atwan wrote.

Those who did attend included Qatari Emir Tamim Al-Thani, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Chaired by Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, the opening session suggested few new ideas or proposals, bar a contribution from the Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam who proposed the establishment of safe refugee zones, which would be supervised by an Arab commission, inside Syria.

Lebanon is home to some 1.2 million registered Syrian refugees, making up nearly a quarter of the countrys population.

A draft of the summit final communique, obtained by The Associated Press, welcomed the Egyptian efforts to renew Israeli-Palestinian talks and support a French peace initiative, hoping that it would lead to an international conference by year end. Few further details were given on the talks.

Last year, Arab League delegates touted a plan to create a joint Arab military force against Islamic militants and spreading Iranian power. Since then, these plans appeared to have stalled over divisions among Arab states and conflicts of interests.

As a pilot, the Saudis spearheaded a coalition of seven Arab countries against Yemens Shiite rebels, who had seized the capital and forced the internationally-recognized president to flee the country. A year on, the Saudi-led coalition has failed to dislodge the rebels from the capital or restore the former president, and the Arab worlds poorest nation has been pushed into lawlessness.

Taking note of the large number of absentees, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari addressed the attendees by saying all eyes are on you.

We need Arabs to line up, he added.

___

Associated Press Writer Bassem Mroue from Beirut contributed to this report.
MARKHAM, Ontario, April 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During the summer of 2016, Dr. Cliff and his team traveled to Jamaica and worked with local animal rescue groups and wildlife conservation organizations. Follow along in the adventures that ensue and be prepared to laugh and cry and be educated and fascinated by the emergency medical cases and animal biology stories. You will come to the realization that as different as people may be, deep down inside we all share the same fascination and love for the creatures we share the world with.



A video accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4c1dc279-5512-4f32-9d76-d1db7122d0ee

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6a28e1b0-f369-488a-b319-62d11690a49f

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/905a1d11-0bb9-4836-af7a-feea9938fc05

Dr. Cliff Worldwide Vet is a Canadian produced and directed reality documentary series that will show viewers the real world of veterinary medicine and wildlife conservation.

Episodes include:

The hatching of 99 hawksbill sea turtles

A little puppy named Wendy desperately clinging to life after being attacked.

Investigating the cause of death of thousands of endangered bats

Performing surgery on an American alligator after it was brutally shot

Showcasing the Jamaican Iguana conservation program as it fights to keep this once thought extinct reptile from disappearing forever

Readers can watch episodes by visiting and subscribing to the following YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZbG8_alfOA-t6Qedv31t4A

We were all quite overwhelmed by the need for emergency veterinary services and the challenges we faced while in Jamaica. Viewers will witness a few heart wrenching stories but also many stories of incredible compassion towards companion and wild animals alike  Dr. Cliff

Compared to other reality shows, our web series focuses on the truth as we werent afraid to give the viewer the chance to witness the challenges and the successes, the good and the bad... Dr. Cliff

Dr. Cliff has been a veterinarian of 19 years, is a judo black belt and is a proud vegetarian.

He has been seen on shows such as Animal Housecalls (CP24) and Daytime York Region (Rogers TV). He has hosted his own live call-in television show titled Your Pet Your Vet as well as a web based live video and radio show called PetTalk 360. He has interviewed celebrities such as Georges Laraque, Bob Barker, and the dog whisperer Cesar Milan.
English Dutch French

Bone Therapeutics announces the publication of its Annual Report 2016

Gosselies, Belgium, 25 April 2017, 7am CEST - BONE THERAPEUTICS (Euronext Brussels and Paris: BOTHE), the bone cell therapy company addressing high unmet medical needs in orthopaedics and bone diseases, today announces the publication of its Annual Report 2016.

The Annual Report can be downloaded on the website of the Company under the section Financial Information.

About Bone Therapeutics

Bone Therapeutics is a leading cell therapy company addressing high unmet needs in orthopaedics and bone diseases. Based in Gosselies, Belgium, the Company has a broad, diversified portfolio of bone cell therapy products in clinical development across a number of disease areas targeting markets with large unmet medical needs and limited innovation.

Our technology is based on a unique, proprietary approach to bone regeneration which turns undifferentiated stem cells into "osteoblastic", or bone-forming cells. These cells can be administered via a minimally invasive procedure, avoiding the need for invasive surgery.

Our primary clinical focus is ALLOB, an allogeneic "off-the-shelf" cell therapy product derived from stem cells of healthy donors, which is in Phase II studies for the treatment of delayed-union fractures and spinal fusion. The Company also has an autologous bone cell therapy product, PREOB, obtained from patient's own bone marrow and currently in Phase III development for osteonecrosis and non-union fractures.

Bone Therapeutics' cell therapy products are manufactured to the highest GMP standards and are protected by a rich IP estate covering 9 patent families. Further information is available at: www.bonetherapeutics.com.

Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Company or, as appropriate, the Company directors' current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person's officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

Contacts

Bone Therapeutics SA

Thomas Lienard, Chief Executive Officer

Wim Goemaere, Chief Financial Officer

Tel: +32 (0)2 529 59 90

investorrelations@bonetherapeutics.com

or

For Belgium and International Media Enquiries:

Consilium Strategic Communications

Amber Fennell, Jessica Hodgson and Hendrik Thys

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5701

bonetherapeutics@consilium-comms.com

or

For French Media and Investor Enquiries:

NewCap Investor Relations & Financial Communications

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Sarasota, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/25/2017 -- Zion Market Research, the market research group announced the analysis report titled "Free Space Optics (FSO) and Visible Light Communication (VLC) Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts 20162024"



Global Free Space Optics (FSO) and Visible Light Communication (VLC) Market: Overview



Free-space optical communication is a communication technology that utilizes the traveling light in the free space such as air, outer space, and vacuum for the communication purpose. This technology is very helpful in situations where the physical connection of optical fiber cable is unreasonable owing to factors such as high costs. While, the visible light communication is a division of optical wireless communications technology, which utilizes the light that is visible between the ranges of 400 to 800 THz in order to send the signals from 1-2 km.



Global Free Space Optics (FSO) and Visible Light Communication (VLC) Market: Segmentation



The fiber space optics market is segmented into its application. On the basis of application, the market is segregated into enterprise connectivity, defense, healthcare, engineering and design, mobile backhaul, disaster recovery, satellite, security, and others. The visible light communication market is globally segmented into its component and transmission type. On the basis of a component, the market is categorized into the photodetector, software, LED, and microcontroller. Depending on the transmission type, the market is divided into bidirectional and unidirectional. The fiber space optics and visible light communication market are diversified into regions such as North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World.



Request Free Sample Report @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/free-space-optics-visible-light-communication-market



Global Free Space Optics (FSO) and Visible Light Communication (VLC) Market: Growth Factors



In the past few years, the demand for faster and secure mediums for transferring the data has increased. This is the key factor that drives the free space optics and visible light communication market. Moreover, the introduction of the communication that is two-way expects to increase the adoption of VLC software owing to its control in numerous applications at a time and allowing to be connected with tablets, mobile phones, and other electronic products. Both these technologies are cleaner and greener, consumes minimum energy, and there is no limitation for the bandwidth or RF spectrum bandwidth crunch. Some other factors that favor the market growth are the assurance of secure and faster transfer of data via visible light communication and free licensing of free space optics is expected to trigger the demand of the market. Factors such as degradation of the signal owing to the interferences from the environment and the high cost of installation hamper the market growth.



Global Free Space Optics (FSO) and Visible Light Communication (VLC) Market: Regional Analysis



North America dominates the market owing to factors such as heavy investments that are made to build a strong telecom infrastructure and the revenue contribution from the developed economies of Canada and the US. Asia Pacific market will expand at a significant rate, owing to large population base and the speedy urbanization in the emerging countries such as South Korea, India, China, and Japan. The rise in the number of manufacturing outlets and the development of the computer-aided design (CAD) industry contribute to the market growth in the Asia-Pacific region.



Global Free Space Optics (FSO) and Visible Light Communication (VLC) Market: Competitive Players



Some of the key market players that are involved in the free space optics include Trimble Hungary Kft, LightPointe Communications, Inc., Wireless Excellence Ltd., fSONA Networks Corp., and Plaintree Systems Inc. The major market players in the visible light communication market include Panasonic Corp., LVX System, General Electric Co., Oledcomm, Koninklijke Philips N.V., and IBSENtelecom.



Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/free-space-optics-visible-light-communication-market



Global Free Space Optics (FSO) and Visible Light Communication (VLC) Market: Regional Segment Analysis



North America

U.S.

Europe

UK

France

Germany

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

Latin America

Brazil

The Middle East and Africa



What Reports Provides



Full in-depth analysis of the parent market

Important changes in market dynamics

Segmentation details of the market

Former, on-going, and projected market analysis in terms of volume and value

Assessment of niche industry developments

Market share analysis

Key strategies of major players

Emerging segments and regional markets

Testimonials to companies in order to fortify their foothold in the market.



Browse detail report @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/free-space-optics-visible-light-communication-market
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/25/2017 -- Rising urbanization has catapulted the use of coal-fired power generation. Quarrying activities from all corners of the world are also resuming at a steady pace. Technological advancements are facilitating the resurgence of global mining industry. Factors such as these and many more are instrumenting the growth in global demand for industrial explosives. A recent report published by Persistence Market Research estimates that in 2016, more than US$ 9 billion worth of industrial explosives were sold in the world. In the course of next eight years, the global market for industrial explosives is anticipated to grow steadily at 5.6% CAGR and reach US$ 14.58 billion value.



Sample of this report is available upon request @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4319



In the report, titled "Industrial Explosives Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2016-2024," Persistence Market Research predicts that more than 23 million metric tons of industrial explosives will be used up globally by the end of 2024. Key findings on the global industrial explosives market indicate that environment protection agencies and bodies will strongly coerce the production of industrial explosives. Manufacturers of industrial explosives will be compelled to bring forth advancements in their offerings, particularly towards reducing volumes of explosives used in large-scale explosions and lowering the environmental impact that follows.



Surging Preference to Blasting Agents



With respect to the type of industrial explosives, the report clearly indicates an outright preference to blasting agents. Industrial verticals, where use of explosives is an integral part of production activities, are favoring the use of blasting agents. As opposed to high explosives, more than 22 million metric tons of blasting agents are forecasted to be sold by 2024. In due course of the projected period, global demand for high explosives will see a negligible dip. Nearly 95% of global industrial explosive revenues will be accounted by sales of blasting agents across various industrial sectors.



Construction  Largest End-User of Industrial Explosives



The global building & construction industry needs blasting agents and explosives for creating subterranean pits, upon which edifices are erected. While mining remains to be one of the recognizable end-use of industrial explosives, revenues contributed by construction industries will be soaring at the highest CAGR of 6%. The report estimates that in 2016, more than US$ 1 billion of industrial explosives were consumed by construction activities. In terms of volume, metal mining and non-metal mining will collectively consume over 17 million metric tons of industrial explosive by the end of 2024. Stringent restriction for environmental laws, however, will inhibit the use of industrial explosives by quarrying industries.



Higher Sales of Industrial Explosives in Asia-Pacific



In 2017 and beyond, revenues emanating from sales of industrial explosives across Asia-Pacific countries will be accounting for more than 40% of global revenues. Australian companies  Orica Limited and Dyno Nobel Pty Limited (Incitec Pivot Limited)  are two of the largest producers of industrial explosives in the world. By accounting for nearly 40% share of global revenues, these two companies continue to funnel billions into Asia-Pacific's industrial explosives market. Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group Company Limited, Ideal Industrial Explosives Ltd., and NOF Corporation are other key industrial explosive manufacturers based in this region.



Request to view Table of Content @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/industrial-explosives-market/toc



North America's industrial explosives is likely to lose traction over the course of forecast period, and will be valued at US$ 3 billion by 2024-end. US-based Autsin Power Holdings Company continues to contribute to global market revenues by offering accessories for carrying out industrial explosions in quarrying and mining.



To Buy Full Report for a Single User @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/4319



Meanwhile, Latin America's industrial explosives market will soar at the highest value CAGR of 6.5%. Chile-based Enaex SA is recognized as a prominent producer of industrial explosives, initiation systems, and blowing agents. Based in Peru, Exsa SA has gained global recognition for providing bulk emulsions, dynamites and cartridge emulsions to industries. Other key players in the global industrial explosives market include, Irish Industrial Explosives Limited, Eurenco, and MAXAMCORP HOLDINGS SL.



About Persistence Market Research

Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients' business needs.



PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients' business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMR's engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.
Mesa, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/25/2017 -- Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc. has been helping bereaved parents since 1977. Share is dedicated to supporting parents and families throughout the United States, as well as internationally. Share Parents of Utah was established in 1983 and supports the Salt Lake area. We understand. We care. We can help. Many parents find that it helps to talk with another parent who has experienced the loss of a baby  someone who can listen, understand, and be able to identify with some of their feelings. Just knowing that your experience is valid and that you are not alone can be very beneficial in working through your grief. Anyone who has lost a baby to miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, newborn death, and SIDS is welcome to attend a Support Meeting, as well as any support people you would like to have attend.



Contact: Share Parents of Utah

Melannie Green, President

(801) 272-5355

Email: info@shareparentsofutah.org



Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc. understands. Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc. care's. They can help. Many parents find that it helps to talk with another parent who has experienced the loss of a baby  someone who can listen, understand, and be able to identify with some of their feelings. Talking with others who have suffered a pregnancy loss is very helpful. Anyone who has lost a baby through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, or newborn-death is welcome to call Share Parents of Utah and/or attend support group meetings. Just knowing that ones experience is valid and that they are not alone can be very beneficial in working through grief.



http://www.shareparentsofutah.org/p/about-us.html



Mesa, Arizona Reason #56 Why Donating to the International "Share Parents of Utah" Charity (http://www.Share-Parents-of-Utah.com) is Needed and Welcomed



Due to the nature of topics discussed, Share Parents request that only adults attend the meetings. If one is not certain they are ready to attend a meeting, please contact Share Parents of Utah or get on their mailing list to be reminded about upcoming meetings. Join Share Parents of Utah at their monthly support group meetings and connect with other parents who have suffered a similar loss.



Find Share Parents of Utah on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/303840128023/



Share Parents of Utah's mission is to serve those touched by the death of a baby through pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or in the first few months of life. Their purpose is to provide support toward healing at the time of or following the death of a baby. Share Parents of Utah provide's education and resources on the needs and rights of bereaved parents and siblings. They strive to set a standard of perinatal bereavement care through a lifetime of support, hope and healing-one family at a time.



http://www.kutv.com/fresh-living/features/main/stories/Tips-for-Grieving-Parents-42412.shtml#.VCSOcxZDVA4



About Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc.

Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc. has been helping bereaved parents since 1977. Share is dedicated to supporting parents and families throughout the United States, as well as internationally. Share Parents of Utah was established in 1983 and supports the Salt Lake area.
North Salt Lake, UT -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/25/2017 -- Stephen Hopkins was from Hampshire, England. He married his first wife, Mary, and resided in the parish of Hursley, Hampshire. They had three (3) children: Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles; all baptized there. It has long been claimed that the Hopkins family was from Wortley, Gloucester, but this was disproven in 1998 with the discovery of his true origins in Hursley.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/hopkins-stephen/



Stephen Hopkins went with the ship Sea Venture on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609 as a minister's clerk, but the ship wrecked in the "Isle of Devils" (Bermuda). Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. Six months into the castaway, Stephen Hopkins and several others organized a mutiny against the current governor. The mutiny was discovered and Stephen was sentenced to death. However, he pleaded with sorrow and tears. "So penitent he was, and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his wife and children in this his trespass, as it wrought in the hearts of all the better sorts of the company." He managed to get his sentence commuted. Eventually the castaways built a small ship and sailed themselves to Jamestown. How long Stephen remained in Jamestown is not known. However, while he was gone, his wife Mary died. She was buried in Hursley on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles.



Stephen was back in England by 1617, when he married Elizabeth Fisher, but apparently had every intention of bringing his family back to Virginia. Their first child, Damaris, was born about 1618. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins brought his wife and children Constance, Giles, and Damaris on the Mayflower (child Elizabeth apparently had died). Stephen was a fairly active member of the Pilgrim group shortly after arrival, perhaps a result of his being one of the few individuals who had been to Virginia previously. He was a part of all the early exploring missions, and was used as an "expert" on Native Americans for the first few contacts. While out exploring, Stephen recognized and identified an Indian deer trap. And when Samoset walked into Plymouth and welcomed the English, he was housed in Stephen Hopkins' house for the night. Stephen was also sent on several of the ambassadorial missions to meet with the various Indian groups in the region.



Stephen was an assistant to the governor through 1636, and volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637 but was never called to serve. By the late 1630s, however, Stephen began to occasionally run afoul of the Plymouth authorities, as he apparently opened up a shop and served alcohol. In 1636 he got into a fight with John Tisdale and seriously wounded him. In 1637, he was fined for allowing drinking and shuffleboard playing on Sunday. Early the next year he was fined for allowing people to drink excessively in his house: guest William Reynolds was fined, but the others were acquitted. In 1638 he was twice fined for selling beer at twice the actual value, and in 1639 he was fined for selling a looking glass for twice what it would cost if bought in the Bay Colony. Also in 1638, Stephen Hopkins' maidservant got pregnant from Arthur Peach, who was subsequently executed for murdering an Indian. The Plymouth Court ruled he was financially responsible for her and her child for the next two years (the amount remaining on her term of service). Stephen, in contempt of court, threw Dorothy out of his household and refused to provide for her, so the court committed him to custody. John Holmes stepped in and purchased Dorothy's remaining two years of service from him: agreeing to support her and child.



Stephen died in 1644, and made out a will, asking to be buried near his wife, and naming his surviving children.



BAPTISM: 30 April 1581 at Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England, son of John and Elizabeth (Williams) Hopkins.

FIRST MARRIAGE: Mary, possibly the daughter of Robert and Joan (Machell) Kent of Hursley, co. Hampshire, prior to 1604.

SECOND MARRIAGE: Elizabeth Fisher on 19 February 1617/8 at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, co. Middlesex, England.

CHILDREN (by Mary): Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles.

CHILDREN (by Elizabeth): Damaris, Oceanus, Caleb, Deborah, Damaris, Ruth, and Elizabeth.

DNA HAPLOGROUP: R1b-M269



Contact Adam Green!

c: 801-809-7766

e: g3president@comcast.net



The End of the Mayflower: "Mayflower's End," by Mike Haywood. The Mayflower returned to England from Plymouth Colony, arriving back on 9 May 1621. Christopher Jones took the ship out on a trading voyage to Rochelle, France, in October 1621, returning with a cargo of Bay salt. Christopher Jones, master and quarter-owner of the Mayflower, died and was buried at Rotherhithe, co. Surrey, England, on 5 March 1621/2. No further record of the Mayflower is found until May 1624, when it was appraised for the purposes of probate and was described as being in ruins. The ship was almost certainly sold off as scrap.



The claim, first originating from J. Rendel Harris' book The Finding of the Mayflower (1920), that the Mayflower ended up as a barn in Jordans, England, is now widely discredited as being a figment of an overzealous imagination on the tercentenary anniversary of the Mayflower's voyage, combined with a tainted oral history. None of the evidence has withstood subsequent investigation. Regardless of the lack of evidence for its authenticity, it has been featured in National Geographic on several occasions and is a tourist destination. It is important to realize that in 1624, when the ship was scrapped, it was not at all famous, and nobody would have thought twice about letting it rot away.



Master Christopher Jones and several business partners purchased the ship Mayflower about 1607. Its origins prior to that remain uncertain. Its first documented voyage of record was to Trondheim, Norway, in 1609. Andrew Pawling hired the ship to take a cargo of London goods to Norway, sell them off, and buy Norway goods (lumber, tar, and fish) to return back to England. Unfortunately on the return voyage, the Mayflower encountered a severe North Sea storm and the master and crew were forced to toss most of Pawlings goods overboard to lighten the ship. The home of Master Christopher Jones: Harwich, co. Essex, England.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/



Following that, Christopher Jones seems to have stuck with safer trading routes. The Mayflower made numerous trips primarily to Bordeaux, France, returning to London with cargoes of French wine, Cognac, vinegar, and salt. The Mayflower could freight about 180 tons of cargo. The Mayflower also made occasional voyages to other ports, including once to Malaga, Spain, and twice to Hamburg, Germany.



Upon returning from a voyage to Bordeaux, France, in May 1620, the Mayflower and master Christopher Jones were hired to take the Pilgrims to Northern Virginia. This was the first recorded trans-Atlantic voyage for both ship and master, though Christopher Jones had several crewmembers, including pilot and master's mates John Clarke and Robert Coppin, who had been to the New World before.



The Mayflower was supposed to accompany another ship, the Speedwell, to America, but the Speedwell proved too leaky for the voyage so the Mayflower proceeded alone. Departing on 6 September 1620, the ship was at sea for 66 days, arriving November 9. The ship and crew overwintered with the Pilgrims and departed back for England on 5 April 1621, arriving back to England on May 6.



Christopher Jones took the ship out for a few more trading runs, but he died a couple of years later in March 1621/2. The ship was appraised for probate purposes in May 1624, and was referred to as being "in ruins." It was only valued at 128 pounds sterling, and was almost certainly broken up and sold off as scrap.



North Salt Lake, UTAH General Society of Mayflower Descendant, Adam Paul Green (Ancestor Stephen Hopkins / Gen.No. 86,723) Reveals New Geneology Asset Website for Local Enthusiasts http://www.xocohealth.goodchocolateblog.com/



Adam Paul Green was born to a multi-talented beauty queen Mother and a Father who, in addition to being a US Army Spy and a Counter-Intelligence Special Agent, was also a highly accomplished entrepreneur. Adam was taught at a young age that, in both life and business, loyalty is a requirement for success. He's had the honor of working directly with his father in several of the family businesses. In fact, this is where he learned crucial entrepreneurial skills and honed his talents with international business strategies and venture capitalism. http://www.AdamPaulGreen.com , http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



Adam earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in International Business and Marketing from the University of Utah. He was hand-picked by the President of the University's renowned School of Business to compete with dozens of other ambitious nationwide-graduates for the opportunity to secure a lucrative job within a prestigious Fortune 100 company. http://www.Twitter.com/AdamPaulGreen



Adam's hard work and creativity helped him land this job of a lifetime. He obtained incredible business experience there and spent years innovating, improving processes and setting sales records. Although this dream job in Traditional Corporate America was a fun challenge for him, and something he truly enjoyed mastering, Adam's natural entrepreneurial spirit kept nudging him to do something more significant with his time and talents. http://www.MyChocolatePod.com , http://www.Facebook.com/AdamPaulGreen



Since 2001, Adam has been involved in the Health and Wellness Industry as a successful Entrepreneur, Broker, Product Developer and Manufacturer of Cosmeceutical products. During his career, he has worked with some of the most recognizable Fortune 500 businesses along with many top international Network Marketing companies. Adam has consistently proven his unique ability to help his clients achieve their goals through creative Distribution-Channel Placement, innovative Product Development and custom Manufacturing. Adam currently owns three profitable businesses.



Admittedly, Adam was not initially a fan of Network Marketing. He did not understand the business model because it was new to him. However, once he learned that the REAL focus of Direct Sales is to help average people get a taste of entrepreneurialism --- with minimal risk and at a low cost --- Adam was absolutely convinced of the potential with Multi-Level Marketing.



http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



About MayflowerHistory.com

MayflowerHistory.com, the Internet's most complete and accurate website dealing with the Mayflower passengers and the history of the Pilgrims and early Plymouth Colony. The website was first created back in 1994 (when the web was still mostly text!) as a simple, but complete, passenger list of the Mayflower. It has grown over the past twenty years as the author, historian Caleb Johnson, has researched and compiled material.



http://mayflowerhistory.com
A recent study shows that sunflower seeds contain a toxin produced by molds that could increase health risk especially to people living in low-income countries. Health risks include liver cancer that could eventually lead to death.

Researchers from Michigan State University has concluded that sunflower seeds are frequently contaminated with a toxin called aflatoxin. This is a toxin produced by Aspergillus molds that also infects corn, peanuts, pistachios, and almonds, according to the current issue of PLoS One. The study also found out that chronic exposure to aflatoxin leads to 25,000 to 155,000 deaths worldwide and the numbers are just only from corn and peanuts.

Gale Strasburg, the study's coauthor, said that they focused their study on sunflower seeds and its products so that they could help reduce the growing number of liver disease in low-income areas like in Tanzania, the place where they conducted their study. Aflatoxin is also considered as a potent liver carcinogen.

Sunflower seeds are usually grown in farms in Tanzania by smallholder farmers as their livestock. These seeds are then sold to local millers who press the seeds for oil and sell it to consumers for cooking. These sunflower seeds could be infected by Aspergillus flavor or Aspergillus parasiticus molds that produce aflatoxins.

"These high aflatoxin levels, in a commodity frequently consumed by the Tanzanian population, indicate that local authorities must implement interventions to prevent and control aflatoxin contamination along the sunflower commodity value chain, to enhance food and feed safety in Tanzania," Strasburg told MSU Today. He also said that there needs to be a follow-up research in order to determine the intake rates of sunflower see products among humans and animals.

Lead author of the study Juma Mmongoyo, a former MSU food science doctoral student, said that the aflatoxins found on the most sunflower seeds sample in Tanzania have aflatoxins. Nearly 60 percent of the sample were contaminated with aflatoxins.

Other MSU scientists who contributed to this research are John Linz, Muraleedharan Nair and Robert Tempelman. Jovin Mugula of the Sokoine University of Agriculture also contributed to the research.
A research by universities based in Scotland and Norway shows that the rapid collapse of ancient ice sheets from Iceland shows the impact of modern-day climate and sea-level change. This observation further proves the clues of the effect of climate change.

For the first time, scientists were able to reconstruct in detail the evolution of the ice sheet that covered the island of Iceland 20,000 years ago. Scientists also show that the greatest changes of the ice sheets took place at a time when the temperature rose around 3C in the Northern Hemisphere in just 500 years.

The maximum rate of loss ice sheets in Iceland then was still on the same scale seen in West Antartica and Greenland today. This provides some worrying evidence of how climate change could alter the world's ice sheets that lead to rapid sea level rise.

Tom Bradwell from University of Stirling Faculty of Natural Sciences, Scotland said that 22,000 years ago, the climate became warm from the last Ice Age and entered a gradual period of warming. With this, it triggered the melting and collapsing of huge ice sheets that covered North America and Eurasia one.

In their study, Bradwell found that Icelandic ice sheets are collapsing at an exceptionally and worrying fast rate. It is more than double the present-day rate of ice loss from the much larger West Antartic ice sheet. With this, it causes global sea level today to rise significantly, Science Daily has reported.

"By using data from the geological record to constrain model reconstructions of rapid ice sheet change thousands of years ago, we can better predict how contemporary ice sheets will probably react in the future and the serious impact they have on sea level rise," Henry Patton of the Arctic University of Norway said. He also said that the satellite data they collated shows that the present polar ice sheets are responding to the climate change and global warming.

The research was supported by the Research Council of Norway. This is part of a collaboration between the scientists in the Universities of Tromso, Aberystwyth, and Stirling in understanding ice sheet evolution.
A comet had struck Earth in approximately 10,950 B.C., supporting the theory that it triggered a mini Ice Age that saw the end of woolly mammoths, the rise of civilizations and probably also altered Earth's rotational axis. A recent research has found evidence of the comet strike by studying ancient stone pillar carvings at the worlds oldest temple in Gobekli Tepe, Turkey.

The study by archaeologists from U.K.s University of Edinburgh has been published in the journal Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry. According to the researchers, the carvings act as further proof that a comet hit Earth around the same time as the onset of the Younger Dryas -- a period of Earth cooling that lasted for approximately 1,000 years. Prior evidence based on Greenlands ice cores has also indicated the same.

In addition, researchers have previously suggested that the cooling period led nomadic groups of people to band together to cultivate crops. This was a turning point in human history as it led to the development of agriculture. The subsequent societal developments and technological innovations marked the onset of the Neolithic civilization.

According to a Phys.org report, the people of Gobekli Tepe created the pillar known as vulture stone to commemorate a devastating event, in this case a comet strike. Based on their research, which used computer simulations, the archaeologists found links between the characters on the pillars and astronomical symbols that could be seen in the sky during 10,950 B.C. The engravings on the stone pillars at the ancient Turkish temple, which experts now believe to be an ancient observatory, show the carving of a headless man that has been interpreted to have symbolized human disaster and mass scale loss of life. The researchers suggest that the time and effort devoted to creating the pillar shows something extremely important must have occurred during the same time period that the Greenland ice core indicates -- a cataclysmic comet strike around 10,890 B.C.

"By matching low-relief carvings on some of the pillars at Gobekli Tepe to star asterisms we find compelling evidence that the famous 'Vulture Stone' is a date stamp for 10950 BC  250 years, the researchers stated in the study. This corresponds closely to the proposed Younger Dryas event, estimated at 10890 BC." Study researcher Martin Sweatman further added that the day was probably the worst one in history since the end of the Ice Age.
Record-breaking weather events, including droughts, downpours and heat waves, can be related to man-made global warming, a new study has suggested. A team of scientists analyzed global warmings influence on extreme climate events to find that climate change has a substantial effect.

The study, published in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked specifically at the link between record weather events over the past many decades and climate change. The researchers found that in more than 80 percent of the heat records, which included both record hot months and days, there was a pronounced indication of global warming.

The world is not yet at a place where every single record-setting hot event has a human fingerprint, but we are getting close to that point, climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh from Stanford University said, according to The Washington Post report. Greater than 80 percent of those record hot events is a substantial fraction.

Incidentally, man-made climate change, which is also referred to as global warming, is caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas that release greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. The additional CO2 makes temperatures of the atmosphere and oceans rise. Subsequently, the atmosphere holds more water vapor, which not only adds extra fuel to storms but also causes a rise in global sea levels.

The researchers started their study with the assumption that global warming did not have any part in record-breaking climate events because they did not want to inappropriately attribute an event to climate change. The team then proceeded to use statistical analyses to examine whether that assumption was valid, thereby taking a conservative approach. Based on the research, Diffenbaugh found that global warming is linked to record-breaking extremes in precipitation and also the record low Arctic sea ice in 2012.
If humans find extraterrestrial life on Mars, on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn or even in exoplanets beyond the Solar System, then in all likelihood the first signs of aliens will be in microbial form. At least, that is what scientists believe. However, what would the extraterrestrial microbial life look like? This is the question that researcher Claire Mammoser from Indianas Valparaiso University wants to address with a new study.

The researcher explained how unnatural amino acids may form the basis of yet-to-be-discovered forms of life at the recently held 2017 Experimental Biology Conference in Chicago. Mammoser and her colleagues are probing amino acids that are the building blocks of life under extreme conditions to find answers. Amino acids are organic compounds based on amine and carboxyl molecules, which are the fundamental building blocks of proteins and are in turn the basis of all life found on the planet Earth.

According to Cosmos Magazine, a long-standing belief among scientists is that the most likely types of alien life would have its roots in a similar amino-acid-protein system like that found on Earth. However, it is not necessary that an extraterrestrial system would use the same building blocks of life alone or in combination as those found on this planet. Mammoser also added that alien life might use amino acids that are known to humans but which are not used to make proteins on the planet.

Mammoser has tested 15 amino acids to see if they can withstand the environment of other celestial worlds, by subjecting the amino acids to extreme variations in temperature, pH and gamma and ultraviolet radiation. Furthermore, the research team will soon test amino acid actually extracted from meteorites to see if they can play a role in alien life.

Our main goal with this research is to see if there are structural characteristics of some amino acids that lead to a higher stability in extraterrestrial conditions, Mammoser said, according to a Science Daily report.
LAKE CITY, S.C.  Lake City Police Department K-9 Officer Filip died Tuesday morning at his home.

Filip was part of the police department since January 2015 and specialized in searching for drugs. He was assigned to Officer Loy Hayes.

He was like family, Hayes said. He will be greatly missed.

Lake City Police Chief Kipp Coker said the department is currently going through a grieving period.

I think its too soon to talk about replacing him yet, Coker said.

Filip, a German Shephard, was donated to the department in 2015 by the U.S. Border Patrol. He would have been 6 years old on May 24.

A funeral service for Filip will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Lake City Police Department.
English German

Liestal, Switzerland, April 25, 2017 - Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) announces Jodi Wolff, PhD, to represent Santhera as a founding member of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF) Industry Advisory Council (IAC) with immediate effect.

Jodi Wolff, PhD, Director of Patient Advocacy and Medical Science Liaison at Santhera Pharmaceuticals (USA), Inc., has been nominated by the UMDF to represent Santhera as a member of the IAC based on her industry expertise and advocacy work for patients with mitochondrial disease. As a member of the IAC, Jodi Wolff becomes part of a broad stakeholder community that enables value-added industry collaboration and helps drive key UMDF initiatives.

"The UMDF Industry Advisory Council (IAC) has been created to provide a platform from which a diverse group of stakeholders can provide input for addressing key priorities within the three pillars of the Mitochondrial Disease Roadmap consisting of: diagnosis, therapeutic development and patient care," said Charles A. Mohan Jr., CEO/Executive Director of UMDF. "We are excited to have Santhera participate. Their valuable insight and advice will help guide us in developing faster non-invasive diagnostics and potential therapies for mitochondrial patients as well as develop a model for enhanced patient care. We look forward to the continuation of our productive and mutually beneficial working relationship."

Upon receiving the invitation from the UMDF to represent Santhera as a member of the IAC, Jodi Wolff, PhD, commented: "I am thrilled to be a part of the UMDF Industry Advisory Council and to continue Santhera's leadership in the field of mitochondrial disease. We value our partnership with the UMDF and I look forward to utilizing my experience to benefit families living with mitochondrial disorders."

About Santhera

Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceutical products for the treatment of orphan mitochondrial and neuromuscular diseases. Santhera's lead product Raxone is authorized in the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein for the treatment of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). For Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the second indication for Raxone, Santhera has filed a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) in the European Union and Switzerland. In collaboration with the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Santhera is developing Raxone in a third indication, primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), and omigapil for congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD), all areas of high unmet medical need. For further information, please visit the Company's website www.santhera.com.

Raxone is a trademark of Santhera Pharmaceuticals.

About UMDF

Founded in 1996, the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF) works to promote research and education for the diagnosis, treatment and cure of mitochondrial diseases and to provide support for affected individuals and families. Since its inception, the UMDF has funded nearly USD 11 million in research, making it the leading non-governmental contributor of grants focused solely on mitochondrial disease. The UMDF, based in Pittsburgh, PA, is a US-national organization, represented around the world by thousands of members. For more information about mitochondrial disease or the UMDF, visit www.umdf.org.

For further information, contact:

Thomas Meier, PhD, Chief Executive Officer Christoph Rentsch, Chief Financial Officer

Phone +41 61 906 89 64 Phone +41 61 906 89 65

thomas.meier@santhera.com christoph.rentsch@santhera.com

Sue Schneidhorst, Head Group Communications

Phone +41 61 906 89 64

sue.schneidhorst@santhera.com

US investor contact US Public Relations contact

Hans Vitzthum, LifeSci Advisors, LLC John Gillespie, Medical Dynamics

Phone +1 212 915 2568 Phone +1 646 599 8626

hans@lifesciadvisors.com jgillespie@rxmedyn.com

Disclaimer / Forward-looking statements

This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG. This publication may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

# # #
Reference is made to the detailed stock exchange announcement on 24 March 2017 regarding the merger plans (the "Merger Plans") signed by Solstad Offshore ASA ("Solstad Offshore"), Farstad Shipping ASA ("Farstad"), Deep Sea Supply Plc ("DESSC" or the "Company") and Solstad Offshore's relevant subsidiaries to merge the businesses of Solstad Offshore, Farstad and DESSC with Solstad Offshore's relevant subsidiaries as the surviving entities (the "Mergers"). Further reference is made to the notice of extraordinary general meeting in the Company released on 24 March 2017.

The extraordinary general meeting in the Company has been held today. Please find the minutes from the meeting attached.

All proposals on the agenda were adopted, including approval of (i) the merger plan dated 24 March 2017 relating to the cross border merger between the Company and Solship Sub AS (the "Merger"), (ii) the board of director's report dated 24 March 2017 regarding the Merger, (iii) the expert statement from FGH Revisjon AS regarding the Merger and (iv) the dissolution of the Company, without liquidation, as a consequence of and following the Merger. The completion of all resolutions is conditional upon completion of the Mergers.

It is expected that the extraordinary general meetings in Solstad Offshore ASA, Solship Invest 2 AS, Solship Invest 3 AS, Solship Sub AS and Farstad will approve the relevant parts of the Merger Plans during the course of today. It is expected that the Mergers will become effective on or about 9 June 2017 with delivery of consideration shares to the shareholders of Farstad and DESSC in VPS on or about 14 June 2017.

The minutes of the extraordinary general meeting are available on the Company's website www.deepseasupply.no, along with all other previously disclosed documentation pertaining to the extraordinary general meeting.

Limassol, 25 April 2017

Deep Sea Supply Plc



This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.



Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/58e60425-910f-4322-8b8f-82673491c568
Despite economic uncertainties and challenges in the maritime industries Asia will continue to drive global shipping for some time to come. Supported by a growing middle class and rising incomes Asia remains the fastest growing region in the world, Khaw Boon Wan, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister of Transport, said at the official opening of Sea Asia 2017.

The growth of the middle class and the resulting boost in demand was also highlighted by Singapore Maritime Foundation charirman Andreas Sohmen-Pao.

For all the valid concerns about global economic growth and unprecedented number of people are advancing into the middle class from 1.8bn in 2009 to over 3bn in 2015. This improvement for hundreds of millions of people bodes well for continued shipping demand, he said in his opening speech.

Sohmen-Pao also saw signs of improvements in shipping markets following a lengthy downturn.

And let us remember cyclical businesses usually go up after going down, already we have seen green shoots of recovery in the dry bulk and container sectors after a prolonged period of weakness, he said.
In particular, industry leaders emphasised that there needs to be a change in mind-set towards one that is more receptive to digital transformations in the industry.

Taking place in Singapore until Thursday, 27 April, Sea Asia 2017 brings together leaders of the maritime and offshore industries to discuss, debate and analyse challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport, Khaw Boon Wan, said that with the advent of digitalisation in the industry, the Government is taking steps to help companies in Singapore develop capabilities to succeed in the future.

For example, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapores (MPA) enhanced Maritime Cluster Fund now provides more co-funding for companies that want to use technology to optimise their processes or transform their business models.

Khaw also highlighted the importance of preparing the local workforce for transformations driven by digitalisation in the industry, adding that the jobs of tomorrow will be markedly different from today.

We have to ensure that our maritime manpower is equipped to handle transformation, and for some of them, to drive the transformation, said Khaw.

Experts on the panel of the Sea Asia Global Forum commented on the need to provide an enabling environment that allows for the maritime workforce to learn and be comfortable with the idea of digitalisation in the industry.

When it comes to digitalisation, the word to think about is not disruption, but transformation. There are many opportunities that come with the transformations that digitalisation brings to the industry and hence, we have to learn to change the way were thinking about it. The maritime industry needs to create an environment that allows for its people to experiment with new technologies and learn how to use them.

Its all about changing peoples mind-sets on digitalisation and making them confident that they can work with the changes, said Piyush Gupta, ceo of DBS Group who was one of the panellists of the Sea Asia Global Forum.

Despite this, industry leaders still recognise the ongoing need for a more human element in the industry.

Oskar Levander, vice president innovation, engineering & technology - marine, Rolls-Royce, said at The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Threat or Opportunity? session: Digitalisation is changing everything in the industry, from the way ships are run to how business models are shaped. With digitalisation, I believe there will eventually be remote and autonomous shipping; but this is not to say that all ships will be unmanned and that no crew is needed.

With expanded technology also comes added risk  another factor companies need to consider when adopting a more digital approach.

Speaking at the same session, Michael Montoya, chief cybersecurity advisor, Microsoft Asia, said: Companies must embrace technology but as you expand your digital footprint, you do open yourself to risks in the form of cybersecurity. However, there are ways to protect yourself from that risk, and there are smart ways that you can implement that will allow you to continue on that maturity journey to put much better services and systems in place.

The industry leaders also highlighted the importance of coming together to discuss and analyse new trends such as digitalisation at a regional platform such as Sea Asia.

Seatrade chairman Chris Hayman said: "Since the first event in 2007, Sea Asia has trebled in size and we are expecting more than 16,000 participants from around 80 countries for this years edition.

"This event gives us all the opportunity to hear from the leaders of the industry in this region, and their counterparts from around the world," he said.
The role of hub ports such as Singapore, the worlds largest container transhipment hub, are set to change as digitalization takes a hold.

The landscape is changing rapidly digitalization is disrupting and transforming the global transport supply chains, Khaw said.

The lines between e-commerce, shipping and supply chains are blurring, for example Amazon is looking at having its own shipping and logistics operations. Freight forwarders will also have noticed Maersk and CMA CGM partnerships with Alibaba to allow shippers to book space on containerships online.

The downside to disruption is that there would be winners and losers, and Singapore would have to gear up to be on the right side of that dividing line.

Painting a picture of the new landscape Khaw said: Nearer to home we are seeing the rise of multi-modal logistics infrastructure and the growth of other hubs in Asia fuelled by e-commerce. These trends have also sparked talk about the emergence of new trade routes and even a multi-hub network in the longer term where no single hub will enjoy superior connectivity.

Exactly how these developments will pan out no-one knows but the Minister said Singapore had ensure it was ready for transformation.

Superior connectivity will be measured in multi-modal terms and maybe as much digital as physical, he stated.

While digital disruption has loomed large over many sectors such as taxis, hotels and retail, Singapore Maritime Foundation chairman Andreas Sohmen-Pao highlighted that goods and commodities will still require ocean shipping.

I know there has recently been plenty of talk about the challenges facing the maritime industry buts lets remember this industry is a cornerstone of the modern global economy even as we advance into an era of modern technology the vehicles that provide our Uber rides, the steel that holds up our Air B&B houses, and the goods that arrive in our Amazon boxes have typically spent some of their life on a ship, Sohmen-Pao said in his opening speech.
Speakers on the Sea Asia panel on The Fourth Industrial Revolution all agreed that the digital revolution will play a major role in the future of shipping as the industry responds to market demands.

Inmarsat senior vp for safety and security Peter Broadhurst conceded that while the old European-dominated model of shipping had been very conservative in the adoption of new technology, this is changing as more Asian ship owners rise to prominence. There are lots of people trying to fuel that innovation there is a better world for shipping out there but it will mean change and that means the more conservative attitudes have to fall away, Broadhurst said.

Shipping is going to face a big change and it will be disruptive, said Rolls-Royce Marine vp for innovation, engineering and technology Oskar Levander.

He conceded that while it might be threatening for some, it would open up a lot of opportunities and all this would be driven by digitalisation. It will change the way we operate the ships, manage them and the hardware and the business mindsets, Levander said.

The way we operate ships will be more about integrating the ships into the total logistics chain, he said, adding that ships cannot be treated as individual units out at sea anymore but must be seen as part of a bigger process as they become integrated into the bigger logistics supply chain. We need to think of optimising the ship in this way rather than currently just cutting costs, he said, predicting that cargo owners will step in and take more control.

While PSA International group technology head Oh Bee Lock pointed out how the port operator is tooling up to meet the needs of a hyper-connected world with its new port systems, he did concede that not all ship operators will be as keen to be involved. There are different people with different views about how technology will infiltrate this space but only time will tell, Oh said.

Meanwhile addressing the issue that is always at the back of many minds when talking about greater use of technology, Microsoft Asia chief cybersecurity adviser Michael Montoya said contrary to popular concern, automation can actually help improve cybersecurity. People cause most of our issues in operations, he said, pointing out that about 80% of problems in typical operations centres are caused by human error.

Taking an example from data centres, Montoya said that as more processes are automated, not only are errors reduced but efficiency also has gone up with each person being able to handle much more work at a higher accuracy level.
Polarcus Limited ("Polarcus" or the "Company") (OSE: PLCS) announces that the Company will be releasing its First Quarter 2017 Report on Thursday, 04 May 2017, at 07:00hrs CEST (09:00 UAE).

The Company will host a webcast and conference call commencing at 09:00 CEST (11:00 UAE).

Access details are included below:

Webcast

The presentation and Q&A session will be webcast at www.polarcus.com. The webcast will comprise of a synchronized presentation and audio from the below conference call.

A replay of the webcast will be available after the event at www.polarcus.com under Investor Relations.

Conference Call

Please use the following numbers and Confirmation Code to dial-in to the conference call and to participate in the Q&A:

Participant Confirmation Code: 2566885

Participant Telephone Numbers:

Norway +47 2350 0486 UK +44(0)20 3427 1910 USA +1212 444 0412

A telephone replay of the conference call will also be available after the event until 10 May 2017.

Replay Access Code: 2566885

Replay Access Telephone Numbers:

Norway +47 2100 0498 UK +44(0)20 3427 0598 USA +1347 366 9565







Contacts

Hans-Peter Burlid, CFO

+971 50 559 8175

hp.burlid@polarcus.com

About Polarcus

Polarcus (OSE: PLCS) is an innovative marine geophysical company with a pioneering environmental agenda, delivering high-end towed streamer data acquisition and imaging services from Pole to Pole. Polarcus operates a fleet of high performance 3D seismic vessels incorporating leading-edge maritime technologies for improved safety and efficiency. Polarcus offers contract seismic surveys and multi-client projects with advanced onboard processing solutions and employs nearly 500 professionals worldwide. The Company's principal office is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For more information, visit www.polarcus.com
Forest Hill, MD, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Apache Software Foundation (ASF), the all-volunteer developers, stewards, and incubators of more than 350 Open Source projects and initiatives, announced today the availability of Apache cTAKES v4.0, the latest version of the Open Source natural language processing system for information extraction from health-related free-text.

Apache cTAKES (clinical Text Analysis Knowledge Extraction System) is a natural-language processing based information extraction platform for health-related text that identifies signals important for the biomedical domain including types of clinical named entities mapped to various biomedical terminologies/ontologies such as the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) -- drugs, diseases/disorders, signs/symptoms, anatomical sites and procedures along with their associated attributes such as negation, uncertainty, and more.

"Apache cTAKES has helped considerably advance biomedical data extraction and clinical information management over the last several years," said Pei Chen, Vice President of Apache cTAKES. "We are proud to lead the development of a widely adopted, interoperable, community-driven solution for clinical decision support systems and clinical research. The improvements in v4 makes cTAKES easier to use, thereby benefiting the greater medical community."

cTAKES originated in 2006 by a team of physicians, computer scientists, and software engineers at Mayo Clinic, and was submitted to the Apache Incubator in June 2012. cTAKES was built using the Apache UIMA (Unstructured Information Management Architecture) framework and Apache OpenNLP machine-learning based toolkit for the processing of health-related natural language text. Apache cTAKES components create rich linguistic and semantic annotations that have been utilized for a variety of biomedical use cases including clinical decision support systems and clinical research.

Highlights of Apache cTAKES v4 include:



Dictionary Builder Graphical user interface (GUI) for easy dictionary selection and build-up;

Pipe Bits to be used to describe cTAKES modules for programs that help users create pipelines such as document descriptions of components, and inputs, outputs, parameters, dependencies implemented as Java annotations simplifies pipeline builders indicates whether a component is a Collection Reader, Annotator, or a Cas Consumer (Writer);

Piper files, allowing fast and easy creation and modification of custom pipelines with many capabilities;

Graphical user interface (GUI) for easy pipeline creation to select cTAKES components, view descriptions of the components, and inputs, outputs, parameters, dependencies implemented using the new Pipe Bits;

Example Clinical Documents with manual expert annotations of clinical narratives (mock ups). The narratives were annotated using the Open Source Anafora annotation tool (https://github.com/weitechen/anafora);

Temporal module for extraction of events, time expressions, and temporal relations; and

Numerous bug fixes that resulted in a more stable, much faster and robust release

Apache cTAKES v4 release is a pivotal milestone that incorporates state-of-the-art methods for some of the most difficult tasks in clinical narrative processing and information extraction, namely coreference resolution and temporality. Integrating novel user friendly interfaces and a scaled up optimization of its core concept mapper, v4 provides the open-source and medical communities a stable, industrial strength tool to mine clinical text. said Prof. Guergana Savova, ASF Member and Apache cTAKES Project Management Committee member, and Principal Investigator of the Natural Language Processing Lab at the Computational Health Informatics Program, Boston Childrens Hospital and faculty at Harvard Medical School. The world-wide community involvement is exactly what we envisioned when we started cTAKES back in 2006. We are grateful to the community for its many contributions and are greatly appreciative of the efforts of Sean Finan and James Masanz, members of the Apache cTAKES Project Management Committee for leading this milestone release.

"We are using Apache cTAKES v4 to link phenotypic and genomic/genetic data for the Boston Childrens Hospital Precision Link Biobank," said Kenneth D. Mandl, Director of the Computational Health Informatics Program at Boston Childrens Hospital.

We are using cTAKES to help identify people with multiple sclerosis from the electronic health records and investigate disease trajectory and treatment response in this chronic neurological disorder, said Zongqi Xia, MD, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Biomedical Informatics at University of Pittsburgh.

"We have been using cTAKES in the VA Radiology Reports to look for word tokens that correlate with lung, liver and other findings," said Dr. Joe Erdos, faculty at Yale School of Medicine and associated scientist at the Veterans Affairs (VA) in Connecticut.

"We have been frequent users of cTAKES since the 3.x days, and are excited by the cTAKES release," said Chris Mattmann, Principal Data Scientist in the Engineering & Science Directorate at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and member of the Apache cTAKES Project Management Committee. "Our Shangridocs tool that allows for interactive text extraction and analysis from science research papers in the bioinformatics/clinical domain is built around Apache cTAKES and Apache OpenNLP. We plan on upgrading ASAP to cTAKES 4.0 and contributing to the platform. cTAKES scalability is something we are very interested in - and in the ability to extend the existing UMLS taxonomy with custom medical metadata and information and cTAKES 4.0 (and beyond) is the perfect platform for growth in this area."

Availability and Oversight

Apache cTAKES software is released under the Apache License v2.0 and is overseen by a self-selected team of active contributors to the project. A Project Management Committee (PMC) guides the Project's day-to-day operations, including community development and product releases. For downloads, documentation, and ways to become involved with Apache cTAKES, visit http://ctakes.apache.org/

About The Apache Software Foundation (ASF)

Established in 1999, the all-volunteer Foundation oversees more than 350 leading Open Source projects, including Apache HTTP Server --the world's most popular Web server software. Through the ASF's meritocratic process known as "The Apache Way," more than 620 individual Members and 6,000 Committers successfully collaborate to develop freely available enterprise-grade software, benefiting millions of users worldwide: thousands of software solutions are distributed under the Apache License; and the community actively participates in ASF mailing lists, mentoring initiatives, and ApacheCon, the Foundation's official user conference, trainings, and expo. The ASF is a US 501(c)(3) charitable organization, funded by individual donations and corporate sponsors including Alibaba Cloud Computing, ARM, Bloomberg, Budget Direct, Capital One, Cash Store, Cerner, Cloudera, Comcast, Confluent, Facebook, Google, Hortonworks, HP, Huawei, IBM, InMotion Hosting, iSigma, LeaseWeb, Microsoft, ODPi, PhoenixNAP, Pivotal, Private Internet Access, Produban, Red Hat, Serenata Flowers, Target, WANdisco, and Yahoo. For more information, visit http://www.apache.org/ and https://twitter.com/TheASF

 The Apache Software Foundation. "Apache", "cTAKES", "Apache cTAKES", and "ApacheCon" are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries. All other brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

# # #
An often raucous neighborhood meeting Monday evening in the Mission district drove one point loudly home  homelessness continues to be San Franciscos most emotionally charged civic issue.

The two-hour session attracted several hundred people to the Mission Community Center, twice the number that could fit inside the auditorium. Most people who got seats seemed to support the plan being discussed, a temporary navigation center intended to move people out of the ramshackle tent colonies that line many neighborhood sidewalks. But critics lined up as well, insisting it would only make a bad situation worse.

We resent that our desire to have safe streets is maligned ... weve got to do something about the crime, said Kausar Wildman, a 22-year resident, referring to bike thefts and drug use associated with some people in tents. This is not about being against the homeless. This is about protecting and preserving the neighborhood.

The meeting was called by district supervisor Hillary Ronen to provide information on the center planned for 26th Street and South Van Ness. It would open in June, providing at least 100 transitional beds reserved for homeless people now in the Mission.

The corner holds an empty industrial building that is slated to be replaced with 157 residential units. The developer, Lennar Multifamily Communities, would allow the city to use the site rent-free until it can begin construction next year.

Ronen emphasized that she, like the critics, is dismayed by the current state of affairs.

People are getting incredibly frustrated and worried about stepping over human waste in front of their doors, and discarded needles and being accosted by people with mental problems, Ronen said in her opening remarks. The crisis is at a peak point and I get it. Im with you.

But she and other city officials made the case that the navigation center would help to reduce the number of tents in view and, ultimately, people on the streets.

The advantage of such a center over a typical shelter, said one staffer with the citys department of homelessness, is that residents have a month where theyre within safe and supervised conditions.

There are two centers at present, with another four in the planning stage. In addition to beds, the centers have case workers on hand to assess peoples needs and to try to find them housing or social services, from mental help to job training. The South Van Ness site would also have a large fenced outdoor area, which is intended to keep residents from loitering nearby during the day.

People inside the navigation centers are away from the trauma of the streets, said Jason Albertson, a clinical social worker with the Department of Homelessness. Its an opportunity to rest, and a good dose of intensive case management.

The proactive arguments didnt register with neighbors who said their children wouldnt be safe. Or the manager of a nearby restaurant who said people camping on the block have come inside to steal food or panhandle customers. Or the ones who waved signs accusing Ronen and Mayor Ed Lee of selling out the Mission.

Supporters on hand were equally vociferous.

Several people who work near a current center at 1950 Mission St. said it has improved the block. One testified that he now has housing because of that navigation center.

As for safety concerns, as a kid, I think thats bull. Thats not true, said Makayln Condon, a student at Everett Middle School who bicycles to class past the site. People are scared of the navigation center because its change, but it will help get people off the streets.

After an hour of public comments  alternating between supporters and opponents, each having their own separate line  Ronen thanked the crowd but voiced frustration of her own.

If you want to criticize us, fine, she said of the citys efforts. But if not this, then what? I have not heard one alternative in terms of dealing with the situation that already exists.

Its a done deal, right? Youre not going to do anything about what we said, shouted an opponent. There were other shouts, and then supporters started clapping and chanting build the navigation center!

Earlier, in the lobby, Ronens staff wrote down the names and email addresses of people who couldnt get inside so that another meeting can be held. This one, Ronen promised, in a larger venue.

John King is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
Firefighters from Station 13, one of the busiest firehouses in San Francisco, regularly respond to calls from high-rises across the north Financial District.

Now, Supervisor Aaron Peskin is hoping the property, at 530 Sansome St., has the potential to help mitigate another emergency: the citys affordable-housing crisis.

In a dense neighborhood where available development sites are scarce, Peskin is proposing that the city take advantage of the propertys 200-foot height limit to build an affordable-housing tower above a new fire station.

On Tuesday, Peskin will introduce legislation that separates out the propertys air rights, so that the Fire Department could continue to own the land and the station, while the Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development would own the air rights.

The idea of building housing at Station 13, which dates to 1975, is not new for Peskin. He floated the idea in 2002 during his first stint as supervisor, but the plan never took off. The difference this time is that the city is facing a housing shortage that has more than doubled rents since the tech boom took off after the recession.

The 9,000-square-foot lot could accommodate between 100 and 150 housing units.

There have been all these ballot measures about what to do with surplus city land, and this thing is just sitting here right under our eyes, Peskin said. In District Three, there are not a lot of opportunities for affordable housing  Im trying to put my money where my mouth is.

The affordable-housing development is one of three projects proposed for the block, which is bordered by Sansome, Battery, Washington and Merchant streets. Directly to the east of the fire station, at 425-439 Washington St., Peninsular Realty is proposing a 309-room hotel that will rise 200 feet. East of that project, 447 Partners has filed an application to build a 20-story tower with 182 hotel rooms and eight housing units.

Architect Michael Stanton, who is designing the bigger Washington Street hotel, said the block is uniquely suited for development. With the exception of a 20-story office building at Washington and Battery streets that was constructed in 1983, the block is made up of two- and three-story structures, all far shorter than the 200-foot zoning allows.

Stanton said the two hotels will bring foot traffic and new restaurants to the block.

Peskins proposal would build out that block at a height that makes sense, he said. None of the existing buildings are considered historic. Also, the three towers wouldnt cast shadows on any open space, including Maritime Plaza and Sue Bierman Park, which was an issue with a proposed tower next to the Transamerica Pyramid, at 555 Washington St., that Peskin helped defeat in 2010.

Its a low-rise block with high-rise zoning and taller buildings on all sides of it, Stanton said. Its a good block for development because there are no historic issues or shadow issues. It would certainly energize the street.

If the housing plan goes forward, San Francisco would join a small but growing list of cities that are putting new housing above firehouses. Such projects have been completed in two Canadian cities, Vancouver, British Columbia; and Calgary, Alberta; as well as in Washington, D.C.

EastBanc is just completing Square 50, a development with 55 affordable units and six market-rate units above a firehouse in Washington. The station and the housing units in that development are separated by a squash center, with the racquet club creating a sound buffer between the fire trucks and residents.

The first residents are moving in this month, according to EastBanc President Anthony Lanier.

By lifting the housing above the squash club, it feels like its own building, said Lanier. And the fire station feels like a fire station. Its bright red. We married necessity and design to create minimalist, utilitarian space with a sheen of design.

He said its not inexpensive to construct a building with such disparate uses, but is worth it.

Its for sure the case that affordable housing above a fire station is going to have a higher price tag than affordable housing on a vacant lot next door, but there is additional value in marrying affordable housing with a civic use, be it a fire station or a library, he said. I dont think anyone moving in would ever see it as a negative.

San Francisco Fire Commission President Ken Cleaveland said he would support the concept.

If we can do that, I think the idea is a great one. I would love to see the air rights put to good use and get a new fire station as a bonus, Cleaveland said.

When you live in a dense, dense city like San Francisco, you have to use the space that you have.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
HENGELO, the Netherlands, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Revenue was $807.3 million in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of $10.7 million, or 1.3%, from revenue of $796.5 million in the first quarter of 2016. Excluding a 2.2% negative effect from changes in foreign exchange rates, Sensata reported organic revenue growth of 3.5% in the first quarter of 2017.

Net income was $71.7 million in the first quarter 2017, which was 8.9% of revenue or $0.42 per diluted share. This compares to net income of $60.6 million in the first quarter 2016, which was 7.6% of revenue or $0.35 per diluted share. Adjusted net income was $121.5 million in the first quarter of 2017, which was 15.0% of revenue or $0.71 per diluted share. This compares to adjusted net income of $113.2 million in the first quarter of 2016, which was 14.2% of revenue or $0.66 per diluted share. Changes in foreign exchange rates reduced Sensata's adjusted earnings per share by ($0.03) in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the prior year period.

Sensatas ending cash balance at March 31, 2017 was $431.7 million. In the first quarter of 2017 operating cash flow was $119.7 million, a decrease of 12.1% from the first quarter of 2016, and free cash flow was $86.6 million, a decrease of 15.0% from the prior year period. The Companys net debt at March 31, 2017 was $2.882 billion, an improvement of $91 million from December 31, 2016.

"We started the year off strong, delivering solid organic revenue growth, margin expansion, and double-digit organic EPS growth during the first quarter of 2017," said Martha Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our revenue growth was balanced between both segments, while China continues to be our strongest geographic region. We delivered impressive year-over-year margin expansion despite facing foreign exchange headwinds and higher integration costs. As we move ahead, we remain focused on pursuing strategic investments that will drive future growth, while continuing to expand margins and improve profitability."

Segment Performance

Three months ended $ in 000s March 31,

2017 March 31,

2016 Performance Sensing revenue $ 600,143 $ 597,175 Performance Sensing profit from operations 151,736 145,787 % of Performance Sensing revenue 25.3 % 24.4 % Sensing Solutions revenue $ 207,128 $ 199,374 Sensing Solutions profit from operations 67,438 63,248 % of Sensing Solutions revenue 32.6 % 31.7 %

Performance Sensings profit from operations as a percentage of revenue totaled 25.3% in the first quarter of 2017. Excluding the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates, Performance Sensings profit from operations as a percentage of revenue was 25.7% in the first quarter of 2017, representing an increase of 130 basis points from the first quarter of 2016. Sensing Solutions' profit from operations as a percentage of revenue totaled 32.6% in the first quarter of 2017. Excluding the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates, Sensing Solutions' profit from operations as a percentage of revenue was 32.3% in the first quarter of 2017, representing an increase of 60 basis points compared to the first quarter of 2016. Higher year-over-year integration costs reduced Sensing Solutions profit from operations as a percentage of revenue by 30 basis points in the first quarter of 2017.

Guidance

Sensata anticipates revenue to be between $820 and $844 million in the second quarter of 2017 compared to $827.5 million in the second quarter of 2016. Additionally, the Company expects adjusted net income to be between $131 and $137 million and adjusted earnings per share to be between $0.76 and $0.80 in the second quarter of 2017. Sensata expects to incur approximately $8 to $9 million of integration-related expenses in the second quarter of 2017.

For the full year 2017, the Company anticipates revenue to be between $3.165 and $3.265 billion, which would represent organic revenue growth of between 1 and 3 percent. For full year 2017, Sensata expects adjusted EBIT to be between $734 and $756 million. Additionally, the Company expects adjusted net income to be between $528 million and $550 million and adjusted earnings per share to be between $3.08 and $3.20 for full year 2017, which would represent organic growth of 8 to 12 percent. Sensata expects that changes in foreign currency exchange rates will lower revenue by approximately $52 million and will lower adjusted earnings per share by ($0.02) to ($0.03) for the full year 2017. Sensata expects to incur approximately $19 to 20 million of integration-related expenses for the full year 2017.

Conference Call & Webcast

Sensata will conduct a conference call today at 8:00 AM eastern time to discuss its first quarter 2017 financial results and its outlook for the second quarter and full year 2017. The dial-in numbers for the call are 1-877-317-6789 or +1-412-317-6789 and callers can reference the Sensata Q1 2017 Earnings Call. A live webcast and a replay of the conference call will also be available on the investor relations page of the Companys website at http://investors.sensata.com. Additionally, a replay of the call will be available until May 2nd, 2017. To access the replay dial 1-877-344-7529 or 1-412-317-0088 and enter confirmation code: 10103598.

About Sensata Technologies

Sensata Technologies is one of the world's leading suppliers of sensing, electrical protection, control and power management solutions with operations and business centers in thirteen countries. Sensata's products improve safety, efficiency, and comfort for millions of people every day in automotive, appliance, aircraft, industrial, military, heavy vehicle, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, data, telecommunications, recreational vehicle, and marine applications. For more information, please visit Sensata's website at www.sensata.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We supplement the reporting of our financial information determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) with certain non-GAAP financial measures. We use these non-GAAP financial measures internally to make operating and strategic decisions, including the preparation of our annual operating plan, evaluation of our overall business performance, and as a factor in determining compensation for certain employees. We believe presenting non-GAAP financial measures is useful for period-over-period comparisons of underlying business trends and our ongoing business performance. We also believe presenting these non-GAAP measures provides additional transparency into how management evaluates our business.

Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as supplemental in nature and are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related financial information prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, our non-GAAP financial measures may not be the same as, or comparable, to similar non-GAAP measures presented by other companies.

The non-GAAP financial measures referenced by Sensata in this release include: adjusted net income, adjusted net income margin, adjusted earnings per share (EPS), adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), adjusted EBIT margin, free cash flow, net debt, organic revenue growth, and segment profit margin excluding the effects of period-over-period foreign exchange rate differences. In discussing trends in our business, we also refer to the percentage change of certain non-GAAP measures in one period versus another, determined on either a reported or an organic (which excludes the impact of acquisitions, net of exited businesses that occurred within the previous year, and the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates) basis. These period-over-period changes are also considered non-GAAP measures.

Adjusted net income is defined as net income, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, excluding certain non-GAAP adjustments which are described in the accompanying reconciliation tables. Adjusted net income margin is calculated by dividing adjusted net income by net revenue. Adjusted EPS is calculated by dividing adjusted net income by the number of diluted weighted average ordinary shares outstanding in the period. We believe that these measures are useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends.

Adjusted EBIT is defined as net income, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, excluding interest expense, net, provision for/(benefit from) income taxes, and certain non-GAAP adjustments which are described in the accompanying reconciliation tables. Adjusted EBIT margin is calculated by dividing adjusted EBIT by net revenue. We believe that these measures are useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends.

Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, less additions to property, plant, and equipment and capitalized software. We believe that this measure is useful to investors and management as a measure of cash generated by business operations that will be used to repay scheduled debt maturities and can be used to fund acquisitions, repurchase ordinary shares, or accelerate the repayment of debt obligations.

Net debt is defined as total debt, capital lease and other financing obligations, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, less cash and cash equivalents. We believe that this measure is useful to investors and management as an indicator of trends in our overall financial condition.

Organic revenue growth is defined as the reported percentage change in net revenue calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, excluding the impact of acquisitions, net of exited businesses that occurred within the previous year, and the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that this measure is useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends.

Segment profit margin excluding the effects of period-over-period foreign exchange rate differences is defined as segment profit margin in the current period calculated on a constant foreign exchange rate basis with the comparison prior period. We believe that this measure is useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends.

Safe Harbor Statement

This earnings release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information, which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable, and our future prospects, developments, and business strategies. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, our anticipated results for the second quarter and full year 2017. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause these differences include, but are not limited to, risks associated with: adverse conditions in the automotive industry; competitive pressures that could require us to lower prices or could result in reduced demand for our products; integration of acquired companies, including CST and Schrader; the assumption of known and unknown liabilities in the acquisition of CST and Schrader; risks associated with our non-U.S. operations and international business; litigation and disputes involving us, including the extent of intellectual property, product liability, warranty, and recall claims asserted against us; risks associated with our historical and future tax positions; risks associated with labor disruptions or increased labor costs; risks associated with our indebtedness; and risks associated with breaches and other disruptions to our information technology infrastructure. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak to results only as of the date the statements were made; and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether to reflect any future events or circumstances or otherwise. For a discussion of potential risks and uncertainties, please refer to the risk factors listed in our SEC filings. Copies of our filings are available from our Investor Relations department or from the SEC website, www.sec.gov.

SENSATA TECHNOLOGIES HOLDING N.V.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(Unaudited) (In 000s, except per share amounts) For the three months ended March 31, 2017 March 31, 2016 Net revenue $ 807,271 $ 796,549 Operating costs and expenses: Cost of revenue 532,726 528,378 Research and development 31,814 31,351 Selling, general and administrative 70,274 71,931 Amortization of intangible assets 40,258 50,447 Restructuring and special charges 11,050 855 Total operating costs and expenses 686,122 682,962 Profit from operations 121,149 113,587 Interest expense, net (40,277 ) (42,268 ) Other, net 5,196 5,488 Income before taxes 86,068 76,807 Provision for income taxes 14,332 16,195 Net income $ 71,736 $ 60,612 Net income per share: Basic $ 0.42 $ 0.36 Diluted $ 0.42 $ 0.35 Weighted-average ordinary shares outstanding: Basic 170,947 170,404 Diluted 171,905 171,257





SENSATA TECHNOLOGIES HOLDING N.V.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

(Unaudited) ($ in 000s) For the three months ended March 31,

2017 March 31,

2016 Net income $ 71,736 $ 60,612 Other comprehensive income/(loss), net of tax: Deferred gain/(loss) on derivative instruments, net of reclassifications 132 (16,703 ) Defined benefit and retiree healthcare plans 480 208 Other comprehensive income/(loss) 612 (16,495 ) Comprehensive income $ 72,348 $ 44,117





SENSATA TECHNOLOGIES HOLDING N.V.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Unaudited)

($ in 000s) March 31,

2017 December 31,

2016 Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 431,700 $ 351,428 Accounts receivable, net of allowances 533,126 500,211 Inventories 407,198 389,844 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 101,259 100,002 Total current assets 1,473,283 1,341,485 Property, plant and equipment, net 723,418 724,046 Goodwill 3,005,464 3,005,464 Other intangible assets, net 1,036,054 1,075,431 Deferred income tax assets 20,694 20,695 Other assets 71,658 73,855 Total assets $ 6,330,571 $ 6,240,976 Liabilities and shareholders equity Current liabilities: Current portion of long-term debt, capital lease and other financing obligations $ 7,363 $ 14,643 Accounts payable 301,605 299,198 Income taxes payable 26,988 23,889 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 259,238 245,566 Total current liabilities 595,194 583,296 Deferred income tax liabilities 396,092 392,628 Pension and other post-retirement benefit obligations 34,707 34,878 Capital lease and other financing obligations, less current portion 31,260 32,369 Long-term debt, net of discount and deferred financing costs, less current portion 3,225,965 3,226,582 Other long-term liabilities 27,096 29,216 Total liabilities 4,310,314 4,298,969 Total shareholders equity 2,020,257 1,942,007 Total liabilities and shareholders equity $ 6,330,571 $ 6,240,976





SENSATA TECHNOLOGIES HOLDING N.V.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)

($ in 000s) For the three months ended March 31,

2017 March 31,

2016 Cash flows from operating activities: Net income $ 71,736 $ 60,612 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation 28,795 25,999 Amortization of deferred financing costs and original issue discounts 1,857 1,844 Currency remeasurement loss on debt 54 128 Share-based compensation 3,952 3,516 Amortization of inventory step-up to fair value  2,319 Amortization of intangible assets 40,258 50,447 Deferred income taxes 3,400 5,547 Unrealized loss/(gain) on hedges and other non-cash items 2,066 (3,974 ) Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effects of acquisitions (32,417 ) (10,236 ) Net cash provided by operating activities 119,701 136,202 Cash flows from investing activities: Acquisition of CST, net of cash received  (3,360 ) Additions to property, plant and equipment and capitalized software (33,059 ) (34,235 ) Investment in equity securities  (50,000 ) Proceeds from the sale of assets 2,937  Net cash used in investing activities (30,122 ) (87,595 ) Cash flows from financing activities: Proceeds from exercise of stock options and issuance of ordinary shares 2,450 128 Payments on debt (11,122 ) (40,308 ) Payments to repurchase ordinary shares (498 ) (2,494 ) Payments of debt issuance costs (137 ) (209 ) Net cash used in financing activities (9,307 ) (42,883 ) Net change in cash and cash equivalents 80,272 5,724 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 351,428 342,263 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 431,700 $ 347,987





Revenue by Business, Geography, and End Market (Unaudited) (% of total revenue) Three months ended

March 31, 2017 2016 Performance Sensing 74.3 % 75.0 % Sensing Solutions 25.7 % 25.0 % Total 100.0 % 100.0 %





(% of total revenue) Three months ended

March 31, 2017 2016 Americas 42.3 % 43.5 % Europe 31.3 % 33.4 % Asia/Rest of World 26.4 % 23.1 % Total 100.0 % 100.0 %





(% of total revenue)1 Three months ended

March 31, 2017 2016 European automotive 23.9 % 25.9 % North American automotive 19.9 % 20.3 % Asian automotive 18.0 % 16.1 % Rest of world automotive 0.2 % 0.3 % Heavy vehicle off-road 14.0 % 13.9 % Appliance and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning 6.6 % 5.7 % Industrial 9.5 % 9.2 % Aerospace 4.7 % 4.6 % All other 3.2 % 4.0 % Total 100.0 % 100.0 %

1 Reclassification of certain acquired product lines has led to retrospective adjustments of certain of end-market percentages.

The following unaudited table reconciles the Companys net income to adjusted net income for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.

(In 000s, except per share amounts) Three months ended

March 31, 2017 2016 Net income $ 71,736 $ 60,612 Restructuring and special charges 7,691 3,639 Financing and other transaction costs  781 Deferred (gain)/loss on other hedges (5,340 ) (13,273 ) Depreciation and amortization expense related to the step-up in fair value of fixed and intangible assets and inventory 41,994 53,866 Deferred income tax and other tax expense/(benefit) 3,542 5,757 Amortization of deferred financing costs 1,857 1,844 Total adjustments $ 49,744 $ 52,614 Adjusted net income $ 121,480 $ 113,226 Weighted average diluted shares outstanding 171,905 171,257 Adjusted net income per diluted share $ 0.71 $ 0.66

Sensata's definition of adjusted net income excludes the deferred provision for/(benefit from) income taxes and other tax expense/(benefit). Sensata's deferred provision for/(benefit from) income taxes includes adjustments for book-to-tax basis differences primarily related to the step-up in fair value of fixed and intangible assets and goodwill, utilization of net operating losses and adjustments to our U.S. valuation allowance in connection with certain acquisitions. Other tax expense/(benefit) includes certain adjustments to unrecognized tax positions.

As Sensata treats deferred income tax and other tax expense/(benefit) as an adjustment to compute adjusted net income, the deferred income tax effect associated with the reconciling items, above, would not change adjusted net income for any period presented.

The current income tax (benefit)/expense associated with the reconciling items above, which is included in adjusted net income, would be as follows: Depreciation and amortization expense related to the step-up in fair value of fixed and intangible assets and inventory: ($0.0) million and ($0.0) million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively; and Restructuring and special charges of ($0.1) million and ($0.1) million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The following unaudited table identifies where in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations the adjustments to reconcile net income to adjusted net income were recorded for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.

($ in 000s) Three months ended

March 31, 2017 2016 Cost of revenue $ 5,177 $ 3,373 Selling, general and administrative 1,303 1,645 Amortization of intangible assets 38,929 49,068 Restructuring and special charges 4,276 800 Interest expense, net 1,857 1,844 Other, net (5,340 ) (9,873 ) Provision for income taxes 3,542 5,757 Total adjustments $ 49,744 $ 52,614

The following unaudited table reconciles the Companys net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow.

($ in 000s) Three months ended

March 31, % Change 2017 2016 Net cash provided by operating activities $ 119,701 $ 136,202 (12.1 )% Additions to property, plant and equipment and capitalized software (33,059 ) (34,235 ) 3.4

% Free cash flow $ 86,642 $ 101,967 (15.0 )%

The following unaudited table reconciles the Companys diluted net income per share to organic earnings growth. The amounts in the table below have been calculated based on unrounded numbers. Accordingly, certain amounts may not sum due to the effect of rounding.

Three months ended

March 31, 2017 2016 Diluted net income per share $ 0.42 $ 0.35 Non-GAAP adjustments: Restructuring and special charges 0.04 0.02 Financing and other transaction costs 0.00 0.00 Deferred (gain)/loss on other hedges (0.03 ) (0.08 ) Depreciation and amortization expense related to the step-up in fair value of fixed and intangible assets and inventory 0.24 0.31 Deferred income tax expense and other tax expense/(benefit) 0.02 0.03 Amortization of deferred financing costs 0.01 0.01 Adjusted EPS $ 0.71 $ 0.66 Percentage change in adjusted EPS 7.6 % Less: year-over-year impact due to: Foreign exchange rates (4.5 %) Organic adjusted EPS growth 12.1 %

The following unaudited table reconciles the Companys total debt, capital and other financing obligations, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to net debt, a non-GAAP financial measure.

Balance as of ($ in 000s) March 31,

2017 December 31,

2016 Change ($) Current portion of long-term debt, capital lease and other financing obligations $ 7,363 $ 14,643 $ (7,280 ) Capital lease and other financing obligations, less current portion 31,260 32,369 (1,109 ) Long-term debt, net of discount and deferred financing costs, less current portion 3,225,965 3,226,582 (617 ) Total debt, capital lease and other financing obligations 3,264,588 3,273,594 (9,006 ) Less: Discounts (17,041 ) (17,655 ) 614 Less: Deferred financing costs (32,413 ) (33,656 ) 1,243 Gross indebtedness 3,314,042 3,324,905 (10,863 ) Less: Cash and cash equivalents 431,700 351,428 80,272 Net debt $ 2,882,342 $ 2,973,477 $ (91,135 )

The following unaudited table reconciles the Companys net income, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to adjusted EBIT, a non-GAAP financial measure. Percentage amounts in the table below have been calculated based on unrounded numbers. Accordingly, certain amounts may not sum due to the effect of rounding.

$ in thousands % of net revenue Q1 2017 Q1 2016 Q1 2017 Q1 2016 Net income $ 71,736 $ 60,612 8.9 % 7.6 % Interest expense, net 40,277 42,268 5.0 % 5.3 % Provision for income taxes 14,332 16,195 1.8 % 2.0 % Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) 126,345 119,075 15.7 % 14.9 % Non-GAAP adjustments: Restructuring and special charges 7,691 3,639 1.0 % 0.5 % Financing and other transaction costs - 781 - 0.1 % Deferred gains on other hedges (5,340 ) (13,273 ) (0.7 %) (1.7 %) Depreciation and amortization expense related to the step-up in fair value of fixed and intangible assets and inventory 41,994 53,866 5.2 % 6.8 % Adjusted EBIT $ 170,690 $ 164,088 21.1 % 20.6 % Change (Q1 2017 vs. Q1 2016) 4.0 % 50 bps Less: year-over-year impact due to: Foreign exchange rates (3.9 %) (40 bps) Organic growth 7.9 % 90 bps

The following unaudited table reconciles the Companys projected GAAP net income per diluted share to projected adjusted earnings per share for the three months ended June 30, 2017 and full year ended December 31, 2017. The amounts in the table below have been calculated based on unrounded numbers. Accordingly, certain amounts may not sum due to the effect of rounding.

Three months ended

June 30, 2017 Full year ended

December 31, 2017 Low End High End Low End High End Projected GAAP net income per diluted share $ 0.45 $ 0.46 $ 1.88 $ 1.96 Restructuring and special charges 0.02 0.04 0.08 0.10 Deferred (gain)/loss on other hedges *   (0.03 ) (0.03 ) Depreciation and amortization expense related to the step-up in fair value of fixed and intangible assets and inventory 0.24 0.24 0.96 0.96 Deferred income tax and other tax expense/(benefit) 0.04 0.05 0.15 0.17 Amortization of deferred financing costs 0.01 0.01 0.04 0.04 Projected adjusted earnings per share $ 0.76 $ 0.80 $ 3.08 $ 3.20 Weighted average diluted shares outstanding (in 000s) 171,700 171,700 171,700 171,700

* We are unable to predict movements in commodity prices and, therefore, the impact of mark-to-market adjustments on our commodity forward contracts to our 2017 GAAP net income per diluted share. In prior years such adjustments have been significant to our reported GAAP earnings.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year repairing and upgrading its electricity transmission system without any government agency screening the projects in advance to see if theyre needed.

Now, California utility regulators want to change that.

The California Public Utilities Commission, joined by San Francisco city officials, filed a complaint with the federal government in February arguing that such projects should face some form of state-level review, particularly considering the amount of money involved.

By the commissions estimate, PG&E will spend $1.5 billion from the start of 2016 through the end of this year on transmission projects selected solely by the utilitys own executives, without outside approval. Thats equivalent to about $139 per year per PG&E customer, including both businesses and homeowners, though the amount on actual bills would vary.

Weve got to look at all of this and be more involved, said Traci Bone, an attorney for the utilities commission. Are they gold-plating the system? Are they doing the right things at the right time?

Fridays blackout in San Francisco, with 88,000 PG&E customers losing power after a substation fire, focused attention yet again on the companys maintenance of its vast networks that deliver electricity and natural gas. The utility, Californias largest, was in the midst of upgrading that substations aging equipment.

The complaint filed by the commission, however, focuses on repairs and upgrades to PG&Es high-voltage transmission network, not on the work at the Larkin substation at the heart of Fridays outage. Transmission lines and related infrastructure  think of the tall metal towers paralleling Interstate 5 through the Central Valley  have a different system of government approval than neighborhood lines and stations.

PG&E argues that transmission repair, replacement and upgrade projects dont need more oversight. According to the company, utilities should have the ability to plan and prioritize projects that maintain the grid but dont expand it, as a new transmission line would.

The complaint is about replacing aging infrastructure at the end of its life cycle or replacing equipment damaged in storms or other emergencies, said PG&E spokeswoman Nicole Liebelt. We believe the current regulations enable PG&E and other energy companies to have the flexibility needed to provide safe and reliable transmission service.

In general, Californias investor-owned utilities need PUC approval to build anything expensive and pass those costs on to their customers. The commission then bakes those expenses into the electricity and natural gas rates that customers pay.

Electricity transmission projects, however, work differently.

The California Independent System Operator, which manages most of the states electrical grid, determines whether or not new transmission lines and stations are needed to meet the grids future demands. Utilities and other companies can then pitch projects that will meet the needs spelled out by the ISO. The utilities commission will also get involved with some of the more controversial projects.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, sets the transmission rates that utility companies charge their customers.

Upgrades to transmission infrastructure fall into a hole, however  they dont need to have the utilities commission and the ISO sign off on them, and FERC will look at them, after the fact.

Bone said her agency doesnt know how much PG&Es transmission repair and upgrade work adds to a typical customers monthly bill. (Customers of public power programs like CleanPowerSF and Marin Clean Energy, which buy electricity on behalf of residents of a particular area, also pay a transmission charge to PG&E.) But her office has noticed that PG&E has been steadily seeking more money when it asks FERC to set transmission rates.

In 2016, the utility wanted to collect $1.5 billion from its customers to cover its transmission costs, up from the $1.2 billion federal regulators approved for the previous year, according to the California commission. Instead, FERC approved collecting $1.3 billion for 2016. (PG&E in 2016 collected $17.7 billion from all of its operations and made a $1.4 billion profit.)

We were seeing PG&E spending a billion dollars a year on capital investment, but theyre not building any big transmission lines, Bone said. We were wondering what was going on.

PG&Es transmission rates have risen more than 9 percent on average over the companys last 11 rate requests, according to the February complaint. And yet, according to the commission, PG&E documents show that only 40 percent of the utilitys capital expenditures on transmission in 2016 and 2017 will go to projects planned with the California Independent System Operator.

The rest of the capital expenditures  60 percent  goes to projects approved internally by PG&E.

FERC does play an oversight role on all transmission spending. But for these projects, it comes after the fact.

PG&E must detail its repair, replacement or upgrade projects when it requests a new transmission rate for its customers. Even outside of formal rate requests, the federal regulators also will subject transmission projects to periodic audits, said FERC spokesman Craig Cano.

The short answer is no: on a day-to-day basis, the commission would not vet repair, upgrade, replacement-type projects, he said. Were they to come in for a rate update, that would be subject to a deeper drill-down.

The California PUC argues that federal regulations already require transmission planning to include stakeholder input. The commission wants FERC to order that PG&E open up its transmission planning process to state-level review, perhaps through the Independent System Operator.

PG&E maintains that it follows all applicable regulations.

Its a lot of ratepayer dollars without any engagement, without any discussion with the ratepayers, said Charles Sheehan, spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which joined the state commissions complaint to FERC. His commission runs San Franciscos CleanPowerSF program.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF
Joseph Thomas thought he had it made when he landed a $170,000 job as a software engineer at Ubers San Francisco headquarters last year. He and his wife, Zecole, had just bought a Spanish-style house in Pittsburg, where they were living the American dream with their two young sons. A handsome and accomplished man, Thomas reminded some people of Tiger Woods for both his good looks and his drive to succeed.

But his time at Uber turned into a personal tragedy, one that will compel the ride-hailing company to answer questions before a judge about its aggressive work culture.

Always adept with computers, Joseph Thomas worked his way up the ladder at tech jobs in his native Atlanta, then at LinkedIn in Mountain View, where he was a senior site reliability engineer. He turned down an offer from Apple to go to Uber, because he felt he could grow more with the younger company and was excited about the chance to profit from stock options when it went public.

But at Uber, Thomas struggled in a way hed never experienced in over a decade in technology. He worked long hours. He told his father and his wife that he felt immense pressure and stress at work, and was scared hed lose his job. They urged him to see a psychiatrist. He told the doctor he was having panic attacks, trouble concentrating and near-constant anxiety. All suggested that he leave his job, but he was adamant that he could not.

He was always the smartest guy in the room, said his father, Joe Thomas. But while working at Uber, he went down the tubes. He became someone with very little confidence in himself. The guy just fell apart.

Its hard to explain, but he wasnt himself at all, said Zecole Thomas. Hed say things like, My boss doesnt like me. His personality changed totally; he was horribly concerned about his work, to the point it was almost unbelievable. He was saying he couldnt do anything right.

One day in late August, Zecole came home from dropping their boys off at school. Joseph was sitting in his car in the garage. She got into the passenger seat to talk to him.

Then she saw the blood.

Joseph had shot himself. He died in the hospital two days later, a week before he would have turned 34.

His father and widow are convinced that the work environment and stress at Uber triggered his suicide. Zecole Thomas has filed a workers compensation claim seeking to hold Uber accountable for her husbands mental decline.

If you put a hard-driving person on unrealistic tasks, it puts them in failure mode, said the elder Joe Thomas, who said his son described a sort of brainwashing at Uber. It makes them burn themselves out; like driving a Lamborghini in first gear.

Eamon Queeney/Special to The Chronicle

Joseph Thomas, who was African American, may have experienced racism as well, according to his loved ones and their lawyer. Like many Silicon Valley companies, Uber employs only a handful of black people in technical jobs. Blacks account for 1 percent of its tech workers and none of its tech leaders, according to Ubers first diversity report, released in March.

Uber declined to comment on the legal dispute and said Thomas never complained to the company of extreme stress or racial discrimination.

No family should go through the unspeakable heartbreak the Thomas family has experienced, said Uber spokeswoman Eva Behrend. Our prayers and thoughts are with them.

Ubers work culture has come under scrutiny after explosive revelations about the worlds most valuable startup. In February, software engineer Susan Fowler wrote a blog post about sexual harassment and sexism at Uber and said its human resources department ignored complaints.

At least three former employees have filed lawsuits alleging sexual harassment or verbal abuse from Uber managers, according to the New York Times, which said other current and former employees were also considering legal action.

Even early investors Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor posted an open letter to Uber blasting it for a culture plagued by disrespect, exclusionary cliques, lack of diversity, and tolerance for bullying and harassment of every form.

Eamon Queeney/Special to The Chronicle

Uber said it took the allegations seriously and hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate its workplace for issues of sexism, diversity and inclusion. That report is pending.

In the case of Joseph Thomas, medical records from two East Bay psychiatrists he visited in the weeks before his suicide show that he reported job-related high anxiety, panic attacks, difficulty concentrating and insomnia.

About a month before his suicide, Joseph Thomas disclosed his work stress in a Facebook chat to a close friend of more than a decade, Neil Mirchandani.

Man words cant really describe. Im not dead but I wouldnt describe myself as ok, Thomas wrote, according to screenshots of the chat provided by Mirchandani.

The sad thing is this place (Uber) has broken me to the point where I dont have the strength to look for another job, Thomas wrote.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Joseph was such a strong personality, said Mirchandani. But he was a softie on the inside; when he was around a small dog or my daughter, hed melt like a little kid. He was the last person I would ever think would commit suicide.

Uber denied the benefits claim through its insurance carrier. In California, workers compensation usually does not cover psychiatric injuries until after six months of employment. Joseph Thomas had worked slightly less than five months at Uber when he killed himself.

But there is an exception to the six-month rule. It doesnt apply if the psychiatric injury is caused by a sudden and extraordinary employment condition, according to California law.

San Francisco attorney Richard Richardson, who represents Zecole Thomas and her sons, said Thomas situation may be one of those exceptions.

We think it was stress and harassment induced by his job, between him being one of the few African Americans there, working around the clock and the culture of Uber, Richardson said. And he couldnt talk about it to anyone because of nondisclosure agreements.

The case is still in early stages. Uber refused Richardsons request to depose Thomas immediate boss, but in mid-April an administrative law judge who oversees workers compensation cases said the supervisor must submit to a deposition. Unlike cases in a court of law, cases before Californias Workers Compensation Appeals Board are not public record.

The benefits could amount to about $722,000, part as a lump sum and part in weekly checks of $1,100 until both boys, currently ages 7 and 9, are 18, Richardson said.

For Zecole Thomas, mourning the loss of the husband she met in 11th grade, it was baffling and confusing to be denied workers compensation. He had a great work ethic; he devoted his life to work, she said. I was sure they would reciprocate.

Exacerbating that, Thomas life insurance policy will not pay out because he died by suicide.

She sold their dream house  the first theyd owned  because California was too expensive, and moved to North Carolina. Shes working as a project coordinator with a small company and pursuing a masters degree in analytics and cybersecurity. Im trying to rebuild my life and generate enough income to provide for my two children, she said.

I just dont understand it. He was young, successful, smart; he had everything going for himself. I never in my life thought I would be without him. Its devastating.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
Bill Hutchinson / Bill Hutchinson /

A man who was shot by police in San Jose after threatening passersby and charging at an officer with a knife remained in critical condition Monday, police said.

San Jose resident Khanh Tran, 28, was shot by Officer Jason Park, who has been on the force for eight years, just after 12:30 p.m. Friday in South San Jose, police said.
Bill Hutchinson /

A 29-year-old San Francisco man shot to death Monday morning on Potrero Hill has been identified as a neighborhood resident, officials said.

The victim is Cleveland Reid, according to the city Medical Examiners Office. He was shot about 10:30 a.m. near Missouri Street and Watchman Way, said Officer Robert Rueca, a police spokesman.
In the six years that George Gascon has been San Francisco district attorney, he has brought 18 misconduct cases against local law enforcement officers. The charges have ranged from embezzlement to bank robbery to assault. But he has brought no criminal charges in the more than 40 San Francisco police shootings that have occurred on his watch, of which 19 have been fatal.

Gascon stuck to this pattern recently when he declined to file charges in the fatal 2015 police shooting of Amilcar Perez-Lopez, a 21-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who was shot six times by two plainclothes SFPD officers, with one bullet hitting the victim in the back of the head, four striking him in the back and one hitting him in the side.

There were a number of disturbing factors in the Perez-Lopez case, not least of which was the fusillade of bullets to his back. According to two witnesses who were the young construction workers roommates in a Folsom Street apartment near where he was gunned down, it was unclear whether Perez-Lopez was even aware that the plainclothes cops were police officers. He was involved in a heated dispute at the time with a man whom his roommates described as a neighborhood bully, and he was chasing his tormentor down the street with a knife when the police arrived.

Both Perez-Lopez and his antagonist, who was identified in Gascons report as Abraham P., were inebriated. Did the slightly built Perez-Lopez think he was being surrounded by other bullies when he flailed wildly in the air with his knife at the street-clothes-wearing officers? Was he running away or still in hot pursuit of Abraham P., as the two police officers  Eric Reboli and Craig Tiffe  said they feared he might be? Well never know, because it was all over in a flash, with Perez-Lopez lying dead in the street.

Mission District activists alarmed by what they see as a siege of police violence and harassment aimed at the neighborhoods Latino population  or what they call gentrification by police brutality  were outraged by Gascons decision to clear the officers in the Perez-Lopez case. The D.A. made himself judge and jury by letting the cops walk, rather than let the community review the troubling inconsistencies and evidence in the case, said the Rev. Richard Smith, who presided over funeral services for Perez-Lopez at his Episcopal church, Saint John the Evangelist.

To me it absolutely screams cover-up, civil rights attorney Ben Rosenfeld told Hoodline after Gascon released his report. Mental gymnastics is how Rosenfeld rightly characterized the reports convoluted effort to explain how Perez-Lopez could have been viewed as a threat.

Public Defender Jeff Adachi echoed the criticisms from the community. I thought the D.A.s experts bent over backwards to justify the police officers decision to shoot at Perez-Lopez after he supposedly was retreating, Adachi told me. The D.A. essentially said that the standard (for prosecution) is too high, so we cant make a case on any charge.

But Gascon went to great effort to defend his decision to me. It was the first report produced by the new unit set up by the district attorney to investigate police shootings. And he has a lot riding on the credibility of his teams work.

Even though Perez-Lopez was shot in the back, it didnt matter from a legal point of view, Gascon told me, because he was running toward Abraham, and the police have the right to use deadly force in defense of others as well as themselves. This case is about self-defense and the defense of others.

Gascon concedes that there are problems with use-of-force laws in California and nationwide. Just because the police can use deadly force under the law doesnt mean they should. But the Perez-Lopez case was not the one to pick for a court challenge of the law, he insisted, since it involved a knife-wielding man who a jury could reasonably decide was a threat to others. The last thing you want to do is bring a bad case, because that can create bad law if you end up losing in court. You can makes things worse.

UC Berkeley Law School Professor Franklin Zimring, author of the recent provocative book When Police Kill, believes that the most effective changes can be made not by state legislatures or district attorneys but by police chiefs and commissions  since they can change the rules of engagement that guide police conduct in the streets. He urges police departments to adopt a new set of deadly force rules, including forbidding police shootings when the adversary is brandishing only a knife and not a gun or is retreating from officers.

A police chiefs priority shouldnt be just the protection of his officers but the preservation of civilian lives, Zimring said. Of the 10 open police shooting cases recently listed in The Chronicle, at least five, and as many as eight, should not have been fatalities. If a shootings awful, it shouldnt be lawful. If somebody hadnt died in those cases, San Francisco would be a better city.

The time when Gascon really couldve done something to make a difference on this was his previous job as San Francisco police chief, added Zimring, who recently participated in a forum on police shootings with the district attorney.

But Gascon can use his current platform to crusade for changes in deadly force rules at the local police department level as well as at the state legislative level, as he has done before on such issues as drug law reform and prison diversion programs. A Gascon aide told me that the district attorneys appearance at the Berkeley forum with Zimring indicates his willingness to play this kind of advocacy role on de-escalating police violence.

Gascon made clear to me that his decision on the Perez-Lopez case doesnt necessarily foreshadow his upcoming decisions on other police shootings that strike many observers (including me) as more egregious examples of police overkill.

Even Jeff Adachi is one of those hoping for the best. You rightly pointed out in your Sunday column that George is a reform-oriented DA, Adachi emailed me. Its hard for me to know what the injustice system looks like from his vantage point, but he has taken positions that most D.A.s would shy away from. I am hoping that he is able to pierce the iron shield that allows unaccountable police behavior. While hes already rendered his decision in the Perez-Lopez case, he still has (fatal police shooting victims) Mario Woods, Luis Gongora-Pat and Jessica Williams to decide.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Talbot appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Email: dtalbot@sfchronicle.com
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SACRAMENTO  The University of California hid $175 million from the public in secret funds while its administrators demanded more money from the state, according to a report released Tuesday by state Auditor Elaine Howle.

Under the leadership of Janet Napolitano, the UC Office of the President amassed millions in the secret reserve funds in part by overestimating how much it needed to run the 10-campus university system  and then spending less than budgeted, the audit said. From 2012 to 2016, the office sought increased funding based on the inflated estimates, not actual spending, according to Howle.

Howle also accused the university of interfering with the audit by inappropriately screening the confidential responses of campus administrators to her offices survey, resulting in some answers being changed or deleted. She said she is looking into whether the university violated any laws or policies on interference.

The alleged changes were very troubling to us, Howle said.

The stunning revelations about the secret money immediately drew criticism and calls for the UC Board of Regents  which the audit said did not know about the hidden millions  to reverse its decision to increase tuition by 2.5 percent this fall.

Its outrageous and unjust to force tuition hikes on students while the UC hides secret funds, and I call for the tuition decision to come back before the Board of Regents for reconsideration and reversal, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of 26 regents, in a statement.

Napolitano denied the audits claims that her office improperly kept money stashed away, saying the money was set aside for unexpected expenses.

The audit also far overstated how much money was set aside, Napolitanos office said in a statement. The true amount is $38 million, which is roughly 10 percent of (the offices) operating and administrative budget, a prudent and reasonable amount for unexpected expenses such as cybersecurity threat response and emerging issues like increased support for undocumented students and efforts to prevent sexual violence and sexual harassment.

About $32 million of the $175 million that Howles audit found in the secret reserve came from campus assessment fees  money that the auditor said could have been spent on students and should be returned to the campuses.

Even as it accumulated the campus fees, Napolitano persuaded the Board of Regents to increase those fees in two of the four years audited, Howle said.

In addition to setting aside money in the secret funds, Napolitanos office created a secret budget to spend the money, the audit said.

Some of the secret funds were allocated for communications and brand management ($4.7 million), the presidents residence ($862,000), nonresident recruiting ($1.8 million) and an initiative that allows students at historically black colleges and universities to participate in UC summer research programs ($5.2 million).

The audit also found salaries within the Office of the President are significantly higher than those for comparable state employees, and that the UC headquarters offered job perks not seen in the public sector that totaled $21.6 million over the years audited.

Those included supplemental retirement accounts with employer contributions and allowing employees to book high-priced hotels when traveling for work, the audit said.

Howle compared the hidden fund to the 2012 controversy in the California Department of Parks and Recreation, which was found to have stowed $54 million in special funds for more than a decade as state parks were facing closure.

This is a similar situation, Howle said. Im sure that regents had the best interest of their students in mind when they decided they had to increase tuition, but they didnt know there was a reserve amount out there that could have covered a portion of that tuition increase, reduced the amount or maybe eliminated it completely.

The UC audit was ordered by state lawmakers to determine whether UCs Oakland headquarters was was wisely spending its $686 million annual budget. Lawmakers said they were frustrated that spending in Napolitanos office nearly doubled in recent years and that no one at UC could pinpoint how big the offices staff is, with totals varying by nearly 500 people depending on who was counting.

The auditor pegged the Office of the Presidents staff at nearly 1,700 employees. The office provides administrative services to the university systems 10 campuses, such as managing the UC pension fund, and oversees systemwide programs such as online education.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

In requesting the audit, Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, chairman of the budget committee, and Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, chairman of the budget subcommittee on education finance, said they hoped to identify redundancies between administrative services provided by Napolitanos office and those of individual campuses. That savings could help reduce the need for tuition increases, they said.

To find those potential redundancies, state auditors sent confidential surveys to each campus. Howle said her office learned in February that the deputy chief of staff in Napolitanos office had improperly screened responses before they were sent to auditors.

As a result, Howle said, answers that were critical of the Office of the President were deleted or changed in the survey to put the office in a better light. The audit did not identify the chief of staff who allegedly screened the responses or say who had deleted or changed campuses answers.

Ive never had a situation like that in my 17 years as state auditor, Howle said. My attorneys are looking at whether any improper government activities occurred.

The statement issued by Napolitanos office did not address the allegation.

Ting said lawmakers will hold a hearing next week to go over the audit. He said that if the $175 million had been directed toward student enrollment, more than 35,000 additional students could have attended UC schools.

There is more money out there to fund more California students at UC, Ting said at a press conference in his Capitol office. Its clear that the Office of the President themselves can pay for additional students out of their discretionary budget.

The state auditor recommended changing how the Office of the President is funded so that the Legislature has more oversight. Napolitanos statement said a change would threaten the universitys autonomy.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com
Nobody in San Francisco seems to have known much about William Ellis. He was a 66-year-old veteran with no family and no home. He was gruff, earning the nickname Grumpy Old Man, and he walked with the help of a cane.

Every weekday for years, he slept on the wooden pews at St. Boniface Church in the Tenderloin, snoozing alongside other homeless people below soaring stained glass windows and huge marble columns. The folks at Project Gubbio who run the churchs sacred sleep program, which offers respite to the homeless, didnt know Ellis backstory, but they considered him family nonetheless.

And so when he collapsed at the back of the church just before 9 a.m. on April 6, they reacted like family. They rushed to him. They cradled his head. Three of them whipped out their cell phones to dial 911.

But nobody answered.

It was ringing and ringing and ringing like Id called somebodys house phone, said Porsha Dixson, a 35-year-old hospitality monitor, who does everything from connect homeless people to services to clean the bathrooms for Project Gubbio and who lives in Hunters Point. I hung up and called again. Then I tried to use somebody elses phone to call. It did the same thing.

Terry Sedik, a 70-year-old volunteer and retired planning director for Daly City, also dialed 911.

It would ring and ring and ring, and youd finally give up and youd dial it again, said the NoPa resident. I probably dialed three times.

Dixson estimates it took two minutes for a dispatcher to answer, and Sedik said it may have been as many as five. Once a dispatcher picked up, an ambulance arrived almost immediately, but the paramedics couldnt save Ellis life. He had suffered cardiac arrest and six days later was taken off life support at San Francisco General Hospital after a fruitless search for next of kin.

The wait for a dispatcher to answer was excruciating, but its not unheard of. While the 911 dispatch center has a goal of answering 90 percent of calls within 10 seconds, it only hit that target 74 percent of the time in March.

As The Chronicle detailed earlier this year, more calls are coming into the dispatch center than ever, and there are too few dispatchers to answer them. There are 105 dispatchers on staff, according to Burt Wilson, president of the dispatchers union. A full staff would be 180.

Francis Zamora, spokesman for the citys Department of Emergency Management, said he wasnt able to get specific information about the Ellis calls. But he said dispatchers are receiving 1,000 more calls per day than they did five years ago. The department hired 23 dispatchers last year and a new academy class started Monday, he said.

Noah Berger/Special to The Chronicle

Wilson said too few prospective dispatchers are sticking it out for the grueling, year-long training process.

Its being addressed, but its taking so long, Wilson said. You live in San Francisco? You have kids? How would you feel if your kid was choking and you couldnt get through?

Its going to take somebody important to die, before the department gets a full staff, Wilson predicted.

Ellis wasnt important in the City Hall power-broker sense, but he was important to those at Project Gubbio. And theyre glad that if he had to collapse, he collapsed in church with them.

He was a private, quiet guy who usually had his head buried in a book and was often found huddled beside the churchs heater to get warm. Sedik thought he looked like Gabby Hayes, the cowboy sidekick in old Western movies.

Though he was a curmudgeon, a lot of people loved him, Sedik said. Underneath it all, he was a sweet old guy.

Before paramedics arrived, Tina Christopher, Project Gubbios operations manager, tried to give Ellis CPR, though shed only ever done the procedure in training classes.

The body wasnt reacting like the dummies did, she said with a sigh.

She said the paramedics worked on Ellis for 15 minutes at the church, shocking him with a defibrillator and eventually getting a pulse before taking him to the ambulance.

As the paramedics worked, they didnt know their boss was observing nearby. Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White showed up, having heard the call on her radio and the familiar address.

Im a big fan of Project Gubbio, the way they open their doors is pretty cool, she said. I work behind a desk a lot, but I like to get out there and support the troops. It re-energizes me and inspires me.

Christopher, a 49-year-old mother of four who lives in Oakland, went to visit Ellis at the hospital a few days later. He was unconscious, but she talked to him for a while.

I told him how we missed him, and I wanted the best for him, she said. I teased him about not giving the nurses too much hell.

Christopher, who attends church every Sunday, arranged for a priest to give Ellis the Roman Catholic last rites before life support was removed. She said she felt relieved when she learned he had died. Because of my faith, she explained. What better place than to go home to our Father?

The Project Gubbio staff will hold a memorial service for Ellis at St. Boniface Church at 1 p.m. Friday. The Rev. Franklin Fong, the churchs pastor, will lead the service.

His family would do that for him, so of course we would do that for him, Christopher said.

Laura Slattery, the director of Project Gubbio, said she hopes the way the staff handled Ellis collapse and their memorial service for him shows other homeless people that they really do care.

Its modeling to the rest of the community that weve got their backs, she said. They are suffering, but they wont be suffering alone.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Tuesdays and Fridays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf

Benefit concerts

Opera on Tap and Symphonia Caritas will perform Mozarts La clemenza di Tito at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday as a fundraiser for Project Gubbio at the nonprofits second site, St. Johns Episcopal Church, 1661 15th St., San Francisco. For tickets and for more information about Project Gubbio, visit www.thegubbioproject.org.
HOUSTON, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Houston-based Sensorfield announced today the availability of an affordably priced complete do-it-yourself solution for remotely monitoring wells designed specifically to meet the needs of small and mid-size oil and gas companies. Based on an Internet of Things (IoT) approach, Sensorfields technology offers producers around-the-clock insight into the operations of their wells, leading to earlier detection of issues responsible for production delays, safety and environmental concerns and added expense.



Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d3f3d617-e9b0-4a09-9aeb-cb4822f7c1c2



http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/305cd184-b79e-4aa8-8d26-e9a031651a07

Trek AEC has had advance access to Sensorfields system and directly credits the companys technology with curtailing potential oil spills.



In 2016, we had several environmental spills. We started using Sensorfield technology in our Kansas wells and, to date this year, havent had one environmental issue that wasnt caught before it had a major effect. The investment has already paid out in spill prevention alone, not to mention the ongoing cost savings and improvements we've made based on Sensorfields high resolution data, said Sensorfield customer Mark Bieker, operations manager at Trek AEC. As cliche as it sounds, Sensorfields digital monitoring solution is a game-changer for our company.

Thanks to its affordability and portability, Sensorfield helps level the playing field for small oil and gas producers who previously had to rely solely on an employee or contractora pumper with limited time on site and responsibilities to drive from well to well to read gauges and collect data.

For years, large energy companies have enjoyed the benefit of custom-installed systems to remotely monitor their individual wells and entire fields, said Strode Pennebaker, Sensorfield president. While extremely useful, these solutions are expensive, bulky and complex. Our do-it-yourself solution, aimed at small and mid-sized producers, is a first; its inexpensive, wireless and easy to install and operate yourself.

Sensorfields system of small, wireless sensors, installed by the producers themselves, measure tank levels, pressures and flow rates, rod pump and compressor health, security and more. Near real-time measurementssent to the cloudare then accessed on mobile device or PC.

Sensorfield goes a step farther by offering a single technology platform to monitor all types of equipment. Rather than a single-purpose monitoring and alarm system, Sensorfield created a universe of sensors to monitor everything in the oil patch, so the customer doesnt have to mix and match specialty systems.

Digital monitoring systems can be installed on a typical well in minutes. Polycarbonate sensor boxes are less than two inches square and weigh about five ounces, but can withstand extreme temperatures and hurricane-force winds. A small solar panel embedded on the top of the sensor box supplies all the power needed rather than using batteries, which eventually fail and need to be replaced. The Sensorfield sensor can work in deep shade or in climates where cloud cover is the norm.

Unlike most other wireless systems, the sensor boxes have no visible antenna or on/off button. To activate the sensor, the pumper merely pushes a recessed switch and waits for the sensor to connect to a Sensorfield wireless gateway. The gatewaynot much larger than a sensorconnects with individual sensors and transmits measurement data to the cloud. If a company wants to monitor a large wellsite or entire field, hubs are available to relay wireless signals for miles to distant gateways, further reducing costs by aggregating data in fewer gateway points.

Monitoring capabilities are extensive and expanding. Currently, the sensors can be used for everything from simple tank level measurements, and pressure and rate measurements, to state-of-the-art beam pump monitoring and intelligent wellhead pressure acquisition for well PBU analysis. Sensorfield data is extremely high resolution, with tank levels reported to within 0.05 inch accuracy and pressure within 0.1 PSI.

About Sensorfield

Founded in 2011, Sensorfield designed and manufactures the energy industrys first and only do-it-yourself remote oilfield monitoring system. The companys wireless sensors help small and mid-sized oil and gas companies remotely gather valuable data to improve well production, safety and environmental stewardship. More information on Sensorfield can be found at www.sensorfield.com.




At least since Andrew Jackson wrestled with Nicholas Biddles hydra of corruption, the presidents not-so-affectionate nickname for the Second Bank of the United States, America has had an uneasy relationship with public banking. Today, outside the Federal Reserve System, the Bank of North Dakota is the nations sole example of a government bank.

While a few local officials want to change that, the Bay Area should hew to this historical skepticism about public banking.

San Francisco Supervisors Malia Cohen and Sandra Fewer have proposed a task force to consider forming a municipal bank, The Chronicle reported, saying it could fulfill unmet needs among marijuana businesses and undocumented immigrants, while also providing an alternative to ethically challenged private banks like San Franciscos own Wells Fargo. The Oakland City Council likewise voted to look into a public bank last year, also citing the emerging cannabis sector, and legislation to study a state bank has been floated in Sacramento.

Citing North Dakotas generally well-regarded bank, which was born of agrarian populism nearly a century ago, a 2011 report to the San Francisco supervisors noted that a public bank could boost city revenues, ease municipal borrowing and support local businesses and community groups. It also noted such significant impediments as starting capital and state law, which would have to be changed to make way for a city bank.

A wary observer of local government might also note the propensity for such institutions to become patronage mills and harbor other questionable uses of public funds, phenomena to which neither San Francisco nor Oakland is a stranger.

As for serving the marijuana market or the undocumented, a public bank would face the same risks that keep private institutions away. And there are easier ways to expand financial services among the disadvantaged. City Treasurer Jose Cisneros Bank on San Francisco program, for instance, has had some success in encouraging private banks to provide services to low-income residents.

Banking is simply not a core skill or service of government, and cities on both sides of the bay have plenty of pressing problems  from public safety to housing  that are far more central to their missions.
Congressional leaders of both parties agree that a government shutdown would be a terrible idea. So why are we getting close to one?

Lawmakers need to pass funding legislation by Friday night in order to keep the federal government open and running.

To hear congressional leaders tell the story, negotiations were running relatively smoothly  if slowly  until late last week, when the Trump administration started a last-minute push to demand funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Mick Mulvaney, President Trumps budget director, said the wall is Trumps top priority and offered Democrats $1 in Affordable Care Act subsidies for every $1 in wall payments.

Democratic legislators  some of whom the majority Republican party will need to pass any budget  scoffed at the offer. They were right to do so.

The federal budget is not a hostage negotiation.

Trump also said that Mexico would pay for his top priority. So it seems a bit premature to force Congress to suddenly pass funding for a massively expensive project (as much as $21.6 billion, according to internal Department of Homeland Security documents) ahead of a crucial budget deadline.

Its not just the Democrats who lack interest in paying for a border wall, either. Plenty of Republican legislators are hesitant to put so much taxpayer money on the line for a project that experts believe will fail to halt illegal immigration.

One likely scenario would be for Congress to pass a one-week budget extension.

But kicking the can down the road for another week is unlikely to change anyones mind. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., need to level with the Trump administration about the realities of the budget process. The American people must not endure a federal government shutdown over 11th-hour demands.
TEMPE, Ariz., April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ipro Tech, a global leader in the development of advanced eDiscovery software solutions, announced today that it has received a substantial investment from technology private equity firm ParkerGale Capital. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.



Ipros Automated Digital Discovery workflow platform (ADD) helps customers organize, process, review and produce litigation data of vast sizes and complexity. The revolutionary platform enables corporations, law firms, and litigation service providers to manage eDiscovery more efficiently and cost-effectively than ever before.

Ipro fits our description of an ideal situation perfectly, commented Ryan Milligan, Partner at ParkerGale. Our extensive market research shows that multiple customer segments are hungry for an alternate solution. Ipros product offering is in a prime position to expand across those segments. All credit goes to Kim Taylor, CEO, and the outstanding team he has assembled. We look forward to working together.

Im excited to enter this next phase of growth and innovation at Ipro, said Ipro President & CEO Kim Taylor. Weve succeeded as a bootstrapped operation up until now and are thrilled about the prospect of new ownership with the resources and expertise ParkerGale brings to our Board. Their acquisition is an affirmation that the {I-proclamation} journey we embarked on four years ago was the right course to navigate in delivering what our customers need.

Taylor continued, Being part of the 28-year run of Jim King and Greg Horne has been an honor and a privilege. Their contributions are felt wholeheartedly throughout our organization and they will truly be missed. A new chapter has begun and we are jumping in with both feet.

Ipro is also pleased to announce that Mike Suchsland, former President, Legal Business at Thomson Reuters has agreed to join the Board. Kim and Ryan asked me if Id be interested in getting involved with Ipro. I was completely blown away by Kim and his team, a group of dedicated professionals with incredible experience and passion for the eDiscovery business.

Growth plans for Ipro include increased investment across all departments, including new functionality for its ADD platform and additional products that serve the legal industry as well as targeted acquisitions.

Ipro and ParkerGale would like to extend special thanks and appreciation to Brock Matthias and his colleagues at VRA Partners as well as counsel both from Osborn Maledon, P.A. and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

About ParkerGale

ParkerGale Capital is a small private equity fund based in Chicago that buys profitable, founder-owned software and technology-enabled services companies where the firms operating resources can have a meaningful impact. ParkerGale also hosts the private equity industrys only podcast, the PE FunCast on iTunes and Google Play. For more information, please visit www.parkergale.com

About Ipro Tech, LLC

Founded in 1989, Ipro is a global leader in the development of advanced eDiscovery software solutions. Ipros ADD Automated Digital Discovery workflow platform helps customers organize, review, process and produce litigation data of vast sizes and complexity  more efficiently and cost-effectively than ever before. To learn more visit iprotech.com. To schedule a private demonstration, email sales@iprotech.com
A federally owned surface parking lot behind the courthouse at Seventh and Mission streets would become the citys largest housing development for formerly homeless people, under a proposal Mayor Ed Lee plans to introduce Tuesday.

The Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development is seeking the Board of Supervisors approval to enter into negotiations for the property with the Government Services Organization, which oversees federal property.

The parcel at 1068 Mission St., behind the landmark James R. Browning U.S. Courthouse that houses the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, could accommodate 250 housing units in two separate buildings, one of which would house formerly homeless seniors.

We are always looking for avenues to help our residents off the streets and into homes, said Lee. This kind of opportunity does not come around often in San Francisco, and we need to work together to make sure this property is used to help those who need it most.

Jeff Kositsky, director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, said the project would greatly improve the citys ability to get people off the streets and back on their feet.

We know what works to end homelessness, he said. These additional new units of permanent supportive housing will move us closer to making homelessness in San Francisco rare, brief and nonrecurring.

The city values the property at $35 million but is hoping the federal government will transfer it for $1, something it has done for homeless housing developments in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act enacted in 1987, federal properties must be considered for homeless services before other uses.

The larger of the two buildings, 85 feet tall, would face Mission Street and have 150 units of permanently supportive housing for formerly homeless single adults. A second 65-foot building would face Stevenson Alley and cater to formerly homeless seniors older than 62. Neither building would have parking.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
The man accused of shooting and killing seven people at a small vocational college in Oakland in 2012 has been ruled competent to stand trial.

The determination comes five years after One Goh, 48, allegedly gunned down students and a receptionist at Oikos University. He confessed after his arrest that he was the gunman, authorities said, explaining he was upset that he couldnt get back the tuition he paid to take nursing courses there.
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Conservative commentator Ann Coulter plans to speak at UC Berkeleys Sproul Plaza on Thursday, campus officials said, prompting the university and the city to scramble to prepare for what they fear could be another violent showdown between fans and opponents of President Trump.

Coulter is expected to bring her own security for the afternoon appearance, but campus officials  who had urged her to reschedule for a later date  believe that wont be sufficient.

Were going to be doing what we can in this short amount of time thats left to provide safety and security to our students, other members of the campus community, the public, and, if need be, Ms. Coulter, UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Tuesday.

Coulters appearance was again thrown into question late Tuesday when she tweeted that she was still expecting Berkeley to provide a room, despite the fact that officials have said they cannot offer a safe venue for her to speak.

UC cannot bar Coulter from speaking in Sproul Plaza, Mogulof said. Besides being one of the main campus entrances, Sproul has historic significance as the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement in 1964.

The university has neither the ability nor desire to keep people off this campus, Mogulof said. Sproul Plaza is open to the public.

But, he added, You cant have free speech if your event is canceled due to violence. Mogulof said time and location are key factors in the ability of campus and city police to ensure safety, which is why the university opposed a Coulter visit on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear exactly when Coulter plans to show up at Sproul, but right-wing groups were using online chat groups to organize a campus visit to coincide with Coulters appearance, and they were calling on supporters to be battle ready.

Coulter was originally invited to speak Thursday by the Berkeley College Republicans, but UC officials said there was no available venue where they could ensure the safety of those attending or protesting the event after police learned of threats of violence.

University officials offered to reschedule to May 2, but Coulter refused, saying the proposed date was during Dead Week, when students would be studying for finals.

Students associated with the Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation, the sponsor of the speech, sued the University of California on Monday, saying that not providing a place for Coulter to speak Thursday amounted to unconstitutional censorship.

On Tuesday, Young Americas Foundation, a conservative youth group, backed out of the event, saying UC Berkeley had failed to promise that it would protect people from leftist thugs.

The group said it wanted UC to announce that there will be zero tolerance at the event itself for masked agitators, disruption of the event, and sufficient security to ensure the safety of attendees.

UC Berkeley failed to meet our demands, after refusing to provide a proper venue for six weeks. Therefore, Young Americas Foundation will not be moving forward with an event at Berkeley on April 27 due to the lack of assurances for protections from foreseeable violence from unrestrained leftist agitators, the group said.

Pranav Jandhyala, co-founder of BridgeUSA, a nonpartisan campus group helping to organize Coulters visit, said he still hoped organizers could find an indoor venue. But he said he worried that a Coulter appearance on Sproul would result in violence and destruction.

Honestly, if it were up to me we would do it on a future date, he said. If it were up to me, she wouldnt do it on Sproul. Its not up to me. Its up to her.

Coulter has said in social media posts that she will show up Thursday because she already had a contract to do so.

UC police canceled an appearance in February by another far-right speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, after a riot began just before his speech was to be delivered. On April 15, 11 people were injured and 20 arrested when Trump supporters and opponents battled in a downtown Berkeley park.

The University of California welcomes speakers of all political viewpoints and is committed to providing a forum to enable Ann Coulter to speak on the Berkeley campus, Dianne Klein, spokeswoman for UC President Janet Napolitano, said in a statement. The campus seeks to ensure that all members of the Berkeley and larger community  including Ms. Coulter herself  remain safe during such an event.

Students and staff at UC Berkeley opposed to Coulters appearance said Tuesday that they planned to hold a demonstration at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Students affiliated with the International Socialist Organization and labor groups on the Cal campus said they will rally Thursday afternoon regardless of Coulters plans.

As the narrative around when, where, and if Ann Coulter will speak at UC Berkeley changes day by day, we know one thing for certain: We stand against xenophobic, bigoted language, and we are in solidarity with undocumented students, community members, and all marginalized populations, the organization said in a Facebook invitation to the rally.

Its important that regardless of what the alt-right is doing on and off campus, that our side, the oppressed majority, continues to get organized, said Mukund Rathi, a first-year law student at the university and part of the International Socialist Organization.

Although he disagrees with Coulters politics, Rathi said, UC shouldnt be deciding whether or when she can appear.

The university should not be playing a role in deciding who does or who does not get to speak on campus, he said.

Chronicle staff writer Michael Bodley contributed to this report.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
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Tesla will nearly double its Supercharger electric car charging network this year to 10,000 public charging units globally, up from 5,400, the company said Monday.

The Palo Alto company plans to begin producing the mass-market Model 3 later this year and plans to expand its current annual vehicle production from 80,000 last year to 500,000 by the end of 2018.

Current charging locations will be expanded and new locations will be added. California will get 1,000 of the new units.

The proprietary Superchargers can be used only with Tesla cars. They are more powerful than current charging networks that work with other cars and reach full charge significantly faster than most. The company advertises a 170-mile charge in about 30 minutes.

Until recently, Tesla buyers got free lifetime Supercharger privileges as part of their purchase. Anyone buying a Tesla after Jan. 15 of this year gets an annual 1,000-mile Supercharger credit and pay fees after that.

Real estate

Oracle expands

in Oakland

Oracle is looking to expand its presence in the East Bay.

The Redwood City tech company announced Monday that it signed a six-year lease for approximately 16,000 square feet at an office building in Oakland.

Oracle said it was looking for a way to provide a more convenient option for employees who live in the East Bay. Oracle will occupy the 17th floor of the 18-story office building at 1330 Broadway. The building is near the 12th St. Oakland BART Station and bus lines.

According to Oracles website, the company has just one other field office in the East Bay  in Pleasanton.

Airlines

2 passengers,

same attorney

The woman seen sobbing in a viral video after an American Airlines flight attendant took away her stroller now has a lawyer  the same attorney representing a man dragged off a United Express flight this month.

Chicago lawyer Thomas Demetrio says the flight attendant was out of control and nearly hit one of the womans two children with the stroller.

An American Airlines spokesman said Monday that the company has been in contact with the woman and refunded her tickets and upgraded her to first class for the rest of her trip to Argentina.

The airline says the womans doublewide stroller was tagged to be checked as cargo at the door to the plane, but instead she took it into the cabin, leading to the confrontation with a flight attendant before a flight from San Francisco to Dallas.

Two weeks earlier, airport police in Chicago dragged a passenger off a United Express plane after he refused to give up his seat to make room for an airline employee.

Demetrio said the passenger, a 69-year-old Kentucky physician, plans to sue. He said it was too soon to know whether the woman on the American plane would sue.

Courts

GM ignition

appeal tossed

The Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal from General Motors Co. seeking to block dozens of lawsuits over faulty ignition switches that one plaintiffs attorney said could expose the company to billions of dollars in additional claims.

The justices without comment left in place a lower court ruling that said the automakers 2009 bankruptcy did not shield it from liability.

An attorney representing hundreds of plaintiffs who are suing the company said it exposes GM to around 1,000 additional lawsuits and $5 billion to $10 billion in liabilities. GM said the cases will have to be tried on individual merits.

A federal appeals court ruled last year that GM remains responsible for ignition-switch injuries and deaths that occurred pre-bankruptcy because it knew about the problem for more than a decade but kept it secret from the bankruptcy court and owners of cars with the faulty switches. The decision also opens GM to claims that any cars sold by the company before bankruptcy lost value because of the scandal.

Chronicle News Services
Palantir Technologies entered into a consent decree with the Department of Labor Tuesday to settle charges that it discriminated against Asian job applicants.

As part of the settlement, the Palo Alto computer software company will pay $1,659,434 in wages and other monetary relief to eight Asian applicants for software engineering positions. The compensation includes the value of stock options they would have received if hired. It also extended job offers to these candidates, who applied for jobs between January 2010 and June 2011.

The company was co-founded and funded by prominent venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who is now an adviser to President Trump. Palantir makes powerful data analytics software used by the U.S. military and intelligence agencies. Some attribute the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden to the companys software.

As a government contractor, Palantir is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race. Palantir routinely eliminated Asian candidates during the hiring process despite being as qualified as white applicants, according to the governments complaint filed in September. The company denied the claims, saying the study was based on a small sample size.

On Tuesday, Palantir maintained its position.

We settled this matter, without any admission of liability, in order to focus on our work, Lisa Gordon, a company spokeswoman, said in a statement. We continue to stand by our employment record and are glad to have resolved this case.

This lawsuit comes as Silicon Valley faces criticism for its lack of diversity, particularly in its companies engineering ranks. However, the Palantir lawsuit was distinctive because critics usually charge the valleys tech companies with not hiring enough black and Latino engineers in favor of white and Asian employees.

Other big tech companies, such as Apple, Google and Facebook, have all released diversity numbers over the past few years. Palantir, however, has been notably tight-lipped about its diversity numbers. The company declined to comment on the current ethnic makeup of their workforce. It must, however, report data about the makeup of its workforce to the government.

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
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Wells Fargo shareholders re-elected all 15 of the companys directors at the companys annual meeting in Florida Tuesday, despite calls that some should be jettisoned for not acting sooner to prevent the fraudulent-account scandal that has engulfed the San Francisco bank since September.

The individual directors received votes in favor ranging from 53 to 99 percent. A vote as low as 53 percent is highly unusual in the corporate world, where directors are routinely re-elected with percentages in the high 90s. In 2016, only 44 directors at the 3,000 U.S. companies in the Russell 3000 index failed to win a majority vote, according to the Council of Institutional Investors.

Board Chairman Stephen Sanger got only 56 percent of the vote. He has served on the board for 13 years and had been the lead independent director until former Chairman and CEO John Stumpf resigned under pressure in October.

The lowest vote-getters were Enrique Hernandez, Jr., with 53 percent, and Federico Pena, with 54 percent. Both are members of the boards corporate responsibility committee, which oversees political, environmental and consumer lending risks, as well as customer service and complaints. It was considered most responsible for areas of the bank involved in what Wells calls the sales practices issue. Pena is a former U.S. secretary of the energy and transportation departments.

The other members of that committee  John Baker II, Lloyd Dean and Cynthia Milligan  got 70, 62 and 57 percent, respectively.

The three newest directors, including CEO Timothy Sloan, got 99 percent of the vote. They all joined the board after Wells disclosed in a settlement with regulators on Sept. 8 that it had fired about 5,300 employees since 2011 for opening more than 2 million deposit and credit card accounts without customers knowledge or authorization.

The overall vote is a significant show of opposition to board members, said Greg Waters, a research director with Glass Lewis, a San Francisco firm that advises large shareholders how to vote in corporate elections.

Shareholders will expect some kind of response from the board, he added. I wouldnt be surprised if we saw some kind of reshuffle.

After the vote was announced, Sanger said that stockholders had sent the board a message of clear dissatisfaction.

At one point during the three-hour meeting, Sanger called a recess so that a shareholder could be removed. The shareholder, Bruce Marks, CEO of the nonprofit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, would not stop demanding to hear from each individual director about their knowledge of fraudulent account openings.

Glass Lewis recommended voting against the four longest-serving members of the corporate responsibility committee. It recommended voting against two other directors, but only because they serve on too many boards (three each).

Institutional Shareholder Services, another proxy advisory firm, recommended voting against 12 directors for failure to provide sufficient timely risk oversight. It recommended voting for the three new directors who were appointed since the scandal erupted, including CEO Tim Sloan.

I am surprised that everybody received a majority vote, said Jason Schloetzer, an associate business professor at Georgetown University.

It will be interesting to see if the directors who received just barely a simple majority will at least offer their resignations, he said. It could be set up where you tender the resignation and the board refuses to accept it.

Schloetzer said receiving a low percentage of the vote could have a negative spillover effect for Wells Fargo directors serving on other corporate boards. Those directors might offer to resign to preserve their own reputation and protect seats they may have on other boards.

The states two largest public pension funds  the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State Teachers Retirement System  both voted against the companys nine longest-tenured directors for oversight failures. Together they own about 0.5 percent of Wells Fargos shares.

Berkshire Hathaway, the banks largest shareholder with a roughly 10 percent stake, said it was voting in favor of the entire slate of directors.

The board formed a committee to launch an in-depth investigation of the unauthorized account openings on Sept. 25. A report on the investigation issued April 10 found mass terminations of employees for sales practice violations dating back to at least 2002.

Wells Fargo said last week it would increase the size of a preliminary class-action settlement to $142 million to cover claims arising from fraudulent accounts dating back to 2002. The original settlement, for $110 million, only went back to 2009.

Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kathpender

Held to account

Based on preliminary results, here is the approximate percentage of shareholder votes cast in favor of each Wells Fargo director at Tuesdays annual meeting.

Timothy J. Sloan: 99%

Karen B. Peetz: 99%

Ronald L. Sargent: 99%

Suzanne M. Vautrinot: 80%

Donald M. James: 77%

Elizabeth A. Duke: 75%

John D. Baker II: 70%

John S. Chen: 70%

Susan G. Swenson: 67%

James H. Quigley: 65%

Lloyd H. Dean: 62%

Cynthia H. Milligan: 57%

Stephen W. Sanger: 56%

Federico F. Pena: 54%

Enrique Hernandez, Jr.: 53%
A 29-year-old San Francisco man shot to death Monday morning on Potrero Hill has been identified as a neighborhood resident, officials said.

The victim is Cleveland Reid, according to the city Medical Examiners Office. He was shot about 10:30 a.m. near Missouri Street and Watchman Way, said Officer Robert Rueca, a police spokesman.
OAKVILLE, Ontario, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Cannabis Corp ("CCAN" (OTC PINK:CCAN), or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Settlement Agreement (the Agreement) resulting in the potential settlement of certain outstanding debts and other financial obligations of the Company and its affiliates (collectively, the Debts) owed to certain creditors.



As contemplated by the Agreement, in partial consideration for the satisfaction of the Debts, CCAN will assign certain assets of its wholly owned subsidiary, The Clinic Network Inc. (TCN). As additional consideration, CCAN will also enter into restrictive covenant agreements preventing it from competing with the business represented by the assigned TCN assets. The Agreement also places other obligations on CCAN in regard to its reporting obligations with the Securities and Exchange Commission and performing a successful financing for a Canadian entity as required by the creditors. The satisfaction of the Debts, termination of associated agreements, and release of the Company from the claims of the creditor are conditional on the Company successfully performing the financing for the Canadian entity.

Under the Agreement, on or prior to the first anniversary thereof, the creditor has the option to deliver to the Escrow Agent a total of CAD $1,500,000 as additional consideration, at which time one of two closings of the Agreement will occur and the assignment of the TCN assets consummated. After required payments and associated, estimated costs under the Agreement it is anticipated that, post closing, CCAN will have available approximately CAD $350,000. Of this amount, approximately CAD $270,000 will be held in an escrow account with at least CAD $150,000 of this amount to be used in connection with CCANs reporting obligations as required by the Agreement.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (The "Act"). When used in the preceding discussion, words such as potential, "pleased," "will," "conditional," "anticipated," "option," or "affords us," and similar conditional expressions 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 neither historical facts nor assurance of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions and, therefore, 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, competitive factors, the ability to successfully complete additional financing and other risks described in the Company's SEC reports and filings. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

About Canadian Cannabis Corp.

Canadian Cannabis Corp ("CCAN") (OTC PINK:CCAN) is pursuing a business plan focused on entering strategic transactions in the distribution chain of medical marijuana. The Company believes its business model of engaging in strategic transactions to solidify the distribution chain by matching suppliers with a consistent demand source and providing suppliers with expert production consulting will bring a strategic advantage to the marketplace.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Queen's Louisiana Po Boy Cafe Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Mason Trinca/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Mason Trinca/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 5 of 5









Portola's own Queen's Louisiana Po'boy Cafe is expanding to the Embarcadero this summer, thanks to a pilot opportunity from the Port of San Francisco.

The South Louisiana-inspired restaurant is going to take shape on the newly renovated Pier 33 1/2, opposite Bay Street.
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"What is a hippie?" reads a headline in a 1967 San Francisco Chronicle.

Peace-touting, free-loving, pot-smoking  hippies were many things, but the Summer of Love generation is perhaps best defined by its music.

The collision of rock n' roll, folk music, psychedelics and fed-up kids led thousands of youngsters to leave their conventional homes and head west, drawn by promises of "gentle people with flowers in their hair."

Arriving on the doorstep of San Francisco in 1967, these hippies found communion in the Haight-Ashbury's Victorians, the open fields of Golden Gate Park and, of course, one another. Music held the utopian framework together, if only momentarily, during musical gatherings like the Human Be-In or the Monterey International Pop Festival or nights out at the Fillmore West.

"This generation of American youth is the first in which music has played a central role from the beginning," wrote Chronicle columnist Ralph J. Gleason in December 1966. "[It's] a generation raised with music in its ears from birth."

When the "invasion of flower children" descended upon San Francisco, they came dancing to a soundtrack of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, the Rolling Stones, the Byrds and many acts whom they would soon discover  and elevate to fame  at public concerts and festivals.

This summer marks 50 years since the Summer of Love engulfed San Francisco and a generation of flower children. The music endures, as do many of the musicians who led the short-lived counterculture revolution.

In the gallery above, check out some of the Summer of Love musicians then and now.
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President Trump cant coerce sanctuary cities like San Francisco to cooperate with immigration officers by threatening to withdraw crucial funding, a federal judge said Tuesday in a ruling that bars enforcement of Trumps order nationwide.

In the first legal test of an executive order Trump issued five days after taking office, U.S. District Judge William Orrick III of San Francisco said the president was exceeding his constitutional authority by trying to punish local governments that refuse to cooperate with his immigration policies.

Ruling on a lawsuit by San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, Orrick issued a preliminary injunction that prohibits the administration from enforcing Trumps Jan. 25 order by cutting off funding to defiant cities and counties. His ruling will remain in effect unless it is overturned by a higher court.

Given the nationwide scope of the order, and its apparent constitutional flaws, a nationwide injunction is appropriate, Orrick said.

He said those flaws include trying to force cities and counties to change their policies by threatening their funding, and interfering with Congress exclusive authority to place conditions on the use of federal funds.

This is why we have courts  to halt the overreach of a president and an attorney general who either dont understand the Constitution or chose to ignore it, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement after the ruling.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez called the decision a win for the neediest people in our nation, whose programs could have been decimated by the loss of federal funds.

The case is primarily a clash over immigration policy  Trumps aggressive approach to enforcement and deportation versus efforts by hundreds of local governments to protect their residents, regardless of immigration status, and encourage them to cooperate with police without fear of the consequences. But an underlying issue is the economic relationship between Washington and communities dependent on federal dollars to stay afloat.

Without the funding that the Trump administration was threatening to withdraw, San Francisco and Santa Clara County argued, vital health and social service programs would be gutted and residents would suffer. Their lawsuit cited the U.S. Supreme Courts 2012 ruling that the federal government may not coerce state or local governments to change their laws by threatening to withhold vital funds  in that case, the entire Medicaid grants to states that refused to expand health care for the poor.

The Trump administration said the two counties were grossly exaggerating the likely effect of the presidents order. Orrick disagreed.

Trumps order is potentially placing hundreds of millions of dollars of the counties federal grants at risk, the judge said. The orders uncertainty interferes with the counties ability to budget, plan for the future, and properly serve their residents.

The ruling is another legal rebuff for an administration that has also seen the courts block Trumps orders to ban travel to the U.S. from nations whose populations are almost entirely Muslim. Federal appeals courts in Richmond, Va., and San Francisco will take up those cases next month.

In both cases, the presidents legal arguments have been contradicted by his public statements  in the travel-ban case, by his proposals to ban Muslim immigration. Some inconsistency seemed to be on display, as well, in the administrations response to Tuesdays ruling.

In a statement, Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior noted that the ruling did not prevent the government from enforcing rules in some of its current grants that require cities and counties to provide certain information to immigration officers or forfeit the grants. Prior also said Orrick did not purport to (restrict) the departments independent legal authority to enforce the requirements of federal law applicable to communities that violate federal immigration law.

Asked whether the administration would appeal, Prior declined to comment. Shortly afterward, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus promised an appeal, and cast aspersions on the court that would be first in line to consider the appeal.

Again its the Ninth Circuit going bananas, Priebus said, although Orrick is only a trial court judge. Its clear forum-shopping thats going on. ...We will win at the Supreme Court level.

An appeal would delay plans by the two counties to ask Orrick in June for a final ruling declaring Trumps order unconstitutional.

Federal law doesnt define sanctuary cities. But more than 300 cities and counties nationwide have limited the cooperation their law enforcement agencies are allowed to extend to federal immigration officials seeking to detain and deport immigrants for crimes or illegal entry.

Nearly 50 local governments across the country, along with the state of California, filed arguments supporting the suit by San Francisco and Santa Clara County. Separate suits have been filed by Seattle, two communities in Massachusetts, and Richmond in Contra Costa County.

Local governments in the lawsuits said Trumps order potentially threatened all their federal funding  as much as $2 billion a year for San Francisco, one-fifth of its overall budget, and $1.7 billion for Santa Clara County, more than one-third of its revenue.

A high-ranking Justice Department lawyer, Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler, sought to allay those fears at an April 14 court hearing. Readler told Orrick that the only current funding potentially at risk was contained in three Justice Department and Homeland Security grant programs to local governments that had agreed, as a condition of the funding, to provide information about the immigration status of anyone in their custody.

Herreras office says San Francisco receives about $1.5 million a year in those grants, for such programs as reducing crime by ex-convicts and deterring drug use. The city, a spokesman said, complies with the laws requirement to inform federal officers about detainees immigration status. Santa Clara County receives about $1 million in similar funding.

Orrick said Readlers assurances of limited risk were contradicted by Trumps public statements and by the terms of his executive order.

For example, Orrick said, Trump told then-Fox News host Bill OReilly on Feb. 5 that cutting off funding to sanctuary cities would be a weapon to get them to change their policies. Trump has specifically threatened California, Orrick said, calling the state out of control and noting that it receives tremendous amounts of money from the federal government.

The judge, a 2013 appointee of President Barack Obama, said Readlers interpretation is also inconsistent with the sweeping mandate of Trumps executive order. That order directs the attorney general and Homeland Security to make sure that sanctuary jurisdictions are not eligible to receive any federal grants, Orrick said.

In addition, Orrick said, the presidents order, and comments by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, suggest that it would define sanctuary cities broadly, to cover communities that refuse to comply with immigration officials detainers. Detainers are requests by the government to hold immigrants in jail after their sentences expire so that federal agents can pick them up. San Francisco does not honor such requests unless the agents have a warrant from a judge.

The orders broad directive and unclear terms, and the presidents and attorney generals endorsement of them, Orrick said, has caused substantial confusion and justified fear among states and local jurisdictions that they will lose all federal grant funding at the very least.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Rachel Swan contributed to this report.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@egelko
DENVER  Tuesday marks 50 years since a groundbreaking Colorado law significantly loosened tight restrictions on legal abortions.

Before the law, Colorado  like many states  allowed abortions only if a womans life was at stake.

In 1967, a Democratic freshman state lawmaker introduced a bill that allowed abortions if the womans physical or mental health was threatened, if the unborn child might have birth defects or in cases of rape or incest.

Rep. Richard Lamm said he feared he might be committing political suicide by introducing the bill to the overwhelmingly male, Republican-dominated Legislature.

But within weeks, Republican Gov. John Love signed the bill into law, making Colorado the first state to loosen restrictions on abortion  six years before the U.S. Supreme Court would legalize it nationally.

I was pushing on a half-open door. It gave way so much more easily than I ever dreamed it would, recalled Lamm, now 81.

But all abortions still had to be approved by three-doctor panels at participating hospitals and were only permitted during the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.

Instead of ending his newfound political career, Lamm went on to serve three terms as the states governor. He is now the co-director of the University of Denvers Institute of Public Policy Studies.

Lamm said recently that when he introduced the legislation, the womens movement was just starting to take off and the concept that citizens should have more personal freedom was becoming more important in society.

At the time, abortion was not one of the Colorado Republican Partys most pressing issues and there was no organized opposition in the state to abortion rights because the idea was so new, Lamm said.

Key to Lamms effort was ally Ruth Steel, an activist who had lobbied lawmakers in 1965 to allow public health officials to discuss and to provide birth control with residents. She worked closely with John Bermingham, a Republican state senator who is now 93 and retired, to shepherd the contraception bill though the Legislature.

While on lobbying trips to the Capitol, Steel dressed formally, wearing a hat and gloves, but had no qualms talking to lawmakers frankly about issues related to sex, Lamm said.

A woman in charge of proofreading bills in the basement of the Capitol was essential to advancing the bill through the Legislature, Bermingham said.

Bermingham learned that she supported the bill, and he asked her to wait until a Senate leader who opposed it would be away so the bill could be introduced without being assigned to a committee seen as sure to kill it.

Eleven other states followed suit. And four more lifted all abortion restrictions  New York, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska  before 1970. The 1973 Supreme Courts Roe vs. Wade decision legalized abortion nationwide.

Colleen Slevin is an Associated Press writer.
BASF and UC Berkeley extend alliance for five years

Anniversary Symposium marks progress of industry, university research collaboration

Advancement made in intermetallic nanomaterials research



RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.J., April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Many scientific discoveries and patent applications have resulted from more than 25 research projects underway since West Coast universities and BASF established the California Research Alliance (CARA) by BASF in 2014. This multidisciplinary collaboration headed by the College of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) conducts research on new inorganic and other advanced materials, biosciences and their applications.

To mark three years of CARA researchers working alongside BASF counterparts, members of these universities, guest professors, students, and BASF have convened for an Anniversary Symposium, April 24-25, 2017, at UC Berkeley to address recent research advancements. During the event, leaders from UC Berkeley and BASF announced a five-year extension of the CARA collaboration at a signing ceremony.

Our California Research Alliance brings together an entire university system with BASFs global R&D organization. We see that as a great opportunity demonstrating the power of connecting academia and industry to drive innovation, said Peter Eckes, President of Bioscience Research and North America Research Representative, BASF.

"Three years and 25 research projects later, CARA has proven to be a big success," said Paul Alivisatos, Berkeley's Vice Chancellor for Research and a campus chemistry professor. "I'm delighted, but not surprised, because basic and applied research are not distinct activities. They are woven together and reinforce each other. That's why, like other CARA researchers, I am looking forward to several more years of cooperation with BASF."

Significant progress on intermetallic nanoparticles research

Over the last three years, BASF experts and researchers from UC Berkeley; Stanford, UC Davis; UC Santa Barbara; UC San Francisco; and UC Los Angeles, have worked together on multiple research projects to make new materials, advance the functionality and performance of materials and develop methods and tools for tailoring the interaction between chemicals and biological systems.

One recent advancement was achieved by a joint team active in the field of catalysis. The researchers developed a synthesis of binary intermetallic nanoparticles from a combination of noble and base metals, which have the potential to be used in catalysis applications.

Previously, there were only physical methods for manufacturing very small quantities of such intermetallic nanoparticles. With this newly discovered chemical approach, a critical first step was taken towards preparation of these materials in large scales, which is a prerequisite for assessing their potential for industrial catalysis, said Peter Walther, Senior Vice President, Heterogeneous Catalysis, BASF. The extensive nanoparticles expertise and application know-how at CARA combined with guidance provided to the postdoctoral researchers by Professor Paul Alivisatos and BASF were certainly decisive for the development of this new method.

Following the successful tests at UC Berkeley, the synthesis of the nanoparticles and their potential application in catalysis is being further evaluated in BASF laboratories in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

For press photos click on the links below:

https://www.basf.com/press-photos/us/en/photos/2017/04/04-25-17_CARA1.jpg

Suggested caption: Dr. Peter Eckes, President of Bioscience Research and North America Research Representative, BASF (seated left), and Prof. Paul Alivisatos, Vice Chancellor of Research, UC Berkeley (seated right) sign agreement to extend CARA for five years. Around them left to right: Prof. Doug Clark, Dean, College of Chemistry, UC Berkeley; Gray Davis, Former Governor of California; Janet Napolitano, President, University of California; Prof. Omar Yaghi, Founding Director of CARA, UC Berkeley; Dr. Harald Lauke, President of Advanced Materials and Systems Research, BASF; Kerstin Schierle-Arndt, Associate Director of CARA, BASF; Prof. Peidong Wang, Founding Director of CARA, UC Berkeley.

https://www.basf.com/press-photos/us/en/photos/2017/04/04-25-17_CARA2.jpg

Suggested caption: Representatives of industry, academia and government participate in a roundtable discussion titled, Driving Innovation at the Interface of Academia and Industry moderated by Michael Pcolinksi, Vice President, Advanced Materials and Systems Research, BASF Corporation (at podium). Pictured left to right: Dr. Peter Eckes, President of Bioscience Research and North America Research Representative, BASF; Prof. Mark Coopersmith, Faculty Director, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley; Dr. Eric Rohlfing, Acting Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E); and Prof. Paul Alivisatos, Vice Chancellor of Research, UC Berkeley.

About BASF

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 17,500 employees in North America, and had sales of $16.2 billion in 2016. For more information about BASFs North American operations, visit www.basf.us.



At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 114,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of about 58 billion in 2016. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.
The Handful Players, a childrens company that performs at the African American Art & Culture Complex in the Western Addition, are giving a free performance of Chinaka Hodges play Whos in Rabbits House? at 1 p.m. May 13. Its based on Verna Aardemas book of the same name, from an African Maasai folktale called The Long One, about a bullying caterpillar. But the playwright has made the work relevant for our time.

After the bully caterpillar takes over a rabbits hut, it says, Im going to build a fence around it and make you pay for it. Youll never get me out. The Long One is huge, I tell you! Tremendous! Be very afraid.

He also threatens other animals: I eat trees and trample on elephants and dismantle health care. Go away or I will trample on you!

Finally, the animals get to together to oppose the Long One, and with their help, the rabbit gets the Long One out of his hut.

We do have a lot of children of immigrant families in our program, says executive director Judith Cohen, so this story about getting kicked out of your home and a community standing up to a bully is very personal.

P.S. In Los Angeles, Mark Share was struck by a sign on a vacated space: The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy is closed.

The latest in J.A.s series of In Memoriam tributes to people who stood up for their convictions is to Gordon Hirabayashi, who was born April 23, 1918, and died in 2012. Hirabayashi defied Executive Order 9066, refusing to be rounded up and sent to an internment camp. His imprisonment was upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court in 1943 (finally overturned in 1986).

If you think the Constitution protects you, said Hirabayashi, you better make sure that (it) is actively operating. ... Otherwise, its a scrap of paper.

J.A. pays tribute to Hirabayashi and conscientious objectors everywhere. Be Brave. Stay Strong. Live your values.

In honor of Rainbow Flag designer Gilbert Baker , who died on the last day of March, the New York LGBT Film and Media nonprofit Newfest, NYC Pride, and a team from Ogilvy & Mather created a rainbow-hued typeface. The free and downloadable typeface, created with the use of Fontself, is called Gilbert. Its designers hope it will be used on banners for protests and marches.

Jerry Barrish, who was busy as a bail bondsman during the Summer of Love, attended the de Young exhibition on the era, and found himself locked up  in traffic. Barrish was there on 4/20. After the museum closed at 5:15 p.m., he says, it took him an hour and 15 minutes to get out of the garage.

Sign carried by artist Gyongy Laky in the March for Science: The White House is celebrating Flat Earth Day. ... All six of Americas 2016 Nobel Prize winners are immigrants.

The Bay Area Longshoremens Memorial Association had a rededication event on Wednesday, April 19, for the restored mini-park at Taylor and Beach, whereupon stands Benjamin Bufanos 18-foot-tall statue of St. Francis. The park was created in 1962 by the Teamsters Union.

The provenance: After its first unveiling in Paris, Bufanos 13-ton granite sculpture was shipped in 1955 to San Francisco to be installed at the St. Francis Church in North Beach. The church didnt like it, says association treasurer Mike Villeggiante, and the statue was sent to Oakland for installation at a restaurant. Then Bufano, well known in San Francisco, reached out to his longshoremen friends, including Harry Bridges and Jimmy Herman, to see if they could provide a new home.

A Mill Valley man was surprised that a friend of his who was being prepared for surgery was asked in a phone interview: Is anybody in your house abusing you verbally or physically?

And on Monday, April 24, the day the Frisky Scale appeared in this column, Mac McCarthy was struck by the Peanuts cartoon of the day: Snoopy notes that it is National Secretaries Week and recommends, Give your secretary a hug.

P.S. Jim Schock informs us that Tucker Carlson, who is replacing Bill OReilly on Fox News, is the son of Dick Carlson, who was a KGO-TV reporter here in the 60s.

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

I fell in love with butter in Denver.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Tuesday paid tribute to Holocaust victims and survivors with a resolute speech in which he vowed that his administration would confront anti-Semitism and protect Israel from those seeking the Jewish state's destruction.

"Those who deny the Holocaust are accomplices to this horrible evil," Trump said in a 15-minute address before a crowd of several hundred, including some survivors, at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Days of Remembrance event at the U.S. Capitol. "We will never be silent . . . in the face of evil again."

Trump's remarks came in the wake of stumbles by his campaign and the White House that have led to criticism that the president and his aides have minimized the Nazi genocide of the Jewish people during World War II. This month, White House press secretary Sean Spicer appeared to suggest that Syrian President Bashar Assad had committed more egregious attacks on his people than did Adolph Hitler, who oversaw the extermination of more than 6 million Jews in Europe.

Alex Brandon/STF

"This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism," Trump said, receiving applause from the audience. "We will stamp out prejudice, we will condemn hatred, we will bear witness and we will act. As president of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people, and I will always stand with our great friend and partner, the state of Israel."

Trump spoke extensively about what he called the "Nazi genocide" and paid tribute to "those who survived history's darkest hour."

"You saw the organized attempt at the extermination of an entire people - a great people, I must say," he said. "You survived the ghettos, the concentration camps and the death camps, and you persevered to tell the stories."

Vice President Mike Pence, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn were among the guests sitting in the front row.

Before Trump spoke, Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the United States, said the Holocaust "laid bare unimaginable hatred" and was defined by "horrors" and "cruelty."

Dermer praised the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airfield that Trump authorized in retaliation for Assad's chemical weapons attack in that country's civil war.

"That decision was a defiance of indifference," Dermer said. "And if evil triumphs when good men do nothing, we should all seek to live in a world that defies indifference."

Dermer went on to say that the civilized world should be "prepared to use military might to confront barbarism."

Trump returned the praise, saying of Dermer that "he's done a great job and said some wonderful words."

Trump said millions of "innocent people were imprisoned and executed by the Nazis without mercy - without even a sign of mercy. Yet even today, there are those who want to forget the past, and there are even those filled with such hate - total hate - that they want to erase the Holocaust from history. Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil and we will never be silent. We just won't. We will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again."

The president spoke at length about the legacy of Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and political activist who died last summer, noting that Tuesday marked the first Day of Remembrance since his death.

"His absence leaves an empty space in our hearts, but his spirit fills this room," Trump said. He said that Wiesel had a "gentle spirit," that he "lived through hell" and that his "courage still lights the path from darkness."

Trump and several people close to him have previously faced accusations of anti-Semitism and making insensitive remarks regarding the Holocaust. During the campaign, Trump tweeted a graphic attacking Hillary Clinton that was circulating online in anti-Semitic circles. It featured a Star of David on top of piles of money. Although the image was deleted, Trump later said he wished that his staffers had left it in place and allowed him to defend it.

After the election, the Anti-Defamation League's chief executive opposed Trump's selection of Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist because Bannon once led the Breitbart news site, which the organization considers "the premier website of the alt-right, a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists."

In January, the White House released a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, that made no mention of Jews or the anti-Semitic views that fueled the Holocaust. At the time, White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks said the omission was intentional because the White House staff is an "incredibly inclusive group, and we took into account all of those who suffered."

When confronting accusations of anti-Semitism, Trump and those close to him note that his daughter Ivanka, son-in-law and three grandchildren are Jewish. Ivanka Trump posted a family photo Monday on social media that appears to have been taken at the White House and includes the message: "During #Passover, we are called upon to reflect on the significance of the exodus from Egypt and celebrate the great freedoms we enjoy today! #ChagPesach."

At the conclusion of his speech Tuesday, Trump declared: "We must never, ever shrink away from telling the truth about evil in our time. Evil is always seeking to wage war about the innocent and to destroy all that is good and beautiful about our common humanity, but evil can only thrive in darkness."
ORLANDO, Fla., April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immune Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB:IMUN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for a range of conditions using LodonalTM its proprietary formulation of lower-dose naltrexone, today announced it has submitted its New Drug Application (NDA) to the Pharmacy and Poison Board (PPB) in Kenya for Lodonal for the treatment of patients with HIV and cancer, both as a standalone treatment as well as an adjunct treatment, and as an immunomodulator.



This NDA submission initiates the process we believe will result in broad access to this our therapy for those suffering from immune deficiency disease and cancer, said Noreen Griffin, Chief Executive Officer of Immune Therapeutics. We recognize the difficulty the immune-comprised community has had in obtaining affordable non-toxic therapies and look forward to working closely with the PPB as they review our application.

A full preclinical and clinical study program supports the filing including: four clinical efficacy trials involving more than 500 HIV/AIDS patients, and one clinical trial with 89 patients for cancer and over 1,200 patients with autoimmune disease. The clinical data showed that Lodonal could improve CD4 count, decrease viral load and reduce the number of opportunistic infections in patients suffering from comprised immune systems.

Omaera Pharmaceuticals, Ltd and GB Pharma Holding supported this filing. Without their support, the fast track of this process would not have been possible, noted Griffin. The PPB had a 60-day filing review period to determine whether the NDA is complete and acceptable for filing. The application was accepted and the company has received an application number. From there, we will move through the regulatory approval process including manufacturing (GMP) assessment, National Quality Control laboratory analysis, regulatory committee review and committee recommendations before the board issues its final ruling. The approval process could take as little as 90 days, after which we will be prepared to take orders for shipment through our recently announced distribution agreement, concluded Griffin. The Company plans to reach commercialization for Lodonal in Kenya in 2017.

We look forward to a smooth regulatory process for Lodonal in Kenya. We have significant experience with Kenyas PPB and have meetings planned with the Ministry of Health before the end of the month, notes Dr. Gloria B. Herndon, President and CEO of GB Pharma Holdings of Washington, DC.

About Immune Therapeutics, Inc.

Immune Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB:IMUN) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing its proprietary version of lower-dose naltrexone Lodonal as standalone and conjunctive therapy in patients with a wide variety of conditions including HIV/AIDS, autoimmune diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative conditions and other inflammatory conditions. Lodonal is a novel compound with a unique mechanism of action and has clinical data on over 400 patients in several clinical studies. The drug has a favorable safety profile, is well tolerated by patients and has demonstrated efficacy in at least one clinically meaningful endpoint.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ from those projected due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the possibility that some or all of the matters and transactions considered by the Company may not proceed as contemplated, and by all other matters specified in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are made based upon current expectations that are subject to risk and uncertainty. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements in this news release to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such forward-looking information. Assumptions and other information that could cause results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking information can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov), including its recent periodic reports.
Former Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva hopes a judge will allow his ankle bracelet to be removed Tuesday morning so that he can work as a lifeguard before his trial on fraud charges.

Silva wants to work as a lifeguard at the Stockton Kids Club, adding that the nonprofit organization and the children of Stockton could really use his help.
Virginia Beach, Virginia, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In honor of Military Appreciation Month, Lincoln Military Housing (LMH) is holding a sweepstakes giving away free rent. At Lincoln Military Housing, we support our service members and their families. We are excited to give away multiple free rent prizes this May in honor of Military Appreciation Month. We are also excited to have so many new families learning about LMH and taking advantage of all the perks of living in housing, said Jamie Taylor, Regional Housing Director, LMH.

Service members who move into installations including Little Creek, Naval Station Norfolk, Oceana, Northwest, Portsmouth and Yorktown by May 26, 2017, are eligible to be entered into the contest. In some instances, Lincoln Military Housing is offering to buy out leases for service members to help meet the sweepstakes deadline.

Service members who take advantage of this offer become a part of an award-winning installation of over 4,000 homes in over 20 communities in Hampton Roads. As a Resident, they can enjoy a variety of free community events including educational and fitness classes, an active Spouse Club, ASYMCA Mommy and Me programming, and events for the entire family. Plus, residents can sleep easy knowing there is 24-hour emergency maintenance at their fingertips.

For additional details, restrictions, and contest rules, service members can call 844-596-2540 or visit FreeRentHR.com.

About Lincoln Military Housing

Lincoln Military Housing (LMH) was formed in 2001 through a Department of Defense (DOD) contract with parent company Lincoln Property Company. The goal has always been to increase the quality of military housing for our nation's servicemen and women. Since its inception more than a decade years ago, Lincoln Military Housing now provides more than 36,000 family homes for military members across the US. Lincoln is much more than a property management company. LMH acts as a support system for military families and offers community-building activities and 24-hour maintenance assistance programs, free, to all of their residents. Services are available for members of all branches of service - Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force, United States Coast Guard, and National Guard.

For more information about LMH and our services, please visit: www.LincolnMilitary.com.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/83cadb22-5c59-4592-b460-032be7970e15
Oslo, Norway, 25 April 2017

The Board of Directors of Vistin Pharma ASA has decided to propose for the annual general meeting a dividend for 2016 of NOK 1.00 per share.

Dividend amount: 1.00 per share

Declared currency: NOK

Last day including right: 24 May 2017

Ex-date: 26 May 2017

Record date: 29 May 2017

Payment date: 5 June 2017

Date of approval: 24 May 2017

Other information: The dividend will be distributed as a re-payment of paid-in capital

This information is published in accordance with the requirements of the Continuing Obligations.
Poet Erica Lewis, whose day job as a publicist for arts groups mandates spotlighting the works of others, was herself in the spotlight Sunday, April 23, at City Lights, where she read from her new book, mary wants to be a superwoman. The title of the book, like the title of each poem in the book, comes from a Stevie Wonder song.

This book is about my family, our history she said, adding that her mothers family traces back to the Trail of Tears. Lewis audience listened in rapt attention. The past has ruined the future, she continued. Then a few minutes later, We forgot how to dance. The crowd was hushed, then euphoric; the longed-for reception for the work of poet.

Id been at other readings in the bookstores upstairs poetry room, but never one in the afternoon when it was flooded with light and packed, not only with friends of Lewis but also with friends of prose writer Rita Bullwinkel, who read first.

As the room filled before the program began, I listened to the conversation of poets and poetry lovers. There was some talk of the Warriors having won. The man next to me pulled a copy of Bob Kaufmans Solitudes Crowded With Loneliness from the shelf and skimmed through it while he waited.

How do you know her? I heard one audience member ask another about Bullwinkel. We were waitresses together, said the other, at a writers conference. I knew she was doing writers stuff, said the first. You gotta support the arts.

Another woman talked to the person next to her about a mutual pal. Shes doing slack-lining. Its really good for her core.

Looking around, my glance fell on the bamboo blinds hanging crookedly in one of the windows, through which you could see laundry flapping across the alley, almost near enough to touch. A short story and a few poems later, the printed blue bedding had been taken in, and replaced by something mint green.

Mike Zonta was on the J-Church the other night, when he overheard a guy talking to himself using American Sign Language. Got off at 24th Street.

H.L. Brown suggests that the threat of violence at UC Berkeley speaking events would be lessened if all speakers and everyone in the audience were required to be nude.

Call and response at the March for Science, as cited by Trent Orr: What do we want? Science. When do we want it? After peer review!

At the Park Tavern this week, Sally Bedell Smith, author of Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, spoke to members of the Monday Group, who gather periodically to reap wisdom from authors and civic leaders. Her multicity tour was co-sponsored by her publisher, Penguin Random House, and the Royal Oak Foundation, which seeks to raise awareness of and advance the work of the National Trust of England, according to its website.

Smith, author of seven previous memoirs, is a thorough journalist  she interviewed 300 people for this work  and a measured speaker. When she spoke to this group about her Pamela Harriman biography, she employed a handful of neat index cards. Nowadays, she uses her iPhone for speech notes.

Her portrait of the prince, however, reveals that he makes no such use of technology. A thoughtful man full of opinions, he walks around jotting down his thoughts on little white pieces of paper, she said. A silver notebook on the dinner table allows him to keep on jotting during the meal. At night, he does his correspondence using a fountain pen.

Also, she said, he sometimes lies on the floor of his country house so he can hear the comments of tourists who cant see him; he does not carry keys, but performs an intricate set of movements with two doorknobs that allow him entry to his house. He is very involved in charity: His Princes Trust provided a $2,000 grant to young Idris Elba that was the seed money for his blossoming acting career; the trust has paid for the restoration of 65 buildings in central Kabul; he also established a charity for endangered red squirrels.

His mother has not stepped aside to let him rule, but when her mothers time on Earth is up, he will become king. Theres no mechanism to skip Charles, said Smith.

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

I tried being nice for a week, but its just too hard. I have to accept that Im not a nice person.

Girl to girl, overheard in a Redwood High math class by Niles Thornhill
English French

Clermont-Ferrand, April 25 2017

Michelin successfully placed a tap issue of non-dilutive cash-settled convertible bonds due 2022 for USD 100 million

Michelin announces today the successful placement of a USD 100 million tap issue of non-dilutive cash-settled convertible bonds due 2022 (the "New Bonds").

The New Bonds are to be issued on the same terms (save for the issue price) as, and, from the date which is expected to be not less than 40 days after their issue date, shall be fully fungible with and assimilated to the USD 500 million non-dilutive cash-settled convertible bonds due January 10, 2022 issued by Michelin on January 10, 2017 (the "Original Bonds") and, together with the New Bonds, the "Bonds").

Concurrently with the issuance of the New Bonds, Michelin purchased cash-settled call options (the "Call Options") to hedge its economic exposure to the potential exercise of the conversion rights embedded in the New Bonds. Since they will only be cash-settled, the New Bonds will not result in the issuance of new shares or the delivery of existing shares of Michelin (the "Shares") upon conversion. This USD denominated debt will be immediately converted into euros.

Michelin intends to use the net proceeds of the issuance of the New Bonds for general corporate purposes.

The New Bonds shall be issued at 103.50% of the par value. This issue price will be adjusted following a reference period of 4 trading days from April 26 until May 2, 2017 included (the "Reference Period"), to reflect the share price performance and the evolution of the exchange rate euro/dollar. The final issue price will be announced at the end of the Reference Period, expected to occur on May 2 2017.

The issue and settlement date of the New Bonds will take place on May 5, 2017.

An application for the listing of the New Bonds on the Open Market (Marche Libre) of Euronext Paris will be made and should be effective from the settlement and delivery date of the New Bonds.

The New Bonds have been offered via an accelerated bookbuilding process through a private placement to institutional investors only, outside the United States of America, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Japan. No prospectus, offering circular or similar document will be prepared in connection with the offering

It is anticipated that the hedge counterparties to the Call Options will enter into transactions to hedge their respective positions under the Call Options through the purchase or sale, of Shares or any other transactions, on the market and off-market, at any time, and in particular during the Reference Period and at the conversion or redemption of the Bonds.

In the context of the offering, Michelin has agreed to a lock-up undertaking in relation to its Shares and equity-linked securities for a period ending 60 calendar days after the settlement and delivery date, subject to certain exceptions.

This press release does not constitute or form part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for or to sell the New Bonds and the offering of the New Bonds is not an offer to the public in any jurisdiction, including France.

Investor Relations







Valerie Magloire

+33 (0) 1 78 76 45 37

+33 (0) 6 76 21 88 12 (cell)

valerie.magloire@michelin.com







Matthieu Dewavrin

+33 (0) 4 73 32 18 02

+33 (0) 6 71 14 17 05 (cell)

matthieu.dewavrin@michelin.com







Humbert de Feydeau

+33 (0) 4 73 32 68 39

+33 (0) 6 82 22 39 78 (cell)

humbert.de-feydeau@fr.michelin.com



Media Relations







Corinne Meutey

+33 (0) 1 78 76 45 27

+33 (0) 6 08 00 13 85 (cell)

corinne.meutey@michelin.com















Individual Shareholders







Jacques Engasser

+33 (0) 4 73 98 59 08

jacques.engasser@michelin.com





DISCLAIMER

Available information

The issue of the New Bonds was not subject to a prospectus approved by the French Financial Market Authority (Autorite des marches financiers) (the "AMF"). Detailed information on Michelin, including its Shares, business, results, prospects and related risk factors are described in Michelin's registration document, the French version of which was filed with the AMF on March 8, 2017 under number D.17-0131 (the "Reference Document"). The Reference Document is available together with all the press releases and other regulated information about Michelin, on Michelin's website (https://www.michelin.com).

Important information

This press release may not be published, distributed or released directly or indirectly in the United States of America, Australia, Canada, South Africa or Japan. The distribution of this press release may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes, should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

No communication or information relating to the offering may be transmitted to the public in a country where there is a registration obligation or where an approval is required. No action has been or will be taken in any country in which such registration or approval would be required. The issuance or the subscription of the New Bonds may be subject to legal and regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions; none of Michelin and the Joint Bookrunners assumes any liability in connection with the breach by any person of such restrictions.

This press release is an advertisement and not a prospectus within the meaning of Directive 2003/71/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of November 4, 2003 as amended (the "Prospectus Directive").

The New Bonds have been offered only by way of a private placement in France to persons referred to in Article L.411-2-II of the French monetary and financial code (Code monetaire et financier) and outside France (excluding the United States of America, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Japan), and there will be no public offering in any country (including France). This press release does not constitute a recommendation concerning the issue of the New Bonds. The value of the New Bonds and the Shares can decrease as well as increase. Potential investors should consult a professional adviser as to the suitability of the New Bonds for the person concerned.

European Economic Area

With respect to the Member States of the European Economic Area which have implemented the Prospectus Directive (the "Relevant Member States"), no action has been undertaken or will be undertaken to make an offer to the public of the New Bonds requiring a publication of a prospectus in any Relevant Member State. As a result, the New Bonds may only be offered in Relevant Member States:

to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus

Directive; or



in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive.

For the purposes of this paragraph, the expression "offer to the public of New Bonds" in any Relevant Member State, means any communication, to individuals or legal entities, in any form and by any means, of sufficient information on the terms and conditions of the offering and on the New Bonds to be offered, thereby enabling an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for the New Bonds, as the same may be varied in that Relevant Member State.

These selling restrictions with respect to Relevant Member States apply in addition to any other selling restrictions which may be applicable in the Relevant Member States who have implemented the Prospectus Directive.

France

The New Bonds have not been and will not be offered or sold or cause to be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. Any offer or sale of the New Bonds and distribution of any offering material relating to the New Bonds have been and will be made in France only to (a) persons providing investment services relating to portfolio management for the account of third parties (personnes fournissant le service d'investissement de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de tiers), and/or (b) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies) acting for their own account, as defined in, and in accordance with, Articles L.411-1, L.411-2 and D. 411-1 of the French monetary and financial Code (Code monetaire et financier).

United Kingdom

This press release is addressed and directed only (i) to persons located outside the United Kingdom, (ii) to investment professionals as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order"), (iii) to people designated by Article 49(2) (a) to (d) of the Order or (iv) to any other person to whom this press release could be addressed pursuant to applicable law (the persons mentioned in paragraphs (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) all deemed relevant persons ("Relevant Persons")). The New Bonds are intended only for Relevant Persons and any invitation, offer of contract related to the subscription, tender, or acquisition of the New Bonds may be addressed and/or concluded only with Relevant Persons. All persons other than Relevant Persons must abstain from using or relying on this document and all information contained therein.

This press release is not a prospectus which has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority or any other United Kingdom regulatory authority for the purposes of Section 85 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

United States of America

This press release may not be published, distributed or transmitted in the United States of America (including its territories and dependencies, any State of the United States of America and the District of Columbia). This press release does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase for securities in the United States of America or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act, the law of any state of the United States of America and may not be offered or sold in the United States of America or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons, except pursuant to an exemption from, or a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act or the law of the above states. The New Bonds will be offered or sold only to non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions outside of the United States of America, in accordance with Regulation S of the Securities Act. Michelin does not intend to register any portion of the proposed offering in the United States of America and no public offering will be made in the United States of America.

Australia, Canada, South Africa and Japan

The New Bonds may not and will not be offered, sold or purchased in Australia, Canada, South Africa or Japan. The information contained in this press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in Australia, Canada, South Africa or Japan.

The distribution of this press release in certain countries may constitute a breach of applicable law.
MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Horizon National Corp.'s (NYSE:FHN) board of directors has approved payment of a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $.09 per share. The dividend is payable July 3 to the common shareholders of record on June 9.

The board also approved payment of a quarterly cash dividend of $1,550.00 per share on First Horizons Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A ("Series A Preferred Stock"). This equates to a cash dividend of $.387500 per Depositary Share (NYSE:FHN PrA), which each represent a 1/4000th interest in a share of the Series A Preferred Stock. The dividend is payable July 10, to shareholders of record on June 23.

About First Horizon

The 4,300 employees of First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:FHN) provide financial services through more than 160 bank locations across Tennessee and the southern U.S. and 29 FTN Financial offices across the U.S. The company was founded during the Civil War in 1864 and has the 14th oldest national bank charter in the country. First Tennessee has the largest deposit market share in Tennessee and one of the highest customer retention rates of any bank in the country. FTN Financial is a capital markets industry leader in fixed income sales, trading and strategies for institutional customers in the U.S. and abroad. First Horizon has been recognized as one of the nation's best employers by Working Mother and American Banker magazines and the National Association for Female Executives. More information is available at www.FirstHorizon.com.



FHN-G
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

Firefighters contained a fire at an apartment building in San Francisco Tuesday morning, according to fire officials.

At 3:57 a.m., the San Francisco Fire Department announced on Twitter that crews were at the scene of a one-alarm fire on the fourth floor of an apartment building at 455 Eddy St.

At 4:04 a.m., fire officials announced on Twitter that the blaze was contained to a room on the fourth floor and there were no injuries.

MORE NEWS: Mountain lion DNA found at Pescadero home where dog was snatched from bedroom

MORE NEWS: In parts of the Bay Area, $105,350 is 'low income'

The cause of the fire is under investigation.
DENVER, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Janus Capital Group Inc. (Janus) (NYSE:JNS) today announced that Janus shareholders approved the agreement and plan of merger with Henderson Group plc (Henderson) (LSE:HGG) (ASX:HGG) dated as of October 3, 2016 with approximately 86.2 percent of shares outstanding cast in favor of the proposal. The approval is the result of a vote on the proposals identified in the definitive proxy statement/prospectus, dated March 21, 2017 during a special meeting of the shareholders held earlier this morning related to the proposed merger with Henderson. The corresponding Henderson shareholder vote will take place on April 26, 2017.

We are pleased with the overwhelming support our shareholders have shown for the planned merger of Janus and Henderson, said Glenn Schafer, Chairman of the Janus Capital Group Board of Directors. Shareholders agree with the Boards recommendation and recognize the tremendous value of a combined company. This significant growth opportunity for Janus will create one of the worlds leading global active asset managers.

The combination of Janus and Henderson accelerates both businesses' strategic objectives for growth, diversification, and the creation of a truly global active investment manager, said Dick Weil, Chief Executive Officer of Janus Capital. We are excited by the possibilities and look forward to what our united organizations will achieve together.

As announced on October 3, 2016, the respective Boards of Janus and Henderson unanimously agreed to an all-stock merger of equals. The combination of these two complementary businesses is expected to create a leading global active asset manager with significant scale, diverse products and investment strategies, and depth and breadth in global distribution. The result will be an organization that is well-positioned to provide world-class client service, gain market share and further enhance shareholder value.

Upon closing of the merger, which is expected to occur on May 30, 2017, Henderson will be the parent holding company for the combined group and will be renamed Janus Henderson Group plc (Janus Henderson). A holder of Janus common stock will be entitled to receive 4.7190 Henderson ordinary shares for each share of Janus common stock that it holds plus cash in lieu of any fractional shares based on then prevailing market prices, subject to the following adjustments. Effective immediately prior to the closing of the merger, subject to Henderson shareholder approval, Henderson will implement a share consolidation of Henderson ordinary shares, at a ratio of one Janus Henderson ordinary share (or CDI, as applicable) for every 10 Henderson ordinary shares (or CDIs, as applicable) outstanding, so that at closing of the merger each Janus stockholder will receive 0.4719 Janus Henderson ordinary shares for each share of Janus common stock. We expect that, subject to Henderson shareholder approval, Henderson ordinary shares will be delisted from the LSE, ordinary shares of Janus Henderson will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol JHG, beginning on May 30, 2017, and the CDIs will remain quoted and traded on the financial market operated by Australian Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HGG for a short period of time following closing of the merger and then under the new ticker symbol JHG.

About Janus Capital Group Inc.

Janus Capital Group Inc. (JCG) is a global investment firm dedicated to delivering better outcomes for clients through a broad range of investment solutions, including fixed income, equity, alternative and multi-asset class strategies. It does so through a number of distinct asset management platforms, including investment teams within Janus Capital Management LLC (Janus), INTECH Investment Management LLC (INTECH), Perkins Investment Management LLC (Perkins) and Kapstream Capital Pty Limited (Kapstream), in addition to a suite of exchange-traded products. Each team brings distinct asset class expertise, perspective, style-specific experience and a disciplined approach to risk. Investment strategies are offered through open-end funds domiciled in both the U.S. and offshore, as well as through separately managed accounts, collective investment trusts and exchange-traded products. Based in Denver, JCG has offices located in 12 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The firm had complex-wide assets under management and ETN assets totaling $204.7 billion as of March 31, 2017.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GCP Applied Technologies Inc. (NYSE:GCP), a leading global provider of products and technology solutions for the specialty construction chemicals, specialty building materials, and packaging sealants and coatings industries, today announced that it expects to release its first quarter 2017 results at 6:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. President and Chief Executive Officer Gregory E. Poling and Chief Financial Officer Dean P. Freeman will host a conference call to discuss the results later that day at 10:00 a.m. ET.



The live webcast may be accessed by visiting the Events and Presentations section of the companys website at investor.gcpat.com. The call also may be accessed by dialing +1 (844) 887-9408 in the U.S. or +1 (412) 317-9261 internationally. Participants should ask to join the GCP Applied Technologies earnings call.

For those unable to participate in the live conference call, a playback will be available through May 16, 2017. To listen to the playback, please dial +1 (877) 344-7529 in the U.S. or +1 (412) 317-0088 internationally; the access code is 10104530. A webcast replay will also be available in the Events and Presentations section of the companys website for approximately three months.

About GCP Applied Technologies

GCP Applied Technologies is a leading global provider of products and technology solutions for customers in the specialty construction chemicals, specialty building materials, and packaging sealants and coatings industries. Our products help improve the performance of our customers products, increase productivity in their application or manufacturing processes, and meet the increasing regulatory requirements impacting their industry. GCP has approximately 3,000 employees on six continents and serves customers in more than 110 countries. More information is available at www.gcpat.com.
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WASHINGTON, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Programs work on increasing Latino civic participation inspired the launch of the Latino Engagement and Achievement Fund (LEAF), a new endowment to support DC Metro Hispanic civic organizations. The new initiative, housed at the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia, was launched on Thursday, April 13, 2017. The Latinos and Society Program published a report titled "Unlocking Latino Civic Potential: 2016 and Beyond," which was the result of a convening organized of diverse civic engagement leaders that identified key challenges and recommendations for boosting the low rates of Latino civic participation.



Paty Funegra, co-founder of LEAF and a Ricardo Salinas Foundation Scholar at the Aspen Institutes Socrates Program in 2016, attended the report launch that inspired her and co-founder Diana Katz to create the new initiative. The Ricardo Salinas Foundation Scholarship aims to increase the participation of Latinos in the Aspen Institutes public events, policy roundtables, leadership seminars and other convenings. To date, 166 scholarships have been granted. The Latinos and Society program believes that by bringing together Latino voices around the country's most pressing issues, we can help develop more knowledgeable leaders, cultivate a more educated and informed citizenry, and promote the engagement of all people in securing a prosperous and inclusive future for America.

"After attending the Socrates Program as a Ricardo Salinas Scholar and after seeing the clarity with which the Report 'Unlocking Latino Civic Potential: 2016 and Beyond,' communicated key recommendations that seek to advance Latino civic engagement, I felt the urge to take action, to raise awareness and to inspire local philanthropists to invest in ensuring that our voices are heard, that Latinos are more civically engaged to more effectively represent their thriving Latino communities, drawing attention as contributors, innovators, and leaders," said Paty Funegra.

Following the report launch, Paty and LEAF co-founder Diana Katz, decided to make a statement and set an example for the community. They approached the Community Foundation with a vision to create a source of strategic, permanent funding to strengthen and encourage the Latino community for generations to come. The fund will be guided by four key recommendations in the Aspen Institute report: leadership development, civic education, voter engagement, and immigrant integration and naturalization. LEAF was officially launched announcing a gift of $100,000, and on the day of the event an anonymous donor pledged an additional $50,000 in matching funds.

I am so honored that the work we embarked upon with other civic leaders, culminating in a report with a roadmap for Latino civic participation, has inspired others in our community, and I hope that the work of the Latinos and Society Program and the Ricardo Salinas Scholarships will continue to influence how the media, policymakers, or decision-makers understand and engage with American Latinos, said Abigail Golden-Vazquez, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program.

About Aspen Latinos and Society Program

The Aspen Institute founded the Latinos and Society Program in order to bring Latinos and non-Latinos together to learn about their shared future and jointly explore solutions to the challenges of our times, particularly in the areas of civic participation, economic advancement and educational opportunity. It connects Latino leaders to Aspen Institute programs and networks, fostering collaborations that contribute to a more informed and inclusive vision of America. To learn more, follow @AspenLatinos, or visit AspenInstitute.org/policy-work/latinos-society.
BEIJING, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) (Autohome or the Company), the leading online destination for automobile consumers in China, today announced it filed its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on April 25, 2017. The annual report on Form 20-F, which contains the Companys audited consolidated financial statements, can be accessed on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov as well as through the Companys investor relations website at http://ir.autohome.com.cn.



The Company will provide a hard copy of its annual report containing the audited consolidated financial statements, free of charge, to its shareholders and ADS holders upon request. Requests should be directed to Investor Relations Department, Autohome Inc., 10th Floor Tower B, CEC Plaza, 3 Dan Ling Street, Haidian District, Beijing, Peoples Republic of China.

About Autohome Inc.

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) is the leading online destination for automobile consumers in China. Its mission is to enhance the car-buying and ownership experience for auto consumers in China. Autohome provides professionally produced and user-generated content, a comprehensive automobile library, and extensive automobile listing information to automobile consumers, covering the entire car purchase and ownership cycle. The ability to reach a large and engaged user base of automobile consumers has made Autohome a preferred platform for automakers and dealers to conduct their advertising campaigns. Further, the Companys dealer subscription and advertising services allow dealers to market their inventory and services through Autohomes platform, extending the reach of their physical showrooms to potentially millions of internet users in China and generating sales leads for them. The Company offers sales leads, data analysis, and marketing services to assist automakers and dealers with improving their efficiency and facilitating transactions. As a transaction-centric company, Autohome operates its Autohome Mall, a full-service online transaction platform, to facilitate transactions for automakers and dealers. Further, through its website and mobile applications, it also provides other value-added services, including auto financing, auto insurance, used car transactions, and aftermarket services. For further information, please visit www.autohome.com.cn.
NEW YORK, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE:MTX) will sponsor a conference call on Friday, May 5, 2017 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its first quarter 2017 financial results.



The conference call is being webcast by Global Webcasting Group and can be accessed at Minerals Technologies Inc.'s website at http://www.mineralstech.com. To listen to the call, go to the MTI website and click on "Investor Information," then click on "Presentations and Conference Calls."

New York-based Minerals Technologies Inc. is a resource- and technology-based growth company that develops, produces and markets worldwide a broad range of specialty mineral, mineral-based and synthetic mineral products and related systems and services. MTI serves the paper, foundry, steel, construction, environmental, energy, polymer and consumer products industries. The company reported sales of $1.638 billion in 2016.
COVINGTON, KY, April 25, 2017 - Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ASH) announced today that its board of directors has approved the distribution of all of its remaining interest in Valvoline Inc. ("Valvoline") (NYSE: VVV) to Ashland stockholders and has determined the approximate distribution ratio, record date and distribution date for the final separation.

Subject to the conditions described below, the Ashland board of directors has authorized the distribution to Ashland stockholders of an aggregate of 170,000,000 shares of Valvoline common stock on May 12, 2017, the distribution date, as a pro rata dividend on shares of Ashland common stock outstanding at the close of business on the record date of May 5, 2017. Based on the number of shares of Ashland common stock outstanding as of March 31, 2017, Ashland estimates that each share of Ashland common stock will receive approximately 2.73 shares of Valvoline common stock in the distribution. The actual distribution ratio for the Valvoline common stock to be distributed per share of Ashland common stock will be determined based on the number of shares of Ashland common stock outstanding on the record date.

The Distribution is subject to certain customary conditions, including receipt of a customary tax opinion and confirmation of sufficient capital adequacy and surplus to make the distribution. Ashland expects all of these conditions to be satisfied on the distribution date.

"Today's announcement represents the final step in our journey to create two great companies that are positioned for success, with the flexibility, strategic focus and financial resources to generate revenue and earnings growth," said William A. Wulfsohn, Ashland chairman and chief executive officer. "Valvoline is well on its way toward building the world's leading engine and automotive maintenance business, while Ashland is squarely focused on positioning itself for profitable growth as a pure-play specialty chemicals company. This is an exciting time for both companies and all of our employees who have worked so hard to prepare for this final separation."

Fractional shares of Valvoline common stock will not be distributed to Ashland stockholders. Instead, the fractional shares of Valvoline common stock will be aggregated and sold in the open market, with the net proceeds distributed pro rata in the form of cash payments to Ashland stockholders who would otherwise receive Valvoline fractional shares. The spin-off has been structured to qualify as a tax-free distribution to Ashland stockholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Cash received in lieu of fractional shares will, however, be taxable. Ashland stockholders should consult their tax advisors with respect to U.S. federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences of the distribution.

Beginning on May 3, 2017, and continuing through the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") on May 12, 2017, the distribution date, the following markets will exist in Ashland and Valvoline common stock (each of which will be traded on the NYSE):

Ashland common stock "regular way" market (NYSE: ASH): Shares of Ashland common stock that trade in the regular way market will trade with "due bills," which are entitlements to shares of Valvoline common stock to be distributed pursuant to the distribution. Any holders of shares of Ashland common stock who sell Ashland shares the "regular way" between the record date and the distribution date will also be selling their right to receive Valvoline shares.

Ashland common stock "ex-distribution/when issued" market (NYSE: ASH WI): Shares of Ashland common stock that trade in the ex-distribution/when-issued market will trade without an entitlement to shares of Valvoline common stock to be distributed pursuant to the distribution. If you own shares of Ashland common stock on the record date and sell those shares of Ashland common stock in the ex-distribution/when-issued market prior to or on the distribution date, you will still receive the shares of Valvoline common stock that were to be distributed to you in respect of those shares of Ashland common stock.

Valvoline common stock "regular way" market (NYSE: VVV): The regular way market is the same market for Valvoline common stock that has been in existence since Valvoline completed its initial public offering of its common stock in September 2016.

Valvoline common stock "when-issued" market (NYSE: VVV WI): The when-issued market for Valvoline common stock relates to the shares of Valvoline common stock that will be distributed to Ashland stockholders on the distribution date. Therefore, if you are entitled to receive shares of Valvoline common stock in the distribution, you may trade your entitlement to the shares of Valvoline common stock, without the shares of Ashland common stock you own, in the Valvoline common stock when-issued market.

All trades in the "regular way" markets will settle on the third trading day after the trade date. The due bills will settle on the third trading day after the distribution date. All trades in the "ex-distribution/when-issued" market and "when-issued" market will settle on the fourth trading day after the distribution date, irrespective of the trade date.

Valvoline common stock currently trades on the NYSE under the symbol "VVV."

The distribution of shares of Valvoline common stock will be made in book entry form, and no physical share certificates of Valvoline will be issued. An information statement describing the distribution will be mailed to Ashland stockholders following the record date. Ashland stockholders will not be required to pay cash or other consideration for the shares of Valvoline common stock to be distributed to them or to surrender or exchange their shares of Ashland common stock to receive the distribution.

BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor to Ashland in connection with the spin-off of Valvoline.

About Ashland

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a premier global specialty chemicals company serving customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including adhesives, architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care and pharmaceutical. At Ashland, we are 6,000 passionate, tenacious solvers - from renowned scientists and research chemists to talented engineers and plant operators - who thrive on developing practical, innovative and elegant solutions to complex problems for customers in more than 100 countries. Ashland also maintains a controlling interest in Valvoline Inc. (NYSE: VVV), a premium consumer-branded lubricant supplier. Visit ashland.com to learn more.

C-ASH

Forward-Looking Statements

This news 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. Ashland has identified some of these forward-looking statements with words such as "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "estimates," "is likely," "predicts," "projects," "forecasts," "objectives," "may," "will," "should," "plans" and "intends" and the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to the expected completion of the final separation of Valvoline Inc. ("Valvoline") through the distribution of Valvoline common stock and the potential for the distribution to position Ashland and Valvoline for profitable growth. In addition, Ashland may from time to time make forward-looking statements in its annual reports, quarterly reports and other filings with the SEC, news releases and other written and oral communications. These forward-looking statements are based on Ashland's expectations and assumptions, as of the date such statements are made, regarding Ashland's future operating performance and financial condition, the expected completion of the final separation, the strategic and competitive advantages of each company, and future opportunities for each company, as well as the economy and other future events or circumstances. Ashland's expectations and assumptions include, without limitation, internal forecasts and analyses of current and future market conditions and trends, management plans and strategies, operating efficiencies and economic conditions (such as prices, supply and demand, cost of raw materials, and the ability to recover raw-material cost increases through price increases), and risks and uncertainties associated with the following: the possibility that the final separation will not be consummated within the anticipated time period or at all, including as the result of the failure of a condition to the distribution; the potential that Ashland does not realize all of the expected benefits of the separation; Ashland's substantial indebtedness (including the possibility that such indebtedness and related restrictive covenants may adversely affect Ashland's future cash flows, results of operations, financial condition and its ability to repay debt); the impact of acquisitions and/or divestitures Ashland has made or may make, including the proposed acquisition of Pharmachem (including the possibility that Ashland may not complete the proposed acquisition of Pharmachem or Ashland may not realize the anticipated benefits from such transactions); and severe weather, natural disasters, and legal proceedings and claims (including environmental and asbestos matters). Various risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from those stated, projected or implied by any forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties affecting Ashland that are described in Ashland's most recent Form 10-K (including Item 1A Risk Factors) filed with the SEC, which is available on Ashland's website at http://investor.ashland.com or on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. Ashland believes its expectations and assumptions are reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the expectations reflected herein will be achieved. Unless legally required, Ashland undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Information on Ashland's website is not incorporated into or a part of this news release.

SM Service mark, Ashland or its subsidiaries, registered in various countries.

(TM) Trademark, Ashland or its subsidiaries, registered in various countries.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Investor Relations:

Seth A. Mrozek

+1 (859) 815-3527

samrozek@ashland.com

Media Relations:

Gary Rhodes

+1 (859) 815-3047

glrhodes@ashland.com
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) is scheduled to release its financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended March 31, 2017 on Wednesday, May 10, 2017.



Broadridge will host a webcast and conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET on May 10, 2017, to discuss the results for the third quarter and nine months 2017. Rich Daly, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jim Young, Chief Financial Officer, will participate on the call.

To listen to the live event and access the slide presentation, visit Broadridges Investor Relations website at www.broadridge-ir.com prior to the start of the webcast. To listen to the call, investors may also dial 1-844-348-2805 within the United States and international callers may dial 1-213-785-7185.

A replay of the webcast will be available and can be accessed in the same manner as the live webcast at the Broadridge Investor Relations site. Through May 24, 2017, the recording will also be available by dialing 1-855-859-2056 passcode: 16509432 within the United States or 1-404-537-3406 passcode: 16509432 for international callers.

About Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) is a leading provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions for broker-dealers, banks, mutual funds and other corporations. Broadridges investor and customer communications, securities processing and managed services solutions help clients reduce their capital investments in operations infrastructure, allowing them to increase their focus on core business activities. With more than 50 years of experience, Broadridges infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for over 90% of public companies and mutual funds in North America and processes on average $5 trillion in equity and fixed income trades per day. Broadridge employs approximately 10,000 associates in 16 countries.

For more information about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com.
DAVENPORT, Iowa, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE:LEE), a major provider of local news, information and advertising in 49 markets, has scheduled an audio webcast and conference call for Thursday, May 4, 2017, at 9 a.m. Central Time. Lee plans to issue a news release before market open that day with preliminary results for its second fiscal quarter ended March 26, 2017.



The live webcast will be accessible at lee.net and will be available for replay 24 hours later. Several analysts have been invited to ask questions on the call. Questions from other participants may be submitted by participating in the webcast. The call also may be monitored on a listen-only conference line by dialing (toll free) 866-564-7431 and entering a conference pass code of 211579 at least five minutes before the scheduled start. Participants on the listen-only line will not have the opportunity to ask questions.

WEBCAST LINK: REGISTER HERE TO ACCESS AUDIO WEBCAST AND REPLAY

ABOUT LEE

Lee Enterprises is a leading provider of local news and information, and a major platform for advertising, with daily newspapers, rapidly growing digital products and nearly 300 weekly and specialty publications serving 49 markets in 21 states. Lee's newspapers have average circulation of 0.9 million daily and 1.2 million Sunday, and estimated to reach almost three million readers in print alone. Lee's markets include St. Louis, MO; Lincoln, NE; Madison, WI; Davenport, IA; Billings, MT; Bloomington, IL; and Tucson, AZ. Lee Common Stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LEE. For more information about Lee, please visit www.lee.net.
IRVING, Texas, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

IRVING, Texas, (April 25, 2017)  Promotional Products Association International (PPAI; ppai.org), the not-for-profit association for more than 510,000 industry professionals and more than 14,300 corporate members of the $21 billion promotional products industry, produced the Get In Touch! ad for use in digital, social, live event and broadcast media. The spot, which debuts during Promotional Products Work! Week, April 24-28, in social media, will expand in the fall to include multiple platforms and will be supported by live event partnerships with Advertising Week, the American Marketing Association and Public Relations Society of America.

As one of, if not the most, effective advertising media, promotional products deliver a scalable reach with a high rate of return for advertisers and marketers, said Paul Bellantone, CAE, PPAI president and CEO. Because promotional products are placed in spaces, and used in places traditional and digital media cant touch, the quality of reach, recall and response are higher, and the cost per impression over time is lower than most other media, making promotional products a good buy for the long-term value they create.

The campaign is targeted to reach ad agency media buyers and in-house marketers and advertisers at small and large businesses. The imagery is based on the promotional products unique ability to get in touch with targeted audiences like no other advertising medium by putting brands in the hands of consumers in the spaces and places they live, work and play every day.

The campaign strategically positions promotional products advertising and the industry at the forefront at a time when it is more important than ever for advertisers to get in touch with consumers in a tangible way, with the only advertising medium that delivers lasting impressions that stand the test of time, said Kim R. Todora, PPAI public relations and buyer outreach manager.

The Get In Touch! branding strategy is the first time the Association and the industry have come together to present an integrated campaign at the national and local level. The campaigns success will be based on web traffic and prospects visiting the GetInTouchAdvertising.com site, and clicking through to get in touch with promotional consultants. In addition, the campaign is designed to engage and activate the Associations membership with paid, earned, shared and owned co-branded creative assets, tool kits and local marketing strategies.

About PPAI

Founded in 1903, the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) is the worlds largest and oldest not-for-profit association serving more than 14,300 corporate members of the $21 billion promotional products industry which is comprised of more than 37,661 businesses and a workforce of more than 510,000 professionals. PPAI represents the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocates on its behalf. PPAI operates The PPAI Expo, the industrys largest trade show; provides the leading promotional products safety and compliance program, a prestigious professional development and certification program; and publishes industry trade journals and periodicals. The multibillion-dollar industry includes wearables, writing instruments, calendars, drinkware and many other items, usually imprinted with a companys name, logo or message. For more information, visit PPAI.org and find us on Twitter @PPAI_HQ, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7a679c24-02c5-412a-87ce-b836b1034df3
Henry Chung, a prolific San Francisco restaurateur and one of the first chefs to introduce Hunanese cuisine to the United States, died Sunday at age 99.

Mr. Chung and his wife, Diana, are most famous for their Hunan Restaurant, which opened in San Franciscos Chinatown in 1974 and gave rise to the flourishing Henrys Hunan chain. By the time he became a restaurateur in his 50s, Mr. Chung had already lived an extraordinary life.

Mr. Chung was born in China into the landed peasant class in 1918 in Liling, Hunan, now a one-hour drive from the provincial capital of Changsha. He was married at the age of 8, in accordance with village custom; his bride was 12. Even as a young boy, said his children, Mr. Chung was already considered exceptional. He earned a scholarship to boarding school in the regional capital.

Despite the fact that he had three children by the time he graduated, his village helped send him to the National Central University in Nanjing, then the capital of Nationalist China. There he met and married another Hunanese student named Diana, a star athlete. Its not clear how the first marriage ended. He separated from his family in Liling.

After college, Mr. Chung entered diplomatic service for the Nationalist government. He was posted for a short time to Japan after World War II. With the Communist Party massing around Mao Zedong in the couples home province, Mr. Chung wrangled a diplomatic posting to Houston in 1948, bringing Diana and their two children to the United States.

There, as the ambassador for a stateless government, Mr. Chung ran a Chinese Consulate out of a small apartment and waited for sporadic paychecks. When the Nationalist government fled to Taiwan and called him back, Diana Chung refused to leave the United States. He quit.

From the 1950s through the early 1970s, living in Houston and San Francisco, the Chungs tried every business they could think of: They opened ice cream shops, diners, shoe-repair services and toy stores. They had three more children. They were able to sustain a living, but nothing that you would define as success, youngest son Howard Chung said.

Finally, Mr. Chung landed a plum job as a manager for China Airlines. But Diana, bored and ambitious, wanted to open another restaurant that she would run. This one, the couple decided, would serve the Hunanese food they grew up with, which was all but unknown in Chinatown  let alone the rest of the United States.

Courtesy of the Chung family.

Hunan Restaurants first location, at 853 Kearny St., had a 10-seat counter and tables for another 26. In the early days, the Chungs children have said, San Franciscos Cantonese residents spurned the Chungs chile-laden, pungent food. But in the wake of President Richard Nixons 1972 visit to China and the 1965 loosening of U.S. immigration laws, a new generation of Chinese restaurants was opening around the country  and interest in Chinese regional cuisines was brewing.

Non-Cantonese diners took interest in Hunan Restaurant. One of them was New Yorker writer Tony Hiss, who after his Thanksgiving meal there in 1976 wrote that Hunan was the best Chinese restaurant in the world. It took two days for The Chronicles Herb Caen to share the news with his readers. After that, the lines became so long and so constant that street performers set up on the block to entertain them.

Thousands of restaurants with Hunan in the title, in tiny American towns as well as across Bay Area, can trace their names, if not their recipes, to the Chungs first restaurant. Its onion pancakes and its bold flavors  particularly the mountains of garlic and chiles that moved through the kitchen every day  caught on with the broader public. (The Chungs lovingly smoked meats, sadly, didnt.) Mr. Chung, aided by Hiss, wrote a Hunanese cookbook in 1978, and appeared in Les Blanks 1980 documentary Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers.

In 1979, the Chungs opened a 314-seat space on Sansome Street with a cocktail lounge, which also filled with diners. (In an early review, the Examiner critic R.B. Read complained that the restaurant had only four servers for all those seats.) And Henry Chung decided that since banks in America would loan him the money, hed buy his own properties from then on out.

One more decision changed the future of the chain that came to be known as Henrys Hunan. In 1982, after diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China were regularized, Henry and Diana Chung returned to China to search for Mr. Chungs three eldest children.

They found that, during the Cultural Revolution, his progeny had been severely punished for Mr. Chungs escape. The couple began bringing Mr. Chungs children and their extended families to the United States. Buying more buildings and opening restaurants inside them gave the new arrivals employment. The number of Henrys Hunan locations swelled to six, each one managed and staffed by a different branch of the family.

Katy Raddatz/SFC

Although they were tireless workers, Henry and Diana slowly stepped away from running the business as they grew older. Diana Chung died in 2003. Henry Chung remained very much the patriarch of the family. He was always a little intimidating, said granddaughter MacKenzie Fegan, who has become the family biographer, spending many hours collecting her grandfathers stories.

Fegan says that her grandfather once told her she should live her best life. She prodded: What would that be? Live a good life, eat good food, wear good clothes and dont be sloppy, he told her.

As revered as he was by his family, he in turn revered his ancestors, said daughter Sophia Chung Fegan (MacKenzies mother), as well as those whose generosity propelled him out of rural Hunan. He was always talking about people who helped him in his journey, she said.

Mr. Chung channeled his gratitude into education: first, his childrens, then his grandchildrens, and finally those of students he might never meet. The Chungs built a gymnasium at a school in China and endowed scholarships at Sacred Heart Cathedral, UC Berkeley and San Francisco State.

Mr. Chung died at home in the Richmond District, survived by eight children and his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His family is still deciding what form the memorial celebrations might take.

Jonathan Kauffman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jkauffman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jonkauffman
1 Pakistan bombing: A roadside bomb targeting a minivan in Pakistans northwestern tribal region on Tuesday killed 14 people, a local official said, raising an earlier reported death toll of nine killed. The attack was claimed by a breakaway Taliban faction. The blast ripped through the van traveling through a minority Shiite region of the Kurram tribal area, which borders Afghanistan, said Arif Khan, a tribal administration official in the town of Parachinar. The area has long been the scene of sectarian violence.

2 Afghan attack: The Taliban overran three security checkpoints in Afghanistans northern Takhar province, killing eight policemen and cutting off a key road and two of the regions districts, an Afghan official said Tuesday. Mondays attack triggered an hours-long firefight and also left three police officers wounded. Eight of the attackers were also killed in the gunbattle. The Taliban have stepped up their attacks against both Afghan forces and civilians since foreign combat troops pulled out of the country at the end of 2014, leaving only an advisory and training contingent of international forces. The Afghan military and security forces, with 195,000 soldiers and more than 150,000 policemen, have struggled to contain insurgency on their own.
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PYONGYANG, North Korea  South Koreas military said Tuesday that North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military.

The exercise took place as a U.S. guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea and envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo to discuss the growing threat posed by North Koreas nuclear weapons and missiles program.

Experts thought North Korea might conduct a nuclear test or a ballistic missile launch to mark the anniversary, but as of Tuesday evening neither had occurred.

Crowds in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, laid flowers and paid respects at giant statues of the countrys former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, one day after the minister of defense reiterated that the North was ready to use preemptive strikes or any measures it deems necessary to defend itself against U.S. imperialists.

The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression, Gen. Pak Yong Sik told a meeting of thousands of senior military and civilian officials.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was closely watching North Korean military action in the Wonsan city area, where it said the drills were being held. South Koreas Yonhap news agency said the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, but an official from Seouls Defense Ministry couldnt confirm such details.

The streets of Pyongyang were quiet. Flower-laying and bowing at statues and portraits of the leaders is a regular routine on major anniversaries. People also gathered in open spaces to take part in organized dancing, another common way to mark holidays.

Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day, said Choe Un Byol, who came with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders.

North Korea often also marks significant dates by displaying its military capability. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Koreas nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the countrys preparation for an intercontinental ballistic missile launch is in its final stage.

The Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan in what was described as a routine visit to rest the crew and load supplies. Cmdr. Jang Wook from South Korean navy public affairs said there was no plan for a drill.

The submarines arrival comes as the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier headed toward the Korean Peninsula for a joint exercise with South Korea.

The U.S. 7th Fleet said two American destroyers were conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.

Eric Talmadge and Kim Tong-Hyung are Associated Press writers.
MOSCOW  In a move that further cements Russias control over parts of eastern Ukraine, Russian officials announced Tuesday they will begin supplying electricity to separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine after the Ukrainian government cut off the power because of millions in unpaid bills.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the decision as a humanitarian mission  helping to keep an estimated 3 million people out of darkness  but would not say exactly when or how the power supply will be flowing into the rebel-controlled Luhansk region that borders Russia. The rebels are backed by Russia.
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ANKARA, Turkey  Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes on Tuesday against suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq and in northeastern Syria, the military said, in a bid to prevent militants from smuggling fighters and weapons into Turkey.

The attack killed at least 18 U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish troops, according to a monitoring group, as well as five members of the Iraqi Kurdish militia known as the peshmerga and drew swift condemnation from Baghdad.

Syrian Kurdish forces said the strikes hit a media center, a local radio station, a communication headquarters and some military posts, killing an undetermined number of fighters in Syrias northeastern Hassakeh province. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian war, also reported the strikes on the media and military targets in Karachok.

According to the rights group, the air strikes killed 18 members of the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the Peoples Protection Units. The rights group had earlier said only three were killed. Kurdish officials were not immediately available for comment.

Ankara says members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, are finding sanctuaries in neighboring Iraq and Syria, among those countries own Kurdish minorities.

A Turkish military statement said the predawn strikes hit targets on Sinjar Mountain in northern Iraq and also in a mountainous region in Syria. It said the operations were conducted to prevent infiltration of Kurdish rebels, weapons, ammunition and explosives from those areas into Turkey.

A Turkish security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish government protocol, said the air strikes are believed to have killed around 200 PKK militants, including some senior commanders. The claim could not be independently confirmed.

Iraqs Foreign Ministry denounced the strikes as a violation against Iraqs sovereignty and called on the international community to put an end to such interferences by Turkey.

Although Turkey regularly carries out air strikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq, this was the first time it has struck the Sinjar region. Turkey has long claimed that the area was becoming a hotbed for PKK rebels.

Last year, Turkey sent troops into Syria to back Syrian opposition fighters in the battle against the Islamic State group and also to curb what it perceives as the territorial expansion of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, which it claims are affiliated with the PKK. The Kurdish group, which has led an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984, is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its allies.

Suzan Fraser is an Associated Press writer.
Are you going to the Supremes concert?

Governor Martinez and the Legislature are. It's on May 15. And oh, is it on. Lawmakers are suing the governor over her line-item vetoes that defunded the Legislature and all of the state's higher education budgetabout three quarters of a billion dollars. The state Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in the middle of May, with briefs and responses to come a week or so before that. Meanwhile, there's still no date for a special session that would set a new budget for the fiscal year that starts in less than three months.

More money

The state's revenue picture is actually improving. The Legislative Finance Committee tracks year-over-year income for the state and its

New Mexico might take in $55 million more than expected this year. Lawmakers say that's enough to avoid forced days off for state workers; the governor's administration says not so fast.

Step away from the school closures

It was only a study session, but in front of scores of angry parents and community members, the Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Educationand its superintendent

from a proposal to close two elementary schools. The district still doesn't know what its funding will be, thanks to the Legislature and the governor not having come to a budget agreement and promising more tweaking before the next year. However, board members signaled a desire to find other ways to make up a nearly $2 million predicted shortfall.

Hubbard to sell Ruidoso Downs

The New Mexico horse racing track, home to the richest quarter horse race in North America,

by RD Hubbard and his family to a group of

. The Hubbard family has held a share of ownership in the track for three decades. State regulators still have to sign off on the deal.

Court says Pojoaque has to negotiate with state

A federal appeals court says the Pueblo of Pojoaque can't negotiate a gaming compact with the Department of the Interior and instead has to

with the state of New Mexico. The Pueblo has been operating without a compact since 2015. Typical terms include revenue-sharing agreements that could net the state $6 million. It's uncertain how the Pueblo plans to move forward.

Hispano Chamber questions why Sen. Lopez stalled UNM regents nominee

The Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce

its former CEO didn't get a confirmation hearing for a post on the University of New Mexico Board of Regents. It sent a letter to Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Linda Lopez asking as much. The governor has criticized the Senate's failure to set hearings for dozens of nominees, including two appointees to UNM's oversight board.

CIty demands group report finances for soda tax election

Santa Fe's Ethics and Campaign Review Board

a free market advocacy group to file a campaign finance report. The Rio Grande Foundation produced an anti-tax video that's circulated around the internet, which the board says is proof the group blew past the anonymous spending limit and must now disclose at least some of its finances.

What you're doing tonight

No plans? Sweet! You're coming with us. The

is tonight at the Violet Crown Cinema from 6-8 pm. It's free, so you can come just to hang, look at our photo contest winners and grab an advance copy of this year's Santa Fe Manual. If you're feeling spendy and fall in love with a photo, you can bid on a framed print. All proceeds benefit the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

Thanks for reading! The Word will see you tonight!

Subscribe to the Morning Word at sfreporter.com/signup

Santa Fe Reporter
Reserve Bank deputy governor Geoff Bascand will take charge of the monetary authority's financial stability function when Grant Spencer fills in as governor in September.

Bascand, a former government statistician, is currently head of operations at the central bank overseeing much of the bank's day-to-day management. From Sept. 27, he will shift to head of financial stability, where he'll be in charge of the bank's prudential supervision functions and with developing policies to ensure the stability of the wider financial system.

The reshuffle comes as governor Graeme Wheeler's five-year term is set to expire on Sept. 26, three days before the general election, prompting the government to appoint Spencer as acting governor for six months once Wheeler departs.

"Geoff brings considerable leadership experience, economics and public policy background to the role," Wheeler said in a statement. "Through his participation in the banks governing committee, financial policy committees, and chairing of the banks assets and liabilities committee, Geoff is very familiar with the banks work programmes and policy issues in the area of financial stability."

Bascand had been tipped as a contender to replace Wheeler on a permanent basis. The finance minister appoints the governor on the recommendation of the Reserve Bank's board

(BusinessDesk)





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WASHINGTON: A journalist from Gujarat has won the inaugural fellowship instituted by an Indian-American entrepreneur and his wife for mid-career scribes from India.



DNA Divya Bhaskar journalist Smitha Rajan has been selected for the inaugural Frank Islam and Debbie Driesman Fellowship.

"Smitha Rajan is a fearless fighter, a foe of the power structure and a friend to the disadvantaged," Indian-American philanthropist Frank Islam said at a reception hosted in Washington DC to felicitate the recipient of the fellowship.



As part of the fellowship, Rajan will do internship at Politifact and The Washington Post for six months in the US.



Leading a team of 10 journalists as assistant editor with DNA Divya Bhaskar, Rajan covered stories focused on downtrodden, environment and health including air pollution, swine flu outbreak, poaching, lion translocation, and the plight of the Dalits, Islam said.



"As I progressed, I got my own team to lead and that is when I found myself handicapped by lack of formal training in journalism," Rajan said.



"I would like to use this fellowship opportunity to learn how journalists and newsrooms in the US are battling increased government and corporate control, reduced budgets and onslaught of digital journalism to be stronger and bolder," she said.



The Frank Islam & Debbie Driesman Foundation started by Islam and his wife, Debbie Driesman, has partnered with Alfred Friendly Press Partners (AFPP) to fund the fellowship.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD is asking for the public's help to identify two men sought for questioning in connection with the shooting of two people in a dispute near the Whitehall Terminal in Manhattan.

At about 3:10 p.m. Monday in front of 2 Washington St. in Manhattan, two individuals were engaged in a dispute where an unidentified person or persons fired shots, according to a statement from the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

A 40-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to the torso and was transported by private means to Long Island College Hospital where he was in stable condition. A 34-year-old woman was shot in the left knee and was removed by EMS to New York Downtown Hospital in stable condition, the police statement said.

The 40-year-old man who was shot was involved in the ticket-sale dispute and the injured woman was a bystander, according to a police spokesman.

Photos of the individuals sought for questioning were supplied by police and captured from surveillance video in the vicinity of Washington Street and Battery Place.

Police described one as a black male, 30 to 40 years old, with a heavy build, who was wearing a black hat, black jacket, red-plaid shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.

A second person of interest is a black male, 30 to 40 years old, who is bald. He was seen wearing a blue sweat shirt, blue jeans, multi-colored sneakers and carrying a tan backpack, according to police.

Anyone with information is asked to visit the NYPD's Crime Stoppers website, call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 (TIPS) or 1-888-577-4782 (PISTA) for Spanish, or text their tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- President Donald Trump is approaching 100 days in office, and Congress is debating whether it should focus on preventing a government shutdown or tackling an Obamacare repeal again.

GOP leaders are hoping Trump gets another shot at repealing and replacing Obamacare before he hits the 100-day mark on Saturday, April 29.

Here are some of the important numbers from the president's first 100 days:

1: The number of Supreme Court justices nominated and confirmed. (Neil Gorsuch)

2: The number of pipelines Trump gives the green light. (Keystone XL and Dakota Access)

2: The number of travel bans on some Muslim-majority countries that Trump ordered but were struck down by judges.

2: The number of countries that have had U.S. missiles dropped on them during Trump's presidency. (Syria and Afghanistan)

4: The number of U.S. military vessels the Pentagon sent to the Korean Peninsula last week in a show of force. Aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson was escorted by a guided-missile cruiser and two destroyers after an earlier North Korea missile test.

14: The number, in millions, of Americans who would lose health insurance coverage by 2018 if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. It would expand to 24 million by 2026.

25: Number of Trump's executive orders since taking office.

31: The percentage of the Environmental Protection Agency's funding that Trump wants to cut.

54: In billions, the increase in military spending that Trump proposes.

3,566: The number of Syrian refugees resettled in the United States in the first quarter of 2017. There were 12,587 resettled in the United States in 2016.

5,000: The number of additional border patrol agents Trump wants to hire to enforce his immigration executive orders.

10,000: The number of additional ICE agents Trump wants to hire to enforce his immigration executive orders.

21,362: The number of arrests ICE made from Jan. 20 to March 13, up from 16,104 during the same time period in 2016.

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CITY HALL -- A new coalition plans to file a lawsuit Tuesday claiming that the city's property tax system is an unconstitutional mess.

The "Tax Equity Now New York" group includes homeowners, renters and civil rights groups who want to fix the broken property tax system, claiming it's riddled with inequalities that Mayor Bill de Blasio has acknowledged and benefits from.

"This tax is not fair and there are significant issues with it," said Martha Stark, director of policy for the group and a former commissioner of the Department of Finance in the Bloomberg administration.

The lawsuit, expected to be filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday, doesn't seek monetary relief for homeowners.

Instead, plaintiffs will ask the court to declare the structure of the tax "unconstitutional" based on statues set by several state laws, according to Stark.

"It's helpful to have a court balance the equities," Stark said. "There's quite a few competing priorities and it'll be helpful to have a court sort of declare what's the components of a really fair property tax system."

DE BLASIO'S LOW BILL

The group's counsel is former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman at Latham & Watkins. Lippman recently led an independent commission that recommended the city close Rikers Island in favor of small community jails, including a new facility on Staten Island.

Stark said the current property tax system disproportionately benefits affluent white homeowners in neighborhoods like Park Slope, Brooklyn, where de Blasio owns two houses.

De Blasio and first lady Chirlane McCray only paid $7,098 in property taxes for those homes on 11th Street, according to a copy of their joint returns released by City Hall last week.

The properties were worth more than $3.2 million combined last tax year, according to city assessment records. The tentative worth this tax year is nearly $3.7 million combined.

De Blasio and McCray are profiting from the current system where the assessed value of properties with one-, two- and three-family homes -- known as class one -- can't go up more than 6 percent every year or 20 percent over five years.

The cap means homeowners in less popular neighborhoods where home values slowly increase will generally have higher property taxes than those with homes in more desirable areas like where de Blasio lives.

ISLAND'S PROPERTY TAX BURDEN

The effect of the cap is only one aspect of the property tax system that the lawsuit seeks to address.

Larger apartment buildings have a disproportionately high tax burden, and the lawsuit will allege this cost is passed onto tenants.

Properties may also be assessed unequally within a neighborhood or on the same block. The percentage of the original sale price that properties are assessed by the city varies wildly across neighborhoods and boroughs.

"Staten Islanders, for the most part, have a much higher effective tax rate than the other boroughs," Stark said.

The lawsuit will allege property owners in largely minority neighborhoods pay millions more than they would if their homes were appraised based on comparative sales.

"If in fact the court says that this system really discriminates against people of color and lower-valued houses, Staten Islanders will stand to have a better system than the one they have now, there's no ands, buts about it," Stark said, "because one of the ways in which Staten Island is very much like the minority communities is that they have low income, low-valued houses and yet are getting really not fairly treated under the current system."

DE BLASIO STILL DELAYS

On Monday, de Blasio said he has not seen the "theoretical lawsuit" but that that wasn't the way to "solve the problem."

"The courts aren't the place to settle this," he said at an unrelated event in the Bronx.

De Blasio went on to once again stress that reforming the system will "a long and sober and difficult process" and that the city couldn't collect less from property taxes.

What the city collects from property taxes is expected to increase 23.7 percent over the next five years, by some $5.73 billion, according to the January financial plan. The levy from property taxes would be $25.63 billion in fiscal year 2018, which begins in July.

"It's going to be, here's the pie, how do you rework the pie while still achieving the same outcome?" de Blasio said, noting again that putting the issue in front of the courts isn't the way to make decisions.

"I also guarantee you, that'll be years and years of litigation that won't result in anything anytime soon," he said.

De Blasio said last week he will only reform the system if taxpayers give him another four years in office.

'DANGEROUS PROSPECT'

A state bill from Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island) would force the creation of a commission to study reforms.

Councilman Joseph Borelli and Minority Leader Steven Matteo also asked de Blasio to convene a property tax reform commission this year to address systematic inequalities and avoid a lawsuit from Staten Island homeowners.

Borelli said he supports the purpose of the coalition's lawsuit "one-hundred percent" but fears that a judge could potentially overturn the existing assessment cap on class one properties without requiring a replacement. That's why Island homeowners haven't brought their own suit yet.

"Since it would take votes by both the state legislature and the progressive City Council to restore a cap, coupled with the fact they already rejected a new NYC tax cap, it's a very dangerous prospect for the tens of thousands of Staten Island homeowners currently protected by it," Borelli said. "A 'win' in this case could result in overnight tax hikes for nearly all of us without actually causing some of the reforms we want, but that doesn't seem to be a concern for these plaintiffs."

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The missing Eltingville man served in Vietnam and survived both terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, according to his family.

Albert Karsten, 68, was working at Morgan Stanley when the towers were bombed in 1993 and during the Sept. 11 attacks. He escaped the second attack by fleeing down the stairs, his wife, Linda, said.

"I just want him home safe," she said. "I feel so helpless."

Karsten, of Getz Avenue, who is described as a white male with brown eyes, graying hair and mustache, has been missing since Friday. He was last seen at his home at 11 a.m., police said.

At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a dark navy blue fleece, navy blue sweat pants, and black shoes.

The family, along with the NYPD, the Port Richmond Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), religious groups and even dogs are looking for him.

But, Linda said, there have been no credible tips besides a neighbor who says he spotted him at around 4 p.m. Saturday, near his son's home, which is around the corner from the couple's.

According to the family, the neighbor said Karsten was wearing a Rangers hat and identified him from a photo.

"We all think he's in the area," Linda said. "If he's here, why can't we find him?"

Karsten worked at Morgan Stanley for almost 50 years before being forced to retire in 2015, his wife said. He was a trouble-shooter for the company, helping solve problems for all the departments.

"He was so good at his job that's why they kept him so long," Linda said. "He would've kept working if he wasn't forced to retire."

But Karsten suffered from depression after leaving the company and has a strained relationship with two of his kids, she said.

"It's affected me and him," Linda said. "It's not a good situation."

Karsten didn't take any money, identification, medication or food with him, literally walking away with only the clothes on his back since he doesn't drive, said his wife. He also doesn't own a cellphone.

Karsten generally keeps to himself and has disappeared for short periods of time before, but nothing longer than an hour or so, his wife said.

--

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After a plan for 646 luxury senior housing units on the former Nassau Smelting and Refinery site was shot down by the community and elected officials, its developers say they are willing to go back to the drawing board.

The developers -- the Manhattan-based Bridgewater Capital and Alpha Group -- recently had their hired architect, Jay Valgora of the Manhattan-based Studio V Architecture, air the proposed Mill Creek Place plan at a Community Board 3 land-use meeting, where it was met with staunch opposition.

"We didn't want to force anything down the community's throat. We didn't have any preconceived notions," said William Segal, principal of Alpha Equity Group, at an Advance Editorial Board meeting on Monday about the project.

"We bought the property because we thought the community was ripe for further development. And we were open to taking the property in many different directions, depending on what the community wanted. ...This was a bumpy road from the beginning. ... We were not met with open arms," he added.

Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) and Borough President James Oddo have expressed opposition to the the plan, which would require a zone change from manufacturing to residential. Borrelli said he would be more inclined to favor a use for the site that is allowed under the current zoning, which includes industrial, retail and office uses.

PUBLIC MEETING

Segal said there will be a public charrette -- sometime in June -- where focus groups, made up of anyone in the community interested in participating, will be invited to gather and come up with alternative plans for the site. An architect will be on hand to guide the groups through the process.

"We want to come up with something that everyone will take pride in the same way we will take pride in building it," said Segal.

"As aggressive buyers as we are we have to take contingencies into account. We are OK developing industrial, and we are also OK developing commercial or retail," he added.

RUMORS PUT TO REST

Rumors that circulated throughout the community included that the developers were building 800 housing units, as well as units that would qualify for Section 8 housing.

Neither were ever part of the plan, Segal said.

"We were extremely sensitive about this issue from the very beginning. We have always done free market builds. We have no experience with (Section 8) housing and it's not something we would ever do," he added.

THE PLAN

The developers' plan initially called for the creation of a "walkable mixed-use wellness community" that would include about 150,000 square feet of retail, medical offices, urgent care families and in-home care services.

While they are willing to scrap the residential portion of the plan, the developers said they would still consider one aspect of the project -- a fast ferry from the site to downtown Manhattan -- that would be beneficial to South Shore commuters, said Segal.

He admitted that the clean-up of the contaminates dumped there when it was a smelting plant and refinery were not cleaned up by the prior owner, Lucent Technologies, in a way suitable for housing to be built on the site.

If housing were to be built, it would be a "multi-million dollar" clean-up that would include bringing up the cap on the site another foot, among other improvements that would adhere to State Department of Environment Conservation (DEC) regulations, he said.

However, if the developer creates an alternative plan allowed under the zoning, no additional remediation would be required, Segal added.

COST OF THE LAND

While the purchase price of the land recorded on the deed of sale -- which was provided to the Advance by Borelli -- is $11.5 million, Segal said there were other expenses, including "buying out an initial partner," that increased their expenses.

"There were a tremendous amount of additional costs associated with the transaction, including a partner buyout, pre-development costs and carry costs until we get to the development stage," he said.

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John G. Chipura died on Sept. 11, 2001 while responding to the World Trade Center. A petition has been started to name one of the new Staten Island Ferry boats after Chipura.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A petition drive is underway to name one of the future new Staten Island ferryboats after Firefighter John G. Chipura, a Staten Islander who died in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001.

Chipura, whose nickname was "Chip" was an FDNY firefighter, a NYPD cop, a U.S. Marine, an Eagle Scout, and a native Staten Islander.

A change.org petition is seeking at least 1,500 signatures to be sent to Borough President James Oddo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and city and state elected officials, as well as to U.S. Senators Charles Schummer and Kirstin Gillibrand. As of this writing the petition had more than 1,100 signatures.

"We are blessed that we have a multitude of heroes in this great city who serve with distinction and honor. On 9/11 alone, we lost 343 members of the FDNY, 23 members of NYPD and 37 members of the Port Authority Police department - many of them from Staten Island. Any of these heroes deserves the honor of having a Ferry named after them," the petition notes.

What sets Chipura apart, organizers said, is a life-long commitment to service, starting with his service to community through Boy Scouting, and continuing to serve his country as a U.S. Marine, and later to serve his city as a member of the NYPD and FDNY.

Chipura was on active duty in Beirut, Lebanon when the Marine Corps. barracks was bombed on October 23, 1983. Although knocked unconscious from the blast, he survived. He served two tours in the war-torn area before receiving an honorable discharge in 1984.

After his discharge Chipura joined the NYPD where he rose to the rank of Detective in Brooklyn's 72nd Precinct, Brooklyn South Narcotics.

He later transferring to the FDNY to follow in the footsteps of his father Anthony Chipura, and his brother Capt. Gerard Chipura/ E164, as a member of the "Bravest." He was a firefighter with Engine 219/ Ladder 105 in Brooklyn when he was killed on duty on 9/11.

After 9/11 his friends and family established a foundation in his name, that supports Scouting, as well as veterans, and NYPD and FDNY families in need, as well as sponsoring an annual blood drive.

"Chip was my husband's partner at the 72 Precinct. He constantly looked to help others," said eduction advocate and activist Laura Timoney, a New Dorp resident, who posted a link to the petition on her Facebook page. "Naming a Ferry boat after Chip will not only preserve his legacy of service to others, but hopefully people will learn what an amazing human being and hero he was," she said.

Two of the three new ferryboats promised to the Island are already named. The first boat will be named for the late Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis. The second boat will be named for the historic Sandy Ground community settled by freed slaves in Rossville. The mayor promised in February, and again during his Town Hall last week, that Staten Islanders would have a say in naming the new boats.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - It's time for a real crackdown on the aggressive ticket hawkers who have been plaguing us outside the Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Lower Manhattan for years.

Like getting rid of them entirely.

Because what has been mostly a nuisance has turned increasingly dangerous. And it seems like it's only a matter of time before a real calamity takes place.

There was a shooting near Battery Park on Monday, not too far from the Whitehall Terminal. A dispute between two ticket hawkers got violent, according to police.

Two people were injured, including a bystander who had nothing to do with the dispute. It all took place around 3:15 in the afternoon. Broad daylight, with the assailant firing indiscriminately into an area crowded with students, workers and tourists.

We're lucky that things weren't worse.

What else does the city need to see before real action is taken?

Oh, there have been crackdowns in the past. Ticket vendors were rousted. Arrests were made. A new law says that all the vendors must be licensed. NYPD and National Park Service Police officers were sent to the area to patrol.

And yet the problems persist.

The vendors have been a menace from the beginning, using aggressive, combative and downright deceptive tactics in order to sell tickets to the Statue of Liberty and other harbor attractions. They have harassed tourists and others, following them around, stalking them, practically.

Anyone who's used the ferry in recent years has had to run the gauntlet. I just did it myself on Sunday, when I had to avoid a line of ticket hawkers standing at the top of the stairs leading to the 1 and R trains just outside the terminal.

And Monday's shooting was not the first episode of violence involving these hawkers. A tourist got sucker-punched by a vendor in February of 2016. The year before, a man got stabbed as a result of a dispute between two vendors.

And even absent the violence, these vendors are bad actors. They harass unsuspecting tourists into buying tickets at inflated prices. In one instance, vendors famously sold high-priced tickets to the Staten Island Ferry, which as we all know is free. Lately, the vendors have been selling water taxi tickets at a steep markup as well.

Tourists don't know that this isn't the way business is done here. They figure that this is how they get their ticket to the Statue of Liberty or for a harbor cruise. And depending on where they come from, they don't always have the street-smart wherewithal to deal with the aggressive tactics they're confronted with. Not with their families in tow.

Of course, the hawkers were cleaned out of the Whitehall area when Mayor Bill de Blasio used the ferry to commute to the Island during his recent sojourn with us. Like we said at the time, the mayor certainly didn't get the full picture of what goes on down there. Maybe a shooting that's a hop, skip and a jump from City Hall will get his attention.

It's obvious that things can't go on as they are, not with more tourists expected to come here once the New York Wheel, Empire Outlets and other attractions are open. The aggressive and violent free-for-all has to end. The vendors should be eliminated entirely, and the whole system through which they buy tickets from tourism companies and resell them at unregulated higher prices has to be brought down.

How about selling the tickets through TKTS like kiosks, like Broadway show tickets are sold? That would bring some order to things. And let's check and see if all these folks really do have licenses. Put some teeth in that enforcement. Hey, maybe we need metal detectors down there.

Something greater than the usual quick rinse has to be done before we have a real tragedy.
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Estimados amigos,

Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.

Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.

Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.

There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.

You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca.

Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt.

Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos.

Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
Myhre had characterized the six as the least culpable of the 17 to be tried in the case, and their trial was seen as a test-run of a key conspiracy charge alleging that Bundy and his two eldest sons headed a conspiracy to wage a "range war" against the government.
Brazil, Latin America's largest nation, is home to numerous tribes, many of which live in the Amazon region. Clashes with ranchers, logging companies and other businesses operating near or on their lands are common. However, indigenous leaders say the violence has gotten worse in the last year amid Brazil's economic crisis.
A World War II soldier who was on Sydney Harbour's Fort Denison when the Japanese attacked was one of hundreds who turned out in the wind and rain to march in Canberra on Tuesday.

Narrabundah man John Donald Hendry, 94, travelled past the Australian War Memorial riding in a green Jeep, before a crowd of 7000 who came to watch the National Ceremony.

WWII veteran John Hendry surrounded by great-grandchildren after participating in the 2017 Anzac Day National Ceremony. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

His family say the veteran has been marching in Anzac Day services since 1968. On Tuesday, he expressed appreciation that the day is still commemorated across Australia with such reverence.

"It's really rather special, that although it was so long ago, that the remembrance has been maintained and generally done with respect," the veteran said after the ceremony on Tuesday, when he had retired to a home in Reid with his many great-grandchildren.
Canberra's technological innovation will be on display at an investment showcase in Singapore on Wednesday.

Fifteen ACT start-ups will be pitching their ideas and plans to more than 100 international investors.

Canberra startup The Healthy Grain has commercialised BarleyMAX, a natural whole grain that contains twice the dietary fibre of regular grain. Credit:The Healthy Grain

The initiative is being supported by the CBR Innovation Network and ANU Connect Ventures.

ANU Connect Ventures manages a $27 million fund and invests in early-stage commercial opportunities in the Canberra region up to $500,000.
"I am sad that I am not on television anymore."

With those words, Bill O'Reilly broke his silence on Monday evening, addressing listeners for the first time since he was ousted from Fox News amid revelations that he and the network paid millions of dollars to settle allegations of sexual harassment against him by multiple women.

After 20 years as the king of cable news, O'Reilly's return to broadcasting came not on camera, but in the form of a 19-minute recorded podcast on his personal website. At the outset, he acknowledged to his fans that this was "a completely different experience than what you've had in the past."

"I was very surprised how it all turned out," O'Reilly said of his forced exit last week from Fox News. "I can't say a lot because there's much stuff going on right now. But I can tell you that I'm very confident the truth will come out. And when it does - I don't know if you're going to be surprised, but I think you're going to be shaken, as I am."
The public should be able to freely access the names of the people behind the ownership of assets and bank accounts in order to boost transparency and stop secret shell companies being used for criminal activity.

This is the key contention of a host of submissions to Treasury as part of the federal government's plans to increase transparency of the beneficial ownership of companies following the Panama Papers revelations.

"The Panama Papers and other similar leaks provide a wealth of information on how legal entities created in tax havens are used to commit crimes and launder the proceeds," said Transparency International Australia (TIA).

TIA supports the creation of a central register to record beneficial ownership information. It said a central register could be maintained by either AUSTRAC or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Alibaba Group's chairman Jack Ma said society should prepare for decades of pain as the internet disrupts the economy.

The world must change education systems and establish how to work with robots to help soften the blow caused by automation and the internet economy, Ma said in a speech to an entrepreneurship conference in Zhengzhou, China.

"In the next 30 years, the world will see much more pain than happiness," Ma said of job disruptions caused by the internet. "Social conflicts in the next three decades will have an impact on all sorts of industries and walks of life."

Ma made the comments as Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce operator, spends billions of dollars to move into new businesses from film production and video streaming to cloud computing.
Its remarkable how little we know about Earth. How many species do we share this planet with? We dont know, but estimates vary from millions to a trillion. In some respects we know more about the Moon, Mars and Venus than we do about the oceans depths and the vast sea floors.

But humans are inquisitive creatures, and were driven to explore. Chasing mythical or mysterious animals grabs media headlines and spurs debates, but it can also lead to remarkable discoveries.

The recent photographing of a live night parrot in Western Australia brought much joy. These enigmatic nocturnal birds have been only sporadically sighted over decades.

Another Australian species that inspires dedicated searchers is the Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine. A new hunt is under way, not in Tasmania but in Queenslands vast wilderness region of Cape York.
France has lived under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a series of Islamist militant attacks that have killed more than 230 people over the past two years.

If the aim of Islamic State is to further polarise French society and destabilise western Europe, we should expect another terrorist incident before second-round voting for the French presidency on May 7. The Paris shooting just before first-round voting seems to have mainly benefited the new radical centre, represented by Emmanuel Macron, and the far right, represented by Marine Le Pen.

France does not have a good record in the treatment of Muslims from its former colonies. As just one example, more than half of the French liberation army of 1943-44, which fought in Italy and France, comprised soldiers from North and sub-Saharan Africa, with 134,000 Algerians, 73,000 Moroccans, 26,000 Tunisians and 92,000 men from other colonies. When their countries achieved independence from France, their French pensions were frozen. It was not until 2011, about half a century later, that France agreed to pay those still living at the same rate as French veterans.

Police secure the centre of Paris the day after a gunman opened fire on officers. Credit:Aurelien Meunier

The French Muslim population is estimated at about 10 per cent of the total population (or six to seven million people), but the French jail population is estimated to be about 70 per cent Muslim.

A Stanford study in 2010 showed that a Christian French citizen is 2 times more likely to get a job interview than an equally qualified Muslim candidate. Discrimination has reportedly worsened since the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015.

There is little control in western Europe of population movement, particularly between Belgium and France. Under the 1985 Schengen Agreement, national border controls were removed, to be replaced by controls at the European Union's external borders. Many French citizens question a situation where extremists and weapons are able to move freely between countries within the Schengen area.
America is the world's undisputed military superpower but it faces a strategic conundrum over North Korea's nuclear intentions.

The bind is this: there may be no morally acceptable military option to de-nuclearise the Korean peninsula, even as Washington parades that very eventuality.

It's a situation of some powerlessness and yet one the United States has done much to create over the years, both with the development of its own nuclear arsenal - which, let's not forget, kicked off this whole global proliferation race - and with its past mercurial responses to states with nuclear aspirations.

Think the Soviet Union, China, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Israel, Pakistan, and India. The telling thing about this list is the inconsistency of the American response. Others would call it hypocrisy.
Mel B's estranged husband, Stephen Belafonte, has been granted supervised visits with their daughter, Madison, as their bitter divorce and custody battle continues.

The Spice Girls star, real name Melanie Brown, filed a restraining order against Belafonte earlier this month, accusing him of domestic violence, sexual blackmail and getting their nanny pregnant.

Belafonte, 41, had been ordered to stay away from Brown, also 41, and her three children. The pair have one biological daughter together - Madison Brown Belafonte, five. Brown has two other daughters, Angel Murphy Brown, 10, with actor Eddie Murphy and Phoenix Gulzar, 18, with her ex-husband, former backing dancer Jimmy Gulzar.

However, a court ruled on Monday that Belafonte could have eight hours of monitored visitation per week with Madison, which will be split into two four-hour visits, according to E!.
President Donald Trump's daughter and White House advisor Ivanka Trump elicited groans and laughter on Tuesday from some members of the audience at a conference in Germany after she defended her father's attitude and record on women, calling him a "tremendous champion" of families.

An entrepreneur, Ms Trump, 35, was in Berlin to represent the United States at a G20-related conference known as W20 on female business leaders and economic empowerment.

Speaking on a panel that included Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, and Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Ms Trump was asked about her role in the White House and President Trump's previous comments about treating women disrespectfully.

Her father was famously caught on tape during the filming of an episode of Access Hollywood bragging that as a famous person, he could "do anything" he wanted to a woman, including grabbing them by their genitals, and has repeatedly called prominent women disparaging names like "dogs".
A ring of tall lotus and columns of ash have likely caught the eye of thousands of pedestrians walking past Brisbane Magistrates Court over the years but many might not realise they represent the massacres of tens of thousands of Aborigines.

A plaque at the site reads that the sculpture was the "first public artwork to tackle this hidden territory on a statewide basis", an acknowledgement of the tens of thousands of Aborigines who died during the Frontier Wars from 1788. However, the meaning of the sculpture was not revealed until after it was made, says its creator, Queensland Indigenous artist Fiona Foley.

Fiona Foley's sculpture, Witnessing to Silence, at the Brisbane Magistrates Court. Credit:Amy Mitchell-Whittington

Ms Foley was commissioned to build a sculpture at the site in 2001 and had pitched the work as a focus on the extremes of fire and flood experienced across the state.

The sculpture, Witnessing to Silence, consists of a circle of long-stemmed lotus inside a misting device that no longer operates and a grouping of stainless-steel columns with ash inside glass. Both sit within white granite circles among pavestones that list 94 locations across Queensland.
Plans to rename a south-east Queensland electorate in honour of Indigenous activist and trailblazer Oodgeroo Noonuccal have been met with praise.

The Queensland Redistribution Commission has released a proposed boundary shake-up which would also add four new seats to the Parliament.

Oodgeroo Noonuccal giving a poetry reading in 1965. Credit:R.L. Stewart / Fairfax Photo Library

Among the changes would be changing the name of the electorate of Cleveland, currently held by the LNP's Mark Robinson, to Oodgeroo.

Oodgeroo Noonuccal, also known as Kath Walker, was an acclaimed poet, educator and Aboriginal rights activist who born in 1920 and died in 1993.
If the first fatality of any war is truth, the second fatality of war is the innocence of children.

These images  from an photography exhibition from Queensland's dual Walkley Award-winning journalist Aaron Hollett  give a small chance to look into the eyes of children affected by war.

A boy from Yemen waits for brain surgery to remove bomb shrapnel from his brain in Yemen's forgotten war. Credit:Aaron Hollett, ABC

One shows a boy in Yemen, one of the world's poorest places, waiting for brain surgery to have shrapnel from a small cluster bomb removed from his brain.

The boy's best friend  who died in the explosion  had picked up the bomb thinking it was a toy.
Umbrellas, coats and cups of coffee sustained Melburnians of all stripes on a cold, wet Anzac Day as they paid tribute to those who have served and died in war.

Around 30,000 assembled at the Shrine of Remembrance for a damp dawn service and thousands more arrived for the Anzac Day parade from 9am.

The assembly was smaller than last year's 45,000. "We can put that down entirely to the weather," said Shrine of Remembrance chief executive Dean Lee.

Despite smaller numbers, security was higher than usual and included concrete barriers and a strong police presence.
Seventeen-year-old Paul Holland has marched on Anzac Day for as long as he can remember. When he started, he was perched atop his father Grant's shoulders. Every year the father and son pair marched behind the rust and gold banner of the 7th battalion, the unit of their grandfather and great grandfather, Sir George William Frederick Holland.

Sir George served in Turkey, France and Belgium. Unlike his older brother Vernon, also a member of the 7th battalion, he survived World War I. He returned to Melbourne where he became state president of the RSL for 21 years from 1929. For a decade after that he was the national RSL president.

But on Tuesday, the descendants of one of the longest-serving state RSL presidents weren't in the main Anzac Day parade down St Kilda Road. They were part of a group of about 80 descendants of World War I Diggers marching along Birdwood Avenue, on the boundary of the Shrine grounds.

The alternative Anzac Day march was organised after the Shrine of Remembrance told a group of eight battalion associations they could not accommodate a request to gather there on Anzac Day morning. Being the busiest day of the year, Shrine chief executive Dean Lee said the earliest the World War I descendants could be accommodated was after 3pm.
He said there had been precedents for suspending MPs' pay in the Canadian senate over expenses claimed by three senators several years ago.

Professor Coghill said suspending Mr Nardella's salary would first require the lower house to determine that he had breached the code of conduct.

If the Victorian Parliament ruled that the MPs code of conduct had been breached "the proper action would be to impose an appropriate penalty", he said.

"That penalty should be proportionate to the breach and would take into account whether the MP had attempted to remedy his misuse of parliamentary resources," he said. "Where the misuse of public funds is involved, most would expect the penalty to at least equal the amount misused."

But on Monday Mr Andrews said: "If he does not pay that money back before these bills come into the parliament in just a couple of months time ... the parliament will take that matter out of Mr Nardella's hands and we will recover that money."
Emergency services have freed a woman whose leg became trapped between a tram and a platform on Wednesday morning.

Paramedics confirmed they were called about 7.30am to the incident at the platform outside The Alfred hospital on Commercial Road in Prahran.

Yarra Trams workers and firefighters worked together to jack up the tram and free the woman. Credit:Twitter/@MFBChief

An MFB pumper, rescue unit and commander also attended in addition to a Yarra Trams rescue team.

Yarra Trams spokesman Simon Murphy said the woman is believed to have slipped in the wet conditions and was freed about 8.30am.
Paris: When French voters are asked to describe the centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, age appears to be a defining characteristic in several ways. The 39-year-old Macron could become the youngest contemporary French president. He would also be accompanied into the Elysee Palace by his wife, Brigitte, who is 24 years older than he is.

Both would be highly unusual, if not unprecedented.

Since Macron founded his own political movement about one year ago, his wife has rapidly adapted to the sudden prospect of becoming the next first lady of France after spending much of her life as a high school teacher.

She had few other choices, given the rather intense interest in the private lives of presidential candidates in France.
PARAGUAY A gang of 50 armed bandits made off with an estimated $US40 million ($53 million) from a vault in Paraguay on Tuesday, in what local officials are dubbing the "robbery of the century".

The culprits, who police believed were from Brazil, blew the front off a building to gain access and killed a police officer during the raid in Ciudad del Este, the South American country's second-largest city.

Three of the robbers were killed hours later in a gun battle with Brazilian police across the border, the Paraguayan Interior Ministry said. Five members of the gang were later arrested in Itaipulandia, which is 50 kilometres north of Ciudad del Este, a spokesman added.

Initial estimates placed the cash haul at around $US40 million, but a spokesman for Prosegur, the security company targeted in the raid, said it was less.
Washington: Before Donald Trump won the election in November we were warned: He is a Russian stooge. He is a fascist. He will upend the protocols and traditions that make governing possible. This is not normal.

Now that we are approaching the 100-day mark, it's worth noting that the president is defying the expectations of his resistance. And while there is plenty to oppose in Trump's young presidency, he is neither the Siberian Candidate nor the second coming of Mussolini.

Let's start with Russia. The FBI is still investigating whether and how his campaign may have colluded with Moscow's efforts to influence the presidential election. And yet in terms of actual policy, Trump has settled on a much tougher line with Russia than how he campaigned or in his first few weeks.

In the first month of Trump's presidency, there were legitimate concerns he would attempt a grand bargain with Russia. He boasted that it was an asset that Russian president Vladimir Putin liked him. And he went out of his way to spare Putin from the harsh criticism he reserved for just about everyone else.
Johannesburg: A former Perth resident accused of murdering three members of his family with an axe in South Africa has pleaded not guilty, saying he fought with a laughing attacker during the slaughter at their upscale home.

The trial of Henri van Breda began more than two years after his parents and older brother were killed in Stellenbosch, a scenic wine-growing region. Van Breda is also charged with attempting to murder his sister during the killing spree on January 27, 2015. Marli, then 16, suffered severe injuries and is reported to be unable to remember the incident.

Henri van Breda arriving at the High Court in Cape Town in April. Credit:AP

The case, which shocked many people in a country that already has a high rate of violent crime, has attracted international attention. The family had emigrated to Australia but returned several years ago. Martin van Breda, his wife, Teresa, and their eldest son, Rudi, were killed.

Police Sergeant Adrian Kleynhans, the first officer at the crime scene, testified in the Western Cape High Court that he smelled alcohol on the breath of Henri van Breda. Kleynhans said the suspect "appeared emotional, like he was blowing off steam, and was nervous but wasn't crying", the African News Agency reported.
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Beijing: North Korea has staged its largest live artillery "bombardment", involving 400 long-range cannons, in the eastern town of Wonsan under the watch of leader Kim Jong-un.

The cannons, with a range of 30 kilometres, could reach Seoul if brought to the front line, South Korean media reported.

But the noisy military display, to mark the 85th anniversary of the army, stopped short of the feared nuclear weapons test or intercontinental missile launch that would have unleashed a fierce international reaction.

Tension on the Korean Peninsula was high on the anniversary, with US and South Korean missile destroyers also due to hold a live-fire exercise in the western sea on the North Korean border. The USS Michigan, a guided missile submarine, arrived in South Korea.
New York: A UN investigation into the massacres commonly attributed to the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad is unlikely to move very quickly, given investigators can only hope to catch his representatives in the corridors.

The chairman of the United Nations commission investigating the possible war crimes has met the country's ambassador only once, by chance, when he bumped into him in a hallway after he had given a briefing to the General Assembly in New York.

"Then for 15 minutes, he gave me a lecture," the commission chairman, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said of his exchange with the Syrian envoy, Bashar al-Jaafari. "We don't have any hope that the Syrians will cooperate with us."

Members of the commission, created by the UN Human Rights Council in August 2011, have never been permitted to visit Syria by the Assad government, which appears to view them as accomplices of his enemies.
The Central Committee of Parliament made history last week when it scheduled ample time to discuss the 2016-2020 Governing Program Solidarity for Prosperity. As far as I can recall, this is the first time that Parliament planned so many meetings to handle a governing program. The only other topic for which so many meetings are scheduled by parliament is the countrys budget. I am a strong believer that these two go hand in hand and we should expect to see the priorities and projects listed in the governing program also reflected in all future budgets presented.

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA), comprised of the USP, DP and NA factions, also ought to be commended for their display of unity during the opening presentation. Unfortunately, the individual presentations by the various ministers sounded more like the wish list of excited children in a toy store who want everything in the store without taking their parents pocketbook into consideration. The Ministers should have presented a more realistic overview of their 2017 plans and how these corroborate with the 2017 budget of the country. In my opinion, the Minister of Education came the closest to doing just that.

Parliamentarians, who are part of the coalition, should realize that working on drafting the governing program does not exempt them from still being critical and asking pertinent questions concerning the program. They must remember that the general public did not get the opportunity to read the governing program for themselves and therefore, any question or comment raised by a parliamentarian would definitely help to further inform and enlighten the general public. In addition, I am of the opinion that the governing program must be synchronized with the budget. Just as parliamentarians raised many critical questions during the budget debate, they should also be just as critical about the governing program, particularly as it relates to financing the various plans and projects.

The President of Parliament, the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams, although being part of the UDA coalition, still raised several pertinent points regarding the governing program and even went as far as to caution the government to keep their finger on the pulse of issues such as waste management, the hospital and health care and the integrity chamber. The other members of parliament, especially our first-time parliamentarians, can learn a lot from the vast parliamentary experience of our President of Parliament.

The absence of the United Peoples Party (UPP) at the meeting is regrettable and cause for great concern. The UPP faction missed out on a golden opportunity to truly represent the people of Sint Maarten. People call the UPP the opposition in Parliament. The better name, however, would be the minority faction, because the word opposition implies that their job is solely to oppose whatever government proposes or does, which is not the case. The role of the minority faction is to be very critical of governments proposals in order to ensure that these benefit the people and are executed in a responsible manner. In fact, this should be the role of all parliamentarians, whether they are in the coalition or in the minority faction.

Unfortunately, the UPP parliamentarians chose to be missing in action and consequently did not live up to their responsibility to represent all of the people of Sint Maarten as stipulated in article 44 of the Constitution. This type of political tactics belongs to old school politics and do not contribute to raising the bar in parliament. If they were present, the UPP minority faction would have demonstrated political maturity. Are we to interpret this absence to mean that the governing program is worthless and does not deserve UPPs time or energy? Does this absence signify that UPP does not care about the peoples business and does not have any interest in the plans that government has for this country? Is this absence an indication that the party is still upset and bitter about not being in government and that this is a way to boycott everything that the ADU government plans to do for the people? Does UPPs absence mean that the minority faction in parliament is not taking its commitment to represent the people seriously? I am of the opinion that once politicians have been elected to parliament they should begin to act like statesmen and put the peoples business before politics. It is time we raise the bar in our parliament! I believe that the UPP faction owes all the people of Sint Maarten, whom they should have been representing during the meeting on the governing program, an explanation and/or an apology.

What example did the UPP faction set and what message have they sent by being absent and forfeiting their responsibility to represent the people? Are they telling our people that if they do not agree with the people on their jobs they can just stay away without giving a notice of absence or an apology? Being business people themselves, they very well know that in the corporate world this type of behavior would never be tolerated. There, it is expected that employees, who do not show up to work, give a valid reason for their absence otherwise they suffer the consequences. They can receive a warning, the time away from the job can be deducted from their salaries or they can eventually be fired. Unfortunately, in the case of our parliamentarians there is no immediate sanction. However, seeing that the UPP faction was absent without notice, I wonder ... would they do the honorable thing and instruct the President of Parliament to have the hours, that they did not attend the April 20th meeting, deducted from their salaries?

Wycliffe Smith

Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party
GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Section Economic Control Inspection Service of the Ministry Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT), have been busy carrying out a number of controls of supermarkets making sure that they comply with current regulations and laws.

According to the 2017 Year Plan of the Ministry, a survey was carried out of 126 small grocers and supermarkets with respect to determining the current state of affairs within this important economic sector.

On the basis of the information gathered during this survey, the Economic Control Section has commenced carrying out controls which will continue in the coming months in a multi-disciplinary fashion as announced earlier by Government, whereby Section Economic Control will be part of a team comprising of other government entities.

Some of the things that were controlled during the first quarter of 2017 were: whether grocers and supermarkets were operating according to the stipulations in their licenses; which establishments have a kitchen and produce hot food on a daily basis; display of product pricing; properly calibrated weighing instruments and measuring devices etc.

The controls will continue for the foreseeable future and Section Economic Control is asking business owners and the general public for their cooperation to ensure compliance with existing applicable laws.

Section Economic Control is located at Cannegieter Street #23 upstairs, next to Sister Borgia School in Philipsburg.

Any businesses requiring information can call 542-5641 or 542-4509 during office hours for any queries that you may have. The department may also be contacted via email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
WILLEMSTAD/ PHILIPSBURG:--- The medical director of SEHOS (St Elizabeth Hospital ) Dr. Franke Scheper worked closely with the Inspector of Health in Curacao Dr. Gersji Pererira to find a workable solution and one that he could manage in the interest of Healthcare.

Dr. Michel Berry was suspended by the institution in the month of January for not seeing and treating a patient that was admitted to SEHOS. The moment Dr. Berry was suspended both by SEHOS and the Inspector of Health the director of SEHOS called in two different auditors from the Netherlands to conduct an independent audit on the quality of surgery care and on patient safety.

Shortly after that SEHOS discovered that one of their surgeons, Dr. Fa Si Oen who has been working at SEHOS for over 12 years was not registered in Belgium. Upon getting that information the medical director of SEHOS met with Dr. Fa Si Oen and they sent him on mandatory leave to regulate his registration. In both cases the Inspector of Health was involved while both surgeons headed to court.

Even though court cases were ongoing the medical director of SEHOS Dr. Franke Scheper and the Inspector of Health Dr. Gersji Pererira decided to work hand in hand and found a solution that will benefit their patients and the institution while SEHOS will have a full grip on how their specialists work.

The decision taken was to allow both surgeons to return to work in full time service at SEHOS, meaning SEHOS will have full control over what their specialists do to guarantee quality and safety of care. So far Dr. Michel Berry has returned working full time for the institution while Dr. Fa Si Oen did not take a decision as yet as to whether or not he will return to work for SEHOS under the conditions set forth.

SEHOS also received assistance from its functioning surgery group who also laid down rules and made sure that management of SEHOS know what type of working environment they are willing to work in.

All of the decisions taken by SEHOS, the Inspector of Health and the Surgery Group of SEHOS is to guarantee patients safety and proper quality of healthcare. While all of the above was taking place the Minister of Health in Curacao took a backseat and allowed the organs that are in place to conduct their jobs without interference.

When compared to St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) the local institution does not have a medical director in place even though it was one of the recommendations given to SMMC after the 2012 audit was completed by the Inspectorate of Health on St. Maarten.

The medical staff of SMMC is confronting many issues, but they are more scared to properly address these issues and patient safety due to intimidation and fear by the management of SMMC.

SMMC over the years has been hiring under-qualified specialists and doctors to work on St. Maarten while not conducting proper background checks on those they choose to hire.

Another big failure on St. Maarten is the Department of Health who does not have the policies and qualified staff to conduct the vetting procedures while the advice given by the Ministry of Education is not adhered to. Besides all of those factors, the Minister of Health Emil Lee finds himself in the middle, meddling in the affairs of the Inspectorate that he even issued a gag order to the Inspectorate which almost landed him in court. Instead of the Minister of Health does what is necessary to ensure that quality of care and patient safety are guaranteed on St. Maarten he is hell bent on taking sides with SMMC rather than being impartial, simply because he has special arrangements to continue his dream project the New General Hospital.

Minister Emil Lee chose to hire a consultant to conduct what he calls a baseline study in the healthcare chain on St. Maarten but focusses on the SMMC and the scheduled audit by the Inspectorate. All of which is being paid for by the Ministry VSA. What the Minister did not tell the people of St. Maarten is that this consultant Mr. Everard van Kemenade is a consultant at the White and Yellow Cross and he is also the candidate that SMMC intends to hire to assist in getting the JCI accreditation SMMC wants. More disturbing is this person has absolutely no experience in healthcare.

The question remains whether Mr. van Kemenade is able to produce a non-biased report on the SMMC since he is expecting a job at the institution.
St. Eustatius:--- The island government of St. Eustatius dispatched a letter to the Minister of Interior and Kingdom Affairs Ronald Plasterk informing him that the Kingdom violated the United Nations Charter and its resolutions. The letter dated April 25th, 2017 states that the island government of St. Eustatius have taken note Plasterks undated letter he sent to the Chairman of the Executive Council. The letter from Plasterk is a response of the letter sent by Clyde Van Putten to Prime Minister Mark Rutte on April 17th, 2017 informing him of the stance the government of Statia took with regards to their status of self-government within the Kingdom.

The letter states that recently the Charter of the Kingdom was tested against the charter of the United Nations (UN Charter) based on a ruling of the Supreme Court o April 13th, 2012.



Click here to read full context of the letter to Minister Ronald Plasterk
Claim: Schools in the UK no longer teach about the Holocaust for fear of offending Muslim students. Rating: About this rating False

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Origin

This piece about UK schools reportedly dropping the subject of the Holocaust from history classes began circulating via e-mail in mid-April 2007:

In Memoriam Recently, this week, UK removed The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it "offended" the Moslem population which claims it never occurred. This is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it. It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the 6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russia peoples looking the other way! Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be "a myth," it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets. This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide! Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world. Please send this message to all people you know and ask them to continue the memorial chain. Please don't just delete it. It will only take you a minute to pass this along - Thanks!

Its central claim, that schools in Britain no longer teach about the Holocaust for fear of offending Muslim students, isn't on the money: Even news articles that bore headlines such as "Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims" only cited a single example of one history department in a northern UK school that did that (and for reasons other than avoiding "offending Muslims"). In all the rest of the country's schools, information about the Holocaust was still being imparted to students.

Those news articles were a response to the March 2007 release of the Historical Association's report titled Teaching Emotive and Controversial History 3-19 (an overview of its objectives can be found here and the full report here), a study funded by the UK's Department for Education and Skills to examine how educators in Britain were teaching sensitive and/or controversial aspects of history and to highlight what approaches had worked among those that had been tried.

One history department looked at by the fact-finders was found to have cut information about the Holocaust from its lessons due to worries that Muslim pupils might express anti-Semitic reactions. Said the report: "For example, a history department in a northern city recently avoided selecting the Holocaust as a topic for GCSE coursework for fear of confronting anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils."

From this single example of one UK school was spun the claim that every school in that country had stopped teaching about the Holocaust for fear of offending Muslim students. In fact, the education department's plan was the opposite: to ensure that the Holocaust was taught everywhere. A spokesman for the Department of Education and Skills (DES) maintained that "The Ajegbo report on citizenship [a different report authored by Sir Keith Ajegbo and released in January 2007] said key British historical events must be taught" and that while "the national curriculum is a broad framework and there is scope for schools to make their own decisions, teaching elements including the Holocaust and key British events will be compulsory."

According to a DES spokesman, "Teaching of the Holocaust is already compulsory in schools at Key Stage 3 (ages 11 to 14), and it will remain so in the new KS3 curriculum from September 2008." Schools in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have different guidelines and curriculums; in those parts of the UK, according to the BBC, "Holocaust teaching is not compulsory but schools may teach it if they wish, and this has not changed recently."

The bottom line to all this fuss? Schools in the UK are indeed teaching about the Holocaust, something British journalists seemed to downplay in their rush to report that one department in one city was not. The e-mailed call to arms cited above was likely the result of a misreading of already badly-presented news articles.

Several months after the original of this item first appeared, someone mistook (or deliberately confused) the abbreviation "UK" with the University of Kentucky and changed the central claim to be "the University of Kentucky had removed The Holocaust from its school curriculum." The University of Kentucky issued a press release on 8 November 2007 to correct this misinformation:

The University of Kentucky has announced that a rumor, claiming the school has removed Holocaust material from its curriculum, is not true. The false claim has been circulated via e-mail. The Judaic Studies Program of the University of Kentucky, in conjunction with the College of Arts and Sciences Department of History, offers a course designated as History 323: The Holocaust. According to an explanation found on the investigative Web site Snopes.com, a message claiming that schools in the United Kingdom would no longer teach about the Holocaust in their history classes began to circulate via e-mail forwards dated back to April 2007. As the message wound its way across the Internet, someone took the abbreviation for the United Kingdom (UK) to stand for the University of Kentucky, and altered the message to implicate the institution. This version has been forwarded to several people and understandably raised concern among alumni, students and other friends of the University of Kentucky. The original message about the United Kingdom is of uncertain veracity, and any statement linking the University of Kentucky with this rumor is completely false. "The academic administration of the University of Kentucky would never permit such a grotesque lapse in its commitment to the principle of academic freedom. Let us bury this rumor. It is a distortion of the realities on and off campus," said UK Assistant Provost Richard B. Greissman.

Versions of this item circulated in early 2008 included the following preface:
Alphinat Announces a Profit of $167,455 for the Quarter Ended February 28, 2017

MONTREAL, QUEBEC  (Marketwired)  04/24/17  Alphinat Inc. (TSX VENTURE: NPA) announces a profit of $167,455 for the quarter ended February 28, 2017.

During the quarter under review, Alphinat recognized new license sales from a Canadian Province and a State in the USA. They have selected SmartGuide in their effort to modernize their digital government service delivery to their constituents.

During the quarter under review, the company had committed efforts to Smart City initiatives.

Also during the quarter under review, the government of France exercised its options to extend the use of SmartGuide to deliver digital government services to its citizens and enterprises.

SmartGuide has regularly demonstrated the productivity gains it delivers. The decision drivers for Alphinats partners and clients in selecting SmartGuide is always Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), ease of use and quality of service.

For the 3-month period ended February 28, 2017, the Company recorded total revenue of $499,399 compared to $473,381 for the same period in 2016. For the 6-month period ended February 28, 2017, the company recorded license sales for an amount of $582,587 compared to $166,451 for the same period in 2016, an increase of 250%.

The earnings for the period ended February 28, 2017 amounted to $167,455 or $0.003 per outstanding common share compared to earnings of 46,970 or $0.001 per outstanding common share for the 3-month period ended February 29, 2016.

Alphinats financial statements and Managements Discussion and Analysis for the period ending November 30, 2016 can be found on SEDAR, at .

About Alphinat

Alphinat is the creator of SmartGuide, a next generation application development and deployment productivity toolset providing agility to leverage existing IT assets and lower costs for a one-stop delivery tool of Web and mobile enterprise applications from any back-end system.

Alphinat has been appointed by technology company peers to associate member at the Smart Cities Council ().

Alphinat technology is also used in the healthcare, banking, insurance, telecommunications and other sectors, in modernising, automating and rendering cost-effective various business processes at a fraction of the cost associated with conventional customized solutions. For more details about Alphinat or its software suite, please visit .

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this document, including those which express managements expectations or estimations with regards to the Companys future performance, constitute forward-looking statements as understood by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are, of necessity, based on a certain number of estimates and hypotheses; while management considers these to be accurate at the time they are expressed, they are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and risks on the commercial, economic and competitive levels. We advise readers that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other known and unknown factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. A number of factors could cause significant differences between actual results and those described in forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, the Companys capacity to increase acceptance of its products on the market, and to penetrate new markets; the potential existence of defects or undetected problems in the Companys products; the Companys ability to manage its growth; the Companys ability to compete with others; potential commitments; maintaining the Companys intellectual property rights and defending against litigation putting those rights in question; the Companys reliance on the knowledge of its key personnel; and the Companys access to sufficient capital to finance its future needs. This is a partial and non-exhaustive list of factors that could bear on any of our forward-looking statements. Investors are advised to not rely unduly on the forward-looking statements. This advisory applies to all forward-looking statements, whether expressed orally or in writing, attributed to Alphinat or to any individual expressing them in the name of the Company. The Company is under no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events, or other circumstances. Risks and uncertainties that bear on the Company are described in greater detail in the Companys Annual Report.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Alphinat Inc.

Mr. Philippe Lecoq

Chief Executive Officer

(514) 398-9799 ext 222
Trend Micro Releases First Ever Guide for Cybercriminal Investigations

HONG KONG, CHINA  (Marketwired)  04/24/17  (TYO: 4704) (TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced the release of the first edition Cybercrime Investigation Body of Knowledge () book by the CIBOK editorial committee. This book is designed to set a new standard for public-private partnerships in the global fight against cybercrime by providing the knowledge, skills and behaviors required to solve and prevent todays threats.

Trend Micro took the initiative to bring together great minds in cybersecurity investigations to ensure relevant, high quality results. Leading incident responders, former FBI and DOJ investigators, cybersecurity lawyers and security researchers collaborated to develop this resource for use in education and for the betterment of the industry.

CIBOK introduces a standard for the research and investigation of cybercriminal activity that can unify and strengthen the collective efforts to fight global cybercrime, said Ed Cabrera, chief cybersecurity officer for Trend Micro. Trend Micro is a strong advocate for public-private partnerships, and this book provides a foundation to guide security researchers, law enforcement and incident response teams. It also encourages more individuals and organizations to work together.

Public-private partnerships are an integral aspect of the global fight against cybercrime. In developing this book, CIBOK and Trend Micro recognized and met the need for an industry standard to advance cybercriminal investigations. CIBOK focuses on five key objectives, including the need for consistent cybercriminal investigations and what content is needed for investigations. It addresses the needs, background information and requirements for cybersecurity researchers assisting law enforcement, and can be used as an educational tool for students and industry practitioners.

Trend Micro fosters ongoing partnerships with INTERPOL, the National Crime Agency, FBI and the Secret Service, which result in the identification and arrest of cybercriminals around the globe. A recent example of this is the 2016 of a Nigerian national who had extorted $60 million from businesses around the world using BEC scams, which Trend Micro supported.

To purchase a copy of the CIBOK book and to learn more about the organization please visit: .

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cyber security solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 5,000 employees in over 50 countries and the worlds most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables users to enjoy their digital lives safely. For more information, visit .

Claudius Lam

Trend Micro

+ 852 2866 4362 (Office)

+ 852 9022 0876 (Mobile)
Rapid Progression for Worldwide Computer Assisted Coding Market, Anticipated to Reach $5.1 million from $2.8 through 2022

Albany, New York, April 25, 2017: According to a recent study, the rapid adoption of electronic health record (EHR) in many healthcare facilities is creating demand for computer assisted coding. Computer-assisted coding has helped in reducing coding errors, thereby reducing healthcare costs and rising the productivity of healthcare facilities globally. Market Research Hub (MRH) has recently broadcasted the latest publications to its online repository, which is titled as Computer Assisted Coding: Market Shares, Strategies and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022. The complete report provides a comprehensive analysis of Computer Assisted Coding in different categories, illustrating the diversity of software market segments.

Request Free Sample Report: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1054304

As per the key findings, in 2016 the worldwide market for Computer Assisted Coding was valued $2.8 billion and is further anticipated to reach $5.1 billion by 2023. The market for computer assisted coding grows because it provides management of workflow process by encouraging increasing efficiency in care delivery. Also, Market being driven primarily because of the rising need to minimize coding errors and reduce the rising healthcare expenditure. The demand for computer assisted coding software in emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil is estimated to increase in future years due to the constant increase in healthcare infrastructure.

In the starting sections, the report delivers an exhaustive market description and dynamics of Computer Assisted Coding (CAC) technology. CAC application analyzes health care documents and produces proper medical codes for specific phrases & terms within the document. CAC supports to automatically generate medical billing codes from clinical documentation in EHRs and transcription systems. With CAC technology, healthcare organizations can modernize their revenue-cycle processes while becoming more compliant with the increasingly complex payer and quality reporting requirements. Computer-assisted coding of medical information uses language solutions to link the physician notes in an electronic patient record to the codes used for billing Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies.

Moreover, it has also been studied that computer-assisted coding software will see more adoption in healthcare facilities due to the adaptation of ICD-10 coding in coming years. It contains codes for diseases, abnormal findings, complaints, symptoms, social circumstances and causes of injury or diseases. Healthcare providers use complex coding systems, which drives demand for CAC systems.

NLP complex technology defines the key features of a computer-assisted coding (CAC) application. While some other features of CAC include:

Produce productivity gains of 25-75 % by providing rapid review aids and directing coders to concentrate on priority cases.

Automated coding workflow that flags incomplete physician documentation to proactively support CDI initiatives and reduce retrospective queries and delays.

The cloud-based solution which is accessible by coders located in-house or off-site.

Compile documentation from multiple disparate sources to simplify coder review.

Currently, market leaders present in the market includes:

3M

Optum

Dolbey

McKesson

Platocode Computer Assisted Coding

Nuance Computer Assisted Coding

CodeCorrect

Artificial Medical Intelligence Emscribe CAC

Browse Full Report With TOC: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/computer-assisted-coding-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2016-to-2022-report.html

.
Coperon and InBetween sign cooperation agreement

Stuttgart Germany/Beirut Lebanon, 25. April 2017  Coperon Technologies, provider of catalog content management software and services, headquartered in Lebanon and InBetween, Germany-based leading database publishing expert, have signed a new agreement with the intention of expanding the cooperation to joint sales and marketing activities with a focus on the Middle East and North African region.

While Coperon and InBetween have already been working together on a technical level based on mutual customer situations, the new agreement intends to further strengthen the commercial aspect of the cooperation. Coperon will, as of now, act as regional representative for InBetween in a large number of Arabic countries.

Founded in 2000 with the goal of providing manufacturers with highly advanced software tools to manage and communicate rich data about their products to a wide range of catalog users, Coperon has built up a strong reputation supporting many well-known companies in the lighting, electrical and retail business in the Middle East region and beyond. With an R&D team based in Beirut-Lebanon, Coperon develops its European sales from Milano, Italy.

InBetween has been specializing in database publishing for over 20 years and offers the most diverse options for the semi- and fully automated generation of online and print documents such as catalogues, price lists, brochures, product flyers, flipping books and tablet publications, but also marketing and sales material in Microsoft Office formats such as Excel, Powerpoint and Word. At the same time, several web-based publishing tools enable and facilitate modern decentralized publishing processes.

We are really happy about this opportunity to expand our cooperation, says Alexander Dressler, CEO at InBetween. While InBetweens publishing solutions perfectly complement Coperons product suite for the benefit of customers, the cooperation will also help us expand to new high potential markets requiring local support as well as profound cultural and language skills.

The agreement gives us the possibility of offering a complete solution to our own customer base and prospects, adds Jean Zovighian, managing director at Coperon. InBetween provides a highly sophisticated solution for print automation which is a perfect match for our powerful e-business software.

Coperons e-business solution, iPartner Product Suite, is an integrated software solution that covers the complete online catalog management process.
CAREN project brings Gigabit-speed connectivity to Central Asia

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and Cambridge, UK | 25 April 2017  Researchers, academics and students in Central Asia and Europe are already starting to benefit from the recent deployment of a ring of 1 Gbps circuits for research and education (R&E) across the regions, officially inaugurated today at the start of the 2nd CAREN Regional Networking Conference (CRNC 2017) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The new connectivity is a key component of the EU-funded Central Asia Research and Education Network (CAREN) project which  now in its 3rd phase  sets out to create a sustainable, high-capacity data network serving higher education and research institutions across the region.

Initially, CAREN3 connects the Kyrgyz and Tajik R&E communities to their peers in Europe and the rest of the world via links from Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) and Dushanbe (Tajikistan) to the CAREN network hub in Frankfurt, where they interconnect with the pan-European GEANT network. In addition, for the first time, direct connectivity within the region has also been deployed between the Bishkek and Dushanbe sites, paving the way for a truly regional high-speed R&E backbone in Central Asia.

Steve Cotter, CEO GEANT, said: GEANT has been given the mandate by the European Union to help build digital bridges between Europe and other world regions to strengthen existing and catalyse new collaborative research and education activities. EU funding, combined with the expertise of GEANT and its national research and education network (NREN) partners in Central Asia, puts CAREN in a unique position to turn the ancient Silk Road into a high-speed digital highway.

With 10M EU funding up to 2019, the third project phase started in June 2016, initially with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as beneficiaries following the signing of co-funding agreements between their governments and the European Commission. Work is underway to also re-establish project participation for Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan is also eligible to join.

Ambassador Cesare De Montis, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Kyrgyz Republic commented: The development of a high-capacity, yet cost-effective data-communications infrastructure for research and education is high on the EU agenda as it is key to bringing the best minds together. In this context, we welcome the CAREN project that has recently entered its third phase and, for the first time, brings connectivity at Gigabit speed to Central Asia. In partnership with the NRENs, we look forward to extending CARENs benefits to the research and education communities across the whole region.

Themed Empowering the Central Asian research and education communities through global high-speed networking and jointly hosted by KRENA, the Kyrgyz Research and Education Network Association and Kyrgyz Turkish Manas University, CRNC 2017 brings together practitioners from the Central Asian research and higher education community, policy makers, connectivity providers, ICT vendors and will also draw on the expertise of representatives from other regional networks and organisations, such as GEANT, TEIN*CC (Asia-Pacific) and the UbuntuNet Alliance (Southern Africa).

Over the next two days, participants will hear and see first-hand from scientists and academics how CARENs high-speed links make a real difference in advancing collaborative research in areas such as environmental studies, seismology, telemedicine and preservation of natural and cultural heritage. In addition, presentations will outline how e-learning and remote training opportunities make education and knowledge transfer more accessible.

We are involved in international programmes to identify and study hazardous asteroids, said Dr Gulchehra Kohirova, speaker at the conference and Director of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan which has recently been connected to TARENA, the Tajik NREN. We transfer and receive large datasets to and from the Minor Planet Center in the US, which is the global focus for all information about the positions of the threats we monitor. Without TARENAs and CARENs secure high-speed connectivity, we simply couldnt participate in the work of the centre, she concluded.

CRNC 2017 will also celebrate the official launch of the CAREN Cooperation Center (CAREN*CC) which was established by the CAREN partners as a not-for-profit organisation, based in Bishkek, to promote R&E networking throughout the Central Asian region and to maximise the impact of CAREN.

Prof. Askar Kutanov, CEO of CAREN*CC, said: We are delighted to celebrate with the wider R&E networking community the establishment of this powerful CAREN Gigabit-ring. CAREN*CC will do its utmost do promote its benefits to the user communities, to support their collaboration endeavours and help gain the necessary traction to connect other partners in our region.
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Concerned for the safety of his children when he saw a party was still going on at his ex's house in the early morning, a Crewkerne man tried to get inside to find out what was going on.

Aaron Keith Hodges started throwing stones at a window and was shouting at the victim, but when he tried to get in through the door he broke the handle leaving it unable to be opened or locked.

As a result of the incident the victim made a statement to the police saying she had had enough of the defendant and he had left her feeling mentally drained and did not feel safe in her own home any more.

She said: "I fear he may turn up at any given time and he is persistent and is a bully who controls me.

"I cannot go out for fear of bumping into him and the consequences that may follow and I don't want any contact with him."

The 26-year-old defendant, of Rhydderch Way, pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to a door handle belonging to his former partner at her home in Crewkerne on April 1 when he appeared before Somerset Magistrates.

Prosecutor Christine Hart said that the police were called to an address in Crewkerne at 7.40am where Hodges was throwing stones at the windows.

"He was shouting and being aggressive and said he was concerned for the safety of the complainant, but when he saw them he ran off," she said.

"The complainant said that Hodges had broken her door lock while trying to gain entry to the property without her permission and it would now not open or lock.

"During interview with the police the defendant said he was on his way home and passed her house and decided to go in to see his children but said the door was locked and his ex wouldn't let him in so he forced the door and the handle broke."

Defending solicitor Chris Ivory said that Hodges did not use any threatening behaviour and said he had just been driving past the address and noticed that there was clearly a party going on and knew his children were inside.

"He intended to go in and ask if it was really appropriate for a party to be still going on at 7.40am, but that turned into an argument and he accepted grabbing the door handle and causing the damage," he said.

"He said the damage was caused recklessly and knew he should not have been trying to get into the house without permission, however he was a father and was concerned about the safety of his children while the party was going on."

He said that Hodges walked away when the police arrived and was genuinely sorry for the damage he caused, which was not his intention.

The magistrates fined the defendant 185 and ordered him to pay 85 costs and a 30 victim surcharge but no compensation.
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A jury has retired to consider its verdict in the trial of a mother accused of stabbing to death her Charles Bronson-obsessed boyfriend.

Somerset-born Jeweller Elizabeth Hart-Browne, 27, was hysterical and said "I have just killed the man I love" after plunging a large kitchen knife into Stephen Rayner's neck at their flat in Acton, west London, the Old Bailey has heard.

The court was told that a row had erupted after Hart-Browne came home from a family party on the evening of September 17 last year.

With young children sleeping feet away, she allegedly picked up a knife and stabbed Mr Rayner three times, inflicting a fatal wound to the neck.

He staggered outside and collapsed in a pool of blood as shocked neighbours rushed to help.

Hart-Browne, who was barefoot and was missing an earring, was hysterical as she told police: "I didn't mean to do it, I'm so sorry. I have just killed the man I love."

(Image: SWNS)

She has denied murdering the 25-year-old call centre worker, saying she believed he was going to kill her as he had threatened to do in the past.

Hart-Browne told jurors Mr Rayner was violent towards her and sometimes took on the persona of his idol, Britain's most notorious prisoner, Charles Bronson, when he got angry.

Giving evidence in court previously, the mother-of-two described her troubled childhood growing up in Somerset before she found love with 25-year-old Mr Rayner, from Bournemouth.

She spent her teenage years living with extended family in the county, while her mother stayed in London.

Due to social services intervention as a teenager, Hart-Browne moved from Washford Somerset on to Porlock and did not speak to her mother between the ages of 14 and 17.

She said I felt quite isolated. Very closed off, Very unloved. Abandoned really.

James Scobie QC, defending, said: Was there any contact with your mother?

She replied: No.

Scobie: How many years was it before you engaged with your mother?

Reply: I did not speak to my mum again until I was 17. I was very close to my mum and it affected me a lot. 

The jury was sent out to begin deliberations by trial judge Wendy Joseph QC on Monday afternoon.
For his second NYC restaurant, Jose Garcesa James Beard-award winning chef known for both his status as a prolific restaurateur in Philadelphia (and elsewhere) and a stint as a "Next Iron Chef"mines the rich tapestry of Spanish cuisine yet again at Ortzi, which debuted near Bryant Park this week. The Basque Country, the cuisine of which Garces says "helped shape the chef [he] is today," informs the dishes coming from Ortzi's kitchen, which will be led by Chef de Cuisine Michael Han.

Garces mined Andalusian fare for the NYC offshoot of Amada, and though Ortzi's an original, the chef has previously explored Basque cuisine at other restaurants. Hearty stews cooked in a terracotta cazuela, raw fish crudos, and conservaspreserved foods typically served from cans or jars in France and Spainare the focal points of the menu.

Since it's located in a hotel, the restaurant will also serve breakfast dishes including a Bocadillo egg sandwich with mancheg and bacon on brioche with potato hash, and lunch dishes including an Ortzi Burger made with dry aged beef, idiazabal (a sheep's milk cheese) and onion jam.

120 West 41 Street, 212-730-8900; ortzirestaurant.com

Ortzi Dinner Menu by Nell Casey on Scribd

Ortzi Beverage Book by Nell Casey on Scribd
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THE BIGGEST STORIES ACROSS TAUNTON IN YOUR INBOX

A Yeovil man has been handed a curfew after admitting a sexual assault against a woman in the town.

Geoff French, 41, of Peters Way, appeared in the dock before Judge David Ticehurst at Taunton Crown Court today.

He had previously admitted a charge of intentionally touching a woman aged 16 or over in a sexual manner, again when she did not consent, on September 9, 2015.

He had denied a second charge of sexually assaulting a woman aged 16 or over, involving penetration and when she did not consent, at Yeovil on the same date, which was ordered to lie on file.

Prosecuting, David Sapiecha said French had touched the woman while she slept.

Defending, Harry Ahuja said French had been assessed as a low risk of sexual offending.

When the case was reported by the press he was kicked out of his current flat and was essentially homeless for five or six months, he said. French had since met a girlfriend and he has moved into her home, Mr Ahuja said.

She has been supporting him emotionally throughout this whole process.

Sentencing French to a four month curfew between 9pm and 5am and ordering him to pay 500 costs, Judge Ticehurst said: This was a moment of madness in which you allowed yourself to be tempted and caused huge concern and distress to the complainant.

I hope that you are ashamed of yourself  you have certainly bought a lot of trouble for yourself. But I agree with the assessment that you do not pose a risk of re-offending, and you were a man previously of good character.

Behave yourself, and dont do it again  ever.
The family of a British scientist who helped put man on the moon are appealing to find a home for his massive collection of space books following his death.



Brainy Don Howle worked on the Apollo 11 mission which saw Neil Armstong

make his famous landing in 1969.



He worked on the radio equipment for the lunar module and on the antennae used to transmit the famous TV pictures from the landing around the world.



Don's death aged 89 left a vast library of books on space exploration at his home in Yeovil, Somerset.



Mr Howle had no children with his wife Linda and his remaining family are hoping to find budding scientists who can house his hundreds of books.

(Image: SWNS)





Nephew Simon Burridge said: "He had quite a lot of material about aircraft and spacecraft.



"He had an upstairs den with a lot of aircraft related books. It would be nice to find the right place for them to go."

Born in Yorkshire, Mr Howle grew up in Essex and studied in London, before taking a job in Somerset, where a funeral was held for him on Friday.



He left Somerset for New Jersey with Linda, in 1964, and the couple settled in America for five years while Mr Howle worked as a subcontractor for NASA.

(Image: SWNS)





There he worked closely with engineers from subcontractors RCA to televise the heart-stopping moment.



The black-and-white footage captivated the world and sparked decades of pub debates and conspiracy theories about the legitimacy of it.



But as soon as Apollo 11 was complete, work began on Apollo 12, which would be televised in colour.

(Image: SWNS)





Antennae were set up in a vacuum to prepare for Lunar conditions, and the hostile environment of deep space had to be simulated in order to prepare equipment taken on the rocket



Mr Burridge, 52, said: "They won the contract to do the radar on a lunar model, simulating the environment of space.



"The challenge was of having very hot conditions, and deep space cold, freezing. Whatever went up there was subjected to extremes.



"Everything had to be incredibly light. It was a shame the British engineers got overlooked."

(Image: SWNS)





After his stint in the United States, Mr Howle moved to the Netherlands, for a new job at the European Space Agency in 1970.



But it was not until the death of Linda, in 2010, that the forward-thinking scientist got to know his nephew, who helped take care of him, visiting Somerset from Woolwich, London, where he runs a record label.

Mr Burridge recalled quizzing his uncle on urban myths surround the moon landing, and said: "When I first started reading about conspiracies I thought 'can I ask Don about this?'



"He said 'it's just a load of rubbish.'



"He never lost that interest which was nice, even when his body was giving up he was still watching TV about the latest discoveries of planets."



The pensioner died in hospital after his health rapidly deteriorated, and his nephew said: "I think hopefully he went off into space comfortably."


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A District Judge has blasted a Yeovil woman who fraudulently claimed more than 7,000 in benefits after hiding the fact that her partner was living with her.

District Judge David Taylor told Frances Lisa Victoria Lawson that her actions had brought into disrepute the reputation of other benefit claimants who had genuinely fallen on hard times.

His remarks came after the 54-year-old hotel receptionist deliberately deceived staff at South Somerset District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions by failing to declare that her partner had moved into her address.

He said: "You had a degree of naivety, but it was obvious to you that your personal circumstances had changed.

"

"At the very least, an honest person would have made enquiries to see if it would have affected their benefits, rather than naively not to do so.

"The harm that these type of offences causes is much wider than the loss to the council, because it gives the impression that all people on benefits are on the fiddle and claiming money that they should not have.

"That is an unfortunate slur on the majority of people who have fallen on hard times and have to claim benefits."

Lawson, 54, of Eastville, pleaded guilty that between April 7, 2014 and May 17, 2015 at Yeovil, she dishonestly failed to promptly notify the council of a change of circumstances which she knew would affect her entitlement to housing benefit - namely that she failed to declare she was living and maintaining a common household with her partner, who was working in remunerated employment.

She also admitted that on July 24, 2014, with a view to obtaining job seekers allowance, she dishonestly made a statement to the DWP which was false - namely that, on a benefit claim form, she declared she did not have a partner when in fact she was living with her partner who was working.

Prosecutor Julyan Stephens told the court at Yeovil that Lawson had made a claim to SSDC for housing benefit and another to the DWP for job seekers allowance.

"The claim should have notified both that from about March 28, 2014 her partner had moved into her house, but she did not do that and her claims were paid," he said.

The total overpayment for JSA was 1,699.46 and the total for housing benefit was 5,596.95.

"Investigations were started by the relevant agencies and when the defendant was interviewed, she accepted the evidence and the fact that she had received overpayments," said Mr Stephens.

"She accepted she had not told the whole truth to the departments involved, and accepted she was wrong and had been stupid and would admit to everything.

"She added that she knew by withholding the information it would affect her entitlement to benefits, and said she had been stupid and naive."

Probation officer Joe Harper said that Lawson had formed a relationship with her partner after meeting him online, and between the dates of the offences he moved into her house but stayed away during the week, as he worked as a long distance lorry driver.

"He made contributions, including paying for the TV licence and broadband, and on reflection the defendant feels absolutely stupid for these offences and takes full responsibility for them," he said.

"She deeply regrets her behaviour, but at the time when he has just moved in she did not compute him just being there at the weekend to him living with her full-time.

"However he used her address to receive post and gave the address for bank statements etc., and she realises that her actions were stupid and would have had a financial impact on the authorities concerned."

He added that Lawson was currently repaying the debts to the two authorities at a rate of 159.99 per month.

District Judge Taylor sentenced her to a 12-month community order with a requirement to carry out 80 hours unpaid work, and also imposed costs of 85 and a 60 victim surcharge.
2022 Indiana election: Who will be elected to replace Jackie Waloriski's US House district?

The 2022 election is a midterm election. Voters will come out to to vote in the Indiana election Nov. 8 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
News, analysis, and archives on the grassroots in Haiti. Nouvel, analiz, ak achiv sou baz yo an AYITI. Noticias, analisis y archivos sobre el pueblo de Haiti.
President Donald Trump talks to astronauts on the ISS April 24 from the Oval Office, flanked by NASA astronaut Kate Rubins (left) and assistant to the president Ivanka Trump.

WASHINGTON  In a conversation with NASA astronauts on the International Space Station April 24, President Donald Trump called for a human mission to Mars by the end of his second term in 2024, a timeframe most in the industry do not consider feasible.

Trump discussed his Mars exploration aspirations in a 20-minute conversation with astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer, currently on the station. Trump, sitting in the Oval Office at the White House, asked the astronauts about when NASA would be ready to send humans to the planet. "What do you see a timing for actually sending humans to Mars?" he asked.

"Well, I think as your bill directed, it will be approximately in the 2030s," responded Whitson, referring to a NASA authorization act that Trump signed into law March 21. That bill included language requiring NASA to contract with an "independent, non-governmental systems engineering and technical assistance organization" to study the feasibility of a human Mars mission in 2033.

"Unfortunately, spaceflight takes a lot of time and money, so getting there will require some international cooperation to get it to be a planet-wide approach in order to make it successful, just because it is a very expensive endeavor," Whitson said. "But it so worthwhile doing." [Watch Trump Peggy Whitson on Her Spaceflight Record]

Trump, though, said he wanted a faster timeline. "Well, we want to try and do it during my first term or, at worst, during my second term," he said. "So we'll have to speed that up a little bit, okay?"

He reiterated an accelerated timeframe later in the discussion. "I'm very proud that I just signed a bill committing NASA to the aim of sending America astronauts to Mars," he said, again referring to the authorization act. "So we'll do that. I think we'll do it a lot sooner than we're even thinking."

NASA's current plans, independent of the authorization act language, do not project a human mission to Mars orbit any earlier than 2033. In recent weeks, agency officials unveiled plans to build up a Deep Space Gateway, a habitat in cislunar space, in the 2020s, followed by a Deep Space Transport that would undergo a one-year test in cislunar space in the late 2020s before being used for a human mission to orbit Mars.

Accelerating that schedule even by a few years would run into issues with development of both the spacecraft needed for such missions and key technologies. NASA has previously stated they need to operate the ISS through 2024 in order to test life support systems needed for Mars missions as well as retire other biomedical risk issues for those missions.

An accelerated schedule would also require a sharply increased budget for the agency's exploration programs. However, a fiscal year 2018 budget blueprint document, released by the White House March 16, offered $3.7 billion for the Space Launch System, Orion and ground systems, similar to what those programs collectively received in 2016. Congress has not yet finalized a fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill, nearly seven months into the fiscal year.

A more detailed fiscal year 2018 budget proposal is expected to come out in mid-May. That document may also disclose what decision NASA and the White House have made about flying a crew on the first SLS/Orion mission, Exploration Mission 1. That mission is currently set to launch in late 2018 without a crew, although a recent report by NASA's Office of Inspector General concluded it was likely the mission would be delayed regardless of any decision to add astronauts to the flight.

The call was primarily intended to celebrate Whitson's setting a new U.S. cumulative spaceflight record of 534 days in space, breaking the mark set by Jeff Williams in 2016. President Trump was joined in the Oval Office by his daughter Ivanka, who holds the title of assistant to the president; and by Kate Rubins, a NASA astronaut who flew on the space station in 2016.

Ivanka Trump, in her comments, sought to emphasize science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and the role of NASA to promote that research. She also discussed STEM education at the National Air and Space Museum March 28 with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and NASA astronaut Kay Hire. That appearance came after the 2018 budget proposal, which included plans to defund the NASA Office of Education.

President Trump did not bring up any near-term space policy issues, including the nomination of a new NASA administrator or plans to reestablish the National Space Council. At the end of the call, he asked Whitson and Fischer if they were ready to go to Mars. Both raised their hands.

"We are absolutely ready to go to Mars. It's going to be a fantastic journey getting there, and very exciting times, and all of us would be happy to go," Whitson said. "But I want all the young people out there to recognize that the real steps are going to be taken in a few years. And so by studying math, science, engineering, any kind of technology, you're going to have a part in that, and that will be very exciting."

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
Holger Krag, head of the European Space Agency's Space Debris Office, only 60 percent of all missions currently end with a successful disposal of the satellite in line with orbital debris mitigation guidelines promulgated by the United Nations.

LONDON  As the amount of debris in low-Earth orbit continues to increase, experts at a recent conference called for both improved efforts to track debris as well as national legislation to mitigate that growth.

Delegates at the Seventh European Conference on Space Debris, held at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, from April 18 to 21, warned that without improved measures, a long-feared cascade of debris that renders low-Earth orbit useless could occur.

According to Holger Krag, head of the European Space Agency's Space Debris Office, only 60 percent of all missions currently end with a successful disposal of the satellite in line with orbital debris mitigation guidelines promulgated by the United Nations. [7 Wild Ideas to Clean Up Space Junk]

"We have to ask ourselves the question, what is the reason for that?" said Krag during the conference's final day. "It could be operational paradigm, it might be technical failure, it might also be the lack of technical solutions that make the implementation of these measures too costly or complicated."

Holger Krag, head of the European Space Agency's Space Debris Office, only 60 percent of all missions currently end with a successful disposal of the satellite in line with orbital debris mitigation guidelines promulgated by the United Nations. (Image credit: ESA video screenshot)

High-speed debris from satellite explosions could cause a catastrophic chain reaction, as seen in the movie "Gravity." (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist)

Strong national laws requiring satellite operators to remove spacecraft from orbit at the end of their missions are needed to get the worsening space junk problem under control due to the absence of binding international regulations, attendees said.

The situation in low Earth orbit in particular is getting progressively worse with some claiming to observe the first indications of the feared Kessler Syndrome, an unstoppable cascade of devastating collisions.

Donald Kessler, who first predicted the syndrome that now bears his name in 1978, said that a new study found about 10 percent of satellites in low Earth orbit currently experience potentially devastating collisions with small pieces of debris. Such collisions are similar to the one that punched a 40-centimeter hole into the solar panel of ESA's flagship Earth observation satellite Sentinel 1A last August.

"We had a pretty large sample of satellites that we looked at and more than 10 percent of them experienced events similar to the Sentinel 1A, such as sudden momentum changes," he said. "All of those events occurred within 45 degrees of the polar regions."

Unlike Sentinel 1A, these satellites did not have cameras onboard, which would have enabled their controllers to identify exactly what happened.

Better tracking needed

The Sentinel 1A collision produced seven pieces of debris currently tracked by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network. One of these fragments later got dangerously close to Sentinel 1A's sister spacecraft, Sentinel 1B.

Debris smaller than about 10 centimeters across is currently impossible to track. That means operators can't be alerted to the imminent danger.

"There are about 750,000 flying bullets about one centimeter in size, such as the one that hit Sentinel 1A, and approximately 150 million objects at around one millimeter," said Krag.

Small debris was one of the key issues at the conference, with the community calling for greater efforts to monitor such objects.

"We need to know is what is going on with the smaller sizes in the range from millimeter to centimeter as these affect the most spacecraft," said Kessler. "We also need to look at secondary debris, the really small particles, and how these are eroding spacecraft surfaces."

In addition to improving ground-based telescopes, the delegates agreed on the importance of in-situ measurements to gain a better understanding of the amount and behavior of very small debris.

"For sub-millimeter objects, we need to do in-situ measurements," said J. C. Liu, who leads NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office. "We haven't done anything like this since the space shuttle."

NASA plans to deliver an experimental sensor, the Space Debris Sensor (SDS), to the ISS in November. The SDS, developed by the Orbital Debris Program Office, will characterize the population of the tiniest debris particles at the station's altitude. The office is also looking for a suitable mission to send a similar sensor to an altitude of 600 kilometers.

Spacecraft operators all around the world currently rely on the U.S. Space Surveillance Network to receive warnings about possible collisions with larger objects. Krag has called on European players to step up their contribution to space debris monitoring.

"We don't need to have full autonomy, but there must be a stable contribution coming from Europe," Krag said. "What we have to do is to bundle what we are doing in Europe into one consolidated, powerful and single approach to achieve the performance that we need in order to support space operations."

Krag also said that even if full compliance with post-mission disposal recommendations could be achieved, active debris removal would still be necessary to stabilize the situation. ESA hopes to launch its e.Deorbit mission in 2023, the first mission to remove a large satellite from LEO.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
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STAMFORD  Charter Spectrum cable technicians demand to keep their benefits and say they no longer want to be blamed for the companys old and faulty equipment.

More than 300 striking workers loudly protested for hours Tuesday morning outside the companys Atlantic Street headquarters.

The workers are among 1,800 in-house cable technicians who belong to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 who walked out March 28 in their quest to preserve health and pension benefits under a new contract.

Lance Van Arsdale, assistant business manager of the union, said negotiations reached an impasse last month when Charter proposed moving workers to the companys health plan, which would require a $3,000 deductible and would end employer contributions to the union pension plan.

The union also protested the company disciplining workers for repetitive service problems that Van Arsdale attributed to Charters old and faulty equipment.

The sides havent reached a contract agreement since 2013.

Weve been able to strike good faith agreements with every single predecessor company since 1972, Van Arsdale said.

In January, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Charter Communications and its subsidiary, Spectrum Management Holdings, for defrauding and misleading New York customers by promising faster Internet service than they could provide, according to the complaint.

Dennis Burgess, a cable technician assigned to Manhattan, said the companys disciplinary policy scapegoats the workers for substandard equipment that often fails.

They are punishing us for service failures even if it has nothing to do with craftsmanship, said the 34-year-old, who has been working for the company since 2006. The new management doesnt care about craftsmanship, the equipment or anything except making their numbers look good.

Charter also wants to reassign workers geographically throughout New York Citys five boroughs, Van Arsdale said.

Charter purchased Time Warner Cable, the previous cable and Internet service in New York and New Jersey, for $55 billion last year.

Charter rebranded its offerings of digital TV, Internet and voice products as Spectrum and are used by about 2.5 million customers in New York and New Jersey.

Van Arsdale said workers disciplined for repeat service calls were excluded from training necessary to advance their careers even though the problems were due to poor equipment.

The engineers at the company told the marketers that they were promising speeds they couldnt deliver, Van Arsdale said. "The workers are getting scapegoated for the equipment.

John Bonomo, a Charter spokesman, reissued an earlier statement defending the companys proposal that did not address specifics about the plan, including the increased deductible or pension changes.

Spectrum is dedicated to providing great service to our customers, and investing in our workforce is a critical part of how we do that, Bonomo said. This is why Spectrum is offering our field technicians a pay increase larger than the union has demanded, along with competitive and robust health care and retirement benefits.

Bonomo also said he was disappointed in the New York lawsuit, which accuses the company of false advertising dating back to 2012 before the Time Warner merger.

Charter made significant commitments to New York state as part of our merger with Time Warner Cable in areas of network investment, broadband deployment and offerings, customer service and jobs, Bonomos statement read. Charter has already made substantial investments in the interest of upgrading the Time Warner Cable systems and delivering the best possible experience to customers.

Derek Jordan, a business representative for the union, said Charter Spectrums proposed wage increases for union members does not offset the cuts in health and pension benefits.

In many cases, they are raising the wage from $10.50 or $11 to $15, which in 2018 will be the (New York) state minimum wage anyway, Jordan said. Having the $3,000 deductible and losing pension benefits makes it into a huge giveback.
L ast week an independent news website called GroundUp created a small storm in internet land when it said it was ditching Google adverts.

The South Africa-based site told readers that Googles ad model is broken. Not for Google of course, which is massively profitable, but for us, the publishers, who have to put up with poor quality, misleading adverts in exchange for small change.

GroundUps numbers make the point: one month it had 320,000 visitors to the site. It was paid 2,754 Rand for this by Google  about 165.

Nathan Geffen at GroundUp explains: Google pays a tiny amount each time an ad appears, and a somewhat larger amount if readers click on an ad. To understand exactly how the payment system works requires several PhDs, a four-digit IQ and stay-awake drugs.

Judging by my inbox, this touched quite a nerve. The allegations against Google are these:

1) With AdSense or Ad Exchange, Googles two mechanisms for delivering ads, internet businesses have very little say in what adverts appear. Moreover, Googles systems can be gamed by dodgy advertisers way too easily.

2) The payment system is incomprehensible. And since Google decides how much it charges advertisers and how much it pays publishers, there is no transparency.

3) Google doesnt care enough about the quality of its adverts.

Google would only talk on background about all of this, declining to comment publicly (its press relations have always been dreadful), which makes it difficult to get the companys point of view across.

Broadly speaking, Google simply says in reply to 1) No it cant. 2) No it isnt. 3) Yes we do.

I got sent links to various Google documents which supposedly prove the companys point, but I cant follow them, and neither can many of the business partners Google says just havent taken the trouble to understand its policies. It says it tries hard to educate its partners.

Some of those partners say they are afraid to speak up, for fear it will affect where they appear in search rankings.

Google does release a better ads report each year and says it took down 1.7 billion bad ads last year. Its hard to know whether this is a lot or not.

One London web entrepreneur tells me: They let through borderline scams  eg Click here to win an iPad, small print: you consent to be charged 4.50 per text and receive one text per day. We were totally dogged by these.

Scams are one thing. There are worse. Ive seen some examples of the worst sort of ads Google has let through. They are hard to describe without inviting attention from the police (seriously).

Google says it encourages websites to report dodgy ads. One correspondent describes this as a woefully inadequate and laborious reporting mechanism that just doesnt work.

Googles response: it works fine.

GroundUp says not. Geffen again: We have navigated Googles tortuous online complaints system to write to the company in the hope that a human or artificially intelligent being might take action  to no avail.

The wider allegation against Google is that it wields its immense power far too casually. It makes hugely impactful changes to its ad policies that could damage small firms with very little communication.

The trouble with Google to outsiders has always been that it is so certain of its own brilliance, its own benefit to human kind, that it cant accept that it can ever do anything wrong.

If Google did it, that must mean it was correct to do so, is more or less its approach to everything.

Back in 2004 when Google was first joining the stock market, it embraced the slogan Dont Be Evil, a sign of its ethics and morality.

This slogan was famously dubbed bullshit by Apples Steve Jobs in 2010 and now seems to have been dropped.

Alphabet, Googles parent, states in its code of conduct simply that employees should do the right thing. By whom?

Last week The Times reported that Google plans to introduce an adblocker for its Chrome internet browser that would block bad ads, though this is unlikely to include those from its own ad network.

That would seem likely to give Google an even bigger stranglehold on the internet advertising market, of which it already has 60%.

Competition authorities should get into this issue. And perhaps web firms should vote with their feet.
A Shoreditch-based start-up chaired by Lady Barbara Judge has raised another 14 million for its growth, just four months after officially launching its human resources software.

HiBobs latest cash injection came from US investment firm Battery Ventures, as well as Fidelitys venture capital fund Eight Roads Ventures.

Early backers include TransferWise chief executive Taavet Hinrikus, and Saul and Robin Kleins fund LocalGlobe.

HiBob, whose platform helps companies manage office perks, staff holidays and pensions, has already raised 20 million in two funding rounds in its bid to shake up the human resources industry.

The company welcomed Lady Judge, the chairman of the Institute of Directors and former chairman of the Pension Protection Fund, in August, having launched beta testing two months earlier. The service went live in December.

Co-founder and chief executive Ronni Zehavi, an Israeli entrepreneur who sold his last company for $300 million, said auto-enrolment provided an opportunity for us to come in and innovate.

HiBob has teamed up with Aviva and has other similar pensions partnerships in the pipeline.
L abour is addressing, early in the election campaign, its policy on the biggest issue: Europe. Today Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, outlines the partys approach to the negotiations. The challenge is to be different from the Tories Brexit plan  outlined in a White Paper in February  without taking the straightforward Remain approach of the Lib-Dems. This balancing act is expedient, given the number of Labour heartland areas which voted Leave in the referendum.

So Sir Keir rejects leaving the single market and customs union outright, as the Tories propose, instead focusing on a deal that retains the benefits of both. Labour would replace the Governments proposed Great Repeal Bill  which would scrap the 1972 European Communities Act and transpose existing EU laws applying to the UK into domestic law  with an EU Rights and Protections Bill. Labour also insists there can be no rolling back of workplace protections, environmental standards and consumer rights, and no measures to limit the lifespan of any EU-derived laws or directives.

Easiest of all, it promises to guarantee the position of the three million or so EU citizens who live here. That is an easy win: Mrs May seeks exactly the same thing but wants to obtain in return security for British citizens in the EU. Almost certainly this matter will be resolved early on, whoever wins the election.

But it is Labours attempt to secure the benefits of the customs union and the single market while retaining control over immigration which is the trickiest and boldest matter. Sir Keir and the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, maintain it is possible to have both, which would be ideal  but how? The Tory approach, to abjure freedom of movement as a principle while keeping open all the practical options  maybe discretionary preferential access for EU citizens  is more realistic.

Where Labour does have a point is in insisting that it will utilise its freedom of manoeuvre outside the EU to maintain worker and environmental protections. There is no reason why Brexit should be a compromise either; the point is for the Government to take control of these things, which could mean enhanced protections rather than a race to the bottom. What the parties can usefully do is outline the direction of travel they seek post-Brexit, rather than pretend they can determine the outcome of the Brexit negotiations in advance.

Guarantee Crossrail 2

In theory, Crossrail 2 should be an unproblematic project, a north-south rail axis across the capital to complement the east-west Crossrail 1, which opens this year. Plainly it is necessary, for it would dramatically cut journey times across London and would open up areas of housing for city workers which at present involve an arduous commute. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is a supporter. What could go wrong?

What could happen is that the project could lose its place at the top of the queue for public funding, pushed out by other major transport schemes around the country. The cost of Crossrail 2 is estimated at 27 billion, a sizeable sum, and the Government is reviewing the strategic business case for it. This is why the Labour MP for Enfield North, Joan Ryan, is seeking to table an early day motion to emphasise that it is crucial to the growth and prosperity of our capital and the rest of the country. Some 50 MPs are calling for the Government to reaffirm its commitment to the project. They are right. Crossrail 2 could not be more timely. At a time when London is seeking to emphasise its openness to new investment and its appeal to overseas business, swift and efficient transport infrastructure will do wonders for our appeal.
T he Brexit slogan  take back control  has been taken personally by the Prime Minister. Forget the chumocracy, her colleagues seem to be feeling the force of her heels on their windpipes. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, has still to be allocated a campaigning role and is said ruefully to assume that it means sitting with a brown paper bag over his head.

No one can quite forget the deadliness of the Prime Ministers wit at The Spectator lunch after Boris referred to Michael Heseltines dog. She said: Boris, the dog was put down when its master did not need it any more. Education Secretary Justine Greening has been a May disciple but doesnt say the words grammar schools enough to guarantee her future. Theresa May is a party disciplinarian and Lynton Crosby, the election campaign adviser, also hates multiple messages.

The one she is sticking to is strong leadership. Tories love the smack of firm government and some have reportedly taken to calling the PM mummy. One London MP swears that Mrs May has become a heroine among black-cab drivers. They think shes sexy, he gloats. Her dominatrix appeal is significant on two counts. First, she is reaching the Thatcherite socio-economic constituency which the last government found hard to reach. David Cameron was only ever captain of the second 11, says the MP, a particularly Tory put-down. If May can get her name chanted on the terraces, we know shes on to a winner.

Second, the black cabs are a lightning rod for the forces of change. Gordon Brown promised to be the captain of the ship. May needs to be Moses to get us through the next years.

Black cabs versus Uber is the past reeling in the face of the future. It is significant that Boriss sympathies were with the black cabs when he was mayor. Johnson glimpsed the new economy and the creative destruction it brought. We are consumers now rather than citizens. Uber offers a terrific deal and opened up a closed trade. The technology of sat-nav made it possible. But progress has side-effects so brutal you have to question the cure. There is unease about the working conditions of the drivers and the globalised nature of Uber, evading not only states but definition. If companies are from nowhere then who pays for using our roads? The Good Law Project plans to start court proceedings to claim 23 million in VAT on 2015.

The election is more than about Brexit. The ferocious changes are bigger than that. The gig economy is just the start. Just wait until automation starts to hit us. May, Jeremy Corbyn and Tim Farron have to present a vision of how to manage an economic tsunami. Interestingly, all three leaders are shaped by moral conviction, which gives them purpose but not necessarily flexibility.

The world is complex, yet, according to Lynton Crosby, most peoples aspirations are straightforward. He once explained to me with a shrug that we all want a job, a home, a family. How do we reconcile community with fluidity? Do we control change or surrender to it? Theresa May seems to favour thrilling control.

Ruling on employee dress code falls flat

A Government ruling allows companies to keep women employees in high heels if they so choose. Its time to man up about what is professionally required. Joanna Coles, who runs content at Hearst Magazines, told The Times at the weekend that she walks 1.8 miles a day on a treadmill in high heels while answering emails.

Meanwhile, on Line of Duty, DCI Roz Huntley is back at work hours after having her arm amputated and DS Steve Arnott has broken his back and may never walk again but is still on full overtime. This is no moment to call for flatties.

The over-60s should mentor the young

Mindful that the Labour Party does not have a Tory-sized war chest to fight the election, I suggested to one campaign strategist that they should call on young volunteers to man the phones. He smiled awkwardly.

The trouble with that is Labours clampdown on unpaid work. A volunteer can look quite like an unpaid intern, who is quite likely to be a supported by the bank of mum and dad  and that is how social inequality is perpetuated.

How about calling on no-longer-grey volunteers instead? The over-60s have been exceptionally well-cushioned. They are not even retired and I cannot for the life of me see why a company boss should get subsidised travel.

By the age of 60 you are beyond career breaks and you can subsidise the young, in time, if not financially. Volunteering does not mean scoring CV points, it means helping out. I am dead keen on the idea of the National Citizen Service matching app, where the older generation book in available time to mentor the young.

We take for granted the idealism of the young. We can get around the concerns of exploitation by calling on the older generation to do their bit for free.

* My prism for the French election is the Channel 4 political thriller Spin, which features the far-Right, horse-trading, police in full gear, official cars sweeping in and out of the Elysee, journalism taken seriously, and, without wishing to stereotype the French, a glass of wine always on the go and everyone sleeping with each other.

So Marine Le Pens decision to step down as head of her party, the Front National, is perfectly understandable. Politics is tactical. Her party is what is holding her back. The fragmenting of the political system has been a phenomenon of our time. Before Donald Trump it was assumed that a candidate represented a party. Now politicians are personal brands along with everyone else. Digital profiles are more important than parties.

Emmanuel Macron is a candidate with a movement and it suits Le Pen to be the same. We saw something like this in London during the last mayoral election. Sadiq Khan was much more than the Labour candidate. His team say privately that their rival Zac Goldsmith lost because he stuck too closely to the Tories. Goldsmiths strengths were that he was green and he was maverick. But he ended up running on a Tory party strategy of unfounded smears about Khans extremist friends. Goldsmith is running again in this election as the Conservative candidate for Richmond, this time as himself.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn is running for a party that does not support him and Theresa May is running as Britannia. Funny old world.
J eremy Irons will share the billing with a host of rainforest creatures in a stage show inspired by the Amazon.

The Oscar-winning actor has recorded a voiceover for Voices Of The Amazon, a dance musical created by production company Sisters Grimm.

The duo behind the company, former ballet dancer Pietra Mello-Pittman and composer Ella Spira, travelled to South America to research the show and record some of the soundtrack in the rainforest.

Mello-Pittman, who moved to the UK from Brazil when she was five, said the country was top of the list as the setting for a new show. It follows the sell-out success of their Zulu musical Inala at Sadlers Wells in 2014.

She said: We took a sound recordist to the Amazon with us and it was as if we had put a call out for bird auditions. We climbed up this huge tower above the canopy for the dawn chorus and it was amazing. There were the sounds of the rain, the thunder and the lightning and all the different creatures, the birds and the monkeys, and that is all part of the show too.

The show tells the story of an Amazonian water spirit whose quest to find a cure for her dying sister takes her on a life-changing journey deep into the rainforest.

Mello-Pittman, who retired from the Royal Ballet in 2015 after 13 years, and Spira approached Irons through mutual friends as they knew he would be perfect for the part of the narrator.

Arts picks of the week: 24th-30th April 1 /6 Arts picks of the week: 24th-30th April Mayerling Kenneth MacMillans shattering tragedy gets a revival with the Royal Ballet, opening this week. It tells the true story of a suicide pact between the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire and his teenage mistress in 1889, with the role of their Rudolf being one of the most demanding ever created for a male dancer.



April 28 - May 13, Royal Opera House; roh.org.uk Bill Cooper Romeo and Juliet Expect the unexpected for the opening production of Emma Rices last season at the Globe. English National Opera boss Daniel Kramer directs the tragic tale of the star-crossed lovers, in a production that promises to confront the darker themes of the play.



April 22 - July 9, Shakespeares Globe; shakespearesglobe.com Robert Workman The Moth The storytelling night which is huge in the US comes back to London for a night at the Union Chapel in Islington. The show is massive: it has a podcast, a second book is about to be released, and it runs storytelling workshops in American high schools. The theme of this night is between worlds.



April 24, Union Chapel; unionchapel.org.uk Chris Ofili: Weaving Magic Turner Prize winning artist Chris Ofili has created a brand new tapestry together with Dovecot Tapestry Studio, exploring his interest in classic mythology, magic, and the Trinidadian landscape. It is unveiled at the National Gallery this week and will go on permanent display at the Clothworkers Hall after the exhibition.



April 26 - August 28, National Gallery; nationalgallery.org.uk The National Gallery The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui Lenny Henry stars in a new version of Brechts classic tale of the rise of a demagogue, with Clybourne Park playwright Bruce Norris writing the adaptation. Audiences at the Donmar Warehouse will be transported to a world of jazz and gangsters in prohibition-era Chicago.



April 21 - June 17, Donmar Warehouse; donmarwarehouse.com Wolfgang Tillmans: Uniqlo Tate Lates A night of music and art at Tate Modern celebrates Wolfgang Tillmans critically acclaimed show. There will be live music in the Turbine Hall, talks from Inua Ellams and Francesca Beard, and the chance to make badges and posters exploring truth.



April 28, Tate Modern; tate.org.uk

She said: We sent him the script and he very much collaborated on that in the room. He had made lots of notes and we worked together on it going through it line by line. Its wonderful, it really adds another layer.

He is passionate about the environment, he is passionate about good causes. Our concept of trying to connect audiences to nature in a different way, through music and dance, is something he thought was a good idea.

The cast, which includes American, Greek, Brazilian and British performers, will be backed by a live band on stage. The music-driven show will feature some songs in English and others in Portuguese.

Mello-Pittman said: There is singing, which makes it very different to ballet or anything that dance companies do because you dont get that live singing. Whereas all our performers are miked up and sing and dance.

It has got this beautiful story, a love story, and has really got family at the heart of it and love and loyalty.

I always like seeing ballet in different contexts and trying to bring new audiences to different genres and uniting the audience.

Voices Of The Amazon is at Sadlers Wells, Islington, from July 4 to 8. More information at sadlerswells.com
G rape news, vino fans. London Wine Week is back.

The capitals annual celebration of all things vinous is making a return this June, and it looks like it could be quite a corker.

Running from Monday 5 to Sunday 11 June, London Wine Week will give the capitals oenophiles the chance to explore, taste and match wines at special events all over town, as well as to drink the good stuff for significantly less than normal.

More than 100 bars will be offering London Wine Week flights, giving three taster-size glasses for a bargainous fiver.

London's best wine bars 1 /17 London's best wine bars The Laughing Heart The Laughing Heart is well-equipped for lingerers  it is very much a place for gathering and cracking open as many bottles as is sensible. The personal touch of its convivial nature is echoed in a wine list that champions artisan growers, in turn showcasing the entire portfolio of a chosen small producer. Its by-the-glass list is short but precise, while its bottle menu is sprawling  youll have time to explore more than one, considering the place stays open until 2am, with a kitchen open until 1am from Monday to Saturday. The late-night food isnt just your average stomach-lining grub either: chef Tom Angleseas innovative cooking melds British produce with Asian flavours  his signature dessert is a creme brulee with sparky Sichuan peppercorns. P. Franco East Londons natural wine scene just keeps getting better  and a lot of that is down to the team behind P. Franco. This unassuming Clapton wine bar was set up in 2014 in a former Chinese takeaway by Liam Kelleher and James Noble, of the Noble Fine Liquor shops. In the years since, it's garnered runaway praise for mixing an innovative wine selection with an eclectic, very contemporary food menu in utilitarian surroundings. It's so relaxed that they don't even have a wine list, technically  the daily changing selection is delivered verbally. Bright and latterly Peg have followed in its suit  all are wonderful places to take wining and dining back to basics. Benjamin McMahon Terroirs Just off Trafalgar Square, Terroirs is always busy. Evenings start at a hum and end on with a roar as reams of Londoners bravely battle their way through glorious bottle after glorious bottle. The list is long enough to offer lots of choice and good enough that youll struggle to make a bad one. Food is excellent and there is barely a better spot in town to quaff down a bottle than up against the bar. Theyre big on natural wine here: if youre unsure about organic and biodynamic wine, try it here. A slight price premium comes attached, but its good fun. Wine is categorised by region and includes lesser-spotted wines from the likes of Greece, Slovenia and Georgia. Humble Grape This wine-merchant mini-chain prides itself on its organic, sustainable producers and how well it knows them. The bars get their wines directly from artisan, often family-run producers  this means they skip out the expensive distributors and both you and the winemakers save a little. Humble Grape is also so keen to stay in-the-know with its sources, the bar even gets producers in to train the staff. You can currently find the bars in Battersea, Fleet Street, Islington and Liverpool Street, with one more opening in Canary Wharf this summer. Compagnie Des Vins Surnaturels This Covent Garden outpost of a popular Parisian spot offers a catalogue of wine options that focuses on lesser-known styles and varieties  hence its popularity with those in the industry. French wine takes top billing, naturally, but there are bottles from around the world and the team are on hand to enthuse over what to try. Theres an impressive range by glass  including an extensive selection of Madeira  to facilitate more trying, while a fun touch is the inclusion of a mystery wine on the list. This regularly-changing offering costs 9 a glass and could be any wine from the list that costs between 35 and 95 a bottle. If you guess which one it is, you get a bottle free. Noble Rot Earlier this year, the World Restaurant Awards named Noble Rot the best Red-Wine Serving Restaurant on the planet. Yes, the vast majority of restaurants in the world serve red wine, but Noble Rot does do it particularly well. More than 60 per cent of its 700-bottle strong list is red, and wine leapfrogs food to the top of the agenda. The whole set up is rebellious in nature: the menu lambasts lazy misconceptions by proclaiming chardonnay to be the the worlds greatest white wine and its shop sells both its own magazine and tote bags emblazoned with Sex & Drugs & Pinot Noir. The food is not to be forgotten in the fracas: Stephen Harris of the Sportsman in Kent has a consulting role, making it easy to fill up both glasses and plates. Sager + Wilde This modern spot set up by wine experts Michael Sager and Charlotte Wilde is easy enough not to notice on the Hackney Road  and the blinds on the windows do nothing to suggest they want people in. But to take it that way would be a mistake: inside, all marble, dark wood and glass bricks, is an unpretentious take on a wine bar, modern London and old Paris all at once. They serve up some unusual offerings, perfect for anyone wanting to explore and, happily, the small plates of food they serve arent very small at all. The more restaurant-leaning Paradise Row edition in Bethnal Green is also excellent, while the new Fare Bar and Canteen is natural wine hotspot. Gordon's Enough has been written about Gordons to sell the place a thousand times over. There isnt anything left to say, really: its an institution thats far more about the atmosphere than the wine served (though they do that pretty decently, too). Its family run, has been since 1890 and has become a London institution in its own lifetime. Some prefer it in the summer time, when the outside tables fill up, but the cave-like indoors are a wonderful place to get lost in. Just remember to get there early: Gordon's gets full to bursting extremely early.



Info: 47 Villiers St, WC2N 6NE

gordonswinebar.com Comptoir Xavier Rousset can be found at the helm of many an acclaimed, wine-centric hotspot in London. Formerly head sommelier at Raymond Blancs Le Manoir aux QuatSaisons, Rousset went on to set up the 28-50 wine bars alongside restaurants Blandford Comptoir, Cabotte and Michelin-starred Texture. His most recent opening, Mayfairs Comptoir, showcases his love for a glass or two in more informal settings  a cafe and wine shop during the day, a wine bar by night. Around 30 wines are available by the glass  but more than 1800 are available by the bottle. Andrew Edmunds There are few better things to do in Soho than take your time over a bottle of wine. Where better to do such a thing than in one of the last bastions of Old Soho? Andrew Edmunds is small in size, but big in character, history and wine list. Wines by the glass at this restaurant start at a startling 4 something, and dont climb too much. A gloriously wide-ranging repertoire will take you up to the heady heights of a 475 1996 Abreu, but its possible to stay mercifully down to earth with enough bottles for less than 30. 10 Cases This small bistrot is a little like the French place you always wished you could find: somewhere for home-cooking and jugs of plonk. The only difference is that they dont serve any plonk  they do, however, have a very respectable selection under 10. Wines can be bought by the glass, carafe or bottle, with bottles available to take-away or drink in with 12 corkage. Youll also never be tempted (nor able) to settle into ordering your favourite wine over and over again: wines are only ever purchased in 10 case orders, and once theyre gone, theyre gone  in all its years of trading, the venue has never listed the same wine twice. 68 and Boston Bottles

There will also be a hub in Devonshire Square near Liverpool Street, with several pop-up wine bars, while Bethnal Greens Oval Space will be transformed into Mediterranean vineyard between 8 and 10 June for a festival within a festival to crown the week.

To gain access to all of this, and your discounted drinks, youll simply need to get your hands on a wristband. They cost 10 and are available from drinkup.london/wineweek.
A Brixton rooftop will be transformed into a Cuban beach resort this summer, complete with cocktails, cinema screenings, beach barbeques, DJs and exercise classes.

In fact, hot weather is pretty much the only thing not on the confirmed line-up.

Across its 2,000sqm rooftop space, Brixton Beach feature three bars, a host of street food and a nightclub.

There will be a Cuban cocktail bar offering rum daiquiris, pina coladas, cubanitos and mojitos, a beach-side lounge from Argentine sparkling wine Chandon, and a bar dedicated to Jamaican lager Red Stripe.

Food stalls in residence will include mac and cheese specialists Mac to the Future, Japanese soul food restaurant Nanban and Mexican taco favourite Del 74.

There will also be weekly barbecue chef residencies every Thursday, including chefs from Dirty Bones and Mamas Jerk.

The Clubhouse will be a late night, covered area inspired by famous nightclubs such as La Floridita and La Bodeguita del Medio, with live music, dancers and cabaret performances. Alternatively, those who are more feeling fitness than fiestas can partake in classes including zumba and yoga.

Best rooftop bars and pubs in London 1 /33 Best rooftop bars and pubs in London Netil 360, Hackney 1 Westgate St, E8 3RL, netil360.com

During the day, Netil 360 (on top of Hackney's Netil House) has its serious face on, with free workspaces, a cafe and even yoga sessions. But throughout the summer, they're in a more relaxed mood, with day parties, outdoor movie screenings, comedy nights, and various workshops . Expect lots of drinks, foodie pop-ups, and, naturally, terrific views. Queen of Hoxton, Shoreditch 1 Curtain Rd, EC2A 3JX, queenofhoxton.com

The Queen of Hoxton's rooftop has had more makeovers than Madonna and gleefully continues the trend this year. Their outside space has been re-imagined as A Tribute To Dr Strange, channelling San Francisco in 1967. Expect a side of psychedelia with all the food and drink. Proud, Camden The Horse Hospital, The Stables Market, Chalk Farm Rd, NW1 8AH, proudcamden.com

Marking 150 years since Lewis Carroll's children's classic was first published, Proud have transformed their rooftop spot into a homage to Alice's Wonderland. It's well suited to late night drinks, but on Saturday's the 'Mad Hatter' hosts a tea party, complete with board games and croquet. Game on, old thing. Prince of Wales, Brixton 467- 469 Brixton Rd, SW9 8HH, pow-london.com

For those who want to dance, POW salutes you: it is, unquestionably, a place to party. On the weekends, come for the DJs, while in the weekday, make do by bouncing between their three bars. Happy memories are made here, even if you won't always remember them the next morning. Dalston Roof Park, Dalston 18 Ashwin St, E8 3DL, bootstrapcompany.co.uk

An eco-addition to Hackney's growing rooftop scene, the Roof Park always has something going on. On the one hand, it's an urban oasis covered in impressive topiary, solar panels  which power it  and allotments, while on the other, it hosts cinema screenings, acoustic gigs and foodie residencies., as well as its fair share of parties. Opposite the overground station, this is a super-convenient rooftop, open daily. Coq D'Argent, Bank 1 Poultry, EC2R 8EJ, coqdargent.co.uk

A favourite among city types, D&D's Coq D'Argent has a storming menu and very decent wine list. The seated area is charming enough, but make sure to wander to their garden (pictured) for the best views. You'll leave in high spirits and with an empty wallet. The Rooftop at The Trafalgar 2 Spring Gardens, SW1A 2TS, thetrafalgar.com

The Vista terrace is a little disconcerting, for one delightful reason: despite being in perhaps the busiest part of London, it somehow largely avoids being overcrowded. In fact, Vista is often surprisingly quiet, although expect the odd tourist. Drinks are as pricey as one would expect in the centre of town, but the views are hard to top. Frank's Cafe, Peckham Peckham Multi Story Carpark, 133 Rye Ln, SE15 4ST, frankscafe.org.uk

This huge spot takes over the entire top of a multi-storey carpark, so there's plenty of space for everyone, despite it's immense popularity. From May 19, expect a fabulous barbecue, lots of drinks, and a very chilled vibe. Arguably London's coolest rooftop, and the 360 degree views are oddly soothing. Rex Sushi Samba, Bishopsgate Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY, sushisamba.com

The glamour here is only hampered if you're scared of heights: at 39 stories up, it's somewhat vertigo inducing. Still, they've one of the most glorious views in London and an excellent cocktail list. You'll have to fight your way through yah-yah types to get to the bar, but it's all part of the ridiculousness, which is what makes it fun. Boundary, Shoreditch 2-4 Boundary St, E2 7DD, boundary.london

Come hungry to Boundary: they've just launched a Provencal-style summer menu, with the likes of Ortiz anchovies and ricotta, octopus and chorizo skewers. You'll need to book, as it gets busy quickly, but once you're up there, it's charmingly relaxed. Be sure to have a gin 'n' tonic, they've got their own label gin and are rightly keen on the stuff. Radio Rooftop Bar, The Strand 336-337 Strand, WC2R 1HA, radiorooftop.com

Come up in the evening for a high-end Ibiza feel: there are plush white sofas and big bucket seats galore, as well as a few tables for couples. The drinks are pricey, and the music might not be for everyone (there's that Ibiza theme again), but the view includes the London Eye, Big Ben, the Shard, the Gherkin and more. With London landmarks like that and flickering candles, it's a very decent date night spot. Pergola on the Roof, Shepherd's Bush 101 Wood Ln, W12 7FA, pergolaontheroof.co.uk

Head to the BBC's old haunt, the television centre, for this new pop-up. Food comes courtesy of Salt Yard, Le Coq, Rabbit and Patty & Bun, so you won't go hungry. Just prepare for it to be busy: they've a capacity of more than 500, so it's not one for a quiet drink. Oxo Tower, South Bank Barge House St, SE1 9PH, harveynichols.com

When it's warm, the Oxo tower offers a lovely sense of occasion. Go for the stunning views over the Thames and beyond, including St Paul's and the Gherkin. Given how splendid these views are, the cocktails don't need to be anything special, so it's all the more pleasing that they are. A Michael Kyle www.michaelkyle.co.uk The Lost Format Society, Croydon NCP Fairfield Car Park, Barclay Road, CR0 1JN, lostformatsociety.co.uk

Croydon get their first rooftop offering in the form of this rooftop cinema and bar. If you're not in the mood for a film, seek out the secret garden, where they've rooftop yoga, giant Jenga and Connect Four, bowls and plenty of music. The Culpeper, Spitalfields 40 Commercial St, E1 6LP, theculpeper.com

When the sun comes out, this Spitalfields pub overflows onto the pavement around it: the trick is to head upstairs, which is a little quieter and has a view out over the Gherkin. Sunsets are particularly beautiful up here, but no-one comes to a pub for that, so rest assured that they've plenty of beers on tap, decent cocktails and the food is some of the best pub fare in London. Besides, in the small hours of the morning, it's popular with local bartenders as its usually open later than everywhere else, making for a great crowd. Aqua Spirit, Regent Street 240 Regent St, W1B 3BR, aquaspirit.co.uk

This the where the well-groomed set come for a post-work sundowner in the hotter months. Twin terraces attached to the various Aqua restaurants allow brilliant views across Soho and Mayfair rooftops. There's plenty of standing room, too, so you'll likely be able to squeeze in: cocktails are pricey, but ingredients are top shelf. Angler at the South Place Hotel, Moorgate 3 South Pl, EC2M 2AF, southplacehotel.com

You needn't eat at the two Michelin star Angler restaurant to enjoy this bar, though if you can walk past the menu without at least being tempted, we'll be impressed. Still, one can get a taste of it with the bar snacks here. Cocktails wise, order The Peruvian, a long riff on an Aperol Spritz. Perfect summer fare. The Castle, Islington 54 Pentonville Rd, N1 9HF, thecastleislington.co.uk

This is an understated rooftop, and don't come for endless views, either: rather, spend an evening here gently unwinding with a pint as the sun fades. The food's decent, it's jolly, what else matters? The Lock Tavern, Camden 35 Chalk Farm Rd, NW1 8AJ, lock-tavern.com

Something of a Camden institution, this pub does a decent raft of guest ales, offers a fine selection of whisky (including a few ryes and some Japanese) and often hosts gigs the the cozy confines of the second floor. Still, when the sun's out, head to the tiny terrace for the communal tables and or the row of repurposed cinema seats. It's almost always crowded, but it's a lively spot with charming views over Camden market. Roof Top Kitchen at Alfies Antique Market, Marylebone 13-25 Church St, NW8 8DT, alfiesantiques.com

Alfies is a daytime port of calm: ideal if you're taking a break from the market. We'd come for lunch, order one of the daily-changing specials, and then give in to the temptation of wine and while away a few hours until closing time in the early evening. Roof Top Kitchen at Alfies Antique Market Queen Elizabeth Roof Gardens Bar, South Bank Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX, southbankcentre.co.uk

The term 'hidden gem' is overused, but means something here: tourists and Londonders alike often walk straight past the yellow staircase that leads up to this roof terrace. That doesn't mean it doesn't get busy  it is fairly central, after all. The garden is the result of volunteers from St Mungo's charity and feels a world away from the concrete lines of the Southbank Centre below. Jugs of Pimms and other summery libations are on offer with light snacks, well into the evening. Victor Frankowski & Southbank Centre The Roof Gardens, Kensington 99 Kensington High Street, W8 5SA, virginlimitededition.com

You'll need to make a little effort to get in here, as they're big on glitz and glamour. Unsurprisingly, it's all rather lovely: the Babylon terrace gang are hot on their cocktails and when the grill gets going, the food is on point. Their parties have a reputation, too, for all the right reasons. Notch, Oxford Street 535 Oxford Street, W1Cnotchldn.com

Notch takes over from the car crash which was Roofnic (Grace Dent declared she'd rather jump off the roof than return to it), and they've started from scratch. Try and nab a seat on one of the swings which looks over Oxford Street. There's street food on hand, plenty of drinks in jars and some excellent pre-mixed Negronis (served in tuna can-esque tins, no less) and, on the weekends, a brunch menu. Bussey Building, Peckham 133 Rye Ln, SE15 4ST, busseyrooftopbar.com

The Bussey Building boasts a respectable bar, but head there for their regular film screenings, which show a mix of classics and fairly recent releases, with food laid on by Forza Win and Pizza Pilgrims. Golden Bee, Old Street Singer St, EC1V 9DD, goldenbee.co.uk

Golden Bee's swank won't be to everyone's taste, but if it's your thing, you'll love it. And isn't diversity London's shining glory? There's no denying it's a beautiful spot, and if you want to listen to DJs spin club classics and house, it's hard to beat. And while plenty of people come dolled up, cocktails start at just 8.50.

There will also be regular film screenings, while in July the rooftop will host a carnival to celebrate Carnival de Cuba.

Brixton Beach will open on Friday May 26. Visit brixtonrooftop.com.
D iners looking to embrace the tastes and cultures of Peru without leaving London will be able to hop aboard a bus and explore the countrys cuisine.

Martin Morales, the chef and founder of the Ceviche group, is hosting a one-off Peruvian Bus Tour, taking guests to his four London restaurants to showcase the best food from his native land.

He said the experience, which will take place in the evening of June 11 and has a capacity of 40, will transport guests from the beaches of the capital city of Lima to the Andina regions via the Amazon jungle.

Those on the tour, which costs 60, will start at Ceviche Soho, where they will dine on ceviche. Perus national dish, consisting of raw fish cured in citrus juice, is most common in Lima.

To a soundtrack of Afro-Peruvian music, Londoners will also enjoy seafood such as scallops, octopus and bass while sipping a pisco sour. The drink is a mixture of lemon juice, egg white, syrup and the national spirit, pisco.

Journey: Ceviches executive chef Vitelio Reyes says it will be a voyage of discovery / Alex Lentati

Next is Casita Andina, around the corner on Great Windmill Street in Soho, where food influenced by Cusco  the City of the Incas  will be showcased. Combining the ingredients of Peru with British produce, dishes such as pan-fried hake, served with rocoto pepper sauce and choclo corn arepa  a sort of maize dough pitta  with black tobiko, or roe, will be served.

From there, the bus will visit Andina in Shoreditch, where diners will sample food based on dishes from Arequipa in southern Peru. The menu will include pan-fried secreto Iberico, a cut of pork, served with chancaca honey glaze and cauliflower cream. The tour concludes at Ceviche Old Street, where an Amazonian feast will be served against the backdrop of its Peruvian art collection.

Mr Morales, chef and tour guide for the evening, said: Ceviches Peru Bus Tour will allow us to showcase the diversity of Peruvian cuisine, music and art and the distinctive personalities of each of our restaurants with a regional, artistic and creative focus.

Executive chef Vitelio Reyes said: The tour will be a voyage of discovery and flavour that will give people a huge insight in to the food of my country.
S ocial media and the power of the people came together as a new astrological phenomenon was discovered - and named Steve.

A group of amateur scientists discovered a glistening purple ribbon in the sky in British Columbia and posted remarkable images to a Facebook group - Alberta Aurora Chasers. These aurora enthusiasts named this natural beauty 'Steve' after a scene in 'Over the Hedge', where the characters name a hedge Steve so it was less frightening.

Currently there are more than 70 images of Steve photographed around the world by enthusiasts and scientists alike.

After this remarkable discovery a team of scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) investigated Steve further and turned to data from the Swarm mission. They doubted Steve was a proton arc, which is invisible to the naked eye - a term for purple streaks in the sky. But instead they found that Steve is not a rare occurrence and it is quite a common sighting, as Professor Eric Donovan, University of Calgary told Science Alert.

Northern Lights stays - in pictures 1 /9 Northern Lights stays - in pictures Eliassen Rorbuer, Norway Cool Stays Croft 103, Scotland Cool Stays Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, Norway Cool Stays Manhausen Sea Cabins, Norway Cool Stays Lewis Longhouse, Scotland Cool Stays Kakslauttanen Glass Igloos, Finland Cool Stays Ion Hotel, Iceland Cool Stays

For now we know that Steve is a cousin of an Aurora because it is not formed by the interaction of solar molecules with the Earth's magnetic field, so the electrons do not bounce off gases to form colours of light.

Instead Steve's scientific make-up is a hot stream of gas, but representatives from the Swarm mission have said that there is still more to investigate. Watch this space.
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Flanders is a surprisingly fun-packed destination and its proximity to Calais makes it a great choice for a family road trip. Dotted with fairy tale villages, it stretches from the Belgian coast towards trendy Antwerp and beyond, sweeping up ancient Bruges and Ghent in its wake.

A straightforward 90-minute drive leads to the first of these magical places. Medieval Bruges combines Gothic drama with a network of dreamy waterways, criss-crossed by ivy-clad bridges and narrow cobblestone paths. Children will find the pedestrianised old town less arduous than more modern cities, and if they do start to flag, a spot of praline-sampling at Choco-Story, the citys chocolate museum, will no doubt coax an instant revival.

If theres one Bruges essential, its a canal boat tour. This tranquil glide provides an entirely new perspective, and lasting only 30 minutes, its quick enough to keep little ones absorbed. Look for landmarks such as the skyline-dominating Belfry, with its 83-metre tower which offers an alternative view  if you can handle the 366 steps. By staying overnight, youll defy the tourist hordes. Bruges is always busy, but it feels noticeably emptier once the day trippers leave. Youll see the city in its illuminated glory, then bathed in an early morning glow.

Antwerp is just over an hour away but bohemian Ghent is a worthy diversion. Another medieval masterpiece, it nevertheless feels youthful and bold, thanks in no small part to its 65,000-strong student population. The boutiques are edgier, the cafes more hip, theres a renowned street art scene, and the city is awash with craft breweries and cocktail bars.

Antwerp is buzzing with heritage and contemporary zeal, its historic core as swoonsome as the Ellandje dockland district is cool

But wont someone think of the children? As a matter of fact, yes. They get a range of age-appropriate forays here, including a nibbling tour for foodies-in-waiting, with a visit to 19th-century confectioner Temmerman included. Theres also the labyrinthine Gravensteen castle  the Ghent castle of the counts  a medieval fortress that will keep you and your little ones intrigued for hours.

Finish your adventure in Belgiums spirited second city. Antwerp buzzes with Flemish heritage and contemporary zeal, its historic core as swoonsome as the Eilandje dockland district is cool. In the heart of the former is Grote Markt; all step-gabled guild houses and horse-drawn carts. The docks are home to the Museum ann de Strom, with a rooftop terrace that has the best city views.

Other well-known attractions include the famous zoo, but a family bike tour is a more memorable jaunt. Head through the Sint-Annatunnel under the Scheldt river then whizz down the waterways left bank, or stop for freshly cooked fries in the Stadspark, a green space known for its roaming rabbits.

From Antwerp, a worthwhile side trip is the seriously underrated town of Mechelen, a 30-minute drive south. Beside its beer bars and cafes youll find the pre-eminent Speelgoedmuseum, which claims one of the largest toy collections in Europe.

Along the way - chocolate heaven

Bruges has plenty of exquisite chocolatiers, but what if you just want to get stuck in? On Vlamingstraat is the Mayan-inspired Choco Jungle Bar, where kids can clamber into treehouses beneath a suspended 15-metre anaconda and sip velvety hot chocolates mixed with the spice of their choice.

Pancakes and waffles are available too  if youre ready for the sugar rush,

While youre there - king of castles

Alamy / Alamy

Built for the counts of Flanders, turreted Gravensteen squats menacingly in Ghent city centre like a lion surveying its prey.

As a former prison, its one of the few remaining fortresses where you can see exactly what the living conditions for medieval reprobates would have been like.

For light relief, climb to the ramparts for fine city views or picnic in the courtyard overlooking the canal.

Book tomorrows adventure today - with Eurotunnel Le Shuttle you can get to the Continent by car in just 35 minutes, travel in the freedom of your own car and explore Europe at your own pace. Visit eurotunnel.com
A teenager knifed to death after being ambushed by a masked gang was a clean-hearted boy who was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, his friends said today.

The 17-year-old student, named locally as Mohammed but known as Little Mo, died of his injuries in hospital after he was attacked by a gang on a Battersea estate on Sunday morning.

He was killed as he attempted to flee attackers on his bicycle.

A friend of the teenager who is also 17, last night laid flowers at the spot where Mohammed was fatally stabbed in the York Road estate.

The friend said: He was a clean hearted boy. He was only 5ft thats why he was known as Little Mo. I cant understand why anyone would want to this. Its getting out of hand. He was a lovely person. He studied with my brother.

Cordon: Police in Battersea after the teenager was stabbed to death / NIGEL HOWARD

The student added: Its dangerous on the streets. Things are getting ridiculous its very scary. I just try to keep my head down. If you ask me Little Mo was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have shed a tear over this. He just didnt deserve it.

Schoolfriends at South Thames College in Wandsworth paid tribute to Mohammed on social media.

One posted a video of the teenager smiling to Instagram under the caption: Im tired of this s***. My lil bro is gone now Ill never see that face again. Im gonna miss the kid.

According to eyewitnesses the teenager, of Somali origin, was hunted down by a gang in balaclavas and wielding machetes.

Murder probe: Police guard the crime scene / Nigel Howard

He was heard screaming repeatedly they have stabbed me, help me I am going to die.

Locals tried to help him but he later died in hospital.

Family friend Muna Nur has visited the teenagers mother as the Somali community rallies around them. The teenagers father is a taxi driver and both were said to be devastated.

She said: They are very sad and in a bad way. They are devastated. We all went round they are in such distress. They have no idea why this has happened.

Crime scene: Police at the scene in Battersea after the attack / NIGEL HOWARD

Troy Best, whose son was close friends with Mohammed, said: Its very sad and his family and friends are absolutely distraught.

We hope the police can catch up with the people who did this very soon, this violence has to stop.

We have to start taking time to talk to the youth out here because they are dying before they have even lived. All some of them need is a bit of guidance.

It hurts my heart to see so many young people dropping like flies.

Another friend said: He was a good boy, not trouble. We just honestly dont know why he was attacked. He was studying and was a good person. He was a little guy but had a big character. We will all miss him.

Murder squad detectives are hunting for the group while forensic officers have been scouring the York Road estate where the incident happened.

Residents and friends of the teenager have been laying flowers in tribute to him.

A poignant note posted to a tree next to the spot where the teenager collapsed with fatal injuries into a car bonnet said: Rest in peace we did not know you but our thoughts are with your family. Rest in peace. Stop knife crime.
T he "world's hottest felon" was deported after touching down at Heathrow airport because of his criminal past, it has emerged.

Jeremy Meeks, 32, effectively stood no chance of getting in to the UK due to his recent jail term in the US for a firearms offence, a Home Office spokesman told the Standard today.

The California model rose to fame in 2014 when police - who arrested him for gun charges - posted his mug shot online.

It went viral across the world as tens of thousands of people fawned over the sultry shot, with one modelling firm signing him up before he began his jail term.

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Mr Meeks was released from jail in March 2016 and embarked on a successful modelling career.

He was pictured at Heathrow airport after arriving in London on Monday for a series of shoots but was deported just hours later.

A Home Office spokesman told the Standard he would not have been permitted entry under UK law because not enough time has passed since his jail term in the US.

They said: We do not routinely comment on individual cases.

All passengers attempting to enter the UK are subject to checks by Border Force officers to establish they meet the entry requirements of the immigration rules.

Under the rules, entry is refused to anyone who has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment unless the required amount of years has passed.

If a person has been jailed for more than four years, they will always be refused entry. Anyone jailed for between one and four years must wait a decade, while anyone jailed for less than a year must wait five years.

'Hot felon' Jeremy Meeks was deported from the UK / Snapchat

Mr Meeks was seen in a holding area at the airport before being ordered to board a plane back to the US.

His wife and his manager Jim Jordan were reportedly at a hotel in London together.

Mr Jordan told the Mail Online: "They wouldnt let him come into the country. He is really upset. He was police-escorted onto the plane."

Mr Meeks was apparently interviewed for eight hours, fingerprinted and searched before being told he could not enter the country.

Mr Jordan said he planned to visit the US Embassy in London to seek assistance and will also make sure Meeks wife can continue her trip to the UK.

He added: [This was] the very first thing that Jeremy has done. It was his first time in London and he was all excited. It was his big debut.

He was on the right track for what we feel was going to be his new life. Now hes very sad. Hopefully this is just a setback and he will be able to come back from this.
A man was chased and stabbed in the bottom by an attacker riding a mountain bike in south London, police said.

Police and paramedics were scrambled to the scene in Wandsworth where they found the 43-year-old victim suffering a knife wound.

He was rushed to hospital for treatment and has since been discharged, police said.

The suspect, described as a young man in his late teens or early 20s, began shouting at the victim who was walking along Allfarthing Lane on Saturday, April 8.

He ignored his attacker - who was riding a mountain bike - and began to run when he would not leave him alone.

Police said the suspect then got off his bike and chased the victim on foot before stabbing him in the bottom.

The suspect is described as a young black man, about 5ft 9ins tall and of average build.

He was wearing a black coat with the hood up.

The victim, a white man, was wearing a red T-shirt and grey tracksuit trousers when he was attacked.

No arrests have been made.

Detective Constable Alex Ware, from Wandsworth CID, who leads the investigation, said: This is a shocking attack, apparently without motive and targeting an innocent member of the public.

"Thankfully the victim was not more seriously injured during the assault.

We urgently need the assistance of the public to try and identify the assailant. If you were in the area of Allfarthing Lane just after 11am on Saturday, 8 April and saw anything that could assist our investigation, please call police.

Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Ware on 020 3276 2589 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
A west London man who called an MPs office to say she should be Jo Coxd has been jailed.

John Wombell, 58, called the office of Conservative MP Anna Soubry in Nottingham to make the threat in November last year.

It came after the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed to death by Thomas Mair in June 2016.

Wombell, of Cherry Orchard in West Drayton, Hillingdon, called Broxtowe MP Ms Soubrys office and delivered his message to staff.

He was later tracked down by police and arrested on February 8 this year.

Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in June 2016. (Yui Mok/PA ) / Yui Mok/PA

On Monday Wombell pleaded guilty to sending a message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing in nature.

He was jailed for eight weeks at Westminster Magistrates Court. He was also issued with a restraining order.

Speaking after his conviction, the former minister for small business thanked both the Met and Nottingham police forces on Twitter.

She said: Thank you @MetPoliceUK and @NottsPolice  man who called my constituency office saying I shld be Jo Coxd pleaded G and got 8 weeks in prison.

The pro-Remain MP added that her constituency team were the victims. She said: Strong message courts wont tolerate malicious calls.

MPs staff deserve respect.

The politician received several messages of support from wellwishers online.

Fellow MP for Glenrothes and Central Fife, Peter Grant, said: Dont often agree with you but threats like this are unacceptable. But an 8 week prison sentence is a waste of time.

Ms Soubry also contacted police after a threat was apparently made to her via social media also calling for her to be murdered in the same way as Jo Cox.

According to the BBC, a 25-year-old man has been arrested over the tweet on December 2 and released on bail.
I t was almost closing time at Borough Market when the Plan Zheroes volunteers headed into the bustling alleyways to begin their surplus food collections.

First stop was Paul Day from Sussex Fish, who yelled above the hubbub: Girls, Ive got six lovely skate wings for you today.

He parcelled up 45 worth of fresh fish and handed them to Jennifer La and Lauren Hooper.

Several stalls down, Sophie Bertucat of Oliviers Bakery passed over her unsold artisan bread and patisserie, including some pain au chocolat and brownies.

Then it was on to Turnips and Teds Veg  their biggest donor  who loaded them up with punnets of rhubarb, courgettes, baby corn, tomatoes, figs and clementines.

Within 20 minutes, the Plan Zheroes volunteers in their purple bibs had garnered 224kg of fresh produce and five local charities had arrived at their stall to divide up the bounty.

Lottie Henley, age 91, the founder of Plan Zheroes, and her co-founder Chris Wilkie

Since Plan Zheroes started this initiative at Borough Market in 2014, they have rescued 29 tonnes of perfectly good food that would otherwise have been thrown in the bin  providing an impressive 58,000 meals to 33 charities working with the homeless, the elderly and people with mental health issues.

They are one of 29 groups to be awarded a grant from the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund as part of our 358,500 Food for London programme, which backs charities that use surplus food to tackle food poverty. Our 13,166 award will allow Plan Zheroes to double their effectiveness by adding a Wednesday collection to their existing Saturday pick-up.

Everyone at Borough Market  from the 40 participating stallholders to the markets management to Better Bankside, who supply cargo bikes to deliver the food to charities  have heartily embraced the Plan Zheroes initiative. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about this charity is that it was co-founded six years ago by a 91-year-old princess living in London who remembers what it is like to go hungry.

Plan Zheroes What they do: Co-founded in 2009 by 91-year-old local resident Lotti Henley, this charity collects fresh surplus food from Borough Market traders and delivers it to local charities that prepare meals for the socially excluded. Where: Southwark Grant: 13,166 to double their existing food surplus collection and distribution out of Borough Market from one to two days a week for a year.

As a teenager in Germany, Lotti Henley, scion of the Austrian Windisch-Graetz dynasty, found herself interned in a Russian camp for refugees waiting to be repatriated at the end of the Second World War.

The Russians fed us once a day and the only food they gave us was hot water and potato peels masquerading as soup, she recalled.

I was so hungry that I sucked pebbles because it made my mouth fill with saliva and made my stomach think I was getting food. The Russians didnt care if we lived or died and so after seven weeks we decided to walk over 100 kilometres from the camp outside Munich to Salzburg.

Along the way I sold my spare pair of shoes for a loaf of bread. I still remember the hunger. To this day, I panic that I will run out of food when I leave home. When I go to the post office, I always take a sandwich with me.

Lotti, who became a nurse, married an English officer and came to live in London after the war. She was holding court in the kitchen of her airy Kensington flat  the very kitchen where Plan Zheroes began, she said. Food is life. It makes me angry that there is more food being thrown away in London than would be required to feed everyone in food poverty.

Plan Zheroes surplus food collection at Borough Market / Vicki Couchman

It was out of this frustration that Plan Zheroes began. I went to a meeting of London Citizens where I spoke out about the terrible injustice of the UKs food waste crisis and at that meeting I found two kindred spirits, Chris Wilkie and Maria Ana Neves, who agreed to help.

The name they chose  Plan Zheroes  references the modern-day heroes working towards a zero food waste society as well as being a Plan Z counterpoint to Marks & Spencers then much publicised Plan A to reduce waste. Fighting for social justice was something Lotti learned as a child from her father, a doctor as well as a prince: Towards the end of the war we were living in German-occupied northern Italy and a woman came to my father and said her son had fallen off a ladder and needed to go to hospital. My father knew immediately what had really happened  her son was in the resistance and had been shot by the Germans  but the mother couldnt say so.

Other Grant Winners THIS IS RUBBISH What they do: Run programmes in schools and youth groups to educate young people about food waste and encourage action. Where: Hackney Grant: 6,505 for two eight-session programmes delivered to migrant and refugee children aged 8-16 designed around cooking and redistributing fresh surplus food. SUFRA What they do: Set up in 2013, they provide a food bank, referral to welfare surgeries, a food growing project and a community kitchen. Where: Brent Grant: 20,000 to expand their kitchen on St Raphaels Estate and provide up to 100 vulnerable people with a weekly three-course meal. The 358,500 grants programme was funded by Citi banking group, D&D London restaurant group and the Dispossessed Fund.

My father, who had the only car in the village, drove him to hospital, but the next day a German officer came round and accused my dad of helping the enemy. My dad stood his ground and bravely said, He is a human being, too, I will treat him the same, and the officer backed off. So I grew up with a belief that standing up for others in the community matters.

Food For London is a timely shot in the arm for campaigners across the capital, she said. The Government is just pathetic when it comes to doing anything about food waste, so to have the Standards campaign making it front page news and prodding the powers that be is just wonderful.

Darren Henaghan, managing director of Borough Market, agreed. This is Londons oldest market, people have been trading here for about 1,000 years, so food waste has been an issue for a long time and it is right to be shining a light on it, he said.

Donald Hyslop, chairman of the market trustees, added: Borough Market is absolutely committed to minimising food waste in every way possible and this partnership with Plan Zheroes allows us to redistribute produce in a way that is localised and targeted. Lotti is set to turn 92 in July. So, does she plan on slowing down? Oh no! she laughed, eyes wide with incredulity.

There is still so much to do. I will be going straight on with my social activism until I am 100.
A moving dawn service has been held at Hyde Park to honour Australian and New Zealand forces who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Anzac Day was marked with the religious gathering at Hyde Park Corner to remember the thousands who died in the First World War and subsequent conflicts.

The Duke of York - who served in the Falklands War - laid a wreath in remembrance of those who died during the Tuesday morning service.

The High Commissioner of New Zealand Sir Jerry Mateparae, his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer and the chief of the defence staff, Air Chief Marshall Sir Stuart Peach, also laid wreaths.

Members of the armed forces watch an Anzac Day dawn service at the Australian War Memorial at Hyde Park Corner / Getty Images

Professor Tom Frame, former bishop to the Australian Defence Force, delivered the prayer of remembrance for those gathered at the Australian War Memorial at Hyde Park Corner.

He said: "Lord God, as the sun rises this new day, as it rose on the first Anzac Day, we remember the sacrifice of those who served, suffered and died in Turkey, and those who have given of themselves to advance the cause of liberty and peace."

A Maori cultural group perform a haka during the dawn service / Getty Images

He went on to say: "While we remember the mateship, agony, courage and compassion of war service, save us from the pride and the hubris that might ever lead us to think war is anything other than a human tragedy."

Anzac Day - April 25 - marks the anniversary of the start of the First World War Gallipoli landings, and is a national day of remembrance for Australia and New Zealand.

Prince Andrew, Duke of York lays a wreath at the Australian War Memorial / Getty Images

Thousands of Anzac troops - Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - died in the ill-fated 1915 campaign.

Waves of Allied forces launched an amphibious attack on the strategically important Turkish peninsula, which was key to controlling the Dardanelles straits, the crucial route to the Black Sea and Russia.

But the plan backed by Winston Churchill, then first lord of the admiralty, was flawed and the campaign, which faced a heroic defence by the Turks, led to stalemate and withdrawal eight months later.

Its legacy is the celebration of the "Anzac spirit" - courage, endurance, initiative, discipline, and mateship - shown by the Antipodean troops and today the Anzac Day service in London has become an important moment for thousands of New Zealanders and Australians.

During the service hymns were sung and the Last Post was sounded by a bugler and a minute's silence was observed by all as the sky lightened before the dawn.

Anzac Day will also be marked by a wreath laying ceremony and parade at the Cenotaph later, due to be attended by the Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon and other dignitaries.

Later the Duke will join the congregation at Westminster Abbey for a Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving.

The Defence Secretary said: "On Anzac Day we remember the sacrifice and courage of troops from Australia and New Zealand. Britain is proud to have served alongside our Anzac allies in conflicts from the fields of Flanders to our modern day battle against Daesh.

"Our alliance is one of the most consistent and enduring military partnerships in history, one which will continue to protect our common interests and help make the world a safer, more secure place."